Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genome-wide association study identifies novel recessive genetic variants for high TGs in an Arab population

Journal of Lipid Research Volume 59, 2018 1951 Copyright © 2018 by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc. syndrome, are accompanied by variations in blood lipid levels (5–7). Factors that contribute to abnormal blood lipid levels include lipid mobilization and metabolism (8), imbalances in energy homeostasis or gene-diet interactions (9, 10), hyperinsulinemia, and loss of adipocyte-derived hormonal and hypothalamic functions (11, 12). The mechanisms underlying the regulation of lipid traits are poorly understood. Delineating the genetic basis of blood lipid levels is an important step in efforts to identify targets for new therapies to manage cholesterol (13–15). Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have proved very useful to uncover the genetic basis of normal variation in blood lipid traits and of extreme lipid phenotypes. Thus far, GWASs have identified 157 loci associated with lipid levels (16). Twinand family-based studies demonstrated the genetic heritability of lipid traits and reported a high estimate of variance (43–83%) from genetic factors (17–19). The global studies Abstract Abnormal blood lipid levels are influenced by genetic and lifestyle/dietary factors. Although many genetic variants associated with blood lipid traits have been identified in Europeans, similar data in Middle Eastern populations are limited. We performed a genome-wide association study with Arab individuals (discovery cohort: 1,353; replication cohort: 1,176) from Kuwait to identify possible associations of genetic variants with high lipid levels. We used Illumina HumanOmniExpress BeadChip and candidate SNP genotyping in the discovery and replication phases, respectively. For association tests, we used genetic models that were based on additive and recessive modes of inheritance. High triglycerides (TGs) were recessively associated with six risk variants (rs1002487/RPS6KA1, rs11805972/LAD1) rs7761746/Or5v1, rs39745/CTTNBP2LSM8, rs2934952/PGAP3, and rs9626773/RP11-191L9.4CERK) at genome-wide significance (P  6.12E-09), and another six variants (rs10873925/ST6GALNAC5, rs4663379/ SPP2-ARL4C, rs10033119/NPY1R, rs17709449/LINC00911FLRT2, rs11654954/CDK12-NEUROD2, and rs9972882/ STARD3) were associated at borderline significance (P  5.0E08). High TG was also additively associated with rs11654954. All of the 12 identified markers are novel and are harbored in runs of homozygosity. Literature evidence supports the involvement of these gene loci in lipid-related processes. This study in an Arab population augments international efforts to identify genetic regulation of lipid traits. —Hebbar, P., R. Nizam, M. Melhem, F. Alkayal, N. Elkum, S. E. John, J. Tuomilehto, O. Alsmadi, and T. A. Thanaraj. Genome-wide association study identifies novel recessive genetic variants for high TGs in an Arab population. J. Lipid Res. 2018. 59: 1951–1966.
Highly exfoliated montmorillonite clay reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer: in situ preparation and efficient strengthening

Highly exfoliated montmorillonite (MMT) clay reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPUs) were prepared by an in situ solution polymerization method. By using small amount of 4,4′-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) modified pristine clay (MDI-MMT) as fillers, the mechanical properties of TPUs were greatly improved. For example, with the addition of only 1.0 wt% of MDI-MMT, the resultant TPU/MDI-MMT nanocomposites showed approximately 36% increase in initial Young's modulus, 70% increase in tensile strength and 46% increase in ultimate elongation at break as compared with those of neat TPU. Detailed study showed that, owing to the strong covalent bonding between the MMT sheets and TPU matrix, MMT sheets were highly exfoliated during the polymerization process, and the highly exfoliated MMT sheets gave rise to the greatly improved mechanical properties and thermomechanical properties of TPU/MDI-MMT nanocomposites. The present work demonstrates that the in situ preparation of TPU/MDI-MMT nanocomposites by using MDI-MMT as fillers is a highly efficient method for reinforcing TPU.
Physical Exercise for Seniors with Dementia: Potential Benefits Perceived by Formal Caregivers

Background: The social and economic impact of dementia urge for calls to develop accessible and sustainable care for seniors with dementia (SwD). Physical exercise has been seen as a beneficial non- pharmacological therapy in the prevention and management of Dementia, and possible benefits may not impact only the participants, but also indirectly their Caregivers. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the effects of an exercise intervention on functional capacity, neuropsychiatry symptoms and quality of life (QoL) of institutionalized older adults with dementia, perceived by their formal caregivers. Methods: Sixty-four institutionalized older adults (from both genders, aged 65–93 yrs. old), clinically diagnosed with dementia, were divided into two groups: control group (CG, n= 26) and exercise group (EG, 6-month supervised multicomponent exercise intervention n= 38). Nine caregivers (female, aged 28-47 yrs old) from nine different nursing homes, reported about care receiver’s functional capacity (Katz index), quality of life (QoL-AD) and behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPSD) in dementia (NPI) before and after 6 months of an exercise intervention (aerobic, muscular resistance, flexibility and postural exercises). Results: A two-way ANOVA, with repeated measures, revealed significant group and time interactions on Total Katz index and NPI-score. The CG's performance functional capacity and total BPSD score worsen over time while in EG maintains these values after the exercise intervention. Moreover, formal caregiver´s distress triggered by apathy, disinhibition and aberrant motor behavior increased in CG while after 6 months of an exercise intervention no alterations were seen regarding these distress causes in EG. No significant main effects were observed for total QoL-AD.Conclusions: Overall results show that after the exercise intervention, SwD from the EG, was capable of preserving the functional capacity and neuropsychiatric symptoms were attenuate, contributing to a lower load of distress for the caregivers.Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov, NCT04095962. Registered 19 September 2019, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04095962
Effects of Chemical Preservatives on Weights and Lengths of Bluegill Larvae

Measuring the lengths and weights of live fish larvao can be tedious and time-consuming. This constraint could be alleviated by preserving the fish larvae In appropriate chemicals for later measurements. There is little or no information on the effects of preservatives on Bluegill larvae. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of five different common preservatives on weights and lengths of Bluegill larvae. Individual woights and lengths of fish were measured and then the larvae were preserved for 7 or 26 days. Preservatives were 5% formalin, 10% formalin. 30% ethanol at -19 °C. 70% ethanol and 90% ethanoL Preliminary average weights of the larvae preserved for 7d were 1.63, 1.30, 4.02. -0.63. and -4.15g in 5% formalin. 10% formalin. 30% ethanol at -19 °C. 70% ethanol and 90% ethanol, respectively. The average weights for 26d preservations were 2.80. 2.17, 2.38. -0.13. and -4.15g in 5% formalin. 10% formalin. 30% ethanol at -19 °C. 70% ethanol and 90% ethanol respectively. The average lengths of the larvae preserved for 7d were -0.19, 0.08, 0.37, -0.03. and 0.32 in 5% formalin. 10% formalin. 30% ethanol at -19 °C. 70% ethanol and 90% ethanol, respectively. The average lengths for 26d were -0.63. -0.39, -0.12, -0.03. and 0.22 in 5% formalin, 10% formalin. 30% ethanol at -19 °C. 70% ethanol and 90% ethanol, respectively. This study indicated that 70% ethanol had the least effect on weights and lengths of Bluegill larvae preserved for 7 and
An economic evaluation of apprenticeship training in Western Nigerian small-scale industries

This analysis of the structure, conduct and performance of the apprenticeship system in Nigeria, where the main concern is the relationship between training and performance, focuses on: (1) a description of the apprenticeship system as an institution for skill acquisition, (2) analysis of the economics of apprenticeship training, and comparative evaluation of returns for apprenticeship system and trade school training, and (3) recommendations of policies regarding training of small scale industry entrepreneurs. The area in Western Nigeria studied included 210 establishments in 4 major industries: Oyo, Ijebu-Ode, and Aiyepe over the period April-December 1976. The area, its industries, sampling of establishments and data collection are outlined. The institutional set-up of the apprenticeship system, and trade schools, and the economic environment in which small-scale entrepreneurs carry out both production and training are detailed. Costs and returns to apprenticeship and trade school training are given. Many apprentices were recruited through personal contacts, and many primary school leavers entered apprenticeship schemes because of poor job opportunities. Training of apprentices is organized informally, while training in the trade centres is organized along formal lines. Social costs of training apprentices comprise trainee costs, proprietor's costs and foregone earnings. Estimated rates of return show that the private as well as social rates of return were high in wage employment for the two types of training programmes. Private as well as social rates of return in self-employed varied with industry and location. The system also provides other sectors with trained workers
Exploring the contribution of professional development and training to human resources capacity enhancement in the ministry of industry and trade (MOIT) Indonesia: a case study

This study was concerned with an exploration of the contribution of professional development and training (PDT) to human resources capacity (HRC) enhancement in the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) Indonesia. Professional development was defined as the process where individuals increased their competencies, skills and attitudes to perform better in their position; for example, seminars, workshops, observations and visits. Training, on the other hand, was seen as an organizational and instructional procedure by which people learnt knowledge and developed skills for a certain purpose. The purpose of these strategies is to raise human working capability to higher levels to meet the needs of the organization more efficiently and to enable employees to achieve individual advancement, i.e. to improve human resource capacity. PDT in MOIT was primarily delivered in the Centre of Education and Training of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (CETMOIT). However, a number of P D T options were offered externally and by international agencies. This study aimed to explore the extent of PDT, and any significant concerns, challenges, improvement processes and strategies to be suggested in the organization of MOIT. It would lead to recommendations of initiatives for innovation and improvement of the P D T program within the institution of MOIT. A case study research design incorporated six groups of respondents from M O I T employees which comprised Echelons II, III, IV, V, Trainers and Staff
A Role for B Cells to Transmit Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is highly variable and transmits through infected blood to establish a chronic liver infection in the majority of patients. Our knowledge on the infectivity of clinical HCV strains is hampered by the lack of in vitro cell culture systems that support efficient viral replication. We and others have reported that HCV can associate with and infect immune cells and may thereby evade host immune surveillance and elimination. To evaluate whether B cells play a role in HCV transmission, we assessed the ability of B cells and sera from recent (<2 years) or chronic (≥ 2 years) HCV patients to infect humanized liver chimeric mice. HCV was transmitted by B cells from chronic infected patients whereas the sera were non-infectious. In contrast, B cells from recently infected patients failed to transmit HCV to the mice, whereas all serum samples were infectious. We observed an association between circulating anti-glycoprotein E1E2 antibodies and B cell HCV transmission. Taken together, our studies provide evidence for HCV transmission by B cells, findings that have clinical implications for prophylactic and therapeutic antibody-based vaccine design.
Causal Effects of Well-Being on Health: It's Complicated

In positive psychology and well-being research, subjective well-being is frequently considered a cause of desirable outcomes, such as health. We discuss major conceptual complications that cast doubt on such claims. Well-being and health share a multitude of common causes, and neither cross-sectional, longitudinal, nor experimental studies can identify the effects of interest without strong assumptions that may be deemed implausible. We conclude that the field should rise to the causal inference challenge posed by understanding the main effects of well-being before moving on to more sophisticated claims concerning underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions.
Measuring active drag within the different phases of front crawl swimming

INTRODUCTION: An elite swimmer’s success is primarily dependent upon their ability to minimise active drag, whilst optimising propulsive force. The aim of this study was to quantify passive and active drag, as a force-time profile. The secondary aim was to examine the force-time profile to determine which part of the stroke phase an athlete produced min and max force, and provide feedback to coaches and athletes. METHODS: Elite freestylers (n=18) completed 3 max swim velocity trials, followed by 3 passive and active drag trials using a towing device mounted upon a force platform. The computed active drag and the propulsive force profiles were represented as a force-time graph synchronised with video footage, allowing identification of intra-cyclic force fluctuations. RESULTS: The mean velocity for the females and males were 1.72 m.s-1, 1.89 m.s-1 respectively. The mean passive drag for the females and males were 49.7 ± 1.8 N, 78.9 ± 1.6 N, respectively and the mean active drag for the females and males were 164.4 ± 11.7 N, 228.4 ± 10.8 N, respectively. DISCUSSION: The mean passive drag values measured are comparable to those previously reported. Kolmogorov and Duplishcheva (1992) observed male and female passive drag ranging from 69.7 – 103.0 N and 44.2 - 56.9 N, respectively at velocities 1.73 - 1.91 m.s-1 and 1.52 - 1.67 m.s-1, respectively. Active drag did not concur with the literature. Toussaint et al. (2004) compared the values collected with MAD and VPM systems. The values at a mean velocity of 1.64 m.s-1 were 66.9 N and 53.2 N, respectively. There was significant variation between min and max propulsive force range for left and right stroke phases, between and within participants. It was evident that mean min propulsive force was generated during the first ‘pull’ phase of the stroke cycle. The results indicated that the max propulsive force production occurred during the final ‘push’ phases of the stroke cycle. This study demonstrated the importance of representing active drag as instantaneous force, rather than a mean value. This provided unique and valuable insight into the intra-cyclic force fluctuations within a stroke cycle. ; ;
Two-wagons fault-tolerant ethernet networked control system

This paper studies the use of Gigabit Ethernet in the context of Networked Control Systems on board of trains. One Ethernet network is used to connect the sensors, actuators and controllers in two adjacent train wagons. Furthermore, entertainment traffic is added to the control load. Using OPNET simulations, it is shown that the network can meet the real-time delay deadlines in presence of mixed traffic communication load. Furthermore, it is shown that the controller reliability of interconnected two-wagon network is much higher than that of an isolated single wagon network; one controller/server can carry the control information on board of two wagons.
Power System State Estimation Using Phasor Measurement Units

OF DISSERTATION POWER SYSTEM STATE ESTIMATION USING PHASOR MEASUREMENT UNITS State estimation is widely used as a tool to evaluate the real time power system prevailing conditions. State estimation algorithms could suffer divergence under stressed system conditions. This dissertation first investigates impacts of variations of load levels and topology errors on the convergence property of the commonly used weighted least square (WLS) state estimator. The influence of topology errors on the condition number of the gain matrix in the state estimator is also analyzed. The minimum singular value of gain matrix is proposed to measure the distance between the operating point and state estimation divergence. To study the impact of the load increment on the convergence property of WLS state estimator, two types of load increment are utilized: one is the load increment of all load buses, and the other is a single load increment. In addition, phasor measurement unit (PMU) measurements are applied in state estimation to verify if they could solve the divergence problem and improve state estimation accuracy. The dissertation investigates the impacts of variations of line power flow increment and topology errors on convergence property of the WLS state estimator. A simple 3-bus system and the IEEE 118-bus system are used as the test cases to verify the common rule. Furthermore, the simulation results show that adding PMU measurements could generally improve the robustness of state estimation. Two new approaches for improving the robustness of the state estimation with PMU measurements are proposed. One is the equality-constrained state estimation with PMU measurements, and the other is Hachtel's matrix state estimation with PMU measurements approach. The dissertation also proposed a new heuristic approach for optimal placement of phasor measurement units (PMUs) in power system for improving state estimation accuracy. In the problem of adding PMU measurements into the estimator, two methods are investigated. Method I is to mix PMU measurements with conventional measurements in the estimator, and method II is to add PMU measurements through a post-processing step. These two methods can achieve very similar state estimation results, but method II is a more time-efficient approach which does not modify the existing state estimation software.
The idiosyncratic risk during the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia

Conservatism in the CAPM and L-CAPM standards often emphasizes systematic risk to explain the phenomenon of the risk-return relationship and ignores idiosyncratic risk with the assumption that the risk can be diversified. The effect of the Covid-19 outbreak raises the question of whether the idiosyncratic risk can still be ignored considering that the risk has a close relationship to firm-specific risk. This study sets a portfolio consisting of 177 active public firms in the Indonesia Stock Exchange before and after the Covid-19 pandemic. On portfolio set, idiosyncratic risk is estimated by the standard CAPM and L-CAPM in the observation range from January 2, 2019, to June 30, 2021. The results of the analysis show that L-CAPM and CAPM produce significantly different idiosyncratic risks. Empirical evidence shows that the highest firm-specific risk is in the third period and has a stable condition since the fourth period. This condition is confirmed by regression results that idiosyncratic risk together with systematic risk positively affects stock returns in the fourth period as suggested by the efficient market hypothesis. Uniquely, both systematic risk and idiosyncratic risk based on L-CAPM do not show a significant effect on stock returns in the fifth period, so it is a strong indication that liquidity is an important factor that must be considered in making investments.
Adaptive Preferential Sampling in Phylodynamics With an Application to SARS-CoV-2

Abstract Longitudinal molecular data of rapidly evolving viruses and pathogens provide information about disease spread and complement traditional surveillance approaches based on case count data. The coalescent is used to model the genealogy that represents the sample ancestral relationships. The basic assumption is that coalescent events occur at a rate inversely proportional to the effective population size , a time-varying measure of genetic diversity. When the sampling process (collection of samples over time) depends on , the coalescent and the sampling processes can be jointly modeled to improve estimation of . Failing to do so can lead to bias due to model misspecification. However, the way that the sampling process depends on the effective population size may vary over time. We introduce an approach where the sampling process is modeled as an inhomogeneous Poisson process with rate equal to the product of and a time-varying coefficient, making minimal assumptions on their functional shapes via Markov random field priors. We provide efficient algorithms for inference, show the model performance vis-a-vis alternative methods in a simulation study, and apply our model to SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties. The methodology is implemented and available in the R package adapref. Supplementary files for this article are available online.
Quantification of Cross-coupling and Motion Feedthrough for Multiaxis Controllers Used in an Air Combat Flying Task

A real-time piloted simulation of an air-to-air combat flying task using a wings-level-turn aircraft and various novel controllers was conducted. One objective is to quantify how the pilot interacts with the controllers and control modes, including: (1) controller versus aircraft response; (2) proprioceptive cross-coupling among axes of the controllers; and (3) biodynamic cross-coupling between the aircraft motions and the controllers. In order to aid in identifying the items listed above, both the target aircraft and the large amplitude multimode aerospace research simulator (LAMARS) motion system were distributed with quasi-random sums-of-sinusoids. Since the disturbances were separated in frequency, spectral analysis techniques were used to identify the three items listed. The results of the spectral analysis of controller motions from the two-axis side stick, a twist grip mounted on the side stick, a thumb button mounted on the side stick, and conventional rudder pedals are presented. Conclusions and recommendations for further research are also presented.