bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Nonstress Device Noise Level on Stress Parameters in Primigravid Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Ayşenur Turan , Nuran Gençtürk , Cihan Kaya , Huri Bulut
Published: January 2024

Introduction

This study evaluated the effect of the noise level of the nonstress test (NST) device on stress parameters in primigravid women.

Methods

A total of 44 pregnant women participated in a randomized clinical trial between February and October, 2021. The participants were divided randomly into 4 equal groups using an automated web‐based randomization system and ensuring allocation concealment: the control group (NST device volume turned off), intervention group I (1‐35 dB(A)), intervention group II (36‐60 dB(A)), and intervention group III (61 dB(A) and above). A data collection form was used to record personal information and stress parameters. Stress parameters (blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation [SpO2], blood glucose, salivary cortisol, and salivary adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH]) levels were measured pretest (0‐2 minutes before NST starts), midtest (at 10 minutes of the NST), and posttest (within 0‐2 minutes after NST was finished). The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT05488704).

Results

NST sound levels above 35 dB(A) increased the average cortisol and ACTH levels in the posttest. NST sound levels were positively correlated with posttest cortisol (r = .448) and posttest glucose (r = .302). There was interaction effect on heart rate, glucose, and cortisol level by time, indicating that the intervention groups experienced a significant acceleration in heart rate, glucose, and cortisol level after a noise intervention compared with the control group.

Discussion

Midwives should continue applying NST below 36 dB(A), considering the factors that may induce stress during the NST process.
Over‐expression of N‐acetylaspartate synthase exacerbates pathological energetic deficit and accelerates cognitive decline in the 5xFAD mouse
Authors: Francis Jeremy S. , Nguyen Quy , Markov Vladimir , Leone Paola
Published: January 2024

N‐acetylaspartate (NAA) is an abundant central nervous system amino acid derivative that is tightly coupled to mitochondria and energy metabolism in neurons. A reduced NAA signature is a prominent early pathological biomarker in multiple neurodegenerative diseases and becomes progressively more pronounced as disease advances. Because NAA synthesis requires aspartate drawn directly from mitochondria, we argued that this process is in direct competition with oxidative phosphorylation for substrate and that sustained high levels of NAA synthesis would be incompatible with pathological energy crisis. We show here that over‐expression of the rate‐limiting NAA synthetic enzyme in the hippocampus of the 5x familial Alzheimer's disease (5xFAD) mouse results in an exaggerated pathological ATP deficit and accelerated cognitive decline. Over‐expression of NAA synthase did not increase amyloid burden or result in cell loss but did significantly deplete mitochondrial aspartate and impair the ability of mitochondria to oxidize glutamate for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis. These results define NAA as a sink for energetic substrate and suggest initial pathological reductions in NAA are part of a response to energetic crisis designed to preserve substrate bioavailability for mitochondrial ATP synthesis.
Exploring individuals' experiences of hope in mental health recovery: Having a sense of possibility
Authors: Murphy Joan , Mulcahy Helen , Mahony James O. , Bradley Stephen , Ryan Denis
Published: January 2024

Accessible Summary

What is known on the subject?

Mental health recovery is acknowledged as a process of transformation and a way of living a meaningful life despite the presence of mental ill‐health.

Experiencing hope has been articulated as intrinsic to service users experience of a meaningful life.

The social construction of mental illness and stigma are recognised as barriers to experiencing hope.

Mental health professionals have responsibility to positively influence the experience of hope.

What this article adds to existing knowledge?

Individuals in mental health recovery experience hope as the embodiment of having a sense of possibility in life.

Individuals' sense of possibility in life is underpinned by a belief and confidence that they will be ok. This belief is informed by ‘feeling safe’ and ‘feeling connected’.

This article generates an increased understanding of the dynamic relational processes that unpin hope generation.

What are the implications for mental health nursing practice?

Mental health stakeholders need to be more explicit in exploring ‘hope’ and uncovering its therapeutic potential.

Mental health practitioners need skill in enabling individuals to feel safe and connected while understanding its role in cultivating hope.

Introduction

The experience of hope is widely acknowledged and empirically supported as a key catalyst of mental health recovery. Lived experience accounts of hope are critical in accessing data on what has been termed a nebulous concept. This article is the second presentation of data from this study and provides further context to improve understanding of hope and optimise its therapeutic potential.

Aim

To explore how individuals describe and make sense of their experience of hope in mental health recovery.

Method

A qualitative Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach was used.

Results

This article explores the second of three experiential group themes: Hope as Having a sense of possibility ‘I will be ok’ which is informed by feeling safe and feeling connected.

Discussion

Having a sense of possibility is easier when basic needs are met and people feel connected to self, others and the universe. The use of creativity as a pathway to the imagination is positively experienced. The role of family, friends and healthcare professionals as hope reservoirs is critical. Finally, the framing of medication use emerged as significant.

Implications for Practice

It is important that all stakeholders appreciate the interpretation of hope and use the understanding and skill in harnessing its therapeutic potential.
Overview of the Lost Meteorites of Antarctica field campaigns
Authors: Joy K. H. , Smedley A. R. D. , MacArthur J. L. , van Verre W. , Marsh L. A. , Rose M. , Harvey T. A. , Tartèse R. , Jones R. H. , Abrahams I. D. , Wilson J. W. , Peyton A. J. , Gerrish L. , Baum J. , Raymond G. , Taylor R. , Evatt G. W.
Published: January 2024

The Lost Meteorites of Antarctica project was the first UK‐led Antarctic meteorite recovery expedition. The project has successfully confirmed two new high‐density meteorite stranding zones in the Hutichison Icefield and Outer Recovery Icefields areas and investigated the geology of three previously unvisited Antarctic nunataks (Turner Nunatak, Pillinger Nunatak, Halliday Nunatak). The project undertook meteorite searching on the ice surface via skidoo reconnaissance and systematic searching and developed a novel pulse induction metal detection system to search for englacial iron‐rich meteorites trapped within the upper one meter of ice. In total, 121 meteorites have been recovered from the ice surface searching activities, which are now curated in the United Kingdom at the Natural History Museum London and are available for scientific analysis.
Arthroscopic Linear Chain Fixation for the Treatment of Medial Meniscus Posterior Root Tear: A Case Study
Authors: Chen Jing‐qing , Niu Hai‐yun , Li Ming , Dong Zhen‐yue , Gu Ju‐yuan , Bai Wei‐xia , Chen Bai‐cheng
Published: January 2024

Background

The repair and reconstruction of medial meniscus posterior root tears (MMPRTs) is an important issue in the field of orthopedic sports medicine. This study reports the first application of arthroscopic linear chain fixation for the treatment of MMPRTs.

Case presentation

A 78‐year‐old female patient presented with a 1.5‐month history of right knee pain accompanied by a locked facet joint. The patient underwent surgery with the new linear chain fixation method. In this method, the suture and the loop part of the buckle‐strap titanium plate were combined into a linear chain mechanical complex, and the tension of the posterior root stump was gradually increased by pulling on the two attachment lines at the external mouth of the tibial tunnel. The postoperative Lysholm score was 89, and the visual analogue scale score was 0.9, indicating a significant improvement in knee joint function. At the 7‐month and 1‐year post‐surgery follow‐up, physical and MRI examinations confirmed satisfactory healing of the MMPRTs.

Conclusion

This surgical approach offers several benefits, including a simplified instrumentation setup, preservation of natural anatomical structures, and reliable residual stump fixation. It has the potential for clinical implementation.
Are retrospective evaluations of local governments moderated by perceptions of influence?
Authors: Burke Richard
Published: January 2024

Objective

I examined whether retrospective evaluations of local governments were influenced by perceptions of local governments’ influence.

Methods

I fielded a survey (n = 1000) that asked respondents about their local governments, their perceptions of the economy and crime, and the influence of local governments on the economy and crime.

Results

I found that respondents who strongly agreed with a statement that local governments had important economic consequences were more likely to connect their perceptions of the local economy to their evaluations of their local government than those who only somewhat agreed, or neither agreed nor disagreed with that statement. I found that respondents who strongly agreed with a statement that local governments could reduce violent crime were more likely to connect their perception of local crime to their evaluation of their local government than those who neither agreed nor disagreed with that statement.

Conclusion

I found some evidence that retrospective evaluations are moderated by perceptions of local government influence.
Detection of the novel HLA‐A*02:01:216 allele in a Russian individual
Authors: Gusev Oleg , Ananeva Anastasiia , Andryushkina Anna V. , Shagimardanova Elena I.
Published: January 2024

HLA‐A*02:01:216 has one nucleotide change from A*02:01:01:01 in codon 335.
Reading Wolfgang Herrndorf's Tschick (2010)
Authors: Rossbacher Brigitte
Published: January 2024

This article highlights how Wolfgang Herrndorf's bestselling novel Tschick (2010) is particularly well suited for advanced courses focused on cultural and linguistic enrichment. Herrndorf's Tschick, I argue, facilitates interaction, engagement, and individual interpretation; is linguistically accessible because of its use of high‐frequency vocabulary and conceptual orality; and can motivate students to be more active and engaged class participants. The article introduces the novel and describes the advanced college course in which it is taught. It then outlines readability factors and discusses their implication for the teaching of Tschick, providing sample teaching ideas that consider the linguistic ability of the advanced language learner as well as broader professional objectives.
Syphilis seroprevalence and incidence in US blood donors from 2020 to 2022
Authors: Conti Galen , Notari Edward P , Dodd Roger Y. , Kessler Debra , Custer Brian , Reik Rita , Lanteri Marion C. , Hailu Benyam , Yang Hong , Stramer Susan L. ,   for the U.S. Transfusion‐Transmissible Infections Monitoring System (TTIMS)
Published: January 2024

Background

HIV, HBV, and HCV infections for ~60% of the US blood supply are monitored by TTIMS with syphilis added in 2020.

Study Design and Methods

Data were compiled from October 2020 to September 2022. Syphilis prevalence was estimated for allogeneic and directed donors who were consensus positive (CP) and the subset of those with confirmed‐active infections (AI). Prevalence and incidence were stratified by demographics for two consecutive 1‐year periods, starting October 1, 2020 and for both years combined. Incidence was estimated for repeat donors. Associations between syphilis positivity and other infections were evaluated.

Results

Among 14.75 million donations, syphilis prevalence was 28.4/100,000 donations and significantly higher during the second year compared to the first year. Overall, syphilis incidence for the two‐year period was 10.8/100,000 person‐years. The adjusted odds of a CP infection were 1.18 (95% CI: 1.11, 1.26) times higher in the second year compared to the first, and for AI, 1.22 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.35) times higher in year 2. Highest rates occurred among males, first‐time, Black, and younger (ages 18–39) donors, and those in the South US Census region. Syphilis CP donors were 64 (95% CI: 46, 89) times more likely to be HIV CP, and AI donors 77 (95% CI: 52, 114) times more likely to be HIV CP than non‐CP donors, when controlling for confounders.

Summary/Conclusions

Syphilis prevalence increased over the study period mirroring national trends reported by CDC and is significantly associated with HIV CP.
Intention to vaccinate for Lyme disease using the Health Belief Model
Authors: Stark James H. , McFadden Brandon , Patel Niyati , Kelly Patrick H. , Gould L. Hannah , Riis Jason
Published: January 2024

Aims

Lyme disease (LD) cases in the United States are estimated to be approaching 500,000 annually. Protective measures, such as repellent use and wearing protective clothing are recommended by public health officials. However, no protective measure has been proven to be consistently effective, partly because they require consistent and persistent behaviour change. While safe and effective vaccines are in development, it is unclear what factors influence the intention to vaccinate against LD.

This study uses the Health Belief Model (HBM) framework to determine key drivers associated with vaccine intention. The HBM is widely applied in public health research and uses the following constructs: perceived susceptibility and severity of disease, perceived benefits and barriers to disease prevention, and cues to action for disease prevention to predict health behaviours. To date, the HBM framework has not been applied to vaccination intention for LD.

Methods and Results

Data were collected from 874 adults and 834 caregivers of children residing in US states endemic to LD. Sampling adults and caregivers allows us to explore how the intention to vaccinate differs among those at‐risk. Estimates from structural equation modelling (SEM) show that the HBM constructs explain much of the variation in intention to vaccinate against LD. Both adult and caregiver intentions to vaccinate are positively influenced by cues to action, perceived susceptibility of LD, and perceived benefits to vaccination. However, there is variation in the influence of constructs across the samples. Caregiver's intention to vaccinate is positively influenced by the perceived severity of LD and negatively influenced by safety concerns about the vaccine, whereas adult intention is negatively influenced by perceived barriers to vaccination.

Conclusion

A strong relationship of cues to action on vaccine intention in samples of adults and caregivers suggests the importance of a recommendation from a healthcare provider or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Unravelling International Students' Preferences in Embracing Malaysian Cuisine: A Pilot Study
Authors: Hussein Suahir Ahmed Elyas , Xiaoyu Zhang , Junren Wang , Mahmudin Dadin , Saimy Intan Sazrina
Published: January 2024

This pilot study aims to investigate the preferences of international students in embracing Malaysian cuisine during their tenure at local university. Students frequently experience difficulties in their social and academic environments. No study has been explored on the relationship between students’ views and perceptions of Malaysian food. The objective of this study is to precede further studies on key factors that influence international students' preferences for Malaysian cuisine that may perhaps provide insights for universities and local food establishments to promote more of Malaysian cuisine internationally. The pilot study was conducted at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur branch, which consist of a significant number of undergraduate and postgraduate international students. Kuala Lumpur has many options for type of restaurants and varieties of local cuisine. The research instrument used in this study is a self-administered questionnaire, that was validated and distributed to only international students. The study employed a quantitative method approach to understand the factors influencing the food choices of international students, towards Malaysian cuisine. The questionnaire developed includes demographic information, followed by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) sections, (i) attitude, (ii) subjective norms and (iii) perceived behavioural control. The findings of this pilot do prove that attitudes, social norm and perceived behavioural control had a significant positive effect on intention to consume Malaysian food with attitudes playing the main factor. The quality, taste and cultural background of the food product are the drivers that led them to consume local cuisine. This study has provided valuable insights for further research and the development of strategies to cater to the culinary preferences of international students in UTM Kuala Lumpur especially. The findings thus far could provide insights for local food establishments to enhance the promotion of Malaysian cuisine to international students, to potentially increase the demand for local foods and boost the industry's revenue.
The Grothendieck–Serre conjecture over valuation rings
Authors: Guo Ning
Published: January 2024

In this article, we establish the Grothendieck–Serre conjecture over valuation rings: for a reductive group scheme $G$ over a valuation ring $V$ with fraction field $K$, a $G$-torsor over $V$ is trivial if it is trivial over $K$. This result is predicted by the original Grothendieck–Serre conjecture and the resolution of singularities. The novelty of our proof lies in overcoming subtleties brought by general nondiscrete valuation rings. By using flasque resolutions and inducting with local cohomology, we prove a non-Noetherian counterpart of Colliot-Thélène–Sansuc's case of tori. Then, taking advantage of techniques in algebraization, we obtain the passage to the Henselian rank-one case. Finally, we induct on Levi subgroups and use the integrality of rational points of anisotropic groups to reduce to the semisimple anisotropic case, in which we appeal to properties of parahoric subgroups in Bruhat–Tits theory to conclude. In the last section, by using extension properties of reflexive sheaves on formal power series over valuation rings and patching of torsors, we prove a variant of Nisnevich's purity conjecture.
Isoparametric hypersurfaces in symmetric spaces of non-compact type and higher rank
Authors: Domínguez-Vázquez Miguel , Sanmartín-López Víctor
Published: January 2024

We construct inhomogeneous isoparametric families of hypersurfaces with non-austere focal set on each symmetric space of non-compact type and rank ${\geq }3$. If the rank is ${\geq }4$, there are infinitely many such examples. Our construction yields the first examples of isoparametric families on any Riemannian manifold known to have a non-austere focal set. They can be obtained from a new general extension method of submanifolds from Euclidean spaces to symmetric spaces of non-compact type. This method preserves the mean curvature and isoparametricity, among other geometric properties.
Cold Microdrawing of Pure Magnesium Capillary Structures for Biomedical Applications
Authors: Pizzi Margherita , De Gaetano Francesco , Ferroni Marco , Arleo Francesco , Boschetti Federica , Strano Matteo , Annoni Massimiliano
Published: January 2024

This paper presents a study on cold microdrawing of pure magnesium for biomedical applications, where hollow sinking drawing of microtubes of 820 μm diameter and wall thickness around 100 μm was used, varying drawing speeds to achieve a significant reduction in cross-sectional area in a single pass. Results showed an improved surface finish with reduced surface roughness after drawing. The material exhibited an increase in microhardness and ultimate tensile strength by 41% due to work hardening caused by plastic deformation. The study also identified wall thickening of the tube and observed springback behavior of Mg at the die exit. Drawing forces were collected for process monitoring, and finite element (FE) simulations were conducted to assess the risk of pure Mg microtube breakage. This research contributes to advancing the state of the art in Mg microtube drawing, addressing the unique challenge of working with such small tube dimensions where limited studies currently exist.
Improving Turbine Endwall Overall Cooling Effectiveness Using Curtain Cooling and Redistributed Film-Hole Layouts: An Experimental and Computational Study
Authors: Wu Hang , Yang Xing , Zhao Qiang , Feng Zhenping
Published: January 2024

To enhance the cooling deficiency that occurs in a baseline endwall using axially-arranged cooling holes, this paper proposes a new locally-enhanced hole layout using curtain cooling and fan-shaped film holes being arranged on iso-Mach lines. The objective of cooling hole redesign is to minimize secondary flows and thus to provide better film coverage. In experiments, infrared thermography techniques are applied to validate overall cooling effectiveness of the newly-designed endwall, and aero-thermal fields at the cascade exit are detected by five-hole and thermocouple probes. Additionally, computational fluid dynamic simulations are performed to provide complementary flow insights. A comparison with the baseline hole layout reveals that for a given total coolant flowrate, the newly-designed endwall significantly improves the cooling performance by up to 27% without a noticeable aerodynamic penalty, resulting in a lower and more uniform temperature field. Curtain coolant effectively suppresses the development of horseshoe vortex and provides adequate thermal protection for leading-edge junctures and pressure-side corner regions. The redistribution of fan-shaped film holes reinforces the cooling performance in the passage throat and trailing-edge regions. At low and high total mass flowrates, the coolant split between various cooling sources has a substantial impact on cooling performance.
Two new species of the genus Neoribates (Acari, Oribatida, Parakalummidae) from China
Authors: Zheng Li-Hao , Chen Jun
Published: January 2024

Two new species of the genus Neoribates: N. conflata sp. nov and N. fusiformis sp. nov are proposed and described based on adult material collected from central China, and additional information of N. roubali (Berlese, 1910) (Oribata) are added. A key to the known taxa of Neoribates from China is provided.
Integrated multichip field emission electron source fabricated by laser-micromachining and MEMS technology
Authors: Hausladen M. , Buchner P. , Bartl M. , Bachmann M. , Schreiner R.
Published: January 2024

In this work, high-current field emission electron source chips were fabricated using laser-micromachining and MEMS technology. The resulting chips were combined with commercially available printed circuit boards (PCBs) to obtain a multichip electron source. By controlling the separate electron sources using an external current control circuit, we were able to divide the desired total current evenly across the individual chips deployed in the PCB-carrier. In consequence, we were able to show a decreased degradation due to the reduced current load per chip. First, a single electron source chip was measured without current regulation. A steady-state emission current of 1 mA with a high stability of ±1.3% at an extraction voltage of 250 V was observed. At this current level, a mean degradation slope of −0.7 μA/min with a nearly perfect transmission ratio of 99% ± 0.4% was determined. The measurements of a fully assembled multichip PCB-carrier electron source, using a current control circuit for regulation, showed that an even distribution of the desired total current led to a decreased degradation. This was determined by the increase in the required extraction voltage over time. For this purpose, two current levels were applied to the electron source chips of the PCB-carrier using an external current control circuit. First, 300 μA total current was evenly distributed among the individual electron source chips followed by the emission of 300 μA per electron source chip. This allows the observation of the influence of a distributed and nondistributed total current, carried by the electron source chips. Thereby, we obtained an increase in the mean degradation slope from +0.011 V/min (300 μA distributed) to +0.239 V/min (300 μA per chip), which is approximately 21 times higher. Moreover, our current control circuit improved the current stability to under 0.1% for both current levels, 300 μA distributed and 300 μA per chip.
Ambient health sensing on passive surfaces using metamaterials
Authors: Nguyen Dat T. , Zeng Qihang , Tian Xi , Chia Patrick , Wu Changsheng , Liu Yuxin , Ho John S.
Published: January 2024

Ambient sensors can continuously and unobtrusively monitor a person’s health and well-being in everyday settings. Among various sensing modalities, wireless radio-frequency sensors offer exceptional sensitivity, immunity to lighting conditions, and privacy advantages. However, existing wireless sensors are susceptible to environmental interference and unable to capture detailed information from multiple body sites. Here, we present a technique to transform passive surfaces in the environment into highly sensitive and localized health sensors using metamaterials. Leveraging textiles’ ubiquity, we engineer metamaterial textiles that mediate near-field interactions between wireless signals and the body for contactless and interference-free sensing. We demonstrate that passive surfaces functionalized by these metamaterials can provide hours-long cardiopulmonary monitoring with accuracy comparable to gold standards. We also show the potential of distributed sensors and machine learning for continuous blood pressure monitoring. Our approach enables passive environmental surfaces to be harnessed for ambient sensing and digital health applications.
Inhalable point-of-care urinary diagnostic platform
Authors: Zhong Qian , Tan Edward K. W. , Martin-Alonso Carmen , Parisi Tiziana , Hao Liangliang , Kirkpatrick Jesse D. , Fadel Tarek , Fleming Heather E. , Jacks Tyler , Bhatia Sangeeta N.
Published: January 2024

Although low-dose computed tomography screening improves lung cancer survival in at-risk groups, inequality remains in lung cancer diagnosis due to limited access to and high costs of medical imaging infrastructure. We designed a needleless and imaging-free platform, termed PATROL (point-of-care aerosolizable nanosensors with tumor-responsive oligonucleotide barcodes), to reduce resource disparities for early detection of lung cancer. PATROL formulates a set of DNA-barcoded, activity-based nanosensors (ABNs) into an inhalable format. Lung cancer–associated proteases selectively cleave the ABNs, releasing synthetic DNA reporters that are eventually excreted via the urine. The urinary signatures of barcoded nanosensors are quantified within 20 min at room temperature using a multiplexable paper-based lateral flow assay. PATROL detects early-stage tumors in an autochthonous lung adenocarcinoma mouse model with high sensitivity and specificity. Tailoring the library of ABNs may enable not only the modular PATROL platform to lower the resource threshold for lung cancer early detection tools but also the rapid detection of chronic pulmonary disorders and infections.
LITAF protects against pore-forming protein–induced cell death by promoting membrane repair
Authors: Stefani Caroline , Bruchez Anna M. , Rosasco Mario G. , Yoshida Anna E. , Fasano Kayla J. , Levan Paula F. , Lorant Alina , Hubbard Nicholas W. , Oberst Andrew , Stuart Lynda M. , Lacy-Hulbert Adam
Published: January 2024

Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) are the largest class of bacterial toxins and contribute to virulence by triggering host cell death. Vertebrates also express endogenous pore-forming proteins that induce cell death as part of host defense. To mitigate damage and promote survival, cells mobilize membrane repair mechanisms to neutralize and counteract pores, but how these pathways are activated is poorly understood. Here, we use a transposon-based gene activation screen to discover pathways that counteract the cytotoxicity of the archetypal PFT
Staphylococcus aureus
α-toxin. We identify the endolysosomal protein LITAF as a mediator of cellular resistance to PFT-induced cell death that is active against both bacterial toxins and the endogenous pore, gasdermin D, a terminal effector of pyroptosis. Activation of the ubiquitin ligase NEDD4 by potassium efflux mobilizes LITAF to recruit the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) machinery to repair damaged membrane. Cells lacking LITAF, or carrying naturally occurring disease-associated mutations of LITAF, are highly susceptible to pore-induced death. Notably, LITAF-mediated repair occurs at endosomal membranes, resulting in expulsion of damaged membranes as exosomes, rather than through direct excision of pores from the surface plasma membrane. These results identify LITAF as a key effector that links sensing of cellular damage to repair.
Mutations in the promoter region of methionine transporter gene
metM
(Rv3253c) confer
para
-aminosalicylic acid (PAS) resistance in
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Authors: Zhang Yu , Wang Shiyong , Chen Xinchang , Cui Peng , Chen Jiazhen , Zhang Wenhong
Published: January 2024

Although
para
-aminosalicylic acid (PAS) has been used to treat TB for more than 70 years, the understanding of PAS resistance mechanisms is still vague, living gaps in our ability to predict resistance and apply PAS effectively in clinical practice. This study aimed to address this knowledge gap by inducing
in vitro
PAS resistance in
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(MTB) using 7H11 medium and discovering a new PAS resistance mechanism. Our research revealed that spontaneous mutations occurring in the promoter region of the methionine transporting gene,
metM
, can upregulate the expression of
metM
, resulting in increased intracellular transport of methionine and consequently high-level resistance of
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
to PAS. Notably, this resistance phenotype cannot be observed when using the commonly recommended 7H10 medium, possibly due to the lack of additional methionine supply compared with that when using the 7H11 medium. Mutations on the regulatory region of
metM
were also found in some clinical MTB strains. These findings may have important implications for the unexplained PAS resistance observed in clinical settings and provide insight into the failures of PAS treatment. Additionally, they underscore the importance of considering the choice of culture media when conducting drug susceptibility testing for MTB.
Ruminal microbiota-host crosstalks promote ruminal epithelial development in neonatal lambs with alfalfa hay introduction
Authors: Bian Gaorui , Yu Shiqiang , Cheng Chao , Huang Haixuan , Liu Junhua
Published: January 2024

While it is established that a fiber-rich diet promotes rumen development in lambs, further research is needed to investigate the precise response of rumen microbiota and epithelium to high-quality alfalfa hay. Here, we observed that the inclusion of alfalfa hay led to a discernible alteration in the developmental trajectory of the rumen. Notably, there was a favorable shift in the rumen's volume, morphology, and the development of rumen papillae. Furthermore, ruminal microbial structure and function resulted in ruminal epithelial cell proliferation and development pathways activation, collectively provide compelling evidence supporting the capacity of alfalfa hay to enhance rumen development and health through ruminal micrbiota-host crosstalks. Our findings elucidate the functional response of the rumen to alfalfa hay introduction, providing new insights into strategies for promoting healthy development of the rumen in young ruminants.
Effect of dietary nitrogen content and ammonium phosphate inclusion on lysine requirement for nitrogen retention in growing pigs
Authors: Buchinski Miranda J. , Wellington Michael O. , Camiré Carley M. , Panisson Josiane C. , Shoveller Anna K. , Columbus Daniel A.
Published: January 2024

Inclusion of a source of non-protein nitrogen (NPN) may improve essential amino acid (EAA) and nitrogen (N) utilization in N-limiting diets. Growing barrows (20.4 ± 0.5 kg) were randomly assigned to 1 of 10 dietary treatments ( n = 9 pigs/treatment) in nine blocks. Diets contained no ammonium phosphate (NAP) or 1.7% ammonium phosphate (AP) to have an EAA-N:total N ratio of 0.36 and 0.33, respectively, with graded levels of dietary lysine (Lys; 0.8%, 0.9%, 1.0%, 1.1%, and 1.2% standardized ileal digestible (SID)). Following a 7-day dietary adaptation, a 4-day N-balance collection period was conducted. Blood samples were obtained on day 2 of the collection period. Nitrogen retention (NR) increased and urinary N output decreased with inclusion of NPN and increasing Lys ( P < 0.01). Plasma urea N decreased with increasing Lys ( P < 0.05). Total plasma EAA content was reduced with NPN supplementation ( P < 0.05), while content of Arg, Asp, Gln, and Glu was increased ( P < 0.01). The linear breakpoint model indicated that NR was maximized at 1.00% SID Lys in NAP-fed pigs and at 1.09% SID Lys in AP-fed pigs. These results indicate that diets deficient in dietary N reduce NR and Lys requirement, which were in turn increased with NPN supplementation.
Viable and stable compact stars in $$f({\mathcal {Q}})$$ theory
Authors: Gul Muhammad Zeeshan , Rani Shamaila , Adeel Muhammad , Jawad Abdul
Published: January 2024

In this paper, we study the viability and stability of anisotropic compact stars in the context of $$f({\mathcal {Q}})$$

f
(
Q
)

theory, where $${\mathcal {Q}}$$
Q
is non-metricity scalar. We use Finch–Skea solutions to investigate the physical properties of compact stars. To determine the values of unknown constants, we match internal spacetime with the exterior region at the boundary surface. Furthermore, we study the various physical quantities, including effective matter variables, energy conditions and equation of state parameters inside the considered compact stars. The equilibrium and stability states of the proposed compact stars are examined through the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equation, causality condition, Herrera cracking approach and adiabatic index, respectively. It is found that viable and stable compact stars exist in $$f({\mathcal {Q}})$$

f
(
Q
)

theory as all the necessary conditions are satisfied.
The Environmental Education of Adolescents: A Solution for Sanitation Problems in Ibadan Municipality
Authors: ALALADE Ayomide Oluwaseun , FANIRAN Gbemiga Bolade , DARAMOLA Oluwole Philip , ODUNLADE Oluwasegun Raphael
Published: January 2024

Environmental sanitation problems are a bane in cities in developing countries caused by poor sanitation behavior of individuals, particularly adolescents. Several recommendations have been made to effectively curb the menace, one of which is environmental education. The impact of education especially among adolescents who are forming lifelong behaviors is however not adequately documented. This study is a quasi-experimental research designed to fill this gap toward ameliorating sanitation problems in the city. From six schools selected in the municipality, 185 adolescents were selected from both public- and private-owned secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria, using multistage sampling. Information was collected through a structured questionnaire administered to the sampled adolescents before and after eight weeks of an environmental education intervention. The study revealed that the intervention significantly improved the adolescents’ environmental sanitation knowledge and behavior. The study concludes that environmental education has to be efficiently incorporated into learning process to curb the ever-present sanitation problems effectively.
Deciding Asynchronous Hyperproperties for Recursive Programs
Authors: Gutsfeld Jens Oliver , Müller-Olm Markus , Ohrem Christoph
Published: January 2024

We introduce a novel logic for asynchronous hyperproperties with a new mechanism to identify relevant positions on traces. While the new logic is more expressive than a related logic presented recently by Bozzelli et al., we obtain the same complexity of the model checking problem for finite state models. Beyond this, we study the model checking problem of our logic for pushdown models. We argue that the combination of asynchronicity and a non-regular model class studied in this paper constitutes the first suitable approach for hyperproperty model checking against recursive programs.
Trillium: Higher-Order Concurrent and Distributed Separation Logic for Intensional Refinement
Authors: Timany Amin , Gregersen Simon Oddershede , Stefanesco Léo , Hinrichsen Jonas Kastberg , Gondelman Léon , Nieto Abel , Birkedal Lars
Published: January 2024

Expressive state-of-the-art separation logics rely on step-indexing to model semantically complex features
and to support modular reasoning about imperative higher-order concurrent and distributed programs. Step-
indexing comes, however, with an inherent cost: it restricts the adequacy theorem of program logics to a fairly
simple class of safety properties.
In this paper, we explore if and how intensional refinement is a viable methodology for strengthening
higher-order concurrent (and distributed) separation logic to prove non-trivial safety and liveness properties.
Specifically, we introduce Trillium, a language-agnostic separation logic framework for showing intensional
refinement relations between traces of a program and a model. We instantiate Trillium with a concurrent
language and develop Fairis, a concurrent separation logic, that we use to show liveness properties of concurrent
programs under fair scheduling assumptions through a fair liveness-preserving refinement of a model. We also
instantiate Trillium with a distributed language and obtain an extension of Aneris, a distributed separation
logic, which we use to show refinement relations between distributed systems and TLA+ models.
Pipelines and Beyond: Graph Types for ADTs with Futures
Authors: Rinaldi Francis , wunder june , Azevedo de Amorim Arthur , Muller Stefan K.
Published: January 2024

Parallel programs are frequently modeled as
dependency
or
cost
graphs, which can be used to detect various bugs, or simply to visualize the parallel structure of the code. However, such graphs reflect just one particular execution and are typically constructed in a
post-hoc
manner.
Graph types
, which were introduced recently to mitigate this problem, can be assigned statically to a program by a type system and compactly represent the family of all graphs that could result from the program.

Unfortunately, prior work is restricted in its treatment of
futures
, an increasingly common and especially dynamic form of parallelism. In short, each instance of a future must be statically paired with a vertex name. Previously, this led to the restriction that futures could not be placed in collections or be used to construct data structures. Doing so is not a niche exercise: such structures form the basis of numerous algorithms that use forms of pipelining to achieve performance not attainable without futures. All but the most limited of these examples are out of reach of prior graph type systems.

In this paper, we propose a graph type system that allows for almost arbitrary combinations of futures and recursive data types. We do so by indexing datatypes with a type-level
vertex structure
, a codata structure that supplies unique vertex names to the futures in a data structure. We prove the soundness of the system in a parallel core calculus annotated with vertex structures and associated operations. Although the calculus is annotated, this is merely for convenience in defining the type system. We prove that it is possible to annotate arbitrary recursive types with vertex structures, and show using a prototype inference engine that these annotations can be inferred from OCaml-like source code for several complex parallel algorithms.
Programming-by-Demonstration for Long-Horizon Robot Tasks
Authors: Patton Noah , Rahmani Kia , Missula Meghana , Biswas Joydeep , Dillig Işıl
Published: January 2024

The goal of programmatic Learning from Demonstration (LfD) is to learn a policy in a programming language that can be used to control a robot’s behavior from a set of user demonstrations. This paper presents a new programmatic LfD algorithm that targets long-horizon robot tasks which require synthesizing programs with complex control flow structures, including nested loops with multiple conditionals. Our proposed method first learns a program sketch that captures the target program’s control flow and then completes this sketch using an LLM-guided search procedure that incorporates a novel technique for proving unrealizability of programming-by-demonstration problems. We have implemented our approach in a new tool called PROLEX and present the results of a comprehensive experimental evaluation on 120 benchmarks involving complex tasks and environments. We show that, given a 120 second time limit, PROLEX can find a program consistent with the demonstrations in 80% of the cases. Furthermore, for 81% of the tasks for which a solution is returned, PROLEX is able to find the ground truth program with just one demonstration. In comparison, CVC5, a syntax-guided synthesis tool, is only able to solve 25% of the cases even when given the ground truth program sketch, and an LLM-based approach, GPT-Synth, is unable to solve any of the tasks due to the environment complexity.
The Logical Essence of Well-Bracketed Control Flow
Authors: Timany Amin , Guéneau Armaël , Birkedal Lars
Published: January 2024

A program is said to be well-bracketed if every called function must return before its caller can resume execution. This is often the case. Well-bracketedness has been captured semantically as a condition on strategies in fully abstract games models and multiple prior works have studied well-bracketedness by showing correctness/security properties of programs where such properties depend on the well-bracketed nature of control flow. The latter category of prior works have all used involved relational models with explicit state-transition systems capturing the relevant parts of the control flow of the program. In this paper we present the first Hoare-style
program logic
based on separation logic for reasoning about well-bracketedness and use it to show correctness of well-bracketed programs both directly and also through defining unary and binary logical relations models based on this program logic. All results presented in this paper are formalized on top of the Iris framework and mechanized in the Coq proof assistant.
Asynchronous Probabilistic Couplings in Higher-Order Separation Logic
Authors: Gregersen Simon Oddershede , Aguirre Alejandro , Haselwarter Philipp G. , Tassarotti Joseph , Birkedal Lars
Published: January 2024

Probabilistic couplings are the foundation for many probabilistic relational program logics and arise when relating random sampling statements across two programs. In relational program logics, this manifests as dedicated coupling rules that, e.g., say we may reason as if two sampling statements return the same value. However, this approach fundamentally requires aligning or "synchronizing" the sampling statements of the two programs which is not always possible.

In this paper, we develop Clutch, a higher-order probabilistic relational separation logic that addresses this issue by supporting asynchronous probabilistic couplings. We use Clutch to develop a logical step-indexed logical relation to reason about contextual refinement and equivalence of higher-order programs written in a rich language with a probabilistic choice operator, higher-order local state, and impredicative polymorphism. Finally, we demonstrate our approach on a number of case studies.

All the results that appear in the paper have been formalized in the Coq proof assistant using the Coquelicot library and the Iris separation logic framework.
Coarser Equivalences for Causal Concurrency
Authors: Farzan Azadeh , Mathur Umang
Published: January 2024

Trace theory
(formulated by Mazurkiewicz in 1987) is a principled framework for defining equivalence relations for concurrent program runs based on a commutativity relation over the set of atomic steps taken by individual program threads. Its simplicity, elegance, and algorithmic efficiency makes it useful in many different contexts including program verification and testing. It is well-understood that the larger the equivalence classes are, the more benefits they would bring to the algorithms and applications that use them. In this paper, we study relaxations of trace equivalence with the goal of maintaining its algorithmic advantages.

We first prove that the largest appropriate relaxation of trace equivalence, an equivalence relation that preserves the order of steps taken by each thread
and
what write operation each read operation observes, does not yield efficient algorithms. Specifically, we prove a
linear space lower bound
for the problem of checking, in a streaming setting, if two arbitrary steps of a concurrent program run are
causally concurrent
(i.e. they can be reordered in an equivalent run) or
causally ordered
(i.e. they always appear in the same order in all equivalent runs). The same problem can be decided in
constant space
for trace equivalence. Next, we propose a new commutativity-based notion of equivalence called
grain equivalence
that is strictly more relaxed than trace equivalence, and yet yields a constant space algorithm for the same problem. This notion of equivalence uses commutativity of
grains
, which are sequences of atomic steps, in addition to the standard commutativity from trace theory. We study the two distinct cases when the grains are contiguous subwords of the input program run and when they are not, formulate the precise definition of causal concurrency in each case, and show that they can be decided in
constant space
, despite being strict relaxations of the notion of causal concurrency based on trace equivalence.
On-the-Fly Static Analysis via Dynamic Bidirected Dyck Reachability
Authors: Krishna Shankaranarayanan , Lal Aniket , Pavlogiannis Andreas , Tuppe Omkar
Published: January 2024

Dyck reachability is a principled, graph-based formulation of a plethora of static analyses. Bidirected graphs are used for capturing dataflow through mutable heap data, and are usual formalisms of demand-driven points-to and alias analyses. The best (offline) algorithm runs in
O
(
m
+
n
· α(
n
)) time, where
n
is the number of nodes and
m
is the number of edges in the flow graph, which becomes
O
(
n
2
) in the worst case.

In the everyday practice of program analysis, the analyzed code is subject to continuous change, with source code being added and removed. On-the-fly static analysis under such continuous updates gives rise to dynamic Dyck reachability, where reachability queries run on a dynamically changing graph, following program updates. Naturally, executing the offline algorithm in this online setting is inadequate, as the time required to process a single update is prohibitively large.

In this work we develop a novel dynamic algorithm for bidirected Dyck reachability that has
O
(
n
· α(
n
)) worst-case performance per update, thus beating the
O
(
n
2
) bound, and is also optimal in certain settings. We also implement our algorithm and evaluate its performance on on-the-fly data-dependence and alias analyses, and compare it with two best known alternatives, namely (i) the optimal offline algorithm, and (ii) a fully dynamic Datalog solver. Our experiments show that our dynamic algorithm is consistently, and by far, the top performing algorithm, exhibiting speedups in the order of 1000X. The running time of each update is almost always unnoticeable to the human eye, making it ideal for the on-the-fly analysis setting.