bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Adhesion to laminin-1 and collagen IV induces the formation of Ca
2+
microdomains that sensitize mouse T cells for activation
Authors: Weiß Mariella , Hernandez Lola C. , Gil Montoya Diana C. , Löhndorf Anke , Krüger Aileen , Kopdag Miriam , Uebler Liana , Landwehr Marie , Nawrocki Mikolaj , Huber Samuel , Woelk Lena-Marie , Werner René , Failla Antonio V. , Flügel Alexander , Dupont Geneviève , Guse Andreas H. , Diercks Björn-Philipp
Published: June 2023

During an immune response, T cells migrate from blood vessel walls into inflamed tissues by migrating across the endothelium and through extracellular matrix (ECM). Integrins facilitate T cell binding to endothelial cells and ECM proteins. Here, we report that Ca
2+
microdomains observed in the absence of T cell receptor (TCR)/CD3 stimulation are initial signaling events triggered by adhesion to ECM proteins that increase the sensitivity of primary murine T cells to activation. Adhesion to the ECM proteins collagen IV and laminin-1 increased the number of Ca
2+
microdomains in a manner dependent on the kinase FAK, phospholipase C (PLC), and all three inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP
3
R) subtypes and promoted the nuclear translocation of the transcription factor NFAT-1. Mathematical modeling predicted that the formation of adhesion-dependent Ca
2+
microdomains required the concerted activity of two to six IP
3
Rs and ORAI1 channels to achieve the increase in the Ca
2+
concentration in the ER–plasma membrane junction that was observed experimentally and that required SOCE. Further, adhesion-dependent Ca
2+
microdomains were important for the magnitude of the TCR-induced activation of T cells on collagen IV as assessed by the global Ca
2+
response and NFAT-1 nuclear translocation. Thus, adhesion to collagen IV and laminin-1 sensitizes T cells through a mechanism involving the formation of Ca
2+
microdomains, and blocking this low-level sensitization decreases T cell activation upon TCR engagement.
A Chemically Defined Medium That Supports Mycotoxin Production by Stachybotrys chartarum Enabled Analysis of the Impact of Nitrogen and Carbon Sources on the Biosynthesis of Macrocyclic Trichothecenes and Stachybotrylactam
Authors: Tribelhorn Katharina , Twarużek Magdalena , Kosicki Robert , Straubinger Reinhard K. , Ebel Frank , Ulrich Sebastian
Published: June 2023

Macrocyclic trichothecenes (MTs) are highly toxic secondary metabolites that are produced by certainStachybotrys chartarumstrains, which consequently pose a risk for animals and humans. To identify hazardous, toxin-producing strains by analytical means, it is important to grow them under conditions that support MT production.
DNA Transport through the Dynamic Type IV Secretion System
Authors: Ryan Mackenzie E. , Damke Prashant P. , Shaffer Carrie L.
Published: June 2023

The versatile type IV secretion system (T4SS) nanomachine plays a pivotal role in bacterial pathogenesis and the propagation of antibiotic resistance determinants throughout microbial populations. In addition to paradigmatic DNA conjugation machineries, diverse T4SSs enable the delivery of multifarious effector proteins to target prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, mediate DNA export and uptake from the extracellular milieu, and in rare examples, facilitate transkingdom DNA translocation.
Escherichia coli ST131 Associated with Increased Mortality in Bloodstream Infections from Urinary Tract Source
Authors: Brumwell Amanda , Sutton Granger , Lantos Paul M. , Hoffman Kate , Ruffin Felicia , Brinkac Lauren , Clarke Thomas H. , Adams Mark D. , Fowler Vance G. , Fouts Derrick E. , Thaden Joshua T.
Published: June 2023

Escherichia coli
sequence type 131 (ST131) is a globally dominant multidrug-resistant clone, although its clinical impact on patients with bloodstream infection (BSI) is incompletely understood. This study aims to further define the risk factors, clinical outcomes, and bacterial genetics associated with ST131 BSI.
Short-Chain Fatty Acids Alleviate Vancomycin-Caused Humoral Immunity Attenuation in Rabies-Vaccinated Mice by Promoting the Generation of Plasma Cells via Akt-mTOR Pathway
Authors: Wu Qiong , Zhang Yachun , Wang Caiqian , Hou Yarong , He Wenna , Wang Lingli , Xiong Jingyi , Ren Zeheng , Wang Haoran , Sui Baokun , Zhou Danna , Zhou Ming , Fu Zhen F. , Zhao Ling
Published: June 2023

The gut microbiome plays many crucial roles in the maintenance of immune homeostasis. Alteration of the gut microbiome and metabolites has been shown to impact vaccine efficacy.
Enhanced Virus Translation Enables miR-122-Independent Hepatitis C Virus Propagation
Authors: Panigrahi Mamata , Palmer Michael A. , Wilson Joyce A.
Published: June 2023

The unusual and essential role of miR-122 in promoting HCV propagation is incompletely understood. To better understand its role, we have analyzed HCV mutants capable of replicating independently of miR-122.
A mutation in the coronavirus nsp13-helicase impairs enzymatic activity and confers partial remdesivir resistance
Authors: Grimes Samantha L. , Choi Young J. , Banerjee Anoosha , Small Gabriel , Anderson-Daniels Jordan , Gribble Jennifer , Pruijssers Andrea J. , Agostini Maria L. , Abu-Shmais Alexandra , Lu Xiaotao , Darst Seth A. , Campbell Elizabeth , Denison Mark R.
Published: June 2023

Coronaviruses (CoVs) encode nonstructural proteins 1–16 (nsps 1–16) which form replicase complexes that mediate viral RNA synthesis. Remdesivir (RDV) is an adenosine nucleoside analog antiviral that inhibits CoV RNA synthesis. RDV resistance mutations have been reported only in the nonstructural protein 12 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (nsp12-RdRp). We here show that a substitution mutation in the nsp13-helicase (nsp13-HEL A335V) of the betacoronavirus murine hepatitis virus (MHV) that was selected during passage with the RDV parent compound confers partial RDV resistance independently and additively when expressed with co-selected RDV resistance mutations in the nsp12-RdRp. The MHV A335V substitution did not enhance replication or competitive fitness compared to WT MHV and remained sensitive to the active form of the cytidine nucleoside analog antiviral molnupiravir (MOV). Biochemical analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 helicase encoding the homologous substitution (A336V) demonstrates that the mutant protein retained the ability to associate with the core replication proteins nsps 7, 8, and 12 but had impaired helicase unwinding and ATPase activity. Together, these data identify a novel determinant of nsp13-HEL enzymatic activity, define a new genetic pathway for RDV resistance, and demonstrate the importance of surveillance for and testing of helicase mutations that arise in SARS-CoV-2 genomes.

IMPORTANCE

Despite the development of effective vaccines against COVID-19, the continued circulation and emergence of new variants support the need for antivirals such as RDV. Understanding pathways of antiviral resistance is essential for surveillance of emerging variants, development of combination therapies, and for identifying potential new targets for viral inhibition. We here show a novel RDV resistance mutation in the CoV helicase also impairs helicase functions, supporting the importance of studying the individual and cooperative functions of the replicase nonstructural proteins 7–16 during CoV RNA synthesis. The homologous nsp13-HEL mutation (A336V) has been reported in the GISAID database of SARS-CoV-2 genomes, highlighting the importance of surveillance of and genetic testing for nucleoside analog resistance in the helicase.
Complete Genome Sequencing of a Novel Pseudomonas aeruginosa Phage, UF_RH5
Authors: Hashemi Shahraki Abdolrazagh , Vahed Majid , Dinparastisaleh Roshan , Mirsaeidi Mehdi
Published: June 2023

Here, we introduce UF_RH5, a novel lytic phage targeting clinically isolated
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
. It belongs to the
Siphovirus
morphology family,
Septimatrevirus
genus, with a 42,566-bp genome with a GC content of 53.60%, encoding 58 proteins. Under electron microscopy, UF_RH5 exhibits a length of 121 nm and a capsid size of 45 nm.
Single-spore germination analyses reveal that calcium released during
Clostridioides difficile
germination functions in a feedforward loop
Authors: Ribis John W. , Melo Luana , Shrestha Shailab , Giacalone David , Rodriguez Enrique E. , Shen Aimee , Rohlfing Amy
Published: June 2023

Clostridioides difficile
infections begin when its metabolically dormant spores germinate in response to sensing bile acid germinants alongside amino acid and divalent cation co-germinants in the small intestine. While bile acid germinants are essential for
C. difficile
spore germination, it is currently unclear whether both co-germinant signals are required. One model proposes that divalent cations, particularly Ca
2+
, are essential for inducing germination, while another proposes that either co-germinant class can induce germination. The former model is based on the finding that spores defective in releasing large stores of internal Ca
2+
in the form of calcium dipicolinic acid (CaDPA) cannot germinate when germination is induced with bile acid germinant and amino acid co-germinant alone. However, since the reduced optical density of CaDPA-less spores makes it difficult to accurately measure their germination, we developed a novel automated, time-lapse microscopy-based germination assay to analyze CaDPA mutant germination at the single-spore level. Using this assay, we found that CaDPA mutant spores germinate in the presence of amino acid co-germinant and bile acid germinant. Higher levels of amino acid co-germinants are nevertheless required to induce CaDPA mutant spores to germinate relative to WT spores because CaDPA released by WT spores during germination can function in a feedforward loop to potentiate the germination of other spores within the population. Collectively, these data indicate that Ca
2+
is not essential for inducing
C. difficile
spore germination because amino acid and Ca
2+
co-germinant signals are sensed by parallel signaling pathways.

IMPORTANCE

Clostridioides difficile
spore germination is essential for this major nosocomial pathogen to initiate infection.
C. difficile
spores germinate in response to sensing bile acid germinant signals alongside co-germinant signals. There are two classes of co-germinant signals: Ca
2+
and amino acids. Prior work suggested that Ca
2+
is essential for
C. difficile
spore germination based on bulk population analyses of germinating CaDPA mutant spores. Since these assays rely on optical density to measure spore germination and the optical density of CaDPA mutant spores is reduced relative to WT spores, this bulk assay is limited in its capacity to analyze germination. To overcome this limitation, we developed an automated image analysis pipeline to monitor
C. difficile
spore germination using time-lapse microscopy. With this analysis pipeline, we demonstrate that, although Ca
2+
is dispensable for inducing
C. difficile
spore germination, CaDPA can function in a feedforward loop to potentiate the germination of neighboring spores.
Pharyngeal Communities and Antimicrobial Resistance in Pangolins in Gabon
Authors: Wiethoff Johanna P. , Sandmann Sarah , Theiler Tom , Nze Nkogue Chimene , Akomo-Okoue Etienne-François , Varghese Julian , Kreidenweiss Andrea , Mellmann Alexander , Lell Bertrand , Adegnika Ayôla A. , Held Jana , Schaumburg Frieder
Published: June 2023

There is an ongoing debate if pangolins are a relevant reservoir for viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. Here, we wanted to know if African pangolins are colonized with bacteria that are relevant for human health.
Phages against Noncapsulated Klebsiella pneumoniae: Broader Host range, Slower Resistance
Authors: Lourenço Marta , Osbelt Lisa , Passet Virginie , Gravey François , Megrian Daniela , Strowig Till , Rodrigues Carla , Brisse Sylvain
Published: June 2023

Klebsiella pneumoniae
(Kp) is an ecologically generalist bacterium as well as an opportunistic pathogen that is responsible for hospital-acquired infections and a major contributor to the global burden of antimicrobial resistance. In the last decades, limited advances have been made in the use of virulent phages as alternatives or complements to antibiotics that are used to treat Kp infections.
Comparative Analysis of the Morphological Diversity Structure of Altai Osmans of the Genus Oreoleuciscus (Cyprinidae) in the Riverine Populations of Three Mongolian Water Systems
Authors: Mironovsky A. N. , Slynko E. E.
Published: June 2023

Analysis of the structure of the morphological diversity of the Altai osmans of the genus Oreoleuciscus in the Urt River (water system of the Tes River) indicates that this is a polymorphic population, consisting of three forms, clearly differentiated by a set of characters. The ratio of differences between these forms and forms previously identified in the Zavkhan (water system of the Great Lakes Hollow) and Tuin (water system of the Lake Valley) rivers suggests that the characters considered in the study are adaptively plastic, and the revealed structure of the morphological diversity of the genus is mostly determined by local patterns of environmental conditions.
Rare and unexpected cause for retropharyngeal abscess in an immunocompetent man: metastatic community-acquired methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureusinfection
Authors: Ramesh Venkat , Ganti Sri Ramya , Gattu Santosh , Sharma Ratnamani
Published: June 2023

Staphylococcus aureuscauses clinical diseases ranging from mild skin infections to devastating conditions such as septic shock, endocarditis and osteomyelitis.S. aureusis a common cause of community-acquired bacteraemia. Prolonged bacteraemia may cause metastatic infection, manifesting as endocarditis, osteomyelitis and abscesses. A man in his 20s presented with a short-duration of fever and odynophagia. CT of the neck suggested a retropharyngeal abscess. Retropharyngeal abscesses are typically polymicrobial and caused by resident oral cavity flora. In the hospital, he developed shortness of breath and hypoxia. CT of the chest showed peripheral, subpleural nodular opacities raising suspicion for septic pulmonary emboli. Blood cultures demonstrated the growth of methicillin-resistantS. aureus. The patient completely recovered with antibiotic therapy alone. This is a unique and rare presentation case of metastaticS. aureusbacteraemia, manifesting as a retropharyngeal abscess without any evidence of infective endocarditis on transoesophageal echocardiography.
Expansion of testing, isolation, quarantine, e-health and telemonitoring strategies in socioeconomically vulnerable neighbourhoods at primary healthcare in the fight against COVID-19 in Brazil: a study protocol of a multisite testing intervention using a mixed method approach
Authors: Magno Laio , Rossi Thais Regis Aranha , Castanheira Débora , Torres Thiago S , Santos Carina Carvalho dos , Soares Fabiane , Veloso Valdiléa G , Benedetti Marcos , Dourado Ines
Published: June 2023

Introduction

The key tools for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 and reducing its transmission include testing, quarantine and isolation, as well as telemonitoring. Primary healthcare (PHC) can be essential in increasing access to these tools. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to implement and expand an intervention consisting of COVID-19 testing, isolation, quarantine and telemonitoring (TQT) strategies and other prevention measures at PHC services in highly socioeconomically vulnerable neighbourhoods of Brazil.

Methods and analysis

This study will implement and expand COVID-19 testing in PHC services in two large Brazilian capital cities: Salvador and Rio de Janeiro. Qualitative formative research was conducted to understand the testing context in the communities and at PCH services. The TQT strategy was structured in three subcomponents: (1) training and technical support for tailoring the work processes of health professional teams, (2) recruitment and demand creation strategies and (3) TQT. To evaluate this intervention, we will conduct an epidemiological study with two stages: (1) a cross-sectional sociobehavioural survey among individuals from these two communities covered by PHC services, presenting symptoms associated with COVID-19 or being a close contact of a patient with COVID-19, and (2) a cohort of those who tested positive, collecting clinical data.

Ethics and dissemination

The WHO Ethics Research Committee (ERC) (#CERC.0128A and #CERC.0128B) and each city’s local ERC approved the study protocol (Salvador, ISC/UFBA: #53844121.4.1001.5030; and Rio de Janeiro, INI/Fiocruz: #53844121.4.3001.5240, ENSP/Fiocruz: #53844121.4.3001.5240 and SMS/RJ #53844121.4.3002.5279). Findings will be published in scientific journals and presented at meetings. In addition, informative flyers and online campaigns will be developed to communicate study findings to participants, members of communities and key stakeholders.
Disabled people’s perceptions and experiences of accessing and receiving counselling and psychotherapy: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Longhurst Phaedra , Full Wayne
Published: June 2023

Introduction

Evidence indicates that, compared with their non-disabled counterparts, disabled people are likely to face greater mental health challenges as well as significant inequalities in accessing appropriate therapeutic support. Currently, little is known about how disabled people perceive and experience counselling and psychotherapy, what barriers/facilitators to therapy delivery and/or therapy participation exist for disabled clients and whether clinicians sufficiently adapt their practice to meet the needs of this diverse but marginalised population. In this paper, we outline a proposal for undertaking a scoping review that aims to identify and synthesise current research relating to disabled individuals’ perceptions of accessibility and experiences of counselling and psychotherapy. The review aims to identify current gaps in the evidence base and inform how future research, practice and policy may develop and foster inclusive strategies and approaches which will support the psychological well-being of disabled clients accessing counselling and psychotherapy.

Methods and analysis

The undertaking and reporting of the proposed scoping review will be guided by the framework outlined by Arksey and O’Malley and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Systematic searches of the PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE, EBSCO and Cochrane Library electronic databases will be conducted. Reference lists of relevant studies will be reviewed to identify additional studies. Eligible studies will be limited to those published from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2022 and in the English language. Empirical studies involving disabled individuals receiving and/or who have received a form of therapeutic intervention will be included. Data will be extracted, collated and charted, and will be summarised quantitatively through descriptive numerical analysis and qualitatively through a narrative synthesis.

Ethics and dissemination

The proposed scoping review of published research will not require ethical approval. Results will be disseminated through publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Factors associated with self-care behaviours among people with hypertension residing in Kathmandu: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Nakarmi Chandani Singh , Uprety Samyog , Ghimire Anup , Chakravartty Avaniendra , Adhikari Bikram , Khanal Niharika , Dahal Sitasnu , Mali Sushmita , Pyakurel Prajjwal
Published: June 2023

Objective

To determine the prevalence and associated factors of self-care behaviours among people with hypertension in the Kathmandu district of Nepal.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Municipalities of Kathmandu district, Nepal.

Participants

We enrolled 375 adults aged ≥18 years with a minimum 1-year duration of hypertension using multistage sampling.

Outcome measures

We used the Hypertension Self-care Activity Level Effects to assess self-care behaviours and collected data through face-to-face interviews. We conducted univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses to determine the factors associated with self-care behaviours. The results were summarised as crude and adjusted ORs (AORs) with 95% CIs.

Results

The adherence to antihypertensive medication, Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, physical activity, weight management, alcohol moderation, and non-smoking were 61.3%, 9.3%, 59.2%, 14.1%, 90.9%, and 72.8%, respectively. Secondary or higher education (AOR: 4.42, 95% CI: 1.11 to 17.62), Brahmin and Chhetri ethnic groups (AOR: 3.30, 95% CI: 1.26 to 8.59) and good to very good perceived health (AOR: 3.96, 95% CI: 1.60 to 9.79) were positively associated with DASH diet adherence. Males (AOR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.19 to 3.55) had higher odds of physical activity. Brahmin and Chhetri ethnic groups (AOR: 3.44, 95% CI: 1.63 to 7.26) and secondary or higher education (AOR: 4.70, 95% CI: 1.62 to 13.63) were correlates of weight management. Secondary or higher education (AOR: 2.47, 95% CI: 1.16 to 5.29), body mass index ≥25 kg/m2(AOR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.04 to 3.22) and income above the poverty line (AOR: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.08 to 4.63) were positively associated with non-smoking. Furthermore, Brahmin and Chhetri ethnic groups (AOR: 4.51, 95% CI: 1.64 to 12.40), males (AOR: 0.17, 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.50) and primary education (AOR: 0.26, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.85) were associated with alcohol moderation.

Conclusion

The adherence to the DASH diet and weight management was particularly low. Healthcare providers and policymakers should focus on improving self-care by designing simple and affordable interventions for all patients with hypertension.
Project period: Improving period product provision in a large inner city hospital
Authors: Knox Laura , Thornton Philippa , McNee Rosie , Bough Isabelle , Rodgers Daniel
Published: June 2023

Background

BMA guidance recommends all hospitals provide suitable, comfortable and convenient period products. In 2018, none of Scotland’s health boards had policies on sanitary product provision.

Aim

Establish current provision at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Improve provision for staff and patients.

Improve working experience for staff while menstruating.

Methods

Cycle 0: A pilot survey was circulated to assess current provision, availability and impact on working environment.

Cycle 1: The survey was circulated to all hospital staff. Suppliers were contacted for donations. Two menstrual hubs were established in the medical receiving unit.

Cycle 2: Polling confirmed the preferred mode of downstream product distribution, with products supplied to each ward. Menstrual hub use was monitored.

Cycle 3: Staff were resurveyed following the interventions. Findings were presented to hospital and board managers.

Results

Cycle 0: 95% felt current provision for staff was not appropriate. 77% felt provisions were inappropriate for patients (n=22).

Cycle 1: 97% felt hospital period product provisions were not appropriate. 84% of menstruators had no access to products when required: 55% asked colleagues for products; 50% used makeshift products and 8% used hospital pads. Overall, 84% did not know where to access period products within the hospital (n=968).

Cycle 2: 91% preferred ward-based provisions (n=46).

Cycle 3: 95% agreed that project period products were suitable for their needs (n=71). 82% felt access to period products had improved for personal use and 47% for patients. 58% were able to locate products for staff and 49% for patients.

Conclusion

Project period highlighted a need for menstrual product provision in hospitals. It increased knowledge, suitability and availability of period products, and created a robust model of provision which may be easily replicated.
Development and evaluation of a continuous quality improvement programme for antimicrobial stewardship in six hospitals in Uganda
Authors: Kiggundu Reuben , Waswa JP , Nakambale Hilma N , Kakooza Francis , Kassuja Hassan , Murungi Marion , Akello Harriet , Morries Seru , Joshi Mohan P , Stergachis Andy , Konduri Niranjan
Published: June 2023

Background

Appropriate antimicrobial use is essential for antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). Ugandan hospitals are making efforts to improve antibiotic use, but improvements have not been sufficiently documented and evaluated.

Methods

Six Ugandan hospitals implemented AMS interventions between June 2019 and July 2022. We used the WHO AMS toolkit to set-up hospital AMS programmes and implemented interventions using continuous quality improvement (CQI) techniques and targeting conditions commonly associated with antibiotic misuse, that is, urinary tract infections (UTIs), upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP). The interventions included training, mentorship and provision of clinical guidelines to support clinical decision-making. Quarterly antibiotic use surveys were conducted.

Results

Data were collected for 7037 patients diagnosed with UTIs. There was an increase in the proportion of patients receiving one antibiotic for the treatment of UTI from 48% during the pre-intervention to 73.2%, p<0.01. There was a 19.2% reduction in the number of antimicrobials per patient treated for UTI p<0.01. There was an increase in use of nitrofurantoin, the first-line drug for the management of UTI. There was an increase in the use of Access antibiotics for managing UTIs from 50.4% to 53.8%. The proportion of patients receiving no antimicrobials for URTI increased from 26.3% at pre-intervention compared with 53.4% at intervention phase, p<0.01. There was a 20.7% reduction in the mean number of antimicrobials per patient for URTI from the pre-intervention to the intervention phase, from 0.8 to 0.6, respectively, p<0.001 and reduction in the number of treatment days, p=0.0163. Among patients undergoing surgery, 49.5% (2212) received SAP during the pre-intervention versus 50.5% (2169) during the intervention.

Conclusions

Using CQI approaches to focus on specific causes of inappropriate antibiotic use led to desirable overall reductions in antibiotic use for URTI and UTI.
Yang–Mills effective Lagrangian — Contribution of Leutwyler zero mode chromons
Authors: Savvidy George
Published: June 2023

Recently, we calculated the contribution of Leutwyler zero mode chromons to the Yang–Mills effective Lagrangian by integrating over collective coordinates of the nonlinearly interacting zero modes. Here, we analyze the behavior of the partition function prefactor and the integration measure Jacobian of the zero modes and show that these factors do not contribute to the effective Lagrangian and do not alter the earlier results.
An Optimal WSN Coverage Based on Adapted Transit Search Algorithm
Authors: Dao Thi-Kien , Nguyen Trong-The , Ngo Truong-Giang , Nguyen Trinh-Dong
Published: June 2023

The wireless sensor network (WSN) coverage is one of the most significant impacts on the quality of service that directly determines the efficiency reality of applications. The distribution of sensor nodes in the WSN determines the size of the network monitoring coverage area, whether there is duplicate coverage, and monitoring blind regions. This study introduces an optimal coverage strategy for the sensor node positions in the sensing region based on an adapted transit search (ATS) algorithm. The transit search (TS) algorithm is a recently developed metaheuristic algorithm with several advantages, e.g. simple concept, robust process, and ease of implementation; still, TS has limitations in the ratios of exploration and exploitation for avoiding the local optimum trap when dealing with complicated node coverage optimization situations. The ATS is implemented by adapting and updating equations with stochastic reverse learning and multi-direction strategies to prevent its original algorithm drawbacks. The experimental analysis is carried out to demonstrate the efficiency of the designed coverage scheme in terms of various metrics, e.g. coverage rate, positioning errors, converge speed, and executed time. Compared experimental-result shows that the ATS scheme offers the WSN applicability coverage model to perform the deployment network application with excellent quality. Significantly, the coverage rate archived of the ATS is 87%, but the other methods are only below or equally 84% in the same comparison conditions.
Cosmological application of the Maxwell gravity
Authors: Kibaroğlu Salih
Published: June 2023

In this study, we consider a cosmological model for the Maxwell gravity which is constructed by gauging the semi-simple extended Poincaré algebra. Inspired by the Einstein–Yang–Mills theory, we describe the Maxwell gauge field in terms of two additional time-dependent scalar fields. Within the context of a homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker universe, we derive the Friedmann equations together with new contributions. Additionally, we examine the modified Friedmann equation to demonstrate how diverse cosmological scenarios can be achieved within this framework. Moreover, we investigate the gauge theory of gravity based on the Maxwell algebra and show that this model leads to the (anti)-de Sitter universe as well as a non-accelerated universe model.
Nonlinear optical properties of doped GaAs quantum dot modulated by noise: Role of impurity spread
Authors: Datta Swarnab , Bhakti Bhaskar , Pal Aniruddha , Ghosh Manas
Published: June 2023

This paper explores the role of spatial extension of impurity (SEI) on two nonlinear optical (NLO) properties and two other related properties of impurity doped GaAs quantum dot (QD). The NLO properties include the electro-optic effect (EOE) and the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility (TONOS) whereas the other two related properties being total optical dielectric function (TODF) and the intraband transition lifetime (ITL). The study also involves Gaussian white noise (GWN) which has been introduced to the doped QD through additive and multiplicative pathways. The investigation unveils the subtle interplay between GWN and SEI which ultimately fine-tunes the said NLO properties. TODF, EOE and TONOS manifest red-shift with enhancement of SEI both with and without GWN. The ITL, on the other hand, exhibits monotonic growth with increase in SEI under all conditions. Moreover, the application of GWN causes noticeable quenching of the NLO properties. And the quenching becomes more stringent in presence of multiplicative noise than its additive counterpart.
Algebraic stability theorem for derived categories of zigzag persistence modules
Authors: Hiraoka Yasuaki , Ike Yuichi , Yoshiwaki Michio
Published: June 2023

We study distances on zigzag persistence modules from the viewpoint of derived categories and Auslander–Reiten quivers. The derived category of ordinary persistence modules is derived equivalent to that of arbitrary zigzag persistence modules, depending on a classical tilting module. Through this derived equivalence, we define and compute distances on the derived category of arbitrary zigzag persistence modules and prove an algebraic stability theorem. We also compare our distance with the distance for purely zigzag persistence modules introduced by Botnan–Lesnick and the sheaf-theoretic convolution distance due to Kashiwara–Schapira.
Lower N-weighted Ricci curvature bound with 𝜀-range and displacement convexity of entropies
Authors: Kuwae Kazuhiro , Sakurai Yohei
Published: June 2023

In this paper, we provide a characterization of a lower [Formula: see text]-weighted Ricci curvature bound for [Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text]-range introduced by Lu–Minguzzi–Ohta [Comparison theorems on weighted Finsler manifolds and space-times with [Formula: see text]-range, Anal. Geom. Metr. Spaces 10(1) (2022) 1–30] in terms of a convexity of entropies over Wasserstein space. We further derive various interpolation inequalities and functional inequalities.
Preparation and upconversion luminescence properties of Yb3+/Tb3+/Ho3+ tri-doped phosphate glasses
Authors: Zhang Tao , Zhang Danyi , Wang Pei-an , Cui Caixia
Published: June 2023

In this study, Yb[Formula: see text]/Ho[Formula: see text], Yb[Formula: see text]/Tb[Formula: see text] co-doped, and Yb[Formula: see text]/Ho[Formula: see text]/Tb[Formula: see text]tri-doped phosphate glasses have been prepared by the high-temperature melting method using P2O5 as the base material, and these phosphate glasses are characterized as non-crystalline structures by X-ray diffraction. Under 980 nm excitation, highly efficient blue (489 nm), green (545 nm), and red (661 nm) upconversion luminescences can be observed in this glass system, which are attributed to Tb[Formula: see text]: 5D4[Formula: see text]7F6, Tb[Formula: see text]: 5D4 [Formula: see text]7F5, and Ho[Formula: see text]: 5F5[Formula: see text]5I8 radiative transitions, respectively. The upconversion emission intensity and excitation power dependence analysis reveal that the blue and green light emissions are three-photon processes, while red light emission is a two-photon process. White light emission can be achieved by adjusting the doping concentration of rare-earth ions in the Yb[Formula: see text]/Ho[Formula: see text]/Tb[Formula: see text]tri-doped phosphate glasses. The CIEchromaticity coordinates of 2Yb[Formula: see text]/0.1Ho[Formula: see text]/0.4Tb[Formula: see text] tri-doped phosphate glass (0.39, 0.39) under 980 nm excitation are relatively close to those of the standard light source (0.33, 0.33), indicating the potential application of this material in the field of illumination, such asemissive displays, fluorescent lamps and fiber lasers.
Parallel Strong Connectivity Based on Faster Reachability
Authors: Wang Letong , Dong Xiaojun , Gu Yan , Sun Yihan
Published: June 2023

Computing strongly connected components (SCC) is among the most fundamental problems in graph analytics. Given the large size of today's real-world graphs, parallel SCC implementation is increasingly important. SCC is challenging in the parallel setting and is particularly hard on large-diameter graphs. Many existing parallel SCC implementations can be even slower than Tarjan's sequential algorithm on large-diameter graphs.

To tackle this challenge, we propose an efficient parallel SCC implementation using a new parallel reachability approach. Our solution is based on a novel idea referred to as vertical granularity control (VGC). It breaks the synchronization barriers to increase parallelism and hide scheduling overhead. To use VGC in our SCC algorithm, we also design an efficient data structure called the parallel hash bag. It uses parallel dynamic resizing to avoid redundant work in maintaining frontiers (vertices processed in a round).

We implement the parallel SCC algorithm by Blelloch et al. (J. ACM, 2020) using our new parallel reachability approach. We compare our implementation to the state-of-the-art systems, including GBBS, iSpan, Multi-step, and our highly optimized Tarjan's (sequential) algorithm, on 18 graphs, including social, web, k-NN, and lattice graphs. On a machine with 96 cores, our implementation is the fastest on 16 out of 18 graphs. On average (geometric means) over all graphs, our SCC is 6.0× faster than the best previous parallel code (GBBS), 12.8× faster than Tarjan's sequential algorithms, and 2.7× faster than the best existing implementation on each graph.

We believe that our techniques are of independent interest. We also apply our parallel hash bag and VGC scheme to other graph problems, including connectivity and least-element lists (LE-lists). Our implementations improve the performance of the state-of-the-art parallel implementations for these two problems.
ForestTI: A Scalable Inverted-Index-Oriented Timeseries Management System with Flexible Memory Efficiency
Authors: Wang Zhiqi , Shao Zili
Published: June 2023

Timeseries management systems play an important role in IoT and performance monitoring. As the data volume scales up, absorbing data memory efficiently with high throughput becomes a growing requirement for timeseries management systems. However, the designs of the existing systems, especially the in-memory data structures, suffer from two issues. First, they suffer from the trade-off between memory efficiency and performance. Second, they are not scalable because of lock contention where they cannot benefit from parallel insertion and querying.

In this paper, we propose ForestTI, a scalable inverted-index-oriented timeseries management system where the balance point between memory efficiency and performance can be flexibly adjusted under the increasing memory pressure. First, we present a two-level inverted index, which is scalable with optimistic lock coupling, and its internal structure can be gradually converted to more memory efficient representations. Second, we propose a two-level pointer swizzling mechanism to actively swap out the cold posting lists and in-memory timeseries objects as the number of timeseries increases. Finally, we further optimize the on-disk data structures (i.e. write-ahead logs and LSM-tree) to adapt to the high insertion throughput from the in-memory components. We prototype ForestTI with C++ from scratch, and compared to the storage engine of Prometheus, ForestTI achieves 1.79x higher insertion throughput, 52.1% lower query latency, and 56.9% lower memory occupation. We have released the open-source code of ForestTI for public access.
Efficient and Effective Attributed Hypergraph Clustering via K-Nearest Neighbor Augmentation
Authors: Li Yiran , Yang Renchi , Shi Jieming
Published: June 2023

Hypergraphs are an omnipresent data structure used to represent high-order interactions among entities. Given a hypergraph H wherein nodes are associated with attributes, attributed hypergraph clustering (AHC) aims to partition the nodes in H into k disjoint clusters, such that intra-cluster nodes are closely connected and share similar attributes, while inter-cluster nodes are far apart and dissimilar. It is highly challenging to capture multi-hop connections via nodes or attributes on large attributed hypergraphs for accurate clustering. Existing AHC solutions suffer from issues of prohibitive computational costs, sub-par clustering quality, or both. In this paper, we present AHCKA, an efficient approach to AHC, which achieves state-of-the-art result quality via several algorithmic designs. Under the hood, AHCKA includes three key components: (i) a carefully-crafted K-nearest neighbor augmentation strategy for the optimized exploitation of attribute information on hypergraphs, (ii) a joint hypergraph random walk model to devise an effective optimization objective towards AHC, and (iii) a highly efficient solver with speedup techniques for the problem optimization. Extensive experiments, comparing AHCKA against 15 baselines over 8 real attributed hypergraphs, reveal that AHCKA is superior to existing competitors in terms of clustering quality, while often being up to orders of magnitude faster.
Practical Differentially Private and Byzantine-resilient Federated Learning
Authors: Xiang Zihang , Wang Tianhao , Lin Wanyu , Wang Di
Published: June 2023

Privacy and Byzantine resilience are two indispensable requirements for a federated learning (FL) system. Although there have been extensive studies on privacy and Byzantine security in their own track, solutions that consider both remain sparse. This is due to difficulties in reconciling privacy-preserving and Byzantine-resilient algorithms.

In this work, we propose a solution to such a two-fold issue. We use our version of differentially private stochastic gradient descent (DP-SGD) algorithm to preserve privacy and then apply our Byzantine-resilient algorithms. We note that while existing works follow this general approach, an in-depth analysis on the interplay between DP and Byzantine resilience has been ignored, leading to unsatisfactory performance. Specifically, for the random noise introduced by DP, previous works strive to reduce its seemingly detrimental impact on the Byzantine aggregation. In contrast, we leverage the random noise to construct a first-stage aggregation that effectively rejects many existing Byzantine attacks. Moreover, based on another property of our DP variant, we form a second-stage aggregation which provides a final sound filtering. Our protocol follows the principle of co-designing both DP and Byzantine resilience.

We provide both theoretical proof and empirical experiments to show our protocol is effective: retaining high accuracy while preserving the DP guarantee and Byzantine resilience. Compared with the previous work, our protocol 1) achieves significantly higher accuracy even in a high privacy regime; 2) works well even when up to 90% distributive workers are Byzantine.
Efficient and Portable Einstein Summation in SQL
Authors: Blacher Mark , Klaus Julien , Staudt Christoph , Laue Sören , Leis Viktor , Giesen Joachim
Published: June 2023

Computational problems ranging from artificial intelligence to physics require efficient computations of large tensor expressions. These tensor expressions can often be represented in Einstein notation. To evaluate tensor expressions in Einstein notation, that is, for the actual Einstein summation, usually external libraries are used. Surprisingly, Einstein summation operations on tensors fit well with fundamental SQL constructs. We show that by applying only four mapping rules and a simple decomposition scheme using common table expressions, large tensor expressions in Einstein notation can be translated to portable and efficient SQL code. The ability to execute large Einstein summation queries opens up new possibilities to process data within SQL. We demonstrate the power of Einstein summation queries on four use cases, namely querying triplestore data, solving Boolean satisfiability problems, performing inference in graphical models, and simulating quantum circuits. The performance of Einstein summation queries, however, depends on the query engine implemented in the database system. Therefore, supporting efficient Einstein summation computations in database systems presents new research challenges for the design and implementation of query engines.
Prerequisite-driven Fair Clustering on Heterogeneous Information Networks
Authors: Zhang Juntao , Wang Sheng , Sun Yuan , Peng Zhiyong
Published: June 2023

This paper studies the problem of fair clustering on heterogeneous information networks (HINs) by considering constraints on structural and sensitive attributes. We propose a Prerequisite-driven Fair Clustering (PDFC ) algorithm to solve this problem. Specifically, we define the structural constraint on the connection among nodes in HINs by combining meta-paths and prerequisite meta-paths and introduce Fairlets as the balance constraint. Under two constraints, we learn node embeddings based on graph models and perform theCholesky decomposition to obtain their orthogonal embeddings. We fuse node embeddings under constraints, define the loss function of PDFC, and perform k-means to achieve clustering. In addition, we design an update strategy of the adjacency matrix to achieve dynamic PDFC over time. Compared with several fair clustering algorithms on three real-world datasets, our experimental results verify the effectiveness and efficiency of PDFC.
Better than Composition: How to Answer Multiple Relational Queries under Differential Privacy
Authors: Dong Wei , Sun Dajun , Yi Ke
Published: June 2023

Answering relational queries under differential privacy has attracted a lot of attention in recent years due to growing concerns on personal privacy, and instance-optimal mechanisms have been developed for a single query. However, most real-world data analytical tasks require multiple queries to be answered under a total privacy budget. The standard solution to extend the single-query mechanism to multiple queries is via privacy composition. However, we observe that this may yield an error bound that could be a d0.5-factor worse from the optimal, where d is the number of queries. In this paper, we present a different, more holistic approach that closes this gap. In addition to theoretical optimality, our new mechanism also significantly outperforms privacy composition in practice, especially on more skewed data and large d.
A Step Toward Deep Online Aggregation
Authors: Sheoran Nikhil , Chockchowwat Supawit , Chheda Arav , Wang Suwen , Verma Riya , Park Yongjoo
Published: June 2023

For exploratory data analysis, it is often desirable to know what answers you are likely to get before actually obtaining those answers. This can potentially be achieved by designing systems to offer the estimates of a data operation result-say op(data)-earlier in the process based on partial data processing. Those estimates continuously refine as more data is processed and finally converge to the exact answer. Unfortunately, the existing techniques-called Online Aggregation (OLA)-are limited to a single operation; that is, we cannot obtain the estimates for op(op(data)) or op(...(op(data))). If this Deep OLA becomes possible, data analysts will be able to explore data more interactively using complex cascade operations.

In this work, we take a step toward Deep OLA with evolving data frames (edf), a novel data model to offer OLA for nested ops-op(...(op(data)))-by representing an evolving structured data (with converging estimates) that is closed under set operations. That is, op(edf) produces yet another edf; thus, we can freely apply successive operations to edf and obtain an OLA output for each op. We evaluate its viability with Wake, an edf-based OLA system, by examining against state-of-the-art OLA and non-OLA systems. In our experiments on TPC-H dataset, Wake produces its first estimates 4.93× faster (median)-with 1.3× median slowdown for exact answers-compared to conventional systems. Besides its generality, Wake is also 1.92× faster (median) than existing OLA systems in producing estimates of under 1% relative errors.
A Framework for Privacy Preserving Localized Graph Pattern Query Processing
Authors: Xu Lyu , Choi Byron , Peng Yun , Xu Jianliang , S Bhowmick Sourav
Published: June 2023

This paper studies privacy preserving graph pattern query services in a cloud computing paradigm. In such a paradigm, data owner stores the large data graph to a powerful cloud hosted by a service provider (SP) and users send their queries to SP for query processing. However, as SP may not always be trusted, the sensitive information of users' queries, importantly, the query structures, should be protected. In this paper, we study how to outsource the localized graph pattern queries (LGPQs) on the SP side with privacy preservation. LGPQs include a rich set of semantics, such as subgraph homomorphism, subgraph isomorphism, and strong simulation, for which each matched graph pattern is located in a subgraph called ball that have a restriction on its size. To provide privacy preserving query service for LGPQs, this paper proposes the first framework, called Prilo, that enables users to privately obtain the query results. To further optimize Prilo, we propose Prilo* that comprises the first bloom filter for trees in the trust execution environment (TEE) on SP, a query-oblivious twiglet-based technique for pruning non-answers, and a secure retrieval scheme of balls that enables user to obtain query results early. We conduct detailed experiments on real world datasets to show that Prilo* is on average 4x faster than the baseline, and meanwhile, preserves query privacy.