Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
GIS-based sustainable city compactness assessment using integration of MCDM, Bayes theorem and RADAR technology

In recent decades, compact urban development and smart cities are recognised as most sustainable urban form in an effort to protect natural environment. Therefore, evaluation of existing compactness and sustainability of an area is an essential task before the real development takes place. In the literature, it is possible to see some studies on city’s compactness assessment and most of them have considered only a few aspects of compact development analysis. This paper aims to analyse urban sustainability of Kajang city (Malaysia) through a comprehensive city compactness assessment using geographical information system and radar remote sensing technology. To measure building density, a RADAR image of the study area was used to extract built-up areas with the aid of pixel-based and object-based classification schemes. Mixed land use development, urban density and intensity were the main indicators of the analysis. Finally, multicriteria decision-making and Bayes theorems were applied for overall compactness assessment. Building density analysis was validated using standard confusion matrix, which showed more than 90% accuracy. Similarly, the root-mean squared error showed 0.35 for object-based classification. The results classified the zones of the Kajang city in the range of least to most compact zones with the compactness value of 0.00273–0.0146, respectively. The results obtained in this study can help local government to improve the compactness of least compact zones to make Kajang city more sustainable. Furthermore, the results revealed that efficient public transportation and proper community facilities are the key factors to achieve sustainable urban development.
Performance of a Geobag Revetment. I: Quasi-Physical Modeling

AbstractIn recent years, sand-filled geotextile bags (geobags) have become a popular means of long-term riverbank protection. However, the associated failure mechanisms of geobag revetments are still not well understood. Three interactions influence geobag performance, namely, geobag–geobag, geobag–water flow, and geobag–water flow–riverbank interactions. To enhance the fundamental understanding of the performance of geobags in a revetment, a laboratory experimental program has been undertaken using both a fixed bed and a mobile sediment bed. In the experimental study, 600 bags were used to construct geobag revetments, and failure modes were observed for these two bed configurations. In general, there were some common trends for both bed configurations (i.e., uplifting, turbulent bursting–induced flow through the revetment voids, overtopping, pulling out, and/or internal sliding), but in the mobile bed case, toe scouring had a significant negative influence on geobag performance. To extend the laboratory .
Mantle-driven deformation of orogenic zones and clutch tectonics

Abstract Compatible deformation between the upper crust and upper mantle is documented for a variety of ancient and neotectonic settings, suggesting that these lithospheric layers are coupled. Areas of neotectonic deformation are also characterized by high seismic attenuation, indicating that the uppermost mantle is rheologically weak and flowing in these regions. The flow of the mantle, both lithospheric and asthenospheric, potentially drives deformation in continental orogenic zones. Three-dimensional models, controlled by bottom-driven mantle flow, are proposed for obliquely convergent, transcurrent and obliquely divergent plate margins. Our analysis indicates that the absolute, and not just relative, plate motions play a critical role in the orogenic cycle.
Glacial conditioning as an erosional driving force in the Central Alps

Unparalleled data availability in the European Alps has led to an ongoing debate about the driving mechanism behind the concurrent patterns of surface denudation and modern rock uplift. Analysis of stream channels reveals that oversteepened stream segments are primarily located in landscapes with strong glacial inheritance. This leads to a transient signal in the landscape, with the result that erosion is spatially focused by a combination of glacial conditioning and lithologic controls. We postulate that the effect of glacial forcing is a positive feedback cycle between erosion and rock uplift, driving rapid rates of both in the Alpine landscape. This mechanism may explain the observed increases in sediment flux since the late Pliocene.
From submarine continental accretion to arc-continent orogenic evolution: The thermal record in southern Taiwan

Constraining the timing of initial collision is critical for understanding how long-term plate convergence is accommodated at collisional plate boundaries. Reevaluation of the age of collision from orogenic thermal evolution requires distinguishing the onset of submarine continental accretion from earlier oceanic subduction and subsequent subaerial orogenic evolution. We present new thermochronological constraints from the first age-elevation relationship transect in Taiwan and zircon and apatite fission-track ages from sediments in the western foreland. Our data reveal the onset of cooling from at least 7.1 ± 1.3 Ma, at a minimum rate of 21 °C/m.y. , in the submarine sedimentary wedge followed by a marked acceleration of subaerial exhumation after ca. 3.2 ± 0.6 Ma at an average rate of 1.7 km/m.y. Our data reflect the effect of margin architecture as Taiwan evolved from submarine accretion of the distal extremely thinned continental margin to crustal thickening of the proximal margin and orogenic development.
On the Dynamics of Plate Tectonics: Multiple Solutions, the Influence of Water, and Thermal Evolution

An analytic boundary layer model for thermal convection with a finite-strength plate and depth-dependent viscosity is developed. The model includes a specific energy balance for the lithosphere and accounts for coupling between the plate and underlying mantle. Multiple solutions are possible with three solution branches representing three distinct modes of thermal convection. One branch corresponds to the classic boundary layer solution for active lid plate tectonics while two new branches represent solutions for sluggish lid convection. The model is compared to numerical simulations with highly temperature dependent viscosity and is able to predict both the type of convection (active, sluggish, or stagnant lid) as well as the presence of single and multiple solution regimes. The existence of multiple solutions suggests that the mode of planetary convection may be history dependent. The dependence of mantle viscosity on temperature and water concentration is found to introduce a strong dynamic feedback with plate tectonics. A dimensionless parameter is defined to quantitatively evaluate the relative strength of this feedback and demonstrates that water and heat transport may be equally important in controlling present-day platemantle dynamics for the Earth. A simple parameterized evolution model illustrates the feedback and agrees well with our analytic results. This suggests that a simple relationship may exist between the rate of change of water concentration and the rate of change of temperature in the mantle. This study concludes by investigating the possibility of a magnetic field dynamo in early solar system planetesimals. The thermal evolution of planetesimals is modeled by considering melting, core formation, and the onset of mantle convection and then employing thermal boundary layer theory for stagnant lid convection (if possible) to determine the
Functional Analysis of an Arabidopsis Transcription Factor, Dreb2a, Involved in Drought-responsive Gene Expression

Transcription factors DREB1A/CBF3 and DREB2A specifically interact with cis-acting dehydration-responsive element/ C-repeat (DRE/CRT) involved in cold and drought stress–responsive gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana. Intact DREB2A expression does not activate downstream genes under normal growth conditions, suggesting that DREB2A requires posttranslational modification for activation, but the activation mechanism has not been clarified. DREB2A domain analysis using Arabidopsis protoplasts identified a transcriptional activation domain between residues 254 and 335, and deletion of a region between residues 136 and 165 transforms DREB2A to a constitutive active form. Overexpression of constitutive active DREB2A resulted in significant drought stress tolerance but only slight freezing tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Microarray and RNA gel blot analyses revealed that DREB2A regulates expression of many water stress– inducible genes. However, some genes downstream of DREB2A are not downstream of DREB1A, which also recognizes DRE/CRT but functions in cold stress–responsive gene expression. Synthetic green fluorescent protein gave a strong signal in the nucleus under unstressed control conditions when fused to constitutive active DREB2A but only a weak signal when fused to full-length DREB2A. The region between DREB2A residues 136 and 165 plays a role in the stability of this protein in the nucleus, which is important for protein activation.
Weight Gain During Pregnancy

As women of childbearing age have become heavier, the trade-off between maternal and child health created by variation in gestational weight gain has become more difficult to reconcile. Weight Gain During Pregnancy responds to the need for a reexamination of the 1990 Institute of Medicine guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy. It builds on the conceptual framework that underscored the 1990 weight gain guidelines and addresses the need to update them through a comprehensive review of the literature and independent analyses of existing databases. The book explores relationships between weight gain during pregnancy and a variety of factors (e.g., the mother's weight and height before pregnancy) and places this in the context of the health of the infant and the mother, presenting specific, updated target ranges for weight gain during pregnancy and guidelines for proper measurement. New features of this book include a specific range of recommended gain for obese women. Weight Gain During Pregnancy is intended to assist practitioners who care for women of childbearing age, policy makers, educators, researchers, and the pregnant women themselves to understand the role of gestational weight gain and to provide them with the tools needed to promote optimal pregnancy outcomes.
Energetics of Core Formation

The loss of gravitational energy on core formation is calculated for the case of simple unmixing of two components, whose equations of state are found from the present density distribution. Without allowance for thermal expansion, the mean energy available for heating is 600 cal/g; with an approximate allowance for thermal expansion, this is reduced to 400 cal/g, which is equivalent to a mean rise of temperature of about 1600°. The moment of inertia of the undifferentiated earth is found to be about 10% greater than that of the present state, for the spherical model.
Pollen and charcoal in lake sediments compared with historically documented forest fires in southern Switzerland since AD 1920

Charcoal in unlaminated sediments dated by 210Pb was analysed by the pollen-slide and thin-section methods. The results were compared with the number and area of forest fires on different spatial scales in the area around Lago di Origlio as listed in the wildfire database of southern Switzerland since AD 1920. The influx of the number of charcoal particles > 75 µm2 in pollen slides correlates well with the number of annual forest fires recorded within a distance of 20-50 km from the coring site. Hence a size-class distinction or an area measurement by image analysis may not be absolutely necessary for the reconstruction of regional fire history. A regression equation was computed and tested against an independent data set. Its use makes it possible to estimate the charcoal area influx (or concentration) from the particle number influx (or concentration). Local fires within a radius of 2 km around the coring site correlate well with the area influx of charcoal particles estimated by the thin-section method measuring the area of charcoal particles larger than 20 000 µm2 or longer than 50 µm. Pollen percentages and influx values suggest that intensive agriculture and Castanea sativa cultivation were reduced 30-40 years ago, followed by an increase of forest area and a development to more natural woodlands. The traditional Castanea sativa cultivation was characterized by a complete use of the biomass produced, so abandonment of chestnut led to an increasing accumulation of dead biomass, thereby raising the fire risk. On the other hand, the pollen record of the regional vegetation does not show any clear response to the increase of fire frequency during the last three decades in this area.
Neurobiology of Addiction

1. What is Addiction. 2. Animal Models of Drug Addiction. 3. Psychostimulants. 4. Opioids. 5. Alcohol. 6. Nicotine. 7. Cannabinoids. 8. Imaging. 9. Neurobiological Theories of Addiction. 10. Drug Addiction: Transition from Neuroadaptation to Pathophysiology.
Retrieval of coccolithophore calcite concentration from SeaWiFS Imagery

We examined blooms of the coccolithophorid E. huxleyi, observed in SeaWiFS imagery, with a new algorithm for the retrieval of detached coccolith concentration. The algorithm uses only SeaWiFS bands in the red and near infrared (NIR) to minimize the influence of the absorption by chlorophyll and dissolved organic material. We used published experimental determinations of the calcite specific backscattering and its spectral dependence, and assumed that the absorption coefficient of the medium was that of pure water, to estimate the marine contribution to the SeaWiFS radiance. The aerosol (and Rayleigh‐aerosol interaction) contribution to the radiance was modeled as an exponential function of wavelength. These allow derivation of the coccolith concentration on a pixel‐by‐pixel basis from SeaWiFS imagery. Application to a July 30, 1999 SeaWiFS image of a bloom south of Plymouth, UK indicates that the SeaWiFS estimates are in good agreement with surface measurements of coccolith concentration.
Climate change at the 4.2 ka BP termination of the Indus valley civilization and Holocene south Asian monsoon variability

Planktonic oxygen isotope ratios off the Indus delta reveal climate changes with a multi‐centennial pacing during the last 6 ka, with the most prominent change recorded at 4.2 ka BP. Opposing isotopic trends across the northern Arabian Sea surface at that time indicate a reduction in Indus river discharge and suggest that later cycles also reflect variations in total annual rainfall over south Asia. The 4.2 ka event is coherent with the termination of urban Harappan civilization in the Indus valley. Thus, drought may have initiated southeastward habitat tracking within the Harappan cultural domain. The late Holocene drought cycles following the 4.2 ka BP event vary between 200 and 800 years and are coherent with the evolution of cosmogenic 14C production rates. This suggests that solar variability is one fundamental cause behind Holocene rainfall changes over south Asia.
A simple model of mixing in stratified tidal flows

We use a simple model of vertical mixing in a stratified tidal flow to study flows that might be observed in shallow estuaries. In the model, flow is driven by a specified surface pressure gradient due to barotropic tidal motions. The model incorporates two means for accomplishing vertical mixing: (1) shear instability and (2) bottom mixed-layer deepening by turbulence produced at the estuary bottom and in the shear layer at the top of the mixed layer. We discuss model results that show how the combined action of shear instability and tidal “stirring” accomplishes vertical mixing. The interaction between the instabilities that develop because of the substantial tidal timescale velocity shear caused by stratification is the key feature of mixing. Shear instability weakens the stability of the mixed layer, allowing stirring to efficiently entrain lighter fluid into the mixed layer. The importance of shear is found to depend on the stability of the water column and on the relative importance of frictional forces.
Estimating above-ground biomasss using lidar remote sensing

Previous forest research using time-of-flight lidar suggests that there exists some quantile of the distribution of laser canopy heights that could provide an estimate of various forest biophysical properties. The results presented here not only support this theory, but also extend it by suggesting that a quantile of the distribution of all laser heights could provide estimates of aboveground biomass for forests with similar stand structure. Tolerant northern hardwood forests, composed predominantly of mature sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis Britton), were surveyed using an ALTM 1225 (Optech Inc.) in August 2000. Field data for 49 circular plots, each 400 m2 in area, were collected in July 2000. Using site-specific allometric equations, total aboveground biomass and biomass components (i.e., stem wood, stem bark, live branches, and foliage) were derived for each plot. Three laser height metrics were derived from the lidar data: (i) maximum laser height; (ii) mean laser height; and (iii) mean laser height calculated from lidar returns filtered based on a threshold applied to the intensity return data LhIR). LhIR was identified as the best predictor of total aboveground biomass (R2 = 0.85) and biomass components (R2 between 0.84 to 0.85) when all plot types were considered.
Climate Change and Hydropower Challenges In Southern Africa

The purpose of this study is to address climate change impacts that challenge hydropower production and distribution in southern Africa. Change in temperature and precipitations due to climate change will affect rivers catchments runoff as well as hydropower dams and transmission lines in southern Africa. Evidences of these changes are being experienced on hydropower line failure in a few parts of the sub region. Since hydropower constitutes a clean and reliable energy, Africa has an imperious obligation to maximize its production and distribution in order to satisfy the increasing demand, and therefore meet the millennium development goals. Data and information from previous works undertaken on this topic have been compiled. Analysis and discussion of available information have been carried out through environmental perspective and scientific knowledge underpinning climate change and its impacts on the global geosphere and biosphere. Although increase in precipitations could be profitable to hydropower by more running water availability, extreme events including flood, siltration and strong winds, coupled with flashover (effect due to high concentration of air pollutants in ambient air), could raise the probability to see hydropower system being dramatically affected. The lowering of catchment capacity due to a large amount of sediments accumulation and the decline in energy generation by lack of sufficient water runoff are foreseeable problems. Thus a quick move towards adaptation measures as well as their effective implementation would constitute a significant benchmark for the maximization of hydropower generation capacity and consequently satisfying the ever growing energy demand for sustainable economic development in southern Africa.
BRAF-MEK Inhibition in Newly Diagnosed Papillary Craniopharyngiomas.

BACKGROUND Craniopharyngiomas, primary brain tumors of the pituitary-hypothalamic axis, can cause clinically significant sequelae. Treatment with the use of surgery, radiation, or both is often associated with substantial morbidity related to vision loss, neuroendocrine dysfunction, and memory loss. Genotyping has shown that more than 90% of papillary craniopharyngiomas carry BRAF V600E mutations, but data are lacking with regard to the safety and efficacy of BRAF-MEK inhibition in patients with papillary craniopharyngiomas who have not undergone previous radiation therapy. METHODS Eligible patients who had papillary craniopharyngiomas that tested positive for BRAF mutations, had not undergone radiation therapy previously, and had measurable disease received the BRAF-MEK inhibitor combination vemurafenib-cobimetinib in 28-day cycles. The primary end point of this single-group, phase 2 study was objective response at 4 months as determined with the use of centrally determined volumetric data. RESULTS Of the 16 patients in the study, 15 (94%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 70 to 100) had a durable objective partial response or better to therapy. The median reduction in the volume of the tumor was 91% (range, 68 to 99). The median follow-up was 22 months (95% CI, 19 to 30) and the median number of treatment cycles was 8. Progression-free survival was 87% (95% CI, 57 to 98) at 12 months and 58% (95% CI, 10 to 89) at 24 months. Three patients had disease progression during follow-up after therapy had been discontinued; none have died. The sole patient who did not have a response stopped treatment after 8 days owing to toxic effects. Grade 3 adverse events that were at least possibly related to treatment occurred in 12 patients, including rash in 6 patients. In 2 patients, grade 4 adverse events (hyperglycemia in 1 patient and increased creatine kinase levels in 1 patient) were reported; 3 patients discontinued treatment owing to adverse events. CONCLUSIONS In this small, single-group study involving patients with papillary craniopharyngiomas, 15 of 16 patients had a partial response or better to the BRAF-MEK inhibitor combination vemurafenib-cobimetinib. (Funded by the National Cancer Institute and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03224767.).
Pan the Tool-Maker: Investigations into the Stone Tool-Making and Tool-Using Capabilities of a Bonobo (Pan paniscus)

Beginning in May 1990, a long-term collaborative investigation between palaeolithic archaeologists and cognitive psychologists has focused upon the stone tool-making and tool-using abilities of a captive bonobo (Pan paniscus). To date, this bonobo (named Kanzi) has acquired the basic skills required to produce usable flakes and fragments by hard-hammer percussion (as well as by his own innovation of throwing), although his skills in flaking stone are not yet as well developed as those exhibited by the earliest known tool-making hominids of the Oldowan industry. This research strategy allows direct comparisons and contrasts to be made between the products of modern human stone tool-makers, prehistoric proto-human tool-makers and non-human primates that have not evolved a flaked stone technology in the wild. This enables us to investigate what possible cognitive and biomechanical conditions of pre-adaptation for lithic technology may be present in extant apes. The bonobo's stone tool-making abilities are compared to those evident among early hominids in order to understand the complexities of this derived behaviour pattern in the earliest stone tool-makers. The possible evolutionary implications of this study are discussed.