Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The use of Levenshtein distance in computer forensics

Computer technology is gaining widespread use, and is becoming an increasingly important factor in our everyday lives. This technology opens up new possibilities, but may also be used as a tool of crime. To counter this, computer forensics professionals analyse data in memory and hard drives for clues and evidence of such criminal activities. This work has previously included a significant amount of manual labour, where a computer forensics investigator manually inspected the data. As technology progresses, however, these investigators are faced with a steadily increasing amount of data to process, while available time for investigations remains relatively constant. This may result in less thorough searches, in order to meet a strict deadline, with possible loss of evidence as a result. In this thesis a closer look into the problem of handling the increasing data amounts present in modern computer systems in a computer forensics context has been taken. We further suggest an alternative way to process large amounts of raw data, with the use of an approximate search algorithm to help focusing on interesting areas of a digital media. These areas may then subsequently be searched and inspected by more precise algorithms in order to pin-point digital evidence more efficiently.
UCPR: User Classification and Influence Analysis in Social Network

There are vigorous developments of social network which affect out life greatly. User influence is an important reason to promote the interaction in social network. When we analyze user influence, single value can’t indicate the user influence in different domains. This paper puts forward the design of User Classification PageRank (UCPR) to solve this problem. Firstly, we classify users according to the content which they forwarded. Then, we use space mapping to set up several subnet. Finally, we analyze user influence in every specific subnet by Domain Mapped Network (DMN) which is based on PageRank algorithm and we improve this algorithm to analyze the user influence in different domains. Through the work of this paper, we used a vector to present user influence rather than a single number and we test and verified the long-tailed distributions of social network in experiments.
A Reliability Benchmark for Big Data Systems on JointCloud

JointCloud provides a large-scale, flexible, and elastic computing resource platform. Big data systems such as MapReduce and Spark are widely deployed on this platform for big data processing. How to choose a cloud platform in accordance with the need of customers is a problem. Current performance benchmarking suites can choose suitable cloud platforms for customers. However, they do not consider the reliability of applications running atop big data systems. These systems have high scalability, but the applications running atop them often generate runtime errors, such as out of memory errors, I/O exceptions, and task timeouts. For users, they want to know whether the developed applications have potential application faults. For system designers and manag-ers, they want to know whether the deployed/updated systems have potential system faults. In addition, current benchmarks for big data system are also only designed for performance testing. To fill this gap, we propose a reliability benchmark, which contains representative applications, an abnormal data generator, and a configuration combination generator. Differ-ent from performance benchmarks, this benchmark (1) gener-ates abnormal test data according to the application character-istics, and (2) reduces the configuration combination space based on configuration features. Currently, we implemented this benchmark on Spark system. In our preliminary test, we found three types of errors (i.e., out of memory errors, timeout and wrong results) in five SQL, Machine Learning, and Graph applications.
Customizing an English-Korean Machine Translation System for Patent/Technical Documents Translation

This paper addresses a method for customizing an English-Korean machine translation system from general domain to patent or technical document domain. The customizing method includes the followings: (1) adapting the probabilities of POS tagger trained from general domain to the specific domain, (2) syntactically analyzing long and complex sentences by recognizing coordinate structures, and (3) selecting a proper target word using domain-specific bilingual dictionary and collocation knowledge extracted from patent or technical document corpus. The translation accuracy of the customized English- Korean patent translation system is 82.43% on the average in 5 patent categories according to the evaluation of 7 professional patent translators. The translation accuracy of the customized English-Korean technical document translation system is 81.10% and its BLEU score is 0.5185 in the evaluation test set where the average BLEU score of cross-evaluation between references is 0.6615.
Accessible Comics for Visually Impaired People: Challenges and Opportunities

Over the recent years, techniques from Document Images Analysis have brought new insights into the understanding of comics. This paper outlines the challenges and opportunities of conceiving accessible comics for visually impaired people. After an overview of the existing initiatives, we briefly highlight in what extent the Document community could help to achieve such a goal in a multidisciplinary way, by collaborating with fields such as Human-Computer Interactions, Cognitive Science and even Education Research.
Cure behavior and mechanical properties of structural self‐healing epoxy resins

Advances in the growing use of polymer composites in aerospace applications explore the possibility in the development of smart materials capable of self-repair. In this article, we have formulated and characterized a multifunctional autonomically healing composite inspired by the design of White et al. Microcapsules containing dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) and powders of Grubbs first generation catalyst were embedded in an epoxy formulation and both the epoxy precursor and the composite were cured up to the temperature of 120 °C that preserves the activity of the catalyst. The results on the cure behavior of an epoxy matrix for self-healing material and the influence of the components related to self-healing function on the dynamic-mechanical properties are investigated. The presence of catalyst powder causes a slight decrease in the elastic modulus value with respect to the epoxy matrix. At variance, a large recovery in this parameter is gained for the self-healing specimen, proving that well-distributed microcapsules contribute to improve the mechanical properties. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010
Core Region Detection for Off-Line Unconstrained Handwritten Latin Words Using Word Envelops

Zone extraction is acclaimed as a significant pre-processing step in handwriting analysis. This paper presents a new method for separating ascenders and descenders from an unconstrained handwritten word and identifying its core-region. The method estimates correct core-region for complexities like long horizontal strokes, skewed words, first letter capital, hill and dale writing, jumping baselines and words with long descender curves, cursive handwriting, calligraphic words, title case words, very short words as shown in Fig. 1. It extracts two envelops from the word image and selects sample points that constitute the core region envelop. The method is tested on CVL, ICDAR-2013, ICFHR-2012, and IAM benchmark datasets of handwritten words written by multiple writers. We also created our own dataset of 100 words authored by 2 writers comprising all the above mentioned handwriting complexities. Due to non-availability of the Ground Truth for core-region extraction we created it manually for all the datasets. Our work reports an accuracy of 90.16% for correctly identifying all the three zones on 17,100 Latin words written by 802 individuals. Promising results are obtained by our core-region detection method when compared with the current state of the art methods.
An Emergent Backpressure Queueing Model for Internet of Things

The amount of IoT data is growing in recent years, as a result, the requirement of the throughput becomes crucial for IoT. The backpressure routing strategy can effectively serve this requirement. However, when urgent events or situations happen, The real-time performance of emergency packets cannot be guaranteed under backpressure queueing model. To address this problem, this paper proposes an event-aware backpressure queueing model for EIoT. We analyze the arrival process of different kinds of packets and design a backpressure queueing model with emergency packets. Comparing with traditional backpressure queueing model and LIFObased backpressure queueing model, our proposed method can significantly reduce the average end-to-end delay and increase the delivery ratio of emergency packets.
Development of a TaqMan Array Card for Pneumococcal Serotyping on Isolates and Nasopharyngeal Samples

ABSTRACT Streptococcus pneumoniae is both a commensal and a major pathogen that causes invasive disease in people of all ages. The introduction of serotype-specific pneumococcal vaccines has reduced the burden of disease but has also led to replacement with new strains; thus, serotyping remains important for vaccine-related disease surveillance. Conventional serotyping methods are laborious and expensive. We developed an easy-to-perform genotypic TaqMan array card (TAC) to identify S. pneumoniae strains, including lytA-based sequences, and 53 sequence-specific PCRs to identify 74 serotypes/serogroups covering all current vaccine types as well as prevalent nonvaccine types. The TAC method was evaluated on 146 clinical S. pneumoniae isolates and 13 nonpneumococcal species that naturally inhabit the upper respiratory tract and yielded 97% (142/146) sensitivity and 100% (13/13) specificity versus results of standard Quellung serotyping. The calculated limit of detection was 20 to 200 fg (∼8 to 84 genome equivalents) per reaction. On 23 blinded nasopharyngeal specimens that were pneumococcus culture positive, the TAC pan-pneumococcus lytA assay was positive in 21 (91% sensitivity versus culture). On TAC lytA-positive specimens, a serotype result was obtained on 86%, and the result was 95% accurate versus the subsequent culture's Quellung result. TAC also detected mixed serotypes in two specimens where Quellung detected only the predominant serotype. This TAC method yields fast and comprehensive serotyping compared to the standard method and may be useful on direct specimens.
Modeling and Analyzing Latency in the Memcached system

Memcached is a widely used in-memory caching solution in large-scale searching scenarios. The most pivotal performance metric in Memcached is latency, which is affected by various factors including the workload pattern, the service rate, the unbalanced load distribution and the cache miss ratio. To quantitate the impact of each factor on latency, we establish a theoretical model for the Memcached system. Specially, we formulate the unbalanced load distribution among Memcached servers by a set of probabilities, capture the burst and concurrent key arrivals at Memcached servers in form of batching blocks, and add a cache miss processing stage. Based on this model, algebraic derivations are conducted to estimate latency in Memcached. The latency estimation is validated by intensive experiments. Moreover, we obtain a quantitative understanding of how much improvement of latency performance can be achieved by optimizing each factor and provide several useful recommendations to optimal latency in Memcached.
Complete mitochondrial genome of the argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of the widespread invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) was first determined. The mitochondrial genome is 16 098 bp in length, and encodes one D-loop region, two ribosomal RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, and 18 transfer RNA genes. Average GC content of this genome is 19.68%. nad6 and cob genes were overlapped by 4 bp. The phylogenetic tree involving 13 available closely related species further validated the new determined sequences and phylogeny of L. humile.
Teichoic Acid Polymers Affect Expression and Localization of dl-Endopeptidase LytE Required for Lateral Cell Wall Hydrolysis in Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT In Bacillus subtilis, the dl-endopeptidase LytE is responsible for lateral peptidoglycan hydrolysis during cell elongation. We found that σI-dependent transcription of lytE is considerably enhanced in a strain with a mutation in ltaS, which encodes a major lipoteichoic acid (LTA) synthase. Similar enhancements were observed in mutants that affect the glycolipid anchor and wall teichoic acid (WTA) synthetic pathways. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that the LytE foci were considerably increased in these mutants. The localization patterns of LytE on the sidewalls appeared to be helix-like in LTA-defective or WTA-reduced cells and evenly distributed on WTA-depleted or -defective cell surfaces. These results strongly suggested that LTA and WTA affect both σI-dependent expression and localization of LytE. Interestingly, increased LytE localization along the sidewall in the ltaS mutant largely occurred in an MreBH-independent manner. Moreover, we found that cell surface decorations with LTA and WTA are gradually reduced at increased culture temperatures and that LTA rather than WTA on the cell surface is reduced at high temperatures. In contrast, the amount of LytE on the cell surface gradually increased under heat stress conditions. Taken together, these results indicated that reductions in these anionic polymers at high temperatures might give rise to increases in SigI-dependent expression and cell surface localization of LytE at high temperatures. IMPORTANCE The bacterial cell wall is required for maintaining cell shape and bearing environmental stresses. The Gram-positive cell wall consists of mesh-like peptidoglycan and covalently linked wall teichoic acid and lipoteichoic acid polymers. It is important to determine if these anionic polymers are required for proliferation and environmental adaptation. Here, we demonstrated that these polymers affect the expression and localization of a peptidoglycan hydrolase LytE required for lateral cell wall elongation. Moreover, we found that cell surface decorations with teichoic acid polymers are substantially decreased at high temperatures and that the peptidoglycan hydrolase is consequently increased. These findings suggest that teichoic acid polymers control lateral peptidoglycan hydrolysis by LytE, and bacteria drastically change their cell wall content to adapt to their environment.
Cysticercosis: Reiterating the role of cytodiagnosis

Cysticercosis is a common parasitic infection in many Asian countries. The histopathological features of this parasitic infection are well established, however, the subtle cytological features and their importance in diagnosing this condition need more elaboration. In this case series we have reiterated the role of fine‐needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the diagnosis of cysticercosis in clinically unsuspected cases, thereby obviating the need for a biopsy.
Nitrous Oxide Reduction by an Obligate Aerobic Bacterium, Gemmatimonas aurantiaca Strain T-27

ABSTRACT N2O-reducing organisms with nitrous oxide reductases (NosZ) are known as the only biological sink of N2O in the environment. Among the most abundant nosZ genes found in the environment are nosZ genes affiliated with the understudied Gemmatimonadetes phylum. In this study, a unique regulatory mechanism of N2O reduction in Gemmatimonas aurantiaca strain T-27, an isolate affiliated with the Gemmatimonadetes phylum, was examined. Strain T-27 was incubated with N2O and/or O2 as the electron acceptor. Significant N2O reduction was observed only when O2 was initially present. When batch cultures of strain T-27 were amended with O2 and N2O, N2O reduction commenced after O2 was depleted. In a long-term incubation with the addition of N2O upon depletion, the N2O reduction rate decreased over time and came to an eventual stop. Spiking of the culture with O2 resulted in the resuscitation of N2O reduction activity, supporting the hypothesis that N2O reduction by strain T-27 required the transient presence of O2. The highest level of nosZ transcription (8.97 nosZ transcripts/recA transcript) was observed immediately after O2 depletion, and transcription decreased ∼25-fold within 85 h, supporting the observed phenotype. The observed difference between responses of strain T-27 cultures amended with and without N2O to O2 starvation suggested that N2O helped sustain the viability of strain T-27 during temporary anoxia, although N2O reduction was not coupled to growth. The findings in this study suggest that obligate aerobic microorganisms with nosZ genes may utilize N2O as a temporary surrogate for O2 to survive periodic anoxia. IMPORTANCE Emission of N2O, a potent greenhouse gas and ozone depletion agent, from the soil environment is largely determined by microbial sources and sinks. N2O reduction by organisms with N2O reductases (NosZ) is the only known biological sink of N2O at environmentally relevant concentrations (up to ∼1,000 parts per million by volume [ppmv]). Although a large fraction of nosZ genes recovered from soil is affiliated with nosZ found in the genomes of the obligate aerobic phylum Gemmatimonadetes, N2O reduction has not yet been confirmed in any of these organisms. This study demonstrates that N2O is reduced by an obligate aerobic bacterium, Gemmatimonas aurantiaca strain T-27, and suggests a novel regulation mechanism for N2O reduction in this organism, which may also be applicable to other obligate aerobic organisms possessing nosZ genes. We expect that these findings will significantly advance the understanding of N2O dynamics in environments with frequent transitions between oxic and anoxic conditions.
Vehicle Behavior Analysis Using Target Motion Trajectories

In this paper, a real-time vehicle behavior analysis system is presented, which can be used in traffic jams and under complex weather conditions. In recent years, many works based on background estimation and foreground extraction for traffic event detection have been reported. In these studies, the vehicle images need to be accurately segmented, although uneven illumination, shadows, and vehicle overlapping are difficult to handle. The main contribution of this paper is to make a point tracking system for vehicle behavior analysis without a difficult image segmentation procedure. In the proposed system, feature points are extracted using an improved Moravec algorithm. A specially designed template is used to track the feature points through the image sequences. Then, trajectories of feature points can be obtained, whereas unqualified track trajectories are removed using decision rules. Finally, the vehicle behavior analysis algorithms are applied on the track trajectories for traffic event detection. The proposed system has been used widely by Chinese highway management departments. The application performances show that the newly developed system and its algorithms are robust enough for vehicle behavior analysis under complex weather conditions.
Yersinia pestis Resists Predation by Acanthamoeba castellanii and Exhibits Prolonged Intracellular Survival

ABSTRACT Plague is a flea-borne rodent-associated zoonotic disease caused by Yersinia pestis. The disease is characterized by epizootics with high rodent mortalities, punctuated by interepizootic periods when the bacterium persists in an unknown reservoir. This study investigates the interaction between Y. pestis and the ubiquitous soil free-living amoeba (FLA) Acanthamoeba castellanii to assess if the bacterium can survive within soil amoebae and whether intracellular mechanisms are conserved between infection of mammalian macrophages and soil amoebae. The results demonstrate that during coculture with amoebae, representative Y. pestis strains of epidemic biovars Medievalis, Orientalis, and Antiqua are phagocytized and able to survive within amoebae for at least 5 days. Key Y. pestis determinants of the intracellular interaction of Y. pestis and phagocytic macrophages, PhoP and the type three secretion system (T3SS), were then tested for their roles in the Y. pestis-amoeba interaction. Consistent with a requirement for the PhoP transcriptional activator in the intracellular survival of Y. pestis in macrophages, a PhoP mutant is unable to survive when cocultured with amoebae. Additionally, induction of the T3SS blocks phagocytic uptake of Y. pestis by amoebae, similar to that which occurs during macrophage infection. Electron microscopy revealed that in A. castellanii, Y. pestis resides intact within spacious vacuoles which were characterized using lysosomal trackers as being separated from the lysosomal compartment. This evidence for prolonged survival and subversion of intracellular digestion of Y. pestis within FLA suggests that protozoa may serve as a protective soil reservoir for Y. pestis. IMPORTANCE Yersinia pestis is a reemerging flea-borne zoonotic disease. Sylvatic plague cycles are characterized by an epizootic period during which the disease spreads rapidly, causing high rodent mortality, and an interepizootic period when the bacterium quiescently persists in an unknown reservoir. An understanding of the ecology of Y. pestis in the context of its persistence in the environment and its reactivation to initiate a new epizootic cycle is key to implementing novel surveillance strategies to more effectively predict and prevent new disease outbreaks. Here, we demonstrate prolonged survival and subversion of intracellular digestion of Y. pestis within a soil free-living amoeba. This suggests the potential role for protozoa as a protective soil reservoir for Y. pestis, which may help explain the recrudescence of plague epizootics.
Shape Selectivity of Middle Superior Temporal Sulcus Body Patch Neurons

Abstract Functional MRI studies in primates have demonstrated cortical regions that are strongly activated by visual images of bodies. The presence of such body patches in macaques allows characterization of the stimulus selectivity of their single neurons. Middle superior temporal sulcus body (MSB) patch neurons showed similar stimulus selectivity for natural, shaded, and textured images compared with their silhouettes, suggesting that shape is an important determinant of MSB responses. Here, we examined and modeled the shape selectivity of single MSB neurons. We measured the responses of single MSB neurons to a variety of shapes producing a wide range of responses. We used an adaptive stimulus sampling procedure, selecting and modifying shapes based on the responses of the neuron. Forty percent of shapes that produced the maximal response were rated by humans as animal-like, but the top shape of many MSB neurons was not judged as resembling a body. We fitted the shape selectivity of MSB neurons with a model that parameterizes shapes in terms of curvature and orientation of contour segments, with a pixel-based model, and with layers of units of convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The deep convolutional layers of CNNs provided the best goodness-of-fit, with a median explained explainable variance of the neurons’ responses of 77%. The goodness-of-fit increased along the convolutional layers’ hierarchy but was lower for the fully connected layers. Together with demonstrating the successful modeling of single unit shape selectivity with deep CNNs, the data suggest that semantic or category knowledge determines only slightly the single MSB neuron’s shape selectivity.