Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Elastic Resource Allocation against Imbalanced Transaction Assignments in Sharding-based Permissioned Blockchains

This paper studies the PBFT-based sharded permissioned blockchain, which executes in either a local datacenter or a rented cloud platform. In such permissioned blockchain, the transaction (TX) assignment strategy could be malicious such that the network shards may possibly receive imbalanced transactions or even bursty-TX injection attacks. An imbalanced transaction assignment brings serious threats to the stability of the sharded blockchain. A stable sharded blockchain can ensure that each shard processes the arrived transactions timely. Since the system stability is closely related to the blockchain throughput, how to maintain a stable sharded blockchain becomes a challenge. To depict the transaction processing in each network shard, we adopt the Lyapunov Optimization framework. Exploiting the drift-plus-penalty (DPP) technique, we then propose an adaptive resource-allocation algorithm, which can yield the near-optimal solution for each network shard while the shard queues can also be stably maintained. We also rigorously analyze the theoretical performance boundaries of the proposed DPP algorithm. We particularly evaluate two representative cases of bursty-TX injection attacks. The evaluation results show that the proposed DPP-based algorithm can well alleviate the imbalanced TX assignment, and simultaneously maintain high throughput while consuming fewer resources than other baselines.
Throughput and Delay Performance Measurements in Multi-Floor Building Employing Private LTE

The private LTE/5G networks are now getting a lot of attention since it can offer a secure and flexible indoor network such as smart factories and buildings by the cellular-based technologies. However, the cell planning and physical layer parameter optimization to achieve the wide indoor coverage and low latency, which are important performance in such deployments, remain very important and difficult issues to be solved. Therefore, this paper measures the reference signal received power (RSRP), throughput, and delay performance with the shared extended global platform (sXGP) system following TD-LTE specification employing the 1.9 GHz band with 5 MHz bandwidth in the multi-floor building. We employ the automated guided vehicle (AGV), which enables highly accurate measurements while moving at walking speed. We measure the indoor spatial distribution of the performance under various conditions, such as opening and closing of doors and human blockage. Since the delay performance depends more on the physical layer procedure and parameter settings such as scheduling request (SR) periodicity than on the channel conditions, we evaluate the influence of the SR periodicity on the delay performance, and analyze the physical layer procedure in detail. We estimate the delay based on the analysis, and show that the estimated and the measured delays are in good agreement.
Modified Electronic Load Controller for Constant Frequency Operation With Voltage Regulation of Small Hydro-Driven Single-Phase SEIG

This paper is aimed at design and implementation of a modified electronic load controller (MELC) for constant frequency operation with voltage regulation of a two winding single-phase self-excited induction generator (SEIG) applicable for renewable energy applications specifically for off-grid power generation using a small-size hydro energy. The system frequency is maintained constant at a reference level for fixed as well as variable input mechanical power to the prime mover experienced in small hydro systems due to seasonal variations. The point of common coupling (PCC) voltage is also regulated by the controller at varying loads by controlling the power flow to the dump load. The proposed MELC is developed for the constant frequency generation and voltage regulation of single-phase SEIG with frequency as a feedback variable.
Improving Edge Dead Domain and Endurance in Scaled HfZrOx FeRAM

Scaling in area and voltage and its interplay with reliability of metal-ferroelectric-metal (MFM) capacitors are explored for scalable embedded FeRAM technology below 2× nm node. Size-dependent degradation in ferroelectricity due to the edge dead domains is identified both experimentally and theoretically. Optimization strategies including edge interface and work function tuning are detailed. The scaled MFM shows promising potential for achieving high maximum $P_{\mathrm{r}}$ (36 $\mu \mathrm{C}/\text{cm}^{2})$, small area $($0.16 $\mu \mathrm{m}^{2})$, excellent reliability $(> 10^{11})$ cycles; retention $> 10$ years at 85°C), a low operating voltage of 1.7 V, and a high array yield (100 % in lkb test macro).
Flipped elevational pattern of pollination mode in tropical vs. temperate Americas

Aim Abiotic factors, such as temperature and precipitation, vary markedly along elevational gradients, and can in turn, shape key biotic interactions, such as herbivory and pollination. Despite the well-known effects of climatic conditions on pollinator activity and efficiency, we know little about the role of climate in pollinator shifts in animal-pollinated plants at broad geographic scales. Here we investigate patterns of altitudinal turnover in pollination mode across the Americas, with a focus on the most common pollinators (bees and hummingbirds). Specifically, we test Cruden’s classic hypothesis that plants are likely to shift to bird pollination at high elevations because endothermic pollinators are more reliable in cold and rainy conditions. Location Americas Time period Current Major taxa studied 2232 plant taxa from 26 clades Methods We collated information on pollination mode (1262 insect-pollinated, 970 vertebrate-pollinated) for the study taxa from the literature, and used GBIF occurrence data to estimate median distributions and bioclimatic attributes of each species. We used (phylogenetic) GLMMs to test for associations between pollination mode and ecogeographic variables. Results To our surprise, we found flipped elevational patterns of insect- and vertebrate-pollination strategies across latitudes, with vertebrate pollination dominating at high elevations in the tropics, but not in temperate zones. We term this pattern the ‘Tropical flip’. We recovered a strong association of vertebrate-pollinated plants with moist, forested habitats across latitudes, while insect-pollinated plants were often found in cool and dry or warm and moist conditions. Main conclusions Altitudinal gradients in temperature may not serve as a universal explanation for shifts among endothermic insect and ectothermic vertebrate pollination. Instead, strong abiotic niche differentiation among insect- and vertebrate-pollinated plants, along with competition for pollination niche space, has likely shaped the ‘tropical flip’.
PTEN is required for human Treg suppression of costimulation

Regulatory T cell (Treg) therapy is under clinical investigation for the treatment of transplant rejection, autoimmune disease, and graft-versus-host disease. With the advent of genome editing, attention has turned to reinforcing Treg function for therapeutic benefit. A hallmark of Tregs is dampened activation of PI3K-AKT signalling, of which PTEN is a major negative regulator. Loss-of-function studies of PTEN, however, have not conclusively shown a requirement for PTEN in upholding Treg function and stability. Using CRISPR-based genome editing in human Tregs, we show that PTEN ablation does not cause a global defect in Treg function and stability; rather, it selectively blocks their ability to suppress antigen-presenting cells. PTEN-KO Tregs exhibit elevated glycolytic activity, upregulate FOXP3, maintain a Treg phenotype, and have no discernable defects in lineage stability. Functionally, PTEN is dispensable for human Treg-mediated inhibition of T cell activity in vitro and in vivo but is required for suppression of costimulatory molecule expression by antigen-presenting cells. These data are the first to define a role for a signalling pathway in controlling a subset of human Treg activity. Moreover, they point to the functional necessity of PTEN-regulated PI3K-AKT activity for optimal human Treg function.
Disentanglement of Entropy and Coevolution using Spectral Regularization

The rise in the number of protein sequences in the post-genomic era has led to a major breakthrough in fitting generative sequence models for contact prediction, protein design, alignment, and homology search. Despite this success, the interpretability of the modeled pairwise parameters continues to be limited due to the entanglement of coevolution, phylogeny, and entropy. For contact prediction, post-correction methods have been developed to remove the contribution of entropy from the predicted contact maps. However, all remaining applications that rely on the raw parameters, lack a direct method to correct for entropy. In this paper, we investigate the origins of the entropy signal and propose a new spectral regularizer to down weight it during model fitting. We find the added regularizer to GREMLIN, a Markov Random Field or Potts model, allows for the inference of a sparse contact map without loss in precision, meanwhile improving interpretability, and resolving overfitting issues important for sequence evaluation and design.
Heterotrimeric G proteins regulate planarian regeneration and behavior

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play broad roles in development and stem cell biology, but few roles for GPCR signaling in complex tissue regeneration have been uncovered. Planarian flatworms robustly regenerate all tissues and provide a model with which to explore potential functions for GPCR signaling in somatic regeneration and pluripotent stem cell biology. As a first step toward exploring GPCR function in planarians, we investigated downstream signal transducers that work with GPCRs, called heterotrimeric G proteins. Here, we characterized the complete heterotrimeric G protein complement in Schmidtea mediterranea for the first time and found that seven heterotrimeric G protein subunits promote regeneration. We further characterized two subunits critical for regeneration, Gαq1 and Gβ1-4a, finding that they promote the late phase of anterior polarity re-establishment, likely through anterior pole-produced Follistatin. Incidentally, we also found that five heterotrimeric G proteins modulate planarian behavior. We further identified a putative serotonin receptor, gcr052, that we propose works with Gβx2 in planarian locomotion, demonstrating the utility of our strategy for identifying relevant GPCRs. Our work provides foundational insight into roles of heterotrimeric G proteins in planarian biology and serves as a useful springboard towards broadening our understanding of GPCR signaling in adult tissue regeneration.
Acid-Base Homeostasis and Implications to the Phenotypic Behaviors of Cancer

Acid-base homeostasis is a fundamental property of living cells and its persistent disruption in human cells can lead to a wide range of diseases. We have conducted computational modeling and analysis of transcriptomic data of 4750 human tissue samples of nine cancer types in the TCGA database. Built on our previous study, we have quantitatively estimated the (average) production rate of OH− by cytosolic Fenton reactions, which continuously disrupt the intracellular pH homeostasis. Our predictions indicate that all or a subset of 43 reprogrammed metabolisms (RMs) are induced to produce net protons (H+) at comparable rates of Fenton reactions to keep the intracellular pH stable. We have then discovered that a number of well-known phenotypes of cancers, including increased growth rate, metastasis rate and local immune cell composition, can be naturally explained in terms of the Fenton reaction level and the induced RMs. This study strongly suggests the possibility to have a unified framework for studies of cancer-inducing stressors, adaptive metabolic reprogramming, and cancerous behaviors. In addition, strong evidence is provided to demonstrate that a popular view of that Na+/H+ exchangers, along with lactic acid exporters and carbonic anhydrases are responsible for the intracellular alkalization and extracellular acidification in cancer may not be justified.
Emergence of hyper insecticide-resistant dengue vectors in Indochina Peninsula: threats of concomitant knockdown resistance mutations

Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, 1762) is the main mosquito vector for dengue and other arboviral infectious diseases. Control of this important vector highly relies on the use of insecticides, especially pyrethroids. Nevertheless, the development of pyrethroid resistance is a major obstacle to mosquito/disease control worldwide. Here, we focused on the mutations in the target site of pyrethroid insecticides, voltage-sensitive sodium channel (Vssc), and found that Ae. aegypti collected from Vietnam has the L982W allele in the Vssc at a high frequency (>79%). L982W mutation is located in the highly conserved region of Vssc that is associated with sodium–ion selectivity and permeation rate. Strains having the L982W allele showed similar or even higher levels of resistance to pyrethroids than those having V1016G, a typical knockdown resistance allele in Asia. Furthermore, concomitant mutations L982W+F1534C and V1016G+F1534C were confirmed, and strains having these multiple Vssc mutations exhibited incomparably higher levels of pyrethroid resistance than any other field population ever reported. Molecular modeling analysis confirmed that these concomitant mutant alleles could interfere with approaching pyrethroid to Vssc. Remarkably, >90% of Vssc of Ae. aegypti were occupied by these hyper insecticide-resistant haplotypes in Phnom Penh city, Cambodia. Analysis of whole Vssc coding genes suggested that Vsscs have evolved into stronger resistant forms efficiently through gene recombination events. At this point, L982W has never been detected in Vssc of Ae. aegypti from any other neighboring countries. We strongly emphasize the need to be vigilant about these strong resistance genes spreading to the world through Indochina Peninsula. Significance Statement The high frequency (>78%) of the L982W allele was detected at the target site of the pyrethroid insecticide, the voltage-sensitive sodium channel (Vssc) of Aedes aegypti collected from Vietnam and Cambodia. Haplotypes having concomitant mutations L982W+F1534C and V1016G+F1534C were also confirmed in both countries, and their frequency was high (>90%) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Strains having these haplotypes exhibited substantially higher levels of pyrethroid resistance than any other field population ever reported. The L982W mutation has never been detected in any country of the Indochina Peninsula except Vietnam and Cambodia, but it may be spreading to other areas of Asia, which can cause an unprecedentedly serious threat to the control of dengue fever as well as other Aedes-borne infectious diseases.
Gender-based disparities and biases in science: An observational study of a virtual conference

Success in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) remains influenced by race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Here, we focus on the impact of gender on question-asking behavior during the 2021 JOBIM virtual conference (Journées Ouvertes en Biologie et Mathématiques). We gathered quantitative and qualitative data including : demographic information, question asking motivations, live observations and interviews of participants. Quantitative analyses include unprecedented figures such as the fraction of the audience identifying as LGBTQIA+ and an increased attendance of women in virtual conferences. Although parity was reached in the audience, women asked half as many questions as men. This under-representation persisted after accounting for seniority of the asker. Interviews of participants highlighted several barriers to oral expression encountered by women and gender minorities : negative reactions to their speech, discouragement to pursue a career in research, and gender discrimination/sexual harassment. Informed by the study, guidelines for conference organizers have been written.
Seasonal changes in membrane structure and excitability in central neurons of goldfish (Carassius auratus) under constant environmental conditions

Seasonal modifications in the structure of cellular membranes occur as an adaptive measure to withstand exposure to prolonged environmental change. Little is known about whether such changes may occur independently of external cues, such as photoperiod or temperature, or how they may impact the central nervous system (CNS). We compared membrane properties of central neurons isolated from the retina of goldfish (Carassius auratus), an organism well-adapted to extreme environmental change, during the summer and winter months. Goldfish were maintained in a facility under constant environmental conditions throughout the year. Analysis of whole-retina phospholipid composition using mass spectrometry-based lipidomics revealed a two-fold increase in phosphatidylethanolamine species during the winter, suggesting an increase in cell membrane fluidity. Atomic force microscopy was used to produce localized, nanoscale-force deformation of neuronal membranes. Measurement of Young’s modulus indicated increased membrane stiffness (or decreased elasticity) in neurons isolated during the winter. Voltage-clamp electrophysiology was used to assess physiological changes in neurons between seasons. Winter neurons displayed a hyperpolarized reversal potential (Vrev) and a significantly lower input resistance (Rin) compared to summer neurons. This was indicative of a decrease in membrane excitability during the winter. Subsequent measurement of intracellular Ca2+ activity using Fura-2 microspectrofluorometry confirmed a reduction in action potential activity, including duration and action potential profile, in neurons isolated during the winter. These studies demonstrate chemical and biophysical changes that occur in central neurons of goldfish throughout the year without exposure to seasonal cues, and suggest a novel mechanism of seasonal regulation of CNS activity. SUMMARY STATEMENT Central neurons isolated from the retina of goldfish held under constant environmental conditions undergo seasonal changes in membrane structure and excitability.
Masculinizer-induced dosage compensation is achieved by transcriptional downregulation of both copies of Z-linked genes in the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Dosage compensation balances the expression of sex-chromosome-linked genes with autosome-linked genes in the heterogametic sex. The silkworm (Bombyx mori), a lepidopteran model insect, uses the female heterogametic WZ sex determination system. In B. mori, a Z-linked gene, Masculinizer (Masc), is the primary determinant of maleness and dosage compensation. However, it remains unknown whether one of the two Z chromosomes is inactivated or both Z chromosomes are suppressed in B. mori males. Hence, we performed transcriptome analysis using hybrids between two B. mori strains and analyzed the allele-specific expression (ASE) to solve the problem. The ASE analysis revealed that the genes located on the maternal and paternal Z chromosomes are transcriptionally upregulated in Masc knocked down males. Also, our results revealed that two Z chromosomes are transcriptionally downregulated in B. mori males as observed in Caenorhabditis elegans.
FIDS: Detecting DDoS Through Federated Learning Based Method

Recently, federated learning has been used by Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDSs) to expanding data features while preserving data privacy. However, non-independent and identically distributed (non-iid) datasets weaken the model performance of federated learning. In this paper, we present a novel Federated Intrusion Detection System(FIDS) to classify the differences of DDoS attacks from the non-iid dataset. A prototypical weight is introduced to measure the correlations between global data space and local data spaces. We then explore the feature combinations of abnormal behaviors and extract extra features from original data in preprocessing steps. Experimental results show that the FIDS improves the performance of training stability and convergence rate compared to two baselines.
Effect of triangular corrugated beds on the hydraulic jump characteristics

In this study, the hydraulic jump characteristics were studied experimentally over six triangular corrugated beds in a rectangular cross section flume. A total number of 42 tests were carried out for Froude numbers 6.1 to 13.1 in low stage of jump. In all tests, the main characteristics of hydraulic jump were measured. The results showed that the corrugated bed caused the conjugate depths of the jump and the hydraulic jump length to be reduced by 25% and 54.7%, respectively, compared to those of smooth bed. The obtained shear stress coefficient for corrugated bed is about 8.5 times of that for smooth bed. The effect of the relative corrugation heights on the jump characteristics was not found to be significant. Finally, results obtained from this study showed that the effect of the shape was almost insignificant. Furthermore, no specific corrugated sheet could be chosen to simultaneously reduce the tailwater depth and the jump length.
A Novel Security Framework for Edge Computing based UAV Delivery System

As the latest computing paradigm, edge computing has attracted increasing attention from both academia and industry in recent years. It significantly affects the design and development of many smart systems and challenges conventional security solutions. Therefore, a new security framework targeted for edge computing-based smart systems is urgently required. In this paper, we investigate various security issues in the edge computing-based Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) delivery system which is a typical system in smart logistics. Specifically, we focus on security issues related to abnormal intrusion detection, various security attacks, and authentication/access control. To address these security issues, we propose A2DSEC which is a novel security framework characterized by the capabilities such as detection, defense, and authentication. With A2DSEC, we can guarantee the security of user identity authentication, and provide effective early warnings so that corresponding security measures can be taken in a timely fashion. To verify the effectiveness of A2DSEC, we test and implement the core part of the framework on a real-world edge computing-based UAV delivery system. The experiment results show that the A2DSEC can effectively ensure the security of the UAV delivery system via the timely detection of a variety of attacks as well as unknown potential attacks.
Context-aware knowledge tracing integrated with the exercise representation and association in mathematics

Influenced by COVID-19, online learning has become one of the most important forms of education in the world. In the era of intelligent education, knowledge tracing (KT) can provide excellent technical support for individualized teaching. For online learning, we come up with a new knowledge tracing method that integrates mathematical exercise representation and association of exercise (ERAKT). In the aspect of exercise representation, we represent the multi-dimensional features of the exercises, such as formula, text and associated concept, by using ontology replacement method, language model and embedding technology, so we can obtain the unified internal representation of exercise. Besides, we utilize the bidirectional long short memory neural network to acquire the association between exercises, so as to predict his performance in future exercise. Extensive experiments on a real dataset clearly proved the effectiveness of ERAKT method, they also verified that adding multi-dimensional features and exercise association can indeed improve the accuracy of prediction. [For the full proceedings, see ED615472. ]