Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The late Neoglacial ('Little Ice Age') glacier maximum in southern Norway : new 14C-dating evidence and climatic implications

Critical evidence is presented for the timing and extent of Holocene glacier variations in southern Norway based on end-moraine stratigraphy and 22 new 14C dates. Dates have been obtained from moss layers, other plant remains, peat and soil associated with outermost moraines delimiting the Neoglacial maximum extent of four glaciers in the Jotunheimen-Jostedalsbreen region. There is conclusive evidence for a late Neoglacial ('Little Ice Age') maximum within the last 400-600 years; maximum age estimates for outer moraines are AD 1516 (Sagabreen), 1450 (Storbreen), 1440 (Bøverbreen) and about 1424 (Haugabreen). The last three glaciers have not exceeded their 'Little Ice Age' limits since at least 3205 ± 60, 5670 ± 80 and 6470 ± 80 BP, respectively. Onset of peat growth at these times is consistent with a deteriorating climate after the 'Climatic Optimum' of the early Holocene. Subsequent deterioration is indicated by the accumulation at Bøverbreen of poorly-humified peat from 4295 ± 49 to at least 3250 ± 70 BP, and from 1740 ± 60 to at least 1300 ± 60 BP. Southern Norwegian glaciers appear to have been larger at their 'Little Ice Age' maxima than at any time since regional deglaciation about 9000 BP. It is inferred that the relatively large scale of the 'Little Ice Age' glacier expansion in southern Norway was related to the most southerly migration of oceanic and atmospheric polar fronts since the early Holocene.
Geocoronal Balmer Alpha Line Profiles and implications for the exosphere

Ground-based observations of geocoronal Balmer alpha line profiles are presented. Observations were made with a large-aperture PEPSIOS spectrometer coupled to a flat mirror siderostat to eliminate contamination from nearby airglow lines and galactic emissions. Based on a single scattering Lyman beta excitation model, the observed line profiles are found to be narrower than predicted on the basis of Chamberlain's theory [1963, 1976] and also seem inconsistent with the Monte Carlo calculations of Hodges, et al. [1981]. Comparison with the OGO 5 Lyman alpha line width measurements [Bertaux, 1978] and Lyman alpha intensity measurements suggests that the narrow portion of the profiles may be due to emissions from satellite atoms with small eccentricities. The possibility that the narrow emissions are produced by cool hydrogen in the lower thermosphere is also discussed. The observed profiles are asymmetric, having an extended red wing greater than predicted by Chamberlain's theory [1963, 1976] but consistent with an enhanced escape flux due to charge exchange. The position of the red wing is also consistent with the presence of additional fine structure components possibly caused by a collisional excitation mechanism. Although some of the conclusions must be regarded as tentative until refined modeling including multiple Lyman beta scattering is completed, it seems clear that measurements of the type described can lead to improved understanding of geocoronal hydrogen.
Use of on-line tracers as a diagnostic tool in general circulation model development 1. Horizontal and vertical transport in the troposphere

The use of passive on-line tracers in a general circulation model (GCM) developmental process is discussed. CFC-11 and 85Kr are used to evaluate interhemispheric transport. It is shown that new boundary layer and convective parameterizations lead to reductions in the interhemispheric exchange times to values in close agreement with observations of little more than one year. Radon 222 is used to evaluate vertical mixing away from the surface. The new convection scheme produces smaller convective fluxes, which substantially reduce the high-altitude concentrations of 222Rn equatorward of 30° latitude. While this result is in better agreement with other models, scarcity of observations prevent any conclusion as to which formulation is more accurate. The effect of altered numerical schemes for solution of the momentum and energy equations in the GCM is shown to have little influence on the model's interhemispheric transport or vertical mixing. Finer vertical resolution increases convective mixing of 222Rn somewhat and allows for larger pollution concentrations of CFC-11 in the boundary layer. Employing on-line passive tracers in the course of model development should allow for improvements in a GCM's horizontal and vertical fluxes and optimization of the model for atmospheric chemistry purposes.
The Asmari Formation Revisited: Changed Stratigraphic Allocation and New Biozonation

The essential biostratigraphy of the Asmari Formation was outlined in the early 1950’s and thereby the only published record of the biostratigraphy before the Asmari Formation was formally described in the mid 1960’s. The traditional Iranian biostratigraphy is based on unpublished reports. Unfortunately, these reports were written in a period when the Aquitanian stage was under debate. Recent studies have shown that sediments ascribed to the Miocene “Aquitanian” are in fact Late Oligocene, Chattian in age. This was proved by the application of Sr-isotope stratigraphy to cored sections from 10 Iranian oil fields and 14 outcrop sections, within the framework of a high resolution sequence stratigraphic study down to fourth order cycles (van Buchem et al., in press). For each section, the strontium dates were plotted against the fossil ranges. The strontium ages necessitate a revision of the interpretation of the Chattian-Aquitanian boundary. The Chattian/Aquitanian boundary is marked by a major faunal turnover, with the general extinction of Archaias species and Miogypsinoides complanatus. The previous age interpretation of the early, unpublished zonations necessitates a revision, and the establishment of an updated biozonation. This new zonation and the stratigraphic ranges of selected key-species are presented here.
Making Sense of Twenty-First-Century Climate Change in the Altiplano: Observed Trends and CMIP3 Projections

A synthesis is presented of the first phase in regionalizing climate projections for the Altiplano, an elevated central Andean plateau in Bolivia and Peru. A prerequisite to downscaling is analysis of the large-scale forcing provided by global, multimodel climate scenarios. Global climate models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3) archive are employed to qualitatively evaluate the direction of change in twenty-first-century projections of the annual cycle, indexes of extremes, and soil moisture. Analysis suggests the observed warming in the region is likely to accelerate in the coming decades under the high emissions scenario. Precipitation projections exhibit larger uncertainty but suggest an evolution toward a shorter, more intense wet season with weakened spring (September–November) precipitation and strengthened summer rainfall (January–March). These results are consistent with projections for the large-scale South American Monsoon, and station observations indicate trends similar to the projections. Extremes analysis suggests that precipitation may increasingly be experienced as intense storms, with more consecutive dry days. These results are consistent with soil moisture projections, which indicate drier conditions during the rainy season, despite the projected increase in precipitation. Our results suggest climatic changes in the Altiplano might have serious consequences for water management and indigenous agriculture. However, these climate model projections must be taken with caution, due to the relatively coarse grid scales employed and the model warm and wet biases. The results presented here will require further testing with improved, higher resolution climate models.
Protolith Relations of the Gravina Belt and Yukon-Tanana Terrane in Central Southeastern Alaska

Metamorphic rocks west of the Coast Mountains batholith in central southeastern Alaska are divided into the Gravina belt, Taku terrane, and newly defined Ruth assemblage. The Ruth assemblage comprises metapelite, quartzose metaclastic strata, quartzite, marble, felsic metatuff, mafic metavolcanic rocks, and orthogneiss. Depositional and emplacement ages of $$367 \pm 10 Ma$$ and $$345 \pm 13 Ma$$ inferred from discordant U/Pb zircon analyses on felsic metatuff and granodioritic orthogneiss, respectively, require that at least portions of the Ruth assemblage be Late Devonian and early Mississippian in age. The assemblage is similar in age and protolith to, and thus correlated with, the Yukon-Tanana terrane. The Gravina belt is characterized by upper Jurassic and lower Cretaceous mafic volcanic rocks and tuffaceous turbiditic clastic strata that unconformably overlie the Alexander terrane. Metamorphic rocks that structurally underlie the Taku terrane and Ruth assemblage are included in this assemblage. Trace element geochemistry and the abundance of pyroclastic flows associated with tuffaceous turbidites suggest that the Gravina belt evolved in an intra-arc basinal setting. In central southeastern Alaska, the mid-Cretaceous structure that currently separates the Ruth assemblage (Yukon-Tanana correlative) from the Gravina belt marks the fundamental boundary between the Alexander-Wrangellia terrane and inboard Yukon-Tanana and Stikine terranes.
Aerial observations of floe size distribution in the marginal ice zone of summer Prydz Bay

[1] On the basis of aerial photographs of sea ice floes in the marginal ice zone (MIZ) of Prydz Bay acquired from December 2004 to February 2005 during the 21st Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition, image processing techniques are employed to extract some geometric parameters of floes from two merged transects covering the whole MIZ. Variations of these parameters with the distance into the MIZ are then obtained. Different parameters of floe size, namely area, perimeter, and mean caliper diameter (MCD), follow three similar stages of increasing, flat and increasing again, with distance from the open ocean. Floe shape parameters (roundness and the ratio of perimeter to MCD), however, have less significant variations than that of floe size. Then, to modify the deviation of the cumulative floe size distribution from the ideal power law, an upper truncated power-law function and a Weibull function are used, and four calculated parameters of the above functions are found to be important descriptors of the evolution of floe size distribution in the MIZ. Among them, Lr of the upper truncated power-law function indicates the upper limit of floe size and roughly equals the maximum floe size in each square sample area. L0 in the Weibull distribution shows an increasing proportion of larger floes in squares farther from the open ocean and roughly equals the mean floe size. D in the upper truncated power-law function is closely associated with the degree of confinement during ice breakup. Its decrease with the distance into MIZ indicates the weakening of confinement conditions on floes owing to wave attenuation. The γ of the Weibull distribution characterizes the degree of homogeneity in a data set. It also decreases with distance into MIZ, implying that floe size distributes increase in range. Finally, a statistical test on floe size is performed to divide the whole MIZ into three distinct zones made up of floes of quite different characteristics. This zonal structure of floe size also agrees well with the trends of floe shape and floe size distribution, and is believed to be a straightforward result of wave-ice interaction in the MIZ.
SGLT-2 inhibitors and their potential in the treatment of diabetes

Diabetes remains a burgeoning global problem, necessitating ongoing efforts on the part of pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, patients, and society to curb the frightening trends in morbidity and mortality attributable to the malady. Since 1835 when phlorizin was discovered, sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors have rested tantalizingly on the horizon, promising a more physiological approach to glucose control. These agents lower glucose by enhancing its excretion by blocking reabsorption in the renal tubules, thus eliminating glucose from the body along with the molecules’ attendant effects on caloric balance, plasma osmolality, and lipids. Consequently, SGLT-2 inhibitors improve glucose control to an extent comparable to other hypoglycemic agents while simultaneously reducing body weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol – an admirable portfolio. One agent, canagliflozin, has recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and two other agents have progressed through Phase III trials, including dapagliflozin and empagliflozin. Collectively, when used as monotherapy, these agents have demonstrated reductions in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), body weight, and blood pressure of −0.34% to −1.03%, −2.0 to −3.4 kg, and −1.7 to −6.4 mmHg/−0.3 to −2.6 mmHg (systolic blood pressure/diastolic blood pressure), respectively. SGLT-2 inhibitors have been well tolerated, with hypoglycemia (0.9% to 4.3%) occurring infrequently in clinical trials. Safety signals related to breast and bladder cancer have arisen with dapagliflozin, though these are unsubstantiated and likely ascribed to the presence of preexisting cancer. As these agents emerge, clinicians should embrace the addition to the formulary for treating type 2 diabetes, but must also weight the risk–benefit of this new class in deciding which patient types are most likely to benefit from their novel mechanism of action.
Measured and modeled dielectric properties of soils at 50 megahertz.

Commercial soil water sensors of the capacitance and impedance type generally operate at low (<200 MHz) frequencies where the soil dielectric properties are frequency dependent, especially for soils high in clay. In this work, we examined the dielectric properties of four soil materials (fine sand, sandy loam, loam, and clay) at 50 MHz using Hydra impedance sensor real and imaginary permittivity measurements and time domain reflectometry (TDR) apparent permittivity and bulk soil electrical conductivity (EC) measurements. The results showed that the Hydra sensor real and imaginary permittivity increased with increasing soil clay content and that relaxation loss was a significant part of the total energy loss, except for the fine sand, where the relaxation loss was zero. Model calculations showed that the relative contribution of surface conductivity to bulk soil EC increased over the contribution of pore water conductivity as clay content increased. Application of a soil permittivity model showed that the observed real permittivity e′ and relaxation loss eᵣₑₗ″ for all soils except the fine sand could not be explained using simple mixing rules. The underestimation of the modeled e′ and eᵣₑₗ″ for soils with non-negligible clay content was attributed to interfacial polarizations that were not included in the model. The modeled contribution of bound water to relaxation loss was found to be small.
PrEP implementation by local health departments in US cities and counties: Findings from a 2015 assessment of local health departments

Objective The United States Public Health Service released clinical practice guidelines for daily oral preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in May 2014. Local health departments (LHDs) are expected to play a critical role in PrEP implementation. We surveyed LHDs to assess awareness of and interest in supporting PrEP implementation, what roles they were taking, or believed they should take, in supporting PrEP, and what resources would be required to do so. Methods LHDs were surveyed in 2015 to assess their engagement in PrEP implementation (n = 500). The study employed a cross-sectional survey design with a randomly selected stratified sample. Results Among responding LHDs (n = 284), 109 (29%, weighted proportion) reported engagement in PrEP implementation. LHDs serving large jurisdictions (population 500,000+) and located in the West were more likely to be engaged in PrEP implementation. Making referrals for PrEP (74%) and conducting education and outreach to community members (51%) were the activities most frequently reported by LHDs engaged in PrEP implementation; 45% anticipated expanding their level of engagement. Among LHDs not engaged in PrEP implementation, 13% expected to become engaged over the next four years, 46% were undecided, and 41% reported it was unlikely. Information about PrEP for health care providers and information about PrEP for health department staff were the most frequently reported resource needs for LHDs engaged and not engaged in PrEP implementation, respectively. Conclusions PrEP implementation by LHDs was limited in 2015, three years after Food and Drug Administration approval and one year after the U.S. Public Health Service issued clinical practice guidelines. PrEP is a recently available intervention that is requiring LHDs to adjust existing HIV prevention efforts and service delivery models. Additional resources and implementation research is needed to effectively support PrEP scale-up by LHDs. Efforts must also be undertaken to increase PrEP awareness, knowledge, and implementation capacity among LHDs.
Geomorphic evidence for recurrent cold-based ice conditions in Nordic uplands during the Quaternary glaciations (Aurivaara Plateau, North Sweden)

The Aurivaara Plateau in northern Sweden (68°N) displays apparently contrasting geomorphic patterns: on the one hand, wide-spread glacial deposits suggesting the complete overriding of the area by the Scandinavian ice sheet; on the other, well-preserved fragile tors and related spalling rounded corestones similar to those found in non-glaciated areas like Dartmoor. The association of preglacial weathering residuals and allochthonous deposits belonging to several Quaternary glaciations are attributed to a dominantly cold-based glacial regime. Field investigations and laboratory analyses of morainic material associated with 15 tor-like features scattered on the plateau suggest that till material and erratic blocks were repeatedly dropped during deglaciation stages deep into the tor joints and within associated blockfields without the glacial periods having had any significant erosional impact. The overall conservative glacial system of this upland area strongly contrasts with the high geomorphic impact of glacial erosion in the nearby lowland area, where Quaternary glaciations resulted in the 190 m overdeepening of the Torneträsk basin. The Aurivaara case study therefore supports both the glacial palimpsest theory developed in Scandinavia and the selective erosion model established in Scotland and North America.
Some optical properties of smoke aerosol in Indonesia and tropical Australia

Aerosol light‐scattering coefficient at 530 nm and its hygroscopic growth were determined in biomass‐burning smoke in the lower atmosphere over Kalimantan and northern Australia during the 1997 dry‐season fires. Both in and away from plumes, light‐scattering was considerably greater in the Indonesian region and hygroscopic growth in scattering was also consistently greater. The relative increase in scattering, from 20% to 80% relative humidity, was typically 1.37 in northern Australian and 1.65 in Kalimantan. Limited aerosol light absorption data indicate relatively small absorption in the Indonesian smoke. In part these differences can be explained by different combustion phases, mixed flaming and smoldering in the Australian savanna fires compared with predominantly smoldering in Indonesia, although these and other concurrent measurements suggest that underground peat combustion may have made a significant contribution to the Indonesian smoke.
GPS TEC and scintillation measurements from the polar ionosphere during the October 2003 storm

Severe ionospheric storms occurred at the end of October 2003. During the evening of 30 October a narrow stream of high electron concentration plasma crossed the polar cap in the antisunward ionospheric convection. A GPS scintillation receiver in the European high arctic, operating at 1.575 GHz, experienced both phase and amplitude scintillation on several satellite‐to‐ground links during this period. Close examination of the GPS signals revealed the scintillation to be co‐located with strong gradients in Total Electron Content (TEC) at the edge of the plasma stream. The gradient‐drift instability is a likely mechanism for the generation of the irregularities causing some of the scintillation at L band frequencies during this storm. The origin of the high TEC is explored and the possible implications of the work for scintillation forecasting are noted. The results indicate that the GPS scintillation over Svalbard can originate from traceable ionospheric plasma structures convecting from the American sector.
Sources of iodine and iodine 129 in rivers

A spatial survey of iodine and its long‐lived isotope, 129I, in 40 rivers of the USA, Canada, and western Europe, reveals that the ratio of 129I/I is a sensitive indicator for the influence of nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities. Rivers with point sources for 129I in their watersheds are drastically affected, while all rivers sampled show evidence for atmospherically transported 129I from the world's major nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities. Varying mixtures of oceanic cyclic salt and soil‐derived iodine account for the observed spatial variation in iodine concentrations. A comparison of 129I concentrations in river and rainwater reveals concentration effects due to evapotranspiration.
Early Neoproterozoic limestones from the Gwna Group, Anglesey

Abstract Limestone megaclasts up to hundreds of metres in size are present within the Gwna Group mélange, North Wales, UK. The mélange has been interpreted as part of a Peri-Gondwanan fore-arc accretionary complex although the age of deposition remains contentious, proposals ranging from Neoproterozoic to Early Ordovician. This paper uses strontium isotope chemostratigraphy to establish the age of the limestone blocks and thus provide a maximum age constraint on mélange formation. Results show that, although the carbonates are locally dolomitized, primary 87Sr/86Sr ratios can be identified and indicate deposition sometime between the late Tonian and earliest Cryogenian. This age is older than that suggested by stromatolites within the limestone and indicates that the limestone did not form as cap carbonate deposits.
Increasing Macrolide and Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Mycoplasma genitalium

Escalating resistance to azithromycin and moxifloxacin is being reported for Mycoplasma genitalium in the Asia-Pacific region. Analyzing 140 infections, we found pretreatment fluoroquinolone-resistance mutations in parC (13.6%) and gyrA (5%). ParC S83 changes were associated with moxifloxacin failure. Combined macrolide/fluoroquinolone-resistance mutations were in 8.6% of specimens, for which recommended therapies would be ineffective.