Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of Robotic Guidance on the Coordination of Locomotion

Background: Functional integration of motor activity patterns enables the production of coordinated movements, such as walking. The activation of muscles by weightened summation of activation signals has been demonstrated to represent the spatiotemporal components that determine motor behavior during walking. Exoskeleton robotic devices are now often used in the rehabilitation practice to assist physical therapy of individuals with neurological disorders. These devices are used to promote motor recovery by providing guidance force to the patients. The guidance should in principle lead to a muscle coordination similar to physiological human walking. However, the influence of robotic devices on locomotor patterns needs still to be characterized. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of force guidance and gait speed on the modular organization of walking in a group of eight healthy subjects. Method: A group of healthy subjects walked on a treadmill with and without robotic aiding at speeds of 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 Km/h. The guidance force was varied between 20%, 40%, 70% and 100% level of assistance. EMG recordings were obtained from seven leg muscles of the dominant leg and kinematic and kinetic features of the knee and hip joints were extracted.
Wetland and terrestrial vegetation change since European settlement on the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia

Microfossil, sediment and documentary records provide a history of European land use and its impact on the vegetation of the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia. Two sedimentary cores were analysed for their fossil pollen and charcoal composition. Chronologies were established using a combination of 210Pb, 14C and microfossil markers. Primary and secondary evidence for the spatial expansion of land uses in the region were compiled providing local-, bioregional- and regional-scaled European settlement histories. The settlement and land-use histories of the major vegetation types in the region were different and were closely determined by the nature of the vegetation itself. The sedimentary and microfossil records indicate that wetland and terrestrial vegetation have undergone sequential changes of composition. There is evidence of a decline in fire-sensitive understorey species and the decline is likely due to intensive firing and grazing of scleropyllous woodlands and forests early in European settlement. Early-settlement native forestry practices were intensive, however they did not alter overstorey tree composition. Mid-twentieth-century wholesale vegetation clearance is clearly marked in the pollen record by a decline in Eucalyptus and increase in herbaceous species. Wetland vegetation was highly impacted by European land practices through changes to sediment inputs and hydrological conditions that began prior to catchment clearance, during the phase of intensive firing and grazing. Through the integration of multiscaled, ecosystem-specific historical settlement histories and palaeoecological analysis, correlations between past land uses and biotic responses can be confidently demonstrated.
On the role of ocean‐atmosphere interaction in midlatitude interdecadal variability

A simple midlatitude ocean‐atmosphere model is used to investigate possible roles of coupled feedback in interdecadal climate variability over the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. Stochastic forcing by atmospheric internal variability maintains variance in both uncoupled and coupled cases. Coupling contributes to creating an interdecadal mode with distinct spatial pattern and preferred time scale, seen as a broad spectral peak. A near‐analytic solution for the coupled interdecadal mode suggests that the most important parameter in determining the period is the zonal length scale of the atmospheric wind stress feedback over the region. Subject to this scale, the period is then determined by oceanic Rossby wave dynamics, which tends to give westward propagation in subsurface fields. The dipolar sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies are generated primarily by the advection of climatological SST by geostrophic current. Although the magnitude of the feedback of SST to atmospheric response is much smaller than atmospheric internal variability, its effects are significant.
The neurobiological effects of electroconvulsive therapy studied through magnetic resonance – what have we learnt and where do we go?

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Flow Resistance Caused by Large-Scale Bank Roughness in a Channel

Systematic experimental investigations have been performed under steady flow conditions in a channel whose banks are equipped with large-scale rectangular roughness elements. The purpose was to determine the flow resistance owing to such macrorough banks. The practical motivation of the study is to see how morphological restoration of banks in channelized rivers, such as lateral cavities, influences the steady flow characteristics. The experiments performed in 40 different geometrical configurations revealed various two-dimensional flow characteristics in the bank cavities created by the roughness elements compared to the prismatic reference channel. The overall head loss of the flow is governed by the existence of different phenomena, such as vertical mixing layers, wake zones, recirculation gyres, coherent structures, and skin friction. The analysis of the experiments for steady flow conditions showed that the flow resistance is significantly increased in the macrorough configurations because of the disturbance of the bank geometry inducing large-scale depressions. The additional flow resistance attributable to macroroughness has been related to the forms of the banks. By separating the observed flow behavior into a normal recirculating, a reattachment and a square-grooved flow type, macrorough flow-resistance formulas according two different approaches could be developed that are in good agreement with the laboratory experiments
U‐Pb and 40Ar/39Ar Ages for a Tephra Lens in the Middle Jurassic Page Sandstone: First Direct Isotopic Dating of a Mesozoic Eolianite on the Colorado Plateau

Joint U‐Pb and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology for pyroclastic zircon and biotite crystals from tephra lenses intercalated within eolianite of the Middle Jurassic Page Sandstone on the Colorado Plateau provides the first direct isotopic age for a Jurassic eolianite on the Colorado Plateau and indicates a chronostratigraphic age of 171.5–169.5 Ma for the Page Sandstone. With stated uncertainties in the age boundaries of global stratigraphic stages taken into account, the isotopic age of lower Bajocian is coordinate with the inferred biostratigaphic age of upper Bajocian from lateral correlation of Page Sandstone with equivalent marine strata. Comparative isotopic ages imply that the Page Sandstone was deposited during the same time frame as the Temple Cap Formation, inferred conventionally to be older, and that the J1 and J2 surfaces of the Colorado Plateau are therefore not reliable chronostratigraphic marker horizons.
Fracture propagation propensity in relation to snow slab avalanche release: Validating the Propagation Saw Test

The ‘Propagation Saw Test’ (PST) was designed to assess the fracture propagation propensity of weak snowpack layers in relation to snow slab avalanche release. Its predictions were tested against independent field observations of weak layer fracture initiation and slope‐scale fracture propagation (e.g., avalanche release). A total of 170 tests were performed at 23 sites. Approximately 76% of tests correctly predicted the observed slope‐scale fracture propagation or lack thereof; however, 20% of tests predicted that propagation would not occur at sites that had recently propagated fractures. The predictive accuracy of the dataset improves if only test columns approximately 1.0 m long are selected. Critical fracture energy release rate calculations show that the lowest values are found in snowpacks where fractures initiated but did not propagate. This suggests that physical descriptions of propagation propensity in weak snowpack layers should include a sustainability term.
Thermal infrared properties of the Martian atmosphere: 2. The 15‐μm band measurements

Viking infrared thermal mapper observations of Mars in the 15-. mu.m CO/sub 2/ band reveal global atmospheric thermal behavior at the 0.3- to 0.6-mbar level. Dust entrained by storms produces major modification of diurnal and latitudinal structure in the brightness temperature T/sub 15/. In the dust-laden atmosphere of southern spring and summer 1977, T/sub 15/ was a maximum in late afternoon at a latitude well south of the subsolar latitude. Diurnal amplitude was as great as 30 K, while diurnal mean temperatures exceeded 220 K. Over the northern winter polar cap, T/sub 15/ increased dramatically following the second global dust storm of 1977; even in regions of polar night the change was up to 80 K. Inversions of similar magnitude resulted, and the change in downward radiance was sufficient to modify substantially the rate of CO/sub 2/ condensation at the surface.
Spatial and temporal changes in indices of extreme precipitation and temperature for Alaska

Extreme temperature and precipitation events in Alaska are examined in an ensemble of global climate models (GCMs) and an atmospheric reanalysis. Extreme monthly maximum and minimum temperature and the monthly maximum 5‐day precipitation amount are evaluated for a 30‐year historical period and two 30‐year future time slices (2050s and 2080s). Although biases exist, models capture the spatial pattern and seasonality of the extremes depicted by the ERA‐40 reanalysis. Discrepancies between station data (Anchorage, Fairbanks and Barrow) and GCMs/reanalysis are larger than the model‐reanalysis differences, and are consistent with (1) surface elevation differences arising from the models' resolution and (2) gauge undercatch of precipitation in the station data. GCMs project future changes that are 2–4 times larger than the across‐model standard deviations. The largest changes projected by the GCMs are significantly different from the historical mean at the 95% confidence level. Changes in extreme minimum temperature and extreme 5‐day precipitation projections are larger than changes in means. The extreme minimum temperatures are projected to increase 2–3 times as much as the extreme maximum temperatures in all seasons except summer, with the largest increases of extreme minima in coastal regions. By the 2080s, the increases in all three extremes indices are twice as large in the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 as in the RCP 4.5 scenario. The magnitude of the projected increase of maximum 5‐day precipitation is largest in southern and inland areas, although the percentage increase is largest in the north. In the RCP 8.5 simulations, the inter‐annual variability of extreme temperatures narrows by the end of the century, most notably in autumn. Record‐breaking 5‐day precipitation events become more common in the RCP 8.5 than in the RCP 4.5 scenario.
Modeling and optimization of bidirectional dual active bridge DC-DC converter topologies

This thesis investigates different bidirectional and isolated DC–DC converters with a high voltage port (ranging from 240 V to 450 V), a low voltage port (11V to 16 V), and a rated power of 2 kW. The work starts with an overview on different bidirectional DC–DC converter topologies and investigates their applicability with respect to the given specifications (Chapter 2). Based on the findings of Chapter 2, the singlephase Dual Active Bridge (DAB) converter topology is considered most promising regarding the achievable converter efficiency and the achievable power density. Moreover, due to the wide input and output voltage ranges, two-stage DC–DC converters, i.e. the series connection of an isolated DC–DC converter and a DC–DC converter without galvanic isolation, are expected to facilitate an improved converter efficiency. The subsequent Chapters discuss the single-phase DAB converter in detail. • Chapter 3 explains the working principle of the DAB converter based on 3 different simplified converter models. This includes a lossless model of the DAB, which facilitates basic analytical investigations and allows for a simplified synthesis of optimal modulation schemes (calculated with respect to minimum transformer RMS current). Moreover, two different refinements of the electric DAB converter model are included in order to consider the impacts of the conduction losses and the magnetizing current on the transformer currents. • Chapter 4 discusses a detailed loss model of the DAB, needed in order to parameterize the models developed in Chapter 3 and to develop the efficiency optimized modulation presented in Chapter 5. This loss model is used to calculate the losses in the most relevant converter components. • Chapter 5 presents a systematic investigation of efficiency improvements achievable for the given DAB converter, obtained with the use of optimized modulation schemes. Finally, with the suboptimal modulation schemes discussed in Section 5.2. 2, converter operation close to its maximum possible efficiency is achieved (Figure 5.28).
Grassland canopy parameters and their relationships to remotely sensed vegetation indices in the Nebraska Sand Hills

Abstract Relationships among spectral vegetation indices and grassland biophysical parameters including the effects of varying levels of standing dead vegetation, range sites, and range plant communities were examined. Range plant communities consisting of northern mixed grass prairie and a smooth brome field as well as range sites and management in a Sand Hills bluestem prairie were sampled with a ground radiometer and for LAI, biomass, chlorophy]] and nitrogen amounts. Live above ground (herbaceous and shrub leaf) biomass quadrat estimates in early June, 1994, ranged from a mean value of 35,9 g/m2 in the burned area to 128.0 g/m2 in the mixed grass prairie. Shrubs, when present, had a stronger effect on the ground radiometer NDVI and MSAVI relationships with live biomass than either standing dead vegetation or plant community composition. Predictive relationships for live biomass from ground radiometer spectral data allowed rapid nondestructive estimation of live biomass for eleven 30 m by 30 m plots. S.
Sedation of an original data matrix as applied to paleoecology

Seriation of an original data matrix provides the paleoecologist with a simple and powerful tool for data manipulation. The data matrix lists the presences and absences of taxa in samples. The strategy is to generate a unidimensional sequence by rearranging the taxa and samples so that the presences are blocked along the matrix diagonal. The method is illustrated with two case studies from the Middle Devonian Hamilton Group of New York. The first represents a regressive interval and the seriation sequence summarizes the changes in fauna and samples which can be explained by falling sea level. The second example embraces a much wider range of variation. Seriation mainly recovers a first-order pattern related to depth and correlated variables. This seriation does not reveal parameters such as the nature of the substrate, turbidity, habitat stability and distance offshore. These data cannot be reduced to one dimension. In all cases, seriation yields results similar to those of cluster analysis and the first axis of multivariate ordinations frequently used by ecologists and paleoecologists. Seriation, paleoecology, Devonian, Hamilton Group, multivariate analysis.
The microstratigraphic record of abrupt climate changes in cave sediments of the Western Mediterranean

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how calcareous sediments from Pleistocene and Holocene rockshelters and open caves of the Western Mediterranean can provide a stratigraphic record of abrupt climate change. The method proposed here is based on microstratigraphic examination of sedimentary sequences using microscopic techniques. The most important processes for characterizing the sensitivity of each cave to climate variables are: (1) the modes and rate of carbonate sediment production, (2) the nature and intensity of the pedogenic processes responsible for the synchronous alteration of carbonate materials (either those derived from the cave walls or those deposited on the ground surface), and (3) the supply of allogenic sediments, particularly by eolian activity. The cave sediment sequences presented record the marked coolings known as Dansgaard‐Oeschger stadials and Heinrich events that occurred during the Pleistocene and the Holocene, as demonstrated by the high resolution records from ice and deep sea cores. At Abric Romanì in northeastern Spain, a series of sharp climatic deteriorations of increasing severity is shown to have occurred synchronously with the transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic, with a period of seasonal frost and strong winds at ca. 37,000 yr B.P., tentatively correlated with Heinrich event 4. At Pigeon Cave, Taforalt (northern Morocco), the transition from the Aterian to Ibero‐Maurusian/Epipalaeolithic cultures is dated to around 24,000–20,000 yr B.P. and is punctuated by a series of short cold pulses with evidence for seasonal freezing, soil erosion, and minimal evapotranspiration. In El Miron cave in north‐central Spain, the exceptional nature of the Younger Dryas cooling produced a marked destabilization of the cave walls and roof. At El Miron, the stratigraphic evidence for sediment removal due to the rapid percolation of snow melt under a degraded soil cover allows us to reconstruct the nature of the negative excursion at ca. 8200 yr B.P. This example also illustrates how climate‐controlled pedogenic processes can create a stratigraphic signature which has often been confused with a sedimentary hiatus. We conclude that cave sediments provide a valuable record of Pleistocene and Holocene climate changes. In appropriate contexts, these sequences allow us to examine the ecological stress generated by these unique global events at a local and regional level and improve our understanding of the complex anthropological processes that occurred at the same time. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Erucin exhibits vasorelaxing effects and antihypertensive activity by H 2 S ‐ releasing properties

Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) ‐ releasing agents are viewed as potential antihypertensive drugs. Recently, natural isothiocyanates emerged as original H 2 S ‐ donor agents. Among them, erucin, present in some edible cruciferous plants, shows suitable H 2 S ‐ releasing properties and features of “ druggability. ” The aim of this work was to investigate the erucin ‐ mediated release of H 2 S inside vascular cells, its vasorelaxing effects, and activity on BP of normo and hypertensive animals. Experimental Approach: Intracellular
A Standardized Global Climate Model Study Showing Unique Properties for the Climate Response to Black Carbon Aerosols

AbstractThe climate response to an abrupt increase of black carbon (BC) aerosols is compared to the standard CMIP5 experiment of quadrupling CO2 concentrations in air. The global climate model NorESM with interactive aerosols is used. One experiment employs prescribed BC emissions with calculated concentrations coupled to atmospheric processes (emission-driven) while a second prescribes BC concentrations in air (concentration-driven) from a precalculation with the same model and emissions, but where the calculated BC does not force the climate dynamics. The difference quantifies effects of feedbacks between airborne BC and other climate processes. BC emissions are multiplied with 25, yielding an instantaneous top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiative forcing (RF) comparable to the quadrupling of atmospheric CO2. A radiative kernel method is applied to estimate the different feedbacks.In both BC runs, BC leads to a much smaller surface warming than CO2. Rapid atmospheric feedbacks reduce the BC-induced TOA forcing.
Amazon Basin ozone and aerosol: wet season observations.

The tropical environment is recognized as having a major impact on global tropospheric chemistry. In particular, the Amazon Basin, with its emissions and an abundance of moisture and sunlight, provides favorable conditions for the production of hydroxyl radical and subsequent chemical and photochemical reactions which generate or consume key atmospheric trace species. Wet season convection provides a mechanism for efficient mixing between the surface and the free troposphere, and thus provides the means for integrating Amazon Basin events into the global circulation processes. The data show that the wet season Amazon Basin is an effective sink for ozone and a net source for aerosols. Mixed layer ozone at 150-m altitude averaged 8.5 ppbv compared to about 18 ppbv at 3-km altitude. In addition, a negative ozone gradient (decreasing value to the surface) was observed within the mixed layer. The averaged wet season mixed layer ozone was about 7 ppbv lower than observed during the dry season. This is attributed to the enhanced convective activity associated with the wet season and the change in mixed layer photochemistry from net ozone production (dry season) to a net destruction (wet season). The net sink characteristics of the wet season mixed layer are seen throughout the troposphere of the Amazon Basin in that ozone (3- to 4-km altitude) is typically 15–25 ppbv as compared to dry season values of 30–35 ppbv. In terms of the aerosol source characteristics of the Amazon Basin, mixed layer aerosols (0.1- to 0.4-μm diameter) are a factor of 5–10 higher than observed in the troposphere with mixed layer values of 100–200 aerosols/cm3. Analyses of both tropospheric and mixed layer aerosol samples show aerosols which are multisource. Tropospheric samples have size distributions which are trimodal and show modes at aerosol diameters which suggest the aerosols are (1) of lifetimes <1 hour, (2) of lifetimes of days, and (3) mechanically generated elements (e.g., wind-blown dust). Mixed layer data show two of the three modes with no mode which represent aerosols with lifetimes of days.