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Reinforcement Learning In Motor Skill Acquisition: Using The Reward Positivity To Understand The Mechanisms Underlying Short- And Long-Term Behavior Adaptation, Mariane F B Bacelar, Keith R Lohse, Juliana O Parma, Matthew W Miller

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: According to reinforcement learning, humans adjust their behavior based on the difference between actual and anticipated outcomes (i.e., prediction error) with the main goal of maximizing rewards through their actions. Despite offering a strong theoretical framework to understand how we acquire motor skills, very few studies have investigated reinforcement learning predictions and its underlying mechanisms in motor skill acquisition.

METHODS: In the present study, we explored a 134-person dataset consisting of learners' feedback-evoked brain activity (reward positivity; RewP) and motor accuracy during the practice phase and delayed retention test to investigate whether these variables interacted according to reinforcement learning …

Simplified Methods For Variance Estimation In Microbiome Abundance Count Data Analysis, Yiming Shi, Lili Liu, Jun Chen, Kristine M Wylie, Todd N Wylie, Molly J Stout, Chan Wang, Haixiang Zhang, Ya-Chen T Shih, Xiaoyi Xu, Ai Zhang, Sung Hee Park, Hongmei Jiang, Lei Liu

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The complex nature of microbiome data has made the differential abundance analysis challenging. Microbiome abundance counts are often skewed to the right and heteroscedastic (also known as overdispersion), potentially leading to incorrect inferences if not properly addressed. In this paper, we propose a simple yet effective framework to tackle the challenges by integrating Poisson (log-linear) regression with standard error estimation through the Bootstrap method and Sandwich robust estimation. Such standard error estimates are accurate and yield satisfactory inference even if the distributional assumption or the variance structure is incorrect. Our approach is validated through extensive simulation studies, demonstrating its effectiveness …

Protein Quality Malnutrition, Mark J Manary, Donna R Wegner, Kenneth Maleta

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Protein quality refers to the evaluation of a food or a diet based on its amino acid composition, protein digestibility, and protein bioavailability. When these parameters are specified, either through direct measurement or estimation, the amino acids provided by the diet are compared to those required by a healthy individual, and based on this comparison, an adequacy ratio or score is assigned. Two widely used protein quality scoring systems are the protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) and the digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS), neither of which account for the dietary source of the protein. In malnourished children, metabolic …

The Role Of Brainstem Biopsy And Targeted Therapies In Pediatric Diffuse Midline Glioma/Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, Shehryar R Sheikh, Violette M R Recinos, Eric M Thompson, Ross Mangum, Mariah Wright-Nadkarni, Bradley Gampel, Neha J Patel

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Pediatric diffuse midline glioma (DMG), including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), are aggressive brainstem tumors with a dire prognosis, traditionally diagnosed based on MRI characteristics. The recognition that molecular characteristics may determine prognosis and response to therapy has led to a reevaluation of biopsy necessity. This comprehensive review addresses the evolving role of brainstem biopsies in diagnosing and managing these tumors - both within the context of a clinical trial and in routine clinical care. We examine practice variability around brainstem biopsies for DMG/DIPG, revealing a global inconsistency in biopsy application and perceptions amongst providers. We show that safety profiles …