Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Broadband hydroseismograms observed by closed borehole wells in the Kamioka mine, central Japan: Response of pore pressure to seismic waves from 0.05 to 2 Hz

[1] We obtained broadband hydroseismograms by monitoring the pore pressure changes of a rock mass in the Kamioka mine, using borehole wells. The wellhead was sealed to maintain an undrained condition, under which there is no flow of water through the interface between the well and the rock mass. This reduces the wellbore storage effect, which can cause a high-frequency cutoff response for systems of conventional open wells and rock mass. Using these closed borehole wells, 16 hydroseismograms were recorded for earthquakes in a range of magnitudes of 4.5–7.9 and epicentral distances of 1.0°–71.6°. Direct P waves, SV waves converted to P, and Rayleigh phases are clearly observed on the hydroseismograms. The similarity between hydroseismograms and seismograms reveals a clear relationship between radial ground velocity and pore pressure. The relationship is expressed as a zero-order system, which is characterized by no distortion or time lag between the input and output, and the pore pressure has no coupling with shear deformation. These results are consistent with an undrained constitutive relation of linear poroelastic theory and confirm that the relation is valid for the seismic frequency range. We determined in situ values of pore pressure sensitivity to volumetric change of the rock mass, which were then used to estimate in situ Skempton coefficients with values of 0.70–0.85.
Atopic dermatitis and vitamin D: facts and controversies

Patients with atopic dermatitis have genetically determined risk factors that affect the barrier function of the skin and immune responses that interact with environmental factors. Clinically, this results in an intensely pruriginous and inflamed skin that allows the penetration of irritants and allergens and predisposes patients to colonization and infection by microorganisms. Among the various etiological factors responsible for the increased prevalence of atopic diseases over the past few decades, the role of vitamin D has been emphasized. As the pathogenesis of AD involves a complex interplay of epidermal barrier dysfunction and dysregulated immune response, and vitamin D is involved in both processes, it is reasonable to expect that vitamin D's status could be associated with atopic dermatitis' risk or severity. Such association is suggested by epidemiological and experimental data. In this review, we will discuss the evidence for and against this controversial relationship, emphasizing the possible etiopathogenic mechanisms involved.
Generating a Danish raster-based topsoil property map combining choropleth maps and point information

Abstract Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 107(2):1–12, 2007 The Danish environmental authorities have posed a soil type dependent restriction on the application of nitrogen. The official Danish soil map is a choropleth topsoil map classifying the agricultural land into eight classes. The use of the soil map has shown that the maps have serious classification flaws. The objective of this work is to compile a continuous national topsoil texture map to replace the old topsoil map. Approximately 45,000 point samples were interpolated using ordinary kriging in 250 m x 250 m cells. To reduce variability and to obtain more homogeneous strata, the samples were stratified according to landscape types. Five new soil texture maps were compiled; one for each of the five textural classes, and a new categorical soil type map was compiled using the old classification system. Both the old choropleth map and the new continuous soil maps were compared to 354 independent soil samples. 48% of the 354 independent samples fell into the correct class in the old map; in the new map 60% fell into the correct class, which is a significant improvement. The verification also showed that 62% of the samples in the forest areas were correctly classified, although these areas were not classified in the old map. Furthermore, when both the old and the new map were compared cell-by-cell, 74% of the cells were classified as belonging to the same class. The new textural maps were tested against the textural properties of 631 independent samples, and the root mean squared error (RMSE) of this comparison was calculated and found to be in the range of 2.8 to 5.2.
An Improvement in the BBH Model for Estimating Evapotranspiration from Cornfields in the Upper Yellow River

The bucket with a bottom hole (BBH) model of soil hydrology was improved to incorporate bioprocesses such as surface rainfall interception and macropore ﬂow into it by introducing three model parameters or two composite parameters. The improved model (BBH-B model) was applied to the estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) from a cornﬁeld in the upper Yellow River. The results obtained are summarized as follows. (a) Estimates of the cumulative ET during periods of about one month were made using the BBH-B model with fair accuracy if the model parameters could be evaluated appropriately. (b) ET had a large spatial variation within the cornﬁeld. (c) The major zone of water use by corn moved downward through the soil as the growing season progressed. The ratio of root water uptake in depths between 40 cm and 100 cm to ET increased from about one-forth in June, when LAI increased quickly, to about one-half in September, when the corn maturred. (d) The surface conditions, such as the fraction of crop cover, exerted a large inﬂuence on the partition of rainwater at the surface of the cornﬁeld.
Conceptualization of the hydrogeological system of some sedimentary aquifers in Savelugu–Nanton and surrounding areas, Northern Ghana

Groundwater resources play a pivotal role in the rural water delivery system in Ghana. The hydrogeological system of Middle Voltaian terrain was simulated using available data on hydraulic heads and boundary conditions. The objective was to characterize the general groundwater flow pattern and provide local estimates of the distribution of hydraulic conductivity and recharge fields. The results suggest a predominant NE–SW flow direction, which ties in with the general regional structural trend and indicates that the hydrogeological conditions of the rocks are controlled by structural entities created in the wake of fracturing and/or weathering of the rocks whose primary permeabilities are considerably reduced because of high compaction and low‐grade metamorphism. Calibrated hydraulic conductivities range between 1.90 and 10.81 m/d. The spatial distribution appears to reflect the intensity of fracturing and/or weathering of the rock and the proportion of the clay fraction of the weathered zone. Vertical groundwater recharge has been estimated to range between 0.3% and 4.1% of the annual rainfall. This recharge rate is quite low and reflects the imperviousness of the thick overburden because of high clay content in some places and high compaction in others. Despite this apparently low recharge rate, groundwater resources potential in the area appear to be high, and increased abstraction from existing abstraction wells by up to 50% does not appear to register significant effects on groundwater budgets at the simulated recharge rates. This suggests that the well yields are much lower than the potential of the aquifer system. The apparently low yields might be associated with poor well development and the choice of inappropriate well completion materials. This study recommends a monitoring system to be developed for a much more regional groundwater flow simulation under transient conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Chemical composition of naturally occurring fluids in relation to mercury deposits in part of north-central California

The composition of fluids in the area studied displays a regional trend from chloride-rich waters east of the Stony Creek fault to bicarbonate-rich waters west of the fault although each fluid source must be regarded as a special case because of the local complexities of geology. Within the area studied are many mercury deposits. Although many examples were found of fluids presently causing silica-carbonate alteration, the usual wallrock alteration in mercury mines, none of the fluids sampled seem capable of forming commercial mercury deposits. The mercury concentrations in waters are all less than the acceptable limit for the mercury concentration of drinking water.
African-American mitochondrial DNAs often match mtDNAs found in multiple African ethnic groups

Like all articles in BMC journals, this peer-reviewed article was published immediately upon acceptance. It can be downloaded, printed and distributed freely for any purposes (see copyright notice below). Articles in BMC journals are listed in PubMed and archived at PubMed Central. For information about publishing your research in BMC journals or any BioMed Central journal, go to http://www.biomedcentral. com/info/authors/ BMC Biology
Database for Holocene geomagnetic intensity information

Over the past 40 years, paleomagnetists have continued to compile new data. A large part of these data are now archived in seven independent databases that are maintained by the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA; (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/geomag/paleo.shtml). Unfortunately, the IAGA paleointensity database [Perrin and Schnepp, 2004] does not contain data from archeological artifacts, which is a major part of available Holocene paleomagnetic intensity data. The more recent paleointensity compilation described by Korte et al. [2005], available at Earthref (http://earthref.org) as text files, covers only the past 7000 years. It also does not contain information on the paleointensity methods, materials used, or dating details needed to directly judge the quality of the intensity data contained in the database's files.
Cooperative base pair melting by helicase and polymerase positioned one nucleotide from each other

Leading strand DNA synthesis requires functional coupling between replicative helicase and DNA polymerase (DNAP) enzymes, but the structural and mechanistic basis of coupling is poorly understood. This study defines the precise positions of T7 helicase and T7 DNAP at the replication fork junction with single-base resolution to create a structural model that explains the mutual stimulation of activities. Our 2-aminopurine studies show that helicase and polymerase both participate in DNA melting, but each enzyme melts the junction base pair partially. When combined, the junction base pair is melted cooperatively provided the helicase is located one nucleotide ahead of the primer-end. The synergistic shift in equilibrium of junction base pair melting by combined enzymes explains the cooperativity, wherein helicase stimulates the polymerase by promoting dNTP binding (decreasing dNTP Km), polymerase stimulates the helicase by increasing the unwinding rate-constant (kcat), consequently the combined enzymes unwind DNA with kinetic parameters resembling enzymes translocating on single-stranded DNA. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.06562. 001
A numerical transport model for oxygen‐ and nitrate‐based respiration linked to substrate and nutrient availability in porous media

A model to simulate organic carbon biodegradation by facultative bacteria in saturated porous media using oxygen- and/or nitrate-based respiration is developed. Basic assumptions incorporated into the model concept include a simulated particle-bound microbial population comprised of heterotrophic, facultative bacteria in which metabolism is controlled by lack of either an organic carbon-electron donor source (substrate), electron acceptor (O/sub 2/ and/or NO/sub 3//sup -/), or mineral nutrient (NH/sub 4//sup +/), or all three simultaneously. A system of nine coupled nonlinear equations is developed that describe the processes of transport, degradation, and microbial growth and decay. The solution technique is highly resistant to numerical dispersion and oscillation when applied to the advection-dispersion equation, even for large Peclet numbers (100). Microbial utilization of materials is assumed to occur by intrapore scale diffusion of materials across a diffusion boundary layer separating the particle-bound microcolonies of bacteria from the pore fluid. Denitrifying enzyme inhibition is modeled as a function of the oxygen concentration associated with the biomass. Simulations of oxygen-based, nitrate-based, and multiple-electron acceptor respiration are presented for a hypothetical experiment using kinetic parameter value estimates available from the literature.
Spectral Filtering and Classification of Terrestrial Laser Scanner Point Clouds

A method is presented for filtering and classification of terrestrial laser scanner point clouds. The algorithm exploits the four‐channel (blue, green, red and near infrared) multispectral imaging capability of some terrestrial scanners using supervised, parametric classification to assign thematic class labels to all scan cloud points. Its principal advantage is that it is a completely data‐driven algorithm and is independent of spatial sampling resolution since the processing is performed in four‐dimensional spectral feature space. Its application to two data‐sets of different spatial extent and spatial and spectral complexity is reported, for which respective overall classification accuracies of 87·0% and 82·0% were achieved. Analysis of the input data with emphasis on the characteristics pertinent to the anticipated outcomes precedes detailed analysis of the classification results and error sources and their causes. Erroneously classified points are attributed to radiometric errors stemming from both detector hardware and physical effects.
A 13 year hospital based study on the Trend of Urinary Stone Disease in Uttarakhand, India

Background The present retrospective study on urinary stone disease in the Uttarakhand state was necessitated as no study has been done yet. Methods A 13 year retrospective study (from 2005 to 2018) was conducted on the urinary stones removed from the patients, admitted at Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun. The incidence of the disease, site of stones in urinary tract upon diagnosis, composition of removed stones and occurrence of a possible co-relationship between the incidence of the urinary stone disease at different times, age, sex, religion of the patients was investigated. Results The frequency of occurrence of urinary stones in males was found to be almost three times more as compared to their female counterparts. The above trend was consistent over the entire period of the study. Interestingly, in the Muslim and Sikh population of the area, females were found to be less prone to the problem as compared to their Hindu counterparts. However, in all religious groups, 21-40 years old subjects were found to be most susceptible to the problem and approximately 90% of the urinary stones were recovered from the kidneys and primarily composed of calcium oxalate. Conclusion The co-relationship between the occurrence of urinary stones with age, sex of the patients, their religion & site of stones on diagnosis was found to be statistically significant.
Effect of Irrigation Regime on Growth and Development of Two Wheat Cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.) in the Nigerian Savanna

Field trials were conducted at irrigation research stations of the Institute for Agricultural Research, Kadawa (11° 39’N, 08° 27’E, 500m asl). The objective was to study the effect of irrigation regime (60, 75 and 90% Available Soil Moisture (ASM) on the growth and yield of two recently introduced wheat cultivars (Siete cerros and Pavon 76). The result revealed that increase of irrigation regime from 60 to 90% ASM did not significantly affect most of the growth, yield and yield parameters evaluated in the study. Each increase in irrigation regime however increased days to maturity, water use and thermal time but decreased water use efficiency. Pavon 76 produced superior grain yield than Siete ceros only in one season. Pavon 76 had a higher LAI, more tillers and spikes/m2 and larger grain size, but had shorter plants, lower grain weight and grain number/spike and matured earlier than Siete cerros. Irrigation level of 60% ASM is recommended for both varieties in the Sudan savanna ecology. At this ASM the highest water use efficiency of 4.0-4.8kg/mm/ha was obtained and grain yield was not significantly compromised. Grain yield was more strongly correlated with grain weight per spike than with grain number per spike.
Recent forest expansion in Thailand: a methodological artifact?

Several Asian developing countries recently reported a net increase in forest cover. In Thailand, such reports have been vehemently rejected by forest officials, researchers, politicians, and international organizations alike. According to the dominant interpretation, the apparent forest regrowth derives from a methodological artifact. While the determination of the true evolution of forest cover has important implications, this interpretation has never been subject to scrutiny. This article presents a broad range of data and analyses suggesting important flaws in this interpretation. Based notably on (1) a critical review of available forest statistics and the methodology used to produce these statistics, (2) case study material from northern Phetchabun Province, and (3) an analysis of recent sub-national remote-sensing surveys, we reject the dominant interpretation of official statistics and suggest that reforestation has increased in Thailand and plausibly became the overall trend in the late 1990s.
Some Like It Mild and Not Too Wet: the Influence of Weather on Subjective Well-Being

More and more economists and politicians are advocating the use of comprehensive measures of well-being, on top of the usual national accounting measures, to assess the welfare of populations. Researchers using subjective well-being data should be aware of the potential biasing effects of the weather on their estimates. In this paper, I investigate the responsiveness of well-being to climate and transitory weather conditions by analyzing subjective well-being data collected in the Princeton Affect and Time Survey. I study general satisfaction questions about life in general, life at home, health and one’s job, as well as questions concerning feelings intensities during specific episodes. I find that women are much more responsive than men to the weather, and that life satisfaction decreases with the amount of rain on the day of the interview. Low temperatures increase happiness and reduce tiredness and stress, raising net affect, and high temperatures reduce happiness, consistent with the fact that the surveys was conducted in the summer. I conclude by suggesting methods to reduce the possible biases.
Coiling Directions in Planktonic Foraminifera from the Coastal Group of Jamaica

ABSTRACT Dominant coiling directions were noted in the G. menardii, G. acostaensis/G. dutertrei and G. crassaformis/G. truncatulinoides groups in the Middle Miocene to Pleistocene Coastal Group of Jamaica. Several reversals of coiling direction in the G. menardii lineage occur at the top of the Miocene (Buff Bay Formation) before dextral coiling dominates Pliocene assemblages. A period of dextral coiling in the G. crassaformis group is seen in the Pliocene (lower part of the Bowden Formation), coinciding with increasingly abundant G. miocenica and G. fistulosus. Globoquadrina altispira disappears from the sequence just before reversal to sinistral coiling in G. crassaformis. Sinistrally coiled G. menardii reappears in the impoverished planktonic faunas at the top of the Bowden Formation. The direction of coiling in the G. tosaensis/G. truncatulinoides group is variable near the base of the Manchioneal Formation, but becomes dextral with the near-disappearance of G. tosaensis. At least some of the coiling changes appear to have regional correlative value in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
Comparison of simple versus complex distributed runoff models on a midsized semiarid watershed

The increasing availability of distributed rainfall data and computational resources is providing the opportunity to use distributed models for rainfall-runoff forecasting or other applications. This paper compares the accuracy of simulations from a complex distributed model (KINEROS), a simple distributed model (based on the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) method), and a simple lumped model (SCS method). The 150 km2, semiarid Walnut Gulch experimental watershed was the test site; models were validated using 24 severe thunderstorms and rain gauge densities similar to those found at flash flood warning sites (one gauge per 20 km2). Under these circumstances, none of the models were able to accurately simulate peak flows or runoff volumes from individual events. Models showed somewhat more skill in predicting time to peak and the ratio of peak flow to volume. When calibration was performed, the accuracy of the complex distributed model was similar to that of the simple distributed model. Without calibration, the complex distributed model was more accurate than the simple distributed model. The spatially lumped model performed very poorly. The complex distributed model was validated under real-time forecasting conditions; forecasts based on observed rainfall had lead times of 30—75 min.
High trace‐velocity infrasound from pulsating auroras at Fairbanks, Alaska

We report here on infrasound signals observed using the infrasound microphone array at Fairbanks, Alaska that are apparently associated with the presence of pulsating auroras near the zenith. We have investigated the frequency domain coherence between the luminous intensity of the pulsating auroras and the high trace‐velocity infrasound received at the earth's surface. Video data of the aurora display from an All‐Sky video camera on the night of December 5, 2003 was compared with the pressure waveform data from the eight‐microphone infrasonic array at Fairbanks. Enhanced coherence between the two signals was observed when a propagation delay time for the infrasound sample with respect to the video data sample was used. The frequency domain coherence was found to be high between the pulsating aurora intensity above the array and the high trace‐velocity infrasound signals at the surface in the pass band from 0.03 to 0.08 Hz. Ray‐tracing studies indicate that such high trace‐velocity infrasound signals originate from sources within 35 km of the zenith above the array for a source height of 110 km. The presence of pulsating aurora patches within this area during the time interval of received infrasound and the high coherence between the video and infrasound data lead us to believe that periodic heating of the atmosphere by pulsating aurora is the actual source of the observed high trace‐velocity infrasound.
On the 30–60 Day Oscillation and the Prediction of El Niño

Abstract The impact of intraseasonal variability on ENSO is studied in the context of the Zebiak and Cane coupled atmosphere–ocean model, and an idealized representation intraseasonal forcing. The effects of the parameterized forcing are examined in both simulation and forecast experiments, with similar results; that is, the intraseasonal variability generally plays a minor role in altering the model behavior. Though the uncertainties inherent in both the coupled model and the specified forcing must be kept in mind, the results support the hypothesis that intraseasonal variability is not an essential component of ENSO. At the same time, they present evidence of occasional sensitive periods or states of the coupled system in which intraseasonal forcing (and possibly other forcings) can indeed disrupt the future course of events.