Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
W3Detector: Detecting Fraudulent Online Sellers Based on Temporal and Spacial Information

With the rapid development of electronic payment, risks in large-scale financial transaction networks are persistently arising. One important problem is how to use the transaction data to detect sellers who do fraudulent trades on the online platform. This paper analyzes three attributes of the transaction flow: money (what), time (when), region (where), and summarizes corresponding characteristics among fraudulent sellers. Based on this, we propose an unsupervised anomaly detection algorithm: W3Detector. It processes the raw data with a new sequence discretization method and uses statistical tools to convert data indicators into information value. With the minimum description length principle, we finally filter out the suspicious sellers. The algorithm is not affected by factors such as unit or range of the attributes, and is highly flexible and scalable. After running on three real-world transaction datasets collected from WeChat Pay, W3Detector has show significantly better performance than the baseline methods of anomaly detection, with weighted accuraccy (WACC) increased by 1.13X and F-score increased by 0.105 on average, and the recall value over 60%.
Microplane Model for Concrete. I: Stress-Strain Boundaries and Finite Strain

The paper presents an improvement of the microplane model for concrete—a constitutive model in which the nonlinear triaxial behavior is characterized by relations between the stress and strain components on a microplane of any orientation under the constraint that the strains on the microplane are the projections of the macroscopic strain tensor. The improvement is achieved by a new concept: the stress-strain boundaries, which can never be exceeded. The advantage of this new concept is that various boundaries and the elastic behavior can be defined as a function of different variables (strain components). Thus, whereas for compression the stress-strain boundaries are defined on the microplanes separately for volumetric and deviatoric components, for tension an additional boundary is defined in terms of the total normal strains. This is necessary to achieve a realistic triaxial response at large tensile strains. For microplane shear, a friction law with cohesion is introduced. The present model is simpler than the previous microplane model. Finally, the microplane model is generalized to finite, but only moderately large, strains. Verification and calibration by test data are left to a subsequent companion paper.
Improving Face Detection Performance by Skin Detection Post-Processing

Face detection is already incorporated in many biometrics and surveillance applications. Therefore, the reduction of false detections is a priority in those systems. However, face detection is still challenging. Many factors, such as pose variation and complex backgrounds, contribute to false detections. Besides, the fidelity of a true detection, measured by precision rate, is a concern in content-based information retrieval. Following those issues, combinations of methods are developed focusing on balancing the trade-off between hit-rate and miss-rate. In this paper, we present an approach that improves face detection based on a post-processing of skin features. Our method enhanced the performance of weak detectors using a straightforward and low complex skin percentage threshold constraint. Furthermore, we also present a statistical analysis comparing our approach and two face detectors, under two different conditions for skin detection training, using a robust dataset for testing. The experimental results showed a significant drop in the number of false positives, reducing in 53%, while the precision rate was elevated in almost 5% when the Viola-Jones approach was used as face detector.
Human Resources and Business Result: An Empirical Approach Based On RBV Theory

: Organization capacity learning is a process referring to the sum total of individual and collective learning through training programs, experience and experimentation, among others. Today, in-business ongoing training is one of the most important strategies for human capital development and it is crucial to sustain and improve workers’ knowledge and skills. Many organizations, firms and business are adopting a strategy of continuous learning, encouraging employees to learn new skills continually to be innovative and to try new processes and work in order to achieve a competitive advantage and superior business results. This paper uses the Resource Based View and Capacities (RBV) approach to construct a hypothetical relationships model between training and business results. The test of the model is applied on transversal data. A sample of 266 business of Spanish sector service has been selected. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) is used to estimate the relationship between ongoing training, represented by two latent dimension denominated Human and Social Capital resources and economic business results. The coefficients estimated have shown the efficient of some training aspects explaining the variation in business results.
Parental Motivation, Attitudes, Support, and Commitment in a Southern Californian Two-Way Immersion Program

This article reports a study of parental motivation, attitudes, support, and commitment for the second year of the two-way immersion (TWI) program at an elementary school in San Bernardino, California. Findings include the unique aspects of border communities; similarities and differences between Spanish-language and English-language participants; factors that influence attrition rates; details of how TWI parents support their children; as well as the identification of parental insistence on "core-enrichment," the development of strong academic skills, and adherence to content standards in both languages. Research data will assist teachers and administrators in gaining and maintaining parental support for TWI programs.
Sparsity in Dependency Grammar Induction

A strong inductive bias is essential in unsupervised grammar induction. We explore a particular sparsity bias in dependency grammars that encourages a small number of unique dependency types. Specifically, we investigate sparsity-inducing penalties on the posterior distributions of parent-child POS tag pairs in the posterior regularization (PR) framework of Graca et al. (2007). In experiments with 12 languages, we achieve substantial gains over the standard expectation maximization (EM) baseline, with average improvement in attachment accuracy of 6.3%. Further, our method outperforms models based on a standard Bayesian sparsity-inducing prior by an average of 4.9%. On English in particular, we show that our approach improves on several other state-of-the-art techniques.
PLPR-SLAM:Indoor RGB-D SLAM Utilizing Point-Line-Plane Features

In low-texture indoor environments, the scarcity of sufficient features often leads to issues like drift and tracking failures in feature-based Visual SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) systems. Existing approaches frequently involve incorporating line features into the SLAM system or relying on the Manhattan World (MW) assumption to address low-texture indoor scenarios. However, line features are more susceptible to noise and depth inconsistencies compared to point features. As a solution, we propose a Point-Line-Plane RGB-D SLAM (PLPR SLAM) system that integrates all three types of features. In this system, we leverage the RANSAC (Random Sample Consensus) algorithm along with depth consistency checks to robustly fit three-dimensional line features within the 3D space. Furthermore, to overcome the limitations of the MW assumption's applicability in various indoor environments, we employ the RANSAC algorithm in conjunction with the DASP (Depth Adaptive Superpixels) technique to extract plane features from depth images without relying on specific environmental assumptions. Our experimental results on the TUM dataset demonstrate that the PLPR SLAM system, by effectively utilizing the indoor structural environment, significantly enhances the accuracy of localization and mapping. It outperforms other prominent feature-based Visual SLAM systems such as ORB-SLAM2, ORB-SLAM3, and MSC-VO (which is based on the MW assumption).
Dissociable Effects of Valence and Arousal in Adaptive Executive Control

Background Based on introspectionist, semantic, and psychophysiological experimental frameworks, it has long been assumed that all affective states derive from two independent basic dimensions, valence and arousal. However, until now, no study has investigated whether valence and arousal are also dissociable at the level of affect-related changes in cognitive processing. Methodology/Principal Findings We examined how changes in both valence (negative vs. positive) and arousal (low vs. high) influence performance in tasks requiring executive control because recent research indicates that two dissociable cognitive components are involved in the regulation of task performance: amount of current control (i.e., strength of filtering goal-irrelevant signals) and control adaptation (i.e., strength of maintaining current goals over time). Using a visual pop-out distractor task, we found that control is exclusively modulated by arousal because interference by goal-irrelevant signals was largest in high arousal states, independently of valence. By contrast, control adaptation is exclusively modulated by valence because the increase in control after trials in which goal-irrelevant signals were present was largest in negative states, independent of arousal. A Monte Carlo simulation revealed that differential effects of two experimental factors on control and control adaptation can be dissociated if there is no correlation between empirical interference and conflict-driven modulation of interference, which was the case in the present data. Consequently, the observed effects of valence and arousal on adaptive executive control are indeed dissociable. Conclusions/Significance These findings indicate that affective influences on cognitive processes can be driven by independent effects of variations in valence and arousal, which may resolve several heterogeneous findings observed in previous studies on affect-cognition interactions.
Effective lysis of model thrombi by a t‐PA mutant (A473S) that is resistant to α2‐antiplasmin

This study used two mutants of tissue‐type plasminogen activator (t‐PA) with resistance to inhibitors of fibrinolysis to define the contribution of plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)‐1 and α2‐antiplasmin (α2‐AP) to the control of fibrin lysis. Wild‐type t‐PA was compared with KHRR296–299AAAA, which is resistant to PAI‐1, and with A473S, which is resistant to α2‐AP. We examined these forms of t‐PA in model systems that are physiologically relevant. Neutralization of α2‐AP was essential for lysis of plasma clots, irrespective of their platelet content, by either wild‐type t‐PA or KHRR296–299AAAA. In marked contrast, A473S lysed plasma clots without neutralization of α2‐AP. Model thrombi, with structures similar to in vivo thrombi, were lysed slowly by wild‐type t‐PA; the rate and extent of lysis were enhanced by the addition of antibodies to α2‐AP or PAI‐1. A473S was more effective than wild‐type t‐PA without the addition of antibodies by virtue of its resistance to α2‐AP. This resistance was remarkable, in that no complex formed between A473S t‐PA and α2‐AP, even after extended incubation, when 50% of wild‐type t‐PA could be converted to complex. Comparison of A473S and KHRR296–299AAAA mutants showed their similar effectiveness in lysis of platelet‐rich model thrombi. Thus, PAI‐1 and α2‐AP contribute approximately equally to the inhibition of thrombus lysis. This study underlines the functional significance of α2‐AP as a direct inhibitor of t‐PA and further explains the basis of the accepted role of α2‐AP as a regulator of fibrin persistence and thrombus resistance to lysis.
PT-Rand: Practical Mitigation of Data-only Attacks against Page Tables

Kernel exploits constitute a powerful attack class allowing attackers to gain full control over a system. Various kernel hardening solutions have been proposed or deployed in practice to protect the kernel against code injection (e.g., DEP) or code-reuse exploits (e.g., CFI). However, the security of all these hardening techniques relies heavily on the assumption that kernel page tables cannot be manipulated, e.g., by means of dataonly attacks. Ensuring kernel page tables integrity is not only essential for kernel security but also a challenging task in practice since existing solutions require hardware trust anchors, costly hypervisors, or inefficient integrity checks. In this paper, we first motivate the importance of protecting kernel page tables by presenting a data-only attack against page tables to bypass the recently released CFI-based (Linux) kernel hardening technique RAP. Thereafter, we present the design and implementation of PT-Rand, the first practical solution to protect kernel page tables that does not suffer from the mentioned deficiencies of previous proposals. PT-Rand randomizes the location of page tables and tackles a number of challenges to ensure that the location of page tables is not leaked. This effectively prevents the attacker from manipulating access permissions of code pages, thereby enabling secure enforcement of kernel exploit mitigation technologies such as CFI. We extensively evaluate our prototype implementation of PT-Rand for the current Linux kernel on the popular Linux distribution Debian and report a low overhead of 0.22% for common benchmarks. Moreover, we combine RAP with PT-Rand to protect RAP against data-only attacks on kernel page tables.
Low-Cost Sensor-Based Irrigation System for Efficient Water Management in Remote Agricultural Regions

Irrigation system with lower cost is considered to be increasingly significant, based on rising growth of human population, demand for food and global warming. This investigation attempts to provide a low cost sensor based irrigation system for monitoring and controlling from remote regions and to optimize water use for farming irrigation. A sensor based irrigation system that monitors and controls the supply of water uses sensors and actuators. It is specifically designed to automate the water supply from reservoirs and to crops over irrigation system. System lifecycle and waterfall model has been considered in development factor. The protocol suite, ardunio are integrated to provide the system model. Here, pumping approach has been utilized to provide water supply to soils. This system design offers sensing, power supply, monitoring and controlling factors and internet sources. Experimentation was carried out in MATLAB environment and simulation outcomes demonstrate practical and effectual way of implementing the anticipated system model. This irrigation system is need not only for farmers and also for increasing the economic functionalities. Moreover, this may diminish manual supervision that is needed for water supply by invoking remote monitoring and control system.
Energy‐efficient network selection with mobility pattern awareness in an integrated WiMAX and WiFi network

To provide wireless Internet access, WiFi networks have been deployed in many regions such as buildings and campuses. However, WiFi networks are still insufficient to support ubiquitous wireless service due to their narrow coverage. One possibility to resolve this deficiency is to integrate WiFi networks with the wide‐range WiMAX networks. Under such an integrated WiMAX and WiFi network, how to conduct energy‐efficient handovers is a critical issue. In this paper, we propose a handover scheme with geographic mobility awareness (HGMA), which considers the historical handover patterns of mobile devices. HGMA can conserve the energy of handovering devices from three aspects. First, it prevents mobile devices from triggering unnecessary handovers according to their received signal strength and moving speeds. Second, it contains a handover candidate selection method for mobile devices to intelligently select a subset of WiFi access points or WiMAX relay stations to be scanned. Therefore, mobile devices can reduce their network scanning and thus save their energy. Third, HGMA prefers mobile devices staying in their original WiMAX or WiFi networks. This can prevent mobile devices from consuming too much energy on interface switching. In addition, HGMA prefers the low‐tier WiFi network over the WiMAX network and guarantees the bandwidth requirements of handovering devices. Simulation results show that HGMA can save about 59– 80% of energy consumption of a handover operation, make mobile devices to associate with WiFi networks with 16–62% more probabilities, and increase about 20–61% of QoS satisfaction ratio to handovering devices. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Big Five Inventory (BFI)

The internal consistency reliability, factor structure, and convergent-discriminant validity of the Italian translation of the Big Five Inventory (BFI) were assessed in two independent samples of nonclinical adult volunteers (Sample 1: N = 500; Sample 2: N = 316) and in one sample of adolescent volunteers (Sample 3: N = 223). Two adult subsamples (n = 70, and n = 141, respectively) also provided 2-month retest reliability data. The internal consistency reliabilities were adequate for all five BFI scales (mean α values were .77, .78, and .81 for Sample 1, Sample 2, and Sample 3, respectively); all test-retest correlations were greater than . 75 in both adult participant subsamples. Principal component analyses showed that only the first five components of the BFI item correlation matrix could be reproduced safely across the three samples. The BFI scales showed adequate convergent-discriminant validity coefficients in all three samples. These findings suggest that the BFI is a succinct measure of the Big Fiv.
Environmental security and climate change: analysing the discourse

This article analyses the emerging discourse on ‘climate security’ and investigates whether and how attempts to consider environmental problems as security issues are transforming security practices. Attempts to broaden the security agenda have been deemed as spreading the confrontational logic of security—which, within international relations, is traditionally associated with the exceptional decision that brings into existence the logic of war—into sectors from which it had been excluded. This problematic development has been described as ‘securitization’. This article argues that this perspective does not consider whether and how by securitizing nontraditional sectors, alternative security logics are evoked and practices associated with securitization are challenged and transformed. The securitization of the environment, it is argued, is transforming existing security practices and provisions. This process is part of broader re-articulation of the spaces in which a logic of security based on emergency and contingency is legitimated and those in which a logic of prevention and management prevails. It implies new roles for security actors and different means to provide security.
Software Quality Assurance by means of Methodologies, Measurements and Knowledge Management Issues

Software quality assurance has emerged in the past years for the market and academia as a better solution to achieve customer satisfaction. Organizations recognize that it is only by offering better quality products that they can have an edge over their competitors and thus they can ensure customer loyalty. In this context, researchers on software quality have proposed methodologies, techniques and different approaches to support this activity and its effective use in industry. This report presents a piece of research conducted in this direction. Methodologies and measurements were defined and applied to support the assessment of software processes and products for different types of systems (e.g. web applications, information systems, ubiquitous systems, legacy systems). Knowledge management issues were also explored for the organization of knowledge with ontologies; capture and dissemination of lessons learned in projects to support software quality improvement. The experience and results obtained with this research conducted to the definition of new research perspectives. The first research perspective aims at defining new approaches for quality evaluation based on measurements for interactive systems (in particular for the predictive evaluation of usability and the quality evaluation of ubiquitous systems). The second one aims at exploring knowledge management concepts for the benefit of the quality evaluation activity itself, considering that software quality assurance is a knowledge-rich activity including explicit documented knowledge in standards, quality measurements and techniques, as well as tacit knowledge of each individual that participates in the quality evaluation process (evaluators, users and other stakeholders). In this way, all this research contributes to the introduction of practical software quality assurance procedures throughout the software processes to enable their real adoption by organizations.
Encouraging Students to Engage With Native Speakers During Study Abroad

Students, their parents, and educators trust that a study-abroad experience is the best way to increase linguistic proficiency. The professional literature, however, shows a much more complex picture. Gains in linguistic proficiency appear to depend on variables such as whether the students experience a homestay or dormitory, the length of time studying abroad, their previous knowledge of the language, etc. Interaction with native speakers also seems to vary widely. The present article examines whether requiring students abroad to interact with native speakers improves students’ self-assessed self-confidence in using the language, their willingness to use the language, and their perceived gains in speaking ability.
Cutaneous DNA delivery and gene expression in ex vivo human skin explants via wet-etch microfabricated microneedles

Microneedle arrays increase skin permeability by forming channels through the outer physical barrier, without stimulating pain receptors populating the underlying dermis. It was postulated that microneedle arrays could facilitate transfer of DNA to human skin epidermis for cutaneous gene therapy applications. Platinum-coated “wet-etch” silicon microneedles were shown to be of appropriate dimensions to create microconduits, approximately 50 μm in diameter, extending through the stratum corneum (SC) and viable epidermis. Following optimisation of skin explant culturing techniques and confirmation of tissue viability, the ability of the microneedles to mediate gene expression was demonstrated using the β-galactosidase reporter gene. Preliminary studies confirmed localised delivery, cellular internalisation and subsequent gene expression of pDNA following microneedle disruption of skin. A combination of this innovative gene delivery platform and the ex vivo skin culture model will be further exploited to optimise cutaneous DNA delivery and address fundamental questions regarding gene expression in skin.
Exploring “bullying” culture in the para‐military organisation

This paper is drawn from a research project into the influences of power and culture on bullying and harassment within the Fire Service, conducted using fire brigades of similar background from the UK, the USA and Eire. It discovered bullying within the Fire Service in two contexts: inappropriate behaviour by managers, such as intimidation, threats and the intimidating use of discipline; and bullying within groups, which is the most influential, and potentially the most damaging to individuals. This occurs within the group that is heavily dependent on the socialisation processes of acceptance, normalisation, indoctrination and preservation of hierarchy. It is also argued that the bullying of individuals because of their sex or race remains an aspect of Fire Service culture and is perpetuated by some to ensure the continuation of the white male culture.