Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hardware Trojan Detection in FPGA through Side-Channel Power Analysis and Machine Learning

Author(s): Zantout, Salam | Advisor(s): Al Faruque, Mohammad | Abstract: The security of a cyber-physical system depends on the safety of the handled data, software, and underlying hardware. Securing the hardware is not a simple task because of the globalization of integrated circuits’ manufacturing flow. One hardware attack to be considered is the modification of the design to insert a “backdoor” which maliciously alters the behavior of the original system. Such a malicious and intentional insertion is called a Hardware Trojan Horse (HTH). In this thesis, an HTH detection technique was proposed and implemented. The detection technique made use of side-channel power analysis along with machine learning to detect the presence of an HTH. Power traces from a golden implementation (HTH-free) of the AES encryption algorithm on an FPGA were used to train a logistic regression model. The obtained model was then tested on new power traces collected from the golden implementation and was able to make correct predictions with 95% accuracy. Next, an HTH, of a few gates, was implemented in the AES circuit to carry out a denial-of-service attack along with a breach of plaintext secrecy. The power data from the HTH-infected circuit were collected and tested on the trained logistic regression model. An amount of 81% of the HTH-infected data was detected as flawed by the logistic regression model allowing the detection of the HTH even when it was not triggered. In fact, even when an HTH was dormant, the HTH would constantly be checking its triggering condition and hence consumed power.
Progression measurement in adult guidance in Ireland: a contested discourse

This article discusses the findings of a research study on the longitudinal measurement of individual progression in the Irish Adult Education Guidance Initiative (AEGI). The research was underpinned by a critical constructivist methodology in its examination of the three main discourses of the client, practitioner, and policy maker in the field of adult guidance. In line with the current discourse on the role of the user in quality assurance, a specific focus of the study was an analysis of the client’s contribution to the design of a quality tracking system for outcome measurement. The implications for policy, practice and research in the adult guidance sector in Ireland will be explored in this paper. Introduction This paper explores findings from a longitudinal case study that examined the development of appropriate methodologies to measure the long-term outcomes for clients of the Adult Education Guidance Initiative (AEGI). The AEGI was established in 2000 by the Department of Education and Science (DES, 2000) as a support measure for adults accessing education. In addressing the main research question of how progression is measured in the current longitudinal tracking system in the AEGI the study examined a number of specific issues. These issues relate to definitions of outcomes, rationale for measurement and the development of suitable methodologies for outcome evaluation within the context of current policy objectives informing adult guidance practice. The analysis of the impact of interventions is now a priority in the Irish guidance sector which is primarily driven by an economic agenda and the need to justify investment in publicly funded services. Although the advancement of
Adaptation to Variable Environments, Resilience to Climate Change: Investigating Land, Water and Settlement in Indus Northwest India

This paper explores the nature and dynamics of adaptation and resilience in the face of a diverse and varied environmental and ecological context using the case study of South Asia’s Indus Civilization (ca. 3000–1300 BC). Most early complex societies developed in regions where the climatic parameters faced by ancient subsistence farmers were varied but rain falls primarily in one season. In contrast, the Indus Civilization developed in a specific environmental context that spanned a very distinct environmental threshold, where winter and summer rainfall systems overlap. There is now evidence to show that this region was directly subject to climate change during the period when the Indus Civilization was at its height (ca. 2500–1900 BC). The Indus Civilization, therefore, provides a unique opportunity to understand how an ancient society coped with diverse and varied ecologies and change in the fundamental environmental parameters. This paper integrates research carried out as part of the Land, Water and Settlement project in northwest India between 2007 and 2014. Although coming from only one of the regions occupied by Indus populations, these data necessitate the reconsideration of several prevailing views about the Indus Civilization as a whole and invigorate discussion about human-environment interactions and their relationship to processes of cultural transformation.
DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MUCOADHESIVE GASTRO SPHERES OF CARVEDILOL

Objective: The purpose of this study was to design mucoadhesive gastro spheres of carvedilol targeting to upper GIT, and optimize it in terms of its entrapment efficiency and drug release. A 3 2 full factorial design was employed to study the effect of independent variables like sodium alginate and sodium carboxyl methyl cellulose on entrapment efficiency and in vitro drug release. Methods: Mucoadhesive gastro spheres were prepared by Orifice-Ionic gelation method, in which drug is uniformly distributed in the polymer solution so drug can be loaded easily in the polymer.3 2 full factorial designs were used to study the effect of process variables on formulation characteristics by applying statistical analysis. Results: FTIR, XRD and DSC analyses apparently did not indicate any interaction of the drug with the polymers. However, the drug content, drug entrapment efficiency and morphology of the gastro spheres were found to be influenced by the method of preparation, composition of gastro spheres as well as exposure to the cross linking agent. In vitro drug release study showed that drug release can be modified by varying drug to polymer ratio. The release rate was found to be decreased in accordance with the increase in the ratio of polymer used. Conclusion: From the study, we successfully developed carvedilol gastro spheres by using mucoadhesive polymer like SCMC and rate retardant sodium alginate polymer.
SH-Waves in a Laterally Varying Medium : (1)The Seismic Response of Sediment-Filled Valleys to Plane-Incident SH-Waves

We applied the discrete wavenumber method proposed by Campillo and Bouchon (1985) to computation of the SH wavefield produced by incident plane waves in a laterally varying medium. After various tests of the accuracy of this method for simple problems, we systematically investigated the response of sediment-filled valleys to plane-incident SH waves. The valley was assumed to consist of a layer and a half-space separated by a one cycle cosine-shaped interface. The main effect induced by boundary curvature is the generating of Love waves on the dipping interface and their subsequent trapping inside the valley. This effect strongly depends on the shape ratio (sediment thickness to valley half-width ratio), the velocity contrast between the sediment and the underlying bedrock, and incident wavefield characteristics. For a deep valley with a high velocity contrast, Love waves are efficiently generated and reflected at the valley edges, resulting in a large amplification and in a long duration of the ground shaking inside the valley. These outcomes show that the flat layer theory appears strongly inadequate to compute reliable ground motions.
A Maximum Likelihood Look-Ahead Unscented Rao-Blackwellised Particle Filter

A newmaximum likelihood technique for the look-ahead unscented Rao-Blackwellised particle filter (la-URBPF) to improve its robustness to noise is proposed in this paper. A radial basis function whose centre is at the state associated with the maximum likelihood is also used for masking lower likelihood states without destroying information embedded in low prior states. Simulation results show how the proposed maximum likelihood la-URBPF algorithm responds to various noise levels ranging from relatively low to aggressively high levels. The computational times for different noise levels of the proposed algorithm are also investigated to assess its applicability in time-critical or in resource-restricted embedded systems.
Planar Plasmonic Terahertz Waveguides for Sensor Applications

— We investigate sensing capabilities of a planar plasmonic THz waveguide. The waveguide is comprised of one dimensional array of periodically arranged sub wavelength scale corrugations in the form of rectangular dimples in order to ensure the plasmonic response. The THz waveguide transmission is observed for polyimide (as thin film) substance filling the dimples. The refractive index of the polyimide film is varied to examine various sensing parameters such as frequency shift, sensitivity and Figure of Merit (FoM) of the fundamental plasmonic resonance supported by the waveguide. In efforts to improve sensing characteristics, we also examine sensing capabilities of a plasmonic waveguide having V shaped corrugations and compare results with that of rectangular dimples. The proposed study could be significant in developing new terahertz sensors with improved sensitivity utilizing the plasmonic waveguides.
MICROPATTERNABLE ELASTIC CARBON NANOTUBE/PDMS ELECTRETS

This paper reports the fabrication and performance of an elastic electret based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/carbon-nanotube (CNT) composites. The composite formulation concentrates CNTs near the surface of the PDMS and thereby combines the excellent electrical properties and room- temperature micropatternability of the CNT with the elasticity of PDMS. The material was corona-charged and the charge storage behavior was characterized using surface potential measurements. Substantial improvements in charge storage capacity and stability were observed compared to either pure PDMS or CNTs on the surface of PDMS at room temperature over a 280 hour measurement period.
MODELING OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF SEWER SYSTEMS HENRY AMANKWAH

The construction of sewer systems has proven to be challenging. It has been noted that the margin between safety and optimality is small and as such it is not so easy to predict the efficiency of sewer design. This paper tries to look for a model to describe the motion of water in a channel. A coupled surface runoff-water flow approach is applied to model the water transport from the catchment areas. The Saint-Venant’s equations have been employed and the Lax-Friedrichs scheme has been used to numerically solve the nonlinear system of equations.
Maintaining Legitimacy: Controversies, Orders of Worth, and Public Justifications

We build on Boltanski and Thevenot's theory of justification to account for the ways in which different stakeholder groups actively engage with discourses and objects to maintain the legitimacy of institutions that are relevant to their activity. We use this framework to analyse a controversy emerging from a nuclear accident which involved a large European energy company and sparked public debate on the legitimacy of nuclear power. Based on the findings, we elaborate a process model of institutional repair that explains the role of agents and the structural constraints they face in attempting to maintain legitimacy. The model enhances institutional understandings of legitimacy maintenance in three main respects: it proposes a view of legitimacy maintenance as a controversy-based process progressing through stakeholders' justifications vis-a-vis a public audience; it demonstrates the role of meta-level 'orders of worth' as multiple modalities for agreement which shape stakeholders' public justifications during controversies; and it highlights the capacities that stakeholders deploy in developing robust justifications out of a plurality of forms of agreement.
Factors associated with organizational commitment of academic employees in Botswana

Organizational commitment is a major determinant of organizational effectiveness and desirable employee attitudes and behaviours. Highly committed academic staff are the backbone of universities since they play an important role in the success of their institutions. This study investigated factors associated with organizational commitment among academic employees of a university in Botswana using a representative sample of 165 respondents. The study also sought to develop a parsimonious model that can predict organizational commitment among academic employees in Botswana. The results show that about 3 out of 5 academic employees sampled showed evidence of commitment to the university, regardless of their socio-demographic or socio-economic background. The study found 11 factors that were associated with commitment to the university. Most of the factors that affected organizational commitment involved decisions and actions that were directly or indirectly at the disposal and control of the management. The single most important factor that predicted commitment to the university was acceptance of the new criteria for the assessment of academic staff, followed by perception of opportunities for research. Key words: Organizational commitment, academic employees, management, university, Botswana.
The Therapeutic Power of Contact: Physician-Nurse-Patient. Innovative education of medical staff in the perspective of health psychology

Introduction: The role of physician and nurse in the therapeutic team depends on the prevailing medical model of health: biomedical or holistic and functional. Purpose: The theoretical basis of the therapeutic role of doctor - nurse - patient contact from a psychological perspective is the Functional Model of Health created by Helena Wrona-Polanska. Material and Methods: 141 people after bone marrow transplantation were examined at the Hematology Clinic of Jagiellonian University. To examination were used the questionnaires of stress, coping strategies, personal resources, and grading scales of health and anxiety. Results: Analysis of the results revealed predictors of subjective health and difference between subjective and objective health. Conclusions: Author's Functional Model of Health used in the analysis of nurses work shows the complexity of the physician - nurse - patient contact: instrumental function, cognitive function, emotional function as a basis of innovative educational program for physicians and nurses.
Application of biosphere models in the BIOMOSA project: A comparative assessment of five European radioactive waste disposal sites

The BioMoSA (Biosphere Models for Safety Assessment of Radioactive Waste Disposal) project was part of the EC fifth framework research program. The main goal of this project was the improvement of the scientific basis for the application of biosphere models in the framework of long-term safety studies of radioactive waste disposal facilities. Another aim of the project was to provide operators and regulatory bodies with guidelines for performance assessments of repository systems. The study focused on the development and application of site-specific models and a generic biosphere tool BIOGEM (BIOsphere GEneric Model), using the experience from National programs and the IAEA BIOMASS reference biosphere methodology. The models were applied to 5 typical locations in Europe, resulting in estimates of the annual individual doses to the critical groups and the ranking of the importance of the pathways for each of the sites. The results of the site-specific and generic models were then compared. Uncertainty in the results was estimated by means of stochastic calculations which allowed a comparison of the overall model uncertainty with the variability across the different sites considered.
On the Semantics of Mathematical Statements

Husserl developed – independently of Frege – a semantics of sense and reference. There are, however, some important differences, specially with respect to the references of statements. According to Husserl, an assertive sentence refers to a state of affairs, which was its basis what he called a situation of affairs. Situations of affairs could also be considered as an alternative referent for statements on their own right, although for Husserl they were simply a sort of referential basis. Both Husserlian states of affairs and situations of affairs are extensional. Tarskian semantics can be rendered as a sort of state of affairs semantics. However, to assess adequately the existence of dual theorems in mathematics and, more generally, seemingly unrelated interderivable statements like the Axiom of Choice and its many equivalents, states of affairs (and truth-values) are not enough. We need a sort of refinement of the notion of a situation of affairs, namely what we have called elsewhere an abstract situation of affairs. We are going to introduce abstract situations of affairs as equivalence classes of states of affairs denoted by closed sentences of a given language which are true in the same models. We first sketch the procedure for a first-order many-sorted language and then for a second-order manysorted language. Husserl desenvolveu – independentemente de Frege – uma semântica do sentido e da referencia. Contudo, ha algumas diferencas importantes, especialmente com respeito as referencias de enunciados. De acordo com Husserl, uma frase assertiva refere-se a um estado de coisas, que era sua base, o que ele chamou uma situacao de coisas. As situacoes de coisas tambem poderiam ser consideradas como um referente alternativo para enunciados embora, para Husserl, elas fossem simplesmente um tipo de base referencial. Tanto os estados de coisas como as situacoes de coisas husserlianas sao extensionais. A semântica tarskiana pode ser traduzida como um tipo de semântica de estado de coisas. Entretanto, para avaliar adequadamente a existencia de teoremas duais em matematica e, de maneira mais geral, enunciados interderivaveis e aparentemente sem conexao, como o Axioma da Escolha e seus muitos equivalentes, os estados de coisas (e valores de verdade) nao sao suficientes. Nos precisamos de um tipo de refinamento da nocao de uma situacao de coisas, a saber, o que nos chamamos de uma situacao abstrata de coisas. Nos vamos introduzir as situacoes abstratas de coisas como classes de equivalencia de estados de coisas denotadas por sentencas fechadas de uma determinada linguagem, as quais sao verdadeiras nos mesmos modelos. Nos esbocamos o procedimento primeiro para uma linguagem multi-sortida de primeira ordem e entao para uma linguagem multi-sortida de segunda ordem.
Nonlinear laser energy depletion in laser-plasma accelerators

Energy depletion of intense, short-pulse lasers via excitation of plasma waves is investigated numerically and analytically. The evolution of a resonant laser pulse proceeds in two phases. In the first phase, the pulse steepens, compresses, and frequency red-shifts as energy is deposited in the plasma. The second phase of evolution occurs after the pulse reaches a minimum length at which point the pulse rapidly lengthens, losing resonance with the plasma. Expressions for the rate of laser energy loss and rate of laser red-shifting are derived and are found to be in excellent agreement with the direct numerical solution of the laser field evolution coupled to the plasma response. Both processes are shown to have the same characteristic length-scale. In the high intensity limit, for nearly-resonant Gaussian laser pulses, this scale length is shown to be independent of laser intensity.
GyrA Interacts with MarR To Reduce Repression of the marRAB Operon in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT Bacterial two-hybrid studies of randomly cloned Escherichia coli DNA identified a physical interaction between GyrA, subunit A of gyrase, and MarR, a repressor of the marRAB operon. GyrA-His immobilized on Ni-nitrilotriacetic acid (NiNTA) resin bound MarR, while MarR alone did not bind. GyrA interfered with MarR binding to marO, as detected by electrophoretic mobility assays. In a strain bearing the marRAB operon and a marO-lacZ reporter, overexpression of GyrA increased LacZ activity, indicating decreased repression of marO-lacZ by MarR. These results were confirmed by an increased survival of cells treated with quinolones and other antibiotics when GyrA was overexpressed. This work, like a previous study examining TktA (12), shows that unrelated proteins can regulate MarR activity. The findings reveal an unexpected regulatory function of GyrA in antibiotic resistance.
Issues in longitudinal research on motivation B

This paper discusses two methodological issues regarding the analysis of longitudinal data using structural equation modeling that emerged during the reconsideration of the analysis of a recent study on the relationship between academic motivation and language achievement in elementary education [Stoel R.D. , Peetsma, T.T. D. and Roeleveld, J. (2003). Relations between the development of school investment, self-confidence and language achievement in elementary education: a multivariate latent growth curve approach. Learning and individual differences, 13, 313–333]. The issues are related to the factorial structure of the repeatedly measured variables, and to the explanation of interindividual difference by means of covariates [see Stoel, R.D. , Van den Wittenboer, G. and Hox, J.J. (2004a). Including time-invariant covariates in the latent growth curve model. Structural Equation Modeling, 11, 155–167, Stoel, R.D. , Van den Wittenboer, G. and Hox, J.J. (2004b). Methodological issues in the application of the latent growth curve model. In K. van Montfort, H. Oud, and A. Satorra (Eds.). Recent developments on structural equation modeling: Theory and applications. (pp. 241–262). Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Press. It is illustrated that standard modeling practices may sometimes lead to incorrect conclusions regarding the concepts under investigation, and that ideally alternative modeling possibilities should be considered in order to check the adequacy of the standard practice. D 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Semantic reranking of CRF label sequences for verbal multiword expression identification

Verbal multiword Expressions (VMWE) identification can be addressed successfully as a sequence labeling problem via conditional random fields (CRFs) by returning the one label sequence with maximal probability. This work describes a system that reranks the top 10 most likely CRF candidate VMWE sequences using a decision tree regression model. The reranker aims to operationalize the intuition that a non-compositional MWE can have a different distributional behavior than that of its constituent words. This is why it uses semantic features based on comparing the context vector of a candidate expression against those of its constituent words. However, not all VMWE are non-compositional, and analysis shows that non-semantic features also play an important role in the behavior of the reranker. In fact, the analysis shows that the combination of the sequential approach of the CRF component with the context-based approach of the reranker is the main factor of improvement: our reranker achieves a 12% macro-average F1-score improvement on the basic CRF method, as measured using data from PARSEME shared task on VMWE identification.