Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative phylodynamics reveals the evolutionary history of SARS-CoV-2 emerging variants in the Arabian Peninsula

Abstract Emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants continue to be responsible for an unprecedented worldwide public health and economic catastrophe. Accurate understanding and comparison of global and regional evolutionary epidemiology of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants are critical to guide current and future interventions. Here, we utilized a Bayesian phylodynamic pipeline to trace and compare the evolutionary dynamics, spatiotemporal origins, and spread of five variants (Alpha, Beta, Delta, Kappa, and Eta) across the Arabian Peninsula. We found variant-specific signatures of evolution and spread that are likely linked to air travel and disease control interventions in the region. Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants went through sequential periods of growth and decline, whereas we inferred inconclusive population growth patterns for the Kappa and Eta variants due to their sporadic introductions in the region. Non-pharmaceutical interventions imposed between mid-2020 and early 2021 likely played a role in reducing the epidemic progression of the Beta and the Alpha variants. In comparison, the combination of the non-pharmaceutical interventions and the rapid rollout of vaccination might have shaped Delta variant dynamics. We found that the Alpha and Beta variants were frequently introduced into the Arab peninsula between mid-2020 and early 2021 from Europe and Africa, respectively, whereas the Delta variant was frequently introduced between early 2021 and mid-2021 from East Asia. For these three variants, we also revealed significant and intense dispersal routes between the Arab region and Africa, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. In contrast, the restricted spread and stable effective population size of the Kappa and the Eta variants suggest that they no longer need to be targeted in genomic surveillance activities in the region. In contrast, the evolutionary characteristics of the Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants confirm the dominance of these variants in the recent outbreaks. Our study highlights the urgent need to establish regional molecular surveillance programs to ensure effective decision making related to the allocation of intervention activities targeted toward the most relevant variants.
Bioinformatic analysis of dysregulated circular RNAs in pediatric pulmonary hypertension linked congenital heart disease

Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs) may play important roles in the progression of pulmonary arterial hypertension. However, the potential roles they play in childhood pulmonary arterial hypertension associated congenital heart disease (CHD) progression remains unclear. Methods Thirteen human plasma samples including eight from pulmonary arterial hypertension secondary to CHD patients and five from a control group were analyzed using the Arraystar Human circRNA array. The relative expression levels of five differentially expressed circRNAs in pulmonary arterial hypertension were detected using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. In parallel, these levels were also taken on control samples from 32 CHD patients. We used miRanda and TargetScan software packages to predict potential microRNA (miRNA)targets, which were then combined into a circRNA–miRNA–messenger RNA (mRNA) network. Results Twenty-seven circRNAs (three upregulated and 24 downregulated) were differentially expressed between the pulmonary arterial hypertension and control groups. Compared to control group levels, circ_003416 expression in the pulmonary arterial hypertension group was significantly downregulated, while circ_005372 expression, in contrast, was significantly upregulated. The differential expression of these circRNAs was mainly linked to variation in levels of oxidative phosphorylation and tight junction signaling. Conclusions We identified one overexpressed and one underexpressed circRNA in plasma samples from children with CHD associated pulmonary arterial hypertension. Bioinformatic analysis indicated these dysregulated circRNAs might be associated with the occurrence and regulation of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Design and Research of a Dual Rotor Consequent-pole Vernier Motor with Halbach Array

Aiming at improving the torque density of the motor and the utilization rate of permanent magnets (PMs), a dual rotor consequent-pole vernier motor (DRCPVM) is proposed in this article. The stator of the motor has a double-sided structure with two sets of independent windings on each side. Therefore, the proposed motor has different working modes according to the on/off state of the two sets of windings. In the design process, DRCPVM is used as a basic model and optimization is performed on it. The optimization includes the slot width and height of the stator teeth and the radian ratio occupied by the PMs. Moreover, the Halbach array is introduced into the consequent-pole structure to establish the dual rotor consequent-pole vernier motor with Halbach array (DRCPVM-HA). Halbach array reduces flux leakage and improves the magnetic circuit. And Halbach array is employed to discuss the design of the magnetization angle. The rule of the electromagnetic performance changing with the magnetization angle is studied to find the optimal magnetization angle in the Halbach array. When the magnetization angle is 45° in DRCPVM-HA, the torque is significantly improved, the torque ripple is reduced, and the utilization rate of PMs is improved.
War and Intimate Partner Violence in Africa

This paper evaluates the impacts of armed conflict on intimate partner violence against women in Africa. Exploiting both spatial and temporal variations in the number of battles proxying for armed conflict intensity, we find that women residing in conflict-affected areas are prone to suffering intimate partner violence. In particular, a 1SD increase in the number of battles (equivalent to the increase by 4.8 battles) raises the composite indices of less severe violence, more severe violence, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse against women by 8.74%, 10.34%, 10.64%, and 7.14% relative to the sample averages, respectively. Given the long-term consequences of intimate partner violence, our findings call for expanding efforts in the prevention and mitigation of armed conflict.
Effect of Microbial Phytase on Ileal Digestibility of Minerals, Plasma and Urine Metabolites, and Bone Mineral Concentrations in Growing–Finishing Pigs

Simple Summary In the presented study, increasing phytase activity in the diet of grower–finisher pigs improved the bioavailability of minerals, increased their concentration in the femurs, and reduced their fecal and urinary excretion. The results of the research provide new information on the positive effect of the use of an appropriate level of microbial phytase supplementation, which reduces the anti-nutritional effect of phytates by improving the availability of minerals (mainly P, Ca, but also Mg, Zn, Cu, and Fe) for the animal, which, at the same time, limits the negative impact of unused minerals on the natural environment. Abstract The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of added phytase in the diet of pigs on utilization of minerals and to determine the essential levels of this supplement in compound feed. An additional aim of the study was a critical assessment of current recommendations regarding the level of phosphorus in the diet of pigs, taking into account the use of phytase. A total of 432 pigs were allotted to six dietary treatments, with nine replicate pens per treatment according to body weight (BW) and sex. The treatments included a negative control (NC) with reduced content of digestible phosphorus; the NC diet supplemented with 6-phytase produced by a genetically modified strain of Aspergillus oryzae in the amount of 250 (NC + 250), 500 (NC + 500), 1000 (NC + 1000), or 1500 (NC + 1500) FTU/kg of feed; and a positive control (PC) diet formulated to meet NCR nutrient requirements for pigs. The results showed that, the higher the phytase activity in the diet (NC+), the lower the concentration of P, Ca, and Mg in the chyme (p < 0.05). Pigs fed the PC and NC+ diets had higher plasma levels of P and Ca than group NC in both fattening periods (p < 0.05). The content of phosphorus in the femur of pigs increased with the level of phytase added to the diet (p < 0.05). The content of Cu and Zn in the femur of pigs in the growing period was higher in groups NC + 500 and NC + 1000 than in the remaining experimental groups (p < 0.001). The content of P and Ca in the feces was higher in pigs fed the PC diet in comparison to the remaining experimental groups in both fattening periods (p < 0.001). There was a decrease in the content of P, Ca, and Mg in the excreta of pigs fed NC+ diets in both fattening periods (p < 0.05). A linear decrease in excretion of zinc in the feces was noted in the case of high levels of phytase, i.e., 1000 and 1500 FTU (p < 0.001). Increasing the level of phytase decreased the Cu (p < 0.001) content in the urine of growing–finishing pigs. In conclusion, the analysis of the effects of the use of phytase in a range of 0–1500 FTU/kg in low-phosphorus diets for fattening pigs indicates that 1000 FTU is the most effective level of phytase for increasing utilization of minerals and reducing excretion of elements into the environment.
Effects of Industrial Structure Adjustment on Pollutants Discharged to the Aquatic Environment in Northwest China

Northwest China is located along China’s Belt and Road Initiative routes and represents the frontier and core region for China’s construction and development of the Silk Road Economic Belt. In recent years, the conflict between economic development and environmental pollution has become increasingly intense in this region, with the latter mainly caused by disorderly industrialization brought about by rapid urbanization processes. Inappropriate industrial structure is the primary reason for environmental degradation in Northwest China, which has limited precipitation and available water. Due to its fragile aquatic environment and unsustainable use of water resources, the pollution and degradation of the aquatic environment has become a bottleneck that severely restricts the sustainable development of China’s northwest region. In the present study, five provinces or autonomous regions in Northwest China were selected as the study objects. Based on the vector autoregressive (VAR) model, quantitative research methods, such as impulse response function and variance decomposition analysis, were applied to quantify the dynamics between industrial structure adjustment and changes in industrial pollutant discharges to the aquatic environment, so that the impact of industrial structure adjustment on pollutants discharged to the aquatic environment could be quantified and characterized. Therefore, the present study has both theoretical and practical significance. The conclusions are as follows: (1) In general, industrial structure in most provinces in Northwest China imposes a positive effect over the discharge of pollutants to the aquatic environment. Adjusting industrial structure and reducing the proportion of secondary industry present can to some extent promote reductions in the discharge of pollutants to the aquatic environment. However, such beneficial effects may vary among different provinces. (2) Specifically, for Gansu, province industrial structure adjustment could help reduce the discharge of pollutants to the aquatic environment effectively during the early stages, but this positive effect gradually weakens and disappears during the later stages. In Qinghai province, industrial structure adjustment could not help reduce the discharge of pollutants to the aquatic environment effectively during the early stages, but a positive effect gradually increases and continues to function later. The performance in Shaanxi and Xinjiang provinces was quite similar, with industrial structure adjustment helping to effectively reduce the discharge of pollutants to the aquatic environment over a long period of time. This positive effect can play a more sustained and stable role. For Ningxia province, industrial structure adjustment can not only help significantly reduce the discharge of pollutants to the aquatic environment but also displays a significant positive effect. (3) Given the specific conditions and characteristics of the region under study, relevant policies for industrial structure adjustment should be formulated and implemented.
Opioid Literacy Among African Americans Living in Rural Alabama: Findings From a Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Framework

Limited research examining opioid literacy among African Americans (AAs) have been conducted. The current study examined the association between opioid literacy levels among AAs in rural Alabama using the social determinants of health framework. Three subscales in the Brief Opioid Overdose Knowledge questionnaire were used to measure opioid literacy. Among a sample of 253, limited opioid literacy was found. Social contact was found to be significantly associated with overall opioid literacy (B = .36, p < .05) and opioid general knowledge subscale (B = .14, p < .05). For the subscale of opioid overdose response knowledge, health insurance (B =−.59, p = .06) and social contact (B = .13, p = .07) emerged as marginally significant. The findings suggest that educational interventions are needed to increase opioid literacy among rural AAs, especially among those with limited social contact.
Morphological, biochemical, and bioactive characterization of naturally grownEuropean cranberrybush genotypes

: Turkey has very rich potential in terms of wild edible fruit species, especially berries that grow naturally in different parts of the country as population or scattered shrubs. One of the most important wild edible fruits found in Turkey’s flora is the European cranberrybush (EC). All EC plants are found as wild in nature and there are no commercial EC orchards in the country. In this study, a total of 22 seed propagated EC genotypes that naturally grown in the Akkışla district of Kayseri province located in the middle part of Turkey were assessed in terms of their morphological (fruit dimensions, fruit weight, the number of fruit per cluster, and cluster weight) and biochemical (soluble solids content, pH, and organic acids), bioactive (total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and antioxidant activity) content in order to determine the superior ones. Fruit width, fruit length, fruit weight, cluster weight, and the number of fruit per cluster of 22 EC genotypes varied from 8.66 to 11.19 mm, 9.08 to 11.11 mm, 0.27 to 0.80 g, 8.50 to 55.20 g, and 23.00 to 81.40, respectively. Malic acid was the dominant organic acid in fruits of all investigated EC genotypes (12.177 g L –1 average of 22 genotypes), followed by citric acid (1.605 g L –1 ), oxalic acid (0.776g L –1 ), and ascorbic acid (65.18 mg 100 mL –1 ), respectively. In terms of phenolic acids, a stable order could not be determined, while chlorogenic acid has come to the fore in fruits of 17 genotypes as main phenolic acid, while gallic acid was the highest in fruits of 4 genotypes and protocatechuic acid was the highest in the remained 1 genotype and average values of 22 EC genotypes of these phenolic acids were 27.05 mg L –1 , 23.50 mg L –1 , and 16.50 mg L –1 , respectively. Results indicated that seed propagated EC genotypes have variable morphological, biochemical, and bioactive traits that could be important to select cultivar candidates for future use at cultivation conditions. It is also important that characterization of 22 EC genotypes will add value for EC germplasm enhancement in Turkey.
A Comparison of Two Methods Modeling High-Temperature Fatigue Crack Initiation in Ferrite–Pearlite Steel

High-temperature fatigue tests are carried out to investigate the fatigue crack initiation behavior of ferrite–pearlite steel. Two approaches to modeling fatigue crack initiation under high temperatures in ferrite–pearlite steel are developed and compared in this study. In the first approach, basal energy is introduced as the criterion for crack initiation. Various initial basal energy values are assigned to each potential location. The increments in basal energy after each cycle can be calculated. In the second approach, a crystal plasticity model is developed, combined with the cyclic hardening/softening effect and three fatigue indicator parameters (two of them are adopted from previous works and one is developed in this work). Results indicate that both approaches are capable of predicting the fatigue crack initiation location and the corresponding life. The first approach requires a lower computational cost but has many limitations, and the second approach is suitable for calculating mesoscale stress and strain distributions but with a higher computational cost.
Pyrolysis of Puspa Wood Sawdust and Sugarcane Bagasse into Biochar

Puspa wood sawdust and sugarcane bagasse are abundantly available but have low carbon content and nutrients. The carbon content and nutrients could be increased by converting biomass into biochar through pyrolysis. The independent variables of pyrolysis were essential to investigate because those inherently influence biochar quality. In this study, the effect of pyrolysis temperature (300, 350, 400, 450, and 500 ˚C) and time (30, 60, 90 mins) on the biochar characteristic such as pH, yield, and proximate compositions were determined. The total nitrogen, P2O5, and K2O content at optimum condition biochar were also investigated. The data analysis showed that the pyrolysis temperature and time increment positively correlated to the pH, ash content, and carbon content. At the same time, the yield and volatile matter were vice versa. Both biochar's optimum pyrolysis temperature and time were achieved at 500 and 90 minutes. The carbon content and nutrient of biochar were also increased compared to the biomass. The pyrolysis method has enhanced biomass quality, and the biochar may be used as a growing media and soil amendment. It can be concluded that the sugarcane bagasse biochar was more likely favorable than puspa wood sawdust biochar due to its higher fixed carbon and nutrient content
The Theory of Thermal Comfort in Naturally Ventilated Indoor Environments - “The Pleasure Principle”

Abstract Designing for natural ventilation became permissible across an extended range of climate zones in 2004 with the incorporation of an adaptive model into ASHRAE’s comfort standard (ASHRAE, 2004). This mainstreaming of adaptive comfort was further reinforced with the introduction in 2007 of a European standard (EN, 2007) that mirrored ASHRAE’s precedent. Despite broad international acceptance and application of the concept, there remains a gap in the fundamental theoretical underpinnings of the adaptive comfort approach. The biggest question left begging is: “How can a single set of thermal environmental conditions deemed unacceptable in a conventional HVAC setting be regarded as acceptable and even pleasant in a naturally ventilated setting? ” A related question is directed specifically at the role of air movement: “How can a single level of air speed be experienced as an unpleasant draught under one set of conditions, and yet induce pleasant sensations in different conditions? ” In this paper the physiological phenomenon of alliesthesia is applied to the specific context of thermal comfort to provide a deeper understanding of why adaptive comfort actually works in naturally ventilated situations.
Examined EKC Hypothesis in the Presence of Renewable & Nonrenewable Energy and Trade & Financial Developments for Pakistan

Most of the existing literature uses energy consumption to verify the effect of energy use on environmental degradation, but they fail to explore it. To achieve the revealed gap, the present study insists on the impact of the nonrenewable and renewable energy consumptions, financial development, trade liberalization & income on carbon dioxide (CO2) by using the environmental Kuznets curve theory. This study used Pakistan’s time series data for the time period of 1990 to 2018. This study used two famous unit root tests which are the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) test. Results confirm that RENERG has stationary at the level and NRENERG, CO2, GDP, GDP2, FINDEV, and TRD become stationary at first difference. Furthermore, ARDL bound test is used to analyze the model, the bound test indicates that there exists co-integration in the model and ARDL estimates the short and long-run estimates of the equation. The rise in renewable energy consumptions, economic developments, and trade openness reduces emanation of the carbon whereas the increase in renewable-energy consumption hints at carbon releases it also validates the EKC hypothesis in Pakistan. The study concludes that Pakistan’s government and regulatory authorities should initiate the programs by which they are aware of the public and citizens about the adoption of renewable energies and environmental protection levels.
Development and Validation of a Dichotomous Classroom Goal Structure Questionnaire Using the TARGET Framework

Based on the dichotomous classroom goal structure model and TARGET framework, this study developed and validated a new Dichotomous Classroom Goal Structure Questionnaire (DCGSQ). A total of 339 seventh-grade students in Beijing completed the two-phase survey in Study 1. Exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis were used to assess the psychometric quality of the questionnaires in Study 1. The revised DCGSQ was further validated in Study 2 among 583 seventh-grade students in Beijing. The results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that an 8-factor model best fit the data. The criterion validity of the DCGSQ was supported by the relations between its eight instructional dimensions and student self-efficacy.
Understanding the role of interfacial mechanics on the wrinkling behavior of compressible bilayer structures under large plane deformations

Layered soft structures under loading may buckle in order to release energy. One commonly studied phenomenon is the wrinkling behavior of a bilayer system consisting of a stiff film on top of a compliant substrate, which has been observed ubiquitously in nature and has found several applications. While the wrinkling behavior of the incompressible bilayer system has been explored thoroughly, the large deformation behavior of a compressible bilayer system had been virtually unexplored until very recently. On the contrary, it is well established where more than one material is concerned, there always exists an interphase region between different constituents whose mechanical modeling has presented itself as a long-lasting challenge. To address these gaps in the literature, herein we first propose a theoretical, generic, large deformations framework to capture the instabilities of a compressible domain containing an interface. The general interface model is employed such that at its limits, the elastic and the cohesive interface models are recovered. The instability behavior of a compressible bilayer domain undergoing large deformations for a wide range of cohesive stiffness values, stiffness ratios, compressibilities, and film thicknesses is systematically explored. In particular, it is shown that delamination of the film can also be captured via this interface model. In addition, this generic framework is examined for a coated beam and a coated half-space too. The results of the theoretical framework are thoroughly compared to numerical results obtained via finite element method simulations enhanced with eigenvalue analysis, and an excellent agreement between the two sets of results is observed. It is found that varying substrate Poisson’s ratio has a significant effect on the bifurcation behavior for higher cohesive stiffnesses. Remarkably, while in classical bilayers the critical stretch at wrinkling is independent of the film thickness, herein we discover a significant dependence of the critical stretch to the film thickness in the presence of the interface.