Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
HI Intensity Mapping as a Test for Dark Energy

The purpose of this thesis is to find out how successfully intensity mapping can be used to measure the HI signal with upcoming interferometers. This technique is an alternative to mapping the galaxy distribution with optical redshift surveys, using the 21 cm neutral hydrogen line instead to trace the matter. It relies on detecting the combined emission from galaxies rather than being able to detect individual galaxies. In this thesis a bespoke intensity mapping instrument `Tianlai' will be compared with two interferometers not specifically designed for this purpose, namely MeerKAT and ASKAP. Several different power spectrum estimators are investigated, settling on a cross-correlation estimator. Despite needing a correction factor Fl, this estimator has the lowest noise bias at high l. A theoretical HI angular power spectrum is then used as the simulation input and the potential ability of each interferometer to recover the power spectrum is analysed. We find that integrated HI signal is able to be detected by all three interferometers after 120 hours, with good detections being made after 1200 hours. At 800 MHz (z ~ 0.8) ideal `Tianlai' and ASKAP instruments require 15 and 20 pointings while MeerKAT requires 125 pointings. This gives peak SNR values, after120 hours, of 36 and 30 for `Tianlai' and ASKAP and 20 for MeerKAT. Moving to higher frequencies (z ~ 0.4) these SNR values increase to 47, 36 and 23 for `Tianlai', ASKAP and MeerKAT respectively. As the observation time is increased, the SNR values also increase for each instrument. `Tianlai' performs best due to its many short baselines giving it improved sensitivity to the angular scales of interest. Although ASKAP and MeerKAT both have few short baselines, ASKAP's PAFs give it a very large field-of-view, resulting in it out-performing MeerKAT and having similar potential to the bespoke instrument `Tianlai'. We conclude that all three instruments would be able to make a very good detection of the integrated HI signal after 1200 hours in an ideal experiment so it would be possible to design intensity mapping experiments for all three interferometers.
Fisheries Reference Points under Varying Stock Productivity and Discounting: European Anchovy as a Case Study

European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) is the main commercially exploited fish stock in the Black Sea region, providing a vital source of livelihood and revenue for local communities and national economies. In recent decades, the Black Sea anchovy stock has faced many human-induced threats, including overfishing, eutrophication, invasive species, and climate change while these threats have raised concerns about the status and long-term productivity of the stock. To ensure sustainable levels of exploitation under potential future changes in stock productivity, we here estimate and compare a suite of biological and economic reference points under different levels of stock productivity and discount rates using an age-structured bioeconomic model setup. Our model simulations showed that optimal fishing mortalities achieving maximum sustainable yield (FMSY) and maximum economic yield (FMEY) increase at higher stock productivity but are always lower than the historically high mean levels of exploitation. Furthermore, we illustrate that the stock biomass at maximum economic yield (BMEY) is larger than the stock biomass at maximum sustainable yield (BMSY) at all stock productivities and discount rates, except at low stock productivity under high levels of discounting (i.e., 10%, 20%). By illustrating the ecological and economic benefits of reducing exploitation rates, we expect that our estimated reference points can add value to the decision-making process for the management of the European anchovy fishery and ensure long-term sustainable management even under future climate-driven changes in stock productivity.
From Cavendish to PLANCK: Constraining Newton’s gravitational constant with CMB temperature and polarization anisotropy

We present new constraints on cosmic variations of Newton's gravitational constant by making use of the latest CMB data from WMAP, BOOMERANG, CBI and ACBAR experiments and independent constraints coming from big bang nucleosynthesis. We found that current CMB data provide constraints at the $\ensuremath{\sim}10%$ level, that can be improved to $\ensuremath{\sim}3%$ by including big bang nucleosynthesis data. We show that future data expected from the Planck satellite could constrain $G$ at the $\ensuremath{\sim}1.5%$ level while an ultimate, cosmic variance limited, CMB experiment could reach a precision of about 0.4%, competitive with current laboratory measurements.
Recent innovations in non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) for the treatment of unipolar and bipolar depression: a narrative review

Abstract Depression, either bipolar or unipolar, is a highly prevalent and disabling condition. Even though several treatment options exist for depressed patients, a significant portion of individuals receiving conventional pharmacotherapy fails to achieve and sustain remission. For this reason, there is a strong need for effective alternatives to pharmacotherapy. In this respect, non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS), including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), have been increasingly investigated in the last two decade as promising treatment strategies for major depression and treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Indeed, due to their safety and tolerability and to the growing evidence on their efficacy, NIBS has been included in international treatment guidelines, having become part of the standard clinical practice. Even though several clinical trials involving NIBS in patients with major depression and TRD have been conducted, literature in specific areas is still marked by some inconsistencies, due to small sample-sizes, lack of multicentre-studies and to the difficulty in comparing different treatment modalities and stimulation protocols. In light of the above, we sought to provide a brief, updated compendium of the latest innovative acquisition for the use of NIBS in the treatment of depression, either unipolar or bipolar, as well as TRD with a specific focus on innovative set-up, devices, target areas, and parameters that may affect the outcome.
A text matching model based on dynamic multi‐mask and augmented adversarial

The text matching is a basic task of NLP and is important for tasks such as text retrieval, question answering, and so forth. The development of pre‐trained language models has promoted the progress of text matching tasks. However, due to the natural particularity of Chinese characters and expressions, the Chinese text matching tasks still have problems such as word segmentation difficulty, serious semantic loss, and model instability. In this paper, we propose the DAINet model, which includes DMM, AA and IO modules. We use the Dynamic Multi‐Mask module (DMM) to enhance the completeness of word segmentation. Then we use the Augmented Adversarial module (AA) to further extraction of semantic information. Finally, we use the Integrated Output module (IO) for a more stable output. We conducted experiments on LCQMC, BQ and Xiaobu datasets and compared the results with seven strong baseline models. The results showed that DAINet model made great improvement, including improving ACC value of BQ dataset to 86.0%+0.8% , AUC value to 93.9%+0.8% , ACC value of LCQMC dataset to 88.7%+1.1% and AUC value to 97.2%+1.0% . The ACC value of Xiaobu dataset was improved to 83.2%+1.3% and the AUC value was improved to 91.7%+2.2% . Further ablation experiment results show that the proposed DMM, AA and IO modules have good adaptability and improvement over existing models.
NREM Sleep Parasomnias Commencing in Childhood: Trauma and Atopy as Perpetuating Factors

Objective/Background: Phenotyping of non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) parasomnias is currently poorly undertaken. This study aimed to determine whether there are differences phenotypically among childhood-, adolescent-, and adult-onset NREM parasomnias continuing into and presenting in adulthood. Patients/Methods: A retrospective, cohort study of patients presenting with NREM parasomnia between 2008 and 2019 (n = 307) was conducted. Disorders included sleepwalking (n = 231), night terrors (n = 150), sexualised behaviour in sleep (n = 50), and sleep-related eating disorder (n = 28). Results: Compared to the adult-onset NREM behaviours group, the childhood- and adolescent-onset groups were more likely to have a family history of NREM behaviours (p < 0.001), experience a greater spectrum of NREM disorders (p = 0.001), and report a history of sleep-talking significantly more frequently (p = 0.014). Atopy was most prevalent in the childhood-onset group (p = 0.001). Those with childhood-onset NREM parasomnias were significantly more likely to arouse from N3 sleep on video polysomnography (p = 0.0003). Psychiatric disorders were more likely to be comorbid in the adult-onset group (p = 0.012). A history of trauma coinciding with onset of NREM behaviours was significantly more common in the childhood- and adolescent-onset groups (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Significant differences exist across childhood-, adolescent-, and adult-onset NREM parasomnia presenting in adulthood. This study suggests that adult-onset slow-wave sleep disorders may be confounded by psychiatric disorders resulting in nocturnal sleep disruption and that unresolved traumatic life experiences perpetuate NREM disorders arising in childhood and comprise one of the strongest external risk factors for triggering and perpetuating these disorders in adolescence.
When do generalized entropies apply? How phase space volume determines entropy

We show how the dependence of phase space volume Ω(N) on system size N uniquely determines the extensive entropy of a classical system. We give a concise criterion when this entropy is not of Boltzmann-Gibbs type but has to assume a generalized (non-additive) form. We show that generalized entropies can only exist when the dynamically (statistically) relevant fraction of degrees of freedom in the system vanishes in the thermodynamic limit. These are systems where the bulk of the degrees of freedom is frozen and statistically inactive. Systems governed by generalized entropies are therefore systems whose phase space volume effectively collapses to a lower-dimensional “surface”. We illustrate these results in three concrete examples: accelerating random walks, a microcanonical spin system on networks and constrained binomial processes. These examples suggest that a wide class of systems with “surface-dominant” statistics might in fact require generalized entropies, including self-organized critical systems such as sandpiles, anomalous diffusion, and systems with topological defects such as vortices, domains, or instantons.
Characterization of Acid- and Pepsin-Soluble Collagen Extracted from the Skin of Purple-Spotted Bigeye Snapper

Fish processing waste is a prospective source of collagen and a cost-effective environmental pollutant. The skin of the purple-spotted bigeye snapper (Priacanthus tayenus) was extracted utilising various acid soluble collagens (ASC) including acetic acid (AAC), lactic acid (LAC), citric acid (CAC) and pepsin soluble collagens (PSC). In this study, PSC (6.65%) had the highest collagen yield, followed by AAC (5.79%), CAC (4.15%), and LAC (3.19%). The maximum temperatures (Tmax) denaturation of AAC, LAC, CAC, and PSC were 31.4, 31.7, 31.5, and 33.2 °C, respectively. UV-VIS absorption spectra showed all extracted collagens had a range of absorbance at 230 nm, due to the presence of glycine, proline, hydroxyproline, and triple-helical collagen. Additionally, they exhibited amide A, B, amide I, II, and III peaks. SDS–PAGE identified all extracted collagens as type I. The PSC had a significantly higher (p < 0.05) hydroxyproline content than acidic extraction 66.3 ± 1.03 (mg/g sample). Furthermore, all samples were extremely soluble in acetic conditions at pH 5, and all collagen was soluble in NaCl up to 3% (w/v). Therefore, PSC was the best treatment since it did not impact collagen triple helical and acetic acid yielded the most collagen in ASC extraction. Overall, the analysis revealed that fish skin waste might be used as an alternate source of collagen in diverse applications, particularly in food applications.
Jaundice on Presentation Is Associated with Higher In-Patient Mortality and Complications in Patients Admitted for Acute Pancreatitis: A Retrospective Study Based on National Inpatient Sample Database

Pancreatitis usually presents with characteristic abdominal pain, radiological findings, and elevated lipase. The presence of jaundice may hint at a biliary etiology; however, it is not always present. We hypothesized that the presence of jaundice is associated with worse outcomes in patients admitted with pancreatitis. We conducted a retrospective analysis using the National Inpatient Sample, inquiring about patients admitted with pancreatitis with and without jaundice between October 2015 and December 2017. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality in patients admitted for pancreatitis with and without jaundice. Secondary outcomes were the median length of stay, hospitalization cost, the incidence of ventilator-dependent respiratory failure (VDRF), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis, septic shock, dehydration and electrolyte disturbances, and ascites. A total of 1,267,744 patients were admitted with pancreatitis from October 2015 to December 2017. Among them, 8855 (0.7%) had concomitant jaundice on presentation. In-hospital mortality in this group was 4.3%. The patients with pancreatitis and jaundice had higher odds of in-hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.51, 99% CI 1.35–1.68, p < 0.0001) as compared to those without jaundice. Patients with jaundice showed a significantly higher incidence of sepsis (15.2% vs. 9.6%, p < 0.0001), septic shock (4.1% vs. 2.9%, p < 0.0001), ascites (6.5% vs. 3.1%, p < 0.0001), and dehydration and electrolyte disorders (47.6% vs. 43.8%, p < 0.0001). Patients with jaundice also had higher total hospital costs ($11,412 vs. $7893, p < 0.0001). There was no statistical difference in ARDS, VDRF, and median length of stay. In conclusion, patients admitted for pancreatitis with jaundice had worse outcomes, including in-hospital mortality and complications, compared to those without jaundice.
The wedding bells of war: The influence of armed conflict on child marriages in West Africa

Child marriage is a fundamental violation of human rights. It hinders progress towards development and public health goals. In this study, we argue that armed conflict plays an important role in the occurrence of child marriages; it influences the supply of and demand for young brides. We argue that in conflict settings, families are more willing to marry off their young daughters for protection. Armed conflict can also influence the demand: marriage in general declines due to an imbalance in sex ratio. However, in cases where belligerents use war tactics specifically focused on harming girls, such as sexual violence and girl recruitment, early marriage might increase as the result of armed conflict. To empirically examine these linkages, we combine the Demographic and Health Surveys of West Africa with information on the location of armed conflict. Our study shows that armed conflict generally reduces the occurrence of child marriage with 13% to 18%. However, we observe that when conflict actors use war tactics that specifically harm young girls there is a significant increase of 12% to 18% in the probability of a girl getting married before the age of 18. This research has important implications for our understanding of the relationship between armed conflict, gender inequality, and their impact on children.
Winter weathering of fractured sedimentary rocks in a temperate climate: observation of freeze–thaw and thermal processes on the Niagara Escarpment, Hamilton, Ontario

Abstract The Niagara Escarpment is a fractured Palaeozoic sedimentary cuesta, subject to year-round weathering in a temperate climate. We examined the temperature of the rock surface and fractures at three in situ sites with varying aspect and lithology, as well as the surface and interior of three control blocks maintained in outdoor conditions between December 2020 and March 2021. The objectives were to examine the interplay between freeze–thaw and thermal weathering in the winter months and to identify potential factors influencing these processes. Both diurnal-scale and prolonged freeze–thaw cycles differing in spatial and temporal extent were identified, coincident with periods of high moisture. We frequently observed rapid temperature changes (>1 °C min−1) at sites with strong insolation, which implies that the temperature regime is suitable for thermal shock and fatigue to occur. Site-specific factors, such as the aspect of the escarpment face and lithology, impact the mechanism and extent of weathering. Southeast-facing sites with high insolation are dominated by diurnal-scale freeze–thaw; west- and east-facing sites with lower insolation experience a more prominent prolonged freeze–thaw cycle. Across all sites there is a gradient between surface and fracture temperature that follows diurnal trends in air temperature and insolation. Variability in the surface-fracture gradient may enhance weathering processes by shifting the orientation and magnitude of stress, and by changing the spatial distribution of freezing and thawing. Our research indicates that site-specific factors and pre-existing fractures moderate the influence of air temperature and insolation on thermal gradients, and ultimately the weathering regime.
Involvement of HHV-4 (Epstein–Barr Virus) and HHV-5 (Cytomegalovirus) in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Colorectal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Simple Summary The prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing worldwide. Understanding what factors foster these diseases’ development can help reduce their burden. Viral infections have been suggested to be involved in the genesis of these diseases, but the data is contradictory. The present study analyzed 11,413 articles on the topic and identified 196 that could provide information on the relationship between a viral infection and these gastrointestinal diseases. The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV, HHV-4) was strongly associated with IBD, and cytomegalovirus (HHV-5) with both CRC and IBD. Abstract Gastrointestinal diseases (GDs) include colorectal cancer (CRC), gastric cancer (GC), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). CRC and GC are typically diagnosed at later stages of development, reducing patients’ chances of survival. IBD is characterized by chronic intestinal inflammation and is a significant risk factor for the development of CRC. Chronic bacterial infections have been shown to promote some GDs, but the role of viruses in the etiology of these diseases is less clear. The present meta-analysis retrieved literature on the viral prevalence in GD patients, measuring the GD risk in odd ratios. By quantifying the study heterogeneity, the literature bias was fundamentally included in the analysis. The analysis also included 11 metagenomic studies. Our meta-analysis retrieved 11,413 studies, with 196 suitable for analysis. HHV-4 (Epstein–Barr virus) was identified as a significant risk factor for the development of IBD, and HHV-5 (cytomegalovirus) as a risk factor for both CRC and IBD. Polyomaviruses and the Hepatitis B virus were also, less strongly, involved in the risk of CRC and IBD. No relations withstanding the literature bias were identified for GC. The study discusses these findings, as well as the role of other viruses in the etiology of CRC and IBD.
Urinary Schistosomiasis and Its Potential for Cancer and Hepato-Renal Function Alterations among the Residents of Asejire Dam, South-Western Nigeria

Urinary schistosomiasis is of public health significance in sub-Saharan Africa with its prevalence being linked to carcinogenesis. However, there is a paucity of data to support this relationship. This study explored the prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma haematobium infections and its associations with cancer and hepatorenal function alterations in villages along the Asejire dam in the State of Osun, Nigeria. Urine samples from 152 consented participants (aged 18–75 years) from four communities were collected and examined for Schistosoma haematobium using the microscopy method. The blood serum of randomly selected infected and non-infected individuals (10 per group) was screened for tumor, inflammatory and hepato-renal function biomarkers. From the results, only one out of the four communities recorded cases of schistosomiasis with a prevalence of 26.5% (22/83) and overall infection prevalence was 14.47% (22/152). There was no statistical difference (p ˃ 0.05) in kidney, liver antioxidants, and lipid peroxidation markers in the infected and non–infected participants. The concentrations of antioxidants, inflammatory, and tumor markers were higher in Schistosoma infected individuals as compared with non-infected individuals. This justifies the need to monitor schistosomiasis-infected individuals for tumor, inflammatory and hepato-renal function biomarkers before they develop into cancer, liver, and kidney failure. Keywords: Urinary Schistosomiasis; tumor; and inflammatory markers; antioxidants; hepato-renal function; Asejire dam Nigeria
Forms of understanding in mathematical problem-solving

Abstract : Analyses of cognitive structures and processes involved in performing instructional tasks can provide objectives for instruction. This chapter focuses on performance that provides evidence of students' understanding. The analyses provide hypotheses about knowledge that constitutes two forms of understanding in the domain of high school geometry. One of these is structural understanding in Wertheimer's (1945/1959) sense, including knowledge that enables transfer of knowledge for solving problems to novel kinds of problems. The other is understanding of a formal principle that characterizes an important general property of solutions of problems in a domain. (Author)
Detecting changes in probabilities of a multi—component process

Let ξ1,ξ2,… be iid random variables such that P(ξ1 = 1) = p, [ILM001] and set S0 = 0, Sn, = ξ1+…+ξn, n ≥ 1. Define the cusum (cumulative sum) stopping time , where h is a positive integer. We find asymptotic (as h → ∞) distributions of suitably normalized functions of N1(h) when (a)q > p (exponential) and (b) p = q. As an application we define a cusum procedure for detecting changes in probabilities of a multi—component process, and using (a) we obtain an asymptotic approximation for the average run length (ARL) of the given procedure. Moreover, under some suitable conditions we generalize the preceding asymptotic results for any sequence of iid random variables X1, X2,… with mean μ≤0.