Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antarctic sea-ice altimetry: scale and resolution effects on derived ice thickness distribution

Abstract Three ice type regimes at Ice Station Belgica (ISB), during the 2007 International Polar Year SIMBA (Sea Ice Mass Balance in Antarctica) expedition, were characterized and assessed for elevation, snow depth, ice freeboard and thickness. Analyses of the probability distribution functions showed great potential for satellite-based altimetry for estimating ice thickness. In question is the required altimeter sampling density for reasonably accurate estimation of snow surface elevation given inherent spatial averaging. This study assesses an effort to determine the number of laser altimeter ‘hits’ of the ISB floe, as a representative Antarctic floe of mixed first- and multi-year ice types, for the purpose of statistically recreating the in situ-determined ice-thickness and snow depth distribution based on the fractional coverage of each ice type. Estimates of the fractional coverage and spatial distribution of the ice types, referred to as ice ‘towns’, for the 5 km2 floe were assessed by in situ mapping and photo-visual documentation. Simulated ICESat altimeter tracks, with spot size ~70m and spacing ~170 m, sampled the floe’s towns, generating a buoyancy-derived ice thickness distribution. 115 altimeter hits were required to statistically recreate the regional thickness mean and distribution for a three-town assemblage of mixed first- and multi-year ice, and 85 hits for a two-town assemblage of first-year ice only: equivalent to 19.5 and 14.5 km respectively of continuous altimeter track over a floe region of similar structure. Results have significant implications toward model development of sea-ice sampling performance of the ICESat laser altimeter record as well as maximizing sampling characteristics of satellite/airborne laser and radar altimetry missions for sea-ice thickness.
El Chichón – influence on aerosol optical depth and direct, diffuse and total solar irradiances at Vancouver, B.C.

Abstract Solar radiation data for Vancouver, B.C. were used to determine the increase in aerosol optical depth and the changes in the total, direct, diffuse and net short‐wave radiation fluxes associated with the presence of aerosol that originated from the eruption of El Chichon (Mexico) in April 1982. The aerosol optical depth increased by 400% resulting in reductions of 33% in the direct and increases of 80% in the diffuse short‐wave radiation. These maximum changes were experienced some 9 months following the eruption. The relative insensitivity of the total short‐wave radiation (maximum reduction was 6%) suggests that the volcanic cloud was a strong forward scatterer rather than an absorber or back scatterer. Moreover, interannual variability in the surface albedo and a negative feedback associated with the dependence of the surface albedo on the directionality of the incident radiation resulted in no consistent change in the amount of short‐wave radiation absorbed by the Earth's surface.
Ethnobotanical Study of Effective Medicinal Plants as Laxative (Anti-constipation): A Case Study in Arasbaran Forests, Northwest Iran

Introduction: Constipation is recognized as a common gastrointestinal problem that many sick and healthy individuals suffer from. Laxative therapy is a reliable way to treat constipation. Several medicinal plants exert laxative potential. Hence, we decided to identify medicinal plants with laxative properties in Arasbaran Forests, East Azerbaijan Province, Northwest Iran. Methods: This ethnobotanical study was conducted in Arasbaran Forests, East Azerbaijan Province, and Northwest Iran from October 2022 to December 2022. Questionnaires were distributed among 20 traditional medicine doctors and finally, traditional information on the therapeutic effect of medicinal plants was collected through interviews. Demographic information from indigenous people who have traditional botanical knowledge was also collected. Eventually, the data were analyzed. Results: Our work revealed that thirteen medicinal herbs from 11 herbal families have potent laxative effects. The Berberidaceae, Equisetaceae, Caprifoliaceae, Celasteraceae, Asteraceae, Cucurbitaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Grossulariaceae, Polygonacea, Polypodiaceae, and Rosaceae families had laxative effects. Fruit, leaves, aerial parts, bark, root, and rhizome were the most effective parts, respectively. These medicinal plants were administrated in decoction and fresh form. Conclusion: The findings show the traditional laxative effects of medicinal plants against constipation in this region, which have traditional uses. Therefore, identifying the phytochemical constituents of these plants and understanding the mechanism of their laxative effect can be helpful.
The structure of some Middle Cambrian conodonts, and the early evolution of conodont structure and function

Elements presumed to belong to conodontophorids from the lower Middle Cambrian of Scania, Sweden, are investigated with emphasis on histology. The new genus Amphigeisina is described, with A. danica (V. Poulsen) as type species. The material also includes Hertzina? bisulcata Miiller and Proconodontus? sp. These forms, here termed proto-conodonts, appear to have grown by basal-internal accretion, unlike elements of the essentially post-Cambrian Conodontiformes, but partly similar to the Late Cambrian para-conodonts. A proposed model of the early evolution of conodonts involves the following points: (1) Conodonts were primarily external elements, secreted by an ectodermal epithelium. (2) An evolutionary trend during the Cambrian involved gradual retraction of the elements into pockets of the epithelium. (3) Elements of the Conodontiformes, herein termed euconodonts, were completely engulfed in epithelial pockets, which enabled them to grow holoperipherally and thus to assume more complex shapes that could be retained during growth. (4) The secreting epithelium adhered only to the basal body of the euconodont, the conodont proper being extruded from the pockets when the apparatus was in function.
Mineral remains of early life on earth? On mars?

Abstract The oldest sedimentary rocks on Earth, the 3.8‐Ga Isua Iron‐Formation in southwestern Greenland, are metamorphosed past the point where organic‐walled fossils would remain. Acid residues and thin sections of these rocks reveal ferric microstructures that have filamentous, hollow rod, and spherical shapes not characteristic of crystalline minerals. Instead, they resemble ferric‐coated remains of bacteria. Modern so‐called iron bacteria were therefore studied to enhance a search image for oxide minerals precipitated by early bacteria. Iron bacteria become coated with ferrihydrite, a metastable mineral that converts to hematite, which is stable under high temperatures. If these unusual morphotypes are mineral remains of microfossils, then life must have evolved somewhat earlier than 3.8 Ga, and may have involved the interaction of sediments and molecular oxygen in water, with iron as a catalyst. Timing is constrained by the early in fall of planetary materials that would have heated the planet's sur.
Enhancing pseudocapacitive intercalation in Ti3C2T x MXene with molecular crowding electrolytes

The growing demand for safe, cost-efficient, high-energy and high-power electrochemical energy storage devices has stimulated the development of aqueous-based supercapacitors with high capacitance, high rate capability, and high voltage. 2D titanium carbide MXene-based electrodes have shown excellent rate capability in various dilute aqueous electrolytes, yet their potential window is usually narrower than 1.2 V. In this study, we show that the potential window of Ti3C2T x MXene can be efficiently widened to 1.5 V in a cost-effective and environmentally benign polyethylene glycol (PEG) containing molecular crowding electrolyte. Additionally, a pair of redox peaks at −0.25 V/−0.05 V vs. Ag (cathodic/anodic) emerged in cyclic voltammetry after the addition of PEG, yielding an additional 25% capacitance. Interestingly, we observed the co-insertion of the molecular crowding agent PEG-400 during the Li+ intercalation process based on in-situ x-ray diffraction analysis. As a result, Ti3C2T x electrodes presented an interlayer space change of 4.7 Å during a complete charge/discharge cycle, which is the largest reversible interlayer space change reported so far for MXene-based electrodes. This work demonstrates the potential of adding molecular crowding agents to improve the performance of MXene electrodes in aqueous electrolytes and to enlarge the change of the interlayer spacing.
Method and technique of 3-D dynamic structural evolution modelling of fault basin

The important and difficult point in the 3-D basin structural evolution modelling is how to make the modelling conform to the real geological process. In this paper, the rectification of formation boundary deformation is implemented by 3-D flexural slip mechanism and shearing mechanism. In compaction correction, by taking account of the phase boundary and diagenetic effect on porosity, a formwork of the porosity-depth change characteristic is obtained by ‘plane divisional and longitudinal zoning’ method, and then the porosity data of grid cells in different geological times are calculated using compaction correction algorithm, and finally the decompaction correction calculation is finished based on volume-balance technique. Using this modelling method to simulate the structural evolution of Niuzhuang-Wangjiagang region in Dongying Sag, the 3-D dynamic evolution models of geologic body from the upper section of the 4th member of Shahejie formation to present are figured out and they are according with the .
Basin formation at the end of a strike-slip fault: the Cerdanya Basin (eastern Pyrenees)

The Cerdanya basin was formed during dextral slip along the NE–SW La Tet fault (eastern Pyrenees) which formed a horsetail structure at its SW end. The resulting basin is clearly asymmetrical, formed by several basement blocks tilted towards the La Tet fault and limited by E–W faults. These faults absorbed the movement along the major strike-slip fault. The early basin evolution (Middle–Late Miocene) resulted from strike-slip, while the later evolution (Early Pliocene) involved a generally extensional regime. A variety of depositional environments developed in the basin during its early evolution: spatially restricted and widespread alluvial fan, distributary fluvial, marginal and open lacustrine. The structural features of the basin that developed during this evolutionary stage differ from those described from most other basins related to strike-slip faulting. Despite this, the structural and sedimentary features of the Cerdanya basin fit the general model of strike-slip related basins.
Technique for rapid determination of relative ages of lunar areas from orbital photography

A technique for determining relative ages of regions of the lunar surface using orbital photography was developed from a model of small-impact erosion. The erosion model relates the shape of a crater to the integrated flux of debris that has impacted the surface since that crater was fresh. The shape of the most modified crater of a particular diameter is thereby related to the relative age of the surface. Application of this analysis to orbital photography reveals that the major mare units vary in the accumulation of impacts by more than a factor of 3. Comparison of these data with crystallization ages determined from samples collected during the Apollo 11 and 12 missions indicates that the impact fluxes were decreasing during the stages of mare formation. An exponentially decaying flux for the last 3.5 b.y. with a half-life of 0.6 to 1.4 b.y. is compatible with the data. The data indicate (1) that the mare units sampled by the Apollo 11 and 12 missions represent major mare units of old and moderate age, respectively; (2) such major mare volcanism lasted on the order of 0.5 b.y. after the Apollo 12 basalts crystallized 3.3 b.y. ago; and (3) certain small localized volcanic features may be considerably younger (≳2 b.y.). The major mare unit at the Apollo 15 landing site (Hadley-Apennine) is expected to have a crystallization age of 3.5 ±0.1 b.y. , whereas the crystallization age of the youngest unit in the Marius Hills region (a small mare ridge) is expected to have an age of 1 to 2 b.y. , depending on the details of the impact flux history.
Numerical simulations of acoustic signals in a borehole containing a viscoelastic tool

A theoretical analysis of the effect of a logging tool on kinematic and dynamic parameters of elastic waves generated in a fluid-filled borehole by an impulse acoustic source is presented. To calculate synthetic microseismograms we use the semianalytical real axis integration method. The calculations performed have shown that the logging tool parameters have a significant influence on the amplitudes of all wave packets. The comparison of synthetic microseismograms with borehole waveforms shows good agreement.
Phytotoxicity and Phytotoxic Substances in Calamus tenuis Roxb.

Calamus tenuis is a shrub species distributed across South Asia. It grows well in diversified habitats and tends to dominate plants in the surrounding environment. The phytotoxicity of C. tenuis and the action of its phytochemicals against other plant species could explain its dominant behavior. Compounds with phytotoxic activity are in high demand as prospective sources of ecofriendly bioherbicides. Therefore, we investigated the phytotoxicity of C. tenuis. Aqueous methanol extracts of this plant species significantly limited the growth of four test plant species, two monocots (barnyard grass and timothy), and two dicots (alfalfa and cress), in a dose- and species-dependent manner. Bio-directed chromatographic isolation of the C. tenuis extracts yielded two major active substances: a novel compound, calamulactone {(S)-methyl 8-(5-oxo-2,5-dihydrofuran-2-yl) octanoate}, and 3-oxo-α-ionone. Both of the identified compounds exerted strong growth inhibitory effects on cress and timothy seedlings. The concentrations of 3-oxo-α-ionone and calamulactone required to limit the growth of the cress seedlings by 50% (I50) were 281.6–199.5 and 141.1–105.5 µM, respectively, indicating that the effect of calamulactone was stronger with lower I50 values. Similarly, the seedlings of timothy also showed a considerably higher sensitivity to calamulactone (I50: 40.5–84.4 µM) than to 3-oxo-α-ionone (I50: 107.8–144.7 µM). The findings indicated that the leaves of C. tenuis have marked growth-inhibitory potential, and could affect surrounding plants to exert dominance over the surrounding plant community. Moreover, the two identified phytotoxic substances might play a key role in the phytotoxicity of C. tenuis, and could be a template for bioherbicide development. This paper was the first to report calamulactone and its phytotoxicity.
Quantifying Within-Flight Variation in Land Surface Temperature from a UAV-Based Thermal Infrared Camera

Land Surface Temperature (LST) is a key variable used across various applications, including irrigation monitoring, vegetation health assessment and urban heat island studies. While satellites offer moderate-resolution LST data, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide high-resolution thermal infrared measurements. However, the continuous and rapid variation in LST makes the production of orthomosaics from UAV-based image collections challenging. Understanding the environmental and meteorological factors that amplify this variation is necessary to select the most suitable conditions for collecting UAV-based thermal data. Here, we capture variations in LST while hovering for 15–20 min over diverse surfaces, covering sand, water, grass, and an olive tree orchard. The impact of different flying heights and times of the day was examined, with all collected thermal data evaluated against calibrated field-based Apogee SI-111 sensors. The evaluation showed a significant error in UAV-based data associated with wind speed, which increased the bias from −1.02 to 3.86 °C for 0.8 to 8.5 m/s winds, respectively. Different surfaces, albeit under varying ambient conditions, showed temperature variations ranging from 1.4 to 6 °C during the flights. The temperature variations observed while hovering were linked to solar radiation, specifically radiation fluctuations occurring after sunrise and before sunset. Irrigation and atmospheric conditions (i.e., thin clouds) also contributed to observed temperature variations. This research offers valuable insights into LST variations during standard 15–20 min UAV flights under diverse environmental conditions. Understanding these factors is essential for developing correction procedures and considering data inconsistencies when processing and interpreting UAV-based thermal infrared data and derived orthomosaics.
Quality evaluation of therapeutic noodle from water yam, millet and wheat composite flour and its effect on lipid profile and blood glucose concentration using albino rats

This study investigated the development and sensory qualities of therapeutic noodle from wheat, pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and water yam composite flour and the effect of feeding the product on lipid profile and blood glucose concentration using alloxan induced albino rats. The therapeutic noodle was produced using different ratios of flour blends of wheat, millet and water yam. Sensory analysis was carried out based on color, taste, aroma, slipperiness and overall acceptability on the basis of a 9-point hedonic scale. The therapeutic noodle samples competed well with the commercial noodle (control) sample as they were all rated above average (>5.0) with noodle sample (WMF5) having a very high score of 8.40 in the overall acceptability. Alloxan induced male albino rats were fed the formulated therapeutic noodle for 21 days and assessed for their resultant body weight, blood glucose concentration and lipid profiles. The total cholesterol levels of all diabetic albino rats fed the formulated therapeutic noodle were reduced to within the normal range of below 200mg/dl ideal for adults after the 21days. The therapeutic noodles also helped to significantly (p < 0.05) reduce the high blood glucose concentration of the diabetic rats to below 200mg/dl while diabetic rats fed control diet (100:0) had the highest concentration of blood glucose (485mg/dl). Due to the high anti-diabetic properties of the therapeutic noodles, it can be recommended as a functional food source for the treatment of overweight, obesity, and diabetes.
ECG-Based Driving Fatigue Detection Using Heart Rate Variability Analysis with Mutual Information

One of the WHO’s strategies to reduce road traffic injuries and fatalities is to enhance vehicle safety. Driving fatigue detection can be used to increase vehicle safety. Our previous study developed an ECG-based driving fatigue detection framework with AdaBoost, producing a high cross-validated accuracy of 98.82% and a testing accuracy of 81.82%; however, the study did not consider the driver’s cognitive state related to fatigue and redundant features in the classification model. In this paper, we propose developments in the feature extraction and feature selection phases in the driving fatigue detection framework. For feature extraction, we employ heart rate fragmentation to extract non-linear features to analyze the driver’s cognitive status. These features are combined with features obtained from heart rate variability analysis in the time, frequency, and non-linear domains. In feature selection, we employ mutual information to filter redundant features. To find the number of selected features with the best model performance, we carried out 28 combination experiments consisting of 7 possible selected features out of 58 features and 4 ensemble learnings. The results of the experiments show that the random forest algorithm with 44 selected features produced the best model performance testing accuracy of 95.45%, with cross-validated accuracy of 98.65%.
Teaching English Conditionals Through Data-Driven Learning (DDL): Perspectives of In-Service EFL Teachers

Research has demonstrated that L2 English learners’ acquisition of grammar can be facilitated by Data-Driven Learning (DDL), which clearly promotes inductive learning and learner-centeredness (e.g. Boontam & Phoochaoroensil, 2018). This present study focuses on the impacts of DDL on Thai secondary and tertiary educators’ introduction of English conditionals. The participants were taught using corpus-based DDL materials representing authentic use of conditionals for six weeks. It was shown in the interview results that DDL is useful and enhances learners’ self-discovery of L2 grammar rules regarding conditionals. Not only does DDL enable learners to notice the three classic if-conditional types but also it allows them to explore alternative, i.e. mixed, types of conditionals, which are often overlooked by textbooks. Some concerns about the use of DDL in a broader context of ELT deal with school budgets and students’ need of technical help.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN BANKING: A REVIEW OF NIGERIA'S JOURNEY TO ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

The extensive economic ramifications of Nigeria's banking sector's multifaceted digital transformation are examined in this study. The "Giant of Africa," Nigeria, has undergone a significant transformation in its banking practices, adopting cutting-edge digital technologies to boost productivity, advance financial inclusion, and stimulate economic growth. The study identifies key elements of the banking industry's digital transformation, emphasizing the function of online platforms, digital payments, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies. Additionally, it explores the forces propelling this transformation, such as customer demands for seamless experiences, increased competition from fintech startups, and governmental requirements for greater transparency. The research also offers a thorough overview of Nigeria's banking industry and economic environment, highlighting its historical reliance on conventional methods and willingness to adopt digital innovations. It exemplifies how digital transformation affects economic growth, investment, entrepreneurship, and job creation outside banking institutions. The study suggests advancing digital transformation in Nigerian banking, including bolstering cybersecurity spending, updating technology infrastructure, and encouraging cooperation with fintech partners. Furthermore, it promotes customer education and ongoing innovation as crucial for long-term success. The study's findings highlight the potential for economic prosperity and the challenges that must be overcome. It also sheds light on the transformational path of Nigerian banking. Nigerian banks can navigate the digital environment and significantly enhance the nation's economy. Keywords: Digital Transformation, Nigerian Banking Sector, Regulatory Compliance, Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, Economic Impact, Mobile Banking, Blockchain And Cryptocurrencies