Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tillage effects on growth and yields of corn on Grantsburg soil

ABSTRACT: A project to determine tillage effects on soil properties and the growth and yield of corn was initiated in the spring, 1989 in southern Illinois on a sloping Grantsburg (fine-silty, mixed, mesic Typic Fragiudalf) soil previously in tall fescue [Festuca arundinacea (L.) Schreb] sod. Each tillage treatment [no-tillage (NT); chisel plowing (CP); and moldboard plowing (MP)] was replicated 8 times on 9±12 m plots. Corn (Zea mays L.) (in the first and 3rd years) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ](in the second year) were grown in a rotation system on the plot area. This paper discusses the data collected during the two years of corn. Corn plant population was less for NT than MP in 1989, while in 1991 the plant population for NT was greater than that of CP. Corn grain yield in 1989 was least for NT and greatest for MP (8400, 9300 and 10,500 kg/ha, respectively, for NT, CP and MP). In 1991, tillage did not significantly affect grain yield. The grain yields for 1991 were 2,300 to 4,400 kg/ha lower than for 1989 due primarily to limited and poorly distributed rainfall and insufficient plant-available soil water in the 1991 growing season. Differences in grain yield in 1989 were attributed to effects of reduced plant population for NT into sod resulting possibly from effects of insufficient soil-seed contact which might have led to dehydration of seeds and subsequent failure to germinate. Another factor that might have affected germination was lower soil surface temperature for NT at planting as a result of residue on surface. Early in the growing season, NT system had greater bulk density and greater resistance to penetration (soil strength) than the CP and MP systems. Greater re-growth of weeds at midseason in NT system appears to have had limited effect on plant available soil water since NT still had greater values at tasselling and grain-fill. Most corn tissue nutrient content (by treatment) were in the normal range and appeared to have little association with 1989 yields. Me significant first year plant population and corn yield advantages that the MP system had over the NT system were masked in 1991 by the effects of rainfall. No-tillage planting into soybean residue in 1991 was much more successful than planting into a sod in 1989. Any conversion of conservation reserve land from sod into NT corn and soybean production could experience similar management problems and corn yield reductions the first year. The NT planting in soybean residue the third year made it easier to obtain sufficient soil-seed contact, provided a better rooting zone, had better weed control and resulted in greater plant populations. Results suggest that the MP system productivity may be less sustainable over time than the NT system.
Living in Lahar Zones: Assessing Hazard Exposure, Risk Perception, and Preparedness Behaviors in Communities within the Mount Baker and Glacier Peak Volcanic Hazard Zones

vi LIST OF TABLES . xi LIST OF FIGURES . xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . xvi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW . 6 Risk . 6 The Physical Dimension: Lahar Hazards and Mapping . 7 An Introduction to Lahars . 7 History of Volcanic Activity at Mount Baker and Glacier Peak . 10 Mapping the Mount Baker and Glacier Peak Lahar Hazard Zones . 16 Incorporating the Build Environment: Risk Maps Motivation . 19 The Human Dimension: Risk Perception and Preparedness Motivation . 20 Risk Perception Models . 20 Applying Risk Perception Concepts to Natural Hazards . 30 Factors Controlling Risk Perception . 31 The Risk Perception Paradox and Factors Controlling Preparedness Actions . 39
YAKIMA RIVER SPECIES INTERACTIONS STUDIES

We hypothesized that unnaturally high discharges in the upper Yakima River during the summer would result in unnaturally high habitat overlap of age 0+ rainbow trout and spring chinook salmon in slow water habitats. Habitat utilization, species associations, and behavioral interactions among spring chinook salmon and other species were determined in two sections of the upper Yakima River by snorkeling. One section (Cle Elum) was sampled during the spring, early summer, late summer, and fall, and the other (Lower Canyon) during the late summer and fall. Fishes were also collected with a backpack electrofisher to compare sizes of age 0+ rainbow trout and spring chinook salmon collected from different locations. Age 0+ rainbow trout and spring chinook salmon were closely associated with bank habitats in both mainstem and off channel habitats. However, contrary to our hypothesis, spring chinook and rainbow trout were most closely associated with each other during the fall when discharges were lowest. High species associations corresponded to shrinking stream widths and to increasing overlaps in fish sizes. Spring chinook salmon dominated rainbow trout in 52% of all the behavioral contests, rainbow trout dominated spring chinook in 38% of the contests, and 10% of the contests had no apparent winner. Large fish generally dominated small fish and spring chinook salmon were generally larger than age 0+ rainbow trout. These preliminary results suggest that stream discharge and spring chinook salmon and age 0+ rainbow trout sizes interact to influence habitat overlap and behavioral interactions. Lack of correspondence between fish and habitat variables and the patchy distribution of fish we observed suggest that information on fish and habitat relationships at a smaller scale would be a priority area of investigation.
Interannual to interdecadal variability of winter and summer southern African rainfall, and their teleconnections

This study examines for the first time the changing characteristics of summer and winter southern African rainfall and their teleconnections with large‐scale climate through the dominant time scales of variability. As determined by wavelet analysis, the austral summer and winter rainfall indices exhibit three significant time scales of variability over the twentieth century: interdecadal (15–28 years), quasi‐decadal (8–13 years), and interannual (2–8 years). Teleconnections with global sea surface temperature and atmospheric circulation anomalies are established here but are different for each time scale. Tropical/subtropical teleconnections emerge as the main driver of austral summer rainfall variability. Thus, shifts in the Walker circulation are linked to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and, at decadal time scales, to decadal ENSO‐like patterns related to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation. These global changes in the upper zonal circulation interact with asymmetric ocean‐atmospheric conditions between the South Atlantic and South Indian Oceans; together, these lead to a shift in the South Indian Convergence Zone and a modulation of the development of convective rain‐bearing systems over southern Africa in summer. Such regional changes, embedded in quasi‐annular geopotential patterns, consist of easterly moisture fluxes from the South Indian High, which dominate southerly moisture fluxes from the South Atlantic High. Austral winter rainfall variability is more influenced by midlatitude atmospheric variability, in particular the Southern Annular Mode. The rainfall changes in the southwestern regions of southern Africa are determined by asymmetrical changes in the midlatitude westerlies between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
PFAS occurrence and distribution in yard waste compost indicate potential volatile loss, downward migration, and transformation.

We discovered high concentrations of PFAS (18.53 ± 1.5 μg kg-1) in yard waste compost, a compost type widely acceptable to the public. Seventeen out of forty targeted PFAS, belonging to six PFAS classes were detected in yard waste compost, with PFCAs (13.51 ± 0.99 μg kg-1) and PFSAs (4.13 ± 0.19 μg kg-1) being the dominant classes, comprising approximately 72.5% and 22.1% of the total measured PFAS. Both short-chain PFAS, such as PFBA, PFHxA, and PFBS, and long-chain PFAS, such as PFOA and PFOS, were prevalent in all the tested yard waste compost samples. We also discovered the co-occurrence of PFAS with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics. Total PFAS concentrations in LDPE and PET separated from incoming yard waste were 7.41 ± 0.41 μg kg-1 and 1.35 ± 0.1 μg kg-1, which increased to 8.66 ± 0.81 μg kg-1 in LDPE and 5.44 ± 0.56 μg kg-1 in PET separated from compost. An idle mature compost pile revealed a clear vertical distribution of PFAS, with the total PFAS concentrations at the surface level approximately 58.9-63.2% lower than the 2 ft level. This difference might be attributed to the volatile loss of short-chain PFCAs, PFAS's downward movement with moisture, and aerobic transformations of precursor PFAS at the surface.
Imprint of Messinian Salinity Crisis events on the Spanish Atlantic margin

One of the outstanding research questions regarding the Mediterranean’s Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) is whether mechanisms that generated Messinian events also have an expression outside the basin as a result of changes in ocean circulation, tectonics or isostasy. To assess this, a high resolution astronomically calibrated age model for the entire Messinian of the Guadalquivir Basin, on the Atlantic margin of Spain, has been constructed. Cyclic changes in the elemental composition of the Huelva-1 borehole, visualized through XRF, were tuned to astronomical target curves. In some intervals, the tuning was hampered as a consequence of the borehole’s proximity to the basin margin, resulting in disturbances of the cyclic record; nevertheless three distinct correlations with Mediterranean events were observed. Firstly, the onset of cyclicity within the borehole, at 7.16 Ma, is synchronous with the first sign of Mediterranean-Atlantic gateway restriction; this may be related to uplift of the Betic corridor. Secondly, the increase in sedimentation rate starting around 5.55 Ma coincides with the end of the acme of the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Lastly, for the first time a lithological expression has been found outside the Mediterranean which may have been generated by the same mechanism that terminated the Messinian Salinity Crisis. This level corresponds with the onset of a pronounced and extensive glauconite layer, indicating a sudden and significant decrease in sedimentation rate. Two causative mechanisms, or a combination of them, are proposed for the interbasinal correlations during the MSC. The first is based on tectonic events in the Betic region that influence sedimentation within the Guadalquivir Basin while altering the Atlantic-Mediterranean connection. The second explains the increase in sedimentation rate at 5.55 Ma as a consequence of local basin infill and the condensation at 5.33 Ma by sediment winnowing as a result of increased current strength with the opening, or deepening, of the Gibraltar Strait.
Immune response to SARS-CoV-2 variants after immunization with different vaccines in Mexico

There is limited information on the antibody responses against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in subjects from developing countries with populations having a high incidence of co-morbidities. Here, we analysed the immunogenicity of homologous schemes using the ChAdOx1-S, Sputnik V, or BNT162b2 vaccines and the effect of a booster dose with ChAdOx1-S in middle-aged adults who were seropositive or seronegative to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein before vaccination. The study was conducted post-vaccination with a follow-up of 4 months for antibody titre using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and pseudovirus (PV) neutralization assays (PNAs). All three vaccines elicited a superior IgG anti-receptor-binding domain (RBD) and neutralization response against the Alpha and Delta variants when administered to individuals with a previous infection by SARS-CoV-2. The booster dose spiked the neutralization activity among individuals with and without a prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. The ChAdOx1-S vaccine induced weaker antibody responses in infection-naive subjects. A follow-up of 4 months post-vaccination showed a drop in antibody titre, with about 20% of the infection-naive and 100% of SARS-CoV-2 pre-exposed participants with detectable neutralization capacity against Alpha pseudovirus (Alpha-PV) and Delta PV (Delta-PV). Our observations support the use of different vaccines in a country with high seroprevalence at the vaccination time.
Ethnic differences in CT derived abdominal body composition measures: a comparative retrospect pilot study between European and Inuit study population

ABSTRACT Understanding ethnic variations in body composition is crucial for assessing health risks. Universal models may not suit all ethnicities, and there is limited data on the Inuit population. This study aimed to compare body composition between Inuit and European adults using computed tomography (CT) scans and to investigate the influence of demographics on these measurements. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 50 adults (29 Inuit and 21 European) who underwent standard trauma CT scans. Measurements focused on skeletal muscle index (SMI), various fat indices, and densities at the third lumbar vertebra level, analyzed using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test and multiple linear regression. Inuit women showed larger fat tissue indices and lower muscle and fat densities than European women. Differences in men were less pronouncehd, with only Intramuscular fat density being lower among Inuit men. Regression indicated that SMI was higher among men, and skeletal muscle density decreased with Inuit ethnicity and age, while visceral fat index was positively associated with age. This study suggests ethnic differences in body composition measures particularly among women, and indicates the need for Inuit-specific body composition models. It higlights the importance of further research into Inuit-specific body composition measurements for better health risk assessment.
Immunometabolic Regulation of Bacterial Infection, Biofilms, and Antibiotic Susceptibility

Abstract Background Upon infection, mucosal tissues activate a brisk inflammatory response to clear the pathogen, i.e., resistance to disease. Resistance to disease is orchestrated by tissue-resident macrophages, which undergo profound metabolic reprogramming after sensing the pathogen. These metabolically activated macrophages release many inflammatory factors, which promote their bactericidal function. However, in immunocompetent individuals, pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella evade this type of immunity, generating communities that thrive for the long term. Summary These organisms develop features that render them less susceptible to eradication, such as biofilms and increased tolerance to antibiotics. Furthermore, after antibiotic therapy withdrawal, “persister” cells rapidly upsurge, triggering inflammatory relapses that worsen host health. How these pathogens persisted in inflamed tissues replete with activated macrophages remains poorly understood. Key Messages In this review, we discuss recent findings indicating that the ability of P. aeruginosa, S. aureus, and Salmonella to evolve biofilms and antibiotic tolerance is promoted by the similar metabolic routes that regulate macrophage metabolic reprogramming.
Safety and Effectiveness of Dulaglutide in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Korean Real-World Post-Marketing Study.

Background To investigate the real-world safety and effectiveness of dulaglutide in Korean adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods This was a real-world, prospective, non-interventional post-marketing safety study conducted from May 26, 2015 to May 25, 2021 at 85 Korean healthcare centers using electronic case data. Data on patients using dulaglutide 0.75 mg/0.5 mL or the dulaglutide 1.5 mg/0.5 mL single-use pens were collected and pooled. The primary objective was to report the frequency and proportion of adverse and serious adverse events that occurred. The secondary objective was to monitor the effectiveness of dulaglutide at 12 and 24 weeks by evaluating changes in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c ), fasting plasma glucose, and body weight. Results Data were collected from 3,067 subjects, and 3,022 subjects who received ≥1 dose (of any strength) of dulaglutide were included in the safety analysis set (53% female, mean age 56 years; diabetes duration 11.2 years, mean HbA1c 8.8%). The number of adverse events reported was 819; of these, 68 (8.3%) were serious adverse events. One death was reported. Adverse events were mostly mild in severity; 60.81% of adverse events were considered related to dulaglutide. This study was completed by 72.73% (2,198/3,022) of subjects. At 12/24 weeks there were significant (P<0.0001) reductions from baseline in least-squares mean HbA1c (0.96%/0.95%), fasting blood glucose (26.24/24.43 mg/dL), and body weight (0.75/1.21 kg). Conclusion Dulaglutide was generally well tolerated and effective in real-world Korean individuals with T2DM. The results from this study contribute to the body of evidence for dulaglutide use in this population.
Ensemble-based design of tau to inhibit aggregation while preserving biological activity

The microtubule-associated protein tau is implicated in neurodegenerative diseases characterized by amyloid formation. Mutations associated with frontotemporal dementia increase tau aggregation propensity and disrupt its endogenous microtubule-binding activity. The structural relationship between aggregation propensity and biological activity remains unclear. We employed a multi-disciplinary approach, including computational modeling, NMR, cross-linking mass spectrometry, and cell models to design tau sequences that stabilize its structural ensemble. Our findings reveal that substitutions near the conserved ‘PGGG’ beta-turn motif can modulate local conformation, more stably engaging in interactions with the 306VQIVYK311 amyloid motif to decrease aggregation in vitro and in cells. Designed tau sequences maintain microtubule binding and explain why 3R isoforms of tau exhibit reduced pathogenesis over 4R isoforms. We propose a simple mechanism to reduce the formation of pathogenic species while preserving biological function, offering insights for therapeutic strategies aimed at reducing protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases.
Influence of patients’ preoperative expectations on postoperative outcomes after total knee or hip arthroplasty: a systematic review

Purpose The association between preoperative expectations and treatment outcomes in total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is still unclear. Therefore the aim is to examine the association between preoperative outcome expectations, process expectations, and self-efficacy, and the postoperative outcomes overall outcome, pain, function, stiffness, satisfaction, and quality of life following THA/TKA. Methods A systematic review with narrative synthesis was conducted. PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Cochrane Library were searched from inception to October 17, 2022. Included were prospective longitudinal cohort studies published in English, German, or Dutch, with an adult population undergoing THA/TKA, and including at least one measure of preoperative expectations and the postoperative outcomes mentioned earlier. Two independent reviewers screened the retrieved articles for eligibility, a third solved disagreements. Risk of bias (RoB) was assessed using the QUIPS tool. Results Of the 50 included studies, 38 had high RoB and 12 moderate RoB. Unadjusted results suggest a positive association between preoperative outcome expectations and overall outcome in the medium and long term, and between self-efficacy and change in ‘overall outcome’ in the long term. Adjusted results suggest positive associations between outcome expectations and function and between self-efficacy and overall outcome in the medium term, and for outcome expectations with pain and change in pain, respectively, and self-efficacy and stiffness in the long term. Conclusions Preoperative expectations show a possible positive association with specific outcome measures, such as pain or function. For future research, it is advised to link matching specific expectations with specific outcomes.
Sibilant production in Taiwan Mandarin: untangling the effects of linguistic and social variables

This study examines dental and retroflex sibilants in Taiwan Mandarin. The center of gravity of frication and formant transitions of the following vowel are used to examine whether a dental-retroflex merger is present in Taiwan Mandarin. The factors that condition this merger are also examined, including region and gender. The results indicate that contrasts between dentals and retroflexes were, in general, preserved across regions and genders. In addition to acoustic analysis, the results of machine learning analysis indicate that center of gravity, F2 and Min proficiency were effective indexes for distinguishing dentals from retroflexes.
Comparing Transformer and Dictionary-based Sentiment Models for Literary Texts: Hemingway as a Case-study

The literary domain continues to pose a challenge for Sentiment Analysis methods, due to its particularly nuanced and layered nature. This paper explores the adequacy of different Sentiment Analysis tools - from dictionary-based approaches to state-of-the-art Transformers - for capturing valence and modelling sentiment arcs. We take Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Old Man and the Sea as a case study to address challenges inherent to literary language, compare Transformer and rule-based systems’ scores with human annotations, and shed light on the complexities of analyzing sentiment in narrative texts. Finally, we emphasize the potential of model ensembles.
Linguistic and Paralinguistic Features influencing Reliability Judgments of Thai Twitter Reviews

Due to the current widespread use of social media, deceptive opinion spam has risen, especially on Twitter, and distinguishing between real and fake reviews is a difficult task. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of using several features, including linguistic, sty-lometric, and others, to differentiate between truthful and deceptive opinions in English reviews. Extending previous work, we study the linguistic and paralinguistic features associated with the subjective impression of reliability of Thai-language reviews on Twitter. Our findings show that features such as the presence of URLs, hashtags, the number of excla-mation marks, and the use of first-person pro-nouns have an effect on the reliability judgment of reviews. We also find that not every feature has the same effect in different languages. Additionally, we show that word embedding improves model performance, but significant improvements may require high dimensional word embedding information.
Machine Translation for Highly Low-Resource Language: A Case Study of Ainu, a Critically Endangered Indigenous Language in Northern Japan

This paper explores the potential of Machine Translation (MT) in preserving and revitalizing Ainu, an indigenous language of Japan classified as critically endangered by UNESCO. Through leveraging Marian MT, an open-source Neural Machine Translation framework, this study addresses the challenging linguistic features of Ainu and the limitations of available resources. The research implemented a meticulous methodology involving rigorous preprocessing of data, prudent training of the model, and robust evaluation using the SacreBLEU metric. The findings underscore the system’s efficacy, achieving a SacreBLEU score of 32.90 for Japanese to Ainu translation. This promising result highlights the capacity of MT systems to support language preservation and aligns with recent research emphasizing the potential of computational techniques for low-resource languages. The paper concludes by affirming the significant role of MT in the broader context of language preservation, serving as a crucial tool in the fight against language extinction. The study paves the way for future research to harness advanced MT techniques and develop more sophisticated models for endangered languages.