bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Classification of mid‐tropopsheric cyclones over the Arabian Sea and western India
Authors: Kushwaha P. , Sukhatme J. , Nanjundiah R.S.
Published: April 2023

The formation of mid‐tropospheric cyclones (MTCs), responsible for a large portion of annual precipitation and extreme rainfall events over western India, is studied using an unsupervised machine learning algorithm and cyclone tracking. Both approaches reveal four dominant weather patterns that lead to the genesis of these synoptic systems. Specifically, re‐intensification of westward‐moving synoptic systems from the Bay of Bengal (type 1, 51%), in‐situ formation with a coexisting cyclonic system over the Bay of Bengal that precedes (type 2a, 31%) or follows (type 2b, 10%) genesis in the Arabian Sea, and finally in‐situ genesis within a northwestward‐propagating cyclonic anomaly from the south Bay of Bengal (type 2c, 8%). Thus, a large fraction of this region's rainy middle tropospheric synoptic systems form in association with cyclonic activity in the Bay of Bengal. The four variants identified also show a marked dependence on large‐scale environmental features. In particular, type 1 and type 2a MTC formation primarily occurs in phases 4 and 5, and type 2b and type 2c MTCs form mainly in phases 3 and 4 of the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation. Further, though in‐situ formation with a Bay of Bengal cyclonic anomaly (types 2a and 2b) mostly occurs in June, downstream development is more likely in the core of the monsoon season. Out of all categories, type 2a is associated with the highest composite rain rate (60 mmday) over western India and points towards the dynamic interaction between a low‐pressure system over the Bay of Bengal and the development of MTCs over western India and the northeast Arabian Sea. This classification, identification of precursors, connection with cyclonic activity over the Bay of Bengal, and dependence on a large‐scale environment provide an avenue for a better understanding of rain‐bearing MTCs over western India.
CUNY hires first Inclusion Coordinator for veterans
Authors: Elfman Lois
Published: April 2023

Although 26% of the student‐veteran population attending colleges within the City University of New York system are women, U.S. Army veteran Jessica Funes recalled that as a student she often felt invisible. She earned a master's degree in human rights at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice so she could become a veterans advocate.
Self‐Limiting Sub‐5 nm Nanodiamonds by Geochemistry‐Inspired Synthesis
Authors: Lyu Tengteng , Archambault Cynthia M. , Hathaway Evan , Zhu Xiangyu , King Carol , Abu‐Amara Lama , Wang Sicheng , Kunz Martin , Kim Moon J. , Cui Jingbiao , Yao Yansun , Yu Tony , Officer Timothy , Xu Man , Wang Yanbin , Yan Hao
Published: April 2023

Controlling diamond structures with nanometer precision is fundamentally challenging owing to their extreme and far‐from‐equilibrium synthetic conditions. State‐of‐the‐art techniques, including detonation, chemical vapor deposition, mechanical grinding, and high‐pressure‐high‐temperature synthesis, yield nanodiamond particles with a broad distribution of sizes. Despite many efforts, the direct synthesis of nanodiamonds with precisely controlled diameters remains elusive. Here the geochemistry‐inspired synthesis of sub‐5 nm nanodiamonds with sub‐nanometer size deviation is described. High‐pressure‐high‐temperature treatment of uniform iron carbide nanoparticles embedded in iron oxide matrices yields nanodiamonds with tunable diameters down to 2.13 and 0.22 nm standard deviation. A self‐limiting, redox‐driven, and diffusion‐controlled solid‐state reaction mechanism is proposed and supported by in situ X‐ray diffraction, ex situ characterizations, and computational modeling. This work provides a unique mechanism for the precise control of nanostructured diamonds under extreme conditions and paves the road for the full realization of their potential in emerging technologies.
Controllable Fabrication of Highly Uniform Sub‐10 nm Nanoparticles from Spontaneous Confined Nanoemulsification
Authors: Chen Chen , Cai Quan‐Wei , Zhan Cai‐Zhen , Wang Bi‐Cong , Li Ping‐Fan , Xie Rui , Ju Xiao‐Jie , Liu Zhuang , Wang Wei , Chu Liang‐Yin
Published: April 2023

Sub‐10 nm nanoparticles are known to exhibit extraordinary size‐dependent properties for wide applications. Many approaches have been developed for synthesizing sub‐10 nm inorganic nanoparticles, but the fabrication of sub‐10 nm polymeric nanoparticles is still challenging. Here, a scalable, spontaneous confined nanoemulsification strategy that produces uniform sub‐10 nm nanodroplets for template synthesis of sub‐10 nm polymeric nanoparticles is proposed. This strategy introduces a high‐concentration interfacial reaction to create overpopulated surfactants that are insoluble at the droplet surface. These overpopulated surfactants act as barriers, resulting in highly accumulated surfactants inside the droplet via a confined reaction. These surfactants exhibit significantly changed packing geometry, solubility, and interfacial activity to enhance the molecular‐level impact on interfacial instability for creating sub‐10 nm nanoemulsions via self‐burst nanoemulsification. Using the nanodroplets as templates, the fabrication of uniform sub‐10 nm polymeric nanoparticles, as small as 3.5 nm, made from biocompatible polymers and capable of efficient drug encapsulation is demonstrated. This work opens up brand‐new opportunities to easily create sub‐10 nm nanoemulsions and advanced ultrasmall functional nanoparticles.
Enhancing Interfacial Strength and Wettability for Wide‐Temperature Sodium Metal Batteries
Authors: Xia Xianming , Yang Yi , Chen Kaizhi , Xu Shitan , Tang Fang , Liu Lin , Xu Chen , Rui Xianhong
Published: April 2023

Development of high‐performance sodium metal batteries (SMBs) with a wide operating temperature range (from −40 to 55 °C) is highly challenging. Herein, an artificial hybrid interlayer composed of sodium phosphide (Na3P) and metal vanadium (V) is constructed for wide‐temperature‐range SMBs via vanadium phosphide pretreatment. As evidenced by simulation, the VP‐Na interlayer can regulate redistribution of Na+ flux, which is beneficial for homogeneous Na deposition. Moreover, the experimental results confirm that the artificial hybrid interlayer possesses a high Young's modulus and a compact structure, which can effectively suppress Na dendrite growth and alleviate the parasitic reaction even at 55 °C. In addition, the VP‐Na interlayer exhibits the capability to knock down the kinetic barriers for fast Na+ transportation, realizing a 30‐fold decrease in impedance at −40 °C. Symmetrical VP‐Na cells present a prolonged lifespan reaching 1200, 500, and 500 h at room temperature, 55 °C and −40 °C, respectively. In Na3V2(PO4)3||VP‐Na full cells, a high reversible capacity of 88, 89.8, and 50.3 mAh g−1 can be sustained after 1600, 1000, and 600 cycles at room temperature, 55 °C and −40 °C, respectively. The pretreatment formed artificial hybrid interlayer proves to be an effective strategy to achieve wide‐temperature‐range SMBs.
Grain Size Engineering of CVD‐Grown Large‐Area Graphene Films
Authors: Xin Xing , Chen Jiamei , Ma Laipeng , Ma Teng , Xin Wei , Xu Haiyang , Ren Wencai , Liu Yichun
Published: April 2023

Graphene, a single atomic layer of graphitic carbon, has attracted much attention because of its outstanding properties hold great promise for a wide range of technological applications. Large‐area graphene films (GFs) grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are highly desirable for both investigating their intrinsic properties and realizing their practical applications. However, the presence of grain boundaries (GBs) has significant impacts on their properties and related applications. According to the different grain sizes, GFs can be divided into polycrystalline, single‐crystal, and nanocrystalline films. In the past decade, considerable progress has been made in engineering the grain sizes of GFs by modifying the CVD processes or developing some new growth approaches. The key strategies involve controlling the nucleation density, growth rate, and grain orientation. This review aims to provide a comprehensive description of grain size engineering research of GFs. The main strategies and underlying growth mechanisms of CVD‐grown large‐area GFs with nanocrystalline, polycrystalline, and single‐crystal structures are summarized, in which the advantages and limitations are highlighted. In addition, the scaling law of physical properties in electricity, mechanics, and thermology as a function of grain sizes are briefly discussed. Finally, the perspectives for challenges and future development in this area are also presented.
A Novel Synergetic Effect and Photoactivation Lead to Very Effective UV–Visible–Infrared Light‐Driven Photothermocatalytic CO2 Reduction with CH4 on Ni/Ni‐Doped Al2O3
Authors: Chen Youlin , Cao Huamin , Li Yuanzhi , Hu Qianqian , Wu Jichun , Zhang Zheyuan
Published: April 2023

A nanocomposite of Ni nanoparticles (NPs) loaded on Ni‐doped Al2O3 (Ni/Ni‐Al2O3) is prepared. Very effective photothermocatalytic dry reforming of methane (DRM) is acquired by Ni/Ni‐Al2O3 under focused UV–vis–IR illumination with a relatively low light intensity of 80.7 kW m−2. Under focused UV–vis–IR illumination, Ni/Ni‐Al2O3 has high production rates of H2 (, 72.62 mmol g−1 min−1) and CO (rCO, 88.29 mmol g−1 min−1) as well as a large light‐to‐fuel efficiency (η) of 28.0%. Compared with a reference catalyst of Ni NPs loaded on Al2O3 (Ni/Al2O3), the photothermocatalytic activity and η of Ni/Ni‐Al2O3 are enhanced and its photothermocatalytic durability is significantly improved due to its coking rate being dramatically decreased by 42.5 times. This is attributed to a synergistic effect between Ni NPs and Ni‐Al2O3: the active oxygen of Ni‐Al2O3 participates in the oxidation of carbon species as one of decisive steps for DRM, thus not only improving the catalytic activity, but also dramatically promoting coking resistance. It is found that light not only plays a heating role, but also substantially reduces the activation energy of DRM, thus improving the catalytic activity and coking resistance due to the great acceleration of carbon oxidation upon focused illumination (photoactivation).
Burrows provided shelter for tetrapods in a Permo‐Triassic desert
Authors: Francischini Heitor , Dentzien‐Dias Paula , Battista Francesco , Sipp Gabriel S. , Melo Tomaz P. , Scherer Claiton M. S. , Schultz Cesar L.
Published: April 2023

We describe for the first time the presence of straight, curved and quasi‐helical burrows preserved in plan, oblique and transversal views in the aeolian strata of the Permo‐Triassic Buena Vista Formation (Paraná Basin), Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. The morphology of the burrows is similar to that of others found in Guadalupian to Early Triassic‐aged deposits in several parts of the world. Of these, middle Permian dicynodont‐bearing helical burrows (Daimonelix) and Early–Middle Triassic kidney‐shaped burrows (Reniformichnus), both from the Karoo Basin of South Africa, show a remarkable similarity to the Brazilian burrows, prompting a discussion of the probable producers. Dicynodonts, cynodonts, therocephalian and/or procolophonians are among the probable producers of such burrows, based on size compatibility between the burrows and estimates of body size for the fossil taxa, along with the presence of skeletal adaptations in Permo‐Triassic tetrapods for digging (bone micro‐ and macrostructure). Last, we discuss some behavioural aspects of the producer of the burrows, mainly due to the presence of passive filling and bilobate bottoms in the tunnels, which indicates that they remained open as long as they were occupied. The burrows were excavated in a dry aeolian system that occurred in the Guadalupian–Induan interval of Brazil, representing the oldest unambiguous record of tetrapod dwelling structures in such an environment, and providing new and unprecedented information regarding the colonization of deserts by tetrapods during the end‐Permian biotic crisis.
Using Virtual Filtering Approach to Discriminate Microalgae by Spectral Flow Cytometer
Authors: Barteneva Natasha S. , Kussanova Aigul , Dashkova Veronika , Meirkhanova Ayagoz , Vorobjev Ivan A.
Published: April 2023

Fluorescence methods are widely used for the study of marine and freshwater phytoplankton communities. However, the identification of different microalgae populations by the analysis of autofluorescence signals remains a challenge. Addressing the issue, we developed a novel approach using the flexibility of spectral flow cytometry analysis (SFC) and generating a matrix of virtual filters (VF) which allowed thorough examination of autofluorescence spectra. Using this matrix, different spectral emission regions of algae species were analyzed, and five major algal taxa were discriminated. These results were further applied for tracing particular microalgae taxa in the complex mixtures of laboratory and environmental algal populations. An integrated analysis of single algal events combined with unique spectral emission fingerprints and light scattering parameters of microalgae can be used to differentiate major microalgal taxa. We propose a protocol for the quantitative assessment of heterogenous phytoplankton communities at the single-cell level and monitoring of phytoplankton bloom detection using a virtual filtering approach on a spectral flow cytometer (SFC-VF).
Imaging Flow Cytometry of Multi-Nuclearity
Authors: Vorobjev Ivan A. , Bekbayev Sultan , Temirgaliyev Adil , Tlegenova Madina , Barteneva Natasha S.
Published: April 2023

Multi-nuclearity is a common feature for cells in different cancers. Also, analysis of multi-nuclearity in cultured cells is widely used for evaluating the toxicity of different drugs. Multi-nuclear cells in cancer and under drug treatments form from aberrations in cell division and/or cytokinesis. These cells are a hallmark of cancer progression, and the abundance of multi-nucleated cells often correlates with poor prognosis.

The use of standard bright field or fluorescent microscopy to analyze multi-nuclearity at the quantitative level is laborious and can suffer from user bias. Automated slide-scanning microscopy can eliminate scorer bias and improve data collection. However, this method has limitations, such as insufficient visibility of multiple nuclei in the cells attached to the substrate at low magnification.

Since quantification of multi-nuclear cells using microscopic methods might be difficult, imaging flow cytometry (IFC) is a method of choice for this. We describe the experimental protocol for the preparation of the samples of multi-nucleated cells from the attached cultures and the algorithm for the analysis of these cells by IFC. Images of multi-nucleated cells obtained after mitotic arrest induced by taxol, as well as cells obtained after cytokinesis blockade by cytochalasin D treatment, can be acquired at a maximal resolution of IFC. We suggest two algorithms for the discrimination of single-nucleus and multi-nucleated cells. The advantages and disadvantages of IFC analysis of multi-nuclear cells in comparison with microscopy are discussed.
Extending a High-Performance Prover to Higher-Order Logic
Authors: Vukmirović Petar , Blanchette Jasmin , Schulz Stephan
Published: April 2023

Most users of proof assistants want more proof automation. Some proof assistants discharge goals by translating them to first-order logic and invoking an efficient prover on them, but much is lost in translation. Instead, we propose to extend first-order provers with native support for higher-order features. Building on our extension of E to$$\lambda $$-free higher-order logic, we extend E to full higher-order logic. The result is the strongest prover on benchmarks exported from a proof assistant.
CoPTIC: Constraint Programming Translated Into C
Authors: Lester Martin Mariusz
Published: April 2023

Constraint programming systems allow a diverse range of problems to be modelled and solved. Most systems require the user to learn a new constraint programming language, which presents a barrier to novice and casual users. To address this problem, we present the CoPTIC constraint programming system, which allows the user to write a model in the well-known programming language C, augmented with a simple API to support using a guess-and-check paradigm. The resulting model is at most as complex as an ordinary C program that uses naive brute force to solve the same problem.

CoPTIC uses the bounded model checker CBMC to translate the model into a SAT instance, which is solved using the SAT solver CaDiCaL. We show that, while this is less efficient than a direct translation from a dedicated constraint language into SAT, performance remains adequate for casual users. CoPTIC supports constraint satisfaction and optimisation problems, as well as enumeration of multiple solutions. After a solution has been found, CoPTIC allows the model to be run with the solution; this makes it easy to debug a model, or to print the solution in any desired format.
Taming Large Bounds in Synthesis from Bounded-Liveness Specifications
Authors: Heim Philippe , Dimitrova Rayna
Published: April 2023

Automatic synthesis from temporal logic specifications is an attractive alternative to manual system design, due to its ability to generate correct-by-construction implementations from high-level specifications. Due to the high complexity of the synthesis problem, significant research efforts have been directed at developing practically efficient approaches for restricted specification language fragments. In this paper we focus on the fragment of Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) syntactically extended with bounded temporal operators. We propose a new synthesis approach with the primary motivation to solve efficiently the synthesis problem for specifications with bounded temporal operators, in particular those with large bounds. The experimental evaluation of our method shows that for this type of specifications it outperforms state-of-art synthesis tools, demonstrating that it is a promising approach to efficiently treating quantitative timing constraints in safety specifications.
New Core-Guided and Hitting Set Algorithms for Multi-Objective Combinatorial Optimization
Authors: Cortes João , Lynce Inês , Manquinho Vasco
Published: April 2023

In the last decade, numerous algorithms for single-objective Boolean optimization have been proposed that rely on the iterative usage of a highly effective Propositional Satisfiability (SAT) solver. But the use of SAT solvers in Multi-Objective Combinatorial Optimization (MOCO) algorithms is still scarce. Due to this shortage of efficient tools for MOCO, many real-world applications formulated as multi-objective are simplified to single-objective, using either a linear combination or a lexicographic ordering of the objective functions to optimize.

In this paper, we extend the state of the art of MOCO solvers with two novel unsatisfiability-based algorithms. The first is a core-guided MOCO solver. The second is a hitting set-based MOCO solver. Experimental results in several sets of benchmark instances show that our new unsatisfiability-based algorithms can outperform state-of-the-art SAT-based algorithms for MOCO.
OccRob: Efficient SMT-Based Occlusion Robustness Verification of Deep Neural Networks
Authors: Guo Xingwu , Zhou Ziwei , Zhang Yueling , Katz Guy , Zhang Min
Published: April 2023

Occlusion is a prevalent and easily realizable semantic perturbation to deep neural networks (DNNs). It can fool a DNN into misclassifying an input image by occluding some segments, possibly resulting in severe errors. Therefore, DNNs planted in safety-critical systems should be verified to be robust against occlusions prior to deployment. However, most existing robustness verification approaches for DNNs are focused on non-semantic perturbations and are not suited to the occlusion case. In this paper, we propose the first efficient, SMT-based approach for formally verifying the occlusion robustness of DNNs. We formulate the occlusion robustness verification problem and prove it is NP-complete. Then, we devise a novel approach for encoding occlusions as a part of neural networks and introduce two acceleration techniques so that the extended neural networks can be efficiently verified using off-the-shelf, SMT-based neural network verification tools. We implement our approach in a prototype called OccRob and extensively evaluate its performance on benchmark datasets with various occlusion variants. The experimental results demonstrate our approach’s effectiveness and efficiency in verifying DNNs’ robustness against various occlusions, and its ability to generate counterexamples when these DNNs are not robust.
Modular Mix-and-Match Complementation of Büchi Automata
Authors: Havlena Vojtěch , Lengál Ondřej , Li Yong , Šmahlíková Barbora , Turrini Andrea
Published: April 2023

Complementation of nondeterministic Büchi automata (BAs) is an important problem in automata theory with numerous applications in formal verification, such as termination analysis of programs, model checking, or in decision procedures of some logics. We build on ideas from a recent work on BA determinization by Li et al. and propose a new modular algorithm for BA complementation. Our algorithm allows to combine several BA complementation procedures together, with one procedure for a subset of the BA’s strongly connected components (SCCs). In this way, one can exploit the structure of particular SCCs (such as when they are inherently weak or deterministic) and use more efficient specialized algorithms, regardless of the structure of the whole BA. We give a general framework into which partial complementation procedures can be plugged in, and its instantiation with several algorithms. The framework can, in general, produce a complement with an Emerson-Lei acceptance condition, which can often be more compact. Using the algorithm, we were able to establish an exponentially better new upper bound of $$\mathcal {O}(4^n)$$

O
(

4
n

)

for complementation of the recently introduced class of elevator automata. We implemented the algorithm in a prototype and performed a comprehensive set of experiments on a large set of benchmarks, showing that our framework complements well the state of the art and that it can serve as a basis for future efficient BA complementation and inclusion checking algorithms.
Bounded Model Checking for Asynchronous Hyperproperties
Authors: Hsu Tzu-Han , Bonakdarpour Borzoo , Finkbeiner Bernd , Sánchez César
Published: April 2023

Many types of attacks on confidentiality stem from the nondeterministic nature of the environment that computer programs operate in. We focus on verification of confidentiality in nondeterministic environments by reasoning aboutasynchronous hyperproperties. We generalize the temporal logic to allow nestedtrajectoryquantification, where a trajectory determines how different execution traces may advance and stutter. We propose a bounded model checking algorithm for based on QBF-solving for a fragment of and evaluate it by various case studies on concurrent programs, scheduling attacks, compiler optimization, speculative execution, and cache timing attacks. We also rigorously analyze the complexity of model checking .
A Matrix-Based Approach to Parity Games
Authors: Aggarwal Saksham , de la Banda Alejandro Stuckey , Yang Luke , Gutierrez Julian
Published: April 2023

Parity games are two-player zero-sum games of infinite duration played on finite graphs for which no solution in polynomial time is still known. Solving a parity game is an $$\text{ NP }\cap \text{ co-NP }$$

NP

∩

co-NP

problem, with the best worst-case complexity algorithms available in the literature running in quasi-polynomial time. Given the importance of parity games within automated formal verification, several practical solutions have been explored showing that considerably large parity games can be solved somewhat efficiently. Here, we propose a new approach to solving parity games guided by the efficient manipulation of a suitable matrix-based representation of the games. Our results show that a sequential implementation of our approach offers very competitive performance, while a parallel implementation using GPUs outperforms the current state-of-the-art techniques. Our study considers both real-world benchmarks of structured games as well as parity games randomly generated. We also show that our matrix-based approach retains the optimal complexity bounds of the best recursive algorithm to solve large parity games in practice.
A GPU Tree Database for Many-Core Explicit State Space Exploration
Authors: Wijs Anton , Osama Muhammad
Published: April 2023

Various techniques have been proposed to accelerate explicit-state model checking with GPUs, but none address the compact storage of states, or if they do, at the cost of losing completeness of the checking procedure. We investigate how to implement a tree database to store states as binary trees in GPU memory. We present fine-grained parallel algorithms to find and store trees, experiment with a number of GPU-specific configurations, and propose a novel hashing technique, called Cleary-Cuckoo hashing, which enables the use of Cleary compression on GPUs. We are the first to assess the effectiveness of using a tree database, and Cleary compression, on GPUs. Experiments show processing speeds of up to 131 million states per second.
Software Testing: 5th Comparative Evaluation: Test-Comp 2023
Authors: Beyer Dirk
Published: April 2023

The 5th edition of the Competition on Software Testing (Test-Comp 2023) provides again an overview and comparative evaluation of automatic test-suite generators for C programs. The experiment was performed on a benchmark set of 4 106 test-generation tasks for C programs. Each test-generation task consisted of a program and a test specification (error coverage, branch coverage). There were 13 participating test-suite generators from 6 countries in Test-Comp 2023.
Model-based Player Experience Testing with Emotion Pattern Verification
Authors: Ansari Saba Gholizadeh , Prasetya I. S. W. B. , Prandi Davide , Kifetew Fitsum Meshesha , Dastani Mehdi , Dignum Frank , Keller Gabriele
Published: April 2023

Player eXperience (PX) testing has attracted attention in the game industry as video games become more complex and widespread. Understanding players’ desires and their experience are key elements to guarantee the success of a game in the highly competitive market. Although a number of techniques have been introduced to measure the emotional aspect of the experience, automated testing of player experience still needs to be explored. This paper presents a framework for automated player experience testing by formulating emotion patterns’ requirements and utilizing a computational model of players’ emotions developed based on a psychological theory of emotions along with a model-based testing approach for test suite generation. We evaluate the strength of our framework by performing mutation test. The paper also evaluates the performance of a search-based generated test suite and LTL model checking-based test suite in revealing various variations of temporal and spatial emotion patterns. Results show the contribution of both algorithms in generating complementary test cases for revealing various emotions in different locations of a game level.
Safe Yet Welcoming: Alternative Design Strategies for Secure Schools
Authors: Jahangiri Jamileh
Published: April 2023

In recent decades, increased attention to safety and security issues in public spaces has changed the connection of Australian schools to their surroundings. Visible security measures such as high fences around schools are becoming a common feature of the urban landscape. The diplomat fence, a type of spear-topped security fencing, dominates many school boundaries regardless of the location and needs. Some analysts and commentators emphasise the necessity of such measures due to increased security concerns. Others argue that such measures create undue anxiety by constantly reminding students, teachers and the community of presumed threats. This chapter documents the author’s research into defensible schools and discusses alternative ways to secure schools through urban, architectural and landscape design strategies, appropriate to context. Importantly, this research focuses on opportunities to remove unnecessary physical barriers and enhance schools' connections with their surrounding environments and communities.
Developing a School and Community Learning Hub: A Case Study from Regional Australia
Authors: Tordoff David , Atkin Julia
Published: April 2023

This chapter chronicles a merging of previously separate community, school, cultural, wellbeing, and tertiary facilities within a new hub in the regional centre of Young, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It describes the collaboration required between state and local government, architects, educators and community representatives from the conception of the facility within the community, to engaging with multiple stakeholders and policies and the architectural response to a complex brief on a fortuitous multilayered historical site within a diverse cultural context. Australia wide, governments are searching for more effective and efficient use of public infrastructure. In NSW schools have long been encouraged to make their facilities available for community use and consequently ‘shared’ use of school owned facilities is relatively common. It is only recently that ‘joint use’ projects have been promoted in NSW. ‘Joint use’ involves significant capital investments of land and/or facilities by two or more parties. ‘Joint use’ projects have the potential to open myriad learning opportunities for a community. In Young, the concurrent need to upgrade and extend the community library facilities and the community’s high school facilities provided an opportunity to develop a ‘joint use’ community hub not only to service the town but for ‘supporting whole of life learning for Hilltops’—the local government area. With new opportunities inevitably come challenges. The chapter discusses challenges around the governance and management that joint use projects present and how this community is designing its way forward.
Complexity and Multi-boundary Wormholes in 2 + 1 dimensions
Authors: Zolfi Hamed
Published: April 2023

Abstract

Three dimensional wormholes are global solutions of Einstein-Hilbert action. These space-times which are quotients of a part of global AdS3 have multiple asymptotic regions, each with conformal boundary S1 × ℝ, and separated from each other by horizons. Each outer region is isometric to BTZ black hole, and behind the horizons, there is a complicated topology. The main virtue of these geometries is that they are dual to known CFT states. In this paper, we evaluate the full time dependence of holographic complexity for the simplest case of 2 + 1 dimensional Lorentzian wormhole spacetime, which has three asymptotic AdS boundaries, using the “complexity equals volume” (CV) conjecture. We conclude that the growth of complexity is non-linear and saturates at late times.
Linear response of entanglement entropy to $$ T\overline{T} $$ in massive QFTs
Authors: Ashkenazi Shachar , Chakraborty Soumangsu , Ma Zhanyu , Shachar Tom
Published: April 2023

Abstract

We compute the leading correction to entanglement entropy in $$ T\overline{T} $$
T

T
¯

deformed massive QFTs. We show that both for massive scalar and Dirac fermion, the leading order correction to the entanglement entropy of half space comes from the boundary of the entangling surface. For the case of massive scalar, the boundary term is finite while for massive fermion, it diverges logarithmically giving rise to an additional log-square divergence in the entanglement entropy.
Prospects for strong coupling measurement at hadron colliders using soft-drop jet mass
Authors: Hannesdottir Holmfridur S. , Pathak Aditya , Schwartz Matthew D. , Stewart Iain W.
Published: April 2023

Abstract

We compute the soft-drop jet-mass distribution from pp collisions to NNLL accuracy while including nonperturbative corrections through a field-theory based formalism. Using these calculations, we assess the theoretical uncertainties on an αs precision measurement due to higher order perturbative effects, nonperturbative corrections, and PDF uncertainty. We identify which soft-drop parameters are well-suited for measuring αs, and find that higher-logarithmic resummation has a qualitatively important effect on the shape of the jet-mass distribution. We find that quark jets and gluon jets have similar sensitivity to αs, and emphasize that experimentally distinguishing quark and gluon jets is not required for an αs measurement. We conclude that measuring αs to the 10% level is feasible now, and with improvements in theory a 5% level measurement is possible. Getting down to the 1% level to be competitive with other state-of-the-art measurements will be challenging.
Decoherence of cosmological perturbations from boundary terms and the non-classicality of gravity
Authors: Sou Chon Man , Tran Duc Huy , Wang Yi
Published: April 2023

Abstract

We note that the decoherence of inflationary curvature perturbation ζ is dominated by a boundary term of the gravity action. Although this boundary term cannot affect cosmological correlators 〈ζn〉, it induces much faster decoherence for ζ than that of previous calculations. The gravitational origin of inflationary decoherence sheds light on the quantum (or non-classical) nature of gravity. By comparing with a Schrödinger-Newton toy model of classical gravity, we show that gravity theories of classical or quantum origins can be distinguished by comparing their different impacts on decoherence rate of ζ. Our calculation also indicates that density fluctuation δρ better preserves quantum information than ζ for the purpose of constructing cosmological Bell-like experiments.
Correction to: There is at most one continuous invariant mean
Authors: Boros Zoltán , L. Lovas Rezső , Pasteczka Paweł
Published: April 2023

A mistake in the formulation of Lemma 1 has been corrected. A preliminary section to the proof of Theorem 1 is added.
eEF2 improves dense connective tissue repair and healing outcome by regulating cellular death, autophagy, apoptosis, proliferation and migration
Authors: Chen Junyu , Wang Jin , Wu Xinjie , Simon Nils , Svensson Camilla I. , Yuan Juan , Hart David A. , Ahmed Aisha S. , Ackermann Paul W.
Published: April 2023

Outcomes following human dense connective tissue (DCT) repair are often variable and suboptimal, resulting in compromised function and development of chronic painful degenerative diseases. Moreover, biomarkers and mechanisms that guide good clinical outcomes after DCT injuries are mostly unknown. Here, we characterize the proteomic landscape of DCT repair following human Achilles tendon rupture and its association with long-term patient-reported outcomes. Moreover, the potential regulatory mechanisms of relevant biomarkers were assessed partly by gene silencing experiments. A mass-spectrometry based proteomic approach quantified a large number (769) of proteins, including 51 differentially expressed proteins among 20 good versus 20 poor outcome patients. A novel biomarker, elongation factor-2 (eEF2) was identified as being strongly prognostic of the 1-year clinical outcome. Further bioinformatic and experimental investigation revealed that eEF2 positively regulated autophagy, cell proliferation and migration, as well as reduced cell death and apoptosis, leading to improved DCT repair and outcomes. Findings of eEF2 as novel prognostic biomarker could pave the way for new targeted treatments to improve healing outcomes after DCT injuries.

Trial registration: NCT02318472 registered 17 December 2014 and NCT01317160 registered 17 March 2011, with URLhttp://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02318472andhttp://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT01317160.
Pflegeethik und der Auftrag der Pflege – Gegenwärtige Grenzen am Beispiel der stationären Altenpflege
Authors: Wöhlke Sabine , Riedel Annette
Published: April 2023

Zentrale ethische Prinzipien professioneller Pflege sind Würde, Fürsorge, Gerechtigkeit und Respekt. Die Rahmenbedingungen und Gegebenheiten in der Altenpflege führen aktuell dazu, dass eine professionelle Pflegeethik vielfach nicht mehr realisierbar ist. Dies führt nicht nur zu (moralischen) Belastungen bei den Pflegenden, sondern in umfassendem Maße auch zur Berufsunzufriedenheit und zum Berufsausstieg. Der Begriff „Pflexit“ wurde erstmals in der Coronapandemie laut und ist seither nicht mehr verhallt.

Um eine ethisch begründete und würdevolle wie auch an den Menschenrechten orientierte Altenpflege sicherzustellen, wie es politisch in Chartas vermittelt und zu Recht von den pflegebedürftigen Menschen erwartet wird, bedarf es der schnellen und umfassenden gesellschaftlichen und politischen Intervention. Würde und Respekt sind in diesem Zusammenhang auch ein gesellschaftlicher Auftrag. Eine professionelle, an ethischen Werten orientierte Pflege ist nur umsetzbar, wenn auch Pflegenden eben diese Haltung entgegengebracht wird. Den deutlichen Warnhinweisen auf eine „Pflegekrise“ müssen endlich Taten folgen, auch um die Berufsflucht zu stoppen. In diesem Diskussionsartikel wird zunächst die Bedeutsamkeit einer professionellen Pflegeethik dargelegt. In einem zweiten Schritt werden Rahmenbedingungen und aktuelle Probleme aufgezeigt, die einer umfassenden Umsetzung zentraler Werte in der Altenpflege entgegenstehen. Dabei wird der Schwerpunkt auf die Auswirkungen der prekären Personalsituation gelegt.
Hospital variation in revision rates after primary knee arthroplasty was not explained by patient selection: baseline data from 1452 patients in the Danish prospective multicenter cohort study, SPARK
Authors: Mørup-Petersen Anne , Krogsgaard Michael Rindom , Laursen Mogens , Madsen Frank , Mongelard Kristian Breds Geoffroy , Rømer Lone , Winther-Jensen Matilde , Odgaard Anders
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Revision rates following primary knee arthroplasty vary by country, region and hospital. The SPARK study was initiated to compare primary surgery across three Danish regions with consistently different revision rates. The present study investigated whether the variations were associated with differences in the primary patient selection.

Methods

A prospective observational cohort study included patients scheduled Sep 2016 Dec 2017 for primary knee arthroplasty (total, medial/lateral unicompartmental or patellofemoral) at three high-volume hospitals, representing regions with 2-year cumulative revision rates of 1, 2 and 5%, respectively. Hospitals were compared with respects to patient demographics, preoperative patient-reported outcome measures, motivations for surgery, implant selection, radiological osteoarthritis and the regional incidence of primary surgery. Statistical tests (parametric and non-parametric) comprised all three hospitals.

Results

Baseline data was provided by 1452 patients (89% of included patients, 56% of available patients). Patients in Copenhagen (Herlev-Gentofte Hospital, high-revision) were older (68.6 ± 9 years) than those in low-revision hospitals (Aarhus 66.6 ± 10 y. and Aalborg (Farsø) 67.3 ± 9 y., p = 0.002). In Aalborg, patients who had higher Body Mass Index (mean 30.2 kg/m2 versus 28.2 (Aarhus) and 28.7 kg/m2 (Copenhagen), p < 0.001), were more likely to be male (56% versus 45 and 43%, respectively, p = 0.002), and exhibited fewer anxiety and depression symptoms (EQ-5D-5L) (24% versus 34 and 38%, p = 0.01). The preoperative Oxford Knee Score (23.3 ± 7), UCLA Activity Scale (4.7 ± 2), range of motion (Copenhagen Knee ROM Scale) and patient motivations were comparable across hospitals but varied with implant type. Radiological classification ≥ 2 was observed in 94% (Kellgren-Lawrence) and 67% (Ahlbäck) and was more frequent in Aarhus (low-revision) (p ≤ 0.02), where unicompartmental implants were utilized most (49% versus 14 (Aalborg) and 23% (Copenhagen), p < 0.001). In the Capital Region (Copenhagen), the incidence of surgery was 15–28% higher (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Patient-reported outcome measures prior to primary knee arthroplasty were comparable across hospitals with differing revision rates. While radiographic classifications and surgical incidence indicated higher thresholds for primary surgery in one low-revision hospital, most variations in patient and implant selection were contrary to well-known revision risk factors, suggesting that patient selection differences alone were unlikely to be responsible for the observed variation in revision rates across Danish hospitals.

Level of evidence

II, Prospective cohort study.
Long-term results of a prospective randomized trial comparing tension-free vaginal tape versus transobturator tape in stress urinary incontinence
Authors: Salo Heini , Sova Henri , Laru Johanna , Talvensaari-Mattila Anne , Nyyssönen Virva , Santala Markku , Piltonen Terhi , Koivurova Sari , Rossi Henna-Riikka
Published: April 2023

Introduction and hypothesis

This study was aimed at investigating the long-term effectiveness of minimally invasive mid-urethral sling (MUS) surgery and at comparing the outcomes between retropubic (tension-free vaginal tape, TVT) and transobturator tape (TOT) methods in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) with a predominant stress component in a long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.

Methods

This work is a long-term follow-up study of a previous prospective randomized trial conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Oulu University Hospital between January 2004 and November 2006. The original 100 patients were randomized into the TVT (n=50) or TOT (n=50) group. The median follow-up time was 16 years, and the subjective outcomes were evaluated using internationally standardized and validated questionnaires.

Results

Long-term follow-up data were obtained from 34 TVT patients and 38 TOT patients. At 16 years after MUS surgery, the UISS significantly decreased from a preoperative score in the TVT (11.88 vs 5.00, p<0.001) and TOT (11.05 vs 4.95, p<0.001) groups, showing a good long-term success of the MUS surgery in both groups. In comparing the TVT and TOT procedures, the subjective cure rates did not differ significantly between the study groups in long-term follow-up according to validated questionnaires.

Conclusion

Midurethral sling surgery had good long-term outcomes in the treatment of SUI and MUI with a predominant stress component. The subjective outcomes of the TVT and TOT procedures were similar after a 16-year follow-up.
Does radiolucency really predict loose components in revision shoulder arthroplasty?
Authors: Streck Laura E. , Gaal Chiara , Gohlke Frank , Rudert Maximilian , List Kilian
Published: April 2023

Objective

The number of shoulder arthroplasties is increasing along with the need for revision surgeries. Determining the stability of the implant is crucial in preoperative planning. This study aims to investigate whether radiolucent lines (RLL) in preoperative radiographs predict component loosening.

Materials and methods

Preoperative radiographs of 93 cases in 88 patients who underwent shoulder arthroplasty revision were evaluated regarding the presence of RLL. Correlation analyses were performed for radiographic findings and demographic factors (age, gender, BMI, prior surgeries) compared to intraoperative findings.

Results

The presence of RLL around the humeral component correlated with loosening (p < 0.001, Phi 0.511), and the distal zones 3 and 5 showed the strongest correlation (Phi 0.536). While RLL in only one zone did not predict loosening (p = 0.337), RLL present in two or more zones showed correlation with loosening (p < 0.001). Risk factors associated with loosening were a higher age at the time of revision surgery (p = 0.030) and the number of zones with RLL (p < 0.001). The glenoid component was loose in 39.0% of the cases; 5.5% of the glenoid components with RLL were stable. Nevertheless, the presence of RLL was highly associated with loosening (p < 0.001, Phi 0.603). A longer time between implantation and revision correlated with loosening of the glenoid component (p = 0.046).

Conclusion

While RLL do not predict loosening of the implant in general, occurrence in more than one zone correlates with loosening. If located in distal zones and with increasing number of zones with RLL, the correlation becomes even stronger and loosening is more likely.
Risk factors for residual back pain following percutaneous vertebral augmentation: the importance of paraspinal muscle fatty degeneration
Authors: Gao Xiangcheng , Du Jinpeng , Hao Dingjun , He Baorong , Yan Liang
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Residual back pain (RBP) after percutaneous vertebral augmentation (PVA) still exists considerable, and it even affects daily life due to moderate or severe back pain. A variety of risk factors have been previously identified for developing residual back pain. However, there are conflicting reports regarding the association between sarcopenia and residual back pain. As such, the aim of this study was to investigate whether paraspinal muscle fatty degeneration is a predictor of residual back pain.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with single-segment OVCF who underwent PVA from January 2016 to January 2022. Patients were divided into RBP group (86 patients) and control group (790 patients) according to whether the visual analog scale (VAS) score ≥ 4. The clinical and radiological data were analyzed. Paraspinal musculature fatty degeneration was measured using the Goutallier classification system (GCS) at the L4 − 5 intervertebral disc level. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors.

Results

The results of multivariate logistical regression analysis revealed that posterior fascia injury (odds ratio (OR) = 5.23; 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.12–5.50; P < 0.001), as regards paraspinal muscle fatty degeneration, including Goutallier grading (OR = 12.23; 95% CI 7.81–23.41; P < 0.001), fCSA (OR = 3.06; 95% CI 1.63–6.84; P = 0.002), fCSA/CSA (%) (OR = 14.38; 95% CI 8.80–26.29; P < 0.001), and facet joint violation (OR = 8.54; 95% CI 6.35–15.71; P < 0.001) were identified as independent risk factors for RBP.

Conclusions

Posterior fascia injury, paraspinal muscle fatty degeneration, and facet joint violation were identified as independent risk factors for RBP, with paraspinal muscle fatty degeneration playing an important role.
The role of anti-eosinophilic therapies in eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis: a systematic review
Authors: Kouverianos Ioannis , Angelopoulos Andreas , Daoussis Dimitrios
Published: April 2023

Eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) is an antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis, mostly affecting small-sized arteries and usually occurring in patients with an allergic background. Eosinophils seem to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of the disease and, therefore, biologics targeting interleukin 5 (IL5), a cytokine tightly linked to eosinophils, have emerged as a promising therapeutic tool. A systematic review of Medline was conducted from 2007 to 2022 to search for data regarding the use of anti-IL5 therapies in patients with EGPA. Ongoing or unpublished trials were also searched in ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization trials portal. The efficacy and safety of mepolizumab, an anti-IL5 monoclonal antibody (mAb), was confirmed by a randomized controlled trial (RCT), although a significant proportion of patients did not respond to this treatment. Other studies showed that both doses of 100 mg and 300 mg of mepolizumab are almost equally effective in EGPA. Benralizumab, an anti-IL5 receptor mAb has preliminary promising results and an RCT is planned to be conducted. Apart from their clinical efficacy in EGPA, anti-IL5 therapies may have steroid-sparing properties. Anti-IL5 therapies seem to be effective and safe in patients with refractory/relapsing EGPA and can be used as a steroid-sparing treatment. Nevertheless, more research is needed to clarify the pathophysiology of the disease; this may potentially lead to the identification of biomarkers to pinpoint patients most likely to respond to anti-IL5-blockade.