Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Location of the Focus and Tectonics of the Focal Region of the California Earthquake of 18 April 1906

Modern relocation constrains the hypocenter of the 18 April 1906 California earthquake within an ∼8×24 km, southwest–northeast trending zone to the north of San Francisco that intersects the offshore San Andreas fault system west of San Francisco. Here we further constrain the location of the 1906 focus and examine the tectonics of the focal region using recent microseismicity relocated in a 3D model along with other seismological, geological, and marine evidence. In agreement with previous work, we associate the 1906 focus with an extensional, right stepover in the San Andreas fault system—a zone of sea floor subsidence and complex, normal, and strike-slip faulting. We define a likely focal volume between Lake Merced and offshore of the Golden Gate centered near 37.77° N, 122.55° W, and 10-km depth. We hypothesize possible 1906 rupture in this region by normal deformation around a 10-km-long, steeply west-dipping structure trending about 20° clockwise to the San Andreas fault zone, and bilateral, strike-slip fault rupture along the San Andreas fault system away from this structure: rupture to the northwest on a vertical, currently aseismic faulting structure under the Golden Gate fault and rupture to the southeast under the San Francisco peninsula either along a steeply southwest-dipping structure showing present-day extensional tectonism, or along a near-vertical, currently aseismic fault zone. All three of these structures extend from the near surface to about 10-km depth. We also identify a deeper, 15–20-km-long linear trend of clustered seismicity at 10–13-km depth, rotated about 6° clockwise relative to the strike of the San Andreas fault, which connects the north end of the focal volume with the south end of the seismicity defining the southwest-dipping structure under the San Francisco peninsula. We propose that this trend shows faulting at the base of a brittle, upper crust in response to underlying shear in a ductile, lower crust. These interpretations on the focal region of the 1906 earthquake have implications for seismotectonic understanding, earthquake monitoring, and seismic hazard assessment in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Reflexive and Preparatory Selection and Suppression of Salient Information in the Right and Left Posterior Parietal Cortex

Attentional cues can trigger activity in the parietal cortex in anticipation of visual displays, and this activity may, in turn, induce changes in other areas of the visual cortex, hence, implementing attentional selection. In a recent TMS study [Mevorach, C. , Humphreys, G. W. , & Shalev, L. Opposite biases in salience-based selection for the left and right posterior parietal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 9, 740–742, 2006b], it was shown that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) can utilize the relative saliency (a nonspatial property) of a target and a distractor to bias visual selection. Furthermore, selection was lateralized so that the right PPC is engaged when salient information must be selected and the left PPC when the salient information must be ignored. However, it is not clear how the PPC implements these complementary forms of selection. Here we used on-line triple-pulse TMS over the right or left PPC prior to or after the onset of global/local displays. When delivered after the onset of the display, TMS to the right PPC disrupted the selection of the more salient aspect of the hierarchical letter. In contrast, left PPC TMS delivered prior to the onset of the stimulus disrupted responses to the lower saliency stimulus. These findings suggest that selection and suppression of saliency, rather than being “two sides of the same coin,” are fundamentally different processes. Selection of saliency seems to operate reflexively, whereas suppression of saliency relies on a preparatory phase that “sets up” the system in order to effectively ignore saliency.
Mass balance of free tropospheric aerosol at the Puy de Dôme (France) in winter

[1] The size-segregated chemical composition of aerosols was investigated during winters 2000 and 2001 at Puy de Dome (1465 m above sea level, France), a site most of the time located in the free troposphere. Aerosols have been sampled using low-pressure cascade impactors (Electrical Low Pressure Impactor (ELPI) and Small Deposition Impactor (SDI) 13 and 12 stages) and analyzed for inorganic (Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl−, NO3−, and SO42−) and organic (HCOO−, CH3COO−, and C2O42−) ions, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), insoluble dust, and total mass. Under cloudy conditions, the sampling includes interstitial aerosol as well as the residue of evaporated cloud droplets. Aerosols (and residues of cloud droplets) were sampled in different air masses, which can be classified into three different categories according to their aerosol load and composition: background (BG), anthropogenic (ANT), and specific events (EV) that include advection of Saharan dust and upward transport from the polluted boundary layer to the site. On the basis of the presence or absence of coarse sea-salt particles, a further classification permits us to distinguish air masses that have or have not been exposed to the ocean. A closed mass balance is achieved on submicron ranges (mean departure of 18.5%) for the three main air mass categories, providing a reliable description of main aerosol types in the west European free troposphere. The total aerosol mass at 50% relative humidity is close to 2.7 ± 0.6 μg m−3 in BG, 5.3 ± 1.0 μg m−3 in ANT, and 15 to 22 μg m−3 in EV air masses. The aerosol mass distribution generally exhibits two submicron modes (Acc1 at 0.2 ± 0.1 μm and Acc2 at 0.5 ± 0.2 μm geometric mean diameter (calculated for every impactor stage) and a supermicron mode (2 ± 1 μm). Aerosols exhibit a high degree of external mixing with carbonaceous (EC and OC) and ionic species associated with Acc1 and Acc2. Concentrations of light carboxylates and mineral dust never exceed 4% of the total content of analyzed compounds, except for a Saharan dust event during which the contribution of insoluble dust reaches 26% of the total aerosol mass. Depending on the sampled air mass, bulk water-soluble inorganic species and carbonaceous material account for 25–70% and 15–60% of the total mass, respectively. The OC fraction is higher in air masses with low aerosol load (53%, 32%, and 22% for BG, ANT, and EV, respectively). Conversely, the EC fraction is enhanced from 4% in BG to 10% in ANT and 14% in EV. The inorganic fraction is more abundant in EV (55%) and ANT (60%) than in BG (40%) air masses as a result of enhanced nit .
Achieving adequate cyclosporine exposure in liver transplant recipients: A novel strategy for monitoring and dosing using intravenous therapy

It has been demonstrated that achieving therapeutic levels of cyclosporine (CsA) exposure in the first days posttransplant is critical for effective prevention of rejection. In patients receiving oral CsA, it has been shown that C2‐monitoring is superior to trough (trough level [C0]) measurement. Intravenous administration may overcome the problem of CsA absorption dysfunction seen in some patients. Currently, little evidence is available concerning CsA exposure after intravenous application. Twenty de novo liver transplant recipients were given twice‐daily 4‐hour infusions of intravenous CsA, with full pharmacokinetic profiles undertaken during the first postoperative week. The greatest CsA exposure occurred during the period 2 to 4 hours after the start of infusion. The correlation between C0 and area under the curve (AUC0–12) was r2 = 0.18; the correlation between C2 and AUC0–12 was r2 = 0.82. The best 2‐point predictive model included both C2 and C4 (r2 = 0.90). There was a poor correlation between CsA dose per kilogram of body weight and AUC0–12 (r2 = 0.19); total CsA dose also showed a weak relationship to exposure (r2 = 0.37). When patients were divided according to initial or delayed graft function, there was good correlation between total CsA dose and AUC0–12 (initial function, r2 = 0.71; delayed function, r2 = 0.86). In conclusion, previous discouraging results with intravenous CsA in liver transplant patients may have been due to a limited understanding of CsA pharmacokinetics. Our results show that C2‐monitoring during 4 hour infusion provides a reliable indication of CsA exposure. Calculation of starting dose based on initial graft function is more precise than use of body weight. Using C2‐monitoring to individualize dosing and function‐based calculations of starting dose could be expected to improve clinical outcomes in patients receiving intravenous CsA. (Liver Transpl 2004;10:686–691.)
Understanding Low Reliability of Memories for Neutral Information Encoded under Stress: Alterations in Memory-Related Activation in the Hippocampus and Midbrain

Exposure to an acute stressor can lead to unreliable remembrance of intrinsically neutral information, as exemplified by low reliability of eyewitness memories, which stands in contrast with enhanced memory for the stressful incident itself. Stress-sensitive neuromodulators (e.g., catecholamines) are believed to cause this low reliability by altering neurocognitive processes underlying memory formation. Using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated neural activity during memory formation in 44 young, healthy human participants while incidentally encoding emotionally neutral, complex scenes embedded in either a stressful or neutral context. We recorded event-related pupil dilation responses as an indirect index of phasic noradrenergic activity. Autonomic, endocrine, and psychological measures were acquired to validate stress manipulation. Acute stress during encoding led to a more liberal response bias (more hits and false alarms) when testing memory for the scenes 24 h later. The strength of this bias correlated negatively with pupil dilation responses and positively with stress-induced heart rate increases at encoding. Acute stress, moreover, reduced subsequent memory effects (SMEs; items later remembered vs forgotten) in hippocampus and midbrain, and in pupil dilation responses. The diminished SMEs indicate reduced selectivity and specificity in mnemonic processing during memory formation. This is in line with a model in which stress-induced catecholaminergic hyperactivation alters phasic neuromodulatory signaling in memory-related circuits, resulting in generalized (gist-based) processing at the cost of specificity. Thus, one may speculate that loss of specificity may yield less discrete memory representations at time of encoding, thereby causing a more liberal response bias when probing these memories.
Palaeoproterozoic (~1.89 Ga) felsic volcanism of the Iricoumé Group, Guyana Shield, South America: geochemical and Sm-Nd isotopic constraints on sources and tectonic environment

Hypabyssal and explosive volcanic rocks of the Iricoumé Group crop out in the Western Erepecuru–Trombetas Domain, in the Central Amazonian Province, south of the Guyana Shield. They are part of an extensive volcano–plutonic event, which marked the central part of the Amazonian Craton during the Orosirian. These volcanic rocks, formed at approximately 1.89 Ga, consist of pyroclastic rocks (ignimbrites, rheoignimbrites, surge-related lapilli-tuff, co-ignimbrite fall tuff) and subordinate felsic hypabyssal rocks. An older episode, with an age of approximately 1.99 Ga, occurs locally and is represented by latitic lava flows and spessartitic lamprophyres. The geochemical characteristics of the Iricoumé volcanic rocks suggest that they formed in a post-orogenic tectonic setting, while those of the older Orosirian magmatism suggest a subduction-related geodynamic setting. TDM model ages ranging from 2.18 to 2.39 Ga and slightly negative εNd(T) values for most of the Iricoumé volcanic rocks indicate dominant Rhyacian crustal sources for the parental magmas. The positive εNd(T) values exhibited by some Iricoumé rhyolites (TDM: 1.98 and 2.06 Ga) and by the 1.99 Ga lava flows and lamprophyre (TDM: 2.13 and 2.21 Ga) suggest a juvenile mantle source, although a minor contribution of Palaeoproterozoic crust cannot be ruled out. These new results furnish further evidence of the wide extent of the Iricoumé Group and coeval volcano–plutonic associations in the central part of the Amazonian Craton.
On the roles of the northeast cold surge, the Borneo vortex, the Madden‐Julian Oscillation, and the Indian Ocean Dipole during the extreme 2006/2007 flood in southern Peninsular Malaysia

The mid‐December 2006 to late January 2007 flood in southern Peninsular Malaysia was the worst flood in a century and was caused by three extreme precipitation episodes. These extreme precipitation events were mainly associated with strong northeasterly winds over the South China Sea. In all cases, the northeasterlies penetrated anomalously far south and followed almost a straight trajectory. The elevated terrain over Sumatra and southern Peninsular Malaysia caused low‐level convergence. The strong easterly winds near Java associated with the Rossby wave‐type response to Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO) inhibited the counter‐clockwise turning of the northeasterlies and the formation of the Borneo vortex, which, in turn, enhanced the low‐level convergence over the region. The abrupt termination of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) in December 2006 played a secondary role as warmer equatorial Indian Ocean helped in the MJO formation.
Why is ENSO influencing Indian northeast monsoon in the recent decades?

This study examines decadal changes of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influence on the interannual variability (IAV) of Indian northeast monsoon rainfall (NEMR). In recent decades, the ENSO influence has strengthened over the NEMR variability. During El Niño years, the subsidence anomaly over the warm‐pool region of Indonesia was much stronger in the recent decades as compared to the earlier decades. The zonally elongated warm sea surface temperatures (SSTs) of the warm‐pool region along the tropical Indo‐Pacific Ocean were much warmer than the earlier decades, which had intensified the deep convections over the Indian Ocean. The northwestward propagating trailing Rossby‐gyres, formed in the western portion of the equatorial deep convection and stratiform heating, intensified as tropical storms and cyclones over north Indian Ocean. These storms and cyclones strike southern peninsular India and hence flood northeast monsoon (NEM) years. During the recent decades in the La Niña years, the contracted warm SSTs over the warm‐pool region were much warmer than the earlier decades which intensified the deep convection and stratiform heating over there. The tropical storms and cyclones that formed due to Rossby‐gyre dynamics had to travel a long distance towards the northwestward direction over the Bay of Bengal and misses southern peninsular India, and hence, the drought NEM years. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society
Presynaptic Inhibition via a Phospholipase C- and Phosphatidylinositol Bisphosphate-Dependent Regulation of Neuronal Ca2+ Channels

Presynaptic inhibition of transmitter release is commonly mediated by a direct interaction between G protein βγ subunits and voltage-activated Ca2+ channels. To search for an alternative pathway, the mechanisms by which presynaptic bradykinin receptors mediate an inhibition of noradrenaline release from rat superior cervical ganglion neurons were investigated. The peptide reduced noradrenaline release triggered by K+-depolarization but not that evoked by ATP, with Ca2+ channels being blocked by Cd2+. Bradykinin also reduced Ca2+ current amplitudes measured at neuronal somata, and this effect was pertussis toxin-insensitive, voltage-independent, and developed slowly within 1 min. The inhibition of Ca2+ currents was abolished by a phospholipase C inhibitor, but it was not altered by a phospholipase A2 inhibitor, by the depletion of intracellular Ca2+ stores, or by the inactivation of protein kinase C or Rho proteins. In whole-cell recordings, the reduction of Ca2+ currents was irreversible but became reversible when 4 mM ATP or 0.2 mM dioctanoyl phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate was included in the pipette solution. In contrast, the effect of bradykinin was entirely reversible in perforated-patch recordings but became irreversible when the resynthesis of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate was blocked. Thus, the inhibition of Ca2+ currents by bradykinin involved a consumption of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate by phospholipase C but no downstream effectors of this enzyme. The reduction of noradrenaline release by bradykinin was also abolished by the inhibition of phospholipase C or of the resynthesis of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate. These results show that the presynaptic inhibition was mediated by a closure of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels through depletion of membrane phosphatidylinositol bisphosphates via phospholipase C.
A Formal Approach To The Protocol Converter Problem

In the absence of a single module interface standard, integration of pre-designed modules in System-on-Chip design often requires the use of protocol converters. Existing approaches to automatic synthesis of protocol converters mostly lack formal foundations and either employ abstractions that ignore crucial low level behaviors, or grossly simplify the structure of the protocols considered. We present a state-machine based formal model for bus based communication protocols, and precisely define protocol compatibility, and correct protocol conversion. Our model is expressive enough to capture features of commercial protocols such as bursts, pipelined transfers, wait state insertion, and data persistence, in cycle accurate detail. We show that the most general, correct converter for a pair of protocols, can be described as the greatest fixed point of a function for updating buffer states. This characterization yields a natural algorithm for automatic synthesis of a provably correct converter by iterative computation of the fixed point. We report our experience with automatic converter synthesis between widely used commercial bus protocols, such as AMBA AHB, ASB, APB, and OCP, considering features which are beyond the scope of current techniques.
Mechanisms of Firing Patterns in Fast-Spiking Cortical Interneurons

Cortical fast-spiking (FS) interneurons display highly variable electrophysiological properties. Their spike responses to step currents occur almost immediately following the step onset or after a substantial delay, during which subthreshold oscillations are frequently observed. Their firing patterns include high-frequency tonic firing and rhythmic or irregular bursting (stuttering). What is the origin of this variability? In the present paper, we hypothesize that it emerges naturally if one assumes a continuous distribution of properties in a small set of active channels. To test this hypothesis, we construct a minimal, single-compartment conductance-based model of FS cells that includes transient Na+, delayed-rectifier K+, and slowly inactivating d-type K+ conductances. The model is analyzed using nonlinear dynamical system theory. For small Na+ window current, the neuron exhibits high-frequency tonic firing. At current threshold, the spike response is almost instantaneous for small d-current conductance, g d, and it is delayed for larger g d. As g d further increases, the neuron stutters. Noise substantially reduces the delay duration and induces subthreshold oscillations. In contrast, when the Na+ window current is large, the neuron always fires tonically. Near threshold, the firing rates are low, and the delay to firing is only weakly sensitive to noise; subthreshold oscillations are not observed. We propose that the variability in the response of cortical FS neurons is a consequence of heterogeneities in their g d and in the strength of their Na+ window current. We predict the existence of two types of firing patterns in FS neurons, differing in the sensitivity of the delay duration to noise, in the minimal firing rate of the tonic discharge, and in the existence of subthreshold oscillations. We report experimental results from intracellular recordings supporting this prediction.
Length-weight relationships of freshwater fishes in Greece

Length-weight relationships were calculated for nine fish species from Lake Volvi (Macedonia, Hellas), caught with gillnets of five different mesh sizes between October 1995 and October 1996. In addition, length-weight relationships for 24 Greek freshwater fish species and one hybrid were also obtained from the literature. The values of the exponent of the length-weight relationships for all fish species examined ranged between 2.14 and 3.70 (mean = 3.12; SE=0.0321), and the median value was 3.19.
Engagement of Glucocorticoid-Induced TNF Receptor Costimulates NKT Cell Activation In Vitro and In Vivo1

Glucocorticoid-induced TNF receptor (GITR) is known to provide costimulatory signals to CD4+CD25− and CD4+CD25+ T cells during immune responses in vivo. However, the functional roles of GITR expressed on NKT cells have not been well characterized. In this study, we have explored the functions of GITR as a costimulatory factor on NKT cells. GITR was found to be constitutively expressed on NKT cells and its expression was enhanced by TCR signals. GITR engagement using DTA-1, an agonistic mAb against GITR, in the presence of TCR signals, augmented IL-2 production, the expression of activation markers, cell cycle progression, and the nuclear translocations of NF-κB p50 and p65. Furthermore, GITR engagement enhanced the production of IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, and IFN-γ by NKT cells and the expression level of phosphorylated p65 in NKT cells in the presence of TCR engagement, indicating that GITR provides costimulatory signals to NKT cells. The costimulatory effects of GITR on NKT cells were comparable to those of CD28 in terms of cytokine production. Moreover, the coinjection of DTA-1 and α-galactosylceramide into B6 mice induced more IL-4 and IFN-γ production than the coinjection of control mAbs and α-galactosylceramide. In addition, the adoptive transfer of DTA-1-pretreated NKT cells into CD1d−/− mice attenuated hypersensitivity pneumonitis more than control IgG pretreated NKT cells in these mice. These findings demonstrate that GITR engagement on NKT cells modulates immune responses in hypersensitivity pneumonitis in vivo. Taken together, our findings suggest that GITR engagement costimulates NKT cells and contributes to the regulation of immune-associated disease processes in vivo.
Modelling of urban growth using spatial analysis techniques: a case study of Ajmer city (India)

The concentration of people in densely populated urban areas, especially in developing countries like India and China, calls for the use of sophisticated monitoring systems, like remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Time series of land use/cover changes can easily be generated using sequential satellite images, which are required for the prediction of urban growth, verification of growth model outputs, estimation of impervious area, parameterization of various hydrological models, water resources planning and management and environmental studies. In the present work, urban growth of Ajmer city (India) in the last 29 years has been studied at mid‐scale level (5–25 m). Remote sensing and GIS have been used to extract the information related to urban growth, impervious area and its spatial and temporal variation. Statistical classification approaches have been used to derive the land use information from satellite images of eight years (1977–2005). The Shannon's entropy and landscape metrics (patchiness and map density) are computed in order to quantify the urban form (impervious area) in terms of spatial phenomena. Further, multivariate statistical techniques have been used to establish the relationship between the urban growth and its causative factors. Results reveal that land development (200%) in Ajmer is more than three times the population growth (59%). Shannon's entropy and landscape metrics has revealed the spatial distribution of the sprawl.