Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Reducing Controversy by Connecting Opposing Views

Society is often polarized by controversial issues that split the population into groups with opposing views. When such issues emerge on social media, we often observe the creation of `echo chambers', i.e., situations where like-minded people reinforce each other's opinion, but do not get exposed to the views of the opposing side. In this paper we study algorithmic techniques for bridging these chambers, and thus reduce controversy. Specifically, we represent the discussion on a controversial issue with an endorsement graph, and cast our problem as an edge-recommendation problem on this graph. The goal of the recommendation is to reduce the controversy score of the graph, which is measured by a recently-developed metric based on random walks. At the same time, we take into account the acceptance probability of the recommended edge, which represents how likely the edge is to materialize in the endorsement graph. We propose a simple model based on a recently-developed user-level controversy score, that is competitive with state-of-the-art link-prediction algorithms. Our goal then becomes finding the edges that produce the largest reduction in the controversy score, in expectation. To solve this problem, we propose an efficient algorithm that considers only a fraction of all the possible combinations of edges. Experimental results show that our algorithm is more efficient than a simple greedy heuristic, while producing comparable score reduction. Finally, a comparison with other state-of-the-art edge-addition algorithms shows that this problem is fundamentally different from what has been studied in the literature.
Rain‐vapor interaction and vapor source identification using stable isotopes from semiarid western India

[1] Results of a 4 year (2005–2008) study of stable isotopic composition of daily rain and ground-level vapor (GLV) at a semiarid station in western India are reported. The GLV samples were collected by complete cryogenic trapping. The sampling was mostly limited to the rainy season (June, July, August, and September) and about a month before and after. The maximum number of samples was collected during the year 2007. The GLV has a steady baseline δ18O and δD composition without distinguishable seasonal differences. The d-excess of GLV indicates that its isotopic composition has a significant contribution from kinetic evaporation of nonlocal water sources. During a rain event, GLV rapidly interacts with raindrops and tends to move toward isotopic equilibrium. On cessation of rain, the δ18O and δD of GLV quickly return to the typical baseline values. Therefore, use of isotopic composition of monthly rainfall for estimating average monthly isotopic composition of GLV can lead to erroneous results. Within a rainy season, certain large rain events have depleted δ18O and δD values compared to other equally large rain events with significantly enriched δ18O and δD. These isotopic differences are apparently not related to amount of rainfall. Variable magnitude of evaporation from falling raindrops and/or cloud liquid water fraction cannot explain the observed differences. Instead, it is shown that varying source regions (Arabian Sea or Bay of Bengal) and cloud top temperature may be responsible for observed differences.
Characteristics of US drought and pluvials from a high‐resolution spatial dataset

Anomalous precipitation can be a devastating natural disaster having significant impacts on economies, society and the environment. This study examines the spatial and temporal characteristics of anomalous precipitation throughout the United States to obtain a greater understanding of drought/pluvial regimes, including intensity, duration and spatial coverage based on a high‐resolution precipitation dataset. With the help of the parameter‐elevation regression on independent slopes model (PRISM), approximately 4 km data for the United States is used to construct the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) and the standardized precipitation index (SPI) for the period 1895–2003. Increased resolution from the PRISM dataset shows that drought/pluvial areas are not as homogeneous as seen in previous studies based on climate divisions and larger scales. While size, duration and locations of drought/pluvial events are influenced by the index used, the largest annual drought/pluvial events occur more frequently in the central United States, with a higher percentage of extreme values occurring in the western portion of the country. Four large pluvial events have occurred in the United States during the study period, with three of these having occurred during the past 30 years. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society
Spatial variability of CO2 efflux in a drained cropped peatland south of Venice, Italy

[1] A field experimental study has been performed in a drained cropped peatland located in the Zennare Basin (south of the Venice Lagoon, Italy), to measure land subsidence due to peat oxidation and to address the primary relationships between the hydrological regime, the soil mass loss (in form of CO2 efflux to the atmosphere), and the settlement rate. The latter, of the order of 0.01–0.02 m/a, has been proved to be related to soil CO2 efflux due to organic matter oxidation. A series of CO2 emission measurement campaigns has been performed between the years 2003 and 2005. The non-steady-state chamber method was employed to assess the efflux spatial variability and detect its relationship with the main hydrological parameters controlling the oxidation reaction, i.e., soil temperature, soil moisture, and organic matter content. The measurements, carried out in two sites located 1.5 km apart, point out a great variability of the CO2 emissions both in space and time. While the time-dependent behavior can be explained by the seasonal fluctuation of soil temperature, spatial variability shows a weak correlation with the variation of environmental variables. Statistical data analyses show that CO2 efflux can be considered lognormally distributed and that the process is stationary within each site but not in the whole basin, though the properties of the outcropping peat layer and the soil surface seem apparently uniform. A geostatistical analysis reveals two different spatial correlation structures, with scales of spatial dependence of ≈30 m and ≈180 m. Finally, the collected data show that invasive agricultural practices such as deep plowing, tilling, and harrowing, largely used in the Zennare Basin, induce significant disturbances that are not easily recognizable during the flux surveys and that casually affect the temporal and spatial variability of the oxidation process.
Underwater Digital Stereo-Observation Technique for Red Hydrocoral Study

provide valuable insights into the recruitment and population A linear regression model is used to determine the size of d3~"amics of the Fiordland population. Knowledge gained will correction required for stereophotogrammetric measurement also provide into the biology of many ~ffshore species, from photographs taken in an underwater environment. The which are often adversely affected by c~nu~~ercial fishing model utilizes the stereophotogrammetric distance measure- tice~ (Probert et a1.S 1997)- Deep-sea trawls frequently bring up ment of an object from a set of object-space control points. A deep-watercorals~ecies. Unfortunatel~j thelong-temeffecton correction factor is applied to the stereophotogrammetric these be studied measurement to obtain the corrected measurement. The technique was used to study the growth of an endemic species Exllng Coral Growth Measurement Techniques of hydrozoan coral, Errina novaezelandiae, in Doubtful Sound, A number of techniques are available to biologists for measurFiordland, New Zealand. The results show that the technique ing growth in corals. Vital staining with alizarin or calcein, Xhas a measurement accuracy of t 1.2 mm at the 95 percent ray radiography, and single-frame photography are some of the confidence level. We found that these hydrozoan corals have more common techniques. A brief discussion of these techa high erosion rate, presumably due to grazing, which was not niques and their advantages and disadvantages is provided reported previously. below.
Identification of Chinese Herbs Using a Sequencing-Free Nanostructured Electrochemical DNA Biosensor

Due to the nearly identical phenotypes and chemical constituents, it is often very challenging to accurately differentiate diverse species of a Chinese herbal genus. Although technologies including DNA barcoding have been introduced to help address this problem, they are generally time-consuming and require expensive sequencing. Herein, we present a simple sequencing-free electrochemical biosensor, which enables easy differentiation between two closely related Fritillaria species. To improve its differentiation capability using trace amounts of DNA sample available from herbal extracts, a stepwise electrochemical deposition of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was adopted to engineer a synergistic nanostructured sensing interface. By using such a nanofeatured electrochemical DNA (E-DNA) biosensor, two Chinese herbal species of Fritillaria (F. thunbergii and F. cirrhosa) were successfully discriminated at the DNA level, because a fragment of 16-mer sequence at the spacer region of the 5S-rRNA only exists in F. thunbergii. This E-DNA sensor was capable of identifying the target sequence in the range from 100 fM to 10 nM, and a detection limit as low as 11.7 fM (S/N = 3) was obtained. Importantly, this sensor was applied to detect the unique fragment of the PCR products amplified from F. thunbergii and F. cirrhosa, respectively. We anticipate that such a direct, sequencing-free sensing mode will ultimately pave the way towards a new generation of herb-identification strategies.
Origin of eclogite-bearing, domed, layered metamorphic complexes

Compositionally layered metamorphic rocks of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, Papua New Guinea, are folded into domes and antiforms bounded by faults parallel to metamorphic layering and foliation. The structures are broadly similar to the metamorphic “core complexes” of western North America. Lenses of ultramafic rock lie on the bounding faults, and the same faults have served as loci for Quaternary andesitic volcanic activity. Metamorphic grade in the northern islands (Goodenough and Fergusson) is amphibolite facies, with pockets of eclogite (Fergusson Island only) and granulite, and is greenschist facies in the southern island (Normanby). In all three islands there is a characteristic tectonostratigraphic sequence (FMU sequence) from felsic metamorphic rocks at base, or internally, through mafic metamorphic rocks to ultramafic rocks at top, or externally. The association of metamorphic and ultramafic rocks apparently developed in a north dipping Paleogene subduction system and was exhumed to upper crustal level in the Oligocene--Early Miocene, possibly by reversal of movement on faults in the former subduction system. Vigorous uplift and development of domes and antiforms in the Pliocene was triggered by westward propagation of the Woodlark Basin spreading ridge and was accompanied by rifting, rift-related magmatism, rapid erosion, and deposition of coarse sediment in the adjacent Trobriand Basin.
A Holocene record of sea level, vegetation, people and fire from western Tasmania, Australia

The analysis of a 10 000 calendar year (cal. ka) pollen record on the west coast of Tasmania has revealed a suite of changes that can be related to sea level, fire and people. Fire-promoted moorland has occupied the site for the entire period and challenges the long-held assumption that rainforest dominated the landscape of western Tasmania through the early to mid Holocene. Changes in wetland taxa and the occurrence of benthic marine diatoms indicate a Holocene sea-level high-stand between 6.3 and 5.8 cal. ka. A significant and sustained rise in charcoal concentration occurs after 6 cal. ka, reflecting the combined effects of anthropogenic burning and hydrological changes that were probably modulated by regional climatic forcing. Finally, European colonisation resulted in a significant decrease in charcoal, rapid peat accumulation and a suite of vegetation changes.
Fire spread in chaparral—'go or no-go?'

Current fire models are designed to model the spread of a linear fire front in dead, small-diameter fuels. Fires in predominantly living vegetation account for a large proportion of annual burned area in the United States. Prescribed burning is used to manage living fuels; however, prescribed burning is currently conducted under conditions that result in marginal burning. We do not understand quantitatively the relative importance of the fuel and environmental variables that determine spread in live vegetation. To address these weaknesses, laboratory fires have been burned to determine the effects of wind, slope, moisture content and fuel characteristics on fire spread in fuel beds of common chaparral species. Four species (Adenostoma fasciculatum, Ceanothus crassifolius, Quercus berberidifolia, Arctostaphylos parryana), two wind velocities (0 and 2 m s −1 ) and two fuel bed depths (20 and 40 cm) were used. Oven-dry moisture content of fine fuels (<0.63 cm diameter) ranged from 0.09 to 1.06. Seventy of 125 fires successfully propagated the length (2.0 m) of the elevated fuel bed. A logistic model to predict the probability of successful fire spread was developed using stepwise logistic regression. The variables selected to predict propagation were wind velocity, slope percent, moisture content, fuel loading, species and air temperature. Air temperature and species terms were removed from the model for parsimony. The final model correctly classified 94% of the observations. Comparison of results with an empirical decision matrix for prescribed burning in chaparral suggested some agreement between the laboratory data and the empirical tool.
Evolution of a crustal‐scale transpressive shear zone in the Albany–Fraser Orogen, SW Australia: 2. Tectonic history of the Coramup Gneiss and a kinematic framework for Mesoproterozoic collision of the West Australian and Mawson cratons

Within the Albany–Fraser Orogen of southwestern Australia, the Coramup Gneiss is a NE–SW trending zone of high‐strain rocks that preserves a detailed record of orogenesis related to Mesoproterozoic convergence of the West Australian and Mawson cratons. New structural, metamorphic and U–Pb SHRIMP zircon age data establish that the Coramup Gneiss underwent high‐grade tectonism during both Stage I (c. 1290 Ma) and Stage II (c. 1170 Ma) of the Albany–Fraser Orogeny. Stage I commenced with c. 1300 Ma high‐T, low‐P M1a metamorphism during extension, and the formation of small‐scale ptygmatic folds within a subhorizontal S1a gneissosity. High‐P M1b metamorphism at c. 1290 Ma was accompanied by the transposition and shearing of S1a into a composite, shallow SE‐dipping S1b foliation, and the development of tight recumbent F1b folds with S1‐parallel axial surfaces and asymmetries indicating NW‐directed thrusting. The preservation of a similar P–T–time record in the Fraser Complex (NE of the Coramup Gneiss) is consistent with large‐scale, NW‐directed Stage I thrusting of the Mawson Craton margin over the south‐eastern edge of the West Australian Craton. Stage II tectonism in the western Coramup Gneiss involved high‐T, low‐P M2a metamorphism and the formation of subvertical SE‐dipping D2 shear zones, shallow SW‐plunging L2 mineral stretching lineations, and NW‐verging F2 folds with S2‐parallel axial surfaces. A synkinematic pegmatite dyke emplaced into a D2 shear zone yielded a U–Pb SHRIMP zircon age of 1168 ± 12 Ma. Kinematic indicators suggest a combination of pure shear flattening perpendicular to S2, and dextral simple shear. However, contemporaneous structures elsewhere in the Albany–Fraser Orogen are consistent with continued NW–SE convergence at craton‐scale during Stage II, and oblique compression in the Coramup Gneiss is attributed to the arcuate geometry of the orogen‐scale deformation front.
Provenance, transport and characteristics of modern aeolian dust in western Gansu Province, China, and interpretation of the Quaternary loess record

Abstract Results of a comparative analysis of a 4-year set of monthly samples of airfall dust with samples from surface alluvial fan deposits, desert sand dunes and late Pleistocene loess and palaeosols in Gansu Province, northern China, are summarized. They suggest a qualification of the conventional view that the sand deserts were the primary single source of the Quaternary loess. It is argued that silts deflated from the surfaces of the large and numerous piedmont alluvial fans in the Hexi Corridor, Gansu, constituted a major contribution to the loess column in the western region of the Chinese Loess Plateau. The present dust fall regime in the Hexi Corridor suggests that distribution and rate of accumulation of airfall silt in the present interglacial is similar to that in parts of the Pleistocene loess record.
The Forced Annual Reversal of the Atlantic North Equatorial Countercurrent

Abstract We analyze the variability of the thermal structure associated with the Atlantic North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) and its relation to the seasonally varying winds. The analysis performed allows us to establish the period of time and the region where the NECC reverses direction. West of 25°W, the depth of the thermocline in the southern side of the NECC (4 to 7°N) annually oscillates 180° out of phase to the oscillations on the northern side (7 to 10°N). East of 25°W the thermocline rises and falls nearly in phase across the countercurrent. If the flow can be uniquely presumed from the thermal structure, the NECC disappears during the boreal spring in the western basin. The reversal of phase from north to south over one part of the ocean, but no the other, is shown to be mirrored in the annual variation of the curl of the stress induced at the surface by the winds. In order to quantify this result, the different terms of the vorticity equation are calculated from the data. We conclude that t.
An experiment to test the potential for glass fragments to ignite wildland fuels

It is current opinion that glass fragments can serve as an ignition source for grassland, bush and forest fires by focussing sunlight. In order to check the validity of this assumption, ignition experiments were conducted in the open over six litter samples taken from forests in northern Germany. Of several glass fragments, the five bottle bottoms best focussing sunlight were installed 15–50 cm above the litter materials. We found that one bottle bottom was able to slightly char spruce needles, beech leaves and blades of grass. Although this particular bottle bottom let the temperature increase up to 327°C, flame formation did not occur. A secondary (but more realistic) experiment with a glass-bottle bottom lying on the litter led to a maximum temperature of 82°C in the space between the litter and the glass fragment.
Thermospheric densities derived from spacecraft orbits: Application to the Starshine satellites

[1] The amplitude and variability of the total mass density of the Earth's atmosphere at altitudes between 200 and 475 km are analyzed for the period from June 1999 to January 2003, around the maximum of solar activity in cycle 23. The densities are derived with uncertainties of order ±6% from analysis of the approximately circular orbits of three Starshine spacecraft of known ballistic coefficients. Local densities averaged over all three Starshine missions are ∼4% lower than the corresponding NRLMSISE-00 model values, which may reflect a secular decrease from thermospheric cooling. Differences of order ±15% occur on timescales of days to weeks, and larger differences of as much as 30% can persist on timescales of several months. Some differences are traceable to the NRLMSIS model's use of the 10.7 cm proxy of EUV radiation, since they are reduced when NRLMSIS is evaluated using the Mg II index, which is a better proxy of variations in EUV irradiance that heats the thermosphere. Comparisons of 27-day density cycles extracted by complex demodulation indicate that NRLMSIS underestimates upper atmospheric density increases associated with solar rotational modulation of EUV radiation by as much as a factor of two.
Precision livestock farming.

 Precision livestock farming aims to increase animal productivity, improve animal welfare and health, whilst reducing environmental impact.  The improvement of animal productivity is achieved using real time monitoring and management systems, alerting the farmer instantly when problems arise.  Production related information generated from PLF systems can enhance farm management but cannot replace entirely the farmers own knowledge and experience.
Sim2Real Physically Informed Neural Controllers for Robotic Deployment of Deformable Linear Objects

Deformable linear objects, such as rods, cables, and ropes, play important roles in daily life. However, manipulation of DLOs is challenging as large geometrically nonlinear deformations may occur during the manipulation process. This problem is made even more diﬃcult as the diﬀer-ent deformation modes (e.g., stretching, bending, and twisting) may result in elastic instabilities during manipulation. In this paper, we formulate a physics-guided data-driven method to solve a challenging manipulation task – accurately deploying a DLO (an elastic rod) onto a rigid substrate along various prescribed patterns. Our framework combines machine learning, scaling analysis, and physics-based simulations to develop a physically informed neural controller for deployment. We explore the complex interplay between the gravitational and elastic energies of the manipulated DLO and obtain a control method for DLO deployment that is robust against friction and material properties. Out of the numerous geometrical and material properties of the rod and substrate, we show that only three non-dimensional parameters are needed to describe the deployment process with physical analysis. Therefore, the essence of the controlling law for the manipulation task can be constructed with a low-dimensional model, drastically increasing the computation speed. The eﬀectiveness of our optimal control scheme is shown through a comprehensive robotic case study comparing against a heuristic control method for deploying rods for a wide variety of patterns. In addition to this, we also showcase the practicality of our control scheme by having a robot accomplish challenging high-level tasks such as mimicking human handwriting and tying knots.
Plug and play process control of a district heating system

The main idea of plug and play process control is to initialise and reconfigure control systems automatically. In this paper these ideas are applied to a scaled laboratory model of a district heating pressure control system. First of all this serves as a concrete example of plug and play control, secondly some of the first techniques developed for these problems are demonstrated by experiments. The main emphasis is on incremental modelling and control in order to make it possible to “plug” in a new sensor or actuator and make it “play” automatically.