Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Unconditional Security From Noisy Quantum Storage

We consider the implementation of two-party cryptographic primitives based on the sole assumption that no large-scale reliable quantum storage is available to the cheating party. We construct novel protocols for oblivious transfer and bit commitment, and prove that realistic noise levels provide security even against the most general attack. Such unconditional results were previously only known in the so-called bounded-storage model which is a special case of our setting. Our protocols can be implemented with present-day hardware used for quantum key distribution. In particular, no quantum storage is required for the honest parties.
MAPEAMENTO DA APTIDÃO AO ECOTURISMO COMO INSTRUMENTO DE PLANEJAMENTO TERRITORIAL SUSTENTÁVEL: ESTUDO DE CASO NO MUNICÍPIO DE BROTAS, SP.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo aplicar a metodologia de mapeamento de aptidão ao ecoturismo proposta por Aklıbaşında e Bulut (2014), no município de Brotas, SP. A metodologia visa analisar aspectos do meio físico e do uso do solo a partir da aplicação de técnicas de cartografia geoambiental para a determinação das potencialidades e restrições do local para as atividades turísticas, apoiando-se em um viés conservacionista. Para tal, foram utilizados dados geográficos de Precipitação, Elevação do Terreno, Formações Geológicas de Interesse, Proximidade de Recursos Hídricos, Declividades e Uso do Solo. Os resultados obtidos mostram que 83% do município apresenta aptidão a atividades turísticas (alta ou muito alta), indicando o potencial econômico que esta atividade pode exercer no município e implicando na necessidade de políticas públicas de conservação dos recursos naturais.
Expression of MHC class II molecules in different cellular and functional compartments is controlled by differential usage of multiple promoters of the transactivator CIITA

The highly complex pattern of expression of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC‐II) molecules determines both the immune repertoire during development and subsequently the triggering and the control of immune responses. These distinct functions result from cell type‐restricted expression, developmental control and either constitutive or inducible expression of MHC‐II genes. Yet, in these various situations, MHC‐II gene expression is always under the control of a unique transactivator, CIITA. Here we show that the CIITA gene is controlled by several distinct promoters, two of which direct specific constitutive expression in dendritic cells and B lymphocytes respectively, while another mediates γ‐interferon‐induced expression. Thus the cellular, temporal and functional diversity of MHC‐II expression is ultimately controlled by differential activation of different promoters of a single transactivator gene. This provides novel experimental tools to dissect compartment‐specific gain or loss of MHC‐II function in vivo.
Labelling of four distinct trophozoite falcipains of Plasmodium falciparum by a cystatin-derived probe

Abstract Trophozoite cysteine protease (TCP) activity, isolated from Plasmodium falciparum soluble 100 000 g extracts, displayed native falcipain-1 kinetic parameters towards peptidyl substrates. The labelling of either isolated TCP or soluble 100 000 g extracts by a cystatin-derived probe (biotinyl-Leu-Val-Gly-CHN2) revealed a single band of ca. 30 kDa by SDS-PAGE, which was resolved into four spots displaying isoelectric points (pI) from 4.7 to 5.3 after two-dimensional separation. The molecular mass and pI correspond to those of falcipain-3, falcipain-2, falcipain-2′ and falcipain-1, respectively. The two central spots were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry as falcipain-2 and falcipain-2′. This activity-based probe represents a potential tool for profiling active falcipains in parasites.
Ready or Not?

This study examined emerging adults' criteria for marriage readiness and explored how these criteria are associated with their current attitudes and behaviors. This article establishes the psychometric value of the Criteria for Marriage Readiness Questionnaire and reports on a study of 788 emerging adults recruited from five college sites across the country. Results showed that marriage readiness is viewed by emerging adults as a process of developing interpersonal competencies, making life-long commitments, and acquiring capacities to care for others. These findings suggest that many emerging adults regard becoming an adult and becoming ready for marriage as two distinct transitions in life, with the first involving a shift from being cared for by others to taking care of oneself and the second consisting of a transition from self-care to caring for others. Results also showed that young people's criteria for marriage readiness are associated with individual differences in their current risk taking and family formation values.
The Multifunctional Ca2+/Calmodulin-Dependent Kinase IIδ (CaMKIIδ) Regulates Arteriogenesis in a Mouse Model of Flow-Mediated Remodeling

Objective Sustained hemodynamic stress mediated by high blood flow promotes arteriogenesis, the outward remodeling of existing arteries. Here, we examined whether Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKII) regulates arteriogenesis. Methods and Results Ligation of the left common carotid led to an increase in vessel diameter and perimeter of internal and external elastic lamina in the contralateral, right common carotid. Deletion of CaMKIIδ (CaMKIIδ−/−) abolished this outward remodeling. Carotid ligation increased CaMKII expression and was associated with oxidative activation of CaMKII in the adventitia and endothelium. Remodeling was abrogated in a knock-in model in which oxidative activation of CaMKII is abolished. Early after ligation, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) was robustly expressed in the adventitia of right carotid arteries of WT but not CaMKIIδ−/− mice. MMP9 mainly colocalized with adventitial macrophages. In contrast, we did not observe an effect of CaMKIIδ deficiency on other proposed mediators of arteriogenesis such as expression of adhesion molecules or smooth muscle proliferation. Transplantation of WT bone marrow into CaMKIIδ−/− mice normalized flow-mediated remodeling. Conclusion CaMKIIδ is activated by oxidation under high blood flow conditions and is required for flow-mediated remodeling through a mechanism that includes increased MMP9 expression in bone marrow-derived cells invading the arterial wall.
Characterization of membrane polypeptides from pea leaf peroxisomes involved in superoxide radical generation.

The production of superoxide radicals (O2(-). ) and the activities of ferricyanide reductase and cytochrome c reductase were investigated in peroxisomal membranes from pea (Pisum sativum L.) leaves using NADH and NADPH as electron donors. The generation of O2(-). by peroxisomal membranes was also assayed in native polyacrylamide gels using an in situ staining method with NitroBlue Tetrazolium (NBT). When peroxisomal membranes were assayed under native conditions using NADH or NADPH as inducer, two different O2(-). -dependent Formazan Blue bands were detected. Analysis by SDS/PAGE of these bands demonstrated that the NADH-induced NBT reduction band contained several polypeptides (PMP32, PMP61, PMP56 and PMP18, where PMP is peroxisomal membrane polypeptide and the number indicates molecular mass in kDa), while the NADPH-induced band was due exclusively to PMP29. PMP32 and PMP29 were purified by preparative SDS/PAGE and electroelution. Reconstituted PMP29 showed cytochrome c reductase activity and O2(-). production, and used NADPH specifically as electron donor. PMP32, however, had ferricyanide reductase and cytochrome c reductase activities, and was also able to generate O2(-). with NADH as electron donor, whereas NADPH was not effective as an inducer. The reductase activities of, and O2(-). production by, PMP32 were inhibited by quinacrine. Polyclonal antibodies against cucumber monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) recognized PMP32, and this polypeptide is likely to correspond to the MDHAR reported previously in pea leaf peroxisomal membranes.
Effectiveness of Biological Surrogates for Predicting Patterns of Marine Biodiversity: A Global Meta-Analysis

The use of biological surrogates as proxies for biodiversity patterns is gaining popularity, particularly in marine systems where field surveys can be expensive and species richness high. Yet, uncertainty regarding their applicability remains because of inconsistency of definitions, a lack of standard methods for estimating effectiveness, and variable spatial scales considered. We present a Bayesian meta-analysis of the effectiveness of biological surrogates in marine ecosystems. Surrogate effectiveness was defined both as the proportion of surrogacy tests where predictions based on surrogates were better than random (i.e., low probability of making a Type I error; P) and as the predictability of targets using surrogates (R 2). A total of 264 published surrogacy tests combined with prior probabilities elicited from eight international experts demonstrated that the habitat, spatial scale, type of surrogate and statistical method used all influenced surrogate effectiveness, at least according to either P or R 2. The type of surrogate used (higher-taxa, cross-taxa or subset taxa) was the best predictor of P, with the higher-taxa surrogates outperforming all others. The marine habitat was the best predictor of R 2, with particularly low predictability in tropical reefs. Surrogate effectiveness was greatest for higher-taxa surrogates at a <10-km spatial scale, in low-complexity marine habitats such as soft bottoms, and using multivariate-based methods. Comparisons with terrestrial studies in terms of the methods used to study surrogates revealed that marine applications still ignore some problems with several widely used statistical approaches to surrogacy. Our study provides a benchmark for the reliable use of biological surrogates in marine ecosystems, and highlights directions for future development of biological surrogates in predicting biodiversity.
Transaction Cost Economics: An Introduction

This overview of transaction cost economics is organized around the "Carnegie Triple" - be disciplined; be interdisciplinary; have an active mind. The first of these urges those who would open up the black box of economic organization to do so in a modest, slow, molecular, definitive way, with the object of deriving refutable implications and submitting these to empirical testing. The second recommends that the student of economic organization be prepared to cross disciplinary boundaries if and as this is needed to preserve veridical contact with the phenomena. The injunction have an active mind is implemented by being curious and asking the question "What is going on here? " The paper concludes with a discussion of operationalization.
A Network-Level Distributed Fault Injector for Experimental Validation of Dependable Distributed Systems

The use of Java for distributed systems and high-available applications demands the validation of their fault tolerance mechanisms to avoid unexpected behavior during execution. We present an extension of FIONA (fault injector oriented to network applications), a fault injection environment to experimentally validate the dependability of distributed Java applications. The main features of this extension are: its distributed architecture, which allows centralized configuration of multiple faults scenarios, and the support for a wider fault model associated with distributed systems, which includes network partitioning. For monitoring, FIONA supports the collection of log information and includes a helper application to integrate this information in a global log for post-mortem dependability analysis. FIONA is simple to operate, and we expect it to facilitate the conduction of validation experiments by application developers and testers
Long term effects of doping in sporting records: 1886-2012

Best life times of top athletes, Olympic records, world records, and any doping information were collected from the IOC, IAAF, WADA and national anti-doping associations. About 1560 records of male and female athletes in 22 disciplines of summer and 4 winter sports were collected. Data were analysed for long-term effects of doping using non-linear regression techniques. Comparisons were made of pre-1932 records (when steroids became available) and post. Analyses were repeated using 1967, when widespread use of doping was formally acknowledged. After these dates records in a number of disciplines did not improve as predicted by extrapolation of pre-doping years results. Averaged best life records for ‘doped’ top athletes did not differ significantly from those considered ‘non-doped’. Even assuming that not all cases of doping were discovered, the practice did not alter sporting records as commonly believed, Doping may be damaging image of sports without benefitting results.
The stress regulator FKBP51 drives chronic pain by modulating spinal glucocorticoid signaling

Interfering with the stress protein FKBP51 can block chronic pain in mice and rats, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic target. A key to chronic pain Our treatment tools are distressingly poor for alleviating long-lasting, debilitating pain, so new ideas are welcome. Maiarù et al. now find that inhibition of spinal cord FKBP51—a stress-related protein involved with glucocorticoid signaling—can curtail the development of chronic pain in animal models. More important for clinical application, siRNA inhibition or a newly developed FKBP51 inhibitor, SAFit2, can interrupt a preexisting chronic pain state. The authors also amass evidence from their mouse models that FKBP51 acts on chronic pain via the glucocorticoid signaling pathway. Variation in the human gene FKBP51 alters pain severity after trauma, lending confidence that drugs like SAFit2 may help patients suffering from chronic pain. Polymorphisms in FKBP51 are associated with stress-related psychiatric disorders and influence the severity of pain symptoms experienced after trauma. We report that FKBP51 (FK506 binding protein 51) is crucial for the full development and maintenance of long-term pain states. Indeed, FKBP51 knockout mice, as well as mice in which silencing of FKBP51 is restricted to the spinal cord, showed reduced hypersensitivity in several persistent pain models in rodents. FKBP51 deletion did not compromise the detection of acute painful stimuli, a critical protective mechanism. Moreover, the intrathecal administration of the specific FKBP51 inhibitor SAFit2 reduced the severity of an established pain state, confirming the crucial role of spinal FKBP51 in nociceptive processing. Finally, glucocorticoid signaling, which is known to modulate persistent pain states in rodents, was impaired in FKBP51 knockout mice. This finding suggested that FKBP51 regulates chronic pain by modulation of glucocorticoid signaling. Thus, FKBP51 is a central mediator of chronic pain, likely in humans as well as rodents, and is a new pharmacologically tractable target for the treatment of long-term pain states.
SINR Pricing in Non Cooperative Power Control Game for Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

In wireless ad hoc networks the nodes focus on achieving the maximum SINR for efficient data transmission. In order to achieve maximum SINR the nodes culminate in exhausting the battery power for successful transmissions. This in turn affects the successful transmission of the other nodes as the maximum transmission power opted by each node serves as a source of interference for the other nodes in the network. This paper models the choice of power for each node as a non cooperative game where the throughput of the network with respect to the consumption of power is formulated as a utility function. We propose an adaptive pricing scheme that encourages the nodes to use minimum transmission power to achieve target SINR at the Nash equilibrium and improve their net utility in multiuser scenario.
Crossfading music education: Connections between secondary students’ in- and out-of-school music experience

In this case study, the author investigated intersections of secondary students’ musical engagement in a Songwriting and Technology Class (STC) and outside of school. The study traces the experiences of three individual participants and three participant groups (six embedded cases in total) in the creation, performance, recording, and production of original music over the course of a culminating class project. Findings suggest that the STC allowed students to experience smooth transitions between their musical engagement and learning in and out of school. Key factors that contributed to participants’ engagement in the STC were (a) their experience with instruments and software outside of school and (b) use of popular music. Participants’ engagement in the STC (a) informed and influenced the ways they listened to music outside of school, (b) broadened and deepened their aesthetic preferences, and (c) provided an environment in which participants could experience and negotiate their perspectives on issues related to popular music and the music industry. Participants also saw the STC as related and connected to their current and future lives as musicians. The study supports the inclusion of curricular offerings that allow for crossfading or overlap between students’ in-school and outside-school musical experiences.
Predicting Online Harassment Victimization Among a Juvenile Population

Online harassment can consist of threatening, worrisome, emotionally hurtful, or sexual messages delivered via an electronic medium that can lead victims to feel fear or distress much like real-world harassment and stalking. This activity is especially prevalent among middle and high school populations who frequently use technology as a means to communicate with others. Little is known, however, whether factors linked to computer crime victimization in college samples have the same influence in juvenile populations. The article discusses a study conducted utilizing a routine-activities framework that explored the online harassment experiences among middle and high school students and recruited 434 students in a Kentucky middle and high school to complete a survey uploaded on the district server during school hours. Multiple binary logistic regression models indicate that online harassment victimization increased when juveniles maintain social network sites, associate with peers who harass online, and post sensitive information online. The implications of these findings for theorists, practitioners, and policy makers are also explored.
Evidence-based practices for co-occurring disorders in offenders

Abstract Individuals with substance use and concurrent mental disorders or co-occurring disorders (CODs) present numerous risks and treatment challenges. CODs are particularly pronounced within criminal justice settings. Offenders with CODs have higher risk for recidivism and have unique problems including criminal thinking and antisocial behaviours, commonly referred to as “criminogenic needs”. Two important frameworks for treating CODs with offender populations are the Risk-Need-Responsivity Model (RNR) and the Social Learning Model (SLM). These help to guide the application of integrated evidence-based treatments (EBTs) including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), behavioural modification, behavioural social skills training and family therapy. Programmatic adaptions include comprehensive screening/assessment, specialised tracks for dual diagnoses, intensive and phased treatment, ancillary services (e.g. peer support, relapse prevention), cross-training of staff, interdisciplinary treatment teams, specialised caseloads, and linkage with community mental health and social services. EBTs and programmatic adaptations have been successfully applied in community, jail and prison settings, and research indicates that integrated and structured treatment approaches significantly reduce reoffending and recidivism. Aftercare or reentry services can improve successful transition back into the community and improve offender outcomes. Risk assessment and structured assessment can be used to match offenders to the appropriate level of care and intensity of services. Future research should include controlled trials that examine the effectiveness of integrated offender treatment programmes and their components on key outcomes that include recidivism, substance use, utilisation of behavioural health services and psychosocial functioning.
Responding to Nonresponders: An Experimental Field Trial of Identification and Intervention Methods

First graders (N = 323) participated in an evidence-based classwide reading program (Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies; PALS). Adual-discrepancy approach was used to identify 56 children whose reading performance and growth rates were substantially below those of average readers, indicating they were not responding sufficiently to PALS. This approach reliably distinguished among unresponsive at-risk, responsive at-risk, and average-performing readers. Nonresponders were assigned randomly to one of three increasingly individualized treatments: PALS, Modified PALS, or tutoring by an adult. No statistically significant between-group differences on reading-related measures were found. Effect sizes (between .30 and .50) comparing groups and proportions of nonresponders following treatment suggest that tutoring was most promising for reducing unresponsiveness.
Fujoshi: Fantasy Play and Transgressive Intimacy among “Rotten Girls” in Contemporary Japan

This article is a theoretical and ethnographic inquiry into intimate communication and friendship among young women in contemporary Japan. The group I am considering consumes, produces, and reproduces mainstream manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese animation), similar to the phenomenon of fan fiction and fan art in the United States and Europe, with a focus on imagining unintended romance and relationships between male characters, much like slash fiction. Fans produce works not only for personal pleasure but also to share them, facilitate interaction, and bridge a shared imaginary. In Japan, as elsewhere, women account for the majority of this activity, but unique to Japan is the relative autonomy this group has achieved and the high visibility of their activities. The existence of overlapping spheres of virtual and physical fan activity on the present scale in Japan provides a unique opportunity to analyze emergent patterns of intimacy at a time when interactions with media and technology are playing an increasingly important role in shaping communication and friendship. My case study is a group of young women who identify as fujoshi, or “rotten girls. ” This article examines how they produce, consume, and share fiction, as well as the discussions and relationships that these practices make possible across physical and virtual space. The major focus is on playful interactions with the text and with other fujoshi, which contributes to “getting out of hand” and exploring what I call “transgressive intimacy,” which is imagined between characters and between fujoshi themselves. I apply the theory of “neta communication” and develop an alternative, “moe communication,” to explain this phenomenon.