Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Eddy length scales in the North Atlantic Ocean

Eddy length scales are calculated from satellite altimeter products and in an eddy-resolving model of the North Atlantic Ocean. Four different measures for eddy length scales are derived from kinetic energy densities in wave number space and spatial decorrelation scales. Observational estimates and model simulation agree well in all these measures near the surface. As found in previous studies, all length scales are, in general, decreasing with latitude. They are isotropic and proportional to the local first baroclinic Rossby radius (L r) north of about 30°N, while south of 30°N (or for L r > 30 km), zonal length scales tend to be larger than meridional ones, and (scalar) length scales show no clear relation to L r anymore. Instead, they appear to be related to the local Rhines scale. In agreement with a recent theoretical prediction by Theiss [2004], the observed and simulated pattern of eddy length scales appears to be indicative of two different dynamical regimes in the North Atlantic: anisotropic turbulence in the subtropics and isotropic turbulence in the subpolar North Atlantic. Both regions can be roughly characterized by the ration between L r and the Rhines scales (L R), with L R > L r in the isotropic region and L R < L r in the anisotropic region. The critical latitude that separates both regions, i.e., where L R = L r, is about 30°N.
Persuasive COVID-19 vaccination campaigns on Facebook and nationwide vaccination coverage in Ukraine, India, and Pakistan

Social media platforms have a wide and influential reach, and as such provide an opportunity to increase vaccine uptake. To date, there is no large-scale, robust evidence on the offline effects of online messaging campaigns. We aimed to test whether pre-tested, persuasive messaging campaigns from UNICEF, disseminated on Facebook, influenced COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Ukraine, India, and Pakistan. In Ukraine, we deployed a stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial (RCT). Half of the 24 oblasts (provinces) received five weeks of the intervention, the other half ten weeks of the intervention. In India, an RCT with an augmented synthetic control was conducted in five states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan), whereby 40 out of 174 districts were randomized to receive six weeks of intervention. In Pakistan we deployed a pre-post design, whereby 25 city districts received six weeks of the intervention. Weekly COVID-19 vaccination data was sourced through government databases. Using Poisson regression models, the association between the intervention and vaccine uptake was estimated. In Ukraine we conducted a survey among Facebook users at three time points during the RCT, to ascertain vaccination intentions and trust in vaccines. The campaigns reached more than 110 million Facebook users and garnered 2.9 million clicks. In Ukraine, we found that the intervention did not affect oblast-level vaccination coverage (Relative Risk (RR): 0.93, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.86–1.01). Similarly, in India and Pakistan we found no effect of our intervention (India: RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.70–1.04; Pakistan: RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.01–29.9). The survey among Facebook users in Ukraine showed that trust in vaccines and information sources was an important predictor of vaccination status and intention to get vaccinated. Our campaigns on Facebook had a wide reach, which did not translate in shifting behaviours. Timing and external events may have limited the effectiveness of our interventions.
Frictional Behavior of Large Displacement Experimental Faults

The coefficient of friction and velocity dependence of friction of initially bare surfaces and 1-mm-thick simulated fault gouges ( 400 mm at 25°C and 25 MPa normal stress. Steady state negative friction velocity dependence and a steady state fault zone microstructure are achieved after ∼18 mm displacement, and an approximately constant strength is reached after a few tens of millimeters of sliding on initially bare surfaces. Simulated fault gouges show a large but systematic variation of friction, velocity dependence of friction, dilatancy, and degree of localization with displacement. At short displacement (<10 mm), simulated gouge is strong, velocity strengthening and changes in sliding velocity are accompanied by relatively large changes in dilatancy rate. With continued displacement, simulated gouges become progressively weaker and less velocity strengthening, the velocity dependence of dilatancy rate decreases, and deformation becomes localized into a narrow basal shear which at its most localized is observed to be velocity weakening. With subsequent displacement, the fault restrengthens, returns to velocity strengthening, or to velocity neutral, the velocity dependence of dilatancy rate becomes larger, and deformation becomes distributed. Correlation of friction, velocity dependence of friction and of dilatancy rate, and degree of localization at all displacements in simulated gouge suggest that all quantities are interrelated. The observations do not distinguish the independent variables but suggest that the degree of localization is controlled by the fault strength, not by the friction velocity dependence. The friction velocity dependence and velocity dependence of dilatancy rate can be used as qualitative measures of the degree of localization in simulated gouge, in agreement with previous studies. Theory equating the friction velocity dependence of simulated gouge to the sum of the friction velocity dependence of bare surfaces and the velocity dependence of dilatancy rate of simulated gouge fails to quantitatively account for the experimental observations.
A general circulation model study on the interannual variability of soil dust aerosol

To assess interannual soil dust aerosol variability, we computed dust as a tracer in the Goddard Institute for Space Studies general circulation model. Comparisons of dust model results with results from an off-line tracer model, satellite retrievals, and ground observations show mostly good agreement, but also reveal problems with the model results and difficulties with such comparisons. Two 15–year runs with prescribed sea surface temperatures were carried out, one with identical dust sources for each year and one with varying dust sources in order to investigate the contribution of dust sources and transport to the variability of dust concentrations in different regions. Specifically for the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean region, 70–90% of the dust variability is attributable to transport variability. Correlation coefficients between dust concentrations with precipitation and surface winds were calculated to find controlling factors for dust concentration for different regions of the world.
Walther's Law, Climate, and Upper Paleozoic Cyclostratigraphy in the Ancestral Rocky Mountains: CURRENT RIPPLES

ABSTRACT Geologists routinely apply Walther's Law in interpreting paleoenvironments and paleogeographic scenarios from stratigraphic successions. The application of Walther's Law, however, may be problematic in strata that have been influenced by significant and geologically rapid climate change. Such climatic fluctuation can force depositional environments to change fundamentally rather than migrate laterally, resulting in a stratigraphic succession wherein depositional facies vertically superposed rarely or never coexisted laterally. Upper Pennsylvanian carbonate-siliciclastic cycles deposited in basins of the southern Ancestral Rocky Mountains display stratigraphic relations that cannot be explained by autogenic and/or glacioeustatic mechanisms alone; rather, intracyclic (glacial-interglaci l) climate change was a significant influence. Cycles of the northern Pedregosa basin, for example, comprise eolian-marine siltstone in sharp contact with subtidal-peritidal carbonate facies; absence of facies mixing suggests a climatic control on silt influx. Cycles of the western Orogrande basin comprise deltaic siliciclastic strata in sharp contact with subtidal-peritidal carbonate facies; absence of facies mixing, truncated siliciclastic progradation, and carbonate facies with emergence features similarly support a climatic influence on the siliciclastic component. In both systems, intracyclic (glacial-interglacial) climatic shift reconfigured depositional environments. In cases such as these, application of Walther's Law could produce erroneous conclusions. Severe glacial-interglaci l climate change helps explain the pervasive association of mixed carbonate-siliciclastic cyclicity that typifies upper Paleozoic strata in many parts of the world.
Preventing Zoonotic Influenza Virus Infection

We evaluated 49 swine industry workers and 79 nonexposed controls for antibodies to swine influenza viruses. Multivariate modeling showed that workers who seldom used gloves (odds ratio [OR] 30.3) or who smoked (OR 18.7) most frequently had evidence of previous H1N1 swine virus. These findings may be valuable in planning for pandemic influenza.
Reliable, challenging or misleading? A qualitative account of the most recent national surveys and country statistics in the DRC

Abstract This paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the national information architecture in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 1970 and 2010. In general, “the numbers” can be qualified as poorly reliable, though an important distinction should be made between aggregate country statistics and microlevel survey data. Whereas the latter inherently contain the purer and less manipulated pieces of information, the former have proven to be the result of an obscure blend of aggregation, estimation, permutation and negotiation, often with a weak informational basis. By contrast, survey data in the DRC are intrinsically of good quality and collected increasingly, although too many concerns remain about the poor accessibility of primary datasets, the fragmented metadata and the problematic sampling base to claim representativeness.
The Ajo Mining District, Pima County, Arizona : Evidence for Middle Cenozoic Detachment Faulting, Plutonism, Volcanism, and Hydrothermal Alteration

The Ajo mining district, best known for its Laramide porphyry copper deposit, is a collage of different types of ore minerals, altered rocks, and plutons of Precambrian, upper Mesozoic (Laramide), and middle Cenozoic age. Recent work, reported here, identifies a regional detachment system, a plutonic complex, extensive alteration, a volcanic stratigraphy, and a complex tilting history, all of Cenozoic age. A better understanding of middle Cenozoic events is important in the search for fragments of Laramide ore bodies detached by younger faulting. Precambrian rocks include the 1.7- Ga Cardigan Gneiss and the 1.4-Ga Chico Shunie Quartz Monzonite. Laramide rocks are represented by the andesitic to rhyolitic Concentrator Volcanics of Cretaceous age and by granodiorite and quartz diorite of the Cornelia Pluton, which intrude the volcanics. The Ajo porphyry copper deposit (65-63 Ma) is localized in the porphyry phase of the granodiorite. Cenozoic rotation has overturned the deposit (Hagsitrum and others, 1987). Two units of coarse elastic sedimentary rocks of middle Cenozoic age overlie the Laramide deposit. The older Darby Arroyo Formation is slightly overturned to the south where it unconformably overlies Concentrator Volcanics. The Locomotive Fanglomerate, deposited with angular unconformity on both the Darby and the porphyry deposit, dips 30° to 65° south and contains cobble to boulder size clasts of Precambrian granite, granodiorite porphyry, and other rocks, the rock type depending on location within a complex dispersal pattern. The Locomotive Fanglomerate also contains large masses, as much as 300 m thick, of brecciated rhyolite, granodiorite, and other rocks that are interpreted as landslide megabreccias. The thickness of the Locomotive Fanglomerate is probably greater than 1,500 m.
The composition of precipitation in remote areas of the world

The Global Precipitation Chemistry Project collects precipitation by event to determine composition and processes controlling it in five remote areas. Compositions (excluding sea-salt) at St. Georges, Bermuda, were primarily controlled by anthropogenic processes; composition and acidities at San Carlos, Venezuela, Katherine, Australia, Poker Flat, Alaska, and Amsterdam Island were controlled by unknown mixtures of natural or anthropogenic processes. Precipitation was acidic; average volume-weighted pH values were 4.8 for Bermuda; 5.0, Alaska; 4.9, Amsterdam Island; 4.8, Australia; 4.8, Venezuela. Acidities at Bermuda and Alaska were from long-range transport of sulfate aerosol; at Venezuela, Australia, and Amsterdam Island, from mixtures of weak organic and strong mineral acids, primarily H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/. Relative proportions of weak to strong acids were largest at Venezuela and lowest at Amsterdam Island. Weak and strong acids were from mixtures of natural and anthropogenic processes. Once contributions from human activities were removed, the lower limit of natural contributions was probably greater than or equal to pH 5.
Retrieval of high-spectral-resolution lidar for atmospheric aerosol optical properties profiling

High-spectral-resolution lidars (HSRLs) are increasingly being developed for atmospheric aerosol remote sensing applications due to the straightforward and independent retrieval of aerosol optical properties without reliance on assumptions about lidar ratio. In HSRL technique, spectral discrimination between scattering from molecules and aerosol particles is one of the most critical processes, which needs to be accomplished by means of a narrowband spectroscopic filter. To ensure a high retrieval accuracy of an HSRL system, the high-quality design of its spectral discrimination filter should be made. This paper reviews the available algorithms that were proposed for HSRLs and makes a general accuracy analysis of the HSRL technique focused on the spectral discrimination, in order to provide heuristic guidelines for the reasonable design of the spectral discrimination filter. We introduce a theoretical model for retrieval error evaluation of an HSRL instrument with general three-channel configuration. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are performed to validate the correctness of the theoretical model. Results from both the model and MC simulations agree very well, and they illustrate one important, although not well realized fact: a large molecular transmittance and a large spectral discrimination ratio (SDR, i.e., ratio of the molecular transmittance to the aerosol transmittance) are beneficial t o promote the retrieval accuracy. The application of the conclusions obtained in this paper in the designing of a new type of spectroscopic filter, that is, the field-widened Michelson interferometer, is illustrated in detail. These works are with certain universality and expected to be useful guidelines for HSRL community, especially when choosing or designing the spectral discrimination filter.
Seasonal trends and temperature dependence of the snowfall/precipitation‐day ratio in Switzerland

This paper analyzes the proportion of snowfall days relative to precipitation days, in order to assess the impact of changing temperatures on snowfall, while minimizing the impact of variations in precipitation frequency and intensity. We analyzed the ratio of snowfall days to precipitation days for up to 100 years at 76 meteorological stations, spanning elevations from 200 to 2700 m asl in Switzerland. Our results show clear decreasing trends in snowfall days relative to precipitation days. These decreases are connected to increasing temperatures. The decrease in snowfall days was stronger at lower elevations, i.e., at locations with temperatures closer to the melting point. We observed a baseline seasonal temperature threshold of −2.7°C ± 0.8°C in winter and −3.8°C ± 0.6°C in spring, above which the decrease in snowfall days grew rapidly. From these observations, we developed an empirical model that can be used to evaluate the impact of future temperature increases on snowfall, independent of changes in the frequency and intensity of precipitation events.
The Role of Thresholds and Fine-Scale Processes in Driving Upper Treeline Dynamics in the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

This research investigates whether abrupt changes indicative of a threshold response occurred in the spatial and temporal patterns of tree establishment within upper treeline ecotones in the Bighorn Mountains of north-central Wyoming, with a particular focus on assessing whether treeline advance occurred. Dendroecological techniques were used to reconstruct the spatiotemporal patterns of tree establishment at multiple spatial scales (local and landscape). Increases in the elevational extent of treeline and tree density above timberline were reconstructed for each decade of the 20th century. Regime-shift analysis was used to detect threshold changes in tree establishment. Marked increases in tree establishment and density occurred at local and landscape scales during the 20th century, particularly during the post-1970 period and in areas above timberline. Varying degrees of treeline advance occurred during this time, yet establishment upslope from timberline was often contingent on the availability of sheltered microsites in the lee of boulders. This highlights the importance of both broad-scale climate inputs and fine-scale site conditions in governing the rate and pattern of tree establishment in high-elevation treeline environments. Overall, the abrupt changes in tree establishment over time and space since 1970 suggest that bioclimatic thresholds can strongly influence ecotonal dynamics at upper treeline.
Production by microphytobenthos in the Swan–Canning Estuary

Intact sediment cores containing microphytobenthos, dominated by episammic diatoms, were collected from shallow sand flats of the Swan–Canning Estuary, Perth, southwestern Australia, and their photosynthesis–light relations deduced from changes in oxygen (17 cores) or pH (13 cores). The theoretical saturating light intensity Ik determined from O2 was 107 µE m−2 s−1, and the light intensity at which photosynthesis is saturated, Isat, was about 1100 µE m−2 s−1. Mean gross production and respiration increased with temperature. Infaunal contributions to total respiration were measured for two cores at about 30%.
Representations of Disease and Threat: The Case of Swine Flu in Greece and in Cyprus

The swine flu disease has been presented by scientists and the media as a major threat for humanity and dominated the news throughout large part of 2009 and 2010. However the course of the disease in many countries did not justify the levels of alarm nor the huge supplies of vaccines against influenza A (H1N1) virus the countries were left with. The present research focuses on how the media presented news about the swine flu in Greece and in Cyprus: which was the extent of coverage of the issue, which actors were chosen for the construction of the story(ies), which were the elements of the disease in its portrayal by the media under study, under which frames the relevant news was portrayed. For the purpose of the study, content analysis enriched by discourse analysis in the 2 newspapers with the highest circulations in each country was performed for a period of 3 months. Three key assumptions underlie this research endeavour: the first is that the swine flu issue gained prominent positions on the media’s agendas, as in most cases of major health threats, the second is that risk-centered frames were used by the media for its portrayal and the third that official language and dominant discourse for the (re)presentation of the issue were adopted. The findings support the three hypotheses: (a) news about the swine flu ranked high on the agenda of the media most of the research period with extensive coverage (b) the media under study largely adopted the dominant discourse on the swine flu issue, reproducing the official language, arguments and framing of the event, and (c) the appeal on fear was made through official voices, presenting the worstcases scenarios and stressing out the need for vaccination.
STRESS-DEFORMATION BEHAVIOR UNDER ANISOTROPIC DRAINED TRIAXIAL CONSOLIDATION OF CEMENT-TREATED SOFT BANGKOK CLAY

In this study the compression behavior of high water content cement-treated soft Bangkok clay is further investigated by conducting a constant stress ratio (CSR) test at various stress ratios (η). The test utilized cement-treated clay specimens with cement contents (Aw) of 10% and 15%, each of which was in combination with 100% and 130% total clay water contents. The test results confirmed that the ratio of after-curing void ratio to cement content (eot/Aw) can effectively characterize the compression behavior of cement-treated clay. The specimens with higher values of eot/Aw yielded higher volumetric and shear strains at the same stress ratio. While those with lower values of eot/Aw resulted in lower shear strains, with consequent higher values of strain increment ratios (dev/des) both before and after transitional yield points. Significantly, the eot/Aw ratio has described the relationship of the compression yield loci of cement-treated clay at various stress ratios and mixing conditions.
Tracking hydrological responses of a thermokarst lake in the Old Crow Flats (Yukon Territory, Canada) to recent climate variability using aerial photographs and paleolimnological methods

Recent studies using remote sensing analysis of lake‐rich thermokarst landscapes have documented evidence of declining lake surface area in response to recent warming. However, images alone cannot identify whether these declines are due to increasing frequency of lake drainage events associated with accelerated thermokarst activity or to increasing evaporation in response to longer ice‐free season duration. Here, we explore the potential of combining aerial photograph time series with paleolimnological analyses to track changes in hydrological conditions of a thermokarst lake in the Old Crow Flats (OCF), Canada, and to identify their causes. Images show that the water level in lake OCF 48 declined markedly sometime between 1972 and 2001. In a sediment core from OCF 48, complacent stratigraphic profiles of several physical, geochemical, and biological parameters from ∼1874–1967 indicate hydro‐limnological conditions were relatively stable. From ∼1967–1989, declines in organic matter content, organic carbon isotope values, and pigment concentrations are interpreted to reflect an increase in supply of minerogenic sediment, and subsequent decline in aquatic productivity, caused by increased thermo‐erosion of shoreline soils. Lake expansion was likely caused by increased summer rainfall, as recorded by increased cellulose‐inferred lake‐water oxygen isotope compositions. Stratigraphic trends defining the lake expansion phase terminated at ∼1989, which likely marks the year when the lake drained. Above‐average precipitation during the previous year probably raised the lake level and promoted further thermo‐erosion of the shoreline soils that caused the lake to drain. These are meteorological conditions that have led to other recent lake‐drainage events in the OCF. Thus, the decline in lake level, evident in the aerial photograph from 2001, is unlikely to have been caused by evaporation, but rather is a remnant of a drainage event that took place more than a decade earlier. After drainage, the lake began to refill, and most paleolimnological parameters approach levels that are similar to those during the stable phase. These findings indicate that combined use of aerial images and paleolimnological methods offers much promise for identifying the hydrological consequences of recent climatic variations on thermokarst lakes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.