bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Worldwide expert recommendations for the diagnosis and management of vitiligo: Position statement from the international Vitiligo Task Force—Part 2: Specific treatment recommendations
Authors: Seneschal Julien , Speeckaert Reinhart , Taïeb Alain , Wolkerstorfer Albert , Passeron Thierry , Pandya Amit G. , Lim Henry W. , Ezzedine Khaled , Zhou Youwen , Xiang Flora , Thng Steven , Tanemura Atsushi , Suzuki Tamio , Rosmarin David , Rodrigues Michelle , Raboobee Noufal , Pliszewski Georg , Parsad Davinder , Oiso Naoki , Monteiro Paul , Meurant Jean Marie , Maquignon Nicolle , Lui Harvey , Le Poole Caroline , Leone Giovanni , Lee Ai‐Young , Lan Eric , Katayama Ichiro , Huggins Richard , Oh Sang Ho , Harris John E. , Hamzavi Iltefat H. , Gupta Somesh , Grimes Pearl , Goh Boon Kee , Ghia Deepti , Esmat Samia , Eleftheriadou Viktoria , Böhm Markus , Benzekri Laila , Bekkenk Marcel , Bae Jung Min , Alomar Augustin , Abdallah Marwa , Picardo Mauro , van Geel Nanja
Published: September 2023

Background

The treatment of vitiligo can be challenging. Up‐to‐date agreed consensus recommendations on the use of topical and systemic therapies to facilitate the clinical management of vitiligo are currently lacking.

Objectives

To develop internationally agreed‐upon expert‐based recommendations for the treatment of vitiligo.

Methods

In this consensus statement, a consortium of 42 international vitiligo experts and four patient representatives participated in different online and live meetings to develop a consensus management strategy for vitiligo. At least two vitiligo experts summarized the evidence for different topics included in the algorithms. A survey was then given to a core group of eight experts to resolve the remaining issues. Subsequently, the recommendations were finalized and validated based on further input from the entire group during two live meetings.

Results

The recommendations provided summarize the latest evidence regarding the use of topical therapies (steroids, calcineurin inhibitors and Jak‐inhibitors) and systemic therapies, including steroids and other systemic immunomodulating or antioxidant agents. The different modalities of phototherapies (NB‐UVB, photochemotherapy, excimer devices and home phototherapy), which are often combined with other therapies, are also summarized. Interventional approaches as well as depigmentation strategies are presented for specific indications. Finally, the status of innovative and targeted therapies under development is discussed.

Conclusions

This international consensus statement culminated in expert‐based clinical practice recommendations for the treatment of vitiligo. The development of new therapies is ongoing in vitiligo, and this will likely improve the future management of vitiligo, a disease that still has many unmet needs.
Sexual minority youth in romantic relationships: Associations with youth well‐being
Authors: McCurdy Amy L. , Renley Benton M. , Lavner Justin A. , Meslay Gaëlle , Watson Ryan J. , Russell Stephen T.
Published: September 2023

This study investigated differences in depressive symptoms, loneliness, and self‐esteem for monosexual (lesbian, gay) and plurisexual (bisexual, pansexual, queer) sexual minority youth (SMY) by relationship status (single, partnered) and relationship configuration (same‐gender partner, different‐gender partner). Participants included 338 SMY (Mage = 19.10 years) who reported on their relationship status, partner's gender identity, well‐being, and ability to confide in partner about LGBTQ issues. Results indicated that for plurisexual youth, single status was associated with greater loneliness; plurisexual youth with same‐gender partners reported fewer depressive symptoms and marginally greater ability to confide in their partner about LGBTQ issues than those with different‐gender partners. Findings reveal similarities across SMY while also highlighting some unique challenges among plurisexual youth with different‐gender partners.
How does medical insurance contribution affect corporate value? Evidence from China
Authors: Li Xuchao , Lu Jiankun , Wang Jian , Wang Jiyuan
Published: September 2023

Using medical insurance (MI) to shift employees' health risks outside is an important risk management tool for modern firms. Existing studies usually treat firms' contributions to employees' MI only as a labor cost. However, contributing to MI also has indirect benefits, such as improved labor productivity and R&D innovation, which consequently increase corporate value. This paper studies the impact of firms' MI contributions for employees on corporate value, using social insurance collection system reform in China as a natural experiment. Results show that, first, the reform increases firms' contributions to employees' MI funds. Second, the increase has a positive impact on firms' market‐to‐book ratio. These effects can be explained by enhanced labor productivity, firm efficiency, and innovation. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the effects are more pronounced for firms in high R&D industries, areas with high pollution, or areas with better medical and labor supplies.
Saint‐Pierre‐le‐Viger (L5‐6) from asteroid 2023 CX1recovered in the Normandy, France—220 years after the historic fall of L'Aigle (L6 breccia) in the neighborhood
Authors: Bischoff Addi , Patzek Markus , Di Rocco Tommaso , Pack Andreas , Stojic Aleksandra , Berndt Jasper , Peters Stefan
Published: September 2023

On February 13, 2023, a huge fireball was visible over Western Europe (fireball event 2023 CX1). After the possible strewn field was calculated, the first of several recovered samples, with a mass of about 100 g, was discovered just 2 days after the fireball event on the ground of the village of Saint‐Pierre‐le‐Viger. Meanwhile, more than 60 samples with a total mass of more than 1 kg were recovered and a piece of one of these is studied here. The fall occurred 220 years after the historic meteorite fall of L'Aigle on April 26, 1803, <120 km south. L'Aigle is the closest meteorite fall to Saint‐Pierre‐le‐Viger and belongs to the same chondrite group. Both meteorites are breccias containing only clasts of high metamorphic degree (type 5 and type 6). Since only 20% of the L chondrites are breccias this coincidence is remarkable. As just mentioned, both samples studied from these rocks in this work are ordinary chondrite breccias and consist of equilibrated and recrystallized lithologies of petrologic type 6. The brecciated texture in L'Aigle, resulting in a remarkable light–dark structure, is more pronounced than the brecciated features in Saint‐Pierre‐le‐Viger, from which also type 5 fragments have been reported. The compositions of low‐Ca pyroxene and olivine grains in Saint‐Pierre‐le‐Viger (Fs21.2and Fa23.4, respectively) clearly require an L‐group classification. L'Aigle was classified as an L6 breccia in the past, and this has now been confirmed by new data on low‐Ca pyroxene and olivine (Fs20.7and Fa23.8, respectively). Saint‐Pierre‐le‐Viger contains local thin shock veins, and both meteorites are moderately shocked. Most olivines in the studied samples have planar fractures, but the estimated abundance of mosaicized olivines of 30%–40% among the large grains require a S4 shock classification. Oxygen isotope and bulk chemical data of Saint‐Pierre‐le‐Viger certainly support the L chondrite classification. Bulk spectral data of Saint‐Pierre‐le‐Viger are dominated by silicate minerals, that is, Fe‐bearing low‐Ca pyroxene, olivine, and plagioclase. Isotopic, chemical, and spectral data of the L'Aigle meteorite are shown for comparison and are very similar, providing additional circumstantial evidence of Saint‐Pierre‐le‐Viger's L chondritic nature.
Light and temperature regulation of leaf morphogenesis in Arabidopsis
Authors: Legris Martina
Published: September 2023

Leaves are the main photosynthetic organs in plants, and their anatomy is optimized for light interception and gas exchange. Although each species has a characteristic leaf anatomy, which depends on the genotype, leaves also show a large degree of developmental plasticity. Light and temperature regulate leaf development from primordia differentiation to late stages of blade expansion. While the molecular mechanisms of light and temperature signaling have been mostly studied in seedlings, in the latest years, research has focused on leaf development. Here, I will describe the latest work carried out in the environmental regulation of Arabidopsis leaf development, comparing signaling mechanisms between leaves and seedlings, highlighting the new discoveries, and pointing out the most exciting open questions.
Changes in wax composition but not amount enhance cuticular transpiration
Authors: Grünhofer Paul , Herzig Lena , Zhang Qihui , Vitt Simon , Stöcker Tyll , Malkowsky Yaron , Brügmann Tobias , Fladung Matthias , Schreiber Lukas
Published: September 2023

This study focuses on the role of the qualitative leaf wax composition in modulating the cuticular water loss using a Populus × canescens cer6 mutant line, which accumulates C34–C46 wax ester dimers and is reduced in wax monomers >C24. The two literature‐based hypotheses to be tested were the importance of the amount of wax esters and the weighted mean carbon chain length in restricting cuticular water loss. The main results were acquired by chemical analysis of cuticular wax and gravimetric cuticular transpiration measurements. Besides additional physiological measurements, the leaf surface properties were characterised by scanning electron microscopy and spectrophotometric light reflectance quantification. Mutation of the CER6 gene resulted in striking changes in qualitative wax composition but not quantitative wax amount. Based on the strong accumulation of dimeric wax esters, the relative proportion of esters increased to >90%, and the weighted mean carbon chain length increased by >6 carbon atoms. These qualitative alterations were found to increase the cuticular transpiration of leaves by twofold. Our results do not support the hypotheses that enhanced amounts of wax esters or increased weighted mean carbon chain lengths of waxes lead to reduced cuticular transpiration.
Advice as a model for reasons
Authors: Sneddon Andrew
Published: September 2023

Smith (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 55, 1995, 109) and Manne (Philosophical Studies, 167, 2014, 89), both following Williams (Making sense of humanity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995), have developed advice‐based models of practical reasons. However, advice is not an apt model for reasons. The case for such pessimism is made by examining the positions of Smith and Manne first as attempts to explain the nature of reasons, then as suggestions for reforming our conception of reasons for action. The explanatory projects fail: both views either omit or distort ordinary reasons. The reforming project fails because insufficient reason is provided for thinking that the significant extent of revision offered by these models is worth it. Overall, the advice‐based approach to understanding reasons fails because advising is a social practice to aid with decisions, whereas reasons are considerations that favour action regardless of whether these considerations are inputs to or outputs from such a practice.
Christian epistemology. How faith can shape and promote rationality
Authors: Di Ceglie Roberto
Published: September 2023

Can epistemology be shaped by the Christian faith? Is there anything specific to this faith that can give rise to an equally specific epistemology without compromising the autonomy that the latter requires from faith? In the footsteps of Aquinas's religious epistemology, I first focus on the fact that Christian faith seems to characterize intellectual activity in a way that appears to be irreconcilable with epistemological perspectives that are not shaped by faith. Second, I argue that it is possible to do justice to the irreconcilability in question by making reference to what radically distinguishes the Christian faith from the epistemological reflection. Finally, I focus on two ways in which the specific nature of Christian faith can shape and promote rationality, and give rise to a Christian epistemology.
Realizing a blockchain solution without blockchain? Blockchain, solutionism, and trust
Authors: Meyers Gert , Keymolen Esther
Published: September 2023

Blockchain is employed as a technology holding a solutionist promise, while at the same time, it is hard for the promissory blockchain applications to become realized. Not only is the blockchain protocol itself not foolproof, but when we move from “blockchain in general” to “blockchain in particular,” we see that new governance structures and ways of collaborating need to be developed to make blockchain applicationswork/becomereal. The qualities ascribed to (blockchain) technologyin abstractoare not to be taken for granted in blockchain applicationsin concreto. The problem of trust, therefore, does not become redundant simply through the employment of “trustless” blockchain technology. Rather, on different levels, new trust relations have to be constituted. In this article, we argue that blockchain is aproductiveforce, even if it does not solve the problem of trust, and sometimes regardless of blockchain technology not implemented after all. The values that underpin this seemingly “trustless technology” such ascontrol,efficiency, andprivacyand the story that is told about these values co‐shape the actions of stakeholders and, to a certain extent, pre‐sort the path of application development. We will illustrate this by presenting a case study on theRed Button(De Rode Knop), a Dutch pilot to develop a blockchain‐based solution that enables people who are in debt to communicate to their creditors that they are, together with the municipality, working on improving their situation, thereby requesting a temporary suspension from debt collection.
Time of day and genotype sensitivity adjust molecular responses to temperature stress in sorghum
Authors: Bonnot Titouan , Somayanda Impa , Jagadish S. V. Krishna , Nagel Dawn H.
Published: September 2023

Sorghum is one of the four major C4 crops that are considered to be tolerant to environmental extremes. Sorghum shows distinct growth responses to temperature stress depending on the sensitivity of the genetic background. About half of the transcripts in sorghum exhibit diurnal rhythmic expressions emphasizing significant coordination with the environment. However, an understanding of how molecular dynamics contribute to genotype‐specific stress responses in the context of the time of day is not known. We examined whether temperature stress and the time of day impact the gene expression dynamics in thermo‐sensitive and thermo‐tolerant sorghum genotypes. We found that time of day is highly influencing the temperature stress responses, which can be explained by the rhythmic expression of most thermo‐responsive genes. This effect is more pronounced in thermo‐tolerant genotypes, suggesting a stronger regulation of gene expression by the time of day and/or by the circadian clock. Genotypic differences were mostly observed on average gene expression levels, which may be responsible for contrasting sensitivities to temperature stress in tolerant versus susceptible sorghum varieties. We also identified groups of genes altered by temperature stress in a time‐of‐day and genotype‐specific manner. These include transcriptional regulators and several members of the Ca2+‐binding EF‐hand protein family. We hypothesize that expression variation of these genes between genotypes along with time‐of‐day independent regulation may contribute to genotype‐specific fine‐tuning of thermo‐responsive pathways. These findings offer a new opportunity to selectively target specific genes in efforts to develop climate‐resilient crops based on their time‐of‐day and genotype variation responses to temperature stress.
On the étale cohomology of Hilbert modular varieties with torsion coefficients
Authors: Caraiani Ana , Tamiozzo Matteo
Published: September 2023

We study the étale cohomology of Hilbert modular varieties, building on the methods introduced by Caraiani and Scholze for unitary Shimura varieties. We obtain the analogous vanishing theorem: in the ‘generic’ case, the cohomology with torsion coefficients is concentrated in the middle degree. We also probe the structure of the cohomology beyond the generic case, obtaining bounds on the range of degrees where cohomology with torsion coefficients can be non-zero. The proof is based on the geometric Jacquet–Langlands functoriality established by Tian and Xiao and avoids trace formula computations for the cohomology of Igusa varieties. As an application, we show that, when $p$ splits completely in the totally real field and under certain technical assumptions, the $p$-adic local Langlands correspondence for $\mathrm {GL}_2(\mathbb {Q}_p)$ occurs in the completed homology of Hilbert modular varieties.
Wettability Effects of Curved Superhydrophobic Surfaces on Drag Reduction in Taylor–Couette Flows of Water and Oil
Authors: Alsharief Ahmed F. Alarbi , Duan Xili , Yethiraj Anand , Muzychka Yuri
Published: September 2023

This study examines the effects of surface wettability on the drag-reducing performance of three hydrophobic coatings, namely, flouropel coating (FPC-800M), superhydrophobic binary coating (SHBC), and ultra-ever dry (UED)—when applied to curved aluminum surfaces. The wettability and flow characteristics were characterized using three liquids of different viscosities: de-ionized water and silicone oils of 5 and 10 cSt. Static and dynamic contact angles on the surfaces were measured, and the drag reduction was evaluated using a Taylor–Couette flow cell in a rheometer. The static contact angle (SCA) measurements indicated that the coated surfaces were superhydrophobic for water, with a maximum static contact angle of 158 deg, but oleophilic for the 10 cSt silicone oil, with a static contact angle of 13 deg. The rheometer measurements using water showed a maximum drag reduction of 18% for the UED-coated surfaces. Interestingly, the oleophilic surfaces (which have low SCA) showed a maximum drag reduction of 6% and 7% in the silicone oils. The observed drag reduction is due to an increase in the plastron thickness, which is caused by an increase in the Reynolds number and dynamic pressure coupled with a decrease in the static pressure normal to the superhydrophobic wall.
An Inverse Modeling Approach to Estimate Three-Dimensional Aortic Valve Interstitial Cell Stress Fiber Force Levels
Authors: Khang Alex , Meyer Kenneth , Sacks Michael S.
Published: September 2023

Within the aortic valve (AV) leaflet exists a population of interstitial cells (AVICs) that maintain the constituent tissues by extracellular matrix (ECM) secretion, degradation, and remodeling. AVICs can transition from a quiescent, fibroblast-like phenotype to an activated, myofibroblast phenotype in response to growth or disease. AVIC dysfunction has been implicated in AV disease processes, yet our understanding of AVIC function remains quite limited. A major characteristic of the AVIC phenotype is its contractile state, driven by contractile forces generated by the underlying stress fibers (SF). However, direct assessment of the AVIC SF contractile state and structure within physiologically mimicking three-dimensional environments remains technically challenging, as the size of single SFs are below the resolution of light microscopy. Therefore, in the present study, we developed a three-dimensional (3D) computational approach of AVICs embedded in 3D hydrogels to estimate their SF local orientations and contractile forces. One challenge with this approach is that AVICs will remodel the hydrogel, so that the gel moduli will vary spatially. We thus utilized our previous approach (Khang et al. 2023, “Estimation of Aortic Valve Interstitial Cell-Induced 3D Remodeling of Poly (Ethylene Glycol) Hydrogel Environments Using an Inverse Finite Element Approach,” Acta Biomater., 160, pp. 123–133) to define local hydrogel mechanical properties. The AVIC SF model incorporated known cytosol and nucleus mechanical behaviors, with the cell membrane assumed to be perfectly bonded to the surrounding hydrogel. The AVIC SFs were first modeled as locally unidirectional hyperelastic fibers with a contractile force component. An adjoint-based inverse modeling approach was developed to estimate local SF orientation and contractile force. Substantial heterogeneity in SF force and orientations were observed, with the greatest levels of SF alignment and contractile forces occurring in AVIC protrusions. The addition of a dispersed SF orientation to the modeling approach did not substantially alter these findings. To the best of our knowledge, we report the first fully 3D computational contractile cell models which can predict locally varying stress fiber orientation and contractile force levels.
The Manufacturing and Experimental Validation of a Nickel Superalloy Double-Wall, Effusion Test Specimen
Authors: Murray Alexander V. , Ireland Peter T. , Green Nick R. , Wickins Michael , Hood Richard , Telisinghe Janendra
Published: September 2023

With the hot stage of a modern aeroengine operating with combustor firing temperatures well beyond the melting point of the nickel superalloys from which the turbine blades are manufactured, developments to the methods of cooling of these components are required to advance performance. Double-wall, effusion systems exhibit a quasi-transpiration like cooling effect with recent work demonstrating their exceptional cooling performance. Such systems are characterized by two walls, one with impingement holes and the other with film cooling holes, that are mechanically and thermally connected via pedestals. However, manufacturing such geometries from single-crystal nickel superalloys remains a significant barrier to entry into service. This paper presents a method of manufacturing double-wall effusion specimens from a nickel superalloy commonly used in modern commercial high-pressure turbine components. The method maintains the mechanical integrity associated with nickel superalloys. Details of the method are presented alongside X-ray and GOM laser scan data of a flat-plate test article that demonstrates the success of the manufacturing process. Aerothermal testing of the specimen in a bespoke recirculating wind-tunnel facility was undertaken in which the overall cooling effectiveness of the system is obtained. The results reaffirm the excellent cooling performance of double-wall, effusion systems and further validate the manufacturing methodology as a method by which to realize enhanced cooling effectiveness in service.
Erratum to: High-Cadence Observations of Magnetic Field Dynamics and Photospheric Emission Sources in the Eruptive Near-the-Limb X4.9 Solar Flare on 25 February, 2014: Evidences for Two-Stage Magnetic Reconnection during the Impulsive Phase
Authors: Sharykin I. N. , Zimovets I. V. , Radivon A. V.
Published: September 2023

An Erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0010952523330031
Identifying effect modifiers of systemic hydrocortisone treatment initiated 7–14 days after birth in ventilated very preterm infants on long-term outcome: secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Halbmeijer Nienke Marjolein , Sonnaert Michel , Swarte Renate M , Koopman-Esseboom Corine , van Stuijvenberg Margriet , Mulder-de Tollenaer Susanne , Tan Ratna N G B , Mohns Thilo , Bruneel Els , Steiner Katerina , Kramer Boris W , Debeer Anne , van Weissenbruch Mirjam M , Marechal Yoann , Blom Henry , Plaskie Katleen , Offringa Martin , Merkus Maruschka P , Onland Wes , Leemhuis Aleid G , van Kaam Anton H
Published: September 2023

Objective

To explore clinical effect modifiers of systemic hydrocortisone in ventilated very preterm infants for survival and neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years’ corrected age (CA).

Design

Secondary analysis of a randomised placebo-controlled trial.

Setting

Dutch and Belgian neonatal intensive care units.

Patients

Infants born <30 weeks’ gestational age (GA), ventilator-dependent in the second week of postnatal life.

Intervention

Infants were randomly assigned to systemic hydrocortisone (cumulative dose 72.5 mg/kg; n=182) or placebo (n=190).

Main outcome measures

The composite of death or neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) at 2 years’ CA and its components. Candidate effect modifiers (GA, small for GA, respiratory index, sex, multiple births, risk of moderate/severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia or death) were analysed using regression models with interaction terms and subpopulation treatment effect pattern plots.

Results

The composite outcome was available in 356 (96.0%) of 371 patients (one consent withdrawn). For this outcome, treatment effect heterogeneity was seen across GA subgroups (<27 weeks: hydrocortisone (n=141) vs placebo (n=156), 54.6% vs 66.2%; OR 0.61 (95% CI 0.38 to 0.98); ≥27 weeks: hydrocortisone (n=30) vs placebo (n=31), 66.7% vs 45.2%; OR 2.43 (95% CI 0.86 to 6.85); p=0.02 for interaction). This effect was also found for the component death (<27 weeks: 20.1% vs 32.1%; OR 0.53 (95% CI 0.32 to 0.90); ≥27 weeks: 28.1% vs 16.1%; OR 2.04 (95% CI 0.60 to 6.95); p=0.049 for interaction) but not for the component NDI. No differential treatment effects were observed across other subgroups.

Conclusion

This secondary analysis suggests that in infants <27 weeks’ GA, systemic hydrocortisone may improve the outcome death or NDI, mainly driven by its component death. There was insufficient evidence for other selected candidate effect modifiers.
Closed-form solutions of the Dunkl–Klein–Gordon equation for two inverse power-law interactions
Authors: Schulze-Halberg Axel
Published: September 2023

In this paper, we consider two specific quantum systems governed by the one-dimensional Klein–Gordon equation within the Dunkl formalism. Our systems are characterized by a symmetrized Coulomb potential and an inverse quadratic interaction, respectively. For both systems, we construct closed-form solutions of bound state type.
The structure of flavor mixing and reconstruction of the mass matrix
Authors: Xu Guojun , Zhang Jingjun , Liao Chenzi , Zhang Ying
Published: September 2023

The fermion flavor structure is investigated by bilinear decomposition of the mass matrix after EW symmetry breaking, and the roles of factorized matrices in flavor mixing and mass generation are explored. On a new Yukawa basis, the minimal parameterization of flavor mixing is realized containing two relative phases and two free [Formula: see text] rotation angles. It is shown that flavor mixing can be addressed from four independent parameters. The validity of the flavor mixing structure is checked in both the lepton and quark sectors. Under the decomposition of flavor mixing, fermion mass matrices are reconstructed in the hierarchy limit. A flat mass matrix with all elements equal to 1 arises naturally from the requirement that homology exists between up-type and down-type fermion mass matrices. Some hints of a flat matrix and flavor breaking are also discussed.
On the gravitational diagram technique in the discrete setup
Authors: Khatsymovsky V. M.
Published: September 2023

This paper is in the spirit of our work on the consequences of the Regge calculus, where some edge length scale arises as an optimal initial point of the perturbative expansion after functional integration over connection. Now consider the perturbative expansion itself. To obtain an algorithmizable diagram technique, we consider the simplest periodic simplicial structure with a frozen part of the variables (“hypercubic”). After functional integration over connection, the system is described by the metric [Formula: see text] at the sites. We parameterize [Formula: see text] so that the functional measure becomes Lebesgue. The discrete diagrams are free from ultraviolet divergences and reproduce (for ordinary, non-Planck external momenta) those continuum counterparts that are finite. We give the parametrization of [Formula: see text] up to terms, providing, in particular, additional three-graviton and two-graviton-two-matter vertices, which can give additional one-loop corrections to the Newtonian potential. The edge length scale is [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] defines the free factor [Formula: see text] in the measure and should be a large parameter to ensure the true action after integration over connection. We verify the important fact that the perturbative expansion does not contain increasing powers of [Formula: see text] if its initial point is chosen close enough to the maximum point of the measure, thus justifying this choice. Discrete propagators depend on the Barbero–Immirzi parameter [Formula: see text], which determines the ratio of timelike and spacelike elementary length scales. The existing estimates of [Formula: see text] allow the propagator poles to have real energy for any (real) spatial momenta.
An Empirical Study on Model-Agnostic Techniques for Source Code-Based Defect Prediction
Authors: Zhu Yi , Gao Yuxiang , Yu Qiao
Published: September 2023

Interpretation is important for adopting software defect prediction in practice. Model-agnostic techniques such as Local Interpretable Model-agnostic Explanation (LIME) can help practitioners understand the factors which contribute to the prediction. They are effective and useful for models constructed on tabular data with traditional features. However, when they are applied on source code-based models, they cannot differentiate the contribution of code tokens in different locations for deep learning-based models with Bag-of-Word features. Besides, only using limited features as explanation may result in information loss about actual riskiness. Such limitations may lead to inaccurate explanation for source code-based models, and make model-agnostic techniques not useful and helpful as expected. Thus, we apply a perturbation-based approach Randomized Input Sampling Explanation (RISE) for source code-based defect prediction. Besides, to fill the gap that there lacks a systematical evaluation on model-agnostic techniques on source code-based defect models, we also conduct an extensive case study on the model-agnostic techniques on both token frequency-based and deep learning-based models. We find that (1) model-agnostic techniques are effective to identify the most important code tokens for an individual prediction and predict defective lines based on the importance scores, (2) using limited features (code tokens) for explanation may result in information loss about actual riskiness, and (3) RISE is more effective than others as it can generate more accurate explanation, achieve better cost-effectiveness for line-level prediction, and result in less information loss about actual riskiness. Based on such findings, we suggest that model-agnostic techniques can be a supplement to file-level source code-based defect models, while such explanations should be used with caution as actual risky tokens may be ignored. Also, compared with LIME, we would recommend RISE for a more effective explanation.
A Synthetic Integrated Wireless Aerodynamic Evaluation System for Train–Bridge System
Authors: Zou Simin , He Xuhui , Wang Hanfeng
Published: September 2023

The development of high-speed railway networks and the increased running speeds of high-speed trains (HSTs) have made the aerodynamic interference between HSTs and their surrounding environments increasingly important. Compared with a traditional wind tunnel test, systematically understanding the aerodynamic characteristics of HSTs involves relatively more stringent requirements, highlighting the need to develop experimental methods and technologies with enhanced dynamic performance. Central South University (CSU) developed a wireless data acquisition system, named as the in-model sensory and wireless data acquisition — remote control and processing system (ISWDA-RCPS), which can operate onboard a novel moving train and infrastructure rig. The system was developed to meet current wind tunnel data collection needs, and it avoids the physical cables used in conventional devices, which are extremely susceptible to induced noise. The system accepts inputs from various sensors and transfers the data wirelessly to an access point outside a wind tunnel’s test section. To analyze the feasibility of the ISWDA-RCPS concerning its sensing capabilities and wireless communications, we conduct experiments in multiple operating conditions. Finally, pressure measurements are acquired from a moving Fuxing HST model at different points and used to analyze the aerodynamic behavior of the model.
An Efficient Dynamic Response Reconstruction Methodology Based on Model Condensation and Modal Decomposition
Authors: Fu Zheng Yi , Adeagbo Mujib Olamide , Lam Heung Fai
Published: September 2023

The structural dynamic response reconstruction of large-scale civil engineering structures using traditional methods results in heavy computational burden with low efficiency. To improve efficiency, a novel time-domain response reconstruction method based on model condensation and modal decomposition is proposed in this paper. The finite element model of the target structure is transformed and condensed. The system matrices of the condensed model have lower dimensionality than those of the original finite element model. A checking procedure based on the modal assurance criterion is developed to ensure the accuracy of the condensed system. Measured dynamic responses are decomposed to time-domain modal responses at measured degrees of freedom (DOFs) using band-pass filters. The mode shape matrix of the condensed model is used to calculate the modal responses at the unmeasured DOFs. Following modal superposition and coordinate transformation, the dynamic responses at unmeasured DOFs are reconstructed without knowledge of the excitation. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed methodology are verified in a numerical case study of a three-dimensional building frame model and an experimental case study of a two-story steel frame under laboratory conditions. In contrast with the numerical case study, the effects of modeling error and measurement noise are considered in the experiment verification. The results show the outstanding performance of the proposed methodology when compared with a traditional response reconstruction method.
A Structural Damage Localization Method Based on Empirical Probability Mass Function of ARMAX Model Residual and Kullback–Leibler Divergence
Authors: Ma Lingjuan , Wang Fengdan , Ma Xiao , Xiao Yuzhu , Deng Qingtian , Li Xinbo , Song Xueli
Published: September 2023

Damage localization is very significant in engineering applications. The existing method based on the chi-square distribution of an autoregressive moving average with exogenous inputs (ARMAX) model residual is not applicable for these realistic excitations except Gaussian excitation. To solve the above problem, this paper presents a structural damage localization method based on the empirical probability mass function (EPMF) of the ARMAX model residual and Kullback–Leibler (KL) divergence. In detail, we employ empirical data analysis (EDA) approach to estimate the EPMF of the ARMAX model residual of the data generated by the arbitrary excitation because EDA does not need any a priori knowledge about the model residual. Moreover, the KL divergence is introduced to measure the dissimilarity of the EPMFs in undamaged and damaged states to prove that our method is effective for arbitrary excitation. Finally, the semi-parametric extreme value theory is used to estimate the reliable threshold for localizing the damage. Numerical simulated and experimental results illustrate that the proposed method localizes the damage under different excitations, respectively.
Automatic SARS-CoV-2 segmentation in electron microscopy based on few-shot learning
Authors: Xiao Chi , Xia Xiaoyu , Xu Shunhao , Huang Qilin , Xiao Hao , Song Jingdong
Published: September 2023

Due to the advantages of direct visualization and high resolution, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technology has been widely used in the morphological identification of viruses. With the development of artificial intelligence (AI), there have been some studies on automated TEM virus identification using deep learning. However, to achieve effective virus identification results, a large number of high-quality labeled images are required for network training. In this work, we propose an automatic virus segmentation method based on few-shot learning. We use the Chikungunya virus, Parapoxvirus and Marburg virus, etc. to construct a pre-training virus dataset and train an attention U-Net-like network with an encoder module, relationship module, attention module and decoding module to realize severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) segmentation using few-shot learning. The experiment shows that the proposed few-shot learning methods yield 0.900 Dice and 0.828 Jaccard in 1-shot, 0.903 Dice and 0.832 Jaccard in 5-shot, which demonstrates the effectiveness of our method and outperforms other promising methods. Our fully automated method contributes to the development of medical virology by providing virologists with a low-cost and accurate approach to identify SARS-CoV-2 in TEM.
Facile graphene quantum dot-anchoring strategy synthesis of single-atom iron-nitrogen electrocatalyst with enhanced ORR performance
Authors: Zhang Huinian , Jia Suping , Li Ning , Shi Xiaolin , Li Ziyuan
Published: September 2023

Single-atom catalysts (SACs), especially atomically dispersed Fe–N[Formula: see text]–C based SACs, hold great promise to replace Pt-based electrocatalysts for oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR). Currently, synthesizing high-activity ORR electrocatalysts with atomically dispersed Fe–N[Formula: see text] site structures is still challenging due to their high surface free energy, which leads to easy migration and serious aggregation. Herein, we have designed a general graphene quantum dots (GQDs)-anchoring strategy to synthesize a single-iron-atom electrocatalyst (Fe–N-GQDs/PC) applied to ORR through calcining of N-GQDs-Fe[Formula: see text] modified porous carbon (PC) and melamine. Experiments demonstrate the N-GQDs consist of abundant oxygenated groups, which could lead to complexing metal ions and thus facilitating the formation of SACs. Furthermore, the Fe–N-GQDs/PC electrocatalyst exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic ORR activity in 0.1 M KOH media with half-wave potentials of 0.84 versus 0.85 V for Pt/C. This strategy has opened up new feasible ideas to produce SACs for electrochemical energy devices.
A Novel Model Calibration Method for Active Magnetic Bearing Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Yang Bingyun , Peng Cong , Jiang Fei , Shi Sumu
Published: September 2023

Active magnetically suspended control moment gyro is a novel attitude control actuator for satellites. It is mainly composed of rotor, active magnetic bearing (AMB) and motor. As a crucial supporting component of control moment gyro, the performance of AMB is directly related to the stability of the rotor system and pointing precision of the satellites. Therefore, calibrating the parameters of AMB is essential for the realization of super-quiet satellites. This paper proposed a model calibration method, known as the deep reinforcement learning-based model calibration frame (DRLMC). First, the dynamics of magnetic bearing with damage degradation over its life cycle are modeled. Subsequently, the calibration process is formulated as a Markov Decision Process (MDP), and reinforcement learning (RL) is employed to infer the degradation parameters. In addition, experience replay and target network update mechanism are introduced to guarantee stability. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method identifies force-current factor of AMB during its degradation process effectively. Furthermore, additional experiments confirm the robustness of the DRLMC approach.
Defenses to Membership Inference Attacks: A Survey
Authors: Hu Li , Yan Anli , Yan Hongyang , Li Jin , Huang Teng , Zhang Yingying , Dong Changyu , Yang Chunsheng
Published: September 2023

Machine learning (ML) has gained widespread adoption in a variety of fields, including computer vision and natural language processing. However, ML models are vulnerable to membership inference attacks (MIAs), which can infer whether access data was used in training a target model, thus compromising the privacy of training data. This has led researchers to focus on protecting the privacy of ML. To date, although there have been extensive efforts to defend against MIAs, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of the progress made in this area, which can often impede our ability to design the most effective defense strategies. In this article, we aim to fill this critical knowledge gap by providing a systematic analysis of membership inference defense. Specifically, we classify and summarize the existing membership inference defense schemes, focusing on optimization phase and objective, basic intuition, and key technology, and we discuss possible research directions of membership inference defense in the future.
Real-Time Reconstruction of Fluid Flow under Unknown Disturbance
Authors: Chu Kinfung , Huang Jiawei , Takana Hidemasa , Kitamura Yoshifumi
Published: September 2023

We present a framework that captures sparse Lagrangian flow information from a volume of real liquid and reconstructs its detailed kinematic information in real time. Our framework can perform flow reconstruction even when the liquid is disturbed by an object of unknown movement and shape. Through a large dataset of liquid moving under external disturbance, an agent is trained using reinforcement learning to reproduce the target flow kinematics with only the captured sparse information as inputs while remaining oblivious to the movement and the shape of the disturbance sources. To ensure that the underlying simulation model faithfully obeys physical reality, we also optimize the viscosity parameters in Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) using classical fluid dynamics knowledge and gradient-based optimization. By quantitatively comparing the reconstruction results against real-world and simulated ground truth, we verified that our reconstruction method is resilient to different agitation patterns.
Online Distributed Schedule Randomization to Mitigate Timing Attacks in Industrial Control Systems
Authors: Samaddar Ankita , Easwaran Arvind
Published: September 2023

Industrial control systems (ICSs) consist of a large number of control applications that are associated with periodic real-time flows with hard deadlines. To facilitate large-scale integration, remote control, and co-ordination, wireless sensor and actuator networks form the main communication framework in most ICSs. Among the existing wireless sensor and actuator network protocols, WirelessHART is the most suitable protocol for real-time applications in ICSs. The communications in a WirelessHART network are time-division multiple access based. To satisfy the hard deadlines of the real-time flows, the schedule in a WirelessHART network is pre-computed. The same schedule is repeated over every hyperperiod (i.e., lowest common multiple of the periods of the flows). However, a malicious attacker can exploit the repetitive behavior of the flow schedules to launch timing attacks (e.g., selective jamming attacks). To mitigate timing attacks, we propose an online distributed schedule randomization strategy that randomizes the time-slots in the schedules at each network device without violating the flow deadlines, while ensuring the closed-loop control stability. To increase the extent of randomization in the schedules further, and to reduce the energy consumption of the system, we incorporate a period adaptation strategy that adjusts the transmission periods of the flows depending on the stability of the control loops at runtime. We use Kullback-Leibler divergence and prediction probability of slots as two metrics to evaluate the performance of our proposed strategy. We compare our strategy with an offline centralized schedule randomization strategy. Experimental results show that the schedules generated by our strategy are 10% to 15% more diverse and 5% to 10% less predictable on average compared to the offline strategy when the number of base schedules and keys vary between 4 and 6 and 12 and 32, respectively, under all slot utilization (number of occupied slots in a hyperperiod). On incorporating period adaptation, the divergence in the schedules reduceat each period increase with 46% less power consumption on average.
Automatically Detecting Incompatible Android APIs
Authors: Liu Pei , Zhao Yanjie , Fazzini Mattia , Cai Haipeng , Grundy John , Li Li
Published: September 2023

Fragmentation is a serious problem in the Android ecosystem, which is mainly caused by the fast evolution of the system itself and the various system customizations. Many efforts have attempted to mitigate its impact via approaches to automatically pinpointing compatibility issues in Android apps. We conducted a literature review to identify all the currently available approaches to addressing this issue. Within the nine identified approaches, the four issue detection tools and one incompatible API harvesting tool could be successfully executed. We tried to reproduce them based on their original datasets and then empirically compared those approaches against common datasets. Our experimental results show that existing tool capabilities are quite distinct with only a small overlap in the compatibility issues being identified. Moreover, these detection tools commonly detect compatibility issues via two separate steps including incompatible APIs gathering and compatibility issues (induced by the incorrect invocations of the identified incompatible APIs) determination. To help developers better identify compatibility issues in Android apps, we developed a new approach,
AndroMevol
, to systematically spot incompatible APIs as they play a crucial role in issue detection.
AndroMevol
was able to pinpoint 397,678 incompatible APIs against the full history of the official Android framework and 52 customized Android frameworks spanning five popular device manufacturers. Our approach could enhance the ability of the state-of-the-art detection tools by identifying many more incompatible APIs that may cause compatibility issues in Android apps and foster more advanced approaches to pinpointing all types of compatibility issues.
The Biology and Social Life of Earwigs (Dermaptera)
Authors: Meunier Joël
Published: September 2023

Earwigs are often known for the forceps-like appendage at the end of their abdomen, urban legends about them crawling into human ears, and their roles as pest and biological control agents. However, they are much less known for their social life. This is surprising, as many of the 1,900 species of earwigs show social behaviors toward eggs, juveniles, and adults. These behaviors typically occur during family and group living, which may be obligatory or facultative, last up to several months, and involve only a few to several hundred related or unrelated individuals. Moreover, many individuals can alternate between solitary and group living during their life cycle, an ability that probably prevailed during the emergence of social life. In this review, I detail the diversity of group living and social behavior in earwigs and show how further developing this knowledge in Dermaptera can improve our general understanding of the early evolution of social life in insects.