Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Groundwater on Profile Evolution of Fine and Coarse Sand Beaches

This paper reports on laboratory experiments carried out on fine and coarse sand beaches under raised and lowered back beach groundwater levels. Onshore sediment transport was enhanced when the groundwater level was lowered under both accretionary and erosive conditions, whereas higher groundwater level promoted offshore sediment transport. Under swell conditions, the coarse beach showed accretion at all groundwater levels. In contrast, on the fine sand beach, lowering the groundwater level was able to induce accretion on a previously erosive profile. The groundwater level had less effect on beach profile evolution under storm conditions, suggesting that artificially lowering groundwater levels would not help much in the control of storm erosion, but could promote post-storm accretion on permeable beaches. Agreement between measured and modelled head levels was better on the coarse beach than on the fine beach, and better in the swash zone and within the beach than in the surf zone.
Plantes alimentaires spontanées de la région du Fromager (Centre- Ouest de la Côte d'Ivoire) : flore, habitats et organes consommés.

Une enquete ethnobotanique, visant a inventorier les plantes spontanees alimentaires encore presentes dans la region du Fromager (Centre-Ouest) de la Cote d\'Ivoire, a ete menee aupres des populations rurales. Les especes recensees sont au nombre de 72, reparties entre 61 genres et 42 familles. Les familles les plus representees sont les Sterculiaceae, les Arecaceae et les Solanaceae. L\'habitat de ces plantes spontanees a ete determine; il s\'agit des forets, des jacheres et des vergers de cacaoyers et de cafeiers. Les organes les plus consommes sont les fruits (38 %), les feuilles (33 %) et les graines (19 %). Ces enquetes ont montre qu\'il existe encore un nombre eleve d\'especes spontanees alimentaires dans la Region du Fromager. A ethnobotanic survey, aimed at the inventory of the food spontaneous plants present in the “fromager” region (Western Center) of Cote d\'Ivoire, was carried out with the collaboration of the rural populations. The number of species inventoried is 72, belonging to 61 generas and 42 families. The most represented families are Sterculiaceae, Arecaceae and Solanaceae. The habitats of these spontaneous plants species were forests, fallows and the cocoa and coffee plantations. The most consumed organs were fruits (38 %), leaves (33 %) and seeds (19 %). These investigations showed a high number of food spontaneous species in the “fromager” region. Keywords : Spontaneous food plants, habitats, consumed organs, Cote d\'Ivoire Sciences & Nature Vol. 5 (1) 2008: pp. 61-70
Numerical and theoretical considerations for sensitivity calculation of discontinuous ow

Linearization of 1-D Euler equations about a discontinuous solution is discussed from both the theoretical and numerical point of view. Estimates for the norm of the solution of the linearized system are shown to be valid for the case presented. Numerically, the linearization is performed following the guidelines of tangent linear model and sensitivities with respect to a ow parameter are computed, being in better agreement with the analytical value when compared with previously reported numerical results. c © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
A habitat improvement plan for the Big Sunflower River, Mississippi

Abstract : Personnel of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks recently expressed concern over the effects of proposed maintenance dredging by the U.S. Army Engineer District, Vicksburg, on freshwater mussels (Family: Unionidae) and their habitat in the Big Sunflower River, Mississippi. Planned maintenance would consist of channel clearing, cleanout, enlargement, and maintenance. Because of these concerns, Vicksburg District personnel modified the original dredging plan to minimize damage to mussels and their habitat. In addition, a Habitat Improvement Team (members of the Team are listed in Table 1) was assembled to review recent findings on mussels, evaluate the effects of dredging, and develop a set of actions that would improve and maintain habitat in river reaches affected by maintenance. These actions would not replace a set of features developed specifically to improve fish habitat (Hoover and Killgore, in preparation).
An energy-based isotropic compression relation for cement-admixed soft clay

This note presents an energy-based isotropic compression relationship for cement-admixed soil. By assuming that the rate of destructuration is proportional to the rate of plastic work done during loading for a given soil, a relationship between the structure and the change in specific volume is derived. An approximate relationship is also derived for the case when the swelling index of the structured soil is small. By using experimental data, the main assumption introduced for deducing the relationship is validated.
The complete synthesis of seismic crustal phases at regional distances

Using a new method to evaluate Green's functions for elastic layered media, we compute complete synthetic seismograms at regional distances for an earthquake in the earth crust. We choose as source parameters the ones inferred for an earthquake in central France and compare the computed seismograms to the ones recorded at several short-period stations of the French seismic network. The major features of the records including complexity and duration are well reproduced by the synthetics. Lg waves, which are the prominant phase, are shown to be guided waves made up of SH and SV waves incident on the Moho at angles of incidence more grazing than the critical angle and multiply reflected within the crust. The length of the computed Lg wave coda extends between group velocities of 3.5 and 2.8 km/s and is in good agreement with the data.
The response of the 18O/16O composition of atmospheric CO2 to changes in environmental conditions

This study investigates the response of the global mean and spatial variations of the δ18O value of atmospheric CO2 (δCa) to changes in soil CO2 hydration rates, relative humidity, the δ18O value of precipitation and water vapor, visible radiation, temperature, and ecosystem flux partitioning. A three‐dimensional global transport model was coupled to a mechanistic land surface model and was used to calculate isotopic fluxes of CO2 and H2O and the resulting δCa. The model reproduced the observed global mean and north‐south gradient in δCa. The simulated seasonal amplitude and phases of CO2 and δCa agreed well at some but not all locations. Sensitivity tests with relative humidity increased by 3.2% from its original value decreased δCa by 0.21‰. Similarly, a global 3.3‰ decrease in the isotopic composition of both precipitation and water vapor (δWP and δWAV, respectively) caused a 2.6‰ decrease in δCa. A 1 K increase in atmospheric temperatures also affected δCa, but there was a very small δCa response to realistic changes in light levels. Experiments where leaf and soil CO2 fluxes were repartitioned revealed a nontrivial change to δCa. The predicted north‐south δCa gradient increased in response to an increase in soil CO2 hydration rates. However, the δCa gradient also had a large response to global changes in δWP and δWAV. This result is particularly important since most models fail to deplete δWP enough at middle and high latitudes, where the influence of δWP and δWAV on the δCa gradient is strongest.
The oldest in situ hermit crab from the Lower Cretaceous of Speeton, UK

An Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian) hermit crab perfectly preserved within an ammonite is described. Palaeontologists have focused too much on the wrong class of molluscs in their attempt to analyse the evolution of the pagurids. The shift of mollusc habitation during the Cretaceous, from ammonites to gastropods, affected the morphology of the aperture–blocking hermit–crab claws.
Spatial disaggregation and intensity correction of TRMM-based rainfall time series for hydrological applications in dryland catchments

Abstract A novel approach is presented for combining spatial and temporal detail from newly available TRMM-based data sets to derive hourly rainfall intensities at 1-km spatial resolution for hydrological modelling applications. Time series of rainfall intensities derived from 3-hourly 0.25° TRMM 3B42 data are merged with a 1-km gridded rainfall climatology based on TRMM 2B31 data to account for the sub-grid spatial distribution of rainfall intensities within coarse-scale 0.25° grid cells. The method is implemented for two dryland catchments in Tunisia and Senegal, and validated against gauge data. The outcomes of the validation show that the spatially disaggregated and intensity corrected TRMM time series more closely approximate ground-based measurements than non-corrected data. The method introduced here enables the generation of rainfall intensity time series with realistic temporal and spatial detail for dynamic modelling of runoff and infiltration processes that are especially important to water resource management in arid regions. Editor D. Koutsoyiannis Citation Tarnavsky, E. , Mulligan, M. and Husak, G. , 2012. Spatial disaggregation and intensity correction of TRMM-based rainfall time series for hydrological applications in dryland catchments. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (2), 248–264.
The First Stem Tetrapod from the Lower Carboniferous of Gondwana

The first stem tetrapod from Gondwana, Ossinodus pueri gen. et sp. nov, is described from fragmentary material that includes a skull table and many important parts from the postcranial skeleton. It was recovered together with a typically non‐marine to marginal (near) marine fish fauna from the Lower Carboniferous (mid Viséan) Ducabrook Formation, Queensland, Australia. Phylogenetic analysis hypothesises that Ossinodus belonged to a clade that includes Whatcheeria and Pederpes, positioned on the stem of the crown tetrapods, one step crownward of Tulerpeton. Hind limb morphology suggests that small specimens of Ossinodus were primarily aquatic but that larger ones were less so.
Off‐fault long‐term damage: A condition to account for generic, triangular earthquake slip profiles

Natural earthquake slip profiles have a generic triangular shape which the available rupture dynamics models fail to reproduce. Long‐term faults are embedded in long‐damaged crustal material, and the properties of the long‐term damage vary both across and along the faults. We examine the effects of the predamaged state of the medium on the earthquake slip distributions. We simulate long‐term damage by the decrease in the elastic modulus of the medium around the fault. We model the dynamic crack‐like rupture of a slip‐weakening planar, right‐lateral strike‐slip fault, and search which geometries and elastic properties of the long‐term damage produce a triangular slip profile on the rupture. We find that such a profile is produced only when a laterally heterogeneous preexisting damage zone surrounds the ruptured fault. The highest on‐fault slip develops in the most compliant region of the damage zone, and not necessarily above the earthquake hypocenter. The coseismic slip decreases in zones of stiffer damage. The amount of coseismic slip dissipated in the damage zone is large, at least 25–40% of maximum on‐fault slip, and can occur over large distances from the fault. Our study thus emphasizes that off‐fault preexisting damage should be considered for an accurate description of earthquake ruptures. It also motivates a reformulation of the available earthquake source inversion models since most of them do not include the inelastic deformations that occur in the near field of the earthquake ruptures.
Qualities of Effective Transition Leadership in a Changing School Landscape

This paper seeks to uncover which key personality traits are thought to be the most important for effective leadership during a period of transition by exploring and researching a variety of popular leadership models. An effort was made to distill as many traits as possible in order to determine which traits were most agreed upon to be necessary for an individual to possess to be an effective leader. A survey based in this research was then created and given to the staff of educational facility in Upstate New York, asking administrators, teachers of record, and para-educators to rank the top five of these traits according to their belief regarding how important they felt each was for a leader to possess in order to be effective. The overarching goal was to determine which traits employees of different positions within an educational facility deemed most important for effective leadership, and also to obtain data to help craft new, more guided interview questions intended to accurately identify effective leaders during an interview process, and to determine possible organizational values regarding effective leadership itself. Document Type Thesis Degree Name MS in Special Education Department Education Subject Categories Education This thesis is available at Fisher Digital Publications: http://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_ETD_masters/264 Qualities of Effective Transition Leadership in a Changing School Landscape
An international effort to quantify regional carbon fluxes

[1] The international carbon cycle research community is currently coordinating the largest, most comprehensive assessment it has ever undertaken: the Regional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP; http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/reccap). The objective is to establish the mean carbon balance and change over the period 1990–2009 for all subcontinents and ocean basins. The global coverage will provide, for the first time, opportunities to link regional budgets with the global carbon budget. Regional details on or insights into processes driving fluxes have not, to date, been incorporated into efforts addressing the global carbon budget [Canadell et al., 2007; Le Quere et al., 2009]. The consistency check between the sum of regional fluxes and the global budget will be a unique measure of the level of confidence there is in scaling carbon budgets up and down.
The variability of critical shear stress, friction angle, and grain protrusion in water-worked sediments

The erodibility of a grain on a rough bed is controlled by, among other factors, its relative projection above the mean bed, its exposure relative to upstream grains, and its friction angle. Here we report direct measurements of friction angles, grain projection and exposure, and small-scale topographic structure on a variety of water-worked mixed-grain sediment surfaces. Using a simple analytical model of the force balance on individual grains, we calculate the distribution of critical shear stress for idealized spherical grains on the measured bed topography. The friction angle, projection, and exposure of single grain sizes vary widely from point to point within a given bed surface; the variability within a single surface often exceeds the difference between the mean values of disparate surfaces. As a result, the critical shear stress for a given grain size on a sediment surface is characterized by a probability distribution, rather than a single value. On a given bed, the crtitical shear stress distributions of different grain sizes have similar lower bounds, but above their lower tails they diverge rapidly, with smaller grains having substantially higher median critical shear stresses. Large numbers of fines, trapp.ed within pockets on the bed or shielded by upstream grains, are effectively lost to the flow. Our calculations suggest that critical shear stress, as conventionally measured, is defined by the most erodible grains, entrained during transient shear stress excursions associated with the turbulent flow; this implies a physical basis for the indeterminacy of initial motion. These observations suggest that transport rate/shear stress relationships may be controlled, in part, by the increasing numbers of grains that become available for entrainment as mean shear stress increases. They also suggest that bed textures and grain size distributions may be controlled, within the constraints of an imposed shear stress and sediment supply regime, by the influence of each size fraction on the erodibility of other grain sizes present on the bed.
Characterization of 14-3-3 Proteins from Cryptosporidium parvum

The parasite Cryptosporidium parvum has three 14-3-3 proteins: Cp14ε, Cp14a and Cp14b, with only Cp14ε similar to human 14-3-3 proteins in sequence, peptide-binding properties and structure. Structurally, Cp14a features the classical 14-3-3 dimer but with a uniquely wide pocket and a disoriented RRY triad potentially incapable of binding phosphopeptides. The Cp14b protein deviates from the norm significantly: (i) In one subunit, the phosphorylated C-terminal tail is bound in the binding groove like a phosphopeptide. This supports our binding study indicating this protein was stabilized by a peptide mimicking its last six residues. (ii) The other subunit has eight helices instead of nine, with αA and αB forming a single helix and occluding the peptide-binding cleft. (iii) The protein forms a degenerate dimer with the two binding grooves divided and facing opposite directions. These features conspire to block and disrupt the bicameral substrate-binding pocket, suggesting a possible tripartite auto-regulation mechanism that has not been observed previously. Enhanced version This article can also be viewed as an enhanced version in which the text of the article is integrated with interactive 3D representations and animated transitions. Please note that a web plugin is required to access this enhanced functionality. Instructions for the installation and use of the web plugin are available in Text S1.
Changes in organic and inorganic sulfur fractions and S mineralisation in a Typic Haplustert after long-term cropping with different fertiliser and organic manure inputs

Changes in the status of organic and inorganic pools of soil sulfur (S), total nitrogen (N), and organic carbon, and their interrelationships and S mineralisation were examined on a Typic Haplustert soil after a 27-year long-term cropping. The results indicated that NPK(+S) applied for 27 years at 50%, 100%, and 150% of optimum recommended rates and 100% NPK(+S) with farmyard manure (FYM) increased the organic C and total N status of soil compared with the control and the initial status of the soil. Intensive cropping with continuous use of 100% NPK without S resulted in depletion of total, organic, and inorganic S concentrations by 18.13%, 17.80%, and 21.72%, respectively, over the control, while the status of total, organic and inorganic S improved in plots that received graded rates of S with NPK and NPK plus FYM. Intensive cropping with continuous use of S-free NPK fertiliser (100% NPK-S) resulted in the widest C: N: S ratio in the soil. NaHCO 3 -extractable total, inorganic, and organic S fractions and NaOH-extractable total and inorganic S fractions were found to be better indices of soil S mineralisation than CaCl 2 -extractable inorganic S. Cumulative amounts of S mineralised during a 14-week incubation period varied between 2.3 and 21.3 mg S/kg soil and increased with an increase in the rates of S applied, along with NPK fertilisers. Incorporation of FYM with 100% NPK(+S) resulted in greater cumulative mineralised S over 100% NPK(+S) alone. The cumulative mineralised S showed a quadratic relationship with the duration of incubation in all the treatments.
Automated Image-to-Map Discrepancy Detection using Iterative Trimming

Keeping existing vector databases Lip to date is a real challenge for GIS data providers. This study directly compares a a map with a more recent image in order to detect the discrepancies between them. An automatic workflow was designed to process the image based on existing information extracted from the vector database. First, geographic object-based image anal is provided automatically labeled image segments after matching, the vector database to the image. Then, discrepancies were detected using a statistical iterative trimming, where outliers were excluded based on a likelihood threshold. Applied on forest map updating, the proposed workflow, was able to detect about 75 percent of the forest regeneration, and 100 percent of the clear cuts with less than 10 percent of commission errors. This discrepancy detection approach assumes that discrepancy corresponds to small proportion of the map area and is very promising in diverse applications thanks to its flexibility.
Variability of Tropical Cyclone Track Density in the North Atlantic: Observations and High-Resolution Simulations*

AbstractInterannual–decadal variability of tropical cyclone (TC) track density over the North Atlantic (NA) between 1979 and 2008 is studied using observations and simulations with a 25-km-resolution version of the High Resolution Atmospheric Model (HiRAM) forced by observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs). The variability on decadal and interannual time scales is examined separately. On both time scales, a basinwide mode dominates, with the time series being related to variations in seasonal TC counts. On decadal time scales, this mode relates to SST contrasts between the tropical NA and the tropical northeast Pacific as well as the tropical South Atlantic, whereas on interannual time scales it is controlled by SSTs over the central–eastern equatorial Pacific and those over the tropical NA. The temporal evolution of the spatial distribution of track density is further investigated by normalizing the track density with seasonal TC counts. On decadal time scales, two modes emerge: one is an oscillation bet.
Working Papers on Global Financial Markets

The 2010 European debt crisis has revived the discussion concerning the optimum adjustment strategy in the face of asymmetric shocks. Whereas Mundell’s (1961) seminal theory on optimum currency areas suggests depreciation in the face of crisis, the most recent emergence of competitive depreciations, competitive interest rate cuts or currency wars questions the exchange rate as an adjustment tool to asymmetric economic development. This paper approaches the question from a theoretical perspective by confronting exchange rate based adjustment with crisis adjustment via price and wage cuts. Econometric estimations yield a negative impact of exchange rate flexibility/volatility on growth, which is found to be particularly strong for countries with asymmetric business cycles and during recessions. Based on these findings we support a further enlargement of the European Monetary Union and recommend more exchange rate stability for the rest of the world.