Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An alternative astronomical calibration of the lower Pleistocene timescale based on ODP Site 677

ABSTRACT Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 677 provided excellent material for high resolution stable isotope analysis of both benthonic and planktonic foraminifera through the entire Pleistocene and upper Pliocene. The oxygen isotope record is readily correlated with the SPECMAP stack (Imbrie et al. 1984) and with the record from DSDP 607 (Ruddiman et al. 1986) but a significantly better match with orbital models is obtained by departing from the timescale proposed by these authors below Stage 16 (620 000 years). It is the stronger contribution from the precession signal in the record from ODP Site 677 that provides the basis for the revised timescale. Our proposed modification to the timescale would imply that the currently adopted radiometric dates for the Matuyama–Brunhes boundary, the Jaramillo and Olduvai Subchrons and the Gauss–Matuyama boundary underestimate their true astronomical ages by between 5 and 7%.
A Process-Based Soil Erosion Model for USDA-Water Erosion Prediction Project Technology

ABSTRACT Amodel was developed for estimating soil erosion by water on hillslopes for use in new USDA erosion prediction technology. Detachment, transport, and deposition processes were represented. The model uses a steady-state sediment continuity equation for predicting rill and interrill processes. Net detachment in rills is considered to occur when the hydraulic shear stress of flow exceeds the critical shear stress of the soil and when sediment load in a rill is less than the sediment transport capacity. Net deposition is calculated when the sediment load is greater than the transport capacity. Rill detachment rate is dependent upon the ratio of sediment load to transport capacity, rill erodibility, hydraulic shear stress, surface cover, below ground residue, and consolidation. Rill hydraulics are used to calculate shear stresses and a simplified transport equation, calibrated with the Yalin transport equation, is used to compute transport capacity in rills. Interrill erosion is represented as a function of rainfall intensity, residue cover, canopy cover, and interrill soil erodibility. The model has capabilities for estimating spatial distributions of net soil loss and is designed to accommodate spatial variability in topography, surface roughness, soil properties, hydrology, and land use conditions on hillslopes.
Thermal structure and tectonic evolution of the Scandian orogenic wedge, Scottish Caledonides: integrating geothermometry, deformation temperatures and conceptual kinematic‐thermal models

In the Caledonides of northwest Scotland, two independent geothermometers (Fe‐Mg exchange and quartz c‐axis fabric opening angle) are used to characterize the thermal structure of the lower part of the Scandian (435–420 Ma) orogenic wedge within the Moine, Ben Hope and Naver‐Sgurr Beag thrust sheets. Traced from west (foreland) to east (hinterland), Fe‐Mg exchange thermometry yields peak or near‐peak temperatures ranging from 484 ± 50 °C to 524 ± 50 °C in the immediate hangingwall of the Moine thrust to 601 ± 50 °C in the immediate hangingwall of the Ben Hope thrust, to 630 ± 50 °C in the Naver thrust sheet. Preserved metamorphic facies and textural relationships are consistent with thermometric estimates. Deformation temperatures calculated from quartz c‐axis fabric opening angles across two similar orogen‐perpendicular transects also yield systematic increases (Glen Golly – Ben Klibreck, 520–630 °C; Ullapool‐Contin, 465–632 °C) traced towards the Naver and Sgurr Beag thrusts. In addition, deformation temperatures show a pronounced increase along the leading edge of the Moine thrust sheet moving south towards the Assynt window, which is interpreted to reflect deeper exhumation of the thrust plane above the Assynt footwall imbricate stack. Because temperatures calculated from metamorphic assemblages are within error of the quartz fabric‐derived deformation temperatures that are of demonstrably Scandian age, the metamorphic sequence between the Moine and Naver‐Sgurr Beag thrusts is interpreted to have developed during the Scandian orogeny. Integration of our results with previous 2D thermal‐mechanical studies allows development of new conceptual thermal‐kinematic models of Scandian orogenesis that may be broadly applicable to other collisional systems. Furthermore, it highlights the critical nature of coupling between orogen kinematic and thermal evolution.
Are measurements from excised leaves suitable for modeling diurnal patterns of gas exchange of intact leaves?

To examine the feasibility of using ecophysiological data from excised leaves for a meteorological simulation model of gas exchange, we compared the obtained gas exchange rates and the modelled ones using excised leaves and those using intact leaves. Instantaneous gas exchange rates of excised leaves and stomatal control in response to environmental conditions were not significantly different from those of attached leaves. Modelled gas exchange rates based on excised leaf data showed a good fit to the diurnal patterns of in situ measurements. This suggests that use of excised leaf data to predict gas exchange of intact leaves is permissible as long as the effects of excision are pre‐screened as described in this paper. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Source and Qp parameters from pulse width inversion of microearthquake data in southeastern Sicily, Italy

[1] Source and Qp parameters were estimated from the inversion of first arrival P waveform durations of about 300 microearthquakes recorded at a digital seismic network operating in southeastern Sicily. The average risetime and pulse width at each station do not show large differences, allowing us to exclude significant differential attenuation site effects. A first Qp estimate was obtained by applying the classical risetime method, under the assumption of a point-like source time function. In order to investigate the effect of directivity due to the finiteness of seismic sources, new nonlinear relationships, based on a circular crack model rupturing at a constant velocity, were numerically built. These relationships were used to formulate a nonlinear inverse method for retrieving source (radius, dip, and strike of the circular crack) and Qp parameters from the inversion of risetime and pulse width data. The application of the method produced a better fit of the observed data and a Qp value higher than that obtained by applying the risetime method. The discrepancy between the different Q estimates may be due to a trade-off among source dimension and Qp, as we inferred from a test on a subset of low-magnitude events (Ml ≤ 2.5). A good agreement with independent estimates of fault plane solutions, as inferred from P polarities and S polarizations, was found. The estimated stress drops are generally very low (0.1–10 bars). This suggests that the background seismic activity in southeastern Sicily is related to fault segments and/or weakened zones where great stress accumulations are hindered.
Images Lost: Persian > English Simultaneous Interpreters Tackling Non-Literal Language

This study explores the challenges simultaneous interpreters face when coming across non-literal language in the source utterance, such as metaphors, metonymies, and idioms. Non-literal language adds imagery to communication but seems to pose difficulties in the interpreting process due to its figurative nature. Simultaneous interpreters must navigate cultural differences and find appropriate equivalents while remaining agile with their cognitive capabilities in order to accurately convey the non-literal meaning into the target language in real-time. Simultaneous interpreters must analyze and interpret the utterance quickly while maintaining the production flow. Keeping track of the source utterance while taking care of the images getting transferred into the target production is not an easy task, for the fact that, according to Gile’s effort model (Gile 1992), a simultaneous interpreter is already putting different required efforts in work, let alone rendering figurative items. Through this study, it appeared that non-literal items in language are not totally transferred into the target language; 95 non-literal items were extracted from 113 minutes of simultaneously interpreted UN political speeches, out of which 32% were replaced with their literal counterparts, added up with 16% being directly skipped, 9% of the items being unreplaced metonymies, and 10% of the items transferred while modified with a different image in the target production. Results in total, consist of 67% (almost two-thirds) of the items got lost or were thoroughly modified leaving only 33% (roughly one-third) of the non-literal items being transferred intact, which itself is a question raising phenomenon and evidence of problem triggering situations in the process of interpreting.
Research on Lightweighting and Rendering Optimization Techniques for Building Information Models

Traditional Building Information Modeling (BIM) services, using a client-server (C/S) architecture, struggle to adapt to the new demands and changes in the field of architectural informatization. The development of a comprehensive BIM visualization system, which is web-based, requires no installation or downloading, is cross-platform, and facilitates easy sharing, has become a new pathway for BIM advancement. However, when rendering the vast amount of data in BIM three-dimensional scenes on the web, several issues persist, including low transmission efficiency, slow loading speed, laggy screen display, and low rendering frame rates, particularly on mobile devices and terminals with limited hardware performance. Therefore, this paper proposes BIM lightweighting techniques based on geometric data and texture information, as well as a web-based rendering optimization method for three-dimensional models. In terms of BIM lightweighting, more efficient methods and algorithms are employed to simultaneously lighten the geometric data and texture information of the models. For rendering optimization, an efficient view frustum culling algorithm is introduced, along with a design for an adaptive rendering strategy to enhance rendering performance.Through testing the loading efficiency of different scale BIM models before and after optimization was tested on the web. Results show that, while maintaining display accuracy, the average loading time of the optimized models was reduced by 40% compared to the unoptimized models. The average data compression rate reached 45%, and the average memory usage decreased by 32.55%. After stable rendering, the frame rate was close to 60fps.
Estimating trends and seasonality in Australian monthly lightning flash counts

We present the results of a statistical analysis of lightning characteristics in mainland Australia for the period from approximately 1988 to 2012, based on monthly lightning flash count (LFC) series obtained from a network of 19 Comité Internationale des Grands Réseaux Electriques, 500 Hz peak transmission filter circuit sensors. The temporal structures of the series are examined in terms of detecting and characterizing seasonal cycles, long‐term trends, and changes in seasonality over time. A generalized additive modeling approach is used to ensure that the estimated structures are determined by the data, rather than by the constraints of any assumed mathematical form for the trends and seasonal cycle. Results indicate strong seasonality at all sites, the presence of long‐term trends at 16 sites, and interactions between trend and seasonality (corresponding to changes in seasonality over time) at 13 sites. The most systematic change corresponds to a progressive deepening of the seasonal cycle (i.e., an ongoing decline in winter lightning flash counts) and is most noticeable across southern Australia (south of 30°S). These results are consistent with previous analyses that have detected decreasing atmospheric instability during the austral winter since the mid‐1970s. This is associated with increasing mean sea level pressure and declining rainfall.
Sleep Architecture and Sleep EEG Alterations are Associated with Impaired Cognition Under Sleep Restriction

Purpose Many studies have investigated the cognitive, emotional, and other impairments caused by sleep restriction. However, few studies have explored the relationship between cognitive performance and changes in sleep structure and electroencephalography (EEG) during sleep. The present study aimed to examine whether changes in sleep structure and EEG can account for cognitive impairment caused by sleep restriction. Patients and Methods Sixteen young adults spent five consecutive nights (adaptation 9h, baseline 8h, 1st restriction 6h, 2nd restriction 6h, and recovery 10h) in a sleep laboratory, with polysomnography recordings taken during sleep. Throughout waking periods in each condition, participants completed the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT), which measures vigilant attention, and the Go/No-Go task, which measures inhibition control. Results The results showed that sleep restriction significantly decreased the proportion of N1 and N2 sleep, increased the proportion of N3 sleep, and reduced the time spent awake after sleep onset (WASO) and sleep onset latency. Poorer performance on the PVT and Go/No Go task was associated with longer WASO, a larger proportion of N3 sleep, and a smaller proportion of N2 sleep. Additionally, the power spectral density of delta waves significantly increased after sleep restriction, and this increase predicted a decrease in vigilance and inhibition control the next day. Conclusion These findings suggest that sleep architecture and EEG signatures may partially explain cognitive impairment caused by sleep restriction.
Kinematics Model Estimation of 4W Skid-Steering Mobile Robots Using Visual Terrain Classification

Accurate real-time kinematics model is very important for the control of a skid-steering mobile robot. In this study, the kinematics model of the skid-steering mobile robots was first designed based on instantaneous rotation centers (ICRs). Then, the extended Kalman filter (EKF) technique was applied to obtain the parameters of ICRs under the same specific terrain online. To adapt to different terrain environments, the fractal dimension-based SFTA (segmentation-based fractal texture analysis) method was used to extract features of different terrains, and the k-nearest neighbor (KNN) method was used to classify the terrains. In the case of real-time terrain recognition, the filter parameters of the EKF for estimating the ICRs are adjusted adaptively. Experiments on a real skid-steering mobile robot show that this method can quickly estimate the kinematics model of the robot in the case of terrain changes, and can meet the needs of practical applications. The average error of odometer estimation based on visual terrain classification is 0.06 m, while the average error of odometer estimation without terrain classification is 0.14 m.
Global correlation of Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) sequences: Evidence for Milankovitch control on sea level

We have investigated the sequence stratigraphy of two widely separated marine Cenomanian successions in southeast India and northwest Europe, and used high-resolution ammonite biostratigraphy to demonstrate that sea-level changes are globally synchronous and therefore must be eustatically controlled. Sequence-scale sea-level changes in the Cenomanian were driven by the long eccentricity cycle (400 k.y.) in the Milankovitch band. We hypothesize that, during pre-Quaternary time, the third-order sequences of Vail and Haq are essentially a sediment response to sea-level changes driven by the 400 k.y. cycle. Construction of a relative sea-level curve for the marginal marine succession in India demonstrates that the short-term sea-level changes are rapid (10-100 m/m.y.) and have a magnitude of 2-20 m. Glacioeustasy is a possible but unproven driving mechanism.
Trade Opening and The Real Effective Exchange Rate of the RMB

This paper uses the Redux model and shows that the fluctuation of the RMB under certain fluctuations; then analyzes the effect of the fluctuation of the RMB on the actual effective exchange rate. The study found that trade opening can reduce the fluctuation of the real effective exchange rate of the RMB; the rationalization of industrial structure can also enhance trade opening and restrain the real effective exchange rate fluctuation of the RMB. Meanwhile, the "Belt and Road" initiative intensifies the real effective exchange rate fluctuation of the RMB, possibly due to the change of the "Belt and Road" initiative and implementation in the total industrial structure of import and export. Therefore, all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) should increase basic research such as science and technology, promote the rationalization of industrial structure, and make the help of the good opportunity of the "Belt and Road" initiative to reduce the real effective exchange rate fluctuations of RMB.
Completeness of intervention description in invasive cardiology trials: an observational study of ClinicalTrials.gov registry and corresponding publications

Introduction Non-pharmacological invasive interventions in cardiology are complex and often inadequately reported. Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist and guide were developed to aid reporting and assessment of non-pharmacological interventions. The aim of our study was to assess the completeness of describing invasive cardiology interventions in clinical trials at the level of trial registration and corresponding journal article publication. Methodology We searched for clinical trials in invasive cardiology registered in Clinicaltrials.gov and corresponding journal publications. We used the 10-item TIDieR checklist for registries and 12-item checklist for journal publications. Results Out of 7,017 registry items retrieved by our search, 301 items were included in the analysis. The search for corresponding published articles yielded 192 journal publications. The majority of trials were funded by the industry and were medical device trials. The median number of reported TIDieR items was 4.5 (95% CI 4.49–4.51) out of 10, and while the corresponding journal articles reported 6.5 (95% CI 6.0–6.5) out of 12 TIDieR items. Conclusion Registration and reporting of invasive cardiology trials is often incomplete and adequate detailed description of the interventions is not provided. TIDieR checklist is an important tool which should be used to ensure rigorous reporting of non-pharmacological interventions in cardiology.
Apollo 17 KREEPy basalts - Evidence for nonuniformity of KREEP

Breccia 72275 contains pristine KREEPy basalt clasts that are not found among other samples collected at Apollo 17. These basalts occur as discrete clasts and as clasts enclosed within basaltic microbreccias. Mineral and whole-rock chemical analyses reveal that the microbreccias are compositionally indistinguishable from the basalt clasts. Samples of the 72275 matrix also have the same compositions as the basalts and the basaltic microbreccias. 72275 was assembled in situ from a single flow or series of closely related flows of Apollo 17 KREEPy basalt before it was transported to the Apollo 17 site. As a rock type, Apollo 17 KREEPy basalts are distinct from Apollo 15 KREEP basalts. The Apollo 17 samples have lower REE concentrations, steeper negative slopes of the HREE, and are less magnesian than the Apollo 15 samples. The two basalt types cannot be related by fractional crystallization, partial melting, or assimilation. This is evidence for the compositional nonuniformity of KREEP as a function of geography.
Feasibility of Sequential and Coupled Inversion of Time Domain Reflectometry Data to Infer Soil Hydraulic Parameters under Falling Head Infiltration

Accurate estimation of soil hydraulic properties is a prerequisite for efficient soil and water management. On a small scale, time domain reflectometry (TDR) measurements obtained during an infiltration event can be used for estimating soil hydraulic properties either using a sequential or a coupled inversion approach. In the traditional sequential approach, the TDR measurements are inverted into water content averages based on travel time analysis and subsequently used for calibrating a hydrologic model. Travel time analysis has been reported to be subjective and difficult to use for analyzing TDR measurements obtained during infiltration. In this paper, we extend the sequential inversion approach by using water content profiles (WCPs) obtained via inverse modeling of TDR measurements and introduce a coupled inversion approach which directly uses the TDR measurements for constraining the inversion for hydraulic properties without first inverting them into WCPs or averages. By comparing the feasibility of these approaches to infer three Mualem-van Genuchten (MVG) hydraulic parameters (α, n, K s ) from TDR measurements obtained under falling head infiltration, we concluded that the coupled approach is more practical and less uncertain than the sequential approach. In particular, the coupled inversion approach allows to simultaneously monitorponding depth and water infiltration, which avoids the laborious task of manually measuring the ponding depths and can thus enable rapid estimation of the soil hydraulic parameters for multiple locations through automatic measurements of ponded infiltration for multiple rings through TDR multiplexing.
Purposeful Language Assessment: Selecting the Right Alternative Test

This paper examines Purposeful Language Assessment: Selecting the Right Alternative Test. This paper reviews literature and gives a scholarly back-ground to the paper by reviewing some contributions made by various researchers and institutions on testing in English language instruction particularly its usage in language testing. It unveils some views that people and institutions have shared globally on the assessment in English language instruction in education through surveys and other observations. The paper discusses the function of assessment, self-assessment, alternative assessment, and assessing young learners. The major conclusion of the study is that language skills are major aspect of the English language teaching, as it helps learners' understanding of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Hence, attention should be given to its teaching and consequently proper evaluation of its various items. The paper then recommends that language teachers should pay more attention to the careful construction of the test items and phrase each item clearly so that students know exactly what they are requested to do.
When questions guide the work: Voices of passionate teachers

This study describes what the graduates of a teacher educator program continue to apply in their classrooms and schools up to fifteen years after they began teaching. The data for this study included focus group notes, interview notes, and questionnaire responses. Teacher educators analyzed the data in order to explore their inquiry about how the educator preparation program had impacted and continued to impact graduates. The voices of the graduates highlighted ways they continued to apply foundational ideas from the program in their classrooms.