Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modelling thermal plumes : Odense fjord example

Cette communication resume une importante etude 3D de modelisation de l'impact environnemental de rejets thermiques dans le fjord d'Odense (ile de Fionie, Danemark). Dans le cadre du renouvellement du permis d'exploitation d'une usine electrique, differentes campagnes de mesure sur site ont ete menees permettant notamment de mesurer l'extension du panache thermique au cours d'une courte campagne. Un modele hydrodynamique 3D sous MIKE 3 a ete mis en oeuvre, cale et valide sur ces differentes campagnes. Les simulations hydrodynamiques ont ensuite ete utilisees afin de determiner l'impact de sur l'ecosysteme de l'augmentation de la temperature. Les processus ecologiques ont ainsi ete modelises avec grande precision afin d'estimer la croissance des algues et le cycle des nutriments dans le fjord d'Odense. Aujourd'hui le modele est operationnel et utilise par les autorites danoises afin de determiner le flux de nutriments vers la mer dans le cadre du programme danois de suivi marin.
The structural sources for syllabic restrictions in Mandarin

On the other hand, there appears to be a “reversed” syllabic restriction. Even though Chinese languages have very few denominal verbs (see Chan and Tai 1995 and Yuan and Jiang 2018) in comparison with a language like English, only monosyllabic nouns can be denominals. Tsai (2016) cites a couple of examples in modern colloquial Mandarin, as in (2) (from Tsai 2016, ex. 4a,b). Importantly, diàn is the first syllable of diànhuà ‘telephone’ while duǎn is the first syllable of duǎnxìn ‘text’. The full disyllabic verbs cannot replace the monosyllabic ones.
Widespread greening suggests increased dry-season plant water availability in the Rio Santa valley, Peruvian Andes

In the semi-arid Peruvian Andes, the growing season is mostly determined by the timing of the onset and retreat of the wet season, to which annual crop yields are highly sensitive. Recently, local farmers in the Rio Santa basin (RSB) reported more erratic rainy season onsets and further challenges related to changes in rainfall characteristics. Previous studies based on local rain gauges, however, did not ﬁnd any signiﬁcant long-term rainfall changes, potentially linked to the scarce data basis and inherent difﬁculties in capturing the highly variable rainfall distribution typical for complex mountain terrain. To date, there remains considerable uncertainty in the RSB regarding changes in plant-available water over the last decades. In this study, we exploit satellite-derived information of high-resolution vegetation greenness as an integrated proxy to derive variability and trends of plant water availability. By combining MODIS Aqua and Terra vegetation indices (VIs), datasets of precipitation (both for 2000–2020) and soil moisture (since 2015), we explore recent spatio-temporal changes in the vegetation growing season. We ﬁnd the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to be coupled to soil moisture on a sub-seasonal basis, while NDVI and rainfall only coincide on interannual timescales. Over 20 years, we ﬁnd signiﬁcant greening in the RSB, particularly pronounced during the dry season (austral winter), indicating an overall increase in plant-available water over the past 2 decades. The start of the growing season (SOS) exhibits high interannual variability of up to 2 months compared to the end of the growing season (EOS), which varies by up to 1 month, therefore dominating the variability of the growing season length (LOS). The EOS becomes signiﬁcantly delayed over the analysis period, matching the observed dry-season greening. While both in situ and gridded rainfall datasets show incoherent changes in annual rainfall for the region, Climate Hazards InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) rainfall suggests signiﬁcant positive dry-season trends for 2 months coinciding with the most pronounced greening. As the greening signal is strongly seasonal and reaches high altitudes on unglaciated valley slopes, we cannot link this signal to water storage changes on timescales beyond one rainy season, making interannual rainfall variability the most likely driver. Exploring El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) control on greening, we ﬁnd an overall increased LOS linked to an earlier SOS in El Niño years, which however cannot explain the observed greening and delayed EOS. While our study could not corroborate anecdotal evidence of recent changes, we conﬁrm that the SOS is highly variable and conclude that rainfed farming in the RSB would proﬁt from future efforts being directed towards improving medium-range forecasts of the rainy season onset.
Data Protection at a Discount: Investigating the UX of Data Protection from User, Designer, and Business Leader Perspectives

Smart homes are dangerous - a sentiment arising from prior research exploring the user experience (UX) of data protection for smart home devices. While this research has explored data protection shortcomings for users, UX is a designed encounter reconciling development, economic, compliance and strategic business priorities. And so, in addition to studying user perspectives, there is a gap in understanding how designers and business leaders influence the UX of data protection. To address this gap, we study smart home users, designers and business leaders, exploring how they experience data protection interactions, regulation, and processes. Our findings confirm that users have poor data protection interactions (e.g., consent and data access requests). We also find that business leaders and designers experience difficulties in identifying, applying, and tailoring suitable processes and practices for data protection for which some have developed "discount data protection": shortcuts, heuristics, and common sense practices to overcome these challenges.
Ultrasonic and seismic constraints on crystallographic preferred orientations of the Priestley Glacier shear margin, Antarctica

Abstract. Crystallographic preferred orientations (CPOs) are particularly important in controlling the mechanical properties of glacial shear margins. Logistical and safety considerations often make direct sampling of shear margins difficult, and geophysical measurements are commonly used to constrain the CPOs. We present here the first direct comparison of seismic and ultrasonic data with measured CPOs in a polar shear margin. The measured CPO from ice samples from a 58 m deep borehole in the left lateral shear margin of the Priestley Glacier, Antarctica, is dominated by horizontal c axes aligned sub-perpendicularly to flow. A vertical-seismic-profile experiment with hammer shots up to 50 m away from the borehole, in four different azimuthal directions, shows velocity anisotropy of both P waves and S waves. Matching P-wave data to the anisotropy corresponding to CPO models defined by horizontally aligned c axes gives two possible solutions for the c-axis azimuth, one of which matches the c-axis measurements. If both P-wave and S-wave data are used, there is one best fit for the azimuth and intensity of c-axis alignment that matches the measurements well. Azimuthal P-wave and S-wave ultrasonic data recorded in the laboratory on the ice core show clear anisotropy of P-wave and S-wave velocities in the horizontal plane that match that predicted from the CPO of the samples. With quality data, azimuthal increments of 30∘ or less will constrain well the orientation and intensity of c-axis alignment. Our experiments provide a good framework for planning seismic surveys aimed at constraining the anisotropy of shear margins.
In situ LA-ICPMS U–Pb dating of sulfates: applicability of carbonate reference materials as matrix-matched standards

Abstract. Recent developments in analytical capabilities in the field of in situ laser ablation mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) have expanded the applications of U–Pb geochronometers in low-U minerals such as carbonates or garnets. The rapid evolution of the technique relies on well-characterized matrix-matched reference materials. In this article, we explore the suitability of using carbonate as an “almost-matrix-matched reference material” for in situ U–Pb dating of sulfates. For such purpose, we have used the astrochronologically dated gypsum and anhydrite samples deposited during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (5.97–5.33 Ma) and compared these dates with the U–Pb ages obtained by LA-ICPMS. Although the majority of the samples failed due to the elevated common Pb content and low 238U/204Pb ratios, five of the samples showed a higher dispersion on U/Pb ratios. The obtained dates in four of these samples are comparable with the expected ages, while another gave an unexpected younger age, each of them with 6 %–11 % of uncertainty. The pit depth of the spots showed that the sulfates ablate similar to carbonates, so the offset due to the crater geometry mismatch or downhole fractionation can be assumed to be negligible. To sum up, the bias between the U–Pb and expected cyclostratigraphic ages, if any, is included in the uncertainty, and thus the results obtained here suggest that carbonate reference material is currently the best option for standardization of in situ U–Pb sulfate analyses.
Circulating markers of endothelial activation in canine parvoviral enteritis.

ABSTRACT Canine parvovirus (CPV) is a common cause of enteritis, immune suppression and systemic inflammation in young dogs. Endothelial markers, such as intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1), and molecules that upregulate their expression, such as high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB-1), provide insight into the state of the endothelium during inflammation. This study aimed to determine if circulating concentrations of ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and HMGB-1 were altered in CPV enteritis compared to healthy controls, and whether a correlation existed between these molecules and the degree of inflammation. Thirty dogs with naturally occurring CPV enteritis and ten control dogs were included. Physical examinations, complete blood count and C-reactive protein (CRP) measurements were performed on all dogs at presentation. The concentrations of ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and HMGB-1 were measured using commercially available canine-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. In dogs with CPV enteritis, ICAM-1 concentrations were significantly lower (median: 5.9 [IQR: 4.3-8.3]) and CRP higher (134 [IQR: 85-195]) compared to controls (8.0 [IQR: 6.9-10.3], p = 0.008; 1 [IQR: 0-7], p < 0.001). No significant difference was found for VCAM- 1 and HMGB-1. A strong correlation was identified between VCAM-1 and segmented neutrophil count (r = 0.612, p < 0.001). Despite the presence of systemic inflammation in CPV enteritis, evidenced by high CRP concentrations, our results suggest circulating concentrations of ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and HMGB-1 failed to show an increase. Endothelial activation with subsequent leukocyte adhesion and transmigration through the endothelium may be affected in CPV enteritis and these findings require further investigation.
Seismic response analyses and performance assessment of masonry-infilled reinforced concrete frame buildings in Bhutan without and with soft storey

Bhutan locates in a high seismicity region but has no seismic design code of its own. Recent devastating earthquake in Nepal, which is located in the same region as Bhutan and with similar construction types, raises the concern on the seismic safety of building structures in Bhutan. This study is aimed at assessing the performance of masonry-infilled and soft storey reinforced concrete frame buildings in Bhutan under the 475- and 2475-year return period ground motions predicted from the Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis. A nonlinear strut model is used to model the infill wall, and the influence of openings and soil–structure interaction are considered in the analyses. The result suggests that the masonry-infilled reinforced concrete frame buildings in Bhutan could suffer repairable and irreparable damages under the 475-year return period ground motions and severe damages and even collapse under the 2475-year return period ground motion. The buildings with the soft storey are found to be more vulnerable than the normal masonry-infilled reinforced concrete buildings. The design recommendation of Indian Seismic Code improves the performance of soft storey buildings but cannot fully negate the soft storey effect. This study is the first such effort in assessing the performance of general building stocks in the high seismicity Bhutan. The results can guide the seismic strengthening options and can be used for further loss predictions for seismic preparedness of the country.
WBI Studies Repository WBI Studies

Vigilance in flocks can be described and modelled as a plausible set of local interactions between neighbouring birds. Each bird in the modelled flock chooses to feed or to scan based solely on whether or not its neighbours are feeding or scanning. This simple model has the ability both to reproduce observations that have not been previously explained and to predict flock behaviours that might be confirmed with future field studies. Examples include simulations showing decreased vigilance with increased flock size (as observed in the field), greater time spent scanning when obstacles such as trees are present (as observed) and a coordinated feed/scan pattern (that is predicted to become increasingly coordinated when the birds look up from feeding more frequently). The numerical model also predicts that flock geometry influences vigilance. If two flocks are the same size, individuals in the one with the larger perimeter will spend more time scanning. This prediction could be tested with field studies and already has been observed empirically for two limiting cases: birds arranged in a line (high perimeters, high scan times) and birds in a circle (lower perimeters, lower scan times). As demonstrated by its multiple successes, cellular models of this type are a powerful new approach to understanding bird flock behaviours.
Radiative impacts of the Australian bushfires 2019–2020 – Part 1: Large-scale radiative forcing

Abstract. As a consequence of extreme heat and drought, record-breaking wildfires developed and ravaged south-eastern Australia during the fire season 2019–2020. The fire strength reached its paroxysmal phase at the turn of the year 2019–2020. During this phase, pyrocumulonimbus clouds (pyroCb) developed and injected biomass burning aerosols and gases into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). The UTLS aerosol layer was massively perturbed by these fires, with aerosol extinction increased by a factor of 3 in the visible spectral range in the Southern Hemisphere, with respect to a background atmosphere, and stratospheric aerosol optical depth reaching values as large as 0.015 in February 2020. Using the best available description of this event by observations, we estimate the radiative forcing (RF) of such perturbations of the Southern Hemispheric aerosol layer. We use offline radiative transfer modelling driven by observed information of the aerosol extinction perturbation and its spectral variability obtained from limb satellite measurements. Based on hypotheses on the absorptivity and the angular scattering properties of the aerosol layer, the regional (at three latitude bands in the Southern Hemisphere) clear-sky TOA (top-of-atmosphere) RF is found varying from small positive values to relatively large negative values (up to −2.0 W m−2), and the regional clear-sky surface RF is found to be consistently negative and reaching large values (up to −4.5 W m−2). We argue that clear-sky positive values are unlikely for this event, if the ageing/mixing of the biomass burning plume is mirrored by the evolution of its optical properties. Our best estimate for the area-weighted global-equivalent clear-sky RF is -0.35±0.21 (TOA RF) and -0.94±0.26 W m−2 (surface RF), thus the strongest documented for a fire event and of comparable magnitude with the strongest volcanic eruptions of the post-Pinatubo era. The surplus of RF at the surface, with respect to TOA, is due to absorption within the plume that has contributed to the generation of ascending smoke vortices in the stratosphere. Highly reflective underlying surfaces, like clouds, can nevertheless swap negative to positive TOA RF, with global average RF as high as +1.0 W m−2 assuming highly absorbing particles.
Validation of Machine Performance Check (MPC) Beam Output Change on Two TrueBeam Linac Systems

Published: 2020.09. 10 Abstract Daily quality assurance (QA) is an essential requirement of modern radiotherapy. Validation of the performed QA tests is equally fundamental. Daily Machine Performance Check (MPC) tests were conducted on two newly acquired VARIAN linacs, TrueBeam STX (TB STX) and TrueBeam (TB) for the commissioned photon energies. This MPC data was compared with independent absolute dose measurements performed on the linacs. The aim of the study was to assess the beam output change on two TrueBeam linacs, and compare the outcomes against MPC integrated tool. A weekly percentage dose output variation was measured using a secondary dosimetric system (SS) consisting of RW3 solid water phantoms, farmer type ionization chamber and PTW ’ s Unidose electrometer over twelve (12) months for flattened photon energies on TB STX and six (6) months for flattening filter free (FFF) on TB STX, flattened and FFF photon energies on TB. The acquired MPC and SS data were compared using student ’ s t-test tool for paired samples with a significant threshold level α of 0.05. The mean difference and standard deviation of the beam output change measured with MPC and SS was computed, and graphs plotted. The observed average standard deviation between output variations measured with the SS and MPC tool were less than ± 1% and the mean output change within ± 2%. There was a good agreement between the output variation measured with the SS and MPC tool. The department decided to trust in the daily MPC tests supported by the weekly secondary dosimetric measurement system to assess linacs performance in comparison to
Delineating the distribution of mineral and peat soils at the landscape scale in northern boreal regions

Abstract. To meet the sustainable development goals and enable sustainable management and protection of peatlands, there is a strong need for improving the mapping of peatlands. Here we present a novel approach to identify peat soils based on a high-resolution digital soil moisture map that was produced by combining airborne laser scanning-derived terrain indices and machine learning to model soil moisture at 2 m spatial resolution across the Swedish landscape. As soil moisture is a key factor in peat formation, we fitted an empirical relationship between the thickness of the organic layer (measured at 5479 soil plots across the country) and the continuous SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Science) soil moisture map (R2= 0.66, p < 0.001). We generated categorical maps of peat occurrence using three different definitions of peat (30, 40, and 50 cm thickness of the organic layer) and a continuous map of organic layer thickness. The predicted peat maps had a higher overall quality (MCC = 0.69–0.73) compared to traditional Quaternary deposits maps (MCC = 0.65) and topographical maps (MCC = 0.61) and captured the peatlands with a recall of ca. 80 % compared to 50 %–70 % on the traditional maps. The predicted peat maps identified more peatland area than previous maps, and the areal coverage estimates fell within the same order as upscaling estimates from national field surveys. Our method was able to identify smaller peatlands resulting in more accurate maps of peat soils, which was not restricted to only large peatlands that can be visually detected from aerial imagery – the historical approach of mapping. We also provided a continuous map of the organic layer, which ranged 6–88 cm organic layer thickness, with an R2 of 0.67 and RMSE (root mean square error) of 19 cm. The continuous map exhibits a smooth transition of organic layers from mineral soil to peat soils and likely provides a more natural representation of the distribution of soils. The continuous map also provides an intuitive uncertainty estimate in the delineation of peat soils, critically useful for sustainable spatial planning, e.g., greenhouse gas or biodiversity inventories and landscape ecological research.
Solitary wave characteristics on the fine structure of mesospheric sporadic sodium layer

The most fantastic phenomenon of the mesospheric sodium layer is the so-called sporadic sodium layer (SSL or 15 Na S ), which are proposed to be closely related to wave fluctuations. Solitary wave is a particular solution of partial differential equation whose energy travels as a localized wave packet, and a soliton is a special solitary wave which has a particle-like behavior with strong stable form. In this research, the solitary wave theory is applied for the first time to study the fine structure of Na S . We perform soliton fitting processes on the observed data from the Andes Lidar Observatory, and find out that 24/27 Na S events exhibit similar features/characteristics to a soliton. Time series of the net anomaly of the Na S 20 reveal the same variation process to the solution of a generalized five-order KdV equation. Our results therefore suggest the Na S phenomenon would be an appropriate tracer for nonlinear wave studies in the atmosphere.
Intermittent Hypoxia Increased the Expression of DBH and PNMT in Neuroblastoma Cells via MicroRNA-375-Mediated Mechanism

Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS), characterized by recurrent episodes of oxygen desaturation and reoxygenation (intermittent hypoxia (IH)), is a risk factor for hypertension and insulin resistance. We report a correlation between IH and insulin resistance/diabetes. However, the reason why hypertension is induced by IH is elusive. Here, we investigated the effect of IH on the expression of catecholamine-metabolizing enzymes using an in vitro IH system. Human and mouse neuroblastoma cells (NB-1 and Neuro-2a) were exposed to IH or normoxia for 24 h. Real-time RT-PCR revealed that IH significantly increased the mRNA levels of dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) and phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) in both NB-1 and Neuro-2a. Western blot showed that the expression of DBH and PNMT in the NB-1 cells was significantly increased by IH. Reporter assays revealed that promoter activities of DBH and PNMT were not increased by IH. The miR-375 level of IH-treated cells was significantly decreased relative to that of normoxia-treated cells. The IH-induced up-regulation of DBH and PNMT was abolished by the introduction of the miR-375 mimic, but not by the control RNA. These results indicate that IH stress increases levels of DBH and PNMT via the inhibition of miR-375-mediated mRNA degradation, potentially playing a role in the emergence of hypertension in SAS patients.