Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Atmospheric production of nitrous oxide from excited ozone and its potentially important implications for global change studies

[1] Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a greenhouse gas included in the Kyoto Protocol. Its production from excited ozone (O3) may potentially influence inverse modeling, future growth projection, and the use of mass-independent Δ17O anomaly of N2O for probing paleoatmospheric O3. On the basis of the three-component model of N2O quantum yield in photolysis of O3 in air, the globally averaged atmospheric production of N2O from O3 electronically excited by the Hartley-Huggins band and from highly vibrationally excited ground-state O3 are 1.01 and 0.26 Tg N a−1, respectively. The sum of the two productions is 9.4 and 7.7%, respectively, of the N2O from microbial and anthropogenic activities estimated by Global Emissions Inventory Activity and by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001). Uncertainties in these results are discussed. Subject to those uncertainties, inverse modeling of N2O that neglects productions from O3 could yield artificially magnified (by about 7%) globally averaged emission of N2O from microbial and anthropogenic activity and introduce distortion in the regional and seasonal pattern in that emission. Experiments that could narrow the uncertainties are discussed. Production from highly vibrationally excited O3 reduces the steepness in the decrease of N2O volume-mixing ratios (VMR) above 35 km. Modeled and observed VMR comparisons show latitude- and season-dependent overestimation and underestimation of the N2O VMR by models. Globally averaged comparison suggests possible N2O source deficit in the stratosphere. Limitations, uncertainties, and need for experiments associated with this possibility are also discussed. If proven real, the possible missing N2O source could influence the atmospheric affects of solar UV variability, subject to conditions that are discussed.
Teaching Africa: Towards a Transgressive Pedagogy

Preface Chapter 1: History as Tool of Colonialism Chapter 2: Teaching and Learning African History Chapter 3: The Study of Africa and the African Experience: The Challenge and Possibilities of an Integrative Theory Chapter 4: Theorizing Africa Beyond its Boundaries Chapter 5: Teaching Africa: 'Development' and Decolonization Chapter 6: Reclaiming 'Development' through Indigeneity and Indigenous Knowledge Chapter 7: Indigenous Knowledge Studies and the Next Generation: Pedagogical Possibilities for Anti-Colonial Education Chapter 8: Politicizing the Contemporary Learning: Implications for African Schooling and Education Chapter 9: Looking to the Future -- Afrocentric Schooling in Action: Applying Development Discourses to Community Empowerment, HIV/AIDS Awareness, and Sustainability
EXTRACTABLE SESQUIOXIDES IN SIX MEDITERRANEAN SOILS DEVELOPED ON BASALT AND SCORIA

Summary Iron, Al, and Mn were extracted by oxalate and dithionite from two Brown Mediterranean Soils, two Red Mediterranean Soils, one Vertisol and one Gley soil, all derived from basalt or scoria in the sub-humid and humid Mediterranean regions of the Golan Heights. Ratios of oxalate: dithionite extracted iron (Feo:Fed) were low in all soils, indicating that the predominant form of free iron is crystalline. Feo accumulates in the argillic B horizons of the Mediterranean soils, while Fed accumulates in the surface horizons. A large part of the free iron oxide in the surface horizons of Mediterranean soils is associated with non-clay fractions. While manganese behaves in a manner somewhat similar to that of iron, no definite trends could be discerned in the vertical distribution of free aluminium. In the Vertisol, Feo and Mno accumulate in the subsoil. Fed and Mnd increase slightly with soil depth. In the Gley soil, amorphous iron accumulates in the surface horizon, total free iron in the bottom horizon. Both amorphous and total free Mn had been depleted from the upper horizons of the Gley soil.
The impact and implementation of an mHealth intervention to improve infant and young child feeding in Senegal: IIMAANJE protocol for a cluster randomized control trial

Behavior change communication (BCC) strategies have the potential to improve infant feeding and nutrition outcomes among infants and young children in low- and middle-income countries. More recently, there has been a shift toward the adoption of mHealth interventions—the use of mobile phones to transmit health-related information or direct care—to promote recommended BCC strategies among the caregivers of infants and young children. In Senegal, most infants and young children are not fed according to recommended practices leading to a high prevalence of undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. The aims of this cluster randomized control trial, using an effectiveness-implementation (type 1) hybrid design, were to: (1) determine the impact of an mHealth IYCF intervention on IYCF practices and nutrition outcomes; and (2) examine the implementation, costs, and opportunities for scaling up the mHealth messaging intervention. The trial was conducted in three regions in Senegal (Thies, Fatick, Diourbel) with 488 mother, father and children (6–23 months) triads. The intervention included 8 scripted messages, that underwent cognitive testing prior to the intervention implementation, and 8 unscripted messages from positive deviants. One voice message and one text message were sent each week to members of our experimental group for a 16-week period. The impact of the intervention was assessed through a household survey, 24-h dietary recall, and hemoglobin measurements before and after the intervention implementation. The primary outcomes were minimal acceptable diet (MAD) and anemia. We also included a total of 54 participants in nine focus groups held with mothers and fathers and semi-structured interviews with Badienou Gox (i.e., community health workers) (n = 6) and national partners and program implementers (n = 6) to examine the intervention implementation process. The study was registered prior to data collection on Clinicaltrials.gov (Identifier: NCT05374837).
Prediction of extreme climate on the Tibetan Plateau based on NEX-GDDP-CMIP6

Abstract As a climate-sensitive and fragile region, how the Tibetan Plateau (TP) responds to global warming would have significant implications for its ecological environment and sustainable socio-economic development. A crucial tool for assessing fine-scale climate impacts is the NEX-GDDP-CMIP6 dataset. This study utilized the NEX-GDDP-CMIP6 dataset to determine changes in extreme temperature and precipitation indices under different Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) relative to the baseline warming by 1.5 °C, 2 °C, and 3 °C. By using the Theil-Sen median trend and Mann-Kendall test methods, the research concluded that warming trends and increased humidity were on an upward trend. These changes led to amplified fluctuations in the frequency, intensity, and duration of multiple extreme indices.
Nonlinear Science issues in the dynamics of unstable rock slopes: new tools for rock fall risk assessment and early warnings

Abstract Time series of displacement data from unstable rock slopes contain ‘hidden’ information about the dynamics of slope failure. This information cannot be found when using the current linearly causal paradigm based on analytical methods, but is revealed when numerical and graphical methods from the toolbox of the Nonlinear Sciences are applied. The occurrence of fractal patterns, which suggests a qualitative difference between intrinsic slope movement dynamics of time series from the near-to-equilibrium and the far-from-equilibrium dynamical states of slope failure systems, is an example of such a ‘hidden’, diagnostically important indicator. It helps to identify the stage of immediate danger of rock fall occurrence, just in time to launch an efficient early warning. Phase portrait and correlograms of time series proved to be suitable for earlier revelation of transitions from the near-to-equilibrium to the far-from-equilibrium dynamical states, as well as for helping to distinguish between intrinsic slope movement dynamics and climatically driven reversible deformation activity.
GENETIC VARIABILITY AND PATH ANALYSIS IN GARLIC

Studies on Genetic Variability and Path Analysis of 40 genotypes in garlic revealed that wider variability was present for different traits. The genetic analysis showed that the clove weight and bulb yield per plant registered highest GCV and high heritability coupled with high magnitude of genetic advance indicating additive gene action in those characters. The path analysis also showed that clove weight and highest direct positive effect on bulb yield per plant. Thus the results sug- gested that the clove weight is the most important charector and would serve as good selection index for further improvement of garlic.
Three-dimensional geometry and kinematic evolution of the Pine Mountain thrust system, southern Appalachians

The Pine Mountain thrust system is the westernmost major structure in the southern Appalachian Valley and Ridge in Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Surface, subsurface, and seismic reflection data have been integrated to construct a series of balanced cross sections and interpret the three- dimensional geometry and kinematic evolution of the structure. The structure is subdivided into three main areas on the basis of structural style. In the southwestern and northeastern areas, the structure consists of a simple ramp- related anticline, the Powell Valley anticline, related to a ramp in the Pine Mountain thrust from the Cambrian Rome to the Devonian Chattanooga Formation. In the central oil-producing area, the Pine Mountain thrust is exposed in several erosional fensters, as a result of folding by one or more subthrust imbricates. Here, the Pine Mountain thrust develops a double-ramp geometry, with an intermediate flat in the Cambrian Maynardville Formation. The structure varies from a system of overlapping anticlines in the Brooks and Martin Creek fenster sections, to two anticlines separated by an intermediate syncline in the Bethel and Sulphur Springs fenster sections, to a partially overlapping duplex- imbricate system in the Big Stone Gap section. The total shortening associated with the Pine Mountain thrust system decreases from about 70,000 ft (21.3 km) at the southwest end to less than 10,000 ft (3.0 km) at the northeast end. In the central fenster area, the total shortening is distributed between the Pine Mountain thrust and its subthrust imbricates. The structural elevations in both the Pine Mountain and Bales I sheets are greatest in the central fenster area. The greatest structural elevations in the Bales I sheet are in the Rose Hill and Ben Hur oil fields. Palinspastic restorations of the thrust system and the construction of detailed fault maps indicate that variations in structural geometry and shortening along strike are accommodated by interactions between thrust faults and oblique ramps or tear faults. The variations in three-dimensional geometry can be explained in terms of combinations of three main mechanisms: unequal hanging-wall displacements over a single footwall ramp, equal displacements over a footwall ramp displaced along an oblique ramp, and displacement of part of a footwall ramp due to movement on one or more frontal thrusts.
Education, Employment, and Financial Outcomes in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors—A Systematic Review

Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer face unique challenges. We aimed to describe (i) education, employment, and financial outcomes and (ii) determinants for adverse outcomes in AYA cancer survivors. We performed a systematic literature search. We included original research articles on AYA (15–39 years of age) cancer survivors (≥2 years after diagnosis) and our outcomes of interest. We narratively synthesized the results of the included articles. We included 35 articles (24 quantitative and 11 qualitative studies). Patients in education had to interrupt their education during cancer treatment, and re-entry after treatment was challenging. After treatment, most survivors were employed but started their employment at an older age than the general population. Overall, no disadvantages in income were found. Survivors reported more absent workdays than comparisons. We identified chemotherapy, radiotherapy, late effects or health problems, female sex, migration background, and lower education associated with adverse outcomes. Although most AYA cancer survivors were able to re-enter education and employment, they reported difficulties with re-entry and delays in their employment pathway. To facilitate successful re-entry, age-tailored support services should be developed and implemented.
Influence of integrated watershed-scale agricultural conservation practices on lake water quality

Watershed-scale management efforts to improve conservation of water resources in agricultural watersheds depend upon the effectiveness of integrated multiple agricultural best management practices (BMPs). To more comprehensively assess the effectiveness of combined BMPs on water quality requires large-scale, long-term (>10 year) studies measuring key water quality parameters. One such suite of critical water quality parameters includes water clarity, total suspended solids (TSS), and total dissolved solids (TDS). To address this, Beasley Lake, a 25 ha (62 ac) oxbow lake located in a 915 ha (2,261 ac) watershed of intensive row crop agricultural activity, was studied. The lake was sediment impaired when monitoring was initiated in 1995 and was a candidate to assess the effectiveness of watershed-wide BMPs on lake water clarity (as Secchi depth), TSS concentrations, and TDS. A variety of BMPs within row crop fields, at field edges throughout the watershed, and enrollment of 112 ha (277 ac) into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) between 1997 to 2006 focused on reducing soil erosion and concomitant sediment runoff. Selected parameters were measured approximately biweekly from 1996 to 2009. During this 14-year period, changes in row crop management and BMP implementations and alterations were observed and recorded in conjunction with targeted water quality parameters. While annual improvement in water quality occurred, distinct seasonal effects were noticeable. Observed changes in water clarity and TSS concentrations were greatest during spring and least in winter in association with increased BMPs, vegetated buffer strips west of the lake, and CRP north of the lake. Observed decreases in TDS concentrations were greatest during summer and fall in association with implemented CRP north of the lake. Reductions in spring TSS by >60% often directly increased spring water clarity by >100%. Results of this study indicate clear improvement in lake water quality with watershed-wide implementation of integrated multiple agricultural BMPs, and these improvements, manifested most strongly during spring, will assist to promote a healthy, sustainable lake ecosystem.
SEISMIC ANISOTROPY BENEATH THE CONTINENTS: Probing the Depths of Geology

Seismic anisotropy beneath continents is analyzed from shear-wave splitting recorded at more than 300 continental seismic stations. Anisotropy is found to be a ubiquitous property that is due to mantle deformation from past and present orogenic activity. The observed coherence with crustal deformation implies that the mantle plays a major, if not dominant, role in orogenies. No evidence is found for a continental asthenospheric decoupling zone, suggesting that continents are coupled to general mantle circulation.
A review of the trends observed in British Isles mean sea level data measured by tide gauges

SUMMARY This report presents an up-to-date review of the British Isles (BI) Mean Sea Level (MSL) data set obtained from tide gauges, and of the long-term secular trends in BI MSL. The data are of mixed quality, and not as copious as one would like for scientific analysis given the complexity of long-term sea and land level changes around BI coasts. Nevertheless, the small number of very long records can be studied eVectively, and indicate that twentieth century secular trends in BI MSL are consistent with those obtained from NW Europe as a whole and with the bottom range of estimates for global average MSL change during the past 100 years. Century-timescale low-frequency ‘accelerations’ in MSL of the order of 0.4‐0.8 mm yr’1 century’1 are obtained from the three longest records, which are also similar to estimates from mainland Europe. ‘Sea level indices’ for the BI are constructed which can provide responsible agencies with a guide to the ‘average state’ of BI sea level. Combined ocean tide and storm surge (‘tide+surge’) numerical modelling is demonstrated to be a valuable tool in understanding part of the variability of MSL around the BI, although modelling of long-term changes is limited at present by the lack of adequate meteorological data sets from before 1955. Nevertheless, it is shown that, even if a complete meteorological modelling data set were available, it would not be able to account for all of the MSL variability. Finally, recommendations are made for the development of tide gauge and Global Positioning System (GPS) recording in the BI for the purpose of long-term MSL monitoring in the next century.
One‐dimensional thermal modelling of Acadian metamorphism in southern Vermont, USA

One‐dimensional thermal (1DT) modelling of an Acadian (Devonian) tectonothermal regime in southern Vermont, USA, used measured metamorphic pressures and temperatures and estimated metamorphic cooling ages based on published thermobarometric and geochronological studies to constrain thermal and tectonic input parameters. The area modelled lies within the Vermont Sequence of the Acadian orogen and includes: (i) a western domain containing garnet‐grade pre‐Silurian metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks from the eastern flank of an Acadian composite dome structure (Rayponda–Sadawga Dome); and (ii) an eastern domain containing similar, but staurolite‐ or kyanite‐grade, rocks from the western flank of a second dome structure (Athens Dome), approximately 10 km farther east. Using reasonable input parameters based on regional geological, petrological and geochronological constraints, the thermal modelling produced plausible P–T paths, and temperature–time (T –t) and pressure–time (P–t) curves. Information extracted from P–T –t modelling includes values of maximum temperature and pressure on the P–T paths, pressure at maximum temperature, predicted Ar closure ages for hornblende, muscovite and K‐feldspar, and integrated exhumation and cooling rates for segments of the cooling history. The results from thermal modelling are consistent with independently obtained pressure, temperature and Ar cooling age data on regional metamorphism in southern Vermont. Modelling results provide some important bounding limits on the physical conditions during regional metamorphism, and indicate that the pressure contemporaneous with the attainment of peak temperature was probably as much as 2.5 kbar lower than the actual maximum pressure experienced by rocks along various particle paths. In addition, differences in peak metamorphic grade (garnet‐grade versus staurolite‐grade or kyanite‐grade) and peak temperature for rocks initially loaded to similar crustal depths, differences in calculated exhumation rates, and differences in 40Ar/39Ar closure ages are likely to have been consequences of variations in the duration of isobaric heating (or ‘crustal residence periods’) and tectonic unroofing rates. Modelling results are consistent with a regional structural model that suggests west to east younging of specific Acadian deformational events, and therefore diachroneity of attainment of peak metamorphic conditions and subsequent 40Ar/39Ar closure during cooling. Modelling is consistent with the proposition that regional variations in timing and peak conditions of metamorphism are the result of the variable depths to which rocks were loaded by an eastward‐thickening thrust‐nappe pile rooted to the east (New Hampshire Sequence), as well as by diachronous structural processes within the lower plate rocks of the Vermont Sequence.
Cross modulation of whistler mode and HF waves above the HAARP ionospheric heater

The HF facility of the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is employed to generate ELF/VLF radiation by modulation of overhead auroral electrojet currents for magnetospheric wave injection and propagation in the Earth‐ionosphere waveguide. HAARP induced ducted magnetospherically amplified whistler mode signals are observed to return to the vicinity of the HF facility and experience cross modulation with simultaneous HF transmissions. The cross modulation effect results from modification of the attenuation properties of the ionospheric medium by HAARP HF waves in the daytime ionosphere. The cross modulation concept is subsequently investigated as a new method for ELF/VLF wave generation with the HAARP heating facility using two co‐located HF beams. The new generation method is observed to generate radiation from 630 Hz–37 kHz. Observed amplitudes are an order of magnitude lower than fundamental frequencies generated using conventional AM, but of the same order as AM second harmonics.
Stalling the Course of Neurodegenerative Diseases: Could Cyanobacteria Constitute a New Approach toward Therapy?

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are characterized by progressive and irreversible neuronal loss, accompanied by a range of pathological pathways, including aberrant protein aggregation, altered energy metabolism, excitotoxicity, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Some of the most common NDs include Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and Huntington’s Disease (HD). There are currently no available cures; there are only therapeutic approaches that ameliorate the progression of symptoms, which makes the search for new drugs and therapeutic targets a constant battle. Cyanobacteria are ancient prokaryotic oxygenic phototrophs whose long evolutionary history has resulted in the production of a plethora of biomedically relevant compounds with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and neuroprotective properties, that can be valuable in this field. This review summarizes the major NDs and their pathophysiology, with a focus on the anti-neurodegenerative properties of cyanobacterial compounds and their main effects.
High-Order Modes of Thin Film Amorphous Silicon Coupled Disk Resonator Arrays

High-order resonance modes of disk resonators are promising due to their high quality factors in dissipative media. In this work, thin film hydrogenated amorphous silicon disk resonators actuated by lateral electrodes were mechanically coupled in arrays ranging from one (single resonator) up to four elements. The resonators were moderately to weakly coupled, which can allow further enhancement of sensitivity for mass sensing. The devices were fabricated by an easily scalable surface micromachining process on $5\times 5$ cm glass substrates with process temperatures not exceeding 175 °C. Modes of different orders were measured at frequencies ranging from 0.2 up to 10 MHz, exhibiting maximum quality factors of 3115 in vacuum and 427 in air. Experimental mode shapes obtained from laser Doppler vibrometry were consistent with those obtained from finite element method simulations. Measurements of quality factor showed a significantly sharper increase with frequency in air than in vacuum, which was attributed to lessened extrinsic energy dissipation to the fluidic medium of the high-order flexural modes. Vibrometry measurements suggest that this could be explained by reduced flexural motion of the high-order modes. The results also showed that the addition of a mechanical coupling beam was not detrimental to the quality factor, ultimately demonstrating that the proposed devices are potential candidates for mode-localized sensing purposes in dissipative media and large-area applications. [2023-0124]