Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of mixing on extinction by carbonaceous particles

Reported values for the absorption cross section of particulate carbon per unit mass range from under 4 to over 20 m2/g, and the intermediate value of 10 m2/g is used by many as a standard gram-specific absorption cross section for atmospheric soot. In order to better understand the possible variations in absorption by atmospheric carbon, we reevaluated its optical properties in terms of the material composition and morphology of soot and the electrodynamics of spherules agglomerated into loose (ramiform) aggregates. Primary particles ranging in composition from paracrystalline graphite to low-density air/graphite volume mixtures are considered. The effects on extinction efficiency of aggregation and of internal mixing of carbon with sulfate are considered in detail. We also compare our results with estimates of specific absorption of internally mixed soot that are based on several homogeneous mixing rules (effective medium approximations), On the basis of our modeling of the optical properties of aggregates of graphitic carbon grains, we conclude that 10 m2/g may be over 50% too high in many cases, and we suggest that the mass absorption coefficient for the light-absorbing carbon in diesel soot at a wavelength of 0.550 μm may often be less than 7 m2/g, although variations in optical constants and, especially, the specific gravity of the absorbing material make it difficult to assign a specific numerical value. Adhesion of carbon grains to sulfate droplet surfaces is expected to enhance their absorption by no more than about 30%. Soot randomly positioned within droplets, however, can display averaged absorption enhancement factors of about 2.5–4 for hosts with refractive indices ranging from 1.33–1.53, respectively, and radii ≳0.20 μm. Nonetheless, calculations indicate that for realistic dry particle populations, αa < 10 m2/g for graphitic carbon in the atmosphere unless (1) most of it is encapsulated, and (2) the geometric mean radius of the hosts is larger than about 0.06 μm (which corresponds to a mass median diameter of 0.34 μm). These results suggest the importance of the determination of the physical state of the soot particles and their immediate environment when ascribing characteristic values for their absorption and scattering efficiencies.
Recent advances in the management of lung cancer

ABSTRACT Historically, the prognosis for individuals diagnosed with lung cancer has been bleak. However, the past 10 years have seen important advances in treatment and diagnosis which have translated into the first improvements seen in lung cancer survival. This review highlights the major advances in treatments with curative intent, systemic targeted therapies, palliative care and early diagnosis in lung cancer. We discuss the pivotal research that underpins these new technologies/strategies and their current position in clinical practice.
Two Views of the Cold Filament

Abstract Two views of the Cold Filament, first described by Weatherly and Kelley, are presented. The first is a local view near 40°N, 62°W. There its upslope edge is found to be a front which by benthic standards is large (its downslope edge was not sampled). What distinguishes this benthic front from others is that it is a permanent feature in the abyssal ocean. Above the Cold Filament, relatively murky detached bottom layers were observed and tracked to where they separated from the bottom at the benthic front. Apparently these detached layers entrain overlying water (a density jump at their base apparently restricts entrainment of underlying water) primarily during the detachment process with comparably less entrainment thereafter. The second view, a regional one, comes from examining historical hydrographic sections. These indicate that the Cold Filament extends from the Newfoundland Ridge westward then southward to 24°N and possibly to ∼20°N along the base of the continental rise. The Cold Filament i.
Dietary mineral content influences the expression of melanin-based ornamental coloration

Many animals develop bold patches of black or brown coloration that are derived from melanin pigments and serve as sexual or social signals. At present, there is much debate among behavioral ecologists over whether melanin-based color signals are costly to produce. Studies that have manipulated crude aspects of nutrition (i.e., total food intake) or health have generally found melanin-based plumage ornaments to be less responsive to such factors than other types of extravagant color (e.g., carotenoid or structural based). However, a recently advanced hypothesis argues that limited minerals in the diet, such as calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn), and iron (Fe), may serve to increase melanin pigment production and maintain signal honesty. Here, I experimentally tested whether variation in the calcium content of the diet affects the color and extent of melanin-based plumage in male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Calcium supplementation increased the size, but not darkness, of the black breast plumage patch in fledgling and adult males; however, sexually selected, carotenoid-based red beak coloration was not affected by the diet manipulation. These results are the first to support the idea that acquisition of minerals from the diet is a unique, limiting factor for the expression of ornamental melanin coloration in animals. Copyright 2007.
Dietary carotenoid availability influences a male's ability to provide parental care

Despite convincing evidence that carotenoid availability can have positive physiological effects, we still lack information on the functional consequences of carotenoid limitation at the behavioral level. Given the role carotenoids play in mitigating oxidative stress produced during physical activity and as immunostimulants, one behavioral function on which they may have a significant impact is an individual's capacity to provide parental care. We tested this hypothesis using three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), a species in which males provide obligate and intensive paternal care. Males were fed either high or low (but biologically realistic) levels of carotenoids and monitored throughout incubation, during which we quantified 2 key aspects of parental care: their ability to fan their eggs under normoxic and hypoxic conditions (when both the costs and requirements of fanning increase) and their ability to defend their nest against a simulated conspecific male. High-carotenoid diet males fanned their eggs at a significantly higher rate during hypoxic (but not normoxic) conditions and had higher clutch hatching success than males fed the low-carotenoid diet. There was no evidence that they defended their nest more aggressively. Furthermore, low-carotenoid diet males also appeared to engage in cannibalization of their clutch. These results demonstrate that dietary carotenoid availability can affect a male's ability to provide parental care, and we discuss the potential mechanisms and implications of this finding. Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press.
Foraging Adaptation and the Relationship Between Food-Web Complexity and Stability

Ecological theory suggests that complex food webs should not persist because of their inherent instability. “Real” ecosystems often support a large number of interacting species. A mathematical model shows that fluctuating short-term selection on trophic links, arising from a consumer's adaptive food choice, is a key to the long-term stability of complex communities. Without adaptive foragers, food-web complexity destabilizes community composition; whereas in their presence, complexity may enhance community persistence through facilitation of dynamical food-web reconstruction that buffers environmental fluctuations. The model predicts a linkage pattern consistent with field observations.
Warming and Freshening in the Abyssal Southeastern Indian Ocean

Abstract Warming and freshening of abyssal waters in the eastern Indian Ocean between 1994/95 and 2007 are quantified using data from two closely sampled high-quality occupations of a hydrographic section extending from Antarctica northward to the equator. These changes are limited to abyssal waters in the Princess Elizabeth Trough and the Australian–Antarctic Basin, with little abyssal change evident north of the Southeast Indian Ridge. As in previous studies, significant cooling and freshening is observed in the bottom potential temperature–salinity relations in these two southern basins. In addition, analysis on pressure surfaces shows abyssal warming of about 0.05°C and freshening of about 0.01 Practical Salinity Scale 1978 (PSS-78) in the Princess Elizabeth Trough, and warming of 0.1°C with freshening of about 0.005 in the abyssal Australian–Antarctic Basin. These 12-yr differences are statistically significant from zero at 95% confidence intervals over the bottom few to several hundred decibars of t.
Male reproductive suppression in the cooperatively breeding fish Neolamprologus pulcher

In most cooperative breeders, dominants suppress the reproduction of subordinates. However, two previous studies of Neolamprologus pulcher, a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish, have suggested that socially subordinate helper males sneak fertilizations from dominant breeding males. If such sneaking does occur, both theoretical work and empirical studies of other fish species suggest that sperm competition will select for increased reproductive investment by sneaker males, relative to more dominant males. To address these issues, we quantified gonadal investment and sperm characteristics of 41 N. pulcher male breeders and 62 male helpers from 55 groups in Lake Tanganyika. Gonadal investment followed patterns consistent with reproductive suppression, with breeders having considerably larger testes masses than helpers. Breeders also had faster and longer swimming sperm and a higher percentage of motile sperm compared to helpers. However, sperm characteristics of large helpers were similar to those of breeders, but these same helpers had lower testes masses. Thus, large helpers had sperm that were physiologically equivalent to that of breeders, but their relatively small gonads imply that they were reproductively suppressed. Copyright 2006.
Effects of environmental spatial variability on the differences between NOAA-AVHRR LAC and GAC NDVI data

The current work investigates the differences between NOAA-AVHRR LAC and GAC NDVI data in relation to the spatial variability of the observed environment. The study area was Northern Tunisia, over which two common, continuous series of LAC and GAC NDVI images were available for eight years (1986-1993). As expected, a significant correlation was found between spatial NDVI variability and differences between GAC and LAC NDVI values measured as the residuals of regression analyses. Also, the results showed how these differences are reduced when averaging the NDVI data over large areas. Both these findings can be useful in operational cases, when GAC imagery must be employed in place of less common LAC data.
Postsettlement movement patterns and homing in a coral-associated fish

Coral-associated gobies are highly specialized reef fishes with high host-coral fidelity. Flexibility in habitat choice, however, is important to compensate for potential habitat alteration or loss, but detailed information about the postsettlement movement behavior of such gobies is lacking. We examined movement patterns in Gobiodon histrio, both under natural conditions and during subsequent field experiments, involving breeding pair or partner removal from 3 of the 4 investigation plots. Additionally, we investigated homing behavior, and 2 aquaria experiments were designed to assess home coral and partner recognition of adult fish taken from breeding pairs. Under natural conditions, the movement rate was high for single adults, whereas breeding pairs showed high home-coral fidelity. Manipulations revealed little change of natural patterns except in single adults, which slightly decreased their movement rate in the breeding pair removal plot. In the homing experiment, 17% of tested fish returned to their home coral even after displacement of 4 m, and homing success was much higher at shorter distances (100% at 0.5 m, 53% at 2.25 m). In the aquarium, G. histrio exhibited higher recognition of its home-coral colony (75%) than of its breeding pair partner (60%). Our study shows that G. histrio frequently moves between corals, although this depends on the social status (juvenile, single adult, breeding pair) of the individuals. The high proportion and movement rate of single adults indicate low sensitivity to habitat alteration but also limited high-quality habitats in which breeding pairs could be established. Hence, vulnerability to habitat loss increases when individuals breed. Copyright 2009, Oxford University Press.
Cost/benefit analysis of group and solitary resting in the cowtail stingray, Pastinachus sephen

Unless a safe refuge is found where predation threats are negligible, resting poses risks for many animals, necessitating risk management strategies. The adult cowtail stingray (Pastinachus sephen) of Shark Bay, Western Australia, is a solitarily foraging animal that facultatively groups when resting on shallow, inshore sand flats. We hypothesized that environmental conditions influence the propensity of cowtails to group due to the limited ability to detect predators visually in certain conditions. We then explored the possible benefits of grouping, such as bodily protection, early warning, and predator confusion, in conjunction with potential grouping costs, such as increased interference when initiating flight and decreased escape speeds. Our study revealed that in poor underwater visibility (due to turbidity and/or low ambient light levels), cowtails primarily rest in small groups (three rays). Tests of flight initiation distance to a mock predator demonstrated that solitary cowtail escape distances are significantly shorter in poor than in good underwater visibility conditions. As to grouping benefits, filmed boat transects revealed that cowtails most often arrange themselves in a rosette position, possibly as a means to protect their bodies and expose their tails. The first cowtail in a group initiates flight to a mock predator at a significantly greater distance than a solitary cowtail, and grouped cowtails escape an approaching boat in a significantly more cohesive manner than a simulated group of escaping individual rays. Grouped cowtails exhibit behaviors that would impede immediate flight after detection. As a result, grouped rays escape a boat at significantly slower speeds than solitary cowtails. Results from this study demonstrate that the interplay between costs and benefits of grouped and solitary resting under differing environmental conditions is driven by differences in perceived predation risk and ultimately reflected in the facultative grouping behavior of this species. Copyright 2005.
Different sexual traits show covariation among genotypes: Implications for sexual selection

An unresolved question in sexual selection research is whether different secondary sexual traits are developmentally independent or instead whether their degree of expression is a manifestation of a general resource pool (i.e., condition) within the organism. If degree of expression of different sexual traits reflects ability to accumulate condition, then covariation should exist across genotypes in the expression of these traits, even if they are very different in kind. Here we present evidence for predicted covariation between morphological (sex comb size) and behavioral (courtship song) sexual traits among genetic lines of Drosophila bipectinata Duda extracted from a natural population. There is evidence that both these traits in Drosophila are condition dependent and subject to sexual selection. We detected significant body size--independent differences in comb size among 32 lines. Replicate lines exhibiting relatively high and low values of comb size were then subjected to analyses of courtship song. High sex comb lines exhibited shorter mean burst period and shorter mean burst duration than low sex comb lines. These song differences occurred only during the distant pursuit phase of male courtship and existed despite factoring out individual variations in sex comb size, the trait on the basis of which test lines were originally chosen. The results verify the prediction of an association between condition-dependent secondary sexual traits across genotypes and, therefore, support the existence of an overall genetic quality related to condition acquisition. Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press.
Stochastic Inversion of 2D Magnetotelluric Data Using Pixel-Based Parameterization

We develop a Bayesian model to invert 2D magnetotelluric (MT) data using a pixel-based parameterization, and apply it to an active geothermal field. Although this parameterization is more flexible in representing subsurface resistivity structure than sharp boundary models, it may cause problems for Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) based Bayesian methods because it significantly increases the total number of unknowns, most of which are spatially correlated. The key to success for stochastic approaches is to employ a suitable prior model to represent the spatial dependence and to develop efficient sampling strategies for exploring the joint posterior distribution. In this study, we use a Gaussian Markov random field with an unknown controlling parameter to describe the spatial dependence of the resistivity and use gradient-based algorithms to draw MCMC samples. To shorten the burn-in time, we run multiple chains from the local optimal solution found by Occam inversion methods. The case study results show the developed stochastic method and the sampling strategies are effective for 2D MT inversion. Compared to deterministic inversion methods, such as 2D Occam inversion or 3D Gauss-Newton methods, the stochastic method provides significantly more uncertainty information on the features of interest.
To open or not to open: the causes, timing, and consequences of protectionism

Recent history give us evidence of the different timing and results of the opening up of several economies. When and why do governments open up their economies, and why do domestic firms survive or not to the opening up of the economy? This paper presents a game theoretic model that seeks to answer these questions. Our findings show that depending on the degree of impatience of the government and domestic firms, the costs of adopting new technologies including the legal and political costs, the gap between the old and the new technologies in terms of production costs, and the expectations of the agents, the economies will open at the outset, provoking widespread bankruptcies; will remain closed; or will open only when domestic firms are able to compete with ther foreign counterparts. In contrast with the literature on these issues, this model shows that temporary protection may be effective to induce domestic firms to modernize and become internationally competitive. All the strategies found are subgame perfect Nash equilibrium and pass the renegotiation proof criterium.
Mechanics of Formation of Arcuate Mountains Part I

THE FOLDING PROCESS STUDIED IN THE PLAN-ARCUATE STRUCTURE Areal and Morphological Characteristics of Asiatic Ranges Structural Peculiarities of the Arcs Centrifugal versus Centripetal Distribution of the Active Forces Which Produce Mountain Arcs Deductions concerning the Relative Age of Asiatic Arcs The Ocean Basins the Loci of Dispersion of Tangential Thrusts Form of the Arcs and Their Distribution an Expression of the Space Relations of Continental Pedestal and Ocean Floor THE FOLDING PROCESS STUDIED IN THE PLAN-EXPERIMENTS WITH CONTRACTING FILMS
Editorial : New HIV drugs : 2018 and beyond

DOI:10.1097/COH.0000000000000478 Antiretroviral drugs have revolutionized both the treatment and prevention of HIV infection. The first antiretroviral drug, zidovudine, was approved for treatment in 1987, but associated with only transient virologic, immunologic, and clinical benefits and significant toxicity [1,2]. Three-drug combination antiretroviral therapy, first tested in the mid1990s with two nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) and a protease inhibitor, resulted in potent virologic suppression and profound clinical and survival benefits, but also was associated with significant drug-related toxicities and was cumbersome, requiring taking up to 20 pills divided every 8 h [3–5]. In 2006, the first one-pill once-daily treatment regimen, coformulated with two NRTIs, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and emtricitabine (FTC), and the nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) efavirenz, was approved and became very popular with providers and patients [6]. In 2012, the first antiretroviral drugs for prevention, coformulated TDF/FTC, on the basis of phase three studies [7–9], were approved for preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in HIV-uninfected individuals at high risk for infection. Today, there are 31 antiretroviral drugs approved for the treatment of HIV infection, including at least eight one-pill, once-daily coformulated regimens. Current antiretroviral drug-treatment regimens are potent, generally well tolerated and convenient. Today’s treatment regimens are associated with virologic suppression rates exceeding 80% both in developed and developing countries, and result in extension of the life expectancy for people living with HIV on antiretroviral treatment to that of the general population [10–12]. The single approved PrEP regimen, TDF/FTC, is associated with reductions in HIV acquisition exceeding 85% [13,14] and preliminary data suggests an association with declines in new HIV infection rates on a population basis [15]. With all of these notable advances, do we need additional antiretroviral drugs for HIV treatment and prevention? In this issue of Current Opinion in HIV and AIDS, we review new HIV drugs for treatment and for prevention, both in existing mechanistic classes and in new mechanistic classes. New drugs for HIV treatment and prevention address
Modulation of Hippocampal Excitability and Seizures by Galanin

Previous studies have shown that the expression of the neuropeptide galanin in the hippocampus is altered by seizures and that exogenous administration of galanin into the hippocampus attenuates seizure severity. To address the role of endogenous galanin in modulation of hippocampal excitability and its possible role in seizure mechanisms, we studied two types of transgenic mice: mice with a targeted disruption of the galanin gene (GalKO) and mice that overexpress the galanin gene under a dopamine-β-hydroxylase promoter (GalOE). GalKO mice showed increased propensity to develop status epilepticus after perforant path stimulation or systemic kainic acid, as well as greater severity of pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsions. By contrast, GalOE mice had increased resistance to seizure induction in all three models. Physiological tests of hippocampal excitability revealed enhanced perforant path–dentate gyrus long-term potentiation (LTP) in GalKO and reduced LTP in GalOE. GalKO showed increased duration of afterdischarge (AD) evoked from the dentate gyrus by perforant path simulation, whereas GalOE had increased threshold for AD induction. Depolarization-induced glutamate release from hippocampal slices was greater in GalKO and lower in GalOE, suggesting that alterations of physiological and seizure responses in galanin transgenic animals may be mediated through modulation of glutamate release. Our data provide further evidence that hippocampal galanin acts as an endogenous anticonvulsant and suggest that genetically induced changes in galanin expression modulate both hippocampal excitability and predisposition to epileptic seizures.