Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Peptide location fingerprinting identifies species- and tissue-conserved structural remodelling of proteins as a consequence of ageing and disease

Extracellular matrix (ECM) in the intervertebral disc (IVD), lung and artery are thought to undergo the age-dependant accumulation of damage by chronic exposure to mechanisms such as reactive oxygen species, proteases and glycation. It is unknown whether this damage accumulation is species-dependant (via differing lifespans and hence cumulative exposures) or whether it can influence the progression of age-related diseases such as atherosclerosis. Peptide location fingerprinting (PLF) is a new proteomic analysis method, capable of the non-targeted identification of structure-associated changes within proteins. Here we applied PLF to publicly available ageing human IVD (outer annulus fibrosus), ageing mouse lung and human arterial atherosclerosis datasets and identified novel target proteins alongside common age-associated differences within protein structures which were conserved between tissue regions, organs, sexes and species and in age-related disease. We identify peptide yield differences across protein structures which coincide with biological regions, potentially reflecting the functional consequences of ageing or atherosclerosis for macromolecular assemblies (collagen VI and fibrin), enzyme/inhibitor activity (cathepsin B and alpha-2 macroglobulin), activation states (complement C3 and thrombin) and interaction states (laminins, perlecan, fibronectin, filamin-A, collagen XIV and apolipoprotein-B). Furthermore, we show that alpha-2 macroglobulin, prothrombin, collagen XIV and apolipoprotein-B all exhibit possible shared structural consequences in IVD ageing and arterial atherosclerosis, providing novel links between an age-related disease and intrinsic ageing. Crucially, we also demonstrate that fibronectin, laminin beta chains and filamin-A all exhibit conserved age-associated structural differences between mouse lung and human IVD, providing evidence that ECM, and their associating proteins, may be subjected to potentially similar mechanisms or consequences of ageing across species, irrespective of differences in lifespan and tissue function.
The Supplemental Security Income (Ssi) Program

The SSI program provides cash assistance to some of the nation’s most vulnerable elderly, blind, and disabled residents. In this paper, we briefly summarize the history of the SSI program and present descriptive evidence on caseload composition and trends. We discuss relevant conceptual issues and empirical evidence focused on four key issues. First, we describe the advantages and disadvantages of categorical eligibility requirements and we show that the SSI caseload has become increasingly comprised of difficult-to-verify conditions, namely pain and mental disabilities. Second, we describe systematic disincentives to accumulate earnings and assets inherent in the SSI program design, but emphasize that the more relevant set of questions for the SSI population are related to the full disability requirement for eligibility. Third, we describe the questions and research about long-term benefits and costs to program participants, in terms of whether the program adequately and appropriately serves the needs of disabled individuals and their family members. And fourth, we present information and evidence about program spillovers, both across programs and across federal and state levels of government. Throughout the paper we make numerous explicit references to areas where further study is warranted and open research questions remain. SSI is an important part of the U.S. safety net, but particular features of the program raise questions about whether there is a more effective way to provide income support for individuals with work-limiting disabilities and families with disabled the children. Our goal for this paper is to systematically present the issues for scholars and policy-makers to consider and explore.
Approach to Thrombophilia in Pregnancy—A Narrative Review

Thrombophilia is a genetic predisposition to hypercoagulable states caused by acquired haemostasis conditions; pregnancy causes the haemostatic system to become hypercoagulable, which grows throughout the pregnancy and peaks around delivery. Genetic testing for thrombophilic gene mutations is evaluated using different methodologies of real-time polymerase chain reaction and DNA microarrays of specific genes. Adapting the general care of the pregnant woman to the particularities caused by thrombophilia is an important component, so screening is preferred to assess the degree of genetic damage that manifests itself as a risk of thrombosis. The major goal of this narrative review was to quantitatively evaluate the literature data on the specific care of pregnant women with thrombophilia that are at risk of developing unplanned miscarriages.
Short- and long-term effects of transfers on football clubs' sport performance

One of the important elements of football club quality management is the sale and purchase of player’s cards. These activities have important implications for the financial and sport performance of football clubs. The purpose of this paper is to determine how players transfers affect football teams’ sport performance. Data on transfers and sport performance came from available databases. They covered the period from 2004/05 to 2018/19 (before the pandemic). For data analysis, a series of hierarchical analysis of regression were conducted. The results show that there is an effect of transfers on football teams’ sport performance but it explains a relatively small amount of football club’s sport performance. The impact from a transfer in a given year affects sport performance not only in the same year, but also in subsequent years. However, the effect of transfer disappears when control variables are introduced. Thus, the general conclusion from the study is that there is no overall effect of transfers on teams’ sport performance. The analyses were conducted only on clubs from the 5 major European leagues and football clubs that were continuously present in the top division. Due to the fact that it included mainly the strongest clubs, the results are relevant for clubs wishing to build up their sporting position on the European market. It is less relevant for weaker clubs. The study consisted of using data over a period of several years, which provides an opportunity to trace the dynamics of change and long-term effects, which is rarely analyzed in the sports literature.
Charmonium radiative decays within the covariant confined quark model

We have studied the dominant one-photon radiative transitions of the charmonium ground and orbitally excited states within an analytic confinement model. Along with two fixed basic model parameters (mc and the cutoff value λ), we introduced only one adjustable parameter common to charmonium states: ηc, J/ψ, χc0, χc1, hc and χc2 to parameterize the quark distribution inside the hadron. Our estimates are in good agreement with the latest data.
Erosive tooth wear in 5-year-old preschool children from Montevideo–Uruguay: first population study

Objective: To assess the prevalence, extent, severity, and distribution of erosive tooth wear (ETW) in preschool children of Montevideo. Methodology: Cross-sectional population-based study with a representative sample of public and private educational centers. Sociodemographic, biological, and behavioral aspects were studied through a self-reported questionnaire administered to parents/guardians. The examina-tions were performed by two examiners (Kappa ≥ 0.7). The ETW was recorded with the modi fied O’Brien index reported in percentage and average; the confidence interval (CI) was 95%. We analyzed the association between sex and socioeconomic status. Results: 614 preschool children were examined. Prevalence: 57% (95% CI: 52.7-62.5). ETW ex -tent: 4.8 (95% CI: 4.3-5.3). Severe ETW: 8.2% (95% CI: 5.5-10.9). The most affected areas were the palatal surfaces of the upper incisors. Preschoolers of high socioeconomic status had higher ETW than those of lower socioeconomic status; 73.1% (95% CI: 61.9-84.2) and 48.4% (95% CI: 39.2-57.7), Conclusion:
DO PROFESSIONALISM AFFECT MOTIVATION AND EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE? NEW EVIDENCE FROM PERCEPTION AMONG CIVIL SERVANT IN MAKASSAR CITY

This research was conducted to analyze the importance of professionalism in influencing civil servants' work motivation and performance in Makassar City. It also analyzes the role of work motivation as an intervening variable in seeing the effect of professionalism on employee performance. This research is a survey research using a quantitative research approach. In this study, Respondents were 80 employees who were civil servants in Makassar City, with the sampling technique using random sampling. Researchers used path analysis techniques with AMOS software and Sobel test to see the indirect effect in analyzing the data. The research results prove that the higher the professionalism, the higher the work motivation of civil servants in Makassar City, and the resulting performance will also increase. High work motivation can also improve employee performance. Furthermore, these findings also prove that work motivation plays an important role in mediating the effect of professionalism on civil servants' performance in Makassar City significantly. The implication of this research is that professionalism is an element for improving the performance of civil servants in Makassar City, but this also needs to be supported by high motivation from employees to work. Therefore, the Makassar City government as far as possible provides encouragement to the head of the department to be able to motivate employees to work optimally so that it has an impact on better performance.
What leads to severe multi-vehicle crashes on mountainous expressways in Western China?

This paper investigates the occurrence and severity of collisions involving multiple vehicles on mountain expressways (MMEs) in Western China. A total of 1 521 crash samples occurring on one typical mountain expressway in Shaanxi, China, between 2012 and 2017, were analysed through a partially constrained generalised ordered logit to identify the significant risk factors contributing to the severity of such crashes. Elasticity analysis was performed to quantify the effects of each independent explanatory variable on the collision severity outcomes. Fourteen total explanatory variables were found to have a significant and pronounced influence on the likelihood of MME crashes. These include the type of collision, the at-fault driver's age, driving while fatigued, cell phone use while driving, alcohol-impaired driving, speeding, risky following and dangerous overtaking behaviour, sharp curves in the roadway and slippery pavement conditions, seasons, day of the week, time of day, and adverse weather (rain/snow/fog). The impacts of the variables on the collision severity were also explored. Taken together, the findings may serve as a useful guide for developing legislation and technical countermeasures to ensure traffic safety on mountain expressways in Western China.
Vision-Based Excavator Detection and Tracking Using Hybrid Kinematic Shapes and Key Nodes

AbstractEnhancing workplace safety continues to be a major task in the construction industry. Approximately 75% of struck-by fatalities are caused by inappropriate spatial-temporal relationships between construction workers and heavy equipment. Construction safety can be improved if the location and movement of heavy equipment are tracked in real time. However, detecting and tracking heavy equipment with kinematic joints and changing poses, such as excavators, is still a challenge for vision-based sensing methods. This study proposes to detect and track excavators using stereo cameras based on hybrid kinematic shape and key node features. Specifically, templates of excavator components are synthesized for detection following kinematic constraints of each component. Thereafter, a fast directional chamfer matching algorithm is used to detect the excavator components, and the detected components are articulated at the key nodes. Finally, the three-dimensional positions of the key nodes are tracked through tr.
Prevalence and factors associated with hepatitis B and C virus infections among female Sex workers in Ethiopia: Results of the national biobehavioral Survey, 2020

Background: Hepatitis B and C virus infections are endemic diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest prevalence of these infections in the world. Female sex workers are exposed to sexually transmitted infections, including hepatitis B and C, because of their high-risk sexual behavior and limited access to health services. There is no data on national prevalence estimate on hepatitis B and C virus infections among female sex workers in Ethiopia, a critical gap in information this study aimed to fill. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, biobehavioral, national study conducted from December 2019 - April 2020 among 6085 commercial female sex workers aged >=15 years and residing in sixteen (n=16) regional capital cities and selected towns of Ethiopia. Blood samples were collected for hepatitis B and C virus serological testing from the participants. The data were collected using an open data kits (ODK) software and imported into STATA version16 for analysis. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and proportions) were used to summarize data on the study variables. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the strength of association between independent variables (risk factors) and the outcome (hepatitis B and C virus infection). Adjusted Odd ratio (AOR) was used to determine independent associations, 95% confidence interval to assess precision of the estimates, and a P value <= 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of hepatitis B and C infections among the 6085 female sex workers was 2.6% [(95% CI (2.2,2.8)] and 0.5% [(95% CI (0.4,0.7)], respectively. Female sex workers who had 61-90 and >=91 paying clients in the past six months [(AOR=1.66; 95% CI, (0.99, 2.79); P =0.054] and [(AOR=1.66 95% CI, (1.11, 2.49); P=0.013], respectively, age at first sex selling of 20-24 and >25 years [(AOR=1.67; 95% CI, (1.14, 2.44); P =0.009)] and [(AOR=1.56; 95% CI (1.004, 2.43); P =0.048)], respectively, known HIV positive status [(AOR=1.64; 95% CI (1.03, 2.62); P =0.036] were significantly associated with the prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection. Similarly, hepatitis C was significantly associated with, age at first sex <=15 years and age 16-20 years [(AOR=0.21; 95%CI (0.07,0.61); P =0.005)] and [(AOR=0.18; 95% CI (0.061, 0.53); P =0.002)], respectively, known HIV positive status [(AOR=2.85; 95%CI (1.10,7.37); P =0.031)] and testing positive for syphilis [(AOR=4.38; 95% CI (1.73,11.11); P =0.002)], respectively. Conclusion: This analysis reveals an intermediate prevalence of hepatitis B and a low prevalence of hepatitis C infection among female sex workers in Ethiopia. It also suggests that population groups like female sex workers are highly vulnerable to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and other sexually transmitted infections. There is a need for strengthening treatment and prevention interventions, including immunization services.
"The Same PIN, Just Longer": On the (In)Security of Upgrading PINs from 4 to 6 Digits

With the goal of improving security, companies like Apple have moved from requiring 4-digit PINs to 6-digit PINs in contexts like smartphone unlocking. Users with a 4-digit PIN thus must “upgrade” to a 6-digit PIN for the same device or account. In an online user study ( n = 1010), we explore the security of such upgrades. Participants used their own smart-phone to ﬁrst select a 4-digit PIN. They were then directed to select a 6-digit PIN with one of ﬁve randomly assigned justiﬁcations. In an online attack that guesses a small number of common PINs (10–30), we observe that 6-digit PINs are, at best, marginally more secure than 4-digit PINs. To understand the relationship between 4-and 6-digit PINs, we then model targeted attacks for PIN upgrades. We ﬁnd that attackers who know a user’s previous 4-digit PIN perform signiﬁcantly better than those who do not at guessing their 6-digit PIN in only a few guesses using basic heuristics (e.g., appending digits to the 4-digit PIN). Participants who selected a 6-digit PIN when given a “device upgrade” justiﬁcation selected 6-digit PINs that were the easiest to guess in a targeted attack, with the attacker successfully guessing over 25% of the PINs in just 10 attempts, and more than 30% in 30 attempts. Our re-sults indicate that forcing users to upgrade to 6-digit PINs offers limited security improvements despite adding usability burdens. System designers should thus carefully consider this tradeoff before requiring upgrades.
The Growth Effects of Openness to Trade and the Role of Institutions: New Evidence from African Countries

In this paper, we explore the argument that one of the causes for the limited growth effects of trade openness in Africa may be the weakness of institutions. We also control for several major factors and, in particular, for export diversification, using a newly developed dataset on Africa. Results from Arellano- Bond GMM estimations on panel data from African countries show that institutions play an important role in enhancing the growth effects of trade. Moreover, we find that the joint effect of institutions and trade has a U-shape, suggesting that as openness to trade reaches high levels, institutions play a critical role in harnessing the trade-led engine of growth. The results from this paper are informative about the missing link between trade liberalization and growth in the case of African countries.
An electromagnetic simulation assisted small signal modeling method for InP double-heterojunction bipolar transistors

We present a convenient and practical electromagnetic (EM) assisted small-signal model extraction method for InP double-heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs). Parasitic parameters of pad and electrode fingers are extracted by means of 3D EM simulation. The simulations with a new excitation scheme are closer to the actual on-wafer measurement conditions. Appropriate simulation settings are calibrated by comparing measurement and simulation of OPEN and SHORT structures. A simpler π-type topology is proposed for the intrinsic model, in which the base-collector resistance Rμ , output resistance R ce are deleted, and a capacitance C ce is introduced to characterize the capacitive parasitic caused by the collector finger and emitter ground bar. The intrinsic parameters are all extracted by exact equations that are derived from rigorous mathematics. The method is characterized by its ease of implementation and the explicit physical meaning of extraction procedure. Experimental validations are performed at four biases for three InGaAs/InP HBT devices with 0.8 × 7 μm, 0.8 × 10 μm and 0.8 × 15 μm emitter, and quite good fitting results are obtained in the range of 0.1–50 GHz.
Effect of Consumer Skepticism on Consumer Intention in Purchasing Green Product

The image of environmentally friendly products is often seen as bad, consumer doubt that environmentally friendly products are really made with environmentally friendly raw materials. This attitude is known as consumer skepticism (doubt) towards products with an environmentally friendly label. Consumer skepticism occurs because product advertisements contain confusing information as well as consumer insecurity about the raw material for products that the company claims are environmentally friendly. The aims of this study aims to determine the effect of consumer skepticism on green purchase intention. This study uses a theoretical approach to consumer behavior control and attitude, perceived value and environmental consciousness associated with consumer intentions to buy green products in Bandar Lampung. The study was conducted on April until June 2020. The sample in this research were consumers who had been buying green product. The research sample was calculated using the Lemeshow method, with a margin of error of 5%, the minimum number of samples was 236 samples. The analysis tool used is regression model. The results of this study are the reduction of consumer skepticism about the intention to buy due to the use of social media to promote green products. Meanwhile, the influence of consumer value perceptions and environmental awareness will increase on the purchase intention of green products. The implication of this research is that companies must pay attention to communication about green products that are produced so as to reduce consumer doubt. Another impact if consumers consume green products will lead to environmentally friendly perceptions and attitudes.
Implications of a Temperature-dependent Initial Mass Function. II. An Updated View of the Star-forming Main Sequence

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is predicted to depend upon the temperature of gas in star-forming molecular clouds. The introduction of an additional parameter, T IMF, into photometric template fitting, allows galaxies to be fit with a range of IMFs. Three surprising new features appear: (1) most star-forming galaxies are best fit with a bottom-lighter IMF than the Milky Way; (2) most star-forming galaxies at fixed redshift are fit with a very similar IMF; and (3) the most-massive star-forming galaxies at fixed redshift instead exhibit a less bottom-light IMF, similar to that measured in quiescent galaxies. Additionally, since stellar masses and star formation rates both depend on the IMF, these results slightly modify the resulting relationship, while yielding similar qualitative characteristics to previous studies.
Role of CYP2A5 in the Bioactivation of the Lung Carcinogen 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-Pyridyl)-1-Butanone in Mice

The tobacco-specific nitrosamine (NNK) is a potent lung carcinogen. Previously, we have demonstrated that NNK-induced lung tumorigenesis in mice depends on target-tissue bioactivation by pulmonary cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that mouse CYP2A5 plays an essential role in NNK bioactivation in mouse lung. The role of CYP2A5 in NNK bioactivation was studied both in vitro and in vivo, by comparing kinetic parameters of microsomal NNK metabolism and tissue levels of O 6 -mehtylguanine (O 6 -mG) (the DNA adduct highly correlated with lung tumorigenesis) between wild-type (WT) and Cyp2a5 -null mice. In both liver and lung microsomes, the loss of CYP2A5 resulted in significant increases in the apparent Km values for the formation of 4-oxo-4-(3-pyridyl)butanone (OPB), which represents the reactive intermediate that produces O 6 -mG in vivo. The loss of CYP2A5 did not change circulating levels of NNK or 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol in mice treated intraperitoneally with NNK at either 20 or 100 mg/kg. However, the levels of lung O 6 -mG were significantly lower in Cyp2a5 -null than in WT mice; the extent of the reduction was greater at the 20 mg/kg dose (~40%) than at the 100 mg/kg dose (~20%). These results indicate that CYP2A5 is the low- Km enzyme for NNK bioactivation in mouse lung. Interestingly, the remaining NNK-bioactivation activities in the Cyp2a5 -null mice could be inhibited by 8-methoxypsoralen, a P450 inhibitor utilized previously to demonstrate the role of CYP2A5 in NNK-induced lung tumorigenesis. Thus, P450 the we directly determined the role of CYP2A5 in NNK bioactivation, vitro comparing kinetic parameters of microsomal 6 -mG wild-type and -null Cyp2a5 we bioactivation lung tumorigenesis microsomes