Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modelling supraglacial debris-cover evolution from the single-glacier to the regional scale: an application to High Mountain Asia

Abstract. Currently, about 12 %–13 % of High Mountain Asia’s glacier area is debris-covered, which alters its surface mass balance. However, in regional-scale modelling approaches, debris-covered glaciers are typically treated as clean-ice glaciers, leading to a bias when modelling their future evolution. Here, we present a new approach for modelling debris area and thickness evolution, applicable from single glaciers to the global scale. We derive a parameterization and implement it as a module into the Global Glacier Evolution Model (GloGEMflow), a combined mass-balance ice-flow model. The module is initialized with both glacier-specific observations of the debris' spatial distribution and estimates of debris thickness. These data sets account for the fact that debris can either enhance or reduce surface melt depending on thickness. Our model approach also enables representing the spatiotemporal evolution of debris extent and thickness. We calibrate and evaluate the module on a selected subset of glaciers and apply GloGEMflow using different climate scenarios to project the future evolution of all glaciers in High Mountain Asia until 2100. Explicitly accounting for debris cover has only a minor effect on the projected mass loss, which is in line with previous projections. Despite this small effect, we argue that the improved process representation is of added value when aiming at capturing intra-glacier scales, i.e. spatial mass-balance distribution. Depending on the climate scenario, the mean debris-cover fraction is expected to increase, while mean debris thickness is projected to show only minor changes, although large local thickening is expected. To isolate the influence of explicitly accounting for supraglacial debris cover, we re-compute glacier evolution without the debris-cover module. We show that glacier geometry, area, volume, and flow velocity evolve differently, especially at the level of individual glaciers. This highlights the importance of accounting for debris cover and its spatiotemporal evolution when projecting future glacier changes.
Clinical, molecular, and pathological investigations of ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma in the middle of Iraq

Background: Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA), caused by Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV), is a contagious neoplastic disease in sheep characterized by chronic respiratory signs, inducing the transformation of secretory epithelial cells of the distal respiratory tract. Aims: To perform clinical, epidemiological, and molecular studies with evaluation of some predisposing factors at the herd level of OPA infection in sheep in Al-Qadisiyah Province, Iraq. Methods: The first step of the study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical cases of OPA in naturally infected sheep and correlation with observing respiratory signs. Seventy-five sheep with chronic respiratory signs were examined clinically, and by molecular and sequences analysis. The second step was the epidemiological part that was carried out on 195 randomly selected animals from 30 flocks, with the prevalence rate based on PCR; sex, age, and size of flocks were assessed, as well as macroscopic and microscopic features of the neoplastic lung. Deep nasal swabs and nasal secretion were collected from all animals. RNA extraction and RT-PCR were also carried out. Results: The results showed that 12 (16%) samples were positive for OPA, based on env gene-specific primers. Nucleotide sequences of partial 545 bp of the env gene showed (0.07–0.12) variations from global strains presented in the NCBI database. The prevalence rate of OPA was 21/195 (10.76%) with PCR. The epidemiological factors analysis showed that there was no effect of sex and herd size on the prevalence rates (p ≥ 0.01), whereas age was significantly affected and the age of 2–4 years was more susceptible (p ≥ 0.01). Gross and microscopic examinations were discussed with the confirmation of an OPA infection. Conclusion: The current study provides useful data about the clinical and epidemiological features of JSRV that is circulating in sheep of Iraq, and concludes that epidemiological studies and disease control may require multi-diagnostic assays.
Electroabsorption modulator‐integrated distributed Bragg reflector laser diode for C‐band WDM‐based networks

We report an electroabsorption modulator (EAM)‐integrated distributed Bragg reflector laser diode (DBR‐LD) capable of supporting a high data rate and a wide wavelength tuning. The DBR‐LD contains two tuning elements, plasma and heater tunings, both of which are implemented in the DBR section, which have blue‐shift and red‐shift in the Bragg wavelength through a current injection, respectively. The light created from the DBR‐LD is intensity‐modulated through the EAM voltage, which is integrated monolithically with the DBR‐LD using a butt–joint coupling method. The fabricated chip shows a threshold current of approximately 8 mA, tuning range of greater than 30 nm, and static extinction ratio of higher than 20 dB while maintaining a side mode suppression ratio of greater than 40 dB under a window of 1550 nm. To evaluate its modulation properties, the chip was bonded onto a mount including a radiofrequency line and a load resistor showing clear eye openings at data rates of 25 Gb/s nonreturn‐to‐zero and 50 Gb/s pulse amplitude modulation 4‐level, respectively.
Consumers’ Understanding of Ultra-Processed Foods

Food classification systems have been proposed to improve food quality criteria. Among these systems, “processing level” has been used as a criterion. NOVA classification, as the denotation “ultra-processed” food (UPF), has been widely used in different countries. However, even though some studies have pointed out some controversial aspects, no study has evaluated its comprehension by the population where it is used as reference. Therefore, this study explored the understanding of the term UPF for Brazilian consumers, where this denotation has been used in the last 8 years. A questionnaire was used, with questions referring to different aspects of self-assessment of knowledge about UPF. Altogether, 939 valid participants completed the questionnaire, and 81.9% of them declared to know the term UPF. For 78.2%, a better definition for UPF should be “foods that have gone through many processes in industry”. Finally, it was concluded that the term UPF is still confusing for most Brazilians, indicating the risk of use and the urgent necessity to improve the classifications systems and consequently consumer understanding. Only when all parties interested in healthy food work together could this problem be solved.
The Effectiveness and Tolerability of a Very Low-Volume Bowel Preparation for Colonoscopy Compared to Low and High-Volume Polyethylene Glycol-Solutions in the Real-Life Setting

Adequate bowel cleansing is essential for high-quality colonoscopy. Recently, a new very low-volume 1 litre (1L) polyethylene glycol (PEG) plus ascorbate solution (ASC) has been introduced. Our aims were to assess the effectiveness and tolerability of this product compared to low-volume 2L PEG-ASC and high-volume 4L PEG solutions, in a real-life setting. In six endoscopy units in Sweden, outpatients undergoing colonoscopy were either prescribed solutions according to local routines, or the very low-volume solution in split dose regimen. Bowel cleansing effectiveness and patient experience was assessed using the Boston Bowel preparation scale (BBPS) and a patient questionnaire. A total of 1098 patients (mean age 58 years, 52% women) were included. All subsegment and the total BBPS scores were significantly greater for 1L PEG-ASC in comparison to other solutions (p < 0.05 for 1L PEG-ASC and 4L PEG for transverse and left colon, otherwise p < 0.001). Nausea was more frequent with 1L PEG-ASC compared to 2L PEG-ASC (p < 0.001) and vomiting were more often reported compared to both other solutions (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05 for 2L PEG-ASC and 4L PEG, respectively). Smell, taste, and total experience was better for 1L PEG-ASC compared to 4L PEG (p < 0.001), and similar compared to the 2L PEG-ASC. In conclusion, 1L PEG-ASC leads to better bowel cleansing compared to 2L PEG-ASC or 4L PEG products, with similar or greater patient satisfaction.
Source Characteristics and Exacerbated Tsunami Hazard of the 2020 Mw 6.9 Samos Earthquake in Eastern Aegean Sea

On 30 October 2020, an Mw 6.9 normal faulting earthquake occurred off the northern coasts of Samos Island, Greece. The earthquake with moderate magnitude generated the largest tsunami in the eastern Mediterranean since the 1956 Amorgos event. Here, we investigate the earthquake source characteristics and examine the factors contributing to the exacerbated tsunami using an integrated approach, including the source inversion from InSAR and GPS data, tsunami simulation, and spectral analysis of tsunami waveforms. The results show that a set of conjugate faults, determined in this study, can explain the geodetic surface deformation equally well. Our tsunami modeling results indicate that the shallow north‐dipping fault was most likely responsible for the mainshock. With the key features of our preferred source models, we infer that the tsunami was intensified by several conditions: (a) the spatial distribution of major coseismic slips coincided with the deepest portion of the Samos Basin which served as an energy reservoir for the tsunami generation; (b) the tsunami was generated in a semi‐closed bay which trapped most of the tsunami energy; (c) the east‐west orientation of the mainshock fault and the location of the concentrated coseismic slips directed the majority of the tsunami energy toward Sığacık Bay, which formed the extremely high tsunami of 3.8 m; (d) the primary tsunami wave period, close to natural oscillation frequency of the harbor, resulted in the observed significant oscillation. We conclude that the tsunami of the 2020 Samos earthquake was exacerbated by both the source characteristics and tsunami resonance property.
Critical review of bio‐inspired data optimization techniques: An image steganalysis perspective

Image steganalysis involves the discovery of secret information embedded in an image. The common method is blind image steganalysis, which is a two‐class classification problem. Blind steganalysis extracts all possible feature variations in an image due to embedding, select the most appropriate feature data, and then classifies the image. The dimensionality of the extracted image features are high and demand data reduction to identify the most relevant features and to aid accurate classification of an image. The classification is under two classes namely, clean (cover) image and stego (image with embedded secret data) image. Since the classification accuracy depends on selection of most appropriate features, opting for the best data reduction or data optimization algorithms becomes a prime requisite. Research shows that most of the statistical optimization techniques converge to local minima and lead to less classification accuracy as compared to bio‐inspired methods. Bio‐inspired optimization methods obtain improved classification accuracy by reducing the high‐dimensional image features. These methods start with an initial population and then optimize them in steps till a global optimal point is reached. Examples of such methods include Ant Lion Optimization (ALO), Fire Fly Algorithm (FFA), and literature shows around 54 such algorithms. Bio‐inspired optimization has been applied in various fields of design optimization and is novel to image steganalysis. This article analyses the various bio‐inspired optimization techniques and their accuracy in image steganalysis pertaining to the discovery of embedded information in both JPEG and spatial domain steganalysis.
High-sensitivity troponin in the prognosis of patients hospitalized in intensive care for COVID-19: a Latin American longitudinal cohort study

Objective: The current study assessed the prevalence of troponin elevation and its capacity to predict 60day mortality in COVID-19 patients in intensive care. Methods: A longitudinal prospective single-center study was performed on a cohort of patients in intensive care due to a COVID-19 diagnosis confirmed using real-time test polymerase chain reaction from May to December 2020. A Receiver Operating Characteristic curve was constructed to predict death according to troponin level by calculating the area under the curve and its confidence intervals. A Cox proportional hazards model was generated to report the hazard ratios with confidence intervals of 95% and the p value for its association with 60day mortality. Results: A total of 296 patients were included with a 51% 60-day mortality rate. Troponin was positive in 39.9% (29.6% versus 49.7% in survivors and non-survivors, respectively). An area under the curve of 0.65 was found (95%CI: 0.59 - 0.71) to predict mortality. The Cox univariate model demonstrated a hazard ratio of 1.94 (95%CI: 1.41 - 2.67) and p < 0.001, but this relationship did not remain in the multivariate model, in which the hazard ratio was 1.387 (95%CI: 0.21 - 1.56) and the p value was 0.12. Conclusion: Troponin elevation is frequently found in patients in intensive care for COVID-19. Although its levels are higher in patients who die, no relationship was found in a multivariate model, which indicates that troponin should not be used as an only prognostic marker for mortality in this population.
Description of ticks species from Rattus tiomanicus in Mangrove Forests through scanning electron microscopy

Abstract Ticks are ill-famed vectors of many pathogenic organisms which can cause various diseases and life-threatening illnesses to animals and humans. Each tick's species and its life stages have distinct morphological features that can permit them to be accurately identified. However, the use of conventional stereo microscopes limits the accuracy of species identification. The taxonomy of ticks, in general, is not much understood and existing information is based on sparse morphology data. Thus, this study aims to examine and describe the morphological characteristics of different species of ticks collected on rodents in mangrove forests using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). This method renders high-quality images of body parts of ticks. Five different morphospecies of ticks from one host species (Rattus tiomanicus) were examined under SEM, followed by the PCR technique using mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene for species validation. This study revealed that the ticks belong to five species: Dermacentor auratus, Ixodes granulatus, Haemaphysalis hystricis, D. atrosignatus and Amblyomma cordiferum. The combination of stereomicroscopic and SEM methods has improved our understanding of the morphological characteristics of different tick species, hence establishing up-to-date taxonomic keys for these species. Moreover, due to the lack of taxonomic keys on the immature stage of ticks, the SEM method is essential in characterising the morphological features of these stages in detail, subsequently helpful in revising the taxonomic keys for certain ticks species.
Orthotropic Membrane for Tall Building Analysis

A method for analyzing tall framed buildings based on the concept of equivalent elastic membrane is presented. The elastic properties of the membrane are evaluated taking into account the effects of finite size joints and axial deformations in the columns. Floors are assumed to be rigid in plane. The equivalent membrane is then analyzed using two-dimensional plane stress, specially orthotropic finite elements. The displacements thus obtained represent directly those of the actual structure, and the member forces are determined by integrating the corresponding stress components in the membrane. Two multistory multibay frames were analyzed, and the results show that a high degree of accuracy can be obtained with significantly smaller number of unknowns than by the exact and other simplified methods. The present technique can be readily applied to the static and dynamic analysis of tubed structures, clad multistory frames, and shear wall and frames structures.
Determinants of vascular responsiveness to endogenous and exogenous activators of guanylate cyclases

This thesis describes studies to investigate the regulation of guanylate cyclases pathways in blood vessels. Endogenous iS-nitrosothiols have been implicated in the regulation of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), by modulating nitric oxide (NO) bioactivity. To determine whether the biotransformation of S-nitrosothiols by isolated rat aorta is enzyme-dependent, stereoisomers of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), S-nitrosocysteine (CYSNO) and 5-mtroso-N-acetyl-pemcillamine (SNAP) were synthesised and their decomposition and relaxant effects characterised. Decomposition of these S-nitrosothiol stereoisomers by Cu(I), Cu(II), Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD) or rat aorta was equivalent (P>0.05). Similarly, the vasorelaxant activity of iS-nitrosothiol stereoisomers was equipotent (P>0.05). The selective Cu(I) chelator, bathocuproine disulfonic acid (BCS), blocked the decomposition of 5-nitrosothiol stereoisomers by Cu(I), Cu(II), Cu/Zn SOD and rat aorta (PO.05) and significantly inhibited their relaxant effects (P 0.05). LPS also reduced the potency of the pGC activators C-type natriuretic peptide and ANP. 1400W, the sGC inhibitor 1H- l,2,4 Oxadiazolo 4,3-a quinoxalin-l-one (ODQ) or both, preserved relaxations to ANP in LPS-treated vessels. 1400W and/or ODQ also reversed established desensitisation to ANP within minutes (all PO.05 versus LPS alone). These results indicate that sGC and pGC signalling are desensitised following exposure to LPS, consistent with a compensatory mechanism offsetting high-output NO production by iNOS. This effect is specific to cGMP-dependent pathways since the cAMP pathway was unaltered. The mechanism of desensitisation is likely to involve a reversible biochemical change, since the responsiveness was restored immediately following removal of excess NO (by 1400W) or cGMP (by ODQ). These observations suggest that inflammatory cardiovascular disorders associated with excessive NO production (i.e. septic shock) are characterised by specific impairment of GC-cGMP-mediated vasorelaxation that is mediated, at least in part by cGMP, and readily reversible. To investigate the mechanism(s) of iNOS-derived NO-mediated desensitisation of sGC and pGC, pharmacological inhibition of phosphodiesterases (type 5 (sildenafil), 1A1 (vinpocetine), and 3 (milrinone)), protein phosphatase 2A (okadaic acid and cantharidic acid), superoxide anion (SOD) and myeloperoxidase (4-aminobenzoic hydrazide) were used to probe the role of these enzymes. Desensitisation of ANP- and NO-mediated dilatation by iNOS-derived NO was unaffected by inhibition of these enzymes (all P>0.05 versus LPS alone). However, activation of protein kinase C by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and thymeleatoxin caused desensitisation of both guanylate and adenylate cyclases. If PKC activation causes LPS-induced desensitisation of sGC and pGC, then other mechanisms must preserved cAMP-mediated relaxation.
On the role of polar molecules and the barrier for charge injection in OLEDs

Many electron transport layer materials (ETL) employed in state of the art organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are known to be polar. We combine for the first time simulations and electrical characterization of OLEDs based on polar ETL, in order to understand the impact of such materials on the device operation. Depending on the orientation of the dipole orientation, simulations predict either a benefit or a disadvantage of the polar ETL for the device performance. We also show that OLEDs featuring a polar material are perfectly suited for extracting mobility activation energy and Injection barrier from the anode to the ETL.
Private Investigators and Public Speakers

Near the end of ‘Naming the Colours’, Lewis (1997) makes an interesting claim about the relationship between linguistic and mental content; we are typically unable to read the content of a belief off the content of a sentence used to express that belief or vice versa. I call this view ‘autonomism’. I motivate and defend autonomism and discuss its importance in the philosophy of mind and language. In a nutshell, I argue that the different theoretical roles that mental and linguistic content play suggest these kinds of content should be understood as sensitive to different things.
Efficacy of Tildrakizumab for the Treatment of Difficult-to-Treat Areas: Scalp, Nail, Palmoplantar and Genital Psoriasis

Tildrakizumab, an IL-23 inhibitor, is effective and safe for the improvement of moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. However, little evidence is available on the use of this biologic in psoriasis in difficult-to-treat locations. In this retrospective analysis, we treated patients with 100 mg tildrakizumab at Day 0, after 4 weeks and every 12 weeks thereafter. Disease severity and treatment response was assessed by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), the static Physician’s Global Assessment of Genitalia (sPGA-G), the Psoriasis Scalp Severity Index (PSSI), Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI) and the Palmoplantar Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (ppPASI) at baseline and after 4, 12 and 28 weeks. We followed 18 patients (mean age 49.1 ± 12.7 years, 61.1% male) with psoriasis localized to the genital region (N = 7), scalp (N = 6), nails (N = 5) and palmar/plantar areas (N = 7). PASI score decreased from 11.5 at baseline to 3.1 and 2.4 at 12 and 28 weeks. Tildrakizumab treatment decreased sPGA-G (3.3 to 0.2), PSSI (36.2 to 2.7), NAPSI (48.4 to 15.7) and ppPASI (5.3 to 0) from baseline to 28 weeks, respectively. Data from this real-life retrospective analysis shows that tildrakizumab is an effective option for the management of psoriasis in difficult-to-treat areas.
Eisenia fetida as protein source for growth enhancement of Heteropneustes fossilis

The present study was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of different species of earthworms ( Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae and Pheretima posthuma ) as a protein source for the replacement fish meal. Different species of earthworms were used as fish feed. E. fetida proved best replacement for standard feed as it results in the significantly highest increase in fish body weight, length, Average Daily Weight Gain (ADG), Specific Growth Rate (SGR) (66.84 %, 23.49%, 0.22g/day, and 1.48 % per day respectively). It also had the best Feed conversion ratio (FCR) of 0.68. The aforementioned result is further confirmed by the increase in crude protein content in fish fed with E. fetida . Therefore, farmers can use it as an economical and sustainable protein-rich fish feed.