Prediction of the RNA Tertiary Structure Based on a Random Sampling Strategy and Parallel Mechanism

Background: Macromolecule structure prediction remains a fundamental challenge of bioinformatics. Over the past several decades, the Rosetta framework has provided solutions to diverse challenges in computational biology. However, it is challenging to model RNA tertiary structures effectively when the de novo modeling of RNA involves solving a well-defined small puzzle.Methods: In this study, we introduce a stepwise Monte Carlo parallelization (SMCP) algorithm for RNA tertiary structure prediction. Millions of conformations were randomly searched using the Monte Carlo algorithm and stepwise ansatz hypothesis, and SMCP uses a parallel mechanism for efficient sampling. Moreover, to achieve better prediction accuracy and completeness, we judged and processed the modeling results.Results: A benchmark of nine single-stranded RNA loops drawn from riboswitches establishes the general ability of the algorithm to model RNA with high accuracy and integrity, including six motifs that cannot be solved by knowledge mining–based modeling algorithms. Experimental results show that the modeling accuracy of the SMCP algorithm is up to 0.14 Å, and the modeling integrity on this benchmark is extremely high.Conclusion: SMCP is an ab initio modeling algorithm that substantially outperforms previous algorithms in the Rosetta framework, especially in improving the accuracy and completeness of the model. It is expected that the work will provide new research ideas for macromolecular structure prediction in the future. In addition, this work will provide theoretical basis for the development of the biomedical field.

Equitable Assessment of Gifted Students Using the Naglieri General Ability Tests

Even though it is well documented that Black, Hispanic, Native American students have been denied access to gifted education for decades, injustice continues. The authors present research showing that traditional IQ tests with their verbal and quantitative questions contribute to under-representation because they yield large differences for students of color. Some (e.g., NNAT), but not all, nonverbal tests help but verbal and quantitative content is omitted. The authors suggest that students of color who are intellectually capable (gifted) but perhaps not talented (knowledgeable) could be more equitably evaluated if the verbal comprehension of instructions and verbal and quantitative knowledge were taken out of the tests used for identification. Research evidence is provided which shows that the Naglieri General Ability Tests: Verbal, Nonverbal, and Quantitative, which have nonverbal directions, do not demand knowledge acquired at school and do not require verbal response yield small differences by gender, race, ethnicity, and parental education.

Time in Grief: How do Bereaved Parents Mentalize It?

In this multimethod study, we examine bereaved parents’ capacity for mentalizing the temporal dimension of their grief. The theoretical assumptions of our study draw on the clinical and anthropological perspectives on the passage of time in grief. Parents’ mentalization of their experience of grief was measured both in the attachment context, using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and using the narrative Child Loss Interview (CLI). We used thematic analysis to code parents’ mentalizing utterances in order to categorize time-related changes during the grieving process. Parents generally mentalize their grief-related experiences at a lower level of reflective functioning than their general attachment experiences. However, a higher general ability to mentalize contributes to a higher level of RF and greater coherence in mentalizing their grief. Parents experience time in grief through oscillation between the past with the deceased child and a restricted form of existence in the present reality.

The impact of industry-oriented capstone courses on the employability of EECS students in technological universities

PurposeThis study used the industry-oriented capstone course to increase the employability of electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) students in technological university.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, EECS students were selected and divided into groups, and the non-equivalent pretest–posttest quasi-experimental research method was adopted.FindingsIndustry-oriented capstone courses can improve students' employability, especially general ability, behaviour and attitude.Practical implicationsThe results of this study and many other studies show that capstone courses are helpful for the soft skills of students.Originality/valueThis study provides evidence that industry-oriented capstone courses can improve EECS students' employability.

Factor Structure and Criterion-Related Validity of the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test Form T for Pilot Applicants

The Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) is the primary selection tool for officer applicants in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) for nearly seven decades. The AFOQT is revised and modified periodically, with rigorous equating and linking effort to ensure comparability and connectivity across forms. The most recent version of AFOQT is Form T that includes 10 cognitive ability and knowledge subtests. Despite the continuing validation effort of the AFOQT across forms, it was mostly directed to the general population of officer applicants, but not to any specific subpopulation. The current investigation reported three studies in an attempt to provide evidence for factor structure and criterion-related validity of AFOQT Form T for pilot applicants via four analytical approaches: meta-analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results suggested that AFOQT Form T data are best represented by a bifactor model with a general ability and four specific abilities, and that each latent construct has a distinct predictive utility for pilot performance criteria.

Characterization of Wearable and Implanted Antennas: Test Procedure and Range Design

A method for measuring de-embedded antenna parameters of wearable and implanted antennas for on-body communications is presented. It consists of a tapered flat phantom in order to characterize an antenna’s general ability to excite surface waves travelling along the boundary between body tissue and free space expressed by an angular on-body antenna gain. The design offers a test zone large enough for most typical Wireless Body Area Network devices up to smartphone-size while minimizing the required amount of tissue-simulating material. The designed antenna test range is validated in the 2.4 GHz ISM-band. In order to showcase the applicability to a realistic application, different designs of antennas integrated into an implanted pacemaker are characterized by their on-body gain patterns. A comparison of their performance in in-situ path-loss measurements reveals a clear relation to the on-body gain patterns and indicates that this parameter is a suitable measure for enabling educated antenna design for on-body applications.<br>

Characterization of Wearable and Implanted Antennas: Test Procedure and Range Design

A method for measuring de-embedded antenna parameters of wearable and implanted antennas for on-body communications is presented. It consists of a tapered flat phantom in order to characterize an antenna’s general ability to excite surface waves travelling along the boundary between body tissue and free space expressed by an angular on-body antenna gain. The design offers a test zone large enough for most typical Wireless Body Area Network devices up to smartphone-size while minimizing the required amount of tissue-simulating material. The designed antenna test range is validated in the 2.4 GHz ISM-band. In order to showcase the applicability to a realistic application, different designs of antennas integrated into an implanted pacemaker are characterized by their on-body gain patterns. A comparison of their performance in in-situ path-loss measurements reveals a clear relation to the on-body gain patterns and indicates that this parameter is a suitable measure for enabling educated antenna design for on-body applications.<br>

Characterization of Wearable and Implanted Antennas: Test Procedure and Range Design

A method for measuring de-embedded antenna parameters of wearable and implanted antennas for on-body communications is presented. It consists of a tapered flat phantom in order to characterize an antenna’s general ability to excite surface waves travelling along the boundary between body tissue and free space expressed by an angular on-body antenna gain. The design offers a test zone large enough for most typical Wireless Body Area Network devices up to smartphone-size while minimizing the required amount of tissue-simulating material. The designed antenna test range is validated in the 2.4 GHz ISM-band. In order to showcase the applicability to a realistic application, different designs of antennas integrated into an implanted pacemaker are characterized by their on-body gain patterns. A comparison of their performance in in-situ path-loss measurements reveals a clear relation to the on-body gain patterns and indicates that this parameter is a suitable measure for enabling educated antenna design for on-body applications.<br>

Genetic Analysis by Using Partial Diallel Crossing of Maize In High Plant Densities (Estimation GCA, SCA and Some Genetic Parameters)

The experiment was carried out at the Field Crops Research Station, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences - University of Baghdad in Jadiriyah, with the aim of evaluating the performance of partial diallel hybrids and inbred lines of maize and estimating general combining ability(GCA), specific combining ability (SCA) and some genetic parameters. The experiment was carried out in two seasons, spring and fall 2020. Eight inbred lines of maize were used in the study (BI9/834, BSW18, LW/5 L8/844, ZA17W194, Z117W, ZI17W9, ZI7W4), numbered (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8), It was sowed in the spring season and entered into a cross-program according to a partial diallel crossing system to obtain twelve partially cross-hybrids, and it was compared with its eight parents in a comparison experiment in the fall season using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plots arrangement with three replication. The plant densities of 70 and 90 thousand plants ha-1 represented the main plots, while the partial diallel hybrids and their parents represented the secondary plots. The results of the study showed that the ratio between GCA and SCA) GCA/SCA) It was more than 1 for yield traits, ear length, number of rows and number of row grains in both low and high densities, which indicates the control of the additive genetic action on these traits. While the ratio was less than one for the traits of the ear diameter under the low density, which indicates the control of dominance genes on this trait in the mentioned density, while the trait of the number of ear grains, the ratio between the general and specific combining abilities was less than one in the high density. Inbred line 8 had the highest effect for the general ability to combine under low density, which amounted to 11.075, while inbred line 2 was superior by giving the highest effect to the general ability to combine at low density, which amounted to 17.80, followed by inbred 8.