bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tunable slow light device based on a graphene metasurface
Authors: Gong Yumin , Quan Baogang , Hu Fangrong , Jiang Mingzhu , Zhang Longhui , Zhang Yongjie , Liu Xingpeng
Published: August 2023

Slow light devices have significant applications in memory, switching, and quantum optics. However, the design and fabrication of slow light devices with large tunable group delay are still challenging. Here, a graphene-based slow light device that can electrically modulate the group delay of terahertz (THz) waves is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The unit cell of the device consists of a U-shaped metal resonator and an Ω-shaped metal resonator, with three graphene ribbons embedded between the two resonators. Under electrical stimuli, a relatively high amplitude modulation depth of 74% is achieved and the maximum transmission amplitude is as high as 0.7 at the transmission peak of 0.6 THz. Most importantly, the maximum group delay variation reaches 5 ps at 0.76 THz and the maximum group delay amplitude is as high as 8.8 ps. The experiment shows good agreement with simulation. This study paves a new way for developing novel switchable nanophotonic devices and slow light devices.
Reconfigurable Photonic Platforms feature issue: publisher’s note
Authors: Gholipour Behrad , Barclay Paul , Ou Jun-Yu , Qian Wang , Wu Pin-Chieh , Youngblood Nathan
Published: August 2023

“Invited” was added to the title of a published paper [Opt. Mater. Express 13, 2489 (2023)10.1364/OME.498243].
Precise parameter control of multicycle terahertz generation in PPLN using flexible pump pulse trains
Authors: Matlis Nicholas , Zhang Zhelin , Demirbas Umit , Rentschler Christian , Ravi Koustuban , Youssef Mohamed , Cirmi Giovanni , Edelmann Marvin , Malekmohamadi Sedigheh , Reuter Simon , Pergament Mikhail , Kaertner Franz
Published: August 2023

The low (sub %) efficiencies so-far demonstrated for nonlinear optical down-conversion to terahertz (THz) frequencies are a primary limiting factor in the generation of high-energy, high-field THz-radiation pulses (in particular narrowband, multicycle pulses) needed for many scientific fields. However, simulations predict that far higher conversion efficiencies are possible by use of suitably-optimized optical sources. Here we implement a customized optical laser system producing highly-tunable trains of infrared pulses and systematically explore the experimental optimization of the down-conversion process. Our setup, which allows tuning of the energy, duration, number and periodicity of the pulses in the train, provides a unique capability to test predictions of analytic theory and simulation on the parameter dependences for the optical-to-THz difference-frequency generation process as well as to map out, with unprecedented precision, key properties of the nonlinear crystal medium. We discuss the agreements and deviations between simulation and experimental results which, on the one hand, shed light on limitations of the existing theory, and on the other hand, provide the first steps in a recipe for development of practical, high-field, efficiency-optimized THz sources.
Disentangling Abstraction from Statistical Pattern Matching in Human and Machine Learning
Authors: Kumar Sreejan , Dasgupta Ishita , Daw Nathaniel D. , Cohen Jonathan. D. , Griffiths Thomas L.
Published: August 2023

The ability to acquire abstract knowledge is a hallmark of human intelligence and is believed by many to be one of the core differences between humans and neural network models. Agents can be endowed with an inductive bias towards abstraction through meta-learning, where they are trained on a distribution of tasks that share some abstract structure that can be learned and applied. However, because neural networks are hard to interpret, it can be difficult to tell whether agents have learned the underlying abstraction, or alternatively statistical patterns that are characteristic of that abstraction. In this work, we compare the performance of humans and agents in a meta-reinforcement learning paradigm in which tasks are generated from abstract rules. We define a novel methodology for building “task metamers” that closely match the statistics of the abstract tasks but use a different underlying generative process, and evaluate performance on both abstract and metamer tasks. We find that humans perform better at abstract tasks than metamer tasks whereas common neural network architectures typically perform worse on the abstract tasks than the matched metamers. This work provides a foundation for characterizing differences between humans and machine learning that can be used in future work towards developing machines with more human-like behavior.
Caenorhabditis elegans models for striated muscle disorders caused by missense variants of human LMNA
Authors: Gregory Ellen F. , Kalra Shilpi , Brock Trisha , Bonne Gisèle , Luxton G. W. Gant , Hopkins Christopher , Starr Daniel A.
Published: August 2023

Striated muscle laminopathies caused by missense mutations in the nuclear lamin geneLMNAare characterized by cardiac dysfunction and often skeletal muscle defects. Attempts to predict whichLMNAvariants are pathogenic and to understand their physiological effects lag behind variant discovery. We createdCaenorhabditis elegansmodels for striated muscle laminopathies by introducing pathogenic humanLMNAvariants and variants of unknown significance at conserved residues within thelmn-1gene. Severe missense variants reduced fertility and/or motility inC.elegans. Nuclear morphology defects were evident in the hypodermal nuclei of many lamin variant strains, indicating a loss of nuclear envelope integrity. Phenotypic severity varied within the two classes of missense mutations involved in striated muscle disease, but overall, variants associated with both skeletal and cardiac muscle defects in humans lead to more severe phenotypes in our model than variants predicted to disrupt cardiac function alone. We also identified a separation of function allele,lmn-1(R204W), that exhibited normal viability and swimming behavior but had a severe nuclear migration defect. Thus, we establishedC.elegansavatars for striated muscle laminopathies and identifiedLMNAvariants that offer insight into lamin mechanisms during normal development.
Purification and characterization of novel isoforms of the polyphenol oxidase from Malus domestica fruit pulp
Authors: Sajjad Naila , Ahmad M. Sheeraz , Mahmood Raja Tahir , Tariq Muhammad , Asad Muhammad Javaid , Irum Shamaila , Andleeb Anisa , Riaz Abid , Ahmed Dawood
Published: August 2023

Polyphenol oxidases (PPOs), belong to the group of oxidoreductases that are copper containing enzymes and are responsible for plant browning. PPOs are extensively distributed in plant kingdom and can oxidize wide range of aromatic compounds of industrial importance. The aim of this study was purification and characterization of PPO isoforms from the fruit pulp of Golden delicious apple. High performance liquid chromatography was used to purify the two novel isoforms of PPO and further their molecular weights (45 and 28 kDa) were determined using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified isoforms have optimum pH (6.5), optimum temperature (40°C), the Vmax (4.45 μM/min) and Km (74.21 mM) with catechol substrate. The N-terminal microsequences of both PPO isoforms were determined using a pulse liquid protein sequencer and found to be AKITFHG (28 kDa) and APGGG (45 kDa). Polyphenol oxidases are efficiently used in the pharmaceutical, paper and pulp, textiles and food industries. Recently, the PPOs have been used for bioremediation and in the development of biosensors.
Colorectal cancer disparities in Latin America: Mortality trends 1990–2019 and a paradox association with human development
Authors: Muzi Camila D. , Banegas Matthew P. , Guimarães Raphael M.
Published: August 2023

Background

Colorectal cancer mortality is growing in Latin America. It is known for a marked income disparity between its countries, and there is a consistent association with development. Our purpose was to describe trends in colorectal cancer mortality in Latin America between 1990 and 2019, identifying differences by human development categories.

Methods

We extracted age-adjusted mortality rate from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study from 22 Latin American countries, subregions, and country groups previously ranked by the GBD study due to Sociodemographic Index (SDI) between 1990 and 2019. We applied the segmented regression model to analyze the time trend. Also, we estimated the correlation between mortality rates and Human Development Index (HDI) categories for countries.

Results

Between 1990 and 2019, colorectal cancer adjusted mortality rate increased by 20.56% in Latin America (95% CI 19.75% - 21.25%). Between 1990 and 2004, the average annual percentage change (APC) was 0.11% per year (95% CI 0.10–0.12), and between 2004 and 2019 there was a deceleration (APC = 0.04% per year, 95% CI 0.03%– 0.05%). There is great heterogeneity among the countries of the region. Correlation between these two variables was 0.52 for 1990 and 2019. When separated into HDI groups, the correlation varied in the direction of the association and its magnitude, typifying an effect modification known as Simpson’s Paradox.

Conclusions

Human development factors may be important for assessing variation in cancer mortality on a global scale. Studies that assess the social and -economic contexts of countries are necessary for robust evaluation and provision of preventive, diagnostic and curative services to reduce cancer mortality in Latin America.
Persistent extrasynaptic hyperdopaminergia in the mouse hippocampus induces plasticity and recognition memory deficits reversed by the atypical antipsychotic sulpiride
Authors: Rocchetti Jill , Fasano Caroline , Dal-Bo Gregory , Guma Elisa , El Mestikawy Salah , Wong Tak-Pan , Fakhfouri Gohar , Giros Bruno
Published: August 2023

Evidence suggests that subcortical hyperdopaminergia alters cognitive function in schizophrenia and antipsychotic drugs (APD) fail at rescuing cognitive deficits in patients. In a previous study, we showed that blocking D2 dopamine receptors (D2R), a core action of APD, led to profound reshaping of mesohippocampal fibers, deficits in synaptic transmission and impairments in learning and memory in the mouse hippocampus (HP). However, it is currently unknown how excessive dopamine affects HP-related cognitive functions, and how APD would impact HP functions in such a state. After verifying the presence of DAT-positive neuronal projections in the ventral (temporal), but not in the dorsal (septal), part of the HP, GBR12935, a blocker of dopamine transporter (DAT), was infused in the CA1 of adult C57Bl/6 mice to produce local hyperdopaminergia. Chronic GBR12935 infusion in temporal CA1 induced a mild learning impairment in the Morris Water Maze and abolished long-term recognition memory in novel-object (NORT) and object-place recognition tasks (OPRT). Deficits were accompanied by a significant decrease in DAT+ mesohippocampal fibers. Intrahippocampal or systemic treatment with sulpiride during GBR infusions improved the NORT deficit but not that of OPRT. In vitro application of GBR on hippocampal slices abolished long-term depression (LTD) of fEPSP in temporal CA1. LTD was rescued by co-application with sulpiride. In conclusion, chronic DAT blockade in temporal CA1 profoundly altered mesohippocampal modulation of hippocampal functions. Contrary to previous observations in normodopaminergic mice, antagonising D2Rs was beneficial for cognitive functions in the context of hippocampal hyperdopaminergia.
Association and progression of multi-morbidity with Chronic Kidney Disease stage 3a secondary to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, grouped by albuminuria status in the multi-ethnic population of Northwest London: A real-world study
Authors: Dattani Rakesh , Ul-Haq Zia , Shah Moulesh , Goldet Gabrielle , Darzi Lord Ara , Ashrafian Hutan , Kamalati Tahereh , Frankel Andrew H. , Tam Frederick W.K.
Published: August 2023

Introduction

The prevalence of Diabetic Kidney Disease (DKD) secondary to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is rising worldwide. However, real-world data linking glomerular function and albuminuria to the degree of multi-morbidity is lacking. We thus utilised the Discover dataset, to determine this association.

Method

Patients with T2DM diagnosed prior to 1st January 2015 with no available biochemical evidence of CKD were included. Patients subsequently diagnosed and coded for CKD3a in 2015, were grouped by the degree of albuminuria. Baseline and 5-year co-morbidity was determined, as were prescribing practices with regards to prognostically beneficial medication.

Results

We identified 56,261 patients with T2DM, of which 1082 had CKD stage 3a diagnosed in 2015 (224-CKD3aA1,154-CKD3aA2,93-CKD3aA1; 611 patients with CKD3a but no uACR available in 2015 were excluded from follow up). No statistically significant difference was observed in the degree of co-morbidities at baseline. A significant difference in the degree of hypertension, retinopathy, ischaemic heart disease and vascular disease from baseline compared to study end point was observed for all 3 study groups. Comparing co-morbidities developed at study end point, highlighted a statistical difference between CKD3aA1 Vs CKD3aA3 for retinopathy alone and for hypertension and heart failure between CKD3aA2 Vs CKD3aA3. 40.8% of patients with CKD3aA2 or A3 were prescribed Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone inhibitors (RAASi) therapy between June-December 2021. Survival analysis showed 15% of patients with CKD3aA3 developed CKD stage 5 within 5 years of diagnosis.

Discussion

CKD3a secondary to DKD is associated with significant multimorbidity at baseline and 5 years post diagnosis, with CKD3aA3 most strongly associated with CKD progression to CKD 5, heart failure, hypertension and retinopathy compared to CKD3aA1 or CKD3aA2 at 5 years post diagnosis. The lack of uACR testing upon diagnosis and poor prescribing of RAASi, in those with CKD3aA2/A3, raises significant cause for concern.

Conclusion

DKD is associated with significant multimorbidity. Significant work is needed to be done to ensure patients undergo testing for uACR, to allow for future risk stratification and ability to be started on prognostically beneficial medication.
Predicting 5-year survival after kidney transplantation in Colombia using the survival benefit estimator tool
Authors: Nino-Torres Laura , García-Lopez Andrea , Patino-Jaramillo Nasly , Giron-Luque Fernando , Nino-Murcia Alejandro
Published: August 2023

Introduction

A complex relationship between donor and recipient characteristics influences kidney transplant (KT) success. A tool developed by Bae S. et al. (Survival Benefit Estimator, SBE) helps estimate post-KT survival. We aim to evaluate the predictive performance of the SBE tool in terms of 5-year patient survival after a kidney transplant.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study of all deceased-donor KT recipients between January 2009 to December 2021. A descriptive analysis of clinical and sociodemographic characteristics was performed. The SBE online tool was used to calculate the predicted patient survival (PPS) and the survival benefit at five years post-KT. Comparisons between predictive vs. actual patient survival were made using quintile subgroups. Three Cox regression models were built using PPS, EPTS, and KDPI.

Results

A total of 1145 recipients were evaluated. Mortality occurred in 157 patients. Patient survival was 86.2%. Predictive survival for patients if they remained on the waiting list was 70.6%. The PPS was 89.3%, which results in a survival benefit (SB) of 18.7% for our population. Actual survival rates were lower than the predicted ones across all the quintiles. In unadjusted analysis, PPS was a significant protective factor for mortality (HR 0.66), whereas EPTS (HR 8.9) and KDPI (HR 3.25) scores were significant risk factors. The discrimination of KDPI, PPS, and EPTS scores models were 0.59, 0.65, and 0.66, respectively.

Conclusion

SBE score overestimated actual survival rates in our sample. The discrimination power of the score was moderate, although the utility of this tool may be limited in this specific population.
Tunnel lining crack expansion and maintenance strategy optimization considering train loads: A case study
Authors: Wang Dapeng , Wang Jingchun , Rao Chengjie , Niu Xing , Xu Qiang
Published: August 2023

Cracks in concrete tunnel linings are inevitable during service life. It is necessary to keep abreast of the cracking condition of the lining and formulate reasonable inspection and maintenance measures to ensure operational safety. Considering the influence of train loads on the safety and service performance of cracked linings, the expansion process of lining cracks and the maintenance strategy of tunnels during the service period was investigated. The impact of detection probability and maintenance measures on the service life of tunnel lining and the cost of detection and maintenance of cracked lining in the whole life cycle was analyzed; the optimization calculation model of tunnel lining crack detection and maintenance strategy based on genetic algorithm was established with the multi-objective optimization function of maximizing the service life of detection and maintenance and minimizing the total cost of detection and maintenance of fatigue cracks. The optimization analysis of lining crack expansion, detection, and maintenance was carried out for an operational railroad tunnel. Finally, an optimization analysis of lining crack expansion and maintenance was carried out in a railway tunnel. The results show that the stress intensity factor at the tip of the lining cracks is the same as the train load waveform; the magnitude of the stress intensity factor approximately satisfies the exponential function relationship with the depth of cracks; the fatigue service life of cracked lining is positively correlated with the cost of inspection and maintenance; the adoption of the necessary maintenance and the increase in the number of inspections and maintenance have a better economy while meeting the expectation of the service life. According to the Pareto solution set, the management can formulate the inspection and maintenance strategy based on the tunnel’s expected life and maintenance budget.
The cardiovascular polypill as baseline treatment improves lipid profile and blood pressure regardless of body mass index in patients with cardiovascular disease. The Bacus study
Authors: Chávez Fernández José Alejandro , Ramírez Mendoza Marcelo , Kassck Ipinaa Hermelinda , Sánchez Ángeles Luís Antonio , González Chávez Antonio , Escobedo Galileo , Méndez-García Lucía Angélica
Published: August 2023

Background

Pharmacological treatment with lipid-lowering and antihypertensive drugs has been proposed as a strategy to improve excess cardiovascular (CV) risk among obese individuals. The present study aimed to assess whether the CV polypill (Sincronium®) could be an effective strategy to help improve CV risk factor control in obese/overweight individuals requiring secondary prevention.

Methods

This was an observational, retrospective study reviewing the hospital medical records of 479 patients with established CV disease who initiated treatment with the CV polypill between 2013 and 2019 at a general hospital in Mexico. Patients were grouped as normal weight, overweight or obese according to their initial body mass index (BMI). We collected blood pressure (BP), lipid profile, and vascular age at the last visit recorded during the period following treatment.

Results

At the end of the study, all assessed lipid parameters improved compared to baseline regardless of the initial BMI category (all p<0.001). There was an increase from baseline regarding the proportion of patients with at target low-density lipoprotein cholesterol after treatment (2.3% vs. 30.1%; p<0.001), more than 80% of patients achieved triglyceride levels <200 mg/dL (p<0.001), and more than 80% achieved target BP levels in all BMI subgroups (p<0.001). The subanalyses in the elderly population yielded similar results, with a significant overall improvement in lipid and BP control after initiating the CV polypill strategy.

Conclusions

The use of the CV polypill as baseline therapy for secondary prevention seems to be a reasonable strategy that enhances CV risk factor control regardless of the patient’s BMI.
Exploring differences and similarities of EQ-5D-3L, EQ-5D-5L and WHOQOL-OLD in recipients of aged care services in Germany
Authors: Marten Ole , Greiner Wolfgang
Published: August 2023

European countries more than ever face shifts towards aging societies with accompanying challenges for health and aged care services. Economic evaluation has mainly relied on health measures such as EQ-5D across populations and conditions. We want to know how well the EQ-5D performs in the target population to avoid bias to the disadvantage of older adults and care-dependents. Therefore, we aim to explore differences and similarities of EQ-5D-3L and EQ-5D-5L in comparison to the old-age specific WHOQOL-OLD instrument in a sample of older adults receiving aged care services. We collected data from n = 329 older adults (≥65 years) receiving aged care services in Germany; the majority was at least 80 years and had varying care needs. We assessed instruments’ feasibility, test-retest reliability, instruments’ association and sensitivity to known-group differences. In terms of feasibility and test-retest reliability both EQ-5D versions performed better than the WHOQOL-OLD. All measures differentiated well between groups based on aspects of general health and care levels. The analysis of relationship between measures indicated that EQ-5D and WHOQOL-OLD assess partially overlapping, but distinct constructs. We found no clear evidence of superiority of either EQ-5D version over the other. The EQ-5D-5L performed better in terms of test-retest reliability and stronger correlations with WHOQOL-OLD facets. We conclude that using the WHOQOL-OLD alongside EQ-5D in this sample added further information on different aspects of quality of life.
Adsorption characteristics and mechanism of ammonia nitrogen and phosphate from biogas slurry by Ca2+-modified soybean straw biochar
Authors: Wu Xiaomei , Ye Meifeng , Wang Jinglong , Wu Feilong , Liu Cenwei , Li Zhangting , Lin Daiyan , Yang Rilong
Published: August 2023

The utilization of biogas slurry is critical for the sustainable development of animal husbandry. Biomass carbon adsorption is a feasible method for the recycling of nutrients from biogas slurry. However, research on the co-adsorption of ammonia nitrogen and phosphate is scarce. Herein, soybean straw was utilized as the raw material to prepare Ca2+-modified biochar (CaSSB), which was investigated for its ammonia nitrogen and phosphate adsorption mechanisms. Compared with natural biochar (SSB), CaSSB possesses a high H/C ratio, larger surface area, high porosity and various functional groups. Ca2+-modified soybean straw biochar exhibited excellent adsorption performance for NH4+–N (103.18 mg/g) and PO43−−P (9.75 mg/g) at pH = 6, using an adsorbent dosage of 2 g/L. The experimental adsorption data of ammonia nitrogen by CaSSB corresponded to pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm model, suggesting that the adsorption process was homogeneous and that electrostatic attraction might be the primary adsorption mechanism. Meanwhile, the adsorption of phosphate conformed to pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Freundlich model, whose mechanism might be attributed to ligand exchange and chemical precipitation. These results reveal the potential of CaSSBs as a cost-effective, efficient adsorbent for the recovery of ammonium and phosphate from biogas slurry.
Ethnic differences in respiratory disease for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders: Analysis of mediation processes in two community samples
Authors: Wills Thomas A. , Kaholokula Joseph Keawe’aimoku , Pokhrel Pallav , Pagano Ian
Published: August 2023

Objective

The prevalence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) is elevated for Native Hawaiians but the basis for this differential is not well understood. We analyze data on asthma and COPD in two samples including Native Hawaiians Pacific Islanders, and Filipinos to determine how ethnicity is related to respiratory disease outcomes.

Methods

We analyzed the 2016 and 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS), a telephone survey of participants ages 18 and over in the State of Hawaii. Criterion variables were a diagnosis of asthma or COPD by a health professional. Structural equation modeling tested how five hypothesized risk factors (cigarette smoking, e-cigarette use, second-hand smoke exposure, obesity, and financial stress) mediated the ethnic differential in the likelihood of disease. Age, sex, and education were included as covariates.

Results

Structural modeling with 2016 data showed that Native Hawaiian ethnicity was related to higher levels of the five risk factors and each risk factor was related to a higher likelihood of respiratory disease. Indirect effects were statistically significant in almost all cases, with direct effects to asthma and COPD also observed. Mediation effects through comparable pathways were also noted for Pacific Islanders and Filipinos. These findings were replicated with data from the 2018 survey.

Conclusions

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander ethnicity is associated with greater exposure to five risk factors and this accounts in part for the ethnic differential in respiratory disease outcomes. The results support a social-ecological model of health disparities in this population. Implications of the findings for preventive interventions are discussed.
A Tissue Systems Pathology Test Outperforms the Standard of Care Variables in Predicting Progression in Patients with Barrett’s Esophagus
Authors: Davison Jon M. , Goldblum John R. , Duits Lucas C. , Khoshiwal Amir M. , Bergman Jacques J. , Falk Gary W. , Diehl David L. , Khara Harshit S. , Smolko Christian , Arora Meenakshi , Siegel Jennifer J. , Critchley-Thorne Rebecca J. , Thota Prashanthi N.
Published: August 2023

Background:

Objective risk stratification is needed for patients with Barrett’s esophagus (BE) to enable risk-aligned management to improve health outcomes. This study evaluated the predictive performance of a tissue systems pathology test (TissueCypher, TSP-9) versus current clinicopathologic variables in a multi-center cohort of BE patients.

Methods:

Data from 699 BE patients from five published studies on the TSP-9 test was evaluated. 509 patients did not progress during surveillance, 40 were diagnosed with HGD/EAC within 12 months, and 150 progressed to HGD/EAC after 12 months. Age, sex, segment length, hiatal hernia, original and expert pathology review diagnoses, and TSP-9 risk classes were collected. The predictive performance of clinicopathologic variables and TSP-9 was compared, and TSP-9 was evaluated in clinically relevant patient subsets.

Results:

The sensitivity of the TSP-9 test in detecting progressors was 62.3% compared to 28.3% for expert-confirmed LGD, while the original diagnosis abstracted from medical records did not provide any significant risk stratification. The TSP-9 test identified 57% of progressors with NDBE (P<0.0001). NDBE patients who scored TSP-9 high risk progressed at a similar rate (3.2%/year) to patients with expert-confirmed LGD (3.7%/year). The TSP-9 test provided significant risk stratification in clinically low-risk patients (NDBE, female, short-segment) and clinically high-risk patients (IND/LGD, male, long-segment) (p<0.0001 for comparison of high- vs. low-risk classes).

Conclusions:

The TSP-9 test predicts risk of progression to HGD/EAC independently of current clinicopathologic variables in BE patients. The test provides objective risk stratification results that may guide management decisions to improve health outcomes for BE patients.
Investigating Themes That Are Embedded in Dagaaba Proverbs
Authors: Kogri Eugene Naah , Aduko Patrick Atanga
Published: August 2023

A plethora of literature exist about proverbs in general and Dagaaba proverbs in particular but, little is said about the themes that are embedded in them with particular reference to the central dialect of Dagaare. It is very important to note that, the central dialect or otherwise the standard dialect of Dagaare is used for academic and examination purposes. This paper therefore seeks to investigate the concept and functions of proverbs and critically examine the themes that are embedded in Dagaaba proverbs. The functions of proverbs are put into two; didactic and aesthetic. The themes have been clearly explained in the work. A purposive sampling technique was implemented and the design of the research was qualitative.  The research framework was content analysis since the data analysis was mainly descriptive. The sample population for the study was focused on three (3) language communities in Ulkpong Traditional area of the Upper West Region of Ghana. The instruments used for data collection were unstructured interview and participatory observation. Eight themes were identified in the proverbs. The theme of patience and perseverance, appreciation, unity, laziness, indiscipline, ignorance, hard work and greed were chosen because of their importance to human and national development. Proverbs are general seen as a cultural heritage, which is held in high regard since it is generally believed that the philosophy, value system, wisdom and knowledge of the society are embedded in them. The findings confirmed that Dagaaba proverbs have various themes as far as their contextual usage is concerned.
Past habitual actions as relative future? On an unexpected use of the Konkani future participle and its likely origin
Authors: Peterson John , Mopkar Govind
Published: August 2023

In this paper we focus on the functions of the future participle in Goan Konkani. In addition to the more-or-less expected functions of a future participle, such as nominal attribution or marking a future or modal predicate in various subordinate and main clauses, the future participle in Konkani can also mark main predicates with a past habitual interpretation in a construction which we refer to as the “promise-construction”, as it is only found with a small class of main predicates such as promise, intend, think, etc., which take an object complement clause. We argue that the future participle originally denoted an atemporal event and later came to include habitual events with any temporal value (past, present or future), and that this has since grammaticalized with exclusively past habitual temporal reference in this one construction, as this was likely the most common environment in which habitual events of this semantic class of verbs occur.
Preliminary report on the new comparative-historical phonology and etymological dictionary of Southern Cushitic
Authors: Takács Gábor
Published: August 2023

The paper offers a preliminary report of the current research for a monographic comparative-etymological elaboration of the Southern Cushitic lexical stock with its uniquely archaic consonantism set in its ancient Afro-Asiatic context. The project is based on the author’s studies over more than two decades by now.
Scalable Reasoning on Document Stores via Instance-Aware Query Rewriting
Authors: Rodriguez Olivier , Ulliana Federico , Mugnier Marie-Laure
Published: August 2023

Data trees, typically encoded in JSON, are ubiquitous in data-driven applications. This ubiquity makes urgent the development of novel techniques for querying heterogeneous JSON data in a flexible manner. We propose a rule language for JSON, called constrained tree-rules, whose purpose is to provide a high-level unified view of heterogeneous JSON data and infer implicit information. As reasoning with constrained tree-rules is undecidable, we identify a relevant subset featuring tractable query answering, for which we design an automata-based query rewriting algorithm. Our approach consists of leveraging NoSQL document stores by means of a novel instance-aware query-rewriting technique. We present an extensive experimental analysis on large collections of several million JSON records. Our results show the importance of instance-aware rewriting as well as the efficiency and scalability of our approach.
REmatch: A Novel Regex Engine for Finding All Matches
Authors: Riveros Cristian , Van Sint Jan Nicolás , Vrgoč Domagoj
Published: August 2023

In this paper, we present the REmatch system for information extraction. REmatch is based on a recently proposed enumeration algorithm for evaluating regular expressions with capture variables supporting the all-match semantics. It tells a story of what it takes to make a theoretically optimal algorithm work in practice. As we show here, a naive implementation of the original algorithm would have a hard time dealing with realistic workloads. We thus develop a new algorithm and a series of optimizations that make REmatch as fast or faster than many popular RegEx engines while at the same time being able to return all the outputs: a task that most other engines tend to struggle with.
Semi-Oblivious Chase Termination for Linear Existential Rules: An Experimental Study
Authors: Calautti Marco , Milani Mostafa , Pieris Andreas
Published: August 2023

The chase procedure is a fundamental algorithmic tool in databases that allows us to reason with constraints, such as existential rules, with a plethora of applications. It takes as input a database and a set of constraints, and iteratively completes the database as dictated by the constraints. A key challenge, though, is the fact that it may not terminate, which leads to the problem of checking whether it terminates given a database and a set of constraints. In this work, we focus on the semi-oblivious version of the chase, which is well-suited for practical implementations, and linear existential rules, a central class of constraints with several applications. In this setting, there is a mature body of theoretical work that provides syntactic characterizations of when the chase terminates, algorithms for checking chase termination, and precise complexity results. Our main objective is to experimentally evaluate the existing chase termination algorithms with the aim of understanding which input parameters affect their performance, clarifying whether they can be used in practice, and revealing their performance limitations.
BP-Tree: Overcoming the Point-Range Operation Tradeoff for In-Memory B-Trees
Authors: Xu Helen , Li Amanda , Wheatman Brian , Marneni Manoj , Pandey Prashant
Published: August 2023

B-trees are the go-to data structure for in-memory indexes in databases and storage systems. B-trees support both point operations (i.e., inserts and finds) and range operations (i.e., iterators and maps). However, there is an inherent tradeoff between point and range operations since the optimal node size for point operations is much smaller than the optimal node size for range operations. Existing implementations use a relatively small node size to achieve fast point operations at the cost of range operation throughput.

We present the

BP-tree

, a variant of the B-tree, that overcomes the decades-old point-range operation tradeoff in traditional B-trees. In the BP-tree, the leaf nodes are much larger in size than the internal nodes to support faster range scans. To avoid any slowdown in point operations due to large leaf nodes, we introduce a new insert-optimized array called the

buffered partitioned array

(BPA) to efficiently organize data in leaf nodes. The BPA supports fast insertions by delaying ordering the keys in the array. This results in much faster range operations and faster point operations at the same time in the BP-tree.

Our experiments show that on 48 hyperthreads, on workloads generated from the Yahoo! Cloud Serving Benchmark (YCSB), the BP-tree supports similar or faster point operation throughput (between .94×-1.2× faster) compared to Masstree and OpenBw-tree, two state-of-the-art in-memory key-value (KV) stores. On a YCSB workload with short scans, the BP-tree is about 7.4× faster than Masstree and 1.6× faster than OpenBw-tree. Furthermore, we extend the YCSB to add large range workloads, commonly found in database applications, and show that the BP-tree is 30× faster than Masstree and 2.5× faster than OpenBw-tree.

We also provide a reference implementation for a concurrent B
+
-tree and find that the BP-tree supports faster (between 1.03×-1.2× faster) point operations when compared to the best-case configuration for B
+
-trees for point operations while supporting similar performance (about .95× as fast) on short range operations and faster (about 1.3× faster) long range operations.
HENCE-X: Toward Heterogeneity-Agnostic Multi-Level Explainability for Deep Graph Networks
Authors: Lv Ge , Zhang Chen Jason , Chen Lei
Published: August 2023

Deep graph networks (DGNs) have demonstrated their outstanding effectiveness on both heterogeneous and homogeneous graphs. However their black-box nature does not allow human users to understand their working mechanisms. Recently, extensive efforts have been devoted to explaining DGNs' prediction, yet heterogeneity-agnostic multi-level explainability is still less explored. Since the two types of graphs are both irreplaceable in real-life applications, having a more general and end-to-end explainer becomes a natural and inevitable choice. In the meantime, feature-level explanation is often ignored by existing techniques, while topological-level explanation alone can be incomplete and deceptive. Thus, we propose a heterogeneity-agnostic multi-level explainer in this paper, named HENCE-X, which is a causality-guided method that can capture the non-linear dependencies of model behavior on the input using conditional probabilities. We theoretically prove that HENCE-X is guaranteed to find the Markov blanket of the explained prediction, meaning that all information that the prediction is dependent on is identified. Experiments on three real-world datasets show that HENCE-X outperforms state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods in generating faithful factual and counterfactual explanations of DGNs.
gCore: Exploring Cross-Layer Cohesiveness in Multi-Layer Graphs
Authors: Liu Dandan , Zou Zhaonian
Published: August 2023

As multi-layer graphs can give a more accurate and reliable picture of the complex relationships between entities, cohesive subgraph mining, a fundamental task in graph analysis, has been studied on multi-layer graphs in the literature. However, existing cohesive subgraph models are designated for special multi-layer graphs such as multiplex networks and heterogeneous information networks. In this paper, we propose generalized core (gCore), a new notion of cohesive subgraph on general multi-layer graphs without any predefined constraints on the interconnections between vertices. The gCore model considers both the intra-layer and cross-layer cohesiveness of vertices. Three related problems are studied in this paper including gCore search (GCS), gCore decomposition (GCD), and gCore indexing (GCI). A polynomial-time algorithm based on the peeling paradigm is proposed to solve the GCS problem. By considering the containment among gCores, a "tree of trees" data structure called KP-tree is designed for efficiently solving the GCD problem and serving as a compact storage and index of all gCores. Several advanced lossless compaction techniques including node/subtree elimination, subtree transplant, and subtree merge are proposed to help reduce the storage overhead of the KP-tree and speed up the process of solving GCD and GCI. Besides, a KP-tree-based GCS algorithm is designed, which can retrieve any gCore in linear time in the size of the gCore and the height of the KP-tree. The experiments on 10 real-world graphs verify the effectiveness of the gCore model and the efficiency of the proposed algorithms.
Out-of-Order Sliding-Window Aggregation with Efficient Bulk Evictions and Insertions
Authors: Tangwongsan Kanat , Hirzel Martin , Schneider Scott
Published: August 2023

Sliding-window aggregation is a foundational stream processing primitive that efficiently summarizes recent data. The state-of-the-art algorithms for sliding-window aggregation are highly efficient when stream data items are evicted or inserted one at a time, even when some of the insertions occur out-of-order. However, real-world streams are often not only out-of-order but also bursty, causing data items to be evicted or inserted in larger bulks. This paper introduces a new algorithm for sliding-window aggregation with bulk eviction and bulk insertion. For the special case of single insert and evict, our algorithm matches the theoretical complexity of the best previous out-of-order algorithms. For the case of bulk evict, our algorithm improves upon the theoretical complexity of the best previous algorithm for that case and also outperforms it in practice. For the case of bulk insert, there are no prior algorithms, and our algorithm improves upon the naive approach of emulating bulk insert with a loop over single inserts, both in theory and in practice. Overall, this paper makes high-performance algorithms for sliding window aggregation more broadly applicable by efficiently handling the ubiquitous cases of out-of-order data and bursts.
Federated Calibration and Evaluation of Binary Classifiers
Authors: Cormode Graham , Markov Igor L.
Published: August 2023

We address two major obstacles to practical deployment of AI-based models on distributed private data. Whether a model was trained by a federation of cooperating clients or trained centrally, (1) the output scores must be calibrated, and (2) performance metrics must be evaluated --- all without assembling labels in one place. In particular, we show how to perform calibration and compute the standard metrics of precision, recall, accuracy and ROC-AUC in the federated setting under three privacy models (
i
) secure aggregation, (
ii
) distributed differential privacy, (
iii
) local differential privacy. Our theorems and experiments clarify tradeoffs between privacy, accuracy, and data efficiency. They also help decide if a given application has sufficient data to support federated calibration and evaluation.
Auto-Tables: Synthesizing Multi-Step Transformations to Relationalize Tables without Using Examples
Authors: Li Peng , He Yeye , Yan Cong , Wang Yue , Chaudhuri Surajit
Published: August 2023

Relational tables, where each row corresponds to an entity and each column corresponds to an attribute, have been the standard for tables in relational databases. However, such a standard cannot be taken for granted when dealing with tables "in the wild". Our survey of real spreadsheet-tables and web-tables shows that over 30% of such tables do not conform to the relational standard, for which complex table-restructuring transformations are needed before these tables can be queried easily using SQL-based tools. Unfortunately, the required transformations are non-trivial to program, which has become a substantial pain point for technical and non-technical users alike, as evidenced by large numbers of forum questions in places like StackOverflow and Excel/Tableau forums.

We develop an Auto-Tables system that can automatically synthesize pipelines with multi-step transformations (in Python or other languages), to transform non-relational tables into standard relational forms for downstream analytics, obviating the need for users to manually program transformations. We compile an extensive benchmark for this new task, by collecting 244 real test cases from user spreadsheets and online forums. Our evaluation suggests that Auto-Tables can successfully synthesize transformations for over 70% of test cases at interactive speeds, without requiring any input from users, making this an effective tool for both technical and non-technical users to prepare data for analytics.
Effective Entity Augmentation by Querying External Data Sources
Authors: Buss Christopher , Mousavi Jasmin , Tokarev Mikhail , Termehchy Arash , Maier David , Lee Stefan
Published: August 2023

Users often want to augment and enrich entities in their datasets with relevant information from external data sources. As many external sources are accessible only via keyword-search interfaces, a user usually has to manually formulate a keyword query that extract relevant information for each entity. This approach is challenging as many data sources contain numerous tuples, only a small fraction of which may contain entity-relevant information. Furthermore, different datasets may represent the same information in distinct forms and under different terms (e.g., different data source may use different names to refer to the same person). In such cases, it is difficult to formulate a query that precisely retrieves information relevant to an entity. Current methods for information enrichment mainly rely on lengthy and resource-intensive manual effort to formulate queries to discover relevant information. However, in increasingly many settings, it is important for users to get initial answers quickly and without substantial investment in resources (such as human attention). We propose a progressive approach to discovering entity-relevant information from external sources with minimal expert intervention. It leverages end users' feedback to progressively learn how to retrieve information relevant to each entity in a dataset from external data sources. Our empirical evaluation shows that our approach learns accurate strategies to deliver relevant information quickly.
Fetoscopic endoluminal tracheal occlusion (FETO) and bilateral congenital diaphragmatic hernia
Authors: Khawash Adrita , Kronfli Rania , Arasu Anusha , Gandhi Rashmi , Nicolaides Kypros , Greenough Anne
Published: August 2023

Objectives

Bilateral congenital diaphragmatic hernias (CDH) occur in one to two percent of CDH patients. There is a lower survival due to the greater likelihood of lung hypoplasia and associated anomalies. We report an infant with bilateral CDH and duodenal atresia who was successfully treated by fetoscopic endoluminal tracheal occlusion (FETO).

Case presentation

The fetus was diagnosed with CDH at 23 weeks of gestation. Her mother was referred to our tertiary centre as the observed to expected lung-to-head ratio (O/E LHR) at 26 weeks of gestation was only 17 %. The fetus was treated by FETO with an increase in the LHR. The mother had polyhydramnios and underwent amniotic fluid drainage at 26 and 31 weeks of gestation. She had preterm, premature rupture of the membranes at 31+3 weeks of gestation. The FETO balloon was punctured and the mother received corticosteroids. She underwent spontaneous labour at 35+6 weeks of gestation when the LHR was 55 %. At birth, the female infant was electively intubated and ventilated. After successful stabilisation, surgical intervention was undertaken on day six when the defects were identified as bilateral, type C posterolateral CDHs. Bilateral patch repair of the CDHs was undertaken using ‘domed’ Goretex patches. Type one duodenal atresia (DA) was identified and repaired with enterotomy and diamond duodenoduodenostomy. There was partial and then full abdominal closure on days 12 and 15 respectively. The infant is now four months of age and requires no respiratory support.

Conclusions

FETO can improve prognosis in infants with bilateral CDH.
16th ECFR-Symposium Discussion Report: Panel on Supply Chain Due Diligence
Authors: Knaier Ralf
Published: August 2023

240The last part of the afternoon session of the 16th annual ECFR Symposium in Leuven focused on a Panel on Supply Chain Due Diligence with Pierre-Henri Conac, Eva-Maria Kieninger and Harm-Jan de Kluiver. The discussion initially took place among the panel members themselves. Subsequently, further comments and questions were contributed by the audience.