Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Land Subsidence and Ground Fissures in Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA): Evidence from Quasi-PS InSAR Analysis

Land subsidence is a global environmental geological hazard caused by natural or human activities. The high spatial resolution and continuous time coverage of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) time series analysis techniques provide data and a basis for the development of methods for the investigation and evolution mechanism study of regional land subsidence. Beijing, the capital city of China, has suffered from land subsidence for decades since it was first recorded in the 1950s. It was reported that uneven ground subsidence and fractures have seriously affected the normal operation of the Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) in recent years before the overhaul of the middle runway in April 2017. In this study, InSAR time series analysis was successfully used to detect the uneven local subsidence and ground fissure activity that has been gradually increasing in BCIA since 2010. A multi-temporal InSAR (MT-InSAR) technique was performed on 63 TerraSAR-X/TanDem-X (TSX/TDX) images acquired between 2010 and 2017, then deformation rate maps and time series for the airport area were generated. Comparisons of deformation rate and displacement time series from InSAR and ground-leveling were carried out in order to evaluate the accuracy of the InSAR-derived measurements. After an integrated analysis of the distribution characteristics of land subsidence, previous research results, and geological data was carried out, we found and located an active ground fissure. Then main cause of the ground fissures was preliminarily discussed. Finally, it can be conducted that InSAR technology can be used to identify and monitor geological processes, such as land subsidence and ground fissure activities, and can provide a scientific approach to better explore and study the cause and formation mechanism of regional subsidence and ground fissures.
An assessment of domestic rice distribution for transboundary water-food management in Japan through virtual water trade

Abstract. The self-sufficiency ratio of rice in Tokyo was less than 5 % but the national self-sufficiency ratio in Japan has reached over 90 % in 2012. Accordingly, local rice distribution is a key factor for regional food security but also water resource management because a significant amount of irrigation water was simultaneously used or saved in the production or consumption areas, respectively, through rice distribution. This study's aim is to analyze domestic rice distribution, and assess the dependency of prefectures on water resources within or outside the region through virtual water flows that indicate the embedded water in food trade. The results show that significant amounts of water were transferred virtually from the Northern regions such as Tohoku and Hokkaido to industrial and urbanized regions including Tokyo and Osaka through domestic rice distribution. In particular, the outflow of virtual water from the Tohoku region was more than 3 billion m3/yr during 2000–2012, and it was almost three times larger than the net flows of virtual water within the Tohoku region. In addition, increasing self-supply in the main producing prefectures affected the changes in the entire rice distribution network. In particular, as the self-supply in Shiga — the main producing prefecture sharing the Yodo-river basin with Osaka in the Kansai region — increases, the dependency of Osaka on virtual water flows from outside the Kansai region rises. Thus, it is important to consider the link between food and water through virtual water flow in trans-boundary water management, integrating not only water resource boundaries such as river basins, but also food boundaries covering production and consumption areas.
Ranging patterns and resource use in samango monkeys

Loss and fragmentation of habitat can have significant negative consequences for forest-dwelling species. Understanding how a species uses space in an increasingly fragmented and human-dominated landscape is important to determine the extent to which they can persist in such landscapes. How animals use space is largely determined by the availability of resources and the risk of predation both across time and space and is highly scale-dependent. The aim of this study was to investigate the factors that influence space use at the species level using resource selection functions, at the group level by exploring ranging patterns, and at the individual level by exploring the role of predation risk on the spatial variation in behaviour. Focal observations were collected from two well-habituated groups of samango monkey (Cercopithecus albogularis schwarzi) at the Primate and Predator Project (PPP), as part of the Lajuma Research Centre, South Africa. In addition, instantaneous scan observations from PPP’s historic dataset were used to explore the ranging patterns and resource use of samango monkeys. Space use at both the species and group levels was largely determined by access to highly productive habitat, particularly tall-canopy, indigenous mistbelt forest. At the individual level, perceived predation risk strongly influenced the spatial variation in behaviour, whilst other measures of risk such as habitat visibility, canopy height and distance from sleep site were also important. Distance from sleep site was also associated with an increase in anxiety, indicated by self-directed scratching, in samangos. However, samangos appeared to manage risk across their home range by varying the number of nearby neighbours, thereby sharing the vigilance load between individuals. The findings of this study highlight that space use is highly scale-dependent, and that the spatial and temporal distribution of resources and predation risk largely determines how animals use space at these different scales. Prioritising resources at different scales is therefore central to the development of efficient management plans to ensure the persistence of species in increasingly fragmented and human-dominated landscapes.
Analytical Electron Microscopy of Cement Pastes: I, Tricalcium Silicate Pastes

One hundred sixty-one particles of C-S-H from C3S pastes aged 1 to 180 days were analyzed. For pastes made from two C3S samples, the mean Ca:Si ratios were 1.52 and 1.61, respectively. The overall range of Ca:Si ratios was 1.21 to 1.96; most of the variation is considered to represent real differences in composition between individual particles. No significant correlations with curing time, degree of reaction, or morphological type of C-S-H were found.
VGI users & data centered methods for the analysis of farmland biodiversity indicators open issues

Motivated by the importance of the analysis of farmland biodiversity data, and the lack of advanced analysis tools of VGI systems, in this paper we present main issues related to the analysis of VGI farmland biodiversity data using SOLAP systems. We develop challenges related to volunteers and crowd sourced data. Then, we present some possible solutions that represent the main work of our French ANR project VGI4Bio
Post-spreading Basalts from the Nanyue Seamount: Implications for the Involvement of Crustal- and Plume-Type Components in the Genesis of the South China Sea Mantle

Fresh samples of basalts were collected by dredging from the Nanyue intraplate seamount in the Southwest sub-basin of the South China Sea (SCS). These are alkali basalts displaying right-sloping, chondrite-normalized rare earth element (REE) profiles. The investigated basalts are characterized by low Os content (60.37–85.13 ppt) and radiogenic 187Os/188Os ratios (~0.19 to 0.21). Furthermore, 40Ar/39Ar dating of the Nanyue basalts showed they formed during the Tortonian (~8.3 Ma) and, thus, are products of (Late Cenozoic) post-spreading volcanism. The Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotopic compositions of the Nanyue basalts indicate that their parental melts were derived from an upper mantle reservoir possessing the so-called Dupal isotopic anomaly. Semiquantitative isotopic modeling demonstrates that the isotopic compositions of the Nanyue basalts can be reproduced by mixing three components: the average Pacific midocean ridge basalt (MORB), the lower continental crust (LCC), and the average Hainan ocean island basalt (OIB). Our preferred hypothesis for the genesis of the Nanyue basalts is that their parental magmas were produced from an originally depleted mantle (DM) source that was much affected by the activity of the Hainan plume. Initially, the Hainan diapir caused a thermal perturbation in the upper mantle under the present-day Southwest sub-basin of the SCS that led to erosion of the overlying LCC. Eventually, the resultant suboceanic lithospheric mantle (SOLM) interacted with OIB-type components derived from the nearby Hainan plume. Collectively, these processes contributed crustal- and plume-type components to the upper mantle underlying the Southwest sub-basin of the SCS. This implies that the Dupal isotopic signature in the upper mantle beneath the SCS was an artifact of in situ geological processes rather than a feature inherited from a Southern Hemispheric, upper mantle source.
Analysis of essential heavy metals in ready-to-eat chicken meat products of Chennai city

A study was carried out to analyse the essential heavy metals viz. cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, nickel and zinc in commercially available Ready-To-Eat chicken meat products (chicken 65, chilly chicken, grilled chicken and tandoori chicken) collected from street food outlets at different regions of Chennai city. Totally 288 samples were collected and analysed using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Results revealed that, among the three regions southern region had higher concentration of cobalt (4.19±6.35 ppm), copper (2.20±0.31 ppm), manganese (2.34±0.37 ppm) and nickel (8.09±2.42 ppm) whereas higher concentrations of iron (12.86±2.02 ppm) and zinc (10.42±1.56 ppm) were noticed in central region. Among the products grilled chicken samples had higher concentrations of zinc (10.42±1.56 ppm) and nickel (8.09±2.42 ppm). Based on the results it was concluded that, heavy metals like copper, iron and zinc in ready-to-eat chicken meat products were within the limits of standard whereas cobalt, manganese, and nickel were slightly higher than the permissible limits set by different regulatory agencies for meat. The reason for these higher values may be due to the ingredients, cooking methods and cooking utensils used for the preparation of the chicken meat products and also the extraneous contaminants.
The Influence of Warm-season Precipitation on Water Cycling and the Surface Energy Budget Within and Just-above a Colorado Subalpine Forest in Mountainous Terrain: Measurements and Modeling

In this chapter we introduce the location of the US-NR1 site, the history of the creation of the AmeriFlux site, and the much longer history of the forest that the site is within. The goal in this section is to better understand the nature of the logging that occurred in and near the forest in the early 1900s. In order to do this properly, we provide a short history of western Boulder County and the CU Mountain Research Station. Based on a combination of historical accounts, repeat photographs, and field observations, we found that the forest near the site was only selectively logged; this assessment agrees with recent tree-coring work, where many trees in the immediate vicinity of the tower date back to the 1700s.
Incidence of Heavy Metals (Pb, Cu, Zn) in Fish Species in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State

This study was conducted to evaluate the concentration of lead, copper and zinc on the gills, viscera and muscle parts of three fish species- Clarias gariepinus, Channa obscura, and Tilapia zilli from Uwana river in Afikpo in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Lead concentrations did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) among the fish species and were 0.025 ± 0.045 ppm in C. gariepinus, 0.024 ± 0.041 ppm in C. obscura and 0.036 ± 0.056 ppm in T. zilli. However copper was significantly (p T. zilli 0.067 ± 0.116 ppm compared to C. gariepinus 0.033 ± 0.038 ppm and C. obscura 0.030 ± 0.041 ppm. Zinc concentrations were similar (p > 0.05) in the 3 fish species of C. gariepinus (0.454 ± 0.256 ppm), C. obscura (0.518 ± 0.246 ppm), and T. zilli (0.514 ± 0.279 ppm). Gills (0.026 ± 0.044 ppm), Viscera (0.029 ± 0.051 ppm) and Muscle (0.030 ± 0.048 ppm) did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) in lead content but viscera contained more copper (0.084 ± 0.114 ppm) compared to the gills (0.035 ± 0.039 ppm) and muscle (0.011 ± 0.013 ppm). Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in the zinc contents of the body parts as Gills contained more zinc (0.590 ± 0.209 ppm) compared to viscera (0.0567 ± 0.291 ppm) and muscle (0.329 ± 0.188 ppm). In all cases, the heavy metal concentrations in the fish species were lower than the maximum limit set by FAO/WHO/ FEPA.
Big data suggest migration and bioregion connectivity as crucial for the evolution of Neotropical biodiversity

Author(s): Zizka, Alexander | Abstract: Tropical America (the Neotropics) is the most biodiverse realm on Earth and might harbour more species than tropical Asia and Africa combined. The evolutionary history generating this outstanding diversity remains poorly understood partly because data on the geographic distribution of species is scarce. Collections from museums and herbaria can overcome this gap, but uncertain data quality hampers their use, especially in historical biogeography. Here, I highlight the results from recent studies quantifying diversification and bioregion connectivity in the Neotropics using large-scale species occurrence data, and argue that (i) recently developed software to analyse large-scale data provides a methodological route forward for biogeography, and (ii) biotic connectivity within and among bioregions is a common, but underappreciated, process in the evolution of Neotropical diversity.
Low temperature selective growth and field emission characteristics of tapered SiGe nanowires array

Tapered SiGe nanowires array were successfully synthesized onto gold patterned Si substrates by metal-catalyzed low pressure chemical vapor synthetic approach at 380°C and exhibit high degree of vertical alignment and high density. The tip regions of SiGe nanowires are about 100nm in diameter and the base regions are measured to be less than 10nm. It is noted that the synthesized nanowires exhibit hexagonal shape cross section and smooth faceting surface. It is believed that coexistence of two growth mechanisms, vapor-liquid-solid synthetic reaction governing the axial growth and vapor-solid surface diffusion leading to the lateral epitaxial deposition, result in the formation of tapered nanostructures. The tapered SiGe nanowires exhibit a turn-on field of 5.8V/µm and a threshold electric field of 8.8V/µm. The excellent field emission characteristics are attributed to the tapered geometry of the crystalline SiGe nanowires.
Use of large datasets to support drought management planning and climate change assessments

Advantages and application of large stochastic and climate change datasets to drought and water supply management planning. Water is considered to be one of the main mechanisms through which people will experience climate change. As a consequence of climate change and population growth, the number of people estimated to become exposed to water scarcity is projected to increase sharply in the future. Concerns regarding the potential implications of extreme, previously not experienced, droughts are also increasing. Water supply planning in the UK has begun to move beyond using only the historic record to plan investments to maintain secure supplies. The UK has adopted the use of stochastically generated droughts to provide a more comprehensive understanding of resilience across a broad range of plausible drought events. Recent advancements in climate modelling captured within the latest UK Climate Projections 2018 could potentially begin to address the need for physically-based, plausible datasets that combine both natural climate variability and a changing climate in representing droughts of the future. This poster focusses on applications and advantages of stochastic and climate change datasets, and discusses some of the potential issues associated with their use. Solutions to these issues are also discussed.
For the Last Time: Temporal Sensitivity and Perceived Timing of the Final Stimulus in an Isochronous Sequence

An isochronous sequence is a series of repeating events with the same inter-onset-interval. A common finding is that as the length of a sequence increases, so does temporal sensitivity to irregularities — that is, the detection of deviations from isochrony is better with a longer sequence. Several theoretical accounts exist in the literature as to how the brain processes sequences for the detection of irregularities, yet there remains to be a systematic comparison of the predictions that such accounts make. To compare the predictions of these accounts, we asked participants to report whether the last stimulus of a regularly-timed sequence appeared ‘earlier’ or ‘later’ than expected. Such task allowed us to separately analyse bias and performance. Sequences lengths (3, 4, 5 or 6 beeps) were either randomly interleaved or presented in separate blocks. We replicate previous findings showing that temporal sensitivity increases with longer sequence in the interleaved condition but not in the blocked condition (where performance is higher overall). Results also indicate that there is a consistent bias in reporting whether the last stimulus is isochronous (irrespectively of how many stimuli the sequence is composed of). Such result is consistent with a perceptual acceleration of stimuli embedded in isochronous sequences. From the comparison of the models’ predictions we determine that the improvement in sensitivity is best captured by an averaging of successive estimates, but with an element that limits performance improvement below statistical optimality. None of the models considered, however, provides an exhaustive explanation for the pattern of results found.
Changes and Trend of Public Housing Policy in Netherlands, Hong Kong and Mainland China

In recent years, policy formulation for provision of public goods, especially for public housing policy is going to be neoliberalism in both global north and global south under the ideology of so-called new public management. Privatization for public housing provision is regarded as a neoliberal policy agenda which is used by local governments for easing financial burden. In this regard, partial privatization of public housing is deemed as quasi-public goods provided by local government to those low-income groups at an affordable price, which tends to reshape local welfare system. This paper will discuss the recent trend of neoliberalism in public housing policies in Netherlands, Hong Kong and Mainland China. Netherlands, a high welfare state, has taken measures to increase home ownership in private sectors and privatization on its social housings. As a typical laissez-faire market, public housing policy in Hong Kong is tend be much more resilience; and its portion of public housing sector will expand with the increased flows of governmental investments; but it still offers subsidized public housing through various provisions. China, as a socialist market economy, whose central government is expected to provide affordable housing (economic comfortable housing and public rental housing) to those urban residents with local hukou through model of public-private partnership. By comparing the recent changes and trend of public housing in these three regions, we conclude that public housing policy is going to be neoliberalism, which will challenge local governments to balance their social equity and economic
Relationships Between Methane and Carbon Dioxide Fluxes in a Temperate Cattail‐Dominated Freshwater Wetland

Wetlands are the most important natural source of methane (CH4) to the atmosphere, and there is still considerable uncertainty of CH4 flux and net carbon budgets of wetlands. This uncertainty is due in part to the complex role of wetland vegetation in controlling methane production, oxidation and transport, which challenge the modeling and forecast of CH4 fluxes. We combined CH4 and carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes measured by the eddy covariance technique during two consecutive growing seasons with continuous measurements of water levels and water temperature in a Typha angustifolia L patch of a temperate wetland. We seek to evaluate the role of vegetation in CH4 flux processes. To this end, we determined the relationship between CH4 and CO2 fluxes, directly and indirectly linked to plant activity. Our results indicated significant but opposing relationships between CH4 and CO2 fluxes during the daytime and nighttime. Consequently, when analyzed on a diel timescale, this relationship was not significant. Both CH4 and CO2 fluxes were highly dependent on environmental drivers, and thus, the correlations observed at both the nighttime and daytime were likely the result of a shared response to environmental variables. Focusing on water temperature (the most commonly observed environmental variable in wetlands) and water level (the most commonly controlled one) as operational control variables for wetlands, we identified “hot” condition combinations when CH4 flux and net ecosystem CO2 uptake are maximized at half hourly and diel scales.
Methods of Determining Retardation Coefficients of Organic Compounds in Aquifers

Sorption is an important mechanism that affects the mobility of organic compounds in the subsurface environment. Sorbed compounds move slower than that of groundwater, causing retardation in their movement. Accurate determination of retardation coefficients (R) of organic compounds in aquifers is critical for understanding their movement, fate, and remediation. Several methods, including predictive tools, laboratory experiments, and field experiments have been utilized for determining sorption-related retardation. The objective of this paper was to review and compare between the different methods used for the determination of R of organic compounds, with emphasis on predictiveand laboratory-based approaches. Predictive tools are based on the use of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs). Laboratory methods utilize different types of reactors including batch, stirred-flow, circulationthrough-column, or miscible displacement through packed columns. In addition, data from the column method have been analyzed in various ways to determine R. Discrepancies between results from different methods or from different analysis approaches have been reported. This create uncertainty about the suitability of some of these methods or the used analysis approaches. This paper highlights the possible causes for the observed discrepancy and establishes the limitations and appropriateness of the used methods and analysis approaches.
Various Techniques of Energy Consumption On Cloud Network- A Survey

Cloud computing is the stage for a choice of services like software, infrastructure as a cloud service and each person wants to have the benefit of that cloud services using the cloud computing concept, which ultimately increases the data size and loaded records on cloud servers. Due to increased number of files on the cloud database the retrieval of files becomes much more time consuming and complex. Also this file retrieval doesn’t ensure the exact retrieval of files from the storage. Besides, the isolation apprehension affect to the appropriate documents regained by the cloud user in the afterward phase in view of the fact that they may also enclose sensitive data and make known information about sensitive exploration words or phrase. Here in this paper an efficient approach of power consumption using scheduling of resources is implemented.