Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Genome-wide heritability analysis of severe malaria susceptibility and resistance reveals evidence of polygenic inheritance

Objective Estimating SNP-heritability (h2g) of severe malaria/resistance and its distribution across the genome might shed new light in to the underlying biology. Method We investigated h2g of severe malaria susceptibility and resistance from genome-wide association study (GWAS) dataset (sample size =11, 657). We partitioned the h2g in to chromosomes, allele frequencies and annotations. We further examined none-cell type specific and cell type specific enrichments from GWAS-summary statistics. Results We estimated the h2g of severe malaria at 0.21 (se=0.05, p=2.7×10−5), 0.20 (se =0.05, p=7.5×10−5) and 0.17 (se =0.05, p= 7.2×10−4) in Gambian, Kenyan and Malawi populations, respectively. The h2g attributed to the GWAS significant SNPs and the well-known sickle cell (HbS) variant was approximately 0.07 and 0.03, respectively. We prepared African population reference panel and obtained comparable h2g estimate (0.21 (se = 0.02, p< 1×10−5)) from GWAS-summary statistics meta-analysed across the three populations. Partitioning analysis from raw genotype data showed significant enrichment of h2g in protein coding genic SNPs while summary statistics analysis suggests pattern of enrichment in multiple categories. Conclusion We report for the first time that the heritability of malaria susceptibility and resistance is largely ascribed by common SNPs and the causal variants are overrepresented in protein coding regions of the genome. Overall, our results suggest that malaria susceptibility and resistance is a polygenic trait. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to better understand the underpinning genetics of resistance and susceptibility to severe malaria.
Separability and Vertex Ordering of Graphs

Many graph optimization problems, such as finding an optimal coloring, or a largest clique, can be solved by a divide-and-conquer approach. One such well-known technique is decomposition by clique separators where a graph is decomposed into special induced subgraphs along their clique separators. While the most common practice of this method employs minimal clique separators, in this work we study other variations as well. We strive to characterize their structure and in particular the bound on the number of atoms. In fact, we strengthen the known bounds for the general clique cutset decomposition and the minimal clique separator decomposition. Graph ordering is the arrangement of a graph’s vertices according to a certain logic and is a useful tool in optimization problems. Special types of vertices are often recognized in graph classes, for instance it is well-known every chordal graph contains a simplicial vertex. Vertex-ordering, based on such properties, have originated many linear time algorithms. We propose to define a new family named SE-Class such that every graph belonging to this family inherently contains a simplicial extreme, that is a vertex which is either simplicial or has exactly two neighbors which are non-adjacent. Our family lends itself to an ordering based on simplicial extreme vertices (named SEO) which we demonstrate to be advantageous for the coloring and maximum clique problems. In addition, we examine the relation of SE-Class to the family of (EvenHole, Kite)-free graphs and show a linear time generation of SEO for (Even-Hole, Diamond, Claw)-free graphs. We showcase the applications of those two core tools, namely clique-based decomposition and vertex ordering, on the (Even-Hole, Kite)-free family.
A 60GHz LC-VCO module using flip-chip on a laminate substrate

For emerging mm-wave consumer applications such as high data-rate wireless communications at 60GHz and car radar at 76–81GHz, it is important to investigate the impact of module assembly on IC performance. Flip-chip is a promising candidate to meet requirements like low reflections, low insertion loss and low costs for mm-wave applications. This paper addresses the design, modeling and evaluation results of a 60GHz LC-VCO module using flip-chip. The impact of the substrate on on-chip CPW transmission lines and spiral inductors is studied based on the performance of a 60GHz LC-VCO. Since the inductor is part of the VCO resonator, a remarkable 10% increase in oscillation frequency occurs due to the nearby top-metal layer of the substrate. The IC is realized in a 0. 25µm SiGe BiCMOS process. The 0.44mm thick substrate offers four copper signal layers.
Bandwidth Extension of Dual-Polarized 1-D TCDA Antenna Using VMS

In this paper, a wideband, low-profile, 1-D tightly coupled dipole array (1-D TCDA) antenna with vertical metal strips (VMSs) is proposed. The 1-D TCDA has a limited scanangle due to variations in vertical wave numbers according to the scanangle. Floquet theory and the electric field profile can be used to analyze the theory of a TCDA, obtaining scan-independent characteristic. Removing some metal strips from the side walls also improved the radiation efficiency. The overlapped impedance bandwidth (IBW) for dual polarization was 0.8–2.5 GHz (3.1:1) for VSWR < 3, and the maximum scanangle was ±50°. The radiation efficiency was over 70% within the IBW and maximum scanangle. The measurement results show that the gain was 7.0–12.4 dB for vertical polarization and 7.3–15.4 dB for horizontal polarization within the IBW and maximum scanangle. Furthermore, the height of the antenna was <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.13\lambda _{\mathrm {low}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> at the lowest operating frequency, and the overall dimension of the full array structure was <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1.69\lambda _{\mathrm {low}}\times 0.59\lambda _{\mathrm {low}}\times 0.13\lambda _{\mathrm {low}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>.
Potential impacts of a high severity wildfire on abundance, movement, and diversity of herpetofauna in the Lost Pines ecoregion of Texas.

—In September and October 2011, a high severity wildfire burned 39% of the 34,400 ha Lost Pines ecoregion in Bastrop County, Texas, USA. We assessed potential impacts of the wildfire on abundance, movement, and diversity of herpetofauna using drift fence array trap data collected prior to and after the wildfire, and anuran call survey data collected after the fire, on the 1,948 ha Griffith League Ranch. Based on N-mixture model analyses, abundance and movement of Six-lined Race Runners (Cnemidophorus [Aspidoscelis] sexlineatus) and Southern Prairie Lizards (Sceloporus consobrinus) were not significantly different before versus shortly after the wildfire. A capture-recapture analysis indicated that movement rates were higher in the wildfire zone for Hurter’s Spadefoot Toads (Scaphiopus hurterii) the following spring. Based on the trap data, herpetofaunal species composition was not significantly different shortly after the fire or subsequently, during the following spring. However, the anuran call survey data indicated that anuran species richness was higher in the wildfire zone. Overall, we did not find reduced abundance or diversity of herpetofauna after the fire, a positive result for conservation in this ecoregion. In addition, our study indicated that investigations focused on fire impacts to ground-dwelling wildlife should consider detection probability when drawing inferences concerning abundances, particularly when differences in ground structure are apparent. Few other studies have examined the effects of intense fires on herpetofauna and our study indicates that herpetofaunal communities can emerge from intense fires without detrimental changes.
Experimental High-Performance Control of Two Permanent Magnet Synchronous Machines in an Integrated Drive for Automotive Applications

Closed-loop control of an integrated dual-inverter to drive two permanent magnet motors independently is presented and evaluated experimentally. By utilizing the neutral point of the three-phase main motor, only two inverter legs are needed for the two-phase auxiliary motor. A modified field oriented control scheme for this integrated inverter was introduced and employed in real-time control. Experimental results show that the inverter is able to control two drives independently. An integrated, component-count-reduced drive is achieved.
Anuran 3D models reveal the relationship between surface area‐to‐volume ratio and climate

The relationship size–environment has been continuously debated for ectotherms. Surface‐to‐volume ratios are recurrently suggested as the cause of body size responses to climate, but most inferences on organismal size clines stem from single linear measurements of body length. Here, we illustrate how new photogrammetric techniques can be applied to characterize amphibian morphologies with 3D models. Using the natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) as model organism, we compared the performance of climatic models in accounting for body size (measured as snout‐to vent length, SVL) and body geometry (surface area‐to‐volume ratios) variation across macroclimatic gradients.
Electromagnetic situation representation based on parallel coordinates and radial coordinates

The representation of electromagnetic situation (EMS) is a key step in spectrum management and decision support in battlefield. In the past, 2-D and 3-D visualization methods were the only options for electromagnetic environment representation, but the complexity of electromagnetic environment of modern battlefield demands for a higher level of visualization of mass-information. Thus, we propose a new method to visualize electromagnetic situation based on multi-dimension information visualization technology. To achieve this, we represent several key factors of electromagnetic field in a multi-dimensional coordinate system, and the corresponding domains are visually presented by the introduced parallel coordinates and radial coordinates. Simulation results show that this method can illustrate the electromagnetic situation in a single coordinate effectively, which could provide excellent decision supporting and planaiding for users.
Summary for AVEC 2016: Depression, Mood, and Emotion Recognition Workshop and Challenge

The sixth Audio-Visual Emotion Challenge and workshop AVEC 2016 was held in conjunction ACM Multimedia'16. This year the AVEC series addresses two distinct sub-challenges, multi-modal emotion recognition and audio-visual depression detection. Both sub-challenges are in a way a return to AVEC's past editions: the emotion sub-challenge is based on the same dataset as the one used in AVEC 2015, and depression analysis was previously addressed in AVEC 2013/2014. In this summary, we mainly describe participation and its conditions.
Transformer-Less Unified Power-Flow Controller Using the Cascade Multilevel Inverter

The conventional unified power-flow controller (UPFC) that consists of two back-to-back inverters requires bulky and often complicated zigzag transformers for isolation and reaching high voltage. This paper proposes a completely transformer-less UPFC based on an innovative configuration of two cascade multilevel inverters (CMIs). The unique configuration and control of the two CMIs as a power-flow controller make it possible to independently control active and reactive power flows over a line. The new UPFC offers several advantages over the traditional technology, such as transformer-less, light weight, high efficiency, high reliability, low cost, and fast dynamic response. The transformer-less UPFC is thereby very suited for fast and distributed power flow control, such as wind and solar power transmission. Experimental results based on 13.8-kV/2-MV·A transformer-less UPFC prototype are shown to validate the theoretical analysis and operating principle.
Impedance coordinative control for cascaded converter in bidirectional application

Two stage cascaded converters are widely used in bidirectional applications, but the negative impedance may cause system instability. Actually the impedance interaction is much different between forward power flow and reversed power flow, which will introduce more uncertainty to the system stability. This paper proposes a control method for the constant power controlled converter in cascaded system, and consequently it can change the negative impedance of constant power converter into resistive impedance, which will improve the cascaded system stability, as well as merge the impedance difference between forward and reversed power flow. This paper addresses the analysis with the topology of cascaded dual-active-bridge converter (DAB) with inverter, and the proposed control method can also be implemented in unidirectional applications and other general cascaded converter system. The effectiveness has been validated by both simulation and experimental results.
Duromer MID technology for system-in-package generation

The Duromer molded interconnect device (MID) technology for realization of a stackable system-in-package (SiP) is similar to conventional MID technology, which is usually realized using thermoplastic polymers, combining the functionality of housing and substrate into one device. Advantages of the conventional MID technology are the reduction of parts during assembly by integrating mechanical and electrical functionality into a device and the reduction of space, as MID allows a three-dimensional (3-D) integration of devices. A disadvantage of conventional technology, especially if combined with typical technical thermoplastics, is the large mismatch in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between substrate and advanced microelectronic components as chip scale package (CSP) or flip-chip. This is reducing the applicability of thermoplastic MID to moderate temperature ranges and/or to rather robust components. To overcome this disadvantage, the use of low CTE duromer as epoxy molding compounds (EMCs) as base material for device assembly is proposed, generating a unique technology well adapted to SiP and microelectromechanical system (MEMS) packaging needs, the Duromer MID approach. The technological realization of Duromer MID uses conventional backend processes as IC bonding to flex, transfer molding using epoxy molding compounds, laser machining, metallization, and structurization processes well known from PCB processing. The use of existing equipment allows both a rather fast process implementation and a cost-effective manufacturing of the components. Within this paper, the investigations described previously are driven further toward a description of a generic packaging technology integrating detailed analysis of metallization processes and assembly issues. Summarized, this paper presents further process development and feasibility analysis of wafer-level packaging technologies for SiP solutions based on a Duromer MID approach.
Genotype imputation as a cost-saving genomic strategy for South African Sanga cattle: A review

The South African beef cattle population is heterogeneous and consists of a variety of breeds, production systems and breeding goals. Indigenous cattle breeds are uniquely adapted to their native surroundings, necessitating conservation of these breeds as usable genetic resources to sustain efficient production of beef. Current projections indicate positive growth in human population size, with parallel growth in nutritional demand, in the midst of intensifying environmental conditions. Sanga cattle, therefore, are invaluable assets to the South African beef industry. Modern genomic methodologies allow for an extensive insight into the genome architecture of local breeds. The evolution of these methodologies has also provided opportunities to incorporate deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) information into breed improvement programs in the form of genomic selection (GS). Certain challenges, such as the high cost of generating adequate numbers of dense genotypic profiles and the introduction of ascertainment bias when non-commercial breeds are genotyped with commercial single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panels, have caused a lag in progress on the genomics front in South Africa. Genotype imputation is a statistical method that infers unavailable or missing genotypic data based on shared haplotypes within a population using a population or breed representative reference sample. Genotypes are generated in silico , providing an animal with genotypic information for SNP markers that were not genotyped, based on predictive model-based algorithms. The validation of this method for indigenous breeds will enable the development of cost-effective low-density bead chips, allowing more animals to be genotyped, and imputation to high-density information. The improvement in SNP densities, at lower cost, will allow enhanced power in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and genomic estimated breeding value (GEBV)-based selection for these breeds. To fully reap the benefits of this methodology, however, will require the setting up of accurate and reliable frameworks that are optimized for its application in Sanga breeds. This review paper aims, first, to identify the challenges that have been impeding genomic applications for Sanga cattle and second, to outline the advantages that a method such as genotype imputation might provide. Keywords: breed improvement, developing countries, indigenous breeds, genomics
Comparative Document Summarization via Discriminative Sentence Selection

Given a collection of document groups, a natural question is to identify the differences among these groups. Although traditional document summarization techniques can summarize the content of the document groups one by one, there exists a great necessity to generate a summary of the differences among the document groups. In this article, we study a novel problem of summarizing the differences between document groups. A discriminative sentence selection method is proposed to extract the most discriminative sentences that represent the specific characteristics of each document group. Experiments and case studies on real-world data sets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method.
A Novel Multi-View Table Tennis Umpiring Framework

This research investigates the development of a low-cost multi-view umpiring framework, as an alternative to the current expensive systems that are almost exclusively restricted to elite professional sports. Table tennis has been selected as the testbed because, while automating the process is challenging, it has many different complex match elements including the service, return and rallies, which are governed by a strict set of regulations. The focus is mainly on the rally element rather than the whole match. Ball detection and tracking in video frames are undertaken to determine reliably the ball position relative to key reference objects like the table surface and net, and the ball’s flight path is used to determine the rally’s status. While a low-cost option has benefits, it is technically challenging due to the limited number of cameras and generally low video resolution used. This thesis presents a portable multi-view umpiring framework that identifies each state change in a rally. It makes three significant contributions to knowledge: i) a reliable ball detection strategy that accurately detects the location of the ball in low-resolution sequences; ii) a novel framework for ball tracking using a multi-view system, and iii) a new state-machine based evaluation system for analysing table tennis rallies. In a series of ten different test scenarios, the system achieved an average of 94% system detection rate and 100% accurate decisions. A test sequence of duration 1 s can be processed in 8 s, leading to a delay of only 7 s, which is considered acceptable for practical purposes. This solution has the potential to reform the way matches are umpired, providing objectivity in resolving disputed decisions. It affords an economic technology for amateur players, while the multi-view facility is extendible to other relevant ball-based sports. Finally, the ball flight path analysis mechanism can be a valuable training tool for skills development.
A Review of Motion Planning for Highway Autonomous Driving

Self-driving vehicles will soon be a reality, as main automotive companies have announced that they will sell their driving automation modes in the 2020s. This technology raises relevant controversies, especially with recent deadly accidents. Nevertheless, autonomous vehicles are still popular and attractive thanks to the improvement they represent to people’s way of life (safer and quicker transit, more accessible, comfortable, convenient, efficient, and environment-friendly). This paper presents a review of motion planning techniques over the last decade with a focus on highway planning. In the context of this article, motion planning denotes path generation and decision making. Highway situations limit the problem to high speed and small curvature roads, with specific driver rules, under a constrained environment framework. Lane change, obstacle avoidance, car following, and merging are the situations addressed in this paper. After a brief introduction to the context of autonomous ground vehicles, the detailed conditions for motion planning are described. The main algorithms in motion planning, their features, and their applications to highway driving are reviewed, along with current and future challenges and open issues.
Influence of Sampling Delay on the Estimation of Lithium-Ion Battery Parameters and an Optimized Estimation Method

The equivalent-circuit model (ECM) is widely used in online estimating the parameters and states of lithium-ion batteries. However, the sampling delay between the voltage and current of a battery is generally overlooked, which is unavoidable in a modular battery management system (BMS) and would lead to wrong results in the estimation of battery parameters and states. In this paper, with the first-order resistor–capacitor (RC) model as our battery model, we analyze the influence mechanism of sampling delay and then propose an optimized method for online estimating battery parameters. The mathematical model derived from the first-order RC model and the approximation method of first-order derivative are optimized. The recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm is used for identifying the parameters of the model. In order to verify the proposed method, a modular battery test system with high sampling frequency and high synchronization accuracy is developed. The experiment results indicate that the sampling delay would cause the estimation process to fluctuate, and the optimized method effectively improves the tolerance range of sampling delay.