Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evolution of the rudist bivalve Agriopleura Kühn (Radiolitidae, Hippuritida) from the Mediterranean region

The genus Agriopleura (Radiolitidae) is restricted to the Lower Cretaceous of the Mediterranean region, including the Middle East, and this rudist is apparently absent from the New World. Agriopleura underwent a size increase from late Hauterivian to mid‐late Barremian, matching Cope's rule, followed by a Lilliput phase in the early Aptian. The relative development of radial bands increased through time and represents a key evolutionary index. During its evolution, Agriopleura increased in species diversity and expanded geographically onto the European Mediterranean Tethyan margin from the late Hauterivian to Barremian, after which it disappeared from the region (pseudotermination). In the lower Aptian, after a Lazarus gap, the genus reappears in the southern Mediterranean Tethyan margin. Assuming that Archaeoradiolites is the direct descendant of Agriopleura, the disappearance of the genus in the mid‐Aptian was a pseudoextinction and this coincided with a major crisis of shallow carbonate settings and their associated biota. The definition of Agriopleura species is based on a set of qualitative and quantitative external and internal characters. Five species are recognized: three Barremian species, Agriopleura blumenbachi, the type species, A. marticensis and A. carinata; one lower Aptian species A. libanica; and a new species A. sequana restricted to the upper Hauterivian. Principal component analysis is used to test the distinctiveness of the species and the pattern of relationships of some of their key quantitative characters.
INSIGHTS FROM THE ANALYSIS OF ANGEL MOUNDS POTTERY TROWELS

Abstract Archaeologists have recovered pottery trowels in excavations at numerous historic and pre-Columbian archaeological sites in North America since the late nineteenth century. Despite these facts, pottery trowels have not been the subject of thorough scientific analysis or interpretation. In this study, I define and implement a new method of analysis for pottery trowels, using a sample of 188 pottery trowels from the Mississippian site of Angel Mounds (12VG1). After describing the quantitative and qualitative attributes of pottery trowels, I define categories of frequently occurring pottery trowel bell and handle types. The extensive variability of pottery trowel shapes and sizes discovered at Angel Mounds is then discussed with regard to alternative or multiple uses for the tools and the spatial and temporal distributions of pottery trowel types. As an artifact type that provides opportunities to analyze technology, craft production and specialization, and daily practices in past societies, I argue pottery trowels may hold important future insights into a number of topics of interest to archaeologists.
Input rates, decay losses and accumulation rates of carbon in bogs during the last millennium: internal processes and environmental changes

In peatlands the balance between litter input and decay loss in the oxic acrotelm determines the rate of carbon input to the anoxic catotelm with carbon lost at very slow rate. In the acrotelm the C/N-quotient decreases with depth and indicates the loss of carbon from the acrotelm. On one boreo-nemoral and three subalpine ombrotrophic bogs in Sweden the carbon losses in the acrotelm plus the apparent carbon-accumu lation rates in the catotelm for the last millennium revealed a constant carbon-sequestering rate up to the end of the nineteenth century equalling that in recent Sphagnum-dominated communities. On the boreo-nemoral bog the carbon-accumulation rate in the catotelm decreased by 50% over the same period while it remained constant on the subalpine bogs. A catotelm with permafrost may have provided more constant conditions for the carbon accumulation than a rising water level creating anoxic conditions. Due to vegetation changes, the recent carbon sequestering in the peat-forming communities is lower than previously and only just enough to compensate for the integrated losses. It is argued that because of internal processes the bogs up to the end of the nineteenth century had obtained or were approaching a steady-state with regard to the carbon input to the catotelm and the supply of mineral nutrients. In contrast, an increased climatic humidity around 1000 cal. BP resulted in high carbon-accumulation rates in the boreo-nemoral bog. Climate could have triggered the recent vegetation changes, but an increased nitrogen deposition is also a probable reason.
Neap-spring cycles reflected in Holocene subtidal large-scale bedform deposits: A preliminary note

Sub-Holocene subtidal channel-fill deposits in a tidal inlet in the southwestern part of the Netherlands contain features recognized as due to individual ebb, flood, and slack-water events. Thicknesses of the cross-strata deposited during successive ebbs (the dominant current at the particular place) vary in a sinusoidal way, reflecting the tidal neap-spring cycle. Mud layers deposited during slack-water periods formed in couplets that constitute a unique criterion for distinguishing between subtidal and intertidal environments and facies.
Operational forecasts of the geomagnetic Dst index

We here present a model for real time forecasting of the geomagnetic index Dst. The model consists of a recurrent neural network that has been optimized to be as small as possible without degrading the accuracy. It is driven solely by hourly averages of the solar wind magnetic field component Bz, particle density n, and velocity V, which means that the model does not rely on observed Dst. In an evaluation based on more than 40,000 hours of solar wind and Dst data, it is shown that this model has smaller errors than other models currently in operational use. A complete description of the model is given in an appendix.
A late Pleistocene Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) from Courtenay, British Columbia: its death, associated biota, and paleoenvironment

A partial juvenile Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) skeleton from nearshore marine sands at Courtenay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia has been radiocarbon dated to 12 570 ± 70 BP. This date is supported by both stratigraphic and regional sea-level emergence data and is similar to radiocarbon dates on a Steller sea lion humerus from Bowen Island, just north of Vancouver. The juvenile apparently died from a blow to the braincase, most likely caused by a Steller sea lion bull. The Courtenay specimen is significant since very few Pleistocene otariid fossils are complete enough to be assigned to modern taxa. Associated mollusk remains indicate that the marine paleoclimate of the fossil locality was considerably colder than now — close to that along the northern reaches of Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, Alaska. Pollen and plant macrofossils collected from the Courtenay site clearly demonstrate the presence of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests nearby during this early late-glacial interval. Fish remains (mainly Pacific cod and walleye pollock, with some salmon) from this site probably reflect selection by adult sea lions at a rookery. Resume : Un squelette partiel d'une otarie juvenile de Steller (Eumetopias jubatus) provenant de sables marins cotiers a Courtenay, sur l'ile de Vancouver, daterait de 12 570 ± 70 ans avant le present selon une datation au radiocarbone. Cette datation est corroboree a la fois par des donnees stratigraphiques et d'emergence regionale du niveau de la mer; elle est aussi similaire aux datations au radiocarbone de l'humerus d'une otarie de Steller provenant de l'ile de Bowen, tout juste au nord de Vancouver. Le juvenile est apparemment mort d'un coup au neurocrâne, probablement de la part d'une otarie de Steller mâle. Le specimen de Courtenay est important car tres peu de fossiles d'otariides du Pleistocene sont assez complets pour etre assignes aux taxons modernes. Les restes de mollusques associes indiquent que le paleoclimat marin de la localite fossilifere etait considerablement plus froid que presentement — se rapprochant de celui des troncons nord de Cook Inlet et du golfe de Prince William, en Alaska. Des macrofossiles de plantes et de pollens recueillis au site Courtenay demontrent clairement la presence de forets de pin tordu (Pinus contorta) a proximite au cours de cet intervalle tardi-glaciaire precoce. Les restes de poissons (surtout de morue du Pacifique et de goberge de l'Alaska, avec un peu de saumon) de ce site sont probablement le reflet d'une selection par les otaries adultes d'une roquerie.
Precipitation regimes over the upper Colorado River

To study certain aspects of the climatology of precipitation integrated over the Colorado River basin, daily precipitation values recorded at weather stations in the basin were summed with an area weighting method to yield a daily mean basin value. Several checks were performed to test the reliability of the procedure within the limits needed for this analysis. A good correlation was obtained between computed annual precipitation and annual river discharge. It was found that 50 per cent of annual precipitation is produced by 16 per cent of the number of days having precipitation per year (about 260). A correlation exists between daily precipitation and fraction of area receiving precipitation, so that large amounts of basin-integrated precipitation are derived from widespread precipitation over the whole basin. This relation holds for both summer and winter, even though the type of clouds producing precipitation changes from altostratus in winter to cumulus in summer. The variance of annual precipitation is caused by variation of the number of days having large amounts produced by passing synoptic-scale weather disturbances. The numerous days with precipitation less than 0.10 inch do not contribute to the variance and may be reckoned as noise. Seasonal variation of precipitation is small in comparison with the adjoining climatic regimes to the west and east. The constancy of the average course of precipitation through the year may be ascribed to inverse variation of total moisture content of the atmosphere and of the intensity of dynamic factors producing vertical motions.
Tropical Atlantic and rainfall variability in Côte d'Ivoire

A statistical analysis is performed between the rainfall anomalies in Côte d'Ivoire (West Africa) and those of sea surface temperature and pseudo‐wind stress in the tropical Atlantic. The correlation structures show that the coastal and northern regions of Côte d'Ivoire are differently related to the meteo‐oceanic variables. While the main rainy seasons of these two Ivorian regions are both related to a negative SST/rain correlation pattern, itself strongly linked to the abnormal position of the intertropical convergence zone, the dry season of the littoral zone is related to a positive SST/rain correlation pattern which remains offshore of Côte d'Ivoire. Our study illustrates the inverse climatic behaviour observed between the northern and the littoral zones during the two “Atlantic's El Niños” of 1968 and 1984.
Effect and mechanism of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 in aldosterone-induced apoptosis

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of aldosterone on vascular endothelial cells and the viability of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) in cells, and to examine the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of aldosterone on vascular endothelial cell injury. Cultured endothelial cells were treated either with different concentrations of aldosterone for the same duration or with the same concentrations of aldosterone for different durations, and the levels of apoptosis and activity of PARP1 in the cells were detected, respectively. Aldosterone receptor antagonists or PARP1 inhibitors were added to cells during treatment with aldosterone and the levels of apoptosis and activity of PARP1 were detected. As the concentration of aldosterone increased or the treatment time increased, the number of apoptotic cells and the activity of PARP1 increased. The aldosterone receptor antagonists and PARP1 inhibitors inhibited the increase of apoptosis and PARP1 activity caused by aldosterone treatment. Aldosterone activated the activity of PARP1 via the aldosterone receptor, inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis. Treatment with PARP1 may be used as a target for vascular diseases caused by aldosterone at high concentrations.
Writing in Conservation Biology: Searching for an Interdisciplinary Rhetoric?1

Writing in a new or emergent field, especially one with an interdisciplinary ethos, is generally reckoned to be problematic; certainly more so than in areas where there has been a historic accrual of conventions for writers and expectations for readers. Bazerman (1988) argues, for example, that political science has yet to forge a consistent nature (p. 288) because of its struggle to accommodate science and political philosophy. Similarly, Wignell (1998) ascribes the heterogeneous nature of sociological discourse to a lack of synthesis between the discourses of science and the humanities. More self-evidently interdisciplinary fields tend to be newer and smaller. Commenting on a particularly complex web of intertextual links in urban planning, Dunlap (1992) notes that:
Air–sea flux of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the North Atlantic

A conceptual advective model is employed to evaluate the mechanism of oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 in the North Atlantic, and its sensitivity to climate change. Given initial carbon system parameters, and climatological wind speed, sea surface temperatures, sea surface salinities, and mixed layer depths, the air–sea exchange of CO2 in a water parcel flowing from low to high latitudes is calculated using an iterative procedure. The calculations are carried out under present and preindustrial atmospheric conditions, with the difference assigned to be air–sea flux of anthropogenic CO2. The result reveals a flux of anthropogenic CO2 into the surface water at latitudes south of ∼50 oN and a flux out of the surface water at higher latitudes. The quantitative air–sea flux of anthropogenic CO2 is very sensitive to several factors, important ones being the flow speed and thickness of the north flowing surface water. This suggests a strong feedback on anthropogenic CO2 uptake in the North Atlantic if climate change affects the strength of the oceanic circulation.
Neogene kinematics of the central and western Alps: Evidence from fission-track dating

Zircon and apatite fission-track analysis has established the continuation of a zone of rapid change in mineral ages extending from the Simplon fault zone in the Simplon Alps, through the Rhone Valley, and along the southeastern side of the Mont Blanc and Belledonne massifs. Apatite fission-track ages to the northwest of this zone generally range from 1.4 to 6 Ma, whereas those to the southeast range from 6 to 13 Ma: corresponding values for zircon are 11-13 and 16-26 Ma, respectively. The zone corresponds to the position of the Frontal Pennine thrust in the Mont Blanc-Belledonne region. This structure, a prominent feature on recent deep seismic profiles, may have been reactivated in the Neogene with an important normal-fault component. This is suggested by apatite and zircon fission-track ages in the footwall that are younger than those in the hanging wall and by the observed elimination of the lower Pennine (or Simplon) nappes along this fault zone in the Rhone Valley-Mont Blanc-Belledonne region, resulting in the juxtaposition of North Penninic and Helvetic-Ultra-helvetic nappes at the current erosion level. The distribution of fission-track ages reflects this movement and the related Neogene exhumation of the Mont Blanc and Belledonne external massifs, which has continued until less than 1.4 m.y. ago (i.e., it is almost certainly still active)and has tilted the overlying nappe sequence.
An evaluation of simulated particulate sulfate over East Asia through global model intercomparison

Sulfate aerosols simulated by an aerosol module coupled to the Nonhydrostatic Icosahedral Atmospheric Model (NICAM) at a spatial resolution (220 km) widely used by global climate models were evaluated by a comparison with in situ observations and the same aerosol module coupled to the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate (MIROC) over East Asia for January, April, July, and October 2006. The results indicated that a horizontal gradient of sulfate from the source over China to the outflow over Korea‐Japan was present in both the simulations and the observations. At the observation sites, the correlation coefficients of the sulfate concentrations between the simulations and the observations were high (NICAM: 0.49–0.89, MIROC: 0.61–0.77), whereas the simulated sulfate concentrations were lower than those obtained by the observation with the normalized mean bias of NICAM being −68 to −54% (all), −77 to −63% (source), and −67 to −30% (outflow) and that of MIROC being −61 to −28% (all), −77 to −63% (source), and −60 to +2% (outflow). Both NICAM and MIROC strongly underpredict surface SO2 over China source regions and Korea‐Japan outflow regions, but the MIROC SO2 is much higher than NICAM SO2 over both regions. These differences between the models were mainly explained by differences in the sulfate formation within clouds and the dry deposition of SO2. These results indicated that the uncertainty of the meteorological and cloud fields as well as the vertical transport patterns between the different host climate models has a substantial impact on the simulated sulfate distribution.
Microphysical modeling of cirrus: 1. Comparison with 1986 FIRE IFO measurements

We have used a one-dimensional model of cirrus formation to study the development of cirrus clouds during the 1986 First ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project) Regional Experiment (FIRE) intensive field observations (IFO). The cirrus model includes microphysical, dynamical, and radiative processes. Sulfate aerosols, solution drops, ice crystals, and water vapor are all treated as interactive elements in the model. Ice crystal size distributions are fully resolved based on calculations of homogeneous freezing nucleation, growth by water vapor deposition, evaporation, coagulation, and vertical transport. We have focused on the cirrus observed on November 1, 1986. Vertical wind speed for the one-dimensional simulation is taken from a mesoscale model simulation for the appropriate time period. The mesoscale model simulation suggested that strong upward motions over Wyoming and subsequent horizontal transport of upper level moisture were responsible for the cirrus observed over Wisconsin on this date. We assumed that our one-dimensional model could be used to represent a vertical column moving from Wyoming to Wisconsin over a period of several hours. Ice crystal nucleation occurs in our model in the 8 to 10-km region as a result of the strong updrafts (and cooling) early in the simulation. Growth, coagulation, and sedimentation of these ice crystals result in a broad cloud region (5–10 km thick) with an optical depth of 1–2 after a few hours, in agreement with the FIRE measurements. Comparison with aircraft microphysical measurements made over Wisconsin indicates that the simulation generated reasonable ice water content, but the predicted ice number densities are too low, especially for radii less than about 50 μm. Sensitivity tests suggest that better agreement between simulated and observed microphysical properties is achieved if the nucleation rate is higher or stronger vertical mixing (perhaps associated with multidimensional motions) is present.
Climate change impacts on groundwater temperature change in the Sendai plain, Japan

Groundwater temperature is a key parameter regulating the ecological balance of the ecosystems in groundwater dominated wetlands, estuaries and ponds. This study evaluated the potential impacts of climate change on groundwater temperature and proposed a methodology for use in areas with limited hydrological and metrological data. Groundwater temperatures were measured in 1 m intervals in five observation wells and used for groundwater recharge estimation. Three different techniques, the water balance method, the water level fluctuation (WLF) method and Darcy's method, were performed to verify the estimated recharge rates from the temperature‐depth profiles. Of the six sets of global climate model (GCM) predictions analysed, three of them were selected by considering a range of potential climate changes in the future. The transfer function method was used to downscale the GCM outputs of precipitation and temperature of the Sendai plain. Raw GCM data for nine scenarios (A2, A1B, and B1 from HADCM3, MRI, and ECHAM5 models) and observed data from 1967 to 2006 were used to develop the transfer functions. Derived functions, which were tested for 1927–1966, were used to downscale GCM data for 2060–2099. These predictions were used in a one‐dimensional heat transport model, which was calibrated to the existing site conditions by the water budget technique. There are marked differences among the scenarios and GCMs. However, all the model scenarios projected increasing trends in temperature and precipitation for the 2060–2099 time period. HADCM3 A2 scenario shows the strongest effect compared with the base line climate (1967–2006), which involves an increase in the air temperature of 3·9 °C and an increase in annual precipitation of 345 mm. When considering all GCM scenarios compared with observations in 2006, the aquifer temperature at 8 m depth from the ground surface could possibly increase within the range of 1·2–3·3 °C by 2080. The above findings from the methodology developed here will be important for estimating the impact of climate change and will be useful for environmental management programs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Characteristics of seismic waves composing Hawaiian volcanic tremor and gas-piston events observed by a near-source array

A correlation method, specifically designed for describing the characteristics of a complex wave field, is applied to volcanic tremor and gas-piston events recorded by a semicircular array of GEOS instruments set at the foot of the Puu Oo crater on the east rift of Kilauea volcano, Hawaii. The spatial patterns of correlation coefficients obtained as functions of frequency for the three components of motion over the entire array are similar for gas-piston events and tremor, and clearly depict dispersive waves propagating across the array from the direction of Puu Oo. The wave fields are composed of comparable amounts of Rayleigh and Love waves propagating with similar and extremely slow phase velocities ranging from 700 m/s at 2 Hz to 300 m/s at 8 Hz. The highly cracked solidified lava flow on which the array was deployed, and subjacent structure of alternating lava and ash layers formed during repeated eruptions of Puu Oo since 1983, appear to be responsible for the low velocities observed. The results from Puu Oo stand in sharp contrast to those obtained in an experiment conducted in 1976 on the partially solidified lava lake of Kilauea Iki. Rayleigh waves were not observed in Kilauea Iki, but well-developed trains of Love waves were seen to propagate there with velocities twice as high as those observed near Puu Oo. These differences in the propagation characteristics of surface waves at the two sites may be attributed to the presence of a soft horizontal layer of molten rock in Kilauea Iki, which may have lowered the phase velocity of Rayleigh waves more drastically than that of Love waves, resulting in severe scattering of the Rayleigh wave mode. On the other hand, the thin superficial pahoehoe flow under our array at Puu Oo may have favored the development of vertical columnar joints more extensively at this location than at Kilauea Iki, which may have reduced the shear moduli controlling the Love wave mode. The average phase velocities in the frequency band from 2 to 5 Hz found at Puu Oo are roughly similar to those determined for tremor at Klyuchevskoy volcano, Kamchatka, but the frequency dependence appears much stronger at Puu Oo.