Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Secure Message Transmission With Small Public Discussion

In the problem of secure message transmission in the public discussion model (SMT-PD), a sender wants to send a message MS ∈ {0,1}l to a receiver privately and reliably. Sender and receiver are connected by n channels, also known as simple wires, up to of which may be maliciously controlled by a computationally unbounded adversary, as well as one public channel, which is reliable but not private. The SMT-PD abstraction has been shown instrumental in achieving secure multiparty computation on sparse networks, where a subset of the nodes are able to realize a broadcast functionality, which plays the role of the public channel. In this paper, we present the first SMT-PD protocol with sublinear (i.e., logarithmic in l, the message length) communication on the public channel. In addition, the protocol incurs a simple-wire communication complexity of O(ln/n-t), which, as we also show, is optimal. By contrast, the best known bounds in both public and simple channels were linear. Furthermore, our protocol has an optimal round complexity of (3, 2), meaning three rounds, two of which must invoke the public channel. Finally, we ask the question whether some of the lower bounds on resource use for a single execution of SMT-PD can be beaten on average through amortization. In other words, if sender and receiver must send several messages back and forth (where later messages depend on earlier ones), can they do better than the naïve solution of repeating an SMT-PD protocol each time? We show that amortization can indeed drastically reduce the use of the public channel; it is possible to limit the total number of uses of the public channel to two, no matter how many messages are ultimately sent between two nodes. (Since two uses of the public channel are required to send any reliable communication whatsoever, this is the best possible.).
Assessment of the Response of Photosynthetic Activity of Mediterranean Evergreen Oaks to Enhanced Drought Stress and Recovery by Using PRI and R690/R630

The photochemical reflectance index (PRI) and red-edge region of the spectrum are known to be sensitive to plant physiological processes, and through measurement of these optical signals it is possible to use non-invasive remote sensing to monitor the plant photosynthetic status in response to environmental stresses such as drought. We conducted a greenhouse experiment using Quercus ilex, a Mediterranean evergreen oak species, to investigate the links between leaf-level PRI and the red-edge based reflectance ratio (R690/R630) with CO2 assimilation rates (A), and photochemical efficiency (FV/FM and Yield) in response to a gradient of mild to extreme drought treatments (nine progressively enhanced drought levels) and corresponding recovery. PRI and R690/R630 both decreased under enhanced drought stress, and had significant correlations with A, FV/FM and Yield. The differential values between recovery and drought treatments of PRI (ΔPRIrecovery) and R690/R630 (ΔR690/R630recovery) increased with the enhanced drought levels, and significantly correlated with the increases of ΔArecovery, ΔFV/FMrecovery and ΔYieldrecovery. We concluded that both PRI and R690/R630 were not only sensitive to enhanced drought stresses, but also highly sensitive to photosynthetic recovery. Our study makes important progress for remotely monitoring the effect of drought and recovery on photosynthetic regulation using the simple physiological indices of PRI and R690/R630.
Simultaneity Constancy

Sound and light take different amounts of time to reach their respective receptors, to be transduced, and to be transmitted to the cortex. Their processing times also vary with factors such as intensity and retinal eccentricity. We assessed the capability of subjects to perceive simultaneity correctly despite these variations. Temporal asynchronies of up to 200 ms were introduced between the components of sound/light pairs. Using the method of constant stimuli, seven subjects judged which came first. Distance, and hence the times of arrival of paired visual and auditory targets, was varied from 1 to 32 m. Visual intensity was varied by viewing the target through 1.8 dB attenuating glasses, and a retinal eccentricity of 20° was compared to central presentation. Despite large differences in reaction times, which varied in a predictable way with the stimulus parameters, the timing of sound/light pairings judged as simultaneous corresponded to when the light and sound left the source simultaneously. Almost complete compensation was found in all conditions tested, showing that these substantial but predictable variations in timing can be taken into account in creating simultaneity constancy.
Basaloid Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck is a Mixed Variant That Can be Further Resolved by HPV Status

Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma (BSCC) of the head and neck is set apart as a distinct subtype of squamous cell carcinoma on the basis of its basaloid appearance and aggressive behavior. The purpose of this study was to determine whether BSCC could be further subdivided on the basis of human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16) status. HPV16 in situ hybridization was performed on 53 BSCCs of the head and neck. Of the 53 BSCCs, 21 (40%) arose in the oropharynx and 32 (60%) arose in nonoropharyngeal sites. HPV16 was detected in 34% of BSCCs overall, but the frequency varied by site. HPV16 was detected in 16 of 21 (76%) BSCCs of the oropharynx, but in only 2 of 32 (6%) BSCCs from nonoropharyngeal sites (P<0.0001, Fisher exact). The absence of HPV16 was significantly associated with decreased overall survival (Hazard ratio=17.1; 95% confidence interval=7.2-40.3, log-rank P=0.0001), even though patients with HPV16-positive carcinomas were more likely to present with lymph nodes metastases (P=0.01, Fisher exact). Morphologic similarities aside, BSCCs are composed of a mixed group of tumors that can be separated on the basis of HPV16 status. The distinction is important. HPV16-positivity in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck is now recognized as a powerful indicator of improved patient survival. HPV16 detection thus permits resolution of a less aggressive component within a high-grade subtype of head and neck carcinoma.
The promoter-regulatory region of the major immediate-early gene of human cytomegalovirus responds to T-lymphocyte stimulation and contains functional cyclic AMP-response elements

Prior studies have demonstrated that a small proportion of blood lymphocytes from patients with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection express only the viral immediate-early (IE) genes (L. Einhorn and A. Ost, J. Infect. Dis. 149:207-214, 1984; G. P. A. Rice, R. D. Schrier, and M. B. A. Oldstone, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81:6134-6138, 1984). The present studies demonstrate that the IE genes of HCMV are transcribed in Jurkat cells (T lymphocytes) only after activation of the cells with mitogens. Transcription of the IE genes is from an upstream enhancer promoter-regulatory region containing several different repeated sequence motifs. Chimeric plasmids were constructed with just a single copy or three copies of a synthetic oligonucleotide sequence of either the 16-, 18-, 19-, or 21-base-pair (bp) repeat elements upstream of the minimal wild-type promoter sequence to drive expression of the indicator gene, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT). The 18- or 19-bp motifs in the enhancer region were found to be important in mediating the effect of the mitogens. However, the CAT activity detected with the 19-bp repeat was always significantly higher than that found with the 18-bp repeat. There was an additive effect by multiple copies of the 18- or 19-bp repeat sequences on gene expression. The 19-bp repeat contains a sequence identical to that described for a cyclic AMP (cAMP) response element, and plasmids containing only this sequence and the minimal promoter sequences upstream of the CAT gene respond to agents which increase intracellular cAMP. Functional cAMP response elements are present in the wild-type promoter-regulatory region and are associated with the 19-bp repeat sequences. It is proposed that activation of lymphocytes results in expression of the IE genes of HCMV, in part via the activation of cellular trans-acting factors which interact with the 18- and 19-bp motifs in the HCMV IE promoter-regulatory region. The 19-bp repeat is the major contributor to the strength of this enhancer-containing promoter-regulatory region.
Automatic patch generation learned from human-written patches

Patch generation is an essential software maintenance task because most software systems inevitably have bugs that need to be fixed. Unfortunately, human resources are often insufficient to fix all reported and known bugs. To address this issue, several automated patch generation techniques have been proposed. In particular, a genetic-programming-based patch generation technique, GenProg, proposed by Weimer et al., has shown promising results. However, these techniques can generate nonsensical patches due to the randomness of their mutation operations. To address this limitation, we propose a novel patch generation approach, Pattern-based Automatic program Repair (Par), using fix patterns learned from existing human-written patches. We manually inspected more than 60,000 human-written patches and found there are several common fix patterns. Our approach leverages these fix patterns to generate program patches automatically. We experimentally evaluated Par on 119 real bugs. In addition, a user study involving 89 students and 164 developers confirmed that patches generated by our approach are more acceptable than those generated by GenProg. Par successfully generated patches for 27 out of 119 bugs, while GenProg was successful for only 16 bugs.
Differential Fault Analysis on Grøstl

This paper presents a DFA on Grøstl-256, a hash algorithm that imitates the main structures of AES. Although our attack is inspired by the classical fault attacks on AES these could not be adapted directly. The attack is able to completely recover the whole input message using a one-bit and a random-byte fault model. It needs 16 errors to invert the output transformation Ωn and on average 280 errors for each compression step. When Grøstl is used in a keyed hash function like HMAC, this attack is able to retrieve the secret key from about 300 faulty outputs in less than three minutes.
Association of cigarette smoking with HIV prognosis among women in the HAART era: a report from the women's interagency HIV study.

OBJECTIVE We assessed the association of cigarette smoking with the effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) among low-income women. METHODS Data were analyzed from the Women's Interagency HIV Study, a multisite longitudinal study up to 7.9 years for 924 women representing 72% of all women who initiated HAART between July 1, 1995, and September 30, 2003. RESULTS When Cox's regression was used after control for age, race, hepatitis C infection, illicit drug use, previous antiretroviral therapy, and previous AIDS, smokers on HAART had poorer viral responses (hazard ratio [HR]=0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.67, 0.93) and poorer immunologic response (HR=0.85; 95% CI=0.73, 0.99). A greater risk of virologic rebound (HR=1.39; 95% CI=1.06, 1.69) and more frequent immunologic failure (HR=1.52; 95% CI=1.18, 1.96) were also observed among smokers. There was a higher risk of death (HR=1.53; 95% CI=1.08, 2.19) and a higher risk of developing AIDS (HR=1.36; 95% CI=1.07, 1.72) but no significant difference between smokers and nonsmokers in the risk of death due to AIDS. CONCLUSIONS Some of the benefits provided by HAART are negated in cigarette smokers.
1,3-Difurfurylbenzimidazolium chloride monohydrate

The title compound, C17H15N2O2 +·Cl−·H2O, was synthesized from benzimidazole and furfryl chloride in dimethylformamide. The cationic benzimidazolium ring is connected to two furan rings via methylene bridges. The furan rings make dihedral angle of 79.09 (18)° with respect to each other, and make dihedral angles of 73.92 (12) and 72.58 (13)° with respect to the benzimidazole ring. O—H⋯Cl, C—H⋯O and C—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds and C—H⋯π interactions contribute to the stabilization of the crystal structure. Furthermore, there is a π–π interaction between adjacent five- and six-membered rings of the benzimidazole groups [centroid–centroid distance = 3.5305 (8) Å].
Food Security in Vietnam during the 1990s: The Empirical Evidence

Analysing the performance of ten developing countries, Hoddinot and Yohannes (2002) find a strong association between two measures of food security (calorie intake and mostly dietary diversity) and the increase in expenditures per capita. Using various indicators of food security, we describe the changes in food balances in Vietnam and find evidence of a substitution of poor micronutrients items (rice and cereals) with rich ones like fruit, vegetables fish and meat. Poor households, while increasing the amount of calories consumed, still lack vitamins, iron, calcium, etc.
Mechanisms of the antihypertensive effects of Nigella sativa oil in L-NAME-induced hypertensive rats

OBJECTIVES This study was conducted to determine whether the blood pressure-lowering effect of Nigella sativa might be mediated by its effects on nitric oxide, angiotensin-converting enzyme, heme oxygenase and oxidative stress markers. METHODS: Twenty-four adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided equally into 4 groups. One group served as the control (group 1), whereas the other three groups (groups 2-4) were administered L-NAME (25 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). Groups 3 and 4 were given oral nicardipine daily at a dose of 3 mg/kg and Nigella sativa oil at a dose of 2.5 mg/kg for 8 weeks, respectively, concomitantly with L-NAME administration. RESULTS Nigella sativa oil prevented the increase in systolic blood pressure in the L-NAME-treated rats. The blood pressure reduction was associated with a reduction in cardiac lipid peroxidation product, NADPH oxidase, angiotensin-converting enzyme activity and plasma nitric oxide, as well as with an increase in heme oxygenase-1 activity in the heart. The effects of Nigella sativa on blood pressure, lipid peroxidation product, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase and angiotensin-converting enzyme were similar to those of nicardipine. In contrast, L-NAME had opposite effects on lipid peroxidation, angiotensin-converting enzyme and NO. CONCLUSION: The antihypertensive effect of Nigella sativa oil appears to be mediated by a reduction in cardiac oxidative stress and angiotensin-converting enzyme activity, an increase in cardiac heme oxygenase-1 activity and a prevention of plasma nitric oxide loss. Thus, Nigella sativa oil might be beneficial for controlling hypertension.
Hepatitis B vaccination alone is not adequate for the categorizing of adult subjects with isolated anti‐HBc

Abstract To evaluate the meaning of isolated antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti‐HBc), 88 Chinese subjects with isolated anti‐HBc received rescreening of hepatitis B virus (HBV) markers. Eighty (90.9%) of them were still positive for this antibody and 29 were also found to be positive for antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti‐HBs). The remaining 51 subjects (58.0%) were positive for anti‐HBc alone; 50 of them received a four‐dose schedule of hepatitis B (HB) vaccine. After the initial dose, only one vaccinee disclosed an amnestic anti‐HBs response, that is, anti‐HBs titre > 1000 miu/mL. Forty‐five vaccinees completed the vaccination schedule and 44 (97.8%) had anti‐HBs response. The anti‐HBs responses in 25 of these vaccinees were compared with 25 age‐ and sex‐matched normal susceptible vaccinees. The anti‐HBs response rates in both groups were the same (96 vs 96%). However, the geometric mean titre was significantly lower in the vaccinees with isolated anti‐HBc (512 mIU/mL vs 4688 mIU/mL, P < 0.001). Prevaccinated sera were available in 49 vaccinees with isolated anti‐HBc for detection of antibody to hepatitis B e antigen (anti‐HBe) and HBV DNA; 37 (75.5%) of them had one or two of these markers. As we regarded the rescreening of HBV markers, response to hepatitis B vaccination and presence or absence of anti‐HBe and/or HBV DNA together for categorizing the 88 subjects with isolated anti‐HBc, at least three‐quarters of them had past infection of HBV. The subjects with false positive anti‐HBc test were a minor group. We concluded that the presence or absence of amnestic anti‐HBs response to HB vaccination is not a reliable indicator for categorizing subjects with isolated anti‐HBc. Rescreening of HBV markers, with addition of anti‐HBe and HBV DNA, may be helpful in determining the necessity of HB vaccination.
Pathologic characteristics of early or late acute cellular rejection and outcome after kidney transplant.

OBJECTIVES To determine the pathologic features of early- and late-onset acute cellular rejection that may contribute to graft loss after kidney transplant. MATERIALS AND METHODS There were 247 patients who had acute cellular rejection included in the study. The biopsy that showed the highest acute cellular rejection severity was evaluated for each patient (total, 247 biopsies) and classified as early (time of biopsy, ≤ 6 mo) or late (time of biopsy, > 6 mo) acute cellular rejection. RESULTS The mean scores of interstitial inflammation (interstitial inflammation and tubulitis), scarring (interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy), and vascular disorders (arteriolar hyaline thickening and vascular intimal fibrosis) were significantly higher in late than early acute cellular rejection. Death-censored graft survival at 8 years after kidney transplant was higher in patients who had early (88%) than late acute cellular rejection (66%; P ≤ .001). Early and late acute cellular rejection with either low- or high-grade interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy had similar death-censored graft survival. In patients who had late acute cellular rejection, death-censored graft survival was significantly higher when there was low- (survival, 79%) than high-grade vascular intimal fibrosis (survival, 48%; P ≤ .006). Long-term graft loss was significantly associated with the number of biopsies, intimal arteritis, and tubulitis in patients who had early acute cellular rejection, and vascular intimal fibrosis in patients who had late acute cellular rejection. CONCLUSIONS High-grade vascular intimal fibrosis was a risk factor for poor long-term graft survival in late acute cellular rejection after kidney transplant.
The effects of the leptospiral infection on reproductive performance in sows

A serologic survey was conducted among 76 sows randomly selected from a single farrow-to-finish swine herd, located on the Ibiúna municipality, state of São Paulo, Brazil, to investigate associations between Leptospira spp. seropositivity and reproductive performance. For detection of anti-leptospires antibodies, the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was carried out using live cultures of 22 pathogenic and two saprophytic Leptospira spp. serovars. Questionnaires with open and closed questions were administered to the manager of the herd for collection of information about the sows included in the study and the reproductive performance of the subsequent offspring. The following variables were evaluated: age of sows, total number of piglets born, number of piglets born alive, number of weak piglets, number of weaned piglets, number of mummified fetuses, number of stillbirths, mass of piglets at birth, mass of piglets at weaning, weaning to service interval (WSI), and occurrence of return to heat, mummified fetuses and stillbirths. The frequency of seropositivity for at least one Leptospira spp. serovar was 18.4%. The reactant serovars and respective frequencies were Bratislava (33.3%), Hardjobovis (33.3%), Shermani (19.1%), Icterohaemorrhagiae (9.5%) and Grippotyphosa (4.8%). Seropositivity for Leptospira spp. was associated with prolonged WSI (P<0.001), decreased number of piglets born (P = 0.001), decreased number of piglets born alive (P<0.001), decreased number of weaned piglets (P = 0.003), low mass of the piglets at birth (P<0.01), and increased number of stillbirths (P = 0.001). Seropositive sows had also significant relative risk (P = 0.003) of stillbirths.
Role of Emotion in Shifting Choice Preference: A Neuroscientific Perspective

What role(s) do emotions have in choice preference? Individuals’ choices depend on their memories and cognition but also on their current emotional state. Emotions can play a necessary functional role in decision-making, but in doing this, emotions can alter the stability of the process. The argument for a necessary functional role of emotions is supported by converging evidence from neuropsychological patients with impairments in either emotional responding or in decision-making, alongside human brain imaging. We also point out that functional brain imaging studies need to target brain areas responding to emotion in order to provide stronger evidence for emotion specifically modulating the process of decision-making to influence choice preference.
Reduced tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2 expression is associated with advanced medullary thyroid carcinoma

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are enzymes for extracellular matrix remodeling that are involved in tumor growth, progression and metastasis. Among them, MMP-9 has been implicated in tumor angiogenesis. Tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase (TIMP)-2, a member of the family of MMP inhibitors, induces apoptosis and inhibits various stages of angiogenesis. Previous studies analyzing the expression of MMP-9 and TIMP-2 in medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) are scarce. The aims of the current study were to evaluate MMP-9 and TIMP-2 expression in MTC samples and correlate the results with clinical parameters. Paraffin-embedded samples from 77 MTC patients were evaluated for expression by immunohistochemistry. The clinical data in medical records were retrospectively reviewed. In total, 77 patients aged 35.6±17.1 years were enrolled. Of these patients, 36 had hereditary disease (46.8%). Immunohistochemical staining for MMP-9 and TIMP-2 was detected in 89.6 and 93.5% of the samples, respectively. The expression of MMP-9 was not found to correlate with clinical parameters, although, a trend toward a correlation between MMP-9 and distant metastasis was observed (P=0.053). By contrast, TIMP-2 staining was found to correlate with age at diagnosis (P=0.026) and negatively correlate with tumor size and tumoral stage (P=0.002 and P=0.001, respectively). Notably, the highest levels of TIMP-2 expression were observed in patients with intrathyroidal disease. The MMP-9 enzyme involved in extracellular matrix remodeling is overexpressed in MTC lesions and may contribute to tumor vascularization and growth. Reduced levels of TIMP-2 expression may be implicated in tumor progression and spread of disease.