Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Phylogenomic Analysis of the Explosive Adaptive Radiation of the Espeletia Complex (Asteraceae) in the Tropical Andes

Abstract. The subtribe Espeletiinae (Asteraceae), endemic to the high‐elevations in the Northern Andes, exhibits an exceptional diversity of species, growth‐forms, and reproductive strategies. This complex of 140 species includes large trees, dichotomous trees, shrubs and the extraordinary giant caulescent rosettes, considered as a classic example of adaptation in tropical high‐elevation ecosystems. The subtribe has also long been recognized as a prominent case of adaptive radiation, but the understanding of its evolution has been hampered by a lack of phylogenetic resolution. Herein, we produce the first fully resolved phylogeny of all morphological groups of Espeletiinae, using whole plastomes and about a million nuclear nucleotides obtained with an original de novo assembly procedure without reference genome, and analyzed with traditional and coalescent‐based approaches that consider the possible impact of incomplete lineage sorting and hybridization on phylogenetic inference. We show that the diversification of Espeletiinae started from a rosette ancestor about 2.3 Ma, after the final uplift of the Northern Andes. This was followed by two independent radiations in the Colombian and Venezuelan Andes, with a few trans‐cordilleran dispersal events among low‐elevation tree lineages but none among high‐elevation rosettes. We demonstrate complex scenarios of morphological change in Espeletiinae, usually implying the convergent evolution of growth‐forms with frequent loss/gains of various traits. For instance, caulescent rosettes evolved independently in both countries, likely as convergent adaptations to life in tropical high‐elevation habitats. Tree growth‐forms evolved independently three times from the repeated colonization of lower elevations by high‐elevation rosette ancestors. The rate of morphological diversification increased during the early phase of the radiation, after which it decreased steadily towards the present. On the other hand, the rate of species diversification in the best‐sampled Venezuelan radiation was on average very high (3.1 spp/My), with significant rate variation among growth‐forms (much higher in polycarpic caulescent rosettes). Our results point out a scenario where both adaptive morphological evolution and geographical isolation due to Pleistocene climatic oscillations triggered an exceptionally rapid radiation for a continental plant group.
A Novel Variable-Flux Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Machine With Quasi-Series Magnet Configuration and Passive Flux Barrier

The hybrid variable-flux permanent-magnet synchronous machine (VF-PMSM) is an alternative candidate for adjustable speed applications. The series magnet and parallel magnet configurations are the two existing topologies for hybrid VF-PMSMs. However, they both have drawbacks that have not been fully resolved. A premium topology with high power density and magnetization regulation using acceptable current pulses is highly desired. This paper proposes a new hybrid VF-PMSM with a quasi-series magnet configuration and a passive flux barrier. After introducing the proposed topology and its operating principles, the results of a comparative study are presented comparing the magnetization characteristics and torque capabilities of the three configurations. The influences of key design variables on the machine’s performance are investigated, showing that the proposed machine can achieve a relatively high power density comparable to the series configuration, and the required magnetization current amplitude falls within acceptable limits.
A Trace Redundant Lubrication Piezoelectric Microjet for Bearing System

A piezoelectric microjet, which can achieve lubrication on demand, is designed to realize the trace redundant lubrication for bearings. The volume of the ejected oil droplet can reach 0.0147 μL with the velocity of the droplet as 0.91 m/s. A coupling analysis method is proposed to analyze the influences of excitation and oil properties on the dynamic characteristics of droplets. Based on the theory of central oil film thickness, an oil volume prediction model for the trace redundant lubrication of deep groove ball bearings is given. Experiments are carried out, the proposed coupling analysis method is verified by comparing the analysis results with experimental data, and the relative errors are given. The designed microjet is proved to be effective for redundant lubrication by testing its actual lubricating performance. The numbers of voltage pulses, which are required to achieve trace redundant lubrication under different excitations and operating conditions, are given. The validity of the proposed oil volume prediction model is proved by comparing results obtained from experiments and theoretical calculations, and the relative errors are given.
Evaluating the impact of Idea-Inspire 4.0 on analogical transfer of concepts

Abstract The biological domain has the potential to offer a rich source of analogies to solve engineering design problems. However, due to the complexity embedded in biological systems, adding to the lack of structured, detailed, and searchable knowledge bases, engineering designers find it hard to access the knowledge in the biological domain, which therefore poses challenges in understanding the biological concepts in order to apply these concepts to engineering design problems. In order to assist the engineering designers in problem-solving, we report, in this paper, a web-based tool called Idea-Inspire 4.0 that supports analogical design using two broad features. First, the tool provides access to a number of biological systems using a searchable knowledge base. Second, it explains each one of these biological systems using a multi-modal representation: that is, using function decomposition model, text, function model, image, video, and audio. In this paper, we report two experiments that test how well the multi-modal representation in Idea-Inspire 4.0 supports understanding and application of biological concepts in engineering design problems. In one experiment, we use Bloom's method to test “analysis” and “synthesis” levels of understanding of a biological system. In the next experiment, we provide an engineering design problem along with a biological-analogous system and examine the novelty and requirement-satisfaction (two major indicators of creativity) of resulting design solutions. In both the experiments, the biological system (analogue) was provided using Idea-Inspire 4.0 as well as using a conventional text-image representation so that the efficacy of Idea-Inspire 4.0 is tested using a benchmark.
How Do Instrumental and Expressive Network Positions Relate to Turnover? A Meta-Analytic Investigation

Although social network methods have proven valuable for predicting employee turnover, an informed use of network methods for turnover management requires an integration and extension of extant networks-turnover research. To that end, this article addresses two relatively neglected issues in the networks-turnover literature: the lack of integration of turnover process models into networks-turnover research and the differential influence of “network content” (i.e., instrumental vs. expressive network resources) on turnover processes. To address these issues, we draw from social capital and turnover theories as a basis for investigating how turnover antecedents (i.e., work attitudes, job alternatives, and job performance) mediate the associations between instrumental and expressive degree centrality and turnover. We test a theoretical model using meta-analytic path analysis based on the results of random-effects meta-analyses (64 independent samples of working adults) of instrumental and expressive degree centrality in relation to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job alternatives, job performance, and employee turnover. We found that both instrumental and expressive degree centrality relate to employee turnover, but through different mediating processes; instrumental degree centrality decreased the likelihood of turnover via job performance and organizational commitment, whereas expressive degree centrality decreased the likelihood of turnover via job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Furthermore, expressive degree centrality (as compared to instrumental degree centrality) had a negative association with turnover after accounting for these prominent turnover antecedents. These findings illustrate the importance of distinguishing between instrumental and expressive network positions in the turnover process as well as the value of leveraging employee networks for employee retention.
Change Detection in Semantic Level for SAR Images

Considering that the traditional change detection algorithms only focus on extracting the change area but ignore the change content identification, a novel change detection framework for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images is proposed. The framework integrates the merits of unsupervised and supervised learning to detect changes in semantic level. First, the residual convolutional auto-encoder (RCAE) is designed to convert SAR image slices to the histogram representation. Then, we calculate the difference vectors and extract the change area by their norms. Finally, we classify the difference vectors of change region and identify the content of change. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method achieves significantly performance improvement over existing algorithms.
The effects of caffeine intake on weight loss: a systematic review and dos-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed to summarize the effect of caffeine intake on weight loss. We searched the following databases until November 2017: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. The relevant data were extracted and assessed for quality of the studies according to the Cochrane risk of bias tool. We estimated an intake-status regression coefficient (Beta) for each primary study and estimated the overall pooled Beta and SE using random effects meta-analysis on a double-log scale. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed by the Cochran Q statistic and I-squared tests (I2). Thirteen RCTs with 606 participants were included in the meta-analyses. The overall pooled Beta for the effect of caffeine intake was 0.29 (95%CI: 0.19, 0.40; Q = 124.5, I2 = 91.2%) for weigh, 0.23 (95%CI: 0.09, 0.36; Q = 71.0, I2 = 93.0%) for BMI, and 0.36 (95% CI: 0.24, 0.48; Q = 167.36, I2 = 94.0%) for fat mass. For every doubling in caffeine intake, the mean reduction in weight, BMI, and fat mass increased 2 Beta-fold (20.29 = 1.22, 20.23 = 1.17, and 20.36 = 1.28), which corresponding to 22, 17, and 28 percent, respectively. Overall, the current meta-analysis demonstrated that caffeine intake might promote weight, BMI and body fat reduction.
Enhanced Annealing Stability of Exchange-Biased Pinned Layer in Magnetic Tunnel Junction Using Ta/Ru/Ta/Ru Underlayer

To realize highly sensitive analog sensor using magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), there is a demand for MgO-MTJs with a high signal-to-noise ratio. Thermal annealing is important for improving the crystalline quality of MgO barrier in order to enhance the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio and decrease the noise level of MTJs. However, annealing at excessively high temperatures causes degradation of the exchange bias field (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$H_{\text {ex}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) in the exchange-biased pinned layer (EB-PL). In this paper, we aim to develop a MgO-MTJ with high annealing stability by investigating the effect of underlayer structure on the annealing stability of EB-PL in MTJs. We fabricated two types of MTJ, one with a Ta/Ru underlayer (TR-UL) and one with a Ta/Ru/Ta/Ru underlayer (TRTR-UL). The results of evaluating the <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$H_{\text {ex}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of MTJs annealed in the temperature range of 320 °C–420 °C found that the MTJ containing a TRTR-UL (TRTR-MTJ) has higher annealing stability compared with that of the MTJ containing a TR-UL (TR-MTJ). Furthermore, the results of measuring the TMR ratio and 1/<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$f$ </tex-math></inline-formula> noise level of the MTJs annealed at 380 °C showed that the TRTR-MTJ exhibits a higher TMR ratio and lower noise level than the TR-MTJ. To determine the mechanism by which the annealing stability improves, we carried out microstructural analysis of both MTJs and found that thermal Mn diffusion in the TRTR-MTJ was smaller than that in the TR-MTJ, and the crystallinity of IrMn on the TRTR-UL was found to be clearly improved compared with that on the TR-UL. As a result of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-spacing analysis of each layer in the TRTR-UL, the second Ta layer deposited on the Ru layer was found to have <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$d$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-spacing corresponding to the (110) textured <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-Ta structure and to be highly crystalline, whereas the first Ta layer was not found to have the components of (110) textured <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha $ </tex-math></inline-formula>-Ta structure. These results indicate that the Ta-on-Ru structure is responsible for the high crystallinity of the IrMn layer disposed on the TRTR-UL, resulting in the high annealing stability thanks to small Mn diffusion.
Optimal Black Start Allocation for Power System Restoration

Equipment failures, operator errors, natural disasters and cyber-attacks can and have caused extended blackouts of the electric grid. Even though such events are rare, preparedness for them is critical because extended power outages endanger human lives, compromise national security, or result in economic losses of billions of dollars. Since most of the generating units cannot restart without connecting to an energized grid, the system operator relies on a few units with the ability to start autonomously, called Black Start (BS) units, to restore the power system. Allocating and maintaining these units is costly and can severely impact the restoration security and time. We formulate an optimization problem to optimally allocate BS units in the grid, while simultaneously optimizing over the restoration sequence. We extend existing optimal allocation models by including grid considerations such as active power nodal balance, transmission switching, nodal reactive power support and voltage limits. In order to aid the branch and bound tree that solves the resulting large scale mixed integer program, we propose a randomized heuristic that is executed multiple times in parallel on a high-performance computing environment to find feasible solutions. We proceed to solve the IEEE-39, the IEEE-118, and a simplified WECC system with 225 nodes and 136 generators to near optimality.
On Predicting the Battery Lifetime of IoT Devices: Experiences from the SPHERE Deployments

One of the challenges of deploying IoT battery-powered sensing systems is managing the maintenance of batteries. To that end, practitioners often employ prediction techniques to approximate the battery lifetime of the deployed devices. Following a series of longterm residential deployments in the wild, this paper contrasts real-world battery lifetimes and discharge patterns against battery lifetime predictions that were conducted during the development of the deployed system. The comparison highlights the challenges of making battery lifetime predictions, in an attempt to motivate further research on the matter. Moreover, this paper summarises key lessons learned that could potentially accelerate future IoT deployments of similar scale and nature.
Unexpected diversity within the extinct elephant birds (Aves: Aepyornithidae) and a new identity for the world's largest bird

Madagascar's now-extinct radiation of large-bodied ratites, the elephant birds (Aepyornithidae), has been subject to little modern research compared to the island's mammalian megafauna and other Late Quaternary giant birds. The family's convoluted and conflicting taxonomic history has hindered accurate interpretation of morphological diversity and has restricted modern research into their evolutionary history, biogeography and ecology. We present a new quantitative analysis of patterns of morphological diversity of aepyornithid skeletal elements, including material from all major global collections of aepyornithid skeletal remains, and constituting the first taxonomic reassessment of the family for over 50 years. Linear morphometric data collected from appendicular limb elements, and including nearly all type specimens, were examined using multivariate cluster analysis and the Bayesian information criterion, and with estimation of missing data using multiple imputation and expectation maximization algorithms. These analyses recover three distinct skeletal morphotypes within the Aepyornithidae. Two of these morphotypes are associated with the type specimens of the existing genera Mullerornis and Aepyornis, and represent small-bodied and medium-bodied aepyornithids, respectively. Aepyornis contains two distinct morphometric subgroups, which are identified as the largely allopatric species A. hildebrandti and A. maximus. The third morphotype, which has not previously been recognized as a distinct genus, is described as the novel taxon Vorombe titan. Vorombe represents the largest-bodied aepyornithid and is the world's largest bird, with a mean body mass of almost 650 kg. This new taxonomic framework for the Aepyornithidae provides an important new baseline for future studies of avian evolution and the Quaternary ecology of Madagascar.
A LN/Si-Based SAW Pressure Sensor

Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) sensors are small, passive and wireless devices. We present here the latest results obtained in a project aimed at developing a SAW-based implantable pressure sensor, equipped with a well-defined, 30 μm-thick, 4.7 mm-in-diameter, Lithium Niobate (LN) membrane. A novel fabrication process was used to solve the issue of accurate membrane etching in LN. LN/Si wafers were fabricated first, using wafer-bonding techniques. Grinding/polishing operations followed, to reduce the LN thickness to 30 μm. 2.45 GHz SAW Reflective Delay-Lines (R-DL) were then deposited on LN, using a combination of e-beam and optical lithography. The R-DL was designed in such a way as to allow for easy temperature compensation. Eventually, the membranes were etched in Si. A dedicated set-up was implemented, to characterize the sensors versus pressure and temperature. The achieved pressure accuracy is satisfactory (±0.56 mbar). However, discontinuities in the response curve and residual temperature sensitivity were observed. Further experiments, modeling and simulations were used to analyze the observed phenomena. They were shown to arise essentially from the presence of growing thermo-mechanical strain and stress fields, generated in the bimorph-like LN/Si structure, when the temperature changes. In particular, buckling effects explain the discontinuities, observed around 43 °C, in the response curves. Possible solutions are suggested and discussed.
Dental caries and developmental defects of enamel in individuals with chronic kidney disease: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate studies assessing the prevalence of dental caries and developmental defects of enamel (DDE) in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in comparison with individuals without CKD. MATERIALS AND METHODS Electronic searches were performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Medline via Ovid, and ProQuest databases from their inception date until February 2018. Two review authors independently selected the studies, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality. Meta-analysis was performed. RESULTS Twenty-seven studies were included in this study. For permanent teeth, 14 studies found that individuals without CKD had higher dental caries scores than those with CKD. However, only five studies presented results with a statistically significant difference between groups. Among the studies evaluating primary teeth, five showed that individuals without CKD had higher dental caries scores than those with CKD. Five studies showed that individuals with CKD had a significantly higher prevalence of DDE than individuals without CKD. The meta-analyses showed that individuals without CKD had significantly higher scores of dental caries teeth and surfaces than individuals with CKD. For DDE, no statistical difference between groups was observed. CONCLUSIONS Individuals with CKD present lower dental caries scores and a higher prevalence of DDE in comparison with individuals without CKD.
Endosonographic Findings and the Natural Course of Chronic Gastric Anisakiasis: A Single-Center Experience

Background Chronic gastric anisakiasis is a rare, usually asymptomatic, and difficult to diagnose infection incidentally discovered during endoscopy, resembling a subepithelial tumor (SET). Because its endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) findings are not established, it is occasionally misdiagnosed as gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumors and removed by endoscopic or surgical resection. We aimed to assess the characteristic EUS findings of chronic gastric anisakiasis and the clinical course during follow-up. Methods The database of all patients who underwent EUS at Pusan National University Hospital (Busan, Korea) between January 2011 and December 2016 was retrospectively analyzed. A total of 28 SET cases with EUS features suggesting chronic gastric anisakiasis were included in the study. The EUS, histopathologic, and follow-up endoscopic features were analyzed. Results On EUS, the lesions were mainly located in the submucosal and/or propria muscle layers. Twenty-seven lesions (27/28, 96%) showed hypoechoic echogenicity, and 22 lesions (22/28, 79%) were heterogeneous. Hyperechoic tubular structures suggesting denaturalized Anisakidae larvae were seen in 22 lesions (22/28, 79%). Endoscopic biopsies revealed significant eosinophil infiltration (≥30 per high-power field) in 12 lesions (12/21, 57%). During the median follow-up period of 9 months (range, 1–55 months), SETs decreased or subsided in 26 lesions (26/28, 93%) with no change in the size of the two lesions (2/28, 7%). Conclusions Chronic gastric anisakiasis, although rare, should be included in the differential diagnoses for gastric SETs, especially in regions where raw fish is widely consumed. EUS findings suggesting chronic gastric anisakiasis are heterogeneously hypoechoic lesions with hyperechoic tubular structures, mainly in the submucosal and/or muscularis propria layers. Because chronic gastric anisakiasis decreases or subsides in most cases, follow-up endoscopy 6–12 months later is recommended.