Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protein Fusion Strategies for Membrane Protein Stabilization and Crystal Structure Determination

Crystal structures of membrane proteins are highly desired for their use in the mechanistic understanding of their functions and the designing of new drugs. However, obtaining the membrane protein structures is difficult. One way to overcome this challenge is with protein fusion methods, which have been successfully used to determine the structures of many membrane proteins, including receptors, enzymes and adhesion molecules. Existing fusion strategies can be categorized into the N or C terminal fusion, the insertion fusion and the termini restraining. The fusions facilitate protein expression, purification, crystallization and phase determination. Successful applications often require further optimization of protein fusion linkers and interactions, whose design can be facilitated by a shared helix strategy and by AlphaFold prediction in the future.
Neuronal Activity during Exposure to Specific Phobia through fMRI: Comparing Therapeutic Components of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) packages for anxiety disorders, such as phobias, usually include gradual exposure to anxious contexts, positive self-verbalizations, and relaxation breathing. The objective of this research was to analyze the specific neural activation produced by the self-verbalizations (S) and breathing (B) included in CBT. Thirty participants with clinical levels of a specific phobia to small animals were randomly assigned to three fMRI conditions in which individuals were exposed to phobic stimuli in real images: a group underwent S as a technique to reduce anxiety; a second group underwent B; and a control group underwent exposure only (E). Simple effects showed higher brain activation comparing E > S, E > B, and S > B. In particular, in the E group, compared to the experimental conditions, an activation was observed in sensory-perceptive and prefrontal and in other regions involved in the triggering of emotion (i.e., amygdala, supplementary motor area, and cingulate gyrus) as well as an activation associated with interoceptive sensitivity (i.e., insula and cingulate cortex). According to the specific tool used, discrepancies in the neural changes of CBT efficacy were observed. We discuss the theoretical implications according to the dual model of CBT as a set of therapeutic tools that activate different processes.
Longitudinal Associations of Newly Diagnosed Prediabetes and Diabetes with Cognitive Function among Chinese Adults Aged 45 Years and Older

With population aging, diabetes mellitus and cognitive function decline are common health problems among older adults worldwide. This longitudinal study is aimed at estimating the longitudinal associations of newly diagnosed prediabetes and diabetes status with cognitive function among Chinese adults aged 45 years and older and evaluating the clinical risk factors associated with cognitive function. Data were obtained from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). A total of 8716 participants meeting the inclusion criteria were enrolled between 2011 and 2012 at baseline, and 6125 participants completed the follow-up survey in 2018. Cognitive function, newly diagnosed diabetic status, depression, body mass index, and clinical and biochemical measurements were collected. At baseline, the mean age of the participants was 58.93 (SD: 9.76) years, 3987 (45.7%) were males, 1802 (20.7%) participants were newly diagnosed with prediabetes, and 935 (10.7%) were diabetes patients. After adjusting for control variables, diabetes was a significant risk factor for subsequent cognitive decline (unstandardized βestimate = −0.50, 95%CI = −0.98 ~ −0.02). Subgroup analyses found that the association of diabetes with cognitive decline was significant in females. Stratification analyses found that among prediabetes patients, triglyceride concentrations were negatively associated with cognitive function; among diabetes patients, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein was significantly associated with cognitive decline. The newly diagnosed diabetes status at baseline was associated with subsequent cognitive decline among middle-aged and elderly Chinese, especially in females. The management of triglycerides through lifestyle modification for prediabetes and specific adjunctive anti-inflammatory therapy for diabetes might benefit cognitive performance.
Development and use of an L3CCD high‐cadence imaging system for Optical Astronomy

A high cadence imaging system, based on a Low Light Level CCD (L3CCD) camera, has been developed for photometric and polarimetric applications. The camera system is an iXon DV‐887 from Andor Technology, which uses a CCD97 L3CCD detector from E2V technologies. This is a back illuminated device, giving it an extended blue response, and has an active area of 512×512 pixels. The camera system allows frame‐rates ranging from 30 fps (full frame) to 425 fps (windowed & binned frame). We outline the system design, concentrating on the calibration and control of the L3CCD camera. The L3CCD detector can be either triggered directly by a GPS timeserver/frequency generator or be internally triggered. A central PC remotely controls the camera computer system and timeserver. The data is saved as standard ‘FITS’ files. The large data loads associated with high frame rates, leads to issues with gathering and storing the data effectively. To overcome such problems, a specific data management approach is used, and a Python.
Students of entrepreneurship: Sorting, risk behaviour and implications for entrepreneurship programmes

Despite the wide adoption of entrepreneurship programmes by higher education institutions, little is known about how such programmes help students cultivate rationality in decision making. This is surprising, since individuals are bounded rational and prone to systematic biases in high-risk business processes, including entrepreneurship. This article suggests that entrepreneurship programmes should include curricula that furnish awareness of the cognitive mechanisms involved in biased decision making with financial risk. In support of our proposition, this article builds on data from a laboratory-based money games experiment in which students who enrol in entrepreneurship programmes are compared with students who do not in their risk behaviour. We show when, why and how students suffer from specific biases – namely, the prior gain effect and the degree-of-risk effect – that are relevant in environments characterised by high financial risk, and specifically in entrepreneurship. These insights challenge the adequacy of entrepreneurship programme curricula in addressing bounded-rational decision making, as topics such as risk and biased decision making are often overlooked. Second, we discuss possible ways to create such awareness in entrepreneurship learning and education.
Comparative Bacterial Metagenomics of Soursop (Annona muricata L.) and Apple (Malus domestica B.)

Illumina Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) platform targeting the conserved regions of bacteria ribosomal DNA (16s rRNA) was used to identify the bacterial community associated with soursop (Annona muricata L.). The aim of this work is to compare the diversities of the bacterial communities of Annona muricata and Malus domestica (obtained from National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database). The functional genes in these communities were also predicted. A total of 167,693 high quality reads was obtained from Annona muricata and Malus domestica. Clustering on GREENGENES database revealed 570 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs). Alpha-diversity indices indicated high diversity and abundance of microbial community. Taxonomic analysis revealed that bacterial community was grouped into 24 phyla and 455 genera. The microbiome of the samples was dominated by distinct populations of four phyla viz Proteobacteria (58.41%), Bacteroidetes (18.59%), Actinobacteria (11.13%) and Firmicutes (7.29%). The functional genes were predicted for 16S rRNA gene sequences based on Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) which indicated amino acid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, xenobiotics biodegradation and lipid metabolism, metabolism of terpenoids and polypeptides and biosynthesis of other secondary metabolites as predominant metabolic categories. Thus, the study revealed the structure of microbial community and functional genes composition in A. muricata and M. domestica fruits and this will help to expand the knowledge concerning the structure of plant-associated bacterial communities, revealing valuable information of their impact and indicating their crucial roles in evolutionary and ecological processes.
On not staying put where they have put you: mobilities disrupting the socio-spatial figurations of displacement in Greece

ABSTRACT The reception and protection system in Greece in the aftermath of the so-called refugee crisis produces a geography of specific mobility restrictions and accommodation types for migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees. These restrictions create a multi-layered landscape of displacement, dominated by three socio-spatial figurations: the forced containment of displaced people in ‘hotspots’ on eastern Aegean islands; staying in isolated and segregated camps in the mainland; and the accommodation of the most vulnerable in urban centres. At the same time, the mobility practices of displaced people often disrupt the above figurations, stemming from their survival practices and life aspirations, and largely relating to their translocal social connections. These mobilities include, but are not limited to, unregistered movements from hotspots to the mainland, mobilities from camp to camp, mobility negotiations between camp and city. This paper explores the figurations of displacement related to the impact of governance regimes on the livelihoods and mobility of displaced people in Greece. Within this frame, it focuses on the ways through which migrants and asylum-seekers negotiate, resist or transcend the geography of multiple restrictions, through translocal mobility practices that intervene and therefore reshape dominant socio-spatial figurations.
A DASKL Descriptor via Encoding the Information of Keypoints and a 3D Local Surface for 3D Matching

Three-dimensional matching is widely used in 3D vision tasks, such as 3D reconstruction, target recognition, and 3D model retrieval. The description of local features is the fundamental task of 3D matching; however, the descriptors only encode the surrounding surfaces of keypoints, and thus they cannot distinguish between similar local surfaces of objects. Therefore, we propose a novel local feature descriptor called deviation angle statistics of keypoints from local points and adjacent keypoints (DASKL). To encode a local surface fully, we first calculate a multiscale local reference axis (LRA); second, a local consistent strategy is used to redirect the normal direction, and the Poisson-disk sampling strategy is used to eliminate the redundancy in the data. Finally, the local surface is subdivided by two kinds of spatial features, and the histogram of the deviation angle between the LRA and the normal point in each subdivision space is generated. For the coding between keypoints, we calculate the LRA deviation angle between the nearest three keypoints and the adjacent keypoint. The performance of our DASKL descriptor is evaluated on several datasets (i.e., B3R, UWAOR, and LIDAR) with respect to Gaussian noise, varying mesh resolutions, clutter, and occlusion. The results show that our DASKL descriptor has achieved excellent performance in terms of description, robustness, and efficiency. Moreover, we further evaluate the generalization ability of the DASKL descriptor in a LIDAR real-scene dataset.
Adjoint-Based Constrained Aerodynamic Shape Optimization for Multistage Turbomachines

This paper develops the discrete adjoint equations for a turbomachinery Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes solver and proposes a framework for fully automatic gradient-based constrained aerodynamic shape optimization in a multistage turbomachinery environment. The systematic approach for the development of the discrete adjoint solver is discussed. Special emphasis is put on the development of the turbomachinery-specific features of the adjoint solver (that is, on the derivation of flow-consistent adjoint inlet and outlet boundary conditions) and, to allow for a concurrent rotor–stator optimization and stage coupling, on the development of an exact adjoint counterpart to the nonreflective, conservative mixing-plane formulation used in the flow solver. The adjoint solver is validated by comparing its sensitivities with finite difference gradients obtained from the flow solver. A sequential-quadratic programming algorithm is used to determine an improved blade shape based on the gradient information provided by.
What Levers to Promote Teachers’ Wellbeing during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: Lessons Learned from a 2021 Online Study in Six Countries

To highlight effective levers to promote teachers’ wellbeing worldwide, particularly during difficult times such as the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated work-related factors associated with teacher wellbeing, across borders and cultures. In six countries/territories, we examined the factors that were most consistently and strongly associated with two indicators of wellbeing at work: (i) job satisfaction; and (ii) work/life balance, and three indicators of general wellbeing: (i) subjective health; (ii) mental health; and (iii) life satisfaction. Between May and July 2021, after 18 months of the pandemic, 8000 teachers answered the first edition of the International Barometer of Education Personnel’s Health and Wellbeing (I-BEST): 3646 teachers from France, 2349 from Québec, 1268 from Belgium, 302 from Morocco, 222 from The Gambia, and 215 from Mexico. For each country/territory and each wellbeing indicator, we used a forward stepwise regression procedure to identify important determinants among a carefully selected set of 31 sociodemographic, private, and professional life factors. Aside from healthcare access, the factors most consistently and strongly associated with teacher wellbeing in France, Québec and Belgium (samples whose size were ≥1000) were related to the psychosocial and the organizational dimensions of work, namely: feeling of safety at school, autonomy at work, and the quality of relationships with superiors and quality of relationships with students. In the smaller samples of teachers from the three remaining countries (Morocco, The Gambia and Mexico), exploratory analyses showed that the feeling of safety and autonomy at work were, there too, consistently associated with wellbeing indicators. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the factors most consistently associated with teachers’ wellbeing across countries were related to security and autonomy at work, supporting the importance to consider these aspects in a continuous, structural way at school. Factors associated with teachers’ wellbeing in very different contexts require further cross-cultural study.
Campaign “Thrifting” Sebagai Solusi Limbah Fashion

Fenomena Fast Fashion merupakan praktik industri fashion yang menerapkan sistem mode fashion yang berganti dalam waktu singkat. Cepat atau lambat Fast Fashion dapat berdampak negatif bagi lingkungan. Perancangan ini berjudul Campaign Thrifting sebagai solusi Limbah Fashion bertujuan untuk membantu mengurangi dampak dari Fast Fashion. Thrifting adalah kegiatan membeli barang bekas, melalui Thrifting masyarakat dapat mengeksplor dengan bijak mode-mode fashion tanpa harus membeli barang baru. Metode perancangan yang digunakan adalah metode kotak kaca atau biasa disebut dengan glass box method. Glass box method adalah metode berfikir rasional secara objektif dan sistematis dalam menelaah suatu hal. Perancangan ini disusun menggunakan teori kampanye, gaya hidup, budaya globalisasi dan desain komunikasi visual. Perancangan Campaign Thrifting sebagai solusi Limbah Fashion ini menggunakan Video Stop Motion sebagai media utama dengan tujuan agar masyarakat lebih berpikir terbuka akan manfaat Thrifting dan tahu cara memulai Thrifting. Campaign ini juga didukung dengan media berupa Poster, LED Screen, Instagram(Social Media), Masker, Reusable Bag, Pouch, Tumbler.
Fano 4-Folds with scroll structure

Abstract. We classify smooth Fano 4-folds with second betti number b 2 = 2, possesing adjunction theoretic scroll structure. These manifolds occur to be projectivisations of coherent sheaves over Fano manifolds. The paper deals mainly with projectivisations of non-locally free rank 2 Fano sheaves over Fano 3-folds with b 2 = 1, using Mori theory. By the way, we classify nef and big rank 2 bundles over P2 with the first Chern class (3).
An Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Ontological Similarity Measure

Human language is naturally fuzzy by nature, with words meaning different things to different people, depending on the context. Fuzzy words, are words with a subjective meaning, typically used in everyday human natural language dialogue; they are often ambiguous and vague in meaning depending on an individual’s perception. Fuzzy Sentence Similarity Measures (FSSM) are algorithms that can compare two or more short texts which contain fuzzy words and return a numeric measure of similarity of meaning between them. This paper proposes a new FSSM called FUSE (FUzzy Similarity mEasure). FUSE is an ontology-based similarity measure that uses Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Sets to model relationships between categories of human perception-based words. The FUSE algorithm has been developed over four versions and been compared to several state-of-the-art, traditional semantic similarity measures (SSM’s) which do not consider the presence of fuzzy words. The FUSE algorithm along with the other traditional SSM’s mentioned have been evaluated on several published, gold standard and newly created datasets. Results have shown the FUSE algorithm is able to improve on the limitations of traditional SSM’s by achieving a higher correlation with the average human rating (AHR) compared to traditional SSM’s that do not consider the presence of fuzzy words. The key contributions of this work can be summarised as follows: The development of a new methodology to model fuzzy words using Interval Type-2 fuzzy sets. This has led to the creation of a fuzzy dictionary for nine fuzzy categories, a useful resource which can be used by other researchers in the field of natural language processing and Computing with Words (CWW) with other fuzzy applications such as semantic clustering.
Masculinized Sexual Ornaments in Female Lizards Correlate with Ornament-Enhancing Thermoregulatory Behavior

Synopsis The adaptive significance of colorful or exaggerated traits (i.e., ornaments) expressed in females is often unclear. Competing hypotheses suggest that expression of female ornaments arises from maladaptive (or neutral) genetic inheritance from males along with incomplete epigenetic regulation, or from positive selection for ornaments in females under social competition. Whether costly or advantageous, the visibility of such traits can sometimes be behaviorally modulated in order to maximize fitness. Female eastern fence lizards express blue badges that are variable in size and color saturation. These are rudimentary compared to those seen in males and carry important costs such as reduced mating opportunities. Body temperature is a well-established enhancer of badge color, and thus thermoregulation may be one way these animals modulate badge visibility. We quantified realized body temperatures of female lizards paired in laboratory trials and observed that females with larger badges attained higher body temperatures when freely allowed to thermoregulate, sometimes beyond physiological optima. In this association between phenotype and behavior, females with larger badges exhibited thermoregulatory patterns that increase their badges’ visibility. This signal-enhancing behavior is difficult to reconcile with the widely held view that female ornaments are maladaptive, suggesting they may carry context-dependent social benefits.
InSb∕AlxIn1−xSb quantum-well light-emitting diodes with high internal quantum efficiencies

The properties of InSb∕AlxIn1−xSb quantum-well light-emitting diodes have been investigated as a function of temperature from 300to15K. Over the whole range, the peak emission occurred at significantly higher energies than the band gap of InSb but below the band gap of the AlxIn1−xSb barriers, confirming that emission is from the quantum wells. Maximum internal quantum efficiencies of 65% and 85% were measured at 15K for diodes containing 40 and 20nm quantum wells, respectively.
Studying coherence in ultra-cold atomic gases

This thesis will discuss the study of coherence properties of ultra-cold atomic gases. The atomic systems investigated include a thermal cloud of atoms, a Bose-Einstein condensate and a fermion pair condensate. In each case, a different type of measurement is performed. However, all of the experiments share a common tool: an optical lattice which is used to probe these atomic gases. In the first case, we use an auto-correlation technique to study the interference pattern produced by a gas of atoms, slightly above the Bose-Einstein condensate transition temperature. A moving optical lattice is used to split and recombine the single particle atomic wavefunction. Analogous to a Young’s double slit experiment, we observe high contrast interference which is well described by the model which we develop. When we address only a velocity subset of the thermal sample, however, the contrast is enhanced and deviates from this model. In a second experiment we measure the coherence of a diatomic molecular gas, as well as the atomic Bose-Einstein condensate from which it was created. We use Bragg spectroscopy, in which atoms exchange photons with a moving optical lattice, transferring momentum to the atoms. This process can reveal the velocity distribution of the sample as energy and momentum are conserved only for a specific velocity class. Based on this measurement, we find that the atomic coherence is transferred directly to the molecular gas. We also discuss similar preliminary measurements performed on a fermion pair condensate in the BEC-BCS crossover. In a third experiment we study a fermion pair condensate into a 3D optical lattice. Such a system shares many similarities with electrons in solid materials which exhibit superconductivity, and can offer insight into mechanism which result in this behavior. We infer coherence from the sharp interference pattern observed in the expanding gas, after release. Finally, we study the abrupt onset of dissipation observed in a fermion pair condensate, as a function of velocity, in a moving optical lattice. We equate this threshold with the Landau critical velocity, and take measurements throughout the BEC-BCS crossover. The critical velocity is found to be maximum near unitarity, where the loss mechanism is predicted to crossover from phonon-like excitations to pair breaking. Thesis Supervisor: Wolfgang Ketterle Title: John D. MacAurthur Professor of Physics