Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The sex-dependent interplay of integrin alpha1beta1 and epidermal growth factor receptor in regulating oxidative stress in articular cartilage

THE SEX-DEPENDENT INTERPLAY OF INTEGRIN ALPHA1BETA1 AND EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR RECEPTOR IN REGULATING OXIDATIVE STRESS IN ARTICULAR CARTILAGE James Thomas Haskins Advisor: Dr. A. Clark University of Guelph, 2018 The collagen receptor integrin a1b1 slows cartilage degradation in mouse models of osteoarthritis. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signalling appears to affect multiple aspects of cartilage health, although whether integrin a1b1 regulates EGFR and downstream superoxide production has not been demonstrated in chondrocytes. We examined how integrin a1b1/EGFR interplay regulates superoxide levels in ex vivo articular chondrocytes of male and female mice. Through confocal microscopy, we determined that chondrocytes of male mice had elevated levels of superoxide compared to female mice. Only male mice demonstrated a condyle effect, with greater superoxide levels in the medial condyles, whereas female mice showed a genotype effect, whereby integrin a1b1 restricted superoxide abundance. Inhibition of EGFR with erlotinib dampened superoxide levels in the medial condyles of male mice but exacerbated superoxide abundance in wild-type female mice. These findings indicate a need for the consideration of sex and compartment when assessing cell signalling in cartilage.
Big data application in tourism – the case of Hong Kong

: This paper attempted to review how effective tourism entities are utilizing data especially big data collected from social media for their decisions, and reveal some of the perceived barriers in practical utilizations. The study adapted case study as its methodological design and make use of Hong Kong as the subject for investigation. Data and method triangulation will be used to ensure validity and objectivity.
Identifying the combined effect of shared autonomous vehicles and congestion pricing on regional job accessibility

Most of the existing research on shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) and road congestion pricing have studied the short-term impact on traffic flow. These types of studies focused on the influences on mobility and ignored the long-term impacts on regional job accessibility. Given this, from the perspective of land use and transportation integration, this study explored the long-term effects of SAVs and cordon-based congestion pricing on regional land use, transportation, and job accessibility. The contributions of this study have been summarized by the following three purposes. First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study was the first attempt to identify the long-term impact of the combination of these two technologies on regional job accessibility. Second, compared to the previous research methodology, this study adopted the land use and transportation integrated model (TRANUS model) and scenario planning to ensure the comprehensiveness and validity of the results. Third, this study analyzed the spatial heterogeneity of the impact of the combination of the two technologies on regional job accessibility in different areas with different built-environment attributes. To realize this purpose, this study quantitatively classified traffic analysis zones (TAZs) using data mining technology, i.e., factor analysis and clustering analysis. Results showed that the introduction of SAVs will contribute to job and population development in the charging zone and reduce the negative effect of road congestion pricing. From the perspective of reducing the average travel time between TAZs, the best strategy will be to implement SAVs alone, followed by integrated use of SAVs and road congestion pricing, while the worst strategy will be to implement the cordon-based congestion pricing policy alone. By comparison, from the perspective of improving regional job accessibility, the effect of introducing SAVs was better than that of road congestion pricing, while the combination of these two technologies was not superior to implementing SAVs alone.
IMPROVED PRECISION ORBIT DETERMINATION OF LUNAR ORBITERS FROM THE GRAIL- DERIVED LUNAR GRAVITY MODELS

DERIVED LUNAR GRAVITY MODELS. S. Goossens, E. Mazarico, F.G. Lemoine, D.D. Rowlands, G.A. Neumann, M.H. Torrence, D.E. Smith, M.T. Zuber. CRESST, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore MD 21250 (sander.j.goossens@nasa.gov), NASA GSFC, Code 698, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt MD 20771, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT 54-314, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA 02139, Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, 7701 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20770
Putting Einstein to test Astrometric experiments in fundamental physics

In classical Astronomy, the main goal of Astrometry was the determination of an inertial frame of reference, which, in modern language, can be intended as an experiment of fundamental physics. In relativistic physics the concept of an absolute inertial frame of reference cannot hold anymore, nonetheless Astrometry retains its role as an experimental counterpart of fundamental physics. Modern high-precision astrometry, in fact, must be formulated on the theoretical background of relativistic physics and of a relativistic theory of measure. On the other side, it can be used to put to test several topics involved in the quest among the different theories of gravity. This talk will try to give a brief overview on the connections between some of these topics and their formulation as an astrometric experiment.
GEOL 332 Lab 10 Turbidite Correlation 2

We will learn:  How to interpret core geophysical data from turbidite stratigraphy  How to correlate trends in geophysical data Core samples are collected on land and at sea by the hydrocarbon, mining and construction industries, as well as by the military and by paleoseismologists. For academia they are now an essential part of climatic research. The cores come as soft sediment encased in plastic sleeves. They can yield information about the properties of rock or sedimentary strata. These geophysical properties can be used as proxies for different parameter that might be useful for industry. The hydrocarbon industry, for example, needs accurate data on the porosity, grain size, and correlation parameters to surrounding geology, whereas the construction industry and the military may be interested in geotechnical properties such as P‐wave velocities, density and water content. The range of parameters that can be measured includes P‐wave velocity, gamma density, magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, color line‐scan imaging, X‐ray fluorescence, color spectrophotometry, and natural gamma spectrometry. Sediment cores may also be analyzed using Computed Tomographic X‐Rays, resulting in CT‐scans (3‐D X‐Rays). Line‐scans of the CT data can provide an independent view of density. Core data can be correlated by looking for matching sequences in these parameters (Figure 1). Figure 2 shows the region from where the cores in Figure 1 were collected.
Mean, Variability, and Trend of Southern Ocean Wind Stress: Role of Wind Fluctuations

The Southern Ocean (SO) surface westerly wind stress plays a fundamental role in driving the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the global meridional overturning circulation. Here, the authors investigate the contributions of atmospheric wind fluctuations to the mean, variability, and trend of SO wind stress over the last four decades using NCEP reanalysis and ERA-Interim products. Including wind variability at synoptic frequencies (2–8 days) and higher in the stress calculation is found to increase the strength of the mean SO wind stress by almost 40% in both reanalysis products. The southern annularmode index is found to be a good indicator for the strength of the mean wind and mean wind stress, but not as good an indicator for wind fluctuations, at least for the chosen study period. Large discrepancies between reanalysis products emerge regarding the contributions of wind fluctuations to the strengthening trend of SO wind stress. Between onethird and one-half of the stress trend in NCEP can be explained by the increase in the intensity of wind fluctuations, while the stress trend in ERA-Interim is due entirely to the increasing strength of the mean westerly wind. This trend discrepancy may have important climatic implications since the sensitivity of SO circulation to wind stress changes depends strongly on how these stress changes are brought about. Given the important role of wind fluctuations in shaping the SO wind stress, studies of the SO response to wind stress changes need to account for changes of wind fluctuations in the past and future.
Update on BOMBOLO: a 3-arm, wide-field, near-UV/optical imager for the 4-meter SOAR telescope

BOMBOLO is our instrument proposal for covering a series of scientific cases, in the not-so-explored time window of tens of seconds to minutes exposures, to be installed at the SOAR observatory. BOMBOLO is a wide field imager, capable of simultaneous, synchronous and independent observations in three different bands of the near-UV and visible wavelengths. BOMBOLO will be located at one of the Bent Cassegrain focal stations. Given its length, weight and mounting limitations, we discuss the current mechanical and opto-mechanical design of the instrument, given flexures caused by a changing gravity vector. In order to validate our designs, a Monte-Carlo simulation is used to explore different observing conditions, as the starting point for static and dynamic studies of the structure using Finite Element Analysis tools. A quick update on the current state of the instrument related to the optical design and manufacturing as well as the CCD cameras is included.
Zeolite alleviates physiological and defense responses in drought stressed carrot (Daucus carota L.)

Drought stress is one of the main restrictions in plant production in arid and semi-arid regions. Addition of superabsorbent agents that maintain water in the soil, is among strategies to cope with drought stress. Therefore, in order to investigate the effect of zeolite superabsorbent on the physiological properties of carrot plants, the experiment was carried out as a factorial in a completely randomized blocks design. The factors were zeolite (0, 2.5 and 5% of soil) and irrigation regime (25, 50, 75 and 100% of the field capacity). The results indicated that the highest total phenol was related to 2.5% zeolite treatment with 75% of field capacity irrigation. The highest amounts of carotenoids, chlorophyll a, total chlorophyll and carbohydrate belonged to 5% zeolite treatment with 25% of field capacity irrigation. The highest levels of chlorophyll b and anthocyanin were related to 5% zeolite treatment with 75 and 50% of field capacity, respectively. In conclusion, the application of zeolite in combination with soil, maintained the plant moisture in drought stress conditions and, under 25 and 50% of field capacity the application of 5 % zeolite, improved the physiological capacity of carrots.
From partial to full strain partitioning along the Indo-Burmese hyper-oblique subduction

The Andaman–Nicobar Trench and its onshore prolongation—the Indo-Burmese wedge—is the least studied segment of the India–Australia subduction. New offshore geological and geophysical data have recently been collected along the Burma scarp during a marine survey conducted with the R/V Marion Dufresne (Andaman Cruise). Swath bathymetric mapping combined with shallow and deep seismic show that the dominant active tectonics is dextral strike-slip faulting accompanied by various amounts of shortening. The southern portion of the Burma scarp is transpressive (north Andaman Islands), the central portion is pure strike-slip on NNE-oriented segments (southern Myanmar), the northern portion shows sedimentary wedge growth along NW segments, both onshore and offshore (Arakan Yoma prism). Further north, the wedge bends to the west, while dextral shear faults more or less parallel to the Sagaing Fault develop within the internal part of the wedge and elongated NS folds form in its external part, abutting onto the Shillong Plateau. We propose a simple kinematic model involving evolution from partial to full partitioning from south to north along the West Burma Scarp (WBS), and we test it quantitatively using the most recent geodetic results. In the south, half of the 3.5 cm/year of India motion is taken at the trench itself, the other half being accommodated onto a single shear fault, the Sagaing Fault in Myanmar. In the north, where the Bangladesh fold system developed, dextral strike-slip faults are activated within the Arakan Yoma belt and at the accretionary prism–backstop contact, resulting in full partitioning there. Faults accommodating the oblique component of motion of India are progressively migrating in space from far field faults (Andaman–Sagaing) to near trench faults (Arakan Yoma belt and trench itself), the Burma sliver being ‘‘buttressed’’ by the Eastern Himalayas. This kinematic extends back to 4 Ma, which is the time of initiation of the last pulse of oceanic accretion in the Andaman Basin. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Morphology and osteometry of femur of rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta)

This study was conducted to elucidate the gross morphological and osteometrical features of the femur of rhesus monkey. The shaft was cylindrical and curved cranially. The caudal surface was concave and presented a rough area, facies aspera, which extended from the level of lesser trochanter to the nutrient foramen. The foramen index (FI) of left femur bone was 67.14 indicating its position at distal 3rd of the caudal surface of the shaft. Nutrient foramen was not seen on any of the surfaces of shaft of right femur bone. Supra-condyloid fossa was shallow. The medial supra-condyloid crest was more prominent than the lateral one. The left femur (21.00 cm) was longer than the right (19.00 cm) one. The proximal extremity was comprised of head, neck, greater trochanter, lesser trochanter, trochanteric ridge and deep trochanter fossa. Head was circular in outline with distinct deep fovea capitis which was elongated oval. The greater trochanter was undivided and above the level of the head. Lesser trochanter was in the form of a tuberosity. Trochanteric ridge was well developed. Trochanter fossa was deep and extensive. The distal extremity consisted of trochlea in front and condyles behind. Trochlea consisted of two unequal ridges, lateral and medial. Lateral ridge was more pronounced than the medial ridge. Caudally, medial and lateral condyles were separated by deep inter-condyloid fossa. Medial condyle was larger than the lateral one.
EMBEDDED FIBRE OPTIC TECHNIQUES FOR PRIMARY STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS: STRAIN AND TEMPERATURE MONITORING

The interest of the aerospace industry for Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors based monitoring systems is continuously increasing. Among the open issues, the need to discriminate the contribution of temperature and strain over FBG measurements has promoted the development of techniques for the decoupling of the optical signal. This paper shows the experimental activities performed to develop and implement two different techniques based on capillary tubes for embedded monitoring systems of composite structures.
Mobile Doppler LiDAR Observations of the Convective Boundary Layer Over California

MOBILE DOPPLER LIDAR OBSERVATIONS OF THE CONVECTIVE BOUNDARY LAYER OVER CALIFORNIA By Christopher P. Camacho A series of transects using a truck-mounted Doppler LiDAR were conducted to obtain mobile vertical profiles of the backscatter intensity and radial velocity across California. Using the backscatter and velocity profiles, several techniques were used to estimate the depth of the convective boundary layer (CBL). The CBL was estimated from the backscatter profiles using three analyses: (1) the Haar wavelet covariance, (2) the variance, (3) the gradient. These analyses were compared to vertical velocity variance, which uses a specified threshold (0.15 m2 s-2) to determine CBL height. The accuracy of the backscatter analyses was heavily dependent on strong aerosol loading near the surface and clean air in the free-atmosphere. The accuracy of the vertical velocity variance was dependent on the variance threshold, and underestimated the CBL depth in conditions with weak vertical motions. The backscatter analyses tended to yield deeper CBL estimates on the order of 100 m compared to the vertical velocity variance analysis. Vertical velocity skewness and variance profiles differ between stationary and mobile observations, with variance profiles decreasing with height in cross-California transects. The Haar wavelet and vertical velocity variance techniques were applied to a transect with heavy smoke-aerosol loading emitted from a nearby wildfire. Observations show weak vertical mixing in regions with heavy smoke, along with suppressed CBL heights.
Effects of the High-Order Ionospheric Delay on GPS-Based Tropospheric Parameter Estimations in Turkey

The tropospheric delay and gradients can be estimated using Global Positioning System (GPS) observations after removing the ionospheric delay, which has been widely used for atmospheric studies and forecasting. However, high-order ionospheric (HOI) delays are generally ignored in GPS processing to estimate atmospheric parameters. In this study, HOI effects on GPS-estimated tropospheric delay and gradients are investigated from two weeks of GPS data in June 2011 at selected GPS stations in Turkey. Results show that HOI effects are up to 6 mm on zenith tropospheric delay (ZTD), 4 mm on the North-South (NS) gradient and 12 mm on the East-West (EW) gradient during this period, but can reach over 30 mm in slant tropospheric delays. Furthermore, the HOI effects on tropospheric delay and gradient are larger in the daytime than the nighttime. Furthermore, HOI effects on tropospheric delay are further investigated on low and high solar activity days. The HOI effects on GPS estimated tropospheric delay and gradients in high solar activity days are higher than those in low solar activity days.
Depth Reconstruction from Stereo Image Pairs

Depth information is a kind of important 3D information, and two images are the minimum requirement that we can obtain unambiguous depth information. So we work on the problem of depth reconstruction from stereo image pairs. We start from adopting sequence alignment algorithm to compute disparity, based on the similarity scores computed by mc-cnn [9]. According to our initial results, this pipeline does not work well compared with other mature pipelines, and the sequence alignment is prone to error. So we reimplement the state-of-the-art GC-Net [2], which regresses disparity in an end-to-end way. Experimental results reveal that, when training with groundtruth disparity masks, the model is prone to predict very blurry disparity maps, it works better when training without the masks. Our source codes reside in this repository: https://github.com/laoreja/ CS231A-project-stereo-matching .
Bird species richness, evenness and habitat management around airports: a case study of Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad, Pakistan

Birds in the vicinity of airports pose threat to the aircraft. These collisions may result in huge economic losses and is also compromise passenger’s safety. Identification of potential hazardous species, present at and in the vicinity of any airfield, is vital to improve bird hazard management at the airfields. Data of bird species present in the vicinity of BBI airport were collected by using point count method from eight different sites, representing different habitats, located around the airfield of the Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad. These sites represented commercial area around hotels, commercial habitat, naturally preserved recreational area, buildings with old pine trees, a water body, a sports ground, a landfill site, and a modern housing society. Data were analyzed for species density and relative abundance in each habitat, using the Simpson biodiversity index, Margalef diversity index, and clustering methods. Mean bird density in the area was found to be 0.0013 bird/m. Highest bird density was found to be of crow followed by kites and house martin as 0.0068, 0.00269 and 0.00206 birds/m respectively. K-dominance species abundance model reflected the presence of kite as dominant species. Mean Simpson diversity index of 1.91 indicated the richness and evenness of species. Similarity index was found to be maximum to a value of 80.81 percent at commercial sites and lowest at modern housing society. Results of the study revealed that different habitats around the airport supported different species, thus, in order to formulate effective management plan for the airfields, species identification, richness, evenness and bird behavior should also be taken into consideration.
Spatio-temporal patterns based on demographic and genetic diversity of the purple sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus in the area around Corsica (Mediterranean Sea)

Sea urchins were harvested for decades in many areas throughout its distribution range, potentially leading to population collapse. In France, the purple sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus is intensively harvested. Yet, the demography and population dynamics remained under-documented, particularly in Corsica. In this context, we have characterized the fluctuations in density of several size classes at 8 sites around the island, and assessed the genetic diversity and structuring of the population. Densities recorded lie between 0 and 2.18 (± 0.41) individuals.m-2 and spatio-temporal variabilities have also been highlighted. The study of the influence of vegetation cover on the size classes suggests that small- and medium- sized individuals prefer substrates of intermediate heights, whereas individuals with a diameter ≥ 5 cm are more often observed on encrusting substrates, and may be responsible for the continuation of this type of benthic community. The genetic study indicates a high genetic diversity with a low genetic structuring. The Ne values obtained are similar to those described in previous papers. Due to estimates of local contemporary Ne and the homogeneous genetic diversity, our data tend to show that the Corsican population of P. lividus is not overexploited.
Host food preference, screening and phylogenetic analysis of Wolbachia in Myzus persicae populations

Myzus persicae (Hemiptera, Aphididae) is a widely distributed, devastating and global sap-sucking crop pest with the diversity of host plants and scratched billions of dollars economically. Wolbachia is a widespread endosymbiotic bacteria and the present study was carried out for the first time to determine the phylogenetic relationship erected on mitochondrial (COI) gene in aphid populations. The screening of Wolbachia was surveyed by wsp general primers in M. persicae populations. Ten food plants were selected to study the food preference of the host M. persicae populations in greenhouse conditions and artificial diets for lab rearing. M. persicae samples were collected from fifteen geographically distant localities of Pakistan. Eggplant and cabbage revealed significantly higher inclinations as compared to other host plants (cauliflower, tomato, sweet potato, Lettuce, broccoli, burdock) whereas carrot and papaya were less preferred by M. persicae. Comparison between natural and artificial diets exhibited maximum populations in natural diets in greenhouse conditions as compared to artificial diets in lab conditions except for June and July. Screening of Wolbachia using PCR markers revealed positive amplicons in M. Persicae. The infection rate persisted (Punjab 16.29%, Khaber Pakhtunkhawa 6.66% and Sindh 8.88 %) conferred by quantitative PCR analysis. Retrieved sequences through mitochondrial COI gene were deposited in gene bank (accession numbers KY509874 and KY522912). The scrutinized dataset depicted the genetic variation of M. persicae populations. Wolbachia is a conjoint and rampant throng of the endosymbiotic microbe and may be acknowledged as a possible means for aphid pest management programs.