Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Predicting Cyber Security Incidents Using Feature-Based Characterization of Network-Level Malicious Activities

This study offers a first step toward understanding the extent to which we may be able to predict cyber security incidents (which can be of one of many types) by applying machine learning techniques and using externally observed malicious activities associated with network entities, including spamming, phishing, and scanning, each of which may or may not have direct bearing on a specific attack mechanism or incident type. Our hypothesis is that when viewed collectively, malicious activities originating from a network are indicative of the general cleanness of a network and how well it is run, and that furthermore, collectively they exhibit fairly stable and thus predictive behavior over time. To test this hypothesis, we utilize two datasets in this study: (1) a collection of commonly used IP address-based/host reputation blacklists (RBLs) collected over more than a year, and (2) a set of security incident reports collected over roughly the same period. Specifically, we first aggregate the RBL data at a prefix level and then introduce a set of features that capture the dynamics of this aggregated temporal process. A comparison between the distribution of these feature values taken from the incident dataset and from the general population of prefixes shows distinct differences, suggesting their value in distinguishing between the two while also highlighting the importance of capturing dynamic behavior (second order statistics) in the malicious activities. These features are then used to train a support vector machine (SVM) for prediction. Our preliminary results show that we can achieve reasonably good prediction performance over a forecasting window of a few months.
Effective Preprocessing Procedures Virtually Eliminate Distance-Dependent Motion Artifacts in Resting State FMRI

Artifactual sources of resting-state (RS) FMRI can originate from head motion, physiology, and hardware. Of these sources, motion has received considerable attention and was found to induce corrupting effects by differentially biasing correlations between regions depending on their distance. Numerous corrective approaches have relied on the identification and censoring of high-motion time points and the use of the brain-wide average time series as a nuisance regressor to which the data are orthogonalized (Global Signal Regression, GSReg). We first replicate the previously reported head-motion bias on correlation coefficients using data generously contributed by Power et al. (2012). We then show that while motion can be the source of artifact in correlations, the distance-dependent bias-taken to be a manifestation of the motion effect on correlation-is exacerbated by the use of GSReg. Put differently, correlation estimates obtained after GSReg are more susceptible to the presence of motion and by extension to the levels of censoring. More generally, the effect of motion on correlation estimates depends on the preprocessing steps leading to the correlation estimate, with certain approaches performing markedly worse than others. For this purpose, we consider various models for RS FMRI preprocessing and show that WMeLOCAL, as subset of the ANATICOR discussed by Jo et al. (2010), denoising approach results in minimal sensitivity to motion and reduces by extension the dependence of correlation results on censoring.
Enzyme‐Based Glucose Sensor: From Invasive to Wearable Device

Blood glucose concentration is a key indicator of patients' health, particularly for symptoms associated with diabetes mellitus. Because of the large number of diabetic patients, many approaches for glucose measurement have been studied to enable continuous and accurate glucose level monitoring. Among them, electrochemical analysis is prominent because it is simple and quantitative. This technology has been incorporated into commercialized and research‐level devices from simple test strips to wearable devices and implantable systems. Although directly monitoring blood glucose assures accurate information, the invasive needle‐pinching step to collect blood often results in patients (particularly young patients) being reluctant to adopt the process. An implantable glucose sensor may avoid the burden of repeated blood collections, but it is quite invasive and requires periodic replacement of the sensor owing to biofouling and its short lifetime. Therefore, noninvasive methods to estimate blood glucose levels from tears, saliva, interstitial fluid (ISF), and sweat are currently being studied. This review discusses the evolution of enzyme‐based electrochemical glucose sensors, including materials, device structures, fabrication processes, and system engineering. Furthermore, invasive and noninvasive blood glucose monitoring methods using various biofluids or blood are described, highlighting the recent progress in the development of enzyme‐based glucose sensors and their integrated systems.
Population‐Wide Impact of Non‐Hip Non‐Vertebral Fractures on Mortality

Data on long‐term consequences of non‐hip non‐vertebral (NHNV) fractures, accounting for approximately two‐thirds of all fragility fractures, are scanty. Our study aimed to quantify the population‐wide impact of NHNV fractures on mortality. The national population‐based prospective cohort study (Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study) included 5526 community dwelling women and 2163 men aged 50 years or older followed from July 1995 to September 2013. Population impact number was used to quantify the average number of people for whom one death would be attributable to fracture and case impact number to quantify the number of deaths out of which one would be attributable to a fracture. There were 1370 fragility fractures followed by 296 deaths in women (mortality rate: 3.49; 95% CI, 3.11 to 3.91), and 302 fractures with 92 deaths in men (5.05; 95% CI, 4.12 to 6.20). NHNV fractures accounted for three‐quarters of fractures. In women, the population‐wide impact of NHNV fractures on mortality was greater than that of hip and vertebral fractures because of the greater number of NHNV fractures. Out of 800 women, one death was estimated to be attributable to a NHNV fracture, compared with one death in 2000 women attributable to hip or vertebral fracture. Similarly, out of 15 deaths in women, one was estimated to be attributable to a NHNV fracture, compared with one in over 40 deaths for hip or vertebral fracture. The impact of forearm fractures (ie, one death in 2400 women and one out of 42 deaths in women attributable to forearm fracture) was similar to that of hip, vertebral, or rib fractures. Similar, albeit not significant, results were noted for men. The study highlights the important contribution of NHNV fractures on mortality because many NHNV fracture types, except for the most distal fractures, have serious adverse consequences that affect a significant proportion of the population. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Trehalose, a Novel mTOR-independent Autophagy Enhancer, Accelerates the Clearance of Mutant Huntingtin and α-Synuclein*

Trehalose, a disaccharide present in many non-mammalian species, protects cells against various environmental stresses. Whereas some of the protective effects may be explained by its chemical chaperone properties, its actions are largely unknown. Here we report a novel function of trehalose as an mTOR-independent autophagy activator. Trehalose-induced autophagy enhanced the clearance of autophagy substrates like mutant huntingtin and the A30P and A53T mutants of α-synuclein, associated with Huntington disease (HD) and Parkinson disease (PD), respectively. Furthermore, trehalose and mTOR inhibition by rapamycin together exerted an additive effect on the clearance of these aggregate-prone proteins because of increased autophagic activity. By inducing autophagy, we showed that trehalose also protects cells against subsequent pro-apoptotic insults via the mitochondrial pathway. The dual protective properties of trehalose (as an inducer of autophagy and chemical chaperone) and the combinatorial strategy with rapamycin may be relevant to the treatment of HD and related diseases, where the mutant proteins are autophagy substrates.
The Literacy Divide: Health Literacy and the Use of an Internet-Based Patient Portal in an Integrated Health System—Results from the Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE)

Internet-based patient portals are intended to improve access and quality, and will play an increasingly important role in health care, especially for diabetes and other chronic diseases. Diabetes patients with limited health literacy have worse health outcomes, and limited health literacy may be a barrier to effectively utilizing internet-based health access services. We investigated use of an internet-based patient portal among a well characterized population of adults with diabetes. We estimated health literacy using three validated self-report items. We explored the independent association between health literacy and use of the internet-based patient portal, adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and income. Among 14,102 participants (28% non-Hispanic White, 14% Latino, 21% African-American, 9% Asian, 12% Filipino, and 17% multiracial or other ethnicity), 6099 (62%) reported some limitation in health literacy, and 5671 (40%) respondents completed registration for the patient portal registration. In adjusted analyses, those with limited health literacy had higher odds of never signing on to the patient portal (OR 1.7, 1.4 to 1.9) compared with those who did not report any health literacy limitation. Even among those with internet access, the relationship between health literacy and patient portal use persisted (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.2 to 1.8). Diabetes patients reporting limited health literacy were less likely to both access and navigate an internet-based patient portal than those with adequate health literacy. Although the internet has potential to greatly expand the capacity and reach of health care systems, current use patterns suggest that, in the absence of participatory design efforts involving those with limited health literacy, those most at risk for poor diabetes health outcomes will fall further behind if health systems increasingly rely on internet-based services.
Finance students’ experiences of lecture-based active learning tasks

Abstract Consistent with current higher education concerns with student engagement and the student experience, this study explored third-year undergraduate Finance students’ experiences of lecture-based active learning tasks. Finance students from the 2012 and 2014 cohorts from a South African university were invited to complete an anonymous questionnaire and participate in a focus group discussion. Most students affirmed the use of lecture-based active learning tasks, and highlighted how the related peer interactions and immediate application of Finance concepts were beneficial for their motivation and interest. In contrast, some students were disparaging of the lecture-based active learning tasks. Their dissenting views are incorporated as points of tension in the higher education teaching and learning process. The study also highlights the critical role that a passionate and student-centred teacher has on how active learning tasks are received by students during lectures, and generally on student engagement, student learning and the student experience.
Are personality traits associated with white-coat and masked hypertension?

Objectives: Anxiety and other psychological dispositions are thought to be associated with blood pressure. This study tests whether personality traits have long-term associations with masked and white-coat effects. Methods: A community-based sample of 2838 adults from Sardinia (Italy) completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, and 7 years later, blood pressure was assessed in the clinic and with ambulatory monitoring. Logistic regressions were used to test whether anxiety, neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness predicted the white-coat and masked hypertension phenomena. Age, sex, and antihypertensive medication use were tested as moderators. Results: Significant interactions were found between personality traits and antihypertensive medications in predicting masked and white-coat effects. Only among those taking antihypertensive medication, higher anxiety was associated with a higher risk of pseudo-resistant hypertension due to white-coat effect (odds ratio 1.39, 95% confidence interval 1.01–1.91) and higher conscientiousness was associated with a lower risk of masked uncontrolled hypertension (odds ratio 0.70, 95% confidence interval 0.49–0.99). There were no significant interactions with age or sex. Conclusions: Among those on antihypertensive medications, anxious individuals were more likely to have pseudo-resistant hypertension due to white-coat effect and less conscientious individuals were at increased risk of masked uncontrolled hypertension. Particularly among anxious and less conscientious individuals, ambulatory monitoring may improve the tailoring of pharmacological treatments.
A robust periodic arnoldi shooting algorithm for efficient analysis of large-scale RF/MM ICs

The verification of large radio-frequency/millimeter-wave (RF/MM) integrated circuits (ICs) has regained attention for high-performance designs beyond 90nm and 60GHz. The traditional time-domain verification by standard Krylov-subspace based shooting method might not be able to deal with newly increased verification complexity. The numerical algorithms with small computational cost yet superior convergence are highly desired to extend designers' creativity to probe those extremely challenging designs of RF/MM ICs. This paper presents a new shooting algorithm for periodic RF/MM-IC systems. Utilizing a periodic structure of the state matrix, a periodic Arnoldi shooting algorithm is developed to exploit the structured Krylov-subspace. This leads to an improved efficiency and convergence. Results from several industrial examples show that the proposed periodic Arnoldi shooting method, called PAS, is 1000 times faster than the direct-LU and the explicit GMRES methods. Moreover, when compared to the existing industrial standard, a matrix-free GMRES with non-structured Krylov-subspace, the new PAS method reduces iteration number and runtime by 3 times with the same accuracy.
Low-dose dopamine or low-dose nesiritide in acute heart failure with renal dysfunction: the ROSE acute heart failure randomized trial.

IMPORTANCE Small studies suggest that low-dose dopamine or low-dose nesiritide may enhance decongestion and preserve renal function in patients with acute heart failure and renal dysfunction; however, neither strategy has been rigorously tested. OBJECTIVE To test the 2 independent hypotheses that, compared with placebo, addition of low-dose dopamine (2 μg/kg/min) or low-dose nesiritide (0.005 μg/kg/min without bolus) to diuretic therapy will enhance decongestion and preserve renal function in patients with acute heart failure and renal dysfunction. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial (Renal Optimization Strategies Evaluation [ROSE]) of 360 hospitalized patients with acute heart failure and renal dysfunction (estimated glomerular filtration rate of 15-60 mL/min/1.73 m2), randomized within 24 hours of admission. Enrollment occurred from September 2010 to March 2013 across 26 sites in North America. INTERVENTIONS Participants were randomized in an open, 1:1 allocation ratio to the dopamine or nesiritide strategy. Within each strategy, participants were randomized in a double-blind, 2:1 ratio to active treatment or placebo. The dopamine (n = 122) and nesiritide (n = 119) groups were independently compared with the pooled placebo group (n = 119). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Coprimary end points included 72-hour cumulative urine volume (decongestion end point) and the change in serum cystatin C from enrollment to 72 hours (renal function end point). RESULTS Compared with placebo, low-dose dopamine had no significant effect on 72-hour cumulative urine volume (dopamine, 8524 mL; 95% CI, 7917-9131 vs placebo, 8296 mL; 95% CI, 7762-8830 ; difference, 229 mL; 95% CI, -714 to 1171 mL; P = .59) or on the change in cystatin C level (dopamine, 0.12 mg/L; 95% CI, 0.06-0.18 vs placebo, 0.11 mg/L; 95% CI, 0.06-0.16; difference, 0.01; 95% CI, -0.08 to 0.10; P = .72). Similarly, low-dose nesiritide had no significant effect on 72-hour cumulative urine volume (nesiritide, 8574 mL; 95% CI, 8014-9134 vs placebo, 8296 mL; 95% CI, 7762-8830; difference, 279 mL; 95% CI, -618 to 1176 mL; P = .49) or on the change in cystatin C level (nesiritide, 0.07 mg/L; 95% CI, 0.01-0.13 vs placebo, 0.11 mg/L; 95% CI, 0.06-0.16; difference, -0.04; 95% CI, -0.13 to 0.05; P = .36). Compared with placebo, there was no effect of low-dose dopamine or nesiritide on secondary end points reflective of decongestion, renal function, or clinical outcomes. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE In participants with acute heart failure and renal dysfunction, neither low-dose dopamine nor low-dose nesiritide enhanced decongestion or improved renal function when added to diuretic therapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01132846.
MicroRNA Regulation of Glycolytic Metabolism in Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive and common malignant brain tumour in adults. A well-known hallmark of GMB and many other tumours is aerobic glycolysis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short nonprotein coding sequences that exert posttranscriptional controls on gene expression and represent critical regulators of aerobic glycolysis in GBM. In GBM, miRNAs regulate the expression of glycolytic genes directly and via the regulation of metabolism-associated tumour suppressors and oncogenic signalling pathways. This review aims to establish links between miRNAs expression levels, the expression of GBM glycolytic regulatory genes, and the malignant progression and prognosis of GBM. In this review, the involvement of 25 miRNAs in the regulation of glycolytic metabolism of GBM is discussed. Seven of these miRNAs have been shown to regulate glycolytic metabolism in other tumour types. Further eight miRNAs, which are differentially expressed in GBM, have also been reported to regulate glycolytic metabolism in other cancer types. Thus, these miRNAs could serve as potential glycolytic regulators in GBM but will require functional validation. As such, the characterisation of these molecular and metabolic signatures in GBM can facilitate a better understanding of the molecular pathogenesis of this disease.
Assessment of learning to rank methods for query expansion

Pseudo relevance feedback, as an effective query expansion method, can significantly improve information retrieval performance. However, the method may negatively impact the retrieval performance when some irrelevant terms are used in the expanded query. Therefore, it is necessary to refine the expansion terms. Learning to rank methods have proven effective in information retrieval to solve ranking problems by ranking the most relevant documents at the top of the returned list, but few attempts have been made to employ learning to rank methods for term refinement in pseudo relevance feedback. This article proposes a novel framework to explore the feasibility of using learning to rank to optimize pseudo relevance feedback by means of reranking the candidate expansion terms. We investigate some learning approaches to choose the candidate terms and introduce some state‐of‐the‐art learning to rank methods to refine the expansion terms. In addition, we propose two term labeling strategies and examine the usefulness of various term features to optimize the framework. Experimental results with three TREC collections show that our framework can effectively improve retrieval performance.
The Role of Social Capital in African Americans' Attempts to Reduce and Quit Cocaine Use

ABSTRACT Background: Research examining substance users' recovery has focused on individual-level outcomes while paying limited attention to the contexts within which individuals are embedded, and the social processes involved in recovery. Objectives: This paper examines factors underlying African American cocaine users' decisions to reduce or quit cocaine use and uses practice theory to understand how lifestyle changes and shifts in social networks facilitate access to the capital needed to change cocaine use patterns. Methods: The study, an in-depth analysis of substance-use life history interviews carried out from 2010 to 2012, included 51 currently not-in-treatment African American cocaine users in the Arkansas Mississippi Delta region. A blended inductive and deductive approach to data analysis was used to examine the socio-cultural and economic processes shaping cocaine use and recovery. Results: The majority of participants reported at least one lifetime attempt to reduce or quit cocaine use; motivations to reduce use or quit included desires to meet social role expectations, being tired of using, and incarceration. Abstinence-supporting networks, participation in conventional activities, and religious and spiritual practices afforded access to capital, facilitating cocaine use reduction and sobriety. Conclusions: Interventions designed to increase connection to and support from nondrug using family and friends with access to recovery capital (e.g., employment, faith community, and education) might be ideal methods to reduce substance use among minorities in low-income, resource-poor communities.
Postnatal lineage mapping of follicular melanocytes with the Tyr::CreERT2 transgene

One of the main advantages of using inducible and conditional transgenes to study pigment cell biology is that they allow for genetic manipulation within melanocytes after roles in general neural crest or melanoblast development have been fulfilled. Specifically, we focus here on the ability of the Tyr::CreERT2 transgenic line to alter genes within follicular melanocytes postnatally. Using the Gt(ROSA)26Sortm1sor reporter allele, we present in detail the expression and activity of Tyr::CreERT2 when induced during hair morphogenesis and adult hair cycling. We find that despite similarities in expression pattern to endogenous TYR, Tyr::CreERT2 is effective at targeting both undifferentiated and differentiated melanocytes within the hair follicle. We also find that Tyr::CreERT2 provides the highest levels of recombination when induced during the early phases of hair growth. In conclusion, the descriptions provided here will guide future analyses of gene function within the melanocyte system of the hair follicle when using this Tyr::CreERT2 transgene.