Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
One-Carbon Metabolism Biomarkers and Risks of Incident Neurocognitive Disorder among Cognitively Normal Older Adults

There is a lack of evidence supporting an association between folate and vitamin B12 exposure with cognitive outcomes. We examined serum folate and vitamin B12 and plasma homocysteine in 690 cognitively-normal adults (aged ≥ 55) from the Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study (SLAS-2) followed-up over 4.5 years on incident neurocognitive disorder (NCD): mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. At follow-up, 5.7% (39) of participants developed NCD (34 MCI and 5 dementia). Comparing with those who remained cognitively-normal, participants progressed to NCD had significantly lower mean baseline vitamin B12 (420 [SD ± 221] vs. 510 [SD ± 290] pmol/L, p = 0.026), higher homocysteine (14.6 [SD ± 4.2] vs. 12.9 [SD ± 4.3], p = 0.018) and lower one-carbon index (Z-scores: −0.444 [SD ± 0.819] vs. −0.001 [SD ± 0.990], p = 0.006). Adjusted for confounders, significant associations with incident NCD were found for lower vitamin B12 (per-SD OR = 2.10, 95%CI = 1.26–3.52), higher homocysteine (per-SD OR = 1.96, 95%CI = 1.18–3.24) and lower one-carbon index (per-SD OR = 1.67, 95%CI = 1.06–2.64). Folate was not significantly associated with progression to NCD. Notably, low B12 in the presence of high folate was significantly associated with incident NCD (adjusted OR = 3.81, 95%CI = 1.04–13.9). Low B12, high homocysteine, low B12 in the presence of high folate, and a one-carbon index of hypo-methylation were independently associated with progression to NCD among cognitively normal.
Stability Verification for Heterogeneous Complex Networks via Iterative SOS Programming

This letter is to investigate the stability verification for heterogeneous polynomial complex networks through iterative sum-of-squares programming approach. With polynomial Lyapunov functions, a global asymptotic stability criterion is established for the heterogeneous complex networks under the directed topology. Based on the proposed criterion, the stability verification problem is then reduced to a sum-of-squares optimization problem for solving polynomial matrix inequalities. To process non-convex terms of the polynomial matrix inequalities, we present an iterative sum-of-squares programming approach to turn them into the convex polynomial matrix inequalities, yielding polynomial Lyapunov functions effectively to realize the stability verification. Finally, a numerical example is given to show the fully automatic verification of global asymptotic stability for the heterogeneous polynomial complex networks, which demonstrates the theoretical and algorithmic advantages of the proposed method.
Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester Inhibits Basal Lipolysis by Activating PPAR-Gamma and Increasing Lipid Droplet-Associated Perilipin in Mature Rat Adipocytes

Abnormal lipolysis is correlated with metabolic syndrome. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), a natural product from honeybee hives, has been reported to improve metabolic syndrome. However, the effects of CAPE on lipolysis and perilipin-1 (the major lipid droplet-associated protein) in mature adipocytes were not clarified. In this study, mature adipocytes were isolated from the epididymal fat pads of male rats and incubated with CAPE to estimate lipolysis by measuring glycerol release. It was found that the basal lipolysis was inhibited by CAPE in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The lipid droplet-associated perilipin-1 and phosphorylated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma levels increased following CAPE treatment by Western blot analysis. Moreover, a specific PPAR-gamma inhibitor (T0070907) could partly reverse the effect of CAPE on basal lipolysis. Furthermore, treatment of adipocytes with dibutyryl-cAMP (db-cAMP) or isoproterenol (ISO) increased lipolysis, but the drug-induced lipolysis was abrogated by combination treatment with CAPE. The lipid droplet-associated perilipin-1 level was also decreased in the drug-induced groups but increased when combined treatment with CAPE. In conclusion, our results revealed that a decrease in basal lipolysis and an increase in lipid droplet-associated perilipin-1 levels induced by CAPE may be involved in the regulation of lipid metabolism through activation of PPAR-gamma in mature adipocytes.
Gauge Theories of Gravitation

During the last five decades, gravity, as one of the fundamental forces of nature, has been formulated as a gauge theory of the Weyl-Cartan-Yang-Mills type. The present text offers commentaries on the articles from the most prominent proponents of the theory. In the early 1960s, the gauge idea was successfully applied to the Poincar\'e group of spacetime symmetries and to the related conserved energy-momentum and angular momentum currents. The resulting theory, the Poincar\'e gauge theory, encompasses Einstein's general relativity as well as the teleparallel theory of gravity as subcases. The spacetime structure is enriched by Cartan's torsion, and the new theory can accommodate fermionic matter and its spin in a perfectly natural way. This guided tour starts from special relativity and leads, in its first part, to general relativity and its gauge type extensions \`a la Weyl and Cartan. Subsequent stopping points are the theories of Yang-Mills and Utiyama and, as a particular vantage point, the theory of Sciama and Kibble. Later, the Poincar\'e gauge theory and its generalizations are explored and special topics, such as its Hamiltonian formulation and exact solutions, are studied. This guide to the literature on classical gauge theories of gravity is intended to be a stimulating introduction to the subject.
Multilevel Block Factorization Preconditioners: Matrix-based Analysis and Algorithms for Solving Finite Element Equations

Motivation for Preconditioning. - A Finite Element Tutorial. - A Main Goal. - Block Factorization Preconditioners. - Two-by-Two Block Matrices and Their Factorization. - Classical Examples of Block-Factorizations. - Multigrid (MG). - Topics on Algebraic Multigrid (AMG). - Domain Decomposition (DD) Methods. - Preconditioning Nonsymmetric and Indefinite Matrices. - Preconditioning Saddle-Point Matrices. - Variable-Step Iterative Methods. - Preconditioning Nonlinear Problems. - Quadratic Constrained Minimization Problems.
Primal-dual subgradient methods for minimizing uniformly convex functions

We discuss non-Euclidean deterministic and stochastic algorithms for optimization problems with strongly and uniformly convex objectives. We provide accuracy bounds for the performance of these algorithms and design methods which are adaptive with respect to the parameters of strong or uniform convexity of the objective: in the case when the total number of iterations $N$ is fixed, their accuracy coincides, up to a logarithmic in $N$ factor with the accuracy of optimal algorithms.
The Heritage Jewel of Saudi Arabia: A Descriptive Analysis of the Heritage Management and Development Activities in the At-Turaif District in Ad-Dir’iyah, a World Heritage Site (WHS)

This study explores the change over time in the World Heritage Site (WHS) of Diriyah over three critical periods, focusing on three aspects: physical, social, and economic. Using a mixed-method approach, the site’s heritage management practices and development impact are investigated, and the impact of WHS inscription on the field of heritage in Saudi Arabia is demonstrated. A methodological approach is used in this study, which includes temporal analysis, analysis of historical images and photographs, non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews with key informants, site fieldwork, analysis of archival research, the content of official documents, related media, and promotional materials. The study concludes with a three-aspect matrix demonstrating Historic Diriyah’s various development and change over time. Historic Diriyah is a WHS, and it can still project a successful massive makeover development if a sustainable development approach is used, and visual integrity and site authenticity are preserved. The site of Historic Diriyah and its surroundings were critical in promoting the site as a national identity, an international destination, and presenting a new development agenda for the entire kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It has a significant impact on policymakers who are interested in how heritage sites can be integrated into a larger vision.
GMRES-Accelerated ADMM for Quadratic Objectives

We consider the sequence acceleration problem for the alternating direction method-of-multipliers (ADMM) applied to a class of equality-constrained problems with strongly convex quadratic objectives, which frequently arise as the Newton subproblem of interior-point methods. Within this context, the ADMM update equations are linear, the iterates are confined within a Krylov subspace, and the General Minimum RESidual (GMRES) algorithm is optimal in its ability to accelerate convergence. The basic ADMM method solves a $\kappa$-conditioned problem in $O(\sqrt{\kappa})$ iterations. We give theoretical justification and numerical evidence that the GMRES-accelerated variant consistently solves the same problem in $O(\kappa^{1/4})$ iterations for an order-of-magnitude reduction in iterations, despite a worst-case bound of $O(\sqrt{\kappa})$ iterations. The method is shown to be competitive against standard preconditioned Krylov subspace methods for saddle-point problems. The method is embedded within SeDuMi, a popular open-source solver for conic optimization written in MATLAB, and used to solve many large-scale semidefinite programs with error that decreases like $O(1/k^{2})$, instead of $O(1/k)$, where $k$ is the iteration index.
Measuring what's missing: practical estimates of coverage for stochastic simulations

Stochastic sensitivity analyses rarely measure the extent to which realized simulations cover the search space. Rather, simulation lengths are typically chosen according to expert judgement. In response, this paper recommends a novel application of Good-Turing estimators of missing distributional mass. Using the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index, the empirical performance of such coverage metrics are compared to alternative measures of convergence. The former are advantageous – they provide probabilistic estimates of simulation coverage and permit calculation of strict bounds on estimates of pairwise dominance (for all possible weight vectors, how often country X dominates country Y).
Inflammatory factors and immunoglobulins alterations in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with squalene

Background: Squalene is a 30-carbon (as a polyunsaturated triterpene) compound that has been suggested to have several benefits. In recent years, its anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects have been studied.Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different doses of squalene on different days on the changes in the levels of inflammatory cytokines and antibodies in people with type 2 diabetes and then compare it.Methods: In this study, 4 groups with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 1 control group were selected. 4 groups with type 2 diabetes mellitus were divided into 1 diabetic group without squalene consumption for 84 days and 3 diabetic groups treated with squalene in doses of 200, 400 and 600 mg, respectively for 84 days. The levels of Interleukin-1 alpha, Interleukin-1 beta, Interleukin-4, immunoglobulin A, immunoglobulin G, immunoglobulin M, and as well as the glucose of all participants were measured by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Results: On days 14 and 28, a statistically significant difference (P value < 0.05) was observed in the level of Interleukin-1 alpha and Interleukin-4 in groups 3, 4 and 5 compared to group 2. This significant difference in the levels of interleukin-1 beta and immunoglobulin A was observed only on days 56 and 84. No statistically significant difference (P value > 0.05) was observed in the levels of immunoglobulins G, M, and glucose during the consumption of squalene between the groups.Conclusions: According to the time and dose, squalene can be effective in reducing inflammatory factors and increasing immunoglobulin A. However, additional studies are needed for the action mechanism and the effect of squalene.Keywords: squalene, triterpene, interleukin, immunoglobulin, diabetes mellitus
Microbiome Associated with Slovak Raw Goat Milk, Trace Minerals, and Vitamin E Content

In Slovakia, goat milk production for direct consumption and cheese processing has attracted growing interest. However, there is a lack of information regarding the microbial consortium in Slovak raw goat milk analyzed by next-generation sequencing and trace elements and vitamin E as well. A randomly selected samples (G24-G50) of raw goat milk from different animals at farms in Slovakia were analyzed. The phylum Actinobacteria dominated (62.8%), followed by the phyla Firmicutes (20.5%), Proteobacteria (7.4%), and Bacteroidetes (6.4%). The family Microbacteriaceae was detected in the highest percentage (60.2%) followed by Staphylococcaceae, Bacteroidaceae, Streptococcaceae, Lactobacillaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, and others. Regarding the genera, the most prevalent was genus Curtobacterium (47.4%) followed by the genera such as Staphylococcus (8.3%) and Bifidobacterium (4%). The genera Streptococcus, Lactococcus, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, and Lacticaseibacillus were evaluated in abundance percentage in range 1%-3.2%. The genus Veillonella reached abundance 3.2%. The genera Enterobacter, Pseudomonas (1.3% and 0.5%), and Bacteroides (6.4%) were evaluated in small percentage abundance too. Zinc was detected with the highest mean value (2.561 ± 0.6823 mg/L) in raw goat milk, followed by iron (1.383 ± 0.5087 mg/L). The mean value of copper and manganese was 0.1746 ± 0.0463 mg/L and 0.051 ± 0.0238 mg/L. The vitamin E reached the mean value 0.3783 ± 0.1976 mg/L. This study is an original contribution showing microbial consortium in raw goat milk from Slovak farms. It also contributes to trace elements and vitamin E status in raw goat milk showing it as a nutritionally healthy food.
Genome Analyses of Ten New Ape Adenoviruses with Similarity to Human Mastadenovirus C

The adenoviruses (AdVs) isolated from humans are taxonomically grouped in seven different species in the Mastadenovirus genus (HAdV-A through G). AdVs isolated from apes are often included in one of the human AdV species. Here we describe the sequence analyses of ten new AdVs that are related to the HAdV-C species and that were isolated from healthy western lowland gorillas, bonobos, chimpanzees, and orangutans kept in Dutch zoos. We analyzed these viruses and compared their genome sequences to those of human- and ape-derived AdV sequences in the NCBI GenBank database. Our data demonstrated that the ape-derived viruses clustering to HAdV-C are markedly distinct from the human HAdV-C species in the size and nucleotide composition (%GC) of their genome, differ in the amino-acid sequence of AdV proteins, and have longer RGD-loops in their penton-base proteins. The viruses form three well-separated clades (the human, the gorilla, and the combined group of the bonobo and chimpanzee viruses), and we propose that these should each be given species-level ranks. The Ad-lumc005 AdV isolated from orangutans was found to be very similar to the gorilla AdVs, and bootstrap inference provided evidence of recombination between the orangutan AdV and the gorilla AdVs. This suggests that this virus may not be a genuine orangutan AdV but may have been transferred from a gorilla to an orangutan host.
A Data-Driven Approach for Predicting the Remaining Useful Life of Steam Generators

The reliability of steam generators in nuclear power plants has always been a challenging issue. Various diagnostic models have been proposed in the literature. However, no work has been reported on the development of a robust prediction model for forecasting the future health state of steam generators. In this paper, we propose an ARIMA-based prognostic approach for tracking the degradation evolution in a steam generator and further predicting its Remaining Useful Life (RUL) before breakdown. A case study concerning real degradation datasets from different steam generators is extensively investigated to validate the performance of the proposed model.
Sustainability study of medium-deep geothermal buried pipe for heat supply

In order to study the temperature change trend of the surrounding geotechnical soil during the operation and thermal recovery of the medium-deep geothermal buried pipe and the influence of the geotechnical soil on the operational stability of the vertical buried pipe after thermal recovery. Based on the data of geological stratum in Guanzhong area and the actual engineering application of medium-deep geothermal buried pipe heating system in Xi’an New Area, the influence law of medium-deep geothermal buried pipe heat exchanger on surrounding geotechnical soil is simulated and analyzed by FLUENT software. The results show that: after four months of heating operation, in the upper layer of the geotechnical soil, the reverse heat exchange zone appears due to the higher fluid temperature; in the lower layer of the geotechnical soil, the temperature decreases more with the increase of depth and shows a linear increase in the depth direction; without considering the groundwater seepage, after eight months of thermal recovery of the geotechnical soil after heating, the maximum temperature difference after recovery is 3.02 ℃, and the average temperature difference after recovery is 1.30 ℃ The maximum temperature difference after recovery was 3.02 ℃ and the average temperature difference after recovery was 1.30 ℃. The geotechnical thermal recovery temperature difference has no significant effect on the long-term operation of the buried pipe, and it can be operated continuously and stably for a long time. Practice shows that due to the influence of various factors such as stratigraphic structure, stratigraphic pressure, radioactive decay and stratigraphic thermal conductivity, the actual stratigraphic temperature below 2000m recovers rapidly without significant temperature decay, fully reflecting the characteristics of the Earth’s constant temperature body.
Intelligent Reflecting Surface-Aided Device-to-Device Communication: A Deep Reinforcement Learning Approach

Recently, the growing demand of various emerging applications in the realms of sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks has made the term internet of Things (IoT) very popular. Device-to-device (D2D) communication has emerged as one of the significant enablers for the 6G-based IoT network. Recently, the intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) has been considered as a hardware-efficient innovative scheme for future wireless networks due to its ability to mitigate propagation-induced impairments and to realize a smart radio environment. Such an IRS-assisted D2D underlay cellular network is investigated in this paper. Our aim is to maximize the network’s spectrum efficiency (SE) by jointly optimizing the transmit power of both the cellular users (CUs) and the D2D pairs, the resource reuse indicators, and the IRS reflection coefficients. Instead of using traditional optimization solution schemes to solve this mixed integer nonlinear optimization problem, a reinforcement learning (RL) approach is used in this paper. The IRS-assisted D2D communication network is structured by the Markov Decision Process (MDP) in the RL framework. First, a Q-learning-based solution is studied. Then, to make a scalable solution with large dimension state and action spaces, a deep Q-learning-based solution scheme using experience replay is proposed. Lastly, an actor-critic framework based on the deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) scheme is proposed to learn the optimal policy of the constructed optimization problem considering continuous-valued state and action spaces. Simulation outcomes reveal that the proposed RL-based solution schemes can provide significant SE enhancements compared to the existing optimization schemes.
The Global Demand for Migrant Care Workers: Drivers and Implications on Migrants’ Wellbeing

Background: Demographic changes across the globe create increasing demands for care labour mobility. The contribution of migrant workers to the long-term care (LTC) systems is not confined to the western world or countries that have already completed their ageing transitions; they also play an essential role in maintaining the care systems in countries with emerging ageing populations. Despite the increased demand for LTC services, such jobs remain unattractive with difficult working conditions and insecure prospects in most European countries and are only emerging in the Middle East. This paper explores factors affecting the demand for care mobility, reflecting on the experience of some OECD countries with already aged populations and countries in the Middle East, which are currently transitioning into aged populations. Methods: Conducting a statistical review of key ageing and LTC indicators, combined with a narrative review of relevant literature, the analysis considers the increased demand on migrant care labour. Drawing on a case study of the UK, where the immigration system is being reformed post-Brexit, we utilise In-depth interviews with 27 migrants working in LTC in the UK (2018–2020) to explore impacts on care workers’ wellbeing. Results: The findings show that both sets of countries draw on migrant workers as an essential source for LTC workforce supply to maintain and enhance the wellbeing of those receiving care in host societies. Meanwhile, care mobility creates care gaps in home countries, adversely affecting migrant workers’ wellbeing. Interview analysis with migrant care workers in the UK showed that such a process adversely affects migrants’ material and emotional wellbeing. Conclusion: The ability of migrants to move and work in different countries is shaped by several intersecting systems, including the host country’s immigration and welfare regimes. Migrants working in LTC are predominantly women who are usually motivated to work in care due to financial and social needs and usually maintain caring responsibilities across borders. Migrants employ their agency to navigate complex entry systems, settlement, or cross-border mobility to provide LTC in both formal and informal contexts. The implications on migrants’ wellbeing are considerable and should be addressed within a context of increased global mobility linked to ageing populations.