Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Corruption and Competition in Procurement Auctions

We investigate the effect of corruption on competition in procurement. Our assumption is that the bureaucrat (i.e., the agent that administers the market), if corrupt, may provide an opportunity for bid readjusments in exchange for a bribe. As firms expect to be paying a bribe, a mechanical effect of corruption is to increase the contract price by an amount corresponding to the anticipated bribe. We show, however, that a key effect of corruption is to facilitate collusion in price between firms and thereby to generate a price increase that goes far beyond the bribe received by the bureaucrat. We discuss the effect of other forms of bureaucratic discretion in the procurement process and analyze conditions under which unilateral anticorruption controls restore price competition.
An Efficient Authentication and Key Management Protocol for Hierarchical Ad Hoc Sensor Networks

Despite extensive research on flat ad hoc networks, meeting satisfactory security levels in sensor networks presents many problems. The main reason is that these networks are typically designed based on hierarchal structures. In this paper, we propose an efficient scheme for authentication and key management in hierarchical ad hoc sensor networks using symmetric polynomials. In the proposed method, the processing requirements and traffic load are proportional to the processing capability and required bandwidth in each layer. An ad hoc node at the lowest level of the hierarchy uses symmetric cryptography. With more processing capabilities, entities in higher layers use public key cryptography. Performance results show the superiority of the proposed method in comparison with previous approaches developed for hierarchical ad hoc sensor networks.
Genetic interaction mapping with microfluidic-based single cell sequencing

Genetic interaction mapping is useful for understanding the molecular basis of cellular decision making, but elucidating interactions genome-wide is challenging due to the massive number of gene combinations that must be tested. Here, we demonstrate a simple approach to thoroughly map genetic interactions in bacteria using microfluidic-based single cell sequencing. Using single cell PCR in droplets, we link distinct genetic information into single DNA sequences that can be decoded by next generation sequencing. Our approach is scalable and theoretically enables the pooling of entire interaction libraries to interrogate multiple pairwise genetic interactions in a single culture. The speed, ease, and low-cost of our approach makes genetic interaction mapping viable for routine characterization, allowing the interaction network to be used as a universal read out for a variety of biology experiments, and for the elucidation of interaction networks in non-model organisms.
EGF Up-Regulates miR-31 through the C/EBPβ Signal Cascade in Oral Carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most prevalent carcinomas worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression and modulate physiological or pathological processes including OSCC carcinogenesis. miR-31 has been found to be up-regulated in OSCC and to act as an oncogenic miRNA. However, the molecular mechanism underlying miR-31 up-regulation in OSCC is still obscure. The activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling axis plays key roles in driving oral carcinogenesis. Our screening identified that there is up-regulation of miR-31, miR-181b and miR-222 in OSCC cells following EGF treatment. Subsequent analysis showed that EGF treatment led to AKT activation, which then resulted in miR-31 up-regulation. Moreover, EGF treatment and the AKT activation induced by exogenous expression up-regulated C/EBPβ expression. The miR-31 up-regulation induced by EGF was abrogated by AKT inhibition or by the knockdown of C/EBPβ expression. In OSCC cell subclones stably overexpressing the functional isoform of C/EBPβ, miR-31 expression was up-regulated. Curcumin is a natural ingredient exhibiting anti-cancer potential. It was found that curcumin attenuated AKT activation and the up-regulation of C/EBPβ and miR-31 caused by EGF stimulation in OSCC cells. Lastly, concordance across the expression of EGFR, the expression of C/EBPβ and the expression of miR-31 in OSCC tissues was found. This study describes a novel scenario where the up-regulation of miR-31 expression in OSCC is, at least in part, a consequence of EGFR oncogenic activation. Although the AKT activation and C/EBPβ expression after EGF treatment might not be directly linked, both events are the crucial mediators underlying miR-31 up-regulation in the EGFR signaling axis.
Psychological Interventions Promoting Resilience Among Transgender Individuals: Transgender Resilience Intervention Model (TRIM)

Transgender people experience disproportionately high mental and physical health risks. Minority stress theory identifies distal and proximal stressors that contribute to negative mental health outcomes for transgender people, and suggests that resilience factors can buffer the negative influence of these stressors. In this article, we aim to synthesize the psychological literature on resilience strategies among transgender people and position it within the minority stress framework and introduce an adapted model called the transgender resilience intervention model (TRIM). The TRIM suggests that social support, community belonging, family acceptance, participating in activism, having positive role models, and being a positive role model are group-level resilience factors. Self-worth, self-acceptance and/or pride, self-definition, hope, and transition are individual-level factors that promote resilience. Community, group, and individual interventions and their potential influence on resilience are discussed. The model calls for the development of additional interventions aimed at increasing resilience for transgender people.
Architecture, Implementation and Application of Tools for Experimental Analysis

This paper presents an architecture to assist in the development of tools to perform experimental analysis. Existing implementations of tools based on this architecture are also described in this paper. These tools are applied to the real world problem of fault attack emulation and detection in cryptographic algorithms. Keywords— Software Architectures and Design, Software Components and Reuse, Engineering Secure Software.
Individualized reaction movements for virtual humans

Virtual Humans creation aims to provide virtual characters with realistic behavior, which implies endowing them with autonomy in an inhabited virtual environment. Autonomous behavior consists in interacting with users or the environment and reacting to stimulus or events. Reactions are unconscious behaviors which are not often implemented in virtual humans. Frequently, virtual humans show repetitive and robotic movements which tend to decrease realism.To improve believability in virtual humans we need to provide individuality. Individualization is achieved by using human characteristics like personality, gender, emotions, etc. In this paper, we propose to use those individual descriptors to synthesize different kinds of reactions. We aim that individualized virtual humans react in a different way to the same stimuli. This approach is achieved by observing real people reacting. Thanks to those observations, we stereotyped reactive movements that can be described by individual characteristics. We use inverse kinematics techniques to synthesize the movements. This allows us to change reaction movements according to the characteristics of the stimuli and to the individuality of a character.
A formula for the supersingular polynomial

In these notes we prove that the supersingular polynomial in characteristic p ≥ 5 is given by ssp(X) = ( − 9 )r r2 ∑ i=r1 ( r i )( i 3i− r )( − 4 )i X ′ 1(X − 1728) ′ 2, where r def = (p − 1)/2, r1 def = dr/3e, r2 def = br/2c, r′ 1 def = br/3c and r′ 2 def = dr/2e. We also exhibit and prove a differential equation satisfied by this polynomial.
From BGP to RTT and Beyond: Matching BGP Routing Changes and Network Delay Variations with an Eye on Traceroute Paths

Many organizations have the mission of assessing the quality of broadband access services offered by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). They deploy network probes that periodically perform network measures towards selected Internet services. By analyzing the data collected by the probes it is often possible to gain a reasonable estimate of the bandwidth made available by the ISP. However, it is much more difficult to use such data to explain who is responsible of the fluctuations of other network qualities. This is especially true for latency, that is fundamental for several nowadays network services. On the other hand, there are many publicly accessible BGP routers that collect the history of routing changes and that are good candidates to be used for understanding if latency fluctuations depend on interdomain routing. In this paper we provide a methodology that, given a probe that is located inside the network of an ISP and that executes latency measures and given a set of publicly accessible BGP routers located inside the same ISP, decides which routers are best candidates (if any) for studying the relationship between variations of network performance recorded by the probe and interdomain routing changes. We validate the methodology with experimental studies based on data gathered by the RIPE NCC, an organization that is well-known to be independent and that publishes both BGP data within the Routing Information Service (RIS) and probe measurement data within the Atlas project.
Postcards from the Edge : A Cache and Forward Architecture for the Future Internet

The ubiquitous Internet architecture based on TCP/IP protocols has proved effective through a period of dramatic growth and technological change in the network, but now face a new set of challenges. Assumptions of stability and end-to-end connection have traditionally guided the design of these protocols, and have led to efficient information transfer and effective recovery strategies during periods of stress. Now, however, this end-to-end strategy is being threatened by a revolution in wireless access technology that alters dramatically the nature of internet traffic, and challenges the basic assumptions upon which its protocols were built. Where the end-points of Internet traffic were once stable and predictable, they are increasingly embodied in wireless devices, whose numbers and information rates are increasing dramatically, and which have left the stable environment of the home and office to wander in the mobile world. They have introduced instability to Internet connectivity and made the easy assumptions of end-to-end traffic flow increasingly untenable. Because the changes caused by wireless mobility are fundamental and pervasive, their solution requires comparably fundamental changes in the architecture and protocols of the future Internet. In this proposal, we outline a cache-and-forward architecture that exploits the decreasing cost and increasing capacity of storage devices to provide unified and efficient transport services to end hosts that may be wired or wireless; static, mobile, and/or intermittently disconnected; and either resource rich or poor. Fundamental to this architecture is a " transport layer " service that operates in a hop-by-hop store-and-forward manner with large files. To bring the possibilities of this architecture to realization, we propose an ambitious research program to design, implement and evaluate an Internet architecture that incorporates the following elements: Reliable hop-by-hop transport of large files: Classical store-and-forward transport of large files, with in-network storage and reliable link layer Push-Pull architecture: For mobile nodes, the architecture enables opportunistic push-pull delivery of files, both to and from the wired network. Enhanced Naming: Routing to and from mobile terminals will exploit location information provided by an enhanced name service. Distributed Caching: Distributed caching of popular content will occur throughout the network, thus making peer-to-peer file sharing a first-class service and enabling efficient reliable multicast. The experimental evaluation phase of the project will make extensive use of PlanetLab, the ORBIT radio grid testbed, and real world environments supported by future experimental systems, and will consider network performance trade-offs for various possible protocol design choices and usage/traffic …
Tracking transcription factor complexes on DNA using total internal reflectance fluorescence protein binding microarrays

We have developed a high-throughput protein binding microarray (PBM) assay to systematically investigate transcription regulatory protein complexes binding to DNA with varied specificity and affinity. Our approach is based on the novel coupling of total internal reflectance fluorescence (TIRF) spectroscopy, swellable hydrogel double-stranded DNA microarrays and dye-labeled regulatory proteins, making it possible to determine both equilibrium binding specificities and kinetic rates for multiple protein:DNA interactions in a single experiment. DNA specificities and affinities for the general transcription factors TBP, TFIIA and IIB determined by TIRF–PBM are similar to those determined by traditional methods, while simultaneous measurement of the factors in binary and ternary protein complexes reveals preferred binding combinations. TIRF–PBM provides a novel and extendible platform for multi-protein transcription factor investigation.
Inverter DC-link stabilizing control with improved voltage sag ride-through capability

Previously published results concerning instability of the DC link in inverter drives fed from a DC grid or via a rectifier are extended in this paper. It is shown that rectifier-inverter drives equipped with small (film) DC-link capacitors may need active stabilization. The impact of limited bandwidth and switching frequency in the inverter-motor current control loop is considered. Recommendations for selection of the DC-link capacitor, the switching frequency, and the DC-link stabilization control law in relation to each other are given. The control law is incorporated in a previously proposed current controller, which is designed for good voltage sag ride-through capability
Towards a IoT Framework for the Matchmaking of Sensors’ Interfaces

[1]. With the diffusion of sensors, smart devices,, the advances in connection technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become a very popular topic. Because of the creation, expansion of new, existing sensor networks, the need to define a common standard for sensors' interfaces representation has arisen. Currently it is difficult to make different sensors, sensors' networks interoperate seamlessly, since their interfaces are not always well specified or are not ready to be adapted immediately to one another. In order to overcome the current lack of a shared standard, in this paper we propose an IoT framework which, by analysing sensors' APIs descriptions in C/C++ or Java (and potentially mroe languages),, expanding such analysis with that of RESTfull interfaces exposed by smart-sensors, tries to integrate different sensors' interfaces into a common Aggregator. Such an Aggregator relies on wrappers, adapters, either automatically built or provided by experts, to make programming, using sensors from different providers completely opaque to the users, who only sees a set of general, abstract functions available. Semantic technologies are used to support the creation of such wrappers, to easily discover, categorize new sensor types.
Interest point detection in depth images through scale-space surface analysis

Many perception problems in robotics such as object recognition, scene understanding, and mapping are tackled using scale-invariant interest points extracted from intensity images. Since interest points describe only local portions of objects and scenes, they offer robustness to clutter, occlusions, and intra-class variation. In this paper, we present an efficient approximate algorithm to extract surface normal interest points (SNIPs) in corners and blob-like surface regions from depth images. The interest points are detected on characteristic scales that indicate their spatial extent. Our method is able to cope with irregularly sampled, noisy measurements which are typical to depth imaging devices. It also offers a trade-off between computational speed and accuracy which allows our approach to be applicable in a wide range of problem sets. We evaluate our approach on depth images of basic geometric shapes, more complex objects, and indoor scenes.
Trends in Major Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease Among Adults in the Mississippi Delta Region, Mississippi Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2001–2010

Introduction The prevalences of major modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) are disproportionately high in the 18-county Mississippi Delta region, and many of these risk factors disproportionately affect blacks. Temporal trends in the prevalence of CVD risk factors in the Mississippi Delta have not been determined. We examined trends in CVD risk factors from 2001 to 2010 in the region. Methods Longitudinal trends in prevalence of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, physical inactivity, and current smoking were investigated using self-reported data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Joinpoint regression models were used to examine annual percentage change (APC) in the prevalence of these risk factors. Results Overall, from 2001 to 2010, we observed significant increases in the prevalence of high cholesterol (APC, 4.22%), obesity (APC, 3.65%), and diabetes (APC, 3.54%). Among blacks, we found significant increases in the prevalence of high cholesterol (APC, 3.41%), obesity (APC, 3.48%), and diabetes (APC, 4.96%). Among whites, we found significant increases in high blood pressure (APC, 2.18%), high cholesterol (APC, 4.78%), obesity (APC, 4.18%), and physical inactivity (APC, 3.06%). We also observed a significant decrease in smoking among whites (APC, −1.99%). Conclusion From 2001 to 2010, we found a significant increase in the prevalence of high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity in the Mississippi Delta. We also observed racial differences in those prevalences.
The effect of hyperglycemia on experimental retinal ischemia.

OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of hyperglycemia and intraocular glucose delivery on ischemic retinal injury. METHODS Experimental diabetes was induced in age- and sex-matched Wistar rats by an injection of streptozocin. The functional and structural retinal injury in these rats after a period of pressure-induced retinal ischemia was compared with the injury in appropriate controls and with rats made hyperglycemic by an injection of systemic glucose. The effect of high intraocular pressure-induced ischemia with the use of several different isotonic substrates in the elevated reservoir (isotonic sodium chloride solution, glucose, 2-deoxyglucose, and lactate) was also determined. Electroretinography, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, and histologic examination were used to assess the retinal injury. RESULTS Streptozocin-induced diabetes, glucose injection-induced preexisting hyperglycemia, and intraocular glucose delivery during ischemia markedly reduced the functional and structural ischemic retinal injury. Neither postischemic hyperglycemia nor the intraocular delivery of lactate significantly affected the ischemic injury; however, the intraocular delivery of 2-deoxyglucose significantly exacerbated the retinal injury. CONCLUSION Preexisting hyperglycemia and the intraocular delivery of glucose markedly attenuate ischemic retinal injury. Clinical Relevance These findings highlight fundamental differences in energy metabolism between brain and retina, have important implications for the pathophysiology of diabetic retinopathy, and may lead to novel therapeutic strategies for ischemic retinopathies.
Worst case SINR guarantees for secrecy using relay beamforming with imperfect CSI

In this paper, we study beamforming techniques for secrecy with worst case signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) guarantees in cooperative communications with imperfect channel state information (CSI). The worst case SINRs are the minimum SINR at the intended destination and the maximum SINR at the eavesdroppers. We consider a norm bounded CSI error model. With the available imperfect channel estimates, we design beamformers such that the minimum SINR receivable by the intended destination is above a certain threshold, while the maximum value of SINRs receivable at the eavesdroppers are below another lower threshold. We consider amplify-and-forward (AF) and decode-and-forward (DF) relaying schemes. The relays do the worst case transmit beamforming and injection of artificial noise (AN). We jointly optimize the beamformers and the AN for the AF and DF schemes subject to the worst case SINR constraints at the destination and the eavesdroppers. We solve the corresponding optimization problems as semi-definite programming (SDP) problems by rank relaxation and S-procedure. Numerical results show that AN injection at the relays significantly reduces the average total transmit power required to meet the worst case SINR constraints, and improves the solution feasibility of the optimization problems.
Refreshing Thoughts on DRAM : Power Saving vs . Data Integrity

To head-off the trend of increasing power consumption and throughput overheads due to refresh in DRAM, researchers are exploring ways to fine-tune refresh rate. Refresh management proposals range from temperature-aware refresh to partitioning data cells based on volatility, with each partition having its own refresh rate. One hurdle in this area is the lack of precise description of the evaluation setups used in current proposals. The incomplete description makes it difficult to reproduce reproduce results and compare approaches. Thus, it is common for researchers to evaluate their approach using mathematical models derived on the experimental results from a disparate set of platforms. To aide in the evaluation of existing and future approaches for tuning DRAM refresh to save power, this paper provides a reproducible DRAM research platform. On this platform, we re-run commonly cited experiments from previous papers in the area. Our experimental results highlight the necessity of a reproducible platform by showing how both assumptions and experimental outcomes are sensitive to often omitted parameters like temperature and refresh duration.
Financial Market Contagion or Spillovers Evidence from Asian Crisis using Multivariate GARCH Approach

The increased episodes of the financial crises throughout the world in the 1990s motivated research interests to identify the channels through which such crises spread from one country to the entire region and across regions and to suggest policies to avoid the worst of such crises. Researchers have identified several factors that may spark and induce contagion of the crisis. Strong trade and financial market linkages may contribute to contagion of the crises. This also implies that, even economies with strong fundamentals could not escape contagion. This study attempts to identify and trace the alleged origin and the subsequent path of the currency contagion using data from a sample of selected Asian countries. For empirical estimation, we use high frequency data (daily observation) on exchange rates from 1994 to 2002. We split the sample in to four periods (full, pre –crisis, crisis and post-crisis periods), construct a multivariate GARCH model and apply Granger causality test to identify the interlinkages among exchange rate markets in selected Asian countries. The evidence suggests that currency market links increased during and after the crisis. However, we found a weak support for contagion in the pre-crisis period.