Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rapamycin Treatment Ameliorates Age-Related Accumulation of Toxic Metabolic Intermediates in Brains of the Ts65Dn Mouse Model of Down Syndrome and Aging

Down syndrome (DS), caused by trisomy of chromosome 21, is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability. Individuals with DS exhibit changes in neurochemistry and neuroanatomy that worsen with age, neurological delay in learning and memory, and predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease. The Ts65Dn mouse is the best characterized model of DS and has many features reminiscent of DS, including developmental anomalies and age-related neurodegeneration. The mouse carries a partial triplication of mouse chromosome 16 containing roughly 100 genes syntenic to human chromosome 21 genes. We hypothesized that there would be differences in brain metabolites with trisomy and age, and that long-term treatment with rapamycin, mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor and immunosuppressant, would correct these differences. Using HPLC coupled with electrochemical detection, we identified differences in levels of metabolites involved in dopaminergic, serotonergic, and kynurenine pathways in trisomic mice that are exacerbated with age. These include homovanillic acid, norepinephrine, and kynurenine. In addition, we demonstrate that prolonged treatment with rapamycin reduces accumulation of toxic metabolites (such as 6-hydroxymelatonin and 3-hydroxykynurenine) in aged mice.
A Low-Cost Tilt-Augmented Quadrotor Helicopter : Modeling and Control

This paper presents modeling and control of a low-cost tilt-augmented quadrotor helicopter. Conventional rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with the capability to take-off and land vertically suffer from under actuation. The problem of having strictly fewer control inputs as compared to degrees of freedom of the system induces control design challenges and limits the flight envelope of the vehicle due to coupled states. This work considers a tilt-augmented quadrotor helicopter which is a fully actuated system as the number of control inputs are equal to the system degrees of freedom. Hence, control design for each degree of freedom of the system is decoupled and can be independently carried out. Mathematical modeling of the tilt-augmented quadrotor helicopter is presented which reveals the challenge of control allocation for the available actuators. A PD-type quaternion based attitude controller is developed to ensure stabilization. A PID controller is proposed for position tracking. Numerical simulations as well as experimental results are presented to validate the proposed vehicle model and control design.
Authorized Equality Test of Encrypted Data for Secure Cloud Databases

Equality test is popular in the implementation of database operators, e.g., the keyword search or the natural join. For the privacy concern, public key encryption with equality test (PKEET) as a useful tool to query on the encrypted data has been introduced for the cloud computing in the recent years. In this paper, we propose a variant of PKEET to capture a new feature that only the specified users' ciphertexts could be compared by the cloud server under the users' authorization for the secure cloud database applications. The proposed scheme supports both the user-level authorization and the ciphertext-level authorization for the specified users. Our scheme has a noticeable property that the user is allowed to authorize a third party (e.g., a cloud server) to perform the three types of testing (all-to-all test, one-to-all test and one-to-one test) as well as to make the internal test by the specified users themselves. We prove that our scheme can achieve the IND-CCA security against the outside attack and the PRIV-P-CCA security against the inside attack under the random oracle model, where the latter case is stronger than OW-CCA in most related work.
Augmentation of Things

Augmented reality and Internet of things are two emerging technologies. The Intersection of both would be an engrossing area. If the visual and location based features of augmented reality is combined with real objects which could be operated via internet of things the impact would be great in enhancing user experience. Our research Augmentation of Things aims in integrating the visual impact of augmented reality with the actionable information from Internet of Things providing a location enabled smart system which will create an unparalleled experience for the user.
Highly Efficient Privacy-Preserving Key Agreement for Wireless Body Area Networks

In 2012, the IEEE introduced IEEE Std 802.15. 6 as the communication standard for Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs). All key agreement protocols offered by this standard have been shown to exhibit grave security weaknesses. However, to date, no key agreement protocol has been proposed which fulfills all the requisite security and privacy objectives for deployment in a resource constrained WBAN environment. In this paper, based upon symmetric cryptographic primitives only, a key agreement protocol is presented which, in addition to good performance also offers the desirable privacy attributes of node anonymity and session unlinkability. The protocol is also suitable for post-quantum deployment scenarios as it is independent of any public key based operations.
A Lightweight Host-Based Intrusion Detection Based on Process Generation Patterns

Advanced persistent threat (APT) has been considered globally as a serious social problem since the 2010s. Adversaries of this threat, at first, try to penetrate into targeting organizations by using a backdoor which is opened with drive-by-download attacks, malicious e-mail attachments, etc. After adversaries' intruding, they usually execute benign applications (e.g, OS built-in commands, management tools published by OS vendors, etc.) for investigating networks of targeting organizations. Therefore, if they penetrate into networks once, it is difficult to rapidly detect these malicious activities only by using anti-virus software or network-based intrusion systems. Meanwhile, enterprise networks are managed well in general. That means network administrators have a good grasp of installed applications and routinely used applications for employees' daily works. Thereby, in order to find anomaly behaviors on well-managed networks, it is effective to observe changes executing their applications. In this paper, we propose a lightweight host-based intrusion detection system by using process generation patterns. Our system periodically collects lists of active processes from each host, then the system constructs process trees from the lists. In addition, the system detects anomaly processes from the process trees considering parent-child relationships, execution sequences and lifetime of processes. Moreover, we evaluated the system in our organization. The system collected 2, 403, 230 process paths in total from 498 hosts for two months, then the system could extract 38 anomaly processes. Among them, one PowerShell process was also detected by using an anti-virus software running on our organization. Furthermore, our system could filter out the other 18 PowerShell processes, which were used for maintenance of our network.
QR-Factorization Algorithm for Computed Tomography (CT): Comparison With FDK and Conjugate Gradient (CG) Algorithms

Even though QR-factorization of the system matrix for tomographic devices has been already used for medical imaging, to date, no satisfactory solution has been found for solving large linear systems, such as those used in computed tomography (CT) (in the order of $10^{6}$ equations). In CT, the Feldkamp, Davis, and Kress back projection algorithm (FDK) and iterative methods like conjugate gradient (CG) are the standard methods used for image reconstruction. As the image reconstruction problem can be modeled by a large linear system of equations, QR-factorization of the system matrix could be used to solve this system. Current advances in computer science enable the use of direct methods for solving such a large linear system. The QR-factorization is a numerically stable direct method for solving linear systems of equations, which is beginning to emerge as an alternative to traditional methods, bringing together the best from traditional methods. QR-factorization was chosen because the core of the algorithm, from the computational cost point of view, is precalculated and stored only once for a given CT system, and from then on, each image reconstruction only involves a backward substitution process and the product of a vector by a matrix. Image quality assessment was performed comparing contrast to noise ratio and noise power spectrum; performances regarding sharpness were evaluated by the reconstruction of small structures using data measured from a small animal 3-D CT. Comparisons of QR-factorization with FDK and CG methods show that QR-factorization is able to reconstruct more detailed images for a fixed voxel size.
Barriers to supportive care during the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa: Results of a qualitative study

Background During the 2013–2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, supportive care was the only non-experimental treatment option for patients with Ebola virus disease (EVD). However, providing care that would otherwise be routine for most clinical settings in the context of a highly contagious and lethal pathogen is much more challenging. The objective of this study was to document and deepen understanding of barriers to provision of supportive care in Ebola treatment units (ETUs) as perceived by those involved in care delivery during the outbreak. Methods This qualitative study consisted of 29 in-depth semi-structured interviews with stakeholders (decision-makers, physicians, nurses) involved in patient care delivery during the outbreak. Analysis consisted of interview debriefing and team-based transcript coding in NVivo10 software using thematic analysis. Findings Participants emphasized three interconnected barriers to providing high-quality supportive care during the outbreak: 1) lack of material and human resources in ETUs; 2) ETU organizational structure limiting the provision of supportive clinical care; and 3) delayed and poorly coordinated policies limiting the effectiveness of global and national responses. Participants also noted the ethical complexities of defining and enacting best clinical practices in low-income countries. They noted tension between, on one hand, scaling up minimal care and investing in clinical care preparedness to a level sustainable in West Africa and, on the other, providing a higher level of supportive care, which in low-resource health systems would require important investments. Conclusion Our findings identified potentially modifiable barriers to the delivery of supportive care to patients with EVD in West Africa. Addressing these in the inter-outbreak period will be useful to improve patient care and outcomes during inevitable future outbreaks. Promoting community trust and engagement through long-term capacity building of the healthcare workforce and infrastructure would increase both health system resilience and ability to handle other outbreaks of emerging diseases.
C-type lectin-like receptor 2 (CLEC-2)-dependent dendritic cell migration is controlled by tetraspanin CD37

ABSTRACT Cell migration is central to evoking a potent immune response. Dendritic cell (DC) migration to lymph nodes is dependent on the interaction of C-type lectin-like receptor 2 (CLEC-2; encoded by the gene Clec1b), expressed by DCs, with podoplanin, expressed by lymph node stromal cells, although the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we show that CLEC-2-dependent DC migration is controlled by tetraspanin CD37, a membrane-organizing protein. We identified a specific interaction between CLEC-2 and CD37, and myeloid cells lacking CD37 (Cd37−/−) expressed reduced surface CLEC-2. CLEC-2-expressing Cd37−/− DCs showed impaired adhesion, migration velocity and displacement on lymph node stromal cells. Moreover, Cd37−/− DCs failed to form actin protrusions in a 3D collagen matrix upon podoplanin-induced CLEC-2 stimulation, phenocopying CLEC-2-deficient DCs. Microcontact printing experiments revealed that CD37 is required for CLEC-2 recruitment in the membrane to its ligand podoplanin. Finally, Cd37−/− DCs failed to inhibit actomyosin contractility in lymph node stromal cells, thus phenocopying CLEC-2-deficient DCs. This study demonstrates that tetraspanin CD37 controls CLEC-2 membrane organization and provides new molecular insights into the mechanisms underlying CLEC-2-dependent DC migration. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper. Highlighted Article: Here, we show that tetraspanin CD37 directly interacts with CLEC-2 in the membrane of dendritic cells, to control dendritic cell migration and podoplanin-induced contractility in lymph node stromal cells.
Compact Narrowband Filtering Rat-Race Coupler Using Quad-Mode Dielectric Resonator

In this paper, we propose a method for designing the narrowband filtering rat-race couplers using the quad-mode dielectric resonator (DR) for the first time. The filtering rat-race couplers are designed in single-cavity configuration with one quad-mode DR and four feeding probes, featuring compact size. Based on the investigation on resonant frequencies of a rectangular DR, a quad-mode DR is first constructed. Electromagnetic (EM) field distributions at two resonant mode pairs are studied for guiding the filtering rat-race DR coupler realization. The desired 0° and 180° phase differences of the rat-race coupler are realized by the inherent in-phase and out-of-phase EM-fields of the DR. By properly arranging the four feeding probes, the single-cavity configuration is designed to fulfill the transmission characteristics of a rat-race coupler topology, such as the magnitude and phase properties. The detailed design method is presented. For demonstration, a filtering rat-race coupler based on the rectangular DR is fabricated and measured, showing excellent performance of filtering responses, amplitude balance, as well as the 0° and 180° phase differences. Moreover, the other filtering rat-race coupler is implemented by using a cylindrical DR with an improved <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-factor. Comparison with other reported filtering couplers indicates that proposed designs exhibit the advantages of compact size, high <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$Q$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-factor, and good filtering responses.
Image in Painting through Non Local Total Variation by Flower Pollination Approach and Predictive Guided Patch Mixing

In this paper, we improved the formulation of exemplar-based image inpainting using metric labeling by flower pollination optimization. In FPA, we used greedy approach for optimization of metric convergence in exemplar method, which increases the total variation, cost but reduce the convergence time. For reducing the cost, we used optimize number of masked images selected by Exception maximization method, which reduces the cost and increase the efficiency of total variation method. We used the parameter of quality score and cost on different type of four images and analyzed the PSNR, quality score in comparison with existing method. Experimental results show that the proposed approach significantly improves the MSE, PSNR and quality as compared to the existing method. There is 8–9% increase in quality score of inpainted images then proposed method and also 25–30 % increase in PSNR then the proposed method.Computional complexity is reduced in proposed method which in turn reduces time.
ASNI: Attenuated Signature Noise Injection for Low-Overhead Power Side-Channel Attack Immunity

Computationally-secure cryptographic algorithms implemented on a physical platform leak significant “<italic>side-channel</italic>” information through their power supplies. Correlational power attack is an efficient power side-channel attack (SCA) technique, which analyzes the statistical correlation between the estimated and the measured supply current traces to extract the secret key. The existing power SCA countermeasures are mainly based on reducing the SNR of the leaked information, power balancing, or gate-level masking, each of which introduces significant power, area or performance overheads, which calls for an efficient generic countermeasure. This paper presents ASNI: <italic>Attenuated Signature Noise Injection</italic>, which is an energy-efficient generic countermeasure, and shows SCA resistance on the AES-128 encryption as an application. ASNI uses a shunt low-drop-out (LDO) regulator to suppress the AES current signature by <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${>}200 \times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> in the supply current traces. The shunt LDO has been fabricated and validated in 130 nm CMOS technology. System-level implementation of the ASNI, with the AES-128 core operating at 40 MHz, shows that the system remains secure even after 1 M encryptions, with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\sim 25 \times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> reduction in power overhead compared to that of noise addition alone.
Rating Prediction via Graph Signal Processing

This paper develops new designs for recommendation systems inspired by recent advances in graph signal processing. Recommendation systems aim to predict unknown ratings by exploiting the information revealed in a subset of user-item observed ratings. Leveraging the notions of graph frequency and graph filters, we demonstrate that classical collaborative filtering methods, such as $k$ -nearest neighbors (NN), can be modeled as a specific band-stop graph filter on networks describing similarities between users or items. We also demonstrate that linear latent factor (LF) models, such as low-rank matrix completion, can be viewed as bandlimited interpolation algorithms that operate in a frequency domain given by the spectrum of a joint user and item network. These new interpretations pave the way to new methods for enhanced rating prediction. For NN-based collaborative filtering, we develop more general band-stop graph filters, and present a novel predictor, called mirror filtering (MiFi), that filters jointly across user and item networks. For LF, we propose a low complexity method by exploiting the eigenvector of correlation matrices constructed from known ratings. The performance of our algorithms is assessed in the MovieLens 100 k dataset, showing that our designs reduce the root mean-squared error (up to a 6.85% for MiFi) compared to one incurred by the benchmark collaborative filtering approach.
Characteristic Analysis and Functional Validation of a Brushless Flux-Modulated Double-Rotor Machine for HEVs

This paper investigates a flux-modulated double-rotor machine (FM-DRM) for series–parallel hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Based on flux-modulated gears, the FM-DRM has similar speed-torque characteristics. Two configuration schemes are analyzed and compared for the hybrid electric system based on the FM-DRM. The boundary operating conditions of the FM-DRM system are discussed. Moreover, the power flows regarding various operating modes are investigated and corresponding power equations are deduced. An HEV system based on the FM-DRM is simulated for a driving cycle of the United States Environmental Protection Agency to verify the various operating modes. A prototype FM-DRM is manufactured and tested by a driving cycle. The feasibility of using the FM-DRM as a power-splitting device for HEVs is validated by experimental results.
Optimal Codesign of Control Input and Triggering Instants for Networked Control Systems Using Adaptive Dynamic Programming

The problem of codesign or simultaneous synthesis of triggering and input policies is investigated. The policies are synthesized to minimize a cost function incorporating a data transmission cost. This is unlike the common practice of utilizing an a priori-designed stabilizing control policy and designing a triggering policy, which retains stability. Initially, a finite-horizon cost function that penalizes the state, the control input, and each data transmission is selected. The optimal actions comprised of the control input and the triggering decision, under the operation choice of zero-order hold (ZOH), are approximately obtained in a feedback form, using adaptive dynamic programming. Afterward, the design is extended to the case of generalized ZOH, where the last transmitted state information is updated using a possibly imperfect model. Extension to infinite-horizon cost functions is presented. After analysis of convergence and optimality, the performance of the method is demonstrated through some numerical examples.
The Lived Experiences of Adolescents With Cancer: A Phenomenological Study

This descriptive phenomenological study was conducted to explore the lived experiences of adolescents with cancer. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants. In-depth, nonstructured interviews were conducted to collect data, and narratives were analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step method. Data saturation was achieved after interviewing 16 participants. The study was divided into three main themes and 16 subthemes: suffering (caused by symptoms, therapy, cancer recurrence, the feeling of being trapped in hospital, the burden of food therapy, delayed education, the absence of peer relationships, and limited activities), emotional reactions (fear, worry, sadness, anger, and loneliness), and rebalancing (strong family relationships, optimistic thinking, and healthy lifestyles). While adolescents with cancer experience changes in lifestyle, and physical, psychological, and social burden, they also have positive life experiences. Building appropriate learning systems, improving communication skill, and providing appropriate food therapy may alleviate the psychological burden experienced by young patients.
Accurate Modeling of Coil Inductance for Near-Field Wireless Power Transfer

This paper presents closed form expressions for self-inductance and mutual inductance of circular wire-wound coils (WWCs) used in near-field wireless power transfer systems. The calculation of the radius of the coils, inspired from the Archimedean spiral found in many biological organisms, is used to model the self-inductance of single- and multilayer spiral coils. The value of the mutual inductance is determined by expressing the Taylor expansion of Neumann’s integral for constant current-carrying wires. Formulas for the mutual inductance are also derived for misaligned magnetically coupled coils enabling the rapid but accurate calculation of power transfer efficiency in real-life applications. Self-inductance and mutual inductance values are computed using the 3-D electromagnetic software package Maxwell 3D, and these values demonstrate excellent agreement compared with the proposed models. WWCs of different geometrical configurations have been manufactured to validate experimentally the accuracy of the proposed models. Comparison of analytical and experimental results indicates that the proposed models are capable to accurately predict the self-inductance and mutual coupling rapidly. The proposed modeling paves the way for the time efficient optimization of near-field wireless power transfer links.