Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Definition of the Portuguese frameworks with international relevance as an input for the European geological heritage characterisation

This work constitutes the first contribution for the systematisation of geological heritage knowledge in Portugal, following the international recommendations for the characterisation of geological heritage (IUGS, ProGEO). The application of the ProGEO methodology has resulted in the creation of fourteen frameworks with international relevance, established by consensus among the Portuguese geological community. The description of each category in this paper is not exhaustive and only the most relevant scientific settings are presented. The following are the three key outcomes of this work: i) At a national level, the most important geosites are identified, indicating where geoconservation efforts should be prioritised based on scientific justification; ii) At a regional level, conditions have been developed to foster dialogue with Spanish colleagues in order to create Iberian frameworks; iii) At an international level, it is now possible to integrate Portuguese geosites in to the global inventories promoted by IUGS, UNESCO, and ProGEO.
Ammonium oxidation kinetics in the presence of nitrification inhibitors DCD and DMPP at various temperatures

Use of N-based fertilisers in combination with nitrification inhibitors lengthens N presence in the ammonium form in soil (N-NH4+), with beneficial effects for agriculture and related ecosystems. The efficiency of these inhibitors depends on several factors, the most important being soil temperature. This paper studies the effects of soil temperature on the kinetics of N-NH4+ loss in the presence of the DCD and DMPP nitrification inhibitors. For a 105-day period, 3 chambers, each with 12 containers holding 500 g of dry soil, were incubated at 10, 20, and 30°C. Ammonium sulfate was applied to 4 containers in each chamber; in another 4 containers Basammon Stabil, a N fertiliser with DCD, was used; and Entec 26, a fertiliser with DMPP, was used in the remaining 4 containers. Soil ammonium content was periodically determined for each container. Both DCD and DMPP lengthened ammonium presence in soil in a similar manner. However, their effectiveness was drastically decreased at increased soil temperatures. Thus, when using these inhibitors, soil temperature should be taken into account, especially in warm climate areas.
Notes on some Cyperaceae from Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)

Summary Recent fieldwork and additional herbarium research on some critical Cyperaceae from Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) revealed some interesting facts. Previous claims for the supposedly native species Cladium mariscus and Cyperus michelianus are, at least in part, erroneous and ascribable respectively to the non-native species C. jamaicense and C. pygmaeus. Kyllinga brevifolia is cited for the first time from Gran Canaria as a locally established turf weed. Finally, the identity of Fimbristylis ferruginea in Gran Canaria is thoroughly discussed.
Unveiling Novel Avenues in mTOR-Targeted Therapeutics: Advancements in Glioblastoma Treatment

The mTOR signaling pathway plays a pivotal and intricate role in the pathogenesis of glioblastoma, driving tumorigenesis and proliferation. Mutations or deletions in the PTEN gene constitutively activate the mTOR pathway by expressing growth factors EGF and PDGF, which activate their respective receptor pathways (e.g., EGFR and PDGFR). The convergence of signaling pathways, such as the PI3K-AKT pathway, intensifies the effect of mTOR activity. The inhibition of mTOR has the potential to disrupt diverse oncogenic processes and improve patient outcomes. However, the complexity of the mTOR signaling, off-target effects, cytotoxicity, suboptimal pharmacokinetics, and drug resistance of the mTOR inhibitors pose ongoing challenges in effectively targeting glioblastoma. Identifying innovative treatment strategies to address these challenges is vital for advancing the field of glioblastoma therapeutics. This review discusses the potential targets of mTOR signaling and the strategies of target-specific mTOR inhibitor development, optimized drug delivery system, and the implementation of personalized treatment approaches to mitigate the complications of mTOR inhibitors. The exploration of precise mTOR-targeted therapies ultimately offers elevated therapeutic outcomes and the development of more effective strategies to combat the deadliest form of adult brain cancer and transform the landscape of glioblastoma therapy.
Highly Efficient Flexible Roll-to-Roll Organic Photovoltaics Based on Non-Fullerene Acceptors

The ability of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) to be deposited on flexible substrates by roll-to-roll (R2R) processes is highly attractive for rapid mass production. Many research teams have demonstrated the great potential of flexible OPVs. However, the fabrication of R2R-coated OPVs is quite limited. There is still a performance gap between the R2R flexible OPVs and the rigid OPVs. In this study, we demonstrate the promising photovoltaic characteristics of flexible OPVs fabricated from blends of low bandgap polymer poly[(2,6-(4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)-benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene))-alt-(5,5-(1′,3′-di-2-thienyl-5′,7′-bis(2-ethylhexyl)benzo[1′,2′-c:4′,5′-c′]dithiophene-4,8-dione)] (PBDB-T) and non-fullerene 3,9-bis(2-methylene-(3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-indanone))-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-dithieno[2,3-d:2′,3′-d′]-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene (ITIC). We successfully R2R slot-die coated the flexible OPVs with high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 8.9% under irradiation of simulated sunlight. Our results indicate that the processing parameters significantly affect the PCE of R2R flexible OPVs. By adjusting the amount of solvent additive and processing temperature, as well as optimizing thermal annealing conditions, the high PCE of R2R slot-die coated OPVs can be obtained. These results provide significant insights into the fundamentals of highly efficient OPVs for the R2R slot-die coating process.
Model Chemlab and Phet Simulator: A Didactic Resource for Chemistry Learning in Undergraduate Students

The objective of the research was to determine the incidence of the application of the Model Chemlab and PhET simulator as a didactic resource to improve learning achievement in the Chemistry Laboratory course in undergraduate students during the 2022 academic year. The study used a quantitative methodology with a pre-experimental experimental design. The population consisted of 257 students of the Science, Technology and Environment Studies Program (CTA) of the Faculty of Education Sciences (FCEDUC) of the National University of the Altiplano (UNA) Puno, from which a non-probabilistic sample of 14 students of the IV cycle was selected, The Model Chemlab and PhET simulators were used in the learning sessions of the Chemistry Laboratory course with the purpose of improving the students' learning achievement. Before carrying out the experiment, a pre-test was administered, and after using the simulators, a post-test was conducted to determine the impact of the application of the simulators on the study variables. The results showed a significant improvement, with a t-value of 17.393 and a significance level of ? =0.000 these findings indicate that the students achieved an efficient use and management of the simulators, which favored their learning in the Chemistry Laboratory course.
Increased Salivary IL-1 Beta Level Is Associated with Poor Sleep Quality in University Students

Poor sleep quality is a major public health concern for all ages. In particular, university students often face stress levels and changes in social life habits that negatively influence their quality of sleep. This could be associated with psychological well-being in terms of anxiety and depressive symptoms, stress levels, and a poor self-perceived health status. The increases in the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-1 beta (IL-1β), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), in blood have been linked to poor sleep quality in many diseases, but data on salivary cytokine levels in students are missing or are seldom analyzed. In this study we determined the quality of sleep in a sample of university students and the role of psychological assessment and factors affecting sleep (alcohol intake, tobacco, consumption of stimulant drinks, exercise, and body mass index). We also aimed to shed new light on the associations between sleep quality and salivary inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα). Sleep quality was measured with the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Perceived stress was assessed using Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale (GADS) was used to assess the level of anxiety or depression. Perceived health status was measured with a visual analogue. Saliva samples was taken in the morning and the inflammatory cytokines was measured via enzyme-linked immunoassay. There was a direct and significant association between the salivary IL-1β concentration and AIS score (r = 0.248; p = 0.038, Pearson correlation) and Pittsburgh scale score (r = 0.274; p = 0.022, Pearson correlation). The relationship between IL-1β and AIS controlling for sex, age, and chronic disease, is still significant (r = 0.260; p = 0.033). The relationship between IL-1β and PSQI controlling for the influence of these variables is also significant (r = 0.279; p = 0.022). Salivary IL-1β concentrations were not significantly associated with any of the scores of the other psychological assessments (PSS, anxiety, depression symptoms, or self-perceived health). Salivary TNFα was significantly and inversely associated with self-perceived health (r = −0.259; p = 0.033, Pearson correlation), but the salivary IL-6 concentration was not associated with any of the sleep quality scale or psychological assessment scores. Our results provide a novel relationship between pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β in saliva and poor sleep quality. However, the role of inflammation in poor sleep quality requires further study to identify strategies that could lower inflammation and thus, likely improve sleep quality.
Advances in New Zealand mammalogy 1990–2000: Feral pig

Clarke and Dzieciolowski (1991a, 1991b) concluded that feral pigs in the northern South Island are derived from 14 breeds originating in Polynesia, Europe and Asia. Other breeds were also liberated elsewhere in New Zealand, especially in the North Island. Breeds established before 1930, such as Captain Cookers, Tamworths, Berkshires, Canterbury grey/ blues and Large Whites, have had the most influence on the characteristics of present-day feral populations. Coat colours can vary considerably between different regions, but in a sample of 2604 pigs from the northern South Island the predominant colour (77%) was black (Clarke & Dzieciolowski 1991b).
Optimization of sampling conditions to minimize sampling errors of both PM2.5 mass and its semi-volatile inorganic ion concentrations

Abstract The accurate measurement of PM2.5 and its inorganic matters (IMs) is crucial for compliance monitoring and understanding particle formation. However, semi-volatile IMs (SVIMs) like NH4 +, NO3 −, and Cl− tend to evaporate from particles, causing sampling artifacts. The evaporation loss occurs due to many factors making the quantitative prediction difficult. This study aimed to investigate the evaporation loss of SVIMs in PM2.5 under different sampling conditions. In the field tests, when a normal single Teflon filter (STF) sampler, which is like a Federal Reference Method (FRM) sampler, was used to sample PM2.5 at ambient conditions, a significant SVIM evaporation loss was observed, resulting in negative biases for total IMs (−25.68 ± 3.25%) and PM2.5 concentrations (−9.87 ± 4.27%). But if PM2.5 was sampled by a chilled Teflon filter sampler (CTF) at 4 °C following aerosol dehumidification so that relative humidity (RH) was controlled to within the 10–20% range (RHd), evaporation loss was minimized with a bias of < ±10% for both total IMs and PM2.5 based on the reference data. When RHd is below 10%, both IMs and PM2.5 are under-measured, but only PM2.5 is over-measured when RHd is >20%. A model considering predictable saturation ratios for NH4 +, NO3 −, and Cl− under various pressure drop, temperature and RH conditions was developed to predict accurately the actual concentrations of PM2.5 and its SVIMs for the STF. Additionally, the ISORROPIA-II model predicted SVIMs effectively for the CTF. In summary, using the CTF at optimized sampling conditions can achieve accurate measurement of both SVIMs and PM2.5 concentrations simultaneously. Copyright © 2023 American Association for Aerosol Research Graphical abstract
Fluctuations in daily activity of muskrats in eastern South Dakota

Daily muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) activity was assessed in the fall of 1995 adjacent to the Big Sioux River, in south central Brookings County, South Dakota. Activity was determined using direct observation and trapping. Muskrats were observed from 7 to 28 October and trapped from 6 to 10 and 16 to 21 November. During ice-free periods muskrats were active during nocturnal and crepuscular hours, and were rarely observed during diurnal hours. Peak activity occurred between 0401 and 0500 hours. Trapping data collected during the onset of ice-over showed a significant increase in diurnal activity. Our results support other findings that indicate that muskrats display a bimodal activity pattern and that they modify their activity patterns from nocturnal during summer to diurnal during winter.
Soil suction monitoring for landslides and slopes

Abstract Rainfall is the most frequent triggering factor for landslides and the development of early warning systems has to take account of this. It is suggested that direct measurement of pore pressure gives the most reliable prediction of failure of a slope. The amount of rainfall can be only a crude indicator of failure as the processes that occur between rain falling on a slope and the resulting pore water pressure change are complex, highly non-linear and hysteretic. The paper describes high-capacity tensiometers developed within the EU-funded MUSE Research Training Network that have been used for measuring suctions in slopes. High-capacity tensiometers are capable of direct measurement of pore water pressure down to −2 MPa and are also able to record positive pore water pressures. Two methods of field installation are discussed; one developed by ENPC in France uses a single tensiometer per hole, and the second technique, developed by Durham University in the UK, allows multiple tensiometers to be used at different depths within a single borehole. Continuous monitoring of pore water pressure has been carried out over several months and shows the responses to climatic events.
Shared Autonomous Vehicles as Last-Mile Public Transport of Metro Trips

The “last-mile problem” of public transportation is one of the main obstacles affecting travelers who choose to utilize public transport. Although autonomous vehicles (AVs) have made much progress, they have not been officially put into commercial use. This paper adopts stated preference experiments to explore the impact of shared AVs on the last-mile travel behavior of metro users and takes Wuhan as an example for case analysis. First of all, this paper establishes a structural equation model (SEM) based on the theory of planned behavior to explore latent psychological variables, including travelers’ attitudes (ATTs), subjective norms (SNs), perceived behavior control (PBC), and behavioral intention of use (BIU) toward AVs. These latent psychological variables are incorporated into the latent class (LC) logit model to establish a hybrid model with which to study the factors and degree of influence on the travel mode choices of travelers for the last mile of their metro trips. The results show that travelers have preference heterogeneity for the travel mode choices for the last mile of metro trips. Through the analysis of LCs, education, career, and income significantly impact the classification of LCs. The latent psychological variables towards AVs have a significant impact on the travel behavior of respondents, but the impacts vary among different segments. Elastic analysis results illustrate that a 1% increase in the travel cost for shared AVs in segment 1 leads to a 7.598% decrease in the choice probability of using a shared AV. Respondents from different segments vary significantly in their willingness to pay for their usage, and the value of travel time for high-income groups is relatively higher.
The Visual System and Paleoecology of the Silurian Ostracod Primitiopsis planifrons

Abstract Here we report the first detailed reconstruction of the eye and visual system of a Paleozoic ostracod, namely the dimorphic primitiopsid (Palaeocopa) Primitiopsis planifrons Jones, 1887. Evidence from the cuticular lens morphology and its position on the valve suggests that P. planifrons had a naupliar eye, which is the most common optical system in crustaceans. The characters of the eye, such as the separated cuticular lens on each valve and the strongly calcified nature of the lens and its diameter, are concordant with that of some Recent podocopid ostracods in which a divided type of naupliar eye is present. Ray tracing of the reconstructed cuticular lens of the primitiopsid species demonstrates strong spherical aberration and a very long focal length (as in the eye of podocopids), which implies the presence of a spherical mirror (tapetum) below the lens. Study of the ontogenetic change of the valve thickness aids the suggestion that P. planifrons was nektobenthic. The size of its cuticular lens in relation to that of living podocopid ostracods, and the water depth at which these Recent forms occur, indicates that P. planifrons may have lived in a relatively shallow, well lit environment such as the deep subtidal zone. These interpretations are consistent with supposed paleoenvironmental conditions derived from geological evidence. Thus, analysis of the nature and relative size of the eye gives an independent test to help identify paleoenvironmental parameters of long extinct ostracods.
Probabilities and statistics for backscatter estimates obtained by a scatterometer with applications to new scatterometer design data

The values of the Normalized Radar Backscattering Cross Section (NRCS), sigma (o), obtained by a scatterometer are random variables whose variance is a known function of the expected value. The probability density function can be obtained from the normal distribution. Models for the expected value obtain it as a function of the properties of the waves on the ocean and the winds that generated the waves. Point estimates of the expected value were found from various statistics given the parameters that define the probability density function for each value. Random intervals were derived with a preassigned probability of containing that value. A statistical test to determine whether or not successive values of sigma (o) are truly independent was derived. The maximum likelihood estimates for wind speed and direction were found, given a model for backscatter as a function of the properties of the waves on the ocean. These estimates are biased as a result of the terms in the equation that involve natural logarithms, and calculations of the point estimates of the maximum likelihood values are used to show that the contributions of the logarithmic terms are negligible and that the terms can be omitted.
Structure and kinematics along a segment of the Mojave‐Sonora megashear: A strike‐slip fault that truncates the Jurassic continental magmatic arc of southwestern North America

Similarities between crystalline crust and overlying pre‐Jurassic cover in northwestern Sonora, Mexico, and in the Inyo Mountains‐Death Valley region, California, are attributed to left‐lateral displacement along the Mojave‐Sonora megashear, a Late Jurassic transform fault related to the opening of the Gulf of Mexico. Three exposures of mylonitic rocks extending 25 km along the postulated fault occur within Sierra de Los Tanques, Sonora, Mexico. The exposures 13 km southwest of Sonoita reveal a tripartite assemblage of (1) Jurassic volcanic and volcaniclastic strata to the northeast, (2) an axial zone of mylonitic rocks, and (3) masses of granitic rocks and compositionally banded quartzo‐feldspathic gneiss of Proterozoic (? ) and Late Triassic age to the southwest. Mylonitic foliation in rocks within the axial zone strikes northwesterly, and lineations plunge shallowly. Microstructues record left‐lateral shear. Shallow thrusts, folded mylonite, and steeply dipping mylonitic foliation with downdip mineral lineation record transpression. Triassic and Precambrian crystalline rocks are emplaced above shallow thrusts onto ductilly deformed Jurassic rocks northeast of the principal fault. In the central and northwestern exposures, pervasively foliated and lineated rocks are cut by weakly foliated Cretaceous granite that also may contain inclusions of mylonite. The northwesterly strike of steep foliation, left‐lateral kinematics, and relationships with Cretaceous intrusive rocks preclude correlation with episodes of Cretaceous contraction and Tertiary extension that are recognized in the southwestern United States. The fault is interpreted to have formed in the Late Jurassic and records a change in tectonic setting from arc magmatism to rifting and basin development.
Effects of the radar observation process on inferred rainfall statistics

Contrary to the popular notion that radar can measure rainfall, we demonstrate that both the physics of the radar measurement process as well as the processing of radar data can have significant effects on inferred statistics of rainfall. Only the following effects were considered : (1) the radar beam averaging scheme, (2) the nonlinear transformations inherent in estimation of rainfall based on radar observations, and (3) the coordinate transformation from a polar to a Cartesian grid. The statistics included the following : mean, variance, spatial covariance, and a certain scaling parameter. We limited our considerations to spatial aspects of the problem. The methodology used in this paper is based on analysis of two radar rainfall estimation algorithms and a numerical Monte Carlo simulation. A series of simple experiments allows us to consider the above effects individually and collectively. In the experiments, the true rainfall process is simulated using a variety of statistical models. Its statistics are compared to those obtained after the radarlike processing has been applied. The models used to simulate the rainfall field include point process models, which conceptualize mesoscale rainfall organization according to marked Poisson processes, a random cascade model, and an iterated random pulse model, which is a combination of the above two models.