Intellectual synthesis in mentorship determines success in academic careers

As academic careers become more competitive, junior scientists need to understand the value that mentorship brings to their success in academia. Previous research has found that, unsurprisingly, successful mentors tend to train successful students. But what characteristics of this relationship predict success, and how? We analyzed an open-access database of 18,856 researchers who have undergone both graduate and postdoctoral training, compiled across several fields of biomedical science with an emphasis on neuroscience. Our results show that postdoctoral mentors were more instrumental to trainees\u27 success compared to graduate mentors. Trainees\u27 success in academia was also predicted by the degree of intellectual synthesis between their graduate and postdoctoral mentors. Researchers were more likely to succeed if they trained under mentors with disparate expertise and integrated that expertise into their own work. This pattern has held up over at least 40 years, despite fluctuations in the number of students and availability of independent research positions

Transmission delays and oscillations in the basal ganglia

Model and results concerning transmission delays in the Basal Ganglia of monkeys, and how they participate in setting oscillations during Parkinson's disease.</p

Extensification en élevage ovin viande par agrandissement des surfaces fourragères : résultats zootechniques et économiques de 5 ans d'expérience dans le Massif central nord

National audienceThe European Union encourages the extensification of grassland on beef and sheep farms to better master production and to avoid reduced land use. Good conditions, however, are necessary to realise extensification in order to maintain a flock's productivity and particularly its economical results, while maintaining control of the natural vegetation. A long term trial (5 years) was undertaken on an INRA experimental farm located in unfavourised area (800 m altitude). On the farm, two identical sheep flocks were managed with a 30% stocking rate (cattle equivalent/ha) difference. The experimental procedures were adapted every year to achieve optimum grass utilisation under both systems. Extensification did not reduce the ewes' performance and it improved the lambs' carcass weight by 6% in spite of a 26% reduction in the consumption of concentrate and a 50% decrease in grass production cost per ewe. The economical balance, over the whole experimental period, favoured the extensive system. The overall gross margin surplus, 3/4 of which was due to input reduction, was sufficient to cover the structural changes induced by extension. The extensive system results were, however more irregular and required better long term planning over several years, particularly for resource management and for stock carry-over. The technical skill required is at least equal to that required for intensive production. This experiment represented a potential means for improving farming methods. Nevertheless, this potential will not be attained unless the farmers receive technical and economic support for the extensive systems such as the grass subsidy- that was established in France in 1993.L’Union Européenne encourage l’extensification des surfaces fourragères dans les élevages bovins et ovins, en vue de maîtriser les volumes de production et éviter la déprise. Mais cette extensification doit être menée dans de bonnes conditions afin de maintenir la productivité du troupeau et surtout ses résultats économiques, tout en conservant en bon état d’entretien les surfaces d’herbe. Un essai de longue durée (5 ans) a été mis en place dans un Domaine de l’INRA situé en montagne (800 m d’altitude), comparant deux troupeaux ovins de même effectif conduits avec une différence de chargement de 30 % (en UGB/ha d’herbe). Le protocole de conduite a été ajusté chaque année pour aboutir à la meilleure utilisation possible des surfaces de chacun des systèmes. L’extensification n’a pas entraîné de réduction des performances des brebis et a amélioré de 6 % le poids de carcasse des agneaux, malgré une diminution de 26 % de la consommation d’aliments concentrés et de 50 % des frais fourragers par brebis. Sur l’ensemble de l’essai, le bilan économique est en faveur du système plus extensif. Le supplément de marge, obtenu pour les 3/4 grâce à la réduction des intrants, permet de faire face aux charges de structure entraînées par l’agrandissement. Les résultats du système extensifié sont plus irréguliers et exigent une anticipation plus forte des décisions, notamment dans une gestion pluriannuelle des récoltes avec constitution de stocks de report pour la sécurité. Les exigences de technicité sont au moins aussi grandes qu’en conduite intensive. L’expérimentation présente un potentiel de réussite, qui ne pourra être mis en oeuvre par les éleveurs qu’avec un accompagnement technique et aussi des mesures soutenant les systèmes extensifs comme la Prime à l’Herbe instaurée en France depuis 1993

Predictors of physicians' satisfaction with their management of uncertainty during a decision-making encounter with a simulated advanced stage cancer patient.

To optimize their training, predictors of physicians' satisfaction with their management of uncertainty should be examined. This study investigated these predictors by using a simulated advanced stage cancer patient.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Melan-A/MART-1 derived peptides as targets for tumor reactive CTL in human melanoma.

Some cancer patients mount spontaneous T- and B-cell responses against their tumor cells. Autologous tumor reactive CD8 cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) and CD4 T-cell clones as well as antibodies from these patients have been used for the identification of genes encoding the target antigens. This knowledge opened the way for new approaches to the immunotherapy of cancer. In this review, we describe the characterization of the structure-function properties of the melanocyte/melanoma tumor antigen Melan-A/MART-1, the assessment of the T-cell repertoire available against this antigen in healthy individuals, and the analysis of naturally acquired and/or vaccine-induced CTL responses to this antigen in patients with metastatic melanoma

Van der Pol and the history of relaxation oscillations: Toward the emergence of a concept

International audienceRelaxation oscillations are commonly associated with the name of Balthazar van der Pol via his eponymous paper (Philosophical Magazine, 1926) in which he apparently introduced this terminology to describe the nonlinear oscillations produced by self-sustained oscillating systems such as a triode circuit. Our aim is to investigate how relaxation oscillations were actually discovered. Browsing the literature from the late 19th century, we identified four self-oscillating systems in which relaxation oscillations have been observed: i) the series dynamo machine conducted by Gérard-Lescuyer (1880), ii) the musical arc discovered by Duddell (1901) and investigated by Blondel (1905), iii) the triode invented by de Forest (1907) and, iv) the multivibrator elaborated by Abraham and Bloch (1917). The differential equation describing such a self-oscillating system was proposed by Poincaré for the musical arc (1908), by Janet for the series dynamo machine (1919), and by Blondel for the triode (1919). Once Janet (1919) established that these three self-oscillating systems can be described by the same equation, van der Pol proposed (1926) a generic dimensionless equation which captures the relevant dynamical properties shared by these systems. Van der Pol's contributions during the period of 1926-1930 were investigated to show how, with Le Corbeiller's help, he popularized the "relaxation oscillations" using the previous experiments as examples and, turned them into a concept