Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Internet intrusions: global characteristics and prevalence

Network intrusions have been a fact of life in the Internet for many years. However, as is the case with many other types of Internet-wide phenomena, gaining insight into the global characteristics of intrusions is challenging. In this paper we address this problem by systematically analyzing a set of firewall logs collected over four months from over 1600 different networks world wide. The first part of our study is a general analysis focused on the issues of distribution, categorization and prevalence of intrusions. Our data shows both a large quantity and wide variety of intrusion attempts on a daily basis. We also find that worms like CodeRed, Nimda and SQL Snake persist long after their original release. By projecting intrusion activity as seen in our data sets to the entire Internet we determine that there are typically on the order of 25B intrusion attempts per day and that there is an increasing trend over our measurement period. We further find that sources of intrusions are uniformly spread across the Autonomous System space. However, deeper investigation reveals that a very small collection of sources are responsible for a significant fraction of intrusion attempts in any given month and their on/off patterns exhibit cliques of correlated behavior. We show that the distribution of source IP addresses of the non-worm intrusions as a function of the number of attempts follows Zipf's law. We also find that at daily timescales, intrusion targets often depict significant spatial trends that blur patterns observed from individual "IP telescopes"; this underscores the necessity for a more global approach to intrusion detection. Finally, we investigate the benefits of shared information, and the potential for using this as a foundation for an automated, global intrusion detection framework that would identify and isolate intrusions with greater precision and robustness than systems with limited perspective.
Audio Signal Feature Extraction and Classification Using Local Discriminant Bases

Audio feature extraction plays an important role in analyzing and characterizing audio content. Auditory scene analysis, content-based retrieval, indexing, and fingerprinting of audio are few of the applications that require efficient feature extraction. The key to extract strong features that characterize the complex nature of audio signals is to identify their discriminatory subspaces. In this paper, we propose an audio feature extraction and a multigroup classification scheme that focuses on identifying discriminatory time-frequency subspaces using the local discriminant bases (LDB) technique. Two dissimilarity measures were used in the process of selecting the LDB nodes and extracting features from them. The extracted features were then fed to a linear discriminant analysis-based classifier for a three-level hierarchical classification of audio signals into ten classes. In the first level, the audio signals were grouped into artificial and natural sounds. Each of the first level groups were subdivided to form the second level groups viz. instrumental, automobile, human, and nonhuman sounds. The third level was formed by subdividing the four groups of the second level into the final ten groups (drums, flute, piano, aircraft, helicopter, male, female, animals, birds and insects). A database of 213 audio signals were used in this study and an average classification accuracy of 83% for the first level (113 artificial and 100 natural sounds), 92% for the second level (73 instrumental and 40 automobile sounds; 40 human and 60 nonhuman sounds), and 89% for the third level (27 drums, 15 flute, and 31 piano sounds; 23 aircraft and 17 helicopter sounds; 20 male and 20 female speech; 20 animals, 20 birds and 20 insects sounds) were achieved. In addition to the above, a separate classification was also performed combining the LDB features with the mel-frequency cepstral coefficients. The average classification accuracies achieved using the combined features were 91% for the first level, 99% for the second level, and 95% for the third level
Parvovirus B19 infection in five European countries: seroepidemiology, force of infection and maternal risk of infection

SUMMARY We conducted a seroprevalence survey in Belgium, Finland, England & Wales, Italy and Poland on 13 449 serum samples broadly representative in terms of geography and age. Samples were tested for the presence of immunoglobulin G antibody using an enzyme immunoassay. The age-specific risk of infection was estimated using parametric and non-parametric statistical modelling. The age-specific risk in all five countries was highest in children aged 7–9 years and lower in adults. The average proportion of women of child-bearing age susceptible to parvovirus B19 infection and the risk of a pregnant women acquiring B19 infection during pregnancy was estimated to be 26% and 0·61% in Belgium, 38% and 0·69% in England & Wales, 43·5% and 1·24% in Finland, 39·9% and 0·92% in Italy and 36·8% and 1·58% in Poland, respectively. Our study indicates substantial epidemiological differences in Europe regarding parvovirus B19 infection.
Positive Allometry and the Prehistory of Sexual Selection

The function of the exaggerated structures that adorn many fossil vertebrates remains largely unresolved. One recurrent hypothesis is that these elaborated traits had a role in thermoregulation. This orthodoxy persists despite the observation that traits exaggerated to the point of impracticality in extant organisms are almost invariably sexually selected. We use allometric scaling to investigate the role of sexual selection and thermoregulation in the evolution of exaggerated traits of the crested pterosaur Pteranodon longiceps and the sail‐backed eupelycosaurs Dimetrodon and Edaphosaurus. The extraordinarily steep positive allometry of the head crest of Pteranodon rules out all of the current hypotheses for this trait’s main function other than sexual signaling. We also find interspecific patterns of allometry and sexual dimorphism in the sails of Dimetrodon and patterns of elaboration in Edaphosaurus consistent with a sexually selected function. Furthermore, small ancestral, sail‐backed pelycosaurs would have been too small to need adaptations to thermoregulation. Our results question the popular view that the elaborated structures of these fossil species evolved as thermoregulatory organs and provide evidence in support of the hypothesis that Pteranodon crests and eupelycosaur sails are among the earliest and most extreme examples of elaborate sexual signals in the evolution of terrestrial vertebrates.
Complexity Results and Fast Methods for Optimal Tabletop Rearrangement with Overhand Grasps

This paper studies the underlying combinatorial structure of a class of object rearrangement problems, which appear frequently in applications. The problems involve multiple, similar-geometry objects placed on a flat, horizontal surface, where a robot can approach them from above and perform pick-and-place operations to rearrange them. The paper considers both the case where the start and goal object poses overlap, and where they do not. For overlapping poses, the primary objective is to minimize the number of pick-and-place actions and then to minimize the distance traveled by the end-effector. For the non-overlapping case, the objective is solely to minimize the travel distance of the end-effector. Although such problems do not involve all the complexities of general rearrangement, they remain computationally hard in both cases. This is shown through reductions from well-understood, hard combinatorial challenges to these rearrangement problems. The reductions are also shown to hold in the reverse direction, which enables the convenient application on rearrangement of well-studied algorithms. These algorithms can be very efficient in practice despite the hardness results. The paper builds on these reduction results to propose an algorithmic pipeline for dealing with the rearrangement problems. Experimental evaluation, including hardware-based trials, shows that the proposed pipeline computes high-quality paths with regards to the optimization objectives. Furthermore, it exhibits highly desirable scalability as the number of objects increases in both the overlapping and non-overlapping setup.
Micropatterned Surfaces for Control of Cell Shape, Position, and Function

The control of cell position and function is a fundamental focus in the development of applications ranging from cellular biosensors to tissue engineering. Using microcontact printing of self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiolates on gold, we manufactured substrates that contained micrometer‐scale islands of extracellular matrix (ECM) separated by nonadhesive regions such that the pattern of islands determined the distribution and position of bovine and human endothelial cells. In addition, the size and geometry of the islands were shown to control cell shape. Traditional approaches to modulate cell shape, either by attaching suspended cells to microbeads of different sizes or by plating cells on substrates coated with different densities of ECM, suggested that cell shape may play an important role in control of apoptosis as well as growth. Data are presented which show how micropatterned substrates were used to definitively test this hypothesis. Progressively restricting bovine and human endothelial cell extension by culturing cells on smaller and smaller micropatterned adhesive islands regulated a transition from growth to apoptosis on a single continuum of cell spreading, thus confirming the central role of cell shape in cell function. The micropatterning technology is therefore essential not only for construction of biosurface devices but also for the investigation of the fundamental biology of cell−ECM interactions.
S-MASA: A stigmergy based algorithm for multi-target search

We explore the on-line problem of coverage where multiple agents have to find a target whose position is unknown, and without a prior global information about the environment. In this paper a novel algorithm for multi-target search is described, it is inspired from water vortex dynamics and based on the principle of pheromone-based communication. According to this algorithm, called S-MASA (Stigmergic Multi Ant Search Area), the agents search nearby their base incrementally using turns around their center and around each other, until the target is found, with only a group of simple distributed cooperative Ant like agents, which communicate indirectly via depositing/detecting markers. This work improves the search performance in comparison with random walk and S-random walk (stigmergic random walk) strategies, we show the obtained results using computer simulations.
Restoration of Mecp2 expression in GABAergic neurons is sufficient to rescue multiple disease features in a mouse model of Rett syndrome

The postnatal neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome, caused by mutations in MECP2, produces a diverse array of symptoms, including loss of language, motor, and social skills and the development of hand stereotypies, anxiety, tremor, ataxia, respiratory dysrhythmias, and seizures. Surprisingly, despite the diversity of these features, we have found that deleting Mecp2 only from GABAergic inhibitory neurons in mice replicates most of this phenotype. Here we show that genetically restoring Mecp2 expression only in GABAergic neurons of male Mecp2 null mice enhanced inhibitory signaling, extended lifespan, and rescued ataxia, apraxia, and social abnormalities but did not rescue tremor or anxiety. Female Mecp2+/- mice showed a less dramatic but still substantial rescue. These findings highlight the critical regulatory role of GABAergic neurons in certain behaviors and suggest that modulating the excitatory/inhibitory balance through GABAergic neurons could prove a viable therapeutic option in Rett syndrome. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.14198. 001
A quantum model for charge transfer in DNA incorporating coherent and incoherent processes

A Simplified Quantum mechanical (QM) charge transfer (CT) model has been proposed for charge transfer (CT) in DNA chain. To check the accuracy of the model, simulated results and experimental results are compared and found excellent agreement. In spite of simplification the model is capable of explaining distance dependent charge transfer (CT) in DNA chain both qualitatively and quantitatively. This model incorporates both elastic tunneling and inelastic scattering concurrently, which as per the best knowledge of the authors has not yet been proposed in the literature.
Optical Density of Subretinal Fluid in Retinal Detachment.

PURPOSE To investigate the changes over time in optical density (OD) characteristics of subretinal fluid (SRF) in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) and their clinical relevance. METHODS The study included patients with first-onset RRD and no history of intraocular illness who underwent optical coherence tomography (OCT) and whose OCT scans showed sufficient SRF for sampling (08/2013-09/2014). The highest quality B-scan (as graded by the OCT image acquisition software) containing SRF was analyzed. Optical density measurements were obtained using ImageJ. Optical density ratios (ODRs) were calculated as SRF OD divided by vitreous OD. Time from onset of RRD was determined by first signs of visual loss as described in the patient's anamnesis. Patients were divided into three groups by RRD duration: acute (≤1 week), subacute (between 1 week and 1 month), and chronic (>1 month). RESULTS Thirty-five eyes (34 patients) met the inclusion criteria. The ODR measurement was significantly associated with RRD duration. The ODR had a significant (P < 0.0001) association with the 3-month postoperative visual acuity (VA). Vitreous OD did not differ significantly between the three groups. CONCLUSIONS The increase over time in the ODR of the SRF in RRD might reflect a change in SRF composition and state of the retina. This, together with a significant association between preoperative ODR values and postoperative VA suggest its potential as a biological prognostic marker.
Lithospheric structure beneath the northeastern Tibetan Plateau and the western Sino-Korea Craton revealed by Rayleigh wave tomography

SUMMARY A new 3-D shear wave velocity model of the northeastern (NE) Tibetan Plateau and western Sino-Korea Craton is presented. The model is based on Rayleigh waves recorded at 650 portable stations deployed in the region. Interstation phase and group velocity dispersions for more than 18 000 paths were estimated using the two-station method and then inverted to produce phase velocity maps for 10–80 s period and group velocity maps for 10–60 s period. Local 1-D shear wave velocity proﬁles for each 0.5 ◦ × 0.5 ◦ grid node were obtained by inverting Rayleigh wave dispersions obtained in this study together with previously published Rayleigh wave group velocities between 60 and 145 s and then assembled into a 3-D shear wave velocity model. The images obtained reveal an obvious mid-crustal low-velocity zone (LVZ) and low-velocity anomaly in the upper mantle beneath the Songpan–Ganzi terrane. The mid-crustal LVZ can be explained by the presence of partial melting, most likely from asthenospheric upwelling. The existence of a relatively weak mid-crustal LVZ beneath the Qilian orogeny is also conﬁrmed. This LVZ is likely caused by the presence of deep crustal ﬂuids. The Yinchuan–Hetao graben is characterized by relatively low velocities that extend to at least 200 km below the Earth’s surface, strongly contrasting with the seismically fast lithosphere of the Ordos and Alax blocks. The model presented here shows the presence of a relatively thick and high-velocity lithosphere beneath the Ordos and NE Alxa blocks, as well as evidence of thinning of the lithosphere beneath the southwestern Alxa and Qilian blocks, indicating that the Alxa block is not subducting beneath NE Tibet.
Public’s Health Risk Awareness on Urban Air Pollution in Chinese Megacities: The Cases of Shanghai, Wuhan and Nanchang

This study assessed the public’s health risk awareness of urban air pollution triggered by three megacities in China, and the data are the responses from a sample size of 3868 megacity inhabitants from Shanghai, Nanchang and Wuhan. Descriptive analyses were used to summarize the respondents’ demographics, perceived health risks from air pollution and sources of health-related knowledge on urban air pollution. Chi-square tests were used to examine if participants’ demographics were associated with participant’s general attitudes towards current air quality and the three perceived highest health risks due to urban air pollution. We found low rate of satisfaction of current urban air quality as well as poor knowledge of air pollution related indicator. Participants’ gender, age and travel experience were found to be associated with the satisfaction of current air quality. The knowledge of air pollution related indicator was significantly affected by respondents’ education, monthly income, health status, and sites of study. As many as 46.23% of the participants expressed their feelings of anxiety when exposed to polluted air, especially females, older adults and those with poor health conditions. Most participants believed that coughs/colds, eye problems and skin allergies were the three highest health risks due to urban air pollution based on public education through television/radio, internet and newspaper/magazine. Further public health education is needed to improve public awareness of air pollution and its effects.
A measurement-based approach to modeling link capacity in 802.11-based wireless networks

We present a practical, measurement-based model that captures the effect of interference in 802.11-based wireless LAN or mesh networks. The goal is to model capacity of any given link in the presence of any given number of interferers in a deployed network, carrying any specified amount of offered load. Central to our modeling approach is a MAC-layer model for 802.11 that is fed by PHY-layer models for deferral and packet capture behaviors, which in turn are profiled based on measurements. The target network to be evaluated needs only O(N) measurement steps to gather metrics for individual links that seed the models. We provide two solution approaches - one based on direct simulation (slow, but accurate) and the other based on analytical methods (faster, but approximate). We present elaborate validation results for a 12 node 802.11b mesh network using upto 5 interfering transmissions. We demonstrate, using as comparison points three simpler modeling approaches, that the accuracy of our approach is much better, predicting link capacities with errors within 10% of the base channel datarate for about 90% of the cases.
Esophageal cancer in north rift valley of Western Kenya.

BACKGROUND Cancer of esophagus is the 9 th It is aggressive with poor prognosis especially in its late stage. Cancer of esophagus is geographically unevenly distributed with high incidence found within sharply demarcated geographic confines. Earlier reports from this country indicated relatively high proportion of cases in residents of Western and Central provinces with low incidence in the residents of the Rift Valley Province. This does not seem to be in agreement with our findings. Several aetiological factors have been associated with this type of cancer although their definitive mechanistic role is not clear. OBJECTIVE The main aim of this study was to describe the incidence, clinical epidemiology and histology of esophageal cancer in the North Rift region of Western Kenya, which forms the patients catchment area of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret. METHODS This study involved a review of all available pathology reports beginning from January 1994 up to May 2001 from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. All reports of esophageal cancer were abstracted and analyzed according to gender, age and ethnical background. All cases were based on histological diagnosis. Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software package. RESULTS Esophageal cancer in this area is the most common cancer in men, yet it is the third common cancer in women. A male to female ratio of 1.5 to 1 was observed. Our finding also contrast with an earlier reported study that indicated that Rift Valley is a low prevalence area for this type of cancer. The mean age of the patients with this cancer was 58.7 years. The ethnic group most afflicted were Nandis and Luhyas. They are the majority tribes in this area. Squamous cell carcinoma accounted for 90% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS Cancer of the esophagus is the most common malignancy in males and the third common malignancy in females in the catchment area of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Eldoret. There is need to carry out further work to establish the aetiologic factors behind this neoplasm. This study forms a preliminary basis of further investigation to be undertaken to identify genes that are mutated during the carcinogenic development of this cancer. This may lead to identification of molecular biomarkers to be used in future for the early detection of this neoplasm.
Extracellular matrix regulation in the development of Syrian cardiomyopathic Bio 14.6 and Bio 53.58 hamsters.

The myocardium contains a collagen matrix composed primarily of collagen and fibronectin, which are major determinants of the myocardial architecture, structural integrity and mechanical properties. The present study was undertaken to determine the age-related changes of the accumulation and degradation of the collagen matrix in Syrian myopathic hamsters, of the Bio 14.6 and Bio 53.58 strains. Those hamsters were used as models for hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathy, respectively. The heart to body weight ratio in the Bio 14.6 strains was higher (P<0.05) than that in the age-matched F1b strains. In the Bio 53.58 strains, the heart to body weight ratio was higher at 8 and 42 weeks of age than that in the F1b strains. The collagen content increased from 22 weeks of age in both Bio hamsters compared with age-matched F1b hamsters (P<0.05). In both cardiomyopathic hamsters, the mRNA expressions for type I and type III collagen and fibronectin all increased with aging; however, the fibronectin expression in the Bio 14.6 strains increased more at 22 weeks of age than at 42 weeks of age. The left ventricular MMP-1, MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities in Bio 53.58 strains increased with aging. However, in the Bio 14.6 strains, although MMP-1 activities increased with aging, MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities decreased at 42 weeks of age in comparison to those at 22 weeks of age. Thus, the MMP activation differed between two cardiomyopathic models at the stage of heart failure, although the collagen synthesis was elevated in both models. In conclusion, it would seem that the relative balance between the synthesis and the removal of collagen may contribute to the changes in the left ventricular geometry in two different types of cardiomyopathy.
Suppression of the Polar Tongue of Ionization During the 21 August 2017 Solar Eclipse

It has long been recognized that during solar eclipses, the ionosphere‐thermosphere system changes greatly within the eclipse shadow, due to the rapid reduction of solar irradiation. However, the concept that a solar eclipse impacts polar ionosphere behavior and dynamics as well as magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling has not been appreciated. In this study, we investigate the potential impact of the 21 August 2017 solar eclipse on the polar tongue of ionization (TOI) using a high‐resolution, coupled ionosphere‐thermosphere‐electrodynamics model. The reduction of electron densities by the eclipse in the middle latitude TOI source region leads to a suppressed TOI in the polar region. The TOI suppression occurred when the solar eclipse moved into the afternoon sector. The Global Positioning System total electron content observations show similar tendency of polar region total electron content suppression. This study reveals that a solar eclipse occurring at middle latitudes may have significant influences on the polar ionosphere and magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling.