bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Low‐order fine roots of Picea asperata have different physiological mechanisms in response to seasonal freeze and freeze–thaw of soil
Authors: Xie L. , Xiao Q. , Yin C.
Published: April 2023

Seasonal soil freezing (F) and freeze–thaw cycles (FTCs) are common natural phenomena in high latitude or altitude areas of the world, and seriously affect plant physiological processes. However, studies on the effect of soil F and FTCs on fine roots are less common, especially in subalpine coniferous forests of western Sichuan, China.

We set up a controlled experiment in growth chambers to explore the effects of F and FTCs on low‐order fine roots of Picea asperata and differential responses of first‐order roots and the first three root orders (1st, 2nd and 3rd order roots combined as a unit).

Soil F and FTCs resulted in serious damage to cell membranes and root vitality of low‐order fine roots, accompanied by increased MDA content and O2·− production. FTCs had a stronger effect than F treatment. In turn, low‐order fine roots are the unit that responds to cold stress. These roots had increased unsaturated fatty acid contents, antioxidant enzyme activities, osmolytes and plant hormones contents when acclimation to cold stress. The first‐order roots were more sensitive to cold stress than the combined first three root orders for several processes (e.g. antioxidant enzymes, osmolytes and hormones) because of their specific structure and physiological activity.

This study explains physiological differences in responses of fine roots of different root orders to seasonal soil freezing, which will improve the understanding of fine root heterogeneity and support agriculture and forest management.
Integrated metabolome and transcriptome analysis provides insights on the floral scent formation in Hydrangea arborescens
Authors: Ke Yanguo , Zhou Yiwei , Lv Yiying , Qi Ying , Wei Huanyu , Lei Yu , Huang Feiyan , Abbas Farhat
Published: April 2023

Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens var. "Annabelle”) flowers are composed of sweet aroma sepals rather than true petals and can change color. Floral volatiles plays important roles in plants, such as attracting pollinators, defending against herbivores, and signaling. However, the biosynthesis and regulatory mechanisms underlying fragrance formation in H. arborescens during flower development remain unknown. In this study, a combination of metabolite profiling and RNA sequencing (RNA‐seq) was employed to identify genes associated with floral scent biosynthesis mechanisms in “Annabelle” flowers at three developmental stages (F1, F2, and F3). The floral volatile data revealed that the “Annabelle” volatile profile includes a total of 33 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and VOCs were abundant during the F2 stage of flower development, followed by the F1 and F3 stages, respectively. Terpenoids and benzenoids/phenylpropanoids were abundant during the F2 and F1 stages, with the latter being the most abundant, whereas fatty acid derivatives and other compounds were found in large amounts during the F3 stage. According to ultra‐performance liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometer analysis, benzene and substituted derivatives, carboxylic acids and derivatives, and fatty acyls play a significant role in the floral metabolite profile. The transcriptome data revealed a total of 17,461 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with 7585, 12,795, and 9044 DEGs discovered between the F2 and F1, F3 and F1, and F2 and F3 stages, respectively. Several terpenoids and benzenoids/phenylpropanoids biosynthesis‐related DEGs were identified, and GRAS/bHLH/MYB/AP2/WRKY were more abundant among transcription factors. Finally, DEGs interlinked with VOCs compounds were determined using Cytoscape and k‐means analysis. Our results pave the way for the discovery of new genes, critical data for future genetic studies, and a platform for the metabolic engineering of genes involved in the production of Hydrangea's signature floral fragrance.
Modulation of the heartbeat evoked cortical potential by hypnotizability and hypnosis
Authors: Callara Alejandro Luis , Fontanelli Lorenzo , Belcari Iacopo , Rho Gianluca , Greco Alberto , Zelič Žan , Sebastiani Laura , Santarcangelo Enrica L.
Published: April 2023

Hypnotizability is a psychophysiological trait measured by scales and associated with several differences, including interoceptive accuracy and the morpho‐functional characteristics of interoception‐related brain regions. The aim of the study was to assess whether the amplitude of the heartbeat evoked cortical potential (HEP), a correlate of interoceptive accuracy, differs in participants with low (lows) and high (highs) hypnotizability scores (assessed by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, Form A) before and after the induction of hypnosis.

ECG and EEG were monitored in 16 highs and 15 lows during an experimental session, including open eyes baseline (B), closed eyes relaxation (R), hypnotic induction (IND), neutral hypnosis (NH), and post session baseline (Post). No significant difference was observed between groups and conditions in autonomic variables. The HEP amplitude was lower in highs than in lows at the right parietal site, likely due to hypnotizability related differences in the functional connection between the right insula and parietal cortex. It increased in highs and decreased in lows across the session, possibly due to the highs' preeminently internally directed attention and to the lows' possible disengagement from the task. Since interoception is involved in several cognitive‐emotional functions, its hypnotizability related differences may contribute to the variability of experience and behavior in daily life.
Predictive value of molecular matching tools for the development of donor specific HLA‐antibodies in patients undergoing lung transplantation
Authors: Kleid Lisa , Walter Julia , Vorstandlechner Maximilian , Schneider Christian P. , Michel Sebastian , Kneidinger Nikolaus , Irlbeck Michael , Wichmann Christian , Möhnle Patrick , Humpe Andreas , Kauke Teresa , Dick Andrea
Published: April 2023

Molecular matching is a new approach for virtual histocompatibility testing in organ transplantation. The aim of our study was to analyze whether the risk for de novo donor‐specific HLA antibodies (dnDSA) after lung transplantation (LTX) can be predicted by molecular matching algorithms (MMA) and their combination. In this retrospective study we included 183 patients undergoing LTX at our center from 2012–2020. We monitored dnDSA development for 1 year. Eplet mismatches (epMM) using HLAMatchmaker were calculated and highly immunogenic eplets based on their ElliPro scores were identified. PIRCHE‐II scores were calculated using PIRCHE‐II algorithm (5‐ and 11‐loci). We compared epMM and PIRCHE‐II scores between patients with and without dnDSA using t‐test and used ROC‐curves to determine optimal cut‐off values to categorize patients into four groups. We used logistic regression with AIC to compare the predictive value of PIRCHE‐II, epMM, and their combination. In total 28.4% of patients developed dnDSA (n = 52), 12.5% class I dnDSA (n = 23), 24.6% class II dnDSA (n = 45), and 8.7% both class II and II dnDSA (n = 16). Mean epMMs (p‐value = 0.005), mean highly immunogenic epMMs (p‐value = 0.003), and PIRCHE‐II (11‐loci) (p = 0.01) were higher in patients with compared to without class II dnDSA. Patients with highly immunogenic epMMs above 30.5 and PIRCHE‐II 11‐loci above 560.0 were more likely to develop dnDSA (31.1% vs. 14.8%, p‐value = 0.03). The logistic regression model including the grouping variable showed the best predictive value. MMA can support clinicians to identify patients at higher or lower risk for developing class II dnDSA and might be helpful tools for immunological risk assessment in LTX patients.
Continued stabilization of blood collections and transfusions in the United States: Findings from the 2021 National Blood Collection and Utilization Survey
Authors: Free Rebecca J. , Sapiano Mathew R. P. , Chavez Ortiz Joel L. , Stewart Phylicia , Berger James , Basavaraju Sridhar V.
Published: April 2023

Background

National Blood Collection and Utilization Surveys (NBCUS) have reported decreases in U.S. blood collections and transfusions since 2008. The declines began to stabilize in 2015–2017, with a subsequent increase in transfusions in 2019. Data from the 2021 NBCUS were analyzed to understand the current dynamics of blood collection and use in the United States.

Methods

In March 2022, all community‐based (53) and hospital‐based (83) blood collection centers, a randomly selected 40% of transfusing hospitals performing 100–999 annual inpatient surgeries, and all transfusing hospitals performing ≥1000 annual inpatient surgeries were sent a 2021 NBCUS survey to ascertain blood collection and transfusion data. Responses were compiled, and national estimates were calculated for the number of units of blood and blood components collected, distributed, transfused, and outdated in 2021. Weighting and imputation were applied to account for non‐responses and missing data, respectively.

Results

Survey response rates were 92.5% (49/53) for community‐based blood centers, 74.7% (62/83) for hospital‐based blood centers, and 76.3% (2102/2754) for transfusing hospitals. Overall, 11,784,000 (95% confidence interval [CI], 11,392,000–12,177,000) whole blood and apheresis red blood cell (RBC) units were collected in 2021, a 1.7% increase from 2019; 10,764,000 (95% CI, 10,357,000–11,171,000) whole blood‐derived and apheresis RBC units were transfused, a 0.8% decrease. Total platelet units distributed increased by 0.8%; platelet units transfused decreased by 3.0%; plasma units distributed increased by 16.2%; and plasma units transfused increased by 1.4%.

Discussion

The 2021 NBCUS findings demonstrate a stabilization in U.S. blood collections and transfusions, suggesting a plateau has been reached for both.
Amplicon-Based High-Throughput Sequencing Method for Genotypic Characterization of Norovirus in Oysters
Authors: Fitzpatrick Amy H. , Rupnik Agnieszka , O’Shea Helen , Crispie Fiona , Cotter Paul D. , Keaveney Sinéad
Published: April 2023

While foodborne outbreaks account for approximately 14% of norovirus cases (L. Verhoef, J.
Gardnerella
Revisited: Species Heterogeneity, Virulence Factors, Mucosal Immune Responses, and Contributions to Bacterial Vaginosis
Authors: Shvartsman Elinor , Hill Janet E. , Sandstrom Paul , MacDonald Kelly S.
Published: April 2023

Gardnerella
species are associated with bacterial vaginosis (BV) and have been investigated as etiological agents of the condition. Nonetheless, the isolation of this taxon from healthy individuals has raised important questions regarding its etiological role.
Impact of the cAMP-cAMP Receptor Protein Regulatory Complex on Lipopolysaccharide Modifications and Polymyxin B Resistance in Escherichia coli
Authors: Purcell Alexandria B. , Simpson Brent W. , Trent M. Stephen
Published: April 2023

Gram-negative bacteria can alter the structure of their LPS to promote resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides, including polymyxin antibiotics. Polymyxins are considered last-resort antibiotics for treatment against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative organisms. Here, we explore how changes in general metabolism and carbon catabolite repression pathways can alter LPS structure and influence polymyxin resistance.
Engineering Oncolytic Coxsackievirus A21 with Small Transgenes and Enabling Cell-Mediated Virus Delivery by Integrating Viral cDNA into the Genome
Authors: Sam Miranda , Selman Mohammed , Zhao Weilong , Jung Jiwon , Willingham Aarron , Phan Uyen , Starling Gary C. , Gao Qinshan
Published: April 2023

As a naturally occurring virus, coxsackievirus A21 is a promising oncolytic virotherapy modality. In this study, we first used reverse genetics to determine whether A21 can stably carry transgenes and found that it could express up to 141 amino acids of foreign GFP.
Peripheral Nerve Injury Induced by Japanese Encephalitis Virus in C57BL/6 Mouse
Authors: Yang Huan , Wang Xiaoli , Wang Zhao , Wang Guowei , Fu Shihong , Li Fan , Yang Liping , Yuan Yanping , Shen Kaichun , Wang Huanyu , Wang Zhenhai
Published: April 2023

JEV is a neurotropic flavivirus belonging to the
Flaviviridae
family and causes high mortality and disability rates. It invades the central nervous system and induces acute inflammatory injury and neuronal death.
Respiratory Adenovirus Quantification with a Droplet Digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (ddPCR) Assay
Authors: Abdullah Omar , Fall Amary , Forman Michael , Howard Craig , Klein Eili , Mostafa Heba H.
Published: April 2023

Measuring viral load using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) is an absolute quantification approach that can facilitate comparability between different laboratories. This approach could prove valuable in studies that focus on the clinical utility of quantification. In this study, we evaluate a human adenovirus (HAdV) ddPCR assay and study the relationship between viral loads and outcomes after HAdV respiratory infections.
Pathogenicity and Transcriptomic Analyses of Two “
Candidatus
Liberibacter asiaticus” Strains Harboring Different Types of Phages
Authors: Zheng Yongqin , Zhang Jingxue , Li Yun , Liu Yaoxin , Liang Jiayin , Wang Cheng , Fang Fang , Deng Xiaoling , Zheng Zheng
Published: April 2023

Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB), also called citrus greening disease, is a highly destructive disease threatening citrus production worldwide. “
Candidatus
Liberibacter asiaticus” is one of the most common putative causal agents of HLB. Phages of “
Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus”
In Vivo
Development of Aztreonam Resistance in Meropenem-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Owing to Overexpression of the
bla
PDC-16
Authors: Ding Li , Sun Yue , Zhang Yizhuo , Shen Siquan , Hu Fupin
Published: April 2023

Pseudomonas aeruginosa
is notorious for being highly resistant to antimicrobial agents. In this study, two
P. aeruginosa
strains isolated from the same patient with different susceptibility to aztreonam were used to illustrate the within-host resistance evolution process of
P. aeruginosa
.
A Single Residue within the MCR-1 Protein Confers Anticipatory Resilience
Authors: Frantz Renate , Gwozdzinski Konrad , Gisch Nicolas , Doijad Swapnil Prakash , Hudel Martina , Wille Maria , Abu Mraheil Mobarak , Schwudke Dominik , Imirzalioglu Can , Falgenhauer Linda , Ehrmann Michael , Chakraborty Trinad
Published: April 2023

The global presence of transferable
mcr
genes in a wide range of Gram-negative bacteria from clinical, veterinary, food, and aquaculture environments is disconcerting. Its success as a transmissible resistance factor remains enigmatic, because its expression imposes fitness costs and imparts only moderate levels of colistin resistance.
Simulated Gastric Acid Promotes the Horizontal Transfer of Multidrug Resistance Genes across Bacteria in the Gastrointestinal Tract at Elevated pH Levels
Authors: Wu Hai-yan , Wei Zi-lin , Shi Dan-yang , Li Hai-bei , Li Xin-mei , Yang Dong , Zhou Shu-qing , Peng Xue-xia , Yang Zhong-wei , Yin Jing , Chen Tian-jiao , Li Jun-wen , Jin Min
Published: April 2023

The low pH of gastric acid kills unwanted microorganisms, in turn affecting their inhabitation in the intestine. Hence, studies on the factors that influence antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) propagation in the gastrointestinal tract and on the underlying mechanisms are limited.
Faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) in primary care: a follow-up service evaluation
Authors: Ayling Ruth M , Machesney Michael
Published: April 2023

Aim

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Following National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance for faecal immunochemical testing (FIT), we introduced a service for the measurement of faecal haemoglobin (f-Hb) in symptomatic patients. Previously, we evaluated the first 6 months of the service in three local boroughs, here we re-examine the use of FIT, over a similar 6 months in the two successive years.

Methods

Patients who had FIT requested in April–September 2020 and 2021 were studied. Results were obtained from the laboratory information systems and matched with the clinical outcomes of those referred via the urgent lower gastrointestinal cancer pathway. Patient demographics, reason for referral, clinical outcome and diagnostic test performance are reported.

Results

In 2020, 4042 samples were analysed and 57 CRC detected. In 2021, 10 508 samples were analysed and 65 CRC detected. Six (4.9%) patients with CRC had f-Hb <10 µg/g, of whom three were anaemic. In 2020, 27.7% of samples were from patients under 50 years; and in 2021, 32.8%. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of f-Hb at ≥10 µg/g for CRC were 92.9%, 46.6%, 6.4% and 99.4% in 2020 and 96.9%, 29.9%, 3.2% and 99.8% in 2021.

Conclusions

As currently used in primary care in North East London, specificity of FIT at a cut-off of 10 µg/g is much lower than in published studies and the impact of this on colorectal services needs to be considered.
“I’m both smoking and vaping”: a longitudinal qualitative study of US young adults who tried to quit smoking cigarettes by using electronic cigarettes
Authors: Nguyen Nhung , Koester Kimberly A , Kim Minji , Watkins Shannon Lea , Ling Pamela M
Published: April 2023

Objective

To describe how young adults use electronic cigarettes (electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS)) for smoking cessation and reasons why they may or may not successfully quit smoking.

Methods

Longitudinal qualitative data were collected annually from 2017 to 2019 for 25 young adult tobacco users (aged 18–29 years) in California (USA) who used ENDS to quit/reduce smoking. Thematic and trajectory analyses were used to identify key within-person and between-person changes in tobacco/nicotine use over time.

Results

Five types of tobacco use transition were identified among baseline dual users of cigarettes and ENDS:
sustained dual use without reduced smoking
(n=8),
transition to exclusive daily ENDS use
(n=6),
sustained dual use with reduced smoking
(n=5),
transition back to exclusive smoking
(n=4) and
transition to neither smoking nor vaping
(n=2). Participants’ ENDS use behaviour varied over time in terms of vaping quantity and device characteristics (eg, changing nicotine concentrations/flavours, switching between multiple devices). Three themes that related to successfully replacing cigarettes with ENDS were
perceived positive physical effects, perceived satisfaction and enjoyment
and
context changes
. Four themes for unsuccessful replacement were
perceived negative physical discomforts, perceived addictiveness and harm
,
unsatisfactory substitution for cigarettes
and
device malfunction
.

Conclusions

Young adults’ experiences with using ENDS as a smoking cessation aid were highly variable. Adequate nicotine delivery and perceived safety and benefits contributed to successfully reducing or quitting cigarettes. Providing behavioural counselling and standardising ENDS products may enhance cessation for young adults.
Cellulose acetate cigarette filter is hazardous to human health
Authors: Novotny Thomas E , Hamzai Laila
Published: April 2023

The World No Tobacco Day 2022 theme emphasised tobacco’s adverse environmental effects, including through agriculture, manufacturing, distribution, use and the disposal of tobacco product waste. A main concern regarding this toxic waste is the cigarette filter, which is attached to nearly all commercial cigarettes and is predominantly made from a plant-based plastic (cellulose acetate). Laboratory studies have demonstrated the chemical toxicity of discarded cigarette butts, and there is growing public concern regarding environmental plastic pollution resulting from single-use cellulose acetate filters. Important considerations are whether the filter has any protective role against the harms of smoking and whether it should be regulated as a plastic environmental pollutant. There is persistent misunderstanding among smokers and policy makers about the implied value of the cigarette filter. The cellulose acetate filter is simply a marketing tool that encourages smoking initiation and reduces intentions to quit smoking. This is because it makes smoking easier and implies added safety through the presumed filtration of inhaled smoke. The sale of filtered cigarettes should be prohibited to protect public health and the environment.
Fast stratification of geological cross-section from CPT results with missing data using multitask and modified Bayesian compressive sensing
Authors: Zhao Tengyuan , Wang Yu , Lu Shi-Feng , Xu Ling
Published: April 2023

Since cone penetration test (CPT) is reasonably rapid, affordable, and repeatable, it has been widely used in situ for subsurface soil stratification and classification in geological and geotechnical engineering practice. When used for soil stratification across a 2D geological cross-section, however, it is often observed that some CPTs probe deeper than others, and that some CPT soundings may contain missing data due to presence of gravel-sized particles or intentional bypassing of gravelly soil layers. Arguments above and frequently encountered problem of a small number of CPT soundings in practice pose a great challenge for 2D soil stratification, especially for nonstationary CPT within multilayers. While certain methods have been proposed hoping to address these concerns, they are frequently constrained by either stationary assumption of data, autocorrelation function forms, or computational issues. This study introduces a data-driven multitask Bayesian compressive sensing (MT-BCS) method to estimate missing data for CPT sounding of interest, and then develops a modified 2D BCS method for fast interpolation for horizontal locations without CPT soundings. The proposed method is demonstrated and validated using both numerical and real-world CPT data. Results show that proposed method is both efficient and robust in terms of missing data estimation in each CPT sounding and soil stratification for a 2D geological cross-section.
The selective role of the orbital angular momentum on the reaction stereo-dynamics
Authors: Falcinelli Stefano , Parriani Marco , Vecchiocattivi Franco , Pirani Fernando
Published: April 2023

This paper reports on the characterization of the stereo-dynamic controlling three different chemi-ionization reactions, recent objective of our study, since they participate to the balance of phenomena occurring in plasma, interstellar medium, planetary atmospheres, flames and lasers. The optical potential, obtained by a phenomenological method and defined in the whole space of the relative configurations of reagents, has been formulated in an accurate and internally consistent way for three different systems. Some cuts of the multidimensional potential, that asymptotically correlate with a specific fine level of the open shell atom and/or with a defined orientation of the molecular reagent, have been exploited in the present study to emphasize crucial features of the collision dynamics along selected entrance channels of the reactions. Consistently, basic quantities determining the topology of the reaction stereo-dynamics have been properly defined, emphasizing in the three cases relevant changes in the microscopic reaction evolution. Much attention focused on the selectivity of the orbital angular momentum, affecting each collision event at any chosen collision energy. It controls the relative weight of two different reaction mechanisms. The direct reaction mechanism is driven by short-range chemical forces, promoting, by direct electron transfer between reagents, a prototypical elementary oxidation reaction. The indirect mechanism, controlled by the combination of long-range chemical and physical forces, can be triggered by a virtual photon exchanged between reagents, promoting a sort of photo-ionization process. Obtained results and emphasized differences appear to be of general interest for many other elementary processes, more difficult to characterize at this level of detail.

Graphic abstract
Quantum quasi-Lie systems: properties and applications
Authors: Cariñena J.F. , de Lucas J. , Sardón C.
Published: April 2023

A Lie system is a non-autonomous system of ordinary differential equations describing the integral curves of a t-dependent vector field that is equivalent to a t-dependent family of vector fields within a finite-dimensional Lie algebra of vector fields. Lie systems have been generalised in the literature to deal with t-dependent Schrödinger equations determined by a particular class of t-dependent Hamiltonian operators, the quantum Lie systems, and other systems of differential equations through the so-called quasi-Lie schemes. This work extends quasi-Lie schemes and quantum Lie systems to cope with t-dependent Schrödinger equations associated with the here-called quantum quasi-Lie systems. To illustrate our methods, we propose and study a quantum analogue of the classical nonlinear oscillator searched by Perelomov, and we analyse a quantum one-dimensional fluid in a trapping potential along with quantum t-dependent Smorodinsky–Winternitz oscillators.
Understanding the direct detection of charged particles with SiPMs
Authors: Carnesecchi F. , Vignola G. , Agrawal N. , Alici A. , Antonioli P. , Arcelli S. , Bellini F. , Cavazza D. , Cifarelli L. , Colocci M. , Durando S. , Ercolessi F. , Ficorella A. , Fraticelli C. , Garbini M. , Giacalone M. , Gola A. , Hatzifotiadou D. , Jacazio N. , Margotti A. , Malfattore G. , Nania R. , Noferini F. , Paternoster G. , Pinazza O. , Preghenella R. , Rath R. , Ricci R. , Rignanese L. , Rubini N. , Sabiu B. , Scapparone E. , Scioli G. , Strazzi S. , Tripathy S. , Zichichi A.
Published: April 2023

In this paper, evidence that the increased response of SiPM sensors to the passage of charged particles is related mainly to Cherenkov light produced in the protection layer is reported. The response and timing properties of sensors with different protection layers have been studied.
The stability and the lifetime of the scalar boson star
Authors: Kozlov G. A.
Published: April 2023

In this paper, we introduce the formalism to examine the impact of the dark scalar sector to the conformal and the electroweak symmetries breaking in the sense of formation of the scalar boson star (BS). The BS is presented by the local scalar field containing the Higgs boson field and the scalar dilaton field in the conformal field theory. We study in detail the modification of the Higgs quartic coupling away from its Standard Model (SM) value within the influence of the dark sector. We show that the repulsive self-interactions and the flatness degree in the dark scalar sector can prevent an instability and the destruction of the BS. We have estimated the rate of the deviation from the SM with production of leptonic pairs due to decays of dilatons and dark photons emerged because of the BS instability. The lifetime, the maximal mass and the density of the BS, the average minimal distance between the stars are estimated. The effects of new physics should be visible at the HL-LHC, FCC-hh accompanied by the current LHC and the cosmological data.
An Android Malware Detection Method Using Multi-Feature and MobileNet
Authors: Yang Zhiyao , Yang Xu , Zhang Heng , Jia Haipeng , Zhou Mingliang , Mao Qin , Ji Cheng , Wei Xuekai
Published: April 2023

Most of the existing static analysis-based detection methods adopt one or few types of typical static features for avoiding the problem of dimensionality and computational resource consumption. In order to further improve detecting accuracy with reasonable resource consumption, in this paper, a new Android malware detection model based on multiple features with feature selection method and feature vectorization method are proposed. Feature selection method for each type of features reduces the dimensionality of feature set. Weight-based feature vectorization method for API calls, intent and permission is designed to construct feature vector. Co-occurrence matrix-based vectorization method is proposed to vectorize opcode sequence. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, we conducted comprehensive experiments with a total of 30,000 samples. Experimental results show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art methods.
A Note on Connectivity of Regular Graphs
Authors: Xu Huixian , Zhou Jinqiu
Published: April 2023

In this note, we prove the equivalence of edge connectivity, essential edge connectivity and cyclic edge connectivity in an [Formula: see text]-regular graph, where [Formula: see text].
Selecting Treatment Effects Models for Domain Adaptation Using Causal Knowledge
Authors: Kyono Trent , Bica Ioana , Qian Zhaozhi , van der Schaar Mihaela
Published: April 2023

While a large number of causal inference models for estimating individualized treatment effects (ITE) have been developed, selecting the best one poses a unique challenge, since the counterfactuals are never observed. The problem is challenged further in the unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) setting where we have access to labeled samples in the source domain but desire selecting an ITE model that achieves good performance on a target domain where only unlabeled samples are available. Existing selection techniques for UDA are designed for predictive models and are sub-optimal for causal inference because they (1) do not account for the missing counterfactuals and (2) only examine the discriminative density ratios between the input covariates in the source and target domain and do not factor in the model’s predictions in the target domain. We leverage the invariance of causal structures across domains to introduce a novel model selection metric specifically designed for ITE models under UDA. We propose selecting models whose predictions of the effects of interventions satisfy invariant causal structures in the target domain. Experimentally, our method selects ITE models that are more robust to covariate shifts on a variety of datasets, including estimating the effect of ventilation in COVID-19 patients.
Afitness: Fitness Monitoring on Smart Devices via Acoustic Motion Images
Authors: Wang Penghao , Jiang Ruobing , Guo Zhongwen , Liu Chao
Published: April 2023

Recently, as fitness has become a popular part of people’s lives, the intention to record fitness processes and assess the standards of fitness movements has grown increasingly keen. However, the existing approaches have some limitations, for example, wearable devices can hinder users’ fitness activities; computer vision–based solutions pose the risk of privacy breach, and so on. Fortunately, we observed that smartspeaker, acoustic-based sensing is a promising method of activity monitoring. In this article, we propose Afitness, an acoustic-based sensing system that enables non-intrusive, passive, and high-precision fitness detection. Afitness has the following three innovations. (i) We utilize pulse compression to generate high-precision motion distance images on commercial devices that can be visually recognized. (ii) We propose a data augmentation algorithm, which also incorporates transfer learning to greatly reduce the pressure of data collection. (iii) We exploit incremental learning techniques that allow Afitness to improve the portability of our system and recognize new actions. Overall, Afitness achieves acoustic signal interpretability and environmental reliability detection.
Securing Network-on-chips Against Fault-injection and Crypto-analysis Attacks via Stochastic Anonymous Routing
Authors: Patooghy Ahmad , Hasanzadeh Mahdi , Sarihi Amin , Abdelrehim Mostafa , Badawy Abdel-Hameed A.
Published: April 2023

Network-on-chip (NoC) is widely used as an efficient communication architecture in multi-core and many-core System-on-chips (SoCs). However, the shared communication resources in an NoC platform, e.g., channels, buffers, and routers, might be used to conduct attacks compromising the security of NoC-based SoCs. Most of the proposed encryption-based protection methods in the literature require leaving some parts of the packet unencrypted to allow the routers to process/forward packets accordingly. This reveals the source/destination information of the packet to malicious routers, which can be exploited in various attacks. For the first time, we propose the idea of secure, anonymous routing with minimal hardware overhead to encrypt the entire packet while exchanging secure information over the network. We have designed and implemented a new NoC architecture that works with encrypted addresses. The proposed method can manage malicious and benign failures at NoC channels and buffers by bypassing failed components with a situation-driven stochastic path diversification approach. Hardware evaluations show that the proposed security solution combats the security threats at the affordable cost of 1.5% area and 20% power overheads chip-wide.
Active Learning for Name Entity Recognition with External Knowledge
Authors: Ma Ying , Zhang Yu , Sangaiah Arun Kumar , Yan Ming , Li Guoqi , Wang Tian
Published: April 2023

Named Entity Recognition (NER) is an important task in knowledge extraction, which targets extracting structural information from unstructured text. To fully employ the prior-knowledge of the pre-trained language models, some research works formulate the NER task into the machine reading comprehension form (MRC-form) to enhance their model generalization capability of commonsense knowledge. However, this transformation still faces the data-hungry issue with limited training data for the specific NER tasks. To address the low-resource issue in NER, we introduce a method named active multi-task-based NER (AMT-NER), which is a two-stage multi-task active learning training model. Specifically, A multi-task learning module is first introduced into AMT-NER to improve its representation capability in low-resource NER tasks. Then, a two-stage training strategy is proposed to optimize AMT-NER multi-task learning. An associated task of Natural Language Inference (NLI) is also employed to enhance its commonsense knowledge further. More importantly, AMT-NER introduces an active learning module, uncertainty selective, to actively filter training data to help the NER model learn efficiently. Besides, we also find different external supportive data under different pipelines improves model performance differently in the NER tasks. Extensive experiments are performed to show the superiority of our method, which also proves our findings that the introduction of external knowledge is significant and effective in the MRC-form NER tasks.
A Survey on Run-time Power Monitors at the Edge
Authors: Zoni Davide , Galimberti Andrea , Fornaciari William
Published: April 2023

Effectively managing energy and power consumption is crucial to the success of the design of any computing system, helping mitigate the efficiency obstacles given by the downsizing of the systems while also being a valuable step towards achieving green and sustainable computing. The quality of energy and power management is strongly affected by the prompt availability of reliable and accurate information regarding the power consumption for the different parts composing the target monitored system. At the same time, effective energy and power management are even more critical within the field of devices at the edge, which exponentially proliferated within the past decade with the digital revolution brought by the Internet of things. This manuscript aims to provide a comprehensive conceptual framework to classify the different approaches to implementing run-time power monitors for edge devices that appeared in literature, leading the reader toward the solutions that best fit their application needs and the requirements and constraints of their target computing platforms. Run-time power monitors at the edge are analyzed according to both the power modeling and monitoring implementation aspects, identifying specific quality metrics for both in order to create a consistent and detailed taxonomy that encompasses the vast existing literature and provides a sound reference to the interested reader.
Quantitative Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy for Materials Science: Imaging, Diffraction, Spectroscopy, and Tomography
Authors: Ophus Colin
Published: April 2023

Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) is one of the most powerful characterization tools in materials science research. Due to instrumentation developments such as highly coherent electron sources, aberration correctors, and direct electron detectors, STEM experiments can examine the structure and properties of materials at length scales of functional devices and materials down to single atoms. STEM encompasses a wide array of flexible operating modes, including imaging, diffraction, spectroscopy, and 3D tomography experiments. This review outlines many common STEM experimental methods with a focus on quantitative data analysis and simulation methods, especially those enabled by open source software. The hope is to introduce both classic and new experimental methods to materials scientists and summarize recent progress in STEM characterization. The review also discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the various STEM methodologies and briefly considers promising future directions for quantitative STEM research.
Striosomes and Matrisomes: Scaffolds for Dynamic Coupling of Volition and Action
Authors: Graybiel Ann M. , Matsushima Ayano
Published: April 2023

Striosomes form neurochemically specialized compartments of the striatum embedded in a large matrix made up of modules called matrisomes. Striosome-matrix architecture is multiplexed with the canonical direct-indirect organization of the striatum. Striosomal functions remain to be fully clarified, but key information is emerging. First, striosomes powerfully innervate nigral dopamine-containing neurons and can completely shut down their activity, with a following rebound excitation. Second, striosomes receive limbic and cognition-related corticostriatal afferents and are dynamically modulated in relation to value-based actions. Third, striosomes are spatially interspersed among matrisomes and interneurons and are influenced by local and global neuromodulatory and oscillatory activities. Fourth, striosomes tune engagement and the motivation to perform reinforcement learning, to manifest stereotypical behaviors, and to navigate valence conflicts and valence discriminations. We suggest that, at an algorithmic level, striosomes could serve as distributed scaffolds to provide formats of the striatal computations generated through development and refined through learning. We propose that striosomes affect subjective states. By transforming corticothalamic and other inputs to the functional formats of the striatum, they could implement state transitions in nigro-striato-nigral circuits to affect bodily and cognitive actions according to internal motives whose functions are compromised in neuropsychiatric conditions.
The Role of Diethanolamine on Chemical Mechanical Polishing in Alkaline Glycine-Based Slurries for Cobalt Interconnects
Authors: Zhang Lifei , Wang Tongqing , Xie Shunfan , Lu Xinchun
Published: April 2023

Cobalt (Co) and its low resistivity, superior adhesion property, and void-free seamless fill ability, pledge to transform the landscape of integrated circuits in many areas, especially in interconnects and logic contacts. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), which can realize local and global planarization, has been recognized as one of the indispensable manufacturing approaches for the fabrication of multilevel metal interconnection structures. The present work introduces diethanolamine (DEA) into our alkaline glycine-based slurries for Co CMP process. The action mechanism of DEA on Co CMP process in glycine-based slurries at pH 8.1 has been clearly revealed by various approaches, including polishing and static etching experiments, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy survey, electrochemical analysis, as well as adsorption isotherm calculation. At low concentrations, DEA could be able to accelerate the polishing process via its auxiliary complexing effect, obtaining higher removal rates and larger corrosion current densities. Some pitting corrosion could appear on Co surfaces due to the production of Co-glycine complex as well as the auxiliary complexing process, making rougher surface qualities. On the other hand, when the DEA concentration increased to a certain level, it could play a role of corrosion inhibitor, protecting Co surfaces by forming a stable passive layer and moderating material removal rates, removal selectivity, and surface roughness.
The role of mucin O-glycans in microbiota dysbiosis, intestinal homeostasis, and host-pathogen interactions
Authors: Fekete Elena , Buret Andre G.
Published: April 2023

Mucin O-linked glycans are important mediators of host-microbiota-pathogen interactions in the gastrointestinal tract. The major component of intestinal mucus, the MUC2 mucin, is densely glycosylated, with up to 80% of its weight-to-volume ratio represented by O-linked glycans. Glycosylation of secretory gel-forming mucins has an enormous impact on intestinal barrier function, microbial metabolism, and mucus colonization by both pathogenic and commensal microbes. Mucin O-glycans and glycan-derived sugars may be degraded and used as a nutrient source and may regulate microbial gene expression and virulence. Short-chain fatty acids, produced as a by-product of glycan fermentation, can regulate host immunity and goblet cell activity and are important for host-microbe homeostasis. Mucin glycans may also act as microbial binding sites, influencing intestinal colonization and translocation through the mucus gel barrier. Recent findings indicate that alterations to mucin glycosylation impact the susceptibility of mucins to degradation, resulting in altered barrier function and intestinal permeability. Alterations to mucin glycosylation patterns are frequently observed during intestinal infection and inflammation and have been implicated in microbiota dysbiosis and expansion of pathobionts. Recent work has demonstrated that these alterations can play key roles in disease pathogenesis. The precise mechanisms remain obscure. This review highlights the important roles of O-linked glycans in host-microbe interactions and disease pathogenesis in the context of intestinal infections.
Fabrication of pH-Responsive Chitosan/Polyvinylpyrrolidone Hydrogels for Controlled Release of Metronidazole and Antibacterial Properties
Authors: Feyissa Zerihun , Edossa Gemechu Deressa , Bedasa Tariku Bayisa , Inki Leta Guta
Published: April 2023

This research focused on preparing hydrogels with controlled drug release properties to control gastrointestinal tract bacterial infection. Chitosan (CS) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were used as the base polymers, with the CS component crosslinked by glutaraldehyde for hydrogel preparation using the solution casting technique. The effect of varying glutaraldehyde content in the hydrogels was characterized by the extent of swelling in simulated physiological fluids of pH 1.2, 6.8, and 7.4; the development of porosity; and gel fraction. Functional groups and covalent and hydrogen bonds formed, thermal stability, phase structure, and morphology were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the components in the hydrogels have good compatibility and formed honeycomb-like structures. In vitro studies confirmed that the hydrogels have good biodegradability at pH 7.4. Based on these properties, a CS/PVP hydrogel of the ratio of 60 : 40 crosslinked with 600 μL glutaraldehyde was selected for the in-situ loading of 200 mg of the drug metronidazole (MTZ). The hydrogel was characterized for cumulative drug release in the simulated physiological fluids and drug release kinetics using different models and for its antibacterial activity. The best-fit Korsmeyer–Peppas model suggests that MTZ release followed diffusion and swelling-controlled time-dependent non-Fickian transport related to hydrogel erosion. This hydrogel displays enhanced antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli showed substantial inhibition zones indicating the produced CS/PVP hydrogels are promising candidates for controlled drug release applications.
[Retracted] Display and Analysis of Virtual 3D Technology in Interior Design
Authors: Sen Liu , Yang Liu
Published: April 2023

People are not satisfied with the two‐dimensional technology, and three‐dimensional virtual technology gradually enters every aspect of people’s daily life: medical treatment, education, social interaction, vision, and so on. Virtual 3D technology brings a lot of convenience to people’s lives and plays a core role in indoor scene design and layout. It enables users to see their own virtual indoor furniture and vegetation layout in advance and select and modify their own needs. We put forward several characteristics of indoor furniture selection and placement, such as no space restriction, interactivity and fault tolerance, and advanced display. We construct the basic algorithm of image transformation registration detection and finally optimize the basic algorithm with three different deep learning algorithm models, and get that the convolution layer neural network algorithm is superior to the other two models not only in the selection and placement of virtual furniture but also in the layout design of virtual vegetation landscape. Finally, for image defect detection, we compare the time cost of three models, which further shows that the convolution layer combined with image transformation technology model is fast and efficient.
CP-ABE Optimization via the Flexible Integration of Access Policies Containing Multiple Shared Subpolicies
Authors: Wang Yinlong , Guo Ting , Helil Nurmamat
Published: April 2023

Ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) is a cryptographic scheme that is suitable for cloud storage and can realize secure data sharing. However, in most existing CP-ABE schemes, the encryption computational overhead is proportional to the number of attributes in the access policy. Therefore, reducing the computational overhead of the scheme’s encryption is an important consideration to improve its efficiency. Furthermore, in the scenario where the access control policies corresponding to different data shared by the same data owner have multiple shared subpolicies, there is still further optimizing space for encryption. This study proposes an optimization approach for CP-ABE via the flexible integration of access policies with multiple shared subpolicies. Regarding the root nodes of policies being both the same and different, we provide optimal policy integration methods to reduce the overall encryption computation cost of the data associated with these access policies. Under the premise of preserving the original security of the CP-ABE scheme, this scheme avoids repeated calculation related to the shared subpolicies during encryption, thus improving the scheme’s efficiency. Finally, the correctness and feasibility of the scheme are examined and verified by theoretical analysis and experiments.