Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pacific Island Families Study: parental perceptions of overweight obesity and future concern for child’s weight status

xi ABBREVIATIONS . xiv GLOSSARY . xv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 The problem Pacific overweight obesity problem . 1 Rationale . 1 Context: Pacific population within New Zealand . 3 Migration . 3 Ethnic mix . 3 Pacific population age distribution . 4 Geography . 5 Income . 5 Background of the Pacific Island Families study . 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW . 8 Introduction . 8 Conceptual Underpinnings . 8 The life course model of health and disease . 8 Analysis Grid for Environments (ANGELO) framework . 9 Social Determinants . 10 Overweight and Obesity . 11 Methods of measurement of obesity . 11 Bioimpedance Analysis . 12 Global prevalence of obesity . 14 Adult population . 14 Child population . 15 Obesity in New Zealand . 16 Adult population . 16 iii Child population . 16 Overweight obesity health implications and cost . 17 Cost to the health system . 18 Parental perception and child weight status . 18 Assessment of parental perception . 18 Perception of childhood overweight and obesity . 19 Comparative Study . 20 Explanations for misperception and underestimation . 22 Pacific Cultural attitudes and socioeconomic environment . 22 Parental knowledge and awareness . 24 Policy linkage . 25 Aims . 26 Hypotheses . 26 Chapter 3: Methods . 27 Introduction . 27 Background of the PIF study. 27 Description of and selection of the PPOS study . 27 Procedures and practices to ensure data accuracy . 32 Questionnaire administration . 32 Demographic and socio-cultural context . 32 Parental perception of overweight and obesity . 33 Derivation of parental perception question . 33 Maternal anthropometry . 34 Child anthropometry . 34 Ethics . 35 Statistics . 35 Chapter 4: Results . 37 Parental Perception of Overweight Obesity Study (PPOS) . 37 Section One: Comparison of Pacific Island Families Study (PIF) and Parental Perception of Overweight Obesity Study (PPOS) . 38 Section Two: Parental perceptions and perception change expressed as a level of concern for child becoming overweight of the Parental Perception of Overweight obesity study (PPOS) at age four and six years . 42 Summary of Parental perception . 48 Section Three: Weight Status – Body mass index (BMI) z-score and IOTF grade . 49 iv Summary of Weight Status . 56 Section Four: Associations between parental perception expressed as a level of concern and international standards of body size for children at six years . 57 Section Five: Socio economic and demographic moderators of parental perceptions and body size (%BF and BMI z-score). 60 Summary of Moderators of Parental Perception . 68 Chapter 5: Discussion . 69 Summary of main findings . 69 Parental perceptions – Four to six years . 71 Body Weight status – Four to six years old . 72 Parental perception and child weight status . 73 Strengths . 75 Limitations . 75 Future action and Recommendations . 76 Implications . 77 Addressing the hypothesis . 77 Conclusions . 79 Personal insights based on the experience of the author . 80 REFERENCES . 81 APPENDICES . 90
Hydrogeologic and hydrochemical framework, south-central Great Basin, Nevada-California, with special reference to the Nevada Test Site

Intensely fractured Precambrian and Paleozoic carbonate and clastic rocks and block-faulted Cenozoic volcanic and sedimentary strata in the Nevada Test Site are divided into 10 hydrogeologic units. Three of these--the lower clastic aquitard, the lower carbonate aquifer, and the tuff aquitard--control the regional movement of ground water. The coefficients of fracture transmissiblity of these rocks are, respectively, less than 1,000, 1,000 to 900,000, and less than 200 gallons per day per foot; interstitial permeability is negligible. Solution caverns are locally present in the carbonate aquifer, but regional movement of water is controlled by variations in fracture transmissibility and by structural juxtaposition of the aquifer and the lower clastic aquitard. Water circulates freely to depths of at least 1,500 feet beneath the top of the aquifer and up to 4,200 feet below land surface. Synthesis of hydrogeologic, hydrochemical, and isotopic data suggests that an area of at least 4,500 square miles (including 10 intermontane valleys) is hydraulically integrated into one ground-water basin, the Ash Meadows basin, by interbasin movement of ground water through the widespread carbonate aquifer. Discharge from this basin--a minimum of about 17,000 acre-feet annually--occurs along a fault-controlled spring line at Ash Meadows in east-central Amargosa Desert. Intrabasin movementmore » of water between Cenozoic aquifers and the lower carbonate aquifer is controlled by the tuff aquitard, the basal Cenozoic hydrogeologic unit. Such movement significantly influences the chemistry of water in the carbonate aquifer. Ground-water velocity through the tuff aquitard in Yucca Flat is less than 1 foot per year. Velocity through the lower carbonate aquifer ranges from an estimated 0.02 to 200 feet per day, depending upon geographic position within the flow system.Within the Nevada Test Site, ground water moves southward and southwestward toward Ash Meadows. « less
Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Environmental Change at the Sunshine Locality, North-Central Nevada, U.S.A.

Abstract Sedimentological, faunal, and archaeological investigations at the Sunshine Locality, Long Valley, Nevada reveal a history of human adaptation and environmental change at the last glacial–interglacial transition in North America's north-central Great Basin. The locality contains a suite of lacustrine, alluvial, and eolian deposits associated with fluvially reworked faunal remains and Paleoindian artifacts. Radiocarbon-dated stratigraphy indicates a history of receding pluvial lake levels followed by alluvial downcutting and subsequent valley filling with marsh-like conditions at the end of the Pleistocene. A period of alluvial deposition and shallow water tables (9,800 to 11,000 14C yr B.P.) correlates to the Younger Dryas. Subsequent drier conditions and reduced surface runoff mark the early Holocene; sand dunes replace wetlands by 8,000 14C yr B.P. The stratigraphy at Sunshine is similar to sites located 400 km south and supports regional climatic synchroneity in the central and southern Great Basin during the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene. Given regional climate change and recurrent geomorphic settings comparable to Sunshine, we believe that there is a high potential for buried Paleoindian features in primary association with extinct fauna elsewhere in the region yet to be discovered due to limited stratigraphic exposure and consequent low visibility.
A New Approach to Identifying Bone Marrow and Grease Exploitation: Why the “Indeterminate” Fragments should not be Ignored

Abstract The economic importance of bone fat to past peoples is discussed and the ethnography of bone marrow and grease extraction is briefly outlined. Models for expected patterns of bone fracture and fragmentation, relating to the exploitation of bone marrow and grease, are described. Current methods for assessing bone fracture and fragmentation, in archaeological assemblages, are discussed and a new methodology is suggested. The importance of retaining and studying the “indeterminate” class of fragments is stressed. The new methodology employs a fracture freshness index (FFI) to study fracture type, and fragmentation is assessed through the separation of fragments into size classes and different bone types. An example application is given.
Reply to “Comment on ‘‘Unraveling the Role of IMF Bx in Driving Geomagnetic Activity’’” by Lauri Holappa et al.

We thank Lauri Holappa, Jone Peter Reistad and Anders Ohma for their interest in our research and for having published their comments, referred hereafter as HEA2023. Here we present our counterarguments to the points presented in HEA2023. We explain the observed excess of AL values for different polarities of IMF By over different IMF Bx polarities by an additional negative IMF Bz, which exist due to the 7.25‐degree tilt of the solar equatorial plane to the ecliptic plane. We emphasize again that the AL index strongly depends on the dipole tilt, so that under the same driving conditions is more than twice larger during non‐tilted dipole periods than at solstices. The IMF Bx component, depending on its polarity, moves the magnetotail plasma sheet away from or toward the equatorial plane, and thus changes the effective dipole tilt angle. That change may be a cause of the asymmetric response of the AL‐index to positive or negative values of the IMF Bx.
Prevalence of Parasitic Infections Among Patients with Autoimmune Disorders in Menoufia University Hospitals, Egypt

focus on developing a parasite component that may treat autoimmune illnesses. Consequently, the goal of the study was to identify the prevalence of parasitic infections among individuals with various autoimmune disorders and how such infections affect the pathophysiology of these diseases. In the current study, A total of 154 adult patients who had a confirmed diagnosis of autoimmune disease recruited from Menoufia University Hospitals, Egypt, were included. A cross-sectional study design was conducted on the participants who were chosen for history taking, clinical examination, laboratory investigations, and ultrasonography. The results revealed that intestinal parasites such as Enterobius vermicularis , Entamoeba histolytica , Giardia lamblia , and Ascaris lumbricoides were found to be prevalent in 56.5% of the subjects in this study. Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) patients had intestinal parasites in 100% of cases while parasites were present in 52.6% of autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and 47.6% in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in the studied cases revealed 15.6% positive IgM and 35.1% positive IgG. The IgM-positive cases were perceived in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT), and ITP. Whereas, occurrences of IgG positivity were mainly presented in SLE then AIHA, ITP, and RA patients. Less clinical manifestations were observed in autoimmune disorder patients having intestinal parasitic infections. In conclusion, high parasitic prevalence is common in autoimmune disease patients, which alters the pathogenesis and clinical course of these illnesses.
Toward a Sequence Stratigraphic Framework for the Frasnian of the Western Canada Basin:REPLY TO DISCUSSION of H. G. Machel, E. W. Mountjoy, G. D. Jones and B. J. Rostron

We are gratified by the interest that our publication has generated and thank Machel et al. (2002, this issue) for their discussion. However, we do not agree with their assessment of the part of our paper dealing with a mechanism for the formation of replacement dolomite in the Frasnian second-order sequence. We assert that, considering all the data, the most logical explanation for the mechanism of formation for these dolomites is by seepage refluxion with fluids originating at or near the top of the Frasnian sequence. One of the hallmarks of a good dolomitization model is its ability to explain and predict dolomite distribution in space and time. This makes it useful to researchers and to geologists exploring for dolomite reservoirs. The proposed mechanism accomplishes this. We have taken a substantially different approach to understand the mechanism of dolomite formation than that taken by H.G. Machel and his colleagues. Our conclusions about dolomite timing and dolomitizing fluid are based primarily on regional stratigraphic analysis; their conclusions have relied somewhat more heavily on isotopic analyses. We do not apologize for taking a more straightforward, observational approach. Rather, we regard our work as an important contribution to the understanding of these rocks, because it presents a model based on knowledge of the regional stratigraphic distribution of the replacement dolomite. Many dolomitization studies in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) have been investigations of relatively small areas, have not incorporated all of the relevant stratigraphy, or have lacked the scope to tackle the regional issues. The intent of our paper was to present a regional stratigraphic framework and not to criticize previous work. Rather, we wished to propose an alternative mechanism tied closely to a stratigraphic model. Amthor et al. (1994) also recognize the importance of a predictive model in their assertion …
Improved estimates of the dynamical state of the North Pacific Ocean from a 4 dimensional variational data assimilation

A 4‐dimensional variational data assimilation system has been used to better define the mean seasonal state of the North Pacific. The synthesis of available observational records and a sophisticated general circulation model produces a dynamically consistent time‐varying dataset which exhibits realistic features of the global ocean circulation and requires no artificial sources or sinks for the temperature and salinity fields. The dataset enables us to clarify the water mass formation and movement processes. A sensitivity experiment using our system reveals that the origin of the North Pacific Intermediate Water can be traced back to the Okhotsk and Bering Seas in the subarctic region and to the subtropical Kuroshio region further south, consistent with recent observational findings. This result illustrates that the ocean state derived from our data assimilation has greater information and forecast potential than that obtained from earlier methods.
Government Support During COVID-19 and Corruption

We analyze the allocation and effectiveness of government support in response to the COVID-19 outbreak across a nationally representative sample of firms in 32 countries representing different levels of institutional transparency. The probability of receiving government support is higher for larger firms, firms belonging to business support groups and innovative firms in low corruption countries. In high corruption, countries firms competing against unregistered establishments, with lack of internationally recognized quality certification and no formalized business strategy are more likely to receive government support. Using the panel structure of the data to address reverse causality, selection bias and unobserved heterogeneity, we then find that government support improves firm-level outcomes more strongly in low corruption countries. Among different types of government support, we find wage subsidies to be more effective in high corruption countries while technical assistance for adoption of digital technologies in low corruption countries. In addition, social distancing and lockdown policies do not seem to be as effective in improving firm-level outcomes in high-corruption countries most likely because of weaker capacities to enforce such policies. These results show the importance of enhancing systems of accountability and enforcement procedures that will ensure that fiscal stimulus aid is deployed to benefit those who need it the most.
Projected Changes in Temperature and Precipitation Extremes in China by the CMIP5 Multimodel Ensembles

AbstractThis paper presents projected changes in temperature and precipitation extremes in China by the end of the twenty-first century based on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) simulations. The temporal changes and their spatial patterns in the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) indices under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios are analyzed. Compared to the reference period 1986–2005, substantial changes are projected in temperature and precipitation extremes under both emission scenarios. These changes include a decrease in cold extremes, an increase in warm extremes, and an intensification of precipitation extremes. The intermodel spread in the projection increases with time, with wider spread under RCP8.5 than RCP4.5 for most indices, especially at the subregional scale. The difference in the projected changes under the two RCPs begins to emerge in the 2040s. Analyses based on the mixed-effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) model indicate that by .
An improved method for reconstructing the stratigraphy and bathymetry of continental margins : Application to the Cenozoic tectonic and sedimentary history of the Congo margin

A number of techniques, such as backstripping and forward modeling, have been previously used to reconstruct the tectonic, sedimentary, and thermal history at passive margins. Still, these techniques are generally inaccurate in places such as the west African margin where the stratigraphic record is disrupted by continuous faulting of the sediment pile caused by salt tectonics and by erosional unconformities. The ability to reconstruct the stratigraphy, salt thickness, and water depth along profiles of these types of margins is important for determining the factors controlling the geological history of the margin and the evolution of hydrocarbon systems. To reconstruct the stratigraphy, paleowater depths, and salt flowage on a profile across the Congo margin, we combined backstripping and palinspastic reconstruction. This enabled us to restore the faulting and salt flowage and simultaneously to take into account the isostatic response of the lithosphere to sediment loading and unloading. This method allowed us to estimate the paleowater depth, as well as the stratigraphy, and the geometry of the sedimentary section on the profile through time. The determination of the regional isostatic response of the lithosphere is performed with the use of a new model to estimate the flexural rigidity of continental lithosphere. To demonstrate this method, we perform the Cenozoic reconstruction of the Congo margin. The results yield a coherent geological history of the margin from the Eocene to the present. In the Eocene the margin was a carbonate ramp with a deep-seated shelf break (600 m). During the Eocene-Oligocene transition, intermediate water-depth oceanic currents triggered submarine erosion of the Eocene slope and shelf. From the Miocene to the present, we observe a large increase in the input of terrigenous clastic sediments. As a result, the shelf prograded 40 km across the Eocene ramp. As the clastic sediments prograded across the margin into the deep basin, faulting of the sediment pile and salt withdrawal caused the formation of grabens in places where salt swells had previously formed. Finally, the reconstruction suggests that the Congo margin was uplifted by at least 330 m between the late Oligocene and the middle Miocene.
Our Clinical Experience With Patients Requiring Intensive Care for Tracheal Stenosis: A Retrospective Case-Control Study

Background and objective The clinical course in patients with tracheal stenosis (TS) ranges from being asymptomatic to respiratory failure requiring follow-up in the ICU. In this study, we aimed to assess the clinical characteristics, management, and outcome of TS patients who were admitted to the ICU. Materials and methods The data of patients hospitalized in the ICU due to TS between January 01, 2015, and January 01, 2016, were analyzed. The patients were classified into two groups: the post-intubation tracheal stenosis (PITS) group and the post-tracheostomy tracheal stenosis (PTTS) group. Demographic characteristics, body mass index (BMI), the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score of patients, factors that caused TS, management of TS, and ICU data of patients were compared. The outcome measures of our study were the ICU management of patients diagnosed with PITS or PTTS, their clinical characteristics, and differences in the treatment between patients diagnosed with PITS and those with PTTS in the ICU. Results Fifteen (75%) patients had PITS and five (25%) had PTTS. While BMI was significantly lower in patients in the PTTS group, the APACHE II and SOFA scores were significantly higher in PTTS patients (p<0.05). In most of the patients in the PITS group, the location of the stenosis was subglottic and at the 1/3 upper part of the trachea, while in the PTTS group, it was located only at the upper 1/3 of the trachea (p>0.05). Mechanical dilatation was performed in all patients in both groups. Mechanical dilatation and cryotherapy were performed in 10 (66.7%) patients in the PITS group (p>0.05), and a stent was applied in addition to this treatment in three (20%) patients in the PITS group and four (80%) patients in the PTTS group (p<0.05). Mechanical ventilation was not needed in 10 (66.7%) PITS patients and three (60.0%) PTTS patients after the interventional procedure. All patients were eventually discharged from the ICU after treatment. Conclusion While higher BMI was common in PITS patients, the PTTS patients were generally in worse condition. In this patient group, interventional pulmonology procedures in the ICU can be life-saving.
Bacterial culture and susceptibility test results for clinical mastitis samples from Australia's subtropical dairy region.

This study aimed to identify the pathogens isolated from the milk of cows with clinical mastitis in the subtropical region of Australia and to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of these bacteria. Thirty dairy herds in the subtropical dairy region were asked to submit milk samples for the first 5 cases of clinical mastitis each month for 12 mo. Samples underwent aerobic culture, and isolates were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined for Escherichia coli, Enterococcus spp. , Streptococcus agalactiae, Strep. uberis, Strep. dysgalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus, and non-aureus staphylococci and mammaliicocci. Between March 2021 and July 2022, 1,230 milk samples were collected. A positive culture result was recorded for 812 (66%) of the milk samples; from these samples, 909 isolates were obtained, including 49 isolates where no identification was possible. The remaining samples were classified as having no growth (16.8%) or contaminated (17%.2). The most common isolates with a MALDI-TOF diagnosis (n = 909) were Strep. uberis (23.6%), followed by non-aureus staphylococci and mammaliicocci group (15.0%). Farms enrolled in the study were in 3 distinct locations within the subtropical dairy region: North Queensland, Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales. There was some variation in isolate prevalence between these 3 locations. There were lower odds of a sample being positive for E. coli in North Queensland [Odds ratio (OR): 0.25 (95% CI: 0.07-0.87); P = 0.03] and higher odds in Southeast Queensland [OR: 4.01 (95% CI: 1.96-8.20); P ≤ 0.001] compared with the reference, Northern New South Wales. There were higher odds of Strep. dysgalactiae in North Queensland [OR: 5.69 (95% CI: 1.85-17.54); P = 0.002] and Southeast Queensland compared with Northern New South Wales [OR: 3.99 (95% CI: 1.73-9.22); P = 0.001]. Although some seasonal patterns were observed, season was not significant for any of the analyzed isolates. There were obvious farm-level differences in pathogen profiles. Overall, clinical mastitis pathogens had low levels of resistance to the antimicrobials tested. This research demonstrates that Strep. uberis and the non-aureus staphylococci and mammaliicocci bacterial group are the most common pathogens causing clinical mastitis in the subtropical dairy region. It highlights the importance of understanding pathogenic causes of mastitis at the farm-and regional level for targeted control and therapy.