Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Content Availability , Pollution and Poisoning in Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Networks ∗

Copyright holders have been investigating technological solutions to prevent distribution of copyrighted materials in peerto-peer file sharing networks. A particularly popular technique consists in “poisoning” a specific item (movie, song, or software title) by injecting a massive number of decoys into the peer-to-peer network, to reduce the availability of the targeted item. In addition to poisoning, pollution, that is, the accidental injection of unusable copies of files in the network, also decreases content availability. In this paper, we attempt to provide a first step toward understanding the differences between pollution and poisoning, and their respective impact on content availability in peer-to-peer file sharing networks. To that effect, we conduct a measurement study of content availability in four of the most popular peer-to-peer file sharing networks, in the absence of poisoning, and then simulate different poisoning strategies on the measured data to evaluate their potential impact. We exhibit a strong correlation between content availability and topological properties of the underlying peerto-peer network, and show that the injection of a small number of decoys can seriously impact the users’ perception of content availability.
A Comparative Study on LEACH Routing Protocol and Its Variants in Wireless Sensor Networks: A Survey

Wireless sensor network consists of sensor nodes which are powered by battery; to communicate with each other for environment monitoring. Energy efficiency is the main issue in wireless sensor networks. Therefore, to maximize network lifetime and achieve maximum reliability and scalability, routing techniques have been developed. LEACH is the conventional hierarchical clustering protocol widely used in WSNs. This paper reviews the taxonomy of WSN routing protocols and also highlights issues in LEACH protocol along with disadvantages. The objective of this paper is to provide brief detail of some LEACH improved versions. Finally this paper compares some features of LEACH protocol variants. General Terms Comparison among various descendants of LEACH protocol
The Effect of Meridional and Vertical Shear on the Interaction of Equatorial Baroclinic and Barotropic Rossby Waves

Simplified asymptotic equations describing the resonant nonlinear interaction of equatorial Rossby waves with barotropic Rossby waves with significant midlatitude projection in the presence of arbitrary vertically and meridionally sheared zonal mean winds are developed. The three mode equations presented here are an extension of the two mode equations derived by Majda and Biello [ 1 ] and arise in the physically relevant regime produced by seasonal heating when the vertical (baroclinic) mean shear has both symmetric and antisymmetric components; the dynamics of the equatorial baroclinic and both symmetric and antisymmetric barotropic waves is developed. The equations described here are novel in several respects and involve a linear dispersive wave system coupled through quadratic nonlinearities. Numerical simulations are used to explore the effect of antisymmetric baroclinic shear on the exchange of energy between equatorial baroclinic and barotropic waves; the main effect of moderate antisymmetric winds is to shift the barotropic waves meridionally. A purely meridionally antisymmetric mean shear yields highly asymmetric waves which often propagate across the equator. The two mode equations appropriate to Ref. [ 1 ] are shown to have analytic solitary wave solutions and some representative examples with their velocity fields are presented.
The effects of authoritarianism, religiosity, and new age beliefs on support for democracy: Unraveling the strands

We examined the associations between religious beliefs, "New Age " beliefs, authoritarianism, and endorsement of democratic values among Jewish respondents in Israel. Findings obtained via structural equation modeling show that a) religious individuals are generally drawn to "New Age " beliefs, b) while authoritarians are likely to espouse undemocratic attitudes whether they are religious or not, religious people are unlikely to hold undemocratic attitudes unless they also espouse authoritarian worldviews, and c) "New Age" " beliefs may slightly reduce authoritarian tendencies, thus increasing support for democracy. These findings clarify the relationship between "New Age " beliefs and traditional religiosity, and the effects of "New Age " beliefs on support for democracy.
Semantic Classification in Category-Specific Semantic Impairments Reflected in the Typology of Bantu Noun Class Systems

Just as the search for an explanation to category specific semantic impairments is based on the belief that the functioning and biological structure of the brain is universal it has been thought that the understanding of the grouping of nouns in noun class systems hints at a universal cognitive basis, which underlies such linguistic classifications. What constitutes possible typological variation of noun classification is therefore relevant to the question of the universal nature of semantic categories. It is a crucial point for the present argument that the two sources of evidence as represented by cognitive neuroscience and linguistic typology are independent of each other and that they are practiced by separate research societies. It is also hoped that the juxtaposition of these two fields will trigger an interest in the wider question
The effect of faith-based smoking cessation intervention during Ramadan among Malay smokers

Objectives: To study the effects of a faith-based smoking cessation intervention during Ramadan among Malay male smokers working in public offices. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study conducted during Ramadan 2015. The intervention was developed based on the constructs within the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The intervention intended to increase the intention and the perceived behaviour control to stop smoking among Muslim smokers during Ramadan. The outcomes measured were changes in the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence score and saliva cotinine levels. Data were collected at baseline (5 days before Ramadan), during Ramadan (21st day of Ramadan) and post-Ramadan (21 days after Ramadan). Statistical tests to examine changes within and between groups were carried out and the significance level was set at p < 0.05. Results: During Ramadan, the saliva cotinine level decreased significantly in both groups (p = 0.001 in the control group and p = < 0.001 in the intervention group). However, after Ramadan, it remained significant only in the intervention group (p = 0.025). A significant change between the groups was only noticed during Ramadan (p = 0.049). Conclusion: The reduction in the saliva cotinine level was found to be more sustainable post-Ramadan in the intervention group. This finding could indicate the positive effect of using this culturally-competent intervention to encourage smoking cessation during Ramadan.
Robustness of the finite-length MMSE-DFE with respect to channel and second-order statistics estimation errors

The filters of the finite-length minimum mean-square error decision-feedback equalizer (MMSE-DFE) can be computed by assuming perfect knowledge of the channel impulse response and the input and noise second-order statistics. In practice, we estimate the unknown quantities and thus inevitable estimation errors arise. In this work, we model the estimation errors as small perturbations and we derive a second-order approximation to the excess MSE. Then, assuming that the input and noise SOS are perfectly known, we derive an expression for the mean excess MSE in terms of the channel estimation error covariance matrix. Analogous expressions involving the noise and input SOS estimation error covariance matrices appear on [1].
Determinants and Impact of e-Government and e-Business Development: A Global Perspective

Most past studies have analyzed the development and impact of e-Government and e-Business in a nation separately from each other. In contrast to these studies, we analyze the development and impact of e-Government and e-Business together from a global perspective. Using secondary data from 113 countries and the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) and IT impact literature as the guiding theoretical lenses, we examine the facilitators of e-Government and eBusiness development, the relationship between e-Government and e-Business, and their impact on national business competitiveness. Our research highlights the importance of national ICT infrastructure for the development of both e-Government and e-Business. The quality of national human capital emerges as an important factor for the development of e-Government but not for eBusiness, whereas national environment (institutional and macro-economic) appears to be an important facilitator for e-Business but not for e-Government. Our analysis reveals the significant role played by e-Business in enhancing the business competitiveness of nations. Further, analysis brings forth the important role of e-Business for realizing the benefits of e-Government in improving national business competitiveness. Through this research, we highlight the importance of considering e-Government and e-Business together rather than analyzing them in silos. We make some important contributions and offer implications for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.
Accelerating BLAST Computation on an FPGA-enhanced PC Cluster

This paper introduces an FPGA-based scheme to accelerate mpiBLAST, which is a parallel sequence alignment algorithm for computational biology. Recent rapidly growing biological databases for sequence alignment require high-throughput storage and network rather than computing speed. Our scheme utilizes a specialized hardware configured on an FPGA-board which connects flash storage and other FPGA-boards directly. The specialized hardware configured on the FPGAs, we call a Data Stream Processing Engine (DSPE), take a role for preprocessing to adjust data for high-performance multi- and many- core processors simultaneously with offloading system-calls for storage access and networking. DSPE along the datapath achieves in-datapath computing which applies operations for data streams passing through the FPGA. Two functions in mpiBLAST are implemented using DSPE to offload operations along the datapath. The first function is database partitioning, which distributes the biological database to multiple computing nodes before commencing the BLAST processes. Using DSPE, we observe a 20-fold improvement in computation time for the database partitioning operation. The second function is an early part of the BLAST process that determines the positions of sequences for more detailed computations. We implement IDP-BLAST (In-datapath BLAST), which annotates positions in data streams from solid-state drives. We show that IDP-BLAST accelerates the computation time of the preprocess of BLAST by a factor of three hundred by offloading heavy operations to the introduced special hardware.
Cognitive Control and the Ageing Brain

The expected human lifespan is now longer than ever before, resulting in an expanding population of older (i.e., >65 years of age) adults. As this population continues to grow, it becomes imperative to understand the changes that occur in fundamental cognitive control abilities and its underpinnings in alterations of the ageing brain. Cognitive control refers to high‐level executive functions of the brain such as attention, working memory, and task management (e.g., task switching, multitasking). Cognitive control abilities enable most activities of daily living, such as safely and effectively navigating our environment, and the consequence of cognitive control decline can severely alter the quality of life. This chapter will focus exclusively on research conducted on healthy older adults with an emphasis on neuroimaging research incorporating functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG). To better understand cognitive control and the aging brain, the chapter is organised by functions: selective attention, inhibitory control, working memory, multitasking, task switching, and finally what we can do to enhance cognitive control abilities in older adults. It is thought that by 90 years of age, brain weight has decreased by 11–14% of the maximum achieved weight in early adulthood (Dekaban, 1978; Jernigan et al., 2001). Compared to younger adults, older adults exhibit lower grey and white matter volumes, particularly in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and parietal cortex (Gordon et al., 2008; Raz, Ghisletta, Rodrigue, Kennedy, & Lindenberger, 2010). Given the prominent role of the PFC in cognitive control (Cole et al., 2013; Corbetta & Shulman, 2002), many theories of cognitive ageing consider alterations of the PFC as a primary culprit for age‐related declines in cognitive control (Dempster, 1992; Hasher, Lustig, & Zacks, 2007; Hasher & Zacks, 1988; Park & Reuter‐ Lorenz, 2009; Reuter‐Lorenz & Cappell, 2008; Reuter‐Lorenz & Lustig, 2005; West, 1996). In response to these anatomical declines, compensatory neural activity may serve to maximise inefficient neural resources, especially in the PFC, in order to uphold behavioural performance. Moreover, once age‐related peripheral sensory changes (e.g., visual acuity and hearing loss) are accounted for, perceptual declines in older adults remain (Strouse, Ashmead, Ohde, & Grantham, 1998; Zanto, Toy, & Gazzaley, 2010). Thus, diminished perceptual abilities may also require compensation by PFC‐mediated cognitive control to retain performance abilities. Evidence now exists for age‐related compensation of both perceptual Cognitive Control and the Ageing Brain Theodore P. Zanto and Adam Gazzaley 27
Multilingual Vandalism Detection using Language-Independent & Ex Post Facto Evidence - Notebook for PAN at CLEF 2011

There is much literature on Wikipedia vandalism detection. However, this writing addresses two facets given little treatment to date. First, prior efforts emphasize zero-delay detection, classifying edits the moment they are made. If classification can be delayed (e.g., compiling offline distributions), it is possible to leverage ex post facto evidence. This work describes/evaluates several features of this type, which we find to be overwhelmingly strong vandalism indicators. Second, English Wikipedia has been the primary test-bed for research. Yet, Wikipedia has 200+ language editions and use of localized features impairs portability. This work implements an extensive set of language-independent indicators and evaluates them using three corpora (German, English, Spanish). The work then extends to include language-specific signals. Quantifying their performance benefit, we find that such features can moderately increase classifier accuracy, but significant effort and language fluency are required to capture this utility. Aside from these novel aspects, this effort also broadly addresses the task, implementing 65 total features. Evaluation produces 0.840 PR-AUC on the zerodelay task and 0.906 PR-AUCwith ex post facto evidence (averaging languages). Performance matches the state-of-the-art (English), sets novel baselines (German, Spanish), and is validated by a first-place finish over the 2011 PAN-CLEF test set.
Genetic and immune-related factors in the pathogenesis of lymphoproliferative and plasma cell malignancies

There are data to support a role for genetic and immune-related factors in the pathogenesis of lymphomas and plasma cell diseases. In this paper, the AUTHORS review relevant studies in Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, multiple myeloma, and the precursor condition monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance. Taken together, these novel insights raise complex medical considerations and imply ethical dilemmas. There are data to support a role for genetic and immune-related factors in the pathogenesis of lymphomas and plasma cell diseases. In this paper, we review our published large population-based studies and other relevant studies in Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, multiple myeloma, and the precursor condition monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance. We discuss the overlap in risk factors between related malignancies and explore the underlying mechanisms. Based on these studies, we provide clinical implications and discuss the relevance of these data for patient counseling and clinical follow-up. Finally, we suggest future directions for new studies designed to increase our current knowledge and to define underlying biological mechanisms of our findings.
GM-CSF reduces expression of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) core proteins in TGF-β-treated primary astrocytes

GM-CSF plays a role in the nervous system, particularly in cases of injury. A therapeutic effect of GM-CSF has been reported in rat models of various central nervous system injuries. We previously showed that GM-CSF could enhance long-term recovery in a rat spinal cord injury model, inhibiting glial scar formation and increasing the integrity of axonal structure. Here, we investigated molecular the mechanism(s) by which GM-CSF suppressed glial scar formation in an in vitro system using primary astrocytes treated with TGF-β. GM-CSF repressed the expression of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG) core proteins in astrocytes treated with TGF-β. GM-CSF also inhibited the TGF-β-induced Rho-ROCK pathway, which is important in CSPG expression. Finally, the inhibitory effect of GM-CSF was blocked by a JAK inhibitor. These results may provide the basis for GM-CSF’s effects in glial scar inhibition and ultimately for its therapeutic effect on neural cell injuries. [BMB Reports 2014; 47(12): 679-684]
How Does a Reward for Creativity Program Benefit or Frustrate Employee Creative Performance? The Perspective of Transactional Model of Stress and Coping

We explore the effect of a reward for creativity program on employee creativity in organizations by investigating the underlying mechanisms based on the transactional model of stress and coping—a novel theoretical perspective for this research area. We theorize and find in two field studies that challenge appraisal of a reward for creativity program (perceived potential for gain, growth, or mastery) is positively related to problem-focused coping, which in turn predicts high creative performance. By contrast, threat appraisal of a reward for creativity program (perceived potential for harms or losses) is positively related to emotion-focused coping in the form of blaming, which in turn predicts low creative performance. Our findings also support the different indirect effects of the two appraisals of a reward for creativity program on creative performance through coping strategies. In addition, we find self-efficacy that is an antecedent of individual appraisals. We discuss the implications of the findings for theory development and managerial practice and suggest some important avenues for future research.
An effective evaluation measure for clustering on evolving data streams

Due to the ever growing presence of data streams, there has been a considerable amount of research on stream mining algorithms. While many algorithms have been introduced that tackle the problem of clustering on evolving data streams, hardly any attention has been paid to appropriate evaluation measures. Measures developed for static scenarios, namely structural measures and ground-truth-based measures, cannot correctly reflect errors attributable to emerging, splitting, or moving clusters. These situations are inherent to the streaming context due to the dynamic changes in the data distribution. In this paper we develop a novel evaluation measure for stream clustering called Cluster Mapping Measure (CMM). CMM effectively indicates different types of errors by taking the important properties of evolving data streams into account. We show in extensive experiments on real and synthetic data that CMM is a robust measure for stream clustering evaluation.
Parallel Architectures for Learning the RTRN and Elman Dynamic Neural Networks

A major problem encountered by researchers of dynamic neural networks is the computational complexity increasing the learning time. In this paper the parallel realization of the RTRN and the Elman networks are discussed. Both networks are examples of dynamic neural networks. Inherent parallelism of dynamic neural networks has been employed to accelerate the learning process. The proposed solution is based on a highly parallel three dimensional architecture to speed up the learning performance. The presented structures are suitable for efficient parallel realization in digital hardware or vector processors.
Global mapping of ecosystem services and conservation priorities

Global efforts to conserve biodiversity have the potential to deliver economic benefits to people (i.e., “ecosystem services”). However, regions for which conservation benefits both biodiversity and ecosystem services cannot be identified unless ecosystem services can be quantified and valued and their areas of production mapped. Here we review the theory, data, and analyses needed to produce such maps and find that data availability allows us to quantify imperfect global proxies for only four ecosystem services. Using this incomplete set as an illustration, we compare ecosystem service maps with the global distributions of conventional targets for biodiversity conservation. Our preliminary results show that regions selected to maximize biodiversity provide no more ecosystem services than regions chosen randomly. Furthermore, spatial concordance among different services, and between ecosystem services and established conservation priorities, varies widely. Despite this lack of general concordance, “win–win” areas—regions important for both ecosystem services and biodiversity—can be usefully identified, both among ecoregions and at finer scales within them. An ambitious interdisciplinary research effort is needed to move beyond these preliminary and illustrative analyses to fully assess synergies and trade-offs in conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Novelty and diversity in search results

Information retrieval (IR) is the process of obtaining relevant information for a given information need. The concept of relevance and its relation to information needs is of central concern to IR researchers. Until recently, much work in IR settled with a notion of relevance that is topical — that is, containing information “about” a specified topic — and in which the relevance of a document in a ranking is independent of the relevance of other documents in the ranking. But such an approach is more likely to produce a ranking with a high degree of redundancy; the amount of novel information available to the user may be minimal as they traverse down a ranked list. In this work, we focus on the novelty and diversity problem that models relevance of a document taking into account the inter-document effects in a ranked list and diverse information needs for a given query. Existing approaches to this problem mostly rely on identifying subtopics (disambiguation, facets, or other component parts) of an information need, then estimating a document’s relevance independently w.r. t each subtopic. Users are treated as being satisfied by a ranking of documents that covers the space of subtopics as well as covering each individual subtopic sufficiently. We propose a novel approach that models novelty implicitly while retaining the ability to capture other important factors affecting user satisfaction. We formulate a set of hypotheses based on the existing subtopic approach and test them with actual users using a simple conditional preference design: users express a preference for document A or document B given document C. Following this, we introduce a novel triplet framework for collecting such preference judgments and using them to estimate the total utility of a document while taking inter-document effects into account. Finally, a set of utility-based metrics are proposed and validated to measure the effectiveness of a system for the novelty and diversity task.