Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Landslides in mountainous regions of Northern Vietnam : causes, protection strategies and the assessment of economic losses

Landslides are a severe problem during the rainy season in many mountainous regions in Asia where forests have been cut so that mountain slopes are destabilized. In this study we analyze the extent and causes of landslides in a mountainous area in Northern Vietnam as viewed from the perspective of the concerned population. We also scrutinize the ideas of these people regarding suitable landslide protection measures and their willingness to contribute to the practical implementation of these measures. It shows that nearly all people living in this area feel highly concerned about the frequent landslide events and that they support the idea of government programs to mitigate the danger of future landslides. We measure the utility they expect from such a landslide protection program, i. e. the social value of such a program, in terms of their willingness to contribute personally to its implementation. Since budgets are tight in these rural areas where subsistence farming still prevails we also analyze the possibilities to measure these expected utility gains in terms of people's willingness to contribute working time instead of money to the proposed landslide protection program. The prospect of employing such an alternative means of contribution is, however, seen rather critical.
Long‐term cloud change imprinted in seasonal cloud variation: More evidence of high climate sensitivity

The large spread of model equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) is mainly caused by the differences in the simulated marine boundary layer cloud (MBLC) radiative feedback. We examine the variations of MBLC fraction in response to the changes of sea surface temperature (SST) at seasonal and centennial time scales for 27 climate models that participated in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 and phase 5. We find that the intermodel spread in the seasonal variation of MBLC fraction with SST is strongly correlated with the intermodel spread in the centennial MBLC fraction change per degree of SST warming and that both are well correlated with ECS. Seven models that are consistent with the observed seasonal variation of MBLC fraction with SST at a rate −1.28 ± 0.56%/K all have ECS higher than the multimodel mean of 3.3 K yielding an ensemble‐mean ECS of 3.9 K and a standard deviation of 0.45 K.
The Next Decade of Mars Exploration

Following a 20-year hiatus in missions to Mars, the planet has again become a focus of planetary research for space-faring nations. NASA and space agencies worldwide are returning to Mars with scientific research and public engagement sharing top priority. Collectively, the work to be performed within a decade will address much of the research associated with planetary evolution, past and present climates, and astrobiology. NASA's science goals are centered on the study of potential habitats - past and present environments that may have been suitable for the origin of life. These goals are approached through in situ measurements and through sample return. CNES has teamed with NASA to return samples, while also extending the research base by adding geophysical measurements via a network of landers. ASI has joined NASA and CNES by providing a drill to access the near sub-surface. ESA will fly an orbiter and, potentially, a lander to Mars with the goal of addressing mineralogy, geochemistry, geology, and biology. ISAS will study the planet's aeronomy using an orbiter. Many other nations are contributors to these programs of exploration. The desire for national participation, presence on the Martian surface and, most importantly, samples to analyze motivate all nations involved. So important is public engagement that NASA and CNES will launch a network of communication satellites to improve public participation and enhance scientific data return. Further, NASA is currently preparing a Mars airplane that will undoubtedly engage the public's imagination. Additional research investigations will be sought; particularly those able to utilize small spacecraft on and above the surface. A recently announced NASA/CNES series of MicroMissions offers a means of pursuing discoveries, scouting potential landing sites for sample return, and further broadening the scope of scientific research. The timing for these opportunities will be presented.
Feasibility of a School-based Study of Health Risk Behaviors in Ethnic Fijian Female Adolescents in Fiji: The HEALTHY Fiji Study.

Objective Behavioral risk assessment is critical to developing intervention strategies to promote adolescent health, but also presents logistical, ethical, and scientific challenges. This paper reports on feasibility of a school-based study of health-risk behaviors in ethnic Fijian adolescent girls. Methods We assessed feasibility of school-based participation and implementation of assessment in the local vernacular language by examining observational data and by calculating response rates and as well as language selection and item completion rates. Results All invited study area schools participated (n=12). Response rates were >70% for study participation among eligible study participants in the overall sample as well as the peri-urban and rural sub-samples. The majority of respondents (71.9%) selected the local Fijian vernacular language version rather than the English version (28.1%). Although 43.6% of respondents completed a questionnaire in a language not spoken as the primary language at home, only ten respondents (1.9%) were assessed as having difficulty with the language of the self-report questionnaire. Item completion rates for the primary outcomes were >90% for both study phases and in both language versions. Study participant response rate for further assessment of concerning symptoms was also very high and teachers were successfully recruited for participation in training and accepting referrals to support these students at each participating school. Conclusion School-based behavioral risk data collection in the vernacular language was feasible. Evaluation and referral of individual study participants with concerning symptoms to educators for further assistance and support also appeared feasible. We suggest that close collaboration among Fiji-based and specialty consultants to address scientific, linguistic, logistical, and ethical challenges were contributing factors to study feasibility.
Simulating Peatland Methane Dynamics Coupled to a Mechanistic Model of Biogeochemistry, Hydrology, and Energy: Implications to Climate Change

Northern peat lands have a strong potential to modify climate through changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) and methane (CH4). A dynamic interaction among climate, soil physical properties (e.g., temperature and moisture), and biogeochemistry (e.g., quantity and quality of SOC) determines the peat land system. Due to this interaction, CH4 production, oxidation, and transport dynamics changes dramatically under climate change. To appropriately study the future CH4 in a predictive manner, a simulation model must be able to reproduce the inherent dynamic interaction in the peat land system. Here, these complex interactions were simulated simultaneously in a biogeochemical peat land model coupled with mechanistic soil hydrology and thermal dynamics (ED2.0-peat). The model successfully reproduced soil physical profiles and the resultant SOC and CH4 observed in a poor fen of northern Manitoba. With an experimental simulation of 4°C warming, a significant long-term decline in CH4 emission was found, caused by a loss in substrate and prevalence of aerobic conditions. However, there was a transient increase in CH4 emission shortly after warming because of time lag between the temperature dependence of microbial activity (a fast response to climate change) and the loss in peat depth (a slow response). 17 Climate Change and Variability 328
Assessing Value in Product Networks

Traditionally, the value of a product has been assessed according to the direct revenues the product creates. However, products do not exist in isolation but rather influence one another's sales. Such influence is especially evident in eCommerce environments, where products are often presented as a collection of webpages linked by recommendation hyperlinks, creating a large-scale product network. Here we present the first attempt to use a systematic approach to estimate products' true value to a firm in such a product network. Our approach, which is in the spirit of the PageRank algorithm, uses easily available data from large-scale electronic commerce sites and separates a product’s value into its own intrinsic value, the value it receives from the network, and the value it contributes to the network. We apply this approach to data collected from Amazon.com and from BarnesAndNoble.com. Focusing on one domain of interest, we find that if products are evaluated according to their direct revenue alone, without taking their network value into account, the true value of the "long tail" of electronic commerce may be underestimated, whereas that of bestsellers might be overestimated.
Amplitude modeling of the seismic reflectors in the crust‐mantle transition layer beneath the volcanic front along the northern Izu‐Bonin island arc

The Izu‐Bonin island arc is a typical oceanic island arc formed by subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the Philippine Sea plate. Although some crustal structures of this island arc have been identified, detailed information about the region between the deeper crust and uppermost mantle, especially the crust‐mantle transition layer, has been inadequate to elucidate a crustal growth model. Comparison of the observed and synthetic waveforms of wide‐angle seismic data yielded velocity contrast values of the top and bottom of this transition layer beneath the volcanic front along the northern Izu‐Bonin island arc. Using those data, we clarify the nature of the crust‐mantle transition layer. The top of the crust‐mantle transition layer has a velocity contrast value of about 0.4 km/s in the southern area, extending from Kurose hall to Tori‐shima along the northern Izu‐Bonin island arc, except for the northern area, extending from Nii‐jima to Kurose hall (0.25 km/s). The velocity contrast value at the bottom of this transition layer is large (>0.4 km/s) between Nii‐jima and Kurose hall and small (0.2 km/s) from Kurose hall southward. These results and the average P wave velocity in the crust‐mantle transition layer indicate that this transition layer beneath the volcanic front along the northern Izu‐Bonin island arc is a mixture of mafic residues and olivine cumulates formed during crustal growth. Furthermore, the variation of the velocity contrast at the top and bottom of this transition layer and the average P wave velocity in this layer along this arc imply that this layer in the southern area, extending from Kurose hall southward, has a larger ratio of mantle materials (olivine cumulates) to mafic residues than that in the northern area, extending from Nii‐jima to Kurose hall. The Moho along the volcanic front in the oceanic island arc probably has a complex signature, as suggested by the crust‐mantle transition layer comprising a mixture of mafic residues and olivine cumulates.
Association of Arachidonic Acid–Derived Lipid Mediators With Disease Severity in Patients With Relapsing and Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

Background and Objectives Excessive activation of certain lipid mediator (LM) pathways plays a role in the complex pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the relationship between bioactive LMs and different aspects of CNS-related pathophysiologic processes remains largely unknown. Therefore, in this study, we assessed the association of bioactive LMs belonging to the ω-3/ω-6 lipid classes with clinical and biochemical (serum neurofilament light [sNfL] and serum glial fibrillary acidic protein [sGFAP]) parameters and MRI-based brain volumes in patients with MS (PwMS) and healthy controls (HCs). Methods A targeted high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry approach was used on plasma samples of PwMS and HCs of the Project Y cohort, a cross-sectional population-based cohort that contains PwMS all born in 1966 in the Netherlands and age-matched HCs. LMs were compared between PwMS and HCs and were correlated with levels of sNfL, sGFAP, disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS]), and brain volumes. Finally, significant correlates were included in a backward multivariate regression model to identify which LMs best related to disability. Results The study sample consisted of 170 patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS), 115 patients with progressive MS (PMS), and 125 HCs. LM profiles of patients with PMS significantly differed from those of patients with RRMS and HCs, particularly patients with PMS showed elevated levels of several arachidonic acid (AA) derivatives. In particular, 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HETE) (r = 0.24, p < 0.001) correlated (average r = 0.2, p < 0.05) with clinical and biochemical parameters such as EDSS and sNfL. In addition, higher 15-HETE levels were related to lower total brain (r = −0.24, p = 0.04) and deep gray matter volumes (r = −0.27, p = 0.02) in patients with PMS and higher lesion volume (r = 0.15, p = 0.03) in all PwMS. Discussion In PwMS of the same birth year, we show that ω-3 and ω-6 LMs are associated with disability, biochemical parameters (sNfL, GFAP), and MRI measures. Furthermore, our findings indicate that, particularly, in patients with PMS, elevated levels of specific products of the AA pathway, such as 15-HETE, associate with neurodegenerative processes. Our findings highlight the potential relevance of ω-6 LMs in the pathogenesis of MS.
Differential impacts of conventional El Niño versus El Niño Modoki on Malaysian rainfall anomaly during winter monsoon

This study investigates distinct impacts of conventional El Niño and El Niño Modoki on Malaysian rainfall anomaly during the winter monsoon. Generally, during conventional El Niños, northern Borneo experiences significant rainfall deficit while over Peninsular Malaysia the impact is minimal. In contrast, most El Niño Modoki events favour deficit rainfall over both northern Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. The level of impacts, particularly over northern Borneo, is higher during El Niño Modoki than conventional El Niño. The different patterns of anomalous rainfall distribution during the two types of El Niño are associated with differences in regional sea surface temperature anomalies, anomalous regional circulation and the different patterns of ascending and descending air associated with the nodes of Walker circulation over this region. However, the most prominent change is the weakening and westward shifting of the anti‐cyclonic circulation over the western North Pacific region.
The Sulu Sea: A Marginal Basin in Southeast Asia: Small Basin Margins

Southeast Asia is located at the junction of four plates: the Eurasian, Indian Ocean/Australian, Pacific, and Philippine Sea plates. Their interaction during Tertiary times resulted in a complex active margin composed of a mosaic of small geotectonic units such as microcontinental blocks, island arcs, and marginal seas. The Sulu Sea is an example of a marginal sea with two distinct basins of different types: (1) the Outer Sulu Sea basin, formed inside an old island arc, the Palawan arc; (2) the Inner Sulu Sea, a basin with an oceanic crust. It is fringed to the southeast and the east by an active margin, supposedly the remains of a larger active margin which during Tertiary times extended along the western side of the Philippines from Luzon to Negros and perhaps from the ulu Archipelago to the northeastern part of Sabah.
EVALUATION OF THE SOUNDING ROD METHOD FOR SAMPLING COARSE RIVERBED SEDIMENTS IN NON‐WADEABLE STREAMS AND RIVERS

The substrate of fluvial systems is regularly characterized as part of a larger physical habitat assessment. These measures are instrumental in meeting the regulatory responsibilities of bioassessment and monitoring programs, and essential to monitoring restoration and rehabilitation success. We describe and validate a commonly used technique for broadly categorizing, and thus characterizing, the substrate in non‐wadeable streams and rivers called the sounding rod method. In brief, a rod, often hollow, is used to probe the substrate of non‐wadeable systems to characterize the substrate. We tested the viability of this method on three different systems by comparing estimated particle class and direct particle measurements. Our results indicate that substrates can adequately be defined into six broad classes (fine‐particle sediment, sand, gravel, cobble, boulder and bedrock) based on size using the sounding rod. Estimated classes were significantly positively correlated to measured classes (τ = 0.83, p < 0.001), and estimates of size class and direct measurements of size were not from significantly different distributions (χ2 0.05,9 = 569.51, p < 0.001). Further, there were significant differences between each category (H = 243.5, 3 d.f., p < 0.001). Although our results affirm that actual substrate class size can be directly inferred from estimated data, it should be noted that soft sediments <200 mm were not always detected. This finding should be carefully considered with individual study objective. Overall, the sounding rod method can be learned quickly, and it is a low‐cost and time‐efficient method for substrate classification. Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Satellite radar interferometry time series analysis of surface deformation for Los Angeles, California

The Los Angeles, California, metropolitan area is a tectonically active region with surface deformation that is a combination of fault related tectonics plus a variety of natural and anthropogenic signals. We apply the small baseline subset (SBAS) algorithm to produce an interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) time series analysis for the Los Angeles area using data acquired by the ERS satellites from late 1995 into 2002. The result is a space‐time deformation product that can be exploited to view not only the smoothly varying long‐term surface motion, but also its time varying patterns. Large seasonal oscillations of the Santa Ana aquifer observed in Southern California Integrated GPS Network (SCIGN) data are accurately matched in the InSAR time series, moreover, correlations of the InSAR time series with an annual sinusoid allows us to investigate the dynamics of the hydrologic system.
PEMANFAATAN TRANSFORMASI NORMALIZED DIFFERENCE VEGETATION INDEX(NDVI) CITRA LANDSAT TM UNTUK ZONASI VEGETASI DI LERENG MERAPI BAGIAN SELATAN

Penelitian ini berusaha untuk mengetahui pengaruh variasi jenis vegetasi, kerapatan tegakan, dan umur vegetasi terhadap informasi spektral vegetasi pada citra digital Landsat TM di Daerah Lereng Merapi Bagian Selatan. Tujuan yang dirumuskan dalam penelitian ini adalah untuk (1) mengkaji jenis, kerapatan tegakan, dan umur tegakan vegetasi berdasarkan nilai kecerahan piksel pada citra tranformasi (NDVI) data digital Landsat TM; (2) membuat zonasi vegetasi berdasarkan data digital Landsat TM. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah transformasi indeks vegetasi dan kerja lapangan, sedangkan untuk pengambilan sampel digunakan metode stratified random sampling dan area sampling. Stratified random sampling didasarkan atas pengelompokkan nilai piksel pada citra transformasi indeks vegetasi, sedangkan area sampling digunakan karena nilai kecerahan pada data digital penginderaan jauh diujudkan dalam nilai piksel. Pemilihan sampeldengan mempertimbangkan jenis vegetasi dan kemudahan untuk dijangkau. Hasil penelitian yang diperoleh menunjukkan hubungan yang nyata antara nilai indeks vegetasi (NDVI) dengan variasi jenis vegetasi yang dapat digunakan sebagai dasar klasifikasi vegetasi. Sedangkan parameter kerapatan tegakan dan umur vegetasi mempunyai korelasi yang bersifat positif terhadap nilai indeks vegetasi (NDVI). Berdasarkan eratnya hubungan ini dapat dibuat citra atau peta distribusi kerapatan tegakan dan umur vegetasi. Secara umum tingkat ketelitian klasifikasi jenis vegetasi sebesar 93%, sedangkan untuk kerapatan tegakan dan umur vegetasi mempunyai tingkat ketelitian sebesar 71% dan 76%. Kata kunci: Transformasi NDVI, Landsat TM, Vegetasi
Planktonic foraminiferal flux seasonality in Subantarctic sediment traps: A test for paleoclimate reconstructions

Sediment trap moorings deployed during 1997 and 1998 in the Subantarctic to Polar Frontal regions of the Southern Ocean reveal distinct seasonality in foraminiferal flux. Foraminiferal assemblages vary between each site, yet major species exhibit very similar patterns of seasonal succession which can be associated with changes in mixed layer depth. Enhanced foraminiferal productivity is also associated with periods of high biogenic silica and particulate organic carbon flux. On a broader scale, foraminiferal assemblages are strongly delineated by temperature. Temperature estimates derived from the assemblages using the modern analog technique (MAT) are mostly within 2.5 C of the satellite advanced very high resolution radiometer temperatures observed during the deployment period. This indicates that core top sediments included in the MAT database do reflect modern observed conditions at the sea surface, providing a robust technique for estimating past temperature change from foraminiferal assemblages in Southern Ocean environments.
Gravity and potential changes due to shear and tensile faults in a half-space

Analytic expressions derived from a simplified model are invaluable because they often provide deep insight into geophysical phenomena. Such is the case with potential and gravity changes. Here we present expressions of potential and gravity changes caused by faulting on a finite rectangular plane buried in a homogeneous half-space. The expressions can be used to evaluate coseismic changes in surface gravity and geoid height. Observed gravimetric data combined with our formulae thus provide constraints on the fault geometry and magnitudes of dislocation.
DOTTORATO DI RICERCA IN

6 Equation Section 1CHAPTER 1 8 1.1 The inverse scattering problem 8 1.2 Linearizing the problem 20 1.3 Further considerations 26 CHAPTER 2 29 2.1 Statement of the problem 29 2.2 The regularization procedure 32 2.3 Optimization methods 40 CHAPTER 3 58 3.1 Test bed 58 3.2 Forward solver validation 60 3.3 Experimental validation 65 CHAPTER 4 71 4.
Soil Erosion and Sustainable Mountain Development

Abstract Accelerated soil erosion is a common and environmentally destructive consequence of development, especially in mountain regions. Soil erosion is of special concern in agricultural lands, but agriculture is only one of many development activities that greatly accelerates soil erosion processes. Road building, trail use, excavation, extractive activities, and construction also can cause severe soil erosion. Soil conservation technologies are relatively simple and well known, but often they are not applied where they could be most effective because the connections between different elements of the landscape (eg, roads and cultivated fields) are not well understood. This paper reviews two previous soil erosion research projects in the Ecuadorian Andes involving field observations and small-plot rainfall simulation experiments and provides examples of erosion-related landscape connections at the drainage basin scale. In light of the important influence of roads, trails, and abandoned farmlands on soil erosion processes on Andean slopes, sustainable management of the soil resource requires both looking across and managing across conventionally delineated boundaries in the natural and altered landscapes of mountain regions.