Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Crustal thickness of V‐shaped ridges south of the Azores: Interaction of the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (36°–39°N) and the Azores hot spot

V-shaped ridges propagating along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis south of the Azores and Iceland hot spots indicate that ridge-hot spot interactions produce temporal and spatial variations in melt supply to the ridge axis. Estimates of relative crustal thickness variations associated with the ridges south of the Azores hot spots, based on gravity and bathymetry data collected during the SudAcores cruise (1998), provide constraints on the rate of propagation of these melt anomalies and on the variations in melt production along the axis and in time. The maximum apparent crustal thickness along the Azores V ridge is ∼14 km near the Azores, decreasing to normal crustal thickness of ∼6 km toward the south. This crustal thickness variation may be explained by enhanced melt production associated with the propagation of a mantle temperature anomaly that initiated ∼10 Myr ago at the Azores hot spot. The temperature anomaly decreased as it propagated southward, reaching ambient mantle temperatures at the present time at its predicted location under the axis. The excess melt was emplaced on axis forming discrete, shallow (<1000 m) oceanic plateaus (∼100 km in diameter at ∼37.5°N) that are isostatically compensated. The numerous seamounts, lack of normal faults, and smooth basement at the summit of these plateaus suggest high effusion rates that persisted for ∼5 Myr or less, with little or no tectonic strain. As the melt anomaly propagated along axis, the magmatic activity at the plateaus ceased, resulting in rifting of the plateau and onset of normal seafloor spreading. The variations in crustal thickness inferred for the V ridges south of the Azores are at least twice that inferred for the Iceland structures. In both cases the V ridges record temporal variations in temperature and/or mantle flux that affect melt production under the ridge axis, but the fluctuations are larger for the Azores than for the Iceland hot spot.
Introduction

*Corresponding author: Tobias Böhmelt, Department of Government, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK, Phone: +44 1206 87 2288, Fax: +44 1206 87 3234; and ETH Zurich, Haldeneggsteig 4, Zurich 8092, Switzerland, Phone: +41 44 632 93 42, Fax: +41 44 632 12 89, E-mail: tbohmelt@essex.ac. uk; tobias.boehmelt@ir.gess. ethz.ch Petros G. Sekeris: University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Business School, Portsmouth, UK
Use of additives to improve the engineering properties of swelling soils in Thrace, Northern Greece

Highway construction engineers often face the need for more stable, durable and, at the same time, more economic road structures. This is nowadays true because of increased traffic volumes and heavier loads on the roadways. As a consequence, enhanced pavement structures and improved subgrades is a necessity. The international highway “New Egnatia” crosses areas in Thrace, Northern Greece with abundant clayey soils having poor technical properties. The treatment of physical soils with some substances could bring up new materials, which would operate better under the traffic and environmental conditions. This has led to the decision to investigate the possibilities of improving the existing soil materials using chemical additives. Soil samples were collected from the abovementioned area and mixed with lime and fly ash, in various proportions. The modification of the soil properties with special emphasis on their strength has been examined in the laboratory after different curing periods. The experimental results have shown that the unconfined compressive strength increased as a function of both the percentage of additive in the mixture and the time of curing. The improvement depended upon the soil mineralogy and the kind and quantity of exchangeable cations. This holds true when the influence of the kind and quantity of the additive is taken into account. The effects of lime on the swelling clayey soils tested were more beneficial than those of fly ash. The soils after their treatment could be used as a subgrade or even as a
Ozone-CO Correlations in Siberian Wildfire Plumes Observed at Rishiri Island

We used ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO) measurements conducted at Rishiri Island, a remote surface site located in northern Japan to characterize impacts of boreal forest fires in Siberia on photochemical O3 formation. Hourly O3 observations during severe fire seasons in 1998, 2002, and 2003 were examined based on large enhancement in the CO mixing ratios and backward trajectories. In total, we identified sixteen episodes impacted by Siberian biomass burning. Correlations of O3 to CO in individual plumes were significant in eight wildfire plumes. The relative enhancement of O3 to CO quantified in these fire plumes ranged from slightly negative to up to ∼0.4, depending on episodes. Two episodes in 2002 and 2003 suggested that O3 formation in wildfire-polluted plumes was comparable to the magnitude typically observed in industrially-polluted air masses from the Asian continent. Possible physical, chemical, and biogeochemical factors leading to different O3 to CO ratios were presented.
The time series convergence of dispersion in financial analysts' forecasts

Finansanalytiker har en stor betydelse for finansmarknaderna, speciellt igenom att formedla information genom resultatprognoser. Typiskt ar att analytiker i viss grad ar oeniga i sina resultatprognoser, och det ar just denna oenighet analytiker emellan som denna avhandling studerar. Da ett foretag rapporterar forluster tenderar oenigheten gallande ett foretags framtid att oka. Pa ett intuitivt plan ar det latt att tolka detta som okad osakerhet. Det ar aven detta man finner da man studerar analytikerrapporter - analytiker ser ut att bli mer osakra da foretag borjar ga med forlust, och det ar precis da som aven oenigheten mellan analytikerna okar. De matematisk-teoretiska modeller som beskriver analytikers beslutsprocesser har daremot en motsatt konsekvens - en okad oenighet analytiker emellan kan endast uppkomma ifall analytikerna blir sakrare pa ett individuellt plan, dar den drivande kraften ar asymmetrisk information. Denna avhandling loser motsagelsen mellan okad sakerhet/osakerhet som drivkraft bakom spridningen i analytikerprognoser. Genom att beakta mangden publik information som blir tillganglig via resultatrapporter ar det inte mojligt for modellerna for analytikers beslutsprocesser att ge upphov till de nivaer av prognosspridning som kan observeras i data. Slutsatsen blir darmed att de underliggande teoretiska modellerna for prognosspridning ar delvis bristande och att spridning i prognoser istallet mer troligt foljer av en okad osakerhet bland analytikerna, i enlighet med vad analytiker de facto namner i sina rapporter. Resultaten ar viktiga eftersom en forstaelse av osakerhet runt t.ex. resultatrapportering bidrar till en allman forstaelse for resultatrapporteringsmiljon som i sin tur ar av ytterst stor betydelse for prisbildning pa finansmarknader. Vidare anvands typiskt okad prognosspridning som en indikation pa okad informationsasymmetri i redovisningsforskning, ett fenomen som denna avhandling darmed ifragasatter.
Potent Hypoglycemic Effect of Nigerian Anti-Diabetic Medicinal Plants

The objective of this paper was to investigate the phytochemistry and hypoglycemic activities of aqueous extracts of Anisopus mannii, Daniella olivieri, Detarium macrocarpum, Leptedenia hastate and Mimosa invisa, traditionally prescribed for diabetes mellitus. The aqueous extracts were tested for phytochemicals and free radical scavenging activity by the DPPH assay. The anti-diabetic tests were performed in normoglycemic and alloxan induced diabetic mice. High intensity of saponins, xanthones, tannins and glycosides were detected in A. mannii, D. macrocarpum and M. invisa, respectively. For the free radical scavenging activity, D. macrocarpum showed the highest activity with an IC50 of 0.027 mg/ml which was 2.1 folds of ascorbic acid. All extracts showed potent hypoglycemic effects in alloxan induced diabetic mice with the highest fasting blood glucose reduction of 70.39 percent in A. mannii which was 1.54 and 0.98 fold of glibenclamide and human insulin, respectively. A. mannii showed the potent hypoglycemic activity which was 1.54 and 0.98 fold of glibenclamide and insulin, respectively. This study confirmed the traditional use of these Nigerian medicinal plants in diabetes treatment. These plants showed high potential for further investigation to novel anti-diabetic drugs.
Multi-Resolution Splining Using A Pyramid Image Representation

Two or more images may be joined at the edges in order to form an image mosaic. Mosaics are commonly used in satellite imagery [4]; a dozen or more sub-images of a planet may be joined to form a single large image of the entire planet. The same process is used in trick photography, for advertising and for special effects in film-making.
Sea-Surface Drift Currents Induced by Wind and Waves

Abstract Wind-induced shell currents and wave-induced mass transports at various fetches of both clean and slick sea surfaces are separately estimated. At the clean surface, the ratio between wind-induced current and wind velocity decreases, while the ratio between wave-induced current and wind velocity increases, with increasing fetch. The total surface drift current, the sum of wind- and wave-induced components, decreases gradually with increasing fetch and approaches 3.1% of wind velocity at long fetches, comparing very favorably with measured values. At a slick surface, the wind-induced drift current is reduced due to a decrease of the wind-stress coefficient, and the wave-induced mass transport is increased due to an additional wave damping. As a result of these opposite effects, the total surface drift current at a slick surface differs much less significantly than individual components from that at a clean surface. It is also suggested that the surface mass transport can be calculated simply from c.
Nonpoint Source Pollution and Spatial Aspects of Risk Assessment

Abstract Nonpoint source (NPS) water pollution is one of a number of environmental issues posing complex spatial problems. The management context requires “targeting,” to achieve the greatest water quality improvements per unit effort, and problem prioritizing on the basis of a risk assessment. These are inherently spatial problems, since non-point sources are by definition spatially diffuse. Water quality management must typically rely on at-a-point monitoring, so evaluation of NPS risks and allocation of control efforts requires a determination of the relative influence of dispersed upstream contributing areas on water quality at a single point. Any model for solving this complex hydrological and biogeochemical problem can be generalized to a simple spatial model based on magnitude of discrete runoff-contributing areas, a hydraulic distance function, and a drainage area scaling factor. The general spatial model has a probabilistic interpretation and can produce a quantitative assessment of risk. It was .
NEOSELACHIAN SHARK AND RAY TEETH FROM THE VALANGINIAN, LOWER CRETACEOUS, OF WĄWAŁ, CENTRAL POLAND

Abstract: Valanginian strata at Wąwał in central Poland have yielded the oldest marine neoselachian assemblages from the Cretaceous of Europe. The faunas comprise seven taxa including Heterodontus polonicus sp. nov., an indeterminate orectolobiform, Protolamna sp. , Palaeoscyllium sp. , Synechodus nitidus, Squatina cranei and Belemnobatis sp. Heterodontus polonicus is recognized primarily by the high amount of reticulate ornamentation on the lower labial side of the anterior teeth. The faunas from Wąwał are numerically dominated by neoselachian genera such as Synechodus, Heterodontus and Belemnobatis that were already well established in the Jurassic. More modern taxa include the oldest recorded occurrence of the true Squatina‐lineage, and the presence of Protolamna is one of the earliest undoubted lamniform occurrences so far reported.
Holocene dust accumulation and the formation of polycyclic cinnamon soils (luvisols) in the Chinese Loess Plateau

Chinese loess–palaeosol sequences are well known for their records of monsoonal climatic variations. However, the modern processes of dust accumulation and soil formation remain poorly understood. A high‐resolution investigation on modern soils, including the measurement of magnetic susceptibility, particle‐size distribution, total Fe, total organic carbon, CaCO3 content, and optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating was carried out on the Zhouyuan loess tableland in the southern Loess Plateau. The results indicate that modern cinnamon soils (luvisols) have developed on contemporarily accumulated aeolian dust during the Holocene. The aeolian loess accumulated during the Younger Dryas was identiﬁed in the top part of the Malan Loess that underlay the modern soil by OSL dating and proxy climatic data. It indicates that the Malan Loess accumulated during the last glaciation (marine isotope stages 2–4) does not serve as the parent material for the modern soils. Pedogenesis of the soils started with the increased precipitation and soil moisture that have occurred on the loess tableland since the early Holocene. Precipitation‐driven pedogenesis and organic activities are responsible for the leaching of CaCO3, decomposition of mineral dust and the production of clay and ferromagnetic minerals. Drier intervals have interrupted soil formation several times, and therefore proﬁles with multiple soils have been developed at many sites on the loess tableland. At places where soil erosion was relatively strong, either a single soil or welded soils are preserved in the Holocene proﬁles. This does not necessarily mean, however, that modern soils over the plateau have been developed without interruption under a constantly warmer, moister climate. This is signiﬁcant for understanding the surface processes and climatic variation during the formation of the numerous palaeosols over the Loess Plateau in the Quaternary. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The effects of forest fuel connectivity on spatiotemporal dynamics of Holocene fire regimes in the central boreal forest of North America

Understanding fire regime dynamics is central to predicting forest structure and the compositional dynamics of boreal forests. Spatial and temporal variations in fire frequency in central Canadian boreal forests over the last 10 000 years were examined to evaluate the influence of bottom‐up controls on the regional fire regime. We analysed macroscopic charcoal larger than 160 μm from sediment cores from six lakes to reconstruct fire history and performed GIS analysis of regional landscape features to investigate how fire frequency has changed temporally and how non‐climatic factors may have affected long‐term fire frequency. Our generalized linear mixed model revealed that temporal changes in fire return intervals (FRIs) were highly dependent on landscape connectivity as inferred through the abundance of natural firebreaks in the form of open water lakes and wetlands. FRIs did not change significantly among highly connected landscapes throughout the Holocene; in contrast, FRIs were significantly longer among poorly connected landscapes in the early Holocene (10–5 cal ka BP), suggesting that the abundant regional firebreaks limited fire spread. All sites had similar FRIs in the late Holocene. The diminishing influence of firebreaks suggests that the regional climate during the late Holocene has overshadowed the influences of the bottom‐up controls on fire activities.
An Improved Nonparametric Approach for Detecting Differentially Expressed Genes with Replicated Microarray Data

Previous nonparametric statistical methods on constructing the test and null statistics require having at least 4 arrays under each condition. In this paper, we provide an improved method of constructing the test and null statistics which only requires 2 arrays under one condition if the number of arrays under the other condition is at least 3. The conventional testing method defines the rejection region by controlling the probability of Type I error. In this paper, we propose to determine the critical values (or the cut-off points) of the rejection region by directly controlling the false discovery rate. Simulations were carried out to compare the performance of our proposed method with several existing methods. Finally, our proposed method is applied to the rat data of Pan et al. (2003). It is seen from both simulations and the rat data that our method has lower false discovery rates than those from the significance analysis of microarray (SAM) method of Tusher et al. (2001) and the mixture model method (MMM) of Pan et al. (2003).
Time scale controversy: Accurate orbital calibration of the early Paleogene

Timing is crucial to understanding the causes and consequences of events in Earth history. The calibration of geological time relies heavily on the accuracy of radioisotopic and astronomical dating. Uncertainties in the computations of Earth's orbital parameters and in radioisotopic dating have hampered the construction of a reliable astronomically calibrated time scale beyond 40 Ma. Attempts to construct a robust astronomically tuned time scale for the early Paleogene by integrating radioisotopic and astronomical dating are only partially consistent. Here, using the new La2010 and La2011 orbital solutions, we present the first accurate astronomically calibrated time scale for the early Paleogene (47–65 Ma) uniquely based on astronomical tuning and thus independent of the radioisotopic determination of the Fish Canyon standard. Comparison with geological data confirms the stability of the new La2011 solution back to ∼54 Ma. Subsequent anchoring of floating chronologies to the La2011 solution using the very long eccentricity nodes provides an absolute age of 55.530 ± 0.05 Ma for the onset of the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), 54.850 ± 0.05 Ma for the early Eocene ash −17, and 65.250 ± 0.06 Ma for the K/Pg boundary. The new astrochronology presented here indicates that the intercalibration and synchronization of U/Pb and 40Ar/39Ar radioisotopic geochronology is much more challenging than previously thought.
Component-by-component construction of low-discrepancy point sets of small size

Abstract We investigate the problem of constructing small point sets with low star discrepancy in the s-dimensional unit cube. The size of the point set shall always be polynomial in the dimension s. Our particular focus is on extending the dimension of a given low-discrepancy point set. This results in a deterministic algorithm that constructs N-point sets with small discrepancy in a component-by-component fashion. The algorithm also provides the exact star discrepancy of the output set. Its run-time considerably improves on the run-times of the currently known deterministic algorithms that generate low-discrepancy point sets of comparable quality. We also study infinite sequences of points with infinitely many components such that all initial subsegments projected down to all finite dimensions have low discrepancy. To this end, we introduce the inverse of the star discrepancy of such a sequence, and derive upper bounds for it as well as for the star discrepancy of the projections of finite subsequences with explicitly given constants. In particular, we establish the existence of sequences whose inverse of the star discrepancy depends linearly on the dimension.
Effects of spatial variations in source areas upon dust concentration profiles during three wind erosion events in Australia

Dust storms are a major contributor to soil erosion in inland Australia, and the Simpson Desert–Channel Country region is one of the most active wind erosion regions. While information is available on wind erosion rates at the land‐type level, little is known about the influence that spatial variations in the erodibility within a land type have on the resulting dust concentration profile. A Gaussian plume model, DSIS, is presented along with tower‐based dust data, to describe the influence of different spatial combinations of dust source areas, during three dust events on the Diamantina River floodplain in Western Queensland, Australia. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A New Global Upscaling Technique for 3D Unstructured Grids

New procedures for unstructured coarse-model generation are presented and applied. The underlying fine-grid model is considered to be unstructured, and the coarse-model cells are defined as groupings of fine-grid cells. The key flow quantity that must be computed for the coarse model is the upscaled transmissibility for each cell-to-cell connection. We introduce a global upscaling procedure for this computation. The method first requires several (minimum of three) global single-phase flow solutions. Appropriately defined linear combinations of these solutions are used to compute each upscaled transmissibility. This approach circumvents some of the limitations of existing (local and global) upscaling procedures. It also enables transmissibility to be quickly computed for a number of different coarse grids without performing any additional pressure solutions. Results are presented for an idealized two-phase flow problem. The fine grid contains nearly 200,000 cells, and coarse models of varying resolution are considered. Accurate results for total injector-producer flow rate are observed for all grid-resolution levels for the three different well configurations considered. Oil rate as a function of time is shown to improve in accuracy with increasing resolution, and is quite accurate for a model of about 10,000 cells.
Development Concepts and Theories in Regional and Quality Aspect

Abstract The regional development generates multiplier effects, causing the emergence and development of related sectors, subcontractors, and the regional services market, and contributing to the strengthening of the competitive position of the region. Export as an important factor of long-term growth may contribute to the reduction of development differences (income level) in the regions. The aim of this study was to discuss (on the basis of a literature review) a number of theories and concepts of development in the regional aspect. And also to discuss phase models of regional development
Comparative Economic Systems

Economic science, one could reasonably argue, was born with an exercise in comparative systems analysis. Adam Smith contrasted what he called the “system of natural liberty” with the “Mercantilist” doctrine of his age. This was both a theoretical and empirical exercise, and it has remained as such throughout the history of our discipline. It is also a development economics exercise, as the standard against which the systems were to be judged was the impact on economic performance of the system in terms of generating economic growth and generalized prosperity. In the century after Smith, this exercise was tied up with explaining the Industrial Revolution, and eventually the growing gap between nations. Again, this exercise has continued through the 20th century and into the 21st.
Modification of the theory of leaky aquifers

The theory of leaky aquifers as currently known involves among other things the assumption that the storage in the semipervious layers is small and may therefore be neglected. Frequently, however, the semipervious beds, although of very low permeabilities, may yield significant amounts of water from storage. The present paper deals with flow systems in which the storage in the semiconfining layers is taken into consideration. The more general solutions thus obtained describe the actual flow system more exactly. This article contains supplementary material.