Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Therapeutic Exercise Intervention Using Vibration Platforms for Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetes: A Pilot Study

Diabetes generates a great impact on society, as well as a concern for health professionals due to its high and increasing prevalence; there are several studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of vibration platforms and their benefits at a physiological level. The aim of this study will be to analyze the decrease in glycosylated hemoglobin and glycemia levels after the use of whole-body vibration platforms and the possible inclusion of this therapeutic option within the usual treatments. This is a double-blind, randomized controlled trial with parallel group design in a 1:1 ratio. The sample will be composed of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus in in the Plasencia area (Cáceres, Extremadura). Participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention or control group using a randomization list and will follow the inclusion criteria: type 2 diabetics between 50 and 60 years of age and not taking diabetes medication. All participants will undergo a determination of glycosylated hemoglobin, blood pressure, lipid profile, weight and height, and different functional tests such as Time Up and Go, 10 Meters Walk Test, and 5 Sit To Stand. The experimental group will perform a whole-body vibration intervention on an oscillating platform for 12 weeks with a weekly frequency of three nonconsecutive days and a duration of 12 min. The exercises will consist of 60 s of work and 60 s with rest. The control group will carry out their normal life insisting on the importance of glycemic controls before and after their daily physical exercise. This study has been registered at clinical.trial. org, ID: NCT 05968222. Whole-body vibration platforms have demonstrated their effectiveness in different pathologies such as stroke, fibromyalgia, sclerosis multiple, or Parkinson’s. For that reason, an improvement in glycemic and lipid values and body composition are expected in people with diabetes after a whole-body vibration intervention for 12 weeks’ duration. In addition, whole-body vibration platforms could be postulated as an alternative to usual treatments.
Recent acceleration of carbon accumulation in a boreal peatland, south central Alaska

The ongoing warming in high‐latitude regions may be causing rapid changes in the structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Of particular concern is the fate of belowground soil organic carbon stored in peat‐accumulating wetlands, as these large carbon pools are sensitive to temperature and moisture conditions. Despite their important role in the global carbon cycle, considerable uncertainty remains over the carbon balance of northern peatlands in a changing climate. Here we examine the response of vegetation and carbon dynamics in a wet boreal peatland to recent climate warming using empirical peat core data and a new modeling approach. We observed a widespread shift from herbaceous Carex fen peat to Sphagnum moss peat around 100 years ago that was accompanied by a sharp increase in carbon accumulation rate. The observed apparent carbon accumulation rates over the past 100 years (96.8 g C m‐2 yr‐1) were almost 10 times greater than those over the past 4000 years (11.5 g C m‐2 yr‐1). Once differential decomposition history was considered using three modeling approaches, the expected long‐term accumulation rate of recent peat was still 2–6 times greater than that of the past 4000 years. We propose that recent warming has led to Sphagnum establishment, which rapidly altered the peatland surface chemistry and hydrology, further promoting Sphagnum growth and enhancing the carbon sink capacity of this peatland. Longer and warmer growing seasons could also have stimulated plant growth. Our results imply that accelerated carbon accumulation under global warming in some wet peatlands might offset some of the carbon losses experienced from other peatland types.
Abundance and biomass of copepods and cladocerans in Atlantic and Arctic domains of the Barents Sea ecosystem

Abstract Zooplankton in the Barents Sea have been monitored annually with a standard procedure with determination of size-fractioned biomass since the mid-1980s. Biomass of copepods and cladocerans was estimated based on measured abundance and individual weights taken from literature. Calanus species were dominant, making up ~85% of the estimated biomass of copepods. The second most important taxon was Oithona spp. (~0.5 g dry weight (dw) m−2, ~10%), followed by Metridia spp. (~0.15 g dw m−2, 2–3%) and Pseudocalanus spp. (0.10–0.15 g dw m−2, 1–5%). Estimated biomass of cladoceran taxa (Evadne and Podon) was low (0.01 g dw m−2). Calanus spp. contributed most of the biomass of the medium size fraction (1–2 mm), whereas small copepod species (Oithona, Pseudocalanus and others) contributed to the small size fraction (<1 mm). Estimated biomass of Calanus spp. and of the sum of small copepod species were both positively correlated with measured total zooplankton biomass (R2 = 0.72 and 0.34, respectively). The biomass ratio of small copepod species to Calanus was similar in Atlantic and Arctic water masses (~0.15–0.2) but tended to increase with decreasing total biomass. This suggests a shift to relatively larger roles of small copepods as Calanus and total biomass decrease.
Spatial variations in present‐day deformation, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and their implications

From four years of Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements, we find significant spatial variations in present-day deformation between the eastern and western Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Sites in the eastern Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound move to the NNW relative to North America, in the direction of Pacific-North America relative plate motion. Velocities decrease in magnitude from nearly the full plate rate in southern Prince William Sound to about 30 mm/yr at Seward and to about 5 mm/yr near Anchorage. In contrast, sites in the western Kenai Peninsula move to the SW, in a nearly trenchward direction, with a velocity of about 20 mm/yr. The data are consistent with the shallow plate interface offshore and beneath the eastern Kenai and Prince William Sound being completely locked or nearly so, with elastic strain accumulation resulting in rapid motion in the direction of relative plate motion of sites in the overriding plate. The velocities of sites in the western Kenai, along strike to the southwest, are opposite in sign with those predicted from elastic strain accumulation. These data are incompatible with a significant locked region in this segment of the plate boundary. Trenchward velocities are found also for some sites in the Anchorage area. We interpret the trenchward velocities as being caused by a continuing postseismic transient from the 1964 great Alaska earthquake. There may be significant along-strike differences in the long-term behavior of the plate interface between the western and eastern Kenai, based on roughly coincident boundaries in the coseismic slip distribution, cumulative postseismic uplift, present-day plate coupling, and stress field. The present postseismic response appears to generate purely trenchward motion, suggesting a creep process that is purely dip slip. Our observations suggest that postseismic processes after the largest earthquakes can influence patterns of deformation for decades after the event.
Tikopia, the Prehistory and Ecology of a Polynesian Outlier

Les fouilles de Tikopia ont ete entreprises pour obtenir une sequence culturelle prehistorique de l'ile et determiner les structures d'adaptation de l'homme aux changements de l'environnement. Une sequence culturelle continue de 3000 ans a pu etre mise en evidence ainsi que le role particulier des cotes avec un type special d'habitat dans les dunes.
Numerical simulation of the large‐scale North American monsoon water sources

[1] A general circulation model that includes water vapor tracer (diagnostics is used to delineate the dominant sources of water vapor for precipitation during the North American monsoon. A 15-year model simulation carried out with 1-degree horizontal resolution and time-varying sea surface temperature is able to produce reasonable large-scale features of the monsoon precipitation. Within the core of the Mexican monsoon, continental sources provide much of the water for precipitation. Away from the Mexican monsoon (eastern Mexico and Texas), continental sources generally decrease with monsoon onset. Tropical Atlantic Ocean sources of water gain influence in the southern Great Plains states, where the total precipitation decreases during the monsoon onset. Pacific Ocean sources do contribute to the monsoon but tend to be weaker after onset. Evaluating the development of the monsoons, soil water and surface evaporation prior to monsoon onset do not correlate with the eventual monsoon intensity. However, the most intense monsoons do use more local sources of water than the least intense monsoons, but only after the onset. This suggests that precipitation recycling is an important factor in monsoon intensity.
Reproducibility and Robustness of a Liver Microphysiological System PhysioMimix LC12 under Varying Culture Conditions and Cell Type Combinations

The liver is one of the key organs for exogenous and endogenous metabolism and is often a target for drug- and chemical-driven toxicity. A wide range of experimental approaches has been established to model and characterize the mechanisms of drug- and chemical-induced hepatotoxicity. A number of microfluidics-enabled in vitro models of the liver have been developed, but the unclear translatability of these platforms has hindered their adoption by the pharmaceutical industry; to achieve wide use for drug and chemical safety evaluation, demonstration of reproducibility and robustness under various contexts of use is required. One of these commercially available platforms is the PhysioMimix LC12, a microfluidic device where cells are seeded into a 3D scaffold that is continuously perfused with recirculating cell culture media to mimic liver sinusoids. Previous studies demonstrated this model’s functionality and potential applicability to preclinical drug development. However, to gain confidence in PhysioMimix LC12’s robustness and reproducibility, supplementary characterization steps are needed, including the assessment of various human hepatocyte sources, contribution of non-parenchymal cells (NPCs), and comparison to other models. In this study, we performed replicate studies averaging 14 days with either primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) or induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived hepatocytes, with and without NPCs. Albumin and urea secretion, lactate dehydrogenase, CYP3A4 activity, and metabolism were evaluated to assess basal function and metabolic capacity. Model performance was characterized by different cell combinations under intra- and inter-experimental replication and compared to multi-well plates and other liver platforms. PhysioMimix LC12 demonstrated the highest metabolic function with PHHs, with or without THP-1 or Kupffer cells, for up to 10–14 days. iPSC-derived hepatocytes and PHHs co-cultured with additional NPCs demonstrated sub-optimal performance. Power analyses based on replicate experiments and different contexts of use will inform future study designs due to the limited throughput and high cell demand. Overall, this study describes a workflow for independent testing of a complex microphysiological system for specific contexts of use, which may increase end-user adoption in drug development.
Increased long‐range intermediate‐magnitude earthquake activity prior to strong earthquakes in California

We study the space-time relationships between strong earthquakes in California and the intermediate-magnitude earthquakes that both precede and follow them. All 11 earthquakes in California with nominal magnitudes greater than or equal to 6.8 from 1941 to 1993 were preceded by an increase in the rate of occurrence of earthquakes having magnitudes greater than 5.1. Ten of the 11 earthquakes occurred when or shortly after the intermediate magnitude activity was greater than its 75th percentile. Three of these strong earthquakes are in a conventional space-time foreshock-aftershock relationship with others of the 11 strong events. The precursory activity is concentrated in regions having linear dimensions of the order of a few hundred kilometers; these dimensions are significantly larger than the estimated fracture lengths of the ensuing strong earthquakes. The correlations are ill defined for smaller earthquakes and are almost unidentifiable for earthquakes with magnitudes less than about 4.6. The precursors to the strong earthquakes appear over a time interval of the order of 5 to 10 years before the strong earthquake, although the onset was about 25 years before the San Francisco earthquake. In the case of the Loma Prieta and San Francisco earthquakes, the onset of increased activity appears to be relatively abrupt. The increased activity is either switched off abruptly to distances of the order of hundreds of kilometers shortly after the occurrence of a strong earthquake, or the strong events are themselves part of a precursory pattern of continuing high activity before a second strong earthquake that takes place soon thereafter, with subsequent extinction of activity after it. Thus the intermediate-magnitude precursors do not directly influence the time and location of the subsequent strong event, but the strong event has a strong influence on the stress field in the vicinity of intermediate-magnitude earthquakes to distances of the order of many times the scale size of the strong earthquake.
Sonecules: A Python Sonification Architecture

This paper introduces sonecules, a flexible, extensible, end-user friendly and open-source Python sonification toolkit to bring ’sonification to the masses’. The package comes with a basic set of what we define as sonecules which are sonification designs tailored for a given class of data, a selected internal logic for sonification and offering a set of functions to interact with data and sonification controls. This is a design-once-use-many approach as each sonecule can be reused on similarly structured data. The primary goal of sonecules is to enable novice users to rapidly get their data audible – by scaffolding their first steps into auditory display. All sonecules offer a description for the user as well as controls which can be adjusted easily and interactively to the selected data. Users are supported to get started as fast as possible using different sonification designs and they can even mix and match sonecules to create more complex aggregated sonecules. Advanced users are enabled to extend/modify any sonification design and thereby create new sonecules. The sonecules Python package is provided as open-source software, which enables others to contribute their own sonification designs as a sonecule – thus it seeds a growing/growable library of well-documented and easy-to-reuse sonifications designs. Sonecules is implemented in Python using mesonic as the sonification framework, which provides the path to rendering-platform agnostic sonifications.
Solutions of the Flow Equation for the Drying of Soils and Other Porous Media

Numerical solutions of the flow equation for the drying of porous media have been obtained assuming an exponential relationship between diffusivity and water content. Solutions are presented for both semi-infinite and finite media for isothermal conditions, when gravity is absent or negligible. The rate of drying of laboratory soil columns is in good agreement with the numerical solutions. The rate of drying is controlled largely by the boundary conditions and physical characteristics of the soil that determine the rate of movement of water in the soil in the liquid phase.
Efficacy of intravenous nalbuphine for managing post-anaesthesia shivering: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials with trial sequential analysis

Background and Aims: Post-anaesthesia shivering is distressing and is observed after spinal and general anaesthesia. Nalbuphine, a partial mu-opioid receptor antagonist with kappa-opioid receptor agonist properties, has been successfully used to manage post-anaesthesia shivering. Methods: After registering the review with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), we searched PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Ovid, Cochrane Library and clinicaltrials.gov with keywords for randomised controlled trials. The risk of bias-2 (RoB-2) scale was used to assess the quality of evidence. We also used Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) guidelines to evaluate the strength of evidence and trial sequential analysis to validate the conclusions. Results: Of the 240 articles, 10 were considered eligible for review (700 patients, 350- nalbuphine, 350- control or placebo). When compared to placebo, the success rate of nalbuphine controlling shivering was significantly better (risk ratio [RR]: 2.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.91, 2.94; P = 0.04, I2 = 94%), but comparable to the control group drugs (opioids, dexmedetomidine, ondansetron, pethidine). Compared to placebo, shivering recurrence was significantly less with nalbuphine than with placebo (RR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.26, 0.83; P = 0.01, I2 = 61%), but comparable with the control group. The incidence of postoperative nausea/vomiting (PONV) was significantly less with nalbuphine when compared to the control group (RR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.47, 0.95; P = 0.02, I2 = 37%), but PONV in the nalbuphine group was comparable to placebo (RR: 1.20, 95% CI: 0.68, 2.12; P = 0.54, I2 = 0%). Other outcomes, like the grade of shivering and hypotension, were comparable between the nalbuphine and control groups. Conclusion: Nalbuphine successfully controls post-anaesthesia shivering and reduces the recurrence of shivering.
Nitrogen processing by biofilms along a lowland river continuum

While numerous studies have examined N dynamics along a river continuum, few have specifically examined the role of biofilms. Nitrogen dynamics and microbial community structure were determined on biofilms at six sites along a 120 km stretch of the lowland Ovens River, South Eastern Australia using artificial substrates. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T‐RFLP), chlorophyll a and protein analyses were used to assess biofilm microbial community composition. N dynamics was determined on the biofilms using the acetylene (C2H2) block technique and assessing changes in NH 4+ , NOx and N2O. Unlike microbial community structure, N dynamics were spatially heterogeneous. Nitrification, determined from the difference in accumulation of NH 4+ before and after addition of C2H2, occurred mostly in the upper sites with rates up to 1.4 × 10−5 mol m−2 h−1. The highest rates of denitrification occurred in the mid‐reaches of the river (with rates up to 1 × 10−5 mol m−2 h−1) but denitrification was not detected in the lower reaches. At the very most, only 50% of the observed uptake of NOx by the biofilms following addition of C2H2 could be accounted for by denitrification. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Soil oxygen within boreal forests across an age gradient

Globally, soil anoxia and water table rise play a role in the development of peatlands from forests. Cited causes have included a diversity of internal and external mechanisms, including Sphagnum and feather mosses, hardpan development, and peatland expansion. The objectives of this study were to examine water table depth in black spruce stands of the Clay Belt of Quebec and Ontario, and to associate changes with potential stand scale causal factors (primarily biological). A methodological issue, the link between oxygen zone and water table, was also addressed. Within stands less than 100 yr post-fire, oxygen zone and water table position were only loosely related, and no other potential factors were significantly correlated. Across a chronosequence of stands, while oxygen zone thickness in the soil profile was relatively constant, its position relative to the mineral soil changed, as it rose from the mineral soil into the forest floor. Forest floor thickness was the dominant explanatory factor in oxygen .
Preservation of Autochthonous Shell Beds by Positive Feedback between Increased Hardpart‐Input Rates and Increased Sedimentation Rates

The preservation of nonrapidly buried autochthonous shell concentrations with noncementing epifaunal animals in life position presents a taphonomic dilemma if in fact an increase in shelliness is driven by a decrease in sedimentation rate. A 150‐cm‐thick, densely packed shell bed with brachiopods from the Lower Jurassic of Morocco shows lower levels of postmortem alteration than shell‐poor beds, indicating that its formation is primarily governed by variations in hardpart‐input rates. Varying dominance and size structure of the main shell producer, brachiopod Zeilleria rehmanni, indicate that its increased population density was the main trigger in the shell bed formation. Thinner and less common microbial crusts in the shell bed than in shell‐poor beds indicate that higher shelliness is not due to lack of sediment. On the basis of actualistic data from modern mussel and oyster shell beds, the suspension feeding of a high‐density population leads to high biodeposition rates through production of feces and pseudofeces, which substantially exceed natural sedimentation rates. In addition, shell‐rich areas preferentially trap more suspended sediment than shell‐poor areas. Therefore, an increase in population density of shelly biodeposit producers should lead to higher biodeposition rates. This assumption is supported by a positive correlation between brachiopod shelliness and pellet abundance. Both active biodeposition and passive trapping of sediment would have increased sedimentation rate, thus leading to a decreased rate of shell destruction through suppression of predators or borers as well as stabilization and protection of the shell concentration. Under optimum ecologic conditions, these processes result in a positive feedback between an increased hardpart‐input rate and increased biogenic sedimentation rate. This scenario thus provides one alternative pathway for formation of well‐preserved shell concentrations formed by epifaunal suspension feeders. Identifying the importance of biodeposition is of environmental significance because it implies that carbonate sediment was produced largely in situ and was directly or indirectly related to the activity of shell producers. Recognizing the role of varying hardpart‐input rates in shell concentration genesis is of ecologic significance because shelliness can directly reflect abundance fluctuations of shell producers.