Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
User detection of threats with different security measures

Cyber attacks and the associated costs made cybersecurity a vital part of any system. User behavior and decisions are still a major part in the coping with these risks. We developed a model of optimal investment and human decisions with security measures, given that the effectiveness of each measure depends partly on the performance of the others. In an online experiment, participants classified events as malicious or non-malicious, based on the value of an observed variable. Prior to making the decisions, they had invested in three security measures - a firewall, an IDS or insurance. In three experimental conditions, maximal investment in only one of the measures was optimal, while in a fourth condition, participants should not have invested in any of the measures. A previous paper presents the analysis of the investment decisions. This paper reports users’ classifications of events when interacting with these systems. The use of security mechanisms helped participants gain higher scores. Participants benefited in particular from purchasing IDS and/or Cyber Insurance. Participants also showed higher sensitivity and compliance with the alerting system when they could benefit from investing in the IDS. Participants, however, did not adjust their behavior optimally to the security settings they had chosen. The results demonstrate the complex nature of risk-related behaviors and the need to consider human abilities and biases when designing cyber security systems.
Data Stream Processing in Software Defined Networks: Perspectives and Challenges

The new paradigm of network softwarization is pushing programmability and programming abstractions as key elements at different levels on both data and control planes of the network. However, the availability of programmable abstractions and devices per se is not sufficient to guarantee high-speed processing rates to network applications without the adoption of efficient programming models and accelerating methodologies. The paper discusses the possible sources of computation bottlenecks and proposes Data Stream Processing (DaSP) as a viable programming model for a unified scheme of accelerating data elaboration over both fast and slow data paths. Perspectives and implications of the adoption of DaSP are presented along with possible research directions.
DC-Patch: A Microarchitectural Fault Patching Technique for GPU Register Files

The ever-increasing parallelism demand of General-Purpose Graphics Processing Unit (GPGPU) applications pushes toward larger and more energy-hungry register files in successive GPU generations. Reducing the supply voltage beyond its safe limit is an effective way to improve the energy efficiency of register files. However, at these operating voltages, the reliability of the circuit is compromised. This work aims to tolerate permanent faults from process variations in large GPU register files operating below the safe supply voltage limit. To do so, this paper proposes a microarchitectural patching technique, DC-Patch, exploiting the inherent data redundancy of applications to compress registers at run-time with neither compiler assistance nor instruction set modifications. Instead of disabling an entire faulty register file entry, DC-Patch leverages the reliable cells within a faulty entry to store compressed register values. Experimental results show that, with more than a third of faulty register entries, DC-Patch ensures a reliable operation of the register file and reduces the energy consumption by 47% with respect to a conventional register file working at nominal supply voltage. The energy savings are 21% compared to a voltage noise smoothing scheme operating at the safe supply voltage limit. These benefits are obtained with less than 2 and 6% impact on the system performance and area, respectively.
The Role of Individual Differences as Predictors of Trust in Autonomous Security Robots

This research used an Autonomous Security Robot (ASR) scenario to examine public reactions to a robot that possesses the authority and capability to inflict harm on a human. Individual differences in terms of personality and Perfect Automation Schema (PAS) were examined as predictors of trust in the ASR. Participants (N=316) from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) rated their trust of the ASR and desire to use ASRs in public and military contexts following a 2-minute video depicting the robot interacting with three research confederates. The video showed the robot using force against one of the three confederates with a non-lethal device. Results demonstrated that individual differences factors were related to trust and desired use of the ASR. Agreeableness and both facets of the PAS (high expectations and all-or-none beliefs) demonstrated unique associations with trust using multiple regression techniques. Agreeableness, intellect, and high expectations were uniquely related to desired use for both public and military domains. This study showed that individual differences influence trust and one’s desired use of ASRs, demonstrating that societal reactions to ASRs may be subject to variation among individuals.
A Nonlinear Control Method for Bumpless Mode Transition in Noninverting Buck–Boost Converter

The noninverting buck–boost (NIBB) converter is a step-up and step-down dc–dc converter suitable for applications with a wide input voltage range. However, this circuit will face the problem of operating mode switching when the input voltage is close to the output voltage. Considering this problem, the principles of the NIBB converter are analyzed in this article. The duty cycle combinations of an NIBB converter are analyzed, and an analysis method for the mode transition problem from a geometric perspective is proposed. Using the two-edge pulsewidth modulation method, a novel bumpless mode transition control method is proposed. A nonlinear feedforward controller with hysteresis is designed according to the state equation of the circuit. Moreover, the inductor current reference value is compensated when the mode is switched so that the mode transition problem of the NIBB circuit is effectively solved. In addition, a small-signal analysis of the proposed method is performed. The analysis shows that the proposed method has good stability and dynamic performance in various typical conditions. A 10-kW NIBB prototype is built in this article, and the corresponding experimental scenarios are designed. The experimental results show that compared with the results of unified PI control during the mode transition, the transient oscillation of the output voltage is smaller, and the duration of the transient process is shorter.
Helminth fauna of Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758) in the south of Espírito Santo State in Brasil

Summary Due to an inadequate knowledge about threats to the sea turtle, we aimed to evaluate the helminth fauna of Chelonia mydas which had died on the southern coast of Espirito Santo, Brasil and described the associated tissue pathological lesions. Retrospective and prospective studies on turtle parasites were conducted and tissues samples were collected. 106 of 212 of sea turtles (50 %) were parasitized, and 47 of 106 of infected animals 43.0 % (47/106) were in poor health condition. Seven trematoda families covering 19 different helminths species were identified. Turtles were inhabited with one or more species of parasites, and there was no significant association between parasitism and weakness of the animals. Trematode eggs, with or without giant cells in tissues of various organs were observed.
Effects of Free-air CO_2 Enrichment (FACE) on Growth Duration of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) and Its Cause

Global atmospheric CO_2 concentrations () are projected to reach levels of 650-780 μmol·mol~(-1) at the end of this century (IPCC,2000). The increase in atmospheric has the potential to enhance the growth and development of rice. However,little is known about the effect of free-air CO_2 enrichment (FACE) on growth duration of rice and its physiological cause. So we conducted a FACE experiment at Anzhen,Wuxi,Jiangsu Province,in 2001-2003,using the Japonica cultivar Wuxiangjing 14. The target of the FACE plots was 200 μmol·mol~(-1) above that in the ambient air. Three levels of N were supplied:low (LN,150 kg·ha~(-1)),normal (NN,250 kg·ha~(-1)) and high N (HN,350 kg·ha~(-1)). Results showed that:Compared with CK,the duration from sowing to heading, from heading to maturity and the whole growth duration of rice shrank 3-5 d (mean value 3.4 d),1-5 d (mean value 2.4 d),4-9 d (mean value 5.8 d)days in FACE treatment. Increment of nitrogen application rate could weaken the effect of FACE on growth duration. FACE treatment resulted in the obvious decrease of N content in rice plant and obvious increase of P content in rice plant and soluble carbohydrates content in stem and sheath at different growth stage. Multiple regression and path analysis indicated that the sequence of factors which had significant effect on whole growth duration from the biggest to the smallest were N content in rice plant at jointing stage, P content in rice plant at heading stage, soluble carbohydrates content in stem and sheath at heading stage and N content in rice plant at N-n leaf stage. This suggests that one of the physiological reasons for the reduction of whole growth duration is the obvious decrease of N content in rice plant at jointing stage and obvious increase of P content in rice plant and soluble carbohydrates content in stem and sheath at heading stage.
Protective Effect of Graviola (Annona muricata) Leaves Extract Against Cadmium-Induced Testicular Toxicity In Male Albino Rats

Graviola (Annona muricata), an edible plant belonging to the Annonaceae family, has a long history in traditional medicine due to its wide range of therapeutic effects on many ailments. This study was planned to assess the protective potentials of Graviola leaves extract (GLE) on cadmium-induced testicular damage in male albino rats. The study was conducted on 32 male adult Wistar rats randomly divided into four groups (n=8/each). A (control group); B (GLE, 100 mg/kg); C (cadmium chloride (CdCl2), 5 mg/kg) and D (GLE, 100 mg/kg + CdCl2 5 mg/kg). All administrations were performed by daily gavage for 8 weeks. Blood, testes, and epididymis were harvested for biochemical and histological investigations. In addition to sperm analysis, sperm DNA comet assay, and apoptotic indices. Results revealed that GLE significantly reversed (p<0.05) testicular oxidative stress induced by CdCl2, maintained male sex hormones levels, and restored testis architecture via increasing the testicular antioxidant status. GLE co-treatment significantly increased (p<0.05) sperm count, motility, viability, and DNA integrity along with significantly reducing sperm DNA damage and sperm head abnormality in comparison with CdCl2 group. Additionally, GLE protected germ cells from Cd-induced apoptosis. In conclusion, results of the present study confirmed that GLE has potent antioxidant potentials and cytoprotective capacity against the deleterious effects of CdCl2 on testicular tissue by reducing cellular oxidative stress prompted by the generation of the reactive oxygen species.
Effects of spatiotemporal scale on autocorrelation and home range estimators

We compared 3 home range estimators (kernel estimator [Kernel], multiple polygons by clustering [Cluster], and minimum convex polygon [MCP]) and evaluated a measure of autocorrelation (Schoener's ratio), with respect to the effects of sampling frequency, spatial resolution of the sampling reference grid, and sample size. We also used Schoener's ratio as a descriptor of within home range movements. An extensive dataset from radiotracking of root voles (Microtus oeconomus) formed the basis for these comparisons. The degree of autocorrelation was sex specific. In particular, locations of reproductive females were significantly autocorrelated for a sampling interval equal to the period of the population's ultradian activity rhythm, indicating territory patrolling behavior in this sex. We assessed the effect of spatial resolution of animal location data on home range descriptors by manipulating the cell size of the sampling reference grids. The Kernel estimator was robust to changes in spatial resolution of the data. In contrast, the polygon estimates were severely biased upwards with decreasing spatial resolution (increasing grid cell size). Therefore, comparative studies based on polygon methods must use the same spatial resolution. The sampling frequency affected all estimators, but qualitative differences were found among the specific estimators. Numerical resampling methods indicated that home range sizes were underestimated, and that the precision of the estimators was generally low.
HADDOCK – A Tool for Drug Development Identifying Protein Conformational Features Limiting Docking Success of Aldose Reductase Ensembles

Aldose reductase is an enzyme found in mammalian tissues which reduces glucose to sorbitol. Aldose reductase is of interest as a drug target due to its role in the generation of diabetic complications such as diabetic cataracts and diabetic neuropathy. Much drug discovery is dependent on the ability to accurately predict how proteins and their inhibitors may bind. HADDOCK is a computational protein docking program which accounts for conformational variability between the bound and unbound states of proteins and their inhibitors by allowing bonds to rotate for both the ligand and the protein binding site. I have used an ensemble of 31 different aldose reductase protein structures in four docking experiments to assess the success of docking a small ligand into different conformations of the same protein, and to identify protein conformational features impacting docking success. Through these experiments, I have found that the important binding site conformational changes which often determine docking success are centered around a specificity pocket, which can open for larger ligand binding by the shifting of a loop containing the Leu301 residue. Smaller ligands tend not to occupy this site, allowing the Leu301 residue to move into the specificity pocket and close it off from ligand binding. The results of the four docking experiments indicate that docking success is higher in structures that contain a specificity pocket with an open conformation, especially for larger ligands such as the phenoxyacetic acid derivative ligand from the 1t40 structure. Smaller ligands do not exhibit such a strong requirement for the open specificity pocket, and often dock successfully into both open and closed site protein structures. Larger ligands require buried site settings, as well as a larger definition of the binding site provided by the 10Å restraints to effectively sample acceptable poses. Smaller ligands also require a larger definition of the binding site to effectively sample acceptable poses, but do not exhibit a preference for protocol like larger ligands do. This understanding may be used to improve the docking phase of drug design by utilizing protein structures conducive to successful docking. Approved by ______________________________________________ (Thesis Advisor)
Determinants of turnover intentions of librarians at the City of Johannesburg libraries in Gauteng province, South Africa

Organisations, including public libraries, are confronted with the challenges of managing, controlling and putting in place retention strategies to mitigate against high turnover intention. Turnover intention can bring devastation to an organisation and can also lead to negative consequences such as decreased morale and productivity, shortage of skilled and qualified librarians, direct and indirect costs to the library organisation. This quantitative study employed the census method and adopted the cross-sectional survey design, including the use of a structured questionnaire to collect data from 174 librarians at the City of Johannesburg Libraries (COJLIS) in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings in relation to demographic factors revealed that the majority of the librarians (51%) who have been with the library organisation for a considerable length of time report (length of service) exhibited turnover intention . Findings further showed that the majority of librarians are mostly dissatisfied with organisational determinants, namely: payment and fringe benefits, working environment: flexi working hours (work-life balance) and promotion and recognition which are significant predictors of turnover intention. It is recommended that in order to mitigate turnover intention and increase retention, strategic initiatives should be developed which could incorporate the variables such as payment and fringe benefits, promotion and recognition.
The Effect of Trust, Safety, Service Quality and Risk Perception on Online Purchasing Decisions on Lazada E-Commerce (Study of Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Sumatera Utara)

The purpose of this study was to determine and analyze the effect of trust, safety, service quality, risk perception and online purchasing decisions on Lazada e-commerce. Data collection in this study was carried out through a quantitative approach by distributing questionnaires. The samples in this study were students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Sumatera Utara from 2017-2018 who had made 100 online purchases. The data analysis method uses descriptive analysis and statistical analysis of multiple linear regression. The results showed that simultaneous trust, security, service quality, risk perception had a positive and significant effect on online purchasing decisions. Partially, trust has a positive and significant influence on online purchasing decisions. Partially, security has a positive and significant influence on online purchasing decisions. Partially the quality of service has a positive and significant effect on online purchasing decisions. And partially, risk perception has a negative and significant effect on online purchasing decisions at Lazada. Of the four variables, service quality is the dominant variable in influencing online purchasing decisions at Lazada.
Productivity/Turnover and Richness/Turnover relationships in a Puerto Rican pasture

Species turnover is a key parameter influencing dynamics of species in a community. Here I explore relationships between temporal species turnover and productivity and between temporal species turnover and richness in an abandoned pasture in Puerto Rico. Permanent plot data collected in the pasture over the first 10 years after abandonment were used to generate linear regressions, which were then used to test two hypotheses about how productivity and richness relate to turnover, as this pasture reverts back to rainforest. I found (1) productivity had a slight positive relationship (small positive slope) with turnover in years two and three after abandonment, but a large negative relationship (large negative slope) in year four and afterwards, and (2) richness had a negative relationship with turnover in every year which increased (slope became more negative) with time. Because both productivity and richness had a negative relationship with turnover, species loss decreased with time even when species productivity and richness continued to increase or level off; turnover consists mainly in the loss of less productive species. I suggest restoration strategies that managers may follow to either increase or decrease that most basic successional parameter, turnover.
ON LEARNERS’ ERROR REPAIR IN SPEAKING

This exploratory study was carried out in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom at a Higher Education Institution in Ecuador. The objective was to investigate whether corrective feedback (CF) can improve grammatical accuracy in students' oral interactions and what type of CF is most effective in producing correctly constructed statements. The 18-week study involved twenty-eight participants in two classes. Each class received a D oc en ci a EFL Teachers’ Corrective Feedback and Its Effect On Learners’ Error Repair in Speaking I 97 AXIOMARevista Científica de Investigación, Docencia y Proyección Social Todos los derechos reservados specific CF, thus, the group 1 metalinguistic and the group 2 reformulation. The results of a series of consecutive tests (9) revealed that the provision of the two types of CF led to a significant correction of statements produced by students in specific linguistic structures. The remarkable performance of the group of students with whom the metalinguistic CF was practiced indicated the effectiveness of this one on the CF of reformulation. The findings of this study suggest that language teachers should use more metalinguistic feedback for the treatment of EFL students' errors when interacting orally.
Dependence of Mass–Dimensional Relationships on Median Mass Diameter

Retrievals of ice cloud properties require accurate estimates of ice particle mass. Empirical mass–dimensional (m–D) relationships in the form m = a D b are widely used and usually universally applied across the complete range of particle sizes. For the first time, the dependence of a and b coefficients in m–D relationships on median mass diameter (Dmm) is studied. Using combined cloud microphysical data collected during the Olympic Mountains Experiment and coincident observations from Airborne Precipitation Radar Third Generation, Dmm-dependent (a, b) coefficients are derived and represented as surfaces of equally plausible solutions determined by some tolerance in the chi-squared difference χ 2 that minimizes the difference between observed and retrieved radar reflectivity. Robust dependences of a and b on Dmm are shown with both parameters significantly decreasing with Dmm, leading to smaller effective densities for larger Dmm ranges. A universally applied constant m–D relationship overestimates the mass of large aggregates when Dmm is between 3–6 mm and temperatures are between −15–0 °C. Multiple m–D relations should be applied for different Dmm ranges in retrievals and simulations to account for the variability of particle sizes that are responsible for the mass and thus for the variability of particle shapes and densities.
PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF AN INDIGENOUS Bacillus thuringiensis STRAIN (B.t. LDC 501) EXPRESSING CANCER CELL KILLING PROTEIN

Screening of coastal soil samples from Ramnad district, Tamil Nadu, South India, revealed the presence of a novel non-haemolytic and non-insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis strain that contained spherical inclusion body and exerted cytotoxic action on cultured human cancer cells. When protoplasmic extract of the B.t. LDC 501 isolate digest with proteinase K exerted significant toxicity on cell lines such as U937, HL-60 and primary leukemic cells. It also had mild influence on Jurkat (T cell lymphoma) but nontoxic to normal human leukocytes. Majority of the biochemical tests of the strain revealed similar characteristics like that of insecticidal strain B. thuringiensis (BGSC-4Q2) with slight variation. Moreover, antibiotic sensitivity assay discriminated the strain from B. anthracis due to its ability to resist ampicillin. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the distinctive nature of the strain as it forms a separate clade from other Bacillus strains.
lsoenzyme Analysis of Isolates of the Entomogenous Fungi Tolypocladium cylindrosporum and Tolypocladium extinguens

Isoenzyme analysis of 11 isolates of Tolypocladiam cylindrosporam and T. extingaens revealed considerable variability between strains of the same species and confirmed great differences between the two species. An exception was the striking similarities in isoenzyme patterns observed for the California isolates of T. cylindrosporum isolated from Aedes sierrensis larvae from 1972 to 1979. This considerable homogeneity suggests a rather stable genotypic equilibrium in the fungal population which was maintained with little alteration even after repeated subculturing in the laboratory.