Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extreme Heat Events in San Juan Puerto Rico: Trends and Variability ofUnusual Hot Weather and its Possible Effects on Ecology and Society

A series of extreme climate events were observed in Puerto Rico during the summer of 2012, which included the month with the most 32.2°C days, the hottest month on record, as well as the longest streak >32.2°C+ days. The purpose of this research is, to outline the meteorological factors that came together to produce this unusual hot weather in Puerto Rico using the NCEO/NCAR reanalysis data as well as surface observations. The most important factors that contributed to the summer of 2012’s heat episode were a strong surface high-pressure area northeast of the local region that induced southeasterly winds and a broad mid to upper high pressure ridge extending from western Africa to the eastern Caribbean. These patterns have direct influence over temperature. Southeasterly winds tend to decrease minimum temperature in the north coast while maximum temperature increases in the same area. If these kinds of events become more prominent in the future, they may cause an imminent effect on society, human health, and the economy.
Wind direction estimation from SAR images of the ocean using wavelet analysis

We present a method for the automatic estimation of wind directions from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of the ocean. The method is based on a wavelet analysis and assumes that the wind direction aligns with boundary-layer atmospheric roll vortices, which often appear as streaks at kilometre scales in SAR images of the ocean, and measures the orientation of the streaks. Unlike estimation methods that use the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), the streaks in SAR images are described quantitatively as a natural output of this method. Furthermore, more optimal wind directions are obtained by comparing the directional orientation of the streaks at different spatial scales. Sub-scenes in which the streaks are too weak to determine wind direction do not return a direction, as governed by a user-selected threshold. Wind directions for these sub-scenes are based on those in neighbouring sub-scenes by using an adaptive smoothing technique. Quality control involves tuning the threshold level. We apply the method to two examples of RADARSAT-1 SAR images. The results are compared with those of a DFT-based wind direction analysis, and it is shown that a robust wind direction field is obtained. Mesoscale wind structures can be described by using a finer computing grid. The estimated wind directions still include a 180° direction ambiguity.
Investigation of a self-organization model for beach cusp formation and development

A recent numerical investigation of “self-organization” [Werner and Fink, 1993] suggests that the feedback process between currents and sediment response can result in “self-organized” patterns and can be used to predict beach cusp formation and spacing. A similar model based on self-organization is tested here in order to understand the processes occurring during beach cusp formation and development, to evaluate the sensitivity toward the parameters used, and to examine how the model might relate to field observations. Results obtained confirm the validity of the self-organization approach and its capacity to predict beach cusp spacing, with values in fair agreement with the available field measurements, with most of the input parameters primarily affecting the rate of the process rather than the final spacing. However, changes in the random seed and runs for large numbers of swash cycles reveal a dynamical system with significant unpredictable behavior. Cusp spacing tends to change with time, and cusp regularity shows large long-term variations. Cusps are found to be accretionary in the swash zone, and in agreement with most observations, mean flows are horn divergent over developed topography. Simulations over nonplanar slopes characterized by the presence of preexisting nonrhythmic or cuspate features have been performed. Results indicate that preexisting large-amplitude cusps are destroyed if their spacing is substantially different from that expected under self-organization and that the final spacing is consistent with that predicted by the model for an equivalent plane beach. These findings support the hypothesis that self-organization is a robust mechanism for beach cusp formation.
Biological reductive dechlorination of tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene to ethylene under methanogenic conditions

A biological process for remediation of groundwater contaminated with tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) can only be applied if the transformation products are environmentally acceptable. Studies with enrichment cultures of PCE- and TCE-degrading microorganisms provide evidence that, under methanogenic conditions, mixed cultures are able to completely dechlorinate PCE and TCE to ethylene, a product which is environmentally acceptable. Radiotracer studies with [14C]PCE indicated that [14C]ethylene was the terminal product; significant conversion to 14CO2 or 14CH4 was not observed. The rate-limiting step in the pathway appeared to be conversion of vinyl chloride to ethylene. To sustain reductive dechlorination of PCE and TCE, it was necessary to supply an electron donor; methanol was the most effective, although hydrogen, formate, acetate, and glucose also served. Studies with the inhibitor 2-bromoethanesulfonate suggested that methanogens played a key role in the observed biotransformations of PCE and TCE.
Optical coherence tomography angiography vessel density in children with type 1 diabetes

Purpose To assess the optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) retinal vessel density and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and compare potential pathologic early changes in this population to healthy age-matched controls. Methods This study included 130 pubescent children: 94 with T1D (188 eyes) and 36 of their age-matched control group (60 eyes). OCTA was performed using AngioVue (Avanti, Optivue). FAZ area (mm2) in superficial plexus, whole superficial capillary vessel density (wsVD), fovea superficial vessel density (fsVD), parafovea superficial vessel density (psVD), whole deep vessel density (wdVD), fovea deep vessel density (fdVD), parafovea deep vessel density (pdVD), foveal thickness (FT) (μm) and parafoveal thickness (PFT) (μm) were taken into analysis. Among the studied patients with T1D there were assessed codependences regarding the investigated foveal and parafoveal parameters and selected potential predictors, i.e. patient’s age (years), diabetes duration time (years), age of onset of the disease (years), mean level of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) (%), and concentration of serum creatinine (mg/dL). Results None of the abovementioned OCT and OCTA parameters was statistically significantly different between the groups. The patient’s age statistically significantly did not influent any of the OCT and OCTA parameters. Yet an elevated level of HbA1C tended to reduce the parafovea superficial vessel density (p = 0.039), and parafoveal thickness (p = 0.003) and an increased serum creatinine level correlated with the decreased whole deep vessel density (p < 0.001). The parafovea deep vessel density in the diabetic patients decreased when the serum creatinine level (p = 0.008), age of onset of the disease (p = 0.028), and diabetes duration time (p = 0.014) rose. Conclusions Vessel density, both in superficial and deep plexuses, and FAZ area are normal in pubescent children with T1D comparing to healthy subjects. An elevated level of HbA1C correlated with reduced psVD and PFT. Longitudinal observation of these young patients is needed to determine if any of these OCTA measurements are predictive of future DR severity.
Along-isopycnal variability of spice in the North Pacific

Two hydrographic surveys in the Gulf of Alaska and the North Pacific subtropical gyre are presented. Both surveys are roughly perpendicular to lateral temperature gradients, and were collected in the summer when there was a shallow mixed layer and a seasonal thermocline. Isopycnal displacements and horizontal velocities are dominated by internal waves. Spice anomalies along isopycnals are examined to diagnose lateral stirring mechanisms. The spectra of spice anomaly gradients along near-surface isopycnals roughly follow power laws of ∼kx0.6±0.2 (variance spectra power laws of ∼kx−1.4±0.2), and in most cases, the spectra become redder at depth. The near-surface spectra are possibly consistent with the predictions of quasi-geostrophic turbulence theory (when surface buoyancy effects are accounted for), but the spectra at depth are inconsistent with any quasi-geostrophic theory. Probability distributions of spice gradients exhibit a large peak at low gradients and long tails for large gradients, symptomatic of fronts. Vertical coherence of the spice signal falls off with a decorrelation depth scale that has a maximum of about 80 m at 100 km wavelengths and depends on horizontal wavelength with a power law of approximately kx−1/2. Lateral decorrelation length scales are 20–40 km, close to the baroclinic Rossby radius. Lateral stirring occurs over large scales, with average lateral displacements of about 200 km in the upper 75 m, decreasing to 100 km at greater depths. The depth variation of the statistics indicates that time history of tracer stirring on each isopycnal is important, or that there are unconsidered depth-dependent stirring mechanisms.
The temperature gradient drift instability at the equatorward edge of the ionospheric plasma trough

In this paper we have examined the fluid equations relevant to the ionosphere above 400 km in a region of horizontal gradients in plasma density and electron temperature such as those detected near the ionospheric projection of the plasmapause. The equations are unstable to growth of the temperature gradient drift mode. Electric field fluctuations have been observed in this region of the ionosphere by two independent electric field experiments flown on separate satellites. In one case (Ogo 6) simultaneous measurements of density and electron temperature were made. By using these data the growth rate of the temperature gradient drift mode is calculated and plotted as a function of distance along the trajectory and is shown to peak in the region where the irregularities were detected. Thus we conclude that the temperature gradient drift mode may contribute to the growth of irregularities at the equatorward edge of the ionospheric plasma trough. (AIP)
Occurrence of polymorphous light eruption in lupus erythematosus

Photosensitivity is a well–known manifestation of lupus erythematosus (LE). Since there are no strict criteria for photosensitivity, varying prevalence figures have been reported. Also, distinction from polymorphous light eruption (PLE) can be difficult. The purpose of this study was to characterize photosensitivity in more detail and to determine the occurrence of PLE in a series of well–documented LE patients. A questionnaire was answered by 337 LE patients seen at dermatology departments in Finland and Sweden, and 63 of the patients were invited for interview. According to the questionnaire. LE lesions were made worse by sunlight in 242 (72%) patients. Symptoms consistent with PLE were reported by 165 (49%) patients. Detailed personal interviews supported the results from the questionnaire, and revealed that PLE had started 2–45 years before the onset of LE in 23 of 37 patients with both diagnoses, and more than 7 years before in 18 of 37 (49%). PLE proved to be common in patients with both systemic and cutaneous LE. The two conditions may often coexist and, in about half of the cases, PLE preceded LE. These two diseases may share pathogenic factors, PLE might predispose to LE in a subgroup of PLE patients.
Outside Purchase Contracts, Human Capital and Firm Capital Structure

We examine the impact of outside purchase contracts on firm risk and firm capital structure. We find that firms with more outside purchase contracts have less risky cash flows. Despite these less risky cash flows, firms with these contracts also have less financial leverage especially when they operate in high value-added industries. Examining firm financing decisions, we document that firms with more outside contracts are more likely to issue private securities. Our results are consistent with firms with more outside purchase contracts using less leverage to decrease the expected costs of financial distress on their explicit and implicit contracting parties.
Advances in transcription of broadcast news and conversational telephone speech within the combined EARS BBN/LIMSI system

This paper describes the progress made in the transcription of broadcast news (BN) and conversational telephone speech (CTS) within the combined BBN/LIMSI system from May 2002 to September 2004. During that period, BBN and LIMSI collaborated in an effort to produce significant reductions in the word error rate (WER), as directed by the aggressive goals of the Effective, Affordable, Reusable, Speech-to-text [Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) EARS] program. The paper focuses on general modeling techniques that led to recognition accuracy improvements, as well as engineering approaches that enabled efficient use of large amounts of training data and fast decoding architectures. Special attention is given on efforts to integrate components of the BBN and LIMSI systems, discussing the tradeoff between speed and accuracy for various system combination strategies. Results on the EARS progress test sets show that the combined BBN/LIMSI system achieved relative reductions of 47% and 51% on the BN and CTS domains, respectively
Contrasting Effects of the Intermittent and Continuous Administration of Heparin in Experimental Restenosis

BackgroundHeparin inhibits proliferation of smooth muscle cells in culture and intimal hyperplasia in experimental animals but paradoxically exacerbates vascular injury in clinical trials. To determine whether the difference in the means by which heparin was administered explained the benefit in animals and aggravation in humans, we examined the vascular effects of a range of heparin treatments. Methods and ResultsWhen laboratory rats were injected subcutaneously with heparin (55.5 IU, ≈1.0 mg/kg) per clinical trial protocols, intimal hyperplasia after arterial injury was exacerbated rather than alleviated. The intima to media area ratio was increased 22.5% with every-other-day injections and was increased 16.8% with daily injections. When the daily dose of heparin was increased to 7.2 mg/kg or when injections were initiated a week before injury, intimal hyperplasia was made even worse (52.2% and 59.9% above control). Twice-daily heparin, 7 and 17 hours apart, had no demonstrable effect one way or the other, and it was not until the heparin was administered at 12-hour intervals that intimal hyperplasia and cell proliferation were lessened (44.6% decrease). The greatest reduction in intimal hyperplasia was obtained when the heparin was administered continuously. The continuous osmotic pump intravenous infusion of heparin inhibited 62.5% of the expected proliferation, and perivascular polymeric device release of heparin blocked the response by 74.2%. While subcutaneous injections transiently increased activated partial thromboplastin time, neither mode of continuous delivery altered coagulation. ConclusionsWe might reconsider the use of heparin in vascular diseases and not neglect this promising compound because of inappropriate extrapolation from the laboratory to clinical use.
A climate-driven model using time-series analysis of magnetic susceptibility (χ) datasets to represent a floating-point high-resolution geological timescale for the Middle Devonian Eifelian stage

Abstract Presented here are cyclostratigraphic time-series data, using magnetic susceptibility (χ) results from Devonian Moroccan rocks to establish a floating-point age chronology, and a method that can be applied to any geological stage using geochemical or geophysical datasets as a climate proxy. The χ data are fit to an independent uniform climate model for the entire Eifelian Stage. The procedure used comprised: (a) definition of a uniform c. 405 kyr eccentricity climate model for the Eifelian, with a published duration for the Eifelian; and (b) graphical testing of the model using χ data derived from outcrop samples, here including data from the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the Emsian–Eifelian and Eifelian–Givetian stage boundaries, and an overlapping succession from Bou Tchrafine, Morocco. The time-series methods used here identify χ cycles that conform to the c. 405 kyr by graphically comparing the χ zonation with the climate model. Well-established conodont zonations developed using graphic correlation are then compared with this model, allowing time estimates for Eifelian conodont zone ranges. The time-series data indicate that the Eifelian Stage in the Middle Devonian lasted for c. 6.28 myr, the Lower Eifelian Choteč bio-event lasted for c. 600 kyr, and the Kačák bio-event in the Upper Eifelian lasted for c. 370 kyr.
Bird Community Response to Filter Strips in Maryland

ABSTRACT Filter strips are strips of herbaceous vegetation planted along agricultural field margins adjacent to streams or wetlands and are designed to intercept sediment, nutrients, and agrichemicals. Roughly 16,000 ha of filter strips have been established in Maryland through the United States Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program. Filter strips often represent the only uncultivated herbaceous areas on farmland in Maryland and therefore may be important habitat for early-successional bird species. Most filter strips in Maryland are planted to either native warm-season grasses or cool-season grasses and range in width from 10.7 m to 91.4 m. From 2004 to 2007 we studied the breeding and wintering bird communities in filter strips adjacent to wooded edges and non-buffered field edges and the effect that grass type and width of filter strips had on bird community composition. We used 5 bird community metrics (total bird density, species richness, scrub-shrub bird density, grassland bird density, and total avian conservation value), species-specific densities, nest densities, and nest survival estimates to assess the habitat value of filter strips for birds. Breeding and wintering bird community metrics were greater in filter strips than in non-buffered field edges but did not differ between cool-season and warm-season grass filter strips. Most breeding bird community metrics were negatively related to the percent cover of orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata) in ≥1 yr. Breeding bird density was greater in narrow (<30m) compared to wide (>60 m) filter strips. Our results suggest that narrow filter strips adjacent to wooded edges can provide habitat for many bird species but that wide filter strips provide better habitat for grassland birds, particularly obligate grassland species. If bird conservation is an objective, avoid planting orchardgrass in filter strips and reduce or eliminate orchardgrass from filter strips through management practices.
Croatian Medical Journal citation score in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar.

AIM To analyze the 2007 citation count of articles published by the Croatian Medical Journal in 2005-2006 based on data from the Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. METHODS Web of Science and Scopus were searched for the articles published in 2005-2006. As all articles returned by Scopus were included in Web of Science, the latter list was the sample for further analysis. Total citation counts for each article on the list were retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The overlap and unique citations were compared and analyzed. Proportions were compared using chi(2)-test. RESULTS Google Scholar returned the greatest proportion of articles with citations (45%), followed by Scopus (42%), and Web of Science (38%). Almost a half (49%) of articles had no citations and 11% had an equal number of identical citations in all 3 databases. The greatest overlap was found between Web of Science and Scopus (54%), followed by Scopus and Google Scholar (51%), and Web of Science and Google Scholar (44%). The greatest number of unique citations was found by Google Scholar (n=86). The majority of these citations (64%) came from journals, followed by books and PhD theses. Approximately 55% of all citing documents were full-text resources in open access. The language of citing documents was mostly English, but as many as 25 citing documents (29%) were in Chinese. CONCLUSION Google Scholar shares a total of 42% citations returned by two others, more influential, bibliographic resources. The list of unique citations in Google Scholar is predominantly journal based, but these journals are mainly of local character. Citations received by internationally recognized medical journals are crucial for increasing the visibility of small medical journals but Google Scholar may serve as an alternative bibliometric tool for an orientational citation insight.
Toxic Proteins in Neurodegenerative Disease

A broad range of neurodegenerative disorders is characterized by neuronal damage that may be caused by toxic, aggregation-prone proteins. As genes are identified for these disorders and cell culture and animal models are developed, it has become clear that a major effect of mutations in these genes is the abnormal processing and accumulation of misfolded protein in neuronal inclusions and plaques. Increased understanding of the cellular mechanisms for disposal of abnormal proteins and of the effects of toxic protein accumulation on neuronal survival may allow the development of rational, effective treatment for these disorders.
Statistical distribution of intensity fluctuations for underwater wireless optical channels in the presence of air bubbles

In this paper, we experimentally investigate the statistical distribution of intensity fluctuations for underwater wireless optical channels under different channel conditions, namely fresh and salty underwater channels with and without air bubbles. To do so, we first measure the received optical signal with a large number of samples. Based on the normalized acquired data the channel coherence time and the fluctuations probability density function (PDF) are obtained for different channel scenarios. Our experimental results show that salt attenuates the received signal while air bubbles mainly introduce severe intensity fluctuations. Moreover, we observe that log-normal distribution precisely fits the acquired data PDF for scintillation index (σ2I) values less than 0.1, while Gamma-Gamma and K distributions aptly predict the intensity fluctuations for σ2I > 1. Since neither of these distributions are capable of predicting the received irradiance for 0.1 < σ2I < 1, we propose a combination of an exponential and a log-normal distributions to perfectly describe the acquired data PDF for such regimes of scintillation index.
Aquatic habitat change in the Arkansas river after the development of a lock‐and‐dam commercial navigation system

The McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS), completed in 1971, required the construction of 17 locks and dams and associated navigation works to make the Arkansas and Verdigris Rivers navigable for barge traffic from the Mississippi River to Catoosa, Oklahoma. We used a Geographic Information System to assess habitat changes in the 477‐km portion of this system within Arkansas from 1973 to 1999. Total aquatic area declined by 9% from 42 404 to 38 655 ha. Aquatic habitat losses were 1–17% among pools. Greatest habitat losses occurred in diked secondary channels (former secondary channels with flow reduced by rock dikes) and backwaters adjacent to the main channel. Most of the area of dike pools (aquatic habitat downstream of rock dikes), diked secondary channels and adjacent backwaters were <0.9 m deep. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.