bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Diverse mechanisms control amino acid-dependent environmental alkalization byCandida albicans
Authors: Silao Fitz Gerald S. , Valeriano Valerie Diane , Uddström Erika , Falconer Emilie , Ljungdahl Per O.
Published: August 2023

Candida albicanshas the remarkable capacity to neutralize acidic growth environments by releasing ammonia derived from the catabolism of amino acids. The molecular components and mechanisms controlling this capacity remain poorly understood. Here, we present an integrative model with the cytosolic NAD+-dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (Gdh2) as the principal component. We show that the alkalization defect of a strain lacking the SPS-sensor regulated transcription factorSTP2is due to the inability to fully derepressGDH2and the two proline catabolic enzymes,PUT1andPUT2. Notably, the Stp2-dependent regulation ofPUT1andPUT2occurs independent of Put3, the proline-dependent activator. Accordingly, astp2-/– put3-/-strain is unable to derepress the expression of these enzymes resulting in a severe alkalization defect that nearly phenocopies the abrogated alkalization of agdh2-/-strain. In wildtype cells, alkalization is tightly dependent on mitochondrial activity and occurs as long as conditions permit respiratory growth. As alkalization proceeds, Gdh2 levels decrease and glutamate is transiently extruded from cells. Together these two processes constitute a rudimentary regulatory system enabling cells to prevent the rapid intracellular build-up of ammonia. Similar toC. albicans, Gdh2-dependent alkalization is dispensable forC. glabrataandC. aurisvirulence as assessed using a whole-blood infection model. Intriguingly, fungal-dependent alkalization does not influence the growth or proliferation ofLactobacillus crispatus, a potent antagonist ofC. albicansthat normally resides in the acidic vaginal microenvironment. Our data suggest that it is time to reconsider the idea that pH modulation driven by pathogenic fungi plays a crucial role in shaping the architecture and dynamics of (poly)microbial communities. Other factors are likely to be more critical in contributing to dysbiosis and that favor virulent growth.
Label-free citrate-stabilized silver nanoparticles-based highly sensitive, cost-effective and rapid visual method for differential detection ofMycobacterium tuberculosisandMycobacterium bovis
Authors: Patnaik Naresh , Dey Ruchi Jain
Published: August 2023

Tuberculosis poses a global health challenge, demanding improved diagnostics and therapies. Distinguishing betweenMycobacterium tuberculosis(M. tb) andMycobacterium bovis(M. bovis) infections holds critical “One Health” significance due to zoonotic nature of these infections and inherent resistance ofM. bovisto pyrazinamide, a key part of Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course (DOTS) regimen. Furthermore, most of the currently used molecular detection methods fail to distinguish between the two species. To address this, our study presents an innovative molecular-biosensing strategy. We developed a label-free citrate-stabilized silver nanoparticle aggregation assay, offering sensitive, cost-effective, and swift detection. For molecular detection, genomic markers unique toM. tbandM. boviswere targeted using species-specific primers. In addition to amplifying species-specific regions, these primers also aid detection of characteristic deletions in each of the mycobacterial species. Post polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we compared two highly sensitive visual detection methods with respect to the traditional agarose gel electrophoresis. The paramagnetic bead-based bridging flocculation assay, successfully discriminatesM. tbfromM. boviswith a sensitivity of ~40 bacilli. The second strategy exploits citrate-stabilized silver nanoparticle which aggregates in the absence of amplified dsDNA on addition of sodium chloride (NaCl). This technique enables precise, sensitive and differential detection of as few as ~4 bacilli. Our study hence advances tuberculosis detection, overcoming challenges ofM. tbandM. bovisdifferentiation offering a quicker alternative to time-consuming methods.
Resistance and resilience of soil microbiomes under climate change
Authors: Boyle Julia A. , Murphy Bridget K. , Ensminger Ingo , Stinchcombe John R. , Frederickson Megan. E.
Published: August 2023

Soil microbiomes play key roles in plant productivity and nutrient cycling, and we need to understand whether and how they will withstand the effects of global climate change. We exposedin situsoil microbial communities to multiple rounds of heat, drought, or both treatments, and profiled microbial communities with 16S rRNA and ITS amplicon sequencing during and after these climatic changes, and then tested how domain and symbiotic lifestyle affected responses. Fungal community composition strongly shifted due to drought and its legacy. In contrast, bacterial community composition resisted change during the experiment, but still was affected by the legacy of drought. We identified fungal and bacterial taxa with differential abundance due to heat and drought and found that taxa affected during climate events are not necessarily the taxa affected in recovery periods, showing the complexity and importance of legacy effects. Additionally, we found evidence that symbiotic groups of microbes important to plant performance respond in diverse ways to climate treatments and their legacy, suggesting plants may be impacted by past climatic events like drought and warming even if they do not experience the event themselves.
How do biomarkers dance? Specific moves of defense and damage biomarkers for biological interpretation of dose-response model trends
Authors: Colas Simon , Le Faucheur Séverine
Published: August 2023

Omics and multi-omics studies are currently increasingly used in ecotoxicology to highlight the induction of known or new biomarkers when an organism is exposed to one (or more) contaminant(s). Although it is virtually impossible to identify all biomarkers from all possible organisms, biomarkers can be grouped into two categories, defense or damage biomarkers and they have a limited number of response trends. Our working hypothesis is that defense and damage biomarkers show different dose-response patterns. A meta-analysis of 156 articles and 2,595 observations of dose-response curves of well-known defense and damage biomarkers was carried out in order to characterize the response trends of these biological parameters in a large panel of living organisms (18 phyla) exposed to a wide variety of inorganic or organic contaminants. Defense biomarkers describe biphasic responses (bell-shaped and U-shaped) to a greater extent than damage biomarkers. In contrast, damage biomarkers varied mainly monotonically (decreasing or increasing). Neither the nature of the contaminant nor the type of organisms, whatever the kingdom (Plantae, Animalia, Chromista or Bacteria), influence these specific responses. This result suggests that cellular defense and damage mechanisms are not specific to stressors and are conserved throughout life. The meta-analysis results confirm the usefulness of trend analysis in dose-response models as a biological interpretation of biomarkers in large dataset and their application in determining the concentration ranges inducing defense responses (CRIDeR) and the concentration ranges inducing damage responses (CRIDaR) regardless of the contaminant tested or the organism studied.

Highlights

We interpreted 2,595 biomarker dose-response curves generated by chemical exposure.

Defense biomarkers mainly describe biphasic (bell- or U-shaped) trends.

Damage biomarkers mainly describe monotonic (decreasing or increasing) trends.

Cellular defense and damage responses appear to have been conserved during evolution.

Response trend analysis is a promising tool for environmental risk assessment.

Graphical abstract
Protein interaction network analysis of mTOR signaling reveals modular organization
Authors: Wehle Devin T. , Bass Carter S. , Sulc Josef , Mirzaa Ghayda , Smith Stephen E.P.
Published: August 2023

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine-threonine kinase that acts as a central mediator of translation, and plays important roles in cell growth, synaptic plasticity, cancer, and a wide range of developmental disorders. The signaling cascade linking lipid kinases (PI3Ks), protein kinases (AKT) and translation initiation complexes (EIFs) to mTOR has been extensively modeled, but does not fully describe mTOR system behavior. Here, we use quantitative multiplex co-immunoprecipitation to monitor a protein interaction network (PIN) composed of 300+ binary interactions among mTOR-related proteins. Using a simple model system of serum deprived or fresh-media-fed mouse 3T3 fibroblasts, we observed extensive PIN remodeling involving 27+ individual protein interactions after one hour, despite phosphorylation changes observed after only five minutes. Using small molecule inhibitors of PI3K, AKT, mTOR, MEK and ERK, we define subsets of the PIN, termed ‘modules’, that respond differently to each inhibitor. Using primary fibroblasts from individuals with overgrowth disorders caused by pathogenicPIK3CAorMTORvariants, we find that hyperactivation of mTOR pathway components is reflected in a hyperactive PIN. Our data define a “modular” organization of the mTOR PIN in which coordinated groups of interactions respond to activation or inhibition of distinct nodes, and demonstrate that kinase inhibitors affect the modular network architecture in a complex manner, inconsistent with simple linear models of signal transduction.
Oligomerization and positive feedback on membrane recruitment encode dynamically stable PAR-3 asymmetries in theC. eleganszygote
Authors: Lang Charlie , Maxian Ondrej , Anneken Alexander , Munro Edwin
Published: August 2023

Studies of PAR polarity have emphasized a paradigm in which mutually antagonistic PAR proteins form complementary polar domains in response to transient cues. A growing body of work suggests that the oligomeric scaffold PAR-3 can form unipolar asymmetries without mutual antagonism, but how it does so is largely unknown. Here we combine single molecule analysis and modeling to show how the interplay of two positive feedback loops promote dynamically stable unipolar PAR-3 asymmetries in earlyC. elegansembryos. First, the intrinsic dynamics of PAR-3 membrane binding and oligomerization encode negative feedback on PAR-3 dissociation. Second, membrane-bound PAR-3 promotes its own recruitment through a mechanism that requires the anterior polarity proteins CDC-42, PAR-6 and PKC-3. Using a kinetic model tightly constrained by our experimental measurements, we show that these two feedback loops are individually required and jointly sufficient to encode dynamically stable and locally inducible unipolar PAR-3 asymmetries in the absence of posterior inhibition. Given the central role of PAR-3, and the conservation of PAR-3 membrane-binding, oligomerization, and core interactions with PAR-6/aPKC, these results have widespread implications for PAR-mediated polarity in metazoa.
Using human genetics to develop strategies to increase erythropoietic output from genome-edited hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells
Authors: Luna Sofia E. , Camarena Joab , Hampton Jessica P. , Majeti Kiran R. , Charlesworth Carsten T. , Soupene Eric , Selvaraj Sridhar , Jia Kun , Sheehan Vivien A. , Cromer M. Kyle , Porteus Matthew H.
Published: August 2023

Human genetic polymorphisms result in a diversity of phenotypes. Some sequences are pathologic and lead to monogenic diseases, while others may confer beneficial traits. Genome editing is a powerful tool to recreate genotypes found in the population, including the ability to correct pathologic mutations. One of the best characterized naturally occurring mutations causing congenital erythrocytosis arises from a truncation in the erythropoietin receptor (tEPOR) which can result in non-pathogenic hyper-production of red blood cells (RBCs). Using the precision of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, we have recreated tEPOR and studied the effect of variations of the genotype on RBC development. We then combined tEPOR with a correction strategy developed for β-thalassemia and demonstrated that coupling the two genome editing events gave RBCs a significant selective advantage. This demonstrates the potential of combining human genetics with the precision of genome editing to enable safer and more effective genome editing therapies for patients with serious genetic diseases.
Sulfolobus acidocaldariusadhesion pili power twitching motility in the absence of a dedicated retraction ATPase
Authors: Charles-Orszag Arthur , van Wolferen Marleen , Lord Samuel J. , Albers Sonja-Verena , Mullins R. Dyche
Published: August 2023

Type IV pili are ancient and widespread filamentous organelles found in most bacterial and archaeal phyla where they support a wide range of functions, including substrate adhesion, DNA uptake, self aggregation, and cell motility. In most bacteria, PilT-family ATPases disassemble adhesion pili, causing them to rapidly retract and produce twitching motility, important for surface colonization. As archaea do not possess homologs of PilT, it was thought that archaeal pili cannot retract. Here, we employ live-cell imaging under native conditions (75°C and pH 2), together with automated single-cell tracking, high-temperature fluorescence imaging, and genetic manipulation to demonstrate thatS. acidocaldariusexhibits bona fide twitching motility, and that this behavior depends specifically on retractable adhesion pili. Our results demonstrate that archaeal adhesion pili are capable of retraction in the absence of a PilT retraction ATPase and suggests that the ancestral type IV pilus machinery in the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) relied on such a bifunctional ATPase for both extension and retraction.
Method for Evaluating Cortical Bone Young's Modulus: Numerical Twin Reconstruction, Finite Element Calculation, and Microstructure Analysis
Authors: Kurtz T. , Woitrain T. , Godio-Raboutet Y. , Ribeiro F. L. B. , Arnoux P.-J. , Tailhan J.-L.
Published: August 2023

The determination of bone mechanical properties remains crucial, especially to feed up numerical models. An original methodology of inverse analysis has been developed to determine the longitudinal elastic modulus of femoral cortical bone. The method is based on a numerical twin of a specific three-point bending test. It has been designed to be reproducible on each test result. In addition, the biofidelity of the geometric acquisition method has been quantified. As the assessment is performed at the scale of a bone shaft segment, the Young's modulus values obtained (between 9518.29 MPa and 14181.15 MPa) are considered average values for the whole tissue, highlighting some intersubject variability. The material microstructure has also been studied through histological analysis, and bone-to-bone comparisons highlighted discrepancies in quadrants microstructures. Furthermore, significant intrasubject variability exists since differences between the bone's medial-lateral and anterior–posterior quadrants have been observed. Thus, the study of microstructures can largely explain the differences between the elastic modulus values obtained. However, a more in-depth study of bone mineral density would also be necessary and would provide some additional information. This study is currently being setup, alongside an investigation of the local variations of the elastic modulus.
The Effect of Menopause on Vaginal Tissue Mechanics: A Brief Review
Authors: Gimenez Clara , Alperin Marianna , De Vita Raffaella
Published: August 2023

Often called “the change of life,” menopause affects every part of a woman's body. As the sex hormones decrease, the reproductive organs experience the most remarkable changes, with the vagina becoming thinner, drier, and less elastic. Despite the important implications of these changes in genitourinary conditions, there are only a few experimental studies that focus on quantifying the effect of menopause on the mechanical properties of the vagina. These studies are mostly conducted using uniaxial tests on strips of vaginal tissues isolated from rats, rabbits, and sheep and, in only a few cases, from humans. The purpose of this article is to present a systematic review of experimental protocols, methods, and results that are currently published on how menopause alters the mechanical behavior of the vagina. This review will enable new investigators in the biomechanics field to identify important gaps and frame research questions that inform the design of new treatment options for menopausal symptoms.
Development of Analysis Tools for Heat Pipes Used in Small Modular Reactors: Sodium Property Correlations
Authors: Beuthe Thomas , Vasić Aleksandar , Azih Chukwudi , Maqueo Pablo D. G.
Published: August 2023

Advanced small modular reactors strive to improve reactor safety through increased utilization of passive heat transport and safety systems. An innovative means of meeting this design goal is to use alkali metal heat pipes to cool the reactor under both normal and abnormal operating conditions. A heat pipe model has been added to the ARIANT thermalhydraulic code to enable reactor modeling and support the design and licensing of new reactors. Saturation fluid properties are a fundamental input to this model. Consequently, this article provides a comprehensive comparative overview of the best available sodium saturation property correlations developed over the past century. The results show most of the sodium property correlations needed to model a heat pipe are relatively well-defined and recommendations for their use can be provided.
Mechanical Response of an Industrial Piping System Under Strong Cyclic Loading
Authors: Karvelas C. G. , Chatzopoulou G. , Zervaki A. D. , Karamanos S. A. , Strepelias E. , Palios X. , Bousias S. N.
Published: August 2023

The paper presents a combined experimental and numerical investigation of cyclic loading response of an internally pressurized 8-inch-diameter steel piping system. The piping system comprises three elbows and is subjected to quasi-static end-displacement excitation. Global deformation and local strain measurements are obtained, indicating significant strain ratcheting at critical locations of the elbows. The piping system failed under low-cycle fatigue undergoing through-thickness cracking at the flank of the most strained elbow, after 129 loading cycles with measured strain range of approximately 3%. Postfatigue metallographic examination of the elbows indicated that fatigue cracking initiates from the inner surface of the pipe elbow. In all elbows, several microcracks develop along the inner surface of elbow flanks, whereas the outer surface remained practically intact before through-thickness cracking occurred. Finite element simulations, with a cyclic-plasticity model calibrated properly in terms of small-scale material tests, provide very good predictions in terms of local strain evolution at critical locations. Numerical results at the intrados and the extrados of the critical elbow of the piping system verify strain ratcheting and the location of crack initiation observed in the experiments. This paper can be used as a reference for future experiments on cyclic loading of piping components, and for benchmarking constitutive modeling for simulating ratcheting.
Optimal Transient Energy Growth of Two-Dimensional Perturbation in a Magnetohydrodynamic Plane Poiseuille Flow of Casson Fluid
Authors: Basavaraj M. S. , Shivaraj Kumar D. L.
Published: August 2023

The study investigates the influence of the Casson fluid parameter and the spanwise uniform magnetic field on the onset of instability against infinitesimal disturbances in an electrically conducting fluid flow between two parallel nonconducting rigid plates. The fourth-order linearized disturbance equation governing stability is solved using the spectral collocation method with Chebyshev-based polynomials. The aim is to analyze in detail the effect of the parameters involved in the problem using both modal and nonmodal linear stability analysis. The modal analysis provides accurate values of the critical Reynolds number, critical wave number, and critical wave speed, denoted as critical triplets (Rc, αc, cc). Additionally, it examines the eigen-spectrum, growth rate curves, and neutral stability curves. On the other hand, the nonmodal analysis investigates the transient energy growth G(t) of two-dimensional (2D) optimal perturbations, the pseudospectrum of the non-normal Orr–Sommerfeld (O–S) operator (ℒ), and the regions of stability, instability, and potential instability of the fluid flow system. The extensive examination of both long-term behavior through modal analysis and short-term behavior through nonmodal analysis reveals that the Hartmann number (Ha) acts as a stabilizing agent, delaying the onset of instability. Conversely, the Casson parameter (η) acts as a destabilizing agent, advancing the onset of instability. The results obtained here are verified to be in good agreement with the existing literature in the absence of the Casson fluid flow parameter.
Applications of the Linear Quadratic Regulator Optimal Control With Completely and Partially Observed Markovian Switching
Authors: Beatris Escobedo-Trujillo , Javier Garrido
Published: August 2023

We study optimal control problems where the dynamic system evolves according to a linear stochastic differential equation with (a) multiplicative and additive white noise, (b) a mixture of white noise, and (c) white noise and colored noise. The drift rate and the diffusion matrix of the linear dynamic system depend on a continuous-time Markov chain with finite state space that is (I) partially observed and (II) completely observed. Using the results of Wonham filter theory, we reduce the partially observed problems to one with complete observation. We solve the control optimal problems explicitly with the help of dynamic programing technique, and three applications are presented to illustrate our theoretical results.
Three-Dimensional, Right Ventricular Surface Strain Computation From Three-Dimensional Echocardiographic Images From Patients With Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension
Authors: Kundu Priyamvada , Schäfer Michal , Le Lisa , Thomas Thomas , Jone Pei-Ni , Hunter Kendall S.
Published: August 2023

Right Ventricular (RV) dysfunction is routinely assessed with echocardiographic-derived global longitudinal strain (GLS). GLS is measured from a two-dimensional echo image and is increasingly accepted as a means for assessing RV function. However, any two-dimensional (2D) analysis cannot visualize the asymmetrical deformation of the RV nor visualize strain over the entire RV surface. We believe three-dimensional surface (3DS) strain, obtained from 3D echo will better evaluate myocardial mechanics. Components of 3DS strain (longitudinal, LS; circumferential, CS; longitudinal-circumferential shear, ɣCL; principal strains PSMax and PSMin; max shear, ɣMax; and principal angle θMax) were computed from RV surface meshes obtained with 3D echo from 50 children with associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), 43 children with idiopathic PAH, and 50 healthy children by computing strains from a discretized displacement field. All 3DS freewall (FW) normal strain (LS, CS, PSMax, and PSMin) showed significant decline at end-systole in PH groups (p < 0.0001 for all), as did FW-ɣMax (p = 0.0012). FW-θMax also changed in disease (p < 0.0001). Limits of agreement analysis suggest that 3DS LS, PSMax, and PSMin are related to GLS. 3DS strains showed significant heterogeneity over the 3D surface of the RV. Components of 3DS strain agree with existing clinical strain measures, well classify normal -versus- PAH subjects, and suggest that strains change direction on the myocardial surface due to disease. This last finding is similar to that of myocardial fiber realignment in disease, but further work is needed to establish true associations.
Mechanical Properties of Synthetic Bones Made by Synbone: A Review
Authors: Zdero Radovan , Djuricic Aleksandar , Schemitsch Emil H.
Published: August 2023

Biomechanical engineers and physicists commonly employ biological bone for biomechanics studies, since they are good representations of living bone. Yet, there are challenges to using biological bone, such as cost, degradation, disease, ethics, shipping, sourcing, storage, variability, etc. Therefore, the Synbone® company has developed a series of synthetic bones that have been used by biomechanical investigators to offset some drawbacks of biological bone. There have been a number of published biomechanical reports using these bone surrogates for dental, injury, orthopedic, and other applications. But, there is no prior review paper that has summarized the mechanical properties of these synthetic bones in order to understand their general performance or how well they represent biological bone. Thus, the goal of this article was to survey the English-language literature on the mechanical properties of these synthetic bones. Studies were included if they quantitatively (a) characterized previously unknown values for synthetic bone, (b) validated synthetic versus biological bone, and/or (c) optimized synthetic bone performance by varying geometric or material parameters. This review of data, pros, cons, and future work will hopefully assist biomechanical engineers and physicists that use these synthetic bones as they develop experimental testing regimes and computational models.
Spray Ignition and Combustion Modes and Their Time Scales Studies in an Optical Rapid Compression Machine
Authors: Mai Zhaoming , Tang Chenglong , Li Yu , Wu Yingtao , Huang Zuohua
Published: August 2023

Spray auto-ignition is a complex physical and chemical process whose mechanism is still not well understood. This paper explores the contribution of physical and chemical mechanisms to spray auto-ignition and combustion behaviors over a wide range of ambient temperature and pressure conditions in an optical rapid compression machine. Specifically, the spray development and ignition process are first visualized and the spray ignition delay times (IDTI) are measured through high-speed imaging. IDTI is then compared with gas phase chemical ignition delay times (IDTC) calculated by 0D homogeneous reactor simulation. Subsequently, different combustion modes are recognized by analyzing the mixture status at the instant of ignition, the spray flame behavior, and the pressure evolution history. Finally, a regime diagram of combustion modes is proposed to illustrate the dominant mechanisms for different spray combustion modes. Results show that the measured spray IDTI is longer than the 0D calculated IDTC due to the physical delay caused by spray development, evaporation, and mixing. At higher temperatures and pressures, the difference between IDTI and IDTC is increased because the evaporation and mixing become progressively important, compared to the chemical reaction mechanism. Scrutinization on the pressure and the apparent heat release rate evolution curve reveals that with the increase of the temperature and pressure, the chemical-controlled combustion time accounts for less and less of the total combustion duration. This further indicates that spray ignition and combustion behaviors transit from chemical-dominated mode to mixing-dominated mode.
Can a variation of fine structure constant influence the fate of gravitational collapse?
Authors: Chakrabarti Soumya
Published: August 2023

We show that it is possible to steer clear of a spacetime singularity during gravitational collapse by considering time-variation of a fundamental coupling, in this case, the fine structure constant $$\alpha $$
α
. We study a spherical distribution of cold dark matter coexisting with other fluid elements, collapsing under its own gravity. The dark matter is written as a scalar field interacting with electrically charged matter. This leads to a time variation of $$\alpha $$
α
and as a consequence, a breakdown of local charge conservation within the sphere. The exterior has no such field and therefore, Einstein’s GR and standard equivalence principles remain valid. We derive the lowest possible bound on the collapse of this sphere beyond which there is a bounce and dispersal of most of the accumulated matter. We discuss the critical behavior of the system around this point and show that the bound is connected to a length scale of the order of Planck, introduced in the theory for dimensional requirements.
JMLKelinci+: Detecting Semantic Bugs and Covering Branches with Valid Inputs Using Coverage-guided Fuzzing and Runtime Assertion Checking
Authors: Nilizadeh Amirfarhad , Leavens Gary T. , Păsăreanu Corina S. , Noller Yannic
Published: August 2023

Testing to detect semantic bugs is essential, especially for critical systems. Coverage-guided fuzzing (CGF) and runtime assertion checking (RAC) are two well-known approaches for detecting semantic bugs. CGF aims to generate test inputs with high code coverage. However, while CGF tools can be equipped with sanitizers to detect a fixed set of semantic bugs, they can otherwise only detect bugs that lead to a crash. Thus, the first problem we address is how to help fuzzers detect previously unknown semantic bugs that do not lead to a crash. Moreover, a CGF tool may not necessarily cover all branches with valid inputs, although invalid inputs are useless for detecting semantic bugs. So, the second problem is how to guide a fuzzer to maximize coverage using only valid inputs. However, RAC monitors the expected behavior of a program dynamically and can only detect a semantic bug when a valid test input shows that the program does not satisfy its specification. Thus, the third problem is how to provide high-quality test inputs for a RAC that can trigger potential bugs. The combination of a CGF tool and RAC solves these problems and can cover branches with valid inputs and detect semantic bugs effectively. Our study uses RAC to guarantee that only valid inputs reach the program under test using the program’s specified preconditions, and it also uses RAC to detect semantic bugs using specified postconditions. A prototype tool was developed for this study, named JMLKelinci+. Our results show that combining a CGF tool with RAC will lead to executing the program under test only with valid inputs and that this technique can effectively detect semantic bugs. Also, this idea improves the feedback given to a CGF tool, enabling it to cover all branches faster in programs with non-trivial preconditions.

1
Robust OCR Pipeline for Automated Digitization of Mother and Child Protection Cards in India
Authors: Pant Devesh , Talukder Dibyendu , Seth Aaditeshwar , Pant Dinesh , Singh Rohit , Dua Brejesh , Pandey Rachit , Maruthi Srirama , Johri Mira , Arora Chetan
Published: August 2023

The Universal Immunization Programme in India has a mandate to fully vaccinate all of India’s 27 million children born annually. The vaccination doses are recorded by frontline health workers on standardized paper-based Mother and Child Protection (MCP) cards, which are manually digitized by data entry operators, resulting in poor data quality, delays, and significant time and resources. In our article, we focus on Optical Character Recognition– (OCR) based automated digitization of MCP card images captured through a smartphone application developed by us. By utilizing a standardized template for the MCP cards, which is available
a priori
, we register the card images and perform OCR on the extracted region of interest (ROIs). Since the cards with curvature or torn edges had poor ROIs, we built a global–local alignment technique that first approximates the ROI using global homography and then refines using a local homography resulting in improved accuracy. Our pipeline gives a character level accuracy of 98.73% on our dataset against 75.02% by Google Cloud Vision and 79.26% by Azure OCR. We also describe our field testing experience, where the digitized MCP card images were used to provide useful features on the smartphone application for health workers to conduct vaccination sessions.
SLED: Structure Learning based Denoising for Recommendation
Authors: Zhang Shengyu , Jiang Tan , Kuang Kun , Feng Fuli , Yu Jin , Ma Jianxin , Zhao Zhou , Zhu Jianke , Yang Hongxia , Chua Tat-Seng , Wu Fei
Published: August 2023

In recommender systems, click behaviors play a fundamental role in mining users’ interests and training models (clicked items as positive samples). Such signals are
implicit
feedback and are arguably less representative of users’ inherent interests. Most existing works denoise implicit feedback by introducing external signals, such as gaze, dwell time, and “like” behaviors. However, such
explicit
feedback is not always routinely available, or might be problematic to collect on a large scale. In this paper, we identify that an interaction’s related structural patterns in its neighborhood graph are potentially correlated with some outcome of implicit feedback (i.e., users’ ratings after consuming items), analogous to findings in other domains such as social networks. Inspired by this finding, we propose a novel Structure LEarning based Denoising (SLED) framework for denoising recommendation without explicit signals, which consists of two phases:
center-aware graph structure learning
and
denoised recommendation
. Phase 1 pre-trains a structural encoder in a self-supervised manner and learns to capture an interaction’s related structural patterns in its neighborhood graph. Phase 2 transfers the structure encoder to downstream recommendation datasets, which helps to down-weight the effect of noisy interactions on user interest modeling and loss calculation. We collect a relatively noisy industrial dataset across several days during a period of product promotion festival. Extensive experiments on this dataset and multiple public datasets demonstrate that the proposed SLED framework can significantly improve the recommendation quality over various base recommendation models.
Enhancement of Information Carrying and Decoding for Visual Cryptography with Error Correction
Authors: Yang Ching-Nung , Wu Xiaotian , Chung Min-Jung
Published: August 2023

Recently, three visual cryptography schemes with
t
-error-correcting capability (VCSs-
t
EC) were introduced for preventing the shadows carrying additional information from being corrupted by noise interference. However, the concerns on VCS-
t
EC, such as the average amount of carrying information, decoding of information from shadows, and the demonstration way of a secret, should be considered and improved. In this article, two schemes, namely the (
k, n
) probabilistic VCS-
t
EC (PVCS-
t
EC) and the (2,
n
) deterministic VCS-
t
EC (DVCS-
t
EC), are proposed. The concept of probabilistic VCS is combined with the Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem code (BCH code) for designing the (
k, n
) PVCS-
t
EC. Furthermore, some constant-weight BCH codewords are adopted to build the (2,
n
)-DVCS-
t
EC. Comprehensive results and experiments are demonstrated to clarify the enhancement of information-carrying and decoding by the two proposed methods.
Changes in Navigation over Time: A Comparison of Teleportation and Joystick-Based Locomotion
Authors: Nasiri Moloud , Porter John , Kohm Kristopher , Robb Andrew
Published: August 2023

Little research has studied how people use Virtual Reality (VR) changes as they experience VR. This article reports the results of an experiment investigating how users’ behavior with two locomotion methods changed over 4 weeks: teleportation and joystick-based locomotion. Twenty novice VR users (with no more than 1 hour prior experience with any form of walking in VR) were recruited. They loaned an Oculus Quest for 4 weeks on their own time, including an activity we provided them with. Results showed that the time required to complete the navigation task decreased faster for joystick-based locomotion. Spatial memory improved with time, particularly when using teleportation (which starts disadvantaged to joystick-based locomotion). In addition, overall cybersickness decreased slightly over time; however, two dimensions of cybersickness (nausea and disorientation) increased notably over time using joystick-based navigation.
Participatory Design of Virtual Humans for Mental Health Support Among North American Computer Science Students: Voice, Appearance, and the Similarity-attraction Effect
Authors: Feijóo-García Pedro Guillermo , Wrenn Chase , Stuart Jacob , De Siqueira Alexandre Gomes , Lok Benjamin
Published: August 2023

Virtual humans (VHs) have the potential to support mental wellness among college computer science (CS) students. However, designing effective VHs for counseling purposes requires a clear understanding of students’ demographics, backgrounds, and expectations. To this end, we conducted two user studies with 216 CS students from a major university in North America. In the first study, we explored how students co-designed VHs to support mental wellness conversations and found that the VHs’ demographics, appearance, and voice closely resembled the characteristics of their designers. In the second study, we investigated how the interplay between the VH’s appearance and voice impacted the agent’s effectiveness in promoting CS students’ intentions toward gratitude journaling. Our findings suggest that the active participation of CS students in VH design leads to the creation of agents that closely resemble their designers. Moreover, we found that the interplay between the VH’s appearance and voice impacts the agent’s effectiveness in promoting CS students’ intentions toward mental wellness techniques.
Captivates: A Smart Eyeglass Platform for Across-Context Physiological Measurements
Authors: Chwalek Patrick , Ramsay David , Paradiso Joseph A.
Published: August 2023

We present Captivates, an open-source smartglasses system designed for long-term, in-the-wild psychophysiological monitoring at scale. Captivates integrate many underutilized physiological sensors in a streamlined package, including temple and nose temperature measurement, blink detection, head motion tracking, activity classification, 3D localization, and head pose estimation. Captivates was designed with an emphasis on (1) manufacturing and scalability, so we can easily support large-scale user studies for ourselves and offer the platform as a generalized tool for ambulatory psychophysiology research; (2) robustness and battery life, so long-term studies result in trustworthy data across an individual's entire day in natural environments without supervision or recharge; and (3) aesthetics and comfort, so people can wear them in their normal daily contexts without self-consciousness or changes in behavior.
Detecting Receptivity for mHealth Interventions
Authors: Mishra Varun , Künzler Florian , Kramer Jan-Niklas , Fleisch Elgar , Kowatsch Tobias , Kotz David
Published: August 2023

Just-In-Time Adaptive Interventions (JITAI) have the potential to provide effective support for health behavior by delivering the right type and amount of intervention at the right time. The timing of interventions is crucial to ensure that users are receptive and able to use the support provided. Previous research has explored the association of context and user-specific traits on receptivity and built machine-learning models to detect receptivity after the study was completed. However, for effective intervention delivery, JITAI systems need to make in-the-moment decisions about a user's receptivity. In this study, we deployed machinelearning models in a chatbot-based digital coach to predict receptivity for physical-activity interventions. We included a static model that was built before the study and an adaptive model that continuously updated itself during the study. Compared to a control model that sent intervention messages randomly, the machine-learning models improved receptivity by up to 36%. Receptivity to messages from the adaptive model increased over time.
Be Consistent, Work the Program, Be Present Every Day: Exploring Technologies for Self-Tracking in Early Recovery
Authors: Jones Jasmine , Yuan Ye , Yarosh Svetlana
Published: August 2023

Drug overdose is the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 18 and 44 in the United States, with 106,699 deaths reported in 2021 [1]. In the most recent data collected in 2021, 15.6% of youth and adults aged 12 or older needed substance abuse treatment in the past year [2]. Substance use disorders (SUDs) affect people across all demographics. SUDs can be complicated by mental health issues, physical health concerns, social stigma, and marginalization. Due to the long-term and often recurring nature of this condition, substance use disorders are classified and treated as chronic illnesses, similar to cancer or diabetes.
Impact of Sugar Reduction on Physicochemical and Nutritional Quality of Yogurt and Sensory Response with Label Stimulation
Authors: de Morais Fabricio Alves , Cavalcanti Mônica Tejo , Olegario Lary Souza , Santos Thamires Queiroga , Evangelista Maria Ester Maia , de Oliveira Gleyson Batista , Santana Andressa Gonçalves , Souto Márcia Virgínio , da Fonseca Sthelio Braga , Gonçalves Mônica Correia
Published: August 2023

This paper is aimed at developing yoghurts with reduced sugar content and evaluating their physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory characteristics including the stimulation of labels with nutritional indications. Four yoghurt formulations were developed (TY (traditional yoghurt), RSY (reduced sugar yoghurt), RSYL (yoghurt with reduced sugar and lactase), and RSYM (yogurt with reduced sugar and flavour modulator)). Yoghurts were evaluated on the first day of storage for physical-chemical aspects: fat, total protein, ash, total dry extract, reducing and nonreducing sugars, and pH, acidity in lactic acid, syneresis, and viscosity (non-Newtonian fluid) parameters were monitored until the end of refrigerated storage. Online questionnaires were carried out for sensory evaluation of acceptability and purchase intention of appearance. The labels were compared to each other to define which one communicated best with the consumer. The results showed that the reduction of sugar in yoghurt interferes with different physical-chemical parameters: pH, acidity, increasing syneresis, decreasing viscosity, total dry extract, and ash content. Storage influences the pH and acidity stabilization of all yogurts. Knowledge about lower sugar content positively influences acceptability and purchase intention, which preferred more flashy nutritional labels. The formulation adjustment associated with adequate labeling can encourage the consumption of yogurts with reduced added sugar content.
The Relationship between Bullying and Emotional State among Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional Correlation Study
Authors: AbuAlula Nada A. , Almarwani Abdulaziz Mofdy , Mamanao Daniel Mon , Altarawneh Naif Salem , Alharbi Mohammed R. , Ebeid Inas A.
Published: August 2023

Introduction. Bullying behavior by nursing students is a serious problem that has contributed to the drop in numbers in the nursing profession. Aim. The study investigated the relationship between bullying and the emotional state of undergraduate nursing students. Methods. The study used a cross-sectional correlation design with a sample of 286 undergraduate nursing students from multiple nursing colleges located in the western region of Saudi Arabia. The 21-item depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21) was used to measure the study outcomes. A revised version of the Bullying Assessment Questionnaire was used to assess bullying experiences. Statistical analyses, including a t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and a one-way between-subjects ANOVA, determined the significance of the relationship between study variables. Results. There was a high prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms among Saudi nursing students. Most of the respondents reported mild to extremely severe symptoms of depression (58.7%), anxiety (58%), and stress (44.8%). Around 90.1% of the nursing students reported exposure to a form of bullying over the previous 12 months. The most common items reported as part of this behavior included continually being assigned tasks beyond their capacity. Family members were the most frequently reported source of bullying (29.8%), followed by nursing faculties (20.9%). Bullying behavior was positively correlated with students’ scores for depression, r (284) = 0.49, n = 286,

p

 < 0.01; anxiety, r (284) = 0.54,

p

 < 0.01; and stress, r (284) = 0.56,

p

 < 0.01. Conclusion. The study’s findings raise concerns and highlight the importance of decreasing the risk of depression, anxiety, and stress among undergraduate nursing students. Nurse educators must ensure that students receive psychological support to decrease these psychological outcomes. Regularly monitoring bullying behavior is essential to maintain students’ psychological stability, which could eventually reduce professional dropout rates.
An Efficient Technique for Algebraic System of Linear Equations Based on Neutrosophic Structured Element
Authors: Xu Wenbo , Xia Qunli , Mohapatra Hitesh , Chedup Sangay
Published: August 2023

Neutrosophic logic is frequently applied to the engineering technology, scientific administration, and financial matters, among other fields. In addition, neutrosophic linear systems can be used to illustrate various practical problems. Due to the complexity of neutrosophic operators, however, solving linear neutrosophic systems is challenging. This work proposes a new straightforward method for solving the neutrosophic system of linear equations based on the neutrosophic structured element (NSE). Here unknown and right-hand side vectors are considered as triangular neutrosophic numbers. Based on the NSE, analytical expressions of the solution to this equation and its degrees are also provided. Finally, several examples of the methodology are provided.
A Five‐Year (2016‐2020) Trend Analysis of Malaria Surveillance Data in Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia
Authors: Olani Zalalem , Solomon Samrawit , Kaba Zalalem , Bikila Haile
Published: August 2023

Background. Continuous malaria surveillance data analysis plays a significant role in monitoring trends over time and evaluating the effectiveness of malaria prevention and control programs. Hence, this study was part of an effort to achieve this goal. This study’s main aim was to analyse five years (2016‐2020) of malaria surveillance data in the Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Methods. A descriptive cross‐sectional study design was used to analyse the five‐year (2016‐2020) trend of malaria cases in the Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. Results. A total of 5,843,373malaria suspected cases were reported during the five‐year period. Among the total reported cases, 727,738 were a total of both clinical and parasitological confirmed cases. The average total malaria annual parasite incidence (API) was 4 per 1,000 persons. The highest malaria cases were observed during the spring and summer seasons. Conclusions and Recommendation. Trends of total clinical and confirmed malaria cases decreased from year to year except for the recent year with an exceptional variability in 2019. The highest or peak of malaria cases was observed during spring season (September‐November). Malaria indicator‐based performance plans and achievements should be regularly and strictly reviewed and evaluated at each level.