Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Large wildfire trends in the western United States, 1984–2011

We used a database capturing large wildfires (> 405 ha) in the western U.S. to document regional trends in fire occurrence, total fire area, fire size, and day of year of ignition for 1984–2011. Over the western U.S. and in a majority of ecoregions, we found significant, increasing trends in the number of large fires and/or total large fire area per year. Trends were most significant for southern and mountain ecoregions, coinciding with trends toward increased drought severity. For all ecoregions combined, the number of large fires increased at a rate of seven fires per year, while total fire area increased at a rate of 355 km2 per year. Continuing changes in climate, invasive species, and consequences of past fire management, added to the impacts of larger, more frequent fires, will drive further disruptions to fire regimes of the western U.S. and other fire‐prone regions of the world.
Verification of a coupled ice ocean forecasting system for the Newfoundland shelf

Abstract A coupled ice, ocean model for forecasting ice conditions on the Newfoundland shelf region is assessed by comparing hindcasts with satellite‐tracked ice beacon displacements and with changes in offshore ice edge location, ice thickness and southern ice extent derived from ice charts. The beacon velocity fields contain short timescale fluctuations which are not resolved by the model. The ratio of rms displacement error divided by the rms beacon displacement is 0.48 after 1 day and 0.23 after 8 days. The decrease in the scaled displacement error with increasing time is related to the short timescale motions. The skill in modelling displacement of the offshore ice edge is lower than in modelling ice displacement. Between mid‐February and mid‐April 1997, the effect of ice melt on the ice edge was a mean onshore displacement of 35 km overcoming an offshore advection of 24 km in 5 days.
SHEAR MODULUS AND DAMPING RELATIONSHIPS FOR GRAVELS

Two of the most important parameters in any dynamic analysis involving soils are the shear modulus and the damping ratio. Because both shear modulus and damping are strain dependent, curves must be developed to define their variation with shear strain. Fifteen studies (including this one) now provide results from tests on a wide variety of gravels. This paper combines the results of available investigations to develop best-fit relationships between (1) shear wave velocity and equivalent N60 from Becker penetration tests; (2) normalized shear modulus and shear strain; and (3) damping ratio and shear strain. The mean curve for the normalized shear modulus reported for gravelly soil in this study falls near the mean curve reported for sands by Seed and Idriss (1970). The normalized shear modulus curve is dependent on confining pressure, but essentially independent of sample disturbance, relative density, and gradation. The mean damping ratio curve falls toward the lower range of the data reported by Seed and.
Origin of Franciscan blueschist-bearing melange at San Simeon, central California coast

Block-in-matrix melanges at San Simeon have been variously interpreted as deformed olistostromes or as subduction-channel flow melanges. Detailed examination shows that seven types can be distinguished, with transitions among them. All contain exotic clasts of greenstone, chert, and more rarely blueschist, in addition to greywacke; the same materials also occur as blocks metres to tens of metres in diameter immersed in melange. The seven types are (1) bedded conglomerate, (2) structureless conglomerate, (3) mud-matrix conglomerate, (4) sandy block melange, (5) broken formation, (6) mud-matrix melange without deformational fabric, and (7) sheared melange. Types (1)–(3) are clearly sedimentary in origin. Types (4) and (5) were formed from unconsolidated sediment, most likely by down-slope sliding, and transitional types suggest that the mud-matrix melange (6) formed in the same way. Sheared melange (7) was formed by low-temperature post-consolidational deformation of all other types, which produced shear bands and a crude scaly fabric. Kinematic indicators of shear direction are rare, but assuming the fabric and shear bands are coeval, the shear direction and sense can be determined from the angular relationship between the two planar fabrics. Most shear planes are gently dipping, with normal-sense displacements of a few centimetres to tens of centimetres. Shear directions are highly variable, with the highest concentrations between WNW and S. This suggests that the main phase of shearing took place during a phase of approximately vertical shortening and horizontal extension, rather than during accretion. Post-accretionary dextral shearing on NNW-trending vertical planes, and sinistral shear on a variety of trends, are likely related to Neogene transform tectonics. The simplest interpretation of these relationships is that the disrupted character of the melanges formed primarily by sliding down the trench inner slope of unconsolidated sediment, including clasts and blocks of previously accreted and exhumed greenstone, chert, and blueschist. The deformational fabric is largely unrelated to the disruption, and was formed during late-stage extension in the accretionary wedge.
A comparative evaluation of spectral vegetation indices for the estimation of biophysical characteristics of Mediterranean semi-deciduous shrub communities

Human civilizations have made intensive use of the Mediterranean Basin for millennia, resulting in a profound impact on the natural ecosystems. Nowadays, the drier zones with degraded soils are covered with drought semi-deciduous plant communities. The aim of this study was to compare the ability of various spectral vegetation indices (VIs) computed from a Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) image to discriminate different vegetation biophysical parameters of these communities and thus to assess their capability to monitor long-term vegetation changes. It was found that although semi-deciduous plants display a spectral behaviour similar to that of semi-arid vegetation, VIs can estimate not only vegetation abundance but also changes in vegetation structure. Normalized difference VIs are highly correlated to vegetation amount-related parameters while soil-related VIs respond basically to canopy structural parameters. Our results indicate that satellite imagery can be used to map biomass in Mediterranean scrubland regions, and show that it has the potential to discriminate types of semi-deciduous shrub communities with different crown architectures.
Small-scale and Community Forestry Access to Carbon Markets: Barriers and Opportunities in the Literature

Carbon markets offer a market-based approach to climate change mitigation. Small-scale and community forestry practitioners are interested in participating in emerging carbon markets. The participation of small-scale and community forestry represents an important opportunity to help compensate landowners and communities for the protection of ecosystem services, as well as sequester carbon, reduce emissions, and promote conservation on a considerable portion of the land base. This paper provides a review of the literature that explores the opportunities and barriers for participation in carbon markets for small-scale and community forestry, including urban forestry. The review also provides a summary of barriers and ways to overcome barriers in wood product and forest certification markets, thereby illustrating parallels between markets. Concluding remarks list possible solutions from the literature for overcoming carbon market barriers. Research has documented significant barriers to accessing other forest product markets for small-scale and community forestry efforts, and initial research indicates that carbon markets are presenting similar barriers. Opportunities for participation in carbon markets include: a growing market, the marketability of forest offsets, the significant acreage represented by small-scale forestry, the need for payment for ecosystem services, co-benefits provided by forests, the cost effectiveness of avoided deforestation, and others. Barriers include: scale vs. cost, lack of technical expertise, complexity and an uncertain market, underdeveloped market, methodological concerns, social equity concerns, and lack of institutional capacity.
Rapid field measurement of air entry value and hydraulic conductivity of soil as significant parameters in flow system analysis

Field measurements of air entry value and hydraulic conductivity of soil are obtained with a covered cylinder infiltrometer equipped with standpipe and vacuum gage. Tests are normally completed in approximately 30 minutes. The resulting data are used to construct step functions relating hydraulic conductivity to (negative) soil water pressure for sorption and desorption. These functions may be used as simplified hydraulic conductivity characteristics to include negative-pressure flow in the analysis of subsurface water movement. Several field and laboratory studies demonstrate the validity of the concepts and the technique.
Behavior of gases in the Nojima Fault Zone revealed from the chemical composition and carbon isotope ratio of gases extracted from DPRI 1800 m drill core

Abstract An 1800 m borehole was drilled into the Nojima Fault Zone at Ogura, Awaji Island, Hyogo prefecture, Japan. The chemical compositions and isotope ratios of gases extracted from the drill core were investigated. Major components were carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). Microcracks in granodiorite outside the fracture zone were occupied mainly by CO2, and this CO2 is interpreted to have generated biogenically at shallow depths based on the measured δ13C value of –17 to –22. The CO2 gas was probably transported with underground water to deeper portions to fill microcracks in the basement granodiorite with CO2. However, the pores in the fracture zone are occupied predominantly by CH4. The ratio of CH4 to ethane (C2H6), 80 to100, and δ13C of CH4, –40 to –52, suggest that CH4 and C2H6 formed by the thermal decomposition of organic materials at temperatures above 75°C. We interpret that they originated at depths from organic materials and migrated upwards through the fault zone. It is interpreted that the concentration of CO2 in the fracture zone has decreased by the replacement with CH4 and/or by the consumption of CO2 in fault clay minerals. Although hydrogen (H2) and helium (He) were minor components of the gases from cores, they increased in quantity in the fracture zone. High concentration of H2 in the fracture zones is consistent with the idea that H2 was generated by radical reactions on the fresh surface of fractured rocks during the earthquake. The 3He/4He ratio of 0.723 Ra in the fracture zones suggests that He is of radiogenic origin; that is, it is not from the mantle.
CXCR3 Provides a Competitive Advantage for Retention of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-Specific Tissue-Resident Memory T Cells Following a Mucosal Tuberculosis Vaccine

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a major human pathogen, and new vaccines are needed to prevent transmission. Mucosal vaccination may confer protection against M. tuberculosis by stimulating tissue-resident memory (TRM) CD4+ T cells in the lungs. The chemokine receptor CXCR3 promotes lung recruitment of T cells, but its role in TRM development is unknown. This study demonstrates the recombinant influenza A virus vaccine PR8.p25, expressing the immunodominant M. tuberculosis T cell epitope p25, induces CXCR3 expression on p25-specific CD4+ T cells in the lungs so that the majority of vaccine-induced CD4+ TRM expresses CXCR3 at 6 weeks. However, CXCR3−/− mice developed equivalent antigen-specific CD4+ T cell responses to wild-type (WT) mice following PR8.p25, and surprisingly retained more p25-specific CD4+ TRM in the lungs than WT mice at 6 weeks. The adoptive transfer of CXCR3−/− and WT P25 T cells into WT mice revealed that the initial recruitment of vaccine-induced CD4+ T cells into the lungs was independent of CXCR3, but by 6 weeks, CXCR3-deficient P25 T cells, and especially CXCR3−/− TRM, were significantly reduced compared to CXCR3-sufficient P25 T cells. Therefore, although CXCR3 was not essential for CD4+ TRM recruitment or retention, it provided a competitive advantage for the induction of M. tuberculosis-specific CD4+ TRM in the lungs following pulmonary immunization.
Using a transient infiltrometric technique for intensively sampling field‐saturated hydraulic conductivity of a clay soil in two runoff plots

The point measurement of soil properties allows to explain and simulate plot scale hydrological processes. An intensive sampling was carried out at the surface of an unsaturated clay soil to measure, on two adjacent plots of 4 × 11 m2 and two different dates (May 2007 and February–March 2008), dry soil bulk density, ρb, and antecedent soil water content, θi, at 88 points. Field‐saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, Kfs, was also measured at 176 points by the transient Simplified Falling Head technique to determine the soil water permeability characteristics at the beginning of a possible rainfall event yielding measurable runoff. The ρb values did not differ significantly between the two dates, but wetter soil conditions (by 31%) and lower conductivities (1.95 times) were detected on the second date as compared with the first one. Significantly higher (by a factor of 1.8) Kfs values were obtained with the 0.30‐m‐diameter ring compared with the 0.15‐m‐diameter ring. A high Kfs (> 100 mm h−1) was generally obtained for low θi values (< 0.3 m3m−3), whereas a high θi yielded an increased percentage of low Kfs data (1–100 mm h−1). The median of Kfs for each plot/sampling date combination was not lower than 600 mm h−1, and rainfall intensities rarely exceeded 100 mm h−1 at the site. The occurrence of runoff at the base of the plot needs a substantial reduction of the surface soil permeability characteristics during the event, probably promoted by a higher water content than the one of this investigation (saturation degree = 0.44–0.62) and some soil compaction due to rainfall impact. An intensive soil sampling reduces the risk of an erroneous interpretation of hydrological processes. In an unstable clay soil, changes in Kfs during the event seem to have a noticeable effect on runoff generation, and they should be considered for modeling hydrological processes. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Utility of mobile devices in the computerized tomography evaluation of intracranial hemorrhage

Abstract Aim: To evaluate the utility of a mobile device to detect and assess intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) on head computed tomographys (CT) performed in the emergency setting. Materials and Methods: 100 head CT scans were randomly selected from our emergency radiology database and anonymized for patient demographics and clinical history. The studies were independently interpreted by two experienced radiologists in a blinded manner, initially on a mobile device (iPad, Apple computers) and subsequently, at an interval of one week, on a regular desktop workstation. Evaluation was directed towards detection, localization and characterization of hemorrhage. The results were assessed for accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value. Statistical significance was ascertained using Fisher′s exact test. Results: 27 of the examinations were positive for ICH, of which 11 had multiple hemorrhages. Of these there were 17 subdural, 18 intraparenchymal, 8 subarachnoid, 4 intraventricular and 2 extradural hemorrhages. In 96 of the studies there was complete concurrence between the iPad and desktop interpretations for both radiologists. Of 49 hemorrhages, 48 were accurately detected on the iPad by one of the radiologists. In the remaining case, a tiny intraventricular hemorrhage was missed by both radiologists on the iPad as well as on the workstation, indicating that the miss was more likely related to the very small size of the hemorrhage than the viewer used. Conclusion: We conclude that in the emergency setting, a mobile device with appropriate web-based pictue archiving and communication system (PACS) is effective in the detection of intracranial hemorrhage present on head CT.
Determinants influencing seasonal variations of methane emissions from alpine wetlands in Zoige Plateau and their implications

To understand the seasonality of methane flux from alpine wetlands in Zoige Plateau, 30 plots were set to measure the methane emissions in the growing and nongrowing seasons in three environmental types: dry hummock (DH), Carex muliensis (CM), and Eleocharis valleculosa (EV) sites. There were clearly seasonal patterns of methane flux in different environmental types in the growing and nongrowing seasons. Mean methane emission rate was 14.45 mg CH4 m(-2) h(-1) (0.17 to 86.78 mg CH4 m(-2) h(-1)) in the growing season, and 0.556 mg CH4 m(-2) h(-1) (0.002 to 6.722 mg CH4 m(-2) h(-1)) in the nongrowing season. In the growing season, the main maximum values of methane flux were found in July and August, except for a peak value in September in CM sites. In the nongrowing season, the similar seasonal variation pattern was shared among all the three sites, in which the methane emissions increased from February to April. In the growing season, the determining factors were surface temperatures (r(2) = 0.55, P < 0.05), standing water depths (r(2) = 0.32, P < 0.01) and plant community heights (r(2) = 0.61, P < 0.01), while in the nongrowing season, ice thickness (r(2) = 0.27, P < 0.05; in CM and EV sites) was found most related to flux. In our understanding, the seasonality of methane emissions in our study areas was temperature- and-plant-growth-dependent, and the water table position was also very important to shape the temperature- and-plant-growth-dependent seasonal variation of flux with its vigorous variations in alpine wetland ecosystems. Different environmental types within the wetland also influenced the seasonal pattern of methane flux. For an accurate estimate of the global methane source strength of alpine wetlands, the pronounced seasonal or even temporal variability in methane emission from alpine wetlands should be taken into consideration.
Resting stage in benthic foraminiferal propagules: a key feature for dispersal? Evidence from two shallow-water species

Understanding dispersal mechanisms in benthic formainifera has wide implications for explaining their geological and biological distribution in space and time, including evolutionary and genetic trends. Because they lack a planktonic larval stage (although a few have a meroplanktonic life stage), their mode of dispersal in the marine environment has been subject to much speculation, and a range of alternative mechanisms have been suggested (for a review, see Alve (1999) and further discussion in Hayward et al. (1999)). In the present note, we suggest a mechanism which is more efficient and probably more widespread than most of those previously proposed. We hypothesize that many species produce ‘propagules’ (small juveniles, perhaps just the proloculus) released in large numbers following reproduction that may enter a resting stage. Propagules can be widely dispersed by normal physical processes (currents, sediment transport) and ultimately settle over a range of habitats and conditions. Growth and reproduction commence only in those individuals and species that reach a suitable environment. We have two lines of evidence from completely different shallow-water environments (Norwegian fjord and the Florida Keys, USA) that strongly support our hypothesis. Observations Surface sediments from a box core were collected at 60 m water depth in the inner part of Oslofjord 10 September 1999. Some of the sediment was processed immediately after collection, and the remaining bulk sample was transferred to a transparent container with ambient seawater, sealed, and placed on a window ledge until 30 March 2000. Those sub-samples processed immediately after collection contained no live …
A utilização do Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) em estudos de estratigrafia na praia de Iataipuaçú - Maricá (RJ)

The association between data obtained from ground penetrating radar (GPR) and from boreholes at the Itaipuacu coastal plain (Marica-RJ) revealed information regarding the evolution of this coast. It has been possible to recognize a paleobarrier-lagoon environment and its associated inlets. The results indicated that the sedimentary sequence above basement is about 3 to 4 meters thick on the old sandy barrier and it is 10 meters thick towards the younger sandy barrier. The sedimentary sequence contains several horizontal to subhorizontal reflectors in addition to seaward dipping layers 15 to 40o, similar to the present-day Itaipuacu beach storm scarps. A bore hole trough the younger sandy barrier showed that the main sediment is coarse sand; however, at about 7,5 meters down the section an organic-rich lagoonal mud is present and 14C dating indicated the age of 5.900-6.400 years before present for such lagoonal environment. The water table is just 1 meter below surface on the plain between the two barriers deepening to 4 to 5 meters towards the younger sandy barrier. Water collected from this reservoir presents good quality for human consumption.
Analysis and interpretation of piezocone data on the silty soils of the Venetian lagoon (Treporti test site)

This paper reports the main results of an extensive piezocone testing campaign performed over the last years at the Treporti test site (Venice, Italy) within a long-lasting and comprehensive research project aimed at developing a reliable geotechnical model of the heterogeneous and highly stratified Venetian lagoon basin. The project included the construction of a full-scale vertical-walled cylindrical test bank, together with a detailed monitoring system of surface settlements, pore-water pressures, subsoil strains, and stresses beneath the loaded area. The analysis of the large amount of data thus available, referring to different phases of the loading history, confirms the great potential of piezocone as an in situ testing technique, especially for stratigraphic profiling of the predominantly silty subsoil of the Venetian lagoon, but at the same time reveals some limitations of widely used empirical correlations for the relevant soil characterization, with special reference to compressibility and conso.