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Symbolic Execution in Practice: A Survey of Applications in Vulnerability, Malware, Firmware, and Protocol Analysis
No full textSymbolic execution is a powerful program analysis technique that allows for the systematic exploration of all program paths. Path explosion, where the number of states to track becomes unwieldy, is one of the biggest challenges hindering symbolic execution's practical application. To combat this, researchers have employed various strategies to enable symbolic execution on complex software systems. This paper introduces a systematic taxonomy of these strategies, categorizing them into two primary approaches: Scope Reduction, which aims to reduce the scope of symbolic execution to manageable portions of code, and Guidance Heuristics, which steer the symbolic execution engine toward promising paths. Using this taxonomy as a lens, we survey applications of symbolic executions in several domains such as vulnerability analysis, malware analysis, firmware re-hosting, and network protocol analysis. Finally, we identify promising directions for future research, including the application of symbolic execution to real-time operating systems and modern, type-safe languages.http://arxiv.org/abs/2508.0664
Development of the timing system for the X-ray imaging and spectroscopy mission
No full textWe describe the development, design, ground verification, and in-orbit verification, performance measurement, and calibration of the timing system for the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM). The scientific goals of the mission require an absolute timing accuracy of 1.0 ms. All components of the timing system were designed and verified to be within the timing error budgets, which were assigned by component to meet the requirements. After the launch of XRISM, the timing capability of the ground-tuned timing system was verified using the millisecond pulsar PSR B1937+21 during the commissioning period, and the timing jitter of the bus and the ground component were found to be below 15 μs compared with the NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition ExploreR) profile. During the performance verification and calibration period, simultaneous observations of the Crab pulsar by XRISM, NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array), and NICER were made to measure the absolute timing offset of the system, showing that the arrival time of the main pulse with XRISM was aligned with that of NICER and NuSTAR to within 200 μs. In conclusion, the absolute timing accuracy of the bus and the ground component of the XRISM timing system meets the timing error budget of 500 μs.This work was supported by the JSPS Core-to-Core Program (Grant No. JPJSCCA20220002) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) [Grant Nos. JP20K04009 (YT), JP19K14762, JP23K03459, JP24H01812 (MS), JP24K17105 (YK), and JP21K20372 (TY)]. The material is based on work supported by NASA [Grant Nos. 80GSFC21M0002 (KP, ML), 80NSSC20K0737 (EDM), and 80NSSC24K0678 (EDM)] and by the Strategic Research Center of Saitama University (MST, YT, SK).https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/Journal-of-Astronomical-Telescopes-Instruments-and-Systems/volume-11/issue-4/042007/Development-of-the-timing-system-for-the-X-ray-imaging/10.1117/1.JATIS.11.4.042007.ful
TABULA RASA: VIEWING THE BODY OF HWANG JIN YI AS A SPACE OF RHETORICAL CREATION
No full textThis thesis offers a rhetorical analysis of the reinscription of Korean ginyeo/gisaeng Hwang Jin Yi across three South Korean media adaptations (1986, 2006, 2007), using the body as a rhetorical space. It explores how film and television reimagine historical figures as ideological and aesthetic constructs shaped by market imperatives. Hwang Jin Yi emerges as a cultural tabula rasa, re-authored through portrayals that blend purity, subversion, and spectacle. Through comparative media analysis, the study reveals tensions between historical fidelity and creative revisionism, showing how narrative, visual, and character choices sanitize her transgressive legacy. These portrayals reflect patriarchal norms, feminist discourse, colonial memory, and global capitalism, while also serving South Korea’s cultural soft power strategies. The thesis argues for rhetorical studies, especially those centered on embodiment and cultural critique, as essential for analyzing adaptation, historical memory, and representation. It deepens understanding of gendered performance and the politics of visual storytelling in global media
XRISM/Xtend Transient Search (XTS) detected multiple stellar flares from WOH S 423
No full textAuthors: K. Fukushima (JAXA), H. Noda (Tohoku U.), Y. Kanemaru, S. Ogawa (JAXA), M. Audard (U. de Geneve), E. Behar (Technion), S. Inoue (Kyoto U.), Y. Ishihara (Chuo U.), T. Kohmura (TUS), Y. Maeda (JAXA), H. Matsumoto (Osaka U.), M. Mizumoto (UTEF), K. Mori (U. of Miyazaki), N. Nagashima (Chuo U.), M. Nobukawa (NUE), K. Pottschmidt (UMBC, NASA GSFC, CRESST), M. Shidatsu (Ehime U.), H. Sugai (Chuo U.), T. Takagi (Ehime U.), H. Takahashi (Hiroshima U.), Y. Terada (Saitama U.), Y. Terashima (Ehime U.), Y. Tsuboi (Chuo U.), H. Uchida (Kyoto U.), T. Yoneyama (Chuo U.), M. Yoshimoto (Ehime U.)XRISM/Xtend Transient Search (XTS) detected multiple X-ray flares from the X-ray source XRISM J0535-6613 on 2025-05-25 and 05-26 TT. The source position is (R.A., Dec.) = (83.827, -66.218), with a systematic error of ∼ 40 arcsec. The possible counterpart is a high proper motion star, WOH S 423 at 82 pc, which is located ∼ 30 arcsec apart from the position of XRISM J0535-6613. We report the larger one in this telegram. All statistical uncertainties in this report will be provided at a 90% confidence level unless stated otherwise.
The larger flare started on 2025-05-26 18:18 TT and rapidly peaked on 05-26 18:22 TT, about one day after a faint flare on 2025-05-25. Then, the flare exponentially decayed in ∼ 8 × 10³ sec, which is derived by fitting the 0.4 – 2.0 keV light curve with a constant + burst model in the QDP software package.
In order to estimate the source flux, we fit the spectrum in the flare peak with two APEC models with temperatures of kT = 0.3 +/- 0.2 keV and 1.7 +/- 0.4 keV, which are subject to a weak absorption with hydrogen column density NH < 5 × 10²⁰ cm⁻². The model flux is calculated as (2.5 +/- 0.3) × 10⁻¹² erg s⁻¹ cm⁻² (0.4 – 10.0 keV), corresponding to a luminosity (2.0 +/- 0.2) D²₈₂ pc × 10³⁰ erg s⁻¹. A systematic error of roughly 20% should be added to the statistical error.
We derived the above systematic error for the flux by comparing our derived values for the sources detected with XTS in several observations with those for the corresponding X-ray counterparts. We estimated the systematic error for the source position from the separations between the detected sources and their corresponding counterparts in the same field of view.
: subscripthttps://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=1720
Multilevel Racism and Discrimination and Cardiovascular Disease and Related Biopsychosocial Mechanisms: An Integrated Scoping and Literature Review and Future Research Agenda
No full textIn the last two decades, empirical research has significantly advanced our understanding of the link between discrimination and cardiovascular disease (CVD). This integrated scoping and narrative literature review delineates the extant peer-reviewed research on discrimination and clinical and subclinical CVD in samples that include Black adults, using a multilevel conceptualization of race-related discrimination and racism. We also identify potential intermediary mechanisms in the racism-CVD relationship and propose a comprehensive future research agenda.Funding Beatty Moody received funding support from P30 AG028747.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11886-025-02238-3#Abs
Biking Student Killed, Glen Haven ES, School Boundaries, Rent Stabilization
No full textAn 11-year old on a bike coming home after school dies in a collision with a MCPS school bus. We look at how pedestrian safety is seldom preventive. MCPS is proposing new boundary changes that leave two schools in the richest part of the county untouched while increasing the poverty rate at schools with high poverty rates. A county executive candidate forum showcases debate over rent stabilization. And more. Music by Dear Daria.https://open.spotify.com/episode/37brCLAvrhGqZWHL5cSNJ
Sexual selection and speciation: a meta-analysis of comparative studies
No full textUnderstanding the drivers of biodiversity is a central goal in evolutionary biology. In particular, sexual selection has long been proposed as a potential catalyst of speciation, but empirical evidence remains inconclusive. Here, we present a comprehensive meta-analysis synthesizing 145 effect sizes from 50 comparative studies testing the relationship between proxies of sexual selection and species diversity across the animal kingdom. Our results reveal a modest but consistent positive association (global effect size: r = 0.201; 95% confidence interval: 0.035–0.366), supporting the hypothesis that sexual selection contributes to speciation. However, the global effect size corresponds to an R² of only 0.04, suggesting that sexual selection is not a dominant driver of speciation. We also uncover substantial heterogeneity among effect sizes, largely attributable to between-study variation and taxonomic affinities of effect sizes. Studies that fail to account for phylogenetic non-independence tend to report stronger effects. In contrast, other tested methodological and biological moderators, such as the proxies used to estimate the strength of sexual selection or proxies of speciation, do not explain the observed heterogeneity in effect sizes. Sensitivity analyses confirm the robustness of our results, and we find no signatures of publication bias. We highlight the need for broader taxonomic coverage and a greater focus on understudied mechanisms, such as post-copulatory sexual selection, to refine our understanding of the role of sexual selection in shaping species diversity.T.J. is funded by the CNRS, M.G.R. by NERC (UK), T.C.M. by US NSF 2026334, and J.T. by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 101078021).https://academic.oup.com/evlett/advance-article/doi/10.1093/evlett/qraf038/829669
Rooted in Resilience: Communality Practices across Borders
No full textAs a Mexican of Indigenous descent who resides in what is currently known as the United States, I know from my multiple communities and relations of care that expand across Mexico and the U.S. Witnessing and experiencing state-sponsored violence, but also methods of life-making by displaced communities across colonial borders, ignites my work. Inspired by Chicana feminist scholars, I draw on my communities' embodied experiences of injustice in and through place as theories of the flesh (Moraga & Anzaldúa, 1983). While my work is also inspired by Indigenous, feminist, Black, and Latinx scholarship from across the hemisphere, here I will center my transborder communities, the roots of where I know from.https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/15/article/97172
Support Vector Machine Hyperparameter Tuning for Student Addiction Prediction
No full textFourth Annual Early Career Symposium at IBBR, September 17, 2025, Rockville, MarylandStudent addiction is a severe condition with far reaching academic, psychological, and societal implications. Early identification of students at risk for substance use disorders (SUD) enables timely intervention and may reduce long-term impacts. While machine learning has been applied to predict addiction behaviors, few studies have systematically examined the impact of Support Vector Machine (SVM) kernel selection, regularization parameter tuning (C), and polynomial degree adjustment. In this work, we applied SVM classifiers to predict student addiction using behavioral, academic, and social attributes. For computational efficiency, the experiments were conducted on the first 2000 rows of the dataset, as extending to the full dataset did not yield significant differences in performance. We systematically tested different kernel functions (linear, radial basis function, polynomial), values of C, and polynomial degrees, and evaluated their effect on model accuracy. Among all combinations, several configurations including the linear kernel, RBF kernel with C=1, and polynomial kernels with degrees 2–3 achieved the highest accuracy of 78.9%.To increase the biological relevance of our study, we incorporate a neuroscience-based overview of addiction, highlighting how repeated drug use alters brain chemistry, particularly dopamine and opioid pathways, leading to impaired impulse control and increased risk-taking behavior. By integrating biological context with machine learning optimization, this study contributes a novel perspective to student health analytics and emphasizes the importance of model calibration in improving early risk prediction within education and public health domains
MCPS Payroll Fix, Flood Maps, RKV Rent Cap, M-83 Highway
No full textNew study finds FEMA flood maps account for only 15 percent of flooding-related road closures in the region over the last 20 years. MCEA files grievance action against MCPS for delays and inaccuracies in payroll. Superintendent Thomas Taylor offers a fix by date. Rockville City Council nixed rent stabilization the second year. Councilmember Izola Shaw who championed the cause analyzes. Washington Post travails continue, says former Metro editor Bob McCartney. TAME Coalition kills the M-83 highway plan after decades of effort. And more. Stay with us. Music by the DC area roots band The Longtimers.https://open.spotify.com/episode/2KdV0qepOdTGfxUVDcyVd