Southwest University

About: Southwest University is a education organization based out in Chongqing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Gene & Population. The organization has 29772 authors who have published 27755 publications receiving 409441 citations. The organization is also known as: Southwest University in Chongqing & SWU.

Evolution and dynamics of the Cenozoic tectonics of the South Balkan extensional system

Abstract: The South Balkan extensional system consists of normal faults and associated sedimentary basins within southern Bulgaria, Macedonia, eastern Albania, northern Greece, and northwestern Turkey. Extensional tectonism began during the final convergence across the Vardar, Intra-Pontide, and Izmir-Ankara suture zones, where oceanic regions closed between continental Europe and continental fragments that make up the Pelagonian, Sakar, and western Anatolian tectonic units. Earliest extension of latest Cretaceous-middle Eocene age appears to have occurred within a regional convergent tectonic setting and may be related to an increase in gravitation potential energy within a thickening continental lithosphere. Following diachron-ous closure across the suture zone, from the middle Eocene to late Oligocene, the transition from a regionally convergent to a regionally extensional tectonic setting occurred and was associated with abundant magmatism and formation of sedimentary basins. Extension was associated with lithospheric thinning probably related to changes in geometry of the subducted slab, dynamics of the mantle wedge, and beginning of slab rollback along the Hellenic subduction zone. A short period of local and diachronous (?) shortening (during latest Oligocene-early Miocene time) occurred in the Thrace basin of northwestern Turkey and in some basins in western Bulgaria and eastern Macedonia. Regional extension began in middle Miocene time and was related to the regional extensional tectonic setting that has dominated the Aegean extensional region to the present. Trench rollback was the dominant dynamic process, but during late Miocene time it was modi-fled by the formation of the western part of the North Anatolian fault zone that partially decoupled the South Balkan extensional system from the Aegean extensional region. During late Cenozoic time, east-west-striking normal faults and associated sedimentary basins in the eastern part of the South Balkan extensional system propagated westward in tandem with westward migration of north-south-striking normal faults and sedimentary basins from western Bulgaria into eastern Albania. This migration was caused by evolution of the Hellenic subduction zone as it increased its curvature during trench rollback and clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of crustal fragments in the west and east, respectively. After formation of the western part of the North Anatolian fault zone, extension within the eastern part of the South Balkan extensional system was related to southward movement of its lithosphere at a slower rate than the extension within the Aegean extensional region. Active extension and basin formation show two provinces of extension that are nearly at right angles to one another and their overlap in the central South Balkan extensional system: east-west extension in central Albania to eastern Macedonia and north-south extension from northwestern Greece and eastern Macedonia to eastern Bulgaria and northwestern Turkey.

Reinforcement Learning in Energy Trading Game Among Smart Microgrids

Abstract: Reinforcement learning (RL) is essential for the computation of game equilibria and the estimation of payoffs under incomplete information. However, it has been a challenge to apply RL-based algorithms in the energy trading game among smart microgrids where no information concerning the distribution of payoffs is a priori available and the strategy chosen by each microgrid is private to opponents, even trading partners. This paper proposes a new energy trading framework based on the repeated game that enables each microgrid to individually and randomly choose a strategy with probability to trade the energy in an independent market so as to maximize his/her average revenue. By establishing the relationship between the average utility maximization and the best strategy, two learning-automaton-based algorithms are developed for seeking the Nash equilibria to accommodate the variety of situations. The novelty of the proposed algorithms is related to the incorporation of a normalization procedure into the classical linear reward–inaction scheme to provide a possibility to operate any bounded utility of a stochastic character. Finally, a numerical example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithms.

NIP1;2 is a plasma membrane-localized transporter mediating aluminum uptake, translocation, and tolerance in Arabidopsis

Abstract: Members of the aquaporin (AQP) family have been suggested to transport aluminum (Al) in plants; however, the Al form transported by AQPs and the roles of AQPs in Al tolerance remain elusive. Here we report that NIP1;2, a plasma membrane-localized member of the Arabidopsis nodulin 26-like intrinsic protein (NIP) subfamily of the AQP family, facilitates Al-malate transport from the root cell wall into the root symplasm, with subsequent Al xylem loading and root-to-shoot translocation, which are critical steps in an internal Al tolerance mechanism in Arabidopsis We found that NIP1;2 transcripts are expressed mainly in the root tips, and that this expression is enhanced by Al but not by other metal stresses. Mutations in NIP1;2 lead to hyperaccumulation of toxic Al3+ in the root cell wall, inhibition of root-to-shoot Al translocation, and a significant reduction in Al tolerance. NIP1;2 facilitates the transport of Al-malate, but not Al3+ ions, in both yeast and Arabidopsis We demonstrate that the formation of the Al-malate complex in the root tip apoplast is a prerequisite for NIP1;2-mediated Al removal from the root cell wall, and that this requires a functional root malate exudation system mediated by the Al-activated malate transporter, ALMT1. Taken together, these findings reveal a critical linkage between the previously identified Al exclusion mechanism based on root malate release and an internal Al tolerance mechanism identified here through the coordinated function of NIP1;2 and ALMT1, which is required for Al removal from the root cell wall, root-to-shoot Al translocation, and overall Al tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Synchronization of Memristor-Based Coupling Recurrent Neural Networks With Time-Varying Delays and Impulses

Abstract: Synchronization of an array of linearly coupled memristor-based recurrent neural networks with impulses and time-varying delays is investigated in this brief. Based on the Lyapunov function method, an extended Halanay differential inequality and a new delay impulsive differential inequality, some sufficient conditions are derived, which depend on impulsive and coupling delays to guarantee the exponential synchronization of the memristor-based recurrent neural networks. Impulses with and without delay and time-varying delay are considered for modeling the coupled neural networks simultaneously, which renders more practical significance of our current research. Finally, numerical simulations are given to verify the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

A new vector valued similarity measure for intuitionistic fuzzy sets based on OWA operators

Abstract: Plenty of researches have been carried out, focusing on the measures of distance, similarity, and correlation between intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs).However, most of them are single-valued measures and lack of potential for efficiency validation.In this paper, a new vector valued similarity measure for IFSs is proposed based on OWA operators.The vector is defined as a two-tuple consisting of the similarity measure and uncertainty measure, in which the latter is the uncertainty of the former.OWA operators have the ability to aggregate all values in the universe of discourse of IFSs, and to determine the weights according to specific applications.A framework is built to measure similarity between IFSs.A series of definitions and theorems are given and proved to satisfy the corresponding axioms defined for IFSs.In order to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed vector valued similarity measure,a classification problem is used as an application.