1. |
- Mahajan, Anubha, et al.
(author)
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Multi-ancestry genetic study of type 2 diabetes highlights the power of diverse populations for discovery and translation
- 2022
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Nature. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 54:5, s. 560-572
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We assembled an ancestrally diverse collection of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in 180,834 affected individuals and 1,159,055 controls (48.9% non-European descent) through the Diabetes Meta-Analysis of Trans-Ethnic association studies (DIAMANTE) Consortium. Multi-ancestry GWAS meta-analysis identified 237 loci attaining stringent genome-wide significance (P < 5 x 10(-9)), which were delineated to 338 distinct association signals. Fine-mapping of these signals was enhanced by the increased sample size and expanded population diversity of the multi-ancestry meta-analysis, which localized 54.4% of T2D associations to a single variant with >50% posterior probability. This improved fine-mapping enabled systematic assessment of candidate causal genes and molecular mechanisms through which T2D associations are mediated, laying the foundations for functional investigations. Multi-ancestry genetic risk scores enhanced transferability of T2D prediction across diverse populations. Our study provides a step toward more effective clinical translation of T2D GWAS to improve global health for all, irrespective of genetic background. Genome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in ancestrally diverse populations implicate candidate causal genes and mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes. Trans-ancestry genetic risk scores enhance transferability across populations.
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2. |
- Kristan, Matej, et al.
(author)
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The first visual object tracking segmentation VOTS2023 challenge results
- 2023
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In: 2023 IEEE/CVF International conference on computer vision workshops (ICCVW). - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. - 9798350307443 - 9798350307450 ; , s. 1788-1810
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Visual Object Tracking Segmentation VOTS2023 challenge is the eleventh annual tracker benchmarking activity of the VOT initiative. This challenge is the first to merge short-term and long-term as well as single-target and multiple-target tracking with segmentation masks as the only target location specification. A new dataset was created; the ground truth has been withheld to prevent overfitting. New performance measures and evaluation protocols have been created along with a new toolkit and an evaluation server. Results of the presented 47 trackers indicate that modern tracking frameworks are well-suited to deal with convergence of short-term and long-term tracking and that multiple and single target tracking can be considered a single problem. A leaderboard, with participating trackers details, the source code, the datasets, and the evaluation kit are publicly available at the challenge website1
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3. |
- Zeng, Jiangyuan, et al.
(author)
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Innovations in science, technology, engineering, and policy (iSTEP) for addressing environmental issues towards sustainable development
- 2024
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In: The Innovation Geoscience. - : Innovation Press. - 2959-8753. ; 2:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sustainable development depends on the integration of the economy, society, and environment. Yet, escalating environmental challenges pose threats to both society and the economy. Despite progress in addressing environmental issues to promote sustainability, knowledge gaps in scientific research, technological advancement, engineering practice, and policy development persist. In this review, we aim to narrow these gaps by proposing innovation-based solutions and refining existing paradigms. Reviewing past research and actions, we first elucidate the evolution of sustainability science and the essence of sustainable development and its assessment. Secondly, we summarize current major environmental issues, including global warming and climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation and desertification, and environmental pollution, as well as their relationships with sustainability and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Subsequently, this review critically evaluates the role of innovations in science, technology, engineering, and policy (iSTEP) and their synergies in advancing sustainability and SDGs. While their sequential relationships may vary based on specific contexts or sustainability scenarios within the iSTEP framework, each component reinforces the others, fostering continuous improvement. Finally, this review offers recommendations and future perspectives for formulating sustainability roadmaps. Recommendations include fostering a vision of sustainability, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, and encouraging transboundary cooperation among stakeholders for future sustainability endeavors.
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4. |
- Elsayed, Mohamed Hammad, et al.
(author)
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Overcoming small-bandgap charge recombination in visible and NIR-light-driven hydrogen evolution by engineering the polymer photocatalyst structure
- 2024
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In: Nature Communications. - 2041-1723. ; 15:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Designing an organic polymer photocatalyst for efficient hydrogen evolution with visible and near-infrared (NIR) light activity is still a major challenge. Unlike the common behavior of gradually increasing the charge recombination while shrinking the bandgap, we present here a series of polymer nanoparticles (Pdots) based on ITIC and BTIC units with different π-linkers between the acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) repeated moieties of the polymer. These polymers act as an efficient single polymer photocatalyst for H2 evolution under both visible and NIR light, without combining or hybridizing with other materials. Importantly, the difluorothiophene (ThF) π-linker facilitates the charge transfer between acceptors of different repeated moieties (A-D-A-(π-Linker)-A-D-A), leading to the enhancement of charge separation between D and A. As a result, the PITIC-ThF Pdots exhibit superior hydrogen evolution rates of 279 µmol/h and 20.5 µmol/h with visible (>420 nm) and NIR (>780 nm) light irradiation, respectively. Furthermore, PITIC-ThF Pdots exhibit a promising apparent quantum yield (AQY) at 700 nm (4.76%).
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5. |
- Kanoni, Stavroula, et al.
(author)
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Implicating genes, pleiotropy, and sexual dimorphism at blood lipid loci through multi-ancestry meta-analysis.
- 2022
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In: Genome biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1474-760X .- 1465-6906 .- 1474-7596. ; 23:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Genetic variants within nearly 1000 loci are known to contribute to modulation of blood lipid levels. However, the biological pathways underlying these associations are frequently unknown, limiting understanding of these findings and hindering downstream translational efforts such as drug target discovery.To expand our understanding of the underlying biological pathways and mechanisms controlling blood lipid levels, we leverage a large multi-ancestry meta-analysis (N=1,654,960) of blood lipids to prioritize putative causal genes for 2286 lipid associations using six gene prediction approaches. Using phenome-wide association (PheWAS) scans, we identify relationships of genetically predicted lipid levels to other diseases and conditions. We confirm known pleiotropic associations with cardiovascular phenotypes and determine novel associations, notably with cholelithiasis risk. We perform sex-stratified GWAS meta-analysis of lipid levels and show that 3-5% of autosomal lipid-associated loci demonstrate sex-biased effects. Finally, we report 21 novel lipid loci identified on the X chromosome. Many of the sex-biased autosomal and X chromosome lipid loci show pleiotropic associations with sex hormones, emphasizing the role of hormone regulation in lipid metabolism.Taken together, our findings provide insights into the biological mechanisms through which associated variants lead to altered lipid levels and potentially cardiovascular disease risk.
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6. |
- Zhou, Wei, et al.
(author)
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Global Biobank Meta-analysis Initiative : Powering genetic discovery across human disease
- 2022
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In: Cell Genomics. - : Elsevier. - 2666-979X. ; 2:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Biobanks facilitate genome-wide association studies (GWASs), which have mapped genomic loci across a range of human diseases and traits. However, most biobanks are primarily composed of individuals of European ancestry. We introduce the Global Biobank Meta-analysis Initiative (GBMI)-a collaborative network of 23 biobanks from 4 continents representing more than 2.2 million consented individuals with genetic data linked to electronic health records. GBMI meta-analyzes summary statistics from GWASs generated using harmonized genotypes and phenotypes from member biobanks for 14 exemplar diseases and endpoints. This strategy validates that GWASs conducted in diverse biobanks can be integrated despite heterogeneity in case definitions, recruitment strategies, and baseline characteristics. This collaborative effort improves GWAS power for diseases, benefits understudied diseases, and improves risk prediction while also enabling the nomination of disease genes and drug candidates by incorporating gene and protein expression data and providing insight into the underlying biology of human diseases and traits.
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7. |
- Chen, I-Hua, et al.
(author)
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Internet addiction and psychological distress among Chinese schoolchildren before and during the COVID-19 outbreak : A latent class analysis
- 2021
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In: Journal of Behavioral Addictions. - : AKADEMIAI KIADO ZRT. - 2062-5871 .- 2063-5303. ; 10:3, s. 731-746
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and aims: The present longitudinal study examined the changes in problematic internet use (problematic smartphone use, problematic social media use, and problematic gaming) and changes in COVID-19-related psychological distress (fear of COVID-19 and worry concerning COVID-19) across three time-points (before the COVID-19 outbreak, during the initial stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, and during the COVID-19 outbreak recovery period). Methods: A total of 504 Chinese schoolchildren completed measures concerning problematic internet use and psychological distress across three time points. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to classify participants into three groups of problematic internet use comprising Group 1 (lowest level), Group 2 (moderate level), and Group 3 (highest level). Results: Statistical analyses showed that as problematic use of internet-related activities declined among Group 3 participants across the three time points, participants in Group 1 and Group 2 had increased problematic use of internet-related activities. Although there was no between-group difference in relation to worrying concerning COVID-19 infection, Groups 2 and 3 had significantly higher levels of fear of COVID-19 than Group 1 during the COVID-19 recovery period. Regression analysis showed that change in problematic internet use predicted fear of COVID-19 during the recovery period. Conclusion: The varied levels of problematic internet use among schoolchildren reflect different changing trends of additive behaviors during COVID-19 outbreak and recovery periods.
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8. |
- Chen, Jianqi, et al.
(author)
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Geometrical Characterization Of Sensor Placement For Cone-Invariant And Multi-Agent Systems Against Undetectable Zero-Dynamics Attacks\Ast
- 2022
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In: SIAM Journal of Control and Optimization. - : Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics (SIAM). - 0363-0129 .- 1095-7138. ; 60:2, s. 890-916
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Undetectable attacks are an important class of malicious attacks threatening the security of cyber-physical systems, which can modify a system's state but leave the system output measurements unaffected and hence cannot be detected from the output. This paper studies undetectable attacks on cone-invariant systems and multi-agent systems. We first provide a general characterization of zero-dynamics attacks, which characterizes fully undetectable attacks targeting the nonminimum phase zeros of a system. This geometrical characterization makes it possible to develop a defense strategy seeking to place a minimal number of sensors to detect and counter the zero-dynamics attacks on the system's actuators. The detect and defense scheme amounts to computing a set containing potentially vulnerable actuator locations and nodes and a defense union for feasible placement of sensors based on the geometrical properties of the cones under consideration.
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9. |
- Chen, Jie, et al.
(author)
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The modulation of westerlies-monsoon interaction on climate over the monsoon boundary zone in East Asia
- 2021
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In: International Journal of Climatology. - : Wiley. - 0899-8418 .- 1097-0088. ; 41:S1, s. E3049-E3064
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Monsoon boundary zone (MBZ) is a transitional zone between the arid Central Asia (ACA) and humid Asia monsoon area, located in North China-Mongolia. During boreal summer, both the mid-latitude westerlies and East Asian Summer monsoon (EASM) play essential roles in the precipitation variations in the MBZ, via causing anomalous cold air mass from the west and warm/humid air from the south to the MBZ. In this study, we defined a summer westerly index (SWI) over the key westerly domain (35 degrees-42.5 degrees N, 80 degrees-100 degrees E) and an EASM index (EASMI) over the key EASM domain (25 degrees-35 degrees N, 107.5 degrees-125 degrees E) to investigate westerlies-monsoon interaction and their effect on MBZ climate. The results show that westerlies and EASM have a synergistic effect on the precipitation in the MBZ and this synergistic effect could be amplified by the westerlies-monsoon interaction. The westerlies and EASM interaction could induce a local cyclonic anomaly in the MBZ, this cyclonic anomaly further intensifies the westerlies and monsoon flow through a dynamical amplification, favours the precipitation in the MBZ. The MBZ precipitation also contributes to maintain the cyclonic anomaly via the latent heating release. The interannual variability of westerlies is largely modulated by the mid-latitude Silk Road pattern (SRP) and the meridional displacement of the Asian westerly jet (AWJ), and the EASM variability is mainly modulated by El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the combined effects from these mid-latitude circulation systems and tropical SST contribute to the climate variability in MBZ.
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10. |
- Kristan, Matej, et al.
(author)
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The Ninth Visual Object Tracking VOT2021 Challenge Results
- 2021
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In: 2021 IEEE/CVF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMPUTER VISION WORKSHOPS (ICCVW 2021). - : IEEE COMPUTER SOC. - 9781665401913 ; , s. 2711-2738
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Visual Object Tracking challenge VOT2021 is the ninth annual tracker benchmarking activity organized by the VOT initiative. Results of 71 trackers are presented; many are state-of-the-art trackers published at major computer vision conferences or in journals in recent years. The VOT2021 challenge was composed of four sub-challenges focusing on different tracking domains: (i) VOT-ST2021 challenge focused on short-term tracking in RGB, (ii) VOT-RT2021 challenge focused on "real-time" short-term tracking in RGB, (iii) VOT-LT2021 focused on long-term tracking, namely coping with target disappearance and reappearance and (iv) VOT-RGBD2021 challenge focused on long-term tracking in RGB and depth imagery. The VOT-ST2021 dataset was refreshed, while VOT-RGBD2021 introduces a training dataset and sequestered dataset for winner identification. The source code for most of the trackers, the datasets, the evaluation kit and the results along with the source code for most trackers are publicly available at the challenge website(1).
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