Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parameterizing spectral surface reflectance relationships for the Dark Target aerosol algorithm applied to a geostationary imager

Originally developed for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in polar, sun-synchronous 10 low-earth orbit (LEO), the Dark Target (DT) aerosol retrieval algorithm relies on the assumption of a Surface Reflectance Parameterization (SRP) over land surfaces. Specifically for vegetated and dark-soiled surfaces, values of surface reflectance in blue and red visible-wavelength bands are assumed to be nearly linearly related to each other and to the value in a shortwave infrared (SWIR) wavelength band. This SRP also includes dependencies on scattering angle and a normalized difference vegetation index computed from two SWIR bands (NDVI SWIR ). As the DT retrieval algorithm is being ported to new sensors 15 to continue and expand the aerosol data record, we assess whether the MODIS-assumed SRP can be used for these sensors. Here, we specifically assess SRP for the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) aboard, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-16/East (ABIE). First, we find that using MODIS-based SRP leads to higher biases and artificial diurnal signatures in aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals from ABIE. The primary reason appears to be that geostationary orbit (GEO) encounters an entirely different set of observation geometry than does LEO, primarily with regards 20 to solar angles coupled with fixed view angles. Therefore, we have developed a new SRP for GEO that draws the angular shape of the surface bidirectional reflectance. We also introduce modifications to the parametrization of both red-SWIR and blue-red spectral relationships to include additional information. The revised Red-SWIR SRP includes solar zenith angle, NDVI SWIR , and land-type percentage from an ancillary database. The blue-red SRP adds dependencies on the scattering angle and NDVI SWIR . The new SRPs improve the AOD retrieval of ABIE in terms of overall less bias and mitigation of the 25 overestimation around local noon. The average bias of DT AOD compared to AERONET AOD shows a reduction from 0.082 to 0.025, while the bias of local solar noon decreases from 0.118 to 0.029.
Optimization of the explant disinfection method and in vitro multiplication of saffron ( Crocus sativus L.).

Saffron ( Crocus sativus L.), renowned as the world’s most expensive spice extracted from its stigmas, is an autumn-flowering, sterile triploid geophyte species (2n=3x=24) belonging to the Iridaceae family. It is propagated vegetatively through the development of daughter corms from the mother corm. Low multiplication rates of daughter corms under natural conditions and many biotic and abiotic stresses reduce productivity, thereby restraining the availability of planting material. Thus, the main objective of this work is to improve the vegetative propagation of saffron through tissue culture. The results show that soaking of explants in 0.1% (w/v) mercury chloride (HgCl 2 ) for 10 min is more effective for explant disinfection (95%), with a survival rate of over 85%. Whereas, for the initiation phase, the in vitro culture of whole corms on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.5 mg /L of 1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) in combination with 3 mg/L of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) was more effective, resulting in a sprouting rate of 90% with a maximum of 5 sprouted buds per explant. As for the multiplication phase, the highest number of shoots (4 shoots/single shoot explant) was observed on MS medium supplemented with 8 mg/L of BAP in combination with 0.5 mg/L of NAA. The results of this study can serve as a starting point for establishing an efficient and reproducible in vitro regeneration system in order to increase the number of shoots per explant for proliferation and micro-corms formation phases by exploring other culture media with different PGR combinations.
Transcarbamylase Deficiency from Late-Onset Ornithine Hyperammonemic Encephalopathy Arising Brain MR Imaging in Acute

Summary: The brain MR imaging characteristics of three patients with acute hyperammonemic encephalopathy resulting from late-onset ornithine transcarbomylase deficiency are presented. MR images revealed injury to the cortex, especially the cingulate gyrus and insular cortex, with sparing of the perirolandic and occipital cortices. These findings presumably reflect the distribution of brain injury from hypoperfusion secondary to hyperammonemia. Knowledge of the MR findings may help expedite diagnosis and treatment and prevent chronic impairment.
Interactions between atmospheric composition and climate change – progress in understanding and future opportunities from AerChemMIP, PDRMIP, and RFMIP

Abstract. The climate science community aims to improve our understanding of climate change due to anthropogenic influences on atmospheric composition and the Earth's surface. Yet not all climate interactions are fully understood, and uncertainty in climate model results persists, as assessed in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report. We synthesize current challenges and emphasize opportunities for advancing our understanding of the interactions between atmospheric composition, air quality, and climate change, as well as for quantifying model diversity. Our perspective is based on expert views from three multi-model intercomparison projects (MIPs) – the Precipitation Driver Response MIP (PDRMIP), the Aerosol Chemistry MIP (AerChemMIP), and the Radiative Forcing MIP (RFMIP). While there are many shared interests and specializations across the MIPs, they have their own scientific foci and specific approaches. The partial overlap between the MIPs proved useful for advancing the understanding of the perturbation–response paradigm through multi-model ensembles of Earth system models of varying complexity. We discuss the challenges of gaining insights from Earth system models that face computational and process representation limits and provide guidance from our lessons learned. Promising ideas to overcome some long-standing challenges in the near future are kilometer-scale experiments to better simulate circulation-dependent processes where it is possible and machine learning approaches where they are needed, e.g., for faster and better subgrid-scale parameterizations and pattern recognition in big data. New model constraints can arise from augmented observational products that leverage multiple datasets with machine learning approaches. Future MIPs can develop smart experiment protocols that strive towards an optimal trade-off between the resolution, complexity, and number of simulations and their length and, thereby, help to advance the understanding of climate change and its impacts.
Ice plate deformation and cracking revealed by an in situ-distributed acoustic sensing array

Abstract. Studying seismic sources and wave propagation in ice plates can provide valuable insights into understanding various processes, such as ice structure dynamics, migration, fracture mechanics and mass balance. However, the harsh environment makes it difficult to conduct in situ dense seismic observations. Consequently, our understanding of the dynamic changes within the ice sheet remains insufficient. We conducted a seismic experiment using a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) array on a frozen lake, exciting water vibrations through underwater airgun shots. By employing an artificial intelligence method, we were able to detect seismic events that include both high-frequency icequakes and low-frequency events. The icequakes clustered along ice fractures and their activity correlated with local temperature variations. The waveforms of low-frequency events exhibit characteristics of flexural-gravity waves, which offers insights into the properties of the ice plate. Our study demonstrates the effectiveness of an DAS array as an in situ dense seismic network for investigating the internal failure process and dynamic deformation of ice plates such as the ice shelf, which may contribute to an enhanced comprehension and prediction of ice shelf disintegration.
Mysteries of Solar System Explained by WUM

E. Stone in the article”18 Mysteries and Unanswered Questions About Our Solar System. Little Astronomy” wrote: One of the great things about astronomy is that there is still so much out there for us to discover. There are so many unanswered questions and mysteries about the universe. There is always a puzzle to solve and that is part of beauty. Even in our own neighborhood, the Solar System, there are many questions we still have not been able to answer [1]. In the present paper, we explain the majority of these Mysteries and some other unexplained phenomena in the Solar System (SS) in frames of the developed Hypersphere World-Universe Model (WUM) [2].
VOTE DELEGATION IN A VOTING WITH WEIGHTED MAJORITY RULE

We examine vote delegation in a dichotomous voting proﬁle where a correct alternative exists, each voter supports each alternative independently with a ﬁxed probability, and delegators do not know the preferences of represen-tatives. We are interested in investigating whether free delegation favors the correct alternative, who has a higher chance of winning ex-ante. We study this question in a weighted voting system with voters and delegators having arbitrary weight distributions. By deﬁning a dictator as a voter whose weight is greater than the sum of other voters’ weights, we prove that free delegation favors the correct alternative if a dictator exists among the voters. Moreover, we prove that the only weight distribution of voters that minimizes the likelihood of the correct collective decision is the case where a dictator exists in the system. Furthermore, we provide bounds for the change in the probability of correct collective decision when there is only one delegator.
Evaluation of the interface of Eucalyptus specimens welded by rotary friction

Rotary friction welding produces joints by inserting wood dowels, with a specific rotation and feed rate, into pre-drilled holes made in wood substrates. Studies on the welding of fast-growing Eucalypts from Brazilian planted forests are recent. Therefore, this research aimed to evaluate the macro and microstructural and thermochemical changes at the dowel/substrate interface of Eucalypts welded joints from Brazilian planted forests and to determine the mechanical strength of two-piece Eucalypts welded joints. Specimens formed by eucalypts dowels and substrates were produced. Subsequently, visual evaluation and scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric, differential scanning calorimetry and tensile tests were performed. The results reveal that the rotary friction welding parameters adopted contribute to the densification of the welded interface and the formation of a structure responsible for joining the dowel and the substrate, providing mechanical strength to the joint. The cellulose crystallinity index and the apparent crystallite size of the Eucalypts welded sample increase due to thermal degradation of amorphous components. The rupture of the welded joints is ductile and their average strength is 2,1 MPa. Welded joints of fast-growing Eucalypts, from Brazilian planted forests, are suitable when the rotary friction welding parameters are similar to those used for Eucalypts woods from Australian forests.
Relationship Between The Maxillary First Molar Roots And The Maxillary Sinus Floor: A Cone Beam Computed Tomoraphy Analysis

: Background The knowledge of the relationship between the root apices of maxillary teeth and the inferior wall of the maxillary sinus is crucial in diagnosis and treatment, not only in the field of endodontics but also other disciplines of dentistry. The close anatomical relationship between the maxillary molar roots and the maxillary sinus floor, may result in maxillary sinusitis of odontogenic origin. Previous studies have evaluated the relationship the relationship between the maxillary molar roots and the maxillary sinus floor (MSF) with inconclusive results. Previously, periapical and panoramic radiographs were used to determine the proximity of root apices and the maxillary sinus floor. However, superimposition of anatomic structures and errors caused by magnification render these methods less accurate diagnosis. With the Cone Beam Computed Tomography, the relationship between maxillary root apices and MSF can be accurately determined The study set out to determine the relationship between the roots of the maxillary first molar and the maxillary sinus floor. Design and objective: A descriptive cross sectional study employing consecutive sampling of 327 maxillary first molar roots was conducted. The aim of the study was to establish the relationship between the maxillary first molar roots and the maxillary sinus using Cone Beam Computed Tomography analysis. Methods : An analysis of Cone beam computed tomography scans of Filipino patients was done. The iRYS deconstruction software version 5.6 was used to analyze images. Descriptive statistics were used to represent the relationship between the roots of the maxillary first molar and the maxillary sinus floor. Comparison was done across age groups, gender and side (left or right). A summary of the numerical variables (vertical distances measured) was given in terms of mean, standard deviation, median, minimum and maximum whereas categorical variable (age and gender) given in terms of percentages and frequencies. Results : In this study, the vertical distance measured from the root tip to the MSF, was 1.39mm for the palatal root, 1.14mm for the Mesiobuccal root and 1.08mm for the Distobuccal root. Therefore, the closest root to the floor of the sinus was the Distobuccal root, followed by the Mesiobuccal and then the Palatal root. For both genders the root tips on the right side were closer to the MSF than those on the left side. For both left and right side the root tips were closer to the MSF in males and in younger patents for both genders. Conclusion. The closest root to the maxillary sinus floor was the distobuccal followed by mesiobuccal and then palatal. Differences in tooth position (right or left), age and gender were noted. Recommendation: The roots tips of the maxillary first molar are located close to the Maxillary sinus floor. For that matter, clinicians must exercise extreme caution during endodontic procedures.
Dependency of simulated tropical Atlantic current variability on the wind forcing

Abstract. The upper wind-driven circulation in the tropical Atlantic Ocean plays a key role in the basin-wide distribution of water mass properties and affects the transport of heat, freshwater, and biogeochemical tracers such as oxygen or nutrients. It is crucial to improve our understanding of its long-term behaviour, which largely relies on model simulations and applied forcing due to sparse observational data coverage, especially before the mid-2000s. Here, we apply two different forcing products, the Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference Experiments (CORE) v2 and the Japanese 55-year Reanalysis (JRA55-do) surface dataset, to a high-resolution ocean model. Where possible, we compare the simulated results to long-term observations. We find large discrepancies between the two simulations regarding the wind and current field. In the CORE simulation, strong, large-scale wind stress curl amplitudes above the upwelling regions of the eastern tropical North Atlantic seem to cause an overestimation of the mean and seasonal variability in the eastward subsurface current just north of the Equator. The wind stress curl of JRA55-do forcing shows much finer structures, and the JRA55-do simulation is in better agreement with the mean and intraseasonal fluctuations in the subsurface current found in observations. The northern branch of the South Equatorial Current flows westward at the surface just north of the Equator. On interannual to decadal timescales, it shows a high correlation of R=0.9 with the zonal wind stress in the CORE simulation but only a weak correlation of R=0.35 in the JRA55-do simulation. We also identify similarities between the two simulations. The strength of the eastward-flowing North Equatorial Counter Current located between 3 and 10° N covaries with the strength of the meridional wind stress just north of the Equator on interannual to decadal timescales in the two simulations. Both simulations present a comparable mean, seasonal cycle and trend of the eastward off-equatorial subsurface current south of the Equator but underestimate the current strength by half compared to observations. In both simulations, the eastward-flowing Equatorial Undercurrent weakened between 1990 and 2009. In the JRA simulation, which covers the modern period of observations, the Equatorial Undercurrent strengthened again between 2008 to 2018, which agrees with observations, although the simulation underestimates the strengthening by over a third. We propose that long-term observations, once they have reached a critical length, need to be used to test the quality of wind-driven simulations. This study presents one step in this direction.
Gimbal camera detection and tracking for a small autonomous UAV

In this thesis, a solution to the problem of drone tracking using a gimballed RGB camera mounted on a flying UAV is proposed, implemented and tested both in simulation and real-world experiments. The proposed system uses a combination of machine learning models for visual detection and tracking to create an online estimate of the target drone’s 3D position. Two large drone datasets from various environments were used to train and evaluate the models. The YOLO5 neural network architecture and the MOSSE tracking algorithm were selected for their balance of speed and accuracy. Genetic programming was used to further optimize the hyperparameters of the chosen architecture achieving satisfactory online performance in a computationally constrained environment of the on-board computer. The resulting estimates from the detection and tracking pipeline are denoised using a Kalman filter and used as an input to PID controllers to maintain an approximately constant distance and a zero altitude difference between the drones.
Evolution of winter precipitation in the Nile river watershed since the last glacial

Abstract. Between 14.5 and 5 ka, the Sahara was vegetated owing to a wet climate during the African humid period. However, the climatic factors sustaining the “green Sahara” are still a matter of debate. Particularly the role of winter precipitation is poorly understood. Using the stable hydrogen isotopic composition (δD, where D stands for deuterium) of high molecular weight (HMW) n-alkanoic acids in a marine sediment core from the eastern Mediterranean, we provide a continuous record for winter precipitation in the Nile river delta spanning the past 18 kyr. Pairing the data with δD records from HMW n-alkanes from the same core, we show that HMW n-alkanoic acids constantly derived from the delta, while the HMW n-alkanes also received significant contributions from the headwaters between ∼ 15–1 ka when fluvial runoff enhanced. This enables us to reconstruct the evolution of Mediterranean (winter) and monsoonal (summer) rainfall in the Nile river watershed in parallel. In the delta, the Heinrich stadial 1 (HS1) evolved in two phases, with a dry episode between ∼ 17.5–16.0 ka, followed by wet conditions between ∼ 16–14.5 ka. Winter rainfall enhanced substantially between 11–6 ka, lagging behind the intensification of the summer monsoon by ca. 3 kyr. Heavy winter rainfall resulted from a southern position of the Atlantic storm track combined with elevated sea surface temperatures in the eastern Mediterranean, reinforcing local cyclogenesis. We show that during the green Sahara, monsoon precipitation and Mediterranean winter rainfall were both enhanced and infer that the winter rainfall zone extended southwards, delivering moisture to the Sahara. Our findings corroborate recent hypotheses suggesting that winter rains that extended southward were a crucial addition to the northward displacement of the summer monsoon in helping to sustain a green Sahara.
Quantile Continuous Treatment Effects

Abstract Continuous treatments (e.g., doses) arise often in practice. Methods for estimation and inference for quantile treatment effects models with a continuous treatment are proposed. Identification of the parameters of interest, the dose-response functions and the quantile treatment effects, is achieved under the assumption that selection to treatment is based on observable characteristics. An easy to implement semiparametric two-step estimator, where the first step is based on a flexible Box–Cox model is proposed. Uniform consistency and weak convergence of this estimator are established. Practical statistical inference procedures are developed using bootstrap. Monte Carlo simulations show that the proposed methods have good finite sample properties. Finally, the proposed methods are applied to a survey of Massachusetts lottery winners to estimate the unconditional quantile effects of the prize amount, as a proxy of non-labor income changes, on subsequent labor earnings from U.S. Social Security records. The empirical results reveal strong heterogeneity across unconditional quantiles. The study suggests that there is a threshold value in non-labor income that is high enough to make all individuals stop working, and that this applies uniformly for all quantiles. It also shows that the threshold value is monotonic in the quantiles.
Voyager observations of the magnetic field in the heliosheath and the local interstellar medium

This paper reviews observations of the magnetic field B in the heliosheath by Voyager 1 (V1) and Voyager 2 (V2) and the recent observations of the LISM by V1. The heliosheath is the region between the termination shock (TS) and the heliopause (HP). The TS was identified by both V1 and V2, and the internal structure of the TS was determined by V2. The radial distance of the TS was 94 AU at V1 and 84 AU at V2, suggesting a global asymmetry of the heliosphere. The average direction of B in the heliosheath is that of the Parker spiral magnetic field, and non-periodic magnetic sectors were observed by V1 and V2. The heliosheath is disturbed and turbulent, particularly just behind the TS, and it is described by the multifractal spectrum, the q-correlation function and the q-Gaussian distribution. The multifractal spectrum in the heliosheath also varies with the solar cycle. Voyager 1 has been in the LISM since at least August 25, 2012, but the nature of the HP and the time of the HP crossing not been determined. The magnetic field direction is close to, but distinguishable from the Parker spiral magnetic field, and its departure from the Parker spiral magnetic field is slowly increasing with distance from the sun. A large pressure pulse and two shocks or pressure waves have been identified in the LISM, presumably generated inside the heliosphere and transmitted through the heliosheath and heliopause. The interstellar magnetic field lines are draped across the heliopause, and B is approximately 0.5 nT. The fluctuations of B are very small but turbulent on scales 1 day to 468 days, with a Kolmogorov spectrum and an injection scale of approximately 10 pc.