Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of NP and Blended NPSB Mineral Fertilizer on Black Cumin Yield in Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Black cumin (Nigella sativa L) is an important spice and medicinal plant cultivated in Ethiopia. However, the seed yield of the crop is low due to low soil fertility and poor soil fertility management. A field experiment was conducted to determine the effect of nitrogen and phosphorus (NP) and blended nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and boron (NPSB) fertilizers on seed yield and yield components of black cumin. The experiment consists of three levels of N/P2O5 (20/15, 40/30, and 60/45 kg N/P2O5 ha–1 in the form of UREA and tri-super phosphate); and four levels of blended NPSB (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha–1) laid in RCBD design arranged in a factorial and replicated three time. The research was conducted during the 2017/18 primary season in the central highlands of Ethiopia. The interaction of NP and blended NPSB significantly influenced yield and yield components (P ≤0.01). The application of 40/30 kg N/P2O5 and 150 kg blended NPSB ha–1 resulted in the highest seed yield (1.85 t ha–1) and the highest net benefit of (78,137 ETB ha–1). Therefore, the application of 40/30 kg N/P2O5 and 150 kg NPSB ha–1 resulted in more than double the current national average yield and benefits black cumin-producing farmers in the central highlands of Ethiopia.
Delineating confined slope turbidite systems offshore mid-Norway: The Cretaceous deep-marine Lysing Formation

The Donna Terrace is part of the morphologically complex continental slope offshore mid-Norway and contains a series of tectonically confined subbasins. These subbasins all have different sizes, shapes, and locations that strongly controlled the development of the deep-marine, Upper Cretaceous Lysing Formation. Careful mapping of the entrance points and internal faults within each subbasin is crucial for constructing a depositional model for these slope turbidite complexes. The key to successful delineation of the turbidite systems and complexes in the study area is a four-step process: (1) understanding the main structural elements on a semiregional scale; (2) mapping all structural features in detail that can impact the sediment fill within and prior to the studied interval to build a structural framework of the area; (3) performing a thorough integration of seismic, biostratigraphy, wire-line, core, and formation-pressure data for each subbasin, identifying the geometry and reservoir architecture of turbidite systems and complexes; and (4) developing a sequence-stratigraphic framework to establish if the deep-marine sedimentary fill of the subbasins is genetically linked. The importance of establishing a genetic linkage between slope basins is related to the reservoir quality of the deep-marine turbidite systems; if a cannibalization of a sandstone-dominated sedimentary fill of an updip slope basin can be demonstrated, lower risk can be assigned for reservoir quality of lower-slope-basin reservoirs. In addition, onlap style and pinch-out character of the turbidite systems yield important information of sand deposition within the turbidite systems.
Konjac Glucomannan Counteracted the Side Effects of Excessive Exercise on Gut Microbiome, Endurance, and Strength in an Overtraining Mice Model

Excessive exercise without adequate rest can lead to overtraining syndrome, which manifests a series of side effects, including fatigue, gut dysbiosis, and decremental sports performance. Konjac glucomannan (KGM) is a plant polysaccharide with numerous health-improving effects, but few studies reported its effects on the gut microbiome, endurance, and strength in an overtraining model. This study assessed the effect of KGM on gut microbiome, endurance, and strength in mice with excessive exercise. Three doses of KGM (1.25, 2.50, and 5.00 mg/mL) were administrated in drinking water to mice during 42 days of a treadmill overtraining program. The results showed that excessive exercise induced a significant microbial shift compared with the control group, while a high dose (5.00 mg/mL) of KGM maintained the microbial composition. The proportion of Sutterella in feces was significantly increased in the excessive exercise group, while the moderate dose (2.50 mg/mL) of KGM dramatically increased the relative abundance of Lactobacillus and SCFA production in feces. Additionally, the moderate dose and high dose of KGM counteracted the negative effects of excessive exercise on strength or/and endurance (43.14% and 39.94% increase through a moderate dose of KGM, Bonferroni corrected p < 0.05, compared with the excessive exercise group). Therefore, it suggests that KGM could prevent overtraining and improve sports performance in animal models.
Beat cues facilitate time estimation at longer intervals

Introduction Time perception in humans can be relative (beat-based) or absolute (duration-based). Although the classic view in the field points to different neural substrates underlying beat-based vs. duration-based mechanisms, recent neuroimaging evidence provided support to a unified model wherein these two systems overlap. In line with this, previous research demonstrated that internalized beat cues benefit motor reproduction of longer intervals (> 5.5 s) by reducing underestimation, but little is known about this effect on pure perceptual tasks. The present study was designed to investigate whether and how interval estimation is modulated by available beat cues. Methods To that end, we asked 155 participants to estimate auditory intervals ranging from 500 ms to 10 s, while manipulating the presence of cues before the interval, as well as the reinforcement of these cues by beat-related interference within the interval (vs. beat-unrelated and no interference). Results Beat cues aided time estimation depending on interval duration: for intervals longer than 5 s, estimation was better in the cue than in the no-cue condition. Specifically, the levels of underestimation decreased in the presence of cues, indicating that beat cues had a facilitating effect on time perception very similar to the one observed previously for time production. Discussion Interference had no effects, suggesting that this manipulation was not effective. Our findings are consistent with the idea of cooperation between beat- and duration-based systems and suggest that this cooperation is quite similar across production and perception.
Ozone Diplomacy: New Directions in Safeguarding the Planet

The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, adopted in 1987 and revised in 1990, saved life on Earth from possible destruction - the first time that the international community faced such a global threat. Ambassador Richard Benedick, who was the chief U.S. negotiator of this treaty, combines science, politics, economics, and diplomacy in a fascinating and definitive account of the origins and realization of this precedent-setting international agreement. Ozone Diplomacy provides a dramatic portrayal of the participants in this dynamic process - scientists, industrialists, and government officials - and offers useful models for international approaches to other emerging issues such as global warming. This intriguing story will be invaluable to all those concerned with the environment, international law, and the practice of modern diplomacy.
Controlling the concentrations of airborne pollutants in three different livestock facilities

The negative effects of high concentration of airborne pollutants on animal health, welfare and productivity are well documented. Reducing the concentration of airborne pollutants in livestock buildings is therefore an important task and could also help to reduce the occupational health and safety risk associated with farm work. The main objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of spraying a mixture of oil and water directly on the floors of livestock building or applying oil treatment to different bedding materials on the concentration of airborne pollutants inside three different livestock facilities. In addition, a number of other airborne pollutant reduction methods were trialled in a horse facility. Air quality parameters were recorded in: (1) a number of partially slatted, mechanically or naturally ventilated pig facilities; (2) a horse stable; and (3) two poultry buildings. Airborne pollutant concentrations were measured and compared between the treatment and control facilities. The concentrations of both inhalable and respirable airborne particles were significantly reduced in the experimental pig facilities. The results also demonstrated a significant reduction (P<0.001) in the concentrations of inhalable and respirable airborne particles in the horse boxes treated with oil-impregnated bedding material as well in the oil treated poultry building. This technique would enable livestock producers to improve the environmental quality in livestock buildings at a relatively low cost.
Dominant Cloud Controlling Factors for Low‐Level Cloud Fraction: Subtropical Versus Extratropical Oceans

To improve cloud feedback understanding and simulation, observations have been used to quantify the rate of change of cloud radiative properties as a function of specific environmental metrics (or cloud controlling factors; CCFs). The study focuses on low‐level cloud dominated regions during 2006–2010. For each ocean gridpoint, Spearman's rank correlation coefficients of daily mean observed cloud fraction versus (a) 10‐m wind, (b) sensible heat flux (SHF), (c) sea surface temperature, (d) estimated inversion strength (EIS), (e) 850 hPa vertical velocity, and (f) the M parameter ( ∆θskin800hPa ${\increment}{\theta }_{\text{skin}}^{800\text{hPa}}$ ) are sorted to identify the dominant CCFs in both extratropics (30°–60°N/S) and subtropics (30°S–30°N). A novel map for visualizing dominant CCFs for low‐level cloud fraction reveals that: ∆θskin800hPa ${\increment}{\theta }_{\text{skin}}^{800\text{hPa}}$ dominates in the subtropical stratocumulus regions while 10‐m winds dominate in shallow cumulus regions but in the extratropics, a different inversion structure diagnostic (EIS) dominates, while SHF dominates in western boundary current areas.
Gondwanan Eoarchean–Neoproterozoic ancient crustal material in Iran and Turkey: zircon U–Pb–Hf isotopic evidence

The Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone is a basement culmination northeast of the Neo-Tethys suture in Iran. In this zone near Azna, granite has a magmatic zircon U–Pb age of 568 ± 11 Ma, with 900–800, ca. 2400, and ca. 3600 Ma inherited cores. The ca. 3600 Ma inherited zircon is the oldest crustal component yet detected in Iran. Near Chadegan, orthogneiss has a magmatic zircon U–Pb age of 637 ± 15 Ma, and carries ca. 1000 and 2000 Ma inherited zircons. Inherited 900–1000 Ma zircons have juvenile initial eHf values of ca. +8 to +9, whereas the younger 630 and 568 Ma magmatic zircons show lower initial eHf values; however, the 3600 Ma core has initial eHf = 0.0. A Neoproterozoic rim on the inherited 3600 Ma core has the most extreme initial eHf value of −18. The Hf isotopic data indicates generation of the magmatic protoliths from a mixture of juvenile Neoproterozoic and Archean sources. Previous studies showed that in Turkey the Central Anatolian Crystalline Complex is underlain by Neo-Eoarchean rocks, the Menderes Mas.
Structural and petrological constraints on the tectonic evolution of the garnet‐lherzolite facies Higashi‐akaishi peridotite body, Sanbagawa belt, SW Japan

The Higashi‐akaishi peridotite body in the Sanbagawa metamorphic belt is a unique example of a kilometer‐scale body including garnet‐lherzolite facies rocks from an oceanic subduction‐type orogen. In this body, four distinct deformational phases D1, D2, D3, and D4 can be defined. The tectonic significance of D1 is unclear. Microstructural observations and application of garnet‐orthopyroxene geothermobarometry suggest that D2 took place during high‐temperature subduction up to depths of ∼100 km (from 2.3 GPa to above 2.8 GPa at temperature of 700–800°C) or more. D3 represents a major phase of exhumation. After exhumation the Higashi‐akaishi body became juxtaposed with the adjacent Besshi and Eclogite units at a depth of around 35 km (1 GPa). The common history of the two units after D3 is shown by the intertectonic growth of tremolite between D3 and D4 that corresponds to a stage of intertectonic growth of plagioclase in the Besshi and Eclogite units. Both the spatial distribution and the estimated pressure‐temperature (P‐T) conditions of this intertectonic phase of mineral growth in the different units are in excellent agreement. The development of an antigorite schistosity during the late stage of D2 indicates an anticlockwise P‐T path with cooling at depths of around 100 km. The association of the antigorite‐bearing fabric and the onset of exhumation after the D2 stage suggest that the density decrease due to antigorite formation may have been sufficient to trigger the exhumation of dense ultramafic body from UHP conditions in subduction zones. Syn‐D2 water introduction and the anticlockwise P‐T path are expected when convection in the mantle wedge brings peridotite toward a subduction boundary through mantle wedge or when peridotite is dragged down along a subduction boundary that is progressively cooling immediately after initiation of subduction.
Detection of Tamarisk Defoliation by the Northern Tamarisk Beetle Based on Multitemporal Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper Imagery

The spread of tamarisk (Tamarix spp., also known as saltcedar) is a significant ecological disturbance in western North America and has long been targeted for control, leading to the importation of the northern tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda carinulata) as a biological control agent. Following its initial release along the Colorado River near Moab, Utah in 2004, the beetle has successfully established and defoliated tamarisk across much of the upper Colorado River Basin. However, the spatial distribution and seasonal timing of defoliation are complex and difficult to quantify over large areas. To address this challenge, we tested and compared two remote sensing approaches to mapping tamarisk defoliation: Disturbance Index (DI) and a decision tree method called Random Forest (RF). Based on multitemporal Landsat 5 TM imagery for 2006-2010, changes in DI and defoliation probability from RF were calculated to detect tamarisk defoliation along the banks of Green, Colorado, Dolores and San Juan rivers within the Colorado Plateau area. Defoliation mapping accuracy was assessed based on field surveys partitioned into 10 km sections of river and on regions of interest created for continuous riparian vegetation. The DI method detected 3711 ha of defoliated area in 2007, 7350 ha in 2008, 10,457 ha in 2009 and 5898 ha in 2010. The RF method detected much smaller areas of defoliation but proved to have higher accuracy, as demonstrated by accuracy assessment and sensitivity analysis, with 784 ha in 2007, 960 ha in 2008, 934 ha in 2009, and 1008 ha in 2010. Results indicate that remote sensing approaches are likely to be useful for studying spatiotemporal patterns of tamarisk defoliation as the tamarisk leaf beetle spreads throughout the western United States.
Numerical modeling of the impact of sea level rise on tidal basin morphodynamics

The morphod ynamic adaptation of estuaries to sea level fluctuations has been subject of geological studies based on sediment core analysis and qualitative modeling efforts. Limited attention has been paid to understanding bathymetric evolution based on a detailed process level. The current study aims to explore governing morphodynamic processes and timescales by application of a 2D, process‐based modeling approach. The starting point of the analysis is an 80 km long and 2.5 km wide basin. Starting from a sandy flat bed, stable channel‐shoal patterns emerge within a century under semidiurnal tidal forcing. We impose a gradual rise in sea level (up to 0.67 m per century) and compare the results with a run excluding sea level rise (SLR). Model results show that SLR drowns the basin so that intertidal area disappears. This process generates tidal asymmetry reflected by an emerging M4 tidal constituent. The basin shifts from exporting to importing sediment reflected by shoal patterns migrating in the landward direction. The landward sediment transport remains too limited to compensate for the loss in intertidal area and to restore equilibrium within a millennial time scale. Further sensitivity tests on initial bathymetry, tidal amplitude forcing, and rate of SLR show that shallow basins with limited tidal forcing are most vulnerable to SLR.
Detection of cavities in a karst area by means of a 3D electrical resistivity technique

In this study, we examined the applicability of a 3D electrical resistivity technique for the probing of underground cavities at a field test site in a karst area in Yongweol-ri, Muan-gun, in the south-western part of the Korean peninsula. At the test site, where the ground has subsided in the past, underground cavities are commonly found in the limestone bedrock, which is overlain with alluvial deposits. The limestone cavities at the test site are mostly filled with groundwater and clay; hence, they show levels of electrical resistivity that are significantly lower than those of the surrounding host bedrock. The results of this study demonstrate that the zones of low resistivity correspond to the zones of the cavities identified in the boreholes at the site, and that our 3D electrical resistivity survey is a very effective tool for detecting and mapping underground cavities in a karst area.
Introduction to spatial econometrics

An introduction to spatial econometric models and methods is provided that discusses spatial autoregressive processes that can be used to extend conventional regression models. Estimation and interpretation of these models are illustrated with an applied example that examines the relationship between commuting to work times and transportation mode choice for a sample of 3,110 US counties in the year 2000. These extensions to conventional regression models are useful when modeling cross-sectional regional observations or and panel data samples collected from regions over both space and time can be easily implemented using publicly available software. Use of these models for the case of non-spatial structured dependence is also discussed.
Application Potential of Wastewater Fertigated Short Rotation Coppice Systems in a Selected Region (Aligarh, UP, India)

In many Indian regions, increased wastewater is both a threat to public health and the environment, but it also presents an opportunity as a source of water and nutrients. With less than one-third of India’s wastewater treated and an alarming water scarcity situation, efficient wastewater treatment and reuse schemes are needed to face impending water and fertiliser shortages. This study explores the application potential of wastewater fertigated Short Rotation Coppice systems (wfSRC) as a cost-efficient and promising solution for treating and reusing wastewater in a specific region (400 km2, 184 settlements) of Aligarh (UP), India. Based on real data from a local wfSRC pilot site using bamboo, willow, and poplar, we analysed the system’s treatment performance, nutrient recovery, carbon sequestration potential, land requirements, biomass production potential, and cost–benefit, under various scenarios. The results show that the pilot wfSRC system is efficiently treating 250 m3/day of domestic wastewater on 6864 m2 of land, and serving 2500 people. The land requirements for wfSRC systems vary depending on local conditions (e.g., climate, soil type, wastewater composition) and user demands (e.g., water reuse efficiency, type, and amount of biomass). The calculated areas ranged from 2.75 to 25.7 m2/PE, which equates to a required land area in the whole study region of between 108 and 1006 ha in 2036. This would produce up to 100 DM t/ha/year of valuable biomass. Early local stakeholder involvement and the monitoring of pollutants are recommended as priorities during the planning process for the large-scale implementation of wfSRC systems in India.
Evaluation of short‐term climate change prediction in multi‐model CMIP5 decadal hindcasts

This study assesses the CMIP5 decadal hindcast/forecast simulations of seven state‐of‐the‐art ocean‐atmosphere coupled models. Each decadal prediction consists of simulations over a 10 year period each of which are initialized every five years from climate states of 1960/1961 to 2005/2006. Most of the models overestimate trends, whereby the models predict less warming or even cooling in the earlier decades compared to observations and too much warming in recent decades. All models show high prediction skill for surface temperature over the Indian, North Atlantic and western Pacific Oceans where the externally forced component and low‐frequency climate variability is dominant. However, low prediction skill is found over the equatorial and North Pacific Ocean. The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index is predicted in most of the models with significant skill, while the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) index shows relatively low predictive skill. The multi‐model ensemble has in general better‐forecast quality than the single‐model systems for global mean surface temperature, AMO and PDO.
Effects of Silage Type and Feeding Intensity on Carcass Traits and Meat Quality of Finishing Holstein–Friesian Bulls

Simple Summary In many countries, dairy bulls in beef production are used. The main flaw in their rearing is the difficulty in obtaining the optimal intramuscular fat content, affecting the quality properties consumers appreciate. In the present study, a 4-month finishing phase was applied to improve the meat quality of Holstein–Friesian bulls. Two levels of energy concentration in the feed portion and two types of silages were used. The silage type did not affect the carcass or meat quality, whereas the concentration of energy did. The intensive feeding beneficially affected performance, carcass value and the quality of Holstein–Friesian bulls’ meat. Abstract The study aimed at evaluating the influence of silage type (grass silage—GS, and maize silage—MS) and energy level in the feed portion on animals’ performance, carcass value and the quality of Holstein–Friesian bull meat. The animals were reared using intensive (I) feeding, 1.02 feed units for meat production (UFV)/kg dry matter (DM), and semi-intensive (SI) feeding, 0.94 UFV/kg DM. Thirty-two HF bulls with an average live weight of 530 kg were assigned to four feeding groups. The proportions (g/kg DM) of feed in the diets were as follows: group GS-I, GS 500, concentrate 500; group GS-SI, GS 700, concentrate 300; group MS-I, MS 500, concentrate 500; and group MS-SI, MS 700, concentrate 300. After 4 months of the finishing phase, bulls were slaughtered and samples of the longissimus lumborum muscle were collected. The silage type did not affect performance, carcass value or meat quality. However, in the intensive feeding, a 33% increase (p < 0.01) in daily weight gain and a reduction in the feed conversion ratio compared to semi-intensive feeding were noted. The carcasses of bulls fed intensively received higher scores for conformation and fatness than the carcasses of bulls fed semi-intensively. The meat of I group bulls had a higher intramuscular fat content and received higher juiciness, tenderness, taste and overall acceptability scores.