Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Late Quaternary Vegetation Dynamics of the Queen Charlotte Islands, Northern Vancouver Island, and the Continental Shelf of British Columbia

Extensive portions of the continental shelf off the coast of British Columbia were subaerially exposed during late Wisconsin deglaciation due to lowering of relative sea level by as much as 150 m. Paleoecological analyses were conducted at two sites on the emergent continental shelf where terrestrial surfaces with in situ conifers are preserved. The woody plant remains confirm that, during the latest period of subaerial exposure, terrestrial vegetation was established on the continental shelf. Microscopic identification of fossil wood, and analyses of pollen and plant macrofossils from the associated paleosols and overlying shallow pond sediments indicate that productive Pinus contortadominated communities with abundant Alnus cr@a and ferns grew on the shelf adjacent to and on the Queen Charlotte Islands around 12,200 14c yr BP. Dwarf shrubs including Salk and Empetrum nigrum, and herbaceous plants such as Heracleum lanatum and HQpuris vulgaris were also important components of the shelf vegetation. Near northern Vancouver Island, mixed coniferous forests dominated by Pinus contorta with Picea, Tsuga spp. , Alnusspp. , and ferns occupied the shelf at 10,500 14C yr BP. Reprinted with permission from Lacourse et al. (2003), 02003 Elsevier Ltd.
Emission of CO2 from tropical riparian forest soil is controlled by soil temperature, soil water content and depth to water table

Tropical forests play a key role in the global carbon cycle. However, little is known about carbon cycling in the substantial portion of tropical forests that are low-lying, with shallow and fluctuating water tables. This study aimed to determine what factors control emissions of CO₂ from soil in a riparian rainforest in Queensland, Australia. Emissions were measured over the course of 1 year, using static chambers. Emission rates were significantly related to soil temperature (0–0.1 m depth), soil water content (0–0.12 m depth) and depth to water table. The most efficient linear model of emissions as a function of measured parameters, which also included soil pH (0–0.1 m depth), had r² = 0.355. CO₂ emissions were highest (5.2–7.5 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹) at moderate soil temperature (24-28°C), water table depth (0.2–1.5 m) and soil water-filled porosity (0.25–0.79). They were lowest (<0.5 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹) at low soil temperature (<22°C) or when the water table was within 0.15 m of the surface. An additional interaction between temperature and soil water was determined in the laboratory. Incubation of soil cores showed that temperature sensitivity of the heterotrophic component of respiration increased as the soil dried. It is clear that models of soil respiration in lowland tropical forests should take into account depth to water table, which is a key, but hitherto unreported, controller of CO₂ emissions in tropical forests.
Sedimentogenesis in the Amundsen Basin from Geophysical and Drilling Evidence on Lomonosov Ridge

Studies in the Amundsen Basin have revealed six seismostratigraphic complexes (SSCs) in this region. The horizons bounding these complexes were dated by identifying the linear magnetic anomalies. The recognized SSCs are correlated with the seismostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic units of Lomonosov Ridge. Based on these correlations, the lithological composition of SSCs in the Amundsen Basin is suggested. The formation of SSC2 is supposed to be due to the diagenetic processes associated with the conversion of opalA to opalCT. It is found that, generally, the rate of sedimentation in the Amundsen Basin has consis� tently decreased since the beginning of its formation. However, in the Hattian time, the global regression resulted in a sharp increase in the rate of sedimentation in the basin. Arguments in favor of the duration of the Middle Cenozoic sedimentary hiatus on Lomonosov Ridge reduced to 16.3 Ma are presented. It is supposed that the decrease in the intensity of oceanic crustal accretion in the Eurasian Basin, which is identified by the slowdown in the rate of its opening in the interval from 46 to 20-23 Ma might have resulted in a gradual decline in the sea level of the Arctic Ocean isolated from the World Ocean. This fact probably accounts for Lomonosov Ridge having remained dominated by subaerial conditions over the period from 36.7 to 20.4 Ma ago.
Analysis of aircraft and satellite measurements from the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (INTEX-B) to quantify long-range transport of East Asian sulfur to Canada

We interpret a suite of satellite, aircraft, and ground-based measurements over the North Pacific Ocean and western North America during April-May 2006 as part of the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment Phase B (INTEX-B) campaign to understand the implica- tions of long-range transport of East Asian emissions to North America. The Canadian component of INTEX-B included 33 vertical profiles from a Cessna 207 aircraft equipped with an aerosol mass spectrometer. Long-range transport of organic aerosols was insignificant, contrary to expectations. Measured sulfate plumes in the free tropo- sphere over British Columbia exceeded 2µg/m 3 . We up- date the global anthropogenic emission inventory in a chem- ical transport model (GEOS-Chem) and use it to interpret the observations. Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) retrieved from two satellite instruments (MISR and MODIS) for 2000-2006 are analyzed with GEOS-Chem to estimate an annual growth in Chinese sulfur emissions of 6.2% and 9.6%, respectively. Analysis of aircraft sulfate measurements from the NASA DC-8 over the central Pacific, the NSF C-130 over the east Pacific and the Cessna over British Columbia indicates most Asian sulfate over the ocean is in the lower free troposphere (800-600 hPa), with a decrease in pressure toward land due to orographic effects. We calculate that 56% of the mea- sured sulfate between 500-900 hPa over British Columbia is due to East Asian sources. We find evidence of a 72- 85% increase in the relative contribution of East Asian sul- fate to the total burden in spring off the northwest coast of the United States since 1985. Campaign-average simulations indicate anthropogenic East Asian sulfur emissions increase mean springtime sulfate in Western Canada at the surface by 0. 31µg/m 3 ( 30%) and account for 50% of the overall re- gional sulfate burden between 1 and 5 km. Mean measured daily surface sulfate concentrations taken in the Vancouver area increase by 0. 32µg/m 3 per 10% increase in the simu- lated fraction of Asian sulfate, and suggest current East Asian emissions episodically degrade local air quality by more than 1. 5µg/m 3 .
Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization Analysis of PTCL-U Reveals a Distinct Subgroup with Genetic Alterations Similar to Lymphoma-Type Adult T-Cell Leukemia/Lymphoma

Purpose: Peripheral T-cell lymphoma, unspecified (PTCL-U) comprises histopathologically and clinically heterogeneous groups. The purpose of this study was to identify subgroups with distinct genetic, histopathologic, and prognostic features. Experimental Design: We used array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) for high-resolution analysis of 51 PTCL-U patients and the array data for examining possible correlations of histopathologic and clinical features. Moreover, we compared the genetic, histopathologic, and prognostic features of the PTCL-U cases with those of 59 cases of lymphoma-type adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL). Results: We identified 32 regions with frequent genomic imbalance, 1 region with high copy number gain at 14q32.2, and 1 region with homozygous loss at 9p21.3. Gains of 7p and 7q and loss of 9p21.3 showed a significant association with poor prognosis. PTCL-U cases with genomic imbalance showed distinct histopathologic and prognostic features compared with such cases without alteration and a marked genetic, histopathologic, and prognostic resemblance to lymphoma-type ATLL. Conclusions: The array CGH enabled us to identify the frequently altered genomic regions with strong prognostic power among PTCL-U cases. A correlative analysis using the array CGH data disclosed a subgroup in PTCL-U with genomic alterations and with histopathologic and clinical relevance. In addition to histopathologic similarity, the strong genetic and prognostic resemblance between PTCL-U cases with genomic imbalance detected by array CGH and lymphoma-type ATLL seems to support the notion that the former may constitute a distinct PTCL-U subgroup.
wood biomass: a regional-scale simulation study

The historical range of variability (HRV) in landscape structure and composition created by natural disturbance can serve as a general guide for evaluating ecological conditions of managed landscapes. HRV approaches to evaluating landscapes have been based on age-classes or developmental stages, which may obscure variation in live and dead stand structure. Developing the HRV of stand structural characteristics would improve the ecological resolution of this coarse­ filter approach to ecosystem assessment. We investigated HRV in live and dead wood biomass in the regional landscape of the Oregon Coast Range by integrating stand-level biomass models and a spatially explicit fire simulation model. We simulated historical landscapes of the region for 1000 years under pre-Euro-American settlement fIre regimes and calcu­ lated biomass as a function of disturbance history. The simulation showed that live and dead wood biomass historically varied widely in time and space. The majority of the forests historically contained 500--700 Mg·ha- l (50-70 kg·m- 2 ) of live wood and 50-200 Mg·ha- l (5-20 kg·m- 2 ) of dead wood. The current distributions are more concentrated in much smaller amounts for both biomass types. Although restoring the HRV of forest structure is not necessarily a management goal for most landowners and managing agencies, departure from the reference condition can provide relative measure to evaluate habitat conditions for managers seeking to use forest structure as a means to maintain or restore ecosystem and species diversity. Resume: L'etendue historique de la variabilite (EHV) dans la composition et la structure du paysage engendree par les perturbations naturelles peut servir de guide general pour evaluer la condition ecologique des paysages amenages. Les ap­ proches qui utili sent l'EHV pour evaluer les paysages ont ete basees sur les classes d'age ou les stades de developpement. Cela peut obscurcir la variation associee aux structures mortes et vivantes des peuplements. Le developpement de l'EHV des caracreristiques structurales des peuplements pourrait ameliorer la resolution ecologique de cette approche du filtre brut pour evaluer les ecosystemes. Nous avons etudie l'EHV des biomasses vivante et morte dans Ie paysage regional de
Carbon-isotope stratigraphy recorded by the Cenomanian–Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event: correlation and implications based on three key localities

We present new, detailed carbon-isotope records for bulk carbonate, total organic carbon (TOC) and phytane from three key sections spanning the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary interval (Eastbourne, England; Gubbio, Italy; Tarfaya, Morocco), with the purpose of establishing a common chemostratigraphic framework for Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE) 2. Isotope curves from all localities are characterized by a positive carbon-isotope excursion of c. 4‰ for TOC and phytane and c. 2.5‰ for carbonate, although diagenetic overprinting appears to have obliterated the primary carbonate carbon-isotope signal in at least part of the Tarfaya section. Stratigraphically, peak δ13C values for all components are followed by intervals of high, near-constant δ13C in the form of an isotopic plateau. Recognition of an unambiguous return to background δ13C values above the plateau is, however, contentious in all sections, hence no firm chemostratigraphic marker for the end-point of the positive isotopic excursion can be established. The stratigraphically consistent first appearance of the calcareous nannofossil Quadrum gartneri at or near the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary as established by ammonite stratigraphy, in conjunction with the end of the δ13C maximum characteristic of the isotopic plateau, provides a potentially powerful tool for delimiting the stratigraphic extent and duration of OAE 2. This Oceanic Anoxic Event is demonstrated to be largely, if not wholly, confined to the latest part of the Cenomanian stage.
View Planes Recognition For Fetal Echocardiography With Unbalanced Samples

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common fetal birth defect disease, which can seriously threaten the health and life of children. Echocardiography is the most commonly used diagnostic method for fetal CHD. The standard cardiac view planes of the fetus are used for the diagnosis of CHD on echocardiography. Recently deep learning methods were used for standard cardiac view planes recognition of fetuses. However, these studies did not consider the impact of imbalanced sample size on recognition. The recognition performance of fetal heart view planes using different deep learning models is compared. Specifically, the dataset used includes samples of congenital heart disease. An improved method for fetal cardiac view planes classification with unbalanced samples is proposed. It adopts a two-stage training method with weight decay and maximum norm restriction techniques. The experimental results validate the performance of the method proposed.
Proximity Estimation with BLE RSSI and UWB Range Using Machine Learning Algorithm

Measuring the distance between two indoor mobile phones has recently become important in the context of pandemic contact tracing. Mobile phone location has improved as new technologies are added to smartphones. Ultra-wideband (UWB) ranging radios capable of centimetre-level ranging accuracies have been included in some flagship smartphone models beginning in 2019 but remain uncommon. The ranging radios compute distances using two-way time of flight approaches, providing up to centimetre-level accuracy in line-of-sight (LOS) conditions. Other mobile phones in the market today use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to estimate proximity between two Bluetooth-enabled devices using the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI). However, this technology suffers from drawbacks since the varying propagation environment inhibits stable RSSI. This paper presents a method where a subset of users are carrying high-end UWB-enabled smartphones. These users collect precise UWB ranges in addition to BLE RSSI. A classical machine learning (ML) algorithm is then trained with UWB ranges as truth values to estimate distances based on RSSI. A random forest ML technique is described for RSSI to distance modeling. The majority of the users, with only BLE, then estimate their relative distances using the trained model. The model was trained using UWB and BLE observations collected in an empty room environment. The model was then tested using RSSI measurements from the same empty and a second room containing typical office furniture. When testing on the training environment, 213 test samples were used. In the second office environment 200 RSSI samples were used to estimate distance in various locations.
Definición de unidades taxonómicas en el complejo de truchas del noroeste de México, mediante el análisis de marcadores microsatélites

In the mountain creeks and rivers of the northern part of the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO) in Mexico, there is a high diversity of native salmonids, all commonly recognized as Mexican trout, members of the genus Oncorhynchus. In Mexico there are jus two species formally described one of them called O. mykiss nelsoni which inhabits the Sierra San Pedro Martir in Baja California, the second one recognized as O. chrysogaster from the rives Fuerte, Culiacan and Sinaloa in the SMO, but most of the species remain undescribed and with low information that allows their delimitation. Also this species complex in under an impending treat of extinction due to habitat degradation, global climate change, and the introduction of exotic species mainly the rainbow trout (O. mykiss) which are cultivated in almost all the rivers where the natives inhabit without a good control. In this paper the genetic diversity of the native trout from northwestern Mexico was analyzed using 11 microsatellite loci with the aim to determine taxonomic units that contribute to the species delimitation as well as assess the impact and genetic introgretion due to exotic rainbow trout. The genetic biodiversity parameters show 24 average alleles per locus, allelic richness values between 1.707 and 4.8, the observed heterozigocity was in a range from 0.085 to 0.7234, also a total of 70 exclusive alleles were distributed in the different basins. The construction of a phylogenetic neighbor-joining tree was made base on Cavalli-Sforza and Edward´s genetic distances which indicated the formation of the follow genetically homogeneous groups: Guzman/Yaqui-Bavispe, Yaqui-Sirupa/Mayo, Conchos, San Lorenzo/Piaxtla, Acaponeta/Baluarte/Presidio, one group in the Sidra stream from San Lorenzo basin and one more group in the Aparique stream belonging to the Fuerte basin, also these groups were genetically different to the formally described trout (O. mykiss nelsoni and O. chrysogaster) just as the exotic rainbow trout. This grouping was corroborated by the assignation analysis using the Bayesian method, the gene flow estimation, and the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) which revealed the highest variance between group (63.94%), a 31.76% corresponding to population between groups and the last 4.40% of variance between populations inside of groups. The results of the different analyses support the existence of 7 taxonomic units corresponding to each group mentioned and should be different species in accord to De Queiroz (2007). In other hand, the assignation analysis and the genetic flow estimation proved that contrary to we thought only Presidio and Acaponeta basins showed introgression by the exotic rainbow trout genome, but these results have to be taken with caution because finest analyses need to be done with the appropriate sampling method to specify the magnitude of the impact.
R-LSTM-CNN Framework Based Lung Cancer Detection and Classification from Chest CT Images

Lung cancer is one of the top causes of death worldwide, accounting for almost five million lives lost annually. Computed Tomography (CT) scan findings can be used to help diagnose lung conditions. The fundamental objective of this work is to detect malignant nodules in the lungs and classify the severity of lung cancer based on an input lung image. In this proposed approach to use state-of-the-art Deep learning techniques to precisely locate cancerous lung nodules. Preprocessing, segmentation, feature extraction, and model training are the first four steps of the proposed method. The major goal of this preprocessing is to extract the lung area from the CT scan image, along with any other ROIs that may be present. A huge digital image can be broken down into more manageable chunks using a process called segmentation. Intensity and gradient orientation histograms, as well as Gabor and entropy filters, are used in feature extraction. After leveraging information gain to choose useful features, the models are trained via R-LSTM-CNN. The proposed method outperforms the two most popular competing methods, CNN and LSTM.
Profitability of a Dryland Grazing System Suitable for the Texas High Plains

The declining availability of groundwater will eventually force farmers and ranchers on the Texas High Plains to move to dryland production practices. Dryland production is inherently risky, and farmers need estimates of risk to effectively choose production practices and systems. We determine the profitability of a specific dryland ranching system in this paper by simulating production and profits for a wide range of rainfall and price values drawn from historic record. We find that the tobosagrass-WW-B.Dahl grazing system is profitable, but recognize that data limitations make this estimate an upper bound for the true expected profit for this system. We identify research that is needed on forage grass renewal to make more realistic risk estimates of dryland production; research that can be incorporated directly into the economic assessment presented. Specifically, we recognize the need for more estimates of dryland production practices at very low and very high precipitation levels.
The Effect of Shear Stress on Armor Layer Thickness Under Steady Uniform Flow

The armor layer is essential for maintaining stability on riverbed surfaces. This layer forms when bedload sediment moves until the bed's surface erodes, resulting in a stable layer that reaches an equilibrium state where no further sediment transport occurs. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect of grain size and shear stress on armor layer thickness using evenly mixed sand and gravel with five different grain size variations. The research methodology consists of laboratory experiments and optimization analysis. The main instrument used is a sediment-recirculating flume constructed from plexiglass, measuring 10, 0.60, and 0.45 m in length, width, and height, respectively. Bed slope varies across gradients of 1%, 1.4%, 1.8%, 2.2%, and 2.6%. The constant flow rate is set at capacities of 25 l/s, 30 l/s, 40 l/s, and 45 l/s. The results show the consistent behavior of the channel bed surface under different flow rate variations. Meanwhile, the variables affecting armor layer thickness are the uniformity coefficient (Cu), the difference in shear stress on the bed surface (τo-τc)/τc), beds shear stress, and the critical shear stress of the sediment grain. The primary novelty of this research is a formula to determine armor layer thickness. It showed that both shear stress and the proportion of sand-to-gravel materials play significant roles in the armoring process and subsequent changes in the riverbed. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2023-09-11-012 Full Text: PDF
Abstract—the Overall Service Performance of I/o Intensive

system depends mainly on workload on its storage system. In heterogeneous storage environment where storage elements from different vendors with different capacity and performance are put together, workload should be distributed according to storage capability. This paper addresses data placement issue in short video sharing website. Workload contributed by a video is estimated by the number of views and life time span of existing videos in same category. Experiment was conducted on 42,000 video titles in six weeks. Result showed that the proposed algorithm distributed workload and maintained balance better than round robin and random algorithms.
DERIVING ECOTOXICOLOGICAL RISK LIMITS FOR WATER AND SEDIMENT IN THE NETHERLANDS

In the Dutch project "Setting Integrated Environmental Quality Standards", concentration limits, referred to as Environmental Quality Standards (EQSs), for substances in the environment for the different compartments, air, water, sediment and soil are derived. These EQSs are used in Dutch environmental policy in order to be able to evaluate the quality of the environment and hence to decide on the actions necessary to maintain or improve its quality. EQSs are based on Ecotoxicological Risk Limits (ERLs) which are derived at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), on the basis of scientific information on the substance in question. This paper presents the methodology to derive these ERLs, the Maximum Permissible Concentration (MPC) and the Negligible Concentration (NC) for water and sediment. Until now, MPCs and NCs for metals and metalloids and a large group of organic compounds have been derived, which have proven to be very useful for environmental policy. The methodology presented will be discussed by addressing its assumptions, uncertainties and its needs for improvement and development.