Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Geological subsidence and sinking Islands: the case of Manono (Samoa)

W.R. Dickinson, as part of his wide study of the geological history of the Pacific islands, has linked the unique case of the deeply submerged Lapita site of Mulifanua in western Upolu (Samoa) to the slow subsidence of Upolu island. Recent archaeological research on the neighbouring small island of Manono has yielded new and detailed data on this geological process. A series of new dates has allowed us to define the speed of the subsidence and demonstrate the massive environmental changes to which the local population has had to adapt over the past 2000 years. RESUME W.R. Dickinson, dans le cadre de ses etudes multiples sur l'histoire geologique des iles du Pacifique, a correle le cas unique du site Lapita ennoye de Mulifanua dans l'ouest d’Upolu (Samoa) a un lent affaissement de l’ile d’Upolu. Des recherches archeologiques recentes sur la petite ile voisine de Manono, ont apporte de nouvelles donnees detaillees sur ce processus geologique. Un ensemble de nouvelles datations a permis de definir la vitesse de cet affaissement, soulignant les transformations environnementales majeures que la population locale a eu a subir au cours des derniers 2000 ans.
Safety-Critical Cooperative Target Enclosing Control of Autonomous Surface Vehicles Based on Finite-Time Fuzzy Predictors and Input-to-State Safe High-Order Control Barrier Functions

This article addresses cooperative target enclosing of underactuated autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) subject to obstacles. Each ASV suffers from input constraints in addition to unknown kinetics induced by model nonlinearities, unknown input gains, and external disturbances. A safety-critical cooperative target enclosing control method is proposed for surrounding a maneuvering target vehicle. Specifically, a finite-time fuzzy predictor is presented to learn the unknown kinetics with the integral of historical vehicle data. By using a distributed target estimator to recover the target position, a nominal distributed target enclosing control law is developed to achieve a circumnavigation formation. To avoid collisions between ASVs and obstacles/team members, input-to-state safe high-order control barrier functions are first introduced for encoding safety constraints. Based on the safety constraints and input constraints, a quadratic programming problem is formulated, and an optimal safety-critical control law is obtained by using projection neural networks to track the optimal solution. The closed-loop control system is proven to be input-to-state stable via Lyapunov theory. Moreover, the multiple ASV systems are proven to be input-to-state safe regardless of high-order relative degree. The salient contributions of the proposed approach lie in finite-time fuzzy learning and collision-free target enclosing control under disturbances. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed safety-critical model-free control method for cooperatively surrounding a maneuvering target.
Periodic Trajectories for HIV Dynamics in a Seasonal Environment With a General Incidence Rate

In this paper, we propose a five-dimensional nonlinear system of differential equations for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) including the B-cell functions with a general nonlinear incidence rate. The compartment of infected cells was subdivided into three classes representing the latently infected cells, the short-lived productively infected cells, and the long-lived productively infected cells. The basic reproduction number was established, and the local and global stability of the equilibria of the model were studied. A sensitivity analysis with respect to the model parameters was undertaken. Finally, some numerical simulations are presented to illustrate the theoretical findings.
University of Birmingham The Potato Aphid Salivary Effector Me47 Is a Glutathione-S-Transferase Involved in Modifying Plant Responses to Aphid Infestation

Polyphagous aphid pests cause considerable economic damage to crop plants, primarily through the depletion of photoassimilates and transfer of viruses. The potato aphid ( Macrosiphum euphorbiae ) is a notable pest of solanaceous crops, however, the molecular mechanisms that underpin the ability to colonize these hosts are unknown
A novel method for diagnosing land-atmosphere coupling sensitivity in a single-column model

The response of boundary layer properties and cloudiness to changes in surface evaporative fraction (EF) is investigated in a single-column model to quantify the locally coupled impact of sub-grid surface variations on the atmosphere during summer. Sensitive coupling days are defined when the model atmosphere exhibits large variations across a range of EF centered on the analyzed value. Coupling sensitivity exists as both positive (cloudiness increases with EF) and negative (clouds increase with decreasing EF) feedback regimes. The positive regime manifests in shallow convection situations, which are capped by a strengthened inversion and subsidence, restricting the vertical extent of convection to just above the boundary layer. Surfaces with larger EF (greater surface latent heat flux) can inject more moisture into the vertically confined system, lowering the cloud base and an increasing cloud liquid water path (LWP). Negative feedback regimes tend to manifest when large-scale deep convection, such as from mesoscale convective systems and fronts, is advected through the domain, where convection strengthens over surfaces with a lower EF (greater surface sensible heat flux). The invigoration of these systems by the land surface leads to an increase in LWP through strengthened updrafts and stronger coupling between the boundary layer and the free atmosphere. These results apply in the absence of heterogeneity-induced mesoscale circulations, providing a one-dimensional dynamical perspective on the effect of surface heterogeneity. This study provides a framework intermediate complexity, lying between parcel theory and high-resolution coupled land-atmosphere modeling, and therefore isolates the relevant first-order processes in land-atmosphere interactions.
Estimate of point prevalence of Parkinson's disease induced psychosis in the United States

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder, which usually manifests in middle age with motor, psychiatric and/or cognitive disturbances. In his recent review, Francis Walker stated that medical treatment of HD has made little progress in the past 20 years. Despite a large number of reports on pharmacological interventions in HD, no treatment recommendation could be made in a recent evaluation of 20 randomized controlled clinical trials. While symptomatic treatment of HD has been reviewed, a systematic evaluation of current prescription practices is missing. We have analyzed the use of symptomatic treatment for HD based on more than 7,000 entries in the European HD REGISTRY between 2004 and 2007. The REGISTRY collects data from centres across Europe with particular expertise in HD. As many as 1,796 of 2,128 registered HD patients (84%) received symptomatic treatment. About 1,058 patients (50%) were treated for depression and 596 (28%) received antichorea medication. Among the other common indications, 268 patients (13%) were treated for irritability and aggression, 188 (9%) for sleep disturbance, and 152 (7%) for psychosis. Fewer than 2% of patients received medication for rigidity (35), obsessive-compulsive behaviours (24), apathy (12), or mania (4). The most commonly prescribed drugs were neuroleptics and antidepressants. About 321 HD patients (15%) received citalopram, 283 (13%) tiapride, 249 (12%) olanzapine, 202 (9%) paroxetine, 181 (8%) tetrabenazine, 180 (8%) risperidone, 165 (8%) sertraline, 137 (6%) haloperidol, and 122 (6%) sulpiride. The choice of drug depended strongly on cultural influences. Thus, at least a quarter of the patients on neuroleptics received haloperidol in Germany (24%) and Italy (32%), but only 12% in the UK and 14% in Spain. In the UK, olanzapine was the neuroleptic of choice (55%), while this drug was rarely prescribed in Germany (5%). Tiapride was the most common HD medication in Germany (38%), but this drug was unavailable or not used in other European countries. Citalopram was the single most commonly prescribed antidepressant in the UK (41%). Interestingly, citalopram was used less often in Germany (18%) and not at all in Spain (0%). In Italy, paroxetine was the most commonly prescribed antidepressant (47%). Our findings suggest that in HD, and probably other orphan diseases, patients need to be aware of the lack of evidencebased criteria for medication choices and might want to look beyond the border of their country for additional symptomatic treatment options. Josef Priller, MD* Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany *E-mail: josef.priller@charite.de
Cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis – training practices and dissemination in the United States

Objective: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for psychosis (CBTp) is an evidence-based treatment for psychosis-related disorders. However, despite the strong evidence-base and inclusion in national treatment guidelines, CBTp remains poorly disseminated in the US. It is proposed that this state is a product of lack of CBTp knowledge among clinical training leaders along with limited availability of training opportunities. Method: We surveyed training directors in US psychiatry residency and clinical psychology doctoral programs to characterize the penetration of CBTp training and to assess their familiarity with basic CBTp facts. Results: Directors displayed limited knowledge of CBTp effectiveness, with only 50% of psychiatry and 40% of psychology directors believing that CBTp is efficacious. Only 10% of psychiatry and 30% of psychology directors were aware that the CBTp evidence-base is based on meta-analyses. While 45% of all directors reported that their program offer CBTp training, trainees received limited training – 4 hours of didactics, 21 hours of treatment, and 12 hours of supervision. Conclusions: CBTp dissemination in the US is characterized by training directors' minimal awareness of the CBTp evidence-base along with training opportunities that are so limited as to be unlikely to be adequate to provide CBTp effectively, hence unlikely to improve patients' psychoses.
Ingestion induced health risk in surface waters near tailings ponds (North-Western Romania).

Anthropogenic activities generate most elements of environmental pollution, especially with heavy metals. The paper presents some investigations of several heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cd, Zn) concentrations, performed on water, sediments and fish samples from Lapuș and Someș Rivers located near tailings ponds, in Baia Mare area, NW Romania. Health hazard calculations related to fish consumption were computed to assess the effect of pollution on human health, based on target hazard quotient (THQ). The results showed that the heavy metals concentrations in the studied samples exceeded maximum admissible concentrations. Individual metal THQ values indicated the relative absence of health risks associated with intake of a single heavy metal through consumption of fish.
Melatonin Prevents Depression but Not Anxiety-like Behavior Produced by the Chemotherapeutic Agent Temozolomide: Implication of Doublecortin Cells and Hilar Oligodendrocytes

Melatonin is a hormone synthesized by the pineal gland with neuroprotective and neurodevelopmental effects. Also, melatonin acts as an antidepressant by modulating the generation of new neurons in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. The positive effects of melatonin on behavior and neural development may suggest it is used for reverting stress but also for the alterations produced by chemotherapeutic drugs influencing behavior and brain plasticity. In this sense, temozolomide, an alkylating/anti-proliferating agent used in treating brain cancer, is associated with decreased cognitive functions and depression. We hypothesized that melatonin might prevent the effects of temozolomide on depression- and anxiety-like behavior by modulating some aspects of the neurogenic process in adult Balb/C mice. Mice were treated with temozolomide (25 mg/kg) for three days of two weeks, followed by melatonin (8 mg/kg) for fourteen days. Temozolomide produced short- and long-term decrements in cell proliferation (Ki67-positive cells: 54.89% and 53.38%, respectively) and intermediate stages of the neurogenic process (doublecortin-positive cells: 68.23% and 50.08%, respectively). However, melatonin prevented the long-term effects of temozolomide with the increased number of doublecortin-positive cells (47.21%) and the immunoreactivity of 2′ 3′-Cyclic-nucleotide-3 phosphodiesterase (CNPase: 82.66%), an enzyme expressed by mature oligodendrocytes, in the hilar portion of the dentate gyrus. The effects of melatonin in the temozolomide group occurred with decreased immobility in the forced swim test (45.55%) but not anxiety-like behavior. Thus, our results suggest that melatonin prevents the harmful effects of temozolomide by modulating doublecortin cells, hilar oligodendrocytes, and depression-like behavior tested in the forced swim test. Our study could point out melatonin’s beneficial effects for counteracting temozolomide’s side effects.
Online Food Delivery Platforms and Female Labor Force Participation

Our research examines the impact of online food delivery platforms on female employment in South Korea, highlighting the often-overlooked positive externalities that digital platforms generate on the labor market and economics. We find that these platforms lead to an immediate and lasting increase in the female employment rate, with a notable increase in the female employment rate by 6.5%. The economic benefits derived from this rise in female employment account for 0.27% to the country’s GDP, or 17 times the revenue of the online food delivery platform. Our analysis shows that such digital platforms offer a pathway for women to break free from traditional household roles, thus granting them more time and the opportunity to decide whether to join the labor market or stay at home. The freedom to be able to join the labor force promotes gender equality and fosters economic engagement. Policymakers need to recognize such indirect effects of technology-driven business models because they shape labor markets and drive economic outcomes. This research has vital implications for practice and policy, offering fresh perspectives on fostering female labor force participation and boosting economic growth. Empowering individual households and granting women greater agency can have profound effects, supplementing organizational measures. The study highlights the underestimated economic and societal value created by innovative technology platforms, emphasizing the need for policymakers to consider these spillover effects when assessing and regulating such platforms. Leveraging digital platforms can lead countries toward a more inclusive and prosperous future, dismantling barriers and promoting gender equality.
Development of a Clinical-Radiomics Nomogram That Used Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Images to Anticipate the Occurrence of Preoperative Cervical Lymph Node Metastasis in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Patients

Background and Objectives Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is a prevalent histological type of thyroid cancer; however, noninvasive assessment of cervical lymph node metastasis (LNM) poses a challenge. This study aims to develop a novel clinical-radiomics nomogram that utilizes ultrasound (US) images to predict the presence of cervical LNM metastasis in patients with PTC. Methods A total of 423 patients with PTC were recruited to participate in this study between January 2020 and December 2022, of which 282 were classified into the training group and 141 patients were classified into the validation set. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and B-mode ultrasound (BMUS) images were subjected to radiomic analysis, leading to the extraction of 912 radiomic features. Thereafter, a radiomics score (Radscore) was developed to effectively integrate the information derived from BMUS and CEUS modalities. Univariate and multivariate backward stepwise logistic regression analysis techniques were used to construct the clinical and clinical-radiomics models, respectively. Results The findings revealed that the clinical-radiomics nomogram incorporated age, sex, CEUS Radscore, and US-reported LNM as risk factors. The nomogram demonstrated good performance using data from the training (AUC = 0.891) and validation (AUC = 0.870) sets. The decision curve analysis implied that this nomogram exhibited good clinical utility, which was further supported by the results of the calibration curves and Hosmer-Lemeshow test. Conclusion The CEUS Radscore-based clinical radiomics nomogram could serve as a valuable tool for predicting cervical LNM metastasis in patients with PTC, thereby tailoring individualized treatment strategies for them.
Antioxidant Behavioural Phenotype in the Immp2l Gene Knock-Out Mouse

Mitochondrial dysfunction is strongly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the Inner mitochondrial membrane protein 2-like (IMMP2L) gene is linked to autism inheritance. However, the biological basis of this linkage is unknown notwithstanding independent reports of oxidative stress in association with both IMMP2L and ASD. To better understand IMMP2L’s association with behaviour, we developed the Immp2lKD knockout (KO) mouse model which is devoid of Immp2l peptidase activity. Immp2lKD −/− KO mice do not display any of the core behavioural symptoms of ASD, albeit homozygous Immp2lKD −/− KO mice do display increased auditory stimulus-driven instrumental behaviour and increased amphetamine-induced locomotion. Due to reports of increased ROS and oxidative stress phenotypes in an earlier truncated Immp2l mouse model resulting from an intragenic deletion within Immp2l, we tested whether high doses of the synthetic mitochondrial targeted antioxidant (MitoQ) could reverse or moderate the behavioural changes in Immp2lKD −/− KO mice. To our surprise, we observed that ROS levels were not increased but significantly lowered in our new Immp2lKD −/− KO mice and that these mice had no oxidative stress-associated phenotypes and were fully fertile with no age-related ataxia or neurodegeneration as ascertained using electron microscopy. Furthermore, the antioxidant MitoQ had no effect on the increased amphetamine-induced locomotion of these mice. Together, these findings indicate that the behavioural changes in Immp2lKD −/− KO mice are associated with an antioxidant-like phenotype with lowered and not increased levels of ROS and no oxidative stress-related phenotypes. This suggested that treatments with antioxidants are unlikely to be effective in treating behaviours directly resulting from the loss of Immp2l/IMMP2L activity, while any behavioural deficits that maybe associated with IMMP2L intragenic deletion-associated truncations have yet to be determined.
Children Learn Simple, Adaptive Decision Strategies from Probabilistic Feedback

ABSTRACT In two studies, children learned simple but adaptive decision strategies from decision feedback. In a probabilistic multi-cue decision task, we investigated children's decision strategies under different feedback conditions. In Study 1 (N = 313), 7- and 9-year-old German children learned the selective decision strategy Take-the-Best. Children learned Take-the-Best equally well in both strict and lenient feedback environments, but worse than adult controls. In Study 2 (N = 246), feedback reinforced either the selective Take-the-Best strategy or the holistic Equal-Weight strategy. Results showed that children adapted to both decision environments. Children used both strategies more or less frequently depending on the feedback structure. Adaptation to the environment favoring Equal-Weight was better overall. This was not because the feedback was more effective, but rather because children, especially the younger ones, tended to use the Equal-Weight strategy even in the absence of feedback. Consistent with this, both studies showed an age effect on strategy use: overall, older children used the selective Take-the-Best strategy more often, while younger children used the holistic Equal-Weight strategy more often. Our results show that feedback can quickly improve decisions and increase the use of adaptive decision strategies in children as young as six years old.
A COMPARATIVE HORMONAL STUDY FOR TWO TYPES OF AMNIOTIC ANIMALS

This research aims to study thyroid hormones, growth hormone, and estrogen hormone in two types of Iraqi amniotes. The study included two types of Mature animals, the local rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), an example of mammals, and the Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix Japanese), an example of birds. Twenty females were taken from each of the rabbits and quails, and they were of sexual maturity and weighed(1347.2 ± 404.2) g and (173.5 ± 42)g respectively. The level of thyroid function T3, T4, TSH, growth hormones (GH), and estrogen (E2) was measured in the blood serum of quail and local rabbit using ELISA technique following the steps in the leflet kit supplied by the company MY BioSource and CUSABIO. The results of the current study.showed a significant increase in the concentration of T3, T4, TSH, and estrogen hormones in the rabbit compared to the quail at a probability of (p≤0.01). The study also showed a Highly significant increase of growth hormone in rabbit serum compared with the quail at probability of (p≤0.05).
Association between levels of IgG antibodies from vaccines and Omicron symptomatic infection among children and adolescents in China

Background Measurements of IgG antibodies to wild-type SARS-CoV-2 antigens can assess vaccine efficacy, but the absolute risk of Omicron symptomatic infection at different IgG levels for children and adolescents remains uncertain, as well as the minimum effective antibody level. We sought to determine the relationship between the tertiles of IgG antibodies to wild-type SARS-CoV-2 antigens and children with symptomatic infection of the pandemic and duration to negative conversion in China for the first time. Methods A retrospective study was conducted, including 168 participants under 18 years old from the No.2 People’s Hospital of Lanzhou, China, diagnosed with Omicron variant BA.2. 38 between July 8, 2022, and August 2, 2022. We calculated odds ratios (OR) in univariate and multivariate regression to assess the association of symptomatic infection with the tertiles of IgG, respectively. Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to evaluate the relationship between IgG level and negative conversion time. Results The average age of the 168 children included in this study was 7.2 (4.7) years old, 133 (79.2%) were symptomatic patients, and the average negative conversion time was 12.2 (3.5) days. The participants with high IgG levels were less likely to become symptomatic, had a shorter turnaround time, and had higher values of IgM and nucleic acid CT. Compared to those with the lowest tertile of IgG, patients with the highest tertile had a 91% lower risk of developing a symptomatic infection after fully adjusting for confounders (OR = 0.09, 95% CI, 0.02-0.36, p = 0.001). There’s no robust relationship between IgG level and negative conversion time in multivariate Cox regression. Conclusion The risk of developing a symptomatic infection can be predicted independently by tertiles of IgG antibodies to wild-type SARS-CoV-2 antigens. High IgG levels can inhibit viral replication, vastly reduce the risk of symptomatic infections and promote a virus-negative conversion, especially when IgG quantitative detection was ≥3.44 S/CO, a potential threshold for protection and booster strategy in the future. More data and research are needed in the future to validate the predictive models.