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C. elegans possesses a precisely defined pattern of neuronal activation associated with its quiescent sleep-like state. As for higher-order creatures, this state includes the induction of atonia and immobility. In C. elegans, activation of the GABAergic neuron ALA directly inhibits AVE, a crucial command motor interneuron. By comparing this stereotypical pattern of activation to the activity seen within this neuronal circuit during anesthesia, we may determine if the atonia and immobility observed in anesthetized C. elegans is recruited via the same neuronal mechanism as in quiescence. Neuronal activity in C. elegans, as measured by fluorescence intensity of the calcium-indicator GCaMP6s, was captured using light-sheet microscopy under exposure to increasing depths of isoflurane anesthesia (n = 20). Neuronal identities were determined using the NeuroPAL nuclear labeling system. The activity of neurons in the sleep atonia pathway were identified for analysis. Neuronal traces were differentiated, and signal coherence between traces were calculated as Pearson correlation coefficients. Differences among conditions were assessed using ANOVA. During quiescence, we observe the characteristically strong activation of ALA and RIS, with suppression of other neurons. In the awake animal, neuronal activity in ALA and AVE remains moderately negatively correlated (r = -0.286). However, isoflurane anesthesia in C. elegans does not result in an increase in the negative correlation between these two neurons: we observe a progressive loss and inversion of this baseline negative correlation, resulting in a significantly different positive correlation when deeply anesthetized (r = 0.229: p = 0.003, Type III ANOVA). In comparison, isoflurane anesthesia suppresses the positive correlation between AVE and a strongly-connected key member of the command motor interneuron circuit, AVA (p = 0.007, Type III ANOVA). Immobility is a fundamental characteristic of both anesthesia and naturally occurring sleep-states. However, we show that, in C. elegans, immobility in the anesthetized state is not produced by activating the innate neurological mechanism of quiescence.

Ultrafast 3D imaging is indispensable for visualizing complex and dynamic biological processes. Conventional scanning-based techniques necessitate an inherent trade-off between acquisition speed and space-bandwidth product (SBP). Emerging single-shot 3D wide-field techniques offer a promising alternative but are bottlenecked by the synchronous readout constraints of conventional CMOS systems, thus restricting data throughput to maintain high SBP at limited frame rates. To address this, we introduce EventLFM, a straightforward and cost-effective system that overcomes these challenges by integrating an event camera with Fourier light field microscopy (LFM), a state-of-the-art single-shot 3D wide-field imaging technique. The event camera operates on a novel asynchronous readout architecture, thereby bypassing the frame rate limitations inherent to conventional CMOS systems. We further develop a simple and robust event-driven LFM reconstruction algorithm that can reliably reconstruct 3D dynamics from the unique spatiotemporal measurements captured by EventLFM. Experimental results demonstrate that EventLFM can robustly reconstruct fast-moving and rapidly blinking 3D fluorescent samples at kHz frame rates. Furthermore, we highlight EventLFM’s capability for imaging of blinking neuronal signals in scattering mouse brain tissues and 3D tracking of GFP-labeled neurons in freely moving C. elegans. We believe that the combined ultrafast speed and large 3D SBP offered by EventLFM may open up new possibilities across many biomedical applications.By integrating event camera with Fourier light field microscopy, EventLFM robustly captures fast-moving and rapidly blinking 3D fluorescent biological samples at kHz frame rates.

Supranucleosomal chromatin structure, including chromatin domain conformation, is involved in the regulation of gene expression and its dysregulation has been associated with carcinogenesis. Prior studies have shown that cells in the buccal mucosa carry a molecular signature of lung cancer among the cigarette-smoking population, the phenomenon known as field carcinogenesis or field of injury. Thus, we hypothesized that chromatin structural changes in buccal mucosa can be predictive of lung cancer. However, the small size of the chromatin chain (approximately 20 nm) folded into chromatin packing domains, themselves typically below 300 nm in diameter, preclude the detection of alterations in intradomain chromatin conformation using diffraction-limited optical microscopy. In this study, we developed an optical spectroscopic statistical nanosensing technique to detect chromatin packing domain changes in buccal mucosa as a lung cancer biomarker: chromatin-sensitive partial wave spectroscopic microscopy (csPWS). Artificial intelligence (AI) was applied to csPWS measurements of chromatin alterations to enhance diagnostic performance. Our AI-enhanced buccal csPWS nanocytology of 179 patients at two clinical sites distinguished Stage-I lung cancer versus cancer-free controls with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.92 ± 0.06 for Site 1 (in-state location) and 0.82 ± 0.11 for Site 2 (out-of-state location).

A company undertakes environmental initiatives to reduce environmental impact from their activities; however, the impact reduction effect of these initiatives is not clear. This study investigated the environmental initiatives and impact indicators disclosed in forty corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports of construction companies and determined the relationships between the initiatives and indicators. The results demonstrated that the likelihood of an initiative reducing environmental impacts was approximately 25% on average, meaning that one in four companies was able to successfully implement initiatives. The energy consumption reduction from initiatives had the highest probability, at 40%, and water consumption reduction had only 9.4%. This study contributes to making explicit relationships between initiatives and impact reductions possible. A company can verify the effectiveness of initiatives by examining the values of their corresponding indicators before implementing environmental initiatives.

Engineering design quality is very important for construction projects. Although many quality or performance management methods have been proposed, a simple quantitative indicator is lacking. This research proposes the First Time Correctness Ratio (FTCR) indicator to quantify the percentage of work correctly done the first time. A checklist consisting of major design activities was developed first by reference to design management theory, quality control process of a case consulting firm, and interviews with designers and owners. Then the ways of using the checklist to evaluate design quality and calculating the FTCR scores were discussed for different levels and time phases of a project. Finally four engineering design case projects were used to test the checklist applicability and derive FTCR scores. The results show that the FTCR method is a simple indicator to distinguish performances. In addition, the FTCR approach provides benefits for engineering design organizations to meet the ISO requirements.

Coordination has been regarded as a critical factor of construction projects, but it is usually not well understood. It is common that time and money are spent on coordination, yet the performance is not as expected. This article studies the coordination needs and supply of construction projects. First, coordination needs were derived from work uncertainty and equivocality (U&E), and supply was offered by different methods engineers use to coordinate. Then ten subway construction projects were investigated. A questionnaire was modified to quantify the project U&E, and a time sheet designed to collect contractor engineers' work time allocated in nine coordination methods. Finally, how actual coordination time distribution met the needs and their relationships with performance were analyzed. The results indicate that the project performance is not related to the level of U&E. In the nine coordination methods of the studied projects, site visit took up the most time (23%), followed by correspondence (20.5%) and meetings (13%). Projects with good performance applied adequate oral or written coordination mainly based on work equivocality.

Adopting the BOT (build-operate-transfer) delivery method for construction projects has brought opportunities for desired performance. Studies have investigated many issues of BOT projects such as concessionaire selection criteria or risk factors, but the soft issue of the status and psychology change of project participants from traditional DBB (design-bid-build) method is not investigated. This research explored the status and psychology of DBB and BOT project participants and drew implication for performance. By using the case study method, this study selected ten projects in which five from DBB and five from BOT methods; interviewed 36 owners, designers, constructors and other participants in 14 times; and analyzed and compared their design and construction work interaction, designer and constructor status, and owner and concessionaire psychology. It is found that for DBB civil projects performance would be stable because of completed design, more cautious owner, and respected designer that is good to performance. For BOT civil projects, performance would vary and the designer and constructor can better cooperate. The flexibility and vitality brought by the BOT mechanism should be better used to create better performance.

Environmental sustainability issues have been incorporated into product development in recent years. The design stage is key to integrating these issues, so the EcoDesign (ED) strategies were developed in the manufacturing industry to direct sustainable product design. Construction projects have also been requested to incorporate sustainability but most of them are green buildings. Other types of construction projects need strategies or tools to facilitate sustainability incorporation. This study developed ED strategies for roadway projects. First, sixty sustainability design items in 14 disciplines for roadway design were identified. Then, the manufacturing ED strategies were referenced and adjusted into eight applicable strategies for construction projects. The 60 items were linked with the eight ED strategies through interviewing designers. The results showed that the two ED strategies of “reduction in weight/volume” and “reduction of impact during use” were more adopted by roadway projects with 34% and 33%, respectively; the 14 design disciplines adopted the eight ED strategies with different proportions. The findings indicate the direction leading roadway projects towards sustainability and reducing trial and error by designers.

Coordination has been regarded as a critical factor of successful projects. Because construction projects are highly fragmented with many participants involved at different construction stages, coordination is more complicated for contractors. A coordination systems and procedure developed by simulating circulatory system could improve coordination effectiveness of construction projects due to the natural and effective physiological functions of the human body. To verify the applicability and effectiveness of the system and procedure, two tools to quantify coordination needs and supply were proposed and a case project was tested for ten months. The results showed that the more fit between coordination needs and supply, the better the task performance, meaning that the coordination system and procedure is effective. During construction the contractor can follow the coordination procedure and assign an engineer to evaluate variation of coordination needs and supply periodically or at emergent conditions. As coordination supply does not meet needs, time and frequency of coordination methods should be adjusted.

This study proposed an integration process to incorporate sustainability issues into engineering design for construction projects. To facilitate use by engineers, the integration process was built on the traditional design process. Design work is the foundation for the integration process. Because engineers are familiar with design work and processes, the linkage between the eight design steps and six integration steps make the integration more concrete. The study results show that the integration process can help participants to incorporate sustainability issues, communicate with stakeholders, and achieve consensus, if followed rigorously. The integration steps, such as creation of the integration team and evaluation of alternatives, are similar to the elements dealt with in environmental impact assessment. Since sustainability integration is actually a decision-making and execution process, its management should have the attention of the government, construction owner, and integration team.