Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Metastatic Spine Tumors

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, and vertebral body metastases often occur in systemic malignancy. Metastatic spinal tumors may present with pain or neurologic deficit, or may be detected during screening examinations in patients with known malignancy. Management of spinal metastases remains controversial. The role of surgery, especially decompressive laminectomy without stabilization, has been questioned. Recent series attest to the beneficial role of surgery, emphasizing anterior and combined decompression and stabilization procedures. We review the relevant literature on metastatic spinal tumors, assessing imaging strategies, adjuvant treatment, patient selection, and results and complications. Operative decompression and stabilization is an important tool in the management of spinal metastatic disease. Patient selection and appropriate use of anterior and/or posterior decompression and stabilization are necessary to optimize surgical results.
IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS OF VANDALISTIC BEHAVIORS AMONG THE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OF THE DISTRICTS OF

Methodology: This study is a correlational research. The population includes all the high school students of the districts of education system schools of south of Tehran. The selected sample was clusters of 400 male and female students. The instruments were researcher-made questionnaire with closed questions. Findings: The statistical tests showed a significant relationship between the variables (family bonds, relationship with the vandals, being ignored, social detachment and observation of vandalistic behaviors) with committing vandalism. Results: The influential factors in committing vandalism cover a wide range of factors including the variables of this study.
Prevalence and Genetic Characterization of Blastocystis in Sheep and Pigs in Shanxi Province, North China: From a Public Health Perspective

Simple Summary Blastocystis is one of the most prevalent parasites, which can infect humans and many animal species worldwide, and the infection can result in public health problems and economic losses. Sheep and pigs are economically important animals in Shanxi province, north China; however, it is yet to be determined whether they are infected with Blastocystis. Thus, the present investigation was conducted to reveal the prevalence of Blastocystis in sheep and pigs in three representative counties in Shanxi province by examining 492 sheep feces and 362 pig feces using a molecular approach. The overall prevalence of Blastocystis in sheep and pigs were 16.26% and 14.09%, respectively. Five subtypes were found in sheep and pigs via DNA sequence analysis, of which ST5 was the dominant subtype in the three study counties. This study is the first to report the prevalence and subtypes of Blastocystis in sheep and pigs in Shanxi province. The findings not only extend the geographical distribution of Blastocystis but also provide baseline data for the prevention and control of Blastocystis infection in humans and animals in Shanxi province. Abstract Blastocystis is a common zoonotic intestinal protozoan and causes a series of gastrointestinal symptoms in humans and animals via the fecal–oral route, causing economic losses and posing public health problems. At present, the prevalence and genetic structure of Blastocystis in sheep and pigs in Shanxi province remains unknown. Thus, the present study collected 492 sheep fecal samples and 362 pig fecal samples from three representative counties in northern, central and southern Shanxi province for the detection of Blastocystis based on its SSU rRNA gene. The results showed that the overall prevalence of Blastocystis in the examined sheep and pigs were 16.26% and 14.09%, respectively. Sequences analyses showed that four known subtypes (ST5, ST10, ST14 and ST30) in sheep and two subtypes (ST1 and ST5) in pigs were detected in this study, with ST5 being the predominate subtype among the study areas. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the same subtypes were clustered into the same branch. This study reveals that sheep and pigs in Shanxi province are hosts for multiple Blastocystis subtypes, including the zoonotic subtypes (ST1 and ST5), posing a risk to public health. Baseline epidemiological data are provided that help in improving our understanding of the role of zoonotic subtypes in Blastocystis transmission.
Main patterns of variability in beech tree-ring chronologies from different sites in Slovenia and their relation to climate

Avtorji clanka so sestavili 14 lokalnih kronologij sirin branik bukve (Fagus sylvatica L.) z razlicnih rastisc v Sloveniji (nadmorske visine 300-1415 m). Podajajo osnovno statistiko za razlicne verzije kronologij (kronologije sirin branik, ARSTAN standard, ARSTAN residual), vpliv klime na variabilnost sirin branik in variabilnost med rastisci. Dendroklimatoloske analize so pokazale, da imajo poletne (posebno junijske) temperature negativen, padavine pa pozitiven vpliv na sirine branik na 11 raziskanih rastiscih iz osrednje, JV in JZ Slovenije. Sirine branik bukev z zgornje gozdne meje v Julijskih Alpah nad Tolminom (nadmorska visina 1200-1450 m) kažejo pozitiven odziv na temperature v casu vegetacijske dobe. Analiza osnovnih komponent je pokazala, da razlike med rastisci lahko pripisemo trem komponentam: (PC_1) odzivu na junijsko klimo, (PC_2) nadmorski visini in (PC_3) fitogeografski regiji.
Evaluation de la sensibilité de l’instrument FCI à bord du nouveau satellite Meteosat Troisième Génération imageur (MTG-I) aux variations de la quantité d’aérosols d’origine désertique dans l’atmosphère

Cette these porte sur une methodologie d’estimation des capacites d’un futur instrument spatioporte. Le cas d’etude est l’instrument Flexible Combined Imager (FCI) a bord du futur satellite Meteosat Troisieme Generation Imageur (MTG-I), et plus particulierement ses capacites a detecter des variations de quantite d’aerosols desertiques dans l’atmosphere. Une meilleure connaissance de ces aerosols fait partie des besoins regulierement exprimes pour l’etude du climat, la prevision meteorologique ou l’estimation de la ressource solaire dans des zones arides comme le Sahara. Ce type d’aerosols est abondant dans l’atmosphere. Leurs proprietes physico-chimique les rendent distinguables des autre types d’aerosols comme ceux resultant de la pollution d’origine anthropique, d’autant qu’ils sont emis dans des zones protegees des contaminations par ces autres types. Ils representent donc un cas d’etude simple pour valider la methodologie developpee dans cette these.La methodologie consiste a realiser un simulateur de vue du sol par l’instrument, a effectuer de tres nombreuses simulations des luminances mesurees par l’instrument sous diverses conditions atmospheriques et de l’albedo du sol, a analyser les resultats de maniere a quantifier l’influence de chaque variable dans la variation de la luminance, puis a conclure quant aux capacites de detection grâce un critere de detectabilite prenant en compte les caracteristiques de l’instrument.Le simulateur developpe a ete valide par confrontation avec des mesures reelles de l’instrument SEVIRI a bord du satellite Meteosat Second Generation. L’innovation principale reside dans l’usage de l’approche d’analyse de sensibilite globale (GSA). Cette derniere quantifie l’influence de chaque variable separement ainsi que les termes croises. Elle exploite des fonctions de repartition statistique des variables extraites d’observations, et permet par consequent d’obtenir une analyse de sensibilite realiste. La GSA produit aussi des fonctionnelles modelisant l’influence d’une ou plusieurs variables sur la variabilite du signal observe et utilisables pour differentes applications dans la teledetection.
Palaeomagnetism in fold and thrust belts: use with caution

Abstract The application of palaeomagnetism in fold and thrust belts is a unique way to obtain kinematic information regarding the evolution of these systems. However, since many potential problems can affect the reliability of palaeomagnetic datasets and their interpretations, such data should be used with caution. In this paper, we thoroughly review the sources of error from palaeomagnetism with a particular focus on deciphering vertical-axis rotations and the assumptions behind the method. Recent investigations have demonstrated that the age of the magnetization and syn-folding results from the fold test must also be carefully examined: factors such as internal deformation, deficient isolation of components (i.e. overlapping) or incorrect restoration procedures may produce apparent syn-folding results. In fact, the restoration procedure used to return the palaeomagnetic signal to the palaeogeographic coordinate system may itself inhibit accurate estimations of vertical-axis rotations when complex deformation histories induce different, non-coaxial, deformation axes. We recommend the auxiliary use of the inclination v. dip diagram as an efficient tool for identifying many errors. Finally, to determine accurate vertical axis rotations, the reference direction should honour standard reliability criteria and would ideally be measured within the undeformed foreland of the thrust system. In this paper, we review five decades of palaeomagnetic research in fold and thrust belts by concentrating on maximizing standard reliability criteria procedures to reduce uncertainty and increase confidence when applying palaeomagnetic data to unravel the tectonic evolution of fold and thrust belts.
Three‐dimensional architecture and hydrostratigraphy of cross‐cutting buried valleys using airborne electromagnetics, glaciated Central Lowlands, Nebraska, USA

Buried valleys are characteristic features of glaciated landscapes, and their deposits host important aquifers worldwide. Understanding the stratigraphic architecture of these deposits is essential for protecting groundwater and interpreting sedimentary processes in subglacial and ice‐marginal environments. The relationships between depositional architecture, topography and hydrostratigraphy in dissected, pre‐Illinoian till sheets is poorly understood. Boreholes alone are inadequate to characterize the complex geology of buried valleys, but airborne electromagnetic surveys have proven useful for this purpose. A key question is whether the sedimentary architecture of buried valleys can be interpreted from airborne electromagnetic profiles. This study employs airborne electromagnetic resistivity profiles to interpret the three‐dimensional sedimentary architecture of cross‐cutting buried valleys in a ca 400 km2 area along the western margin of Laurentide glaciation in North America. A progenitor bedrock valley is succeeded by at least five generations of tunnel valleys that become progressively younger northward. Tunnel‐valley infills are highly variable, reflecting under‐filled and over‐filled conditions. Under‐filled tunnel valleys are expressed on the modern landscape and contain fine sediments that act as hydraulic barriers. Over‐filled tunnel valleys are not recognized in the modern landscape, but where they are present they form hydraulic windows between deep aquifer units and the land surface. The interpretation of tunnel‐valley genesis herein provides evidence of the relationships between depositional processes and glacial landforms in a dissected, pre‐Illinoian till sheet, and contributes to the understanding of the complex physical hydrology of glacial aquifers in general.
Impressions: Understanding Visual Semiotics and Aesthetic Impact

Is aesthetic impact different from beauty? Is visual salience a reflection of its capacity for effective communication? We present Impressions, a novel dataset through which to investigate the semiotics of images, and how specific visual features and design choices can elicit specific emotions, thoughts and beliefs. We posit that the impactfulness of an image extends beyond formal definitions of aesthetics, to its success as a communicative act, where style contributes as much to meaning formation as the subject matter. However, prior image captioning datasets are not designed to empower state-of-the-art architectures to model potential human impressions or interpretations of images. To fill this gap, we design an annotation task heavily inspired by image analysis techniques in the Visual Arts to collect 1,440 image-caption pairs and 4,320 unique annotations exploring impact, pragmatic image description, impressions, and aesthetic design choices. We show that existing multimodal image captioning and conditional generation models struggle to simulate plausible human responses to images. However, this dataset significantly improves their ability to model impressions and aesthetic evaluations of images through fine-tuning and few-shot adaptation.
UvA-DARE ( Digital Academic Repository ) ‘ History in the Making ’ : Sports and the Serialized Production of Collective Memory

Sport is a rich source for memory culture. Conspicuously, sport regularly declares an event to be historical while it is still ongoing. This includes transforming the sport event into one of broader cultural, especially national significance. Using a number of examples from different sports, this article discusses how and why sport, for already more than a hundred years, continuously contributes to national memories. It will argue, that it is first of all the serial organization of standardized (and thus comparable) competitive events that enables sport to continuously declare and remember historical moments. Sport produces an endless series of events that can possibly become historic; simultaneously, all sports organize (‘their’) memory in such a systematic manner that the claim for historicity can be made with good reasons. On the one hand, it is the comparison with hundreds of past events that allows an ongoing or even an upcoming event to be marked as ‘historic’. On the other hand, retrospectively, this ongoing comparison guarantees that the historic moments of the past will be referenced repetitively and thus remembered. Analyzing these foundational mechanisms which represent sport to a global audience allows for a better understanding of the otherwise seemingly irrational and excessive role of sports in national memory cultures.
Dams on Euphrates and Tigris: Impact and Regulation Through International Law

Mesopotamia – the land between two rivers – was historically perceived as a freshwater rich region in the arid Arabian Peninsula. Despite the intense seasonal and yearly fluctuations of the flow of Euphrates and Tigris, their water was the basis for the advance of Neolithic and Bronze Age civilizations such as the Hattian and Hittitian cultures in Anatolia, the Assyrian culture in Northern Mesopotamia, the Babylonian culture in central Mesopotamia and the Sumerian culture in Southern Mesopotamia. While not new to the desert regions of Syria and Iraq, freshwater scarcity is a rather recent issue on the banks of Euphrates and Tigris, as is the international dimension of freshwater distribution and utilization. Significant international tension over the water of Euphrates and Tigris did not occur before the 1970s, when the first large dams were constructed on the Euphrates. Large dams impact rivers unlike any other freshwater development. They change the most essential characteristic of a river: its flow. While early dams were too small to form reservoirs extensive enough to significantly affect a river’s flow, technological advances in the early 20th century enabled humans to build dams large enough to fundamentally alter a river’s flow regime. Dams of such scale are generally referred to as ‘large dams’. The first dam that could be described as a large dam in this sense is the Hoover Dam built in the United States on the Colorado River in the 1930s. Construction on the first large dam in the Euphrates-Tigris river system, the Turkish Keban Dam on the Euphrates, began in 1966. Syria followed shortly after, in 1968, and took up construction of the Tabqa Dam on the Euphrates. These dams and those subsequently erected on Euphrates and Tigris substantially altered the natural flow regime of Euphrates and Tigris and enabled the riparian States2 to noticeably influence the rivers’ flow. This potential to change the rivers’ flow is one of the core factors of the tensions over the water of Euphrates and Tigris. Another key issue is the huge amount of freshwater the States will require to operate their irrigation and hydro-electric developments. The water demand of the Iraqi, Syrian and Turkish freshwater developments planned on the Euphrates are estimated to by far exceed the flow of the river and those of the Tigris will require close to its total flow. At the center of these developments, again, are dams. Thus, dams are at the heart of the dispute over the water of Euphrates and Tigris. Therefore this contribution seeks to introduce the reader to the large dams built and planned on Euphrates and Tigris and the freshwater developments they supply, their impact on the rivers and specifically the regulation of such developments under international law.
Hypertriglyceridemia : Interaction between APOE and APOAV Variants To the

To the Editor: A recent Technical Brief by Ellis et al. (1 ) showed the usefulness of heterophilic blocking tubes (HBTs) in identifying false-positive specimens, thereby providing an estimate of the incidence of false-positive test results on several analyzers, including the Roche Elecsys and Abbott Architect. The authors of the Technical Brief went on to suggest that HBT treatment led to particular overrecoveries in several assays on the Beckman Coulter Access analyzer. It is important to know that the reason for this observed limitation is the unique design of those particular Access assays, which according to the Technical Brief (1 ) “contain solid-phase goat–anti-mouse [monoclonal antibody complexes]. ” This design (which can be identified by the Access package inserts) prohibits the use of any blocker containing murine or mouse components (e.g., HBTs). For those assays that contain an antimouse component, it is advisable to check for false positives by determining whether results are linear on dilution.
The Impact of Transformational Leadership in the Nursing Work Environment and Patients’ Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Background: With the increasingly demanding healthcare environment, patient safety issues are only becoming more complex. This urges nursing leaders to adapt and master effective leadership; particularly, transformational leadership (TFL) is shown to scientifically be the most successfully recognized leadership style in healthcare, focusing on relationship building while putting followers in power and emphasizing values and vision. Aim: To examine how transformational leadership affects nurses’ job environment and nursing care provided to the patients and patients’ outcomes. Design: A systematic literature review was conducted. From 71 reviewed, 23 studies were included (studies included questionnaire surveys and one interview, extracting barriers and facilitators, and analyzing using qualitative synthesis). Result: TFL indirectly and directly positively affects nurses’ work environment through mediators, including structural empowerment, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. Nurses perceived that managers’ TFL behavior did not attain excellence in any of the included organizations, highlighting the necessity for additional leadership training to enhance the patient safety culture related to the non-reporting of errors and to mitigate the blame culture within the nursing environment. Conclusion: Bringing more focus to leadership education in nursing can make future nursing leaders more effective, which will cultivate efficient teamwork, a quality nursing work environment, and, ultimately, safe and efficient patient outcomes. This study was not registered.
The Impact of Transformational Leadership Style on Nurses’ Job Satisfaction: An Integrative Review

Introduction The argument about whether leadership style affects nurses’ job satisfaction is centered around the impact of different leadership styles on the work environment and the quality of care provided by nurses. Therefore, this review was primarily aimed at assessing the impact of transformational leadership style on the job satisfaction of hospital nurses. Methods This is an integrative review conducted according to the Whittemore and Knafl's framework. Comprehensive literature searches were conducted in PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Research4Life, and APA PsychInfo. In addition, studies were included through hand-searching from different sources of grey literature and a reference list of identified articles. All English articles published between 2012 and 2023 reporting the impact of transformational leadership style on nurses’ job satisfaction were eligible for inclusion. Results Seventeen articles were included in the review, of which 16 were cross-sectional studies, while one was mixed. The majority (n = 12) of the studies were conducted in at least two or more healthcare settings, with a total of 5841 nurses. Almost all (n = 16) articles reported the positive influence of transformational leadership on nurses’ job satisfaction. In addition, the transformational leadership style was reported to have a positive impact on nurses’ intentions to stay at work, quality care, and patient outcomes. Conclusion By adopting a transformational leadership approach within clinical environments, there is a potential to boost nurses’ job satisfaction.
Isotaphonomy in concept and practice: an exploration of vertebrate microfossil bonebeds in the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Judith River Formation, north-central Montana

Abstract. Vertebrate microfossil bonebeds (VMBs)—localized concentrations of small resilient vertebrate hard parts—are commonly studied to recover otherwise rarely found small-bodied taxa, and to document relative taxonomic abundance and species richness in ancient vertebrate communities. Analyses of taphonomic comparability among VMBs have often found significant differences in size and shape distributions, and thus considered them to be non-isotaphonomic. Such outcomes of “strict” statistical tests of isotaphonomy suggest discouraging limits on the potential for broad, comparative paleoecological reconstruction using VMBs. Yet it is not surprising that sensitive statistical tests highlight variations among VMB sites, especially given the general lack of clarity with regard to the definition of “strict” isotaphonomic comparability. We rigorously sampled and compared six VMB localities representing two distinct paleoenvironments (channel and pond/lake) of the Upper Cretaceous Judith River Formation to evaluate biases related to sampling strategies and depositional context. Few defining distinctions in bioclast size and shape are evident in surface collections, and most site-to-site comparisons of sieved collections are indistinguishable (p≤ 0.003). These results provide a strong case for taphonomic equivalence among the majority of Judith River VMBs, and bode well for future studies of paleoecology, particularly in relation to investigations of faunal membership and community structure in Late Cretaceous wetland ecosystems. The taphonomic comparability of pond/lake and channel-hosted VMBs in the Judith River Formation is also consistent with a formative model that contends that channel-hosted VMBs were reworked from pre-existing pond/lake assemblages, and thus share taphonomic history.