Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Verification of forensic readiness in software development: a roadmap

Nowadays, a growing need for the forensic investigation of cybercrimes emerges. It is because of the rising threat of those crimes in cyberspace. Nevertheless, such investigations are highly time-consuming with delicate supportive processes. The problem of systematic preparation on the potential forensic investigation during the software development process, called forensic readiness, has only been explored since recently. Therefore there are still many open issues and challenges, with missing methods and guidelines that would support software engineers in building software systems that are forensic ready. One of the essential open challenges is the understanding of the forensic-readiness requirements that shall be embedded in the software system early during its design, and then also the techniques to ensure and verify forensic readiness and its specific needs along the way. In this paper, we propose a research roadmap towards verification of forensic readiness in software design and development, to help the progress of this new research domain. The results of the research based on the roadmap can then support software engineers in designing critical, forensic-ready systems, together with possible perspective methods of capturing and verifying the specific requirements constituting forensic readiness.
Interpretable and adversarially-resistant behavioral malware signatures

Machine learning based techniques have been widely applied to dynamic malware analysis. However, such techniques largely complicate the understanding of predicted results due to their algorithm complexity. The situation becomes even worse with the application of deep learning techniques, which usually include complex architectures with multiple layers of transformations. In addition, most learning-based approaches are potentially vulnerable to behavior transformation attacks. We propose a novel design of behavior-based malware signature, which achieves both the resistance against behavioral transformation and the ease of behavior interpretation. Our design mainly relies on the construction of behavioral signatures, obtained from unsupervised machine learning algorithms, and without requiring any expert knowledge. The behavioral signatures are then used as features for classification tasks. In contrast with prior learning-based works, our signatures provide straightforwardly interpretable information about the decision of classification. Analyzing several real-life malware samples with our signatures, we highlight very characteristic behaviors of some well-known malware families. In standard classification tasks, experiments show that we obtain comparable performances with respect to state-of-the-art techniques. Different to other classification techniques, our experiments demonstrate that our signature representation is resistant against behavioral transformations without affecting the interpretability of the results.
Evaluating the usefulness of citation graph and document metadata in scientific document recommendation for neophytes

Digital libraries have become an essential tool for researchers in all scientific domains. With almost unlimited storage capacities, current digital libraries hold a tremendous number of documents. Though some efforts have been made to facilitate access to documents relevant to a specific information need, for a new researcher who is discovering a research field, such a task remains a real challenge. Indeed neophytes do not necessarily use appropriate keywords to express their information need and they are not necessarily qualified to evaluate correctly the relevance of documents retrieved by the system. In this study, we suppose that the retrieval system in a digital library should take into consideration features other than content-based relevance. To test this hypothesis, we use machine learning methods and build new features from several metadata related to documents. More precisely, we propose to consider as features for machine learning: content-based scores, scores based on the citation graph and scores based on metadata extracted from external resources. As acquiring such features is not a trivial task, we analyze their usefulness and their capacity to detect relevant documents. Our analysis concludes that the use of these additional features improves the performance of the system for a neophyte user. In fact, by adding the new features we find more documents suitable for neophytes within the results returned by the system than when using content-based features alone.
Evaluating semantic textual similarity in clinical sentences using deep learning and sentence embeddings

The wide adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) has fostered an improvement in healthcare quality, with EHRs currently representing a major source of medical information. Nevertheless, this process has also brought new challenges to the medical environment since the facilitated replication of information (e.g. using copy-paste) has resulted in less concise and sometimes incorrect information, which hinders the understandability of this data and can compromise the quality of medical decisions drawn from it. Due to the high volume and redundancy in medical data, it is imperative to develop solutions that can condense information whilst retaining its value, with a possible methodology involving the assessment of the semantic similarity between clinical text excerpts. In this paper we present an approach that explores neural networks and different types of text preprocessing pipelines, and that evaluates the impact of using word embeddings or sentence embeddings. We present the results following our participation in the n2c2 shared-task on clinical semantic textual similarity, perform an error analysis and discuss obtained results along with possible future improvements.
Comparison of the Efficacy of Different Hydrocortisone-Induced Cataract Models in Developing Chick Embryos

Aim: To evaluate and compare the efficacy of different hydrocortisone-induced cataract models in chick embryos. Material and methods: On the 15th day of the study, hydrocortisone succinate sodium (HC) (0.5 μmol/egg or 0.25 μmol/egg) was administered directly into the air sac (AS) or into the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) in 4 HC-groups. In two control groups, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) was administered in the same manner. On the 17th day of the study (48 hours after the injection), the lenses were removed and classified into five stages according to lens opacification Original Research Article Duman et al.; JPRI, 21(3): 1-7, 2018; Article no.JPRI. 39888 2 under a stereoscopic microscope. In addition, reduced glutathione levels (GSH) of the lenses were measured by High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. Results: The mean scores of lens opacity and cataract formation in HC-groups were significantly higher than those of control groups (p = 0.00). In addition, the mean reduced glutathione levels were significantly lower in HC-groups compared to control groups (199-245 ps vs. 291-294, p = 0.00). The mean scores for lens opacity, cataract formation, and the mean GSH levels did not significantly differ among 4 HC-groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Both doses of HC (0.25 or 0.50 μmol/egg) and both injection methods (into the AS or CAM) may be used efficiently for cataract formation in chick embryo steroid-induced cataract models.
Whole-transcriptome analysis reveals a potential hsa_circ_0001955/hsa_circ_0000977-mediated miRNA-mRNA regulatory sub-network in colorectal cancer

Background: Circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel class of non-coding RNAs, have been found to act as microRNA (miRNA) sponges and thus play key roles in biological processes and pathogenesis. However, studies regarding circRNAs in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain inadequate. Results: By differential expression analysis, 10 candidate circRNAs (6 upregulated and 4 downregulated circRNAs) were chosen. 9 of 10 circRNAs were available on CSCD and their structure showed the binding potential of miRNA. Intersection analysis revealed that miR-145-5p, miR-3127-5p, miR-761, miR-4766-3p, miR-135a-5p, miR-135b-5p, miR-374a-3p and miR-330-3p were 8 miRNAs with the most potential in binding circRNAs. Further expression validation and correlation analysis demonstrated hsa_circ_0001955/miR-145-5p and hsa_circ_0000977/miR-135b-5p axes as key pathways in CRC. Subsequently, target gene prediction, differential expression analysis, intersection analysis and correlation analysis showed that CDK6, MMP12 and RAB3IP were the three potential downstream targets of hsa_circ_0001955/miR-145-5p axis and FOXO1, MBNL1, MEF2C, RECK, PPM1E, TTLL7 and PCP4L1 were the seven potential downstream targets of hsa_circ_0000977/miR-135b-5p axis in CRC. Finally, we also confirmed that expression of hsa_circ_0001955 or hsa_circ_0000977 was significantly positively correlated with their individual targets in CRC. Conclusions: In the present work, we constructed a potential hsa_circ_0001955/hsa_circ_0000977-mediated circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network in CRC by a series of in silico analysis and experimental validation. Methods: Whole-transcriptome microarrays from CRC and matched normal samples were obtained from GEO. The structure of circRNA was identified by CSCD. starBase and miRNet were successively used to predict miRNA of circRNA and target gene of miRNA. Expression correlation between RNA-RNA interactions was assessed using GEO and TCGA data. Finally, a potential circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network was established based on competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) hypothesis.
Solvent Dependence of the Monomer–Dimer Equilibrium of Ketone‐Substituted Triscatecholate Titanium(IV) Complexes

Abstract Hierarchical helicates based on ketone‐substituted titanium(IV)triscatecholates show different monomer‐dimer behavior depending on different solvents. The dimerization constants of a whole series of differently alkyl‐substituted complexes is analyzed to show that the solvent has a very strong influence on the dimerization. Hereby, effects like solvophobicity/philicity, sterics, electronics of the substituents and weak side‐chain—side‐chain interactions seem to act in concert.
Incorporating climate change adaptation into marine protected area planning

Climate change is increasingly impacting marine protected areas (MPAs) and MPA networks, yet adaptation strategies are rarely incorporated into MPA design and management plans according to the primary scientific literature. Here we review the state of knowledge for adapting existing and future MPAs to climate change and synthesize case studies (n = 27) of how marine conservation planning can respond to shifting environmental conditions. First, we derive a generalized conservation planning framework based on five published frameworks that incorporate climate change adaptation to inform MPA design. We then summarize examples from the scientific literature to assess how conservation goals were defined, vulnerability assessments performed and adaptation strategies incorporated into the design and management of existing or new MPAs. Our analysis revealed that 82% of real‐world examples of climate change adaptation in MPA planning derive from tropical reefs, highlighting the need for research in other ecosystems and habitat types. We found contrasting recommendations for adaptation strategies at the planning stage, either focusing only on climate refugia, or aiming for representative protection of areas encompassing the full range of expected climate change impacts. Recommendations for MPA management were more unified and focused on adaptative management approaches. Lastly, we evaluate common barriers to adopting climate change adaptation strategies based on reviewing studies which conducted interviews with MPA managers and other conservation practitioners. This highlights a lack of scientific studies evaluating different adaptation strategies and shortcomings in current governance structures as two major barriers, and we discuss how these could be overcome. Our review provides a comprehensive synthesis of planning frameworks, case studies, adaptation strategies and management actions which can inform a more coordinated global effort to adapt existing and future MPA networks to continued climate change.
Comparative Study of the Effects of the Use of Combined Oral Pills and Progestin-Only Pills in Nigerian Females

This study involved fifty apparently healthy females on oral contraceptives (test) and another fifty apparently healthy females not on oral contraceptives (control). Both groups were aged 16-40 years of age. The test group have been on oral contraceptive for at least 5 months. Test group was grouped into progestin-only pill (POP) users and combined oral pill (COP) users. The following parameters were analyzed, packed cell volume (PCV), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), Haemoglobin Estimation (Hb), Red cell indices, total white blood count (TWBC) and platelet count using standard manual methods. The results showed significant increase (P<0.05) in platelet counts, ESR and TWBC when compared with control. Significant difference (p<0.05) was also seen in platelet count and WBC when progestin-only pill (POP) users were compared with combined oral pill (COP) users. These findings suggest that oral contraceptive (OC) users could be predisposed to thrombosis with COP users having greater risk than POP users.
Carotid plaque magnetic resonance imaging and recurrent stroke risk

Abstract Background: MRI findings of carotid plaque components have been studied recently as a tool to predict recurrent ischemic events. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the association of MRI-determined intraplaque hemorrhage, lipid-rich necrotic core, and thinning/rupture of the fibrous cap with recurrent ischemic events. Methods: Electronic search was performed in PUBMED, EMBASE, Cochrane Controlled Register of Trials (CENTRAL) from inception to Oct 30, 2018. We included cohort studies with an average follow-up time of more than 1 month in which intraplaque hemorrhage, lipid-rich necrotic core, or thinning/rupture of the fibrous cap were associated with recurrent ipsilateral stroke or ischemic events. We performed heterogeneity assessment before carrying out meta-analysis. According to the heterogeneity, we selected fixed-effect model for meta-analysis of the included cohort studies. Results: Using a prespecified search strategy, of the 2128 articles, 6 studies with a total number of 621 participants met eligibility for systematic review and meta-analysis. The hazard ratios of intra-plaque hemorrhage, thinning/rupture of the fibrous cap and lipid rich necrotic core as recurrent Stroke/Transient ischemic attack (TIA) were 7.14(95% confidence interval, 4.32 to 11.82), 5.68(95% confidence interval, 2.40 to 13.47), and 2.73(95% confidence interval, 1.04 to 7.16), respectively. No significant heterogeneity was found in the 3 meta-analyses. Conclusions: The presence of intraplaque hemorrhage, lipid-rich necrotic core, and thinning/rupture of the fibrous cap on MRI of carotid plaque are strong predictors of recurrent stroke events. However, due to the lack of original studies, larger cohort studies are warranted.
Suppressive Effect of Leukotriene Antagonists on Capsular Contracture in Patients Who Underwent Breast Surgery with Prosthesis: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Capsular contracture is a troublesome and distressing complication in mammaplasty or breast reconstruction involving a prosthesis. Previous studies have indicated that leukotriene antagonists effectively reverse capsular contracture. However, this treatment method lacks comprehensive support from evidence-based medicine and remains considerably controversial. In this study, a meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic and preventive effects of leukotriene antagonists on capsular contracture in patients after breast prosthesis implantation. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed in English and Chinese databases. All clinical studies assessing the therapeutic and prophylactic effects of leukotriene antagonists on capsule contracture after breast prosthesis implantation were selected. Risk differences and 95 percent confidence intervals were applied as the final pooled statistics. Results: A total of five eligible studies were included, involving 1710 breast prosthesis implantations. The final results indicated that leukotriene antagonists markedly inhibited capsular contracture formation, with statistical significance at 32.02 (p < 0.001) (pooled risk difference, 0.84; 95 percent CI, 0.79 to 0.89). In subgroup analysis, subgroups based on different leukotriene antagonists included the montelukast and zafirlukast groups, with significant pooled statistical levels of 19.34 (p < 0.001) and 79.48 (p < 0.001), respectively (montelukast: pooled risk difference, 0.83; 95 percent CI, 0.75 to 0.92; zafirlukast: pooled risk difference, 0.85; 95 percent CI, 0.83 to 0.87), indicating that both montelukast and zafirlukast were effective in inhibiting encapsulation. Conclusions: This meta-analysis demonstrated that leukotriene antagonists (montelukast and zafirlukast) have significant effects in treating and preventing capsular contracture. These medications should be administered in a reasonable and safe way. Further studies of clinical efficacy, duration, safety, and exact mechanism of leukotriene antagonists for periprosthetic capsular contracture are warranted.
Potential Enterotoxicity of Phylogenetically Diverse Bacillus cereus Sensu Lato Soil Isolates from Different Geographical Locations

This research offers a new route for a wider understanding of the dependency between pathogenicity and phylogeny of a natural bacterial population, specifically within Bacillus cereus sensu lato, that is widely distributed around the world and easily transferred into food products. Our study indicates differences in the phylogenetic and geographical distributions of potential enterotoxigenic B. cereus sensu lato strains. Hence, these bacilli possess a risk for human health, and rapid testing methods for their identification are greatly needed. In particular, the detection of the CytK enterotoxin should be a supporting strategy for the identification of pathogenic B. cereus sensu lato. ABSTRACT Bacillus cereus sensu lato comprises Gram-positive spore-forming bacteria producing toxins associated with foodborne diseases. Three pore-forming enterotoxins, nonhemolytic enterotoxin (Nhe), hemolysin BL (Hbl), and cytotoxin K (CytK), are considered the primary factors in B. cereus sensu lato diarrhea. The aim of this study was to determine the potential risk of enterotoxicity among soil B. cereus sensu lato isolates representing diverse phylogroups and originated from different geographic locations with various climates (Burkina Faso, Kenya, Argentina, Kazakhstan, and Poland). While nheA- and hblA-positive isolates were present among all B. cereus sensu lato populations and distributed across all phylogenetic groups, cytK-2-positive strains predominated in geographic regions with an arid hot climate (Africa) and clustered together on a phylogenetic tree mainly within mesophilic groups III and IV. The highest in vitro cytotoxicity to Caco-2 and HeLa cells was demonstrated by the strains clustered within phylogroups II and IV. Overall, our results suggest that B. cereus sensu lato pathogenicity is a comprehensive process conditioned by many intracellular factors and diverse environmental conditions. IMPORTANCE This research offers a new route for a wider understanding of the dependency between pathogenicity and phylogeny of a natural bacterial population, specifically within Bacillus cereus sensu lato, that is widely distributed around the world and easily transferred into food products. Our study indicates differences in the phylogenetic and geographical distributions of potential enterotoxigenic B. cereus sensu lato strains. Hence, these bacilli possess a risk for human health, and rapid testing methods for their identification are greatly needed. In particular, the detection of the CytK enterotoxin should be a supporting strategy for the identification of pathogenic B. cereus sensu lato.
The response of soil and phyllosphere microbial communities to repeated application of the fungicide iprodione: Accelerated biodegradation or toxicity?

Pesticides interact with microorganisms in various ways with the outcome being negative or positive for the soil microbiota. Pesticides effects on soil microorganisms have been studied extensively in soil but not in other pesticides-exposed microbial habitats like the phyllosphere. We tested the hypothesis that soil and phyllosphere support distinct microbial communities, but exhibit a similar response (accelerated biodegradation or toxicity) to repeated exposure to the fungicide iprodione. Pepper plants received four repeated foliage or soil applications of iprodione which accelerated its degradation in soil (DT50_1st = 1.23 and DT50_4th = 0.48 days) and on plant leaves (DT50_1st > 365 and DT50_4th = 5.95 days). The composition of the epiphytic and soil bacterial and fungal communities, determined by amplicon sequencing, were significantly altered by iprodione. The archaeal epiphytic and soil communities responded differently; the former showed no response to iprodione. Three iprodione-degrading Paenarthrobacter strains were isolated from soil and phyllosphere. They hydrolyzed iprodione to 3,5-dichloraniline (3,5-DCA) via the formation of 3,5-dichlorophenyl-carboxiamide and 3,5-dichlorophenylurea-acetate, a pathway shared by other soil-derived arthrobacters implying a phylogenetic specialization in iprodione biotransformation. Our results suggest that iprodione repeated application could affect soil and epiphytic microbial communities with implications for the homeostasis of the plant-soil system and agricultural production.
Vitamin D, Interaction with Vitamin A and Lung Cancer

Vitamin D, Interaction with Vitamin A and Lung Cancer Ting-Yuan Cheng Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Marian L. Neuhouser Epidemiology Vitamin D inhibits several pathways of lung cancer carcinogenesis and cells in the respiratory tract produce and utilize vitamin D. Vitamin D’s functions rely on vitamin D receptor together with retinoid X receptor, which ligands with 9-cis-retinoic acid, a vitamin A (retinol) metabolite. The objectives of this dissertation are to investigate 1) whether high versus low vitamin D intake is associated with lower lung cancer incidence, 2) whether high/excess vitamin A intake attenuates the inverse association of vitamin D intake with lung cancer, and 3) whether vitamin D intake is associated with vitamin D status, represented by serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations. Data sources were the Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Trials and Observational Study (WHI-CT and OS), recruiting postmenopausal women mostly former/never smokers, and the Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET), recruiting male and female current/former heavy
Photographic and Video Deepfakes Have Arrived: How Machine Learning May Influence Plastic Surgery

Summary: Advances in computer science and photography not only are pervasive but are also quantifiably influencing the practice of medicine. Recent progress in both software and hardware technology has translated into the design of advanced artificial neural networks: computer frameworks that can be thought of as algorithms modeled on the human brain. In practice, these networks have computational functions, including the autonomous generation of novel images and videos, frequently referred to as “deepfakes. ” The technological advances that have resulted in deepfakes are readily applicable to facets of plastic surgery, posing both benefits and harms to patients, providers, and future research. As a specialty, plastic surgery should recognize these concepts, appropriately discuss them, and take steps to prevent nefarious uses. The aim of this article is to highlight these emerging technologies and discuss their potential relevance to plastic surgery.