bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The oral microbiota and periodontal health in orthodontic patients
Authors: Peterson Brandon W. , Tjakkes Geerten‐Has , Renkema Anne‐Marie , Manton David J. , Ren Yijin
Published: July 2024

The oral microbiota develops within the first 2 years of childhood and becomes distinct from the parents by 4 years‐of‐age. The oral microbiota plays an important role in the overall health/symbiosis of the individual. Deviations from the state of symbiosis leads to dysbiosis and an increased risk of pathogenicity. Deviations can occur not only from daily life activities but also from orthodontic interventions. Orthodontic appliances are formed from a variety of biomaterials. Once inserted, they serve as a breeding ground for microbial attachment, not only from new surface areas and crevices but also from material physicochemical interactions different than in the symbiotic state. Individuals undergoing orthodontic treatment show, compared with untreated people, qualitative and quantitative differences in activity within the oral microbiota, induced by increased retention of supra‐ and subgingival microbial plaque throughout the treatment period. These changes are at the root of the main undesirable effects, such as gingivitis, white spot lesions (WSL), and more severe caries lesions. Notably, the oral microbiota profile in the first weeks of orthodontic intervention might be a valuable indicator to predict and identify higher‐risk individuals with respect to periodontal health and caries risk within an otherwise healthy population. Antimicrobial coatings have been used to dissuade microbes from adhering to the biomaterial; however, they disrupt the host microbiota, and several bacterial strains have become resistant. Smart biomaterials that can reduce the antimicrobial load preventing microbial adhesion to orthodontic appliances have shown promising results, but their complexity has kept many solutions from reaching the clinic. 3D printing technology provides opportunities for complex chemical syntheses to be performed uniformly, reducing the cost of producing smart biomaterials giving hope that they may reach the clinic in the near future. The purpose of this review is to emphasize the importance of the oral microbiota during orthodontic therapy and to use innovative technologies to better maintain its healthy balance during surgical procedures.
A note on convergence of calibration weights to inverse probability weights
Authors: Fushiki Tadayoshi
Published: July 2024

Recently, nonresponse rates in sample surveys have been increasing. Nonresponse bias is a serious concern in the analysis of sample surveys. The calibration and propensity score methods are used to adjust nonresponse bias. The propensity score method uses the weights of the inverse probability of response. The inverse probability of response is estimated by the auxiliary variables observed in respondents and nonrespondents. The calibration method can use additional auxiliary variables observed only in respondents if the population distributions of the variables are known. The calibration method is widely used; however, the theoretical property in the nonresponse situation has not been investigated. This study provides a condition that the calibration weights asymptotically go to the inverse probability of response and clarifies the relationship between the calibration and propensity score methods.
Physical modelling of earthquake precursor by the electro‐optical parameters of gabbro rock under compressive stress
Authors: Mir Mohammad , Haghighi Babak , Taghavi Mendi Rohollah , Motie Iman
Published: July 2024

Earthquakes occur when tectonic stresses develop deep within the Earth. In the earthquake zone, the rocks are igneous, including gabbro. Gabbro rocks produce electron–hole pairs under tectonic stresses. These holes flow in the volume of gabbro rock under tectonic pressures and cause changes in electric charge and as a result, produce variable electric and magnetic fields that lead to a signal of electromagnetic waves at the place of pressure. This electromagnetic signal is received on the surface of the Earth after passing through different layers of the Earth. In this work, by applying uniaxial hydraulic pressure on the gabbro rock, a new physical model similar to an earthquake is presented, which by receiving and monitoring electromagnetic signals, can help to investigate the tectonic changes in the Earth. By utilizing the electrical and optical parameters, the intensity of the electromagnetic signal of the earthquake created on the Earth's surface is calculated.
A quantitative assay for the efficiency of RNA‐guided genome editing in plants
Authors: Bircheneder Martin , Schreiber Tom , Tissier Alain , Parniske Martin
Published: July 2024

RNA‐guided endonucleases originating from the bacterial CRISPR/Cas system are a versatile tool for targeted gene editing. To determine the functional relevance of a gene of interest, deletion of the entire open reading frame (ORF) by two independent double‐strand breaks (DSBs) is particularly attractive. This strategy greatly benefits from high editing efficiency, which is strongly influenced by the Cas endonuclease version used. We developed two reporter switch‐on assays, for quantitative comparison and optimization of Cas constructs. The assays are based on four components: (i) A reporter gene, the mRNA of which carries a hairpin (HP) loop targeted by (ii) the endoribonuclease Csy4. Cleavage of the mRNA at the HP loop by Csy4 abolishes the translation of the reporter. Csy4 was used as the target for full deletion. (iii) A Cas system targeting sites flanking the Csy4 ORF with a 20‐bp spacer either side to preferentially detect full‐deletion events. Loss of functional Csy4 would lead to reporter gene expression, allowing indirect quantification of Cas‐mediated deletion events. (iv) A reference gene for normalization. We tested these assays on Nicotiana benthamiana leaves and Lotus japonicus calli induced on hypocotyl sections, using Firefly luciferase and mCitrine as reporter genes and Renilla luciferase and hygromycin phosphotransferase II as reference genes, respectively. We observed a >90% correlation between reporter expression and full Csy4 deletion events, demonstrating the validity of these assays. The principle of using the Csy4–HP module as Cas target should be applicable to other editing goals including single DSBs in all organisms.
Unmet supportive care needs of patients with colorectal cancer based on survival stage: A scoping review
Authors: Nguyen Dan Thi , Fang Su‐Ying
Published: July 2024

Background

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has emerged as one of the most common cancers, with increasing survival rates globally. As patients with CRC experience diverse treatment effects corresponding to different survival stages, understanding their unmet needs based on the survival stage is critical to tailor supportive care with limited medical resources.

Aim

This study aimed to understand the unmet needs of patients with CRC across survival stages.

Methods

This scoping review followed the 5‐stage framework established by Arksey and O'Malley. Five online databases were searched with narrative synthesis performed after data extraction.

Results

Fifteen studies were identified for this review, with 12 focusing on the acute survival stage and three reporting on the extended survival stage. Ten studies used validated scales to assess unmet needs, with the Supportive Care Needs Survey being the most common scale. Unmet needs in patients with CRC demonstrate distinct patterns across survival stages. Most studies reported a higher prevalence of unmet needs during the extended survival stage compared to the acute survival stage. Unmet emotional needs predominate during the acute survival stage, whereas unmet physical needs become most prominent in the extended survival stage.

Linking Evidence to Action

Healthcare providers are encouraged to conduct assessments tailored to the specific survival stage, with particular emphasis on addressing unmet needs during the extended survival stage. The development of standardized scales is recommended to comprehensively assess the unmet needs of patients with CRC.
Harnessing Fly Ash as Particle Reinforcement in Nature-Inspired Multilayer Composites
Authors: Patadiya Jigar , Sreenivasan S. , Yadav Ramdayal , Naebe Minoo , Kandasubramanian Balasubramanian
Published: July 2024

Strategies for strengthening the characteristics of naturally inspired multilayer composites are being sought, including inorganic platelet alignment, enhancing interlaminar collaboration between polymeric solution and printed platelets, and optimizing soft phase materials. The former tactic is significant because a particle reinforcement can use high in-plane modulus and strength of inorganic mineral bridges and asperities as much as possible. Fly ash (FA) is an immense amount of environmental waste from thermal power plants and other industries that can be effectively employed as particle reinforcement in nature-inspired composites. Herein, the study demonstrates an anomalous phenomenon combining soft microscale organic polylactic acid (PLA) components with inorganic micrograins FA hierarchically designed by natural organisms through dual three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques (fused deposition modeling (FDM) and direct ink writing (DIW)). Our investigation of composite deformation reveals that sheet nacreous architecture exhibits the highest flexural and tensile modulus, whereas foliated (FL) structure shows better impact resistance. Remarkably, as fly ash filler increases, the mechanical behavior of composites improves as large as 882 MPa and 418 MPa, flexural and elastic modulus, respectively.
Low Swirl Effect on Compact Spray and Combustion Systems Using Additive Manufactured Dual Airblast Injectors
Authors: Kang Yeonse , Ahn Jihwan , Hampp Fabian
Published: July 2024

Novel low swirl concepts provide a promising approach to ensure stable flame anchoring over an extensive operation condition range, necessary for optimizing compact designs for liquid fuel combustors as used in hybrid aero-engine or microgas turbines (MGTs) in terms of scalability and flexibility. This study utilizes seven different additive manufactured low swirler integrated into a dual airblast injection concept to delineate the influence of high momentum swirling air jet on spray atomization and combustion performance. The developed injector is designed for vane angles from 0° to 45° for co- and counterdirection against the orientation of the liquid sheet ejected from the prefilming pressure swirl (PS) injector. The spray atomization in swirl afflicted air jet is demonstrated by phase Doppler interferometry and shadowgraphy. The combustion process is analyzed using OH∗-chemiluminescence (CL) imaging and emission measurements. The results show that a circumferential gaseous flow acting on the wall-film amplifies the radial fuel penetration and atomization. The latter produces robust spray dispersion in response to variations of operational conditions. The effect of low swirl injection on combustion process of kerosene flames leads to a noticeably more compact and intensified heat release zone. In addition, nonmonotonic decomposed mode of energy with considerable NOx reduction is observed.
Evaluation of Fractional Proportional-Integral-Derivative and Integer Proportional-Integral-Derivative Control for a Drone-Based Cable Suspended Payload System
Authors: Patel Mitesh , Enayatollahi Fatemeh , Ferguson Philip
Published: July 2024

Arctic remote sensing is crucial for studying and preserving the vulnerable Arctic environment. Researchers use ground penetrating radars (GPRs) to understand climate change and ice properties, but maneuvering a bulky GPR on the inhospitable Arctic terrain is difficult. Suspending the GPR from a drone can be a solution to operating a large GPR, however, proper control and stabilization of the drone-GPR system pose a challenge. In this paper, we contribute to the literature by analyzing the response of closed-loop feedback fractional-order and integer-order proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controllers at minimizing the payload sway for a drone-based cable-suspended payload system. Both controllers were tuned using particle swarm optimization and simulated to experience delays and external disturbances. Results indicate that both controllers had comparable time responses. The fractional-order controller was more robust to disturbances but was also sensitive to system delays. The findings of this study can be considered for future drone development.
Design and Multi-Objective Performance Optimization of a Novel Steering Technology for Heavy Goods Vehicles
Authors: Amoruso Francesco , Cebon David
Published: July 2024

A multi-objective optimization (MOO) approach is utilized to design a controller for a novel rear-steering technology named “Brake-Actuated Steering” (BAS). This system uses individually controlled brakes to generate differential longitudinal forces on each side of an axle, causing it to steer. Compared to other active rear-steering solutions utilizing path-following control, the BAS system is expected to provide comparable maneuverability performance, while offering approximately a 50% reduction in both mass and costs. Two objective criteria that define the performance and control effort of the BAS system are considered. Constraints are imposed limiting the feasible set of design variables to ensure stability of the controller, and sufficient centering capability of the steering system in emergency braking conditions. The optimization is performed for low-speed cornering of a tractor-semitrailer under various operating conditions, including low-friction surfaces, different axle loadings, and vehicle speeds. The optimization provides a set of Pareto-optimal fronts, minimizing the objectives. Simulations are used to compare the performance of a nonoptimal design for the BAS axle prototype to that of the optimized axle design. These validate the superior performance resulting from the optimization, with root mean square error of the steering angle and the energy consumed by the towing unit reduced by 48% and 21%, respectively. Model and controller validation and the performance of the system are verified by experiments on a prototype vehicle system.
Process Recipe and Functional Circuitry Performance on Aerosol Jet Printed Water-Based Silver Ink
Authors: Lall Pradeep , Bimali Sabina , Miller Scott
Published: July 2024

The demand for compact, lightweight, and stretchable printed electric circuits has increased with the advancement of flexible printing technology in electronics. The viability of environmentally friendly water-based inks with low-impact waste requires the development of process recipes for component attachment on flexible substrates. The focus of this paper is on demonstrating a comprehensive study of process parameters and component attachment on the aerosol jet printer (AJP) platform, utilizing water-based silver nanoparticle ink. The investigation covers printing parameters, including ultrasonic atomizer mass flow control (UAMFC), sheath flow control (SMFC), stage speed, multiple passes, and sintering analysis (time and temperature). The evaluation of print quality is conducted using white light interferometry (WLI) and optical microscopy images. The cross-sectional area (CSA) of printed lines is computed by integrating the bell-shaped CSA obtained from the WLI test. Electrical and mechanical properties are quantified in terms of resistivity and shear load to failure. Optimized parameters from the printing and sintering process are employed to print traces, and various components are attached using electrically conductive adhesive (ECA). The impact of sustainable ink and ECA on passive components is analyzed by comparing their performance before and after attachment. Components within an acceptable range of the rated value are in proper functioning order, contributing to the advancement of flexible and sustainable electronics. Finally, a practical differentiator circuit has been used to demonstrate the functionally working circuitry and compared the output with the simulated one.
Impact of Immersion Cooling on Thermomechanical Properties of Halogen-Free Substrate Core
Authors: Bansode Pratik , Suthar Rohit , Bhandari Rabin , Lakshminarayana Akshay , Eda Naga Tejesh , Gupta Gautam , Simon Vibin , Modi Himanshu , Nair Vivek , Shahi Pardeep , Saini Satyam , Sivaraju Krishna Bhavana , Agonafer Dereje
Published: July 2024

The data center's server power density and heat generation have increased exponentially because of the recent, unparalleled rise in the processing and storing of massive amounts of data on a regular basis. One-third of the overall energy used in conventional air-cooled data centers is directed toward cooling information technology equipment (ITE). The traditional air-cooled data centers must have low air supply temperatures and high air flow rates to support high-performance servers, rendering air cooling inefficient and compelling data center operators to use alternative cooling technology. Due to the direct interaction of dielectric fluids with all the components in the server, single-phase liquid immersion cooling addresses mentioned problems by offering a significantly greater thermal mass and a high percentage of heat dissipation. Single-phase liquid immersion cooling is a viable option for hyperscale, edge, and modular data center applications because, unlike direct-to-chip liquid cooling, it does not call for a complex liquid distribution system configuration and the dielectric liquid can make direct contact with all server components. Immersion cooling is superior to conventional air-cooling technology in terms of thermal energy management; however, there have been very few studies on the reliability of such cooling technology. A detailed assessment of the material compatibility of different electronic packaging materials for immersion cooling was required to comprehend their failure modes and reliability. For the mechanical design of electronics, the modulus and glass transition temperature (Tg) are essential material characteristics. The substrate is a crucial element of an electronic package that has a significant impact on the reliability and failure mechanisms of electronics at both the package and the board level. As per Open Compute Project (OCP) design guidelines for immersion-cooled IT equipment, the traditional material compatibility tests from standards like ASTM 3455 can be used with certain appropriate adjustments. The primary focus of this research is to address two challenges: The first part is to understand the impact of thermal aging on the thermomechanical properties of the halogen-free substrate core in the single-phase immersion cooling. Another goal of the study is to comprehend how thermal aging affects the thermomechanical characteristics of the substrate core in the air. In this research, the substrate core is aged in synthetic hydrocarbon fluid (EC110), polyalphaolefin 6 (PAO 6), and ambient air for 720 h each at two different temperatures: 85 °C and 125 °C, and the complex modulus and the glass transition temperature before and after aging are calculated and compared.
Electroacupuncture for lower urinary tract symptoms in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Zhu Lili , Yan Yan , Yu Jinna , Liu Yan , Sun Yuanjie , Chen Yu , Fang Jiufei , Liu Zhishun
Published: July 2024

Introduction

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a condition commonly seen among men aged over 40, significantly affecting their quality of life and typically accompanied by lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Acupuncture presents a potentially effective treatment option; however, the exact effects remain uncertain. Therefore, we design this multicentre randomised trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) for relieving LUTS in men with BPH.

Methods and analysis

A two-arm, sham-controlled, subject-blinded and assessor-blinded trial will be conducted in 11 hospitals in China to compare EA with sham electroacupuncture (SA) in treating moderate to severe LUTS of BPH among men aged 40–80. A total of 306 eligible male patients will be recruited and assigned at a 1:1 ratio to receive either EA or SA for 24 sessions over a succession of 8 weeks, with 24 weeks of follow-up. The primary outcome will be the proportions of participants with at least 30% reduction in the International Prostate Symptom Score total score from baseline at weeks 8 and 20. All statistical analyses will be conducted in accordance with the intention-to-treat principle, and a two-tailed p value less than 0.05 will be considered statistically significant.

Ethics and dissemination

The trial has been approved by the institutional review board of Guang’anmen Hospital (2022-203-KY), as well as other recruitment centres. Each participant will receive the detailed information of the trial, and sign the written informed consent. The results of the trial are expected to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Trial registration number

NCT05585450.
Slow walking speed and health-related exit from employment among older workers over 5 years of follow-up: evidence from the Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) cohort study
Authors: Syddall Holly E , Ntani G , Bevilacqua Gregorio , Zaballa Elena , D'Angelo Stefania , Walker-Bone Karen
Published: July 2024

Introduction

With demographic changes, there is increasing demand for individuals and governments to lengthen working lives. Jobs that are very physically demanding are likely to be more difficult to sustain at older ages. If workers at risk of mismatch of demand and capability could be identified early, there would be opportunities for intervention for health or lifestyle and/or re-training or redeployment.

Objective

To investigate whether self-reported walking speed (a good measure of function in elderly people) predicted health-related job loss (HRJL) longitudinally over 5 years of follow-up among middle-aged workers.

Design

Data came from the Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) prospective cohort study of middle-aged people (aged 50–64 years) in UK.

Setting

General population survey (sampling frame was 24 General Practice registers).

Participants

The cohort included 8134 people recruited in 2013–2014. For the current analyses, 5217 people who ever worked and completed at least one follow-up questionnaire were eligible.

Primary outcome

Exit from employment mainly or partly for health reasons (HRJL).

Results

At baseline, very slow walking speed was associated with: obesity, physical inactivity, smoking (men), financial hardship, lower educational attainment and not being in professional occupations. In total, 527 people (10%) reported at least one HRJL during follow-up. After adjustment, the HR for HRJL among men with very slow walking-speed was 4.32, 95% CI 2.72 to 6.87 and among women was 4.47, 95% CI 3.04 to 6.57. After further adjustment for ‘difficulty coping with physical demands at work’, hazards remained doubled in men and women.

Conclusions

Self-reported walking speed could help identify older workers who are at increased risk of HRJL. This could provide opportunities for intervention through optimising health and lifestyle, restricting physical workload, retraining or redeployment. Early appropriate intervention could enable longer working lives and promote healthier, more equal ageing.
Effectiveness of an institution-based adapted physical activity programme versus a home-based self-management programme for chronic poststroke adults: protocol for a randomised controlled study
Authors: Satger Etienne , Prieur-Blanc Nicolas , Viton Jean-Michel , Auquier Pascal , Bensoussan Laurent , Cotinat Maëva
Published: July 2024

Introduction

Physical activity (PA) protects the cardiovascular system and reduces the risk of stroke recurrence. However, most stroke survivors have significantly lower daily PA levels than those recommended. Adapted PA programmes provide a useful means of increasing the daily PA levels of this population. PA programmes designed to encourage people walking have been found to be more effective than no intervention. Some programmes have been applied in institutional settings while others are done on an independent basis. The aim of this study will be to compare the two methods in terms of their impact on the daily walking rates of subjects with spastic hemiparesis following a chronic stroke. Secondary outcomes will include effects on walking ability, endurance, balance, quality of life and motivation for exercise.

Methods and analysis

This French single-centre randomised (1:1), controlled, two-arm, parallel, single-blind study will include 40 adults with chronic stroke spastic hemiparesis who are able to walk for 6 min. The primary outcome will be the participants’ daily activity measured via the number of steps performed per day using a Stepwatch device. We expect to establish that the institution-based programme will be more effective than a self-managed programme as a means of increasing the PA of chronic stroke subjects.

Ethics and dissemination

The protocol was approved by an independent National Ethics Committee (Comité de Protection des personnes Est IV). Participants will be asked to provide their signed informed consent prior to the study. The results will be disseminated via publications in the scientific literature, oral and poster presentations by partners at international scientific meetings and associations of patients.

Trial registration

NCT06061770.
Dispelling the $$\sqrt{\mathcal {L}} $$ myth for the High-Luminosity LHC
Authors: Belvedere Alberto , Englert Christoph , Kogler Roman , Spannowsky Michael
Published: July 2024

Extrapolations of sensitivity to new interactions and standard model parameters critically inform the programme at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and potential future collider cases. To this end, statistical considerations based on inclusive quantities and established analysis strategies typically give rise to a sensitivity scaling with the square root of the luminosity, $$\sqrt{\mathcal {L}}$$

L

. This suggests only a mild sensitivity improvement for LHC’s high-luminosity phase, compared to the collected data up to the year 2025. We discuss representative analyses in top quark, Higgs boson and electroweak gauge boson phenomenology and provide clear evidence that the assumption that the sensitivity in searches and measurement scales only with $$\sqrt{\mathcal {L}}$$

L

at the High-Luminosity LHC is overly conservative at best, and unrealistic in practice. As kinematic coverage enables more targeted search strategies with sufficient statistical sensitivity, employing a multitude of features in data dispels the scaling based on more inclusive selections.
Holographic Einstein rings of a black hole with a global monopole
Authors: Zeng Xiao-Xiong , Li Li-Fang , Xu Peng
Published: July 2024

The global monopole solutions which give rise to quite unusual physical phenomena have captured considerable attention. In this paper, we study the Einstein ring of the spherically symmetric AdS black hole solution with a global monopole based on the AdS/CFT correspondence. With the help of the given response function of the QFT on the boundary, we construct the holographic images of the black hole in the bulk. Our results exhibit the absolute amplitude of total response function $$|\langle \mathcal {O}\rangle |$$

|
⟨
O
⟩
|

increases with the decrease of the monopole parameter b and the temperature T. And the frequency $$\omega $$
ω
of the Gaussian source will also increase the absolute amplitude. These parameters also affects the Einstein ring. With the change of the observation position, this ring will change from the concentric stripe to a luminosity-deformed ring, or light points. And the monopole parameter has an effect on the brightness and the position of Einstein ring. All these results imply that the holographic images can be used as an effective tool to distinguish different types of black holes for fixed wave source and optical system. These theoretical proposal opens a door to gravitational phenomena on strongly correlated material. Therefore, the holographic Einstein ring is of great theoretical and experimental significance for our research. In theory, it provides us a new way to find a necessary condition for the existence of the dual black hole. And experimentally speaking, if we can realize suitable targets for observing AdS black holes successfully, we would be able to observe Einstein rings by tabletop experiments when we apply localized sources on such materials and measure their responses.
Abnormal Probability Distribution in a Single-Degree-of-Freedom Smooth System with Velocity-Dependent Stiffness
Authors: Chen Shengli , Wu Zhiqiang
Published: July 2024

In general, dynamic systems of higher dimensions or with more complex nonlinearities exhibit more intricate behaviors. Conversely, it is worthwhile to discuss whether a complex phenomenon persists in simpler systems. This paper investigates a single-degree-of-freedom vibration system with a velocity-dependent stiffness affected by additive noise. Although the underlying deterministic system possesses only one stable equilibrium point, under noise actions, it has the potential for a stochastic P-bifurcation to occur. This bifurcation causes the central peak of the joint probability density function to split into two symmetric peaks. At this stage, the behavior of the system resembles the development of two phantom attractors that deviate from the equilibrium point, causing the system’s random states to linger around them for extended periods. The effects of the damping ratio and noise intensity on the phantom attractors are discussed, together with the critical parameter curve associated with the onset of phantom attractors. Moreover, the generation mechanism of phantom attractors is disclosed by investigating the phase trajectories of the underlying conservative system. The distribution law of those critical parameter values is also proven by the stochastic averaging method, which is associated with the most probable amplitude. This study highlights that phantom attractors can manifest in dynamic systems even in the absence of Hopf bifurcation.
Periodic Orbit-Dividing Surfaces in Rotating Hamiltonian Systems with Two Degrees of Freedom
Authors: Katsanikas Matthaios , Wiggins Stephen
Published: July 2024

In this paper, we extend the notion of periodic orbit-dividing surfaces (PODS) to rotating Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom. First, we present a method that enables us to apply the classical algorithm for the construction of PODS [ Pechukas & McLafferty ,  1973 ;  Pechukas ,  1981 ;  Pollak & Pechukas ,  1978 ;  Pollak ,  1985 ] in rotating Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom. Then we study the structure of these surfaces in a rotating quadratic normal-form Hamiltonian system with two degrees of freedom.
VeriBin: A Malware Authorship Verification Approach for APT Tracking through Explainable and Functionality-Debiasing Adversarial Representation Learning
Authors: Ou Weihan , Ding Steven , Zulkernine Mohammad , Li Li Tao , Labrosse Sarah
Published: July 2024

Malware attacks are posing a significant threat to national security, cooperate network, and public endpoint security. Identifying the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups behind the attacks and grouping their activities into attack campaigns help security investigators trace their activities thus providing better security protections against future attacks. Existing Cyber Threat Intelligent (CTI) components mainly focus on malware family identification and behavior characterization, which cannot solve the APT tracking problem: while APT tracking needs one to link malware binaries of multiple families to a single threat actor, these behavior or function-based techniques are tightened up to a specific attack technique and would fail on connecting different families. Binary Authorship Attribution (AA) solutions could discriminate against threat actors based on their stylometric traits. However, AA solutions assume that the author of a binary is within a fixed candidate author set. However, real-world malware binaries may be created by a new unknown threat actor.

To address this research gap, we propose VeriBin for the Binary Authorship Verification (BAV) problem. VeriBin is a novel adversarial neural network that extracts functionality-agnostic style representations from assembly code for the AV task. The extracted style representations can be visualized and are explainable with VeriBin’s multi-head attention mechanism. We benchmark VeriBin with state-of-the-art coding style representations on a standard dataset and a recent malware-APT dataset. Given two anonymous binaries of out-of-sample authors, VeriBin can accurately determine whether they belong to the same author or not. VeriBin is resilient to compiler optimizations and robust against malware family variants.
Few-Shot Face Sketch-to-Photo Synthesis via Global-Local Asymmetric Image-to-Image Translation
Authors: Li Yongkang , Liang Qifan , Han Zhen , Mai Wenjun , Wang Zhongyuan
Published: July 2024

Face sketch-to-photo synthesis is widely used in law enforcement and digital entertainment, which can be achieved by
Image-to-Image (I2I)
translation. Traditional I2I translation algorithms usually regard the bidirectional translation of two image domains as two symmetric processes, so the two translation networks adopt the same structure. However, due to the scarcity of face sketches and the abundance of face photos, the sketch-to-photo and photo-to-sketch processes are asymmetric. Considering this issue, we propose a few-shot face sketch-to-photo synthesis model based on asymmetric I2I translation, where the sketch-to-photo process uses a feature-embedded generating network, while the photo-to-sketch process uses a style transfer network. On this basis, a three-stage asymmetric training strategy with style transfer as the trigger is proposed to optimize the proposed model by utilizing the advantage that the style transfer network only needs few-shot face sketches for training. Additionally, we discover that stylistic differences between the global and local sketch faces lead to inconsistencies between the global and local sketch-to-photo processes. Thus, a dual branch of the global face and local face is adopted in the sketch-to-photo synthesis model to learn the specific transformation processes for global structure and local details. Finally, the high-quality synthetic face photo can be generated through the global-local face fusion sub-network. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed
Global-Local Asymmetric (GLAS)
I2I translation algorithm compared to SOTA methods, at least improves FSIM by 0.0126, and reduces LPIPS (alex), LPIPS (squeeze), and LPIPS (vgg) by 0.0610, 0.0883, and 0.0719, respectively.
Modeling the Diffusion of Fake and Real News through the Lens of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory
Authors: Joy Abishai , Pathak Royal , Shrestha Anu , Spezzano Francesca , Winiecki Donald
Published: July 2024

These days, people have increasingly used social media as a go-to resource for any information need and daily news diet. In the past decade, the news ecosystem and information flow have been dramatically transformed by the popularity of such platforms. Social media users can, in fact, easily access nearly any kind of information and then spread it nearly without friction through activities such as tweets/retweets in Twitter (now X) and similar means on other social media. This seemingly innocuous activity of spreading information has a collective consequence of making social media users responsible for radical changes in the way news is distributed, including both authentic and fake news. Moreover, malicious individuals have been implicated in capitalizing on the ease of introducing and spreading information in these platforms to create misinformation, spread it to a wider audience, and subsequently influence public opinion on important topics through information diffusion. Therefore, understanding the factors that motivate a user’s decision to share is of paramount importance in understanding the information diffusion phenomenon in social media.

In this article, we propose an approach based on the Diffusion of Innovation theory to model, characterize, and compare real and fake news sharing in social media with a focus on different levels of influencing factors including innovation, communication channels, and social system. We apply that approach to identify factors related to the spread of fake news as they relate to users, the structure of news items themselves, and the networks through which news is circulated. We address the problem of predicting real and fake news sharing as a classification task and demonstrate the potentials of the proposed features by achieving an AUROC of around 0.97 and an average precision ranging from 0.88 to 0.95, consistently outperforming baseline models with a higher margin (at least 13% of average precision). In addition, we also found out that empirically identifiable characteristics of news items themselves and users who share news are the strongest element allowing accurate prediction of real and fake news sharing, followed by network-based features. Moreover, our proposed approach can be effectively used to model news diffusion as a multi-step propagation process.
Dual Contrastive Learning for Cross-Domain Named Entity Recognition
Authors: Xu Jingyun , Yu Junnan , Cai Yi , Chua Tat-Seng
Published: July 2024

Benefiting many information retrieval applications, named entity recognition (NER) has shown impressive progress. Recently, there has been a growing trend to decompose complex NER tasks into two subtasks (e.g., entity span detection (ESD) and entity type classification (ETC), to achieve better performance. Despite the remarkable success, from the perspective of representation, existing methods do not explicitly distinguish non-entities and entities, which may lead to ESD errors. Meanwhile, they do not explicitly distinguish entities with different entity types, which may lead to entity type misclassification. As such, the limited representation abilities may challenge some competitive NER methods, leading to unsatisfactory performance, especially in the low-resource setting (e.g., cross-domain NER). In light of these challenges, we propose to utilize contrastive learning to refine the original chaotic representations and learn the generalized representations for cross-domain NER. In particular, this article proposes a dual contrastive learning model (Dual-CL), which respectively utilizes a token-level contrastive learning module and a sentence-level contrastive learning module to enhance ESD, ETC for cross-domain NER. Empirical results on 10 domain pairs under two different settings show that Dual-CL achieves better performances than compared baselines in terms of several standard metrics. Moreover, we conduct detailed analyses to are presented to better understand each component’s effectiveness.
Multivocal Exhibition: Exploring Cultural Perspectives through User-Curated Art Exhibitions
Authors: Sartini Bruno , Alam Shoilee Sarah Binta , Libbi Claudia A. , de Boer Victor
Published: July 2024

Recently, cultural institutions have seen a rise in citizen curation projects, where people actively engage in curating and interpreting cultural artifacts. Citizen curation involves using collective knowledge and shared interests to create rich narratives around heritage items. This approach values the diverse perspectives individuals bring to preserving and representing culture. In this work, we investigate the potential of citizen curation applied to the subjective and culturally bound topic of symbolism. To do so, we present a pilot study on the development and user testing of the multivocal exhibition application. This application allows users to curate their art exhibitions by picking one theme and three cultural contexts that spark their interest. The app then selects artworks and symbolic data from HyperReal (cultural symbolism knowledge graph), Wikidata, and the National Museum of World Cultures (NMVW) to create a 3D environment featuring three artworks that symbolically convey the chosen theme from the perspective of the selected cultural contexts. The purpose of this app is to foster an open dialogue about the uniqueness and similarities of cultures, and promote inclusivity and cultural awareness, by showing how artifacts and what they depict can be interpreted in different cultural contexts, according to their symbology. Multivocal exhibition was tested by 12 users divided into 6 groups. The evaluation is based on the interaction between the users and the application, the analysis of the dialogues that were prompted utilizing the app, and an interview after trying two scenarios. Our results show how serendipity and surprise emerge as central themes in the cross-cultural experiences of the users. These elements play an indispensable role in cultivating engagement through symbolism, enriching users’ comprehension of diverse cultures, and heightening overall engagement. Moreover, the cognitive gap intentionally created by the app—triggering questions about why specific symbols convey particular meanings within certain contexts—proves to be a potent stimulus for user curiosity and engagement. We report additional findings, lessons learned and future work at the end of the article.
Effect of Temperature on the Corrosion Behavior of a Al2Cr5Cu5Fe53Ni35 Multi-Principal Element Alloy (MPEA) in Simulated Soil Environments
Authors: Narayanan Deeparekha , Esmacher Olivia , Xue Lufeng , Paredes Marcelo , Castaneda Homero
Published: July 2024

The effect of varying temperatures (15, 35, and 45 °C) on the corrosion behavior of a new single-phase distorted face-centered cubic (fcc) Al2Cr5Cu5Fe53Ni35 multi-principal element alloy (MPEA) was studied in simulated soil environments (NS4 solution). X-ray diffraction and electron backscattered diffraction were used to confirm the presence of a single phase throughout the microstructure. Electrochemical tests such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and linear polarization resistance were performed to evaluate the interfacial behavior and corrosion rate at various test conditions. Additionally, cyclic potentiodynamic polarization (CPP) tests were also carried out at the selected temperatures to study the pitting behavior of the MPEA. Surface characterization techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to identify the nature of the passive film formed in such complex materials as well as study the pitting characteristics after CPP testing. A stable passive film was found to be present all tested temperatures with the absence of preferential sites for pitting due to homogenous element distribution.
Frequency‐Constrained Expansion Planning in Competitive Market considering Renewable Failures
Authors: Gorjipour Hamid , Najafi Mojtaba , Moaddabi Pirkolahchahi Naghi
Published: July 2024

In modern generation expansion planning of power systems, installing grid‐connected renewable energy systems is preferred than thermal units due to their low generation cost and environmental pollution. However, the expanded power system must have ability to resist against any outages influenced on the frequency response of the system. So, several frequency‐constrained expansion planning models are extracted to provide a reliable infrastructure to manage the frequency behavior. The main distinction of our model with others is considering the failure of grid‐connected renewables in the expansion planning models. Furthermore, due to the lack of information about the uncertainty of malfunctions, a distributionally robust optimization approach is applied to the problem under several ambiguity radiuses. The results of implementing the proposed method on the IEEE RTS96 case show that increasing the penetration of malfunctioned units can lead to more investment on the thermal units to prevent frequency violation under any outage in the system. With increase of the Kullback–Leibler divergence from zero (stochastic) to 3 (robust), the cost of the robust model is increased about 0.02%. The model is designed for the deregulated market to increase the competition of market through maximizing their benefit and line congestion management with local marginal pricing techniques.
ANFIS‐Controlled Boost and Bidirectional Buck‐Boost DC‐DC Converters for Solar PV, Fuel Cell, and BESS‐Based Microgrid Application
Authors: Aeggegn Dessalegn Bitew , Nyakoe George Nyauma , Wekesa Cyrus
Published: July 2024

DC‐DC converters are essential for integrating distributed energy resources into microgrid (MG) systems. These converters are designed to incorporate intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, fuel cells (FCs), and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) into the grid. However, conventional DC‐DC converters have limitations including lower efficiency, voltage ripple, insufficient voltage regulation, and compatibility issues. This article presents boost and bidirectional buck‐boost converters for direct current microgrid (DCMG) applications, employing an adaptive neuro‐fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for control. These proposed converter configurations adeptly manage wide input voltage fluctuations from intermittent sources, consistently supplying power to the DC bus at 500 V and 120 V for boost and buck operations, respectively, with an efficiency of 98.8%. The output voltage result shows that the ANFIS‐based boost converter has 10% overshoot as compared to 41% and 50% overshoot in proportional integral (PI) and fuzzy logic controller (FLC), respectively. In both buck and boost modes, the converters’ voltage gain is influenced by duty ratio adjustments only, not sensitive to dynamic input voltage and flexible manipulation of the output voltage for BESS charging. Moreover, the designed converters accommodate load variations within the MG. To assess the converters’ ability to regulate output voltage effectively, PI, FLC, and ANFIS controllers are implemented and compared. And the ANFIS controller demonstrates superior performance, offering faster response times and enhanced stability. Evaluations are conducted through simulations in the MATLAB/Simulink environment.
Application and Prognostic Analysis of Vacuum Sealing Drainage in the Incision Infection in Patients With Stage II-III Colorectal Cancer
Authors: Lin Bao , Zhang Hongjian , Sun Shijie , Lin Changqing , Chi Yuanlong
Published: July 2024

Introduction

This study aims to explore the application value of vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) technology in the treatment of incision infection dehiscence after surgery in patients with stage II-III colorectal cancer and analyze its impact on prognosis.

Methods

This retrospective study included patients who experienced incision infection dehiscence after surgery for colorectal cancer between February 2014 and August 2019. Clinical and pathological data, short-term outcomes, and long-term outcomes were compared between the traditional group and the VSD group.

Results

A total of 97 patients were included in this study. There was no significant difference in clinical and pathological data between the traditional group and the VSD group ( P > 0.05). The VSD group had fewer dressing changes, lower pain scores during dressing changes, and better granulation tissue growth grading than the traditional group, with statistical significance ( P < 0.05). The VSD group started adjuvant chemotherapy earlier and had a higher proportion of ≥4 cycles of chemotherapy. The three-year overall survival rate in the VSD group was better than the traditional group, but the difference was not statistically significant ( P > 0.05).

Conclusion

The application of VSD technology can promote granulation tissue growth, accelerate incision healing, and facilitate patients to complete subsequent adjuvant chemotherapy. However, further verification of its long-term impact on prognosis requires longer-term follow-up results.