Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Sodium chloride as a clue to Enceladus' ocean mystery

Recent observations suggest that Saturn’s satellite Enceladus may harbor a subsurface ocean containing dissolved salts. Here, we show that the NaCl content of an ocean can be used as an indicator of ocean structure. Because of the high solubility of NaCl salt, the NaCl concentration of an ocean should respond proportionally to addition and removal of liquid water. In other words, big oceans should be dilute, and small ones should be salty. We also explore some implications of a prominent outgassing model for Enceladus, and discuss some outstanding issues.
The Avonian Succession in the South of the Isle of Man

The Carboniferous rocks described in this paper occur within an area some 8 to 9 square miles in extent surrounding the ancient town of Castletown. The district is coastal and low-lying, a considerable portion being less than 100 feet above sea-level. The highest ground lies north-west of Ballasalla, where a few small tracts rise slightly above 200 feet. The solid rocks are for the greater part obscured by a thick covering of drift, alluvium, or blown sand, and the chief outcrops are on the coast, usually between tide-marks. Most of the inland outcrops are confined to quarries lying west of the village of Ballasalla, to the Silver Burn, and to its tributary the Awin Ruy. The heavy growth of seaweed and the honeycombing of the boring molluscs near low-water-mark render difficult the collecting of fossils, which, in many places, are also partly or totally destroyed by dolomitization, especially near the more important faults. Stretches of sand, shingle, and displaced joint-blocks break the continuity of the beds in the cliffs and on the foreshore, so that direct measurement of thickness is often impossible. The Carboniferous rocks are bounded on the north-west by the Port St. Mary—Arbory Fault, which extends from Perwick Bay to near Ballashimmin (a distance of 5 miles), and with variable throw brings up the Manx Slate Series. Elsewhere on land the boundary is an unconformable or faulted junction with the Lower Palæozoic rocks. A similar junction probably exists a short distance below low-water-mark between the mouth of the
Relationship of Porosity Formation and Preservation to Sandstone Consolidation History--Gulf Coast Lower Tertiary Frio Formation

ABSTRACT Reservoir quality of lower Teritary sandstone reservoirs along the Texas Gulf Coast is controlled by sandstone depositional environment, mineralogical composition, and consolidation history (compaction, cementation, and leaching). In general, shallow reservoirs have primary porosity that is reduced by compaction and cementation, whereas deeper reservoirs result from late subsurface leaching. Frio sandstones have the following idealized consolidation history: Near-surface to shallow, subsurface compaction and cementation stage (0 to 4,000 feet ±) starts with early feldspar leaching and replacement by calcite followed by precipitation of poikilotopic pore-filling calcite cement, clay coats and rims, feldspar overgrowths, and initial quartz overgrowths. Sand is compacted until arrested by cementation. Reservoir porosity is reduced from 40 percent to approximately 25 percent. Moderate subsurface cementation stage (4,000 to 8,000 feet ±) consists of general precipitation of quartz overgrowths, localized welding by massive quartz overgrowths, and development of sparry pore-fill calcite cement. Porosity is commonly reduced to 10 percent. Moderate subsurface leaching stage (8,000 to 11,000 feet ±) results in massive leaching of feldspars, volcanic and carbonate rock fragments, and calcite cements. Continued leaching may resurrect porosities to as high as 30 percent. Deep subsurface cementation stage (> 1,000 feet ±) involves reduction of leached porosity by precipitation of pore-filling kaolinite and iron-rich carbonate cements; resulting porosities depend on the amount of this late cement. This rock consolidation history can be modified by residence time in each burial stage, thermal gradient, pore-fluid changes, and mineralogical differences. Deep Frio production, then, is not from simple primary porosity between grains, as in shallow reservoirs, but is from secondary leached porosity.
Sustainable Agriculture: A Review of Challenges Facing the South African Agricultural Sector

Abstract This review paper considers the various challenges facing the South African agricultural sector against the background that agricultural sectors globally are pressurised to provide food security for the estimated nine billion people in 2050, while simultaneously addressing climate change. The use of agricultural land to produce crops for the production of biofuels and the impact of land redistribution in South Africa on food security are contemplated. It is recommended that the South African government should develop an integrated strategy to address these challenges. Furthermore, sustainable agricultural practices, such as organic and conservation agriculture, should be considered as alternatives to conventional agricultural practices.
Hong, Chen and Hitt / Measuring Product Type with Online Review Variance Measuring Product Type with Dynamics of Online Product Review Variance

The concept of “product type” (experience versus search product) is increasingly important in business research and practice. However, it is not defined or measured precisely in the Internet age due to significantly lower search cost and changes in consumer information search behavior resulting from reliance on information and communications technology. We take advantage of the greatly available micro level online word-of-mouth data and infer product type based on statistical properties of online word of mouth (specifically, online product reviews). We draw on the law of large numbers (L.L.N), and the literature on informational content and online product reviews to analytically propose a mechanism to classify products. Our theoretical analyses indicate that, for a pure search product, when number of reviews (i.e. review sample size) increases as more consumers rate the product, variance of the mean rating will decrease. And for a product with more experience attributes, when number of reviews increases, the variance of the mean rating will not decrease and may instead increase depending on how dominant these experience attributes are. We collect archival data from Amazon to categorize the products and services. Implications of this analytical tool and empirical findings for research, theory and managerial practice are discussed.
An ensemble of interconverting conformations of the elemental paused transcription complex creates regulatory options

Transcriptional pausing underpins regulation of cellular RNA synthesis but its mechanism remains incompletely understood. Sequence-specific interactions of DNA and RNA with the dynamic, multidomain RNA polymerase (RNAP) trigger reversible conformational changes at pause sites that temporarily interrupt the nucleotide addition cycle. These interactions initially rearrange the elongation complex (EC) into an elemental paused EC (ePEC). ePECs can form longer-lived PECs by further rearrangements or interactions of diffusible regulators. For both bacterial and mammalian RNAPs, a half-translocated state in which the next DNA template base fails to load into the active site appears central to the ePEC. Some RNAPs also swivel interconnected modules that may stabilize the ePEC. However, it is unclear if swiveling and half-translocation are requisite features of a single ePEC state or if multiple ePEC states exist. Here we use cryo-EM analysis of ePECs with different RNA–DNA sequences combined with biochemical probes of ePEC structure to define an interconverting ensemble of ePEC states. ePECs occupy either pre- or half-translocated states but do not always swivel, indicating that difficulty in forming the post-translocated state at certain RNA–DNA sequences may be the essence of the ePEC. The existence of multiple ePEC conformations has broad implications for transcriptional regulation. SIGNIFICANCE Transcriptional pausing provides a hub for gene regulation. Pausing provides a timing mechanism to coordinate regulatory interactions, co-transcriptional RNA folding and protein synthesis, and stop signals for transcriptional termination. Cellular RNA polymerases (RNAPs) are complex, with multiple mobile modules shifting positions to control its catalytic activity and pause RNAP in response to DNA-encoded pause signals. Understanding how these modules move to enable pausing is crucial for a mechanistic understanding of gene regulation. Our results clarify the picture significantly by defining multiple states among which paused RNAP partitions in response to different pause signals. This work contributes to an emerging theme wherein multiple interconverting states of the RNAP proceed through a pathway (e.g., initiation or pausing), providing multiple opportunities for regulation.
Trends and Natural Variability of Spring Onset in the Coterminous United States as Evaluated by a New Gridded Dataset of Spring Indices

AbstractClimate change is expected to modify the timing of seasonal transitions this century, impacting wildlife migrations, ecosystem function, and agricultural activity. Tracking seasonal transitions in a consistent manner across space and through time requires indices that can be used for monitoring and managing biophysical and ecological systems during the coming decades. Here a new gridded dataset of spring indices is described and used to understand interannual, decadal, and secular trends across the coterminous United States. This dataset is derived from daily interpolated meteorological data, and the results are compared with historical station data to ensure the trends and variations are robust. Regional trends in the first leaf index range from −0.8 to −1.6 days decade−1, while first bloom index trends are between −0.4 and −1.2 for most regions. However, these trends are modulated by interannual to multidecadal variations, which are substantial throughout the regions considered here. These findi.
The Effectiveness of a Domestic Violence Prevention Program in Japanese Agricultural University

In Japan, the Gender Equality Bureau, which is part of the Cabinet Office, conducted a survey in 2018 on the state of harm suffered by domestic violence (DV) victims regarding crimes perpetrated by a current or former spouse. In this survey, 31.3% of women and 19.9% of men experienced serious violence at the hands of a current or former at least once. In addition, 21.4% of women and 11.5% of men encountered serious violence from dating partners at least once. Although both men and women are subject to DV, the literature does not include studies on the effects of DV prevention education among Japanese university students. Thus, it is necessary to offer DV prevention classes to university students, irrespective of gender. The participants consisted of 353 Japanese university students majoring in agriculture. They took part in our DV prevention program, we examined its effects using a questionnaire, which we administered before, directly after, and six months following the class. In the preliminary questionnaire, 21.5% of university students had heard some story on DV damage from people close to them. On a positive note, 51.3% had taken a class on DV previously, and 10.9% had learned about DV from reading books. Following the class, the students became more aware of DV and retained their knowledge even after six months, as indicated by three statements out of the questionnaire’s seven items: 3) Violence from a woman to a man is not DV, 6) Even someone close to you could suffer from DV, 7) DV perpetrators sometimes apologize after acting violent, but it is common for them to use violence again. The conclusion is that it is important to offer DV prevention classes at universities.
Latent and sensible heat flux anomalies over the northern oceans : driving the sea surface temperature

Abstract A part of the large-scale thermodynamic forcing of the upper ocean is examined by relating monthly anomalous latent and sensible heat flux to changes in sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the North Atlantic and North Pacific. The fluxes are estimated using bulk formulas from a set of about four decades of marine observations from the COADS dataset from 1946 to 1986. Monthly anomalies are constructed by removing the long-term monthly means. The latent and sensible flux anomalies are strongly correlated over most of the ocean, so they are considered together as a sum. The heat flux estimates contain large spatial-scale anomalies consistent with both atmospheric circulation anomalies and with month-to-month changes (tendencies) in monthly SST anomalies. The monthly flux anomalies and the SST anomaly tendency are significantly correlated over much of the oceans, with anomalous positive/negative fluxes associated with anomalous cooling/warming. The connection between the flux and the SST ten.
Full Carbon Account for Russia

The Forestry Project (FOR) at IIASA has produced a full carbon account (FCA) for Russia for 1990, together with scenarios for 2010. Currently, there are rather big question marks regarding the existing carbon accounts for Russia, and Russia is critical to the global carbon balance due to its size. IIASA is in a position to perform solid analysis of Russia because of the databases that the Institute has built over the years. FOR based this work on a comprehensive geographic information system comprising georeferenced descriptions of the environment and land of Russia, which in turn are based on a number of thematic, digitized maps and databases. For the Russian energy sector and other industrial sectors (except the forest industry), the project used emissions estimates from the recent IIASA study "Global Energy Perspectives" (1998). The project carried out a separate substudy for the Russian forest industry sector. According to FOR's estimate, the total fluxes (including energy and industry sectors) in Russia were a net source of 527 teragrams of carbon (Tg C) in 1990. To illustrate the possible development of the carbon pools and fluxes over the next 10 years, FOR developed three different scenarios for the period 1990-2010, reflecting different assumptions regarding Russia's GDP growth. According to these scenarios, Russia will continue to be a net source of carbon to the atmosphere with 156-385 Tg C in 2010, including the emissions from energy and other industrial sectors. However, analysis of the FCA also shows considerable uncertainties involved in the carbon accounting. These uncertainties exceed the calculated changes in the full flux balance for the period 1990-2010. At present, this raises grave questions regarding the reliability of any accounting system used to measure terrestrial ecosystems for compliance with the Kyoto Protocol.
Essays on Ethnic Diversity and Development

This dissertation consists of three papers. The first paper "Ethnicity, Migration and Conflict: Evidence from Contemporary South Africa” exploits some of the institutional changes intervened in South Africa during the end of apartheid to investigate the relationship between ethnic diversity and conflict. I find within-ethnic polarization to be significantly related to the intensity of armed confrontations among black-dominated groups. My investigation thus gives strong and robust empirical support to the theoretical arguments which identify ethnic diversity as one of the determinants of civil conflict. The second chapter, "Pre-Colonial Centralization, Colonial Activities and Development in Latin America", investigates the hypothesis that pre-colonial ethnic institutions shaped contemporary regional development in Latin America. I document a strong and positive relationship between pre-colonial centralization and regional development. Results are in line with the view that highly centralized pre-colonial societies acted as a persistent force of agglomeration of economic activities and a strong predictor of colonial state capacity. The results provide a first evidence of the existence of a link between pre-colonial centralization, colonial institutional arrangements and contemporary economic development. The third paper "Bite and Divide: Malaria and Ethnic Diversity” investigates the role of malaria as a fundamental determinant of modern ethnic diversity. This paper explores the hypothesis, that a large exposure to malaria has fostered differential interactions that reduced contacts between groups and increased interactions within them Results document that malaria increases the number of ethnic groups at all levels of spatial disaggregation and time periods (exploiting historical and current ethnic diversity). Regressions' results show that endogamous marriages are more frequent in areas with higher geographic suitability to malaria. The results are in line with the view that malaria increases intra-ethnic interactions while decreasing inter-ethnic ones.
Determination of 2D strain from a fragmented single ammonoid

Planispiral ammonoids are used for strain analysis, as the pre‐strain shapes of their shells are thought to be approximated by logarithmic spirals. Comparison of the pre‐ and observed post‐strain spirals determines the strain. We show in this short note that the Rf/ϕ strain analysis is applicable to the ammonoids, where the interspaces of a shell are used as strain markers. Unlike the previous methods that assumed the spiral, the present technique can use fragmented shells, provided that they have at least half windings and clear limbs. A strain ellipse and its 95% confidence limit were determined by the hyperbolic vector mean method from the ellipses that were fitted to the interspaces of a fragmented, deformed ammonite from the Kitakami Massif, Northeast Japan, as a worked problem for the present technique.
Investment Regulations and Defined Contribution Pensions

This paper assesses the impact of different quantitative approaches to regulate investment risk on the retirement income stemming from defined contribution (DC) pension plans. It looks at how such regulations affect the spectrum of investment policies available and, through this channel, how they affect the retirement income that an individual may expect from a DC pension plan. The analysis shows that there is a trade-off between potential retirement income and protection from bad outcomes. Reducing the downside risk on retirement income from DC pension plans requires moving into relatively conservative investment policies where the share of assets allocated to bonds may be quite large. However, this comes at the cost of renouncing potentially higher replacement rates that are attainable but at a higher risk of unfavourable retirement income outcomes. Less risk adverse regulators and supervisors would aim at lower probability requirements as regard the downside risk, which will increase the range of investment policies available and thus the share of riskier assets.
Representing uncertainty in global climate models using stochastic sea ice parameterizations

This dissertation deals with the representation of uncertainties in sea ice modelling, espe- cially within the sea ice dynamics. An important term of the momentum balance for computing the evolution of sea ice drift is the viscous–plastic sea ice rheology. It describes the deformation of sea ice under convergent drift. In this context, an ice strength parameter determines the internal ice strength, which counteracts plastic deformation and hence piling up of sea ice. Un- certainties in the choice of the parameter are simulated in this study by application of symmetric perturbation schemes. Temporal as well as spatial correlations are included in the generation of continuously applied stochastic perturbations. The parameter perturbations are implemented in an ocean–sea ice and in a coupled atmosphere–ocean–sea ice model. Results show that in- cluding these uncertainty estimates leads to a change in the mean sea ice distribution, especially in the Arctic. A randomly reduced ice strength parameter results in a relative acceleration of sea ice drift under convergence, which cannot be reverted by a randomly increased ice strength in the subsequent course of the simulation. This is caused by the highly nonlinear formulation of the sea ice rheology and results in a general acceleration of sea ice owing to the symmetric perturbations. As a result, the amount of thick, ridged sea ice in regions of predominantly convergent drift is increased. In the Arctic this increase accumulates slowly, but continuously over decades. Antarctic sea ice on the other hand exhibits relatively small changes in the mean sea ice distribution. In the coupled atmosphere–ocean–sea ice model ice strength perturbations lead to increased drift as well, although the impact on the sea ice thickness distribution is reduced. The reason are coupled feedback mechanisms, which counteract a general thickness increase. Finally, ensemble simulations are conducted with the coupled model in the context of sea ice predictions. Comparing ensembles with parameter perturbations and ensembles with atmospheric initial condition perturbations shows that the inclusion of model uncertainty leads to increased ensemble spread for the sea ice distribution of the central Arctic during the first weeks of the simulation. This has important implications for uncertainty estimations in data assimilation and forecasts for the polar regions.
Online real AdaBoost with co-training for object tracking

One of the major challenges of object tracking is to tackle appearance variations, possibly caused by the change of object postures, size, and occlusions. In this paper an adaptive tracking system is presented, which integrates online semisupervised classification and particle filter efficiently. To identify object pixels from background accurately, classifiers are trained online using real Adaboost which performs much better than its discrete version. In the system, uncorrelated features, color and texture are adopt to train two classifiers separately; the classifiers fused by voting generate confidence score for each pixel measuring its belonging to object or background in candidate regions; accumulated scores in each region are feed to particle filter for estimating object states; pixels with high scores augment the training set mutually and further classifiers are updated by co-training. The system is applied to vehicle and pedestrian tracking in real world scenarios and the experimental results show its robustness to large appearance variations and severe occlusions.
Men's overseas migration and women's mobility and decision-making in rural Nepalese families

xii Table of Content . xvi Chapter 1 – Introduction Introduction . 1 Nepalese Migration . 3 Existing Knowledge . 4 Research Interest . 9 Research Methodology. 11 Research Questions . 11 Methodology . 13 Limitations . 15 Organisation of the Thesis . 16 Chapter 2 – Migration and Agency: Theoretical Discussion Introduction . 18 Migration Theories . 19 Migration, Gender and Agency . 26