Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The 1430s: a cold period of extraordinary internal climate variability during the early Spörer Minimum with social and economic impacts in north-western and central Europe

Abstract. Changes in climate affected human societies throughout the last millennium. While European cold periods in the 17th and 18th century have been assessed in detail, earlier cold periods received much less attention due to sparse information available. New evidence from proxy archives, historical documentary sources and climate model simulations permit us to provide an interdisciplinary, systematic assessment of an exceptionally cold period in the 15th century. Our assessment includes the role of internal, unforced climate variability and external forcing in shaping extreme climatic conditions and the impacts on and responses of the medieval society in north-western and central Europe. Climate reconstructions from a multitude of natural and anthropogenic archives indicate that the 1430s were the coldest decade in north-western and central Europe in the 15th century. This decade is characterised by cold winters and average to warm summers resulting in a strong seasonal cycle in temperature. Results from comprehensive climate models indicate consistently that these conditions occurred by chance due to the partly chaotic internal variability within the climate system. External forcing like volcanic eruptions tends to reduce simulated temperature seasonality and cannot explain the reconstructions. The strong seasonal cycle in temperature reduced food production and led to increasing food prices, a subsistence crisis and a famine in parts of Europe. Societies were not prepared to cope with failing markets and interrupted trade routes. In response to the crisis, authorities implemented numerous measures of supply policy and adaptation such as the installation of grain storage capacities to be prepared for future food production shortfalls.
Navigating rice seedling cold resilience: QTL mapping in two inbred line populations and the search for genes

Due to global climate change resulting in extreme temperature fluctuations, it becomes increasingly necessary to explore the natural genetic variation in model crops such as rice to facilitate the breeding of climate-resilient cultivars. To uncover genomic regions in rice involved in managing cold stress tolerance responses and to identify associated cold tolerance genes, two inbred line populations developed from crosses between cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive parents were used for quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of two traits: degree of membrane damage after 1 week of cold exposure quantified as percent electrolyte leakage (EL) and percent low-temperature seedling survivability (LTSS) after 1 week of recovery growth. This revealed four EL QTL and 12 LTSS QTL, all overlapping with larger QTL regions previously uncovered by genome-wide association study (GWAS) mapping approaches. Within the QTL regions, 25 cold-tolerant candidate genes were identified based on genomic differences between the cold-tolerant and cold-sensitive parents. Of those genes, 20% coded for receptor-like kinases potentially involved in signal transduction of cold tolerance responses; 16% coded for transcription factors or factors potentially involved in regulating cold tolerance response effector genes; and 64% coded for protein chaperons or enzymes potentially serving as cold tolerance effector proteins. Most of the 25 genes were cold temperature regulated and had deleterious nucleotide variants in the cold-sensitive parent, which might contribute to its cold-sensitive phenotype.
RESEARCH ON LIDAR SLAM METHOD WITH FUSED POINT CLOUD INTENSITY INFORMATION

Abstract. Under the current trend of intelligence and automation, simultaneous positioning and mapping technology has become one of the research hotspots. The main problems of SLAM technology research are to improve the robustness of mapping and positioning, establish an efficient back-end optimization system, and improve the generalization of SLAM technology. This paper proposes to fuse the intensity information of the point cloud and the geometric information of the environment scene to construct a globally consistent environment feature descriptor and use the non-iterative two-step method to perform the nearest neighbour search on the point cloud in the point cloud registration stage. Then use the globally consistent descriptor that has been constructed to extract the laser point cloud descriptor by using the ring partition method, combine the method based on domain search to search for the closest point cloud frame, and finally use Intensity-ICP to complete the loopback frame. Fine registration, outputs the optimal pose transformation, to complete the loop detection. We use our self-built mobile platform to verify the robustness and generalization of the improved laser SLAM algorithm in public datasets and campus datasets. Experimental results show that the improved algorithm reduces the trajectory drift of the mobile platform and improves the efficiency of point cloud registration and loop closure detection.
A Preliminary Study on Marine Disasters in the Yangtze River Estuary

According to related literature and statistic data,marine disasters in the Yangtze River Estuary are described,based on which some countermeasures are brought forward.The rise of sea level,the increasing occurrence of storm tide,the aggravation of saline intrusion and serious environmental pollution along the river are four major types of marine disasters.It is further pointed out that global warming,which would directly lead to the ascending of sea level,is mainly responsible for the high frequency of these marine disasters in the study area.It should be stressed that disaster prevention and damage mitigation be treated as a giant,systematic social engineering,which needs very close cooperation of multiple governmental sections and far-ranging industries.
The Key Role of the Vertical Structure of the Stratospheric Quasi‐Biennial Oscillation in the Variations of Asian Precipitation in Summer

Based on observations and numerical simulations, this study explores the responses of Asian precipitations in summer to the vertical structure of Stratospheric quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO), and the relevant mechanisms. Compared to the QBO phase defined by a particular level traditionally, considering QBO's vertical structure leads to more significant precipitation responses. When the tropical zonal winds exhibit easterlies (westerlies) at 70 hPa and westerlies (easterlies) at both 30 and 50 hPa, there are downwellings (upwellings) over tropics and upwellings (downwellings) over mid‐latitudes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The meridional movement of the subtropical westerly jet is related to this secondary circulation, accompanied by anomalies of the South Asian High. These circulation anomalies lead to anomalous lower tropospheric circulations, causing abnormal vertical velocities and moisture transports, resulting in increased precipitation over South Asia and decreased precipitation in the Yangtze River basin.
A giant Permian fusulinid from east-central Alaska with comparisons of all giant fusulinids in western North America

The discovery of a new locality yielding giant Guadalupian (Lower Permian) fusulinids in east-central Alaska extends the range of these forms much farther north than previously known, and into a tectonostratigraphic terrane from which they previously had not been reported. The number of areas from which giant parafusulinids are known in North America is thus raised to eight. Three of these localities are in rocks that previously had been referred to the allochthonous McCloud belt arc, and one, West Texas, is known to have been part of Paleozoic North America. Comparison of species from all areas suggests that there are two closely related species groups: one represented in Texas and Coahuila, and the other represented in Sonora, northern California, northeastern Washington, southern and northern British Columbia, Alaska, and apparently in Texas. These groups may differ because they are of slightly different ages or because interchange between the faunas of Texas–Coahuila area and the other regions was somewhat inhibited during the Early Permian.
Greening Organizations: The Relationship between Employee Environmental Concern, Perception of Advantages of Eco-Innovations, and Support for Innovation

Environmental sustainability is a relevant challenge for companies, and employees’ perceptions of the advantages of ecological innovation, or eco-innovation, introduced by the company represent an important driver of organizational change adoption. This study examines if employees’ environmental concerns, considered as a general attitude and a value orientation, are related to the perception of the advantages of eco-innovation. Building on climate literature, it also investigates if the climate of support for innovation moderates that relationship. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 130 Italian workers. A confirmatory factor analysis and a moderation model were tested. Results show a significant positive relationship between employees’ environmental concern and perceived benefits of eco-innovation. Intriguingly, the climate of support for innovation negatively, instead of positively, moderated this relationship. Results suggest that in order to increase the perception of the benefits of the introduced eco-innovations, organizations should consider the whole set of innovations undertaken and address, especially to very concerned and value oriented employees, the unique environmental benefits of those innovations.
Deep Mutual Learning-Based Mode Recognition of Orbital Angular Momentum

Due to its orbital angular momentum (OAM), optical vortex has been widely used in communications and LIDAR target detection. The OAM mode recognition based on deep learning is mostly based on the basic convolutional neural network. To ensure high-precision OAM state detection, a deeper network structure is required to overcome the problem of similar light intensity distribution of different superimposed vortex beams and the effect of atmospheric turbulence disturbance. However, the large number of parameters and the computation of the OAM state detection network conflict with the requirements of deploying optical communication system equipment. In this paper, an online knowledge distillation scheme is selected to achieve an end-to-end single-stage training and the inter-class dark knowledge of similar modes are fully utilized. An optical vortex OAM state detection technique based on deep mutual learning (DML) is proposed. The simulation results show that after mutual learning training, a small detection network with higher accuracy can be obtained, which is more suitable for terminal deployment. Based on the scalability of the number of networks in the DML queue, it provides a new possibility to further improve the detection accuracy of the optical communication.
Late Quaternary salinity variation in the Lake of Siebleben (Thuringia, Central Germany) – Methods of palaeoenvironmental analysis using Ostracoda and pollen

We test several methods of ostracod-based palaeoenvironmental reconstruction using indicator species approach, mutual ecological/climatic range methods, transfer functions, modern analogue technique and morphological variation within Cyprideis torosa in reconstructing the site evolution of a late Quaternary small lake basin in Thuringia, Central Germany. Sediment sections containing a diverse ostracod fauna were studied and compared with those from modern water bodies of Thuringia. Palynological investigations were executed to reconstruct the environmental conditions in the catchment area and for a obtaining a biostratigraphical framework. The brackish water ostracod Cyprideis torosa as well as the foraminifer Haplophragmoides indicate phases of saline groundwater influence, fed by salt bearing sediments of the Triassic basement. The accompanying freshwater ostracod fauna, however, reflects only low variations of salinity and temperature. Environmental changes in salinity, temperature and ecological stability indicated by microfossils and pollen are caused by an interplay of climatic shifts and the local geological and hydrological setting.
The role of industry-academia collaboration in enhancing educational opportunities and outcomes under the digital driven Industry 4.0

We studied the role of industry-academic collaboration (IAC) in the enhancement of educational opportunities and outcomes under the digital driven Industry 4.0 using research and development, the patenting of products/knowledge, curriculum development, and artificial intelligence as proxies for IAC. Relevant conceptual, theoretical, and empirical literature were reviewed to provide a background for this research. The investigator used mainly principal (primary) data from a sample of 230 respondents. The primary statistics were acquired through a questionnaire. The statistics were evaluated using the structural equation model (SEM) and Stata version 13.0 as the statistical software. The findings indicate that the direct total effect of Artificial intelligence (Aint) on educational opportunities (EduOp) is substantial (Coef. 0.2519916) and statistically significant (p < 0.05), implying that changes in Aint have a pronounced influence on EduOp. Additionally, considering the indirect effects through intermediate variables, Research and Development (Res_dev) and Product Patenting (Patenting) play crucial roles, exhibiting significant indirect effects on EduOp. Res_dev exhibits a negative indirect effect (Coef = −0.009969, p = 0.000) suggesting that increased research and development may dampen the impact of Aint on EduOp against a priori expectation while Patenting has a positive indirect effect (Coef = 0.146621, p = 0.000), indicating that innovation, as reflected by patenting, amplifies the effect of Aint on EduOp. Notably, Curriculum development (Curr_dev) demonstrates a remarkable positive indirect effect (Coef = 0.8079605, p = 0.000) underscoring the strong role of current development activities in enhancing the influence of Aint on EduOp. The study contributes to knowledge on the effective deployment of artificial intelligence, which has been shown to enhance educational opportunities and outcomes under the digital driven Industry 4.0 in the study area.
High-quality-factor space–time metasurface for free-space power isolation at near-infrared regime

Abstract. Space–time metasurfaces are promising candidates for breaking Lorentz reciprocity, which constrains light propagation in numerous practical applications. There is a substantial difference between carrier and modulation frequencies in space–time photonic metasurfaces that leads to negligible spatial pathway variation of light and weak nonreciprocal response. To surmount this obstacle, herein, the design principle of a high-quality-factor space–time gradient metasurface is demonstrated at the near-infrared regime that increases the lifetime of photons and allows for strong power isolation by lifting the adiabaticity of modulation. The all-dielectric metasurface consists of an array of silicon subwavelength gratings (SWGs) that are separated from distributed Bragg reflectors by a silica buffer. The resonant mode with ultrahigh quality-factor exceeding 104 is excited within the SWG, which is characterized as magnetic octupole and features strong field localization. The SWGs are configured as multijunction p–n layers, whose multigate biasing with time-varying waveforms enables modulation of carriers in space and time. The proposed nonreciprocal metasurface is exploited for free-space optical power isolation by virtue of modulation-induced phase shift. It is shown that under time reversal and by interchanging the directions of incident and observation ports, power isolation of ≈35 dB can be maintained between the two ports in free space.
mm-Wave Low Insertion Loss SIW Phase Shifter Based on Liquid Metal Technology

This letter presents the proof of concept of first liquid metal (LM)-based millimeter-wave (mm-wave) phase shifter that have very low insertion loss (IL) performance. The proposed phase shifter has a phase shift up to 360° with a phase resolution of 45°. The phase shifter operates on 26-GHz 5G band and have IL performance of lower than 2.1 dB. This enables the proposed phase shifters to have an excellent figure of merit (FoM) of 174.7°/dB at 26 GHz. The proposed phase shifter has several advantages including the capability to be integrated with SIW-based feeding network for mm-wave phased array antennas. The phase of the phase shifters is controlled by introducing vias formed of LM. When the via is required, the via hole is filled with LM, and when the via is no longer required, the holes are emptied of LM. The proposed reconfiguration approach will also be applicable within a wide range of different reconfigurable mm-wave devices.
Beamforming Techniques for Resilient Navigation with Small Antenna Arrays

: This paper presents a comparative benchmarking of different beamforming techniques for robust multipath and spooﬁng mitigation in handheld receivers equipped with a small number of antenna elements. In the ﬁeld of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs), multipath and spooﬁng have become major sources of signal degradation, whereby the presence of closely spaced replicas of the signal of interest hampers the receiver’s performance. Spatial ﬁltering through the use of antenna arrays is one appealing approach to combat these effects. However, the upward trend in device miniaturization poses a serious concern for spatial ﬁltering in handheld devices such as tablets or smartphones, particularly for the case of decimeter-wave signals such as in GNSSs. The terminal size constraints lead to deploying arrays with very few antennas, thus degrading the mitigation performance of the above impairments. This work explores the feasibility of performing robust multi-path and spooﬁng mitigation in GNSS receivers with antenna arrays of very small sizes. Simulation results on four-antenna rectangular and two-antenna linear array distributions are provided, showing that the reduction in array size can be counteracted by the use of advanced beamformers.
SPATIAL ECOLOGY OF EUROPEAN BADGERS (MELES MELES) IN MEDITERRANEAN HABITATS OF THE NORTH-EASTERN IBERIAN PENINSULA. II: HABITAT SELECTION

The adaptability of badgers to diverse environments under conditions of variable food availability (amount and variety) together with their social organization patterns have allowed them to inhabit a vast geographical range across Europe. Consequently, badger habitat selection has been addressed throughout most of its distribution range in terms of both individual ranges and sett locations. Several versions of the Resource Dispersion Hypothesis have been proposed to explain habitat selection by badgers. Here we performed a compositional analysis to evaluate the habitat preferences of badgers in the NE Iberian Peninsula. For this purpose, we used data from the radio-tracking of 13 adult individuals in two Natural Parks near Barcelona (at home range and core foraging area scale), and also the location data of 39 setts in one of these parks. At the home range level, badgers selected mainly riparian vegetation habitats and avoided residential areas. Similar results were also obtained from the sett environment analysis. However, badgers chose crop fields for core foraging areas. In accordance with previous findings, our results show that badgers in Mediterranean environments choose habitats on the basis of the capacity of these to provide protective shelter rather than on food availability where food is not a critical, limiting resource in the badger environment. We conclude that the same habitat characteristics are chosen for both sett sites and home ranges while agricultural patches define core foraging areas. These results are in accordance with the Sett Dispersion Hypothesis.
Psychometric properties of the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument: evidence from mainland China

Regarding the assessment of family functioning in Chinese people, there are several research gaps. First, although there are some instruments in the field, there are very few validated instruments. Second, while some translated measures have been developed, there are very few assessment tools based on indigenous Chinese concepts. Third, compared to Hong Kong, research on family assessment is relatively inactive in mainland China. Fourth, there are very few family assessment tools to assess perceived family functioning in older children and early adolescents. Fifth, few studies used large samples to validate family assessment tools. Sixth, researchers seldom utilized longitudinal data to examine the psychometric properties of family assessment tools. Finally, few studies have examined factorial validity across samples and time to demonstrate the stability of Chinese family assessment measures. In Hong Kong, based on focus group data (i.e., indigenous concepts of family functioning) and an integration with the family science literature, we have developed the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument (C-FAI) to assess perceived family functioning according to the perception of adolescents. Results showed that the C-FAI possessed good reliability and validity. Specifically, five dimensions of the measure (mutuality, communication, conflict, parental concern and parental control) were supported via exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Convergent validity and reliability of the C-FAI were illustrated. To understand the psychometric properties of the C-FAI in mainland China, we collected three waves of data from students in the period of preadolescence and early adolescence in mainland China (N = 3,732). Based on the data, we examined the psychometric properties of the measure, particularly factor invariance in different samples and at different times. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the five dimensions in C-FAI, including factorial invariance in terms of configuration, factor loading, intercepts, and over time. There was evidence for convergent validity and discriminant validity of the measure. Finally, reliability analyses showed that the total C-FAI scale and its subscales are internally consistent. The present findings suggest that family researchers and practitioners can use the C-FAI to objectively assess perceived family functioning in preadolescence and early adolescence in different Chinese communities.
Research on graphic design based on mind mapping method--The example of traditional Chinese local opera, the Qin Qiang

Mind mapping has always played a role in graphic design as a logical analysis and integration of ideas. By using the method of mind mapping it is possible to develop thinking and reasoning from a wider range or different perspectives, thus reorganising relevant factors to break through the original deconstruction to achieve innovative research in graphic design. At the same time, the structural order and visualisation of the mind map is very conducive to logical reasoning and building systems for graphic design. Therefore, in this paper, the application of the mind mapping method in graphic design is investigated with the example of the traditional Chinese local opera, the Qin Qiang. Using the logical tool of mind mapping, a set of graphic design works on the theme of Qin Qiang was completed by clarifying the theme, divergent thinking and determining the direction and method of research to integrate and unify the various forms of Qin Qiang. This paper uses mind mapping to provide a wealth of information and inspirational derivation for the graphic design about the Qin Qiang, allowing the design to visualise effective information in a more comprehensive and concrete way. At the same time, this allows the central idea of the Qin Qiang to be communicated more effectively and accurately in the graphic design than in previous graphic design works.