Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MPC: Mitigating Stealthy Power Control Attacks in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Local monitoring has been demonstrated as a powerful technique for mitigating security attacks in multi-hop ad-hoc networks. In local monitoring, nodes overhear partial neighborhood communication to detect misbehavior such as packet drop or delay. However, local monitoring as presented in the literature is vulnerable to stealthy packet dropping through transmission power control. Stealthy packet dropping disrupts the packet from reaching the destination by malicious behavior at an intermediate node. However, the malicious node gives the impression to its neighbors that it performed the legitimate forwarding action. Moreover, a legitimate node comes under suspicion. We provide a protocol called MPC to remedy the attack. MPC expands the set of possible monitors of a node by redefining the monitor role and functionality. We show through analysis and simulation that the basic local monitoring (BLM) fails to efficiently mitigate stealthy power control attacks while MPC successfully mitigates them.
Calcium Input Frequency, Duration and Amplitude Differentially Modulate the Relative Activation of Calcineurin and CaMKII

NMDA receptor dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) are two prominent forms of synaptic plasticity, both of which are triggered by post-synaptic calcium elevation. To understand how calcium selectively stimulates two opposing processes, we developed a detailed computational model and performed simulations with different calcium input frequencies, amplitudes, and durations. We show that with a total amount of calcium ions kept constant, high frequencies of calcium pulses stimulate calmodulin more efficiently. Calcium input activates both calcineurin and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) at all frequencies, but increased frequencies shift the relative activation from calcineurin to CaMKII. Irrespective of amplitude and duration of the inputs, the total amount of calcium ions injected adjusts the sensitivity of the system to calcium input frequencies. At a given frequency, the quantity of CaMKII activated is proportional to the total amount of calcium. Thus, an input of a small amount of calcium at high frequencies can induce the same activation of CaMKII as a larger amount, at lower frequencies. Finally, the extent of activation of CaMKII signals with high calcium frequency is further controlled by other factors, including the availability of calmodulin, and by the potency of phosphatase inhibitors.
Randomized pursuit-evasion in a polygonal environment

This paper contains two main results. First, we revisit the well-known visibility-based pursuit-evasion problem, and show that in contrast to deterministic strategies, a single pursuer can locate an unpredictable evader in any simply connected polygonal environment, using a randomized strategy. The evader can be arbitrarily faster than the pursuer, and it may know the position of the pursuer at all times, but it does not have prior knowledge of the random decisions made by the pursuer. Second, using the randomized algorithm, together with the solution to a problem called the "lion and man problem" as subroutines, we present a strategy for two pursuers (one of which is at least as fast as the evader) to quickly capture an evader in a simply connected polygonal environment. We show how this strategy can be extended to obtain a strategy for a polygonal room with a door, two pursuers who have only line-of-sight communication, and a single pursuer (at the expense of increased capture time).
A Model-Based Analysis of Culture-Dependent Phenotypes of mESCs

Mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) can be maintained in a proliferative and undifferentiated state over many passages (self-renewal) while retaining the potential to give rise to every cell type of the organism (pluripotency). Autocrine FGF4/Erk signalling has been identified as a major stimulus for fate decisions and lineage commitment in these cells. Recent findings on serum-free culture conditions with specific inhibitors (known as 2i) demonstrate that the inhibition of this pathway reduces transcription factor heterogeneity and is vital to maintain ground state pluripotency of mESCs. We suggest a novel mathematical model to explicitly integrate FGF4/Erk signalling into an interaction network of key pluripotency factors (namely Oct4, Sox2, Nanog and Rex1). The envisaged model allows to explore whether and how proposed mechanisms and feedback regulations can account for different expression patterns in mESC cultures. We demonstrate that an FGF4/Erk-mediated negative feedback is sufficient to induce molecular heterogeneity with respect to Nanog and Rex1 expression and thus critically regulates the propensity for differentiation and the loss of pluripotency. Furthermore, we compare simulation results on the transcription factor dynamics in different self-renewing states and during differentiation with experimental data on a Rex1GFPd2 reporter cell line using flow cytometry and qRT-PCR measurements. Concluding from our results we argue that interaction between FGF4/Erk signalling and Nanog expression qualifies as a key mechanism to manipulate mESC pluripotency. In particular, we infer that ground state pluripotency under 2i is achieved by shifting stable expression pattern of Nanog from a bistable into a monostable regulation impeding stochastic state transitions. Furthermore, we derive testable predictions on altering the degree of Nanog heterogeneity and on the frequency of state transitions in LIF/serum conditions to challenge our model assumptions.
Differentiation Stage-Specific Requirement in Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α–Regulated Glycolytic Pathway during Murine B Cell Development in Bone Marrow

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α plays a central role in oxygen homeostasis and energy supply by glycolysis in many cell types. We previously reported that an HIF-1α gene deficiency caused abnormal B cell development and autoimmunity. In this study we show that HIF-1α–enabled glycolysis during B cell development is required in a developmental stage-specific manner. Supporting this conclusion are observations that the glycolytic pathway in HIF-1α–deficient B220+ bone marrow cells is much less functionally effective than in wild-type control cells. The expression of genes encoding the glucose transporters and the key glycolytic enzyme, 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bishosphatase 3, was greatly reduced in HIF-1α–deficient cells. The compensatory adaptation to the defect of glycolysis was reflected in higher levels of expression of respiratory chain-related genes and TCA cycle-related genes in HIF-1α–deficient cells than in wild-type cells. In agreement with these findings, HIF-1α–deficient cells used pyruvate more efficiently than wild-type cells. The key role of HIF-1α–enabled glycolysis in bone marrow B cells was also demonstrated by glucose deprivation during in vitro bone marrow cell culture and by using a glycolysis inhibitor in the bone marrow cell culture. Taken together, these findings indicate that glucose dependency differs at different B cell developmental stages and that HIF-1α plays an important role in B cell development.
Theoretical background of pulsed laser melting in liquid for submicron spherical particle fabrication

Recently we developed a new method of spherical submicron particle production by pulsed laser irradiation of primary small irregular nanoparticles suspended in liquid. For the first time we demonstrated that the nanoparticles can not only reduce their sizes under the pulse laser irradiation, but can grow essentially. To control the particle formation process, the mechanism of particle interaction with laser pulse has to be understood. Particle heating-melting-evaporation model was successfully applied to clarify this mechanism.
On IP Traffic Matrix Estimation

It is very useful to infer traffic matrix (TM) from link measurements and routing information, especially for the tasks of capacity planning, traffic engineering and network reliability analysis. This inference problem is ill-posed as it involves more unknowns than data and the challenge lies in this problem is its ill-posed nature. To overcome this challenge, this paper firstly describes the inference problem into an optimization problem, in which the objective is to minimize the Euclidean distance between a certain predetermined prior and the target TM subject to the routing constraints upon the link measurements and TM. We secondly solve this problem by transforming the available routing matrix and applying the Lagrange multipliers method. We therefore propose a novel proposal on inferring TM, termed matrix partitioning and Lagrange multipliers (MPLM). An expression is derived for calculating the TMs from the link measurements and the transformations of the routing matrix. We analyze the computational complexity of MPLM, which comes out to be much less than the state-of-the-art approaches. We also suggest a new method to generate the prior. Numerical results are provided to demonstrate the accuracy of MPLM in estimating TMs, and the on-line TM estimation is also discussed in detail to show the techniques in MPLM.
Costs of Lost opportunities: Applying Non-Market Valuation Techniques to Potential REDD+ Participants in Cameroon

Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has been systematically advanced within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). However, implementing REDD+ in a populated landscape requires information on local costs and acceptability of changed practices. To supply such information, many studies have adopted approaches that explore the opportunity cost of maintaining land as forest rather than converting it to agricultural uses. These approaches typically assume that the costs to the smallholder are borne exclusively through the loss or gain of the production values associated with specific categories of land use. However, evaluating the value of land to smallholders in incomplete and messy institutional and economic contexts entails other considerations, such as varying portfolios of land holdings, tenure arrangements, restricted access to capital, and unreliable food markets. We suggest that contingent valuation (CV) methods may provide a more complete reflection of the viability of REDD+ in multiple-use landscapes than do opportunity cost approaches. The CV approach eliminates the need to assume a homogenous smallholder, and instead assumes heterogeneity around social, economic and institutional contexts. We apply this approach in a southern rural Cameroonian context, through the lens of a hypothetical REDD+ contract. Our findings suggest local costs of REDD+ contracts to be higher and much more variable than opportunity cost estimates.
Documents and professional practice: “bad” organisational reasons for “good” clinical records

Despite the widespread introduction of information technology into primary health care within the United Kingdom, medical practitioners continue to use the more traditional paper medical record often alongside the computerised system. The resilience of the paper document is not simply a consequence of an impoverished design, but rather a product of the socially organised practices and reasoning which surround the use of the record within day to day consultative work. The practices that underpin the use of the medical records may have a range of important implications, not only for the general design of systems to support collaborative work, but also for our conceptions of ‘writers’, ‘readers’, ‘objects’ and ‘records’ utilised in those designs.
Implementing a hybrid SRAM / eDRAM NUCA architecture

Advances in technology allowed for integrating DRAM-like structures into the chip, called embedded DRAM (eDRAM). This technology has already been successfully implemented in some GPUs and other graphic-intensive SoC, like game consoles. The most recent processor from IBM®, POWER7, is the first general-purpose processor that integrates an eDRAM module on the chip. In this paper, we propose a hybrid cache architecture that exploits the main features of both memory technologies, speed of SRAM and high density of eDRAM. We demonstrate, that due to the high locality found in emerging applications, a high percentage of data that enters to the on-chip last-level cache are not accessed again before they are evicted. Based on that observation, we propose a placement scheme where re-accessed data blocks are stored in fast, but costly in terms of area and power, SRAM banks, while eDRAM banks store data blo cks that just arrive to the NUCA cache or were demoted from a SRAM bank. We show that a well-balanced SRAM / eDRAM NUCA cache can achieve similar performance results than using a NUCA cache composed of only SRAM banks, but reduces area by 15% and power consumed by 10%. Furthermore, we also explore several alternatives to exploit the area reduction we gain by using the hybrid architecture, resulting in an overall performance improvement of 4%.
SAW Sensor Network Fabricated on a Polyvinylidine Difluoride (PVDF) Substrate for Dynamic Surface Profile Sensing

A combination of two 2-D sensor networks is proposed as a dynamic surface profile sensor network for biomimicing applications. A surface acoustic wave device fabricated on a polyvinylidine difluoride substrate has been investigated as the elementary 1-D bending curvature sensor used in the network. The device was tested under an injected signal and it shows the variation in amplitude and phase angle of output signal with respect to the injected signal in response to the bending curvature. These dual outputs provide opportunity to make an intelligent sensor with self error limit determination capability. Finally, a network of such sensors is proposed as a dynamic surface profile sensor
Genome Sequence of Pseudomonas koreensis CRS05-R5, an Antagonistic Bacterium Isolated from Rice Paddy Field

Pseudomonas koreensis, a new nominated Gram-negative bacterium was first reported and isolated from Korean agricultural soil (Kwon et al., 2003). CRS05-R5 (first reported as Pseudomonas sp.), which showed biocontrol ability against Sitophilus oryzae and Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae (Liu et al., 2014), was first isolated from the rice rhizosphere in Heilongjiang province and reported in 2003 (Xie et al., 2003). Except for that, this species has been reported to produce the biosurfactant, which has biocontrol ability against Phytophthora infestans and Pythium ultimum (Hultberg et al., 2010a,b). These interesting features raise our attention on CRS05-R5. Recently, we sequenced the 16S rRNA sequence from CRS05-R5 and built the phylogenetic tree (Figure S1). Based on that, we confirmed that CRS05-R5 should be classified as P. koreensis. However, only one genome was sequenced (D26) and no detailed analysis was performed on this species. In this case, we did whole-genome sequencing on CRS05-R5, and tried to reveal the possible mechanism behind its antagonistic ability.
A Test of Relative Similarity For Model Selection in Generative Models

Probabilistic generative models provide a powerful framework for representing data that avoids the expense of manual annotation typically needed by discriminative approaches. Model selection in this generative setting can be challenging, however, particularly when likelihoods are not easily accessible. To address this issue, we introduce a statistical test of relative similarity, which is used to determine which of two models generates samples that are significantly closer to a real-world reference dataset of interest. We use as our test statistic the difference in maximum mean discrepancies (MMDs) between the reference dataset and each model dataset, and derive a powerful, low-variance test based on the joint asymptotic distribution of the MMDs between each reference-model pair. In experiments on deep generative models, including the variational auto-encoder and generative moment matching network, the tests provide a meaningful ranking of model performance as a function of parameter and training settings.
SREBP-2 1784 G/C Genotype is Associated with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in North Indians

Background: Genetics of non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) in Asian Indians has been inadequately investigated. This study aims to determine the association of the 1784G > C polymorphism in the SREBP-2 gene with NAFLD in Asian Indians in north India. Methods: In this study, (n = 335); 162 obese with NAFLD, 91 obese without NAFLD and 82 non-obese without NAFLD subjects were recruited. Abdominal ultrasound, clinical profile, anthropometry, metabolic profile, serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, fasting insulin and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were analysed. Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism were used to identify individual genotypes, and the association of this polymorphism with clinical and biochemical parameters was assessed. Results: The observed frequency of G allele was 0.73 and C allele was 0.27. Frequency of C/C genotype was higher in NAFLD as compared to obese and non-obese subjects (p = 0.003). In NAFLD subjects 57.4% were G/G homozygous, 31.5% G/C heterozygous and 11.1% were C/C homozygous. The SREBP-2 genotype frequencies deviated from the Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium (X2 = 6.39, p = 0.0114). Mean values of TG (p = 0.002), TC (p = 0.002), ALT (p = 0.04) and AST (p =0.03) levels were significantly higher in NAFLD subjects with G/C genotype as compared to G/G genotypes in obese and non-obese groups. Fasting insulin (p = 0.03), HOMA (p = 0.009) and hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in NAFLD subjects with G/C genotype as compared to obese and non obese subjects with G/G genotypes. Conclusion: In this study, conducted for the first time in Asian Indians, SREBP-2 1784 G > C genotype was associated with NAFLD.
How patients want to engage with their personal health record: a qualitative study

Objective To assess factors related to use and non-use of a sophisticated interactive preventive health record (IPHR) designed to promote uptake of 18 recommended clinical preventive services; little is known about how patients want to use or be engaged by such advanced information tools. Design Descriptive and interpretive qualitative analysis of transcripts and field notes from focus groups of the IPHR users and of patients who were invited but did not use the IPHR (non-users). Grounded theory techniques were then applied via an editing approach for key emergent themes. Setting Primary care patients in eight practices of the Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network (ACORN). Participants Three focus groups involved a total of 14 IPHR users and two groups of non-users totalled 14 participants. Outcomes/results For themes identified (relevance, trust and functionality) participants indicated that endorsement and use of the IPHR by their personal clinician was vital. In particular, participants’ comments linked the IPHR use to: (1) integrating the IPHR into current care, (2) promoting effective patient–clinician encounters and communication and (3) their confidence in the accuracy, security and privacy of the information. Conclusions In addition to patients’ stated desires for advanced functionality and information accuracy and privacy, successful adoption of the IPHRs by primary care patients depends on such technology's relevance, and on its promotion via integration with primary care practices’ processes and the patient–clinician relationship. Accordingly, models of technological success and adoption, when applied to primary care, may need to include the patient–clinician relationship and practice workflow. These findings are important for healthcare providers, the information technology industry and policymakers who share an interest in encouraging patients to use personal health records. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00589173
Long-Period Fiber Grating Cascaded to an S Fiber Taper for Simultaneous Measurement of Temperature and Refractive Index

A novel, low-cost, and simple dual-parameter measurement scheme based on a cascaded optical fiber device composed of a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) and an S fiber taper Mach-Zehnder interferometer (SFT-MZI) is proposed and demonstrated. The crosstalk problem is solved as different resonance peaks of the LPFG and the MZI possess different refractive index (RI) and temperature sensitivities. Experimental results show distinctive spectral sensitivities of -52.57 nm/refractive index unit (RIU) and 45.87 pm/°C by the LPFG, and 311.48 nm/RIU (in the RI range of 1.33-1.37) and 12.87 pm/°C by the SFT-MZI. The simultaneous measurement of external RI and the temperature is experimentally demonstrated by the sensor. The RI and temperature calculated by the sensor matrix agree well with the actual RI and temperature in the experiment.
Carbon nanotube self-assembeled high frequency resonator

We present a single wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) based high frequency resonator fabricated using a novel process suitable for mass fabrication. The integration of the electrostatically actuated SWCNT into the silicon structure was achieved by a specially tailored fabrication process which is characterized by simplicity and compatibility with commonly used micro-machining processes. The fabrication process enables the control of the SWCNT positioning and its length and results in a taut and clean suspended SWCNT. Electro-mechanical testing of these devices demonstrates a resonance frequency of 13.4 MHz. Resonators with various resonance frequencies can be readily fabricated by varying the SWCNT length.
Efficient and stable numerical solution of the Heston–Cox–Ingersoll–Ross partial differential equation by alternating direction implicit finite difference schemes

This paper concerns the numerical solution of the three-dimensional Heston–Cox–Ingersoll–Ross partial differential equation for the fair values of European-style financial options. We follow the method-of-lines approach and first semidiscretize on suitable nonuniform Cartesian spatial grids by applying finite difference schemes. The main aim of this paper is to investigate various prominent alternating direction implicit schemes for the effective time discretization of the obtained, very large, semidiscrete systems. For this purpose an extensive numerical study is performed, among others, for arbitrary correlation factors, for time-dependent mean-reversion levels, for short and long maturities, for cases where the Feller condition is satisfied and for cases where it is not. Also, the approximation of the hedging quantities Delta and Gamma is discussed and double barrier knock-out call options are considered.
EXTREMELY METAL-POOR STARS IN THE MILKY WAY: A SECOND GENERATION FORMED AFTER REIONIZATION

Cosmological simulations of Population III star formation suggest an initial mass function (IMF) biased toward very massive stars (M ≳ 100 M☉) formed in minihalos at redshift z ≳ 20, when the cooling is driven by molecular hydrogen. However, this result conflicts with observations of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars in the Milky Way (MW) halo, whose r-process elemental abundances appear to be incompatible with those expected from very massive Population III progenitors. We propose a new solution to the problem in which the IMF of second-generation stars formed at z ≳ 10, before reionization, is deficient in sub-solar mass stars, owing to the high cosmic microwave background temperature floor. The observed EMP stars are formed preferentially at z ≲ 10 in pockets of gas enriched to metallicity Z ≳ 10−3.5 Z☉ by winds from Population II stars. Our cosmological simulations of dark matter halos like the MW show that current samples of EMP stars can only constrain the IMF of late-time Population III stars, formed at z ≲ 13 in halos with virial temperature Tvir ∼ 104 K. This suggests that pair instability supernovae were not produced primarily by this population. To begin probing the IMF of Population III stars formed at higher redshift will require a large survey, with at least 500 and probably several thousand EMP stars of metallicities Z ≈ 10−3.5 Z☉.