bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
TDP43 proteinopathy is associated with aberrant DNA methylation in human amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Authors: Appleby‐Mallinder C. , Schaber E. , Kirby J. , Shaw P. J. , Cooper‐Knock J. , Heath P. R. , Highley J. R.
Published: May 2020

Background

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor neurone (MN) degeneration and death. ALS can be sporadic (sALS) or familial, with a number of associated gene mutations, including C9orf72 (C9ALS). DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism whereby a methyl group is attached to a cytosine (5mC), resulting in gene expression repression. 5mC can be further oxidized to 5‐hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC). DNA methylation has been studied in other neurodegenerative diseases, but little work has been conducted in ALS.

Aims

To assess differences in DNA methylation in individuals with ALS and the relationship between DNA methylation and TDP43 pathology.

Methods

Post mortem tissue from controls, sALS cases and C9ALS cases were assessed by immunohistochemistry for 5mC and 5hmC in spinal cord, motor cortex and prefrontal cortex. LMNs were extracted from a subset of cases using laser capture microdissection. DNA from these underwent analysis using the MethylationEPIC array to determine which molecular processes were most affected.

Results

There were higher levels of 5mC and 5hmC in sALS and C9ALS in the residual lower motor neurones (LMNs) of the spinal cord. Importantly, in LMNs with TDP43 pathology there was less nuclear 5mC and 5hmC compared to the majority of residual LMNs that lacked TDP43 pathology. Enrichment analysis of the array data suggested RNA metabolism was particularly affected.

Conclusions

DNA methylation is a contributory factor in ALS LMN pathology. This is not so for glia or neocortical neurones.
Meaningful improvement thresholds in measures of pain and quality of life in oral lichen planus
Authors: Wiriyakijja Paswach , Porter Stephen , Fedele Stefano , Hodgson Tim , McMillan Roddy , Shephard Martina , Ni Riordain Richeal
Published: May 2020

Objectives

To evaluate the responsiveness of measures of pain and oral health‐related quality of life (OH‐QoL) in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) and to determine thresholds for minimal important change (MIC) and minimal important difference (MID) for use in this patient population.

Methods

Data from baseline and 4‐month follow‐up including Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), 14‐item Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP‐14), 15‐item and 26‐item Chronic Oral Mucosal Disease Questionnaire (COMDQ‐15; COMDQ‐26) were collected from 157 patients with OLP. Responsiveness was assessed by testing hypotheses and calculating the area under the curve. MIC and MID were established based on triangulation of distribution‐based and anchor‐based estimates.

Results

The results supported adequate responsiveness of VAS, NRS, COMDQ‐15 and COMDQ‐26 for use in OLP, while the OHIP‐14 demonstrated relatively low sensitivity to detect improvement in the OLP status. Recommended meaningful improvement thresholds were as follows: VAS (MIC 16 mm; MID 18 mm), NRS (MIC/MID 2 points), OHIP‐14 (MIC/MID 5 points), COMDQ‐15 (MIC 5 points; MID 6 points) and COMDQ‐26 (MIC/MID 9 points).

Conclusion

This study provides some evidence of responsiveness as well as establishing meaningful improvement thresholds in scores of pain and OH‐QoL measures in OLP.
Contact‐ versus noncontact‐guided ablation of the right ventricular outflow tract arrhythmias: A propensity score matched analysis
Authors: Chen Xinguang , Sun Ling , Chen Qiushi , Kojodjojo Pipin , Chen Hongwu , Ju Weizhu , Zhu Wenwu , Zhu Yeqian , Zhao Pengcheng , Zhang Fengxiang , Chen Minglong
Published: May 2020

Background

There are unique advantages and disadvantages in the choice of contact mapping (CM) versus noncontact mapping (NCM) systems during ablation of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) arrhythmias. This study compared acute procedural success and clinical outcomes in matched patients undergoing CM‐ versus NCM‐guided RVOT ablation.

Methods

A total of 167 consecutive patients with idiopathic RVOT ventricular arrhythmias underwent NCM‐ or CM‐guided ablation. Propensity scoring was used to match each patient undergoing NCM‐guided ablation to one control patient undergoing CM‐guided ablation.

Results

A total of 120 patients were included in this final analysis. If initial ablation was acutely unsuccessful in either group, patients crossed over to the other group. Ablation was acutely successful in 47 of 60 (78.3 %) patients in the NCM group and 55 of 60 (91.7%) in the CM group (P = .002). Thirteen NCM patients required CM and two CM patients crossed over to utilize NCM (P = .002). Procedural duration, fluoroscopy time, and dose in NCM were greater than that in CM (P < .05, respectively). However, procedural complications were not different between two groups. During a mean follow‐up of 51 ± 20.6 months, 51 of the 60 NCM patients remained free of arrhythmia, while 48 of the 60 CM patients had no recurrent arrhythmias (P = .47).

Conclusion

Contact mapping, compared to NCM, is the superior initial technique to guide RVOT arrhythmia ablation due to a higher procedural success without the need to switch to alternative mapping techniques and shorter procedural and fluoroscopic times.
Illegal Content Monitoring on Social Platforms
Authors: Jain Tarun , Hazra Jishnu , Cheng T. C. Edwin
Published: May 2020

Illegal content uploads on social platforms have grown rapidly in recent years. While previous research has studied various enforcement efforts to remove illegal content, we consider such enforcement efforts in the setting where the content is sold through a platform firm. Furthermore, we consider the situation in which along with the subscription‐based legal content on the platform, there is free illegal content that may generate revenues through advertisements for the platform. Specifically, we analyze three scenarios of illegal content monitoring: (i) only the content developer monitors, (ii) only the platform firm monitors, and (iii) both the content developer and platform firm monitor the illegal content. We find that, under certain conditions, it is beneficial for the platform firm to exert a higher monitoring effort than the content developer even though the former may gain advertisement revenues through the display of illegal content. In addition, while it is expected that the content developer’s profit is highest when only it exerts the monitoring effort, we observe that the scenario where both players exert monitoring efforts results in a win‐win situation. We also analyze the social welfare under all the three illegal content monitoring scenarios.
Consideration of the Aerosol Transmission for COVID‐19 and Public Health
Authors: Anderson Elizabeth L. , Turnham Paul , Griffin John R. , Clarke Chester C.
Published: May 2020

This article analyzes the available evidence to address airborne, aerosol transmission of the SARS‐CoV‐2. We review and present three lines of evidence: case reports of transmission for asymptomatic individuals in association with studies that show that normal breathing and talking produce predominantly small droplets of the size that are subject to aerosol transport; limited empirical data that have recorded aerosolized SARS‐CoV‐2 particles that remain suspended in the air for hours and are subject to transport over distances including outside of rooms and intrabuilding, and the broader literature that further supports the importance of aerosol transmission of infectious diseases. The weight of the available evidence warrants immediate attention to address the significance of aerosols and implications for public health protection.
COVID‐19 pneumonia in kidney transplant recipients—Where we are?
Authors: Machado David José de Barros , Ianhez Luiz Estevam
Published: May 2020

In late December 2019, China reported cases of respiratory illness in humans that involved a novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2. On March 20, 2020, the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) in Brazil was diagnosed, and by now, we present the report on the first case of COVID among transplant recipients in our country. A liver and kidney transplant patient with SARS‐CoV‐2 pneumonia without respiratory failure was treated in a clinical multimodal strategy consisting of symptomatic support therapy, immunosuppression reduction, use of anti‐coronavirus drugs and heparin leading to a progressive improvement of patient symptoms till discharge. The authors also present a comprehensive review of published cases.
Bacterial contamination and septic transfusion reaction rates associated with platelet components before and after introduction of primary culture: experience at a US Academic Medical Center 1991 through 2017
Authors: Kundrapu Sirisha , Srivastava Swati , Good Caryn E. , Lazarus Hillard M. , Maitta Robert W. , Jacobs Michael R.
Published: May 2020

BACKGROUND

The high incidence of septic transfusion reactions (STRs) led to testing being mandated by AABB from 2004. This was implemented by primary culture of single‐donor apheresis platelets (APs) from 2004 and prestorage pooled platelets (PSPPs) from 2007.

STUDY DESIGN/METHODS

Platelet (PLT) aliquots were cultured at issue and transfusion reactions evaluated at our hospital. Bacterial contamination and STR rates (shown as rates per million transfusions in Results) were evaluated before and after introduction of primary culture by blood centers that used a microbial detection system (BacT/ALERT, bioMerieux) or enhanced bacterial detection system (eBDS, Haemonetics).

RESULTS

A total of 28,457 PLTs were cultured during pre–primary culture periods (44.7% APs; 55.3% at‐issue pooled PLTs [AIPPs]) and 97,595 during post–primary culture periods (79.3% APs; 20.7% PSPPs). Forty‐three contaminated units were identified in preculture and 34 in postculture periods (rates, 1511 vs. 348; p < 0.0001). Contamination rates of APs were significantly lower than AIPPs in the preculture (393 vs. 2415; p < 0.0001) but not postculture period compared to PSPPs (387 vs. 198; p = 0.9). STR rates (79 vs. 90; p = 0.98) were unchanged with APs but decreased considerably with pooled PLTs (826 vs. 50; p = 0.0006). Contamination (299 vs. 324; p = 0.84) and STR rates (25 vs. 116; p = 0.22) were similar for PLTs tested by BacT/ALERT and eBDS primary culture methods. A change in donor skin preparation method in 2012 was associated with decreased contamination and STR rates.

CONCLUSION

Primary culture significantly reduced bacterial contamination and STR associated with pooled but not AP PLTs. Measures such as secondary testing near time of use or pathogen reduction are needed to further reduce STRs.
Protective effect of dimethyl fumarate for the development of pressure ulcers after cutaneous ischemia‐reperfusion injury
Authors: Inoue Yuta , Uchiyama Akihiko , Sekiguchi Akiko , Yamazaki Sahori , Fujiwara Chisako , Yokoyama Yoko , Ogino Sachiko , Torii Ryoko , Hosoi Mari , Akai Ryoko , Iwawaki Takao , Ishikawa Osamu , Motegi Sei‐ichiro
Published: May 2020

Ischemia‐reperfusion (I/R) is associated with various pathogenic conditions, and there has been increasing evidence that cutaneous I/R injury is associated with the pathogenesis of pressure ulcers (PUs), especially at the early stage presenting as non‐blanchable erythema. Several studies demonstrated that oxidative stress is a key player in I/R injury, and the inhibition of oxidative stress may be capable of protecting tissue damage after I/R injury in various organs including skin. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) approved by the Food and Drug Administration is Nrf2 activator, and recent studies revealed the antioxidative and anti‐inflammatory effects of DMF on I/R injury in animal models. Our objective was to assess the effects of oral administration of DMF on the development of PUs after cutaneous I/R injury in mice. We found that DMF administration significantly decreased the size of PUs after cutaneous I/R. Cutaneous I/R‐induced oxidative stress was also significantly inhibited by DMF in OKD48 mice, in which oxidative stress can be visually assessed. In addition, DMF treatment decreased hypoxic area, the numbers of apoptotic cells, and vascular loss in I/R area. DMF treatment suppressed the infiltration of MPO+ neutrophils and the production of proinflammatory cytokines in I/R site after cutaneous I/R injury. in vitro experiments, DMF treatment suppressed the production of reactive oxygen species in pericyte‐like cells. These results suggest that DMF treatment might prevent the formation of PUs induced by cutaneous I/R injury via suppressing oxidative stress and subsequent inflammation. DMF treatment during the early phase of decubitus ulcers might protect against further progression.
Personal and household factors involved in recentRickettsiaexposure in a rural population from Yucatán, Mexico
Authors: Torres‐Castro Marco , Reyes‐Novelo Enrique , Noh‐Pech Henry , Tello‐Martín Raúl , Lugo‐Caballero César , Dzul‐Rosado Karla , Puerto‐Manzano Fernando , Rodríguez‐Vivas Roger Iván
Published: May 2020

The aim of the study was to describe the epidemiological factors associated with the risks of recentRickettsiaexposure in inhabitants of a rural population from Yucatán, Mexico. The study included 130 inhabitants from Maxcanú, Yucatán. Blood samples were collected to detect IgM and IgG antibodies againstRickettsia typhiandRickettsiarickettsiiby an indirect immunofluorescence antibody test. Additionally, nested polymerase chain reaction was performed to amplify fragments of the17kDaandsca5genes. Previously, an epidemiological questionnaire was applied focused on collecting information on personal and housing exposure variables related to the recent infection withRickettsiato determine epidemiological associations. Results that exhibited ap‐value < .25 were included in a generalized multinomial logistic linear model to determine the variables involved with the risk of contact orRickettsiainfection. In all, 76% (99/130) of the participants presented with immunoglobulin titres against theRickettsiaspecies evaluated, while rickettsial DNA was detected in 35.4% (46/130) of the participants. The association analysis with the personal exposure variables showed that the productive age group (OR = 0.32; 95% CI = 0.10–1.03) and the elders group (OR = 0.12; 95% CI = 0.01–0.83) were protective factors for recent infection withR. typhi, taking as reference the school group. The presence of a family orchard in the home (OR = 7.56; 95% CI = 1.62–35.29) was a risk factor for recent infection withR. rickettsii. Presumably, the presence of ectoparasites (OR = 2.71; 95% CI = 0.90–8.09) at home was a risk factor for recent infection with bothRickettsiaspecies. Recent infection was demonstrated in inhabitants from Maxcanú, Yucatán. A high seropositive frequency was obtained. The results highlight the importance of the family garden and the presence of ectoparasites in the home as risk factors associated with recent infection withRickettsiain inhabitants from Maxcanú.
Heat and Mass Transfer in the Food, Energy, and Water Nexus—A Review
Authors: Derby Melanie M. , Adams Allison N. , Chakraborty Partha P. , Haque Mohammad Rejaul , Huber Ryan A. , Morrow Jordan A. , Riley Gennifer A. , Ross Molly , Stallbaumer Emily M. , Betz Amy R. , Bindra Hitesh
Published: May 2020

Engineering innovations—including those in heat and mass transfer—are needed to provide food, water, and power to a growing population (i.e., projected to be 9.8 × 109 by 2050) with limited resources. The interweaving of these resources is embodied in the food, energy, and water (FEW) nexus. This review paper focuses on heat and mass transfer applications which involve at least two aspects of the FEW nexus. Energy and water topics include energy extraction of natural gas hydrates and shale gas; power production (e.g., nuclear and solar); power plant cooling (e.g., wet, dry, and hybrid cooling); water desalination and purification; and building energy/water use, including heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration technology. Subsequently, this review considers agricultural thermal fluids applications, such as the food and water nexus (e.g., evapotranspiration and evaporation) and the FEW nexus (e.g., greenhouses and food storage, including granaries and freezing/drying). As part of this review, over 100 review papers on thermal and fluid topics relevant to the FEW nexus were tabulated and over 350 research journal articles were discussed. Each section discusses previous research and highlights future opportunities regarding heat and mass transfer research. Several cross-cutting themes emerged from the literature and represent future directions for thermal fluids research: the need for fundamental, thermal fluids knowledge; scaling up from the laboratory to large-scale, integrated systems; increasing economic viability; and increasing efficiency when utilizing resources, especially using waste products.
Tonal split and laryngeal contrast of onset consonant in Lili Wu Chinese
Authors: Shi Menghui , Chen Yiya , Mous Maarten
Published: May 2020

This study examines the acoustic properties concerning tonal split and stop onsets in an under-documented Wu Chinese variety, Lili Wu, using speech production data collected from field research. Lili Wu Chinese has been reported to demonstrate an unusual tonal split phenomenon known as “aspiration-induced tonal split” (ATS). ATS refers to the distinct lowering of f0 of a lexical tone over syllables beginning with a voiceless aspirated obstruent, compared to that of syllables beginning with an unaspirated obstruent. Two debates lingering in the existing literature are discussed: (i) is ATS an on-going change or a completed change? and (ii) is it onset aspiration or vowel breathiness that directly triggers ATS? Results suggest that ATS is a completed change, which, however, is conditioned by tonal contexts. Regarding the second debate, results suggest that neither aspiration nor breathiness serves as the direct trigger for tonal split. Moreover, one unexpected on-going sound change was observed: The breathiness of vowels after voiced onsets seems to be disappearing among the younger generation. These findings extend the understanding of the acoustic properties of tonal development in a complex system and highlight the importance of experimental methods in understanding the sound structure and changes of under-documented languages.
On pharyngealized vowels in Northern Horpa: An acoustic and ultrasound study
Authors: Chiu Chenhao , Sun Jackson T.-S.
Published: May 2020

In the Northern Horpa (NH) language of Sichuan, vowels are divided between plain and pharyngealized sets, with the latter pronounced with auxiliary articulatory gestures involving more constriction in the vocal tract. The current study examines how the NH vocalic contrast is manifested in line with the process of pharyngealization both acoustically and articulatorily, based on freshly gathered data from two varieties of the language (i.e., Rtsangkhog and Yunasche). Along with formant analyses, ultrasound imaging was employed to capture the tongue postures and positions during vowel production. The results show that in contrast with plain vowels, pharyngealized vowels generally feature lower F2 values and higher F1 and F3 values. Mixed results for F2 and F3 suggest that the quality contrasts are vowel-dependent. Ultrasound images, on the other hand, reveal that the vocalic distinction is affected by different types of tongue movements, including retraction, backing, and double bunching, depending on the inherent tongue positions for each vowel. The two NH varieties investigated are found to display differential formant changes and different types of tongue displacements. The formant profiles along with ultrasound images support the view that the production of the NH phonologically marked vowels is characteristic of pharyngealization.
Introduction to the special issue on the phonetics of under-documented languages
Authors: Tucker Benjamin V. , Wright Richard
Published: May 2020

As scientists, it is important to sample as broadly as possible; however, there is a bias in the research performed on the speech acoustics of the world's languages toward work on languages of convenience (e.g., English). This special issue seeks to initiate increased publication of acoustic research on the sounds of the world's languages. The special issue contains a sample of 25 under-documented languages. While large relative to previous work (particularly in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America), the 23 articles in this issue just scratch the surface. To have a better understanding of the fundamentals of speech communication, it is imperative, as a research community, to make a concerted effort to learn more about how speech sounds are perceived and produced in a wide variety of languages.
Anomalous transmission through periodic resistive sheets
Authors: Coutant Antonin , Aurégan Yves , Pagneux Vincent
Published: May 2020

This work investigates anomalous transmission effects in periodic dissipative media, which is identified as an acoustic analogue of the Borrmann effect. For this, the scattering of acoustic waves on a set of equidistant resistive sheets is considered. It is shown both theoretically and experimentally that at the Bragg frequency of the system, the transmission coefficient is significantly higher than at other frequencies. The optimal conditions are identified: one needs a large number of sheets, which induce a very narrow peak, and the resistive sheets must be very thin compared to the wavelength, which gives the highest maximal transmission. Using the transfer matrix formalism, it is shown that this effect occurs when the two eigenvalues of the transfer matrix coalesce (i.e., at an exceptional point). Exploiting this algebraic condition, it is possible to obtain similar anomalous transmission peaks in more general periodic media. In particular, the system can be tuned to show a peak at an arbitrary long wavelength.
Sestrins teach old T cells new tricks
Authors: Higdon Lauren E. , Maltzman Jonathan S.
Published: May 2020

Sestrin proteins dampen TCR signaling and induce antigen-independent natural killer-like cytotoxicity in highly differentiated CD8 T cells.
Escherichia coli CFT073 Fitness Factors during Urinary Tract Infection: Identification Using an Ordered Transposon Library
Authors: Shea Allyson E. , Marzoa Juan , Himpsl Stephanie D. , Smith Sara N. , Zhao Lili , Tran Lisa , Mobley Harry L. T.
Published: May 2020

Uropathogenic
Escherichia coli
strains cause most uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTI), one of the most common infectious diseases worldwide. Random transposon mutagenesis techniques have been utilized to identify essential bacterial genes during infection; however, this has been met with limitations when applied to the murine UTI model. Conventional high-throughput transposon mutagenesis screens are not feasible because of inoculum size restrictions due to a bottleneck during infection. Our study utilizes a condensed ordered transposon library, limiting the number of mutants while maintaining the largest possible genome coverage. Screening of this library
in vivo
, and in human urine
in vitro
, identified numerous candidate fitness factors. Additionally, we have developed a novel technique using qPCR to quantify bacterial outputs following infection with small subgroups of transposon mutants. Molecular approaches developed in this study will serve as useful tools to probe
in vivo
models that are restricted by anatomical, physiological, or genetic bottleneck limitations.
Exogenous Fatty Acids Remodel Staphylococcus aureus Lipid Composition through Fatty Acid Kinase
Authors: DeMars Zachary , Singh Vineet K. , Bose Jeffrey L.
Published: May 2020

Staphylococcus aureus can utilize exogenous fatty acids for phospholipid synthesis. The fatty acid kinase FakA is essential for this utilization by phosphorylating exogenous fatty acids for incorporation into lipids. How FakA impacts the lipid membrane composition is unknown. In this study, we used mass spectrometry to determine the membrane lipid composition and properties of S. aureus in the absence of fakA. We found the fakA mutant to have increased abundance of lipids containing longer acyl chains. Since S. aureus does not synthesize unsaturated fatty acids, we utilized oleic acid (18:1) to track exogenous fatty acid incorporation into lipids. We observed a concentration-dependent incorporation of exogenous fatty acids into the membrane that required FakA. We also tested how FakA and exogenous fatty acids impact membrane-related physiology and identified changes in membrane potential, cellular respiration, and membrane fluidity. To mimic the host environment, we characterized the lipid composition of wild-type and fakA mutant bacteria grown in mouse skin homogenate. We show that wild-type S. aureus can incorporate exogenous unsaturated fatty acids from host tissue, highlighting the importance of FakA in the presence of host skin tissue. In conclusion, FakA is important for maintaining the composition and properties of the phospholipid membrane in the presence of exogenous fatty acids, impacting overall cell physiology.

IMPORTANCE Environmental fatty acids can be harvested to supplement endogenous fatty acid synthesis to produce membranes and circumvent fatty acid biosynthesis inhibitors. However, how the inability to use these fatty acids impacts lipids is unclear. Our results reveal lipid composition changes in response to fatty acid addition and when S. aureus is unable to activate fatty acids through FakA. We identify concentration-dependent utilization of oleic acid that, when combined with previous work, provides evidence that fatty acids can serve as a signal to S. aureus. Furthermore, using mouse skin homogenates as a surrogate for in vivo conditions, we showed that S. aureus can incorporate host fatty acids. This study highlights how exogenous fatty acids impact bacterial membrane composition and function.
Assessment of the Clinical Utility of Plasma Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing in a Pediatric Hospital Population
Authors: Lee Rose A. , Al Dhaheri Fatima , Pollock Nira R. , Sharma Tanvi S.
Published: May 2020

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is commercially available, but its role in the workup of infectious diseases is unclear. To understand the clinical utility of plasma mNGS, we retrospectively reviewed patients tested at a pediatric institution over 2 years to evaluate the clinical relevance of the organism(s) identified and the impact on antimicrobial management. We also investigated the effect of pretest antimicrobials and interpretation of molecules of microbial cfDNA per microliter (MPM) of plasma.
Systemic Inflammatory Mediators Are Effective Biomarkers for Predicting Adverse Outcomes in Clostridioides difficile Infection
Authors: Dieterle Michael G. , Putler Rosemary , Perry D. Alexander , Menon Anitha , Abernathy-Close Lisa , Perlman Naomi S. , Penkevich Aline , Standke Alex , Keidan Micah , Vendrov Kimberly C. , Bergin Ingrid L. , Young Vincent B. , Rao Krishna
Published: May 2020

Each year in the United States,
Clostridioides difficile
causes nearly 500,000 gastrointestinal infections that range from mild diarrhea to severe colitis and death. The ability to identify patients at increased risk for severe disease or mortality at the time of diagnosis of
C. difficile
infection (CDI) would allow clinicians to effectively allocate disease modifying therapies. In this study, we developed models consisting of only a small number of serum biomarkers that are capable of predicting both 30-day all-cause mortality and adverse outcomes of patients at time of CDI diagnosis. We were able to validate these models through experimental mouse infection. This provides evidence that the biomarkers reflect the underlying pathophysiology and that our mouse model of CDI reflects the pathogenesis of human infection. Predictive models can not only assist clinicians in identifying patients at risk for severe CDI but also be utilized for targeted enrollment in clinical trials aimed at reduction of adverse outcomes from severe CDI.
Supplemental material: Stochastic analysis of transport and multicomponent competitive monovalent cation exchange in aquifers
Authors: Samper Javier , Yang Changbing
Published: May 2020

Geosphere, April 2006, v. 2, p. 102-112, doi: 10.1130/GES00030.1. Animation 1 - Animation of reactive cation transport of Na+, K+, and Cl− in a random porous medium simulated with the reactive transport code CORE2D. The file size is 1.7 MB.
Randomised double-blind placebo-controlled intervention study on the nutritional efficacy of a food for special medical purposes (FSMP) and a dietary supplement in reducing the symptoms of veisalgia
Authors: Lieb Bernhard , Schmitt Patrick
Published: May 2020

Objective

To assess whether the symptoms of veisalgia can be reduced by intense water supply and the intake of antioxidative supplements and plant extracts.

Methods

We performed the world’s largest randomised double-blind placebo-controlled intervention study (214 participants) on the efficacy of a food for special medical purposes (FSMP) against veisalgia symptoms. We analysed the effectiveness of: (1) an FSMP, including distinct plant extracts, vitamins and minerals, and additional (antioxidative) compounds; (2) a dietary supplement only comprising vitamins and minerals and additional (antioxidative) compounds; and (3) a placebo containing only glucose. The study followed the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) guidelines and trial registration was not necessary.

Results

Our study showed no statistically significant relationship between the variation of body water content and alcohol consumption. Contrary to common belief, the results showed that intervention with a supplement containing vitamins and minerals and additional antioxidative compounds did not lead to a statistically significant improvement in hangover symptoms. Additionally, our results confirmed a high individual variability in developing hangover symptoms depending on the amount of alcohol. Thus, standardisation of the amount of alcohol consumed in hangover studies does not necessarily contribute to the validity of the results. Finally, this study found a number of positive effects on certain hangover symptoms as a result of the FSMP, which were most likely due to the plant extracts contained within the food.

Conclusion

This study significantly supports the finding that haemostasis of electrolytes and minerals caused by alcohol consumption might be negligible and that no significant dehydration due to alcohol consumption seems to occur. Additionally, only the FSMP provides evidence for a significant efficiency in the reduction of hangover symptoms such as headache and nausea following moderate and non-excessive alcohol consumption.
Endokinin A/B stimulates rat gastric motility through myogenic NK1 receptors located in the fundus
Authors: Zhang Jing , Ma Chan , Wang Ruijia , He Chunbo , Li Hailan , Dong Shouliang
Published: May 2020

Endokinin A/B (EKA/B), the common C-terminal decapeptide in endokinins A and B, is a preferred ligand of the NK1 receptor and regulates pain and itch. The study focused on the effects of EKA/B on rat gastric motility in vivo and in vitro. Gastric emptying was measured to evaluate gastric motility in vivo. Intragastric pressure and the contraction of gastric muscle strips were measured to evaluate gastric motility in vitro. Moreover, various neural blocking agents and neurokinin receptor antagonists were applied to explore the mechanisms. TAC4 and TACR1 mRNAs were expressed throughout rat stomach. EKA/B promoted gastric emptying by intraperitoneal injection in vivo. Correspondingly, EKA/B also increased intragastric pressure in vitro. Additionally, EKA/B contracted the gastric muscle strips from the fundus but not from the corpus or antrum. Further studies revealed that the contraction induced by EKA/B on muscle strips from the fundus could be significantly reduced by NK1 receptor antagonist SR140333 but not by NK2 receptor antagonist, NK3 receptor antagonist, or the neural blocking agents used. Our results suggested that EKA/B might stimulate gastric motility mainly through the direct activation of myogenic NK1 receptors located in the fundus.
GAS–WATER RELATIVE PERMEABILITIES FRACTAL MODEL IN DUAL-WETTABILITY MULTISCALE SHALE POROUS MEDIA DURING INJECTED WATER SPONTANEOUS IMBIBITION AND FLOW BACK PROCESS
Authors: SONG WENHUI , YAO JUN , LI YANG , SUN HAI , WANG DONGYING , YAN XIA
Published: May 2020

The multiphase flow behavior in shale porous media is known to be affected by multiscale pore size, dual surface wettability, and nanoscale transport mechanisms. However, it has not been fully understood so far. In this study, fractal model of gas–water relative permeabilities (RP) in dual-wettability shale porous media for both injected water spontaneous imbibition and the flow back process are proposed using fractal geometry. The shale pore structure is described as tortuous with different pore sizes and morphologies including slit pore, equilateral triangle, circular pore and square pore. The proportion of each pore morphology can be obtained from SEM/FIB-SEM pore structure characterization results. Injected water spontaneous imbibition after hydraulic fracturing is modeled as the capillary force dominated process and injected water flow back is modeled as a non-wetting gas phase drainage process in inorganic matter. The organic pores are deemed to be not accessible by injected water. The boundary slip of water and free gas flow in the inorganic matrix are considered while both free gas flow and adsorbed gas flow are modeled in organic matter. The proposed gas–water RP fractal model is verified via comparisons with the available experimental data and is discussed in detail. Study results reveal that gas phase RP increases with increasing pore fractal dimensions and tortuosity fractal dimensions, whereas it decreases with increasing Total Organic Carbon (TOC) volumes. Water phase RP decreases with increasing of pore fractal dimensions and tortuosity fractal dimensions, whereas it increases with increasing TOC volumes.
New Emoji Requests from Twitter Users
Authors: Feng Yunhe , Lu Zheng , Zhou Wenjun , Wang Zhibo , Cao Qing
Published: May 2020

As emojis become prevalent in personal communications, people are always looking for new, interesting emojis to express emotions, show attitudes, or simply visualize texts. In this study, we collected more than 30 million tweets mentioning the word
emoji
in a 1-year period to study emoji requests on Twitter. First, we filtered out bot-generated tweets and extracted emoji requests from the raw tweets using a comprehensive list of linguistic patterns. To our surprise, some extant emojis, such as fire 🔥 and hijab 🧕, were still frequently requested by many users. A large number of non-existing emojis were also requested, which were classified into one of eight emoji categories by Unicode Standard. We then examined patterns of new emoji requests by exploring their time, location, and context. Eagerness and frustration of not having these emojis were evidenced by our sentiment analysis, and we summarize users’ advocacy channels. Focusing on typical patterns of co-mentioned emojis, we also identified expressions of equity, diversity, and fairness issues due to unreleased but expected emojis, and we summarized the significance of new emojis on society. Finally, time-continuity-sensitive strategies at multiple time granularity levels were proposed to rank petitioned emojis by the eagerness, and a real-time monitoring system to track new emoji requests was implemented. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed tracking system is the first to rank the new desired emojis on a large scale and in a real-time manner.
No More One Liners
Authors: Kim Joongyum , Gong Taesik , Kim Bogoan , Park Jaeyeon , Kim Woojeong , Huang Evey , Han Kyungsik , Kim Juho , Ko Jeonggil , Lee Sung-Ju
Published: May 2020

As emojis are increasingly used in everyday online communication such as messaging, email, and social networks, various techniques have attempted to improve the user experience in communicating emotions and information through emojis. Emoji recommendation is one such example in which machine learning is applied to predict which emojis the user is about to select, based on the user’s current input message. Although emoji suggestion helps users identify and select the right emoji among a plethora of emojis, analyzing only a single sentence for this purpose has several limitations. First, various emotions, information, and contexts that emerge in a flow of conversation could be missed by simply looking at the most recent sentence. Second, it cannot suggest emojis for emoji-only messages, where the users use only emojis without any text. To overcome these issues, we present
Reeboc
 (Recommending emojis based on context), which combines machine learning and
k
-means clustering to analyze the conversation of a chat, extract different emotions or topics of the conversation, and recommend emojis that represent various contexts to the user. To evaluate the effectiveness of our proposed emoji recommendation system and understand its effects on user experience, we performed a user study with 17 participants in eight groups in a realistic mobile chat environment with three different modes: (i) a default static layout without emoji recommendations, (ii) emoji recommendation based on the current single sentence, and (iii) our emoji recommendation model that considers the conversation. Participants spent the least amount of time in identifying and selecting the emojis of their choice with
Reeboc
(38% faster than the baseline). They also chose emojis that were more highly ranked with
Reeboc
than with current-sentence-only recommendations. Moreover, participants appreciated emoji recommendations for emoji-only messages, which contributed to 36.2% of all sentences containing emojis.
A bibliometric approach for detecting the gender gap in computer science
Authors: Mattauch Sandra , Lohmann Katja , Hannig Frank , Lohmann Daniel , Teich Jürgen
Published: May 2020

Identifying female CS scientists by combining a robust bibliographic database and name filtering tools.
Book Review - Cloud Computing Design Patterns
Authors: Erl Thomas , Cope Robert , Naserpour Amin
Published: May 2020

Cloud Computing Design Patterns is written by Thomas Erl, Robert Cope, and Amin Naserpour, and published by Prentice Hall, © 2015, 978-0-13-385856-3, and is 591 pages long.

The "Objective of This Book" section sets a lofty goal to catalog design patterns for cloud computing, targeting IT professionals who are involved in architecting, building, maintaining, evolving cloud-based solutions and environments. Since that fits squarely in the middle of my "day job", I was really excited to get my hands on this book.
A proof from 'the book'
Authors: Monroe Don
Published: May 2020

A decades-old conjecture about computational complexity is confirmed in just a few pages.
A vision of K---
Authors: Tissenbaum Mike , Ottenbreit-Leftwich Anne
Published: May 2020

Exploring goals, perspectives, and challenges.
Beating the Generator-Enumeration Bound for Solvable-Group Isomorphism
Authors: Rosenbaum David J.
Published: May 2020

We consider the isomorphism problem for groups specified by their multiplication tables. Until recently, the best published bound for the worst-case was achieved by the
n
log
p

n
+
O
(1)

generator-enumeration algorithm where
n
is the order of the group and
p
is the smallest prime divisor of
n
. In previous work with Fabian Wagner, we showed an
n
(1 / 2) log
p

n + O

(log
n
/ log log
n
)

-time algorithm for testing isomorphism of
p
-groups by building graphs with degree bounded by
p
+
O
(1) that represent composition series for the groups and applying Luks’ algorithm for testing isomorphism of bounded-degree graphs.

In this work, we extend this improvement to the more general class of solvable groups to obtain an
n
(1 / 2)
log
p

n + O

(log n / log log n)
-time algorithm. In the case of solvable groups, the composition factors can be large which prevents previous methods from outperforming the generator-enumeration algorithm. Using Hall’s theory of Sylow bases, we define a new object that generalizes the notion of a composition series with small factors but exists even when the composition factors are large. By constructing graphs that represent these objects and running Luks’ algorithm, we obtain our algorithm for solvable-group isomorphism. We also extend our algorithm to compute canonical forms of solvable groups while retaining the same complexity.
Quadratic Simulations of Merlin–Arthur Games
Authors: Watson Thomas
Published: May 2020

The known proofs of MA ⊆ PP incur a quadratic overhead in the running time. We prove that this quadratic overhead is necessary for black-box simulations; in particular, we obtain an oracle relative to which MA-TIME (
t
) ⊈ P-TIME (
o
(
t
2
)). We also show that 2-sided-error Merlin–Arthur games can be simulated by 1-sided-error Arthur–Merlin games with quadratic overhead. We also present a simple, query complexity based proof (provided by Mika Göös) that there is an oracle relative to which MA ⊈ NP
BPP
(which was previously known to hold by a proof using generics).
Sparsification of SAT and CSP Problems via Tractable Extensions
Authors: Lagerkvist Victor , Wahlström Magnus
Published: May 2020

Unlike polynomial kernelization in general, for which many non-trivial results and methods exist, only few non-trival algorithms are known for polynomial-time sparsification. Furthermore, excepting problems on restricted inputs (such as graph problems on planar graphs), most such results rely upon encoding the instance as a system of bounded-degree polynomial equations. In particular, for satisfiability (SAT) problems with a fixed constraint language Γ, every previously known result is captured by this approach; for several such problems, this is known to be tight. In this work, we investigate the limits of this approach—in particular, does it really cover all cases of non-trivial polynomial-time sparsification?

We generalize the method using tools from the algebraic approach to constraint satisfaction problems (CSP). Every constraint that can be modelled via a system of linear equations, over some finite field F, also admits a finite domain extension to a tractable CSP with a Maltsev polymorphism; using known algorithms for Maltsev languages, we can show that every problem of the latter type admits a “basis” of
O
(
n
) constraints, which implies a linear sparsification for the original problem. This generalization appears to be strict; other special cases include constraints modelled via group equations over some finite group
G
. For sparsifications of polynomial but super-linear size, we consider two extensions of this. Most directly, we can capture systems of bounded-degree polynomial equations in a “lift-and-project” manner, by finding Maltsev extensions for constraints over
c
-tuples of variables, for a basis with
O
(

n
c

) constraints. Additionally, we may use extensions with
k
-edge polymorphisms instead of requiring a Maltsev polymorphism.

We also investigate characterizations of when such extensions exist. We give an infinite sequence of partial polymorphisms φ
1
, φ
2
, …which characterizes whether a language Γ has a Maltsev extension (of possibly infinite domain). In the complementary direction of proving lower bounds on kernelizability, we prove that for any language not preserved by φ
1
, the corresponding SAT problem does not admit a kernel of size
O
(
n
2−ε
) for any ε > 0 unless the polynomial hierarchy collapses.
A conversation with Akhil Mathur
Authors: Anjum Bushra
Published: May 2020

Ubiquity's senior editor Dr. Bushra Anjum sits with Akhil Mathur, a principal research scientist at Nokia Bell Labs in Cambridge (United Kingdom). Both discuss improving the robustness of AI models deployed on mobile and wearable devices to minimize the accuracy degradation as these devices are used in new domains.
SIGCSE 2020 recap
Authors: Zhang Jian , Sherriff Mark
Published: May 2020

When the leadership team met in Minneapolis after SIGCSE 2019 to discuss what we wanted from SIGCSE 2020, we spoke at length about our desire that SIGCSE 2020 would be a conference everyone would remember for a long time.
Conference reports
Authors: Pérez Jorge A.
Published: May 2020

In this installment of the conference report column, Diego Calvanese, Paul Fodor, and Marco Montali report on RuleML+RR 2019, the Third International Joint Conference on Rules and Reasoning. RuleML+RR is the leading international joint conference in the field of rule-based reasoning. This event took place in Bolzano, Italy in September 16--19, 2019. As Diego, Paul, and Marco describe in their detailed report, RuleML+RR 2019 was held as part of BRAIN 2019 (the Bolzano Rules and Artificial Intelligence Summit) and included a series of sub-events, tutorials, and invited keynotes. I am most grateful to Diego, Paul, and Marco for their contribution.

I look forward to receiving your reports and/or personal impressions on conferences and scientific meetings broadly related to SIGLOG. In these times of limited international travel, reports on
virtual
conferences and workshops would be most welcome. Ideas and suggestions for future installments of the column are also most welcome.
A Moment of Weakness
Authors: Oostenbrink Jorik , Kuipers Fernando A.
Published: May 2020

By targeting communication and power networks, malicious actors can significantly disrupt our society. As networks are more vulnerable after a natural disaster, this moment of weakness may be exploited to disrupt the network even further. However, the potential impact and mitigation of such a follow-up attack has yet to be studied.

In this paper,we propose a frame work to analyze the impact of a combination of a natural disaster followed by a targeted single node failure. We apply this frame work on empirical disaster data and two network topologies. Our ex- periments show that even small targeted attacks can significantly augment the already grave network disruption caused by a natural disaster. We further show that this effect can be mitigated by adopting a calculated repair strategy.
SOH Estimation and SOC Recalibration of Lithium-Ion Battery with Incremental Capacity Analysis & Cubic Smoothing Spline
Authors: Lin C. P. , Cabrera J. , Yu Denis Y. W. , Yang F. , Tsui K. L.
Published: May 2020

Conventional state of health (SOH) estimation often requires capacity measurement from battery’s full charge or discharge profile between fully charged state and cut-off state. Incremental capacity analysis can improve estimation efficiency by extracting features to estimate SOH or recalibrate state of charge estimation without using full profile. While direct numerical derivatives often do not show smooth result due to measurement noise, this paper utilizes robust cubic smoothing spline method on producing incremental capacity curve, which is superior over typical filters that require tuning on window size usually by trial&error because smoothing parameters in the proposed method can be determined by cross validation. Comparison through simulated data shows that the proposed method maintains good fidelity on data and feature of interest with low RMSE values under derivative form. This paper also proposes a peak height ratio feature for SOH estimation. While a linear relationship is noted between SOH and peak height ratio, estimation of SOH from peak height ratio is demonstrated using linear regression. A more generalized version of SOH estimation method is also demonstrated using multiple linear regression with covariates of both peak height ratio and the height of peak associated with “last phase-transition of Li ions intercalation during charging.”