Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A precise extragalactic test of General Relativity

Testing General Relativity on galaxy scales Einstein's theory of gravity, General Relativity (GR), has been tested precisely within the Solar System. However, it has been difficult to test GR on the scale of an individual galaxy. Collett et al. exploited a nearby gravitational lens system, in which light from a distant galaxy (the source) is bent by a foreground galaxy (the lens). Mass distribution in the lens was compared with the curvature of space-time around the lens, independently determined from the distorted image of the source. The result supports GR and eliminates some alternative theories of gravity. Science, this issue p. 1342 A nearby gravitational lens is used to test General Relativity, favoring Einstein’s theory over some alternative models. Einstein’s theory of gravity, General Relativity, has been precisely tested on Solar System scales, but the long-range nature of gravity is still poorly constrained. The nearby strong gravitational lens ESO 325-G004 provides a laboratory to probe the weak-field regime of gravity and measure the spatial curvature generated per unit mass, γ. By reconstructing the observed light profile of the lensed arcs and the observed spatially resolved stellar kinematics with a single self-consistent model, we conclude that γ = 0.97 ± 0.09 at 68% confidence. Our result is consistent with the prediction of 1 from General Relativity and provides a strong extragalactic constraint on the weak-field metric of gravity.
Short Report: Effects of Biochar Addition on Manure Composting and Associated N 2 O Emissions

Recent interests in biochar stem from its agronomic benefits and carbon sequestration potentials in soil applications. As a not fully understood newer concept, adding biochar as a bulking agent to animal manure composting has the potential to enhance the performance of composting process and reduce associated N2O emissions. This short report presents emerging trends and knowledge gaps in this research area, and provides an introduction to understand the mechanism by which biochar impacts manure composting performance and N2O fluxes.
Rosiglitazone inhibits lipopolysaccharide-induced A 549 cell apoptosis and inflammation

The present study was aimed at clarifying the effects of an anti-inflammatory agent, rosiglitazone, on the progression of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in vitro model induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 10 μg/ml) in A549 cells. Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) agonist rosiglitazone (10 mM) was added into the LPS-stimulated A549 cells for 48 h. Cell viability and proliferation of A549 was examined by CCK-8 and Brdu assay, respectively. Cell apoptosis and ROS generation in response to LPS and rosiglitazone were measured by flow cytometry assay. The contents of TNF-α, IL-6 and MCP-1 in supernatants of A549 cells were measured by ELISA. The expression of PPARγ, NF-κBp65, Bax, Bcl-2, NOX4 and iNOS was measured by Real-time PCR and Western blotting. Our results showed that LPS induced cell apoptosis and inflammation response, suggesting a success of ARDS model was established. Rosiglitazone treatment reduced LPS-induced injury in A549 cells, evidenced by inhibiting cell apoptosis, ROS generation and secretion of TNF-α, IL-6 and MCP-1. Furthermore, rosiglitazone also inhibited LPS-induced increased expression of NOX4, iNOS, NF-κBp65 and Bax. Taken together, our data suggest that LPS inhibits A549 cell viability and proliferation and induces apoptosis through inhibiting PPARγ, which was reversed by rosiglitazone, and thus rosiglitazone may serve as an agent for ARDS treatment.
Outcomes of Pars Plana Vitrectomy in Combination With Penetrating Keratoplasty

Purpose: To report indications and outcomes of combined pars plana vitrectomy and penetrating keratoplasty (PPV-PKP). Methods: A review of all patients who underwent PPV-PKP at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary from January 1, 2001 to May 31, 2013, was performed. Ninety eyes of 90 patients were identified. Survival analysis was utilized to assess differences in retinal detachment (RD) and corneal graft failure rates among groups based on clinical and surgical variables. Results: Seventy-nine eyes met the inclusion criteria. Most common indications for vitrectomy and corneal transplantation were RD (65%) and corneal decompensation (43%), respectively. The preoperative and final visual acuity (VA) logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution values were 2.7 (0.31) and 2.5 (0.67) (hand motions; mean [SD]; P = .02); 15% of eyes were ≥20/400 and 15% gained ≥2 lines of vision following surgery. Corneal graft failure occurred in 51% (40 eyes), recurrent RD in 28% (22 eyes), and hypotony in 25% (20 eyes). Silicone oil endotamponade was associated with postoperative RD (P = .045), and previous ocular trauma was associated with postoperative corneal graft failure (P = .023). Conclusion: Combined PPV-PKP surgery was likely to achieve stabilization of VA, with a minority of eyes achieving modest gains in VA.
Year‐round measurements of net ecosystem CO2 flux over a montane larch forest in Mongolia

[1] Mongolian boreal forest merits special attention since it is located in the transitional area between the southern Siberian boreal forest and the Asian steppe zone, a vulnerable region being potentially affected by global warming and anthropogenic activities. This paper presents the first full-year-long continuous measurements of net ecosystem CO2 flux (NEE) made over a montane larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) forest in Mongolia from 25 March 2003 to 24 March 2004 (366 days) using the eddy covariance technique. The hourly maximum uptake was −10.1 μmol m−2 s−1. The maximum daily uptake of −4.0 g C m−2 d−1 (negative NEE values denote net carbon uptake by the canopy from the atmosphere) occurred in July. The annual cumulative NEE was −85 g C m−2, indicating that the forest acted as a net sink of CO2. We examined the responses of NEE to environmental conditions in the growing season from May to September. Both daytime 30-min mean and daily integrated NEE responded to incident photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) in a rectangular hyperbolic fashion. Model results show that the apparent quantum yield (α) was −0.0133 ± 0.0011 μmol CO2 per μmol of photons, and the bulk light use efficiency (LUE) on the daily basis was −6.7 mmol CO2 per mole of PAR photons over the entire growing season for this forest. Additionally, daily integrated NEE was also a linear function of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), a linear function of mean daily air temperature (Ta), and a quadratic polynomial function of daily means of the atmospheric water vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Among these factors, LAI (as measured by NDVI) was dominant in affecting the dynamics of NEE, followed by Ta. Lower Ta was limiting the growth rate of this montane larch forest. As daily means of VPD exceeded 1.2 kPa, net CO2 uptake by the canopy declined. Nevertheless, water stress was not observed as a problem for the forest growth.
Diving behaviour of chinstrap penguins at Seal Island

Diving behaviour of chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) was studied in four adults brooding chicks on Seal Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. During foraging trips to sea, chinstrap penguins made shallow, short duration dives almost continuously, for the most part within 50 m of the surface. Diving effort was concentrated during the daylight hours (10h00-15h00), although a second peak in effort was seen around midnight (22h00-02h00). These peaks were possibly due to the constraints of visual location of prey, chick provisioning, or the need to take advantage of diurnal changes in krill swarm densities or behaviour. It was estimated that most effort was concentrated 3-20 km from shore. Dive depth and duration averaged 31.0 m (± 26.3m) and 72s(± 36s), respectively. Maximum dive depth and duration were 121m and 180s, respectively.
Motivated by us But Not by Them: Group Membership Influences the Impact of Counterfactual Thinking on Behavioral Intentions

Counterfactual thoughts about “what might have been” allow individuals to improve future outcomes based on insights from past events. Previous research has examined how counterfactuals about the self facilitate future improvement. The current research examined how group membership influences behavioral intentions developed from counterfactuals about another's actions. Participants who read counterfactual-inducing vignettes formed stronger intentions relative to participants who read non–counterfactual-inducing vignettes; this effect was stronger for in-group targets than for out-group targets (Study 1). Furthermore, when group membership was manipulated experimentally, counterfactuals facilitated behavioral intention judgments for in-group targets but not out-group targets (Study 2). Together, the current research demonstrates that group membership can influence the counterfactual-behavioral intention relationship.
Normal Utilization as the Adjusting Variable in Neo‐Kaleckian Growth Models: A Critique

As well-known, the canonical Neo-Kaleckian growth model fails to reconcile actual and normal rates of utilization in equilibrium. Some recent contributions revive an old proposal for solving this problem – making the normal rate of utilization an endogenous variable that converges to the actual utilization rate – justifying it with new, micro-founded premises. We argue that these new justifications for the convergence of normal to actual utilization do not stand closer scrutiny. First, the proposed microeconomic model relies on various restrictive assumptions, some of which are mutually inconsistent. Second, the derivation of the macroeconomic adjustment mechanism from the microeconomic analysis involves a logical leap, that can be justified only by a very arbitrary assumption with little economic justification. Finally, we discuss the way in which this mechanism has been incorporated into the Neo-Kaleckian growth model by proposers of this approach. We show that, even if one puts aside, for the sake of argument, the first two points, the existence of autonomous components of demand is sufficient to invalidate the resulting macroeconomic model.
Accuracy assessment of Precise Point Positioning with multi-constellation GNSS data under ionospheric scintillation effects

GPS and GLONASS are currently the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) with full 16 operational capacity. The integration of GPS, GLONASS and future GNSS constellations can 17 provide better accuracy and more reliability in geodetic positioning, in particular for kinematic 18 Precise Point Positioning (PPP), where the satellite geometry is considered a limiting factor to 19 achieve centimeter accuracy. The satellite geometry can change suddenly in kinematic 20 positioning in urban areas or under conditions of strong atmospheric effects such as for instance 21 ionospheric scintillation that may degrade satellite signal quality, causing cycle slips and even 22 loss of lock. Scintillation is caused by small scale irregularities in the ionosphere and is 23 characterized by rapid changes in amplitude and phase of the signal, which are more severe in 24 equatorial and high latitudes geomagnetic regions. In this work, geodetic positioning through the 25 PPP method was evaluated with integrated GPS and GLONASS data collected in the equatorial 26 region under varied scintillation conditions. The GNSS data were processed in kinematic PPP 27 mode and the analyses show accuracy improvements of up to 60% under conditions of strong 28 scintillation when using multi-constellation data instead of GPS data alone. The concepts and 29 analyses related to the ionospheric scintillation effects, the mathematical model involved in PPP 30 with GPS and GLONASS data integration as well as accuracy assessment with data collected 31 under ionospheric scintillation effects are presented.
Genetics of acute pancreatitis

It becomes increasingly apparent that acute pancreatitis (AP), recurrent acute pancreatitis (RAP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP) represent overlapping phenotypes of a single disease entity and the latter may begin in the guise of the former. Accordingly the genetic risk factors that have been identified for chronic pancreatitis have also been found to be of some relevance in acute and recurrent acute pancreatitis. Other inherited factors have been found to not influence disease susceptibility but rather the disease severity of AP. The most prominent in this category are genes that regulate cytokines and inflammatory response proteins. This chapter reviews the genetic changes that confer disease susceptibility as well as severity in patients with acute pancreatitis.
Radiocarbon Dating of the Last Volcanic Eruptions of Ciomadul Volcano, Southeast Carpathians, Eastern-Central Europe

This paper provides new accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon age data for the last volcanic events in the Carpathian-Pannonian region of eastern-central Europe. The eruption ages were determined on charcoal fragments collected from pumiceous pyroclastic flow deposits at 2 localities of the Ciomadul Volcano. Two charcoal samples from the southeastern margin of the volcano (Bixad locality) set the date of the last volcanic eruption to 27,200 ± 260 yr BP (29,500 ± 260 cal BC). On the other hand, our data show that the Tusnad pyroclastic flow deposit, previously considered as representing the youngest volcanic rock of the region, erupted at ∼39,000 yr BP (∼41,300 cal BC). Thus, a period of dormancy more than 10,000 yr long might have elapsed between the 2 volcanic events. The different ages of the Tusnad and Bixad pyroclastic flow deposits are confirmed also by the geochemical data. The bulk pumices, groundmass glass, and the composition of the main mineral phases (plagioclase and amphibole) suggest eruption of slightly different magmas. Considering also the assumed long volcanic history (∼600 ka) of the Ciomadul, these data suggest that further detailed studies are necessary on this seemingly inactive volcano in order to evaluate the possible renewal of volcanic activity in the future.
Aberrant default mode network in patients with vascular cognitive impairment , no dementia

This study investigated changes in the default mode network (DMN) in patients with vascular cognitive impairment, no dementia (VCIND) using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI). Imaging data were collected for 14 patients with VCIND and 15 healthy controls matched by age, sex, and educational level. Whole brain voxelwise amplitude low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and functional connectivity (FC) between posterior cingulum and other brain gray voxels were computed and compared between patients and controls. Our results indicated that VCIND patients had aberrant ALFF and FC measures in the DMN, providing functional imaging evidence for the clinical diagnosis of VCIND.
The Formation of Magnetic Depletions and Flux Annihilation Due to Reconnection in the Heliosheath

The misalignment of the solar rotation axis and the magnetic axis of the Sun produces a periodic reversal of the Parker spiral magnetic field and the sectored solar wind. The compression of the sectors is expected to lead to reconnection in the heliosheath (HS). We present particle-in-cell simulations of the sectored HS that reflect the plasma environment along the Voyager 1 and 2 trajectories, specifically including unequal positive and negative azimuthal magnetic flux as seen in the Voyager data. Reconnection proceeds on individual current sheets until islands on adjacent current layers merge. At late time, bands of the dominant flux survive, separated by bands of deep magnetic field depletion. The ambient plasma pressure supports the strong magnetic pressure variation so that pressure is anticorrelated with magnetic field strength. There is little variation in the magnetic field direction across the boundaries of the magnetic depressions. At irregular intervals within the magnetic depressions are long-lived pairs of magnetic islands where the magnetic field direction reverses so that spacecraft data would reveal sharp magnetic field depressions with only occasional crossings with jumps in magnetic field direction. This is typical of the magnetic field data from the Voyager spacecraft. Voyager 2 data reveal that fluctuations in the density and magnetic field strength are anticorrelated in the sector zone, as expected from reconnection, but not in unipolar regions. The consequence of the annihilation of subdominant flux is a sharp reduction in the number of sectors and a loss in magnetic flux, as documented from the Voyager 1 magnetic field and flow data.
Imaging ionospheric inhomogeneities using spaceborne synthetic aperture radar

[1] We present a technique and results of 2-D imaging of Faraday rotation and total electron content using spaceborne L band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR). The results are obtained by processing PolSAR data collected using the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) on board the Advanced Land Observation Satellite. Distinguished ionospheric inhomogeneities are captured in 2-D images from space with relatively high resolutions of hundreds of meters to a couple of kilometers in auroral-, middle-, and low-latitude regions. The observed phenomena include aurora-associated ionospheric enhancement arcs, the middle-latitude trough, traveling ionospheric disturbances, and plasma bubbles, as well as ionospheric irregularities. These demonstrate a new capability of spaceborne synthetic aperture radar that will not only provide measurements to correction of ionospheric effects in Earth science imagery but also significantly benefit ionospheric studies.
Cache-Enabled HetNets With Millimeter Wave Small Cells

In this paper, we consider a novel cache-enabled heterogeneous network (HetNet), where macro base stations (BSs) with traditional sub-6 GHz are overlaid by dense millimeter wave (mmWave) pico BSs. These two-tier BSs, which are modeled as two independent homogeneous Poisson point processes, cache multimedia contents following the popularity rank. High-capacity backhauls are utilized between macro BSs and the core server. In contrast to the simplified flat-top antenna pattern analyzed in previous articles, we employ an actual antenna model with the uniform linear array at all mmWave BSs. To evaluate the performance of our system, we introduce two distinctive user association strategies: 1) maximum received power (Max-RP) scheme; and 2) maximum rate (Max-Rate) scheme. With the aid of these two schemes, we deduce new theoretical equations for success probabilities and area spectral efficiencies. Considering a special case with practical path loss laws, several closed-form expressions for coverage probabilities are derived to gain several insights. Monte Carlo simulations are presented to verify the analytical conclusions. We show that: 1) the proposed HetNet is an interference-limited system and it outperforms the traditional HetNets in terms of the success probability; 2) there exists an optimal pre-decided rate threshold that contributes to the maximum ASE; and 3) Max-Rate achieves higher success probability and ASE than Max-RP but it needs the extra information of the interference effect.
Mapping plant communities in the Intertidal Zones of the Yellow River Delta using Sentinel-2 Optical and Sentinel-1 SAR Time series data

Classification and mapping of the intertidal vegetation play a critical role in wetland conservation planning and policy. Serving as the early indicator of wetland degradation, plant communities in the intertidal zone re the most critical ecological variable in wetland assessment. Traditional survey methods are expensive nd time-consuming. With the development of remote sensing techniques, optical satellite images become more popular and efficient compared with field survey. However, the quality of optical images would be nfluenced by clouds and weather. Thus weather-independent SAR data is considered to provide omplementary information for mapping intertidal plant communities. Vegetation indices derived from ptical time series data play a crucial role in characterising vegetation phenology. In this study, the ntertidal plant communities of the Yellow River Delta were classified using random forest algorithm ased on Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time series images as well as the NDVI statistic parameters derived rom Sentinel-2 time series. The variable importance of different input data from various classification cenarios was also evaluated. It was found that a high mapping accuracy for the intertidal plant ommunities was achieved with an overall mapping accuracy of 75.7% and the Kappa coefficient of 0.73 when integrating the Sentinel-2 time series images with its associated NDVI statistic parameters, which is ignificantly higher than the mapping accuracies derived from either the single-date Sentinel-2 images, entinel-1 SAR time series images or the NDVI statistic parameters alone. Besides, when combining entinel-1 time series, Sentinel-2 time series and NDVI statistic parameters, a further improved mapping ccuracy was achieved with an overall mapping accuracy of 77.7% and the Kappa coefficient of 0.75. The esearch also showed that autumn image and the red edge bands are the most critical variables for mapping intertidal plant communities. The study suggests that combining the Sentinel-2 optical images with the Sentinel-1 SAR images makes it possible to map intertidal plant communities in a dynamic cosystem successfully, and with higher accuracy than when using either the Sentinel-2 time series or the entinel-1 time series.
An exploration of differences in the scaling of life history traits with body mass within reptiles and between amniotes

Abstract Allometric relationships linking species characteristics to body size or mass (scaling) are important in biology. However, studies on the scaling of life history traits in the reptiles (the nonavian Reptilia) are rather scarce, especially for the clades Crocodilia, Testudines, and Rhynchocephalia (single extant species, the tuatara). Previous studies on the scaling of reptilian life history traits indicated that they differ from those seen in the other amniotes (mammals and birds), but so far most comparative studies used small species samples and also not phylogenetically informed analyses. Here, we analyzed the scaling of nine life history traits with adult body mass for crocodiles (n = 22), squamates (n = 294), turtles (n = 52), and reptiles (n = 369). We used for the first time a phylogenetically informed approach for crocodiles, turtles, and the whole group of reptiles. We explored differences in scaling relationships between the reptilian clades Crocodilia, Squamata, and Testudines as well as differences between reptiles, mammals, and birds. Finally, we applied our scaling relationships, in order to gain new insights into the degree of the exceptionality of the tuatara's life history within reptiles. We observed for none of the life history traits studied any difference in their scaling with body mass between squamates, crocodiles, and turtles, except for clutch size and egg weight showing small differences between these groups. Compared to birds and mammals, scaling relationships of reptiles were similar for time‐related traits, but they differed for reproductive traits. The tuatara's life history is more similar to that of a similar‐sized turtle or crocodile than to a squamate.