Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Space and Time Evolution of Rupture and Faulting during the 1999 İzmit (Turkey) Earthquake

We use the records of the ground motion obtained at near-fault accelerometers to study the space and time evolution of rupture and faulting during the Izmit earthquake. We find that the rupture propagated at the sub-Rayleigh speed of about 3 km/sec on the western and eastern segments of the fault, but that the central segment (Izmit-Sapanca Lake-Sakarya), nearly 50 km long, broke at the supershear speed of about 4.8 km/sec. This value, within the range of uncertainties, is the one theoretically predicted ( \(\sqrt{2}V_{\mathrm{S}}\) ) in fracture dynamics for stable shear crack growth at intersonic speed. We infer an average fault slip of about 2.9 m over a total rupture length of about 150 km, with the largest values (of up to 6 m) occurring in the Golcuk area to the west and in the Sakarya region to the east. The strong-motion data also indicate that the slip diminished gradually to the west beyond the Hersek peninsula over about 30 km, whereas it stopped abruptly at depth at the termination of the eastern (Karadere) segment. The slip duration is between 2 and 4 sec, except in the hypocentral area, which slipped in about 1 sec. The seismic moment inferred is about 2.5 × 10 20 N m.
Moon, Sun and Witches: Gender Ideologies and Class in Inca and Colonial Peru

When the Spanish arrived in Peru in 1532, men of the Inca Umpire worshipped the Sun as Father and their dead kings as ancestor heroes, while women venerated the Moon and her daughters, the Inca queens, as founders of female dynasties. In the pre-Inca period such notions of parallel descent were expressions of complementarity between men and women. Examining the interplay between gender ideologies and political hierarchy. Irene Silverblatt shows how Inca rulers used their Sun and Moon traditions as methods of controlling women and the Andean peoples the Incas conquered. She then explores the process by which the Spaniards employed European male and female imageries to establish their own rule in Peru and to make new inroads on the power of native women, particularly poor peasant women. Harassed economically and abused sexually, Andean women fought back, earning in the process the Spaniards' condemnation as "witches. " Fresh from the European witch hunts that damned women for susceptibility to heresy and diabolic influence, Spanish clerics were predisposed to charge politically disruptive poor women with witchcraft. Professor Silverblatt shows that these very accusations provided women with an ideology of rebellion and a method for defending their culture.
A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:Obesity is a growing chronic health problem worldwide. Studies about acupuncture for obesity treatment are many. But there are some doubts about the effectiveness of acupuncture vs sham acupuncture in treating obesity due to its lack of an evidence-based medical proof. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of acupuncture for obesity treatment and provide clinic evidence. Methods: This protocol was based on the previous reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis agreements. Four English databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) and 4 Chinese databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese BioMedical Database, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, WanFang Data) will be searched from their receptions to August 2019. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using acupuncture compared sham acupuncture (or no treatment) to treat simple obesity will be included. The primary outcome of bodymass index (BMI) and body weight (BW) will be used to measure the effect of acupuncture on obesity. According to the trial data extraction form based on the Cochrane Handbook, 2 reviewers will separately extract the data. Risk of bias of the RCTs will be assessed by the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Publication bias will be assessed with funnel plots. Results: This study will be to evaluate whether acupuncture is an effective intervention for simple obesity when compared with sham acupuncture. Conclusion: The conclusion of this study will help clinicians provide effective treatment options for obese patients. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required for systematic review and metaanalysis. The results of this review will be disseminated in a peer-review journal. PROSPERO registration number: PROSPERO CRD42019129825. Abbreviations: BMI = body mass index, BW = body weight, CI = confidence interval, HDL-C = high density lipoprotein cholesterol, LDL-C = low density lipoprotein cholesterol, MD = mean difference, TC = serum cholesterol, TG = triglyceride, WC = waist circumference, WHR = waist-hip ratios.
Traveling ionospheric disturbances propagating ahead of the Tohoku-Oki tsunami: a case study

We document two kinds of traveling ionospheric disturbances, namely, CTIDs (Co-tsunami-Traveling-Ionospheric-disturbances) and ATIDs (Ahead-of-Tsunami-Traveling-Ionospheric-disturbances) related to the Tohoku-Oki tsunami of 2011 March 11. They are referred to the disturbances that remain behind and ahead of the principal tsunami wave front, respectively. We first note their presence in a numerical experiment performed using a simulation code coupling the tsunami, atmosphere and ionosphere. This code uses the tsunami wavefield as an input and simulates acoustic-gravity waves (AGWs) in the atmosphere and TIDs, in the form of total electron content (TEC) disturbance, in the ionosphere. The simulated TEC reveals the excitation of CTIDs (at about 2 TECU) and ATIDs (at about 1 TECU), representing up to 5 per cent disturbance over the ambient electron density, and they arise from the dissipation of AGWs in the thermosphere. A novel outcome is that during the tsunami passage between ∼6° and 12° of epicentral distance, strong ATIDs arrive ∼20–60 min ahead of the tsunami wave front covering ∼3°–10° of distance from the tsunami location. Simulation results are compared with the far-field observations using GNSS satellites and confirm that ATIDs are the first detected TEC maximum, occurring 20–60 min ahead of the tsunami arrival. Our simulation also confirms the presence of largest TEC maximum representing CTIDs, 10–20 min after the first tsunami wave. ATIDs reported in this study have characteristics that can be potentially used for the early warning of the tsunami.
Les fonctions distances pour évaluer la performance productive d'exploitations agricoles

Cet article met en evidence les possibilites d’application operationnelle des fonctions distances non parametriques pour etablir un diagnostic de performance des entreprises. Une etude sur un echantillon de 600 exploitations agricoles en moyenne soit specialisees (en grandes cultures ou production animale) soit mixtes, observees dans le departement de la Meuse, montre la coherence d’une telle analyse avec les approches usuelles par les ratios techniques et economiques. Par ailleurs, les auteurs mettent en evidence la pertinence des informations complementaires que cette methode non parametrique genere notamment en permettant de dissocier les composantes techniques et d’echelle de la mesure de la performance globale.
The effect of plant patch size and spatial pattern on biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and grassland community structure

THE EFFECT OF PLANT PATCH SIZE AND SPATIAL PATTERN ON BIODIVERSITY, ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS, AND GRASSLAND COMMUNITY STRUCTURE Shannon E. Seahra Advisor: University of Guelph, 2015 Professor J. A. Newman The interactions between plants that determine competition and coexistence are strongly influenced by their fine-scale spatial pattern. These interactions also ultimately influence diversity, function, and structure in plant communities. In areas that have undergone extensive land-use or anthropogenic degradation, such as North American grasslands, there is a critical need to understand how spatial patterning of plant species can be manipulated to maximize diversity and restoration success. The research presented in this thesis employed a novel planting strategy using conspecific patch sizes at seeding to spatially manipulate interand intraspecific interactions among native grassland plant species. I found that seeded patch size had strong effects on diversity maintenance, biodiversity effects, productivity, and invasion, and that the typical uniformly mixed seeding approach in biodiversity ecosystem function studies and restoration applications may not maximize these responses. Smaller patch plots tend to have strong selection effects from dominant forb species, although this may change over time. Additionally, there were species-specific and plant functional group-specific responses to patch size that should be considered in restoration of low-diversity sites. The initial fine-scale plant pattern of had measurable effects on the spatial abundance of species, functional groups, and invasion. Finally, I found that initial patch size had strong effects on the abundance several insect families that are ecologically relevant. Furthermore, the abundance of arthropod herbivores, parasitoids, and predators were significantly influenced as well, with variable relationships to patch size. These findings help to further our understanding of how plant species spatial pattern affects biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and community structure, as well as provide novel ideas for planting strategies in grassland restoration.
Long-term mapping of ecosystem services in a river-floodplain system

ii Preface . iii Table of contents . iv List of tables.x List of figures . xii List of abbreviations . xvii Acknowledgements . xviii Dedication . xix Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 1.1 Spatial approaches for understanding ES . 3 1.2 Long-term approaches needed . 7 1.3 Approaches and objectives . 8 Chapter 2: Historically, how does frontier settlement vary with landscape position? 11 Chapter 3: How has land cover and ES capacity changed over time? 11 Chapter 4: How do baselines improve our understanding of ES interactions? 12 Chapter 5: How can river-floodplain concepts improve our understanding of the spatial variability of ES capacity? 12 Chapter 6 (Conclusion): How might floodplain ES interact under diminishing snowpack conditions? 12 Chapter 2: Historic land surveys present opportunities for reconstructing frontier settlement patterns in North America.14 v 2.1 Background . 14 2.1.1 Historically, which anthropogenic linear disturbances co-occur? 15 2.1.2 Did historical disturbances vary with landscape position? 16 2.2 Methods. 16 2.2.1 Study site . 16 2.2.2 Data entry . 18 2.2.3 Fraudulent surveys . 20 2.2.4 Landscape position defined by topographic wetness index (TWI) . 20 2.3 Statistical analysis . 22 2.3. 1 Historically, which anthropogenic linear disturbances co-occur? 22 2.3. 2 Did historical disturbances vary with landscape position? 24 2.4 Results . 25 2.4. 1 Historically, which anthropogenic linear disturbances co-occur? 25 2.4. 2 Did historical disturbances vary with landscape position? 25 2.5 Discussion . 29 2.5. 1 Ecological consequences of linear anthropogenic disturbance . 29 2.5. 2 Legacies of historical floodplain fragmentation . 31 2.6 Conclusion . 32 Chapter 3: Long-term changes in the capacity of a river-floodplain to provide ecosystem services . 33 3.
Heavy metal contamination in leaves of Mangifera indica around a coal fired thermal power plant in India

The aim of this study is to evaluate the differences in the bioaccumulation of some elements in Mangifera indica tree leaves grown around a coal fired Thermal Power Plant (affected areas) and in other areas (control) 25 km away from Thermal Power Plant (TPP). Toxic group of metals (Pb, Cd and Cr) in an average displayed higher levels (28.0, 2.4 and 3.2 ppm for Pb, Cd and Cr respectively) in plants grown in affected sites with distinct temporal and spatial variation in comparison to samples in control areas (0.09 to 2.2 ppm for Pb, 0.01 to 1.1 ppm for Cd and 0.01 to 0.65 ppm for Cr). Such types of variations were not encountered significantly in cases of the essential metals (Cu, Zn, Ni and Fe). Strong positive correlation (P > 0.05) between the pairs of toxic metals in affected sites could be associated with their similar anthropogenic source. This resulted in higher contamination factor (CF > 6) of the toxic metals in plant leaves grown in the periphery of the TPP. The ash contamination from TPP might play an active role for this metal enrichment in plant leaves. The leaves of this plant could be classified as considerable degree of heavy metal pollution during the year and this might affect the productivity of this important commercial plant to a great extent. The winter months might represent the best sampling period for evaluation of the suitability of this plant as bio-indicator of metal pollution. Key words: Bioaccumulation, degree of contamination, heavy metals, Mangifera indica, spatial and temporal variation.
A Systematic Review on the Effectiveness of Antipsychotic Drugs on the Quality of Life of Patients with Schizophrenia

Pharmacological antipsychotic drug interventions represent the cornerstone of the management of patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic spectrum disorders. The choice of the “best” treatment should be made on the basis of several clinical domains. However, despite available treatments, the quality of life reported by patients with schizophrenia taking antipsychotics is still very poor, and this outcome is rarely taken into account in trials assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of antipsychotic treatments. Therefore, we performed a systematic review in order to assess the impact of antipsychotic treatment on patients’ quality of life. In particular, we aimed to identify any differences in the improvement in quality of life according to the (a) type of formulation of antipsychotic drugs (i.e., oral vs. depot vs. long-acting injectable); (b) type of the drug (first vs. second vs. third generation); and (c) patients’ clinical characteristics. One hundred and eleven papers were included in the review. The main findings were as follows: (1) quality of life is usually considered a secondary outcome in trials on the efficacy and effectiveness of drugs; (2) second-generation antipsychotics have a more positive effect on quality of life; and (3) long-acting injectable antipsychotics are associated with a more stable improvement in quality of life and with a good safety and tolerability profile. Our systematic review confirms that quality of life represents a central element for selecting the appropriate treatment for people with schizophrenia. In particular, the availability of new treatments with a better tolerability profile, a proven effectiveness on patients’ cognitive and social functioning, and with a more stable blood concentration might represent the appropriate strategy for improving the quality of life of people with schizophrenia.
COVID-19 and lung cancer

Summary COVID-19 pandemic had affected health services around the world, also reducing the diagnosis of lung cancer. On the other hand, examination of surgical specimens in patients with lung cancer and SARS-CoV-2 gave the opportunity to evidence early histologic features related to this emerging pandemic. Different prioritization of health organizations during COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant decline of lung cancer screening (up to 56%), delayed diagnosis (up to 30-40%) and higher advanced stage, with some exceptions (i.e., Canada). Increased use of stereotactic radiation treatments in stage I-IIA have been noticed in better-organized health systems. Surgical specimens performed for lung cancer in patients with incipient SARS-CoV-2 permitted to appreciate early histologic findings of COVID-19 with hyperplastic pneumocytes with/without fibrin exudate, alveolar macrophages/myeloid cells, perivascular T-lymphocytic infiltrate and lack of hyaline membrane. While the COVID-19 pandemic has declined the rate of lung cancer diagnosis worldwide, some institutions have significantly limited detrimental effects. Histology related to early SARS-CoV-2 infection in surgical samples for lung cancer revealed specific histologic changes.
LDH-A Inhibitor as a Remedy to Potentiate the Anticancer Effect of Docetaxel in Prostate Cancer

Increased LDH-A activity promotes tumor growth, migration, invasion, and metastasis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the combination of LDH-A inhibitor and Docetaxel on apoptosis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the murine prostate cancer (PCa) model. The prostate cancer murine model was developed subcutaneously in 50 male B57CL/6 mice using the Tramp-C2 prostate cancer cell line. From the tumor tissue samples, apoptosis analysis was performed using TUNEL staining, and EMT was investigated using western blot and qPCR. Hematoxylin-eosin staining (HE) and Periodic acid-Schiff staining were used to histopathologically examine liver and kidney tissues. Lactate levels revealed that the Warburg effect was reversed with the LDH-A inhibitor. Both serum and tumor tissue apoptosis increased, and tumor sizes reduced in PCa+LDH-A inhibitor + Docetaxel treatment groups (p<0.05). The combination of LDH-A inhibitor and Docetaxel inhibited EMT mechanism by causing a decrease in Snail, Slug, Twist, and HIF-1α expressions as well as a decrease in N-cadherin and an increase in E-cadherin levels. Reprogramming glucose metabolism with an LDH-A inhibitor can increase the effectiveness of Docetaxel on apoptosis and metastasis mechanisms in PCa.
Fast method for face location and tracking by distributed behaviour-based agents

The authors present a novel approach for fast human face location and tracking in colour image sequences. First, a number of colour-sensitive behaviour-based agents are uniformly distributed in the 2-D image environment to search the skin-like pixels and mark the face-like regions by activating their evolutionary behaviour. Then the shape information of each face candidate region is examined and the face regions are finally determined by fuzzy shape feature analysis. Experimental results show that the tracking speed is about 30 frames per second for a 160 /spl times/ 120 video size and 12 fps for a 320 /spl times/ 240 video size.
A numerical analysis of the stress distribution in backfilled stopes considering nonplanar interfaces between the backfill and rock walls

Estimation of stresses in backfilled stopes is a critical issue for backfill design in underground mines. This task can be accomplished by numerical modeling. To date, most numerical modelings were performed without considering interface elements between the backfill and rock walls. The few published works using planar fill–wall interfaces showed that the stress states can be different than those obtained by numerical modeling without considering interface elements, especially when the shear strength of the planar interfaces is lower than that of the backfill. This tends to indicate that the stress estimation in backfilled stopes must be made by accounting for the (planar) fill–wall interfaces. In practice, blasting is commonly used in hard rock mines, and the stope walls are seldom regular and planar. Consequently, it is expected to be more appropriate to analyze the mechanical behavior of the backfill by considering nonplanar interfaces. In this paper, the stress distributions along the vertical central line of 2D backfilled stopes are analyzed using FLAC3D by considering nonplanar interface elements. The asperities of nonplanar interfaces are idealized by saw teeth and the roughness of interfaces is characterized by the teeth height and angle. The numerical results show that the stress state within backfilled stopes can be largely dependent on the shear strength and geometry of the interfaces. This indicates that a survey of the actual rock wall faces should be made and taken into account in the numerical modelings to obtain a better estimate of the stresses in the backfilled stopes. Nevertheless, the results further show that the numerical modelings using planar fill–wall contacts without interface elements lead to comparable stress distributions as those obtained by considering nonplanar interface elements when the interfaces are rough enough. More results are presented by considering different stope geometries and mechanical properties of the backfill with nonplanar interface elements.
CHANNEL WIDTHS CHANGES ALONG THE MIDDLE RIO GRANDE, NM

This paper describes the temporal and spatial characteristics of the river channel width of the middle Rio Grande during the twentieth century. The Rio Grande is an alluvial river that originates in the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado and runs through New Mexico and Texas and along the border between Texas and Mexico. Historically, it had a wide, sandy, braided planform with a high sediment load and was aggrading (Scurlock 1998 and Lagasse 1980).
The oldest and first nearly complete skeleton of a chelid, of the Hydromedusa sub-group (Chelidae, Pleurodira), from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia

A new pleurodiran (side necked) turtle is described on material from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, from sediments outcropping at Cerro Blanco, Yaminue Creek, Rio Negro, Argentina. The sediments are compared to those from the Pellegrini lake area referred to the middle Member of the Allen Formation, Upper Campanian-Lower Maastrichtian. Yaminuechelys gasparinii n.g. , n.sp. , is a pleurodiran turtle on the pelvis sutured to the shell and a chelid on the formula of cervical vertebrae and the lateral cheek emargination, deeply extended towards (as here) or up to the posterior emargination. It is the oldest record of a nearly complete skeleton of a chelid, long necked (elongated cervical vertebrae, lowered skull), and the first sufficiently known of the Chelodina-Hydromedusa group (elongated skull, lowered neural arch and centrum of the cervicals, low zygapophyses processes, strong polygoned decoration) and of the Hydromedusa sub-group (widened inner nares by reduced palatine ossification). The carapace is 41,8 cm long. It is more primitive than Hydromedusa (Eocene-Extant, South America) and retains primitive characters either still present or no more present in the other chelids of the Pseudemydura, Emydura and Phrynops groups (short necked) and Chelus group (long necked), representing the anterior clades of phyletic diversification [Gaffney, 1977], or evolutive grades, of the family. Such are plesiomorphic, relative to Hydromedusa, the less pronounced lateral skull emargination, wider and longer hyoid elements, wider nucal and cervical, this not drawn back, presence of lateral mesoplastra, not shortened bridge, straight borders of the not shortened and not widened posterior plastral lobe, amphicoelous sacrals and caudal vertebrae uniting amphicoelous, concavoplaty--(i.e. anteriorly concave, posteriorly flat) and procoelous or weakly procoelous elements. As Hydromedusa, Yaminuechelys n. g. retains primitive characters such as the long series of neurals, the very lateral attachment of the axillar and inguinal processes and the attachment of the pelvis, below pleural 8 (and 7 in the extant form) and a small part of the suprapygal, and the ischitatic sutures prolonged on the xiphiplastral points. It is distinguished by the apomorphic presence of a wide and week anterior carapacial notch. Yaminuechelys n.g. , or aff. Yaminuechelys spp. are known in Patagonia by fragmentary remains in a dozen of Upper Cretaceous and two Palaeocene localities. Before them, chelids are known in the world only by undefined smaller forms from Lower Albian and Upper Albian-Cenomanian Patagonian localities. In Australia, they are known from Palaeocene-Lower Eocene (no Cretaceous data before) with already extant Australian diversified forms. Yaminuechelys n.g. demonstrates how long the diversification in chelids is realized in South Gondwana before the full break of the continents.