Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Profiles and partitioning of reactive nitrogen over the Pacific Ocean in winter and early spring

Measurements of NO, NO y , PAN, HNO 3 , O 3 , CO, CH 4 , nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), and H 2 O were made over the Pacific Ocean in February and March during the Pacific Exploratory Mission West B (PEM-West B). NO x was calculated from NO using a photochemical model. These data were classified according to six air mass categories: western Pacific maritime, tropical, tropical convective, western Pacific continental, high latitude, and stratospheric. It has been found that the mixing ratios of many of the observed species and partitioning of NO varied significantly depending on altitude, air mass, and season. These variations have been interpreted in terms of chemical and transport processes. In the maritime air below 7 km, the mixing ratios of calculated NO x ((NO x ) mc ), PAN, and NO were lower than those in the continental air masses. The lowest values of PAN, HNO 3 , NO y , and O 3 were observed in the tropical region below 5 km. In the continental air, NO y , PAN, CO, and NMHC levels below 4 km were much higher than those obtained in September and October during PEM-West A, due to rapid transport of these species from anthropogenic sources on the continent to the Pacific Ocean by the westerly winds which dominated in early winter and spring. Reduced photochemistry during winter also contributed to the higher values of CO and NMHCs. Above 7 km the values of these species were lower during PEM-West B, possibly due to much weaker convective activity in early spring. In spite of the weaker vertical transport, the median values of (NO x ) mc and the (NO x ) mc /C 3 H 8 ratio at 10 km were 110-140 parts per trillion by volume (pptv) and 2.9-3.4 pptv/pptv, respectively, in the continental and maritime air masses, indicating the importance of in situ NO x production in the upper troposphere. In the continental air the PAN/NO y and HNO 3 /N y ratios ranged between 0.2 and 0.5, showing clear anticorrelation. The PAN/NO y ratio was also anticorrelated with the temperature. In the high-latitude air between 1 and 7 km the PAN/NO y ratio was 0.5-0.8, and the (NO x ) mc /NO y ratio was less than 0.05. Temperature and the concentrations of OH and NMHCs are considered to have strongly influenced the partitioning of NO y at middle and high latitudes. Generally, the sum of (NO x ) mc , PAN, and HNO 3 constituted 90 ± 10% of the observed NO from the boundary layer up to 7 km in all types of air masses. This finding improves our basic understanding on the chemistry and budget of the reactive nitrogen.
Short‐term discharge and suspended sediment fluctuations in the proglacial Skeldal River, north‐east Greenland

The summer discharge pattern of the Skeldal River, which drains a 560 km2 partly glacierized catchment in north‐east Greenland, is dominated by diurnal oscillations reflecting variations in the melt rate of snow and ice in the basin. Superimposed on this diurnal pattern are numerous short‐lived discharge fluctuations of irregular periodicity and magnitude. The larger fluctuations are described and attributed to both rainfall events and periodic collapse of the glacier margin damming flow from beneath the Skelbrae glacier. Other minor fluctuations are less readily explained but are associated with changes in the channelized and distributed reservoirs and possibly temporary blockage of subglacial conduits caused by ice melt with subsequent damming.
Phyllosphere fungal communities of rubber trees exhibited biogeographical patterns, but not bacteria.

Phyllosphere microbiomes play an essential role in maintaining host health and productivity. Still, the diversity patterns and the drivers for the phyllosphere microbial community of the tropical cash crop Rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) - are poorly understood. We sampled the phyllosphere of field-grown rubber trees in South China. We examined the phyllosphere bacterial and fungal composition, diversity, and main drivers of these microbes using the Illumina® sequencing and assembly. Fungal communities were distinctly different in different climatic regions (i.e., Xishuangbanna and Hainan Island) and climatic factors, especially mean annual temperature, were the main driving factors of foliar fungal communities, indicating fungal communities showed a geographical pattern. Significant differences of phyllosphere bacterial communities were detected in different habitats (i.e., endophytic and epiphytic). Significant differences of phyllosphere bacterial communities were detected in different habitats (i.e., endophytic and epiphytic). Most of the differences in taxa composition came from Firmicutes spp. , which have been assigned as nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Since these bacteria cannot penetrate the cuticle like fungi, the abundant epiphytic Firmicutes spp. may supplement the deficiency of nitrogen acquisition. And the main factor influencing endophytic bacteria were internal factors, such as total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and water content (WC) of leaves. External factors (i.e., climate) were the main driving force for epiphytic bacteria community assembly. Our work provides empirical evidence that the assembly of phyllosphere bacterial and fungal differed, which creates a precedent for preventing and controlling rubber tree diseases and pests and rubber tree yield improvement. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Wastewater Effluent, Combined Sewer Overflows, and Other Sources of Organic Compounds to Lake Champlain 1

Abstract: Some sources of organic wastewater compounds (OWCs) to streams, lakes, and estuaries, including wastewater‐treatment‐plant effluent, have been well documented, but other sources, particularly wet‐weather discharges from combined‐sewer‐overflow (CSO) and urban runoff, may also be major sources of OWCs. Samples of wastewater‐treatment‐plant (WWTP) effluent, CSO effluent, urban streams, large rivers, a reference (undeveloped) stream, and Lake Champlain were collected from March to August 2006. The highest concentrations of many OWCs associated with wastewater were in WWTP‐effluent samples, but high concentrations of some OWCs in samples of CSO effluent and storm runoff from urban streams subject to leaky sewer pipes or CSOs were also detected. Total concentrations and numbers of compounds detected differed substantially among sampling sites. The highest total OWC concentrations (10‐100 μg/l) were in samples of WWTP and CSO effluent. Total OWC concentrations in samples from urban streams ranged from 0.1 to 10 μg/l, and urban stream‐stormflow samples had higher concentrations than baseflow samples because of contributions of OWCs from CSOs and leaking sewer pipes. The relations between OWC concentrations in WWTP‐effluent and those in CSO effluent and urban streams varied with the degree to which the compound is removed through normal wastewater treatment. Concentrations of compounds that are highly removed during normal wastewater treatment [including caffeine, Tris(2‐butoxyethyl)phosphate, and cholesterol] were generally similar to or higher in CSO effluent than in WWTP effluent (and ranged from around 1 to over 10 μg/l) because CSO effluent is untreated, and were higher in urban‐stream stormflow samples than in baseflow samples as a result of CSO discharge and leakage from near‐surface sources during storms. Concentrations of compounds that are poorly removed during treatment, by contrast, are higher in WWTP effluent than in CSO, due to dilution. Results indicate that CSO effluent and urban stormwaters can be a significant major source of OWCs entering large water bodies such as Burlington Bay.
Quadruple LVDT local rotational displacement measurement in torsional shear tests

Experience has shown that to obtain pre-failure deformability of geomaterials in laboratory element tests, it is imperative to make local strain measurements. For torsional shear tests, the local measurement is complicated by coupling of the axial, radial, and rotational movement experienced by the soil specimen during shear. The rotational displacement must be isolated from other modes of movement for the interpretation of test results. Existing techniques designed for torsional shear tests under general stress conditions can be complicated and difficult to use. A simplified scheme using two pairs of linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs) is proposed for local rotational deformation measurement, specifically for cyclic torsional shear tests under constant normal stress conditions. The subtraction of readings within an LVDT pair nullifies displacements at the measurement point caused by axial and radial movement or bulging of the specimen. The same subtraction accumulates and thus isolates LVDT readings caused by rotational movement. The error associated with the simplified set-up is expected to be <0.125%. A series of hollow cylinder torsional shear tests have been performed to verify the effectiveness of the new measurement scheme. The results are repeatable and consistent with well-documented test data.
Response of global warming on regional climate change over Korea: An experiment with the MM5 model

This study is to investigate changes in regional surface climate arising from global warming with MM5 downscaling simulation for the period 1971–2100. The main focus is on the drought conditions over Korea. Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) is utilized as a measure of drought severity. The important findings show the increase of surface air temperature by 6°C and precipitation by 25% over Korea at the end of the 21st century. The increasing trend of temperature is associated with an increasing trend of evapotranspiration and precipitation. Climatological precipitation amount appropriate for existing conditions is larger than the precipitation amounts. Hence, it actually produces deficit in precipitation. This exhibits a negative PDSI. As a result droughts are expected to be severe and frequent. Better resolved topography in MM5 induces large changes in local precipitation compared with temperature. Consequently peaks of negative PDSI anomalies appear over southern parts of Korea, where a large reduction in precipitation is noticed in addition to warming.
Off-axis volcanism in the Gregory rift, east Africa: implications for models of continental rifting

The largest volcanic centers of the Gregory rift occur in two belts located 100 to 150 km east and west of the axis of the rift valley. These off-axis volcanic belts include the highest peaks on the continent of Africa and are interpreted to lie above the intersection of low-angle detachment systems with the base of a regionally thinned lithosphere. These detachment systems are manifested at the surface as a series of breakaway zones and regional bounding faults that produce subbasins with half-graben form. The asymmetry of subbasins alternates along the rift axis, indicating that the polarity of the underlying active detachment systems also reverses. The detachments are separated laterally by regional oblique-slip accommodation zones typified by wrench-style tectonism. Off-axis from the rift, the detachments are inferred to merge along strike as they cut to the base of the lithosphere. This results in irregular but persistent paired zones of volcanism and lithospheric thinning off-axis from the rift proper. The development of major volcanic cones such as Mount Kilimanjaro may be controlled by the interaction of leaky accommodation zones with the regions of structurally thinned lithosphere. The central Kenya hot spot has produced the anomalous quantities of volcanic material that fills the Gregory rift and probably enhances the off-axis volcanism but does not directly control its location. The model proposed here for tectonic controls of volcanism in the Gregory rift may be applicable to Phanerozoic continental rifts in general.
Cross-linguistic and cross-cultural effects on verbal working memory and vocabulary: testing language-minority children with an immigrant background.

PURPOSE In this study, the authors explored the impact of test language and cultural status on vocabulary and working memory performance in multilingual language-minority children. METHOD Twenty 7-year-old Portuguese-speaking immigrant children living in Luxembourg completed several assessments of first (L1)- and second-language (L2) vocabulary (comprehension and production), executive-loaded working memory (counting recall and backward digit recall), and verbal short-term memory (digit recall and nonword repetition). Cross-linguistic task performance was compared within individuals. The language-minority children were also compared with multilingual language-majority children from Luxembourg and Portuguese-speaking monolinguals from Brazil without an immigrant background matched on age, sex, socioeconomic status, and nonverbal reasoning. RESULTS Results showed that (a) verbal working memory measures involving numerical memoranda were relatively independent of test language and cultural status; (b) language status had an impact on the repetition of high- but not on low-wordlike L2 nonwords; (c) large cross-linguistic and cross-cultural effects emerged for productive vocabulary; (d) cross-cultural effects were less pronounced for vocabulary comprehension with no differences between groups if only L1 words relevant to the home context were considered. CONCLUSION The study indicates that linguistic and cognitive assessments for language-minority children require careful choice among measures to ensure valid results. Implications for testing culturally and linguistically diverse children are discussed.
shear bond strength of precoated orthodontic brackets: an in vivo study

Objective: To evaluate the shear bond strength of precoated orthodontic brackets bonded with self-etching primer relative to that of noncoated conventionally-bonded brackets at two different time intervals. Methods: Twenty-one subjects were selected for randomized split-mouth bonding of two types of brackets to the maxillary arch. Half of the teeth had precoated brackets bonded using self-etching adhesive, and the other half had regular brackets bonded using Transbond XT adhesive. Nitinol wires were tied to the upper arch and were left until the time of debonding. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: one debonded after one hour and the other debonded two weeks after the initial wire placement. The shear bond strength was directly recorded from the patients’ mouths using an in vivo debonding device. Results: There were no significant differences in shear bond strength between the precoated and conventional groups or within each group at different time intervals. There were significant differences between anterior and posterior teeth in both the precoated and conventional groups. Conclusion: Pre-coated brackets bonded with self-etching adhesive have the same bonding strength as the conventionally bonded brackets.
Scale- and rate-dependent solute transport within an unsaturated sandy monolith

Solute transport in unsaturated soil is a scale- and flow rate-dependent process, and high quality experimental studies are needed to introduce scaling relationships in the governing flow and transport models. Within this paper, we present an experimental study to characterize the solute transport for an unsaturated and undisturbed subsoil monolith sampled in a sandy aquifer. Leaching experiments were performed at different flow rates, and solute breakthrough at different positions in the monolith was measured by time domain reflectometry (TDR) probes. At TDR probe scale, the transport is assessed as being a convective-dispersive process with mixing lengths 1 m. At the bottom of the monolith, the meso-scale dispersivity is at least two times larger than the local-scale dispersivity. In addition, this meso-scale dispersivity can be successfully predicted using a stream tube model in combination with a local scale convective-dispersive process. Important scale effects are also observed in the relationship between the square coefficient of variation of the local velocities and the dispersivity. In contrast to previous studies, we do not observe a significant difference in transport properties for different flow rates (from 1.05 to 54.16 cm d(-1)). We attribute this insignificance either to a balance between the decrease of the tortuosity and the increase of the coefficient of variation of the velocity with the flow rate or a non-dependency of both terms on the flow rate.
Análise Espacial de Fragmentos Florestais: Caso dos Parques Estaduais de Forno Grande e Pedra Azul, Estado do Espírito Santo

The objective of this work was to analyze the structure of forest landscape, between two conservation areas, through indices of landscape ecology. Mapping was obtained by scanning aerial photographs using photo-interpretation techniques at the scale of 1:2500. Patch Analyst (ArcGis 9.3) was used for the indices calculation. The fragments were divided in the following classes: very small ( 5 and 10 and 100 ha). Indices of area, density, size, shape, proximity and central area were calculated; being obtained for different simulations of edge effect (40, 80, 100, 140 m). 2,652 fragments were found, representing 42.6% of forest cover. The very small fragments were predominant (2,201), followed by medium (216), small (177), and large fragments (58). There were differences in relation to classes, which demonstrated that the greatest present metrics showed good conservation. The middle and high classes indicated that public policies which encourage the creation of ecological corridors between the two protected areas should be generated.
Predicting the complexity of habitat in forests from airborne videography for wildlife management

Abstract Airborne videographic remote sensing is a relatively recent technology that can provide spatial data for a variety of forest management issues. This letter presents a methodology which demonstrates that videographic data can accurately predict the complexity of fauna habitat across forested landscapes at two metre resolution. This provided an excellent tool for stratifying the forest into fauna habitats to predict the composition, spatial distribution and abundance of faunal groups.
The influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation and European circulation regimes on the daily to interannual variability of winter precipitation in Israel

The arid climate of the Middle East means that variations in rainfall on all timescales from days to years have enormous impact on the people who live in the region. Understanding this variability is crucial if we are to interpret model simulations of the region's climate and make meaningful predictions of how the climate may change in the future. This study investigates the links between the European synoptic regimes that favour rainfall in Israel, interannual variability in the Mediterranean storm track, and large‐scale modes of variability such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). It is shown that particular European circulation regimes favour rainfall in Israel, and that these regimes occur more frequently when the NAO is in its positive phase. This is reflected by increased likelihood of very high rainfall totals in the Middle East during NAO positive winters. In contrast, the circulation regimes associated with an increased probability of dry weather are not associated with NAO negative conditions. This non‐linearity, along with the known lack of stationarity in NAO teleconnections explains the weak correlation between the NAO index and precipitation in the Jordan and Israel. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society
Response to Comment on ‘ ‘ Early Feeding After Esophagectomy : Show Must Go On ’ ’ Reply

To the Editor: We read with great interest the recent publication by Sun et al evaluating the impact of early oral feeding (EOF) on postoperative cardiac, respiratory, and gastrointestinal complications after McKeown minimally invasive esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. The striking finding of the study was that EOF patients demonstrated noninferior outcomes in terms of mortality and early morbidity compared to the standard of care. In addition, patients in the EOF group had a quicker recovery of bowel function and improved short-term quality of life (QOL). It is well-established that patients after esophagectomy benefit nutritional optimization, and enteral feeding via tube represents the standard of care, with jejunostomy being the preferred route in meeting short-term nutritional requirements despite the welldescribed incidence of complications. Thus it would be of interest whether the authors had outcomes in patients with early enteric feedings and explain more the reasons why jejunostomy tube placement is avoided in such cases. Recently it was shown that early enteral diet with feeding jejunostomy contributes to decrease of hospital stay and suggested to be part of enhancing recovery protocols after esophagectomy. More interestingly, another recent study demonstrated that nil by mouth until postoperative day 7 followed by a slow increase to a blended diet after esophagectomy results in less severe complications and a tendency of fewer anastomotic leaks. This subgroup analysis of patients with gradual increase of enteric nutritional support before initiating oral intake would be of paramount importance to understand in depth the results of the study. Finally, patients with feeding jejunostomies seem to have better outcomes with less morbidity during neoadjuvant therapy, which was underestimated in the present study because only approximately 25% of the included patients had undergone induction therapy. Another points to highlight are the short-term QOL results. The authors suggest a superiority of EOF in terms of 2-week QOL. This finding might be misleading, as it underestimates the important parameter of longterm tolerance of oral feedings in these patients. The clinical scenario of a patient after esophagectomy tolerating sips of full liquids with enteric feedings via tube for 2 weeks or a full diet might be meaningless in big picture. On the contrary, the early conduit distension, the complication of early feeding that many experienced surgeons seek to avoid is not even addressed by the authors. Early oral nutrition may be of some value, but if this is achieved at the cost of poor gastric emptying permanently, the overall result is poor. All in all, we congratulate the authors for the results of their study, acknowledging their contribution into a debatable issue that is not well evaluated in the literature. The next step should be to expand the analysis into evaluating swallowing and gastric emptying for years after surgery. Until then, there is no solid evidence that EOF is beneficial, as compared to appropriate use of feeding jejunostomy.