Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A global analysis on the view‐angle dependence of plane‐parallel oceanic liquid water cloud optical thickness using data synergy from MISR and MODIS

We examine the viewing zenith angle dependent bias (VZA bias) in warm cloud optical thickness (τ) retrieved from a plane‐parallel approach applied to fused Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multi‐angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) data for the months of January and July between 2001 and 2008. The near‐simultaneous multiple view‐angle observations from MISR offers many advantages over previous τ‐VZA bias studies: 1) The analysis no longer requires seasonal and latitudinal cloud invariant assumptions, 2) consistent cloudy scene identification with VZA, 3) stratification of VZA‐bias with scene characteristics, and 4) a greater range of sun‐view geometries. Contrasting results between previous studies are resolved through careful consideration of the relative azimuth angle (RAZ) between sun and view. Relative to nadir‐retrieved τ, τ increases in both forward‐ and backscatter directions with higher value in backscatter directions for solar zenith angle (SZA) < ~40°. For SZA > ~40°, τ increases with increasing VZA in backscatter directions and strongly decreases in forward‐scatter directions. For the most oblique views, ~40–100% absolute monthly mean differences relative to nadir‐retrieved τ is common. This behavior is strongly tied to the sampled RAZ and explained based on three factors tied to the spatial heterogeneity of clouds. These factors also explain the behavior of the τ‐VZA bias when stratified by nadir‐retrieved τ and spatial heterogeneity, even in the thin‐cloud limit where sun‐glint effects are evident. We also observe an underestimation of τ relative to nadir in the rainbow‐scattering directions and attribute it to an overestimation of the cloud‐drop effective radius retrieved from MODIS due to cloud heterogeneity. There remains a need to quantify the bias in nadir‐retrieved τ as a function of SZA and spatial heterogeneity as a step toward providing bias correction over a wide range of sun‐view geometries.
Third Culture Kids: Implications for Professional School Counseling

The increase of international business, military placements, and immigration has led to an increase in students attending schools in a country other than where they were born: third culture kids (TCKs). TCKs have unique educational needs, necessitating the support of their school counselors. This article (a) defines and introduces the needs and characteristics of TCKs, (b) reviews interventions for school counselors working with TCKs during transitional stages, and (c) presents a case illustration of a middle school counselor employing the suggested strategies.
Assessment of physical activity in children and adolescents

The objectives of The Identification and Prevention of Dietary and Lifestyle Induced Health Effects in Children and Infants study (child sample) and the Kenya Adolescent Physical Activity study (adolescent sample) conducted in this thesis was firstly, to assess the impact of methodological and practical decisions such as the appropriate epoch length and cutpoints to use in accelerometry studies involving children and adolescents across the physical activity continuum and the reliability of these accelerometer outcomes in predicting habitual physical activity. Secondly, the performance of uniaxial ActiTrainer accelerometry with heart rate (HR) monitoring was compared to triaxial GT3X accelerometry against indirect calorimetry during structured activities in the predominantly active Kenyan adolescent cohort. Similarly, the performance of uniaxial ActiTrainer accelerometry with HR monitoring vs. triaxial 3DNX accelerometry was compared against DLW under free living conditions in both children and adolescent cohorts. Finally, the validated uniaxial ActiTrainer was used to assess the impact of physical activity and the environment on energy expenditure and indices of adiposity in the two cohorts. The main findings of the thesis were: (a) that 15 s epoch reports significantly higher engagement in physical activity compared to a 60 s epoch in both the children and adolescents cohorts (b) choice of cutpoints significantly affected classification of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in both cohorts (c) a minimum of 6 h for 7 - 9 days in the cohort involving children and a minimum of 6 h for 4 - 5 days in the adolescents were required to reliably measure physical activity (d) triaxial accelerometry reported better predictive validity compared to uniaxial accelerometry during structured activities. In addition, HR monitoring did not improve the predictive validity of either accelerometer during structured activities (e) during free living activities, however, uniaxial and triaxial accelerometry reported comparable predictive validity. The addition of HR monitoring improved the predictive validity of uniaxial accelerometry by approximately 4% in both cohorts (f) in both cohorts, total volume of physical activity and patterns (time engaged in light and moderate to vigorous physical activity) were significantly associated with energy expenditure (g) physical activity and sedentary behaviour were significantly related to indices of adiposity in both cohorts (h) the environment was a significant predictor of physical activity and indices of adiposity in the adolescents but not children. The findings of this thesis have important implications on strategies to standardise accelerometry field protocols and future studies on the validation of accelerometers and the association between physical activity, the environment and health.
New surface temperature analyses for climate monitoring

Global surface temperature is a critical measure of climate variation. Here the averages of a new surface‐temperature analysis are compared to an estimate of the global average which has been used for monitoring surface‐temperature variations at NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) since 1998. As a replacement to the existing method, this new analysis uses improved methods that provide error estimates as well as the ability to perform analyses on finer spatial scales. Comparisons show only minor global‐average differences, and the two estimates indicate essentially the same trend over the historical record, beginning in 1880. The two are most similar after about 1970, a period with a large change in the global‐average temperature. The uncertainty estimates computed here account for changes in sampling and for systematic bias uncertainties. The means of the different analyses generally fall within the uncertainty estimates. The uncertainty computed here indicates that anomalies in the 19th century may not be significant, but the 20th century trends are significant.
Automatic Detection and Classification of Epileptic Seizures from EEG Data: Finding Optimal Acquisition Settings and Testing Interpretable Machine Learning Approach

Deep learning (DL) is emerging as a successful technique for automatic detection and differentiation of spontaneous seizures that may otherwise be missed or misclassified. Herein, we propose a system architecture based on top-performing DL models for binary and multigroup classifications with the non-overlapping window technique, which we tested on the TUSZ dataset. The system accurately detects seizure episodes (87.7% Sn, 91.16% Sp) and carefully distinguishes eight seizure types (95–100% Acc). An increase in EEG sampling rate from 50 to 250 Hz boosted model performance: the precision of seizure detection rose by 5%, and seizure differentiation by 7%. A low sampling rate is a reasonable solution for training reliable models with EEG data. Decreasing the number of EEG electrodes from 21 to 8 did not affect seizure detection but worsened seizure differentiation significantly: 98.24 ± 0.17 vs. 85.14 ± 3.14% recall. In detecting epileptic episodes, all electrodes provided equally informative input, but in seizure differentiation, their informative value varied. We improved model explainability with interpretable ML. Activation maximization highlighted the presence of EEG patterns specific to eight seizure types. Cortical projection of epileptic sources depicted differences between generalized and focal seizures. Interpretable ML techniques confirmed that our system recognizes biologically meaningful features as indicators of epileptic activity in EEG.
ATOMIC LAYER

To solve the poor cyclability of faradic supercapacitors (SCs), the authors reported a unique porous carbon (PC) coating with “ gap shell ” structure on carbon ﬁ ber cloth (CFC)/NiS 2 materials. This gap shell PC coating was fabricated by combining atomic layer deposition (ALD) Al 2 O 3 and molecular layer deposition alucone, followed by carbonization and etching. The as-prepared CFC/NiS 2 /PC composites were directly used as binder-free electrodes for SCs. Bene ﬁ ted from its novel nanostructure, the CFC/NiS 2 /PC electrode shows a large speci ﬁ c capacitance of 1034.6 F/g at 1 A/g and considerable rate capability of 67% capacitance, retaining ratio within 1 – 20 A/g. The cyclability of the CFC/NiS 2 /PC electrode
Increased Sediment Loads in Alpine Streams: An Integrated Field Study

The ecological impact of fine sediments is one of the major causes of ecological degradation affecting lotic systems. Interestingly, many studies have investigated the impact of increased sediment loads on specific compartments of the lotic system, but little or no information is available about the overall impact of sedimentation. Aim of this paper was to analyse the influence of fine sedimentation on allochthonous and autochthonous energy inputs and on the structural and functional characteristics of diatom and macroinvertebrate communities. Data were collected in two Alpine streams in NW Italy, one interested by the presence of an intense mining area and the other pristine, used as a control. The two rivers greatly differed in terms of suspended solids and bed load characteristics. From 10 stations, we analysed main physico‐chemical characteristics, fine sediment indicators (using 60 sediment traps), coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) and photosynthetic pigments amounts, taxonomic and functional characteristics of macroinvertebrate communities. We tested several causal models via path analysis. Functional traits seem to better reflect the integrated impact originating from quarries in the river basin than traditional community metrics like total abundance and specific richness. This outcome was enforced through the co‐inertia analysis, which took in consideration also metrics based on diatom communities. Our study yielded quantitative relations between sediment loads induced by quarrying activities and the degree of biological impairment and suggests which metrics are more suitable to assess this specific impact. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Validation of Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) CO retrievals with aircraft in situ profiles

[1] Validation of the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) retrievals of carbon monoxide (CO) has been performed with a varied set of correlative data. These include in situ observations from a regular program of aircraft observations at five sites ranging from the Arctic to the tropical South Pacific Ocean. Additional in situ profiles are available from several short-term research campaigns situated over North and South America, Africa, and the North and South Pacific Oceans. These correlative measurements are a crucial component of the validation of the retrieved CO profiles and columns from MOPITT. The current validation results indicate good quantitative agreement between MOPITT and in situ profiles, with an average bias less than 20 ppbv at all levels. Comparisons with measurements that were timed to sample profiles coincident with MOPITT overpasses show much less variability in the biases than those made by various groups as part of research field experiments. The validation results vary somewhat with location, as well as a change in the bias between the Phase 1 and Phase 2 retrievals (before and after a change in the instrument configuration due to a cooler failure). During Phase 1, a positive bias is found in the lower troposphere at cleaner locations, such as over the Pacific Ocean, with smaller biases at continental sites. However, the Phase 2 CO retrievals show a negative bias at the Pacific Ocean sites. These validation comparisons provide critical assessments of the retrievals and will be used, in conjunction with ongoing improvements to the retrieval algorithms, to further reduce the retrieval biases in future data versions.
DETERMINATION OF BACTERIAL COMPOSITION, HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATION AND PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF FISH POND WATER IN ABOTHUGUCHI CENTRAL, MERU COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract. Laibu PK, Maingi J, Kebira A. 2018. Determination of bacterial composition, heavy metal contamination and physicochemical parameters of fish pond water in Abothuguchi Central, Meru County, Kenya. Bioteknologi 15: 66-79. Humans have consumed fish as a supplementary source of proteins and as a source of income. Because fish performs all their body functions in water, the quality of water is essential to their livelihood. Fish farmers have encountered losses due to the death and stunted growth of fish due to bacterial infections and diseases among other causes. Bacteria found in fish pond water and their pathogenic effects differ with the quality of the pond water along with the variation in the frequency with which water is changed in the ponds. Physico-chemical parameters of pond water and heavy metals influence the growth and productivity of fish. This study aimed at determining the contamination levels of both fecal and pathogenic bacteria namely Salmonella spp. , fecal Streptococcus, fecal coliforms Pseudomonas spp. , Vibrio cholerae and E. coli in fish ponds water, the concentration of heavy metal contamination and variability of physicochemical parameters and their effects on fish. Isolation of fecal indicators and pathogens was carried out using standard laboratory methods. Some physicochemical parameters were measured in situ using a portable Universal multiline P4 WTW meter while others were analyzed in the laboratory. The determination of the heavy metal presence and concentration in the water samples was carried out by employing of Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometer. The results indicated that the pond water was heavily contaminated with fecal streptococci and fecal coliforms and they varied significantly in the sites. Pearson correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between the prevalence of fecal streptococci and fecal coliforms. Potential pathogens such as Vibrio spp. , Salmonella spp. , P. aeruginosa, and E.coli were taken from the water samples with high population. Physico-chemical parameters namely pH and dissolved oxygen deviated from the permissible limits according to international standard. The study has shown that the fish ponds water was highly contaminated with both fecal and pathogenic bacteria with physicochemical parameters varying significantly. Heavy metals except for iron were within the recommended limits hence no significant contamination of the fish pond water. The study suggests the use of treated tap water, routine monitoring of fish pond water and sensitization of farmers on bacterial contamination of pond water. More studies with the aid of molecular techniques should be employed to characterize the bacteria. The finding of this study can, thereby, serve as an impetus to improve fish farming in Meru County, as a way of meeting the growing nutritional demands in the country.
Al-Shabaab i Somalia

Efter Barre regimens fall 1991 kom de sodra och centrala delarna av Somalia att regeras av lokala rovarband och klanrebeller. Parallellt bildades den islamska unionen al Ittihad al Islam (AIAI) som politisk motpol till den internationellt sammansatta overgangsregeringen bland annat FN och Afrikanska Unionen understott skapandet av under mitten av 1990talet. Delar av (AIAI) kom att transformeras till en lokalt forankrad islamistisk organisation av domstolar, ICU, vars mal var att uppratta en strikt islamistisk stat grundad i nationalism. Allt eftersom situationen i Somalia fortsatte att forsamras okade den internationella narvaron bade i form av militara interventioner och fredsbevarande personal samtidigt som al-Qaida gjorde narmanden for upprattanet av ett sammarbete med ICU. Paradoxen av internationell sekular narvaro i en stat dar en islamistisk organisation (ICU) snabbt okade sitt inflytande och sin legitimitet lade grunden for en militant islamistisk avknoppning av organisationen kallad al-Shabaab. En avknoppning som snabbt kom att bli betydande i det Somaliska samhallet och dess utvekling.
Compositional trends of Icelandic basalts: Implications for short–length scale lithological heterogeneity in mantle plumes

Lithological variations in the mantle source regions under mid‐ocean ridges and ocean islands have been proposed to play a key role in controlling melt generation and basalt composition. Here we combine compositional observations from Icelandic basalts and modeling of melting of a bilithologic peridotite‐pyroxenite mantle to demonstrate that, while short–length scale major element variation is present in the mantle under Iceland, source heterogeneity does not make an important contribution to excess melt production. By identifying the major element characteristics of end‐member Icelandic melts, we find enriched melts to be characterized by low SiO2 and CaO, but high FeO. We quantitatively compare end‐member compositions to experimental partial melts generated from a range of lithologies, pressures and melt fractions. This comparison indicates that a single source composition cannot account for all the major element variation; depleted Icelandic melts can be produced by depleted peridotite melting, but the major element composition of enriched melts is best matched by melting of mantle sources that have been refertilized by the addition of up to 40% mid‐ocean ridge basalt. The enriched source beneath Iceland is more fusible than the source of depleted melts, and as such will be overrepresented in accumulated melts compared with its abundance in the source. Modeling of peridotite‐pyroxenite melting, combined with our observational constraints on the composition of the Icelandic mantle, indicates that crustal thickness variations in the North Atlantic must be primarily due to mantle temperature and flow field variations.
Experimental forests, ranges, and watersheds in the northern Rocky Mountains: A compendium of outdoor laboratories in Utah, Idaho, and Montana. Forest Service general technical report

This is a compendium of experimental forests, ranges, watersheds, and other outdoor laboratories, formally established by the Forest Service and Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the universities in Utah, Idaho, and Montana. The purposes, histories, natural resource bases, data bases, past and current studies, locations, and who to contact for information are given for these areas that represent ecosystems ranging from deserts to cold subalpine forests.
Sketch-Based Modeling of Vascular Systems: a First Step Towards Interactive Teaching of Anatomy

We present a sketch-based modeling system, inspired from anatomical drawing, which constructs plausible 3D models of branching vessels from a single sketch. The input drawing typically includes non-flat silhouettes and occluded parts. We exploit the sketching conventions used in anatomical drawings to infer depth and curvature from contour and skeleton curves extracted from the sketch. We then model the set of branching vessels as a convolution surface generated by a graph of skeleton curves: while these curves are set to fit the sketch in the front plane, non-uniform B-spline interpolation is used to give them smoothly varying depth values that meet the set of constraints. The final model is displayed using an expressive rendering method that imitates the aspect of chalk drawing. We discuss the future use of this system as a step towards the interactive teaching of anatomy.
Holocene sediment budgets of the Rhine Delta (The Netherlands): a record of changing sediment delivery

Holocene sedimentation in the Rhine-Meuse Delta is facilitated by sea-level rise and tectonics, but most important is the result of the sediment flux received through rivers from the hinterland. The majority of Rhine and Meuse sediment entering the delta was trapped between the apex and coastal barrier, at least during the Middle and Late Holocene. It is not known how much sediment was delivered to the delta over longer periods of time (>100 years), or how delivery rates vary over millennial time scales. Increased amounts of sedimentation owing to human land-use change (on top of climatic variability) are expected, but so far it has not been possible to quantify that impact or to establish since when it has been significant. Based on a multitude of subsurface data (borehole database, complementary digital maps, radio-carbon dates), deposited volumes for successive 1000-year time slices spanning the Holocene have been calculated.
Indigenous participation in Australian economies: Historical and anthropological perspectives

This volume arises out of a panel on Indigenous participation in Australian 'frontier' economies at the annual conference of the Australian Anthropological Society, held jointly with the British and New Zealand anthropological associations in Auckland in December 2008. The panel arose in turn out of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant project on Indigenous participation in Australian colonial economies involving the National Museum of Australia as the partner organisation and the School of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University. The chapters of the volume bring new theoretical analyses and empirical data to bear on a continuing discussion about the variety of ways in which Indigenous people in Australia have been engaged in the colonial and post-colonial economy. The contents are: Introduction / Ian Keen; The emergence of Australian settler capitalism in the nineteenth century and the disintegration/integration of Aboriginal societies: hybridisation and local evolution within the world market / Christopher Lloyd; The interpretation of Aboriginal 'property' on the Australian colonial frontier / Ian Keen; From island to mainland: Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian labour force / Jeremy Beckett; Exchange and appropriation: the Wurnan economy and Aboriginal land and labour at Karunjie Station, north-western Australia / Anthony Redmond and Fiona Skyring; Dingo scalping and the frontier economy in the north-west of South Australia / Diana Young; Peas, beans and riverbanks: seasonal picking and dependence in the Tuross Valley / John White'; 'Who you is? ': work and identity in Aboriginal New South Wales / Lorraine Gibson; Sustainable Aboriginal livelihoods and the Pilbara mining boom / Sarah Holcombe; Realities, simulacra and the appropriation of Aboriginality in Kakadu's tourism / Chris Haynes.