Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effect of habitat type on speciation rates and range movements in aquatic beetles: inferences from species‐level phylogenies

Most aquatic beetles in the family Dytiscidae are tightly associated either with running (lotic) or stagnant (lentic) water bodies. The range size of lotic species is known to be, on average, much smaller than that of lentic species, presumably as a result of differences in dispersal strategies in each habitat type. We explored possible effects of these differences on clade evolution and speciation rates by comparing species‐level phylogenies based on cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and 16S rRNA mitochondrial genes for two genera, the lentic Ilybius and the lotic Deronectes. The expectation that species turnover is higher in lotic lineages due to their lower dispersal propensity compared to lentic species was not strongly supported. Deronectes displays a higher frequency of recent splits than Ilybius, consistent with the hypothesis, but the difference was not significant compared to expected patterns under a constant speciation rate null model. Similarly, when the degree of sympatry was plotted against relative node age, more allopatric splits were evident in the lentic Deronectes, suggesting a slower rate of range movement since speciation, but the differences were not significant. We discuss two explanations for our failure to detect differences between the two clades. First, current methods for analysing species‐level phylogenies may be sensitive to taxonomic and sampling artefacts. Second, lentic and lotic clades may indeed display similar levels of species turnover despite occupying very different habitats at different spatial scales. More work is needed to investigate the effects of population level processes and spatial scale on macroevolutionary dynamics.
A type III-B CRISPR-Cas effector complex mediating massive target DNA destruction

Abstract The CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) system protects archaea and bacteria by eliminating nucleic acid invaders in a crRNA-guided manner. The Sulfolobus islandicus type III-B Cmr–α system targets invading nucleic acid at both RNA and DNA levels and DNA targeting relies on the directional transcription of the protospacer in vivo. To gain further insight into the involved mechanism, we purified a native effector complex of III-B Cmr–α from S. islandicus and characterized it in vitro. Cmr–α cleaved RNAs complementary to crRNA present in the complex and its ssDNA destruction activity was activated by target RNA. The ssDNA cleavage required mismatches between the 5΄-tag of crRNA and the 3΄-flanking region of target RNA. An invader plasmid assay showed that mutation either in the histidine-aspartate acid (HD) domain (a quadruple mutation) or in the GGDD motif of the Cmr–2α protein resulted in attenuation of the DNA interference in vivo. However, double mutation of the HD motif only abolished the DNase activity in vitro. Furthermore, the activated Cmr–α binary complex functioned as a highly active DNase to destroy a large excess DNA substrate, which could provide a powerful means to rapidly degrade replicating viral DNA.
The 'Demographic Dividend' and Young India's Economic Future

Declining fertility rates have changed the age structure of India’s population, resulting in a “bulge” in the working age-group. This “demographic dividend” has improved the dependency ratio leading to the hypothesis that the bulge in working population will lead to an acceleration in growth. However, recent employment figures indicate that the absorption of the Indian youth into the labour force is not as high as one would expect. This is perhaps due to the poor employability of the workforce, which is severely affected by a deficit in educational attainment and health. This needs to be remedied in order to take advantage of the opportunity for growth that the demographic dividend is supposed to give India.
Maize trade liberalization vs. fertilizer subsidies in Tanzania : a CGE model analysis with endogenous soil fertility

This paper presents an analysis on economy-environmental interlinkages for Tanzania by using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model based on a social accounting matrix. The purpose of the analysis is to include general equilibrium effects when evaluating two suggested policy measures meant to stimulate growth and crop production. The model is multisectoral with a particular focus on crop producing sectors and soil mining processes. Maize trade liberalization and a fertilizer subsidy are considered. The model simulations show that both policy reforms have expansive effects and that there are significant sectoral complementarities between agriculture and non-agriculture in Tanzania. Fertilizer subsidies promotes cash crop production and a more land intensive production pattern in agriculture, while a maize trade liberalization stimulates food crops and a more land extensive agriculture. Fertilizer subsidies are found to imply far more expansive effects than a trade liberalization does. Only minor differences are identified between the two policy reforms as concerning their impact on the balance of trade, distribution and the environment.
Calculating Stock Market Index Closing Value Using Risk Function Curve Equation, Logistic, B-Spline Curve and Polar Conversion Techniques

This paper discusses about the issues related to some strange behavior patterns in the financial markets that we term redundant sigmoid heterodoxy behavior of the financial markets. We test some basic empirical models employed to study these strange patterns emanating from fear of risk and panic that often belies as a true cause behind market crashes instigating dormant evolution before a full fledged recession and elucidate the interpretation as an outcome of such rigorous testing. In this otter, we developed a new model for measuring risk in order to identify true settings behind market risks by constructing a risk tolerance equation based on risk function curve and hence, to identify investor heterodoxy in the short run. Some novel statistical methods are employed in stock and equity market analysis for determination of Index Closing Values and volatility trends entailing the global markets. We use Risk Function Curves besides logistic functions and B-Spline curves to explain the events running down the line with a window toward Asia-Pacific and broad US markets. The functions deploy logical settings behind stock market trends and uncharacteristic movements correlated to the events having some major impact on the bourses. This paper applies new functions in understanding the mechanism of market failure and volatile behavior of stock markets as well as their movement trends both in the short and long run. The results stratify evidences that relate directly to the dynamics of stock/index movements thus giving an aid to investment managers a general view of the true nature behind volatility of these indices, as well as an aid in determining logical future index values.
LPV-based torque control for an extreme-scale morphing wind turbine rotor

Recent trends in wind turbine design have demonstrated that decreased levelized cost of energy (LCOE) can be achieved by increasing rotor size and therefore the amount of energy a wind turbine can capture. However, as rotor radii increase into extreme scales, it is likely that the increased mass required to maintain the necessary structural strength for three-bladed upwind turbines will drive up costs faster than they can be outweighed by increased energy production. We are part of a team that has been working to design a two-bladed, downwind 13.2 MW wind turbine rotor that maintains structural integrity by using load alignment and active coning. Together with the increased scale and downwind configuration, the active coning provides both additional challenges and opportunities for turbine control. In this paper, we design and evaluate a linear parameter varying (LPV) generator torque control technique that compensates for the changing system dynamics as the rotor coning angle changes.
Mosquito midguts and malaria: cell biology, compartmentalization and immunology

The malaria parasite Plasmodium has an absolute requirement for both a vertebrate and a mosquito host in order to complete its life cycle, and its interactions with the latter provide the focus for this review. The mosquito midgut represents one of the most challenging environments for the survival and development of Plasmodium, and is thus also one of the most attractive sites for novel targeted malaria control strategies. During their attempts to cross the midgut epithelium en route to the salivary glands, motile ookinetes are swiftly detected and labelled by mosquito recognition factors and targeted for destruction by a variety of immune responses that recruit killing factors both from the midgut and from other tissues in the surrounding body cavity. The exact interplay between these factors and the parasite is highly species‐ and strain‐specific, as are the timing and the route of parasite invasion. These features are paramount to determining the success of the infection and the vector competence of the mosquito. Here we discuss recent advances in genomic analyses, coupled with detailed microscopical investigations, which are helping to unravel the identity and roles of the major players of these complex systems.
Tooth loss and cognitive functions among older adults

Abstract Objective. To evaluate the association between the number of teeth and cognitive functions adjusted for age and education level in a cohort of older adults living in Sweden. Materials and methods. The study employed a cross-sectional design in which 1147 individuals between 60–96 years underwent a clinical oral examination. The cognitive functions were assessed using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clock-test. The level of education was obtained from a questionnaire. Data were subjected to Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed, grouping the different variables into pre-determined categories. Results. The co-variables age and education were significantly associated with the number of teeth (p < 0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the association between the number of teeth and the cognitive functions persisted even after adjusting for age and level of education. Conclusions. The findings suggest that the presence of teeth may be of importance for cognitive abilities in older adults.
Designing a 1kW GaN PFC stage with over 99% efficiency and 155W/in3 power density

Stringent requirements on higher power density and efficiency for power electronics converters in applications such as server/telecom power systems and industrial motor drives necessitate transformative changes in power electronic architecture as well as replacement of Si based FETs with wide bandgap devices. For power-factor-correction (PFC) circuits, the path for greater power density necessitates the transition from Si based dual-boost to GaN based totem pole (TP) structure, which enables designers to reach over 99% efficiency at twice the power density of Si based converters. This paper compares GaN based TP PFC with conventional Si based topologies, and details design steps for above 99% efficiency and 155W/in3 power density in the switching network.
High Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly: A Community-Based Study in Four Cities of the Hebei Province, China

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been suggested as a term for a boundary area between normal aging and dementia. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of MCI in the elderly in the Hebei province, China, and explore its related factors. Methods: Participants included 2,601 community-dwelling people aged 60 years or older who resided in the four major cities of the Hebei province. In stage 1 of the study, the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment were administered for screening purposes. In stage 2, the subjects who screened positive were further examined by neurologists. The diagnosis of MCI was made according to Petersen's criteria. Results: The estimated prevalence of MCI was 21.3%. MCI was more prevalent at age 65-69 (28.3%), and its overall rates among men (24.1%) were higher than those of women (19.9%). The higher prevalence of MCI was associated with very old age (≥80 years old; OR = 2.457, 95% CI = 1.471-4.104), male gender (OR = 1.363, 95% CI = 1.097-1.694), low education level (OR = 2.439, 95% CI = 1.623-3.663), and poor economic status (OR = 2.882, 95% CI = 1.949-4.255). Conclusions: Our findings show a high prevalence of MCI in the elderly urban population in the Hebei province. Gender, education level, and economic status may have an important role in the etiology of MCI.
Efficacy of theory-based interventions to promote physical activity. A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Implementing theory-based interventions is an effective way to influence physical activity (PA) behaviour in the population. This meta-analysis aimed to (1) determine the global effect of theory-based randomised controlled trials dedicated to the promotion of PA among adults, (2) measure the actual efficacy of interventions against their theoretical objectives and (3) compare the efficacy of single- versus combined-theory interventions. A systematic search through databases and review articles was carried out. Our results show that theory-based interventions (k = 82) significantly impact the PA behaviour of participants (d = 0.31, 95% CI [0.24, 0.37]). While moderation analyses revealed no efficacy difference between theories, interventions based on a single theory (d = 0.35; 95% CI [0.26, 0.43]) reported a higher impact on PA behaviour than those based on a combination of theories (d = 0.21; 95% CI [0.11, 0.32]). In spite of the global positive effect of theory-based interventions on PA behaviour, further research is required to better identify the specificities, overlaps or complementarities of the components of interventions based on relevant theories.
Tumor microenvironment abnormalities: Causes, consequences, and strategies to normalize

A solid tumor is an organ‐like entity comprised of neoplastic cells and non‐transformed host stromal cells embedded in an extracellular matrix. The expression of various genes is influenced by interactions among these cells, surrounding matrix, and their local physical and biochemical microenvironment. The products encoded by these genes, in turn, control the pathophysiological characteristics of the tumor, and give rise to the abnormal organization, structure, and function of tumor blood vessels. These abnormalities contribute to heterogeneous blood flow, vascular permeability, and microenvironment. Proliferating tumor cells produce solid stress which compresses blood and lymphatic vessels. As a result of vessel leakiness and lack of functional lymphatics, interstitial fluid pressure is significantly elevated in solid tumors. Each of these abnormalities forms a physiological barrier to the delivery of therapeutic agents to tumors. Furthermore, the metabolic microenvironment in tumors such as hypoxia and acidosis hinder the efficacy of anti‐tumor treatments such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. A judicious application of anti‐angiogenic therapy has the potential to overcome these problems by normalizing the tumor vessels and making them more efficient for delivery of oxygen and drugs. Combined anti‐angiogenic and conventional therapies have shown promise in the clinic. J. Cell. Biochem. 101: 937–949, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Improving parallel modularization algorithm of large complex fault trees

Modularization is a significant way to ease the challenge of evaluating large-scale fault trees known as a NP-hard problem, especially for BDD algorithm. In our previous work, we proposed an effective parallel modularization algorithm for large-scale coherent fault trees which only include gates with AND logic and OR logic. But in real engineering scenarios, fault trees usually consist of many complex static logic gates (i.e. K out of N gate, NOT gate, etc.) and dynamic logic gates (i.e. sequence gate, functional dependency gate, etc.). To address these issues, we improve the parallel modularization algorithm and discover its feasibility to confront all sorts of fault trees. Generally, K out of N gate is usually transformed into the combination of AND gates and OR gates, but that will significant increase the scale of the tree and consume more computation resources. As a solution, we treat the K out of N gate as a single module which could be encoded by BDD directly, and then the scale of entire fault tree could be controlled. Besides, we take the non-coherent fault tree and dynamic fault tree into account and find that these complicated logic gates can be regarded as modules too. We can draw the conclusion that our algorithm can be applied to all sorts of fault trees. Moreover, a detailed improvement of the algorithm is that we only start the algorithm from the bottom events with more than one outgoing edges, and that means we need not to traverse all nodes of the large fault tree. It is meaningful to save the computation resources. In the experiment section, we compare computation time of the improving algorithm with our previous works. And illustrates that the superiority of the improving algorithm through some graphs in various aspects.
Probiotics for prevention of atopic diseases in infants: systematic review and meta‐analysis

Growing evidence underlines the pivotal role of infant gut colonization in the development of the immune system. The possibility to modify gut colonization through probiotic supplementation in childhood might prevent atopic diseases. The aim of the present systematic review and meta‐analysis was to evaluate the effect of probiotic supplementation during pregnancy and early infancy in preventing atopic diseases. PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library were searched for randomized controlled trials evaluating the use of probiotics during pregnancy or early infancy for prevention of allergic diseases. Fixed‐effect models were used, and random‐effects models where significant heterogeneity was present. Results were expressed as risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Seventeen studies, reporting data from 4755 children (2381 in the probiotic group and 2374 in the control group), were included in the meta‐analysis. Infants treated with probiotics had a significantly lower RR for eczema compared to controls (RR 0.78 [95% CI: 0.69–0.89], P = 0.0003), especially those supplemented with a mixture of probiotics (RR 0.54 [95% CI: 0.43–0.68], P < 0.00001). No significant difference in terms of prevention of asthma (RR 0.99 [95% CI: 0.77–1.27], P = 0.95), wheezing (RR 1.02 [95% CI: 0.89–1.17], P = 0.76) or rhinoconjunctivitis (RR 0.91 [95% CI: 0.67–1.23], P = 0.53) was documented. The results of the present meta‐analysis show that probiotic supplementation prevents infantile eczema, thus suggesting a new potential indication for probiotic use in pregnancy and infancy.
Plasma calcitonin variations in normal women and in women with family history of diabetes during pregnancy.

In eight normal pregnant women and in eighteen women with a family history of diabetes, plasma calcitonin (CT), parathyroid hormone (PTH), insulin and glucagon variations and total plasma calcium levels were investigated. Calcitonin, parathyroid hormone and glucagon were all increased during the 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy in normal women (N.W.) and in women with a family history of diabetes (W.F.H.D.). Plasma calcitonin levels were statistically significantly different between the two groups only in the 3rd trimester (118 +/- 4.9 vs 139 +/- 3.6 pg/ml p less than 0.01 in N.W. and W.F.H.D. respectively). Total plasma calcium levels were decreased significantly in the 3rd trimester in both groups: 3rd vs 1st trimester p less than 0.005 and p less than 0.001 in N.W. and W.F. H.D. respectively. Statistically significant difference between the two groups in total insulinemic area (p less than 0.001), in the rapid phase area (p less than 0.01) and insulinogenic index (p less than 0.05) were observed in the 3rd trimester.
Learning basic unit movements for humanoid arm motion control

Manipulation skill is important for humanoid robots to live and work with humans, and arm motion control is essential for the manipulation accomplishment. In our research, we hope our robot execute a manipulation task by combining basic unit movements (BUMs), thus making the manipulation easier and more robust. So in this paper, we firstly define BUMs which actually can be regarded as basic components of any arm motion. Then we propose a learning approach for the robot to execute BUMs, which means knowing the current state, the robot learns how to move his arm to accomplish the given BUM. Considering the complexity and inaccuracy problems in solving the inverse kinematics, the proposed approach is basically building an internal inverse model and the robot directly learns in the motor space without any inverse kinematics. Taking advantages of the powerful capacity of Deep Neural Networks (DNN) in extracting inherent features, the auto-encoder is employed to formalize our model. Experimental results on MATLAB simulation as well as PKU-HR5II humanoid robot reveal the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The robot can successfully execute almost all the BUMs in the whole workspace of his right arm with the accuracy of 98.49%.
Early Diagnosis of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva

BACKGROUND. Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva is a rare and disabling genetic condition characterized by congenital malformation of the great toes and by progressive heterotopic ossification in specific anatomic patterns. Most patients with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva are misdiagnosed early in life before the appearance of heterotopic ossification and undergo diagnostic procedures that can cause lifelong disability. Recently, the genetic cause of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva was identified, and definitive genetic testing for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva is now available before the appearance of heterotopic ossification. METHODS. We recently evaluated 7 children for diagnosis of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva before the onset of heterotopic ossification. A medical history, physical examination, and skeletal survey were obtained on all of the patients, as well as clinical genetic testing for the canonical fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva mutation. RESULTS. All 7 of the children (4 girls and 3 boys; ages 3 months to 6 years) had congenital malformations of the great toes, but none had radiographic evidence of heterotopic ossification at the time of evaluation. Five of the 7 children had soft tissue lesions of the neck and back, suggestive of early fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva flare-ups, 3 of whom had undergone invasive diagnostic procedures that exacerbated their condition. Two children had no history or signs of soft tissue swelling or flare-ups. DNA sequence analysis found that all 7 of the children had the recurrent fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva missense mutation, a single nucleotide substitution (c.617G>A) at codon 206 in the glycine-serine activation domain of activin receptor IA, a bone morphogenetic protein type 1 receptor. CONCLUSION. Clinical suspicion of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva early in life on the basis of malformed great toes can lead to early clinical diagnosis, confirmatory diagnostic genetic testing, and the avoidance of additional harmful diagnostic and treatment procedures. This is the first report of genetic confirmation of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva before the appearance of heterotopic ossification. Pediatricians should be aware of the early diagnostic features of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, even before the appearance of heterotopic ossification. This awareness should prompt early genetic consultation and testing and the institution of assiduous precautions to prevent iatrogenic harm.