Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Experimental Quantification of the Sampling Uncertainty Associated with Measurements from PARSIVEL Disdrometers

AbstractThe variability of the (rain)drop size distribution (DSD) in time and space is an intrinsic property of rainfall, which is of primary importance for various environmental fields such as remote sensing of precipitation, for example. DSD observations are usually collected using disdrometers deployed at the ground level. Like any other measurement of a physical process, disdrometer measurements are affected by noise and sampling effects. This uncertainty must be quantified and taken into account in further analyses. This paper addresses this issue for the Particle Size Velocity (PARSIVEL) optical disdrometer by using a large dataset corresponding to light and moderate rainfall and collected from two collocated PARSIVELs deployed during 15 months in Lausanne, Switzerland. The relative sampling uncertainty associated with quantities characterizing the DSD—namely the total concentration of drops Nt and the median-volume diameter D0—is quantified for different temporal resolutions. Similarly, the relativ.
Crustal growth, surface processes, and atmospheric evolution on the early Earth

Abstract Evolution of the atmosphere between 3.9 and 1.8 Ga can be related to changes in physical, chemical and biological surface processes. Changes in surface processes, in turn, took place in response to growth of continents. Growth of stable continents favoured expansion of epeiric seas and resultant increase in oxygen productivity. Prior to 2.6 Ga, continents probably comprised less than 10% of the Earth’s crust and, as a consequence, physical sedimentation and volcanism, and chemical and biological sedimentation took place mainly in oceanic and island-arc settings. Following major crustal growth at 2.6 Ga, surface processes became dominated by widespread stromatolite growth and iron and manganese precipitation in vast epicontinental seas. Prior to 2.6 Ga, oxygen was consumed mainly in ocean-crust alteration. Following growth of large continents, the ocean crust oxygen reservoir decreased in scale freeing oxygen for the second major reservoir, namely reduced iron and manganese. Only after oceanic sinks were utilized did oxygen escape to the atmosphere. This was taking place on a large scale by 1.8 Ga at which time the atmosphere had an oxidation state necessary for formation of continental red beds and palaeosols.
Relationship Between Thrust-fault Ramps And Normal Faults: Results From Reflection Seismic Imaging And Finite-element Analysis

The Great Salt Lake basin in northern Utah is one of the largest, and perhaps the most continuously active, Tertiary basin in the eastern Basin and Range Province. Reflection seismic data from the basin show that the major basinbounding faults are listric in nature. Normal-fault reactivation of Sevier-age(? ) thrust-fault ramps evident on the seismic data suggests that the maximum depth of penetration and soling of these listric faults may have been strongly controlled by these older structures. Viscoelastic finite-element modeling of reactivation of an older thrust fault demonstrates that a secondary synthetic normal-fault configuration is favored in viscoelastic-brittle rocks subjected to pure extension. Slip on the thrust-fault surface causes brittle failure of rocks in a region where synthetic secondary faulting can take advantage of the preexisting weakness. Slip along the newly formed synthetic fault leads to failure in a different region, where antithetic faulting will occur, resulting in the formation of a graben. Results from the interpretation of Great Salt Lake reflection seismic data show similar relationships.
Estimation of multivalued arrivals in 3D models using wavefront construction

We have developed a ray tracing based wavefront (WF) construction method that finds arrivals in general 3D models consisting of blocks with smooth velocity and density variation separated by interfaces where the velocity and density change discontinuously. The method is based on the ideas in Vinje et. al. (1992) and it mimics the true wave propagation in the lense that entire WFs are propagated time step by time step creating a moving surface travelling through the model. The WF may stretch, twist and fold in any way as it moves through the medium and the spatial sampling rate of the WF is kept above a pre-defined limit. The receivers are given value as the WFs pass them, one arrival for each sheet of WF that passes. Multi-arrival travel times, amplitudes, geometric spreading etc. are thus found in an efficient way in all areas of the model that are reachable by conventional rays.
Snowball versus slushball Earth: Dynamic versus nondynamic sea ice?

[1] Modeling studies of the Neoproterozoic snowball Earth offer two variations for snowball conditions, the original “hard” snowball Earth where the ocean is completely covered by sea ice, and an alternate slushball Earth or “soft” snowball, where there is an equatorial oasis of open water. We use the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model to show that the soft snowball result is only possible when dynamics are excluded from the sea ice component of the model. Using a purely thermodynamic sea ice component the soft snowball condition is stable, whereas with a dynamic and thermodynamic sea ice component it is not. As the behavior of dynamic sea ice largely depends on wind stress, we compare simulations using two different wind fields: a zonally averaged present-day wind field and a wind field derived by a general circulation model, the Fast Ocean Atmosphere Model, using Neoproterozoic conditions. Another consequence of using dynamic sea ice is that the sea ice does not become sufficiently thick to flow under its own weight when there is open water; this suggests that sea glacier dynamics are not important for snowball inception.
Self-assembled 5-fluorouracil-cinnamaldehyde nanodrugs for greatly improved chemotherapy in vivo

The preferred cancer treatment is to achieve a high therapeutic effect as well as reduce side effects. In this study, we developed carrier-free nano drugs based on 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and cinnamaldehyde (CA) to meet the above goals. Two model drugs were spliced by acetal linkage and ester bond, which could self-assemble into nano drug particles (5FU–CA NPs) with a size of ∼170 nm. In vitro cell experiments showed 5FU–CA NPs were efficiently internalized by HepG2 cells. They then quickly exerted dual drug activities by the cleavage of acetal and ester bond, resulting in enhanced cell-killing efficacy and apoptosis. Synergistic mechanisms were achieved via the anti-metabolic effects mediated by 5FU–COOH and the oxidative damage induced by CA. In vivo anti-tumor evaluation further indicated that 5FU–CA NPs had higher tumor growth inhibition than 5FU–COOH/CA mixture (5FU–COOH + CA) and exhibited lower systemic toxicity under the same reducing dose of each drug. Overall, this is a successful synergistic anti-tumor attempt through rational self-assembly of drugs with different mechanisms and it can be extrapolated to other agents.
Protein Structure Analysis and Prediction

Predicting the three-dimensional structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence is an important and difficult problem. We present an integrated approach that uses an artificial neural network to predict the spatial proximity of the amino acids in the sequence. Mathematica routines are developed to view the protein structure and to visualize and evaluate the results of the neural network. Proteins are essential to biological processes. They are responsible for catalyzing and regulating biochemical reactions, transporting molecules, the chemistry of vision and of the photosynthetic conversion of light to growth, and they form the basis of structures such as skin, hair, and tendon. Protein function can be understood in terms of its structure. Indeed, the three-dimensional structure of a protein is closely related to its biological function. Proteins that perform similar functions tend to show a significant degree of structural homology [Chan and Dill 1993; Voet and Voet 1990, p. 109]. In general, a protein consists of a linear chain of a particular sequence of the 20 naturally occurring amino acids. Sequences vary in length, containing anywhere from tens to thousands of amino acids. The amino acid sequence of a protein is known as its primary structure, while local conformations in this sequence, namely alpha-helices, betasheets, and random coils are known as secondary structures. The angles between adjacent amino acids, called the torsion angles, determine the twists and turns in the sequence which result in these secondary structures. The three-dimensional configuration of the primary structure is defined as the tertiary structure, describing the fold of the protein. The tertiary structure of the protein Crambin is illustrated in Figure 1. The alpha helices are easily identifiable. A beta sheet is a relatively straight and flat region in the sequence. Random coils are segments of nonrepetitive structure. This figure was created with the Quanta software package [Molecular Simulation 1994]. Steve Fairchild is a member of the computational material science group in the Hardened Materials Branch at Wright Laboratory. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from Murray State University and the University of Dayton. His background is in physics, optics, pattern recognition, and computer science. Dr. Ruth Pachter works in computational materials science on the design of novel nonlinear optical materials and leads the computational material science group in the Hardened Materials Branch at Wright Laboratory. Her background is in theoretical chemistry, computational materials science, and biophysics. Ronald Perrin is an electrical engineer with the Electronic and Optical Materials Branch of the Electromagnetic and Survivability Division at Wright Laboratory. He holds B.S.E.E. and M.S. degrees from Wright State University. He works on laboratory instrumentation and system automation, specializing in control systems and neural networks.
Laser-free super-resolution microscopy

We report that high-density single-molecule super-resolution microscopy can be achieved with a conventional epifluorescence microscope set-up and a mercury arc lamp. The configuration termed as laser-free super-resolution microscopy (LFSM) is an extension of single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) techniques and allows single molecules to be switched on and off (a phenomenon termed as ‘blinking’), detected and localized. The use of a short burst of deep blue excitation (350–380 nm) can be further used to reactivate the blinking, once the blinking process has slowed or stopped. A resolution of 90 nm is achieved on test specimens (mouse and amphibian meiotic chromosomes). Finally, we demonstrate that stimulated emission depletion and LFSM can be performed on the same biological sample using a simple commercial mounting medium. It is hoped that this type of correlative imaging will provide a basis for a further enhanced resolution. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Super-resolution structured illumination microscopy (part 1)’.
POAM measurements of PSCs and water vapor in the 2002 Antarctic vortex

We present Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement (POAM) PSC and water vapor measurements obtained in the Antarctic stratosphere in 2002, and compare these with POAM measurements from 1993–1996 and 1998–2002 (PSCs) and 1998–2002 (water vapor). Through mid‐September 2002 POAM observed significantly fewer PSCs than in other years. However, ice PSC observations were only slightly reduced from previous years, and the dehydration was similar to that observed from 1998–2001. After an unprecedented major warming in September 2002, POAM observed only very few PSCs. This sudden decline in PSC activity in 2002 occurred a full month earlier than in any previous POAM measurement years.
Anti-Intellectualism and the Mass Public’s Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

Anti-intellectualism – the generalized distrust of experts and intellectuals – is an important concept in explaining the public’s engagement with advice from scientists and experts. We ask whether it has shaped the mass public’s response to COVID-19. We provide evidence of a consistent connection between anti-intellectualism and COVID-19 risk perceptions, social distancing, mask usage, misperceptions, and information acquisition using a representative survey of 27,615 Canadians conducted from March to July 2020. We exploit a panel-component of our design (N=4,910) to strongly link anti-intellectualism and within-respondent change in mask usage. Finally, we provide experimental evidence of anti-intellectualism’s importance in information search behaviour with two conjoint studies (N~2,500) that show respondents’ preferences for COVID-19 news and COVID-19 information from experts dissipate among those with higher levels of anti-intellectual sentiment. Anti-intellectualism poses a fundamental challenge in maintaining and increasing public compliance with expert-guided COVID-19 health directives.
CD4+ CD8αα+ T Cells in the Gastric epithelium Mediate Chronic In�ammation Induced by Helicobacter Felis

CD4+ CD8αα+ double-positive intraepithelial T lymphocytes (DP T cells), a newly characterized subset of intraepithelial T cell, has been reported to contribute to local immunosuppression. However, whether DP T cells are present in Helicobacter. pylori-induced gastritis, and their relationship with disease prognosis remain to be elucidated. In this study, We established chronic gastritis models through Helicobacter felis (H. felis) infection. Gastric in�ltrating lymphocytes were isolated from H. felis-induced gastritis mice and analyzed by �ow cytometry. Our results suggest that DP T cells frequency in H. felis-induced gastritis mice was higher than the uninfected mice. Gastric DP T cells derived from lamina propria cells, which distributed in the gastric epithelial layer. We found that DP T cells exhibited anti-in�ammatory function. In vitro, DP T cells inhibited the maturation of dendritic cells and the proliferation of CD4+ T cell. The elimination of CD4+CD8αα+ T cells in vivo resulted in severe gastritis and a reduction of H. felis load. Additionally, vaccine with silk �broin as delivery systems enhanced vaccine e�cacy by reducing DP T cells. We demonstrated that DP T cells performed an immunosuppressive role in Helicobacter felis-induced gastritis. These �ndings revealed that DP T cells may affect the prognosis of the disease and the vaccine e�cacy.
REVIEW Recognition of non-self-polysaccharides by C-type lectin receptors dectin-1 and dectin-2

The discovery of several transmembrane receptors expressed by antigen presenting cells, including those that detect and interact with specific sugar moieties on the surface of microbes, has improved our understanding of how immunity against infection is generated. This knowledge, in turn, prompted us to review such interactions with emphasis on C-type lectin receptors and a focus on the roles of dectin-1 and dectin-2 in anti-fungal immunity.
A 2D Advancing-Front Delaunay Mesh Refinement Algorithm

I present a generalization of Chew's first algorithm for Delaunay mesh refinement. In his algorithm, Chew splits the line segments of the input planar straight line graph (PSLG) into shorter subsegments whose lengths are nearly identical. The constrained Delaunay triangulation of the subsegments is refined based on the length of the radii of the circumcircles of the triangles. This algorithm produces a uniform mesh, whose minimum angle can be at most $\pi/6$. My algorithm generates both truly Delaunay and constrained Delaunay size-optimal meshes. In my algorithm, I split the line segments of the input PSLG such that their lengths are asymptotically proportional to the local feature size (LFS) by solving ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that map points from a closed 1D interval to points on the input line segments in the PSLG. I then refine the Delaunay triangulation (truly or constrained) of the PSLG by inserting off-center Steiner vertices of "skinny" triangles while prioritizing such triangles with shortest edges first. As in Chew's algorithm, I show that the Steiner vertices do not encroach upon any subsegment of the PSLG. The off-center insertion algorithm places Steiner vertices in an advancing front manner such that we obtain a size-optimal Delaunay mesh (truly or constrained) if the desired minimum angle is less than $\pi/6$. In addition, even in the presence of a small angle $\phi < \pi/2$ in the PSLG, the bound on the minimum angle "across" the small angle tends to $\arctan{((\sin{\phi})/(2-\cos(\phi))}$ as the PSLG is progressively refined. Also, the bound on the maximum angle across any small input angle tends to $\pi/2 + \phi/2$ as the PSLG is progressively refined.
Experimental study of pre- and postnatal caffeine exposure and its observable effects on selected neurotranmitters and behavioural attributes at puberty

Caffeine is globally consumed as a stimulant in beverage drinks; it is also ingested in purified forms as power and tablets. Concerns have been raised about the potential consequences of intrauterine and early life caffeine exposure on brain health. This study modeled caffeine exposure during pregnancy and early postanal life until puberty, and the potential consequences. Caffeine powder was dissolved in distilled water. Thirty-two (n = 32) pregnant mice (Mus musculus) were divided into four groups- A, B, C and D. Group A animals served as a control, receiving placebo. Caffeine doses in mg/kg body weight were administered as follows: Group B, 10mg/kg; Group C, 50mg/kg; Group D, 120mg/kg. Prenatal caffeine exposure [phase I] lasted throughout pregnancy. Half the number of offspring were sacrificed at birth; the rest were recruited into phase II and the experiment continued till day 35, marking puberty. Brain samples were processed following sacrifice. γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), acetylcholine (ACh), and serotonin (5Ht) neurotransmitters were assayed in homogenates to evaluate functional neurochemistry. Anxiety and memory as neurobehavioural attributes were observed using the elevated plus and Barnes’ mazes respectively. Continuous caffeine exposure produced positive effects on short and long-term memory parameters; the pattern interestingly was irregular and appeared more effective with the lowest experimental dose. Anxiety test results showed no attributable significant aberrations. Caffeine exposure persistently altered the neurochemistry of selected neurotransmitters including ACh and 5Ht, including when exposure lasted only during pregnancy. ACh significantly increased in group BC+ to 0. 3475µgg-1 relative to control’s 0. 2508µgg-1; pre-and continuous postnatal exposure in Group B increased 5Ht to 0.2203 µgg-1 and 0.2213 µgg-1 respectively relative to control’s 0.1863 µgg-1. From the current investigation, caffeine exposure in pregnancy had persistent effects on brain functional attributes including neurotransmitters activities, memory and anxiety. Caffeine in moderate doses affected memory positively but produced negative effects at the higher dosage including increased anxiety tendencies.
Optical properties of Saharan dust layers as detected by a Raman lidar at Thessaloniki, Greece

Measurements during Saharan dust transport events were performed at several stations of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network. During the period 2001–2002, 12 cases were captured at Thessaloniki, Greece (40.5°N, 22.9°E) with a 355 nm Raman lidar. For these cases the vertical profiles of the extinction and backscatter coefficients were determined and examined, as well as profiles of extinction‐to‐backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) and the backscatter‐related Ångström exponent between 355 and 532 nm (color index). Model calculations from the DREAM model confirmed the existence of Saharan dust in all cases examined. Within the dust plumes the lidar ratios ranged from 20 to 100 sr and the color index ranged from −1 to 3. An anticorrelation was found between the lidar ratio and the color index during the Saharan dust events. In certain cases the results suggest that the mixing of dust particles with boundary layer aerosols reduces the dust ‘signature’ and thus, makes difficult the separation of the dust particles from those of mostly urban origin.
Divergent Targets of Aspergillus fumigatus AcuK and AcuM Transcription 1 Factors during Growth in vitro versus Invasive Disease 2

In Aspergillus nidulans , the AcuK and AcuM transcription factors form a complex that 21 regulates gluconeogenesis. In Aspergillus fumigatus , AcuM governs gluconeogenesis and iron 22 acquisition in vitro, and virulence in immunosuppressed mice. However, the function of AcuK 23 was previously unknown. Through in vitro studies, we found that A. fumigatus Δ acuK single 24 and Δ acuK Δ acuM double mutants had impaired gluconeogenesis and iron acquisition, similar to 25 the Δ acuM mutant. Also, the Δ acuK, Δ acuM, and Δ acuK Δ acuM mutants had similar virulence 26 defects in mice. However, compared to the Δ acuM mutant, the Δ acuK mutant had a milder 27 defect in extracellular siderophore activity and induction of epithelial cell damage in vitro. 28 Moreover, overexpression of acuM in the Δ acuK mutant altered expression of 3 genes and 29 partially restored growth under iron-limited conditions, suggesting that AcuM can govern some 30 genes independently of AcuK. Although the Δ acuK and Δ acuM mutants had very similar 31 transcriptional profiles in vitro, their transcriptional profiles during murine pulmonary infection 32 differed both from their in vitro profiles and from each other. While AcuK and AcuM governed 33 the expression of only a few iron responsive genes in vivo, they influenced the expression of 34 other virulence-related genes such as hexA and dvrA . Therefore, in A. fumigatus , while AcuK and 35 AcuM likely function as part of the same complex, they can also function independently of each 36 other. Furthermore, AcuK and AcuM have different target genes in vivo as compared to in vitro, 37 suggesting that in vivo infection stimulates unique transcriptional regulatory pathways in A. 38 fumigatus . reduced in the not in vitro. These findings suggest that the virulence defects of the two mutants may reflect the composite of their effects on iron acquisition and on multiple 480 virulence pathways. These results also demonstrate the importance of in vivo transcriptional profiling studies for identifying the downstream target genes of transcription factors that are 482 relevant to virulence.