bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Enhancing Interfacial Strength and Wettability for Wide‐Temperature Sodium Metal Batteries
Authors: Xia Xianming , Yang Yi , Chen Kaizhi , Xu Shitan , Tang Fang , Liu Lin , Xu Chen , Rui Xianhong 
Published: April 2023

AbstractDevelopment of high‐performance sodium metal batteries (SMBs) with a wide operating temperature range (from −40 to 55 °C) is highly challenging. Herein, an artificial hybrid interlayer composed of sodium phosphide (Na3P) and metal vanadium (V) is constructed for wide‐temperature‐range SMBs via vanadium phosphide pretreatment. As evidenced by simulation, the VP‐Na interlayer can regulate redistribution of Na+ flux, which is beneficial for homogeneous Na deposition. Moreover, the experimental results confirm that the artificial hybrid interlayer possesses a high Young's modulus and a compact structure, which can effectively suppress Na dendrite growth and alleviate the parasitic reaction even at 55 °C. In addition, the VP‐Na interlayer exhibits the capability to knock down the kinetic barriers for fast Na+ transportation, realizing a 30‐fold decrease in impedance at −40 °C. Symmetrical VP‐Na cells present a prolonged lifespan reaching 1200, 500, and 500 h at room temperature, 55 °C and −40 °C, respectively. In Na3V2(PO4)3||VP‐Na full cells, a high reversible capacity of 88, 89.8, and 50.3 mAh g−1 can be sustained after 1600, 1000, and 600 cycles at room temperature, 55 °C and −40 °C, respectively. The pretreatment formed artificial hybrid interlayer proves to be an effective strategy to achieve wide‐temperature‐range SMBs.
Grain Size Engineering of CVD‐Grown Large‐Area Graphene Films
Authors: Xin Xing , Chen Jiamei , Ma Laipeng , Ma Teng , Xin Wei , Xu Haiyang , Ren Wencai , Liu Yichun 
Published: April 2023

AbstractGraphene, a single atomic layer of graphitic carbon, has attracted much attention because of its outstanding properties hold great promise for a wide range of technological applications. Large‐area graphene films (GFs) grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are highly desirable for both investigating their intrinsic properties and realizing their practical applications. However, the presence of grain boundaries (GBs) has significant impacts on their properties and related applications. According to the different grain sizes, GFs can be divided into polycrystalline, single‐crystal, and nanocrystalline films. In the past decade, considerable progress has been made in engineering the grain sizes of GFs by modifying the CVD processes or developing some new growth approaches. The key strategies involve controlling the nucleation density, growth rate, and grain orientation. This review aims to provide a comprehensive description of grain size engineering research of GFs. The main strategies and underlying growth mechanisms of CVD‐grown large‐area GFs with nanocrystalline, polycrystalline, and single‐crystal structures are summarized, in which the advantages and limitations are highlighted. In addition, the scaling law of physical properties in electricity, mechanics, and thermology as a function of grain sizes are briefly discussed. Finally, the perspectives for challenges and future development in this area are also presented.
Burrows provided shelter for tetrapods in a Permo‐Triassic desert
Authors: Francischini Heitor , Dentzien‐Dias Paula , Battista Francesco , Sipp Gabriel S. , Melo Tomaz P. , Scherer Claiton M. S. , Schultz Cesar L. 
Published: April 2023

AbstractWe describe for the first time the presence of straight, curved and quasi‐helical burrows preserved in plan, oblique and transversal views in the aeolian strata of the Permo‐Triassic Buena Vista Formation (Paraná Basin), Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. The morphology of the burrows is similar to that of others found in Guadalupian to Early Triassic‐aged deposits in several parts of the world. Of these, middle Permian dicynodont‐bearing helical burrows (Daimonelix) and Early–Middle Triassic kidney‐shaped burrows (Reniformichnus), both from the Karoo Basin of South Africa, show a remarkable similarity to the Brazilian burrows, prompting a discussion of the probable producers. Dicynodonts, cynodonts, therocephalian and/or procolophonians are among the probable producers of such burrows, based on size compatibility between the burrows and estimates of body size for the fossil taxa, along with the presence of skeletal adaptations in Permo‐Triassic tetrapods for digging (bone micro‐ and macrostructure). Last, we discuss some behavioural aspects of the producer of the burrows, mainly due to the presence of passive filling and bilobate bottoms in the tunnels, which indicates that they remained open as long as they were occupied. The burrows were excavated in a dry aeolian system that occurred in the Guadalupian–Induan interval of Brazil, representing the oldest unambiguous record of tetrapod dwelling structures in such an environment, and providing new and unprecedented information regarding the colonization of deserts by tetrapods during the end‐Permian biotic crisis.
Using Virtual Filtering Approach to Discriminate Microalgae by Spectral Flow Cytometer
Authors: Barteneva Natasha S. , Kussanova Aigul , Dashkova Veronika , Meirkhanova Ayagoz , Vorobjev Ivan A. 
Published: April 2023

AbstractFluorescence methods are widely used for the study of marine and freshwater phytoplankton communities. However, the identification of different microalgae populations by the analysis of autofluorescence signals remains a challenge. Addressing the issue, we developed a novel approach using the flexibility of spectral flow cytometry analysis (SFC) and generating a matrix of virtual filters (VF) which allowed thorough examination of autofluorescence spectra. Using this matrix, different spectral emission regions of algae species were analyzed, and five major algal taxa were discriminated. These results were further applied for tracing particular microalgae taxa in the complex mixtures of laboratory and environmental algal populations. An integrated analysis of single algal events combined with unique spectral emission fingerprints and light scattering parameters of microalgae can be used to differentiate major microalgal taxa. We propose a protocol for the quantitative assessment of heterogenous phytoplankton communities at the single-cell level and monitoring of phytoplankton bloom detection using a virtual filtering approach on a spectral flow cytometer (SFC-VF).
Imaging Flow Cytometry of Multi-Nuclearity
Authors: Vorobjev Ivan A. , Bekbayev Sultan , Temirgaliyev Adil , Tlegenova Madina , Barteneva Natasha S. 
Published: April 2023

AbstractMulti-nuclearity is a common feature for cells in different cancers. Also, analysis of multi-nuclearity in cultured cells is widely used for evaluating the toxicity of different drugs. Multi-nuclear cells in cancer and under drug treatments form from aberrations in cell division and/or cytokinesis. These cells are a hallmark of cancer progression, and the abundance of multi-nucleated cells often correlates with poor prognosis.The use of standard bright field or fluorescent microscopy to analyze multi-nuclearity at the quantitative level is laborious and can suffer from user bias. Automated slide-scanning microscopy can eliminate scorer bias and improve data collection. However, this method has limitations, such as insufficient visibility of multiple nuclei in the cells attached to the substrate at low magnification.Since quantification of multi-nuclear cells using microscopic methods might be difficult, imaging flow cytometry (IFC) is a method of choice for this. We describe the experimental protocol for the preparation of the samples of multi-nucleated cells from the attached cultures and the algorithm for the analysis of these cells by IFC. Images of multi-nucleated cells obtained after mitotic arrest induced by taxol, as well as cells obtained after cytokinesis blockade by cytochalasin D treatment, can be acquired at a maximal resolution of IFC. We suggest two algorithms for the discrimination of single-nucleus and multi-nucleated cells. The advantages and disadvantages of IFC analysis of multi-nuclear cells in comparison with microscopy are discussed.
Extending a High-Performance Prover to Higher-Order Logic
Authors: Vukmirović Petar , Blanchette Jasmin , Schulz Stephan 
Published: April 2023

AbstractMost users of proof assistants want more proof automation. Some proof assistants discharge goals by translating them to first-order logic and invoking an efficient prover on them, but much is lost in translation. Instead, we propose to extend first-order provers with native support for higher-order features. Building on our extension of E to$$\lambda $$-free higher-order logic, we extend E to full higher-order logic. The result is the strongest prover on benchmarks exported from a proof assistant.
CoPTIC: Constraint Programming Translated Into C
Authors: Lester Martin Mariusz 
Published: April 2023

AbstractConstraint programming systems allow a diverse range of problems to be modelled and solved. Most systems require the user to learn a new constraint programming language, which presents a barrier to novice and casual users. To address this problem, we present the CoPTIC constraint programming system, which allows the user to write a model in the well-known programming language C, augmented with a simple API to support using a guess-and-check paradigm. The resulting model is at most as complex as an ordinary C program that uses naive brute force to solve the same problem.CoPTIC uses the bounded model checker CBMC to translate the model into a SAT instance, which is solved using the SAT solver CaDiCaL. We show that, while this is less efficient than a direct translation from a dedicated constraint language into SAT, performance remains adequate for casual users. CoPTIC supports constraint satisfaction and optimisation problems, as well as enumeration of multiple solutions. After a solution has been found, CoPTIC allows the model to be run with the solution; this makes it easy to debug a model, or to print the solution in any desired format.
Taming Large Bounds in Synthesis from Bounded-Liveness Specifications
Authors: Heim Philippe , Dimitrova Rayna 
Published: April 2023

AbstractAutomatic synthesis from temporal logic specifications is an attractive alternative to manual system design, due to its ability to generate correct-by-construction implementations from high-level specifications. Due to the high complexity of the synthesis problem, significant research efforts have been directed at developing practically efficient approaches for restricted specification language fragments. In this paper we focus on the fragment of Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) syntactically extended with bounded temporal operators. We propose a new synthesis approach with the primary motivation to solve efficiently the synthesis problem for specifications with bounded temporal operators, in particular those with large bounds. The experimental evaluation of our method shows that for this type of specifications it outperforms state-of-art synthesis tools, demonstrating that it is a promising approach to efficiently treating quantitative timing constraints in safety specifications.
New Core-Guided and Hitting Set Algorithms for Multi-Objective Combinatorial Optimization
Authors: Cortes João , Lynce Inês , Manquinho Vasco 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
In the last decade, numerous algorithms for single-objective Boolean optimization have been proposed that rely on the iterative usage of a highly effective Propositional Satisfiability (SAT) solver. But the use of SAT solvers in Multi-Objective Combinatorial Optimization (MOCO) algorithms is still scarce. Due to this shortage of efficient tools for MOCO, many real-world applications formulated as multi-objective are simplified to single-objective, using either a linear combination or a lexicographic ordering of the objective functions to optimize.In this paper, we extend the state of the art of MOCO solvers with two novel unsatisfiability-based algorithms. The first is a core-guided MOCO solver. The second is a hitting set-based MOCO solver. Experimental results in several sets of benchmark instances show that our new unsatisfiability-based algorithms can outperform state-of-the-art SAT-based algorithms for MOCO.
OccRob: Efficient SMT-Based Occlusion Robustness Verification of Deep Neural Networks
Authors: Guo Xingwu , Zhou Ziwei , Zhang Yueling , Katz Guy , Zhang Min 
Published: April 2023

AbstractOcclusion is a prevalent and easily realizable semantic perturbation to deep neural networks (DNNs). It can fool a DNN into misclassifying an input image by occluding some segments, possibly resulting in severe errors. Therefore, DNNs planted in safety-critical systems should be verified to be robust against occlusions prior to deployment. However, most existing robustness verification approaches for DNNs are focused on non-semantic perturbations and are not suited to the occlusion case. In this paper, we propose the first efficient, SMT-based approach for formally verifying the occlusion robustness of DNNs. We formulate the occlusion robustness verification problem and prove it is NP-complete. Then, we devise a novel approach for encoding occlusions as a part of neural networks and introduce two acceleration techniques so that the extended neural networks can be efficiently verified using off-the-shelf, SMT-based neural network verification tools. We implement our approach in a prototype called OccRob and extensively evaluate its performance on benchmark datasets with various occlusion variants. The experimental results demonstrate our approach’s effectiveness and efficiency in verifying DNNs’ robustness against various occlusions, and its ability to generate counterexamples when these DNNs are not robust.
Modular Mix-and-Match Complementation of Büchi Automata
Authors: Havlena Vojtěch , Lengál Ondřej , Li Yong , Šmahlíková Barbora , Turrini Andrea 
Published: April 2023

AbstractComplementation of nondeterministic Büchi automata (BAs) is an important problem in automata theory with numerous applications in formal verification, such as termination analysis of programs, model checking, or in decision procedures of some logics. We build on ideas from a recent work on BA determinization by Li et al. and propose a new modular algorithm for BA complementation. Our algorithm allows to combine several BA complementation procedures together, with one procedure for a subset of the BA’s strongly connected components (SCCs). In this way, one can exploit the structure of particular SCCs (such as when they are inherently weak or deterministic) and use more efficient specialized algorithms, regardless of the structure of the whole BA. We give a general framework into which partial complementation procedures can be plugged in, and its instantiation with several algorithms. The framework can, in general, produce a complement with an Emerson-Lei acceptance condition, which can often be more compact. Using the algorithm, we were able to establish an exponentially better new upper bound of $$\mathcal {O}(4^n)$$

O
(

4
n

)

for complementation of the recently introduced class of elevator automata. We implemented the algorithm in a prototype and performed a comprehensive set of experiments on a large set of benchmarks, showing that our framework complements well the state of the art and that it can serve as a basis for future efficient BA complementation and inclusion checking algorithms.
Bounded Model Checking for Asynchronous Hyperproperties
Authors: Hsu Tzu-Han , Bonakdarpour Borzoo , Finkbeiner Bernd , Sánchez César 
Published: April 2023

AbstractMany types of attacks on confidentiality stem from the nondeterministic nature of the environment that computer programs operate in. We focus on verification of confidentiality in nondeterministic environments by reasoning aboutasynchronous hyperproperties. We generalize the temporal logic to allow nestedtrajectoryquantification, where a trajectory determines how different execution traces may advance and stutter. We propose a bounded model checking algorithm for based on QBF-solving for a fragment of and evaluate it by various case studies on concurrent programs, scheduling attacks, compiler optimization, speculative execution, and cache timing attacks. We also rigorously analyze the complexity of model checking .
A Matrix-Based Approach to Parity Games
Authors: Aggarwal Saksham , de la Banda Alejandro Stuckey , Yang Luke , Gutierrez Julian 
Published: April 2023

AbstractParity games are two-player zero-sum games of infinite duration played on finite graphs for which no solution in polynomial time is still known. Solving a parity game is an $$\text{ NP }\cap \text{ co-NP }$$

NP

∩

co-NP

problem, with the best worst-case complexity algorithms available in the literature running in quasi-polynomial time. Given the importance of parity games within automated formal verification, several practical solutions have been explored showing that considerably large parity games can be solved somewhat efficiently. Here, we propose a new approach to solving parity games guided by the efficient manipulation of a suitable matrix-based representation of the games. Our results show that a sequential implementation of our approach offers very competitive performance, while a parallel implementation using GPUs outperforms the current state-of-the-art techniques. Our study considers both real-world benchmarks of structured games as well as parity games randomly generated. We also show that our matrix-based approach retains the optimal complexity bounds of the best recursive algorithm to solve large parity games in practice.
A GPU Tree Database for Many-Core Explicit State Space Exploration
Authors: Wijs Anton , Osama Muhammad 
Published: April 2023

AbstractVarious techniques have been proposed to accelerate explicit-state model checking with GPUs, but none address the compact storage of states, or if they do, at the cost of losing completeness of the checking procedure. We investigate how to implement a tree database to store states as binary trees in GPU memory. We present fine-grained parallel algorithms to find and store trees, experiment with a number of GPU-specific configurations, and propose a novel hashing technique, called Cleary-Cuckoo hashing, which enables the use of Cleary compression on GPUs. We are the first to assess the effectiveness of using a tree database, and Cleary compression, on GPUs. Experiments show processing speeds of up to 131 million states per second.
Software Testing: 5th Comparative Evaluation: Test-Comp 2023
Authors: Beyer Dirk 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThe 5th edition of the Competition on Software Testing (Test-Comp 2023) provides again an overview and comparative evaluation of automatic test-suite generators for C programs. The experiment was performed on a benchmark set of 4 106 test-generation tasks for C programs. Each test-generation task consisted of a program and a test specification (error coverage, branch coverage). There were 13 participating test-suite generators from 6 countries in Test-Comp 2023.
Model-based Player Experience Testing with Emotion Pattern Verification
Authors: Ansari Saba Gholizadeh , Prasetya I. S. W. B. , Prandi Davide , Kifetew Fitsum Meshesha , Dastani Mehdi , Dignum Frank , Keller Gabriele 
Published: April 2023

AbstractPlayer eXperience (PX) testing has attracted attention in the game industry as video games become more complex and widespread. Understanding players’ desires and their experience are key elements to guarantee the success of a game in the highly competitive market. Although a number of techniques have been introduced to measure the emotional aspect of the experience, automated testing of player experience still needs to be explored. This paper presents a framework for automated player experience testing by formulating emotion patterns’ requirements and utilizing a computational model of players’ emotions developed based on a psychological theory of emotions along with a model-based testing approach for test suite generation. We evaluate the strength of our framework by performing mutation test. The paper also evaluates the performance of a search-based generated test suite and LTL model checking-based test suite in revealing various variations of temporal and spatial emotion patterns. Results show the contribution of both algorithms in generating complementary test cases for revealing various emotions in different locations of a game level.
Safe Yet Welcoming: Alternative Design Strategies for Secure Schools
Authors: Jahangiri Jamileh 
Published: April 2023

AbstractIn recent decades, increased attention to safety and security issues in public spaces has changed the connection of Australian schools to their surroundings. Visible security measures such as high fences around schools are becoming a common feature of the urban landscape. The diplomat fence, a type of spear-topped security fencing, dominates many school boundaries regardless of the location and needs. Some analysts and commentators emphasise the necessity of such measures due to increased security concerns. Others argue that such measures create undue anxiety by constantly reminding students, teachers and the community of presumed threats. This chapter documents the author’s research into defensible schools and discusses alternative ways to secure schools through urban, architectural and landscape design strategies, appropriate to context. Importantly, this research focuses on opportunities to remove unnecessary physical barriers and enhance schools' connections with their surrounding environments and communities.
Developing a School and Community Learning Hub: A Case Study from Regional Australia
Authors: Tordoff David , Atkin Julia 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThis chapter chronicles a merging of previously separate community, school, cultural, wellbeing, and tertiary facilities within a new hub in the regional centre of Young, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. It describes the collaboration required between state and local government, architects, educators and community representatives from the conception of the facility within the community, to engaging with multiple stakeholders and policies and the architectural response to a complex brief on a fortuitous multilayered historical site within a diverse cultural context. Australia wide, governments are searching for more effective and efficient use of public infrastructure. In NSW schools have long been encouraged to make their facilities available for community use and consequently ‘shared’ use of school owned facilities is relatively common. It is only recently that ‘joint use’ projects have been promoted in NSW. ‘Joint use’ involves significant capital investments of land and/or facilities by two or more parties. ‘Joint use’ projects have the potential to open myriad learning opportunities for a community. In Young, the concurrent need to upgrade and extend the community library facilities and the community’s high school facilities provided an opportunity to develop a ‘joint use’ community hub not only to service the town but for ‘supporting whole of life learning for Hilltops’—the local government area. With new opportunities inevitably come challenges. The chapter discusses challenges around the governance and management that joint use projects present and how this community is designing its way forward.