Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cranial anatomy of a new crocodyliform (Archosauria: Crocodylomorpha) from the Lower Cretaceous of Song-Liao Plain, northeastern China

Rugosuchus nonganensis, a new genus and species of crocodyliform, is erected on the basis of its peculiar cranial features. This late Early Cretaceous species represents the second, and most complete, crocodyliform known from northeastern China. Its discovery is significant for our understanding of both the local vertebrate fauna and its stratigraphical correlations, and the paleobiogeography of the Crocodyliformes. The palatine contribution to the anterior border of the choana excludes the new form from the Eusuchia, and evidence from osteoderms (not detailed in the present paper) suggests that the new form appears to be phylogenetically closer to the Eusuchia than to the Goniopholididae. Therefore, comparisons are made primarily with those taxa which have a closer relationship to the former than the latter. The unsculpted, depressed, and lobe-like posterolateral process of the squamosal is further demonstrated to be ontogenetically variable and thus inappropriate for use as a character in phylogenetic a.
Long-Term Variations of Broad-Scale Asian Summer Monsoon Circulation and Possible Causes

AbstractThe widely applied Webster–Yang index (WYI), which measures the broad-scale dynamical features of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM), has experienced robust interannual and interdecadal variations and a decreasing tendency, with apparent shifts in 1972. The WYI exhibits moderate variability and frequent positive phases before 1972, intensive interannual variability during 1972–98, and an obvious decreasing tendency and mainly negative phase afterward. The vertical shear easterly anomalies over the tropics/subtropics and the anomalous vertical shear anticyclonic circulation over Eurasia (Eu) are the background for the decreasing WYI, associated with reduced summer precipitation around the Bay of Bengal and Sumatra. On interdecadal time scales, the negative (positive) Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) is characterized by cooling (warming) in Eurasian tropospheric temperature (TT) via the North Atlantic Oscillation. Global warming manipulates the increasing tendency and the interannual variability .
SERIES APPROXIMATION IN VELOCITY AND TRAVELTIME COMPUTATIONS

A rigorous proof is presented to show that over a horizontally layered ground the rms velocity cannot exceed the stacking velocity. The proof helps to illustrate the difference between stacking and rms velocities in a quantitative manner. The series of Taner and Koehler (1969) is used for the purpose. Convergence of this series is tested. Including more terms will not necessarily improve the convergence. Although the series is rapidly convergent when the spread length/depth ratio is small, strong oscillations are observed when this ratio is high.
Fission Yeast (cid:97) -Glucan Synthase Mok1 Requires the Actin Cytoskeleton to Localize the Sites of Growth and Plays an Essential Role in Cell Morphogenesis Downstream of Protein Kinase C Function

In ﬁssion yeast protein kinase C homologues (Pck1 and Pck2) are essential for cell morphogenesis. We have isolated mok1 (cid:49) in a genetic screen to identify downstream effectors for Pck1/2. mok1 (cid:49) is essential for viability and encodes a protein that has several mem-brane-spanning domains and regions homologous to glucan metabolic enzymes. mok1 mutant shows abnormal cell shape, randomization of F-actin and weak cell wall. Biochemical analysis shows that Mok1 appears to have (cid:97) -glucan synthase activity. Mok1 localization un-dergoes dramatic alteration during the cell cycle. It localizes to the growing tips in interphase, the medial ring upon mitosis, a double ring before and dense dot during cytokinesis. Double immunoﬂuorescence staining shows that Mok1 exists in close proximity to actin. The subcellular localization of Mok1 is dependent upon the integrity of the F-actin cytoskeleton. Conversely, overexpression of mok1 (cid:49) blocks the translocation of cortical actin from one end of the cell to the other. pck2 mutant is synthetically lethal with mok1 mutant, delocalizes Mok1 and shows a lower level of (cid:97) -glucan. These results indicate that Mok1 plays a crucial role in cell morphogenesis interdependently of the actin cytoskeleton and works as one of downstream effectors for Pck1/2. In both cases, tetrad analysis of the heterozygous diploid showed two viable (Ura (cid:50) ) and two inviable spores, indicating that the mok1 (cid:49) gene is essential for cell viability. The mok11 (cid:49) , mok12 (cid:49) , mok13 (cid:49) , and mok14 (cid:49) genes were also disrupted. Tetrad analysis of a heterozygous diploid yielded four viable spores, in which Ura (cid:49) and Ura (cid:50) segregates 2:2 in each case. This indicated that neither mok11 (cid:49) , mok12 (cid:49) , nor mok13 (cid:49) gene is essential for cell viability. It was also found that double mok11mok12 and triple mok11mok12mok14 disruptions were viable. streaked and incubated at 35.5 (cid:56) C. In all nine ts mok1 mutant alleles tested, Ts (cid:49) integrants appeared at a frequency of (cid:122) 10 (cid:50) 3 . Thus, the mutation sites in these mok1 mutants are in the region of the NH 2 -terminal 876 amino acid residues.
Compaction and Crystallization in Magma Chambers: Towards a Model of the Skaergaard Intrusion

The geochemical variations within the Skaergaard intrusion provide an opportunity to discover what features of the intrusion can be understood using the simplest form of the equations governing the two-phase flow of melt and matrix. The equations governing the conservation of mass, momentum and energy are first simplified by using the extended Boussinesq approximation, and then solved numerically to study the time-dependent behaviour of a compacting solidifying layer at the base of a magma chamber when variations in the horizontal plane can be neglected. The most important result is that the concept of a trapped liquid fraction, which has been widely used to model the bulk composition of layered intrusions, is a useful concept to describe the steady-state behaviour of compacting layers. This result is at first sight surprising, because there is relative movement between the melt and crystals during compaction, and the system is therefore open. The reason why it is useful is because both the melt and the crystals are moving downwards in a frame fixed to the upper surface of the compacting layer. Because the mass of all elements must be conserved, what goes into the top of the layer as melt and solid must come out of its bottom as a solid when the behaviour is not time dependent. However, when time-dependent behaviour occurs, the concept of a trapped liquid fraction ceases to be useful.The governing equations are used to model the concentration of phosphorus, uranium and rubidium in the lower part of the Skaergaard intrusion, where they behave incompatibly. The observed behaviour requires the viscosity of the solid part of the compacting layer to have a value of 10 Pa s.
Does small‐bodied salmon spawning activity enhance streambed mobility?

Female salmonids bury and lay their eggs in streambeds by digging a pit, which is then covered with sediment from a second pit that is dug immediately upstream. The spawning process alters streambed topography, winnows fine sediment, and mixes sediment in the active layer. The resulting egg nests (redds) contain coarser and looser sediments than those of unspawned streambed areas, and display a dune‐like shape with an amplitude and length that vary with fish size, substrate conditions, and flow conditions. Redds increase local bed surface roughness (<10−1 channel width, W), but may reduce the size of macro bedforms by eroding reach‐scale topography (100–101W). Research has suggested that spawning may increase flow resistance due to redd form drag, resulting in lower grain shear stress and less particle mobility. Spawning, also prevents streambed armoring by mixing surface and subsurface material, potentially increasing particle mobility. Here we use two‐dimensional hydraulic modeling with detailed prespawning and postspawning bathymetries and field observations to test the effect of spawning by small‐bodied salmonids on sediment transport. Our results show that topographical roughness from small salmon redds has negligible effects on shear stress at the reach‐unit scale, and limited effects at the local scale. Conversely, results indicate sediment mixing reduces armoring and enhances sediment mobility, which increases potential bed load transport by subsequent floods. River restoration in fish‐bearing streams should take into consideration the effects of redd excavation on channel stability. This is particularly important for streams that historically supported salmonids and are the focus of habitat restoration actions.
Textural classification for ecological research using ATM images

Abstract Investigation of spectral and textural classification of high resolution ATM image of a semi-natural scene is presented. Pure spectral classification using bands 5, 7, 9 and the maximum likelihood classifier yielded 56, 63 and 64 per cent overall classification accuracies with 1-25m, 2-5m, and 50m spatial resolution data respectively. Application of combined spectral and textural classification using bands 5, 7, 9 and various texture features from seven texture algorithms ( spatial grey level dependence matrices-SGLDM, grey level run length matrices-GLRLM, busyness, neighbouring grey level dependence matrices-NGLDM, sum and difference histograms-SADH, and fractal analysis), yielded overall classification accuracies from 58-65 per cent at 1-25 m resolution. It is concluded that texturally-based classifications improve overall classification although improvements are not dramatic. The first-order texture measures from algorithms like GLDH and SADH have shown more promise than second-order algorithm.
Crevasse patterns at the onset to Ice Stream B, West Antarctica

Abstract Sequential satellite imagery and modeling are used to investigate crevasse patterns at the head of Ice Stream B tributary B1b. The crevasses, informally called the “chromosomes”, form at the upstream limit to B1b’s northern shear margin and chaotic crevasse zone. We find that the onset to crevasse formation, and by inference the onset to streaming flow, has migrated upstream over time at a mean rate of 230(16) m a−1. A possible cause for that migration is changes in net basal friction due to changes in basal water production rate and storage.
Sensitivity of Precipitation Phase over the Swiss Alps to Different Meteorological Variables

AbstractIn most meteorological or hydrological models, the distinction between snow and rain is based only on a given air temperature. However, other factors such as air moisture can be used to better distinguish between the two phases. In this study, a number of models using different combinations of meteorological variables are tested to determine their pertinence for the discrimination of precipitation phases. Spatial robustness is also evaluated. Thirty years (1981–2010) of Swiss meteorological data are used, consisting of radio soundings from Payerne as well as present weather observations and surface measurements (mean hourly surface air temperature, mean hourly relative humidity, and hourly precipitation) from 14 stations, including Payerne. It appeared that, unlike surface variables, variables derived from the atmospheric profiles (e.g., the vertical temperature gradient) hardly improve the discrimination of precipitation phase at ground level. Among all tested variables, surface air temperature a.
FIBRINOGEN PRECIPITATION BY STREPTOCOCCAL M PROTEIN* II. RENAL LESIONS INDUCED BY INTRAVENOUS INJECTION OF M PROTEIN INTO MICE AND RATS

Precipitation of fibrinogen is a newly described property of streptococcal M protein (1). Heretofore the only known function of M protein has been related to determining virulence of Group A streptococci by impeding phagocytosis (2). Small amounts of M protein have been injected into normal mice and rabbits by the usual parenteral routes without evidence of toxicity (3, 4). In man, subcutaneous or intramuscular injections of M protein or streptococcal cell walls containing M protein have been innocuous (5). The present report is concerned with the production in mice and rats of renal lesions following intravenous injections of larger quantities of M protein. Production of serum sickness nephritis by intravenous injection of soluble antigen-antibody complexes in several species has been thoroughly described (6). Initiation of tissue damage in this disease appears to be the localization of preformed antigen-antibody complexes in the glomerttlar capillary bed. Indeed, several colloidal materials tend to localize in the renal glomerular capillary bed, a localization which is facilitated by blockade of the reticuloendothelial system (7). To produce renal lesions with antigen-antibody complexes, large amounts are necessary. In the mouse, McCluskey and Benacerraf used approximately 8 mg of antiovalbumin antibody per 25 gin mouse; amounts of rabbit antibovine serum albumin antibody used by Germuth to produce the pathological changes of serum sickness in the rabbit were of the same order of magnitude (8). Milligram quantifies of M protein, injected into mice and rats, were calculated to produce M-fibrinogen complexes in vivo comparable to that amount of antigen-antibody complexes necessary to produce nephritis. The lesions produced are described herein.
Effects of non-digestible oligosaccharides in young pig diets

Some carbohydrates in young pig diets escape enzymatic digestion and form substrates for the gastrointestinal microflora. These include the non-digestible oligosaccharides ( NDO ), which are found in e.g. cereals and legumes. Certain NDO may selectively stimulate the growth and/or activity of one or a limited number of favourable bacterial species, and as such beneficially affect (gut) health of the host. They are referred to as prebiotics. A series of studies was carried out to elucidate the role of dietary NDO as feedstuff components and their potential as prebiotic feed additives in young pig diets.The two types of NDO studied, fructooligosaccharides ( FOS ) and transgalactooligosaccharides ( TOS ), were included in NDO-free diets up to 40 g/kg. The NDO were also used as substrates for in vitro fermentation, using young pigs' digesta and faeces as inoculum. Dietary NDO hardly affected pig performance and apparent ileal and faecal nutrient digestion. More than 90% of the FOS was degraded pre-caecally; this was 30% for TOS (estimated by others). Pre-caecal saccharolytic activity enhanced for both types of dietary NDO, resulting in prebiotic effects at the ileal level (reduced pH, reduced concentration of aerobes). However, the FOS- and TOS diets differed in terms of ileal volatile fatty acid composition and concentration of anaerobes (including lactobacilli). These may have been related to differences in rate of fermentation (FOS>TOS) and types of volatile fatty acids produced, as observed during in vitro fermentation. The observed prebiotic effects at the ileal level were not maintained throughout the total large intestine, due to the fast rate of fermentation of FOS and TOS. As a result, some of the stimulated microflora probably started to use proteins as a source of energy, resulting in the increased proteolytic activity observed at the faecal level (increased pH and concentration of volatile fatty acids of protein origin). It was discussed that cereal- and legume-based diets may exert a certain level of prebiotic activity. Therefore, the use of FOS and TOS as prebiotic feed additives in such diets may be limited. However, prebiotic carbohydrates which can be fermented throughout the gastrointestinal tract, rather than only in the small intestine and/or the proximal colon, may result in prolonged prebiotic effects and prove useful as feed additive in young pig diets.
Coordinated Abrupt Weakening of the Eurasian and North African Monsoons in the 1960s and Links to Extratropical North Atlantic Cooling

AbstractPrevious modeling and paleoclimate studies have suggested that cooling originating from the extratropical North Atlantic can abruptly weaken the Eurasian and North African monsoons. The climatic signature includes a widespread cooling over the Eurasian and North African continents and an associated increase to surface pressure. It is explored whether such coordinated changes are similarly exhibited in the observed twentieth-century climate, in particular with the well-documented shift of Sahel rainfall during the 1960s. Surface temperature, sea level pressure, and precipitation changes are analyzed using combined principal component analysis (CPCA). The leading mode exhibits a monotonic shift in the 1960s, and the transition is associated with a relative cooling and pressure increase over the interior Eurasia and North Africa, and rainfall reduction over the Sahel, South Asia, and East Asia. The local circulation changes suggest that the rainfall shift results from the regional response of the sum.
CLONAL GROWTH OF MAMMALIAN CELLS IN VITRO GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS OF COLONIES FROM SINGLE HELA CELLS WITH AND WITHOUT A ~FEEDER ~ LAYER* BY THEODORE T. PUCK, PH.D., PHILIP I. MARCUS, AND STEVEN J: CIECIURA

The conventional methods available for routine growth of animal ceils in vitro demand the presence of a large cell population in order that sustained multiplication be initiated. This requirement for multicellularity has prevented application of many of the techniques developed for study of cellular growth, genetics, and genetic biochemistry in microorganisms, and, indeed, has raised the question whether somatic animal cells might not be fundamentally different from independent microorganisms like bacteria in the distribution of reproductive potential among the members of the cell population (1). In an earlier paper of this series (2), we have described a method for growth of colonies from single HeLa cells, a strain of human epithelium cultured from a cervical carcinoma (3). The procedure is simple and rapid; it permits screening of large numbers of cells for genetic as well as physiologic studies; it is quantitative in that every cell of a HeLa population readily yields a colony, within an uncertainty no greater than sampling error. In the present communication, further methodological developments are presented and some of the characteristics of the resulting clonal populations are described.
The effect of nonerodible particles on wind erosion of erodible surfaces

Nonerodible elements on erodible surfaces have the effect of absorbing part of the wind momentum flux (stress) and thus protect the erodible surface to a degree, depending on the geometry of the mixture. Experiments measuring the effect of nonerodible elements show that these elements increase the apparent threshold velocity of erosion and that the functional form of the mass flux (of erodible sand particles) in terms of friction velocity follows an Owen function. The partitioning of momentum flux by the nonerodible elements is smaller in our experiments than measured in the experiments of Marshall; however, in those measurements for which nonerodible geometry is similar, our results are roughly consistent with the experimental results of Lyles et al. The disagreement with the Marshall results is tentatively explained by differences in scale and in the wind stress measuring systems.
Immune complexes containing citrullinated fibrinogen costimulate macrophages via Toll-like receptor 4 and Fcγ receptor.

OBJECTIVE Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with the presence of anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs). Nearly two-thirds of patients with ACPA-positive RA have immune complexes that contain citrullinated fibrinogen, and these citrullinated fibrinogen-containing immune complexes (cFb-IC) can exacerbate disease in murine models of RA; however, the exact role of such ACPA ICs in RA pathogenesis has remained elusive. We undertook the present study to investigate a novel mechanism by which ACPAs specifically targeting citrullinated fibrinogen may directly stimulate macrophage tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production. METHODS Murine or human macrophages were stimulated with native fibrinogen (nFb), cFb, or in vitro-generated nFb-IC or cFb-IC, and TNF production was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. ICs were generated with either polyclonal anti-Fb antibodies or pooled IgG from patients with ACPA-positive RA. To evaluate the role of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4)/myeloid differentiation protein (MyD88) pathway and the Fcγ receptor (FcγR) pathway in the induction of TNF by Fb and Fb-IC, parallel experiments were performed using 1) TLR-4-deficient or MyD88-deficient macrophages, and 2) inhibitors of TLR-4 or FcγR. RESULTS Citrullinated Fb stimulated macrophage TNF production more potently than did native Fb. Incorporation of cFb into ICs augmented its ability to stimulate TNF production by macrophages. Stimulation of TNF by cFb was dependent on TLR-4 and MyD88, while stimulation by cFb-IC was dependent on both TLR-4/MyD88 and FcγR. CONCLUSION We demonstrated that cFb-IC can costimulate macrophages via dual engagement of TLR-4 and FcγR, resulting in the synergistic induction of TNF production. Our findings suggest a potential role of citrullination in increasing the potency of an endogenous innate immune ligand and provide insight into the mechanism by which anticitrulline autoimmunity may contribute to the onset and propagation of inflammation in RA.
Sedimentology of the late Quaternary barrage tufas in the Wye and Lathkill valleys, north Derbyshire

SUMMARY Related sequences of Holocene fluvial tufa deposits occur in two north Derbyshire valleys. The Lathkill deposits extend, with a break, back into the Devensian and are continuing growth at the present. The Flandrian Wye valley tufas were extinguished historically by pollution and siliciclastic input. A three-dimensional facies framework has been constructed from subsurface data provided by percussion auger sampling and resistivity surveying. Phytoherm barriers are dominated by mosses and semi-aquatic plants heavily encrusted with isopachous sparry calcite fringe cements and lesser developments of micrite fringe cements. The pools and ponded areas upstream of the barriers are dominated by phytoclastic wackestones and cyanoliths (oncoids). Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction indicates that both of the successions are part of a formerly extensive barrage tufa system comparable in type with the Plitvice systems of Croatia. It is suggested that the older Lathkill tufas were deposited under warmer, interglacial conditions.
Has the magnitude of floods across the USA changed with global CO2 levels?

Abstract Statistical relationships between annual floods at 200 long-term (85–127 years of record) streamgauges in the coterminous United States and the global mean carbon dioxide concentration (GMCO2) record are explored. The streamgauge locations are limited to those with little or no regulation or urban development. The coterminous US is divided into four large regions and stationary bootstrapping is used to evaluate if the patterns of these statistical associations are significantly different from what would be expected under the null hypothesis that flood magnitudes are independent of GMCO2. In none of the four regions defined in this study is there strong statistical evidence for flood magnitudes increasing with increasing GMCO2. One region, the southwest, showed a statistically significant negative relationship between GMCO2 and flood magnitudes. The statistical methods applied compensate both for the inter-site correlation of flood magnitudes and the shorter-term (up to a few decades) serial correlation of floods. Citation Hirsch, R.M. and Ryberg, K.R. , 2012. Has the magnitude of floods across the USA changed with global CO2 levels? Hydrolological Sciences Journal, 57 (1), 1–9.