Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Generative Artificial Intelligence in Patient Education: ChatGPT Takes on Hypertension Questions

Introduction Uncontrolled hypertension significantly contributes to the development and deterioration of various medical conditions, such as myocardial infarction, chronic kidney disease, and cerebrovascular events. Despite being the most common preventable risk factor for all-cause mortality, only a fraction of affected individuals maintain their blood pressure in the desired range. In recent times, there has been a growing reliance on online platforms for medical information. While providing a convenient source of information, differentiating reliable from unreliable information can be daunting for the layperson, and false information can potentially hinder timely diagnosis and management of medical conditions. The surge in accessibility of generative artificial intelligence (GeAI) technology has led to increased use in obtaining health-related information. This has sparked debates among healthcare providers about the potential for misuse and misinformation while recognizing the role of GeAI in improving health literacy. This study aims to investigate the accuracy of AI-generated information specifically related to hypertension. Additionally, it seeks to explore the reproducibility of information provided by GeAI. Method A nonhuman-subject qualitative study was devised to evaluate the accuracy of information provided by ChatGPT regarding hypertension and its secondary complications. Frequently asked questions on hypertension were compiled by three study staff, internal medicine residents at an ACGME-accredited program, and then reviewed by a physician experienced in treating hypertension, resulting in a final set of 100 questions. Each question was posed to ChatGPT three times, once by each study staff, and the majority response was then assessed against the recommended guidelines. A board-certified internal medicine physician with over eight years of experience further reviewed the responses and categorized them into two classes based on their clinical appropriateness: appropriate (in line with clinical recommendations) and inappropriate (containing errors). Descriptive statistical analysis was employed to assess ChatGPT responses for accuracy and reproducibility. Result Initially, a pool of 130 questions was gathered, of which a final set of 100 questions was selected for the purpose of this study. When assessed against acceptable standard responses, ChatGPT responses were found to be appropriate in 92.5% of cases and inappropriate in 7.5%. Furthermore, ChatGPT had a reproducibility score of 93%, meaning that it could consistently reproduce answers that conveyed similar meanings across multiple runs. Conclusion ChatGPT showcased commendable accuracy in addressing commonly asked questions about hypertension. These results underscore the potential of GeAI in providing valuable information to patients. However, continued research and refinement are essential to evaluate further the reliability and broader applicability of ChatGPT within the medical field.
Microbial Inoculation during the Short-Term Composting Process Enhances the Nutritional and Functional Properties of Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus)

In recent years, short-term composting techniques have been widely applied in oyster mushroom cultivation, but there is still a lack of systematic research on their impact on the nutritional and functional properties of fruiting bodies. In this study, the microbial inoculant Streptomyces thermoviolaceus BUA-FM01 (ST) was applied in the short-term composting process for oyster mushroom cultivation. The agronomic traits, nutritional composition, flavor compounds, and antioxidant activity of fruiting bodies from the first three flushes were evaluated. The results show that microbial inoculation significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the total carbon content and C/N ratio of the composted substrates and, furthermore, increased the total yield of the fruiting bodies. Moreover, microbial inoculation significantly (p < 0.05) increased the crude protein, crude polysaccharide, total amino acid, and essential amino acid contents of the fruiting bodies. The fruiting bodies of the first flush of ST treatment possessed the highest umami amino acid content and equivalent umami concentration value. Furthermore, microbial inoculation significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the scavenging ability of crude polysaccharides toward free radicals. The results indicate that microbial inoculation has many benefits for the composting cultivating process of oyster mushrooms and good application prospects.
Reconstruction of Past European Land Cover Based on Fossil Pollen Data : Gaussian Markov Random Field Models for Compositional Data

The aim of this thesis is to develop statistical models to reconstruct past land cover composition and human land use based on fossil pollen records over Europe for different time periods over the past 6000 years. Accurate maps of past land cover and human land use are needed when studying the interaction between climate and land surface, and the effects of human land use on past climate. Existing land cover maps are mainly simulations from dynamic vegetation models and anthropogenic land cover change scenarios. Pollen records is an alternative to existing land cover estimates that might give better insight into past land cover. The pollen counts are extracted from lake and bog sediments and used to estimate the three land cover compositions; coniferous forest, broadleaved forest, and unforested land for grid cells surrounding the lakes and bogs.In this thesis, first, a statistical model is developed to interpolate transformedpollen based land cover compositions (PbLCC) with spatial dependency modelledusing a Gaussian Markov random Field (GMRF). The mean structure is modelled using a regression on different sets of covariates including elevation and model based vegetation estimates. The model is fitted using Integrated NestedLaplace Approximation. The results indicated the existence of spatial dependence structure in the PbLCC and the possibility of reconstructing past land cover from PbLCC. If the compositional data is over-dispersed, the transformed Gaussian model might underestimate the uncertainties. To capture the variation in the composition correctly, a Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM) for Dirichlet observations of a GMRF is developed. The model is estimated using MCMC with sparse precision matrix of the GMRF being used for computational efficiency. Comparison between the Dirichlet and Gaussian models showed the advantages of the Dirichlet in describing the PbLCC. The large discrepancies in the model based estimates used as covariates could affect the Dirichlet models ability to reconstruct past land cover. To assess this concern a sensitivity study was performed, showing that the results are robust to the choice of covariates. Finally, the BHM is extended to reconstruct past human land use by combing the PbLCC with anthropogenic land cover change estimates. This extension aims at decomposing the PbLCC into past natural land cover and human land use.
Reducing greenhouse gas emission through green supply chain management practices in the UK chemical industries

Despite the growing exploration between green supply chain management practices (GSCMP) and environmental performance, research till date has rarely focused on reducing greenhouse - gas - emission (GHGe) through GSCMP. It investigates the relationship between GSCMP and GHGe through multiple - regression. Data has been collected fr om 45 environmental reports from UK applying quantitative content analysis.
Age- and Sex-Specific Reference Values for Renal Volume and Association with Risk Factors for Chronic Kidney Disease in a General Population—An MRI-Based Study

Background: Renal volume (RV) is associated with renal function and with a variety of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs). We analysed RV using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a large population-based study (Study of Health in Pomerania; SHIP-TREND) to find sex- and age-specific reference values for RV and to test the influence of several markers on RV. The main objective is to describe reference values for RV in people from the general population without kidney disease. Methods: 1815 participants without kidney disease (930 women) aged 21–81 years were included in our study. Right and left RV with and without body surface area (BSA) indexation were compared among three age groups (22–39 years, 40–59 years, 60–81 years) by median and interquartile range and tested separately in women and men. Results: The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum uric acid, and right and left RV were higher in men compared to women (all p < 0.001). Left kidneys were larger than right kidneys (both sexes). With age, RV showed a continuously decreasing trend in women and an upside-down U-shaped relation in men. In multivariable linear regression models, current smoking (β = 14.96, 95% CI 12.12; 17.79), BSA (β = 97.66, 95% CI 90.4; 104.93), diastolic blood pressure (β = 0.17, 95% CI 0.01; 0.32), and eGFR (β = 0.57, 95% CI 0.50; 0.65) were positively associated with both left and right RV, whereas uric acid (β = −0.03, 95% CI −0.05; −0.01) showed an inverse association with RV. Interestingly, the same eGFR correlated with higher RV in men compared to women. Conclusion: Reference values for RV are different for age groups and sex. For any given age, female kidneys are smaller than male kidneys. RV associates positively with eGFR, but for any chosen eGFR, renal volume in females is lower compared to males. RV decreases with age, but in men showed a U-shaped correlation. This may reflect hyperfiltration and glomerular hypertrophy associated with the presence of CVRF in middle-aged males.
Measuring water-vapour and carbon-dioxide fluxes at field scales with scintillometry

Scintillometry is a measurement technique that has proven itself to be of great value for measuring spatial-averaged fluxes of sensible heat, momentum, and evapotranspiration. Furthermore, for crop fields (field scales), scintillometry has been shown to accurately determine the sensible-heat and momentum flux over time intervals as short as 6 seconds. As a consequence, interests in scintillometry are growing and scintillometers that determine sensible-heat fluxes and momentum fluxes have become commercially available. This thesis deals with two aspects of scintillometry. First, after a general introduction of scintillometry, measurement errors that have been observed in the large-aperture scintillometer from Kipp&Zonen and in the SLS field-scale scintillometer from Scintec are evaluated. For both scintillometer types, we discuss the variability in the measurement errors among different instruments and, where possible, we give solutions to remove these errors. Furthermore, we present the results of a prototype scintillometer that was developed as part of the research project. With our proposed design, we aim to overcome the measurement errors in the Scintec scintillometer and extend the applicability of the field-scale scintillometer to paths that are longer than 200 m. Second, we extend the application of field-scale scintillometry to the flux measurements of latent-heat, carbon-dioxide, and other passive scalars. Until now, scintillometers could not be used for measuring passive-scalar fluxes over crop fields and we show that with our extended methodology these fluxes can be accurately determined over time intervals as short as 1 minute. The methodology is based on a combination of scintillometer measurements and additional high-frequency scalar measurements and works under conditions of homogeneous turbulence, i.e. single crop fields. We introduce four methods, notably the energy-balance method, the Bowen-variance method, the flux-variance method, and the structure-parameter method. Using several validation methods, we show that the energy-balance method is unsuitable for estimating scalar fluxes over 1-min averaging intervals. The Bowen-variance and flux-variance method perform better and the structure-parameter method accurately resolves 1-minute fluxes. Thus, with this methodology fluxes can be resolved with a high temporal resolution, making it possible to study vegetation in a natural environment under non-stationary conditions. This allows us to show that the wheat vegetation affects fluxes upon changes in solar radiation in time periods clearly shorter than 30 minutes and that the canopy resistance can change significantly within several minutes.
The Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary impact hypothesis and the paleontological record

Planktonic foraminifera show 30 to 45 percent of the species disappearing during the 300,000 to 400,000 years prior to the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary in continental shelf (El Kef, Tunisia) and epicontinental sea (Brazos River, Texas) sections. Their disappearance appears to be linked to a sea-level regression and global cooling. At the K/T boundary a 26 percent species reduction coincides with the geochemical anomalies at El Kef; their disappearance appears to be a direct consequence of the K/T boundary event. No change is observed at Brazos River. At both El Kef and Brazos River, many species (11 and 33 percent, respectively) disappear shortly after the K/T boundary, and all but one of the Cretaceous survivors terminally decline in relative abundance beginning at the K/T boundary. This pattern of species extinctions clearly shows a significant decline in species diversity during the latest Maastrichtian, followed by a sudden decline in diversity at the K/T boundary, which drastically and permanently altered planktonic foraminiferal communities. The K/T boundary event, however, did not cause instantaneous extinctions of nearly all species, as commonly claimed. Initial recovery of the ecosystem appears to have occurred about 230,000 years after the K/T boundary event, as implied by an increase in carbonate sedimentation, carbon isotope values, and diversification of planktonic foraminifera. Carbon and oxygen isotope records of benthic and planktonic foraminifera at Brazos River reveal remarkable new data with far-reaching implications. For instance, the <5C shift, which characterizes the K/T boundary globally, coincides with the micropaleontologically defined boundary and not with the tsunami deposit of Bourgeois and others (1988), indicating that the latter deposit is independent of the boundary event. Moreover, the <5C shift occurs gradually over thousands of years, and not instantaneously as recorded in deep-sea sections, implying a more gradual and long-term effect than commonly assumed. Furthermore, stable isotopic data unequivocally show the survivorship of many Cretaceous species well into the early Tertiary.
A 15 year catalog of more than 1 million low‐frequency earthquakes: Tracking tremor and slip along the deep San Andreas Fault

Low‐frequency earthquakes (LFEs) are small, rapidly recurring slip events that occur on the deep extensions of some major faults. Their collective activation is often observed as a semicontinuous signal known as tectonic (or nonvolcanic) tremor. This manuscript presents a catalog of more than 1 million LFEs detected along the central San Andreas Fault from 2001 to 2016. These events have been detected via a multichannel matched‐filter search, cross‐correlating waveform templates representing 88 different LFE families with continuous seismic data. Together, these source locations span nearly 150 km along the central San Andreas Fault, ranging in depth from ~16 to 30 km. This accumulating catalog has been the source for numerous studies examining the behavior of these LFE sources and the inferred slip behavior of the deep fault. The relatively high temporal and spatial resolutions of the catalog have provided new insights into properties such as tremor migration, recurrence, and triggering by static and dynamic stress perturbations. Collectively, these characteristics are inferred to reflect a very weak fault likely under near‐lithostatic fluid pressure, yet the physical processes controlling the stuttering rupture observed as tremor and LFE signals remain poorly understood. This paper aims to document the LFE catalog assembly process and associated caveats, while also updating earlier observations and inferred physical constraints. The catalog itself accompanies this manuscript as part of the electronic supplement, with the goal of providing a useful resource for continued future investigations.
Variation in yield, oil and protein content of rapeseed (Brassica campestris) in relation to levels of nitrogen, sulphur and plant density

A field experiment was conducted during the winter seasons of 1988-89 and 1989-90 to find the effect of different levels of nitrogen sulphur and plant density on yield, yield attributes, oil and protein content of rapeseed (Bmssica campesfris L.). Nitrogen up to 120 kg/ha increased the yield components (plant height, primary brancheslplant, siliquae/m2 and seedslsiliqua), seed and stover yieldstha and harvest index. Yield attributes, and seed and stover yields, harvest index progressively increased with the increase in level of sulphur. Lower plant density increased the plant height and branches/plant but plant density of 400,00O/ha significantly increased the number of siliquae/m2, seed and stover yieldstha and harvest index. Oil content was inversely related to the protein content in seed irrespective of different levels of nitrogen, sulphur and plant density. Increasing levels of nitrogen decreased the oil and increased the protein content in seed but sulphur and plant density increased the oil and decreased the protein content in seed.
Prevention of Protease-Induced Degradation of Desmoplakin via Small Molecule Binding

Desmoplakin (DSP) is a large (~260 kDa) protein found in the desmosome, the subcellular structure that links the intermediate filament network of one cell to its neighbor. A mutation “hot-spot” within the NH2-terminal of the DSP protein (residues 299–515) is associated with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. In a subset of DSP variants, disease is linked to calpain hypersensitivity. Previous studies show that calpain hypersensitivity can be corrected in vitro through the addition of a bulky residue neighboring the cleavage site, suggesting that physically blocking calpain accessibility is a viable strategy to restore DSP levels. Here, we aim to find drug-like molecules that also block calpain-dependent degradation of DSP. To do this, we screened ~2500 small molecules to identify compounds that specifically rescue DSP protein levels in the presence of proteases. We find that several molecules, including sodium dodecyl sulfate, palmitoylethanolamide, GW0742, salirasib, eprosarten mesylate, and GSK1838705A prevent wildtype and disease-variant-carrying DSP protein degradation in the presence of both trypsin and calpain without altering protease function. Computational screenings did not predict which molecules would protect DSP, likely due to a lack of specific DSP–drug interactions. Molecular dynamic simulations of DSP–drug complexes suggest that some long hydrophobic molecules can bind in a shallow hydrophobic groove that runs alongside the protease cleavage site. Identification of these compounds lays the groundwork for pharmacological treatment for individuals harboring these hypersensitive DSP variants.
Knowledge-Based Decision Support for Integrated Water Resources Management with an application for Wadi Shueib, Jordan

This book takes a two-staged approach to contribute to the contemporary Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) research. First it investigates sub-basin-scale IWRM modelling and scenario planning. The Jordanian Wadi Shueib is used as exemplary case study. Then, it develops a framework to collaboratively manage planning and decision making knowledge on the basis of semantic web technologies. Future IWRM initiatives can benefit from the valuable insights achieved in the presented study.
Unraveling Factors Shaping the Acceptance and Non-acceptance of Non-scalpel Vasectomy in Rural Central India: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background India, with a population exceeding 1.43 billion, faces significant demographic challenges, necessitating effective family planning measures. Non-scalpel vasectomy (NSV) is a less complex and cost-effective male contraceptive, yet its acceptance remains low, especially compared to female sterilization. Understanding the determinants of NSV acceptance is crucial for informed decisions on family planning methods. Methods This cross-sectional study investigated NSV acceptance among males who underwent non-scalpel vasectomy (acceptors of NSV) and spouses of women who underwent tubectomy (non-acceptors of NSV). The study was conducted among 116 NSV acceptors and 116 non-acceptors from rural Central India. Data were collected over six months, employing a pre-designed questionnaire covering socio-demographic details, reasons for acceptance/non-acceptance, and information sources for the same. Statistical analysis was done utilizing Epi Info 7.2. 6 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], Atlanta, GA), employing descriptive statistics and tests of association. Results Significant associations were found between NSV acceptance (p<0.05) and the age and education of study subjects, age of wife, duration since marriage, and total number of children. Incentives also played a significant role (p=0.014). Opposition to NSV, mainly from wives, was a key factor for non-acceptance (38%). Reasons for acceptance included a previous cesarean section (40.52%), the simplicity of the NSV procedure (26.72%), and the wife's illness (23.28%). Non-acceptance reasons comprised family/friend opposition (38%), lack of awareness/ignorance (25.00%), and fear of surgery (23.28%). Study subjects perceived community reluctance to NSV as mainly due to misbeliefs (30.17%), fear of surgery (27.58%), and illiteracy (26.29%). Conclusion The study highlights socio-demographic factors influencing NSV acceptance and identifies key reasons for acceptance/non-acceptance. Community-based interventions, increased advertisement, and health provider counseling were suggested for enhancing acceptance. Despite challenges, participant satisfaction with NSV was high. These findings contribute to understanding the complex dynamics surrounding NSV acceptance in rural Central India, informing future family planning strategies.
Temperature Effects on Drinking Water Odor Perception

Thirteen volunteer panelists were trained according to Standard Method 2170, flavor profile analysis (FPA). Following training these panelists underwent triangle test screening to determine whether or not they could detect the odorants used in this study. Following triangle testing, panelists underwent directional difference testing to determine if temperature affected odor perception when presented with two water samples. Following directional difference testing, panelists used FPA and evaluated water samples that contained odorants at either 25 C or 45 C. Samples containing geosmin cooled to 5 C were also evaluated. Sensory analyses experiments indicate that odor intensity is a function of both aqueous concentration and water temperature for geosmin, MIB, nonadienal, n-hexanal, free chlorine, and 1-butanol. The higher water temperature resulted in an increase in odor intensity for some, but not all, concentrations of geosmin, 2-methylisoborneol, trans-2, cis-6-nonadienal, n-hexanal, free chlorine, and 1-butanol. Additionally, above 400 ng/L of geosmin, 400 ng/L of MIB, and 100 ng/L the odor intensity was equal to or less than the odor intensity at 600, 600, and 200 ng/L, respectively. Henry’s Law should predict that an increase in concentration would increase the amount of odorant the panelist comes into contact with; however, results demonstrated that at specific aqueous odorant concentrations odor perception did not follow Henry’s Law. Odor response to drinking water containing isobutanal was affected by concentration but not water temperature.