Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Virulence Regulation with Venus Flytrap Domains: Structure and Function of the Periplasmic Moiety of the Sensor-Kinase BvgS

Two-component systems (TCS) represent major signal-transduction pathways for adaptation to environmental conditions, and regulate many aspects of bacterial physiology. In the whooping cough agent Bordetella pertussis, the TCS BvgAS controls the virulence regulon, and is therefore critical for pathogenicity. BvgS is a prototypical TCS sensor-kinase with tandem periplasmic Venus flytrap (VFT) domains. VFT are bi-lobed domains that typically close around specific ligands using clamshell motions. We report the X-ray structure of the periplasmic moiety of BvgS, an intricate homodimer with a novel architecture. By combining site-directed mutagenesis, functional analyses and molecular modeling, we show that the conformation of the periplasmic moiety determines the state of BvgS activity. The intertwined structure of the periplasmic portion and the different conformation and dynamics of its mobile, membrane-distal VFT1 domains, and closed, membrane-proximal VFT2 domains, exert a conformational strain onto the transmembrane helices, which sets the cytoplasmic moiety in a kinase-on state by default corresponding to the virulent phase of the bacterium. Signaling the presence of negative signals perceived by the periplasmic domains implies a shift of BvgS to a distinct state of conformation and activity, corresponding to the avirulent phase. The response to negative modulation depends on the integrity of the periplasmic dimer, indicating that the shift to the kinase-off state implies a concerted conformational transition. This work lays the bases to understand virulence regulation in Bordetella. As homologous sensor-kinases control virulence features of diverse bacterial pathogens, the BvgS structure and mechanism may pave the way for new modes of targeted therapeutic interventions.
Poetry in the primary school

The author, a primary school headteacher and poet, offers some personal and practical advice for developing the use and joy in poetry within the classroom. He selects, as a form of case study, ideas and examples from his own school and from his work in other LEAs. The article also provides an extremely useful list of resources for teachers which will enable them to support their teaching of poetry and language skills.
Time-Out Training Without Put-Backs, Spanks, or Restraint: A Brief Report of Deferred Time-Out

We demonstrate the effectiveness of a procedure to increase compliance in young children who are resistant to Time-out (TO). Parents of two boys, 3 and 4 years of age, were unable to enforce TO without resorting to physical guidance and restraint. With deferred TO (DTO), if a child resists TO, caregivers no longer interact with the child or provide the child with tangibles or activities that the child cannot access independently. When the child requests a preferred item or activity from the caregiver that cannot be obtained independently, the child must first serve TO. Once TO is served, the caregiver may fulfill the child's request. Data suggest that DTO reduces the latency between the parental TO command and compliance with TO without put-backs, spanks, or restraint.
Lumped Element Electrical Model based on Three Resistors for Electrical Impedance in Radiofrequency Cardiac Ablation: Estimations from Analytical Calculations and Clinical Data

The electrical impedance measured during radiofrequency cardiac ablation (RFCA) is widely used in clinical studies to predict the heating evolution and hence the success of the procedure. We hypothesized that a model based on three resistors in series can mimic the total electrical impedance measured during RFCA. The three resistors or impedances are given by: impedance associated with the tissue around the active electrode (myocardium and circulating blood) (Z-A), that associated with the tissue around the dispersive electrode (Z-DE) and that associated with the rest of the body (Z-B). Our objective was to quantify the values associated with these three impedance types by an analytical method, after which the values obtained would be compared to those estimated from clinical data from previous studies. The results suggest that an RFCA using a 7 Fr 4-mm electrode would give a Z-A of around 75 ohms, a Z-DE around 20 ohms, and Z-B would be 15±10 ohms (for body surface area variations between 1.5 and 2.5 m^2). Finally, adaptations of the proposed model were used to explain the results of previous clinical studies using a different electrode arrangement, such as in bipolar ablation of the ventricular septum.
A Zeroth-Level Classifier System for Real Time Strategy Games

Real Time Strategy games (RTS) provide an interesting test bed for agents that use Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms. From an agent's point of view, RTS games constitute a Markovian, partially observable and dynamic environment with a huge state space. In this paper, we present an agent that uses a Zeroth-level Classifier System (ZCS) in order to construct winning policies for this type of games. We also combine ZCS with the replacing traces method in an attempt to improve the behaviour of our agent. We tested the learning abilities of our agent against a static opponent. For the evaluation of our agent, we compare its results with those of a random-acting agent and an agent that uses the SARSA RL algorithm. Results are encouraging since, our ZCS agent managed to outperform the SARSA agent. On the other hand, applying replacing traces to ZCS did not yield the expected results.
A Grid Synchronization Method for Droop-Controlled Distributed Energy Resource Converters

The microgrid is a very effective way of integrating various distributed generation resources into the ac power system. To provide electric power of high reliability, the converters in the microgrid often rely on autonomous droop control methods to reduce their dependence on communication and need to operate in both the islanded mode and the grid-connected mode. In this paper, a grid synchronization method for a multiconverter distributed generation system is proposed. The proposed grid synchronization method allows multiple droop-controlled converters to adjust the frequency, phase, and amplitude of their output voltages to prepare for grid connection. The entire synchronization process can be executed with very limited communication requirement. This paper provides detailed explanation on the proposed grid synchronization method. Experimental test results are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
African American undergraduates on a predominantly White campus: Academic factors, social networks, and campus climate.

Despite increasing numbers of African American young adults beginning college, fewer complete their degrees than their White counterparts. The most recent analysis of the American Council on Education found that 44% of African American students completed degrees at four-year institutions compared to 54% of White students, 61% of Asian American students, and 54% of American Indian students (Carter & Wilson, 1991). Many factors have been examined to understand this outcome, the result of many differences between these large, heterogeneous groups of students. The most general model (Tinto, 1975) involves academic and social preparedness for college and factors related to the complex social ecologies of particular college campuses. Tinto's model posits four variables-students' family backgrounds, high school experiences, campus social interactions, and personal attitudes (especially about racial status and achievement)-and hypothesizes that these variables influence academic outcomes. Both precollege and collegiate experiences can be conceptualized as including cognitive/academic and "noncognitive" variables (Tinto, 1982). There is little doubt that academic preparation, particularly as reflected in high school grades, is a powerful predictor of college success (Astin, 1982; Morgan, 1990). Less certain is the predictive usefulness of standardized test scores. Morgan (1990) found that high school grade point average (GPA) and SAT scores predicted college GPA
A novel TSV probing technique with adhesive test interposer

TSVs can be fabricated with pitch of only tens of μm, and smaller. They can be densely distributed as inter-die interconnect in 3D ICs. However, the huge mismatch between the probe technology, such as the pitch of probe head and the capacity of probe card, and the TSV fabrication technology leads to an insufficient probe on TSV tips. In this paper, we present a novel TSV probing technique that can temporally bond pre-bond die to test interposer using anisotropic conductive adhesive material. On the two sides of the test interposer, TSVs and probe heads make contact with microbumps and C4-bumps, respectively. These two types of bumps are connected using redistribution metal layers, passing through the test interposer, which can bridge the gap between feature sizes of TSVs and probe head. This probing technology is also able to increase the test bandwidth by enlarging the test interposer and redistributing test signals between microbumps and C4-bumps. Moreover, the number of probe-card touchdown can be reduced by sharing the test interposer among multiple dies during the wafer-level testing. Simulation results on the corresponding test structures for TSVs open fault and leakage fault show the great test resolution and robustness considering different design choices and variable design parameters among the test structures.
Diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases: clinical and histological study of sixty patients with ragged red fibers.

BACKGROUND Mitochondrial diseases are caused by mutations in mitochondrial or nuclear genes, or both and most patients do not present with easily recognizable disorders. The characteristic morphologic change in muscle biopsy, ragged-red fibers (RRFs) provides an important clue to the diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Demographic data, presenting symptoms, neurological features, and investigative findings in 60 patients with ragged-red fibers (RRFs) on muscle biopsy, seen between January 1990 and December 2002, were analyzed. The authors applied the modified respiratory chain (RC) diagnostic criteria retrospectively to determine the number of cases fulfilling the diagnostic criteria of mitochondrial disease. RESULTS The most common clinical syndrome associated with RRFs on muscle biopsy was progressive external ophthalmoplegia (PEO) with or without other signs, in 38 (63%) patients. Twenty-six patients (43%) had only external ophthalmoplegia, 5 (8%) patients presented with encephalomyopathy. Specific syndromes were the presenting feature in 8 (13%), Kearns-Sayre syndrome (KSS) in 4 and myoclonus epilepsy with ragged-red fibers (MERRF) in 4. Myopathy was the presenting feature in 5 (8%) and 4 presented with infantile myopathy. Of the 60 patients, 18 (30%) had proximal muscle weakness. Two patients with KSS and one patient with myopathy had complete heart block necessitating pace making. When the modified RC diagnostic criteria were applied, only 26 (43%) patients had one other major criterion in addition to RRFs for the diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases. The remaining 34 (57%) patients with RRFs on muscle biopsy had only some clinical features suggestive of RC disorder but did not fulfill the clinical criteria (of the modified diagnostic criteria) for the diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases. CONCLUSION In patients with clinical features suggestive of RC disorder, demonstration of RRFs on muscle biopsy helps in confirming the diagnosis of mitochondrial disease in only a subgroup of patients.
The DYMO Routing Protocol in VANET Scenarios

Coupling Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) with wired networks such as the Internet via access points creates a difficult mix of highly mobile nodes and a static infrastructure. In order to evaluate the performance of typical ad hoc routing protocols-in particular, we used Dynamic MANET On Demand (DYMO)-in such VANET scenarios, we combined microsimulation of road traffic and event-driven network simulation. Thus, we were able to analyze protocols of the Internet protocol suite in VANET scenarios with highly accurate mobility models. Varying parameters of DYMO for a multitude of traffic and communication scenarios helped point out approaches for improving the overall performance and revealed problems with the deployment. It could be shown that in realistic scenarios, even for medium densities of active nodes and low network load, overload behavior leads to a drastic decrease of the perceived network quality. Cross-layer optimization of transport and routing protocols therefore seems highly advisable.
The LRP1 Gene Polymorphism is associated with Increased Risk of Metabolic Syndrome Prevalence in the Serbian Population

Abstract The determination of genetic background in metabolic syndrome (MetS) represents one of the necessary steps to prevent the disorder, thus reducing the cost of medical treatments and helping to design targeted therapy. The study explores the association between individual alleles of the LRP1 gene and the diagnosis of MetS to find correlation between the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related (LRP1) gene polymorphism and each individual anthropometric and biochemical parameter. The study included 93 males and females, aged from 19 to 65, divided into two groups. The genotype of each person was determined from the restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (RFLP-PCR) profile. Results indicated the association of the T allele form of exon 3 LRP1 gene with development and progression of MetS that further pointed out its negative impact on tested anthropometric and biochemical parameters. The presence of the T allele in patients multiplies the chance of occurrence of deviations from the reference values of body mass index (BMI), (4.24-fold) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (20.26-fold) compared to C allele carriers. The results showed that T allele presence multiplies the chance (4.76 fold) for the occurrence of MetS in comparison to C allele carriers. Correlation found that the T allele of the LRP1 gene with MetS determinants is not negligible, therefore, the T allele may be considered as a risk factor for MetS development.
Addressing Elementary School Teachers’ Professional Stressors

Purpose: Given the preponderance of education reform since the No Child Left Behind Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2001), reform efforts have shaped the nature of the work and culture in schools. The emphasis on standardized testing to determine schools’ status and student performance, among other factors, has generated stress, particularly for teachers. Therefore, district and school administrators are encouraged to consider the contextual factors that contribute to teacher stress to address them and to retain high-performing teachers. Research Methods/Approach: Participants were recruited from two types of schools in order to test hypotheses related to directional responding as a function of working in a more challenging (high-priority) or less challenging (non-high-priority) school environment. We employed content analysis to analyze 64 suburban elementary school teachers’ free-responses to a prompt regarding their stress as teachers. We cross-analyzed our findings through external auditing to bolster trustworthiness in the data and in the procedure. Findings: Teachers reported personal and contextual stressors. Herein, we reported concrete examples of the five categories of contextual stressors teachers identified: political and educational structures, instructional factors, student factors, parent and family factors, and school climate. We found directional qualities and overlapping relationships in the data, partially confirming our hypotheses. Implications for Research and Practice: We offer specific recommendations for practical ways in which school administrators might systemically address teacher stress based on the five categories of stressors reported by participants. We also suggest means of conducting action research to measure the effects of implemented suggestions.
Phenomenal complexity theory as informed by Bergson

Though all complexity theory claims to be anti‐reductionist, there are enormous differences in what “emergence” and “self‐organization” mean for the “self” and consciousness in the writings of the one and the other. Phenomenal complexity theory seeks to include the experiencing subject in its epistemology and thereby to neither be one‐sidedly rationalist or subjectivist. The resulting (social science) epistemology of the “in‐between” is mirrored in Bergson’s work. The relationship between complexity theory and Bergson’s concepts of Duree, Elan Vital and Intuition, are explored in this article. The goal is to clarify the relationship between complexity theory and the knowing subject, and to indicate directions for complexity theory’s study of consciousness.
On the optimality of treating interference as noise: A combinatorial optimization perspective

For single-antenna Gaussian interference channels, we re-formulate the problem of determining the Generalized Degrees of Freedom (GDoF) region achievable by treating interference as noise (TIN) with proper power control from a combinatorial optimization perspective. We show that the TIN power control problem can be cast into an assignment problem, such that the globally optimal power allocation variables can be obtained by well-known polynomial time algorithms. Furthermore, the expression of the TIN-achievable GDoF region can be substantially simplified with the aid of maximum weighted matchings. In addition, we provide conditions under which the TIN-achievable GDoF region is a convex polytope that relax those in [1]. For these new conditions, together with a channel connectivity (i.e., interference topology) condition, we can prove GDoF optimality for a new class of interference networks that is not included, nor includes, the class found in [1].
IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CATALASE GENE PyCAT FROM THE RED ALGA PYROPIA YEZOENSIS (BANGIALES, RHODOPHYTA) 1

Catalase is an antioxidant enzyme that plays a significant role in protection against oxidative stress by reducing hydrogen peroxide. The full‐length catalase cDNA sequence as isolated from expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of Pyropia yezoensis (Ueda) M. S. Hwang et H. G. Choi (PyCAT) through rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) was identified and characterized. It encoded a polypeptide of 529 amino acids, which shared 36%–44% similarity with other known catalase proteins. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that PyCAT was closer to the catalases from plants than from other organisms. The PyCAT mRNA expression was investigated using real‐time PCR to determine life‐cycle‐specific expression and the expression pattern during desiccation. The mRNA expression level in gametophytes was significantly higher than in sporophytes, and the mRNA expression level of PyCAT was significantly up‐regulated during the desiccation process. The recombinant PyCAT protein was purified and analyzed biochemically. The recombinant PyCAT protein exhibited high enzymatic activity (28,000 U·mg−1) with high thermal stability and a broad pH range. All these results indicate that the PyCAT is a typical member of the plant and algal catalase family and may play a significant role in minimizing the effect of oxidative damage in P. yezoensis during desiccation.
Immune Evasion Strategies of Trypanosoma brucei within the Mammalian Host: Progression to Pathogenicity

The diseases caused by African trypanosomes (AT) are of both medical and veterinary importance and have adversely influenced the economic development of sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, so far not a single field applicable vaccine exists, and chemotherapy is the only strategy available to treat the disease. These strictly extracellular protozoan parasites are confronted with different arms of the host’s immune response (cellular as well as humoral) and via an elaborate and efficient (vector)–parasite–host interplay they have evolved efficient immune escape mechanisms to evade/manipulate the entire host immune response. This is of importance, since these parasites need to survive sufficiently long in their mammalian/vector host in order to complete their life cycle/transmission. Here, we will give an overview of the different mechanisms AT (i.e. T. brucei as a model organism) employ, comprising both tsetse fly saliva and parasite-derived components to modulate host innate immune responses thereby sculpturing an environment that allows survival and development within the mammalian host.
Davis City: A Case of Perceived Inequality

Over the last four decades, educators, politicians and the public have debated school desegregation with great fervor. Since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the mandate to create integrated schools has forced communities to redistrict, bus, and create opportunities for black and white students to go to school together. Recently, however, the courts have backed away from the desegregation mandate. According to Gary Orfield, court decisions including Milliken v. Bradley (1977), Board of Education of Oklahoma v. Dowell (1991), and Missouri v. Jenkins (1995), “reflect a quiet but severe erosion of Brown” (Orfield, 1996, p. 50). In these cases, the Supreme Court ruled that efforts such as redistricting and busing were unconstitutional if they drew suburban and inner city children together, unless the suburbs could be held directly accountable for the existing segregation. According to author and activist Jonathan Kozol, “the nation, for all practice and intent, has turned its back upon the moral implications, if not yet the legal ramifications of the Brown decision” (Kozol, 1991, p. 4).
Modeling the Uncertain Data in the K-anonymity Privacy Protection Model

Modeling is the basis for data management of uncertainty. The Specificity in the uncertainty of the data in the k-anonymity privacy protection model is found, namely, its uncertainty is caused by human with generalization, the probability that each instance after generalization is reduced to the original tuple is equal. The past modeling approaches of uncertainty data are not suitable for this kind of uncertainty data simply. In order to describe it, several new modeling methods are proposed in this paper: Kattr model uses attribute-ors ways to describe the uncertainty of the quasi-identifier attribute values, Ktuple model takes the quasi-identifier attribute values as nest relations and use tuple-ors ways to describe the relations, Kupperlower model separates a quasi-identifier attribute to two fields: upper and lower, Ktree model converts each quasi-identifier attribute into a tree. The completeness and closure of these models are discussed later.
ON MUTUAL BENEFIT AND SACRIFICE: A COMMENT ON BRUNI AND SUGDEN'S ‘FRATERNITY’

This note comments on Bruni and Sugden's interesting notion of fraternity among contract partners as joint commitment to cooperate for mutual benefit. I raise two points on their paper, both concerning the role of sacrifice. First I maintain that, differently from other social preferences, guilt aversion (or warm glow) does not imply self-sacrifice. Secondly, I argue that aiming for mutual benefit does not prevent individuals from facing trade-offs between their own and their partners’ surplus, so the notion of sacrifice cannot be entirely eschewed. To the contrary, reciprocal ‘sacrifices’ enhance cooperative intentions and help create feelings of friendliness.