Browser App Research Articles

App review driven collaborative bug finding

Software development teams generally welcome any effort to expose bugs in their code base. In this work, we build on the hypothesis that mobile apps from the same category (e.g., two web browser apps) may be affected by similar bugs in their evolution process. It is therefore possible to transfer the experience of one historical app to quickly find bugs in its new counterparts. This has been referred to as collaborative bug finding in the literature. Our novelty is that we guide the bug finding process by considering that existing bugs have been hinted within app reviews. Concretely, we design the BugRMSys approach to recommend bug reports for a target app by matching historical bug reports from apps in the same category with user app reviews of the target app. We experimentally show that this approach enables us to quickly expose and report dozens of bugs for targeted apps such as Brave (web browser app). BugRMSys ’s implementation relies on DistilBERT to produce natural language text embeddings. Our pipeline considers similarities between bug reports and app reviews to identify relevant bugs. We then focus on the app review as well as potential reproduction steps in the historical bug report (from a same-category app) to reproduce the bugs. Overall, after applying BugRMSys to six popular apps, we were able to identify, reproduce and report 20 new bugs: among these, 9 reports have been already triaged, 6 were confirmed, and 4 have been fixed by official development teams.

Is There Any Relation Between Smartphone Usage and Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic?: A Study by Exploring Two Objective App Usage Datasets

BACKGROUND: Though smartphone is popular and loneliness is higher among the youth, in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) such as Bangladesh, the relation of loneliness with actual app usage is unexplored amid pandemic. Also, the studies conducted in developed countries are limited by exploration of some app categories.
 METHODS: We conducted two studies in Bangladesh: in 2020 (N1=100) and 2021 (N2=105). We collected participant’s ULS-8 score and 7 days’ actual app usage. We extracted app usage behavioral data from 1.69 million events and did semi-partial and partial correlation analyses.
 RESULTS: Our analysis did not present any significant relation which may indicate a negative impact on loneliness. However, we found higher usage of Social Media, Communication, Education, Books, and Shopping apps and higher entropy of Browser apps had significant (q<.05) relation with lower loneliness.
 CONCLUSION: Smartphone may not negatively impact loneliness. Instead, some app categories can play a role to mitigate loneliness.

Open-Source Browser-Based Tools for Structure-Based Computer-Aided Drug Discovery.

We here outline the importance of open-source, accessible tools for computer-aided drug discovery (CADD). We begin with a discussion of drug discovery in general to provide context for a subsequent discussion of structure-based CADD applied to small-molecule ligand discovery. Next, we identify usability challenges common to many open-source CADD tools. To address these challenges, we propose a browser-based approach to CADD tool deployment in which CADD calculations run in modern web browsers on users’ local computers. The browser app approach eliminates the need for user-initiated download and installation, ensures broad operating system compatibility, enables easy updates, and provides a user-friendly graphical user interface. Unlike server apps—which run calculations “in the cloud” rather than on users’ local computers—browser apps do not require users to upload proprietary information to a third-party (remote) server. They also eliminate the need for the difficult-to-maintain computer infrastructure required to run user-initiated calculations remotely. We conclude by describing some CADD browser apps developed in our lab, which illustrate the utility of this approach. Aside from introducing readers to these specific tools, we are hopeful that this review highlights the need for additional browser-compatible, user-friendly CADD software.

Development of the Remote Heart Health Monitoring System

Introduction. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most common cause of death worldwide. This problem is especially relevant for Ukraine, where CVD accounts for more than 68% of all deaths. At the same time, in terms of population mortality rate (15.3 ‰), Ukraine is ahead of all European countries. Electrocardiography is the most useful diagnostic tools. Nowadays a lot of portable ECG devices are available on the market, which makes ECG accessible for each patient directly from home. Remote monitoring of patients with CVD is a very necessary solution, which can save patient’s lives, doctor’s time and hospital’s money. Existing remote monitoring solution doesn’t provide enough cyber security and scalability, especially in the context of tight regulation of medical software in the European Union. The purpose of the article is to develop a cloud-based software solution for remote monitoring of patients with CVD using a portable ECG device. We propose the full architecture, which include server-side components (databases, computational resources, gateways, queus, load balancers and others) and client-side components (mobile app for the Android and iOS and web browser app). Results. We proposed, designed, implemented and tested the full end-to-end Cloud-based solution for remote monitoring of patients with CVD. Security of the system is ensured by dividing the single database to three separate databases (database with patient’s data, database with ECG data and mapping database), hiding all server components under the virtual private network, and transferring data via secure HTTPS connection. Conclusions. Developed system successfully solve their goals. It is being used now in the Finnish company Cardiolyse. Keywords: telemedicine, client-server, medical devices, electrocardiography, cybersecurity, heart rate variability

DeepFrag: An Open-Source Browser App for Deep-Learning Lead Optimization.

Lead optimization, a critical step in early stage drug discovery, involves making chemical modifications to a small-molecule ligand to improve properties such as binding affinity. We recently developed DeepFrag, a deep-learning model capable of recommending such modifications. Though a powerful hypothesis-generating tool, DeepFrag is currently implemented in Python and so requires a certain degree of computational expertise. To encourage broader adoption, we have created the DeepFrag browser app, which provides a user-friendly graphical user interface that runs the DeepFrag model in users’ web browsers. The browser app does not require users to upload their molecular structures to a third-party server, nor does it require the separate installation of any third-party software. We are hopeful that the app will be a useful tool for both researchers and students. It can be accessed free of charge, without registration, at http://durrantlab.com/deepfrag. The source code is also available at http://git.durrantlab.com/jdurrant/deepfrag-app, released under the terms of the open-source Apache License, Version 2.0.

Are You Dating Danger? An Interdisciplinary Approach to Evaluating the (In)Security of Android Dating Apps

In today's age of instant gratification, mobile dating applications (apps) provide the comfort of meeting new people at the swipe of a finger. However, recent high profile incidents have raised security and privacy-related concerns with the use of these apps. The level of harm that can be inflicted on a victim using these apps can either be physical (e.g., murder, stalking, or sexual assault) or non-physical (e.g., identity theft, harassment, or cyber-stalking). In this paper, we study seven popular Android mobile dating apps, and the Google Chrome browser app (which can be used to access a particular dating service). Using an adversary model, we demonstrate how one can trivially conduct a man-in-the-middle attack against these mobile dating apps. The results of our study reveal that mobile dating apps are, potentially, vulnerable to security risks. In particular, our findings show that an adversary can intercept personal and private information in plaintext. This information can then be used to access a potential victim's mobile dating app profile. With our findings in mind, we then explain how the Routine Activity Theory can be applied to design mitigation strategies for mobile dating apps.

GECO: gene expression clustering optimization app for non-linear data visualization of patterns

BackgroundDue to continued advances in sequencing technology, the limitation in understanding biological systems through an “-omics” lens is no longer the generation of data, but the ability to analyze it. Importantly, much of this rich -omics data is publicly available waiting to be further investigated. Although many code-based pipelines exist, there is a lack of user-friendly and accessible applications that enable rapid analysis or visualization of data.ResultsGECO (Gene Expression Clustering Optimization; http://www.theGECOapp.com) is a minimalistic GUI app that utilizes non-linear reduction techniques to rapidly visualize expression trends in many types of biological data matrices (such as bulk RNA-seq or proteomics). The required input is a data matrix with samples and any type of expression level of genes/protein/other with a unique ID. The output is an interactive t-SNE or UMAP analysis that clusters genes (or proteins/other unique IDs) based on their expression patterns across the multiple samples enabling visualization of expression trends. Customizable settings for dimensionality reduction, data normalization, along with visualization parameters including coloring and filters, ensure adaptability to a variety of user uploaded data.ConclusionThis local and cloud-hosted web browser app enables investigation of any -omic data matrix in a rapid and code-independent manner. With the continued growth of available -omic data, the ability to quickly evaluate a dataset, including specific genes of interest, is more important than ever. GECO is intended to supplement traditional statistical analysis methods and is particularly useful when visualizing clusters of genes with similar trajectories across many samples (ex: multiple cell types, time course, dose response). Users will be empowered to investigate -omic data with a new lens of visualization and analysis that has the potential to uncover genes of interest, cohorts of co-regulated genes programs, and previously undetected patterns of expression.

Web access monitoring mechanism via Android WebView for threat analysis

Many Android apps employ WebView, a component that enables the display of web content in the apps without redirecting users to web browser apps. However, WebView might also be used for cyberattacks. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, although some countermeasures based on access control have been reported for attacks exploiting WebView, no mechanism for monitoring web access via WebView has been proposed and no analysis results focusing on web access via WebView are available. In consideration of this limitation, we propose a web access monitoring mechanism for Android WebView to analyze web access via WebView and clarify attacks exploiting WebView. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of this mechanism by modifying Chromium WebView without any modifications to the Android framework or Linux kernel. The evaluation results of the performance achieved on introducing the proposed mechanism are also presented here. Moreover, the result of threat analysis of displaying a fake virus alert while browsing websites on Android is discussed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism.

Browser App Approach: Can It Be an Answer to the Challenges in Cross-Platform App Development?

Aim/Purpose: As smartphones proliferate, many different platforms begin to emerge. The challenge to developers as well as IS educators and students is how to learn the skills to design and develop apps to run on cross-platforms. Background: For developers, the purpose of this paper is to describe an alternative to the complex native app development. For IS educators and students, the paper provides a feasible way to learn and develop fully functional mobile apps without technical burdens. Methodology: The methods used in the development of browser-based apps is prototyping. Our proposed approach is browser-based, supports cross-platforms, uses open-source standards, and takes advantage of “write-once-and-run-anywhere” (WORA) concept. Contribution: The paper illustrates the application of the browser-based approach to create a series of browser apps without high learning curve. Findings: The results show the potentials for using browser app approach to teach as well as to create new apps. Recommendations for Practitioners : Our proposed browser app development approach and example would be useful to mobile app developers/IS educators and non-technical students because the source code as well as documentations in this project are available for downloading. Future Research: For further work, we discuss the use of hybrid development framework to enhance browser apps.

Technology: Allowing for Journals on the Go.

As we enter into 2016, technology becomes an ever increasingly more important part of our lives. Global Spine Journal is also trying to keep up with the times, as the age of print is starting to come to a close and everything is available digitally. GSJ understands that everyone leads busy lives and people do not always have time to read an entire print journal. However, we also understand that many people still enjoy reading a print journal, so we are also happy to continue to issue print copies of the journal. GSJ now has a podcast series that comes out every 3rd Friday of the month. These podcasts feature interviews between one of our Editors-in-Chief and the author of an article hand-picked by the Editors-in-Chief. These podcasts are available on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-spine-journal/id923005213?mt=2 or you can also find all of them on Thieme's website here: https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/podcast/10.1055/s-00000177. These podcasts are available to download for free and you can subscribe to them on iTunes. The podcasts are a great benefit for our readers because it allows them to learn about a particular article on the go—in the car, in the office, at the airport. We are excited to continue this successful podcast series in 2016. Another tool we have for our readers is the GSJ Browser app. This is an app that can be downloaded for tablets and allows readers to download articles to read offline at a later time. Readers can also read full issues of the journal on this app as well. This app is a great way for people to read the journal on the go, especially if they do not want to carry around a paper copy of the journal. We are excited about this browser app and we will be working on improving it even further in 2016. In 2015, GSJ became an Open Access journal which allows for all of our articles to be available online to read without a subscription or fee. It also allows for eFirst articles, which means that articles are available online for people to read soon after they are published and before they are assigned to a specific issue. This is wonderful for those readers who just want to read one or two articles when they have the chance. This also allows for people to start reading new content before it is assigned to an issue, which can take a while. GSJ is excited about moving forward as technology advances and we look forward to creating new and exciting ways to read the journal.

Social Media and the Online World: The New Frontier.

In the past few years, social media has really emerged to become a business tool, rather than just a network for socializing. Social media has had an impact on creating greater visibility for companies and institutions, as well as the ability to reach people all over the globe. Global Spine Journal is adapting and changing with these times. We now have Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn Pages. On these pages we post updates about the journal, interesting new articles that have come out, information about submissions, membership, and much more. We are a global publication and it is important for us to be able to reach out to an audience all around the world. We invite all of you to follow us on social media. We value our global spine community and our readers, and we enjoy having the chance to reach out to all of you and share what is going on with the journal. We can be followed on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/globalspinejournal. Our twitter handle is: @globalspinej. You can find us on LinkedIn by searching for: Global Spine Journal (GSJ) We also have a regular podcast series now with a new podcast coming out every 3rd Friday of the month. These podcasts feature interviews between one of our Editors-in-Chief and the authors of an article that will be published soon, or has just been published. These podcasts are great ways to get more information directly from the authors themselves on their articles, and allow the listener to learn about the articles if they don't have time to read them. You can download the podcasts on iTunes or go to www.thieme.com/gsjpodcast and listen to them on your smart devices. Another new change has been the recent creation of the GSJ browser app. This is an app you can download on any tablet. The articles can be downloaded and then read offline at a later time. This app can be downloaded at: www.thieme.com/gsjreader. We continue to adapt and change with the times, and we look forward to more technological advances. We will continue to keep all of our authors, reviewers, and readers updated as changes are made.

The evolution of the global spine journal.

I am so excited about the new year and the combination of the Global Spine Journal (GSJ) and Evidence-Based Spine-Care Journal (EBSJ) into a single, international journal formally called the Global Spine Journal (GSJ). This combination allows for the maturation of the official journals of AOSpine International into a single, high-quality scientific academic publication. This will consist of the Global Spine Journal with original research articles, case reports, and review articles. The high-quality outstanding evidence-based reviews, that are typically associated with EBSJ, will be published as special issues of GSJ twice each year. This combined with the new open-access format of the journal, will allow for the appropriate dissemination of the international research and educational missions of AOSpine International. In 2015 we will be improving options for readers to access and download papers via their tablets/phones with a downloadable browser app. We will also be awarding our very first best paper prize to an author who published in 2014. In addition, our ongoing podcast series will continue to highlight key papers published in the journal. You can subscribe to these episodes via iTunes or download direct from the journals homepage. AOSpine continues to represent a truly global membership and academic spine society, with its mission dedicated to education, research, and community-development on a world-wide basis. This journal format will continue to allow the global research in the spine arena to be developed and presented to the world, along with challenging cases and superb review articles that will keep each spine practitioner up to date on the latest developments and ultimately allow for better patient care. I want to thank my two other Chief Editors of this publication, Jens Chapman, MD, and Karsten Wiechert, MD, for all of their efforts in launching this important endeavor. With their guidance, I am confident that this publication will be a leading academic forum for the presentation of spinal research and knowledge, and continue to fulfill the mission of the AOSpine professional medical association. I wish all of our readers and members a Happy New Year and I sincerely look forward to the years to come.

Mobile MEDLINE

Since the early days of personal digital assistants and wireless technologies, programmers and librarians have been exploring ways to access PubMed. Searching and viewing abstracts on a mobile device require different features than searching from a desktop computer. Mobile access to PubMed is available in several formats, including mobile-optimized websites, MEDLINE-specific apps, mobile citation managers, and journal browser apps. Each of these mobile resources sports its own unique features. Users must try them out and decide which best fit their needs.

Going native (or not): Five questions to ask mobile application developers

Going native (or not): Five questions to ask mobile application developers