bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Can search-based testing with pareto optimization effectively cover failure-revealing test inputs?
Authors: Sorokin Lev , Safin Damir , Nejati Shiva 
Published: November 2024

AbstractSearch-based software testing (SBST) is a widely-adopted technique for testing complex systems with large input spaces, such as Deep Learning-enabled (DL-enabled) systems. Many SBST techniques focus on Pareto-based optimization where multiple objectives are optimized in parallel to reveal failures. However, it is important to ensure that identified failures are spread throughout the entire failure-inducing area of a search domain, and not clustered in a sub-region. This ensures that identified failures are semantically diverse and reveal a wide range of underlying causes. In this paper, we present a theoretical argument explaining why testing based on Pareto optimization is inadequate for covering failure-inducing areas within a search domain. We support our argument with empirical results obtained by applying two widely used types of Pareto-based optimization techniques, namely NSGA-II (an evolutionary algorithm) and OMOPSO (a swarm-based algorithm), to two DL-enabled systems: an industrial Automated Valet Parking (AVP) system and a system for classifying handwritten digits. We measure the coverage of failure-revealing test inputs in the input space using a metric, that we refer to as the Coverage Inverted Distance (CID) quality indicator. Our results show that NSGA-II and OMOPSO are not more effective than a naïve random search baseline in covering test inputs that reveal failures. We show that this comparison remains valid for failure-inducing regions of various sizes of these two case studies. Further, we show that incorporating a diversity-focused fitness function as well as a repopulation operator in NSGA-II improves, on average, the coverage difference between NSGA-II and random search by 52.1%. However, even after diversification, NSGA-II still does not outperform random testing in covering test inputs that reveal failures. The replication package for this study is available in a GitHub repository (Replication package. https://github.com/ast-fortiss-tum/coverage-emse-24 2024.
Extreme Events Contributing to Tipping Elements and Tipping Points
Authors: Romanou A. , Hegerl G. C. , Seneviratne S. I. , Abis B. , Bastos A. , Conversi A. , Landolfi A. , Kim H. , Lerner P. E. , Mekus J. , Otto-Bliesner B. L. , Pausata F. S. R. , Pinto I. , Suarez-Guiterrez L. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThis review article provides a synthesis and perspective on how weather and climate extreme events can play a role in influencing tipping elements and triggering tipping points in the Earth System. An example of a potential critical global tipping point, induced by climate extremes in an increasingly warmer climate, is Amazon rainforest dieback that could be driven by regional increases in droughts and exacerbated by fires, in addition to deforestation. A tipping element associated with the boreal forest might also be vulnerable to heat, drought and fire. An oceanic example is the potential collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation due to extreme variability in freshwater inputs, while marine heatwaves and high acidity extremes can lead to coral reef collapse. Extreme heat events may furthermore play an important role in ice sheet, glacier and permafrost stability. Regional severe extreme events could also lead to tipping in ecosystems, as well as in human systems, in response to climate drivers. However, substantial scientific uncertainty remains on mechanistic links between extreme events and tipping points. Earth observations are of high relevance to evaluate and constrain those links between extreme events and tipping elements, by determining conditions leading to delayed recovery with a potential for tipping in the atmosphere, on land, in vegetation, and in the ocean. In the subsurface ocean, there is a lack of consistent, synoptic and high frequency observations of changes in both ocean physics and biogeochemistry. This review article shows the importance of considering the interface between extreme events and tipping points, two topics usually addressed in isolation, and the need for continued monitoring to observe early warning signs and to evaluate Earth system response to extreme events as well as improving model skill in simulating extremes, compound extremes and tipping elements.
Diffusion of radioactive anion and cation in silver-calcium-bentonite
Authors: Nagy Noémi M. , Kónya József 
Published: November 2024

AbstractIn the geological disposal of nuclear waste, the simultaneous reduction of diffusion rate of cationic and anionic radioactive species is essential. Natural calcium-bentonite only reduces the diffusion rate of cations, not anions. In this study, the half of calcium ions is bentonite was exchanged to silver ions to reduce diffusion rates of both of radioactive cation (137Cs+) and anions (36Cl−, 131I−) at the same time. This is due to the precipitation of silver halides in the interlayer space. The diffusion rate of both anionic and cationic radioactive species are small in compacted the silver-calcium bentonite.
Understanding the effect of experimental variables on the recovery of 231Pa from siliceous cake using factorial design
Authors: Dalvi Aditi A. , Remya Devi P. S. , Swain Kallola K. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractFour-factor (oxalic acid concentration, contact time, temperature, ultra-sound), two-level experimental design was applied during the recovery of 231Pa from siliceous cake—a solid radioactive-waste, produced in monazite processing. Oxalic acid (0.5 to 1.1 M) had the highest positive (F = 1018.6) and ultrasound had the least (F = 33.0) impact on recovery. All inter-factor interactions were significant, as Fcalculated < Fcritical and P < 0.05. Enthalpy of protactinium-oxalate complexation was found to be − 24.8 kJ mol−1. The regression coefficient (0.9853), randomness and magnitude (< ± 2) of fitted residuals explicated the suitability of present statistical model for predictive analysis.
Current evaluation of radiation hazards from sediments of Manzala Lake, Egypt
Authors: Abd El-Hamid Hazem T. , El-Emam Doaa A. , Eissa Hassan S. , El-Alfy Muhammad A. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractSurface sediment samples were collected from 12 different sites in Manzala Lake for measuring 238U, 226Ra, 232Th and 40K. Those elements were measured using High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. The concentrations of radionuclides were within the UNSCEAR limits. Various indices were applied to detect the environmental and human risk assessment for example activity utilization index, external hazard index and others. Environmental Risk from Ionising Contaminants: Assessment and Management (ERICA) tool was applied and showed no considered biological hazards. The results showed that concentrations of radionuclides in sediments of Manzala Lake were within the safe limits for further uses.
Degradation mechanism of dual-phase thermal barrier coatings Gd2Zr2O7 + 8YSZ under hot corrosion in pure Na2SO4
Authors: Iqbal Amjad , Moskal Grzegorz , Witala Bartosz 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
The research presented in the article concerns the identification and characterisation of degradation mechanisms of two-phase coating thermal barriers based on the 8YSZ/Gd2Zr2O7 (8YSZ/GZO) system, and analysed under the conditions of exposure to pure sulphate salts of the Na2SO4 type. The scope of the presented research included the characterisation of microstructural phenomena in conditions of heating at a temperature of 920 °C for 240 h, followed by heating at a temperature of 970 °C for another 96 h until visually significant degradation effects of the ceramic coating were achieved. Detailed studies of the phase and chemical composition using XRD and SEM/EDS methods were carried out on the surface of the tested coatings and their cross sections to describe microstructural phenomena. The analysis of the phase composition of the ceramic layer showed the course of degradation processes based on the disintegration of the pyrochlore phase into intermediate forms of non-stoichiometric fluorite with the simultaneous enrichment of tetragonal zirconium oxide into a cubic form with a high content of the stabilising phase (Gd2O3). Tests on model powder systems confirmed the degradation mechanism of two-phase TBC coatings.
Hate-Speech Bans are at Odds with Central Principles of Liberalism
Authors: Kramer Matthew H. 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
In line with my 2021 book Freedom of Expression as Self-Restraint – albeit in a much shorter compass – this essay will argue against the moral defensibility of hate-speech laws like those in the United Kingdom and Canada and the Antipodes and most countries of western Europe. Such laws contravene the moral principle of freedom of expression, and therefore contravene one of the central precepts of liberal democracy. Under that principle, a necessary condition for the moral permissibility of any law that proscribes some type or instance of communicative activity is that the activity in question is constitutive of serious communication-independent wrongdoing. Given the centrality of the notion of communication-independent wrongdoing to the principle of freedom of expression, we should begin here with an explication of that notion.
Pious people, patronage jobs, and the labor market: Turkey under Erdoğan’s AKP
Authors: Oyvat Cem , Tekgüç Hasan , Yagci Alper H. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractIn fragmented societies, electoral competition often entails using public office to advance group interests. Using individual-level polling data from 2012 to 2018, we analyze whether age cohorts entering the labor market before and after the religiously conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) assumed power in Turkey experienced different public employment outcomes based on their religion and religiosity. Our analysis reveals that under the AKP rule, pious Sunnis (who constitute a large part of the society) significantly increased their presence in public sector employment (notably among women) and in high-status private jobs (notably among men). Furthermore, the subset of highly religious Sunnis (only 9.3% of the population) improved their likelihood of being employed in the public sector compared to other pious Sunnis and everyone else. Our findings are likely to be driven by the lifting of the headscarf ban in public employment and AKP’s strategic use of public employment and resources to reward like-minded groups in both the public and private spheres.
The Multi-State Epigenetic Pacemaker enables the identification of combinations of factors that influence DNA methylation
Authors: Farrell Colin , Tandon Keshiv , Ferrari Roberto , Lapborisuth Kalsuda , Modi Rahil , Snir Sagi , Pellegrini Matteo 
Published: November 2024

AbstractEpigenetic clocks, DNA methylation-based predictive models of chronological age, are often utilized to study aging associated biology. Despite their widespread use, these methods do not account for other factors that also contribute to the variability of DNA methylation data. For example, many CpG sites show strong sex-specific or cell-type-specific patterns that likely impact the predictions of epigenetic age. To overcome these limitations, we developed a multidimensional extension of the Epigenetic Pacemaker, the Multi-state Epigenetic Pacemaker (MSEPM). We show that the MSEPM is capable of accurately modeling multiple methylation-associated factors simultaneously, while also providing site-specific models that describe the per site relationship between methylation and these factors. We utilized the MSEPM with a large aggregate cohort of blood methylation data to construct models of the effects of age-, sex-, and cell-type heterogeneity on DNA methylation. We found that these models capture a large faction of the variability at thousands of DNA methylation sites. Moreover, this approach allows us to identify sites that are primarily affected by aging and no other factors. An analysis of these sites reveals that those that lose methylation over time are enriched for CTCF transcription factor chip peaks, while those that gain methylation over time are associated with bivalent promoters of genes that are not expressed in blood. These observations suggest mechanisms that underlie age-associated methylation changes and suggest that age-associated increases in methylation may not have strong functional consequences on cell states. In conclusion, the MSEPM is capable of accurately modeling multiple methylation-associated factors, and the models produced can illuminate site-specific combinations of factors that affect methylation dynamics.
Artificial Intelligence in Achieving Sustainable Development: Expectations of Undergraduate Students
Authors: Kim Jinhee 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
While there has been ample discussion regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI)’s contributions and challenges on the development agenda at the policy level, little is known about how students translate the potential and barriers of AI in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Drawing upon various qualitative data, including class observation, focus group interviews, and learning activity outcomes generated by 240 students across 7 different majors, this case study explores the expected roles of AI as well as barriers to AI adoption for sustainable development perceived by undergraduate students. The study revealed that students anticipated AI to play diverse roles, including data analyst, a bridge to connect people and resources, and a barrier breaker. On the other hand, students addressed multiple barriers to AI adoption for sustainable development including access to high-quality data and lack of a goal-oriented AI model and skills in AI development and use. These findings suggest how AI can be conceptualized and positioned as a development intervention as well as offer implications on AI-driven interventions for SDGs.
Comparative analysis of image quality and diagnostic performance among SS-EPI, MS-EPI, and rFOV DWI in bladder cancer
Authors: Takeuchi Mitsuru , Higaki Atsushi , Kojima Yuichi , Ono Kentaro , Maruhisa Takuma , Yokoyama Takatoshi , Watanabe Hiroyuki , Yamamoto Akira , Tamada Tsutomu 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
Purpose
To compare image quality and diagnostic performance among SS-EPI diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), multi-shot (MS) EPI DWI, and reduced field-of-view (rFOV) DWI for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC).

Materials and methods
This retrospective study included 73 patients with bladder cancer who underwent multiparametric MRI in our referral center between August 2020 and February 2023. Qualitative image assessment was performed in 73; and quantitative assessment was performed in 66 patients with maximum lesion diameter > 10 mm. The diagnostic performance of the imaging finding of muscle invasion was evaluated in 47 patients with pathological confirmation of MIBC. T2-weighted imaging, SS-EPI DWI, MS-EPI DWI, rFOV DWI, and dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging were acquired with 3 T-MRI. Qualitative image assessment was performed by three readers who rated anatomical distortion, clarity of bladder wall, and lesion conspicuity using a four-point scale. Quantitative assessment included calculation of SNR and CNR, and grading of the presence of muscle layer invasion according to the VI-RADS diagnostic criteria. Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank test was used to compare qualitative and quantitative image quality. McNemar test and receiver-operating characteristic analysis were used to compare diagnostic performance.

Results
Anatomical distortion was less in MS-EPI DWI, rFOV DWI, and SS-EPI DWI, in that order with significant difference. Clarity of bladder wall was greater for MS-EPI DWI, SS-EPI DWI, and rFOV DWI, in that order. There were significant differences between any two combinations of the three DWI types, except between SS-EPI DWI and MS-EPI in Reader 1. Lesion conspicuity, diagnostic performance, SNR and CNR were not significantly different among the three DWI types.

Conclusions
Among the three DWI sequences evaluated, MS-EPI DWI showed the least anatomical distortion and superior bladder wall delineation but no improvement in diagnostic performance for MIBC. MS-EPI DWI may be considered for additional imaging if SS-EPI DWI is of poor quality.
Habitat association and demographic rates for large tree species: implications for native tree species used in forestry
Authors: Bin Yue , Cao Honglin , Rodríguez-Hernández Diego I. , Wang Zi , Chu Chengjin , Li Buhang 
Published: November 2024

AbstractExotic tree species, though widely used in forestry and restoration projects, pose great threats to local ecosystems. They need to be replaced with native species from natural forests. We hypothesized that natural forests contain large, fast-growing, dominant native tree species that are suitable for specific topographic conditions in forestry. We tested this hypothesis using data from a 50-ha forest dynamics plot in subtropical China. We classified the plot into the ridge, slope, and valley habitats and found that 34/87 species had significant associations with at least one topographic habitat. There were 90 tree species with a maximum diameter ≥ 30 cm, and their abundances varied widely in all habitat types. In all habitat types, for most species, rate of biomass gain due to recruitment was < 1% of its original biomass, and rate of biomass gain due to tree growth was between 1 and 5% of its original biomass. For most species, biomass loss due to tree mortality was not significantly different than biomass gain due to recruitment, but the resulting net biomass increment rates did not significantly differ from zero. The time required to reach a diameter of 30 cm from 1 cm diameter for Altingia chinensis in the slope habitat, for Quercus chungii and Morella rubra in the ridge habitat and for Castanopsis carlesii in all habitats could be as short as 30 years in our simulations based on actual distributions of tree growth observed in the forest. Principal component analyses of maximum diameter, abundance and net biomass increment rates suggested several species were worthy of further tests for use in forestry. Our study provides an example for screening native tree species from natural forests for forestry. Because native tree species are better for local ecosystems, our study will also contribute to biodiversity conservation in plantations.
Climate-smart forestry: an AI-enabled sustainable forest management solution for climate change adaptation and mitigation
Authors: Wang G. Geoff , Lu Deliang , Gao Tian , Zhang Jinxin , Sun Yirong , Teng Dexiong , Yu Fengyuan , Zhu Jiaojun 
Published: November 2024

AbstractClimate change is the most severe ecological challenge faced by the world today. Forests, the dominant component of terrestrial ecosystems, play a critical role in mitigating climate change due to their powerful carbon sequestration capabilities. Meanwhile, climate change has also become a major factor affecting the sustainable management of forest ecosystems. Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) is an emerging concept in sustainable forest management. By utilizing advanced technologies, such as information technology and artificial intelligence, CSF aims to develop innovative and proactive forest management methods and decision-making systems to address the challenges of climate change. CSF aims to enhance forest ecosystem resilience (i.e., maintain a condition where, even when the state of the ecosystem changes, the ecosystem functions do not deteriorate) through climate change adaptation, improve the mitigation capabilities of forest ecosystems to climate change, maintain high, stable, and sustainable forest productivity and ecosystem services, and ultimately achieve harmonious development between humans and nature. This concept paper: (1) discusses the emergence and development of CSF, which integrates Ecological Forestry, Carbon Forestry, and Smart Forestry, and proposes the concept of CSF; (2) analyzes the goals of CSF in improving forest ecosystem stability, enhancing forest ecosystem carbon sequestration capacity, and advocating the application and development of new technologies in CSF, including artificial intelligence, robotics, Light Detection and Ranging, and forest digital twin; (3) presents the latest practices of CSF based on prior research on forest structure and function using new generation information technologies at Qingyuan Forest, China. From these practices and reflections, we suggested the development direction of CSF, including the key research topics and technological advancement.
On Compactness of Products of Toeplitz Operators
Authors: Le Trieu , Rodriguez Tomas Miguel , Şahutoğlu Sönmez 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
We study compactness of product of Toeplitz operators with symbols continuous on the closure of the polydisc in terms of behavior of the symbols on the boundary. For certain classes of symbols f and g, we show that

$$T_fT_g$$

T
f

T
g

is compact if and only if fg vanishes on the boundary. We provide examples to show that for more general symbols, the vanishing of fg on the whole polydisc might not imply the compactness of

$$T_fT_g$$

T
f

T
g

. On the other hand, the reverse direction is closely related to the zero product problem for Toeplitz operators on the unit disc, which is still open.
Apraxia: From Neuroanatomical Pathways to Clinical Manifestations
Authors: Stoll Sarah , Lorentz Lukas , Binkofski Ferdinand , Randerath Jennifer 
Published: November 2024

Abstract
Purpose of Review
Apraxia typically involves impairments in gesture production and tool use, affecting daily life activities. This article reviews current conceptualizations and developments in diagnostic and therapy.

Recent Findings
Apraxia has been studied in various neurological conditions, particularly stroke and dementia, but recent studies show gesturing deficits in psychiatric populations as well. Promising results have emerged from integrative treatment approaches involving intensive practice of gestures or daily activities. However, several reviews have noted the only marginal progress in apraxia therapy research despite new technologies, like virtual reality and brain stimulation, offering fresh opportunities for assessment and therapy.

Summary
Advances in lesion-symptom mapping and connectivity analyses led to more detailed neuroanatomical models emphasizing parallel and gradual processing. These models facilitate the understanding of underlying mechanisms of motor cognitive performance and its decline. Finally, the digital era prompts the need to study digital tool use in apraxia, with initial efforts underway.