Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An electromagnetic induction method for monitoring variation in soil moisture in agroforestry systems

An understanding of the spatial and temporal patterns of soil water extraction by trees in agroforestry systems has long been seen as an important step towards understanding their functioning. Traditional methods of soil moisture monitoring have been employed with some success but limitations in utilising them efficiently across both time and space have led to restrictions in their use. An electromagnetic induction (EMI) technique has been evaluated and used to study the patterns of soil water extraction from a Grey Vertosol in fallow or cropped fields alongside a Eucalyptus argophloia windbreak near Warra, Qld (26.93 ◦ S, 150.93 ◦ E). This technique provides methods for minimising error caused by seasonal variations in temperature and the vertical distributions of both soil water and temperature. The calibration developed in this study was successful in describing the observed variations in total soil moisture in the surface 0.9 m of the soil profile (R 2 = 0.93, s.e. = 15.3 mm). We conclude that EMI techniques can provide a quick and efficient means for monitoring soil moisture patterns in agroforestry systems when employed under suitable conditions. This paper describes the techniques developed and where they may be employed, the type of information available from the approach, and the likely methods for employing EMI approaches in a wider range of situations.
Short Communication Enhanced and Persistent Inhibition of Organic Cation Transporter 1 Activity by Preincubation of Cyclosporine A

Recent pharmacogenetic evidence indicates that hepatic organic cation transporter (OCT) 1 can serve as the locus of drug-drug interactions (DDIs) with significant pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic consequences. We examined the impact of preincubation on the extent of OCT1 inhibition in transfected human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells. Following 30-minute preincubation with an inhibitor, approximately 50-fold higher inhibition potency was observed for cyclosporine A (CsA) against OCT1mediated uptake of metformin compared with coincubation, with IC50 values of 0.43 6 0.12 and 21.6 6 4.5 mM, respectively. By comparison, only small shifts (£2-fold) in preincubation IC50 versus coincubation were observed for quinidine, pyrimethamine, ritonavir, and trimethoprim. The shift in CsA OCT1 IC50 was substrate dependent since it ranged from >1.2to 50.2-fold using different experimental substrates. The inhibition potential of CsA toward OCT1 was confirmed by fenoterol hepatocyte uptake experiment. Furthermore, no shift in CsA IC50 was observed with HEK293 cells transfected with OCT2 and organic anion transporter (OAT) 1 and OAT3. Short exposure (30 minutes) to 10 mMCsA produced longlasting inhibition (at least 120 minutes) of the OCT1-mediated uptake of metformin in OCT1-HEK293 cells, which was likely attributable to the retention of CsA in the cells, as shown by the fact that inhibitory cellular concentrations of CsA were maintained long after the removal of the compound from the incubation buffer. The potent and persistent inhibitory effect after exposure to CsA warrants careful consideration in the design and interpretation of clinical OCT1 DDI studies. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Preincubation of OATP1B1 and OATP1B3 with their inhibitor may result in the enhancement of the inhibitory potency in a cell-based assay. However, limited data are available on potentiation of OCT1 inhibition by preincubation, which is a clinically relevant drug transporter. For the first time, we observed a 50-fold increase in CsA inhibitory potency against OCT1-mediated transport of metformin following a preincubation step. The CsA preincubation effect on OCT1 inhibition is substrate dependent. Moreover, the inhibition potential of CsA toward OCT1 is confirmed by hepatocyte uptake experiment. This study delivers clear evidences about the potent and persistent inhibitory effect on OCT1 after exposure to CsA. Further studies are needed to assess the effect of CsA on OCT1 drug substrates in vivo.
Shape measurements using time-of-flight-based imaging lidar

A new time-of-flight-based imaging lidar was designed to carry out measurements in the 5 to 100-m range. The concept of the device, along with an illustration of the design and a presentation of our sensor breadboard is described. Test results showing sensor performance are also presented and discussed. The device is primarily developed for space applications, but it can also be used in numerous industrial shape and profile measurements.
Intérêt du moyen infrarouge pour la cartographie des résidus de cultures

RÉSUMÉ Cette étude porte sur l'analyse du potentiel et de l'intérêt du moyen infrarouge pour la détection et la cartographie des résidus de cultures. Les résultats obtenus montrent que, sans contredit, le moyen infrarouge est la région spectrale qui possède la meilleure sensibilité à la présence des résidus. Les indices NDI et SACRI montrent une sensibilité réduite en terme de détection des résidus. Bien que l'indice ND15–7 présente une bonne sensibilité à la variation du taux de couverture par les résidus, il reste sensible aux propriétés optiques des sols nus sous-jacents. notamment lorsque le sol est sec et de couleur claire et brillante. Le MSACRl (Modified Soil Adjusted Crop Residue Index) montre un très bon potentiel pour minimiser l'effet des sols sous-jacents et une assez bonne dynamique, avec des valeurs moyennes voisines de ± 0.03 pour les sols nus et proches de 0.20 pour des résidus couvrants. L'introduction d'une constante multiplicative égale à 5 permet de résoudre le problème de la saturation et ramène les valeurs de MSACRI dans une gamme qui varie entre 0 et I avec un coefficient de corrélation égal à 0.97.
Vendobionta and Psammocorallia: lost constructions of Precambrian evolution

The non-availability of biomineralized skeletons and low levels of predation led Vendian evolution along strange avenues. The Ediacara-type Vendobionta appear to represent a kingdom, in which foliate shapes, large sizes and the necessary compartmentalization were achieved by quilting of the skin rather than by multicellularity. Psammocorallia, in contrast, are interpreted as coelenterates that constructed an internal sand skeleton. Both were immobile soft-bottom dwellers that had high population densities, and both became preserved by obrutional accidents; thus they render ‘fossil snap shots’, in which the original distributional patterns, age structures and standing biomasses of populations are accurately recorded.
Remote sensing and gis based mapping and modeling of water erosion and sediment yield in a semi‐arid watershed of Morocco

Abstract Water erosion, considered as a natural process accelerated by man, is the main cause of the degradation of our agro‐pedological heritage as well as the deterioration of water quality that it entails. Topographical and climatological factors associated with high population growth make Morocco a favorable area for erosion phenomena (water erosion, wind erosion, etc). The present study calls upon the use of remote sensing and a geographical information system (GIS) for quantifying annual soil losses in conjunction with the use of the universal soil loss equation (USLE), the quanity of sediments that will be delivered to the drainage network as well as the erosional potential of the Oued Aricha watershed (Province of Settat, Morocco). As expected, the highest soil loss rates were recorded in regions of bare soils. We also noted that important soil losses (more than 20 t/ha/yr) can be related to only one third of the study area (34.94%); the soil loss map also shows that these areas are mostly located.
The GCM‐Oriented CALIPSO Cloud Product (CALIPSO‐GOCCP)

[1] This article presents the GCM-Oriented Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) Cloud Product (GOCCP) designed to evaluate the cloudiness simulated by general circulation models (GCMs). For this purpose, Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization L1 data are processed following the same steps as in a lidar simulator used to diagnose the model cloud cover that CALIPSO would observe from space if the satellite was flying above an atmosphere similar to that predicted by the GCM. Instantaneous profiles of the lidar scattering ratio (SR) are first computed at the highest horizontal resolution of the data but at the vertical resolution typical of current GCMs, and then cloud diagnostics are inferred from these profiles: vertical distribution of cloud fraction, horizontal distribution of low, middle, high, and total cloud fractions, instantaneous SR profiles, and SR histograms as a function of height. Results are presented for different seasons (January–March 2007–2008 and June–August 2006–2008), and their sensitivity to parameters of the lidar simulator is investigated. It is shown that the choice of the vertical resolution and of the SR threshold value used for cloud detection can modify the cloud fraction by up to 0.20, particularly in the shallow cumulus regions. The tropical marine low-level cloud fraction is larger during nighttime (by up to 0.15) than during daytime. The histograms of SR characterize the cloud types encountered in different regions. The GOCCP high-level cloud amount is similar to that from the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). The low-level and middle-level cloud fractions are larger than those derived from passive remote sensing (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project, Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer–Cloud and Earth Radiant Energy System Polarization and Directionality of Earth Reflectances, TOVS Path B, AIRS–Laboratoire de Meteorologie Dynamique) because the latter only provide information on the uppermost cloud layer.
The Role of a Digital Intelligent Camera in Automating Industrial Photogrammetry

In the past few years the automation of digital industrial photogrammetric systems has increased dramatically. Due to digital image processing software, coded targets and automatic matching methods, a huge number of photogrammetric measurement tasks can be fully automated. In many cases a “one button click” is enough to provide the three dimensional co‐ordinates of measured points without any manual interaction, immediately after acquiring the images. The technology of intelligent cameras is a logical step towards automated photogrammetric measurements. An intelligent camera, which has an integrated computer, analyses the image immediately after it is taken. This technology provides not only a much shorter processing time for the images but also more control over the measurement process just when it is needed, during image acquisition. This takes place in the form of real time feedback.
RANGELAND DEGRADATION ON THE QINGHAI‐TIBET PLATEAU: IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

With ever intensifying land use, land degradation is becoming an increasingly important issue around the world, especially in China. This paper evaluates the extent and underlying causes of rangeland degradation on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau in China through a comprehensive review of the literature. Diverse forms and differing intensities of rangeland degradation have been reported in several regions of the Plateau. Rangeland degradation is particularly severe in South Qinghai, North Tibet and the Qaidam Basin. Anthropogenic activities, especially changing land use practices, are identified as the primary force driving rangeland degradation. Dissimilar to climate change‐induced degradation, such anthropogenic degradation is a rather short‐term process altering the abiotic properties of the underlying soil. On the basis of these findings, we assessed the prospects of rehabilitating degraded rangeland to productive uses. Different measures are proposed to rehabilitate rangelands that have been degraded by different mechanisms. Reduction in grazing intensity is prescribed to rehabilitate reversibly degraded rangelands. Targeted human intervention in the forms of selective planting of grasses and artificial seeding, in conjunction with ecological and biological control of the plateau rodent population, is recommended to rehabilitate ‘irreversibly’ degraded rangelands. Our studies suggest it is very difficult or even impossible to rehabilitate new assemblage of species which appear as a result of climate change. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Lava flow cooling estimated from Landsat Thematic Mapper infrared data: The Lonquimay Eruption (Chile, 1989)

Surface temperatures of a 1989 andesite lava flow at Volcan Lonquimay, Chile, derived from an analysis of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) infrared data, show a progressive cooling of crusted lava from 250°C to 170°C down a 1.5 km segment of the flow. These results are obtained by solving “dual-band” equations for the two short-wavelength infrared TM bands, assuming that the lava surface can be represented by two thermal components, exposed core and chilled crust, and unlike previous investigations, by predetermining the temperature of the hot component rather than the cool component. This approach is consistent with both observational data and theoretical models, and shows that any exposed core of the flow occupies tiny fractions, possibly less than 0.03%, of the surface area. As a result, the crust made by far the greatest contribution to radiative heat losses, estimated at between 1 and 3 MW per 30×30 m pixel, along most of the flow's length. Convective heat transfer into the air above the flow is about two thirds the corresponding radiative flux. These estimated surface heat losses suggest thicknesses of less than 1 m for a conductive thermal boundary layer component of the crust. Radiance values in the thermal infrared band 6 of the TM image are consistent with temperatures derived from the short-wavelength infrared data and reveal the thermal manifestation of a topographic step beneath the flow.
Heterodyne spectrophotometry of ozone in the 9.6-μm band using a tunable diode laser

Tunable diode laser heterodyne spectrophotometry (TDLHS) has been used to make extremely high resolution (0.0003 cm−1) solar spectra in the 9.6-μm ozone band. Observations have shown that a signal-to-noise ratio of 120:1 (∼30% of theoretical) for an integration time of 1/8 s can be achieved at a resolution of 0.0013 wave numbers. The spectral data have been inverted to yield a total column amount of ozone, in good agreement with that measured at the nearby National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ozone monitoring facility in Boulder, Colorado. Line positions for several ozone lines in the spectral region 996–997 cm−1 are reported. Recent improvements have produced a signal-to-noise ratio of 95∶1 (∼40% of theoretical) at 0.0003 cm−1 and extended the range of wavelengths which can be observed.
Uranium‐series ages of coralline terrace deposits in Western Australia

Abstract Emerged marine erosion terraces and associated terrace deposits showing various degrees of warping are preserved at Cape Range and in the Lake MacLeod‐Cape Cuvier area of Western Australia. Uranium‐series age determinations on corals occurring in the terrace deposits gave the following results: a mean age of 123 000 for the youngest of the terrace deposits (Tantabiddi Member) at Cape Range, which has a maximum elevation of 5.5 m above present sea level (MLWS); mean ages of 123 000 years and 131 000 years for deposits overlying two morphologically distinct marine erosion terraces, with elevations ranging from 3 to 7.4 m and from 9.4 to 10.5 m, respectively, at Cape Cuvier; a mean age of 128 000 years for marine deposits occurring between —0.5 and 1.3 m on the west shore of Lake MacLeod. From these data we propose that the Tantabiddi Member at Cape Range (123 000 years) and the terrace deposits in the Lake MacLeod‐Cape Cuvier area (average age = 128 000 years) were formed at the peak of the last in.
Oxygen uptake at the sediment-water interface simultaneously measured using a flux chamber method and microelectrodes : Must a diffusive boundary layer exist?

Abstract Oxygen uptake was measured in a laboratory flow system with natural marine sediments and semi-artificial cores, where bioturbation was suppressed. The flux rate across the sediment–water interface was simultaneously determined by flux chamber method and from microelectrode profiles at various flow velocities (laminar and turbulent flow). The total oxygen uptake from flux chamber measurements exceeded the flux calculated according to the concept of the diffusive boundary layer by a factor of 3·9 to 6·8 in both types of cores. Bioturbation or respiration of macrofauna can be excluded in the experiments with the semi-artificial sediment. The analysis of possible mechanisms which might have caused the observed discrepancy demonstrates that transfer in the boundary layer above sediments is not restricted to molecular diffusion: dispersion effects in the top layer of the sediment may cause an effective exchange mechanism which is much more efficient than molecular diffusion.
Tourism and the Making of Place in Shangri-La

This article deals with the development of ethnic tourism in‘Shangri-La’and the concomitant reconstruction of the area as a‘Tibetan’place. It discusses how the area has been‘sacralized’in the process of incorporating it into the‘sacred realm’of Buddhist Tibet, how it has been‘ethnicized’in connection with the establishment of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and, finally, how it is currently also being‘exoticized’with the promotion of Diqing as a tourist destination and the renaming of one of its counties, Zhongdian, as‘Shangri-La’. The paper explores the tensions between these various‘place-making’strategies, how‘place’is reinvented and how hegemonic interpretations of‘place’are contested. Theoretically, it brings together some contemporary perspectives on‘place making’from various different fields, including anthropological studies of place and identity, the political geography of territories and boundaries and studies of pilgrimage and religious geography.
The Random Feature Model for Input-Output Maps between Banach Spaces

Well known to the machine learning community, the random feature model, originally introduced by Rahimi and Recht in 2008, is a parametric approximation to kernel interpolation or regression methods. It is typically used to approximate functions mapping a finite-dimensional input space to the real line. In this paper, we instead propose a methodology for use of the random feature model as a data-driven surrogate for operators that map an input Banach space to an output Banach space. Although the methodology is quite general, we consider operators defined by partial differential equations (PDEs); here, the inputs and outputs are themselves functions, with the input parameters being functions required to specify the problem, such as initial data or coefficients, and the outputs being solutions of the problem. Upon discretization, the model inherits several desirable attributes from this infinite-dimensional, function space viewpoint, including mesh-invariant approximation error with respect to the true PDE solution map and the capability to be trained at one mesh resolution and then deployed at different mesh resolutions. We view the random feature model as a non-intrusive data-driven emulator, provide a mathematical framework for its interpretation, and demonstrate its ability to efficiently and accurately approximate the nonlinear parameter-to-solution maps of two prototypical PDEs arising in physical science and engineering applications: viscous Burgers' equation and a variable coefficient elliptic equation.
Genetic And Environmental Factors Affecting Growth Traits Of Goats In Semi Arid Area Of Nigeria

Growth performance of 194 kids of Sahel (S), Red Sokoto (RS) and West African Dwarf (WAD) breeds of goats from birth to 9 months of age was studied. Effect of breed was significant (p Keywords : Genetic, environmental, growth, goats Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 7 (1) 2008: pp. 85-91
Seismic refraction characteristics of the Elura ore body and regolith

Major exploration difficulties occur when the distinctive characteristics of ore targets are obscured or modified by physical property variations within the regolith. Improved exploration success in the highly variable Australian regolith requires greater understanding of this medium which can only be achieved with new or improved exploration technologies. The Cobar District of New South Wales is one of the world’s most active mineral exploration regions with a variable regolith. This region has yielded substantial mineral wealth and the Elura ore body is one of the largest massive sulphide deposits to have entered the Cobar regolith. Previous pre-mining, shallow seismic refraction data over this ore body have been re-interpreted using visual interactive ray tracing and wavepath eikonal tomography. This improved interpretation approach has been integrated with the most recent geological knowledge, weathering history and the seismic properties of the shallow ore and host rocks to refine the seismic characteristics of the Elura ore body and regolith. The interpretations have confirmed the earlier qualitative interpretation that the Elura gossan and the altered ore zone form a local, low-velocity plug extending to a depth of ~100 m within the shallower, higher velocity weathered and fresh siltstone host rocks. The margins of this plug are well defined in the refraction interpretation as they form strong seismic wave diffraction sites at the base of the surrounding regolith. The base of this plug, representing the altered massive sulphide ore, also tends to have a lower seismic velocity than the fresh host rocks. Velocity information on the deeper gossan, supergene zone could not be obtained directly from the first-arrival seismic data as this region is laterally hidden. It is clear from this interpretation that the base of the regolith over the Elura ore body and margins are highly irregular and not well represented as a single continuous refractor as required by less sophisticated refraction interpretation approaches. This case study shows that detailed seismic refraction, supported by improved interpretation techniques and petrophysical testing, provide detailed regolith information and have increased exploration potential for massive sulphide targets that enter or are close to the regolith.