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On the Feasibility of Quantum Unit Testing
No full textThe increasing complexity of quantum software presents significant challenges for software verification and validation, particularly in the context of unit testing. This work presents a comprehensive study on quantum-centric unit tests, comparing traditional statistical approaches with tests specifically designed for quantum circuits. These include tests that run only on a classical computer, such as the Statevector test, as well as those executable on quantum hardware, such as the Swap test and the novel Inverse test. Through an empirical study and detailed analysis on 1,796,880 mutated quantum circuits, we investigate (a) each test's ability to detect subtle discrepancies between the expected and actual states of a quantum circuit, and (b) the number of measurements required to achieve high reliability. The results demonstrate that quantum-centric tests, particularly the Statevector test and the Inverse test, provide clear advantages in terms of precision and efficiency, reducing both false positives and false negatives compared to statistical tests. This work contributes to the development of more robust and scalable strategies for testing quantum software, supporting the future adoption of fault-tolerant quantum computers and promoting more reliable practices in quantum software engineering.This work was partially supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (grant # RGPIN2022-03886), the LASIGE Research Unit, ref. UID/00408/2025 - LASIGE, the QCloud QuantumEd project funded by the 26Dagstuhl Seminar 24512 – Quantum Software Engineering homepage: https: //www.dagstuhl.de/en/seminars/seminar-calendar/seminar-details/24512, accessed July 2025. 16 EOSC INFRAEOSC-03-2020 (grant #101017536), CyberSkills HCI Pillar 3 Project 18364682, Science Foundation Ireland grant 13/RC/2094 P2, and Q-SERV-Q&T Project (PID2021- 124054OB-C32, of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and FEDER). The authors thank the Digital Research Alliance of Canada for providing computational resources.http://arxiv.org/abs/2507.1723
A Behavioral Analysis of Ransomware in Active Directory: A Case Study of BlackMatter, Conti, LockBit, and Midnight
No full text2025 13th International Symposium on Digital Forensics and Security (ISDFS), 24-25 April 2025, Boston, MA, USARansomware continues to be a pervasive cyber-security threat, particularly in enterprise environments that leverage Active Directory (AD) for centralized management. This study focuses on analyzing ransomware behavior by ex-amining Windows Event Logs generated during attacks from four prominent ransomware families: “BlackMatter,” “Conti,” “LockBit,” and “Midnight” The “Midnight” samples included in this study were labeled as such in the dataset [1]–[3]. Although not a commonly recognized ransomware family in public reports, they demonstrate typical ransomware behaviors, including encryption and system compromise. We conducted experiments on 20 ransomware samples (5 per family) within a controlled Proxmox-based virtual AD environment to simulate realistic enterprise conditions. Our analysis applies n-gram sequence modeling and behavioral feature extraction to uncover distinctive event patterns and attack paths. The findings reveal consistent, family-specific behavioral sequences, such as repetitive service control and credential validation events, that are indicative of ransomware activity. In addition to offering insight into the operational methods of ransomware, we lay the groundwork for automated behavior-based detection mechanisms suited for enterprise AD environments.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1101210
Pixel-Level Scene Recognition Under Diverse Constraints
No full textRecent advances in computer vision have significantly enhanced tasks such as object recognition and semantic segmentation, thereby enabling a myriad of applications in smart cities, autonomous driving, medical diagnostics, and robotics. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved remarkable success through supervised learning; however, their performance often deteriorates when confronted with substantial domain shifts between training and real-world deployment environments. Unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) seeks to bridge this gap by exploiting labeled source data along with unlabeled target data, yet these methods typically reach a performance plateau when the domain discrepancy is too large. Fine-tuning with a small, carefully selected subset of target data emerges as a promising strategy to overcome these limitations while reducing the burden of extensive manual annotation. In this work, we first address the fine-tuning challenge within a CNN-based framework by actively sampling high-uncertainty regions from target images and employing continual learning techniques to adapt the model incrementally. Recognizing the inherent limitations of CNNs in capturing complex and nuanced variations in real-world data, we propose a novel transformer-based semantic segmentation approach that operates in a continuous embedding space. Unlike conventional vector quantization methods that depend on discrete embeddings, our framework leverages continuous embeddings using an autoregressive (AR) generative model guided by a diffusion loss. This approach synergistically combines a CNN-based encoder for local feature extraction, a diffusion-based AR transformer to capture long-range dependencies, and a CNN-based decoder to reconstruct detailed pixel-level segmentation masks. Extensive experiments conducted on public datasets such as GTAV, Cityscapes, SemanticKITTI, ACDC, as well as our own CADEdgeTune dataset—characterized by low-angle, real-world imagery—demonstrate that our model attains impressive zero-shot domain adaptation performance. It achieves robust segmentation under adverse weather conditions and varied viewpoints, while also exhibiting strong resilience against noise. Future work will extend these concepts to LiDAR-based semantic segmentation and explore the design of large vision models that fully exploit continuous embedding representations
Suppressing excitations in the nonlinear Landau-Zener model
No full textMany complex quantum systems can be described by effectively nonlinear dynamics. While such dynamics have many appealing characteristics, they also make the analysis significantly more involved. This is due to the fact that only a few analytical treatments exist, and that the language of quantum mechanics is built for linear operators. For instance, the very formulation of the quantum adiabatic theorem requires the underlying dynamics to be linear. In this work we show that in a generalized Landau-Zener model, nonlinear dynamics can be leveraged to suppress excitations and coherences of the corresponding linear scenario. To this end, we introduce a generalized “energy spectrum”, which is defined by the expectation values of the energy under the stationary states. As a main result, we show that the nonlinear term in the evolution equation acts like an effective shortcut to adiabaticity for the linear Landau-Zener problem.Stimulating discussions with Emery Doucet and Moallison F. Cavalcante are gratefully acknowledged. This work was supported by the John Templeton Foundation under Grant No. 62422.https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1209/0295-5075/adfd7
The Flowering Time Regulator Flk Acts Through the ROS Scavenging Gene Catalase 2 in Arabidopsis Defense
No full textPlant defense and development are intricately interconnected. The putative RNA binding protein FLOWERING LOCUS K HOMOLOGY DOMAIN (FLK) was previously shown to play a critical role in regulating pathogen defense and flowering time. However, the molecular basis underlying the multifunctionality of FLK remains to be determined. Here we provide data to support a role of FLK in regulating reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis, which is dependent on the primary catalase gene CAT2. The flk mutations conferred reduced ROS burst upon elicitation and higher resistance to ROS-inducing stress conditions, including treatments with the herbicide paraquat, UV, and high salt. These flk phenotypes were suppressed by the cat2-1 mutation. Our data further showed that CAT2 was required for flk-conferred pathogen responses. Catalase activity analysis indicated a negative regulation of the enzyme activity by FLK. Interestingly, this ROS regulatory role of FLK is independent of its function in flowering time control. Together our data illustrate a mechanism underlying FLK’s defense role and decouple the multifunctionality of FLK in defense and development in Arabidopsis.We thank the members in the Lu laboratory for their assistance in this work. This work was partially supported by a grant from National Science Foundation (NSF 002071), UMBC Technology Catalyst Fund, and UMBC CENTRE Funding Initiative to HL.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016894522500236
Maximal Counts in the Stopped Occupancy Problem
No full textWe revisit a version of the classic occupancy scheme, where balls are thrown until almost all boxes receive a given number of balls. Special cases are widely known as coupon-collectors and dixie cup problems. We show that as the number of boxes tends to infinity, the distribution of the maximal occupancy count does not converge, but can be approximated by a convolution of two Gumbel distributions, with the approximating distribution having oscillations close to periodic on a logarithmic scale. We pursue two approaches: one relies on lattice point processes obtained by poissonisation of the number of balls and boxes, and the other employs interpolation of the multiset of occupancy counts to a point process on reals. This way we gain considerable insight in known asymptotics obtained previously by mostly analytic tools. Further results concern the moments of maximal occupancy counts and ties for the maximum.The second author is funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Swedish Research Council (VR). The third author is supported in part by BSF grant 2020063.http://arxiv.org/abs/2506.2041
This is Us: Social Connectedness Among African American Interracial Adoptees
No full textAbstract: Some proponents of interracial adoption—the adoption of a child by at least one parent of a different race—assert that the adoption of Black children by White parents constitutes evidence of racial progress in a formerly segregated nation. In contrast, critics of interracial adoption warn of difficulties with racial identity formation, racial isolation, and increased experiences with racism for interracial adoptees. In the middle of this debate are Black interracial adoptees (BIAs) themselves. Yet, little is known about how BIAs describe their experiences in adulthood and how the sense of connectedness they feel toward their peers, family members, and community shapes and has shaped their sense of belonging. To address the unique experiences of Black interracial adoptees, this study explores how young adult BIAs conceptualize social connectedness as it relates to their experiences as interracial adoptees, including how their childhood experiences influenced their perspectives on social connectedness and how they conceptualize social connectedness as adults. Drawing on connectedness theory (e.g., Geist, 2008; Kohut, 1971, 1984) and adapting the Lee and Robbins (1995) social connectedness scale, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 BIAs aged 25-45 using a purposive homogeneous sample that was generated using the snowball method. In their interviews, participants indicated that their experiences with their adoptive families, Black people, and community influence and continue to influence their sense of connectedness, both in childhood and adulthood. Interviewees also highlighted experiences with religion and racism within their adoptive families; in particular, in adulthood, their sense of social connectedness was enhanced by finding community in religious spaces and friend/partnered relationships. Most frequently, adoption research focuses on the trauma adoptees experience in childhood (Brodzinsky,1992). Yet, in this study, BIAs framed the development of their connectedness as an aggregate of their overall life experiences, noting that both their childhood and adulthood experiences inform their present sense of connectedness. As a result, the overall findings from the study support the need to expand research in the area of adoption, including the study of adult adoptees and an understanding of their experiences throughout their life-course.
Selective [9-¹⁵N] Guanosine for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Studies of Large Ribonucleic Acids
No full textRNAs regulate various cellular processes using malleable 3D structures, and understanding the factors that control RNA structure and dynamics is critical for understanding their mechanisms of action. To mitigate factors that have limited studies of large, functionally relevant RNAs by solution NMR spectroscopy, we have extended a recently described ²H-enhanced, ¹H-¹⁵N correlation approach by developing a chemoenzymatic labeling technology that grafts selectively labeled [9-¹⁵N]-Guanine on to any labeled ribose to make [9-¹⁵N]-GTP. Our approach exploits advantageous NMR properties of the N9 nucleus which, when combined with extensive ribose deuteration and optimized NMR pulse sequences, affords sharp signals without complications that can arise using uniform [¹⁵N]-guanine labeling. The utility of the approach for NMR signal assignment and dynamics analysis is demonstrated for three large RNAs (20-78 kDa) that play critical roles in viral replication. With this approach, NMR studies of RNAs comprising 200 nt or more should now be feasible.We acknowledge support from NIH U54 AI17660 TKD DAC MFS JM NIH R01 AI150498 to MFS and NSF DBI1040158 TKDhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cbic.20250020
Breaking the Silence: Reclaiming Voice and Space for Black Women in Patriarchal Societies - A Case Study of Nigeria
No full textI write not only as a student of the humanities but as a Nigerian woman who has lived through the persistent violence of patriarchal silencing for seventeen years. My voice was not mine; I was taught that speaking the truth was rebellion, that ambition was arrogance, and that silence was strength. But I am no longer silent. This project is the culmination of that refusal: my voice rising not only for myself but for the countless African and Black women whose stories have been distorted, dismissed, or denied altogether.
This portfolio is an act of reclamation, asserting that liberation begins with voice, with the courage to speak, to name pain, and to imagine freedom beyond the boundaries set by patriarchy. Drawing on feminist thought and the lived experiences of silenced women, it emphasizes the necessity of space —a life of one’s own, where a woman can think, feel, be loved, and resist. To create and occupy that space is not only a personal triumph but a political act that opens doors for others. This work is a declaration that women’s stories matter, and that through voice, healing, and transformation, they become possible.
This portfolio is both personal and political. It investigates the suffering and systemic marginalization of women, particularly African and Nigerian women, under patriarchal power structures. It calls for a reimagining of social, cultural, and moral spaces where women’s voices are not only heard but also honored, and to bridge the gap between theory and experience, scholarship and story, literature and life. This work confronts the historical and cultural practices that silence women and seeks pathways toward liberation.
At its core, this work asks:
● In what ways have African women been personally silenced, and how does this silence manifest as both erasure from history and invisibility in media representation?
● How has patriarchy, across generations, institutions, and ideologies, erased women’s agency and voice?
● What are the pathways for reclaiming space, voice, and power, and how can feminist frameworks, especially Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s, challenge gendered expectations, such as “Why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage and not to ambition?” help African women imagine and build freer, more self-defined futures?
This portfolio is organized to guide the reader through these questions in a deliberate and layered way. This work begins with a review of the literature and theoretical foundations that inform it, tracing the insights of feminist thinkers and writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin, Audre Lorde, and Kimberlé Crenshaw. It then centers the specific realities of Nigerian women, examining how patriarchy, culture, and history intersect to shape their experiences of silence and resistance. Through literary analysis, personal reflection, and the narratives of other women, this project argues for a radical reimagining of freedom that makes space for women’s truths to be told and believed.
To answer these questions, I draw from feminist theory, postcolonial critique, literary analysis, and, most importantly, the lived experiences of women like me. My feminism is grounded in the realities of African womanhood, a refusal to remain silent any longer. This portfolio is not simply an academic project; it is a call to witness, to remember, and to act
Relationships between internal facilitation processes and implementation outcomes among hospitals participating in a quality improvement collaborative to reduce cesarean births: a mixed-methods embedded case study
No full textQuality improvement collaboratives (QICs) are a common strategy for implementing evidence-based practices; however, there is often variable performance between participating organizations. Few studies of QICs assess the internal facilitation (IF) processes engaged in by participating organizations, which may be key to understanding and enhancing the effectiveness of QICs as an implementation strategy. We examined IF processes among hospitals participating in Maryland’s perinatal QIC to implement national guidelines for reducing primary cesarean births.Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development of the National Institutes of Health under award number R03HD096397https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43058-025-00735-