Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Climate Forecasting - What the Temperature and Rainfall in Hong Kong are Going to be Like in 100 Years?

Global warming has become a popular issue in recent years, not only because of its scientific interest but also its potential impact on biodiversity and human health. The global mean temperature has increased by 0.6 ± 0.2°C in the 20 century, and might increase by a further 1.4°C to 5.8°C before the end of 2100 depending on the emission scenarios. Against this background, attempts were made by the Hong Kong Observatory to estimate the change in temperature and rainfall respectively in Hong Kong up to the end of the 21 century. This paper summarizes the estimates obtained for Hong Kong. By downscaling temperature and rainfall forecasts made by global climate models, it was found that by 2090-2099, relative to the 1961-1990 normal, the annual mean temperature in Hong Kong would rise by 1.7°C to 5.6°C, with an ensemble mean of 3.5°C. The annual number of very hot days in summer would rise from the 1961-1990 normal of 11 days to 24 days and the annual number of hot nights in summer would rise to 30, roughly 4 times the 1961-1990 normal of 8 nights. However, the annual number of cold days in winter would drop from 21 days to less than a day. While the annual rainfall in Hong Kong would increase at about 1% per decade in the 21 century, the year-to-year variability in rainfall would also increase. In the 21 century, there would be 6 years with annual rainfall exceeding 3343 mm, the highest rainfall recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory’s Headquarters in the past 120 years, and 3 years with annual rainfall less than the historical lower-bound figure of 901 mm. By 2070-2099, the number of days in a year with hourly rainfall exceeding 30 mm would increase from about 5.6 to 6.5.
Use of Three-Dimensional Cell Culture Models in Drug Assays for Anti-Cancer Agents in Oral Cancer: Protocol for a Scoping Review

Advances in the development of pharmacological treatment in oral cancer require tumor models capable of simulating the complex biology of the tumor microenvironment. The spread of three-dimensional models has changed the scenery of in vitro cell culture techniques, contributing to translational oncology. Still, the full extent of their application in preclinical drug trials is yet to be understood. Therefore, the present scoping review protocol was established to screen the literature on using three-dimensional cell culture models in drug-testing assays in the context of oral cancer. This scoping review will be conducted based on the guidelines established by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Review guidelines (PRISMA-ScR). We will search the PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase databases, as well as the gray literature, including peer-reviewed research articles involving 3D models applied to drug-assessment assays in oral cancer published from 1 March 2013 until 1 March 2023. Data will be charted, and findings will be described according to the predetermined questions of interest. We will present these findings in a narrative manner.
Effects of refining process on sunflower oil minor components: a review

Sunflower oil is well known because of its diversity of fatty acids profiles which allow different uses (food: dressing salads, margarines; nonfood: agrofuel, lubricants). Besides, crude oil contains high amounts of desirable minor components (tocopherols, phytosterols, polyphenols, phospholipids.) that present important nutritional features with a positive impact on human health. The different steps of the refining process have as main objective to remove contaminants and other compounds that could hamper the continuity of the process or alter oil during storage. An indirect consequence of this treatment used to preserve food safety is that micronutriments of interest are also partially eliminated reducing the nutritional quality of the oil. This review describes in the first part the chemical composition of sunflower oil focusing on desirable and undesirable components. In the second part the refining process is detailed following the losses of micronutriments at each step of the process and the elimination of unwanted compounds.
Hypocenter locations in finite-source rupture models

We use a database of more than 80 finite-source rupture models for more than 50 earthquakes ( M w 4.1–8.1) with different faulting styles occurring in both tectonic and subduction environments to analyze the location of the hypocenter within the fault and to consider the correlation between hypocenter location and regions of large slip. Rupture in strike-slip and crustal dip-slip earthquakes tends to nucleate in the deeper sections of the fault; subduction earthquakes do not show this tendency. Ratios of the hypocentral slip to either the average or the maximum slip show that rupture can nucleate at locations with any level of relative displacement. Rupture nucleates in regions of very large slip ( D ≥ 2/3 D max ) in only 16% of the events, in regions of large slip (1/3 D max D D max ) in 35% of the events, and in regions of low slip ( D ≤ 1/3 D max ) in 48% of the events. These percentages significantly exceed the percentages of fault area with very large (∼7%) and large (∼28%) slip. Ruptures that nucleate in regions of low slip, however, tend to nucleate close to regions of large slip and encounter a zone of very large slip within half the total rupture length. Applying several statistical tests we conclude that hypocenters are not randomly located on a fault but are located either within or close to regions of large slip.
The Impact of Urban Land-use on Total Pollutant Loads Entering Darwin Harbour

The Darwin Harbour region is the country of the Larrakia and other Aboriginal people, and is enjoyed by Territorians and tourists for its recreational opportunities. Most Territory residents live in the region, which is the centre for industrial and commercial operations. The region is also a major hub for road, rail, air and sea transport. Our use of the catchment, through urban, industrial and agricultural development in the region has increased the amount of pollutants entering Darwin Harbour. This report collates pollutant and hydrographic data for the Darwin Harbour catchment, with a focus on monitoring of loads undertaken in the 2006/07 wet season. It extrapolates monitoring undertaken for specific catchments to the wider Darwin Harbour catchment, and predicts the impact of future development on the pollutant loads entering Darwin Harbour based on a 'business as usual' approach.
Sedimentary development and magnetic susceptibility evolution of the Frasnian in Western Belgium (Dinant Synclinorium, La Thure section)

Abstract Recent opening of the La Thure quarry in Western Belgium allowed the collection of new data from a poorly outcropping area of the Belgian Frasnian platform. The studied section covers an interval extending from the falsiovalis to hassi s.l. Zones. Sedimentological analyses allowed the reconstruction of depositional settings in the northwestern part of the Dinant Synclinorium after the demise of the extended Givetian carbonate platform. Two depositional models are distinguished: (a) siliciclastic drowned platform during the Early Frasnian; and (b) a fore-reef depositional setting belonging to a rimmed shelf during the Middle Frasnian. Moreover, interpreted depositional settings in the northwestern part of the Dinant Synclinorium allowed to constraint the direction of the main facies belts for the Belgian Frasnian platform. Combination of MS and geochemistry demonstrates the inherent-parallel link existing between variation in MS values and proxy for terrestrial input (such as Si and Al). This observation means that, despite the remagnetization occurring within the Belgian Frasnian lithologies, the main trends in the MS signal from the La Thure section still reflect some syn-sedimentary conditions. The increase in MS and clastic input proxies recorded in distal fore-reef deposit within the punctata Zone are likely to be considered as enhanced by rapid and strong shallowing events recognized in the ‘puncata Event’ interval.
Analyzing the health supply chain risks during COVID-19 pandemic: The moderating role of risk management

Abstract The outbreak of COVID-19 severely affected the achievement of the sustainable development goals. The American Hospital Association estimated an average loss of US$50.7 billion per month for US hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the less developed economies, it costs about US$52 billion per month to effectively manage COVID-19. This current study, therefore, sought to assess how risk management practices could moderate the relationship between supply chain risk and healthcare delivery, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey research design was adopted, with a quantitative research approach. The study adopted purposive sampling technique to select 216 respondents (senior/management members from procurement, stores/inventory, pharmacy, and administration) of the selected public hospitals. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was run in Amos (v.23), to estimate the path coefficients. The study concludes that supply chain risk had a significant negative effect on healthcare delivery among public hospitals in Ghana. Also, supply chain risk management had a significant positive effect on healthcare delivery among public hospitals in Ghana. Finally, it was concluded that risk management practices positively moderated the negative effect on supply chain risk on healthcare delivery.
Pasture species and drought impacts on milk yield 2. Predicted farm milk yield at four sites

A desirable option for increasing milk yield per farm is to increase milk production in summer without compromising peak-season production or the duration of lactation. The dairy industry has a goal to achieve a 4% per month post-peak decline of milk production. The effect of five pasture types and two summer water regimes on predicted farm milk yield, in Northland, Waikato, Manawatu and Canterbury was measured over 1 year. Two pasture treatments, resident pasture and Grasslands Nui ryegrass, were common to all sites. A third pasture treatment varied between sites: triple mix (Grasslands Advance tall fescue, Grasslands Kara cocksfoot, and Grasslands Maru phalaris) at the Manawatu site; the same triple mix but with Grasslands Raki paspalum at the Northland site; and low-endophyte ryegrass and Grasslands Kahu timothy (LER) at the Canterbury site; all sown treatments included red and white clover. All five pasture types were included at the Waikato site. On average for all pasture types, water deficit reduced summer herbage accumulation (HA) to 79, 68, 43 and 18% of irrigated controls, and annual HA to 88, 80, 73 and 63% of irrigated controls in Northland, Waikato, Manawatu and Canterbury, respectively. Since farm milk yield predicted by UDDER was highly correlated with annual HA (R 2 = 83%), the effects of pasture type and water deficit on milk yield were similar to effects on HA. Seasonal and annual HA differed among the five pasture types at each of the four sites. The most important factor affecting predicted farm milk yield was annual HA, with relatively little effect from the seasonal pattern of pasture growth. Differences in shapes of the predicted milk supply curves for various treatments occurred, particularly when drought forced early drying-off. The best predicted summer milk yield was for the Canterbury irrigated LER pasture treatment, a 6.8% per month postpeak decline of milk production.
Near-Surface Turbulence and Thermal Structure in a Wind-Driven Sea

Abstract Ocean surface turbulence at high sea states is evaluated using heat as a naturally occurring passive tracer. A freely drifting instrument with a mechanically driven temperature profiler, fixed depth thermistors, and conductivity cells was used to monitor breaking wave activity and fine-scale temperature structure within the upper 2 m of the water column. The combination of temperature profiles and independent heat flux measurements demonstrate the presence of wave-enhanced turbulence and the effects of subsurface advection due to Langmuir circulation. The turbulence length scale, extracted from the temperature profile fine structure, suggests a surface value significantly smaller than previously reported. A Prandtl-type mixing length model matched with a surface energy flux due to wave breaking and the observed turbulent length scale is consistent with the authors’ observations. Both advection and enhanced diffusion are reconciled in a two-dimensional model of the upper-ocean boundary layer, prov.
Precipitation stable isotope variability and subcloud evaporation processes in a semi‐arid region

The stable isotopic (2H/1H and 18O/16O) composition of precipitation has been used for a variety of hydrological and paleoclimate studies, a starting point for which is the behaviour of stable isotopes in modern precipitation. To this end, daily precipitation samples were collected over a 7‐year period (2008–2014) at a semi‐arid site located at the Macquarie Marshes, New South Wales (Australia). The samples were analysed for stable isotope composition, and factors affecting the isotopic variability were investigated. The best correlation between δ18O of precipitation was with local surface relative humidity.
Characterization of Glycosyltransferase Family 1 (GT1) and Their Potential Roles in Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in Maize

Glycosyltransferase family 1 (GT1) is a large group of proteins that play critical roles in secondary metabolite biosynthesis in plants. However, the GT1 family is not well studied in maize. In this study, 107 GT1 unigenes were identified in the maize reference genome and classified into 16 groups according to their phylogenetic relationship. GT1s are unevenly distributed across all ten maize chromosomes, occurring as gene clusters in some chromosomes. Collinearity analysis revealed that gene duplication events, whole-genome or segmental duplication, and tandem duplication occurred at a similar frequency, indicating that both types of gene duplication play notable roles in the expansion of the GT1 gene family. Expression analysis showed GT1s expressing in all tissues with specific expression patterns of each GT1, suggesting that they might participate in multiple biological processes during the whole growth and development stages. Furthermore, 16 GT1s were identified to have similar expression patterns to those of anthocyanidin synthase (ANS), the critical enzyme in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Molecular docking was carried out to examine the affinity of GT1s with substrates in anthocyanin biosynthesis. This study provides valuable information on the GT1s of maize and will promote the development of research on their biological functions in the biosynthesis of other secondary metabolites.
Late-Holocene gallery forest retrogression in the Venezuelan Guayana: New data and implications for the conservation of a cultural landscape

Fire is considered a major threat to forest conservation in the Neotropics. Palaeoecological studies are critical for understanding the long-term interactions of climate, fire, and human activities in the savanna–forest dynamic. Here, new data from palynological analyses conducted in sedimentary records from the northern edge of the Amazon Basin, the Gran Sabana, southeast of Canaima National Park (CNP) are presented. Four radiocarbon ages from Quebrada Kowana (QK) and two for Ariwe Fernland (AF) records showed that both are late-Holocene age (with extrapolated basal ages of 3100 and 3400 cal. yr BP, respectively). Both showed the occurrence of gallery forest until 1800 (QK) and 1600 (AF) cal. yr BP, with forest taxa reaching 60% and 40% of the terrestrial pollen sum, respectively. The main forest taxa were Celastraceae, Moraceae/Urticaceae, Schefflera, Protium, and Mahurea (QK) and Dimorphandra, Protium, Schefflera, Tachigali, and Blepharandra (AF). Savanna herbs (mainly Poaceae) reached 40–50% (QK) and 60% (AF). The high abundance of savanna herbs together with the low occurrence of mature forest taxa, and high abundance of pioneer taxa, suggests that the former forests comprised very open and disturbed forest-belts, surrounded by savannas. Since 1800 (QK) and 1600 (AF) cal. yr BP, forest taxa dropped to 10% and 5%, respectively, suggesting the substitution of forests by herbaceous communities. The high abundance of charcoal recorded from the beginning of the records to about 1800–1600 cal. yr BP suggests that recurrent fires spreading from neighboring savannas were reaching the former forest, causing compositional changes and triggering forest reduction. Fires were very likely human-made, but highly controlled by climate. Hence, forest substitution happened when a combination of local fires and droughts was given in every record. Results agree with those from other localities in the CNP in confirming the occurrence of regional-scale gallery forest degradation during the late Holocene.
Chlorite-smectite clay minerals and fault behavior: New evidence from the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) core

Segments of the modern San Andreas fault experience creep behavior, which is attributed to various factors, including (1) low values of effective normal stress, (2) elevated pore-fl uid pressure, and (3) low frictional strength. The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) drill hole in Parkfi eld, California, provides new insights into frictional properties by recognizing the importance of smectitic clay minerals, as demonstrated by analysis of mudrock and fault gouge samples from zones between 3186 and 3199 m and 3295 and 3313 m measured depths. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show illite, chlorite, and mixed-layered illite-smectite and chlorite-smectite minerals in the faulted mudrock, whereas serpentine, Mg-rich smectite, and chlorite-smectite minerals are concentrated in the southwest deformation zone and the central deformation zone of the two actively creeping sections in the San Andreas fault. These rocks are abundantly coated by shiny clay mineral layers in some cases, refl ecting mineral formation during creep. Secondary- and transmission-electron microscopy (SEM/TEM) and XRD studies of these slip surface coatings reveal thin fi lms of neoformed chlorite-smectite phases, similar to previously described illite-smectite microscale precipitations. The abundance of chlorite-smectite minerals within fault rock of the SAFOD borehole signifi cantly extends the potential role of mineralogic processes to depths up to 10 km, with cataclasis and fl uid infi ltration creating nucleation sites for neomineralization on displacement surfaces. We propose that localization of illitic to chloritic smectite clay minerals on slip surfaces from near the surface to the brittle-ductile transition promotes creep behavior of faults.
PROVENANCE DETERMINATION OF MYCENAEAN IIIC VESSELS FROM THE 1934–1939 EXCAVATIONS AT TARSUS-GÖZLÜKULE BY NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS

Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has been carried out in order to determine the provenance of a selected set of 30 sherds of Mycenaean style excavated at Tarsus-Gozlukule. The provenance could be established or made feasible in 80% of the samples. The results confirm the current status of research, namely that in the LH IIIC phase trade patterns changed and Mycenaean wares, which used to be exported to the Near East, were now produced locally. At Tarsus, the LH IIIC imports came from Cyprus and the eastern Aegean.
MAGNESIUM IN TESTS OF NEOGLOBOQUADRINA PACHYDERMA SINISTRAL FROM HIGH NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN LATITUDES

The intra-species variability of magnesium in calcitic tests of the planktic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sinistral, its relationship to water temperature, salinity and diagenesis, and its potential for paleoceanographic interpretations are investigated. Core-top samples from high northern and southern latitudes and long sediment cores from the Norwegian Sea are investigated for their Recent foraminiferal magnesium content and the variability of magnesium during the past approximately 180,000 years. The quantitative measurement of magnesium was performed by electronmicroprobe analysis. Sample contamination as well as the influence of early diagenetic processes, potentially altering the original element content, can be ruled out for the samples and the time period considered here. Magnesium concentrations in N. pachyderma sinistral are generally lower than published concentrations within other species. Moreover, the foraminiferal tests appear to be undersaturated with respect to magnesium for the water temperatures they have exper i e n c e d . Magnesium concentrations in Recent N. pachyderma sinistral covary most closely with surface water temperature. Salinity changes are of minor importance. Downcore magnesium variations covering the last climatic changes correlate to sedimentological and geochemical parameters. In general, relatively high magnesium concentrations appear during interglacials, whereas low magnesium concentrations occur during glacial periods. Even short climatic events, such as the Younger Dryas cooling, are reflected in the magnesium signal. It is therefore suggested that magnesium in foraminiferal tests reflects relative water temperature variations even at high latitudes, and thus may serve as a paleoceanographic tool to reconstruct changes in surface water circulation.
Body Image Misperceptions Among Tunisian Adolescents

Background Obesity is a globally recognized health concern with profound consequences for individual health, especially among adolescents. Tunisia, like many countries, is experiencing alarming rates of adolescent obesity. Understanding adolescents' perceptions of their weight status and the factors influencing these perceptions is pivotal for developing targeted interventions and policies to counteract the rising obesity trends. Objective To determine the accuracy of weight status perceptions among Tunisian adolescents compared to objective metrics and to identify sociodemographic characteristics associated with the inaccurate estimation of weight status. Methods A cross-sectional, school-based study was conducted among adolescents attending secondary schools in Sousse, Tunisia, during the 2017-2018 academic year. A total of 1399 students participated, with anthropometric measurements taken, and a pre-tested Arabic questionnaire administered to gather sociodemographic data and perceived weight status, assessed using the Figure Rating Scale (FRS). The accuracy of perceived weight status was determined by comparing the measured weight status with participants' self-reported perceptions. Results The study achieved an 86.68% response rate, with over half of the participants being female (60.5%), and the average age being 17 years. The majority of adolescents (41%) perceived themselves as having normal body weight, while 34.5% perceived themselves as underweight, 16.6% as overweight, and 7.9% as obese. However, based on BMI categories, 72.6% had a normal measured weight, 20.4% were overweight, and 6.9% were obese. A substantial proportion of participants (45.6%) underestimated their weight status, with a significant proportion being objectively overweight or obese (26%). Furthermore, we found a significant association between the perception of weight accuracy and both gender (p = 0.010) and the mother's educational level (p = 0.035). Conclusions The findings revealed a disparity between perceived and actual weight status among Tunisian adolescents, with a significant underestimation of weight status, particularly among those who are overweight or obese. The results highlighted the crucial need for interventions that address weight perception inaccuracies and promote healthy weight awareness and management among adolescents in Tunisia.