Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variations in carbon burial and sediment accretion along a tidal creek in a Florida salt marsh

Salt marshes store large quantities of carbon in the form of buried organic matter (OM) and consequently play a major role in the global carbon cycle, yet vertical accretion and carbon burial rates (CBRs) can vary by orders of magnitude on small spatial scales. The goal of this study was to provide insight into carbon burial variability of a single tidal salt marsh. Six marsh sediment cores were collected along a tidal creek in the Big Bend of Florida from the mouth to the coastal forest within the marsh levee and plain. Each was analyzed for porosity, % OM, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), δ13C, δ15N, and excess 210Pb to determine vertical accretion and CBRs. Porosity, % OM, and TOC and TN were found to be highest in the low marsh and within the marsh levee. Stable isotopes of OM indicate the source is dominated by C3 plant species in both the levee and plain. Average vertical accretion ranges from 0.9 mm yr−1 to 2.2 mm yr−1 with the slowest rates in the low marsh. Average carbon burial ranges from 49.5 g OC m−2 yr−1 to 109.5 g OC m−2 yr−1. High carbon burial associated with low sediment accumulation in the Low Marsh and low carbon burial associated with high sediment accumulation rates in the High Marsh are typical in this marsh. These variations imply that the highest carbon burial occurs in the zone most vulnerable to loss via inundation and erosion.
Logical-linguistic model of anthrax epizootic monitoring in Far North

According to veterinary statistics, the territory of the Taimyr region has 39 registered areas with an epizootic epidemic of anthrax fever. Anthrax is a potentially dangerous infect1ious disease for both animals and humans. The spores of the causative agent of anthrax retain their viability and pathogenicity for 50-70 years or more. Therefore, many old foci of anthrax infection (“epizooty sites”) are potentially dangerous at the present time. In connection with the intensive industrial development of the Far North regions, leading to excavation in high-risk areas for anthrax, there is a need to predict the possibility of occurrence and prevention of infection in these areas. A logical-linguistic model for estimating the probability of occurrence of anthrax infection in the five-dimensional factor space has been constructed on the basis of expert knowledge, which makes it possible to carry out epizootic monitoring in a quantitative form. The results of the prognostic estimation have shown that the probability of anthrax occurrence on this territory under all favorable conditions for the development of an anthrax process without preventive measures is likely to be high and accounts for 0.484, however, under the same conditions with preventive measures it amounts to 0.287. The implementation of preventive measures reduces the risk of anthrax occurrence twice. A computerized automated system for assessing the territory of the Taimyr Municipal District has been developed in terms of the risk of anthrax outbreaks on the basis of the constructed logical-linguistic model in the five-dimensional space of fuzzy variables. This makes it possible to optimize the system of epizootic surveillance for this disease
European Common Data Management Platform Definition for Railway AI Function Development

Digitalisation and automation of operations in the railway industry include the use of Automatic Train Operation systems that provide automated functions to reach different levels of automation, known as the Grade of Automation (GoA) levels. These levels go up to GoA4 in which the train is automatically controlled without any staff on board. Artificial intelligence has emerged as technology that can substitute humans in certain driving tasks, in GoA3 (driverless) and GoA4 (unattended) modes. AI capabilities include perception, decision-making, precise positioning, or optimization of communications. The success of AI models depends on the quality and diversity of the data used for training, along with the set-up of a data life-cycle framework that covers creation, training, testing, deployment and monitorisation. The management of training datasets implies both expensive and time-consuming data gathering, labelling, curation and formatting efforts, potentially hindering the development of reliable AI systems. This paper presents a Common Data Management Platform developed by a consortium of European railway stakeholders, devised to efficiently manage data for AI training, and which is demonstrated in two different Proofs of Concept.
DISTRIBUIÇÃO DA ASSEMBLÉIA DE PEIXES NA ÁREA DE INFLUÊNCIA DE UMA INDÚSTRIA DE ALUMÍNIO NA ILHA DE SÃO LUIS – MA

Aspects of the structure, composition and diversity of the ictiofauna of the estuaries under the influence of an aluminum industry, were studied and the results are shown in this paper. The bimonthly sampling was carried out at four sites in the estuary, in the period between May, 2002 and March, 2003. Diversity was analyzed by using the Shannon-Wiener index and similarity among the capture sites was analyzed by Jaccard and Morisita coefficient and Cluster Analysis, based on presence-absence matrixes of the species. A total of 2,838 individuals were captured, belonging to 44 species, 12 orders and 25 families. Of this total, seven species were represented with less than 1% of the total number of sampled individuals and 11 species accounted of less than 1% of total sample weight Regarding the species number the dominancy were the Sciaenidae (11) and Ariidae (6). The community structure revealed higher participation of Anableps anableps, Colemesus psittacus, Genyatremus luteus and Sciades herzhergii, as the species with the highest percentage, namely 51.5% of specimens captured. The values of diversity indices were low and they showed little variability among the sites sampled. Conversely, major species richness was observed in Boa Razao creek. The similarity analysis formed three different groups, which were not distinguishable across of the seasonality.
MOVEMENT OF EFFLUENT DISCHARGE TOWARDS LATERAL DRAIN UNDER DIFFERENT IMPERVIOUS LAYERS AND WATER TABLE DEPTHS

An experiment was conducted in a permeability tank constructed at the Laboratory of Department of Land and Water Management. Two soils with different textures collected from Khesana Mori and Nasarpur were used in the experiment. Soils were analyzed for the textural class and hydraulic conductivity. The soil collected from Khesana mori was sandy with hydraulic conductivity of 6.9 m/day, while the soil brought from Nasarpur was clay loam with hydraulic conductivity of 0.0564 m/day. Three impervious layers were imposed at 100, 200, and 300mm depths and four water table depths were maintained from soil surface at 0.0, 30.0, 60.0, 90.0 mm depths above the lateral. The effluent discharge was measured by volumetric method and same was calculated using Hooghoudt’s formula. The results showed that the effluent discharge from laterals was maximum when the water table depth was maintained at soil surface under both sandy and clay loam soils. The effluent discharge decreased with the increase in the depth of impervious layer. Hydraulic head above the lateral influenced the effluent discharge. When the hydraulic head increased the effluent discharge also increased. The study also found that the sandy soil with higher value of hydraulic conductivity collected from Kesana Mori had more effluent discharge compared to that of clay loam soil with lower value of hydraulic conductivity collected from Nasarpur. Therefore the drain spacing must be decided on the basis of water table depth, location of impervious layer, soil texture and hydraulic conductivity.
NDVI and LST extraction of MODIS data under a GIS open source application - Rickettsia study case in Angola

Fevers of unknown origin can have different aetiologies. The overlapping symptomatology of rickettsial infection and other endemic diseases that cause fever leads to a misdiagnosis or under-diagnosis of spotted fever group of Rickettsia (SFGR). To better understand the epidemiology of this vector-borne disease in Angola, a comprehensive seroprevalence study was conducted investigating the exposure to SFGR in a sample of 92 febrile, Malaria and Yellow Fever negative human plasma specimen, collected to the study of the national surveillance of febrile syndromes between 2016 and 2017, in Angola. The seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against SFG Rickettsia in humans was calculated by gender, and aimag (province). All data were analyzed through a logistic regression. Spatial data sources included Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) products acquired by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The main objective of this work was the development of a GIS open source application – QMOD to automatize the extraction of LST and NDVI products from MODIS data. The application was created as a simple graphic interface composed by two input fields (the text file with the coordinates of the sampling points (in sinusoidal coordinate system and the folder with the MODIS images), the field to define the buffer distance, and the output file. The application was tested considering MOD11A1 (LST product), MOD13Q1 and MYD13Q1 (NDVI product), free download from the USGS. FOSS4G-Europe 2018 Academic Program Running Head Title OSGeo Journal Volume 18, Issue 1 2 QGIS 2.18. 17 was used for geospatial operations and the Python language was employed for the development of the GIS open source application under QGIS software. The process includes the circumscription of the major clusters where human data were collected. Then, a convex hull (minimum convex bounding geometry) was created around each sampling site with a 10 km buffer zone to accommodate the mobility among the nomadic people being samples. Counts of seropositive and seronegative humans were calculated within each of these sampling clusters along with the mean, maximum, and minimum values of NDVI and LST, and percent area of each land cover class. The application was tested in a set of 92 points in Angola and a buffer of 10 km considering the Universal transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 33S projection (EPSG:32733) was applied for each point. The LST and NDVI statistical values were extracted for each sampling cluster. Variations in ecological niches, abundance of vegetation and land surface temperature, for ticks and fleas between different provinces could be in part responsible for the geographic differences in seroprevalence observed with SFGR.
Familial hypercholesterolemia

Abstract Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is a monogenic disorder of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) metabolism. It is characterised by markedly elevated LDL cholesterol, autosomal dominant inheritance, premature cardiovascular disease and tendon xanthomata. FH is a genetically heterogeneous disorder, but the most common underlying molecular cause is mutation of the LDL receptor gene. The worldwide prevalence of FH is 1:500. South Africa has three founder populations in which the prevalence of FH may be as high as 1:70. FH is diagnosed clinically, but the diagnosis can be confirmed by DNA analysis. DNA testing cannot always identify the causative mutation because there are several genes to examine and more than 1 500 different mutations have been identified in the LDL receptor alone. Statins are the treatment of choice for patients with FH. Ezetimibe or cholestyramine can be added if additional LDL lowering is required, or if patients are unable to tolerate high statin doses.
On the edge: assessing fish habitat use across the boundary between Pacific oyster aquaculture and eelgrass in Willapa Bay, Washington, USA

Estuaries are subject to diverse anthropogenic stressors, such as shellfish aquaculture, which involve extensive use of estuarine tidelands. Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas aquaculture is a century-old practice in US West Coast estuaries that contributes significantly to the regional culture and economy. Native eelgrass Zostera marina also commonly occurs in intertidal areas where oyster aquaculture is practiced. Eelgrass is federally protected in the USA as ‘essential fish habitat’, restricting aquaculture activities within or near eelgrass. To contribute scientific information useful for management decisions, we sought to compare fish habitat use of oyster aquaculture and eelgrass, as well as the edges between these 2 habitats, in Willapa Bay, Washington, USA. Furthermore, given a recent shift towards off-bottom culture methods, in part to protect seagrasses, long-line and on-bottom oyster aquaculture habitats were compared. A combination of direct (underwater video, minnow traps) and indirect (predation tethering units, eelgrass surveys) methods were employed to characterize differences in fish habitat use. Eelgrass density declined within both aquaculture habitats but less so within long-line aquaculture. Most fish species in our study used long-line oyster aquaculture and eelgrass habitats similarly with minimal edge effects, and on-bottom aquaculture was used less than either of the other 2 habitat types. These results are consistent with previously observed positive relationships between fish abundance and vertical habitat structure, but also reveal species-specific behavior; larger mesopredators like Pacific staghorn sculpins were sighted more often in aquaculture than in interior eelgrass habitats.
Exploring handaxe function at Shishan Marsh – 1: combining qualitative and quantitative approaches using the edge damage distribution method

Handaxes are some of the longest lasting and most iconic stone tools throughout human evolution. Appearing in the early Pleistocene, these bifacially flaked tools persisted around one and a half million years and span across all of the Old World, from Africa to eastern Asia. Despite their ubiquitous nature, relatively little is known about their function. Handaxes are often speculated to be multi-functional tools which were selected for due to their large cutting edge; however, only a handful of use-wear studies have attempted to elucidate their use in the archaeological record. The lack of experimental use-wear studies surrounding handaxe function is due to preservation issues and the fact that manufacturing and curating handaxes compounds the ambiguity of microwear signatures. The methodology undertaken in this research provides a pathway to overcoming these obstacles through experimental archaeology in conjunction with low powered microscopy, image-based GIS, and statistical hypothesis testing. In particular, this thesis investigates handaxe function at an assemblage scale (n = 56) in a late Lower Paleolithic to Middle Paleolithic archaeological site called Shishan Marsh – 1 (SM-1) in al-Azraq, Jordan. Experimental handaxes (n = 22) were replicated and used in various activities such as butchery, plant processing, woodworking, shellfish processing, and digging. The results of this research corroborates the idea of handaxes being used as multifunctional tools. These results have implications for handaxe function, hominin tool use in a desert refugia, and provides a new pathway to investigate inter-site variability in handaxe use.
Who Benefits From Kindergarten? Evidence From the Introduction of State Subsidization

Over the past 70 years, all states in the United States began to publicly subsidize kindergarten using state revenue. The variation in adoption dates across states allows for a unique opportunity to measure the effectiveness of the largest early education program implemented in recent history. The significant, immediate increase in the availability of kindergarten within a state is used to identify the effect of enrollment in kindergarten. Hispanic children, non-English speakers, children from immigrant households, and children of low socioeconomic status benefit the most from the increased availability of kindergarten. Hispanic children with access to kindergarten are 17% less likely to be below grade for their age and earn wages 5% higher as adults.
Geomorphic Evidence of Late Quaternary Displacement of the Karakoram Fault in Nubra and Shyok Valleys, Ladakh Himalaya

The present study ascertains the spatial variability in the extent of activity of the Karakoram Fault (KF) in Nubra and Shyok river valleys (Karakoram), which was known to be active during the Holocene. Towards this we have used conventional morphometric indices supported by geomorphological observations on the pattern of alluvial and bedrock streams, alluvial fan geometry and moraines. The right lateral displacement associated with KF is geomorphologically expressed by the lateral deflections of the bedrock and alluvial streams toward northwest-southeast as they cut across the Fault. Indirect age estimates inferred based on slip rate of KF suggest that the deflection of bedrock streams with prominent shutter ridges is the cumulative expression of activity of KF since the middle Pleistocene, which continued till the late Holocene.
Monitoring CO2 saturation using time‐lapse amplitude versus offset analysis of 3D seismic data from the Ketzin CO2 storage pilot site, Germany

The injection of CO2 at the Ketzin pilot site commenced in June 2008 and was terminated in August 2013 after 67 kT had been injected into a saline formation at a depth of 630–650 m. As part of the site monitoring program, four 3D surface seismic surveys have been acquired to date, one baseline and three repeats, of which two were conducted during the injection period, and one during the post‐injection phase. The surveys have provided the most comprehensive images of the spreading CO2 plume within the reservoir layer. Both petrophysical experiments on core samples from the Ketzin reservoir and spectral decomposition of the 3D time‐lapse seismic data show that the reservoir pore pressure change due to CO2 injection has a rather minor impact on the seismic amplitudes. Therefore, the observed amplitude anomaly is interpreted to be mainly due to CO2 saturation. In this study, amplitude versus offset analysis has been applied to investigate the amplitude versus offset response from the top of the sandstone reservoir during the injection and post‐injection phases, and utilize it to obtain a more quantitative assessment of the CO2 gaseous saturation changes. Based on the amplitude versus offset modelling, a prominent decrease in the intercept values imaged at the top of the reservoir around the injection well is indeed associated solely with the CO2 saturation increase. Any change in the gradient values, which would, in case it was positive, be the only signature induced by the reservoir pressure variations, has not been observed. The amplitude versus offset intercept change is, therefore, entirely ascribed to CO2 saturation and used for its quantitative assessment. The estimated CO2 saturation values around the injection area in the range of 40%–60% are similar to those obtained earlier from pulsed neutron‐gamma logging. The highest values of 80% are found in the second seismic repeat in close vicinity to the injection and observation wells.
Differential default-mode network effective connectivity in young-onset Alzheimer's disease variants

Young-onset Alzheimer's Disease(AD) is a rare form of AD characterized by early symptom onset (< 65 years) and heterogeneous clinical phenotypes. Previous studies have consistently shown that patients with late-onset AD exhibit alterations in the default mode network-a large-scale brain network associated with self-related processing and autobiographical memory. However, the functional organization of the default-mode network is far less clear in young-onset AD. Here, we assessed default-mode network effective connectivity in two common young-onset AD variants (i.e., typical amnestic variant and posterior cortical atrophy) and healthy participants to identify disease- and variant-specific differences in the default-mode network. This case-control study was conducted with thirty-nine young-onset AD patients, including typical amnestic (n = 26, 15 females, mean age = 61) and posterior cortical atrophy (n = 13; 8 females, mean age = 61.8), and 24 age-matched healthy participants (13 females, mean age=60.1). All participants underwent resting-state functional MRI and extensive neuropsychological testing. Spectral dynamic causal modelling was performed to quantify resting-state effective connectivity between default-mode network regions. Parametric empirical Bayes analysis was then performed to characterise group differences in effective connectivity. Our results showed that patients with typical AD variant showed increased connectivity from medial prefrontal cortex to posterior default-mode network nodes as well as reduced inhibitory connectivity from hippocampus to other default-mode network nodes, relative to healthy controls. Patients with posterior cortical atrophy exhibited decreased connectivity from posterior cingulate cortex to medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral angular gyrus and reduced inhibitory connectivity from left hippocampus to other default-mode network nodes compared to healthy controls. Right hippocampus connectivity differentiated the two patient groups. Patients with typical AD variant had lower inhibitory connectivity from right hippocampus to other default-mode network nodes than the patients with posterior cortical atrophy. Our findings suggest that resting-state default-mode network connectivity is a physiological phenotype of young-onset AD that could contribute to a new understanding offunctional integration in this condition.
Dissecting the complex genetic basis of pre- and post-harvest traits in Vitis vinifera L. using genome-wide association studies

Abstract Addressing the pressing challenges in agriculture necessitates swift advancements in breeding programs, particularly for perennial crops like grapevines. Moving beyond the traditional biparental quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) encompassing 588 Vitis vinifera L. cultivars from a Chilean breeding program, spanning three seasons and testing 13 key yield-related traits. A strong candidate gene, Vitvi11g000454, located on chromosome 11 and related to plant response to biotic and abiotic stresses through jasmonic acid signaling, was associated with berry width and holds potential for enhancing berry size in grape breeding. We also mapped novel QTL associated with post-harvest traits across chromosomes 2, 4, 9, 11, 15, 18, and 19, broadening our grasp on the genetic intricacies dictating fruit post-harvest behavior, including decay, shriveling, and weight loss. Leveraging gene ontology annotations, we drew parallels between traits and scrutinized candidate genes, laying a robust groundwork for future trait-feature identification endeavors in plant breeding. We also highlighted the importance of carefully considering the choice of the response variable in GWAS analyses, as the use of best linear unbiased estimators (BLUEs) corrections in our study may have led to the suppression of some common QTL in grapevine traits. Our results underscore the imperative of pioneering non-destructive evaluation techniques for long-term conservation traits, offering grape breeders and cultivators insights to improve post-harvest table grape quality and minimize waste.