Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
JPEG Image Authentication through Reversible Data Hiding using Differential Histogram of Quantized Coefficients

Since digital contents are easy to copy and manipulate without the loss of quality, many social issues related to forgery and illegal distribution are raised to protect the copyright of contents. Reversible data hiding is an effective way which keeps the quality of the contents and embeds copyright information into contents itself. Although compression is inevitable for multimedia, few reversible data hiding researches against compression have been performed. In this paper, we propose a novel reversible data hiding algorithm that is applied to authenticate commonly used JPEG images. The differential histogram of the quantized coefficients among adjacent blocks is calculated and the 64 bits authentication code is embedded by shifting this differential histogram during JPEG compression. The embedded code is extracted by reversing the shifting process and applied to check the integrity. Without any quality degradation, the original JPEG image can be reconstructed by calculating original quantized coefficients. The proposed algorithm was tested under various compression rates. The PSNR and compression ratio of the watermarked JPEG images were 32.33dB and 89.69% whose differences with the original JPEG images were 3.24dB and 2.58%.
pcapIndex: an index for network packet traces with legacy compatibility

Long-term historical analysis of captured network traffic is a topic of great interest in network monitoring and network security. A critical requirement is the support for fast discovery of packets that satisfy certain criteria within large-scale packet repositories. This work presents the first indexing scheme for network packet traces based on compressed bitmap indexing principles. Our approach supports very fast insertion rates and results in compact index sizes. The proposed indexing methodology builds upon libpcap, the de-facto reference library for accessing packet-trace repositories. Our solution is therefore backward compatible with any solution that uses the original library. We experience impressive speedups on packet-trace search operations: our experiments suggest that the index-enabled libpcap may reduce the packet retrieval time by more than 1100 times.
Modeling Uncertainty in Climate Change: A Multi-Model Comparison

The economics of climate change involves a vast array of uncertainties, complicating both the analysis and development of climate policy. This study presents the results of the first comprehensive study of uncertainty in climate change using multiple integrated assessment models. The study looks at model and parametric uncertainties for population, total factor productivity, and climate sensitivity. It estimates the pdfs of key output variables, including CO2 concentrations, temperature, damages, and the social cost of carbon (SCC). One key finding is that parametric uncertainty is more important than uncertainty in model structure. Our resulting pdfs also provide insights on tail events.
Deep Convolutional Highway Unit Network for SAR Target Classification With Limited Labeled Training Data

The deep convolutional neural network (CNN) has been widely used for target classification, because it can learn highly useful representations from data. However, it is difficult to apply a CNN for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) target classification directly, for it often requires a large volume of labeled training data, which is impractical for SAR applications. The highway network is a newly proposed architecture based on CNN that can be trained with smaller data sets. This letter proposes a novel architecture called the convolutional highway unit to train deeper networks with limited SAR data. The unit architecture is formed by modified convolutional highway layers, a maxpool layer, and a dropout layer. Then, the networks can be flexibly formed by stacking the unit architecture to extract deep feature representations for classification. Experimental results on the moving and stationary target acquisition and recognition data set indicate that the branched ensemble model based on the unit architecture can achieve 99% classification accuracy with all training data. When the training data are reduced to 30%, the classification accuracy of the ensemble model can still reach 94.97%.
Querying about the past, the present, and the future in spatio-temporal databases

Moving objects (e.g., vehicles in road networks) continuously generate large amounts of spatio-temporal information in the form of data streams. Efficient management of such streams is a challenging goal due to the highly dynamic nature of the data and the need for fast, online computations. We present a novel approach for approximate query processing about the present, past, or the future in spatio-temporal databases. In particular, we first propose an incrementally updateable, multidimensional histogram for present-time queries. Second, we develop a general architecture for maintaining and querying historical data. Third, we implement a stochastic approach for predicting the results of queries that refer to the future. Finally, we experimentally prove the effectiveness and efficiency of our techniques using a realistic simulation.
Cortical Action Potential Backpropagation Explains Spike Threshold Variability and Rapid-Onset Kinetics

Neocortical action potential responses in vivo are characterized by considerable threshold variability, and thus timing and rate variability, even under seemingly identical conditions. This finding suggests that cortical ensembles are required for accurate sensorimotor integration and processing. Intracellularly, trial-to-trial variability results not only from variation in synaptic activities, but also in the transformation of these into patterns of action potentials. Through simultaneous axonal and somatic recordings and computational simulations, we demonstrate that the initiation of action potentials in the axon initial segment followed by backpropagation of these spikes throughout the neuron results in a distortion of the relationship between the timing of synaptic and action potential events. In addition, this backpropagation also results in an unusually high rate of rise of membrane potential at the foot of the action potential. The distortion of the relationship between the amplitude time course of synaptic inputs and action potential output caused by spike backpropagation results in the appearance of high spike threshold variability at the level of the soma. At the point of spike initiation, the axon initial segment, threshold variability is considerably less. Our results indicate that spike generation in cortical neurons is largely as expected by Hodgkin–Huxley theory and is more precise than previously thought.
Effect of values and personality on the motivation and intention of uster-generated content across cultures

In the extensive research of what motivates people to create User-Generated Content, motivational domains such as co-creation, empowerment, community, and self-concept have been identified (Christodoulides, Jevons, and Bonhomme, 2010). However, there has been very little research reported on how such UGC motivational domains have an effect on UGC intention, how values have an effect on UGC motivation, how personality has an effect on UGC motivation and UGC intention, and how culture has an effect on UGC. The purpose of this study therefore, is to extend the reach of current theoretical frameworks by incorporating values, personality, UGC motivation, UGC intention, and culture into one study. This research uses the methodology of quantitative research in which the phenomena of motivation, values, culture, intention, and personality are systematically and empirically being researched through statistical analysis among 457 participants across The Netherlands and The People’s Republic of China. This study shows that UGC motivation and personality traits have significant effects on UGC intention, yet, differ across cultures. In The Netherlands, values have significant effects on UGC motivation, however, play no role in The People’s Republic of China. To understand the nature and meaning of the UGC that is created, businesses should know about these cultural differences and the effects of UGC motives, values, and personality, and should adjust their business models and strategies accordingly.
Overspill avalanching in a dense reservoir network

Sustainability of communities, agriculture, and industry is strongly dependent on an effective storage and supply of water resources. In some regions the economic growth has led to a level of water demand that can only be accomplished through efficient reservoir networks. Such infrastructures are not always planned at larger scale but rather made by farmers according to their local needs of irrigation during droughts. Based on extensive data from the upper Jaguaribe basin, one of the world’s largest system of reservoirs, located in the Brazilian semiarid northeast, we reveal that surprisingly it self-organizes into a scale-free network exhibiting also a power-law in the distribution of the lakes and avalanches of discharges. With a new self-organized-criticality-type model we manage to explain the novel critical exponents. Implementing a flow model we are able to reproduce the measured overspill evolution providing a tool for catastrophe mitigation and future planning.
Neuropeptide Y and α-MSH Circadian Levels in Two Populations with Low Body Weight: Anorexia Nervosa and Constitutional Thinness

Context Anorexia nervosa (AN) presents an adaptive appetite regulating profile including high levels of ghrelin and 26RFa (orexigenic) and low levels of leptin and PYY (anorexigenic). However, this adaptive mechanism is not effective in promoting food intake. The NPY/proopiomelanocortin (POMC) system plays a crucial role in the regulation of feeding behavior as NPY is the most potent orexigenic neuropeptide identified so far and as the POMC-derived peptide α-MSH drastically reduces food intake, and this peptidergic system has not been thoroughly studied in AN. Objective The aim of the present study was thus to investigate whether a dysfunction of the NPY/POMC occurs in two populations with low body weight, AN and constitutional thinness (CT). Design and Settings This was a cross-sectional study performed in an endocrinological unit and in an academic laboratory. Investigated Subjects Three groups of age-matched young women were studied: 23 with AN (AN), 22 CT and 14 normal weight controls. Main Outcome Measures Twelve-point circadian profiles of plasma NPY and α-MSH levels were measured in the three groups of investigated subjects. Results No significant circadian variation of NPY was detected between the three groups. Plasma α-MSH levels were significantly lower in AN (vs controls) all over the day. The CT group, compared to controls, presented lower levels of α-MSH in the morning and the evening, and an important rise during lunchtime. Conclusion In AN patients, the NPY system is not up-regulated under chronic undernutrition suggesting that this may play a role in the inability of anorectic women to adapt food intake to their energy demand. In contrast, low circadian α-MSH levels integrate the adaptive profile of appetite regulation of this disease. Finally, in CT women, the important α-MSH peak detected during lunchtime could explain why these patients are rapidly food satisfied.
Transforming a Constituency Treebank into a Dependency Treebank

We present a heuristic technique for converting a constituency treebank into a de- pendency treebank. In particular, we comment on our experience in converting the Spanish treebank Cast3LB. We extract a context-free grammar from the treebank, automatically identify the head in each rule, and use this information for constructing the dependency tree. Our heuris- tics have 99% precision and 80% recall in identifying the head in the rules, which gives 92% accuracy in identifying dependencies between words.
Microbial modeling of thermal resistance of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris CRA7152 spores in concentrated orange juice with nisin addition

The nisin effect on thermal death of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris CRA 7152 spores in concentrated orange juice (64°Brix) was studied. Concentrations of 0, 50, 75 and 100 IU of nisin/ml juice, at temperatures of 92, 95, 98 and 102°C were evaluated. The quadratic polynomial model was used to analyze the effects of the factors and their interaction. Verification of surviving spores was carried out through plating in K medium (pH 3.7). The results showed that the D values without nisin addition were 25.5, 12.9, 6.1 and 2.3 min for 92, 95, 98 and 102°C respectively. With addition of nisin into the juice there was a drop of heat resistance as the concentration was increased at a same temperature. With 30, 50, 75, 100 and 150 IU/ml at 95°C, the D values were 12.34, 11.38, 10.49, 9.49 and 9.42 min respectively, showing that a decrease in the D value up to 27% can be obtained. The second order polynomial model established with r2 = 0.995 showed that the microorganism resistance was affected by the action of temperature followed by the nisin concentration. Nisin therefore is an alternative for reducing the rigor of the A. acidoterrestris CRA 7152 thermal treatment.
Data Exfiltration in the Face of CSP

Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks keep plaguing the Web. Supported by most modern browsers, Content Security Policy (CSP) prescribes the browser to restrict the features and communication capabilities of code on a web page, mitigating the effects of XSS. This paper puts a spotlight on the problem of data exfiltration in the face of CSP. We bring attention to the unsettling discord in the security community about the very goals of CSP when it comes to preventing data leaks. As consequences of this discord, we report on insecurities in the known protection mechanisms that are based on assumptions about CSP that turn out not to hold in practice. To illustrate the practical impact of the discord, we perform a systematic case study of data exfiltration via DNS prefetching and resource prefetching in the face of CSP. Our study of the popular browsers demonstrates that it is often possible to exfiltrate data by both resource prefetching and DNS prefetching in the face of CSP. Further, we perform a crawl of the top 10,000 Alexa domains to report on the cohabitance of CSP and prefetching in practice. Finally, we discuss directions to control data exfiltration and, for the case study, propose measures ranging from immediate fixes for the clients to prefetching-aware extensions of CSP.
A Genome-Wide Scan for Urinary Albumin Excretion in Hypertensive Families

Abstract—Albuminuria increases the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with essential hypertension and diabetic subjects. The heritability (h2) of albuminuria in multiplex hypertensive families is unknown. We calculated the familial aggregation of urine albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR) and performed a genome-wide scan to assess for loci contributing to ACR in participants enrolled in the Hyper tension G enetic E pidemiology N etwork (HyperGEN). To perform the genome scan, we analyzed genotype results from 2589 individuals from 805 families in the Family Blood Pressure Program. ACR and covariates were available in 1727 individuals (mean age, 57.1 years). Estimates of h2 were obtained by using variance component methodology as implemented in the SOLAR software package. Linkage was tested between 387 markers spanning the genome at an average interval of 9.32 cM, using SOLAR multipoint analysis. The h2 of log urine ACR was 0.49 (P <1×10−7) after controlling for significant main and interactive effects of age, gender, race, body mass index, blood pressure, and use of ACE inhibitors or angiotensin-2 receptor blockers. The genome-wide scan revealed a maximum LOD score of 2.73 on chromosome 19 (robust corrected LOD, 2.40; P =0.0009) at marker D19S591 and a LOD score of 2.0 on chromosome 12 (robust corrected LOD, 1.75; P =0.005) at marker PAH. These analyses demonstrate the marked heritability of urine ACR in families enriched for the presence of members with essential hypertension. They suggest that a gene(s) associated with urinary ACR may be present on human chromosomes 19 and 12.
Incremental communication for adaptive resonance theory networks

We have proposed earlier the incremental internode communication method to reduce the communication cost as well as the time of the learning process in artificial neural networks (ANNs). In this paper, the limited precision incremental communication method is applied to a class of recurrent neural networks, the adaptive resonance theory 2 (ART2) networks. Simulation studies are carried out to examine the effects of the incremental communication method on the convergence behavior of ART2 networks. We have found that 7-13-b precision is sufficient to obtain almost the same results as those with full (32-b) precision conventional communication. A theoretical error analysis is also carried out to analyze the effects of the limited precision incremental communication. The simulation and analytical results show that the limited precision errors are bounded and do not seriously degrade the convergence of ART2 networks. Therefore, the incremental communication can be incorporated in parallel and special-purpose very large scale integration (VLSI) implementations of the ART2 networks.
Comparison of Short-term Complications Between 2 Methods of Coracoclavicular Ligament Reconstruction

Background: Numerous techniques have been used to treat acromioclavicular (AC) joint dislocation, with anatomic reconstruction of the coracoclavicular (CC) ligaments becoming a popular method of fixation. Anatomic CC ligament reconstruction is commonly performed with cortical fixation buttons (CFBs) or tendon grafts (TGs). Purpose: To report and compare short-term complications associated with AC joint stabilization procedures using CFBs or TGs. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of the operative treatment of AC joint injuries between April 2007 and January 2013 at 2 institutions. Thirty-eight patients who had undergone a procedure for AC joint instability were evaluated. In these 38 patients with a mean age of 36.2 years, 18 shoulders underwent fixation using the CFB technique and 20 shoulders underwent reconstruction using the TG technique. Results: The overall complication rate was 42.1% (16/38). There were 11 complications in the 18 patients in the CFB group (61.1%), including 7 construct failures resulting in a loss of reduction. The most common mode of failure was suture breakage (n = 3), followed by button migration (n = 2) and coracoid fracture (n = 2). There were 5 complications in the TG group (25%), including 3 cases of asymptomatic subluxation, 1 symptomatic suture granuloma, and 1 superficial infection. There were no instances of construct failure seen in TG fixations. CFB fixation was found to have a statistically significant increase in complications (P = .0243) and construct failure (P = .002) compared with TG fixation. Conclusion: CFB fixation was associated with a higher rate of failure and higher rate of early complications when compared with TG fixation.
Collecting community wisdom: integrating social search & social navigation

The goal of this paper is to detail the integration of two "social Web" technologies - social search and social navigation - and to highlight the benefits of such integration on two levels. Firstly, both technologies harvest and harness "community wisdom" and in an integrated system each of the search and navigation components can benefit from the additional community wisdom gathered by the other when assisting users to locate relevant information. Secondly, by integrating search and browsing we facilitate the development of a unique interface that effectively blends search and browsing functionality as part of a seamless social information access service. This service allows users to effectively combine their search and browsing behaviors. In this paper we will argue that this integration provides significantly more than the simple sum of the parts.
EISCAT_3D: A Next-Generation European Radar System for Upper-Atmosphere and Geospace Research

The EISCAT Scientifi c Association, together with a number of collaborating institutions, has recently completed a feasibility and design study for an enhanced performance research radar facility to replace the existing EISCAT UHF and VHF systems. This study was supported by EU Sixth-Framework funding. The new radar retains the powerful multi-static geometry of the EISCAT UHF, but will employ phased arrays, direct-sampling receivers, and digital beamforming and beam steering. Design goals include, inter alia, a tenfold improvement in temporal and spatial resolution, an extension of the instantaneous measurement of full-vector ionospheric drift velocities from a single point to the entire altitude range of the radar, and an imaging capability to resolve small-scale structures. Prototype receivers and beamformers are currently being tested on a 48-element, 224 MHz array (the “Demonstrator”) erected at the Kiruna EISCAT site, using the EISCAT VHF transmitter as an illuminator.
The basal lamina is a physical barrier to herpes simplex virus-mediated gene delivery to mature muscle fibers

A major impediment to successful implementation of gene therapy for treatment of muscular dystrophy is the restricted infectivity of mature muscle fibers with viral vectors. This phenomenon has been observed with adenovirus vectors and more recently with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)-based vectors. Here we report findings of morphological studies designed to experimentally determine the mechanism underlying the rapid reduction in vector-mediated gene delivery concomitant with the maturation of muscle fibers. Using immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy, we have colocalized HSV-1 and collagen IV, a major component of the basal lamina, in HSV-1-injected muscles and determined that the virus penetrates and expresses a transgene (lacZ) in muscle fibers of newborn animals but cannot efficiently penetrate adult myofibers. This was observed in normal as well as in immunocompromised animals, suggesting that the lack of adult myofiber transduction is not a result of an immune response and clearance of the viral vector. Since heparan sulfate proteoglycan, the initial attachment receptor for HSV-1, was shown to be preserved during the maturation of the myofibers by immunofluorescence assay and HSV-1 was able to infect isolated, viable myofibers in vitro, we suggest that the low-level HSV-1 transduction of mature myofibers is not a consequence of the loss of viral attachment sites on the surfaces of mature muscle fibers. Rather, our results indicate that the mature basal lamina acts as a physical barrier to HSV-1 infection of adult myofibers. This conclusion was further supported by the finding that HSV-1 displayed an intermediate level of transduction in mature dy/dy muscle which is defective for normal basal lamina formation. Together, these experiments suggest that efficient HSV vector transduction in mature skeletal muscle requires methods to permeabilize the basal lamina.
Deriving Product Line Requirements: the RED-PL Guidance Approach

Product lines (PL) modeling have proven to be an effective approach to reuse in software development. Several variability approaches were developed to plan requirements reuse, but only little of them actually address the issue of deriving product requirements. This paper presents a method, RED-PL that intends to support requirements derivation. The originality of the proposed approach is that (i) it is user-oriented, (ii) it guides product requirements elicitation and derivation as a decision making activity, and (iii) it provides systematic and interactive guidance assisting analysts in taking decisions about requirements. The RED-PL methodological process was validated in an industrial setting by considering the requirement engineering phase of a product line of blood analyzers.