Novel Positional and Biological Candidate Gene for Grip Strength in Older Adults: The Long Life Family Study

Grip strength is a robust indicator of overall health, is moderately heritable and predicts longevity in older adults. Using genome-wide linkage analysis, we identified a novel locus on chromosome 18p linked to grip strength in 4534 individuals from 582 families (age 70.0 ± 15.8, range 24–110 years; 54% women). DNA sequencing was completed to identify single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in the 3.44 – 4.04 mega-basepair region on chromosome 18p. Using the sequencing data, we performed association analyses between the 7312 SNVs in the region and grip strength in families exhibiting evidence for linkage. Models were adjusted for age, age2, sex, height, field center and population substructure. There were 23 families (263 individuals) that contributed to the linkage peak (cumulative logarithm of the odds [LOD] score = 12.4). Six families (112 individuals) accounted for most of the linkage signal (LOD = 6.4). In these 6 families, we found highly significant associations between SNVs in the Disks Large-associated Protein 1 (DLGAP1) gene and grip strength (lead SNV: β= -0.75kg ± 0.15, p-value= 4.3*10-6). Correcting for the top SNV in DLGAP1 reduces the LOD by 72% in these families. Further, the effect allele frequency is much higher in these 6 families (39.7%) compared with both the NHLBI’s Trans-OMICs for Precision Medicine (23.5%) and 1000Genomes (28.0%) references panels. The DLGAP1 gene plays an important role in post-synaptic density of neurons; thus, it is a novel positional and biological candidate gene for follow-up studies aimed at uncovering genetic determinants of muscle strength.

Agritourism business model in Ben Tre – Present and future

Ben Tre is an emerging destination in the Mekong Delta and known as ``Vietnam's coconut kingdom''. The number of visitors to Ben Tre has been continuously increased, but the revenue per visitor is still quite low compared with other destinations. In the current, the tourism product of Ben Tre is mainly agritourism which mostly supplied by traditional agricultural production sites. Very few agritourism practice hi-tech agricultural productions. Most visitors visit Ben Tre are from HCMC and neighboring provinces. Due to the small scale of agritourism business sites, they have not been reached the large and high-end markets. This study aims to identify the current agritourism business models and then proposed future business linkage models. Qualitative method is used to conduct this study. Data is collected through observation techniques and combined with faceto- face interviews at Phu An Khang Tourist, Hai Van Farm- Van Ho Bird Sanctuary, Bay Thao Durian Garden, and Ecotourism cooperation of Thanh Phong community. This study proposes that in the future, Ben Tre should link agritourism business sites based on horizontal integration model to promote tourist products into a new market with large scale and high-end customers. The models of horizontal integration should be implemented as the association model as similar to "Bienvenu à la ferme" (France) and the corporation model as similar to Marahastra Corporation (India) because Ben Tre has the similar conditions conduct and develop these models.

MODEL FOR LINKING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

The research was developed from 2018 with the aim of generating a model that sustainably facilitates the linking and management of knowledge in the university. A bibliographic review on successful linkage models was carried out to contrast with the experiences in the UTP, in addition, a survey was applied to consult the main actors involved in the linkage and knowledge management system. From the analysis of the surveys, the model was designed to manage the knowledge generated in the Faculty of Computer Systems Engineering (FISC) with the potential that the implementation can be replicated in other faculties. The model allows visualizing the opportunities generated by knowledge management not only for students, but also for the Faculty, the UTP, the State and Society.

Enhancing Data Linkage to Break the Chain of Coronavirus Spread: The Taiwan Experience (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED Digital technology has been widely used in health care system and disease management, as well as controlling the spread of coronavirus. As one of the most successful countries in fighting against COVID-19, Taiwan greatly and successfully use digital technology to strengthen the COVID-19 epidemic prevention. Since we have a well-established National Health Insurance System (NHIS), which provides a great opportunity to develop a nation-wide data linkage model in an agile way. This Viewpoint provides an overview of the application of data linkage models in COVID-19 combat strategies in Taiwan, including NHIS centralized data linkage systems and “from border to community” information-driven data linkage systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, we discuss that science technologies play a dual role of being an “enabler” and a “driver” in early prevention. Lastly, Taiwan’ experience in applying digital technology to enhance COVID-19 control will highlight lessons and opportunities for other countries.

Habitat Suitability Based Models for Ungulate Roadkill Prognosis

Roads do not only have a detrimental effect on nature (fragmenting habitats, isolating populations and threatening biodiversity), but the increasing numbers of wildlife-vehicle collisions are also a direct threat to humans and property. Therefore, mitigation measures should be placed with respect to animal distribution and movements across the roads. We simulated red deer, roe deer and wild boar movements in Lithuania, focusing on the two main highways A1 and A2. Using regional habitat suitability and linkage models, we calculated movement pathways and the most probable crossing zones in 2009. The prognostic value of these models was tested by comparing the pathway predictions to the real roadkill and roadkill cluster locations in 2002–2009 and 2010–2017. Across both periods and on both highways, the roe deer roadkill locations were significantly closer to the model-predicted pathways than to randomly selected points. The prediction of roadkill locations was also good for wild boar. The roe deer roadkill clusters and multi-species clusters were significantly better represented by the model than by random distribution. On both highways, the biggest differences in distance from the predicted locations were near big cities. We recommended wildlife movement models as an additional tool for planning wildlife-vehicle collision mitigation measures and we advise measures for increasing their predicting power.

Addressing NRC Concerns Regarding Proposed CC N-830: Direct Use of Fracture Toughness for Flaw Evaluations of Pressure Boundary Materials in Class 1 Ferritic Steel Components

Section XI of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code provides KIc and KIa fracture toughness models for ferritic steels. These models are based on linear elastic fracture mechanics methods and were initially developed in the 1970s; they remain largely unchanged since that time. Recently, a modification to Code Case (CC) N-830 has been proposed to provide alternative fracture toughness models for use in the flaw evaluation methodologies of ASME Section XI Nonmandatory Appendices A and K. The integrated models contained in proposed Code Case revision predict the mean trends and scatter of the fracture toughness behavior of ferritic steels throughout the temperature range from the lower shelf to the upper shelf. These models include the transition fracture toughness Master Curve and crack arrest master curve approaches that describe the temperature dependence and scatter in KJc and KIa, respectively in the lower transition temperature region. Also included is a model describing the temperature dependence and scatter of JIc on the upper shelf. Finally, linkage models quantify the inter-relationships between these toughness metrics and how they change due to the irradiation-induced hardening. Together, these models describe the temperature dependence and scatter of fracture toughness initiation and arrest behavior for all ferritic reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels from lower shelf through transition to the upper shelf, all indexed to a single parameter: T0. In late 2017 the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) published a report, MRP-418, providing the technical basis for these revisions to CC N-830. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff review of the revised Code Case and MRP-418 resulted in substantive questions regarding validation and range of applicability of the various toughness models. An on-going effort addresses these concerns, and a revision to MRP-418 scheduled for publication later in 2019 will summarize that work. This paper describes the efforts of the WGFE CC-N-830 group to respond to the NRC’s comments, and summarizes responses to some of the comments.

Extending the Geometric Approach for Studying Biomechanical Motions

Whether it is swimming, walking, eating, or jumping, motions are a fundamental way in which organisms interact with their environment. Understanding how morphology contributes to motion is a primary focus of kinematic research and is necessary for gaining insights into the evolution of functional systems. However, an element that is largely missing from traditional analyses of motion is the spatial context in which they occur. We explore an application of geometric morphometrics (GM) for analyzing and comparing motions to evaluate the outputs of biomechanical linkage models. We focus on a common model for oral jaw mechanics of perciform fishes, the fourbar linkage, using GM to summarize motion as a trajectory of shape change. Two traits derived from trajectories capture the total kinesis generated by a linkage (trajectory length) and the kinematic asynchrony (KA) of its mobile components (trajectory nonlinearity). Oral jaw fourbar data from two subfamilies of Malagasy cichlids were used to generate form–function landscapes, describing broad features of kinematic diversity. Our results suggest that kinesis and KA have complex relationships with fourbar morphology, each displaying a pattern in which different shapes possess equivalent kinematic trait values, known as many-to-one mapping of form-to-function. Additionally, we highlight the observation that KA captures temporal differences in the activation of motion components, a feature of kinesis that has long been appreciated but was difficult to measure. The methods used here to study fourbar linkages can also be applied to more complex biomechanical models and broadly to motions of live organisms. We suggest that they provide a suitable alternative to traditional approaches for evaluating linkage function and kinematics.