Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Borehole Records to Estimate Magnitude for Earthquake and Tsunami Early‐Warning Systems

This paper presents a new application of the ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs) to estimate the event magnitude for earthquake and tsunami early warning systems. This technique incorporates borehole strong‐motion records along with surface recordings provided by Kiban Kyoshin network (KiK‐net) stations. We analyzed strong ground motion data from earthquakes with moment magnitude ( M ) ranging from 5.0 to 8.1 recorded by KiK‐net stations provided by Japan’s National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) over the interval of 1998 to 2010. We used 2160 strong ground motion accelerograms with peak ground acceleration (PGA) larger than 10 cm/s2 recorded by borehole seismographs, and 890 waveforms with PGA larger than 80 cm/s2 recorded by surface seismographs to derive GMPEs for PGA and peak ground velocity (PGV) in Japan. These GMPEs are used as the basis for regional magnitude determination. Predicted magnitudes from PGA values (MPGA) and predicted magnitudes from PGV values (MPGV) were defined separately for borehole and surface recordings. MPGA and MPGV strongly correlate with the moment magnitude of the event, provided that at least 20 records for each event are available. The results show that MPGV from borehole data has the smallest standard deviation among the estimated magnitudes and provides an accurate early assessment of earthquake magnitude. We demonstrate that incorporation of borehole strong ground motion records immediately available after the occurrence of large earthquakes significantly increases the accuracy of earthquake magnitude estimation and improves earthquake and tsunami early warning systems performance.
Genome-Wide Analysis Revealed NBS-LRR Gene Candidates Associated with Bacterial Wilt Resistance in Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

NBS-LRR genes constitute one of the largest resistance gene families in plants, which play key roles in resistance to pathogens. Although the identification and characterization of the NBS-LRR gene family has been extensively reported in various species, a comprehensive analysis in eggplant has not been previously documented. In this study, a total of 269 SmNBS genes were identified in the eggplant genome. Based on domain classification and phylogenetic analysis, SmNBSs were divided into three subgroups 231 CNLs (CC-NBS-LRR), 36 TNLs (TIR-NBS-LRR), and 2 RNLs (RPW8-NBS-LRR). Chromosomal mapping analysis revealed an uneven distribution of SmNBSs in clusters across chromosomes, with a predominant presence on chromosomes 10, 11, and 12. Structural analysis identified eight conserved motifs previously reported in SmNBSs, exhibiting high conservation in both amino acid sequences and their order. Evolutionary analysis demonstrated that tandem duplication events mainly contributed to the expansion of SmNBS. Subsequently, qRT-PCR analysis demonstrated that nine SmNBSs exhibited differential expression patterns in response to R. solanacearum stress, with EGP05874.1 potentially involved in the resistance response. In conclusion, this study provides a comprehensive insight into SmNBSs, which will enhance the research on eggplant disease resistance and facilitate the breeding of new disease-resistant varieties.
Bayesian solution for nonlinear and non‐Gaussian inverse problems by Markov chain Monte Carlo method

In this paper we apply the Bayesian approach for solving retrieval problems encountered in remote sensing measurements of the atmosphere. The approach gives as a solution the posterior probability distribution of the unknown parameters and allows a possibility to combine new measurements with prior knowledge. While the Bayesian solution can easily be computed in the case of linear, Gaussian inverse problems, the characterization of the solution in all other cases is difficult. Here we apply Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method for computing posterior distributions for inverse problems. The advantage of the MCMC technique is that it can easily be implemented in a great variety of inverse problems including nonlinear problems with various prior or noise structures. The MCMC algorithms are not yet effective enough for operational processing of large amounts of data, but they provide excellent tools for development and validation purposes. We have applied successfully the MCMC technique to the inverse problem arising from the Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars instrument.
Well-being and Burnout among Pre-clinical Medical Students in a Caribbean Medical School

Evaluate well-being and burnout among preclinical medical students in a Caribbean medical school and identify the associated factors. It was a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study which was conducted among preclinical medical students of Trinity Medical Sciences University (TMSU), Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. Medical Student Well-Being Index and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey were used. The total number of participants who gave informed consent was 82. For statisti­cal analyses, internal consistency of the instruments was tested by Cronbach’s alpha. The Student t-test, Fisher’s exact test, Pearson correlation and multivariate regression model were used. The analysis of well-being index(WBI-MS) showed that during the past month 78% of participants experienced burnout due to emotional exhaustion and 61% due to depersonalization, 63.4% felt depression, 19.5% experienced fatigue, 65.9% suffered from stress. The significant association was found between well-being index, credit hours allotted for the semester, and depersonalization/cynicism. Also there was significant negative correlation among academic efficacy and cynicism. The analysis also showed that once a week or more often 58.5 % of participants experienced emotional exhaustion, 34.2% depersonalization and 26.8% low professional efficacy. But the level (severity) of emotional exhaustion was less in comparison with depersonalization score. Our study revealed that 65.9% of participants had a low well-being index and high level of burnout with very increased score of cynicism, which negatively affected their academic efficacy. The possible causes of the obtained results were identified and necessary strategies will be implemented to improve the outcomes.
Reflectance and transmission properties of West African savanna trees from ground radiometer measurements

Abstract Reflectance and transmission properties of savanna trees were measured using a pole-mounted radiometer for four Sahelian and two Sudanian species in West Africa. The measurements showed that canopy spectral components, that is, shadowed and sunlit tree crown and background, have distinct reflectance characteristics in red and infrared wavebands as modelled by Li and Strahler (1985). Sunlit canopy is the greenest component (greatest infrared to red contrast), and sunlit background (consisting mostly of bare soil), the brightest (greatest summed red and infrared reflectance). Shadowed crown, the darkest component, is greener than shadowed background. The field radiometer measurements were used to calculate the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and the spatial integral of the NDVI over the canopy was related to crown volume yielding per species r2 of 075 to 0.81. Measurements of canopy transmission indicated that only 12 to 47 per cent of incoming radiation was absorbed in these wavebands.
A Smartphone-Enabled Continuous Flow Digital Droplet LAMP Platform for High Throughput and Inexpensive Quantitative Detection of Nucleic Acid Targets

Molecular tests for infectious diseases and genetic anomalies, which account for significant global morbidity and mortality, are central to nucleic acid analysis. In this study, we present a digital droplet LAMP (ddLAMP) platform that offers a cost-effective and portable solution for such assays. Our approach integrates disposable 3D-printed droplet generator chips with a consumer smartphone equipped with a custom image analysis application for conducting ddLAMP assays, thereby eliminating the necessity for expensive and complicated photolithographic techniques, optical microscopes, or flow cytometers. Our 3D printing technique for microfluidic chips facilitates rapid chip fabrication in under 2 h, without the complications of photolithography or chip bonding. The platform’s heating mechanism incorporates low-powered miniature heating blocks with dual resistive cartridges, ensuring rapid and accurate temperature modulation in a compact form. Instrumentation is further simplified by integrating miniaturized magnification and fluorescence optics with a smartphone camera. The fluorescence quantification benefits from our previously established RGB to CIE-xyY transformation, enhancing signal dynamic range. Performance assessment of our ddLAMP system revealed a limit of detection at 10 copies/μL, spanning a dynamic range up to 104 copies/μL. Notably, experimentally determined values of the fraction of positive droplets for varying DNA concentrations aligned with the anticipated exponential trend per Poisson statistics. Our holistic ddLAMP platform, inclusive of chip production, heating, and smartphone-based droplet evaluation, provides a refined method compatible with standard laboratory environments, alleviating the challenges of traditional photolithographic methods and intricate droplet microfluidics expertise.
Carbon isotope evidence for CAM photosynthesis in the Mesozoic

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis, a flexible adaptation to water‐stress, has not been shown to occur before the Pleistocene, despite suggestions that CAM first evolved in the Mesozoic or earlier. Here we report on multiple (≥7) positive organic carbon isotope excursions (δ13Corg > −20‰) in Late Triassic and Early Jurassic (c. 200 Ma) sedimentary rocks from an arid terrestrial ecosystem in South Africa. These excursions are interpreted as evidence of the episodic dominance of CAM plants in response to heightened aridity in the heartland of Gondwana, and hint at climatic instability in a greenhouse world.
The Role of GABA in the Dorsal Striatum-Raphe Nucleus Circuit Regulating Stress Vulnerability in Male Mice with High Levels of Shati/Nat8l

Abstract Depression is a frequent and serious illness, and stress is considered the main risk factor for its onset. First-line antidepressants increase serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) levels in the brain. We previously reported that an N-acetyltransferase, Shati/Nat8l, is upregulated in the dorsal striatum (dSTR) of stress-susceptible mice exposed to repeated social defeat stress (RSDS) and that dSTR Shati/Nat8l overexpression in mice (dSTR-Shati OE) induces stress vulnerability and local reduction in 5-HT content. Male mice were used in this study, and we found that dSTR 5-HT content decreased in stress-susceptible but not in resilient mice. Moreover, vulnerability to stress in dSTR-Shati OE mice was suppressed by the activation of serotonergic neurons projecting from the dorsal raphe nucleus (dRN) to the dSTR, followed by upregulation of 5-HT content in the dSTR using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD). We evaluated the role of GABA in modulating the serotonergic system in the dRN. Stress-susceptible after RSDS and dSTR-Shati OE mice exhibited an increase in dRN GABA content. Furthermore, dRN GABA content was correlated with stress sensitivity. We found that the blockade of GABA signaling in the dRN suppressed stress susceptibility in dSTR-Shati OE mice. In conclusion, we propose that dSTR 5-HT and dRN GABA, controlled by striatal Shati/Nat8l via the dSTR-dRN neuronal circuitry, critically regulate stress sensitivity. Our study provides insights into the neural processes that underlie stress and suggests that dSTR Shati/Nat8l could be a novel therapeutic target for drugs against depression, allowing direct control of the dRN serotonergic system.
Nighttime Lighting Influences on the Plankton Feeding and Growth of Juvenile Pacific Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus orientalis

Simple Summary This study validated the effect of nighttime lighting on the growth and survival of Pacific bluefin tuna (PBF) juveniles using land-based tanks. As heavy mortality of PBF juveniles occurs in sea cages when they are transferred from nursery tanks, nighttime light can effectively prevent collision deaths. Here, we clearly demonstrate the secondary benefit of nighttime lighting; i.e., nighttime lighting also promotes the growth of PBF juveniles. Various live prey including zooplankton and positive phototoxic larvae aggregate under nighttime lighting at practical sea cage cultures of PBF, allowing the juveniles to take in these feed items even during nighttime. Thus, providing nighttime lighting is an essential technique for increasing the viability as well as growth of PBF juveniles. Abstract During fingerling production of Pacific bluefin tuna (PBF) Thunnus orientalis, heavy mortality can occur immediately after juveniles are transferred from nursery tanks to sea cages; however, nighttime lighting can moderate this mortality. Additionally, various live prey aggregate due to nighttime lighting in practical sea cage culture of PBF. Here, we investigated whether the growth and viability of PBF juveniles could be improved through promoting feeding on live prey that aggregate under nighttime lighting. Two treatment groups were established using land-based tanks under constant environmental conditions, one in which the juveniles were fed live prey at night (night-feed in four replicate tanks) and the other in which juveniles were not fed during the night (control in four replicate tanks). Although the survival rate did not differ significantly between the two groups, growth was significantly improved in the night-feed group, in which 69–78% of the juveniles showed evidence of feeding during the night. Thus, nighttime lighting plays a vital role in the aggregation of various live prey. PBF juveniles consume these prey in sea cages, which promotes their growth. This may partially serve as a countermeasure against the heavy mortality observed in sea cages.
LP‐1: Late‐News Poster: Strong Accommodation Bias to a Collimated Retinal Scanned Light Display

Accommodation was measured while subjects viewed a retinal scanned light display that has a focus plane near optical infinity. Compared with dark accommodation, subjects over‐accommodated to the display (mean 2D; 0–8D range). Subjects were unaware of blurring, suggesting open‐loop accommodation. Accommodation fluctuates greatly between subjects viewing a fixed‐focus retinal scanning display.
A Wireless 2-Channel Layered EMG/NIRS Sensor System for Local Muscular Activity Evaluation

A wireless 2-channel layered sensor system that enables electromyography (EMG) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measurements at two local positions was developed. The layered sensor consists of a thin silver electrode and a photosensor consisting of a photoemitting diode (LED) or photodiode (PD). The EMG and NIRS signals were simultaneously measured using a pair of electrodes and photosensors for the LED and PD, respectively. Two local muscular activities are presented in detail using layered sensors. In the experiments, EMG and NIRS signals were measured for isometric constant and ramp contractions at each forearm using layered sensors. The results showed that local muscle activity analysis is possible using simultaneous EMG and NIRS signals at each local position.
Global-View and Speaker-Aware Emotion Cause Extraction in Conversations

Emotion cause extraction in conversations, the task of recognizing and extracting the causes behind the emotions in a conversation, is a new and under-explored task. It was previously treated as an utterance-level task, that can only extract cause of one emotion from one utterance at a time and is difficult to model the correlation between different emotions and causes in the conversation. The role of speakers was also not fully utilized in the previous methods. In this article, we introduce a global-view and speaker-aware conversational emotion cause extraction framework. It can fully model the interaction between utterances and emotions in the conversation and simultaneously extract all the causes corresponding to all emotions or one given emotion in a conversation, and can be applied to both real-time and non-real-time task settings. We further propose a Speaker-aware Couple-Decoder Module and a Speaker-Emotion Graph Attention Network, to better model the role of speakers in the conversation. The experimental results prove our approach's advantages in both emotion cause extraction performance and computational efficiency.
Osteology of Rebbachisaurus garasbae Lavocat, 1954, a Diplodocoid (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the Early Late Cretaceous—Aged Kem Kem Beds of Southeastern Morocco

ABSTRACT The holotype of the sauropod dinosaur Rebbachisaurus garasbae was discovered in infra-upper Cenomanian horizons of the Kem Kem region of southeastern Morocco in the 1940s and 1950s. The original materials included part of a vertebral column, some of which was found in articulation, and a scapula, a humerus, and an ischium. Of these remains, only the scapula and one of the dorsal vertebrae have been described, but in abbreviated form. Following complete preparation of the partial skeleton, careful examination and fitting of scores of fragments collected with these materials, and computed tomography imaging of the most complete vertebra, we present a complete description of the holotype of Rebbachisaurus garasbae. Our description identifies several autapomorphies of the dorsal and caudal vertebrae, both relating to the shape of the vertebrae and the architecture of their laminae. Based on our reassessment of its anatomy, Rebbachisaurus is recovered as a member of an Afro-European clade that includes Nigersaurus and Demandasaurus. Due to the large size of one of its dorsal vertebrae (ca. 1.45 m tall), Rebbachisaurus has been considered to be a large sauropod. The size of the vertebral centra and the length and cross-sectional area of the humerus of Rebbachisaurus, however, indicate this individual weighed 7915–12,015 kg, which is slightly larger than Amargasaurus but comparable in size to some individuals of Dicraeosaurus. The dorsal vertebrae of Rebbachisaurus and other rebbachisaurids have been suggested to be highly mobile, but results suggest that anatomical features of the vertebrae actually limited rotation and increased resistance to dorsoventrally directed forces applied to the transverse processes.
Development of a Broadband and High-Gain Circularly Polarized Array of Multilayer Slot Antennas for X-Band Wireless Communication Networks

This paper presents a wideband cavity-backed slot antenna array designed for X-band wireless communication systems. The antenna element consists of a circular slot combined with a cross-slotted patch; both are fed by an L-shaped microstrip line through proximity coupling to extend the impedance bandwidth and gain. The reduction of beam squint in the radiation patterns, caused by the asymmetric feed line, is achieved through intelligent optimization of the dimensions and position of the cross slot on the patch. Additionally, a back cavity is included to provide unidirectional radiation and enhance gain. The antenna exhibits right-hand circularly polarized (RHCP) radiation patterns with high gain over a wideband frequency range. To further improve the axial ratio (AR) bandwidth and gain, the antenna is utilized in a 2 × 2 array configuration with a sequential rotation feed network. The overall dimensions of the proposed array are 1.42 λ 0 × 1.42 λ 0 × 0.45 λ 0 , where λ 0 represents the wavelength at the center frequency of 10 GHz. The fabricated array is then tested, and the measurements show an impedance bandwidth of 60% (7 GHz-13 GHz) with S 11 < − 10 dB, a 3 dB AR bandwidth of 42% (7.45-11.65 GHz), and a peak gain of 11.14 dB. The simulated and measured results exhibit good agreement, validating the effectiveness of the design.
Responses of Low Arctic Stream Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities to Environmental Drivers at Nested Spatial Scales

Abstract We explored the importance of environmental drivers in structuring benthic macroinvertebrate communities along a spatial hierarchy (local to landscape scale) in Low Arctic stream systems that were previously unstudied. Macroinvertebrate communities from 29 sites in Low Arctic areas of northern Labrador and Québec, Canada, were quantified by taxonomic structure and biological metrics. Environmental variables were quantified at site, reach, and catchment scales using field-collected data and geospatial information. The first three axes of Redundancy Analysis (RDA) ordinations explained 21.0–40.6% of the unconstrained variance in taxonomic structure and biological metrics. Biological data were most highly correlated with site-scale variables, but variables at each spatial scale were highly correlated with community structure. Across all scales, one of the strongest gradients involved environmental drivers that could be associated with habitat structure and instability. Abundance of the chironomid subfamily Diamesinae, a tolerant taxon in high-latitude and high-elevation systems, was highly positively associated with this habitat gradient. This hierarchical framework provides a knowledge base for the development of a sustainable long-term monitoring approach for Low Arctic aquatic ecosystems. By incorporating measures of environmental drivers at multiple spatial scales, future monitoring efforts may more effectively respond to current and future pressures on aquatic biodiversity.
Watershed-Scale Response to Climate Change through the Twenty-First Century for Selected Basins across the United States

AbstractThe hydrologic response of different climate-change emission scenarios for the twenty-first century were evaluated in 14 basins from different hydroclimatic regions across the United States using the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS), a process-based, distributed-parameter watershed model. This study involves four major steps: 1) setup and calibration of the PRMS model in 14 basins across the United States by local U.S. Geological Survey personnel; 2) statistical downscaling of the World Climate Research Programme’s Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 climate-change emission scenarios to create PRMS input files that reflect these emission scenarios; 3) run PRMS for the climate-change emission scenarios for the 14 basins; and 4) evaluation of the PRMS output.This paper presents an overview of this project, details of the methodology, results from the 14 basin simulations, and interpretation of these results. A key finding is that the hydrological response of the different geogra.
Observation of the whole process of interaction between barchans by flume experiments

Through laboratory experiments generating unidirectional water flows, we examine the process of interaction between two moving barchans (sandy bed configurations in a crescentic plan‐shape), which may take dozens of years for barchan dunes in the nature. Three types of the interaction were observed. The first type was absorption of two barchans into one. The second was that the upstream fast barchan rode on the downstream slow barchan and simultaneously a newly born barchan was ejected from the lee side of the slow barchan. The third was that the downstream slow barchan was split into two before the upstream fast barchan touched the downstream. The type of the interaction was determined by both relative and absolute size of two barchans.