Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Application of morphometric techniques for taxonomic revision of Berabichia oratrix (Orłowski, 1985) (Trilobita, Cambrian) from the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland

ABSTRACT Detailed analysis of c. 900 trilobite specimens from the Cambrian Series 2 of the Holy Cross Mountains in Poland, assigned hitherto to Comluella oratrix Orłowski, 1985 and Comluella igrzycznae Orłowski, 1985, has shown that the two species constitute in fact a monospecific assemblage representing Berabichia oratrix (Orłowski, 1985). The differences pointed out in the original diagnoses are obviously caused by taphonomic processes. To test the hypothesis of a monospecific assemblage, six sagittal and exsagittal and five transverse parameters were measured and calculated for 182 best-preserved cranidia; from this dataset, 121 cranidia with the complete set of measurements were subjected to bivariate and multivariate morphometric analyses and discriminant analysis. Results of the morphometric analysis point to the significant role of tectonic deformation in the variation of the studied sample that could have led Orłowski (1985) to distinguish two separate species. Application of graphic techniques on photographs of distorted specimens lying in different directions with regard to the stress field allowed to obtain specimens statistically indistinguishable in terms of their sagittal and transverse proportions, thus confirming the tectonic overprint on the morphology of the analyzed trilobite sample.
Multiple-Time-Scales Hierarchical Frequency Stability Control Strategy of Medium-Voltage Isolated Microgrid

In this paper, an islanded medium-voltage (MV) microgrid placed in Dongao Island is presented, which integrates renewable-energy-based distributed generations (DGs), energy storage system (ESS), and local loads. In an isolated microgrid without connection to the main grid to support the frequency, it is more complex to control and manage. Thus, in order to maintain the frequency stability in multiple time scales, a hierarchical control strategy is proposed. The proposed control architecture divides the system frequency in three zones: (A) stable zone, (B) precautionary zone, and (C) emergency zone. In this way, dynamic stability control that copes with disturbances in short-time scale is implemented by microgrid central controller within Zone B and Zone C. Meanwhile, steady-state stability control to solve the peaks and valleys problem of loads and DGs in long-time scale is executed by the microgrid energy management system within Zone A. Furthermore, based on the developed complete small-signal state-space model, sensitivity analysis of the eigenvalues is conducted in order to reveal the dynamic stability margin of the MV microgrid, and to identify the proper range of the control parameters of Zone B. Theoretical analysis, time-domain simulation, and field test results under various conditions and scenarios in the Dongao Island microgrid are presented to prove the validity of the introduced control strategy.
Magnetic conjugacy of northern and southern auroral beads

Auroral beads, i.e., azimuthally arrayed bright spots resembling a pearl necklace, have recently drawn attention as a possible precursor of auroral substorms. We used simultaneous, ground‐based, all‐sky camera observations from a geomagnetically conjugate Iceland‐Syowa Station pair to demonstrate that the auroral beads, whose wavelength is ∼30–50 km, evolve synchronously in the northern and southern hemispheres and have remarkable interhemispheric similarities. In both hemispheres: 1) they appeared almost at the same time; 2) their longitudinal wave number was similar ∼300–400, corresponding bead separation being ∼1° in longitude; 3) they started developing into a larger scale spiral form at the same time; 4) their propagation speeds and their temporal evolution were almost identical. These interhemispheric similarities provide strong evidence that there is a common driver in the magnetotail equatorial region that controls the major temporal evolution of the auroral beads; thus, the magnetosphere plays a primary role in structuring the initial brightening arc in this scale size.
Numerical Simulations of IBC Solar Cells Based on Poly-Si Carrier-Selective Passivating Contacts

This paper presents an analysis of physical mechanisms related to operation and optimization of interdigitated back contact (IBC) poly-silicon-based devices. Concepts of carrier selectivity and tunneling are used to identify the parameters that impact on the fill factor. Then, based on technology computer-aided design (TCAD) numerical simulations, we describe the device performance in terms of transport and passivation. A validation of the model is performed by matching measured and simulated R, T, and external quantum efficiency spectra and electrical parameters. As result of such process, the opto-electrical losses of the reference device are identified. Then, we execute a study of the impact of process parameters on the performance of the IBC device under analysis. Assuming a uniform SiO2 layer, simulation results reveal that both n-type and p-type poly-Si contacts can be theoretically perfect (i.e., approx. lossless), if assuming no interface recombination but considering tunneling of both carrier types. In other words, there exists an optimum oxide thickness (1 nm) for which majority carriers tunneling works already very well, and minority tunneling is still low enough to not result in significant recombination. Moreover, SiO2 thickness up to maximum 1.6 nm is crucial to achieve high efficiency. Regarding rear geometry analysis, the efficiency curve as a function of emitter width peaks at 70% of pitch coverage. Further, it is shown that diffused dopants inside crystalline silicon make the device resilient to passivation quality. Finally, the calibrated model is used to perform an optimization study aiming at calculating the performance limit. The estimated performance limit is 27.3% for a 100-μm-thick bulk, 20-nm-thick poly-silicon layers, silver as rear contact, and double ARC.
Displacements of the Earth's surface due to atmospheric loading: Effects on gravity and baseline measurements

Atmospheric mass loads and deforms the earth's crust. By performing a convolution sum between daily, global barometric pressure data and mass loading Green's functions, we estimate the time dependent effects of atmospheric loading, including those associated with short-term synoptic storms, on surface point positioning measurements and surface gravity observations. We calculate the response for both an oceanless earth and an earth with an inverted barometer ocean. Load responses for near-coastal stations are significantly affected by the inclusion of an inverted barometer ocean. Peak to peak vertical displacements are frequently 15–20 mm with accompanying gravity perturbations of 3–6 μ Gal. Baseline changes can be as large as 20 mm or more. The perturbations are largest at higher latitudes and during winter months. These amplitudes are consistent with the results of Rabbel and Zschau (1985), who modeled synoptic pressure disturbances as Gaussian functions of radius around a central point. Deformation can be adequately computed using real pressure data from points within about 1000 km of the station. Knowledge of local pressure, alone, is not sufficient. Rabbel and Zschau's hypothesized corrections for these displacements, which use local pressure and the regionally averaged pressure, prove accurate at points well inland but are, in general, inadequate within a few hundred kilometers of the coast.
The use of noble gases in lake sediment pore water as environmental tracers

Here we present a new method for the sampling and quantitat¬ ive extraction of dissolved He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe from lake sediment samples leading to determinations of pore water noble gas concentration profiles and the isotopic ratios 3He/4He, 20Ne/22Ne and 40Ar/36Ar. Bulk sediment is transferred from a sediment core into standard Cu sample tubes without ex¬ posure to the atmosphere or other gas reservoirs. The noble gases are then extracted from the pore water by degassing the sediment in an evacuated ex¬ traction vessel and analyzed following standard mass spectrometric proced¬ ures. In tests of the new method using 0.8-1.4 m long sediment cores from two Swiss lakes, analytical uncertainties were only slightly greater than those of standard water samples. The majority of pore water noble gas concentra¬ tions and isotopic ratios were found to correspond closely to those measured in the overlying lake water. Since these values reflect water temperature and salinity during atmospheric equilibration at the lake surface, historical con¬ ditions are expected to be archived further downcore in the sediment pore water. This method therefore has great potential for paleolimnological recon¬ structions. The formation of methane bubbles in anoxic sediment layers is one process that may alter gas distributions. However because the lighter noble gases are most sensitive to degassing effects, noble gas data can be used to detect this process. In addition, noble gas data can yield information on the Acknowledgements: We thank D. M. Livingstone (EAWAG) and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and editing assistance. This work was funded by the Swiss Science Foundation (SNF 2000-061498.00 and 20-68191.02).
A method to derive long‐term time series and trends of UV‐B radiation (1968–1997) from observations at Hohenpeissenberg (Bavaria)

The aim of this study is to estimate the solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the ground during the last 30 years. Solar UV-B irradiance (290-320 nm) measured by the Brewer spectrophotometer 10 at Hohenpeissenberg, Germany (48°N, 11°E), was compared with other ground-based measurements at Hohenpeissenberg. Eight years (1990-1997) of operationally measured UV were used to establish statistical relations between spectral UV and total ozone amount. Data were included in the analysis only if the sunshine recorder reported 10/10. This criterion allows clouds to be present, but only optically thin clouds may cover the Sun. The resulting data set contains approximately one fourth of all available measurements. The atmospheric conditions were classified by four well-defined groups. Turbidity classes were derived from the ratio of global and diffuse radiation, which is well correlated with aerosol optical thickness during sunshine. Measurements of total ozone, global, and diffuse radiation are available for the last 30 years. Thus it is possible to calculate the mean maximum UV based on monthly mean total ozone values during this period from the statistical model. The mean maximum UV is characterized by a value of solar zenith angle (SZA) which roughly represents the monthly mean of the daily SZA at local noon. The decrease in total ozone has led to an increase in UV. The spectral global irradiance at 300 nm at a solar zenith angle of 40° increased in April by about 100 ± 10% and in August by about 25 ± 3% in the 30 year period. At 305 nm we found an increase of about 40 ± 4% in April and of only about 10 ± 2% in August. In general, the increase in UV radiation is stronger early in the year and at short wavelength (300 nm) than in summer and autumn and at longer wavelength.
Structural transect of the western Transverse Ranges, California: Implications for lithospheric kinematics and seismic risk evaluation

A retrodeformable cross section that integrates surface and subsurface data across the western Transverse Ranges, California, illustrates an actively developing fold and thrust belt that began forming at 2-3 Ma. High-level thrusts are interpreted to root in a mid-crustal detachment at 12-15 km depth, which coincides with the maximum depth of earthquakes. The cross section documents 53 km of convergence above the mid-crustal detachment; dividing this by the time since onset of deformation yields convergence rates of 17.6-26.5 mm/yr. The high-density lithospheric anomaly beneath the Transverse Ranges is related to subduction of lower crust and lithosphere below the mid-crustal detachment to balance the shallow crustal shortening. Thrust ramps coincide with zones of high seismicity in the Transverse Ranges; this suggests that ramp regions have the highest potential for compressive earthquake events: e.g., the recent Whittier Narrows earthquake of October 1, 1987 (M/sub l/ = 5.9), occurred along the eastern part of a ramp zone.
Significant differential effects of lower doses of hormone therapy or tibolone on markers of cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women: a randomized, double-blind, crossover study.

AIMS We have previously reported that lower doses of hormone therapy (L-HT) and tibolone have different effects on markers of cardiovascular disease when compared with conventional doses of HT. The objective was to compare the effects of L-HT and tibolone on lipid profile, vasodilation, and factors associated with inflammation and haemostasis. METHODS AND RESULTS Forty-one women received a combination of micronized progesterone 100 mg with conjugated equine estrogen 0.3 mg vs. tibolone 2.5 mg alone daily in random order during 2 months with 2 months washout period. When compared with L-HT, tibolone significantly reduced total cholesterol (P<0.001), triglyceride (P<0.001), HDL cholesterol (P<0.001) levels, and triglyceride/HDL cholesterol ratios (P=0.004) except total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol ratios. Tibolone improved flow-mediated response to hyperaemia from baseline values (P<0.001) by a similar magnitude to L-HT. L-HT and tibolone did not increase high-sensitivity C-reactive protein relative to baseline values. L-HT reduced antithrombin III from baseline values (P=0.037), compared with tibolone showing no changes. However, there was no difference between either. In contrast, tibolone increased pro-thrombin fragment 1+2 (F1+2) from baseline values (P=0.002), compared with L-HT showing no changes. Tibolone significantly reduced plasma plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) antigen levels from baseline values (P=0.004), compared with L-HT showing no changes. The effects of L-HT and tibolone on F1+2 and PAI-1 were significantly different (P=0.045 and P=0.008, respectively). CONCLUSION Both tibolone and L-HT improved flow-mediated response by a similar magnitude and did not significantly increase high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. However, tibolone significantly reduced PAI-1, but increased F1+2 more than L-HT.
Hardware Accelerator Design of Non-linear Optimization Correlative Scan Matching Algorithm in 2D LiDAR SLAM for Mobile Robots

When building a map of surroundings and inferring the location based on the map, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is the main solution based on sensor data. Correlative Scan Matching (CSM) is used for scan matching to localize the robot according to the environmental information in SLAM. This paper presents a hardware accelerator design of NLO-CSM (Non-linear Optimization CSM) for scan matching utilized in 2D LiDAR SLAM. Pipeline processing and module reusing schemes are utilized in the proposed NLO-CSM algorithm hardware accelerator to achieve fast compute, high energy and area efficiency, while ensuring high calculation accuracy. Based on Xilinx's Zynq-7020 FPGA device, the FPGA implementation results show that at 100 MHz clock, the proposed hardware accelerator achieves a scan matching at 8.98 ms and 7.15 mJ per frame, and the power consumption is 0.79 W. The proposed design outperforms the ARM-A9 dual-core CPU implementation with 92.74% increase in computing speed and 90.71% saving in energy consumption. Furthermore, the ASIC implementation in 65-nm CMOS process reduces the computing time to 5.94 ms and energy consumption to 0.06 mJ per frame.
Statistical Analysis of a Round-Robin Measurement Survey of Two Candidate Materials for a Seebeck Coefficient Standard Reference Material

In an effort to develop a Standard Reference Material (SRM™) for Seebeck coefficient, we have conducted a round-robin measurement survey of two candidate materials—undoped Bi2Te3 and Constantan (55 % Cu and 45 % Ni alloy). Measurements were performed in two rounds by twelve laboratories involved in active thermoelectric research using a number of different commercial and custom-built measurement systems and techniques. In this paper we report the detailed statistical analyses on the interlaboratory measurement results and the statistical methodology for analysis of irregularly sampled measurement curves in the interlaboratory study setting. Based on these results, we have selected Bi2Te3 as the prototype standard material. Once available, this SRM will be useful for future interlaboratory data comparison and instrument calibrations.
Investigating the cause(s) of benthic macroinvertebrate community impairment downstream of two Saskatchewan uranium operations

Past monitoring has noted benthic macroinvertebrate community impairment downstream of both the Key Lake and Rabbit Lake uranium operations in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The objective of this research was to try to identify the cause(s) of these impacts using a weight-of-evidence approach. Given that sediments generally accumulate contaminants that are related to metal mining activities (such as metals and radionuclides), the initial hypothesis for this research was that contaminated sediments were the primary cause of benthic community impairment at both operations. In 2003 and 2004 a Sediment Quality Triad (SQT) approach confirmed the presence of an effect on benthic community structure, in addition to significant differences in surface-water, pore-water and whole-sediment chemistry at the immediate down-stream exposure sites at both uranium operations. However, no significant adverse effects were noted in 10-d whole-sediment bioassays with Hyalella azteca, although this lack of response could be partially due to sediment pore-water dilution resulting from the automated clean overlying water renewal process employed. Potential causes of benthic community impairment identified through the 2003 and 2004 SQTs for Key Lake include physical sediment composition, surface water pH and total ammonia, in addition to pore-water total ammonia and arsenic. Potential stressors identified at Rabbit Lake included high surface water manganese and uranium concentrations, and increases in pore-water total ammonia, manganese, iron, arsenic, and uranium levels. In the summer of 2004, 4-d in-situ bioassays using H. azteca were conducted along with the SQTs to investigate the role both contaminated surface water and sediment played in benthic community impairment in-situ. Results from the Key Lake in-situ bioassay demonstrated that surface-water was the primary cause of acute toxicity to H. azteca. Results from the Rabbit Lake in-situ study also demonstrated that surface water as the primary cause of acute toxicity to H. azteca, although the relationship was not as strong. The cause of in-situ toxicity at Key Lake could not be correlated with any of the variables measured within the in-situ study, including trace metals, total ammonia, and pH. Of the measured constituents at Rabbit Lake, only concentrations of uranium in both surface water and pore-water were suspected of causing the observed in-situ
Regional extreme‐dry‐spell frequency analysis using the L‐moments method in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin, China

In this research, the regional extreme‐dry‐spell frequency in the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin (YRB) is studied by the L‐moments method. The research area has been divided into three subregions (regions 1, 2 and 3), which have been identified as homogenous regions. The results of a goodness‐of‐fit test indicate that a generalized normal distribution is the optimal regional model for regions 1 and 2 whereas a generalized Pareto distribution is the optimal regional model for region 3. The return period analysis figures out that the maximum length‐of‐dry‐spell (MxDS) values increase from south to north in the southern part and increase from northeast to southwest in the northern part of the middle reaches of the YRB under different return periods. The increments of quantiles of dry spell under different return levels indicate that drought risk in region 1 is higher than that in regions 2 and 3. The analysis of the occurrence day of MxDS shows that MxDS mostly occurred during winter of 1998 and spring of 1999 in most stations during the considered period. By comparing summer MxDS events, it can be found that mean MxDS values have slightly increased in regions 1 and 2 during the last five decades. The maximum mean MxDS values appeared in the 2000s for regions 1 and 2 and in the 1990s for region 3. The atmospheric circulation shows that the positive anomaly centre in the west of North China, negative anomaly centre in the east of North China and the strong western Pacific subtropical high led to the decrease of precipitation in North China during the summer of 1997. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Improving compound–protein interaction prediction by building up highly credible negative samples

Motivation: Computational prediction of compound–protein interactions (CPIs) is of great importance for drug design and development, as genome-scale experimental validation of CPIs is not only time-consuming but also prohibitively expensive. With the availability of an increasing number of validated interactions, the performance of computational prediction approaches is severely impended by the lack of reliable negative CPI samples. A systematic method of screening reliable negative sample becomes critical to improving the performance of in silico prediction methods. Results: This article aims at building up a set of highly credible negative samples of CPIs via an in silico screening method. As most existing computational models assume that similar compounds are likely to interact with similar target proteins and achieve remarkable performance, it is rational to identify potential negative samples based on the converse negative proposition that the proteins dissimilar to every known/predicted target of a compound are not much likely to be targeted by the compound and vice versa. We integrated various resources, including chemical structures, chemical expression profiles and side effects of compounds, amino acid sequences, protein–protein interaction network and functional annotations of proteins, into a systematic screening framework. We first tested the screened negative samples on six classical classifiers, and all these classifiers achieved remarkably higher performance on our negative samples than on randomly generated negative samples for both human and Caenorhabditis elegans. We then verified the negative samples on three existing prediction models, including bipartite local model, Gaussian kernel profile and Bayesian matrix factorization, and found that the performances of these models are also significantly improved on the screened negative samples. Moreover, we validated the screened negative samples on a drug bioactivity dataset. Finally, we derived two sets of new interactions by training an support vector machine classifier on the positive interactions annotated in DrugBank and our screened negative interactions. The screened negative samples and the predicted interactions provide the research community with a useful resource for identifying new drug targets and a helpful supplement to the current curated compound–protein databases. Availability: Supplementary files are available at: http://admis.fudan.edu.cn/negative-cpi/. Contact: sgzhou@fudan.edu.cn Supplementary Information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.