Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Potential Prognostic Relevance of Left-Ventricular Global Longitudinal Strain and of the Summation of the Mitral and Tricuspid Regurgitation Volume in Patients with Non-Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Background: The aim of this pilot study was to determine the potential prognostic relevance of novel multidirectional myocardial and volumetric echocardiographic parameters in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM). Methods: Multidirectional myocardial parameters (longitudinal, radial, and circumferential left-ventricular (LV) strain using speckle tracking echocardiography) and a new volumetric parameter (the sum of the mitral and tricuspid regurgitation volume (mitral–tricuspid regurgitation volume) were assessed. The cardiovascular (CV) outcome was a composite of cardiac death and hospitalization for heart failure (HF) at 1 year. Results: Approximately 102 patients were included in this pilot study. The mean LV ejection fraction (LVEF) was 28.4 ± 8.9%. During a follow-up of 1 year, the CV outcome occurred in 39 patients (10 HF deaths, and 36 hospitalizations for HF). The LV global longitudinal systolic strain (GLS) and mitral–tricuspid regurgitation volume were the main parameters that were seen to be significantly altered in the comparison of patients with events vs. those without events (GLS (absolute values) 7.4 ± 2.7% vs. 10.3 ± 2.6%; mitral–tricuspid regurgitation volume 61.1 ± 20.4 mL vs. 40.9 ± 22.9 mL, respectively; p-value < 0.01). In line with these findings, in a multivariate continuous logistic regression analysis, the GLS and mitral–tricuspid regurgitation volume were the main parameters associated with worse CV outcomes (GLS: OR 0.77 (95%CI 0.65–0.92); mitral–tricuspid regurgitation volume OR 1.09 (95%CI 1.01–1.25)), whereas the radial and circumferential LV global strain and mitral regurgitation volume and tricuspid regurgitation volume were not linked to the CV outcome. Furthermore, in a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, a GLS cutoff of <7.5% and mitral–tricuspid regurgitation volume > 60 mL were the identified values for the parameters associated with worse CV outcomes. Conclusions: The findings of this pilot study suggest that the GLS and a novel volumetric parameter (the sum of the mitral and tricuspid regurgitation volume) are linked to worse CV outcomes in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. Hence, these promising results warrant further validation in larger studies.
Acquisitive Crime Trends: Unpacking the Unemployment-Crime Relationship in a Rural Context

Tests of criminological theory are conducted almost exclusively about urban spaces. In urban areas, rates of property and acquisitive crime are often tied to economic structural health through institutional anomie and market society theories. Examinations of the connection between economic structures and acquisitive crime in rural spaces are lacking in the literature. This study uses United States’ NCVS data from 1993-2005 examine trends in acquisitive crime over time from a macro level economic theoretical perspective in rural United States counties. Implications for additional rural theory tests will be addressed.
Miocene to Present differential exhumation in the Western Alps: Insights from fission track thermochronology

Analysis of cooling age patterns yielded by low‐temperature thermochronometers provides key information about the role played by tectonic discontinuities during the late stages of exhumation of metamorphic belts. In the Western Alps, fission track data published so far are heterogeneously scattered and concentrated in few structural domains, preventing analyses at the scale of the whole belt. The new apatite fission track data reported in this work, obtained with the external detector method as well as the population method in very low U content samples, fill this gap. They constrain the postmetamorphic evolution of the Western Alps along two transects from the foreland to the retroforeland, unraveling the effective role played by some major faults during the exhumation of the belt at shallow crustal levels. A clear regional pattern, characterized by decreasing ages moving from the axial sector to the European external sector of the belt and by an along‐strike gradient with increasing ages from north to south, has been unraveled. Evident breaks in this age pattern have been detected in correspondence of faults that are near‐parallel to the trend of the belt, pointing to the occurrence of active tectonics during and after exhumation. The most apparent breaks have been observed in the axial sector of the belt, where the postmetamorphic deformation would have been negligible according to classic tectonic models. Faults located in the axial sector split the belt into two major blocks (eastern and western). Since the Miocene, the western block experienced higher exhumation rates than the eastern one. Such differential exhumation was accommodated in the northern portion of the belt thanks to reverse motion along the Internal Houiller Fault, which occurred in a convergent transcurrent framework. To the south, it was accommodated instead by normal reactivation of the Briançonnais Front and by activity of the Longitudinal Fault System, which occurred in a divergent transcurrent framework. The tectonic activity affecting the axial sector of the belt, in a context of regional dextral strike slip, is coeval with the forward propagation of the external thrusts, and of similar magnitude. We suggest that the contrasting kinematic regimes (i.e., convergent versus divergent transcurrence) observed in the Western Alps moving along strike were responsible of the increasing exhumation rates toward the north, revealed in both blocks by the along‐strike age gradient. The higher exhumation rates recognized northward would be related to an increasing importance of crustal shortening that promoted erosion during the late stages of exhumation of the belt.
Joint inversions of seismic and geodynamic data for models of three—dimensional mantle heterogeneity

The seismic models of three-dimensional (3-D) mantle heterogeneity may be interpreted in terms of the density perturbations which drive mantle flow and thus provide important predictions of flow-related observables, such as the nonhydrostatic geoid. The current models of global-scale shear velocity heterogeneity provide reasonably good fits to the long-wavelength nonhydrostatic geoid data (60–70% variance reductions) but rather poor fits to the corresponding free-air gravity anomalies (30–40% variance reductions). This major difference is due to two factors: (1) the very different amplitude spectrum of the gravity anomalies, which is nearly flat for degrees l 3. The largest mismatch between the pattern of predicted and observed gravity anomalies is in the southern hemisphere. This observation suggests that one reason for the poor overall match between the two fields may be that the global seismic data are not resolving sufficiently well the heterogeneity in the southern hemisphere portion of the deep mantle. In contrast, the gravity data provide accurate and geographically uniform constraints on the vertically integrated heterogeneity in the mantle. We therefore perform a series of experiments in which we simultaneously invert a large set of seismic data (which includes long-period waveforms, SS - S and ScS - S differential travel times, and normal-mode structure coefficients) and the long-wavelength gravity anomaly data. We thus determine whether it is possible to derive new 3-D heterogeneity models which satisfy both data sets. The gravity anomaly data are interpreted in the context of spherically-symmetric viscous flow models of the mantle. In these inversion experiments we test several radial viscosity and δlnρ/δlnν profiles and thereby assess their plausibility. The joint seismic-geodynamic inversions reveal that it is indeed possible to greatly improve the fit to the free-air gravity anomalies (with variance reductions of 80–90% readily accessible) while preserving the fit to the seismic data. This improvement is achieved with some adjustment to the heterogeneity in the depth range 1500–2500 km, where the seismic data constraints appear to be weakest. The joint inversions also reveal new structures in the southern hemisphere portion of the lower mantle which apparently are not resolved by the seismic data alone.
Preliminary indication of the role of AHL-dependent quorum sensing systems in calcium carbonate precipitation in Gram-negative bacteria

Numerous microbial species participate in precipitation of carbonates in various natural environments, including soils, geological formations, freshwater biofilms and oceans. Despite the geochemical interest of such a biomineralization process, its molecular mechanisms and adaptive aspects remain poorly known. Many Gram-negative bacteria use cell-to-cell communication systems relying on N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHLs) signal molecules to express certain phenotypic traits in a density-dependent manner, a phenomenon referred as to quorum-sensing (QS). In this work, bacterial isolates collected from cave and rhizosphere soil were analyzed to study the occurrence of the AHL-mediated QS in bacterial calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitation. To test the production of AHLs signal molecules, we cross-streaked Gram-negative calcifying strains, selected among the environmental strains studied, with the AHL-negative mutant Chromobacterium subtsugae strain CV026. Only Burkholderia ambifaria LMG 11351 was able to restore violacein production in CV026 among the tested strains. The constructed AHL-negative mutant of B. ambifaria LMG 11351 could not precipitate CaCO3 on B-4 agar. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis on CaCO3 crystals obtained in vitro shows crystals of different morphologies, calcified biofilms and bacteria in close contact with the precipitated crystals. In the inner layers of the bioliths deposited by B. ambifaria LMG 11351, a stream-like organization of the Burkholderia imprints was not detected by SEM. Our data provide preliminary evidence that the activation of AHL-regulated genes may be a prerequisite for in vitro bacterial carbonatogenesis, in some cases, confirming the specific role of bacteria as CaCO3 precipitating agents. We enhance the understanding of bacterial CaCO3 biomineralization and its potential biotechnology implications for QS-based strategies to enhance or decrease CaCO3 precipitation through specific bacterial processes. The AHL-negative mutant of B. ambifaria LMG 11351 (a well-known plant growth-promoting bacterium) could also be used to study plant-bacteria interactions. The adaptive role of bacterial CaCO3 biomineralization was also discussed.
Large-scale variations in inner core anisotropy

I analyze nearly 2000 handpicked differential times of core-penetrating compressional waves to image lateral variations in the anisotropic structure of the solid inner core. The inner core is strongly anisotropic (2–4% on average) throughout most of the western hemisphere from near the surface to its center and into the lowermost several hundred kilometers of the eastern hemisphere. In contrast, the outer half of the eastern hemisphere from 40° to 160°E (the quasi-eastern hemisphere) exhibits very weak anisotropy with an average amplitude of only 0.5%. The symmetry direction is the fast direction and lies on or near the spin axis. Voigt's isotropic average of compressional wave speeds is the same in the eastern and western hemispheres, suggesting that there are no large-scale lateral variations in the chemistry or temperature in the inner core. Instead, I suggest that the variations seen in anisotropy represent lateral variations in the degree of crystal alignment. The inner core appears to be organized in a very simple way with 60–90% of its volume containing well-aligned crystals and the remaining part (uppermost 400–700 km of the quasi-eastern hemisphere) containing less well aligned crystals. A mechanism consistent with axisymmetry and large-scale variability of anisotropy is discussed. It incorporates the inference that the inner core is rotating faster than the mantle and that gravitational coupling to the mantle forces large-scale inner core deformation, inducing flow with strain rates as high as 10−14 s−1. A positive feedback mechanism, related to anisotropic viscosity, may reinforce lateral variations in the strength of anisotropy.
Can Global Warming Strengthen the East Asian Summer Monsoon

Abstract The Indian summer monsoon (ISM) tends to be intensified in a global-warming scenario, with a weakened linkage with El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but how the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) responds is still an open question. This study investigates the responses of the EASM from observations, theoretical, and modeling perspectives. Observational and theoretical evidence demonstrates that, in contrast to the dramatic global-warming trend within the past 50 years, the regional-mean EASM rainfall is basically dominated by considerable interannual-to-decadal fluctuations, concurrent with enhanced precipitation over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and over southern Japan and suppressed rainfall amount over the South China and Philippine Seas. From 1958 through 2008, the EASM circulation exhibits a southward shift in its major components (the subtropical westerly jet stream, the western Pacific Ocean subtropical high, the subtropical mei-yu–baiu–changma front, and the tropical.
Phase relations in peridotite+CO2 Systems to 12 GPa: Implications for the origin of kimberlite and carbonate stability in the Earth's upper mantle

The phase relations of synthetic peridotites in the systems CaO-MgO-SiO2-CO2 (CMS-CO2), CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-CO2 (CMAS-CO2) and CaO-MgO-SiO2-CO2-H2O (CMS-CO2-H2O) were studied from 4 to 12 GPa using a multi-anvil apparatus. Peridotite solidi in both the CMS-CO2 and CMAS-CO2 systems have similar topologies. Carbonates are the first phases consumed at, or above, the solidus in peridotite+CO2 at pressures above 4 GPa. Magnesite solid-solutions are stable subsolidus phases in peridotite+CO2 to pressures of at least 12 GPa. It is demonstrated that if uncontaminated, diamond-bearing kimberlites emplaced in the Earth's crust are primary magmas, then they could be derived by partial melting of carbonated peridotite at 5 to 7 GPa in the upper mantle beneath the cratonic areas of continents. “Proto-kimberlites” may be generated at pressures above 7 GPa in the upper mantle, but no such magmas are represented on the Earth's surface. Mineral chemical data from experimental run products indicate that: 1) the discrete sub-calcic clinopyroxene nodules found in some kimberlites represent phenocrysts which crystallized at high pressure in the kimberlite magma and, 2) the spatial association of kimberlite and melilitite observed in the field is not related to a common source region for both these magmas in the mantle. If the oxygen fugacity recorded in samples from the upper 150 km of the mantle is maintained at greater depths, then carbonates are potential hosts for carbon in the mantle to depths of at least 350 km.
Using forage litter to improve soil degradation of pure Betula platyphylla forest in the Loess Plateau, China

Abstract The long-term growth of pure forest is an important issue that affects stability and sustainable development of ecosystem, while using forage litter as fertilizer or directly establishing tree-grass complex vegetation may be the most effective prevention way. This study took the artificial pure forests of Betula platyphylla, which were widely distributed in the Loess Plateau of China, as the object and conducted a 120-day decomposition incubation experiment of forest humus soil mixed with seven common leguminous forage litters to study the effects of forage litters in controlling the degradation of soil biological and chemical properties of pure forests. The results showed that: by adding forage litter to the soil of pure B. platyphylla forest, litters of Lespedeza bicolor and Onobrychis viciaefolia improved the soil quality obviously, followed by Astragalus adsurgens and Melilotus officinalis, while Medicago sativa lead to obvious deterioration, followed by Vicia villosa and Coronilla varia.
True triaxial strength and deformability of the German Continental Deep Drilling Program (KTB) deep hole amphibolite

We designed and fabricated a true triaxial loading system and used it to determine deformational and strength characteristics of the amphibolite penetrated by the superdeep hole drilled in the Bohemian massif of southeastern Germany under the German Continental Deep Drilling Program (KTB). Amphibolite is found between 3200 and 7300 m and thus the dominant rock in this 9100-m boring. Our loading system enables the application of three unequal principal stresses to a rectangular prismatic rock specimen. During a test we maintained the least principal (σ3) and the intermediate (σ2) stresses constant and increased the major principal stress (σ1) until brittle failure occurred, in the form of a fracture steeply dipping in the σ3 direction. Typically, for the same σ3 level the amphibolite compressive strength increased substantially with the magnitude of σ2, demonstrating the inadequacy of Mohr-like failure criteria that ignore the effect of the intermediate principal stress on rock strength. We found that a general criterion for the amphibolite could be expressed in the form of a power function relating the octahedral shear stress at failure to the mean normal stress acting on the plane containing the fracture. With respect to deformation, we established that for the same σ3 the onset of dilatancy increases significantly with the magnitude of σ2. Thus the intermediate principal stress appears to extend the elastic range of the stress-strain behavior for a given σ3 and hence to retard the onset of the failure process. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the failure process reveal that microcracks develop mainly parallel to σ2 direction, as the intermediate stress grows beyond σ3, localizing in close proximity of the eventual main fracture.
Cadmium Distribution in Hill Pastures as Influenced by 20 Years of Phosphate Fertilizer Application and Sheep Grazing

Cadmium (Cd) accumulating in the kidneys of older grazing animals threatens the continued access of New Zealand offal products to traditional markets. Phosphatic fertilizers represent the largest input of Cd into pastoral farming systems. Little research has been conducted on the cycling of Cd in grazed pastures. To estimate the distribution of Cd in grazed pastures, soil samples were collected from self-contained farmlets which had received either high superphosphate (HF) inputs (765 kg P ha-1), low superphosphate (LF) inputs (113 kg P ha-1) or no phosphate fertilizer (UF) inputs over the previous 20 years. The average total Cd concentration in the surface soil (0-30 mm; bulk density 0.64 g cm-3) of the farmlets which had received HF inputs was 0.40 mg kg-1 soil (range 0.18-0.60 mg kg-1), whereas farmlets which had received LF or no fertilizer inputs had an average Cd concentration of 0.10 mg kg-1 (range 0.02-0.19 mg kg-1). Cadmium concentration decreased with soil depth. The concentration of Cd in mixed herbage reflected the difference in soil Cd between the HF (mean ± standard error = 0.321 ± 0.033 mg Cd kg(-1) dry matter) and LF (0.063 ± 0.004 mg Cd kg(-1) dry matter) farmlets. Soil Cd accumulation was highest on low slopes (0-12°) and lowest on high slopes (> 26°) in both LF and HF farmlets, whereas pasture Cd concentration in the HF farmlet increased with slope from 0.178 ± 0.035 mg Cd kg-1 on low slopes to 0.487 ± 0.053 mg Cd ha-1 on high dopes. A strong relationship was obtained between soil Cd and P in the 0-30 mm layer of the HF farmlet, demonstrating the link between phosphate fertilizer use and Cd accumulation. Zinc to Cd ratios were much lower in this layer compared with those in LF and UF sites, providing further evidence of the contribution of phosphate fertilizer to soil Cd. A model originally developed to explain the distribution of soil P in sheep-grazed fertilized hill pastures gave good predictions of present day soil Cd distribution in the HF farmlet. The model predicts Cd accumulation in soil by using the amounts of Cd applied in fertilizer per unit surface area of land and functions which calculate the redistribution of Cd by animal grazing and camping behaviour. The model on an average overpredicted the measured soil Cd by 17% in the high slope sites and by 10% in the low slope sites.
Automatic Detection of Ships in RADARSAT-1 SAR Imagery

RÉSUMÉ NOAA/NESDIS a initié le programme “Alaska SAR Demonstration” dont l'objectif est de faire la démonstration du potentiel des images RSO en bande C de RADARSAT-1 à fournir une information utile et en temps opportun sur l'environnement et pour la gestion des ressources pour des utilisateurs en Alaska. Un des produits développés dans le cadre du programme est une liste de localisations des navires. Cet article décrit l'algorithme développé pour générer ce produit par le biais de la détection automatique des navires basée sur des changements dans les statistiques locales. À l'aide d'images à basse résolution (100 mètres d'espacement), on démontre que l'on peut détecter des navires de dimension supérieure à 35 mètres (représentant 105 navires sur un total de 272 dans la zone test) avec un taux de fausse alerte de 0,01% pour une seule détection. Avec des images à haute résolution (50 mètres d'espacement), on peut détecter des navires d'une dimension supérieure à 32 mètres (représentant 124 navires sur 272) avec un taux de fausse alerte de 0,002% pour une seule détection. L'algorithme est entièrement automatisé et prend environ 10 minutes de temps-machine pour traiter une image ScanSAR en mode B large.
Examining the Relationship between Drought Development and Rapid Changes in the Evaporative Stress Index

AbstractIn this study, the ability of a new drought metric based on thermal infrared remote sensing imagery to provide early warning of an elevated risk for drought intensification is assessed. This new metric, called the rapid change index (RCI), is designed to highlight areas undergoing rapid changes in moisture stress as inferred from weekly changes in the evaporative stress index (ESI) generated using the Atmosphere–Land Exchange Inverse (ALEXI) surface energy balance model. Two case study analyses across the central United States revealed that the initial appearance of negative RCI values indicative of rapid increases in moisture stress preceded the introduction of severe-to-exceptional drought in the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) by more than 4 weeks. Using data from 2000 to 2012, the probability of USDM intensification of at least one, two, or three categories over different time periods was computed as a function of the RCI magnitude. Compared to baseline probabilities, the RCI-derived probabilities.