Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Developing a Phenotype Risk Score for Tic Disorders in a Large, Clinical Biobank

Importance: Tics are a common feature of early-onset neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by involuntary and repetitive movements or sounds. Despite affecting up to 2% of young children and having a genetic contribution, the underlying causes remain poorly understood, likely due to the complex phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity among affected individuals. Objective: In this study, we leverage dense phenotype information from electronic health records to identify the disease features associated with tic disorders within the context of a clinical biobank. These disease features are then used to generate a phenotype risk score for tic disorder. Design: Using de-identified electronic health records from a tertiary care center, we extracted individuals with tic disorder diagnosis codes. We performed a phenome-wide association study to identify the features enriched in tic cases versus controls (N=1,406 and 7,030; respectively). These disease features were then used to generate a phenotype risk score for tic disorder, which was applied across an independent set of 90,051 individuals. A previously curated set of tic disorder cases from an electronic health record algorithm followed by clinician chart review was used to validate the tic disorder phenotype risk score. Main Outcomes and Measures: Phenotypic patterns associated with a tic disorder diagnosis in the electronic health record. Results: Our tic disorder phenome-wide association study revealed 69 significantly associated phenotypes, predominantly neuropsychiatric conditions, including obsessive compulsive disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, and anxiety. The phenotype risk score constructed from these 69 phenotypes in an independent population was significantly higher among clinician-validated tic cases versus non-cases. Conclusions and Relevance: Our findings provide support for the use of large-scale medical databases to better understand phenotypically complex diseases, such as tic disorders. The tic disorder phenotype risk score provides a quantitative measure of disease risk that can be leveraged for the assignment of individuals in case-control studies or for additional downstream analyses.
A multivariate genome-wide association study of psycho-cardiometabolic multimorbidity

Coronary artery disease (CAD), type 2 diabetes (T2D) and depression are among the leading causes of chronic morbidity and mortality worldwide. Epidemiological studies indicate a substantial degree of multimorbidity, which may be explained by shared genetic influences. However, research exploring the presence of pleiotropic variants and genes common to CAD, T2D and depression is lacking. The present study aimed to identify genetic variants with effects on cross-trait liability to psycho-cardiometabolic diseases. We used genomic structural equation modelling to perform a multivariate genome-wide association study of multimorbidity (Neffective = 562,507), using summary statistics from univariate genome-wide association studies for CAD, T2D and major depression. CAD was moderately genetically correlated with T2D (rg = 0.39, P = 2e-34) and weakly correlated with depression (rg = 0.13, P = 3e-6). Depression was weakly correlated with T2D (rg = 0.15, P = 4e-15). The latent multimorbidity factor explained the largest proportion of variance in T2D (45%), followed by CAD (35%) and depression (5%). We identified 11 independent SNPs associated with multimorbidity and 18 putative multimorbidity-associated genes. We observed enrichment in immune and inflammatory pathways. A greater polygenic risk score for multimorbidity in the UK Biobank (N = 306,734) was associated with the co-occurrence of CAD, T2D and depression (OR per standard deviation = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.74–2.10, relative to the healthy group), validating this latent multimorbidity factor. Mendelian randomization analyses suggested potentially causal effects of BMI, body fat percentage, LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, fasting insulin, income, insomnia, and childhood maltreatment. These findings advance our understanding of multimorbidity suggesting common genetic pathways.
Monitoring an invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle population using pheromone traps in Honiara, Solomon Islands

An invasive population of the coconut rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros; CRB) was discovered in Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands in 2015. The beetle has caused severe damage to coconut palms in the outbreak area and its continued spread threatens the food security and livelihood of thousands of smallholder farmers in the region. Spread and abundance of the beetle were monitored using bucket traps baited with the aggregation pheromone, ethyl-4 methyloctanoate. Beetles were collected from traps approximately bi-weekly for two periods; one during 2017–18 and the other during 2019–2020. Trap catches showed that CRB was present throughout the whole survey region with significantly higher numbers of female CRB trapped than males. Results indicate a significant 1.5-fold increase in CRB trap catch numbers from 2017–2018 to 2019–2020 despite control efforts. The number of CRB adults trapped also varied between sites and months during both time periods but with no clear patterns. Removal of breeding sites along with strong local quarantine should remain the top priority of the local government to contain CRB expansion within Solomon Islands and beyond.
Comparative Study of Proximate and Phytochemical Analysis of the Roots of Justicia carnea Lindi. and Justicia secunda Vahl

Proximate and phytochemical analyses of the root extracts of Justicia carnea and Justicia secunda in the Acanthaceae family were investigated using standard procedures and compared. The result of the proximate analysis indicated that the roots of both species contain nutrients in varying levels. Protein (11.38±0.01), lipid (4.81±0.01) and moisture content (17.01±0.01) were higher in the roots of J. carnea than in J. secunda (8.32±0.01, 2.01±0.01, 11.22±0.02) respectively, while Carbohydrate (6.62±0.00), Ash (16.75±0.05) and Fibre (55.18±0.01) were higher in J. secunda than in J. carnea (4.73±0.02, 9.81±0.01, and 52.29±0.00) respectively. Qualitative phytochemical analysis showed the presence of tannin, flavonoid, alkaloids, saponin, phytate and cyanogenic glycosides whereas the result for the quantitative analysis showed that the quantity of phytochemicals in Justicia carnea and Justicia secunda were: tannin (46.75±0.00 and 41.01±0.01), flavonoid (2.72±0.01 and 3.21±0.00), alkaloid (10.16±0.00 and 11.21±0.01), saponin (3.31±0.01 and 2.7±0.00), phytate (30.54±0.01 and 33.86±0.00) and cyanogenic glycoside (100.01±0.00 and 500±0.00) respectively. Justicia carnea contained higher quantity of tannin and saponin while Justicia secunda contained higher amount of flavonoid, alkanoid, phytate and cyanogenic glycoside. These results conceivably indicated that the two species are good sources of essential nutrients which could be used in diets to supplement the daily nutrient needs in humans and animals, and phyto-nutrients which possess strong pharmacological activities, providing scientific credence for its therapeutic usage in folklore medicine.
The Effect of Vigor, Dedication and Absorption on the Employee Performance of PT Garuda Indonesia Cargo

This study aims to analyze the effect of vigor, dedication and absorption on the employee performance of PT Garuda Indonesia Cargo. The object of this study is the employees of PT Garuda Indonesia at the Head Office Cargo Directorate, which is located in the Cargo Area of Soekarno-Hatta Airport. The population of this study is 93 employees of PT Garuda Indonesia at the Head Office Cargo Directorate. The sampling method used is a census sample. Therefore, the sample of this study is 93 employees. Multiple linear regression analysis is used in this study with the help of the SPSS application version 26. The results of this study indicate that simultaneously, vigor, dedication and absorption have a positive and significant effect on employee performance. Partially, both vigor and dedication have a significant positive effect on employee performance. Meanwhile, absorption has no effect and is not significant. The magnitude of the influence (R Square) of vigor, dedication and absorption on employee performance is 48,1%.
A Randomized, Double-blind, Comparative Study of the Analgesic Efficacy of Perineural Dexmedetomidine as Adjuvant to Ropivacaine versus Ropivacaine Alone in Ultrasound Guided Saphenous Nerve Block after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Surgery

Background: The saphenous nerve block has been effectively used for pain treatment after knee surgeries, however, a single-shot saphenous nerve block with a long-acting local anesthetic usually provides a relatively short duration of postoperative analgesia. Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective alpha-2 adrenoceptors agonist and its perineural injection as an additive to local anesthetics has been shown to improve postoperative analgesia. The aim of this prospective, randomized double-blind study was to evaluate the effects of adding dexmedetomidine to ropivacaine on the quality of postoperative analgesia with ultrasound-guided saphenous nerve block after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery of the knee. Methods: 40 ASA class I–II patients undergoing arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery under general anesthesia were randomly divided into 2 groups of 20 patients each. At the end of surgery, ultrasound-guided saphenous nerve block was performed with either 10 ml ropivacaine 0.5% alone, or 1 µg/kg dexmedetomidine added to 10 ml of ropivacaine 0.5%. The total volume of injected solutions was increased to 12 ml by adding normal saline. The postoperative pain scores as well as fentanyl consumption through intravenous patient-controlled analgesia pump, hemodynamic parameters, sedation scores, and adverse effects were assessed every 1 hour to 6 hours and then every 2 hours to 24 hours. Results: There were significantly lower postoperative pain scores in the ropivacaine plus dexmedetomidine group compared to ropivacaine alone group at all postoperative measured time points. The total amount of fentanyl consumption and sedation scores after surgery was significantly higher in group ropivacaine alone than in group ropivacaine plus dexmedetomidine. Systolic blood pressure and heart rate within 24 hours after surgery were significantly lower in the dexmedetomidine+ ropivacaine group than in the ropivacaine alone group. However, no bradycardia and hypotension were detected in any of the patients. Conclusion: Perineural administration of 1 µg/kg of dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant to ropivacaine 0.5% for ultrasound guided saphenous nerve block significantly reduced pain scores and opioid requirements in the first 24 h after ACLR surgery compared to ropivacaine alone without any significant side effects.
Medical image segmentation using shape prior information and deep neural networks

Semantic image segmentation is the task of classifying each pixel of an image into a corresponding category of what is being represented. It is an essential step towards automating image analysis process. However, the low-quality signal, high level of noise, variety of objects appearance, little amount of labeled data are the critical obstacles which stand on the way of achieving the perfect segmentation re-sults. Incorporating the shape prior knowledge has proven signiﬁcant improvement of the segmentation results. In this work, we extend the existing method of incorporating shape priors within the FCN segmentation framework to a multiclass semantic segmentation. We demonstrate the superiority of our extension in ﬁve different datasets and show that it capable of making the segmentation results more accurate and plausible in multiclass problems.
Prerequisites and Perceived Information System Qualities Model for Mobile Banking Adoption Among the Customers of Private Commercial Banks in Myanmar

The research attempts to conjecture the prerequisites of perceived qualities of information system (IS) such as mobile banking (MB). The quantitative research was conducted and a total of 577 MB users of private commercial banks in Myanmar participated in the research. The results of the hypotheses were formulated by using partly exploratory factor analysis (EFA), partly confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. The findings expose that device quality is an independent factor, and an antecedent of user interface design quality and system quality. The research also discloses that user interface design quality is a prerequisite of system quality and information quality. In the research, system quality and information quality are key factors affecting customers’ intention to adopt MB. Further, the results confirm that system quality has a statistically significant effect on information quality. However, the effect of device quality on information quality is insignificant. It is expected that the research gives valuable insights for not only bank managers but also software engineers who are going to develop MB systems.
Performance Enhancements of LoRaWAN Using Machine Learning on the Edge

LoRaWAN is becoming the dominant long range protocol for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. However, LoRaWAN’s performance suffers from a high number of collisions in saturated LoRa networks. To mitigate the number of collisions that happen due to the time overlap of transmissions on the same channel, we use an edge machine learning approach. To do so, Reinforcement learning (RL) is leveraged. RL is a field of machine learning that aims at maximizing the reward by interacting with the environment. SARSA is an on-policy RL algorithm that uses previous actions to update the Q-value. This study aims to improve the performance of congested LoRa networks by allowing RL-based applications on individual nodes. Specifically, it explores whether periodic applications driven by SARSA can improve the performance of the network and adapt the period transmissions of the nodes. In this thesis, two versions of SARSA have been developed, evaluated, and compared to the baseline of LoRaWAN. To achieve that, several simulations with different configurations are performed. The simulations include networks with hundreds of nodes and different number of maximum retransmissions. The results of the simulations have shown that networks where SARSA algorithms are used present a better performance compared to the typical LoRaWAN periodic application in certain examined scenarios. The results demonstrate that RL-based algorithms can significantly improve the performance of networks with high load. Nevertheless, there is still room for further improvement and better understanding of the internal mechanisms of the proposed RL approaches.
Assessment of Some Heavy Metal Levels and its Related Health Hazards in Two Staple Foods Grown in Mining Communities of Ebonyi State

Background: This study assessed the levels of some heavy metals in two staple foods grown within mining sites at Ishiagu and Enyigba communities of Ebonyi State. The control site was Umuezeokoha community. The present study is significantly important in respect to hazardous effect of heavy metal accumulation in staple food as there was no or scarcity of data available in Nigeria on this aspect. Materials and Methods: The two commonly cultivated food crops namely Manihot esculentus (cassava) and Telfairia occidentalis (fluted pumpkin) were grown within <20m, 100m before mining sites. The crops were collected from the three farms at the peak of the harvesting period, processed and were analyzed for heavy metals using AAS technique. Results: The results revealed that heavy metals; Pb, Cu, Ni, Zn and Mn in Manihot esculentus tubers in all the farms within Ishiagu and Enyigba mining sites were comparable to each other and control site but Cr levels in control site was higher than others and that of WHO/FAO maximum permissible limit. Only As from A2 in Ishiagu had the highest value and exceeded WHO/FAO maximum permissible limit. Fe from B1, B2 in Enyigba and that of control had the highest values when compared to others but Fe in all samples investigated exceeded WHO/FAO maximum. Also, Pb, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Mn in Telfairia occidentalis leaves in all the farms within mining sites were comparable to control site except As levels from A2 in Ishiagu and from control site which was higher compare to others including WHO/FAO maximum permissible limit. Cr only from A2 in Ishiagu, B2 and B3 in Enyigba was highest even with WHO/FAO maximum permissible limit. Fe too from all the farms in Enyigba and control had highest values even with WHO/FAO maximum permissible limit. Conclusion: The results showed that the investigated food crops from two mining communities and the control site were not safe for consumption.
Efficient polynomial analysis of magic-angle spinning sidebands and application to order parameter determination in anisotropic samples

Abstract Chemical shift tensors in 13 C solid-state NMR provide valuable localized information on the chemical bonding environment in organic matter, and deviations from isotropic static-limit powder line shapes sensitively encode dynamic-averaging or orientation effects. Studies in 13 C natural abundance require magic-angle spinning (MAS), where the analysis must thus focus on spinning sidebands. We propose an alternative fitting procedure for spinning sidebands based upon a polynomial expansion that is more efficient than the common numerical solution of the powder average. The approach plays out its advantages in the determination of CST (chemical-shift tensor) principal values from spinning-sideband intensities and order parameters in non-isotropic samples, which is here illustrated with the example of stretched glassy polycarbonate.
The influence of social media marketing activities on consumer engagement and brand knowledge in the culinary business in Indonesia

This study aims to analyze the influence of elements of social media marketing activity on consumer engagement and brand knowledge including brand awareness and image. This study used a quantitative method and purposive sampling technique on 250 respondents. The research was conducted on all Indonesian citizens who use social media WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, youtube, and TikTok regarding the culinary business of celebrities and YouTubers in Indonesia. The method used is the Structural Equation Model with AMOS 24.0 Software. The results of this study indicate that the interaction variables, trends, and EWOM have a positive and significant effect on consumer engagement, and consumer engagement has a positive and significant effect on brand awareness and brand image. While the entertainment and customization variables have no significant effect on consumer engagement.
CSR Disclosures: Role and Relationship to Accounting Conservatism in Improving Earnings of Quality

Several research issues argue, in general, companies that focus and are oriented towards the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It is relative to accounting conservatism to suppress information asymmetry and/or managerial opportunism to provide higher quality earnings information as a reflection of the actual condition of the company. This study was conducted to look at the effect of CSR disclosure on earnings quality by adding accounting conservatism as a mediating variable. This study uses path analysis techniques in 90 manufacturing companies for an observation period of 4 (four) periods from 2016 to 2019. The results of this study indicate that CSR disclosure influences Accounting Conservatism. Then, CSR affects earnings quality. Furthermore, earnings quality is influenced by accounting conservatism, and finally, CSR disclosure does not affect earnings quality according to accounting conservatism. CSR Disclosure, Accounting Conservatism, Earnings Quality.DOI: 10.26905/jkdp.v25i3. 5030
The Role of Radio Personalities as Endorsers of Food Supplements. An Analysis of Health-Related Claims (H- RCs) on Spanish Radio Mentions

Introduction: Advertisers use endorsers due to their potential in terms of persuasion and message effectiveness. The objective of this work is to analyze health-related claims in food supplements advertising establishing the relationship between radio personalities and health-related information. Methodology: A content analysis of all radio mentions —with a final corpus of 437— broadcast in 2017 on the three news/talk radio stations with the largest audiences was conducted. Results: Radio hosts (55%) predominate over collaborators (45%), with function claims as the most prevalent type of claim (99.5%), followed by disease claims, prohibited by law. Collaborators mention nonauthorized claims more frequently than radio hosts. Regarding mandatory information on product content, 79% of mentions do not refer to any mineral that supports their alleged benefits. Discussion: 1 Corresponding author. RLCS, Revista Latina de Comunicación Social , 79, 263-282 [Investigación] DOI: 10.4185/RLCS-2021-1511| ISSN 1138-5820 | Año 2021 Received: 17/05/2021. Accepted: 28/06/2021. Published: 26/07/2021 264 Advertisers exploit the reliability of opinion leaders to endorse food supplements. These personalities are clearly inadequate to recommend these products, which implies a great risk to consumers’ health. The significant and illicit use of these claims demands more restrictive legislation and stricter control mechanisms by self-regulatory authorities. Conclusions: Although advertisers are solely responsible for the illicit endorsement, the responsibility must be extended to media owners and radio personalities, due to their social influence, for a greater protection against illicit advertising.
A Wealth Tax for South Africa

This paper considers the feasibility of implementing a progressive wealth tax to collect additional government revenue to both reinforce fiscal sustainability in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis and reduce persistent extreme inequality in South Africa. Drawing on our new companion paper, we first identify the tax base and discuss the design of potential tax schedules. Testing alternative tax schedules, we estimate how much additional revenue could be collected from a progressive tax on the top 1% richest South Africans. Our results show that under conservative assumptions, a wealth tax could raise between 70 and 160 billion Rands — 1.5% to 3.5% of the South African GDP. We discuss in turn how sensitive our estimates are to assumptions on (1) mismeasurement of wealth and (2) tax avoidance and evasion, based on the most recent tax policy literature. We examine technical issues related to the enforcement of the tax, and how third-party reporting and pre-filled declarations could be used to optimize measurement of taxable wealth and minimize evasion and avoidance opportunities. Finally, we explain how this new tax could interact with other capital related taxes already in place in South Africa, and discuss the potential impact on growth. ∗Aroop Chatterjee, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies – University of Witwatersrand ; Léo Czajka, Université Catholique de Louvain; Amory Gethin, World Inequality Lab – Paris School of Economics. We are grateful to Facundo Alvaredo, Lucas Chancel, Juliana Londoño-Vélez, Clara Martínez-Toledano, Thomas Piketty, Imraan Valodia, Ingrid Woolard and other anonymous commenters for their useful feedback. This work is based on the research supported by the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) as part of the Rethinking Economic Policy in the Age of Covid-19 project. We acknowledge that opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication generated by the NIHSSsupported grant is that of the authors, and that the NIHSS accepts no liability in this regard. We also acknowledge financial support from the Ford Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme, the European Research Council (ERC Grant 340831) and the Scientific Research Funds (FNRS FRESH Grant 33877166)