Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Caribbean–North America–Cocos Triple Junction and the dynamics of the Polochic–Motagua fault systems: Pull‐up and zipper models

The Polochic‐Motagua fault systems (PMFS) are part of the sinistral transform boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates. To the west, these systems interact with the subduction zone of the Cocos plate, forming a subduction‐subduction‐transform triple junction. The North American plate moves westward relative to the Caribbean plate. This movement does not affect the geometry of the subducted Cocos plate, which implies that deformation is accommodated entirely in the two overriding plates. Structural data, fault kinematic analysis, and geomorphic observations provide new elements that help to understand the late Cenozoic evolution of this triple junction. In the Miocene, extension and shortening occurred south and north of the Motagua fault, respectively. This strain regime migrated northward to the Polochic fault after the late Miocene. This shift is interpreted as a “pull‐up” of North American blocks into the Caribbean realm. To the west, the PMFS interact with a trench‐parallel fault zone that links the Tonala fault to the Jalpatagua fault. These faults bound a fore‐arc sliver that is shared by the two overriding plates. We propose that the dextral Jalpatagua fault merges with the sinistral PMFS, leaving behind a suturing structure, the Tonala fault. This tectonic “zipper” allows the migration of the triple junction. As a result, the fore‐arc sliver comes into contact with the North American plate and helps to maintain a linear subduction zone along the trailing edge of the Caribbean plate. All these processes currently make the triple junction increasingly diffuse as it propagates eastward and inland within both overriding plates.
A chronology of the 1991 to 1993 Mount Etna eruption using advanced very high resolution radiometer data: Implications for real‐time thermal volcano monitoring

Between December 1991 and March 1993 a continuous effusive eruption at Mount Etna built a 7.6 km2 lava flow field. Flows extended to within 1 km of the town of Zafferana before a successful artificial diversion was carried out higher up the volcano. During this eruption the spaceborne advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) acquired 308 images on which the activity could be detected. Since these data can be freely and directly available, such coverage potentially allows regular, real-time monitoring. Ground observations and a flow map that we produced using a SPOT image and electronic distance measurement allowed us to develop and test data extraction techniques. AVHRR radiance maps were consistent with known locations of surface activity. These documented the transition from channel to tube fed phases, the changing threat to Zafferana, and flow diversion. Quantitative analysis of the AVHRR data enabled estimation of active lava area, thermal flux, effusion rates, and total flow field volume. Our estimates for eruption rate and total flow field volume, 5.6 to 7.6 m3/s and 220×106 to 300×106 m3, respectively, are in agreement with published ground-based estimates of 5.8 m3/s and 235×106 m3. These correlations demonstrate the high degree of confidence that can now be placed in interpretations of AVHRR time series for eruptions where ground-based data are scanty.
On Mertz and Ninnis Glaciers, East Antarctica

Abstract Two large glacier tongues, which extend substantially across the coastline of King George V Land in East Antarctica, have been studied by remote sensing (synthetic aperture radar, JERS-1). The tongue of Mertz Glacier is in a state of advance, while the Ninnis Glacier tongue is retreating. Some more specific points are: The distinctive surface structure and the form of the glacier tongues indicates that they are floating. While the tongue of Ninnis Glacier has lost about two-thirds of its area since 1913, the Mertz Glacier tongue has advanced substantially and has about doubled its areal extent over the same time period. The annual movement of the tongue of Mertz Glacier was determined as about 1.2 km. This is close to the value of the advance of the tip of the tongue since 1963, which was determined as 0.9 km year−1.
Salt marsh harvest mouse abundance and site use in a managed marsh

SALT MARSH HARVEST MOUSE ABUNDANCE AND SITE USE IN A MANAGED MARSH by Galli Basson The salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris) is a federal and California listed endangered mammal endemic to the San Francisco Bay. The objectives of this research were to determine habitat use of endangered salt marsh harvest mice in a managed marsh in Fremont California, and to evaluate whether managed flooding of the marsh provides favorable habitat conditions for the mice. In addition, this research explores the effectiveness of using mark-recapture model selection analysis to estimate capture probability, survival, and population growth rate for salt marsh harvest mice. Mice were captured for four nights per month between May and August, 2008. Thirty-six unique salt marsh harvest mice were captured for a catch per 100 nights of trap effort of 1.9. The sex ratio of male to female mice was skewed towards males with a sex of 2.3:1. Salt marsh harvest mice were distributed randomly throughout the marsh and no relationships were found between mice distribution and pickleweed salinity, pickleweed height, distance to levees, distance to dry or filled water bodies, percent cover of vegetation, or sympatric rodents. The findings of this study indicate that catch^per-trapeffort, the current standard method to estimate salt marsh harvest mice populations, may not be accurate. The results of this study can be used by managers of salt marsh harvest mice habitat to manage and estimate mouse populations.
Deformation of amphibolites via dissolution–precipitation creep in the middle and lower crust

Continuous compositional zoning in amphibole grains in strongly deformed and lineated amphibolites from the Eastern Blue Ridge, North Carolina indicates that most of the deformation was accommodated by dissolution–precipitation creep. Amphibole in most samples shows moderate prograde and/or retrograde zoning parallel to the long‐axis with compositions ranging between magnesiohornblende and tschermakite. In one sample, grains are zoned from actinolitic (Si = 7.9 p.f.u.) cores to tschermakitic (Si = 6.2 p.f.u) rims. Amphibole‐plagioclase thermometry suggests prograde growth temperatures as low as 400 °C, but typically range from 650 to 730 °C and retrograde growth temperatures <700 °C. These estimates are corroborated quantitatively with amphibole‐garnet‐plagioclase thermobarometry and qualitatively with a positive correlation between TiO2 concentration in amphibole and calculated temperature. This growth zoning provides persuasive evidence that amphibole precipitation produced the fabric, but evidence for dissolution is less common. It is present, however in the form of truncations of complicated zoning patterns produced by healed fractures and overgrowths in low‐temperature cores by high‐temperature tschermakitic grains lacking similar internal structures. The preservation of this network of straight cracks filled with optically continuous amphibole also provides evidence against the operation of dislocation creep even to temperatures >700 °C because dislocation‐creep would have deformed the fracture network. Thus, these amphibolites deformed by dissolution–precipitation creep that produced a strong linear fabric under upper amphibolite facies, middle‐to‐lower crustal conditions. The significance of this discovery is that dissolution–precipitation creep is activated at lower stresses than dislocation creep and that the strength of the lower crust, where amphibole is the dominant mineral is probably lower than that derived from experimental studies.
Obstacle avoidance and navigation in the real world by a seeing robot rover

Abstract : The Stanford AI Lab cart is a card-table sized mobile robot controlled remotely through a radio link, and equipped with a TV camera and transmitter. A computer has been programmed to drive the cart through cluttered indoor and outdoor spaces, gaining its knowledge of the world entirely from images broadcast by the onboard TV system. The cart uses several kinds of stereo to locate objects around it in 3D and to deduce its own motion. It plans an obstacle avoiding path to a desired destination on the basis of a model built with this information. The plan changes as the cart perceives new obstacles on its journey. The system is reliable for short runs, but slow. The cart moves one meter every ten to fifteen minutes, in lurches. After rolling a meter it stops, takes some pictures and thinks about them for a long time. Then it plans a new path, executes a little of it, and pauses again. The program has successfully driven the cart through several 20 meter indoor courses (each taking about five hours) complex enough to necessitate three or four avoiding swerves. A less successful outdoor run, in which the cart skirted two obstacles but collided with a third, was also done. Harsh lighting (very bright surfaces next to very dark shadows) giving poor pictures and movement of shadows during the cart's creeping progress were major reasons for the poorer outdoor performance. The action portions of these runs were filmed by computer controlled cameras. (Author)
A multichannel approach to long‐period multiple prediction and attenuation

A method is presented for the prediction and attenuation of long‐period water‐layer multiples based on an adaptive multichannel lattice algorithm. The multichannel approach can be viewed as a generalization of two‐dimensional linear prediction. The multichannel linear least‐squares prediction problem is reviewed briefly and the performance and limitations of the algorithm are demonstrated on two different marine data sets with different properties of the simple and peg‐leg multiple system. The algorithm works well even on problematic data sets and is very easy to apply.
Ozone effects on net primary production and carbon sequestration in the conterminous United States using a biogeochemistry model

The effects of air pollution on vegetation may provide an important control on the carbon cycle that has not yet been widely considered. Prolonged exposure to high levels of ozone, in particular, has been observed to inhibit photosynthesis by direct cellular damage within the leaves and through changes in stomatal conductance. We have incorporated empirical equations derived for trees (hardwoods and pines) and crops into the Terrestrial Ecosystem Model version 4.3 (TEM 4.3) to explore the effects of ozone on net primary production and carbon sequestration across the conterminous United States. Our results show up to a 5% reduction in Net Primary Production (NPP) in response to modeled historical ozone levels during the late 1980s to early 1990s. The largest decreases (over 20% in some locations) occur in the eastern U.S. and Midwest, during months with high ozone levels and high productivity. Carbon sequestration during the 1980s is reduced by 30 to 70 Tg C yr with the presence of ozone, or 5 to 23% of recent estimates of the total carbon sequestration for the U.S. Thus the effects of ozone on NPP and carbon sequestration should be factored into future calculations of the U.S. carbon budget.
Analysis of tropical‐like cyclones over the Mediterranean Sea through a combined modeling and satellite approach

Several Mediterranean vortices with characteristics similar to tropical cyclones are analyzed by means of numerical simulations, satellite products and lightning data. Numerical analysis suggests that the broad tropical‐like cyclone category includes in reality a set of different cyclones, ranging from very small and weak vortices to larger and stronger cyclones. One case displays a much longer persistence of tropical features than the other events. The analysis of the tracks identifies two preferred areas of occurrence: the Ionian sea and the Balearic Islands. The satellite analysis of cloud top height and retrieved rainfall indicates that the stage characterized by the most intense convective activity and rainfall anticipates the mature phase, when the cyclone is more intense and characterized by tropical features, during which convection is shallower and rainfall weaker. This result is confirmed by a preliminary analysis of the lightning activity.
Inter-catchment comparison of flow regime between the Hailiutu and Huangfuchuan rivers in the semi-arid Erdos Plateau, Northwest China

Abstract Two river catchments, the Huangfuchuan and the Hailiutu, located in the same climate zone in the Erdos Plateau, China, have distinctly different flow regimes. This study systematically compared differences between the flow regimes of these two catchments using several statistical methods, and analysed the possible causes. The variations in yearly, monthly and daily mean discharges were found to be much greater in the Huangfuchuan catchment than in the Hailiutu catchment. Preliminary analysis indicated that these differences are not caused by changes in climate, but are instead attributable to differences in geology, geomorphology, hydrological processes and human interventions. In the Hailiutu catchment, the dominant groundwater contribution maintains stationary daily and monthly river discharges, while shifts in yearly mean discharges were closely associated with the expansion or reduction of crop area. In the Huangfuchuan catchment, the dominant direct rainfall–runoff process generates flashier daily and monthly river discharges, while the decrease of yearly mean discharges is caused mainly by the construction of check dams. These findings have significant implications for water resource management and the implementation of proper soil and water conservation measures in the middle reach of the Yellow River Basin of China. Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor Y. Gyasi-Agyei
Posttranscriptional Regulation of Collagen a 1(I) mRNA in Hepatic Stellate Cells

The hepatic stellate cell (HSC) is the primary cell responsible for the dramatic increase in the synthesis of type I collagen in the cirrhotic liver. Quiescent HSCs contain a low level of collagen a 1(I) mRNA, while activated HSCs contain about 60- to 70-fold more of this mRNA. The transcription rate of the collagen a 1(I) gene is only two fold higher in activated HSCs than in quiescent HSCs. In assays using actinomycin D or 5,6-dichlorobenzimidazole riboside collagen a 1(I) mRNA has estimated half-lives of 1.5 h in quiescent HSCs and 24 h in activated HSCs. Thus, this 16-fold change in mRNA stability is primarily responsible for the increase in collagen a 1(I) mRNA steady-state level in activated HSCs. We have identiﬁed a novel RNA-protein interaction targeted to the C-rich sequence in the collagen a 1(I) mRNA 3 * untranslated region (UTR). This sequence is localized 24 nucleotides 3 * to the stop codon. In transient transfection experiments, mutation of this sequence diminished accumulation of an mRNA transcribed from a collagen a 1(I) minigene and in stable transfections nt 2 39 to 1 1 ﬁrst nucleotide subcloned sites of pGEM3zf 1 vector (Promega). To generate a shorter probe, the mouse collagen a 1(I) gene nt 1 23 to 1 55 was synthe- sized as a double-stranded oligonucleotide and cloned into Eco RI- Hin dIII sites of pGEM3zf 1 . The a -globin template contains nt 1 29 to 1 70 from the 3 9 UTR of human a -globin gene a -Globin and collagen RNA probes were transcribed from these templates after linearization with an appropriate restriction enzyme. Site-directed mutagenesis was performed by the method of Kunkel used for RNase protection assays were derived from the 375-nt Pst I- Ava I fragment from rat collagen a 1(I) cDNA (clone py1R1; a gift from David cloned into Hin cII- Pst I sites of the pGEM 3zf 1 vector and from the pTRI-GAPDH-rat antisense control template (Ambion). To generate an RNA probe to detect expression of the collagen minigenes, exons 5 to 9 of mouse collagen a 1(I) cDNA were cloned into Pst I- pGEM4, a RNA
Improved modal parameter identification by non-parametric modeling of the measurement noise

A higher accuracy of as well as confidence intervals on the estimated parameters can be obtained by using identification techniques based on a statistical framework, as for example the Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimator. However, to use these techniques, the knowledge of the noise on the measurements is of primary importance. For Multivariable (MIMO) systems this means that the covariance-matrix of the FRFs and so of the measurement noise has to be determined. This statistical information is used by the ML estimator to take the measurement data, according to its accuracy, more or less into consideration for parameter estimation. In this contribution a method for performing non-parametric FRF estimation for a Errors-in-Variables model, taking output as well as input measurement noise into account, is presented and integrated in the use of a frequency domain ML estimator. The methodology is validated on experimental measurements, using a random and periodic (multisine) excitation.
Construction and validation of a Shack-Hartmann type aberrometer

One of the most used techniques for measuring the optical aberrations of the human eye is the so-called Shack-Hartmann aberrometer. In this paper, a compact experimental setup is presented for the acquisition of in vivo human eye aberrations. This experimental aberrometer system will be used as the adaptive optics (AO) arm of a flood illuminating system. The experimental results of the eye aberrations acquisition using our proposed system are presented and compared with the irx3 commercial aberrometer, probing the validity of our system. Also, we present the preliminary results of the capture of the fundus of a model eye.
MRI‐based quantification of whole‐organ renal metabolic rate of oxygen

During the early stages of diabetes, kidney oxygen utilization increases. The mismatch between oxygen demand and supply contributes to tissue hypoxia, a key driver of chronic kidney disease. Thus, whole‐organ renal metabolic rate of oxygen (rMRO2) is a potentially valuable biomarker of kidney function. The key parameters required to determine rMRO2 include the renal blood flow rate (RBF) in the feeding artery and oxygen saturation in the draining renal vein (SvO2). However, there is currently no noninvasive method to quantify rMRO2 in absolute physiologic units. Here, a new MRI pulse sequence, Kidney Metabolism of Oxygen via T2 and Interleaved Velocity Encoding (K‐MOTIVE), is described, along with evaluation of its performance in the human kidney in vivo. K‐MOTIVE interleaves a phase‐contrast module before a background‐suppressed T2‐prepared balanced steady‐state‐free‐precession (bSSFP) readout to measure RBF and SvO2 in a single breath‐hold period of 22 s, yielding rMRO2 via Fick's principle. Variants of K‐MOTIVE to evaluate alternative bSSFP readout strategies were studied. Kidney mass was manually determined from multislice gradient recalled echo images. Healthy subjects were recruited to quantify rMRO2 of the left kidney at 3‐T field strength (N = 15). Assessments of repeat reproducibility and comparisons with individual measurements of RBF and SvO2 were performed, and the method's sensitivity was evaluated with a high‐protein meal challenge (N = 8). K‐MOTIVE yielded the following metabolic parameters: T2 = 157 ± 19 ms; SvO2 = 92% ± 6%; RBF = 400 ± 110 mL/min; and rMRO2 = 114 ± 117(μmol O2/min)/100 g tissue. Reproducibility studies of T2 and RBF (parameters directly measured by K‐MOTIVE) resulted in coefficients of variation less than 10% and intraclass correlation coefficients more than 0.75. The high‐protein meal elicited an increase in rMRO2, which was corroborated by serum biomarkers. The K‐MOTIVE sequence measures SvO2 and RBF, the parameters necessary to quantify whole‐organ rMRO2, in a single breath‐hold. The present work demonstrates that rMRO2 quantification is feasible with good reproducibility. rMRO2 is a potentially valuable physiological biomarker.
Estimation of rockburst wall-rock velocity invoked by slab flexure sources in deep tunnels

For rock support in burst-prone ground, the wall-rock velocity adjacent to the surface of underground openings is a vital support design parameter, and depends on the seismic source mechanism inducing rockburst damage. In this study, to estimate the wall-rock velocity evoked only by rock slab buckling (an important rockburst source mechanism), a comprehensive velocity assessment method is proposed, using an excellent slab column buckling model with a small eccentricity, which relies on a novel compressive or tensile buckling failure criterion of rock slab. The true-triaxial loading–unloading tests and rockburst case analyses reveal that rock mass slabbing induced by high rock stress has major impacts on the evolution and formation of buckling rockburst in deep tunnels. Using a method based on the energy balance principle, the slabbing thickness of intact rock mass is also calculated by an analytical method, which indicates that the slabbing thickness parameter has a nonlinear relation to the following six.
Controls on methanol and acetone in marine and continental atmospheres

We present a regional analysis of CH3OH and (CH3)2CO in the New England continental and coastal marine atmospheres. Vegetative emissions over land comprise 60–80% of the daily peak‐to‐peak differences in the diurnal cycles of these oxygenated hydrocarbons. In the morning downward mixing of remnant boundary layer air over land provides an additional source equal to more than half of the vegetative emission strength. The ocean is both a sink and a source of CH3OH and (CH3)2CO, with dry depositional losses 2‐fold greater than their source counterparts of 0.35 and 0.17 ppbv d−1 respectively. Anthropogenic emissions compensate for 59% and 52% of CH3OH and (CH3)2CO oceanic sink respectively, whereas over land this source is relatively small compared to substantial vegetative sources. Direct measurements of ocean‐ and land‐air fluxes of CH3OH and (CH3)2CO and boundary layer height are needed to better constrain their regional budgets.
Global carbonate accumulation rates from Cretaceous to Present and their implications for the carbon cycle model

Abstract Global carbonate accumulation rates on the surface of the earth, including not only platforms but also continental margin slopes and deep‐sea from the Cretaceous to Present, are estimated by compiling previous geologic studies. These rates are revised, taking account of the erosional effect of the sediments on the platform and deep‐sea. Long‐term model carbonate fluxes from the ocean to the crust are calculated on the basis of the carbon cycle model (GEOCARB of Berner 1991 ). The rates based on the actual geologic data indicate much lower values than model fluxes, excluding the Pliocene and Quaternary. The discrepancy could be attributed to the two misunderstandings, namely an overestimate of carbonate accumulation rate for the Quaternary and an incorrect use of the higher Quaternary rate for a boundary condition of the model. The carbonate accumulation rate for the Pliocene to Quaternary is lowered from 29.8 × 1018 mol/Ma (modified from Opdyke & Wilkinson 1988 ) to 14.8 × 1018 mol/Ma in the present study, assuming that the rate from Quaternary to Pliocene is almost the same as the Miocene value. New model fluxes are recalculated with the new boundary condition in the Quaternary (14.8 × 1018 mol/Ma). Revised model fluxes show general trends of high rates in 120 Ma or 130 Ma, and a low rate in 0 Ma, and are in agreement with the accumulation rate pattern.