Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) 2005: Calibration and Targeted Sources

The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) operated successfully during a 100 hr flight from northern Sweden in 2005 June (BLAST05). As part of the calibration and pointing procedures, several compact sources were mapped, including solar system, Galactic, and extragalactic targets, specifically Pallas, CRL 2688, LDN 1014, IRAS 20126+4104, IRAS 21078+5211, IRAS 21307+5049, IRAS 22134+5834, IRAS 23011+6126, K3-50, W75N, and Mrk 231. One additional source, Arp 220, was observed and used as our primary calibrator. Details of the overall BLAST05 calibration procedure are discussed here. The BLAST observations of each compact source are described, flux densities and spectral energy distributions are reported, and these are compared with previous measurements at other wavelengths. The 250, 350, and 500 μm BLAST data can provide useful constraints to the amplitude and slope of the submillimeter continuum, which in turn may be useful for the improved calibration of other submillimeter instruments.
First discovery of Neazoniidae (Insecta, Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha) in the Early Cretaceous amber of Archingeay, SW France

Szwedo J. 2009. — First discovery of Neazoniidae (Insecta, Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha) in the Early Cretaceous amber of Archingeay, SW France. Geodiversitas 31 (1) : 105-116. ABSTRACT The extinct genus and species of planthopper family Neazoniidae, Akmazeina santonorum n. gen., n. sp. , are described. This is the first record of the family in the Lower Cretaceous French amber of Archingeay. The new genus differs from Neazonia Szwedo, 2007 in subtriangular vertex, wider trigons; sensory pits only in upper portion of frons, fused submedian carinae, diverging only in upper portion of frons, slightly elevated disc of pronotum, delimited by semicircular carinae, hind tibia with distinct, knee lateral tooth. The phylogenetic relationships of Neazoniidae and some other planthoppers families as well as their ecological affinities are discussed.
Precisely Timed Signal Transmission in Neocortical Networks with Reliable Intermediate-Range Projections

The mammalian neocortex has a remarkable ability to precisely reproduce behavioral sequences or to reliably retrieve stored information. In contrast, spiking activity in behaving animals shows a considerable trial-to-trial variability and temporal irregularity. The signal propagation and processing underlying these conflicting observations is based on fundamental neurophysiological processes like synaptic transmission, signal integration within single cells, and spike formation. Each of these steps in the neuronal signaling chain has been studied separately to a great extend, but it has been difficult to judge how they interact and sum up in active sub-networks of neocortical cells. In the present study, we experimentally assessed the precision and reliability of small neocortical networks consisting of trans-columnar, intermediate-range projections (200–1000 μm) on a millisecond time-scale. Employing photo-uncaging of glutamate in acute slices, we activated a number of distant presynaptic cells in a spatio-temporally precisely controlled manner, while monitoring the resulting membrane potential fluctuations of a postsynaptic cell. We found that signal integration in this part of the network is highly reliable and temporally precise. As numerical simulations showed, the residual membrane potential variability can be attributed to amplitude variability in synaptic transmission and may significantly contribute to trial-to-trial output variability of a rate signal. However, it does not impair the temporal accuracy of signal integration. We conclude that signals from intermediate-range projections onto neocortical neurons are propagated and integrated in a highly reliable and precise manner, and may serve as a substrate for temporally precise signal transmission in neocortical networks.
A model for high energy rho meson leptoproduction based on collinear factorization and dipole models

We present a phenomenological model for the helicity amplitudes T11 and T00 of the rho meson exclusive diffractive leptoproduction in the forward limit. This model leads to a very good description of the polarized cross-sections sigmaT and sigmaL when compared to HERA data. This model is based on the impact factor representation of the helicity amplitudes. The gamma* -> rho impact factor is computed within the light-cone collinear factorization scheme, the impact parameter space representation allowing to factorize out the dipole-target amplitude. Finally our description combines a model for the dipole-target amplitude that includes the saturation effects with the results for the impact factor where the twist 2 and twist 3 distribution amplitudes of the rho meson are involved.
Oral Session Abstracts: Numerical Modeling of the Global Tsunami: Indonesian Tsunami of 26 December 2004 - Abstract

Numerical model for the long waves, with spatial resolution of one minute, is applied to the tsunami of 26 December 2004 in the World Ocean from 80 S to 69 N. Because the computational domain includes close to 200 million grid points, a parallel version of the code was developed and run on a supercomputer. The high spatial resolution of one minute produces very small numerical dispersion even when tsunamis wave travel over large distances. Model results for the Indonesian tsunami show that the tsunami traveled to every location of the World Ocean. In the Indian Ocean the tsunami properties are related to the source function, i.e., to the magnitude of the bottom displacement and directional properties of the source. In the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, in the Pacific, and especially in the Atlantic, tsunami waves propagate over large distances by energy ducting over oceanic ridges. Tsunami energy is concentrated by long wave trapping over the oceanic ridges. Our computations show the Coriolis force plays a noticeable but secondary role in the trapping. Travel times obtained from computations as arrival of the first significant wave show a clear and consistent pattern only in the region of the high amplitude and in the simply connected domains. The tsunami traveled from Indonesia, around New Zealand, and into the Pacific Ocean. The path through the deep ocean to North America carried miniscule energy, while the stronger signal traveled a much longer distance via South Pacific ridges. The time difference between first signal and later signals strong enough to be recorded at North Pacific locations was several hours.
Assessment of Soil Productivity Potentials in Hot Semi-Arid Northern Transition Zone of India using Riquier Index and GIS Techniques

In the present study, assessment of soil productivity was undertaken in Singhanlli-Bogur microwatershed in the hot semi-arid agro-ecological region of the northern transition zone of Karnataka, India. Nine intrinsic soil characteristics were evaluated using the parametric approach proposed by Riquier. The study revealed that there was no excellent productivity class both in terms of actual and potential productivity. In terms of actual productivity, more than half of the area (396.3 ha) which makes up 52.1% of the study area was poor in productivity, 42.6 ha (5.6 %) was extremely poor in productivity, 161.6 ha (21.3 %) showed average productivity and 144.0 ha (18.3%) was good in productivity. On the other hand, in terms of potential productivity which is the productivity that the soil is expected to show after soil improvements are done, almost half of the area (365.7 ha) which makes up 48% of the study area was average in productivity, 135.9 ha (19.9%) was poor in productivity while 242.9 ha (31.9) showed good productivity. It is expected that there will be no extremely poor productivity class in the study area after soil improvement. This is probably due to improvement in previously limiting soil characteristics. Organic matter was found to be the most limiting factor for crop production in the study area. In lowland soils especially clay soils, drainage was found to be a major limiting factor for crop production. It was suggested that the addition of organic matter through manuring, green manuring, crop rotation etc. and fertilisers, as well as improving the soil drainage conditions through excess water removal by reclamation and ridging, would increase the potential productivity of the soils. In addition, agronomic measures like sowing of close-spaced erosion-resistant crops, intercropping, strip cropping with cover management practices and mechanical measures like continuous contour trenches would improve organic matter and structure as well as conserve water and protect soils from erosion especially in the uplands.
Rainfall‐triggered shallow landslides: infiltration dynamics in a physical hillslope model

In this study, we investigate the triggering of shallow landslides through the analysis of physical experiments performed in an artificial hillslope. The physical model consists of a reinforced concrete box containing a soil prism with maximum height of 3.5 m, length of 6 m, and width of 2 m. In order to analyse and examine the factors leading to the failure and the triggering modes, the hillslope is equipped with sensors to monitor the pore water pressure and moisture content response to rainfall in a 60 cm thick sand layer overlying a sandy clay soil. Two experiments were performed with different degrees of the sand initial compaction, to investigate the role of porosity on the hydrologic response and the subsequent failure. The experimental results showed that, with initially loose sand, the failure occurred suddenly, without premonitory signs, the soil behaving like a viscous fluid. The collected data showed a rapid increase of the water pressure contextual to the failure of the sand layer. In the second experiment, with initially dense sand, three levels of instability were observed: (i) abundant runoff with limited erosion of the ground surface; (ii) local slip detachments involving a soil thickness of few centimetres; and (iii) a slow advancement of the entire sand layer volume. The hydrologic dynamics observed in the landslide experiments were simulated with numerical solutions of the Richards equation. The results of the simulations agree well with the experiments for the loose sand, while for the dense sand the comparison between experimental and numerical results shows some limitations related to the assumptions of single phase and rigid soil matrix implicit in the Richards equation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Rest-Frame Optical Luminosity Density, Color, and Stellar Mass Density of the Universe from z = 0 to z = 3

We present the evolution of the rest-frame optical luminosity density j, the integrated rest-frame optical color, and the stellar mass density, ρ*, for a sample of Ks band-selected galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field-South (HDF-S). We derived j in the rest-frame U, B, and V bands and found that j increases by a factor of 1.9 ± 0.4, 2.9 ± 0.6, and 4.9 ± 1.0 in the V, B, and U rest-frame bands, respectively, between redshifts of 0.1 and 3.2. We derived the luminosity-weighted mean cosmic (U-B)rest and (B-V)rest colors as a function of redshift. The colors bluen almost monotonically with increasing redshift; at z = 0.1, the (U-B)rest and (B-V)rest colors are 0.16 and 0.75, respectively, while at z = 2.8 they are -0.39 and 0.29, respectively. We derived the luminosity-weighted mean M/L, using the correlation between (U-V)rest and log M/L that exists for a range in smooth star formation histories (SFHs) and moderate extinctions. We have shown that the mean of individual M/L estimates can overpredict the true value by ~70%, while our method overpredicts the true value by only ~35%. We find that the universe at z ~ 3 had ~10 times lower stellar mass density than it does today in galaxies with L > 1.4 × 1010 h L☉. Half of the stellar mass of the universe was formed by z ~ 1-1.5. The rate of increase in ρ* with decreasing redshift is similar to but above that for independent estimates from the HDF-N, but it is slightly less than that predicted by the integral of the SFR(z) curve.
Directed flow of charged particles at mid-rapidity relative to the spectator plane in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\rm{NN}}$=2.76 TeV

The directed flow of charged particles at mid-rapidity is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\rm{NN}}=2.76$ TeV relative to the collision symmetry plane defined by the spectator nucleons. A negative slope of the rapidity-odd directed flow component with approximately 3 times smaller magnitude than found at the highest RHIC energy is observed. This suggests a smaller longitudinal tilt of the initial system and disfavors the strong fireball rotation predicted for the LHC energies. The rapidity-even directed flow component is measured for the first time with spectators and found to be independent of pseudorapidity with a sign change at transverse momenta $p_{\rm T}$ between $1.2$ and $1.7$ GeV/$c$. Combined with the observation of a vanishing rapidity-even $p_{\rm T}$ shift along the spectator deflection this is strong evidence for dipole-like initial density fluctuations in the overlap zone of the nuclei. Similar trends in the rapidity-even directed flow and the estimate from two-particle correlations at mid-rapidity, which is larger by about a factor of 40, indicate a weak correlation between fluctuating participant and spectator symmetry planes. These observations open new possibilities for investigation of the initial conditions in heavy-ion collisions with spectator nucleons.
CAIXA: a catalogue of AGN in the XMM-Newton archive - III. Excess variance analysis

Context. We report on the results of the first XMM-Newton systematic "excess variance" study of all the radio quiet, X-ray un-obscured AGN. The entire sample consist of 161 sources observed by XMM-Newton for more than 10 ks in pointed observations, which is the largest sample used so far to study AGN X-ray variability on time scales less than a day. Aims. Recently it has been suggested that the same engine might be at work in the core of every black hole (BH) accreting object. In this hypothesis, the same variability should be observed in all AGN, once rescaled by the MBH (MBH) and accretion rate (m). Methods. We systematically compute the excess variance for all AGN, on different time-scales (10, 20, 40 and 80 ks) and in different energy bands (0.3-0.7, 0.7-2 and 2-10 keV). Results. We observe a highly significant and tight (~0.7 dex) correlation between σ2rms and MBH. The subsample of reverberation mapped AGN shows an even smaller scatter (only a factor of 2-3) comparable to the one induced by the MBH uncertainties. This implies that X-ray variability can be used as an accurate tool to measure MBH and this method is more accurate than the ones based on single epoch optical spectra. This allows us to measure MBH for 65 AGN and estimate lower limits for the remaining 96 AGN. On the other hand, the σ2rms vs. accretion rate dependence is weaker than expected based on the PSD break frequency scaling. This strongly suggests that both the PSD high frequency break and the normalisation depend on accretion rate in such a way that they almost completely counterbalance each other (PSDamp ∝ m-0.8). A highly significant correlation between σ2rms and 2-10 keV spectral index is observed. The highly significant correlations between σ2rms and both the LBol and the FWHMHβ are consistent with being just by-products of the σ2rms vs. MBH relation. The soft and medium σ2rms is very well correlated with the hard σ2rms, with no deviations from a linear one to one correlation. This suggests that the additional soft components (i.e. soft excess, warm absorber) add a minor contribution to the total variability. Once the variability is rescaled for MBH and m, no significant difference between narrow-line and broad-line Seyfert 1 is observed. Conclusions. The results are in agreement with a picture where, to first approximation, all local AGN have the same variability properties once rescaled for MBH and m.
CHEMICAL ABUNDANCES OF PLANETARY NEBULAE IN THE SUBSTRUCTURES OF M31

We present deep spectroscopy of planetary nebulae (PNe) that are associated with the substructures of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). The spectra were obtained with the Optical System for Imaging and low-intermediate-Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy spectrograph on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias. Seven targets were selected for the observations, three in the Northern Spur and four associated with the Giant Stream. The most distant target in our sample, with a rectified galactocentric distance ≥ ? > 100 kpc, was the first PN discovered in the outer streams of M31. The [O iii] λ4363 auroral line is well detected in the spectra of all targets, enabling electron temperature determination. Ionic abundances are derived based on the [O iii] temperatures, and elemental abundances of helium, nitrogen, oxygen, neon, sulfur, and argon are estimated. The relatively low N/O and He/H ratios, as well as abundance ratios of α-elements, indicate that our target PNe might belong to populations as old as ∼2 Gyr. Our PN sample, including the current seven and the previous three observed by Fang et al., have rather homogeneous oxygen abundances. The study of abundances and the spatial and kinematical properties of our sample leads to the tempting conclusion that their progenitors might belong to the same stellar population, which hints at a possibility that the Northern Spur and the Giant Stream have the same origin. This may be explained by the stellar orbit proposed by Merrett et al. Judging from the position and kinematics, we emphasize that M32 might be responsible for the two substructures. Deep spectroscopy of PNe in M32 will help to assess this hypothesis.
Chemical abundances of planetary nebulae from optical recombination lines – I. Observations and plasma diagnostics

We have obtained deep optical spectra of medium resolution for a sample of 12 Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe). Optical recombination lines (ORLs) from carbon, nitrogen and oxygen have been detected in 11 of them and neon ORLs in nine of them. All spectra were obtained by scanning a long slit across the nebular surface, yielding relative line intensities for the entire nebula that are suitable for comparison with integrated line fluxes measured in other wavelength regions using space-borne facilities, such as the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) and the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE). For 11 PNe, ISO infrared spectra between 2.4 and 197 µm are available, most of them taken by ourselves, plus a Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) infrared spectrum of NGC 6210. IUE ultraviolet (UV) spectra are available for all nebulae except one in our sample. The UV, optical and infrared spectra have been combined to study nebular thermal and density structures and to determine elemental abundances. We have determined UV to optical extinction curves towards these PNe by examining observed fluxes of H I and He II recombination lines, radio free‐free continuum flux density, and UV to optical nebular continua. For 11 PNe in our sample, the derived optical reddening curves are found to be consistent with the standard Galactic extinction law for a total-toselective extinction ratio, R ≡ A(V)/EB‐V = 3.1. However, the optical extinction curve towards Hu 1‐2 yields R = 2.0. The UV extinction towards Hu 1‐2 and NGC 6572 is also found to be much steeper than the standard Galactic reddening law. In contrast, the UV extinction curve along the sight lines towards NGC 6210 is found to be much shallower, although in the latter case the uncertainties involved are quite large. Electron temperatures and densities have been derived using a variety of diagnostic ratios of collisionally excited lines (CELs) in the UV, optical and infrared. The results show clear stratifications, both in temperature and density. Lines emitted by ions formed in regions of higher ionization degree yield higher temperatures than lines arising from regions of lower ionization degree, while densities deduced from ratios of infrared diagnostic CELs of low critical densities, such as the [O III] 88-µm/52-µm ratio, are systematically lower than those derived from UV and optical diagnostic lines, which in general have much higher critical densities than the infrared fine-structure lines. Electron temperatures have also been derived from the ratio of the nebular continuum Balmer discontinuity to H 11 for 11 PNe. For four of these, the Balmer jump temperatures are more than 1000 K lower than values derived from the [O III] optical collisionally excited diagnostic line ratio. With a difference of 3580 K, NGC 40 has the lowest Balmer jump temperature relative to the [O III] optical forbidden-line temperature. High-order Balmer line decrements
Biological reference points and natural long-term fluctuations: the case of eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna

Defining biological key reference points is of importance within the precautionary approach. Most of the reference points, such as the FMSY, Fo. ], presuppose a steady state, i.e. the natural long-term fluctuations of the population are low or moderate. In this manuscript, we present historical data from Sicilian, Sardinian, Portuguese, and Tunisian traps of the Atlantic bluefin tuna during 200 to 400 years. Long-term fluctuations in trap data could be considered as a good proxy for long-term trend in true abundance because trap is a passive gear which was submitted to low modification until the XX century and because data from different areas display similar long-term variations. Trends in trap data appear beIl shaped, with a maximum at the end ofthe XIXth century and two comparable minima at the beginning of the XIXth and XXth, respectively. There is a factor of about 4 between periods of low and high abundance. A longer series of catches going back to the 16th century show consistent long-term fluctuations all along the 400 years. These results would indicate that the Eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna, as some populations of Atlantic cod and herring, as weIl as the North Atlantic albacore, display large natural long-term fluctuations. Further researches need to be done in order to improve our understanding of the causes of this long-term variability. Because of this dynamics, the F MSy. FO.1 or other steady state points do not appear appropriate for the Eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna. Empirical and relative reference points related to the instantaneous biomass and/or exploitation rate need to be defined.
Oxygen isotopes in the Azores islands: Crustal assimilation recorded

Oxygen isotope ratios of olivine have become a widely used tool for the study of magmatic systems, especially in the interpretation of source heterogeneities in mantle plume–derived ocean island basalts. The underlying assumption is that fresh minerals provide a better guide to magma δ 18 O than bulk rock analyses and that olivine is also likely to be a major phenocryst phase in primitive magmas. However, distinctions between source compositions and the effects of subsequent magma evolution have not always been thoroughly scrutinized. For the Azores samples investigated here, we can demonstrate that the δ 18 O variation (+4.84‰ to +5.25‰ Vienna standard mean ocean water) observed in the olivine phenocryst population is closely linked to evolution in the host magmas during ascent to the surface. We observe a linear, positive correlation between forsterite (Fo) content and δ 18 O in all of the individual island lava suites. This forces us to conclude that the low oxygen isotope ratios result from combined assimilation and fractional crystallization processes, the assimilant being hydrothermally (temperature > 250 °C) altered, lower oceanic crust. Linear regression of the measured δ 18 O olivine values to Fo 89 suggests a homogeneous mantle source with δ 18 O =