bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Registration and inpainting of biological slice images based on Bendlet transform and interval Shannon–Cosine wavelet
Authors: Meng Kexin , Liu Meng , Liu Limei , Mei Shuli
Published: November 2023

The fold that appeared in the micro-slice images needs to be inpainted exactly so that it can meet the requirements of the scientific experiments. The biological slice image usually consists of piecewise smooth regions with the closed loop contour which can be represented by the Bendlet function proposed in recent years. Therefore, a novel image inpainting method based on Bendlet and interval Shannon–Cosine wavelet is proposed. Since the deformation of the locust slice image is flexible, it is necessary to obtain as many feature points as possible to ensure the accuracy of the inpainting, so we introduce the curvature as a new registration element for registration. First, the homography matrix is obtained by calculating the correct feature points by our proposed registration method. Second, the fold position is located by homography matrix and inpainted by Shannon–Cosine interval wavelet interpolation. Finally, the pixel difference is eliminated through adaptive fusion. The results indicate that, in comparison to the SURF and ORB algorithms, our registration method significantly enhances the extraction of feature points, achieving a more even distribution. Furthermore, when compared to four other methods (K-SVD, BSCB, TV and Criminisi), as well as various interpolation methods such as cubic polynomial interpolation, cubic spline interpolation, and nearest neighbor interpolation, our approach consistently achieves the highest PSNR and SSIM values.
Dual Zariski Spaces of Modules
Authors: Çeken Seçil
Published: November 2023

Let [Formula: see text] be a commutative ring with identity, [Formula: see text] be an [Formula: see text]-module, [Formula: see text] denote the set of all submodules of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. For any submodule [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text], we set [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]. Consider [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the set of all ideals of [Formula: see text]. We set [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] for any ideal [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we investigate when, for arbitrary [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] as above, [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] form a topology and a semimodule, respectively. We investigate the structure of [Formula: see text] in the case that it is a semimodule.
Sino-US Tech Rivalry and Biden’s Pursuit of Renewing America’s Supremacy
Authors: Song Tianyang , Wang Hao
Published: November 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated an unprecedented challenge to supply chain management around the world, particularly in the United States. To constrain China’s tech rise and its potential dominance in global supply chains as well as pursue America’s supremacy in tech innovation and global supply chain system, the Biden administration fully exploits the comparative advantages of like-minded technological democracies to maximize its ability to hedge challenges China poses and elaborately weaves a global supply chain security coalition (GSCSC) by combining point-to-point cooperation with coordination under the framework of multilateral institutions with different characteristics such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), Five Eyes, and the Australia–United Kingdom–United States (AUKUS). This paper draws on the theoretical framework of neoclassical realism to analyze the generation, layout, and influence of GSCSC strategy under the administration of Biden. It indicates that the GSCSC strategy, which mainly targets the Indo-Pacific region and aims to impede China in critical supply chains industry, exerts an influence on the US domestic political and economic development, Sino-US relationship, and geopolitics in Asia. It also signifies a great stride for the Biden administration to renew America’s global supremacy after Trump.
Solution of nonlinear fractional partial differential equations by Shehu transform and Adomian decomposition method (STADM)
Authors: Singh Amandeep , Pippal Sarita
Published: November 2023

Several well-known nonlinear partial differential equations (NPDEs) of integer order, including the Heat Equation and the Korteweg–de Vries (KDV) Equation, as well as NPDEs of fractional order, including the fractional advection equation (FAE), fractional gas dynamic equation (FGDE), diffusion equation, and fractional Burger equation (FBE), are approximated analytically in this study using the Shehu Transform Adomian Decomposition Method, which is a combination of two methods, namely, Shehu Transform (ST) and Adomian Decomposition Method (ADM). The Caputo sense is utilized to the fractional derivatives. This semianalytical method is used to acquire the series solutions to several example problems. The main advantage of the approach is that, in contrast to other similar semianalytical methods, it is straightforward to apply. This method has been widely used to answer any class of equations in the sciences and engineering because it can solve a huge class of linear and nonlinear equations effectively, more quickly, and precisely. The obtained solution matches exactly with the solution obtained by other methods.
On solution of fractional kinetic equation involving Riemann xi function via Sumudu transform
Authors: Aychluh Mulualem
Published: November 2023

Several significant questions of mathematics and mathematical physics have been effectively explained and answered through the use of fractional kinetic equations containing special functions. Due to the high importance of arbitrary-order kinetic equations, the aim of this work is to obtain the solution of a new arbitrary-order kinetic equation related to the Riemann xi function. The Sumudu transform technique is used to solve it. The findings are plotted with the help of MATLAB R2016a. The outcomes of the paper are in the form of an infinite series representation of the Riemann xi function and in terms of the Mittag-Leffler function.
PACMNET, V1, CoNEXT3, December 2023 Editorial
Authors: Mellia Marco , Steenkiste Peter , Qiu Lili , Bonaventure Olivier
Published: November 2023

The Proceedings of the ACM on Networking (PACMNET) series present the highest-quality research conducted in the areas of emerging computer networks and their applications. We encourage submissions that present new technologies, novel experimentation, creative use of networking technologies, and new insights made possible using analysis. The journal is strongly supported by the ACM Special Interest Group on Communications and Computer Networks (SIGCOMM) and involves top-level researchers in its Editorial Board.

This issue contains papers submitted for the June '23 deadline. 129 long papers and 19 short papers were submitted to this deadline. 24 of the long papers and 5 of the short papers have been accepted after a rigorous review process organized with 50 Associate Editors and a few external reviewers. After review, each paper was conditionally accepted (with shepherding), allowed a "oneshot- major" revision, or rejected. The review process was split into two rounds. All submissions received at least 3 reviews in the first round. The papers that advanced to the second round received at least two additional reviews. After an online discussion phase among the reviewers, papers were extensively discussed during an online Associate Editors' meeting where the final decisions were made. In case of major revision, the authors have been invited to address the reviewers' comments and prepare a thoroughly revised version of their contribution. Revised papers have been then thoroughly reviewed again before being either accepted or rejected. This issue collects papers that have been finally accepted for publication after going through the minor revision process.

The long papers published in this issue and in the two previous ones will be presented at the CoNEXT 2023 conference on December 5-8, in Paris, France together with the short papers that appear in the conference proceedings.
DDoS2Vec: Flow-Level Characterisation of Volumetric DDoS Attacks at Scale
Authors: Singh Samra Ravjot , Barcellos Marinho
Published: November 2023

Volumetric Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have been a severe threat to the Internet for more than two decades. Some success in mitigation has been achieved based on numerous defensive techniques created by the research community, implemented by the industry, and deployed by network operators. However, evolution is not a privilege of mitigations, and DDoS attackers have found better strategies and continue to cause harm. A key challenge in winning this race is understanding the various characteristics of DDoS attacks in network traffic at scale and in a realistic manner.

In this paper, we propose DDoS2Vec, a novel approach to characterise DDoS attacks in real-world Internet traffic using Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques. DDoS2Vec is a domain-specific application of Latent Semantic Analysis that learns vector representations of potential DDoS attacks. We look into the link between natural language and computer network communication in a way that has not been previously studied. Our approach is evaluated on a large-scale dataset of flow samples collected from an Internet eXchange Point (IXP) in one year. We evaluate the performance of DDoS2Vec via multi-label classification in a Machine Learning (ML) scenario. DDoS2Vec characterises DDoS attacks more clearly than other baselines - including NLP-based approaches inspired by recent networks research and a basic non-NLP solution.
Enhancing the Unlinkability of Circuit-Based Anonymous Communications with k-Funnels
Authors: Nunes Vítor , Brás José , Carvalho Afonso , Barradas Diogo , Gallagher Kevin , Santos Nuno
Published: November 2023

Anonymous communication systems are essential tools for preserving privacy and freedom of expression. However, traffic analysis attacks make it challenging to maintain unlinkability in circuit-based anonymity networks like Tor, enabling adversaries to deanonymize communications. To address this problem, we introduce k-funnel, a new security primitive that enhances the unlinkability of circuit-based anonymity networks, and we present BriK, a Tor pluggable transport that implements k-funnels. k-Funnels offer k-anonymity to a group of k clients by jointly tunneling their circuits' traffic through a bridge while ensuring that the client-generated flows are indistinguishable. BriK incorporates several defense mechanisms against traffic analysis attacks, including traffic shaping schemes, synchronization protocols, and approaches for monitoring exposure to statistical disclosure attacks. Our evaluation shows that BriK is able to support web browsing and video streaming while offering k-anonymity. We evaluate the security of BriK against traffic correlation attacks leveraging state-of-the-art deep learning classifiers without considering auxiliary information and find it highly resistant. Although k-funnels require the cooperation of mutually trusted clients, limiting their coordination, our work presents a new practical solution to strengthen unlinkability in circuit-based anonymity systems.
FlexCP: A Scalable Multipath TCP Proxy for Cellular Networks
Authors: Kim Duckwoo , Moon YoungGyoun , Hwang Jaehyun , Park KyoungSoo
Published: November 2023

Research has shown that Multipath TCP (MPTCP) improves the quality of a TCP connection by exploiting multiple paths, but its adoption in the wide area network is still fledgling. While MPTCP-TCP proxying is often employed as a practical solution, the performance of a split-connection proxy is suboptimal – it wastes CPU cycles on content relaying between two connections while it does not efficiently leverage multiple CPU cores in packet processing.

We present FlexCP, a high-performance MPTCP-TCP proxy based on the following properties. First, FlexCP operates by translating the two protocols on a packet level. This approach not only avoids the overhead of flow reassembly and memory copying, but it greatly simplifies the implementation as the proxy stays away from reliable data transfer, socket buffer management, and per-hop congestion/flow control. Second, FlexCP maintains connection-to-core affinity for multiple subflows of the same MPTCP connection and its corresponding TCP connection by leveraging SmartNIC. This enables a lock-free implementation for packet processing, which significantly improves the performance. Our evaluation demonstrates that FlexCP achieves 281 Gbps of connection proxying on a single machine, outperforming existing proxies by up to 6.3× in terms of throughput while it incurs little extra latency over direct TCP/MPTCP connections.
Packed to the Brim: Investigating the Impact of Highly Responsive Prefixes on Internet-wide Measurement Campaigns
Authors: Sattler Patrick , Zirngibl Johannes , Jonker Mattijs , Gasser Oliver , Carle Georg , Holz Ralph
Published: November 2023

Internet-wide scans are an important tool to evaluate the deployment of services. To enable large-scale application layer scans, a fast, stateless port scan (e.g., using ZMap) is often performed ahead of time to collect responsive targets. It is a common expectation that port scans on the entire IPv4 address space provide a relatively unbiased view as they cover the complete address space. Previous work, however, has found prefixes where all addresses share particular properties. In IPv6, aliased prefixes and fully responsive prefixes, i.e., prefixes where all addresses are responsive, are a well-known phenomenon. However, there is no such in-depth analysis for prefixes with these responsiveness patterns in IPv4.

This paper delves into the underlying factors of this phenomenon in the context of IPv4 and evaluates port scans on a total of 161 ports (142 TCP & 19 UDP ports) from three different vantage points. To account for packet loss and other scanning artifacts, we propose the notion of a new category of prefixes, which we call highly responsive prefixes (HRPs). Our findings show that the share of HRPs can make up 70% of responsive addresses on selected ports. Regarding specific ports, we observe that CDNs contribute to the largest fraction of HRPs on TCP/80 and TCP/443, while TCP proxies emerge as the primary cause of HRPs on other ports. Our analysis also reveals that application layer handshakes to targets outside HRPs are, depending on the chosen service, up to three times more likely to be successful compared to handshakes with targets located in HRPs. To improve future scanning campaigns conducted by the research community, we make our study's data publicly available and provide a tool for detecting HRPs. Furthermore, we propose an approach for a more efficient, ethical, and sustainable application layer target selection. We demonstrate that our approach has the potential to reduce the number of TLS handshakes by up to 75% during an Internet-wide scan while successfully obtaining 99 % of all unique certificates.
SPADA: A Sparse Approximate Data Structure Representation for Data Plane Per-flow Monitoring
Authors: Monterubbiano Andrea , Azorin Raphael , Castellano Gabriele , Gallo Massimo , Pontarelli Salvatore , Rossi Dario
Published: November 2023

Accurate per-flow monitoring is critical for precise network diagnosis, performance analysis, and network operation and management in general. However, the limited amount of memory available on modern programmable devices and the large number of active flows force practitioners to monitor only the most relevant flows with approximate data structures, limiting their view of network traffic. We argue that, due to the skewed nature of network traffic, such data structures are, in practice, heavily underutilized, i.e. sparse, thus wasting a significant amount of memory.

This paper proposes a Sparse Approximate Data Structure (SPADA) representation that leverages sparsity to reduce the memory footprint of per-flow monitoring systems in the data plane while preserving their original accuracy. SPADA representation can be integrated into a generic per-flow monitoring system and is suitable for several measurement use cases. We prototype SPADA in P4 for a commercial FPGA target and test our approach with a custom simulator that we make publicly available, on four real network traces over three different monitoring tasks. Our results show that SPADA achieves 2× to 11× memory footprint reduction with respect to the state-of-the-art while maintaining the same accuracy, or even improving it.
A Novel Knowledge-augmented Model Customization Approach for Arabic Offensive Language Detection
Authors: Husain Fatemah
Published: November 2023

Multiple attempts to develop systems for detecting online Arabic offensive language have been explored in previous studies. However, most of these attempts do not consider the variation of Arabic dialects, cultures, and offensive phrases. In contrast, this study aims to extract knowledge from multiple offensive language datasets to build a cross-dialect and culture knowledge-based repository. This knowledge-based repository is utilized to develop novel system architecture based on customizing the AraBERT model in a unique method to preserve dialectal knowledge and offensive cultural knowledge within the contextual word embedding of BERT architecture. Performance evaluation procedures consist of statistical evaluation metrics and a behavioral checklist. Results report more effective predictions by the customized model than the uncustomized one, particularly for offensive text. The customization process allows the model to gain more knowledge of informal text in general, and a better understanding of dialectal Arabic.
Repurposing dried blood spot device technology to examine bile acid profiles in human dried fecal spot samples
Authors: Engevik Melinda A. , Thapa Santosh , Lillie Ian M. , Yacyshyn Mary Beth , Yacyshyn Bruce , Percy Andrew J. , Chace Donald , Horvath Thomas D.
Published: November 2023

Stool analysis in remote settings can be challenging, as the samples must be stored at −80°C and transported on dry ice for downstream processing. Our work indicates that dried fecal spots (DFS) on Capitainer quantitative DBS (qDBS) devices can be stored and shipped at ambient temperature and yields the same bile acid profiles as traditional samples. This approach has broad applications for patient home testing and sample collection in rural communities or resource-limited countries.
Identification of Crotonylation Metabolism Signature Predicting Overall Survival for Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Zheng Jie , Liu Yingqing , Wei Kai , Shi Jiewu , Li Lin , Jiang Xuefeng , Tao Lingsong
Published: November 2023

Background. Immunotherapy shows promise in treating cancer by leveraging the immune system to combat cancer cells. However, the influence of crotonylation metabolism on the prognosis and tumor environment in ccRCC patients is not fully understood. Methods. We conducted various systematic analyses, including prognosis and cluster analyses, to investigate the role of KAT2A in immunotherapy. We used qRT-PCR to compare KAT2A expression in cancer and adjacent tissues and among different cell lines. Additionally, we employed Cell Counting Kit-8, wound healing, and Transwell chamber assays to assess changes in the proliferative and metastatic ability of A498 and 786-O cells. Results. We identified three clusters related to crotonylation metabolism, each with distinct prognosis and immune characteristics in ccRCC. We categorized CT1 as immune-inflamed, CT2 as immune-excluded, and CR3 as immune-desert. A new system, CRS, emerged as an effective predictor of patient outcomes with differing immune characteristics. Moreover, qRT-PCR revealed elevated KAT2A levels in ccRCC tissues and cell lines. KAT2A was found to promote ccRCC and correlate significantly with immunosuppressive elements and checkpoints. Reducing KAT2A expression hindered ccRCC cell growth and metastasis. Conclusion. Our study highlights the critical role of crotonylation metabolism in cancer development and progression, particularly its link to poor prognosis. CRS proves to be an accurate predictor of patient outcomes and immune features in ccRCC. KAT2A shows strong associations with clinical factors and the immunosuppressive environment, suggesting potential for innovative immunotherapies in ccRCC treatment.
Activating Transcription Factor 5 Promotes Neuroblastoma Metastasis by Inducing Anoikis Resistance
Authors: Banerjee Debarshi , Boboila Shuobo , Okochi Shunpei , Angelastro James M. , Kadenhe-Chiweshe Angela V. , Lopez Gonzalo , Califano Andrea , Connolly Eileen P. , Greene Lloyd A. , Yamashiro Darrell J.
Published: November 2023

MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma often presents as a highly aggressive metastatic disease with a poor prognosis. Activating transcription factor 5 (ATF5) is implicated in neural cell differentiation and cancer cell survival. Here, we show that ATF5 is highly expressed in patients with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma, with increased expression correlating with a poorer prognosis. We demonstrated that ATF5 promotes the metastasis of neuroblastoma cell lines in vivo. Functionally, ATF5 depletion significantly reduced xenograft tumor growth and metastasis of neuroblastoma cells to the bone marrow and liver. Mechanistically, ATF5 endows tumor cells with resistance to anoikis, thereby increasing their survival in systemic circulation and facilitating metastasis. We identified the proapoptotic BCL-2 modifying factor (BMF) as a critical player in ATF5-regulated neuroblastoma anoikis. ATF5 suppresses BMF under suspension conditions at the transcriptional level, promoting anoikis resistance, whereas BMF knockdown significantly prevents ATF5 depletion–induced anoikis. Therapeutically, we showed that a cell-penetrating dominant-negative ATF5 peptide, CP-d/n-ATF5, inhibits neuroblastoma metastasis to the bone marrow and liver by inducing anoikis sensitivity in circulating tumor cells. Our study identified ATF5 as a metastasis promoter and CP-d/n-ATF5 as a potential antimetastatic therapeutic agent for neuroblastoma.

Significance:

This study shows that resistance to anoikis in neuroblastoma is mediated by ATF5 and offers a rationale for targeting ATF5 to treat metastatic neuroblastoma.
Physical Activity During Adolescence and Early-adulthood and Ovarian Cancer Among Women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutation
Authors: Guyonnet Emma , Kim Shana J. , Xia Yue Yin , Giannakeas Vasily , Lubinski Jan , Randall Armel Susan , Eisen Andrea , Bordeleau Louise , Eng Charis , Olopade Olufunmilayo I. , Tung Nadine , Foulkes William D. , Couch Fergus J. , Aeilts Amber M. , Narod Steven A. , Kotsopoulos Joanne
Published: November 2023

In the general population, physical activity has been associated with a lower risk of several cancers; however, the evidence for ovarian cancer is not clear. It is suggested that early-life physical activity may differentially impact risk. Whether this is true among women at high risk due to a pathogenic variant (mutation) in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes has not been evaluated. Thus, we performed a matched case–control study to evaluate the association between adolescent and early-adulthood physical activity and ovarian cancer. BRCA mutation carriers who completed a research questionnaire on various exposures and incident disease and with data available on physical activity were eligible for inclusion. Self-reported activity at ages 12–13, 14–17, 18–22, 23–29, and 30–34 was used to calculate the average metabolic equivalent of task (MET)-hours/week for moderate, vigorous, and total physical activity during adolescence (ages 12–17) and early-adulthood (ages 18–34). Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the OR and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of invasive ovarian cancer associated with physical activity. This study included 215 matched pairs (mean age = 57.3). There was no association between total physical activity during adolescence (ORhigh vs. low = 0.91; 95% CI: 0.61–1.36; Ptrend = 0.85), early-adulthood (ORhigh vs. low = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.51–1.20; Ptrend = 0.38) and overall (ORhigh vs. low = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.54–1.23; Ptrend = 0.56) and ovarian cancer. Findings were similar for moderate (Ptrend ≥ 0.25) and vigorous (Ptrend ≥ 0.57) activity. These findings do not provide evidence for an association between early-life physical activity and BRCA-ovarian cancer; however, physical activity should continue to be encouraged to promote overall health.

Significance:

In this matched case–control study, we observed no association between physical activity during adolescence or early-adulthood and subsequent risk of ovarian cancer. These findings do not provide evidence for an association between early-life physical activity and BRCA-ovarian cancer; however, being active remains important to promote overall health and well-being.
Genotype-Phenotype Taxonomy of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Curran Lara , de Marvao Antonio , Inglese Paolo , McGurk Kathryn A. , Schiratti Pierre-Raphaël , Clement Adam , Zheng Sean L. , Li Surui , Pua Chee Jian , Shah Mit , Jafari Mina , Theotokis Pantazis , Buchan Rachel J. , Jurgens Sean J. , Raphael Claire E. , Baksi Arun John , Pantazis Antonis , Halliday Brian P. , Pennell Dudley J. , Bai Wenjia , Chin Calvin W.L. , Tadros Rafik , Bezzina Connie R. , Watkins Hugh , Cook Stuart A. , Prasad Sanjay K. , Ware James S. , O’Regan Declan P.
Published: November 2023

BACKGROUND:

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an important cause of sudden cardiac death associated with heterogeneous phenotypes, but there is no systematic framework for classifying morphology or assessing associated risks. Here, we quantitatively survey genotype-phenotype associations in HCM to derive a data-driven taxonomy of disease expression.

METHODS:

We enrolled 436 patients with HCM (median age, 60 years; 28.8% women) with clinical, genetic, and imaging data. An independent cohort of 60 patients with HCM from Singapore (median age, 59 years; 11% women) and a reference population from the UK Biobank (n=16 691; mean age, 55 years; 52.5% women) were also recruited. We used machine learning to analyze the 3-dimensional structure of the left ventricle from cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and build a tree-based classification of HCM phenotypes. Genotype and mortality risk distributions were projected on the tree.

RESULTS:

Carriers of pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants for HCM had lower left ventricular mass, but greater basal septal hypertrophy, with reduced life span (mean follow-up, 9.9 years) compared with genotype negative individuals (hazard ratio, 2.66 [95% CI, 1.42–4.96];
P
<0.002). Four main phenotypic branches were identified using unsupervised learning of 3-dimensional shape: (1) nonsarcomeric hypertrophy with coexisting hypertension; (2) diffuse and basal asymmetrical hypertrophy associated with outflow tract obstruction; (3) isolated basal hypertrophy; and (4) milder nonobstructive hypertrophy enriched for familial sarcomeric HCM (odds ratio for pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants, 2.18 [95% CI, 1.93–2.28];
P
=0.0001). Polygenic risk for HCM was also associated with different patterns and degrees of disease expression. The model was generalizable to an independent cohort (trustworthiness, M
1
: 0.86–0.88).

CONCLUSIONS:

We report a data-driven taxonomy of HCM for identifying groups of patients with similar morphology while preserving a continuum of disease severity, genetic risk, and outcomes. This approach will be of value in understanding the causes and consequences of disease diversity.
Metabolite Signature of Life’s Essential 8 and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease Among Low-Income Black and White Americans
Authors: Deng Kui , Gupta Deepak K. , Shu Xiao-Ou , Lipworth Loren , Zheng Wei , Thomas Victoria E. , Cai Hui , Cai Qiuyin , Wang Thomas J. , Yu Danxia
Published: November 2023

Background:

Life’s essential 8 (LE8) is a comprehensive construct of cardiovascular health. Yet, little is known about the LE8 score, its metabolic correlates, and their predictive implications among Black Americans and low-income individuals.

Methods:

In a nested case-control study of coronary heart disease (CHD) among 299 pairs of Black and 298 pairs of White low-income Americans from the Southern Community Cohort Study, we estimated LE8 score and applied untargeted plasma metabolomics and elastic net with leave-one-out cross-validation to identify metabolite signature (MetaSig) of LE8. Associations of LE8 score and MetaSig with incident CHD were examined using conditional logistic regression. The mediation effect of MetaSig on the LE8-CHD association was also examined. The external validity of MetaSig was evaluated in another nested CHD case-control study among 299 pairs of Chinese adults.

Results:

Higher LE8 score was associated with lower CHD risk (standardized odds ratio, 0.61 [95% CI, 0.53–0.69]). The MetaSig, consisting of 133 metabolites, showed significant correlation with LE8 score (
r
=0.61) and inverse association with CHD (odds ratio, 0.57 [0.49–0.65]), robust to adjustment for LE8 score and across participants with different sociodemographic and health status ([odds ratios, 0.42–0.69]; all
P
<0.05). MetaSig mediated a large portion of the LE8-CHD association: 53% (32%–80%). Significant associations of MetaSig with LE8 score and CHD risk were found in validation cohort (
r
=0.49; odds ratio, 0.57 [0.46–0.69]).

Conclusions:

Higher LE8 score and its MetaSig were associated with lower CHD risk among low-income Black and White Americans. Metabolomics may offer an objective measure of LE8 and its metabolic phenotype relevant to CHD prevention among diverse populations.
Saint Patrick, what about legless lizards? Tracing the mitochondrial affiliation and possible origin of Anguis (Squamata: Anguidae) population in Ireland
Authors: Oskyrko Oleksandra , Parry Nicholas , Jablonski Daniel
Published: November 2023

Ireland is home to only one native lizards’ species, the viviparous lizard and one of the few areas of the world where there are no native snakes. However, since the end of the 19th century, there have been reports indicating the presence of legless lizards, Anguis fragilis Linnaeus, 1758 population whose origin is unknown. As this genus has been intensively studied genetically and taxonomically in the past decade, we have decided to investigate newly obtained mtDNA sequences (ND2 gene) to trace affiliation of the Anguis population in Ireland. We genetically examined 12 individuals from the Burren area (western Ireland) and compared them to available data. The Irish population was identified as belonging to A. fragilis, specifically to the most common haplotype of the Illyrian-Central European haplogroup. This genetic affiliation is shared by populations across a wide European region, including the western Balkans, Spain, France, western Hungary, Austria, Germany, Latvia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, Sweden, Norway, and Great Britain. Our findings showed that the Irish population does not exhibit unique mitochondrial variability. This haplotype is present across the range of the species, including Great Britain, which is not in contrast with the earlier hypothesis that nearby populations from this area, along with human-mediated introductions, could be the source of Anguis populations in Ireland. This is thus potentially the first documented case of Anguis introduction out of the native range. However, further research, including broader sampling in Great Britain and genomics, is required to determine and trace its exact origin.
Co-Présences, Hospitalités et Mutualités
Authors: Bidima Jean G.
Published: November 2023

Citoyen allemand qui venait de vivre la deuxième guerre mondiale en Allemagne, Gerhard.A. Rauche émigre en Afrique du Sud dans les années 50 qui correspondent aux premières années de l’Apartheid. Spécialiste de Locke en philosophie et de Grisebach en littérature, il obtint deux doctorats dans ces disciplines. Critique de la philosophie analytique, de l’existentialisme et du Marxisme de l’Ecole de Francfort, il se pencha sur le problème la co-présence des communautés et de leurs relations. Il préconisa, en plein régime d’Apartheid et en guise de critique, la non-absolutisation des positions identitaires pour que la vie authentique et les relations communautaires soient viables. De manière oblique et subtile, il lutta contre l’Apartheid. Sa critique philosophique qui demeure prisonnière des essentialismes et du racialisme, mériterait d’être complétée par une étude minutieuse des notions d’hospitalité et de mutualité.
The International Political Theory of Dialogue of Civilisations: Philosophical Issues
Authors: Petito Fabio
Published: November 2023

Starting from a conception of dialogue as “fusion of horizons” inspired by Gadamerian hermeneutics this article aims to give a philosophical foundation to the argument for a dialogue of civilisations within a broad set of theoretical debates that have taken place in the fields of philosophy, political theory, and international relations. Such a discussion contributes to the international political theory of dialogue of civilisations as an argument for the construction of a multicultural peaceful international society against the background of our troubled contemporary global politics.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Raids the Pillar of a Community: Student Achievement, Absenteeism, and Mobility Following a Large Worksite Enforcement Operation in North Texas
Authors: Kirksey J. Jacob , Sattin-Bajaj Carolyn
Published: November 2023

The scale and violence of workplace raids distinguish them from other interior enforcement actions, and they warrant careful scrutiny given their power to produce serious immediate and long-term consequences for entire communities with a single act. In this paper, we examine the short- and longer-run impacts of exposure to one large-scale workplace raid that occurred in Sumner, Texas, in August of 2018 on students’ academic and behavioral outcomes. We analyze student absenteeism, academic performance, and school mobility from the 2011–2012 to the 2021–2022 school year, which includes the period prior to and after the Load Trail raid. Our results indicate that there were large and direct consequences associated with the raid for Latinx and English learner students attending schools in four affected counties. In particular, student absenteeism increased markedly following the raid, reading and math test scores declined, and there were sharp increases in the number of students leaving their school districts. This study contributes to the growing body of evidence documenting how acts of community violence such as large-scale workplace raids can corrode institutional trust and severely impact the well-being of immigrants’, their children, and their communities.
Review of elasto-static models for three-dimensional analysis of thick-walled anisotropic tubes
Authors: Kastenmeier Andreas , Siegl Marco , Ehrlich Ingo , Gebbeken Norbert
Published: November 2023

Most shell or beam models of anisotropic tubes under bending have no validity for thick-walled structures. As a result, the need to develop three-dimensional formulations which allow a change in the stress, strain and displacement distributions across the radial component arises. Basic formulations on three-dimensional anisotropic elasticity were made either stress- or displacement-based by Lekhnitskii or Stroh on plates. Lekhnitskii also was the first to expand these analytical formulations to tubes under various loading conditions. This paper presents a review of the stress and strain analysis of tube models using three-dimensional anisotropic elasticity. The focus lies on layered structures, like fiber-reinforced plastics, under various bending loads, although the basic formulations and models regarding axisymmetric loads are briefly discussed. One section is also dedicated to the determination of an equivalent bending stiffness of tubes.
Making Sense of (Post)Neoliberalism
Authors: Laruffa Francesco
Published: November 2023

The many contradictory interpretations of neoliberalism raise doubts about the value of this concept. This article discusses the literature on neoliberalism for identifying a “minimum common core” that warrants preserving this concept. I argue that neoliberalism entails an ideology and a political practice that aim to subordinate the state and all social domains to the market—to its logic and to the economic powers within it—thereby undermining democracy. This conceptualization emerges as a “common lowest denominator” among many otherwise incompatible scholarly definitions of neoliberalism, reflects central neoliberal ideas (despite their own inconsistencies), and illuminates crucial features of contemporary neoliberal society. I discuss the implications of this interpretation for established democracies and for those countries that experienced democratization processes during the neoliberal era, for the debates on postneoliberalism, and for the political identity of the Left.
Personal and Relational Processes of Repentance in Religious Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Families
Authors: Hendricks Justin J. , Dollahite David C. , Marks Loren D. , Herbst Julianna
Published: November 2023

Considerable social science research has illuminated religion’s profound and predominantly positive impact on individuals and families. Nevertheless, numerous noteworthy aspects of religion, including repentance, have not been explored in-depth from a social science perspective to understand their psychological and relational processes and implications. Further, the emphasis and importance of repentance across the Abrahamic faiths, combined with calls from social scientists to better understand processes of repentance and seeking divine forgiveness, indicate the benefit of repentance-focused research. Subsequently, we used team-based systematic qualitative coding to conduct secondary analyses of repentance processes in interviews with 127 exemplar US Jewish, Christian, and Muslim families ( N = 218). Analyses explored the: (a) motivations and antecedents of repentance, (b) processes of repentance, (c) resources to aid in repentance, and (d) perceived outcomes of repentance. Additionally, some participants described repentance as negative, neutral, or ineffective. The article discusses psychological and relational benefits of repentance in religious families despite some potentially adverse consequences, highlights implications for practitioners and interventions that incorporate repentance, and suggests topics for future research.
Recent Paramedic Graduates’ Chronic Stress Adds Intentions to Leave the Profession: A Pilot Study Utilizing a Web-Based Survey
Authors: Herttuainen Anniina , Nordquist Hilla
Published: November 2023

Paramedics have mentally and physically demanding jobs, and chronic stress is not uncommon. Recently graduated paramedics, in particular, have been identified as needing support in their early careers. This pilot study examined chronic stress experienced by recent graduate paramedics and their intentions to leave the paramedic profession. Finnish paramedics encompass qualifications to work in various nursing sectors. This pilot study was a cross-sectional survey study among Finnish paramedics who graduated less than 3 years ago and who were currently working in prehospital EMS (n = 152). They evaluated chronic organizational and operational stressors on the Emergency Medical Services Chronic Stress Questionnaire with 20 statements. Two structured questions related to the intention to leave the paramedic profession. Three summary scales were formed. The differences in stress by the intention to leave were reported descriptively and the differences were tested with Mann-Whitney U test. The influence of potential predictors of the intention to leave prehospital EMS work or the nursing sector completely were explored with a forward stepwise logistic regression model. Those who intended to leave prehospital EMS work (25%, n = 35/152) or to leave the nursing sector completely (33%, n = 50/152) experienced higher levels of stress than those without such intentions. Stress related to organizational inequity and leadership challenges was the strongest and stress related to social, health, and personal impacts was the second strongest predictor of the intention to leave. Reducing chronic stress might be important in terms of paramedic retention. Several further study needs are addressed.
Working Together: Status Effects of Racial and Gender Identity on Teammate Selection
Authors: Bailey Jasmón , Skvoretz John
Published: November 2023

Research reported in this article examines the impact of race and gender as status characteristics on the selection of teammates for a collectively oriented task. Expectation states research provides the theoretical grounding for the project and for hypotheses tested with choice models. Results suggest that expectation states/status characteristics theory may not apply to the task of teammate selection. We find that race and gender have different effects on the choices made by respondents; race does not function as a status characteristic but, rather, as an identity characteristic in which the ingroup is favored; and respondents, regardless of their own racial identity and gender identity, exhibit a strong bias toward women as teammates.
Nationalism, Revivalism and Pan-Islamism: Shifts in the Political and Cultural Imaginings of Allama Iqbal’s Poetry
Authors: Mishra Ravi K.
Published: November 2023

This paper argues that contrary to some popular perceptions, the ideological shift in Iqbal dates not from 1930 (when he apparently moved towards the acceptance of the two-nation theory at the Allahabad Session of the Muslim League) but to his stay in Europe from 1905 to 1908 (after which he made a complete and abrupt shift from Indian nationalism to revivalism and Pan-Islamism). This shift is powerfully expressed in the political and cultural imaginings of both his Urdu and Persian poetry. His poetry becomes suffused with the ideas of revivalism and Pan-Islamism in counter-position to those of composite nationhood and territorial nationalism on which the Indian national movement was premised. The shift is embodied in poetic imagery and metaphor incompatible with the modern idea of nationalism, especially the dominant idea of Indian nationalism. Iqbal’s later thoughts concerning Islam’s relations with non-Muslims in India and elsewhere promote an adversarial historical and cultural narrative of Islam.

Though triggered by a passionate rejection of the West and its modernity, the shift manifested not just in a critique of the West but also of all non-Islamic cultures and civilizations. Iqbal’s narrative of Islam is teleological and triumphalist. Far from being defensive about the charges of intolerance and aggression levelled against Islam by its critics, he proudly invokes imagery of the sword and the conquest in the history of Islam, while bemoaning the decline of its political power in the modern era. Iqbal’s quest is for a supposedly pure Islam of the past and its revival in the twentieth century in the form of a redefined, reconstituted and revitalized Umma which cuts across boundaries of nations, continents and ethnicities. Few poets in the history of the modern world have had such influence as Allama Iqbal, and fewer still have made such fundamental shifts.
Pro-social attitudes towards ethno-religious out-groups during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey experiment in five countries
Authors: Carol Sarah , David Lea , Malešević Siniša , Uzelac Gordana
Published: November 2023

To what extent were individuals willing to help others during the pandemic? This article examines pro-social attitudes among 7000 residents in England, Ireland, Germany, Serbia, and Sweden by showing a fictitious scenario of an older neighbour who needs his groceries to be picked up from a nearby supermarket. The online survey experiment follows a 3 × 2 × 2 factorial design varying the ethno-religious origin of neighbours signalled by the name (Alexander vs Mohammed), the length of their residence (<1 year, 10 years, entire life), and if groceries, or groceries and beer need to be collected. We find that those of minority origin and those who have spent less than a year in a country are disadvantaged. Overall, religiosity is associated with a lower willingness to help a neighbour.
Effectiveness of guided telerehabilitation on functional performance in community-dwelling older adults: A systematic review
Authors: Gamble CJ , van Haastregt JCM , van Dam van Isselt EF , Zwakhalen SMG , Schols JMGA
Published: November 2023

Objective

To systematically review the effectiveness of guided telerehabilitation on improving functional performance in community-dwelling older adults.

Data sources

Articles published in PubMed, Cochrane Library and Embase (Ovid) from 01 January 2010 up to 17 October 2023.

Review Methods

Included studies had (1) a randomised controlled trial design, (2) an average population age of 65 years or older, (3) a home-based setting and (4) evaluated the effectiveness of functional performance outcome measures. The intervention was considered telerehabilitation when guided by a healthcare professional using video, audio and/or text communication technologies with a minimum frequency of once per week. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis 2020 statement guideline was followed. Methodological quality was appraised using the revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool.

Results

A total of 26 randomised controlled trials were included. Telerehabilitation had superior ( N = 15), non-superior ( N = 16) or non-inferior ( N = 11) effectiveness for improving functional performance outcome measures compared to control interventions. No studies found the control intervention to be superior over telerehabilitation. Between study differences in intervention characteristics contributed to significant clinical heterogeneity. Five studies were found to present an overall ‘low’ risk of bias, 12 studies to present ‘some’ risk of bias and 9 studies to present an overall ‘high’ risk of bias.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that telerehabilitation could be a promising alternative to in-person rehabilitation for improving functional performance in community-dwelling older adults. Additional well-designed studies with minimised bias are needed for a better understanding of effective telerehabilitation intervention strategies.
Evaluating the Interplay between Trajectory Segmentation and Mode Inference Error
Authors: Kosmacher Gabriel , Shankari K.
Published: November 2023

Travel behavior changes are essential to transportation decarbonization. Travel diaries, consisting of sequences of trips between places, are typically used to instrument human travel behavior. However, these diaries are only as accurate as the underlying methods used to construct them. Travel diary algorithms have been a popular research topic since the advent of Global Positioning System tracking surveys. These algorithms have typically been validated using prompted recall of presegmented trips, thus disregarding the continuity of mode inference. Phone operating systems have adopted battery-conserving techniques, but the resulting data collection errors have not been studied extensively. We introduce a framework to evaluate the accuracy of trip length computations and mode inference by analyzing continuous mode-segmented trajectories for groups of trips. We then use the framework to identify the input data quality and the impact of postprocessing. Our primary inputs to this evaluation are MobilityNet, a public dataset containing information from three artificial timelines covering 15 different travel modes, and sample open-source travel diary creation algorithms from the OpenPATH project. Our framework concretely shows that the variance of the distance error drops from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text] (Android, iOS) after postprocessing. Similarly, the weighted F-scores for mode inference increase from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text] (iOS, Android) between random forest and geographic information system-based models. We hope that this standardized method will be adapted to evaluate other, potentially proprietary, travel diary algorithms. The results can be used to understand and improve the state of the art in the travel diary creation field.