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Creators/Authors contains: "Liang, Jingjing"

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  1. Optimizing compilers, such as LLVM, generatedebug informationin machine code to aid debugging. This information is particularly important when debugging optimized code, as modern software is often compiled with optimization enabled. However, properly updating debug information to reflect code transformations during optimization is a complex task that often relies on manual effort. This complexity makes the process prone to errors, which can lead to incorrect or lost debug information. Finding and fixing potential debug information update errors is vital to maintaining the accuracy and reliability of the overall debugging process. To our knowledge, no existing techniques can rectify debug information update errors in LLVM. While black-box testing approaches can find such bugs, they can neither pinpoint the root causes nor suggest fixes. To fill the gap, we propose thefirsttechnique torobustifydebug information updates in LLVM. In particular, our robustification approach can find and fix incorrect debug location updates. Central to our approach is the observation that the debug locations in the original and optimized programs must satisfy aconformance relation. The relation ensures that LLVM optimizations do not introduce extraneous debug location information on the control-flow paths of the optimized programs. We introducecontrol-flow conformance analysis, a novel approach that determines the reference updates ensuring the conformance relation by observing the execution of LLVM optimization passes and analyzing the debug locations in the control-flow graphs of programs under optimization. The determined reference updates are then used to check developer-written updates in LLVM. When discrepancies arise, the reference updates serve as the update skeletons to guide the fixing. We realized our approach as a tool named MetaLoc, which determines proper debug location updates for LLVM optimizations. More importantly, with MetaLoc, we have reported and patched 46 previously unknown update errors in LLVM. All the patches, along with 22 new regression tests, have been merged into the LLVM codebase, effectively improving the accuracy and reliability of debug information in all programs optimized by LLVM. Furthermore, our approach uncovered and led to corrections in two issues within LLVM’s official documentation on debug information updates. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 10, 2026
  2. Developing the capacity to monitor species diversity worldwide is of great importance in halting biodiversity loss. To this end, remote sensing plays a unique role. In this study, we evaluate the potential of Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) data, combined with conventional satellite optical imagery and climate reanalysis data, to predict in situ alpha diversity (Species richness, Simpson index, and Shannon index) among tree species. Data from Sentinel-2 optical imagery, ERA-5 climate data, SRTM-DEM imagery, and simulated GEDI data were selected for the characterization of diversity in four study areas. The integration of ancillary data can improve biodiversity metrics predictions. Random Forest (RF) regression models were suitable for estimating tree species diversity indices from remote sensing variables. From these models, we generated diversity index maps for the entire Cerrado using all GEDI data available in orbit. For all models, the structural metric Foliage Height Diversity (FHD) was selected; the Renormalized Difference Vegetation Index (RDVI) was also selected in all species diversity models. For the Shannon model, two GEDI variables were selected. Overall, the models indicated performances for species diversity ranging from (R2 = 0.24 to 0.56). In terms of RMSE%, the Shannon model had the lowest value among the diversity indices (31.98%). Our results suggested that the developed models are valuable tools for assessing species diversity in tropical savanna ecosystems, although each model can be chosen based on the objectives of a given study, the target amount of performance/error, and the availability of data. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available January 1, 2026
  3. Abstract Decades of theory and empirical studies have demonstrated links between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, yet the putative processes that underlie these patterns remain elusive. This is especially true for forest ecosystems, where the functional traits of plant species are challenging to quantify. We analyzed 74,563 forest inventory plots that span 35 ecoregions in the contiguous USA and found that in ~77% of the ecoregions mixed mycorrhizal plots were more productive than plots where either arbuscular or ectomycorrhizal fungal-associated tree species were dominant. Moreover, the positive effects of mixing mycorrhizal strategies on forest productivity were more pronounced at low than high tree species richness. We conclude that at low richness different mycorrhizal strategies may allow tree species to partition nutrient uptake and thus can increase community productivity, whereas at high richness other dimensions of functional diversity can enhance resource partitioning and community productivity. Our findings highlight the importance of mixed mycorrhizal strategies, in addition to that of taxonomic diversity in general, for maintaining ecosystem functioning in forests. 
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  4. Mounting evidence suggests that geographic ranges of tree species worldwide are shifting under global environmental changes. Little is known, however, about if and how these species’ range shifts may trigger the range shifts of various types of forests. Markowitz’s portfolio theory of investment and its broad application in ecology suggest that the range shift of a forest type could differ substantially from the range shifts of its constituent tree species. MethodsHere, we tested this hypothesis by comparing the range shifts of forest types and the mean of their constituent species between 1970–1999 and 2000–2019 across Alaska, Canada, and the contiguous United States using continent-wide forest inventory data. We first identified forest types in each period using autoencoder neural networks and K-means cluster analysis. For each of the 43 forest types that were identified in both periods, we systematically compared historical range shifts of the forest type and the mean of its constituent tree species based on the geographic centroids of interpolated distribution maps. ResultsWe found that forest types shifted at 86.5 km·decade-1on average, more than three times as fast as the average of constituent tree species (28.8 km·decade-1). We showed that a predominantly positive covariance of the species range and the change of species relative abundance triggers this marked difference. DiscussionOur findings provide an important scientific basis for adaptive forest management and conservation, which primarily depend on individual species assessment, in mitigating the impacts of rapid forest transformation under climate change. 
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  5. Background Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a multipotent neuropeptide widely distributed in the trigeminovascular system (TVS) and higher brain regions. At present, the underlying mechanism of PACAP/PACAP type1 (PAC1) receptor in migraine generation remains unclear. Methods The rat model of chronic migraine (CM) was established by repeated intraperitoneal injection of nitroglycerin (NTG). Von Frey filaments and hot plate tests were used to measure the mechanical and thermal thresholds. The expression levels of c-Fos, calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), PACAP, PAC1, protein kinase A (PKA) and phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) were assessed by western blotting or immunofluorescence staining. The internalization of PAC1 receptor was visualized by fluorescence microscope and laser scanning confocal microscope. Results The results showed that c-Fos and CGRP expression significantly increased after repeated administrations of NTG or PACAP. Pitstop2 notably improved hyperalgesia in CM rats, while PACAP6–38 offered no benefit. In addition, PACAP-induced PAC1 receptor internalization, PKA and ERK pathways activation were blocked by Pitstop2 instead of PACAP6–38. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that inhibition of PAC1 receptor internalization could effectively improve allodynia in CM rats by restraining ERK signaling pathway activation in a chronic migraine rat model. Modulation of receptor internalization may be a novel perspective to explore specific mechanisms of PACAP signaling activation in the trigeminal vascular system. 
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  6. Basal area is a key measure of forest stocking and an important proxy of forest productivity in the face of climate change. Black walnut ( Juglans nigra ) is one of the most valuable timber species in North America. However, little is known about how the stocking of black walnut would change with differed bioclimatic conditions under climate change. In this study, we projected the current and future basal area of black walnut. We trained different machine learning models using more than 1.4 million tree records from 10,162 Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) sample plots and 42 spatially explicit bioclimate and other environmental attributes. We selected random forests (RF) as the final model to estimate the basal area of black walnut under climate change because RF had a higher coefficient of determination ( R 2 ), lower root mean square error (RMSE), and lower mean absolute error (MAE) than the other two models (XGBoost and linear regression). The most important variables to predict basal area were the mean annual temperature and precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, topology, and human footprint. Under two emission scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 and 8.5), the RF model projected that black walnut stocking would increase in the northern part of the current range in the USA by 2080, with a potential shift of species distribution range although uncertainty still exists due to unpredictable events, including extreme abiotic (heat, drought) and biotic (pests, disease) occurrences. Our models can be adapted to other hardwood tree species to predict tree changes in basal area based on future climate scenarios. 
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  7. Unraveling the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of species diversity is a central pursuit in ecology. It has been hypothesized that ectomycorrhizal (EcM) in contrast to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can reduce tree species diversity in local communities, which remains to be tested at the global scale. To address this gap, we analyzed global forest inventory data and revealed that the relationship between tree species richness and EcM tree proportion varied along environmental gradients. Specifically, the relationship is more negative at low latitudes and in moist conditions but is unimodal at high latitudes and in arid conditions. The negative association of EcM tree proportion on species diversity at low latitudes and in humid conditions is likely due to more negative plant-soil microbial interactions in these regions. These findings extend our knowledge on the mechanisms shaping global patterns in plant species diversity from a belowground view. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available June 13, 2026
  8. Abstract The emergence of alternative stable states in forest systems has significant implications for the functioning and structure of the terrestrial biosphere, yet empirical evidence remains scarce. Here, we combine global forest biodiversity observations and simulations to test for alternative stable states in the presence of evergreen and deciduous forest types. We reveal a bimodal distribution of forest leaf types across temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere that cannot be explained by the environment alone, suggesting signatures of alternative forest states. Moreover, we empirically demonstrate the existence of positive feedbacks in tree growth, recruitment and mortality, with trees having 4–43% higher growth rates, 14–17% higher survival rates and 4–7 times higher recruitment rates when they are surrounded by trees of their own leaf type. Simulations show that the observed positive feedbacks are necessary and sufficient to generate alternative forest states, which also lead to dependency on history (hysteresis) during ecosystem transition from evergreen to deciduous forests and vice versa. We identify hotspots of bistable forest types in evergreen-deciduous ecotones, which are likely driven by soil-related positive feedbacks. These findings are integral to predicting the distribution of forest biomes, and aid to our understanding of biodiversity, carbon turnover, and terrestrial climate feedbacks. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available December 1, 2025