Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The 5:2 diet is feasible and reduces risk factors for cardio-vascular disease in subjects with and without type 2 diabetes

The 5:2 diet, a type of intermittent fasting has recently gained popularity. The aim was to evaluate the feasibility and effects of the 5:2 diet for six months on weight, metabolic and hormonal risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in overweight subjects with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D). 97 (59 women) subjects, 35 with T2D and 62 without T2D (controls) followed the 5:2 diet (two days/week on a 500 (women) or 600 (men) kcal menu) for six months. Only 4/97 subjects discontinued. A weight loss of 4.2 (5.0–3.3) kg (4.94%) and 5.3 (6.4–4.2) kg (6.43%) was observed in controls and T2D, respectively. In both groups there were decreases in waist circumference, fat percentage, and blood pressure. Waist circumference decreased more in T2D compared to the controls. HbA1c improved in the T2D group. Metabolic control, lipids, adiponectin and leptin improved. Age-adjusted IGF-I decreased in the controls and IGF binding protein-1 increased in the T2D group suggesting improved hepatic insulin sensitivity in T2D. The 5:2 diet was feasible for 6 months and resulted in signi�cant weight loss and improvement in metabolic and hormonal risk factors for CVD in overweight and obese subjects with and without T2D.
Review of effects of anti-VEGF treatment on refractive error

: To examine the effect of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents on refractive error in the setting of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) through a review of the literature, a PubMed search was performed of appropriate search terms, and the results of all relevant studies were extracted and compiled. Eleven relevant articles were identified in the literature, totaling 466 eyes, treated with varied anti-VEGF agents (bevacizumab, ranibizumab, and aflibercept) with mean spherical equivalent refractions ranging from + 0.75 D to − 3.57 D, with prevalence of high myopia ranging from 0 to 35%. Anti-VEGF monotherapy for ROP leads to low levels of myopia, and there may be a differential effect of specific anti-VEGF agents utilized on refractive outcomes.
Lithospheric flexure and thermal anomalies

Plots of effective elastic thickness, Te, of the oceanic lithosphere as a function of age when elastically deformed show a general increase in Te with the square root of age, although there is much scatter. Some of the scatter can be eliminated by correcting for the effect of finite yield strength in rocks, which makes Te for more sharply bent plates underestimate the true depth Tm to the rheological boundary at the base of the high strength mechanical lithosphere. After converting effective values Te to true thicknesses Tm, it appears that the mechanical lithosphere is always thinner beneath islands and seamounts compared to lithosphere of similar age flexed at subduction zones. From several other lines of evidence, such as depth anomalies, seamount subsidence, and heat flow data, it has been suggested that the thermal structure in plates subjected to hot spot type volcanism is reset to values appropriate for much younger lithosphere. The reduction in mechanical plate thickness beneath hot spot volcanoes is also consistent with this concept of thermal rejuvenation since the strength of rocks decreases exponentially with rising temperature. This dependence implies that variations in mechanical plate thickness can be used to map temperature anomalies in the lithosphere. Since the mechanical plate thickness depends principally upon the temperature at one depth, specifically the depth at which the temperature reaches 550–600°C (depending on strain rate), flexural data are particularly sensitive indicators of the vertical structure of lithospheric reheating, compared to quantities dependent on depth integrals of temperature, such as swell height and subsidence. The thermal rejuvenation hypothesis predicts that the flexural profile should mimic viscoelastic relaxation in the first ∼10 Ma after loading if initially reheating is confined to depths close to and below the 550°C isotherm. The flexural data combined with depth anomaly information for Hawaii point to extremely rapid reheating localized in the lower lithosphere. Rejuvenation in the Society Islands, on the other hand, is compatible with slower methods of heat injection involving the entire lithospheric column.
Aplicação de modelos de volatilidade estocástica em dados de poluição do ar de duas grandes cidades: Cidade do México e São Paulo

ZOZOLOTTO, H. C. Application of Stochastic Volatility Models to Air Pollution Data of Two Big Cities: Mexico City and Sao Paulo. 2010. 105p. Dissertation (master degree) Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirao Preto, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, 2010. Recent studies related to environmental has been considered in all world due to increasing levels of pollution and of natural resources destruction especially, in the last years. The largest cities in the world are the ones been mostly affected by pollution and in this work we consider the analysis of air pollution data of two important cities: Mexico City and Sao Paulo. The Mexico City presents serious problems of ozone levels and Sao Paulo is the Brazilian city with the largest problems related to air pollution. Among the different models which could be used to analyze air pollution data, we consider the use of time series modeling to the weekly or daily levels of pollution. In this way, we consider the use of volatility stochastic models. This family of models has been well explored with financial data but not well explored to analyze environmental and health data. Bivariate and multivariate stochastic models under the Bayesian approach were considered to analyze the data, especially using MCMC (Markov Chain Monte Carlo) methods to obtain the posterior summary of interest, since we usually have big difficulties using standard classical inference methods.
Coseismic strengthening of the shallow portion of the subduction fault and its effects on wedge taper

[1] According to the dynamic Coulomb wedge model, coseismic strengthening of the shallowest part of the subduction interface can cause permanent deformation of the overlying outer wedge, so that the cumulative effects of great interplate earthquakes control the geometry of the wedge. In this work, we use a numerical model, which is a hybrid of the frictional contact model and the classical crack model, to study how stress is coseismically transferred from the seismogenic zone to the strengthening updip zone to cause wedge deformation. In this static model, the “critical strengthening” required to prevent the rupture from breaking the trench depends on the force drop of the seismogenic zone, defined as the product of the average shear stress drop and the area of the seismogenic zone. In a simple model of uniform material properties with a few megapascals average stress drop over a seismogenic zone of 120 km downdip width, the critical strengthening for a 30 km wide updip zone is an increase in the effective friction coefficient by about 0.05. Using the Coulomb wedge theory, we demonstrate that this level of strengthening can readily push the overlying wedge into a critical state of failure. With much greater strengthening, the rupture is able to extend into the updip zone only slightly, causing localized wedge compression in the area of slip termination. We examined wedge geometry of 22 subduction zones in the light of the model results. We found that the surface slope of these wedges is generally too high to be explained using the classical wedge theory but can be explained using the dynamic Coulomb wedge model including coseismic strengthening of the shallow portion of the megathrust.
Sediment production and transport in a proglacial stream

A flexible tracked tractor having a mower operatively connected to the rear end thereof. The mower is provided with a ground engaging wheel at the rear end thereof, and it is supported at the front end thereof by a three-point lift hitch which is attached to the rear end of the flexible tracked tractor. The rotary cutter is power driven from a pressurized hydraulic fluid source carried on the tractor. The rotary cutter is operatively connected through a gear type coupling to a hydraulic drive motor which is provided with hydraulic fluid under pressure from said pressurized hydraulic fluid source on said tractor. The three-point lift hitch includes an upper link having one end pivotally attached to the front end of the mower and the other end pivotally attached to the tractor, a lower link assembly having one end thereof pivotally attached to the tractor and the other end thereof pivotally attached to the front end of the mower at two spaced apart positions below the attachment position of the upper link, a lift bar having a lower end pivotally attached to said lower link assembly, a lever pivotally mounted on a horizontal axis on said tractor, and with the upper end of said lift bar being pivotally attached to said lever on a horizontal axis at a position laterally spaced apart from, and parallel to, the pivot axis of said lever on said tractor, and power means mounted on said tractor and being pivotally connected to said lever on a horizontal axis at a point triangularly spaced from, and parallel to, the pivotal mounting axes of said lever and said lift bar, wherein when the power means is actuated, the lever is pivoted upwardly from a mowing position to lift said lower link assembly to a raised position.
Changes in east Atlantic deepwater circulation over the last 30

Using 95 epibenthic δ13C records, eight time slices were reconstructed to trace the distribution of east Atlantic deepwater and intermediate water masses over the last 30,000 years. Our results show that there have been three distinct modes of deepwater circulation: Near the stage 3-2 boundary, the origin of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) was similar to today (mode 1). However, after late stage 3 the source region of the NADW end-member shifted from the Norwegian-Greenland Sea to areas south of Iceland (mode 2). A reduced NADW flow persisted during the last glacial maximum, with constant preformed δ13C values. The nutrient content of NADW increased markedly near the Azores fracture zone from north to south, probably because of the mixing of upwelled Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) from below, which then advected with much higher flux rates into the northeast Atlantic. Later, the spread of glacial meltwater over the North Atlantic led to a marked short-term ventilation minimum below 1800 m about 13,500 14C years ago (mode 3). The formation of NADW recommenced abruptly north of Iceland 12,800–12,500 years ago and reached a volume approaching that of the Holocene, in the Younger Dryas (10,800–10,350 years B.P.). Another short-term shutdown of deepwater formation followed between 10,200 and 9,600 years B.P., linked to a further major meltwater pulse into the Atlantic. Each renewal of deepwater formation led to a marked release of fossil CO2 from the ocean, the likely cause of the contemporaneous 14C plateaus. Over the last 9000 years, deepwater circulation varied little from today, apart from a slight increase in AABW about 7000 14C years ago. It is also shown that the oxygenated Mediterranean outflow varied largely independent of the variations in deepwater circulation over the last 30,000 years.
Heterogeneous dissemination of projectile materials in the impact melts from Wabar crater, Saudi Arabia

The initial observations of Spencer (1933) that two distinct impact melts coexist at the 90-m-diameter Wabar crater, Saudi Arabia, is confirmed. A dark or 'black' melt contains on the order of 4 percent meteoritic contamination, while the transparent or 'white' melt contains less than 1 percent. The Fe/Ni ratios in both varieties exhibit considerable scatter on electron-microprobe scales, akin to those reported by others for metal spherules in the black melt. If the meteoritic component is subtracted, both melts are chemically very similar. Clasts engulfed by the Wabar melts were investigated also, as they represent the progenitor lithologies from which the melts formed. Bulk compositions for these clasts reveal subtle differences in modal feldspar content within the quartz-rich Wabar target. Both melts require that a minimum of two target lithologies be present in the Wabar melt zone.
Early and Mid Cambrian trilobites from the outer‐shelf deposits of Nevada and California, USA

A latest Early Cambrian and earliest Mid Cambrian polymeroid trilobite fauna, consisting of 16 genera and 25 species, is reported from the peritidal deposits of the Mule Spring Limestone and outer‐shelf deposits of the Emigrant and Monola formations of Nevada and California. The Mid Cambrian fauna includes a new genus, Tonopahella, and four new species, T. goldfieldensis, Oryctocephalus americanus, Onchocephalites claytonensis, and Syspacephalus variosus. The peri‐Gondwana species Oryctocephalus orientalis, Oryctocephalites runcinatus, and Paraantagmus latus are recorded in Laurentia for the first time.
Deformation kinematics in the western United States determined from Quaternary fault slip rates and recent geodetic data

We estimate the horizontal velocity gradient tensor field from Quaternary fault slip rates, and recent Global Positioning System (GPS) and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) velocity solutions in the western United States transform plate boundary zone. The total velocity obtained from the Quaternary fault slip rate data across the entire plate boundary is within 1 mm/yr of the NUVEL-1A predicted Pacific (PA)-North American (NA) plate motion velocity, but directions are 5°–6° anticlockwise of directions given by NUVEL-1A. The total velocity obtained from inversion of recent geodetic data is 2°–3° anticlockwise from the NUVEL-1A NA-PA velocity, but the difference between the two is not significant at the 95% confidence level. The discrepancy between the total PA-NA motion obtained from the geological data and NUVEL-1A indicates that a marginally significant amount of NE-SW shortening (possibly as much as 5 mm/yr) is missing overall in the geologic data. Shortening may occur in the long-term in the offshore and coastal areas of California where such shortening is required in the shorter-term geodetic solution. The seismic moment released in the last 148 years is ∼59% of the total moment release rate expected from long-term strain rate field (including both seismic and aseismic deformation) derived from the inversion of geological data with NUVEL-1A far-field PA-NA motion constraints. The accumulated strain in the areas containing the southern San Andreas fault-San Jacinto fault, the San Francisco Bay area, and the area containing the Ventura basin in the Western Transverse Ranges in the last 148 years is the equivalent to that which could be released by an Mw>7.0 earthquake in each 50 × 100 × 15 (km3) crustal volume if strain is to be released seismically in these areas.
Bounds on low‐frequency seismic velocities in partially saturated rocks

The most common technique for estimating seismic velocities in rocks with mixed pore fluid saturations is to use Gassmann’s relations with an effective fluid whose density and compressibility are averages of the individual pore fluid properties. This approach is applicable only if the gas, oil, and brine phases are mixed uniformly at a very small scale, so the different wave‐induced increments of pore pressure in each phase have time to diffuse and equilibrate during a seismic period. In contrast, saturations that are heterogeneous over scales larger than the characteristic diffusion length, i.e., patchy saturation, will always lead to higher seismic velocities than if the same fluids are mixed uniformly at a fine scale. Critical saturation scales separating uniform from patchy behavior are typically of the order 0.1–1 cm for laboratory measurements and tens of centimeters for field seismic frequencies. For low seismic frequencies, velocities corresponding to patchy and homogeneous saturations represent a.
On crustal flexure

The deformation of the earth's crust under superposed loads is considered as a problem in structural mechanics. The crust is treated as a uniform, elastic, thin, spherical shell, and the mantle is treated as an enclosed viscous liquid. Equations relating loading and crustal response are developed. Loadings may be spatially concentrated, locally distributed, or global and may be applied as a steady-state or transient condition. Crustal displacements under reservoir loadings, glacial sheets, and sea-level rises are predicted and agree well with observations both in magnitude and in time. The Wisconsin glaciation in North America is treated in particular.
Industrial Policy and Competition

The economic slowdown in the 70s in Latin America and Japan in the late 90s, generated a growing skepticism about the role of industrial policy in the process of economic development. Yet, new considerations have emerged over the recent period, which invite us to revisit the issue. This paper argues that sectoral state aids tend to foster productivity, productivity growth, and product innovation to a larger extent when it targets more competitive sectors and when it is not concentrated on one or a small number of firms in the sector. Using a theoretical framework in which two firms may choose either to operate in the same "higher-growth" sector or in different, "lower-growth" sector. We use a panel of medium and large Chinese enterprises for the period 1998 through 2007 to test for complementarity between competition and industrial policy. A main implication from our analysis is that the debate on industrial policy should no longer be for or against having such a policy. As it turns out, sectoral policies are being implemented in one form or another by a large number of countries worldwide, starting with China. Rather, the issue should be on how to design and govern sectoral policies in order to make them more competition-friendly and therefore more growth-enhancing.
Assessing the Inter-rater Reliability of the Usability Model for Software Development Processes and Practices

Software processes and practices have a leading role in software development and in the last few decades a wide variety of processes and practices have emerged to face the challenges arising in the software industry. The success of process and practice adoption initiatives depends at least partially on the experience and satisfaction of the people who use them, thus making usability an interesting process quality attribute. This paper describes the inter-rater reliability evaluations performed on the UMP to assess consistency among metric values produced by different evaluators. It presents two inter-rater reliability assessment studies, the Scrum study and the TDD-BDD study. The paper presents four inter-rater reliability statistics for the process and practices under study, a comparative analysis of their strengths and weaknesses, and an analysis of the study results and their interpretation. The results show varying reliability results among the different UMP metrics, which seem to depend mostly on object of evaluation (Scrum, TDD, BDD), metric subjectivity and context sensitivity. The UMP was re�ned from the data gathered in the studies and a metric categorization is proposed to facilitate metric usage.
Evaluation of the Systemic Immune Inflammatory Response in Cases Infected with Helicobacter Pylori Helicobacter Pylori ile Enfekte Olguların Sistemik İmmün İnflamasyon Yanıtının Değerlendirilmesi

Objectives: The effectiveness of systemic immune inflammation index (SII), which is a practical, new, and useful marker in indicating inflammation, in various malignant and non-malignant diseases has been shown. In the present study, it was aimed to examine the correlation between Helicobacter pylori (HP)+, which causes chronic infection and inflammation, and SII. Methods: A total of 88 HP+ cases and 154 HP− control cases were included our retrospective, randomized, and controlled study. HP± was assessed according to the endoscopic biopsy reports of cases. All secondary causes that may lead to inflammation were excluded from the study. The SI level of the case and control groups was calculated (absolute neutrophil × absolute platelet/absolute lymphocyte). Results: In our study, no significant correlation between HP+, a chronic infection, and SII could not be shown (p>0.05). It was detected that HP+ was more common in young ages (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that SII may not be a useful marker in indicating HP+ as we could not find a significant correlation between SII and HP+.
Sensitivity of optimized parameters in watershed models

A procedure is developed by which the variance of each fitted parameter of a watershed model can be determined. This information can be used to determine the degree to which the model parameters can be related to physical watershed characteristics. The method is illustrated by applying the Boughton model to several watersheds and examining the coefficient of variation of each optimized parameter.
Tectonic burial and 'young' (< 10 Ma) exhumation in the southern Apennines fold and thrust belt (Italy)

In the southern Apennines fold-and-thrust belt, thermal indicators record exhumation of sedimentary units from depths locally in excess of 5 km. The thrust belt is made of allochthonous sedimentary units that overlie a 6–8-km-thick, carbonate footwall succession. The latter, continuous with the foreland Apulian Platform, is deformed by reverse faults involving the underlying basement. Therefore, a switch from thin-skinned to thick-skinned thrusting occurred as the Apulian Platform carbonates—and the underlying thick continental lithosphere—were deformed during the latest shortening stages. Apatite fission track data, showing cooling ages ranging between 9.2 ± 1.0 and 1.5 ± 0.8 Ma, indicate that exhumation marks these late tectonic stages, probably initiating with the buttressing of the allochthonous wedge against the western margin of the Apulian Platform. Pliocene-Pleistocene foreland advancing of the allochthonous units exceeds the total amount of slip that, based on cross-section balancing and restoration, could be transferred to the base of the allochthon from the underlying thick-skinned structures. This suggests that emplacement of the allochthon above the western portion of the Apulian Platform carbonates was followed by gravitational readjustments within the allochthonous wedge, coeval—and partly associated with—thick-skinned shortening at depth. The related denudation processes are interpreted to have played a primary role in tectonic exhumation.