bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Polyrhodanine-Functionalized Magnetic-Activated Carbon for Efficient Removal of Lead Ions and Malachite Green From Wastewater
Authors: Zhang Wei-Wei , Ma Xin , Yang Zhao , Ren Zong-Li , Yang Xuan , Zhao Zhong-Wei
Published: January 2024

The development of wastewater treatment agents with high treatment capacity and efficient separation is crucial for the remediation of heavy metal ions and organic dye wastewater. In this study, a polyrhodanine functional magnetic-activated carbon composite (PR-mAC) was synthesized via a one-step co-precipitation method combined with chemical oxidation polymerization. As an innovative water treatment agent, PR-mAC possesses not only environmentally friendly and easily obtainable raw materials but also magnetic properties that facilitate its reusability. Notably, PR-mAC exhibited remarkable removal efficiency towards lead ion (Pb(II)) and malachite green (MG). Experimental results demonstrated that the adsorption of Pb(II) and MG followed quasi-second-order kinetic model, while the Hill isothermal adsorption model and Redlich–Peterson isothermal adsorption model were suitable for Pb(II) and MG removal, respectively. All adsorption processes were spontaneous endothermic reactions. The maximum adsorption capacities reached 223.71 mg/g and 315.46mg/g, respectively. Even after undergoing 5 cycles, the material maintained satisfactory removal performance for Pb(II) and MG pollutants. Therefore, the prepared PR-mAC represents an optimal agent for wastewater treatment due to its effective capability in removing both metal ions and dyes.
Arc Discharge Synthesis and Multistep Purification of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes
Authors: Shifa Madni , Toor Zaigham Saeed , Tariq Fawad
Published: January 2024

This research work describes the cost-effective synthesis and purification of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Synthesis of CNTs was carried out in distilled water between two electrodes using the electric arc discharge (EAD) method. EAD is a simple and straightforward route in which an electric arc is generated between graphite electrodes through DC power source to produce soot which contains MWCNTs along with impurities. The deposited soot containing MWCNTs was then chipped off and purified. In this case, multistep purification scheme was opted to remove unwanted impurities from produced MWCNTs. Purification route comprised thermal treatment, chemical treatment and a combination of both to yield pure MWCNTs. Thermal treatments were carried out in normal air and under controlled flow of oxygen at different temperatures whereas chemical treatment was performed using acidic solution. Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were carried out before and after purification treatments to investigate the outcome of employed treatments. Results showed that the thermal or chemical treatment alone is not sufficient to remove impurities from soot. Moreover, the introduction of an oxide group through chemical treatment reduces the oxidization temperature of graphitic particles. It was found that the chemical treatment followed by thermal annealing under the controlled flow of oxygen is the most appropriate method for successful purification of MWCNTs synthesized via EAD method.
Milling Processing, Morphology, and Optical Characterization of Powders from Natural Pigments as a Potential Sensitizing Material for Optical Sensors and Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells
Authors: Castillo-Robles José Adalberto , Armendáriz-Mireles Eddie Nahúm , Calles-Arriaga Carlos Adrián , Rocha-Rangel Enrique , Pech-Rodríguez Wilian Jesús , Guel Ivanovich Estrada , Mata Herrera Erick Santiago , Ramírez-de-León José Alberto
Published: January 2024

Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC) and optical fiber-based-sensors sensitized with organic dyes play a fundamental role in modern technology, particularly in the family of photovoltaic power generation devices and measurement of chemical variables. DSSC is low-cost, highly efficient, and easy to manufacture. Therefore, they are a suitable option for many engineering applications. This paper deals with natural pigment extraction (spirulina, carrots (beta-carotene), and beetroot) at different milling and temperature conditions. Nanoparticles were fabricated using an SPEX mill and a planetary ball mill. The particle size distribution, absorbance (UV-Vis), and powder morphology were obtained using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). Herein, the optical characterization of modified TiO2 powder at different temperatures and milling conditions is performed. Results indicate that each natural dye is sensitive to operational temperature. In addition, the absorbance of the pigments is affected by milling conditions and particle size distribution. During SEM characterization, rounded particles were observed in the starting materials with average sizes of more than 15 microns in diameter until they were reduced to nanometer ranges close to 100 using SPEX milling. The observed absorption spectra range from 400nm to 642 nm for spirulina. Moreover, the experimental results show that the intensity of the absorption peaks is affected by the temperature, which indicates a degradation of the dye. Therefore, different combinations of natural dyes will be feasible to improve the wide range of light absorption of the visible spectra and stability of DSSCs and optical fiber-based sensors.
Geometric regulation of collective cell tangential ordering migration
Authors: Dong Hao , Zhou Yuming , Ma Xuehe , Liu Junfang , Xing Fulin , Yang Jianyu , Sun Qiushuo , Hu Qingsong , Hu Fen , Pan Leiting , Xu Jingjun
Published: January 2024

Collective cell migration is a coordinated movement of multi-cell systems essential for various processes throughout life. The collective motions often occur under spatial restrictions, hallmarked by the collective rotation of epithelial cells confined in circular substrates. Here, we aim to explore how geometric shapes of confinement regulate this collective cell movement. We develop quantitative methods for cell velocity orientation analysis, and find that boundary cells exhibit stronger tangential ordering migration than inner cells in circular pattern. Furthermore, decreased tangential ordering movement capability of collective cells in triangular and square patterns are observed, due to the disturbance of cell motion at unsmooth corners of these patterns. On the other hand, the collective cell rotation is slightly affected by a convex defect of the circular pattern, while almost hindered with a concave defect, also resulting from different smoothness features of their boundaries. Numerical simulations employing cell Potts model well reproduce and extend experimental observations. Together, our results highlight the importance of boundary smoothness in the regulation of collective cell tangential ordering migration.
List 2-distance coloring for planar graphs with short circle constraints
Authors: Yang Mingyue , Wang Huijuan
Published: January 2024

The [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text]-distance coloring of the graph [Formula: see text] refers to that it satisfies the mapping: [Formula: see text], such that the vertex [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], whose distance is at most [Formula: see text], receive different colors, namely [Formula: see text]. Denote [Formula: see text], which is a list 2-distance chromatic number of the graph [Formula: see text]. This paper proves that [Formula: see text] for the graph [Formula: see text] without 3-cycles and intersecting 4-cycles and [Formula: see text].
Maximal point set domination in graphs
Authors: Sumathi R. , Angaleeswari K. , Sundareswaran R. , Swaminathan V.
Published: January 2024

Let [Formula: see text] be a graph with vertex set [Formula: see text] and edge set [Formula: see text] A subset [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] is called a dominating set of [Formula: see text] if for any [Formula: see text] in [Formula: see text] there exists a vertex [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are adjacent. The minimum cardinality of a dominating set of [Formula: see text] is called the domination number of [Formula: see text] and is denoted by [Formula: see text] Several domination parameters have been introduced. Among them, point set domination was conceived by Sampathkumar and Pushpa Latha [E. Sampathkumar and L. Pushpa Latha, Point-set domination number of a graph, Indian J. Pure Appl. Math. 24(4) (1993) 225–229]. A subset [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] is called a point set dominating set of [Formula: see text] if for every subset [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] there exists a vertex [Formula: see text] such that [Formula: see text] is connected in [Formula: see text] The minimum cardinality of a point set dominating set of [Formula: see text] is called the point set domination number of [Formula: see text] and is denoted by [Formula: see text] Kulli [V. R. Kulli, The Maximal Domination Number of a Graph, Graph Theory Notes of New York XXXIII (Academy of Sciences, 1997), pp. 11–13] introduced the concept of maximal domination number in a graph. A subset [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] is called a maximal dominating set of [Formula: see text] if [Formula: see text] is a dominating set of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] is not a dominating set of [Formula: see text] The minimum cardinality of a maximal dominating set of [Formula: see text] is denoted by [Formula: see text] In this paper, the concept of maximal domination is combined with point set domination and maximal point set domination is studied.
Roman detour domination number of generalized hypercube networks
Authors: Giftlin Kiruba N. , Therese Sunitha Mary Y.
Published: January 2024

Generalized hypercube network is an interconnection network topology. The topology of interconnection network usually takes graph as a mathematical model, in which the vertex of graph represents the server and the edge of graph represents the connection between servers. As vertex count increases, the vertex degree of hypercube network increases as well. This has advantages, such as increased performance and reliability. The domination parameters are an important basis for analyzing and measuring the reliability of interconnection networks. In this paper, few properties of generalized hypercube network and Roman detour domination number for minimum dimensional generalized hypercube networks and hypercube networks are discussed. And also we determine the bounds for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text].
Microstructure of electronic-grade polycrystalline silicon core-matrix interface
Authors: Lu Bochen , Yang Yuxuan , Zhang Yang , Qin Rong , Xue Xinlu , Peng Jinyue , Wu Haijun
Published: January 2024

This paper focuses on the problems encountered in the production process of electronic-grade polycrystalline silicon. It points out that the characterization of electronic-grade polycrystalline silicon is mainly concentrated at the macroscopic scale, with relatively less research at the mesoscopic and microscopic scales. Therefore, we utilize the method of physical polishing to obtain polysilicon characterization samples and then the paper utilizes metallographic microscopy, scanning electron microscopy-electron backscatter diffraction technology, and aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy technology to observe and characterize the interface region between silicon core and matrix in the deposition process of electronic-grade polycrystalline silicon, providing a full-scale characterization of the interface morphology, grain structure, and orientation distribution from macro to micro. Finally, the paper illustrates the current uncertainties regarding polycrystalline silicon.
First-principles density functional theory for the structural, electronic, and phonon calculations of Ca-doped bilayer graphene
Authors: Nurwantoro Pekik , Yunitasari Sefty , Prayogi Harmon , Hidayati Sri , Sholihun Sholihun
Published: January 2024

Density functional theory is adopted for the electronic structure and phonon calculation of Ca-doped bilayer graphene. The AA and AB stacking configurations are simulated, and the atoms are relaxed so that the atomic forces working on them are close to zero ([Formula: see text] eV/Å). In the final relaxation, the symmetry of [Formula: see text] is [Formula: see text] for AA stacking and [Formula: see text] for AB stacking. The formation energy of AA stacking (1.72 eV) is much lower than that of AB stacking ([Formula: see text] eV). According to the electronic structure calculations, the Dirac point shifts down from the Fermi level, indicating that the Ca atom behaves as an n-type dopant. The calculated Fermi velocities for pristine bilayer graphene are [Formula: see text] (AA stacking) and [Formula: see text] m/s (AB stacking). Those for Ca-doped bilayer graphene are [Formula: see text] (AA stacking) and [Formula: see text] m/s (AB stacking). Phonon calculations revealed that considering the vibrational effect, the defect concentration is [Formula: see text] cm[Formula: see text] in the AA stacking system. Meanwhile, concentration is deficient in the AB stacking system due to the asymmetric defect configuration.
X-Ray Diffraction and Structural Study of Ba1−xAExTiO3 Ceramics (AE: Ca, Mg and Sr for x=0,0.02,0.04,0.06 and 0.08)
Authors: Panigrahi Manas R.
Published: January 2024

By examining the X-ray powder diffraction data, the microstructure of the BaTiO3 ceramic modified by alkaline earth (AE) metals was characterized. Following profile fitting, the X-ray powder diffraction data of the powder mixtures were analyzed to estimate and evaluate the structural changes of the single-phase AE-modified BaTiO3. Each compound, as well as several polymorphic versions of the same compound, had a unique diffraction pattern, which was a coded representation of the crystal structure. The sole requirement for deciphering this data was the generation of exact data in order to enable phase identification, measurements of lattice parameters, atomic positions, etc. This work compares the various structural characteristics of void species nanostructure using X-ray diffraction with respect to the first sharp diffraction peak (FSDP) of different samples. Various parameters were computed using general expression and a comparison was presented in this paper.
A New Self-guidance Approach in UAV for Emergency Surveillance
Authors: Pandey Vipin Kumar , De Suddhasil
Published: January 2024

With advances in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies, they have been put to use in a wide variety of scenarios, including emergency surveillance and disaster management. However, their widespread usage is still limited due to their expensive nature. Only user-piloted UAVs are extensively used still today; but their low-budget design leads to lack of auto-guidance and cooperative functions in both line-of-sight and obstacle-sensitive operations. This paper presents a new approach of self-guidance in these budget UAVs for stable maneuverability even in the obstacle-sensitive surroundings. Further, the paper additionally incorporates cooperative functioning in such self-guided budget UAVs for completing collaborative tasks of emergency surveillance. Comparative testbed results show the cost-effective benefits of the proposed methods and the precise working abilities in no-obstacle as well as obstacle-sensitive sites.
Rayleigh Scattering from a Sphere Located Near a Planar Rigid Boundary
Authors: Maksimov Alexey
Published: January 2024

Rayleigh scattering from a spherical object located near a planar rigid boundary at distances smaller than the wavelength is calculated. Low frequency analysis reduces a scattering problem to a sequence of potential problems. An analytical solution based on expansion in spherical solid harmonics and the use of addition theorem is presented. Analytical perturbation approach is validated by comparison with numerical calculations. The velocity of the center of the particle and the scattering amplitude are determined. In the lowest order in wavenumber, the scattering amplitude is expressed in terms of the monopole and dipole components. In contrast to the behavior of a bubble, under the same conditions, dipole oscillations of the particle in the direction normal to the boundary are not excited and the monopole component of the scattering amplitude does not depend on the location of the particle relative to the boundary.
On fractional Caputo operator for the generalized glucose supply model via incomplete Aleph function
Authors: Agarwal Himani , Mishra Manvendra Narayan , Dubey Ravi Shanker
Published: January 2024

In this paper, we have attempted a fresh method to demonstrate how special functions and fractional calculus are used in real-world problems. Here, we have examined the glucose supply in human blood using the incomplete Aleph function (IAF) and the Caputo fractional operator. In this study, we used the incomplete Aleph function to find the blood glucose equation that is supplied to human blood. In terms of various hyper-geometric functions, we have also obtained several significant and unique results, and we have defined the blood glucose function in terms of IAF.
Theoretical Studies on the Relationship between Aromaticity and Electron Transport Properties of Analogous [10]-Annulene Derivatives
Authors: Liang Lei , Yu Lei , Sun Mingjun
Published: January 2024

In the overall aromaticity of a molecular system, the magnitude of [Formula: see text]-aromaticity influences the degree of bond length averaging in the molecular geometry, while the magnitude of [Formula: see text]-aromaticity reflects the strength of [Formula: see text]-electron delocalization, subsequently affecting the electronic transport properties of the entire molecular system. Simultaneously, the aromaticity type of a molecular system is primarily determined by the symmetry of the innermost [Formula: see text] molecular orbitals. In this study, we conducted computational simulations of the aromaticity and electronic transport properties of compounds, including C8H8Cu2 with [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] delocalization effects and C12H8 with [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] delocalization effects, along with their Li derivatives. Based on calculated NICS values, ring current directions, molecular structural configurations and the symmetry of the innermost [Formula: see text] molecular orbitals, we clarified the aromaticity types of the molecular systems. Combined with the analysis of molecular electrical conductivity properties, we gained insights into the fundamental attributes of Li-bridge bonds in Li derivatives and the factors influencing electronic transport pathways. Consequently, we established a relationship between the aromaticity of molecular systems and their electronic transport properties. To a certain extent, a novel criterion for evaluating molecular aromaticity is proposed from the perspective of single-molecule electronics.
Coupled effect of prestrain and intermediate annealing on mechanical properties and microstructural evolution of GH5188 superalloy
Authors: Men Mingliang , Zhu Yu , Wan Min , Meng Bao
Published: January 2024

The forming of sheet metal parts with complex structures often requires multiple processing. The Co-based superalloy GH5188 sheet is taken as the research object for two-stage uniaxial tensile experiments including intermediate heat treatment, where the prestrain is 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively, in the first stage. The results indicate that the macroscopic residual stress increases with increasing prestrain, which is manifested as the increase of the initial yield strength, the deterioration of ductility and work hardening ability. The increase in dislocation density in the plastic deformation process is the decisive factor. After annealing, the number of deformed grains greatly reduces, and the grain size is refined, resulting in a corresponding reduction in dislocation density. Intermediate heat treatment can eliminate dislocation stacking and stress concentration in the alloy and reduce the influence of internal stress generated during work hardening. Furthermore, the intermediate annealing can decrease the initial yield stress and increase the elongation of the predeformed sheet, while retaining desirable work hardening ability and tensile strength, ultimately enhancing the subsequent work performance.
VM Matters: A Comparison of WASM VMs and EVMs in the Performance of Blockchain Smart Contracts
Authors: Zhang Yixuan , Zheng Shuyu , Wang Haoyu , Wu Lei , Huang Gang , Liu Xuanzhe
Published: January 2024

Beyond an emerging popular web applications runtime supported in almost all commodity browsers, WebAssembly (WASM) is further regarded to be the next-generation execution environment for blockchain-based applications. Indeed, many popular blockchain platforms such as EOSIO and NEAR have adopted WASM-based execution engines. Most recently, WASM has been favored by Ethereum, the largest smart contract platform, to replace the state-of-the-art EVM. However, whether and how well current WASM outperforms EVM on blockchain clients is still unknown. This article conducts the first measurement study to understand the performance on WASM VMs and EVM for executing smart contracts for blockchain-based applications. To our surprise, the current WASM VM does not provide expected satisfactory performance. The overhead introduced by WASM is really non-trivial. Our results shed the light on challenges when deploying WASM in practice, and provide insightful implications for improvement space.
AMT-CDR: A Deep Adversarial Multi-Channel Transfer Network for Cross-Domain Recommendation
Authors: Lu Kezhi , Zhang Qian , Hughes Danny , Zhang Guangquan , Lu Jie
Published: January 2024

Recommender systems are one of the most successful applications of using AI for providing personalized e-services to customers. However, data sparsity is presenting enormous challenges that are hindering the further development of advanced recommender systems. Although cross-domain recommendation partly overcomes data sparsity by transferring knowledge from a source domain with relatively dense data to augment data in the target domain, the current methods do not handle heterogeneous data very well. For example, using today’s cross-domain transfer learning schemes with data comprising clicks, ratings, user reviews, item metadata, and knowledge graphs will likely result in a poorly performing model. User preferences will not be comprehensively profiled, and accurate recommendations will not be generated. To solve these three challenges—handling heterogeneous data, avoiding negative transfer, and dealing with data sparsity—we designed a new end-to-end deep
A
dversarial
M
ulti-channel
T
ransfer network for
C
ross-
D
omain
R
ecommendation named
AMT-CDR
. Heterogeneous data is handled by constructing a cross-domain graph based on real-world knowledge graphs—we used Freebase and YAGO. Negative transfer is prevented through an adversarial learning strategy that maintains consistency across the different data channels. Data sparsity is addressed with an end-to-end neural network that considers data across multiple channels and generates accurate recommendations by leveraging knowledge from both the source and target domains. Extensive experiments on three dual-target cross-domain recommendation tasks demonstrate the superiority of AMT-CDR compared to eight state-of-the-art methods. All source code is available at
https://github.com/bjtu-lucas-nlp/AMT-CDR
.
GIPC: Fast and Stable Gauss-Newton Optimization of IPC Barrier Energy
Authors: Huang Kemeng , Chitalu Floyd M. , Lin Huancheng , Komura Taku
Published: January 2024

Barrier functions are crucial for maintaining an intersection- and inversion-free simulation trajectory but existing methods, which directly use distance can restrict implementation design and performance. We present an approach to rewriting the barrier function for arriving at an efficient and robust approximation of its Hessian. The key idea is to formulate a simplicial geometric measure of contact using mesh boundary elements, from which analytic eigensystems are derived and enhanced with filtering and stiffening terms that ensure robustness with respect to the convergence of a Project-Newton solver. A further advantage of our rewriting of the barrier function is that it naturally caters to the notorious case of nearly parallel edge-edge contacts for which we also present a novel analytic eigensystem. Our approach is thus well suited for standard second-order unconstrained optimization strategies for resolving contacts, minimizing nonlinear nonconvex functions where the Hessian may be indefinite. The efficiency of our eigensystems alone yields a 3× speedup over the standard Incremental Potential Contact (IPC) barrier formulation. We further apply our analytic proxy eigensystems to produce an entirely GPU-based implementation of IPC with significant further acceleration.
Human Understanding and Perception of Unanticipated Robot Action in the Context of Physical Interaction
Authors: Abe Naoko , Hu Yue , Benallegue Mehdi , Yamanobe Natsuki , Venture Gentiane , Yoshida Eiichi
Published: January 2024

Anticipating a future scenario where the robot initiates its own actions and behaves voluntarily when collaborating with humans, our research focuses on human understanding and perception of unanticipated robot actions during physical human-robot interaction. While the current literature searches for key factors that make the human-robot collaboration successful, the question of how people experience the robot’s unanticipated action as cooperative or uncooperative seems to remain open. We designed a game-based experiment (N = 35) where the participant played a “catch-falling-coins” game by moving a robotic arm. Our experiment introduced unanticipated robot actions in an “active session” where the robot targeted higher-valued coins without first informing the participants. Through semi-structured interviews and statistical analysis of questionnaires (Big Five Personality Test, SAM, NARS and CH33), we examined the participants’ understanding of the robot’s “intention” and their positive or negative perception of the robot as cooperative or uncooperative. Among the participants who understood that the robot’s “intention” was to catch the higher-valued coins, the majority of them reported a positive perception of the robot (cooperative or helpful) while this was not the case among those who did not understand the robot’s intention. We also observed relevant relationships between some personality traits and a person’s understanding of the robot’s intention. Qualitative analysis of the interviews allowed us to structure the process of perception change during the game into three phases: confusion, investigation, and adaptation. We believe that our research contributes to the study of human perception, and particularly to the relationship between a human’s understanding of unanticipated robot actions and their positive or negative perception of the robot.
A Compositional Theory of Linearizability
Authors: Oliveira Vale Arthur , Shao Zhong , Chen Yixuan
Published: January 2024

Compositionality is at the core of programming languages research and has become an important goal toward scalable verification of large systems. Despite that, there is no compositional account of
linearizability
, the gold standard of correctness for concurrent objects.

In this article, we develop a compositional semantics for linearizable concurrent objects. We start by showcasing a common issue, which is independent of linearizability, in the construction of compositional models of concurrent computation: interaction with the neutral element for composition can lead to emergent behaviors, a hindrance to compositionality. Category theory provides a solution for the issue in the form of the Karoubi envelope. Surprisingly, and this is the main discovery of our work, this abstract construction is deeply related to linearizability and leads to a novel formulation of it. Notably, this new formulation neither relies on atomicity nor directly upon happens-before ordering and is only possible
because
of compositionality, revealing that linearizability and compositionality are intrinsically related to each other.

We use this new, and compositional, understanding of linearizability to revisit much of the theory of linearizability, providing novel, simple, algebraic proofs of the
locality
property and of an analogue of the equivalence with
observational refinement
. We show our techniques can be used in practice by connecting our semantics with a simple program logic that is nonetheless sound concerning this generalized linearizability.
Understanding Real-Time Collaborative Programming: A Study of Visual Studio Live Share
Authors: Tan Xin , Lv Xinyue , Jiang Jing , Zhang Li
Published: January 2024

Real-time collaborative programming (RCP) entails developers working simultaneously, regardless of their geographic locations. RCP differs from traditional asynchronous online programming methods, such as Git or SVN, where developers work independently and update the codebase at separate times. Although various real-time code collaboration tools (e.g.,
Visual Studio Live Share
,
Code with Me
, and
Replit
) have kept emerging in recent years, none of the existing studies explicitly focus on a deep understanding of the processes or experiences associated with RCP. To this end, we combine interviews and an e-mail survey with the users of
Visual Studio Live Share
, aiming to understand (i) the scenarios, (ii) the requirements, and (iii) the challenges when developers participate in RCP. We find that developers participate in RCP in 18 different scenarios belonging to six categories, e.g.,
pair programming
,
group debugging
, and
code review
. However, existing users’ attitudes toward the usefulness of the current RCP tools in these scenarios were significantly more negative than the expectations of potential users. As for the requirements, the most critical category is
live editing
, followed by the need for
sharing terminals
to enable hosts and guests to run commands and see the results, as well as
focusing and following
, which involves “following” the host’s edit location and “focusing” the guests’ attention on the host with a notification. Under these categories, we identify 17 requirements, but most of them are not well supported by current tools. In terms of challenges, we identify 19 challenges belonging to seven categories. The most severe category of challenges is
lagging
followed by
permissions and conflicts
. The above findings indicate that the current RCP tools and even collaborative environment need to be improved greatly and urgently. Based on these findings, we discuss the recommendations for different stakeholders, including practitioners, tool designers, and researchers.
Refining ChatGPT-Generated Code: Characterizing and Mitigating Code Quality Issues
Authors: Liu Yue , Le-Cong Thanh , Widyasari Ratnadira , Tantithamthavorn Chakkrit , Li Li , Le Xuan-Bach D. , Lo David
Published: January 2024

Since its introduction in November 2022, ChatGPT has rapidly gained popularity due to its remarkable ability in language understanding and human-like responses. ChatGPT, based on GPT-3.5 architecture, has shown great promise for revolutionizing various research fields, including code generation. However, the reliability and quality of code generated by ChatGPT remain unexplored, raising concerns about potential risks associated with the widespread use of ChatGPT-driven code generation.

In this article, we systematically study the quality of 4,066 ChatGPT-generated programs of code implemented in two popular programming languages, i.e., Java and Python, for 2,033 programming tasks. The goal of this work is threefold. First, we analyze the correctness of ChatGPT on code generation tasks and uncover the factors that influence its effectiveness, including task difficulty, programming language, time that tasks are introduced, and program size. Second, we identify and characterize potential issues with the quality of ChatGPT-generated code. Last, we provide insights into how these issues can be mitigated. Experiments highlight that out of 4,066 programs generated by ChatGPT, 2,756 programs are deemed correct, 1,082 programs provide wrong outputs, and 177 programs contain compilation or runtime errors. Additionally, we further analyze other characteristics of the generated code through static analysis tools, such as code style and maintainability, and find that 1,930 ChatGPT-generated code snippets suffer from maintainability issues. Subsequently, we investigate ChatGPT’s self-repairing ability and its interaction with static analysis tools to fix the errors uncovered in the previous step. Experiments suggest that ChatGPT can partially address these challenges, improving code quality by more than 20%, but there are still limitations and opportunities for improvement. Overall, our study provides valuable insights into the current limitations of ChatGPT and offers a roadmap for future research and development efforts to enhance the code generation capabilities of artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT.
Test Optimization in DNN Testing: A Survey
Authors: Hu Qiang , Guo Yuejun , Xie Xiaofei , Cordy Maxime , Ma Lei , Papadakis Mike , Le Traon Yves
Published: January 2024

This article presents a comprehensive survey on test optimization in deep neural network (DNN) testing. Here, test optimization refers to testing with low data labeling effort. We analyzed 90 papers, including 43 from the software engineering (SE) community, 32 from the machine learning (ML) community, and 15 from other communities. Our study: (i) unifies the problems as well as terminologies associated with low-labeling cost testing, (ii) compares the distinct focal points of SE and ML communities, and (iii) reveals the pitfalls in existing literature. Furthermore, we highlight the research opportunities in this domain.
Pulmonary Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis: An Unusual Differential for a Solitary Lung Nodule
Authors: Magliochetti Cammarata Tessabella M. , Gupta Sushan , Rallabhandi Sai Sri Harsha , Paul Vishesh
Published: January 2024

Background. Pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) commonly presents as bilateral reticulonodular and cystic lung changes on chest imaging. Isolated lung nodule presentation is rare. Case Presentation. Our patient was an elderly male and an active smoker, who was referred to the pulmonology clinic for an incidental 19 mm lung nodule seen on a chest CT scan. A CT-guided transthoracic needle biopsy was performed to rule out malignancy. The biopsy sample showed marked inflammatory infiltrate with abundant eosinophils and epithelioid histiocyte-like cells suggestive of Langerhans cell histiocytosis. Antibodies against CD1a and Langerhans were positive which confirmed the diagnosis. During follow-ups, the patient had reduced smoking, and the lung nodule had decreased in size to 14 mm. Conclusion. An isolated lung nodule in a patient with a smoking history always warrants a malignancy workup. Characteristic pathological findings with immunostaining are necessary to differentiate pulmonary LCH in these cases. Failure to perform immunostaining in such cases may lead to missing this vital diagnosis.
All-Textile Compact Ultra-Wideband Microstrip Antenna with Full Ground Plane for WBAN Applications
Authors: Du Jinxin , Wang Ruimeng , Li Haiyan , Yang Xue-Xia , Roblin Christophe
Published: January 2024

A novel low-profile all-textile microstrip antenna for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications in wireless body area networks (WBANs) is presented. The antenna incorporates flexible materials such as felt and conductive fabrics which provide optimal wearing comfort and durability. The use of a single dielectric substrate layer facilitates the integration process. The antenna also features a full background plane that minimizes the back radiation towards the human body. Multiple branches are designed in a compact area to generate adjacent resonances, and their combination achieves broadband characteristics across the 4.83–9.57 GHz frequency band. The antenna has a miniaturized size of 60 mm × 60 mm, which is 1.6λg × 1.6λg (where λg represents the guided wavelength at the center frequency), and it has a high realized gain of up to 10 dBi. The fully grounded structure also ensures good isolation between the antenna and the human body, thereby alleviating concerns regarding safety and radiation degradation in WBAN context. Simulation results indicate that the antenna maintains high performance levels during various bending tests. Given its favourable properties like ultra-wide bandwidth, compact size, low profile, high flexibility, and low specific absorption rate (SAR), the proposed design could find broad application prospects in high-speed WBAN systems.
Intelligent Optimization Model of Enterprise Financial Account Receivable Management
Authors: Peng Yunxiang , Tian Guixian
Published: January 2024

As a key component of enterprise assets, accounts receivable play an important role in enterprise financial management and determine the long‐term development of enterprises in the later period. In order to minimize the financial risk brought by the credit sales of enterprises, this subject studies the intelligent optimization of enterprise financial account receivable management. BP neural network and K‐means clustering algorithm are used to evaluate the risk of account receivable and the owner’s credit, respectively. The account balance accounts for 45.20% of the total amount, and the risk rating of accounts receivable is 4. The training result of BP neural network algorithm has high accuracy. With K‐means clustering algorithm, accurate evaluation of owner’s credit can be achieved, which can provide reference for optimization of enterprise account receivable management mode.
Peer Learning Has Double Effects in Clinical Research Education: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Nakao Hiro , Nomura Osamu , Nagata Chie , Ishiguro Akira
Published: January 2024

Background. Peer learning has been recognized for its effectiveness in health professional education. However, its effects on clinical research education are not clear and were explored qualitatively in this study. Methods. The peer-learning method was implemented in a clinical research education seminar for early-career physicians at a children’s and mothers’ hospital in 2019. We conducted semistructured interviews with participants about peer-learning experience and qualitatively analyzed verbatim transcripts using Engeström’s “activity theory” framework. Results. From framework analysis, learning processes were extracted mainly in four domains, namely, (a) instrument and its usage: research design and its match with research question, (b) outcome: research result, (c) community: seminar, and (d) division of labor: roles of participants and staff. Conclusions. In this report of a peer-learning trial in postgraduate clinical research education, the following two pathways of peer-learning effects were abstracted. The indirect pathway was the presentations by experienced participants providing concrete examples of research processes. The direct pathway was the questions from experienced participants to beginners about specific and concrete questions. There were also two points to consider in peer learning in clinical research education: gaps in premise knowledge and beginners’ frustration about expected outcomes. We believe that these extracted pathways and points imply the significance and considerations for continuing the peer-learning trial in clinical research education. Future tasks are to promote clinical research education with a view to the learning effects, not only on individuals, but also on groups.
PM2.5 Causes Increased Bacterial Invasion by Affecting HBD1 Expression in the Lung
Authors: Zheng Tianqi , Wang Yajun , Zhou Zheng , Chen Shuyang , Jiang Jinjun , Chen Shujing
Published: January 2024

Our research addresses the critical environmental issue of a fine particulate matter (PM2.5), focusing on its association with the increased infection risks. We explored the influence of PM2.5 on human beta‐defensin 1 (HBD1), an essential peptide in mucosal immunity found in the airway epithelium. Using C57BL/6J mice and human bronchial epithelial cells (HBE), we examined the effects of PM2.5 exposure followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) infection on HBD1 expression at both mRNA and protein levels. The study revealed that PM2.5’s toxicity to epithelial cells and animals varies with time and concentration. Notably, HBE cells exposed to PM2.5 and P. aeruginosa showed increased bacterial invasion and decreased HBD1 expression compared to the cells exposed to P. aeruginosa alone. Similarly, mice studies indicated that combined exposure to PM2.5 and P. aeruginosa significantly reduced survival rates and increased bacterial invasion. These harmful effects, however, were alleviated by administering exogenous HBD1. Furthermore, our findings highlight the activation of MAPK and NF‐κB pathways following PM2.5 exposure. Inhibiting these pathways effectively increased HBD1 expression and diminished bacterial invasion. In summary, our study establishes that PM2.5 exposure intensifies P. aeruginosa invasion in both HBE cells and mouse models, primarily by suppressing HBD1 expression. This effect can be counteracted with exogenous HBD1, with the downregulation mechanism involving the MAPK and NF‐κB pathways. Our study endeavors to elucidate the pathogenesis of lung infections associated with PM2.5 exposure, providing a novel theoretical basis for the development of prevention and treatment strategies, with substantial clinical significance.
Antibiotic Resistance Profile of E. coli Isolates from Lettuce, Poultry Manure, Irrigation Water, and Soil in Kumasi, Ghana
Authors: Anokyewaa Appau Abigail Abena , Ofori Linda Aurelia
Published: January 2024

Inputs such as irrigation water and poultry manure used in lettuce cultivation have been found to be associated with antibiotic‐resistant pathogens. The study assessed the antibiotic resistance profile of Escherichia coli isolated from lettuce, poultry manure, irrigation water, and soil in Kumasi. One hundred and fifty‐six samples of lettuce, irrigation water, soil, and manure were collected from three farms over a seven‐week cultivation period (seedlings to harvest stage). E. coli were enumerated using standard methods. 98% of the samples were positive for E. coli. Geometric means for lettuce, irrigation water, and soil ranged from 2.0 × 105 to 1.67 × 107 MPN/100 ml while that of manure ranged from 2.0 × 105 to 1.31 × 107 MPN/100 ml. Generally, the microbial load of all parameters on all farms across the weeks was significant and exceeded World Health Organization (WHO) and International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods (ICMSF) standard recommendations for food. Using the Kirby Bauer method, antibiotic sensitivity testing was performed against 225 biochemically confirmed E. coli with twelve antibiotics. Relatively high resistance was recorded for some members of the beta‐lactam class: meropenem: 94.2%, ampicillin: 91.9%, cefuroxime: 95.1%, ceftriaxone: 94.7%, and cefotaxime: 94.2%. Eighty of the isolates were screened for extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) production using cefotaxime (CTX) and cefotaxime/clavulanic acid (CTX/CLA) discs and three showed positive: one each from poultry manure, irrigation water, and soil. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) confirmed the presence of blaCTX-M gene. The occurrence of antibiotic‐resistant E. coli in vegetables and their production environment is alarming and poses serious health threats to the general public. The presence of blaCTX-M gene in E. coli from a vegetable production site recorded for the first time in Ghana requires enforcement by regulatory bodies on the inappropriate use of antibiotics in the country.
Reducing Bias in Beta Regression Models Using Jackknifed Liu-Type Estimators: Applications to Chemical Data
Authors: Seifollahi Solmaz , Bevrani Hossein , Albalawi Olayan
Published: January 2024

In the field of chemical data modeling, it is common to encounter response variables that are constrained to the interval (0, 1). In such cases, the beta regression model is often a more suitable choice for modeling. However, like any regression model, collinearity can present a significant challenge. To address this issue, the Liu-type estimator has been used as an alternative to the maximum likelihood estimator, but it suffers from bias. In this paper, we introduce the Jackknifed Liu-type estimator and its modified version, which demonstrate improved bias reduction compared to the original Liu-type estimator. We assess the theoretical and numerical performance of these estimators through Monte Carlo simulations and real-data examples from the field of chemistry. Our findings highlight the significant improvements offered by the proposed estimators in terms of accuracy and reliability.
Synthesis of Lignin Nanoparticles and Their Application in the Stabilization of Water‐in‐Water Pickering Emulsions: A New Technology for Valorization of Lignin from Sugarcane Bagasse
Authors: Pedro Marcelo da Silva , Feitosa Davi Finamori Lopes , Costa Filho José Daladiê Barreto da , Rios Nathalia Saraiva , Santos Everaldo Silvino dos , Souza Domingos Fabiano de Santana , Padilha Carlos Eduardo de Araújo , Oliveira Jackson Araújo de
Published: January 2024

Water‐in‐water (w/w) emulsions can mimic biological environments, and their stability is ensured by adding nanoparticles capable of adsorbing at liquid‐liquid interfaces. To enhance the properties of w/w emulsions, there is a search for new sources of nanoparticles that are attractive for the food and biomedical fields. Thus, the present study investigated the use of sugarcane bagasse lignin (a cheap, nontoxic, and biodegradable polymer) as a source of nanoparticles for Pickering emulsions with maltodextrin (MD) and polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000). The nanoparticles were prepared from alkaline lignin (ALNP) and oxidized alkaline lignin (OLNP), and their application was performed using different dosages in the w/w systems (0%, 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, and 1%, wt/wt). The nanoparticles presented different sizes, with OLNPs (327.8 nm) being smaller than ALNPs (689.8 nm). The systems with OLNPs showed better emulsification indices and smaller droplet sizes than systems with ALNPs. The concentration of nanoparticles and the volume of the dispersed phase influence the stability of the studied emulsion. The most promising stabilization results were obtained at a concentration of 1% wt/wt of OLNPs with an emulsification index of up to 63%. These results, combined with the extensive availability of functional groups in lignin, make this polymer a potential candidate for advanced studies of w/w emulsions.