Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of sub‐grid‐scale variability of soil moisture and precipitation intensity on surface runoff and streamflow

Land surface scheme simulations, which differ only in their parameterization of surface runoff, are performed for the Amazon and Mississippi River basins at ∼1.88°×1.90° resolution. In the first simulation, soil moisture and precipitation intensity are assumed to be uniformly distributed. In the second simulation, precipitation intensity is assumed to be exponentially distributed, and soil moisture subgrid variability is expressed in terms of the variable water-holding capacity of the grid cell. The effect of subgrid variability of precipitation intensity and soil moisture is taken into account to model surface runoff more realistically. National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data with its precipitation estimates adjusted to long-term values are used to drive the land surface scheme, and flow routing is performed to obtain streamflow at three locations in each river basin. Comparisons with observations indicate that the inclusion of subgrid variability results in slightly improved streamflow simulations in terms of reduced root-mean-square errors and better correlation coefficients. Sub-grid-scale variability also results in significant changes in the magnitude, time, and frequency of surface runoff generation, partitioning of total runoff into surface runoff and drainage and slightly drier soil moisture conditions.
Tourism Development in a New Democracy: Residents' Perceptions of Community-based Tourism in Mawlamyine, Myanmar

﻿The concept of community-based tourism (CBT) is not new, and definitions of CBT have proliferated in the years since Murphy (1985) expounded on the community involvement approach in tourism development. This study examined residents’ perceptions of CBT in Mawlamyine as a conduit for sustainable tourism amidst a climate of rapid economic and social change. Using a grounded theory approach, analysis of data collected from 14 semi-structured interviews with local residents and foreign tourists revealed that Mawlamyine’s tourism potential lies in its untouched natural resources and cultural heritage, yet is hindered by a lack of essential infrastructure and services. The city’s proximity to Mount Kyaitko, a popular tourist site, and Yangon, a major transit hub, has the potential to create strong market access to CBT projects. However, local residents cite the obscure governmental policies for obtaining permission to begin a CBT project as a major barrier.
Prevalence of hormonal contraceptive use and reported side effects of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraceptive use in powerlifters and rugby players

OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of hormonal contraceptive (HC) use and the associated symptomology of use or non-use are under-studied in athletic populations, and in particular, in strength and collision sports. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of hormonal contraceptive use and reported side effects of the menstrual cycle and hormonal contraceptive use in powerlifters and rugby players. METHODS:
Numerical analysis of the source-sink alternation of composite global warming potential of the paddy ecosystem in the Yangtze Delta

By coupling the biogeochemical model with plant ecological model, a model was established to reveal the principle of the composite global warming potential transformation in the paddy ecosystem. Validation of the model with the observed data indicated that the model can simulate both the crop growth processes and emissions of CH4 and N2O accurately. Some numerical analyses were made to identify the impacts of different fertilizer application on assimilation of CO2 and emissions of CH4 and N2O, and the transformation principle of the composite global warming potential. Based on the results of the numerical analysis, the source-sink alternation of composite global warming potential in the paddy ecosystem was discovered, and some new conceptions of fertilizer index such as maximum-sink fertilizer, zero-emission fertilizer are put forward in this paper. The fertilizer scheme for Yangtze Delta was proposed to provide the important scientific basis for a sustainable agriculture in this region.
Simulation of Large Earthquake Synchronization and Implications On North Anatolian Fault Zone

The North Anatolian Fault (NAF) has a history of large quasi-periodic large earthquake clusters. This study investigates the phenomenon with a model consisting of three strong velocity-weakening (VW) asperities separated by velocity-strengthening VS barriers in a 2.5D model governed by rate-and-state friction. The results show that the after-slips at the VS barrier control the stress interaction and synchronization; hence, the barrier strength and size are the most important parameters. The static stress transfer can lead to immature ruptures that arrest within the VW asperity, adding complexity to failure times. The asperity size appears insignificant, challenging previous theories linking barrier efficiency to the asperity-barrier size ratios. Such discrepancy suggests that slip type, e.g., slip-pulse or crack-growth, influences the long-term failure time distribution. Even though the state evolution (aging and slip laws) for frictional strength within the RSF framework differ significantly in co-seismic ruptures, they resemble each other for after-slip propagation, highlighting the importance of after-slip propagation and adding robustness to our conclusions. The results from various simulation scenarios suggest that the after-slip extents and duration with the peak slip rates and rupture speeds are the indicators for the synchronization and the predictability of large earthquakes. Despite the simplicity of the governed model, the results can mimic the synchrony of large earthquakes along the NAF, which are disrupted by aseismic creep and complex fault geometries such as releasing bend (e.g., Cinarcik segment), step-overs (e.g., Niksar) and slip partitioning (Duzce-Bolu segments) acting as barriers.
Utilisation and integration of interdisciplinary computer models into a tool for analysing ozone production from transportation sources

High ozone levels detected over large inland areas in Israel triggered an analysis of air mass back-trajectory, which pointed to the coastal Tel-Aviv metropolitan transportation system as the origin of the ozone's precursors. In order to link the transportation emissions to ozone formation interdisciplinary modelling systems were utilized and integrated. The transportation-to-ozone formation simulation interfaced transportation, emission factor, atmospheric and transport/diffusion models. The modelling results elucidated the spatial and temporal overlap between the ozone precursors and ozone production. The model simulations indicated an eastward transport accompanied with a 3-D expansion of the pollution cloud. The results agreed well with observed spatial and temporal ozone levels.
Shell survival and time‐averaging in nearshore and shelf environments: estimates from the radiocarbon literature

Radiocarbon dates provide a means for estimating the time a shell may persist in active sedimentary environments and the actual temporal extent of time-averaging in marine deposits. Information compiled from the published literature on the radiocarbon age of marine shells gave information on a total of 734 radiocarbon dates from 276 localities from nearshore ( 10 m depth) habitats. The median age of 128 nearshore shells is 2,465 years; that of 158 shells from the shelf is 8,870 years. The distribution of shell ages in both nearshore and shelf environments is strongly skewed: most dates are in the 0–3,000 range, and the number of shells in older age-classes falls off rapidly. The maximum age of a shell in an active sedimentary environment is a measure of time-averaging, because it estimates the amount of time represented in the deposit. The median duration of time-averaging in 63 nearshore deposits is 1,250 years; the median duration of time-averaging in 129 shelf deposits is 9,190 years. Radiocarbon-dated shells from fossil deposits confirm our estimate of time-averaging in nearshore environments: the median difference between maximum and minimum ages in 49 inactive beach ridges is 1,390 years; the median difference in other, predominantly nearshore deposits, is 830 years. Greater shell survival and longer durations of time-averaging in shelf settings may result from lower rates of sedimentation, lower rates of taphonomic destruction, greater rates of bioturbation, the history of post-glacial sea level, sample bias, or some combination of these factors. Our results may estimate the actual magnitude of time-averaging of shelly deposits forming under conditions of low net sediment accumulation. Such extensive time-averaging may confound attempts at detailed paleoecological and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. □Time-averaging, benthic assemblages, taphonomy, radiocarbon, paleoecology.
Immunogenicity With Ranibizumab Biosimilar SB11 (Byooviz) and Reference Product Lucentis and Association With Efficacy, Safety, and Pharmacokinetics A Post Hoc Analysis of a Phase 3 Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE SB11 and reference ranibizumab (RBZ) are monoclonal anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)–A antibodies approved for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and other retinal diseases. The association of ranibizumab immunogenicity and treatment outcomes in patients with nAMD is unclear but relevant regarding concerns about immunogenicity of anti-VEGF biological products. OBJECTIVE To examine the association of immunogenicity to ranibizumab products (SB11 and RBZ) with efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This was a post hoc analysis of a randomized, double-masked, parallel-group phase 3 equivalence study with participants from 75 centers in 9 countries conducted from March
Leadership in Health Care

PART ONE: THE INDIVIDUAL The Nature of Leadership What Makes a Leader? Diversity, Values and Professional Care Theories of Leadership PART TWO: THE TEAM Team Life Interdisciplinary and Interprofessional Working Communication and Leadership Problem-Solving Managing Conflict Emotional Intelligence PART THREE: THE ORGANIZATION Theory of Organizational Life Quality Leadership for Change Conclusions
Airborne measurements of the spatial and spectral distributions of aerosol particles over Hebei area, northern China

Airborne measurements of the concentration and size distribution of aerosol particles over Hebei area, northern China, are analyzed. The preliminary results show that, depending on the meteorological situations, the maximum mean number concentration of aerosol particles ranges from 5000 to 105 cm-3 near the ground and decreases exponentially to 1500- 3500 cm-3 above the boundary layer. It is also found that particle size distributions are the broadest close to the surface and become narrower with increasing height. The particle size distributions can be fitted with three or four lognormal distribution functions. Besides the emission rate and the distance from the source region, the results indicate that aerosol particle size is to a large extent dependent on the ambient atmospheric conditions such as humidity, and the presence of temperature inversion layers and cloud layers. Higher humidity and the presence of cloud layers may enhance particle growth and lead to larger particle size due to condensation and gas to particle conversion.m
Thermal parameters of the oceanic lithosphere estimated from geoid height data

Geoid height anomalies derived from SEASAT altimeter data have been analyzed across fracture zones and over ocean ridges in two limited regions of the South Pacific (Eltanin fracture zone system; East Pacific Rise) and southeast Indian Ocean. Observed geoid height-age and geoid height derivative (with respect to age)-age relationships have been established. Comparison with theoretical relationships computed for the plate model of lithospheric cooling permits an estimation of the thermal parameters entering into the model. Two quantities can be derived: the product ακTm (α, thermal diffusivity; κ, volume coefficient of thermal expansion; Tm, bottom boundary temperature) and the thickness H of the plate. The best fitting values for the South Pacific and the southeast Indian Ocean are ακTm = 0.52×10−3 cm2 s−1 and H in the range 50–70 km for ages less than 30 m.y. , whereas for larger ages (≥30 m.y.), geoid observations are better explained by a larger H value, in the range 70–90 km. The depth-age relationship observed in the South Pacific region is consistent with these parameters. On the other hand, data for the northeast Pacific argue rather for a lithospheric thickness larger than 100 km. This suggests that local and regional variations exist in the thermal properties of the oceanic lithosphere.
Comparison of Rainfall-Runoff Characteristics in Forested Catchments Underlain by Granitic and Sedimentary Rock with Various Forest Age

This study examines rainfall-runoff characteristics of catchments underlain by granitic and sedimentary rock. Differences in bedrock geology and forest age for sedimentary rock catchments were considered. In granite catchment, the quick flow ratio was small and baseflow was sufficient even during dry conditions because of large water storage within the soil and the relatively homogeneous weathered bedrock. In sedimentary rock catchments, water that infiltrated to the soil and fractured bedrock drained quickly, causing large quick flow over short, rainstorm timescales. The peak flow was lower in sedimentary rock catchments with older forest where the soils were more developed over longer periods of forest growth. The differences among sedimentary rock catchments by forest age were smaller than the differences between granitic and sedimentary rock catchments. Bedrock geology is of primary importance for categorizing and identifying universal rainfall-runoff characteristics.
Directional Statistics, Bayesian Methods of Earthquake Focal Mechanism Estimation, and Their Application to New Zealand Seismicity Data

A focal mechanism is a geometrical representation of fault slip during an earthquake. Reliable earthquake focal mechanism solutions are used to assess the tectonic characteristics of a region, and are required as inputs to the problem of estimating tectonic stress. We develop a new probabilistic (Bayesian) method for estimating the distribution of focal mechanism parameters based on seismic wave polarity data. Our approach has the advantage of enabling us to incorporate observational errors, particularly those arising from imperfectly known earthquake locations, allowing exploration of the entire parameter space, and leads to natural point estimates of focal mechanism parameters. We investigate the use of generalised Matrix Fisher distributions for parameterising focal mechanism uncertainties by minimising the Kullback-Leibler divergence. We present here the results of our method in two situations. We first consider the case in which the seismic velocity of the region of interest (described by a velocity model) is presumed to be precisely known, with application to seismic data from the Raukumara Peninsula, New Zealand. We then consider the case in which the velocity model is imperfectly known, with application to data from the Kawerau region, New Zealand. We find that our estimated focal mechanism solutions for the most part are consistent with all available polarity data, and correspond closely to solutions obtained using established methods. Further, the generalised Matrix Fisher distributions we examine provide a good fit to our Bayesian posterior PDF of the focal mechanism parameters, enabling the posterior PDF to be succinctly summarised by reporting the estimated parameters of the fitted distribution.
Algorithm of optical remote sensing image registration based on strong edge region

Aiming at the registration of optical remote sensing images, an algorithm based on strong edge region is proposed. First, the strong edge regions are extracted. Then combines with the regions' moment invariants and RANSAC method, it can obtain an accurate match of the strong edge regions. Utilizing the centroids of the matching regions as control points in the affine geometric distortion, an automatic registration is performed. A large number of experiments are fulfilled with SPOT and Quickbird satellite images and good results are obtained.
Assessing soil-quality indices for subtropical rice-based cropping systems in India

Rice-based cropping systems are the foundation of food security in countries of Southeast Asia, but productivity of such systems has declined with deterioration in soil quality. These systems are different from other arable systems because rice is grown under submergence, and this may require a different set of key soil attributes for maintenances of quality and productivity. A minimum dataset was screened for assessing quality of soils belonging to three Soil Orders (Inceptisols, Entisols and Alfisols) by using statistical and mathematical models and 27 physical, chemical and biological attributes. Surface soils were collected from farmers’ fields under long-term cultivation of rice–potato–sesame cropping systems. Most of the attributes varied significantly among the Soil Orders used. Four or five key attributes were screened for each Soil Order through principal component and discriminate analysis, and these explained nearly 80% and 90% of the total variation in each Soil Order dataset. The attributes were dehydrogenase activity (DHA), available K, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and pHCa for Inceptisols; organic C, pHCa, bulk density, nitrogen mineralisation (Nmin) and β-glucosidase for Entisols; and DHA, very labile C, Nmin and microbial biomass C for Alfisols. Representation of the screened attributes was validated against the equivalent rice yield of the studied system. Among the selected key soil attributes, DHA and CEC for Inceptisols, organic C for Entisols, and Nmin and very labile C for Alfisols were most strongly correlated with system yield (R2 = 0.45, 0.77 and 0.78). Results also showed that biological and chemical attributes were most sensitive for indicating the differences in soil quality and have a strong influence on system yield, whereas soil physical attributes largely varied but did not predict system yield.
La formación en los procesos de generación de capital humano

Nowadays, the organizations must meet the demands of the environment and therefore should be able to adapt to them. The manager must possess not only knowledge of economic and administrative nature, but must gather personal characteristics and demonstrate leadership skills and communicative in his tenure. For this reason, organizations need managers with adequate training. Such training can directly influence the results obtained by these institutions. In this article we review this concept and outlines areas of research related to this topic.
Simultaneous � Vibration Control of Fluid / Plate System via Reduced-Order Controller

We consider the problem of the active reduction of structural vibrations of a plane wing induced by the sloshing of large masses of fuel inside partly full tank. This study focuses on an experimental device composed of an aluminum rectangular plate equipped with piezoelectric patches at the clamped end and with a cylindrical tip-tank, more or less filled with liquid at the opposite free end. The control is performed through piezoelectric actuators and the main difficulty comes from the complex coupling between the flexible modes of the wing and the sloshing modes of the fuel. First, a partial derivative equation model and then a finite-dimensional approximation, calculated using the first five structural modes of the plate and the first two liquid sloshing modes, is established. Second, after a model matching procedure, a simultaneous control problem associated to the vibration attenuation problem for two different fillings of the tank is stated. Due to the large scale of the synthesis model and to the simultaneous performance requirements, a reduced-order controller is computed with HIFOO 2.0 package and is compared with individual designs for different filling levels. Experimental results are finally provided illustrating the relevance of the chosen strategy.
A Study on the role of Tribulus terrestris in cadmium-induced toxicity on some organs of adult male albino rats

Cadmium (Cd) is a dangerous environmental pollutant that causes toxicity to humans and animals even when exposed to a small amount as it is hard to expel from the body affecting all body parts. Tribulus terrestris (Tt) is a natural herb used for its medicinal effects around the world. This study directed to detect the possibility of Tt to protect from Cd toxicity in adult male albino rats. Twenty-four rats were separated into four groups, each 6 rats: The first group (C); served as a control without any treatments. Group (2) (Tt + Cd); administrated daily by oral dose of Tt (5 mg/ kg b. wt. liquified in distilled water) for eight weeks then from the start of the ninth week, they daily injected intraperitoneally with Cd (2 mg/kg b. wt.) for eight days. Group (3) (Cd); injected with Cd only at the same dose for eight days. Group (4) (Cd + Tt); firstly, injected with Cd at the same dose for eight days then on the ninth day they had the same Tt dose for eight weeks. In this study, results clarified that Cd application significantly decreased plasma SOD level and the time spent in the opened arms of the elevated plus maze test while increased plasma levels of H 2 O 2 , CRP, IL-6, immunoreaction of brain cleaved caspase-3 and the time spent in the closed arms of the elevated plus maze test compared to control. Administration of Tt succeeded to increase SOD level and the time spent in the opened arms of the elevated plus maze test; however, it reduced plasma levels of H 2 O 2 , CRP, IL-6, immunoreaction of brain cleaved caspase-3 and the time spent in the closed arms of the elevated plus maze test in comparison with Cd group. In conclusion, Tt is highly protective for the brain from harmful Cd effects, referring to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic properties.
Laboratory and simulation studies of solute transport in fracture networks

Physical and numerical fracture network models have been used to analyze the transport of conservative solutes in systems of parallel-sided fractures. The processes controlling dispersion in fracture systems that are explicitly simulated by the numerical model are (1) development of a velocity profile within individual fractures, (2) transverse molecular diffusion between streamlines, both within fractures and at fracture junctions, and (3) advection with the bulk fluid through a system of fractures with a range of hydraulic gradients and apertures. The first two processes, referred to as microdispersion, are often assumed to be secondary to the third, referred to as macrodispersion. The validity of this assumption is, however, highly dependent on the hydrodynamics of the system under consideration. Data collected from a physical model of a fracture network are used to validate a numerical model that explicitly simulates all three transport processes. The numerical model is then used to evaluate the relevance of microdispersion processes in a system where macrodispersion is significant.
Countering chosen-ciphertext attacks against noncommutative polly cracker-type cryptosystems

In [2], Stanislav Bulygin presents a chosen-ciphertext attack against certain instances of noncommutative polly cracker-type cryptosystems which were proposed in [7] and [9]. In this article, we present generalized versions of this attack, which can be used against virtually all polly cracker-type cryptosystems. We then present a simple but effective techique to counter these attacks. We also present a technique to counter an adaptive chosen-ciphertext attack which was first described by Neil Koblitz in [8].