Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
APT malware static trace analysis through bigrams and graph edit distance

Research and business organizations are vulnerable to attack by malware, particularly advanced persistent threat malware tailored for a specific target. Malware identification is made more difficult because samples can be subtly altered to avoid detection by methods that check for an identical match to known code. Different versions of an original piece of malware form a malware family. When new malicious software is identified, reverse engineers seek to identify its origin and purpose. Knowing whether new malware is from a known family or a previously unobserved family aids the efficiency of reverse engineers. This article presents a three‐stage method to classify new malware into a family by comparing its similarity to existing static traces, and assigning it to the most similar family. First, a fast filtering method creates a shortlist of samples with some similarity to the new malware, using a simple bigram comparison of the instructions. The second stage takes the call graph view of the shortlisted static traces and uses simulated annealing to estimate the graph edit distance, a measure of dissimilarity between graphs. Finally, a random forest classifier combines the previous two results to predict the family to which a new sample belongs. The paper also considers how to detect when malware is from a new family.
Application of sequential testing problem to online detection of transient stability status for power systems

We address the problem of predicting the transient stability status of a power system as quickly as possible in real time subject to probabilistic risk constraints. The goal is to minimise the average time taken after a fault to make the prediction, and the method is based on ideas from statistical sequential analysis. The proposed approach combines probabilistic neural networks with dynamic programming. Simulation results show an approximately three-fold increase in prediction speed when compared to the use of pre-committed (fixed) prediction times.
Detecting users handedness for ergonomic adaptation of mobile user interfaces

Often, we operate mobile devices using only one hand. The hand thereby serves two purposes: holding the device and operating the touch screen with the thumb. The current trend of increasing screen sizes however, makes it close to impossible to reach all parts of the screen (especially the top area) for users with average hand sizes. One solution is to offer adaptive user interfaces for such one-handed interactions. These modes have to be triggered manually and thus induce a critical overhead. They are further designed to bring all content closer, regardless of whether the phone is operated with the left or right hand. In this paper, we present an algorithm that allows determining the users' interacting hand from their unlocking behavior. Our algorithm correctly distinguishes one- and two-handed usage as well as left- and right handed unlocking in 98.51% of all cases. This is achieved through a k-nearest neighbor comparison of the internal sensor readings of the smartphone during the unlocking process.
A Controlled Study of Autonomic Nervous System Function in Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Treated With Stimulant Medications

Objective: Despite the fact that autonomic nervous system (ANS) abnormalities are commonly found in adults and predict increased cardiovascular mortality, no studies have assessed ANS function in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) taking stimulants. Method: This pilot study evaluated ANS function in adults with ADHD in comparison with an age- and gender-matched control group. Results: The authors found that 4% of the control group had some abnormalities in the ANS in comparison with 24% of the ADHD group. Conclusion: Because the control group had higher levels of exercise fitness, and the level of abnormalities in the ADHD group was comparable with that of the general population, the significance of these findings is unknown. In addition, we did not determine if ANS abnormalities were present in individuals with ADHD who were not on stimulant medications. Further research is warranted to determine if there is any association between ADHD and stimulant use and ANS abnormalities.
Preoperative diagnostic accuracy of fine‐needle aspiration in the management of breast lesions: Comparison of specificity and sensitivity with clinical examination, mammography, echography, and thermography in 249 patients

Two hundred and forty‐nine women suffering from breast problems underwent a complete series of tests including clinical examination, mammography, echography, thermography, and fine‐needle aspiration (FNA). Ninety‐four of these patients were shown to be positive or to have suspected malignancy. Accordingly, they underwent surgical excision followed by histologic examination, while the remaining patients were re‐examined after 12 to 18 mo in order to exclude false negatives.
A new edge preserving pixel-by-pixel (PBP) cubic image interpolation approach

A new pixel-by-pixel (PBP) cubic image interpolation algorithm that preserves image edges is suggested in this paper. The PBP approach is based on optimizing the standard cubic image interpolation formula at each estimated pixel. Thus, the mean square error (MSE) in the entire image is minimized. A study of the effect of optimizing the cubic image interpolation formula with respect to the separated or combined parameters of the formula is presented The optimum values of the parameters are estimated iteratively at each pixel. The performance of the suggested approach is tested in the presence of different noise levels and is compared with the traditional warped distance adaptive image interpolation technique. The obtained results proves the superiority of the suggested PBP cubic image interpolation algorithm as compared to the traditional algorithm from both of the MSE and edge preservation points of view.
Alexithymia, Clinical Issues,Politics and Cri me1

Accessible online at: www.karger. com/journals/pps Alexithymia has been known concept now for more than a quarter of a century [1]. This construct was formulated as a result of clinical observations about affect deficits in patients suffering from a variety of psychosomatic conditions in Paris and in Boston in the 1960s. Alexithymia, a term I introduced for better or for worse in 1972, involves a marked difficulty to use appropriate language to express and describe feelings and to differentiate them from bodily sensations, a striking paucity of fantasies and a utilitarian way of thinking which Marty et al. [2] have called pensee operatoire. Here, I want to emphasize an important aspect of alexithymia which to my knowledge has hitherto been overlooked and ignored, namely its association with politics and crime. First, however, I would like to give a brief historical account of the ideas surrounding the construct of alexithymia. Following the original clinical observations already mentioned, two international conferences were held in London in 1972 and in Heidelberg in 1976, which established the importance of alexithymia for the investigation of affect deficit states. The London conference pointed to the need for studies about the measurement and biologi-
Ovarian carcinogenesis and the biology of ovarian surface epithelium

volved in this syndrome have been cloned (BRCA1 and The epithelial ovarian carcinomas represent approxiBRCA2), and mutations in these genes appear to be mately 90% of human ovarian malignant neoplasms. responsible for a high proportion of cancers in women In Europe and North America, these carcinomas are with familial cancer histories. The importance of the the fourth most common cause of death from cancer BRCA2 gene in ovarian cancer has not been clearly among women and the prime cause of death from gynedefined. In contrast, BRCA1 plays a major role in ovarcological malignancies. The overall 5-year survival is ian cancer susceptibility (5). Germline mutations in only 30–40% because most cases are detected in late BRCA1 account for about 45% of families with instages and respond poorly to therapy. Screening tests creased breast cancer, for at least 80% of families with are available for patient follow-up and for the detection increases in both breast and ovarian cancer, and for of advanced cases. However, there are no reliable about 10% of sporadic (nonfamilial) ovarian cancers. A means for early detection except for genetic screening woman carrying a BRCA1 mutation has a 40% and in a small group of women with family histories of 80% chance, respectively, to develop ovarian and breast breast or ovarian cancer and, to date, no screening test cancer by age 70. Intensive screening for BRCA1 mutahas been shown to reduce mortality (1,2). tions is going on, but the gene is large and to date more The risk in the general population of developing ovarthan 65 distinct BRCA1 mutations have been found, ian cancer is 1.4% (1:70). This risk increases with inferand this complexity makes screening and risk predictility and nulliparity and decreases with pregnancies tions difficult (6). BRCA1 is located at 17q21 and enand with oral contraception, suggesting that the numcodes a 1863 aa polypeptide. Reports on its function ber of ovulations may influence ovarian carcinogenesis. have been contradictory, but the protein structure sugPerhaps the most important risk factor known at presgests that it is a nuclear transcription factor. In the ent is a family history of ovarian cancer, which influadult, mRNA for BRCA1 occurs mostly in testis, thyences about 5–10% of cases. The risk increases from mus, ovary, and breast; in the embryo, it is found in 1.4% in the general population to 5% for women with rapidly proliferating cells undergoing differentiation one first-degree relative and to 8% for women with two (7). BRCA1 may be a tumor-suppressor gene because first-degree relatives affected. There is also a strong BRCA1 mutations are associated with early-onset canasociation with familial breast cancer and a lesser assocer and with bilaterality of breast cancer and because ciation with familial cancers of the colon and endomeintroduction of wtBRCA1 causes growth inhibition in trium (3). Three hereditary ovarian cancer syndromes breast and ovarian cancer lines (8). with autosomal dominance have been described. In terms of histopathology, most epithelial ovarian
Craniodental functional evolution in sauropodomorph dinosaurs

Abstract. Sauropodomorpha included the largest known terrestrial vertebrates and was the first dinosaur clade to achieve a global distribution. This success is associated with their early adoption of herbivory, and sauropod gigantism has been hypothesized to be a specialization for bulk feeding and obligate high-fiber herbivory. Here, we apply a combination of biomechanical character analysis and comparative phylogenetic methods with the aim of quantifying the evolutionary mechanics of the sauropodomorph feeding apparatus. We test for the role of convergence to common feeding function and divergence toward functional optima across sauropodomorph evolution, quantify the rate of evolution for functional characters, and test for coincident evolutionary rate shifts in craniodental functional characters and body mass. Results identify a functional shift toward increased cranial robustness, increased bite force, and the onset of static occlusion at the base of the Sauropoda, consistent with a shift toward bulk feeding. Trends toward similarity in functional characters are observed in Diplodocoidea and Titanosauriformes. However, diplodocids and titanosaurs retain significant craniodental functional differences, and evidence for convergent adoption of a common “adaptive zone” between them is weak. Modeling of craniodental character and body-mass evolution demonstrates that these functional shifts were not correlated with evolutionary rate shifts. Instead, a significant correlation between body mass and characters related to bite force and cranial robustness suggests a correlated-progression evolutionary mode, with positive-feedback loops between body mass and dietary specializations fueling sauropod gigantism.
Design time stamp hardware unit supporting IEEE 1588 standard

Time synchronization is currently becoming more and more important in a range of fields, including location-based services, military services that use satellites, mess production using robots, as well as in measurement and testing. There are two methods of time precision: location-based synchronization and frequency synchronization. IEEE 1588 is one frequency synchronization standard and can be implemented by software time stamping. However, software implementation results in delay and jitter at the application level when packets are delivered, and this can cause problems. The best way to reduce these problems is through hardware implemented time stamping. In addition, hardware resource reuse is better than calculating Delay and Offset in hardware, because calculating is not critical path in IEEE 1588. In this paper, we implement a hardware unit that is compliant with the IEEE 1588 Version 2 standard and provides sub-microsecond accuracy for high-speed networks. The unit reuses hardware resources in the host processor to calculate Delay and Offset. Hardware unit is synthesized with TSMC 65nm technology. It operates at 550MHz clock speed. It is aimed at high performance network processors or Network on a Chip.
Des armes et des hommes. La question des modèles de diffusion des armes au Proche-Orient à l'âge du Bronze.

La diversite des formes et des types d'armes en metal au Proche et au Moyen-Orient permet d'etudier les phenomenes de transfert, d'imitation ou de refus d'adoption de maniere tres pertinente. En effet, les armes sont pourvues de specificites qui depassent le simple aspect fonctionnel : elles comportent, entre autres, des valeurs de pouvoir, de virilite et de prestige. Elles sont par excellence les caracterisations materielles de conceptions ideologiques, techniques et artistiques. Il n'est donc guere surprenant de relever une grande differenciation dans la diffusion – ou l'absence de diffusion – des armes au IIIe et au IIe millenaire avant notre ere. En s'appuyant sur trois exemples, a savoir les harpes, les haches fenestrees et les lances a douille d'emmanchement, il est possible d'aborder plusieurs problematiques depassant largement le cadre materiel.
A frontal computation scheme for the Schur algorithm to efficiently solve large boundary-element problems

The Schur algorithm provides an approximate inverse for partially specified staircase band matrices. The authors develop a frontal computation scheme for the Schur algorithm that achieves an O(b/sup 2/) space bound, where b is the width of the staircase band. This property allows certain classes of boundary element problems, such as those that occur with VLSI capacitance modeling, to be solved in linear time and using constant memory. Such an application is described and experimental results are given that illustrate the efficiency and practicality of the new algorithm. <<ETX>>
Model sharing in multiagent systems

Agent modelling is made complex by the number of models that the agents need to track. This paper discusses the use of intra-agent and inter-agent model sharing as an approach to reducing the number of models to be tracked by an agent. The paper also describes the GossipWorld simulation environment we have created for studying agent modelling and model sharing issues. Finally, the paper discusses ways of coping with the spread of delusion (with experimental results) that can occur as a result of inter-agent model sharing.
Patient Experiences of Dietary Management in Chronic Kidney Disease: A Focus Group Study.

OBJECTIVE People with chronic kidney disease (CKD) contend with complex dietary recommendations. The challenge in practice is for clinicians to provide individualized support with the frequency and consistency required to sustain dietary changes. This study aimed to describe the experiences of patients with managing dietary recommendations, including their perspectives on the potential to use telehealth to support dietary management in CKD. DESIGN Focus group study. SUBJECTS Twenty-one adult patients with CKD (nondialysis) and 3 caregivers (total N = 24) purposively sampled to achieve diverse demographic and clinical characteristics, from two nephrology units in Queensland, Australia. METHODS Five focus groups were conducted, audio recorded, and transcribed. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis drawing on the principles of grounded theory. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Themes aligned with the research question. RESULTS We identified five themes: exasperating stagnancy (patronized by redundant advice, confused and unprepared for dietary change, inevitability of failure, and barriers to accessing dietetic services); supporting and sustaining change (receiving regular feedback, incremental and comprehendible modification, practical guidance on food, flexibility in monitoring schedule, and valuing peer advice); fostering ownership (seeking kidney diet information, enacting behavior change, making reminders, and tracking progress against targets); motivators and positive learning instruction (relying on reassurance, positive reinforcement, focusing on allowable foods, and involving family); threats and ambiguities of risk (sugar as the culprit, ubiquity of salt, illegible food labeling, avoiding processed foods, and questioning credibility of sources). CONCLUSIONS Patients with CKD desire a preventative approach to CKD progression and maintaining their health, however, are stymied by dietary restrictions and a lack of reliable dietetic advice. Easy-to-use telehealth options have the potential to overcome the shortcomings in current health service delivery which may be limiting factors to providing these approaches. They provide patients with pragmatic tools, comprehensible and consistent information which fosters ownership and self-monitoring.
Molecular and Functional Analysis of a Novel Neuronal Vesicular Glutamate Transporter*

Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. Packaging and storage of glutamate into glutamatergic neuronal vesicles requires ATP-dependent vesicular glutamate uptake systems, which utilize the electrochemical proton gradient as a driving force. VGLUT1, the first identified vesicular glutamate transporter, is only expressed in a subset of glutamatergic neurons. We report here the molecular cloning and functional characterization of a novel glutamate transporter, VGLUT2, from mouse brain. VGLUT2 has all major functional characteristics of a synaptic vesicle glutamate transporter, including ATP dependence, chloride stimulation, substrate specificity, and substrate affinity. It has 75 and 79% amino acid identity with human and rat VGLUT1, respectively. However, expression patterns of VGLUT2 in brain are different from that of VGLUT1. In addition, VGLUT2 activity is dependent on both membrane potential and pH gradient of the electrochemical proton gradient, whereas VGLUT1 is primarily dependent on only membrane potential. The presence of VGLUT2 in brain regions lacking VGLUT1 suggests that the two isoforms together play an important role in vesicular glutamate transport in glutamatergic neurons.
Characteristic and anti-jamming performance of new generation GNSS signals

In order to improve the antagonistic effect of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) in information-based warfare, new generation GNSS signals would have higher precision of orientation and stronger anti-jamming performance, with the compatibility and cooperation with the signals of navigation satellite system in existence. By the analysis of receiving principle and characteristic of new generation GNSS signals, this paper studies the anti-jamming performance in the conditions of narrowband jamming, matching spectrum jamming, and white noise in band-limited.
Imaging with a multichannel terahertz time-domain spectroscopy system at 1030 nm excitation wavelength

We present Terahertz imaging with a 1D multichannel time-domain spectroscopy system (TDS) which operates with a photoconductive array of 15 detection channels excited by a 1030 nm femtosecond fiber laser. The emitter and detector are photoconductive antennas based on InGaAs/InAlAs multi-layer heterostructures (MLHS). The simultaneous measurement of 15 THz pulses with a pixel pitch of 1 mm increases the measurement speed by factor 15.
Biological Pathway Extension Using Microarray Gene Expression Data

Biological pathways are known as collections of knowledge of certain biological processes. Although knowledge about a pathway is quite significant to further analysis, it covers only tiny portion of genes that exists. In this paper, we suggest a model to extend each individual pathway using a microarray expression data based on the known knowledge about the pathway. We take the Rosetta compendium dataset to extend pathways of Saccharomyces cerevisiae obtained from KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of genes and genomes) database. Before applying our model, we verify the underlying assumption that microarray data reflect the interactive knowledge from pathway, and we evaluate our scoring system by introducing performance function. In the last step, we validate proposed candidates with the help of another type of biological information. We introduced a pathway extending model using its intrinsic structure and microarray expression data. The model provides the suitable candidate genes for each single biological pathway to extend it.
Estimation of smart grid topology using SCADA measurements

Power grid topology is essential for various aspects of smart grid monitoring and operations. Recent studies show that by using the grid topology, an adversary can construct stealthy attacks that can cause significant disruption to power delivery and the critical infrastructure. This paper shows that the power grid topology can be approximately estimated simply by observing multiple power injection measurement data. We formulate the topology estimation problem as a blind convex optimization problem and solve using an efficient alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). To evaluate the performance, eigenvalue analysis and centrality measures from the complex network theory are used. Experimental results using IEEE test system demonstrate that the estimated grid topology is very close to the original topology and exhibits almost similar patterns and characteristics.
Touchscreen Task Efficiency and Learnability in an Electronic Medical Record at the Point-of-Care

The objective of this study was to determine the relative efficiency of novices compared to a prediction of skilled use when performing tasks using the touchscreen interface of an EMR developed in Malawi. We observed novice users performing touchscreen tasks and recorded timestamp data from their performances. Using a predictive human performance modeling tool, the authors predicted the skilled task performance time for each task. Efficiency and rates of error were evaluated with respect to user interface design. Nineteen participants performed 31 EMR tasks seven times for a total of 4,123 observed performances. We analyzed twelve representative tasks leaving 1,596 performances featuring six user interface designs. Mean novice performance time was significantly slower than mean predicted skilled performance time (p<0.001). However, novices performed faster than the predicted skilled level in 208 (13%) of successful task performances. These findings suggest the user interface design supports a primary design goal of the EMR--to allow novice users to perform tasks efficiently and effectively.