Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Major depression and impaired glucose tolerance

Hypercortisolism is a frequent endocrine sign in major depression and cortisol is a well-known anti-insulinergic hormone. Impaired oral glucose tolerance has already been described in major depression. However, thus far no information is available on spontaneous, circadian insulin secretion in patients. We studied 26 depressed inpatients along with 33 age- and sex-matched controls. Blood samples were collected at 30-minute intervals over a period of 26 hours (h) for estimation of cortisol, insulin and glucose. No differences in 24 h mean-insulin and glucose concentrations were detectable despite significantly reduced caloric consumption in patients. At the second morning a strictly standardized test meal of 2125 kjoule was given. Insulin and glucose responses to the test meal were significantly increased in hypercortisolemic patients compared to controls. Hence, patients with major depression have an impaired insulin sensitivity.
A new gas chromatograph‐isotope ratio mass spectrometry technique for high‐precision, N2O‐free analysis of δ13C and δ18O in atmospheric CO2 from small air samples

A new gas Chromatograph-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-IRMS) technique for the first N2O-free, high-precision (<0.05‰) isotopic analysis of δ13C and δ18O in atmospheric CO2 from small air samples has been developed. On-line GC separation of CO2 and N2O from a whole air sample is combined with IRMS under elevated ion source pressures. A specialized open split interface is an integral part of the inlet system and ensures a continuous flow of either sample gas or pure helium to the IRMS. The analysis, including all flushing, uses a total amount of 45 mL of an air sample collected at ambient pressure. Of this, three 0.5 mL aliquots are injected onto the GC column, each providing ∼0.8 nmol CO2 in the IRMS source. At this sample size, δ13C precision obtained is at the theoretical shot noise limit. For typical ambient air samples collected in the Southern Hemisphere, demonstrated precisions for δ13C, δ18O, and the CO2 mixing ratio (all measured simultaneously) are 0.02‰, 0.04‰, and 0.4 ppm, parts per million (ppm) respectively. Since these data are achieved from small air samples without contamination by atmospheric N2O or the use of cryogen, the technique will be a valuable tool in global carbon cycle research.
Biomineralization and global biogeochemical cycles

Biological activity is a dominant force shaping the chemical structure and evolution of the earth surface environment. The presence of an oxygenated atmosphere-hydrosphere surrounding an otherwise highly reducing solid earth is the most striking consequence of the rise of life on earth. Biological evolution and the functioning of ecosystems, in turn, are to a large degree conditioned by geophysical and geological processes. Understanding the interactions between organisms and their abiotic environment, and the resulting coupled evolution of the biosphere and geosphere is a central theme of research in biogeology. Biogeochemists contribute to this understanding by studying the transformations and transport of chemical substrates and products of biological activity in the environment. Biogeochemical cycles provide a general framework in which geochemists organize their knowledge and interpret their data. The cycle of a given element or substance maps out the rates of transformation in, and transport fluxes between, adjoining environmental reservoirs. The temporal and spatial scales of interest dictate the selection of reservoirs and processes included in the cycle. Typically, the need for a detailed representation of biological process rates and ecosystem structure decreases as the spatial and temporal time scales considered increase. Much progress has been made in the development of global-scale models of biogeochemical cycles. Although these models are based on fairly simple representations of the biosphere and hydrosphere, they account for the large-scale changes in the composition, redox state and biological productivity of the earth surface environment that have occurred over geological time. Since the Cambrian explosion, mineralized body parts have been secreted in large quantities by biota. Because calcium carbonate, silica and calcium phosphate are the main mineral phases constituting these hard parts, biomineralization plays an important role in the global biogeochemical cycles of carbon, calcium, silicon and phosphorus. The chapter starts with introducing the basic concepts of …
Imaging clinical information using dual-source 128-MDCT in two cases of pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect

Two cases of PA-VSD were examined by computed tomography angiography (CTA) using dual-source 128-MDCT to reveal the anatomy and morphology of the pulmonary circulation. The first case was diagnosed as PA-VSD type B, while the second case was diagnosed as PA-VSD type A. These cases show that dual-source 128-MDCT can be used to provide clinical information for PA-VSD with the appropriate examination protocols and post-processing techniques.
An evaluation of Virtual Learning Environment readiness in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)

Virtual Learning Environments (VLE) provide online interactions of various kinds which can take place between learners and tutors, including online learning when the students and lecturers are in the different places but same time. There are many universities which did not establish VLE in their educational institution. The universities which did not implement VLE system are facing some problems in their day to day teaching environment. Face to face education increase contact time with learners, it is difficult for the students in face to face learning to get more time to think about their discussion’s response, this lead problem for student’s contribution. In this paper we propose a model of VLE readiness in higher education institutions with four hypotheses, and we divided the model into two main categories: (a) hypotheses that have positively related to VLE readiness such as optimism and innovativeness, (b) hypothesis which have negatively related to VLE readiness in higher education such as discomfort and insecurity. Technology Readiness Index (TRI) is the most compatibility model to be used as research model in this paper. Our study presents an evaluation of VLE implementation in higher education institutions; the researcher employed a three-stage method to extract, analyze and report the literature-based findings the result obtained from the study matches the findings of the research that investigates the VLE readiness in higher education, thus improving the design of a VLE for further improvement. The study finds that implementing Virtual learning environment leads to better leaning performance.
Automated prediction procedure for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

The diagnosis of inherited peripheral neuropathies can be a challenging issue in several ways. Current research is focused on a multidisciplinary approach, developing new therapeutic strategies mainly involving online databases and repositories for sharing data and models used in some clinical trials. In this paper authors introduce the general architecture of an automated neural network based model for simulating the prediction procedure of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, according to the latest clinical studies.
The Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database (Card): Archaeological 14C Dates in North America and Their Paleoenvironmental Context

Databases of accumulated paleoecological and archaeological records provide a means for large-scale syntheses of environmental and cultural histories. We describe the current status of the Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database (CARD), a searchable collection of more than 36,000 14C dates from archaeological and paleontological sites from across North America. CARD, built by the late Dr Richard Morlan of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, consists of uncalibrated 14C data as well as information about the material dated, the cultural association of the date (e.g. Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland), and its geographic location. The database can be used to study questions relating to prehistoric demography, migrations, human vulnerability to environmental change, and human impact on the landscape, but biases relating to sampling intensity and taphonomy must first be accounted for. Currently, Canada and the northern United States are well represented in the database, while the southern United States is underrepresented. The frequency of 14C dates associated with archaeological sites increases through time from 15,000 cal yr BP until European contact, which likely reflects, among other factors, both the destruction of older cultural carbon due to erosion and dissolution and increasing population numbers through time. An exploratory analysis of the dates reveals their distribution in both time and space, and suggests that the database is sufficiently complete to enable quantitative analysis of general demographic trends.
Long Noncoding RNAs-Related Diseases, Cancers, and Drugs

Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) function is described in terms of related gene expressions, diseases, and cancers as well as their polymorphisms. Potential modulators of lncRNA function, including clinical drugs, natural products, and derivatives, are discussed, and bioinformatic resources are summarized. The improving knowledge of the lncRNA regulatory network has implications not only in gene expression, diseases, and cancers, but also in the development of lncRNA-based pharmacology.
Attaining fundamental bounds on timing synchronization

In this paper, we propose an algorithm for timing synchronization that attains fundamental bounds derived by Weiss and Weinstein. These bounds state that, in addition to improving with time-bandwidth product and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), timing accuracy also improves as the carrier frequency gets larger, if the SNR is above a threshold. Our algorithm essentially follows the logic of the Weiss-Weinstein bound, and has the following stages: coarse estimation using time domain samples, fine-grained estimation using a Newton algorithm in the frequency domain, and final refinement to within a small fraction of a carrier cycle. While the results here are of fundamental interest, we are motivated to push the limits of synchronization to enable the tight coordination required for emulating virtual antenna arrays using a collection of cooperating nodes.
Reconciling molecular phylogenies with the fossil record

Historical patterns of species diversity inferred from phylogenies typically contradict the direct evidence found in the fossil record. According to the fossil record, species frequently go extinct, and many clades experience periods of dramatic diversity loss. However, most analyses of molecular phylogenies fail to identify any periods of declining diversity, and they typically infer low levels of extinction. This striking inconsistency between phylogenies and fossils limits our understanding of macroevolution, and it undermines our confidence in phylogenetic inference. Here, we show that realistic extinction rates and diversity trajectories can be inferred from molecular phylogenies. To make this inference, we derive an analytic expression for the likelihood of a phylogeny that accommodates scenarios of declining diversity, time-variable rates, and incomplete sampling; we show that this likelihood expression reliably detects periods of diversity loss using simulation. We then study the cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), a group for which standard phylogenetic inferences are strikingly inconsistent with fossil data. When the cetacean phylogeny is considered as a whole, recently radiating clades, such as the Balaneopteridae, Delphinidae, Phocoenidae, and Ziphiidae, mask the signal of extinctions. However, when isolating these groups, we infer diversity dynamics that are consistent with the fossil record. These results reconcile molecular phylogenies with fossil data, and they suggest that most extant cetaceans arose from four recent radiations, with a few additional species arising from clades that have been in decline over the last ∼10 Myr.
Social Impacts of the Way Out West Festival on the Residents of the City of Göteborg

Festivals are one of the fastest growing tourism attractions today. Among the reasons for this are approach changes to urban management and economic production, the use of culture to restructure wealth and job creation, civic re-positioning, and tourism development by cities and governments. Consequently, there is a parallel increase in researchers’ interest toward evaluating the impacts that festivals have on communities. However, until very recently, researchers have been concentrated predominantly on measuring the economic impacts, whereas less attention has been given to socio-cultural and environmental issues. The main purpose of this study is to examine the Way Out West festival’s social consequences experienced by the residents of Goteborg from the point of view of the Social Exchange Theory adapted by Ap (1992). The study identifies the underlying dimensions of the social impacts and how certain sociodemographic characteristics of the residents relate to their perceptions of these impacts. The findings of the study contribute to deeper understanding of resident attitudes toward the social impacts of community festivals and can be utilized by the organizers to increase the social benefits generated by the festival and reduce its negative social impacts.
Chitinozoan biostratigraphy in the Dob's Linn Ordovician-Silurian GSSP, Southern Uplands, Scotland

Abstract The Dob's Linn section has recently been confirmed as the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Ordovician-Silurian boundary. Within the framework of the present study, the Dob's Linn sections yielded, for the first time, chitinozoans with biostratigraphical and correlative value. In the North Cliff trench, the Armoricochitina reticulifera Biozone has been recognised, allowing correlation with the Newport Sands section of the Cardigan area in Wales, which has good graptolite control. In the GSSP trench around the Ordovician—Silurian boundary, a fauna dominated by Cyathochitina and Ancyrochitina spp. has been recovered; the chitinozoans were in ascending order attributed to the Ancyrochitina ellisbayensis, Ancyrochitina laevaensis and Belonechitina ? postrobusta biozones, allowing correlation with several other sections in Laurentia (Ellis Bay) and Baltica, and the global chitinozoan biozonation for the Silurian System.
An overview of Precambrian rocks in Sonora

The oldest stratified rocks recognized in NW Sonora (and in Mexico) are deformed muscovite-quartz schists, quartzites, and biotite-quartzofeldspathic gneisses near Caborca, which are cut by calcalkaline intrusives ranging from 1,710 to 1,750 m.y. in age. Southwest of Caborca, upper amphibolite facies layered quattzofeldspathic and amphibolitic gneisses were apparently deformed and metamorphosed at about 1,660 ± 15 m.y. ago, concealing original lithologies and ages. In northeastern Sonora, a younger belt of eugeosynolinal strata, about 1,680 ± 20 m. y. old was tightly folded and metamorphosed to greenschist facies about 1,650 m.y. ago. Numerous granitic plutons intruded into the older Precambrian crust about 1,410 to 1,440 m.y. ago. These major intrusive masses are not known to have been accompanied by regional sedimentation or deformation. Rare, small plutons of micrographic granite added to the Precambrian crystalline complexes about 1,100 m.y. ago, are the youngest Precambrian igneous rocks recognized. They limit the age of a thick miogeoclinal sequence of unmetamorphosed quartzose sandstones, carbonates with numerous stromatolite horizons, and shales which rest nonconformably on them. The sequence is overlain without unconformity by a fossiliferous Lower Cambrian section. The northwestern and northeastern Precambrian suits appear to be separated by a Jurassic magmatic arc and a postulated shear structure of large lateral displacement. Both suites correlate northward into related belts in the SW United States. To the east they are concealed by Phanerozoic cover. Abrupt termination of Precambrian exposures south and west suggests major younger tectonic features which we suspect played important but undefined roles in the apparent absence of Precambrian basement under much of northern and west-central Mexico.
Constructed Wetlands for Stormwater Management

Wetland systems have long been used for treating municipal and industrial wastewater, and are often more cost-effective than advanced wastewater-treatment systems. The available literature on the performance of wastewater-wetland systems is fairly extensive; however, information on the use of natural or constructed wetlands for controlling stormwater pollution, a newer application, is relatively scarce. In addition, the data available on wastewater wetlands may not apply directly to stormwater wetlands because of the unique characteristics of stormwater runoff, including: highly variable flow rates that are usually intermittent and seasonal; two-tothree order of magnitude between-storm differences in the chemical and suspended solids composition of stormwater runoff; and, site-specific nutrient ratios and concentrations. Consequently, in stormwater wetland systems, plant species’ performance and removal efficiency is often tied to the biota's ability to tolerate these extremely variable conditions. Additional factors which effect pollutant removals include: the comparative contributions of settling, sorption, plant uptake under various hydrologic (e.g., detention time) conditions, and a pollutant’s partitioning between the substratum, water column, and plant tissue. To address these unknowns and design concerns, a bench-scale vegetative-treatment-cell study is being conducted for the purpose of examining nutrient and metal dynamics and removal efficiencies of three individual plant species under various stormwater pollutant loadings and detention times. The plant species being evaluated are: cattails ( Typha latifolia), reeds (Phragmites sp.), and bulrushes (Scirpus sp.). For each of these species, two detention times (7 day and 14 day) and two pollutant loading levels (e.g., COD and SS >100 mg/l and <75 mg/l, respectively) are being investigated to determine wetland-process dynamics; relative removal efficiencies of stormwater-associated pollutants (e.g., total phosphorus and copper) as a function of detention time, water depths, and pollutant loadings, and expected solids removal and effluentparticle-size distributions.
Skeleton Timed Up and Go

This paper presents a novel approach to fully automate the Timed Up and Go Assessment Test (TUG) in professional environments. The approach, called Skeleton Timed Up and Go (sTUG), is based on the usage of two Kinect for Xbox 360 sensors. sTUG supports the execution and documentation of the traditional TUG assessment test and furthermore calculates nine events, which demarcate the five main components during a run. On two days we conducted an experiment with five elderly aged 70-84 and four males aged 29-31 in the activity laboratory of the OFFIS Institute, Oldenburg to proof the reliability and feasibility of the system. Results demonstrate that sTUG can precisely measure the total duration of traditional TUG and is capable of detecting accurately nine motion events which demarcate the components during a run.
PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Expressions of Positive Emotion in Women ' s College Yearbook Pictures and Their Relationship to Personality and Life Outcomes Across Adulthood

To test hypotheses about positive emotion, the authors examined the relationship of positive emotional expression in women's college pictures to personality, observer ratings, and life outcomes. Consistent with the notion that positive emotions help build personal resources, positive emotional expression correlated with the self-reported personality traits of affiliation, competence, and low negative emotionality across adulthood and predicted changes in competence and negative emotionality. Observers rated women displaying more positive emotion more favorably on several personality dimensions and expected interactions with them to be more rewarding; thus, demonstrating the beneficial social consequences of positive emotions. Finally, positive emotional expression predicted favorable outcomes in marriage and personal well-being up to 30 years later. Controlling for physical attractiveness and social desirability had little impact on these findings.
Multisubject Independent Component Analysis of fMRI: A Decade of Intrinsic Networks, Default Mode, and Neurodiagnostic Discovery

Since the discovery of functional connectivity in fMRI data (i.e., temporal correlations between spatially distinct regions of the brain) there has been a considerable amount of work in this field. One important focus has been on the analysis of brain connectivity using the concept of networks instead of regions. Approximately ten years ago, two important research areas grew out of this concept. First, a network proposed to be “a default mode of brain function” since dubbed the default mode network was proposed by Raichle. Secondly, multisubject or group independent component analysis (ICA) provided a data-driven approach to study properties of brain networks, including the default mode network. In this paper, we provide a focused review of how ICA has contributed to the study of intrinsic networks. We discuss some methodological considerations for group ICA and highlight multiple analytic approaches for studying brain networks. We also show examples of some of the differences observed in the default mode and resting networks in the diseased brain. In summary, we are in exciting times and still just beginning to reap the benefits of the richness of functional brain networks as well as available analytic approaches.
A FLEXIBLE APPROACH TO MODELING COMPUTER VISUALIZATION USING SIMULATION TRACES

We present a flexible method to coupling simulation and animation systems by transforming a simulation trace into commands for an animator. This new technique gives the user direct control over the interpretation of the simulation output and, in particular, can be extended and programmed to allow the addition of graphically relevant detail not included in the simulation model. Reusable components are used to translate the logic of simulation concepts to visible presentations. Furthermore, in a concurrent engineering environment, the use of CAD models on the graphics side allows a combined presentation of the results from both construction process and simulation.