Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Origins of Agriculture in the Lowland Neotropics

Background of Tropical Agricultural Origins. The Neotropical Ecosystem in the Present and the Past. The Phytogeography of Neotropical Crops and Their Putative wild Ancestors. The Evolution of Foraging and Food Production. From Small-Scale Horticulture to the Formative Period: The Development of Agriculture. The Relationship of Neotropical Food Production to Food Production from Other Areas of the World. References. Index of Common and Scientific Plant Names. Subject Index.
Implementation of a psychomotor vigilance test to investigate the effects of driving fatigue on oil and gas truck drivers’ performance

Introduction Driving fatigue has been shown to increase the risk of accidents and potentially fatal crashes. Fatigue is a serious risk that some drivers do not take seriously. Previous studies investigated the effects of driving fatigue in the Malaysian oil and gas transportation industry by employing survey questionnaires. However, they did not explain the behavior of fatigue. Besides, these results required validation by a more reliable method that can describe how fatigue occurs. Methods Thus, in this study, we used the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT-192) and a short survey to address driving fatigue behavior and identify the influences of driving fatigue on driving performance in real life (on the road) with actual oil and gas tanker drivers. The total participants in the experimental study were 58 drivers. Results For the analysis, a Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test, Z value and Spearman’s rho were used to measure the significant difference between the pre and post-tests of PVT and the correlation between the fatigue variables and driving performance. Discussion During the experiment’s first and second days, this study’s results indicated that driving fatigue gradually escalated. Likewise, there was a negative correlation based on the test of the relationship between the PVT data and the driving performance survey data. Additionally, the drivers suffer from accumulative fatigue, which requires more effort from the transportation company management to promote the drivers awareness of fatigue consequences.
Quantifying Seasonal Shoreline Variability at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Using Automated Imaging Techniques

Abstract We describe a seven-camera video system deployed at Rehoboth Beach on the Atlantic coast of Delaware that was used to monitor and quantify the evolution of a nourished beach. Shorelines along 6 km of beach were automatically identified using pixel-intensity gradients from time-exposure and variance imagery. Correlations between automatically identified and user-defined shorelines from images with various wave and atmospheric conditions exceed r2 values of 0.92. Small variations in camera azimuth and tilt were found to significantly affect apparent shoreline locations and were automatically corrected through image-correlation procedures. Hourly shoreline data were tidally and seasonally averaged to quantify seasonal morphodynamic variability. Over a summer-winter-summer monitoring period, the shoreline exhibited erosional and accretional variations of ∼10 m dependent in the alongshore direction on permanent man-made structures and subject to seasonally characteristic littoral transport variations. A comparison of mean seasonal shoreline locations revealed a mean erosion value of ∼0.8 m between the summer of 2006 and the summer of 2007; this erosion rate is consistent with previous studies of this area. The temporal history of the planform area, obtained from shoreline position, showed weak correlation with volumetric measurements and thus could not be used as a proxy for volumetric change at this site.
Petrography of the Sokoman Iron Formation in Part of the Central Labrador Trough, Quebec, Canada

The sedimentary textures of the Sokoman Iron Formation are similar to those of limestones; therefore the classification of textural elements in limestone (Folk) can be applied to the iron formation. The authors recognized the following textural elements: (a) femicrite (a matrix of iron silicate and carbonate) and matrix chert, both analogous to micrite; (b) cement chert and carbonatic cements; (c) aggregated particles, comparable to Folk9s allochems: pellets, intraclasts, ooliths, and pisolites. Shard textures are derived from ooliths and intraclasts by compaction. Rock types are defined by the combination of textural elements they contain. The iron formation suffered extensive epigenetic alteration. Dessiccation, shrinkage of silica-gel, compaction, and cementation are early diagenetic. Primocrystallization of quartz concludes the early diagenetic stage. It leads through a cryptocrystalline stage to the end phase of micropolygonal quartz. Quartz re-crystallized further during late diagenesis (burial metamorphism? ) and again during a synkinematic to postkinematic regional metamorphism. Hematite dust is the oldest iron oxide. Much of the microscopic magnetite and specularite formed during early diagenesis. Migration of iron occurred; iron has been enriched in magnetite- or hematite-rich layers (“metallic” layers) during early diagenesis. Renewed crystallization of iron oxides occurred during the regional metamorphism. Microgranular siderite is perhaps primary. Porphyroblasts and glomero-porphyroblastic concretions of siderite, ankerite, and ferriferous calcite are early diagenetic. Minnesotaite and stilpnomelane are late diagenetic minerals. Riebeckite (and perhaps talc) formed during the regional metamorphism.
Environmental conditions and bio‐optical signature of a coccolithophorid bloom in the Patagonian shelf

[1] In January 2008, a patch of high reflectance detected by ocean color satellite images was sampled during a cruise over the southern Argentinean continental shelf. High calcite concentrations (particulate inorganic carbon (PIC)) found at the patch were associated with dominance of the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi. Relatively low chlorophyll concentrations (0.29 to 1.48 mg m−3) were found, but both particulate attenuation (0.27 to 1.15 m−1) and backscattering coefficients at 660 nm (0.003 to 0.042 m−1) were noticeably high. Particulate inorganic to organic carbon (POC) ratio (PIC:POC) was highly variable (0.02 to 1.1), but mostly high, showing a significant correlation with particulate backscattering coefficient at 660 nm (r = 0.83, p < 0.005). The spectral dependency of the backscattering coefficient followed Gordon et al. (2009). Both the time evolution analyses of normalized water leaving radiance at 551 nm (nLw551) and the high PIC:POC ratios suggested an advanced stage of the coccolithophorid bloom, therefore with high detached coccoliths:cell ratios. Moreover, this was supported by a strong correlation between PIC and both particulate backscattering (r = 0.81, p < 0.005) and particulate beam attenuation coefficient (r = 0.7, p < 0.05). Remote sensing reflectance data were strongly related to particle backscattering and backscattering ratio, but not to absorption. NASA operational algorithms overestimated chlorophyll by a factor of ∼2 and estimated PIC with a relatively high root-mean-square (RMS) error (RMS = 97.9 μg PIC L−1). Better estimates of PIC values (RMS = 81.5 μg PIC L−1) were achieved when we used the original PIC-specific backscattering coefficient (Balch et al., 2005).
Predicting the Intensity of Psychedelic-Induced Mystical and Challenging Experience in a Healthy Population: An Exploratory Post-Hoc Analysis

Introduction In psychedelic therapy, mystical as well as challenging experience may influence therapeutic outcome. However, predictors of such experience have not been sufficiently established. Determining predictors of their intensity is, therefore, potentially beneficial in targeting psilocybin therapy for depression. Methods In a post hoc data analysis of a Phase 1, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, between-groups clinical trial, dosage, personality traits, affect, and individual data were analysed as possible clinical predictors. Eighty-nine healthy volunteers were randomised to receive a single dose of placebo, 10 mg of psilocybin, or 25 mg of psilocybin. ANOVA was used to analyse the relationship between dosage and mystical and/or challenging experience, and correlation analysis for all other variables. Results The intensity of both mystical and challenging experience was strongly associated with higher dosage. Age was negatively correlated with intensity of challenging experience. Correlation between identified personality traits and either mystical or challenging experience was minimal, with the exception of positive correlation between neuroticism and challenging experience at higher dose. Neither positive nor negative affect indicated correlation with the intensity of either type of experience. Discussion A limitation of this study is its post hoc, exploratory design; recommendations for further research are provided.
Cloud responses in the AMIP simulations of CMIP5 models in the southeastern Pacific marine subsidence region

The sensitivity of regimes dominated by low clouds has been identified as the largest contributor to uncertainties in tropical cloud feedback estimates in climate models. The Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project simulations of the low cloud response to sea surface temperature (SST) are compared with satellite observations in the southeastern Pacific subsidence region. The model ensemble annual average cloud fraction is only about 10% lower than Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer observations; however, many models compensate by overestimating the cloud liquid water path (LWP), especially in areas typically associated with shallow cumulus. Analysis of the monthly distribution also shows that models have considerable difficulty in simulating the annual cycle in the cloud radiative effect (CRE), cloud fraction, and LWP likely due in part to underestimation of the strength of lower tropospheric stability and the depth of the boundary layer. The interannual sensitivity of CRE to SST agrees with observations in about half of the models, with the other half generally underestimating the cloud radiative forcing sensitivity. Model‐observational differences are driven by the varying interannual responses in cloud fraction and LWP. Most models, including those that capture the mean interannual sensitivity of CRE to SST, have lower sensitivity in cloud fraction that is compensated by oversensitivity in the cloud LWP, especially in areas of more frequent shallow cumulus. Results presented here also highlight the possibility of using the vertical gradient of moist static energy (MSE) to test the fidelity of a model's representation of clouds and cloud sensitivity. Models that reproduce the observed distribution of cloud fraction with the lower tropospheric MSE gradient not only show better regional distribution and annual cycle in clouds and radiative forcing, but also demonstrate cloud and radiative sensitivities to SST that are more well correlated with the observed cloud sensitivities.
Inflammatory Blood Biomarkers Are Associated with Long-Term Clinical Disease Severity in Parkinson’s Disease

An altered immune response has been identified as a pathophysiological factor in Parkinson’s disease (PD). We aimed to identify blood immunity-associated proteins that discriminate PD from controls and that are associated with long-term disease severity in PD patients. Immune response-derived proteins in blood plasma were measured using Proximity Extension Technology by OLINK in a cohort of PD patients (N = 66) and age-matched healthy controls (N = 52). In a selection of 30 PD patients, we evaluated changes in protein levels 7–10 years after the baseline and assessed correlations with motor and cognitive assessments. Data from the Parkinson’s Disease Biomarkers Program (PDBP) cohort and the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) cohort were used for independent validation. PD patients showed an altered immune response compared to controls based on a panel of four proteins (IL-12B, OPG, CXCL11, and CSF-1). The expression levels of five inflammation-associated proteins (CCL23, CCL25, TNFRSF9, TGF-alpha, and VEGFA) increased over time in PD and were partially associated with more severe motor and cognitive symptoms at follow-up. Increased CCL23 levels were associated with cognitive decline and the APOE4 genotype. Our findings provide further evidence for an altered immune response in PD that is associated with disease severity in PD over a long period of time.
The dependence of ice microphysics on aerosol concentration in arctic mixed‐phase stratus clouds during ISDAC and M‐PACE

[1] Cloud and aerosol data acquired by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) Convair-580 aircraft in, above, and below single-layer arctic stratocumulus cloud during the Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC) in April 2008 were used to test three aerosol indirect effects hypothesized to act in mixed-phase clouds: the riming indirect effect, the glaciation indirect effect, and the thermodynamic indirect effect. The data showed a correlation of R = 0.78 between liquid drop number concentration, Nliq inside cloud and ambient aerosol number concentration NPCASP below cloud. This, combined with increasing liquid water content LWC with height above cloud base and the nearly constant vertical profile of Nliq, suggested that liquid drops nucleated from aerosol at cloud base. No evidence of a riming indirect effect was observed, but a strong correlation of R = 0.69 between ice crystal number concentration Ni and NPCASP above cloud was noted. Increases in ice nuclei (IN) concentration with NPCASP above cloud for 2 flight dates combined with the subadiabatic LWC profiles suggest possible mixing of IN from cloud top consistent with the glaciation indirect effect. The lower Nice and lower effective radius rel for the more polluted ISDAC cases compared to data collected in cleaner single-layer stratocumulus conditions during the Mixed-Phase Arctic Cloud Experiment is consistent with the operation of the thermodynamic indirect effect. However, more data in a wider variety of meteorological and surface conditions, with greater variations in aerosol forcing, are required to identify the dominant aerosol forcing mechanisms in mixed-phase arctic clouds.
Simplified Approach for the Seismic Response of a Pile Foundation

Pseudostatic approaches for the seismic analysis of pile foundations are attractive for practicing engineers because they are simple when compared to difficult and more complex dynamic analyses. To evaluate the internal response of piles subjected to earthquake loading, a simplified approach based on the "p-y" subgrade reaction method has been developed. The method involves two main steps: first, a site response analysis is carried out to obtain the free-field ground displacements along the pile. Next, a static load analysis is carried out for the pile, subjected to the computed free-field ground displacements and the static loading at the pile head. A pseudostatic push over analysis is adopted to simulate the behavior of piles subjected to both lateral soil movements and static loadings at the pile head. The single pile or the pile group interact with the surrounding soil by means of hyperbolic p-y curves. The solution derived first for the single pile, was extended to the case of a pile group by empirical multipliers, which account for reduced resistance and stiffness due to pile-soil-pile interaction. Numerical results obtained by the proposed simplified approach were compared with experimental and numerical results reported in literature. It has been shown that this procedure can be used successfully for determining the response of a pile foundation to "inertial" loading caused by the lateral forces imposed on the superstructure and "kinematic" loading caused by the ground movements developed during an earthquake.
PSGL-1: a novel immune checkpoint driving T-cell dysfunction in obstructive sleep apnea

Introduction Although higher incidence of cancer represents a major burden for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients, the molecular pathways driving this association are not completely understood. Recently, the adhesion receptor P-selectin glycoprotein-1 (PSGL 1) has been identified as a novel immune checkpoint, which are recognized major hallmarks in several types of cancer and have revolutionized cancer therapy. Methods The expression of PSGL-1 and its ligands VISTA and SIGLEC-5 was assessed in the leucocytes of OSA patients and control subjects exploring the role of intermittent hypoxia (IH) using in vitro models. In addition, PSGL-1 impact on T-cells function was evaluated by ex vivo models. Results Data showed PSGL-1 expression is upregulated in the T-lymphocytes from patients with severe OSA, indicating a relevant role of hypoxemia mediated by intermittent hypoxia. Besides, results suggest an inhibitory role of PSGL-1 on T-cell proliferation capacity. Finally, the expression of SIGLEC-5 but not VISTA was increased in monocytes from OSA patients, suggesting a regulatory role of intermittent hypoxia. Discussion In conclusion, PSGL-1 might constitute an additional immune checkpoint leading to T-cell dysfunction in OSA patients, contributing to the disruption of immune surveillance, which might provide biological plausibility to the higher incidence and aggressiveness of several tumors in these patients.
Comparison of contrast improvement of extracted laver cultivation area using parameters derived from polarimetric SAR data

In this study, image contrast between extracted laver cultivation area and background water was extensively compared using various parameters that can be calculated by dual- and quad-polarization (fully-polarimetric) synthetic aperture radar (POLSAR) data. In our test site of laver cultivation in Tokyo Bay, every year starting from October, laver cultivation nets are placed at approximately 10-20 cm below the sea surface with supporting floats with laver spores attached to the nets, grow during winter, and the grown laver is harvested in next April. Through this process, the nets are sometimes placed above the sea surface to promote photosynthesis. When the nets are placed underwater, the areas become effectively shallow water, and small-scale waves, that are the principal scatterers, are damped, resulting in reduced radar backscatter. This difference from surrounding water can appear in SAR data. Each parameter derived from Pauli decomposition, eigenvalue analysis, coherence analysis, and four-component scattering power decomposition (4-CSPD) has distinctive characteristics and react to different backscatterers differently. Contrast comparison was made using those parameters using the L-band quad-polarization data acquired by Phased-Array L-band SAR (PALSAR) on board Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) and the X-band dual-polarization data acquired by TerraSAR-X, and experimental results showed that the contrast can be improved using multi-polarization data than using single-polarization data. It has also been found that entropy performs better among dual-polarization methods, and the surface scattering component calculated from 4-CSPD exhibits higher contrast than any other parameters from quad-polarization data.
Total nitrogen inflow and outflow from a large river swamp basin to the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract River corridor wetland restoration and freshwater diversion from the lower Mississippi River are being considered as two major options to reduce nitrogen input to the Gulf of Mexico. However, it is largely uncertain how much nitrogen can actually be retained from the overflowing waters by these wetland systems. This study quantified the nitrogen inflow and outflow for the largest distributary basin of the Mississippi River, the Atchafalaya River Swamp basin. The goal of the study was to seek answers to three critical questions: (a) Does the Atchafalaya River Swamp remove a significant amount of nitrogen from the overflowing water, or is it releasing more nitrogen into the Gulf? (b) How do the nitrogen removal or release rates fluctuate seasonally and annually? (c) What are the relationships between the nitrogen removal capacity and the hydrological conditions in the basin such as river stage and discharge? By utilizing the long-term (1978–2002) river discharge and water quality data, monthly and annual nitrogen fluxes were quantified, and their relationships with the basin hydrological conditions investigated. A total nitrogen—sum of the total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and nitrate plus nitrite nitrogen (NO3+NO2)—mass input—output balance between the upstream (Simmesport) and downstream (Morgan City and Wax Lake Outlet) locations was established to examine the nitrogen removal potential for this, the largest freshwater swamp basin in North America. The results from this study showed that, over the past 25 years, the Atchafalaya River Swamp basin acted as a source for NO3+NO2 nitrogen, although the average annual output of NO3+NO2 nitrogen (174 584 Mg) was only slightly higher (2.3%) than the average annual input of NO3+NO2 nitrogen (170 721 Mg). The higher NO3+NO2 mass outflow occurred throughout summer and autumn, indicating an active role of biological processes on nitrogen in the overflowing waters of the Atchafalaya. However, this swamp basin has served as a major sink for organic nitrogen: the annual averages of TKN mass input and output were 200 323 and 145 917 Mg year−1, respectively, presenting a 27.2% removal rate by the basin. This large TKN reduction appeared high during springs and low during late summers, corresponding with the fluctuation of the hydrological conditions of the river.
Critical shear stress and its relationship with cohesion for sand.kaolinite mixtures

L'arrachement et le deplacement des particules fines sont des elements importants a la fois pour les etudes d'erosion des sols et pour les etudes reliees a l'histoire et au transport des contaminants colloidaux. Les recherches rapportees dans la litterature expriment l'arrachement en termes de contrainte de cisaillement critique. Celle-ci est la contrainte de cisaillement que l'ecoulement de fluide doit creer sur les parois des pores pour commencer a detacher les particules. Dans cet article, on explore la relation qui existe entre la contrainte de cisaillement critique et la cohesion en utilisant des recherches a la fois theoriques et experimentales. Un modele de particules spheriques sert a relier les deux quantites pour des melanges de sable et de kaolinite. Le modele remplace les agregats de plaquettes argileuses par des particules semblables a des grains de sable spheriques et exprime la cohesion en termes de forces hydrodynamiques associees a la contrainte de cisaillement critique. On presente les resultats d'essais obtenus pour quatre melanges differents de sable-kaolinite dans un permeametre de type moule de compactage, equipement qui facilite une evaluation indirecte de la contrainte de cisaillement critique. On a trouve qu'on peut associer une augmentation de la cohesion a un changement de contrainte de cisaillement critique dependant du temps. Pour des melanges a faible pourcentage de kaolinite le modele base sur des particules spheriques rend bien compte de la cohesion en termes de contrainte de cisaillement critique.