Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
JSand: complete client-side sandboxing of third-party JavaScript without browser modifications

The inclusion of third-party scripts in web pages is a common practice. A recent study has shown that more than half of the Alexa top 10000 sites include scripts from more than 5 different origins. However, such script inclusions carry risks, as the included scripts operate with the privileges of the including website. We propose JSand, a server-driven but client-side JavaScript sandboxing framework. JSand requires no browser modifications: the sandboxing framework is implemented in JavaScript and is delivered to the browser by the websites that use it. Enforcement is done entirely at the client side: JSand enforces a server-specified policy on included scripts without requiring server-side filtering or rewriting of scripts. Most importantly, JSand is complete: access to all resources is mediated by the sandbox. We describe the design and implementation of JSand, and we show that it is secure, backwards compatible, and that it performs sufficiently well.
Seroprevalence of Antibodies against Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus among Poultry Workers in Bangladesh, 2009

We conducted a cross-sectional study in 2009 to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors for highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) [HPAI H5N1] virus antibodies among poultry workers at farms and live bird markets with confirmed/suspected poultry outbreaks during 2009 in Bangladesh. We tested sera by microneutralization assay using A/Bangladesh/207095/2008 (H5N1; clade 2.2.2) virus with confirmation by horse red blood cell hemagglutination inhibition and H5-specific Western blot assays. We enrolled 212 workers from 87 farms and 210 workers from three live bird markets. One hundred and two farm workers (48%) culled poultry. One hundred and ninety-three farm workers (91%) and 178 market workers (85%) reported direct contact with poultry that died during a laboratory confirmed HPAI H5N1 poultry farm outbreak or market poultry die-offs from suspected HPAI H5N1. Despite exposure to sick poultry, no farm or market poultry workers were seropositive for HPAI H5N1 virus antibodies (95% confidence interval 0–1%).
A Feature Selection Based on Relevance and Redundancy

At present, most of the researches on feature selection do not consider the relevance between a term and its own category, the redundancy among terms. In order to solve this problem efficiently, we propose a new feature selection based on analyzing how to measure the relevance and the redundancy, which use Euclidean distance as the similarity calculation method. R2, the new feature selection algorithm, can obtain the optimal feature subset which has considered the correlations between term and category and filtered the redundant terms. Finally, the validity of the new algorithm in feature selection is validated by the classification experiments on Chinese classification corpus by two classifiers, including KNN and Centroid-based classifier.
Resilience factors associated with female survivors of childhood sexual abuse

Abstract The 22 women interviewed in this study were in a high-risk group for low self-esteem, depression, shame, and other long-term interpersonal difficulties due to their survival of childhood sexual abuse. Unlike many of their contemporaries, they have been able to have relationships, stable careers, and healthy personalities. This paper explores the variables and patterns gathered from their interviews. The resiliency themes extracted included: the ability to find emotional support outside the family; self-regard or the ability to think well of oneself; spirituality; external attribution of blame and cognitive style; and inner-directed locus of control.
Implications of Scales in Processing of Information

Memory and logic devices in processing of information employ deterministically correct binary manipulation by a large ensemble of small devices. Smallest critical dimensions on a chip are in nanometers and the largest are in centimeters. Within the device themselves, 3-D, 2-D, 1-D, or even 0-D effects and their properties may be employed. This integrated circuit ensemble in its present form manipulates the information for an informational objective under constraints, among many, of energy, time, and absolute correctness. Four example sets illustrating the consequences of this approach arising from statistical, thermodynamic, quantum-mechanic, and information mechanic considerations are analyzed. The first illustrates the implication on a minimum in energy in any binary state change of >250kB T. The second illustrates the connection between the nature of memory mechanism to the fluctuations and their guiding statistics that lead to the variability and errors. The third illustrates the limits arising in dissipative access due to dimensionality change. The fourth illustrates the interaction between fluctuations and on-chip signal transmission and manipulation with their resultant constraints. We tie this analysis to devices aimed at subthreshold conduction control, the change to on-state and low voltage operations. These examples illustrate the constraints placed on the reductive march through the connections of scales that leave the electronic ensemble nearly nine orders of magnitude off the thermodynamic capacity in information efficiency. A naturally probabilistic Bayesian computation example is provided as an alternative toward achieving efficiency.
Levels of autonomy and autonomous system performance assessment for intelligent unmanned systems

Abstract : This report provides an overview of the current state of autonomous system testing and evaluation methodologies and levels of autonomy for intelligent unmanned systems (UMSs). It is meant to be an extensive review of all past and ongoing efforts to define autonomy and set levels of autonomy for unmanned systems as related to military applications. Presented within are the current performance metrics for autonomous systems, the current standards that have been adopted for autonomous systems, and the leading frameworks for assessing levels of autonomy and autonomous mission performance.
Optimal Strategy Selection for Moving Target Defense Based on Markov Game

With the evolution of the research on network moving target defense (MTD), the selection of optimal strategy has become one of the key problems in current research. Directed to the problem of the improper defensive strategy selection caused by inaccurately characterizing the attack and defense game in MTD, optimal strategy selection for MTD based on Markov game (MG) is proposed to balance the hopping defensive revenue and network service quality. On the one hand, traditional matrix game structure often fails to describe MTD confrontation accurately. To deal with this inaccuracy, MTD based on MG is constructed. Markov decision process is used to characterize the transition among network multi-states. Dynamic game is used to characterize the multi-phases of attack and defense in MTD circumstances. Besides, it converts all the attack and defense actions into the changes in attack surface or the ones in exploration surface, thus improving the universality of the proposed model. On the other hand, traditional models care little about defense cost in the process of optimal strategy selection. After comprehensively analyzing the impact of defense cost and defense benefit on the strategy selection, an optimal strategy selection algorithm is designed to prevent the deviation of the selected strategies from actual network conditions, thus ensuring the correctness of optimal strategy selection. Finally, the simulation and the deduction of the proposed approach are given in case study so as to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed strategy optimal selection approach.
Micro-architectural power estimation and optimization

Today power optimization is an important field of research due to the increasing need for less power consumption, dramatic decrease of circuit's MTBF on high temperature and cooling difficulties. It is investigated that only 30% improvement in battery performance will be obtained in five years [1]. This paper is an overview on Power estimation and optimization researches and the overall flow of presenting the information is based on the reference [17]. We review the architectural template and the methods to provide model for power consumption of different types of components. Some common optimization techniques including clock-gating, exploiting the common case of the design and managing voltage are being reviewed.
What we know about technological support for project-based learning

This paper describes the authors' experiences in building tools to support project-based learning. They briefly describe their successes and failures in three areas: team management and collaboration; supporting reflection; and providing information in project-based form. Their approach combines insights on learning from cognitive science with an appreciation for the practical challenges raised by focusing on projects in a class. Based on their experiences, they conclude that technology can play an important role in supporting project-based learning.
Reference tracking of uncertain nonlinear Multi-Input Multi-Output quantized systems using L1 adaptive control

This paper presents an L1 adaptive controller for nonlinear Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) systems with unmatched uncertainties in the presence of both state and input quantization. Uniform quantization is employed with hysteresis, and the closed-loop system output is shown to track that of a stable reference system. Performance bounds for system's state and input signals are obtained, and it is shown that the system performance can be systematically improved by increasing the adaptation rate or improving the state and input quantization. Simulations are provided to corroborate the theoretical results.
Mining the semantics of origin-destination flows using taxi traces

Origin-destination(OD) flows reflect both human activity and urban dynamic in a city. However, our understanding about their patterns remains limited. In this paper, we study the GPS traces of taxis in a city with several millions people, China and find that there are significant patterns under the OD flows constructed from taxis' random motion. Our spatiotemporal analysis shows that those patterns have close relationship with the semantics of OD flows, hence we can mine the semantics of OD flows from raw GPS trace data. The approach we proposed offers a novel way to explore the human mobility and location characteristic.
Gluons and the cooperation between software components

A major problem in software engineering is how to specify the patterns of interaction among software components so that they can be assembled to perform tasks in a cooperative way. Such cooperative assembly requires that components obey rules ensuring their interaction compatibility. The choice of a specific approach to specifying rules depends on various criteria such as the kind of target environment, the nature of the software components or the kind of programming language. This chapter reviews major efforts to develop and promote standards that address this issue. We present our own approach to the construction of a development framework for software applications that make use of real-time financial information. For this domain, the two main requirements are (1) to facilitate the integration of new components into an existing system, and (2) to allow for the run-time composition of software components.The goal of the development framework is to provide dynamic interconnection capabilities. The basic idea is to standardize and reuse interaction protocols that are encapsulated inside special objects called gluons. These objects mediate the cooperation of software components. We discuss the advantages of the approach, and provide examples of how gluons are used in the financial framework.
Maternal Odours Induce Fos in the Main But Not the Accessory Olfactory Bulbs of Neonatal Male and Female Ferrets

Previous research demonstrated that exposing gonadectomized adult ferrets to odours in oestrous female bedding induced nuclear Fos‐immunoreactivity (Fos‐IR; a marker of neuronal activity) in the main as opposed to the accessory olfactory system in a sexually dimorphic fashion, which was further augmented in both sexes by treatment with testosterone propionate. Ferrets are born in an altricial state and presumably use maternal odour cues to locate the nipples until the eyes open after postnatal (P) day 23. We investigated whether maternal odours augment neuronal Fos preferentially in the main versus accessory olfactory system of neonatal male and female ferret kits. Circulating testosterone levels peak in male ferrets on postnatal day P15, and mothers provide maximal anogenital stimulation (AGS) to males at this same age. Therefore, we assessed the ability of maternal odours to augment Fos‐IR in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), the main olfactory bulb (MOB) and other forebrain regions of male and female ferret kits on P15 and investigated whether artificial AGS (provided with a paintbrush) would further enhance any effects of maternal odours. After separation from their mothers for 4 h, groups of male and female kits that were placed for 1.5 h with their anaesthetized mother had significantly more Fos‐IR cells in the MOB granule cell layer and in the anterior‐cortical amygdala, but not in the AOB cell layer, compared to control kits that were left on the heating pad. Artificial AGS failed to amplify these effects of maternal odours. Maternal odours (with or without concurrent AGS) failed to augment neuronal Fos‐IR in medial amygdaloid and hypothalamic regions that are activated in adult ferrets by social odours. In neonatal ferrets of both sexes, as in adults, socially relevant odours are detected by the main olfactory epithelium and initially processed by the MOB and the anterior‐cortical amygdala. In neonates, unlike adults, medial amygdaloid and hypothalamic neurones either do not respond to these inputs or respond in a manner that fails to induce Fos expression.
SPADs for quantum random number generators and beyond

Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) are solid-state photo-detectors capable of detecting single photons by exploiting the avalanche effect that occurs in the breakdown of a p-n junction biased above breakdown voltage. By this effect, a SPAD translates an incoming photon to a macroscopic current pulse. These devices are currently used for building medical devices characterized by a very high time resolution. An appealing application of SPAD is to use them as a basic block for building the entropy source of true random number generators. In this paper we focus on such application, and we explore the design challenges behind the realization of a quantum random number generator based on a massively parallel array of SPADs. The matrix under investigation comprises 512×128 independent cells that convert photons onto a raw bit-stream, which, as ensured by the properties of quantum physics, is characterized by a very high level of randomness. The sequences are read out in a 128-bit parallel bus, concatenated, and pipelined onto a de-biasing filter. Subsequently, we fabricated the proposed chip using a standard CMOS process. Our results, achieved on the manufactured device and coupling two matrices, show that our architecture can reach up to 5 Gbit/s while consuming 25pJ/bit, thus demonstrating scalability and performance for any random number generators based on SPADs.
Model of Network-on-Chip routers and performance analysis

: This paper presents a generic analytical performance model of Network-on-Chip (NoC) router, which is further used to analyze the performance of a whole wormhole NoC. We focus on the analysis of various packet blocking-conditions at the router input-queues for a more accurate estimation of waiting time. Based on this estimation, some key performance metrics of NoC, such as the buﬀer utilization and packet transfer latency, are both computed. Compared with some previous model, it presents more accurate results: for buﬀer utilization ratio, the error is 6.30%; for packet transfer latency, it is about 5.98%.
Model-based filtering, compression and classification of the ECG

Extensions are presented to a previously described realistic nonlinear model of the electrocardiogram to account for T-wave asymmetry. By fitting the parameters of this model using a nonlinear optimization, we demonstrate that an arbitrary ECG can be modeled and consequently in-band noise can be completely removed. We also show that the fitting procedure effects a compression at a rate of ( : ) per beat or ( : ), where is the reciprocal heart rate, is the sampling frequency, and is the number of symmetric features (or turning points) and the number of asymmetric features used to fit the beat morphology. Performance tests show that the algorithm can run in real time on a modern desktop PC. Finally we demonstrate that by clustering the parameters, waveform classification is possible.
The Impact of Collaborative Incentives on Ideation Behavior: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment

Within this paper, we examine the role of collaborative incentives in idea contests. By developing a theoretical model and using a 2x2 between subject game theoretic experiment, we analyze how a competitive/collaborative setting, as well as performance-based/flat compensation, influence consumers in their ideation activity and elaboration effort. Contrary to prior literature and current firm practices which emphasize the important role of the competitive character of idea contests, we find that a collaborative setting increases participants’ effort as well as the interaction among participants. In particular, we find that participants in this setting allocate more time to improving the ideas of other participants, leading to a higher overall performance of the idea contest.
Linking self-determined functional problems of patients with neck pain to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF)

Objective To describe commonly reported self-determined functional problems in patients with neck pain and to evaluate their fit to the components of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF). Methods Overall, 249 patients were included in this cross-sectional study that comprised patients with neck pain referred to the outpatient clinic at Oslo University Hospital (2007–2009). Patients were asked to report their three most significant functional problems on the Patient-Specific Functional Scale, a self-determined measure of function. The ICF was used as a tool for analysis. Meaningful concepts within the functional problems were identified, coded, and linked to second-level categories within the components of “body functions,” and “activities and participation. ” Two researchers performed coding and linking independently. The ICF categories were presented by percentage of the total number of functional problems linked to the ICF. Results Of 628 reported functional problems, 13 meaningful ICF domains were identified: four domains belonging to the body functions component (b) and nine domains belonging to activities and participation components (d). Within the 88 second-level ICF classification categories of body functions, the most frequently reported items were sleep function (b134; 27%) and mobility of joint functions (b710; 26%). Within the 538 second-level categories of activities and participation, remunerative employment was reported as the most frequent item (d850; 15%), closely followed by doing housework (d640; 14%), and recreation and leisure activities (d920; 13%). Only two meaningful concepts, described as “be active” and “to function after activities,” were not assigned to a specific ICF category. Conclusion The majority of the specific functional problems presented by patients in this study showed a good fit with the ICF model. The substantial number of links to the activities and participation categories, such as mobility, domestic life, employment, and social and civic life, suggests that a comprehensive approach, as well as the involvement of a multidisciplinary team, should be present in the rehabilitation of neck pain-related disability.
Differential Regulation of Proinflammatory Cytokine Expression by Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases in Macrophages in Response to Intestinal Parasite Infection

ABSTRACT Blastocystis is a common enteric protistan parasite that can cause acute, as well as chronic, infection and is associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, the pathogenic status of Blastocystis infection remains unclear. In this study, we found that Blastocystis antigens induced abundant expression of proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin 1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), in mouse intestinal explants, in mouse colitis colon, and in macrophages. Further investigation utilizing RAW264.7 murine macrophages showed that Blastocystis treatment in RAW264.7 macrophages induced the activation of ERK, JNK, and p38, the three major groups of mammalian mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases that play essential roles in the expression of proinflammatory cytokines. ERK inhibition in macrophages significantly suppressed both mRNA and protein expression of IL-6 and TNF-α and mRNA expression of IL-1β. On the other hand, JNK inhibition resulted in reductions in both c-Jun and ERK activation and significant suppression of all three proinflammatory cytokines at both the mRNA and protein levels. Inhibition of p38 suppressed only IL-6 protein expression with no effect on the expression of IL-1β and TNF-α. Furthermore, we found that serine proteases produced by Blastocystis play an important role in the induction of ERK activation and proinflammatory cytokine expression by macrophages. Our study thus demonstrated for the first time that Blastocystis could induce the expression of various proinflammatory cytokines via the activation of MAP kinases and that infection with Blastocystis may contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory intestinal diseases through the activation of inflammatory pathways in host immune cells, such as macrophages.
Modulation of Immune Function in Rats Using Oligosaccharides Extracted from Palm Kernel Cake

To investigate the prebiotic and immunomodulatory effects of PKC extract (OligoPKC) a total of 24 male rats were randomly assigned to three treatment groups receiving basal diet (control), basal diet containing 0.5% OligoPKC, or basal diet containing 1% OligoPKC for four weeks. We found that OligoPKC had no significant effect on the tested growth parameters. However, it increased the size of the total and beneficial bacterial populations while reducing pathogen populations. OligoPKC increased the concentration of immunoglobulins in the serum and cecal contents of rats. It also enhanced the antioxidant capacity of the liver while reducing lipid peroxidation in liver tissue. OligoPKC affected the expression of genes involved in immune system function in the intestine. Therefore, OligoPKC could be considered a potential mannan-based prebiotic for humans and animals due to its beneficial effects on the health and well-being of the model rats.