Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Role of the Indian Ocean in Regional Climate Variability

The role of the Indian Ocean in regional climate variability has been studied for a long time. Whether the Indian Ocean plays an active role or simply responds passively to the wind and heat flux variability generated elsewhere remains somewhat of an open question. Here we attempt a fairly comprehensive review of the literature relating to the Indian Ocean variability at all time-scales and to the current understanding of the role of this tropical ocean in the coupled climate system. Despite an investigative history of more than a century, it is fair to say that the role of the Indian Ocean in regional monsoon variability, the most important climate process in this sector, remains to be fully understood and remains an active area of diagnostic and modeling research. This translates into limited success of the state-of-the-art monsoon forecast systems, statistical and dynamical. Much attention in the last few years has been focused on the east-west mode of variability, referred to as the dipole or the zonal mode. While there is incontrovertible evidence that the Indian Ocean plays an active role in some of these dipole/zonal mode events, the self-sustainability of this mode and its impact on regional and global climate is still a matter of debate. The most significant impediment to improving the predictive understanding of the region is the fact that at all time-scales sea surface temperature variability of the Indian Ocean is most often in the range of observational errors. The need for coordinated and sustained observations and diagnostic studies along with continued investigations using a hierarchy of models has been well-recognized, because monsoons form an integral part of the global climate system and the ENSO cycles. It is thus hoped that the role of the Indian Ocean in the coupled climate system will be much better quantified in the coming years, leading to significant improvements in regional coupled climate forecasts.
The Intensity and Pattern of Syndecan-1 (CD138) Expression in Normal and Diseased Livers

Introduction Heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) belong to the syndecan family, and syndecan-1 (CD138) is a heparan sulfate proteoglycan. Syndecan-1 has a potential role in cell-matrix and cell-cell communications as they are present in cell epithelium. Its expression is different in an extensive range of benign, inflammatory, and neoplastic diseases. In routine histopathology, it is used as a marker for plasma cells. However, it is expressed in a large variety of normal and neoplastic epithelia including squamous epithelium and gastric glandular epithelium expressed in other tissues, i.e., the liver. In the liver, variable expression is seen in cirrhosis, hepatitis, and carcinoma. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of this marker in normal, inflammatory, and neoplastic lesions of the liver. This in turn may help clinicians to select patients who may benefit from anti-CD138 therapy. It is currently used in the diagnosis and management of plasma cell proliferations. Material and methods This is a retrospective study in which we retrieved 53 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) liver specimen blocks and selected one block from each case by reviewing the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) slides of each case. Syndecan-1 (CD138), pancytokeratin, and CD68 expression were analyzed immunohistochemically (IHC) to evaluate the percentage and intensity of CD138 expression in various hepatic entities and identify those entities where syndecan-1 can be consistently used to make a definitive diagnosis. Results The expression of pancytokeratin and CD68 was analyzed in hepatocytes and Kupffer cells, respectively. For syndecan-1 (CD138), 15.4% of cases showed basolateral membranous positivity, 44.6% of cases showed complete membranous positivity, and 40% of cases showed no positivity in hepatocytes. Cytokeratin (CK) was positive as expected in hepatocytes, and CD68 was expressed in Kupffer cells. Conclusion CD138 does not appear to be a reliable surrogate marker for liver disease. However, it may be included with other ancillary markers as a predictor of the stage of chronic liver disease and metastatic potential. The response to anti-CD138 therapy needs to be further studied.
Investigation of a Possible Link between Solar Activity and Climate Change in Saudi Arabia: Rainfall Patterns

In this study, annual, quarterly, and monthly mean precipitation data in Saudi Arabia were correlated with sunspot number (SSN) and galactic cosmic ray (CR) flux over 35 years (1985-2019). The results show that the strength, magnitude, proportion and statistical significance of the relationship between precipitation and the two variables varied by season and month. We find that mean annual precipitation in Saudi Arabia, from May to November, and summer and autumn are correlated with cosmic rays and inversely correlated with SSN. Correlations of varying intensities and scales were found during the remaining months and during winter and spring. The relationships be-tween the rainfall and SSN and CR for each solar cycle were investigated and showed that for all three cycles, the annual rainfall over Saudi Arabia has a positive correlation with CR. Different results were obtained when the seasonal rainfall data correlated with the SSNs and CRs during each cycle. The results obtained, in terms of their strength and magnitude, are affected by terrestrial and extra-terrestrial factors. These factors have been briefly presented and discussed. These findings represent a step towards understanding the possible role of solar activity in climate change for future meteorological phenomenon forecasting, even if the physical mechanism is still poorly quantified.
Exploring the feasibility of outdoor indigenous games and songs to enhance play-based pedagogy in early childhood education

Indigenous play activities are crucial to cross-cultural knowledge and practice and are gaining ground as a pedagogical approach in early childhood education settings. The study aimed at systematically documenting culturally and developmentally appropriate outdoor indigenous games that could serve as resource materials for play-based learning in ECE centres. Participants comprising teachers, parents, grandparents, and adolescent girls and boys were drawn from Lufwanyama district of Zambia. Data was generated through Participatory Action Research to allow inter-cultural dialogue. Data was analysed using thematic categorisation. Results showed that documentation of indigenous games can serve as a resource capital for enhancing play-based learning practice in an early childhood education setting. The study further revealed that integrating indigenous games can strengthen home-school linkages through active community engagement. The study recommends that teachers can effectively implement play-based learning when the reservoir of developmentally appropriate indigenous games is easily accessible to them. We further argue for rethinking early childhood education pedagogical practice so that learning and development are seen as being influenced more by contextually responsive play and exploration, than by direct instruction and teaching.
Taxonomic synopsis of Caryomene (Menispermaceae) in the Brazilian Amazon

ABSTRACT Caryomene comprises five species distributed in South America. For more than half a century, the genus has not received taxonomic treatment. However, many recent collections were carried out in Amazonia and new occurrences need to be inserted. The present study aimed to elaborate a synoptic treatment of the species collected in Amazonia and botanical specimens from 32 herbaria. The results pointed out the presence of five species in Amazonia, of which C. grandifolia, C. foveolada, C. olivascens and C. prumnoides are new occurrences. The states of Amazonas and Pará represent the two main distribution centers for the species. The fruit characters are the ones that best separate the species. An identification key, descriptions and illustrations of the species that occur in Amazonia are presented.
A multichannel seismic investigation of upper crustal structure at 9°N on the East Pacific Rise: Implications for crustal accretion

Reprocessed multichannel seismic profiles from the 9°N segment of the East Pacific Rise reveal prominent shallow subbasement events. These events are identified as wide-angle reflections from the base of seismic layer 2A, based upon modeling of expanding spread profile data and velocity functions. The layer 2A reflections typically increase from 0.15 s after the seafloor reflection at the rise axis to 0.3–0.45 s within 1–2 km of the axis, corresponding to an increase in layer thickness of 200–600 m. No further systematic increase in layer thickness is observed, although lateral variability of the order of a few hundred meters in thickness is observed at greater offsets from the rise axis. However, the intermittent character of the imaged layer 2A reflection is attributed to focusing and defocusing of energy by the seafloor bathymetry rather than necessarily to intrinsic lateral variability at the base of the layer. The base of layer 2A is interpreted as corresponding to the transition between the extrusive section, pillow basalts and sheet flows, and a sheeted dike complex. The rapid thickening of the layer near the rise axis is attributed to successive lava flows burying the initially shallow top of the sheeted dike complex as the layer passes through the neovolcanic zone. Lateral variability of layer 2A can significantly affect the imaging of the underlying axial magma chambers as average velocities within layer 2A are approximately half that of layer 2B. For an along-axis profile, apparent along-axis variability in the depth of the axial magma chamber is traced to variability in the thickness of layer 2A caused by wandering of the profile relative to axis. Within the resolution of the data, the time delay of the magma chamber reflection relative to the base of layer 2A is constant.
Investigation of Novel Flax Fiber/Epoxy Composites with Increased Biobased Content

Currently, biobased epoxy resins derived from plant oils and natural fibers are available on the market and are a promising substitute for fossil-based products. The purpose of this work is to investigate novel lightweight thermoset fiber-reinforced composites with extremely high biobased content. Paying attention to the biobased content, following a cascade pathway, many trials were carried out with different types of resins and hardeners to select the best ones. The most promising formulations were then used to produce flax fiber reinforced composites by vacuum bagging process. The main biocomposite properties such as tensile, bending, and impact properties as well as the individuation of their glass transition temperatures (by DSC) were assessed. Three biocomposite systems were investigated with biobased content ranging from 60 to 91%, obtaining an elastic modulus that varied from 2.7 to 6.3 GPa, a flexural strength from 23 to 108.5 MPa, and Charpy impact strength from 11.9 to 12.2 kJ/m2. The properties reached by the new biocomposites are very encouraging; in fact, their stiffness vs. lightweight (calculated by the E/ρ3 ratio) is comparable to some typical epoxy–glass composites.
Acidity decline in Antarctic ice cores during the Little Ice Age linked to changes in atmospheric nitrate and sea salt concentrations

Acidity is an important chemical variable that impacts atmospheric and snowpack chemistry. Here we describe composite time series and the spatial pattern of acidity concentration (Acy = H+ − HCO3−) during the last 2000 years across the Dronning Maud Land region of the East Antarctic Plateau using measurements in seven ice cores. Coregistered measurements of the major ion species show that sulfuric acid (H2SO4), nitric acid (HNO3), and hydrochloric acid (HCl) determine greater than 98% of the acidity value. The latter, also described as excess chloride (ExCl−), is shown mostly to be derived from postdepositional diffusion of chloride with little net gain or loss from the snowpack. A strong inverse linear relationship between nitrate concentration and inverse accumulation rate provides evidence of spatially homogenous fresh snow concentrations and reemission rates of nitrate from the snowpack across the study area. A decline in acidity during the Little Ice Age (LIA, 1500–1900 Common Era) is observed and is linked to declines in HNO3 and ExCl− during that time. The nitrate decline is found to correlate well with published methane isotope data from Antarctica (δ13CH4), indicating that it is caused by a decline in biomass burning. The decrease in ExCl− concentration during the LIA is well correlated to published sea surface temperature reconstructions in the Atlantic Ocean, which suggests increased sea salt aerosol production associated with greater sea ice extent.
Interference of cultivar and ways of cultivation in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) yield and conservation

This study aimed to measure the yield and postharvest conservation of three lettuce varieties (Crisp, Mimosa, and Iceberg) grown in two different cultivation systems (Conventional and Hydroponic) and stored under two conditions (Ambient temperature and Refrigerated). The experiment used a randomized design with tree factors (cultivars, cultivation systems and storage types) and 4 repetitions. The samples were collected randomly, in the city of Francisco Beltrão-PR, Brasil, from a local producer. The yield (head diameter, leaf size, number of leaves, stem length and fresh weight), the physicochemical characteristics (moisture, ash, soluble solids, pH, titratable acidity, fiber, vitamin C and nitrate), and post-harvest conservation (color/darkness and occurrence of post-harvest rots) were evaluated. The results showed that lettuce from conventional cultivation had the highest yield. The physicochemical parameters presented different behaviors related to cultivars and cropping systems. The lettuce of conventional cultivation presented higher content of minerals (ash) and vitamin C. On the other hand, the hydroponic cultivation proved to be more efficient in post-harvest conservation. The refrigerated environment proved to be more suitable for the conservation of vegetables, since they presented a better overall appearance. Storage at ambient temperature, in turn, contributed to greatest deterioration of the plants.
Why Choose Career Technical Education? Disentangling Student Preferences from Program Availability

This paper presents the first evidence of how students make career technical education (CTE) course-taking decisions. Among the universe of Michigan high-schoolers we find large disparities in CTE access and participation by gender, race, and income. We decompose participation gaps between supply (access) and demand (preferences) with a simple discrete choice model. We find that student preferences for CTE content drive participation gaps by gender, inequities in access drive gaps by income, and school-level supply and demand factors combine to create the gaps by race. Policy simulations highlight the importance of accessible CTE delivery models within comprehensive high schools. JEL Codes: I21, J24, I24 *We thank Katia Garcia Cordoba, Jeremy Guardiola and Nathan Sotherland for excellent research assistance. We thank Jill Kroll, Brian Pyles and others at the Michigan Department of Education Office of Career and Technical Education for their invaluable advice and support. The project received approval from the University of Michigan’s Institutional Review Board: HUM00104615. This research used data structured and maintained by the MERI-Michigan Education Data Center (MEDC). MEDC data are modified for analysis purposes using rules governed by MEDC and are not identical to those data collected and maintained by the Michigan Department of Education and/or Michigan’s Center for Educational Performance and Information. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of any other entity. †University of Michigan & NBER (bajacob@umich.edu) ‡National Bureau of Economic Research (ricksmi@umich.edu)
THE ASSESSMENT OF PELAGIC FISH STOCK AND ITS DISTRIBUTIONS IN INDIAN OCEAN BY SPLIT BEAM ACOUSTIC SYSTEM

The assessment of pelagic fish stock and its distribution in Indian Ocean, especially southern part of Java-Bali-Lombok, was conducted by SIMRAD EK-500 Split-beam Acoustic System, in October-November 2001. The research was carried out by R/V Baruna Jaya VII of Indonesia Institute of Science (LIPI), under the Fish Stock Assessment Project in Indonesian Waters of fiscal year 2001. As a result, it can be reported that (I) the dominant species of pelagic fish distributed in this area is small pelagic fish with target strength (TS) values between -54.00 dB to - 37.60 dB, absolute density of between 0.07 to 218 fish/1000 m\ and total fish stock of 526.570 ton/year; (2) the large pelagic fish (some species of tuna) also distributed in the area with average TS of -27 dB, absolute density between 0.00 to 0.07 fish/100 m\ and total fish stock of 386,260 ton/year. This result still needs more accurate verification, especially on the species composition and individual size of fish by a more appropriate biological sampling method (mid-water trawl). Consequently, more acoustical surveys combined with oceanographic sampling and exploratory fishing are needed to evaluate the existing condition of marine fish resources in the area, in order to optimize and set up the relevant and accurate fisheries management plan for suitable and responsible utilization offish resources. Keywords: Split-beam Acoustic System, Fish Stock Assessment, Target Strength, Density, Distribution, Indian Ocean (southern part of Java-Bali-Lombok).
Investigation of a possible submarine landslide at the Var delta front (Nice continental slope, southeast France)

The Var prodelta progrades across a straight, narrow shelf (less than 2 km wide) with a very steep continental slope reaching locally more than 30°. Historically, the Var delta front is sadly famous for the 1979 catastrophic submarine landslide that resulted in several casualties and infrastructural damage. Geotechnical and geophysical investigations carried out in late 2007 to the east of the 1979 landslide scar provide evidence for the possible occurrence of a new important sedimentary collapse and submarine landslide. Geophysical data acquired in the area show the presence of several seafloor morphological steps rooted to shallow subsurface seismic reflections. Moreover, in situ piezocone measurements demonstrate the presence of several shear zones at the border of the shelf break at different depths below the seafloor. The aim of this technical note is to present and discuss acquired geotechnical and geophysical data in terms of failure mechanisms and submarine landslides. Both geophysical and geotech.
The use of a newly developed algorithm of divisive hierarchical clustering for remote sensing image analysis

The ISODATA (or K-means) clustering algorithm has been widely used to perform unsupervised classification and to aid in collecting training samples for supervised classification. However, it requires the analyst to have some a priori knowledge on data so that several input parameters can be specified manually, particularly the initial number of clusters and their locations. When processing large data sets, it is very slow because of its iterative process. The objective of this study was to develop a divisive hierarchical clustering (DHC) algorithm to avoid the before-mentioned limitations and to serve as an alternative to ISODATA. The DHC algorithm was developed based on the concepts of the hyperplane and the binary tree. This study shows that an inappropriate assignment of initial seeds for ISODATA would reduce final classification accuracies significantly. In contrast, DHC requires a minimum of user input with only three parameters and has the ability to determine these parameters automatically from the data set itself, thereby avoiding the adverse effects associated with ISODATA. Because DHC passes through the data set only once, it is fast when processing large sets of remotely sensed data; however, the overall accuracy of DHC is slightly lower than that of ISODATA. Although the algorithm lost a bit in accuracy, it gained much in speed. In summary, this study concludes that DHC is well suited to serve as a surrogate for ISODATA when applied to remote sensing image analysis with large data sets.
Was the Midcontinent Rift part of a successful seafloor‐spreading episode?

The ~1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift (MCR), the 3000 km long largely buried feature causing the largest gravity and magnetic anomaly within the North American craton, is traditionally considered a failed rift formed by isolated midplate volcanism and extension. We propose instead that the MCR formed as part of the rifting of Amazonia (Precambrian northeast South America) from Laurentia (Precambrian North America) and became inactive once seafloor spreading was established. A cusp in Laurentia's apparent polar wander path near the onset of MCR volcanism, recorded by the MCR's volcanic rocks, likely reflects the rifting. This scenario is suggested by analogy with younger rifts elsewhere and consistent with the MCR's extension to northwest Alabama along the East Continent Gravity High, southern Appalachian rocks having Amazonian affinities, and recent identification of contemporaneous large igneous provinces in Amazonia.
Practical application of the sequential balancing technique: an example from the Irish Variscides

The process of sequential restoration presented by Cooper & Trayner (1986) is applied to a N–S cross-section through the Irish Variscides to demonstrate that this approach improves the accuracy of thin-skinned structural modelling and allows the progressive deformation of a marginal belt to be examined. The principles and methods of sequential restoration are illustrated. The cross-section is restored in four steps and gives a bulk shortening of 52%. In this model, the fold belt evolved as the basal décollement migrated northwards, and considerable ductile shortening by folding and cleavage formation preceded faulting, although faulting gradually became more important towards the north. The section is divided into four structural domains based upon different deformation histories. Each is restored independently by removing the ductile strain before restoring the faulting. From this example it is clear that many models derived from single-step balancing, especially those through ductile-deformed areas, should be re-examined.
Effect of nitrogen rate on competition between canola (Brassica napus L.) cultivars and their natural weed populations.

Field experiment was conducted to determine the effect of nitrogen (N) supply on competition between canola cultivars and their natural weed populations. The experiment was carried out as a randomized complete block design with a factorial treatment arrangement and three replicates. Factors were included four canola cultivars (Hyola420, Hayola308, RGS003 and PF), three nitrogen rates (0, 100, 200 kg ha) and two weed management regimes (weed-free and weedy conditions). Results showed that canola grain yield was significantly (P<0.01) increased by enhancement of N rate from 0 to 200 kg N ha. Both at 0 and 100 kg N ha, the highest grain yields were recorded for Hayola 420, while at 200 kg N ha, the highest grain yield was recorded for RGS003. Average across N rate and cultivar, weed interference significantly reduced grain yield. Regardless of canola cultivar, weed biomass was significantly (P<0.01) reduced with increasing the N rate, suggesting that high levels of N favor the crop over the weeds. This experiment suggested that canola grain yield was affected more by weed interference at low N rate.