Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Fick Law's recovering BGK model for a mixture of monoatomic and polyatomic gases

Through this paper, we extend the derivation of the Fick-relaxation BGK model operated in [16], whose aim was a relaxation operator recovering the Fick Law and the shear viscosity at hydrodynamic limit, for a mixture of monoatomic gases. Here, the framework deals with a mixture of monoatomic and polyatomic gases, and we need a model including the non translational degrees of freedom and internal energies. The attractors are computed from the resolution of an entropy minimisation problem. The model is shown to satisfy a H theorem. Next, we use a Chapman-Enskog expansion in order to compute the expression for the transport coefficients; that is, the phenomenological Fick matrix as both shear and volume viscosity.
A Co-Created Tool to Help Counter Health Misinformation for Spanish-Speaking Communities in the San Francisco Bay Area

Background: Health misinformation, which was particularly prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, hampers public health initiatives. Spanish-speaking communities in the San Francisco Bay Area may be especially affected due to low digital health literacy and skepticism towards science and healthcare experts. Our study aims to develop a checklist to counter misinformation, grounded in community insights. Methods: We adopted a multistage approach to understanding barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Spanish-speaking populations in Alameda and San Francisco counties. Initial work included key informant and community interviews. Partnering with a community-based organization (CBO), we organized co-design workshops in July 2022 to develop a practical tool for identifying misinformation. Template analysis identified key themes for actionable steps, such as source evaluation and content assessment. From this, we developed a Spanish-language checklist. Findings: During formative interviews, misinformation was identified as a major obstacle to vaccine uptake. Three co-design workshops with 15 Spanish-speaking women resulted in a 10-step checklist for tackling health misinformation. Participants highlighted the need for scrutinizing sources and assessing messenger credibility, and cues in visual content that could instill fear. The checklist offers a pragmatic approach to source verification and information assessment, supplemented by resources from local CBOs. Conclusion: We have co-created a targeted checklist for Spanish-speaking communities to identify and counter health misinformation. Such specialized tools are essential for populations that are more susceptible to misinformation, enabling them to differentiate between credible and non-credible information.
Natural history and biogeography of the amphibians and reptiles of Kibale National Park, Uganda

English Abstract. This study lists the amphibian and reptile species of Kibale National Park, Uganda, and discusses the natural history and biogeography of this unique herpetofauna. This herpetofaunal inventory was compiled based upon literature records and collections made during 17 mo fieldwork between 1995 and 1997, and includes 28 anuran, 15 lizard, and 32 snake species. Faunal comparisons with seven other tropical African forests show a high degree similarity between the Kibale herpetofauna and those of central and West Africa.
Impacts of drought and predicted effects of climate change on fish growth in temperate Australian lakes

Climate change is expected to negatively impact many freshwater environments due to reductions in stream-flow and increases in temperature. These conditions, however, can already be found today in areas experiencing significant drought; current observations of species’ responses to droughts can be used to make predictions about their future responses to climate change. Using otolith analysis, we recreated golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) growth chronologies from two temperate lake populations in southeastern Australia over a 15-year period pre- and during a supraseasonal drought. We related interannual growth variation to landscape-scale changes in temperature and hydrological regimes: fish growth declined as water levels in the lakes dropped during the drought, but this effect was offset by increased growth in warmer years. We hypothesize that golden perch are responding to fluctuations in food availability and intraspecific competition related to water level and to an optimization of physiological growth conditions related to increases in growing season length. Based on our analyses, we made predictions of future growth under a number of climate change scenarios that incorporate forecast deviations in stream-flows and air temperature. Despite climatic models predicting significant declines in future water availability, fish growth may increase due to a disproportionate lengthening of the growing season. As the two lakes are at the limit of the southerly range of golden perch, our results are consistent with previous findings of climate-change driven latitudinal range shifts in a poleward direction. We discuss assumptions concerning the constancy of ecological interactions into the future that warrant further study. Our research provides a novel application of biochronological analysis that could be used elsewhere to further our knowledge of species responses to changing environments.
Canadian snow and sea ice: assessment of snow, sea ice, and related climate processes in Canada's Earth system model and climate-prediction system

Abstract. The Canadian Sea Ice and Snow Evolution (CanSISE) Network is a climate research network focused on developing and applying state-of-the-art observational data to advance dynamical prediction, projections, and understanding of seasonal snow cover and sea ice in Canada and the circumpolar Arctic. This study presents an assessment from the CanSISE Network of the ability of the second-generation Canadian Earth System Model (CanESM2) and the Canadian Seasonal to Interannual Prediction System (CanSIPS) to simulate and predict snow and sea ice from seasonal to multi-decadal timescales, with a focus on the Canadian sector. To account for observational uncertainty, model structural uncertainty, and internal climate variability, the analysis uses multi-source observations, multiple Earth system models (ESMs) in Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), and large initial-condition ensembles of CanESM2 and other models. It is found that the ability of the CanESM2 simulation to capture snow-related climate parameters, such as cold-region surface temperature and precipitation, lies within the range of currently available international models. Accounting for the considerable disagreement among satellite-era observational datasets on the distribution of snow water equivalent, CanESM2 has too much springtime snow mass over Canada, reflecting a broader northern hemispheric positive bias. Biases in seasonal snow cover extent are generally less pronounced. CanESM2 also exhibits retreat of springtime snow generally greater than observational estimates, after accounting for observational uncertainty and internal variability. Sea ice is biased low in the Canadian Arctic, which makes it difficult to assess the realism of long-term sea ice trends there. The strengths and weaknesses of the modelling system need to be understood as a practical tradeoff: the Canadian models are relatively inexpensive computationally because of their moderate resolution, thus enabling their use in operational seasonal prediction and for generating large ensembles of multidecadal simulations. Improvements in climate-prediction systems like CanSIPS rely not just on simulation quality but also on using novel observational constraints and the ready transfer of research to an operational setting. Improvements in seasonal forecasting practice arising from recent research include accurate initialization of snow and frozen soil, accounting for observational uncertainty in forecast verification, and sea ice thickness initialization using statistical predictors available in real time.
Cultural significance of elderly guidance in shaping learner discipline management: A case of two secondary schools in Nigeria.

: Learner indiscipline is a problem in schools worldwide, including Nigeria, which has caused uproar in school management. The problem of indiscipline in Nigerian secondary schools is examined through the lens of the Ubuntu, which is considered appropriate as it allows for an indigenous approach to addressing learner indiscipline. The study adopts an interpretive paradigm within a qualitative framework, focusing on the role of elderly advice in learner discipline management in selected secondary schools in Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. A case study research design was employed to gain an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon and management of learner discipline in two different secondary schools. The research involves six heads of department as participants, offering an in-depth exploration of their perspectives and experiences related to the guidance provided by elders in shaping disciplinary practices. The collected data is analysed using thematic analysis. The study reveals the cultural significance of teacher-elderly guidance on learner discipline, the impacts of such guidance on discipline strategies, and the challenges and opportunities in integrating teacher-elderly guidance into education. This study contributes to scholarship by contextualising the significance of teacher-elderly guidance as a unique way of managing learner discipline in secondary schools
Revealing the Diversity of Thin Filamentous Cyanobacteria, with the Discovery of a Novel Species, Pegethrix qiandaoensis sp. nov. (Oculatellaceae, Oculatellales), in a Freshwater Lake in China

During the study of diversity in filamentous cyanobacteria in China, two strains (WZU0719 and WZU0723) with the form of thin filaments were isolated from the surface of Qiandao Lake, a large freshwater lake in Zhejiang Province, China. A comprehensive analysis was conducted, incorporating morphological, ecological, and molecular data. The morphological examination provided an initial identification as a Leptolyngbya-like cyanobacterium. Genetic characterization was also performed by amplifying the 16S rRNA gene and the 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. The phylogenetic grouping based on the 16S rRNA gene demonstrates that the examined strain is unequivocally assigned to the Pegethrix genus. However, it possesses distinct phylogenetic divergence from the six described Pegethrix species. Additionally, discrepancies in habitat further differentiate it from other members of this genus. Employing the polyphasic approach, we present a comprehensive account of the newly discovered taxa: Pegethrix qiandaoensis sp. nov. The novel taxonomic finding in this research significantly contributes to enhancing the comprehension of Pegethrix diversity across various habitats.
The role of trophic flows in food web dynamics.

Intraguild predation is a trophic interaction in which two consumers compete for one resource and where one of the consumer species may also feed on its competitor. The intraguild predator’s diet follows from the relative strength of its interactions with its potential prey. Current view holds that weak interactions between species promote the stability of food webs. To the contrary, nutrient enrichment is predicted to destabilize ecosystems. We present a theoretical analysis of the interplay between intraguild predation and nutrient enrichment in a Marr-Pirt chemostat model of a microbial food web. We perform a two-dimensional bifurcation analysis along a gradient of allochtonous nutrient levels and a gradient of one out of two biologically plausible strategies to explore the spectrum of the intraguild predator’s foraging interactions. Both strategies show that intraguild predation may stabilize food chains eliminate chaos, predicted by food chain models give rise to multiple stable states be favored in systems with low turn-over rates, where the intraguild predator has a low interaction strength and a low yield on the basal resource
Prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder and associated factors among displaced people in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background The number of people who have been displaced from their homes due to violence, conflict, and natural disasters. The displaced persons are vulnerable to PTSD; however, being women, individuals with lower socio-economic status and intense exposure to physical assault are more vulnerable. The reviews stated that the pooled prevalence of PTSD among refugees in high-income countries was higher than the general population. However, there has been no review done on PTSD among displaced persons in Africa. Therefore, the aim of this review was to summarise the most recent data evidence on the pooled prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder and the pooled effect of associated factors on adult displaced people in Africa. Methods We used an appropriate guideline for systematic reviews and meta-analyses reports, which is the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). This review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023411371). The publications were identified from PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Scopus databases, and other grey searches of Google Scholar and World Health Organisation (WHO) reports. The data was extracted in Microsoft Excel, and then it will be imported into STATA 11.0 for analysis. Results We have included 10 studies conducted in African countries with 5287 study participants. In this meta-analysis, the pooled prevalence of PTSD among displaced people in Africa was 55.64 (95% CI: 42.76–68.41%). Further, in subgroup analysis regarding the study participants, the pooled prevalence of PTSD among internally displaced people and refugees was 56.35% and 54.04%, respectively. Among the associated factors, being female, unemployed, and depression were significantly related to PTSD among displaced people. Conclusions In this review, the pooled prevalence of PTSD among displaced people in Africa was high. Demographic characteristics (female, single, and unemployed), substance use disorder, and depression were risk factors for PTSD among displaced people. This finding might help the stakeholders (mental health policy makers, administrators, and mental health professionals) to address the prevention, early screening, and management of PTSD among displaced people and to give attention to more vulnerable bodies. Systematic review registration PROSPERO, identifier CRD42023411371.
Development Of Phylloid-Algal Carbonate Mounds During Regression: Expanding The Build-And-Fill Model

Abstract: The build-and-fill model for mixed carbonate–clastic systems was originally developed to explain thin, widespread, icehouse depositional sequences that maintain more-or-less equal thickness over wide areas despite complex internal architecture that includes both topography-building and topography-filling depositional phases. Lithologic heterogeneity in each small-scale sequence is driven largely by carbonate deposition providing localized relief above surrounding sediment and the eventual infilling of that relief by siliciclastics or a combination of carbonates and siliciclastics. “Phylloid-algal” carbonate mounds are a critical component of these small-scale sequences (cyclothems) during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (Pennsylvanian–Permian) and have been ascribed to both relief-building and relief-filling phases of build-and-fill, which hinders the use of this model as a predictor of lithofacies distribution and geometry and limits its broader application to other carbonate mound settings. This study includes detailed remapping of Upper Pennsylvanian outcrop and subsurface strata over roughly 3,000 km 2 of northeastern Kansas, which includes the type strata for the Paleozoic example of the original build-and-fill model. The dominant depositional motif for the phylloid-algal lithofacies is that of relief builder with only moderate relief filling as carbonate mounds switched from aggradation to progradation during continued regression. Phylloid-algal lithofacies in the Iola, Wyandotte, Farley, and Plattsburg cyclothems (upper Missourian Stage) were predominantly aggradational and developed mound geometries (relief building) during regression as the base of the photic zone fell to a position low enough to encourage red- and green-algae-dominated, typically micritic bafflestone lithologies to develop on pre-existing topographic highs. As accommodation space continued to decrease, mound development switched from aggradational to progradational before further regression brought nearshore shales into the basin, which filled in bathymetric lows produced between adjacent mounds. The revisions to build-and-fill presented here serve to expand the model and highlight the influence that the dominant relief-building mechanism (frame building/binding vs. baffling), sequence stratigraphic position (transgression vs. falling stage), and interplay between antecedent topography and rate of sea-level rise and fall can have on interpretation of these mixed carbonate–clastic depositional systems. Relief building can occur during both transgression and regression. Relief filling is largely limited to regression. The timing of relief-building within each sequence (TST vs. FSST) is a result of the interplay between the dominant relief-building organisms, basin and/or slope geometry, pre-existing accommodation space (i.e., water depth vs. antecedent topography), and the rates of relative sea-level rise and fall.
Flood risk perceptions applied to a spatial multi-criteria analysis in the Ebro Delta in Spain

The conventional method of risk analysis (with risk as a product of probability and consequences) does not allow for a pluralistic approach that includes the various risk perceptions of stakeholders or lay people within a community or region. In river basins, it is often an expert-based economic analysis of land use values that serves as the underlying estimation of costs. Intangibles such as nature development, biodiversity and cultural heritage are difficult to include in the calculation. Yet, local knowledge can be used to develop a realistic approach to outweighing tangibles and intangibles of land use values, as well as developing new approaches to risk management. This can be important to find appropriate solutions for the mitigation of risk. This presentation introduces a methodology that combines the virtues of three different methods used for risk analysis: the quantifiable conventional approach to risk, the taxonomic analysis of perceived risk and the analytical framework of a spatial multicriteria analysis. The combination of these methods is applied to the case study ’Ebro Delta’ in Spain as part of the European 6th framework project ’Floodsite’. The new approach using this combination is the incorporation of risk perceptions and its application and operationalisation in a multi-criteria analysis. Risk perception is derived from the psychometric paradigm that distinguishes a variety of risk characteristics. Due to a number of similarities among these risk perceptions all known risk characteristics can be condensed into three higher order risk characteristics - awareness, worry and preparedness. This reduction of risk characteristics enables scientists to employ them as weights in a multi-criteria analysis. Risk perception information has been collected with help of an on-site survey. The result is significant levels of ’worry’ and ’awareness’ of the flood risk with an increasing demand for ’preparedness’. Risk perception enters the multi-criteria analysis as complementary weights for the criteria risk and benefit. The results of the survey are applied to a set of scenarios representing both sea level rise and land subsidence for a time span of fifty years. Land use alternatives that are based upon the given scenarios have been presented to stakeholders and evaluated. For effective land use policy in flood prone areas it can be useful to compare land use alternatives based upon their performance with respect to risk and benefit. In this way the regional decision maker has been given an overview of preferences for handling risk. Even with limited resources a characteristic ’risk profile’ could be drawn that enables the decision maker to develop a suitable land use policy or at least provide a basis for further social learning processes.
Effects of AM/PM Diets on Laying Performance, Egg Quality, and Nutrient Utilisation in Free-Range Laying Hens

Laying hen nutrient requirements change throughout the day, due to the cyclic nature of egg formation. Generally, more energy and protein are required in the morning when the albumen is deposited around the yolk, and more calcium is required in the evening when the eggshell is formed. The aim of this study was to determine if feeding laying hens diets tailored to their specific nutritional and physiological requirements throughout the day, by feeding higher levels of protein and energy in the morning and higher levels of calcium in the evening, is more beneficial than feeding one diet all day. Hy-Line Brown laying hens (n = 360) were housed in free-range floor pens (18 pens with 20 hens/pen) from 34 to 53 weeks of age (WOA). Half of the birds (n = 180, nine replicate pens) were fed a conventional layer hen diet all day (control) and the remaining birds (n = 180, nine replicate pens) were fed an AM diet from 08:00 h to 16:00 h and PM diet from 16:00 h to 08:00 h (AM/PM). From 39 WOA, hens were given access to an outdoor range from 09:00 h to 18:00 h via pop holes. Egg weight and hen-day egg production were measured daily, and feed consumption and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured weekly. Hen weight and egg size uniformity were determined at 43 and 53 WOA, and egg quality was measured at 53 WOA. A total of 72 hens (4 hens/pen, 36 hens/treatment) were euthanised at 53 WOA to determine ileal apparent energy and nitrogen digestibility. A cost–benefit analysis for the study period, based on feed costs and egg mass, was calculated. Overall, the results showed that the AM/PM treatment increased egg mass by 2.15% (60.4 vs. 59.1 g/hen/day, p = 0.086) and improved feed efficiency by 8.34% (2.231 vs. 2.436 kg feed/kg egg, p = 0.030) compared with the control. A higher yolk colour score was observed in eggs from hens on the AM/PM treatment (p = 0.002), but no other significant effects of the treatments on egg quality were observed. Ileal digestible energy and digestible nitrogen coefficient were lower in hens on the AM/PM treatment compared with the control treatment (both p < 0.001). However, the AM/PM treatment was attributed to a lower feed cost to egg mass compared with the control treatment (p < 0.001). In conclusion, using an AM/PM feeding strategy was found to be economically beneficial.
Exploring Extracellular Matrix Crosslinking as a Therapeutic Approach to Fibrosis

The extracellular matrix (ECM) provides structural support for tissues and regulatory signals for resident cells. ECM requires a careful balance between protein accumulation and degradation for homeostasis. Disruption of this balance can lead to pathological processes such as fibrosis in organs across the body. Post-translational crosslinking modifications to ECM proteins such as collagens alter ECM structure and function. Dysregulation of crosslinking enzymes as well as changes in crosslinking composition are prevalent in fibrosis. Because of the crucial roles these ECM crosslinking pathways play in disease, the enzymes that govern crosslinking events are being explored as therapeutic targets for fibrosis. Here, we review in depth the molecular mechanisms underlying ECM crosslinking, how ECM crosslinking contributes to fibrosis, and the therapeutic strategies being explored to target ECM crosslinking in fibrosis to restore normal tissue structure and function.