Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving physical-layer security in wireless communications using diversity techniques

Due to the broadcast nature of radio propagation, wireless transmission can be readily overheard by unauthorized users for interception purposes and is thus highly vulnerable to eavesdropping attacks. To this end, physical-layer security is emerging as a promising paradigm to protect the wireless communications against eavesdropping attacks by exploiting the physical characteristics of wireless channels. This article is focused on the investigation of diversity techniques to improve physical-layer security differently from the conventional artificial noise generation and beamforming techniques, which typically consume additional power for generating artificial noise and exhibit high implementation complexity for beamformer design. We present several diversity approaches to improve wireless physical-layer security, including multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), multiuser diversity, and cooperative diversity. To illustrate the security improvement through diversity, we propose a case study of exploiting cooperative relays to assist the signal transmission from source to destination while defending against eavesdropping attacks. We evaluate the security performance of cooperative relay transmission in Rayleigh fading environments in terms of secrecy capacity and intercept probability. It is shown that as the number of relays increases, both the secrecy capacity and intercept probability of cooperative relay transmission improve significantly, implying there is an advantage in exploiting cooperative diversity to improve physical-layer security against eavesdropping attacks.
Multivariate pattern classification of pediatric Tourette syndrome using functional connectivity MRI

Abstract Tourette syndrome (TS) is a developmental neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics. Individuals with TS would benefit greatly from advances in prediction of symptom timecourse and treatment effectiveness. As a first step, we applied a multivariate method – support vector machine (SVM) classification – to test whether patterns in brain network activity, measured with resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) MRI, could predict diagnostic group membership for individuals. RSFC data from 42 children with TS (8–15 yrs) and 42 unaffected controls (age, IQ, in‐scanner movement matched) were included. While univariate tests identified no significant group differences, SVM classified group membership with ~70% accuracy (p < .001). We also report a novel adaptation of SVM binary classification that, in addition to an overall accuracy rate for the SVM, provides a confidence measure for the accurate classification of each individual. Our results support the contention that multivariate methods can better capture the complexity of some brain disorders, and hold promise for predicting prognosis and treatment outcome for individuals with TS.
Workplace stress, burnout and coping: a qualitative study of the experiences of Australian disability support workers

Disability support workers (DSWs) are the backbone of contemporary disability support services and the interface through which disability philosophies and policies are translated into practical action. DSWs often experience workplace stress and burnout, resulting in a high turnover rate of employees within the non-professional disability service workforce. The full implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in Australia is set to intensify the current challenges of attracting and retaining DSWs, as the role becomes characterised by greater demands, ambiguity and conflict. The aim of this study was to explore DSWs' perceptions of enjoyable and challenging aspects of disability support work, sources of stress and burnout and the strategies they use to cope when these issues arise. Twelve DSWs workers providing support for adults living with intellectual and physical disabilities were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed a superordinate theme of 'Balance' comprising three sub-themes: 'Balancing Negatives and Positives', 'Periods of Imbalance', and 'Strategies to Reclaim Balance'. Participants spoke of the rewarding and uplifting times in their job such as watching a client learn new skills and being shown appreciation. These moments were contrasted by emotionally and physically draining aspects of their work, including challenging client behaviour, earning a low income, and having limited power to make decisions. Participants described periods of imbalance, wherein the negatives of their job outweighed the positives, resulting in stress and sometimes burnout. Participants often had to actively seek support and tended to rely on their own strategies to manage stress. Findings suggest that organisational support together with workplace interventions that support DSWs to perceive the positive aspects of their work, such as acceptance and mindfulness-based approaches, may help to limit experiences of stress and burnout. The further development and evaluation of emotion-focused workplace therapies, and interventions that consider organisational (macro) factors is suggested.
Chemical composition of corn and sorghum grains cultivated in Oxisol with different application methods and doses of zinc

A.P. Puga, R.M. Prado, B. Mattiuz, D.W. Vale, and I.M. Fonseca. 2013. Chemical composition of corn and sorghum grains cultivated in Oxisol according to different application methods and doses of zinc. Cien. Inv. Agr. 40(1):97-108. In general, tropical soils present low concentrations of zinc (Zn), and the deficiency of Zn is recognized as a world nutritional problem for cereal production and human beings. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to assess the effects of different methods of Zn application on the quality of corn and sorghum grains grown in Oxisol. Two experiments were set up in the experimental area of UNESP (campus of Jaboticabal, Brazil). The following nine treatments were applied: three doses of Zn by banded application (seed furrows), three doses of Zn by incorporation into soil (0-20 cm depth), foliar application, seed application, and control (no Zn applied). The treatments were arranged in randomized blocks with four replicates. The contents of Zn, carbohydrates and proteins were determined for corn and sorghum grains. Regardless of the method, Zn application promoted higher contents of this micronutrient in corn and sorghum grains. The banded application method of Zn in soil promoted greater contents of total carbohydrates, starch and protein in both cultures. The incorporation of Zn into the soil method provided higher contents of soluble carbohydrates in both corn and sorghum grains.
The Predictive Properties of Dynamic Sex Offender Risk Assessment Instruments: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis is the first to our knowledge to evaluate the predictive properties of dynamic sex offender risk assessment instruments, which are designed to assess factors associated with recidivism that are amenable to change. Based on 52 studies (N = 13,446), we found that dynamic risk assessment instruments have small-to-moderate predictive properties, with Cohen’s d ranging between 0.71 for sexual recidivism (41 studies, 22 unique samples, N = 5,699) and 0.43 for violent (including sexual) recidivism (27 studies, 14 unique samples, N = 10,368). Incremental predictive validity of dynamic over static risk assessment instruments was significant but modest; Cox hazard ratios varied between 1.08 for sexual recidivism (19 studies, 13 unique samples, N = 3,747) and 1.05 for any recidivism (11 studies, 8 unique samples, N = 2,511). Cox hazard ratios for the predictive validity of change scores on dynamic risk assessment instruments, controlling for static and initial dynamic scores, varied between 0.91 for sexual recidivism (6 studies, 6 unique samples, n = 1,980) and 0.95 for any recidivism (3 studies, 3 unique samples, n = 1,172). These findings indicate that dynamic risk assessment instruments can, in terms of Andrews and Bonta’s (2010) risk and need principles, be a useful tool for improving sex offender treatment. They have the potential to contribute to the selection of appropriate, more individually tailored treatment approaches (focusing on individually relevant criminogenic need factors) and can assist in the evaluation of treatment effects. Considering this, further development of dynamic risk assessment instruments is warranted.
High-Resolution Finite Volume Modeling of Wave Propagation in Orthotropic Poroelastic Media

Poroelasticity theory models the dynamics of porous, fluid-saturated media. It was pioneered by Maurice Biot in the 1930s through 1960s, and has applications in several fields, including geophysics and modeling of in vivo bone. A wide variety of methods have been used to model poroelasticity, including finite difference, finite element, pseudospectral, and discontinuous Galerkin methods. In this work we use a Cartesian-grid high-resolution finite volume method to numerically solve Biot's equations in the time domain for orthotropic materials, with the stiff relaxation source term in the equations incorporated using operator splitting. This class of finite volume method has several useful properties, including the ability to use wave limiters to reduce numerical artifacts in the solution, ease of incorporating material inhomogeneities, low memory overhead, and an explicit time-stepping approach. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first use of high-resolution finite volume methods to model poroelasticity. The solution code uses the CLAWPACK finite volume method software, which also includes block-structured adaptive mesh refinement in its AMRCLAW variant. We present convergence results for known analytic plane wave solutions, achieving second-order convergence rates outside of the stiff regime of the system. Our convergence rates are degraded in the stiff regime, but we still achieve similar levels of error on the finest grids examined. We also demonstrate good agreement against other numerical results from the literature. To aid in reproducibility, we provide all of the code used to generate the results of this paper, at this https URL .
Long shelf-life streptavidin support-films suitable for electron microscopy of biological macromolecules

We describe a rapid and convenient method of growing streptavidin (SA) monolayer crystals directly on holey-carbon EM grids. As expected, these SA monolayer crystals retain their biotin-binding function and crystalline order through a cycle of embedding in trehalose and, later, its removal. This fact allows one to prepare, and store for later use, EM grids on which SA monolayer crystals serve as an affinity substrate for preparing specimens of biological macromolecules. In addition, we report that coating the lipid-tail side of trehalose-embedded monolayer crystals with evaporated carbon appears to improve the consistency with which well-ordered, single crystals are observed to span over entire, 2 μm holes of the support films. Randomly biotinylated 70 S ribosomes are used as a test specimen to show that these support films can be used to obtain a high-resolution cryo-EM structure.
Modification of social dominance in social networks by selective adjustment of interpersonal weights

According to the DeGroot-Friedkin model of a social network, an individual's social power evolves as the network discusses individual opinions over a sequence of issues. Under mild assumptions on the connectivity of the network, the social power of every individual converges to a constant nonnegative value as the number of issues discussed increases. If the network has a special topology, namely the “star topology”, then all social power accumulates with the individual at the centre of the star. This paper studies the strategic introduction of new individuals and/or interpersonal relationships into a social network with the star topology so as to reduce the social power of the centre individual. In fact, several strategies are proposed. For each strategy, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions on the strength of the new interpersonal relationships, based on local information, which ensures that the centre individual no longer has the greatest social power within the social network. Interpretations of these conditions reveal that the strategies are remarkably intuitive and that certain strategies are favourable compared to others, all of which is sociologically expected.
Scalable and massively parallel Monte Carlo photon transport simulations for heterogeneous computing platforms

Abstract. We present a highly scalable Monte Carlo (MC) three-dimensional photon transport simulation platform designed for heterogeneous computing systems. Through the development of a massively parallel MC algorithm using the Open Computing Language framework, this research extends our existing graphics processing unit (GPU)-accelerated MC technique to a highly scalable vendor-independent heterogeneous computing environment, achieving significantly improved performance and software portability. A number of parallel computing techniques are investigated to achieve portable performance over a wide range of computing hardware. Furthermore, multiple thread-level and device-level load-balancing strategies are developed to obtain efficient simulations using multiple central processing units and GPUs.
Aeromycobiota survey of indoor and hygiene level of selected day care facilities in ekiti state, nigeria

Fungi are ubiquitous eukaryotic organisms and are transient flora in air. Their persistence and viability in air over time make them potentially pathogenic especially in environments like daycare facility (creches). The fungal load in fifty selected creches in Ado-Ekiti and the effectiveness of commonly used disinfectants on the fungi isolated were investigated. Fungi isolates were recovered from the air in creches facilities environments using sedimentation method and were identified using morphological and cultural methods. Their susceptibility to different disinfectants: Izal, Dettol, Z-Germicide and Nixoderm was evaluated using broth dilution method. A total of one hundred and sixty-four isolates belonging to 10 fungal genera: Alternaria, Candida, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Mucor, Nigrospora, Penicillium, Pullularia, Rhizopus and Trichoderma were recovered from creches. Alternaria sp. was the most predominant. It was also observed that the isolates exhibited varying levels of sensitivity to the different disinfectants. Z-germicide was the most effective though with fungicidal activities at, and above the manufacturer’s recommended in-use concentrations. However, the fungal isolates were observed to show resistant to all tested concentrations of Izal. The results of the present study clearly showed that airborne fungi of public health significance were present in creches and as such may pose threats to health of the babies. Proper hygiene should be practiced in creche environments to prevent fungal diseases among the babies.
Style-content separation by anisotropic part scales

We perform co-analysis of a set of man-made 3D objects to allow the creation of novel instances derived from the set. We analyze the objects at the part level and treat the anisotropic part scales as a shape style. The co-analysis then allows style transfer to synthesize new objects. The key to co-analysis is part correspondence, where a major challenge is the handling of large style variations and diverse geometric content in the shape set. We propose style-content separation as a means to address this challenge. Specifically, we define a correspondence-free style signature for style clustering. We show that confining analysis to within a style cluster facilitates tasks such as co-segmentation, content classification, and deformation-driven part correspondence. With part correspondence between each pair of shapes in the set, style transfer can be easily performed. We demonstrate our analysis and synthesis results on several sets of man-made objects with style and content variations.
Dynamic translation regulation in Caulobacter cell cycle control

Significance The Caulobacter cell cycle is controlled by a genetic circuit that dynamically regulates transcription of nearly 20% of the genome; however, the role of translational control of cell cycle progression is unexplored. To understand the contribution of translational regulation, we measured both mRNA and translation levels at multiple stages of the cell cycle. We found that cell cycle-dependent translational regulation is important for hundreds of genes and also that the positioning of regulatory proteins to a specific cell pole is coordinated by the timing of their synthesis. The cell cycle-regulatory pathway that controls translation rates is linked to the regulatory circuit that controls transcription rates of cell cycle-regulated genes. Progression of the Caulobacter cell cycle requires temporal and spatial control of gene expression, culminating in an asymmetric cell division yielding distinct daughter cells. To explore the contribution of translational control, RNA-seq and ribosome profiling were used to assay global transcription and translation levels of individual genes at six times over the cell cycle. Translational efficiency (TE) was used as a metric for the relative rate of protein production from each mRNA. TE profiles with similar cell cycle patterns were found across multiple clusters of genes, including those in operons or in subsets of operons. Collections of genes associated with central cell cycle functional modules (e.g., biosynthesis of stalk, flagellum, or chemotaxis machinery) have consistent but different TE temporal patterns, independent of their operon organization. Differential translation of operon-encoded genes facilitates precise cell cycle-timing for the dynamic assembly of multiprotein complexes, such as the flagellum and the stalk and the correct positioning of regulatory proteins to specific cell poles. The cell cycle-regulatory pathways that produce specific temporal TE patterns are separate from—but highly coordinated with—the transcriptional cell cycle circuitry, suggesting that the scheduling of translational regulation is organized by the same cyclical regulatory circuit that directs the transcriptional control of the Caulobacter cell cycle.
Psychiatry and Preclinical Psychiatric Studies -original Article

A candidate gene investigation of methylphenidate response in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients: results from a naturalistic study Abstract Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood onset neuropsychiatric disorder with a complex and heterogeneous symptomatol-ogy. Persistence of ADHD symptoms into adulthood is common. Methylphenidate (MPH) is a widely prescribed stimulant compound that may be effective against ADHD symptoms in children and adults. However, MPH does not exert satisfactory effect in all patients. Several genetic variants have been proposed to predict either treatment response or adverse effects of stimulants. We conducted a literature search to identify previously reported variants associated with MPH response and additional variants that were biologically plausible candidates for MPH response. The response to MPH was assessed by the treating clini-cians in 564 adult ADHD patients and 20 genetic variants were successfully genotyped. Logistic regression was used to test for association between these polymorphisms and treatment response. Nominal associations (p \ 0.05) were meta-analysed with published data from previous comparable studies. In our analyses, rs1800544 in the ADRA2A gene was associated with MPH response at a nominal significance level (OR 0.560, 95 % CI 0.329–0.953, p = 0.033). However, this finding was not affirmed in the meta-analysis. No genetic variants revealed significant associations after correction for multiple testing (p \ 0.00125). Our results suggest that none of the studied variants are strong predictors of MPH response in adult ADHD as judged by clinician ratings, potentially except for rs1800544. Consequently, pharmacogenetic testing in routine clinical care is not supported by our analyses. Further studies on the pharmacogenetics of adult ADHD are warranted.
Automated crack detection in conductive smart-concrete structures using a resistor mesh model

Various nondestructive evaluation techniques are currently used to automatically detect and monitor cracks in concrete infrastructure. However, these methods often lack the scalability and cost-effectiveness over large geometries. A solution is the use of self-sensing carbon-doped cementitious materials. These self-sensing materials are capable of providing a measurable change in electrical output that can be related to their damage state. Previous work by the authors showed that a resistor mesh model could be used to track damage in structural components fabricated from electrically conductive concrete, where damage was located through the identification of high resistance value resistors in a resistor mesh model. In this work, an automated damage detection strategy that works through placing high value resistors into the previously developed resistor mesh model using a sequential Monte Carlo method is introduced. Here, high value resistors are used to mimic the internal condition of damaged cementitious specimens. The proposed automated damage detection method is experimentally validated using a 500×500×50 mm3 reinforced cement paste plate doped with multi-walled carbon nanotubes exposed to 100 identical impact tests. Results demonstrate that the proposed Monte Carlo method is capable of detecting and localizing the most prominent damage in a structure, demonstrating that automated damage detection in smart-concrete structures is a promising strategy for real-time structural health monitoring of civil infrastructure.
Recognizing actions by shape-motion prototype trees

A prototype-based approach is introduced for action recognition. The approach represents an action as a sequence of prototypes for efficient and flexible action matching in long video sequences. During training, first, an action prototype tree is learned in a joint shape and motion space via hierarchical k-means clustering; then a lookup table of prototype-to-prototype distances is generated. During testing, based on a joint likelihood model of the actor location and action prototype, the actor is tracked while a frame-to-prototype correspondence is established by maximizing the joint likelihood, which is efficiently performed by searching the learned prototype tree; then actions are recognized using dynamic prototype sequence matching. Distance matrices used for sequence matching are rapidly obtained by look-up table indexing, which is an order of magnitude faster than brute-force computation of frame-to-frame distances. Our approach enables robust action matching in very challenging situations (such as moving cameras, dynamic backgrounds) and allows automatic alignment of action sequences. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach achieves recognition rates of 91.07% on a large gesture dataset (with dynamic backgrounds), 100% on the Weizmann action dataset and 95.77% on the KTH action dataset.