Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanism for occurrence of precipitation over the southern slope of the Tibetan Plateau without local surface heating

Previous studies have indicated that the sucking and pumping effects induced by surface sensible heating (SH) lead to vigorous ascent and moisture convergence over the southern Tibetan Plateau (TP), which is the primary cause of local precipitation formation. Numerical simulations with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model show that weak ascending motion and precipitation still exist over the southern slope of the TP when local surface SH is suppressed and that this precipitation is associated with microphysical processes. Suppressed surface heating induces a significant cold anomaly near the surface, which reduces the saturation‐specific humidity but increases relative humidity. The process of the phase change of moisture results in the formation of obvious microphysical large‐scale precipitation. Moreover, latent heating is released due to microphysical condensation corresponding with the phase change process, which further leads to a weak ascending and convective precipitation over the southern slope of the TP. Thus, local precipitation over the slope when surface heating is suppressed results directly from large‐scale condensation precipitation and indirectly from the convective precipitation induced by the microphysical processes of moisture phase change, instead of the sucking and pumping effects due to the surface heating of the TP.
Association of eating rate and post-dinner snacking with depressive symptoms in Chinese adult men

Eating behaviors are associated with mental health. However, although most studies have assessed specific eating behaviors, none have evaluated the association of eating rates and post-dinner snacking with depressive symptoms. This study investigated this relationship in adult Chinese men. A total of 1552 participants aged 25–68 years were included in this study. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between eating behaviors and depressive symptoms, and the corresponding odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Self-administered questionnaires were used to evaluate eating rates and post-dinner snacking, and the Self-Rating Depression Scale was used to assess depressive symptoms. In the unadjusted model, the odds ratios and 95% CIs for depressive symptoms associated with normal and fast eating compared with slow eating were 1.47 (1.15, 1.89) and 1.60 (1.14, 2.23), respectively (p for trend = 0.002). This significant positive association remained unchanged in the final adjusted model (p for trend = 0.006). No significant relationship was found between post-dinner snacking and depressive symptoms. These findings showed that eating fast was linked to a higher risk of depressive symptoms and suggested that speed of eating may influence the mental health of adult men.
Anti-anaemic effects of leaf protein concentrate of Eremomastax speciosa (Hochst) Cufod. on some blood parameters of male Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to phenylhydrazine-induced anaemia

This study investigated the effects of leaf protein concentrate (LPC) of Eremomastax speciosa (Hochst.) Cufod on some haematological and serum profile of 45 male Sprague-Dawley rats divided into nine groups of five rats per group. The rats received fresh drinking water daily, with feed at 85% of ad-lib. The standard haematinic used was Ranferon-12®, at the dose of 0.3ml/kg body weight. The resultant groups were; Group1 (Positive control, received commercial feed) Group 2 (phenylhydrazine only or negative control), Group 3 (anaemia +haematinic), 4, 5 and 6 (anaemia +100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg of LPC respectively), Groups 7, 8, 9 (Untreated (or UT) +100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg of LPC respectively). The LPC was administered orally to the designated groups, while the controls received distilled water in place of the LPC. Anaemia was induced by intraperitoneal injection of phenylhydrazine at 40 mg/kg for 2 days. Samples for haematological and biochemical analysis were collected on days 9, 21 and 28 of the experiment. Results showed that the groups supplemented with LPC were better in terms of the haematology and serum biochemical values compared to the negative control, and this strongly supported the traditional use of E. speciosa leaf in the treatment of anaemia.
Sistema de monitorização e gestão de terraplenagens baseado em digital twin e simulação de um caso de estudo

O planeamento de obras de terraplenagem procura fornecer um escalonamento dos recursos disponíveis de modo eficiente e económico. Porém, é comum ocorrerem situações imprevistas, como resultado de avarias dos recursos mecânicos, ou condições meteorológicas adversas, levando à necessidade de constante reorganização do fluxo de trabalho no estaleiro de construção. O presente trabalho descreve uma metodologia inovadora para apoiar o processo de tomada de decisão ao longo de todas as fases de construção, fornecendo soluções ótimas de alocação de recursos e correspondentes custos e duração. Durante a construção, o apoio à tomada de decisão é feito através da monitorização por meio de sensores, que permite avaliar o desempenho dos equipamentos de modo constante. O sistema pode fornecer sugestões de reajustes à alocação de recursos quando se verifique necessário para garantir que os trabalhos progridem otimamente. A metodologia é aplicada a um caso de estudo referente ao projeto de terraplenagens da construção de uma autoestrada em Portugal.
Biological Integrity of Azorean Native Forests Is Better Measured in Cold Season

The Azorean archipelago, recognized as one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, is home to a diverse and unique community of arthropod species, highlighting a notable degree of endemism. However, the native forests that support these species are facing significant degradation due to habitat loss and fragmentation. In this study, we aimed to determine the ideal season for measuring the biological integrity of forest sites using a biological integrity index (IBI) based on arthropod communities captured with Sea, Land, and Air Malaise (SLAM) traps. Drawing on more than thirty years of research experience in the Azorean forests, we selected twelve reference sites, six representing preserved native forest and six representing disturbed native forest, and compared how IBI values vary between seasons. IBI values exhibited consistent variations between seasons in disturbed sites, indicating that measuring the biological integrity in these areas can be conducted at any time of the year without a specific seasonal preference. In contrast, significant differences were observed in pristine forest sites, with the winter season and the combination of winter and spring data (cold semester) showing notably higher values compared to other seasons and semesters. This finding suggests that measuring the biological integrity of preserved sites is best optimized in the cold seasons, while the detection of exotic species impact is most effective in summer and autumn. Consequently, if resources are limited, monitoring efforts should be concentrated in the winter and summer seasons to obtain the maximum and minimum values of IBI, respectively. Additionally, our study suggests that the summer season is the optimal time to detect potentially invasive exotic species.
Low Acoustic Frequency Sensing Based on Ghost Mode of Small Angle Tilted Fiber Bragg Grating

In this article, we firstly propose a low acoustic frequency sensing system based on small-angle tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG), which is used in the sensor head to achieve a high sensitivity. The sensitivity of the proposed diaphragm based acoustic sensing system is theoretically and experimentally proved closely related to the coupling methods and efficiency of ghost mode. In the experiment, the sensing TFBG is tightly bounded on the designed low-frequency polyethylene terephthalate (PET) transducer membrane with a fixed boundary and its ghost mode will have a large wavelength drift and change of amplitude in response to the periodic elastic deformation of the transducer membrane under acoustic pressure. With using the edge filtering demodulation method, the low-frequency acoustic can be effectively and sensitively measured. The theoretical analysis and experimental results indicate that the wavelength and intensity respond linearly to the acoustic pressure. The proposed system can achieve a maximal sensitivity of about 509 mV/Pa in the frequency range of 40 Hz <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim$</tex-math></inline-formula>85 Hz, a minimum detectable pressure (MDP) of 93<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu$</tex-math></inline-formula> Pa/Hz<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{1/2}$</tex-math></inline-formula>@55 Hz and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 59 dB. The sensor also demonstrates a flat frequency response within 85 Hz<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim$</tex-math></inline-formula>1500 Hz. The sensor operates stably with a peak fluctuation of about <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm$</tex-math></inline-formula> 1 mV over 1 h, and about 1.8% for the percentage standard deviation. The proposed acoustic sensor has advantages of high sensitivity at low frequency, high stability and high SNR, simple fabrication, and excellent repeatability.
Inhibitors of 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl Coenzyme A Reductase Decrease the Growth, Ergosterol Synthesis and Generation of petite Mutants in Candida glabrata and Candida albicans

Candida glabrata and Candida albicans, the most frequently isolated candidiasis species in the world, have developed mechanisms of resistance to treatment with azoles. Among the clinically used antifungal drugs are statins and other compounds that inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR), resulting in decreased growth and ergosterol levels in yeasts. Ergosterol is a key element for the formation of the yeast cell membrane. However, statins often cause DNA damage to yeast cells, facilitating mutation and drug resistance. The aim of the current contribution was to synthesize seven series of compounds as inhibitors of the HMGR enzyme of Candida ssp. , and to evaluate their effect on cellular growth, ergosterol synthesis and generation of petite mutants of C. glabrata and C. albicans. Compared to the reference drugs (fluconazole and simvastatin), some HMGR inhibitors caused lower growth and ergosterol synthesis in the yeast species and generated fewer petite mutants. Moreover, heterologous expression was achieved in Pichia pastoris, and compounds 1a, 1b, 6g and 7a inhibited the activity of recombinant CgHMGR and showed better binding energy values than for α-asarone and simvastatin. Thus, we believe these are good candidates for future antifungal drug development.
An online and telehealth intervention for women diagnosed with gynecological cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic: The Journey Ahead pilot and feasibility trial

Abstract Background: Women diagnosed with gynecological cancer suffer from disease-related and treatment-related symptoms that can result in diminished quality of life and persistent distress. There are few evidence-based treatments to mitigate distress for these survivors. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of Journey Ahead, a blended online and telehealth coaching intervention adapted from the in-person Coping and Communication Intervention. Methods: Fourteen women diagnosed and treated for gynecological cancer completed a baseline survey and were enrolled in Journey Ahead, which consisted of eight online modules and five telehealth coaching calls, and then completed a follow-up survey and treatment evaluation. Results: Acceptance rates (27.5%) and follow-up survey completion (57.1%) were lower than expected. Eighty-six percent of participants logged into the online program, and 64.2% completed it. Eighty-three percent of participants completed four or five of the telehealth sessions, and 35.7% attended one session or did not attend any of the telehealth sessions. The results indicated that this intervention reduced depressive symptoms and cancer-related distress and increased emotional well-being, emotional expression, acceptance, psychological flexibility, and coping efficacy. Conclusions: The results highlight the challenges of recruiting during the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of collecting detailed information from study participants about how to engage them in fully remote interventions. Overall, this single-arm pilot and feasibility study demonstrated satisfactory feasibility, excellent acceptability, and a promising preliminary impact on psychological outcomes.
Efficacy of autogenous particulated dentin graft for alveolar ridge preservation: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: Autogenous particulate dentin (APD) has been used as a bone graft material for bone augmentation, but the specifics of its effect on alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) are uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and histomorphometric performance of APD compared with blood clot healing or other grafted materials in ARP. Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and the Cochrane Library and citation databases were searched until August 2, 2023 to identify randomized controlled trials that employed APD for ARP. Two independent meta-analyses were performed based on the different control groups (Group I: blood clot healing; Group II: other grafted materials). Weighted or mean differences (MDs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. The protocol was prospectively registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023409339). Results: A total of 238 records were identified, of which ten studies with 182 participants were included. The meta-analysis indicated that APD resulted in fewer changes in horizontal ridge width (Group I: MD = 1.61, 95% CI 0.76–2.46; Group II: MD = 1.28, 95% CI 1.08–1.48) and labial bone height (Group I: MD = 1.75, 95% CI 0.56–2.94; Group II: P < .05) than the control treatments. Regarding histomorphometry, APD yielded a satisfactory proportion of vital bone area (MD = 10.51, 95% CI 4.70–16.32) and residual material area (MD = −8.76, 95% CI −12.81 to −4.71) in Group II, while there was no significant difference in Group I. Moreover, none of the secondary outcomes were significantly differed between groups. Conclusion: Within this study limitations, APD effectively maintained the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the extraction sockets and exhibited favorable osteogenic properties and degradation capacity. Further well-designed randomized controlled trials with larger samples and longer follow-up periods are needed to evaluate whether APD is superior to other substitutes for ARP.
Circulating tumor DNA predicts recurrence and assesses prognosis in operable gastric cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Selecting the appropriate patient for further treatment after surgery for gastric cancer can improve the patient prognosis. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has the potential to predict recurrence and prognosis after gastric cancer surgery, but the results are still inconclusive. As the completed studies had small sample sizes and were inconsistent, a meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effect of ctDNA on recurrence and prognosis after gastric cancer surgery. Methods: PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and the Web of Science were searched for potentially eligible studies published up to April 7, 2023. Pooled relative risk (RR) and pooled hazard ratio (HR) were calculated to evaluate recurrence, recurrence-free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) following gastric cancer surgery. Results: A pooled analysis revealed that patients who were ctDNA positive before and after surgery were at a high risk of gastric cancer recurrence (RR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.19–2.71; RR = 3.17, 95% CI: 2.36–4.25). The pooled data revealed that ctDNA-positive patients had a poorer RFS and OS (HR = 6.37, 95% CI: 2.70–15.01; HR = 4.58, 95% CI: 1.68–12.49). Conclusions: ctDNA-positive patients were at a high risk of recurrence after gastric cancer surgery and had a poorer prognosis. Hence, ctDNA-positive patients needed close follow-up and further treatment.
Midwives' Voices on Early Initiation of Antenatal Care Following a Positive Gravindex Test: A Qualitative Study

Background: Early Antenatal Care (ANC) initiation is aimed at improving maternal and perinatal health outcomes through the identification of complications and determining the level of care needed. This study aimed to determine the voices of midwives on the provision of early initiation of ANC following positive gravindex. Materials and Methods: The phenomenology approach underpinned the study. The participants included midwives providing ANC at health facilities under Tshino–Mutsha local area in May–December 2020. Nonprobability, purposive sampling was used to select four clinics and to sample 20 midwives. Semistructured face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted using an interview guide. Data saturation was reached at Participant 15; however, the researcher continued until Participant 20. Trustworthiness was ensured and ethical principles were adhered to. Data analysis was done using Tesch's open coding approach. Results: Two themes and seven subthemes emerged, as challenges related to the provision of midwifery practice and to pregnant women. The seven subthemes were the shortage of resources, poor support of midwives, poor adherence to the available protocol for the provision of ANC, blaming of midwives by management and community, late ANC booking by pregnant women, denial of pregnancy by young women ignorance leading to a general resistance to ANC instructions, hence late booking Conclusions: It was concluded that shortage of human and material resources hindered the initiation of early ANC to detect, prevent, and manage the existing and potential causes of maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity.
Relationship Between Pain and Delirium in Critically Ill Adults

OBJECTIVES: Although opioids are frequently used to treat pain, and are an important risk for ICU delirium, the association between ICU pain itself and delirium remains unclear. We sought to evaluate the relationship between ICU pain and delirium. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: A 32-bed academic medical-surgical ICU. PATIENTS: Critically ill adults (n = 4,064) admitted greater than or equal to 24 hours without a condition hampering delirium assessment. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Daily mental status was classified as arousable without delirium, delirium, or unarousable. Pain was assessed six times daily in arousable patients using a 0–10 Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) or the Critical Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT); daily peak pain score was categorized as no (NRS = 0/CPOT = 0), mild (NRS = 1–3/CPOT = 1–2), moderate (NRS = 4–6/CPOT = 3–4), or severe (NRS = 7–10/CPOT = 5–8) pain. To address missingness, a Multiple Imputation by Chained Equations approach that used available daily pain severity and 19 pain predictors was used to generate 25 complete datasets. Using a first-order Markov model with a multinomial logistic regression analysis, that controlled for 11 baseline/daily delirium risk factors and considered the competing risks of unarousability and ICU discharge/death, the association between peak daily pain and next-day delirium in each complete dataset was evaluated. RESULTS: Among 14,013 ICU days (contributed by 4,064 adults), delirium occurred on 2,749 (19.6%). After pain severity imputation on 1,818 ICU days, mild, moderate, and severe pain were detected on 2,712 (34.1%), 1,682 (21.1%), and 894 (11.2%) of the no-delirium days, respectively, and 992 (36.1%), 513 (18.6%), and 27 (10.1%) of delirium days (p = 0.01). The presence of any pain (mild, moderate, or severe) was not associated with a transition from awake without delirium to delirium (aOR 0.96; 95% CI, 0.76–1.21). This association was similar when days with only mild, moderate, or severe pain were considered. All results were stable after controlling for daily opioid dose. CONCLUSIONS: After controlling for multiple delirium risk factors, including daily opioid use, pain may not be a risk factor for delirium in the ICU. Future prospective research is required.
Music Intervention for older adults: Evidence Map of Systematic Reviews

Background: With the increasing aging population, the health problems of the elderly have received increasing attention. As a non-pharmacological interventions, music intervention has been widely used in clinical practice to improve the physical and mental health of the elderly. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of existing systematic reviews on the health effects of music interventions for older adults in clinical practice. Methods: The study utilized the evidence map methodology, which involved identifying all relevant systematic reviews, meta-analysis from 7 electronic databases from their inception to November 2022. The studies were analyzed using AMSTAR 2. Results: The researchers identified 67 studies, with the majority published in the past 5 years. The effects of music interventions were categorized into 4 groups of health outcomes: positive (58 results), potentially positive (4 results), inconclusive (2 results), and no effect (3 results). The health outcomes were further classified into 5 groups: psychological well-being, cognitive functioning, physiological responses, quality of life, and overall well-being. Conclusions: The study revealed that music interventions for older adults can have positive or potentially positive effects on health outcomes, encompassing psychological well-being, cognitive functioning, physiological responses, quality of life, and overall well-being. However, some studies yielded inconclusive or no effect. The study offers valuable insights for healthcare professionals and serves as a visual resource to access evidence-based information on the use of music interventions in promoting health and addressing various conditions in older adults.
A Stochastic Simulation of the German Population in 2050

This paper presents a stochastic projection of the German population, using recently developed models. This is not straightforward, since reunification in 1990 creates a structural break in the East German time series. A common and consistent time series for West and East Germany as a whole does therefore not exist. It is shown that since unification East German population parameters have converged to West German levels and that this adaptation process of considered to be almost completed by now. Consequently, German population parameters can be modelled using only West German historic patterns, whereas the start-off population is of entire Germany.
CS231A Project Final Report: Comparing Multiple Methods for Camera Calibration

The project focuses on comparing multiple methods for camera calibration - the process of estimating a camera’s intrinsic and/or extrinsic parameters given images captured by the camera. Camera calibration is a key procedure in the field of computer vision as it is often a first step that leads to more complicated downstream CV tasks such as 3D reconstruction, and well calibrated cameras can help us more accurately model the camera projection transformation, and improve the performance of downstream tasks. In this project, we studied three calibration methods: Zhang Zhengyou calibration method, Tsai two-step calibration method and DeepCalib, and compared the three methods on their calibration accuracy, data efficiency, and robustness to noise.