Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assisted Colonization is No Panacea, but Let's Not Discount it Either

Ronald Sandler’s ‘Climate change and ecosystem management’ (2013) provides a fine summary of reasons to modify our approach to ecosystem management given ‘rapid and uncertain ecological change’. We agree with him that traditional ‘reserve oriented’ and ‘restoration’ approaches, including their focus on species preservation, require fundamental rethinking. In this brief response, however, we will focus on Sandler’s related comments about assisted colonization, and argue that there is more reason to be positive about it as a conservation strategy than he suggests. Assisted colonization has recently attracted a mixed reception from ecologists and philosophers (see, Hewitt et al., 2011; Minteer & Collins, 2010). Sandler argues that assisted colonization is unlikely to be successful because there is ‘ecological uncertainty’ about whether deliberately transplanted species will survive; at the other extreme, that they may become invasive; and in any case, that their movement would not preserve important values anyway. We will respond to all three points. First, Sandler claims that assisted colonization is unlikely to be successful in practice because we cannot ‘predict the climatic and ecological future of particular places with any confidence’. Of course, there is tremendous uncertainty associated with predicting future climates. However, Sandler’s view is excessively pessimistic because such predictions need not be completely accurate. Rather, we can experiment with trial introductions of a species across a range of latitudes and habitats, drawing on extensive prior knowledge as we do so. We can do this even for ‘less ecologically flexible’ species. It’s true that movements of some species would need to recur over time, as climate continues to change (though not in all cases, if assisted colonization allowed a species to cross a one-off natural or artificial barrier). Yet it also seems reasonable to think that our success and skill at carrying out assisted colonization would gradually improve over time. Second, Sandler cites concerns that such introduced species could become ‘invasive’. This is the most commonly stated risk of assisted colonization, though ‘risk exists on all sides of the . debate’ (Mueller & Hellman, 2008, p. 566). In practical terms, this judgment also seems pessimistic. We are able to make some predictions about potential invasiveness, notwithstanding the additional complications—rightly noted by Sandler—
Polar cap observations of mesospheric and lower thermospheric 4‐hour waves in temperature

Lower thermospheric and upper mesospheric rotational temperatures have been derived from ground‐based measurements of the O2(0–1) and OH(6–2) nightglow emissions over Resolute Bay, Canada (74.68°N, 94.90°W) and OH(4–2) nightglow emission over Kiruna, Sweden (67.90°N, 21.10°E). From measurements taken during two nights in November, 2001, we have observed a dominant and coherent 4‐hr oscillation in both the O2 and OH airglow emission rates and rotational temperatures. The phases for the two oscillation events remain almost constant at each location, indicating that these oscillations may not be caused by transient passage of instantaneous gravity waves. More importantly, there is little phase difference in universal time between the 4‐hr oscillations in temperature at Resolute and Kiruna. The small phase difference gives a strong indication that the oscillation maybe related to a zonally symmetric tide, since any tidal waves in temperature with a nonzero zonal wavenumber are very weak at high latitudes. Waves in both events have large vertical wavelengths (76 and 175 km). The 4‐hr wave shows almost no latitudinal variation from Resolute to Kiruna.
Study for external calibration method for cloud profiling radar on EarthCARE

EarthCARE mission has objectives to reveal aerosol and cloud interaction and to reveal relationships with radiation budget. For this purpose, the EarthCARE satellite has four instruments, which are Atmospheric LIDAR (ATLID), Multi Spectral Imager (MSI) and Broad Band Radiometer (BBR) in addition to Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR). CPR is developed under cooperation of Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan. The requirement of sensitivity is -35dBZ, therefore CPR uses W-band frequency and needs a large (2.5m) antenna reflector. The large antenna has small footprint and is to give up antenna scanning. From this, some difficulty of external calibration using active radar calibrator (ARC) is recognized. One solution of external calibration is using scattering from natural distributed target, such as sea surface. Then the measurement of sea surface scattering using airborne cloud radar was performed. The sea surface scattering property is being prepared. Second solution is that ARC puts on exact location of sub-satellite track. Precise sub-satellite track prediction is necessary. We focus second solution in this paper. The test experiment was demonstrated using CloudSat of NASA/JPL, which is provided CPR using W-band frequency. The feasibility of this calibration method is discussed.
Sustainability disclosure in the European regulatory framework and financial analysts’ accuracy

Over the last few years, evidence has emerged of a positive interaction between sustainability and financial performance. The usefulness of sustainability disclosure mechanisms is a matter of controversy, however, due to their diversity and lack of comparability. These reasons motivated the enforcement of directive 2014/95/UE on sustainability disclosure. European countries therefore adjusted their local legal frameworks to this new regulation, which would enhance sustainability disclosure mechanisms and integration among stakeholders. Financial analysts, as requesters of sustainability reports, should produce more accurate forecasts as a result of these improvements.The aim of this study is to analyse whether the adoption of the directive has contributed to more truthful reporting to financial analysts in terms of risks and performance. The results show that EPS forecast accuracy has increased due to higher levels both of disclosure and reporting quality.
Health professionals’ identified barriers to trans health care: a qualitative interview study

Background Trans and gender-diverse people face multiple barriers within health care. Primary care practitioners are key to providing health care to trans and gender-diverse people but they often lack training in, and understanding of, trans identities and healthcare options. Few studies have examined health professionals’ understanding of the barriers that exist in health care for trans and gender-diverse people. Aim To map out barriers to providing good-quality health care to trans and gender-diverse people, and explore ways to address them. Design and setting A qualitative interview study involving 20 health professionals working with young trans and gender-diverse people. Method Participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. Data were generated using semi-structured qualitative interviews. A thematic analysis involved coding and categorising data using NVivo (version 12) software and further conceptual analysis in which developing themes were identified. Results Four barrier domains to good-quality care for trans and gender-diverse people were identified: structural (related to lack of guidelines, long waiting times, and shortage of specialist centres); educational (based on lack of training on trans health); cultural and social (reflecting negative attitudes towards trans people); and technical (related to information systems and technology). Conclusion There is an urgent need to address the barriers trans and gender-diverse people face in health care. Structural-level solutions include health policy, professional education, and standards; at the practice level, GPs can act as potential drivers of change in addressing the cultural and technical barriers to better meet the needs of their trans and gender-diverse patients.
Simulation of the impacts of flood retarding structures on streamflow for a watershed in southwestern Oklahoma under dry, average, and wet climatic conditions

ABSTRACT: Following the devastating floods of the 1940s, thousands of flood retarding structures were constructed in the Great Plains. The impacts of these structures on streamflow characteristics and their effectiveness in reducing floods under dry, average, and wet climatic conditions were investigated in this study. The setting for the study was a 160 km2 (61.9 mi2) experimental watershed in southwestern Oklahoma that contained 13 flood retarding structures, which controlled 65% of the drainage area. Thirty-three years of precipitation and eight years of streamflow data, in conjunction with computer simulations, were used to evaluate changes due to the flood retarding structures in annual, monthly, and daily streamflow characteristics at the outlet of the watershed. Simulation results indicate that installation of the flood retarding structures leads to a decrease in average annual streamflow of about 3%, which was attributed to an increase in average annual evaporation of this same amount due to the free water surface of the reservoirs created by the flood retarding structures. On a monthly time scale, the simulation results showed that under dry climatic conditions, the flood retarding structures caused a reduction in mean streamflow for all months of the year. On the other hand, during average and wet climatic conditions, changes in mean streamflow varied by month with May and October showing the greatest decreases, respectively. As expected, the greatest impact of the flood retaiding structures was on daily flow characteristics and maximum daily flows. Noticeable differences include the reduction of maximum daily discharges on the day of a storm event and the increase in streamflow from principal spillway releases in the days immediately following storm events. Annual maximum daily discharges were reduced by about 33%, with the reduction of the 5 and 10 year maximum daily flows being 23.8 to 14.6 cms (840 to 515 cfs) (39%) and from 36.0 to 20.6 cms (1,270 to 727 cfs) (43%), respectively. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the flood retarding structures in reducing annual peak runoff events, thereby reducing flooding and related property damage. However, the flood retarding structures also reduce low streamflow values by trapping baseflow runoff from drainage areas above the impoundment structures. From a water quality and stream habitat preservation point of view, maintenance of a minimum baseflow can be critical.
Vadose CO2 gas drives dissolution at water tables in eogenetic karst aquifers more than mixing dissolution

Most models of cave formation in limestone that remains near its depositional environment and has not been deeply buried (i.e. eogenetic limestone) invoke dissolution from mixing of waters that have different ionic strengths or have equilibrated with calcite at different pCO2 values. In eogenetic karst aquifers lacking saline water, mixing of vadose and phreatic waters is thought to form caves. We show here calcite dissolution in a cave in eogenetic limestone occurred due to increases in vadose CO2 gas concentrations and subsequent dissolution of CO2 into groundwater, not by mixing dissolution. We collected high‐resolution time series measurements (1 year) of specific conductivity (SpC), temperature, meteorological data, and synoptic water chemical composition from a water table cave in central Florida (Briar Cave). We found SpC, pCO2 and calcite undersaturation increased through late summer, when Briar Cave experienced little ventilation by outside air, and decreased through winter, when increased ventilation lowered cave CO2(g) concentrations. We hypothesize dissolution occurred when water flowed from aquifer regions with low pCO2 into the cave, which had elevated pCO2. Elevated pCO2 would be promoted by fractures connecting the soil to the water table. Simple geochemical models demonstrate that changes in pCO2 of less than 1% along flow paths are an order of magnitude more efficient at dissolving limestone than mixing of vadose and phreatic water. We conclude that spatially or temporally variable vadose CO2(g) concentrations are responsible for cave formation because mixing is too slow to generate observed cave sizes in the time available for formation. While this study emphasized dissolution, gas exchange between the atmosphere and karst aquifer vadose zones that is facilitated by conduits likely exerts important controls on other geochemical processes in limestone critical zones by transporting oxygen deep into vadose zones, creating redox boundaries that would not exist in the absence of caves. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An international comparison of incentives for earnings management in order to meet analysts forecasts

Previous investigations have shown that when earnings meet analysts forecasts, the market reacts positively, and when these forecasts are not reached, the market reacts negatively. For this reason, forecasts become goals to beat, and as the literature has revealed, this creates an incentive for earnings management. The present paper extends prior research, providing evidence that the magnitude of the reward (penalty) for companies meeting (failing to meet) earnings forecasts differs depending on the market. In addition, it reveals that the strength of the incentive for companies to manage their earnings differs depending on the market in which they are listed. We compare six stock markets and ﬁnd that the most powerful incentives arise when the reward for meeting the forecasts or the penalty for not doing so is greater.
Consumption of Antarctic krill by Minke whales

The consumption of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) by an “average-sized” (male 6994 kg; female 8249 kg), sexually mature Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) was estimated, from stomach capacity, ingestion rate and respiratory allometry methods. Estimates obtained from the stomach capacity and respiratory allometry methods differed by 17%–23%. An “average-sized” male Minke whale consumes 37.2 t of krill during a 90-day stay, and an “average-sized” female Minke whale consumes 56.2 t of krill during a 120-day stay, in Antarctic waters during the austral summer. It is estimated that the Minke whale population in the Antarctic (60°S and higher) consumes 35.5 × 106 t of krill annually.
Apatite recrystallisation during prograde metamorphism, Cooma, southeast Australia: implications for using an apatite – graphite association as a biotracer in ancient metasedimentary rocks

Early Silurian low-pressure (<500 MPa) greenschist to granulite facies metamorphism in Ordovician sedimentary rocks of the Cooma Complex culminating in the production of the Cooma Granodiorite, Lachlan Fold Belt (southeast Australia) provides an opportunity to determine the physical and chemical response of apatite (Ca phosphate) to prograde metamorphism. Electron probe elemental mapping (P, Ca, Ce, Si) of metapelite polished sections shows that apatite grains become less abundant but larger with increasing metamorphic grade (<20 μm at chlorite grade to >200 μm in enclaves in migmatites). Many apatite grains are composite, with clear overgrowths and cloudy cores, which in rare cases contain microscopic inclusions interpreted to delineate microfolds. Therefore, during progressive metamorphism there was dissolution and regrowth of apatite. Recrystallisation and growth of apatite crystals with increasing metamorphic grade was accompanied by the progressive dissolution then regrowth of monazite (Ce – Th phosphate), as previously reported from the Cooma metasedimentary sequence. The Cooma apatites mostly have similar REE patterns at all grades. But upgrade, there is a confluence in REE abundances of apatite grains, indicating an increasing volume of chemical equilibration. Infrared absorbance spectrometry indicates that carbon is present as carbonate substituting for phosphate and hydroxyl ions in the lattice of apatites at all metamorphic grades. Carbonaceous material (graphite? ) is only a rare inclusion phase found in the younger clear apatite in the higher-grade rocks. The Cooma apatite study shows that, contrary to previous assertions for earliest (>3700 Ma, amphibolite – granulite facies) metasediments from Greenland, apatite is unlikely to be a stable ‘capsule’ which will reliably protect any biogenic carbon (graphite at high metamorphic grade) from reactions and isotopic exchange during prograde metamorphism.
C ARBON AI, A N ON -D OCKING D EEP LEARNING BASED SMALL MOLECULE VIRTUAL SCREENING PLATFORM

CarbonAI non-docking method (CarbonAI-ND). The inference speed of CarbonAI-ND is about 36000 molecule / core-hour, compared to typical docking methods’ speed of 20, which is about 16000 times faster than conventional docking method. Overall, the experiments indicate that CarbonAI is accurate and computationally efficient with good generalization to different molecular targets for virtual screening.
Model for intermediate‐term precursory clustering of earthquakes

A causal sequence of an earthquake swarm, extended quiescence, foreshocks, and main shock can be understood in terms of an aggregation model of crack growth and ultimate fusion on a multiplanar earthquake fault system. The rheological model is one of accelerated crack growth under conditions of slip weakening, coupled with a slow recovery of static friction after fracture. Once a slip feature has been generated that spans a large part of the available geometry, a stress shadow is cast on other, neighboring cracks that strongly retards and inhibits crack growth, thus initiating the quiescent phase abruptly. The success of the model depends on the assumption that nonlinear rheology regulates the rate of slip and that earthquake faults are not simply connected surfaces but instead have many strands.
MultiObjective Optimization and Constraint Programming

Fast increasing computing power in the sixties led to a wealth of works around problem solving, at the root of Operational Research, Numerical Analysis, Symbolic Computing, Scientific Computing, and a large part of Artificial Intelligence and programming languages. Constraint Programming is a discipline that gathers, interbreeds, and unifies ideas shared by all these domains to tackle decision support problems. This technology has reached in fifteen years a central role in modelling and automatically solving various, both academic and industrial, problems. For example, constraint programming has been successful in production planning, airport traffic control, frequency allocation, hardware validation, molecular biology, robotics, and conception.
DART: a 3D model for simulating satellite images and studying surface radiation budget

DART (Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer) is a radiative transfer model that simulates remotely acquired images. It was originally developed to work in the short wavelengths (0.3–3 µm) within 3D natural scenes that are represented as matrices of rectangular cells containing trees, shrubs, grass, soil, etc. DART was recently modified to extend its domain of application and to improve its accuracy. This paper summarizes the major features of DART and presents the changes that were implemented for improving its accuracy. Presently, this model works with natural and urban landscapes, on the whole optical domain (thermal infrared included) and with a multispectral approach that uses optical data bases from 0.3 µm up to 15 µm. It simulates radiative transfer in the whole ‘atmosphere–Earth’ system and it accounts for the instrumental transfer function. Three major changes allowed us to improve DART accuracy by a factor of three: more accurate simulation of single and multiple scattering, use of a scheme that oversamples DART cells and a better account of the direction of radiation that gives rise to multiple scattered radiation.
Tomato pest classification using deep convolutional neural network with transfer learning, fine tuning and scratch learning

Pests are major threat to economic growth of a country. Application of pesticide is the easiest way to control the pest infection. However, excessive utilization of pesticide is hazardous to environment. The recent advances in deep learning have paved the way for early detection and improved classification of pest in tomato plants which will benefit the farmers. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of 11 state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural network (CNN) models with three configurations: transfers learning, fine-tuning and scratch learning. The training in transfer learning and fine tuning initiates from pre-trained weights whereas random weights are used in case of scratch learning. In addition, the concept of data augmentation has been explored to improve the performance. Our dataset consists of 859 tomato pest images from 10 categories. The results demonstrate that the highest classification accuracy of 94.87% has been achieved in the transfer learning approach by DenseNet201 model with data augmentation.
Multiplexed assays reveal effects of missense variants in MSH2 and cancer predisposition

DNA sequencing plays an increasingly central role in clinical research and diagnostics. Genome-wide association studies have established many links between genes and disease but do not reveal the effect of most of the many possible variants within each disease-related gene. in sequencing of genomes of missense variants that change protein sequences, we only understand the phenotypic and clinical consequences of a minute fraction of these. This lack of knowledge has direct consequences for clinical action. Even if a variant is discovered in a known disease-related gene, most variants have the status of “unknown significance” (VUS) simply because they have not been encountered before in the population or been studied in the laboratory.
'"N Tracer studies of the primary nitrite maximum'

18 N tracers were used in sub•tropical and Antarctic waters to study the production of nitrite from nitrate and ammonia, and the uptake of nitrate and ammonia. It was found that ammonia was the predominant source of nitrite in the primary nitrite maximum in sub. tropical waters and in the Ross Sea in summer, while nitrate and ammonia were both important in the Scotia Sea in early spring. Mean turnover times for nitrite ranged from 13 days off Southern California to 50 days in the Scotia Sea. Light bad a stimulating effect on phytoplankton nitrite production from nitrate and an inhibitory effect on ammonia oxidation and nitrite oxidation by nitrifying bacteria. Nitrate reduction by phytoplankton may be important as a source of nitrite in situations where nitrate is present in near-surface waters; in most situations, however, nitrite uptake by phytoplankton outweighs its production by this source. A half-saturation constant value of 0.07 µ,M was determined for a natural population of nitrite oxidizers, and the results of several experiments indicate that the K. for natural populations of ammonia oxidizers is similarly low or lower. The data suggest that variations in rates of nitrification with depth largely account for the observed nitrite profiles.
M´ethodes statistiques et algorithmes g´en´etiques pour la s´election de connaissances pr´ealables. Statistical methods and genetic algorithms for prior knowledge selection.

Information perceived by a robot evolving in a real environment is abundant and uncertain. Therefore, it is difﬁcult to deal with all this information and to extract information necessary for realizing a given task. This article presents different feature selection methods allowing, in a robotic framework, to ﬁnd existing correlations between the task the robot has to perform and the information given by his sensors. We show that our me-thods enhance the computing time and the recognition rate computed by the robot. The study of selected sensors allows us to validate the relevance of our approach concerning the investigation for new sensoy-motor modalities.