bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
PIEZO2 and perineal mechanosensation are essential for sexual function
Authors: Lam Ruby M. , von Buchholtz Lars J. , Falgairolle Melanie , Osborne Jennifer , Frangos Eleni , Servin-Vences M. Rocio , Nagel Maximilian , Nguyen Minh Q. , Jayabalan Monessha , Saade Dimah , Patapoutian Ardem , Bönnemann Carsten G. , Ryba Nicholas J. P. , Chesler Alexander T.
Published: August 2023

Despite the potential importance of genital mechanosensation for sexual reproduction, little is known about how perineal touch influences mating. We explored how mechanosensation affords exquisite awareness of the genitals and controls reproduction in mice and humans. Using genetic strategies and in vivo functional imaging, we demonstrated that the mechanosensitive ion channel PIEZO2 (piezo-type mechanosensitive ion channel component 2) is necessary for behavioral sensitivity to perineal touch. PIEZO2 function is needed for triggering a touch-evoked erection reflex and successful mating in both male and female mice. Humans with complete loss of PIEZO2 function have genital hyposensitivity and experience no direct pleasure from gentle touch or vibration. Together, our results help explain how perineal mechanoreceptors detect the gentlest of stimuli and trigger physiologically important sexual responses, thus providing a platform for exploring the sensory basis of sexual pleasure and its relationship to affective touch.
Molecular characterization and comparison of
bla
NDM-1
-carrying and
bla
NDM-5
-harboring IncX3-type plasmids in carbapenem-resistant
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Authors: Yang Yunxing , Liu Haiyang , Chen Lingxia , Mao Minjie , Zhang Xiaofan , Zhou Longjie , Duan Darong , Li Xi , Zhou Hua
Published: August 2023

Carbapenem-resistant
Klebsiella pneumoniae
(CRKP), which harbors the
bla
NDM
plasmid, has been reported extensively and is considered a global threat clinically. However, characterization and comparisons of
bla
NDM-1
-carrying and
bla
NDM-5
-harboring IncX3-type plasmids in CRKP are lacking. Here, we systematically compared the differences in the characteristics, genetic backgrounds, transferability, and fitness costs between
bla
NDM-1
-carrying and
bla
NDM-5
-carrying plasmids in
K. pneumoniae
isolates. Fifteen NDM-producing CRKP isolates were recovered from 1376 CRKP isolates between 2019 and 2021, of which 4 were positive for
bla
NDM-1
and 11 were positive for
bla
NDM-5
. All strains were highly resistant to carbapenem but remained susceptible to tigecycline and colistin. Core-genome-based phylogenetic analyses revealed that these strains were not clonally related. Whole-genome sequencing showed that
bla
NDM-1
and
bla
NDM-5
were located on ~54 kb and ~46 kb IncX3-type plasmids, respectively. The backbone, genetic context, and fitness cost of the
bla
NDM-1
-bearing plasmid were highly similar to those of the
bla
NDM-5
-carrying plasmid, but the transferability of the
bla
NDM-1
-positive plasmid was greater than that of the
bla
NDM-5
-positive plasmid. In conclusion, the transmission of
bla
NDM-1
or
bla
NDM-5
is mainly disseminated by plasmids rather than clonal spread. The high transfer frequency of the IncX3 plasmid facilitates the prevalence and dissemination of NDM-KP among
Enterobacteriaceae
.

IMPORTANCE

The emergence of NDM-producing
Klebsiella pneumoniae
is a severe challenge to public health. The widespread presence of
bla
NDM-1
and
bla
NDM-5
in
Enterobacteriaceae
has aroused broad concern. In this study, we performed molecular characterization of
bla
NDM-1
-carrying and
bla
NDM-5
-harboring IncX3-type plasmids in carbapenem-resistant
Klebsiella pneumoniae
(CRKP) and compared their phenotypes between strains with different
bla
NDM
subtype. Our findings highlight the importance of IncX3-type plasmids in the transfer of the
bla
NDM-1
and
bla
NDM-5
genes and demonstrate that the
bla
NDM-1
plasmid possesses higher transfer ability. These data will provide important insights into carbapenem resistance gene transfer via plasmids and their further spread in clinical settings.
Cosmogenic 3He anomaly K1 vs. the early Campanian isotopic event (ECE) as recorded in pelagic limestones of the Umbria-Marche succession (Italy)
Authors: Montanari A. , Farley K. , Coccioni R. , Sabatino N. , Bice D. , Yesko M. , Sinnesael M. , de Winter N.
Published: August 2023

In this paper, we report on a biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic, and stable isotope (δ13C and 3He) analysis across three pelagic limestone sections of the Campanian Scaglia Rossa Formation exposed in the classic Bottaccione Gorge at Gubbio (Umbria region), near the village of Furlo, and near the town of Apiro (both in the Marche region), all located in the Umbria-Marche basin of the northeastern Apennines of central Italy. These sections record the coincidental occurrence of an extraterrestrial 3He (3HeET) anomaly known as K1 and a negative shift in the δ13C record known as the early Campanian event. Cyclostratigraphic spectral analysis of the Furlo section based on a high-resolution magnetic susceptibility record in these pelagic limestones revealed that the regular orbitally forced Milankovitch cycles are somewhat disturbed or blurred through the interval of the coincident 3HeET K1 anomaly and the early Campanian event isotopic anomaly, suggesting a causal effect resulting from the enhanced influx of extraterrestrial material (i.e., interplanetary dust particles and a myriad of small meteorite impacts). This would have altered the transparency of the atmosphere, causing a short-lived climate change event.
Effect of home cook interventions for salt reduction in China: cluster randomised controlled trial
Authors: Zhang Xiaochang , Zhang Puhong , Shen Danyang , Li Yuan , He Feng J , Ma Jixiang , Yan Wei , Gao Yifu , Jin Donghui , Deng Ying , Guo Fangming , Yan Shichun , Song Jing , MacGregor Graham A , Wu Jing
Published: August 2023

Objective

To determine the effects of salt reduction interventions designed for home cooks and family members.

Design

Cluster randomised controlled trial.

Setting

Six provinces in northern, central, and southern China from 15 October 2018 to 30 December 2019.

Participants

60 communities from six provinces (10 communities from each province) were randomised; each community comprised 26 people (two people from each of 13 families).

Interventions

Participants in the intervention group received 12 month interventions, including supportive environment building for salt reduction, six education sessions on salt reduction, and salt intake monitoring by seven day weighed record of salt and salty condiments. The control group did not receive any of the interventions.

Main outcome measure

Difference between the two groups in change in salt intake measured by 24 hour urinary sodium during the 12 month follow-up.

Results

1576 participants (775 (49.2%) men; mean age 55.8 (standard deviation 10.8) years) from 788 families (one home cook and one other adult in each family) completed the baseline assessment. After baseline assessment, 30 communities with 786 participants were allocated to the intervention group and 30 communities with 790 participants to the control group. During the trial, 157 (10%) participants were lost to follow-up, and the remaining 706 participants in the intervention group and 713 participants in the control group completed the follow-up assessment. During the 12 month follow-up, the urinary sodium excretion decreased from 4368.7 (standard deviation 1880.3) mg per 24 hours to 3977.0 (1688.8) mg per 24 hours in the intervention group and from 4418.7 (1973.7) mg per 24 hours to 4330.9 (1859.8) mg per 24 hours in the control group. Compared with the control group, adjusted mixed linear model analysis showed that the 24 hour urinary sodium excretion in the intervention group was reduced by 336.8 (95% confidence interval 127.9 to 545.7) mg per 24 hours (P=0.002); the systolic and diastolic blood pressures were reduced by 2.0 (0.4 to 3.5) (P=0.01) and 1.1 (0.1 to 2.0) mm Hg (P=0.03), respectively; and the knowledge, attitude, and behaviours in the intervention group improved significantly.

Conclusions

The community based salt reduction package targeting home cooks and family members was effective in lowering salt intake and blood pressure. This intervention has the potential to be widely applied in China and other countries where home cooking remains a major source of salt intake.

Trial registration

Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1800016804.
Fibrotic extracellular vesicles contribute to mechanical ventilation-induced pulmonary fibrosis development by activating lung fibroblasts via JNK signalling pathway: an experimental study
Authors: Tang Ri , Zhou Yang , Mei Shuya , Xu Qiaoyi , Feng Jinhua , Xing Shunpeng , Gao Yuan , Qin Shaojie , He Zhengyu
Published: August 2023

Recent research has revealed that mechanical ventilation (MV) could initiate ventilator-induced lung injury along with the initiation of the process of pulmonary fibrosis (PF), leading to MV-induced PF (MVPF). However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the role of MV-induced extracellular vesicles (MV-EVs) and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signalling pathway in the pathogenesis of MVPF in vivo and in vitro. The process of MV is accompanied by the secretion of MV-EVs, which could induce lung fibroblast activation. Furthermore, single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis revealed that the JNK pathway in lung fibroblasts was activated after MV initiation. Inhibiting the JNK pathway could both restrain MV-EV-induced lung fibroblast activation in vitro or reduce the severity of MVPF in vivo. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that MV-EVs contribute to MVPF progression by activating lung fibroblasts via the JNK signalling pathway and that inhibiting the secretion of EV and the activation of the JNK signalling pathway is a promising strategy for treating MVPF.
A role for kindness and curiosity in healthcare
Authors: Cheung Katherine
Published: August 2023

In his paper ‘Ethical problems with kindness in healthcare’, Jesudason sets out an interesting examination of the concept of kindness, arguing that it poses significant ethical challenges due to its discretionary nature. I suggest that kindness, a concept difficult to define, may still have a role to play in healthcare. Different treatments of kindness show us that it need not be discretionary, and that kind care can be provided to all. Finally, curiosity may also have a role to play in medicine to help promote inclusiveness.
Impact of prior use of antiplatelet agents and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants on stroke outcomes among endovascular-treated patients with high pre-stroke CHA2DS2-VASc score
Authors: Kim Chulho , Sohn Jong-Hee , Lee Minwoo , Kim Yerim , Mo Hee Jung , Oh Mi Sun , Yu Kyung-Ho , Lee Sang-Hwa
Published: August 2023

Background

We assessed the influence of prior non-vitamin K antagonist (NOAC) use on stroke outcomes after endovascular treatment (EVT) in patients at a high risk of stroke based on their pre-stroke CHA2DS2-VASc score, and compared them with those who did not use any antithrombotic (NAU) or antiplatelet (APT) agents.

Methods

Data were collected from a multicenter database comprising consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients who underwent EVT during a span of 103 months. We evaluated pre-stroke CHA2DS2-VASc scores in enrolled patients and measured instances of successful reperfusion and symptomatic hemorrhagic transformation (SHT) following EVT as the main outcome measures.

Results

Among 12 807 patients with acute ischemic stroke, 3765 (29.4%) had a history of atrial fibrillation. Of these, 418 patients with CHA2DS2-VASc scores ≥2 received EVT alone. The prior NOAC group showed higher successful reperfusion rates compared with the prior NAU and APT groups (p=0.04). Multivariate analysis revealed that prior NOAC use increased the likelihood of successful reperfusion after EVT (OR [95% CI] 2.54 [1.34 to 4.83], p=0.004) and improved stroke outcomes, while the prior APT group did not. Furthermore, the prior NOAC use group was not associated with SHT after EVT. Propensity score matching confirmed these findings.

Conclusion

Prior use of NOAC is associated with improved outcomes in high-risk stroke patients (pre-stroke CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥2) undergoing EVT.
Predictors of tissue infarction from distal emboli after mechanical thrombectomy
Authors: Fuller Emily , Vivanco-Suarez Juan , Fain Nicholas H , Zevallos Cynthia B , Lu Yujing , Ortega-Gutierrez Santiago , Derdeyn Colin
Published: August 2023

Background

Distal embolization after endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is common. We aimed to determine factors associated with tissue infarction in the territories of distal emboli.

Methods

This is a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients with anterior circulation large vessel occlusions who underwent EVT from 2015 to 2021. Patients with Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction (TICI) 2b reperfusion and follow-up imaging were identified. Baseline characteristics, procedural details, and imaging findings were reviewed. Primary outcome was categorized according to the occurrence of infarction at the territory of distal embolus on follow-up diffusion-weighted imaging MRI.

Results

Of 156 subjects, 97 (62%) had at least one infarction in the territories at risk. Hypertension was significantly more prevalent in the infarct group (83% vs 53%, P=0.001). General anesthesia was more commonly used in the infarct group (60% vs 43%, P=0.037). The median number of distal emboli and diameter of the occluded vessel were similar. After adjusting for confounders, hypertension (aOR 4.73, 95% CI 1.81 to 13.25, P=0.002), higher blood glucose (aOR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.03, P=0.023), and general anesthesia (aOR 2.75, 95% CI 1.15 to 6.84, P=0.025) were independently associated with infarction. The presence of angiographic leptomeningeal collaterals predicted tissue survival (aOR 0.13, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.33, P<0.001). 90-day modified Rankin scale (mRS) scores were worse for the infarction patients (mRS 0–2: infarct, 39% vs 55%, P=0.046).

Conclusions

Nearly 40% of patients with TICI 2b had no tissue infarction in the territory of a distal embolus. The association of infarction with hypertension and general anesthesia suggests late or post-procedural blood pressure management could be a modifiable factor. Patients with poor leptomeningeal collaterals or hyperglycemia may benefit from further attempts at revascularization.
Early and effective intracerebral hemorrhage evacuation is associated with a lower 1-year residual cavity volume and better functional outcomes
Authors: Ali Muhammad , Ascanio Luis C , Smith Colton , Odland Ian , Murtaza-Ali Muhammad , Vasan Vikram , Downes Margaret , Schuldt Braxton Riley , Lin Anthony , Dullea Jonathan , Schupper Alexander J , Hardigan Trevor , Asghar Nek , Mocco J , Kellner Christopher Paul
Published: August 2023

Background

We explored the clinical significance of the residual hematoma cavity 1 year after minimally invasive intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) evacuation.

Methods

Patients presenting with spontaneous supratentorial ICH were evaluated for minimally invasive surgical evacuation. Inclusion criteria included age ≥18 years, preoperative hematoma volume (Hv) ≥15 mL, presenting National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score ≥6, and premorbid modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score ≤3. Patients with longitudinal CT scans at least 3 months after evacuation were included in the study. Remnant cavity volumes (Cv) after evacuation were computed using semi-automatic volumetric segmentation software. Relative cavity volume (rCv) was defined as the ratio of the preoperative Hv to the remnant Cv.

Results

108 patients with a total of 484 head CT scans were included in the study. The median postoperative Cv was 2.4 (IQR 0.0–11) mL, or just 6% (0–33%) of the preoperative Hv. The median residual Cv on the final head CT scan a median of 13 months (range 11–27 months) after surgery had increased to 9.4 (IQR 3.1–18) mL, or 25% (10–60%) of the preoperative Hv. rCv on the final head CT scan was negatively associated with measures of operative success including evacuation percentage, postoperative Hv ≤15 mL, and decreased time from ictus to evacuation. rCv on the final head CT scan was also associated with a worse 6-month functional outcome (β per mRS point 17.6%, P<0.0001; area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.91).

Conclusion

After minimally invasive ICH evacuation the hematoma lesion decompresses significantly, with a residual Cv just 6% of the original lesion, but then gradually increases in size over time. Early and high percentage ICH evacuation may reduce the remnant Cv over time which, in turn, is associated with improved functional outcomes.
Wood density and leaf traits independently relate to growth rate of naturally regenerated tree species in Araucaria angustifolia plantations in the Atlantic Forest, Argentina
Authors: Medina Micaela , Flores Magalí Pérez , Ritter Luis J. , Goya Juan F. , Campanello Paula I. , Arturi Marcelo F.
Published: August 2023

Tree plantations can facilitate the establishment of native trees, thus providing opportunities for the ecological restoration or rehabilitation of degraded forest lands. Stand variables can influence the establishment of native tree species, but few studies have been carried out to determine how sapling growth response to stand variables varies among functionally different species. We evaluated the effect of stand age, stand basal area, tree density, and time since last logging on stem diameter growth rates, as well as the dependence of such effect on whole plant, stem, and leaf functional traits. We measured the stem diameter increment on 280 individuals of 22 species in permanent plots for a period of 2 years in araucaria ( Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze) plantations in the Atlantic Forest, NE Argentina. Increasing all-species basal area and plantation age negatively affected the growth rates, and such effect tended to be higher in species with low wood density. Two functional axes independently explained growth rate differences between species in growth rate. Growth rates increase with decreasing wood density, increasing leaf phosphorus and potassium content, and decreasing specific leaf area. Among species that are similar in the traits associated with the first functional axis, plant growth increases with increasing leaf nitrogen content.
NANOGrav signal from double-inflection-point inflation and dark matter
Authors: Gao Tie-Jun
Published: August 2023

The NANOGrav collaboration has published a suspected stochastic gravitational wave (GW) background signal in its analysis of 12.5 years PTA data, so in this work, we investigate the possibility to explain the signal by the inflationary models with double-inflection-point. We calculate the energy spectrum of GWs induced by scalar perturbations, and show that the curve lies in the $$2\sigma $$

2
σ

region of the NANOGrav constraints. In addition, we analyze the reheating process and dark matter production by assuming that the inflaton is coupled with the standard model (SM) Higgs boson and singlet fermionic dark matter field. We discuss the radiative stability of the inflationary potential under one-loop corrections, calculate the reheating temperature, the dark matter production, and constraints on the coupling parameters using the bounds of BBN, Lyman-$$\alpha $$
α
, etc.
Do Statist Ideology and State-Sponsored Nationalism Intervene in Pakistan’s China Policy? A Neoclassical Realist Perspective
Authors: LARIK ABDUL RAZAQUE , MANGI SHAH NAWAZ , BUKHARI SYED GULZAR ALI SHAH
Published: August 2023

In its relations with China from 1972 to 2018, Pakistan has endeavored to extract and mobilize its domestic resources while conducting a foreign policy of balancing under systemic pressures and power disparities. Statist ideology and state-sponsored nationalism have been both useful and influential in this process. While there is abundant literature on ideology, nationalism, and Pakistan’s foreign policy using theoretical foundations, a neoclassical realist approach has yet to be made. This paper seeks guidance from neoclassical realist theory as explored in the works of Taliaferro (2006) and Schweller (2004). We argue that Pakistan’s ties with China have been facilitated domestically by an Islamic statist ideology and anti-Indian state-sponsored nationalism. These both have facilitated internal balancing through the extraction and mobilization of natural resources and emulation while externally they justified Pakistan’s balancing efforts aimed at countering a perceived Indian threat. The nation’s military and civil elites therefore agree on the necessity of closer ties with China.
Lifted Curls
Authors: Shi Alvin , Wu Haomiao , Parr Jarred , Darke A. M. , Kim Theodore
Published: August 2023

We present an isotropic, hyperelastic model specifically designed for the efficient simulation of tightly coiled hairs whose curl radii approach 5 mm. Our model is robust to large bends and torsions, even when they appear at the scale of the strand discretization. The terms of our model are consistently quadratic with respect to their primary variables, do not require per-edge frames or any parallel transport operators, and can efficiently take large timesteps on the order of ~1/30 of a second. Additionally, we show that it is possible to obtain fast, closed-form eigensystems for all the terms in the energy. Our eigenanalysis is sufficiently generic that it generalizes to other models. Our entirely vertex-based formulation integrates naturally with existing finite element codes, and we demonstrate its efficiency and robustness in a variety of scenarios.
A Generalized Constitutive Model for Versatile MPM Simulation and Inverse Learning with Differentiable Physics
Authors: Su Haozhe , Li Xuan , Xue Tao , Jiang Chenfanfu , Aanjaneya Mridul
Published: August 2023

We present a generalized constitutive model for versatile physics simulation of inviscid fluids, Newtonian viscosity, hyperelasticity, viscoplasticity, elastoplasticity, and other physical effects that arise due to a mixture of these behaviors. The key ideas behind our formulation are the design of a generalized Kirchhoff stress tensor that can describe hyperelasticity, Newtonian viscosity and inviscid fluids, and the use of pre-projection and post-correction rules for simulating material behaviors that involve plasticity, including elastoplasticity and viscoplasticity. We show how our generalized Kirchhoff stress tensor can be coupled together into a generalized constitutive model that allows the simulation of diverse material behaviors by only changing parameter values. We present several side-by-side comparisons with physics simulations for specific constitutive models to show that our generalized model produces visually similar results. More notably, our formulation allows for inverse learning of unknown material properties directly from data using differentiable physics simulations. We present several 3D simulations to highlight the robustness of our method, even with multiple different materials. To the best of our knowledge, our approach is the first to recover the knowledge of unknown material properties without making explicit assumptions about the data.
An Eigenanalysis of Angle-Based Deformation Energies
Authors: Wu Haomiao , Kim Theodore
Published: August 2023

Angle-based energies appear in numerous physics-based simulation models, including thin-shell bending and isotropic elastic strands. We present a generic analysis of these energies that allows us to analytically filter the negative eigenvalues of the second derivative (Hessian), which is critical for stable, implicit time integration. While these energies are usually formulated in terms of angles and positions, we propose an abstract edge stencil that succinctly parameterizes the edge deformation, and allows us to derive generic, closed-form analytical expressions for the energy eigensystems. The resultant eigenvectors have straightforward geometric interpretations. We demonstrate that our method is readily applicable to a variety of 2D and 3D angle-based elastic energies, including both cloth and strands, and is up to 7× faster than numerical eigendecomposition.
Hierarchical Planning and Control for Box Loco-Manipulation
Authors: Xie Zhaoming , Tseng Jonathan , Starke Sebastian , van de Panne Michiel , Liu C. Karen
Published: August 2023

Humans perform everyday tasks using a combination of locomotion and manipulation skills. Building a system that can handle both skills is essential to creating virtual humans. We present a physically-simulated human capable of solving box rearrangement tasks, which requires a combination of both skills. We propose a hierarchical control architecture, where each level solves the task at a different level of abstraction, and the result is a physics-based simulated virtual human capable of rearranging boxes in a cluttered environment. The control architecture integrates a planner, diffusion models, and physics-based motion imitation of sparse motion clips using deep reinforcement learning. Boxes can vary in size, weight, shape, and placement height. Code and trained control policies are provided.
Adaptive Rigidification of Discrete Shells
Authors: Mercier-Aubin Alexandre , Kry Paul G.
Published: August 2023

We present a method to improve the computation time of thin shell simulations by using adaptive rigidification to reduce the number of degrees of freedom. Our method uses a discretization independent metric for bending rates, and we derive a membrane strain rate to curvature rate equivalence that permits the use of a common threshold. To improve accuracy, we enhance the elastification oracle by considering both membrane and bending deformation to determine when to rigidify or elastify. Furthermore, we explore different approaches that are compatible with the previous work on adaptive rigidifcation and enhance the accuracy of the elastification on new contacts without increasing the computational overhead. Additionally, we propose a scaling approach that reduces the conditioning issues that arise from mixing rigid and elastic bodies in the same model.
NeuroDog
Authors: Egan Dónal , Cosker Darren , McDonnell Rachel
Published: August 2023

Virtual reality (VR) allows us to immerse ourselves in alternative worlds in which we can embody avatars to take on new identities. Usually, these avatars are humanoid or possess very strong anthropomorphic qualities. Allowing users of VR to embody non-humanoid virtual characters or animals presents additional challenges. Extreme morphological differences and the complexities of different characters' motions can make the construction of a real-time mapping between input human motion and target character motion a difficult challenge. Previous animal embodiment work has focused on direct mapping of human motion to the target animal via inverse kinematics. This can lead to the target animal moving in a way which is inappropriate or unnatural for the animal type. We present a novel real-time method, incorporating two neural networks, for mapping human motion to realistic quadruped motion. Crucially, the output quadruped motions are realistic, while also being faithful to the input user motions. We incorporate our mapping into a VR embodiment system in which users can embody a virtual quadruped from a first person perspective. Further, we evaluate our system via a perceptual experiment in which we investigate the quality of the synthesised motion, the system's response to user input and the sense of embodiment experienced by users. The main findings of the study are that the system responds as well as traditional embodiment systems to user input, produces higher quality motion and users experience a higher sense of body ownership when compared to a baseline method in which the human to quadruped motion mapping relies solely on inverse kinematics. Finally, our embodiment system relies solely on consumer-grade hardware, thus making it appropriate for use in applications such as VR gaming or VR social platforms.
Is AI Going to Replace Creative Professionals?
Authors: Joshi Bhautik
Published: August 2023

Spoiler alert: The answer is no, but getting to why is a trip through the nature of human creativity itself.
FORTIS: Selfish Mining Mitigation by (FOR)geable (TI)me(S)tamps
Authors: Biçer Osman , Küpçü Alptekin
Published: August 2023

The selfish mining (SM) attack of Eyal and Sirer allows a rational mining pool with a hash power (α) much less than 50% of the whole Bitcoin network to steal from the fair shares of honest miners. This attack has been studied extensively in various settings in order for its optimization and mitigation. In this context, Heilman proposes a defense “Freshness Preferred”, based on timestamps, which are issued routinely by a timestamp authority. In contrast, we consider the case where timestamps are generated by no authority; instead every miner includes the current time into a block freely. However, due to two attacks that we discover, this turns out to be a non-trivial task. These attacks are
Oracle mining
, which works by cleverly setting the timestamp to future, and
Bold mining
, which works by generating an alternative chain starting from a previous block. Unfortunately, these attacks are hard to analyze and optimize, and to our knowledge, the available tools fail to help us for this task. To ease this, we come up with generalized formulas for revenue and profitability of SM attacks. Our analyses show that the use of timestamps could be promising for selfish mining mitigation. Nevertheless, Freshness Preferred in its current form is quite vulnerable, as any rational miner with α > 0 can directly benefit from our attacks. To cope with this problem, we propose a novel SM mitigation algorithm
Fortis
without an authority, which protects the honest miners’ shares against any attacker with α < 27.0 against all the known SM-type attacks. By building upon the blockchain simulator BlockSim, we simulate our Oracle and Bold mining attacks against Freshness Preferred and
Fortis
. Simulation results also demonstrate the effectiveness of these attacks against the former and their ineffectiveness against the latter.
Self Adaptive Logical Split Cache Techniques for Delayed Aging of NVM LLC
Authors: Sivakumar S. , Jose John
Published: August 2023

Due to the technological advancements in the last few decades, several applications have emerged that demand more computing power and on-chip and off-chip memories. However, the scaling of memory technologies is not at par with computing throughput of modern day multi-core processors. Conventional memory technologies such as SRAM and DRAM have technological limitations to meet large on-chip memory requirements owing to their low packaging density and high leakage power. In order to meet the ever-increasing demand for memory, researchers came up with alternative solutions, such as emerging non-volatile memory technologies such as STT-RAM, PCM, and ReRAM. However, these memory technologies have limited write endurance and high write energy. This emphasizes the need for a policy that will reduce the writes or distribute the writes uniformly across the memory thereby enhancing its lifetime by delaying the early wear out of memory cells due to frequent writes. We propose two techniques, Enhanced-Virtually Split Cache (E-ViSC) and Protean-Virtually Split Cache (P-ViSC), which dynamically adjust the cache configuration to distribute the writes uniformly across the memory to enhance the lifetime. Experimental studies show that E-ViSC and P-ViSC improve lifetime of NVM L2 caches by upto 2.31× and 1.97× respectively.
Differentiable Quantum Programming with Unbounded Loops
Authors: Fang Wang , Ying Mingsheng , Wu Xiaodi
Published: August 2023

The emergence of variational quantum applications has led to the development of automatic differentiation techniques in quantum computing. Existing work has formulated differentiable quantum programming with bounded loops, providing a framework for scalable gradient calculation by quantum means for training quantum variational applications. However, promising parameterized quantum applications, e.g., quantum walk and unitary implementation, cannot be trained in the existing framework due to the natural involvement of unbounded loops. To fill in the gap, we provide the first differentiable quantum programming framework with unbounded loops, including a newly designed differentiation rule, code transformation, and their correctness proof. Technically, we introduce a randomized estimator for derivatives to deal with the infinite sum in the differentiation of unbounded loops, whose applicability in classical and probabilistic programming is also discussed. We implement our framework with Python and Q# and demonstrate a reasonable sample efficiency. Through extensive case studies, we showcase an exciting application of our framework in automatically identifying close-to-optimal parameters for several parameterized quantum applications.
SCouT: Synthetic Counterfactuals via Spatiotemporal Transformers for Actionable Healthcare
Authors: Dedhia Bhishma , Balasubramanian Roshini , Jha Niraj K.
Published: August 2023

The synthetic control method has pioneered a class of powerful data-driven techniques to estimate the counterfactual reality of a unit from donor units. At its core, the technique involves a linear model fitted on the pre-intervention period that combines donor outcomes to yield the counterfactual. However, linearly combining spatial information at each time instance using time-agnostic weights fails to capture important inter-unit and intra-unit temporal contexts and complex nonlinear dynamics of real data. We instead propose an approach to use local spatiotemporal information before the onset of the intervention as a promising way to estimate the counterfactual sequence. To this end, we suggest a Transformer model that leverages particular positional embeddings, a modified decoder attention mask, and a novel pre-training task to perform spatiotemporal sequence-to-sequence modeling. Our experiments on synthetic data demonstrate the efficacy of our method in the typical small donor pool setting and its robustness against noise. We also generate actionable healthcare insights at the population and patient levels by simulating a state-wide public health policy to evaluate its effectiveness, an
in silico
trial for asthma medications to support randomized controlled trials, and a medical intervention for patients with Friedreich’s ataxia to improve clinical decision making and promote personalized therapy (code is available at
https://github.com/JHA-Lab/scout
).
Differentiated Location Privacy Protection in Mobile Communication Services: A Survey from the Semantic Perception Perspective
Authors: Qiu Guoying , Tang Guoming , Li Chuandong , Luo Lailong , Guo Deke , Shen Yulong
Published: August 2023

Mobile communication services raise user privacy concerns in sharing the traveling trajectories while facilitating people’s daily lives. According to these shared trajectories, adversaries can dig users’ multi-modal behavioral semantics by combining with extensive open-source web information. These behavioral semantics have differentiated privacy sensitivity, raising different levels of privacy concerns. It makes users have personalized requirements for protecting their travelings. Resulting in the inevitable evolutionary trend from location privacy protection to differentiated location privacy protection (DLPP). DLPP digs into mobile semantics and characterizes the differentiated location sensitivity by simulating the potential attacks. It provides the privacy protection with differentiated strength to each location. Differentiated and appropriate strength well balances the tradeoff between privacy protection and data availability for the quality of application service. We are motivated to conduct a comprehensive survey on DLPP from the semantic perception perspective. It forms a complete overview of the mobile semantics-aware differentiation in location privacy protection. Specifically, we first review the research works on multi-modal mobile semantic representation. Then, taking the dug semantics as a clue, we summarize the basic principles of DLPP research systematically. To complete the overview, we also summarize their design modes and discuss the open opportunities and challenges for future works.
Bridging the Divide: Tackling Tensions Between Life-Course Epidemiology and Causal Inference
Authors: Schwartz Gabriel L. , Glymour M. Maria
Published: August 2023

Life-course epidemiologists have developed sophisticated models for how exposures throughout life—from gestation to old age—shape health, sometimes years after the exposure occurred. The field, however, has been slow to adopt robust causal inference methods, including quasi-experimental designs. This reflects, at least in part, a tension between ( a) study designs that maximize our ability to make causal claims and ( b) exposure operationalizations that correspond with life-course theories. In this narrative review, we attempt to mitigate that tension. We first discuss the unique challenges for causal inference in life-course epidemiology. We then outline how quasi-experimental methods have already contributed to testing life-course theories, as well as the limitations of the quasi-experimental methods therein. We close with solutions that bridge the gap between modern developments in causal inference and life-course epidemiology, including redefined estimands to maximize public health impact; marginal structural and structural nested models; longitudinal instrumental variables approaches; leveraging new data linkages, such as with detailed residential histories; and triangulation across methods, including adopting a pluralistic approach to causal inference.
Reflections on What Financial Economics Can and Cannot Teach Us About the Social Discount Rate
Authors: Lucas Deborah
Published: August 2023

The principles of financial economics provide equally important insights into the optimal choice of discount rates for both public and private sector decision-makers. However, most governments largely ignore those principles, taking their cost of capital for most purposes as their borrowing rate. This article reviews the arguments often made in support of status quo discounting practices, along with the counterarguments to them. Governments have a choice between several methodologies for risk adjustment, and the practical and conceptual reasons that favor a fair value approach are recapped. The limitations of a financial economics approach become apparent for decisions involving very long time horizons, such as for climate policies. For policies with long-term impacts, intergenerational concerns become paramount, projections of cash flows and discount rates become highly uncertain, and present value calculations are an intrinsically unreliable measure of value. No approach to discount rate selection can overcome those problems; alternative decision criteria need to be established. However, most government investments involve much shorter horizons, and the adoption of standard approaches to risk adjustment could significantly improve social welfare.
The Hubble Tension and Early Dark Energy
Authors: Kamionkowski Marc , Riess Adam G.
Published: August 2023

Over the past decade, the disparity between the value of the cosmic expansion rate determined directly from measurements of distance and redshift and that determined instead from the standard Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model, calibrated by measurements from the early Universe, has grown to a level of significance requiring a solution. Proposed systematic errors are not supported by the breadth of available data (and unknown errors are untestable by lack of definition). Simple theoretical explanations for this Hubble tension that are consistent with the majority of the data have been surprisingly hard to come by, but in recent years, attention has focused increasingly on models that alter the early or pre-recombination physics of ΛCDM as the most feasible. Here, we describe the nature of this tension and emphasize recent developments on the observational side. We then explain why early-Universe solutions are currently favored and the constraints that any such model must satisfy. We discuss one workable example, early dark energy, and describe how it can be tested with future measurements. Given an assortment of more extended recent reviews on specific aspects of the problem, the discussion is intended to be fairly general and understandable to a broad audience.
The Use of a Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube for Improving the Mechanical Performance of Epoxy Resin-Based Metal Oxide Hybrid Nanocomposites
Authors: Mustafa Bakhan S. , Jamal Gelas M. , Abdullah Omed Gh.
Published: August 2023

This study aims to explore the improvement in the mechanical characterization of epoxy-resin (EPR) based hybrid nanocomposite, reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT), zirconium dioxide (ZrO2), and yttrium oxide (Y2O3) nanoparticles (NPs). The effect of different components on the tensile properties of filled EPR nanocomposites (NCs) was investigated. Results show a remarkable improvement in the mechanical properties of hybrid NCs at small loading levels of MWCNT. Adding 0.1 wt% of MWCNT has increased the composites Young’s modulus by 28.38%. The reduction of elongation at break for EPR upon incorporating MWCNT is due to the high agglomerates of MWCNT in the PNCs. The low-weight fraction of CNTs was found to be effective in enhancing the toughness by 18.13% compared to pure EPR. The optimized hybrid EPR reinforced MWCNT shows a higher Young’s modulus value of 2492.06 MPa upon loading 1 wt% NPs.
Primary cardiac fibroblast cell culture: methodological considerations for physiologically relevant conditions
Authors: Garvin Alexandra M. , Katwa Laxmansa C.
Published: August 2023

Primary cardiac fibroblast (CF) tissue culture is a necessary tool for interrogating specific signaling mechanisms that dictate the phenotypic heterogeneity observed in vivo in different disease states. Traditional approaches that use tissue culture plastic and nutrient-rich medium have been shown to induce CF activation and, therefore, alter CF subpopulation composition. This shift away from in vivo phenotypes complicate the interpretation of results through the lens of the animal model. As the field works to identify CF diversity, these methodological flaws have begun to be addressed and more studies are focused on the dynamic interaction of CFs with their environment. This review focuses on the aspects of tissue culture that impact CF activation and, therefore, require consideration when designing in vitro experiments. The complexity of CF biology overlaid onto diverse model systems highlight the need for study-specific optimization and validation.
Comprehensive Analysis of Spectral Mismatch Factor for Solar Cells Based on In Situ Observation of Aerosol Optical Depth Spectra and Solar Spectral Irradiance in Korea
Authors: Kim Chang Ki , Kim Hyun-Goo , Kang Yong-Heack , Oh Myeongchan
Published: August 2023

The spectral mismatch factor for solar cells quantifies their relative performance in converting solar irradiance between the incident and reference solar spectra into electricity. This study attempted to evaluate the spectral mismatch factor for eight types of solar cells and investigate their sensitivity to changes in the solar spectral irradiance, which is dependent on the aerosol optical properties in a clear sky. Copper indium gallium diselenide cells have the highest mean value of the spectral mismatch factor, implying that they are less sensitive to changes in the solar spectral irradiance. In contrast, perovskite and amorphous silicon cells are more sensitive to atmospheric conditions, with broader distributions of the spectral mismatch factor values. Additionally, our study found that heterojunction with intrinsic thin-layer cells has the highest substantial efficiency, considering the nameplate efficiency. The spectral mismatch factor decreased with increasing aerosol optical depth at 500 nm and was proportional to the humidity. The effects of aerosol optical properties on the spectral mismatch factor for different solar cells were clarified using clustering analysis and back-trajectory modeling results. In the present study, the aerosol optical depth spectra were found to be more important in determining the spectral mismatch factor than the aerosol optical depth at 500 nm. This study recommends further research on the relationship between the aerosol optical properties and solar spectral irradiance to better predict or estimate the spectral mismatch factor in solar power forecasting.
The Effect of Health Education on Migration Health: Evidence from a Large Migrant Survey in China
Authors: Tian Yihao , Luo Tao , Jiang Ying
Published: August 2023

Reducing health inequities for migrants is a huge challenge shared globally. Based on big data of China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2017, this paper applied Ordered Logit models and Logit models to examine the effect of health education on the health of migrants. Propensity score matching and instrumental variable were also employed to solve the endogenous problem. This paper found a significant health promotion effect of health education on the health of migrants, which remained significant after a series of robustness check. Further analysis showed that consultative health education is more effective than nonconsultative health education. Meanwhile, the positive association between health education and migrants' health behavior was identified which provided empirical evidence for knowledge, attitude, and practices theory. Heterogeneity analyses supported that health education has a stronger effect on migrants who were female, elderly, highly educated, and did not have chronic diseases than on those who were male, younger, less educated, and had chronic diseases. This paper demonstrates that health education is an important health promotion factor for migrants empirically and that the government should take actions to provide sufficient and targeted health education for migrants to promote their health.