Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Downscaling atmospheric patterns to multi-site precipitation amounts in southern Scandinavia

A non-homogeneous hidden Markov model (NHMM) is applied for downscaling atmospheric synoptic patterns to winter multi-site daily precipitation amounts. The implemented NHMM assumes precipitation to be conditional on a hidden weather state that follows a Markov chain, whose transition probabilities depend on current atmospheric information. The gridded atmospheric fields are summarized through the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique. SVD is applied to geopotential height and relative humidity at several pressure levels, to identify their principal spatial patterns co-varying with precipitation. We assume the common hidden weather state process to completely account for the temporal structure of precipitation. Given the current weather state, the multivariate probability distribution of precipitation occurrences is approximated using a Chow–Liu tree dependence structure, involving products of bivariate distributions. Conditional on the weather state, precipitation amounts are modelled separately at each gauge as independent gamma-distributed random variables. This modelling approach is applied to 51 precipitation gauges in Denmark and southern Sweden for the period 1981–2003. The downscaling model produces robust predictions of data statistics, such as expected precipitation amounts and spell duration distributions. Moreover, the model-defined weather states show a satisfactory degree of physical consistency.
Abundance of halloysite neoformation in soils developed from crystalline rocks. Contribution of transmission electron microscopy

Abstract The soils developed from crystalline and metamorphic rocks in Galicia (NW Spain), are characterized by high concentrations of 1 : 1 phyllosilicates and gels. Thermal analyses, X-ray diffraction after formamide treatment, and IR spectroscopy in the OH vibration range have been performed on the clay fractions, but do not discriminate clearly between the different associated mineralogical phases. HRTEM studies linked with microdiffraction and microanalyses have led to the identification of several types of gel which transform into goethite, gibbsite, clay precursors, and/ or halloysite according to their composition (Fe, Al or Si-Al). Halloysite-like minerals are the main constituents and they have a great variety of morphologies: lamellar, spheroidal, tubular, platy or poikilitic. In general, halloysite and gel formation on crystalline rocks is related to the bioclimatic conditions, involving high hydrolysis in the presence of organic matter. This halloysite seems to be a metastable mineral which would evolve into kaolinite with increasing weathering time.
Convective transport of water vapor into the lower stratosphere observed during double‐tropopause events

We present in situ observations of convectively injected water vapor in the lower stratosphere from instruments aboard two aircraft operated during the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry experiment. Water vapor mixing ratios in the injected air are observed to be 60–225 ppmv at altitudes 1–2 km above the tropopause (350–370 K potential temperature), well above observed background mixing ratios of 5–10 ppmv in the lower stratosphere. Radar observations of the responsible convective systems show deep overshooting at altitudes up to 4 km above the lapse rate tropopause and above the flight ceilings of the aircraft. Backward trajectories from the in situ observations show that convectively injected water vapor is observed from three distinct types of systems: isolated convection, a convective line, and a leading line‐trailing stratiform mesoscale convective system. Significant transport of additional tropospheric or boundary layer trace gases is observed only for the leading line‐trailing stratiform case. In addition, all observations of convective injection are found to occur within large‐scale double‐tropopause events from poleward Rossby wave breaking. Based on this relationship, we present a hypothesis on the role of the large‐scale lower stratosphere during convective overshooting. In particular, the reduced lower stratosphere stability associated with double‐tropopause environments may facilitate deeper levels of overshooting and convective injection.
Measurements of saturated basic and acidic rock electrical conductivities at lower crustal temperatures and high pressures

Abstract Laboratory measurements of the electrical conductivity of brine saturated acidic and metabasic rocks were done at confining pressures up to 0.2 GPa, high pore pressures and temperatures of 900°C. Acidic rocks showed conductivities insufficient to explain the lower crustal high conductivity layer. Basic rocks, however, showed conductivities consistent with the high conductivity layer at those temperatures that the layer is thought to possess.
Minimizing second cancer risk following radiotherapy: current perspectives

: Secondary cancer risk following radiotherapy is an increasingly important topic in clinical oncology with impact on treatment decision making and on patient management. Much of the evidence that underlies our understanding of secondary cancer risks and our risk estimates are derived from large epidemiologic studies and predictive models of earlier decades with large uncertainties. The modern era is characterized by more conformal radiotherapy technologies, molecular and genetic marker approaches, genome-wide studies and risk stratifications, and sophisticated biologically based predictive models of the carcinogenesis process. Four key areas that have strong evidence toward affecting secondary cancer risks are 1) the patient age at time of radiation treatment, 2) genetic risk factors, 3) the organ and tissue site receiving radiation, and 4) the dose and volume of tissue being irradiated by a particular radiation technology. This review attempts to summarize our current understanding on the impact on secondary cancer risks for each of these known risk factors. We review the recent advances in genetic studies and carcinogenesis models that are providing insight into the biologic processes that occur from tissue irradiation to the development of a secondary malignancy. Finally, we discuss current approaches toward minimizing the risk of radiation-associated secondary malignancies, an important goal of clinical radiation oncology.
Elastic Settlement under Eccentrically Loaded Rectangular Surface Footings on Sand Deposits

This paper presents the practical elastic settlement formulae for the eccentrically loaded surface footings resting upon an elastic mass. The presented closed-form solutions can be readily implemented into the practice allowing efficient and accurate prediction of elastic settlement under the rectangular footing which is subjected to the biaxial bending. The presented solutions are determined by evaluating the integration of strain expressions based on the Boussinesq stress equations. The common assumption of linear contact pressure in footing-soil interface is adopted for the solutions. The presented formulae are validated to be used for the settlement under any point of linear full-contact loading and their applicability to the current design process is demonstrated. The solutions are also developed for the theoretical cases where the location of incompressible soil layer is infinitely deep. The simplified influence factors are presented graphically and the numerical examples are provided for their practical use. In this respect, the paper represents a significant step forward in understanding of elastic settlement, rotation, and differential elastic settlement under eccentrically loaded footings.
A note on the significance of lamination in stromatolites

The lamination found in recent stromatolites, an intrinsic feature of many of them, comprises a number of sediment-rich and organic-rich couplets. The significance of this lamination has figured in at least two avenues of research. In one is its possible influential role upon geochemical and diagenetic trends, in the other its possible calendar role. Algal growth follows a diurnal pattern but sedimentation, which is largely marine, is far less regular or predictable. The monitoring of modern algal mat surfaces has yielded much useful and accurate information concerning rates of mat accretion. Millimetre-scale lamination may be produced on a number of interacting processes but as yet no one has been able to determine with any great assurance whether it represents a daily, monthly, annual or some other regular periodic growth. The evidence from the Trucial Coast tends to show, rather, that burial, subsequent compaction, distortion and, in the case of sabkha-type sections, destruction owing to evaporite mineral growth, all tend to obliterate or at best mask any regular patterns of growth. In conclusion, one is forced to acknowledge that any computations concerning the calendar role of stromatolites are to be regarded with the utmost suspicion.
Factors controlling the crustal density structure underneath active continental margins with implications for their evolution

The design and interpretation of gravity‐based Earth models require sufficient knowledge of the effect exerted on continental crustal density by chemical composition, pressure‐temperature (PT) conditions, and water content. This need has motivated the development of a petrophysical modeling for 55 major element analyses compiled to characterize the geochemical differentiation trend of active continental margins. Equilibrium mineral assemblages and densities were computed using two independent thermodynamic approaches along conductive geotherms representing volcanic arcs and shields. Results under anhydrous conditions demonstrate that density is inversely correlated with the weight percent of SiO2 for all PT conditions. Empirical relationships with correlation factors commonly better than 0.9 allow the density under active continental margins to be estimated from silica content at critical conditions. Calculations for H2O‐saturated systems and estimates of the effect produced by retained melt on the bulk density of lower crustal zones of melting, assimilation, storage, and homogenization (MASH zones) indicate that these empirical relationships should also hold for wet, melt‐containing crustal columns of acidic to intermediate composition. They cannot be applied for basic compositions because mafic rocks absorb significant amounts of water via the formation of amphiboles, strongly reducing their density with respect to the dry granulites formed by garnet‐pyroxene assemblages. This fact, plus the density reduction generated by the retention of some volume percent of melt, suggests that MASH zones underneath hydrated, subduction‐related magmatic arcs thinner than 50 km could contain large amounts of basic to ultrabasic material (SiO2 as low as 43 wt%) in a gravitationally stable situation. This could have implications for estimates of global crustal composition and models of crustal growth. The results also suggest restricted thermal, compositional, and tectonic conditions for the removal of lower crust into the mantle.
High-resolution DEM extraction and its application in distributed hydrological model

The paper discusses a new method of acquiring small watershed terrain data from 3D laser scanner to make a High-resolution DEM with the help of GPS technology; and develops Distributed Hydrological modeling system based on TOPMODEL and linear reservoir theory. Resolution of DEM is an important factor which has decisive influence on the modeling veracity of Distributed Hydrological Model. The DEM built here can improve the precision to as high as 1m at the most. With the high-resolution DEM providing source data, the modeling system is applied in small catchments of Loess plateau. Finally the paper makes a comparative analysis on the two systems' stimulating precision, which is derived from a high-resolution DEM and a traditional DEM respectively. The result indicates that the precision of the hydrological modeling is much more enhanced; and that hydrological processes can be interpreted much more precisely, and the soil and water loss mechanism is more comprehensible.
Gravitational (Rayleigh–Taylor) instability of a layer with non-linear viscosity and convective thinning of continental lithosphere

The growth of the gravitational instability associated with a dense layer overlying a lighter layer, Rayleigh-Taylor instability, depends strongly on the constitutive law relating stress and strain rate. We analyse Rayleigh-Taylor instability to understand how the stress dependence of viscosity might affect convective instability associated with the thickening of cold, dense lithosphere beneath mountain belts. The bottom of a layer of dense material, attached to a rigid boundary above it and overlying a fluid with negligible viscosity, is swept into drips or blobs of descending material and thins elsewhere. Numerical calculations for Newtonian fluids corroborate both the exponential growth with lime and its dependence on the wavelength of the disturbance predicted by theory for initial growth. Such growth accelerates as the amount of thickening needed to produce the blob reaches 100 per cent of the initial thickness of the layer. With stress-dependent viscosity (strain rate proportional to deviatoric stress raised to a power n), growth is superexponential throughout. The speed, w, at which the bottom of the layer descends, grows with time as: where C (∼ 1) is an empirical constant that depends on n, wavelength, and the nature of the density distribution (constant in the layer or linearly decreasing with depth). Δp is the density difference between the layer and the underlying half-space. B is a measure of resistance to deformation, h is the thickness of the layer, g is gravitational acceleration, t is time, and tb is the time at which the blob of the thickened basal part of the layer drops off. Thus, for n 1, w is very small initially and becomes significant as t approaches tb. The time tb can be related to the initial perturbation in thickness of the layer Z0 by We exploit these relationships to estimate what fraction of lower lithosphere might be involved in such an instability following its mechanical thickening during mountain building. Following a period in which mountain belts are built by crustal thickening, many such belts collapse by normal faulting and horizontal crustal extension. We use the relationships presented above, assuming that such collapse occurs because removal of thickened mantle lithosphere adds potential energy to the lithosphere of these belts, thereby driving extension by normal faulting. A review of geological studies shows that normal faulting commonly begins where at least a few Myr, and in many cases 30 Myr or more, have elapsed since thickening of the crust ceased. Using Z0? h (100 per cent strain) and tb= 5, 10 and 20 Myr, we estimated that, for dry olivine, only the bottom 50 to 60 per cent of the lithosphere, that part hotter than 910–950°C, participates in the deblobbing process. For wet olivine, 80 per cent or more of the layer may be removed (T > 750°C). The non-linearity in the constitutive law effects a delay in the convective thinning that is not seen when Newtonian viscosity is assumed.
The disparity of health facilities in an urban area discourages proposed treatment application in inoperable lung cancer patients

Objectives: Patients with a newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) stage IIIB are offered chemoradiotherapy, as proposed by the current guidelines. This combination treatment is facilitated by the coexistence of corresponding departments in the same establishment. The geographical disparity of these health facilities influences patients’ willingness to be treated and may influence their survival. This is an observational study that compares the survival of two groups of patients with NSCLC stage IIIB: those treated with chemoradiotherapy versus those treated only with chemotherapy. These two comparable groups were formed exclusively by patients’ and/or their families’ decisions. Methods: One hundred fifteen consecutive NSCLC stage IIIB patients were included in the study. All were hospitalized in the biggest Chest Disease Hospital in Athens and were offered sequential chemoradiotherapy. Only 54 patients opted for the proposed treatment, while 61 decided to be treated with chemotherapy only, denying continuing their treatment in another health care unit (radiotherapy). Their survival and related factors were analyzed. Results: Mean overall survival was estimated 10 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.96–12.04). Patients treated with chemoradiotherapy had almost double overall survival compared to those under chemotherapy ( P = 0.001): 13.6 months (95% CI: 12.3–14.9) versus 7.5 (95% CI: 6.1–8.9). Patients aged # 65 years ( P , 0.001), smokers ( P , 0.001), and those without a cancer history ( P , 0.001) survived longer. Conclusions: The lack of a radiotherapy department in a hospital providing chemotherapy impedes the application of current guidelines advocating combined radiochemotherapy. When recommended radiotherapy after six chemo cycles, half of the patients are unwilling to be displaced and do not follow the recommendations. This has an impact on patient survival.
Preventative sterile fly release for the management of a Mediterranean fruit fly outbreak in South Australia.

Although largely a fruit fly-free zone, Adelaide is commonly subject to outbreaks of Mediterranean fruit fly during the spring and summer months. In previous years, control methods using chemical insecticides have been implemented to eradicate incursions. In the spring/early summer of 2001, roving release methods were used to distribute sterile flies across an area of Adelaide (20 km) that had been the centre of an outbreak earlier in the year. The resulting fly distribution is presented along with preliminary data on fly dispersal and trap efficiency from colour-differentiated experimental releases.
Connectivity of the coarsest fraction in headwater channels: imprints of fluvial processes and debris‐flow activity

Abstract Some steep headwater streams of the mid‐mountains landscape of the flysch belt of the estern arpathians are affected by debris flows. Connectivity of the largest boulder and cobble fractions has been evaluated in steep streams found in the transitional zones between the hillslopes and alluvial cones of similar lithology and watershed morphometry. Two longitudinal profiles affected by past debris‐flow activity and two longitudinal profiles void of such processes were selected. In the first case, active channels were characterised by the presence of the coarsest fraction, while a downstream trend of sediment coarsening or fining lacked any influence of contemporary fluvial processes and sediment supply. In addition, debris‐flow‐affected streams showed greater differences between the middle axis of the coarsest particle and the particle‐size index including the lengths of all three axes, which is most likely the result of limited active fluvial transport. All the studied streams demonstrated general downstream fining of the largest particles, which resulted from local flysch lithology containing more resistant sandstones in the upper parts of the watershed. The trend of sediment fining was more rapid in the longitudinal profiles unaffected by past debris flows. These types of streams also showed adjustment of the coarsest bed fraction to contemporary processes in channels by sediment coarsening in incised reaches and sediment fining in depositional reaches as well as by downstream response to some lateral sediment inputs. The index of the unit stream power showed no correlation with the considered coarsest fraction in both fluvial‐dominated channels and debris‐flow‐affected channels.
Lithostratigraphy, microlithofacies, and conodont biostratigraphy and biofacies of the Wahoo Limestone (Carboniferous), eastern Sadlerochit Mountains, Northeast Brooks Range, Alaska

The Lisburne Group (chiefly Carboniferous) is a wide-spread succession of platform carbonate rocks that apparently developed along a south-facing passive continental margin in northern Alaska. Marine transgressions onlapped northward across northeast Alaska allowing the Lisburne platform to extend over terrigenous deposits of the Endicott Group and local pre-Mississippian paleotopographic highs. The Wahoo Limestone is the youngest formation of the Lisburne Group in northeasternmost Alaska, ranging from latest Mississippian (latest Chesterian) to Middle Pennsylvanian (at least early Atokan) in age. The Wahoo Limestone was systematically sampled for lithostratigraphy and conodont biostratigraphy and biofacies at a relatively continuous section (about 262 m in thickness) in the eastern Sadlerochit Mountains. Existing Carboniferous conodont zonations could not be readily applied to the study section because most zonal indicators are absent. Species diversity is low for a section that spans at least 10 million years. Twenty-four species, distributed among 14 genera, were identified in 72 productive samples; no new species were distinguished. The following biostratigraphic zones and faunal intervals were recognized: Upper muricatus Subzone (latest Chesterian); noduliferus-primus Zone (earliest Morrowan); minutus Fauna (Morrowan) containing a lower subdivision (lower minutus Fauna of early to middle? Morrowan age); and an Idiognathodus Fauna (Morrowan? to early Atokan). Themore » presence of Idiognathodus incurvus? and Rhachistognathus minutus subspp. above the first occurrence of the foraminifer Pseudostaffella sp. in the uppermost part of the Wahoo Limestone indicates that the youngest beds are early Atokan in age. The Mississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary is placed at 56 m above the base of the lower member of the Wahoo Limestone on the basis of the lowest occurrence of Declinognathodus noduliferus japonicus above forms transitional from Gnathodus girtyl simplex. « less