Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparative Economic Performance and Institutional Change in OECD Countries: Evidence from Subjective Well-Being Data

We use data on the subjective well-being (SWB) of more than 91,000 individuals in 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to assess the well-being effects of unemployment, inflation and national income growth. The relationships found are used to construct an index of national economic performance in terms of SWB. Applying the index to the period 1990-2009, we find that economic performance has improved in OECD overall and in the majority of countries, and that there has been a convergence of performance within the OECD. We then present evidence that OECD countries economic performance, as measured, is positively related to institutional change towards more trade openness and better governance quality.
The Role of Remote Sensing in Predicting and Determining Coastal Storm Impacts

Abstract Storm-induced flooding and other damage present a major problem as the coastal population continues to increase rapidly and sea level keeps rising. To predict the path and landfall of a hurricane or other coastal storm and assess the damage, emergency managers and scientists need continuous information on the storm's path, strength, predicted landfall, and expected damage over large areas. Satellite and airborne remote sensors can provide the required information in a timely and reliable way, as demonstrated by a case study of hurricane Katrina's impact on New Orleans and surrounding areas. Satellite images and hurricane hunter planes were used to track hurricane Katrina, with modelers predicting accurately its path, strength, surge level, and landfall location. Shore-based radars were used to confirm the data as the hurricane approached land. Medium- and high-resolution satellite sensors, helicopters, and aircraft were employed to assess damage to the city, including transportation, power, and communication infrastructures, and to adjacent wetlands and other coastal ecosystems. The lessons learned from hurricane Katrina are helping to optimize future approaches for tracking hurricanes and predicting their impact on coastal ecosystems and developed areas.
Oil spill detection: SAR multiscale segmentation and object features evaluation

The use of image segmentation and object feature extraction in order to classify SAR image objects into oil spill or other features (oil slick look-alikes), it is widely acceptable in oil spill detection research. For this purpose, a number of features (geometric, surrounding, backscattering, etc.) are usually calculated and introduced in a decision support procedure. The aim of the present study is presentation, analysis and evaluation of the above features in order to produce general rules adequate to identify oil spills in any SAR image. SAR image processing is based on a new multi-segmentation technique. As a first step, image objects in different scales are extracted using the multi-segmentation procedure. Following segmentation, a hierarchical network of image objects is developed, which simultaneously presents object information and fuzzy rules for classification. In experiments implemented in SAR images, the method developed has successfully detected oil spills and look alikes. Texture behavior most contributes to detection (texture characteristics 80%), followed by physical behavior (actual backscatter characteristics 53%, spot surroundings 26 %) and finally geometry behavior (geometrical characteristics 2%).
Complications encountered in the treatment of benign thyroid nodules with US-guided radiofrequency ablation: a multicenter study.

PURPOSE To evaluate clinical aspects and imaging features of complications encountered in the treatment of benign thyroid nodules with radiofrequency (RF) ablation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Institutional review board approval was obtained for this retrospective study, and informed consent was waived. From June 2002 to September 2009, 1459 patients underwent RF ablation of 1543 thyroid nodules with an RF system with internally cooled electrodes at 13 thyroid centers, which were members of Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology. Numbers and types of major and minor complications were assessed. RESULTS The authors observed 48 complications (3.3%), 20 major and 28 minor. The major complications were voice changes (n = 15), brachial plexus injury (n = 1), tumor rupture (n = 3), and permanent hypothyroidism (n = 1). The minor complications were hematoma (n = 15), skin burn (n = 4), and vomiting (n = 9). All patients recovered spontaneously except for one with permanent hypothyroidism and one who underwent surgery. CONCLUSION Although the complication rate of RF ablation is low, various complications may occur; comprehension of complications and suggested technical tips may prevent complications or properly manage those that occur.
Gray- and white-matter changes 1 year after first clinical episode of multiple sclerosis: MR imaging.

PURPOSE To assess, by means of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, the longitudinal changes in white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) in a cohort of patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) who were followed up for 1 year. MATERIALS AND METHODS This prospective, HIPAA-compliant study was approved by the institutional review board. Written informed consent was obtained from all the participants. Changes in GM and WM integrity were respectively investigated by using three-dimensional T1-weighted and diffusion-tensor (DT) imaging sequences and by applying voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analyses. Thirty-four consecutive patients (21 women, 13 men; mean age, 32.8 years ± 7.7 [standard deviation]) who had CIS were recruited. All the patients underwent a neurologic and an MR examination at baseline and 12 months later; the MR examination consisted of three-dimensional T1-weighted dual-echo turbo spin-echo DT imaging. VBM and TBSS were used to analyze GM volume and WM fractional anisotropy, respectively. RESULTS After 1 year, multiple sclerosis (MS) was diagnosed in 33 (97%) of 34 patients with CIS. Longitudinal volumetric analysis revealed a significant (P < .001) reduction in global GM volume. The VBM analysis showed the development of regional GM atrophy involving several cortical and subcortical regions in both hemispheres (P < .05). No significant longitudinal change in global or regional WM fractional anisotropy was otherwise observed. CONCLUSION WM damage was detectable early and involved most fiber tracts in patients with MS, but it did not worsen significantly during the 1st year after clinical onset. In contrast, GM damage was not detectable at the time of clinical onset, but a significant decrease in cortical and deep GM volume was observed at 1 year.
Data assimilation and horizontal structure of the barotropic diurnal tides on the Newfoundland and southern Labrador shelves

Abstract A large set of in situ currents and elevation data, and a direct inverse data assimilation model are used in conjunction ‐with global inverse tidal solutions to obtain high‐resolution regional assimilative model solutions for the barotropic K1 and 01 tides on the southern Labrador and Newfoundland Shelves. The regional model assimilates the in situ data and a first estimate of the boundary conditions provided by the global model, so that the regional solutions draw on both regional and larger‐scale observations and dynamics. The regional assimilative solutions have r.m.s. observational misfit values of the order of 2 cm for elevation and 2 cm s−1 for currents, which are reduced (compared with non‐assimilative regional solutions) by 21% and 61% for K1 and O1 elevations respectively, and by 61% and 54% for K1 and O1 currents. A striking feature of the regional model solutions is a series of small‐scale (radius of approximately 100 km) eddy‐like features along the shelf edge. Singular value decomposition (SVD) of the assimilative elevation fields reveals the existence of topographically‐trapped waves at the shelf edge. There are amplified diurnal currents over the outer shelf and slope associated with the topographic waves, pointing to the potential for topographic amplification of other subinertial currents in the region.
Observed mean and mesoscale upper ocean circulation in the midlatitude northeast Atlantic

[1] Lagrangian instruments and altimetry data are used to investigate the upper (0 to ∼500 m) mean and mesoscale circulations in a region of the midlatitude northeast Atlantic (36°–47°N, 13°–23°W), a formation and subduction area of Subpolar Mode Water. Lagrangian data were collected between September 2000 and September 2001 with isobaric subsurface floats, totaling 34.0 float years, and surface drifting buoys, totaling 27.9 buoy years. The near-surface (0–100 m) mean circulation is dominated by two weak (∼5 cm/s) eastward currents which veer southward in the domain. In the 100- to 500-m-deep layer, these eastward mean currents retroflect westward and form two anticyclonic circulation cells, opened to the west and separated by a cyclonic cell. Eddy kinetic energy is decreasing from the northwest to the southeast of the area, from ∼100–200 (cm/s)2 to ∼20–30 (cm/s)2. Long-lived anticyclones and cyclones display mean coherent displacements, both to the southwest. Westward eddy propagation speeds, close to that of long Rossby waves, increase southward and are consistent with a superposition of beta effect and advection by mean currents. Southward eddy displacements are coherent with the observed mean currents. In the north, anticyclones are seen to consist of Central and Subpolar Mode Water eddies, most of them likely originating from the eastern boundary, whereas in the south, most anticyclonic features result from the influence of “Mediterranean Water Eddies” (meddies) on the upper layers. Cyclonic activity is concentrated in “cyclonic zones,” which are seen to exchange floats and water properties.
Estimation of Glacier Ice Extinction Coefficients using Long-Wavelength Polarimetric Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar

In recent years there has been increased interest in using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to study glaciers for climate change research. Extensions to SAR such as polarimetric interferometric SAR (Pol-InSAR) offer additional potential in quantifying glaciological parameters such as the extinction coefficient. Extinctions are useful in characerising regions in increased volume scatter, which are related to the presence of ice structure. In this thesis a new scattering model relating long-wavelength Pol-InSAR observables to the ice extinction coefficient is proposed. Pol-InSAR coherences are modelled as a combination of a surface contribution (from the snow-firn interface and wind-induced sastrugi features) and a volume response. Surface-to-volume scattering ratios derived from a novel polarimetric decomposition are used with Pol-InSAR coherences to invert the extinction of the ice volume. The inversion is performed on airborne Pol-InSAR data at L-band and P-band frequencies acquired by DLR's E-SAR system over the Austfonna ice cap in Svalbard. Extinction dependencies on frequency and glacier zone are investigated, and validation is pefromed comparing ground penetrating radar data and airborne sounder data to extinction values.
COMUNICACIÓN CORTA. RESPUESTA DEL TOMATE (Solanum lycopersicum L.) A LA FORMULACIÓN LÍQUIDA DE CUATRO CEPAS DE Glomus EN CONDICIONES DE CAMPO

Tomato response was evaluated after applying four Glomus strains as liquid inoculants, at two different doses, to the experimental areas from the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, on a Lixiviated Red Ferralitic soil using plants of cv. Mara. Soil was prepared by machine and NPK (9-13-17) fertilizer was applied before transplanting. Some arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) strains were used: G. hoi-like; G. intraradices and G. mosseae, from which liquid inoculants were obtained. Seedbed stage lasted 30 days and inoculants were applied seven days after seed germination at doses of 20 and 40 spores.plant -1 , using a randomized comple- te design with eight treatments and three repetitions. Some growth (fresh root weight, dry shoot and root weight, leaf number, fruit number.plant -1 , equatorial and polar fruit diameters and yield) and fungal variables (percentage of root colonization and spore number in the soil) were evaluated. Results showed the liquid inoculant based on G. mosseae strain had a notable effect on tomato growth and yield indexes. In a similar way, liquid inoculants based on the other strains at the dose of 40 spores.plant
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND RADIAL WOOD THICKNESS OF TWELVE TREES HARVESTED IN NOTTINGHAMSHIRE

Abstract Thermal imaging has been demonstrated as a subjective indicator of internal anomalies in trees including decay (Catena and Catena, 2007). To determine whether the procedure could be used to evaluate radial wood thickness, thermal images of the stems of twelve mature trees were used to investigate the relationship between surface temperature and visually apparent radial wood thickness. The trees were harvested from Cragmoor Road, Nottinghamshire in winter 2005. Surface anomalies such as bark structure and surface damage caused ‘noise’ that accounted for around 30% of the variance. When a clearly-defined cavity was present, this accounted for a further 50%, showing a robust relationship between changes in surface temperature and the radial wood thickness. When the internal anomaly was less clear, then the anomaly was better defined by the mean relative temperature. Changes to the thermal properties of wood other than from decay must be considered.
Precise Determination of Rare Earth Elements in Geological Standard Rocks by Inductively Coupled Plasma Source Mass Spectrometry

Rare earth element (REE) determinations with high accuracy and precision were performed on four geological standard rocks (JA-1, JB-1, -2 and -3) by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In order to achieve this, internal standardization, matrix matching or separation of REE from the matrix elements are recommended. In these analyses, REE data obtained by ICP-MS show excellent agreement (within 5%) with those obtained by isotope dilution method using thermal ionization mass spectrometer. Among these analytical methods of ICP-MS, the most reliable data can be obtained by analysis using a sample solution free from matrix elements.
Coastally trapped atmospheric gravity waves on SAR, AVHRR and MODIS images

Alternative dark–bright patterns on two ENVISAT Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) images of the east coast of the Korean Peninsula acquired on 18 and 19 May 2004 are interpreted as atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) on the basis of simultaneous multi‐satellite observations and atmospheric gravity wave theory. The AGWs appeared in the form of a wave packet containing several waves located between 50 and 200 km offshore. The wavelengths were ranging from 13 to 20 km. The lengths of AGW crests were from 20 to 150 km. An NOAA‐17 pass was received about 30 min after the ASAR pass. Its channel 4 infrared (IR) image clearly shows wave‐like moisture patterns. However, the sea surface temperature (SST) image derived after applying nonlinear calibration and split‐window atmospheric correction shows no wave patterns. A daytime true‐colour MODIS image taken about 14 h later still shows a cloud band of same AGWs, indicating the lifespan of the standing AGWs can be over half a day. Although oceanic internal waves (IWs) may also cause similar wave patterns imaged by spaceborne SAR as they modulate the ocean surface roughness, we provide evidence to eliminate this possibility in this case. The characteristics of satellite observed AGWs are in good agreement with these simulated by a linear coastal AGW model.
Lithospheric seismic velocity discontinuities beneath the Arabian Shield

We determined crustal and lithospheric mantle velocity structure beneath the Arabian Shield through the modeling of receiver function stacks obtained from teleseismic P waves recorded by the 9 station temporary broadband array in western Saudi Arabia. The receiver function deconvolution technique was used to isolate the receiver‐side PS mode conversions. A grid search method, which should yield an unbiased global minimum, was used to solve for a shear wave velocity model that is optimal and has the minimum number of layers needed to fit the receiver function waveform. Results from this analysis show that the crustal thickness in the shield area varies from 35 to 40 km in the west, adjacent to the Red Sea, to 45 km in central Arabia. Stability tests of each solution indicate that the models are relatively well constrained. We have also observed evidence for a large positive velocity contrast at sub‐Moho depths at four stations at depths of 80 to 100 km. This discontinuity may represent a change in rheology in the lower part of the lithosphere or remnant structure from the formation of the Arabian Shield.
Effect of Reinforcement Layout on Soil Strength

This paper presents the results of a laboratory investigation of the shear strength of soil reinforced with metal strips. The investigations were conducted using a large, specific purpose-built shear box. The effects of reinforcement layout, as well as type of strips and quantity of reinforcement, on soil shear strength at failure were tested. The investigations involved three reinforcement layouts (along the shear surface, across the shear surface, and spread evenly in both directions), two types of strips (smooth, ribbed), and three quantities of reinforcement (strips of different widths). The results indicate the importance of reinforcement layout in soil shear strength enhancement, with strips spaced equally in both directions found to be most effective. Other practical conclusions regarding the effects of type and width of strips on soil strength improvement were also presented.
Gravity modeling of Bushveld Complex connectivity supported by Southern African Seismic Experiment results

Recent gravity modelling of the Bushveld Complex indicates that the western and eastern limbs of the Bushveld Complex are connected at depth. The model predicts a downwarp in the Moho beneath the Bushveld Complex, ensuring observed Airy isostatic balance is achieved. By constraining a new Bouguer gravity model with published Vibroseis results, crustal thicknesses determined using the receiver function method, and seismic velocity modelling of the crust from the Southern African Seismic Experiment; we demonstrate that the connected model of the Bushveld Complex is consistent with all available data. Crustal thicknesses determined from receiver functions indicate that the depth to the Moho thickens from a value of ~35 to ~40km in the southern Kaapvaal craton to ~50km beneath the central region of the Bushveld Complex. This seismologically determined Moho varies significantly from that calculated from Airy isostatic balance based solely on topography as a load in this region. The corresponding crustal velocity model, determined from inverting the receiver function results for Bushveld Complex stations, also indicates a thick crust and delimits a ~6km thick high velocity zone in the upper 10km of crust attributed to the presence of the Bushveld Complex. Comparison of the seismic crustal model with drill core data on the mafic rocks of the Bushveld Complex suggests a correspondence between high seismic velocities and high densities in the upper crust. Both the gravity model and the seismological results imply a density contrast of about 0.30mg/m3 at the crust/mantle boundary beneath the Bushveld Complex. We also find that the Moho transition beneath the Bushveld Complex is significantly broader than that beneath the rest of the Kaapvaal craton, outside of the Limpopo Belt. By constraining the modelling of the gravity data with these seismological results, outcropping geology and published Vibroseis profiles, we show that the dense mafic units of the western and eastern Bushveld Complex can be interpreted as having originally been emplaced as a connected sheet (or series of connected sheets), which has subsequently been deformed and faulted. The seismological results of the Kaapvaal project support the interpretation of a connected Bushveld Complex.
Widespread chemical remagnetization: Orogenic fluids or burial diagenesis of clays?

Paleomagnetic, rock magnetic, and geochemical results from Mesozoic carbonates in the Vocontian trough in southeast France support a hypothesized acquisition of a chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) during burial diagenesis of smectite and are inconsistent with an orogenic fluid remagnetization mechanism. The geographic and vertical distribution of a widespread CRM, which resides in magnetite, is parallel to the degree of burial diagenesis of clays. The CRM is absent only where there is no evidence for clay diagenesis. The CRM is poorly developed where significant smectite is still present and is well developed with higher natural and anhysteretic remanent intensities where smectite has completely altered to illite. Strontium isotope results do not support alteration by orogenic-type fluids, a commonly invoked mechanism for similar CRMs. The results suggest that the burial diagenesis of clays is a viable remagnetization mechanism for limestones in the Vocontian trough.
Calcium depletion in a Southeastern United States forest ecosystem

U.S. forests has been suggested in earlier reviews (Mann et al., 1988; Federer et al., 1989; Shortle and Bondietti, Forest soil Ca depletion through leaching and vegetation uptake 1992) and modeling studies (Binkley et al., 1989b), but may threaten long-term sustainability of forest productivity in the few studies have quantified inputs and outputs in relasoutheastern USA. This study was conducted to assess Ca pools and fluxes in a representative southern Piedmont forest to determine the tion to soil reserves. soil Ca depletion rate. Soil Ca storage, Ca inputs in atmospheric Southeastern forest soils are especially prone to Ca deposition, and outputs in soil leaching and vegetation uptake were depletion for several reasons. First, these soils generally investigated at the Panola Mountain Research Watershed (PMRW) developed in base-poor igneous and metamorphic rocks. near Atlanta, GA. Average annual outputs of 12.3 kg ha 21 yr 21 in Second, these soils typically are old, having weathered uptake into merchantable wood and 2.71 kg ha 21 yr 21 soil leaching in place for several hundred thousand to 2 million years, exceeded inputs in atmospheric deposition of 2.24 kg ha 21 yr 21
Assessing severity of delirium by the delirium observation screening scale

Delirium is the most common acute neuropsychiatric disorder in hospitalized elderly. Assessment of the severity of delirium is important for adjusting medication. The minimal dose of medication is preferable to prevent side effects. Only few nurse based severity measures are available. The aim of this study was to validate a scale developed to assess symptoms of delirium during regular nursing care, the Delirium Observation Screening (DOS) Scale, for monitoring severity of delirium.