Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examining Variable Domain Orientations in Antigen Receptors Gives Insight into TCR-Like Antibody Design

The variable domains of antibodies and T-Cell receptors (TCRs) share similar structures. Both molecules act as sensors for the immune system but recognise their respective antigens in different ways. Antibodies bind to a diverse set of antigenic shapes whilst TCRs only recognise linear peptides presented by a major histocompatibility complex (MHC). The antigen specificity and affinity of both receptors is determined primarily by the sequence and structure of their complementarity determining regions (CDRs). In antibodies the binding site is also known to be affected by the relative orientation of the variable domains, VH and VL. Here, the corresponding property for TCRs, the Vβ-Vα orientation, is investigated and compared with that of antibodies. We find that TCR and antibody orientations are distinct. General antibody orientations are found to be incompatible with binding to the MHC in a canonical TCR-like mode. Finally, factors that cause the orientation of TCRs and antibodies to be different are investigated. Packing of the long Vα CDR3 in the domain-domain interface is found to be influential. In antibodies, a similar packing affect can be achieved using a bulky residue at IMGT position 50 on the VH domain. Along with IMGT VH 50, other positions are identified that may help to promote a TCR-like orientation in antibodies. These positions should provide useful considerations in the engineering of therapeutic TCR-like antibodies.
Using Time-Varying Evidence to Test Models of Decision Dynamics: Bounded Diffusion vs. the Leaky Competing Accumulator Model

When people make decisions, do they give equal weight to evidence arriving at different times? A recent study (Kiani et al., 2008) using brief motion pulses (superimposed on a random moving dot display) reported a primacy effect: pulses presented early in a motion observation period had a stronger impact than pulses presented later. This observation was interpreted as supporting the bounded diffusion (BD) model and ruling out models in which evidence accumulation is subject to leakage or decay of early-arriving information. We use motion pulses and other manipulations of the timing of the perceptual evidence in new experiments and simulations that support the leaky competing accumulator (LCA) model as an alternative to the BD model. While the LCA does include leakage, we show that it can exhibit primacy as a result of competition between alternatives (implemented via mutual inhibition), when the inhibition is strong relative to the leak. Our experiments replicate the primacy effect when participants must be prepared to respond quickly at the end of a motion observation period. With less time pressure, however, the primacy effect is much weaker. For 2 (out of 10) participants, a primacy bias observed in trials where the motion observation period is short becomes weaker or reverses (becoming a recency effect) as the observation period lengthens. Our simulation studies show that primacy is equally consistent with the LCA or with BD. The transition from primacy-to-recency can also be captured by the LCA but not by BD. Individual differences and relations between the LCA and other models are discussed.
Socio demographic and reproductive risk factors for cervical cancer - a large prospective cohort study from rural India.

BACKGROUND India shows some of the highest rates of cervical cancer worldwide, and more than 70% of the population is living in rural villages. Prospective cohort studies to determine the risk factors for cervical cancer are very rare from low and medium resource countries. The aim of this study was to quantify the effect of risk factors related to cervical cancer in a rural setting in South India. MATERIAL AND METHODS Sociodemographic and reproductive potential risk factors for cervical cancer were studied using the data from a cohort of 30,958 women who constituted the unscreened control group in a randomised screening trial in Dindigul district, Tamilnadu, India. The analysis was accomplished with the Cox proportional hazard regression model. RESULTS Women of increasing age (HR=2.4; 95% CI: 1.6, 3.8 in 50-59 vs 30-39), having many pregnancies (HR=7.1; 1.0, 52 in 4+ vs 0) and no education (HR=0.6; 0.2, 0.7 in high vs none) were found to be at significantly increased risk of cervical cancer. CONCLUSION This cohort study gives very strong evidence to say that education is the fundamental factor among the sociodemographic and reproductive determinants of cervical cancer in low resource settings. Public awareness through education and improvements in living standards can play an important role in reducing the high incidence of cervical cancer in India. These findings further stress the importance of formulating public health policies aimed at increasing awareness and implementation of cervical cancer screening programmes.
Predicting openness and commitment to change

Developed and tested a model of the change management strategies that predict openness and commitment to a large‐scale organizational change. Based on a sample of 164 employees, a partially‐ and a fully‐mediated model were compared with the former providing the best fit to the data. Communication and job security predicted openness and trust both directly and indirectly, via procedural justice. Participation predicted trust directly and indirectly but predicted openness to change only indirectly (via procedural justice). Turnover intentions were negatively predicted by openness and trust. Finally, turnover intentions predicted neglect. These results highlight the role of procedural justice perceptions in understanding organizational change.
Visual analysis of gait as a cue to identity

For humans, the ability to discriminate between, and to identify, others is paramount. The most obvious way this is accomplished is by means of face recognition. However, this is not the only method available. The present article reports on two experiments designed to see whether gait can be used as a reliable cue to identity. Experiment One showed that the human visual system was sophisticated enough to learn to identify six individuals on the basis of their gait signature under conditions of simulated daylight, simulated dusk and point-light displays. It thus appeared that gait-related judgements could be made, and furthermore, that these judgements were possible without reliance on shape information. Experiment Two suggested that even under adverse viewing conditions involving a single brief exposure, humans could identify a target from a walking identity parade at greater than chance levels. These results emerged regardless of the lighting conditions, and were largely independent of the gender of the target walker. As such, the present results suggest that gait could be used as a reliable means of discriminating between individuals, and the importance of such an identity cue, in conditions in which the face is obscured, are discussed.
Supportive Schooling

Given the challenges of a culturally and linguistically diverse student body, one exemplary high school has developed supportive schooling practices that provide academic rigor and access for all students while embracing their linguistic and cultural identities. This ethnographic study documents how this school contributed to the college preparation of nine Latino immigrant students. Implications also address the need for partnerships with university and community resources that assist students and families in the college preparation process.
Does Gender Affect Visiting a World Heritage Site?

ABSTRACT The city of Guimarães in Portugal is a place of strong symbolic and cultural significance, and the nomination of its historical center as a World Heritage Site in 2001 enhanced its tourism potential. This study presents the results of a survey conducted in 2010 and 2011 to capture the profile and motivations of tourists visiting Guimarães as a cultural tourism destination. The study addressed two main issues: whether males and females have similar or different preferences in choosing the city as their destination, and whether there are gender differences in the perception of the attributes of Guimarães. A better understanding of the gendered nature of the destination is a valuable cue for shaping products and services according to visitors’ preferences. The results suggest that both men and women are aware of the main elements responsible for the city's World Heritage status. That the destination is a Heritage Site that also offers the opportunity to tour the region has a significant positive effect on male tourists’ choice of Guimarães. Regarding the perceived attributes of the city, results indicate minor gender differences with one exception: Women expressed more apprehension than men regarding the perceived security of the destination.
Pubertal Development, Parental Communication, and Sexual Values in Relation to Adolescent Sexual Behaviors

There is great interest in understanding adolescent sexual behavior because of its links to unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. This study's purpose was to analyze biological and social antecedents of adolescent sexual intentions and behaviors, including age, pubertal development, quality of parent/adolescent communication, and adolescent sexual values. Analyses were based on longitudinal data collected in 1991, 1992, and 1993 from 473 families. Structural equation modeling was used to test direct and indirect effects among the time-ordered variables separately by gender Both for males and females, parent/adolescent communication quality was related positively to adolescent sexual abstinence values, abstinence values had a strong negative effect on sexual intentions, and sexual intentions had a significant positive effect on sexual behaviors. Parent/adolescent communication quality was related directly to sexual intentions measured 1 year later among females only. Early pubertal development, relative to same-age peers, was related directly to sexual behaviors of both genders.
An application of land suitability evaluation for FTDP: a fuzzy MCDM approach

The main objective of this paper is to carry out Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) to arrive at the best alternative by accounting for uncertainties and spatial variability in the various elements. The present paper focuses on addressing uncertainty in the process of land suitability evaluation for horticultural projects area (mountains area in Syria). In this context, both fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS methods are applicable in determining agricultural land-use priorities and can be used in the planning process. Setting priorities or ranking agricultural land use (by area) is a complex task in the frame of sustainable development. All the methodologies are implemented to analyse the suitability of the horticultural crop in different areas in Syria.
Evolutionary crossroads in developmental biology: cyclostomes (lamprey and hagfish)

Lampreys and hagfish, which together are known as the cyclostomes or ‘agnathans’, are the only surviving lineages of jawless fish. They diverged early in vertebrate evolution, before the origin of the hinged jaws that are characteristic of gnathostome (jawed) vertebrates and before the evolution of paired appendages. However, they do share numerous characteristics with jawed vertebrates. Studies of cyclostome development can thus help us to understand when, and how, key aspects of the vertebrate body evolved. Here, we summarise the development of cyclostomes, highlighting the key species studied and experimental methods available. We then discuss how studies of cyclostomes have provided important insight into the evolution of fins, jaws, skeleton and neural crest.
Improved Error Bounds for Inner Products in Floating-Point Arithmetic

Given two floating-point vectors $x,y$ of dimension $n$ and assuming rounding to nearest, we show that if no underflow or overflow occurs, any evaluation order for an inner product returns a floating-point number ${\widehat r}$ such that $|{\widehat r}- x^Ty| \leqslant nu|x|^T|y|$ with $u$ the unit roundoff. This result, which holds for any radix and with no restriction on $n$, can be seen as a generalization of a similar bound given in [S. M. Rump, BIT, 52 (2012), pp. 201--220] for recursive summation in radix $2$, namely, $|{\widehat r}- x^Te| \leqslant (n-1)u|x|^Te$ with $e=[1,1,\ldots,1]^T$. As a direct consequence, the error bound for the floating-point approximation $\widehat{C}$ of classical matrix multiplication with inner dimension $n$ simplifies to $|\widehat{C}-AB|\leqslant nu|A||B|$.
Part-Task Training of Complex Tasks: Utility of Backward Transfer

Previous studies using the backward transfer technique identified a set of component tasks that are potentially critical to a complex, desk-top flight simulator task. This study directly tested the importance of these tasks using a part-task training paradigm. One group of subjects received part-task training concentrating on the critical component tasks. A second group received part-task training on non-critical component tasks. The third group received whole-task training. Subjects receiving part-task training on the critical tasks performed as well as subjects in the whole-task condition. Females, but not males, receiving practice on the “non-critical” tasks were worse than females in the other two groups, suggesting an aptitude x treatment interaction. Results were not replicated on a transfer task. These data illustrate the importance of selecting component tasks for part-task training, and the utility of the backward transfer technique in identifying those tasks.
Effects of Ionic and Osmotic Strength on the Glucosyltransferase of Rhizobium meliloti Responsible for Cyclic β-(1,2)-Glucan Biosynthesis

ABSTRACT The cyclic β-(1,2)-glucans of Rhizobium meliloti andAgrobacterium tumefaciens play an important role during hypoosmotic adaptation, and the synthesis of these compounds is osmoregulated. Glucosyltransferase, the enzyme responsible for cyclic β-(1,2)-glucan biosynthesis, is present constitutively, suggesting that osmotic regulation of the biosynthesis of these glucans occurs through modulation of enzyme activity. In this study, we examined regulation of cyclic glucan biosynthesis in vitro with membrane preparations from R. meliloti. The results show that ionic solutes inhibit glucan synthesis, even when they are present at low concentrations (e.g., 10 mM). In contrast, neutral solutes (glucose, sucrose, and the compatible solutes glycine betaine and trehalose) were found to stimulate glucan synthesis in vitro when they were present at high concentrations (e.g., 1 M). Furthermore, high concentrations of these neutral solutes were shown to compensate for the inhibition of glucosyltransferase activity by ionic solutes. Consistent with their ionic character, the compatible solute potassium glutamate and the osmoprotectant choline chloride inhibited glucosyltransferase activity in vitro. The results suggest that intracellular ion concentrations, intracellular osmolarity, and intracellular concentrations of nonionic compatible solutes all act as important determinants of glucosyltransferase activity in vivo. Additional experiments were performed with an ndvA mutant defective for transport of cyclic glucans and an ndvB mutant that produces a C-terminal truncated glucosyltransferase. Cyclic β-(1,2)-glucan biosynthesis, although reduced, was found to be osmoregulated in both mutants. These results reveal that NdvA and the C terminus of NdvB are not required for osmotic regulation of cyclic β-(1,2)-glucan biosynthesis.
A review of optical pacing with infrared light

Optical pacing (OP) uses pulsed infrared light to initiate heartbeats in electrically excitable cardiac tissues without employing exogenous agents. OP is an alternative approach to electrical pacing that may overcome some its disadvantages for some applications. In this review, we discuss the initial demonstrations, mechanisms, safety, advantages and applications of OP.
Recurrent bleeding from peptic ulcer associated with adherent clot: a randomized study comparing endoscopic treatment with medical therapy.

BACKGROUND Endoscopic therapy reduces the recurrence of bleeding from actively bleeding peptic ulcers and those with visible vessels. However, the use of endoscopic therapy for ulcers with adherent clots remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine whether removal of clot from an ulcer and endoscopic therapy reduces the frequency of recurrent bleeding. METHODS Patients with acute upper GI bleeding from peptic ulcers with adherent clots and no active bleeding were enrolled in a multicenter study. At each center patients were stratified for age, use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and ulcer location, and were randomized to endoscopic or medical management. Endoscopic therapy consisted of injection of the base of the adherent clot with a solution of epinephrine and mechanical removal of the clot. The base of the ulcer and any stigmata of bleeding were then coagulated until cavitation and adequate coagulation were obtained. Patients in both groups received standard medical therapy for peptic ulcer. Patients were evaluated for recurrence of bleeding for 1 month. RESULTS Fifty-six patients were enrolled. Rates of recurrent bleeding were 34.3% (12/35) in the medical treatment arm versus 4.8% (1/21) in the endoscopic treatment arm (p < 0.02). CONCLUSIONS In patients with GI bleeding caused by gastric or duodenal ulcers with an adherent clot found on endoscopy, endoscopic therapy with injection of the base of the clot, clot removal, and heat probe coagulation significantly reduces the rate of recurrent bleeding compared with medical therapy alone.
Combining Best-Practice and Experimental Approaches: Redundancy, Images, and Misperceptions in Multimedia Learning

This experiment combined controlled experimental design with a best-practice approach (i.e., real course content, subjective evaluations) to clarify the role of verbal redundancy, confirm the multimodal impact of images and narration, and highlight discrepancies between actual and perceived understanding. The authors presented 1 of 3 computer-based lecture conditions: audio, redundant (audio with redundant text), or complementary (audio with nonredundant text and images). Audio and redundant conditions produced similar actual understanding, whereas the complementary condition produced greatest actual understanding. Redundant condition learners perceived their understanding as greater than their actual understanding. Findings encourage multimedia research to balance controlled experiments with a best-practice approach to better understand effective multimedia design.
Relationship Between Personal and Contextual Characteristics and Principals' Administrative Behaviors

Abstract The results of an exploratory study of the role of contextual and personal factors (“personality” and demographic differences) in modifying administrative behavior are presented. Of the personal characteristics, principals' goals, particularly those of providing leadership, had the most impact on administrative behavior. Of the contextual influences, the psychological environment of the district influenced management behaviors, but not leadership behaviors. When a district emphasized competition and social comparison, principals responded by increasing monitoring, supervising, and managing. Although community characteristics were unrelated to either management or leadership functions, principals who perceived that their staffs were committed and hard working increased both management and leadership behaviors.
Consensus statement on injury definitions and data collection procedures in studies of football (soccer) injuries

Variations in definitions and methodologies have created differences in the results and conclusions obtained from studies of football (soccer) injuries, making interstudy comparisons difficult. Therefore an Injury Consensus Group was established under the auspices of Fédération Internationale de Football Association Medical Assessment and Research Centre. A nominal group consensus model approach was used. A working document on definitions, methodology, and implementation was discussed by the group. Iterative draft statements were prepared and circulated to members of the group for comment before the final consensus statement was produced. Definitions of injury, recurrent injury, severity, and training and match exposures in football together with criteria for classifying injuries in terms of location, type, diagnosis, and causation are proposed. Proforma for recording players’ baseline information, injuries, and training and match exposures are presented. Recommendations are made on how the incidence of match and training injuries should be reported and a checklist of issues and information that should be included in published reports of studies of football injuries is presented.
Short-Term Effects of Different Loading Schemes in Fitness-Related Resistance Training

Abstract Eifler, C. Short-term effects of different loading schemes in fitness-related resistance training. J Strength Cond Res 30(7): 1880–1889, 2016—The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the short-term effects of different loading schemes in fitness-related resistance training and to identify the most effective loading method for advanced recreational athletes. The investigation was designed as a longitudinal field-test study. Two hundred healthy mature subjects with at least 12 months' experience in resistance training were randomized in 4 samples of 50 subjects each. Gender distribution was homogenous in all samples. Training effects were quantified by 10 repetition maximum (10RM) and 1 repetition maximum (1RM) testing (pre-post-test design). Over a period of 6 weeks, a standardized resistance training protocol with 3 training sessions per week was realized. Testing and training included 8 resistance training exercises in a standardized order. The following loading schemes were randomly matched to each sample: constant load (CL) with constant volume of repetitions, increasing load (IL) with decreasing volume of repetitions, decreasing load (DL) with increasing volume of repetitions, daily changing load (DCL), and volume of repetitions. For all loading schemes, significant strength gains (p < 0.001) could be noted for all resistance training exercises and both dependent variables (10RM, 1RM). In all cases, DCL obtained significantly higher strength gains (p < 0.001) than CL, IL, and DL. There were no significant differences in strength gains between CL, IL, and DL. The present data indicate that resistance training following DCL is more effective for advanced recreational athletes than CL, IL, or DL. Considering that DCL is widely unknown in fitness-related resistance training, the present data indicate, there is potential for improving resistance training in commercial fitness clubs.
Aventuriers et commerçants sénégalais à Casablanca : des parcours entrecroisés

Le champ migratoire forme par les Senegalais a Casablanca s’organise autour de logiques hybrides, au centre desquelles migrations clandestines et commercantes occupent une place predominante. En refusant d’opposer a priori deux figures de migrants, l’une positive, idealement incarnee dans le profil des commercants transnationaux, et l’autre negative, couramment representee sous l’aspect du clandestin ou de « l’aventurier » miserable, la problematique envisagee s’interesse aux frontieres fluctuantes qui, au vu du nouveau contexte de la fin des annees 1990, animent ces itineraires migratoires. L’enjeu heuristique d’une reflexion sur les « nouvelles » logiques migratoires se combine a un double interet socio-historique : en eclairant des migrations encore peu connues, cette investigation sociologique evoque les consequences de la politique migratoire europeenne.