Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Attribute-Based Signatures: Achieving Attribute-Privacy and Collusion-Resistance

We introduce a new and versatile cryptographic primitive called Attribute-Based Signatures (ABS), in which a signature attests not to the identity of the individual who endorsed a message, but instead to a (possibly complex) claim regarding the attributes she posseses. ABS offers: – A strong unforgeability guarantee for the verifier, that the signature was produced by a single party whose attributes satisfy the claim being made; i.e., not by a collusion of individuals who pooled their attributes together. – A strong privacy guarantee for the signer, that the signature reveals nothing about the identity or attributes of the signer beyond what is explicitly revealed by the claim being made. We formally define the security requirements of ABS as a cryptographic primitive, and then describe an efficient ABS construction based on groups with bilinear pairings. We prove that our construction is secure in the generic group model. Finally, we illustrate several applications of this new tool; in particular, ABS fills a critical security requirement in attribute-based messaging (ABM) systems. A powerful feature of our ABS construction is that unlike many other attribute-based cryptographic primitives, it can be readily used in a multi-authority setting, wherein users can make claims involving combinations of attributes issued by independent and mutually distrusting authorities.
Comparison of multiple DNA dyes for real-time PCR: effects of dye concentration and sequence composition on DNA amplification and melting temperature

The importance of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has increased steadily in clinical applications over the last decade. Many applications utilize SYBR Green I dye to follow the accumulation of amplicons in real time. SYBR Green I has, however, a number of limitations that include the inhibition of PCR, preferential binding to GC-rich sequences and effects on melting curve analysis. Although a few alternative dyes without some of these limitations have been recently proposed, no large-scale investigation into the properties of intercalating dyes has been performed. In this study, we investigate 15 different intercalating DNA dyes for their inhibitory effects on PCR, effects on DNA melting temperature and possible preferential binding to GC-rich sequences. Our results demonstrated that in contrast to the results of SYBR Green I, two intercalating dyes SYTO-13 and SYTO-82 do not inhibit PCR, show no preferential binding to GC rich sequences and do not influence melting temperature, Tm, even at high concentrations. In addition, SYTO-82 demonstrated a 50-fold lower detection limit in a dilution series assay. In conclusion, the properties of SYTO-82 and SYTO-13 will simplify the development of multiplex assays and increase the sensitivity of real-time PCR.
GAMBARAN PELAKSANAAN PERAN KADER TUBERKULOSIS PADA PROGRAM DOTS DI KECAMATAN BANDUNG KULON

Strategi DOTS direkomendasikan oleh WHO sejak tahun 1995 untuk penanggulangan penyakit TB. Keberhasilan pelaksanaan DOTS di masyarakat perlu melibatkan peran petugas kesehatan, keluarga, dan kader komunitas yang telah mengikuti pelatihan. Keberadaan kader TB di tengah masyarakat ini diharapkan dapat membantu penanggulangan penyakit TB. Tujuan penelitian untuk mengetahui gambaran pelaksanaan peran kader tuberkulosis pada program DOTS di Kecamatan Bandung Kulon. Penelitian ini dilakukan secara deskriptif dengan pendekatan kuantitatif. Terdiri atas satu variabel dengan lima domain. Sampel dalam penelitian adalah 66 kader tuberkulosis yang telah mengikuti pelatihan. Instrumen penelitian ini menggunakan kuesioner melalui teknik wawancara. Kuesioner yang digunakan sudah dilakukan uji validitas isi dilakukan pada tiga peneliti TB dan komunitas. Uji reliabilitas dengan Kuder Richardson formula 21 dengan nilai 0,88. Nilai uji reliabilitas instrumen 0,8. Analisis data menggunakan distribusi frekuensi yang dilakukan secara komputerisasi. Hasil penelitian sebagian besar pelaksanaan peran kader tuberkulosis dalam program DOTS dalam kategori baik sebanyak 42 responden (63,6%) dan 24 responden (36,6%) dalam kategori tidak baik. Domain sebagai pemberi penyuluhan (63,6%) dan penjaringan suspek TB (68,2%) dalam kategori baik. Akan tetapi, domain peran sebagai koordinator PMO (63,4%) dan pembimbing dan pemotivasi PMO (63,6%) dalam kategori tidak baik serta domain peran sebagai PMO (50%) dalam kategori sama baik. Berdasarkan hasil Penelitian diharapkan petugas kesehatan yang menjalani program DOTS dapat mengevaluasi dan memperbaiki aspek yang kurang dalam pelaksanaan peran kader TB.
Analysis of perioperative outcome and long-term survival rate of thoracic endovascular aortic repair in uncomplicated type B dissection: single-centre experience with 751 patients.

OBJECTIVES To study the perioperative outcomes and long-term survival rates in patients undergoing thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for uncomplicated type B dissection. METHODS A total of 751 patients with uncomplicated type B dissection who underwent TEVAR at our centre between May 2001 and December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. The mean age of all patients (619 males and 132 females) was 52.8 ± 10.9 years. The follow-up period ranged from 1 to 170 months (median 70 months). RESULTS Five patients died during the perioperative period (mortality rate 0.7%). Four patients (0.5%) developed retrograde type A dissection. Two patients (0.3%) developed paraplegia and 1 patient developed incomplete paralysis (0.1%). There were no postoperative cerebral infarctions. The 5- and 10-year survival rates were 96.5% [95% confidence interval (CI) 95.0-98.0%] and 83.0% (95% CI 77.9-88.4%), respectively. The 5- and 10-year reintervention rates were 4.6% (95% CI 3.0-6.2%) and 7.9% (95% CI 5.3-10.5%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Although the application of TEVAR for patients with uncomplicated dissection is still under debate, many patients who have undergone TEVAR have benefitted substantially from the treatment. Our data showed that TEVAR had low mortality and complication rates both in the short- and long-term follow-up periods. TEVAR may be considered as a first choice for patients with uncomplicated type B dissection.
Effect of Process Parameters on Aerobic Decolourization of Reactive Azo Dye using Mixed Culture

In the present study, an attempt was made to examine the potential of aerobic mixed culture for decolourization of Remazol Black B dye in batch reactors. The effect of pH, temperature, inoculum, initial concentration of dye and initial concentration of glucose was studied with an aim to determine the optimal conditions required for maximum decolourization and degradation. The culture exhibited maximum decolourization ability at pH between 7-8 and at 30°C. A 10% (v/v) inoculum and 1% (w/v) glucose concentration were found to be the optimum for decolourization. A maximum of 98% decolourization was observed at 25 ppm initial concentration of dye after 18 hours of incubation period. At higher dye concentration of 300 ppm, the removal in colour was found to be 75% in 48 hours of incubation period. The results show that the enriched mixed culture from activated sludge has good potential in removal of Remazol Black B dye from wastewater under aerobic conditions. Keywords—Aerobic conditions, Decolourization, Mixed culture, Remazol Black B.
Multitarget tracking using the joint multitarget probability density

This work addresses the problem of tracking multiple moving targets by recursively estimating the joint multitarget probability density (JMPD). Estimation of the JMPD is done in a Bayesian framework and provides a method for tracking multiple targets which allows nonlinear target motion and measurement to state coupling as well as nonGaussian target state densities. The JMPD technique simultaneously estimates both the target states and the number of targets in the surveillance region based on the set of measurements made. We give an implementation of the JMPD method based on particle filtering techniques and provide an adaptive sampling scheme which explicitly models the multitarget nature of the problem. We show that this implementation of the JMPD technique provides a natural way to track a collection of targets, is computationally tractable, and performs well under difficult conditions such as target crossing, convoy movement, and low measurement signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
Le rôle des capacités dynamiques dans la création et le renforcement d’une compétence organisationnelle : le cas d’un tour-opérateur géré par des dirigeants-actionnaires

Nous etudions l’effet des capacites dynamiques sur l’evolution organisationnelle et le role des caracteristiques manageriales dans cette evolution. Dans cette optique, nous analysons une dynamique globale a travers l’etude de l’ensemble des capacites dynamiques d’une meme entreprise. Notre etude qualitative est menee au sein d’un tour-operateur gere par des dirigeants-actionnaires. Nous montrons que l’entreprise a reussi a creer et faire evoluer une competence organisationnelle grâce au developpement de plusieurs capacites dynamiques. Le developpement des capacites dynamiques a ete favorise par des caracteristiques manageriales qui ont ete renforcees par les resultats positifs induits par la reussite de la mise en oeuvre de la competence organisationnelle.
Human immunodeficiency virus in plasma and cervicovaginal secretions in Filipino women

This study examined 30 HIV-infected women in Manila to assess the relationship between cervicovaginal and plasma HIV-1 viral load. An interview and gynaecologic examination was conducted and cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) and venous blood specimens were collected. HIV-1 RNA was detected in plasma samples of 24 patients (80%) and in CVL samples of 18 women (60%); 16 patients (53%) had detectable levels in both. CVL HIV-1 RNA was detectable in 75% of women (6/8) with plasma viral loads between 10,000 and 100,000 copies/mL and in 77% of women (10/13) with plasma viral loads higher than 100,000 copies/mL (P =0.0086). Among women with CD4 cell counts of less than 200, 200-500, and greater than 500/mm3, CVL HIV-1 RNA was detected in 73%, 69%, and 17% of women, respectively (P =0.1428). HIV-1 RNA shedding in the genital tract was significantly associated with plasma viral load.
An attractor model of lexical conceptual processing: simulating semantic priming

An attractor network was trained to compute from word form to semantic representations that were based on subject-generated features. The model was driven largely by higher-order semantic structure. The network simulated two recent experiments that employed items included in its training set (McRae and Boisvert, 1998). In Simulation 1, short stimulus onset asynchrony priming was demonstrated for semantically similar items. Simulation 2 reproduced subtle effects obtained by varying degree of similarity. Two predictions from the model were then tested on human subjects. In Simulation 3 and Experiment 1, the items from Simulation 1 were reversed, and both the network and subjects showed minimally different priming effects in the two directions. In Experiment 2, consistent with attractor networks but contrary to a key aspect of hierarchical spreading activation accounts priming was determined by featural similarity rather than shared superordinate category. It is concluded that semantic-similarity priming is due to featural overlap that is a natural consequence of distributed representations of word meaning.
Bundled Forecasts in Empirical Accounting Research

This paper examines “bundled” forecasts, or management earnings forecasts issued concurrently with earnings announcements, which have evolved to become the most common type of management forecast. We describe the econometric problems associated with measuring bundled forecast news and, in particular, provide evidence that the measurement error in the traditional calculation of forecast news is material and is systematically associated with variables frequently studied in forecast-related research. We illustrate an application of conditional expectations to overcome these problems. Finally, we offer guidance and caveats to researchers considering the use of this method in the future.
Nanoindentation study of the mechanical behavior of TiO2 nanotube arrays

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotube arrays are attracting increasing attention for use in solar cells, lithium-ion batteries, and biomedical implants. To take full advantage of their unique physical properties, such arrays need to maintain adequate mechanical integrity in applications. However, the mechanical performance of TiO2 nanotube arrays is not well understood. In this work, we investigate the deformation and failure of TiO2 nanotube arrays using the nanoindentation technique. We found that the load–displacement response of the arrays strongly depends on the indentation depth and indenter shape. Substrate-independent elastic modulus and hardness can be obtained when the indentation depth is less than 2.5% of the array height. The deformation mechanisms of TiO2 nanotube arrays by Berkovich and conical indenters are closely associated with the densification of TiO2 nanotubes under compression. A theoretical model for deformation of the arrays under a large-radius conical indenter is also proposed.
A SAS Procedure Based on Mixture Models for Estimating Developmental Trajectories

This article introduces a new SAS procedure written by the authors that analyzes longitudinal data (developmental trajectories) by fitting a mixture model. The TRAJ procedure fits semiparametric (discrete) mixtures of censored normal, Poisson, zero-inflated Poisson, and Bernoulli distributions to longitudinal data. Applications to psychometric scale data, offense counts, and a dichotomous prevalence measure in violence research are illustrated. In addition, the use of the Bayesian information criterion to address the problem of model selection, including the estimation of the number of components in the mixture, is demonstrated.
Role strain among South African seminarians in the Anglican Church: toward a typology of congregational support

ABSTRACT This phenomenological study explored student value perceptions of religious participation among nontraditional South African distance learners who persisted in theological distance education. Four basic types of churches emerged including the Equipping Church, the Empowering Church, the Engaging Church, and the Endangering Church. However, in examining religious coping strategies among South African distance learners, it was discovered that the four women interviewed experienced a deep sense of loneliness in their calling and had to rely almost exclusively on resources outside their local church. These Black South African women’s sense of being called alone is both inconsistent with the theoretical framework of role theory and the theological framework of the Anglican Church as expressed by the official Prayer Book.
The Capabilities Approach

Capabilities and functionings are new and attractive concepts for assessing the well-being and advantage of individuals. Functionings refer to a person’s achievements, i.e. what she manages to do or to be. Capabilities refer to her real opportunities and incorporate the idea of freedom. We discuss how recent theoretical and empirical work has improved our insights in some of the key questions of the approach. How to measure opportunities and how to balance freedom and responsibility? How to formulate a list of capabilities which can be used to analyse changes over time and differences between different societies without being open to manipulation? How to construct an overall index of well-being and what should be the relative role of a priori ethical evaluations and of the opinions of the individuals themselves? What is the relationship between measures of well-being and advantage at the individual and at the aggregate level? To make further progress it is crucial, first, to estimate structural models with individual data, analysing the link between individual achievements, the socioeconomic and environmental background of the persons concerned and the specific features of the individual processes of choice and decision-making; and, second, to integrate the insights from these models in a coherent ethical framework specifying the role of individual preferences and the limits of personal responsibility.
Shrinkage of De Morgan Formulae from Quantum Query Complexity

We give a new and improved proof that the shrinkage exponent of De Morgan formulae is 2. Namely, we show that for any Boolean function f : {−1, 1} → {−1, 1}, setting each variable out of x1, . , xn with probability 1 − p to a randomly chosen constant, reduces the expected formula size of the function by a factor of O(p). This result is tight and improves the work of H̊astad [H̊as98] by removing logarithmic factors. As a consequence of our results, the function defined by Andreev [And87], A : {−1, 1} → {−1, 1}, which is in P, has formula size at least Ω( n 3 log2 n log3 logn ). This lower bound is tight up to the log log n factor, and is the best known lower bound for functions in P. In addition, the functions defined in [KRT13], hr : {−1, 1} → {−1, 1}, which are also in P, cannot be computed correctly on a fraction greater than 1/2 + 2−r of the inputs, by De Morgan formulae of size at most n 3 r2poly logn , for any parameter r ≤ n . The proof relies on a result from quantum query complexity by [LLS06, HLS07, Rei11]: for any Boolean function f , Q2(f) ≤ O( √ L(f)), where Q2(f) is the bounded-error quantum query complexity of f , and L(f) is the minimal size De Morgan formula computing f . ∗Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel. avishay.tal@weizmann.ac. il. Supported by an Adams Fellowship of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, by an ISF grant and by the I-CORE Program of the Planning and Budgeting Committee. ISSN 1433-8092 Electronic Colloquium on Computational Complexity, Report No. 48 (2014)
The Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN) Cohort: protocol for a cohort multiple randomised controlled trial (cmRCT) design to support trials of psychosocial and rehabilitation interventions in a rare disease context

Introduction Psychosocial and rehabilitation interventions are increasingly used to attenuate disability and improve health-related quality of life (HRQL) in chronic diseases, but are typically not available for patients with rare diseases. Conducting rigorous, adequately powered trials of these interventions for patients with rare diseases is difficult. The Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN) is an international collaboration of patient organisations, clinicians and researchers. The aim of SPIN is to develop a research infrastructure to test accessible, low-cost self-guided online interventions to reduce disability and improve HRQL for people living with the rare disease systemic sclerosis (SSc or scleroderma). Once tested, effective interventions will be made accessible through patient organisations partnering with SPIN. Methods and analysis SPIN will employ the cohort multiple randomised controlled trial (cmRCT) design, in which patients consent to participate in a cohort for ongoing data collection. The aim is to recruit 1500–2000 patients from centres across the world within a period of 5 years (2013–2018). Eligible participants are persons ≥18 years of age with a diagnosis of SSc. In addition to baseline medical data, participants will complete patient-reported outcome measures every 3 months. Upon enrolment in the cohort, patients will consent to be contacted in the future to participate in intervention research and to allow their data to be used for comparison purposes for interventions tested with other cohort participants. Once interventions are developed, patients from the cohort will be randomly selected and offered interventions as part of pragmatic RCTs. Outcomes from patients offered interventions will be compared with outcomes from trial-eligible patients who are not offered the interventions. Ethics and dissemination The use of the cmRCT design, the development of self-guided online interventions and partnerships with patient organisations will allow SPIN to develop, rigourously test and effectively disseminate psychosocial and rehabilitation interventions for people with SSc.
Cognitive Foundation Skills Following Vocational Versus General Upper-Secondary Education: A Long-Term Perspective

ABSTRACT The present study aims at investigating the long-term cognitive effects of vocational education and training (VET) in Sweden and Denmark using data from the PIAAC Survey of Adult Skills. While Sweden has moved towards a more academic vocational education, Denmark has kept the apprenticeship system. Using multiple regression analysis we estimate the contribution of VET versus general upper-secondary education to the proficiency in literacy. The results show a higher literacy performance in those Swedish age groups in more academic VET programmes compared to the older Swedish age groups and to all the Danish age groups. A reasonable interpretation is that the amount of cognitively challenging subjects at the upper-secondary level gives a lasting imprint on literacy proficiency later in life.
Does Reason Writing Reduce Decision Bias? Experimental Evidence from Judges in China

Anecdotal evidence and academic research show that judges’ subjective feelings toward litigants have undue influence on their judgments. This article suggests a simple debiasing procedure, namely, requiring judges to write their reasons before making a decision. I conduct experiments on incumbent Chinese judges to test its effectiveness. Study 1 uses a between-subjects design to explore the interaction of reason writing and a stimulus that induces a judge to have negative feelings toward a defendant. Judges who are required to write down their reasons before they decide a case are significantly less affected by the stimulus than those who directly enter the decision-making stage. Study 2 provides evidence that a forced deliberation period achieves a similar debiasing effect. Study 3 examines the opposite of reason writing— the delegation of reason writing, which resembles the delegation of opinion writing by judges to law clerks. I find that delegation serves to reinforce biases.
The Impact of the Flipped Classroom Model on Students' Academic Achievement

The aim of this study is twofold. First, it aims to investigate the impact of the Flipped Classroom (FC) Model on students’ academic achievement. Second, it reveals the students’ opinions about the model itself. For four weeks, the students in the experimental group were taught in a blended learning context where the FC Model was applied, while the lessons in the control group were carried out through traditional blended learning. Both groups were administered a test before and after the Flipped Classroom sessions. To analyze the data, a two-way ANOVA for Mixed Measures was conducted to compare the means of test scores of each group. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the scores of the two groups. Coming to classes prepared and completing the assignments in class, so that students did not need to do assignments at home, were among the positive aspects of the FC Model. The problems encountered in this model, however, are categorized under three main titles: Motivation, Content, and Learning. At the end of the study, the advantages and disadvantages of the FC Model are identified in accordance with the participants’ opinions, and necessary suggestions made.