Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling the impacts of climate change on ecosystem services

The Earth’s climate has already changed signifi cantly in response to increased greenhouse-gas concentrations from human activities, and future climatic changes are projected to be even more dramatic, with global average temperatures expected to rise between 1.1 and 6.4 ̊C by 2100, depending on future emissions from human activities ( Alley et al. 2007 ). With the rise in temperature will also come changes in precipitation patterns, with some areas becoming drier, and others wetter. Climate change of this magnitude is certain to have major impacts on basic ecosystem processes such as primary production, hydrological cycles, and nutrient cycles ( Cramer et al. 2001 ; Stewart et al. 2005 ; Betts et al. 2007 ). In this chapter, we discuss how models that link land cover and land use to ecosystem services can also be used to assess the impact of climate change on ecosystem services. Many studies have addressed how specifi c ecosystem services, particularly water availability and agricultural production or food security, are expected to respond to climate change. Here, we go one step beyond and demonstrate how climate impacts can be integrated by examining several ecosystem services within the same framework.
Lagoon Residential And RecreationalDevelopments Case Study 1:Al Khaleej Village, Suudi Arabia

Half Moon Bay, approximately 20km long, and located 30km south of Al Khobar, is a natural tidal basin on the Arabian gulf coastline of Saudi Arabia (see figure 1). It is a popular resort in the region, with private and public beaches, and is used particularly at weekends for waterside recreation. Saudi Hotels and Resort Areas Company (SHARACO) acquired a site on the west coastline of Half Moon Bay, for Al Khaleej Village, a waterside residential leisure, hotel and marina development. The development was planned in five phases, and the first phase of housing and infrastructure was completed in 1991, not without difficulties, at first because the main contractor went into liquidation, and then as the works were being re-started, Kuwait was invaded and the Gulf War soon followed. The first phase was successful, but lessons were learned from it, and the master plan and subseqent phases were, as a result, substantially revised. A contract for the construction of a 750,000minland tidal lagoon was let in February 1995, and was completed in April 1997. The construction of the second phase of housing and infrastructure development is currently underway.
Analysis of climate change impact on hydrological ecosystem services and water allocation in water scarce mediterranean river basins

The Mediterranean region appears to be particularly responsive to global and climate change, causing decrease in annual river flows and making the region most prone to an increase in drought hazard and water stress. This thesis is an approach to quantify and analyse the water quantity, hydrological ecosystem services and water supply in temperate regions under environmental changes. Hydrological flow and hydrological ecosystem services (water provisioning) models are developed for a low flow Mediterranean river (Francoli river) basin using MIKE BASIN and InVEST respectively. Changes in the delivery of regulating (erosion control) services are also assessed in the heavily humanized Llobregat River basin (NE Spain) considering drivers of climate change (temperature and precipitation). Moreover, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is adapted to solve the multi-criteria decision-making problem of alternate water supply for different sectors in Francoli river basin. Climate change have already affected some elements of hydrological ecosystem services and that some are vulnerable in the Mediterranean river basins. Together these effects determine the need of a correct approach for water allocation system and the appropriate alternate water resources at a catchment level due to water scarcity.
Virtual Targets for the Real World

Abstract : Live-fire training keeps warfighting capabilities at peak effectiveness. However, the cost of procuring real targets-only to be destroyed-is prohibitively expensive. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) uses a variety of target proxies, such as derelict vehicles, piles of waste, and even "pop-up targets," all of which are nonreactive, stay in fixed locations from year-to-year, and often do not resemble the real targets. Trainees simply do not get the opportunity to fire live rounds at realistic-looking and moving targets. However, Augmented Reality (AR) can help by merging virtual entities with the real world for training exercises. We describe an AR system that provides virtual targets for training of USMC Fire Support Teams.
Aerosol optical thickness over Pearl River Delta region, China

ABSTRACT We validated moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 2 aerosol products with ground-based sun photometer (CE-318) measurements over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. MODIS aerosol products are also used to investigate the temporal and spatial variations of aerosol optical thickness (AOT). The results show that MODIS AOT is validated quantitatively with a higher correlation coefficient (r = 0.88, 0.80 at Guangzhou and r = 0.95, 0.92 at Hong Kong) and lower root mean square errors (RMSE = 0.15, 0.16 at Guangzhou and RMSE = 0.07, 0.08 at Hong Kong), while the Ångström exponent (α) is still in doubt (r = 0.09). The MODIS AOT values are generally higher than those of the CE-318 values in Guangzhou and smaller than those in Hong Kong. The regional multi-year monthly (July 2002–December 2012) mean AOT values are 0.66 ± 0.20 and 0.64 ± 0.18 for Terra- and Aqua-MODIS, respectively. From month to month, the values of Terra-MODIS AOT are larger than those of Aqua-MODIS during most of the month. This implies that AOT in the morning is generally larger than that in the afternoon. The largest monthly AOT occurred in April at 0.85 ± 0.16 and 0.88 ± 0.17 for Terra-MODIS and Aqua-MODIS, respectively, and the smallest occurred in November for both Terra- and Aqua-MODIS at 0.47 ± 0.13 and 0.47 ± 0.10, respectively. The spatial distribution of AOT in spring and summer shows more variation than in autumn and winter. This can be partially attributed to the cleansing effect of precipitation which clears aerosol particles over the whole region in spring and summer and results in a lower AOT outside urban areas, while AOT in urban areas is higher where anthropogenic aerosols build up quickly despite the cleansing effect of the rain.
Update to Enhanced Geothermal System Resource Potential Estimate: Preprint

The deep EGS electricity generation resource potential estimate maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory was updated using the most recent temperature-at-depth maps available from the Southern Methodist University Geothermal Laboratory. The previous study dates back to 2011 and was developed using the original temperature-at-depth maps showcased in the 2006 MIT Future of Geothermal Energy report. The methodology used to update the deep EGS resource potential is the same as in the previous study and is summarized in the paper. The updated deep EGS resource potential estimate was calculated for depths between 3 and 7 km and is binned in 25 degrees C increments. The updated deep EGS electricity generation resource potential estimate is 4,349 GWe. A comparison of the estimates from the previous and updated studies shows a net increase of 117 GWe in the 3-7 km depth range, due mainly to increases in the underlying temperature-at-depth estimates from the updated maps.
MAGNETIC MINERALOGY OF OCEANIC ANOXIC EVENT (OEA1) AND CRETACEOUS OCEANIC RED BEDS FROM POGGIO LE GUAINE DRILL CORE, CENTRAL ITALY

The Aptian is characterized by important global climatic events (marked in the sediments by Oceanic Anoxic Events, OAEs, and Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds, CORBs) that affect the input of terrigenous minerals and the local redox environment in the deep sea. The resulting magnetic mineralogy is thus controlled by these two factors and can be used as a proxy for the environmental changes throughout this period. We studied magnetic mineralogy variations on upper Barremian to lower Aptian pelagic sediments of Maiolica and Marne a Fucoidi formations at the Poggio le Guaine Core Drill Core, sampled in central Italy. Magnetic susceptibility, isothermal remanence magnetization acquisition curves, thermomagnetic curves, hysteresis curves and first order remanence curves (FORC) diagrams were measured in samples of different lithologies (black shales, gray olive marlstone, and reddish marlstone). Our data shows variations at the onset of the OAEs and CORBs at the lower Aptian, when an increase in concentration parameters precedes two of the major anoxic events, the Selli and Noir levels.
Citation Frequency and the Value of Patented Innovation

Citation Frequency and the Value of Patented Innovation by Dietmar Harhoff, Francis Narin, Frederic M. Scherer, Katrin Vopel * Through a survey, economic value estimates were obtained on 962 inventions made in the United States and Germany and on which German patent renewal fees were paid to full-term expiration in 1995. A search of subsequent U.S. and German patents yielded a count of citations to those patents. Patents renewed to full term were significantly more valuable than patents allowed to expire before their full term. The higher an invention's economic value estimate was, the more the relevant patent was subsequently cited. results from two wide-ranging surveys, one in Germany and one in the United States, support Trajtenberg's conclusion that patents with greater economic value are more heavily cited in subsequent patents. Our evidence suggests at least a two-stage escalation of economic values and citation counts. First, patents that are renewed to full term expiration in environments such as Germany with highly progressive annual maintenance fees are more valuable and more highly cited than run-of-the-mill patents allowed to expire before running to full term. Second, within the relatively exclusive cohort of fullterm patents, citation frequency rises with economic value, although with considerable noise in the relationship. The most cited patents turn out to be very valuable indeed, with a single U.S. citation implying on average more than $1 million of economic value. These findings provide new support for research seeking to overcome the limitations of simple patent counts as a measure of innovative contribution by acquiring data on citation frequencies and the number of nations in which patent protection is sought. * The authors thank Ulrich Schmoch of the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems Technology and Innovation Research, Karlsruhe, for help in accessing German citation counts. Grants from the Sloan Foundation and the Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW) are gratefully acknowledged.
Emissions-GDP Relationship in Times of Growth and Decline

This empirical paper focuses on the relationship between changes in GDP and CO2 emissions as a country�s economy moves through periods of growth and decline. Using a comprehensive panel, I document substantial heterogeneity in the relationship across countries. Specifically, countries can be classi? ed into one of the following three groups. Group D (for decline) includes countries where the emissions growth rate is more strongly associated with the GDP growth rate in periods of GDP decline than in periods of GDP growth. Group G (for growth) includes countries where the degree of association is stronger in periods of GDPgrowth. Finally, in group S (for symmetrical) it is not possible to reject the hypothesis that the relationship is the same for growth and decline. According to a simple count criterion, approximately a third of the countries in the sample fall into each group. Notably, China and the US, currently the world�s largest emitters by a substantial margin, are in group D. These results have potentially important consequences for long-term emissions projections. They also suggest that macroeconomic stabilization policies may have adverse emissions consequences by limiting the cleansing e? ect of periods in which GDP declines.
Structured jets in TeV BL Lac objects and radiogalaxies. Implications for the observed properties

TeV BL Lacertae objects require extreme relativistic bulk motions in the gamma-ray emission region, but at the VLBI scale their radio knots hardly move. The same sources show evidence, in radio, of a structure made of a fast spine plus a slow layer. We propose that this structure exists even on the spatial scale of regions responsible for the gamma-ray emission. One component sees the (beamed) radiation produced by the other, and this enhances the inverse Compton emission of both components. In addition, this allows the magnetic field to be nearly in equipartition with the emitting particles. The inverse Compton emission of the spine is anisotropic in its frame, possibly producing a deceleration of the spine by the Compton rocket effect. In this scenario, the slow layer is also a relatively strong high-energy emitter, and thus radiogalaxies become potentially detectable by GLAST.
The Role Of Falcon® Agg In The Mumbwa, Zambia, Iron Oxide Copper-gold Discovery

The Mumbwa iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) exploration project is located in west-central Zambia. A FALCON® airborne gravity gradiometer (AGG) survey, flown by Fugro Airborne Surveys in 2004, was the catalyst to advance IOCG exploration efforts in the Mumbwa area, leading to the Kitumba discovery. The FALCON AGG survey mapped several regional elements considered prerequisite for prospective IOCG terrains: post-tectonic igneous intrusions and intersection of district-scale fault structures, thus highlighting two prospects, Kitumba and Mutoya, as particularly amenable to IOCG mineralization. The FALCON AGG survey accurately delineated the spatial extents of the Kitumba and Mutoya prospects and identified significant uranium anomalism, upon which the Kitumba discovery hole S36-001 was sited. In 2007 AIM Resources (now Blackthorn Resources), in a joint venture with BHP Billiton, drilled the Kitumba discovery hole, S36-001, intersecting significant Cu mineralisation over a 655 m interval grading 0.46% Cu. In-fill drilling in 2011 intersected high-grade mineralisation in several drill holes, including drill hole S36-038 with the best drilled thickness intersections containing 223m at 4.67% Cu. In 2012, Blackthorn Resources reported the total JORC Inferred and Indicated Mineral Resource of the Kitumba prospect as 187Mt of 1.14% Cu and 0.04 g/t Au, using a 0.5% Cu cut off. The FALCON AGG survey also identified an 19km N-S striking, hitherto unknown, massive hematite-siderite IOCG system, Mushingashi, under 250m-350m sedimentary cover. Widely spaced reconnaissance drilling has intersected low tenor Cu anomalism in hematite-siderite breccia systems with large areas remaining untested. The understanding of the mineralization in the Mumbwa area remains patchy. This is primarily due to the sheer size of the IOCG footprints of the Kitumba, Mutoya and Mushingashi systems, but also due to extensive leaching and possible supergene processes at Kitumba. Ground based geophysics (3D IP/MT) and additional drilling has been undertaken at Kitumba and at the new FALCON AGG prospect, Kakozhi, to the west of Mutoya, to address this issue.
Will stratigraphic reservoirs provide the next big increase in U.S. geothermal power generation

Economic and reservoir engineering models show that stratigraphic reservoirs have the potential to contribute significant geothermal power in the U.S. If the reservoir temperature exceeds about 150 – 200 °C at 2 – 4 km depth, respectively, and there is good permeability, then these resources can generate power with a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of close to 10 ¢/kWh (without subsidies) on a 100 MW power plant scale. There is considerable evidence from both groundwater geology and petroleum reservoir geology that relatively clean carbonates and sandstones have, and can sustain, the required high permeability to depths of at least 5 km. This paper identifies four attractive stratigraphic reservoir prospects which are all located in the eastern Great Basin, and have temperatures of 160 – 230 °C at 3 – 3.5 km depth. They are the Elko basins (Nevada), North Steptoe Valley (Nevada), Pavant Butte (Utah), and the Idaho Thrust Belt. The reservoir lithologies are Paleozoic carbonates in the first three, and Jurassic sandstone and carbonate in the Idaho Thrust Belt. All reservoir lithologies are known to have high permeability characteristics. At North Steptoe Valley and Pavant Butte, nearby transmission line options allow interconnection to the California power market. Modern techniques for drilling and developing tight oil and gas reservoirs are expected to have application to geothermal development of these reservoirs.
A tight characterization of NP with 3 query PCPs

It is known that there exists a PCP characterization of NP where the verifier makes 3 queries and has a one-sided error that is bounded away from 1; and also that 2 queries do not suffice for such a characterization. Thus PCPs with 3 queries possess non-trivial verification power and motivate the task of determining the lowest error that can be achieved with a 3-query PCP. Recently, Hastad (1997) has shown a tight characterization of NP by constructing a 3-query PCP verifier with "error" arbitrarily close to 1/2. Unfortunately this verifier makes two-sided error and Hastad makes essential use of this feature. One-sided error, on the other hand, is a natural notion to associate with a proof system, since it has the desirable property that every rejected proof has a short counterexample. The question of determining the smallest error for which there exists a 3-query PCP verifier making one-sided error and accepting an NP-complete language, however, remained open. We resolve this question by showing that NP has a 3-query PCP with a one-sided error that is arbitrarily close to 1/2. This characterization is tight, i.e., the error cannot be lower. This result is in seeming contradiction with the results of Trevisan (1997) and Zwick (1998) who show that in order to recognize an NP-complete language, the error probability of a PCP verifier making 3 non-adaptive queries and having one-sided error must be at least 5/8. We get around this bottleneck by designing an adaptive 3-query PCP for NP. Our result yields the first tight analysis of an adaptive PCP; and reveals a previously unsuspected separation between the powers of adaptive and non-adaptive PCPs. Our design and analysis of adaptive PCPs can be extended to higher number of queries as well and we give an example of such a proof system with 5 queries. Our adaptive verifiers yield proof systems whose error probabilities match those of previous constructions, while also achieving one-sidedness in the error. This raises new questions about the power of adaptive PCPs, which deserve further study.
Effects of chromium supplementation on dam performance and progeny growth and development

Angus-cross cows (n = 66) were fed 1 of 2 supplements through midand late-gestation: (1) 1.81 kg corn/hd·d as fed (Control), or (2) 1.81 kg corn fortified with 3 mg Cr/hd·d as fed (CrP). Chromium-propionate supplementation did not affect (P ≥ 0.24) preor postpartum cow BW, BCS, or BW and BCS change. There was an interaction (P < 0.01) of d in gestation and CrP supplementation for glucose concentrations only. During mid-gestation, plasma glucose concentrations in cows fed CrP decreased 0.282 mmol/L compared to cows fed Control; however, by late-gestation, glucose concentrations in cows fed CrP increased 0.321 mmol/L compared to cows fed Control. Supplementation with CrP did not affect (P ≥ 0.58) mean insulin or insulin:glucose; however, insulin and glucose concentrations were reduced (P <0.01) as d in gestation increased, regardless of CrP supplementation. There was no effect of dam treatment on calf BW at birth (P = 0.40) or weaning (P = 0.56). Supplementation of CrP did not affect (P ≥ 0.20) 24-h milk weight in midor late lactation. Milk composition was not affected (P ≥ 0.25) by CrP at mid-lactation. In late lactation, cows fed CrP had greater (P = 0.01) milk urea nitrogen compared to cows fed Control, with no other differences observed (P ≥ 0.23). Supplemental CrP did not affect cow BW, BCS, milk production, or calf birth and weaning BW. Regardless of treatment, as cows neared parturition, plasma glucose and insulin concentrations of cows decreased.
IGBP-DIS soil data set for pedotransfer function development

At the request of the Global Soil Data Task (GSDT) of the Data and Information System of the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (IGBP-DIS), ISRIC prepared a uniform soil data set for the development of pedotransfer functions. The necessary chemical and physical soil data have been derived from ISRIC's Soil Information System (ISIS) and the CD-ROM of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). All soil samples were clustered into functional groups based on soil textural class and (calculated) activity of the clay minerals (9 classes), while samples from organic soils and allophanic soils were flagged. The digital set contains data for 131,472 samples, originating from 20,920 profiles. It is presented as a comma delimited ASCIIfile and in dBASE IV format. GSDT will use the data set to develop a number of pedotransfer functions for often required, yet seldom measured soil properties. Interaction with the global soil and modelling community led to the identification of four soil properties as being especially important and urgently needed: soil organic carbon, soil total nitrogen, water holding capacity, and soil thermal properties.
North American paleoclimate reconstructions for the Last Glacial Maximum using an inverse modeling through iterative forward modeling approach applied to pollen data

The inverse modeling through iterative forward modeling (IMIFM) approach was used to reconstruct Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) climates from North American fossil pollen data. The approach was validated using modern pollen data and observed climate data. While the large‐scale LGM temperature IMIFM reconstructions are similar to those calculated using conventional statistical approaches, the reconstructions of moisture variables differ between the two approaches. We used two vegetation models, BIOME4 and BIOME5‐beta, with the IMIFM approach to evaluate the effects on the LGM climate reconstruction of differences in water use efficiency, carbon use efficiency, and atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Although lower atmospheric CO2 concentrations influence pollen‐based LGM moisture reconstructions, they do not significantly affect temperature reconstructions over most of North America. This study implies that the LGM climate was very cold but not very much drier than present over North America, which is inconsistent with previous studies.