Robust stability and boundedness of uncertain conformable fractional-order delay systems under input saturation

In this article, a class of uncertain conformable fractional-order delay systems under input saturation is considered. By establishing the Lyapunov boundedness theorem for conformable fractional-order delay systems, some sufficient conditions for robust stability and boundedness of the systems are obtained. Examples are given to illustrate the obtained theory

Sensitive Detection of Silver Ions Based on Chiroplasmonic Assemblies of Nanoparticles

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100155/1/adom201300148.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100155/2/adom201300148-sup-0001-S1.pd

Towards Better Accuracy-efficiency Trade-offs: Divide and Co-training

The width of a neural network matters since increasing the width will necessarily increase the model capacity. However, the performance of a network does not improve linearly with the width and soon gets saturated. In this case, we argue that increasing the number of networks (ensemble) can achieve better accuracy-efficiency trade-offs than purely increasing the width. To prove it, one large network is divided into several small ones regarding its parameters and regularization components. Each of these small networks has a fraction of the original one's parameters. We then train these small networks together and make them see various views of the same data to increase their diversity. During this co-training process, networks can also learn from each other. As a result, small networks can achieve better ensemble performance than the large one with few or no extra parameters or FLOPs. Small networks can also achieve faster inference speed than the large one by concurrent running on different devices. We validate our argument with 8 different neural architectures on common benchmarks through extensive experiments. The code is available at \url{https://github.com/mzhaoshuai/Divide-and-Co-training}

Potential application of biogenic silica as an indicator of paleo-primary productivity in East Antarctic lakes

We collected two lake sediment cores (MC and DM) from the East Antarctic region for analysis of biogenic silica and other biogeochemical parameters (e.g., organic matter, C, N, S, H). Based on synthetically comparative research, we focused on the potential application of biogenic silica (BSi) for the reconstruction of paleo-primary productivity in the East Antarctic lakes. Analytical results showed that a large number of diatoms were well preserved in the freshwater lake sediments, and that concentrations of biogenic silica displayed notable fluctuations over different water depths. The content of biogenic silica had a consistent profile over water depth, and this pattern changed with organic matter, reflecting their potential as eco-environmental proxies. Low levels of BSi and organic matter indicated reduction of lake algal production, and corresponded to decreased lake primary productivity. Due to the fragile ecosystem state and limited contribution of terrestrial organic matter in the East Antarctic lakes, the contents of biogenic silica in the lacustrine sediments can sensitively indicate the evolutionary history of paleo primary productivity. Overall, BSi is an ideal proxy for the reconstruction of past eco-environmental change recorded in the lacustrine sediments on East Antarctica

The changes of pigment contents and their environmental implications in the lake sediments of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, the Arctic

According to palaeoclimatic and modern instrumental data, numerous studies have indicated that the Arctic climate has undergone a significant warming during the past 100 years, and this may lead to significant impact on the fragile lake ecosystem. In this study, we collected a lake sediment core from the Ny-Ålesund of Svalbard and determined the concentrations of four pigments including chlorophyll derivatives, total carotenoids, oscillaxanthin and myxoxanthophyll in the sediments. Combined with other physical and chemical proxies such as calcium carbonate, total organic carbon, biogenic silicon etc.,we have reconstructed the historical changes of lacustrine primary productivity in Ny-Ålesund, especially for the past 100 years. The results showed that during the period of Little Ice Age(LIA), the climate was unfavorable for the growth of the lake algae, and thus the lacustrine productivity declined. This result was supported by the relatively low contents of pigment and biogenic silica in the sediments. In contrast, the contents of total organic carbon(TOC) and sediment pigments increased significantly in the upper 5cm (~1890AD), reflecting the rapid growth of the lake algae, thus the great increase of lacustrine primary productivity, corresponding to the warming climate after LIA. However, the biogenic silica in the upper sediments still had a relatively low level, and this might be related to the growth competition with other algae species. Over the past 100 years, the ratio of Osc/Myx in the sediments decreased continuously, indicative of durative increase of myxoxanthophyll in blue-green algal pigments, and this might imply that the human activity had enhanced the nutrition level of the lake in the Arctic region

Temporal and spatial variations of atmospheric methane concentration and δ13 C-CH4 near the surface on the Millor Peninsula, East Antarctica

During the 22nd Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE222, 2005/06) , the atmospheric gas samples near the surface were taken on the Millor Peninsula and adjacent areas, east Antarctica, using Tedlar gas bags. The methane(CH4) concentration and δ13 C-CH4 in those samples were analyzed in the laboratory. The average value of atmospheric CH4 concentration on this peninsula was (1.87 ± 0.12) × 10(-6) , slightly higher than the global average CH4 concentration. The summertime variation of CH4 concentrations showed a large fluctuation, corresponding to the variation of air temperatures. The average δ13 C-CH4 was ( -38.26 ± 0.52) ‰. CH4 concentrations and δ13 C-CH4 at different sites varied from 1.74 × 10(-6) to 2.56 ×10(-6) and from -39.31‰ to - 31.25‰, respectively. The factors affecting CH4 concentrations and δ13 C-CH4 values have also been discussed in this study

Sodium and potassium in the bones of penguin and skua revealed by EPR and SR-XRF technique

Penguin and skua in the maritime Antarctic have high salt loadings in the body due to almost exclusive diet consumption of marine invertebrates. However, the storage and turnover of sodium and potassium in these animals are poorly investigated. Here we determined the concentration and microscopic distribution of the two elements in the bones of penguin and skua. The average concentrations of sodium and potassium in penguin bone were comparable with that in skua bone(0.18% and 0.82% for penguin bone; 0.19% and 0.76% for skua bone in dry weight). The ratios of sodium to calcium and potassium to calcium (0.0330 and 0.0075 for penguin, 0.0335 and 0.0082 for skua in average by weight) were somewhat higher than the reported ratios for terrestrial animals, indicating these marine animals' bone enrichment of salt. The ratios of sodium to potassium in average by weight were 6.75 and 4.65 for penguin and skua, respectively. This value is much lower compared with the bulk sea water ratio of about 27.0, implying that potassium is favorable to reside in the bone rather than sodium. Both sodium and potassium were found to significant correlation with the content of organic materials in bone based upon the intensity of native signal determined by electron paramagnetic resonance(EPR). It was estimated that almost all of potassium is kept within the organic phases, while about 30% of sodium is stored in organic phases and the other 70% within mineral phase. The microscopic distributions of potassium in the cross-section and/or surface were revealed by synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence(SR-XRF)technique. The ratio of potassium to calcium based upon the SR-XRF intensity counter varied considerably from the surface to the interior, and on the surface the highest concentration of potassium was observed in the middle section with decreasing amounts toward the edge. This indirectly documented that exchange of potassium between fluid and bone organic phase maybe occur

Glycolate Oxidase Isozymes Are Coordinately Controlled by GLO1 and GLO4 in Rice

Glycolate oxidase (GLO) is a key enzyme in photorespiratory metabolism. Four putative GLO genes were identified in the rice genome, but how each gene member contributes to GLO activities, particularly to its isozyme profile, is not well understood. In this study, we analyzed how each gene plays a role in isozyme formation and enzymatic activities in both yeast cells and rice tissues. Five GLO isozymes were detected in rice leaves. GLO1 and GLO4 are predominately expressed in rice leaves, while GLO3 and GLO5 are mainly expressed in the root. Enzymatic assays showed that all yeast-expressed GLO members except GLO5 have enzymatic activities. Further analyses suggested that GLO1, GLO3 and GLO4 interacted with each other, but no interactions were observed for GLO5. GLO1/GLO4 co-expressed in yeast exhibited the same isozyme pattern as that from rice leaves. When either GLO1 or GLO4 was silenced, expressions of both genes were simultaneously suppressed and most of the GLO activities were lost, and consistent with this observation, little GLO isozyme protein was detected in the silenced plants. In contrast, no observable effect was detected when GLO3 was suppressed. Comparative analyses between the GLO isoforms expressed in yeast and the isozymes from rice leaves indicated that two of the five isozymes are homo-oligomers composed of either GLO1 or GLO4, and the other three are hetero-oligomers composed of both GLO1 and GLO4. Our current data suggest that GLO isozymes are coordinately controlled by GLO1 and GLO4 in rice, and the existence of GLO isozymes and GLO molecular and compositional complexities implicate potential novel roles for GLO in plants