Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Chapter 3 Characteristics and morphological evolution of the Aeolian volcanoes from the study of submarine portions

Abstract The seven Aeolian Islands exist in much greater volumes below sea level than above sea level; study of the submarine portions is therefore fundamental for a better understanding of the development of volcanism in the area, tectonic control from the regional structural setting and the morphological evolution of volcanic edifices. The interplay between destructive processes (marine erosion, mass-wasting and flank instability) and constructive processes in the growth and evolution of the Aeolian volcanoes is discussed based on a study of their present-day morphology. In particular, the distribution and characteristics of insular shelves in the shallow-water sectors of volcanic edifices are compared and discussed, considering that variable geological/local factors combined with sea-level fluctuations controlled the development and morphology of these features. It is proposed that submerged shelves may furnish relative chronological constraints for the development of the Aeolian volcanoes, enhancing present knowledge which is mostly based on subaerial portions.
Views of Men Regarding Not Availing Antenatal Care for Their Pregnant Partners in West Bengal

Antenatal care (ANC) is essential for the health of both the mother and the baby. Though females are the direct receivers of this care, yet the understanding of their husbands is crucial in determining the pregnant women’s access to ANC. NFHS–5 (National Family Health Survey, 2019–2020) has reported that about 5.6% of women in West Bengal aged 15–49 who had a live birth in the five years preceding the survey had no ANC visit during their pregnancy. In this study, both qualitative and quantitative techniques have been used to understand the views of men whose female partners did not receive any ANC during their pregnancy in West Bengal. Data collection has been done from 130 respondents using a structured questionnaire, and then, statistical analysis has been performed using SPSS. Qualitative data have been collected from nine selected participants through telephonic interview. The result is that men’s views for their pregnant partners not availing ANC are influenced by the place of residence, educational qualification and number of children (statistically significant at p value < .05). However, lack of awareness, financial constraint, poor spousal relationship and inaccessibility to the maternity clinics are a few important reasons that have been focused in this study.
Age at menarche, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease complications in US women aged under 65 years: NHANES 1999–2018

Background Diabetes and diabetes complications are on the rise in US adults aged <65 years, while onset of menarche at a younger age is also increasing. We examined the associations of age at menarche with type 2 diabetes among women aged <65 years and with cardiovascular disease (CVD) complications among women with diabetes. Methods Using the nationally representative cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2018, women aged 20–65 years free of cancer were included in the current analysis. Diabetes was defined as a self-reported diabetes diagnosis. CVD was defined as coronary heart disease or stroke. Age at menarche was self-reported age of first menstruation and categorised into ≤10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and ≥15 years. Results Of 17 377 women included in the analysis, 1773 (10.2%) reported having type 2 diabetes. Earlier age at menarche was associated with type 2 diabetes compared with median age at menarche of 13 years, after adjustment for age, race/ethnicity, education, parity, menopause status and family history of diabetes, smoking status, physical activity, alcohol consumption and body mass index (p for trend=0.02). Among women with diabetes, earlier age at menarche was associated with stroke with similar adjustment (p for trend=0.03), but not with total CVD. Extremely early age at menarche (≤10 years) was significantly associated with stroke (adjusted OR 2.66 (95% CI 1.07 to 6.64)) among women aged <65 years with diabetes with similar adjustment. Conclusions Earlier age at menarche was associated with type 2 diabetes among young and middle-aged women in the USA and with stroke complications among these women living with diabetes.
Kirchhoff-Love Shells with Arbitrary Hyperelastic Materials

Kirchhoff-Love shells are commonly used in many branches of engineering, including in computer graphics, but have so far been simulated only under limited nonlinear material options. We derive the Kirchhoff-Love thin-shell mechanical energy for an arbitrary 3D volumetric hyperelastic material, including isotropic materials, anisotropic materials, and materials whereby the energy includes both even and odd powers of the principal stretches. We do this by starting with any 3D hyperelastic material, and then analytically computing the corresponding thin-shell energy limit. This explicitly identifies and separates in-plane stretching and bending terms, and avoids numerical quadrature. Thus, in-plane stretching and bending are shown to originate from one and the same process (volumetric elasticity of thin objects), as opposed to from two separate processes as done traditionally in cloth simulation. Because we can simulate materials that include both even and odd powers of stretches, we can accommodate standard mesh distortion energies previously employed for 3D solid simulations, such as Symmetric ARAP and Co-rotational materials. We relate the terms of our energy to those of prior work on Kirchhoff-Love thin-shells in computer graphics that assumed small in-plane stretches, and demonstrate the visual difference due to the presence of our exact stretching and bending terms. Furthermore, our formulation allows us to categorize all distinct hyperelastic Kirchhoff-Love thin-shell energies. Specifically, we prove that for Kirchhoff-Love thin-shells, the space of all hyperelastic materials collapses to two-dimensional hyperelastic materials. This observation enables us to create an interface for the design of thin-shell Kirchhoff-Love mechanical energies, which in turn enables us to create thin-shell materials that exhibit arbitrary stiffness profiles under large deformations.
Visual Noise Cancellation: Exploring Visual Discomfort and Opportunities for Vision Augmentations

Acoustic noise control or cancellation (ANC) is a commonplace component of modern audio headphones. ANC aims to actively mitigate disturbing environmental noise for a quieter and improved listening experience. ANC is digitally controlling frequency and amplitude characteristics of sound. Much less explored is visual noise and active visual noise control, which we address here. We first explore visual noise and scenarios in which visual noise arises based on findings from four workshops we conducted. We then introduce the concept of visual noise cancellation (VNC) and how it can be used to reduce identified effects of visual noise. In addition, we developed head-worn demonstration prototypes to practically explore the concept of active VNC with selected scenarios in a user study. Finally, we discuss the application of VNC, including vision augmentations that moderate the user’s view of the environment to address perceptual needs and to provide augmented reality content.
What Learning Strategies are Used by Programming Students? A Qualitative Study Grounded on the Self-regulation of Learning Theory

Self-regulation of learning (SRL) is an essential ability for academic success in multiple educational contexts, including programming education. However, understanding how students regulate themselves during programming learning is still limited. This exploratory research aimed to investigate the regulatory strategies externalized by 51 students enrolled in an introductory programming course. The objective was to identify the SRL strategies used by these students during multiple phases of the learning process and compare the SRL behavior of high and low-performers. The following research questions guided this investigation: RQ1) What regulation of learning strategies are used by programming students? ; and RQ2) How do the SRL strategies used by high and low-performing students differ? The findings demonstrate that learning to program involves complex psychological resources (e.g., cognition, metacognition, behavior, motivation, and emotion) and that students present heterogeneity in their SRL repertoire. In addition, high and low-performing students showed significant differences in how they regulate, which can contribute to understanding the factors that may contribute to learning programming. Lastly, we argue that for analyzing SRL strategies, it is necessary to consider the specificities of programming education, which motivated the development of a conceptual framework to describe the identified strategies and regulatory phases in this learning domain.
Streptococcus suis infection on European farms is associated with an altered tonsil microbiome and resistome

Streptococcus suis is a Gram-positive opportunistic pathogen causing systemic disease in piglets around weaning age. The factors predisposing to disease are not known. We hypothesised that the tonsillar microbiota might influence disease risk via colonisation resistance and/or co-infections. We conducted a cross-sectional case-control study within outbreak farms complemented by selective longitudinal sampling and comparison with control farms without disease occurrence. We found a small but significant difference in tonsil microbiota composition between case and control piglets (n=45+45). Variants of putative commensal taxa, including Rothia nasimurium, were reduced in abundance in case piglets compared to asymptomatic controls. Case piglets had higher relative abundances of Fusobacterium gastrosuis, Bacteroides heparinolyticus, and uncultured Prevotella and Alloprevotella species. Despite case-control pairs receiving equal antimicrobial treatment, case piglets had higher abundance of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) conferring resistance to antimicrobial classes used to treat S. suis. This might be an adaption of disease-associated strains to frequent antimicrobial treatment.
Human naïve stem cell models reveal the role of FGF in hypoblast specification in the human embryo

The hypoblast is an essential extra-embryonic tissue set aside within the inner cell mass early in mammalian embryo development, in the blastocyst. Research with human embryos is challenging. Thus, stem cell models that reproduce hypoblast differentiation provide valuable alternatives. We show here that human naïve PSC to hypoblast differentiation proceeds via reversion to a transitional ICM-like state, from which hypoblast emerges in concordance with the trajectory in human blastocysts. We identified a window when fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signalling is critical for hypoblast specification. Revisiting FGF signalling in human embryos revealed that inhibition in the early blastocyst suppresses hypoblast formation. In vitro, the induction of hypoblast is synergistically enhanced by limiting trophectoderm and epiblast fates. This finding revises previous reports and establishes a conservation in lineage specification between mouse and human. Overall, this study demonstrates the utility of human naïve PSC-based models in elucidating mechanistic features of early human embryogenesis.
Simultaneous CRISPR screening and spatial transcriptomics reveals intracellular, intercellular, and functional transcriptional circuits

Pooled optical screens have enabled the study of cellular interactions, morphology, or dynamics at massive scale, but have not yet leveraged the power of highly-plexed single-cell resolved transcriptomic readouts to inform molecular pathways. Here, we present Perturb-FISH, which bridges these approaches by combining imaging spatial transcriptomics with parallel optical detection of in situ amplified guide RNAs. We show that Perturb-FISH recovers intracellular effects that are consistent with Perturb-seq results in a screen of lipopolysaccharide response in cultured monocytes, and uncover new intercellular and density-dependent regulation of the innate immune response. We further pair Perturb-FISH with a functional readout in a screen of autism spectrum disorder risk genes, showing common calcium activity phenotypes in induced pluripotent stem cell derived astrocytes and their associated genetic interactions and dysregulated molecular pathways. Perturb-FISH is thus a generally applicable method for studying the genetic and molecular associations of spatial and functional biology at single-cell resolution.
PROTEOME-SCALE RECOMBINANT STANDARDS AND A ROBUST HIGH-SPEED SEARCH ENGINE TO ADVANCE CROSS-LINKING MS-BASED INTERACTOMICS

Advancing data analysis tools for proteome-wide cross-linking mass spectrometry (XL-MS) requires ground-truth standards that mimic biological complexity. Here, we develop wellcontrolled XL-MS standards comprising hundreds of recombinant proteins that are systematically mixed for cross-linking. We use one standard dataset to guide the development of Scout, a search engine for XL-MS with MS-cleavable cross-linkers. Using other, independent datasets from our standards as well as published datasets, we benchmark the performance of Scout and existing XL-MS software. This demonstrates that Scout offers the best combination of speed, sensitivity, and false-discovery rate control. These results illustrate how our large recombinant standards can support the development of XL-MS analysis tools and evaluation of XL-MS results.
Multiscale Bayesian Simulations Reveal Functional Chromatin Condensation of Gene Loci

Chromatin, the complex assembly of DNA and associated proteins, plays a pivotal role in orchestrating various genomic functions. To aid our understanding of the principles underlying chromatin organization, we introduce Hi-C metainference, a Bayesian approach that integrates Hi-C contact frequencies into multiscale prior models of chromatin. This approach combines both bottom-up (the physics-based prior) and top-down (the data-driven posterior) strategies to characterize the 3D organization of a target genomic locus. We first demonstrate the capability of this method to accurately reconstruct the structural ensemble and the dynamics of a system from contact information. We then apply the approach to investigate the Sox2, Pou5f1, and Nanog loci of mouse embryonic stem cells using a bottom-up chromatin model at 1kb resolution. We observe that the studied loci are conformationally heterogeneous and organized as crumpled globules, favoring contacts between distant enhancers and promoters. Using nucleosome-resolution simulations, we then reveal how the Nanog gene is functionally organized across the multiple scales of chromatin. At the local level, diverse chromatin folding motifs correlate with epigenetics, with open chromatin predominantly observed at cis-regulatory elements and compact tetranucleosomes in between. At the larger scale, we find that enhancer-promoter contacts are driven by the transient condensation of chromatin into compact domains stabilized by extensive inter-nucleosome interactions. Overall, this work highlights the condensed, but dynamic nature of chromatin in vivo, contributing to a deeper understanding of gene structure-function relationships.
Research on charred plant remains from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age in Luoyang Basin

Analysis of charred plant remains is an efficient way to study ancient agriculture and has yielded many insights. Because of the complexity and diversity of ancient agriculture, how to select the best sites to improve the representativeness of charred plant remains is an important research topic. An assemblage of charred plant remains were obtained using flotation samples collected from ash pits and cultural layers of 22 small sites from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age in the Luoyang Basin, North China, where Neolithic cultures developed. The species of the plant remains were identified stereoscopically. Previous research on both small and large sites had shown that foxtail millet ( Setaria italica subsp. italica ) and broomcorn millet ( Panicum miliaceum ) were the major corps in the Luoyang Basin during the Neolithic period, where rainfed agriculture practiced. Rice ( Oryza sativa ), wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), and soybean ( Glycine max ) were cultivated later. In the Erlitou period, five crops were grown in this area. The diversification of crops in small sites occurred earlier than in large sites. Small sites had higher proportions of rice and wheat than did large sites in the Erlitou period, reflecting the differences in site function. Plant remains taken from different landforms showed that the agricultural structures on alluvial plains were different from those on loess terraces. More crop species were grown on loess terraces than on alluvial plains from the Yangshao to the Longshan period, but the species and quantities of crops on the alluvial plains were greater in the Erlitou period. Environmental factors such as climate, landform, and hydrology are probably the main reasons for these patterns. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of charred plant remains analysis of small sites. More attention should be paid to small sites in future research.
Effects of Copper Sulfate Application on Zooplankton and Macroinvertebrate Communities in Upground Reservoirs

Dr. Jeffrey Miner, advisor Copper sulfate (25.2% Cu by weight) has been extensively used to control nuisance algae in drinking water storage reservoirs; in upground reservoirs in northwest Ohio, CuSO4 application regimens vary from no application to 600 μg Cu/L/year. While CuSO4 is effective in suppressing algae, it also has documented toxicities to zooplankton and chironomids, which are food resources for stocked sport fish. Between May-August 2010, water, sediment, sediment trap, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrate samples were collected at four upground reservoirs with varying CuSO4 application regimens in order to track the fate of copper and enumerate zooplankton and macroinvertebrate community changes before and after CuSO4 application. Additionally, to quantify the combined effects of pulsed copper-laden food resources and contaminated sediment on chironomids of different instars, an experiment was conducted with Chironomus riparius in the laboratory. In the reservoirs, water copper concentration was 2-4 times higher post-application than before; correspondingly, zooplankton biomass and density were depressed by as much as 93% and 87% for at least one week after application. Furthermore, post-application zooplankton communities were dominated by copepod nauplii, which are an unsuitable food source for fish stocked into these reservoirs. Chironomid density changes appeared to reflect adult emergence rather than CuSO4 application, although standard sampling protocol prevented tracking all instars through time, so the effects of CuSO4 application on chironomid communities were not evident. The sedimentation rate of detritus and algae increased by 36% post-application and contained more than 5000 μg Cu/g dry weight. In the experiment, I found that organisms receiving a pulse of copper-laden algae in the first instar experienced 85% mortality, while organisms fed unspiked algae (controls) experienced 40%
SustHack: A Hackathon approach for Engaging Citizens and Fostering a Sustainability Mindset

Hackathons and code camps have been used over the years to ideate, collaborate and develop innovative solutions to address sustainability challenges with citizens. However, there is less research on how hackathon products can drive citizens’ behavioral changes via engagement in sustainable activities to improve sustainability awareness in society. In this study, we evaluate the potential of the hackathon to address local sustainability issues and develop innovative solutions to engage and stimulate citizens and hackathon participants for sustainable activities and awareness. Our approach involves the implementation of two hackathons, Living Lab Hack and SustHack. The result from the two hackathons shows that citizen engagement in hackathons brings a new dimension that facilitates inclusiveness in designing sustainability solutions and increases citizen sustainability awareness. Furthermore, the hackathon served as a reawakening call to action for the students and the citizens about the sustainability impacts of their activities.
The synergistic paradigm for profiling authorship of blogosphere content by profession

The article studies the identification of the authorship of blogs by correlating the bloggers' professional affiliation with the content features of their blogs. The research aims to develop a consolidated synergistic paradigm of authorship profiling based on the bloggers' professional affiliation. The research methodology involves determining the synergistic paradigm of the blogosphere by the topic, the type of author, the level of generalization of information, the nature of iconic records, genre, emotional coloring, and language of posts; forming the consolidated synergistic paradigm of authorship profiling by profession. Interdependence in the system "picture of the bloggers' world - content" resulting from the synergy of all social and communication factors is considered by the method of postulated extrapolation. The scientific novelty of the work is the consolidated synergistic paradigm of authorship profiling in online editions by bloggers' professions using the postulated extrapolation of documentary information in the blogosphere. It is a communication model of the correlation between the picture of the bloggers' world and the content of blogs. The authorship profiling phenomenon is considered a formalized detailing of information interaction as a complex, open system characterized by structural, functional, coordination, channel, and semantic disclosures. The consolidated synergistic paradigm of authorship profiling demonstrates the correlation of such a component of the bloggers' picture of the world as their professional affiliation with the characteristics of their blogs. Each professional group of bloggers has its model of a consolidated synergistic paradigm of authorship profiling, which summarizes characteristics from all profiling features.
Towards improving early diagnosis of congenital Chagas disease in an endemic setting

Background: Congenital Trypanosoma cruzi transmission is now estimated to account for 22% of new infections, representing a significant public health problem across Latin America and internationally. Treatment during infancy is highly efficacious and well tolerated, but current assays for early detection fail to detect >50% of infected neonates and 9 month follow-up is low. Methods: Women presenting for delivery in two urban hospitals in Santa Cruz department, Bolivia were screened by rapid test. Specimens from infants of infected women were tested by microscopy (micromethod), quantitative PCR (qPCR) and IgM trypomastigote excreted-secreted antigen (TESA)-blots at birth and 1 month, and by IgG serology at 6 and 9 months. Results: Among 487 infants of 476 seropositive women, congenital T. cruzi infection was detected in 38 infants of 35 mothers (7.8%). In cord blood, qPCR, TESA-blot and micromethod sensitivities/specificities were 68.6%/99.1%, 58.3%/99.1% and 16.7%/100%, respectively. When birth and 1 month results were combined, cumulative sensitivities reached 84.2%, 73.7% and 34.2%, respectively. Low birth weight and/or respiratory distress were reported in 11 (29%) infected infants. Infants with clinical signs had higher parasite loads and were significantly more likely to be detected by micromethod. Conclusions: The proportion of T. cruzi infected infants with clinical signs has fallen from the 1990s, but symptomatic congenital Chagas disease still represents a significant, albeit increasingly challenging to detect, public health problem. Molecular methods could facilitate earlier diagnosis and circumvent loss to follow-up but remain logistically and economically prohibitive for routine screening in resource-limited settings.