Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Randomized pseudo-probabilistic encryption algorithms

The aim of the paper is providing resistance of the deniable encryption protocols to coercive attacks at which coercer has possibility to cause repeated encryption of the same input messages and/or to estimate the duration of the decryption procedure performed for disclosing the secret message. It is used the method of randomizing the encryption process and the same decryption algorithm is specified to disclose both the secret and the fake messages. There are introduced randomized pseudo-probabilistic block algorithms for deniable encryption which are implemented as probabilistic simultaneous encryption of the fake and secret message. The proposed algorithms include encryption of the secret message block and the fake message block followed by a randomized mapping the pair of intermediate ciphertext blocks into a single block of the output ciphertext. The mapping procedure represents solving the system of three linear congruencies.
Influence of osmotic strength on cross‐section and volume of isolated single muscle fibres

Despite long-continued interest in the subject, uncertainty still exists about some fundamental aspects of the osmotic behaviour of striated muscle cells. One unsettled problem has to do with the extent to which the fibre adjusts its volume in response to changes in the osmotic pressure of the bathing medium. There is abundant evidence, both from indirect observations and from direct measurements of volume, that under conditions in which one might expect the transfer of solutes across the cell membrane to be slight and over a moderate range of osmotic strengths, the striated muscle fibre exhibits ideal or nearly ideal osmotic behaviour (in the sense that it behaves as a freely distensible semipermeable bag containing a fixed amount of solute and a certain amount of solid or osmotically inactive matter) (e.g. Sato, 1954a; Dydynska & Wilkie, 1963; Reuben, Lopez, Brandt & Grundfest, 1963). However, recent studies in which changes in fibre volume were estimated from measurements of the widths of single muscle fibres have suggested departures from ideal behaviour at very high and very low osmotic strengths. Dydynska & Wilkie (1963) found that the widths of fibres in the sternocutaneus muscle of the frog did not decrease as much as would have been expected when the muscle was placed in solutions whose osmotic strength had been made more than twice normal by the addition of sucrose. This finding was in contrast with the results of their chemical estimates of fibre water in the sartorius muscle, which indicated that the muscle fibres exhibited ideal osmotic behaviour up to osmotic strengths at least four times that of the normal bathing solution. Reuben et al. (1963) estimated changes in the volume of isolated single fibres of the semitendinosus muscle of the frog, and found that the fibres appeared to swell less than might have been expected when the osmotic strength of the bathing solution was reduced by more than half. This finding is in qualitative agreement with the results of some chemical estimates of fibre water made on whole muscles by Grieve
Age Related Changes in 5‐methylcytosine Content in Human Peripheral Leukocytes and Placentas: an HPLC‐based Study

The goal of the present study was to investigate inter‐individual and age‐dependent variation of global DNA methylation in human tissues. In this work, we examined 5‐methyldeoxycytidine (metC) content by HPLC in human peripheral blood leukocytes obtained from 76 healthy individuals of ages varying from 4 to 94 years (yr), and 39 human placentas from various gestational stages. The HPLC analysis revealed a significant variation of metC across individuals and is consistent with the previous findings of age‐dependent decrease of global methylation levels in human tissues. The age‐dependent decrease of metC was relatively small, but statistically highly significant (p= 0.0002) in the aged group (65.9 ± 8.9 [mean age ± SD] yr; n = 22) in comparison to the young adult group (19.3 ± 1.4 yr; n = 21). Males showed a subtle but statistically significant higher mean metC content than females. In contrast to the peripheral blood samples, DNA extracted from placentas exhibited gestational stage‐dependent increase of methylation levels that appeared to inversely correlate with the expression levels of human endogenous retroviruses. These data may be helpful in further studies of DNA methylation, such as inheritance of epigenetic patterns, environment‐induced changes, and involvement of epigenetic changes in disease.
Diving into Haze-Lines: Color Restoration of Underwater Images

Underwater images suffer from color distortion and low contrast, because light is attenuated as it propagates through water. The attenuation varies with wavelength and depends both on the properties of the water body in which the image was taken and the 3D structure of the scene, making it difﬁcult to restore the colors. Existing single underwater image enhancement techniques either ignore the wavelength dependency of the attenuation, or assume a speciﬁc spectral proﬁle. We propose a new method that takes into account multiple spectral proﬁles of different water types, and restores underwater scenes from a single image. We show that by estimating just two additional global parameters - the attenuation ratios of the blue-red and blue-green color channels - the problem of underwater image restoration can be reduced to single image dehazing, where all color channels have the same attenuation coefﬁcients. Since we do not know the water type ahead of time, we try different parameter sets out of an existing library of water types. Each set leads to a different restored image and the one that best satisﬁes the Gray-World assumption is chosen. The proposed single underwater image restoration method is fully automatic and is based on a more comprehensive physical image formation model than previously used. We collected a dataset of real images taken in different locations with varying water properties and placed color charts in the scenes. Moreover, to obtain ground truth, the 3D structure of the scene was calculated based on stereo imaging. This dataset enables a quantitative evaluation of restoration algorithms on natural images and shows the advantage of the proposed method.
Integrated high-voltage CMOS mixed-signal instrumentation system for OFET-based gas sensor

This paper presents the concept and experimental results of a mixed-signal instrumentation system featuring a high-voltage CMOS ASIC. This system is dedicated to operate an OFET-based gas sensor. It is composed of high-voltage amplifiers, used to bias the OFET, a low-voltage analog signal processing chain, a 12-bit σΔ ADC, a 5-bit DAC and a digital SoC. This FPGA-implemented SoC controls the whole system. In particular, it generates specific control signals of the OFET's gate voltage. The high voltage supply is generated on-chip by means of dedicated charge pumps.
The cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitor roscovitine inhibits kinase activity, cell proliferation, multicellular development, and Cdk5 nuclear translocation in Dictyostelium discoideum

Roscovitine, a cyclin‐dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor, inhibited kinase activity and the axenic growth of Dictyostelium discoideum at micromolar concentrations. Growth was almost fully rescued in 50 µM and ∼50% rescued in 100 µM roscovitine‐treated cultures by the over‐expression of Cdk5‐GFP. This supports the importance of Cdk5 function during cell proliferation in Dictyostelium and indicates that Cdk5 is a primary target of the drug. Roscovitine did not affect the expression of Cdk5 protein during axenic growth but did inhibit its nuclear translocation. This novel result suggests that the effects of roscovitine could be due in part to altering Cdk5 translocation in other systems as well. Kinase activity was inhibited by roscovitine in assays using AX3 whole cell lysates, but not in assays using lysates from Cdk5‐GFP over‐expressing cells. At higher concentrations, roscovitine impaired slug and fruiting body formation. Fruiting bodies that did form were small and produced relatively fewer spores many of which were round. However, roscovitine did not affect stalk cell differentiation. Together with previous findings, these data reveal that roscovitine inhibits Cdk5 during growth and as yet undefined Cdks during mid‐late development. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 868–876, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Topoisomerase-specific drug sensitivity in relation to cell cycle progression

The nuclear enzyme DNA topoisomerase II catalyzes the breakage and resealing of duplex DNA and plays an important role in several genetic processes. It also mediates the DNA cleavage activity and cytotoxicity of clinically important anticancer agents such as etoposide. We have examined the activity of topoisomerase II during the first cell cycle of quiescent BALB/c 3T3 cells following serum stimulation. Etoposide-mediated DNA break frequency in vivo was used as a parameter of topoisomerase II activity, and enzyme content was assayed by immunoblotting. Density-arrested A31 cells exhibited a much lower sensitivity to the effects of etoposide than did actively proliferating cells. Upon serum stimulation of the quiescent cells, however, there was a marked increase in drug sensitivity which began during S phase and reached its peak just before mitosis. Maximal drug sensitivity during this period was 2.5 times greater than that of log-phase cells. This increase in drug sensitivity was associated with an increase in intracellular topoisomerase II content as determined by immunoblotting. The induction of topoisomerase II-mediated drug sensitivity was aborted within 1 h of exposure of cells to the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide, but the DNA synthesis inhibitor aphidicolin had no effect. In contrast to the sensitivity of cells to drug-induced DNA cleavage, maximal cytotoxicity occurred during S phase. A 3-h exposure to cycloheximide before etoposide treatment resulted in nearly complete loss of cytotoxicity. Our findings indicate that topoisomerase II activity fluctuates with cell cycle progression, with peak activity occurring during the G2 phase. This increase in topoisomerase II is protein synthesis dependent and may reflect a high rate of enzyme turnover. The dissociation between maximal drug-induced DNA cleavage and cytotoxicity indicates that the topoisomerase-mediated DNA breaks may be necessary but are not sufficient for cytotoxicity and that the other factors which are particularly expressed during S phase may be important as well.
Auditing Of Storage Security on Encryption

Cloud storage services became progressively fashionable. attributable to the importance of privacy, several cloud storage secret writing schemes are projected to guard information from those that don't have access. All such schemes assumed that cloud storage suppliers area unit safe and can't be hacked; but, in follow, some authorities (i.e., coercers) might force cloud storage suppliers to reveal user secrets or confidential information on the cloud, therefore altogether circumventing storage secret writing schemes. during this paper, we have a tendency to gift our style for a brand new cloud storage secret writing theme that allows cloud storage suppliers to make convincing faux user secrets to guard user privacy. Since coercers cannot tell if obtained secrets area unit true or not, the cloud storage suppliers make sure that user privacy continues to be firmly protected. Most of the projected schemes assume cloud storage service suppliers or reliable third parties handling key management square measure reliable and cannot be hacked; however, in follow, some entities would possibly intercept communications between users and cloud storage suppliers then compel storage suppliers to unhitch user secrets by exploitation government power or different suggests that. throughout this case, encrypted info square measure assumed to be known and storage suppliers square measure requested to unhitch user secrets.
Swallow physiology in patients with trach cuff inflated or deflated: A retrospective study

Past research has suggested that medical diagnosis and trach cuff conditions may contribute to swallow physiology changes in patients with tracheostomy. This study attempts to investigate the differences in swallow physiology between patients with trach cuff‐inflated and trach cuff–deflated conditions with respect to four medical diagnostic categories: neuromuscular disorder, head and neck cancer, respiratory diseases, and general medical diagnosis.
Ethically Increasing the Supply of Transplantable Organs

TO THE EDITOR: We are writing in response to the recent editorial by Childress (1) on how to ethically increase the supply of transplantable organs after cardiocirculatory arrest and compliance with the uniform determination of death. The uniform determination of death relies on irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, and must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards. The determination of death by either cardiorespiratory or neurologic criteria rather than fulfilling both criteria simultaneously is widely accepted as the standard for organ recovery from deceased donors (2). According to recommendations from the American College of Critical Care Medicine and Society of Critical Care Medicine (3), the cardiorespiratory criteria of 2 to 5 minutes of apnea, unresponsiveness, and pulselessness for the determination of death can permit the procurement process to begin with the least warm ischemia time and best transplantable organ function. The concept of irreversible cessation of circulatory function based on cardiorespiratory criteria alone becomes difficult to reconcile with death determination for organ recovery if in situ organ perfusion or extracorporeal circulation and oxygenation are initiated to improve organ viability in donors (4). Return of full neurologic function during in situ extracorporeal circulation is well-documented in many persons who die of in-hospital and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest because they are neurologically intact before cardiorespiratory death (5, 6). Artificial circulatory support with invasive or noninvasive devices for organ procurement can also lead to cerebral and coronary resuscitation and reanimation or return to life. Pharmacologic agents and balloon occlusion of the thoracic aorta have been used to prevent the return of cardiac and neurologic function during the procurement process without substantial evidence of the total suppression of reanimation (4). Under such circumstance, organ donation can no longer be considered to be in compliance with the dead donor rule. The dead donor rule demands that the donor fulfills the uniform determination of death at the start and throughout organ procurement so that the procurement process is not the immediate act to cause death in the organ donor. The true incidence of reanimation may be underreported because of medicolegal implications. The abandonment of the dead donor rule has been proposed to avoid the conceptual confusion and inconsistencies arising from the determination of death for the purpose of recovering transplantable organs (7). The lack of public knowledge and media coverage of the proposals and processes related to donation after circulatory death is a major obstacle to an informed choice and participation in this type of organ donation.
Competition, Loan Rates, and Information Dispersion in Nonprofit and For‐Profit Microcredit Markets

We describe the competitive environment of microcredit markets globally and we study the effects of competition on loan rates of microfinance institutions (MFIs). We use a new database from rating agencies, covering 379 for-profit and nonprofit MFIs in 67 countries over 2002-2008. Controlling for interest rate ceilings and other countryspecific factors, we first find that nonprofits are relatively insensitive to industry-wide concentration changes, while for-profits charge significantly lower rates in less concentrated markets. Second, we find spillover effects between the for-profit and nonprofit segments. Third, we show that the effects of concentration are consistent with an information dispersion mechanism.
Supplementary Material : Deep Adaptive Image Clustering

This is the supplementary material for the paper entitled “Deep Adaptive Image Clustering”. The supplementary material is organized as follows. Section 1 gives the mapping function described in Figure 1. Section 2 presents the proof of Theorem 1. Section 3 details the experimental settings in our experiments. 1. The Mapping Function Utilized in Figure 1 We assume that li represents the label feature of xi learned by DAC. Formally, the mapping function utilized in Figure 1 can be mathematically described as follows:
The Optimum Surface Pattern to Enhance Flow Oscillation in Micro-channel

Mixing of analytes and reagents in microfluidic devices is often crucial to the effective functioning of lab-on-a-chip. It is possible to affect the mixing in microfluidics by intelligently controlling the thermodynamic and chemical properties of the substrate surface. Numerous studies have shown that the phase behavior of mixtures is significantly affected by surface properties of microfluidics. For example, the phase separation between the fluids can be affected by heterogeneous patterns on the substrate. The patterned substrate can offer an effective means to control fluid behavior and in turn to enhance mixing. In this study, we numerically studied the effect of optimum surface pattern on mixing in a micro channel and found that the flow oscillation was enhanced apparently when the ratio of hydrophobic and hydrophilic boundary follows certain ratios.
Periodicity ratio extraction for mixed excitation model of vocoder-based speech synthesis

Statistical vocoder based speech synthesis system has a small footprint and a flexibility to change voice characteristics. However, the output synthesized speech sounds mechanic or a little bit buzzy comparing with natural human speech. Mixed excitation model instead of either a periodic impulse train or white noise is commonly used for low bit rate speech coding. In this paper, we extend it to statistical vocoder based speech synthesis. We also compare two methods: comb filter and normalized correlation coefficient, of extracting periodicity ratios for mixed excitation model. Excitation parameters are modeled by HMM in a slave manner, where the state boundaries are given by spectral and pitch models. Two corpora uttered by a male and a female speaker are used to evaluate mixed excitation model. The experimental results show the voice quality of synthesized speech with mixed excitation model can be significantly improved and the method of Comb filter for extracting periodicity ratios slightly outperform normalized correlation coefficient.
A method of stripe feature extraction for scrap paper image mosaics

Stripes are important features for scrap paper images mosaics. The stripe feature extraction can directly affect the effect of mosaics. A method of stripe feature extraction from scrap paper images is proposed in this paper. In order to obtain the background binary image, the original scrap paper images are firstly carried out by close operation and binarization. Secondly, the single pixel edges are extracted by using edge detection operator. Finally, the crossing points of stripes and the boundary of the background are detected by using the Progressive Probabilistic Hough Transformation. The length, angle and direction features of stripes are also extracted during this process. The experimental results show that the method of stripe feature extraction proposed in this paper is reasonable. By using this method the stripe features can be extracted from scrap paper images quickly and correctly. It provides features for the subsequent image mosaics.
Author ' s personal copy Autistic traits , ADHD symptoms , neurological soft signs and regional cerebral blood flow in adults with autism spectrum disorders

The resting regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) patterns related to co-occurring symptoms such as inattention, hyperactivity, neurological soft signs and motor problems have not yet been disclosed in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this study thirteen adults with ASD and ten matched neurotypical controls underwent PET. The scores of rating scales for autistic traits, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and neurological soft signs were included in a factorial analysis and correlated with rCBF. Factors corresponding to ‘‘autistic/ADHD traits’’, ‘‘sensory-motor integration’’ and ‘‘Intelligence/Motor sequencing’’ were identified. In the ASD group, positive correlations with CBF were found for ‘‘autistic/ADHD traits’’ in caudate bilaterally and the inferior parietal lobule, for ‘‘sensory-motor integration’’ in parieto-occipital cortex and for ‘‘Intelligence/Motor sequencing’’ in the right temporal cortex. Notably, CBF in the left thalamus correlated negatively with all three factors. Autistic traits and ADHD symptoms were associated with shared neural substrates. The correlation between ‘‘autistic/ADHD traits’’ and rCBF in the caudate is possibly associated with the executive impairments and ritualistic/stereotyped behaviors apparent in ASD. Furthermore, sensory-motor deficits were correlated with rCBF in the occipital visual cortex, involved in atypical visual perception in ASD. Various behavioral and neurological symptoms are suggested to converge into the ASD phenotype. 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Abbreviations: CBF, cerebral blood flow; rCBF, regional cerebral blood flow; rCMRgl, regional cerebral metabolic rate of glucose; NES, Neurological Evaluation Scale; NSS, neurological soft signs. * Corresponding author at: Järva Psychiatric Out-patient Clinic, Rinkebysvängen 70A, 4tr, 16374 Spånga, Stockholm, Sweden. Tel. : +46 8 12338515; fax: +46 8 7607950. E-mail address: irina.manouilenko@ki.se (I. Manouilenko).
Chinese herbal formula Tongluo Jiunao injection protects against cerebral ischemia by activating neurotrophin 3/tropomyosin-related kinase C pathway

The Chinese herbal formula Tongluo Jiunao, containing the active components Panax notoginseng and Gardenia jasminoides, has recently been patented and is in use clinically. It is known to be neuroprotective in cerebral ischemia, but the underlying pathway remains poorly understood. In the present study, we established a rat model of cerebral ischemia by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, and administered Tongluo Jiunao, a positive control (Xuesai Tong, containing Panax notoginseng) or saline intraperitoneally to investigate the pathway involved in the action of Tongluo Jiunao injection. 2,3,5-Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining showed that the cerebral infarct area was significantly smaller in model rats that received Tongluo Jiunao than in those that received saline. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed significantly greater expression of neurotrophin 3 and growth-associated protein 43 in ischemic cerebral tissue, and serum levels of neurotrophin 3, in the Tongluo Jiunao group than in the saline group. The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemical staining showed that after treatment with Tongluo Jiunao or Xuesai Tong, tropomyosin-related kinase C gene expression and immunoreactivity were significantly elevated compared with saline, with the greatest expression observed after Tongluo Jiunao treatment. These findings suggest that Tongluo Jiunao injection exerts a neuroprotective effect in rats with cerebral ischemia by activating the neurotrophin 3/tropomyosin-related kinase C pathway.