Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Search for Optically Faint GEO Debris

Abstract : Existing optical surveys for debris at geosynchronous orbit (GEO) have been conducted with meter class telescopes which have detection limits in the range of 18th-19th magnitude. We report on a new search for optically faint debris at GEO using the 6.5-m Magellan telescope Walter Baade at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Our goal is to go as faint as possible and characterize the brightness distribution of debris fainter than R = 20th magnitude corresponding to a size smaller than 10 cm assuming an albedo of 0.175. We wish to compare the inferred size distribution for GEO debris with that for LEO debris. We describe preliminary results obtained during 9.4 hours of observing time during 25-27 March 2011. We used the IMACS f/2 instrument, which has a mosaic of 8 CCDs, and a field of view of 30 arc-minutes in diameter. This is the widest field of view of any instrument on either Magellan telescope. All observations were obtained through a Sloan r' filter. The limiting magnitude for 5 second exposures is measured to be fainter tan R = 21. With this small field of view and the limited observing time, our objective was to search for optically faint objects from the Titan 3C Transtage (1968-081) fragmentation in 1992. Eight debris pieces and the parent rocket body are in the Space Surveillance Network public catalog. We successfully tracked two cataloged pieces of Titan debris (SSN # 25001 and 33519) with the 6.5-m telescope, followed by a survey for objects on similar orbits but with a spread in mean anomaly. To detect bright objects over a wider field of view (1.6x1.6 degrees), we observed the same field centers at the same time through a similar filter with the 0.6-m MODEST (Michigan Orbital DEbris Survey Telescope), located 100 km to the south of Magellan at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile. We will describe our experiences using Magellan, a telescope never used previously for orbital debris research, and our initial results.
The Tropospheric 14CO2 Level in Mid-Latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (1959–2003)

A comprehensive tropospheric 14CO2 data set of quasi-continuous observations covering the time span from 1959 to 2003 is presented. Samples were collected at 3 European mountain sites at height levels of 1205 m (Schauinsland), 1800 m (Vermunt), and 3450 m asl (Jungfraujoch), and analyzed in the Heidelberg Radiocarbon Laboratory. The data set from Jungfraujoch (1986–2003) is considered to represent the free tropospheric background level at mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, as it compares well with recent (yet unpublished) measurements made at the marine baseline station Mace Head (west coast of Ireland). The Vermunt and Schauinsland records are significantly influenced by regional European fossil fuel CO2 emissions. The respective Δ14CO2 depletions, on an annual mean basis, are, however, only 5 less than at Jungfraujoch. Vermunt and Schauinsland both represent the mean continental European troposphere.
Effects of Summer and Autumn Drought on Eutrophication and the Phytoplankton Community in Dongting Lake in 2022

Since July 2022, the Yangtze River basin has experienced the most severe hydro-meteorological drought since record collection started in 1961, which has greatly affected the ecological environment of the Dongting Lake (DTL) basin. To investigate the effects of drought events on the eutrophication and phytoplankton community structure of DTL, the lake was sampled twice in August and September 2022 based on the water level fluctuations resulting in 47 samples. Furthermore, we combined the comprehensive trophic level index (TLI) and phytoplankton Shannon–Wiener diversity index (H) to characterize and evaluate the eutrophication status. The key influencing factors of the phytoplankton community were identified using redundancy analysis (RDA), hierarchical partitioning, and the Jaccard similarity index (J). Our results showed that the TLI of DTL changed from light–moderate eutrophication status (August) to mesotrophic status (September), whereas the H changed from light or no pollution to medium pollution. The phytoplankton abundance in August (122.06 × 104 cells/L) was less than that in September (351.18 × 104 cells/L) in DTL. A trend in phytoplankton community succession from Bacillariophyta to Chlorophyta and Cyanophyta was shown. The combination of physiochemical and ecological assessment more accurately characterized the true eutrophic status of the aquatic ecosystem. The RDA showed that the key influencing factors in the phytoplankton community were water temperature (WT), pH, nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients, and the permanganate index (CODMn) in August, while dissolved oxygen (DO) and redox potential (ORP) were the key factors in September. Hierarchical partitioning further indicated that temporal and spatial variations had a greater impact on the phytoplankton community. And the J of each region was slightly similar and very dissimilar, from August to September, which indicated a decreased hydrological connectivity of DTL during drought. These analyses indicated that the risk to the water ecology of DTL intensified during the summer–autumn drought in 2022. Safeguarding hydrological connectivity in the DTL region is a prerequisite for promoting energy flow, material cycle, and water ecosystem health.
Impedance Matching Network Design for 6.78-MHz Wireless Power Transfer System With Constant Power Characteristics Against Misalignment

Wireless power transfer (WPT) technology has become increasingly popular due to its ability to transmit energy without mechanical contact, making it suitable for various industrial fields. This article deals with an inductive power transfer system, which is driven with a single-switch inverter such as Class E in several megahertz or higher frequencies. One of main issues with such systems is that the output and efficiency are significantly affected by the relative position of transmitter and receiver coils. Many existing solutions require additional tunable components and driving circuits, leading to increased cost and complexity. This article provides a systematic optimization procedure of two-port impedance matching networks for wireless power transfer systems to achieve constant output power characteristics even with misalignment or air-gap variation. Since the system itself has a characteristic that is robust against misalignment, the need for any control and tunable component can be significantly reduced. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through a prototype of 6.78 MHz/60 W and experimental results.
Changing career to teaching? The influential factors which motivate Irish career change teachers to choose teaching as a new career

This article is based on a research study completed as part of an Ed. D dissertation which explored the experiences of career change teachers (CCTs) in Irish primary and post-primary schools. Their motivations for changing career, both intrinsic and extrinsic, along with the influence of family in career changers’ decisions to change career were explored. This research used a convergent parallel mixed methods design, with a sample of 112 participants. Data was gathered through the use of an online survey, completed by 107 participants and fifteen semi-structured interviews, ten of whom had also completed the online survey. The main motivations identified by career change teachers for changing career included a long-held desire to become a teacher, the influence of family members who were also teachers, crucial life events, positive prior teaching and learning experiences, loss of employment and interest in their previous job and other more extrinsic motivations. This research study provides a deeper understanding of the factors that influence a career change to teaching. This knowledge will assist in the recruitment of this diverse cohort of teachers to the teaching profession, bringing experience, skills and knowledge from different fields and backgrounds to the modern classroom.
Viral Entry Inhibitors Protect against SARS-CoV-2-Induced Neurite Shortening in Differentiated SH-SY5Y Cells

The utility of human neuroblastoma cell lines as in vitro model to study neuro-invasiveness and neuro-virulence of SARS-CoV-2 has been demonstrated by our laboratory and others. The aim of this report is to further characterize the associated cellular responses caused by a pre-alpha SARS-CoV-2 strain on differentiated SH-SY5Y and to prevent its cytopathic effect by using a set of entry inhibitors. The susceptibility of SH-SY5Y to SARS-CoV-2 was confirmed at high multiplicity-of-infection, without viral replication or release. Infection caused a reduction in the length of neuritic processes, occurrence of plasma membrane blebs, cell clustering, and changes in lipid droplets electron density. No changes in the expression of cytoskeletal proteins, such as tubulins or tau, could explain neurite shortening. To counteract the toxic effect on neurites, entry inhibitors targeting TMPRSS2, ACE2, NRP1 receptors, and Spike RBD were co-incubated with the viral inoculum. The neurite shortening could be prevented by the highest concentration of camostat mesylate, anti-RBD antibody, and NRP1 inhibitor, but not by soluble ACE2. According to the degree of entry inhibition, the average amount of intracellular viral RNA was negatively correlated to neurite length. This study demonstrated that targeting specific SARS-CoV-2 host receptors could reverse its neurocytopathic effect on SH-SY5Y.
Influence of silt size and content on liquefaction behavior of sands

This study investigates the fines content influence on liquefaction potential of a single base sand mixed with three different essentially nonplastic silts through strain-controlled monotonic undrained triaxial compression tests. Confining stress (30 kPa) and deposition method (dry funnel deposition) were kept the same, while fines content was varied, to solely focus on how different silts and their contents influence the undrained response of the sand under comparable conditions. It was found that if the mean grain diameter ratio (D50-sand/d50-silt) of the sand grains to silt grains is sufficiently small, the liquefaction potential of the sand increases steadily with increasing fines content for the studied range (0%–20%). As D50-sand/d50-silt increases, the liquefaction potential of the silty sand might actually be less than the liquefaction potential of the clean sand. Test results also revealed that commonly used comparison bases (i.e., void ratio, intergranular void ratio, relative density) are not s.
Severe Neurologic Disease in a Horse Caused by Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus, Austria, 2021

As evidenced by sero-epidemiological studies, infections of horses with the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) occur frequently in TBEV-endemic areas. However, there are only very few reports of clinical cases. A possible underreporting may be due to a variety of diagnostic challenges. In this study, ELISA and neutralization tests were applied to serum samples. Brain tissue samples were investigated for the presence of nucleic acids of TBEV, Equid alphaherpesvirus 1, Borna disease virus 1, West Nile and Usutu viruses, rustrela virus, as well as Eastern, Western, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis viruses with RT-qPCR, RT-PCR, and qPCR, respectively. TBEV-specific amplification products were subjected to Sanger sequencing. In addition, a direct fluorescent antibody test for rabies was performed. Clinical and patho-histological findings are reported. Using specific RT-qPCR and RT-PCR assays, TBEV nucleic acids were demonstrated in brain tissue samples. Sequencing revealed the Western (formerly Central) European subtype of TBEV as the etiological agent. A high titer of TBEV-specific neutralizing antibodies was found in the serum. RNAscope in situ hybridization revealed TBEV RNA confined to neuronal cell bodies and processes. No other pathogens or nucleic acids thereof could be detected. Diagnostic procedures need to be carried out early after the onset of neurological signs to allow for a final etiological diagnosis of acute TBEV infections in horses.
Stochastic inversion of permeability and dispersivities from time lapse self‐potential measurements: A controlled sandbox study

We test the ability of the self‐potential method to provide information that can be used to invert the permeability and the dispersivities of a porous material. We first formulate the semi‐coupled system of equations describing the occurrence of self‐potential signals associated with the transport of salt in a porous material like sand. Two contributions in the source current density arise from the electrokinetic coupling associated with the flow of the pore water and the diffusion potential due to the gradient in the activity of the salt. A controlled laboratory sandbox experiment is performed to show that time‐lapse self‐potential measurements can be used to invert, in a Bayesian framework, the permeability and dispersivities.
A comparison of Pi2 pulsations observed by CHAMP in low Earth orbit and on the ground at low latitudes

Initial results of a comparative study of Pi2 pulsations observed by the CHAMP satellite in low Earth orbit and at a low‐latitude ground station in South Africa are presented. It has for the first time been possible to extract and clearly resolve Pi2 pulsations from low Earth orbit satellite data due to the unprecedented accuracy and resolution of the CHAMP magnetic field measurements. An important new result is that the correlation between satellite and ground Pi2s is improved by subtraction of a lithospheric magnetic field anomaly model from the satellite data. The analysis indicates that the H‐component of the Pi2 pulsation on the ground is well correlated with the compressional and poloidal components above the ionosphere. Furthermore, in the southern hemisphere the compressional and poloidal components oscillate in phase with H; however, in the northern hemisphere the poloidal component oscillates in anti‐phase with the compressional and H components.
Annular and Total Solar Eclipses of 2010

While most NASA eclipse bulletins cover a single eclipse, this publication presents predictions for two solar eclipses during 2010. This has required a different organization of the material into the following sections. Section 1 -- Eclipse Predictions: The section consists of a general discussion about the eclipse path maps, Besselian elements, shadow contacts, eclipse path tables, local circumstances tables, and the lunar limb profile. Section 2 -- Annular Solar Eclipse of 2010 Ja n 15: The section covers predictions and weather prospects for the annular eclipse. Section 3 -- Total Solar Eclipse of 2010 Jul 11: The se ction covers predictions and weather prospects for the total eclipse. Section 4 -- Observing Eclipses: The section provides information on eye safety, solar filters, eclipse photography, and making contact timings from the path limits. Section 5 -- Eclipse Resources: The final section contains a number of resources including information on the IAU Working Group on Eclipses, the Solar Eclipse Mailing List, the NASA eclipse bulletins on the Internet, Web sites for the two 2010 eclipses, and a summary identifying the algorithms, ephemerides, and paramete rs used in the eclipse predictions.
The vertical distribution of Martian aerosol particle size

Using approximately 410 limb‐viewing observations from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), we retrieve the vertical distribution of Martian dust and water ice aerosol particle sizes. We find that dust particles have an effective radius of 1.0 µm over much of the atmospheric column below 40 km throughout the Martian year. This includes the detached tropical dust layers detected in previous studies. Little to no variation with height is seen in dust particle size. Water ice clouds within the aphelion cloud belt exhibit a strong sorting of particle size with height, however, and the effective radii range from >3 µm below 20 km to near 1.0 µm at 40 km altitude. Conversely, water ice clouds in the seasonal polar hoods show a near‐uniform particle size with an effective radius of approximately 1.5 µm throughout the atmospheric column.
Antifouling agents and Fenitrothion contamination in seawater, sediment, plankton, fish and selected marine animals from the Seto Inland Sea, Japan

Copyright © 2015 by The Geochemical Society of Japan. systems for ships. Following these international restrictions on the use of organotin-based antifoulants, paint manufacturers have designed many alternative bioinhibitive products. In Japan, more than 20 chemical substances have been used or proposed as alternative compounds. Two booster biocides in common use worldwide are Diuron (3-[3,4-dichlorophenyl]-1,1-dimethylurea) and Irgarol 1051 (2-[tert-butylamino]-4-[cyclopropylamino]6-[methylthio]-1,3,5-triazine) (Lambert et al., 2006). According to the Japanese Paint Manufacturers Association, Diuron and Irgarol 1051 are some of the most frequently used antifoulants (Tsunemasa and Okamura, 2011) while as Fenitrothion (O,O-Dimethyl O-(3-methyl4-nitrophenyl) phosphorothioate) is widely used as an insecticide. Both Diuron (C9H10Cl2N2O), a phenyl urea derivative, and Irgarol 1051 (C11H19N5S)—a triazine derivative, are herbicidal photosystem II inhibitors (Ferrer and Barcelo, 2001: Backhaus et al., 2004: Ogawa et al., 2004: Devilla et al., 2005: Lambert et al., 2006: Zamora-Ley et al., 2006: Sheikh et al., 2012). They are used to control weeds and also as marine antifouling compounds. Fenitrothion (C9H2NO5PS) is an organophosphate insecticide that has Antifouling agents and Fenitrothion contamination in seawater, sediment, plankton, fish and selected marine animals from the Seto Inland Sea, Japan
The strength of soft clay reinforced with singular and group bottom ash columns

Stone column is a ground improvement technique in which some of the soil is being replaced with granular material such as crushed rocks or sand. Stone columns are usually installed in soft cohesive soil to improve bearing capacity and accelerate the dissipation of pore water pressure when load is imposed to the soil. Since “bottom ash”, as the by-product of coal burning, has same properties to granular materials, there is a potential of using bottom ash as stone columns. By introducing bottom ash columns, the cost of project could significantly be reduced and the disposal problem for bottom ash would be solved. Besides that, sustainability in construction can be achieved by the utilization of bottom ash. This paper discusses the results of the improvement in strength of soft clay when inserted with singular and group bottom ash columns. A total of 8 batches of kaolin samples had been tested to determine the shear strength. Each batch consisted of three samples to represent samples without bottom ash column, samples with partially penetrating bottom ash column and samples with fully penetrating for singular and group of bottom ash columns. A total of 24 unconfined compression tests had been conducted on soft kaolin specimens. The specimens used were 50 mm in diameter and 100 mm in height. The diameter of the bottom ash column is 10 mm and the heights of the column are 60 mm and 100 mm. For singular column, the column was installed at the centre of the specimen and for the group columns had been arranged in square pattern. The improvement rate for partially and fully penetrating singular column is between 13 to 26 % and from 2 to 15 % respectively. While for group columns, the improvement rate for partially and fully penetrating column is between 20 to 27 % and from 9 to 66 % respectively. It can be concluded that that the shear strength of soft clay could be improved by the installation of bottom ash columns. However for singular column, the value of shear strength of soft clay inserted with partially penetrating column increased more significant compared to the fully penetrating column.
U‐Th‐Ra disequilibria and the extent of off‐axis volcanism across the East Pacific Rise at 9°30′N, 10°30′N, and 11°20′N

There is widespread interest in the distance that mid‐ocean ridge magmatism extends beyond the neovolcanic zone. Off‐axis magmas also provide a means to map out variations across the melting zone. We present 238U‐230Th‐226Ra data for 35 well‐characterized samples that extend up to 50 km away from the ridge axis across the East Pacific Rise at 9°30′N, 10°30′N, and 11°20′N. The (230Th/238U) ratios range from 1.00 to 1.19, and the (226Ra/230Th) ratios range from 1 to 2.78. The samples have a bimodal (230Th/238U) distribution with approximately half overlying published axial data on the U‐Th diagram and the remainder lying close to the equiline. The U series disequilibria in the majority of the samples can be explained by aging subsequent to eruption in a zone ∼8 km wide about the neovolcanic zone, consistent with visual evidence for sample age. Nevertheless, seven of the samples lie above calculated (230Th/238U) axial decay curves and/or have 226Ra excesses implying eruption tens of kilometers off axis. These are consistent with evidence from seamounts and seismic interpretations that magmatism can extend up to 20 km off axis. The implication is that magma is not as efficiently focused beneath the ridge axis as has generally been believed. There is a decrease in initial (230Th/238U) in both these and published samples inferred to have formed off axis, but there is no compelling evidence that this reflects source heterogeneity. Simple modeling suggests that this could be explained by a decrease in fertility and melt column length as the overlying lithosphere thickens with age and the solidus shallows.
Polyaryletherketone Based Blends: A Review

This review aims to report the status of the research on polyaryletherketone-based thermoplastic blends (PAEK). PAEK are high-performance copolymers able to replace metals in many applications including those related to the environmental and energy transition. PAEK lead to the extension of high-performance multifunctional materials to target embedded electronics, robotics, aerospace, medical devices and prostheses. Blending PAEK with other thermostable thermoplastic polymers is a viable option to obtain materials with new affordable properties. First, this study investigates the miscibility of each couple. Due to different types of interactions, PAEK-based thermoplastic blends go from fully miscible (with some polyetherimides) to immiscible (with polytetrafluoroethylene). Depending on the ether-to-ketone ratio of PAEK as well as the nature of the second component, a large range of crystalline structures and blend morphologies are reported. The PAEK-based thermoplastic blends are elaborated by melt-mixing or solution blending. Then, the effect of the composition and blending preparation on the mechanical properties are investigated. PAEK-based thermoplastic blends give rise to the possibility of tuning their properties to design novel materials. However, we demonstrate hereby that significant research effort is needed to overcome the lack of knowledge on the structure/morphology/property relationships for those types of high-performance thermoplastic blends.