bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A reporter Oropouche virus expressing ZsGreen from the M segment enables pathogenesis studies in mice
Authors: Gunter Krista , Omoga Dorcus , Bowen James M. , Gonzalez Lorimar Robledo , Severt Sydney , Davis Mackenzie , Szymanski Megan , Sandusky George , Duprex W. Paul , Tilston-Lunel Natasha L.
Published: August 2024

Oropouche fever caused by Oropouche virus (OROV) is a significant zoonosis in Central and South America. Despite its public health significance, we lack high-throughput diagnostics, therapeutics, and a comprehensive knowledge of OROV biology. Reporter viruses are valuable tools to rapidly study virus dynamics and develop neutralization and antiviral screening assays. OROV is a tri-segmented bunyavirus, which makes generating a reporter virus challenging, as introducing foreign elements into the viral genome typically affects fitness. We previously demonstrated that the non-structural gene NSm on the OROV medium (M) segment is non-essential for replication
in vitro
. Taking advantage of this, we have now generated a recombinant OROV expressing fluorescent protein ZsGreen in place of NSm. This reporter OROV is both stable and pathogenic in IFNAR
-/-
mice and provides a powerful tool for OROV pathogenesis studies and assay development.

IMPORTANCE

Emerging and reemerging infectious agents such as zoonotic bunyaviruses are of global health concern. Oropouche virus (OROV) causes recurring outbreaks of acute febrile illness in the Central and South American human populations. Biting midges are the primary transmission vectors, whereas sloths and non-human primates are their reservoir hosts. As global temperatures increase, we will likely see an expansion in arthropod-borne pathogens such as OROV. Therefore, developing reagents to study pathogen biology to aid in identifying druggable targets is essential. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility and use of a fluorescent OROV reporter in mice to study viral dynamics and pathogenesis. We show that this reporter OROV maintains characteristics such as growth and pathogenicity similar to the wild-type virus. Using this reporter virus, we can now develop methods to assist OROV studies and establish various high-throughput assays.
The cellular protein phosphatase 2A is a crucial host factor for Marburg virus transcription
Authors: von Creytz Isabel , Rohde Cornelius , Biedenkopf Nadine
Published: August 2024

Little is known regarding the molecular mechanisms that highly pathogenic Marburg virus (MARV) utilizes to transcribe and replicate its genome. Previous studies assumed that dephosphorylation of the filoviral transcription factor VP30 supports transcription, while phosphorylated VP30 reduces transcription. Here, we focused on the role of the host protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) for VP30 dephosphorylation and promotion of viral transcription. We could show that MARV NP interacts with the subunit B56 of PP2A, as previously shown for the Ebola virus, and that this interaction is important for MARV transcription activity. Inhibition of the interaction between PP2A and NP either by mutating the B56 binding motif encoded on NP, or the use of a PP2A inhibitor, induced VP30 hyperphosphorylation, and as a consequence a decrease of MARV transcription as well as viral growth. These results suggest that NP plays a key role in the dephosphorylation of VP30 by recruiting PP2A. Generation of recombinant (rec) MARV lacking the PP2A-B56 interaction motif on NP was not possible suggesting an essential role of PP2A-mediated VP30 dephosphorylation for the MARV replication cycle. Likewise, we were not able to generate recMARV containing VP30 phosphomimetic mutants indicating that dynamic cycles of VP30 de- and rephosphorylation are a prerequisite for an efficient viral life cycle. As the specific binding motifs of PP2A-B56 and VP30 within NP are highly conserved among the filoviral family, our data suggest a conserved mechanism for filovirus VP30 dephosphorylation by PP2A, revealing the host factor PP2A as a promising target for pan-filoviral therapies.

IMPORTANCE

Our study elucidates the crucial role of host protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) in Marburg virus (MARV) transcription. The regulatory subunit B56 of PP2A facilitates VP30 dephosphorylation, and hence transcription activation, via binding to NP. Our results, together with previous data, reveal a conserved mechanism of filovirus VP30 dephosphorylation by host factor PP2A at the NP interface and provide novel insights into potential pan-filovirus therapies.
Microsporidian coinfection reduces fitness of a fungal pathogen due to rapid host mortality
Authors: Dziuba Marcin K. , McIntire Kristina M. , Davenport Elizabeth S. , Baird Emma , Huerta Cristian , Jaye Riley , Corcoran Fiona , McCreadie Paige , Nelson Taleah , Duffy Meghan A.
Published: August 2024

Infection outcomes can be strongly context dependent, shifting a host-symbiont relationship along a parasitism-mutualism continuum. Numerous studies show that under stressful conditions, symbionts that are typically mutualistic can become parasitic. The reverse possibility, a parasite becoming mutualistic, has received much less study. We investigated whether the parasitic microsporidium
Ordospora pajunii
can become beneficial for its host
Daphnia dentifera
in the presence of the more virulent fungal pathogen
Metschnikowia bicuspidata
. We found that, even though infection with
O. pajunii
reduces the frequency of penetration of
M. bicuspidata
spores into the host body cavity, it does not improve the survival or reproduction of the host; conversely, coinfection increased the mortality of
Daphnia
. This shorter lifespan of coinfected hosts disrupted the life cycle of
M. bicuspidata
, greatly reducing its fitness. Thus, coinfection with both pathogens was detrimental to the host at the individual level but might be beneficial for the host population as a result of greatly reduced production of
M. bicuspidata
spores. If so, this would mean that
O. pajunii
outbreaks should delay or prevent
M. bicuspidata
outbreaks. In support of this, in an analysis of dynamics of naturally occurring outbreaks in two lakes where these pathogens co-occur, we found a time lag in occurrence between
O. pajunii
and
M. bicuspidata
, with
M. bicuspidata
epidemics only occurring after the collapse of
O. pajunii
epidemics. Thus, these results suggest that the interaction between co-occurring symbionts, and the net impact of a symbiont on a host, might be qualitatively different at different scales.

IMPORTANCE

Understanding the factors that modify infection probability and virulence is crucial for identifying the drivers of infection outbreaks and modeling disease epidemic progression, and increases our ability to control diseases and reduce the harm they cause. One factor that can strongly influence infection probability and virulence is the presence of other pathogens. However, while coexposures and coinfections are incredibly common, we still have only a limited understanding of how pathogen interactions alter infection outcomes or whether their impacts are scale dependent. We used a system of one host and two pathogens to show that sequential coinfection can have a tremendous impact on the host and the infecting pathogens and that the outcome of (co-)infection can be negative or positive depending on the focal organization level.
Surface hydrophilicity promotes bacterial twitching motility
Authors: O'Hara Megan T. , Shimozono Tori M. , Dye Keane J. , Harris David , Yang Zhaomin
Published: August 2024

Twitching motility is a form of bacterial surface translocation powered by the type IV pilus (T4P). It is frequently analyzed by interstitial colony expansion between agar and the polystyrene surfaces of petri dishes. In such assays, the twitching motility of
Acinetobacter nosocomialis
was observed with MacConkey but not Luria-Bertani (LB) agar media. One difference between these two media is the presence of bile salts as a selective agent in MacConkey but not in LB. Here, we demonstrate that the addition of bile salts to LB allowed
A. nosocomialis
to display twitching. Similarly, bile salts enhanced the twitching of
Acinetobacter baumannii
and
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
in LB. These observations suggest that there is a common mechanism, whereby bile salts enhance bacterial twitching and promote interstitial colony expansion. Bile salts disrupt lipid membranes and apply envelope stress as detergents. Surprisingly, their stimulatory effect on twitching appears not to be related to a bacterial physiological response to stressors. Rather, it is due to their ability to alter the physicochemical properties of a twitching surface. We observed that while other detergents promoted twitching like bile salts, stresses applied by antibiotics, including the outer membrane-targeting polymyxin B, did not enhance twitching motility. More importantly, bacteria displayed increased twitching on hydrophilic surfaces such as those of glass and tissue culture-treated polystyrene plastics, and bile salts no longer stimulated twitching on these surfaces. Together, our results show that altering the hydrophilicity of a twitching surface significantly impacts T4P functionality.

IMPORTANCE

The bacterial type IV pilus (T4P) is a critical virulence factor for many medically important pathogens, some of which are prioritized by the World Health Organization for their high levels of antibiotic resistance. The T4P is known to propel bacterial twitching motility, the analysis of which provides a convenient assay for T4P functionality. Here, we show that bile salts and other detergents augment the twitching of multiple bacterial pathogens. We identified the underlying mechanism as the alteration of surface hydrophilicity by detergents. Consequently, hydrophilic surfaces like those of glass or plasma-treated polystyrene promote bacterial twitching, bypassing the requirement for detergents. The implication is that surface properties, such as those of tissues and medical implants, significantly impact the functionality of bacterial T4P as a virulence determinant. This offers valuable insights for developing countermeasures against the colonization and infection by bacterial pathogens of critical importance to human health on a global scale.
Milteforan, a promising veterinary commercial product against feline sporotrichosis
Authors: García Carnero Laura C. , Pinzan Camila Figueiredo , Diehl Camila , de Castro Patricia Alves , Pontes Lais , Rodrigues Anderson Messias , dos Reis Thaila F. , Goldman Gustavo H.
Published: August 2024

Sporotrichosis, the cutaneous mycosis most commonly reported in Latin America, is caused by the
Sporothrix
clinical clade species, including
Sporothrix brasiliensis
and
Sporothrix schenckii sensu stricto
. Due to its zoonotic transmission in Brazil,
S. brasiliensis
represents a significant health threat to humans and domestic animals. Itraconazole, terbinafine, and amphotericin B are the most used antifungals for treating sporotrichosis. However, many strains of
S. brasiliensis
and
S. schenckii
have shown resistance to these agents, highlighting the importance of finding new therapeutic options. Here, we demonstrate that milteforan, a commercial veterinary product against dog leishmaniasis, whose active principle is miltefosine, is a possible therapeutic alternative for the treatment of sporotrichosis, as observed by its fungicidal activity
in vitro
against different strains of
S. brasiliensis
and
S. schenckii
. Fluorescent miltefosine localizes to the
Sporothrix
cell membrane and mitochondria and causes cell death through increased permeabilization. Milteforan decreases
S. brasiliensis
fungal burden in A549 pulmonary cells and bone marrow-derived macrophages and also has an immunomodulatory effect by decreasing TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10 production. Our results suggest milteforan as a possible alternative to treat feline sporotrichosis.

IMPORTANCE

Sporotrichosis is an endemic disease in Latin America caused by different species of Sporothrix. This fungus can infect domestic animals, mainly cats and eventually dogs, as well as humans. Few drugs are available to treat this disease, such as itraconazole, terbinafine, and amphotericin B, but resistance to these agents has risen in the last few years. Alternative new therapeutic options to treat sporotrichosis are essential. Here, we propose milteforan, a commercial veterinary product against dog leishmaniasis, whose active principle is miltefosine, as a possible therapeutic alternative for treating sporotrichosis. Milteforan decreases
S. brasiliensis
fungal burden in human and mouse cells and has an immunomodulatory effect by decreasing several cytokine production.
Multicenter study of the performance of NTM Elite agar for the detection of nontuberculous mycobacteria from patients with cystic fibrosis
Authors: André Emmanuel , Lorent Natalie , Beuselinck Kurt , Deiwick Susanne , Dupont Lieven , Gafsi Johanne , Laenen Lies , Raymaekers Lise , Van Bleyenbergh Pascal , Perry John D. , Kahl Barbara C.
Published: August 2024

The performance of a novel selective agar was evaluated against the performance of conventional mycobacterial cultures, i.e., a combination of the mycobacterial growth indicator tube (MGIT) with Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ), for the detection of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in sputum samples from people with cystic fibrosis (pwCF). Two hundred eighty-three sputum samples (231 fresh sputum and 52 spiked sputum) from 143 pwCF were collected. They were inoculated without prior decontamination on NTM Elite agar (30°C ± 2°C for 28 days) and inoculated on both MGIT and LJ (35°C–37°C for 6–8 weeks) after N-acetyl-L-cysteine-2% sodium hydroxide decontamination. NTM were identified by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization/Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry and/or PCR, and whole-genome sequencing. A total of 67 NTM were recovered overall by the combination of all culture media. NTM Elite agar allowed the recovery of 65 NTM (97%), compared to 22 for the conventional MGIT and LJ media combination (32.8%), including 22 NTM for MGIT (32.8%) and 3 NTM with the LJ medium (4.5%). For
Mycobacterium abscessus
complex, the sensitivity of NTM Elite agar was 95% compared with a sensitivity of 30% for the conventional MGIT and LJ media combination. Overall, 17.3% of cultures on NTM Elite agar were contaminated with other micro-organisms vs 46.3% on MGIT and 77% on LJ. This study shows that the novel selective agar (NTM Elite agar) significantly outperforms the conventional MGIT and LJ media combination in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, and ease of culture, without the requirement of an L3 laboratory.

IMPORTANCE

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are significant pulmonary pathogens in patients with pre-existing structural lung conditions such as cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Mycobacterium avium
complex and
Mycobacterium abscessus
complex (MABSC) are the most frequently isolated organisms. Compared to the recommended culture method for NTM, which combines solid and liquid culture media, NTM Elite agar enables a faster/easier diagnosis and speeds up identification and susceptibility testing as the final reading is at 28 days instead of 6–8 weeks for the conventional mycobacterial cultures. In addition, for the NTM Elite agar, no decontamination stage before inoculation is necessary, unlike the conventional mycobacterial cultures. NTM Elite agar is derived from a formulation of medium adapted to rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM). The medium enables the growth of RGM while suppressing other flora. It is supported with published clinical data showing the benefits of this medium.
Barriers and enablers encountered by elite athletes during preconception and pregnancy: a mixed-methods systematic review
Authors: Titova Jasmine , Davenport Margie H , Humphrys Alexandra , Hayman Melanie
Published: August 2024

Objective

To synthesise the existing literature relating to barriers and enablers encountered by elite athletes during preconception and pregnancy for the purpose of identifying key recommendations and actionable steps to inform the development of pregnancy guidelines to support preconception and pregnancy in national sporting organisations.

Design

Mixed-methods systematic review with thematic analysis.

Data sources

Four databases (Medline, SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO and CINAHL) were systematically searched to identify relevant studies, along with reference lists of included studies until 3 April 2023.

Eligibility criteria

Peer-reviewed primary studies from any date, language and location which identify at least one barrier and/or enabler encountered by elite female athletes during preconception and/or pregnancy were included. Grey literature, books, conference papers and other reviews were excluded.

Results

A total of 29 studies met the eligibility criteria for inclusion. The most common barriers identified were attitudes, perceptions and beliefs of the athlete and society, lack of support provided by sports organisations and lack of evidence-based information available. The most common enablers were specific strategies used by athletes (eg, modified training) to manage the demands of preconception and pregnancy, attitudes, perceptions and beliefs of the athlete, and support of family.

Conclusion

Key recommendations developed from the results are for sporting organisations to (1) develop clear, transparent and multifaceted policies to support preconception and pregnancy; (2) foster supportive environments which offer flexible training, social support and positive promotion of pregnant athletes and (3) provide clear, evidence-based education and information about preconception and pregnancy to athletes, coaches, support staff and organisational staff.
Quantum engineering for compactly localized states in disordered Lieb lattices
Authors: Danieli Carlo , Liu Jie , Römer Rudolf A.
Published: August 2024

Blending ordering within an uncorrelated disorder potential in families of 3D Lieb lattices preserves the macroscopic degeneracy of compact localized states and yields unconventional combinations of localized and delocalized phases—as shown in Liu et al. (Phys Rev B 106:214204, 2022). We proceed to reintroduce translation invariance in the system by further ordering the disorder, and discuss the spectral structure and eigenstates features of the resulting perturbed lattices. We restore order in steps by first (i) rendering the disorder binary—i.e., yielding a randomized checkerboard potential, then (ii) reordering the randomized checkerboard into an ordered one, and at last (iii) realigning all the checkerboard values yielding a constant potential shift, but only on a sub-lattice. Along this path, we test the influence of additional random impurities on the order restoration. We find that in each of these steps, about half of the dispersive states are projected upon the unperturbed sites hosting the degenerate compact states, while the remaining ones are localized in the perturbed sites with energy determined by the strength of checkerboard. This strategy, herewith implemented in the 3D Lieb lattice, highlights order restoration as experimental pathway to engineer spectral and states features in disordered lattice structures in the pursuit of quantum storage and memory applications.

Graphic abstract
Equivalence Principle and Machian origin of extended gravity
Authors: Benedetto Elmo , Corda Christian , Licata Ignazio
Published: August 2024

Chae’s analyses on GAIA observations of wide binary stars have fortified the paradigm of extended gravity with particular attention to MOND-like theories. We recall that, starting from the origin of Einstein’s general relativity, the request of Mach on the structure of the theory has been the core of the foundational debate. This issue is strictly connected with the nature of the mass–energy equivalence. This was exactly the key point that Einstein used to derive the same general relativity. On the other hand, the current requirements of particle physics and the open questions within extended gravity theories, which have recently been further strengthened by the analyses of GAIA observations, request a better understanding of the Equivalence Principle. By considering a direct coupling between the Ricci curvature scalar and the matter Lagrangian, a nongeodesic ratio between the inertial and gravitational masses can be fixed and MOND-like theories are retrieved at low energies.
On weak existence of solutions of degenerate McKean–Vlasov equations
Authors: Veretennikov Alexander
Published: August 2024

A new weak existence result for degenerate multi-dimensional stochastic McKean–Vlasov equation is established under relaxed regularity conditions.
A Review on Microwave-assisted Green Synthesis of Metallic Nanostructures Using Plant-Based Extract
Authors: Upadhyay Sanjay Kumar , Varma Vishant , Pundhir Devbrat
Published: August 2024

Nanotechnology is a field of science that deals with manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular level, on a scale of one billionth of a meter. This review paper highlights using a microwave-assisted green approach to synthesize metallic nanostructures in a smaller, finer and cost-effective manner using metallic salt and plant-based extract solutions. The metallic salt solution acts as a reaction precursor, while the plant-based extract is a capping, reducing and stabilizing agent. This process can synthesize various metallic nanostructures and metal oxide nanocomposites, including silver, nickel, copper, sulphur, iron, etc. Synthetic nanostructures have numerous applications due to their small size and large surface area-to-volume ratio. They act as catalysts, anticancer, antibacterial, electro-catalytic, phytochemical, physiochemical and antimicrobial agents. These synthesized nanostructures are characterized using various microscopic instruments such as SEM, TEM, UV-Vis, XRD, FTIR, XPS, DLS and others.
CAPM in Real World: Risk-Friendly Investments
Authors: Floros Christos , Kountzakis Christos , Alghalith Moawia
Published: August 2024

The aim of this paper is to show how the existence of equilibrium in CAPM may be obtained when individuals/investors are risk friendly. This assumption is closer to the real world, since risk aversion is rare and the portfolios implying a greater payoff are the ones which increase the variance of the payoff itself. Specifically, we assume that the wage vectors of the individuals/investors do not lie in the market space, which is the usual assumption for CAPM, namely, the payoff of any portfolio is replicated by the wage of the individuals/investors. The interpretation of such an assumption is that the wealth of the individuals/investors may not invest in financial markets as a whole. The second main result is that the perception of risk by the objective probabilities for the states of the world does not affect the equilibrium existence. This is a consequence of the No-Arbitrage assumption. This condition may be stated in terms of the existence of the objective probabilities for the states of the world. Since CAPM is usually considered as a way to compare the return of the so-called “market portfolio” and the return of any other portfolio, in the final section of this paper, we do provide the regression form of this altered form of CAPM.
Cretaceous stratigraphy in the Songliao Basin, NE China
Authors: Xi Dangpeng , Wu Huaichun , Li Gang , Gao Yuan , Ning Yafeng , Xiao Ziyuan , Zhou Zihan , Zheng Qianyu , Meng Xinyu , Shi Zhongye , Huang Qinghua , Sames Benjamin , Wan Xiaoqiao
Published: August 2024

The Songliao Basin is one of the largest non-marine oil- and gas-bearing basins that developed during the Cretaceous period, recording an almost complete Cretaceous stratigraphy. With oil and gas exploration, as well as the Continental Scientific Drilling Project of Cretaceous Songliao Basin (CCSD-SK) (2006–21), significant progress has been made on the stratigraphy of the Songliao Basin. The Songliao Basin is therefore important for understanding the non-marine Cretaceous system. Based on lithostratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, geochronology, magnetostratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy, a comprehensive stratigraphical framework of the Songliao Basin has been established in this study. The Lower Cretaceous strata (Hauterivian–Albian) of the basin are dominated by volcanic–sedimentary deposits, while the lower-middle Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian mid-Campanian) strata are dominated by lacustrine deposits. The upper Upper Cretaceous strata (late Campanian–Maastrichtian) are dominated by fluvial–lacustrine deposits. Fossils are very abundant in the Songliao Basin, and three biotas – the Jehol Biota
sensu lato
, the Songhuajiang Biota and the Mingshui Biota – are recognized in the Songliao Basin. Furthermore, several important geological events, such as lake anoxic events, seawater incursion events and the K/Pg boundary extinction events are all recorded in the Songliao Basin.
VERICONDOR: End-to-End Verifiable Condorcet Voting with support for Strict Preference and Indifference
Authors: Harrison Luke , Bag Samiran , Luo Hang , Hao Feng
Published: August 2024

Condorcet voting is widely regarded as one of the most important voting systems in social choice theory. However, it has seen little adoption in practice, due to complex tallying and the need to break ties when there is a Condorcet cycle. Several online Condorcet voting systems have been developed to perform digital tallying and tie-breaking procedures, but they require voters to completely trust the server. Additionally, many end-to-end (E2E) verifiable e-voting systems require trustworthy authorities to perform complex decryption and tallying operations. We propose VERICONDOR, the first E2E verifibbolable Condorcet e-voting system without tallying authorities. VERICONDOR allows a voter to fully verify the tallying integrity by themselves while providing strong protection of ballot secrecy. We present novel zero-knowledge proof techniques to prove the well-formedness of an encrypted ballot with exceptional efficiency. VERICONDOR supports ranking candidates with strict preference, as well as indifference. The computational cost is exceptionally efficient for strict preferences at

\(\mathcal{O}(n^{2})\)

per ballot for

\(n\)

candidates, while remaining practical for indifferences at

\(\mathcal{O}(n^{3})\)

. In the case of ties, we show how to apply known Condorcet methods to break them in a publicly verifiable manner. Finally, we present a proof of concept implementation and evaluate its performance.
I Am Disabled but Not 'Impaired'
Authors: Sharif Ather
Published: August 2024

The
Interactions
website (interactions.acm.org) hosts a stable of bloggers who share insights and observations on HCI, often challenging current practices. Each issue we'll publish selected posts from some of the leading and emerging voices in the field.
Designing with Community Health Workers in Latin America
Authors: Espinoza Fernanda , Re Marco Da , Calvo Rafael A.
Published: August 2024

Community + Culture features practitioner perspectives on designing technologies for and with communities. We highlight compelling projects and provocative points of view that speak to both community technology practice and the interaction design field as a whole.
--- Sheena Erete, Editor
Heterogeneous Network Motif Coding, Counting, and Profiling
Authors: Yu Shuo , Xia Feng , Chen Honglong , Lee Ivan , Chi Lianhua , Tong Hanghang
Published: August 2024

Network motifs, as a fundamental higher-order structure in large-scale networks, have received significant attention over recent years. Particularly in heterogeneous networks, motifs offer a higher capacity to uncover diverse information compared to homogeneous networks. However, the structural complexity and heterogeneity pose challenges in coding, counting, and profiling heterogeneous motifs. This work addresses these challenges by first introducing a novel heterogeneous motif coding method, adaptable to homogeneous motifs as well. Building upon this coding framework, we then propose GIFT, a heterogeneous network motif counting algorithm. GIFT effectively leverages combined structures of heterogeneous motifs through three key procedures: neighborhood searching, motif combination, and redundant motif filtering. We apply GIFT to count three-order and four-order motifs across eight distinct heterogeneous networks. Subsequently, we profile these detected motifs using four classical motif-based indicators. Experimental results demonstrate that by appropriately selecting motifs tailored to specific networks, heterogeneous motifs emerge as significant features in characterizing the underlying network structure.
FPGA-Based Sparse Matrix Multiplication Accelerators: From State-of-the-Art to Future Opportunities
Authors: Liu Yajing , Chen Ruiqi , Li Shuyang , Yang Jing , Li Shun , da Silva Bruno
Published: August 2024

Sparse matrix multiplication (SpMM) plays a critical role in high-performance computing applications, such as deep learning, image processing, and physical simulation. Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), with their configurable hardware resources, can be tailored to accelerate SpMMs. There has been considerable research on deploying sparse matrix multipliers across various FPGA platforms. However, the FPGA-based design of sparse matrix multipliers still presents numerous challenges. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize and organize the current work to provide a reference for further research. This article first introduces the computational method of SpMM and categorizes the different challenges of FPGA deployment. Following this, we introduce and analyze a variety of state-of-the-art FPGA-based accelerators tailored for SpMMs. In addition, a comparative analysis of these accelerators is performed, examining metrics including compression rate, throughput, and resource utilization. Finally, we propose potential research directions and challenges for further study of FPGA-based SpMM accelerators.
Placement Flow Study and Detailed Placement for Hybrid-Row-Height Designs
Authors: Fang Wei-Kai , Mak Wai-Kei
Published: August 2024

At the 3 nm node, a hybrid-row-height design paradigm has emerged for better power efficiency and performance optimization. A diverse cell library that includes multiple variants of a cell with different fin counts is available. Instead of using cells with the same fin count for the entire chip, a design may combine cells with two different fin counts. Cells with the same fin count can be laid down in the same row resulting in a chip with hybrid row heights. With this brand-new design paradigm, revisiting and revamping the conventional VLSI placement flow becomes necessary. There were attempts that addressed the placement problem associated with hybrid-row-height design at the global placement stage or the placement legalization stage. In this work, we first propose an effective detailed placement approach suitable for hybrid-row-height designs and then conduct a comprehensive study to evaluate the different options of forming a complete hybrid-row-height design placement flow. For the first time, the advantage of considering the row configuration early on in the global placement stage is confirmed. Besides, our proposed detailed placement approach can improve the final half-perimeter wirelength by over 7% on average which more than double the improvement obtainable by a basic detailed placement algorithm similar to the well-known FastDP.
A Spatial-Temporal Aggregated Graph Neural Network for Docked Bike-sharing Demand Forecasting
Authors: Feng Jiahui , Liu Hefu , Zhou Jingmei , Zhou Yang
Published: August 2024

Predicting the number of rented and returned bikes at each station is crucial for operators to proactively manage shared bike relocation. Although existing research has proposed spatial-temporal prediction models that significantly advance traffic prediction, these models often neglect the unique characteristics of shared bike systems (BSS). Spatially, the entire bike-sharing system (BSS) experiences peak activity during morning and evening rush hours, whereas, during other periods, activity is localized to local stations, with some recording no rides, highlighting the need to distinguish between global and local spatial information across different times. Temporally, the historical riding records for each station exhibit non-stationary patterns, necessitating the analysis of both global trends and local fluctuations. Existing Graph Neural Network (GNN) approaches to predicting shared bike demand primarily capture static spatial-temporal data and fail to account for the dynamic nature of bike flows. Moreover, these studies focus on global spatial-temporal information without considering local nuances, making it challenging to capture spatiotemporal dynamics in fluctuating BSS. To address these challenges, we introduce the Spatial-Temporal Aggregated Graph Neural Network (STAGNN). Our model first constructs a dynamic adjacent matrix to describe the evolving connections between stations, followed by local and global information layers to capture spatial-temporal information from large-scale shared bike networks accurately. Our methodology has been validated through experiments on four real-world datasets, comparing it against benchmark models to demonstrate superior prediction accuracy. Additionally, we conduct extended experiments on four datasets during the morning and evening rush hours, and the results also affirm the efficacy of the STAGNN in enhancing prediction performance.
Cuckoo Search Optimization-Based Influence Maximization in Dynamic Social Networks
Authors: Kumar Meena Sunil , Sheshar Singh Shashank , Singh Kuldeep
Published: August 2024

Online social networks are crucial in propagating information and exerting influence through word-of-mouth transmission. Influence maximization (IM) is the fundamental task in social network analysis to find the group of nodes that maximizes the influence in the social network. IM has different applications like viral marketing, campaigning, advertising, and so on. Literature has presented various algorithms based on different approaches to address the IM problem, including nature-inspired algorithms. Most of the work focuses on the static social network. The proposed work first employs nature-inspired Cuckoo Search Optimization to solve the IM problem in dynamic networks. The proposed algorithm applies the fuzzy-logic-based technique to optimize the nests. We also perform statistical tests to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm with the benchmark algorithms. The experimental results are performed on five datasets and compare the results with the state-of-the-art algorithms. The results show that the proposed algorithm gives better results than the nature-inspired state-of-the-art algorithms.
Understanding Biases in ChatGPT-based Recommender Systems: Provider Fairness, Temporal Stability, and Recency
Authors: Deldjoo Yashar
Published: August 2024

This paper explores the biases inherent in ChatGPT-based recommender systems, focusing on provider fairness (item-side fairness). Through extensive experiments and over a thousand API calls, we investigate the impact of prompt design strategies—including structure, system role, and intent—on evaluation metrics such as provider fairness, catalog coverage, temporal stability, and recency. The first experiment examines these strategies in
classical top-K recommendations,
while the second evaluates
sequential in-context learning (ICL
).

In the first experiment, we assess seven distinct prompt scenarios on top-K recommendation accuracy and fairness. Accuracy-oriented prompts, like Simple and Chain-of-Thought (COT), outperform diversification prompts, which, despite enhancing temporal freshness, reduce accuracy by up to 50%. Embedding fairness into system roles, such as “act as a fair recommender”, proved more effective than fairness directives within prompts. We also found that diversification prompts led to recommending newer movies, offering broader genre distribution compared to traditional collaborative filtering (CF) models. The system showed high consistency across multiple runs.

The second experiment explores sequential ICL, comparing zero-shot and few-shot learning scenarios. Results indicate that including user demographic information in prompts affects model biases and stereotypes. However, ICL did not consistently improve item fairness and catalog coverage over zero-shot learning. Zero-shot learning achieved higher NDCG and coverage, while ICL-2 showed slight improvements in hit rate (HR) when age-group context was included. Overall, our study provides insights into biases of RecLLMs, particularly in provider fairness and catalog coverage. By examining prompt design, learning strategies, and system roles, we highlight the potential and challenges of integrating large language models into recommendation systems, paving the way for future research. Further details can be found at https://github.com/yasdel/Benchmark_RecLLM_Fairness.
Exploring Substituted Tetrazoloquinazoline: Biological Activities, Molecular Docking Analysis, and Anti‐Breast Cancer MCF7/HER2 Effects
Authors: Frimayanti Neni , Ikhtiarudin Ihsan , Dona Rahma , Oktarizal Rahul , Nurfatimah Aprilia Cindy
Published: August 2024

Breast cancer is a condition where breast tissue cells grow uncontrollably. Various natural and synthesized compounds, such as quinazoline, have been studied for their potential as anticancer agents. Quinazoline derivatives have shown diverse bioactivities, including antimalarial, antifungal, antimicrobial, and anticancer properties. This research aims to synthesize substituted tetrazoloquinazoline and evaluate its potential as an anticancer agent using molecular docking studies with the Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) software. Furthermore, molecular dynamic was also performed to analyze the binding stability of this protein‐ligand complex. Additionally, the physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties of quinazoline compounds were assessed using the website https://www.swissadme.ch. The cytotoxic activity of the compounds was evaluated using the MTT assay. The docking results revealed that substituted tetrazoloquinazoline exhibited a significantly different range of binding free energy compared to the positive control. Moreover, the substituted tetrazoloquinazoline compounds comply with Lipinski’s Rule of Five (Ro5), indicating that they are easily absorbable and have good permeability. The cytotoxic activity of the compounds was found to have an IC50 value of >1000 ppm, classifying them as noncytotoxic. It therefore paved the way for the discovery of promising next‐generation drugs against breast cancer.
Characteristic Analysis and Modeling of Train‐to‐Train Wireless Channel in Station Scenario
Authors: Liu Yingfei , Xiong Lei , Fei Dan , Liu Rui , Habte Endale Legesse
Published: August 2024

In this paper, ray tracing (RT) is used to analyze the characteristics of train‐to‐train (T2T) wireless channel in 2.1 GHz frequency band, including path loss, multipath clustering, delay spread, Rice factor, angular spread, and channel nonstationarity. It is found that the change of environment has a great influence on the characteristics of the wireless channel, which not only causes the birth and death of multipath clusters but also makes the channel appear nonstationary characteristics. In order to characterize the nonstationarity of the T2T wireless channel, we introduce the time correlation coefficient (TPCC) of the power delay profile (PDP), analyze the nonstationarity of the T2T wireless channel, and give the quasi‐stationarity distance. The results are basically consistent with the measured data.
Controlled Inhalation of Tetrahydrocannabinol-Predominant Cannabis Flos Mitigates Severity of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms and Improves Quality of Sleep and General Mood in Cannabis-Experienced UK Civilians: A Real-World, Observational Study
Authors: Sultan Waseem , Madiedo Alvaro , Moreno-Sanz Guillermo
Published: August 2024

Introduction: Approximately 4% of the UK population experiences PTSD. Individuals must exhibit symptoms across four clusters to receive a diagnosis: intrusion, avoidance, altered reactivity, and altered mood. Evidence suggests that cannabinoid agonists such as nabilone and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may alleviate PTSD symptoms. We investigated the safety and effectiveness of THC-predominant cannabis flowers for inhalation to manage PTSD symptoms in a real-world setting. Methods: We analysed data from the UK patient registry, T21. Validated questionnaires were used to collect PROMs for health-related quality of life (HRQoL), mood/anxiety, sleep, and PTSD-specific symptoms. Inclusion criteria were (i) a confirmed diagnosis of PTSD, (ii) completed PROMs questionnaires at baseline and at the 3-month follow-up, and (iii) received a prescription for a chemotype 1 (THC-predominant) cannabis flower. Results: Fifty-eight patients were included, 34 of which also had PROMs recorded at 6 months. Most were males (65.5%) with an average age of 39.2 years who had previously used cannabis illicitly (95.6%). At 3 months, participants reported significant improvements in overall health, mood, and sleep quality (p < 0.001) but not in the proxy for HRQoL (p = 0.052). Similarly, participants reported substantial benefits in managing intrusion symptoms (p < 0.001), mood alterations (p < 0.001), and reactivity alterations (p = 0.002), which were sustained or further improved at 6 months. Participants did not report any side effects associated with CBMPs. Conclusions: Inhalation of THC is well tolerated and useful for managing symptoms of PTSD in cannabis-experienced individuals. However, further research is needed to evaluate the long-term safety and outcomes of controlled inhalation of CBMP in patients naïve to cannabis.
Utility of Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration in a Paediatric Population: A Single-Centre Experience
Authors: Bashir Shaarif , Loya Asif , Hussain Mudassar , Sheikh Umer Nisar , Maqbool Hina , Yusuf Muhammed Aasim
Published: August 2024

Introduction: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) is a modern and minimally invasive technique to acquire diagnostic material from within the gastrointestinal tract, as well as from adjacent organs and structures, which can help in the diagnosis and staging of a variety of gastrointestinal malignancies, as well as for non-malignant conditions. Though well described in adults, there is limited literature on the diagnostic utility of EUS-FNA in paediatric patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy and clinical utility of EUS-FNA in paediatric patients performed at our centre over the last 17 years. Materials and Methods: After obtaining Institutional Review Board approval, 63 cases of paediatric EUS-FNA performed at SKMCH&RC from 2005 to 2022 were retrieved. A 22-gauge EUS-FNA needle was used for obtaining samples with the use of suction (when required). The sample was then smeared onto glass slides, with half being stained with RAPI stain while the rest with the Papanicolaou stain. Demographic details, indication for the procedure, results of rapid on-site adequacy status (ROSE), site of lesion, and cytological diagnosis were reviewed and analysed. Results: Of the 63 patients, 55 (87.3%) had an adequate sample (confirmed on ROSE). Forty-two (66.7%) were male and the mean age was 12.4 years. The most frequent indication of EUS-FNA was a sampling of enlarged lymph nodes (74.6%). The most common sites of nodal aspiration were sub-carinal (33.3%) and celiac lymph nodes (14.3%). EUS-FNA of a pancreatic lesion accounted for an additional 17.5% of cases. Involvement by Hodgkin’s lymphoma was the most common diagnosis (25.4%) followed by granulomatous inflammation (19.1%). Cases of solid pseudo-papillary tumour (4.8%) and recurrent Wilm’s tumour (3.2%) were also diagnosed. No patient suffered complications, and none required hospital admission, post-procedure. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of EUS-FNA were 98.1, 83.3, 96.4, and 90.9%, respectively. Conclusion: EUS-FNA is a safe, well-tolerated, minimally invasive outpatient setting procedure with high sensitivity and significant utility in the diagnosis and staging of disease.
Classification of Premature Ventricular Contractions in Athletes During Routine Preparticipation Exams
Authors: Gomez Sofia E. , Perez Marco V. , Wheeler Matthew T. , Hadley David , Hwang Calvin E. , Kussman Andrea , Kim Daniel S. , Froelicher Victor
Published: August 2024

BACKGROUND:

Large-scale data on incidental premature ventricular contraction (PVC) prevalence and morphologies have been lacking, leaving many providers without guidance on further cardiac testing for patients with incidental PVCs on ECG. Athletes offer an intriguing cohort to understand the clinical significance, prevalence, and common morphologies of incidental PVCs because they often undergo ECG screening during preparticipation exams.

METHODS:

Digital ECGs were obtained from 10 728 screened athletes aged 14 to 35 years during mass screenings in schools and professional sports teams between 2014 and 2021. A retrospective analysis of ECGs with PVCs was performed using the simultaneous display of frontal (limb) and horizontal (precordial) plane leads. PVCs were coded for morphology and categorized as benign or nonbenign using recommended criteria.

RESULTS:

Twenty-six athletes (0.24%) were found to have at least 1 PVC. Among these, 50% were female, 65% were White, 8% were Asian, 4% were Hispanic, and 23% were Black. Nineteen of the 26 (73%) ECGs had PVCs with a left bundle branch block pattern compared with 7 (27%) with a right bundle branch block pattern. Twenty-four ECGs (96%) had PVCs with benign patterns, including 18 with right ventricular outflow tract, 5 with left anterior fascicle, and 2 with left posterior fascicle morphology.

CONCLUSIONS:

There is a low prevalence of PVCs on routine ECG screening of young athletes, and most PVCs are of benign morphology in this population. This study highlights the value of using digital ECG recorders with simultaneous lead display to guide decision-making about further cardiac testing and referrals in young athletes with PVCs. Using our results and review of the literature, we propose methods and algorithms of PVC evaluation on screening ECGs to help guide many providers with risk stratification and decision-making about further cardiac testing and electrophysiology referrals in young athletes with PVCs.
Auditing citation polarization during the early COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: You Taekho , Lee June Young , Park Jinseo , Yun Jinhyuk
Published: August 2024

The recent pandemic stimulated scientists to publish a significant amount of research that created a surge of citations of COVID-19-related publications in a short time, leading to an abrupt inflation of the journal impact factor (IF). By auditing the complete set of COVID-19-related publications in the Web of Science, we reveal here that COVID-19-related research worsened the polarization of academic journals: The IF before the pandemic was proportional to the increment of IF, which had the effect of increasing inequality while retaining the journal rankings. We also found that the most highly cited studies related to COVID-19 were published in prestigious journals at the onset of the epidemic. Through the present quantitative investigation, our findings caution against the belief that quantitative metrics, particularly IF, can indicate the significance of individual papers. Rather, such metrics reflect the social attention given to a particular study.