Open Source Products Research Articles

Development of a Web GIS for small-scale detection and analysis of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) cases based on volunteered geographic information for the city of Cologne, Germany, in July/August 2020

BackgroundVarious applications have been developed worldwide to contain and to combat the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this context, spatial information is always of great significance. The aim of this study is to describe the development of a Web GIS based on open source products for the collection and analysis of COVID-19 cases and its feasibility in terms of technical implementation and data protection.MethodsWith the help of this Web GIS, data on this issue were collected voluntarily from the Cologne area. Using house perimeters as a data basis, it was possible to check, in conjunction with the Official Topographic Cartographic Information System object type catalog, whether buildings with certain functions, for example residential building with trade and services, have been visited more frequently by infected persons than other types of buildings. In this context, data protection and ethical and legal issues were considered.ResultsThe results of this study show that the development of a Web GIS for the generation and evaluation of volunteered geographic information (VGI) with the help of open source software is possible. Furthermore, there are numerous data protection and ethical and legal aspects to consider, which not only affect VGI per se but also affect IT security.ConclusionsFrom a data protection perspective, more attention needs to be paid to the intervention and post-processing of data. In addition, official data must always be used as a reference for the actual spatial consideration of the number of infections. However, VGI provides added value at a small-scale level, so that valid information can also be reliably derived in the context of health issues. The creation of guidelines for the consideration of data protection, ethical aspects, and legal requirements in the context of VGI-based applications must also be considered.Trial registration The article does not report the results of a health care intervention for human participants

Cross-Compiler Bipartite Vulnerability Search

Open-source libraries are widely used in software development, and the functions from these libraries may contain security vulnerabilities that can provide gateways for attackers. This paper provides a function similarity technique to identify vulnerable functions in compiled programs and proposes a new technique called Cross-Compiler Bipartite Vulnerability Search (CCBVS). CCBVS uses a novel training process, and bipartite matching to filter SVM model false positives to improve the quality of similar function identification. This research uses debug symbols in programs compiled from open-source software products to generate the ground truth. This automatic extraction of ground truth allows experimentation with a wide range of programs. The results presented in the paper show that an SVM model trained on a wide variety of programs compiled for Windows and Linux, x86 and Intel 64 architectures can be used to predict function similarity and that the use of bipartite matching substantially improves the function similarity matching performance.

МедиаВики в качестве инструмента для создания модели цифрового университета

The article is devoted to the software product MediaWiki, proposed by the authors of the article for use as a platform for creating the software and technological core of the faculty, which, in turn, is a typical element for building prototypes of the faculty and models. The model considered in the article is proposed by the authors as a comprehensive solution to the problem of digital transformation in the field of education. According to the authors of the article, the MediaWiki software complex, supplemented by domestic software and open source products, will effectively solve the problem of managing information flows in the educational process. The article describes the experience of creating standard wiki systems for faculties and scientific schools of Moscow State University and their use as central elements of the digital transformation of university faculties. The article discusses the creation of a network tool that ensures the management of digital information flows that are formed between teachers and students in the learning process, as well as the development of a system of rules for the interaction of participants in the educational process in the educational process. A digital environment that creates conditions for the successful development of the system. Currently, three systems are being tested, created by specialists from the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics of Moscow State University in the framework of inter-faculty agreements with the Faculty of Law and the branch of Moscow State University in Sevastopol. The system is built taking into account the experience gained by the authors during the inter-faculty course Introduction to Wikipedia.

Microalgae as Future Superfoods: Fostering Adoption through Practice-Based Design Research

Consumers’ eating habits are gradually changing. In the next few decades, this shift will not be solely dictated by individuals’ decisions but by the need to feed an ever-increasing population in the face of global resources’ impoverishment. Novel superfoods rich in nutrients and produced with sustainable methods, including microalgae, maybe a solution. However, their unusual aspect, the palatability, and the lack of knowledge by most people could be obstacles to adoption. This study aims at encouraging the use of microalgae as food, highlighting the importance that design plays in the transition towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Through practice-based design research, characterized by empirical experiments, a survey, an engaging workshop, and the development of a fully-functional open-source product, the authors conceptualize a theoretical framework within which similar product-service systems could thrive. This real-world experimentation is of interest for academics, professionals, makers in the field of design, etc. It suggests that multidisciplinarity, education, and replicability are the keys to addressing this topic and paves the way for further technical and humanistic research.

WITHDRAWN: Interfacing advanced NoSQL database with Python for internet of things and Big data Analytics

Abstract Nowadays the worldwide industry, both corporate and government, is making open source technology known. A variety of fields use Open Source products with various uses in the tech industry. NoSQL databases, big data processing and online resources are top of the line, and are used for a variety of purposes. In social media systems and large data management portals, NoSQL databases have been used to manage massive, heterogeneous and unstructured information formats. NoSQL Databases are used to easily view the large data set records in the background. The implementation of AADHAAR Card in India took place through the NoSQL database since a lot of information, including text data, photographs, thumb prints and the iris detection, is correlated with this information. A classical database system cannot manage the various types of datasets simultaneously (such as image, text, video, audios, recordings, thumb impressions, iris sample).

Hands on: Stereo vision building a depth-sensing camera with beta hardware

Getting access to prerelease versions of a platform that you know is going to sell by the million is a great opportunity to get a jump on developing a new open-source product. But it's no guarantee of success: As the team responsible for StereoPi, we soon discovered in building a new version of our stereoscopic vision systems that preliminary hardware can introduce its own quirks into the development process.

SQL injection attacks countermeasures assessments

<span>SQL injections attacks have been rated as the most dangerous vulnerability of web-based systems over more than a decade by OWASP top ten. Though different static, runtime and hybrid approaches have been proposed to counter SQL injection attacks, no single approach guarantees flawless prevention/ detection for these attacks. Hundreds of components of open source and commercial software products are reported to be vulnerable for SQL injection to CVE repository every year. In this mapping study, we identify different existing approaches in terms of the cost of computation and protection offered. We found that most of the existing techniques claim to offer protection based on the testing on a very small or limited scale. This study dissects each proposed approach and highlights their strengths and weaknesses and categorizes them based on the underlying technology used to detect or counter the injection attacks.</span>

The Routinization of Open Source Project Engagement: The Case of Open Source Risk Management Routines

As organizations increasingly use open source software, they inevitably routinize open source project engagement to manage new open source risks. We explore the software package data exchange (SPDX) standard as a key open source product for routinizing the work that open source risk management entails. The development and subsequent adoption of SPDX raise the questions of how organizations participate in SPDX to routinize open source work to better integrate with their own open source risk management routines, how organizations make sense of SPDX when improving their own open source risk management routines, and how a community benefits from the experiential knowledge that organizational early adopters contribute back to it. To explore these questions, we conducted a single-case, multicomponent field study in which we connected with individuals who helped to develop and later employed SPDX in their own organizations. Our results contribute to explaining how organizations routinize open source project engagement by observing organizational commitments to routinize aspects of open source risk management through communal interactions, organizationally specific interpretations, and deployments.

Urgent need hybrid production - what COVID-19 can teach us about dislocated production through 3d-printing and the maker scene

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to large-scale shutdowns in society. This resulted in global supply bottlenecks for medical protective equipment. The so-called Maker Movement recognized this emerging problem early on and, with the help of additive manufacturing (AM), began developing and manufacturing half masks or face shields as personal protective equipment (PPE). This knowledge has been made available in many places in form of open source product data, so that products could be adapted and improved, saving development time.MethodsThis production and innovation potential has been taken up and professionalized by the authors of this article. By means of a proof-of-principle we provide an overview of the possibility and successful unique introduction of a so-called professional “hybrid production” in a micro factory using 3D-printing at the place of greatest demand in a hospital by medical personnel to produce their own PPE. Furthermore the learning process and future benefits of on site 3D-printing are described.ResultsOur proof-of-principle successfully showed that the allocation of 3D-printing capabilities in the hospital infrastructure is possible. With assistance of the engineers, responsible for product design and development, the medical staff was able to produce PPE by means of AM. However, due to legal uncertainties and high material and production costs the usability is severely limited.ConclusionsThe practical research showed that a complete implementation of the concept and the short-term establishment of a 3D-printing factory for the autonomous supply of a hospital with PPE was not feasible without further efforts. Nevertheless, it has enabled the medical staff to use AM technologies for future research approaches.

Generation of collaborative open source library services platforms: FOLIO case study

This study aims to open source library services platforms, especially Folio platform; therefore, it seeks to identify the new generation of open source library service platforms, relying on the case study methodology to examine and analyze everything related to the emergence and development of the Folio platform, as well as studied of technical and functional characteristics. Due of importance of these new generations of automated systems, because of the acceleration of development and the short period of time between them. The study concluded that the Folio platform is still in its first start, which resulted in many things, including: the limited implementation in the world, followed by the lack of clarity of the image in case that it was applied in the Arab environment, and despite all that the platform was characterized by its many the functional and technical features and capabilities are unique form other library service platforms. This study also recommended that it is necessary to go towards participation in the Folio platform as a fertile field for investment in it by specialized companies and even professional societies and federations to contribute in development in order to have an active role in the field of developing automated systems globally as an influential field in the librarienship, especially the open source products.

Current Clinical Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Radiology and Their Best Supporting Evidence.

Despite tremendous gains from deep learning and the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine to improve diagnosis and save costs, there exists a large translational gap to implement and use AI products in real-world clinical situations. Adoption of standards such as Transparent Reporting of a Multivariable Prediction Model for Individual Prognosis or Diagnosis, Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials, and the Checklist for Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging is increasing to improve the peer-review process and reporting of AI tools. However, no such standards exist for product-level review. A review of clinical trials showed a paucity of evidence for radiology AI products; thus, the authors developed a 10-question assessment tool for reviewing AI products with an emphasis on their validation and result dissemination. The assessment tool was applied to commercial and open-source algorithms used for diagnosis to extract evidence on the clinical utility of the tools. There is limited technical information on methodologies for FDA-approved algorithms compared with open-source products, likely because of intellectual property concerns. Furthermore, FDA-approved products use much smaller data sets compared with open-source AI tools, because the terms of use of public data sets are limited to academic and noncommercial entities, which precludes their use in commercial products. Overall, this study reveals a broad spectrum of maturity and clinical use of AI products, but a large gap exists in exploring actual performance of AI tools in clinical practice.

Developing an Open-Source Lightweight Game Engine with DNN Support

With the growth of artificial intelligence and deep learning technology, we have many active research works to apply the related techniques in various fields. To test and apply the latest machine learning techniques in gaming, it will be very useful to have a light-weight game engine for quick prototyping. Our game engine is implemented in a cost-effective way, in comparison to well-known commercial proprietary game engines, by utilizing open source products. Due to its simple internal architecture, our game engine is especially beneficial for modifying and reviewing the new functions through quick and repetitive tests. In addition, the game engine has a DNN (deep neural network) module, with which the proposed game engine can apply deep learning techniques to the game features, through applying deep learning algorithms in real-time. Our DNN module uses a simple C++ function interface, rather than additional programming languages and/or scripts. This simplicity enables us to apply machine learning techniques more efficiently and casually to the game applications. We also found some technical issues during our development with open sources. These issues mostly occurred while integrating various open source products into a single game engine. We present details of these technical issues and our solutions.

DEVELOPMENT OF OPEN SOURCE HARDWARE IN ONLINE COMMUNITIES: INVESTIGATING REQUIREMENTS FOR GROUPWARE

AbstractOpen source hardware is hardware whose design is shared online so that anyone can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell it. In spite of the increasing popularity of this alternative IP management approach, the field of OSH remains fragmented of diverse practices seeking for settlement. This challenges providers of groupware solutions to capture the specific needs of open source product development practitioners. This contribution therefore delivers a list of basic requirements and verifies them by comparing offered functions of existing groupware solutions.

Building an understanding of how winning products emerge when open and proprietary products coexist: Evidence from the RepRap community

Online innovation communities have altered the nature of collaborative innovation. Within these communities, coexistence of open and closed source offerings is becoming commonplace, though potential diffusion and product advantages from each form are not well understood. Patterns of derivative innovation within these communities affect designers' focus; thus, this work is grounded in the attention‐based view. Beyond open vs. closed source development, we find that the presence of sibling designs (designs based on the same source material) and self‐remix (iteration on material by the same designer) have notable diffusion and product effects. Diffusion effects are investigated using 354 co‐existing open and closed source 3D printers from the RepRap community, while a subset of these printers is used for an analysis of key product attributes: value and ease of use. While previous researchers have argued for an early stage open source diffusion advantage, this is not observed here. However, customers perceive open source products to have value advantages, while closed source offerings are easier to use. Sibling designs have a diffusion advantage, particularly early on. Self‐remixes have both diffusion and product advantages. By better understanding these contextual elements of derivative innovation, designers' attention can be shaped to achieve desired outcomes.

Tracking reference statistics – evaluation of methods

The use of a paper-based tally sheet systems for gathering reference statistics has been unchanged for decades. However, with new technology and data gathering tools being developed, libraries now have an alternative for gathering statistical data more efficiently. This paper will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of both paper-based tally sheet forms and electronic tracking systems being used in libraries and will encompass a variety of commercial, open source, and homegrown products. Preference for either tool will be explored and determine reasons for a libraries reluctance to embrace new technology and keeping with old methods.

Modeling and simulation of firm-leading self-organization evolution process in open source product design project

ABSTRACTOpen source product design is characterized by dynamic evolution, autonomous task control, loose organization structure, and frequent collaboration, which shows the process is full of high uncertainty. Firms have used this innovation pattern to obtain ideas. To describe the firm-leading self-organization evolution process, an agent-based modeling and simulation method is applied. We have proposed an agent-based model including designers and firms in light of Complex Adaptive System theory firstly; Secondly, their behaviors, especially the two typical behaviors: task selection and plan screening are illustrated; Finally, the simulation results show that:1) evolution process of agent, product, and community can be described clearly by simulation. Agent-based simulation can support the analysis, evaluation and optimization of the evolution process;2) in task selection phase: firm’s recommendation can improve the evolution efficiency;3)in plan screening phase, firms’ “control” also plays important role in the evolution process, but the impact of designer agents’ self-organization cannot be ignored.

CERN’s Identity and Access Management: A journey to Open Source

Until recently, CERN had been considered eligible for academic pricing of Microsoft products. Now, along with many other research institutes, CERN has been disqualified from this educational programme and faces a 20 fold increase in license costs. CERN’s current Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure, dating from 2008, comprises multiple Microsoft services from the web Single-Sign-On to the Accounts Database. Replacing these core components is an opportunity to rebuild the CERN infrastructure using the latest technologies and concepts and to respond to evolving requirements of the community. It is also the appropriate moment to consider the alignment of CERN’s and the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid’s approaches to identity management, to create a more consistent environment for operators, developers and users. 2019 saw the launch of an Alpha version of CERN’s next generation Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure, focusing on free and open source products and responding to the limitations experienced by the current system. We describe the new solution and focus on key changes.

Open Source and Public Health: A Primer

While there have been significant advances in open source software development and products available to public health, there appears to be much confusion around this topic related to open source licensing, management, fair use, and implied cost. This article will provide needed definitions of open source and proprietary software; describe the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) around each; and provide examples of key open source products in use outside of public health. It postulates that the shared tradition of collaboration in both public health agencies and open source communities provides a unique opportunity for the success of open source in public health; and explores this with a case study of open source management and community which may serve as an exemplar of how an open source perspective can fuel a healthy alternative to the proprietary software market in public health.

The chemfp project

The chemfp project has had four main goals: (1) promote the FPS format as a text-based exchange format for dense binary cheminformatics fingerprints, (2) develop a high-performance implementation of the BitBound algorithm that could be used as an effective baseline to benchmark new similarity search implementations, (3) experiment with funding a pure open source software project through commercial sales, and (4) publish the results and lessons learned as a guide for future implementors. The FPS format has had only minor success, though it did influence development of the FPB binary format, which is faster to load but more complex. Both are summarized. The chemfp benchmark and the no-cost/open source version of chemfp are proposed as a reference baseline to evaluate the effectiveness of other similarity search tools. They are used to evaluate the faster commercial version of chemfp, which can test 130 million 1024-bit fingerprint Tanimotos per second on a single core of a standard x86-64 server machine. When combined with the BitBound algorithm, a k = 1000 nearest-neighbor search of the 1.8 million 2048-bit Morgan fingerprints of ChEMBL 24 averages 27 ms/query. The same search of 970 million PubChem fingerprints averages 220 ms/query, making chemfp one of the fastest CPU-based similarity search implementations. Modern CPUs are fast enough that memory bandwidth and latency are now important factors. Single-threaded search uses most of the available memory bandwidth. Sorting the fingerprints by popcount improves memory coherency, which when combined with 4 OpenMP threads makes it possible to construct an N × N similarity matrix for 1 million fingerprints in about 30 min. These observations may affect the interpretation of previous publications which assumed that search was strongly CPU bound. The chemfp project funding came from selling a purely open-source software product. Several product business models were tried, but none proved sustainable. Some of the experiences are discussed, in order to contribute to the ongoing conversation on the role of open source software in cheminformatics.

Robustness of open source product innovation community’s knowledge collaboration network under the dynamic environment

As a complex system with open characteristics, the open source product innovation community is often subjected to failures and attacks, and the users in the community are often in a state of frequent change and mass loss. In this paper, we use complex network analysis techniques to describe the complex system as a knowledge collaboration network. We discuss how the network’s structural robustness and functional robustness changes during the three stages of network development (i.e. the start-up, growth and maturation stages) for different user loss patterns (i.e. one random user loss pattern and two deliberate user loss patterns) under the dynamic environment. We find that the structural robustness is significantly higher when the network faces random user loss than when it faces deliberate user loss for all three network development stages. In contrast, the functional robustness is higher when the network faces random user loss than when it faces deliberate user loss only for the network’s start-up stage, not its growth and maturation stages. Based on the robustness results, we provide intervention and incentive strategies to prevent user loss for all three stages of an open source product innovation community’s network development. More importantly, we contribute a new approach for systematically analyzing the robustness of the open source product innovation community under the dynamic reality environment.