Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Economics of Nitrogen Use in Cereal Systems in South and East Asia

A literature survey and focused interviews with experienced agronomists and socio-economists from south, east, and southeast Asian countries were conducted to determine physical and economic relationships of cereal yields and N use, using partial factor productivity (PFP) and nitrogen (N) response functions, while considering the impacts of (N) and crop grain prices. The data were drawn from FAOSTAT, World Bank, and survey results from those countries. Rice has the greatest PFP-N (70 kg grain kg -1 N), wheat a moderate (57 kg grain kg -1 N), and maize the lowest PFP-N (52 kg grain kg -1 N) at current application levels. At potential optimal N use rates, estimates for PFP-N were 26 kg grain kg -1 N for maize, 25 kg for rice and 16 kg for wheat. Assuming a constant average PFP-N (30 kg grain kg -1 N) for these cereals, it is estimated that 13 Mt N would be needed to meet a projected food demand by 2020 assuming no use of other additional inputs. Assuming a 20% increase in nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) to 36 kg grain kg -1 N, 10.6 Mt would be needed to meet the food demand, implying an annual growth rate in N use of 1.25%. It is concluded that economically optimal N rates are relatively insensitive to changes in prices of N and cereal grain. Key interventions to improve sustainable food security include increasing N fertilizer use, improving NUE, and reducing environmental impacts.
Entrainment and Diffusion in a Gulf Stream Cyclonic Ring

Abstract The mixing and entrainment processes present in a cyclonic ring are investigated by means of a parametric model which is fitted to serial temperature data for a North Atlantic ring. The physical model assumes an axially symmetric ring in which the temperature is presumed to be governed bywhere KA and KZ are the horizontal and vertical eddy diffusivity coefficients and J(ψT) is the (r,z) Jacobian of the transverse streamfunction ψ and the temperature T. Data from two cruises during the 1967 observation of a ring by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution provided estimates of the derivatives of the temperature. Regression analysis was used to determine the coefficients for polynomial representations of ψ(r,z) for selected combinations of Kh and Kz. The study indicates upper bounds on the order of magnitude for the diffusivities (Kh,Kz)=(105,10) cm2 s−1 based upon near-minimum least-squares error estimates from the regression analysis. An important result is that little differentiation exists betw.
Hybrid Broadband Ground-Motion Simulation Using Scattering Green's Functions: Application to Large-Magnitude Events

We calculate near-source broadband (0-10 Hz) seismograms by combin- ing low-frequency three-dimensional (3D) finite-difference seismograms (0-0.5 Hz) computed in a 3D velocity model using site-specific scattering Green's functions for random, isotropic scattering media. The scattering Green's functions are convolved with a slip-rate function to form local scattering operators (scatterograms), which constitute the high-frequency scattered wave field. The low-frequency and high- frequency scatterograms are then combined in the frequency domain to generate broadband waveforms. Our broadband method extends the Mai et al. (2010) approach by incorporating dynamically consistent source-time functions and account- ing for finite-fault effects in the computation of the high-frequency waveforms. We used the proposed method to generate broadband ground motions at 44 sites located 5-100 km from the fault, for Mw 7.7 earthquake scenarios (TeraShake) on the south- ern San Andreas fault, which include north-to-south, south-to-north, and bilateral rupture propagation from kinematic and spontaneous dynamic rupture models. The broadband ground motions computed with the new method are validated by com- paring peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, and spectral acceleration with recently proposed ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs). Our simulated ground motions are consistent with the median ground motions predicted by the GMPEs. In addition, we examine overturning probabilities for 18 precariously balanced rock sites (PBR). Our broadband synthetics for the Mw 7.7 TeraShake sce- narios show no preferred rupture direction on the southern San Andreas fault but are inconsistent with the existence of PBRs at several of the sites analyzed.
Impacts of External Forcing on the Decadal Climate Variability in CMIP5 Simulations

AbstractDecadal climate variability is usually regarded as an internal variability in the climate system. However, using the coupled simulations from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), it is demonstrated that the external radiative forcing plays an important role in modulating decadal variability of the global mean surface air temperature (SAT). In historical runs, the standard deviations of the global mean SAT exhibit robust increases relative to preindustrial runs, indicating that external forcing acts on decadal variability of the global mean SAT through enhancing amplitude and modulating phase. By comparing model results using different external forcing agents, it is found that the natural forcing agent has the strongest impact on the decadal time scale. Every type of simulation (i.e., the preindustrial, historical, natural forcing, and anthropogenic forcing runs) from almost all the CMIP5 models exhibits a high correlation between the net shortwave (SW) radiative flux at th.
Catastrophic ice-shelf break-up by an ice-shelf-fragment-capsize mechanism

Abstract Two disintegration events leading to the loss of Larsen A and B ice shelves, Antarctic Peninsula, in 1995 and 2002, respectively, proceeded with extreme rapidity (order of several days) and reduced an extensive, seemingly integrated ice shelf to ajumble of small fragments. These events strongly correlate with warming regional climate and accumulation of surface meltwater, supporting a hypothesis that meltwater-induced propagation of pre-existing surface crevasses may have initiated ice-shelf fragmentation.We address here an additional, subsequent mechanism that may sustain and accelerate the ice-shelf break-up once it begins. The proposed mechanism involves the coherent capsize of narrow (less than thickness) ice-shelf fragments by rolling 90° in a direction toward, or away from, the ice front. Fragment capsize liberates gravitational potential energy, forces open ice-shelf rifts and contributes to further fragmentation of the surrounding ice shelf.
Flood Inundation Mapping of Thamiraparani River Basin Using HEC-Geo RAS and SWAT

Extreme events like floods and droughts are of concern for any country in the context of the damage caused to life as well as property. This situation calls for adequate management measures such as flood plain mapping, in order to minimize the extent of damage. ASTER(Advance Space Borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) DEM(Digital Elevation Model) along with gridded precipitation, temperature, land use and soils data used for the basin. A distributed hydrologic model, SWAT(Soil and Water Assessment Tool) was used to quantify the land management practices in watershed. Log Pearson Type-III distribution was used to find the flow magnitudes correspond to various recurrence intervals. Flood is a spatial phenomenon, which could be best presented using a geospatial tool like GIS(Geographic Information System). In order to determine the extent of inundation, a 1-D model, HEC-RAS(Hydraulic Engineering Center-River Analysis System) was used. HECGeoRAS with Arc GIS was used for creating maps of flood inundation depth and extent. Therefore, this study demonstrated the usefulness of these models as exploratory tools for identifying critical sections of the reach for detailed analysis. KeywordsFlood Inundation map; Frequency analysis; Hydraulic modeling; Hydrologic model
National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines for use of tumor markers in clinical practice: quality requirements.

BACKGROUND This report presents updated National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines summarizing quality requirements for the use of tumor markers. METHODS One subcommittee developed guidelines for analytical quality relevant to serum and tissue-based tumor markers in current clinical practice. Two other subcommittees formulated recommendations particularly relevant to the developing technologies of microarrays and mass spectrometry. RESULTS Prerequisites for optimal use of tumor markers in routine practice include formulation of the correct clinical questions to ensure selection of the appropriate test, adherence to good clinical and laboratory practices (e.g., minimization of the risk of incorrect patient and/or specimen identification, tube type, or timing), use of internationally standardized and well-characterized methods, careful adherence to manufacturer instructions, and proactive and timely reactions to information derived from both internal QC and proficiency-testing specimens. Highly desirable procedures include those designed to minimize the risk of the reporting of erroneous results attributable to interferences such as heterophilic antibodies or hook effects, to facilitate the provision of informative clinical reports (e.g., cumulative and/or graphical reports, appropriately derived reference intervals, and interpretative comments), and when possible to integrate these reports with other patient information through electronic health records. Also mandatory is extensive validation encompassing all stages of analysis before introduction of new technologies such as microarrays and mass spectrometry. Provision of high-quality tumor marker services is facilitated by dialogue involving researchers, diagnostic companies, clinical and laboratory users, and regulatory agencies. CONCLUSIONS Implementation of these recommendations, adapted to local practice, should encourage optimization of the clinical use of tumor markers.
Seismotectonic Regionalization of the Great Basin, and Comparison of Moment Rates Computed from Holocene Strain and Historic Seismicity

A seismotectonic regionalization of the Great Basin and adjacent parts of the Basin and Range Province, forming six zones, is developed on the basis of generalized late Cenozoic patterns of deformation, relative Holocene strain rates, and historic seismicity. Belts of strike-slip movement are found to be significant in that they separate zones of differing strain rate, style of deformation, and historic seismicity. Within these zones, however, the distribution of historic seismicity may not represent that of Holocene or Quaternary time. Moment rates are computed from both Holocene strain rates and magnitude-frequency parameters of historic seismicity for each of the zones. Although the correlation of these moment rates is quite good, the average (geometric) ratio of Holocene to historic moment rates may be about a factor of two. If Holocene aseismic strain release is insignificant, then we might conclude that seismicity in Holocene time is approximately double that of historic time, averaged over the entire Great Basin. Alternatively, it is possible that Holocene strain has been generally overestimated or that much of it has been aseismic.
Efficient Methods for Continuous and Discrete Shape Analysis

When interpreting an image of a given object, humans are able to abstract from the presented color information in order to really see the presented object. This abstraction is also known as shape. The concept of shape is not defined exactly in Computer Vision and in this work, we use three different forms of these definitions in order to acquire and analyze shapes. This work is devoted to improve the efficiency of methods that solve important applications of shape analysis. The most important problem in order to analyze shapes is the problem of shape acquisition. To simplify this very challenging problem, numerous researchers have incorporated prior knowledge into the acquisition of shapes. We will present the first approach to acquire shapes given a certain shape knowledge that computes always the global minimum of the involved functional which incorporates a Mumford-Shah like functional with a certain class of shape priors including statistic shape prior and dynamical shape prior. In order to analyze shapes, it is not only important to acquire shapes, but also to classify shapes. In this work, we follow the concept of defining a distance function that measures the dissimilarity of two given shapes. There are two different ways of obtaining such a distance function that we address in this work. Firstly, we model the set of all shapes as a metric space induced by the shortest path on an orbifold. The shortest path will provide us with a shape morphing, i.e., a continuous transformation from one shape into another. Secondly, we address the problem of shape matching that finds corresponding points on two shapes with respect to a preselected feature. Our main contribution for the problem of shape morphing lies in the immense acceleration of the morphing computation. Instead of solving partial resp. ordinary differential equations, we are able to solve this problem via a gradient descent approach that subsequently shortens the length of a path on the given manifold. During our run-time test, we observed a run-time acceleration of up to a factor of 1000. Shape matching is a classical discrete problem. If each shape is discretized by N shape points, most Computer Vision methods needed a cubic run-time. We will provide two approaches how to reduce this worst-case complexity to O(N 2 log(N)). One approach exploits the planarity of the involved graph in order to efficiently compute N shortest path in a graph of O(N 2) …
Dipping San Andreas and Hayward faults revealed beneath San Francisco Bay

The San Francisco Bay area is crossed by several right-lateral strike-slip faults of the San Andreas fault zone. Fault-plane reflections reveal that two of these faults, the San Andreas and Hayward, dip toward each other below seismogenic depths at 60° and 70°, respectively, and persist to the base of the crust. Previously, a horizontal detachment linking the two faults in the lower crust beneath San Francisco Bay was proposed. The only near-vertical-incidence reflection data available prior to the most recent experiment in 1997 were recorded parallel to the major fault structures. When the new reflection data recorded orthogonal to the faults are compared with the older data, the highest amplitude reflections show clear variations in moveout with recording azimuth. In addition, reflection times consistently increase with distance from the faults. If the reflectors were horizontal, reflection moveout would be independent of azimuth, and reflection times would be independent of distance from the faults. The best-fit solution from three-dimensional traveltime modeling is a pair of high-angle dipping surfaces. The close correspondence of these dipping structures with the San Andreas and Hayward faults leads us to conclude that they are the faults beneath seismogenic depths. If the faults retain their observed dips, they would converge into a single zone in the upper mantle ~45 km beneath the surface, although we can only observe them in the crust.
Photochemical oxidant formation over southern Switzerland: 2. Model results

Measurements of photooxidants made during summer 1994 in the southern part of Switzerland are compared with results of a one-dimensional Lagrangian model. The agreement between modeled and measured ozone concentrations is good. Concentrations of highly soluble species such as H2O2 and HNO3 are overestimated by the model. The model underestimates concentrations of isoprene, HCHO, and HONO. The impact of this discrepancy on the question of NOx versus VOC limitation of the ozone production is discussed. According to the model, reduction of the NOx emissions is more effective in reducing O3 than reduction of the VOC emissions for a large fraction of the area under investigation. This finding is in accordance with what we concluded from the data. The southern part of Switzerland is often impacted by a plume originating from Milan, which leads to additional ozone at the measuring site. We used the model to simulate the influence of this plume on the chemical regime. The plume emissions are picked up by the model at two different times. Both cases deliver the same concentrations for the end point of the calculations. If the emissions are picked up early in the morning, the ozone production becomes VOC sensitive for a few hours before switching back to being NOx sensitive. If the emissions are picked up later, the O3 production stays NOx sensitive all the time. Forcing the model to reproduce measured concentrations of HONO and isoprene shifts the O3 production toward being more NOx sensitive.
UDEC simulation of Triaxial Testing of Lithophysal Tuff

The current conceptual design for the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain Nevada includes placing most of the facility in lithophysal Tuff. Because it is difficult to conduct standard confined triaxial laboratory tests on lithophysal tuff, it was decided to use UDEC to conduct numerical triaxial testing of simulated lithophysal tuff samples to supplement existing uniaxial compression data. The results of these numerical experiments are intended to provide guidance on the variability of physical properties as a function of lithophysal porosity. These data can then be used as a basis for large scale modeling of the behavior of the repository drifts. The results of the numerical testing were encouraging and show consistent trends in tuff strength and overall performance as a function of lithophysal porosity.
Pressure Compartments in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana, as Determined from Drill-Stem Test Data

Drill-stem test (DST) pressures from oil and gas wells were analyzed in an attempt to determine the existence of pressure compartments in the Powder River basin. DST data for the entire basin were first sorted by geologic unit for the Mesaverde Formation (984 data values), Sussex Formation (1041 data values), Frontier Formation (821 data values), Muddy Formation (3888 data values), Dakota Formation (1157 data values), and Minnelusa Formation (4470 data values). Initial and final shut-in pressures (ISIP and FSIP) were graphed versus each other and versus depth and elevation to display functional relationships. Potentiometric surfaces were then constructed using the maximum of the ISIP and FSIP. The pressure-elevation plots and potentiometric surfaces clearly show the existence of anomalously pressured zones in the Frontier, Muddy, and Dakota formations. The anomalously pressured zones as determined from the potentiometric surfaces are discrete areas on the scale of individual oil fields. The boundaries of the anomalously pressured areas as shown on the potentiometric surfaces are characterized by steep hydraulic head gradients of up to 12,000 ft (3600 m) of head difference across small horizontal distances of less than 1 mile. These gradients are interpreted as discontinuities in the fluid-flow regime of the Powder River basin. The internal shape of the anomalies is difficult to determine because data are sparse. However, piecewise continuous least-squares analyses indicate that many of the anomalies contain a nearly horizontal internal potentiometric surface. Given the discontinuous nature of the constructed potentiometric surfaces and the shape of the pressure anomalies, we conclude that oil-field-size pressure compartments exist in the Powder River basin in the Frontier, Muddy, and Dakota formations.
Evidence supporting the existence of presynaptic alpha-adrenoceptors in the regulation of endogenous noradrenaline release upon hepatic sympathetic nerve stimulation in the dog liver in vivo.

The existence and functional significance of presynaptic alpha-adrenoceptors within the liver was investigated in anesthetized dogs. The stimulation-evoked endogenous catecholamine overflow was determined in hepatic venous blood upon hepatic nerve stimulation (12 V, 1-8 Hz, 1 min). Under resting conditions, average plasma catecholamine levels in hepatic venous and aortic blood were 0.064 ng/ml and 0.334 ng/ml, respectively. A frequency-dependent increase (P less than 0.001) was found in the hepatic venous catecholamine overflow, while aortic catecholamine levels did not change significantly at any stimulation frequency tested. The increases in catecholamine overflow were associated with decreases in hepatic arterial vascular conductance (35-66%, P less than 0.001) at all frequencies tested. Yohimbine (0.3 mg/kg, i.v.) potentiated the catecholamine overflow by 110-140% (P less than 0.05) upon stimulation at low frequencies (1-4 Hz). Clonidine (20 micrograms/kg, i.v.) inhibited the catecholamine overflow by 55-76% (P less than 0.05) at frequencies of 1 and 2 Hz, and reduced the hepatic arterial response by 46% (P less than 0.01) at 1 Hz. The pretreatment with yohimbine (0.1 mg/kg, i.v.) abolished the inhibitory effects of clonidine both on the catecholamine overflow and the hepatic arterial responses. The results support the existence of a negative feedback mechanism mediated by presynaptic alpha-adrenoceptors in the local regulation of noradrenaline release from hepatic sympathetic fibers. A functional significance of this process was suggested by an improved correlation found in the presence of clonidine between the catecholamine overflow and the hepatic arterial vascular conductance.
Scaling turbulent dissipation in the thermocline

By comparing observations from six diverse sites in the mid-latitude thermocline, we find that, to within a factor of 2, 〈eIW〉=7×10‐10〈N2/N02〉〈S104/SGM4〉 W kg‐1, where 〈eIW〉 is the average dissipation rate attributable to internal waves; N0 = 0.0052 s−1 is a reference buoyancy frequency; S10 is the observed shear having vertical wavelengths greater than 10 m; and SGM is the corresponding shear in the Garrett and Munk spectrum of internal waves. The functional form agrees with estimates by McComas and Muller and by Henyey, Wright, and Flatte of the rate of energy transfer within the internal wave spectrum, provided the energy density of the internal waves is treated as a variable instead of one of the constant parameters. Following Garrett and Munk, we assume that 〈S104/SGM4〉=〈EIW2/EGM2〉, where EIW is the observed energy density and EGM is the energy density used by Garrett and Munk. The magnitude of eIW is twice that of Henyey et al. and one third that of McComas and Muller. Thus the observations agree with predictions sufficiently well to suggest that (1) a first-order understanding of the link between internal waves and turbulence has been achieved, although Henyey et al. made some ad hoc assumptions and Garrett and Munk's model does not match important features in the internal wave spectrum reported by Pinkel, and (2) the simplest way to obtain average dissipation rates over large space and time scales is to measure 〈N2/N02〉〈S104/SGM4〉. Even though the observations were taken at latitudes of 42°−11.5°, the variability in the Coriolis parameter ƒ was too limited for a conclusive test of the ƒ dependence also predicted for 〈eIW〉 by the wave-wave interaction models. An exception to the scaling occurs east of Barbados in the thermohaline staircase that is apparently formed and maintained by salt fingers. Although e in the staircase is very low compared with rates at mid-latitude sites, it is 8 times larger than predicted for e due only to internal waves.
Conservation genomics of the endangered Seychelles Magpie-Robin (Copsychus sechellarum) a unique insight into the history of a precious endemic bird

The Seychelles Magpie-Robin Copsychus sechellarum is an IUCN Red-List Endangered species endemic to the Seychelles, whose population was reduced to eight individuals on a single island in the 1960s. Translocations from the remaining population to four additional islands have been an integral factor in their recovery, but the potential genetic consequences of their translocation history have not previously been explored. We rese-quenced the genomes of 141 individuals sampled