Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
eSKAMI: Efficient and Scalable Multi-group Key Management for Advanced Metering Infrastructure in Smart Grid

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is composed of systems and networks for measuring, collecting, storing, analyzing, and exploiting energy usage related data. AMI is an enabling technology for Smart Grid (SG) and hence represents a privileged target for security attacks with potentially great damage against infrastructures and privacy. For this reason, security has been identified as one of the most challenging topics in AMI development, and designing an efficient Key Management Scheme (KMS) is one of first important steps. In this paper, we propose a new scalable and efficient key management scheme that we call Efficient and Scalable multi-group Key Management for AMI (eSKAMI) to secure data communications in an Advanced Metering Infrastructure. It is a key management scheme that can support unicast, multicast and broadcast communications based on an efficient Multi-group Key graph technique. An analysis of security and performance, and a comparision of our scheme with recently proposed schemes show that our KMS induces low storage overhead compared to existing solutions (reduction reaches 83%) without increasing the communication overhead.
Firm Innovation in Emerging Markets: The Role of Finance, Governance, and Competition

Abstract We investigate the firm characteristics associated with innovation in over 19,000 firms across 47 developing economies. While existing finance literature on innovation is limited to large public firms in developed markets such as the United States, our database includes public and private firms, and small and medium-sized enterprises. We define innovation broadly to include introduction of new products and technologies, knowledge transfers, and new production processes. We find that access to external financing is associated with greater firm innovation. Further, having highly educated managers, ownership by families, individuals, or managers, and exposure to foreign competition is associated with greater firm innovation.
Systems Analysis of Climate Change Vulnerability for the US Northeast Ski Sector

One of the greatest challenges to the sustainability of the winter tourism sector is climate change. Studies examining the implications of climate change for the ski tourism industry have mainly focused on vulnerability of the supply side (i.e. ski area infrastructure and operators) with limited attention given to the demand side (i.e. how tourists will respond to changing climate and ski conditions). A more holistic understanding of how the winter tourism marketplace may evolve under a changed climate is required for managers and communities to develop and plan specific adaptation strategies. Using a systems approach this study examines climate change vulnerability of both the supply and demand sides of the US Northeast ski tourism sector (i.e. a marketplace of some 103 ski areas across the states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut). Multiple methods were employed including a climate change analogue (demand and supply side), future climate change and operations modeling (supply side), and a skier survey (demand side). Findings reveal a complexity of interacting and opposing impacts including the projected contraction northward of viable ski areas. In response to projected ski area closures in the region, demand for skiing opportunities is not likely to decrease proportionally. Ski areas that are able to remain operational under changed conditions should plan for a possible market-shift (i.e. spatial substitution) and may expect crowding issues and residual development pressure in association with the concentration of ski areas in fewer climate-advantaged regions.
State Legislation Regulating Animal Manure Management

This article examines the state legislation that has been imposed to regulate animal manure management and protect water quality. Regulations that control the design and location of animal feeding operations, regulate administrative and record-keeping procedures, and impose requirements on manure field application are discussed, and an index is created to identify the level of regulatory stringency in important livestock-producing states. Examination of state legislation for the years 1994 and 1998 demonstrates that the stringency of state manure management regulation has increased significantly over this time period.
Monetary Aggregates, Income and Causality in a Developing Economy

This paper uses Sims‐Granger causality to examine the causal relationships between (1) the money stock and income, and (2) the reserve money base and the money stock for India. These relationships are empirically investigated so as to determine the role of money in economic activity and the role and channels of monetary policy in a developing economy. Both the conventional regression method used by Sims and the more recent time‐series method developed by Box and Jenkins are utilised in the tests. The results indicate (a) that money does not play a causal role in economic activity while conventional money‐demand functions with income as the right‐hand side variable are vindicated, and (b) there is weak support for the Central Bank's alleged control over the money stock through control over the reserve money base. The differing nature of the results with respect to the two methods adopted point towards the sensitivity of the Sims‐Granger causality test to the type of filtering procedure chosen.
The Empirical Relationship Between Exchange Rates and Interest Rates in Post-Crisis Asia

In post-crisis Asia, all crisis-hit countries (except Malaysia) announced a shift from exchange rate based monetary policy framework to the explicit adoption of inflation targeting that uses interest rates as the key monetary policy operating instrument. In this study, we examine the empirical relationship between exchange rates and interest rates, and investigate how the dynamics between them have changed following the crisis. This is carried out by constructing a bivariate VAR-GARCH model for each of the four Asian crisis countries, namely Indonesia, Korea, Philippines and Thailand. The findings suggest these countries do not use interest rate policy more actively to stabilize exchange rates after the crisis, and provide evidence that their domestic currencies exhibit greater sensitivity to competitors’ exchange rates post-crisis. Further, the results indicate that increased exchange rate flexibility has not led to greater stability in interest rates in these economies.
Identification of Complex Named-Entities in Chinese Queries Using WWW

In spite of the heated discussions of traditional named-entities, complex named-entities like movie names and book names are seldom referred in literature. This work focuses on the recognition of such named-entities, especially those with little context, which is common in real-world queries. Therefore, we suggest using dynamic Web data as the basis of recognition. To solve the problem of response time of Web-based algorithms, we propose a novel preprocessing method that combines rough segmentation and caching techniques. Evaluations show that the methods have not only achieved fairly good performance, but also lowered system response significantly.
Analysis and synthesis of electrical equivalent circuit of a microfluidic channel for cell characterization

In recent days, numerous biological activities including disease progression are understood by understanding the electrical properties of living cells. Numbers of techniques were developed to study the electrical properties of cells with focus on single cell analysis. This budding interest was supported by the emergence of various microfluidic techniques to accomplish low analysis time and reduced equipment cost for characterization of cell's electrical properties, as compared to conventional bulky techniques. In this work, the method for electrical analysis of a microfluidic set up that is used for electrical characterization of living cells is presented. This analysis forms the basis for obtaining the electrical equivalent circuit and hence the electrical characterization of the biological cells. The microfluidic setup consists of a microfluidic channel with biological suspensions such as cells. The choice of elements and their values in the electrical equivalent circuit depend on various parameters, to name a few: the electrical and geometrical properties of the cell, the electrical properties of the fluid flowing in the microfluidic channel and the electrical and geometrical properties of the channel. Apart from these parameters, the type of flow and other fluidic parameters such as viscosity also have substantial contribution in altering the value of electrical parameters of the equivalent circuit.
Legal Deterrence: The Foundation of Corporate Governance Evidence from China

To evaluate the Chinese government's recent market-orientated efforts to promote good corporate governance, this paper conducts a re-examination of the working mechanics for market competition and other market-based governance mechanisms to ensure good corporate governance. The finding is that the utility of market mechanisms may have been exaggerated. Not only are they not effective in disciplining serious managerial misbehaviour that offers managers more gain than loss, even their limited value to discourage such misbehaviour as managerial shirking is conditioned on that the opportunities for illegitimate enrichment by managers are few. On the contrary, legal sanction is fundamental to good corporate governance, because it is the only feasible way to combat such serious misbehaviour and curb illegitimate enrichment. Current experience of corporate governance in China conforms to this finding and poor corporate governance in China is better explained by the lack of credible legal deterrence. This being the case, the top priority for China is to strengthen legal sanction in order to rein in the excessive misappropriation and flagrant fraud. Only once this has been done will the efforts to implement market-orientated reforms bear any significant fruits.
Shadow Economy – The Impact of Regulation in OECD-countries

A comprehensive regulation index covering five major fields (labour, product and capital market; education/innovation and the quality of institutions) has been used to analyse the relationship between the density of regulations and the size of shadow economies. The empirical results from 25 OECD countries for the time period 1995–2005 show that – apart from tax burden and tax morale – the main causes are labour and product market regulations, overall regulations and poor quality of official public institutions and administration. An overview of relevant findings on the impact of regulation on irregular activities complements these findings.
Can the Surveillance System Run Pose Variant Face Recognition in Real Time?

This paper presents an approach for face recognition across pose variations when only one sample image per person is available. From a near frontal face sample image, virtual views at different off-frontal angles were generated and used for the system training task. The manual work and computation burden, thus, are put on the offline training process, that makes it possible to build a real-time face recognition surveillance system. Our work exploited the inherent advantages of "single" HMM scheme, which is based on an ID discrete hidden Markov model (ID-DHMM) and is designed to avoid the need of retraining the system whenever it is provided new image(s). Experiment results on the CMU PIE face database demonstrate that the proposed scheme improves significantly the recognition performance
Ethnic Segregation and the Quality of Local Government in the Minority's Localities: Local Tax Collection in the Israeli-Arab Municipalities as a Case-Study

The negative effects of ethnic diversity on fiscal performance were pointed out in several studies. These weaknesses are attributed to the lack of trust between ethnic groups, own-group bias in the willingness to support public expenditure, and a tendency to avoid, or evade, taxes when a feeling of injustice is prevalent - both within the majority group and among disadvantaged minorities. But, if ethnic diversity is bad for public policy, will a Tiebout (1956) type ethnic segregation lead to better performance? In this paper we show that, at least with respect to municipalities inhabited by a disadvantaged minority, the costs of segregation could be quite substantial. We examine one fiscal performance indicator in the local authorities in Israel: local taxes collected in each locality as a share of tax charges imposed by that locality. We find that this collection rate is substantially lower in Arab localities, as compared to Jewish ones, even after accounting for differences in socio-economic indicators and in various variables that affect tax exemptions and discounts. These findings are in line with those of studies in Psychology, Social Work and Education that point out low motivation and self-efficacy of discriminated minorities, which are reflected in inefficient - and sometimes destructive - behaviors.
Training for perceptual skills.

Three perceptual tasks, the estimation of visual ‘numerousness’, visual acuity and the auditory detection of a signal in noise, were used to show the effects of various kinds of training. Comparisons were made between simple practice, knowledge of results, cuing techniques and the use of easier material. Cuing was found to be equivalent to, or better than, knowledge of results, and training on easy material was least successful. It is tentatively concluded that the reinforcement paradigm is not appropriate for these perceptual skills and that a simple association principle is adequate.
Wild-type bacteriophage T4 is restricted by the lambda rex genes

The bacteriophage T4 rII genes and the lambda rex (r exclusion) genes interact; rII mutants are unable to productively infect rex+ lambda lysogens. The relationship between rex and rII has been found to be quantitative, and plasmid clones of rex have excluded not only rII mutants but T4 wild type and most other bacteriophages as well. Mutations in the T4 motA gene substantially reversed exclusion of T4 by rex.
Hospital database workload and fault forecasting

With the growing importance of hospital information systems, databases became indispensable tools for day-to-day tasks in healthcare units. They store important and confidential information about patients clinical status and about the other hospital services. Thus, they must be permanently available, reliable and at high performance. In many healthcare units, fault tolerant systems are used. They ensure the availability, reliability and disaster recovery of data. However, these mechanisms do not allow the prediction or prevention of faults. In this context, it emerges the necessity of developing a fault forecasting system. The objectives of this paper are monitoring database performance to verify the normal workload for the main database of Centro Hospitalar do Porto and adapt a forecasting model used in medicine into the database context. Based on percentiles it was created a scale to represent the severity of situations. It was observe that the critical workload period is the period between 10:00 am and 12:00 am. Moreover, abnormal situations were detected and it was possible to send alerts and to request assistance.
Multiscale exponential Lévy-type models

We consider the problem of valuing a European option written on an asset whose dynamics are described by an exponential Lévy-type model. In our framework, both the volatility and jump-intensity are allowed to vary stochastically in time through common driving factors—one fast-varying and one slow-varying. Using Fourier analysis we derive an explicit formula for the approximate price of any European-style derivative whose payoff has a generalized Fourier transform; in particular, this includes European calls and puts. From a theoretical perspective, our results extend the class of multiscale stochastic volatility models of Fouque et al. [Multiscale Stochastic Volatility for Equity, Interest Rate, and Credit Derivatives, 2011] to models of the exponential Lévy type. From a financial perspective, the inclusion of jumps and stochastic volatility allow us to capture the term-structure of implied volatility, as demonstrated in a calibration to S&P500 options data.
Attachment and social preferences in cooperatively‐reared cotton‐top tamarins

In many primate species a close attachment between mother and infant provides a secure base for the infant when the infant is frightened or under stress. In cooperatively breeding primates infant carrying is divided among several individuals in the group, with the mother often doing little more than nursing. In these species it is not clear which individual would best serve as a secure base for the infant. We studied eight infant cotton‐top tamarins from birth through 20 weeks of age, noting who carried the infant during the first 100 days, who transferred food with the infants, and, as infants became independent, with whom they associated during social play and affiliative behavior. From week 9 to week 20, when infants were independent of carriers most of the time, we presented families with six trials (once every 2 weeks) with a threatening stimulus (a human dressed in a lab coat and wearing an animal mask). Infants played primarily with their twin or youngest sibling and had affiliative interactions with many family members. However, in fearful situations, infants ran to those who had carried them and transferred food with them the most–their father or oldest brother (never to the mother). Although adults increased rates of mobbing calls in response to the threat, infants significantly reduced their vocalization rate. For these cooperatively breeding monkeys, the attachment object for infants is the family member that invested the most effort in carrying the infant and transferring food with the infant. These results parallel and extend results from bi‐parental infant care species in which the father serves as the primary attachment figure. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ASSESSMENT OF MUSCARINIC AND NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTOR EXPRESSION IN PRIMITIVE NEUROECTODERMAL TUMOR/EWING FAMILY OF TUMOR AND DESMOPLASTIC SMALL ROUND CELL TUMOR: AN IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL AND WESTERN BLOT STUDY OF TISSUE MICROARRAY AND CELL LINES

The primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET)/Ewing family of tumors (EFT) and desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) portend a grave prognosis. Ongoing research in similar neurocrest-derived neoplasms has implicated both the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in the pathogenesis of these neoplasms. Acetylcholine has been reported to impart a modulatory effect on chemotaxis and proliferation, an effect ameliorated by anticholinergic drugs. The aim of our study is to characterize the pattern of expression of mAChR and nAChR in PNET/EFT and DSRCT, in hopes of discovering a potential target for therapeutic improvements. We examined 34 cases of PNET/EFT and 2 DSRCT retrospectively by immunohistochemical studies. We found that AChRs are overexpressed in a significant number of PNET/EFT and DSRCT. The Western blot analysis of 3 human Ewing sarcoma cell lines confirms the presence of AChRs. Future studies are planned to confirm these results as well as to investigate their potential therapeutic implications.
MULTICULTURAL MULTIMEDIA LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY: A NARRATIVE CASE STUDY OF GREEN GUERRILLAS YOUTH MEDIA TECH COLLECTIVE

Sustainability is a popular term used to describe many different types of activities and practices, though it has vastly different meanings to people depending on their cultural context. The Green Guerrillas Youth Media Tech Collective, a community organization based in Ithaca, New York, has set out to redefine sustainability by critically examining the relationship of poor people of color the global majority to the environments they live in as well as the political, economic, and social systems they interact with, by giving a diverse group of local teenagers the opportunity to engage these subjects through media production and positive youth development activities in a holistic job-training program. Based on a participatory action research study during the first two years of the organization, this study used participant observation, ethnography, and narrative inquiry to demonstrate that a supportive social learning environment engaged in multimedia production is a powerful tool for getting marginalized adolescents engaged in developing environmental and social critical consciousness, as well as fostering a sense of empowerment in their personal lives and their ability to generate social change. This supports them in navigating their own lives more in harmony with the environment and society, building the foundation for community resiliency and a more socially just and environmentally conscious world where biocultural diversity is respected and protected. The stories told by these young people and the adults who work with them contain essential embodied practical knowledge and philosophical insights about the social dynamics of learning that contribute an important critical perspective to the conversations and praxis around broad, interconnected concepts of sustainability and multicultural environmental education.
Higher usual alcohol consumption was associated with a lower 41-y mortality risk from coronary artery disease in men independent of genetic and common environmental factors: the prospective NHLBI Twin Study.

BACKGROUND Evidence that alcohol consumption is inversely associated with long-term coronary artery disease (CAD) mortality independent of genetic and early life environmental factors is lacking. OBJECTIVE We evaluated whether alcohol consumption was prospectively associated with CAD mortality risk independent of familial factors. DESIGN In total, 843 male twins (396 pairs and 51 unpaired twins) aged 42-55 y (mean: 48 y) without baseline CAD reported beer, wine, and spirits consumption at baseline (1969-1973) and were followed up to 2010 in the prospective National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Twin Study. Data on usual alcohol consumption over the past year were collected. Outcome was time to event, where the primary event was death from CAD and secondary events were death from cardiovascular disease and all causes. HRs were estimated by using frailty survival models, both overall and within-pair. RESULTS There were 129 CAD deaths and 219 cardiovascular deaths during 41 y of follow-up. In the whole cohort, after adjustment for caloric intake and cardiovascular disease risk factors, overall HRs per 10-g increment in alcohol intake were 0.94 (95% CI: 0.89, 0.98) for CAD and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.93, 1.00) for cardiovascular mortality. The within-pair adjusted HRs for a twin with 10-g higher daily alcohol consumption than his co-twin were 0.90 (95% CI: 0.84, 0.97) for CAD and 0.95 (95% CI: 0.90, 1.00) for cardiovascular disease mortality in the cohort pooled by zygosity, which remained similar among monozygotic twins. All 3 beverage types tended to be associated with lower CAD mortality risk within-pair to a similar degree. Alcohol consumption was not associated with total mortality risk overall or within-pair. CONCLUSION Higher usual alcohol consumption is associated with lower CAD mortality risk, independent of germline and early life environment and adulthood experience shared among twins, supporting a possible causal role of alcohol consumption in lowering CAD death risk. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00005124.