Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Regional centennial precipitation variability over Germany from extended observation records

The data base of daily precipitation over Germany has been recently extended by digitizing additional historical hand‐written observations. The extension from 65 to 118 stations has increased the density of the available station network to a degree which allows both meaningful regional analyses and less error‐prone trend and return level estimates. In this article first results of the examination of the precipitation behaviour in the winter and summer season throughout the entire 20th century are presented. To assess the spatial scale of similarities or spatial coherence of several precipitation indices from the 118 stations, Principal Component Analysis is used. The extracted leading patterns (six in winter, nine in summer) resemble nicely regions of different geographical characteristics and prevailing wind directions which puts some credibility on the quality of the newly digitized observations. The long‐term linear trends of the regionally averaged time series differ substantially between precipitation indices, regions, seasons, and sub‐periods. For the whole century, significant increases are found for most of the intensity‐related indices in the Southern part of the country in winter and in some of those indices in the Rhineland/Sauerland and Alpine regions in summer. The two halves of the 20th century, are, however, characterized by partly opposite trends in the precipitation indices, and different regions are affected by these changes. An analysis of trend robustness by means of 30‐year moving trends indicates a low stability of the trends during the 20th century, which is partly caused by interdecadal variability of the precipitation characteristics. For 100‐year return levels, changes between the estimates obtained from the entire century and from the first and second 50 years differ in particular in the extent of their confidence intervals. In consequence, the availability of long precipitation records is very important for practical applications, and further extension of data records is recommended.
Climate change 2007: the physical science basis

This contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the most comprehensive scientific assessments of climate change during the past (the climate during periods before the development of measuring instruments, including historic and geological time), the present (the average weather over a number of recent decades) and the future (projected long-term average weather changes due to changes in atmospheric composition or other factors). The book also provides an excellent overview on how the science of climate change has progressed, including the methods used, and also shows the recent advances made in the modelling of regional climate change over the African continent. Moreover, the scientific understanding of anthropogenic effects on global climate has improved since the Third Assessment Report, which has led to very high confidence that the global average net effect of human activities over the past 250 years has been one of warning.
Crustal structure of the British Isles and its epeirogenic consequences

Crustal receiver functions have been calculated for a network of 51 three-component broadband seismometers distributed across the British Isles and NW Europe. Over 3200 receiver functions were assembled for 1055 events. For each station, preliminary estimates of crustal thickness and Vp/Vs ratio were obtained from H−κ plots. Stacked receiver functions were then inverted to determine shear wave velocity as a function of depth. Each result was checked by guided forward modelling and by Monte Carlo error analysis. In this way, the robustness of our final calculated velocity profiles was carefully tested. A set of depth migrated profiles was also constructed using an average of 50 events for each station over a range of backazimuths. These profiles agree well with legacy wide-angle crustal models. Our results show that crustal thickness varies between 24 and 36 km across the British Isles. Thicker crust is found beneath north Wales and beneath central Scotland. Thinner crust occurs beneath northwest Scotland and northwest Ireland. By combining our database with the results of controlled source, wide-angle experiments and with depth-converted reflection profiles, we have produced a detailed crustal thickness map for a region encompassing the British Isles. Our synthesis of crustal thickness and structure has important implications for the tectonic and magmatic histories of this region. Complex Moho structure with lower crustal P-wave velocities of >7 km s−1 occurs beneath regions of Cenozoic magmatism, which may be consistent with magmatic underplating. Thin crust beneath northern Britain suggests that present-day long wavelength topography is maintained by regional dynamic support, originating beneath the lithospheric plate.
Excess mortality and cardiovascular disease in type 1 1 diabetes in relation to age at onset : a nationwide 2 study of 27 , 195 young adults with diabetes 3 4

61 Background 62 We compared individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) to matched controls in order to 63 examine how age at diagnosis of T1D relates to excess mortality and cardiovascular 64 (CV) risk. 65 66 Methods 67 We studied 27,195 persons with T1D in the Swedish National Diabetes Registry, and 68 135,178 matched controls from the general population. Using Cox regression, and 69 with adjustment for diabetes duration, we estimated excess risk of all-cause 70 mortality, CV mortality, non-CV mortality, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke, 71 CVD (AMI and stroke), coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure (HF) and atrial 72 fibrillation (AF). Individuals with T1D were categorized into five groups, according to 73 age at diagnosis: 0–9, 10–14, 15–19, 20–24 and 25–30 years. 74 75 Findings 76 A total of 27,195 persons with T1D and 135,178 controls were included; 924 persons 77 with T1D and 1,405 controls died during follow-up, of which median was 10 years. 78 Patients who developed T1D at 0–10 years of age displayed hazard ratios (95% CI) of 79 4.11 (3.24–5.22) for death, 7.38 (3.65–14.94) for CV death, 11.44 (7.95–16.44) for 80 CVD, 30.50 (19.98–46.57) for CHD, 30.95 (17.59–54.45) for AMI, 6.45 (4.04–10.31) for 81 stroke, 12.90 (7.30–22.51) for HF and 1.17 (0.62–2.20) for AF. Corresponding figures 82 for those who developed T1D in the age-range 26–30 were 2.83 (2.38–3.37) for 83 death, 3.64 (2.34–5.66) for CV death, 3.85 (3.05–4.87) for CVD, 6.08 (4.71–7.84) for 84 CHD, 5.77 (4.08–8.16) for AMI, 3.22 (2.35–4.42) for stroke and 5.07 (3.55–7.22) for 85 HF; hence excess risk differed up to 5-fold across the diagnosis age. The highest 86 overall incidence rate, noted for all-cause mortality, was 1.9 (95% CI 1.71 to 2.11) per 87 100.000 person-years for patients with T1D. Developing T1D before 10 years of age 88 resulted in a loss of 17.7 and 14.2 life years for women and men, respectively, 89 whereas years lost were 10.1 and 9.4 in those diagnosed between 26-30 years of age. 90 91 Interpretation 92 Age at onset of type 1 diabetes is an important determinant of survival, as well as all 93 cardiovascular outcomes, with highest excess risk in females. Greater focus on 94 cardioprotection maybe warranted in those with early onset T1D. 95 96 Funding 97 Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation 98
Pollen‐ and diatom based environmental history since the Last Glacial Maximum from the Andean core Fúquene‐7, Colombia

The late Pleistocene–Holocene ecological and limnological history of Lake Fúquene (2580 m a.s.l.), in the Colombian Andes, is reconstructed on the basis of diatom, pollen and sediment analyses of the upper 7 m of the core Fúquene‐7. Time control is provided by 11 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dates ranging from 19 670 ± 240 to 6040 ± 60 yr BP. In this paper we present the evolution of the lake and its surroundings. Glacial times were cold and dry, lake‐levels were low and the area was surrounded by paramo and subparamo vegetation. Late‐glacial conditions were warm and humid. The El Abra Stadial, a Younger Dryas equivalent, is reflected by a gap in the sedimentary record, a consequence of the cessation of deposition owing to a drop in lake‐level. The early Holocene was warm and humid; at this time the lake reached its maximum extension and was surrounded by Andean forest. The onset of the drier climate prevailing today took place in the middle Holocene, a process that is reflected earlier in the diatom and sediment records than in the pollen records. In the late Holocene human activity reduced the forest and transformed the landscape.
Correction to ‘Characteristics of lower mantle inhomogeneities from scattered waves’

The purpose of this note is to correct the mathematical argument leading to the scattering equations (5) and (6) in the quoted paper (Doornbos 1976). Although these equations are correct, their derivation through equations (2)-(4) is invalid because equation (1) may not be reduced to (2). (Besides, equation (1) contains a misprint; the third term should be B2VAVA~,. ) One way to correct this is to take the divergence of equation (1); as a result the vector quantities u1 and s in equations (2)-(4) are then replaced by V. u1 and V. s. More directly, equations (5) and (6) may be obtained from the solution for this case, given by Knopoff & Hudson (1 964)
MBL1 genotypes in wild boar populations from Sweden, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Japan

The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) G949T in the mannose‐binding lectin ( MBL ) 1 gene has been associated with low MBL‐A concentration in serum and detected at different frequencies in various European pig populations. However, the origin of this SNP is not known. Part of the MBL1 gene was sequenced in 12 wild boar/Large White crossbred pigs from the second backcross (BC 2) generation in a family material originating from two wild boar x Large White intercrosses. Also, MBL‐A serum concentration was measured in the entire BC 2 generation (n = 45). Furthermore, the genotypes of 68 wild boars from Sweden, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Japan were determined in regard to five previously described SNPs in MBL1 . The T allele of G949T was present among the BC 2 animals. MBL‐A serum concentration in the BC 2 animals showed a bimodal distribution, with one‐third of the animals at levels between 0.7 and 1.6 μg mL−1 and the remaining pigs at levels around 13 μg mL−1. There was a co‐variation between the presence of the T allele and low MBL‐A concentration in serum. The genotyping of the wild boars revealed differences between populations. The T allele of G949T was not detected in the Austrian and Japanese samples and is thus unlikely to be an original feature of wild boars. In contrast, it was present at high frequency (0.35) among the Swedish wild boars, probably representing a founder effect. Five MBL1 haplotypes were resolved. Only two of these were present among the Japanese wild boars compared to four in each of the European populations. This difference may reflect differences in selection pressure and population history.
Investigating Fish Contamination Scenario and Community Willingness to Adopt Consumption Advice Proposing an Advisory Model

Consumption advice to ensure the health and safety of fish consumers remains urgent to handle the ever-increasing panic over heavy metal toxicity. Moreover, studies of fish consumption rarely focus on the perceptions and awareness of consumers. Considering this, the present study examines the knowledge and perceptions of the risks and benefits of fish consumption among consumers of Laguna de Bay to explore their willingness to follow fish consumption advice. The seasonal variation in selected types of heavy metal contamination in two commercially important fish species, tilapia and mudfish, was analysed and a vulnerability map based on the risk‒benefit ratio was produced for Laguna de Bay. Furthermore, this study formulates fish consumption advice for consumers of fish in the area. Primary data on consumers’ perceptions were collected through a questionnaire, whereas heavy metal contamination data were compiled from the best available literature. We concluded that people’s willingness to adopt consumption advice is mostly dependent on their existing level of fish consumption. Moreover, consumption advice is formulated to indicate restrictions on consumption for the areas identified as vulnerable due to contamination. This empirical study can serve as a model for the future development of fish consumption advice in the region.
FULLY COUPLED INELASTIC SITE RESPONSE ANALYSIS FOR 1986 LOTUNG EARTHQUAKE

Two major earthquakes (M= 6.2 and M= 7) with different characteristics took place in the eastern coast of Taiwan in 1986 within a 4-month period. A test site at Lotung was located near the epicenters of the two quakes. The site was instrumented with three-dimensional (3D) surface and downhole accelerometer arrays and pore-pressure transducers embedded at depths from 3 to 16 m below the ground surface. Field investigation of the site, including sampling “undisturbed” soils, was carried out before the two events, and followed by a laboratory test program aimed at gaining detailed soil properties. Based on the available information, numerical analyses were performed using a fully coupled, multidirectional dynamic procedure incorporating a bounding surface hypoplasticity model. The calculated responses for the two different events showed equally reasonable agreements with the field records in both 3D acceleration and pore-pressure time histories. This paper reports the methodology of the analyses and presents.
Wind stress measurements from the open ocean

Abstract An automatic inertial dissipation system was used during three cruises of the RRS Discovery in the Southern Ocean to obtain a large dataset of open ocean wind stress estimates. The wind speed varied from near calm to 26 m s−1, and the sea-air temperature differences ranged from −15° to +7°C. The data showed that the assumption of a balance between local production and dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy is false and that the sign and magnitude of the imbalance depends critically on both stability and wind speed. The wide range of stability conditions allowed a new formulation for the nondimensional dissipation function under diabatic conditions. A minimum in the 10-m neutral value of the drag coefficient occurred at 6 m s−1. At lower wind speeds the data were fitted by the relationship where U10n. is the 10-m neutral wind speed (m s−1). At higher wind speeds which gives drag coefficients that are about 10% higher than those from previous open ocean studies (which assumed a balance between pro.
Association of Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder With Dopamine Transporter Gene, Dopami

To cite this article: Erinc Sevinc (Psychiatrist), Mehmet Emin Erdal (Professor of Genetics), Cem Sengul (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), Burcu Cakaloz (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), Tuba Gokdogan Ergundu (Associate Professor of Genetics) & Hasan Herken (Professor of Psychiatry) (2010) Association of Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder With Dopamine Transporter Gene, Dopamine D3 Receptor, and Dopamine D4 Receptor Gene Polymorphisms, Klinik Psikofarmakoloji Bülteni-Bulletin of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 20:3, 196-203, DOI: 10.1080/10177833.2010. 11790660
Sensitivity of shortwave radiative flux density, forcing, and heating rate to the aerosol vertical profile

[1] The effect of the aerosol vertical distribution on the solar radiation profiles for idealized and measured profiles of extinction and single-scattering albedo (SSA) during the May 2003 Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Aerosol Intensive Observation Period (AIOP) is investigated using the rapid radiative transfer model shortwave code. Calculated profiles of downwelling and upwelling solar flux density during the AIOP are compared with the measurements from solar broadband radiometers aboard a profiling research aircraft. The profiles of aerosol extinction, SSA, and water vapor obtained from the aircraft that carried the radiometers serve as the model inputs. The uplooking radiometers were mounted on a stabilized platform that kept the radiometers parallel with respect to Earth's horizontal plane. The results indicate that the vertical shape of the aerosol extinction profiles has very little impact on the clear-sky direct radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere and surface but is important for forcing profiles of partially absorbing aerosol. The vertical distributions of absorption profiles drastically influence the forcing and heating rate profiles. Using aircraft data from 19 AIOP profiles over the southern Great Plains, we are able to achieve broadband downwelling solar flux density closure within 0.8% (bias difference) or 1.8% (RMS difference), well within the expected measurement uncertainty of 1%–3%. The poorer agreement in upwelling flux density (bias −3.7%, RMS 10%) is attributed to the use of inaccurate surface albedo data. The accurate, vertically resolved aerosol extinction data play an important role in tightening solar radiative flux density closure. This study also suggests that aircraft solar radiative flux density measurements from a stabilized platform have the potential to determine solar heating rate profiles. These measurement-based heating rate profiles provide useful data for heating rate closure studies and indirect estimates of single-scattering albedo assumed in radiative transfer calculations.
Virological response to treatment with peginterferon alfa-2a in adolescents with chronic hepatitis B.

BACKGROUND There are few data on the efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon treatment in adolescents with chronic hepatitis B. AIM We conducted a pilot study in 13 adolescents with chronic hepatitis B treated with peginterferon alfa-2a at 100 µg/m(2) once weekly for 48 weeks. METHODS HBV DNA was assessed by qPCR method. RESULTS After four weeks of treatment six adolescents had undetectable HBV DNA (<12 IU/mL). Seven adolescents--including five HBV negatives at week 4--had undetectable HBV DNA (<55 IU/mL) at week 24, and seven adolescents--including all HBV DNA negatives at week 4--had undetectable HBV DNA at week 48 of treatment (<55 IU/mL). Five adolescents had undetectable HBV DNA (<55 IU/mL) after 24 weeks of follow-up (sustained viral response). HBeAg seroconversion was achieved in one patient. HBsAg loss was documented at the end of therapy in two of the six adolescents HBV DNA negative at week 4 of treatment. Three adolescents withdrew from the treatment (two because of adverse events, one because of withdrawal of parental consent). Leukopenia was reported in seven adolescents and three individuals experienced thrombocytopenia. Except for one patient who discontinued treatment due to leukopenia, no dose modifications for adverse events or laboratory abnormalities were required. CONCLUSION This pilot study shows that 48 weeks of treatment with peginterferon alfa-2a can result in sustained HBV DNA suppression, HBeAg seroconversion and HBsAg loss in adolescents with CHB. Larger and longer trials are now required to better define the magnitude of the benefit in this group of patients.
A precise late Permian 40AR/39Ar age for Central Iberian camptonitic lamprophyres

The Avila batholith of central Spain is composed, predominantly, of crustal-melt peraluminous granites cut by small-scale mafic alkaline bodies. Dating of the Gredos sector mafic camptonitic lamprophyre dykes was undertaken to constrain the Late Variscan tectonomagmatic evolution of the region. A well constrained late Permian, Capitanian, age of 264.5 ± 1.3 Ma was obtained by 40Ar/39Ar geochronology using amphibole separates. This new age clearly distinguishes the dykes from other episodes of alkaline mafic magmatism in the region. We suggest that the lamprophyre dykes were emplaced into already solidified granitoids after the tectonic control on magma generation changed from purely extensional to transtensional.
Effect of fine sediments on river hydraulics – a research review

Fine sediments that join rivers from various channel and non channel sources considerably affect on the hydraulics of the river. The hydraulics of river carrying water with fine sediment has a different fluid and flow characteristics as compared to that carrying clear water. Basic fluid properties like viscosity and density and flow properties like resistance to flow, bed load carrying capacity, etc. are affected by the presence of fines in suspension. Several studies have been carried out to understand the changes associated with the presence of fine sediment in flow. The present paper presents a comprehensive review of these studies.
Nicotine Kinetics in Zebra Finches in vivo and in vitro .

Nicotine enhances cognitive performance, and in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), which is a well-established model of cognition, the effect of nicotine on song production has been reported. Nicotine and cotinine plasma levels were assessed in vivo after s.c. injection of 0.18 mg/kg nicotine, a dose that elicits changes in song production. The half-life of nicotine elimination was 33 min, and levels were undetectable by 4h. Average plasma nicotine over 2 hours was 32 ng/ml, similar to levels seen in human smokers and rat models of nicotine behavior. Nicotine brain levels were 30 and 14 ng/g at 1 and 2 h after treatment. To understand the potential for drug interactions and regulation of nicotine metabolism in zebra finches, we characterized in vitro nicotine metabolism and the hepatic enzyme involved. In humans, cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2A6 metabolizes nicotine to cotinine, and CYP2A-like activity and protein have been reported in some birds. Zebra finch liver microsomes metabolized nicotine and bupropion (CYP2B substrate) but not coumarin (CYP2A substrate). Nicotine was metabolized to cotinine with a K m of 96 µM and V max of 56 pmol/min/mg. Nicotine and bupropion metabolism were inhibited by C-8-xanthate (specific CYP2B inhibitor) but not CYP2A-specific inhibitors, and hepatic levels of CYP2B-like but not CYP2A-like proteins correlated with nicotine ( r = 0.52, p = 0.04) and bupropion metabolism ( r = 0.81, p < 0.001), suggesting CYP2B-mediation of nicotine metabolism as seen in rats. These results will facilitate further investigation of nicotine’s effects in zebra finches.
Crustal growth during back‐arc closure: Cretaceous exhumation history of Cordillera Darwin, southern Patagonia

The Cordillera Darwin metamorphic complex is unique in the Andes in exposing kyanite–staurolite schist north of the Beagle Channel in southern Patagonia. Garnet in amphibolite facies pelitic schists from Bahía Pia has patchy textures whereby some grains consist of clear, grossular‐rich garnet with fine‐grained S1 inclusion trails truncated by regions of turbid spessartine–pyrope‐rich garnet with biotite, muscovite, plagioclase and quartz inclusions. Micron‐scale aqueous inclusions in turbid garnet are consistent with recrystallization facilitated by fluid ingress; S2 inclusion trails indicate this was broadly contemporary with the growth of kyanite and staurolite in the matrix. Pseudosection modelling in Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–Fe2O3 (NCKFMASHTO) is used to infer a P–T path dominated by decompression from 12 to 9 kbar at T ≈ 620 °C, coupled with garnet mode decreasing from ∼5% to <1%. U–Th–Pb in situ dating of S2 monazite indicates that staurolite and kyanite growth and thus exhumation was underway before 72.6 ± 1.1 Ma. Contact aureoles developed adjacent to late granite intrusions include sillimanite‐bearing migmatites formed at P ≈ 6 kbar after 72 Ma. Metamorphism of southern Cordillera Darwin induced by continental underthrusting beneath the arc, related to closure of the Rocas Verdes back‐arc basin, was terminated by thrusting‐controlled exhumation, with the rocks at P ≈ 9 kbar by c. 73 Ma and 6 kbar by c. 70 Ma.