Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Movable bed roughness in unsteady oscillatory flow

A model to predict the roughness in unsteady oscillatory flows over movable, noncohesive beds is presented. The roughness over movable beds is shown to be a function of the boundary shear stress, rather than a fixed geometrical scale as is the case for fully rough turbulent boundary shear flows over immobile beds. The model partitions the roughness into two distinct contributions. These two contributions are due to the form drag around individual bed forms and to the near-bed sediment transport. The form drag over the bed forms is treated explicitly as a function of the boundary geometry and shear stress. The ripples are predicted as a function of the local skin friction, and a semiempirical expression is derived using standard law-of-the-wall arguments, which gives the ripple or form roughness as a function of the boundary geometry. The ripple roughness is found to be proportional to the product of the ripple steepness and height. Favorable comparison of the form drag model with the results of Bagnold's (1946) fixed ripple study is found. The value of z0 associated with intense sediment transport in oscillatory flow over a flat bed is determined from Carstens et al.'s (1969) experiments. This value is found to be 7 or 8 grain diameters. An expression is derived for the roughness associated with the maximum thickness of a near-bottom sediment-transporting layer consistent with Owen's (1964) roughness hypothesis for saltation of uniform grains in air. At large values of the boundary shear stress relative to the critical value for initial sediment motion, the derived expression is similar to the results of Smith and McLean's (1977) unidirectional flow approach modified for oscillatory flow. The total roughness model is found to compare favorably with Carstens et al.'s (1969) data. In contrast to Smith and McLean's (1977) steady flow findings, the results here show that when ripples are present, they account for a significant portion of the boundary roughness.
Gamification of the Laboratory Experience to Encourage Student Engagement †

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Task Force on Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Microbiology Students published recommendations for introductory microbiology courses that suggest teaching specific skill sets in the laboratory beyond just fundamental knowledge and concepts of microbiology (6); however, students can sometimes view a skills-based laboratory experience as a task list of unrelated assignments to complete for a grade. Therefore, providing explicit connections throughout the lecture and laboratory exercises is critical for a truly integrated learning experience. Several pedagogical techniques can provide a coherent framework throughout a course. For example, case-based studies can connect lecture with laboratory skills and increase student engagement by applying newly developed knowledge and skills to tackle real-world simulations (2, 3). One reason that case-based studies succeed is that they can provide intrinsic motivations and an alternate purpose for students to engage with the material. A more recent trend in pedagogy involves using game design elements to increase student engagement and motivation. Gamification is the application of game design (accruing points or badges, reaching significant levels of accomplishment, or other reward elements) in a non-game context to motivate or influence participation (1, 5). A natural extension of both of these methods is to gamify a case-based approach where a fictional scenario is presented for students to role-play as scientists using their developed skills to solve a complex problem. The typical microbiology laboratory, as described by the ASM Task Force, can easily incorporate game design elements without extensive modification of the exercises themselves. Instead, gamification involves structuring the lab in a way that gives the course a coherent and unified purpose. This ultimately allows the student to see how the principles and concepts of lecture and laboratory connect to real world situations.
A two-arm gaseous spiral in the inner 200 pc of the early-type galaxy NGC 2974: signature of an inner bar

TIGER integral-field spectrography and Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) imaging of the E3 galaxy NGC 2974 are used to derive the kinematics of the stellar and ionized gas components in itscentral 500 pc. We derive a numerical two-integral distribution function from a multi-Gaussian expansion (MGE) mass model using the Hunter & Qian formalism. The TIGER and published long-slit stellar kinematics, including higher-order moments, are well fitted with this self-consistent model, requiring neither the addition of a significant mass contribution from a hidden disc structure nor the presence of a central dark mass (at that spatial resolution). The data reveal the presence of a striking, highly contrasted, two-arm gaseous spiral structure within a radius of ∼200 pc, corresponding to a total mass of 6.8 x 10 4 solar masses of ionized gas. We use a deconvolved TIGER data cube to probe its kinematics at a resolution of about 0.35 arcsec FWHM. Strong departures from circular motions are observed, as well as high velocity dispersion values on the inner side of the arms. We interpret the observed gas morphology and kinematics as the signature of streaming gas flows driven by a ∼540-pc diameter bar with Ω p = 700 ′ 100 km s - 1 kpc - 1 . This hypothesis is strongly supported by the predictions of a density wave model. This model predicts that the bar should lie at about 35° from the line of nodes, and implies gas inflow towards the central ∼50 pc. The quadrupole perturbation due to this bar is estimated to represent less than 2 per cent of the underlying gravitational potential (a maximum torque of about 10 per cent), explaining the lack of a direct detection via broad-band photometry in the visible. Despite its weakness, the inner bar of NGC 2974 may be able to drive some gas within a 10-pc radius. We suggest that the presence of such inner bars might be more common among early-type disc galaxies than is generally thought, and that deep high-resolution emission-line imagery may be the best way to detect such structures.
REFERENCE STATIONS FOR CHRISTCHURCH

During the Canterbury earthquake sequence, the observed level of ground motion on the soft soils of Christchurch was very strong and highly variable. Many studies are now emerging that analyse the amplification effect of these soft soils, usually by estimating a frequency-dependent amplification function relative to a rock outcrop station, or ‘reference site’. If the rock outcrop has its own amplification due to weathering or topographic effects, then the calculated amplification for the soil sites can be compromised. This study examines ten seismic stations in Canterbury to determine the best reference site for Christchurch, using the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) method for S-wave shaking. More broadly, this study uses HVSR to expand existing knowledge of the dynamic characteristics of seismic stations in the Canterbury area. Most rock stations show their own local amplification effects that reduce their individual ability to be used as reference stations. The recently installed Huntsbury station (HUNS) appears to be the best reference site for Christchurch, but this will need to be verified when more records become available. In the meantime, the D13C temporary station is currently the best reference station for site effect studies in both Christchurch and Lyttelton.
High‐pressure granulite facies metamorphism in the Pan‐African belt of eastern Tanzania: P–T–t evidence against granulite formation by continent collision

To constrain the tectonic history of the Pan‐African belt in Tanzania, we have studied the P–T evolution of granulites from northern and eastern Tanzania representative for a large part of the southern Pan‐African belt of East Africa (e.g. Pare, Usambara, Ukaguru and Uluguru Mountains). Thermobarometry (conventional and multireaction equilibria) on enderbites and metapelites gives 9.5–11 kbar and 810±40 °C during peak metamorphism at 650–620 Ma. This is consistent with the occurrence of both sillimanite and kyanite in metapelites and of the high‐P granulite facies assemblage garnet–clinopyroxene–quartz in mafic rocks. Peak metamorphic conditions are surprisingly similar over a very large area with N‐S and E‐W extents of about 700 and 200 km respectively. The prograde metamorphic evolution in the entire area started in the kyanite field but evolved mainly within the sillimanite stability field. The retrograde P–T evolution is characterized by late‐stage kyanite in metapelites and garnet–clinopyroxene coronas around orthopyroxene in meta‐igneous rocks. This is in agreement with thermobarometric results and isotopic dating, indicating a period of nearly isobaric and slow cooling prior to tectonic uplift. The anticlockwise P–T path could have resulted from magmatic underplating and loading of the lower continental crust which caused heating and thickening of the crust. Substantial postmetamorphic crustal thickening of yet unknown age (presumably after 550 Ma) led subsequently to the exhumation of high‐P granulites over a large area. The results are consistent with formation of the Pan‐African granulites at an active continental margin where tonalitic intrusions caused crustal growth and heating 70–100 Ma prior to continental collision. The P–T–t path contradicts recent geodynamic models which proposed tectonic crustal thickening due to continental collision between East and West Gondwana as the cause of granulite formation in the southern part of the Pan‐African belt.
Expression of Chicken DEC205 Reflects the Unique Structure and Function of the Avian Immune System

The generation of appropriate adaptive immune responses relies critically on dendritic cells, about which relatively little is known in chickens, a vital livestock species, in comparison with man and mouse. We cloned and sequenced chicken DEC205 cDNA and used this knowledge to produce quantitative PCR assays and monoclonal antibodies to study expression of DEC205 as well as CD83. The gene structure of DEC205 was identical to those of other species. Transcripts of both genes were found at higher levels in lymphoid tissues and the expression of DEC205 in normal birds had a characteristic distribution in the primary lymphoid organs. In spleen, DEC205 was seen on cells ideally located to trap antigen. In thymus it was found on cells thought to participate in the education of T cells, and in the bursa on cells that may be involved in presentation of antigen to B cells and regulation of B cell migration. The expression of DEC205 on cells other than antigen presenting cells (APC) is also described. Isolated splenocytes strongly expressing DEC205 but not the KUL01 antigen have morphology similar to mammalian dendritic cells and the distinct expression of DEC205 within the avian-specific Bursa of Fabricius alludes to a unique function in this organ of B cell diversification.
Evaluation of Yield and Some Agronomical Traits in Garlic Genotypes (Allium sativum L )

Aims: The specific objective of this study was yield comparison the garlic genotypes for cultivation in region and evaluation some agronomic traits and determination correlation of coefficients these with yield in order to using in breeding programs. Study Design: Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 3 replications . Place and Duration of Study: The present research was conducted in Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center of Sistan and Baluchastan Province, Zabol, Iran in October 2012 during one crop season. Methodology: Garlic cloves ten genotypes were planted in early October. Each plot consisted of four rows: 5 m length, with 30 cm apart. Fertilizers were applied at ratio of 100, kg N /ha, 150 kg sulphate dipotash /ha and 100 kg super-phosphate, /ha respectively, (according to results of soil analysis). All plots received one-third of N and all sulphate dipotash and super-phosphate prior to sowing. Other two-third of N top dressed at the start of leaf four and before of bulbing stage, respectively. Results: The results showed that there was significant difference among genotypes for traits of cloves length, the number of cloves per bulb, clove weight, bulb weight, and bulb yield per hectare. Among genotypes, Mazand with yield (25508 kg/ha) and Chinese with
Weathering rinds as mirror images of palaeosols: examples from the Western Alps with correlation to Antarctica and Mars

Weathering rinds have been used for decades as relative age indicators to differentiate glacial deposits in long Quaternary sequences, but only recently has it been shown that rinds contain long and extensive palaeoenvironmental records that often extend far beyond mere repositories of chemical weathering on both Earth and Mars. When compared with associated palaeosols in deposits of the same age, rinds often carry a zonal weathering record that can be correlated with palaeosol horizon characteristics, with respect to both abiotic and biotic parameters. As demonstrated with examples from the French and Italian Alps, rinds in coarse clastic sediment contain weathering zones that correlate closely with horizon development in associated palaeosols of presumed Late Glacial age. In addition to weathering histories in both rinds and palaeosols, considerable evidence exists to indicate that the black mat impact (12.8 ka) reached the European Alps, a connection with the Younger Dryas readvance supported by both mineral and chemical composition. Preliminary metagenomic microbial analysis using density gradient gel electrophoresis suggests that the eubacterial microbial population found in at least one Ah palaeosol horizon associated with a rind impact site is different from that in other Late Glacial and Younger Dryas surface palaeosol horizons.
On the Optimization Landscape of Dynamic Output Feedback Linear Quadratic Control

The convergence of policy gradient algorithms hinges on the optimization landscape of the underlying optimal control problem. Theoretical insights into these algorithms can often be acquired from analyzing those of linear quadratic control. However, most of the existing literature only considers the optimization landscape for static full-state or output feedback policies (controllers). In this article, we investigate the more challenging case of dynamic output-feedback policies for linear quadratic regulation (abbreviated as dLQR), which is prevalent in practice but has a rather complicated optimization landscape. We first show how the dLQR cost varies with the coordinate transformation of the dynamic controller, and then, derive the optimal transformation for a given observable stabilizing controller. One of our core results is the uniqueness of the stationary point of dLQR when it is observable, which provides an optimality certificate for solving dynamic controllers using policy gradient methods. Moreover, we establish conditions under which dLQR and linear quadratic Gaussian control are equivalent, thus providing a unified viewpoint of optimal control of both deterministic and stochastic linear systems. These results further shed light on designing policy gradient algorithms for more general decision-making problems with partially observed information.
Aleatoric and Epistemic Discrimination: Fundamental Limits of Fairness Interventions

Machine learning (ML) models can underperform on certain population groups due to choices made during model development and bias inherent in the data. We categorize sources of discrimination in the ML pipeline into two classes: aleatoric discrimination, which is inherent in the data distribution, and epistemic discrimination, which is due to decisions made during model development. We quantify aleatoric discrimination by determining the performance limits of a model under fairness constraints, assuming perfect knowledge of the data distribution. We demonstrate how to characterize aleatoric discrimination by applying Blackwell's results on comparing statistical experiments. We then quantify epistemic discrimination as the gap between a model's accuracy when fairness constraints are applied and the limit posed by aleatoric discrimination. We apply this approach to benchmark existing fairness interventions and investigate fairness risks in data with missing values. Our results indicate that state-of-the-art fairness interventions are effective at removing epistemic discrimination on standard (overused) tabular datasets. However, when data has missing values, there is still significant room for improvement in handling aleatoric discrimination.
Hamiltonian spectral invariants , symplectic spinors and Frobenius structures

This is the first of two articles aiming to introduce symplectic spinors into the field of symplectic topology and the subject of Frobenius structures. After exhibiting a (tentative) axiomating setting for Frobenius structures resp. ’Higgs pairs’ in the context of symplectic spinors, we present immediate observations concerning a local Schroedinger equation, the first structure connection and the existence of ’spectrum’, its topological interpretation and its connection to ’formality’ which are valid for the case of standard Frobenius structures. We give a classification of the irreducibles and the indecomposables of the latter in terms of certain U(n)-reductions of the G-extension of the metaplectic frame bundle and a certain connection on it, where G is the semi-direct product of the metaplectic group and the Heisenberg group, while the indecomposable case involves in addition the combinatorial structure of the eigenstates of the n-dimensional harmonic oscillator. In the second part, we associate an irreducible Frobenius structure to any Hamiltonian diffeomorphism Φ on a cotangent bundle T ∗M by letting elements of T (T ∗M) act on a line bundle E on T ∗M spanned by ’coherent states’. The spectral Lagrangian in T ∗(T ∗M) associated to this Frobenius structure intersects the zero-section T ∗M exactly at the fixed points of Φ. We give lower bounds for the number of fixed points of Φ by defining a C∗-valued function on T ∗M̃ defined by matrix coeficients of the Heisenberg group acting on spinors, where M̃ is a certain ’complexification’ of M , whose critical points are in bijection to the fixed points of Φ resp. to the intersection of the spectral Lagrangian with the zero section T ∗M̃ . We discuss how to define spectral invariants in the sense of Viterbo and Oh by lifting the above function to a real-valued function on an appropriate cyclic covering of T ∗M̃ and using minimax-methods for ’half-infinite’ chains.
Late Neoproterozoic to Early Palaeozoic evolution and hydrocarbon prospectivity of the NW Tarim Basin, China

Abstract Recent contraction in the NW Tarim Basin, China, has exhumed a thick (2–3 km) sequence of Upper Neoproterozoic to Lower Palaeozoic sediments that provide a unique insight into the early evolution of the basin. The sedimentary sequence was examined in outcrop and consists of a lower, 500-m-thick fluvial–lacustrine clastic and volcanic succession, conformably overlain by a 2000-m-thick shallow marine carbonate succession which records a major rifting event that initiated in the Late Neoproterozoic. This rifting event probably corresponds to the break-up of East Gondwana and the separation of the Tarim Block from a conjugate margin equivalent in NW Australia. The generation and infilling of rift basins creates a number of potential hydrocarbon plays, although analysis of individual play elements indicates a relatively high risk, despite the prevalence of hydrocarbons derived from the same rift sequence elsewhere in the basin.
Geochronology and Geochemistry of the Francisco Gneiss: Triassic Continental Rift Tholeiites on the Mexican Margin of Pangea Metamorphosed and Exhumed in a Tertiary Core Complex

Migmatized amphibolite-facies gneisses and amphibolites of the Francisco Gneiss exposed in the northern part of the Guerrero composite arc terrane have been interpreted as either Precambrian basement, a Triassic metamorphic complex, or a distinct terrane. Field observations suggest exposure in a metamorphic core complex of a protolith composed of interleaved bimodal igneous and sedimentary rocks. Geochemical data indicate that the amphibolites are within-plate, continental tholeiites. Recalculated TDM ages for the rhyolites are consistent with partial melting of the Grenvillian basement of North America projected beneath the area. U-Pb isotopic analyses of zircon from two felsic rocks yielded concordant ages between 216 and 197 Ma due to a combination of inheritance and Pb-loss: the best estimate of protolith age is ∼206 Ma—i.e., Norian, Late Triassic. Concordant U-Pb titanite ages range from 112 to 98 Ma, whereas nearly concordant U-Pb xenotime ranges from 91 to 51 Ma. These are inferred to result from partial-complete resetting during the high-grade metamorphic event. 40Ar/39 Ar analyses from the gneisses yielded plateau ages of 16.5 ± 1 Ma (muscovite) and 13 ± 1 Ma (biotite), which date cooling through ∼370°C and ∼300°C, respectively (early Middle Miocene). Biotite from the granitic sheet yielded a plateau age of 13 ± 2 Ma. These data are interpreted in terms of Miocene exhumation in a core complex of high-grade metamorphic rocks developed either over a slab window or as a result of tectonic burial during the Laramide orogeny. The extrusion of Upper Triassic, continental rift tholeiites is consistent with emplacement in a back-arc environment.
EVALUATING THE RELATIVE MERITS OF ALTERNATIVE METHODS TO WEIGHT DIFFERENT TIME SERIES OF ABUNDANCE INDICES IN STOCK ASSESSMENT

SUMMARY When more than one time series of abund ance indices is used in an assessment model such as a surplus production model or VPA, it is necessary to determine the relative weights of the various series and observations in the series. Each weight is typically represented by the inverse of a parameter for the variance of the deviation between each model predicted and time series observation. The weights may be either fixed beforehand or estimated. This assigning of weights has long been a contentious issue in many stock assessments because there is no universally accepted protocol and the resulting policy recommendations can depend strongly on the weighting method applied. This paper reviews and reformulates the key methodological considerations in the assigning of weights, summarizes the various pros and cons of some alternative weighting methods and attempts to identify alternatives that most adequately address the various considerations. This paper evaluates the relative merits and potential effects on stock assessment results of applying nine alternative methods to weight different abundance series. For simplicity, the numerical evaluation will be undertaken by fitting a simple surplus production model to the catch rate data used in the 1998 assessment of western Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus). Because other stock assessment methods used by ICCAT, such as ADAPT VPA, rely heavily on the tuning of modeled trends in abundance to the available abundance series data and their relative weightings, it should be possible to readily generalize the results to these other methods. RESUME
Seasonal influences on the ecomorphodynamics of a hypertidal salt marsh and tidal creek system

i Acknowledgements iii List of Tables viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Ecomorphodynamics of Salt Marshes 2 1.2 Sediment Dynamics 4 1.3 Motivation 5 1.4 Thesis Organization 8 Chapter 2: Seasonal controls on the ecomorphodynamics of a macrotidal creek and salt marsh 9 2.