CREST Center for Dynamic Multiscale and Multimodal Brain Mapping over the Lifespan [D-MAP]

Air pollution is a crucial issue affecting human health and livelihoods, as well as one of the barriers to economic and social growth. Forecasting air quality has become an increasingly important endeavor with significant social impacts, especially in emerging countries like China. In this paper, we present a novel Transformer architecture termed AirFormer to collectively predict nationwide air quality in China, with an unprecedented fine spatial granularity covering thousands of locations. AirFormer decouples the learning process into two stages -- 1) a bottom-up deterministic stage that contains two new types of self-attention mechanisms to efficiently learn spatio-temporal representations; 2) a top-down stochastic stage with latent variables to capture the intrinsic uncertainty of air quality data. We evaluate AirFormer with 4-year data from 1,085 stations in the Chinese Mainland. Compared to the state-of-the-art model, AirFormer reduces prediction errors by 5%~8% on 72-hour future predictions. Our source code is available at https://github.com/yoshall/airformer.

AirFormer: Predicting Nationwide Air Quality in China with Transformers

The LiNiy 5Mn, 504 (LNMO) spinel cathode has been extensively researched as a promising candidate for next-generation Li-ion batteries owing to its high operating voltage (~ 4.7 Vs Lid and high specific energy (650 Wh/kg). In addition to this, its cobalt-free composition and excellent rate capability due to threedimensional Li? diffusion makes it particularly attractive for a wide range of applications. However, the high operating voltage in full-cells (LNMO/Graphite) triggers unwanted parasitic reactions at the electrode/electrolyte interface which lead to active Li* consumption and consequent capacity fading. Elemental substitution of Ni/Mn is a very actively pursued strategy to alleviate the capacity fading. In particular, Tisubstitution for Mn in LiNiy Mn, 5x Og (LNMTO) has improved the full-cell performances as evidenced by (i) higher capacity retention and Coulombic efficiency and (ii) lower oxidative reaction and self-discharge rates. The primary improvement mechanism of the Ti-substitution in LNMTO is a formation of Ti-enriched passivation layer at the expense of initial Mn-dissolution at the cathode- electrolyte interface (CEI). Once generating the passivation layer, further Mn-dissolution became suppressed. Despite these results, carbon conductor (Super P) inside cathode still actively oxidizes the electrolyte due to its good electrical conductivity and large surface areas. In this regard, we adopted advanced binders to passivate the carbon conductors for the LNMTO cathodes. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF) has been used as the binder in cathodes due to its electrochemical stability. However, PVdF does not offer the effective passivation of carbon conductors, while suffering from mediocre adhesion strength and raising environmental concerns by using N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), a toxic organic solvent. Studies have shown that advanced aqueous binder chemistries can be used to create an effective passivating layer at the cathodeelectrolyte interface, improve adhesion strength and eliminate the use of toxic organic solvents. Among them, lithium polyacrylate (LIPAA) has demonstrated positive multifunctions such as proton scavenging, donating Li? and effective passivation of both carbon and active material particles. Our full-cell testing data showed that the LiIPAA binder in LNMTO cathodes delivered an improved cycle life and a lower cell impedance compared to those of PVdF binder in LNMTO cathodes. To better understand the characteristics of the CEI passivation on the LiPAA and LNMTO cathodes, we will discuss about the various surface analyses of the fresh and aged electrodes using XPS, Raman, and HR-TEM.

Strategy to Passivate High-Voltage Spinel Cathode-Electrolyte Interfaces (CEI)


Improvements in language technology have led to an increasing interest in writing support tools. In this paper we propose a design space for such tools based on a cognitive process model of writing. We conduct a systematic review of recent computer science papers that present and/or study such tools, analyzing 30 papers from the last five years using the design space. Tools are plotted according to three distinct cognitive processes—planning, translating, and reviewing—and the level of constraint each process entails. Analyzing recent work with the design space shows that highly constrained planning and reviewing are under-studied areas that recent technology improvements may now be able to serve. Finally, we propose shared evaluation methodologies and tasks that may help the field mature.

A Design Space for Writing Support Tools Using a Cognitive Process Model of Writing

Xavier University of Louisiana, in collaboration with the Institute of Earth Science Research and Education (IESRE) run the ECoSTEM project. This project aims to improve the quality of undergraduate STEM education by introducing a computational, community-oriented component into STEM programs at Xavier University. Specifically, undergraduate students develop microcontroller-based systems for collecting airborne particulate data. They work with public school teachers (and their students) and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) officers to deploy the sensors at locations around New Orleans and to analyze the resulting data. Airborne particulates are often the pollutant of greatest concern in minority and other underserved communities. This project provide undergraduates at Xavier and the local teachers (and their students) with learning experiences that are relevant to them and their communities. ECoSTEM uses a tiered mentoring system in which the project team members mentor undergraduates, who in turn work with public school teachers and their students. &nbsp;</p>

Environmental Computing and Community Engagement in STEM education: Sustainable Relationships

Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing of hyper petroleum degraders from oil-polluted Niger Delta Soil

Microbial diversity profiles of two crude oil-polluted soils in the Niger Delta

Sustainable Cities in Developing Countries. Sudan: The Land of The Elegant Nature

Analysis of the performance and levels of polluting emissions when using biofuels in the PT6-A engine

Strengthening local community and stakeholders understanding on climate change impacts and adaptation through ?Citizen Assembly? approach

Gender Mainstreaming to Achieving SDG6 Targets Using the SDG-PSS for Evaluating the Enabling Environment in Tunisia

**Abstract:**

Presently, inter-annual variability in sea ice dynamics is increasing in Arctic regions. Sea ice dynamics, such as the timing of ice-melt and sea ice extent, highly influence trophic dynamics in marine Arctic systems, leading to changes in the abundance and distribution of fish and invertebrates. Thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) - a pursuit diving seabird that preys upon pelagic fish, benthic fish, and invertebrates - are thus expected to be negatively impacted by shifts in marine Arctic community structure. As such foraging behaviour, including the decision to balance self-feeding and chick-provisioning, will be influenced by environmental conditions, and mediated by either adult or chick body condition. In a low ice year, associated with reduced food availability, adults may choose to maximize self-feeding to maintain adult condition, while reducing chick provisioning at the cost of chick condition. Alternatively, adults may maintain or increase chick-provisioning to maximize chick condition, while reducing self-feeding at the cost of adult condition. To investigate the impact of environmental conditions on resource allocation decisions in this system we fitted adult murres with GPS accelerometers during the incubation and chick-rearing periods at Coats Island, Nunavut, Canada in 2018 and 2019. To assess the success of foraging trips for adult energetic condition we blood sampled murres before/after GPS deployments to measure energetic hormones (corticosterone), metabolites (non-esterified fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and triglycerides), and stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N). To assess the success of foraging trips for chick energetic condition, we conducted feeding watches to identify prey types and chick-provisioning rates. By determining how variation in environmental conditions impacts resource allocation decisions, we can predict how breeding success and ultimately fitness will be impacted in rapidly changing Arctic ecosystems.

**Authors:**

Alyssa Eby¹, Allison Patterson², Kyle Elliott², H. Grant Gilchrist³, Oliver Love¹

¹University of Windsor, ²McGill University, ³Environment and Climate Change Canada

Resource allocation of a deep-diving Arctic seabird, the thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia), in response to sea-ice variation during the chick-rearing period

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