Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The dammed Hikurangi Trough: a channel‐fed trench blocked by subducting seamounts and their wake avalanches (New Zealand–France GeodyNZ Project)

The Hikurangi Trough, off eastern New Zealand, is at the southern end of the Tonga–Kermadec–Hikurangi subduction system, which merges into a zone of intracontinental transform. The trough is mainly a turbidite‐filled structural trench but includes an oblique‐collision, foredeep basin. Its northern end has a sharp boundary with the deep, sediment‐starved, Kermadec Trench.
The annual heat balance of the surface 100 meters of the northwest Gulf of Alaska shelf

Oceanographic and aeteorologic data collected from 1970 to 1978 on the northern Gulf of Alaska shelf are used to compute monthly heat budgets within the surface 100 m for a composite year. During months of net heat gain, radiation is the primary source. Latent and sensible heat transfer dominate during months of net heat loss. Persistent downwelling is the second most important route for heat loss. During winter, alongshore advection is the principal contributor of heat to this region. Cross-shelf advection and diffusion of heat are of minor importance throughout the year and generally counter each other. The prevalence of onshore Efcman transport explains the cross-shelf variation in the annual amf&iCude of heat content and the differential propagation rates of surface temperature anomalies to greater depths. No significant linear relationships were determined between anom­ alies of surface heat transfer and sea surface temperature. Several hypotheses are presented to explain this result. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My education and thesis owe much to the guidance and support of numerous people. I thank Dr. Joe Niebauer, my major advisor, for his assistance throughout ttieSe years of study. I deeply appreciate his encouraging me in a variety of oceanographic experiences and his un­ derstanding during periods of~doubt and anxiety. Gratitude is extended to the rest of my committee, Dr. Thomas C. Royer, Dr. William S. Reeburg and Dr. Tsuneo NishiyasMk, for their willingness to advise and discuss oceanography and nearly any other topic with me. Knowing these people has been a personal and professional reward. Thanks are given to Karl Haflinger, Dave Musgrave, Dr. Jack Colonell, Terry Carpenter, Dave Nebert, Phred Short, Jeanne Lapsa and Ray Hadley for providing ways and means. I especially acknowledge Cydney Hansen, Arlene Vaughn and the cheerful IMS data management personnel for their assistance in the extensive data reduction this study required. I thank Steve Worley who dared me to study physical . ■ -• ■ ■ • / oceanography. Finally, I thank my family Whose efforts over the years are ultimately responsible for my education. This study and student wfere supported by federal Sea Grant Office contracts, SG-04-7-158-44006, SGG4-8-M01-49 and SG04-M01-187 to the University of Alaska.
Separation of chosen heavy metals from multi-component mixtures and galvanic wastewater in adsorption on unmodified and modified magnetite

Adsorption is often proposed for the separation of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. The composition of the solution and the presence of the competing ions can strongly affect the process efficiency. To improve the effectiveness of adsorbents, various modifications are applied, including the functionalization of adsorbents with appropriate chemical compounds. This work aimed to investigate and compare two nanoadsorbents – unmodified magnetite and magnetite modified with poly(sodium acrylate) (PSA) – in the separation of heavy metal ions from multi-component mixtures and galvanic wastewater. The effect of the type and dose of adsorbent on the separation efficiency of heavy metals from two multi-component mixtures containing Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Cr(III), and Cr(VI) were investigated. The process effectiveness depends on the type and the dose of the adsorbent and the type of metal ion, and was higher using the PSA-modified magnetite, especially towards Zn(II), Ni(II) and Cd(II) ions. With the adsorbent to metals mass ratio m NPs / m Ms = 50, magnetite modified with poly(sodium acrylate) enabled the separation of 93.2%–94.7% of the total amount of metals, while for non-modified magnetite these values were 55.7%–59.9%. In addition, both adsorbents were used to remove heavy metal ions from five types of galvanic wastewater, containing Cu(II), Zn(II), Ni(II), Cr(VI) and a mixture of Zn(II) and Cr(III), respectively. PSA-modified adsorbent was especially effective towards Cu(II) and Cr(III) (over 90% removal) and Ni(II) and Zn(II) (approx. 70% separation). Separation of Cr(III) ions occurred with good efficiency (about 98%) on both types of magnetite.
Differentiating Dyes: A Spectroscopic Investigation into the Composition of Scarlet Bloodroot (Haemodorum coccineum R.Br.) Rhizome

Haemodorum coccineum, commonly known as scarlet bloodroot, is a plant native to New Guinea and the northern most parts of Australia. The highly coloured H. coccineum is used by communities in Larrakia country for dyeing garments and occasionally to treat snake bites. Previous studies into H. coccineum have focused on its taxonomic classification, with this being the first evaluation of the chemical composition of the plant. Haemodoraceae plants are reported to contain phenylphenalenones (PhPs), which are highly conjugated polycyclic oxygenated aromatic hydrocarbons. We report the characterisation of 20 compounds extracted from the rhizome of H. coccineum: four sugars and 16 compounds belonging to the PhP family. The compounds include five aglycones and seven glycosylated compounds, of which four contain malonate esters in their structures. Characterisation of these compounds was achieved through 1D and 2D NMR, MS analysis and comparison to the known phytochemistry of other species from the Haemodorum genus. Preliminary anti-microbial activity of the crude extract shows significant inhibition of the growth of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, but no activity against Candida albicans.
Floating wind turbine motions signature in the far-wake spectral content - A wind tunnel experiment

The growing interest in floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) is rooted in the potential source for increased offshore energy production. As the technology is still in a pre-industrial state, several questions remain to be addressed where little field data is available. This study uses physical modelling at a reduced scale to investigate the signature of the floating motions into the wake spectral content of a simplified FOWT model. A wind turbine model based on the actuator disc concept is placed in an atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnel and subjected to a range of surge, heave and pitch motions. The 5 signatures of idealised sinusoidal motion and realistic broad-band motion on the model’s wake at distance of 4 . 6 D ( D being the disc diameter) and 8 D are measured through the use of a rake of single hot-wires. The spectral analysis shows that harmonic motion leaves to clear signatures in the far-wake’s energy spectra, mainly in the top tip region, while broad-band motion does not leave easily detectable signatures.
Effect of Nicorandil on Endothelial Markers and Tissue Remodeling in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Model of Male Rats

Background: Chronic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, long-lasting illness that makes pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC) not work properly and leads to heart failure and death. Objective: To evaluate the effect of nicorandil in the treatment of PAH compared to tadalafil in a rat model of monocrotaline-induced PAH. Methods: Monocrotaline injection (60 mg/kg) was used for the induction of PAH in male rats; healthy control and induction groups were not treated. The other 4 groups were treated with either nicorandil or tadalafil with or without treatment blockers (glimepiride and N-Nitroarginine methyl ester (L-NAME)) for 21 days orally. Serum was obtained for assessment of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and tissue harvested for nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) by ELISA, western blot analysis of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and an apoptosis assay to examine the endothelial function. Results: Nicorandil showed a significant reduction in ET-1 and significant elevation in eNOS compared to the induction group, with comparable efficacy to tadalafil; blocker groups showed significantly elevated levels of ET-1 and reduced levels of eNOS compared to healthy control; NFκB was significantly inhibited in nicorandil and tadalafil groups and significantly elevated in blocker and induction groups; while in the TUNEL apoptosis assay, nicorandil showed the highest level of inhibition to apoptosis with apparently normal endothelium lining. Conclusions: Nicorandil shows anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, and enhanced endothelial morphology and function compared to the induction model.
Critical Steps of Plasmodium falciparum Ookinete Maturation

The egress and fertilization of Plasmodium gametes and development of a motile ookinete are the first crucial steps that mediate the successful transmission of the malaria parasites from humans to the Anopheles vector. However, limited information exists about the cell biology and regulation of this process. Technical impediments in the establishment of in vitro conditions for ookinete maturation in Plasmodium falciparum and other human malaria parasites further constrain a detailed characterization of ookinete maturation. Here, using fluorescence microscopy and immunolabeling, we compared P. falciparum ookinete maturation in Anopheles coluzzii mosquitoes in vivo and in cell culture in vitro. Our results identified two critical steps in ookinete maturation that are regulated by distinct mosquito factors, thereby highlighting the role of the mosquito environment in the transmission efficiency of malaria parasites. Graphical Abstract Ookinete development within the mosquito blood bolus is a critical step in malaria transmission. Using time-series approaches, we identified two limiting steps of Plasmodium falciparum ookinete development in vitro: (i) inhibition of transition from round forms (stage I) to knobs (stage II), likely caused by an inefficient fertilization, and (ii) arrest of transition between stages III and IV, associated with morphological abnormalities during protuberance elongation and enlargement. The abnormal protuberance at stage IV prevents further nuclear migration from the round body to the appendage.
Topographic effects on the seasonal circulation of the Indian Ocean

The relative effects of islands and topography on the seasonal circulation of the southern Indian Ocean are examined. The numerical simulations use a one-active layer reduced gravity model and a two-layer model with full bottom topography forced by the Hellerman and Rosenstein wind stress climatology. The reduced gravity experiments show that the absence of a seasonal cycle of transport off the north coast of Madagascar is not caused by the presence of islands to the east. The two-layer experiments indicate that the presence of abrupt topography associated with the Mascarene Ridge and the Providence Bank north of Madagascar decrease the annual barotropic signal of the North Madagascar Current and increase the seasonal variation of the Southeast Madagascar Current. Furthermore, the two-layer experiments predict the existence of a significant seasonal variation of transport north of the Saya de Malha Bank along the Mascarene Ridge; the signal (12–16 Sv in amplitude) is sufficiently large that the model results may be tested by future observations. Finally, the differences between the seasonal variation of the Indian and North Atlantic oceans are discussed.
Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell, Slan+-Monocyte and Natural Killer Cell Counts Function as Blood Cell-Based Biomarkers for Predicting Responses to Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Monotherapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients

Simple Summary The advent of therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has determined a significant survival benefit in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, 50–80% of patients do not respond to ICI monotherapy. Therefore, the identification of biomarkers for predicting NSCLC patient response to ICI monotherapy may help to select those who most likely obtain clinical/radiological benefits, in turn reducing the economic impact of health costs. In this study, we identified plasmacytoid dendritic cell, slan+-monocyte and natural killer cell counts as encouraging predictive biomarkers for ICI monotherapy in NSCLC patients. Abstract The advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), for instance, programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/PD-1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockers, has greatly improved the outcome of patients affected by non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, most NSCLC patients either do not respond to ICI monotherapy or develop resistance to it after an initial response. Therefore, the identification of biomarkers for predicting the response of patients to ICI monotherapy represents an urgent issue. Great efforts are currently dedicated toward identifying blood-based biomarkers to predict responses to ICI monotherapy. In this study, more commonly utilized blood-based biomarkers, such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the lung immune prognostic index (LIPI) score, as well as the frequency/number and activation status of various types of circulating innate immune cell populations, were evaluated in NSCLC patients at baseline before therapy initiation. The data indicated that, among all the parameters tested, low plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC), slan+-monocyte and natural killer cell counts, as well as a high LIPI score and elevated PD-L1 expression levels on type 1 conventional DCs (cDC1s), were independently correlated with a negative response to ICI therapy in NSCLC patients. The results from this study suggest that the evaluation of innate immune cell numbers and phenotypes may provide novel and promising predictive biomarkers for ICI monotherapy in NSCLC patients.
The risk of miscarriage is associated with ambient temperature: evidence from coastal Bangladesh

Background Exposure to high ambient temperature is reported to cause adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, considering myriad temperature and climatic conditions as well as different contextual factors, the paucity of studies from the developing regions impedes the development of a clear understanding of the heat-pregnancy outcome relationship. Materials and methods This study was conducted in Chakaria, a coastal region of Bangladesh, where International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) administers a health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS). The surveillance workers visit the households every three months as a part of the routine surveillance activity. Between 2012 and 2020, the surveillance workers documented histories of 23,482 pregnancies among 13,376 women and the women were followed up for their pregnancy outcomes. The temperature records were obtained from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department’s weather station at Cox’s Bazar. The dates of pregnancy outcome were linked with the daily average temperature on the day of pregnancy outcome. A logistic regression model was employed to examine the relationship between temperature and the incidence of miscarriage. Results Out of 23,482 pregnancy outcomes, 3.7% were induced abortions. Among the remaining 22,624 pregnancy outcomes, 86.2% were live births, 10.7% were miscarriages and 3.1% were stillbirths. Miscarriages peaked between 8–14 weeks of gestation and varied according to temperature. For women exposed to temperatures between 28°C and 32°C, the risk of miscarriage was 25% greater (adjusted OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.07–1.47) compared to those exposed to temperatures from 16°C to 21°C. Conclusion The study establishes a connection between miscarriage and high ambient temperatures in a coastal region of Bangladesh. Implementing timely and appropriate adaptation strategies to prevent miscarriages is of paramount importance for a densely populated country like Bangladesh.
Epidemiology of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: Incidence. risk factors and sulVival in European studies

textabstractCREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE (CJO) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder with a highly interesting aetiology and potentially important public health implications. l In aetiological terms, CJD is one of the human prion diseases, characterised by rapid neurodegeneration leading to a characteristic spongiform encephalopathy. ' From a publlc health perspective, CJO is of interest because of the possible link between the bovine spongifonl1 encephalopathy (BSE) and CJO.3 In this thesis studies on the incidence, risk factors and prognosis of CJO are reported. It is based on a collaborative European study In which the incidence of CJO was investigated in various European countries on the basis of national registries. In addition a collaborative case-control study of determinants of CJO was performed in the European countries with a CJO register. And finally, the sUlvival of CJO patients was estimated on the basis of patients in the registers.
Spatio-temporal Trends of Diarrheal Mortality of Children in Association with Hydrographic Regions of Brazil

In this paper, we analyze trends in average annual peak timing values (MPT) of pediatric mortality attributed to diarrheal disease in Brazil for the period 1979-1989 using a novel approach for environmental health risk studies, that is using natural boundaries instead of politically derived boundaries to define the unit of analysis (UOA). We evaluate the approach at varying spatial scales: (1) Country-wide based on observed Municipal level mortality data aggregated to Census Micro Regions (CMR); (2) Country-wide based on a grid of 20 Km2 raster cells generated by geostatistical modeling of MPT values; (3) Within eight officially designated Hydrographic Regions of Brazil based on results from the geostatistical models, and (4) Along longitudinal “vectors” of 1 km raster cells defining the stream network (hydrologic regime) within each Hydrographic Region. At the country level, we found evidence of a trend west to east of increasing MPT over an annual cycle (May to April) using the CMR-level estimates. However, when we examined the model results at finer scales i.e., Hydrographic Regions, we discovered greater geographic heterogeneity in MPT across units. At the spatial scale of the stream network within the Hydrographic Regions, we observed consistent trends of increasing MPT from the source areas (upper watersheds) to downstream locations in some Hydrographic Regions, especially those composed of a single river basin. Here, trends were no longer predominantly east to west as at the country level, but oriented in the direction of flow of the major river draining the basin. Our study results indicate substantial spatial variation in peak timing of pediatric mortality attributed to diarrheal disease in Brazil over our study period. This could have important ramifications in studies concerning known or suspected risk factors with significant temporal variation over an annual cycle. We found the geographic orientation of trend in mortality peak timing to be highly dependent on the geographic extent and derivation of the UOA. We demonstrate that a UOA based on natural boundaries, e.g., stream segments or watershed boundaries can result in more consistent and robust prediction of trends in mortality peak timing attributed to diarrhea.
Enigmatic textures developed along plagioclase-augite grain boundaries at the base of the Main Zone, Northern Limb, Bushveld Complex – evidence for late stage melt infiltration into a nearly solidified crystal mush

An enigmatic texture in which orthopyroxene exsolution lamellae within clinopyroxene protrude into adjacent plagioclase crystals occurs in a gabbronorite occurring at the base of the Main Zone in the Northern Sector of the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex. Grain boundaries exhibiting this texture are characterised by plagioclase richer in An component and clinopyroxene with higher Mg# in comparison to the bulk of the plagioclase and clinopyroxene, respectively. The texture is interpreted as representing the products formed during late-stage infiltration of a more primitive magma into a nearly solidified crystal mush, with concomitant displacement of the last dregs of intercumulus melt. A solid-state origin for the texture appears untenable, as does derivation of the infiltrating melt from the underlying Platreef.
Land Use and Land Cover Classification Meets Deep Learning: A Review

As one of the important components of Earth observation technology, land use and land cover (LULC) image classification plays an essential role. It uses remote sensing techniques to classify specific categories of ground cover as a means of analyzing and understanding the natural attributes of the Earth’s surface and the state of land use. It provides important information for applications in environmental protection, urban planning, and land resource management. However, remote sensing images are usually high-dimensional data and have limited available labeled samples, so performing the LULC classification task faces great challenges. In recent years, due to the emergence of deep learning technology, remote sensing data processing methods based on deep learning have achieved remarkable results, bringing new possibilities for the research and development of LULC classification. In this paper, we present a systematic review of deep-learning-based LULC classification, mainly covering the following five aspects: (1) introduction of the main components of five typical deep learning networks, how they work, and their unique benefits; (2) summary of two baseline datasets for LULC classification (pixel-level, patch-level) and performance metrics for evaluating different models (OA, AA, F1, and MIOU); (3) review of deep learning strategies in LULC classification studies, including convolutional neural networks (CNNs), autoencoders (AEs), generative adversarial networks (GANs), and recurrent neural networks (RNNs); (4) challenges faced by LULC classification and processing schemes under limited training samples; (5) outlooks on the future development of deep-learning-based LULC classification.
Geotechnical reconnaissance of the 2010 Darfield (New Zealand) earthquake

John Allen (TRI/Environmental, Inc., Austin, TX, USA) Scott Ashford (Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA) Elisabeth Bowman (University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand) Brendon Bradley (University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand) Brady Cox (University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA) Misko Cubrinovski (University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand) Russell A. Green (Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA) Tara Hutchinson (University of California, San Diego, CA, USA) Edward Kavazanjian (Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA) Rolando Orense (University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand) Michael Pender (University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand) Mark Quigley (University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand) Liam Wotherspoon (University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand)
Spatial Pattern of Phytoplankton Based on the Morphology‐Based Functional Approach along a River–Floodplain Gradient

Current efforts to yield an appropriate method that would simplify the use of phytoplankton in the ecological evaluation of freshwaters resulted in different approaches based on clustering phytoplankton organisms. In this study, we applied the morphology‐based functional group (MBFG) concept to determine the spatial changes of phytoplankton in the natural riverine floodplain of the alluvial reaches of the Danube River along the horizontal gradient from the river towards the floodplain habitats.