Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation of the time scale of the geomorphologic instantaneous unit hydrograph from effective streamflow velocity

The greatest difficulty in applying the geomorphologic instantaneous unit hydrograph is the estimation of the time scale of the hydrologic response of a basin. We derive the time scale from the effective streamflow velocity of the highest-order stream and the spatial distribution of velocity throughout the stream network. The latter is described by a dimensionless geomorphologic function with a single-shape parameter. The proposed method is applied to some Italian basins.
Geophysical investigation of landslides : a review

In the last two decades, shallow geophysics has considerably evolved with the emergence of 2D spatial imaging, then 3D spatial imaging and now 4D time and space imaging. These techniques allow the study of the spatial and temporal variations of geological structures. This paper aims at presenting a current state-of-the-art on the application of surface geophysical methods to landslide characterization and focuses on recent papers (after 1990) published in peer-reviewed international journals. Until recently, geophysical techniques have been relatively little used for the reconnaissance of landslides for at least two main reasons. The first one is that geophysical methods provide images in terms of physical parameters, which are not directly linked to the geological and mechanical properties required by geologists and engineers. The second reason shown through this study probably comes from a tendency among a part of the geophysicists to overestimate the quality and reliability of the results. This paper gave the opportunity to review recent applications of the main geophysical techniques to landslide characterisation, showing both their interest and their limits. We also emphasized the geophysical image characteristics (resolution, penetration depth), which have to be provided for assessing their reliability, as well as the absolute requirements to combine geophysical methods and to calibrate them with existing geological and geotechnical data. We hope that this paper will contribute to fill the gaps between communities and to strength of using appropriate geophysical methods for landslide investigation.
Mercury Speciation in Drainage from the New Idria Mercury Mine, California

Little is known about the amount and form of mercury released from inoperative mercury mines in the western United States. To address this, we measured mercury concentrations and speciation in water impacted by the New Idria mine. Total unfiltered mercury concentrations (UHgT) in acid mine drainage (AMD) (5.2 to 41 ng/L) were comparable to concentrations upstream from the mine (4.2 to 13 ng/L). We measured substantially higher UHgT concentrations (2900 to 12 400 ng/L) in water 1.2 km downstream from the AMD input and estimate that the creek transports a baseline flux of 1.5 kg of Hg/yr from the mine site. We hypothesize that tailings are the primary source of mercury to this creek. We attribute the decrease in UHgT along a downstream transect to Hg(II) scavenging by iron oxyhydroxide particles that precipitate and settle out of the water. Likewise, dissolved gaseous mercury concentrations decreased with increasing distance from the mine (2.8 ng/L at 1.2 km; 0.56 ng/L at 7.5 km). We regard abiotic atmosphe.
Water Quality Gradients across Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System: Seasonal Variations and Model Applications

Abstract The seasonal variations of water quality parameters as nitrite plus nitrate (NO−;x), total phosphate (PO3−4), chlorophyll a (chl a), and dissolved oxygen (DO) are analyzed across the Croatan-Roanoke-Albemarle-Pamlico-Core Sounds estuarine system (CAPES). Overall, several patterns are observed: The Chowan-Roanoke-Albemarle system is generally phosphorous limiting for phytoplankton growth, whereas both the Tar-Pamlico and the Neuse Rivers are generally nitrogen limiting. The largest PO3−4 gradients exist in the upstream portion of the Albemarle Sound, and the largest NO−x gradients exist in the lower Neuse and the Tar-Pamlico Rivers. Dissolved oxygen appears to have the strongest seasonal signal among the water quality variables, with highest DO values observed during winter (within the CAPES and in the nearshore area) or spring (in the continental shelf and deeper ocean) and lowest during summer. Chlorophyll a concentrations are highest during spring (within the CAPES) or winter (offshore). In contrast, the NOx− and PO3−4 concentrations in both the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse River estuaries are usually higher during the second half of the year. The time differences of the peak nutrient and chl a concentrations suggest that highest algal growth rate (and hence nutrient uptake rate) occurs during spring, and the consumed nutrients are released to the water column through a nutrient recycling method later in the year. A coupled three-dimensional hydrodynamic water quality model is then applied to the entire system. The general model setup and parameter derivation of the model is presented here. The basic observed water quality characteristics such as the nutrient limiting pattern and the spatial gradients across the system are reproduced in the model. The model results also suggest that nutrient fluxes, generated from the diagenesis of deposited organic matter and released from the sediment bed, could be an important mechanism for nutrient recycling in the region.
Active Load Control During Rolling Maneuvers

A rolling maneuver load alleviation (RMLA) system has been demonstrated on the Active Flexible Wing (AFW) wind tunnel model in the Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT). The objective was to develop a systematic approach for designing active control laws to alleviate wing loads during rolling maneuvers. Two RMLA control laws were developed that utilized outboard control-surface pairs (leading and trailing edge) to counteract the loads and that used inboard trailing-edge control-surface pairs to maintain roll performance. Rolling maneuver load tests were performed in the TDT at several dynamic pressures that included two below and one 11 percent above the open-loop flutter dynamic pressure. The RMLA system was operated simultaneously with an active flutter suppression system above open-loop flutter dynamic pressure. At all dynamic pressures for which baseline results were obtained, torsion-moment loads were reduced for both RMLA control laws. Results for bending-moment load reductions were mixed; however, design equations developed in this study provided conservative estimates of load reduction in all cases.
Geophysical Method of Investigating Groundwater and Sub-Soil Contamination – A Case Study

Geophysical methods can be helpful in mapping areas of contaminated soil and groundwater. Electrical resistivity surveys were carried out at a site of shallow hydrocarbon contamination in Ahoada, South-South Nigeria. This was aimed at evaluating the subsoil conditions and groundwater quality of the area three years after the post-spill clean-up exercise. The geophysical investigation involved the Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES) technique using the Schlumberger configuration and the horizontal profiling method. The data from the two different approaches correlate well, and the generated profiles of the acquired data helped to map the contaminant plume, which was delineated as an area of high interpreted resistivities. The VES result shows that the subsurface layers up to a depth of 49 m is of moderate to high resistivity values (>200 Ώm) that may affect crops and groundwater development in the study area. However good aquifer can still be obtained from the depth of 30 m and above.
Spatial fuel data products of the LANDFIRE Project

The Landscape Fire and Resource Management Planning Tools (LANDFIRE) Project is mapping wildland fuels, vegetation, and fire regime characteristics across the United States. The LANDFIRE project is unique because of its national scope, creating an integrated product suite at 30-m spatial resolution and complete spatial coverage of all lands within the 50 states. Here we describe development of the LANDFIRE wildland fuels data layers for the conterminous 48 states: surface fire behavior fuel models, canopy bulk density, canopy base height, canopy cover, and canopy height. Surface fire behavior fuel models are mapped by developing crosswalks to vegetation structure and composition created by LANDFIRE. Canopy fuels are mapped using regression trees relating field-referenced estimates of canopy base height and canopy bulk density to satellite imagery, biophysical gradients and vegetation structure and composition data. Here we focus on the methods and data used to create the fuel data products, discuss problems encountered with the data, provide an accuracy assessment, demonstrate recent use of the data during the 2007 fire season, and discuss ideas for updating, maintaining and improving LANDFIRE fuel data products.
Social Bonds and Exercise: Evidence for a Reciprocal Relationship

In two experimental studies, we investigated mechanisms hypothesized to underpin two pervasive and interrelated phenomena: that certain forms of group movement and exercise lead to social bonding and that social bonding can lead to enhanced exercise performance. In Study 1, we manipulated synchrony and exercise intensity among rowers and found that, compared with low intensity exercise, moderate intensity exercise led to significantly higher levels of cooperation in an economic game; no effect of synchrony vs. non-synchrony was found. In Study 2, we investigated the effects of bonding on performance, using synchrony as a cue of existing supportive social bonds among participants. An elite, highly bonded team of rugby players participated in solo, synchronized, and non-synchronized warm-up sessions; participants' anaerobic performance significantly improved after the brief synchronous warm-up relative to the non-synchronous warm-up. The findings substantiate claims concerning the reciprocal links between group exercise and social bonding, and may help to explain the ubiquity of collective physical activity across cultural domains as varied as play, ritual, sport, and dance.
Spatially distributed observations in constraining inundation modelling uncertainties

The performance of two modelling approaches for predicting floodplain inundation is tested using observed flood extent and 26 distributed floodplain level observations for the 1997 flood event in the town of Usti nad Orlici in the Czech Republic. Although the one‐dimensional hydrodynamic model and the integrated one‐ and two‐dimensional model are shown to perform comparably against the flood extent data, the latter shows better performance against the distributed level observations. Comparable performance in predicting the extent of inundation is found to be primarily as a result of the urban reach considered, with flood extent constrained by road and railway embankments. Uncertainty in the elevation model used in both approaches is shown to have little effect on the reliability in predicting flood extent, with a greater impact on the ability in predicting the distributed level observations. These results show that reliability of flood inundation modelling in urban reaches, where flood risk assessment is of more interest than in more rural reaches, can be improved greatly if distributed observations of levels in the floodplain are used in constraining model uncertainties. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Morphological Substrate of the Inhibition of Insulin Secretion by Diazoxide* **

1. Degranulation of B-ceUs of rats infused with guinea-pig anti-insulin serum (AIS) for 3-4 hrs ean be prevented completely by previous injection of diazoxide. Tolbut amide added to the AIS infusion abolishes the diazoxide effeet on granule release. 2. Rats fed with 500 mg/kg diazoxide twice daily for 1-4 days show ultrastructural changes in the B-ceUs (multigra nular sacs and granule-containing dense bodies). This suggests intraceUular digestion of beta granules when granule release is blocked. Rats fed for 2 weeks with 500 mg/kg diazoxide twice daily show degranulated B-ceUs similar to those seen in long-term insulin treat ment. Signs of intraceUular digestion are still visible. These findings confirm the conclusion drawn from the physiological investigations that diazoxide inhibits insulin release from B-ceUs. They also add further information to our present knowledge of the meehanism of insulin storage and release. Rorm. Metab. Res. I: 53-64 (969)
NOx Release from Snow and Ice Covered Surface in Polar Regions and the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract The exchanges of NOx between snow and air have significant impact on the atmospheric components and photochemical processes in the overlying boundary layer. Such exchanges increase the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere and may have a crucial impact on the air signals that are retrieved from ice cores. In the recent years, sunlit snow and ice have been demonstrated to be important NOx sources in the polar atmospheric boundary layer. This paper makes a thorough review on the release of NOx from snow and ice, including field observations and experimental evidences, release mechanisms and influential parameters that affect such a release process, polar NOx concentrations and fluxes, and environmental impacts of the chemical processes of NOx in the polar atmospheric boundary layer. In the Tibetan Plateau, the released NOx observed recently in the sunlit snow/ice-cover is 1-order magnitude more than that in polar regions, but further scientific research is still needed to reveal its impact on the atmospheric oxidizing capacity. Citation Wang, F. , W. Lin, J. Wang, et al., 2011: NOx release from snow and ice covered surface in polar regions and the Tibetan Plateau. Adv. Clim. Change Res., 2(3), doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1248.2011. 00141.
Estimation of the Transport of Heat in the Southern Ocean Using a Fine-Resolution Numerical Model

Abstract Results from a numerical model of the Southern Ocean (the U.K. Fine-Resolution Antarctic Model) have been used to repeat the calculations of De Szoeke and Levine, who used hydrographic data to estimate the advective heat transport across a circumpolar path of constant vertically averaged temperature. The results from the model suggest that the mean flow is responsible for only a small proportion of the heat transport and that the main process carrying heat poleward across such a path is indeed eddy heat transport. A comparison is made with the heat transport across constant latitude circles. Although the mean flow (consisting of large-scale meanderings of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current across the latitude circle) plays a more important role in this case, there is good correspondence between total heat transports across contours of constant vertically averaged temperature and those across constant latitude circles. Diffusive fluxes, in part representing subgrid-scale processes, also play an imp.
PREPARATION AND EVALUATION OF NEWCASTLE DISEASE OIL EMULSION VACCINES AT HYDROPHILE-LIPOPHILE BALANCE 7.0 USING LASOTA STRAIN-A PRELIMINARY TRIAL

Two oil emuisified vaccines of Newcaslte disease were prepared from Lasota strain. The virus was propagated in 9-day-old chicken embryos through allantoic route. The haemagglutination titre of the allantoic fluid used for vaccine preparation was 2048. The fluid was inactivated by 0.1 per cent f nal concentration of formalin at 37 oc for 6 hours. Inactivated allantoic fluid was emulsified with aqueous to oil (mineral oil) ratio of 1:2 (vaccine I) and 1:4 (vaccine II). The hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) of the vaccines was fixed at 7.0 using oil phase (Span 80) and aqueous phase (Tween 80) surfactants. Physical characteristics including colour, viscosity, stability and type of emulsion were studied. Sterility and safety were tested. Efficacy of the vaccine was evaluated on the basis of humoral antibody response and post challenge protection in layer chicks. One hundred and twenty, 4-week-old-layer, chicks were divided into 4 groups (A to D) comprising 30 birds each. Group A and B were injected with two experimental vaccines, C with imported oil emulsion vaccine and group D was kept as non-vaccinated control. Statistical analysis showed non-significant differen ce among four weeks cumulative haemagglutination inhibition mean titres of vaccine-I (256), vaccine-II (243) and imported vaccine (217). All the three vaccinated groups showed significantly higher titres than those of non-vaccinated control group. Both the experimental and imported vaccines gave 80 per cent protection against challenge with field virulent virus at 4 weeks post-vaccination.
Pulmonary Capillary Blood Flow and Cardiac Output Measurement by Partial Carbon Dioxide Rebreathing in Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome Receiving Lung Protective Ventilation

Background:Partial carbon dioxide rebreathing noninvasively measures the pulmonary capillary blood flow and estimates the cardiac output with the use of a predicted shunt value. It has been reported that the accuracy of the method is decreased in patients with high pulmonary shunt. The aim of this study was to investigate the agreement between partial rebreathing and thermodilution for the determination of pulmonary capillary blood flow and cardiac output in the setting of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Methods:Twenty consecutive patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome were enrolled. Ventilator settings include low tidal volume (6 ml · kg−1) and positive end-expiratory pressure + 2 cm H2O higher than the lower inflection point if present or 10 cm H2O if not. Seven pairs of cardiac output and pulmonary capillary blood flows were recorded every 20 min over a 2-h period. The authors determined bias, SD, limit of agreement (95% confidence interval) and percentage error. Results:Bias and agreement for cardiac output measurement were 0.8 ± 1.2 l · min−1 (–2.1 to 3.7 l · min−1), and percentage error was 36%. Bias and agreement for pulmonary capillary blood flow measurement were –0.1 ± 0.8 l · min−1 (–2.1 to 1.9 l · min−1), and percentage error was 35%. Dead space, arteriovenous oxygen content difference, mean pulmonary arterial pressure, and baseline cardiac output were independently associated with differences between methods. Conclusions:In patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome, partial rebreathing cannot yet replace thermodilution for measuring pulmonary capillary blood flow or cardiac output. However, accuracy of the method is close to the boundary of clinical relevance.
Remote survey of large-scale braided, gravel-bed rivers using digital photogrammetry and image analysis

The use of conventional survey methods to monitor large, gravel river beds has traditionally led to a reliance on repeat measurements of cross-sections which, unless very closely spaced, may give unreliable information about three-dimensional channel morphology and morphological change. Provided certain technological limitations can be overcome, remote survey techniques, such as digital photogrammetry and airborne laser scanning, remove the spatial and temporal constraints typically associated with ground-based surveys, allowing high spatial resolution, distributed, elevation mapping of gravel river beds. This paper develops the use of digital photogrammetry for the survey of a 3.3 km reach of the braided Waimakariri River, New Zealand, which, when combined with image analysis of water colour to infer water depth, provides a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the entire river bed. Central to the successful application of this method is DEM post-processing. Errors take two forms: (i) individual point errors associated with incorrect stereo-matching during automated data collection; and (ii) spatially-variable systematic errors that are associated with uncertainties in sensor position and orientation as determined during the bundle adjustment. An automated post-processing procedure is developed to deal with individual point errors and this improves DEM surface quality in terms of accuracy, precision and internal reliability. Systematic errors in the final DEM surface were reduced by applying a simple correction based on surveyed photo-control point elevations.
Rupture process of the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska, earthquake from the combined inversion of seismic, tsunami, and geodetic data

[1] Four great earthquakes (1952, 1960, 1964, and 2004) have occurred since seismic monitoring began and only two since the installation of a global seismic network. A reexamination of the 1964 (M 9.2) Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska, earthquake is timely due to the 2004 Sumatra earthquake because it adds constraints to the potential range of source parameters for these types of infrequent events and aids in the ability to predict the ground motions for other subduction zone including Cascadia. We first measured the durations of high-frequency energy radiation from teleseismic P wave codas recorded by short-period World Wide Standardized Seismographic Network (WWSSN SP) instruments to put constraints on the earthquake rupture length. The durations ranged between 250 and 600 s and are shorter in time between azimuths of 190° and 260°. The fault length is estimated to range from 540 to 740 km, rupturing at average speeds of 1.4–2 km/s in a 220°–238° direction. We developed a multiple time window kinematic rupture model for the PWS earthquake from the least squares inversion of teleseismic P waves, tsunami tide gauge records, and geodetic leveling survey observations based on the Green's function technique. We assume three major fault segments for the subduction zone dipping 6-12° based on geologic data. The subfault size on the megathrust was set to 50 × 50 km. The Patton Bay fault (PBF) imbricate thrust was assigned a 60 dip with a subfault size of 20 × 20 km. We estimated a seismic moment of 5.52 × 1022 N m (Mw9.12). We identified three areas of major moment release, on the PWS segment near Montague and Middleton Islands extending out to the trench, beneath the Portlock anticline on the Cook segment between 58°N fracture zone and the Kodiak-Bowie seamount chain and finally on the Katmai segment off the coast of Kodiak Island extending to the trench. Our preferred rupture model has a peak slip of 14.9 m along the megathrust and 17.4 m along the PBF. The addition of the PBF resulted in an 8% improvement in residuals and also had a significant effect on the overall slip distribution. Moment release occurred as deep as 50 km depth slab contour near the 350°C isotherm and mantle fore-arc wedge, which is about 10–20 km deeper than previous coupling depths.
Word lengths are optimized for efficient communication

We demonstrate a substantial improvement on one of the most celebrated empirical laws in the study of language, Zipf's 75-y-old theory that word length is primarily determined by frequency of use. In accord with rational theories of communication, we show across 10 languages that average information content is a much better predictor of word length than frequency. This indicates that human lexicons are efficiently structured for communication by taking into account interword statistical dependencies. Lexical systems result from an optimization of communicative pressures, coding meanings efficiently given the complex statistics of natural language use.