Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Iridium anomalies and shocked quartz in a Late Archean spherule layer from the Pilbara craton: New evidence for a major asteroid impact at 2.63 Ga

A thin (1‐5 mm) spherule layer in ca. 2.63 Ga shale from the Jeerinah Formation (Pilbara craton, northwestern Australia) has been identified at two new localities. The layers have Ir concentrations as high as 15.5 ppb, significantly higher than the surrounding carbonaceous shale (,1.5 ppb). The sand-sized spherules display quench and devitrification textures and are interpreted as former silicate melt droplets that were replaced by K-feldspar, carbonate, and sulfide during diagenesis. In one spherule-layer sample, an angular quartz grain (;100 mm in size) with planar deformation features was found, which represents the oldest known shocked grain in distal ejecta by . 2000 m.y. The survival of shocked quartz in ca. 2.63 Ga rocks, which have undergone multiple metamorphic events, suggests that their absence in other impact ejecta layers may not only be a question of preservation. The presence of shocked quartz and anomalously high Ir contents in a layer containing melt spherules provides compelling evidence for an extraterrestrial impact with a target area that was at least partly silicic, favoring a continental impact site. Estimates based on geochemical data suggest that the spherule layer comprises as much as 2‐3 wt% of a chondritic meteorite component. If proposed correlations with the Carawine (eastern Pilbara craton) and Monteville (South Africa) layers are correct, then the combined ejecta blanket represents fallout from a single major impact with an areal distribution of . 32,000 km 2 , among the largest yet documented in the Precambrian rock record.
Recruitment probabilities and reproductive costs for Weddell seals in Erebus bay, Antarctica

The study of life history traits such as age at first reproduction and the evaluation of recruitment probabilities and reproductive costs allow insight regarding the diverse factors and mechanisms shaping reproductive strategies. We investigated these mechanisms using a 26-year mark-resight dataset for Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) in Erebus Bay, Antarctica. Mean age at first reproduction was 7.62 years of age (SD=1.71), but varied from four to 14 suggesting the presence of important heterogeneity in quality among females. Survival rate was maximized for offspring of age-14 mothers ( =0.70 [ =0.08]), whereas recruitment probability was highest for pups born to youngest-breeding mothers. For example, probability of recruitment at age 7 was an average of 43% lower for seals born to age-14 mothers than for seals born to age-6 mothers. These results suggest the influence of countervailing selection (where favored genotypes for reproductive success are generally those that are selected against as juveniles). Sea-ice extent affected annual recruitment rates, likely due to cascading effects of oceanographic conditions on marine primary productivity and fluctuations in food availability for female Weddell seals. Results from the reproductive cost analysis strongly supported the presence of reproductive costs to survival ( φ ˆ SE φ was 0.91 for breeders versus 0.94 for nonbreeders). Costs to fecundity were present for first-time breeders (mean probability of breeding the next year was 0.20 lower for first-time breeders than for experienced breeders). Females that delayed breeding until later in life experienced highest reproductive costs to fecundity, possibly due to their inferiority relative to other individuals in the population, again suggesting the influence of heterogeneity in individual quality. From these analyses we have gained insight into 1) the extent of within-population variation in important life-history characteristics for a long-lived species, and 2) the sources of this variation and potential linkages with environmental variables. Keys to future research will be 1) explaining variation in individual quality with random effects models or by using mass as an indicator variable, and 2) more detailed exploration of appropriate climate and sea-ice indices to elucidate linkages between this top trophic level predator and variation in the Antarctic marine environment.
Effect of elevated pCO2 on photosynthesis and calcification of corals and interactions with seasonal change in temperature/irradiance and nutrient enrichment

[1] An investigation was conducted to determine the effects of elevated pCO2 on the net production and calcification of an assemblage of corals maintained under near-natural conditions of temperature, light, nutrient, and flow. Experiments were performed in summer and winter to explore possible interactions between seasonal change in temperature and irradiance and the effect of elevated pCO2. Particular attention was paid to interactions between net production and calcification because these two processes are thought to compete for the same internal supply of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). A nutrient enrichment experiment was performed because it has been shown to induce a competitive interaction between photosynthesis and calcification that may serve as an analog to the effect of elevated pCO2. Net carbon production, NPC, increased with increased pCO2 at the rate of 3 ± 2% (μmol CO2aq kg−1)−1. Seasonal change of the slope NPC-[CO2aq] relationship was not significant. Calcification (G) was strongly related to the aragonite saturation state Ωa. Seasonal change of the G-Ωa relationship was not significant. The first-order saturation state model gave a good fit to the pooled summer and winter data: G = (8 ± 1 mmol CaCO3 m−2 h−1)(Ωa − 1), r2 = 0.87, P = 0.0001. Both nutrient and CO2 enrichment resulted in an increase in NPC and a decrease in G, giving support to the hypothesis that the cellular mechanism underlying the decrease in calcification in response to increased pCO2 could be competition between photosynthesis and calcification for a limited supply of DIC.
Instantaneous mapping of high‐latitude convection with coherent HF radars

Coherent HF radars at Goose Bay (Labrador) and Schefferville (Quebec) are used to study plasma convection in the high-latitude ionosphere. Maps of the two-dimensional flow pattern are obtained by merging simultaneous sets of radial velocity data, each with a time resolution of a few minutes. From a time sequence of such maps we have separated the changes in flow due to magnetic local time (MLT) variations over the region of observation, from those due to UT time variations. We study in detail the convection in the early morning sector observed on October 15, 1989, when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) reversed from southward to northward. This IMF reversal was not associated with a clear response in the nightside convection but rather with several sudden changes, some of which anticipated the Bz reversal. We suggest that these changes are associated with delayed and superposed ionospheric responses to previous IMF perturbations, or to local effects. After the IMF reversal from south to north our observations of westward and southwestward velocities in the 71°-77° invariant latitude range are consistent with the earlier simulations for Bz > 0 and By < 0. During the period of steady northward IMF after the reversal the convection pattern was observed to reconfigure slowly: a region of large westward velocities progressively moved poleward, while convection in the low-latitude part of the field of view faded away. The time constant of this slow reconfiguration was about 1 hour and varied with MLT, such that it was larger closer to midnight. These data, combined with particle data from successive passes of the DMSP satellites, provide information on the contraction of the polar cap after the IMF Bz reversal and on the MLT dependency of the velocity at which this contraction occurs. They show that the polar cap contracts more rapidly in the daytime than in the nightime and more rapidly in the postmidnight sector than in the premidnight sector.
Proliferating cell nuclear antigen promotes DNA synthesis past template lesions by mammalian DNA polymerase delta.

Consistent with previous observations, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) promotes DNA synthesis by calf thymus DNA polymerase delta (pol delta) past several chemically defined template lesions including model abasic sites, 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine (dG) and aminofluorene-dG (but not acetylaminofluorene-dG). This synthesis is potentially mutagenic. The model abasic site was studied most extensively. When all deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates and a template bearing a model abasic site were present, DNA synthesis by pol delta beyond this site was stimulated 53-fold by addition of homologous PCNA. On an unmodified template (lacking any lesions), PCNA stimulated pol delta by 1.3-fold. Product analysis demonstrated that as expected from the "A-rule," fully and near-fully extended primers incorporated predominantly dAMP opposite the template lesion. Moreover, corollary primer extension studies demonstrated that in the presence (but not the absence) of PCNA, pol delta preferentially elongated primers containing dAMP opposite the model abasic template site. p21, a specific inhibitor of PCNA-dependent DNA replication, inhibits PCNA-stimulated synthesis past model abasic template sites. We propose that DNA synthesis past template lesions by pol delta promoted by PCNA results from the fundamental mechanism by which PCNA stimulates pol delta, i.e., stabilization of the pol delta. template-primer complex.
Dying to Win? Olympic Gold Medals and Longevity Russell Ackoff Doctoral Student Fellowship, 2014 Application

Description Large differences in mortality across and within countries are only partially explained by variation in income, education, diet, and other factors (Cutler et al., 2006). One possible determinant of health that remains particularly poorly understood is status, which can loosely be defined as relative economic or social ranking. While the biology and epidemiology literatures have advanced our knowledge about the correlation between status and health, several reasons explain our limited understanding of status. First, the concept of status is difficult to measure empirically. Second, the channels between status and health are complex, with causality likely running in both directions. Finally, status is often correlated with other factors, such as income, that may independently influence health. By examining a setting where such problems are minimal, my research attempts to shed light on how status affects long-term health. I compare mortality between Gold medalists and other finalists in Olympic Track and Field from 1896 to 1948 and explore behavioral mechanisms driving the correlation between status and health. Questions of how status impacts may have important implications for policy in the workplace, where both productivity and employee health enter the firm's objective function since firms finance their workers' health care. The setting of Olympic Track and Field provides a number of advantages to analyze status and health due to the nature of competition. First, performance is measured objectively and the stakes of such competition are high, with an Olympic victory representing the pinnacle of the sport and carrying global recognition. Second, awarding status is rare, with the winner determined on a single day every four years. As a result, randomness is arguably more likely to influence the outcome compared to a contest judged over a longer time period. Third, the setting of Olympic Track and Field provides an opportunity to cut through potential endogeneity by comparing people who are physically similar and relatively young. In addition, income associated with winning is likely not a factor among these athletes due to the prevailing system of amateurism until the 1980s. Finally, I show that ability is likely not driving longevity differentials by empirically documenting that athletes who ever held a World Record do not live longer than other Olympic finalists. Taken together, these advantages lead to cleaner identification of the relationship between status and health compared to previous literature. From a theoretical perspective, the relationship between health and higher status is ambiguous. On the …
Integration of electrical and optical images for structural analysis: a case study from ODP Hole 1105A

Abstract A significant problem with basement core data acquired by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) is that it is unorientated with respect to grid north and in those cores with < 100% core recovery the data may also be inaccurately located within the borehole. In order for structural data from basement cores to be of any real value, the recovered core must firstly be accurately located and orientated. Here, we develop methods for core reorientation and accurate location within a borehole that integrates wireline borehole electrical images with whole-core digital images. Azimuthal orientation and location of individual core pieces allows for the detailed interpretation of structural data, including fabrics and fractures and reorientation of other spatially anisotropic properties of core, such as palaeomagnetism. ODP Hole 1105A is one of a pair of holes drilled on the Atlantis Bank in the SW Indian Ocean, which penetrate sections of the lower ocean crust. Hole 1105A was drilled to a depth of 158 metres below sea-floor (mbsf), with core recovery of 83% and the vast majority of the recovered material being represented by gabbroic rocks. Zones of crystal-plastic deformation occur throughout the core, but overall their frequency increases downhole. In the deformed zones, the gabbros are transformed into equigranular or porphyroclastic gneissose textured rocks, characterized by very prominent planar fabrics. These localized deformation zones relate to the early exhumation history of the lower crust in an environment similar to core-complex formation in continental regions. Using a combination of digital core and formation microscanner (FMS) images, it is now possible to fully orientate structural features in a borehole and so map the oxide gabbro and crystal-plastic deformation zones in Hole 1105A. From the analysis of the crystal-plastic fabrics, the majority appear to dip southwards, with a few (c.5%) dipping to the north. This would suggest that the major exhumation surfaces in this hole are represented by southward-dipping structures, formed at high temperatures during unroofing of the Atlantis Bank.
Sondrestrom radar—Initial results

Operation of an incoherent-scatter radar at Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland, began in early February 1983, marking the beginning of a new effort in ground-based ionospheric research in the vicinity of the polar cusp and polar cap. The Sondrestrom Radar is located north of the arctic circle on the west coast of Greenland near the Sondrestrom Air Base at an invariant latitude of 75°. The effects of the polar cusp may frequently be observed at local noon: the radar-measured signature in the F region is an increase of more than a factor of two in electron density. Additionally, the daytime variations in the F1-region electron density are dramatic. In contrast to auroral zone measurements, enhanced electron density at 150-km altitude has been observed, and a marked absence of detectable E-region ionization at night has also been noticed.
Title : Additive Manufacture of Composite Soft Pneumatic Actuators Authors :

Title Additive Manufacture of Composite Soft Pneumatic Actuators Authors(s) Byrne, Oisín; Coulter, Fergal; Glynn, Mark; Jones, James F. X. ; Ní Annaidh, Aisling; O'Cearbhaill, Eoin D. ; Holland, Dónal P Publication date 2018-12-07 Publication information Soft Robotics, 5 (6): Publisher Mary Ann Liebert Item record/more information http://hdl.handle. net/10197/9577 Publisher's statement This is a copy of an article published in Soft Robotics © 2018 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. Soft Robotics is available online at: http://www.liebertonline. com. Publisher's version (DOI) 10.1089/soro.2018. 0030
An approach to studying the effect of organic composition on atmospheric aerosol photochemistry

Physical and chemical characteristics of atmospheric carbonaceous aerosol particles are reviewed, and their likely effects on the particulate matter as a reaction medium are discussed. An approach to studying the effects of organic components of atmospheric particulate matter on aerosol organic photochemistry based on this discussion is described. Available information suggests that atmospheric aerosols from common combustion sources, such as wood smoke or diesel soot, are almost entirely carbonaceous, consisting of a relatively thick, possibly liquid organic layer coating an elemental carbon core. This implies that organic compounds are fairly mobile and consequently that overall organic composition of an atmospheric aerosol could play an important role in the photochemical behavior of associated reactive organic substances. In accordance with this a photochemical turntable reactor was used to investigate the effects of organic aerosol constituents dissolved in an organic solvent, using benz[a]anthracene as a model photochemically reactive compound. Preliminary results showed that 4 out of 10 major organic compound classes found in atmospheric aerosols include compounds which accelerated benz[a]anthracene photodegradation. These were methoxyphenols, polycyclic aromatic ketones and quinones, substituted benzaldehydes, and substituted furans.
Individualized Patient-centered Lifestyle Recommendations: an Expert System for Communicating Patient Specific Cardiovascular Risk Information and Prioritizing Lifestyle Options

Keywords: Individualized lifestyle recommendation Decision support systems Patient centered medicine Machine learning k-nearest neighbor Optimization a b s t r a c t We propose a proof-of-concept machine-learning expert system that learned knowledge of lifestyle and the associated 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks from individual-level data (i.e., Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, ARIC). The expert system prioritizes lifestyle options and identifies the one that maximally reduce an individual's 10-year CVD risk by (1) using the knowledge learned from the ARIC data and (2) communicating for patient-specific cardiovascular risk information and personal limitations and preferences (as defined by variables used in this study). As a result, the optimal lifestyle is not only prioritized based on an individual's characteristics but is also relevant to personal circumstances. We also explored probable uses and tested the system in several examples using real-world scenarios and patient preferences. For example, the system identifies the most effective lifestyle activities as the starting point for an individual's behavior change, shows different levels of BMI changes and the associated CVD risk reductions to encourage weight loss, identifies whether weight loss or smoking cessation is the most urgent change for a diabetes patient, etc. Answers to the questions noted above vary based on an individual's characteristics. Our validation results from clinical trial simulations, which compared original with the optimal lifestyle using an independent dataset, show that the optimal individualized patient-centered lifestyle consistently reduced 10-year CVD risks. Diet patterns and healthy behaviors are important for disease prevention, especially for cardiovascular health. What lifestyle choices are healthy? The AHA Scientific Statement [19] recommends aiming for a healthy body weight, desired lipid profile, normal blood pressure, physical activity, and not smoking, etc. It also suggests specific thresholds for diet and lifestyle such as the limitation of saturated fat intake to <7% of energy, cholesterol intake <300 mg, and total fat intake between 25% and 35% of energy. These are generalized recommendations optimized for the whole population without considering individuals' particular circumstances and characteristics. For behavior interventions, such as lifestyle changes, an individual's commitment and willingness to change play an important role in the success of such interventions. Tailoring individualized strategies in lifestyle changes has been broadly discussed as a way to promote health because they are more personally relevant. The personal relevance leads to the individual taking a more active role in their health, reading the literature more thoroughly, and discussing with others …
Crustal structure of the northern Main Ethiopian Rift from receiver function studies

Abstract The northern Main Ethiopian Rift captures the crustal response to the transition from continental rifting in the East African rift to the south, to incipient seafloor spreading in the Afar depression to the north. The region has also undergone plume-related uplift and flood basalt volcanism. Receiver functions from the EAGLE broadband network have been used to determine crustal thickness and average Vp/Vs for the northern Main Ethiopian Rift and its flanking plateaus. On the flanks of the rift, the crust on the Somalian plate to the east is 38 to 40 km thick. On the western plateau, there is thicker crust to the NW (41–43 km) than to the SW (<40 km); the thinning taking place over an off-rift upper mantle low-velocity structure previously imaged by travel-time tomography. The crust is slightly more mafic (Vp/Vs ∼ 1.85) on the western plateau on the Nubian Plate than on the Somalian Plate (Vp/Vs ∼ 1.80). This could either be due to magmatic activity or different pre-rift crustal compositions. The Quaternary Butajira and Bishoftu volcanic chains, on the side of the rift, are characterized by thinned crust and a Vp/Vs > 2.0, indicative of partial melt within the crust. Within the rift, the Vp/Vs ratio increases to greater than 2.0 (Poisson’s ratio, σ > 0.33) northwards towards the Afar depression. Such high values are indicative of partial melt in the crust and corroborate other geophysical evidence for increased magmatic activity as continental rifting evolves to oceanic spreading in Afar. Along the axis of the rift, crustal thickness varies from around 38 km in the south to 30 km in the north, with most of the change in Moho depth occurring just south of the Boset magmatic segment where the rift changes orientation. Segmentation of crustal structure both between the continental and transitional part of the rift and on the western plateau may be controlled by previous structural inheritances. Both the amount of crustal thinning and the mafic composition of the crust as shown by the observed Vp/Vs ratio suggest that the magma-assisted rifting hypothesis is an appropriate model for this transitional rift.