Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tasmanian aborigines and muttonbirding : an historical examination

The Tasmanian muttonbird, scientifically called the short-tailed shearwater Puffinus tenuirostris probably obtained its name because its flesh tasted like mutton. Over 80 percent of the world's population of 23 million birds breed in Tasmania, with the largest ' rookeries on the islands of Bass Strait. The bird has an egg-laying season of remarkable constancy enabling commercial exploitation to be carried out to a strict calendar. The term "muttonbirding" defines the capture of the bird, its killing and its processing into a product fit for human consumption. The remains of muttonbirds have been found in archaeological sites in Tasmania and mainland Australia, but the meagre number present suggests that the birds were not an important food source to the Aborigines. In 1798 the seal colonies of Bass Strait were discovered and exploited by nonAboriginal sealers to near extinction. The sealers who remained took Aboriginal women for "wives". The population grew slowly, based on a subsistence muttonbird economy. By 1872 the descendants of white sealer-Aboriginal women liaisons constituted just 40 percent of the total 27 4 people in the Fumeaux Group, as immigrants took up leases of. islands once occupied by the descendants and eventually for~ed them onto Cape Barren Island. The area they settled on Cape Barren Island was 'declared a Reserve in 1881, and became an enclave requiring laws and government money to administer. Having very little income, the annual harvesting of muttonbirds was the highlight of the year to these people. The immigrant settlers also looked to muttonbirding to sustain them through hard times, and to pay off mortgagees. By the early 1900s up to 400 people participated in the annual season. In the 1920s, catches of up to one million birds were recorded. Such a locally important industry required regulations to be frequently gazetted to conserve the birds, for administrative purposes, and to bring about hygiene in the presentation of the muttonbird for human consumption. The industry enticed some people into believing that t~ey could make much money by buying and selling birds, even as recently as the 1980s. All such enterprises collapsed. Nowadays, the total catch is approximately 150,000 birds annually, with the largest number coming from islands in northwest Tasmania. In recent years there have been protests against the taking of muttonbirds by amateur muttonbirders as people have become more environmentally conscious. These protests resulted in the closure of many traditional rookeries around Tasmania, but left the industry unscathed. The future of the industry largely lies in the hands of the young generation of muttonbirders. As long as there are people who believe strongly in the tradition of muttonbirding, and people who will eat muttonbirds, there will probably be an industry. The short length and ready accessibility of nesting burrows, easy landings, and the close proximity of the resource to human settlements are the main reasons why the industry existed and has persisted in Tasmania.
Global self-esteem across the life span.

This study provides a comprehensive picture of age differences in self-esteem from age 9 to 90 years using cross-sectional data collected from 326,641 individuals over the Internet. Self-esteem levels were high in childhood, dropped during adolescence, rose gradually throughout adulthood, and declined sharply in old age. This trajectory generally held across gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and nationality (U.S. citizens vs. non-U.S. citizens). Overall, these findings support previous research, help clarify inconsistencies in the literature, and document new trends that require further investigation.
Major ion geochemistry and nutrient behaviour in the mixing zone of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River and its tributaries in the Three Gorges Reservoir

Inorganic ions and nutrients were measured at different depths of the Xiangxi and Daninghe Rivers to explore the mixing processes of representative bays in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR). HCO3− and Ca2+ are the dominant ions. Carbonate weathering is the most important mechanism controlling the ion water chemistry; however, important differences exist between the main channel and its tributaries. Major ion levels in the TGR bays depend on hydrological mixing. Results show that the major ions of Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Sr2+, SO42− and Cl− show chemically conservative behaviour during transit through the bays of the TGR. This means the ions can be used as tracers in the same way that salinity is used in estuaries to explore behaviour of other non‐conservative elements and to indicate specific source waters. In contrast, nutrients are not conserved in the mixing zone. The mixing of the main channel and tributaries and biological utilization in backwater reaches were the key factor controlling nutrient distributions in Xiangxi and Daninghe Bays. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Spatial organization of soil depths using a landform evolution model

[1] The evolution of soil depths is investigated by modeling the interaction between soil production and surface erosion within a landform evolution model. An enhanced version of the landform evolution model SIBERIA that incorporates a soil evolution module is used to simulate evolving landforms and soils depths over geologic timescales. The spatial and temporal evolution of soil depths are examined at the hillslope scale. Though it is widely accepted among the geomorphology community that soil water enhances chemical, physical and biological weathering processes, its effect has not been explicitly included in published models of soil production. The main scientific questions that we address are (1) what are the implications of incorporating soil moisture dependency in the soil production function and (2) what type of soil production dynamics is needed to generate a bedrock topography that has a different spatial pattern from that of the ground surface. A range of physics for the soil production model is explored. The effect of soil moisture is included using the wetness index obtained from drainage analysis of either surface elevations or the bedrock topography. The results show that the various soil production functions that incorporate either a wetness index or subsurface flow depth based on the bedrock topography give rise to soils that self-organize with well-defined spatial patterns and bedrock elevations with spatial organization significantly different from that of the surface. The model that incorporates the influence of subsurface water on soil production is able to naturally generate a soil production rate with a maximum value for a nonzero soil depth and overcomes an inconsistency of previously published “humped” soil production models.
Asian provenance of glacial dust (stage 2) in the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 Ice Core

Samples of dust from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) ice core, Summit, Greenland, dated within marine isotope stage 2 (between 23,340 and 26,180 calendar years B.P.) around the time of the coldest, local, last glacial temperatures, have been analyzed to determine their provenance. To accomplish this, we have compared them with approximately Coeval aeolian sediments (mostly loesses) sampled in possible source areas (PSAs) from around the northern hemisphere. The <5-μm grain-size fraction of these samples was analyzed on the basis that it corresponds to the atmospheric dust component of that time and locale, which was sufficiently fine grained to be transported over long distances. On the basis of comparison of the clay mineralogy and Sr, Nd and Pb isotope composition with ice dust and PSAs and assuming that we have sampled the most important PSAs, we have determined that the probable source area of these GISP2 dusts was in eastern Asia. The dust was not derived from either the midcontinental United States or the Sahara, two more proximal areas that have been suggested as potential sources based on atmospheric circulation modeling. Except for a brief period during an interstadial, when dust transport was exceptionally low (for glacial times) and had a mineralogical composition indicative of a slightly more southern provenance, the source area of the dust did not change significantly during times of variably higher fluxes of dust with larger mean grain size or lower fluxes of dust with smaller mean grain size. This includes the high-dust period that correlates with the Heinrich 2 period of major iceberg discharge into the North Atlantic. Variable wind strengths must therefore be invoked to account for these abrupt and significant changes in dust flux and grain size.
Quantifying High-Frequency Wind Energy Flux into Near-Inertial Motions in the Southeast Pacific

AbstractWind-forced internal waves close to the inertial frequency are ubiquitous throughout the world’s oceans, but observational constraints on their global energetics and impact on subsurface mixing remain scarce. This study reports on velocity measurements from three Electromagnetic Autonomous Profiling Explorers (EM-APEX) deployed in February 2009. These floats observed downward-propagating near-inertial internal waves near the Subantarctic and Polar Fronts of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. These waves were episodic and enhanced at middepth between 500 and 1000 m. Depth-integrated kinetic energy varied between 1 and 7 kJ m−2 and averaged 1.6 kJ m−2 with typical group velocities of 40 m day−1, implying an average energy flux of 3 mW m−2 at the mixed layer base decreasing to approximately 25% of that value at 1500 m. Modeled currents forced by reanalysis winds along each float track agree with observed surface currents from EM-APEX, provided that mixed layer depth is restricted to the layer of weak.
10th Generation International Geomagnetic Reference Field

The International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) released the 10th Generation International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) on 12 December 2004. This is the latest version of a standard mathematical description of the Earth's main magnetic field, and is used widely in studies of the Earth's deep interior, crust, ionosphere, and magnetosphere. The coefficients were finalized by a task force of IAGA, Division V, Working Group V-MOD: Geomagnetic Field Modeling. The IGRF is the product of a large collaborative effort between magnetic field modelers and the institutes around the world involved in collecting and disseminating magnetic field data from satellites and observatories.
Isolation of rugosin A, B and related compounds as dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitors from rose bud extract powder

Dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP-IV) is a protease responsible for the degradation of the incretin hormone. A number of DPP-IV inhibitors have been approved for use in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. While these inhibitors are effective for this treatment, methods for the prevention of this disease are also required as diabetes patient numbers are currently increasing rapidly worldwide. We screened the DPP-IV inhibitory activities of edible plant extracts with the intention of using these extracts in a functional food supplement for the prevention of diabetes. Rose (Rosa gallica) bud extract powder was a promising material with high inhibitory activity. In this study, seven ellagitannins were isolated as active compounds through activity-guided fractionations, and their DPP-IV inhibitory activities were measured. Among them, rugosin A and B showed the highest inhibitory activities and rugosin B was shown as the major contributing compound in rose bud extract powder. Graphical Abstract Ellagitannins were isolated as DPP-IV inhibitors from rose bud extract powder. Compounds with the valoneoyl group showed high inhibitory activity.
Characterization of vertical electric fields 500 m and 30 m from triggered lightning

Vertical electric field waveforms of leader-return stroke sequences measured 500 m and 30 m from rocket-triggered lightning are presented. The 500-m data were recorded during the boreal summer of 1986, the 30-m data during the summer of 1991, both at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The 40 leader-return stroke field waveforms at 500 m and the 8 waveforms at 30 m all appear as asymmetrical V-shaped pulses, the bottom of the V being associated with the transition from the leader to the return stroke. Applying a widely used and simple leader model to the measured leader electric fields at 500 m, the authors infer, for the bottom km or so of the leader channel, leader speeds between 2×106 and 2×107 m/s and leader charges per unit length of 0.02×10-3 to 0.08×10-3 C/m. From two measured leader electric field changes at 30 m the authors infer, using the same leader model, for the bottom 100 m or so of the leader channel, speeds of 3×107 and 1×107 m/s and charges per unit length of 0.14×10-3 and 0.02×10-3 C/m, respectively. The corresponding measured return stroke peak currents for the above two cases are 40 kA and 7 kA, respectively. A positive correlation is observed between the magnitude of the leader field change at 500 m and the ensuing return stroke current peak
Dynamics of Runoff and Suspended Sediment Transport in a Highly Erodible Catchment on the Chinese Loess Plateau

Runoff is the key factor to understand the land degradation causing high risk of soil erosion and can reduce the water available for human societies and ecosystems. The dynamics of runoff and suspended sediment transport are not completely understood. In this study, we examined the trends, breaking point and regime changes for the runoff and sediment load at different temporal scales using 50 years of continuous observational data from a highly erodible sub‐catchment with an area of 7,325 km2 in the Beiluo River basin on the Loess Plateau, China. At the annual scale, the runoff and sediment load declined significantly (p < 0·05) with decreasing rates of −0·23 mm y−1 and −164·9 Mg km−2 y−1, respectively. Abrupt changes in the runoff and sediment load series were detected between 1979 and 1999; thus, the data were divided into intervals of 1960–1979, 1980–1999 and 2000–2009. The flow duration curve analysis indicated increasing low‐flow values and decreasing daily runoff and sediment discharge peaks, which suggested that soil and water conservation measures reduced the volume of runoff and the sediment load. This led to a more uniform runoff regime. At the flood event scale, we investigated the relationship between runoff and the suspended sediment load based on 123 flood events, which showed clearly that the magnitude and frequency of hyper‐concentrated sediment flows decreased in 2000–2009 compared with 1960–1999. The annual erosive rainfall exhibited non‐significant changes throughout the entire study period. We conclude that soil and water conservation measures (e.g. afforestation, grassing, terraces and check dams) have played major roles in the changes in runoff and the sediment load in the Beiluo River catchment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of testosterone undecanoate on cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis in middle-aged men with late-onset hypogonadism and metabolic syndrome: results from a 24-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

INTRODUCTION Longitudinal studies have demonstrated that male hypogonadism could be considered a surrogate marker of incident cardiovascular disease. AIM To evaluate the effects of parenteral testosterone undecanoate (TU) in outclinic patients with metabolic syndrome (MS) and late-onset hypogonadism (total testosterone (T) at or below 11nmol/L or free T at or below 250pmol/L). METHODS This is a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled, parallel group, single-center study. Fifty patients (mean age 57±8) were randomized (4:1) to receive TU 1,000mg (every 12 weeks) or placebo (PLB) gel (3-6 g/daily) for 24 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Homeostasis model assessment index of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), carotid intima media thickness (CIMT), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). RESULTS At baseline, all patients fulfilled the National Cholesterol Education Program-Third Adult Treatment Panel (NCEP-ATPIII) and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria for the definition of MS. An interim analysis conducted at 12 months showed that TU markedly improved HOMA-IR (P < 0.001), CIMT (P < 0.0001), and hsCRP (P<0.001) compared with PLB; thus, all patients were shifted to TU treatment. After 24 months, 35% (P < 0.0001) and 58% (P < 0.001) of patients still presented MS as defined by NCEP-ATPIII and IDF criteria, respectively. Main determinants of changes were reduction in waist circumference (P<0.0001), visceral fat mass (P<0.0001), and improvement in HOMA-IR without changes in body mass index (BMI). CONCLUSIONS TU reduced fasting glucose, waist circumference, and improved surrogate markers of atherosclerosis in hypogonadal men with MS. Resumption and maintenance of T levels in the normal range of young adults determines a remarkable reduction in cardiovascular risk factors clustered in MS without significant hematological and prostate adverse events.
The Rudist Fauna of the Cárdenas Formation, Maastrichtian, San Luis Potosí State, Mexico

Abstract A Maastrichtian rudist fauna composed of the radiolitids Biradiolites aguilerae Böse, B. Cárdenasensis Böse, Huasteca ojanchalensis (Myers), Tampsia floriformis Myers, and Trechmannites rudissimus (Trechmann), the hippuritids Caribbea muellerriedi (Vermunt) and Praebarrettia sparcilirata (Whitfield) sensu lato, and the plagioptychids Coralliochama gbohemi Böse and Mitrocaprina tschoppi (Palmer) is described from the Cárdenas Formation in San Luis Potosí State, Mexico. Abundant fossil material and excellent preservation of a number of specimens allowed observation of both the internal and external shell characters and their ontogenetic and eco-phenotypic variability. The description of some hitherto insufficiently known species has been enhanced and/or completed, making easier their subsequent identification and allowing their unequivocal generic assignation. Two new genera, Huasteca and Trechmannites, are proposed for two already known species of radiolitids. The Cárdenas Formation exhibits a continuously exposed sequence in the vicinity of Cárdenas. Thus, precise stratigraphic location of all fossil localities and their rudist associations, ranging from the early to the early late Maastrichtian, has been possible.
Simulation of the SF6 tracer with the middle atmosphere MAECHAM4 model: Aspects of the large‐scale transport

The large-scale transport in a general circulation model is evaluated by analyzing a multiyear simulation that included a passive tracer, with emissions linearly increasing with time, aimed at representing the sources of sulphur hexafluoride, SF 6 , a compound of anthropogenic origin. A motivation to analyze the large-scale passive tracer transport is the expected use of such general circulation models in simulations including active feedbacks with chemical models. It has been found that the time evolution and detrended distribution of the simulated SF 6 concentration are comparable to those estimated by available observations of SF 6 , both displaying high values in the upper troposphere and low values in the stratosphere. The simulation with a general circulation model of a tracer with surface sources linearly increasing in time and no sinks allows derivation of transport timescales. The age of air from the SF 6 simulation is consistent with the general features of age of air estimates from observations, as, for instance, a rapid increase in age in the lower stratosphere and older age in the polar regions of the middle and upper stratosphere. The meridional and vertical gradients that characterize the age distribution in the stratosphere are the manifestation of barriers in transport. The average behavior of the transport barriers is diagnosed by means of the potential vorticity gradient. The simulated barriers in potential vorticity gradient in the lower-middle stratosphere are comparable to that deduced from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast reanalysis.
“Generationed” space: Societal restructuring and young adults' changing residential location patterns

Considering Vancouver and Montreal as case studies, this article demonstrates the increasing centralization of the young adult population since the early 1980s. Gentrification, which brings higher income earners to the inner city, is often explained as a class-based process associated with post-industrial, post-Fordist, and, more recently, neo-liberal restructuring. However, delays in child-bearing, increasing educational attainment, and the growing amenity and housing component in inner cities have also sharpened the division of space by demographic variables such as age and household size—variables that relate to life-cycle stage, consumption practices, and generational differences. This article contributes to the understanding of the factors delineating urban space by considering residential location patterns of two different generations of young adults in two metropolitan areas. The findings show that today's young adult residential ecology is increasingly defined by proximity to transit, high-density housing, and walkability to urban amenities. Due to the higher-priced housing market and land use planning policies emphasizing densification, the residential pattern is one of concentrated decentralization in Vancouver. In Montreal, centralization of young adults is mostly associated with changing household profiles. In both metropolitan areas, the inner city residential ecology is increasingly delineated by young adults.
Mapping global seasonal forest background reflectivity with Multi‐angle Imaging Spectroradiometer data

Forest background reflectivities with seasonal and spatial variations are critically important in the estimation of canopy biophysical parameters of the forest canopy. In this paper, seasonal background reflectivity for global forested areas was mapped at 1.1 km resolution using four‐scale model and Multi‐angle Imaging Spectroradiometer data of the nadir and 45° forward directions. The largest seasonal variation of forest background reflectivities was observed in middle and high latitudes of Northern Hemisphere. The background reflectivity differs between deciduous broadleaf forest and coniferous forest in the near‐infrared band and varies with increasing canopy leaf area index. The partial validation of forest background reflectivity with adjacent grassland in the Northern Hemisphere and the comparison of understory leaf area index on leaf appearance day for larch forest in North Asia both indicate the relative reliability of results. The nearly 70% spatial coverage of retrieval with high‐quality flags makes it eligible for applications over global coniferous and deciduous broadleaf forest areas.
La biodiversité végétale des gisements d'âge Jurassique supérieur–Crétacé inférieur de Merbah El Asfer (Sud-Tunisien)

Abstract Five localities with fossil plants have been studied in the Tataouine region (southern Tunisia) at Jebel Merbah el Asfer. Dated from Tithonian to Aptian they belong to the Asfer Group and correspond with continental fluvio-deltaic and/or aeolian deposits. The biodiversity inventory has permitted the description of 16 taxa belonging to bryophytes, pteridophytes and gymnosperms. One new genus of Salviniaceae has been proposed, namely Daharia gen. nov., and five new species: the brophytes Hepaticites elegans , the pteridophytes Piazopteris robusta , Aspidistes delicatula and Daharia tunisiensis , and the coniferophyte Cupressinocladus asferensis . A taphonomic study has indicated, in two localities, a repetition of practically monospecific plant successions. This North Gondwana flora differs in composition from those known hitherto.