Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
CONTENT-BASED WATERMARKING ROBUST TO BOTH AFFINE AND JPEG DISTORTIONS

The problem of reliably detecting watermarks in digital images has been given much examination and experimentation. Many approaches to date have been focused on repelling attacks along one of two main branches: either JPEG compression or affine distortions. This paper presents a blind dualapproach to combat both types of attacks. In order to maintain and determine watermark presence against JPEG compression, a binary watermark string is interleaved and embedded in the discrete wavelet domain. A second watermark is used to ally the effects of geometric (i.e., rotation, scale) attacks. Significant feature points are extracted from the image using a controlled Harris corner detector and subsequently used to compute the Delaunay tessellation. The watermark is then embedded separately into each of the triangles produced by this tessellation. The success of the extraction process is based on correlation values calculated from each of the triangles. If the image is distorted via JPEG compression to the extent that detection in the triangles is not possible, we then attempt to retrieve the watermark from the wavelet domain.
Kinetochore-microtubule stability governs the metaphase requirement for Eg5

The importance of Eg5 at metaphase is linked to kinetochore-microtubule stability: short-lived kinetochore-microtubules impose a need for Eg5 in bipolar spindle maintenance, but longer-lived kinetochore-microtubules do not. Kinetochore-microtubule dynamics defines their contribution to force balance in the metaphase spindle.
Keeping It Frat: Exploring the Interaction Among Fraternity Membership, Disinhibition, and Hypermasculinity on Sexually Aggressive Attitudes in College-Aged Males

This study examines correlates that contribute to sexually aggressive attitudes toward women. Using a sample that includes 217 college males from 3 southern universities, the study evaluates the relationship between college men’s hypermasculine and sexually aggressive attitudes, as well as how fraternity membership and disinhibition moderate this relationship. We hypothesized that sexually aggressive attitudes would be associated with a 3-way interaction among disinhibition, fraternity membership, and hypermasculine attitudes; this hypothesis was not supported. In addition, we hypothesized a similar 3-way interaction with hostility toward women as the dependent variable, as research suggests this is a precursor to sexually aggressive attitudes. Although this hypothesis was not supported, this study did reveal significant 2-way interactions: Fraternity Membership × Hypermasculinity and Fraternity Membership × Disinhibition. These results are further explained, and future directions are explored.
Wireless sensing without sensors—an experimental study of motion/intrusion detection using RF irregularity

Motion and intrusion detection are often cited as wireless sensor network (WSN) applications with typical configurations comprising clusters of wireless nodes equipped with motion sensors to detect human motion. Currently, WSN performance is subjected to several constraints, namely radio irregularity and finite on-board computation/energy resources. Radio irregularity in radio frequency (RF) propagation rises to a higher level in the presence of human activity due to the absorption effect of the human body. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of monitoring RF transmission for the purpose of intrusion detection through experimentation. With empirical data obtained from the Crossbow TelosB platform in several different environments, the impact of human activity on the signal strength of RF signals in a WSN is evaluated. We then propose a novel approach to intrusion detection by turning a constraint in WSN, namely radio irregularity, into an advantage for the purpose of intrusion detection, using signal fluctuations to detect the presence of human activity within the WSN. Unlike RF fingerprinting, the ‘intruders’ here neither transmit nor receive any RF signals. By enabling existing wireless infrastructures to serve as intrusion detectors instead of deploying numerous costly sensors, this approach shows great promise for providing novel solutions.
Activation of Semantic Memory

that the retrieval process consisted of at least two major steps: (a) entering the appropriate category and (b) finding the appropriate member of that category. Suppose now that we ask a subject to name a member of a category, and some time later ask him to name a different member of that category. Will the speed with which he retrieves the second instance depend at all on his having retrieved the first instance? Several recent lines of investigation suggest that producing an instance of a category will facilitate later production of another instance of that category. In one such investigation, Collins and Quillian (1970) presented sentences such as 'A canary is a bird' and required subjects to decide whether the sentences were true or false. Prior exposure to one sentence reduced reaction time to a second sentence, sometimes by as much as 600 msec, whenever the same subject noun was used. For example, prior exposure to 'A canary is a bird' reduced reaction time to other sentences about canaries.
Thermal equation of state of Fe3S and implications for sulfur in Earth's core

[1] Iron (Fe) and coexisting Fe3S were studied simultaneously using synchrotron X-ray diffraction and a laser-heated diamond anvil cell (DAC). The thermal equation of state (EOS) of Fe3S was investigated up to pressures of 80 GPa and temperatures of 2500 K. Fitting a third-order Birch-Murnaghan EOS to the room temperature data yielded bulk modulus K0 = 156(7) GPa (values in parentheses are standard deviation) and pressure derivative K′0 = 3.8(3) calibrated against NaCl in the B2 structure. The room temperature data were also calibrated against the EOS of hcp-Fe for comparison and aid in the determination of the thermal pressure contribution of Fe3S. This fit yielded bulk modulus K0 = 113(9) GPa and pressure derivative K′0 = 5.2(6). The thermal pressure contribution of Fe3S was assumed to be of the form ΔPthermal = αKTΔT, where αKT is constant. The best fit to the data yielded αKT = 0.011(2) GPa K−1. Iron and Fe3S coexisted in the high-pressure, high-temperature experiments, and a density relationship between Fe and Fe3S was found to be linear and independent of temperature. Extrapolation of the data to the core-mantle boundary (CMB), using an assumed temperature of 3500 K at the CMB, a 2% volume change associated with melting, and applying a small adjustment to account for the nickel content of the core indicates that 14.7(11) wt % sulfur is adequate to resolve the density deficit of the outer core.
On the self-consistent physical parameters of LMC intermediate-age clusters

Abstract The LMC clusters with similar ages to the Milky Way open clusters are in general more metal-poor and more populous than the latter, being located close enough to allow their stellar content to be well resolved. Therefore, they are unique templates of simple stellar population (SSP), being crucial to calibrate models describing the integral light as well as to test the stellar evolution theory. With this in mind we analyzed HST/WFPC2 (V, B − V) colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of 15 populous LMC clusters with ages between ~0.3 Gyr and ~4 Gyr using different stellar evolutionary models. Following the approach described by Kerber, Santiago & Brocato (2007), we determined accurate and self-consistent physical parameters (age, metallicity, distance modulus and reddening) for each cluster by comparing the observed CMDs with synthetic ones generated using isochrones from the PEL and BaSTI libraries. These determinations were made by means of simultaneous statistical comparison of the main-sequence fiducial line and the red clump position, offering objective and robust criteria to select the best models. We compared these results with the ones obtained by Kerber, Santiago & Brocato (2007) using the Padova isochrones. This revealed that there are significant trends in the physical parameters due to the choice of stellar evolutionary model and treatment of convective core overshooting. In general, models that incorporate overshooting presented more reliable results than those that do not. Furthermore, the Padova models fitted better the data than the PEL and BaSTI models. Comparisons with the results found in the literature demonstrated that our derived metallicities are in good agreement with the ones from the spectroscopy of red giants. We also confirmed that, independent of the adopted stellar evolutionary library, the recovered 3D distribution for these clusters is consistent with a thick disk roughly aligned with the LMC disk as defined by field stars. Finally, we also provide new estimates of distance modulus to the LMC center, that are marginally consistent with the canonical value of 18.50 mag.
The Performance of Anxiety: Greek Narratives of War in Kosovo

Alors que l'intervention de l'OTAN en Yougoslavie contre les Serbes etait justifiee par les gouvernements et medias occidentaux en raison de l'agression serbe, en Grece, l'interpretation des causes de la guerre etait plus variee et passionnee. Les AA. examinent les recits sur la guerre du Kosovo dans une petite ville grecque, et montrent comment un evenement politique au niveau global peut engendrer une expression culturelle specifique au niveau local. Contrairement aux analyses qui interpretent de tels recits comme l'expression d'un ethnonationalisme local ou d'une vision paranoiaque de la realite comme conspiration, ils soutiennent que ces recits demontrent la perennite et l'importance de logiques culturelles distinctes. Ils se proposent ainsi de contribuer a une lecture anthropologique differente de la guerre du Kosovo. La prise en compte du point de vue autochtone permet de montrer comment le discours local est en relation et en reaction avec le discours hegemonique, combinant des fragments de rumeurs pejoratives et d'analyses economiques et politiques, a partir du style discursif local.
A New Planar InGaAs&#8211;InAlAs Avalanche Photodiode

We discuss a new simple InGaAs-InAlAs avalanche photodiode (APD) with a planar buried multiplication region. Some of the advantages compared to standard APDs are as follows: 1) The thickness of the avalanche and the charge control regions are accurately controlled by molecular beam epitaxy growth in contrast to the standard diffusion process; 2) InAlAs is the multiplication material (avalanching faster electrons) instead of InP (avalanching slower holes); 3) InAlAs avalanche gain has a lower noise figure than that for InP; 4) a guard ring is not required; 5) fabrication is as simple as that for a p-i-n detector; 6) The APD has high wafer uniformity, and high reproducibility; 7) The InAlAs breakdown voltage is lower than InP, and its variation with temperature is three times lower than that for InP; 8) Excellent aging and reliability including Telcordia GR-468 qualification for die and modules; 9) High gain-bandwidth product as high as 150 GHz; and 10) high long-range (LR-2) bit-error-rate 10-12 receiver sensitivity of -29.0 dBm at 10 Gb/s, -28.1 at 10.7Gb/s, and -27.1 dBm at 12.5 Gb/s
Pre-entry Variables Related to Retention in Online Distance Education

This study identified pre-entry variables related to course completion and noncompletion in university online distance education courses. Four hundred and sixty-four students who were enrolled in online distance education courses participated in the study. Discriminant analysis revealed six pre-entry variables were related to retention, including cumulative grade point average, class rank, number of previous courses completed online, searching the Internet training, operating systems and file management training, and Internet applications training. Results indicate prior educational experience and prior computer training may help distinguish between individuals who complete university online distance education courses and those who do not.
Evaluating a museum as a tourist product using the servqual method

Abstract The article presents an attempt to use the SERVQUAL evaluation method for judging the tourist product quality of the Rogalin Palace, a branch of the National Museum situated near Poznan (western Poland). A 36-item questionnaire instrument was used to assess visitors’ expectations, perceptions, and level of satisfaction. The survey was carried out among 102 visitors. With the use of correlation, factor and graphic analysis of their expectations and perceptions, strong and weak points of the museum were identified.
Logarithmic limit sets of real semi-algebraic sets

This paper is about the logarithmic limit sets of real semi-algebraic sets, and, more generally, about the logarithmic limit sets of sets definable in an o-minimal, polynomially bounded structure. We prove that most of the properties of the logarithmic limit sets of complex algebraic sets hold in the real case. This include the polyhedral structure and the relation with the theory of non-archimedean fields, tropical geometry and Maslov dequantization.
Leptin-Induced Endothelium-Dependent Vasorelaxation of Peripheral Arteries in Lean and Obese Rats: Role of Nitric Oxide and Hydrogen Sulfide

Adipose tissue hormone leptin induces endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation mediated by nitric oxide (NO) and endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factors (EDHF). Previously it has been demonstrated that in short-term obesity the NO-dependent and the EDHF-dependent components of vascular effect of leptin are impaired and up-regulated, respectively. Herein we examined the mechanism of the EDHF-dependent vasodilatory effect of leptin and tested the hypothesis that alterations of acute vascular effects of leptin in obesity are accounted for by chronic hyperleptinemia. The study was performed in 5 groups of rats: (1) control, (2) treated with exogenous leptin for 1 week to induce hyperleptinemia, (3) obese, fed highly-palatable diet for 4 weeks, (4) obese treated with pegylated superactive rat leptin receptor antagonist (PEG-SRLA) for 1 week, (5) fed standard chow and treated with PEG-SRLA. Acute effect of leptin on isometric tension of mesenteric artery segments was measured ex vivo. Leptin relaxed phenylephrine-preconstricted vascular segments in NO- and EDHF-dependent manner. The NO-dependent component was impaired and the EDHF-dependent component was increased in the leptin-treated and obese groups and in the latter group both these effects were abolished by PEG-SRLA. The EDHF-dependent vasodilatory effect of leptin was blocked by either the inhibitor of cystathionine γ-lyase, propargylglycine, or a hydrogen sulfide (H2S) scavenger, bismuth (III) subsalicylate. The results indicate that NO deficiency is compensated by the up-regulation of EDHF in obese rats and both effects are accounted for by chronic hyperleptinemia. The EDHF-dependent component of leptin-induced vasorelaxation is mediated, at least partially, by H2S.
Community Structure in Audio Clip Sharing

This paper describes the application of several network analysis techniques to the networks of users in audio clip sharing sites. Two kinds of networks are described: one based on the file downloading activity, and the other based on semantic similarity in the use of free tags to annotate sounds. The properties of these networks as well as their community structure are analyzed using data from Free sound, a very popular audio clip sharing site. Both are characterized as "small worlds". The component structure of the file downloading network provides a general overview of the user community which resembles the structure of the world wide web. On the other hand the analysis of the community structure of the semantic network using modularity optimization appears to be a good way to identify the different themes in the site.
Effects of chronic tramadol administration on testicular tissue in rats: an experimental study

In a prospective experimental study, the effects of chronic tramadol administration on gonadotrophic and sex hormones, histopathological and morphometrical alterations in rat testicular tissue were investigated in a laboratory setting. Tramadol was given alone to adult male albino rats. Gonadotrophic and serum sex hormone levels were measured and testicular pathological and morphometric changes were observed in treated vs. control group. After 30 days of treatment, tramadol induced a decrease in LH, FSH and testosterone serum levels. Histologically, degenerative changes in the seminiferous tubules were observed. They showed shrinkage, separation of tubular basement membrane, disorganisation and vacuolisation of spermatogenic layers. Morphometric analysis revealed significant decrease in the mean values of the tubular diameter and epithelial height. Ultrastructural abnormalities were detected in all cells of spermatogenic lineage in addition to the appearance of apoptotic cells. Sertoli cell vacuolation, huge lipid droplets and disrupted Sertoli cell junctions were observed. Leydig cells showed euchromatic nuclei and dilated smooth endoplasmic reticulum. In view of these findings, it is concluded that tramadol induces alterations in sex hormonal levels in conjunction with disruption of the normal histological structure of rat testis. This might lead to the risk of male infertility. Therefore, tramadol should be used with caution with appropriate dose monitoring.
DETERRING CORPORATE CRIME

Using event history analysis, we examine the recidivism patterns of a sample of 38 corporations charged with one or more serious antitrust violations between 1928 and 1981 to see whether sanction experience decreases the likelihood of a firm's reoffending. Specifically, we analyze the effects of procedure type (e.g., civil, criminal, and administrative redress) and proxy measures of corporate deterrence while controlling for changes in antitrust law and the economic conditions of the firm, industry, and general economy. Though not robust, there is some evidence that past guilty verdicts and changes in penalties for lawbreaking from misdemeanors to felonies inhibit recidivism. We note, however, that industry characteristics are stronger by far in their effects on future illegality than formal sanction risk or consequence. The implications of these findings for organizational deterrence and corporate crime control are discussed.
Stabilizing the dynamics of laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster through upper and lower limiter controls

Although a large number of methods exist to control the dynamics of populations to a desired state, few of them have been empirically validated. This limits the scope of using these methods in real-life scenarios. To address this issue, we tested the efficacy of two well-known control methods in enhancing different kinds of stability in highly fluctuating, extinction-prone populations of Drosophila melanogaster. The Upper Limiter Control (ULC) method was able to reduce the fluctuations in population sizes as well as the extinction probability of the populations. On the negative side, it had no effect on the effective population size and required a large amount of effort. On the other hand, Lower Limiter Control (LLC) enhanced effective population size and reduced extinction probability at a relatively low amount of effort. However, its effects on population fluctuations were equivocal. We examined the population size distributions with and without the control methods, to derive biologically intuitive explanations for how these control methods work. We also show that biologically-realistic simulations, using a very general population dynamics model, are able to capture most of the trends of our data. This suggests that our results are likely to be generalizable to a wide range of scenarios.
Varieties of psychoanalytic research

The author of this paper discusses three different research traditions in the psychoanalytic field, arguing that all of these are necessary to its growth and development. The traditions are those of empirical scientific study into the outcomes of psychoanalytic treatment, the development of psychoanalytic theory and technique within the clinical consulting room, and explorations on the boundaries between psychoanalysis and many neighbouring disciplines. On the first of these depends the legitimacy of psychoanalytic practice in public health settings, on the second the continued advance of fundamental knowledge within psychoanalysis, and on the third the broader influence of psychoanalytic ideas within the broader culture. It is argued that psychoanalytic institutions need to give more attention to all of these, and to develop a more active relationship to academic methods of enquiry.
A Ferroxidase, Cfo1, Regulates Diverse Environmental Stress Responses of Cryptococcus neoformans through the HOG Pathway

Abstract The iron uptake and utilization pathways play a critical role in allowing human pathogens, including Cryptococcus neoformans, the causative agent of fatal meningoencephalitis, to survive within the mammalian body by competing with the host for iron. Here we show that the iron regulon is also required for diverse environmental stress responses and that in C. neoformans, it is regulated by the high-osmolarity glycerol response (HOG) pathway. Between CFO1 and CFO2, two ferroxidase genes in the iron regulon, CFO1 but not CFO2 was induced during oxidative and osmotic stress. Interestingly, we found that the HOG pathway repressed basal expression of both CFO1 and CFO2. Furthermore, when the HOG pathway was blocked, CFO2 also responded to oxidative and osmotic stress and the response of CFO1 was increased. We also established that CFO1 plays a major role in responding and adapting to diverse environmental stresses, including oxidative and genotoxic damage, osmotic fluctuations, heavy metal stress, and stress induced by cell membrane destabilizers. Therefore, our findings indicate that in C. neoformans, the iron uptake and utilization pathways are not only required for iron acquisition and survival, but also play a significant role in the environmental stress response through crosstalk with the HOG pathway.
in vitro and in vivo detection of somatostatin receptors in human malignant lymphomas

A wide variety of primary and metastatic human neoplasms express somatostatin receptors (SS‐Rs). We evaluated the SS‐R status of malignant lymphomas that had been surgically removed from 31 patients, by use of in vitro SS‐R autoradiography with the SS analog 1251‐[Tyr3]‐octreotide as radioligand. Of 11 low‐grade‐malignancy B‐cell non‐Hodgkin's lymphomas, 10 were SS‐R‐positive, with a high receptor density restricted to the neoplastic follicles. All of the 8 intermediate‐grade lymphomas were SS‐R‐positive. Of the B‐cell lymphomas of high‐grade malignancy, 7 out of 10 were SS‐R‐positive, often with a high density of receptors. One T‐cell lymphoma and one Hodgkin's lymphoma were also positive. SS‐Rs were of high affinity (KD = 1.2 nM) and specific for bioactive SS analogs. In 4 patients, the lymphomas were localized in vivo by use of gamma‐camera scintigraphy after i.v. injection of the SS analog IIIIn‐[DTPA‐D‐Phe]‐octreotide. Hot spots, identified in all 4 patients, corresponded to SS‐R‐positive malignant‐lymphoma tissue, as confirmed by receptor autoradiography of the surgically removed tumors. Our data show that SS‐Rs are valuable pathobiochemical tissue markers and potentially useful in vivo diagnostic tools for human malignant lymphomas.