Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measurement of geopotential heights by GPS radio occultation

Geopotential heights of constant pressure surfaces are retrieved from global positioning system (GPS) radio occultation data. In order to assess accuracy a subset of data obtained by GPS/MET during spring 1995 and summer 1995 are compared to the output of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) global model. The root-mean-square measurement error is 20 m throughout the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Furthermore, the ECMWF global model contains enhanced errors in the southeast Pacific. In probing the data for potential utility in climate studies, a Bayesian interpolation technique is used to map the geopotential height fields in the upper troposphere during the summer. Despite limitations of the GPS/MET data set the global average 300-mbar geopotential height over a 2-week period in summer 1995 is determined with an accuracy of 7 m. By obtaining greater coverage and partially resolving synoptic variability, a future constellation of 16 orbiting receivers could obtain global average geopotential height estimates in the upper troposphere with an accuracy of l m each day. Accuracy would be somewhat worse for regional studies, except in the tropics where synoptic variability is depressed.
Permafrost hydrology in North America 1

Abstract This paper reviews hydrologic processes in the permafrost regions of northern North America. Much work has recently been done at specific experimental plots to parallel the progress in laboratory investigations, improving our understanding of the heat and water fluxes in thawed and frozen grounds, infiltration in frozen soils, evaporation in a cold environment, interaction between snow and its frozen substrate, and the dynamics of storage in the active layer. Field research on permafrost slopes and in northern research basins adds to our knowledge of permafrost groundwater hydrology, runoff generating processes, river freeze‐up and breakup processes and allows more precise definition of basin water balance. Sufficient hydrometric data are now available to analyse the streamflow characteristics in an area with permafrost, and more work should be done along this line. It is urged that process studies be continued to gain a better understanding of the effect of permafrost upon the hydrologic cycle.
The Extraction of Al, Fe and Si from a Range of New Zealand Soils by Hydroxylamine and Ammonium Oxalate Solutions

The elements Al, Fe and Si were extracted with acid oxalate and acid (HCl) hydroxylamine by using 36 samples from eight different soils, and the results for each extractant were compared. Parent materials were largely volcanic in nature, but eight samples were from soils derived from quartzo-feldspathic materials. Oxalate extracted significantly greater amounts of Fe from most samples than hydroxylamine. Results for Al and Si were less consistent. Compared with oxalate, hydroxylamine (soil : solution, 1:250) extracted significantly greater amounts of Al and Si from some samples and less from others. Taken over all samples, however, there was no significant difference between the two methods in the amounts of Al and Si each extracted. A decrease in the soil:solution ratio for hydroxylamine from 1:250 to 1:400 had little effect of Fe and Si values, but it did increase the amount of Al extracted in several cases. Soil mineralogy appeared to bear little relationship to observed differences, although the presence of magnetite probably contributed to higher oxalate-Fe values. Although statistically significant, differences between individual values were generally small. Results are compatible with previous studies which indicated that hydroxylamine provides an approximation of oxalate values for Al and Fe. Unlike previous work, however, the present results also suggest that approximate values can be obtained for Si.
Surveillance and outbreak reports The burden of extrapulmonary and meningitis tuberculosis : an investigation of national surveillance data , Germany , 2002 to 2009

Tuberculosis (TB) surveillance commonly focuses on pulmonary (PTB) where the main organ affected is the lung. This might lead to underestimate extrapulmonary TB (EPTB) forms, where in addition to the lung other sites are affected by TB. In Germany, TB notification data provide the main site and the secondary site of disease. To gain an overview of all the different EPTB forms, we analysed German TB notification data between 2002 and 2009 using information on both main and secondary disease site to describe all individual EPTB forms. Further, we assessed factors associated with meningitis using multivariable logistic regression. Solely analysing the main site of disease, lead to one third of EPTB manifestations being overlooked. Case characteristics varied substantially across individual extrapulmonary forms. Of 46,349 TB patients, 422 (0.9%) had meningitis as main or secondary site. Of those, 105 (25%) of the 415 with available information had died. Multivariable analysis showed that meningitis was more likely in children younger than five years and between five and nine years-old (odds ratio (OR): 4.90; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.40–7.07 and OR: 2.65; 95% CI: 1.40–5.00), in females (OR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.17–1.73), and in those born in the World Health Organization (WHO) regions of south-east Asia (OR: 2.38; 95% CI: 1.66–3.43) and eastern Mediterranean (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.02–2.23). Overall, EPTB manifestations, including meningitis, which is often fatal, were underestimated by routine analysis. We thus recommend using all information on disease manifestation generated by surveillance to monitor severe forms and to transfer the gained knowledge to TB case management where awareness of EPTB is most important.
Hyperscale terrain modelling of braided rivers: fusing mobile terrestrial laser scanning and optical bathymetric mapping

Quantifying the morphology of braided rivers is a key task for understanding braided river behaviour. In the last decade, developments in geomatics technologies and associated data processing methods have transformed the production of precise, reach‐scale topographic datasets. Nevertheless, generating accurate Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) remains a demanding task, particularly in fluvial systems. This paper identifies a threefold set of challenges associated with surveying these dynamic landforms: complex relief, inundated shallow channels and high rates of sediment transport, and terms these challenges the ‘morphological’, ‘wetted channel’ and ‘mobility’ problems, respectively. In an attempt to confront these issues directly, this paper presents a novel survey methodology that combines mobile terrestrial laser scanning and non‐metric aerial photography with data reduction and surface modelling techniques to render DEMs from the resulting very high resolution datasets. The approach is used to generate and model a precise, dense topographic dataset for a 2.5 km reach of the braided Rees River, New Zealand. Data were acquired rapidly between high flow events and incorporate over 5 x 109 raw survey observations with point densities of 1600 pts m‐2 on exposed bar and channel surfaces. A detailed error analysis of the resulting sub‐metre resolution is described to quantify DEM quality across the entire surface model. This reveals unparalleled low vertical errors for such a large and complex surface model; between 0.03 and 0.12 m in exposed and inundated areas of the model, respectively. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Cytochrome P450 Enzymes in Vascular Homeostasis

Since the initial reports that renal cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes can metabolize arachidonic acid to substances which affect arterial tone, it has become increasingly clear that CYP enzymes expressed within the cardiovascular system play a crucial role in the modulation of vascular homeostasis. There is strong evidence suggesting that the activation of a CYP epoxygenase in endothelial cells is an essential step in nitric oxide and prostacyclinindependent vasodilatation of several vascular beds, particularly in the heart and kidney. A smooth muscle CYP v-hydroxylase, on the other hand, generates a vasoconstrictor eicosanoid that is central to the myogenic response. Moreover, CYP epoxygenase and v-hydroxylase products, as well as CYP-derived reactive oxygen species, are intracellular signal transduction molecules involved in several signaling cascades affecting numerous cellular processes, including vascular cell proliferation and angiogenesis. This review summarizes the vascular effects of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids and 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid, both of which are CYP-derived metabolites of arachidonic acid, endogenously generated within endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells. Although the link between CYP expression/activity and cardiovascular disease is currently tentative, the evidence being accumulated to suggest that CYP pathways are altered in animal models of hypertension and atherosclerosis can no longer be ignored. The development of selective pharmacological tools is, however, a prerequisite for the analysis of the involvement of specific CYP isoforms in the regulation of vascular homeostasis in human subjects. (Circ Res. 2001;89:753-762.)
Expression of CXCL8 (IL-8) in the Pathogenesis of T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Patients

Background Inflammation plays a very important role in the pathogenesis of a wide range of diseases, such as atherosclerosis myocardial infarction, sepsis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. This study aimed to investigate the association of IL-8 in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) patients. Methodology IL-8 levels were estimated in 52 individuals. Of the study population, 26 were T-ALL patients (all phases of leukemia were included in the study) and 26 were disease-free healthy volunteers. In this study, we employed flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test, and western blot analysis. Results IL-8 was significantly higher in all T-ALL patients than in healthy volunteers. IL-8 levels showed a significant positive correlation in T-ALL patients at the genomic and proteomic levels. Conclusions Higher serum IL-8 levels were associated with the advanced disease stage of the clinicopathological parameters. Our results indicate that monitoring IL-8 has a role in modulating disease sensing in T-ALL and may represent a target for innovative diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Lithospheric structure of the Texas‐Gulf of Mexico passive margin from surface wave dispersion and migrated Ps receiver functions

The seismic velocity structure beneath Texas Gulf Coastal Plain (GCP) is imaged by migrating Ps receiver functions with a seismic velocity model found by fitting surface wave dispersion. We use seismic data from a linear array of 22 broadband stations, spaced 16–20 km apart. A Common Conversion Point (CCP) stacking technique is applied to earthquake data to improve the S/N ratios of receiver functions. Using an incorrect velocity model for depth migration of a stacked CCP image may produce an inaccurate image of the subsurface. To find sufficiently accurate P and S‐velocity models, we first apply a nonlinear modeling technique to fit Rayleigh wave group velocity dispersion via Very Fast Simulated Annealing. Vs ranges from 1.5 km/s in shallow layers of the GCP to 4.5 km/s beneath the Llano uplift and just outboard of the Balcones Fault Zone (BFZ). The BFZ is characterized by slow velocities that persist to nearly 100 km depth. In the stacked image, the largest amplitude positive‐polarity event ranges from the surface, at the Llano uplift, to a maximum depth of ∼16 km beneath Matagorda Island. We attribute this event to the sediment‐basement contact, which is expected to produce a large impedance contrast. Another large‐amplitude and positive‐polarity event at ∼35 km depth, which likely marks the Moho, disappears outboard of the Luling Fault Zone. The disappearance of the Moho beneath the GCP may be due to serpentinization of the upper mantle, which would reduce the impedance contrast between the lower crust and upper mantle dramatically.
Pharkidonotus megalius, a large new gastropod species from the Middle Pennsylvanian of south-central New Mexico

Pharkidonotus megalius n. sp. is described from the Desmoinesian of the Mud Springs Mountains, New Mexico. This unusually large bellerophontid reaches a length of at least 90 mm and is also characterized by a prominent high median ridge bearing a narrow selenizone and subdued collabral ornamentation on the whorl surface at all stages of growth. Its size and subdued ornamentation are quite different from that of the two previously known North American Pennsylvanian species of Pharkidonotus. Although steinkerns of comparable size have been reported from several localities in North America, the specimens discussed here are the first relatively well preserved shells of very large Pennsylvanian bellerophontids to be described.
The Cognitive Basis of Science: The cognitive basis of model-based reasoning in science

The issue of the nature of the processes or ‘mechanisms’ that underlie scientific cognition is a fundamental problem for cognitive science, as is how these facilitate and constrain scientific practices for science studies. A full theory of human cognition requires understanding the nature of what is one of its most explicitly constructed, abstract and creative forms of knowing. A rich and nuanced understanding of scientific knowledge and practice must take into account how human cognitive abilities and limitations afford and constrain the practices and products of the scientific enterprise. Here I want to focus on the issue of the cognitive basis of certain model-based reasoning practices – namely, those employed in creative reasoning leading to representational change across the sciences. Investigating this issue provides insights into a central problem of creativity in science: how are genuinely novel scientific representations created, given that their construction must begin with existing representations? I will start by considering methodological issues in studying scientific cognition; then address briefly the nature of specific model-based reasoning practices employed in science; and finally provide outlines of an account of their cognitive basis, and of how they are generative of representational change. How to study scientific cognition? The project of understanding scientific cognition is inherently inter-disciplinary and collaborative. It requires a detailed knowledge of the nature of the actual cognitive practices employed by scientists; knowledge of a wide extent of existing cognitive science research pertinent to explaining those practices, such as on problem-solving, conceptual change and imagery; and employment of the customary range of cognitive science methods used in investigations of specific aspects of scientific cognition.
Mapping the MIT Campus in Real Time Using WiFi

This chapter presents the iSPOTS project, which collects and maps data of WiFi usage on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Boston. Instead of simply mapping the locations of WiFi availability, the project is possibly the first to use and analyze log files from the Institute’s Internet service provider and to produce spatial visualizations of the observed activity in real time. The aim is to create a better understanding of the daily working and living patterns of the MIT academic community, which changes due to the emergence of WiFi itself. The MIT wireless IEEE 802.11 network, consisting of 3,000 access points (one of the largest of its kind) offers a privileged environment for this research and, in perspective, can provide a test bed for entire cities.
Analyzing input and structural uncertainty of nonlinear dynamic models with stochastic, time‐dependent parameters

A recently developed technique for identifying continuous‐time, time‐dependent, stochastic model parameters is embedded in a general framework for identifying causes of bias and reducing bias in dynamic models. In contrast to the usual approach of considering bias in model output with an autoregressive error model or a stochastic process, we make the attempt to correct for bias within the model or even in model input. This increases the potential of learning about the causes of bias and of subsequently correcting deficits of the deterministic model structure. The time‐dependent parameters as formulated in our approach can also consistently be used for adding stochasticity to the model without losing precise fulfilment of conservation laws used for deriving the model equations. An additional advantage of the suggested procedure is that it makes it possible to derive more realistic uncertainty bounds of internal model variables than is the case when bias is only considered for measured model output. This is important for mechanistic models in which internal variables have a direct physical meaning. The concept is illustrated by an application to a simple eight‐parameter conceptual hydrological model. This application demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed approach and gives an impression of its potential for application to a large class of nonlinear, dynamic models.
Partners in grime : results of multi-disciplinary archaeology at Sibudu Cave

Multidisciplinary archaeological research at Sibudu Cave has enhanced understanding of behaviour at the site and of local environmental conditions from before ~60 ka to ~37 ka. The Middle Stone Age (MSA) sequence includes pre-Still Bay, Still Bay, Howiesons Poort and more recent MSA lithic assemblages, all of which include either worked bone or worked shell. The marine shell in the cave appears to have been used as a raw material and not as a source of food. Cyperaceae seeds imply the use of sedges for bedding, perhaps in the form of mats. Discrete hearths and ash-patches are present in all occupations, while palimpsests of hearths are characteristic of the ~50 ka occupations. The people who lived at Sibudu were skilled encounter-hunters who were able to kill a wide range of bovids of all sizes. Their prey included zebra and dangerous species such as buffalo and bushpig. For much of the time that the cave was occupied, its inhabitants seem to have used unifacially or bifacially retouched lithic points as parts of weapons for hunting, but, at times, some points may have been used as butchery implements. Use-trace analysis supports both interpretations. Points were absent during the Howiesons Poort Industry when small prey, from moist, evergreen forests, was the focus of the hunters. The environmental setting for cultural activities changed through time. Combined evidence from magnetic susceptibility, phytoliths, charcoal, pollen, seeds, mineralogy, macromammals and micromammals suggests that cold Oxygen Isotope Stage 4 (OIS 4) and warmer OIS 3 conditions were experienced by the site's occupants. The changing temperatures, moisture availability and distance from the coast during OIS 4 and OIS 3 influenced vegetation, sediments and animal populations. Proportions of evergreen and deciduous taxa fluctuated, with an increase of deciduous taxa possibly coinciding with warmer temperatures and increased evapotranspiration at ~50 ka. Broadly speaking, most of the sequence from ~60 ka onwards seems to have been associated with more open grassland and more large grazers than is presently the case in the area. To cite this article: Wadley, L. 2006. Partners in grime: results of multi-disciplinary archaeology at Sibudu Cave. Southern African Humanities 18 (1): 315-41.
Ion‐recombination nucleation and growth of ice particles in noctilucent clouds

Formation of ice particles in the polar summer mesosphere is simulated with the proton hydrate, H+(H2O)n, as the origin. In an ion-recombination nucleation scheme, electrons in the mesosphere play a role in removing heavy proton hydrates from the ionic system to the background neutral system, making an ionic system a steady source of neutral embryonic nuclei for condensation. Referring to the laboratory data of n ≤ 6, a model of reaction coefficients up to the hydration order of n = 1000 is constructed with the help of both the nucleation theory and the unimolecular reaction theory. For a model nucleation layer 600 m in thickness with a minimum temperature of 125 K, produced fluxes of embryonic nuclei are calculated as a strong function of [H2O], 10³ cm−2 s−1 at [H2O] = 2.16 parts per million by volume, for example. In the time dependent simulations, stable limit cycle oscillations of the cloud formation are found with periods of 3 to 4 days depending of the magnitude of diffusion. A cloud becomes bright after an active nucleation with a delay of ∼ 1.3 days which is a sedimentation time of embryonic nuclei. Deposition of water vapors in ice particles switches off the nucleation, and evaporation of particles at the bottom of a cloud recovers the nucleation activity with a lag of diffusion-advection time. Out of phase oscillations are predicted between the cloud brightness and the polar mesospheric summertime echo from the region of heavy proton hydrates, which will be a crucial evidence for the in situ origin of the clouds.
Crystal structure refinement of Mg- and Zn-rich sonolite from Franklin and Sterling Hill, New Jersey

IN a study on manganese humites and leucophoenicites from Franklin and Sterling Hill, New Jersey, Dunn (1985) noted that numerous sonolite chemical analyses showed three clusters, apparently due to limitations in the Mg and Zn contents. The first chemical cluster is almost end-member sonolite, Mn9(SiO4)4(OH)2, with some substitution of Zn (c. 3 wt.% ZnO): the second chemical cluster has approximately the same amount of ZnO and a significant amount of Mg (c. 7 wt.% MgO): the third chemical cluster has major amounts of both Mg and Zn (c. 16 wt.% MgO andc. 10 wt.% ZnO). In order to determine the crystal-chemical role of Mg and Zn in sonolite, samples of the second and third clusters were chosen for crystal-structure analyses. Chemical analyses of the crystals used in the structure analysis, ignoring minor amounts of CaO, yield the following empirical formulae calculated on the basis of Si -4 for Z = 2: (Mn7.04MgLs3Zn0.44Fe0.0s)x9.36[SiO414(OH1.56F0.46 ) for sample NMNH#143755 from Sterling Hill and (MnamMg3.39Znl.15Fe0.15)xg.40[SiO414(OH1.20F0.T8 ) for sample NMNH#12965 from Franklin or Sterling Hill. I t was not necessary to refine the sonolite structure for a sample from the first chemical cluster as it would repl icate the s tructure determination of Kato et al. (1989). Details of the intensity data collection are given in Table 1. Intensity measurements on each spherical crystal were made on a fully automated, Nicolet R3rn four-circle diffractometer operated at 50 kV and 35 mA with grapkitemonochromated Mo-K~ radiation. A set of 25 reflections was used to orient each crystal and refine the cell parameters (Table 1). Unique sets of intensity data up to 20 = 60 ~ were collected. Reduction of the intensity data and refinement of the structure were done by the SHELXTL package of programs (Sheldrick, 1990). Data reduction included background, scaling, Lorentz and polarization and absorption corrections using 11 d/diffraction-vector scans after the method of North et al. (1968). Scattering curves for neutral atoms