bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The entero-endocrine response following a mixed-meal tolerance test with a non-nutritive pre-load in participants with pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes: A crossover randomized controlled trial proof of concept study
Authors: Muilwijk Mirthe , Beulens Joline W. J. , Groeneveld Lenka , Rutters Femke , Blom Marieke T. , Agamennone Valeria , van den Broek Tim , Keijser Bart J. F. , Hoevenaars Femke
Published: August 2023

Introduction

This crossover randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigated differences in short-term entero-endocrine response to a mixed-meal tolerance test preceded by nutrient sensing between participants with pre-diabetes (pre-T2D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Additionally, differences in gut and oral microbiome composition between participants with a high and low entero-endocrine response were investigated.

Research design and methods

Ten participants with pre-T2D and ten with T2D underwent three test days with pre-loads consisting of either swallowing water (control), or rinsing with a non-nutritive sweetener solution, or swallowing the sweetener solution before a mixed-meal tolerance test. Blood glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucagon, glucose, insulin and peptide YY (PYY) were determined at t = -20, 0, 15, 30, 60, 120 and 240 minutes. The composition of the oral and gut microbiome at baseline were also determined.

Results

The entero-endocrine response differed by pre-loads, e.g. a lower PYY response after swallowing the non-nutritive sweetener (-3585.2pg/mL [95% CI: -6440.6; -729.8]; p = 0.01). But it also differed by T2D status, e.g. a higher glucose, glucagon and PYY response was found in participants with T2D, compared to those with pre-T2D. Evidence for associations between the oral and gut microbiome composition and the entero-endocrine response was limited. Still, the level of entero-endocrine response was associated with several oral microbiome measures. Higher oral anterior α-diversity was associated with a lower PYY response (e.g. Inverse Simpson index -1357pg/mL [95% CI -2378; -336; 1.24]), and higher oral posterior α-diversitywith a higher GIP response (e.g. Inverse Simpson index 6773pg/mL [95% CI 132; 13414]) in models adjusted for sex, age and T2D status.

Conclusions

Non-nutritive pre-loads influence the entero-endocrine response to a mixed-meal, and this effect varies based on (pre-)T2D status. The entero-endocrine response is likely not associated with the gut microbiome, and there is limited evidence for association with the α-diversity of the oral microbiome composition.

Trial registration

Trial register: Netherlands Trial Register NTR7212, accessible through International Clinical Trials Registry Platform: ICTRP Search Portal (who.int).
TROLLOPE: A novel sequence-based stacked approach for the accelerated discovery of linear T-cell epitopes of hepatitis C virus
Authors: Charoenkwan Phasit , Waramit Sajee , Chumnanpuen Pramote , Schaduangrat Nalini , Shoombuatong Watshara
Published: August 2023

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a concerning health issue that causes chronic liver diseases. Despite many successful therapeutic outcomes, no effective HCV vaccines are currently available. Focusing on T cell activity, the primary effector for HCV clearance, T cell epitopes of HCV (TCE-HCV) are considered promising elements to accelerate HCV vaccine efficacy. Thus, accurate and rapid identification of TCE-HCVs is recommended to obtain more efficient therapy for chronic HCV infection. In this study, a novel sequence-based stacked approach, termed TROLLOPE, is proposed to accurately identify TCE-HCVs from sequence information. Specifically, we employed 12 different sequence-based feature descriptors from heterogeneous perspectives, such as physicochemical properties, composition-transition-distribution information and composition information. These descriptors were used in cooperation with 12 popular machine learning (ML) algorithms to create 144 base-classifiers. To maximize the utility of these base-classifiers, we used a feature selection strategy to determine a collection of potential base-classifiers and integrated them to develop the meta-classifier. Comprehensive experiments based on both cross-validation and independent tests demonstrated the superior predictive performance of TROLLOPE compared with conventional ML classifiers, with cross-validation and independent test accuracies of 0.745 and 0.747, respectively. Finally, a user-friendly online web server of TROLLOPE (http://pmlabqsar.pythonanywhere.com/TROLLOPE) has been developed to serve research efforts in the large-scale identification of potential TCE-HCVs for follow-up experimental verification.
An investigation of how perceived smart tourism technologies affect tourists’ well-being in marine tourism
Authors: Zheng Yuxiang , Wu Yue
Published: August 2023

Tourism industry is the first of the five happiness industries, playing a crucial role in enhancing people’s well-being and happiness. Its high-quality development cannot be achieved without the use of emerging technologies, and today people have greatly improved the quality and happiness of tourism through smartphones, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and other technologies. Building smart marine tourism also requires widespread use of smart tourism technology. The study aims to examine the implications of perceived smart tourism technologies for tourist well-being in marine tourism, as well as the mediating role memorable tourism experiences play. We collected 445 valid questionnaires through a combination of offline and online methods and developed a theoretical model based on the results. The SPSS 26 statistical software package and Amos were applied in data analysis. There is a significant positive impact of perceived smart tourism technology on both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being of tourists in marine tourism, which is partially mediated by memorable tourism experiences. This paper provides certain suggestions and insights into the construction of smart marine tourism, so that managers can pay more attention to the experience and well-being of tourists and build a humanized, diversified, intelligent and innovative marine tourism. For smart tourism technology suppliers, it can provide them with new ideas for technological improvement, so that they can provide better services and attract more tourists in a market-oriented environment.
The COVID-19 related stress and social network addiction among Chinese college students: A moderated mediation model
Authors: Hu Ziao , Zhu Yangli , Li Jun , Liu Jiafu , Fu Maozheng
Published: August 2023

Based on social cognitive theory and gender differences, this study verified a moderated mediation model to explore the relationship between the COVID-19 related stress (CRS) and social network addiction (SNA) and evaluate the mediating role of fear of missing out (FoMO) and the moderating role of gender. A questionnaire survey was conducted, including 702 Chinese university students.This study used PROCESS to test the hypothesis model.The results showed that the CRS significantly and positively affected the SNA of college students and FoMO played a complementary mediating role. Moreover, the analysis of the moderated mediation model showed that gender moderated the relationship between FoMO and SNA; the effect of FoMO was stronger on the SNA of male college students than that of females. The results not only enhanced our understanding of the internal influencing mechanism of the relationship between CRS and SNA but also considered gender differences. In addition, some suggestions were proposed.
Health-related quality of life and associated factors among prisoners in Gondar city prison, Northwest Ethiopia: Using structural equation modeling
Authors: Seifu Beminate Lemma , Nigatu Solomon Gedlu , Gezie Lemma Derseh
Published: August 2023

Background

Prisoners usually need more comprehensive health and social support than the general population. Due to the growing number of prisoners in Ethiopia and limited access to health service, quality of life is a key concern. Compromised health-related quality of life imposes short and long-term consequences on the prisoners, their families, and the healthcare system. In Ethiopia, there are limited studies that investigate health outcomes and health-related quality of life in this particular population. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of health-related quality of life and associated factors among prisoners considering the multidimensional nature of health related quality of life.

Methods

An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,246 prisoners who were enrolled using simple random sampling. The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL-BREF-26) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) tools were used to assess the HRQoL and depression among prisoners, respectively. The relationships between exogenous, mediating, and endogenous variables were identified using structural equation modeling. As the mediation of effects were present, then the direct, indirect, and total effects were determined. General fit indices of the final model were acceptable (x2/df = 1.76, p < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.06, TLI = 0.90, CFI = 0.91, and SRMR = 0.06).

Result

The mean (standard deviation) score of the overall health related quality of life was 53.25 (15.12). Having an underlying medical condition had negative total effect on health related quality of life while visits in prison had positive total effect. Having income-generating work in prison had only a direct positive effect. Whereas, older age, being married, longer duration of imprisonment, and depression all had only a negative direct effect on one or more domains of quality of life (p<0.05).

Conclusion

Inmates in Gondar Prison have very poor and compromised levels of physical and psychological health despite having a modest degree of overall HRQoL. The result of this study is significant for people who work in and research the prison environment because it can assist in recognizing prisoners’ health needs and devising treatment procedures that take into consideration physical, psychological, environmental, and social relationship aspects.
Impact of vaccine measures on the transmission dynamics of COVID-19
Authors: Liu Hua , Han Xiaotao , Lin Xiaofen , Zhu Xinjie , Wei Yumei
Published: August 2023

In many nations, efforts to prevent and control COVID-19 have been significantly impeded by the SARS-CoV-2 virus ongoing mutation. The Omicron strain, a more recent and prevalent strain, has had more significant detrimental effects in countries worldwide. To investigate the impact of the Omicron BA.2 strain on vaccine efficacy, we proposed a model with vaccination and immunological decline in this research. Then, we fitted our model based on the number of daily new instances reported by the government in Jilin and Shanghai, China. We estimated the effective reproduction number Re = 4.71 for the Jilin and Re = 3.32 for Shanghai. Additionally, we do sensitivity analysis to identify the critical factors affecting the effective reproduction number Re. It was found that vaccination rate, effectiveness rate, and declining rate had a significant effect on Re. Further, we investigate the relevant parameter thresholds that make Re lower than unity. Finally, rich numerical experiments were then carried out. We observed that even when vaccine efficiency was not high, increasing vaccination rates had a significant effect on early disease transmission, that limiting social distance was the most economical and rational measure to control the spread of disease, and that for a short period, reducing immune decline was not significant in curbing disease transmission.
Comparative analysis of multiorgan toxicity induced by long term use of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs
Authors: Mumtaz Tamseela , Tahir Ayesha , Tariq Maham Almas , Iqbal Muhammad Amir
Published: August 2023

The constant use of disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs affects the functioning of multiple organs inside the body. Some drugs are more toxic than others. The present case control investigation was designed to evaluate the comparative toxicity of methotrexate and leflunomide on multiple organs in rheumatoid arthritis patients. For this purpose, 100 subjects with confirmed rheumatoid arthritis condition were recruited form tertiary care center. Whereas 50 age matched controls were recruited from the local healthy population. Participants of the study were categorized into three groups with equal numbers of subjects in each group (n = 50). Group 1 comprised rheumatoid arthritis patients on methotrexate treatment, group 2 included rheumatoid arthritis patients on leflunomide treatment and group 3 were healthy subjects. Cardiac and respiratory response was evaluated by monitoring blood pressure, pulse and breathing rate and spot oxygen saturation. Stress on liver was estimated by measuring change in liver enzymes (alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase) and total bilirubin. While, degree of renal impairment was assessed by calculating glomerular filtration rate, serum creatinine, urinary urea and uric acid. For statistical interpretation, data was subjected to independent student “t” test and analysis of variance (one way ANOVA) for mean variations. Both methotrexate and leflunomide elevated the systolic and diastolic blood pressure and pulse rate. Leflunomide maintained the oxygen saturation at 96.7%, whereas methotrexate exerted serious effect on spot oxygen saturation by reducing it significantly to 93.25% than healthy subjects. Hepatotoxicity manifested by sustained use of leflunomide was perceptible in this study group. Whereas, both methotrexate and leflunomide influenced renal function as indicated by marked increase in blood urea nitrogen (P = 0.001), serum creatinine (P = 0.007) and reduced glomerular filtration rate (P<0.0001). However, use of methotrexate demonstrated significant (P<0.0001) reduction in serum uric acid and urinary urea levels. Methotrexate is more injurious to heart, blood vessels and kidneys than leflunomide but it is less noxious to hepatic parenchyma. Contrarily, leflunomide usage is comparatively better option for respiratory, cardiovascular, and renal health but dangerous to liver. Thus, a single drug can’t be prescribed for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis for longer management of arthritis patients.
Pro-arrhythmic role of adrenergic spatial densities in the human atria: An in-silico study
Authors: Magtibay Karl , Massé Stéphane , Nanthakumar Kumaraswamy , Umapathy Karthikeyan
Published: August 2023

Chronic stress among young patients (≤ 45 years old) could result in autonomic dysfunction. Autonomic dysfunction could be exhibited via sympathetic hyperactivity, sympathetic nerve sprouting, and diffuse adrenergic stimulation in the atria. Adrenergic spatial densities could alter atrial electrophysiology and increase arrhythmic susceptibility. Therefore, we examined the role of adrenergic spatial densities in creating arrhythmogenic substrates in silico. We simulated three 25 cm2 atrial sheets with varying adrenergic spatial densities (ASD), activation rates, and external transmembrane currents. We measured their effects on spatial and temporal heterogeneity of action potential durations (APD) at 50% and 20%. Increasing ASD shortens overall APD, and maximum spatial heterogeneity (31%) is achieved at 15% ASD. The addition of a few (5% to 10%) adrenergic elements decreases the excitation threshold, below 18 μA/cm2, while ASDs greater than 10% increase their excitation threshold up to 22 μA/cm2. Increase in ASD during rapid activation increases APD50 and APD20 by 21% and 41%, respectively. Activation times of captured beats during rapid activation could change by as much as 120 ms from the baseline cycle length. Rapidly activated atrial sheets with high ASDs significantly increase temporal heterogeneity of APD50 and APD20. Rapidly activated atrial sheets with 10% ASD have a high likelihood (0.7 ± 0.06) of fragmenting otherwise uniform wavefronts due to the transient inexcitability of adrenergically stimulated elements, producing an effective functional block. The likelihood of wave fragmentation due to ASD highly correlates with the spatial variations of APD20 (ρ = 0.90, p = 0.04). Our simulations provide a novel insight into the contributions of ASD to spatial and temporal heterogeneities of APDs, changes in excitation thresholds, and a potential explanation for wave fragmentation in the human atria due to sympathetic hyperactivity. Our work may aid in elucidating an electrophysiological link to arrhythmia initiation due to chronic stress among young patients.
Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine in Ephedra saxatilis on the vertical altitude gradient changed in southern Tibet Plateau, China
Authors: Lu Mengnan , Zhang Yongjuan , Wang Shiyan , Wang Xiaona , Zhang Shengnan , De Ji
Published: August 2023

Ephedra is one of the world’s most important plants, used in medicine, plants and ecology. Most Ephedra grows in plain areas and is stable. But the plateau environment is special, with the change of altitude, the variety difference of plateau Ephedra saxatilis is very obvious. E. saxatilis metabolism on the Tibetan Plateau is not only affected by altitude, but also environmental conditions such as climate conditions and different soil components. However, the change mechanism of E. saxatilis alkaloids in special ecological environment is still unclear. Therefore, we analyzed the metabolic and altitude of E. saxatilis species in the Tibetan Plateau. Through the functional analysis of Kyoto Metabolism and Metabolomic Encyclopedia (KEGG), we can determine that the number of E. saxatilis metabolites decreases with the increase of altitude, and there are differences in metabolism among the three mountains. This was confirmed by univariate analysis of the top five metabolic pathways. Based on the analysis of soil and metabolomics, it was found that soil water content was also a factor affecting E. saxatilis metabolism. According to the difference of vertical height gradient, ephedrine and pseudephedrine showed the same change in vertical altitude under different mountains. Ephedrine increased as the altitude gradient increased, and pseudoephedrine decreased as the altitude gradient decreased. Our results provide valuable information for further study of metabolic mechanism and efficacy stability. It provides useful reference for the research of E. saxatilis planting in special area.
Evaluation of cyclic fatigue and bending test for different Nickle-Titanium files
Authors: Ramadan Farah , AbuMostafa Ammar , Alharith Dalia
Published: August 2023

Aim

To compare cyclic fatigue resistance and bending for three different nickel-titanium (NiTi) rotary files.

Materials and methods

A sample of 90 NiTi instruments size (25.06) was divided into three groups with 30 files in each: Race Evo files (FKG Dentaire, Switzerland); Tia Tornado Blue files (TiaDent Inc., Texas- USA); One Curve files (Micro-Mega, France). Then each group was subdivided into two groups with 15 files in each; a bending test was performed for one group, and a dynamic cyclic fatigue test at body temperature was performed for the other group. Files fractured by cyclic fatigue were randomly picked from all tested groups for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) (Jeol, Tokyo, Japan). In addition, the test included measuring the broken part of the files tested using (Electronic Micrometre Calliper with LCD Screen, Inch and Millimetre Conversion, Adoric- Taiwan). Data were statistically analyzed using a one-way ANOVA with Tukey-HSD post hoc test.

Results

It was found that maximum load [gf] was less (meaning more flexible) in the group of Tia Tornado Blue with a statistically significant difference in comparison with Race Evo and One Curve. The number of cycles to fracture (NCF) in the Race Evo group was significantly higher than the groups of One Curve and Tia Tornado Blue.

Conclusions

Within the limitation of the study, it could be concluded that Race Evo files were more resistant to cyclic fatigue fracture and Tia Tornado Blue files were more flexible compared to the other tested files.
Multi-threshold image segmentation of 2D OTSU inland ships based on improved genetic algorithm
Authors: Peng Zhongbo , Wang Lumeng , Tong Liang , Zou Han , Liu Dan , Zhang Chunyu
Published: August 2023

Waterway transportation is a crucial mode of transportation, but ensuring navigational safety in waterways requires effective guidance of ships by the Water Resources Bureau. However, supervisors may only be interested in the ship portion of a complex image and need to quickly obtain relevant ship information. Therefore, this paper proposes a two-dimensional OTSU inland ships multi-threshold image segmentation algorithm based on the improved genetic algorithm. The improved algorithm enhances search accuracy and efficiency, improving image thresholding accuracy and reducing algorithm time complexity. Experimental verification shows the algorithm has excellent evaluation indexes and can achieve real-time segmentation of complex images. This method can not only address the challenges of complex inland navigation environments and difficult acquisition of target data sets, but also be applied to optimization problems in other fields by combining various metaheuristic algorithms.
The epidemiology of patients with toxoplasmosis and its associated risk factors in Taiwan during the 2007–2020 period
Authors: Yu Chia-Peng , Chen Bao-Chung , Chou Yu-Ching , Hsieh Chi-Jeng , Lin Fu-Huang
Published: August 2023

Background

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), and may cause miscarriage and birth defects during pregnancy. This study aimed to assess the epidemiological features, epidemic trends, and correlations between the before number of confirmed toxoplasmosis cases in Taiwan from 2007 to 2020 in gender, age, season, and residential area, and hypothesized the environmental and climate factors also might affect the disease in Taiwan.

Methods

This study reviewed publicly available annual summary data on reported toxoplasmosis cases in the Taiwan Centers for Diseases Control (TCDC) between 2007 and 2020.

Results

This study collected 150 confirmed domestic and nine patients with imported toxoplasmosis. There was an increasing trend in the incidence of toxoplasmosis, 0.09–0.89 cases per 1,000,000 people, peaking in 2017. The average annual toxoplasmosis incidence was 4.4, 13, and 18 during 2007–2011, 2012–2016, and 2017–2020, respectively. Comparing sex, age, season, and place of residence, the incidence rate was highest in male, 20–39 years-old patients, summer, and the eastern region, with 1.02, 1.72, 0.38, and 3.63 cases per million population, respectively. Additionally, comparing the distribution of cases by age group in Taiwan, there were significant differences between 40–59 years-old in the northern region (odds ratio (OR) = 0.343, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.167–0.705, p = 0.004) and 40–59 years-old in the southern region (OR = 4.488, and 95% CI = 2.149–9.374, p< 0.001), respectively. Linear regression analysis also showed that PM (particulate matter) 2.5 (μg/m3) concentration was positively associated with toxoplasmosis (β = 0.095, p = 0.037). CO concentration was negatively correlated with toxoplasmosis (β = -14.001, p = 0.021).

Conclusions

This study is the first to report domestic and confirmed cases of imported toxoplasmosis from the surveillance data of the TCDC between 2007 and 2020. It identified that residence and age were associated with an increased risk of toxoplasmosis in Taiwan. This study confirmed that toxoplasmosis remains a prevalent infectious disease in Taiwan, its epidemic is gradually increasing and becoming more severe. These findings might be useful for policy-makers and clinical experts to direct prevention and control activities to patients with T. gondii, which causes the most severe illness and greatest burden to Taiwanese people.
Digital Technologies in Healthcare Management: A Study of Influence of National Culture for Adoption of Electronic Health Records in India and Australia
Authors: Singh Harman Preet , Kumari Radha
Published: August 2023

In the emerging healthcare landscape, digital technologies like electronic health records (EHRs) could play a vital role in healthcare management. While developed nations like Australia have taken the lead in implementing EHRs, developing nations like India, have lagged. Prior research in developing and developed countries has mainly focused on government policy, interoperability, standardization, security, technological infrastructure, and finance as EHR adoption factors, but the influence of national culture has remained unexplored. This study addresses this gap in the literature by comparing the influence of national culture on EHR adoption in India (a developing nation) and Australia (a developed nation). In this study, Hofstede's cultural dimensions were utilized to determine the influence of national culture. The assessment of India revealed that the adoption of EHRs could be influenced by the use of EHRs by respectable healthcare providers, the commitment and support of top management, and the education and training of healthcare managers to minimize risks connected with the use of EHRs. On the other hand, the adoption of EHRs in Australia may be influenced by professional involvement and discussion of the benefits of EHRs, business profitability, timely financial outcomes, and education and training of healthcare managers to understand the benefits of EHRs adoption.
Bottlenecks of Electoral Violence on Electoral Process and Human Welfare in Kanyama Constituency of Lusaka District, Zambia
Authors: Kawila Eliazer Lushinga , Matole Adrian , Mulubale Sanny , Simui Francis , Muleya Gistered
Published: August 2023

This article explored bottlenecks of electoral violence on electoral process and human welfare in Kanyama Constituency of Lusaka District, Zambia. The case study design was employed on a targeted population that comprised of 28 participants. The interview guide was used as a tool for primary data production. The main findings of this research were that violence impacted negatively the electoral process by promoting voter apathy especially among women and those that are physically challenged. It was also found that violence disturbs political self-will for the electorates to make independent decisions. Similarly, it was found that electoral violence creates unbalanced political playing field for the candidates to market themselves to the potential electorates. Equally, it was revealed that electoral violence leads to decline in economic activities, destruction of property and a threat to human life. The article concludes that electoral violence denies electorates an opportunity to elect credible leaders and as such, it should not be condoned. Thus, the article recommends that the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) should give harsh punishment to those who are fond of engaging in electoral violence as this may deter others from participating in such undemocratic activities.
Angas-Sura etymologies XII
Authors: Takács Gábor
Published: August 2023

The paper as part of a long-running series is devoted to the etymological analysis of a new segment (namely that with initial dental *d-) of the Angas-Sura root stock, a small group of modern languages remotely and ultimately akin to pharaonic Egyptian and the well-known Semitic languages or Twareg in the Sahara etc. Doing so, I wish to continue the noble tradition initiated by J.H. Greenberg (1958), the founding father of modern Afro-Asiatic comparative linguistics (along with I.M. Diakonoff), who was the first scholar ever to have established by Neo-Grammarian the methods regular consonantal correspondences between Angas-Sura (AS) and ancient Egyptian in his pioneering (painfully isolated) paper on the ancient trichotomy of the word-initial labials in both branches. Nowadays our chances in following this path are substantially more favourable being equipped with our gigantic comparative root catalgue system of the Egyptian etymologies ever published (ongoing since 1994) and of the Afro-Asiatic parental lexical stock (ongoing since 1999).
ADOPT: Adaptively Optimizing Attribute Orders for Worst-Case Optimal Join Algorithms via Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Wang Junxiong , Trummer Immanuel , Kara Ahmet , Olteanu Dan
Published: August 2023

The performance of worst-case optimal join algorithms depends on the order in which the join attributes are processed. Selecting good orders before query execution is hard, due to the large space of possible orders and unreliable execution cost estimates in case of data skew or data correlation. We propose ADOPT, a query engine that combines adaptive query processing with a worst-case optimal join algorithm, which uses an order on the join attributes instead of a join order on relations. ADOPT divides query execution into episodes in which different attribute orders are tried. Based on run time feedback on attribute order performance, ADOPT converges quickly to near-optimal orders. It avoids redundant work across different orders via a novel data structure, keeping track of parts of the join input that have been successfully processed. It selects attribute orders to try via reinforcement learning, balancing the need for exploring new orders with the desire to exploit promising orders. In experiments with various data sets and queries, it outperforms baselines, including commercial and open-source systems using worst-case optimal join algorithms, whenever queries become complex and therefore difficult to optimize.
Triangular Stability Maximization by Influence Spread over Social Networks
Authors: Hu Zheng , Zheng Weiguo , Lian Xiang
Published: August 2023

In many real-world applications such as social network analysis and online advertising/marketing, one of the most important and popular problems is calledinfluence maximization(IM), which finds a set ofkseed users that maximize the expected number of influenced user nodes. In practice, however, maximizing the number of influenced nodes may be far from satisfactory for real applications such as opinion promotion and collective buying. In this paper, we explore the importance ofstabilityandtrianglesin social networks, and formulate a novel problem in the influence spread scenario, namedtriangular stability maximization, over social networks, and generalize it to ageneral triangle influence maximizationproblem, which is proved to be NP-hard. We develop an efficientreverse influence sampling(RIS) based framework for the triangle IM with theoretical guarantees. To enable unbiased estimators, it demands probabilistic sampling of triangles, that is, sampling triangles according to their probabilities. We propose anedge-based triple samplingapproach, which is exactly equivalent to probabilistic sampling and avoids costly triangle enumeration and materialization. We also design several pruning and reduction techniques, as well as a cost-model-guided heuristic algorithm. Extensive experiments and a case study over real-world graphs confirm the effectiveness of our proposed algorithms and the superiority oftriangular stability maximizationand triangle influence maximization.
JoinBoost: Grow Trees over Normalized Data Using Only SQL
Authors: Huang Zezhou , Sen Rathijit , Liu Jiaxiang , Wu Eugene
Published: August 2023

Although dominant for tabular data, ML libraries that train tree models over normalized databases (e.g., LightGBM, XGBoost) require the data to be denormalized as a single table, materialized, and exported. This process is not scalable, slow, and poses security risks. In-DB ML aims to train models within DBMSes to avoid data movement and provide data governance. Rather than modify a DBMS to support In-DB ML, is it possible to offer competitive tree training performance to specialized ML libraries...with only SQL?

We present JoinBoost, a Python library that rewrites tree training algorithms over normalized databases into pure SQL. It is portable to any DBMS, offers performance competitive with specialized ML libraries, and scales with the underlying DBMS capabilities. JoinBoost extends prior work from both algorithmic and systems perspectives. Algorithmically, we support factorized gradient boosting, by updating the
Y
variable to the residual in the
non-materialized join result.
Although this view update problem is generally ambiguous, we identify
addition-to-multiplication preserving
, the key property of variance semi-ring to support
rmse
the most widely used criterion. System-wise, we identify residual updates as a performance bottleneck. Such overhead can be natively minimized on columnar DBMSes by creating a new column of residual values and adding it as a projection. We validate this with two implementations on DuckDB, with no or minimal modifications to its internals for portability. Our experiment shows that JoinBoost is 3× (1.1×) faster for random forests (gradient boosting) compared to LightGBM, and over an order of magnitude faster than state-of-the-art In-DB ML systems. Further, JoinBoost scales well beyond LightGBM in terms of the # features, DB size (TPC-DS SF=1000), and join graph complexity (galaxy schemas).
Frequency-Revealing Attacks against Frequency-Hiding Order-Preserving Encryption
Authors: Cao Xinle , Liu Jian , Shen Yongsheng , Ye Xiaohua , Ren Kui
Published: August 2023

Order-preserving encryption (OPE) allows efficient comparison operations over encrypted data and thus is popular in encrypted databases. However, most existing OPE schemes are vulnerable to inference attacks as they leak plaintext frequency. To this end, some
frequency-hiding
order-preserving encryption (FH-OPE) schemes are proposed and claim to prevent the leakage of frequency. FH-OPE schemes are considered an important step towards mitigating inference attacks.

Unfortunately, there are still vulnerabilities in all existing FH-OPE schemes. In this work, we revisit the security of all existing FH-OPE schemes. We are the first to demonstrate that plaintext frequency hidden by them is recoverable. We present three ciphertext-only attacks named
frequency-revealing attacks
to recover plaintext frequency. We evaluate our attacks in three real-world datasets. They recover over 90% of plaintext frequency hidden by any existing FH-OPE scheme. With frequency revealed, we also show the potentiality to apply inference attacks on existing FH-OPE schemes.

Our findings highlight the limitations of current FH-OPE schemes. Our attacks demonstrate that achieving frequency-hiding requires addressing the leakages of both non-uniform ciphertext distribution and insertion orders of ciphertexts, even though the leakage of insertion orders is always ignored in OPE.
Efficient Fault Tolerance for Recommendation Model Training via Erasure Coding
Authors: Zhang Tianyu , Liu Kaige , Kosaian Jack , Yang Juncheng , Vinayak Rashmi
Published: August 2023

Deep-learning-based recommendation models (DLRMs) are widely deployed to serve personalized content. In addition to using neural networks, DLRMs have large, sparsely-accessed embedding tables, which map categorical features to a learned dense representation. Due to the large sizes of embedding tables, DLRM training is typically distributed across the memory of tens or hundreds of nodes. Node failures are common in such large systems and must be mitigated to enable training to complete within production deadlines. Checkpointing is the primary approach used for fault tolerance in these systems, but incurs significant time overhead both during normal operation and when recovering from failures. As these overheads increase with DLRM size, checkpointing is slated to become an even larger overhead for future DLRMs, which are expected to grow. This calls for rethinking fault tolerance in DLRM training.

We present ECRec, a DLRM training system that achieves efficient fault tolerance by coupling erasure coding with the unique characteristics of DLRM training. ECRec takes a hybrid approach between erasure coding and replicating different DLRM parameters, correctly and efficiently updates redundant parameters, and enables training to proceed without pauses, while maintaining the consistency of the recovered parameters. We implement ECRec atop XDL, an open-source, industrial-scale DLRM training system. Compared to checkpointing, ECRec reduces training-time overhead on large DLRMs by up to 66%, recovers from failure up to 9.8× faster, and continues training during recovery with only a 7--13% drop in throughput (whereas checkpointing must pause).
TSM-Bench: Benchmarking Time Series Database Systems for Monitoring Applications
Authors: Khelifati Abdelouahab , Khayati Mourad , Dignös Anton , Difallah Djellel , Cudré-Mauroux Philippe
Published: August 2023

Time series databases are essential for the large-scale deployment of many critical industrial applications. In infrastructure monitoring, for instance, a database system should be able to process large amounts of sensor data in real-time, execute continuous queries, and handle complex analytical queries such as anomaly detection or forecasting. Several benchmarks have been proposed to evaluate and understand how existing systems and design choices handle specific use cases and workloads. Unfortunately, none of them fully covers the peculiar requirements of monitoring applications. Furthermore, they fall short of providing an automated way to generate representative real-world data and workloads for testing and evaluating these systems.

We present TSM-Bench, a benchmark tailored for time series database systems used in monitoring applications. Our key contributions consist of (1) representative queries that meet the requirements that we collected from a water monitoring use case, and (2) a new scalable data generator method based on Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) and Locality Sensitive Hashing (LSH). We demonstrate, through an extensive set of experiments, how TSM-Bench provides a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of seven leading time series database systems while offering a detailed characterization of their capabilities and trade-offs.
Similarity Search in the Blink of an Eye with Compressed Indices
Authors: Aguerrebere Cecilia , Bhati Ishwar Singh , Hildebrand Mark , Tepper Mariano , Willke Theodore
Published: August 2023

Nowadays, data is represented by vectors. Retrieving those vectors, among millions and billions, that are similar to a given query is a ubiquitous problem, known as similarity search, of relevance for a wide range of applications. Graph-based indices are currently the best performing techniques for billion-scale similarity search. However, their random-access memory pattern presents challenges to realize their full potential. In this work, we present new techniques and systems for creating faster and smaller graph-based indices. To this end, we introduce a novel vector compression method, Locally-adaptive Vector Quantization (LVQ), that uses per-vector scaling and scalar quantization to improve search performance with fast similarity computations and a reduced effective bandwidth, while decreasing memory footprint and barely impacting accuracy. LVQ, when combined with a new high-performance computing system for graph-based similarity search, establishes the new state of the art in terms of performance and memory footprint. For billions of vectors, LVQ outcompetes the second-best alternatives: (1) in the low-memory regime, by up to 20.7x in throughput with up to a 3x memory footprint reduction, and (2) in the high-throughput regime by 5.8x with 1.4x less memory.
Influence of temperature on twitch potentiation following submaximal voluntary contractions in human plantar flexor muscles
Authors: Ota Kazutaka , Sasaki Kazushige
Published: August 2023

This study aimed to clarify the influence of temperature on post‐activation twitch potentiation, a possible indicator of fast‐twitch fiber activation during a preceding voluntary contraction. Ten healthy males immersed their left lower leg in water of different temperatures (cold: 0°C, neutral: 32–35°C, hot: ~43°C) for 20 min each. In each temperature condition, they performed submaximal (10%–50% of maximal voluntary contraction torque measured before water immersion) and maximal plantar flexions. Immediately after each voluntary contraction, twitch contractions were evoked with supramaximal stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve. The magnitude of twitch potentiation, defined as a percent increase in twitch torque following a voluntary contraction, increased with the intensity of the preceding voluntary contraction. The magnitude of twitch potentiation after the maximal voluntary contraction was smaller in Cold than in the other temperature conditions. However, temperature had no influence on the relative magnitude of twitch potentiation following the submaximal contractions. In addition, there was no difference in electromyographic activity between the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in any temperature conditions. Collectively, the temperature dependence was not observed when using twitch potentiation or electromyographic amplitude as an indicator of fast‐twitch fiber activation during brief submaximal voluntary contractions.
Social Entrepreneurship: The Choice Between Labels, Variants, Dedicated and Conventional Corporate Forms
Authors: Cools Sofie
Published: August 2023

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Around the globe legislators have created labels and dedicated company forms for social enterprises. On the basis of an analysis of US, UK, German, French, Dutch and Belgian law, this article exposes which elements are important (and which are not) in the creation of these labels and forms. First, the distinction between labels and dedicated forms is of relative practical importance. Even dedicated company forms are – like labels – to a large extent governed by general corporate law. This offers advantages in terms of network effects and easy adoption. Creating a completely new corporate form is therefore justified only if there are compelling reasons for a comprehensive overhaul of existing company law. Second, the introduction of labels and dedicated company forms is influenced by the level of stringency with which jurisdictions distinguish between companies and nonprofit forms. For instance, the American benefit corporations and the French ‘raison d’être’ were introduced to explicitly authorize what conventional companies can do elsewhere. Nevertheless, a high degree of flexibility in conventional company law is insufficient to facilitate social entrepreneurship. Mandatory law for social enterprise labels or forms is necessary to credibly signal commitment to a social purpose. Yet, creating labels or dedicated forms for lightly regulated ‘mission purposes’ may generate noise that interferes with this signal.
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Selective Deletion of Methyl CpG Binding Protein 2 from Parvalbumin Interneurons in the Auditory Cortex Delays the Onset of Maternal Retrieval in Mice
Authors: Rupert Deborah D. , Pagliaro Alexa H. , Choe Jane , Shea Stephen D.
Published: August 2023

Mutations inMECP2cause the neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome.MECP2codes for methyl CpG binding protein 2 (MECP2), a transcriptional regulator that activates genetic programs for experience-dependent plasticity. Many neural and behavioral symptoms of Rett syndrome may result from dysregulated timing and thresholds for plasticity. As a model of adult plasticity, we examine changes to auditory cortex inhibitory circuits in female mice when they are first exposed to pups; this plasticity facilitates behavioral responses to pups emitting distress calls. Brainwide deletion ofMecp2alters expression of markers associated with GABAergic parvalbumin interneurons (PVins) and impairs the emergence of pup retrieval. We hypothesized that loss ofMecp2in PVins disproportionately contributes to the phenotype. Here, we find that deletion ofMecp2from PVins delayed the onset of maternal retrieval behavior and recapitulated the major molecular and neurophysiological features of brainwide deletion ofMecp2. We observed that when PVin-selective mutants were exposed to pups, auditory cortical expression of PVin markers increased relative to that in wild-type littermates. PVin-specific mutants also failed to show the inhibitory auditory cortex plasticity seen in wild-type mice on exposure to pups and their vocalizations. Finally, using an intersectional viral genetic strategy, we demonstrate that postdevelopmental loss ofMecp2in PVins of the auditory cortex is sufficient to delay onset of maternal retrieval. Our results support a model in which PVins play a central role in adult cortical plasticity and may be particularly impaired by loss ofMecp2.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTRett syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that includes deficits in both communication and the ability to update brain connections and activity during learning (plasticity). This condition is caused by mutations in the geneMECP2. We use a maternal behavioral test in mice requiring both vocal perception and neural plasticity to probe the role ofMecp2in social and sensory learning.Mecp2is normally active in all brain cells, but here we remove it from a specific population (parvalbumin neurons). We find that this is sufficient to delay learned behavioral responses to pups and recreates many deficits seen in whole-brainMecp2deletion. Our findings suggest that parvalbumin neurons specifically are central to the consequences of loss ofMecp2activity and yield clues as to possible mechanisms by which Rett syndrome impairs brain function.
The EDC4‐XRN1 interaction controls P‐body dynamics to link mRNA decapping with decay
Authors: Brothers William R , Ali Farah , Kajjo Sam , Fabian Marc R
Published: August 2023

Deadenylation‐dependent mRNA decapping and decay is the major cytoplasmic mRNA turnover pathway in eukaryotes. Many mRNA decapping and decay factors are associated with each other via protein–protein interaction motifs. For example, the decapping enzyme DCP2 and the 5'–3' exonuclease XRN1 interact with the enhancer of mRNA‐decapping protein 4 (EDC4), a large scaffold that has been reported to stimulate mRNA decapping. mRNA decapping and decay factors are also found in processing bodies (P‐bodies), evolutionarily conserved ribonucleoprotein granules that are often enriched with mRNAs targeted for decay, yet paradoxically are not required for mRNA decay to occur. Here, we show that disrupting the EDC4‐XRN1 interaction or altering their stoichiometry inhibits mRNA decapping, with microRNA‐targeted mRNAs being stabilized in a translationally repressed state. Importantly, we demonstrate that this concomitantly leads to larger P‐bodies that are responsible for preventing mRNA decapping. Finally, we demonstrate that P‐bodies support cell viability and prevent stress granule formation when XRN1 is limiting. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the interaction between XRN1 and EDC4 regulates P‐body dynamics to properly coordinate mRNA decapping with 5′–3′ decay in human cells.