Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protecting Internet users from becoming victimized attackers of click‐fraud

Internet users are often victimized by malicious attackers. Some attackers infect and use innocent users' machines to launch large‐scale attacks without the users' knowledge. One of such attacks is the click‐fraud attack. Click‐fraud happens in pay‐per‐click ad networks where the ad network charges advertisers for every click on their ads. Click‐fraud has been proved to be a serious problem for the online advertisement industry. In a click‐fraud attack, a user or an automated software clicks on an ad with a malicious intent and advertisers need to pay for those valueless clicks. Among many forms of click‐fraud, botnets with the automated clickers are the most severe ones. In this study, we present a method for detecting automated clickers from the user side. The proposed method to fight click‐fraud, FCFraud, can be integrated into the desktop and smart device operating systems. Since most modern operating systems already provide some kind of antimalware service, our proposed method can be implemented as a part of the service. We believe that an effective protection at the operating system level can save billions of dollars of the advertisers. Experiments show that FCFraud is 99.6% (98.2% in mobile ad library–generated traffic) accurate in classifying ad requests from all user processes and it is 100% successful in detecting clickbots in both desktop and mobile devices. We implement a cloud backend for the FCFraud service to save battery power in mobile devices. The overhead of executing FCFraud is also analyzed and we show that it is reasonable for both the platforms.
The Role of the Social Network in Discovering Natural Helpers Anonymous

Pro-Social behavior is intended towards helping other people to build social support. Social networking sites like Twitter provide the perfect vantage point to observe such pro-social practices. Analyzing the interactions between users on Twitter will help in discovering pro-social behavior. Pro-social behavior can help us in finding where there is a booming quality of life or where group building activities are more needed to strengthen social coordination. In this paper, we discover prosocial behaviors on Twitter by doing natural language processing, keyword searching and analyzing the social network graph. Also, we build an encoder-decoder neural network model to identify Pro-Social behavior on the social network.
Multi-label Classification of Surgical Tools with Convolutional Neural Networks

Automatic tool detection from surgical imagery has a multitude of useful applications, such as real-time computer assistance for the surgeon. Using the successful residual network architecture, a system that can distinguish 21 different tools in cataract surgery videos is created. The videos are provided as part of the 2017 CATARACTS challenge and pose difficulties found in many real-world datasets, for example a strong class imbalance. The construction of the detection system is guided by a wide array of experiments that explore different design decisions.
Transforming graph states using single-qubit operations

Stabilizer states form an important class of states in quantum information, and are of central importance in quantum error correction. Here, we provide an algorithm for deciding whether one stabilizer (target) state can be obtained from another stabilizer (source) state by single-qubit Clifford operations (LC), single-qubit Pauli measurements (LPM) and classical communication (CC) between sites holding the individual qubits. What is more, we provide a recipe to obtain the sequence of LC+LPM+CC operations which prepare the desired target state from the source state, and show how these operations can be applied in parallel to reach the target state in constant time. Our algorithm has applications in quantum networks, quantum computing, and can also serve as a design tool—for example, to find transformations between quantum error correcting codes. We provide a software implementation of our algorithm that makes this tool easier to apply. A key insight leading to our algorithm is to show that the problem is equivalent to one in graph theory, which is to decide whether some graph G′ is a vertex-minor of another graph G. The vertex-minor problem is, in general, -Complete, but can be solved efficiently on graphs which are not too complex. A measure of the complexity of a graph is the rank-width which equals the Schmidt-rank width of a subclass of stabilizer states called graph states, and thus intuitively is a measure of entanglement. Here, we show that the vertex-minor problem can be solved in time O(|G|3), where |G| is the size of the graph G, whenever the rank-width of G and the size of G′ are bounded. Our algorithm is based on techniques by Courcelle for solving fixed parameter tractable problems, where here the relevant fixed parameter is the rank width. The second half of this paper serves as an accessible but far from exhausting introduction to these concepts, that could be useful for many other problems in quantum information. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Foundations of quantum mechanics and their impact on contemporary society’.
The importance of place in environmental education

As many in the field of environmental education would appreciate, “to know anything about the world is to know its places” (Gruenewald, 2006, p. 4). David Sobel (1996) suggests that, in teaching about environmental education, using local places to teach about environmental concepts, such as ecosystems or a catchment area, provides students with a context for what they are learning. Cameron (2008, p. 303) further argues that “by implication, education, environmental sustainability and intercultural dialogue should not just take place into account, but they should be deeply grounded in place”. As well as providing an opportunity for environmental education to become more participative, and encourage intercultural dialogue and community action, education that is grounded in places encourages students to look critically at their places, both natural and constructed, and consider the interconnections that occur within and through these places. Further, allowing students to investigate the influence of social, political and economical decisions on natural places incorporates the socially-critical and political action goals of environmental education. This paper aims to give an overview of place-conscious education and its place in environmental education, in particular suggesting that environmental education has a central role to play in promoting a place ethic.
Influence of Acetone Co-Solvent on Furfural Production and Cellulose Retention from Lignocellulosic Biomass

This research aimed to obtain furfural from sugarcane bagasse with most cellulose residue preserved by using the system of diluted phosphoric acid and co-solvent acetone. Based on concentrated phosphoric acid and acetone pretreatment, 78.2% of the hemicelluloses in the bagasse were depolymerized into water soluble xylo-oligosaccharides, covering the cellulose residue. Then, in the pure acetone medium, no furfural was produced when pretreated bagasse was catalyzed by phosphoric acid at low reaction temperature (80 °C). The degradation of pretreated bagasse was strongly accelerated by increasing reaction temperature (120 °C), while no furfural was obtained due to its condensation with acetone. Adding water (12 mL) effectively slowed this process, with 10.6% furfural yield and 54.4% furfural selectivity, but acetone showed an inhibiting influence on furfural production compared to pure water system, under atmospheric conditions. Surprisingly, furfural production in the acetone-water medium was improved significantly when the reaction was pressurized, using xylose or bagasse as the feedstock. In pressurized conditions, higher furfural yield, shorter reaction time, and lower cellulose degradation were observed in the acetone-water medium versus the totally aqueous medium. This provided the potential of producing furfural and hydrolysable cellulose residue in the acetone co-solvent media.
Niche-mediated BMP/SMAD signaling regulates lung alveolar stem cell proliferation and differentiation

ABSTRACT The bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway, including antagonists, functions in lung development and regeneration of tracheal epithelium from basal stem cells. Here, we explore its role in the alveolar region, where type 2 epithelial cells (AT2s) and Pdgfrα+ type 2-associated stromal cells (TASCs) are components of the stem cell niche. We use organoids and in vivo alveolar regrowth after pneumonectomy (PNX) – a process that requires proliferation of AT2s and differentiation into type 1 cells (AT1s). BMP signaling is active in AT2s and TASCs, transiently declines post-PNX in association with upregulation of antagonists, and is restored during differentiation of AT2s to AT1s. In organoids, BMP4 inhibits AT2 proliferation, whereas antagonists (follistatin, noggin) promote AT2 self-renewal at the expense of differentiation. Gain- and loss-of-function genetic manipulation reveals that reduced BMP signaling in AT2s after PNX allows self-renewal but reduces differentiation; conversely, increased BMP signaling promotes AT1 formation. Constitutive BMP signaling in Pdgfrα+ cells reduces their AT2 support function, both after PNX and in organoid culture. Our data reveal multiple cell-type-specific roles for BMP signaling during alveolar regeneration. Summary: Studies using alveolar organoids and in vivo alveolar regrowth post-pneumonectomy establish many dynamic and cell-type-specific roles for BMP signaling in regulating adult alveolar regeneration.
Entry or Exit? The Effect of Voluntary Participation on Cooperation

We study the effects of voluntary participation on public good provision. Voluntary participation may foster cooperation through two mechanisms: an entry mechanism, which leads to assortative selection of interaction partners, or an exit mechanism, whereby the opportunity to leave the partnership can be used as a means to resist exploitation by free-riders. We examine the relative effectiveness of these two mechanisms in a one-shot, two-person public goods game experiment. We find that voluntary participation has a positive effect on public good provision through the exit mechanism, but we do not find evidence of a positive effect of entry. Assortative selection of interaction partners seems to play a minor role in our setting, whereas the threat of costly exit is a powerful force to discipline free-riding.
A Manually Annotated Chinese Corpus for Non-task-oriented Dialogue Systems

This paper presents a large-scale corpus for non-task-oriented dialogue response selection, which contains over 27K distinct prompts more than 82K responses collected from social media. To annotate this corpus, we define a 5-grade rating scheme: bad, mediocre, acceptable, good, and excellent, according to the relevance, coherence, informativeness, interestingness, and the potential to move a conversation forward. To test the validity and usefulness of the produced corpus, we compare various unsupervised and supervised models for response selection. Experimental results confirm that the proposed corpus is helpful in training response selection models.
Project Management in Development Aid Industry – Public vs. Private

Abstract This article examines the relationship between the type of a development aid implementing organisation (public or private) and the quality of project management in development aid. The author begins with main public administration considerations - how public aid administration is different from private and furthermore, how particular sectoral characteristics of organisations influence the quality of the management process. The article combines empirical findings on the differences between the public and private sector with a complex setting of development aid and main success factors in development aid activity, in order to determine whether for-profit or public companies are more likely to achieve better project management processes. The article identifies some indices that favorise private companies, and outlines further necessary steps that should be taken in order to broaden the argumentation and confirm or reject this assertion
The relationship between dehydration and parotid salivary gland function in young and older healthy adults.

BACKGROUND Saliva is essential for the maintenance of oral health. The primary constituent of saliva is water and, traditionally, decreased body water homeostasis has been linked with salivary dysfunction. This is consistent with the greater prevalence of dehydration and salivary gland dysfunction among the elderly. However, this association between dehydration and salivary dysfunction has never been tested using objective criteria. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of body dehydration upon parotid salivary flow rates in young and older healthy adults. METHODS Twelve young (20-40 years) and 12 older (60-80 years) healthy subjects abstained from food and beverage intake for 24 h (dehydration) and then underwent intravenous rehydration to replace all lost weight. Unstimulated and stimulated parotid salivary flow rates, weight, hematocrit, hemoglobin, serum sodium, plasma protein, creatinine, serum, and urine osmolality values were assessed at baseline, 24 h, and 1 h after the completion of rehydration. RESULTS All subjects experienced a significant decrease in weight and increased levels of hematocrit, hemoglobin, plasma protein, and creatinine during dehydration with few age-related differences. Intravenous fluid replacement increased weight and decreased hematocrit, hemoglobin, plasma protein, and creatinine back to baseline values, demonstrating that subjects were metabolically rehydrated. Unstimulated (young and older, p = .0001) and stimulated (young, p > .05; older, p = .03) parotid flow rates decreased during the 24-h dehydration period, yet did not completely return (young and older unstimulated, p < .001; young and older stimulated, p > .05) to baseline values after rehydration. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that body dehydration is associated with decreased parotid salivary gland flow rates, and that these changes are generally age-independent in healthy adults. Furthermore, although subjects were metabolically rehydrated, unstimulated salivary flow rates remained significantly lower than baseline levels.
Measuring inferential importance of taxa using taxon influence indices

Abstract Assessing the importance of different taxa for inferring evolutionary history is a critical, but underutilized, aspect of systematics. Quantifying the importance of all taxa within a dataset provides an empirical measurement that can establish a ranking of extant taxa for ecological study and/or quantify the relative importance of newly announced or redescribed specimens to enable the disentangling of novelty and inferential influence. Here, we illustrate the use of taxon influence indices through analysis of both molecular and morphological datasets, introducing a modified Bayesian approach to the taxon influence index that accounts for model and topological uncertainty. Quantification of taxon influence using the Bayesian approach produced clear rankings for both dataset types. Bayesian taxon rankings differed from maximum likelihood (ML)‐derived rankings from a mitogenomic dataset, and the highest ranking taxa exhibited the largest interquartile range in influence estimate, suggesting variance in the estimate must be taken into account when the ranking of taxa is the feature of interest. Application of the Bayesian taxon influence index to a recent morphological analysis of the Tully Monster (Tullimonstrum) reveals that it exhibits consistently low inferential importance across two recent treatments of the taxon with alternative character codings. These results lend support to the idea that taxon influence indices may be robust to character coding and therefore effective for morphological analyses. These results underscore a need for the development of approaches to, and application of, taxon influence analyses both for the purpose of establishing robust rankings for future inquiry and for explicitly quantifying the importance of individual taxa. Quantifying the importance of individual taxa refocuses debates in morphological studies from questions of character choice/significance and taxon sampling to explicitly analytical techniques, and guides discussion of the context of new discoveries.
Toll-Like Receptors Drive Specific Patterns of Tolerance and Training on Restimulation of Macrophages

Tolerance is a long-recognized property of macrophages that leads to an altered response to repeated or chronic exposure to endotoxin. The physiological role of tolerance is to limit the potential damage to host tissue that may otherwise result from prolonged production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Tolerance is induced by all toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands tested to date, however, tolerance induced by the TLR4 ligand lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is by far the best studied. LPS tolerance involves a global transcriptional shift from a pro-inflammatory response toward one characterized by the expression of anti-inflammatory and pro-resolution factors. Although largely reversible, LPS-tolerance leads to a hybrid macrophage activation state that is pro-inflammatory in nature, but possesses distinct regulatory anti-inflammatory features. Remarkably, a comparative transcriptomic analysis of tolerance induced by different TLR ligands has not previously been reported. Here, we describe the transcriptomic profiles of mouse macrophages tolerized with ligands for TLR2, TLR3, TLR4 and TLR 9. While we identified TLR-specific transcriptional profiles in macrophages tolerized with each ligand, tolerance induced by TLR4 represented an archetype pattern, such that each gene tolerized by any of the TLRs tested was also found to be tolerized by TLR4. Pro-inflammatory cytokines are not universally suppressed in all tolerant cells, but distinct patterns of cytokine expression distinguished TLR-specific tolerance. Analysis of gene regulatory regions revealed specific DNA sequence motifs associated with distinct states of TLR tolerance, implicating previously identified as well as novel transcriptional regulators of tolerance in macrophages. These data provide a basis for the future exploitation of TLR-specific tolerant states to achieve therapeutic re-programming of the innate immune response.
APOE ε2ε4 genotype, incident AD and MCI, cognitive decline, and AD pathology in older adults

Objective To examine the association of the APOE ε2ε4 genotype with incident Alzheimer disease (AD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), cognitive decline, and AD pathology in older adults. Methods We used data from 2,151 older adults of European ancestry who were free of dementia at baseline and underwent structured annual clinical evaluation in a longitudinal study for incident AD and MCI, and cognitive decline. Postmortem examination in decedents documented pathologic AD and quantified β-amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles. Participants were stratified into 4 groups based on APOE genotyping: ε2ε4, ε4 (ε4ε4, ε4ε3), ε2 (ε2ε2, ε2ε3), with ε3ε3 carriers serving as the reference group. We used Cox proportional hazards models to examine the association of APOE genotype with incident AD and MCI. Linear mixed-effect models were used to examine the association with cognitive decline. Logistic and linear regression models were used to examine AD pathology. All the models controlled for age, sex, and education. Results Of the 2,151 participants included in this study, ε2ε4 accounted for 2.1%, ε3/4 and 4/4 21.8%, ε2/3 and 2/2 14.0%, and ε3ε3 62.1%. We did not observe a difference in the risk of AD for ε2ε4 compared to ε3ε3. In cases without cognitive impairment at baseline, ε2ε4 carriers had an increased risk of incident MCI (hazard ratio 2.13, 95% confidence interval 1.34–3.39, p = 0.002) and a faster rate of cognitive decline (estimate −0.047, SE 0.018, p = 0.008) compared to ε3ε3 carriers. In decedents (n = 1,100), ε2ε4 showed a 3-fold increased odds of pathologic AD and a higher β-amyloid load than ε3ε3. Conclusion APOE ε2ε4 genotype in older adults is associated with risk of MCI, cognitive decline, and a greater burden of AD pathology, especially β-amyloid.
Interrelationship between Indian and US stock markets

This study examines the nature and extent of linkage between the US and the Indian stock markets. The study uses the theory of cointegration to study interdependence between the Bombay stock exchange (BSE), and the NYSE and Nasdaq. The sample data consisted of daily closing prices for the three indices from January 1991 through December 1999 with 2338 observations. The results are in support of the intuitive hypothesis that the Indian stock market was not interrelated to the US markets for the entire sample period. It should be noted that stock markets of many countries became increasingly interdependent with the US stock markets during the same time period. India was late in effecting liberalization policies and when it implanted these policies it did so in a careful and slow manner. However, as the effects of economic liberalizations started to take place, the BSE became more integrated with the Nasdaq and the NYSE, particularly after 1998. It must be noted that though BSE stock market is integrated with the US stock markets, it does not influence the Nasdaq and NYSE markets. This result is to be expected, given the relatively small valuation of the BSE.
Preoperative testing and risk assessment: perspectives on patient selection in ambulatory anesthetic procedures

: With recent advances in surgical and anesthetic technique, there has been a growing emphasis on the delivery of care to patients undergoing ambulatory procedures of increasing complexity. Appropriate patient selection and meticulous preparation are vital to the provision of a safe, quality perioperative experience. It is not unusual for patients with complex medical histories and substantial systemic disease to be scheduled for discharge on the same day as their surgical procedure. The trend to “push the envelope” by triaging progressively sicker patients to ambulatory surgical facilities has resulted in a number of challenges for the anesthesia provider who will assume their care. It is well known that certain patient diseases are associated with increased perioperative risk. It is therefore important to define clinical factors that warrant more extensive testing of the patient and medical conditions that present a prohibitive risk for an adverse outcome. The preoperative assessment is an opportunity for the anesthesia provider to determine the status and stability of the patient’s health, provide preoperative education and instructions, and offer support and reassurance to the patient and the patient’s family members. Communication between the surgeon/proceduralist and the anesthesia provider is critical in achieving optimal outcome. A multifaceted approach is required when considering whether a specific patient will be best served having their procedure on an outpatient basis. Not only should the patient’s comorbidities be stable and optimized, but details regarding the planned procedure and the resources available at the facility also should be ascertained. Equally important to outcome are the resources and support available to the patient during their recovery after they have been discharged from the facility. This article reviews appropriate patient and procedure selection, based on elements of preoperative history and physical examination, supporting testing, and risk assessment.