Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Dynamics of Cuba Anticyclones (CubANs) and Interaction With the Loop Current/Florida Current System

Mesoscale anticyclonic eddies along the northern Cuban coast (CubANs) have been identified in the Straits of Florida, associated with the northward shift of the Florida Current (FC) and the anticyclonic curvature of the Loop Current (LC) at the western entrance of the Straits. The dynamics of CubAN eddies and their interaction with the LC/FC system are described for the first time using satellite, drifter and buoy data, and a high-resolution model. It is shown that the evolution of CubANs to the south of the FC front complements the evolution of cyclonic eddies to the north of the FC, advancing previous studies on synergy between FC meandering and eddy activity. Two types of CubAN eddies are characterized: (a) a main anticyclonic cell (type “A”) within the core of the LC during retracted phase conditions, associated with the process of LC Eddy (LCE) shedding from an extended LC, and (b) an individual, distinct anticyclonic eddy that is released from the main LC core and is advected eastward, along the northern Cuban coast (type “B”). There are also mixed cases, when the process of LCE shedding has started, so a type “A” CubAN is being formed, in the presence of one or more eastward progressing type “B” eddies. CubAN evolution is associated with an increased mixed layer and weaker stratification of the upper ocean along the eddy's track. The cyclonic activity along the Cuban coast and wind-induced upwelling events also contribute to the evolution and fate of the CubAN eddies.
Projections of future habitat use by Atlantic bluefin tuna: mechanistic vs. correlative distribution models

mechanistic vs. correlative distribution models Barbara A. Muhling,* Richard Brill, John T. Lamkin, Mitchell A. Roffer, Sang-Ki Lee, Yanyun Liu and Frank Muller-Karger Princeton University Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Forrestal Campus/Sayre Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Highlands, NJ, USA Southeast Fisheries Science Center, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Miami, FL 33149, USA Roffer’s Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service, Inc, West Melbourne, FL 32904, USA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Miami, FL 33149, USA University of Miami Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, Miami, FL 33149, USA College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA *Corresponding author: tel: þ1-609-452-5322; e-mail: Barbara.Muhling@noaa.gov
Indifference Pricing and Hedging for Volatility Derivatives

Utility based indifference pricing and hedging are now considered to be an economically natural method for valuing contingent claims in incomplete markets. However, acceptance of these concepts by the wide financial community has been hampered by the computational and conceptual difficulty of the approach. This paper focuses on the problem of computing indifference prices for derivative securities in a class of incomplete stochastic volatility models general enough to include important examples. A rigorous development is presented based on identifying the natural martingales in the model, leading to a nonlinear Feynman–Kac representation for the indifference price of contingent claims on volatility. To illustrate the power of this representation, closed form solutions are given for the indifference price of a variance swap in the standard Heston model and in a new “reciprocal Heston” model. These are the first known explicit formulas for the indifference price for a class of derivatives that is important to the finance industry. * Research supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and MITACS, Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems Canada
Extended neuroleptic administration affects the NMDAR subunits immunoexpression in the rat diencephalon and neocortex

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of extended olanzapine, clozapine and haloperidol administration on NMDA-R subunit immunoexpression in the rat neocortex and diencephalon. Methods: To explore NR1, NR2A and NR2B subunit protein expression,densytometric analysis of immunohistochemically stained brain slices was performed. Results: Interestingly, all neuroleptics caused a downregulation of NMDA-R subunit expression in the thalamus but increased the level of NR1 in the hypothalamus. Olanzapine upregulated hypothalamic NR2A expression, while clozapine and haloperidol decreased hypothalamic levels.We observed no significant changes in NR2B immunoreactivity. None of the studied medications had significant influence on NMDA-R subunit expression in the neocortex. Conclusions: Neuroleptic-induced reduction in the expression of thalamic NMDA-R subunits may play an important role in the regulation of glutamatergic transmission disorders in cortico–striato–thalamo–cortical loop in schizophrenia. A decrease in NMDA signaling in this region after long-term neuroleptic administration may also cautiously explain the incomplete effectiveness of these drugs in the therapy of schizophrenia-related cognitive disturbances.
Screening of plant extracts for searching antiplasmodial activity. 110 Napreca Symposiun Book of Proceeding Antananarivo

The aim objective of this study consists in isolating the active molecules from plants used in traditional medicine to treat malaria and its symptoms. 197 plants were collected following to the ethnobotanic investigations. Plants were dried, powdered and macerated in a hydroalcoholic solution. Resulting extracts have been assessed for in vitro & in vivo antimalarial and toxicity activities. For the plants collected in Madagascar: 15 extracts (i.e. 16%) prepared from 91 medicinal plants (of which 57 are antimalarial) present an interesting antiplasmodial activity with a value of IC50 less than 10 μg/mL, their cytotoxicity are weak with a value of IC50 evaluated at more than 50 μg/mL. Two of these extracts have an ED50 lower than 100 mg/kg. 11 th NAPRECA Symposium Book of Proceedings, Antananarivo, Madagascar Pages 136-144 RAFATRO Herintsoa et al. 137 With regard to the Congolese plants: five out of twenty six (i.e. 19%) collected plants would be interesting.
On the relationship between spring NAO and snowmelt in the Upper Southwestern United States.

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and snowmelt in spring in the upper southwestern states of the United States (UP_SW) including California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, using SNOTEL datasets for 34 yr (1980–2014). Statistically significant negative correlations are found between NAO averages in the snowmelt period and timings of snowmelt (i.e., positive NAO phases in spring enhance snowmelt, and vice versa). It is also found that correlations between El Nino–Southern Oscillation and snowmelt are negligible in the region. The NAO–snowmelt relationship is most pronounced below the 2800-m level; above this level, the relationship becomes weaker. The underlying mechanism for this link is that a positioning of upper-tropospheric anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulations over the western United States that are associated with development of the positive (negative) NAO phases tends to bring warmer and drier (colder and wetter) spring weather conditions to the re.
Enhancing a Modular Effectful Programming Language

The focus of this thesis lies on several enhancements to Frank, a programming language that supports algebraic effects and effect handlers as core features. Effects serve as interfaces between command-requesting and command-handling components, thereby offering the programmer a modular and powerful means of abstraction. We improve the expressiveness of commands by making them polymorphic. Together with an extension of ML-style references, we can demonstrate the gained potential by implementing two concurrency models (actors, promises) within Frank. A prominent feature of Frank is the ambient ability which allows convenient composition of effect generators and effect handlers. We discuss different scenarios of composition and identify a problem with intermediate effects that are unintentionally exposed. We solve part of the problem and discuss how to solve the more general scenario. Another prominent feature of Frank are multihandlers that allow handling of multiple effects simultaneously. A dynamic semantics of this setting has been given so far via a translation to a setting of unary handlers. We give an operational small-step semantics that is more direct and closer to the actual implementation. Furthermore, we prove type soundness of the enhanced Frank version.
Geodetic imaging of potential seismogenic asperities on the Xianshuihe‐Anninghe‐Zemuhe fault system, southwest China, with a new 3‐D viscoelastic interseismic coupling model

We use GPS and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) measurements to image the spatial variation of interseismic coupling on the Xianshuihe‐Anninghe‐Zemuhe (XAZ) fault system. A new 3‐D viscoelastic interseismic deformation model is developed to infer the rotation and strain rates of blocks, postseismic viscoelastic relaxation, and interseismic slip deficit on the fault surface discretized with triangular dislocation patches. The inversions of synthetic data show that the optimal weight ratio and smoothing factor are both 1. The successive joint inversions of geodetic data with different viscosities reveal six potential fully coupled asperities on the XAZ fault system. Among them, the potential asperity between Shimian and Mianning, which does not exist in the case of 1019 Pa s, is confirmed by the published microearthquake depth profile. Besides, there is another potential partially coupled asperity between Daofu and Kangding with a length scale up to 140 km. All these asperity sizes are larger than the minimum resolvable wavelength. The minimum and maximum slip deficit rates near the Moxi town are 7.0 and 12.7 mm/yr, respectively. Different viscosities have little influence on the roughness of the slip deficit rate distribution and the fitting residuals, which probably suggests that our observations cannot provide a good constraint on the viscosity of the middle lower crust. The calculation of seismic moment accumulation on each segment indicates that the Songlinkou‐Selaha (S4), Shimian‐Mianning (S7), and Mianning‐Xichang (S8) segments are very close to the rupture of characteristic earthquakes. However, the confidence level is confined by sparse near‐fault observations.
The Participating Mind in the Quantum Universe

The Orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics, which followed the Copenhagen Interpretation but was enhanced by primarily Werner Heisenberg and John von Neumann into a fully developed theory, brought in, among others, the role of measurement, available choices and response of the quantum system. It is, more consistent and clear than other interpretations of quantum mechanics as it provides account of the interactions of observers with the external world. As such, the Orthodox interpretation does a lot more than just account for physical interactions in the atomic world, which was the original goal of quantum mechanics in the early part of the twentieth century. In this article we present several issues that may have been answered or need further development, such as measurement and observation, what is Nature and who the observer is. Extending Orthodox quantum mechanics, leading to universal non-dual Awareness may provide a consistent and integrated view of reality and is consistent with advances in mathematical theory. An issue of paramount importance is what are the philosophical underpinnings or ontological view of the quantum nature of the universe and the role of human minds, observations and choices. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:. 0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
Indirect validation of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide retrieved from the OMI satellite instrument: Insight into the seasonal variation of nitrogen oxides at northern midlatitudes

[1] We examine the seasonal variation in lower tropospheric nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) at northern midlatitudes by evaluating tropospheric NO2 columns observed from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) satellite instrument with surface NO2 measurements (SouthEastern Aerosol Research and Characterization and Air Quality System) and current bottom-up NOx emission inventories, using a global model of tropospheric chemistry (GEOS-Chem). The standard (SP) and DOMINO (DP) tropospheric NO2 column products from OMI exhibit broadly similar spatial and seasonal variation, but differ substantially over continental source regions. A comparison of the two OMI tropospheric NO2 products with in situ surface NO2 concentrations and bottom-up NOx emissions over the southeast United States indicates that annual mean NO2 columns from the DP are biased high by 21%–33% and those from the SP are biased high by 27%–43%. The bias in SP columns is highly seasonal, 67%–74% in summer compared with −6% to −1% in winter. Similar seasonal differences exist between top-down and bottom-up NOx emission inventories over North America, Europe, and East Asia. The air mass factor largely explains the observed seasonal difference between the DP and SP, and in turn the seasonal SP bias. We develop a third product (DP_GC) using averaging kernel information from the DP and NO2 vertical profiles from GEOS-Chem. This product reduces to 5%–21% the annual mean bias over the southeast United States. We use the seasonal variation in the DP_GC to estimate the seasonal variation in the lifetime of lower tropospheric NOx against oxidation to HNO3 over the eastern United States. The effective NOx lifetime at OMI overpass time (early afternoon) ranges from 7.6 h in summer to 17.8 h in winter, consistent within 3 h of the simulated lifetime. GEOS-Chem calculations reveal that the seasonal variation in OMI NO2 columns largely reflects gas-phase oxidation of NO2 in summer with an increasing role for heterogenous chemistry in winter.
Identification and effects of mixed infection of Potyvirus isolates with Cucumber mosaic virus in cucurbits.

Mixed infections in cucurbits are frequently observed in natural conditions between viruses from the Potyvirus genus and Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), which significantly decreases productivity. The objectives of the present study was to compare the host range of PRSV-W, WMV, and ZYMV isolates and evaluate the effects of mixed infections with CMV in zucchini plants (Cucurbita pepo L.). Host range studies comprising 23 plant species confirmed some similarities and biological differences among the isolates of PRSV-W, ZYMV, and WMV. RT-PCR confirmed the amplification of DNA fragments of the PRSV-W, WMV, and ZYMV coat protein gene (cp) and cytoplasm inclusion gene (ci). The virus interaction studies in zucchini Caserta plants indicated synergistic interactions, particularly among species from the Potyvirus genus, and some CMV interference with some virus combinations.
Glacier mass balance determination by remote sensing in the French Alps: progress and limitation for time series monitoring

This paper presents an approach founded on an indirect methodology to determine the distribution of mass balance at high spatial resolution using remote sensing and ground stakes measurements. A recent time series of images from optical and SAR data are selected on 3 outlet glaciers well suited in the French Alps to evaluate the accuracy of the computed mass balance. The method is based on the snowline determination as a proxy of the equilibrium line altitude (ELA). The key of the transfer is the activity coefficient (db/dz) for the annual mass balance calculation. Comparison between measured and computed mass balance provide a good correspondence (R/sup 2/=0.90) and allows extending the method on large-scale areas. The limitations are cloudiness for optical data and high slope distortion on SAR images.
ThoughtViz: Visualizing Human Thoughts Using Generative Adversarial Network

Studying human brain signals has always gathered great attention from the scientific community. In Brain Computer Interface (BCI) research, for example, changes of brain signals in relation to specific tasks (e.g., thinking something) are detected and used to control machines. While extracting spatio-temporal cues from brain signals for classifying state of human mind is an explored path, decoding and visualizing brain states is new and futuristic. Following this latter direction, in this paper, we propose an approach that is able not only to read the mind, but also to decode and visualize human thoughts. More specifically, we analyze brain activity, recorded by an ElectroEncephaloGram (EEG), of a subject while thinking about a digit, character or an object and synthesize visually the thought item. To accomplish this, we leverage the recent progress of adversarial learning by devising a conditional Generative Adversarial Network (GAN), which takes, as input, encoded EEG signals and generates corresponding images. In addition, since collecting large EEG signals in not trivial, our GAN model allows for learning distributions with limited training data. Performance analysis carried out on three different datasets -- brain signals of multiple subjects thinking digits, characters, and objects -- show that our approach is able to effectively generate images from thoughts of a person. They also demonstrate that EEG signals encode explicitly cues from thoughts which can be effectively used for generating semantically relevant visualizations.
Evaluation of space‐based constraints on global nitrogen oxide emissions with regional aircraft measurements over and downwind of eastern North America

[1] We retrieve tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) columns for May 2004 to April 2005 from the SCIAMACHY satellite instrument to derive top-down emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) via inverse modeling with a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem). Simulated NO2 vertical profiles used in the retrieval are evaluated with airborne measurements over and downwind of North America (ICARTT); a northern midlatitude lightning source of 1.6 Tg N yr−1 minimizes bias in the retrieval. Retrieved NO2 columns are validated (r2 = 0.60, slope = 0.82) with coincident airborne in situ measurements. The top-down emissions are combined with a priori information from a bottom-up emission inventory with error weighting to achieve an improved a posteriori estimate of the global distribution of surface NOx emissions. Our a posteriori NOx emission inventory for land surface NOx emissions (46.1 Tg N yr−1) is 22% larger than the GEIA-based a priori bottom-up inventory for 1998, a difference that reflects rising anthropogenic emissions, especially from East Asia. A posteriori NOx emissions for East Asia (9.8 Tg N yr−1) exceed those from other continents. The a posteriori inventory improves the GEOS-Chem simulation of NOx, peroxyacetylnitrate, and nitric acid with respect to airborne in situ measurements over and downwind of New York City. The a posteriori is 7% larger than the EDGAR 3.2FT2000 global inventory, 3% larger than the NEI99 inventory for the United States, and 68% larger than a regional inventory for 2000 for eastern Asia. SCIAMACHY NO2 columns over the North Atlantic show a weak plume from lightning NOx.
Strategic Uncertainty, Indeterminacy, and the Formation of International Environmental Agreements

Since the end of the Kyoto Protocol, global climate negotiations have shifted away from setting binding short-run targets on emissions towards placing long-term limits on global warming. We investigate how this alters the incentives for participation in a technology-centred international environmental agreement (IEA) where countries choose between conventional abatement and a breakthrough abatement technology that exhibits a network externality. When switching technologies is costly, we obtain that equilibrium adoption is indeterminate because the future adoption rate is subject to strategic uncertainty. Participation in an IEA that mandates the adoption of the breakthrough technology will be complete only if countries expect that all other countries will adopt eventually. Long-run temperature targets can be regarded as a device to coordinate countries’ expectations on that outcome.
Enhanced sulfate formation during China's severe winter haze episode in January 2013 missing from current models

A regional haze with daily PM2.5 (fine particulate matters with diameters less than 2.5 µm) exceeding 500 µg/m3 lasted for several days in January 2013 over North China, offering an opportunity to evaluate models. Observations show that inorganic aerosols (sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium) are the largest contributor to PM2.5 during the haze period, while sulfate shows the largest enhancement ratio of 5.4 from the clean to haze period. The nested‐grid GEOS‐Chem model reproduces the distribution of PM2.5 and simulates up to 364 µg/m3 of daily maximum PM2.5. Yet on average, the model is a factor of 3 and 4 lower in PM2.5 and fails to capture the large sulfate enhancement from the clean to haze period. A doubling of SO2 emissions over North China, along with daily meteorology corrections, would be required to reconcile model results with surface SO2 observations, but it is not sufficient to explain the model discrepancy in sulfate. Heterogeneous uptake of SO2 on deliquesced aerosols is proposed as an additional source of sulfate under high‐relative humidity conditions during the haze period. Parameterizing this process in the model improves the simulated spatial distribution and results in a 70% increase of sulfate enhancement ratio and a 120% increase in sulfate fraction in PM2.5. Combined adjustments in emissions, meteorology, and sulfate chemistry lead to higher sulfate by a factor of 3 and 50% higher PM2.5, significantly reducing the model's low bias during the haze.
A comparative study of different bleaching techniques, regarding the color change, stability and postoperative hypersensitivity: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Aim: In the management of patients with discolored teeth, would home bleaching alone or in combination with inoffice bleaching give better tooth color stability than in-office bleaching? This study aimed to test the effect of different bleaching techniques on color change, stability, and hypersensitivity. Methods: A total of 21 patients were collected and randomly divided into 3 equal groups (n = 7), the first group in-office treatment with 25% hydrogen peroxide, the second group at-home bleaching with 9.5% bleaching treatment), and the third group in-office and at-home as a combined treatment. Testing for color stability was completed; at baseline, 1 day after, 1 week after, 1 month after, and 6 months after treatment using the VITA Easyshade® spectrophotometer. Testing for hypersensitivity was completed; immediately after treatment, 24 h after, 48 h after, and 1 week after treatment using a visual analog scale. Results: The current study found that there was no significant difference between mean values and standard deviation of the three bleaching techniques regarding color change (∆E) and stability in follow-up periods; hypersensitivity faded for all tested groups on a follow-up period of seven days. Conclusion: The different tested bleaching techniques showed similar clinical efficiencies in a follow-up period of 6 months. Also, the different tested techniques showed equal color stability. The different tested techniques presented a similar degree of hypersensitivity which faded in the 7 days follow-up.