Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Validation of cardiac image derived input functions for functional PET quantification

Functional PET (fPET) is a novel technique for studying dynamic changes in brain metabolism and neurotransmitter signaling. Accurate measurement of the arterial input function (AIF) is crucial for quantification of fPET but traditionally requires invasive arterial blood sampling. While, image-derived input functions (IDIF) offer a non-invasive alternative, they are afflicted by drawbacks stemming from limited spatial resolution and field of view. Therefore, we conceptualized and validated a scan protocol for brain fPET quantified with cardiac IDIF. Twenty healthy individuals underwent fPET/MR scans using [18F]FDG or 6-[18F]FDOPA, with bed motion shuttling between the thorax and brain to capture cardiac IDIF and brain task-induced changes, respectively. Each session included arterial and venous blood sampling for IDIF validation, and participants performed a monetary incentive delay task. IDIFs from fixed-size regions of the left ventricle, ascending and descending aorta, and a composite of all 3 blood pools (3VOI) plus venous blood data (3VOIVB) were compared to the AIF. Quantitative task-specific images from both tracers were compared to assess the performance of each input function. For both radiotracer cohorts, moderate to high agreement was found between IDIFs and AIF in terms of area under the curve (r = 0.64 - 0.89) and quantified outcome parameters (CMRGlu and Ki(r)=0.84 - 0.99). The agreement further increased for composite IDIFs 3VOI and 3VOIVB for AUC(r)=0.87 - 0.93) and outcome parameters (r=0.96 - 0.99). Both methods showed equivalent quantitative values and high spatial overlap with AIF-derived measurements. Our proposed protocol enables accurate non-invasive estimation of the input function with full quantification of task-specific changes, addressing the limitations of IDIF for brain imaging by sampling larger blood pools over the thorax. These advancements increase applicability to virtually any PET scanner and to clinical research settings by reducing experimental complexity and increasing patient comfort.
Sensitivity of Tidal Bed Stress Distributions, Near-Bed Currents, Overtides, and Tidal Residuals to Frictional Effects in the Eastern Irish Sea

Abstract A three-dimensional nonlinear high-resolution hydrodynamic model of the eastern Irish Sea is used to examine the influence of near-bed viscosity and bottom friction Upon the M2 tide and overrides in the region. Initially, bed stress in the model is related to the depth-mean current, the formulation used in a “classic” two-dimensional model. The resulting hybrid “two-dimensional/three-dimensional model” enables changes in current profile due to variations in eddy viscosity to he examined independently of those due to changes in bed stress. Also, results from the model are compared with those from a three-dimensional model with bed stress related to bottom current. Computed tidal elevations and surface currents are found to be fairly insensitive to the parameterization of bottom stress. However, tidal current profiles in the near-bed region and maximum bed stress are found to be sensitive to variations in near-bed viscosity and friction coefficient. Although reducing eddy viscosity in the near-bed .
Acta Botanica Brasilica

Six wide-ranging mangrove species, Rhizophora apiculata, R. mucronata, Avicennia marina, A. offi cinalis, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, and B. sexangula, were selected to study the growth and survival of seedlings under three contrasting salinity treatments over a 30-week period: low (3-5psu), moderate (15-17psu) and high (33–36psu). Seedlings grown under high salinity exhibited signifi cantly lower performance (p<0.05) in survival rates, cumulative shoot height, mean growth rates, mean total leaf area, and mean dry weight, compared to those under low and moderate salinity regimes. Th e low salinity treatment provided the best conditions for initial establishment and growth of the seedlings of all species until 15-20 weeks of age. However, the same seedlings showed better performance under moderate salinity after 15-20 weeks of age (shift in optimal salinity), implying that adaptation to salt and physiological needs of mangrove seedlings varies with age. Th ese results have practical implications of use in raising up mangrove nurse species for planting since it indicates that seedlings should get low salinity water until four to fi ve months of age and then moderately saline water, in order to achieve maximum growth and survival.
AACE / AME / ETA Guidelines AMERICAN ASSOCIATION Of ClINICAl ENDOCRINOlOgISTS , ASSOCIAzIONE MEDICI ENDOCRINOlOgI , AND EuROPEAN ThyROID ASSOCIATION MEDICAl guIDElINES fOR ClINICAl PRACTICE fOR ThE DIAgNOSIS AND MANAgEMENT Of ThyROID NODulES

American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, Associazione Medici Endocrinologi, and European Thyroid Association Medical Guidelines for Clinical Practice for the Diagnosis and Management of Thyroid Nodules are systematically developed statements to assist health care professionals in medical decision making for specific clinical conditions. Most of the content herein is based on literature reviews. In areas of uncertainty, professional judgment was applied. These guidelines are a working document that reflects the state of the field at the time of publication. Because rapid changes in this area are expected, periodic revisions are inevitable. We encourage medical professionals to use this information in conjunction with their best clinical judgment. Any decision by practitioners to apply these guidelines must be made in light of local resources and individual patient circumstances.
Effect of competition of weeds on yield of lentil (Lens culinaris medic).

Given that lentil is an important legume and because of its cultivation in less fertile soils under rain-fed conditions and its low capability in competition with weeds, it is necessary to control weeds, particularly for preventing the loss lentil yield. In order to study the response of lentil to weeds in terms of some yield-related traits, the present study was carried out in research farm of University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran on the basis of a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The treatments were composed of seven levels. Four first treatments included the presence of weeds for 15, 30, 45 and 60 days after sowing of lentil and their control in the rest of growing season. Two other treatments included the control and no-control of weeds during growing season (full presence and full absence of weeds as controls). Analysis of variance revealed that the treatments resulted in significant loss of plant height, auxiliary branch number, pod number per plant, seed yield, and shoot dry weight of lentil at 1% probability level. Seed yield was the lowest in long-time presence of weeds and severe competition.
Along‐Strike Segmentation of Seismic Tremor and Its Relationship With the Hydraulic Structure of the Subduction Fault Zone

Along the strike of subduction zones, tectonic tremor episodicity is segmented on a geologic scale. Here, we study how this segmentation reflects large‐scale variations of the structure and conditions of the fault interface where tremor is generated. We try to understand which properties of the hydraulic system of the fault allow elementary tremor sources to synchronize, leading to the emergence of long‐period, large‐scale episodic activity. We model tremor sources as being associated with rapid openings of low‐permeability valves in the fault zone, which channels the upward flow of metamorphic fluids. Valve openings cause pressure transients that allow interaction between sources. In such a system, tremor activity is thus controlled by unsteady fluid circulation. Using numerical simulations of fluid flow, we explore the impact of valve spatial distribution and fluid flux on the emergence of large‐scale patterns of tremor activity. We show that when valves are densely distributed and submitted to near‐critical input flux, they synchronize and generate more episodic activity. Based on our model, the most periodic and spatially coherent tremor bursts should thus be emitted from segments densely populated with valves, and therefore of lower permeability than less synchronized segments. The collective activity of their valve population is responsible for fluid‐pressure cycling at the subduction scale. In the tremor zone of Shikoku, Japan, the most temporally clustered segment coincides with a downgoing seamount chain, suggesting that the segmentation of the fault zone permeability, and hence of tremor activity, could be inherited from the topography of the subducting oceanic plate.
Coupled Mechanical and Hydraulic Modeling of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Column-Supported Embankments

Geosynthetic-reinforced column-supported (GRCS) embankments have increasingly been used in the recent years for accelerated construction. Numerical analyses have been conducted to improve understanding and knowledge of this complicated embankment system. However, most studies so far have been focused on its short-term or long-term behavior by assuming an undrained or drained condition, which does not consider water flow in saturated soft soil (i.e., consolidation). As a result, very limited attention has been paid to a settlement-time relationship especially postconstruction settlement, which is critical to performance of pavements on embankments or connection between approach embankments and bridge abutments. To investigate the time-dependent behavior, coupled two-dimensional mechanical and hydraulic numerical modeling was conducted in this study to analyze a well-instrumented geotextile-reinforced deep mixed column-supported embankment in Hertsby, Finland. In the mechanical modeling, soils and DM columns were modeled as elastic-plastic materials and a geotextile layer was modeled using cable elements. In the hydraulic modeling, water flow was modeled to simulate generation and dissipation of excess pore water pressures during and after the construction of the embankment. The numerical results with or without modeling water flow were compared with the field data. In addition, parametric studies were conducted to further examine the effects of geosynthetic stiffness, column modulus, and average staged construction rate on the postconstruction settlement and the tension in the geosynthetic reinforcement.
EFFECT OF WIND-WAVE MISALIGNMENT ON DRAG COEFFICIENT

Recent field observations suggest that the air-sea momentum flux (or the drag coefficient) is significantly reduced when the dominant wind-forced surface waves are misaligned from local wind. Such conditions may occur under rapidly changing strong winds (such as under tropical cyclones) or in coastal shallow waters where waves are refracted by bottom topography. A recent Large Eddy Simulation (LES) study also shows that the drag coefficient is reduced by a misaligned strongly forced wave train (with a small wave age of 1.37). In order to investigate more realistic field conditions, this study employs LES to examine the effect of a misaligned (up to 90◦) surface wave train over a wide range of wave age up to 10.95. For all wave ages examined, the drag coefficient is reduced compared to the flat surface condition when the misalignment angle exceeds around 22.5− 45◦. The drag reduction may occur even if the form drag of the wave train is positive.
Stable isotope study of a new chondrichthyan fauna (Kimmeridgian, Porrentruy, Swiss Jura): an unusual freshwater-influenced isotopic composition for the hybodont shark Asteracanthus

Abstract. Chondrichthyan teeth (sharks, rays, and chimaeras) are mineralized in isotopic equilibrium with the surrounding water, and parameters such as water temperature and salinity can be inferred from the oxygen isotopic composition (δ18Op) of their bioapatite. We analysed a new chondrichthyan assemblage, as well as teeth from bony fish (Pycnodontiformes). All specimens are from Kimmeridgian coastal marine deposits of the Swiss Jura (vicinity of Porrentruy, Ajoie district, NW Switzerland). While the overall faunal composition and the isotopic composition of bony fish are generally consistent with marine conditions, unusually low δ18Op values were measured for the hybodont shark Asteracanthus. These values are also lower compared to previously published data from older European Jurassic localities. Additional analyses on material from Solothurn (Kimmeridgian, NW Switzerland) also have comparable, low-18O isotopic compositions for Asteracanthus. The data are hence interpreted to represent a so far unique, freshwater-influenced isotopic composition for this shark that is classically considered a marine genus. While reproduction in freshwater or brackish realms is established for other hybodonts, a similar behaviour for \textit{Asteracanthus} is proposed here. Regular excursions into lower salinity waters can be linked to the age of the deposits and correspond to an ecological adaptation, most likely driven by the Kimmeridgian transgression and by the competition of the hybodont shark Asteracanthus with the rapidly diversifying neoselachians (modern sharks).
Late Neogene structural inversion around the northern Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam: Effects from right‐lateral displacement across the Red River fault zone

Continental extrusion may take up much of the deformation involved in continental collisions. Major strike‐slip zones accommodate the relative extrusion displacement and transfer deformation away from the collision front. The Red River fault zone (RRFZ) accommodated left‐ and right‐lateral displacements when Indochina and South China were extruded during the Indian‐Eurasian collision. The northern Song Hong basin onshore and offshore in the Gulf of Tonkin delineates the direct extension of the RRFZ and thus records detailed information on the collision‐induced continental extrusion. We assess the rapidly evolving kinematics of the fault zone buried within the basin based on seismic analysis. Contrary to previous studies, we do not identify indications for latest Miocene left‐lateral motion across the RRFZ. We tentatively consider the shift from left‐ to right‐lateral motion to have occurred already during the middle Late Miocene as indicated by inversion of NE‐SW‐striking faults in the Bach Long Vi area. Right‐lateral displacement terminated around the end of the Miocene in the Song Hong basin. However, continued inversion in the Bach Long Vi area and NNW‐SSE‐striking normal faulting suggests a stress regime compatible with right‐lateral motion across the onshore part of the RRFZ continuing to the present. Inversion around the Bach Long Vi Island may have accommodated up to a few kilometers of right‐lateral displacement between the Indochina and South China blocks. Comparable NE‐SW‐striking fault zones onshore may have accommodated a larger fraction of the right‐lateral slip across the RRFZ, thus accounting for the restricted transfer of lateral displacement to the offshore basins.
Reply to comment by Edgar L Andreas on “Vertical coarse aerosol fluxes in the atmospheric surface layer over the North Polar Waters of the Atlantic”

[1] We are grateful for the interest Edgar L Andreas took in our work. His comments [Andreas, 2007] on our paper [Petelski and Piskozub, 2006] are insightful and confirm the methodology we chose, the aerosol concentration gradient, as a step forward toward achieving a reliable estimation of the aerosol production function. The difference between our approach and the recalculation of our results by Andreas [2007] is the value of the von Karman constant analogue for the aerosol flux. [2] It is not obvious that the dimensionless parameter of the logarithmic profile of aerosol concentration needs to be identical to the von Karman constant. The physics of momentum flux and aerosol flux are identical because we assume Monin-Obukhov similarity, but that implies only the existence of such a constant, not its value. Andreas gives theoretical reasons for its value to be identical to the Karman constant (approximately 0.40). We implicitly assumed it to be 1.0. Hence the approximate 2.5-fold difference of calculated fluxes in our original paper and in the comment by Andreas (approximate because we presented best fit flux functions for each wind speed bin data separately, which makes each of them differ from values of the ‘‘universal’’ function, namely, equation (5) of Petelski and Piskozub [2006], derived from the complete data set). However, we believe that the only way this problem can be solved is by experimental determination of the constant value. Until better data are available (one possibility is eddy correlation measurements in the open sea), our aerosol concentration data processed using the dry deposition method [Smith et al., 1993] may be the best calibration of the coefficient. Results presented in Figures 9 and 10 of Petelski and Piskozub [2006] (the ‘‘Eq(10)’’ lines) seem to suggest that the coefficient may be higher than the von Karman constant, possibly even closer to the value we implicitly chose (1.0). Also, the only eddy correlation measurements of aerosol concentration [Nilsson and Rannik, 2001] in the open sea, measured in the same areas as our data, seem to suggest that the flux functions favored by Andreas [2002] may be underestimated, further strengthening our estimation of the coefficient value. [3] Even with the above disagreements with Andreas [2007], we believe that his analysis of the influence of the flux coefficient choice on the results moves us forward toward a consensus on the marine aerosol source function. Even a 2.5-fold difference in the function value is minor compared to the several orders of magnitude range of functions reviewed by Andreas [2002]. However, further studies using more than one method of aerosol flux estimation are needed to narrow the von Karman constant–related uncertainty.
Assessment of the Quality of Packaged Water on Sale in Onitsha Metropolis

Background: In recent years, sale of packaged water has been on the increase in most urban cities in Nigeria. In order to safe guard public health, it is essential that the available packaged water is of the highest quality. Objective: To assess the physical, chemical and bacteriological quality of packaged water on sale in Onitsha metropolis Methodology: Two samples each of 60 brands of packaged water were randomly obtained from six different commercial locations within two LGAs in Onitsha metropolis. The samples were analysed for colour, odour, turbidity, pH, fluoride and coliform count. Membrane filtration technique was used for coliform count. Results: Forty five (75%) of samples were of high aesthetic value. All samples recorded fluoride levels within recommended WHO range of 0.5- 1.5 mg/dl. Majority (70% ) of all samples of water were found to have coliform count of 10 or more per 100ml. 34% of samples were faecally contaminated with Klebsiella and E.coli being the major organisms. Packaged water that was registered by NAFDAC had a higher bacteriological quality compared to unregistered ones. ( Odds'ratio 6.05 CI : 1.37-36.4, p Keywords : Assessment, Quality, Packaged Water NQJHM Vol. 16 (2) 2006: pp. 56-59
Sunrise ozone destruction found in the sub‐tropical marine boundary layer

A new mechanism of ozone loss is found in the sub‐tropical marine boundary layer over the north Pacific. This ozone destruction occurs just after sunrise (hereafter Sunrise Ozone Destruction, SOD) and is commonly found throughout the year. SOD is a predominant ozone loss mechanism in winter, which takes place after sunrise in a few hours with 1∼2 ppbv of ozone depletion for 40∼50 ppbv of background ozone, while, in summer, SOD is weaker than in winter with small ozone depletion for 10∼20 ppbv of background ozone. In summer, daytime ozone destruction (hereafter, DOD) associated with UV photolysis and subsequent HOx reaction is more active. Since DOD is not active in early morning, SOD should be a new ozone loss mechanism. After demonstrating the observational findings, halogen chemistry associated with sea‐salt aerosols is described as a possible mechanism.
The Fed ’ s Preference for Policy Rate Smoothing : Overestimation due to Misspecification ? ∗

The federal funds rate is featured by frequent, small changes in the same direction and infrequent reversals. How to replicate the observed smooth behavior of the federal funds rate with a small scale macroeconomic model? This paper compares the descriptive performance of an empirical fully backward looking model with that of an empirical new-Keynesian hybrid framework. It turns out that the Fed’s monetary policy conduct can be very well described with a framework allowing for the presence of a small but positive fraction of forward looking agents in the IS curve. This element remarkably reduces the large interest rate smoothing weight otherwise needed to track the observed macroeconomic series.
Mental Health Effects Of Biomarkers In Chronic Renal Failure: Stress And Alexithymia Dimention CURRENT

Background: Chronic renal failure causes many physical problems in patients. Hemodialysis treatment and the stress that accompanies the treatment are high and this constitutes a basis for alexithymia. Changes in biomarkers cause physical symptoms and increase individuals’ stress levels. Methods: The sample for the researcher was completed with 72 individuals. Demographic data form, biochemical data form, Hemodialysis Stressor Scale, and Toronto Alexithymia Scale were used in this study. Results: Individuals participating in the study found that the perceived stress levels were high in all dimensions and 59.7% were alexithymic. The relationship between Toronto alexithmia scale and hemodialysis stressor scale and the selected biomarkers was determined (p<0.05). Conclusion: It was concluded that stress and alexithymic feelings were high among hemodialysis patients and it was suggested the awareness of health professionals and patients should be increased in areas of coping with stress and emotional management in hemodialysis treatment patients. care and develop guidelines for this disease. This study was carried out to evaluate the relationship between selected biomarkers for patients receiving HD treatment and stress and alexithymia.
First composition measurements of stratospheric negative ions and inferred gaseous sulfuric acid in the winter Arctic vortex: Implications for aerosols and hydroxyl radical formation

Negative ion composition measurements and inferred gaseous sulfuric acid concentrations were for the first time obtained in the winter arctic vortex. The observations were made by a balloon-borne quadrupole mass spectrometer, between 24 and 30 km altitude, on 18 January 1992. The H 2 SO 4 data provide strong evidence for an additional OH source, other than photochemical OH-production from O( 1 D), operative in the winter arctic stratosphere. The additional OH source might be due to ion-molecule reactions involving ambient ions, formed by galactic cosmic rays. This mechanism seems to explain the presence of gaseous sulfuric acid in the winter arctic vortex and may even influence H 2 SO 4 abundances at mid-latitudes during nighttime