Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Local and trans-Atlantic chemostratigraphic significance of new δ13Ccarb data from the Sandbian and Katian Stages (Middle–Upper Ordovician) of the Oslo region, Norway

Abstract Late Sandbian to early Katian δ13Ccarb chemostratigraphy has in Norway been described in only two previous reports that dealt with two geographically rather widely separated areas, namely the Oslo-Asker district and the Nes-Hamar district. No data have been available from the Ordovician outcrop areas between these districts that could help clarify the partly unclear regional stratigraphic relations across the Oslo region. A chemostratigraphic study of the classical road section at Tønnerud in the northwestern Hadeland district about halfway between the previously investigated districts resulted in the recognition of two δ13C excursions, namely one in the uppermost Furuberget Formation tentatively identified as the Guttenberg Isotopic Carbon Excursion and one in the lower Solvang Formation that is classified as the KOPE (RAKVERE) excursion. Based on these results, the Furuberget and Solvang formations are interpreted to be separated by a significant gap in the study area corresponding to the Oandu and lower Rakvere regional Baltoscandic stages. This suggests that the Tønnerud succession is less complete stratigraphically than those in the Oslo-Asker district. Similar gaps are not uncommon in this interval in Baltoscandia and in North America and probably reflect both eustatic and local epeirogenetic movements that make it difficult to establish a regionally applicable sequence stratigraphy.
Phase Angle as a Marker of Physical Function in Non-Sarcopenic Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease. Most patients with RA face a barrier to participation in social activities or exercise due to joint pain, despite the beneficial effects of exercise and physical activity. Thus, RA may be a risk factor for sarcopenia in the clinical field. Bioelectrical impedance analysis-derived phase angle (PhA) reflects cellular health and is correlated with the prognosis of various diseases. However, its association with physical function in non-sarcopenic RA female patients remains unclear. We evaluated the association between PhA values and various physical function measures in female patients with non-sarcopenic RA. Methods: Thirty-five participants with RA were screened. One met the criteria for sarcopenia. Finally, 34 patients with non-sarcopenic RA were enrolled. This cross-sectional retrospective study evaluated upper- and lower-extremity strengths, cross-sectional area of rectus femoris, 6 min walking test, Borg scale score, sit-to-stand test, and physical function and mental health from 36-Item Short Form Health Survey scores. Results: In total, 34 female participants (mean age = 49.74 ± 8.15 years) were enrolled. In non-sarcopenic RA patients, PhA was significantly correlated with BMI and ASM/(height)2. Multicollinearity was not detected among the independent variables (VIF < 5). The final multivariable regression model identified ASM/height2 as a significant predictor of PhA among non-sarcopenic RA patients. Conclusion: Multivariable linear regression analyses identified appendicular skeletal muscle mass as a significant predictor of PhA. Bioelectrical impedance analysis-derived PhA is a valuable guidance tool for RA management. PhA can be a useful clinical biomarker of muscle status in non-sarcopenic RA patients.
A contribution to the analysis of slow stable crack growth

In this investigation the Finite Element Method is used to analyse the behaviour of some well known crack growth parameters, such as the value of the J-integral, the crack driving force and the crack opening displacement. Further, the rate of energy dissipation at the crack tip is studied. In this analysis crack growth is realised by disconnecting finite elements. The method is applied in an analysis of experimental data obtained for centrally cracked sheet specimens.
Automated Classification of Phonetic Segments in Child Speech Using Raw Ultrasound Imaging

Speech sound disorder (SSD) is defined as a persistent impairment in speech sound production leading to reduced speech intelligibility and hindered verbal communication. Early recognition and intervention of children with SSD and timely referral to speech and language therapists (SLTs) for treatment are crucial. Automated detection of speech impairment is regarded as an efficient method for examining and screening large populations. This study focuses on advancing the automatic diagnosis of SSD in early childhood by proposing a technical solution that integrates ultrasound tongue imaging (UTI) with deep-learning models. The introduced FusionNet model combines UTI data with the extracted texture features to classify UTI. The overarching aim is to elevate the accuracy and efficiency of UTI analysis, particularly for classifying speech sounds associated with SSD. This study compared the FusionNet approach with standard deep-learning methodologies, highlighting the excellent improvement results of the FusionNet model in UTI classification and the potential of multi-learning in improving UTI classification in speech therapy clinics.
Is there a quiescent typhoon season over the western North Pacific following a strong El Niño event?

Previous studies found that tropical cyclone (TC) formation is generally suppressed over the western North Pacific (WNP) following strong El Niño events. The 2015/2016 event is identified as one of the three major El Niño events since 1950. However, a climatological average of 26 named TCs occurred over the WNP in 2016. The plausible causes for this inconsistency are investigated in this study.
Human brain activity and functional connectivity associated with verbal long-term memory consolidation across 1 month

Introduction Declarative memories are initially dependent on the hippocampus and become stabilized through the neural reorganization of connections between the medial temporal lobe and neocortex. The exact time-course of these neural changes is not well established, although time-dependent changes in retrieval-related brain function can be detected across relatively short time periods in humans (e.g., hours to months). Methods In a study involving older adults with normal cognition (N = 24), we investigated changes in brain activity and functional connectivity associated with the long-term memory consolidation of verbal material over one month. Participants studied fact-like, three-word sentences at 1-month, 1-week, 1-day, and 1-hour intervals before a recognition memory test inside an MRI scanner. Old/new recognition with confidence ratings and response times were recorded. We examined whole-brain changes in retrieval-related brain activity, as well as functional connectivity of the hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), as memories aged from 1 hour to 1 month. Secondary analyses minimized the effect of confounding factors affected by memory age (i.e., changes in confidence and response time or re-encoding of targets). Results Memory accuracy, confidence ratings, and response times changed with memory age. A memory age network was identified where retrieval-related brain activity in cortical regions increased or decreased as a function of memory age. Hippocampal brain activity in an anatomical region of interest decreased with memory age. Importantly, these changes in retrieval-related activity were not confounded with changes in activity related to concomitant changes in behavior or encoding. Exploratory analyses of vmPFC functional connectivity as a function of memory age revealed increased connectivity with the posterior parietal cortex, as well as with the vmPFC itself. In contrast, hippocampal functional connectivity with the vmPFC and orbitofrontal cortex decreased with memory age. Discussion The observed changes in retrieval-related brain activity and functional connectivity align with the predictions of standard systems consolidation theory. These results suggest that processes consistent with long-term memory consolidation can be identified over short time periods using fMRI, particularly for verbal material.
Emotional self-states and coping responses in patients with chronic tinnitus: a schema mode model approach

Background Amongst “third-wave” cognitive behavioural therapies, schema therapy demonstrates encouraging efficacy across various mental health conditions. Within this field, clinical interest has begun to converge on the “schema-mode-model” – a conceptualization framework for affective, cognitive and behavioral states that guide individuals’ perceptions and behaviours at a given point in time. Schema mode expressions in patients with chronic tinnitus are as-yet unexamined. Methods The present study reports self-report data from N = 696 patients with chronic tinnitus who completed the Schema Mode- and Tinnitus Handicap Inventories alongside measures of perceived stress, anxiety and depression. The Schema Mode Inventory assesses so-called maladaptive “parent”, “child” and “coping” modes. Parent modes can be understood as self-states which are characterized by self-critical and hostile beliefs; child modes are characterized by biographically unmet emotional needs; and coping modes by inflexible attempts to regulate emotion and stabilize one’s sense of self. Descriptive, correlational and mediation analyses investigated schema mode expressions (1) in patients with chronic tinnitus, (2) as compared to published reference values from a healthy control sample, (3) in their relation to other psychological constructs, and (4) regarding their potential role in driving tinnitus-related distress. Results Patients reported mild-to-moderate levels of emotional distress. Compared to healthy controls, patients showed (1) high relative expressions of child-, detachment and compliant coping modes and (2) a conspicuously low relative expression of the ‘punitive parent’ mode. Correlational patterns suggested strong associations of (1) parent as well as angry child modes with perceived stress and anxiety, (2) the vulnerable child mode with all measured constructs and (3) emotional distress with - intrapersonally - emotional detachment as well as - interpersonally - alleged compliance. Mediation analyses demonstrated that tinnitus-related distress was driven by significant interactions between child and coping modes. Conclusions The study provides initial clinical evidence for the relevance and applicability of schema-mode based formulation and treatment planning in patients with chronic tinnitus.
Paleoenvironmental and Paleotectonic Significance of Neoproterozoic Diamictites in Actively Rifting Basins

Thick successions of poorly-sorted admixtures of clasts and matrix (diamictite) are widely regarded as evidence for synchronous ‘panglacials’ of global extent during the Cryogenian period (c. 720-635 Ma). In this thesis, diamictite facies are examined in detail using an impressive collection of newly available sub-surface data consisting of some 300 km of drill core through the Grand Conglomérat, Democratic Republic of Congo, and by field investigations of the exceptionally well-exposed Kingston Peak Formation in eastern California, USA. Diamictites are shown to be of mass flow origin (debrites) present within thick (<3 km) successions of genetically-related sediment gravity flow facies (olistostromes, slumps, and turbidites) deposited in deep-water within rapidly subsiding rift basins. Thick slope aprons likely formed at the base of fault scarps and tectonically oversteepened and unstable gravelly slopes that periodically underwent collapse, forming diamictite as a consequence of mixing between slumped material and basinal material during transport. The term ‘mixtite’ is a useful descriptive term. A primary tectonic control dictated the basin stratigraphy such that thick diamictite-bearing mass flow successions can be related to phases of accelerated subsidence (i.e. ‘rift climax’); the internal stratigraphy of diamictite successions identifies higher order episodic pulses of faulting. Diamictites can therefore be identified as ‘tectonofacies’ rather than ‘climatofacies,’ marking
INFLUENCE AUDIT TENURE, AUDITORS SWITCHING, FINANCIAL DISTRESS, AND COMPANY SIZE ON THE AUDIT REPORT LAG IN MINING SECTOR COMPANIES REGISTERED IN EXCHANGE EFFECT INDONESIA PERIOD 2018-2021

This research aims to identify the effect of audit tenure, auditor switching, financial distress, and company size on audit report lag. The method applied in this research is a quantitative method by processing secondary data which is collectedthrough the official website of IDX. The population includes all the mining companies listed on the Indonesia StockExchange (IDX), with a total of 48 companies in 2018-2021. Then, by using a purposive sampling technique to determine the sample, 42 companies were taken as samples with 129 observations data over a period of 4 years. In order to realize the purpose of this research, SPSS application was used to analyze data with multiple linear regression analysis technique. Simultaneous tests resulted that audit tenure, auditor switching, financial distress, and company size together have a significant effect on audit report lag. Meanwhile, the results of partial tests are only financial distress that has a negative and significant effect on audit report lag, while audit tenure has no effect on audit report lag. US well as auditor switching and company size.
Observed and simulated Indian Ocean Dipole activity since the mid‐19th century and its relation to East African short rains

The coupled atmosphere–ocean phenomenon in the Indian Ocean, known as the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) mode, shows various influences on regional tropical climates. East Africa (EA) experiences enhanced precipitation during October–December (the annual “short rains”), and therefore it was hypothesized that a shift from wetter to drier conditions in EA after 1880 documented by proxy data (e.g., lake levels, glacier size) was favoured by a decline in positive IOD frequency. However, this proposed century‐scale pattern of the IOD emerged from single data sets, while the ensemble perspective from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) global climate model (GCM) archive is still missing. Based on rigorous test criteria that capture crucial IOD and EA climate characteristics, the present study identifies 15 runs from the CMIP5 data for the ensemble analyses. A key result of the test is that the ensemble is dominated by the GISS E2 H model (13 realizations) with a little influence from HadCM3 (2 realizations), and therefore most CMIP5 models seem unable to capture the long‐term variability of EA precipitation. The selected model realizations show a significant increase in the frequency of positive IOD events in the late 20th century, in agreement with previous research and most likely due to external climate forcing. Further frequency changes are absent in the available time series, yet we find that the precipitation excess during positive IODs was stronger in the 19th century (1860–1909) than in the recent decades (1956–2005). Both thermodynamic factors on the regional scale (convection, evaporation) and dynamical processes on the large scale (strength of the zonal tropical circulation) emerge as physical basis of this changing IOD property. The higher precipitation intensity in EA during positive IOD events in the 19th century period provides a consistent mechanism that could have contributed to the moister regional climate of that time, irrespective of IOD frequency.
Spatial patterns of the variability of native residentsin a transitional society: The case of the Czech Republic

Abstract Currently, the native residents of a country are an important social phenomenon. Although extensive mobility challenges the bonds between places and their inhabitants, biographies of native residents are less often based in several spatial contexts because they are born and raised in a specific place and live there for their entire lives. This absence of residential mobility has important consequences for the ways native residents relate to their ‘home places’ and how they build local attachments. Using data from the Czech Republic, the main objective of this paper is to explore and analyse recent developments in the structure of native residents. The objects of analysis are the municipalities of the Czech Republic, and aggregate census data are used for the purpose of analysis. Spatial and non-spatial approaches to the analysis showed significant changes in the structure of native residents, revealing statistically significant spatial patterns. In general, the residents of Czech municipalities demonstrate levels of co-residence or ‘mixing’ in a significant way in recent years. Thus, further research into matters such as spatial belonging, attachment and identity should also take into account the influence of mobility.
Biomedical Research

Bone tissue, with its dynamic microenvironment featuring osteoclastic bone resorption, angiogenesis and matrix degradation, appears to facilitate proliferation of tumor cells after the onset of bone metastasis. In this study, we examined metastatic lesions in the femora of BALB/c nu/nu mice two weeks after intracardiac injection with human breast carcinoma MDA-231 cells. Histopathological observations showed the metastatic lesions close to the chondro-osseous junction, and revealed MDA-231 cells loosely intermingled with different cell types such as osteoblasts, fibroblastic stromal cells, osteoclasts and endothelial cells. In the metastatic nest, many tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAPase)-positive osteoclasts accumulated in direct contact with or were close to alkaline phosphatase (ALPase)or receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL)positive osteoblastic cells. It seems likely that osteoclastogenesis is mediated through cell-to-cell contacts with ALPaseand RANKL-expressing osteoblastic cells. Formation of many capillaries lacking complete basal membranes and pericytes ratified the results of in situ hybridization, which revealed intense expression of VEGF in tumor nests, and therefore, indicated ongoing tumor-induced angiogenesis. The tumor cells possessed matrix metallo-proteinases (MMPs)-1 and -9, and frequently extended their stout cytoplasmic processes into fragmented fibrillar components of the growth plate cartilage, implicating degradation of cartilaginous matrix. Thus, osteolytic bone metastasis has demonstrated pathological features as tumor-induced angiogenesis and degradation of extracellular matrix, in addition to osteoclastogenesis. This complex interplay between tumor cells and host tissues may enable and nourish the establishment of a microenvironment that facilitates
Effects of Stand Age on the Coupling between Carbon and Water Fluxes in White Pine Stands in Ontario, Canada

The purpose of this research is to study the effects of forest stand age on gross primary productivity (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET), hence water use efficiency (WUE). The Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator (BEPS) is run against flux data for a chronosequence of three white pine (Pinus strobus L.) plantations ranging 6-11 (TP02), 34-40 (TP74) and 69-75 (TP39) years old from 2008 to 2014 in Ontario, Canada. The following conclusions are drawn: (i) The maximum rate of leaf carboxylation (Vcmax) declined from the mid age (TP74) to the mature stand (TP39), indicating a gradual decline in GPP with age; (ii) In TP39, the deeper roots are the main reason for relatively low water stress and high ET under drought conditions, reducing WUE; (iii) Canopy height may have increased hydraulic resistance in taller stature, reducing the photosynthetic capacity, and (iv) the understory in TP39 makes significant contributions to both ET and GPP.
Characteristics of Airplanes and Helicopters Recorded by a Dense Seismic Array Near Anza California

We observe frequent air traffic events in continuous seismic waveforms recorded for about 30 days by 1,108 vertical geophones in a tight array on the San Jacinto fault zone. The waveforms of the air traffic events resemble tremor or collections of small earthquakes. However, time‐frequency analysis reveals clear Doppler effects that can be modeled with basic equations and fitted well with parameters corresponding to airplanes and helicopters. The flying traces can be inverted by fitting the parameters at each station across the entire array. About 31 air traffic events are detected per day in the relatively remote study area, with peak activity from about 8:00 to 18:00 and significantly fewer events between 23:00 and 4:00 local time. The average event duration is about 200 s, so they cover together >7% of the day. To estimate the total time covered by earthquakes, we derive a scaling relation logτ(M) = 0.41M + 0.89 between earthquake duration and magnitudes using data of 266 earthquakes in the magnitude range 0 ≤ M ≤ 3. The results indicate that in most places, the duration of air traffic events is likely to exceed considerably the total time covered by earthquakes.
On Designing a SwinIris Transformer Based Iris Recognition System

In this paper, we discuss our proposed unified approach to iris recognition called the SwinIris. This approach works efficiently when combing a tuned version of the original Swin Transformer with a set of iris recognition processes. While the original Swin Transformer has recently been used on different biometric modalities due to its competitive advantage over other architectures, it has not been used for iris recognition. Thus, in our work, our proposed deep learning architecture is using a pre-trained Swin Transformer model that is fine-tuned with a set of linear layers. This model is a set of algorithmic aspects that achieve competitive iris-matching accuracy when using any of the selected iris databases selected to test our approach. Specifically, our proposed SwinIris Transformer-based iris recognition system is composed of four modules, namely, the eye detection, iris detection, iris segmentation, and iris classification modules. The proposed system commences with a detection process that aims to identify eyes within the camera-captured original iris images. Subsequently, the iris detection process identifies the iris patterns within the detected iris images to ensure that they are present and can be segmented. The third module involves iris segmentation, which extracts iris features utilized by the fourth and final module that matches iris images using the SwinIris-based Transformer model. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated on small- and large-scale iris datasets, including the CASIA-Iris- Thousand, CASIA-Iris-Lamp, CASIA-IntervalV4, and CASIA- IntervalV3. Our proposed model has a competitive iris classification accuracy when compared to various academic state-of-the-art methodologies, resulting in a classification performance ranging from 95.14% to 99.56%.
The rotation period and shape of the hyperbolic asteroid A/2017 U1 from its lightcurve

We observed the newly discovered hyperbolic minor planet A/2017 U1 on 2017 October 30 with the 4.3-m Discovery Channel Telescope. From these observations, we derived a partial lightcurve with variability of at least 1.2 mag. This lightcurve segment rules out rotation periods less than 3 hr and suggests the period is at least 5 hr. On the assumption that the variability is due to a changing cross section, the axial ratio is at least 3:1. We saw no evidence for a coma or tail in either individual images or in a stacked image having an equivalent exposure time of 9000 s, and set a limit to any coma present at less than ~30 mag arcsec^-2.