Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Static and Dynamic Obfuscations of Scan Data Against Scan-Based Side-Channel Attacks

Due to the fallibility of advanced integrated circuit (IC) fabrication processes, scan test has been widely used by cryptographic ICs to provide high fault coverage. Full controllability and observability offered by the scan design also open out the trapdoor to side-channel attacks. To better resist signature attacks on scan testable cryptochip, we propose to fortify the key and lock method by the static obfuscation of scan data. Instead of spatially reshuffling the scan cells, the working mode of some scan cells is altered to jumble up the scan data when the scan test is performed with an incorrect test key. However, when the plaintext is fed directly through the primary inputs for test efficiency, the static obfuscation of scan data is inadequate as demonstrated by a new test-mode-only signature attack (TMOSA) proposed in this paper. To thwart TMOSA, a new countermeasure based on the dynamic obfuscation of scan data is proposed. By cyclically shifting the incorrect test key throughout the test phase, the blocking cells due to the mismatched bits of the test key are made to move temporally to dynamically obfuscate the scan data. This latter scheme is unconditionally resilient against TMOSA and all other known scan-based attacks while preserving the merits of high testability and low area overhead compared with other countermeasures.
Falls and fear of falling among elderly persons living in the community: occupational therapy interventions.

Each year, about one third of the population over 65 years of age experiences at least one fall (Perry, 1982). Assessment of the incidence of falls and the prevalence, intensity, and covariates of fear of falling among community-based elderly persons was conducted through interviews of 115 residents in a housing development (mean age = 78 years). Fifty-three percent reported having fallen in recent years, 32% in the last year. Fear of falling ranked first when compared with other common fears. In a logistic regression model predicting limitation of activity independent of risk factors for falling, fear of falling was marginally significant (p = .06). The results of the study show that falls are frequent and fear of falling prevalent among the community-based elderly. A comprehensive program designed to reduce the risk of falls is presented.
Low altitude tracking of rugged seafloors for autonomous visual observation

While visual observation is an ideal method for detailed survey of seafloors, it is still difficult for an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to track rugged terrains at low altitudes of ideal 1 to 2 meters. This paper proposes a real-time navigation architecture for hovering class AUVs equipped with perceptional sensors looking forwards, sideways and downward, to operate under such conditions. The method controls vertical motion while placing almost no restrictions on motion in the horizontal plane, achieving high compatibility with existing navigation scheme. The algorithm is a hybrid of sensor and map based approaches where the vehicle continually updates a local geometrical map of hazard areas using its perceptional measurements while performing conventional auto-altitude tracking. If the vehicle enters any of the hazard areas, sensor based control is invoked with depth as the control reference to elevate the AUV until it passes the hazard area. The method was verified through tank experiments using the AUV Tri-Dog 1. The AUV successfully followed a lawn-mower trajectory over a rugged terrain consisting of knolls and slopes while maintaining an extremely low altitude of 1.2 meters.
Immunoglobulins reactive with myelin basic protein promote CNS remyelination

We tested the hypothesis that immunoglobulins directed against a CNS autoantigen, myelin basic protein, may promote remyelination in the course of a chronic, immune-mediated demyelinating disease SJL/J mice infected chronically with Daniel's strain of Theiler's virus served as an experimental model of MS. The spinal cords of these mice exhibit extensive primary demyelination and inflammation with minimal spontaneous remyelination. Treatment with whole antiserum or affinity-purified mouse immunoglobulins directed against rat or rabbit myelin basic protein increased new myelin synthesis as measured by quantitative morphometry. Electron microscopy revealed numerous oligodendrocytes in remyelinated CNS lesions and a relative lack of inflammatory cells. Viral antigen persisted in the spinal cord despite enhanced CNS-type remyelination. These findings indicate that immunoglobulins reactive with myelin autoantigens have the potential to promote myelin repair. NEUROLOGY 1996;46: 538-545
Low literacy impairs comprehension of prescription drug warning labels

AbstractBACKGROUND: Adverse events resulting from medication error are a serious concern. Patients’ literacy and their ability to understand medication information are increasingly seen as a safety issue. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether adult patients receiving primary care services at a public hospital clinic were able to correctly interpret commonly used prescription medication warning labels. DESIGN: In-person structured interviews with literacy assessment. SETTING: Public hospital, primary care clinic. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 251 adult patients waiting for an appointment at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport (LSUHSC-S) Primary Care Clinic. MEASUREMENTS: Correct interpretation, as determined by expert panel review of patients’ verbatim responses, for each of 8 commonly used prescription medication warning labels. RESULTS: Approximately one-third of patients (n=74) were reading at or below the 6th-grade level (low literacy). Patient comprehension of warning labels was associated with one’s literacy level. Multistep instructions proved difficult for patients across all literacy levels. After controlling for relevant potential confounding variables, patients with low literacy were 3.4 times less likely to interpret prescription medication warning labels correctly (95% confidence interval: 2.3 to 4.9). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with low literacy had difficulty understanding prescription medication warning labels. Patients of all literacy levels had better understanding of warning labels that contained single-step versus multiple-step instructions. Warning labels should be developed with consumer participation, especially with lower literate populations, to ensure comprehension of short, concise messages created with familiar words and recognizable icons.
Transcription-dependent spatial arrangements of CFTR and adjacent genes in human cell nuclei

We investigated in different human cell types nuclear positioning and transcriptional regulation of the functionally unrelated genes GASZ, CFTR, and CORTBP2, mapping to adjacent loci on human chromosome 7q31. When inactive, GASZ, CFTR, and CORTBP2 preferentially associated with the nuclear periphery and with perinuclear heterochromatin, whereas in their actively transcribed states the gene loci preferentially associated with euchromatin in the nuclear interior. Adjacent genes associated simultaneously with these distinct chromatin fractions localizing at different nuclear regions, in accordance with their individual transcriptional regulation. Although the nuclear localization of CFTR changed after altering its transcription levels, the transcriptional status of CFTR was not changed by driving this gene into a different nuclear environment. This implied that the transcriptional activity affected the nuclear positioning, and not vice versa. Together, the results show that small chromosomal subregions can display highly flexible nuclear organizations that are regulated at the level of individual genes in a transcription-dependent manner.
Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions: insights from development

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial, evolutionarily conserved process that occurs during development and is essential for shaping embryos. Also implicated in cancer, this morphological transition is executed through multiple mechanisms in different contexts, and studies suggest that the molecular programs governing EMT, albeit still enigmatic, are embedded within developmental programs that regulate specification and differentiation. As we review here, knowledge garnered from studies of EMT during gastrulation, neural crest delamination and heart formation have furthered our understanding of tumor progression and metastasis.
SIRT1 Undergoes Alternative Splicing in a Novel Auto-Regulatory Loop with p53

Background The NAD-dependent deacetylase SIRT1 is a nutrient-sensitive coordinator of stress-tolerance, multiple homeostatic processes and healthspan, while p53 is a stress-responsive transcription factor and our paramount tumour suppressor. Thus, SIRT1-mediated inhibition of p53 has been identified as a key node in the common biology of cancer, metabolism, development and ageing. However, precisely how SIRT1 integrates such diverse processes remains to be elucidated. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we report that SIRT1 is alternatively spliced in mammals, generating a novel SIRT1 isoform: SIRT1-ΔExon8. We show that SIRT1-ΔExon8 is expressed widely throughout normal human and mouse tissues, suggesting evolutionary conservation and critical function. Further studies demonstrate that the SIRT1-ΔExon8 isoform retains minimal deacetylase activity and exhibits distinct stress sensitivity, RNA/protein stability, and protein-protein interactions compared to classical SIRT1-Full-Length (SIRT1-FL). We also identify an auto-regulatory loop whereby SIRT1-ΔExon8 can regulate p53, while in reciprocal p53 can influence SIRT1 splice variation. Conclusions/Significance We characterize the first alternative isoform of SIRT1 and demonstrate its evolutionary conservation in mammalian tissues. The results also reveal a new level of inter-dependency between p53 and SIRT1, two master regulators of multiple phenomena. Thus, previously-attributed SIRT1 functions may in fact be distributed between SIRT1 isoforms, with important implications for SIRT1 functional studies and the current search for SIRT1-activating therapeutics to combat age-related decline.
Hierarchical Heuristic Forward Search in Stochastic Domains

Many MDPs exhibit an hierarchical structure where the agent needs to perform various subtasks that are coupled only by a small sub-set of variables containing, notably, shared resources. Previous work has shown how this hierarchical structure can be exploited by solving several sub-MDPs representing the different subtasks in different calling contexts, and a root MDP responsible for sequencing and synchronizing the subtasks, instead of a huge MDP representing the whole problem. Another important idea used by efficient algorithms for solving flat MDPs, such as (L)AO and (L)RTDP, is to exploit reachability information and an admissible heuristics in order to accelerate the search by pruning states that cannot be reached from a given starting state under an optimal policy. In this paper, we combine both ideas and develop a variant of the AO* algorithm for performing forward heuristic search in hierarchical models. This algorithm shows great performance improvements over hierarchical approaches using standard MDP solvers such as Value Iteration, as well as with respect to AO applied to a flat representation of the problem. Moreover, it presents a general new method for accelerating AO and other forward search algorithms. Substantial performance gains may be obtained in these algorithms by partitioning the set of search nodes, and solving a subset of nodes completely before propagating the results to other subsets.
Ferroelectric properties of composites containing BaTiO3 nanoparticles of various sizes

Size effects, including the occurrence of superparaelectric phases associated with small scale, are a significant research topic for ferroelectrics. Relevant phenomena have been explored in detail, e.g. for homogeneous, thin ferroelectric films, but the related effects associated with nanoparticles are usually only inferred from their structural properties. In contrast, this paper describes all the steps and concepts necessary for the direct characterization and quantitative assessment of the ferroelectric properties of as-synthesized and as-received nanoparticles. The method adopted uses electrical polarization measurements on polymer matrix composites containing ferroelectric nanoparticles. It is applied to ten different BaTiO3 particle types covering a size range from 10 nm to 0.8 μm. The influence of variations of particle characteristics such as tetragonality and dielectric constant is considered based on measurements of these properties. For composites containing different particle types a clearly differing polarization behaviour is found. For decreasing particle size, increasing electric field is required to achieve a given level of polarization. The size dependence of a measure related to the coercive field revealed by this work is qualitatively in line with the state of the knowledge for ferroelectrics having small dimensions. For the first time, such results and size effects are described based on data from experiments on collections of actual nanoparticles.
Prevalence of burnout in the u.s. Oncology community: results of a 2003 survey.

PURPOSE To investigate the level of burnout in the oncology community in the United States. PATIENTS AND METHODS Seven thousand seven hundred fifteen oncology physicians were queried by e-mail or during attendance at oncologic meetings and asked to complete a 22-question survey concerning their feelings of personal burnout and their perceptions of physician burnout in the oncology community. The data were analyzed using standard statistical methods including a multivariate analyses using logistic regression with stepwise selection. RESULTS One thousand seven hundred forty oncologists (22.6%) completed and returned the survey, with 92.6 % representing medical oncologists or hematologist-oncologists. Two thirds of the respondents were from community practice and one third from academia. Overall, 61.7% of the respondents reported feelings of burnout, with the top three signs being frustration (78%), emotional exhaustion (69%), and lack of satisfaction with their work (50%). The highest-ranked causes for their feelings of burnout included overwork, lack of time away from the office, and reimbursement concerns. The top remedies for burnout were felt to be fewer patients, more time away from the office, and increased attendance at medical meetings. The multivariate analyses demonstrated highly significant associations between burnout and hours spent on patient care, personal time off, and number of educational meetings attended. CONCLUSION The rate of burnout in the oncology community of the United States exceeds 60%. This report suggests causes and potential solutions for the high rate of burnout. Such information may lead to an improved understanding of the needed steps to improve the quality of life for the oncology community with the ultimate goal of further improving patient care. Patients deserve optimal medical and emotional support that is best provided by caring and well-informed practitioners.
An omnidirectional vision system for bus safety surveillance

Sudden brake seems to be unavoidable in driving practice to prevent from accidence. The sudden brake may often cause falling risks to on-board passengers in public transport and even threaten the lives of the senior. Thus, this paper presents an omnidirectional vision system to assist bus drivers in ensuring the safety for passengers. To this end, we configure an auxiliary camera in the boarding gate to recognize the age of passengers and an omnidirectional camera on the ceiling of the bus to detect and track the passengers. Their trajectories and positions are mapped into a bus layout, together with their age information transferred from the auxiliary camera. This bus layout is shown on a small display in front of bus drivers. Instead of looking to the mirror to guess and gather information of passengers, the driver can collect such necessary information for safe driving. We set up experiments on a real bus and demonstrate the system by preliminary results.
Demand for Luxury Goods in a World of Income Disparities

This paper approaches international trade in luxury goods from demand side. It associates demand for luxury goods with within-country income disparities, via a social interactions component, the so-called Veblen effect (Veblen 1899). In the theoretical part, we propose a simple model of vertical differentiation with preferences displaying a Veblen effect. The model predicts that demand for luxury goods increases with the income gap between the two socio-economic groups (wealthy and non-wealthy agents). Furthermore, wealthy individuals in societies with higher income disparities have higher incentives to purchase luxury goods and hence they are willing to pay more for these. Next, we provide an empirical validation of these predictions on a sample of French high-end exporters (as defined by Martin and Mayneris, 2013) from French 8-digit CN custom data for 2006 at firm-product-destination level. Both demand for and average firm-product unit values of luxury goods are increasing with the income gap in importer country. The relationship is robust to inclusion of control variables as well as to use of alternative measures of income dispersion.
Interlaboratory comparison study of Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca measurements in planktonic foraminifera for paleoceanographic research

Thirteen laboratories from the USA and Europe participated in an intercomparison study of Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca measurements in foraminifera. The study included five planktonic species from surface sediments from different geographical regions and water depths. Each of the laboratories followed their own cleaning and analytical procedures and had no specific information about the samples. Analysis of solutions of known Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios showed that the intralaboratory instrumental precision is better than 0.5% for both Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca measurements, regardless whether ICP‐OES or ICP‐MS is used. The interlaboratory precision on the analysis of standard solutions was about 1.5% and 0.9% for Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca measurements, respectively. These are equivalent to Mg/Ca‐based temperature repeatability and reproducibility on the analysis of solutions of ±0.2°C and ±0.5°C, respectively. The analysis of foraminifera suggests an interlaboratory variance of about ±8% (%RSD) for Mg/Ca measurements, which translates to reproducibility of about ±2–3°C. The relatively large range in the reproducibility of foraminiferal analysis is primarily due to relatively poor intralaboratory repeatability (about ±1–2°C) and a bias (about 1°C) due to the application of different cleaning methods by different laboratories. Improving the consistency of cleaning methods among laboratories will, therefore, likely lead to better reproducibility. Even more importantly, the results of this study highlight the need for standards calibration among laboratories as a first step toward improving interlaboratory compatibility.
Seasonal Changes in Physical Performance and Heart Rate Variability in High Level Futsal Players

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the changes in physical performance and resting heart rate variability (HRV) in professional futsal players during the pre-season and in-season training periods. 11 athletes took part in the study (age=24.3±2.9 years; height=176.3±5.2 cm; weight=76.1±6.3 kg), and performed a repeated-sprint ability (RSA) test [6×40 m (20+20 m with a 180° change of direction) sprints separated by 20 s of passive recovery] and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 1 (Yo-Yo IR1) at 3 different moments (M1=beginning of pre-season; M2=end of pre-season; M3=mid in-season). The HRV indices were assessed at the same moments. After the short pre-season (3-week), mean RSA time (RSAmean) (M1=7.43±0.2 s; M2=7.24±0.2 s; P=0.003), decrement in RSA performance (RSAdecrement) (M1=6.7±0.3%; M2=5.0±0.9%; P=0.001), and Yo-Yo IR1 distance (M1=1.244±298 m; M2=1.491±396 m; P=0.002) were significantly improved (P<0.05). During the in-season (i. e., M3), performance in Yo-Yo IR1 and RSAmean were maintained. In contrast, RSAbest (M2=6.89±0.2 to M3=6.69±0.3; P=0.001) was improved and RSAdecrement (M2=5.0±0.9% to M3=6.6±0.9%; P=0.001) was impaired. At M2, there was an increase in HRV vagal-related indices compared with M1 that was maintained at M3. In conclusion, after a short pre-season, futsal players improved their RSA and Yo-Yo IR1 performance with concomitant improvements in HRV. These indices were maintained during the in-season period while RSAbest was improved and RSAdecrement impaired. Frequent monitoring of these performances and HRV indices may assist with identification of individual training adaptations and/or early signs of maladaption.
Effects of Inhalation of Lavender Essential Oil on Open-heart Surgery Pain

This study evaluated the effects of inhalation of lavender essential oil on the pain of open-heart surgery. The main complaint of patients after open-heart surgery is chest pain. Due to the side effects of opioids, it is important to use a non-invasive way to effectively relieve pain including aromatherapy with analgesics. This study was a clinical single-blind trial and was conducted on 40 patients who had open-heart surgery in the cardiac ICU of 2 Hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 2012. Criteria included: full consciousness, spontaneous breathing ability and not using synthetic opioids within 2 hours before extubation. After extubation, the patients were asked to mark the intensity of their pain using the visual analogue scale. Then, a cotton swab which was impregnated with 2 drops of lavender essential oil 2% was placed in their oxygen mask, and they got breath for 10 minutes. 30 minutes after aromatherapy, they were asked to re-mark their pain intensity. The level of patient’s pain before and after aroma therapy were compared. The pain mean level before and after inhaling lavender essential oil was 5.60 (SD = 2.262) and 4.98 (SD = 2.293), respectively (p-value>0.05). Therefore, there is no significant difference and the result of study proves that lavender essential oil inhalation has no effect on reducing the pain of open-heart surgery.
Detecting intraannual dietary variability in wild mountain gorillas by stable isotope analysis of feces

We use stable isotope ratios in feces of wild mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei) to test the hypothesis that diet shifts within a single year, as measured by dry mass intake, can be recovered. Isotopic separation of staple foods indicates that intraannual changes in the isotopic composition of feces reflect shifts in diet. Fruits are isotopically distinct compared with other staple foods, and peaks in fecal δ13C values are interpreted as periods of increased fruit feeding. Bayesian mixing model results demonstrate that, although the timing of these diet shifts match observational data, the modeled increase in proportional fruit feeding does not capture the full shift. Variation in the isotopic and nutritional composition of gorilla foods is largely independent, highlighting the difficulty for estimating nutritional intake with stable isotopes. Our results demonstrate the potential value of fecal sampling for quantifying short-term, intraindividual dietary variability in primates and other animals with high temporal resolution even when the diet is composed of C3 plants.