Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trends and Frequencies of Extreme Rainfall Events in the Urban Catchments of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Understanding the characteristics of extreme rainfall events is necessary for proper planning and management of urban flooding impacts. In this paper, daily rainfall data from four key weather stations for the period 1967-2017 were used to investigate temporal variability in annual, seasonal, and extreme rainfall in the urban catchments of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The MannKendall trend analysis and Sen’s slope estimator were used to quantify the magnitudes and significance of long-term trends in rainfall. The frequencies of extreme rainfall events were modelled using the Generalized Pareto model. Results of trend analysis provided evidence of a decrease in total annual rainfall, with the highest decrement being 6.59mm per year. The statistical significance of the decrease in total annual rainfall was inconclusive. Observations of increase in both annual and seasonal maximum rainfall were also made; with the highest increments being 1.01mm and 0.79mm per event, for annual and seasonal maximum rainfall, respectively. The statistical significance of the increase in annual maximum rainfall was certain at 3 out of 4 stations. Frequencies of extreme rainfall events investigated using the R6 threshold provided reasonable results based on actual experience in the study area. Results indicated that most of the pluvial and fluvial flooding are from rainfall events with a 2 to 10-year return period. This is indicative of issues with the drainage systems in the area; either in their designed capacity or the reduction of their water carrying capacity due to anthropogenic factors.
Electric fields and field‐aligned current generation in the magnetosphere

The authors present a calculation of the electric potential, field-aligned currents, and plasma convection caused by the penetration of the solar wind electric field into the magnetosphere. Ohm's law and the continuity equation of ionospheric currents are used. It is shown that the large-scale convection system is reversed in the plasma sheet flanks. In this region the plasma flow is antisunward earthward of the neutral line and sunward tailward of it. The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) B[sub z] dependences on the dimension of the magnetopause [open quotes]windows[close quotes] which are intersected by open field lines, on the potential drop across the polar cap, and on the distance to the neutral line are determined. Because of the IMF effect and the effect of seasonal or daily variations of the geomagnetic field which violate its symmetry relative to the equatorial plane, there may arise a potential drop along field lines which causes field-aligned currents. The values and directions of these currents, the field-aligned potential drop, and a self-consistent solution for the potential at the ionosphere level for high field-aligned conductivity have been determined. 41 refs., 7 figs.
New data on distribution and molecular genetics of Lignyoptera fumidaria (Hübner, [1825]) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

The rare and little known late-autumn species Lignyoptera fumidaria (Hübner, [1825]) is reported from Katon-Karagai National Park (Eastern Kazakhstan) for the first time. The present record is the second in Eastern Kazakhstan. The general species’ distribution provided. Species’ habitats in Katon-Karagai district of Eastern Kazakhstan are illustrated. Molecular data on the specimens from Kazakhstan studied for the first time
Robust design of high field magnets through Monte Carlo analysis

An effective approach to the optimal design of electromagnetic devices should take into account the effect of mechanical tolerances on the actual devices performance. A possible approach could be to match a Pareto optimality study with a Monte Carlo analysis by randomly varying the constructive parameters. In this paper it is shown how such an analysis can be used to allow an expert designer to select among different Pareto optimal designs.
Near field optics: Snapshot of the field emitted by a nanosource using a photosensitive polymer

We propose here a method for probe characterization based on lithography on a photosensitive polymer without film development. We record in near field conditions the light emitted by different kinds of probes in order to distinguish in situ the near field contribution from the far field contribution of the tip. This information, which cannot be deduced from far field diffraction, allows an estimation of the field confinement and of the expected resolution of the microscope.
Dynamic Optimal Power Flow Using Interior Point Method and Benders Decomposition Considering Active and Reactive Constraints

This article describes an approach for the dynamic optimal power flow problem using interior point method (IPM) and Benders decomposition considering both active and reactive constraints. An efficient predictor-corrector primal-dual interior-point algorithm is used to solve the linearized dynamic OPF problem. The inclusion of active and reactive security constraints will assure a subsequent feasible solution for the dynamic OPF problem. The dynamic OPF problem is decomposed into a master problem and subproblems for checking the feasibility of the active and reactive constraints. The master problem is formulated and solved without active and reactive constraints to avoid complexity. The obtained dynamic OPF schedule from the master problem is applied to the active and reactive subproblems to minimize the violations. In case the current mix of scheduled units cannot remove the violations, additional constraints will be introduced in the master problem for rescheduling dynamic OPF. The proposed approach has been evaluated on an IEEE 118-bus test system. The results obtained with the proposed approach are presented and compared favorably with results of other stochastic techniques.
Hard X-ray polarimetry with Astrosat-CZTI

X-ray polarimetry is largely an unexplored area of an otherwise mature field of X-ray astronomy. Except for a few early attempts during the 1970s, no dedicated X-ray polarimeter has been flown during the past four decades. On the other hand, the scientific value of X-ray polarization measurement has been well known for a long time, and there has been significant technical progress in developing sensitive X-ray polarimeters in recent years. But there are no approved dedicated X-ray polarimetric experiments to be flown in the near future, so it is important to explore the polarimetric capabilities of other existing or planned instruments and examine whether they can provide significant astrophysical polarization measurements. In this paper, we present experimental results to show that the CZTI instrument onboard the forthcoming Indian astronomy mission, Astrosat, will be able to provide sensitive measurements of X-ray polarization in the energy range of 100 300 keV. CZTI will be able to constrain any intrinsic polarization greater than 40% for bright X-ray sources (>500 mCrab) within a short exposure of 100 ks with a 3-sigma confidence level. We show that this seemingly “modest” sensitivity can play a very significant role in addressing long pending questions, such as the contribution of relativistic jets to hard X-rays in black hole binaries and X-ray emission mechanism and geometry in X-ray pulsars.
Phase structure of soliton molecules

Temporal optical soliton molecules were recently demonstrated; they potentially allow further increase of data rates in optical telecommunication. Their binding mechanism relies on the internal phases, but these have not been experimentally accessible so far. Conventional frequency-resolved optical gating techniques are not suited for measurement of their phase profile: Their algorithms fail to converge due to zeros both in their temporal and their spectral profile. We show that the VAMPIRE (very advanced method of phase and intensity retrieval of E-fields) method performs reliably. With VAMPIRE the phase profile of soliton molecules has been measured, and further insight into the mechanism is obtained.
Nonlocal neoclassical transport in tokamak and spherical torus experiments

Large ion orbits can produce nonlocal neoclassical effects on ion heat transport, the ambipolar radial electric field, and the bootstrap current in realistic toroidal plasmas. Using a global δf particle simulation, it is found that the conventional local, linear gradient-flux relation is broken for the ion thermal transport near the magnetic axis. With regard to the transport level, it is found that details of the ion temperature profile determine whether the transport is higher or lower when compared with the predictions of standard neoclassical theory. Particularly, this nonlocal feature is suggested to exist in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) [M. Ono, S. M. Kaye, Y. -K. M. Peng et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)], being consistent with NSTX experimental evidence. It is also shown that a large ion temperature gradient can increase the bootstrap current. When the plasma rotation is taken into account, the toroidal rotation gradient can drive an additional parallel flow for the ions and the.
STATISTICAL TESTS FOR DISCRETE CROSS-SPECIES DATA

Abstract Four methods have been proposed that can be used to test for associations between the states of discrete characters in cross-species data and that do not suffer from non-independence due to overcounting of data points. The tests are those of Ridley (1983), Burt (1989), Grafen (1989), and a new test called the ICDE test. The aim of the paper is to measure the Type I error rates for these methods with simulated null distributions of discrete characters. The null data is generated by a model of discrete character evolution, using three shapes of phylogeny: tetratomous, dichotomous, and realistic. Ridley's and Burt's tests are both reasonably valid with the realistic phylogeny but biased with the tetratomous and dichotomous phylogenies. Grafen's phylogenetic regression is reasonably valid with all tree shapes. One version of the ICDE test was valid, the other less so. The invalid results are explained in terms of two kinds of statistical non-independence that arise in discrete data: non-independence due to the reconstruction of character states by parsimony, and the “family problem” in which similar patterns are found in null data in many separate radiations because all the radiations began from the same ancestral state.
Dynamics and predictability of a heavy dry-season precipitation event over West Africa - sensitivity experiments with a global model.

Abstract In January 2002 the Cape Verde region in tropical West Africa was hit by an exceptionally heavy precipitation event. Rain rates of up to 116 mm (48 h)−1 caused harmful impacts on the local population. The rainfall was triggered by a series of two upper-level disturbances penetrating from the extratropics to the West African coast. This study investigates the dynamics and predictability of this event on the basis of simulations with the global model Global Model Europe (GME) of the German Weather Service [i.e., Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD)] initialized by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analysis data. Free forecasts satisfactorily reproduce the upper-level disturbances and the precipitation up to a lead time of 7 days. Several sensitivity experiments are conducted to unveil the reasons for this comparably high predictability and to identify dynamical precursors. The relevance of the upper-level wave structure in the extratropics is examined by modifications of the in.
Antibacterial activity and phytochemical evaluation of the leaf root and stem bark extracts of parinari curatellifolia (planch. ex benth)

The different parts (leaf, root and stem bark) extracts of Parinari curatellifolia were studied to assess phytochemicals, antimicrobial activities and to confirm their traditional medicinal uses. Phytochemical screening of the crude extracts (leaf, root and stem bark) showed the presence of phenols, flavoniods, sterols, terpenoids, carbohydrates and saponnins. The crude extracts were screened for antimicrobial activity against three bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus spp. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the methanol extract gave the highest zones of inhibition against the isolates used which revealed activities against S. aureus S. mutans and Lactobacillus spp. The biologically active methanol extract was purified using flash column chromatography. The two fractions (ME1 and ME2) were obtained from the column. Fraction ME1 gave the highest zone of inhibition ranging from 24±0.6 mm to 28±0.0 mm against S. mutans. This is significantly (P≤0.05) different from the crude methanol extract with the zone of inhibition ranging from 23±0.00 mm to 26±0.90 mm. The activities of crude extracts were lower compared to that of the separated fractions.
Simultaneous Quantitative Determination of Six Triterpenoid Saponins in Ardisia japonica Collected from Different Regions of China through LC-ESI-MS

Background: The whole plants of Ardisia japonica (Myrsinaceae) are used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of phlegm, cough, jaundice, edema, and bruise, and triterpenoid saponins are the main bioactive components. However, triterpenoid saponins from this plant have not yet been simultaneously quantitatively determined and reported. Objectives: The present study aimed to establish a fast, simple, and reliable LC-ESI-MS analysis method for simultaneous quantization of the major triterpenoid saponins in A. japonica for the first time. Materials and Methods: Six major triterpenoid saponins from the plant species of Ardisia were selected as the reference compounds. Five batches of A. japonica were gathered from five distinct regions of P. R. China. Quantitative analysis was developed and validated by LC-ESI-MS in SIM mode. The separation conditions were optimized on a RP C 18 Column with ACN and 0.1% FA ( v/v ) at a flow rate of 0.2 ml/min and column temperature of 35°C. Results: The validation investigation found that the analysis method was accurate, recoverable, and sensitive for quantification of the six triterpenoid saponins. All of the calibration curves revealed acceptable linear regression ( R 2 >0.9975). The contents of six triterpenoid saponins in A. japonica from five regions varied considerably. Conclusion: The present study established a highly efficient analytical technique to quantify the triterpenoid saponins in A. japonica , and it could be further applied in the quality control of A. japonica .
Why Aren’t All Cantonese Tones Equally Confusing to English Listeners?

English listeners often struggle to perceive tones, but some are easier than others. This study examined these phenomena grounded in the feature weighing perspective (FWP) and the Perceptual Assimilation Model for Suprasegmentals (PAM-S). Forty-seven English and Cantonese listeners completed 4,212 trials of Cantonese tone discrimination and sequence recall tasks. The English listeners showed asymmetrical perceptual patterns of discrimination but not sequence recall. Specifically, these English listeners discriminated T1–T5, T3–T5, and T4–T5 more accurately than T1–T4, T3–T4, and T1–T3. However, they recalled the contour tone and level tone sequences with similar accuracies. Results of the discrimination task aligned with the predictions of PAM-S but not FWP. However, results of the sequence recall task did not support PAM-S. Together, these results suggest that PAM-S only applies to simple discrimination, not abstract phonological processing with a high memory load.
Interrelation and Consistency in the Thematic Stages of the Publicistic Style

In the article, we analyzed the combination of thematic and key vocabulary, words with the highest usage rates. In today's world of publicistic communication has gained global significance. Summarizing all that has been said about the thematic chains of the publicistic text, let us note their structural and content certainty: as the main nomination, they consistently use the basic one, in the composition of non-main nominations the most significant are folded transforms, after which, significantly inferior to them in frequency, there are substitutes. Semantically and stylistically, the thematic chains of a publicistic text are uniform, they have a bookish character, since these chains are defined by a term and implemented on its basis. Comparison of the use of the terms cyclization and cycle in this text shows that the second of them, being no less frequent in the text, is used mainly as a means of segmentation in the middle of the article and especially when it comes to research material. The differences in the composition of the nomination chains of the main theme are insignificant. To the named structural types of nominations, one can single out the main nominations of the text chain, add only grammatical transformations. Thus, in this article we can note the status of the base unit as the main in the text. The nature of the information entered and the compositional role properties of bundles that are equally relevant for a publicistic text. A certain uniformity is also observed in the field of combinatorics of the linguistic components of the publicistic thematic chain.
Frequency dependence of the main pulse to interpulse separation for seven pulsars

In the course of a study of pulsar interpulses 43 bright pulsars were searched for interpulse emission. A previously undetected interpulse in PSR 1944 + 17 was found and improved upper limits were set on the others. The separation Delta-phi (MP-IP) between the main pulse (MP) and interpulse (IP) and the IP to MP amplitude ratio S(IP)/S(MP) for seven of the pulsars known to have interpulses was measured. Delta-phi (MP-IP) is found to be frequency independent except for PSR 1944 + 17 where Delta-phi (MP-IP) varies from 183 deg at 318 MHz to 167 deg at 2380 MHz. The ratio S(IP)/S(MP) decreases with frequency for all seven objects, although for the Crab and millisecond pulsar the IP is distinctly different from the others in that the ratio is much larger and less strongly frequency dependent. The polarization signature of these two pulsars and possibly PSR 1929 + 10 is consistent with a two-pole perpendicular rotator model, whereas the others are more readily explained by single-pole models. 43 references.
Mutual coherence function and frequency spectrum of a laser beam propagating through atmospheric turbulence

Using transport methods, we have computed the mutual coherence function of a laser beam propagating in turbulence with a modified Von Karman spectrum for the index-of-refraction fluctuations, including a parametric study of the effect on the mutual coherence function of varying beam size, focal length, and the properties of the turbulence. The results are valid over nearly all propagation distances, unlike calculations employing the method of smooth perturbations. We have also studied the effect of a constant wind on the frequency spectrum of the signal, and have found that, over most practical path lengths, the spectral width is Δω=4.1 Vk06/5(Cn2)3/5z3/5, where V is the wind speed, k0 is the signal wave number, Cn2 is the strength of turbulence, and z is the path length in the turbulence.
Momentum transfer cross sections for low-energy electrons in krypton and xenon from characteristic energies

Characteristic energies of low-energy electrons in krypton and xenon gases have been measured at room temperature by the Townsend method as a function of reduced electric field. For both gases, observed characteristic energies were twice or even three times as large as the early estimates by Frost and Phelps (1964) based on the momentum transfer cross sections for electrons in these gases derived from drift velocity data. The cross sections were determined from the present experimental data over an energy range from 0.01 to 6.0 eV for krypton and from 0.01 to 5.0 eV for xenon. The minimum values and positions of Ramsauer minima in the derived cross sections were 1.0*10-17 cm2 at 0.5 eV for krypton and 4.0*10-17 cm2 at 0.6 eV for xenon. These minimum values are both definitely smaller than the previous experimental results of Frost and Phelps, while being rather close to, but still somewhat smaller than, those of Hoffmann and Skarsgard (1969). Theoretical cross sections calculated for krypton and xenon by Sin Fai Lam (1982) and by McEachran and Stauffer (1984) and those for krypton by Fon et al. (1984) all agree with the present experimental ones within +or-30% for energies below about 5 eV in both gases.
China’s Confucius Institute and its European counterparts in Africa: A six-dimensional comparative study

In the field of international education and development, International Language and Culture Promotion Organisations (ILCPOs) have played an important part for more than a century. More than 40 countries and regions have set up such organisations. Despite the diversity of these ILCPOs, few comparative studies have been conducted to examine their operations and impacts. In contrast to the existing literature that usually evaluates the role of these organisations from the perspectives of cultural diplomacy, public diplomacy and soft power, this research proposes a ‘smart power’ analytical framework and compares China’s Confucius Institute with its European counterparts – France’s Alliance Française, the UK’s British Council and Germany’s Goethe-Institut – in Africa from six critical dimensions: relationship with parent countries; operational mode; accessibility to local people; scope of activities; main internal issues; and local people’s needs, in an attempt to evaluate their operations and performance.
Pathogenesis and Targeted Biologic Therapies for Thyroid-Associated Orbitopathy: A Review

: Purpose: To review the pathogenesis and current targeted biologic therapies of Thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO). Methods: Pubmed, Cochrane Library databases, Wanfang database and recent relevant journal articles were searched. Results: TAO, a potentially vision-threatening disease, is the most common extrathyroidal manifestation of Graves’ Disease (GD). The complex pathogenesis of TAO involves in multiple factors, which has puzzled scientists for many years. With emerging advances in pathogenesis of TAO, novel therapeutic targets have been discovered. For example, rituximab (that acts against CD20), tocilizumab (that acts against the IL-6 receptor), teprotumumab (that blocks IGF-1R) and TNF- αinhibitors have proven to be useful and safe therapeutic options in TAO treatment. Conclusions: Targeted biological agents can provide many benefits for TAO treatments. And there is still a long way to go before the potential molecular pathogenesis and novel treatment options of GO are revealed.
Omnidirectional circularly-polarized antennas

A general technique has been developed for achieving a circularly polarized antenna with omnidirectional azimuth coverage. The technique permits the immediate design of such an antenna with a great variety of possible vertical coverage patterns. The problem of satisfying any desired vertical coverage has been attacked by postulating three basic types-a broad beam, a narrow beam and a shaped beam. Designs for each of these three types have been achieved.
Metzneria neli Huemer, sp. n., a new species hitherto mixed with M. tristella Rebel, 1901 (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)

Metzneria neli Huemer, sp. n. , a new species of the family Gelechiidae, is described from France and Spain and adults of both sexes and genitalia are figured. The new species differs both morphologically and in the DNA barcode from all other known representatives of the genus. It was formerly mixed with Metzneria tristella Rebel, 1901, and therefore this species is re-described here in detail.