Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Multi-threading approach to Secure VERIFYPIN

This research investigates the use of a multi-threaded framework as a software countermeasure mechanism to prevent attacks on the verifypin process in a pin-acceptance program. The implementation comprises of using various mathematical operations along side a pin-acceptance program in a multi-threaded environment. These threads are inserted randomly on each execution of the program to create confusion for the attacker. Moreover, the research proposes a more improved version of the pin-acceptance program by segmenting the pro-gram. The conventional approach is to check each character one at a time. This research takes the verifying process and separates each character check into its individual thread. Furthermore, the order of each verified thread is randomised. This further assists in the obfuscation of the process where the system checks for a correct character. Finally, the research demonstrates it is able to be more secure than the conventional countermeasures of random time delays and insertion of dummy code.
Increased focal interictal discharges during specific cognitive tasks

We present a patient with pharmacoresistant right temporal lobe epilepsy who showed a significant increase in focal interictal spikes in response to specific visuospatial tasks, Temporal spiking was particularly increased during immediate recall of visuospatial material, but not during verbal memory tasks. This reflexive phenomenon, situated in between cognitive alterations as seen in most patients with epilepsy and frank seizures elicited by higher cerebral function as in reflex epilepsy, is discussed in relation to cognition and underlying neural substrates.
First Culture Isolation of Borrelia lonestari, Putative Agent of Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness

ABSTRACT Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) is a Lyme disease-like infection described in patients in the southeastern and south-central United States, where classic Lyme disease is relatively rare. STARI develops following the bite of a lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) and is thought to be caused by infection with an “uncultivable” spirochete tentatively named Borrelia lonestari. In this study, wild lone star ticks collected from an area where B. lonestari is endemic were cocultured in an established embryonic tick cell line (ISE6). The cultures were examined by dark-field microscopy for evidence of infection, and spirochete identity and morphology were evaluated by flagellin B and 16S rRNA gene sequence, by reaction to Borrelia-wide and B. burgdorferi-specific monoclonal antibodies, and by electron microscopy. Live spirochetes were first visualized in primary culture of A. americanum ticks by dark-field microscopy 14 days after the cell culture was inoculated. The sequences of the flagellin B and 16S rRNA genes of cultured spirochetes were consistent with previously reported sequences of B. lonestari. The cultured spirochetes reacted with a Borrelia-wide flagellin antibody, but did not react with an OspA antibody specific to B. burgdorferi, by indirect fluorescent antibody testing. Electron microscopy demonstrated organisms that were free and associated with ISE6 cells, with characteristic Borrelia sp. morphology. This study describes the first successful isolation of B. lonestari in culture, providing a much needed source of organisms for the development of diagnostic assays and forming a basis for future studies investigating the role of the organism as a human disease agent.
AP endonuclease independent repair of abasic sites in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Abasic (AP) sites are formed spontaneously and are inevitably intermediates during base excision repair of DNA base damages. AP sites are both mutagenic and cytotoxic and key enzymes for their removal are AP endonucleases. However, AP endonuclease independent repair initiated by DNA glycosylases performing β,δ-elimination cleavage of the AP sites has been described in mammalian cells. Here, we describe another AP endonuclease independent repair pathway for removal of AP sites in Schizosaccharomyces pombe that is initiated by a bifunctional DNA glycosylase, Nth1 and followed by cleavage of the baseless sugar residue by tyrosyl phosphodiesterase Tdp1. We propose that repair is completed by the action of a polynucleotide kinase, a DNA polymerase and finally a DNA ligase to seal the gap. A fission yeast double mutant of the major AP endonuclease Apn2 and Tdp1 shows synergistic increase in MMS sensitivity, substantiating that Apn2 and Tdp1 process the same substrate. These results add new knowledge to the complex cellular response to AP sites, which could be exploited in chemotherapy where synthetic lethality is a key strategy of treatment.
Frequency synchronization for TDS-OFDM system with transmit diversity

This paper proposes a frequency synchronization algorithm for time domain synchronous Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (TDS-OFDM) system with multiple antenna transmit diversity. The training sequences used in the transmit diversity TDS-OFDM system are orthogonal and have near-optimal autocorrelation property, and the carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation algorithm is based on these properties. From computer simulations, the proposed frequency synchronization method performs better when increasing the number of the transmit antenna in AWGN environment, and the estimated CFO can make the carrier-to-interference ratio be greater than 20dB even over time-varying multipath channels with SNR=10dB.
Fragebogen zur integrativen Führung

Zusammenfassung. Der vorliegende Artikel rezensiert den Fragebogen zur integrativen Führung. Der Fragebogen zur integrativen Führung ist ein Fragebogen zur Messung transformationaler, transaktionaler, instrumenteller und negativer Führung sowie zur Kommunikation der Führungskraft. Er liegt im Selbstberichtsformat für Führungskräfte und im Fremdberichtsformat für Mitarbeitende von Führungskräften vor.
Efficiency in Australian building societies: An econometric cost function approach using panel data

Maximum-likelihood estimates of a stochastic cost frontier function incorporating efficiency effects are obtained for twenty-two Australian building societies in the period 1992-1995. Cost inefficiency scores indicate that building societies’ costs were twenty percent above what could be considered necessary. The results also indicate that capital adequacy restrictions are not a significant influence on the level of inefficiency; though branch and agency networks, asset size, and non-core commercial activities are. At the industry level that there has been an improvement in the level of cost efficiency of Australian building societies during the period in question.
Four Arabidopsis AREB/ABF transcription factors function predominantly in gene expression downstream of SnRK2 kinases in abscisic acid signalling in response to osmotic stress

Under osmotic stress conditions such as drought and high salinity, the plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays important roles in stress-responsive gene expression mainly through three bZIP transcription factors, AREB1/ABF2, AREB2/ABF4 and ABF3, which are activated by SNF1-related kinase 2s (SnRK2s) such as SRK2D/SnRK2.2, SRK2E/SnRK2.6 and SRK2I/SnRK2.3 (SRK2D/E/I). However, since the three AREB/ABFs are crucial, but not exclusive, for the SnRK2-mediated gene expression, transcriptional pathways governed by SRK2D/E/I are not fully understood. Here, we show that a bZIP transcription factor, ABF1, is a functional homolog of AREB1, AREB2 and ABF3 in ABA-dependent gene expression in Arabidopsis. Despite lower expression levels of ABF1 than those of the three AREB/ABFs, the areb1 areb2 abf3 abf1 mutant plants displayed increased sensitivity to drought and decreased sensitivity to ABA in primary root growth compared with the areb1 areb2 abf3 mutant. Genome-wide transcriptome analyses revealed that expression of downstream genes of SRK2D/E/I, which include many genes functioning in osmotic stress responses and tolerance such as transcription factors and LEA proteins, was mostly impaired in the quadruple mutant. Thus, these results indicate that the four AREB/ABFs are the predominant transcription factors downstream of SRK2D/E/I in ABA signalling in response to osmotic stress during vegetative growth. Abscisic acid (ABA) plays important roles in osmotic stress-responsive gene expression mainly through three bZIP transcription factors, AREB1, AREB2, and ABF3, which are activated by SnRK2s such as SRK2D, SRK2E, and SRK2I (SRK2D/E/I). However, transcription factors other than the three AREB/ABFs that function downstream of SRK2D/E/I remain obscure. Here, we report that ABF1 is a functional homolog of AREB1, AREB2, and ABF3 in ABA-dependent gene expression from a comparative analysis between the areb1 areb2 abf3 abf1 and areb1 areb2 abf3 mutants. Moreover, genome-wide transcriptome analyses revealed that expression of downstream genes of SRK2D/E/I were mostly impaired in the areb1 areb2 abf3 abf1 quadruple mutant, suggesting that the four AREB/ABFs are the predominant transcription factors downstream of SRK2D/E/I in ABA signaling in response to osmotic stress.
Analisis kecekapan teknik dalam industri skel kecil dan sederhana di Malaysia

The Small and Medium Scale industries (SMIs) comprise more than 90% of the total number of enterprises in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia. Therefore, SMIs play a major role especially in generating employment opportunities. Technical efficiency of SMIs has a significant influence on overall technical efficiency of the manufacturing sector. Firms in SMIs are generally found to exhibit relatively low levels of technical efficiency as compared to the Large Scale Industries (LSIs) and this influence their contributions to the gross domestic product and national competitiveness. This article aims to analyse technical efficiency of 95 firms in SMIs in Malaysia using survey data conducted in 1997. The analysis uses two stage procedures. In the first stage, technical efficiency is calculated for every firm using non-parametric frontier methodology known as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). In this analysis, we adopt an input oriented approach at constant return to scale and variable return to scale technology. In the second stage, censored regression analysis using a Tobit model is estimated to identify the determinants of technical efficiency, that were computed in the first stage. The study found that most firms in SMIs are technically inefficient and operate at an increasing return to scale. Firm size and level of machinery utilisation have a positive significant effect on technical efficiency.
Lecture Notes: Social Networks: Models, Algorithms, and Applications

We specifically discussed the power law degree distribution which has degree distribution pk = C ·k−α where C is a constant and α > 1. While not all degree distributions will be power law, many of the degree distributions of observed networks will be heavy-tailed or long-tailed distributions. A heavy-tailed distribution is a distribution that is “heavier” than the exponential distribution. Here, “heavier” means that the tail is much longer than the exponential distribution (which drops off to zero rapidly). The exponential distribution takes the form f(x, λ) = λe−λx where λ is the rate parameter. Taking the log of the exponential distribution, we have log(f(x, λ)) = log(λ)− log(λx).
Evaluating Technology-Based Educational Interventions: A Review of Two Projects

The article discusses current evaluation methodologies used to assess the usability, user enjoyment, and pedagogical efficacy of virtual learning environments (VLEs) and serious games. It also describes the evaluations of two recently developed projects: a virtual learning environment that employs a fantasy 3D world to engage deaf and hearing children in math- and science-based educational tasks, and a serious game for undergraduate students' learning of sustainable building concepts and practices. Although a growing body of evidence suggests that serious games and VLEs could be advantageous and beneficial as instructional tools, research focused on their role in educational settings still lacks a unified approach to evaluating these interventions. To address this gap, the article provides an overview of current challenges associated with assessing the effectiveness of serious games and VLEs. In addition, the results from two projects provide lessons learned, and are intended to guide future efforts in developing and evaluating similar educational technologies.
Haptic Volume Rendering with an Intermediate Local Representation

In medical applications volumetric data sets are widely used. Therefore a strong desire for haptic volume rendering exists in this community. Established force-feedback approaches are limited to surface-based data and cannot satisfy the needs of volume rendering. Particularly in the medical field, where physicians are used to examine objects with their sense of touch, a combination of volume visualization with haptics would be desireable. We present an approach where volumetric data is locally transformed into a surface representation. For our research, we use a PHANToM force-feedback device with the GHOST v2 library. In our approach, the voxel data in a neighborhood of the current interaction point is used to generate isosurfaces through points with similar density values. The isosurfaces are then passed to the GHOST library and used as an intermediate representation between the volumetric data and a surface-based haptic rendering. As the surfaces are generated on the fly and no preprocessing is needed, it is possible to change transfer functions or the volume data itself during the haptic interaction.
2 The Mathematics of the RSA Cryptosystem 2

Invented in 1977 by Rivest, Shamir and Adleman, the RSA cryptosystem has played a very important role in the development of modern cryptography. Its various applications in industry, Internet, banking, online shopping, cell phones, smart cards, secure information transfers and electronic signatures have made RSA a standard at the heart of modern technologies. This chapter explores the mathematics behind the RSA cryptosystem including the encryption, decryption and signature schemes of RSA. We give a survey of the main methods used in attacks against the RSA cryptosystem. This includes the main properties of the continued fraction theory, lattices, the LLL algorithm of Lenstra, Lenstra and Lovász and the lattice reduction based technique of Coppersmith for solving modular polynomial equations.
Employee Soft Skills and Organizational Culture: An Exploratory Case Study

Students seek higher education to obtain better employment. While employers value soft skills at least as much as academic knowledge, the soft skills literature is without consensus as to which of the many soft skills or employability skills employers value most, making it challenging for colleges to provide effective soft skills education. To organize employers’ many different soft skill preferences, this study explores organizational culture as a conceptual framework. Specifically, the case study explores values and characteristics common to one organization’s culture, to the soft skills that its executives and managers prefer their employees to possess, to employee beliefs regarding which soft skills are necessary for successful employment, and to the soft skills that the employees demonstrate. The study examines data from interviews, observations, assessments, documents, and artifacts, through the lens of the competing values framework and theoretical material by Schein. Analysis reveals that the organization’s soft skill preferences, demonstrated soft skills, and organizational cultures hold values and characteristics in common, suggesting that organizational culture is a potentially useful conceptual framework for organizing the plethora of soft skill preferences demonstrated by various studies. The study concludes with a review of its limitations and a discussion of the implications for soft skills literature, postsecondary education, and business. The study suggests further research steps and the creation of a soft skills taxonomy based in thematic connections between soft skill sets and sets of organizational culture characteristics. Document Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Education (EdD) Department Executive Leadership First Supervisor Kim VanDerLinden Second Supervisor Andrew Turner Subject Categories Education This dissertation is available at Fisher Digital Publications: https://fisherpub.sjfc. edu/education_etd/383 Employee Soft Skills and Organizational Culture: An Exploratory Case Study
Colliding neutron stars: Gravitational waves, neutrino emission, and gamma-ray bursts

Three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations are presented for the direct head-on or off-center collision of two neutron stars, employing a basically Newtonian PPM code but including the emission of gravitational waves and their backreaction on the hydrodynamical flow. A physical nuclear equation of state is used that allows us to follow the thermodynamical evolution of the stellar matter and to compute the emission of neutrinos. Predicted gravitational wave signals, luminosities and waveforms, are presented. The models are evaluated for their implications for gamma-ray burst scenarios. We find an extremely luminous outburst of neutrinos with a peak luminosity of more than 4 · 1054 erg/s for several milliseconds. This leads to an efficiency of about 1% for the annihilation of neutrinos with antineutrinos, corresponding to an average energy deposition rate of more than 1052 erg/s and a total energy of about 1050 erg deposited in electron-positron pairs around the collision site within 10 ms. Although these numbers seem very favorable for gamma-ray burst scenarios, the pollution of the e± pair-plasma cloud with nearly 10−1 M of dynamically ejected baryons is 5 orders of magnitude too large. Therefore the formation of a relativistically expanding fireball that leads to a gamma-ray burst powered by neutrino emission from colliding neutron stars is definitely ruled out.
Parallel Hybrid Clustering using Genetic Programming and Multi-Objective Fitness with Density (PYRAMID)

Clustering is the art of locating patterns in large data sets. It is an active research area that provides value to scientific as well as business applications. There are some challenges that face practical clustering including: identifying clusters of arbitrary shapes, sensitivity to the order of input, dynamic determination of the number of clusters, outlier handling, high dependency on user-defined parameters, processing speed of massive data sets, and the potential to fall into sub-optimal solutions. Many studies that were conducted in the realm of clustering have addressed some of these challenges. This study proposes a new approach, called parallel hybrid clustering using genetic programming and multi-objective fitness with density (PYRAMID), that tackles several of these challenges from a different perspective. PYRAMID employs genetic programming to represent arbitrary cluster shapes and circumvent falling in local optima. It accommodates large data sets and avoids dependency on the order of input by quantizing the data space, i.e., the space on which the data set resides, thus abstracting it into hyper-rectangular cells and creating genetic programming individuals as concatenations of these cells. Thus the cells become the subject of clustering, rather than the data points themselves. PYRAMID also utilizes a density-based multi-objective fitness function to handle outliers. It gathers statistics in a pre-processing step and uses them so not to rely on user-defined parameters. Finally, PYRAMID employs data parallelism in a master-slave model in an attempt to cure the inherent slow performance of evolutionary algorithms and provide speedup. A master processor distributes the clustering data evenly onto multiple slave processors. The slave processors conduct the clustering on their local data sets and report their clustering results back to the master, which consolidates them by merging the partial results into a final clustering solution. This last step also involves determining the number of clusters dynamically and labeling them accordingly. Experiments have demonstrated that, using these features, PYRAMID offers an advantage over some of the existing approaches by tackling the clustering challenges from a different angle.
Framework for hybrid performance prediction process model: use case performance engineering approach

The dynamic behavior of distributed systems requires that their performance characteristics be determined rigorously, preferably in the early stages of software engineering process. Evaluation of the performance at the end of software development leads to increase in the cost of design change. To compare design alternatives or to identify system bottlenecks, quantitative system analysis must be carried out from the early stages of the software development life cycle. In this paper we describe a process model, Hybrid Performance Prediction Process Model that allows modeling and evaluating distributed systems with the explicit goal of assessing performance of the software system during feasibility study. The use case performance engineering approach proposed in this paper exploits use case model and provides flexibility to integrate the software performance prediction process with software engineering process. We use an e-parking application to demonstrate various elements in our framework. The performance metrics are obtained and analyzed by considering two software architectures. Sensitivity analysis on the behavior of resources is carried out. This analysis helps to determine the capacity of the execution environment to obtain the defined performance objectives.
Scalable graph similarity search in large graph databases

We consider the problem of searching a collection of graphs D to find graphs that are most similar to a query graph Q. This has several applications in areas like computational biology, drug design, computational chemistry, collaborative networks, social networks etc. We use graphlet kernel to define similarity between graphs. In order to make the similarity search faster, we build an efficient nearest neighbor data structure on the graph collection using locality sensitive hashing technique. The graphs are embedded into a vector space and these vectors are used to build the nearest neighbor data structure. Computing the vector space embedding is the most compute intensive part in our algorithm. To scale our algorithm to large graph collections, we give an efficient Map-Reduce implementation for vector space embedding. We perform experiments on real world datasets (AIDS dataset) and synthetic datasets to show the effectiveness of our algorithm.