Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Distribution and microbial metabolism of dimethylsulfoniopropionate and dimethylsulfide during the 2007 Arctic ice minimum

[1] The distribution and biological cycling of the climate active trace gas dimethylsulfide (DMS) and its algal precursor dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) were characterized at 20 stations across the Canadian High Arctic during fall 2007. Transformation rates of DMSP and production rates of DMS from dissolved DMSP (DMSPd) were measured during 3 h onboard incubations with radioactively labeled 35S-DMSP. Particulate DMSP (DMSPp) in surface waters varied between 2 and 39 nmol L−1 and increased with chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentrations (r = 0.84). DMS concentrations in surface waters ranged from 0.05 to 0.8 nmol L−1 and were positively correlated with DMSPp (r = 0.89) and Chl a (r = 0.74). The DMSPd loss rate constant varied from 0.01 to 0.14 h−1 and was also positively correlated with Chl a concentrations (r = 0.67). The turnover time of the DMSPd pool varied between 0.3 and 3.4 days (mean = 0.96 day). Bacterial DMS production varied between 0.01 and 0.51 nmol L−1 d−1 (mean = 0.14 nmol L−1 d−1). Assuming local steady state conditions at the time scale of a day, the turnover time of the DMS pool based only on production from DMSPd was ∼6 days at the sampling stations. This long turnover time suggests that DMS production was dominated by nonbacterial processes during our study. Our results show that DMS production could persist at low rates in late fall under ice-free conditions. The magnitude of this production appears to be limited by the low algal and bacterial production prevailing at that time.
What is a Compact? Migrants’ Rights and State Responsibilities Regarding the Design of the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration

On 19 September 2016, in response to the large movements of refugees and migrants around the world, the UN General Assembly held its first ever summit dedicated to this topic. The outcome was the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, which not only reaffirms the importance of existing legal instruments to protect refugees and migrants, but also foresees two new global Compacts; one on refugees, and one on safe, orderly and regular migration. Both compacts are scheduled to be adopted by the General Assembly in the summer of 2018. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is responsible for the negotiation of the Compact on Refugees. The Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is primarily in the hands of the UN Special Representative for International Migration, assisted by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which became a UN related organisation in July of 2016. While both these organisations have expressed much enthusiasm for the prospects of these new agreements in responding to the current challenges surrounding migration and refugee protection, the final content and resultant impact of each compact are as of yet uncertain. More fundamentally, there is little clarity on exactly what kind of international agreement a compact is, and where it sits in relation to existing instruments of international law and international relations. The term appears to have arrived fairly recently in international and regional discussions as an increasingly popular political tool with restricted legal content. The objective of this working paper is to examine what a compact is, how it relates to other international instruments, and what, if any, normative implications follow from such an instrument. The working paper secondly analyses the likely impact of the Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration on human rights of migrants by examining the role of related UN compacts, the negotiation process for the Global Compact on Migration so far, as well as the political context in relation to other agreements in this area. Our concern is that inter-state agreements which concern the rights of individuals (in this case migrants) must take forms which complement existing international legal obligations of states. These new forms of agreement are welcome if their content raises standards of treatment of migrants above the existing floor of rights contained in international conventions. They are a threat, however, to the UN human rights conventions if they, either intentionally or unintentionally, appear to lower existing standards of human rights.
Validation of the collection 5 MODIS FPAR product in a heterogeneous agricultural landscape in arid Uzbekistan using multitemporal RapidEye imagery

The fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) absorbed by a vegetation canopy is an important variable for global vegetation modelling and is operationally available from data of the Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite sensor starting from the year 2000. Product validation is ongoing and important for constant product improvement, but few studies have investigated the specific accuracy of MODIS FPAR using in situ measurements and none have focused on agricultural areas. This study therefore presents a validation of the collection 5 MODIS FPAR product in a heterogeneous agricultural landscape in western Uzbekistan. High-resolution FPAR maps were compiled via linear regression between in situ FPAR measurements and the RapidEye normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for the 2009 season. The data were aggregated to the MODIS scale for comparison. Data on the percentage cover of agricultural crops per MODIS pixel allowed investigation of the impact of spatial heterogeneity on MODIS FPAR accuracy. Overall, the collection 5 MODIS FPAR overestimated RapidEye FPAR between approximately 6% and 15%. MODIS quality flags, the underlying biome classification and spatial heterogeneity were investigated as potential sources of error. MODIS data quality was very good in all cases. A comparison of the MODIS land-cover product with high-resolution land-use classification revealed a significant misclassification by MODIS. Yet, we found that the overestimation of MODIS FPAR is independent of classification accuracy. The results indicate that the amount of background information, present even in the most homogeneous pixels (∼70% crop cover), is most likely the reason for the overestimation. The behaviour of pure pixels could not be investigated due to a lack of appropriate pixels.
ANNUAL REPORT 2004

Democratic Republic of the Congo 11,146 Guinea-Bissau 6,873 Sao Tome and Principe 4,747 Equatorial Guinea 2,974 Congo 2,088 Central African Republic 1,056 Sierra Leone 652 Burundi 13,813 Chad 17,961 Rwanda 31,376 Seychelles 31,397 Togo 33,977 Mauritius 42,506 Angola 54,500 Eritrea 67,213 Cape Verde 74,459 Namibia 77,150 Gabon 83,108 Lesotho 127,451 Côte d' Ivoire 131,416 Benin 135,361 Cameroon 154,080 Guinea 162,601 Nigeria 170,874 Mali 184,321 Djibouti 189,672 Swaziland 222,875 Gambia 228,178 Mozambique 280,035 Botswana 283,096 Zimbabwe 490,944 Mauritania 503,415 Madagascar 556,501 Uganda 609,140 Niger 663,777 Kenya 2,831,458
PREDICTION OF TWO‐YEAR PEAK STREAM‐DISCHARGES USING NEURAL NETWORKS 1

ABSTRACT: The cascade correlation neural network was used to predict the two‐year peak discharge (Q2) for major regional river basins of the continental United States (US). Watersheds ranged in size by four orders of magnitude. Results of the neural network predictions ranged from correlations of 0.73 for 104 test data in the Souris‐Red Rainy river basin to 0.95 for 141 test data in California. These results are improvements over previous multilinear regressions involving more variables that showed correlations ranging from 0.26 to 0.94. Results are presented for neural networks trained and tested on drainage area, average annual precipitation, and mean basin elevation. A neural network trained on regional scale data in the Texas Gulf was comparable to previous estimates of Q2 by regression. Our research shows Q2 was difficult to predict for the Souris‐Red Rainy, Missouri, and Rio Grande river basins compared to the rest of the US, and acceptable predictions could be made using only mean basin elevation and drainage areas of watersheds.
Refining the P–T records of UHT crustal metamorphism

Ultra‐high‐temperature (UHT) metamorphism occurs when the continental crust is subjected to temperatures of greater than 900 °C at depths of 20–40 km. UHT metamorphism provides evidence that major tectonic processes may operate under thermal conditions more extreme than those generally produced in numerical models of orogenesis. Evidence for UHT metamorphism is recorded in mineral assemblages formed in magnesian pelites, supported by high‐temperature indicators including mesoperthitic feldspar, aluminous orthopyroxene and high Zr contents in rutile. Recent theoretical, experimental and thermodynamic data set constraints on metamorphic phase equilibria in FMAS, KFMASH and more complex chemical systems have greatly improved quantification of the P–T conditions and paths of UHT metamorphic belts. However, despite these advances key issues that remain to be addressed include improving experimental constraints on the thermodynamic properties of sapphirine, quantifying the effects of oxidation state on sapphirine, orthopyroxene and spinel stabilities and quantifying the effects of H2O–CO2 in cordierite on phase equilibria and reaction texture analysis. These areas of uncertainty mean that UHT mineral assemblages must still be examined using theoretical and semi‐quantitative approaches, such as P(–T)–μ sections, and conventional thermobarometry in concert with calculated phase equilibrium methods. In the cases of UHT terranes that preserve microtextural and mineral assemblage evidence for steep or ‘near‐isothermal’ decompression P–T paths, the presence of H2O and CO2 in cordierite is critical to estimates of the P–T path slopes, the pressures at which reaction textures have formed and the impact of fluid infiltration. Many UHT terranes have evolved from peak P–T conditions of 8–11 kbar and 900–1030 °C to lower pressure conditions of 8 to 6 kbar whilst still at temperature in the range of 950 to 800 °C. These decompressional P–T paths, with characteristic dP/dT gradients of ∼25 ± 10 bar °C−1, are similar in broad shape to those generated in deep‐crustal channel flow models for the later stages of orogenic collapse, but lie at significantly higher temperatures for any specified pressure. This thermal gap presents a key challenge in the tectonic modelling of UHT metamorphism, with implications for the evolution of the crust, sub‐crustal lithosphere and asthenospheric mantle during the development of hot orogens.
Supply Chain Integration and Firm Performance: The Food (Fast-Food) Delivery Service industry

: Over the years, the concept of Supply Chain Integration (SCI) and its effect on firm performance has been an essential topic of interest in the field of Supply Chain Management (SCM). Previous research on SCI and firm performance concentrated much on the manufacturing industry with less focus on other fast-growing industries. This research mainly focused on determining the impact of Supply Chain Integration on performance in the fast food delivery service industry. The firms were selected based on their size and frequency of deliveries they make to customers. The research was conducted in a metropolitan city in Turkey with a considerable number of fast food delivery firms and moreover, with customers whose demand for fast food is essentially high. The results of this study further compliment the growing evidence which depicts a positive relationship between SCI and firm performance. On the contrary, this research also contradicts some of the results of the earlier research on Supply Chain Integration.Analysis of the results and regression showed that internal integration is positively related to external integration and firm performance. However, the correlation coefficients between internal and external integration showed high relationship while the relationship between the internal integration and firm performance showed a very feeble relationship but was significantly related. Similarly, external integration significantly has a positive relationship with firm performance but their relationship was however weak but they were significantly related.
Slip distribution of the 1952 Tokachi‐Oki earthquake (M 8.1) along the Kuril Trench deduced from tsunami waveform inversion

[1] We inverted 13 tsunami waveforms recorded in Japan to estimate the slip distribution of the 1952 Tokachi-Oki earthquake (M 8.1), which occurred southeast off Hokkaido along the southern Kuril subduction zone. The previously estimated source area determined from tsunami travel times [Hatori, 1973] did not coincide with the observed aftershock distribution. Our results show that a large amount of slip occurred in the aftershock area east of Hatori's tsunami source area, suggesting that a portion of the interplate thrust near the trench was ruptured by the main shock. We also found more than 5 m of slip along the deeper part of the seismogenic interface, just below the central part of Hatori's tsunami source area. This region, which also has the largest stress drop during the main shock, had few aftershocks. Large tsunami heights on the eastern Hokkaido coast are better explained by the heterogeneous slip model than previous uniform-slip fault models. The total seismic moment is estimated to be 1.87 × 1021 N m, giving a moment magnitude of Mw = 8.1. The revised tsunami source area is estimated to be 25.2 × 103 km2, ∼3 times larger than the previous tsunami source area. Out of four large earthquakes with M ∼ 7 that subsequently occurred in and around the rupture area of the 1952 event, three were at the edges of regions with relatively small amount of slip. We also found that a subducted seamount near the edge of the rupture area possibly impeded slip along the plate interface.
Adaptive thresholding of texture towards white region normalization

Human colour vision has the ability to recover a measure of contextdependent surface reflectance from observed areas. This can be seen as an analogue to radiometric corrections employed in remote sensing. Procedures based on human colour vision applied in the context of remote sensing could simplify image preprocessing and classification. This study evaluates an algorithm based on Land's colour vision or 'retinex' theory. When tested on remotely sensed images, the algorithm had difficulty coping with the presence of image texture. A new framework is presented that adapts Land's procedure to processing of remotely sensed images using adaptive thresholding techniques.
Historical Climatology and coastal change associated with the ‘Great Storm’ of January 2005, South Uist and Benbecula, Scottish Outer Hebrides

Abstract This paper describes some of the changes that affected the coastlines of South Uist and Benbecula following the ‘Great Storm’ of 11 January 2005. The paper considers historical changes in patterns of winter storminess and addresses the issue of whether or not there has been a recent increase in regional storminess, manifested partly by this particular storm. The paper concludes on the basis of available Greenland ice core chemistry data and historical climate data, together with recent meteorological data, that no such increase has taken place. This surprising conclusion is further discussed in relation to current thinking on the nature of recent climate change.
Response to Comments on ‘Does the Agulhas Current amplify global temperatures during super‐interglacials?’

We thank Rashid et al. (2011) for their comments on our global reconstruction of the Last Interglacial (LIG) and the potential role of southern hemisphere westerly airflow and the Agulhas Current in amplifying global temperatures during superinterglacials (Turney and Jones, 2010). Their comment raises several important points, some of which could not be covered in detail within a Rapid Communication but others are issues which we believe Rashid et al. (2011) have misunderstood. Here we deal with their key considerations in order presented and then summarize some recent work which we believe lends weight to our proposed mechanism for intensifying meridional ocean circulation.
Field observations of wave-driven water-level gradients across a coral reef flat

[1] Field measurements of still water surface elevations were obtained across a narrow leeward reef flat on Lady Elliot Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia in June 2003. Stilling wells were deployed from the reef crest landward to the island beach, and waves and mean water levels were monitored over both rising and falling tides during low to moderate wave energy conditions. Wave setup of up to 13.8 cm above still water level occurred in the presence of incident waves of 0.4 m yielding maximum water surface slopes greater than 6°. Results show that the magnitude of wave setup varies both temporally and spatially across the reef with changing water depth. Setup is dominant on the reef edge at low tide, evolving into a dual setup system at both the reef edge and shoreline at midtide and finally a dominant shoreline setup at high tide. On Lady Elliot Island the dual setup system is considered to result from spatial differences in transformation and breaking of swell and wind waves at midtide stages. The presence of a dual setup system across a reef flat has not been previously identified in field or modeling studies and has potentially significant implications for reefal current development, sediment transport, and the stability of reef island shorelines.
Agglomerations in a Multi-region Economy: Polycentric versus monocentric patterns

Agglomeration externalities have been recognized as major sources of lumpy spatial distributions of industries and population. While the abstraction of interregional space has been a common exercise, the recent increasing availability of disaggregated geographical data and more sophisticated computational techniques have promoted counterfactual analyses based on many-region models of agglomeration externalities with explicit interregional space (e.g., Redding and Sturm, 2008; Allen and Arkolakis, 2014). A caveat is that incorporating interregional space to a many-region model with agglomeration externalities by itself does not warrant the formation of polycentric agglomerations in stable equilibria—a crucial property in order to replicate the observed geography of agglomerations. We elaborate this point by comparing a pair of new economic geography models: Forslid and Ottaviano (2003) and Helpman (1998). In a two-region economy, these models exhibit both “agglomeration” (i.e., a relative concentration of mobile agents in one of the regions) and “dispersion” (i.e., a uniform distribution of mobile agents across the two regions). But, if the location space were more disaggregated, only the former admits polycentric agglomerations in stable equilibria, while in the latter, only a monocentric agglomeration can occur if any.
Emergency remediation of instability at Caudalosa tailings dam, Peru: a case history

This paper describes the instability in the foundation of the Caudalosa tailings dam in Peru. The instability threatened collapse of the structure along with the risk of unacceptable contamination of the River Escalera, located immediately downstream of the toe of the dam. At the time of these investigations, large deformations were in progress. The head scarp of the potential slide, located in the stored tailings, had reached a height of 2 m. Visual observations, as well as subsurface investigations, indicated that the instability was due to the presence of soft to medium plastic clay in the foundation. Emergency stabilization was successfully achieved by the construction of large trenches at the downstream toe, allowing the low consistency clay to be removed and backfilled with compacted mine waste rock. Other secondary stabilizing measures that were undertaken are also described.Key words: clay, dam, instability, remediation, stabilization, slide, tailings.
Water-Quality Data, Huron County, Michigan 2004

Abstract : The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a survey of water quality and quantity in Huron County, Michigan from 1988-1990 (Sweat, 1992). In that study atrazine, a widelyused agricultural herbicide with possible endocrine-disrupting effects was detected in 9 of 9 surface-water samples. Metolachlor, metribuzin, prometone, simazine, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and dichlorprop (2,4-DP) were also detected at some surface-water sites. One pesticide, 2,4,5- trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T), was detected in two monitoring wells. Additionally, routine USGS monitoring through the early 1990 s indicated the Pigeon River in Huron County to have some of the highest levels of nitrate-nitrogen and dissolved solids of any monitored river in Michigan (Blumer and others, 1992). Recently, new methods of chemical and biological analysis have been developed that allow better evaluation of the nature and source of contamination of water. Eleven Huron County townships have passed a resolution calling for evaluation of water quality in Huron County. In 2004 Huron County desired a survey of current water quality in their county. In cooperation with Huron County, the USGS collected water samples for analysis of microbiological, chemical and physical constituents from the Pinnebog and Pigeon River watersheds in Huron County from April through November, 2004 to assess the current state of Huron County s water quality.
The Mexican Border Cities: Landscape Anatomy and Place Personality

From Matamoros to Tijuana, Mexican border cities have long evoked for their neighbors to the north images of cheap tourist playgrounds and, more recently, industrial satellites of American industry. These sensationalized and simplified perceptions fail to convey the complexity and diversity of urban form and function and of cultural personality that characterize these places. The Mexican Border Cities draws on extensive field research to examine eighteen settlements along the 2,000-mile border, ranging from towns of less than 10,000 people to dynamic metropolises of nearly a million. The authors chronicle the cities' growth and compare their urban structure, analyzing them in terms of tourist districts, commercial landscapes, residential areas, and industrial and transportation quarters. Arreola and Curtis contend that, despite their proximity to the United States, the border cities are fundamentally Mexican places, as distinguished by their cultural landscapes, including town plan, land-use pattern, and building fabric. Their study, richly illustrated with over 75 maps and photographs, offers a provocative and insightful interpretation of the geographic anatomy and personality of these fascinating and rapidly changing communities.
A unified approach to densification and liquefaction of cohesionless sand in cyclic shearing

When submitted to cyclic shearing, loose dry sand densifies, and undrained saturated sand may liquefy. Based on energy considerations, a unified theory for densification and liquefaction of a homogeneous sample of cohesionless sand is proposed. It is observed that these phenomena involve rearrangement of grains in microscale, requiring an expenditure of a certain amount of energy, which increases as the void ratio approaches its minimum value and decreases as the excess pore water pressure increases. On the basis of rough estimates, explicit relations are developed for both the densification and liquefaction phenomena, and the results are applied to predict relevant available experimental data.