Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Loneliness Across the COVID-19 Pandemic: Risk Factors in Norwegian Young People

Background There is evidence of increasing levels of loneliness in Norwegian young people before the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not clear how the COVID-19 pandemic, and the associated necessary restrictions, impacted on these trends. Aims To examine how loneliness in young people changed across the pandemic, how loneliness relates to demographic characteristics and how different pandemic restrictions impacted loneliness. Method We analyzed data from three waves of a Norwegian national higher education student survey (the SHoT-study). Data was examined from 2018 from a total of 49,836 students, 2021 from 62,212 students, and from 2022 from 53,362 (response rates 31-35%). Loneliness was measured by “The Three-Item Loneliness Scale” (T-ILS). Results There was a sharp increase in loneliness from 2018 to 2021, and a reduction in levels of loneliness in 2022, although at increased levels compared to prior to the pandemic. Females consistently report higher levels of loneliness than males, with a larger difference during the peak of the pandemic. There were higher rates of loneliness in geographical regions with higher COVID rates and greater pandemic-related restrictions during 2021. Loneliness was lower among students reporting more days on campus in 2021 and for those with lectures on campus in 2022, both with dose-response associations. Conclusions Loneliness is a major public health problem among young adults in higher education. Loneliness increased during the pandemic and has decreased but is still not back to pre-pandemic levels. The results suggest the importance of open campuses and in-person lectures, for increased social connectedness among young people.
Decadal variations of the relationship between the summer North Atlantic Oscillation and middle East Asian air temperature

[1] The relationship between the summer (July–September) North Atlantic Oscillation (SNAO) and simultaneous East Asian air temperature is investigated. The results show that the SNAO is related to middle East Asian summer air temperature, however this linkage varies with time on decadal timescale: a strong connection appears after the late 1970s but a weak connection before the late 1970s. Further analysis indicates that this instable relationship may have resulted from the shift of the SNAO mode around the late 1970s. In the period of 1979–2003, the centers of the SNAO mode are located more eastward. A positive-phase (negative-phase) SNAO produces a strong lower-level divergence (convergence) over the Asian jet entrance region, in turn stimulates a strong upper-level convergence (divergence) via the Ekman pumping. Such a convergence (divergence) then excites a zonally oriented quasi-stationary barotropical Rossby wave train along the Asian upper-level jet. Thus the SNAO signal is transported eastward to East Asia, resulting in an anomalous summer air temperature over middle East Asia. However, in the period of 1951–1975, the centers of the SNAO mode are located more westward. The associated upper-level divergence/convergence is away from the Asian jet entrance region, and the SNAO signal cannot be transported eastward to East Asia. Hence the connection is broken.
Performance of African marigold (Tagetes errecta) cultivars for vegetative, flower and chemical traits at different locations of Ethiopia

Despite the African marigold (Tagetes erecta L.) is one of the most commercially exploited flower and medicinal crops in the world and have received great attention in scientific research in the recent past, the plant has never been tested under Ethiopian condition for its agronomic and chemical traits. Thus, the present study was conducted with the main objective to evaluate the growth, yield and quality attributes of three introduced African marigold cultivars. The experiments were conducted at six locations in Ethiopia using a randomized complete block design with three replications. Data on vegetative growth, flower characteristics, inflorescence yield, and xanthophyll content were collected and statistically tested. Significant variation (P < 0.01) was observed among cultivars across the tested locations for all the studied parameters. Overall higher values of plant height (65.48 cm), branch number plant-1 (89.09), inflorescence number plant-1 (76.89), inflorescence weight (25.48 g), inflorescence yield plant-1 (560.77 g) and inflorescence yield ha-1 (18 t) were obtained in AVT001 cultivar and flower xanthophyll content (27.6 mg g-1) in AVT540 cultivar; while lowest values were rerecorded for all characters in Hewoyde cultivar. Inflorescence yield ha-1 was found positively and significantly correlated with all parameters except xanthophyll content. Xanthophyll content was found positively and significantly correlated with flower weight. As the cultivars AVT001 and AVT540 are adapted very well and gave comparable and/or higher yields with the other marigold growing countries, the two cultivars can be recommended for commercial cultivation of their inflorescence and extracted pigments in Ethiopia.
Wavelet‐based multifractal analysis of field scale variability in soil water retention

Better understanding of spatial variability of soil hydraulic parameters and their relationships to other soil properties is essential to scale‐up measured hydraulic parameters and to improve the predictive capacity of pedotransfer functions. The objective of this study was to characterize scaling properties and the persistency of water retention parameters and soil physical properties. Soil texture, bulk density, organic carbon content, and the parameters of the van Genuchten water retention function were determined on 128 soil cores from a 384‐m transect with a sandy loam soil, located at Smeaton, SK, Canada. The wavelet transform modulus maxima, or WTMM, technique was used in the multifractal analysis. Results indicate that the fitted water retention parameters had higher small‐scale variability and lower persistency than the measured soil physical properties. Of the three distinct scaling ranges identified, the middle region (8–128 m) had a multifractal‐type scaling. The generalized Hurst exponent indicated that the measured soil properties were more persistent than the fitted soil hydraulic parameters. The relationships observed here imply that soil physical properties are better predictors of water retention values at larger spatial scales than at smaller scales.
Tidal asymmetry in an estuarine pycnocline. 2. Transport

Flood currents in shallow estuaries are driven by an along-channel barotropic and baroclinic pressure gradient that increases monotonically toward the bottom, while friction retards near-bottom currents. Therefore, in many estuaries there is a middepth maximum in flood currents. We explore this phenomenon using a simple three-layer model in which each layer has vertically uniform currents and constant density. In this model the middle layer is of intermediate density and grows by shear-induced entrainment from the other two layers. This very simple model produces a middepth maximum in flood currents and simulates observed currents in the Columbia River entrance channel within about 10%. There is good qualitative agreement between model salinity transport and observed transport. The model pycnocline rises and falls tidally, in phase with the observed pycnocline, although pycnocline depth and thickness are better simulated using results from a two-layer model [Cudaback and Jay, 2000].
Destination-Oriented Data Collection and Uploading for Mobile Crowdsensing With Multiagent Deep Reinforcement Learning

Data collection and uploading are among the most fundamental problems in an mobile crowdsensing (MCS) system and involve complicated interactions among the system’s platform, mobile users, data collection tasks, and data relaying devices. In the article, we propose a destination-oriented data collection and uploading (DDCU) problem in MCS to facilitate cooperation among various entities. In DDCU, mobile device users are recruited as workers to complete data collection tasks and aim to reach their destinations after collecting the required data. At the same time, edge servers are recruited as data relaying devices to share their idle network resources and gain extra profit. The DDCU problem aims to help an MCS platform plan efficient sensing paths for workers to maximize the platform’s total profit. We further prove the DDCU problem to be NP-hard and thus require a time-efficient approximation-based method to solve the problem. In Xu and Song (2022), we proposed communication-QMIX-based multiagent deep reinforcement learning (CQDRL) as a decentralized method for an MCS routing problem. Although CQDRL was proven effective with high performance, it explicitly targets graph-based problems with two types of nodes and requires considerable effort to be extended to more heterogeneous graph problems. In this article, we propose CQDRL-S by simplifying the graph processing part of CQDRL to solve the DDCU problem with three types of nodes. More importantly, CQDRL-S can potentially be extended to other heterogeneous graph problems with moderate modifications. Extensive experiments further justify the effectiveness, efficiency, and simplicity of CQDRL-S in dealing with the DDCU problem.
Education is power: preserving cognition in the UK biobank

Introduction Dementia is a debilitating syndrome characterized by the gradual loss of memory and cognitive function. Although there are currently limited, largely symptomatic treatments for the diseases that can lead to dementia, its onset may be prevented by identifying and modifying relevant life style risk factors. Commonly described modifiable risk factors include diet, physical inactivity, and educational attainment. Importantly, however, to maximize the utility of our understanding of these risk factors, tangible and meaningful changes to policy must also be addressed. Objectives Here, we aim to identify the mechanism(s) by which educational attainment influences cognition. Methods We investigated data from 502,357 individuals (Mage = 56.53, SDage = 8.09, 54.40% female) from the UK Biobank cohort via Structural Equation Modelling to illustrate links between predictor variables (i.e., Townsend Deprivation Index, coastal distance, greenspace, years of education), covariates (i.e., participant age) and cognitive function as outcome variables (i.e., pairs-matching, trail-making task B, fluid intelligence). Results Our model demonstrated that higher education was associated with better cognitive performance (ps < 0.001), and this relationship was mediated by indices of deprivation, and coastal distance. Conclusion Accordingly, our model evinces the mediating effect of socioeconomic and environmental factors on the relationship between years of education and cognitive function. These results further demonstrate the utility and necessity of adapting public policy to encourage equitable access to education and other supports in deprived areas.
Paradoxes of the Last Interglacial climate: reconstruction of the northern Eurasia climate based on palaeofloristic data

Main climatic indexes (mean January, July and annual temperatures; duration of the frost‐free period; seasonal and annual precipitation; and annual potential evaporation) are estimated for the Last Interglacial Eemian–Mikulino–Kazantsevo–Oxygen Isotopic Substage 5e) climatic optimum in northern Eurasia. Reconstructions are based on the palaeofloristic data from 29 sites. The distribution of temperature deviations from present‐day values in northern Eurasia, as well as in the northern hemisphere as a whole, indicates certain areas where temperatures during the Last Interglacial climatic optimum were lower than at present. The greatest positive deviations occurred in the high latitudes and gradually decreased towards mid‐latitudes. At about 45°N the mean January temperature was close to that of the present day. For the mean July temperature, the zone with minor deviations is situated further to the north, at 55°N. South of 50°N, an area with small negative temperature deviations from the present‐day values is reconstructed. A similar decrease in temperature deviations from high to low latitudes was the general tendency in various warm epochs, including the Holocene and the Eocene optima. In the arid and semi‐arid regions of northern Eurasia, a considerable increase in precipitation took place, while air temperatures were close to those of the present or even slightly lower. Another peculiarity of the climate in the Last Interglacial climatic optimum relates to the meridional temperature gradient, one of the factors strongly influencing the intensity of the Westerlies in the mid‐latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Our reconstructions for northern Eurasia tend to contradict this rule. The paradox can be explained by a compensation mechanism: a substantial increase in winter temperature in Siberia indicates that the Siberian atmospheric High was weaker and smaller at the Last Interglacial climatic optimum than at present. The reduced role of the Siberian High was compensated by more frequent invasions of the Atlantic air masses from the west, even though the meridional temperature gradient was smaller than at present.
Artificial Intelligence in Surgical Training for Kidney Cancer: A Systematic Review of the Literature

The prevalence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is increasing due to advanced imaging techniques. Surgical resection is the standard treatment, involving complex radical and partial nephrectomy procedures that demand extensive training and planning. Furthermore, artificial intelligence (AI) can potentially aid the training process in the field of kidney cancer. This review explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can create a framework for kidney cancer surgery to address training difficulties. Following PRISMA 2020 criteria, an exhaustive search of PubMed and SCOPUS databases was conducted without any filters or restrictions. Inclusion criteria encompassed original English articles focusing on AI’s role in kidney cancer surgical training. On the other hand, all non-original articles and articles published in any language other than English were excluded. Two independent reviewers assessed the articles, with a third party settling any disagreement. Study specifics, AI tools, methodologies, endpoints, and outcomes were extracted by the same authors. The Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine’s evidence levels were employed to assess the studies. Out of 468 identified records, 14 eligible studies were selected. Potential AI applications in kidney cancer surgical training include analyzing surgical workflow, annotating instruments, identifying tissues, and 3D reconstruction. AI is capable of appraising surgical skills, including the identification of procedural steps and instrument tracking. While AI and augmented reality (AR) enhance training, challenges persist in real-time tracking and registration. The utilization of AI-driven 3D reconstruction proves beneficial for intraoperative guidance and preoperative preparation. Artificial intelligence (AI) shows potential for advancing surgical training by providing unbiased evaluations, personalized feedback, and enhanced learning processes. Yet challenges such as consistent metric measurement, ethical concerns, and data privacy must be addressed. The integration of AI into kidney cancer surgical training offers solutions to training difficulties and a boost to surgical education. However, to fully harness its potential, additional studies are imperative.
Algorithms for remote sensing of high concentration, inorganic suspended sediment

Abstract A numerical simulation of a two-flow reflectance equation was used to fit aircraft radiance data taken from a high turbidity macrotidal region. The coefficients of the model were fitted on a trial-and-error basis but with reference to known physical conditions. Both a concentration and a wavelength dependence of the optical coefficients were necessary in order to produce the final scattering to absorption ratios. The simulation study also indicated that the maximum upwell-ing wavelength could be a pertinent parameter in helping to identify water masses. The simulated remote sensing algorithms worked equally well with both the Landsat MSS data and with Nimbus-7 CZCS data, the latter taken from two regions, the Bay of Fundy and the Beaufort Sea. The comparative analysis between image ground truthing and model predictions encountered three major limitations: (1) uncertainty in the atmospheric conditions and hence correction routines, (2) the influence of highly absorbing dissolved material associate.
Dynamical-chemical model of fluctuations in the OH airglow driven by migrating tides, stationary tides, and planetary waves

The theory of tidally driven fluctuations in the OH airglow, generalized to account for emission from an extended layer, is applied to airglow fluctuations due to both migrating and zonally symmetric tides and free traveling planetary (Rossby) waves. Krassovsky`s ratio {eta}{sub E} (the ratio of normalized airglow fluctuation intensity to normalized temperature fluctuation) is evaluated for a suite of tidal modes and for the traveling planetary waves. Values of {eta}{sub E} are distinct enough to allow for identification of a variety of tidal modes and planetary waves in airglow observations. The theory predicts that airglow observations at very high latitude should contain prominent signatures of zonally symmetric tidal modes with periods of 6,8, and 12 hours. 32 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs.
Annotated checklist of the freshwater fishes of Peru

Ortega, Hernan, and Richard P. Vari. Annotated Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Peru. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, number 437, 25 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, 1986. —Listed here are 736 species of native and introduced fishes of 301 genera for the freshwaters of Peru. Eighty-five percent of the species inhabit the Amazonian drainages of the eastern portion of the country, 5.3% of the ichthyofauna occurs in the Lago Titicaca drainage basin of the Andean altiplano, 2.8% of the fishes are found in high-altitude Andean rivers, and only 5% of the species live in the widely separated rivers of the xeric Pacific coastal slope. Introduced species constitute 1.8% of the fauna and are largely utilized in fish culture. The number of species cited for the fresh waters of Peru has increased 31.5% since the last checklist by Fowler (1945a), and species described since that compilation represent 18.7% of the ichthyofauna.
Low-frequency temperature variations from a northern tree ring density

We describe new reconstructions of northern extratropical summer temperatures for nine subcontinental-scale regions and a composite series representing quasi “Northern Hemisphere” temperature change over the last 600 years. These series are based on tree ring density data that have been processed using a novel statistical technique (age band decomposition) designed to preserve greater long-timescale variability than in previous analyses. We provide time-dependent and timescale-dependent uncertainty estimates for all of the reconstructions. The new regional estimates are generally cooler in almost all precalibration periods, compared to estimates obtained using earlier processing methods, particularly during the 17th century. One exception is the reconstruction for northern Siberia, where 15th century summers are now estimated to be warmer than those observed in the 20th century. In producing a new Northern Hemisphere series we demonstrate the sensitivity of the results to the methodology used once the number of regions with data, and the reliability of each regional series, begins to decrease. We compare our new hemisphere series to other published large-regional temperature histories, most of which lie within the 1σ confidence band of our estimates over most of the last 600 years. The 20th century is clearly shown by all of the palaeoseries composites to be the warmest during this period.
Pharmacological Akt and JNK Kinase Inhibitors 10-DEBC and SP600125 Potentiate Anti-Glioblastoma Effect of Menadione and Ascorbic Acid Combination in Human U251 Glioblastoma Cells

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most lethal primary brain tumor in adults, characterized by a highly invasive nature and therapy resistance. Combination of menadione and ascorbic acid (AA+MD) exerts strong ROS-mediated anti-GBM activity in vitro. The objective of this study was to improve AA+MD anti-GBM potential by modulating the activity of Akt and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), molecules with an important role in GBM development. The effects of Akt and JNK modulation on AA+MD toxicity in U251 human glioblastoma cells were assessed by cell viability assays, flow cytometry, RNA interference and plasmid overexpression, and immunoblot analysis. The AA+MD induced severe oxidative stress, an early increase in Akt phosphorylation followed by its strong inhibition, persistent JNK activation, and U251 cell death. Small molecule Akt kinase inhibitor 10-DEBC enhanced, while pharmacological and genetic Akt activation decreased, AA+MD-induced toxicity. The U251 cell death potentiation by 10-DEBC correlated with an increase in the combination-induced autophagic flux and was abolished by genetic autophagy silencing. Additionally, pharmacological JNK inhibitor SP600125 augmented combination toxicity toward U251 cells, an effect linked with increased ROS accumulation. These results indicate that small Akt and JNK kinase inhibitors significantly enhance AA+MD anti-GBM effects by autophagy potentiation and amplifying deleterious ROS levels.
Correlation between speed and size for ejecta from hypervelocity impacts

Ejecta created in hypervelocity impacts of micrometeoroids on atmosphereless bodies are an efficient source for circumplanetary and interplanetary dust. The impact erodes the target surface and releases material into space. The ejecta are typically micron sized and populate a dust cloud around the parent body, whose number density decreases with increasing distance from the target. Unbound particles escape and add to the planetary dust environment. Here we explore the influence of a correlation between the fragment size and the ejection speed, such that larger fragments are (on average) launched with lower speeds. This behavior is suggested by theoretical considerations and impact experiments. We find that such a correlation provides a dynamical filter that removes large ejecta from high altitudes. The effect is stronger for bigger ejecta and for more massive parent bodies. Our results suggest that large particles found in the circumplanetary and interplanetary dust environment either originate from impacts on smaller moons, impacts of unusually large or fast impactors, or an entirely different process of dust production.