bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Unraveling the physicochemical and toxicological properties of food product isolated E341/E171
Authors: Athinarayanan Jegan , Khaibary Amjad A. L. , Periasamy Vaiyapuri Subbarayan , Alatiah Khalid A. , Shamlan Ghalia , Alshatwi Ali A.
Published: December 2022

Nanostructured materials have been extensively exploited in the food sector for nutrient delivery, sensing, packaging, and food additives. It has exhibited size, shape, chemical nature, and surface area‐dependent physicochemical and biological properties. Currently, nanoscale ingredients are identified in approved food additives. Still, food‐grade nanostructured material's impact on biological systems is unexplored well. Thus, in this study, we have identified and analyzed the physicochemical properties of nanoscale ingredients in commercial food product isolate E341 and E171 combinations. Also, we have evaluated the E341/E171 combination cytotoxic potential on human mesenchymal stem cells. The food isolated E341/E171 exhibits spherical nature with a 60–200 nm diameter. The E341 and E171 combination exposure increased the cell viability loss to ~36% at a high dose in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). The E341/E171 treatment‐induced cellular and nuclear damage at a moderate dose. The mitochondrial membrane potential loss and ROS generation were observed in E341/E171 treated cells. The E341/E171 alters the gene expression pattern in hMSCs dose‐dependently. The GSR and POR gene expression is upregulated significantly in E341/E171 treatment. Our study results revealed that E341/E171 induced toxicity in hMSCs at high concentrations. Thus, E341/E171 potential impact on the biological system should be reexamined for food industrial implications.
Intervention during the Perinatal Period: Synthesis of the Clinical Practice Guidelines from the French National College of Midwives
Authors: Barasinski Chloé , Zaros Cécile , Bercherie Julie , Bernard Jonathan Y. , Boisseau Nathalie , Camier Aurore , Chanal Corinne , Doray Bérénice , Dugravier Romain , Evrard Anne , Ficheux Anne‐Sophie , Garlantézec Ronan , Kadawathagedara Manik , Laurent‐Vannier Anne , Lecorguillé Marion , Marie Cécile , Molénat Françoise , Pelé Fabienne , de Villepin Brune Pommeret , Rigourd Virginie , Rousseau Mélie , Storme Laurent , Weiss Stéphanie , Salinier Catherine , Béranger Rémi
Published: December 2022

These clinical practice guidelines from the French National College of Midwives (CNSF) are intended to define the messages and the preventive interventions to be provided to women and co‐parents by the different professionals providing care to women or their children during the perinatal period. These guidelines are divided into 10 sections, corresponding to 4 themes: 1/ the adaptation of maternal behaviors (physical activity, psychoactive agents); 2/ dietary behaviors; 3/ household exposure to toxic substances (household uses, cosmetics); 4/ promotion of child health (breastfeeding, attachment and bonding, screen use, sudden unexplained infant death, and shaken baby syndrome). We suggest a ranking to prioritize the different preventive messages for each period, to take into account professionals’ time constraints.
Newborns' Bonding and Attachment, Their Rhythms and Needs, Supporting Parents Appropriately: Guidelines for Interventions During the Perinatal Period from the French National College Of Midwives
Authors: Dugravier Romain , Molenat Françoise , Fourneret Pierre , Salinier‐Rolland Catherine
Published: December 2022

A newborn's sleep‐wake rhythms are very specific, neurologically determined, and different from the pattern of adults; they require an adaptable and predictable response by parents, which will promotes bonding and attachments, constructed at the early stages of development. It also will influence the quality of subsequent emotional relationships and adaptation to life events. This parental adaptability should receive multiprofessional support starting in the perinatal period, focused on the screening and management of psychological vulnerability.
A Novel, Image-Based Method for Characterization of the Porosity of Additively Manufactured Bone Scaffolds With Complex Microstructures
Authors: Abdelgaber Yousef , Klemstine Cole , Salary Roozbeh (Ross)
Published: December 2022

Bone tissue engineering has emerged as a promising strategy for the treatment of osseous fractures, defects, and ultimately diseases caused by, for example, bone tumor resection, accident trauma, and congenital malformation. Additive fabrication of stem cell-seeded, osteoconductive porous scaffolds has been an effective method in clinical practice for the treatment of bone pathologies (such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and rheumatic diseases). Porosity is known to be one of the main morphological characteristics of bone tissues, which affects the functional performance of an implanted bone scaffold. Hence, in situ detection and quantification of scaffold porosity implemented to ensure functional integrity prior to implantation/surgery is an unavoidable need. The objective of this research work is to introduce a robust, image-based method for identification and subsequently characterization of the surface porosity and dimensional accuracy of additively manufactured bone tissue scaffolds, with a focus on pneumatic micro-extrusion (PME) process. It was observed that the presented method would be capable of detecting complex individual pores based on a micrograph. Using the proposed method, not only were scaffold pores detected, but also scaffold porosity was characterized on the basis of various defined quality metrics/traits (such as the relative standard deviation of distance to the nearest pore). The proposed method was validated by contrasting its performance in “surface pore detection” against that of a standard method, tested on a complex benchmark in four different simulated lighting environments. Besides, the performance of the method in terms of “pore filling” was compared to that of a standard method, tested on a real PME-fabricated bone scaffold. It was observed that the proposed method had a better performance in pore filling, detection, and consolidation. Overall, the outcomes of this work pave the way for high-resolution fabrication of patient-specific, structurally complex, and porous bone scaffolds with easily validatable, functional, and medical properties for the treatment of bone pathologies.
Deep UV AlGaN LED reliability for long duration space missions
Authors: Letson Benjamin C. , Barke Simon , Wass Peter , Mueller Guido , Ren Fan , Pearton Stephen J. , Conklin John W.
Published: December 2022

Space-based gravitational wave detection will be carried out by the laser interferometer space antenna (LISA), a joint European Space Agency and NASA collaboration. The configuration of this antenna will include three identical spacecraft in a triangular formation separated by 2.5×106km, flying in a drag-free formation around free-falling test masses. Charging of the test masses by cosmic ray fluxes and solar energetic particles must be compensated by photons that contain more energy than the effective work function of gold (4.3±0.4eV). The UV photons will be provided by AlGaN light emitting diodes, which must operate reliably for the duration of the mission. We have tested a large number (96 for dc and pulsed testing, more than 200 for all tests) of UV LEDs over a period of up to 600 days to characterize their performance over a wide range of operating conditions, assessing the lifetime performance under dc (1–80mA drive current) and pulsed conditions (500–100 000 pulses per second) and temperatures ranging from 20 to 80°C. Degradation of UV light output is faster at elevated temperatures and dc conditions. Preselection of LEDs based on initial spectral ratio of peak-to-midgap emission and ideality factor provides a positive correlation with subsequent reliability. The UV LEDs used for LISA will need to support 2 years of cruise and commissioning plus a 4-year baseline science mission.
The therapeutic potential of psychedelics
Authors: Schindler Emmanuelle A. D. , D’Souza Deepak Cyril
Published: December 2022

The development of psychedelics as medicines faces several challenges
Tuberculosis treatment failure associated with evolution of antibiotic resilience
Authors: Liu Qingyun , Zhu Junhao , Dulberger Charles L. , Stanley Sydney , Wilson Sean , Chung Eun Seon , Wang Xin , Culviner Peter , Liu Yue J. , Hicks Nathan D. , Babunovic Gregory H. , Giffen Samantha R. , Aldridge Bree B. , Garner Ethan C. , Rubin Eric J. , Chao Michael C. , Fortune Sarah M.
Published: December 2022

The widespread use of antibiotics has placed bacterial pathogens under intense pressure to evolve new survival mechanisms. Genomic analysis of 51,229
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(
Mtb
)

clinical isolates has identified an essential transcriptional regulator,
Rv1830
, herein called
resR
for resilience regulator, as a frequent target of positive (adaptive) selection.
resR
mutants do not show canonical drug resistance or drug tolerance but instead shorten the post-antibiotic effect, meaning that they enable
Mtb
to resume growth after drug exposure substantially faster than wild-type strains. We refer to this phenotype as antibiotic resilience. ResR acts in a regulatory cascade with other transcription factors controlling cell growth and division, which are also under positive selection in clinical isolates of
Mtb
. Mutations of these genes are associated with treatment failure and the acquisition of canonical drug resistance.
Mesolimbic dopamine release conveys causal associations
Authors: Jeong Huijeong , Taylor Annie , Floeder Joseph R , Lohmann Martin , Mihalas Stefan , Wu Brenda , Zhou Mingkang , Burke Dennis A , Namboodiri Vijay Mohan K
Published: December 2022

Learning to predict rewards based on environmental cues is essential for survival. It is believed that animals learn to predict rewards by updating predictions whenever the outcome deviates from expectations, and that such reward prediction errors (RPEs) are signaled by the mesolimbic dopamine system—a key controller of learning. However, instead of learning prospective predictions from RPEs, animals can infer predictions by learning the retrospective cause of rewards. Hence, whether mesolimbic dopamine instead conveys a causal associative signal that sometimes resembles RPE remains unknown. We developed an algorithm for retrospective causal learning and found that mesolimbic dopamine release conveys causal associations but not RPE, thereby challenging the dominant theory of reward learning. Our results reshape the conceptual and biological framework for associative learning.
Herbaria reveal cost of the Green Revolution
Authors: Waselkov Katherine , Olsen Kenneth M.
Published: December 2022

Rapid weed evolution is exposed by genome sequencing of natural history collections
Image problems besiege Stanford president
Authors: Kaiser Jocelyn
Published: December 2022

Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s early papers are subject of school and journal investigations
Nucleo-Cytoplasmic Transport of ZIKV Non-Structural 3 Protein Is Mediated by Importin-α/β and Exportin CRM-1
Authors: De Jesús-González Luis Adrián , Palacios-Rápalo Selvin Noé , Reyes-Ruiz José Manuel , Osuna-Ramos Juan Fidel , Farfán-Morales Carlos Noe , Cordero-Rivera Carlos Daniel , Cisneros Bulmaro , Gutiérrez-Escolano Ana Lorena , del Ángel Rosa María
Published: December 2022

Flaviviruses have a cytoplasmic replication cycle, but recent evidence indicates that nuclear elements play a role in their viral replication. Viral proteins, such as NS5 and C, are imported into the nucleus, and blocking their import prevents replication.
Functional Amyloids in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Are Essential for the Proteome Modulation That Leads to Pathoadaptation in Pulmonary Niches
Authors: Beg Ayesha Z. , Rashid Faraz , Talat Absar , Haseen Mohd Azam , Raza Nadeem , Akhtar Kafil , Dueholm Morten Kam Dahl , Khan Asad U.
Published: December 2022

Pseudomonas aeruginosais inextricably linked with chronic lung infections. In this study, the well-conserved Fap operon was found to be essential for pathoadaptation in pulmonary infection in a rat lung model.
A High-Accuracy Algorithm for Solving Problems of Electrostatics in a Nonhomogeneous Spatially Periodic Dielectric Medium
Authors: Kriksin Yu. A. , Tishkin V. F.
Published: December 2022

Abstract—

A high-accuracy economical iterative method is proposed for calculating the potential and the strength of the electric field in a three-dimensional inhomogeneous spatially periodic dielectric placed in an initially uniform electric field. The idea underlying the algorithm is that the potential is represented as a sum of a linear function and a spatially periodic correction, which can be expressed as an expansion in eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator that satisfy the appropriate periodicity conditions. The fast Fourier transform is used for an efficient numerical implementation of the proposed algorithm.
Myasthenia gravis, myositis and myocarditis: a fatal triad of immune-related adverse effect of immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment
Authors: Soman Biji , Dias Maria Cecilia , Rizvi Syed Azhar J , Kardos Attila
Published: December 2022

Pembrolizumab, a humanised monoclonal antibody and immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) that blocks programmed death receptor 1 and its ligands, is an effective immunotherapy for malignancies such asmelanoma, lung, head and neck, cancers, and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It has an overall response rate between 73% and 83%, with complete response rate of 27%–30%. It is well tolerated with minor side effects in 70% of cases characterised by fatigue, rash, pruritus and diarrhoea. In rare cases, more serious and life-threatening complications can occur at a rate of 0.3%–1.3%. We report a case of a woman in her 70s with non-small-cell lung cancer treated with ICI. She presented to the emergency department with left-sided ptosis and muscle weakness 3 weeks of her first dose of pembrolizumab infusion as a treatment plan of her cancer. She was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, myocarditis and myositis as ICI-induced immune-related adverse effects resistant to medical intervention. We wish to raise awareness of the triad of life-threatening complication of ICI therapy that accounts for 30%–50% of fatal complications.
Bilateral adrenal and pulmonary haemorrhages as an initial presentation of polycythaemia vera
Authors: Cilia Kyle , Borg Janice , Bugeja Maria , Farrugia Emanuel
Published: December 2022

We report a case of a man in his early 60s presenting with bilateral adrenal and pulmonary haemorrhages as an initial presentation of polycythaemia vera (PV). Symptomatology included severe compressive chest pain radiating to epigastrium, with unremarkable physical findings, parameters and ECG. Blood investigations showed an elevated haemoglobin (174 g/L, reference range (RR): 141-172g/L) and haematocrit (55.7%, RR: 40.4%–50.4%) levels.

Cross-sectional imaging excluded aortic dissection, but imaging repeated 48 hours after his admission for acute dyspnoea and worsening abdominal pain showed bilateral alveolar and adrenal haemorrhages. Cortisol level was 27 nmol/L (RR: 145–619 nmol/L). Investigations confirming PV included the presence of a Janus kinase 2 (JAK2V617F) gene mutation, hypercellularity with erythroid hyperplasia on bone marrow microscopy and a low serum erythropoietin (2.6 mIU/mL, RR: 4.3–29.0 mIU/mL). Aspirin, hydroxyurea, venesection and cortisol replacement were initiated to get good treatment outcome.
Managing hypertension in a Rohingya refugee camp: a brief report
Authors: Hamilton David , Sultana Moomtahin , Ho Lee Lee , Arai Mikiko , Businge Edward , Lukwata Robert , Maina Allen Gidraf Kahindo , Khadka Mira , Wright Joy
Published: December 2022

Non-communicable diseases have overtaken communicable diseases as the most common cause of death worldwide, with the majority of these deaths in low-income and middle-income countries. Hypertension alone causes over nine million deaths per year.

Since 2017, around 750 000 Rohingya refugees have fled violence in Myanmar into Cox’s Bazar District in Bangladesh. We describe a quality improvement project focused on the management of hypertension in Rohingya refugees in three primary health facilities within the Rohingya refugee camps. The aim of the project was to create a sustainable hypertension service within existing primary care services.

A number of plan–do–study–act cycles were performed to improve care, with methods including: creating a specialised clinic, writing a treatment algorithm, training of pharmacists, engaging community health workers and educational programmes for staff and patients.

In 2020, 554 patients were engaged in the new hypertension service. Of these, 358 (64.6%) returned for follow-up at least once. Mean systolic blood pressure (BP) was 141.7 (SD 60.0) mm Hg and mean diastolic BP was 88.1 (SD 11.1) mm Hg. Patients engaged in treatment had a significant reduction of BP of 8.2 (95% CI 5.4 to 11.0)/6.0 (95% CI 4.1 to 7.9) mm Hg (p<0.0001).

Our project shows that it is possible to create a hypertension service in a challenging humanitarian crisis, which can successfully improve the control of hypertension, although retention in care can be difficult.
Development and implementation of a quick reference (QR) code linked online education tool in anaesthesiology practice
Authors: Diczbalis Monica , Liu Yi Tian , Young Donald J , Vaghadia Himat
Published: December 2022

Background

We conducted a feasibility study of an anaesthetic online educational tool that is accessed via quick reference (QR) codes. The primary objective of the study was to assess the feasibility of an online educational tool for providing satisfactory teaching to patients presenting for surgery and assess if using QR codes are a viable method for directing patients to the information. The secondary objective was to obtain feedback from anaesthesiologists.

Methods

The educational tool was developed and hosted on a password-protected website. The educational material on the website focused on anaesthesia-related processes that the patient should expect to experience in the hospital as well as fasting information. A survey was embedded into the website to obtain patient feedback. The website was redesigned following patient and staff feedback.

Results

Ninety-three patients accessed the online education tool. Of the 73 responses to the survey, 81% of patients reported that the tool improved their knowledge and understanding about anaesthesia. 73% of patients expressed a preference for, or were neutral regarding using online patient education. 36% of patients were familiar with QR codes and 28% were frequent users of QR codes. Most anaesthesiologists expressed satisfaction with the tool being used by their patients following the redesign process (93.1%, 89.6% and 89.6% for general anaesthesia, neuraxial anaesthesia and regional anaesthesia, respectively).

Conclusions

This feasibility study demonstrated that an online anaesthetic educational tool has utility in promoting patient education about the anaesthetic experience and was well received by both patients and anaesthesiologists. QR codes are not feasible as the sole method for linking our patient population to an online education resource.
SARS CoV-2 seroprevalence in a US school district during COVID-19
Authors: Bullis Sean S M , Grebber Benjamin , Cook Sally , Graham Nancy R , Carmolli Marya , Dickson Dorothy , Diehl Sean A , Kirkpatrick Beth D , Lee Benjamin
Published: December 2022

Reduced symptomatology and access to testing in children have led to underestimates of paediatric COVID-19 prevalence and raised concerns about school safety. To explore COVID-19 prevalence and risk factors in school settings, we conducted a SARS-CoV-2 serosurvey in a Vermont, USA school district in December 2020. Among 336 students (63%) and 196 teachers/staff (37%), adjusted seroprevalence was 4.7% (95% CI 2.9 to 7.2) and was lowest in preK-5 students (4–10 Years). Seroprevalence was 10-fold higher than corresponding state PCR data but was low overall with no evidence of onward transmissions. These results further support feasibility of in-person learning during COVID-19 with appropriate mitigation measures.
Vibrational anharmonicity in near closed shell isotopes
Authors: Gupta J. B. , Katoch Vikas
Published: December 2022

The anharmonicity in the [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]Cd, and [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]Te chain of isotopes, which lie close to magic number [Formula: see text], is analyzed from the study of the correlation of the energy levels in the ground band, and some anomalies in the various entities are pointed out. The split of the degeneracy of the phonon triplet and quintuplet is illustrated. Formation of multiple coexisting phonon multiplets, associated with higher lying excited [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] states, and intruder states, including 2p4h excitation, with varying deformations, in [Formula: see text]Cd is discussed. The interacting boson model (IBM) is applied for [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text]Cd. The results of a previous study of [Formula: see text] isotones in the dynamic pairing plus quadrupole model are cited for Cd and Te. The problem of collectivity as reflected in the quadrupole moments and [Formula: see text] values is analyzed. The enigma of deformation features in spherical [Formula: see text]Te, reflected in the transition probability [Formula: see text] is resolved. Charge dependence of [Formula: see text]2 transitions for vibrational nuclei, in producing enhanced [Formula: see text] strengths in Te versus Cd is illustrated.
Effective mass of α-cluster in 12C nucleus
Authors: Filikhin I. , Karoui A. , Vlahovic B.
Published: December 2022

Based on the effective-mass concept, we perform the Faddeev calculations for a low-lying spectrum of 3[Formula: see text] states in [Formula: see text]C nucleus. A three-body potential is used to describe the known breaking of the 3[Formula: see text]-cluster structure in the nucleus. We show that the contribution of the three-body potential to the Hamiltonian can be compensated by increasing/decreasing the [Formula: see text]-particle free mass. The effective-mass values are adjusted to reproduce the experimental data for the [Formula: see text]C nucleus. The energy dependence of the effective mass and the correlation to a three-body potential are discussed. We show that the coupling between the [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) levels forms a specific picture of anti-crossing on the energy/effective-mass plane.
Tunable intrinsic chirality obtained by combining the extrinsic chiral structure on an anisotropic substrate
Authors: Wu Hongjin , Qi Jiwei , Hu Hao , Zhang Sihao , Fu Xianhui , Wu Qiang , Chen Zongqiang , Chen Jing , Yu Xuanyi , Sun Qian
Published: December 2022

In this work, we designed a composite intrinsic chiral structure through introducing an anisotropic environment around the extrinsic chiral structure. The designed structure is made up of an extrinsic chiral nanocrescent based on an anisotropic substrate. The simulation results of the extinction show that intrinsic chirality can be obtained and tuned by changing the angle between the optical axis of the anisotropic substrate and the mirror axis of the nanocrescent ([Formula: see text]). The maximum value of circular dichroism (CD) is up to about 0.035. Additionally, according to the charge distributions, the obtainment of our intrinsic chirality is originated from a new symmetry breaking introduced by the anisotropic substrate to the extrinsic chiral structure. This study could provide a new perspective for understanding chirality generation and could promote the application of chirality in imaging, sensing, etc.
Dividend Policy Decisions and Ownership Concentration: Evidence from Thai Public Companies
Authors: Thomas Connelly J. , Wolff Christian C. P.
Published: December 2022

In this paper, we examine the relationship between ownership concentration and dividend policy for Thai publicly listed companies. High family ownership firms have higher dividend payouts than low family ownership firms, which we interpret to mean high family ownership firms follow a more rational dividend policy. This finding is consistent with the prediction that agency conflicts between the managers and shareholders are lower at firms with a controlling shareholder. The evidence is robust through different econometric specifications; robust when the level used to determine the extent of family ownership (family control) is lowered to 10% of the outstanding shares; and robust to the inclusion of the ownership wedge as a proxy for the severity of agency conflicts.
AGREEMENT OF HIP KINEMATICS BETWEEN TWO TRACKING MARKER CONFIGURATIONS USED WITH THE CODA PELVIS DURING ERGONOMIC ROOFING TASKS
Authors: MOORE KEVIN D. , HAWKE ASHLEY L. , CAREY ROBERT E. , WU JOHN Z. , BRELOFF SCOTT P.
Published: December 2022

The anterior and posterior iliac spine markers frequently used to define the pelvis, are commonly occluded during three-dimensional (3D) motion capture. The occlusion of these markers leads to the use of various tracking marker configurations on the pelvis, which affect kinematic results. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the agreement of CODA pelvis kinematic results when two different tracking marker configurations were used during roofing tasks. 3D motion data were collected on seven male subjects while mimicking two roofing tasks. Hip joint angles (HJAs) were computed using the CODA pelvis with two different tracking marker configurations, the trochanter tracking method (TTM), and virtual pelvis tracking method (VPTM). Agreement between tracking marker configurations was assessed using cross-correlations, bivariate correlations, mean absolute differences (MADs), and Bland–Altman (BA) plots. The correlations displayed no time lag and strong agreement (all [Formula: see text]) between the HJA from the VPTM and TTM, suggesting the timing occurrence of variables are comparable between the two tracking marker configurations. The MAD between the VPTM and TTM displayed magnitude differences, but most of the differences were within a clinically acceptable range. Caution should still be used when comparing kinematic results between various tracking marker configurations, as differences exist.
A Model Review on Joint Optimization of Part Quality Inspection Planning, Buffer Allocation, and Preventive Maintenance in SMMS
Authors: Gaber Yomna H. , El-Khodary Ihab A. , Abdelsalam Hisham M.
Published: December 2022

In serial multi-stage manufacturing systems (SMMS), optimization of part quality inspection planning (PQIP), buffer allocation problem (BAP), and preventive maintenance (PM), individually and jointly, is attracting researchers’ attention. The model formulation for complicated manufacturing systems and the previously mentioned joint decisions is very beneficial given the interdependencies between the various manufacturing functions. As a result, this paper evaluates the literature on joint optimization of the multi-stage serial production system. The literature is classified based on the decision variables basis to represent each manufacturing function [inspection sample size and allocation (PQIP), buffer sizing and allocation (BAP), and preventive maintenance scheduling (PM)], and a general example model is presented in each classification, with a summary of recent studies, solution methods, research gaps, and future research recommendations.

In the integrated models, almost all the studies considered only two functions, with that it is worth noting that research into the optimization of over two functions is still in its beginning. Furthermore, most studies neglected many of the real industrial settings that should also be integrated into the model. And finally, there was no specific solution technique recommended in the literature, yet a general simulation optimization method was used to generate and evaluate the combinatorial complex joint models.
Modeling Grain Yield in China with Uncertain Time Series Analysis
Authors: Ye Tingqing , Kang Rui
Published: December 2022

Grain yield is an important factor related to the stable operation of a country’s social economy. This paper employs uncertain time series analysis (UTSA) to model rice grain yield in China, including order selection, parameter estimation, residual analysis, uncertain hypothesis test and forecast. By analyzing the characteristics of the residual plot, the reason of using uncertain time series analysis instead of probabilistic time series analysis is explained.
Constructive Synergy: Beijing–Moscow No-Limits Partnership in Perspective
Authors: Zhao Long
Published: December 2022

The ongoing Ukraine crisis and rising geopolitical tensions among great powers are creating a new security environment around China–Russia relations. The prediction of a China–Russia united front against the West is a misinterpretation of both countries’ history, their respective core interests, and distinct visions of world order. Beijing is unlikely to provide substantial military or financial aid to Moscow in its conflict with Ukraine where, apart from some foundational norms of international relations, few Chinese interests are at stake. Whereas some Western analysts lump together China and Russia in promoting the narrative of an epic struggle between democracy and autocracy, Beijing tries hard to immunize its relations with great powers against the fallout and repercussions of the Ukraine crisis and remains reluctant to engage with Moscow in ways that might create strong international backlash detrimental to its national interests. The growing proximity between China and Russia should rather be viewed as a countermeasure in response to the West’s concerted efforts to encircle and constrain rival powers than a strategic move to establish an anti-West sphere of interest.
China’s Energy Transition: Approaches, Progress, and Prospects
Authors: Yu Hongyuan
Published: December 2022

Beijing is making systematic efforts to accelerate its energy transition by setting ambitious targets, developing and employing clean technology, and stepping up global cooperation. This embrace of green and low-carbon development comes at a time when Beijing has arrived at a crossroads where it must choose a more sustainable development model that lays equal emphasis on resilience and efficiency. Even though China’s past concrete actions have paved the way for a smoother transition, more robust measures, not least concerted efforts by major countries, are still required to secure more irreversible progress as the current Russia–Ukraine crisis and potential fallout may create new roadblocks for the global race to zero carbon emissions. Rising geopolitical tensions as a result of the return of great power competition make it more urgent for leading countries to increase policy coordination to avert climate calamity.
Characterizing Cryptocurrency-themed Malicious Browser Extensions
Authors: Wang Kailong , Ling Yuxi , Zhang Yanjun , Yu Zhou , Wang Haoyu , Bai Guangdong , Ooi Beng Chin , Dong Jin Song
Published: December 2022

Due to the surging popularity of various cryptocurrencies in recent years, a large number of browser extensions have been developed as portals to access relevant services, such as cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets. This has stimulated a wild growth of cryptocurrency themed malicious extensions that cause heavy financial losses to the users and legitimate service providers. They have shown their capability of evading the stringent vetting processes of the extension stores, highlighting a lack of understanding of this emerging type of malware in our community. In this work, we conduct the first systematic study to identify and characterize cryptocurrency-themed malicious extensions. We monitor seven official and third-party extension distribution venues for 18 months (December 2020 to June 2022) and have collected around 3600 unique cryptocurrency-themed extensions. Leveraging a hybrid analysis, we have identified 186 malicious extensions that belong to five categories. We then characterize those extensions from various perspectives including their distribution channels, life cycles, developers, illicit behaviors, and illegal gains. Our work unveils the status quo of the cryptocurrency-themed malicious extensions and reveals their disguises and programmatic features on which detection techniques can be based. Our work serves as a warning to extension users, and an appeal to extension store operators to enact dedicated countermeasures. To facilitate future research in this area, we release our dataset of the identified malicious extensions and open-source our analyzer.
Dynamic Bin Packing with Predictions
Authors: Liu Mozhengfu , Tang Xueyan
Published: December 2022

The MinUsageTime Dynamic Bin Packing (DBP) problem aims to minimize the accumulated bin usage time for packing a sequence of items into bins. It is often used to model job dispatching for optimizing the busy time of servers, where the items and bins match the jobs and servers respectively. It is known that the competitiveness of MinUsageTime DBP has tight bounds of Θ(√łog μ ) and Θ(μ) in the clairvoyant and non-clairvoyant settings respectively, where μ is the max/min duration ratio of all items. In practice, the information about the items' durations (i.e., job lengths) obtained via predictions is usually prone to errors. In this paper, we study the MinUsageTime DBP problem with predictions of the items' durations. We find that an existing O(√łog μ )-competitive clairvoyant algorithm, if using predicted durations rather than real durations for packing, does not provide any bounded performance guarantee when the predictions are adversarially bad. We develop a new online algorithm with a competitive ratio of minØ(ε^2 √łog(ε^2 μ) ), O(μ) (where ε is the maximum multiplicative error of prediction among all items), achieving O(√łog μ) consistency (competitiveness under perfect predictions where ε = 1) and O(μ) robustness (competitiveness under terrible predictions), both of which are asymptotically optimal.
Optimistic No-regret Algorithms for Discrete Caching
Authors: Mhaisen Naram , Sinha Abhishek , Paschos Georgios , Iosifidis George
Published: December 2022

We take a systematic look at the problem of storing whole files in a cache with limited capacity in the context of optimistic learning, where the caching policy has access to a prediction oracle (provided by, e.g., a Neural Network). The successive file requests are assumed to be generated by an adversary, and no assumption is made on the accuracy of the oracle. In this setting, we provide a universal lower bound for prediction-assisted online caching and proceed to design a suite of policies with a range of performance-complexity trade-offs. All proposed policies offer sublinear regret bounds commensurate with the accuracy of the oracle. Our results substantially improve upon all recently-proposed online caching policies, which, being unable to exploit the oracle predictions, offer only O(√T) regret. In this pursuit, we design, to the best of our knowledge, the first comprehensive optimistic Follow-the-Perturbed leader policy, which generalizes beyond the caching problem. We also study the problem of caching files with different sizes and the bipartite network caching problem. Finally, we evaluate the efficacy of the proposed policies through extensive numerical experiments using real-world traces.
Joint Learning and Control in Stochastic Queueing Networks with Unknown Utilities
Authors: Fu Xinzhe , Modiano Eytan
Published: December 2022

We study the optimal control problem in stochastic queueing networks with a set of job dispatchers connected to a set of parallel servers with queues. Jobs arrive at the dispatchers and get routed to the servers following some routing policy. The arrival processes of jobs and the service processes of servers are stochastic with unknown arrival rates and service rates. Upon the completion of each job from dispatcher

u
n

at server

s
m

, a random utility whose mean is unknown is obtained. We seek to design a control policy that makes routing decisions at the dispatchers and scheduling decisions at the servers to maximize the total utility obtained by the end of a finite time horizon
T
. The performance of policies is measured by regret, which is defined as the difference in total expected utility with respect to the optimal dynamic policy that has access to arrival rates, service rates and underlying utilities.

We first show that the expected utility of the optimal dynamic policy is upper bounded by
T
times the solution to a static linear program, where the optimization variables correspond to rates of jobs from dispatchers to servers and the feasibility region is parameterized by arrival rates and service rates. We next propose a policy for the optimal control problem that is an integration of a learning algorithm and a control policy. The learning algorithm seeks to learn the optimal extreme point solution to the static linear program based on the information available in the optimal control problem. The control policy, a mixture of priority-based and Joint-the-Shortest-Queue routing at the dispatchers and priority-based scheduling at the servers, makes decisions based on the graphical structure induced by the extreme point solutions provided by the learning algorithm. We prove that our policy achieves logarithmic regret whereas application of existing techniques to the optimal control problem would lead to Ω(√
T
)-regret. The theoretical analysis is further complemented with simulations to evaluate the empirical performance of our policy.
An Interview with Dr. Huan Liu, Winner of ACM SIGKDD 2022 Innovation Award
Authors: Liu Huan
Published: December 2022

In recognition of outstanding technical innovations that have greatly influenced the direction of research and development in the field of knowledge discovery and data mining, Huan Liu, Ph.D. is the recipient of the 2022 ACM SIGKDD Innovation Award. Conferred annually on an individual or group, Dr. Liu was honored for his outstanding contributions to the foundation, principles and applications of social media mining and feature selection for data mining. Dr. Liu is currently professor of computer science and engineering at Arizona State University (ASU). He sat down with SIGDKDD Explorations to discuss his career, his research, and the biggest challenges facing the field.
An Interview with Dr. Charu Aggarwal, Winner of ACM SIGKDD 2022 Service Award
Authors: Aggarwal Charu
Published: December 2022

In recognition of outstanding professional services and contributions to the field of knowledge discovery and data mining, Charu Aggarwal, Ph.D. is the recipient of the 2022 ACM SIGKDD Service Award. Conferred annually on an individual or group, Dr. Aggarwal was honored for his years of service and many contributions that span publishing, programming, sponsorship and more in support of SIGKDD. Dr. Aggarwal is Distinguished Research Staff Member at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center and was the recipient of the 2019 SIGKDD Innovation Award. He sat down with SIGKDD Explorations to discuss how he first became involved with the KDD conference, the evolution of his volunteerism, the focus of his work at IBM, and his advice to those early in their careers.
Introduction to the Special Section on AI in Manufacturing
Authors: Lijffijt Jefrey , Gkorou Dimitra , Van Hertum Pieter , Ypma Alexander , Pechenizkiy Mykola , Vanschoren Joaquin
Published: December 2022

On 19 September 2022, the first workshop on AI for Manufacturing (AI4M Workshop) took place at ECML-PKDD, the European Conference on Machine Learning and Principles and Practice for Knowledge Discovery in Databases. The workshop brought together researchers and practitioners, from academia and industry, contributing their perspectives. This special section includes five articles in which Artificial Intelligence methods are used to address real problems in the manufacturing industry, ranging from the supply chain, to production, to quality insurance, and predictive maintenance. In this introduction, we present a high-level overview of the current state of the area: observed trends and the main open challenges. This overview is based on these papers, the keynote presentation, the panel discussion, and the discussion that emerged during the workshop.
Variational Autoencoder with CCA for Audio–Visual Cross-modal Retrieval
Authors: Zhang Jiwei , Yu Yi , Tang Suhua , Wu Jianming , Li Wei
Published: December 2022

Cross-modal retrieval is to utilize one modality as a query to retrieve data from another modality, which has become a popular topic in information retrieval, machine learning, and databases. Finding a method to effectively measure the similarity between different modality data is the major challenge of cross-modal retrieval. Although several research works have calculated the correlation between different modality data via learning a common subspace representation, the encoder’s ability to extract features from multi-modal information is not satisfactory. In this article, we present a novel variational autoencoder architecture for audio–visual cross-modal retrieval by learning paired audio–visual correlation embedding and category correlation embedding as constraints to reinforce the mutuality of audio–visual information. On the one hand, audio encoder and visual encoder separately encode audio data and visual data into two different latent spaces. Further, two mutual latent spaces are respectively constructed by canonical correlation analysis. On the other hand, probabilistic modeling methods are used to deal with possible noise and missing information in the data. Additionally, in this way, the cross-modal discrepancies from intra-modal and inter-modal information are simultaneously eliminated in the joint embedding subspace. We conduct extensive experiments over two benchmark datasets. The experimental results confirm that the proposed architecture is effective in learning audio–visual correlation and is appreciably better than the existing cross-modal retrieval methods.
Development of Paper-Based Facile, Green and Foldable Passive Components
Authors: Arslan Muhammad
Published: December 2022

The current typical techniques for making electronic passive components are complex, environment unfriendly, energy consuming and expensive. The conventional electronic elements are un foldable and non-flexible. The waste electrical and electronics equipment (WEEE) obtained from printed circuit boards contains organic compounds and heavy metals. The substance causing serious environmental effects, e.g. acidification, global warming, etc. and heavy metals such as tin and lead poisoning and saturating the soil such that the groundwater becomes undrinkable. Considering the recent interest in green electronics, we report foldable, low-cost, eco-friendly passive electronic components. We report low cost and non-energy exhaustive fabrication as direct writing of pencil on paper and direct deposition of conductive materials on substrate. We fabricated foldable passive resistors and capacitors as passive components. Passive components with vast variety of values have been fabricated to use for foldable applications. All the fabricated passive components are foldable, low cost, lightweight, environment friendly and sustainable to the bending. These paper-based components are useful for foldable power electronics, consumer electronics, foldable printed circuit boards, packaging, capacitive touch pads, disposable systems for security and soft robotics.
Hepatic Disorders and COVID-19: From Pathophysiology to Treatment Strategy
Authors: Shiri Aghbash Parisa , Ebrahimzadeh Leylabadlo Hamed , Fathi Hamidreza , Bahmani Mohaddeseh , Chegini Rojin , Bannazadeh Baghi Hossein
Published: December 2022

Following the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and the subsequent development of the COVID-19 pandemic, organs such as the lungs, kidneys, liver, heart, and brain have been identified as priority organs. Liver diseases are considered a risk factor for high mortality from the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, liver damage has been demonstrated in a substantial proportion of patients with COVID-19, especially those with severe clinical symptoms. Furthermore, antiviral medications, immunosuppressive drugs after liver transplantation, pre-existing hepatic diseases, and chronic liver diseases such as cirrhosis have also been implicated in SARS-CoV-2-induced liver injury. As a result, some precautions have been taken to prevent, monitor the virus, and avoid immunocompromised and susceptible individuals, such as liver and kidney transplant recipients, from being infected with SARS-CoV-2, thereby avoiding an increase in mortality. The purpose of this review was to examine the impairment caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection and the impact of drugs used during the pandemic on the mortality range and therefore the possibility of preventive measures in patients with liver disease.
Mathematical Analysis of the Transmission Dynamics of Skin Cancer Caused by UV Radiation
Authors: Parvin Tahera , Biswas Md. Haider Ali , Datta Bimal Kumar
Published: December 2022

Nowadays, skin cancer is a worldwide panic. It is related to ultraviolet radiation. In this paper, we have formulated a SIRS type mathematical model to show the effects of ultraviolet radiation on skin cancer. At first, we have showed the boundedness and positivity of the model solutions to verify the model’s existence and uniqueness. The boundedness and positivity gave the solutions of our model bounded and positive, which was very important for real-world situation because in real world, population cannot be negative. Then, we have popped out all the equilibrium points of our model and verified the stability of the equilibrium points. This stability test expressed some physical situation of our model. The disease-free equilibrium point is locally asymptotically stable if

R

0

<
1

and if

R

0

>
1

, then it is unstable. Again, the endemic equilibrium point is stable, if

R

0

>
1

and unstable if

R

0

<
1

. In order to understand the dynamical behavior of the model’s equilibrium points, we examined the phase portrait. We also have observed the sensitivity of the model parameters. After this, we have investigated the different scenarios of bifurcations of the model’s parameters. At the set of Hopf bifurcation parameters when infection rate due to UV rays is less than

α

1

=
0.01

, proper control may eradicate the existence of disease. From transcritical bifurcation, we can say when recovery rate greater than 1.9, then the disease of skin cancer can be eliminated and when recovery rate less than 1.9 then the disease of skin cancer cannot be eradicated. Finally, numerical analysis is done to justify our analytical findings.