bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The MAP4 kinase NbM4K3 regulates immune responses in Nicotiana benthamiana
Authors: Zhang Shuangxi , Li Haijuan , Zhang Meixiang , An Yuyan
Published: August 2024

The mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinase (M4K) family is evolutionarily conserved across plants and animals. In Arabidopsis, the protein kinase SIK1, an M4K member, is known to positively modulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production during pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) by stabilizing BIK1, a key receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase (RLCK). While homologs of SIK1 exhibit conserved protein domain architectures across a range of land plants, their functional conservation remains incompletely understood. This study investigates the functional conservation and divergence of SIK1 homologs, focusing particularly on NbM4K3 in Nicotiana benthamiana. Silencing NbM4K3 resulted in an impairment of the flg22-induced ROS burst and expression of PTI marker genes. Additionally, silencing NbM4K3 led to diminished protein accumulation of RLCKs, while overexpression of the RLCKs prominently enhanced the flg22-induced ROS burst in NbM4K3-silenced plants. Furthermore, NbM4K3-silenced plants exhibited a compromised hypersensitive response (HR), reduced ROS accumulation, and diminished expression of effector-triggered immunity (ETI) marker genes when challenged with the avirulent strains Ralstonia solanacearum GMI1000 and Pseudomonas syringae DC3000, suggesting that NbM4K3 is a positive regulator of ETI. The attenuated HR phenotype observed in NbM4K3-silenced plants upon expression of RipP1 or RipE1, two avirulent type III effectors of GMI1000, further supports the affirmative role of NbM4K3 in ETI. In summary, our data indicate that the M4K NbM4K3 positively regulates both PTI and ETI in N. benthamiana, potentially by stabilizing RLCKs. These findings not only strengthen the role of M4K family in plant immunity but also suggest its potential in improving disease resistance in plants.
Low C-Reactive Protein Alleles in Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1A Are Associated With an Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Authors: Yang Chaochao , Ji Linong , Han Xueyao
Published: August 2024

Context

Rare variants in HNF1A cause both maturity onset diabetes of the young 3 (HNF1A-MODY) and reduced serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Common variants of HNF1A are associated with serum CRP and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), but inconsistently with cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Objective

Our study aimed to investigate the association of low CRP alleles in HNF1A with CVD and indirectly evaluate the CVD risk of HNF1A-MODY patients because of unavailability of enough cases to study their clinical outcomes.

Methods

A literature search was performed using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases from inception to December 2023. All relevant studies concerning the association of HNF1A with CRP, CVD, lipids, and T2DM were included. Odds ratios (ORs), 95% CIs, and study characteristics were extracted.

Results

Three common coding variants of HNF1A (rs1169288, rs2464196, and rs1169289) were examined. The minor alleles of these variants correlated with low CRP levels (OR 0.89; 95% CI, 0.86-0.91; OR 0.89; 95% CI, 0.88-0.91; OR 0.89; 95% CI, 0.88-0.91, respectively). Their low CRP alleles were associated with increased risk of CVD (OR 1.03; 95% CI, 1.03-1.04), higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (OR 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04-1.10), and elevated risk of T2DM (OR 1.04; 95%, CI 1.01-1.08).

Conclusion

Our study revealed an association between low CRP alleles in HNF1A and a high CVD risk, which indicated that antidiabetic drugs with CV benefits such as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists should be recommended as a first-line choice for HNF1A-MODY.
Esophageal Bronchus—the Hidden Link. A Case Report
Authors: Patrao Fiona M. , Valdez Amanda L. , Kanmanthreddy Siri , Gentry Katherine R. , Collins Michael J.
Published: August 2024

An esophageal bronchus is a subtype of congenital bronchopulmonary foregut malformations in which a lobar bronchus arises directly from the esophagus, creating a communication between the esophagus and lung tissue. Early diagnosis is crucial to prevent worsening pulmonary sequelae but is challenging due to the rarity of the anomaly and nonspecific respiratory symptoms. We present a child whose esophageal bronchus was identified incidentally during preanesthetic assessment for craniosynostosis repair and discuss the role an anesthesiologist can play in identifying and managing this diagnosis.
Detection of yellow mosaic virus resistance in Soybean (Glycine max L.) genotypes for yield and related traits
Authors: Hoque Nabila , Haque Md. Ashraful
Published: August 2024

Background Twenty soybean genotypes were screened for Soybean yellow mosaic virus (YMV) identification which were collected from the Genetics and plant breeding farm laboratory. Methods To evaluate genetic studies of the chosen materials, the use of a net house assay upon sap inoculation made it easier to determine the trend of the Area Under Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) in a controlled environment. Younger leaves from these plants were gathered and used for molecular analysis. Results Six genotypes were identified with semi-resistant disease reactions. Yellow mosaic virus-resistant and susceptible soybean genotypes were distinguished using a soybean “Rsv1-h” gene-based primer pair. To discover the existence of the Rsv-1-h gene responsible for YMV resistance, a genetic diversity panel of 15 soybean genotypes was investigated with two simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The BARCSOYSSR_13_1115 and BARCSOYSSR_13_1173 primer sets were employed to validate the desired genes in these genotypes. Conclusion The genotypes HIHS-WIHS, MINA-HAI, Shohag, G-2120, BRAGG, and BS-3 presented the major gene Rsv1-h, which is said to be essential for yellow mosaic virus resistance and can provide better yield also than other genotypes. The six soybean genotypes with the Rsv1-h gene may be resistant to mosaic virus and could be exploited as a source of improved breeding material in the future.
Communication barriers in caring for culturally diverse patients and the cultural competence of nursing staff
Authors: Charzyńska-Gula Marianna , Zych-Kwaśnik Katarzyna , Rożek Grażyna , Szulich Piotr , Sojda Agnieszka , Tomczyk Bogdan , Zielińska Marta
Published: August 2024

Introduction:
     The culturally different patient is still a new task for nursing staff.  In order to realise competent and effective care for a patient from a different culture, the nurse must be able to recognise her own cultural filters, communication barriers, cultural differences, the sometimes different value system and its relevance to the patient's quality of life
Objective of the study: The aim of this study is to illustrate the communication barriers in caring for a culturally different patient in a selected group of nursing staff and to contrast them with the cultural competences possessed by this group.
Material and method: 127 nursing staff of one of the Podkarpackie hospitals were studied. A diagnostic survey with an author's survey questionnaire and the Polish version of the Cultural Competence Scale of Medical Personnel were used.
Results:  Individuals with higher cultural competence in behaviour were better able to cope with communication barriers in terms of language differences and non-verbal communication. Higher cultural competence in patient-centred communication was associated with better coping with barriers in terms of cultural differences and non-verbal communication. The higher the cultural competence in practice orientation, the lower the coping with excess emotions or information and the worse the coping with the patient's culture and values conflicting with the patient's own culture and value system. Those who scored higher on the self-assessment of cultural competence simultaneously coped better with barriers concerning language differences. Those who showed higher awareness and sensitivity with regard to cultural competence coped less well with emotional excess.
Conclusions: Relatively good levels of problem solving related to communication barriers are not always accompanied by full cultural competence.
Kerusakan Dokumen Rekam Medis di Ruang Penyimpanan (Filling) Rumah Sakit Nur Hidayah Bantul Tahun 2019
Authors: Oktaviyani Ika
Published: August 2024

Storage space as a place to store, retrieve and return medical records for outpatients, inpatients and emergency services, and protect medical records from theft, physical, chemical, and biological damage. The damage to medical record documents in the storage room of Nur Hidayah Hospital in 2018 were 50 medical records, of the 50 medical records, 20 medical records could still be used and the rest could not be used, 30 medical records were eaten by termite insects, torn folders as many as ± 50 medical records, and untidy arrangement. The condition of the storage room was damp and narrow so that the hospital experienced the impact of difficulty in finding patient history. This type of research is a qualitative descriptive study with a case study research design. Data collection was carried out by interview and observation. The data analysis was conducted in a descriptive qualitative manner. Ensuring the validity of the data in this study used source triangulation and method triangulation.
The results showed that the damage to medical records in the storage room, the physical factors of the narrow and less spacious room conditions, some of the shelves are still made of wood, no temperature and humidity gauges, abnormal temperature and humidity, leaky roofs, and no campgrounds. , biological factors were found to be fungi, and human negligence factors were found by officers to take and compile unorganized medical records. The impact of damage to medical records is a lot of lost, unreadable patient data, difficulty in finding medical records, long services, and untidy storage. Damage to medical records in the storage room of Nur Hidayah Hospital is caused by physical, biological, and human negligence.
Analisis Pengaruh Program Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Terhadap Kepuasan Pasien di RS PKU Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta
Authors: Mauliddina Siti Ayunda , Marwati Triani
Published: August 2024

uilding customer relationships is one of the keys to business success. The quality of a good relationship between customers and the company will contribute to increasing customer satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the application of customer relationship management on patient satisfaction at PKU Muhammadiah Hospital Yogyakarta. This research was analitic observational by cross sectional approach. Data collection was carried out by distributing questionnaires to 120 service users of PKU Muhammadiah Hospital Yogyakarta. The data analysis method used is multiple linear regression analysis. Customer relationship management (CRM) which consists of people has an influence on patient satisfaction at PKU Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Hospital with a probability value (p) 0.000 <0.05, process has an influence on patient satisfaction at PKU Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Hospital with a probability value (p) 0.000 <0.05 and technology had an influence on patient satisfaction at PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital with a probability value (p) 0.009 <0.05, an increase in patient satisfaction RS PKU Muhammadiah Yogyakarta. To increase patient satisfaction, one way that can be done is to improve the quality of customer relationship program. To increase patient satisfaction, one way that can be done is to improve the quality program of customer relationships
Faktor – Faktor Yang Berhubungan Dengan Kepuasan Kerja Perawat Di Instalasi Rawat Inap Rumah Sakit PKU Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta
Authors: Lisdiyanti Teti , Syam Nur Syarianingsih
Published: August 2024

Background:  As many as 40% of healthcare workers in Indonesia are nurses. Nursing services are a determining factor in the success of health services that impact the quality of hospital services. Therefore, improving service quality is related to the level of nurse job satisfaction. Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify factors related to nurse job satisfaction in the Inpatient Installation of PKU Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Hospital.
Methods: This study applied a Cross-Sectional research design, conducted in July 2023 at PKU Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta Hospital. The research sample was inpatient nurses with a total sampling technique of 175 nurses. Researchers collected data by distributing questionnaires. In analyzing the data, univariate analysis with frequency distribution and bivariate analysis with Chi-Square test were used. 
Results: The job itself is related to inpatient nurse job satisfaction, indicated by a p-value of 0.000 (p <0.05) Salary and inpatient nurse job satisfaction are related, indicated by a p-value of 0.000 (p <0.05). Job promotion is related to inpatient nurse job satisfaction, indicated by a pvalue of 0.000 (p <0.05).
Conclusion: This study concluded that nurses' job satisfaction needs to be maintained and improved through nurse career development programs and appropriate work benefits.
Analisis Perhitungan Jumlah Kebutuhan SDM Menggunakan Metode Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) di Instalasi Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) Rumah Sakit Swasta
Authors: Purwanti Dwi Indah , Syam Nur Syarianingsih
Published: August 2024

Background: Human resources are a valuable investment for hospitals because they can manage all hospital functions and hospitals are required to provide qualified human resources. One of the human resources in the hospital is CSSD health workers. The purpose of the study was to calculate the number of HR needs using the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) method at the CSSD Installation of a Private Hospital.
Methods: The research is a type of qualitative research with a case study research design. The research subjects totaled 4 people consisting of observation informants, namely three CSSD health workers and interview informants consisting of two CSSD health workers and the head of SDI staffing. Data collection instruments through in-depth interviews and observations were carried out with a time and motion study approach and calculation of human resource needs using the WISN method.
Results: The available work time in the CSSD Installation of a Private Hospital is 138180 minutes per person per year. The highest workload standard in the instrument labeling activity results in a time of 69090 minutes. Standard leeway is 0.08 minutes. The quantity of basic activities amounted to 15387 minutes per year. WISN calculation through a ratio value of 0.6, the number of health workers needed in the CSSD Installation of Private Hospitals in 2023 needed as many as 7 personnel.
Conclusion: There is a need for additional health workers as much as 3 personnel from the 4 available personnel.
Discharge Against Medical Advice: The Causes, Consequences and Possible Corrective Measures
Authors: Gaur Akshay , Gilham Elizabeth , Machin Laura , Warriner David
Published: August 2024

Patients who discharge themselves against medical advice comprise 1%–2% of hospital admissions. Discharge against medical advice (DAMA) is defined as when a hospitalised patient chooses to leave the hospital before the treating medical team recommends discharge. The act of DAMA impacts on both the patient, the staff and their ongoing care. Specifically, this means that the patient’s medical problems maybe inadequately assessed or treated. Patients who decide to DAMA tend to be young males, from a lower socioeconomic background and with a history of mental health or substance misuse disorder. DAMA has an associated increased risk of morbidity and mortality. In this review of studies across Western healthcare settings, specifically adult medical inpatients, we will review the evidence and seek to address the causes, consequences and possible corrective measures in this common scenario.
Efficacy and safety of autologous whole blood clot in diabetic foot ulcers: a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Snyder Robert , Nouvong Aksone , Ulloa Jesus , Wahab Naz , Treadwell Terry , Bruwer Febe , Naude Liezl , McGuire James , Reyzelman Alexander M , Graham Timothy ,   AWBC Research Team:, Lessing Rene , Lullove Eric , Ozker Emre , Pham Hau T , Pasternac Michael , Cohen Shira
Published: August 2024

Objective:

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) present a significant global health challenge, resulting in high morbidity and economic costs. Current available treatments often fail to achieve satisfactory healing rates, highlighting the need for novel therapies. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of a novel autologous whole blood clot (AWBC)—a blood-based, biodegradable provisional matrix—in conjunction with standard of care (SoC) when compared to SoC alone in the treatment of hard-to-heal DFUs.

Method:

A multicentre, prospective, blinded assessor, randomised controlled trial was conducted at 16 sites across the US, South Africa and Turkey. A cohort of patients with hard-to-heal DFUs was enrolled and randomised to either the AWBC group or the control group. The primary endpoint was complete wound closure at 12 weeks, while secondary endpoints included time to heal and percentage area reduction (PAR) at four and eight weeks. Data were analysed using both intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) populations.

Results:

The cohort included 119 patients. AWBC treatment resulted in a significantly higher healing rate compared to the control in both ITT (41% versus 15%, respectively; p=0.002) and PP populations (51% versus 18%, respectively; p=0.0075). AWBC treatment also resulted in a shorter mean time to heal and higher durability of wound closure. Safety analysis showed a similar incidence of adverse events (AEs) between groups, with no device-related AEs.

Conclusion:

The AWBC system, by modulating the wound microenvironment and providing a functional extracellular matrix, offered a promising new approach to treating hard-to-heal DFUs, demonstrating superior healing outcomes compared to SoC alone in this study.
Tristram Shandy ’s Variations on Habit
Authors: Creighton Alexander
Published: August 2024

Abstract: Tristram’s narrative meanderings in Laurence Sterne’s The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman tend to be read either as an expression of the randomness of associational thinking or as a version of the convoluted, “digressive and progressive” machine that Tristram offers by way of metaphor. In this essay, I argue that these meanderings are neither random nor machinic but instead musical: prose that does not simply advance forward but also loops back to ever more familiar motifs and themes. By incorporating a musical sense of repetition and development as a means of expressing characters’ mental circuits, Sterne makes of his novel a special kind of clockwork, attuned not to the fixity of clock time but rather to the recalcitrant rhythms of human life.
Highly secure non-orthogonal multiple access with key accompanying transmission based on subcarrier-indexed modulation
Authors: Zhu Dongxu , Liu Bo , Ren Jianxin , Chen Shuaidong , Mao Yaya , Song Xiumin , Wu Xiangyu , Han Yongcan , Yin Mengtong , Dai Wei , Li Ying , Sun Tingting
Published: August 2024

This paper proposes a key-accompanying transmission scheme based on subcarrier indexed modulation (SIM). The key is used to control the activation state of subcarriers, with key masking achieved through the position information of silent subcarriers, which enables the cooperative transmission of both key and primary messages. Meanwhile, a four-dimensional hyperchaotic model is adopted to ensure system security. By utilizing power multiplexing, the scheme realizes the parallel transmission of two signals and disrupts the carrier frequency and symbol of the original signals. The scheme is experimentally demonstrated with a 54.25 Gb/s SIM-chaotic power division multiplexing (CPDM) signal transmission over 2 km of 7-core fiber.. The results indicate that the proposed scheme does not degrade system transmission performance at either high or low power levels. At the limit of forward error correction (FEC)=3.8×10−3, the impact of our scheme on receiver sensitivity is no greater than 0.1 dB. The accuracy and sensitivity of the key are maintained, with the transmission performance of the key remaining excellent. The bit error rate (BER) for the main signal is consistently kept at 0, while the BER for the key rises to around 0.5 if the key is misaligned by one bit. Moreover, the key space can reach 10135, effectively verifying the system's high security.
Tracking the real-time position of an ocean sensor/buoy-like cylindrical target using a depth sensing camera and a computational edge device
Authors: Aravind Jinka Venkata , Prince Shanthi
Published: August 2024

Positioning and tracking ocean sensor nodes and buoys are very tedious due to ocean currents and periodic cyclones in oceans. These sensor nodes are predominant in present days because these ocean sensors help researchers measure the marine pollution caused by plastics and petroleum. Identifying and extracting data from the sensor nodes and buoys allows us to alleviate adverse climatic impacts and protect the economy, tourism, and fishing industries. Researchers currently employ sonars, both mono cameras and stereo cameras, to visualize aquatic life, coral reefs, and marine waste. In this work, we aim to localize and position a customized cylindrical-shaped sensor-like object using the new generation Intel depth sense camera D455, offering a novel way of determining the distance of underwater objects from the camera. Furthermore, we utilized a new generation NVIDIA AGX Xavier AI computer-aided device to actively track the cylindrical-shaped object in real time. Various positions of the target are assessed, and experiments are conducted to confirm the accurate positioning of the target. It has been confirmed through experimentation that we successfully identified the target up to a distance of 3.7 meters with a good target profile in a laboratory environment. Furthermore, real-time experiments are carried out in a pool using an AI Edge system. The average inference time for each frame obtained from the AI Edge system was 441.3 milliseconds. Also, the accuracy of target detection in video frames reached a maximum of 97%, providing validation for the identified targets.
Temperature and time of host-seeking activity impact the efficacy of chemical control interventions targeting the West Nile virus vector, Culex tarsalis
Authors: Kalmouni Joshua , Will James B. , Townsend John , Paaijmans Krijn P.
Published: August 2024

West Nile virus (WNV) is the leading mosquito-borne disease causing-pathogen in the United States. Concerningly, there are no prophylactics or drug treatments for WNV and public health programs rely heavily on vector control efforts to lessen disease incidence. Insecticides can be effective in reducing vector numbers if implemented strategically, but can diminish in efficacy and promote insecticide resistance otherwise. Vector control programs which employ mass-fogging applications of insecticides, often conduct these methods during the late-night hours, when diel temperatures are coldest, and without a-priori knowledge on daily mosquito activity patterns. This study’s aims were to 1) quantify the effect of temperature on the toxicity of two conventional insecticides used in fogging applications (malathion and deltamethrin) to Culex tarsalis, an important WNV vector, and 2) quantify the time of host-seeking of Cx. tarsalis and other local mosquito species in Maricopa County, Arizona. The temperature-toxicity relationship of insecticides was assessed using the WHO tube bioassay, and adult Cx. tarsalis, collected as larvae, were exposed to three different insecticide doses at three temperature regimes (15, 25, and 35°C; 80% RH). Time of host-seeking was assessed using collection bottle rotators with encephalitis vector survey traps baited with dry ice, first at 3h intervals during a full day, followed by 1h intervals during the night-time. Malathion became less toxic at cooler temperatures at all doses, while deltamethrin was less toxic at cooler temperatures at the low dose. Regarding time of host-seeking, Cx. tarsalis, Aedes vexans, and Culex quinquefasciatus were the most abundant vectors captured. During the 3-hour interval surveillance over a full day, Cx. tarsalis were most-active during post-midnight biting (00:00–06:00), accounting for 69.0% of all Cx. tarsalis, while pre-midnight biting (18:00–24:00) accounted for 30.0% of Cx. tarsalis. During the 1-hour interval surveillance overnight, Cx. tarsalis were most-active during pre-midnight hours (18:00–24:00), accounting for 50.2% of Cx. tarsalis captures, while post-midnight biting (00:00–06:00) accounted for 49.8% of Cx. tarsalis. Our results suggest that programs employing large-scale applications of insecticidal fogging should consider temperature-toxicity relationships coupled with time of host-seeking data to maximize the efficacy of vector control interventions in reducing mosquito-borne disease burden.
Synergistic effects of transcutaneous spinal stimulation and neuromuscular electrical stimulation on lower limb force production: Time to deliver
Authors: Steele Alexander G. , Vette Albert H. , Martin Catherine , Masani Kei , Sayenko Dimitry G.
Published: August 2024

Background

Transcutaneous spinal stimulation (TSS) and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) can facilitate self-assisted standing in individuals with paralysis. However, individual variability in responses to each modality may limit their effectiveness in generating the necessary leg extension force for full body weight standing. To address this challenge, we proposed combining TSS and NMES to enhance leg extensor muscle activation, with optimizing timing adjustment to maximize the interaction between the two modalities.

Methods

To assess the effects of TSS and NMES on knee extension and plantarflexion force, ten neurologically intact participants underwent three conditions: (1) TSS control, (2) NMES control, and (3) TSS + NMES. TSS was delivered between the T10 and L2 vertebrae, while NMES was delivered to the skin over the right knee extensors and plantarflexors. TSS and NMES were administered using a 15 Hz train of three 0.5 ms biphasic pulses. During the TSS + NMES condition, the timing between modalities was adjusted in increments of ¼ the interval within a 15 Hz frequency, i.e., 66, 49.5, 33, 16.5, and 1 ms.

Results

NMES combined with TSS, produced synergistic effects even on non-targeted muscle groups, thereby promoting leg extension across multiple joints in the kinematic chain. The sequence of NMES or TSS trains relative to each other did not significantly impact motor output. Notably, a delay of 16.5 to 49.5 ms between interleaved TSS and NMES pulses, each delivered at 15 Hz, results in more robust and synergistic responses in knee extensors and plantarflexors.

Conclusions

By adjusting the timing between TSS and NMES, we can optimize the combined use of these modalities for functional restoration. Our findings highlight the potential of integrated TSS and NMES protocols to enhance motor function, suggesting promising avenues for therapeutic applications, particularly in the rehabilitation of individuals with SCI.
Exploiting mechanisms for hierarchical branching structure of lung airway
Authors: Takigawa-Imamura Hisako , Fumoto Katsumi , Takesue Hiroaki , Miura Takashi
Published: August 2024

The lung airways exhibit distinct features with long, wide proximal branches and short, thin distal branches, crucial for optimal respiratory function. In this study, we investigated the mechanism behind this hierarchical structure through experiments and modeling, focusing on the regulation of branch length and width during the pseudoglandular stage. To evaluate the response of mouse lung epithelium to fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10), we monitored the activity of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). ERK activity exhibited an increase dependent on the curvature of the epithelial tissue, which gradually decreased with the progression of development. We then constructed a computational model that incorporates curvature-dependent growth to predict its impact on branch formation. It was demonstrated that branch length is determined by the curvature dependence of growth. Next, in exploring branch width regulation, we considered the effect of apical constriction, a mechanism we had previously proposed to be regulated by Wnt signaling. Analysis of a mathematical model representing apical constriction showed that branch width is determined by cell shape. Finally, we constructed an integrated computational model that includes curvature-dependent growth and cell shape controls, confirming their coordination in regulating branch formation. This study proposed that changes in the autonomous property of the epithelium may be responsible for the progressive branch morphology.
Emergence of crucial evidence catalyzing the origin tracing of SARS-CoV-2
Authors: Chen Shunmei , Ruan Cihan , Guo Yutong , Chang Jia , Yan Haohao , Chen Liang , Duan Yongzhong , Duan Guangyou , Bei Jinlong , Li Xin , Gao Shan
Published: August 2024

Since the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), its genetic and geographical origins remain unclear, resulting in suspicions about its natural origin. In one of our previous studies, we reported the presence of a furin cleavage site RRAR in the junction region between S1 and S2 subunits of the spike protein, which was discovered as the first crucial clue for the origin tracing of SARS-CoV-2. In the present study, we conducted an integrative analysis of new genome data from bat Sarbecovirus strains reported after the COVID-19 outbreak. The primary results included the identification of BANAL-20-52, Rp22DB159, and S18CXBatR24 as three close relatives of SARS-CoV-2 and the successful detection of seven out of nine key genomic features (designated as RC0-7 and ORF8) observed in wild types of SARS-CoV-2 in the three close relatives from Laos, Vietnam, and Yunnan province of China, respectively. The most significant contribution of the present study lies in the detection of RC1 in wild genotype in a bat Sarbecovirus population BANAL-20-52 belonging to. Encoding a segment of the NSP3 protein, RC1 was discovered as the second crucial clue for the origin tracing of SARS-CoV-2. Although RC0, encoding the junction furin cleavage site, remains undetected outside of the SARS-CoV-2 genome, Feuang of Laos is the sole place where eight of the nine wild-type features (RC1-7 and ORF8) have been detected.
The small acid-soluble proteins of Clostridioides difficile regulate sporulation in a SpoIVB2-dependent manner
Authors: Nerber Hailee N. , Baloh Marko , Brehm Joshua N. , Sorg Joseph A.
Published: August 2024

Clostridioides difficile is a pathogen whose transmission relies on the formation of dormant endospores. Spores are highly resilient forms of bacteria that resist environmental and chemical insults. In recent work, we found that C. difficile SspA and SspB, two small acid-soluble proteins (SASPs), protect spores from UV damage and, interestingly, are necessary for the formation of mature spores. Here, we build upon this finding and show that C. difficile sspA and sspB are required for the formation of the spore cortex layer. Moreover, using an EMS mutagenesis selection strategy, we identified mutations that suppressed the defect in sporulation of C. difficile SASP mutants. Many of these strains contained mutations in CDR20291_0714 (spoIVB2) revealing a connection between the SpoIVB2 protease and the SASPs in the sporulation pathway. This work builds upon the hypothesis that the small acid-soluble proteins can regulate gene expression.
Metal Incorporated Zeolites as Heterogeneous Catalysts in the Selective Partial Oxidation of Methane to Methanol: A Review
Authors: Dutta Buddhadeb
Published: August 2024

Methane, being a potential greenhouse gas, is a very serious environmental concern nowadays. The valorization of methane to valuable chemicals like methanol has long been considered as an effective remedy to this problem. But, in spite of several attempts, the production of methanol directly from methane remains largely challenging, both in laboratory scale and in industrial level, because of low reactivity of methane and challenges in product recovery. In present review, the developments in the application of different heterogeneous catalysts in oxidation of methane to produce methanol directly, the ‘holy grail’ reaction in chemistry is discussed, with the main focus on the metal exchanged porous zeolite matrices as heterogeneous catalysts. The different reaction parameters like the nature of oxidants, reaction conditions, zeolite pore sizes, the metal loading ratio are also critically reviewed.
FENOMENA BODYSHAMING PADA MAHASISWI BKI IAIN SURAKARTA
Authors: Putri Yoan Rachmawati , Lessy Zulkipli
Published: August 2024

The behavior known as "body shaming" is often taken for granted. Many people believe that it is acceptable to comment about other people's bodies and physical appearance; however, they do not understand that their actions can harm another person or contribute to the development of psychological disorders in that person. Each person is unique, and one of the distinguishing characteristics of him/her is his/her freedom to choose his/her own body, including the right to be fat, thin, or any other body type. The purpose of this study was to determine the phenomenon of body shaming among Bimbingan Konseling Islam (BKI) female students of class 2017 at IAIN Surakarta (now UIN Raden Mas Said). This study used a qualitative descriptive technique. The four women who volunteered to participate in the study were all familiar with the idea of shame. Data collection methods used in this study were interviews, observations, and questionnaires. The findings reveal that (1) bullying is similar to body shaming, (2) body shaming can prohibit people from participating in social activities because it makes them feel insecure, and (3) negative responses to body shaming can cause unpleasant sensations. Keywords: Body Shaming, Students of IAIN Surakarta, Phenomenon.
PENGARUH BIMBINGAN PARENTING TERHADAP PENINGKATAN KEMAMPUAN ORANG TUA DALAM MEMBIMBING TUGAS PERKEMBANGAN MORAL DAN NILAI KEAGAMAAN: STUDI TIGA PERSPEKTIF KASUS DI BANDUNG, INDONESIA
Authors: Indriyanti  , Sugandi Miharja  , Bahrudin
Published: August 2024

Parenting guidance is a crucial concern for parents as they play a significant role in fostering their children’s moral and religious development, which in turn contributes to their academic success. However, numerous cases indicate a lack of parental involvement in cultivating their children's upbringing, leading to deficiencies in parenting skills. This study aims to enhance the understanding of parenting skills in guiding children towards the development of moral and religious values. Employing a multiple-case study approach, data from TK IT Little Moslem, TK Labschool UPI, and RA Syifaaush Shuduur in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, were analyzed. Through a quantitative method involving 101 respondents, the study reveals that parenting guidance significantly influences the development of moral and religious values by approximately 61%, while other factors contribute to around 39% of the impact. The findings underscore the pivotal role of parental guidance in enhancing children's learning abilities and fostering an early understanding of morality and religious values. As a result, this research contributes to the existing literature by exploring the nexus between ethics and religions, particularly in the context of parental and teacher guidance in nurturing children during their formative years.
 
Keywords: Parenting Guidance, Guiding Ability and Moral Religious Values.
A Double-Edged Sword: Bandits in the Javanese Revolution: Foes or Friends?
Authors: Mukti Anung Jati Nugraha
Published: August 2024

This research is based on a fundamental question: what was the position of bandits in the Javanese Revolution? Banditry is a social phenomenon connected to crime, the history of the Indonesian Revolution, and the social history of Indonesian society, particularly in Java. This research aims to analyze the social phenomenon of banditry in Java during the post-independence period until the end of the Indonesian Revolution. The research employs historical methods to identify relevant sources. Additionally, researchers incorporate oral interviews with individuals who experienced banditry during the same period. A literature review is also conducted to situate the topic within a complex and nuanced analysis. This research reveals the complex and multifaceted role of bandits in the Javanese Revolution, where they blurred the lines between criminality and heroism. This is further exemplified by the existence of "Revolutionary Bandits" who were utilized by Indonesian military forces in Java as supplementary troops during the revolutionary era.
Distance-Based Outlier Query Optimization in Apache IoTDB
Authors: Su Yunxiang , Song Shaoxu , Huang Xiangdong , Wang Chen , Wang Jianmin
Published: August 2024

While outlier detection has been widely studied over streaming data, the query of outliers in time series databases was largely overlooked. Apache IoTDB, an open-source time series database, employs LSM-tree based storage to support intensive writing workloads, yet this storage structure unfortunately encumbers the outlier query performing. In the system, data points of a time series may be stored in multiple files with overlapping time ranges, owing to the far delayed data arrivals, which are simply discarded in streaming outlier detection. Given the overlapping time ranges, it is not able to detect outliers in each file and merge them as the results. In this paper, we focus on optimizing the efficiency of distance-based outlier query in Apache IoTDB, with the consideration of overlapping files for delayed data. We propose to utilize bucket statistics of the values stored in files. Upper and lower bounds on the neighbor counts of data points are derived in buckets and overlapping files for efficient pruning. Extensive experiments demonstrate the efficiency of our proposal in the LSM-tree based time series database, Apache IoTDB, compared to the existing outlier detection methods designed for data streams.
Efficient Stochastic Routing in Path-Centric Uncertain Road Networks
Authors: Guo Chenjuan , Xu Ronghui , Yang Bin , Yuan Ye , Kieu Tung , Zhao Yan , Jensen Christian S.
Published: August 2024

The availability of massive vehicle trajectory data enables the modeling of road-network constrained movement as travel-cost distributions rather than just single-valued costs, thereby capturing the inherent uncertainty of movement and enabling improved routing quality. Thus, stochastic routing has been studied extensively in the edge-centric model, where such costs are assigned to the edges in a graph representation of a road network. However, as this model still disregards important information in trajectories and fails to capture dependencies among cost distributions, a path-centric model, where costs are assigned to paths, has been proposed that captures dependencies better and provides an improved foundation for routing. Unfortunately, when applied in this model, existing routing algorithms are inefficient due to two shortcomings that we eliminate. First, when exploring candidate paths, existing algorithms only consider the costs of candidate paths from the source to intermediate vertices, while disregarding the costs of travel from the intermediate vertices to the destination, causing many noncompetitive paths to be explored. We propose two heuristics for estimating the cost from an intermediate vertex to the destination, thus improving routing efficiency. Second, the edge-centric model relies on stochastic dominance-based pruning to improve efficiency. This pruning assumes that costs are independent and is therefore inapplicable in the path-centric model that takes dependencies into account. We introduce a notion of virtual path that effectively enables stochastic dominance-based pruning in the path-based model, thus further improving efficiency. Empirical studies using two real-world trajectory sets offer insight into the properties of the proposed solution, indicating that it enables efficient stochastic routing in the path-centric model.
Are Large Language Models a Good Replacement of Taxonomies?
Authors: Sun Yushi , Xin Hao , Sun Kai , Xu Yifan Ethan , Yang Xiao , Dong Xin Luna , Tang Nan , Chen Lei
Published: August 2024

Large language models (LLMs) demonstrate an impressive ability to internalize knowledge and answer natural language questions. Although previous studies validate that LLMs perform well on general knowledge while presenting poor performance on long-tail nuanced knowledge, the community is still doubtful about whether the traditional knowledge graphs should be replaced by LLMs. In this paper, we askif the schema of knowledge graph (i.e., taxonomy) is made obsolete by LLMs.Intuitively, LLMs should perform well on common taxonomies and at taxonomy levels that are common to people. Unfortunately, there lacks a comprehensive benchmark that evaluates the LLMs over a wide range of taxonomies from common to specialized domains and at levels from root to leaf so that we can draw a confident conclusion. To narrow the research gap, we constructed a novel taxonomy hierarchical structure discovery benchmark named TaxoGlimpse to evaluate the performance of LLMs over taxonomies. TaxoGlimpse covers ten representative taxonomies from common to specialized domains with in-depth experiments of different levels of entities in this taxonomy from root to leaf. Our comprehensive experiments of eighteen LLMs under three prompting settings validate that LLMs perform miserably poorly in handling specialized taxonomies and leaf-level entities. Specifically, the QA accuracy of the best LLM drops by up to 30% as we go from common to specialized domains and from root to leaf levels of taxonomies.
Agile-Ant: Self-Managing Distributed Cache Management for Cost Optimization of Big Data Applications
Authors: Al-Sayeh Hani , Jibril Muhammad Attahir , Sattler Kai-Uwe
Published: August 2024

Distributed in-memory processing frameworks accelerate application runs by caching important datasets in memory. Allocating a suitable cluster configuration for caching these datasets plays a crucial role in achieving minimal cost. We present Agile-ant, a self-managing framework that identifies important datasets and scales out the cluster memory to cache them on the fly without any human interaction, without any prior knowledge of the application, the characteristics of the input data, the specification of the computing resources and their utilization by multiple-tenants. We evaluate Agile-ant on various real-world applications. Compared with our baseline, Agile-ant reduces execution cost by 78.3% on average and provides better performance than the related work.
LLM-PBE: Assessing Data Privacy in Large Language Models
Authors: Li Qinbin , Hong Junyuan , Xie Chulin , Tan Jeffrey , Xin Rachel , Hou Junyi , Yin Xavier , Wang Zhun , Hendrycks Dan , Wang Zhangyang , Li Bo , He Bingsheng , Song Dawn
Published: August 2024

Large Language Models (LLMs) have become integral to numerous domains, significantly advancing applications in data management, mining, and analysis. Their profound capabilities in processing and interpreting complex language data, however, bring to light pressing concerns regarding data privacy, especially the risk of unintentional training data leakage. Despite the critical nature of this issue, there has been no existing literature to offer a comprehensive assessment of data privacy risks in LLMs. Addressing this gap, our paper introduces LLM-PBE, a toolkit crafted specifically for the systematic evaluation of data privacy risks in LLMs. LLM-PBE is designed to analyze privacy across the entire lifecycle of LLMs, incorporating diverse attack and defense strategies, and handling various data types and metrics. Through detailed experimentation with multiple LLMs, LLM-PBE facilitates an in-depth exploration of data privacy concerns, shedding light on influential factors such as model size, data characteristics, and evolving temporal dimensions. This study not only enriches the understanding of privacy issues in LLMs but also serves as a vital resource for future research in the field. Aimed at enhancing the breadth of knowledge in this area, the findings, resources, and our full technical report are made available at https://llm-pbe.github.io/, providing an open platform for academic and practical advancements in LLM privacy assessment.
DARKER: Efficient Transformer with Data-Driven Attention Mechanism for Time Series
Authors: Zuo Rundong , Li Guozhong , Cao Rui , Choi Byron , Xu Jianliang , Bhowmick Sourav S
Published: August 2024

Transformer-based models have facilitated numerous applications with superior performance. A key challenge in transformers is the quadratic dependency of its training time complexity on the length of the input sequence. A recent popular solution is using random feature attention (RFA) to approximate the costly vanilla attention mechanism. However, RFA relies on only a single, fixed projection for approximation, which does not capture the input distribution and can lead to low efficiency and accuracy, especially on time series data. In this paper, we propose DARKER, an efficient transformer with a novelDAta-dRivenKERnel-based attention mechanism. To precisely present the technical details, this paper discusses them with a fundamental time series task, namely, time series classification (tsc). First, the main novelty of DARKER lies in approximating the softmax kernel by learning multiple machine learning models with trainable weights as multiple projections offline, moving beyond the limitation of a fixed projection. Second, we propose a projection index (called pIndex) to efficiently search the most suitable projection for the input for training transformer. As a result, the overall time complexity of DARKER is linear with the input length. Third, we propose an indexing technique for efficiently computing the inputs required for transformer training. Finally, we evaluate our method on 14 real-world and 2 synthetic time series datasets. The experiments show that DARKER is 3×-4× faster than vanilla transformer and 1.5×-3× faster than other SOTAs for long sequences. In addition, the accuracy of DARKER is comparable to or higher than that of all compared transformers.