Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cryptographic key recovery

Internet/intranet security has witnessed an explosive and exciting growth in the past two years. Under the surface of excitement lies a mine of technical and commercial challenges. Without solving these challenges, secure systems will not reach their expected potential. Security can be achieved via encryption. Encryption uses "keys" to encrypt and decrypt the information. Without having the cryptographic key, the enciphered information will never be converted into its original text. In case of key loss or damage or forgetting the key password, there should be a mechanism to recover the cryptographic keys and decipher the encrypted information. This paper describes a key recovery mechanism to facilitate the recovery of encryption keys and encrypted data. The mechanism does not require keys to be escrowed. It is based on adding an extra small field-the Key Recovery Entry (KRE)-to a message or file being transmitted. This mechanism facilitates key recovery both for session keys in symmetric cryptographic systems and private keys in asymmetric cryptographic systems without any need to escrow any key information. The author makes the differentiation between key escrow and key recovery.
Produção e caracterização de microesferas de quitosana natural e modificada quimicamente e o seu uso na adsorção das proteinas BSA e lisozima

Neste trabalho foram produzidas microesferas de quitosana com tamanho controlado e porosidade influenciada pela tecnica de atomizacao e coagulacao. As condicoes de producao foram definidas pelo planejamento de experimentos. As microesferas obtidas foram modificadas quimicamente com anidrido acetico, epicloridrina e glutaraldeido com objetivos de melhorar suas caracteristicas iniciais de resistencia e estabilidade. As possibilidades de uso apresentadas por essas matrizes se devem ao reconhecimento observado entre adsorbato e adsorvente e a realizacao de modificacoes quimicas e estruturais. Apos essas modificacoes as microesferas obtidas foram analisadas quanto as suas propriedades estruturais, capacidade de adsorcao e dessorcao. As microesferas foram utilizadas em sistemas de adsorcao em banho finito e coluna de leito fixo. Os adsorbatos utilizados foram as proteinas BSA, lisozima e um concentrado proteico (condicao real) obtido do soro do leite. As proteinas BSA e lisozima apresentam pontos isoeletricos distintos de 4,8 e 11, respectivamente, permitindo assim avaliar o sistema adsorvente-adsorbato pelas isotermas de adsorcao, cinetica de equilibrio, capacidade de dessorcao e regeneracao dos adsorventes, em condicoes distintas de pH. O modelo de Langmuir descreveu bem os valores de adsorcao obtidos experimentalmente. As capacidades maximas de adsorcao para as proteinas BSA e lisozima foram de 9,24 mg/g e 11,95 mg/g, respectivamente, utilizando as microesferas de quitosana reticuladas com glutaraldeido. Os maiores valores de adsorcao foram encontrados proximos aos pontos isoeletricos, mostrando que as interacoes eletrostaticas, fundamentais para o processo em toda a faixa de pH estudada, nao estao agindo isoladamente no sistema. Comparando-se os metodos de tanque agitado e coluna de leito fixo foi possivel observar diminuicao significativa na adsorcao e dessorcao da solucao artificial de proteinas do primeiro para o segundo metodo. Esses resultados podem ser explicados por limitacoes no tamanho da coluna do leito, tempo de residencia e consequentemente pela baixa transferencia de massa. Com um extrato real ocorreu diminuicao, mais significativa ainda, da capacidade de adsorcao quando comparado com a solucao artificial de proteinas. Estes resultados refletem a complexidade das interacoes e a existencia de competicao pelos sitios de adsorcao da superficie interna e externa das microesferas de quitosana reticuladas com glutaraldeido. Essa competicao ocorre possivelmente entre as proteinas do extrato e outros grupos moleculares Abstract
Characterization of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Replication in Immature and Mature Dendritic Cells Reveals Dissociable cis- and trans-Infection

ABSTRACT Dendritic cells (DCs) transmit human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) to CD4+ T cells through the trans- and cis-infection pathways; however, little is known about the relative efficiencies of these pathways and whether they are interdependent. Here we compare cis- and trans-infections of HIV-1 mediated by immature DCs (iDCs) and mature DCs (mDCs), using replication-competent and single-cycle HIV-1. Monocyte-derived iDCs were differentiated into various types of mDCs by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), and CD40 ligand (CD40L). iDCs and CD40L-induced mDCs were susceptible to HIV-1 infection and mediated efficient viral transmission to CD4+ T cells. Although HIV-1 cis-infection was partially restricted in TNF-α-induced mDCs and profoundly blocked in LPS-induced mDCs, these cells efficiently promoted HIV-1 trans-infection of CD4+ T cells. The postentry restriction of HIV-1 infection in LPS-induced mDCs was identified at the levels of reverse transcription and postintegration, using real-time PCR quantification of viral DNA and integration. Furthermore, nucleofection of DCs with HIV-1 proviral DNA confirmed that impaired gene expression of LPS-induced mDCs was responsible for the postentry restriction of HIV-1 infection. Our results suggest that various DC subsets in vivo may differentially contribute to HIV-1 dissemination via dissociable cis- and trans-infections.
In vitro activity of three selected South African medicinal plants against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase

Crude extracts of three ethnobotanically selected medicinal plants were screened for activity against two functions of human immunodeficiency type 1 reverse transcriptase. Inhibition of the RNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity was evaluated by measuring the degree of incorporation of methyl-3H thymidine triphosphate using polyadenylic acid.oligodeoxythymidylic acid as a template primer. Ribonuclease H activity was evaluated by measuring the extent of degradation of a radiolabelled RNA in an RNA/DNA hybrid by reverse transcriptase in the presence of test substance. The methanol extract of the leaves of Terminalia sericea (Combretaceae) was found to strongly inhibit the polymerase (IC 50 = 7.2 µg/ml) and the ribonuclease H (IC 50 = 8.1 µg/ml) activities. Isolation and characterization of a possible active molecule is warranted. Key Words: HIV-1 reverse transcriptase; inhibition; crude extracts; medicinal plants; Terminalia sericea ; South Africa. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.3(10) 2004: 555-559
Local Ensemble across Multiple Sources for Collaborative Filtering

Recently, Transfer Collaborative Filtering (TCF) methods across multiple source domains, which employ knowledge from different source domains to improve the recommendation performance in the target domain, have been applied in recommender systems. The existing multi-source TCF methods either require overlapping objects in different domains or simply re-weight domains to merge them together. In this paper, we propose a novel LO cal EN semble framework across multiple source domains for collaborative filtering (called LOEN for short), where weights of multiple sources for each missing rating in the target domain are determined according to their corresponding local structures. Compared with the previous TCF methods, LOEN does not require overlapping data and considers the divergence of sources through exploiting the local structures of ratings, which allows LOEN to be more general and effective. Experiments conducted on real datasets validate the effectiveness of LOEN, especially for knowledge transfer across unrelated source domains.
Electrophoretic analysis of the major outer membrane protein of Chlamydia psittaci reveals multimers which are recognized by protective monoclonal antibodies

Purified major outer membrane protein, detergent solubilized and reduced with dithiothreitol but not heated, gave an apparent molecular weight in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gels almost three times that observed for the heat-denatured SDS-treated peptide. This is similar to the behavior of porin trimers from gram-negative bacteria. Two protective monoclonal antibodies showed strong binding to the proposed trimer but not to denatured, monomeric major outer membrane protein.
Serine Protease Inhibition by Insect Peptides Containing a Cysteine Knot and a Triple-stranded β-Sheet (*)

Three insect peptides showing high sequence similarity and belonging to the same structural family incorporating a cysteine knot and a short three-stranded antiparallel β-sheet were studied. Their inhibitory effect on two serine proteases (bovine α-chymotrypsin and human leukocyte elastase) is reported. One of them, PMP-C, is a strong α-chymotrypsin inhibitor (Ki = 0.2 nM) and interacts with leukocyte elastase with a Ki of 0.12 μM. The other two peptides, PMP-D2 and HI, interact only weakly with α-chymotrypsin and do not inhibit leukocyte elastase. Synthetic variants of these peptides were prepared by solid-phase synthesis, and their action toward serine proteases was evaluated. This enabled us to locate the P1 residues within the reactive sites (Leu-30 for PMP-C and Arg-29 for PMP-D2 and HI), and, interestingly, variants of PMP-D2 and HI were converted into powerful inhibitors of both α-chymotrypsin and leukocyte elastase, the most potent elastase inhibitor obtained in this study having a Ki of 3 nM.
The mediating role of exercise identity in the relationship of exercise motivational regulations with strenuous, moderate and mild exercise.

AIM The present study examined the mediating role of exercise identity in the relationship of exercise motivational regulations with weekly frequency of strenuous, moderate, and mild exercise. METHODS Data were collected from a sample of 193 Greek exercise participants aged 18-54, using the Revised Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2, the Exercise Identity Scale, and the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire. RESULTS Regression analyses revealed that the main predictor of strenuous exercise was integrated regulation. This association was partially mediated by exercise role identity. Moderate exercise was mainly predicted by intrinsic motivation and external regulation, but no mediation by exercise identity was evident. Mild exercise was not predicted by any type of behavioral regulation. CONCLUSION The relationship of integrated regulation with strenuous exercise behavior is partially mediated by the role identity component of exercise identity. No mediation is evident for moderate and mild exercise.
A novel geometric algorithm for fast wire-optimized floorplanning

As the size and complexity of VLSI circuits increase, the need for faster floorplanning algorithms also grows. In this work we introduce Traffic, a new method for creating wire- and area-optimized floorplans. Through the use of connectivity grouping, simple geometry, and efficient data structures, Traffic achieves higher result quality than Simulated Annealing (SA) in a fraction of the time. This speed allows designers to explore a large circuit design space in a reasonable amount of time, rapidly evaluate small changes to big circuits, and quickly produce initial solutions for other floorplanning algorithms.
A rapid simple in situ hybridization method for herpes simplex virus employing a synthetic biotin‐labeled oligonucleotide probe: A comparison with immunohistochemical methods for HSV detection

We examined 28 paraffin‐embedded tissue specimens with histologic evidence of herpes virus infection by in situ hybridization (ISH) utilizing manual capillary action technology (Micro Probe Staining System) and a 21 base synthetic multibiotinylated oligonucleotide probe from the HSV glycoprotein C region. The results were compared to a rapid simple immunohistochemical (IHC) protocol for detection of HSV proteins. HSV was detected by ISH and IHC in all but one specimen which was shown to be positive for varicella zoster virus by direct fluorescent antibody studies. Hybridization signal was confined to the nucleus in all cases. Staining was identified in cells with early as well as late cytopathic effect. IHC produced intense nuclear and/or cytoplasmic signal in infected cells and stained in areas of necrosis which were otherwise spared by ISH. HSV was detected by IHC and/or ISH in 3/5 specimens with histology suggestive of, but not diagnostic for, HSV infection. Both techniques were sensitive and specific for HSV, resulted in rapid detection of the pathogen in routinely processed tissues, and may be useful in cases where the histologic impression is equivocal for HSV infection. ISH for HSV may be preferred because it can identify early HSV infection, which in turn can be treated with antiviral agents. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The Effects of Soft‐tissue Expansion on Lip Repair and Midfacial Growth in a Rabbit Cleft Lip Model

Midfacial hypoplasia following primary cleft lip repair is a common clinical correlate. Recent experimental work has suggested that increased lip pressure following an undermined lip repair may contribute to midfacial growth inhibition. Soft-tissue expansion has been used to generate additional soft tissue for reconstruction in the cranial region. The use of this technique in the labial region may allow lip repair to be performed with less tension (pressure) and thus facilitate midfacial growth. To test this hypothesis, 40 4-week-old rabbits were randomly divided into four groups. Two groups had surgically created lip and alveolar defects. Ipsilateral labial tissue expanders were placed in all four groups. One cleft and one normal group underwent expansion. The other two groups served as a control. The expanders were removed at 4 weeks, and an undermined lip repair was performed in both cleft groups. Findings revealed that soft-tissue expansion increased labial surface area significantly by approximately 96% (p < 0.001). Labial soft-tissue expansion alone had no effect on midfacial growth during the observation period. In contrast, cleft animals undergoing tissue expansion exhibited significantly reduced (p < 0.05) postoperative lip pressure and increased midfacial growth compared with cleft animals without expansion through 36 weeks of age. Results suggest that preoperative tissue expansion reduced postoperative lip pressure and improved mid-facial growth in a rabbit cleft lip model.
A series active damper with closed-loop control for stabilizing single-phase power-electronics-based power system

Active damper is a promising solution to address the stability issues caused by the interaction between the parallel grid-connected converters, which are the results from the coupled grid impedance. To further improve that, this paper proposes a series active damper with closed-loop control. Unlike existing parallel active dampers that using a virtual damping resistance through detection and resonant controller, the series active damper can suppress the resonances with its external damping character in closed-loop control. Analysis on the damping impedance and closed-loop damping character are carried out. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed series active damper.
Performance Evaluation of a Three-Phase Dual Active Bridge DC–DC Converter With Different Transformer Winding Configurations

This paper investigates the impact of three transformer winding configurations, i.e., the Y-Y, the Y-Δ, and the Δ-Δ configuration, on the performance of a three-phase dual active bridge (DAB) dc-dc converter. For each configuration, equations for the phase currents, power flow, and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) boundaries are derived for all possible switching modes of the three-phase DAB. Thereafter, a comparison is made of the stress on the switches, the transformer, and the filter capacitors for the selected winding configurations. The comparison reveals that the Y-Y and Δ-Δ configuration perform equally regarding above aspects, with the only difference of a lower winding current for the Δ-Δ configuration. The Y-Δ configuration shows a constant commutation current for phase-shifts from 0 to 30 degrees. Therefore, this configuration features a wider ZVS region for low output powers. Overall, the Y-Δ configuration performs best for power levels between 50% and 80%, regarding the stress on the switches, the transformer, and the filter capacitors. The theoretical analysis is supported with measurements obtained from a high-power experimental setup.
Misreporting of energy: prevalence, characteristics of misreporters and influence on observed risk estimates in the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort

The present study investigates the prevalence of misreporting of energy in the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort, and examines anthropometric, socio-economic and lifestyle characteristics of the misreporters. Further, the influence of excluding misreporters on risk estimates of post-menopausal breast cancer was examined. Information of reported energy intake (EI) was obtained from a modified diet history method. A questionnaire provided information on lifestyle and socio-economic characteristics. Individual physical activity level (PAL) was calculated from self-reported information on physical activity at work, leisure time physical activity and household work, and from estimates of hours of sleeping, self-care and passive time. Energy misreporting was defined as having a ratio of EI to BMR outside the 95% CI limits of the calculated PAL. Logistic regression analysed the risk of being a low-energy reporter or a high-energy reporter. Almost 18% of the women and 12% of the men were classified as low-energy reporters, 2·8% of the women and 3·5% of the men were classified as high-energy reporters. In both genders high BMI, large waist circumference, short education and being a blue-collar worker were significantly associated with low-energy reporting. High-energy reporting was significantly associated with low BMI, living alone and current smoking. The results add support to the practice of energy adjustment as a means to reduce the influence of errors in risk assessment.
Age Effects on Trail Making Test Performance

The Trail Making Test, used in differentiating brain-damaged from non-brain-damaged individuals, was administered to 150 non-brain-damaged subjects classified into five age decades to determine the effects of age on performance. Between-group comparisons as well as correlational data indicated that older subjects performed significantly more poorly than younger subjects. Significant small negative correlations of performance with education and intelligence suggested that lower intelligence and education also may adversely affect performance. Some implications of these findings for clinical neuropsychology are discussed.
New Spatially Explicit Method for Detecting Extracellular Protease Activity in Biofilms

ABSTRACT A novel method of detecting extracellular protease activity at biofilm-substratum interfaces was developed. This method utilizes fluorescent molecules bound to cellulose substrata with a lectin. Extracellular proteases degrade the lectin and release the fluorochrome into solution. This new technique and a standard dissolved-substrate assay detected similar responses of biofilm extracellular protease activity to experimental manipulation of N supply. Combination of this technique with confocal scanning laser microscopy allowed direct visualization of microspatial patterns of bacterial distribution and extracellular protease activity at the biofilm-substratum interface.
Origins and organization of genetic diversity in natural populations of Trypanosoma brucei

Summary Experimental work has established that a sexual process can occur in African trypanosomes (Jenni, Marti, Schweizer, Betschart, Le Page, Wells, Tait, Paindavoine, Pays & Steinert, 1986; Paindavoine, Zampetti-Bosseler, Pays, Schweizer, Guyaux, Jenni & Steinert, 1986; Tait, personal communication). However, the role of the process in natural populations of trypanosomes is poorly understood. This paper considers what information can be gained from analyses of isoenzyme polymorphism. A cladistic approach is used to help determine whether trypanosome diversity could have been produced by mutation alone. When applied to three East African populations of Trypanosoma brucei it provides evidence that some diversity has arisen through a sexual process; this explains the variation observed within a locality and can account for the evolution of differences between localities. However, the extent to which genetic exchange currently operates is less clear. Analysis of genotype frequencies indicates that agreements with Hardy-Weinberg expectations can be obtained even if genetic exchange exerted no influence over genotype frequencies. Moreover, analysis of joint locus frequencies reveals disequilibrium between loci and that trypanosome populations may be lacking several genotype combinations. Thus, genetic exchange may not occur sufficiently frequently, or in such a way as to break up associations between loci. The relevance of these observations to the evolution of strain differences within T. brucei is discussed.
The Nonthiazolidinedione PPARγ Agonist L-796,449 Is Neuroprotective in Experimental Stroke

Some agonists of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) belonging to the thiazolidinedione (TZD) family, as well as the cyclopentenone prostaglandin 15-dPGJ2, have been shown to cause neuroprotection in animal models of stroke. We have tested whether the TZD-unrelated PPARγ agonist L-796,449 is neuroprotective after permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in the rat brain. Our results show that L-796,449 decreases MCAO-induced infarct size and improves neurologic scores. This protection is concomitant to inhibition of MCAO-induced brain expression of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and the matrix metalloproteinase MMP-9 and to upregulation of the cytoprotective stress protein heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). Analysis of the NF-κB p65 monomer and the NF-κB inhibitor IκBα protein levels as well as gel mobility shift assays indicate that L-796,449 inhibits NF-κB signaling, and that it may be recruiting both PPARγ-dependent and independent pathways. In summary, our results provide new insights for stroke treatment.
Atomic layer etching of III–V compound materials using a low angle forward reflected Ne neutral beam

Atomic layer etching characteristics of III–V compound materials have been investigated using a Ne neutral beam and Cl2 gas. At the monolayer etching condition, the roughness of the III–V compound materials surface was remaining similar to that of the un-etched III–V compound materials surface. In addition, the III–V compound materials etched by the atomic layer etching showed the surface composition similar to that before the etching while the III–V compound materials etched by a conventional reactive ion etching such as an inductively coupled plasma etching showed significant change in the surface composition.