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Increasingly, durable goods have embedded software and are technologically tethered to the vendor's server through this software, be it digital products such as smartphones or predominantly non-digital products such as automobiles and tractors. Tethering can enable the vendor to change the product's performance or features through software updates, with implications for optimal product policy. We study a monopolist technology vendor's decision to partially degrade or fully retire their installed base of tethered goods when they release their newer version. Our work presents several novel theoretical contributions with practical implications for industry. Installed base degradation can emerge in equilibrium. To obsolete the previous version, it is no longer necessary for the seller to produce an improved version. Firms may engage in economically suboptimal partial degradation for technical reasons. Firms sometimes engage in suboptimal product obsolescence despite it harming their profit, due to their inability to commit to a no-obsolescence policy. Under some conditions the seller's commitment problem could cause them to offer excessive durability. Our work suggests important policy guidelines: when releasing new models, firms should consider releasing updated versions of their older operating systems, and allow existing customers to opt out of significant software upgrades, other than essential security patches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractUrban expansion models (UEMs) help unfold the mechanism, future pathways, and relevant repercussions of urban landscape dynamics. Although a plethora of UEMs have been developed, the field of open-access modeling platform for urban expansion simulation still presents gaps in terms of representing urban development events, regulating multilevel urban morphologies, and reflecting underlying regularities of physical urban growth. This study develops an open-access Multiengine Urban Expansion Simulation (MUSE) platform together with software that addresses some of these limitations. MUSE employs patch-based concepts and different patch generation engines to represent urban development events of distinctive types, enabling control over spatial morphology at landscape, class and patch levels. Moreover, MUSE incorporates two general regularities on urban development waves and urban diffusion and coalescence to govern physical urban expansion processes. Experiments in two cities examine MUSE’s ability in simulating realistic urban dynamics, and a series of synthetic experiments verify the operational behavior of the patch generation engines. These experiments show that MUSE can simulate a range of urban expansion types, including infill, edge growth and leapfrog expansion, and various morphologies, such as aggregated, sprawl, fragmented and compact. MUSE can empower practitioners to better project, analyze and understand complex urbanization dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An application programming interface (API) usage specification, which includes the conditions, calling sequences, and semantic relationships of the API, is important for verifying its correct usage, which is in turn critical for ensuring the security and availability of the target program. However, existing techniques either mine the co-occurring relationships of multiple APIs without considering their semantic relationships, or they use data flow and control flow information to extract semantic beliefs on API pairs but difficult to incorporate when mining specifications for multiple APIs. Hence, we propose an API specification mining approach that efficiently extracts a relatively complete list of the API combinations and semantic relationships between APIs. This approach analyzes a target program in two stages. The first stage uses frequent API set mining based on frequent common API identification and filtration to extract the maximal set of frequent context-sensitive API sequences. In the second stage, the API relationship graph is constructed using three semantic relationships extracted from the symbolic path information, and the specifications containing semantic relationships for multiple APIs are mined. The experimental results on six popular open-source code bases of different scales show that the proposed two-stage approach not only yields better results than existing typical approaches, but also can effectively discover the specifications along with the semantic relationships for multiple APIs. Instance analysis shows that the analysis of security-related API call violations can assist in the cause analysis and patch of software vulnerabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study is a pioneering initiative in the field of antenna engineering, concentrating on the replacement of rectangular patch antennas with circular patch antennas in 2.4GHz applications. Through a detailed assessment of three various configurations—1x1, 2x1, and 4x1—the study used the HFSS tool to facilitate simulations, allowing a full evaluation of each antenna's performance parameters. These characteristics include critical metrics like gain, directivity, and radiation pattern, which are important in determining antenna efficacy in wireless communication systems. By rigorously comparing circular patch array antennas to their rectangular counterparts, the study hopes to offer insight on the subtle complexities and possible benefits of circular patch designs.The findings of this work have the potential to not only develop antenna design approaches, but also to significantly improve the efficacy and efficiency of present wireless communication technologies operating in the 2.4GHz frequency region. The transition from rectangular to circular patch antennas represents a paradigm shift in design considerations, potentially providing novel insights into antenna performance and paving the way for next-generation wireless communication systems with improved reliability and throughput.Furthermore, by elucidating the optimal design parameters for circular patch array antennas, this study lays the groundwork for future antenna engineering innovations, allowing wireless communication technologies to evolve and refine themselves in response to the ever- increasing demands of modern connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Ultrasound elastography has been available on most modern systems; however, the implementation of quality processes tends to be ad hoc. It is essential for a medical physicist to benchmark elastography measurements on each system and track them over time, especially after major software upgrades or repairs. This study aims to establish baseline data using phantoms and monitor them for quality assurance in elastography. In this paper, we utilized two phantoms: a set of cylinders, each with a composite material with varying Young's moduli, and an anthropomorphic abdominal phantom containing a liver modeled to represent early-stage fibrosis. These phantoms were imaged using three ultrasound manufacturers' elastography functions with either point or 2D elastography. The abdominal phantom was also imaged using magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) as it is recognized as the non-invasive gold standard for staging liver fibrosis. The scaling factor was determined based on the data acquired using MR and US elastography from the same vendor. The ultrasound elastography measurements showed inconsistency between different manufacturers, but within the same manufacturer, the measurements showed high repeatability. In conclusion, we have established baseline data for quality assurance procedures and specified the criteria for the acceptable range in liver fibrosis phantoms during routine testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The ability to dynamically adjust target contours, derived Boolean structures, and ultimately, the optimized fluence is the end goal of online adaptive radiotherapy (ART). The purpose of this work is to describe the necessary tests to perform after a software patch installation and/or upgrade for an established online ART program. Methods: A patch upgrade on a low-field MR Linac system was evaluated for post-software upgrade quality assurance (QA) with current infrastructure of ART workflow on (1) the treatment planning system (TPS) during the initial planning stage and (2) the treatment delivery system (TDS), which is a TPS integrated into the delivery console for online ART planning. Online ART QA procedures recommended for post-software upgrade include: (1) user interface (UI) configuration; (2) TPS beam model consistency; (3) segmentation consistency; (4) dose calculation consistency; (5) optimizer robustness consistency; (6) CT density table consistency; and (7) end-to-end absolute ART dose and predicted dose measured including interruption testing. Differences of calculated doses were evaluated through DVH and/or 3D gamma comparisons. The measured dose was assessed using an MR-compatible A26 ionization chamber in a motion phantom. Segmentation differences were assessed through absolute volume and visual inspection. Results: (1) No UI configuration discrepancies were observed. (2) Dose differences on TPS pre-/post-software upgrade were within 1% for DVH metrics. (3) Differences in segmentation when observed were small in general, with the largest change noted for small-volume regions of interest (ROIs) due to partial volume impact. (4) Agreement between TPS and TDS calculated doses was 99.9% using a 2%/2-mm gamma criteria. (5) Comparison between TPS and online ART plans for a given patient plan showed agreement within 2% for targets and 0.6 cc for organs at risk. (6) Relative electron densities demonstrated comparable agreement between TPS and TDS. (7) ART absolute and predicted measured end-to-end doses were within 1% of calculated TDS. Discussion: An online ART QA program for post-software upgrade has been developed and implemented on an MR Linac system. Testing mechanics and their respective baselines may vary across institutions, but all necessary components for a post-software upgrade QA have been outlined and detailed. These outlined tests were demonstrated feasible for a low-field MR Linac system; however, the scope of this work may be applied and adapted more broadly to other online ART platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patching provides software organizations an option to handle the leftover faults and hence helps in maintaining the software. Here we are focusing on the problem where an organization releases the software early in the market and further releases software patches to improve the functionality of the software. Sometimes the patch released in the market might be the infected one which may increase faults and disturb the functionality of the software. The current work presents the Generalised Modified Weibull (GMW) testing effort-based software reliability growth model that quantifies the effect of an infected patch on multi-release software. In our mathematical model, the leftover faults from the previous release and faults due to infected patches are taken care of in the next release. To develop a mathematical model, we have considered a scenario where a company releases a single patch between two consecutive releases. The model here is capable of estimating the hike in fault content due to the release of an infected patch. Genetic Algorithm is applied to estimate the optimal patch release time which minimizes the testing cost. Further, the model is validated on the real dataset to depict the validity of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a remarkable surge in the adoption of open-source software (OSS). However, with the growing usage of OSS components in both free and proprietary software, vulnerabilities that are present within them can be spread to a vast array of underlying applications. Even worse, a myriad of vulnerabilities are fixed secretly via patch commits, which causes other software re-using the vulnerable code snippets to be left in the dark. Thus, source code patch commit mining toward vulnerability discovery is receiving immense attention, and a variety of approaches are proposed. Despite that, there is no comprehensive survey summarizing and discussing the current progress within this field. To fill this gap, we survey, evaluate, and systematize a list of literature and provide the community with our insights on both successes and remaining issues in this space. Special attention is paid on the work toward vulnerability discovery. In this paper, we also provide an introductory panorama with our replicable hands-on experience, which can help readers quickly understand and step into the pertinent field. Our empirical study reveals noteworthy challenges which need to be highlighted and addressed in this field. We also discuss potential directions for the future work. To the best of knowledge, we provide the first literature review to study source code patch commit mining in the vulnerability discovery context. The systematic framework, hands-on practices, and list of potential challenges provide new knowledge for mining source code patch commit toward a more robust software eco-system. The research gaps found in this literature review show the need for future research, such as the concern on data quality, high false alarms, and the significance of textual information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of study in this article is modern penetration testing technologies, in which the test object is the implementation of a service based on a platform using Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) resources. The goal of this study is to improve modern methods of penetration testing of services provided by FPGA as a Service (FaaS) to find vulnerabilities for further fixing and increasing the level of services security and trust. Task: to analyze the technological capabilities for the development of FPGA as a Service; to analyze possible threats for FPGA as a Service platform; to analyze the structure of the FPGA as a Service platform and the peculiarities of attacks on it; to analyze options for using the penetration testing standard; to propose the classification of possible use of FPGA as a Service platform for solving of cybersecurity tasks; and to propose the sequence of critical components of ensuring of the cybersecurity of FPGA as a Service platform. The following results were obtained based on the tasks. The analysis of the capabilities of existing chips, FPGA accelerator cards, programming technologies, and the integrated environments of a leading company for creation of FPGA as a Service is performed. A study on the cybersecurity problems of FPGA as a Service platforms is conducted, and a set of components to ensure the cybersecurity of FPGA as a Service Platform is proposed. Modern cybersecurity threats of FPGA as a Service platforms are analyzed. A threat structure for FPGA as a Service is proposed. The possibility of applying a penetration testing standard to FPGA services is considered. Regular audits and penetration testing are crucial elements of a cybersecurity strategy and help maintain customer and user trust in FPGA services. Based on the analysis of the possible use of FPGA as a Service to solve cybersecurity tasks, a classification of five variants considering FPGA as an object and tool is proposed. The sequence of critical components of ensuring of the cybersecurity of FPGA as a Service platform is proposed to correspond to modern known threats. Complex activities, including the software updates, security monitoring, auditing, and penetration testing, based on security standards. Conclusions. The primary contribution and scientific novelty of the obtained results is the research into the possibilities of penetration testing for services, where the test object is a platform with access to FPGA. As in many other areas, ensuring the cybersecurity of FPGA as a Service platform is complex, and ignoring any component can lead to critical consequences. Applying only penetration testing is not enough; therefore, a comprehensive list of cybersecurity measures for FPGA as a Service platforms is provided, underlining the urgency and necessity of their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To avoid costly security patching after software deployment, security-by-design techniques (e.g. threat analysis) are adopted in organizations to find and mitigate security issues before the system is ever implemented. Organizations are ramping up such (heavily manual) activities, but there is a global gap in the security workforce. Favorable performance indicators would result in cost savings for organizations with scarce security experts. However, past empirical studies were inconclusive regarding some performance indicators of threat analysis techniques, thus practitioners have little evidence for choosing the technique to adopt. To address this issue, we replicated a controlled experiment with STRIDE. Our study aimed to measure and compare the performance indicators (productivity and precision) of two STRIDE variants (per-element and per-interaction). Since we made some similar observations to the original study, we conclude that the two approaches are not different enough to make a practical impact. To this end, the choice of which variant to adopt should be informed by the needs of the organization performing threat analysis. We conclude by discussing some of the unexplored yet relevant topic domains in the context of STRIDE that will be considered in future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, the users of test-driven program repair tools suffer from the overfitting problem; a generated patch may pass all available tests without being correct. In the existing work, users are treated as merely passive consumers of the tests. However, what if they are willing to modify the test to better assess the patches obtained from a repair tool? In this work, we propose a novel semi-automatic patch-classification methodology named Poracle. Our key contributions are three-fold. First, we design a novel lightweight specification method that reuses the existing test. Specifically, the users extend the existing failing test with a preservation condition—the condition under which the patched and pre-patched versions should produce the same output. Second, we develop a fuzzer that performs differential fuzzing with a test containing a preservation condition. Once we find an input that satisfies a specified preservation condition but produces different outputs between the patched and pre-patched versions, we classify the patch as incorrect with high confidence. We show that our approach is more effective than the four state-of-the-art patch classification approaches. Last, we show through a user study that the users find our semi-automatic patch assessment method more effective and preferable than the manual assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the scale and complexity of software for industrial equipment increases, the risk of defects being introduced into the software also increases. Over-the-air (OTA) technology eliminates software defects by regularly updating and maintaining the software equipment. However, downloading an upgraded file is time-consuming. The differential compression algorithm can rapidly complete OTA software upgrades. To solve the low-efficiency problem of suffix array sorting in the BsDiff algorithm, a fusion algorithm based on the suffix array induced sorting and BsDiff methods was proposed to reduce the time consumption in the OTA upgrade process. The execution of the difference algorithm in the cloud was simulated using bench experiments. Subsequently, the function and performance of the proposed algorithm were experimentally evaluated. The results showed that the optimized algorithm could save more than 35% of the time compared to the original algorithm, which improved the OTA upgrade efficiency to a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on software reliability growth models (SRGMs) has been extensively conducted for decades, and the models were often developed based on two assumptions: (1) once the errors are detected, they can be completely removed instantly, and (2) errors can be removed eternally, and the debugging tasks will not produce any new errors. However, both assumptions are unrealistic. This study proposes an SRGM that ignores these restricted assumptions by introducing a detection process that may remove an error after a period of time once it has been detected and by considering imperfect debugging, which indicates that new errors may emerge through corresponding debugging tasks. In addition, because software can be upgraded to respond on a timely basis to constantly changing consumer expectations and thus extend product life in the market, the proposed SRGM also considers software upgrades for the multiversion software, and a dynamic programming approach is used to effectively obtain the optimal release schedule with consideration of the constraint of budget. Real data sets are used to examine the effectiveness of the proposed model, and the fitting results show that the proposed model outperforms other existing models. The results of numerical validation indicate that the proposed dynamic programming method with information updating outperforms the sequential solution method in determining the optimal release time for each version. Moreover, decision makers should carefully evaluate the parameters because overestimating the parameters of the mean value functions will cause serious software risk due to excessively shortening the testing time. History: Accepted by Pascal Van Hentenryck, Area Editor for Computational Modeling: Methods & Analysis. Supplemental Material: The software that supports the findings of this study is available within the paper and its Supplemental Information (https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/suppl/10.1287/ijoc.2021.0141) as well as from the IJOC GitHub software repository (https://github.com/INFORMSJoC/2021.0141). The complete IJOC Software and Data Repository is available at https://informsjoc.github.io/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TIS integrates the interfaces and functions of the computer based interlocking system and the train control center system, which brings a number of advantages in field equipment maintenance and real-time system control, but also brings the complexity of software functions. Considering that the equipment needs to have better maintainability and operability in the field, it is divided into levels from the functional structure. For example, the station interlocking relationship, section signal control, track circuit coding, etc. are taken as the functional requirements of CTCS-0 train control system lines, and the temporary speed restriction and switchable balise function are taken as the functional requirements of CTCS-2/CTCS-3 train control system lines. Combined with the data configuration, multi-level modular management can be carried out. The software is designed in structural method with independent modules. The data configuration and software upgrade of different functions do not affect each other, and the coupling between different functional modules is reduced. This is not only conducive to the project implementation, data configuration, software maintenance and fault analysis and location, but also conducive to the analysis of the overall safety of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new teaching method, scene teaching in smart classrooms directly impacts the overall quality and efficiency of education. Two groups of first-year students were selected as the research subjects for a study on intelligent learning performance and outcomes in a smart classroom teaching scenario. The results indicate that the intelligent teaching mode can lead to better outcomes in learners' intelligent learning. It can improve learners' participation in intelligent learning and enhance their performance. Additionally, it highlights the significance and differences in learners' intelligent learning effects. However, the research process must prioritize the dominant role of students and teachers in teaching in smart classroom settings. It should also focus on upgrading software and hardware to enhance effective teaching and on the rational use of multimedia technology in smart classrooms to provide robust support for college students' intelligent learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On Wednesday, 8 November 2023 at about 4am, approximately 10 million Optus retail and 400,000 business customers lost network access as a result of the IP Core network shutdown. Optus stated that the cause of the network outage was a routine software upgrade that led to routing information updates from an international peering network causing key routers to disconnect from the network. This paper provides an analysis of the national outage, what information is needed to fully understand what occurred, and considers the lessons that might be learned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant roots elongate when cells produced in the apical meristem enter a transient period of rapid expansion. To measure the dynamic process of root cell expansion in the elongation zone, we captured digital images of growing Arabidopsis roots with horizontal microscopes and analyzed them with a custom image analysis program (PatchTrack) designed to track the growth-driven displacement of many closely spaced image patches. Fitting a flexible logistics equation to patch velocities plotted versus position along the root axis produced the length of the elongation zone (mm), peak relative elemental growth rate (% h−1), the axial position of the peak (mm from the tip), and average root elongation rate (mm h−1). For a wild-type root, the average values of these kinematic traits were 0.52 mm, 23.7% h−1, 0.35 mm, and 0.1 mm h−1, respectively. We used the platform to determine the kinematic phenotypes of auxin transport mutants. The results support a model in which the PIN2 auxin transporter creates an area of expansion-suppressing, supraoptimal auxin concentration that ends 0.1 mm from the quiescent center (QC), and that ABCB4 and ABCB19 auxin transporters maintain expansion-limiting suboptimal auxin levels beginning approximately 0.5 mm from the QC. This study shows that PatchTrack can quantify dynamic root phenotypes in kinematic terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) follow-on constellation, COSMIC-2, was successfully launched into equatorial orbit on 24 June 2019. With an increased signal-to-noise ratio due to improved receivers and digital beam-steering antennas, COSMIC-2 is producing about 5000 high-quality radio occultation (RO) profiles daily over the tropics and subtropics. The initial evaluation of the impact of assimilating COSMIC-2 into NOAA's Global Forecast System (GFS) showed mixed results, and adjustments to quality control procedures and observation error characteristics had to be made prior to the assimilation of this dataset in the operational configuration in May 2020. Additional changes in the GFS that followed this initial operational implementation resulted in a larger percentage of rejection (∼90%) of all RO observations, including COSMIC-2, in the mid- to lower troposphere. Since then, two software upgrades directly related to the assimilation of RO bending angle observations were developed. These improvements were aimed at optimizing the utilization of COSMIC-2 and other RO observations to improve global weather analyses and forecasts. The first upgrade was implemented operationally in September 2021 and the second one in November 2022. This study describes both RO software upgrades and evaluates the impact of COSMIC-2 with this most recently improved configuration. Specifically, we show that the assimilation of COSMIC-2 observations has a significant impact in improving temperature and winds in the tropics, though benefits also extend to the extratropical latitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypercompetitive mobile app stores are characterized by rapid innovation and intense competition. App firms must vie for temporary competitive advantage through competitive actions such as releasing product improvements. We study how competitive indicators influence a particular competitive action--app updates--in a mobile game app market. Our results reveal that app firms take action to improve or sustain their temporary competitive advantage, updating their apps when there are opportunities to capitalize on popularity (e.g., rank and rating volume are increasing) and when their apps' advantages are threatened (e.g., customer ratings are decreasing). We also find that app updates are released in response to competitors' actions--specifically, when competitors update their apps and new competitors enter ranking lists. Moreover, our findings show that app firms release app updates when an app's customer rating volume is increasing or when an app firm's portfolio of game apps is less diverse, relative to its competitors. We conduct additional analyses that show that older app firms are responsive to more competitive indicators than younger ones and major updates are primarily used to respond to serious threats to apps' competitive positions. Overall, our results indicate that app updates are competitive actions used to improve or sustain temporary advantage when competitive indicators reveal opportunities to improve or threats to apps' competitive positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A licensing commission policy can be used as a tool to orchestrate an ecosystem with complementary developers. For instance, Apple attempts to take advantage of a licensing‐related commission strategy. However, its economic mechanism is seldom discussed. Therefore, this study developed a framework of a platform ecosystem in order to analyze the economics of the licensing‐related commission strategy and the optimal licensing choice with the software function and content upgrade in a monopoly/duopoly market setting. We find that the commission rate serves not only as a value transfer instrument but also as a value‐creation incentive machine for the ecosystem with third‐party vendors. Further, by considering the above factors, the platform would use a win‐win commission rate that benefits both parties. We also find that the differential commission rate has a stronger extraction effect, but it may not result in a vendor‐friendly commission rate and may hurt the vendor's value creation incentive and social welfare. Furthermore, we investigate the equilibrium in the market with competing vendors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The software is changing rapidly with the invention of advanced technologies and methodologies. The ability to rapidly and successfully upgrade software in response to changing business requirements is more vital than ever. For the long‐term management of software products, measuring software maintainability is crucial. The use of soft computing techniques for software maintainability prediction has shown immense promise in software maintenance process by providing accurate prediction of software maintainability. To better understand the role of soft computing techniques for software maintainability prediction, we aim to provide a systematic literature review of soft computing techniques for predicting software maintainability. Firstly, we provide a detailed overview of software maintainability. Following this, we explore the fundamentals of software maintainability and the reasons for adopting soft computing methodologies for predicting software maintainability. Later, we examine the soft computing approaches employed in the process of software maintainability prediction. Furthermore, we discuss the difficulties and potential solutions associated with the use of soft computing techniques in predicting maintainability of software. Finally, we conclude the review with some promising future directions to drive further research innovations and developments in this promising area. This systematic literature review provides a comprehensive overview of the soft computing strategies utilized for software maintainability for future researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an upgrade of the D+ software [Ginsburg et al. (2019). J. Appl. Cryst.52, 219–242], expanding its hierarchical solution X‐ray scattering modeling capabilities for fiber diffraction and single crystallographic orientations. This upgrade was carried out using the reciprocal grid algorithm [Ginsburg et al. (2016). J. Chem. Inf. Model.56, 1518–1527], providing D+ its computational strength. Furthermore, the extensive modifications made to the Python API of D+ are described, broadening the X‐ray analysis performed with D+ to account for the effects of the instrument‐resolution function and polydispersity. In addition, structure‐factor and radial‐distribution‐function modules were added, taking into account the effects of thermal fluctuations and intermolecular interactions. Finally, numerical examples demonstrate the usage and potential of the added features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, software projects require a significant amount of time, effort and other resources to be invested in software testing to reduce the number of code defects. However, this process decreases the efficiency of software development and leads to a significant waste of workforce and resources. To address this challenge, researchers developed various solutions utilising deep neural networks. However, these solutions are frequently challenged by issues, such as a vast vocabulary, network training difficulties and elongated training processes resulting from the handling of redundant information. To overcome these limitations, the authors proposed a new neural network‐based model named HopFix, designed to detect software defects that may be introduced during the coding process. HopFix consists of four parts: data preprocessing, encoder, decoder and code generation components, which were used for preprocessing data, extracting information about software defects, analysing defect information, generating software patches and controlling the generation process of software patches, respectively. Experimental studies on Bug‐Fix Pairs (BFP) show that HopFix correctly fixed 47.2% (BFPsmall datasets) and 25.7% (BFPmedium datasets) of software defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Taking medicine as prescribed in time plays an important role in the treatment of diseases. However, some prescriptions have not picked up in time for various reasons. To analyze the influencing factors in patients with prescription abandonment and the role of pharmacists in Plan–Do–-Check–Act (PDCA) cycle, we conducted a study in our hospital of Hangzhou, China.Methods: Based on the prescription abandonment from October 1, 2021 to March 31 2022, we collected and analyzed the possible causes. According to the PDCA management method, we conducted improvement measures and supervised the implementation of measures from April 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022. The number, the proportion and the amount of prescription abandonment before and after establishment of the PDCA cycle were analyzed.Results: Three measures were proposed and applied to improve the prescription abandonment:(I) Enhancing the education and training to the staff. (II) Improving the medical environment for patients, especially the environment for taking medicine. (III) Updating the computer information software. After the implementation of PDCA, the number of prescription abandonment decreased from 2030 to 775, there was significant reduction in the proportion of prescription abandonment (4.75‰ vs 1.77‰, P< 0.05), and the amount of prescription abandonment decreased from $36,161.11 to $17,041.59. The target compliance rate was 108.36%.Conclusion: The implementation of pharmacist-led PDCA can effectively reduce the number, the proportion and the amount of prescription abandonment, Moreover, Pharmacists play an important role in improving the management quality of outpatient pharmacy, and PDCA is a feasible and effective management tool for reducing prescription abandonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The non-cultured epidermal cell suspension method is a well-established but tedious grafting modality in the management of stable vitiligo. Recently a more user-friendly automated epidermal harvesting system has been introduced. Aim: This was a pilot study to compare the efficacy and safety outcomes of the above two grafting procedures. Study design: The study was a single-blinded split-body randomised controlled trial. After scientific and ethical clearance, the trial was registered with CTRI (CTRI/2018/05/014225). Thirty consenting patients of stable vitiligo with 60 near-symmetrical patches were recruited. Block randomisation was done using computer-generated randomisation software and each patch was allocated either of the two grafting modalities. Efficacy was assessed by the Physician Global Assessment Scale on serial images and pain by the Numerical Rating Pain Scale. Results and conclusion: The non-cultured epidermal cell suspension was found to be an overall statistically superior technique to the automated epidermal harvesting system in terms of efficacy (re-pigmentation). Both donor and recipient site complications were significantly less with the automated epidermal harvesting system grafting and this method had the distinct advantage of being a painless and easy technique with minimal recovery time. A novel observation was that a good colour match and near-complete re-pigmentation occurred in patients with a darker skin colour with both techniques. Limitations: The main limitation of our study was the small sample size. Also, the size of the treated patches was limited such that they could be covered by the 5 × 5 cm size of the automated epidermal harvesting system blade. However, a larger area can be covered with multiple sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term data on the potential advantages of combining the third-generation subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD) with modern software upgrade including the "SMART Pass", modern programming strategies and the intermuscular (IM) two-incision implantation technique in arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) with different phenotypic variants are lacking. In this study we evaluated the long-term outcome of patients with ACM who underwent third-generation S-ICD (Emblem, Boston Scientific) and IM two-incision technique. The study population included 23 consecutive patients [70% male, median age 31 (24–46) years] diagnosed with ACM with different phenotypic variants who received third-generation S-ICD implantation with the IM two-incision technique. During a median follow-up of 45.5 months [16–65], 4 patients (17.4%) received a at least one inappropriate shock (IS), with median annual event rate of 4.5%. Extra-cardiac oversensing (myopotential) during effort represented the only cause of IS. No IS due to T-wave oversensing (TWOS) were recorded. Only one patient (4.3%) experienced device-related complication consisting of premature cell battery depletion requiring device replacement. No device explantation because of need for anti-tachycardia pacing or ineffective therapy occurred. There was no significant difference between patients who did and did not experienced IS with regard to baseline clinical, ECG and technical characteristics. Five patients (21.7%) received appropriate shocks on ventricular arrythmias. According to our findings, although the third-generation S-ICD implanted with the IM two-incision technique appears to be associated with a low risk of complications and IS due to cardiac oversensing, the risk of IS due to myopotential mainly during effort should be considered. • Preliminary studies demonstrated that subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD) can effectively treat ventricular arrythmias in patients with arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) despite relatively high inappropriate shocks (IS) mostly due to T-wave oversensing (TWOS) and device-related complications. • Data on the potential advantages of combining the third-generation S-ICD with modern software upgrade and the intermuscular (IM) two-incision implantation technique in ACM with different phenotypic variants are lacking. • According to our findings, although the third-generation S-ICD implanted with the IM two-incision technique appears to be associated with a low risk of device-related complications and IS due to TWOS, the risk of IS due to myopotential should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In plant populations, parentage analysis helps understand factors shaping individual reproductive success. However, estimating reproductive success determinants based on parentage counts requires decoupling the effects of individual fecundity and propagule dispersal. The neighbourhood model implemented in the NMπ software provides a standard solution for this problem based on the fixed‐effects regression‐like approach. Nonetheless, it has been recently shown that the method is prone to false discoveries when important fecundity determinants are omitted. To account for the unexplained variance in fecundity, the Bayesian approach was developed based on the new model (the hierarchical neighbourhood model; HNM). Here, I present the NMπ software update that allows the HNM approach to be used in the framework of a friendly interface. More importantly, the HNM approach is now made available for both dispersed (seedlings) and nondispersed (seeds with known mothers) progeny data. The Bayesian approach, among others, selects significant fecundity determinants, estimates the proportion of variance in reproductive potential explained by selected determinants (R2), and provides individual female and male fecundity values. Although the software was designed to handle microsatellite marker data, a solution is proposed for large sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms. The program can be run on Windows (using either a terminal or a graphical interface) as well as (using a terminal) on Linux, or macOS platforms. In any case, NMπ can utilize multicore processors to speed up the analysis. The updated package containing the code, the executable file, the user manual, and example data is available at https://www.ukw.edu.pl/pracownicy/plik/igor_chybicki/3694/. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to the theory and application of a combined nonlinear suboptimal control and estimator based on the state‐dependent differential Riccati equation (SDDRE), aiming finite‐time tracking of manipulators that possess flexible joints. Though measuring the angular positions of links is possible for flexible joint manipulators (FJMs), it is not feasible to measure the changes in the position angles of actuators. In addition, the existence of measurement noise and the influence of unknown workspace disturbance are always unavoidable. Therefore, combining an estimator with a controller could result in full‐state feedback for the system. Designing the proposed integrated estimator algorithm includes two parts: The first part is the theoretical extension of the SDDRE approach expressed with nonlinear state variables and inputs of the system in a finite‐time horizon. In the second part, enhancing and upgrading software and hardware interface, the proposed procedure for FJMs is modeled and simulated. Then, the experimental implementation is applied in the online closed‐loop form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model merging conflicts occur when different stakeholders aim to integrate their contradicting changes that are applied concurrently to update software models. We conduct an extensive systematic mapping study on conflict management techniques and relevant collaboration attributes to the versioning and merging models from 2001 to the middle of 2021. This study follows the standard guidelines within the software engineering domain. We analyzed a total of 105 articles extracted from an initial pool of more than 1800 articles to infer a taxonomy for conflict management techniques. We use this taxonomy to classify existing approaches to understand characteristics, shortcomings, and challenges on conflict management techniques in merging models. It also provides a solid foundation for future work in this area. We show that syntactic conflicts are the most studied type and that the top three popular conflict detection techniques are constraint violation, change overlapping, and pattern matching. We observe the lack of a comprehensive state-of-the-art comparison between academic or industrial tools, as well as the need for real-world case studies. Finally, we show that recent trends have focused on online collaboration, where teams of stakeholders work on large-scale models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of satellite technologies is a challenging task, which includes design, manufacturing, testing, and in-orbit operation stages. The reliability of each subsystem shall be at the highest level since space has severe environmental conditions and most satellites do not have an opportunity to perform repairment or replacement of their hardware components. In-orbit reprogramming of some devices, such as On-board Computer (OBC), Attitude Control Unit (ACU), and Power Control Unit (PCU) can provide great advantages to a mission by extending the lifetime and performance of a satellite's operation. At the same time, even a small mistake can result in a lot of monetary losses or even failure of a subsystem or the whole project. So, a reprogramming method to be used in space missions shall undergo excessive testing to provide high reliability for updating software in orbit. This paper is devoted to an investigation of available and applicable methods for remote reprogramming of Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based subsystems. A commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) single board computer (SBC) was used as a standalone subsystem to perform reprogramming of a target device. The SBC was tested extensively and reinforced for ensuring its space-compatibility. Several open-source software-based solutions were considered. Some of them are applicable to a wide range of processor architectures, including ARM. Considered methods could reconfigure an FPGA successfully with some major limitations, which were also described in the paper. Based on the investigation, Xilinx Software Command-line Tool (XSCT) was selected as a reprogramming method for ACU of the latest satellite of iQPS, QPS-SAR-2 ("IZANAMI"). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automation software need to be continuously updated by addressing software bugs contained in their repositories. However, bugs have different levels of importance; hence, it is essential to prioritize bug reports based on their severity and importance. Manually managing the deluge of incoming bug reports faces time and resource constraints from the development team and delays the resolution of critical bugs. Therefore, bug report prioritization is vital. This study proposes a new model for bug prioritization based on average one dependence estimator; it prioritizes bug reports based on severity, which is determined by the number of attributes. The more the number of attributes, the more the severity. The proposed model is evaluated using precision, recall, F1-Score, accuracy, GMeasure, and Matthew's correlation coefficient. Results of the proposed model are compared with those of the support vector machine (SVM) and Naive Bayes (NB) models. Eclipse and Mozilla datasetswere used as the sources of bug reports. The proposed model improved the bug repository management and outperformed the SVM and NB models. Additionally, the proposed model used a weaker attribute independence supposition than the former models, thereby improving prediction accuracy with minimal computational cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Prechtl General Movements Assessment (GMA) has become a clinician and researcher toolbox for evaluating neurodevelopment in early infancy. Given that it involves the observation of infant movements from video recordings, utilising smartphone applications to obtain these recordings seems like the natural progression for the field. In this review, we look back on the development of apps for acquiring general movement videos, describe the application and research studies of available apps, and discuss future directions of mobile solutions and their usability in research and clinical practice. We emphasise the importance of understanding the background that has led to these developments while introducing new technologies, including the barriers and facilitators along the pathway. The GMApp and Baby Moves apps were the first ones developed to increase accessibility of the GMA, with two further apps, NeuroMotion and InMotion, designed since. The Baby Moves app has been applied most frequently. For the mobile future of GMA, we advocate collaboration to boost the field's progression and to reduce research waste. We propose future collaborative solutions, including standardisation of cross-site data collection, adaptation to local context and privacy laws, employment of user feedback, and sustainable IT structures enabling continuous software updating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Time optimization is a common goal to most health information institutions. In several countries, chronic electronic renewal prescriptions were one of the main focuses when implementing information systems. In Portugal, Electronic Medical Prescription (PEM®) software is used for most electronic prescriptions. This study aims to quantify the time spent in chronic prescription renewal appointments (CPRA) in primary care and its impact in the Portuguese National Health System (SNS). Methods: Eight general practitioners (GP) were included in the study during February 2022. The average duration of 100 CPRA was obtained. To determine the number of CPRA performed every year, a primary care BI-CSP® platform was used. Using Standard Cost Model and average medical doctor hourly rate in Portugal we estimated CPRA global costs. Results: Each doctor spent on average 1:55 ± 01:07 min per CPRA. There were 8295 GP working in 2022. A total 635 561 CPRA were performed in 2020 and 774 346 in 2021. In 2020, CPRA costs ranged 303 088 ± 179 419€, and in 2021 that number increased to 369 272 ± 218 599€. Conclusion: This is the first study to quantify CPRA's real cost in Portugal. A PEM® software update would allow daily savings, ranging from 830€ (± 491€) in 2020 and 1011€ (± 598€) in 2021. That change could allow hiring 8 ± 5 GP in 2020 and 12 ± 7 in 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we demonstrate improvements to our bioinformatic pipeline, PING, which provides high‐resolution genotyping of killer‐cell immunoglobulin‐like receptor (KIR) sequencing data, that expand the method to provide KIR interpretation from whole genome sequencing (WGS) data. We evaluated performance using synthetic sequence datasets and real‐world data from the 1000 Genomes Project (1KGP). PING demonstrated high exonic genotyping performance on the synthetic sequence dataset meant to approximate real‐world data at 95% accuracy (N = 1366). This result was mirrored in the analysis of 1KGP European data (N = 215) with most genes showing near or below 5% frequency of unresolved exonic genotypes, which is an important indicator for genotyping errors in real‐world data. An analysis into the distributions of genotyping errors for the synthetic sequence datasets gave insights into how to further improve genotype accuracy. Similarly, an analysis into ambiguous exonic genotype frequencies for the 1KGP European data, which showed high rates of unresolved genotypes, highlighted that an effective phasing method will be an impactful future additional to the PING workflow. Together, these results demonstrate that PING can effectively provide high‐resolution KIR genotyping on WGS data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]