Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Role of Delayed Care Seeking and Toll-like Receptors in Pelvic Inflammatory Disease and Its Sequelae

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), the infection and inflammation of the female upper genital tract, can result in serious sequelae. Markers to predict sequelae following PID are greatly needed. The goal of this research is to explore the role of host genetic factors and delayed care seeking in the development of sequelae following clinically suspected PID. We studied the microbial correlates of delayed care and long-term outcomes among 298 women with histologically confirmed endometritis from the PID Evaluation and Clinical Health (PEACH) study. Mean days of pain prior to care were compared by microbial pathogen, with the longest times among women infected by Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) only (12.3±9.4 days) and Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) only (10.9±8.9 days), and the shortest among women infected by Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) only (4.6±5 days) or co-infection (5.6±5.1 days, p<0.001). Infertility, recurrent PID, and chronic pelvic pain were frequent (17%, 20%, and 36%), albeit non-significantly elevated after delayed care. PID patients infected with CT or MG were more likely to delay care, possibly increasing persistent inflammation which may permanently damage the reproductive tract before patients seek care.Toll-like receptors (TLR) eliminate microbes through inflammatory responses. As genetic variations may increase TLR signaling, we determined if 18 tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms assayed in 4 TLR genes (TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, TLR6) and 2 adaptor molecules (TIRAP, MyD88) were associated with CT, endometritis, or infertility among 205 African Americans with PID from the PEACH study. An empirical p-value <0.004 was significant. Logistic regression revealed that the TLR4 rs1927911 CC genotype was associated with CT (odds ratio (OR) 3.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6-8.8, p=0.0021). Further, the TLR1 rs4833095 TT genotype displayed trends towards increased CT (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.3-6.2, p=0.0084). Predicted carriers of the TLR4 GTC haplotype (p=0.006) and the TLR1 TGT haplotype (p=0.04) were more likely to be CT positive. Genetic variations in TLR genes may play a role in CT pathogenesis.This dissertation yields public health significance by demonstrating the need for increased efforts for early identification and treatment of genital tract infections and providing a novel exploration into the role of genetic variants in CT pathogenesis.
Interactions between propagating rifts and linear weaknesses in the lower crust

Pre-existing structures in the crust such as shear zones, faults, and mobile belts are known to exert a significant control on the structural evolution of continental rifts. However, the influence of such features when the extension direction progressively changes over time remains uncertain. Here we present new results from three-dimensional lithospheric-scale laboratory experiments of rotational extension that provide key insights into the temporal evolution of propagating rifts. We specifically test and characterize how rifts propagate and interact with linear crustal rheological heterogeneities oriented at variable angles with respect to the extension direction. Results show that approximately rift-parallel pre-existing heterogeneities favor the formation of long, linear faults that reach near-final lengths at early stages. Low angles between the heterogeneities and the propagating rift axis may result in strong strike-slip reactivation of the pre-existing structures if they are suitably oriented with respect to the stretching direction. When the linear heterogeneities are oriented at intermediate to high angles rift branches become laterally offset as they propagate, resulting in complex rhombic fault patterns. Rift-perpendicular crustal heterogeneities do not affect fault trends during rift propagation, but cause stalling and deepening of laterally growing rift basins. Similarities between the analogue experimental results and selected natural examples provide insights on how nature finds the preferential pathway to breakup in heterogeneous continental lithosphere.
Wood Specific Gravity Variation with Height and Its Implications for Biomass Estimation

Wood specific gravity (SG) is widely employed by ecolo gists as a key variable in estimates of biomass. When it is important to have nondestructive methods for sampling wood for SG measurements, cores are extracted with an increment borer. While boring is a relatively difficult task even at breast height sampling, it is impossible at ground level and arduous at heights above a couple of meters. Therefore, if a nondestructive estimate of the biomass of a whole stem is required, the variation of SG with height must be known. Here we look at the SG variation with height of five tropical trees, four of which belong to species that have been shown to have extreme variation in pith to bark SG. The results suggest that patterns of variation in SG with height are different among species, and there is no general ized pattern across species.
Potential of palm oil as a renewable material for radiation curable coating.

Research on bio-based polymers and resins in industrial applications has seen some progress as well as the products facing competition with their petroleum-based counterparts. The demand for bio-based polymers and resins is due to their property of environmental friendliness as they are made from renewable resources (Ashraf et al., 2015). Additionally, human health is compromised when using traditional coatings which utilise high molecular weight polymers that release volatile and toxic solvents when crosslinked with heat, or when coalesced dry, resulting in serious hazards to human health. The hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released into the atmosphere during manufacture and application of coating materials lead to environment contamination. Environmental regulations and government legislations towards zero waste generation during the development as well as application of coating materials have been the dominant driving force in advances in bio-based polymers. Due to their abundance, palm triglycerides provide a renewable alternative to petroleum-based coating. Palm oil is the leading vegetable oil in terms of production volume as the oil palm produces between eight and 10 times more oil per hectare per year compared with annual oilseeds such as rapeseed or soyabean (Basiron, 2007). In fact, palm oil accounted for 32.0% of the global oils and fats output in 2012 (Sime Darby, 2014) and 30.1% in 2016 (Mielke, 2016). Potential of Palm Oil as a Renewable Material for Radiation Curable Coating
Regeneration of the Adult Rat Spinal Cord in Response to Ensheathing Cells and Methylprednisolone

Abstract : Axons fail to regenerate after spinal cord injury (SCI) in adult mammals, leading to permanent loss of function. Following SCI, ensheathing cells promote recovery in animal models, whereas methylprednisolone promotes neurological recovery in humans. The aim of this research was to explore the effectiveness of ensheathing cells and methylprednisolone after acute SCI in the adult rat. Three studies were conducted to accomplish this goal. In the first study, a new method of purifying ensheathing cells was developed, resulting in a final population of ensheathing cells that were 93% pure. In the second study, the ability of a modified directed forepaw reaching (DFR) apparatus to accurately assess function of the corticospinal tract (CST) was examined. The data demonstrated that the modified apparatus prevented extinguishing of DFR behavior after SCI. In addition, the modified apparatus allowed for the collection of quantitative data to accurately assess CST function after bilateral, cervical spinal cord lesions. In the third study, the effectiveness of combining ensheathing cells and methylprednisolone after SCI was investigated. After lesioning the CST in adult rats, a purified population of ensheathing cells was transplanted into the lesion, and methylprednisolone was administered for 24 hours. At six weeks post injury, functional recovery was assessed by measuring successful DFR performance. Axonal regeneration was analyzed by counting the number of anterogradely labeled CST axons caudal to the lesion. Lesioned control rats, receiving either no treatment or vehicle, had abortive axonal regrowth (1 mm) and poor DFR success (38% and 42%, respectively). Compared to controls, rats treated with methylprednisolone for 24 hours had significantly more axons at 7 mm caudal to the lesion, and DFR performance was significantly improved (57%). Rats that received ensheathi
The effects of differential compaction on clinothem geometries and shelf-edge trajectories

The geometry of basin-margin strata documents changes in water depth, slope steepness, and sedimentary facies distributions. Their stacking patterns are widely used to define shelf-edge trajectories, which reflect long-term variations in sediment supply and relative sea-level change. Here, we present a new method to reconstruct the geometries and trajectories of clinoform-bearing basin-margin successions. Our sequential decompaction technique explicitly accounts for downdip lithology variations, which are inherent to basin-margin stratigraphy. Our case studies show that preferential compaction of distal, fine-grained foresets and bottomsets results in a vertical extension of basin-margin strata and a basinward rotation of the original shelf-edge trajectory. We discuss the implications these effects have for sea-level reconstructions and for predicting the timing of sediment transfer to the basin floor.
A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN WMMS AND TLS FOR THE STABILITY ANALYSIS OF THE SAN PEDRO CHURCH BARREL VAULT BY MEANS OF THE FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Abstract. Stability of masonry constructions is highly conditioned by the geometric disposition of its elements due to its low tensile strength and great compressive mechanical properties. Under this framework, this paper attempts to evaluate the suitability of a wearable mobile mapping solution, equipped in a backpack and based on the well-known simultaneous location and mapping paradigm, for the structural diagnosis of historical constructions. To evaluate the suitability of this device, the structural analysis obtained is compared with a high precision terrestrial laser scanner, which is considered as ground truth. The Romanesque church of San Pedro (Becerril del Carpio, Spain) was selected as a study case. This construction, initially conceived in the XIIIth century, has experimented in the past a soil settlement promoting the leaning of the north wall, several plastic hinges in its barrel vault and a visible geometrical deformation. The comparison of both techniques was carried out at different levels: i) an evaluation of the time needed to obtain the point cloud of the church; ii) an accuracy assessment based on the comparison of a terrestrial network using artificial spheres as checkpoints and; iii) an evaluation of the discrepancies, in terms of safety factor and collapse topology, found during the advance numerical evaluation of the barrel vault by means of the finite element method. This comparison places this wearable mobile mapping solution as an interesting tool for the creation of advanced numerical simulations to evaluate the structural stability of historical constructions.
Socio-Economic Disparities in Physical Health in 10 European Countries

During the last few decades, European countries have attempted to solve one of the oldest problems in modern societies: the health gap between the rich and the poor. At the international level, the WHO (World Health Organisation) has initiated numerous campaigns and spent considerable efforts to eliminate these disparities. However, socioeconomic differences in health do not only prevail across Europe, but also seem to exist in all dimensions of health: Individuals with a lower socio-economic status have more health problems, face more disability and live shorter than those with a more privileged socio-economic position (Cambois, Robine and Hayward, 2001; Huisman, Kunst and Mackenbach, 2003). Furthermore, the health gap between the rich and the poor may be increasing with recent changes in European policy (Mackenbach et al., 2003). Thus, health disparities remain an unacceptable outcome in current European society and should be further examined. SHARE represents a unique opportunity to explore the nature and magnitude of health disparities in Europe. This contribution presents an overview of socio-economic disparities in physical health in Europe. Elderly populations experience a wide array of health problems; added to the detrimental impact of ageing, those in the lower classes experience an even larger burden of morbidity and disability. We collected data on a wide array of physical health problems and were able to explore how socio-economic status may have an impact on specific diseases or functional aspects of health. SHARE is one of the first studies to collect data on socio-economic and health variables using a standard instrument across many European countries.
Evaluation of two hydrometeorological ensemble strategies for flash-flood forecasting over a catchment of the eastern Pyrenees

Abstract. This study aims at evaluating the performances of flash-flood forecasts issued from deterministic and ensemble meteorological prognostic systems. The hydrometeorological modeling chain includes the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) forcing the rainfall-runoff model MARINE dedicated to flash floods. Two distinct ensemble prediction systems accounting for (i) perturbed initial and lateral boundary conditions of the meteorological state and (ii) mesoscale model physical parameterizations have been implemented on the Agly catchment of the eastern Pyrenees with three subcatchments exhibiting different rainfall regimes. Different evaluations of the performance of the hydrometeorological strategies have been performed: (i) verification of short-range ensemble prediction systems and corresponding streamflow forecasts, for a better understanding of how forecasts behave; (ii) usual measures derived from a contingency table approach, to test an alert threshold exceedance; and (iii) overall evaluation of the hydrometeorological chain using the continuous rank probability score, for a general quantification of the ensemble performances. Results show that the overall discharge forecast is improved by both ensemble strategies with respect to the deterministic forecast. Threshold exceedance detections for flood warning also benefit from large hydrometeorological ensemble spread. There are no substantial differences between both ensemble strategies on these test cases in terms of both the issuance of flood warnings and the overall performances, suggesting that both sources of external-scale uncertainty are important to take into account.
Long‐Term Wetting and Drying Trends in Land Water Storage Derived From GRACE and CMIP5 Models

Coupled climate models participating in the CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) exhibit a large intermodel spread in the representation of long‐term trends in soil moisture and snow in response to anthropogenic climate change. We evaluate long‐term (January 1861 to December 2099) water storage trends from 21 CMIP5 models against observed trends in terrestrial water storage (TWS) obtained from 14 years (April 2002 to August 2016) of the GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) satellite mission. This is complicated due to the incomplete representation of TWS in CMIP5 models and interannual climate variability masking long‐term trends in observations. We thus evaluate first the spread in projected trends among CMIP5 models and identify regions of broad model consensus. Second, we assess the extent to which these projected trends are already present during the historical period (January 1861 to August 2016) and thus potentially detectable in observational records available today. Third, we quantify the degree to which 14‐year tendencies can be expected to represent long‐term trends, finding that regional long‐term trends start to emerge from interannual variations after just 14 years while stable global trend patterns are detectable after 30 years. We classify regions of strong model consensus into areas where (1) climate‐related TWS changes are supported by the direction of GRACE trends, (2) mismatch of trends hints at possible model deficits, (3) the short observation time span and/or anthropogenic influences prevent reliable conclusions about long‐term wetting or drying. We thereby demonstrate the value of satellite observations of water storage to further constrain the response of the terrestrial water cycle to climate change.
Conditions for establishing cross-border economic zones in the North of Vietnam

The formation and development of border economic zones (BEZ) and cross-border economic zones (CBEZ) is not only an opportunity for the border regions, but also an engine for developing the supply chain and the production network as a result of border connectivity. The paper focuses on analyzing the conditions for the CBEZ in the border areas in the North of Vietnam, including Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Lang Son and Quang Ninh. There is a big difference in readiness for the establishment of the CBEZ among the four studied sites. However, connectivity needs the most improvement on all the sites, which includes both infrastructure connectivity and policy harmonization.
Identification of falls risk factors in community-dwelling older adults: validation of the Comprehensive Falls Risk Screening Instrument

Identifying risk factors and those at risk for falls is necessary. The first purpose of the dissertation was to validate the Comprehensive Falls Risk Screening Instrument (CFRSI) that weights falls risk factors and includes the subscale scores of history, physical, vision, medication, and environment, and a total falls risk score. The CFRSI total falls risk score was compared to subscale scores, physical activity, physical function, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and history of falls (Study 1). The second purpose of the dissertation was to determine associations between the CFRSI total falls risk score, race, education, and income (Study 2). Data were collected at falls risk screenings conducted at 10 community organizations with 286 older adults (M age=74.2 years, SD=10.0, 75.9% female, 52.9% White/Caucasian, 52.4% low-income status, and 43.1% low educational level). The total falls risk score was associated with all risk subscale scores (r=.25, p<.01 to r=.69, p<.01), total physical activity score (r=-.30, p<.01), total physical function score (r=.30, p<.01), and total HRQL scores (r=-.44, p<.01 to r=-.24, p=.03). Fallers (n=90) had higher total falls risk scores (M=41.03, SD=9.38) than non-fallers (n=188; M=34.06, SD=10.05), t(276)=5.53, p<. 001). Discriminant function analysis indicated the most important predictor of falling status (i.e., fallers and non-fallers) was the history risk score (r=.96). A 2x2x2 factorial ANOVA only revealed a significant main effect for education (F[1,205]=10.19, p=.002), indicating that the total falls risk score was greater for participants with a lower educational level (M=41.1) than for those with a higher educational level (M=34.5). ANCOVA revealed that individuals with low-income reported higher falls risk scores (M=39.2) than individuals with high-income (M=34.5) when controlling for race (F[1,204]=10.4, p=.001,c2=.05). There were no significant differences between fallers and non-fallers by education (÷2[1,N=262]=.03, p=.86) or income (÷2[1,N=212]=.38, p=.54), but there were differences by race (÷2[1,N=267]=6.44, p=.0). White/Caucasians (63.2%) were more likely to fall than African American/Black/Others (36.8%). Results provide evidence of the construct validity of the CFRSI and that sociodemographic factors such as education, income, and race are important when identifying older adults at risk for falls, determining applicability of falls risk screening instruments, and implementing falls reduction programs.
위성기반 Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS)를 활용한 한반도 지역의 기상학적 가뭄지수 적용

Remote sensing products have long been used to monitor and forecast natural disasters. Satellite-derived rainfall products are becoming more accurate as space and time resolution improve, and are widely used in areas where measurement is difficult because of the periodic accumulation of images in large areas. In the case of North Korea, there is a limit to the estimation of precipitation for unmeasured areas due to the limited accessibility and quality of statistical data. CHIRPS (Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations) is global satellite-derived rainfall data of 0.05 degree grid resolution. It has been available since 1981 from USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development), NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). This study evaluates the applicability of CHIRPS rainfall products for South Korea and North Korea by comparing CHIRPS data with ground observation data, and analyzing temporal and spatial drought trends using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), a meteorological drought index available through CHIRPS. The results indicate that the data set performed well in assessing drought years (1994, 2000, 2015 and 2017). Overall, this study concludes that CHIRPS is a valuable tool for using data to estimate precipitation and drought monitoring in Korea.
Research on energy saving of Coalbed Methane Field pumping wells based on Data Mining

Generally, the CBM well has the characteristics of large variation of the water rate and unstable pumping load, corresponding equipment type, status and parameters adjusted frequently, the utilization rate of energy is generally low, however, the energy transfer relationship of pumping unit system is complex and the coupling between parameters is strong, the theoretical calculation method requires high energy consumption calculation parameters for each node, and the effective dynamic analysis cannot be realized; the experience analysis method has high workload and high requirement for analysts. In southern Qinshui basin CBM Wells, for example, by analyzing the relationship between production parameters and the energy consumption of each node, a multi variable data mining algorithm is constructed for the energy consumption index of the common pumping unit system, according to the energy consumption data characteristics of pumping unit, the single well is classified, and the adjustment optimization strategy of pump replacement, pumping-unit replacement, intermittent pumping and equipment maintenance is put forward according to the different types of energy consumption bias. Verified by practice, the application of this technology can improve the timeliness and accuracy of energy consumption data analysis of CBM pumping well, effectively reduce the cost of energy consumption analysis on mechanical production Wells, and is helpful to improve the intelligent level of CBM gas field production.