Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the feasibility of secure application-layer communications on the Web of Things

The availability of inexpensive sensing devices capable of wireless communications enables the design of exciting and new distributed sensing applications. The integration of such applications with the Internet will contribute to materialize a vision of a future Web that we nowadays describe as the Web of Things (WoT). Many security-related aspects are still open on how to address security for communications on the WoT, and that must be targeted before such applications can realistically be considered ready for deployment. We discuss the experimental evaluation of mechanisms proposed to secure end-to-end web communications with IPv6-capable sensing applications and devices, as such mechanisms may provide an important contribution towards the WoT. Our experimental evaluation study considers the impact of security on real sensing devices and requirements from sensing applications, allowing the identification of the limitations of current sensing platforms in supporting the proposed mechanisms.
Human Motion Analysis for Creating Immersive Experience

From an early age, people display the ability to quickly and effortlessly interpret the orientation and movement of human body parts, thereby allowing one to infer the intentions of others who are nearby and to comprehend an important nonverbal form of communication. The ease with which one accomplishes this task belies the difficulty of a problem that has challenged computational systems for decades, human motion analysis. Technological developments over years have resulted into many systems for measuring body segment positions and angles between segments. In these systems human body is typically considered as a system of rigid links connected by joints. The motion is estimated by the use of measurements from mechanical, optical, magnetic, or inertial trackers. Among all kinds of sensors, optical sensing encompasses a large and varying collection of technologies. In a computer vision context, human motion analysis is a topic that studies methods and applications in which two or more consecutive images from an image sequences, e.g. captured by a video camera, are processed to produce information based on the apparent human body motion in the images. Many different disciplines employ motion analysis systems to capture movement and posture of human body for applications such as medical diagnostics, virtual reality, human-computer interaction etc. This thesis gives an insight into the state of the art human motion analysis systems, and provides new methods for capturing human motion.
Impact of maize growth on N2O emission from farmland soil

Crop growth is a key factor that effects nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emission in farmland soil. Clarification and quantification of the impact of maize growth on N<sub>2</sub>O emission are important to guide maize planting and patterns, which is also useful for building model to simulate N<sub>2</sub>O emission in an agroecosystem. In this study, we carried out a three-year (2013–2015) field experiment to evaluate the contribution of maize growth on N<sub>2</sub>O emission using a split-plot design. The factors included planting versus not planting maize, and four rates of nitrogen (N) application (0, 150, 300, 450 kg N/ha). Our results showed the impacts of maize growth on N<sub>2</sub>O emission decreased linearly with the growth of maize from the 43<sup>rd</sup> day after sowing (y = –1.07x + 26.85, R<sup>2</sup> = 0.95). Nitrogen fertilizer application can reduce the impacts of maize growth on N<sub>2</sub>O emission. The impact of maize growth on soil NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>-N and NO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup>-N are similar to N<sub>2</sub>O emission, and they have a strong correlation. We concluded that maize growth reduces soil N<sub>2</sub>O emission but N application can exert an antagonistic effect, and the impact of maize growth on soil NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>-N and NO<sub>3</sub><sup>–</sup>-N largely determines the impacts of maize growth on N<sub>2</sub>O emission.
Association of Polymorphisms in Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthesis and Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System with Developing of Coronary Artery Disease in Bulgarian Patients.

AIM The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association of common polymorphisms in endothelial nitric oxide synthesis (eNOS; G894T) and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (angiotensin converting enzyme [ACE]-I/D, angiotensinogen-T704C, and angiotensin II receptor type 1-A1166C) as risk factors in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD) in Bulgarian patients. METHODS This study included 171 patients with CAD and 123 control subjects. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used for studying the single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Statistical analysis was performed using statistical software PASW for Windows. RESULTS A significantly higher percentage of the eNOS T894 allele was found in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), compared to controls (p = 0.006) and patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP, p = 0.005). Results from a binary regression analysis suggested that eNOS T allele and ACE D allele carriers were more likely to develop ACS than controls (T allele odds ratio [OR] 2.585, p = 0.024; D allele OR 3.585, p = 0.046) and patients with SAP (T allele OR 2.955, p = 0.009; D allele OR 2.703, p = 0.05). Exploratory evaluation of gene-gene combinations showed a significant association between eNOS-G894T/ACE-I/D and ACS compared to controls (p = 0.022) and patients with SAP (p = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS The eNOS G894T and ACE I/D polymorphisms are associated with an increased risk of developing ACS after adjusting for classical risk factors for atherosclerosis in the Bulgarian cohort.
Partial semantic parsing of sentences by means of grammatically augmented ontology and weighted affix context-free grammar

In spite of the fact that modern statistical and neural net based tools for parsing natural language texts supersede classical approaches there are still areas where generative grammars are used. These are areas where collection of universal parallel corpuses is still in the progress. National sign languages are among them. Ontologies and common sense databases play valuable role in parsing and translation of such languages. Grammatically augmented ontology (GAO) is an ontology extension that links phrases to their meaning. The link is established via special expressions that connect phrase meaning to grammatical and semantical attributes of words that constitute it. The article introduces a new approach to sentence parsing that is based on integration of ontology relations into productions of weighted affix context-free grammar (WACFG). For that reason a new parser for WACFG grammar was developed inspired by works of C.H. A. Koster. Basic properties of WACFG are discussed and the algorithm for selection and convertion of GAO expressions into the set of WACFG productions is provided. The proposed algorithm turned out to be feasible in the context of parsing and translating Ukrainian Spoken and Ukrainian Sign language. The developed approach for mixed semantical and syntactical sentence parsing was tested on the database of sentences from Ukrainian fairy tail by Ivan Franko “Fox Mykyta” where 92 % of sentences were correctly parsed.
Use of proteomic methods to identify serum biomarkers associated with rat liver toxicity or hypertrophy.

BACKGROUND Our objectives were to identify serum marker proteins in rats that might serve as sensitive indicators of hepatomegaly, hepatocellular necrosis, or hepatobiliary injury and to use them to analyze data from a collaborative proteomics project. METHODS In each of 4 studies comprising the collaborative project, rats were given 1 of 4 compounds that target the liver through different mechanisms. Sera and liver samples were collected by terminal bleeds at 1 of 3 postdose time points. Sera were depleted of major secretory proteins and then separated into protein features by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DGE). Liver specimens were also processed and subjected to 2DGE. Protein spots that significantly increased or decreased in quantity after drug treatment were recovered, digested, analyzed by mass spectroscopy, and compared with available databases for identification. Criteria for further consideration were (a) temporal expression (i.e., increase or decrease at early, fulminant, or recovery periods), (b) known biological function, (c) probable hepatic origin, and (d) any previous association with toxicity in published studies. Markers that changed significantly at the early time point were important because of their potential sensitivity for signaling minimal damage. RESULTS Vitamin D-binding protein, paraoxonase, cellular retinol-binding protein, malate dehydrogenase, F-protein, and purine nucleoside phosphorylase were identified as empirically confirmed serum markers for hepatic effects in drug-treated rats. CONCLUSION Proteomics can be applied for the identification and confirmation of peripheral biomarkers for altered liver function after toxicant exposure.
Selenium status in pregnant women of a rural population (Zaire) in relationship to iodine deficiency

Endemic myxoedematous cretinism has been associated with combined selenium and iodine deficiency in several areas of Zaire. To determine selenium and iodine status across the country, serum selenium and thyroid function parameters including urinary iodide were determined at prenatal clinics in 30 health centres of rural villages distributed over the whole country. Only in Bas‐Zaire was the mean serum selenium level similar to that in non‐deficient areas (80–120 ng/ml); in the regions of Bandundu and Kasai levels were marginally decreased (55–80 ng/ml), and in Kivu, Haut‐Zaire, Equateur and Shaba they were marginally or moderately decreased (<55 ng/ml). The frequency of abnormally low urinary iodide (<5 μg/dl) varied from 20% in the region of Bas‐Zaire to 50% in Kasai (P<0.001), and to still higher percentages in the 5 other regions of Zaire (Bandundu, 57%; Kivu, 63%; Equateur, 72%; Shaba, 76%; Haut‐Zaire, 84%). With the exception of Bas‐Zaire, biochemical maternal hypothyroidism (serum TSH >5mU/l) was present in every region, with a frequency ranging from 3% in Kivu to 12% in Equateur. Iodine deficiency affects most of the Zairean population and requires public health measures on a larger scale than previously estimated. Combined iodine and selenium deficiency affects Equateur, Haut‐Zaire and Kivu, where endemic myxoedematous cretinism occurs, but also Shaba, where it was not previously described. Besides combined iodine and selenium deficiency which is permissive, another factor (thiocyanate? ) must be taken into account to explain the peculiarly elevated prevalence of endemic myxoedematous cretinism in Central Africa.
Two-Stage Fair Queuing Using Budget Round-Robin

In current high bandwidth-delay-product networks, traditional end-to-end network protocols cannot guarantee the fair allocation of network resources (i.e., a rogue source that sends at an uncontrolled rate can seize a large fraction of the buffers at an intermediate router which results in dropped packets for other connections). Fair-queuing (FQ) algorithms were proposed to overcome this drawback. However, most of these FQ algorithms either suffer from high time-complexity or greatly rely on the multiple queuing structures which are extremely difficult to implement in large scale due to the access delay of DRAM. Based on the analysis on real-life traces, we are able to determine the short-term stability of number of connections in a trunk. Taking this characteristic into consideration, a new FQ algorithm called Budget Round-Robin (BRR) is proposed in this paper. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that BRR and its corresponding memory hierarchy are much superior to the other FQ algorithms when we have a high bandwidth link with large number of active connections (e.g., high-speed Internet).
Inhibition of acid‐sensing ion channels by levo‐tetrahydropalmatine in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons

Levo‐tetrahydropalmatine (l‐THP), a main bioactive Chinese herbal constituent from the genera Stephania and Corydalis, has been in use in clinical practice for years in China as a traditional analgesic agent. However, the mechanism underlying the analgesic action of l‐THP is poorly understood. This study shows that l‐THP can exert an inhibitory effect on the functional activity of native acid‐sensing ion channels (ASICs), which are believed to mediate pain caused by extracellular acidification. l‐THP dose dependently decreased the amplitude of proton‐gated currents mediated by ASICs in rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. l‐THP shifted the proton concentration–response curve downward, with a decrease of 40.93% ± 8.45% in the maximum current response to protons, with no significant change in the pH0.5 value. Moreover, l‐THP can alter the membrane excitability of rat DRG neurons to acid stimuli. It significantly decreased the number of action potentials and the amplitude of the depolarization induced by an extracellular pH drop. Finally, peripherally administered l‐THP inhibited the nociceptive response to intraplantar injection of acetic acid in rats. These results indicate that l‐THP can inhibit the functional activity of ASICs in dissociated primary sensory neurons and relieve acidosis‐evoked pain in vivo, which for the first time provides a novel peripheral mechanism underlying the analgesic action of l‐THP. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Information Systems Impact Model Proof of Concept

This paper reports a proof of concept by applying a model originally presented in 2004 to four firms. The model has been slightly revised to reflect input from conference attendees and 49 Executive MBA students who applied the model to their organization. The model now represents the impact of technical and application specific domain knowledge on potential impact of an information system as moderated by the development process. A 2x2 matrix represents the system impact with one dimension indicating impact within versus outside target and the other representing expected versus unanticipated outcomes. This model allows researchers to recognize the multidimensional aspects of information system performance and practitioners to assess their development needs based on their understanding of the current domain and technical situation. The paper reports on the application of the model to four companies and suggests plans for future research.
CIO Reporting Structure, Strategic Positioning, and Firm Performance

Almost 30 years after the introduction of the CIO position, the ideal CIO reporting structure (whether the CIO should report to the CEO or the CFO) is yet to be identified. There is an intuitive assumption among some proponents of IT that the CIO should always report to the CEO to promote the importance of IT and the CIO's clout in the firm, while some adversaries of IT call for a CIO-CFO reporting structure to keep a tab on IT spending. However, we challenge these two ad hoc prescriptions by arguing that neither CIO reporting structure is necessarily optimal, and that the CIO reporting structure should not be used to gauge the strategic role of IT in the firm. First, extending the strategy-structure paradigm, we propose that a firm's strategic positioning (differentiation or cost leadership) should be a primary determinant of its CIO reporting structure. We hypothesize that differentiators are more likely to have their CIO report to the CEO in order to pursue IT initiatives that help the firm's differentiation strategy. We also hypothesize that cost leaders are more likely to have their CIO report to the CFO to lead IT initiatives to facilitate the firm's cost leadership strategy. Second, extending the alignment if it view, we propose that firms that align their CIO reporting structure with their strategic positioning (specifically, differentiation with a CIO-CEO reporting structure and cost leadership with a CIO-CFO reporting structure) will have superior future performance. Longitudinal data from two periods (1990-1993 and 2006) support the proposed hypotheses, validating the relationship between a firm's strategic positioning and its CIO reporting structure, and also the positive impact of their alignment on firm performance. These results challenge the ad hoc prescriptions about the CIO reporting structure, demonstrating that a CIO-CEO reporting structure is only superior for differentiators and a CIO-CFO reporting structure is superior only for cost leaders. The CIO reporting structure must, therefore, be designed to align with the firm's strategic positioning, independent of whether IT plays a key strategic role in the firm.
The mechanism of memory impairment induced by Aβ chronic administration involves imbalance between cytokines and neurotrophins in the rat hippocampus.

It has been demonstrated that the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are associated with inflammatory disorders in the brain. Although the interactions of inflammatory cytokines with neurotrophins have been reported in vitro, the balance change between inflammatory cytokines and neurotrophic factors (NTFs), such as nerve growth factor (NGF), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), due to amyloid β (Aβ) chronic administration in vivo is still unclear. The hypothesis of the present study was that the accumulation of Aβ activated glial cells to produce inflammatory mediators and NTFs to maintain the neurons survival, however the failure of crosstalk between NTFs and inflammatory cytokines might occur in the brain and the NTFs expressions would decrease after Aβ chronic treatment, which, therefore, would contribute to the neuronal death and memory impairments. Thus, the present study measured the learning and memory behavior, glial cells activities, cytokines (IL-1α, IL-1β and TNF-α) concentrations and NTFs (NGF, BDNF and GDNF) gene and protein levels in rats after i.c. v injection of Aβ(25-35) for 14 days. The results showed that Aβ (25-35)-treated animals exhibited failure of balance between inflammatory cytokines and NTFs system (increased cytokines levels, decreased NGF protein expression and reduced NTFs gene transcriptions), which might contribute to the cognitive impairments. The findings from this study provide valuable evidence that correct regulation of the crosstalk between inflammatory cytokines and NTFs could be a direction for AD therapy in the future.
Plastocyanin Controls the Stabilization of the Thylakoid Cu-transporting P-type ATPase PAA2/HMA8 in Response to Low Copper in Arabidopsis*

Background: The P1B-type ATPase PAA2/HMA8 transports Cu into the thylakoid lumen of the chloroplast for delivery to plastocyanin. Results: PAA2/HMA8 stability is affected by plastocyanin and by the Cu content within the chloroplast. Conclusion: The abundance of PAA2/HMA8 is subject to feedback control. Significance: A newly identified layer of Cu-homeostasis via a novel regulatory mechanism of an organellar Cu-transporter. PAA2/HMA8 (P-type ATPase of Arabidopsis/Heavy-metal-associated 8) is a thylakoid located copper (Cu)-transporter in Arabidopsis thaliana. In tandem with PAA1/HMA6, which is located in the inner chloroplast envelope, it supplies Cu to plastocyanin (PC), an essential cuproenzyme of the photosynthetic machinery. We investigated whether the chloroplast Cu transporters are affected by Cu addition to the growth media. Immunoblots showed that PAA2 protein abundance decreased significantly and specifically when Cu in the media was increased, while PAA1 remained unaffected. The function of SPL7, the transcriptional regulator of Cu homeostasis, was not required for this regulation of PAA2 protein abundance and Cu addition did not affect PAA2 transcript levels, as determined by qRT-PCR. We used the translational inhibitor cycloheximide to analyze turnover and observed that the stability of the PAA2 protein was decreased in plants grown with elevated Cu. Interestingly, PAA2 protein abundance was significantly increased in paa1 mutants, in which the Cu content in the chloroplast is half of that of the wild-type, due to impaired Cu import into the organelle. In contrast in a pc2 insertion mutant, which has strongly reduced plastocyanin expression, the PAA2 protein levels were low regardless of Cu addition to the growth media. Together, these data indicate that plastid Cu levels control PAA2 stability and that plastocyanin, which is the target of PAA2 mediated Cu delivery in thylakoids, is a major determinant of this regulatory mechanism.
Vulnerability analysis and security framework (BeeSec) for nature inspired MANET routing protocols

Design, development and evaluation of adaptive, scalable, and power aware Bio/Nature inspired routing protocols has received a significant amount of attention in the recent past. However, to the best of our knowledge no attempts have been made to systematically analyze their security vulnerabilities. In this paper, we investigate the security vulnerabilities of BeeAdHoc, a well known power aware, Bio/Nature inspired routing protocol. Our analysis clearly demonstrates that the malicious nodes in an untrusted MANET, where BeeAdHoc is used for routing, can significantly disrupt the normal routing behavior. We then propose a security framework, BeeSec, for BeeAdHoc that enables it to counter the different types of threats. We also designed an empirical framework, embedded into a well known simulator, ns-2, to systematically validate the operational security of BeeSec. An interesting outcome of the research is that BeeSec, even with significant overhead of the security framework, achieves better performance as compared to state-of-the-art, non-secure, classical routing protocols AODV and DSR.
An Integrated Framework for Field Recording, Localization, Classification and Annotation of Birdsongs Using Robot Audition Techniques — Harkbird 2.0

Bird vocalizations are one of the important subjects in ecoacoustics because birds communicate diversely using various vocalizations such as songs and calls. We have developed a portable system, HARKBird to provide a basic function, i.e., birdsong localization, which automatically extracts sound sources and their direction of arrivals (DOA) using robot audition techniques based on HARK. In this paper, we introduce HARKBird 2.0 which is empowered for higher understanding of birdsongs. A new soundscape annotation tool for localization results is enhanced by an interactive interface for song classification based on an unsupervised feature mapping t-SNE. We show that HARKBird 2.0 provides bird researchers with an integrated framework to analyze spatio-spectro-temporal dynamics of birdsongs using the song analysis of Japanese bush warbler (Horornis diphone).
Topology maps for anisotropic shading

There are a number of materials, like cloth, hair and brushed metal that exhibit anisotropic reflectance properties. Several illumination models have been proposed for shading of such materials. The model by Poulin and Fournier describes how hair, silk and material which can be modeled by parallel cylinders, can be rendered. It has been proposed recently how the topology for this model can vary over the surface as would be the case for many surfaces like spheres and toruses. In this paper it is described how the shading can be visually enhanced by using a map for the topology. The result will be a much more visually pleasing rendering.