Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
EVALUATION OF SITE QUALITY AND MODELLING TREE PRODUCTIVITY BY LIDAR TECHNOLOGY IN SALT-AFFECTED OAK FOREST TERRITORY

Forest site quality evaluation is an important part of forest planning and forest management. A forest site is characterized by forest biomass, which is determined by elevation characteristics, soil type and climate. Height of tree is widely used parameter for terroir typifying, but measuring of tree height is sometimes timeand labour-consuming and could affected by errors. Airborne LiDAR technology is an effective tool for determine fast and accurate the tree height on relative larger area. GIS software environment provides to prepare the high resolution digital elevation model (DEM) and digital surface model (DSM) for pixel-based canopy height. Traditionally, the operational tree height estimation can significant differ from the actual tree heights. In our investigation, between the LiDAR-based elevation parcel map and operational tree height estimation, a close correlation (r=0.7935) was detected. The aim of our research was creating a site qualification map, based on airborne LiDAR data. Tree height map was completed with soil type data. Trees are different age on the plot area, so age-based standardization was carried out by modified Chapman-Richards growth function to examine the increments of trees. In order to evaluate the forest site quality, created increment map was categorized. Based on the results, surface hydrology features are mainly influenced the tree increment, so the dendromass. Nevertheless, significant differences were observed between the tree increments in different soil types; higher salt content resulted smaller (62.49%) trees in Solonetz soil.
Taphonomy of Corumbella werneri from the Ediacaran of Brazil: sinotubulitid tube or conulariid test?

Walde, D.H. -G. , Weber, B. , Erdtmann, B. -D. & Steiner, M. 20 June 2019. Taphonomy of Corumbella werneri from the Ediacaran of Brazil: sinotubulitid tube or conulariid test? Alcheringa 43, 335–350. ISSN 0311-5518 The problematic late Ediacaran tubular fossil Corumbella werneri is revised based on two-dimensional compressions, and new three-dimensionally preserved specimens from the Tamengo Formation of the Corumbá Region in Mato Grosso do Sul, west-central Brazil. These fossils represent some of the oldest skeletonized metazoans and were originally described from diagenetically compacted tubes that prompted conflicting interpretations as either Ediacaran coronate scyphozoan exoskeletons, or conulariid tests. Our new material from Corumbá permits a morphological and taphonomic revision of C. werneri, which we suggest was probably a calcareous sinotubulitid. Corumbella werneri closely resembles the late Ediacaran Sinotubulites from South China, as well as the Silurian worm tube Eoalvinellodes, which has similar exterior ornamentation. Ultrastructurally, the tubes of C. werneri exhibit a coarse sparitic microtexture, which we attribute to diagenetic alteration. Partial flexibility also supports interpretation as an originally weakly calcified, or entirely organic exoskeleton. We therefore reject placement of C. werneri as a conulariid scyphozoan, and instead, advocate possible relationships with marine annelids. Detlef Hans-Gert Walde [walde.detlef@gmail.com], University of Brasília, Institute of Geosciences, Brasília-DF, Brazil; Bernd Weber [bweber@zedat.fu-berlin.de], Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Malteserstr. 74–100, D-12249 Berlin, Germany; Bernd-D. Erdtmann [berni1739@gmail.com], 1165 N Mountain View Road, Apache Junction, AZ 85119, USA; *Michael Steiner [Michael.Steiner@FU-Berlin.de], Freie Universität Berlin, Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften (Haus D), Malteserstr. 74–100, D-12249 Berlin, Germany.
Processing of Fibre and Its Application as Liquid Organic fertilizer in Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) Seedling for Sustainable Agriculture

Liquid organic fertilizer has been developed to reduce the dependence of cultivated plants on inorganic fertilizers. based Oil palm fruit fiber, as a by-product of processing palm oil mills, potentially used as organic fertilizers. The purpose of this study was to obtain liquid organic fertilizer from fermented oil palm fruit fiber and analyze the effect of the fertilizer on the growth of oil palm seedlings. Two stages of the research were conducted. The first stage was processing the fibre into liquid organic fertilizer by chopping the oil palm fruit fiber and adding local microorganisms as activators. The fermentation process was carried out for 7 days. The second stage was applying fermented organic fertilizer (POC) to the oil palm growing media. The Completely Randomized Design Method was applied with 5 treatments, namely: P0 (subsoil with no fertilizer), P1 (soil + NPK), P2 (soil + 20 ml POC), P3 (subsoil + 40 ml POC), P4 (subsoil + 60 ml POC). The POC was applied once every week for 16 weeks. The results showed that liquid organic fertilizer had a significant effect on the height of palm seedlings at 4 MAP at 20 ml per seed. The oil palm seed growth tend to increase in several parameters observing in plant diameter, plant biomass and leaves greeness. Liquid organic fertilizer obtained from oil palm fruit fiber can be applied as alternative fertilizer in the prenursery. Further research related to the optimization of process producing liquid organic fertilizer and its application to other cultivated plants is highly recommended.
Provenance of Heavy Minerals: A Case Study from the WNW Portuguese Continental Margin

This work describes and interprets the presence of heavy minerals in the WNW Portuguese continental margin using a set of 78 bottom samples collected from three distinct areas of this margin: the Porto, Aveiro, and Nazaré canyon head areas. The main transparent heavy mineral assemblage (mineral grains with frequencies ≥1% identified under a petrographic microscope) is composed of amphibole, andalusite, tourmaline, biotite, garnet, staurolite, pyroxene, zircon, and apatite. The felsic igneous and metamorphic rock outcrops in the main Northern Portuguese river basins and the relict sedimentary continental shelf deposits explained the presence of most of these mineral grains (both considered as distal sources). However, the presence of pargasite, augite, diopside-hedenbergite, enstatite-ferrosilite, and forsterite in the Porto and Aveiro areas (minerals identified by electronic microprobe analysis) is probably related to the presence of an igneous basic source next to dolomitic limestones affected by thermal metamorphism. These geological formations are considered as local sources. The high concentration of biotite observed in the Nazaré area is the result of the selective transport of the most lamellar sand particles of this mineral.
Assessment of Near 0 °C Temperature and Precipitation Characteristics
across Canada

Abstract. The 0 °C temperature threshold is critical to many meteorological and hydrological processes driven by melting and freezing in the atmosphere, surface and sub-surface and by the associated precipitation varying between rain, freezing rain, wet snow and snow. This threshold, linked with freeze-thaw, is especially important in cold regions such as Canada. This study develops a Canada-wide perspective on near 0 °C conditions with a particular focus on the occurrence of its associated precipitation. Since this analysis requires hourly values of surface temperature and precipitation type observations, it was limited to 92 stations over the 1981–2011 period. In addition, nine stations representative of various climatic regions are selected for further analysis. Near 0 °C conditions are defined as periods when the surface temperature is between −2 °C and 2 °C. Near 0 °C conditions occur often across all regions of the country although the annual number of days and hours and the duration of these events varies dramatically. Various forms of precipitation (including rain, freezing rain, wet snow and ice pellets) are sometimes linked with these temperatures with highest fractions tending to occur in Atlantic Canada. Trends of most temperature-based and precipitation-based indicators show little or no change despite a systematic warming in annual temperatures. Over the annual cycle, near 0 °C temperatures and precipitation often exhibit a pattern with short durations near summer driven by the diurnal cycle, while longer durations tend to occur more towards winter associated with storms. There is also a tendency for near 0 °C temperatures to occur more often than expected relative to other temperature windows; due at least in part to diabatic cooling and heating occurring with melting and freezing, respectively, in the atmosphere and at the surface.
Relative selection as a function of two pre-weighted criteria: A study of two procedures

In contrast with absolute selection, which retains any candidate reaching some pre-determined level of the selection variables, relative selection deals with a pool of candidates among which a given number of individuals must be recruited. Trivially done when only one criterion is to be used, implementation of relative selection becomes more involved when two or more criteria are applied, each criterion having its own a priori, predetermined weight and no outcome measure being available. For instance, with two criteria, how may information from both criteria be combined, and can the respective, a priori weights assigned to the criteria be enforced on the selection results? The problem is analysed, and tentatively solved, and two implementation schemes, – additive and sequential – are described, mathematically examined, and exemplified.
Cambrian Garnet Sm-Nd Isotopic Ages from the Polydeformed Bolangir Anorthosite Complex, Eastern Ghats Belt, India: Implications for Intraplate Orogeny Coeval with Kuunga Orogeny during Gondwana Assembly

Terminal Gondwana assembly occurred along the Cambrian Kuunga suture with the collision of the late Neoproterozoic Greater India–Enderbia plate and the combined North Australian–Mawson-Crohn cratonic block, supported by paleomagnetic latitudinal positions from India between 750 and 500 Ma. As the scale of the collision would have resulted in far-field intraplate orogenesis, one likely locale to be affected is the 990–940 Ma Eastern Ghats Belt (EGB) in southeastern India, exposing reworked granulitic middle to lower crust. The EGB (conjugate to the Rayner Complex, East Antarctica) is a collage of Archean and Paleoproterozoic crustal provinces separated by high-grade ductile shear zones. From the ∼933 Ma polydeformed Bolangir anorthosite in a Paleoproterozoic EGB province, an attempt was made to constrain the time of the amphibolite facies reworking to test possible Cambrian synchronicity of exhumation of middle to lower crust with the 530–490 Ma Kuunga orogeny. Anorthosites have Paleoproterozoic depleted-mantle model ages (∼1.9 Ga, with ε Nd ( 930 Ma ) = −3.6 and −4.9) implying significant crustal assimilation. Combined anorthosite-garnet isochrons of samples PN 581e and PN 604 yielded an age of 495 ± 9 Ma, with Ndi of 0.51150 ± 0.00003 and MSWD of 2.9 ( n = 4 ). The isochron age from ferrodiorite PN 581e and PN 589 garnet fraction b and its leachate was 481 ± 12 Ma, with Ndi of 0.51155 ± 0.00005 and MSWD of 0.02 ( n = 3 ), whereas this age from multigrain garnet fraction c and its leachate was 475 ± 16 Ma, with Ndi of 0.51180 ± 0.00006 . The ∼500 Ma garnet ages from the anorthosite and ferrodiorite are interpreted as a regional upper amphibolite facies tectonothermal event. Localization, strain partitioning, and tectonic exhumation of middle to lower crust during Cambrian intraplate orogeny were due to (1) interaction of the in-plane stress field with the heterogeneous terranes comprising the Tonian-age EGB–Rayner Complex orogeny, (2) juxtaposition with a rheologically contrasted cratonic domain, and (3) thermal weakening due to the high-crustal-heat-flow regime.
Velocity Weakening of Simulated Augite Gouge at Hydrothermal Conditions: Implications for Frictional Slip of Pyroxene‐Bearing Mafic Lower Crust

To understand the velocity‐weakening behavior of pyroxene as a major constituent in mafic rocks under hydrothermal conditions, we employed augite (clinopyroxene, (Ca0.577Na0.110Mn0.004Mg0.886Fe2+0.193Fe3+0.037AlVI0.173Ti0.019)[AlIV0.137Si1. 863O6]) as simulated gouge sample material to run velocity stepping sliding tests at temperatures of 101–607 °C, confining pressure of 127 MPa with 30 MPa pore pressure and axial loading rates of 0.04–1.0 μm/s. The friction coefficient was found to range from 0.71 to 0.73 with no systematic temperature dependence. Velocity‐weakening behavior occurred at temperatures above 203 °C, with low velocity dependence or (b‐a) value around 0.0012, corresponding to b/a values of 1.15–1.18. Inferred b values in the rate and state friction laws exhibited an increasing trend with temperature increase from ~0.0056 to ~0.0098 up to 403 °C, indicating activation of Arrhenius‐type creep at the frictional contacts. Microstructural observations on deformed samples show ubiquitous precipitated particles suggesting intergranular pressure solution, and no evidence for deformation by crystalline plasticity was observed. This fact, together with the comparison between experimental data and model prediction, suggests that the process of intergranular pressure solution at frictional contacts may have governed the evolution effect for augite. The minor velocity weakening of augite combined with previous data on plagioclase is consistent with the modest velocity weakening seen in mafic rocks, such as quartz‐free oceanic basalt. Such a minor velocity‐weakening property tends to favor slow slip events on the downdip portion of the subduction interface below currently locked seismogenic zones, such as in southwestern Japan, northern Cascadia, and Mexico.
Use of Clickers for Assurance of Learning in Introductory Financial Accounting

Abstract This chapter provides guidance on the types of questions appropriate for use with clickers in an introductory financial accounting course. This study further examines whether the use of clickers improved learning outcomes as measured by the students’ test scores. Our findings show that students had a positive experience with using clickers. We find that test scores were higher in the semester when we used clickers compared with the semester when we did not use clickers. Clicker scores also were positively associated with students’ test scores. Clickers may serve as a useful educational tool to assess assurance of learning of introductory financial accounting. The instructor receives immediate feedback regarding students’ understanding of the materials, and the students also receive feedback about whether their understanding is correct. Both the instructor and students can then work on reviewing materials that the class does not understand well.
Epidemiological surveillance through cellphone metadata

Epidemics cause significant tolls financially and on the population. An epidemic can originate anywhere on the planet, and global epidemiological surveillance relies crucially on regional infrastructure whose capabilities and qualities differ across countries. Effective outbreak containment and eradication requires quick detection, which calls for a surveillance system that uses more common infrastructures. Here, we look to billing records of cell phones as a near-ubiquitous source of passively-collected metadata of real-time behavioral information and ask if a population’s interaction with the cell network can be used to quantify the number of symptomatic individuals in a community. An Icelandic mobile network operator provided call-detail records during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak in Iceland. Part I of this thesis determines if the passively collected cell phone metadata can quantifiably capture the behavioral change associated with the symptoms of influenza. Results show that diagnosed individuals move less, talk longer, and initiate fewer phone calls in the few days around their diagnosis. Part II of this thesis builds on the analysis work done in Part I and poses the problem of classifying symptomatic individuals in a population with machine learning. We compare four different machine learning models for detection and explore various input representations. Results indicate that there is a sufficient signal in the data for the model to estimate an epidemic curve on an aggregate level. Faraldsfræðilegt eftirlit með notkun farsímagagna Þorgeir Auðunn Karlsson
Analysis of Impacts of Land Use Changes in Kitengela Conservation Area on Migratory Wildlife of Nairobi National Park, Kenya

Nairobi National Park (NNP) in Kenya was established in 1946 to conserve the abundance and diversity of wildlife in the Kitengela-Athi-Kaputei plains, from excessive exploitation. It is currently fenced except on the Kitengela side across the Mbagathi River due to the sub-division of the group ranches, which commenced in the 1980s, limiting access of wildlife to the migratory corridor and dispersal areas. This paper is based on a study conducted to assess the impacts of the resultant land use changes in the Kitengela dispersal area/ migratory corridor on the migratory fauna of NNP, and to identify appropriate mitigation measures. The findings indicated that increased human settlement, led to changes in land uses which resulted into multiple negative impacts on the migratory wildlife of Nairobi National Park, mainly due to loss of dispersal area and blockage of migratory routes, leading to wildlife confinement, decreased wildlife tolerance and increased incidences of human wildlife conflicts. Data analysis indicated decline in migratory wildlife population thus negative effect (F=, 6.066, p<0.05). The findings also indicated that loss of migratory routes/dispersal area and reduced vegetation cover was regarded by 55% of the local community respondents as one of the main consequences of the land use changes resulting from the subdivision of the group ranches leading to decreased wildlife tolerance (β = 0.246) and wildlife confinement (β = 0.371) in NNP (p= 0.021, < 0.05, F= 2.678; R=0.179, R2= 0.032). The paper also discusses the mitigation measures for the longtime sustainability of the park, the dispersal area and migratory corridor, including holistic implementation of the Kitengela-Isinya-Kipeto Local Physical Development Plan, mapping and protection of the vital wildlife areas within the migratory range, including the wildebeest calving area in North Kaputiei.
Improving weather and climate predictions by training of supermodels

Abstract. Recent studies demonstrate that weather and climate predictions potentially improve by dynamically combining different models into a so-called “supermodel”. Here, we focus on the weighted supermodel – the supermodel's time derivative is a weighted superposition of the time derivatives of the imperfect models, referred to as weighted supermodeling. A crucial step is to train the weights of the supermodel on the basis of historical observations. Here, we apply two different training methods to a supermodel of up to four different versions of the global atmosphere–ocean–land model SPEEDO. The standard version is regarded as truth. The first training method is based on an idea called cross pollination in time (CPT), where models exchange states during the training. The second method is a synchronization-based learning rule, originally developed for parameter estimation. We demonstrate that both training methods yield climate simulations and weather predictions of superior quality as compared to the individual model versions. Supermodel predictions also outperform predictions based on the commonly used multi-model ensemble (MME) mean. Furthermore, we find evidence that negative weights can improve predictions in cases where model errors do not cancel (for instance, all models are warm with respect to the truth). In principle, the proposed training schemes are applicable to state-of-the-art models and historical observations. A prime advantage of the proposed training schemes is that in the present context relatively short training periods suffice to find good solutions. Additional work needs to be done to assess the limitations due to incomplete and noisy data, to combine models that are structurally different (different resolution and state representation, for instance) and to evaluate cases for which the truth falls outside of the model class.
Computational Thermodynamic Analysis of the Interaction between Coagulants and Monosaccharides as a Tool to Quantify the Fouling Potential Reduction in the Biofilm Membrane Bioreactor

The membrane bioreactor (MBR) and the biofilm membrane bioreactor (BF-MBR) are among key solutions to water scarcity; however, membrane fouling is the major bottleneck for any expansion of these technologies. Prepolymerized aluminum coagulants tend to exhibit the greatest extent of fouling alleviation, with the reduction of soluble microbial products (SMPs) being among the governing mechanisms, which, nevertheless, has been poorly understood. This current study demonstrates that the investigation of the chemical coordination of monosaccharides, which are the major foulants in MBR and BF-MBR, to the main hydrolysis species of the prepolymerized aluminum coagulant, is among the key approaches to the comprehension of the fouling mitigation mechanisms in BF-MBR. Quantum chemical and thermodynamic calculations, together with the multivariate chemometric analysis, allowed the team to determine the principal mechanisms of the SMPs removal, understand the thermodynamic patterns of fouling mitigation, develop the model for the prediction of the fouling mitigation based on the thermodynamic stability of the inorganic-organic complexes, and classify these complexes into thermodynamically stable and less stable species. The results of the study are practically significant for the development of plant surveillance and automated process control with regard to MBR and BF-MBR systems.
On the Automated Mapping of Snow Cover on Glaciers and Calculation of Snow Line Altitudes from Multi-Temporal Landsat Data

Mapping snow cover (SC) on glaciers at the end of the ablation period provides a possibility to rapidly obtain a proxy for their equilibrium line altitude (ELA) which in turn is a metric for the mass balance. Satellite determination of glacier snow cover, derived over large regions, can reveal its spatial variability and temporal trends. Accordingly, snow mapping on glaciers has been widely applied using several satellite sensors. However, as glacier ice originates from compressed snow, both have very similar spectral properties and standard methods to map snow struggle to distinguish snow on glaciers. Hence, most studies applied manual delineation of snow extent on glaciers. Here we present an automated tool, named ‘ASMAG’ (automated snow mapping on glaciers), to map SC on glaciers and derive the related snow line altitude (SLA) for individual glaciers using multi-temporal Landsat satellite imagery and a digital elevation model (DEM). The method has been developed using the example of the Ötztal Alps, where an evaluation of the method is possible using field-based observations of the annual equilibrium line altitude (ELA) and the accumulation area ratio (AAR) measured for three glaciers for more than 30 years. The tool automatically selects a threshold to map snow on glaciers and robustly calculates the SLA based on the frequency distribution of elevation bins with more than 50% SC. The accuracy of the SC mapping was about 90% and the SLA was determined successfully in 80% of all cases with a mean uncertainty of ±19 m. When cloud-free scenes close to the date of the highest snowline are available, a good to very good agreement of SC ratios (SCR)/SLA with field data of AAR/ELA are obtained, otherwise values are systematically higher/lower as useful images were often acquired too early in the summer season. However, glacier specific differences are still well captured. Snow mapping on glaciers is impeded by clouds and their shadows or when fresh snow is covering the glaciers, so that more frequent image acquisitions (as now provided by Sentinel-2) would improve results.