Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Demographic History of the Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) on Hokkaido Island, Japan, Based on Whole-Genomic Sequence Analysis

Abstract Previous studies of the brown bear (Ursus arctos) on Hokkaido Island, Japan, have detected three geographically distinct subpopulations representing different mitochondrial lineages and shown that gene flow between subpopulations has occurred due to male-biased dispersal. In this study, we determined whole-genomic sequences for six Hokkaido brown bears and analyzed these data along with previously published genomic sequences of 17 brown bears from other parts of the world. We found that the Hokkaido population is genetically distinct from the other populations, keeping genetic diversity higher than the endangered populations in western Europe but lower than most populations on the continents. A reconstruction of historical demography showed no increase in population size for the Hokkaido population during the Eemian interglacial period (130,000–114,000 years ago). In a phylogenetic analysis of the autosomal data, the Hokkaido population formed a clade distinct from North American and European populations, showing that it has maintained genetic diversity independently from continental populations following geographical isolation on the island. This autosomal genetic similarity contrasts with the geographically separate mitochondrial lineages on Hokkaido and indicates the occurrence of male-driven gene flow between subpopulations.
Improved post-marketing safety surveillance of quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine in Mexico using a computerized, SMS-based follow-up system

ABSTRACT Quadrivalent influenza vaccines (QIVs) are designed to prevent influenza disease caused by two influenza A viruses (H1N1 and H3N2) and both influenza B lineages. Risk-monitoring of QIVs to identify adverse events (AEs) is necessary as influenza vaccines are reformulated each year. We developed a new active surveillance system (Sistema de Control de Vacunación; SICOVA) to improve pharmacovigilance in Mexico. Participants (N = 2013) aged 0 − 96 years from nine sites across three influenza seasons (n = 1166 in 2015 − 2016; n = 633 in 2016 − 2017; and n = 214 in 2017 − 2018) agreed to receive text messages 1, 7, 28, and 42 days post-vaccination to know if they had experienced any AEs. The study was completed electronically by 1763 (87.6%) participants; manual follow-up was conducted for 250 participants whose reporting was incomplete. The overall AE rate was 9.09%. At least one AE was reported by 183 participants, of whom 131 (71.58%) did not require a medical visit and 52 (28.42%) needed medical attention, with none requiring hospitalization. Most AEs requiring medical attention occurred in children aged 0 − 5 years (n = 22, 42.31%) and adults aged 31 − 35 years (n = 5, 9.62%). These results are consistent with the established safety profile of Fluzone® Quadrivalent, and show that SICOVA can facilitate surveillance and increase AE reporting in Mexico.
A Novel Mobile App (“CareFit”) to Support Informal Caregivers to Undertake Regular Physical Activity From Home During and Beyond COVID-19 Restrictions: Co-design and Prototype Development Study

Background Informal caregivers, or carers (unpaid family members and friends), are instrumental to millions worldwide for the ongoing delivery of health and well-being needs. The risk of crisis points (eg, hospitalizations) for caregivers increases with the absence of physical activity. The COVID-19 pandemic is highly likely to have increased the risk of crisis points for caregivers by increasing the amount of time spent indoors due to shielding and lockdown restrictions. Thus, accessible evidence-based tools to facilitate physical activity for caregivers indoors are urgently needed. Objective The aim of this study was to co-design and develop a novel mobile app to educate and support carers in the undertaking of regular physical activity at home during and beyond COVID-19 restrictions via integration of the transtheoretical model of behavior change and UK physical activity guidelines. Methods We co-designed a mobile app, “CareFit,” by directly involving caregivers, health care professionals, and social care professionals in the requirements, capturing, and evaluation phases of three Agile Scrum design and development sprints. Seven participants representing multistakeholder views took part in three co-design sessions, each of which was followed by a development sprint. Requirements for CareFit were grounded in a combination of behavioral change science and UK government guidelines for physical activity. Results Participants identified different barriers and enablers to physical activity, such as a lack of time, recognition of existing activities, and concerns regarding safely undertaking physical activity. Requirements analysis highlighted the importance of simplicity in design and a need to anchor development around the everyday needs of caregivers (eg, easy-to-use video instructions). Our final prototype app integrated guidance for undertaking physical activity at home through educational, physical activity, and communication components. Conclusions Integrating government guidelines with models of behavioral change into a mobile app to support the physical activity of carers is novel. We found that integrating core physical activity guidelines into a co-designed smartphone app with functionality such as a weekly planner and educational material for users is feasible. This work holds promise to fill the gap of effective physical activity solutions for caregivers both during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Further work is now needed to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of the approach in real-world settings.
Using alternative teaching and learning approaches to deliver clinical microbiology during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic has had significant impacts upon higher education teaching. Clinical microbiology teaching is primarily focused on a combination of practical skill development and didactic delivery of content. In the pandemic, the absence of in-person teaching has led to educators adapting in-person content for online platforms and delivery. This commentary covers alternative innovative and engaging teaching approaches to deliver clinical microbiology content during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A national Swedish case-control study investigating incidence and factors associated with idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Objective To study the incidence of idiopathic intracranial hypertension in Sweden and to explore whether previously proposed risk factors are associated with idiopathic intracranial hypertension by investigating the odds of exposure one year prior to diagnosis in patients compared to controls. Methods Using Swedish health care registers and validated diagnostic algorithms, idiopathic intracranial hypertension patients diagnosed between 2000–2016 were compared with randomly selected matched controls, five from the general population and five with obesity. Results We identified 902 idiopathic intracranial hypertension patients and 4510 matched individuals in each control group. Mean incidence among inhabitants ≥18 years of age was 0.71 per 100,000; rising from 0.53 in 2000–2005 to 0.95 in 2012–2016. There were increased odds for idiopathic intracranial hypertension patients compared to general population for exposure to: kidney failure (odds ratio =13.2 (4.1–42.0)), arterial hypertension (odds ratio =17.5 (10.5–29.3)), systemic lupus erythematosus (odds ratio =13.8 (4.3–44.7)), tetracyclines, sulphonamides, lithium, and corticosteroids. In obese controls, odds ratios were also significantly increased for these exposures. Hormonal contraceptive use and exposure to pregnancy did not appear to be associated factors for idiopathic intracranial hypertension development. Conclusions The incidence of idiopathic intracranial hypertension in Sweden is lower relative to reports from other countries but is on the rise. This case-control study confirms several previously reported risk factors associated with idiopathic intracranial hypertension.
Transfer Learning Based on Optimal Transport for Motor Imagery Brain-Computer Interfaces

Objective: This paper tackles the cross-sessions variability of electroencephalography-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) in order to avoid the lengthy recalibration step of the decoding method before every use. Methods: We develop a new approach of domain adaptation based on optimal transport to tackle brain signal variability between sessions of motor imagery BCIs. We propose a backward method where, unlike the original formulation, the data from a new session are transported to a calibration session, and thereby avoiding model retraining. Several domain adaptation approaches are evaluated and compared. We simulated two possible online scenarios: i) block-wise adaptation and ii) sample-wise adaptation. In this study, we collect a dataset of 10 subjects performing a hand motor imagery task in 2 sessions. A publicly available dataset is also used. Results: For the first scenario, results indicate that classifier retraining can be avoided by means of our backward formulation yielding to equivalent classification performance as compared to retraining solutions. In the second scenario, classification performance rises up to 90.23% overall accuracy when the label of the indicated mental task is used to learn the transport. Adaptive time is between 10 and 80 times faster than the other methods. Conclusions: The proposed method is able to mitigate the cross-session variability in motor imagery BCIs. Significance: The backward formulation is an efficient retraining-free approach built to avoid lengthy calibration times. Thus, the BCI can be actively used after just a few minutes of setup. This is important for practical applications such as BCI-based motor rehabilitation.
Work conditions and their repercussions on the quality of life of rural workers.

OBJECTIVE To assess the context of work and analyze their repercussions on the quality of life of rural workers in soybean agribusiness. METHOD Cross-sectional study, with an intentional sample of rural workers, conducted between the months of October and December 2019, with the application of the instruments World Health Organization Quality Life-bref and Scales of Assessment of Context and Human Cost of Work. The data were analyzed through bivariate and multivariate descriptive statistics. RESULTS The participants amounted to 299 rural workers. The scores of Work Conditions and Socioprofessional Relations were satisfactory and Organization of Work was critical. The scores of Physical and Cognitive costs were considered critical and of the Affective Cost was satisfactory. The Socioprofessional Relations have negatively impacted the overall quality of life and the Physical and Psychological, the Social Relations and the Environmental Domains, whereas Cognitive Cost positively impacted the Physical and the Environmental Domain and the Affective Cost positively impacted the Social Relations Domain. CONCLUSION Although the Work Context and Human Cost indicated adverse conditions, only the Socioprofessional Relations exerted negative influences on the quality of life of rural workers.
Imaging protein aggregates in the serum and cerebrospinal fluid in Parkinson’s disease

Abstract Aggregation of α-synuclein plays a key role in the development of Parkinson’s disease. Soluble aggregates are present not only within human brain but also the CSF and blood. Characterizing the aggregates present in these biofluids may provide insights into disease mechanisms and also have potential for aiding diagnosis. We used two optical single-molecule imaging methods called aptamer DNA-PAINT and single-aggregate confocal fluorescence, together with high-resolution atomic force microscopy for specific detection and characterization of individual aggregates with intermolecular β-sheet structure, present in the CSF and serum of 15 early stage Parkinson’s disease patients compared to 10 healthy age-matched controls. We found aggregates ranging in size from 20 nm to 200 nm, in both CSF and serum. There was a difference in aggregate size distribution between Parkinson’s disease and control groups with a significantly increased number of larger aggregates (longer than 150 nm) in the serum of patients with Parkinson’s disease. To determine the chemical composition of the aggregates, we performed aptamer DNA-PAINT on serum following α-synuclein and amyloid-β immunodepletion in an independent cohort of 11 patients with early stage Parkinson’s disease and 10 control subjects. β-Sheet aggregates in the serum of Parkinson’s disease patients were found to consist of, on average, 50% α-synuclein and 50% amyloid-β in contrast to 30% α-synuclein and 70% amyloid-β in control serum [the differences in the proportion of these aggregates were statistically significant between diseased and control groups (P = 1.7 × 10−5 for each species)]. The ratio of the number of β-sheet α-synuclein aggregates to β-sheet amyloid-β aggregates in serum extracted using our super-resolution method discriminated Parkinson’s disease cases from controls with an accuracy of 98.2% (AUC = 98.2%, P = 4.3 × 10−5). Our data suggest that studying the protein aggregates present in serum can provide information about the disruption of protein homeostasis occurring in Parkinson’s disease and warrants further investigation as a potential biomarker of disease.
Economic service life of equipment under uncertain revenues: A real options approach

Abstract Companies which utilize equipment as a critical manufacturing asset should resolve the problem of economic replacement. In this article, a case study of equipment replacement for an auto parts manufacturer is presented. We derive a formula to calculate the expected service life using a classical binomial real options model under revenue uncertainty. A sensitivity analysis shows that the initial cost of the equipment has the largest impact on the expected service life in this case study. The presented real option model is applicable to manufacturing companies which seek to the solution of economic equipment replacement under revenue uncertainty.
Revisiting Teacher Leadership in South Africa: A Study of Four Schools

Abstract Teachers who lack professional maturity will never be able to be responsible teacher leaders; hence, school leaders who strive for school improvement constantly try to introduce various alternative practices, and teacher leadership may be among these. Teacher leadership is defined in numerous ways: Some understand it as teachers who have taken on leadership roles and additional professional responsibilities. The major argument in this paper is that teachers need to be professionally matured if they are to be able to be effective teacher leaders. Effective schools are likely to be those where leadership permeates throughout the entire organisation. This qualitative study was conducted in two Gauteng and two Eastern Cape historically black schools, and data were collected through interviews and observations. The results demonstrate that there are several reasons as to why some teachers may fail or be reluctant to be teacher leaders. Furthermore, the study reveals that teacher leadership needs visionary school leaders who will employ the critical practices of teacher leadership to attain school improvement.
Gauge R & R studies for angular measurements

Abstract Angular measurements lie on the circumference of a circle and have different characteristics than standard scalar measurements. For applications involving angular data, treating the measured values as scalars can lead to misinterpretation of results if its wrap-around nature is not taken into account. In this article, we propose a variance components wrapped normal model for angular measurements that is analogous to the standard normal model for continuous measurements. This model allows decomposition of contributions to the overall variance to be separated and compared to understand the drivers of the spread of the data. We analyze gauge R & R study data using Bayesian methods and illustrate the use of this wrapped normal model with simulated and real data. We also performed a small simulation study in considering the design of gauge R & R studies with angular measurements.
Étude à l'échelle moléculaire des propriétés mécaniques des polymères semi-cristallins

Dans le cadre d'un projet de modelisation multi-echelle des proprietes mecaniques des polymeres semi-cristallins, nous avons entrepris au cours de cette these une etude a l'echelle moleculaire. Les polymeres semi-cristallins se caracterisent par la coexistence de phases cristalline et amorphe et la modelisation a l'echelle moleculaire de ces materiaux est un defi scientifique. En effet, l'observation experimentale d'une interface entre le cristal et l'amorphe est encore impossible. Il est donc necessaire de realiser des hypotheses pour la construction de cette interface. Par ailleurs, les dimensions des molecules etudiees, les temps de relaxation associes a leur dynamique et la difference de structure entre les phases constituent des difficultes supplementaires pour la representation aux echelles de taille et de temps de la modelisation moleculaire. Ce travail a ete structure selon deux axes de recherche : la construction d'un modele moleculaire de polymere semi-cristallin et la validation de differentes methodes de calcul des constantes elastiques a l'aide de la simulation moleculaire. L'originalite de ce travail a ete, d'une part, la realisation d'une etude comparative des differentes methodes de calcul utilisees, et d'autre part, la construction d'un modele prenant explicitement en compte l'interface entre les phases cristalline et amorphe.
Monograph and Molecular Phylogeny of the Mexican Endemic Lasiocarpus (Malpighiaceae) Reveal a New Species for Southern Mexico

Abstract Lasiocarpus is a genus of bisexual, dioecious, or trioecious shrubs or small trees of Malpighiaceae endemic to the seasonally dry tropical forests of the Pacific slopes of Mexico. In this paper the monophyly of this genus is tested using a molecular phylogeny based on three plastid (ndhF, matK, rbcL) and a single nuclear (PHYC) markers that were newly sequenced for the three currently accepted species in this genus, along with representative taxa from the main phylogenetic groups previously recognized in Malpighiaceae. The three species of Lasiocarpus were retrieved in a well supported clade corroborating the monophyly of this genus. A taxonomic treatment of this genus is presented. Lasiocarpus ovalifolius is synonymized with L. salicifolius, and a new species, Lasiocarpus andersoniorum, endemic to Southern Mexico, is proposed. It is morphologically distinguished by characters such as axillary inflorescences, reflexed sepals, petals with crenate margin and strigose indumentum, large styles, and 2-lobed stigmas. The taxonomic revision includes morphological descriptions and distribution maps for the three accepted species of Lasiocarpus.
Protein Kinase C-zMediates NF-kB Activation in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Monocytes

The molecular mechanisms regulating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) persistence in a major cell reservoir such as the macrophage remain unknown. NF-kB is a transcription factor involved in the regulation of the HIV long terminal repeat and is selectively activated following HIV infection of human macrophages. Although little information as to what signal transduction pathways mediate NF-kB activation in monocytesmacrophages is available, our previous work indicated that classical protein kinase C (PKC) isoenzymes were not involved in the HIV-mediated NF-kB activation. In this study, we have focused on atypical PKC isoenzymes. PKC-z belongs to this family and is known to be an important step in NF-kB activation in other cell systems. Immunoblotting experiments with U937 cells demonstrate that PKC-z is present in these cells, and its expression can be downmodulated by antisense oligonucleotides (AO). The HIV-mediated NF-kB activation is selectively reduced by AO to PKC-z. In addition, cotransfection of a negative dominant molecule of PKC-z (PKC-z) with NF-kB-dependent reporter genes selectively inhibits the HIVbut not phorbol myristate acetateor lipopolysaccharide-mediated activation of NF-kB. That PKC-z is specific in regulating NF-kB is concluded from the inability of PKC-z to interfere with the basal or phorbol myristate acetate-inducible CREBor AP1-dependent transcriptional activity. Lastly, we demonstrate a selective inhibition of p24 production by HIV-infected human macrophages when treated with AO to PKC-z. Altogether, these results suggest that atypical PKC isoenzymes, including PKC-z, participate in the signal transduction pathways by which HIV infection results in the activation of NF-kB in human monocytic cells and macrophages.
Dutkat: A Multimedia System for Catching Illegal Catchers in a Privacy-Preserving Manner

Fish crime is considered a global and serious problem for a healthy and sustainable development of one of mankind's important sources of food. Technological surveillance and control solutions are emerging as remedies to combat criminal activities, but such solutions might also come with impractical and negative side-effects and challenges. In this paper, we present the concept and design of a surveillance system in lieu of current surveillance trends striking a delicate balance between privacy of legal actors while simultaneously capturing evidence-based footage, sensory data, and forensic proofs of illicit activities. Our proposed novel approach is to assist human operators in the 24/7 surveillance loop of remote professional fishing activities with a privacy-preserving Artificial Intelligence (AI) surveillance system operating in the same proximity as the activities being surveyed. The system will primarily be using video surveillance data, but also other sensor data captured on the fishing vessel. Additionally, the system correlates with other sources such as reports from other fish catches in the approximate area and time, etc. Only upon true positive flagging of specific potentially illicit activities by the locally executing AI algorithms, can forensic evidence be accessed from this physical edge, the fishing vessel. Besides a more privacy-preserving solution, our edge-based AI system also benefits from much less data that has to be transferred over unreliable, low-bandwidth satellite-based networks.
Tantalum as a Novel Biomaterial for Bone Implant: A Literature Review

Titanium (Ti) has been used in metallic implants since the 1950s due to various biocompatible and mechanical properties. However, due to its high Young’s modulus, it has been modified over the years in order to produce a better biomaterial. Tantalum (Ta) has recently emerged as a new potential biomaterial for bone and dental implants. It has been reported to have better corrosion resistance and osteo-regenerative properties as compared to Ti alloys which are most widely used in the bone-implant industry. Currently, Tantalum cannot be widely used yet due to its limited availability, high melting point, and high-cost production. This review paper discusses various manufacturing methods of Tantalum alloys, including conventional and additive manufacturing and also discusses their drawbacks and shortcomings. Recent research includes surface modification of various metals using Tantalum coatings in order to combine bulk material properties of different materials and the porous surface properties of Tantalum. Design modification also plays a crucial role in controlling bulk properties. The porous design does provide a lower density, wider surface area, and more immense specific strength. In addition to improved mechanical properties, a porous design could also escalate the material's biological and permeability properties. With current advancement in additive manufacturing technology, difficulties in processing Tantalum could be resolved. Therefore, Tantalum should be considered as a serious candidate material for future bone and dental implants.