Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low‐intensity frequent fires in coniferous forests transform soil organic matter in ways that may offset ecosystem carbon losses

The impact of shifting disturbance regimes on soil carbon (C) storage is a key uncertainty in global change research. Wildfires in coniferous forests are becoming more frequent in many regions, potentially causing large C emissions. Repeated low‐intensity prescribed fires can mitigate wildfire severity, but repeated combustion may decrease soil C unless compensatory responses stabilize soil organic matter. Here, we tested how 30 years of decadal prescribed burning affected C and nitrogen (N) in plants, detritus, and soils in coniferous forests in the Sierra Nevada mountains, USA. Tree basal area and litter stocks were resilient to fire, but fire reduced forest floor C by 77% (−36.4 Mg C/ha). In mineral soils, fire reduced C that was free from minerals by 41% (−4.4 Mg C/ha) but not C associated with minerals, and only in depths ≤ 5 cm. Fire also transformed the properties of remaining mineral soil organic matter by increasing the proportion of C in a pyrogenic form (from 3.2% to 7.5%) and associated with minerals (from 46% to 58%), suggesting the remaining soil C is more resistant to decomposition. Laboratory assays illustrated that fire reduced microbial CO2 respiration rates by 55% and the activity of eight extracellular enzymes that degrade cellulosic and aromatic compounds by 40–66%. Lower decomposition was correlated with lower inorganic N (−49%), especially ammonium, suggesting N availability is coupled with decomposition. The relative increase in forms of soil organic matter that are resistant to decay or stabilized onto mineral surfaces, and the associated decline in decomposition suggest that low‐intensity fires may promote mineral soil C storage in pools with long mean residence times in coniferous forests.
Novel Chitosan-Cellulose Backbone for Grafting Polymerization of Acrylic Acid and Application in Controlled Release

Novel superabsorbents derived from grafting polymerization of acrylic acid onto chitosan-cellelose hybrid ((CTS/Cell)-g-PAA) exhibited good mechanical strength and elevated water absorption in a wide range of pH response. Prolonged water retention was also observed even at elevated temperatures. This could be attributed to the high grafting yield of acrylic acid and the nature of chitosan-cellulose hybrid. The superabsorbents showed good potential as devices for controlled release of soil nutrients so can be strongly recommended for use in agriculture and horticultural applications.
Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2018

Importance: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of risk factors presaging the development of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. It is a risk factor for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Objective: To estimate the prevalence of MetS in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2018. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study included 22370 eligible participants aged [≥]20 years from the NHANES 2011-2018. Main Outcome and Measure: MetS was defined as the presence of at least three of these components: central obesity, reduced high-density lipoprotein, elevated triglycerides, elevated blood pressure and elevated fasting blood glucose. The prevalence of MetS was estimated taking into account the complex sampling. The time trend was evaluated using logistic regression. Annual percentage changes (APC) were used to measure the trends in MetS prevalence. Results: The prevalence of MetS was 36.2% (95% CI, 32.3-40.3), 34.8% (95% CI, 32.3-37.4), 39.9% (95% CI, 36.6-43.2) and 38.3% (95% CI, 35.3-41.3) in 2011-2, 2013-4, 2015-6, 2017-8, respectively (P for trend =.08). Among the MetS components, the prevalence of elevated glucose increased from 48.7% (95% CI, 45.9-51.5) in 2011-2 to 64.3% (95% CI, 61.0-67.4) in 2017-8 [P for trend <. 001; APC=11.7, (95% CI, 3.5-21.0)]. The prevalence of MetS in non-Hispanic Asian increased from 21.8% (95% CI, 16.7-28.0) in 2011-2 to 31.2% (95% CI, 27.4-35.3) in 2017-8 [P for trend <. 001; APC=14.6, (95% CI, 2.5-34.8)]. Conclusion and Relevance: The prevalence of MetS remained stable from 2011 to 2018, but increased among non-Hispanic Asians. Lifestyle modification is needed to prevent metabolic syndrome and the associated risks of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
PHENOLIC ANTIOXIDANTS FROM THE ROOTS OF ACACIA CATECHU FROM CENTRAL INDIA

In search of potential antioxidant(s) from the locally available trees in Jabalpur town of Central India, ethyl acetate extract of root of A. catechu proved to be a good source of peroxide and DPPH scavenging activities. Upon gel filtration of this extract via silica gel G, the pronounced DPPH activity was found in fraction no. 12 to 14. These pooled fractions showed a single yellow band with Rf of 8.7 upon thin layer chromatography developed by DPPH, confirming the presence of antioxidant compound. Upon subsequent LC ESI + MS, dicaffioshikimic acid (m/z = 497.4) and dicaffioylquinic acid (m/z = 497.4) were identified.
A comparison of the prokaryotic communities associated with seven seaweed species, sediment, and seawater from the Penghu archipelago, Taiwan

ABSTRACT Seaweeds are a diverse, abundant, and ecologically important component of coral reef ecosystems. However, relatively little is known about their prokaryotic communities. In the present study, we assessed the prokaryotic communities of seven seaweed species, sediment, and seawater sampled in seas of the Taiwanese Penghu archipelago. The most abundant phyla in terms of sequences and OTUs were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Tenericutes, Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, Cyanobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. This fits well with previous seaweed studies with the notable exception of Tenericutes. Tenericutes members were only abundant in the species Halimeda opuntia and Sargassum hemiphyllum var. chinense. One OTU, assigned to the genus Mycoplasma, dominated all samples of H. opuntia. The main difference in prokaryotic composition was between samples of the green seaweed H. opuntia and samples of the green seaweed species Caulerpa racemosa and Chlorodesmis fastigiata. The predicted functional profile of C. fastigiata was also distinct from that of the other seaweed species. There was also clear compositional variation between green and brown seaweed species with Verrucomicrobia abundance higher in brown seaweed species. OTU richness was also higher in brown than green seaweed species. The prokaryotic communities found in all seaweed species were compositionally distinct from those found in sediment and seawater. Most of the abundant OTUs sampled in the present study had high sequence similarities to organisms obtained from a range of hosts including sponges, corals, and other seaweed species.
Transcultural and First Nations doctoral education and epistemological border-crossing: histories and epistemic justice

ABSTRACT Existing literature on transcultural doctoral education remains largely silent about how history enters knowledge creation and the supervisory relationship. This paper draws upon Andzaldúa’s borderlands theory and de Sousa Santo’s theory on epistemologies of the South to examine the complex ways that history impacts upon First Nations, migrant, refugee and culturally diverse doctoral candidates’ epistemological border-crossing. We explore how our life history study of 40 research candidates and supervisors across seven Australian universities casts new light on knowledge creation in transnational and First Nations doctoral education. Findings show research supervision as a multimodal process of epistemological border-crossing that is deeply embedded in intersected histories. We argue that a history-informed supervision approach demonstrates the deconstructive possibilities of epistemological border-crossing and contributes towards global epistemic justice.
Embodied Action, Projection, and Institutional Action: The Exchange of Tools and Implements During Surgical Procedures

ABSTRACT There has been a long-standing interest in projection and the resources on which participants rely to produce and recognize the import and organization of turns at talk. Less attention has been paid to the character of the activity in which utterances form part and the ways in which embodied action enables the intelligibility, coordination, and in some cases, coproduction, of particular actions. In this article, we focus on specialized forms of embodied, institutional activity and focus in particular on simultaneity and the ways in which bodily action enables the progressive formation and reformation of an activity in the light of the (co)participants’ emerging contributions. We address how the routine structure of particular tasks enables participants to anticipate, prepare for, and even initiate actions in advance of the relevant activity and in turn, how participants may seek to ameliorate the interactional import of potentially premature action. The articles explores the interplay of technical practice and interactional organization and points to the distinctive character of embodied action in understanding anticipation and coordination in complex forms of institutional interaction.
Borders, paths and orientations: assembling the higher education research field as doctoral students and supervisors

ABSTRACT While higher education (HE) is entrenched as a context for scholarly inquiry in Australian universities, there remains contest about it as a research field. Unlike other forms of ‘Education’, in Australia there is no undergraduate programme inducting students into HE's key questions, scholars, and inquiry modes. For new doctoral students, learning to make an original contribution to a field described as a practice, a discipline, and context is a persistent challenge. In this paper, we ‘think with’ the concepts of borders, paths and orientations to interrogate our practices as doctoral students and supervisors in the field of HE research, under the formation #thesisthinkers. We offer multiple accounts of how #thesisthinkers invites us to confront HE as a field, and in particular, how #thesisthinkers has invigorated us to build a useable landscape of the HE research field that sustains multiple pathways for doctoral researchers, leaving behind traces for others to tread.
Adult Sexual Assault Severity among Transgender People of Color: The Impact of Double Marginalization

ABSTRACT Transgender individuals are at heightened risk for sexual assault compared to cisgender people. The term transgender refers to a person whose gender identity does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Existing theories posit that systems of stigma contribute to disproportionate risks; however, scant research has examined the impact of multiple marginalized identities. The current study included 235 transgender adults in the US investigating the effect of gender expression and race on adult sexual assault (ASA) severity. Participants completed an anonymous online survey, including the Revised Sexual Experiences Survey. We examined whether people of color (POC) who are more likely to be perceived as transgender (vs. cisgender) were at increased ASA risk. A multiple regression analysis revealed a significant interaction, ΔF (1, 221) = 4.51, p = . 04, indicating a positive relationship between being perceived as transgender and ASA severity, only among POC. Transgender POC who are perceived as transgender may be at increased risk of ASA, perhaps due to their doubly marginalized identities. Victimization severity may vary based on gender visibility. Results have implications for increased attention to intersectionality in the assessment and treatment of transgender clients as well as perpetrator-focused and societal-level interventions.
Impact of Compensation on Inclusive Organizations

Discrimination in compensation for minority groups and individuals with regard to gender, physical disability, religion, and culture affects inclusion in an organization. This study is a combination of two studies and endeavors to verify our initial inference that compensation gaps are significantly related to inclusion. A mixed method approach has been adopted; in first part of the study, compensation data obtained from 32 organizations (608 observations) have been analyzed quantitatively. The study finds significant correlation between components of compensation gaps and inclusion. Gender as basis of discrimination was found insignificantly correlated to compensation, while pay for performance was found negatively related to inclusion. We have proposed a model to predict feeling of inclusion if components of compensation and discriminatory factors are known. In second part of the study, based on 25 in-depth interviews, cognitive basis of compensation gaps has been divulged, and we conclude that implementation of compensation equity and removal of cognitive bases of discrimination seem mandatory actions for inclusion.
Method to improve the accuracy of depth images based on differential entropy

Abstract. The time-of-flight (TOF) camera has recently received significant attention due to its small size, low cost, and low-power consumption, which can be widely used in fields such as automatic navigation and machine vision. The TOF camera can calculate 3D information of targets with dozens of frames per second. However, poor accuracy still exists in the presence of various inevitable disturbances. In particular, the imaging distance and object reflectivity are remarkable factors. In this study, the depth imaging conditions, including ambient light, detection distance, and object reflectivity, are theoretically analyzed using differential entropy. Because many coupled factors disturb the imaging accuracy simultaneously, we propose a type of supervised learning machine, entropy-based k-nearest neighbor, based on differential entropy. Experiments show that this method can significantly improve the accuracy of depth data obtained by a TOF camera.
Self restorable intra data center interconnect based on multimode fiber and free-space optics

Abstract. We demonstrate a high data rate and low-cost OM4 multimode fiber (MMF) and free-space optics (FSO)-based self-restorable 2 × 100 Gbps per wavelength intra data center interconnect between two pairs of servers. This transmission system is based on two vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers that are directly modulated with PAM-4 data at the rate of 100 Gbps and multiplexed using mode division multiplexing of two linearly polarized modes. In case a fault occurs in the MMF-based primary path, the traffic is shifted to FSO-based protection path through a specially designed triggering and switching mechanism. Offline digital signal processing is used at the receiver to process the received PAM-4 signal for compensating the effects of channel impairments. The performance of the proposed architecture is evaluated at link lengths of 35 and 70 m under normal and faulty scenarios. The effect of varying the refractive index structure parameter of the log-normal channel model and the effect of mode coupling between linearly polarized (LP) modes on the bit-error-rate performance is also analyzed under different conditions. We observe that the performance of the FSO-based protection path is better than the OM4-based primary path at a forward error correction limit of 3.8 × 10 − 3 bit-error-rate.
How Do Rising Labor Costs Affect China’s Industrialization?

China’s uninterrupted high-speed economic growth depends on promoting the process of industrialization. Based on provincial data during 2003—2016, this paper empirically estimates the impact of labor costs on China’s industrialization and examines its mechanism and path. The results show that the rising labor costs such as wages and social security premiums may lead to China’s “de-industrialization”. With endogeneity excluded, the conclusion still holds. The following policy suggestions are proposed: increasing the effective labor supply in the industrial sector to slow down the increase in wages, implementing social insurance premium reform to reduce social security premium rate, reversing the situation of investment “ﬂ eeing from the real economy and into the virtual economy” in a multi-pronged manner, and optimizing the combination of labor, capital and technology in various ways.
Supply Chain Finance Factors: An Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach

Abstract Purpose: The present study aims to identify the critical factors of supply chain finance and the interrelationship between the factors using interpretive structural modeling. Methodology: Factors of supply chain finance were identified from the literature and experts from both industry and academia were consulted to assess the contextual relationships between the factors. Then, we applied interpretive structural modeling to examine the interrelationships between these factors and find out the critical factors. Findings: The model outcome indicates information sharing and workforce to be the most influential factors, followed by the automation of trade and financial attractiveness. Originality/value: Previous literature identified various factors that influence supply chain finance. However, studies showing interrelationships between these factors are lacking. This study is unique in the field as it applies total interpretive structural modeling for assessing the factors that affect supply chain finance. Our model will aid practitioners’ decision-making and the adoption of supply chain finance by providing a necessary framework.
Concurrent file metadata structure using readers-writer lock

Linux file systems serialize threads when writing shared files. Recent studies have attempted to adopt range locks on shared files to solve this serialization problem, allowing file I/O to be executed concurrently. However, we have found that even with a range lock, I/O throughput no longer increases after a certain number of cores and decreases rapidly on a manycore server. Through extensive performance profiling, we found the cascading tree lock problem that serializes concurrent accesses to the file metadata structure. A mutex lock-based locking mechanism for each file metadata structure serializes I/O requests in modern Linux file systems such as F2FS. In this paper, we present nCache, a novel file metadata cache framework using readers-writer lock that allows concurrent I/O operations for the shared file. nCache solves the I/O scalability problem in the manycore server while ensuring consistent updates. We implemented nCache in F2FS and evaluated it using FxMark on a 120-core server with high-performance NVMe SSDs. Our extensive evaluations show that nCache achieves maximum device throughput in FxMark's shared file I/O workload. It also shows 4.1x higher throughput compared to the baseline F2FS with range locks for realistic workloads.
Which type of exclusion region is better for restricted random testing?: an empirical study

As an enhancement of Random Testing (RT), Adaptive Random Testing (ART) has been well studied, which aims at achieving well-performing distribution of random test cases. Previous studies have indicated that ART can effectively enhance the failure-detection ability of RT, and many implementations of ART have been proposed based on different notations. Among them, Restricted Random Testing (RRT) is a popular version of ART, which generates test cases outside the exclusion regions (i.e., the constructed regions that are located around the executed but no failure-causing inputs). As we know, there are many factors that may influence the performance of RRT such as the size and shape of exclusion region. In this paper, we conducted a series of simulations to investigate the impact that the type of exclusion region has on the testing effectiveness of RRT, i.e., Which type of exclusion region is better for RRT? The results show that when the failure-causing inputs cluster into a few failure regions or a large predominant failure region exists within the input domain, the uniform exclusion region is a good choice for RRT. However, when the failure region is less compact, it appears to be less suitable, because the irregular exclusion region has much better performances.
Short-Range π–π Stacking Assembly on P25 TiO2 Nanoparticles for Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalysis

Utilization of the renewable solar fuel based on a perylenetetracarboxylic acid diimide (PTCDI)–semiconductor composite represents an effective method to solve the energy crisis; however, most applications have focused on dye sensitization of the monomolecular layer. Here the synergy effect of PTCDI self-assembly and P25 nanoparticles (NPs) has been elucidated systematically from the PTCDI stacking structure on P25 NP and electron transfer (ET) mode, for which the visible-light photocatalytic activity of PTCDI self-assembly through the assistance of P25 has been acquired and enhanced, even up to 7 times with the addition of EDTA. It has been found that self-assembly of PTCDI nanowires (NWs) as building blocks has been reconstructed on P25 NP via arrangement of short-range π–π stacking that is important for high photocatalytic activity. We inferred that the indentation plays a key role in the formation of the short-range π–π stacking mode on the basis of the results of XRD, photoluminescence, transient dec.
Participatory Design for Intergenerational Culture Exchange in Immigrant Families

Language and cultural barriers critically threaten the social relationships between grandparents and grandchildren in immigrant families. Cultural exchange activities, like shared storytelling, can foster these crucial connections. However, existing barriers make these seemingly routine interactions challenging for families to navigate. The resulting intergenerational drift places grandparents at high risk of sustained social isolation from their families. Past works have presented technology-mediated supports for grandparent-grandchild social interactions in non-immigrant families and have found that these interventions do foster stronger connections in both physically close and distant multigenerational families. We explore how to support the specific needs of immigrant families through Magic Thing participatory design workshops with grandchildren and grandparents together in order to reveal the social interactions that would support their cultural exchange. We use the Magic Thing to move the standard dialogic grandparent-grandchild relationship into a trialogic one, creating space for comfortable social connection and storytelling through the shared creation of the design. We find that technology-mediated support of intergenerational immigrant cultural exchange must be designed for this trialogic process, consider the role of expressing values as a form of meta-commentary on a story, and shift the perspective on existing "barriers" to consider how they might foster further engagement.
Deep sparse dictionary-based representation for 3D non-rigid shape retrieval

In this paper, we address the problem of non-rigid 3D shape retrieval. The proposed method extract high-level features that are invariant to non-rigid shape deformations by integrating deep dictionary learning and a sparse coding approach. A stacked sparse coding network is constructed to achieve a multiple layers dictionary learning instead of a single level dictionary learning. Then, for a given 3D query, a 3D shape descriptor is calculated, providing a multi-scale shape representations. This descriptor is, therefore, used to access deep learned dictionary. The proposed method is validated on two benchmarks, namely Shrec'11 and Shrec'15, for 3D non-rigid object retrieval and compared with existing deep learning-based approaches.