Accurate diagnosis at an early stage of infection is essential for the successful management of any contagious disease. The COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a pandemic that has affected 214 countries affecting more than 30.8 million people causing 0.957 million deaths as of third week of September, 2020. The primary diagnosis of the infection is done either by the molecular technique of RT-qPCR by detecting portions of the RNA of the viral genome or through immunodiagnostic tests by detecting the viral proteins or the antibodies produced by the host. As the demand for the test increased rapidly many naive manufacturers entered the market with novel kits and more and more laboratories also entered the diagnostic arena making the test result more error-prone. There are serious debates globally and regionally on the sensitivity and specificity of these tests and about the overall accuracy and reliability of the tests for decision making on control strategies. The significance of the test is also complexed by the presence of asymptomatic carriers, re-occurrence of infection in cured patients as well as by the varied incubation periods of the infection and shifting of the viral location in the host tissues. In this paper, we review the techniques available for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis and probable factors that can reduce the sensitivity and specificity of the different test methods currently in vogue. We also provide a check-list of factors to be taken care to avoid fallacious practices to reduce false positive and false negative results by the clinical laboratories

SARS-CoV-2 continues to widely circulate in populations globally. Underdetection is acknowledged and is problematic when attempting to capture the true prevalence. Seroprevalence studies, where blood samples from a population sample are tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies that react to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, are a common method for estimating the proportion of people previously infected with the virus in a given population. However, obtaining reliable estimates from seroprevalence studies is challenging for a number of reasons, and the uncertainty in the results is often overlooked by scientists, policy makers and the media. This paper reviews the methodological issues that arise in designing these studies, and the main sources of uncertainty that affect the results. We discuss the choice of study population, recruitment of subjects, uncertainty surrounding the accuracy of antibody tests themselves, and the relationship between antibodies and infection over time. Understanding these issues can help the reader to interpret and critically evaluate the results of seroprevalence studies.

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is largely driven by community transmission, after 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV or SARS-CoV-2) crosses the borders. To stop the spread, rapid testing is required at community clinics and hospitals. These rapid tests should be comparable with the standard PCR technology. Isothermal amplification technology provides an excellent alternative that is highly amenable to resource limited settings, where expertise and infrastructure to support PCR are not available. In this review, we provide a brief description of isothermal amplification technology, its potential and the gaps that need to be considered for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Among this emerging technology, loop mediated amplification (LAMP) and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) technologies have been identified as potential platforms that could be implemented at community level, without samples referral to a centralised laboratory and prolonged turn-around-time associated with the standard COVID-19 RT-PCR test. LAMP, for example, has recently been shown to be comparable with PCR and could be performed in less than 30 min by non-laboratory staff, without RNA extractions commonly associated with PCR. More so, it is cost effective and could easily be scaled up to resource limited settings. Diagnostics developers, scientific community and commercial companies could consider this alternative method to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Objectives: This paper presents a statistical review of modelling simulations for frequency and sensitivity of COVID-19 testing paradigms. Methods: We performed a review of preprints and published articles on PubMed from January 1, 2020 – March 1, 2021 using the search terms “COVID screening testing”, “COVID testing frequency”, “COVID testing frequency screening” and “SARS-CoV-2 testing frequency”.Results: Several authors’ conclusions support the claim that test frequency and test sensitivity both play a role in reducing SARS-CoV-2 transmission. We highlight the interplay between frequency of testing, test sensitivity and the speed at which test results are available in our review. Conclusions: Evidence suggests that sensitivity and frequency of testing both play a part in decreasing transmission of disease. We conclude that, overall, test sensitivity plays less of a role in reducing disease transmission in a population compared to the frequency of testing and how quickly test results are available.

A growing number of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants is being identified worldwide, potentially impacting the effectiveness of current vaccines. We report the data obtained in several Italian regions involved in the SARS-CoV-2 variant monitoring from the beginning of the epidemic and spanning the period from October 2020 to March 2021.

Rapid SARS-CoV-2 self-tests have the potential to expand access to COVID-19 testing and improve community-level case detection, particularly in resource-constrained countries such as Kenya. However, prior to their introduction, their acceptability must be assessed. This qualitative study explored key decision-takers’ values towards SARS-CoV-2 self-testing in Kenya. Healthcare workers, representatives of civil society, and potential implementors from Mombasa and Taita-Taveta were selected as decision-takers. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data on their values towards self-testing. A thematic analysis approach was applied. Most informants considered that the Kenyan public is equipped to accept and use self-testing safely as an approach to help to reduce workload at public healthcare facilities, and know one’s COVID-19 status in a private manner. The informants emphasized the need to provide counselling to end-users, to support those needing to self-isolate, and to engage different civil society stakeholders in information provision on self-testing. Fear of stigma and of forced isolation were noted as potential deterrents to self-testing uptake for some individuals. In conclusion, there is high acceptability of self-testing in Kenya among decision-takers. However, enhanced education, counselling, and addressing deterrents to testing would be helpful to ensure effective use of SARS-CoV-2 self-testing in Kenya.

Smartphone-based point-of-care testing (POCT) is rapidly emerging as an alternative to traditional screening and laboratory testing, particularly in resource-limited settings. In this proof-of-concept study, we present a smartphone- and cloud-based artificial intelligence quantitative analysis system (SCAISY) for relative quantification of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific IgG antibody lateral flow assays that enables rapid and accurate evaluation of test strips. By capturing an image with a smartphone camera, SCAISY quantitatively analyzes antibody levels and provides results to the user. We analyzed changes in antibody levels over time in over 248 individuals, including vaccine type, number of doses, and infection status, with a standard deviation of less than 10%. We also tracked antibody levels in six participants before and after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Finally, we examined the effects of lighting conditions, camera angle, and smartphone type to ensure consistency and reproducibility. This study suggests that SCAISY is a simple and powerful tool for real-time public health surveillance, enabling the acceleration of quantifying SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies generated by either vaccination or infection and tracking of personal immunity levels.

We investigated 328 SARS-CoV-2 cases in Barwon South West Victoria, Australia, in the 2020 pre-vaccination period, comparing infections with symptoms to those that remained asymptomatic. De-identified self-reported data from three sequential questionnaires on case characteristics and symptom progression were examined. Multivariable logistic regression were used to model associations between demographic profile and symptoms. Asymptomatic cases were more than three times as likely to be from ethnic minority groups [OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.5 – 6.7, p<0.01], and approximately seven times more likely to be seniors (≥ 65 years) [OR 7.3, 95% CI 1.0 – 50.1] after adjusting for sex and occupation. The overrepresentation of ethnic minority groups among asymptomatic infections is suggestive of genetic haplotype variability by ethnic group, conferring greater cross protection from other coronaviruses in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research should be repeated post-vaccination to reassess symptom expression according to ethnicity, and better comprehend case ascertainment impacts of cultural biases in testing and infection reporting, and the reliance on symptoms to trigger testing. These findings may in part reflect differences in testing patterns by ethnicity and true differences in disease expression, both important for appropriate transmission prevention strategies, and tailoring testing messaging towards ethnic minority communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic had profound negative effects on millions of couples affected by infertility and in need to resort to assisted reproductive technologies. There is no consensus over the optimal way and moment of screening triage-negative asymptomatic patients and staff. We present SARS-CoV-2 antibodies’ (IgM, IgG) seroprevalence in 516 triage-negative patients and 30 fertility care providers. The sampling for SARS-CoV-2 serological assays took place from the lockdown release throughout the second half of 2020 (17.05 - 01.12.2020). It revealed an increased seroprevalence of antibodies that closely followed the local epidemiology of COVID-19, with the highest rate of seropositivity coincident with the peak of the second wave. From 546 triage-negative individuals whose blood samples were assessed for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, 6% yielded positive results. The overall seroconversion rate was 2.8% for IgG and 5.1% for IgM. In the group with positive IgM, we observed a negative predictive value for IgM of 98.36% (95% CI: 88.79 – 99.78%), which is clinically meaningful. Serological testing of triage-negative patients up to seven days prior to the actual fertility procedure might avoid the more expensive and not more sensitive molecular testing currently being used for patient screening in most fertility units.

The availability of simple SARS-CoV-2 detection methods is crucial to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined whether a commercial LAMP assay can reliably detect SARS-CoV-2 genomes directly in respiratory samples without having to extract nucleic acids (NA) beforehand. Nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS, n = 220) were tested by real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and with the LAMP assay. For RT-PCR, NA were investigated. For LAMP, NA from 26 NPS in viral transport medium (VTM) were tested. The other 194 NPS were analyzed directly without prior NA extraction [140 samples in VTM; 54 dry swab samples stirred in phosphate buffered saline]. Ten NPS were tested directly by LAMP using a sous-vide cooking unit. The isothermal assay demonstrated excellent specificity (100%) but moderate sensitivity (68.8%), with a positive predictive value of 1 and a negative predictive value of 0.65 for direct testing of NPS in VTM. The use of dry swabs, even without NA extraction, improved the analytical sensitivity; up to 6% of samples showed signs of inhibition. The LAMP could be performed successfully with a sous-vide cooking unit. This technique is very fast, requires little laboratory resources and can replace rapid antigen tests or verify reactive rapid tests on site.

SARS-CoV-2, influenza A/B virus (IAV/IBV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are among the common viruses causing acute respiratory infections. Clinical diagnosis to differentiate these viruses is challenging due to similar clinical presentations, thus laboratory-based real-time RT PCR is the gold standard for diagnosis. The study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of STANDARD M10 Flu/RSV/SARS-CoV-2 (SD Biosensor Inc, Seoul, Korea). This retrospective study was conducted with archived respiratory samples positive and negative for SARS-CoV-2, IAV, IBV or RSV. The evaluation study involved a total of 322 respiratory samples comprising 215 positive samples (49 SARS-CoV-2, 48 IAV, 53 IBV, 65 RSV) and 107 negative samples. All samples were tested with both STANDARD M10 and either Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 or Xpert Xpress Flu/RSV (Cepheid, USA). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value rates of STANDARD M10 were very similar to Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 or Xpert Xpress Flu/RSV ranges for each virus (98-100%). The overall agreement was 99.4% with 99.1% agreement for positive samples and 100% agreement for negative samples. In conclusion, the STANDARD M10 point-of-care test is suitable for rapid simultaneous detection of SARS-CoV-2, IAV, IBV and RSV.

Acoustic emission monitoring (AEM) has emerged as an effective technique for detecting wire-breaks resulting from, e.g., stress corrosion cracking, and its application on prestressed concrete bridges is increasing. The success of this monitoring measure depends crucially on a carefully designed sensor layout. For this the attenuation of elastic waves within the structure’s material is determined ideally in-situ through object-related measurements with a reproducible signal source, typically a rebound-hammer. This assumes that the attenuation coefficients derived from rebound-hammer tests are comparable to those from wire-breaks, thus allowing their results to be directly applied to wire-break detection without further adjustments. This study challenges this assumption by analysing attenuation behaviour through an extensive dataset. Employing time-domain and frequency analysis, the research generates attenuation profiles from laboratory experiments and in-situ measurements across various girders and bridge structures, extracting the slope and standard deviation of the residuals. While generally validating this approach, the findings highlight differences in attenuation behaviour from among wire-break signals and rebound-hammer impulses, whereby the latter potentially underestimates the relevant attenuation of wire-breaks by approximately 20 %. Consequently, a transfer factor is proposed to adjust object-related measurement results for wire-break scenarios, including a variance of 1.0 dB/m to cover a 95 % confidence interval for sample scattering. Moreover, the anisotropic attenuation behaviour across different structures was studied, showing that transverse attenuation consistently exceeds the longitudinal, significantly influenced by structural features such as voids. In prefabricated concrete bridges with in-situ-cast concrete slabs, transverse signal transmission remains unhindered across multiple elements. Finally, the results provide a valuable reference for the design of sensor layouts in bridge monitoring, particularly benefiting scenarios where direct in-situ experiences are lacking.

We aimed to explore university students’ perceptions and experiences of SARS-CoV-2 mass asymptomatic testing, social distancing and self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study comprised of four rapid online focus groups conducted at a higher education institution in England during high alert (tier 2) national COVID-19 restrictions. Data were analysed thematically. Participants were purposively sampled university students (n = 25) representing a range of gender, age, living circumstances (on/off campus) and SARS-CoV-2 testing/self-isolation experiences. Six themes with 16 sub-themes emerged from the analysis of the qualitative data: ‘Term-time Experiences’, ‘Risk Perception and Worry’, ‘Engagement in Protective Behaviours’, ‘Openness to Testing’, ‘Barriers to Testing’ and ‘General Wellbeing’. Students described feeling safe on campus, believed most of their peers are adherent to protective behaviours and were positive towards asymptomatic testing in university settings. University communications about COVID-19 testing and social behaviours need to be timely and presented in a more inclusive way to reach groups of students who currently feel marginalised. Barriers to engagement with SARS-CoV-2 testing, social distancing and self-isolation were primarily associated with fear of the mental health impacts of self-isolation, including worry about how they will cope, high anxiety, low mood, guilt relating to impact on others and loneliness. Loneliness in students could be mitigated through increased intra-university communications and a focus on establishment of low COVID-risk social activities to help students build and enhance their social support networks. These findings are particularly pertinent in the context of mass asymptomatic testing programmes being implemented in educational settings and high numbers of students being required to self-isolate. Universities need to determine the support needs of students during self-isolation and prepare for the long-term impacts of the pandemic on student mental health and welfare support services.

TThe aim of the work is to present a newly developed stand and methodology of accelerated tests of fatigue strength of flexible propellers and fins. The paper presents the design and concepts of the measuring elements used in the research. Test methodology and water stressing were devel-oped. The mechanical properties of the following materials were presented: Arnitel EL-550 and QUEO 8230 with the addition of PP / EVA 50/50 (polypropylene / ethylene-vinyl acetate) - in the proportion of 70/30 (QUEO 8230 / additive). The constructed test stand and a new method of fa-tigue testing of biomimetic fins made it possible to determine the number of fin movement cy-cles under a given load, which may facilitate the determination of a warranty for a newly intro-duced product. The current consumption by the fin drive and video monitoring allowed for the selection of the range of the number of movement cycles and the determination of the moment of fatigue cracks until the fin structure loses its capacity. During the analysis, the test results showed that the fins made of Arnitel EL-550 did not show changes in the measured values of the current and the force generated by the fin. For a fin made of QUEO 8230, at 35,000 cycles, there is a decrease in the current and force consumed, which indicates the initiation of fatigue damage to the fin. The performed tests can be the basis for the development of standards for the fatigue strength of flexible propellers.

Graphically-rich applications such as games are ubiquitous with attractive visual effects of Graphical User Interface (GUI) that offers a bridge between software applications and end-users. However, various types of graphical glitches may arise from such GUI complexity and have become one of the main component of software compatibility issues. Our study on bug reports from game development teams in NetEase Inc. indicates that graphical glitches frequently occur during the GUI rendering and severely degrade the quality of graphically-rich applications such as video games. Existing automated testing techniques for such applications focus mainly on generating various GUI test sequences and check whether the test sequences can cause crashes. These techniques require constant human attention to captures non-crashing bugs such as bugs causing graphical glitches. In this paper, we present the first step in automating the test oracle for detecting non-crashing bugs in graphically-rich applications. Specifically, we propose GLIB based on a code-based data augmentation technique to detect game GUI glitches. We perform an evaluation of GLIB on 20 real-world game apps (with bug reports available) and the result shows that GLIB can achieve 100\% precision and 99.5\% recall in detecting non-crashing bugs such as game GUI glitches. Practical application of GLIB on another 14 real-world games (without bug reports) further demonstrates that GLIB can effectively uncover GUI glitches, with 48 of 53 bugs reported by GLIB having been confirmed and fixed so far.

The process of testing software is examining the artifacts and behavior of the software under test by validating and verifying it. Testing can provide valuable information about the software. Given an input to the system, there is a challenge of distinguishing correct from potentially incorrect behavior, which is the test oracle problem. Although the combinatorial testing approach can effectively reduce the number of test cases, the manual inspection of the outputs is still required. In this paper, we propose an approach to automatically classify the return pages with conducting combinatorial testing based on page similarities and hierarchical clustering, by which potential output anomalies can be identified. In the experiment, we apply our approach to a real-world e-commerce website, an anomaly can be found with the visualization of the clustering hierarchy, which suggests the potential of the applicability of the approach.

This research work has been based on a previous study by the authors that characterized the behavior of a polyimide-coated FBG sensor in a structural monitoring system. Sensors applied to structural health monitoring are affected in the presence of a state of multidirectional strains simultaneously. The previous study observed the influence of transverse strain (ε_y) while keeping longitudinal strain constant (ε_x), where the direction x is the direction of the optical fiber. The present study developed an experimental methodology which has consisted of carrying out a campaign of biaxial tests on cruciform specimens with three embedded FBG sensors coated with polyimide, acrylate and ORMOCER®. Applying the Strain–Optic Theory as reference, a comparison of the results obtained with the different coatings has been studied. This experimental work has done it possible to study the influence of transverse strain (ε_y) in the longitudinal measurement of each of the FBG sensor and the influence of the coating material. Finally, the calibration procedure as well as the strain sensitivity factor K for each sensor has been defined.

The ABCDEFG Protocol provides an evolving tool for imposing structure on the flow of Covid infection information obtained from community testing, collective policy and individual compliance. ABCDEFG Protocol could not assume soundness, invariance, symmetry and completeness of the available information and relied on signaling game theory to design solutions that could evolve with the variable narratives, theories, individual utilities and pathogen variants. Thus, ABCDEFG Protocol suggests a novel and a very flexible pool-testing and badging protocol in the context of controlling contagious epidemics and tackling the far-reaching associated challenges, including understanding and evaluating individual and collective risks of returning prior infected individuals to normal society and other economic and social arrangements and interventions to protect against disease. AbCDEFG Proto uses both control theoretic and game theoretic mathematical models that may be centralized (an optimizing policy maker mandates behavior based on estimated models) or decentralized (a strategizing individual selects their behavior based on available asymmetric information). ABCDEFG protocol demonstrates how society can continue to carry out plausible economic activities in addition to controlling the prevalence of a contagious disease by keeping the number of infected people below a desired limit without compromising an individuals' privacy despite the presence of deception and selfishness among people, and limitations of available resources. Different types of badges would come with different restrictions. Badges would be reissued periodically by third-party testing centers via suitably frequent pool testing of samples of the participants. The size of the pools, frequency of tests, and allowable activities for people with a given type of badge would depend on the available resources, the prevalence of the disease, and the efficacy of the equipment used in the tests.

Introduction: Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPSI) is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder characterized by deficient or absent α-L-iduronidase (IDUA) enzyme activity due to pathogenic variants in IDUA gene. Early treatment with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and/or enzyme replacement therapy is associated with improved outcomes in this progressive multisystem disease. The diagnosis is usually delayed due to late presentation and nonspecific symptoms resulting in high morbidity and mortality. The incidence of MPSI in US is estimated to be 0.26:100,000, however, it is unknown in Kuwait. This pilot study was undertaken to screen MPSI in all Kuwaiti neonates born at Farwaniya Hospital over a period of 12-months. This study examined the incidence of MPSI in a major center in Kuwait for inclusion in the national newborn screening program to enable its early detection and adequate treatment. Methods: All Kuwaiti neonates born at Farwaniya Hospital, Kuwait from December 2021 to December 2022, were screened for MPSI. The screening consisted of determining IDUA enzyme activity in dried blood spots (DBS)-derived samples by Tandem Mass Spectrometry. A follow-up genetic analysis of IDUA gene is planned to screen the cases with diminished IDUA enzyme activity as second-tier testing. Results: A total of 618 newborns, including 331 (54%) males and 287 (46%) females, were screened. Twenty of them had deficient IDUA enzyme activity but showed negative genetic testing for IDUA. However, we have diagnosed one additional female baby with MPSI, who belonged to Farwaniya Hospital, but the parents chose to deliver in a private hospital. She presented at age three months with recurrent upper airway infections, snoring and extensive Mongolian spots. The molecular study revealed previously reported pathogenic nonsense variant in IDUA c.1882C>T; p.(Arg628Ter), associated with severe phenotype. That being included, MPSI is estimated to be about 0.3% among tested females and 0.2% of all screened cases in Kuwait. Conclusion: Our study is the first to evaluate the incidence of MPSI in Kuwait. Given the single center, small number of screened babies and the short study duration thus far, it is premature to calculate the incidence of MPSI. It is anticipated that as the study continues and more infants are examined, we would be able to estimate the incidence of this disease in our population correctly. Further studies including screening newborns in all maternity hospitals in Kuwait are needed to calculate the actual incidence of MPSI. Our data supports including MPSI in national newborn screening program to allow early initiation of treatment and thus improve disease outcome.

The present paper aims to increase knowlodge of the methods of resistance estimating of concrete in situ by means of non-destructive tests used to integrate the quantitative results from cylindrical specimens (core). The results of experimental investigations carried out on concrete conglomerate samples of a school building are shown. The experimental campaign then will be presented like a case study, conducted on a series of concrete beams and pillars of an existing building. The distructive tests on cores were conducted at the Civil Structures Laboratory of the Engineering Department of the University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli". The expression obtained through the calibration procedure of the values of non-destructive tests with those provided by the core drills allowed to estimate the average values of the compressive strength of the concrete. It is highlighted how this result was achieved with a very limited core number provided that they are extracted in selected points and that there was a proportionality link with the resistances obtained from non distructive tests.

This is an article or technical note which is intended to provides an insight journey of Machine Learning Systems (MLS) testing, its evolution, current paradigm and future work. Machine Learning Models, used in critical applications such as healthcare industry[1], Automobile [2], [3] and Air Traffic control, Share Trading etc., and failure of ML Model can lead to severe consequences in terms of loss of life or property. To remediate this, developers, scientists, and ML community around the world, must build a highly reliable test architecture for critical ML application. At the very foundation layer, any test model must satisfy the core testing attributes such as test properties and its components. This attribute comes from the software engineering [5], [6], but the same cannot be applied in as-is form to the ML testing and we will tell you “why”.

The current clinical model for genetic-testing is based on clinical-criteria/family-history(FH) and a pre-defined mutation probability threshold. It requires people to develop cancer before identifying unaffected individuals in the family to target prevention. This process is inefficient, resource intense and misses >50% of individuals/mutation carriers at risk. Population genetic-testing can overcome these limitations. It is technically feasible to test populations on a large scale; genetic-testing costs are falling and the acceptability/awareness is rising. MEDLINE/EMBASE/Pubmed/CINAHL/PsychINFO databases were searched using a free-text and MeSH terms; reference lists of publications retrieved screened; additionally web-based platforms, Google, and clinical-trial registries were searched. Quality of studies were evaluated using appropriate check-lists. A number of studies have evaluated population-based BRCA-testing in the Jewish-population. This has been found to be acceptable, feasible, clinically-effective, safe, associated with high satisfaction rates and extremely cost-effective. Data support change in guidelines to population-based BRCA-testing in the Jewish-population. Population panel-testing for BRCA1/BRCA2/RAD51C/RAD51D/BRIP1/PALB2 gene mutations is the most cost-effective genetic-testing strategy in general-population women and can prevent thousands more breast/ovarian cancers than current clinical-criteria based approaches. A few ongoing studies are evaluating population-based genetic-testing for multiple cancer susceptibility genes in the general-population but more implementation studies are needed. A future population-testing programme could also target other chronic diseases.

Ensemble fuzzing in parallel with heterogeneous fuzzers has been proposed to leverage the advantages of diverse fuzzers and improve testing efficiency. However, in current ensemble fuzzing methods, the collaboration among different fuzzers is achieved solely by synchronizing the seeds discovered by each fuzzer. This results in a high likelihood of different fuzzers choosing the same seeds and creating a large number of equivalent testcases, thus reducing overall fuzzing efficiency. Meanwhile, the existing task division method proposed by AFLTeam is highly coupled with the fuzzer specially designed for it, making it challenging to apply to ensemble fuzzing directly. So, in this paper, we proposed a callgraph-based task division method suitable for ensemble fuzzing. Firstly, we divided the target program’s callgraph into subgraphs (subtasks) balancing expected workloads. Then, we divided the global seed corpus into sub-corpora, each corresponding to a subtask, making fuzzers easily accept the subtasks. Finally, we designed synchronization mechanisms for coverage bitmaps and seeds to realize the collaborative fuzzing among different fuzzers, and a cyclic subtask scheduling strategy to fully leverage the benefits of ensemble fuzzing. We have implemented a prototype called TAEF. The evaluation results show that in the best-case scenario, our method has up to 24% more branch coverage than previous work.

This study aimed to develop a Laotian adolescent version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), determine its reliability and validity, and examine its factorial properties. The study targeted at 7,554 students in lower secondary schools and teacher training colleges in Lao PDR. Self-administered questionnaires were collected from 2012 to 2014. Exploratory factor analysis performed in three age groups using the weighted least square mean and variance adjusted estimation with robust maximum likelihood methods. The factor structure for each age group was the same; therefore, data from the full sample were analyzed further. The model was then tested by confirmatory factor analysis. A 2-factor model was determined as a common model among the age groups by using paralleled analysis. We determined a best-fitting structure comprising two factors: “Negative affect” and “Positive affect.” The Cronbach’s alpha was .81. “Effort” items loaded on the “Somatic and retarded activity” factor in the original model but loaded on the “Positive affect” factor in the adolescent model. “Depressed affect,” “Somatic and retarded activity,” and “Interpersonal” items were combined into the “Negative affect” factor in the adolescent model.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the debonding behavior of the interface between continuously and discontinuously fiber reinforced thermoplastics using the climbing drum peel test. The study emphasizes the importance of considering different climatic boundary conditions due to the properties of thermoplastics. Specimens with varying moisture contents are prepared and tested. It is observed that an increase in moisture content initially results in a higher fracture surface energy being required to separate the two materials, but a further increase results in a decrease of the required energy. The study presents an explanatory model of increasing plasticization of the polymer due to increased polymer chain mobility, which results in more deformation energy being required to propagate the crack. The experiment is also modeled numerically for the first time with cohesive surfaces, which successfully reproduces the force-displacement curve in the experiment.

Background/Aims: Screening for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are currently done at 24 - 28 weeks of conception, missing out on the most vulnerable period of organogenesis and thus preventing clinicians from starting treatments until the late second or third trimester. MicroRNAs (miR) are small non-coding RNA molecules that could aid in detecting or predicting GDM through establishing a novel non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) tool. The objective of this study was to summarize the most recent updates on plasma microRNAs as GDM diagnostic biomarkers. Methods: Between April and June 2021, a PubMed literature search was undertaken to review recent articles on human plasma miR associated with GDM. Animal studies and papers that are written in languages other than English were excluded. Only plasma miRNAs were used to avoid coagulation biases. Results: A total of 31 miRNAs were found significantly upregulated in the plasma samples of patients with GDM. It was found mainly during the 2nd or 3rd trimester except for miR-223 and miR-23a that were upregulated at 9 – 11 weeks of gestation. Conclusion: Though extensive prospective cohort studies are required, miR-223 and miR-23a should be considered the most promising to develop a successful NIPT tool because they were found to be upregulated earliest, during the first trimester.

The BH 25 railway bridge, located in Indonesia, consists of three spans: 9.5 m (span-1 girder type), 21.9 m (span-2 truss type), and 9.6 m (span-3 girder type). Despite the initial plan for camber, it was not achieved, leading to the installation of temporary support on span-2. To assess the level of damage and determine the necessary steps, static and dynamic tests were conducted using a CC206 locomotive. The maximum deflection was recorded at -4.60 mm for span-1, -11.30 mm for span-2, and -3.42 mm for span-3. The dominant frequency in the vertical direction of span-2 was found to be 14.65 Hz. Due to the inability to achieve the planned camber and the subsequent removal of temporary support, external prestressing will be implemented, resulting in a camber of 11.82 mm. This change in prestressing also affects the dominant frequency of span-2, which becomes 17.07 Hz.

The characteristics of powders on a bulk scale are heavily influenced by both the material properties and the size of their primary particles. Throughout the stages of storage and transportation in the powder processing industry, various forms of deformation and stress, such as pressure and shear, impact these materials. Recognizing the point at which a powder undergoes yielding becomes particularly significant in numerous applications. There are also times when you need to understand the level of stress needed to maintain it. Measurement of powder yield and flow properties remains a challenge and is addressed in this study. As part of the CALIPER collaborative project, a number of shear experiments were performed using two shearing devices: Schulze ring shearing device and Anton Paar Powder Cell (APCC). These experiments have three purposes: i) Test reproducibility/consistency between two shear devices and test protocols. ii) To relate bulk behavior to microscopic particle properties, focusing on bulk density and thus the effect of cohesion between particles; iii) Investigate the influence of the temperature of heated powders on the powder flow properties, which is important for the industrial reactors. Interestingly, for samples with small particle size, bulk cohesion increases slightly, but bulk friction increases significantly, because of particle interaction effects. The experimental data not only provide useful insight into the role of microscopically attractive van der Waals gravitational and/or compressive forces on the macroscopic flow behavior of bulk powders, but also have industrial relevance. We also provide a robust datas of cohesive and attritional fine powder for silo design used for calibration and validation of silos, models and computer simulations.

The capacitor-mismatch among diverse defects caused by the manufacturing process variations significantly affects the linearity of capacitor-array used to implement the capacitive digital-to-analog converter (CDAC) in the successive-approximation-register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Accordingly, the linearity of the SAR ADC is limited by that of capacitor-array, resulting in serious yield loss. This paper proposes an efficient foreground self-calibration technique to enhance the linearity of the SAR ADCs by mitigating the capacitor-mismatch based on the split ADC architecture along with variable capacitors. In this work, two ADC channels (i.e., ADC1 and ADC2) for the split ADC architecture include their capacitive DACs (CDACs) whose binary-weighted capacitor-arrays consist of variable capacitors. A charge-sharing SAR ADC is used for each ADC channel. In the normal operation mode, their digital outputs are averaged to be the final ADC output, as in a conventional split ADC. In the calibration mode, every single binary-weighted capacitor for the two ADCs is sequentially calibrated by making parallel or/and antiparallel connection among two or thee capacitors from the two channels. For instance, because the capacitors of the CDACs ideally exhibit the binary-weighted relation as Cn=2×Cn−1, variable capacitor Cn of ADC1 can be updated to be closest to the sum of Cn−1 of ADC1 and Cn−1 of ADC2 for the calibration. For the process, the two capacitor-arrays of the two ADCs can be reconfigured to be connected to each other, so that Cn of ADC1 can be connected with two of Cn−1 of ADC1 and ADC2 in antiparallel. The two voltages at the top and the bottom plates of the CDAC are compared by a comparator of ADC1, and the comparison results are used to update Cn. This process is iterated, until Cn is in agreement with the sum of two of Cn−1. Finally, all the capacitors can be calibrated in this way to have the binary-weighted relation. The simulation results based on the proposed work with a split SAR ADC model verified that the proposed technique can be practically used, by showing that the total-harmonic-distortion and the signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio were enhanced by 21.8-dB and 6.4-dB, respectively.

This paper describes a new optimization methodology of testing vector sets reduction for testing of soft-processor cores and their individual blocks. The deterministic test vectors both for whole core and its individual blocks are investigated that significantly reduce the testing time and amount of test data that needs to be stored on the tester memory. The processor executes an assembler program which together with determined testing vectors ex-ercise its functionality. The new BIST methodology applicable at industrial testing of processor cores, diagnostics and dynamic reconfiguration of FPGA is proposed. This novel methodology combined with dynamic reconfiguration of FPGAs can be profitable applied for missions-critical i.e. FPGAs operate in space, or other difficult condition where are explore on radiation. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach reduces many times testing time.

This paper presents an in-depth study of the stress wave behavior propagating in a Rayleigh–Love rod with a sudden cross-sectional area change. The analytical solutions of stress waves are derived for the reflection and transmission propagation behavior at the interface of the cross-sectional area change in the rod, considering inertia and Poisson’s effects. Examples solved by the finite element method are provided to verify the correctness of the analytical results. In addition to the forward analysis of Rayleigh–Love wave propagation in rods impacted by a striker rod, a nondestructive testing method is proposed to conduct the defect assessment in the rod type of the structure component with a sudden cross-sectional area change within a cover medium by using the measured signals at the measurable zone of the rod to be inspected.

An increasing use of non-metallic reinforcement is problematic as it has to be detected at the stage of accepting construction works, or later when expert opinions are prepared for the building. In contrast to metallic reinforcement, location of this type of reinforcement is difficult using non-destructive techniques. Small diameters of rebars and their location in a tested element were troublesome. This article describes an attempt to locate non-metallic reinforcement in a concrete element and the masonry. Tests were performed using an ultrasonic tomograph and GPR with a broad range of frequencies.

In the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, testing is highly essential to be able to isolate, treat infected persons, and finally curb transmission of this infectious respiratory disease. Group testing has been used previously for various infectious diseases and recently reported for large-scale population testing of COVID-19. However, possible sample dilution as a result of large pool sizes has been reported, limiting testing methods’ detection sensitivity. Moreover, the need to sample all individuals prior to pooling overburden the limited resources such as test kits. An alternative proposed strategy where test is performed on pooled samples from individuals representing different households is presented here. This strategy intends to improve group testing method through the reduction in the number of samples collected and pooled during large-scale population testing. Moreover, it introduces database system which enables continuous monitoring of the population’s virus exposure for better decision making.

In recent decades, low-yielding seismic devices based on the use of friction dampers have emerged as an excellent solution for the development of building structures with improved reparability and resilience. Achieving an optimal design for such low-yielding seismic devices requires precise control of bolt preloading levels and predictability of the friction coefficient (CoF) between the damper interfaces. While various types of friction devices exist, capable of providing significant energy dissipation, ongoing research is focused on the development of novel friction materials that exhibit a stable hysteretic response, high CoF values, minimal differences between static and dynamic CoF, and predictable slip resistance. In this context, an experimental campaign was conducted at the STRENGTH Laboratory of the University of Salerno to evaluate the behaviour of new friction shims employing specially developed metal alloys. Specifically, the influence of the characteristics of the contact surfaces in the sliding area on the behaviour and performance of the friction device was analysed. The tests followed the loading protocol recommended by EN12159 for seismic device qualification. Monitored parameters included preloading force values and the evolution of slip resistance. The friction value was determined, along with its degradation over time. Finally, the material's performance in terms of hysteretic behaviour was assessed, providing a comparison of the tested specimens in terms of slip force degradation and energy dissipation capacity.

There is increasing interest in automating train operations of mainline services, e.g. to increase network capacity. Automatic train operation (ATO) is already achieved by several pilot projects, but not implemented on a large scale. Before the general introduction of new or adapted technologies can have a transformative effect on the operation of such a complex system as train operation on mainlines, they have to pass functional, interoperability and performance tests. A virtual preliminary analysis is one way to ensure a smooth as well as safe introduction and implementation. This paper aims to present an approach that applies to the performance testing of ATO systems. Therefore, methods and test standards for technologies enabling automatic operation in other transport sectors are reviewed. The main findings have been adapted, transformed and combined to be used as a general strategy for virtual performance testing in the railway sector. Specifically, universal performance indicators, namely punctuality, accuracy, energy consumption, safety and comfort, are presented. A layer model for scenario description is adapted from the automotive sector, as well as the definition of different scenario types. Lastly, factors that can influence the performance of an ATO algorithm are identified. To demonstrate the developed approach, a straightforward investigation of a case study is conducted using a microscopic train simulator in combination with an ATO algorithm.

Previously, a conductivity invariance phenomena (CIP) has been discovered – at a certain lift-off, the inductance change of the sensor due to a test sample is immune to conductivity variations, i.e. the inductance – lift-off curve passes through a common point at a certain lift-off, termed as conductivity invariance lift-off. However, this conductivity invariance lift-off is fixed for a particular sensor setup, which is not convenient for various sample conditions. In this paper, we propose using two parameters in the coil design – the horizontal and vertical distances between the transmitter and the receiver to control the conductivity invariance lift-off. The relationship between these two parameters and the conductivity invariance lift-off is investigated by simulation and experiments and it has been found that there is an approximate linear relationship between these two parameters and the conductivity invariance lift-off. This is useful for applications where the measurements have restrictions on lift-off, e.g. uneven coating thickness which limits the range of the lift-off of probe during the measurements. Therefore, based on this relationship, it can be easier to adjust the configuration of the probe for a better inspection of the test samples.

Software testing is an integral yet time-consuming component of software development, and even with capable software testing resources (technology and people), it is still regarded as problematic. Test automation is widely being utilised within the software industry to provide increased testing capacity to ensure high product quality and reliability. In this paper, we are specifically addressing automated testing whereby test cases are manually written. Test automation has its benefits, drawbacks, and impacts on different stages of development. Furthermore, there is often a disconnect between non-technical and technical roles, where non-technical roles (e.g., management) predominantly strive to reduce costs and delivery time whereas technical roles are often driven by quality and completeness. Although it is widely understood that there are challenges with adopting and using automated testing, there is a lack of evidence to understand the different attitudes toward automated testing (AtAT), focusing specifically on why it is not adopted. In this paper, the authors have surveyed practitioners within the software industry from different roles to determine common trends and draw conclusions. A two-stage approach is presented, comprising a comprehensive descriptive analysis and the use of Principle Component Analysis. In total, 81 participants were provided with a series of 22 questions and their responses are compared against job role types and experience levels. In summary, 6 key findings are presented covering expertise, time, cost, tools and techniques, utilisation, organisation, and capacity

Abstract : This paper presents the investigation of biomechanical behaviour of sheep heart fibre using uniaxial tests in various samples. Non-linear Finite Element models (FEA) that are utilised in understanding mechanisms of different diseases may not be developed without the accurate material properties. This paper presents uniaxial mechanical testing data of the sheep heart fibre. The mechanical uniaxial data of the heart fibre was then used in fitting four constitutive models including the Fung model, Polynomial (Anisotropic), Holzapfel (2005) model, Holzapfel (2000) model and the Four-fibre Family model. Even though the constitutive models for soft tissues including heart myocardium have been presented over several decades, there is still a need for accurate material parameters from reliable hyperelastic constitutive models. Therefore, the aim of this research paper is to select five hyperelastic constitutive models and fit experimental data in the uniaxial experimental data of the sheep heart fibre. A fitting algorithm was made used to optimally fitting and determination of the material parameters based on selected hyperelastic constitutive model. In this study, the evaluation index (EI) was used to measure the performance and capability of each selected anisotropic hyperelatic model. It was observed that the best predictive capability of the mechanical behaviour of sheep heart fibre the Polynomial (anisotropic) model has the EI of 100 and this means that it is the best performance when compared to all the other models.

The world is facing a great technological transformation towards full autonomous vehicles, where optimists predict that by 2030, autonomous vehicles will be sufficiently reliable, affordable and common to displace most human driving. To cope with these trends, reliable perception systems must enable vehicles to hear and see all the surroundings, being light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors a key instrument for recreating a 3D visualization of the world in real time. However, perception systems must rely in accurate measurements of the environment. Thus, sensors must be calibrated and benchmarked before being placed on the market or assembled in a car. This article presents an Evaluation and Testing Platform for Automotive LiDAR sensors with the main goal of testing not only commercially available sensors, but also sensor prototypes currently under development in Bosch Automotive Electronics division. The testing system can benchmark any LiDAR sensor under different conditions, recreating the expected driving environment to which such devices are normally subjected. To characterize and validate the sensor under test, the platform evaluates several parameters such as the field of view (FoV), angular resolution, sensor’s range, etc. This project results from a partnership between the University of Minho and Bosch Car Multimedia Portugal, S.A.

We present a simulation library in Python 3 called Lumos. Different optimization routines areimplemented using multiple instruments. Automated measurements are implemented in this librarywhich lead to faster measurements as compared to manual sweeps. We elaborate on the experimentalmethods and also example usage is mentioned.

We address Multi-Wall Carbon NanoTubes (MWCNTs) for structural health monitoring in adhesive bonds such as in building structures. MWCNT-loaded composites are employed to sense strain changes under tension load using an AC impedance measurement setup. Different weight percentages of 1, 1.5, 2 and 3 wt.% MWCNT are added to the base epoxy resin using different dispersion times, i.e. 5, 10 and 15 minutes. The equivalent parallel resistance of the specimens is measured by applying an alternating voltage at different frequencies. To determine the mechanical as well as sensory properties, the specimens are subjected to a tensile test with concurrent impedance measurement. Using alternating voltage, a higher sensitivity of the impedance reading can be achieved. Employing these sensors in buildings and combining the readings of a network of such devices can significantly improve the buildings’ safety. Additionally, networks of such sensors can be used to identify necessary maintenance actions and locations.

The increasingly used approach of combining different simulation software in testing of automated driving systems (ADS) increases the need for potential and convenient software designs. Recently developed co-simulation platforms (CSP) provide the possibility to cover the high demand on testing kilometers for ADS by combining vehicle simulation software (VSS) with traffic flow simulation software (TFSS) environments. The emphasis on the demand of testing kilometers is not enough to choose a suitable CSP. The complexity level of the used vehicle, object, sensors and environment models is essential for valid and representative simulation results. Choosing a suitable CSP raises the question of how the test procedures should be defined and constructed and what the relevant test scenarios are. Parameters of the ADS, the environments, objects, sensors in VSS as well as traffic parameters in TFSS can be used to define and generate test scenarios. In order to generate a large number of scenarios in a systematic and automated way, suitable and appropriate software designs are required. In this paper we present a software design for CSP based on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern and implementation of a complex CSP for virtual testing of ADS. Based on this design, an implementation of a CSP is presented using the VSS from IPG Automotive called CarMaker and the TFSS from PTV Group called Vissim. The results have shown that the presented CSP design and the implementation of the co-simulation can be used to generate relevant scenarios for testing of ADS.

Over the last decade, advances in our understanding about the genetic architecture of complex traits and common diseases, have increased our ability to perform susceptibility genetic testing for diseases in asymptomatic individuals. These technological developments raise complex ethical, legal and social considerations. Here we discuss a series of ethical issues associated with susceptibility genetic testing for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. These include, amongst others, informed consent, disclosure of results and unexpected findings, mandatory screening, privacy and confidentiality, and stigma and genetic discrimination. As knowledge of the genetic basis of these diseases continues growing, and as genetic testing becomes more widespread, we anticipate that it will become increasingly important for scientists and clinicians to engage in the conversation about the ethical, social and policy implications of these technologies.

Background: HIV self-testing (HIVST) is one of the recommended approaches for HIV testing services, particularly for helping reach populations who would not normally access facility-based HIV testing. HIVST must be tailored to different populations to ensure uptake. Objective: The main objective of this study was to develop an acceptable HIVST delivery strategy to help improve urban men’s engagement with HIV services. Methods: We invited key stakeholders for urban men’s HIV services to participate in a co-creation workshop aimed at developing HIVST delivery approaches for urban men, using eThekwini municipality as a study setting. We conducted purposive sampling to include health care users and health care providers, representing a range of views across the public sector and voluntary sector. We employed the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) method for data collection. The NGT workshop was conducted in two consecutive phases: phase one was focused on determining barriers for men’s engagement with the current/facility-based HIV testing services; phase two was aimed at determining HIVST delivery strategies. We used the results of the NGT to design a tailored HIVST strategy for urban men in eThekwini District. Results: Participants identified the following psychological factors as the most important barriers to uptake of HIV testing services by urban men: stigma, ignorance about the importance of testing and testing process as well as fear of positive test results. Key stakeholders suggested internal motivation strategies as a potentially effective approach to support HIVST delivery strategy. Guided by the NGT results, we designed a HIVST delivery strategy that is supported by a risk communication approach Conclusion: We designed an evidence-based risk communication mobile health (mHealth) strategy coupled with SARS COV-2 self-testing tailored to improve men’s uptake of HIVST. A follow-up study to evaluate the feasibility of implementing these approaches is recommended.

Data-Flow and Higher-Order Mutation are white-box testing techniques. To our knowledge, no work has been proposed to compare data flow and higher-order mutation. This paper compares all def-uses data-flow and second-order mutation criteria. This compassion investigates the subsumption relation between these two criteria and evaluates the effectiveness of test data developed for each. To compare the two criteria, a set of test data satisfying each criterion is generated, which is used to explore whether one criterion subsumes the other criterion and assess the effectiveness of the test set that was developed for one methodology in terms of the other. The results showed that the mean mutation coverage ratio of the all du-pairs adequate test cover is 80.9%, and the mean data flow coverage ratio of the 2nd-order mutant adequate test cover is 98.7%. Consequently, 2nd-order mutation “ProbSubsumes” the all du-pairs data flow. The failure detection efficiency of the mutation (98%) is significantly better than the failure detection efficiency of data flow (86%). Consequently, 2nd-order mutation testing is “ProbBetter” than all du-pairs data flow testing. In contrast, the size of the test suite of 2nd-order mutation is more significant than the size of the test suite of all du-pairs.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has promoted a shortage of filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) and the emergence of new FFRs brands. We aimed to determine the fit provided by in-use FFRs in Peruvian healthcare workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We enrolled 279 HCWs from 37 primary healthcare centers with highest burden of care for TB in Peru, of which 263 were assessed using quantitative fit tests (QNFT). Results were expressed as real-time fit factor (rt-FF) and overall fit factor (overall-FF), which was categorized as ≥100 (optimal result), 50-99, and <50. Results: We identified 3M 1860 FFRs (33.1%), Xiantao Zhong Yi ZYB-11 FFRs (24.7%) and Makrite 9500 FFRs (20.5%), mainly. Eighty-seven HCWs (33.1%) had an optimal overall-FF, 27 (10.3%) between 50-99, and 149 (56.7%) less than 50. Of the 87 HCWs with optimal over-all-FF, 73 (83.9%) were 3M 1860 FFR. Of the 27 participants with overall-FF between 50-99, 7 (25.9%) were Makrite 9500, while of the 149 with overall-FF less than 50, 58 (38.9%), and 47 (31.5%) were Xiantao Zhong Yi ZYB-11 and Makrite 9500, respectively. Conclusion: The Xiantao Zhong Yi and Makrite FFRs do not adapt adequately to the face of Peruvian HCWs, most having fit factors less than 50.

Objective: This paper aims to build an Effort Estimation Model for design, coding and testing Web Applications Based Fuzzy and Practical Models, which will help in optimizing the efforts in software development. Methods/Analysis: Soft computing approach is adopted and applied in the effort estimation and then compared with practical efforts in the development process with interpreting the historical data available for the existing functionalities. Findings: The effort estimation model presented in this paper focuses on the first level estimates published by Project Managers and the second level estimates presented by Project Leaders or Developers for any new requirement or enhancement for a web application built on 3-tier architecture using Microsoft technologies. The model considers the classification of each task as either Low or Medium or High complexity. These tasks pertain to the lowest level parts in bottom-up estimation. Efforts are estimated for designing, coding and unit testing of these tasks and the efforts are summed up to get the effort estimation for the higher level which is a feature to be implemented. Novelty/Improvement: The paper also discusses about the application of the effort estimation model by taking a new requirement as a case study. The first level estimates calculated using the effort estimation model has a variance of about 25% when compared with the actual effort. This variance is very much acceptable considering the fact that the first level estimates can be tolerable up to 35%. The proposed effort estimation tool would help the project managers to efficiently control the project, manage the resources effectively, and improve the software development process and also trade off analyses among schedule, performance, quality and functionality. Fuzzy logic is used to verify the claims made in efforts estimation. It is proposed a new relation between the number of data and efforts value membership for actual data. And converts it into crisp value in the range [0…1] which helps to classify the complexity of the task and subtask in the design, coding and testing phases.

The plate heat exchanger (PHE) is a component that provides heat to be transferred from hot water to domestic cold water without mixing them with high efficiency. Over the lifetime of the PHE, cyclic pressures act on the brazing points and the plates, and this may lead to fatigue failure. The fatigue behaviour of the PHE, designed by using copper-brazed 316L stainless steel, was investigated in this study. First, the fatigue tests under the load ratio R = 0.1 were performed on the Vibrophore 100 testing machine to obtain the S-N curve of the analysed brazed joint. Based on the obtained experimental results, an appropriate material model of the analysed brazed joint has been created, which was validated with numerical calculation in the framework of a program code Ansys. A validated material model was then used for the subsequent numerical analysis of PHE. In order to carry out a numerical calculation using the finite element method (FEM), a 3D model of the heat exchanger was created based on the previous scanning of PHE-geometry. Thereafter, the geometry was parameterised, which allowed us to perform parametric simulations (monitoring different responses depending on the input geometry). Numerical simulations were carried out in the framework of the Ansys software, whereby the obtained results were analysed, and the responses were appropriately characterised according to previously determined load cases.

The objective of this study is to conduct a mineralogical and chemical characterization of the mortars Roman archaeological site of Volubilis to rebuild spare mortars for restoration. We take samples of mortar, broken tile palate garden, and pavement mosaic Falavius Germanus houses. The analysis by X-ray diffraction reveals the coarse mortar Flavius Germanus is made of quartz and calcite with feldspar and probably, mica and dolomite in small amounts. The binder end is formed calcite and quartz. However, the broken tile mortar is formed by coarse particles, clay base mixed with a binder phase dominated by calcite. These results allowed us to reformulate spare mortars for the restoration of damaged Roman mosaics. The mortars are made up by 63.6% of lime and 36.4% of sand(with 4.19% of large grain, 71, 04% of coarse sand, 24.22%, of fine sand and 0.55% fines parts).The performance of these mortars was tested by mechanical testing.

Purpose: Determine the internal consistency and reproducibility test-retest of the Barrier Scale for Cardiac Rehabilitation (BSCR) in Colombian population. Methods: 190 patients (67% men, average age = 65 ± 12 years) completed the scale in two moments, with an average of eight days between applications. Cronbach's Alpha and Intraclass Correlation (ICC) coefficients were calculated. Results: The internal consistency of the Colombian version of the BSCR was good (Cronbach's alpha = 0.85). The ICC of the instrument was 0.69 (95% CI 0.61-0.76), 0.78 (95% CI 0.71-0.84) when used in the interview type, and 0.47 (95% CI 0, 21-0.67) when it was self-completing. Conclusions: The EBRC has an acceptable reliability in the Colombian population, however, its reproducibility decreases when it is self-directed. Identifying barriers using this scale will allow developing strategies to increase participation and adherence to cardiac rehabilitation programs focused on the real needs of patients.

The existence of the hole on a plate affects the calculation of eddy current problems. Consequently, the accuracy for the prediction of the material properties decreases if the effect of the hole is not taken into account. In this paper, a novel analytical method based on the modified integration range is proposed which can address the presence of the hole. Due to the presence of the hole, the conventional Dodd-Deeds analytical solution cannot be used to calculate the inductance change. Therefore, a revised upper integration limit is introduced to replace the original limit -- ∞ when using the co-axially air-core electromagnetic sensor. With the presence of the hole, the magnitude of the received signal reduces, and the peak frequency feature changes. The analytical method is validated by measured and numerical simulation results. It is found that the upper limit is related to the radius of the open hole. With the new technique, the thickness of sample plates with holes can be estimated based on the peak frequency feature.

Flare stacks are a key element in the safety of petrochemical and refinery industries; the correct operating conditions thereof must be ensured through a schedule for the periodic reviewing of all parts thereof. Advances in Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) in recent years and the application thereof to this field allow reliable, objective information to be obtained. This article describes and groups together the main applicable NDT techniques, analysing their advantages and disadvantages, updated with the new possibilities offered by unmanned aircraft or drones.

Among the different steps in software development software testing is one of the inevitable steps. Manual testing is considered to be more expensive and time-consuming, and this led to the formation of automated testing tools. Automated software testing tools offer a comprehensive system testing solution that minimizes the risk of any errors that could result in financial losses. One such tool is selenium. Selenium testing is an advantageous method employed by developers and testers to assess their code. Selenium is compatible with numerous widelyused programming languages like C#, Java, Python, and more. This paper focuses on understanding the in and outs of software testing using selenium

The question whether a given set of test items can be considered “identical” is often addressed in terms of the homogeneity of the test material from which said items were taken. However, for some types of matrices – in particular, for matrices consisting of minute separate particles, only some of which carry the analyte under consideration – even in the case of homogenous test material, an irreducible source of variability between test items may remain: the fundamental variability. In this paper, the concept of fundamental variability is explained, and procedures for reducing and characterizing it are described.

Lift-offs of the sensor could significantly affect the measurement signal and reconstruction of material properties when using the electromagnetic (inductive) eddy current sensor. Previously, various methods (including novel sensor designs, and features like zero-crossing frequency, lift-off point of intercept) have been used for eliminating the measurement error caused by the lift-off distance effect of the sensor. However, these approaches can only be applied for a small range of lift-off variations. In this paper, a linear relationship has been found between the sensor lift-off and ratio of dual-frequency eddy current signals, particularly under the high working dual frequencies. Based on this linear relationship, the lift-off variation can be reconstructed firstly with a small error of 2.5 % when its actual value is up to 10 mm (10.1 % for 20 mm). The reconstructed lift-off is used to further get the property of the material under a low single frequency. Experiments on different ferrous metals have been carried out for the testing of the reconstruction scheme. Since the inductance is more sensitive to the material property (and less sensitive to the lift-off) under low frequencies, the reconstruction error of the material property is much smaller than that of the lift-off, with 1.4 % under 12 mm (and 4.5 % under 20 mm).

Terahertz tomography is a promising method among non-destructive inspection techniques to detect faults and defects in dielectric samples. Image quality recently significantly improved through the incorporation of a priori information and off-axis data. However, this improvement has come at the cost of increased measurement time. To aim toward industrial applications, it is therefore necessary to speed up the measurement by parallelizing the data acquisition employing multi-channel setups. In this work, we present two tomographic frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) systems working at a bandwidth of 230-320 GHz, equipped with an eight-channel detector array, and compare their imaging results with a single-pixel setup. While in the first system, the additional channels are used exclusively to detect radiation refracted by the sample, the second system features an f-θ lens, focusing the beam at different positions on its flat focal plane, and thus utilizing the whole detector array directly. The usage of the f-θ lens in combination with a scanning mirror eliminates the necessity of the formerly used slow translation of a single-pixel transmitter. This opens up the potential for a significant increase in acquisition speed, in our case by a factor of four to five, respectively.

The two-parameter distribution introduced by Kumaraswamy (1980) is a very flexible alternative to the Beta distribution with the same (0,1) support. Originally proposed in the field of hydrology, it has subsequently received a good deal of positive attention in both the theoretical and applied statistics literatures. Interestingly, the problem of testing formally for the appropriateness of the Kumaraswamy distribution appears to have received little or no attention to date. To fill this gap, in this paper we apply the “biased transformation” methodology proposed by Raschke (2009) to several standard goodness-of-fit tests based on the empirical distribution function. A simulation study reveals that these (modified) tests perform well in the context of the Kumaraswamy distribution, in terms of both low size distortion, and respectable power. In particular, the “biased transformation” Anderson-Darling test dominates the other tests that are considered.

Since the first published genome sequence of Trypanosoma cruzi in 2005, there has been tremendous technological advance in genomics, reverse genetics, and assay development for this elusive pathogen. However, there is still an unmet need for new and better drugs to treat Chagas disease. Here we introduce a T. cruzi assay strain that is useful for drug research as well as basic studies in host-pathogen interaction. Trypanosoma cruzi STIB980 is a strain of discrete typing unit TcI that grows well in culture as axenic epimastigotes or intracellular amastigotes. We have evaluated the optimal parameters for genetic transfection and constructed derivatives of T. cruzi STIB980 that express reporter genes for fluorescence- or bioluminescence-based drug efficacy testing, as well as a Cas9-expressing line for CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing. The genome of T. cruzi STIB980 was sequenced by combining short-read Illumina with long-read Oxford Nanopore technologies. The latter served for the primary assembly, the former to correct mistakes and fill the gaps. This resulted in a high-quality nuclear haplotype assembly of 28 Mb in 400 contigs, containing 10,043 open-reading frames with a median length of 1077 bp. We believe that T. cruzi STIB980 is a useful addition to the antichagasic toolbox, and propose that it can serve as a DTU TcI reference strain for drug efficacy testing.

In attempting to predict the further course of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, mathematical models of different types are frequently employed and calibrated to reported case numbers. Among the major challenges in interpreting these data is the uncertainty about the amount of undetected infections, or conversely: the detection ratio. As a result, some models include assumptions about the percentage of detected cases among total infections while others completely neglect undetected cases. Here, we illustrate how model projections about case and fatality numbers vary significantly under varying assumptions on the detection ratio. Uncertainties in model predictions can be significantly reduced by representative testing, both for antibodies and active virus RNA, to uncover past and current infections that have gone undetected thus far.

One of the main challenges in geodetic deformation analysis is to infer whether the geometry of some engineering structures or zones of natural hazards has changed from their initial state or not. The pillar that supports such an analysis is tightly based on the fundamentals of statistical hypothesis testing. The null hypothesis model indicates that no displacement has occurred. It is tested against a class of alternative models, which stipulate different displacement patterns. In this contribution, we present an innovative geodetic displacement detection which integrates combinatorial analysis and likelihood ratio tests into a sequential procedure for the case where the differences between observations of two epochs are in play. This framework is applied and investigated to two test scenarios: a synthetic and a real simulated trilateration network. From a statistical point of view, our approach is rigorous, because the alternative model can identify simultaneously more than one unstable point. In addition, the relationship between the unknown parameters and the observations is always linear, even if the problem manifests itself as non-linear. Consequently, we avoid a potential loss of statistical test power due to the model linearization. In addition, the proposed method controls the false positive rate efficiently. One of the problems that arise here is also related to the selection of the maximum number of points to be considered in the test procedure ( ). Here, we provide an innovative methodology based on rank computation of the design matrices to define , which can even be extended to the problem of outlier detection. Determining avoids the problem of having non-separable models in identifying unstable points. The algorithms and data are available in the repository.

The emerging industry of offshore wind turbines mounted on floating bases has garnered significant attention from both academia and industry. The desire to understand the complex physics of these floating structures has led to the development of numerical and physical modelling techniques. While physical testing has traditionally been employed, there is a growing focus on cost-effective and accurate high-fidelity numerical modelling as a potential alternative or supplement. However, commonly used numerical engineering tools in the offshore industry are considered mid- to low-fidelity and may lack the desired precision for floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs). Given the complexity of these simulation codes, it is crucial to validate their accuracy. To address this, the International Energy Agency (IEA) Wind Technology Collaboration Programme initiated various research endeavors, including the Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration (OC3), Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Continuation (OC4), Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Continuation with Correlation (OC5), and the recent Offshore Code Comparison Collaboration Continued with Correlation and Uncertainty (OC6) projects. This study offers a comprehensive survey of the simulation tools available for FOWTs which were part of OC projects, focusing particularly on horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) and highlighting their capabilities and fundamental theories.

Evaluating mutation testing behavior can help decide whether refactoring successfully maintains the expected initial test results. Moreover, manually performing this analytical work is both time-consuming and prone to errors. This paper extends an approach to assess test code behavior and proposes a tool called MeteoR. This tool comprises an IDE plugin to detect issues that may arise during test code refactoring, reducing the effort required to perform evaluations. A preliminary assessment was conducted to validate the tool and ensure the proposed test code refactoring approach is adequate. By analyzing not only the mutation score but also the generated mutants in the pre- and post-refactoring process, results show that the approach is capable of checking whether the behavior of the mutants remains unchanged throughout the refactoring process. This proposal represents one more step toward the practice of test code refactoring. It can improve overall software quality, allowing developers and testers to safely refactor the test code in a scalable and automated way.

Long read sequencers, known for their effectiveness in detecting genomic structural variations (SV), are becoming a standard in comprehensive genetic analysis. In preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) for SV carriers, information on breakpoint junctions is required for the determination of carrier status in embryo selection. These sequencers are employed for challenging cases involving SVs that are difficult to analyze with conventional cytogenetical methods or detailed junctions of chromosomal translocations, providing valuable insights. They also play a crucial role in acquiring simultaneous information on surrounding single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) around causative variants in PGT. Despite their advantages, challenges related to sequencing accuracy and testing costs exist. Thus, understanding long read sequencers’ characteristics is essential for their effective utilization. This review summarizes the advanced applications of long read sequencers in preclinical workups and their integration into PGT. It also highlights in-house clinical cases, showing the implementation of long-read sequencing and discussing prospects in the field.

3D-printing with foam concrete, which is known for its distinct physical and mechanical properties, has not yet been purposefully investigated. The article at hand presents a methodological approach for the mixture design of 3D-printable foam concretes and a systematic investigation of the potential application of this type of material in digital construction. Three different foam concrete compositions with water-to-binder ratios between 0.33 and 0.36 and having densities of 1100 to 1580 kg/m³ in the fresh state were produced with a pre-foaming technique using a protein-based foaming agent. Based on the fresh-state tests, including 3D-printing as such, an optimum composition was identified and its compressive and flexural strengths were characterised. The printable foam concrete showed compressive strength above 10 MPa and low thermal conductivity, which make it suitable for 3D-printing applications, while fulfilling both load-carrying and insulating functions.

Metals are particularly sensitive to some pollutant gases. Many museum showcases and store rooms present atmospheres that can corrode cultural heritage artefacts containing metals. Whilst numerous strategies have been reported to mitigate such situations, avoiding them is preferable. Several approaches to testing materials used in construction, fitting out or dressing are used. The relative merits and drawbacks will be discussed. Several parameters of the most widely used, the accelerated corrosion ‘Oddy’ test have been investigated. The influence of abrasive on subsequent corrosion of lead and copper coupons have been assessed. Quantification methods for tested coupons are reviewed. The influence of test duration and temperature were assessed through comparison with real life, long term experience of materials behaviour. Direct contact tests with the material tested touching the test material has been investigated. Several materials present in artefacts are known to potentially cause corrosion when enclosed with metals in other artefacts. A number of situations have been investigated with pollution and RH and some corrosion rate measurements. Ways to isolate artefacts or mitigate are explored and a decision support model has been developed.

In reservoir engineering, one of the main sources of information for the characterization of reservoir and well parameters is well testing. Among the unconventional well testing methodologies, Harmonic Well Testing (HPT) is appealing from an economic standpoint because it could provide well performance and reservoir behavior monitoring without having to interrupt field production. Recorded pressure analysis is performed in the frequency domain by adopting a derivative approach similar to conventional well testing. To this end, pressure and rate data must be decomposed into harmonic components. Test interpretability can be significantly improved if pressure data are detrended prior to interpretation, filtering out non periodic events such as discontinuous production from neighboring wells and flow regime variations which did not respect the designed test periodicity. Therefore, detrending offers the possibility of overcoming the limitation of HPT applicability due to the difficulty of imposing a regularly pulsing rate for the whole test duration (typically lasting several days). This makes HPT attractive for well performance monitoring, especially in gas storage fields. In this paper, the application of different detrending methodologies to synthetic HPT pressure data generated in different reservoir and operational scenarios is presented and discussed. Moreover, a real case application is also presented.

In vitro testing is the first important step in the development of new biomaterials. The human fetal osteoblast cell line hFOB 1.19 is a very promising cell model; however, there are vast discrepancies in cultivation protocols, especially in the cultivation temperature and the presence of selection reagent, geneticin (G418). We intended to use hFOB 1.19 for the testing of Zn-based degradable metallic materials. However, the sensitivity of hFOB 1.19 to zinc ions has not yet been studied. Therefore, we compared the toxicity of zinc towards hFOB 1.19 under different conditions and compared it with that of the L929 mouse fibroblast cell line. We also tested the cytotoxicity of three types of Zn-based biomaterials in two types of media. The presence of G418 used as a selection reagent decreased the sensitivity of hFOB 1.19 to Zn2+. hFOB 1.19 were more sensitive to Zn2+ at elevated (restrictive) temperatures. hFOB 1.19 were less sensitive to Zn2+ than L929 (both as ZnCl2 and extracts of alloys). Therefore, the appropriate cultivation conditions of hFOB 1.19 during biomaterial testing should be chosen with caution.

Stess in laser cladding coating is an important factor affecting the safe operation of remanufacturing components. Ultrasonic testing has become a hot direction in nondestructive evaluation of stress, because it has the advantages of safety, non-destructive and on-line detection. This paper provides a review of ultrasonic testing for stress in remanufacturing laser cladding coating. It summarizes the recent research outcomes on ultrasonic testing for stress, analyzes mechanism of ultrasonic testing for stress. Remanufacturing laser cladding coating shows typical anisotropic behaviors, the ultrasonic testing signal in laser cladding coating is influenced by many complex factors, such as microstructure, defect, temperature and surface roughness, etc. At present, ultrasonic testing for stress in laser cladding coating can only be done roughly. The paper discusses active mechanism of micro / macro factors to the reliability of stress measurement and the impact of stress measurement to the quality and safety of remanufacturing components. Base on the discussion, the paper proposes strategies for acquisition of nondestructive, rapid and accurate measurement of stress in remanufacturing laser cladding coating.

Our primary objectives were a) to determine the need for, and the availability of point-of-care testing (POCT) for infectious diseases and b) to recommend point-of-care testing strategies and spatial care paths (SCPs) that enhance public health preparedness in regional districts of Thua Thien Hue Province (TTHP), Central Vietnam, where we conducted field surveys. Medical professionals in 7 community health centers (CHCs), 7 district hospitals (DHs) and 1 provincial hospital (PH) participated. Survey questions (English and Vietnamese) determined the status of diagnostic testing capabilities for infectious diseases and other acute medical challenges in TTHP. Infectious disease testing was limited: 6 of 7 CHCs (86%) lacked infectious disease tests. One CHC (14%, 1/7) had two forms of diagnostic tests available for the detection of Malaria. All CHCs lacked adequate microbiology laboratories. District hospitals had few diagnostic tests for infectious diseases (Tuberculosis, Syphilis), blood culture (29%, 2/7), and pathogen culture (57%, 4/7) available. The PH had broader diagnostic testing capabilities but lacked preparedness for highly infectious disease threats (e.g., Ebola, MERS-CoV, SARS, Zika, and Monkeypox). All sites reported having COVID-19 rapid antigen tests; COVID-19 RT-PCR tests were limited to higher tier hospitals. We conclude that infectious disease diagnostic testing should be improved and POC tests must be supplied near patients’ homes and in primary care settings for the early detection of infected individuals and mitigation of the spread of new COVID-19 variants and other highly infectious diseases.

Biological drugs are inaccessible to more than 80% of the world population due mainly to their high costs; this is a significant concern of the World Health Organization. Biosimilars are supposed to reduce the cost burden, but their approval process is complex, including expensive and irrelevant studies. While the Stringent Regulatory Authorities (SRAs) have adopted the guidance of the FDA or EMA, such adoptions are neither necessary nor practical for the rest of the world (ROW). We present a science-driven, rational approach to formulate regulatory guidelines that will enable faster biosimilars' entry into the ROW without compromising their safety and efficacy. The key recommendations include removing animal and safety efficacy testing, making analytical assessment more robust, and cGMP compliance assured through third-party audits. The ROW countries are also recommended to initiate a rapporteur system available in the EU, to overcome the biases and assure state-of-the-science evaluation as the common understanding of the critical quality attributes evolves. It is anticipated that stronger regional agencies like those in the MENA region, with the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will help propel the idea faster across the globe.

Modal testing is a common step in aerostructure design, serving to validate the predicted natural frequencies and mode shapes obtained through computational methods. The strategic placement of sensors during testing is crucial to accurately measuring the intended natural frequencies. However, conventional methodologies for sensor placement are often time-consuming and involve iterative processes. This study explores the potential of machine learning techniques to enhance sensor selection methodologies. Three machine learning-based approaches are introduced and assessed, comparing their efficiency with established techniques. The evaluation of these methodologies is conducted using a numerical model of a beam to simulate real-world scenarios. The results offer insights into the efficacy of machine learning in optimizing sensor placement, presenting an innovative perspective on enhancing the efficiency and precision of modal testing procedures in aerostructure design.

The seed industry plays a crucial role in the global food production, but it faces a persistent challenge in ensuring the health and quality of seeds, particularly those of tomato and pepper, which represent key seed commodities on the global market. Seeds can serve as potential pathways for the introduction and dissemination of seed-borne bacteria, which may have devastating effects on crop yield, farmers’ remunerability, and food security. Therefore, fungicides and other anti-microbial compounds are extensively used to disinfect the seeds, thus increasing the input of chemicals in the agri-enviroment. In this review, we address aspects that connect disease epide-miology with seed infection and health, including seed contamination, endophytic colonization, and seed-borne infections. We focused on the main bacterial diseases affecting tomato and pepper by discussing their official seed testing methods as requirements supporting a smooth seed trade. Moreover, we present a survey on the past and recent innovations for seed treatments, focusing on sustainable disinfection methods. Therefore, this review will be a short, but indispensable guide for seed technologists and pathologists involved in the production of high-quality seeds, providing indications and suggestions to contrast seed-borne pathogens dissemination, avoid international controversies and complaints by phytosanitary authorities, extension services and farmers.

For polymicrobial infections, AtbFinder utilizes a novel paradigm of the population response to antibiotics, enabling bacterial growth in the form of a mixed microbial community and selecting the antibiotics targeting not only the principal pathogen, but also those bacteria that support their growth. TGV medium allowed culturing a more diverse set of bacteria from polymicrobial biospecimens, compared with that achieved with the standard media and enabled, already within 4h, accurate selection of the antibiotics that completely eliminated all cultivatable bacteria from clinical samples. In conclusion, AtbFinder system may be a valuable tool in improving antibiotic selection, enabling targeted empirical therapy and accurate antibiotic replacement, which is especially important in high-risk patients.

The authors of the paper have made an attempt to detect the fibre content and fibre spacing in a steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) industrial floor. Two non-destructive testing (NDT) methods: an electromagnetic induction technique and a radar-based technique were applied. The first method allowed to detect the spacing in subsequent layers located in the thickness of the slab. The result of the second method was a 3D visualization of the detected fibre in the volume of concrete slab. The conducted tests showed aptitude and limitations of the applied methods in estimating fibre volume and spacing. The two techniques also allowed to locate the areas with relatively low fibre concentration which are very likely to be characterized by low mechanical properties.

Eddy current testing can be used to interrogate steels but it is hampered by the lift-off distance of the sensor. Previously, the lift-off point of intersection (LOI) feature has been found for the pulsed eddy current (PEC) testing. In this paper, a lift-off invariant inductance (LII) feature is proposed for the multi-frequency eddy current (MEC) testing, which merely targets the ferromagnetic steels. That is, at a certain working frequency, the measured inductance signal is found nearly immune to the lift-off distance of the sensor. Such working frequency and inductance are termed as the lift-off invariant frequency (LIF) and LII. Through simulations and experimental measurements of different steels under the multi-frequency manner, the LII has been verified to be merely related to the sensor parameters and independent of different steels. By referring to the LIF of the test piece and using an iterative inverse solver, one of the steel properties (either the electrical conductivity or magnetic permeability) can be reconstructed with a high accuracy.

In many advanced industrial applications, the thickness is a critical index, especially for metallic coatings. However, the variance of lift-off spacing between sensors and test pieces affects the measured voltage or impedance, which leads to unreliable results from the sensor. Massive research works have been proposed to address the lift-off issue, but few of them applies to the thickness measurement of planar metallic films with finite-size circular (disk) geometry. Previously, a peak-frequency feature from the swept-frequency inductance was used to compensate the measurement error caused by lift-offs, which was based on the slow-changing rate of impedance phase term in the Dodd-Deeds formulas. However, the phase of measured impedance is nearly invariant merely on a limited range of sample thicknesses and working frequencies. Besides, the frequency sweeping is time-consuming, where a recalibration is needed for different sensor setups applied to the online real-time measurement. In this paper, a single-frequency algorithm has been proposed, which is embedded in the measurement instrument for the online real-time retrieval of thickness. Owing to the single-frequency measurement strategy, the proposed method does not need to recalibrate for different sensor setups. The thickness retrieval is based on a triple-coil sensor (with one transmitter and two receivers). The thickness of metallic disk foils is retrieved from the measured electrical resistance of two transmitter-receiver sensing pairs. Experiments on materials of different electrical conductivities (from direct current), thicknesses and planar sizes (radii) have been carried out to verify the proposed method. The error for the thickness retrieval of conductive disk foils is controlled within 5 % for lift-offs up to 5 mm.

Previously, various techniques have been proposed for reducing the lift-off effect on the thickness measurement of the non-magnetic films, including the peak-frequency feature and phase feature in the Dodd-Deed analytical formulation. To realise a real-time feedback response on the thickness monitoring, the phase term in the Dodd-Deeds formulation must be taken off the integration. Previous methods were based on the slow change rate of the phase term when compared to the rest of the term – the magnitude term. However, the change rate of the phase term is still considerable for a range of working frequencies. In this paper, a high-frequency feature has been found. That is, the ratio between the imaginary and real part of the phase term is proportional to the integral variable under high frequencies. Based on this proportion relationship, the phase term has been taken out; and a thickness algorithm has been proposed. By combing the measured impedance from the custom-built sensor (three coils), the thickness of the metallic film can be reconstructed. Experiments have been carried out for the verification of the proposed scenario. Results show that the thickness of the metal film can be reconstructed with a small error of less than 2 %, and immune to a reasonable range of lift-offs.

This paper presents a new approach of eddy current methods for determining the size of the co-axial hole in the metallic circular disk. In recent decades, for the air-cored sensor probe, the impedance change due to the presence of an infinite metal plate can be calculated by the Dodd-Deeds model. However, in practical measurements, the sample cannot match with the condition required - ‘infinite’, thus the Dodd-Deeds model could not be applied to the disk with finite size and certainly not a co-axial hole in the center. In this paper, a dual-constraint analytical method is proposed. That is, the upper and lower limits of the integration are substituted with specific values instead of the original 0 and . Besides, it is found that, once the outer radius of the disk is fixed (i.e. the lower limit of integration is fixed), the upper limit reduces linearly as the size of the coaxial hole increases. Both the FEM simulation and experiments have been carried out to validate this method. The radius of the hole can be estimated based on the dual-constraint integration feature.

The azimuth wheel-rail of large aperture radio telescope is the key component, it not only sup-ports the whole weight of the antenna, but also directly affects the pointing performance of the antenna with its surface accuracy. The whole weight of the radio telescope is hundreds or even thousands of tons, its azimuth frame rollers have great contact stress with the wheel-rail surface, repeated rolling can cause rolling contact fatigue on the wheel-rail surface, resulting in wear, cracks and other damage to the wheel-rail, and even lead to failure or fracture of the wheel-rail in serious cases, so it is very important to monitor the damage of the antenna wheel-rail. In order to visually detect the use of antenna wheel-rail surface, this paper proposed the method using electromagnetic ultrasonic detection to detect the damage of antenna wheel-rail surface for the first time. Based on the electromagnetic ultrasonic nondestructive testing principle, the simplified wheel-rail model containing wear, corrosion and crack damage is simulated. The results show that this method can effectively detect the surface damage of the antenna wheel-rail surface, and it can provide an important reference for the research of wheel-rail damage detection of large radio telescope.

We have previously reported that a single test measuring oVEMP n10 to 4000Hz stimuli (either bone-conducted vibration (BCV) or air-conducted sound (ACS)) provides a definitive diagnosis of semicircular canal dehiscence (SCD) in 22 CT-verified patients with a sensitivity of 1.0 and specificity of 1.0. Such a single short screening test has great advantages of speed, minimizing testing time and the exposure of patients to stimulation. However some studies of the 4000Hz test for SCD have reported sensitivity and sensitivity values somewhat less that what we reported.

Electromagnetic sensing has been used for diverse applications of non-destructive testing, including the surface inspection, measurement of properties, object characterization. However, the measurement accuracy could be significantly influenced by the lift-off between sensors and samples. To address the issue caused by lift-offs, various strategies have been proposed for the permeability measurement of ferromagnetic steels, which mainly involves different sensor designs and signal features (e.g., the zero-crossing feature). In this paper, a single high-frequency scenario for the permeability retrieval is introduced. By combining the signal of two sensing pairs, the retrieval of magnetic permeability is less affected by the lift-off of sensors. Unlike the previous strategy on reducing the lift-off effect (directly taking the phase term out of the integration) using the Dodd-Deeds analytical method, the proposed method is based on a high-frequency linear feature of the phase term. Therefore, this method has the merit of high accuracy and fast processing for the permeability retrieval (a simplified version of Dodd-Deeds analytical formulas after the integration). Experimental measurement has been carried out on the impedance measurement of designed sensors interrogating ferromagnetic dual-phase steels. For sensor lift-offs of up to 10 mm, the error of the permeability retrieval is controlled within 4 % under the optimal frequency.

The Sei Dareh Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge located in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia. The bridge, has a main span of 123 meters length and 9 meters wide, crosses the Batanghari River. Traffic load is transmitted through 4 prestressed cables to a 42.4 meter high pylon made of concrete. Bridge deck and traffic loads are directly supported by steel box girders as main beams that are reinforced laterally with cross beams IWF 800.300.16.24 and stringers IWF 350.350.12.19. This paper discusses static and dynamic testing on the bridge which aims to assess the feasibility before it is opened for public. Based on the test, it was concluded that the 73% static load could not be achieved because the deflection that occurred was beyond the allowable deflection. This is exacerbated by the sound of a loud clanging sound on the ST2-X1 prestressed cable when loading to 240 tons or 58% of the targeted load. In addition, this bridge is included in the "lazy bridge" category because it takes 24 hours to return to an undeformed condition after loading. As a recommendation for this bridge, it is necessary to carry out a structural health monitoring system (SHMS) regularly on the vehicle floor and cables.

In Los Angeles, at one point, the Covid-19 testing positivity rate was 6.25%, or one in sixteen. This translates to, on average, one in sixteen specimens testing positive and the vast majority testing negative. Usually, we run sixteen tests on sixteen specimens to identify the positive one(s). This process can be time consuming and expensive. Since a group of negative specimens pooled together for testing will produce a negative result, one single test could potentially eliminate many specimens. Only when the pooled specimen tests positive do we need further testing to identify the positive one(s). Based on this concept, we designed a strategy that will identify the positive specimen(s) efficiently. Assuming one in sixteen specimens is positive, we find that only four tests are needed. Furthermore, we can run them simultaneously, saving both resources and time. Although, in the real world, we cannot make the assumption of only one positive specimen, the same strategy works with slight modification and proves to be much more efficient than the conventional testing. Our strategy returns an answer 48% of the time in four tests and one time cycle. Overall, the average number of tests is seven or eight depending on the follow-up testing, and the average time cycle is about one and a half.

Current oncological developments are based on improved understanding of genetics, and especially the discovery of genes whose alterations affect cell functions with consequences for the whole body. Our work is focused on the one of these genes, the BARD1 and its oncogenic role in breast cancer. Most importantly, the study points to new avenues in the treatment and prevention of the most frequent female cancer based on BARD1 research. The BARD1 and BRCA1 proteins have similar structures and functions, and they combine to form the new molecule BARD1-BRCA1 heterodimer. The BARD1-BRCA1 complex is involved in genetic stabilization at the cellular level. It allows to mark abnormal DNA fragments by attaching ubiquitin to them. In addition, it blocks (by ubiquitination of RNA polymerase II) the transcription of damaged DNA. Ubiquitination, as well as stabilizing chromatin, or regulating the number of centrosomes, confirms the protective cooperation of BARD1 and BRCA1 in the stabilization of the genome. The overexpression of the oncogenic isoforms BARD1β and BARD1δ permit cancer development. The introduction of routine tests, for instance, to identify the presence of the BARD1β isoform, would make it possible to detect patients at high risk of developing cancer. On the other hand, introducing BARD1δ isoform blocking therapy, which would reduce estrogen sensitivity, may be a new line of cancer therapy with potential to modulate responses to existing treatments. It is possible that the BARD 1 gene offers new hope for improving breast cancer therapy.

Current oncological developments are based on improved understanding of genetics, and especially the discovery of genes whose alterations affect cell functions with consequences for the whole body. Our work is focused on the most important of these genes, the BARD1 and its oncogenic role in breast cancer. Most importantly, the study points to new avenues in the treatment and prevention of the most frequent female cancer based on BARD1 research. The BARD1 and BRCA1 proteins have similar structures and functions, and they combine to form the new molecule BARD1-BRCA1 heterodimer. Through ubiquitination, this heterodimer has significant effects on individual proteins, enabling, among others, the destruction of damaged DNA fragments. Ubiquitination, as well as stabilizing chromatin, or regulating the number of centrosomes, confirms the protective cooperation of BARD1 and BRCA1 in the stabilization of the genome. The overexpression of the oncogenic isoforms BARD1β and BARD1δ permit cancer development. The introduction of routine tests, for instance, to identify the presence of the BARD1β isoform, would make it possible to detect patients at high risk of developing cancer. On the other hand, introducing BARD1δ isoform blocking therapy, which would reduce estrogen sensitivity, may be a new line of cancer therapy with potential to modulate responses to existing treatments. It is possible that the BARD 1 gene offers new hope for improving breast cancer therapy.

The Sei Dareh Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge located in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia. The bridge, which crosses the Batanghari River, has a main span of 123 meters long and 9 meters wide. Traffic load is transmitted through 24 prestressed cables to a 42.4-meter-high pylon made of concrete. The bridge deck and traffic loads are directly supported by steel box girders as main beams that are reinforced laterally with cross beams IWF 800.300.16.24 and stringers IWF 350.350.12.19. This paper discusses static and dynamic testing on the bridge which aims to assess its feasibility before it is opened to the public. Based on the test, it was concluded that a static load of 73% could not be achieved because the deflection that occurred was beyond the allowable deflection. This is exacerbated by a loud clanging sound on the ST2-X1 prestressed cable when loading to 240 tons or 58% of the targeted load. In addition, this bridge is included in the "lazy bridge" category because it takes 24 hours to return to an undeformed condition after loading. As a recommendation for this bridge, it is necessary to carry out a structural health monitoring system (SHMS) regularly on bridge slabs and cables.

Improving HIV testing efficiency saves financial and material resources for health. We conducted a retrospective secondary data analysis of routinely collected HIV risk screening program data in Uganda, from October to November 2019, to determine the performance characteristics of the adolescent and adult HIV risk screening tool in public health facility settings. A total of 19,854 clients had been screened for HIV testing eligibility and tested for HIV. The overall positivity rate (cluster weighted prevalence of HIV) among those screened was 4.5% (95% CI: 4.1%-4.8%) versus 3.71% (95% CI: 3.06-4.50) among those not screened. The sensitivity and specificity of the risk screening tool were 90.7% (95% CI: 88.4%, 92.7%) and 75.8%, (75.2-76.4) respectively. With screening, the number needed to test to identify one PLHIV was reduced from 27 to 22. Although risk screening would have led to a 24.5% (4,825/19,704) reduction in testing volume, 9.3% (68/732) of PLHIV would have been missed, being misclassified as not eligible for testing. The cost per PLHIV identified fell by 3% from $69 without screening to $66.9 with screening. We recommend the use of scientifically validated HIV risk screening tools, and a need to explore the use of HIV self-testing as a test for tirage.

In this paper, we propose a method for the generation of simulation test scenarios for autonomous driving. Based on the requirements of standard regulatory test scenarios, we can generate virtual simulation scenarios and functional scenario libraries for autonomous driving, which can be used for simulation verification of different ADAS functions. Firstly, the design operation domain (ODD) of the functional scenario is selected and the weight values of the ODD elements taken are calculated; then a combination test algorithm based on parameter weights is improved to generate autonomous driving virtual simulation test cases for the ODD elements, which can effectively reduce the number of generated test cases compared with the traditional combination test algorithm; then the traffic participant elements under each test case are Then, the values of the subelements under the traffic participant element in each test case are sampled and clustered to obtain hazard specific scenarios. Finally, the specific scenarios are applied to the automatic emergency braking (AEB) system on the model-in-the-loop (MIL) testbed to verify the effectiveness of this scenario generation method.

We investigated the development of a simple and sensitive assay for the identification of minute amounts of animal and human biological material. The suggested system uses isothermal amplification of DNA in a rapid assay format, which returns the results in as little as 40 minutes from sampling. The assay used for the proof of concept employs the novel handheld SaLux19 device (Max-Planck Innovation prototype, Germany). This well-established infield detection system could also be utilized for forensic scenarios. The results presented here demonstrated that the assay is sufficiently specific and sensitive and can detect the presence of Sus scrofa nucleic acids.

Insecticide testing facilities that evaluate a variety of vector control products may generate large amount of hazardous wastes from routine operations. These wastes originate from degraded technical grade materials, sprayed substrates, redundant stock or working insecticidal solutions. The washing of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) during preparation for laboratory and experimental hut trials also contribute to waste water with insecticide content. Human and environmental exposure to insecticidal waste can occur during transport, categorization, storage and disposal in resulting in environmental pollution and potential health effects. Various national and international guidelines have been devised for safe disposal and should be strictly followed to avoid adverse effects on humans or environment. The current paper describes a case study from insecticide test facility in north-eastern Tanzania in management of insecticidal waste.

Since sensor-based perception systems are used in autonomous vehicle applications, validating such systems is imperative to guarantee the robustness of the systems before they are being put to use. In this study, a comprehensive corruption-related simulation-based robustness verification and enhancement process for sensor-based perception systems is proposed. Firstly, we present a methodology and scenario-based corruption generation tools for creating diverse simulated test scenarios that can analogously represent real-world traffic environments, especially considering corruption types related to safety concern. Then, an effective corruption similarity filtering algorithm is proposed to remove corruption types with high similarity and identify the representative corruption types to represent all considered corruption types. As a result, we can generate efficient corruption-related robustness test scenarios with less testing time and good scenario coverage. Subsequently, we perform the vulnerability analysis of object detection models to identify model weaknesses and construct an effective training dataset for model vulnerability enhancement. This enhances the tolerance of object detection models to weather and noise-related corruptions, ultimately improving the robustness of the perception system. We employ case studies to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed robustness verification and enhancement procedures. Additionally, we explore the impact of different "similarity overlap threshold" parameter settings on scenario coverage, effectiveness, scenario complexity (size of training and testing datasets), and time costs.

Advances in gene-specific therapeutics for patients with neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) have brought increased attention to the importance of genetic diagnosis. Genetic testing practices vary among adult neuromuscular clinics, with multi-gene panel testing currently being the most common approach; follow-up testing using broad-based methods, such as exome or genome sequencing, is less consistently offered. Here, we use five case examples to illustrate the unique ability of broad-based testing to improve diagnostic yield, resulting in identification of SORD-neuropathy, HADHB-related disease, ATXN2-ALS, MECP2 related progressive gait decline and spasticity, and DNMT1-related cerebellar ataxia, deafness, narcolepsy, and hereditary sensory neuropathy type 1E. We describe in each case the technological advantages that enabled identification of the causal gene, and the resultant clinical and personal implications for the patient, demonstrating the importance of offering exome or genome sequencing to adults with NMDs.

Labyrinth seals are commonly used in turbomachinery in order to control leakage flows. Flutter is one of the most dangerous potential issues for them, leading to High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) life considerations or even mechanical failure. This phenomenon depends on the interaction between aerodynamics and structural dynamics; mainly due to the very high uncertainties regarding the details of the fluid flow through the component, it is very hard to predict accurately. In 2014, as part of the E-Break research project funded by the European Union (EU), an experimental campaign regarding the flutter behaviour of labyrinth seals was conducted at Centro de Tecnologias Aeronauticas (CTA). During this campaign, three realistic seals were tested at different rotational speeds, and the pressure ratio where the flutter onset appeared was determined. The test was reproduced using a linearized uncoupled structural-fluid methodology of analysis based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations, with results only in moderate agreement with experimental data. A procedure to adjust the CFD simulations to the steady flow measurements was developed. Once this method was applied, the matching between flutter predictions and the measured data improved, but still some discrepancies could be found. Finally, a set of simulations to retain the influence of the external cavities was run, what further improved the agreement with testing data.

With the wide application of flow sensor, their reliability under extreme conditions has been concerned in recent years. The reliability of a Micro Electro Mechanical Systems flow sensor under temperature (Ts) is researched in this paper. Firstly, the Step-stress accelerated degradation test is designed. Because this flow sensor consists flow sensor chip and signal processing system, the accelerated degradation testing is implemented, respectively. While the results show that the biggest drift is 3.15% for flow sensor chips with 150℃ conditions, and 32.91% for this flowmeter. By analysis, it could be found that the attenuation of the signal processing system is significant to the degeneration of this flowmeter. The minimum drift of the signal processing system accounts for 82.01% of this flowmeter. Secondly, using the Coffin-Manson model, the relationship between cycle-index and Ts is established. And the lifetime with different Ts is estimated by the Arrhenius model. In addition, the Weibull distribution is applied to evaluate the lifetime distribution. Finally, the reliability function of the Weibull distribution is demonstrated, and the survival rate within one year is 87.69% with 85℃ conditions. Thus, by the application of accelerated degradation testing, the acquired results are innovative and original. This research illustrates the reliability research, which provides a relational database for the application of this flow sensor.

The altered nature of archaeological metals means they deteriorate at conditions where metals would be stable. The study of deterioration for such materials is hampered by their complexity, variability and difficulties in measuring deterioration. Placing an object in a sealed container, controlling the RH and pollutant gases and measuring any decrease in oxygen concentration is an accessible method to measure deterioration rate. It has been used for research into suitable environmental conditions to manage deterioration rates of such artefacts including differences in response for artefacts from different excavation sites. Some objects need careful control of RH to low values, this is expensive to maintain and poses risks to other artefacts displayed together. Many objects are actually stable up to quite high RH values and oxygen depletion testing has been used to identify those that can be safely displayed with minimal environmental control. The accelerated corrosion, ‘Oddy’ test is frequently used to sift out unsuitable display materials. The visual assessment is widely recognized to be subjective. The test container has been modified and oxygen depletion appears to give good quantitative measurements of corrosion that correspond with both visual comparison and corrosion quantification for copper, lead and steel, but not for silver.

The Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturing Network coordinated a multi-laboratory study funded by the US National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals to assess the performance of the Pertussis Serological Potency Test (PSPT) in the laboratories of seven whole-cell pertussis vaccine (wP) manufacturers and three National Control Laboratories based in Southeast Asian countries. To this end, common protocols for the immunization of mice and serological testing by ELISA were shared with all laboratories. Each laboratory used their own wP vaccines and the reference vaccine routinely used in the regulatory required mouse protection test (MPT) and assayed the products both in the MPT and PSPT. Whereas in all laboratories the PSPT showed decreased serum IgG levels after immunization with sub-potent compared to potent final batches, some issues were encountered during execution of the assay, which prevented drawing of definitive conclusions on assay performance. Nevertheless, the study provided the participants with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the PSPT protocols and revealed the next steps to be addressed for implementation of the method.

This study aims at better understanding the damage and fracture kinetics in flax fibres elements at both the unitary and bundle scales using an experimental setup allowing optical observation at high recording rate in the course of tensile loading. Defects issues from flax unitary fibre extraction are quantitated using polarized light microscopy. Tensile loading is conducted according to a particular setup adapted to fibres of 10 to 20 µm in diameter and 10 mm in length. Optical recording using high speed camera is performed during loading up to the failure at acquisition speed ranging from 108,000 to 270,000 frames per second. Crack initiation in polymer layers of fibre elements, propagation as well as damage mechanisms are captured. The results show different failure scenarios depending on the fibre element nature. In particular, fractured fibres underline either a fully transverse failure propagation or a combination of transverse and longitudinal cracking with different balances. Image recordings with high time resolution down to 3.7 μs suggest unstable system and transverse crack speed higher than 4 m/s and a slower propagation for longitudinal crack deviation.

The stress testing methodology should be implemented and applied to the entity's overall financial system at least annually, and if the organization operates in a volatile economy, it should be performed at least twice a year. Finally, managers should include regular training and development sessions for relevant employees of their organization to be fully informed and more informed and informed, considering the evolving science, theory and practicality of a discrete range of stress testing mechanisms that can be appropriately applied to overall financial framework and system of multiple financial institutions and banks. In addition, stress testing is essentially a methodology that collects and analyzes certain future macro-prudential and micro-prudential economic drivers and indicators, the primary purpose of which is to assess the future financial and economic well-being, level of growth and status quo of a financial institution, bank, organization, credit institution or economy or the nation as a whole. In addition, several of these reviews were specifically focused and incorporated into the paper, which substantially and broadly discussed and summarized the importance, feasibility and implementation and conclusions of different stress testing approaches for financial institutions and banks, especially in European and Chinese countries. region. with the primary intention of assessing the future financial and economic well-being, level of growth and status quo of a group of financial institutions, banks, organizations, credit institutions or the economy or the nation as a whole. In addition, several of these reviews were specifically targeted and incorporated into a paper that substantially and broadly discussed and summarized the importance of the feasibility and implementation and conclusions of different stress testing approaches for financial institutions and banks, especially in European and Chinese countries. region. with the primary intention of assessing the future financial and economic well-being, level of growth and status quo of a group of financial institutions, banks, organizations, credit institutions or the economy or the nation as a whole. In addition, several of these reviews were specifically focused and incorporated into the paper, which substantially and broadly discussed and summarized the importance, feasibility and implementation and conclusions of different stress testing approaches for financial institutions and banks, especially in European and Chinese countries. region. the level of growth and status quo of the financial institutions, banks, organizations, credit institutions or the economy or the nation as a whole. In addition, several of these reviews were specifically focused and incorporated into the paper, which substantially and broadly discussed and summarized the importance, feasibility and implementation and conclusions of different stress testing approaches for financial institutions and banks, especially in European and Chinese countries. region. the level of growth and status quo of the financial institutions, banks, organizations, credit institutions or the economy or the nation as a whole. In addition, several of these reviews were specifically focused and incorporated into the paper, which substantially and broadly discussed and summarized the importance, feasibility and implementation and conclusions of different stress testing approaches for financial institutions and banks, especially in European and Chinese countries.

With the continuous development of digital transformation and upgrading of Chinese construction enterprises, it is becoming increasingly important to measure their digital level, find the problems in the enterprise transformation process, and identify the key factors of enterprise digital capacity enhancement. This paper constructs a construction enterprise digital transformation maturity evaluation model from six first-level indicators and 20 second-level indicators, including digital strategy, digital business application, digital technology capability, data capability, digital organization capability, and change management. Digital maturity is divided into five levels: business management, process operation, intelligent construction, intelligent scene application, and industrial ecological collaboration. A detailed process of digital maturity evaluation based on the method of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)-Decision Testing and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) is then developed. A questionnaire survey of 25 experts is used to weight the various parameters in the model, which is then demonstrated with an example construction enterprise. The model comprehensively reflects digital levels under the background of the digital economy. Its application will help understand the advantages and disadvantages enterprises face in their digital transformation to enable targeted measures to improve their digital transformation capabilities and efficiency, enhance their core competitiveness of enterprises, and promote the development of digital transformation in the construction industry.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) results in high mortality due to ineffective systemic therapy. Human immortalized cell lines are commonly used to study anti-tumour effects in the context of new anti-tumour therapies and tumour biology. As immortalized cell lines have limited biological relevance and heterogeneity compared to primary cells, patient-derived tumour tissues and corresponding immune cells are the gold standards for studying the complexity of individual tumour entities. However, culturing primary HCC cells has a low success rate. Here, we aimed to establish a reproducible approach to preserve the patient-derived liver cancer cells for in vitro and in vivo studies. The underlying study aimed to establish an in vitro pre-screening platform to test treatment options' effectivity and dosage, e.g., for new substances, autologous modified immune cells, or combined therapies in HCC. We initially employed 15 surgical resection specimens from patients with different HCC entities for isolation and preservation. The isolated liver cancer cells from four HCC-diagnosed patients were used for orthotopic transplantation into the healthy liver of immunodeficient mice, allowing them to grow for six months before human liver cancer cells were isolated and cultured. As a result, we generated and characterized four new primary-like liver cancer cell lines. Compared to immortalized HCC cell lines, freshly generated liver cancer cells displayed individual morphologies and heterogenous protein-level characteristics. We assessed their ability to proliferate, migrate, form spheroids, and react to common medications compared to immortalized HCC cell lines. All four liver cancer cell lines exhibit strong migration and colony-forming characteristics in vitro, comparable to extensively investigated immortalized HCC cell lines. Moreover, the four etiological different liver cancer cell lines displayed differences in the response to 5-FU, Sorafenib, Axitinib and Interferon-alpha treatment, ranking from non-responders to responders depending on the applicated medication. In sum, we generated individual patient-derived liver cancer cell lines suitable for predictive in vitro drug screenings and moreover for xenograft transplantations to realize the in vivo investigation of drug candidates. We overcame the low cultivation success rate of liver cancer cells derived from patients and analyzed their potential to serve a pre-clinical model.