Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stratigraphic record of continental breakup, offshore NW Australia—Discussion

Reeve et al. (2022) address the stratigraphic record of continental breakup by focusing on a set of stratigraphic unconformities from a proximal sector of the NW Australian continental margin, inboard from the Exmouth Plateau. They suggest that such unconformities can potentially document a well‐defined three‐stage process: end of the syn‐rift phase, formation of a wide continent‐ocean transition zone (COTZ) and generation of ‘true’ Penrose‐type oceanic crust. We counterargue that continental breakup is a protracted event that can only be understood via seismic‐ and chronostratigraphic correlations of strata, and their composing sequences, across and along rifted margins. Tying proximal stratigraphic unconformities to magnetic anomalies outboard from the study area in Reeve et al. (2022) is open to question. In parallel, we suggest that age resolutions of ca. 1 Ma are not achievable using the micropaleontological data presented in Reeve et al. (2022), with an important reworking of microfossil assemblages potentially occurring during the erosional process forming local and regional unconformities. Our discussion addresses these points in more detail.
Crowds’ malice behind the screen: The normative influences of online dehumanization on discrimination against foreigners

With the ubiquitous presence of the Internet, comments that dehumanize foreigners are frequently found on social networking platforms. These comments may function as dehumanizing norms and facilitate discrimination against foreigners in the offline world. In the current research, three studies were conducted to explore this possibility. Study 1 was a correlational study that revealed a positive association between dehumanizing norms and discrimination against foreigners. Studies 2 and 3 manipulated dehumanizing norms and found that these norms promoted discrimination against foreigners via increased prejudice toward them. Study 3 further measured perceived online anonymity and revealed that decreasing perceived online anonymity buffered the destructive influences of dehumanizing norms. In conclusion, to our knowledge, the current research represents the first attempt to empirically explore the normative influences of dehumanization on discrimination against foreigners and provides practical implications for comment management on the Internet.
Constraints on the bulk Lorentz factor of gamma-ray burst jets from Fermi /LAT upper limits

It is largely recognized that Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) jets involve ultra-relativistic motion. However, the value of the Lorentz factor Gamma_0 is still not clear and only lower limits are known for most bursts. We suggest here a new method to obtain upper limits on Gamma_0. The early high-energy synchrotron afterglow flux depends strongly on Gamma_0. Upper limits on GeV emission therefore provide uppers limit on Gamma_0. Applying this method to 190 Fermi GRBs that have not been detected by the Fermi-LAT we place upper limits on the high-energy afterglow flux, and in turn on Gamma_0. For bursts at a typical redshift z=2, we find values of the order of 200 (and above) for a homogeneous density medium, and in the range 100-400 for a wind-like medium. These upper limits are consistent with (and are very close to) lower limits and direct estimates inferred using other methods, suggesting that the typical Lorentz factors of GRB jets are of order a few hundred.
Geographical and Temporal Analysis of Tweets Related to COVID-19 and Cardiovascular Disease in the US

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more than 600 million confirmed cases worldwide since December 2021. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is both a risk factor for COVID-19 mortality and a complication that many COVID-19 patients develop. This study uses Twitter data to identify the spatiotemporal patterns and correlation of related tweets with daily COVID-19 cases and deaths at the national, regional, and state levels. We collected tweets mentioning both COVID-19 and CVD-related words from February to July 2020 (Eastern Time) and geocoded the tweets to the state level using GIScience techniques. We further proposed and validated that the Twitter user registration state can be a feasible proxy of geotags. We applied geographical and temporal analysis to investigate where and when people talked about COVID-19 and CVD. Our results indicated that the trend of COVID-19 and CVD-related tweets is correlated to the trend of COVID-19, especially the daily deaths. These social media messages revealed widespread recognition of CVD’s important role in the COVID-19 pandemic, even before the medical community started to develop consensus and theory supports about CVD aspects of COVID-19. The second wave of the pandemic caused another rise in the related tweets but not as much as the first one, as tweet frequency increased from February to April, decreased till June, and bounced back in July. At the regional level, four regions (Northeast, Midwest, North, and West) had the same trend of related tweets compared to the country as a whole. However, only the Northeast region had a high correlation (0.8–0.9) between the tweet count, new cases, and new deaths. For the second wave of confirmed new cases, the major contributing regions, South and West, did not ripple as many related tweets as the first wave. Our understanding is that the early news attracted more attention and discussion all over the U.S. in the first wave, even though some regions were not impacted as much as the Northeast at that time. The study can be expanded to more geographic and temporal scales, and with more physical and socioeconomic variables, with better data acquisition in the future.
The mass distribution of a moderate redshift galaxy group and brightest group galaxy from gravitational lensing and kinematics

The gravitational lens system CLASS B2108+213 has two radio-loud lensed images separated by 4.56 arcsec. The relatively large image separation implies that the lensing is caused by a group of galaxies. In this paper, new optical imaging and spectroscopic data for the lensing galaxies of B2108+213 and the surrounding field galaxies are presented. These data are used to investigate the mass and composition of the lensing structure. The redshift and stellar velocity dispersion of the main lensing galaxy (G1) are found to be z = 0.3648 +/- 0.0002 and Sigma(v) = 325 +/- 25 km s-1, respectively. The optical spectrum of the lensed quasar shows no obvious emission or absorption features, and is consistent with a BL Lac type radio source. However, the tentative detection of the G-band and Mg-b absorption lines, and a break in the spectrum of the host galaxy of the lensed quasar gives a likely source redshift of z = 0.67. Spectroscopy of the field around B2108+213 finds 51 galaxies at a similar redshift to G1, thus confirming that there is a much larger structure at z similar to 0.365 associated with this system. The width of the group velocity distribution is 694 +/- 93 km s-1, but is non-Gaussian, implying that the structure is not yet viralized. The main lensing galaxy is also the brightest group member and has a surface brightness profile consistent with a typical cD galaxy. A lensing and dynamics analysis of the mass distribution, which also includes the newly found group members, finds that the logarithmic slope of the mass density profile is on average isothermal inside the Einstein radius, but steeper at the location of the Einstein radius. This apparent change in slope can be accounted for if an external convergence gradient, representing the underlying parent halo of the galaxy group, is included in the mass model.
PLASMA DIAGNOSTICS OF AN EIT WAVE OBSERVED BY HINODE/EIS AND SDO/AIA

We present plasma diagnostics of an Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) wave observed with high cadence in Hinode/Extreme-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) sit-and-stare spectroscopy and Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly imagery obtained during the HOP-180 observing campaign on 2011 February 16. At the propagating EIT wave front, we observe downward plasma flows in the EIS Fe xii, Fe xiii, and Fe xvi spectral lines (log T ≈ 6.1–6.4) with line-of-sight (LOS) velocities up to 20 km s−1. These redshifts are followed by blueshifts with upward velocities up to −5 km s−1 indicating relaxation of the plasma behind the wave front. During the wave evolution, the downward velocity pulse steepens from a few km s−1 up to 20 km s−1 and subsequently decays, correlated with the relative changes of the line intensities. The expected increase of the plasma densities at the EIT wave front estimated from the observed intensity increase lies within the noise level of our density diagnostics from EIS Fe xiii 202/203 Å line ratios. No significant LOS plasma motions are observed in the He ii line, suggesting that the wave pulse was not strong enough to perturb the underlying chromosphere. This is consistent with the finding that no Hα Moreton wave was associated with the event. The EIT wave propagating along the EIS slit reveals a strong deceleration of a ≈ −540 m s−2 and a start velocity of v0 ≈ 590 km s−1. These findings are consistent with the passage of a coronal fast-mode MHD wave, pushing the plasma downward and compressing it at the coronal base.
A COSMIC VARIANCE COOKBOOK

Deep pencil beam surveys (<1 deg2) are of fundamental importance for studying the high-redshift universe. However, inferences about galaxy population properties (e.g., the abundance of objects) are in practice limited by “cosmic variance. ” This is the uncertainty in observational estimates of the number density of galaxies arising from the underlying large-scale density fluctuations. This source of uncertainty can be significant, especially for surveys which cover only small areas and for massive high-redshift galaxies. Cosmic variance for a given galaxy population can be determined using predictions from cold dark matter theory and the galaxy bias. In this paper, we provide tools for experiment design and interpretation. For a given survey geometry, we present the cosmic variance of dark matter as a function of mean redshift and redshift bin size Δz. Using a halo occupation model to predict galaxy clustering, we derive the galaxy bias as a function of mean redshift for galaxy samples of a given stellar mass range. In the linear regime, the cosmic variance of these galaxy samples is the product of the galaxy bias and the dark matter cosmic variance. We present a simple recipe using a fitting function to compute cosmic variance as a function of the angular dimensions of the field, , Δz, and stellar mass m*. We also provide tabulated values and a software tool. The accuracy of the resulting cosmic variance estimates (δσv/σv) is shown to be better than 20%. We find that for GOODS at and with Δz = 0.5, the relative cosmic variance of galaxies with m*>1011 M☉ is ∼38%, while it is ∼27% for GEMS and ∼12% for COSMOS. For galaxies of m* ∼ 1010 M☉, the relative cosmic variance is ∼19% for GOODS, ∼13% for GEMS, and ∼6% for COSMOS. This implies that cosmic variance is a significant source of uncertainty at for small fields and massive galaxies, while for larger fields and intermediate mass galaxies, cosmic variance is less serious.
The Role of miR-375-3p, miR-210-3p and Let-7e-5p in the Pathological Response of Breast Cancer Patients to Neoadjuvant Therapy

Background and Objectives: Prediction of response to therapy remains a continuing challenge in treating breast cancer, especially for identifying molecular tissue markers that best characterize resistant tumours. Microribonucleic acids (miRNA), known as master modulators of tumour phenotype, could be helpful candidates for predicting drug resistance. We aimed to assess the association of miR-375-3p, miR-210-3p and let-7e-5p in breast cancer tissues with pathological response to neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) and clinicopathological data. Material and methods: Sixty female patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at The Oncology Institute “Ion Chiricuță”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (IOCN) were included in this study. Before patients received any treatment, fresh breast tissue biopsies were collected through core biopsy under echographic guidance and processed for total RNA extraction and miRNA quantification. The Cancer Genome Atlas Breast Invasive Carcinoma (TCGA-BRCA) database was used as an independent external validation cohort. Results: miR-375-3p expression was associated with more differentiated tumours, hormone receptor presence and lymphatic invasion. According to the Miller–Payne system, a higher miR-375-3p expression was calculated for patients that presented with intermediate versus (vs.) no pathological response. Higher miR-210-3p expression was associated with an improved response to NAT in both Miller–Payne and RCB evaluation systems. Several druggable mRNA targets were correlated with miR-375-3p and miR-210-3p expression, with upstream analysis using the IPA knowledge base revealing a list of possible chemical and biological targeting drugs. Regarding let-7e-5p, no significant association was noticed with any of the analysed clinicopathological data. Conclusions: Our results suggest that tumours with higher levels of miR-375-3p are more sensitive to neoadjuvant therapy compared to resistant tumours and that higher miR-210-3p expression in responsive tumours could indicate an excellent pathological response.
The in vitro fermentation of compound oral liquid by human colonic microbiota altered the abundance of probiotics and short-chain fatty acid production

Compound oral liquid (COL), made from functional herbal foods, has gained immense popularity in China for healthcare. However, the interaction between the nutrients in COL and gut microbiota is still unclear. In our study, the content of total flavonoids, polyphenols, and proteins was increased and the total sugar reduced by crushing raw ingredients to 10 mesh (COL-C). After 24 h incubation with supplemented COL by human gut microbiota, the results of 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing revealed that Faecalibacterium, Collinsella, Bifidobacterium, Megamonas, Lactobacillus, Phascolarctobacterium, and Dialister were enriched by COL. In particular, the latter three genera were observed to be significantly enriched after incubation with COL-C. Meanwhile, the abundance of Dorea, Clostridium XIVa, and Escherichia/Shigella was inhibited by COL. Moreover, the increased levels of acetate, propionate, and butyrate in COL were jointly contributed by supplementary carbohydrates and the enrichment of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacteria. In summary, our results indicated that the optimized extraction facilitated the nutrients to be dissolved out and enhanced the potential prebiotic effects for promoting the abundance of probiotics, suggesting that the nutrients in COL-C might improve the microbial structure by strengthening the metabolism of beneficial bacteria and restricting the conditioned pathogens more efficiently.
Expression of Amyloid Precursor Protein, Caveolin-1, Alpha-, Beta-, and Gamma-Secretases in Penumbra Cells after Photothrombotic Stroke and Evaluation of Neuroprotective Effect of Secretase and Caveolin-1 Inhibitors

Our studies reveal changes in the expression of the main participants in the processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) in neurons and astrocytes after photothrombotic stroke (PTS). Here we show the increase in the level of N- and C-terminal fragments of APP in the cytoplasm of ischemic penumbra cells at 24 h after PTS and their co-immunoprecipitation with caveolin-1. The ADAM10 α-secretase level decreased in the rat brain cortex on the first day after PTS. Levels of γ-secretase complex proteins presenilin-1 and nicastrin were increased in astrocytes, but not in neurons, in the penumbra after PTS. Inhibitory analysis showed that these changes lead to neuronal death and activation of astrocytes in the early recovery period after PTS. The caveolin-1 inhibitor daidzein shifted APP processing towards Aβ synthesis, which caused astroglial activation. γ-secretase inhibitor DAPT down-regulated glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in astrocytes, prevented mouse cerebral cortex cells from PTS-induced apoptosis, and reduced the infarction volume. Thus, new generation γ-secretase inhibitors may be considered as potential agents for the treatment of stroke.
Wide-field OCT-angiography assessment of choroidal thickness and choriocapillaris in eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy

Purpose: To assess wide-field changes in choroidal thickness and choriocapillaris in eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) compared with the fellow eyes and eyes from healthy individuals using wide-field swept-source (SS) OCT-Angiography (OCTA). Methods: A cross-sectional study in which 68 eyes from 34 individual patients affected by unilateral CSC and 32 eyes of 32 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were evaluated. All subjects underwent wide-field SS-OCTA examination to quantify choroidal thickness and vascular density of the choriocapillaris. To assess the wide-field changes, we developed five 4-by-4 mm square regions located in the posterior pole and in the four quadrants of the peripheral retina (superotemporal, inferotemporal, superonasal, and inferonasal subfields, respectively). Results: The choroidal thickness of eyes with CSC was greater than that of the fellow eyes in the central and inferonasal subfields (p < 0.001 for the central subfield and p = 0.006 for the inferonasal subfield, respectively). Compared with the choroidal thickness of healthy eyes, that of patients with CSC were significantly greater in all the subfields (p < 0.05 for the fellow eyes and p < 0.05 for eyes with CSC, respectively). Compared with that of healthy eyes, the vascular density of choriocapillaris in eyes of patients with CSC were significantly greater in the central and superotemporal subfields (p < 0.05 for the fellow eyes and p < 0.05 for eyes with CSC, respectively). In the central region, the vascular density of choriocapillaris of the fellow eyes was greater than eyes with CSC (p = 0.023). Conclusion: CSC appears to be a bilateral disease with asymmetric manifestations. Local factors of the diseased eyes may play an important role in the development of CSC, during which dynamic and regional changes in the choriocapillaris may have happened. Wide-field swept-source OCTA provided a useful tool to study the pathogenesis of CSC.
Too much of a good thing: Differentiating intellectual humility from servility in higher education

ABSTRACT Recent studies have suggested that intellectual humility (IH) might facilitate (a) better learning outcomes, (b) more scientific mindedness, and (c) better peer and professional relationships. However, recent philosophical work has raised concerns that too much IH might lead to intellectual servility (IS), and thus might be vicious (albeit not blameworthy) rather than virtuous. We define IS as a disposition to over-own one’s intellectual limitations and disregard one’s intellectual strengths. We begin by outlining the importance of distinguishing IS from IH, noting that marginalized social groups (e.g., students of color) may be at greater risk for developing the vice of IS than the vice of intellectual arrogance. Then, in a sample of 94 racially diverse undergraduate students, we provide evidence that IS may be detrimental in educational contexts. IS was positively related to maladaptive perfectionism, and it was negatively related to civic engagement, conscientiousness, and openness. We conclude by discussing implications for fostering virtuous IH in higher educational settings. Namely, if IH interventions do not correct for the possibility of over-owning limitations, we risk exacerbating IS.
Coulomb-gauge ghost and gluon propagators in SU(3) lattice Yang-Mills theory

We study the momentum dependence of the ghost propagator and of the space and time components of the gluon propagator at equal time in pure SU(3) lattice Coulomb-gauge theory carrying out a joint analysis of data collected independently at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics, Osaka and Humboldt University, Berlin. We focus on the scaling behavior of these propagators at {beta}=5.8,. ,6.2 and apply a matching technique to relate the data for the different lattice cutoffs. Thereby, lattice artifacts are found to be rather strong for both instantaneous gluon propagators at a large momentum. As a byproduct we obtain the respective lattice scale dependences a({beta}) for the transversal gluon and the ghost propagator which indeed run faster with {beta} than two-loop running, but slightly slower than what is known from the Necco-Sommer analysis of the heavy quark potential. The abnormal a({beta}) dependence as determined from the instantaneous time-time gluon propagator, D{sub 44}, remains a problem, though. The role of residual gauge-fixing influencing D{sub 44} is discussed.
Constraining the substructure of dark matter haloes with galaxy–galaxy lensing

With galaxy groups constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we analyse the expected galaxy-galaxy lensing signals around satellite galaxies residing in different host haloes and located at different halo-centric distances. We use a Markov chain Monte Carlo method to explore the potential constraints on the mass and density profile of subhaloes associated with satellite galaxies from SDSS-like surveys and surveys similar to the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Our results show that for SDSS-like surveys, we can only set a loose constraint on the mean mass of subhaloes. With LSST-like surveys, however, both the mean mass and the density profile of subhaloes can be well constrained.
Assessment of Fire Regimes and Post-Fire Evolution of Burned Areas with the Dynamic Time Warping Method on Time Series of Satellite Images - Setting the Methodological Framework in the Peloponnese, Greece

Forest fires are considered to be an important part of numerous terrestrial ecosystems and vegetation types, being also a significant factor of ecosystem disruption. In this sense, fires play an important role in the structure and function of the ecosystems. Biomes are characterized by a specific type of fire regime, which is a synergy of the climate conditions and the characteristics of the vegetation types dominating each biome. The assessment of burned areas and the identification of the fire regimes can be implemented with freely available low- to high-resolution satellite data as those of Landsat and Sentinel-2. Moreover, the biomes are characterized by the phenology, a useful component for vegetation monitoring, especially when time series of satellite images are used. Both the identification of fire regime by reconstructing the fire history and the monitoring of the post-fire evolution of burned areas were studied with remote sensing methods. Specifically, the present paper is a pilot study implemented in a Mediterranean biome, aimed at establishing the methodological framework to (i) define fire regimes, (ii) characterize the phenological pattern of the vegetation (pre-fire situation) of the fire-affected areas, and (iii) compare the phenology of the recovered fire-affected areas with the corresponding one of the pre-fire situation. At the global level, based on MODIS fire perimeters, we found that fires are occurring at 70% in the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, followed by fires at tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests by 7% and by fires at deserts and xeric shrublands by 6.5%.