Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Compact wideband bandpass filter with high performance and harmonic suppression

This paper presents a novel wideband microstrip bandpass filter with low insertion loss and harmonic suppression. The filter is based on a circuit model for an optimum distributed highpass filter consisting of only 3 short-circuited stubs separated by non-redundant connecting lines. In order to reduce the size and to suppress the harmonic passbands of the filter, the uniform connecting lines are replaced by stepped-impedance lines. The design was successfully realized in theory and verified by full-wave EM simulation and the experiment. Theoretical, simulated, and measured results are in excellent agreement. The measurements show low insertion loss of less than 0.5 dB at the center frequency and a flat group delay of less than 0.3 ns over the entire passband.
JAGUAR: a high speed VLSI chip for JPEG image compression standard

In this paper, we describe a fully pipelined single chip VLSI architecture for implementing the JPEG baseline image compression standard The architecture exploits the principles of pipelining and parallelism to the maximum extent in order to obtain high speed and throughput. The architecture for discrete cosine transform and the entropy encoder are based on efficient algorithms designed for high speed VLSI implementation. The entire architecture can be implemented on a single VLSI chip to yield a clock rate of about 100 MHz which would allow an input rate of 30 frames per second for 1024/spl times/1024 color images. Currently, a prototype CMOS VLSI chip implementing the proposed architecture is being designed.
The negative impact of being underweight and weight loss on survival of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Body mass index and change in body mass index during treatment may influence treatment outcome of pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. However, previous studies in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia reported contradictory results. We prospectively collected data on body composition from a cohort of newly diagnosed Dutch pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n=762, age 2–17 years). Patients were treated from 1997–2004 and the median follow-up was 9 years (range, 0–10). Body mass index at diagnosis was expressed as age- and gender-matched standard deviation scores and on the basis of these scores the patients were categorized as being underweight, of normal weight or overweight. Multivariate analyses showed that patients who were underweight (8%) had a higher risk of relapse [hazard ratio: 1.88, 95% confidence interval (1.13–3.13)], but similar overall survival and event-free survival as patients who had a normal weight or who were overweight. Patients with loss of body mass index during the first 32 weeks of treatment had a similar risk of relapse and event-free survival, but decreased overall survival [hazard ratio: 2.10, 95% confidence interval (1.14–3.87)] compared to patients without a loss of body mass index. In addition, dual X-ray absorptiometry scans were performed in a nested, single-center cohort. Data from these scans revealed that a loss of body mass consisted mainly of a loss of lean body mass, while there was a gain in the percentage of fat. In conclusion, being underweight at diagnosis is a risk factor for relapse, and a decrease in body mass index early during treatment is associated with decreased survival. In addition, loss of body mass during treatment seems to consist mainly of a loss of lean body mass. This study was approved by the Medical Ethical Committee in 1996 (trial number NTR460/SNWLK-ALL-9).
What’s Special about Basic Research?

“Basic research” is often used in science policy. It is commonly thought to refer to research that is directed solely toward acquiring new knowledge rather than any more practical objective. Recently, there has been considerable concern about the future of basic research because of purported changes in the nature of knowledge production and increasing pressures on scientists to demonstrate the social and economic benefits of their work. But is there really something special about basic research? The author argues here that “basic research” is a flexible and ambiguous concept that is drawn on by scientists to acquire prestige and resources. She shows that it is used for boundary work and gives examples of the work it does in different situations by drawing on interviews with scientists and policy makers on the category of basic research and the changes they have seen in it over time.
Deictic teleassistance

We present a simple sign language for teleassistance inspired by the work of the Bernstein (1967) and by psychophysical evidence in hand-eye coordination. In our schema, a teleoperator uses hand signs to guide an otherwise autonomous robot manipulator through a given task. Each sign signals a context switch and provides a hand-centered reference frame for the robot's servomotor routines. The signs are natural, such as pointing to an object to indicate the desire to reach toward it as well as the axis along which to reach. These signs are called deictic from the Greek word for pointing to stress their indicative and relative nature. The task example is opening a door using a Utah/MIT hand mounted on a Puma 760 arm. The teleoperator wears an EXOS hand master and polhemus sensor. Three variations of nearest neighbor pattern classification are tested for online recognition of the sign language. The simplest, in which the operator signs each pose once before starting, is the best for this task. The dual-control strategy of teleassistance combines teleoperation and autonomous servo control to their advantage. The use of a symbolic sign language helps to alleviate many problems inherent to literal master/slave teleoperation. Conversely, the integration of global operator guidance and hand-centered coordinate frames permits the servo routines to position the robot in relative coordinates and interpret feedback within a constrained context, significantly simplifying the computation and reducing the need for detailed task models. <<ETX>>
Future Generation Computer Systems ( ) – Future Generation Computer Systems Trustworthiness Testing of Phishing Websites: a Behavior Model-based Approach

Phishing attacks allure website users to visit fake web pages and provide their personal information. However, testing of phishing websites is challenging. Unlike traditional web-based program testing, we do not know the response of form submissions in advance. There exists lack of efforts to help anti-phishing professionals who manually verify a reported phishing site and take further actions. Moreover, current tools cannot detect phishing attacks that leverage vulnerabilities in trusted websites such as cross site scripting. An attacker might generate input forms by injecting script code and steal credentials. To address these challenges, we propose 1 testing suspected phishing websites based on trustworthiness testing approach. In a trustworthiness testing, a website is not tested against a set of known inputs and matched the expected outputs with the actual ones. Rather, we check whether the behavior (response) of websites matches with our knowledge of phishing or legitimate website behaviors to decide whether a website is phishing or legitimate. We consider a suspected website as a web-based program and test the program based on a behavior model. The model is described using the notion of Finite State Machine (FSM) that captures the submission of forms with random inputs and the corresponding responses. We then identify a number of heuristics followed by a set of heuristic combination to assist a tester deciding whether websites are phishing or legitimate based on their up-to-date behaviors. We implement a tool named PhishTester to automate the testing process. We evaluate the proposed approach with both phishing and legitimate websites. The results show that the approach incurs zero false negatives and positives in detecting phishing and legitimate websites, respectively. Moreover, our approach can detect advanced XSS-based attacks that many contemporary tools currently fail to detect.
Managing Agitated Behaviour in People with Alzheimer's Disease: The Role of Live Music

Background: Agitation due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) presents a challenge to occupational therapists working in the older people care sector. Recently, background music and music therapy have emerged as promising tools in the management of agitation in AD. This exploratory study investigated whether live music could reduce agitated behaviour in people with AD. Method: A quasi-experimental one-group repeated measures design investigated the effect of a live, one-to-one, musical violin intervention on agitated behaviour in people with moderate-severe AD in a residential care facility. Seven participants received the musical intervention on three occasions. Participants were video recorded before, during and after each session. Behaviour was assessed by the investigator and a blinded assessor, using an investigator-modified Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory. Thirty agitated behaviours were examined. Data were analysed using the Friedman test. Results: This intervention reduced agitated behaviour among participants. Significant reductions in pacing/aimless wandering (p = 0.023), performing repetitious mannerisms (p = 0.036) and general restlessness (p = 0.007) were observed. The total number of agitated behaviours decreased significantly (median 5 [range 2–8] behaviours before the intervention to 1 [range 0–4] during and 1 [range 0–5] after the intervention [p = 0.005]). Conclusion: Live music may be an effective strategy to reduce short-term agitated behaviour among people with AD.
How do venture investments by different classes of financial institutions affect the equity underwriting process ?

Over the 1993-2000 period, a majority of U.S. venture-backed IPOs have venture backing by financial institutions. Each class of financial institutions has its own asset expertise, investment criteria and access to proprietary information on private firms, which we exploit evaluating whether venture investments by commercial banks, investment banks and insurance companies have independent effects on the equity underwriting process. We also examine whether these effects are a function of investment size and whether the effects differ for debt (loans) and equity investments. We find that each class of financial institutions making venture investments in a firm going public is associated with evidence of lower adverse selection risk; namely reduced underpricing and absolute offer price revisions and stronger longterm operating performance. The impacts of debt or equity investments by separate classes of financial institutions are largely additive. Moreover, the size of financial institution ownership in an issuer is more informative than the presence of financial institution investors. This body of evidence is consistent with equity holdings and loans by each class of financial institutions providing independent certification of issuer quality.
Link Prediction via Generalized Coupled Tensor Factorisation

This study deals with the missing link prediction problem: the problem of predicting the existence of missing connections between entities of interest. We address link prediction using coupled analysis of relational datasets represented as heterogeneous data, i.e., datasets in the form of matrices and higher-order tensors. We propose to use an approach based on probabilistic interpretation of tensor factorisation models, i.e., Generalised Coupled Tensor Factorisation, which can simultaneously fit a large class of tensor models to higher-order tensors/matrices with com- mon latent factors using different loss functions. Numerical experiments demonstrate that joint analysis of data from multiple sources via coupled factorisation improves the link prediction performance and the selection of right loss function and tensor model is crucial for accurately predicting missing links.
Towards a recurrence relationship extraction on Chebyshev Moments calculation

This paper introduces a different approach on how to calculate the Chebyshev Moments based on a recurrence relationship. The recurrence relationship reveals an easier way to calculate the Chebyshev moment by extracting simple and elegant recurrence patterns. The recurrence relationship is developed alongside a suitable data structure that holds the different parts of the extracted pattern. We used the Coil dataset to run the experimental results which show a reasonable numerical stability of the computed moments compared to the direct method while a gain in time execution is also noticed.
The body of the BOSS : subsyllabic units in the lexical processing of polysyllabic words

The body of a monosyllabic word (i.e., its vowel plus terminal consonants) has been shown to be an important unit in lexical processing (e.g., the EAD of HEAD). This article attempts to define what the body of a polysyllabic word might be, suggesting that it is the body of the first orthographically defined syllable of the word (the body of its basic orthographic syllabic structure [BOSS], or BOB, e.g., the EAD of MEADOW). Three experiments, testing 60, 96, and 45 university students, respectively, demonstrated that the pronunciation of a nonword is influenced by the pronunciation of the BOB of a preceding word, but not by the pronunciation of its vowel alone or its first phonologically defined syllable
Space–Time Adaptive Processing and Motion Parameter Estimation in Multistatic Passive Radar Using Sparse Bayesian Learning

Conventional space-time adaptive processing suffers from the requirement of a large number of secondary samples. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to accurately estimate the clutter covariance matrix based on a small number of secondary samples, by exploiting the common clutter support across nearby range cells in the angle-Doppler domain. By taking advantage of the intrinsic sparsity of the clutter in the angle-Doppler domain, the recently developed sparse Bayesian learning technique is employed for high-resolution clutter profile estimation. The proposed method does not require the independent and identically distributed secondary sample assumption, and the required number of secondary data samples can be significantly reduced. In addition, we propose a sparse reconstruction-based approach to acquire the 2-D motion parameters of moving targets, by exploiting their group sparsity in the velocity domain in the multistatic passive radar systems. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
Automatic Optimization of Parallel Dataflow Programs

Large-scale parallel dataflow systems, e.g., Dryad and Map-Reduce, have attracted significant attention recently. High-level dataflow languages such as Pig Latin and Sawzall are being layered on top of these systems, to enable faster program development and more maintainable code. These languages engender greater transparency in program structure, and open up opportunities for automatic optimization. This paper proposes a set of optimization strategies for this context, drawing on and extending techniques from the database community.
Cytochrome P450 2D6 and 3A4 enzyme inhibition by amine stimulants in dietary supplements.

A number of dietary supplements used for weight loss and athletic performance enhancement have been recently shown to contain a variety of stimulants, for which there is a lack of pharmacological and toxicological information. One concern for these emerging compounds is their potential to inhibit metabolic enzymes in the liver such as cytochromes P450 (CYP), which can lead to unexpected interactions among dietary supplements, drugs, and other xenobiotics. In this study, inhibition of human recombinant CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 by 27 amine stimulants associated with dietary supplements and their analogs was evaluated by luminescence assays. The strongest CYP2D6 inhibitors were coclaurine (IC50 = 0.14 ± 0.01 μM) and N-benzylphenethylamine (IC50 = 0.7 ± 0.2 μM), followed by several other relatively strong inhibitors (IC50 , 2-12 μM) including β-methylphenethylamine, N,β-dimethylphenethylamine (phenpromethamine), 1,3-dimethylamylamine (DMAA), N,α-diethylphenethylamine, higenamine (norcoclaurine) and N,N-diethylphenethylamine. Only nine compounds inhibited CYP3A4 by 20-55% at 100 μM. Results of this study illustrate that several amine stimulants associated with dietary supplements inhibit CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 in vitro, and these compounds may participate in adverse drug-dietary supplement interactions in vivo. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An adaptive interpolation scheme for inter-layer prediction

In scalable video coding, inter-layer prediction is used to eliminate the redundancies among layers. Joint Scalable Video Model (JSVM) uses a fixed interpolation scheme to interpolate motion and residual information of the base layer into the enhancement layer. The filter used for luma and chroma information is also the same. In this paper, an adaptive interpolation scheme for inter-layer prediction in scalable video coding is presented. Firstly, the interpolation filter used for luma information is adaptively selected among three filters: bilinear, bicubic, ant 6-tap filter. The selection of interpolation filter is based on the quantization parameter. Secondly, bilinear filter is used for chroma information instead of the 6-tap filter used in JSVM. Experimental results show that, compared with the fixed interpolation scheme used in JSVM, the proposed scheme achieves satisfied results in both subjective and objective quality.
The Mass Discrepancy-Acceleration Relation: Disk Mass and the Dark Matter Distribution

The mass discrepancy in disk galaxies is shown to be well correlated with acceleration, increasing systematically with decreasing acceleration below a critical scale a0 ≈ 3700 km2 s-2 kpc-1 = 1.2 × 10-10 m s-2. For each galaxy, there is an optimal choice of stellar mass-to-light ratio that minimizes the scatter in this mass discrepancy-acceleration relation. The same mass-to-light ratios also minimize the scatter in the baryonic Tully-Fisher relation and are in excellent agreement with the expectations of stellar population synthesis. Once the disk mass is determined in this fashion, the dark matter distribution is specified. The circular velocity attributable to the dark matter can be expressed as a simple equation that depends only on the observed distribution of baryonic mass. It is a challenge to understand how this very fine-tuned coupling between mass and light comes about.
Combining DWT and LSB watermarking to secure revocable iris templates

In this paper, we present a scheme for securing revocable iris templates using watermarking. A user specific shuffling key is used to shuffle blocks of the iris code to achieve revocability, as well as increase the separation between genuine and imposter Hamming distance distributions. 3-level DWT decomposition is used for the watermarking algorithm. Discrete Wavelet Transform was chosen, for robustness, security and accuracy, to embed the shuffled iris code in a cover image. To test the proposed algorithm, recognition rates are calculated after several geometrical and frequency attacks, which shows acceptable performance rates, while ensuring revocability and security of the iris templates.
Determination of physicochemical properties of tetrabromobisphenol A

Aqueous solubility (Sw), 1‐octanol/water partition coefficient (KOW), and vapor pressure of the nonionic form of 2,2′,6,6′‐tetrabromo‐4,4′‐isopropylidenediphenol (tetrabromobisphenol A or TBBP‐A) were measured. From this, enthalpies of solution and vaporization were estimated. Furthermore, enthalpy of fusion and melting point were measured to estimate subcooled liquid vapor pressure, the infinite dilution activity coefficient, and Henry's law constant. Since TBBP‐A is expected to exit in both ionic and nonionic forms at near neutral pH, pH effects on physicochemical properties were also examined. Because of the ionization of TBBP‐A, Sw increased by five orders of magnitude, while KOW decreased by eight orders of magnitude. Furthermore, an analytical model based on mass balance and dissociation of TBBP‐A was applied to represent the pH dependence.
Doses of Quercetin in the Range of Serum Concentrations Exert Delipidating Effects in 3T3-L1 Preadipocytes by Acting on Different Stages of Adipogenesis, but Not in Mature Adipocytes

Scope. To determine whether doses of quercetin in the range of serum concentrations exert any effect on triacylglycerol accumulation in maturing preadipocytes and mature adipocytes. The influence on the expression of adipogenic markers as well as on gene expression and activity of enzymes involved in triacylglycerol metabolism were assessed. Methods and Results. 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were treated during differentiation and mature adipocytes for 24 hours with low doses (0.1–10 µM) of quercetin. Triacylglycerol content in both cell types and free fatty acid and glycerol in the incubation medium of mature adipocytes were measured spectrophotometrically. Gene and protein expression were assessed by RT-PCR and Western blot. LPL and FAS activities were quantified. During differentiation quercetin reduced triacylglycerol content at doses from 0.5 to 10 µM. 1 µM of quercetin reduced C/EBPβ gene expression, SREBP1 mature protein levels, and PPARγ gene expression. 10 µM of quercetin reduced LPL gene expression and PPARγ and SREBP1c expression. In mature adipocytes, only 10 µM of quercetin reduced triacylglycerol content. Lipogenic FAS expression and activity were reduced at this dose. Conclusion. Quercetin, in the range of serum concentrations, is able to inhibit adipogenesis, but higher doses, at least 10 µM, are needed to reduce fat accumulation in mature adipocytes.
Entrapment of Peptidoglycans and Adamantyltripeptides into Liposomes: An HPLC Assay for Determination of Encapsulation Efficiency

Abstract The encapsulation of different immunomodulating peptides, the peptidoglycan monomer, its semisynthetic derivatives (Adamant-1-yl)-acetyl-peptidoglycan monomer and Boc-Tyr-peptidoglycan monomer, respectively, and of two diastereoisomers of adamantyltripeptides into the large negatively charged multilamellar liposomes was investigated. The reproducible quantitative method using HPLC was established for the determination of the entrapped compounds. It was shown that the tested compounds could be efficiently incorporated into liposomes using either the film or modified film method. The results confirmed that the peptidoglycans with lipophilic substituents and particularly the adamantyltripeptides were incorporated into liposomes with higher efficiency than the peptidoglycan monomer using either of the described methods. Liposome preparations were stable at 4°C up to seven days as shown by minimal leaking of the entrapped material.
Presence Attestation: The Missing Link in Dynamic Trust Bootstrapping

Many popular modern processors include an important hardware security feature in the form of a DRTM (Dynamic Root of Trust for Measurement) that helps bootstrap trust and resists software attacks. However, despite substantial body of prior research on trust establishment, security of DRTM was treated without involvement of the human user, who represents a vital missing link. The basic challenge is: how can a human user determine whether an expected DRTM is currently active on her device? In this paper, we define the notion of "presence attestation", which is based on mandatory, though minimal, user participation. We present three concrete presence attestation schemes: sight-based, location-based and scene-based. They vary in terms of security and usability features, and are suitable for different application contexts. After analyzing their security, we assess their usability and performance based on prototype implementations.