Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Socio-Environmental Surveys of Tinchuley and Takdah: Two Emerging Ecotourism Hamlets of North Bengal, India

Tinchuley (Latitude: 26.89748 N, Longitude: 88.23268 E) is a remote hamlet located close to Darjeeling which can be reached through a drive of 32 kilometers. Takdah Cantonment (Latitude: 26.89745 N, Longitude: 88.23265 E) is a settlement located in Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India. It is one of the upcoming tourist centers of the Darjeeling hills, around 4 km. from Tinchuley. The winding roads, tall pine and fir trees, intruding packs of cloud and warm and hospitable people makes it an ideal destination for people looking to escape from the hectic lifestyle of the city. The main objective of the present research work was to construct the social, environmental, cultural and economic framework of Tinchuley and Takdah Cantonment area and to highlight the proposals for sustainable management policies of those ecologically sensitive zones. The study was done in May, 2014 by visiting Tinchuley and Takdah and the information was gathered through field survey and direct contact with common people and authorized centers of the regions. Surveys on the agriculture, horticulture, livestock, water management, education, culture, health, waste management, transport and biodiversity were done in these areas. Tinchuley and Takdah have become the prominent tourist spots of West Bengal for pleasure trips, biological and geographical excursions and medical research works. In spite of getting so much attention in the recent time, the areas are not adequately developed. There is an urgent need for implementing sustainable management systems in the areas for the betterment of the socio-environmental structures. Some of the possible management strategies have been suggested for maintaining the social, environmental, economic and ecological balance of the regions.
An algorithm to detect isolated anomalies in three‐dimensional stratified data fields with an application to density fields from four deep basins of the Baltic Sea

[1] A new approach to describe the mesoscale variability caused by eddies in terms of the integral properties of all eddies contained in a certain ocean volume is suggested. For this purpose a pattern recognition algorithm to detect isolated anomalies in three-dimensional stratified data fields was developed and is introduced in detail. An application to 12 eddy-resolving density fields acquired in the framework of the German-Russian project MESODYN in four deep basins of the Baltic Sea, namely, the Arkona Basin, the Bornholm Basin, the Stolpe Furrow, and the Eastern Gotland Basin, demonstrates that the algorithm works properly. The most remarkable finding of this application is that the volume fraction occupied by the isolated anomalies or eddies is constant. It amounts to about 12% of the total volume for each data field no matter whether the stratification corresponds to a summer or a winter situation. Many possible applications of the pattern recognition are proposed to document its general usefulness. Finally, the main features of the algorithm and possible extensions are discussed extensively.
Acoustic diffraction–resistant adaptive profile technology (ADAPT) for elasticity imaging

Acoustic beam shaping with high degrees of freedom is critical for applications such as ultrasound imaging, acoustic manipulation, and stimulation. However, the ability to fully control the acoustic pressure profile over its propagation path has not yet been achieved. Here, we demonstrate an acoustic diffraction–resistant adaptive profile technology (ADAPT) that can generate a propagation-invariant beam with an arbitrarily desired profile. By leveraging wave number modulation and beam multiplexing, we develop a general framework for creating a highly flexible acoustic beam with a linear array ultrasonic transducer. The designed acoustic beam can also maintain the beam profile in lossy material by compensating for attenuation. We show that shear wave elasticity imaging is an important modality that can benefit from ADAPT for evaluating tissue mechanical properties. Together, ADAPT overcomes the existing limitation of acoustic beam shaping and can be applied to various fields, such as medicine, biology, and material science.
The identification of tropical deforestation fronts at broad spatial scales

Land cover changes are measured at increasingly broader spatial scales. Yet understanding and modelling change processes with a satisfactory accuracy require fine scale observations. The objective of this study is to design and test a methodology to detect tropical deforestation 'hot spots' at broad spatial scales. This methodology is designed to allow concentration of the data collection and modelling of change processes only on the areas characterized by a high rate of change. The procedure is based on a hierarchical set of decision rules with selection criteria being first measured on an exhaustive basis at a global scale and then only for the areas retained in the first sorting, with increasingly selective constraints. The first set of criteria, i.e., proportions in key land cover, landscape fragmentation, and fire activities, were derived from subcontinental scale remote sensing data. Socio-economic variables were also measured at that scale. These different variables were combined over West Africa and the northern boundary of the Central African evergreen forest to identify potential tropical deforestation fronts. Different models were used to generate maps of deforestation hot spots. These were validated with data from the literature.
An immunotherapeutic artificial vitreous body hydrogel to control choroidal melanoma and preserve vision after vitrectomy

Choroidal melanoma, a common intraocular malignant tumor, relies on local radiotherapy and enucleation for treatment. However, cancer recurrence and visual impairment remain important challenges. Here, a therapeutic artificial vitreous body (AVB) hydrogel based on tetra-armed poly(ethylene glycol) was developed to control the recurrence of choroidal melanoma and preserve vision after vitrectomy. AVB loaded with melphalan (Mel) and anti–programmed cell death ligand-1 (αPDL1), was injected after surgical resection in the choroidal melanoma mouse model. Afterwards, the sequentially released Mel and αPDL1 from AVB could achieve a synergistic antitumor effect to inhibit tumor recurrence. AVB with similar physical properties to native vitreous body could maintain the normal structure and visual function of eye after vitrectomy, which has been evidenced by standard examinations of ophthalmology in the mouse model. Thus, the immunotherapeutic AVB may be a promising candidate as an infill biomaterial to assist surgical treatment of intraocular malignant tumors.
Temporal shifts in the marine feeding of individual Atlantic salmon inferred from scale isotope ratios

Abstract Given the limited information on prey use during the marine residency period for Atlantic salmon, scales were collected from salmon at return to the River Namsen (Norway) for spawning after 1 year at sea, and scale material from the first and second summer marine feeding periods was analysed using stable isotope methods to understand dynamics of their trophic ecology. As the salmon increased in size from the first to second summer, they reduced their feeding niche and specialised more (narrowed the δ13C range) and increased their dependency on higher tropic level (δ15N) prey, likely fish. Changes in δ13C indicated a consistent pattern of movement towards the north and west between summer feeding periods. Hence, salmon during their first year at sea may have a migration route roughly resembling that of previous spawners, as inferred from earlier tagging studies. Feeding conditions and nutrient composition during the last summer at sea, i.e. in the months before returning to the river for spawning, impacted final body size and within‐season timing of return. Fish undergoing the largest trophic niche shift (δ13C and δ15N combined) between summer feeding periods, returned earliest. The earliest returning fish had the fastest specific growth rates at sea. Hence, salmon encountering abundant high‐quality fish food during the marine migration, particularly during the last months, may reach a size and energetic state whereby it is better to return early to a safer environment in freshwater than risk being eaten by a big predator at sea. Both trophic status (δ15N), resource use (δ13C) and growth rates were significantly correlated between feeding periods. Nutrient composition during the first summer at sea did not impact the fish body length after the following winter, but growth conditions during the first summer evidenced carry‐over effects from the first to the second summer of feeding.
Episodic arc migration, crustal thickening, subduction erosion, and magmatism in the south-central Andes

The past ~25 m.y. of geologic history in the northern ~300 km (~33°–36°S) of the Andean Southern Volcanic Zone has seen waxing and waning magmatic production rates and episodic eastward relocation of arc segments accompanied by abrupt chemical changes in the magmas. These changes can be linked to episodes of crustal thickening at times of backarc thrusting and to peaks of subduction erosion of forearc crust and mantle lithosphere at times of frontal-arc migration to the east. The magmatic-tectonic coupling is well seen in the history—enhanced by 28 new K-Ar ages, >160 major and trace element analyses, and Sr, Nd, and Pb isotope analyses—of a west to east transect through the El Teniente copper district near 34°S. The temporal trends in magmatic chemistry in this transect are like the well-documented south to north trends in Pleistocene to Holocene volcanic centers of the Southern Volcanic Zone, and both can be linked to the same events. The magmatic changes require differences in magma source regions as shown by isotopic data and in depths of crustal magma generation/fractionation as shown by pressure-sensitive trace element distributions. “Adakitic” magmas in the region are attributed to a combination of melting the base of thickened lower crust and crust entering the mantle through subduction erosion. Subduction erosion is argued to peak in episodes of frontal-arc migration at ca. 19–16 Ma and ca. 7–4 Ma. The combined effects of crustal shortening and forearc truncation in the past 20 m.y. near 34°S have led to the loss of ~170 km of crustal width. The timing and arc length over which these events occurred show that subduction of the Juan Fernandez Ridge on the Nazca plate cannot have been the major driving force. The history of the region shows the importance of non-steadystate processes in arc-magma production and the necessity of studying arc systems over millions, not tens of thousands, of years.
Explicit Planktic Calcifiers in the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model, Version 2.9

ABSTRACT Marine calcifiers as a plankton functional type (PFT) are a crucial part of the global carbon cycle, being responsible for much of the carbon export to the deep ocean entering via biological pathways. Deep ocean carbon export through calcifiers is controlled by physiological, ecological, and biogeochemical factors. This paper describes the implementation of a calcifying phytoplankton PFT in the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model, version 2.9 (UVic ESCM), and mechanistic improvements to the representation of model carbon export (a full calcite tracer, carbonate chemistry dependent calcite dissolution rates, and a ballasting scheme). An iterative method for stabilizing and tuning the biogeochemistry is furthermore described. The UVic ESCM now fills a niche in Earth system modelling that was previously unoccupied in that it is relatively inexpensive to run, yet resolves the complete Earth system carbon cycle including prognostic calcium carbonate and a separate phytoplankton calcifier PFT. The model is now well suited to testing feedbacks between the carbonate and carbon cycles and the climate system as transient simulations. The modifications described improve the UVic ESCM's mechanistic realism without compromising performance with respect to observed carbon and nutrient fluxes. Primary production, export production, particulate organic carbon, and calcite fluxes all fall within independently observed estimates.
Oceanic transports through the Solomon Sea: The bend of the New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent

Thermocline waters of the tropical southwest Pacific can be traced back to the center of the South Pacific basin and have a potential influence on equatorial surface conditions and on the characteristics of the El Niño Southern Oscillation on decadal timescales. The Solomon Sea is traversed by this influential flow, and therefore is an optimal place for exploring this oceanic connection to the equator. From a high‐resolution hydrographic survey at which we applied an inverse box model, we describe the main pathways at the entrance of the Solomon Sea, and more particularly the extremely sharp bend of the western boundary current around the south‐east tip of Papua New Guinea. Of the 30 Sv subtropical waters transported into the Coral Sea from the east, above 1300 m, 29 ± 5 Sv makes its way through the Solomon Sea with a large part transported in a boundary current, at the entrance of the Solomon Sea. Around the south‐east tip of Papua New Guinea, the Gulf of Papua Current turns abruptly to the north, in a very sharp bend as it merges into the New Guinea Coastal Undercurrent, on its way, toward the equator. The warm currents transport large amounts of internal energy, with a total of 1.0 ± 0.3 1015W entering the Solomon Sea from the south.
Siglec-7 glyco-immune binding mAbs or NK cell engager biologics induce potent antitumor immunity against ovarian cancers

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a lethal gynecologic malignancy, with modest responses to CPI. Engagement of additional immune arms, such as NK cells, may be of value. We focused on Siglec-7 as a surface antigen for engaging this population. Human antibodies against Siglec-7 were developed and characterized. Coculture of OC cells with PBMCs/NKs and Siglec-7 binding antibodies showed NK-mediated killing of OC lines. Anti–Siglec-7 mAb (DB7.2) enhanced survival in OC-challenged mice. In addition, the combination of DB7.2 and anti–PD-1 demonstrated further improved OC killing in vitro. To use Siglec-7 engagement as an OC-specific strategy, we engineered an NK cell engager (NKCE) to simultaneously engage NK cells through Siglec-7, and OC targets through FSHR. The NKCE demonstrated robust in vitro killing of FSHR+ OC, controlled tumors, and improved survival in OC-challenged mice. These studies support additional investigation of the Siglec-7 targeting approaches as important tools for OC and other recalcitrant cancers.
Ectoparasitic load of Blue-crowned Parakeet (Aratinga a. acuticaudata Psittacidae) nestlings

Resumen. – Carga ectoparasitaria de pichones de Calancate Comun (Aratinga a. acuticaudata, Psittacidae). – El Calancate Comun (Aratinga a. acuticaudata) se distribuye en Brasil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay y Argentina, donde nidifica en cavidades de arboles maduros. Nuestro objetivo fue identificar los artropodos que parasitan sus pichones en una poblacion de Chaco y determinar prevalencia, intensidad y abundancia de los mismos. En 2006 y 2007 obtuvimos 24 pichones de diez nidos en la Reserva Provincial Loro Hablador. Los pichones fueron expuestos a vapores de acetato de etilo y luego agitamos el plumaje para desprender los parasitos. Asimismo, prospectamos algunos huecos con nidos. En laboratorio, identificamos los piojos masticadores Paragoniocotes anomalus (Phthiraptera: Philopteridae), Heteromenopon laticapitis y Psittacobrossus cf. anduzei (Phthiraptera: Menopodidae); el acaro Ornithonyssus bursa, las chinches hematofagas Ornithocoris toledoi y Triatoma sordida, y larvas de mosca del genero Philornis. Este trabajo representa el primer registro de T. sordida, O. bursa y P. cf. anduzei parasitando Calancate Comun en Argentina, y el primer registro de Philornis sp. como parasito de loros en el pais. Ornithonyssus bursa fue el parasito de mayor prevalencia (90%), H. laticapitis el de mayor abundancia media (7 piojos/loro) y O. toledoi el de mayor intensidad (32.5 chinches/loro). Los hematofagos aparecieron en edades mas tempranas (25 dias) que los pennifagos (35 dias). Son necesarios mas estudios a futuro para evaluar el impacto de estas especies sobre el desarrollo de pichones y exito reproductivo en el Calancate Comun.
Improved teleseismic Green's functions and western Canada mantle structure and evolution

The present thesis is divided into three distinct parts and focuses both on the improvement of deconvolution technique in a teleseismic context for crustal and upper-mantle studies and on the understanding of western Canada structure and evolution through seismic imaging. The first part presents estimates of the P-component of the teleseismic-P Green’s functions for three stations of the Canadian National Seismic Network (CNSN) obtained using a new deconvolution technique. Our results show evidence of the principal, first-order scattered Moho phases and, in particular, the PpMp. The second part presents teleseismic receiver functions from 20 broadband three-component seismometers deployed along the MacKenzie-Liard Highway in Canada’s Northwest Territories as part of the joint LithoprobeIRIS CAnadian NOrthwest Experiment (CANOE). These stations traverse a Paleoproterozoic suture and subduction zone that has been previously documented in detail to mantle depths using seismic reflection profiling. Our results reveal the response of the ∼1.8 Ga subduction zone on both the radial and transverse component. The identification of this structure and its comparison with fine-scale mantle layering below the adjacent Slave province and from a range of Precambrian terranes provides an unambiguous connection between fossil subduction and fine-scale, anisotropic mantle layering found beneath cratons. Previous documentation of similar layering below the adjacent Slave province provides strong support for the thesis that early cratonic blocks were stabilized through processes of shallow subduction. The last part presents P and S wave velocity models for western Canada. In this part, we focus our attention on two distinct features: 1) the transition from Phanerozoic to cratonic mantle in northwestern Canada and 2) the complex tectonic environment at the northern terminus of the Casca-
The ROSE Seismic Data Storage and Exchange Facility

The Rivera Ocean Seismic Experiment was a multi-institutional marine seismic experiment held off western Mexico during early 1979. Dense spatial sampling was provided by ocean bottom seismometers and ocean bottom hydrophones recording both natural events and explosions. The ROSE experiment and a companion land experiment generated a data base of approximately 76,000 ‘events’ (source-instrument pairs). Procedures for efficient data storage, retrieval, and exchange were designed and implemented at the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics. Data capabilities of the exchange are demonstrated by using data from several participants to obtain qualitative estimates of the attenuation of seismic energy in the oceanic mantle near the East Pacific Rise and through the ocean/continent margin near Petatlan, Guerrero, Mexico. The data base is now available for general use.
Integrated Approach in the Quantitative and Qualitative Control of Water Distribution Systems through Control Systems

AbstractAn integrated approach in the control of flow and quality in water distribution systems has been proposed. Simultaneous proportional integrated derivative (SIM-PID) and normalized proportional integrated derivative (NOM-PID) have been proposed to regulate flows and maintain water quality in water distribution systems. The proposed control models have been applied to two case studies for different hydraulic and water quality conditions. The water quality focuses on the control of chlorine residual and biostability in water distribution systems. Both the controllers can achieve the different desired quantity and quality targets for the case studies under consideration. This study shows that the application of controllers, especially NOM-PID controller, to maintain the integrity of the entire water distribution systems is immense.
Isotopic provenance of Paleogene sandstones from the accretionary core of the Olympic Mountains, Washington

Conventional modal sandstone data from Paleogene units of the Pacific Northwest are not precise enough to pinpoint source areas and constrain displacement histories of accreted sedimentary terranes. Isotopic provenance study, used in conjunction with traditional basin-analysis techniques, provides a powerful means of identifying source areas. Analysis of Rb-Sr data in both wholerock and detrital white micas of Paleogene sandstones from allochthonous units in the eastern core of the Olympic Mountains and coeval autochthonous sandstones from coastal Pacific Northwest shows that the Needles-Gray Wolf and Grand Valley lithic assemblages of the core came from the same source as sandstones of the Chuckanut Formation and Puget Group in northern Washington. The source of these units is isotopically distinct from the source for units farther south, such as the Tyee Formation in Oregon. Chemical compositions, conventional K-Ar age determinations, and oxygen- and hydrogen-isotope compositions of white micas support this conclusion. Similar analyses of sandstones from the Western Olympic lithic assemblage and the Yakutat terrane of southeastern Alaska suggest that these two units have a similar source, but that they differ slightly from sandstones of the eastern Olympic core and autochthonous Washington units. The overall composition of sandstones (lithic arkosic), and the very high initial-Sr values (>0.710), moderately high δ 18 O values (∼+9) and Mesozoic age for detrital white mica of Olympic core rocks and sandstone of the Yakutat terrane suggest a source in the high-rank metamorphic and plutonic rocks from the eastern part of the Omineca Crystalline Belt in southeastern British Columbia. Furthermore, rapid uplift of this source area during Eocene time is consistent with the depositional age of the Olympic rocks. Sediment derived from this source area was transported westward by major river systems that crossed the low-lying North Cascade Range and supplied the deposits of the autochthonous units of the northern Washington coast and the offshore equivalents before the latter were accreted to form the Olympic core. Limited data from the Yakutat terrane suggest that it lay offshore of southern British Columbia sometime during middle Eocene to early Oligocene time, consistent with paleomagnetic and some paleontologic interpretations, and subsequently migrated northward by plate motions.