Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How "Virgin" Is Virgin Rainforest?

The three largest undisturbed rainforest blocks remaining worldwide are located in the Amazon basin, Congo basin, and the Indo-Malay region of Southeast Asia. In their Perspective, Willis, Gillson, and Brncic discuss a number of recent archaeological and paleoecological studies that reveal disturbance of these tropical rainforests by prehistoric human settlements and their subsequent regeneration once the human populations moved on or died out. The Perspective authors suggest that given sufficient time, tropical rainforests disturbed by modern human activities also may be able to regenerate.
Motion Planning Algorithms for General Closed-Chain Mechanisms

Kinematic loop-closure constraints significantly increase the difficulty of motion planning for articulated mechanisms. Configurations of closed-chain mechanisms do not form a single manifold, easy to parameterize, as the configurations of open kinematic chains. In general, they are grouped into several subsets with complex topology than cannot be globally parameterized. This paper presents a general approach for the extension of sampling-based motion planning algorithms to treat closed-chain mechanisms. The basic principle consists in separating configuration variables into two sets: active variables and passive variables. The planner directly acts on the active variables while the passive ones are obtained by solving loop-closure equations. Configurations of complex closed-chain mechanisms are computed by an algorithm called RLG that combines random sampling with simple geometrical operations. The practical efficiency of the extended planners is shown through several applications in robotics as well as in other domains such as graphic animation and computational biology.
Sequence of events during the last deglaciation in Southern Ocean sediments and Antarctic ice cores

variation depends on the age model as 14 C determinations cannot be obtained for the time interval of 29.5–14.5 ka. Assuming a constant sedimentation rate for this interval, our data suggest that sea ice and nutrient changes at about 19 ka B.P. lead the increase in atmospheric pCO2 by approximately 2000 years. Our diatom-based sea ice record is in phase with the sodium record of the Vostok ice core, which is related to sea ice cover and similarly leads the increase in atmospheric CO2. If gas exchange played a major role in determining glacial to interglacial CO2 variations, then a delay mechanism of a few thousand years is needed to explain the observed sequence of events. Otherwise, the main cause of atmospheric pCO2 change must be sought elsewhere, rather than in the Southern Ocean. INDEX TERMS: 3344 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Paleoclimatology; 4267 Oceanography: General: Paleoceanography; 4845 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Nutrients and nutrient cycling; 4870 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Stable isotopes; 9325 Information Related to Geographic Region: Atlantic Ocean; KEYWORDS: biogenic opal, stable isotopes, diatoms, IRD, last glacial, Southern Ocean
Deep Learning based Defect Detection Algorithm for Solar Panels

Defect detection of solar panels plays an essential role in guaranteeing product quality within automated production lines. However, traditional manual inspection of solar panel defects suffers from low efficiency. This paper proposes an enhanced YOLOv5 algorithm (EL-YOLOv5) fused with the CBAM hybrid attention module to ensure product quality. The algorithm focuses on detecting five common types of defects that frequently appear on photovoltaic production lines, namely hidden cracks, scratches, broken grids, black spots, and short circuits. This study utilizes publicly available solar panel datasets, as well as datasets collected from actual photovoltaic production lines. These datasets are annotated accordingly and used to train the proposed algorithm. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves good performance on both the public and actual solar panel defect datasets. Particularly in actual datasets, where defect features are often less apparent and defects are smaller in size, the proposed algorithm can still detect even minor black spots.
Modeling increases in snowmelt yield and desynchronization resulting from forest gap‐thinning treatments in a northern mountain headwater basin

A physically based model built upon extensive field observations of radiation dynamics and snow processes in cold regions forest environments was used to investigate the impacts of prescribed forest gap‐thinning treatments on spring snowmelt in a small Saskatchewan River headwater basin of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Both field observations and model simulations showed that snow accumulations in small clear‐cut gaps was roughly double those under intact forest cover due to sublimation losses from the canopy. Consequently, mountain forests thinned with small clear‐cut gaps resulted in a substantial increase in the magnitude of spring snowmelt. However, the impact of forest thinning on the timing of snowmelt was highly dependent on slope orientation; thinning accelerated snowmelt on south facing slopes primarily through enhanced shortwave radiation, but retarded snowmelt on north facing slopes primarily through reduced incoming longwave radiation. As a result, thinning treatments across opposing north facing and south facing mountain slopes acted to substantially expand the spring melt period in the basin, and illustrated the important hydrological control imparted by intact forest cover through its synchronization of snowmelt across complex terrain. A sensitivity analysis of snowmelt timing to varying spring meteorological conditions strongly suggests that shifts in spring snowmelt runoff from similar forest thinning treatments in mountain regions will depend on the slope and aspect at which they occur in combination with the seasonal timing of snowmelt resulting from latitude‐controlled solar elevation effects.
I.—On a Remarkable Ichthyodorulite from the Carboniferous Series, Gascoyne, Western Australia

Two years ago, Mr. Robert H. Scott, F.R. S. , Secretary to the I Council of the Meteorological Office, kindly sent me a letter from the Rev. J. G. Nicolay of Fremantle, Western Australia, accompanied by a photograph of a fossil, the original of which had been found by Mr. Davis ‘in the valley of the Arthur River, an affluent of the Gascoyne. ’ I readily identified the fossil photographed as the impression of a fish-spine, similar in form, but more highly curved than those discovered in the Coal-measures of Arkansas, Indiana and Illinois, originally described by Prof. Leidy as a fish-jaw, and named by him Edestus vorax in 1855, and later as a fish-spine by MM. Newberry and Worthen (Geological Survey of Illinois, 1870, vol. iv. pp. 350–353, pi. i.).
Geostatistical Data Fusion for Remote Sensing Applications

Remote sensing data are often sparse relative to the space-time domains of geophysical processes: no instrument observes everywhere, all the time. Remote sensing data are also massive, taken over different, usually nonnested spatial footprints, and subject to measurement error biases. Our goal is to infer the true values of a spatially and temporally continuous geophysical quantity from these aggregated, noisy, and heterogeneous observations. We do this through a geostatistical model that relates the observations to the true but not directly observed variable of interest. This model accounts for spatial correlations, and relationships among different resolutions. Crucially, our estimates are accompanied by uncertainty measures so we know how reliable the estimates are. In this talk, we review the basic principles of our methodology, as they apply to estimating column carbon dioxide in the planetary boundary layer, inferred from remote sensing observations taken at multiple scales with differing sensitivities and sampling characteristics.
Planum Boreum basal unit topography, Mars: Irregularities and insights from SHARAD

Shallow Radar investigations of Planum Boreum, Mars' “basal unit” (BU) deposit have revealed multiple reentrants, morphologic irregularities, and thickness trends that differ from those of the overlying north polar layered deposits. We present detailed subsurface maps for these features and offer explanation for genesis of the deposit's morphologic asymmetry, expressed in different erosional characteristics between 0°E–180°E and 180°E–360°E. Additionally, this work revealed a depression in the basal unit that may have provided a site for spiral trough initiation. Interpretations of the findings suggest that antecedent BU topography has a marked impact on modern morphology and that aeolian forces have been the dominant driver of polar deposit accumulation since at least the end of rupes unit emplacement. We find no results requiring explanation beyond common Martian surface processes, including aeolian erosion and impact armoring. To add to the detailed morphologic study of the BU, we mapped the variability of the BU radar reflection character. Combining generalized katabatic wind flow with the radar mapping results suggests that rupes unit material sourced the younger cavi. We present clear evidence that, while compositionally distinct from the overlying layered deposits, the BU and its morphology are intimately linked to the morphology of the north polar layered deposits. Combining geologic evidence with paleoclimate modeling, the deposits contain evidence for a long history of aeolian emplacement and modification.
RatioFi: Unlocking the Potential of WiFi CSI

Wi-Fi sensing empowered by channel state information (CSI) has shown superiority among various sensors (e.g., camera, radar, infra-red, etc.) for its cost-effective, privacy-preserving and contactless merits. However, commercial off-the-shelf Wi-Fi devices use communication waveforms that are not emphasized on sensing, resulting in its disadvantages of environment dependence and noisiness of the recorded data, comparing to sensing dedicated devices like radars. This, in turn, leads to the requirement of a dedicated CSI recognition model trained on a big labeled dataset that covers every deploying environment, which is impractical for massive deployment. To overcome this problem, we propose a three-stage deep learning-based workflow RatioFi, integrating semi-supervised learning and few-shot learning. In the first stage, taking amplitude and phase as two different view that share common effective feature for downstream tasks of CSI samples, the model employs a two-flow structure for the two views to learn about fine-grained information about CSI. Next, the model is trained on a small task-specific labeled dataset, which is easier to obtain, and can adapt to different classification task, overcoming the aforementioned problem of environment dependence and noisiness of the sensed data with less effort on data collection, further facilitating the large-scale deployment of Wi-Fi sensing. Then the model make inference for every newly collected sample. We implement and show that the workflow can be adapted to different classifying tasks such as human identification and activity recognition. We demonstrate the performance supremacy of the proposed design to the existing benchmark algorithms designed for the same scenario.
Variações na diversidade de invertebrados na Lapa Nova, vazante-MG: implicações para o plano de manejo da cavidade

Lapa Nova is a dolomitic cave that is located in Vazante, Minas Gerais. The cave is quite large, with 4.5 kilometers, occupying a prominent position, 35th place, among the largest Brazilian caves. Lapa Nova is a tourist-religious use cave, through which thousands of tourists visit during the Festa em Louvor a Nossa Senhora da Lapa (Feast in Honor of Our Lady of Lapa). The associated invertebrate fauna of this cave was shown quite rich, being represented by 218 species. Richness and diversity decreased considerably from the rainy season to the dry. The complexity was higher in the dry period, varying from 14.3 to 16.9, reaching values never before registered in Brazilian caves. Variations in the community in function of the tourist-religious use were also sampled. Populations that live in areas of more intense visitation suffer changes in their distribution after the Feast. These move from the visited area to outlying places that serve as refuge for the invertebrates. From these results, a management plan appropriate for the use of the cave was proposed that basically consists of the delimitation of a tourist hiking trail, isolating high population density areas. Special attention was given to the places of occurrence of troglobite species and brown spiders (Loxosceles variegata), species of medical importance. A differentiated methodology was also proposed for the sampling of a large guano deposit. Physiochemical parameters of the guano (pH, humidity, organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus) were correlated with biotic variables. The humidity was the parameter that most influenced the distribution patterns and number of individuals of the most abundant species. Finally, the representation of a trophic web of the most abundant species in the guano was elaborated, based on literature data, correlation among species, micro-habitat preference and population’s abundance proportions.
Whole-Body Dynamic Behavior and Control of Human-like Robots

With the increasing complexity of humanoid mechanisms and their desired capabilities, there is a pressing need for a generalized framework where a desired whole-body motion behavior can be easily specified and controlled. Our hypothesis is that human motion results from simultaneously performing multiple objectives in a hierarchical manner, and we have analogously developed a prioritized, multiple-task control framework. The operational space formulation10 provides dynamic models at the task level and structures for decoupled task and posture control.13 This formulation allows for posture objectives to be controlled without dynamically interfering with the operational task. Achieving higher performance of posture objectives requires precise models of their dynamic behaviors. In this paper we complete the picture of task descriptions and whole-body dynamic control by establishing models of the dynamic behavior of secondary task objectives within the posture space. Using these models, we present a whole-body control framework that decouples the interaction between the task and postural objectives and compensates for the dynamics in their respective spaces.
Culture, ecology and economy of fire management in North Australian Savannas : rekindling the Wurrk tradition

This engaging volume explores the management of fire in one of the world's most flammable landscapes: Australia's tropical savannas, where on average 18% of the landscape is burned annually. Impacts have been particularly severe in the Arnhem Land Plateau, a centre of plant and animal diversity on Indigenous land. Culture, Ecology and Economy of Fire Management in North Australian Savannas documents a remarkable collaboration between Arnhem Land's traditional landowners and the scientific community to arrest a potentially catastrophic fire-driven decline in the natural and cultural assets of the region - not by excluding fire, but by using it better through restoration of Indigenous control over burning. This multi-disciplinary treatment encompasses the history of fire use in the savannas, the post-settlement changes that altered fire patterns, the personal histories of a small number of people who lived most of their lives on the plateau and, critically, their deep knowledge of fire and how to apply it to care for country. Uniquely, it shows how such knowledge and commitment can be deployed in conjunction with rigorous formal scientific analysis, advanced technology, new cross-cultural institutions and the emerging carbon economy to build partnerships for controlling fire at scales that were, until this demonstration, thought beyond effective intervention.
Electrolyzed oxidizing water for microbial decontamination of food.

Abstract: The growing demand for safe, minimally processed food and the disadvantages of traditional chemical- and heat-based methods of microbial decontamination have meant that new technologies are emerging for high quality, effective decontamination of food. Electrolyzed oxidizing water (EOW) is electrolyzed soft tap water with sodium chloride added. The user- and environmentally-friendly status of this method, coupled with its low cost, makes it an effective and suitable method for microbial decontamination. This chapter provides an overview of the production, properties and applications of EOW, as well as a section on potential future trends.
Summer carbon dioxide and water vapor fluxes across a range of northern peatlands

[1] Northern peatlands are a diverse group of ecosystems varying along a continuum of hydrological, chemical, and vegetation gradients. These ecosystems contain about one third of the global soil carbon pool, but it is uncertain how carbon and water cycling processes and response to climate change differ among peatland types. This study examines midsummer CO2 and H2O fluxes measured using the eddy covariance technique above seven northern peatlands including a low-shrub bog, two open poor fens, two wooded moderately rich fens, and two open extreme-rich fens. Gross ecosystem production and ecosystem respiration correlated positively with vegetation indices and with each other. Consequently, 24-hour net ecosystem CO2 exchange was similar among most of the sites (an average net carbon sink of 1.5 ± 0.2 g C m−2 d−1) despite large differences in water table depth, water chemistry, and plant communities. Evapotranspiration was primarily radiatively driven at all sites but a decline in surface conductance with increasing water vapor deficit indicated physiological restrictions to transpiration, particularly at the peatlands with woody vegetation and less at the peatlands with 100% Sphagnum cover. Despite these differences, midday evapotranspiration ranged only from 0.21 to 0.34 mm h−1 owing to compensation among the factors controlling evapotranspiration. Water use efficiency varied among sites primarily as a result of differences in productivity and plant functional type. Although peatland classification includes a great variety of ecosystem characteristics, peatland type may not be an effective way to predict the magnitude and characteristics of midsummer CO2 and water vapor exchanges.
Seed iron and zinc content and their response to phosphorus fertilization in 40 Colombian bean varieties

El mejoramiento del frijol en Colombia ha producido un amplio numero de variedades para diferentes zonas agroecologicas y con diferentes rangos de adaptacion. Los objetivos de esta investigacion fueron determinar la calidad nutricional del frijol en Colombia en cuanto al contenido de hierro y cinc en el grano y entender como los niveles de fertilizacion del suelo alta y baja en fosforo afectan tanto el rendimiento como el nivel de estos minerales. Se evaluaron 40 genotipos arbustivos dentro de los que se encuentran variedades liberadas por el ICA o Corpoica (series Diacol e ICA), cultivares tradicionales de los departamentos de Valle, Narino, Norte de Santander, y lineas CIAT como testigos. Estos se sembraron en la localidad de Darien en el primer semestre de 2004, en los dos tratamientos de fertilizacion, con diseno de bloques completos aleatorizados con tres repeticiones. El contenido de hierro y cinc en la semilla cosechada fue determinado por espectroscopia de absorcion atomica. El analisis de varianza mostro diferencias significativas para la concentracion de los minerales entre las variedades y entre los niveles de alta y baja fertilizacion con fosforo con promedios de 61,5 y 53,2 ppm, respectivamente, para hierro, y 26,3 y 23,1 ppm, respectivamente, para cinc. Teniendo en cuenta el analisis combinado para hierro y cinc a traves de los dos tratamientos de fosforo, se sugiere que la aplicacion de fosforo puede incrementar la concentracion de hierro en la semilla, pero no la de cinc. The improvement of beans in Colombia has produced a large number of varieties for different agro-ecological zones and with different adaptation ranges. The objective of this research was to determine the nutritional quality of common bean genotypes from Colombia in terms of iron and zinc content of the seed and to determine how soil fertilization with high or low levels of phosphorus impact yield with these minerals . A total of 40 genotypes were evaluated including released varieties from ICA or Corpoica (of the Diacol or ICA series), traditional landrace varieties from Valle, Narino and Norte de Santander, and CIAT breeding lines as control. These were planted in Darien in the first semester of 2004 under two-fertilization treatments in complete randomized block experiments with three repetitions. Iron and zinc content was measured in harvested seed using the spectrophotometric method of atomic absorption. Variance analysis showed significant differences for mineral content among genotypes, and between high and low phosphorus fertilization levels with averages of 61.5 and 53.2 ppm for iron and 26.3 and 23.1 for zinc, respectively. Given these results, phosphorus fertilization can increase iron content in bean seeds, but can reduce zinc content in seeds.
Indian Ocean surface circulations and their connection to Indian Ocean dipole, identified from Ocean Surface Currents Analysis Real Time (OSCAR) data

Abstract : Ocean surface circulation is an essential component of the world climate system. In this study the Ocean Surface Currents Analysis - Real Time (OSCAR) data, derived from satellite altimeter and scatterometer is used to investigate the connection between the Indian Ocean Dipole and eastward equatorial jet. The raw OSCAR data set was refined using the Optimal Spectral Decomposition method (OSD). Data was analyzed to show the seasonal variability of the surface currents in the Indian Ocean with emphasize on Somali current, North Arabian Sea, and Bay of Bengal. To investigate the link between the Eastward Equatorial jets (Wyrtki jets) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) Mode events, complex EOF analysis was applied to the currents in the Equatorial region. This analysis revealed that the spatial anomaly of the currents along the equator can directly relate to the occurrence of a Dipole Mode event. Further zonal currents anomalies and vector plots, for the years with Dipole Mode events, also depicted the anomalous behavior of the equatorial jets during a Dipole Mode event. This study demonstrates that satellite based altimetry data can be used to refine the climatological knowledge of a certain region in the world.
Laser Sintering of Various Film Compositions Used in Flexible Printed Electronics

Producing flexible printed electronics involves depositing metal nanoparticle ink onto a substrate by microdispensing techniques including, but not limited to, aerosol jet, plasma jet, nScrypt, and inkjet printing. The deposited metal ink must be treated through sintering to evaporate solvents and coalesce the nanoparticles to form a conductive circuit. Laser sintering is a promising post-processing method for flexible printed electronic production. To laser sinter, an incident laser beam is directly exposed to the printed film's surface to heat the ink and sinter the particles. The laser sintering parameters vary with the ink, substrate, and film thickness. In our work, we present our study of using three different laser systems for laser sintering using two different substrates. We use nScrypt-printed silver, aerosol jet-printed gold, platinum, and titanium dioxide on rigid glass and flexible polyimide substrates. The laser systems investigated include continuous wave 808nm, 445nm, and 1064nm lasers. We present a thermal model for our setup to better understand and optimize the laser sintering parameters.