Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Response of rice phenology to climate warming weakened across China during 1981–2018: did climatic or anthropogenic factors play a role?

Climate warming has substantially shifted plant phenology, which alters the length of growing season and consequently affects plant productivity. Recent studies showed a stalled or reversed impact of climate change on vegetation phenology since 1998, as well as an asymmetric warming effect. However, how field crop phenology responded to the recent climate warming and the asymmetric warming remains unknown. In addition, the relative roles of climate change, sowing date and cultivars shifts in the spatiotemporal changes of crop phenology at different regions need to be better understood. Here, using the latest 9,393 phenological records at 249 agro-meteorological stations across China over 1981–2018, we critically investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of rice phenology and disentangled the effects of different drivers by exploiting the physiological relationship between crop phenology and thermal accumulation. The results showed that length of growing period (GP) increased by 3.24 ± 0.15 days/decade for single rice, 1.90 ± 0.22 days/decade for early rice and 0.47 ± 0.14 days/decade for late rice. Although climate warming during rice GP did not slow down, the trends in rice GP and the correlations between GP and temperature decreased generally from 1981–1999 to 2000–2018. The weakened phenological response to climate change was mainly caused by agronomic managements, especially cultivar shifts. Climate warming shortened GP by 0.84 ± 1.80, 1.23 ± 0.77, and 1.29 ± 1.24 days/decade for single rice, early rice and late rice, respectively. However, cultivar shifts prolonged it respectively by 3.28 ± 3.68, 2.15 ± 2.38, and 2.31 ± 3.36 days/decade, totally offsetting the negative effects of climate warming. Rice responded to daytime and night-time warming differently with night-time temperature affecting GPs more. Our study provided new insights that rice phenology responded to night-time warming more than daytime warming across China however the response to climate warming weakened, and cultivar shifts outweighed climate change in affecting rice phenology.
Robust Optimal Controller for Buck Converter Under Parametric Uncertainty: An LQR Approach

A major problem to design the controller of power electronic converters is to maintain robust stability and performance criteria against changing parameters. The conventional methods to design robust controllers lead to a high-order controller that may not feasible to implement in real-time. In this paper, a robust linear quadratic regulator is proposed that can cope with the variation of parameters of the converter. This approach is based on state feedback which involves inductor current and capacitor voltage. These state variables should be measured and sent to the controller unit. To simplify implementation, an extended kalman bucy filter is proposed for buck converter to estimate the states of the converter. To more study, the performance of the proposed controller is compared with a conventional high order H∞ controller.
Fresh Caching of Dynamic Content Over the Wireless Edge

We introduce a framework and provably-efficient schemes for ‘fresh’ caching at the (front-end) local cache of content that is subject to ‘dynamic’ updates at the (back-end) database. We start by formulating the hard-cache-constrained problem for this setting, which quickly becomes intractable due to the limited cache. To bypass this challenge, we first propose a flexible time-based-eviction model to derive the average system cost function that measures the system’s cost due to the service of aging content in addition to the regular cache miss cost. Next, we solve the cache-unconstrained case, which reveals how the refresh dynamics and popularity of content affect optimal caching. Then, we extend our approach to a soft-cache-constrained version, where we can guarantee that the cache use is limited with arbitrarily high probability. The corresponding solution reveals the interesting insight that ‘whether to cache an item or not in the local cache? ’ depends primarily on its popularity level and channel reliability, whereas ‘how long the cached item should be held in the cache before eviction? ’ depends primarily on its refresh rate. Moreover, we investigate the cost-cache saving trade-offs and prove that substantial cache gains can be obtained while also asymptotically achieving the minimum cost as the database size grows.
TEMPOS: QoS Management Middleware for Edge Cloud Computing FaaS in the Internet of Things

Several classes of advanced Internet of Things (IoT) applications, e.g., in the industrial manufacturing domain, call for Quality of Service (QoS) management to guarantee/control performance indicators, even in presence of many sources of “stochastic noise” in real deployment environments, from scarcely available bandwidth in a time window to concurrent usage of virtualized processing resources. This paper proposes a novel IoT-oriented middleware that i) considers and coordinates together different aspects of QoS monitoring, control, and management for different kinds of virtualized resources (from networking to processing) in a holistic way, and ii) specifically targets deployment environments where edge cloud resources are employed to enable the Serverless paradigm in the cloud continuum. The reported experimental results show how it is possible to achieve the desired QoS differentiation by coordinating heterogeneous mechanisms and technologies already available in the market. This demonstrates the feasibility of effective QoS-aware management of virtualized resources in the cloud-to-things continuum when considering a Serverless provisioning scenario, which is completely original in the related literature to the best of our knowledge.
Device-level and module-level three-dimensional integrated circuits created using oblique processing

Abstract. This paper demonstrates that another class of three-dimensional integrated circuits (3-D-ICs) exists, distinct from through-silicon-via-centric and monolithic 3-D-ICs. Furthermore, it is possible to create devices that are 3-D “at the device level” (i.e., with active channels oriented in each of the three coordinate axes), by performing standard CMOS fabrication operations at an angle with respect to the wafer surface into high aspect ratio silicon substrates using membrane projection lithography (MPL). MPL requires only minimal fixturing changes to standard CMOS equipment, and no change to current state-of-the-art lithography. Eliminating the constraint of two-dimensional planar device architecture enables a wide range of interconnect topologies which could help reduce interconnect resistance/capacitance, and potentially improve performance.
Quantitative comparison of spinning disk geometries for PAINT based super-resolution microscopy

PAINT methods that use DNA- or protein- based exchangeable probes have become popular for super-resolution imaging and have been combined with spinning disk confocal microscopy for imaging thicker samples. However, the widely available spinning disks used for routine biological imaging are not optimized for PAINT-based applications and may compromise resolution and imaging speed. Here, we use Drosophila egg chambers in the presence of the actin-binding peptide Lifeact to study the performance of four different spinning disk geometries. We find that disk geometries with higher light collection efficiency perform better for PAINT-based super-resolution imaging due to increased photon numbers and, subsequently, detection of more blinking events.
Bayesian Cloud Detection over Land for Climate Data Records

Cloud detection is a necessary step in the generation of land surface temperature (LST) climate data records (CDRs) and affects data quality and uncertainty. We present here a sensor-independent Bayesian cloud detection algorithm and show that it is suitable for use in the production of LST CDRs. We evaluate the performance of the cloud detection with reference to two manually masked datasets for the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) and find a 7.9% increase in the hit rate and 4.9% decrease in the false alarm rate when compared to the operational cloud mask. We then apply the algorithm to four instruments aboard polar-orbiting satellites, which together can produce a global, 25-year LST CDR: the second Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR-2), AATSR, the Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS Terra) and the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR-A). The Bayesian cloud detection hit rate is assessed with respect to in situ ceilometer measurements for periods of overlap between sensors. The consistency of the hit rate is assessed between sensors, with mean differences in the cloud hit rate of 4.5% for ATSR-2 vs. AATSR, 4.9% for AATSR vs. MODIS, and 2.5% for MODIS vs. SLSTR-A. This is important because consistent cloud detection performance is needed for the observational stability of a CDR. The application of a sensor-independent cloud detection scheme in the production of CDRs is thus shown to be a viable approach to achieving LST observational stability over time.
Spatiotemporal Evolution and the Driving Force
of Tourism Ecosystem Health in the Yangtze River
Economic Belt, China

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is China’s golden tourism belt, while also serving as a demonstration model for the construction of an ecological civilization. Therefore, tourism ecosystem health (TEH) is a key consideration for the promotion of sustainable development in the YREB. In this study, we explored the meaning and application of the TEH concept and developed a five-dimensional TEH evaluation index system based on a framework encompassing “vigor-organizational structure-resilience-ecological service functions-residents’ health and education level” (VORSH). Taking the YREB as an illustrative case study, we used a coupling-coordination model and the geographic detector method to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution and driving forces of TEH in this region. Key results of the analysis were as follows: (1) Overall, TEH and its five dimensions in the YREB showed steady improvement during the period 2000-2019. (2) The spatial distribution of TEH was high in the eastern part of YREB and low in the western part, with a gradual transference of TEH grades. From 2000 to 2019, transfers of TEH states occurred mainly in two directions. The first entailed transference to a higher-level neighboring state, and the second entailed retention of the original health state. (3) From 2000 to 2019, the coupling-coordination types associated with the five dimensions of TEH in the YREB gradually evolved from a state of being uncoordinated to one of coordination, and the degree of coupling-coordination revealed spatial distribution pattern of east > center > west. (4) The leading factors driving the spatial differentiation of TEH in the YREB were identified as development of the tourism industry and regional economy, urbanization, residents’ health conditions, and urban greening. The interactive relationships among these factors indicated a trend of nonlinear enhancement and bi-factor enhancement. In addition, differences in the main driving factors of TEH were found for particular years. This study provides useful inputs for promoting the geography thus expands existing research on development of a high-quality tourism economy and a high level of protection of the tourism ecology that can guide coordinated and sustainable development of TEH.
Effects of Annealing Ambient on the Structural, Optical and Electrical Properties of TiO2:Ge Thin Films

TiO2, a semiconducting material with a wide energy band gap, has been researched intensively due to its interesting properties and many potential applications. The films properties can as well be modified by preparing the films under diverse ambient to suit diverse applications. In this work, the effects of the annealing atmosphere on the structural, optical and electrical properties of pure TiO2 and TiO2:Ge composite thin films deposited by sputtering from commercially available pure TiO2 and TiO2:Ge (85:15) targets respectively were studied. The films were deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide glass substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique at room temperature 23–25 ℃ and then annealed at 450 ℃ for one hour in three different atmospheres: air, argon and nitrogen. The XRD results revealed that, both pure TiO2 and TiO2:Ge thin films were crystalline and had a mixed phase of anatase and rutile regardless of the annealing ambient. The calculated crystallite sizes ranged between 19–21 nm with the particle sizes for TiO2:Ge films being larger compared to pure TiO2 as calculated from ImageJ software. Electrical measurements showed that the resistivity of as deposited pure TiO2 films (about 13.03 × 10–2 Ω-cm) was greater than the TiO2: Ge composite (5.91 × 10–2 Ω-cm). Furthermore, on annealing, pure TiO2 had a resistivity of 9.47 × 10–2 Ω-cm–10.4 × 10–2 Ω-cm, while the TiO2:Ge composite had a resistivity of 2.24 × 10–2 Ω-cm–3.61 × 10–2 Ω-cm depending on the annealing atmosphere. Variation of annealing atmosphere had minimal influence on the electrical resistivity of the films. The films annealed in nitrogen recorded the least resistivity values averaging about 5.86 × 10–2 Ω-cm, while those annealed in argon and air recorded a resistivity of 6.94 × 10–2 Ω-cm and 6.65 × 10–2 Ω-cm, respectively. The transmittance spectra showed that, all the annealed films were transparent in the visible region (400–700 nm) with a mean bandgap of 3.60 eV for each annealing atmosphere. It is recommended that films annealed in nitrogen atmosphere could be considered for potential applications in photovoltaics. Keywords: Titanium dioxide; Germanium; Ambient; Structural; Optical, Electrical
Niche and geographical expansions of North American trees and tall shrubs in Europe

We examine how the climatic niches of North American tree and tall‐shrub species change after their introduction to Europe and how these shifts affect their potential geographical distributions in the new range. We ask whether patterns of niche shifts differ among species confined to different biomes in North America and whether the expansions of species' climatic niches and potential distribution ranges are related to their residence time in Europe and native range size.
Australian teacher stress, well‐being, self‐efficacy, and safety during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract The 2020 COVID pandemic radically altered the way in which individuals live and work. For teachers, this entailed a shift in their teaching practice, with large numbers of schools around Australia and the world closing for prolonged periods of time and moving to an “online” format. This required teachers to quickly adapt their teaching practices adding further stress to an already stressful environment. In this article, we examine the relationships between teachers' stress, teachers' self‐efficacy, and teachers' well‐being during the COVID pandemic. The study presents the results from a quantitative survey undertaken in June and July 2020 with 534 teachers around Australia. While the study found that, overall, most teachers (77.29%) reported that they were not feeling anxious in their teaching role, teachers' responses indicated that they were experiencing high levels of stress and low levels of positive feelings such as joy, positivity, and contentment in their work during the COVID‐19 pandemic negatively impacting their well‐being and self‐efficacy.
A Design Space Exploration Framework for Memristor-Based Crossbar Architecture

In the literature, there are few studies describing how to implement Boolean logic functions as a memristor-based crossbar architecture and some solutions have been actually proposed targeting back-end synthesis. However, there is a lack of methodologies and tools for the synthesis automation. The main goal of this paper is to perform a Design Space Exploration (DSE) in order to analyze and compare the impact of the most used optimization algorithms on a memristor-based crossbar architecture. The results carried out on 102 circuits lead us to identify the best optimization approach, in terms of area/energy/delay. The presented results can also be considered as a reference (benchmarking) for comparing future work.
The Outer Membrane Proteins and Their Synergy Triggered the Protective Effects against Pathogenic Escherichia coli

Colibacillosis caused by pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) is one of the most serious infectious diseases, causing an extensive burden on animal husbandry and the human healthcare system. Vaccination is one of the ideal ways to prevent E. coli infection. In this work, recombinant outer membrane protein A (rOmpA), outer membrane protein C (rOmpC) and BamA (rBamA) from E. coli O78 (CVCC CAU0768) were expressed in a prokaryotic expression system with the concentration of 1–2 mg/mL after purification. Considerable immune responses could be triggered in mice that were immunized with these recombinant proteins, high antibody titers, high total IgG level and various antibody isotypes were detected in antisera after booster immunizations. Moreover, mice immunized with several recombinant proteins in combination showed a higher survival rate with the challenge of homologous strain E. coli O78 and a more significant cross-protection effect against heterologous strain E. coli O157:H7 (CICC 21530) in vivo than those of immunized alone. The antisera from immunized mice showed high affinity to multiple strains of Escherichia, Shigella and Salmonella in vitro, indicating that recombinant outer membrane proteins from E. coli O78 had the potential to be developed into universal antigenic substances against not only E. coli but also a variety of Gram-negative bacteria. rOmpA was considered as the most immunogenic protein in this work and the combination of different proteins could further enhance the immune response of immunized mice, which provided the reference for the construction of novel antigens with higher efficiency.
Improving the solidification performance of a shell‐and‐tube latent‐heat thermal energy storage unit using a connected‐Y‐shaped fin

In this paper, the solidification process of the phase change material (PCM) in the shell‐and‐tube latent‐heat thermal energy storage unit (LTESU) strengthened by fin is studied. For improving the strengthening effect of fins on the solidification performance of shell‐and‐tube LTESU, this paper proposes a novel connected‐Y‐shaped fin. The novel fin is inspired by the interconnection of the internal texture of the lotus leaf, and the branches of the two‐level Y‐shaped fins are connected into a whole by three metal annuluses. The numerical simulation method is applied to investigate the influence of the connected‐Y‐shaped fin on the solidification performance of PCM. The effects of annulus position and fin width on solidification performance are studied and analyzed. At the same time, the effects of the connected‐Y‐shaped fin on the solidification process under different wall temperatures and the radius ratio of outer to inner tube (γi) are investigated. The results indicated that the connected‐Y‐shaped fin can significantly enhance the discharging performance of LTESU. Compared with the traditional two‐level Y‐shaped fins, the optimized connected‐Y‐shaped fin can shorten the PCM solidification time by 53.9%. The optimum width ratio of the connected‐Y‐shaped fin should be 2. The optimum radius ratio of the outer annulus, middle annulus, and inner annulus to the outer tube should be 0.91, 0.64, and 0.41, respectively. The scope of application of the conclusion is that Ste = 0.139 − 0.496, and γi = 0.083 − 0.167.
A study to evaluate pattern and purpose of smartphone usage and its dependence among medical students of government medical college in northern India

Background: Smartphone usage has become increasingly popular in recent decade. Though it’s of great utility in many aspects, excessive usage among youth has shown increased restlessness, careless lifestyles and greater susceptibility to stress. Aim & Objective: To assess the pattern and purpose of smartphone usage and its dependence among medical students. Methods & Material: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted among 363 MBBS students of 1st, IInd and IIIrd professional year between October 2018 to December 2018 at a government medical college. A 20-item self-administrated questionnaire, focusing on purpose and pattern of use of smart phone and its dependence was filled by all the students. Data was collected, entered and analysed using SPSS Software. Result: Among 363 students, 53% participants were males and rest were females. 80% students were using smartphone for more than 2 years, while 60% were having daily usage of more than 3 hours. Significant association between severity of smartphone dependence and variables like MBBS professional year, daily phone call made and received, daily SMS received, daily WhatsApp message sent and received were observed. Dependence was mild in 8.8% of the students; Moderate in 72.2% while 19% were suffering from severe smartphone dependence. Conclusion: Smart phone dependence is an established and emerging psychological issue which needs attention and intervention. It is of serious concern that all medical students were suffering from smartphone dependence with varying grades of severity. Increased awareness regarding the harmful effects of smartphone addiction is the need of hour.
A Game Theoretic Horizon Decomposition Approach for Real-Time Demand-Side Management

This article introduces two instances of rolling horizon algorithms, viz, shrinking horizon proximal decomposition algorithm (SHPDA) and distributed horizon proximal decomposition algorithm (DHPDA), to solve the demand-side management problem in real time. Both these algorithms are comprised of “two-step”. The number of time-slots to be considered in each iteration is decided in first step. In second step, the solution for considered time-slots is obtained through a non-cooperative game-theoretic approach using the proximal decomposition algorithm (PDA). An investigation is carried out to establish the existence and multiplicity of Nash equilibrium for the formulated game. The convergence of PDA has a strong dependency on system parameters and is unique for a system. Hence an analysis is performed to derive the convergence criteria for the formulated problem. The system model includes distributed energy storage, distributed dispatchable generation, time-shiftable, power-shiftable (PSD), and essential devices. The reduction in power consumption of PSD caused due to the optimization process creates discomfort to users. Therefore, we have incorporated an objective to minimize the discomfort and reduce consumers’ energy bills. Simulation is carried out to show the efficacy of developed algorithms in terms of the energy bill, peak reduction, and solution time. Also, eight scenarios have been analyzed to show the impact of adding discomfort cost on the above-mentioned system parameters.
Sexual dimorphism and phylogenetic position of Chilodendron (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) - a long isolated lineage endemic to Madagascar

simultaneously reducing arti ﬁ cially long branches due to extended loop regions that characterize ribosomal genes (see also Jordal et al., 2008). The data were analysed in MrBayes (Ronquist & Huelsen-beck, 2003) and partitioned into genomes and positions (if coding) using a GTR+I+G model for each of the seven partitions Abstract. Chilodendron Schedl, 1953 is resurrected as a valid genus based on Chilodendron planicolle Schedl, 1953. This is the only representative of the tribe Hylesinini Erichson, 1836 found on Madagascar and a molecular phylogenetic analysis of several genes supports a position separate from Hylesinopsis Eggers, 1920 and other putatively close relatives. It is likely that Chilodendron is the oldest living lineage of bark beetles on Madagascar and possibly originated in the late Cretaceous not long after the separation of Madagascar from the Indian subcontinent.