Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Overexpressing PLA2G6 mutations cause symptoms of young–onset dystonia–parkinsonism type 14

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative motor disorder, which is currently incurable. Mutations in many genes have been demonstrated to be the primary risk factors associated with the familial or idiopathic PD; however, the mechanisms underlying these genetic mutations resulting in parkinsonism remains unclear. Phospholipase A2 group VI (PLA2G6) has been shown to regulate lipid metabolism and homeostasis in the nervous system. Previous studies have shown that point mutations in PLA2G6 might be the risk factors associated with the young–onset of dystonia–parkinsonism type 14 (PARK14). However, limited information is available regarding its pathogenic role and the mechanism underlying its function.
Coronary artery disease: differential expression of ceRNAs and interaction analyses

Background Previous studies have demonstrated associations between cardiovascular disease and the expression of various messenger RNAs (mRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). This study aimed to investigate the differential expression of mRNAs, lncRNAs, and miRNAs between tissues from patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and healthy controls, and to determine the interactions between these molecules in CAD. Methods We investigated the differential expression of competitive endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) between patients with CAD and healthy controls by collecting data from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) microarrays. We also investigated the biological function of these differentially expressed ceRNAs by performing Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses. We then created a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network to identify the hub genes. Biosystems and literature searches were also carried out to identify relevant signaling pathways and the potential function of the differentially expressed ceRNAs. Results We identified 456 expression profiles for miRNAs, 16,325 mRNA expression profiles, and 2,869 lncRNA expression profiles. With regards to connectivity, GO and KEGG analyses (count ≥9) identified the top 11 PPI network nodes in rank order. We also identified the top 15 significant nodes for the ceRNAs identified according to degree centrality (DC) (P<0.05). Collectively, our analyses confirmed that the differential expression of certain ceRNAs, and their respective signaling pathways were associated with CAD. Conclusions Data arising from 11 GO and KEGG pathways, the top 15 PPI network nodes with the best connectivity rank, and the top 15 ceRNA network nodes, as determined by DC rank in CAD population, indicated that the differential expression of these ceRNAs plays a key role in the CAD. Our findings highlight new molecular mechanisms for CAD and provide new options for the development of therapeutic targets.
Landscape structure and population density affect intraspecific aggression in beavers

Abstract Intraspecific competition plays an important role for territory acquisition and occupancy, in turn affecting individual fitness. Thus, understanding the drivers of intraspecific aggression can increase our understanding of population dynamics. Here, we investigated intraspecific aggression in Eurasian (Castor fiber) and North American (Castor canadensis) beavers that are both monogamous, territorial mammals. Combined, we examined tail scars from >1,000 beavers (>2,000 capture events) as part of two long‐term studies in Norway and the USA. We investigated the influence of landscape structure, population density, sex, age, and (for Eurasian beavers only) social status and group size on the number of tail scars caused by conspecifics. The number of tail scars was affected by population density in well‐connected landscape types (large lakes and rivers), but not in more isolated areas (ponds), where individuals generally had fewer tail scars. Further, the relationship of population density was not linear. In the North American beaver population occurring in large lakes, intraspecific aggression increased with population density. Conversely, in the saturated Eurasian beaver population, intraspecific aggression was in a negative relationship with population density (except at the highest densities), likely due to inverse density‐dependent intruder pressure via dispersers. Our findings emphasize that population density can affect intraspecific aggression depending on landscape structure, which might have important consequences for local patterns of dispersal, mate change, and territory occupancy, all of which can affect population dynamics.
Ext-LOUDS: A Space Efficient Extended LOUDS Index for Superset Query

Superset query is widely used in object-oriented databases, data mining, and many other fields. Trie is an efficient index for superset query, whereas most existing trie index aim at improving query performance while ignoring storage overheads. To solve this problem, in this paper, we propose an efficient extended Level-Ordered Unary Degree Sequence (LOUDS) index: Ext-LOUDS. Ext-LOUDS expresses a trie by 1 integer vector and 3 bit vectors directly map each NodeID to its corresponding position, thus accelerating some key operations needed for superset query. Based on Ext-LOUDS, an efficient superset query algorithm, ELOUDS-Super, is designed. Experimental results on both real and synthetic datasets show that Ext-LOUDS can decrease 50%–60% space overheads compared with trie while maintaining a relative good query performance.
Techno-Cultural Narrations: How did the Media Technologies Impact Social Life in Turkey?

Oral history narrations give a detailed account of how social change actually happened. Subscribing to a holistic view, this paper pursues the directions of the historical changes in the Turkish media ecosystem since 1980’s through the narrations of 50 media professionals and media consumers. We used Nvivo for qualitative analyses and KNIME for quantitative analysis of narrations. These narrations gave us important clues on how people adapted themselves to such fundamental changes in media technologies. Our analysis revealed that media professionals were crafty enough to be innovative in adapting themselves into the new work practices, and had developed personal practical solutions to certain emerging technical problems. Media consumers on the other hand, were enthusiastic enough towards the new technologies. It is evident that the Turkish society in general adapted itself to a sweeping change in media technology and created a kind of techno-culture typical to developing countries which principally import such technologies as a part of their modernization processes.
Diversity of bacterial strains in biochar-enhanced Amazon soil and their potential for growth promotion and biological disease control in tomato

ABSTRACT The use of bacteria in growth promotion and biological control of plant diseases can minimize environmental contamination caused by the indiscriminate use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. We aimed to evaluate growth promotion and biological control of Corynespora cassiicola in tomato seedlings mediated by beneficial bacteria isolated from a non-rhizospheric Amazon soil containing different amounts of biochar, and to identify to which groups of bacteria the strains belong. We obtained 200 strains of bacteria from experimental plots containing biochar doses of 0, 40, 80 and 120 t ha-1. Of these, 53 strains were selected by root colonization tests. Based on growth promotion parameters, 25 strains were screened, identified by molecular characterization and evaluated for indoleacetic acid (IAA) production, phosphate solubilization and biological control. The best dose of biochar for colony formation was 40 t ha-1, and a regression model indicated 34 t ha-1 as the optimal dose. The production of IAA was observed in 18 (75%) strains, and two (8%) strains were able to solubilize phosphate. The efficiency in root growth promotion was up to 125%, and the percentage of plant protection ranged from 50 to 59%. Molecular characterization showed that the bacteria used in this study belong to the genera Bacillus and Lysinibacillus.
Moisture‐dependent interface and bulk behaviour of space charge in DC‐stressed oil‐impregnated pressboard insulation

In this paper, the effect of moisture on the charge behaviour in oil-impregnated pressboard is analysed based on the characteristics of the interface and the bulk. Space charge behaviour and infrared spectra are acquired from a sample with a high moisture content of 1.92% and another with low moisture content of 0.13%. The results show that a greater number of hydrogen bonds form in the high-moisture sample. The threshold ﬁelds of charge injection are 1 and 0.6 kV/mm in the low- and high-moisture samples, respectively. The dynamic charge transport in bulk is signiﬁcantly accelerated by moisture. The drop in the injection barrier at the interface and the accelerated transport of charge in bulk in the high-moisture sample may be associated with the mediating effect of a water layer at the interface and the lower trap energy in bulk caused by the hydrogen bonds, respectively. The combined changes in the interface and the bulk led to the dominant position of negative charges inside the high-moisture sample, regardless of the distribution area or the charge amount.
An effective-colloid pair potential for Lennard-Jones colloid–polymer mixtures

We propose an effective one-component model that accurately reproduces the colloid–colloid radial distribution function gcc(r) of a colloid–polymer mixture. The particles of this effective model interact through an effective potential ueff(r), obtained by inversion of the Ornstein–Zernike equation and a closure suited for fluids with repulsive cores. The consistency of this approach was tested by simulation of the effective one-component fluid and comparison to the original radial distribution function. The effective potential can be separated into a repulsive part (corresponding to the “bare” pair potential between colloids), and a depletion potential, v(r). The strength and range of v(r) are well represented by simple functions of the total volume fraction.
Effects of Interference and Mitigation Using Notch Filter for the DVB-S2 Standard

The abundance of radio signals and their increasing number creates interferences on adjacent signals and sometimes, with co-channel communication. Jammers, which are operated by hackers or by military forces, are another source of smart and powerful interferences. This paper will discuss the effect of the continuous wave interference (CWI) on a radio communication receiver, specifically with the Digital Video Broadcasting for Satellite Second Generation (DVB-S2) communication standard. It investigates the general effect of the interference on a Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) signal over each part of the DVB-S2 receiver. It also focuses on the impact of the center frequency and power of the interference on the critical blocks of a DVB-S2 receiver. This study also tries to determine the deviation from the normal operation in the format of mathematical expressions and simulation results. Based on the obtained results, there is a vulnerability in the chain of the receiver’s blocks that allows a smart jammer to affect the device with low power interference. The notch filter is utilized as a solution to mitigate the interference. In addition, the effects of this technique on the system’s performance are studied. The simulation results show that there is a great improvement after CWI removal according to the Jamming to Signal Ratio (JSR), the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), and the Bit Error Rate (BER). In some cases, the JSR was reduced by 15 dB, the SNR was improved by 10 dB and BER also improved by 7 dB. However, the notch filter deletes some information from the original signal. This study introduces new ways to clarify the tradeoff between the amount of interference power reduction and removed bandwidth from the signal with notch filtering.
New Method of Solving the Economic Complex Systems

In this study, the authors first develop a direct method used to solve the linear nonhomogeneous time-invariant difference equation with the same number for inputs and outputs. Economic cybernetics is the crystallization for the integration of economics and cybernetics. It analyzes the stability, controllability, and observability of the economic system by establishing a system model and enables people to better understand the characteristics of the economic system and solve economic optimization problems. The economic model generally applies the discrete recurrence difference equation. The significant analytic approach for the difference equation is the z-transformation technique. The z-transformation state of the economic cybernetics state-space difference equation generally is a rational function with the same power for the numerator and the denominator. The proposed approach will take the place of the traditional methods without all annoying procedures involving the long division of some complicated polynomials, the expanded multiplication of many polynomial factors, the differentiation of some complicated polynomials, and the complex derivations of all partial fraction parameters. To highlight the novelty of this research, this study especially applies the proposed theorems originally belonging to engineering to the field of economic applications.
Lattice dynamics of antimony at high pressure: an ab initio study

We report ab initio calculations of the lattice dynamics of antimony as a function of pressure. Analysis of reported Raman data using calculated two-phonon densities of states allows us to weigh the contribution of anharmonicity to the observed broadening upon increase of pressure. We discuss other plausible mechanisms required to account for the pressure dependence of the Raman linewidths.
Can cross-listing improve investment efficiency? Empirical evidence from China

Abstract With two views of ‘premium’ and ‘discount,’ traditional cross-listing motivation theory emphasises the effect of cross-listing on enterprise performance. The effect of cross-listing on enterprise performance is yet uncertain, manifesting that unknown factors play intermediate roles between them. To clarify the influence mechanism of cross-listing on enterprise performance, this study overcame the limitations in simple verification of the relationship between cross-listing and enterprise performance, and returned to the origin of cross-listing, namely, enterprise financing activity. Thus, the relationship between cross-listing and enterprise investment efficiency was analysed to determine the influence mechanism of cross-listing on enterprise performance. Based on financial data of A + H cross-listed enterprises and A-share listed enterprises in Mainland China during 2008–2018, the effect of cross-listing on enterprise inefficient investment behaviours was empirically analysed. Results showed that 58.12% of the listed enterprises in China underwent under-investment (UI). Among them, cross-listed enterprises universally underwent over-investment (OI). Cross-listing remarkably remitted UI, but it further expanded OI. Overall, cross-listing led to the deterioration of investment efficiency. The effect of cross-listing on investment efficiency was discussed by combining basic economic activities of enterprises. Cross-listing theory was further enriched and perfected, and suggestions and countermeasures for improving enterprise performance by elevating investment efficiency were put forward.
Influence of germinated brown rice‐based flour modified by MAse on type 2 diabetic mice and HepG2 cell cytotoxic capacity

Abstract This study aimed to discover whether using maltogenic amylase (MAse) to modify starch in germinated brown rice flour may enhance slow digestion starch and release more bioactive compounds (BCs) content. To achieve this aim, the starch was modified with four levels of MAse (0 U, 133 U, 266 U and 399 U MAse/g flour) for 1 hr at pH 5 and then spray‐dried to make modified flour. The biochemical impacts of the products were then accessed in normal and type 2 diabetic mice for 4 weeks. The result showed that when the starch was modified by MAse 266 U/g, a significant reduction of rapidly digested starch to 22.35% from 61.56%, an increase in slowly digested starch to 33.09% while resistant starch as 2.92% corresponding to the increase of γ‐amino butyric acid to 528.1 ± 44.1 mg/L and 120.6 ± 10.9 mg/L of ferulic acid. The extract from modified flour showed very strong cytotoxic activity against HepG2 cell (>80% inhibition). The result in vivo showed that the type‐2 diabetic mice fed with this modified product could better improve the stability of the glycemic index. Also, atherosclerotic plaque assessment further supports these findings. The results indicated that BCs released considerably couple with the changes in starch properties caused by MAse enhanced the effectiveness of this product to diabetes as well as positive effect on cytotoxic activity against HepG2 cell.
Parallel Efficient Mesh Deformation Method Based On Support Vector Regression

Mesh deformation method is widely used in unsteady numerical simulations involving moving boundaries. This kind of method redistributes the position of grid points in accordance with the movement of the computational domain without changing their connectivity relations. In this paper, we present a parallel mesh deformation method based on the support vector machine regression (SVR). In each time step, the proposed method first trains three SVRs by the coordinates of the boundary points and their known displacements in each direction, and then predicts the displacements of the internal points using the SVRs. After deforming the mesh, the dual-time step flow solver is used to solve the governing equations. To ensure the consistency of the method running in parallel, the training part of the method is executed with all global boundary points in each decomposed domain. Therefore, each CPU needs to maintain a copy of the entire boundary points via a point-to-point communication. The internal evaluation of the method is predicted separately in each decomposed domain without any data dependency. An oscillatory and transient pitching airfoil case is simulated to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed mesh deformation method, and its parallel efficiency is over 60% with 64 cores.
An Investigation of the Synthesis Parameters of the Reaction of Hydroxyapatite Precipitation in Aqueous Media

Hydroxyapatite (HAP), described by the formula Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, is one of the inorganic components of the hard tissues of living bodies such as bones and teeth. HAP is a calcium phosphate-based bio-ceramic, which has been used for several years in medicine and dentistry because of its excellent biocompatibility with human tissues. The success of its application in these fields depends upon factors such as the composition, crystallinity, size and morphology of HAP particles. This paper describes the work performed regarding the synthesis of this compound by a wet method comprising the direct precipitation of orthophosphoric acid solution to a calcium hydroxide solution, the process being described by the following reaction: 10 Ca(OH)2 + 6 H3(PO4) <=> Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 + 18 H2O. Synthesis was performed in a laboratory reactor, 700mL in capacity, which was instrumented and controlled using a computer interface, so that the influence on process variables, such as reaction temperature, pH, medium inertization by N2, velocity of stirring and the flow rate input of H3(PO4), could be assessed. The influence of these parameters was, therefore, evaluated in terms of the required composition and morphology of HAP formed particles. The particles were analysed by FTIR, XRD, SEM and EPMA for the determination of the Ca/P ratio. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that HAP particles, having suitable properties for use in medicine, could effectively be prepared by this technique, provided that a good control of the involved process variables is maintained.
Intracity Pandemic Risk Evaluation Using Mobile Phone Data: The Case of Shanghai during COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has provided an opportunity to rethink the development of a sustainable and resilient city. A framework for comprehensive intracity pandemic risk evaluation using mobile phone data is proposed in this study. Four steps were included in the framework: identification of high-risk groups, calculation of dynamic population flow and construction of a human mobility network, exposure and transmission risk assessment, and pandemic prevention guidelines. First, high-risk groups were extracted from mobile phone data based on multi-day activity chains. Second, daily human mobility networks were created by aggregating population and origin-destination (OD) flows. Third, clustering analysis, time series analysis, and network analysis were employed to evaluate pandemic risk. Finally, several solutions are proposed to control the pandemic. The outbreak period of COVID-19 in Shanghai was used to verify the proposed framework and methodology. The results show that the evaluation method is able to reflect the different spatiotemporal patterns of pandemic risk. The proposed framework and methodology may help prevent future public health emergencies and localized epidemics from evolving into global pandemics.
On the dispersion of a solute in a fluid flowing through a tube

Sir Geoffrey Taylor has recently discussed the dispersion of a solute under the simultaneous action of molecular diffusion and variation of the velocity of the solvent. A new basis for his analysis is presented here which removes the restrictions imposed on some of the parameters at the expense of describing the distribution of solute in terms of its moments in the direction of flow. It is shown that the rate of growth of the variance is proportional to the sum of the molecular diffusion coefficient, D, and the Taylor diffusion coefficient Ka2U2/D, where U is the mean velocity and a is a dimension characteristic of the cross-section of the tube. An expression for k is given in the most general case, and it is shown that a finite distribution of solute tends to become normally distributed.
Intrapopulation genetic variation in the level and rhythm of daily activity in Drosophila immigrans

Abstract Genetic diversity within a population, such as polymorphisms and personality, is considered to improve population performance because such intraspecific variations have the potential to alleviate the competition for a limited resource or the risk of predation and sexual harassment at a population level. Variation in the level and rhythm of daily activity in a population could also affect population performance by directly altering ecological, social, and sexual interactions among individuals. However, it remains to be elucidated whether such intra‐population variation in the level and rhythms of daily activity exists in a natural population. Here, we investigated the genetic variation in daily activity within a single natural population of Drosophila immigrans. We established 21 isofemale lines from a single natural population and measured larval activity level and the level and daily pattern of adult activity over a 24 hr period. Larval activity level significantly varied among isofemale lines. Likewise, the activity level in the adult stage significantly varied among lines. The significant variation was also found in the daily pattern of adult activity; some lines showed greater activity level in the daytime, and others showed greater activity level in the night. Our results consistently suggest that there is a genetic variation in behavioral activity in a natural population, probably contributing to shaping the population performance.