Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Counters Oxidative Stress/Inflammation-Driven Symptoms in Long COVID-19 Patients: Preliminary Outcomes

Long COVID-19 patients show systemic inflammation and persistent symptoms such as fatigue and malaise, profoundly affecting their quality of life. Since improving oxygenation can oppose inflammation at multiple tissue levels, we hypothesized that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) could arrest inflammation progression and thus relieve symptoms of COVID-19. We evaluated oxy-inflammation biomarkers in long COVID-19 subjects treated with HBOT and monitored with non-invasive methods. Five subjects (two athletes and three patients with other comorbidities) were assigned to receive HBOT: 100% inspired O2 at 2.4 ATA in a multiplace hyperbaric chamber for 90 min (three athletes: 15 HBOT × 5 days/wk for 3 weeks; two patients affected by Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: 30 HBOT × 5 days/wk for 6 weeks; and one patient with osteomyelitis: 30 HBOT × 5 days/wk for week for 6 weeks and, after a 30-day break, followed by a second cycle of 20 HBOT). Using saliva and/or urine samples, reactive oxygen species (ROS), antioxidant capacity, cytokines, lipids peroxidation, DNA damage, and renal status were assessed at T1_pre (basal level) and at T2_pre (basal level after treatment), and the results showed attenuated ROS production, lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, NO metabolites, and inflammation biomarker levels, especially in the athletes post-treatment. Thus, HBOT may represent an alternative non-invasive method for treating long COVID-19-induced long-lasting manifestations of oxy-inflammation.
Tracking magmatic processes through Zr/Hf ratios in rocks and Hf and Ti zoning in zircons: An example from the Spirit Mountain batholith, Nevada

Abstract Zirconium and Hf are nearly identical geochemically, and therefore most of the crust maintains near-chondritic Zr/Hf ratios of ~35-40. By contrast, many high-silica rhyolites and granites have anomalously low Zr/Hf (15-30). As zircon is the primary reservoir for both Zr and Hf and preferentially incorporates Zr, crystallization of zircon controls Zr/Hf, imprinting low Zr/Hf on coexisting melt. Thus, low Zr/Hf is a unique fingerprint of effective magmatic fractionation in the crust. Age and compositional zonation in zircons themselves provide a record of the thermal and compositional histories of magmatic systems. High Hf (low Zr/Hf) in zircon zones demonstrates growth from fractionated melt, and Ti provides an estimate of temperature of crystallization (TTiZ) (Watson and Harrison, 2005). Whole-rock Zr/Hf and zircon zonation in the Spirit Mountain batholith, Nevada, document repeated fractionation and thermal fluctuations. Ratios of Zr/Hf are ~30-40 for cumulates and 18-30 for high-SiO2granites. In zircons, Hf (and U) are inversely correlated with Ti, and concentrations indicate large fluctuations in melt composition and TTiZ (>100°C) for individual zircons. Such variations are consistent with field relations and ion-probe zircon geochronology that indicate a >1 million year history of repeated replenishment, fractionation, and extraction of melt from crystal mush to form the low Zr/Hf high-SiO2 zone.
NanoSIMS studies of Ba isotopic compositions in single presolar silicon carbide grains from AGB stars and supernovae

Abstract— We have studied 74 single presolar silicon carbide grains with sizes between 0.2 and 2.6 μm from the Murchison and Murray meteorites for Ba isotopic compositions using NanoSIMS. We also analyzed 7 SiC particles either consisting of sub‐micron‐size SiC grains or representing a morphologically and isotopically distinct subgroup. Of the 55 (likely) mainstream grains, originating from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, 32 had high enough Ba contents for isotopic analysis. For 26 of them, CsHx interferences were either negligible or could be corrected with confidence. They exhibit typical s‐process Ba isotopic patterns with slightly higher than solar 134Ba/136Ba and lower than solar 135,137,138Ba/136Ba ratios. Results are generally well explained in the context of neutron capture nucleosynthesis in low mass (1–3 M⊙) AGB stars and provide constraints on AGB models, by reducing the needed 13C spread from factor of ∼20 down to 2. Out of the 19 supernova X grains, three had sufficient concentrations for isotopic analysis. They tend to exhibit higher than solar 134Ba/136Ba and 138Ba/136Ba ratios, close to solar 137Ba/136Ba, and 135Ba/136Ba lower than solar but higher than in mainstream grains. This signature could indicate a mixture of n‐burst type Ba with either “normal Ba” more s‐process‐rich than solar, or normal Ba plus weak s‐process Ba. In the n‐burst component Cs may have to be separated from Ba at ∼10 years after the SN explosion. Depending on predictions for its composition, another possibility is early separation (at ∼1 year) coupled with addition of some unfractionated n‐burst matter. Abundances of trace elements (Sr, Zr, Cs, La, and Ce) analyzed along with Ba signify that implantation may have been an important process for their introduction.
Laboratory Determination of Elastic Anisotropy in Shales from Alberta

Summary Seismic anisotropy is the variation of wave speed through different directions in a material. Preferential mineral alignment, layering, and fracturing all cause this seismic anisotropy to be observed in many crustal rocks. Shale, in particular, exhibits a relatively large degree of anisotropy. Taking anisotropy into account will improve the quality of seismic images, helping to correctly locate 3-D targets and avoid potentially costly mispositions. Our laboratory is performing tests on shale cores from the WCSB to determine their velocities, elastic constants, and their relation to preferential mineral alignment. Here we focus on the technical details of the laboratory system used to measure P- and S-wave velocities in Alberta shale as well as provide some preliminary results.
A new natural radio emission observed at South Pole Station

Continuous waveform data taken at South Pole Station in 2011–2012 within a few hours of magnetic midnight revealed 12 observations of a new natural radio emission. The waves had frequencies ranging from 1320 to 2160 kHz, bandwidths ranging from 94 to 272 kHz, and durations ranging from 16 to 355 s. Spectral analysis of the waveform data revealed that the emission has a complex combination of at least three kinds of fine structures: broad, banded structures; short‐lived, narrowband structures; and striated features that occur predominantly near the lower frequency boundary of the emission. For model auroral electron distributions, positive growth rates for the cyclotron maser instability occurred near the electron cyclotron frequency (fce), which is inconsistent with the observed wave frequencies. On the other hand, Langmuir wave growth could be excited at frequencies consistent with observations. Spatial Langmuir wave growth is more favorable for electron beam energies of hundreds of eV than for those at higher energies.
Caribbean Business Cycles

This paper identifies and describes key features of Caribbean business cycles during the period 1963-2003. In particular, the chronologies in the Caribbean classical cycle (expansions and contractions in the level of output) and growth cycle (periods of above-trend and below-trend rates of economic growth) are identified. It is found that Caribbean classical cycles are longer-lived than those of developed countries and non-Caribbean developing countries. While there are large asymmetries in the duration and amplitude of phases in the Caribbean classical cycle, on both measures the Caribbean growth cycle is much more symmetric. Further, there is some evidence of synchronization among the classical cycles of Caribbean countries, and stronger evidence of synchronization of Caribbean growth cycles.
Particle filtering algorithm for tracking multiple road-constrained targets

We propose a particle filtering algorithm for tracking multiple ground targets in a road-constrained environment through the use of GMTI radar measurements. Particle filters approximate the probability density function (PDF) of a target's state by a set of discrete points in the state space. The particle filter implements the step of propagating the target dynamics by simulating them. Thus, the dynamic model is not limited to that of a linear model with Gaussian noise, and the state space is not limited to linear vector spaces. Indeed, the road network is a subset (not even a vector space) of R2. Constraining the target to lie on the road leads to adhoc approaches for the standard Kalman filter. However, since the particle filter simulates the dynamics, it is able to simply sample points in the road network. Furthermore, while the target dynamics are modeled with a parasitic acceleration, a non-Gaussian discrete random variable noise process is used to simulate the target going through an intersection and choosing the next segment in the road network on which to travel. The algorithm is implemented in the SLAMEM simulation (an extensive simulation which models roads, terrain, sensors and vehicles using GVS). Tracking results from the simulation are presented.
Relevance Metric Learning for Person Re-Identification by Exploiting Listwise Similarities

Person re-identification aims to match people across non-overlapping camera views, which is an important but challenging task in video surveillance. In order to obtain a robust metric for matching, metric learning has been introduced recently. Most existing works focus on seeking a Mahalanobis distance by employing sparse pairwise constraints, which utilize image pairs with the same person identity as positive samples, and select a small portion of those with different identities as negative samples. However, this training strategy has abandoned a large amount of discriminative information, and ignored the relative similarities. In this paper, we propose a novel relevance metric learning method with listwise constraints (RMLLCs) by adopting listwise similarities, which consist of the similarity list of each image with respect to all remaining images. By virtue of listwise similarities, RMLLC could capture all pairwise similarities, and consequently learn a more discriminative metric by enforcing the metric to conserve predefined similarity lists in a low-dimensional projection subspace. Despite the performance enhancement, RMLLC using predefined similarity lists fails to capture the relative relevance information, which is often unavailable in practice. To address this problem, we further introduce a rectification term to automatically exploit the relative similarities, and develop an efficient alternating iterative algorithm to jointly learn the optimal metric and the rectification term. Extensive experiments on four publicly available benchmarking data sets are carried out and demonstrate that the proposed method is significantly superior to the state-of-the-art approaches. The results also show that the introduction of the rectification term could further boost the performance of RMLLC.
Comparative study of Sarma's method and the discontinuous deformation analysis for rock slope stability analysis

This paper presents a comparative study of two methods, Sarma's method and the discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA), for rock slope stability analysis. The comparison concerns the stability analysis of two classic rock slopes. The study shows that the DDA, which accounts for the block kinematics, provides a very different factor of safety as compared with Sarma's method. More realistic reaction forces around each rock block can be obtained by the DDA, including the thrust forces between rock blocks and the forces between the base and the blocks. The DDA's result shows two possible directions for the relative movement between two contiguous blocks at the initiation of slope failure. It also indicates that the limit equilibrium condition may not occur along the interfaces of rock blocks at the initiation of slope failure. The determination of realistic interaction forces around each block will be very important in rock slope stability analysis if nonlinear failure criteria are considered.
Effect of Sulfate and Carbonate Minerals on Particle- Size Distributions in Arid Soils

Supplemental material available. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. doi:10.2136/sssaj2013.11. 0499 Received 23 Nov. 2013. *Corresponding author (buckb@unlv.nevada.edu). © Soil Science Society of America, 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permission for printing and for reprinting the material contained herein has been obtained by the publisher.
Studi Evaluasi Pelatihan Penatalaksanaan Pms dengan Pendekatan Sindrom di Beberapa Kabupaten di Jawa Timur

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD continue to become major public health problems. Most of STD patients present with urethral or vaginal discharge, even though the causes may be of different micro-organisms. The Syndromic Approach (SA) is an algorithm for STD management currently recommended by the WHO. Diagnosis are made based on clinical signs and symptoms using a certain flowchard-without laboratory confirmation, and all possible causes will be treated. IEC are also given and the patients' partners are notified. The East Java Provincial health office has trained Puskesmas' and hospitals' doctors and paramedics on this new STD management approach.The objecttive of this study is to evaluate the implementation of SA in some Puskesmas and private clinics which personnels have been trained before. Using direct observation, document research, interviews and focus group discussions, data and information on the benefit of SA, the obstacles in implementing SA, and recommendations to improve the health providers' performance in STD management are collected. Results are hopefully used as inpc;ts in improving the STD control program, provincially as well as nationally.
Particulate matter and particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Dapu road tunnel in Shanghai

Airborne Particulate Matter (PM) was collected in a cross-river road tunnel using portable air samplers and a cascade impactor. Sixteen EPA priority Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) in the PM were quantified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Profiles and diagnostic ratios of PAHs were investigated, and size distribution of PM mass and PAHs were discussed. High concentrations of PM2.5 (2.30 ± 0.86 mg m−3) and total 16 PAHs in PM2.5 (841.7 ± 116.9 ng m−3) were observed. The profiles of individual PAH and diagnostic ratios of Ant/(Ant + Phe), Flt/(Flt + Pyr), BaA/(BaA + Chr), IcdP/(IcdP + BghiP) represented typical emissions from motor vehicles. Size distribution patterns and correlation between mass median aerodynamic diameters and log pL0 reflected the co-influence of vehicular emissions and volatilisation-condensation processes on the size partitioning of PM mass and individual PAHs in the tunnel.
The Impact of US Crisis on Trade and Stock Market in Indonesia

This paper analyzes the impact of the financial crisis in United States 2008 on Indonesia’s economy, by using Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) model of 5 variables; Dow Jones Industrial Average, exchange rate, composite stock price index (IHSG), production index and trade tax income. The result shows that the US crisis affects the capital market in Indonesia where the Dow Jones Industrial Average plays greater role in explaining the IHSG, compared to Rupiah rate, production index and the trade income tax. In addition, the US crisis affects the volume and the trade income tax in Indonesia. These empirical results bring policy implication for Bappepam-LK as stock market regulator to intervene or to suspend the trade when the volatility exceeds the psychological threshold. It also emphasizes the necessity to diversify the export country destination and to increase the quality and the value added of Indonesian export. Keywords : US Crisis, stock market, trade, SVAR. JEL Classification : G18
Comparison of Soil Organic Carbon Dynamics in Forested Riparian Wetlands and Adjacent Uplands

Wetland riparian soils typically have greater C pools than adjacent uplands, yet quantifying soil organic C (SOC) sequestration in riparian systems remains difficult. Quantification of major inputs and losses of autochthonous SOC through process-based measurements would allow for better comparisons between riparian and upland systems. In this study, we quantified major soil C fluxes within five paired headwater riparian and upland sites in Rhode Island. The difference between total C inputs and losses were used to construct net annual landscape-scale SOC sequestration rates. Annual SOC inputs were statistically similar between landscapes, with the exception of those from understory herbaceous vegetation, which were significantly greater (p < 0.001) in riparian zones than uplands. Mean annual C losses via soil respiration were also statistically similar between landscapes, but estimates of microbial respiration (actual loss of SOC) were significantly less (p < 0.01) in riparian ecosystems. Thus, riparian forests had greater net annual SOC sequestration (range 2.4–3.4 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) than paired upland sites (range 0.4–2.1 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). Our results suggest that process-based SOC sequestration measures can yield similar results to traditional methods, such as chronosequences, but our averaged estimates (2.0 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) were greater than those typically reported using alternate approaches.
Flow through Slit in Dam

The problem of gravity-driven free-surface flows is difficult to solve due to the nonlinear character of the boundary condition. Using methods based on complex analysis, only flows past simple geometrical boundaries have been investigated. The fluid flow from a reservoir, through a slit with an arbitrarily curved boundary, into downstream in the pattern of a free jet has both characters of free jet and flow from a sluice gate. The solution of the problem is more difficult to obtain than either free jet or flow under a sluice gate. When the total energy head, namely, the depth of water in reservoir is given, not only the velocity on the solid boundary and the profiles of the free surfaces need to be calculated, but also the discharge needs to be determined. In the present paper, by using the theory of the boundary-value problem of analytical function and the substitution of variables, the boundary-integral equations in the physical plane are derived. According to the consistency between the discharge and the uniform velocity at far upstream, the writers present a synchronous iterative method for the discharge and flow pattern. The profile of the free surfaces, the velocity and pressure distributions on the walls, and the discharge are calculated. The computed results agree well with the measured results.
The response of glaciers and ice-sheets to seasonal and climatic changes

A glacier is treated as an essentially one-dimensional flow system, which is, continuously along its length, either gaining new material by snowfall or losing it by melting and evaporation. The flow at each point, i. e. the volume passing a given point per unit time, is assumed to be a function of the thickness and surface slope. It is then shown that a region of uniform longitudinal compressive strain-rate is temporarily unstable. Lighthill & Whitham’s theory of kinematic waves is applied to study the response of a simple model to a sudden change in rate of accumulation (snowfall). All parts of the glacier thicken, but the lower parts thicken unstably until a kinematic wave arrives to restore stability. The thickening of the lower parts, and the advance of the glacier, can be very great for only a small change in accumulation; the analysis thus explains why glaciers are such sensitive indicators of climate. The velocity and diffusion of kinematic waves is discussed; they travel at 2 to 5 times the surface speed of the ice. Any part of a glacier or ice-sheet has a characteristic response time to changes in accumulation—about 5000 yr for the Antarctic ice-sheet as a whole, and 3 to 30 yr for a typical glacier. The amplitude and phase of the response of a simple glacier to high frequency (seasonal) and low-frequency (climatic) periodic changes in accumulation is calculated. (The periodic changes in accumulation are the Fourier components of the complicated variation that actually occurs.) The upper part behaves in a simple way; the lower part, on the other hand, shows not only a direct response, but also a delayed response due to the arrival of kinematic waves from the upper part. The two components interfere and give wide scope for variation in behaviour from one glacier to another. A further instability, discussed by Bodvarsson, which arises from an increase of accumulation with altitude, is included in the theory. It is also shown how the theory is to be applied in a valley of changing width to calculate the development of any disturbance produced by climatic change. Thus the theory enables one to calculate, in principle, the response of any glacier to any climatic change.
Modelling circulation and vertical mixing in estuaries

A laterally averaged two-dimensional model of estuarine circulation has been developed and applied to the Danshuei River estuarine system in northern Taiwan to study the changes in estuarine circulation and salinity distribution when certain parameters of the flow are varied systematically. The numerical experiments were conducted with the real geometry of the Danshuei River system. The boundary conditions include a simple harmonic tidal oscillation and salinity forced at the Danshuei River mouth and a constant river discharge applied at the head of the three tributaries. Two internal parameters, the coefficients of vertical turbulent viscosity and diffusivity, Az and Kz, respectively, were taken: (a) as time varying and (b) as constant. It was found that the use of variable coefficients, Az and Kz, instead of constant values, has significant effects on the vertical profiles of current and salinity distributions during a tidal period. Experimental runs with different values of the tidal amplitude, the riv.
The calcite lysocline as a constraint on glacial/interglacial low‐latitude production changes

We investigate the response of the calcite lysocline to changes in the export production of the low‐latitude surface ocean (the combined equatorial, tropical, and subtropical regions). We employ different CaCO3 throughput schemes in a time‐dependent ocean carbon cycle model to separate the CaCO3 production/lysocline balance from the other components of the model response and to estimate the effect of dissolution driven by organic matter decomposition in surface sediments. With this model, we carry out three experiments based on previous hypotheses for the cause of glacial/interglacial atmospheric CO2 variations: (1) a simple increase in low‐latitude production, (2) a decrease in its CaCO3/organic carbon rain ratio, and (3) an increase in the depth of organic carbon regeneration. None of these changes, when taken alone, can lower atmospheric CO2 to glacial levels without violating observations of the glacial lysocline depth. If a low‐latitude production increase were accompanied by a decrease in the CaCO3/organic carbon rain ratio, then these simultaneous changes could lower atmospheric CO2 to observed glacial levels without causing a significant change in the ocean‐average depth of the lysocline. However, even with these simultaneous changes, the required increase in production is 50% or more of the modern rate of production.