Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Removal for Continuous Data Sensing Systems

Continuous data collection and processing is important for emerging application areas like cognitive assistance, smart sensing, and intelligent transportation. These systems may collect and buffer sensitive data including human-identifying features and privacy-concerning (e.g., health) information. We perform a full-system (including the OS) dynamic tainting study which finds that sensitive data may stay long in the system and be repeatedly accessed. However, accesses to old data are not critical for the correctness and data processing semantics of many applications. This paper presents a new data protection approach for mobile and field-deployed data sensing devices that guarantees the removal of sensitive data and derived information over a certain age (i.e., time since arrival or creation). This is realized by periodic virtual machine (VM)-enabled clean system renewals, during which we switch the data input and production operation to a new clean VM and then securely delete the previous production VM. We identify characteristics in continuous data sensing applications that maintain correct execution through clean system renewals. We further propose a shadow warmup mechanism that lets the renewed system use limited recent input data to produce accurate processing outputs. Experiments with our QEMU / KVM-based prototype implementation and several human and transportation sensing applications demonstrate the applicability of aged data removal at acceptable overhead (no more than 6% slowdown compared to virtualized original execution, or below 19% slowdown compared to native execution). The energy cost is no more than 10% compared to native execution. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation grants CNS-1217372, CNS-1239423, and CCF-1255729, and by a Google Research Award.
The formation of catalytically competent enzyme–substrate complex is not a bottleneck in lesion excision by human alkyladenine DNA glycosylase

Human alkyladenine DNA glycosylase (AAG) protects DNA from alkylated and deaminated purine lesions. AAG flips out the damaged nucleotide from the double helix of DNA and catalyzes the hydrolysis of the N-glycosidic bond to release the damaged base. To understand better, how the step of nucleotide eversion influences the overall catalytic process, we performed a pre-steady-state kinetic analysis of AAG interaction with specific DNA-substrates, 13-base pair duplexes containing in the 7th position 1-N6-ethenoadenine (εA), hypoxanthine (Hx), and the stable product analogue tetrahydrofuran (F). The combination of the fluorescence of tryptophan, 2-aminopurine, and 1-N6-ethenoadenine was used to record conformational changes of the enzyme and DNA during the processes of DNA lesion recognition, damaged base eversion, excision of the N-glycosidic bond, and product release. The thermal stability of the duplexes characterized by the temperature of melting, T m, and the rates of spontaneous opening of individual nucleotide base pairs were determined by NMR spectroscopy. The data show that the relative thermal stability of duplexes containing a particular base pair in position 7, (T m(F/T) < T m(εA/T) < T m(Hx/T) < T m(A/T)) correlates with the rate of reversible spontaneous opening of the base pair. However, in contrast to that, the catalytic lesion excision rate is two orders of magnitude higher for Hx-containing substrates than for substrates containing εA, proving that catalytic activity is not correlated with the stability of the damaged base pair. Our study reveals that the formation of the catalytically competent enzyme–substrate complex is not the bottleneck controlling the catalytic activity of AAG.
A treatise on the binomial theorem

OF THE DISSERTATION A treatise on the binomial theorem by PATRICK DEVLIN Dissertation Director: Jeff Kahn This dissertation discusses four problems taken from various areas of combinatorics— stability results, extremal set systems, information theory, and hypergraph matchings. Though diverse in content, the unifying theme throughout is that each proof relies on the machinery of probabilistic combinatorics. The first chapter offers a summary. In the second chapter, we prove a stability version of a general result that bounds the permanent of a matrix in terms of its operator norm. More specifically, suppose A is an n× n matrix over C (resp. R), and let P denote the set of n× n matrices over C (resp. R) that can be written as a permutation matrix times a unitary diagonal matrix. Then it is known that the permanent of A satisfies |perm(A)| ≤ ‖A‖2 with equality iff A/‖A‖2 ∈ P (where ‖A‖2 is the operator 2-norm of A). We show a stability version of this result asserting that unless A is very close (in a particular sense) to one of these extremal matrices, its permanent is exponentially smaller (as a function of n) than ‖A‖2 . In particular, for any fixed α, β > 0, we show that |perm(A)| is exponentially smaller than ‖A‖2 unless all but at most αn rows contain entries of modulus at least ‖A‖2(1− β). In the third chapter, we prove a randomized result extending the classical Erdős– Ko–Rado theorem. Namely, let Kp(n, k) denote the random subgraph of the usual
HIV-1 envelope diversity 1 year after seroconversion predicts subsequent disease progression

Objective:Recent studies have suggested that the dynamics of HIV-1 evolutionary rate reflect the rate of disease progression. We wished to determine whether viral diversity early in infection is predictive of the subsequent disease course. Design:HIV-1 envelope diversity at seroconversion and 1 year thereafter from 89 homosexual participants of the Amsterdam Cohort Studies on HIV infection and AIDS was correlated with clinical endpoints and markers of disease progression. Methods:Heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) and sequencing followed by calculation of pairwise genetic distances were applied to determine HIV-1 envelope diversity. The HMA pattern (presence or absence of heteroduplexes) and sequence diversity were each tested for correlation with the clinical course of infection. Results:HMA pattern at 1-year postseroconversion was significantly associated with progression to AIDS and AIDS-related death, with presence of heteroduplexes associated with accelerated disease progression. Moreover, not only this dichotomous measure of viral diversity (absence or presence of heteroduplexes), but also genetic diversity itself was associated with disease course. HMA pattern was an independent predictor of accelerated disease progression, also when CCR5 genotype, human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-type, viral load, CD4+ T-cell counts, and coreceptor use at viral load set point were included in the analysis. Conclusion:Viral diversity early in HIV-1 infection is predictive of the subsequent disease progression. It remains to be established whether viral diversity itself plays a causal role in the increased damage to the immune system or whether it is a reflection of immune pressure or other selective forces.
Electrical Resistance Tomography on thin films: Sharp conductive profiles

In this paper Electrical Resistance Tomography is applied to recover maps of sheet conductance of commercial metal-oxide thin films, chosen as test material. Results are compared to nominal specifications and van der Pauw, four-point probe measurements. It is shown how Electrical Resistance Tomography can measure with good accuracy the nominal conductance value in uniform samples and also identify resistivity inhomogeneities in altered samples. The choice of the reconstruction algorithm is also briefly discussed.
A Virtual Crossmatch Protocol Significantly Increases Access of Highly Sensitized Patients to Deceased Donor Kidney Transplantation

Background. Patients with preexisting antihuman leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies (sensitized patients) are more likely to have a positive crossmatch with possible donors and have a lower likelihood of receiving a renal transplant with longer wait times. A virtual crossmatch protocol using solid-phase technology to determine the specificity of anti-HLA antibodies may improve the probability of identifying a crossmatch-negative compatible donor and increase access of sensitized patients to kidney transplantation. Methods. A virtual crossmatch protocol was implemented on October 1, 2006 with solid-phase HLA antibody characterization for all sensitized patients on the waiting list. Transplant rates for the period from October 2006 to June 2008 were compared with Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) data from 2006 to determine national transplant rates for sensitized patients. Results. SRTR data for 2006 showed that nationally 590 of 10,659 transplants (5.5%) were in-patients with panel reactive antibody (PRA) more than or equal to 80%. During 2006 to 2008, after initiation of the virtual crossmatch protocol, we performed 122 deceased donor kidney transplants, of which 15 (12.3%) sensitized patients (PRA≥80%) received transplants (P=0.004 compared with SRTR national data), with 9 (7.4%) patients having a PRA more than 90%. The virtual crossmatch protocol was predictive of a negative-final crossmatch and eliminated the use of preliminary cross-matching with attendant cost savings of more than $100,000. Conclusion. Initiation of a virtual crossmatch protocol using solid-phase histocompatibility techniques significantly increased access of sensitized patients to kidney transplantation and was more cost effective. Usage of a virtual crossmatch may facilitate greater sharing of kidneys to improve access to transplantation for sensitized recipients.
The optimal expansion planning: The benefits of the renewable option

This paper proposes an integrated expansion planning model for a generation/transmission system, emphasizing the use of renewable sources. The goal is to find the perfect mix between the different renewable energy sources, in order to ensure maximum demand within the minimum risk. The model takes into account the difference between climatological dynamics, allowing a more realistic representation of availabilities and complementarities. The final result is the optimum expansion plan which explores each source potentiality, creating a multiplicative effect able to ensure levels of quality and security impossible to achieve otherwise. A realistic case study analyzes the Brazilian system and highlights the benefits of the renewable expansion in terms of risks and costs.
Variability of metabolite yield using STEAM or PRESS sequences in vivo at 3.0 T, illustrated with myo‐inositol

Using as an example the myo‐inositol (mI) band at ∼3.6 ppm in the proton spectrum from brain, an evaluation is presented that highlights the difficulties of quantifying metabolites with strongly coupled spins with either STEAM or PRESS and demonstrates some advantages of prospective sequence analysis when measuring their concentrations. The analysis emphasizes the variation in coupled‐spin signal yield and lineshape, compared with that of uncoupled singlets such as N‐acetylaspartate, a variation that differs from one metabolite spin system to another. This difference in variation between a target metabolite (e.g., mI) and its contaminating background metabolites (e.g., glutamate and taurine, etc.) is shown to provide in certain circumstances a substantial reduction in background contamination (both metabolite and macromolecule) while maintaining sufficient signal‐to‐noise ratio for precise quantification. For example, sequence times are demonstrated, both for STEAM and for PRESS, that, relative to the short echo‐time sequences typical in the literature, enhance the signal to metabolite background of the 3.6‐ppm band of mI by factors of 1.7 and 1.3, respectively, essentially eliminate the macromolecular baseline, and yet in vivo retain an S/N ∼ 10 in both cases. Magn Reson Med 53:760–769, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Social and Individual-Level Predictors of Alcohol Use Initiation and Escalation: Replicating and Extending Tests of Differential Effects.

OBJECTIVE Although alcohol use is considered a developmental phenomenon, there is a relative dearth of studies disaggregating predictors of alcohol use initiation versus early escalation of drinking. One perspective that has emerged is that social levels of influence may be relevant for the initiation of drinking, whereas individual levels of influence may be relevant for the early escalation in level of drinking among initiators, which we refer to as the specificity hypothesis. METHOD A sample of alcohol-naive youth (n = 944; mean age = 12.16 years, SD = 0.96) was prospectively assessed for 3 years, spanning six waves of data collection. RESULTS Both social (parental conflict, perceived prevalence of peer drinking) and individual-level (higher sensation seeking) variables uniquely predicted increases in the likelihood of alcohol initiation. Likewise, both social (perceived descriptive norms of peer drinking) and individual-level (lower school grades, higher sensation seeking) variables uniquely predicted escalation in level of drinking among initiators (although only marginally for sensation seeking). CONCLUSIONS Overall, there was little support for the specificity hypothesis. Our findings suggest that to assume that social and individual-level processes differentially predict drinking outcomes may be a false dichotomy. Theoretical work may benefit from drawing from developmental models emphasizing the interplay between individual and environmental factors in the prediction of the early development of drinking. The emergence of drinking behaviors is likely to result from a developmental cascade of interacting variables that make the ontogeny of drinking unlikely to emerge from a single class of variables.
Effects of propolis, caffeic acid phenethyl ester, and pollen on renal injury in hypertensive rat: An experimental and theoretical approach

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant effects of propolis, caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE; active compound in propolis), and pollen on biochemical oxidative stress biomarkers in rat kidney tissue inhibited by Nω‐nitro‐L‐arginine methyl ester (L‐NAME). The biomarkers evaluated were paraoxonase (PON1), oxidative stress index (OSI), total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), and nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB). TAS levels and PON1 activity were significantly decreased in kidney tissue samples in the L‐NAME‐treated group (P < 0.05). The levels of TAS and PONI were higher in the L‐NAME plus propolis, CAPE, and pollen groups compared with the L‐NAME‐treated group. TOS, ADMA, and NF‐κB levels were significantly increased in the kidney tissue samples of the L‐NAME‐treated group (P < 0.05). However, these parameters were significantly lower in the L‐NAME plus propolis, CAPE, and pollen groups (P < 0.05) compared with rats administered L‐NAME alone (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the binding energy of CAPE within catalytic domain of glutathione reductase (GR) enzyme as well as its inhibitory mechanism was determined using molecular modeling approaches. In conclusion, experimental and theoretical data suggested that oxidative alterations occurring in the kidney tissue of chronic hypertensive rats may be prevented via active compound of propolis, CAPE administration.
A Machine Learning Based Meta-Scheduler for Multi-Core Processors

Sharing resources such as caches and memory buses between the cores of multi-core processors may cause performance bottlenecks for running programs. In this paper, the authors describe a meta-scheduler, which adapts the process scheduling decisions for reducing the contention for shared L2 caches on multi-core processors. The meta-scheduler takes into account the multi-core topology as well as the L2 cache related characteristics of the processes. Using the model generated by the process of machine learning, it predicts the L2 cache behavior, i.e., solo-run-L2-cache-stress, of the programs. It runs in user mode and guides the underlying operating system process scheduler in intelligent scheduling of processes to reduce the contention of shared L2 caches. In these experiments, the authors observed up to 12 percent speedup in individual as well as overall performance, while using meta-scheduler as compared to default process scheduler (Completely Fair Scheduler) of Linux kernel.
EMERGENCE, GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF SESAME UNDER SALT STRESS AND PROPORTIONS OF NITRATE AND AMMONIUM

In arid and semi-arid regions, the quality of irrigation water varies in geographic terms and during the year, and the occurrence of water with high concentrations of salts is common. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the emergence, growth and production of sesame, cultivar CNPA G3, irrigated with saline water and fertilized with N of different carrier proportions by the ratio of nitrate and ammonium (NO3 -N and NH4 -N) in an experiment conducted in lysimeters arranged in a greenhouse in the municipality of Campina Grande-PB, Brazil. The treatments were distributed into randomized blocks using a 5 × 5 factorial scheme relative to levels of irrigation water salinity (ECw; 0.6, 1.2, 1.8, 2.4 and 3.0 dS m) and five proportions of NO3 -N/NH4 -N (200/0; 150/50; 100/100; 50/150 and 0/200 mg of N kg), with three replicates. The increase in ECw compromised the emergence, growth and production of sesame, cultivar CNPA G3, and the production components were the most sensitive variables. The highest growth in diameter was obtained with the proportion of 200/0 mg kg -1 of NO3 -N/NH4 -N. An ECw level of 3.0 dS m and fertilization with 0/200 mg kg of NO3 -N/NH4 -N promoted deleterious effects on the total mass of sesame fruits and mass of seeds. The interaction between water salinity levels and NO3 /NH4 + proportions significantly affected the number of leaves (at 50 and 70 days after sowing), the total mass of fruits and the mass of seeds.
Adaptive-fuzzy hysteresis controlled three phase shunt active filter for constant switching frequency

The study done in this paper concerns the use of a new control technique of current using adaptive hysteresis regulator by fuzzy logic on the command of a parallel active filter. For the proposed method, the hysteresis band is adapted in every moment in order to determine the switching frequency and control the position of the command pulses. This allows a better tracking of a heavily distorted current and minimizes undulations in the various quantities characterizing the active power filter. In this paper, the theory of the method is discussed and its performance is compared, though out simulations, to the adaptive band technique. The comparative study confirms the benefits and potentiality of the new modulation method.
Rank-One Matrix Completion With Automatic Rank Estimation via L1-Norm Regularization

Completing a matrix from a small subset of its entries, i.e., matrix completion is a challenging problem arising from many real-world applications, such as machine learning and computer vision. One popular approach to solve the matrix completion problem is based on low-rank decomposition/factorization. Low-rank matrix decomposition-based methods often require a prespecified rank, which is difficult to determine in practice. In this paper, we propose a novel low-rank decomposition-based matrix completion method with automatic rank estimation. Our method is based on rank-one approximation, where a matrix is represented as a weighted summation of a set of rank-one matrices. To automatically determine the rank of an incomplete matrix, we impose L1-norm regularization on the weight vector and simultaneously minimize the reconstruction error. After obtaining the rank, we further remove the L1-norm regularizer and refine recovery results. With a correctly estimated rank, we can obtain the optimal solution under certain conditions. Experimental results on both synthetic and real-world data demonstrate that the proposed method not only has good performance in rank estimation, but also achieves better recovery accuracy than competing methods.
Tendon conditioning: artefact or property?

Isolated tendons subjected to cyclic tensile loads higher than those experienced in the tendons' recent history exhibit 'conditioning', i.e. gradually increasing elongations upon loading and gradually increasing residual elongations after unloading in the first few loading-unloading cycles. The present study examines whether this behaviour is a measurement artefact or an actual time-dependent property. The gastrocnemius tendons of six men who refrained from rigorous physical activities prior to the experiment were loaded cyclically by 10 repeated isometric plantarflexion contractions at 80% of the moment generated during plantarflexion maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). In each contraction, the elongation of the gastrocnemius tendon at 80% of MVC and the residual tendon elongation after relaxation were obtained from the analysis of sonographs recorded during the test. The tendon elongation during activation and the residual tendon elongation after relaxation increased by ca. 5 mm from the first contraction to the tenth contraction, with no changes obtained after the fifth contraction. The behaviour of the tendon in the first five contractions indicates the presence of conditioning. It is therefore concluded that conditioning is a relevant property and not an artefact associated with in vitro testing. This has implications for joint kinematics and muscle excursion.
From E-Sex to E-Commerce: Web Search Changes

The Web has become a worldwide source of information and a mainstream business tool. Are human information needs and searching behaviors evolving along with Web content? As part of a body of research studying this question, we have analyzed three data sets culled from more than one million queries submitted by more than 200,000 users of the Excite Web search engine, collected in September 1997, December 1999, and May 2001. This longitudinal benchmark study shows that public Web searching is evolving in certain directions. Specifically, search topics have shifted from entertainment and sex to commerce and people, but there is little change in query lengths or frequency per user. Search topics have shifted, but there is little change in user search behaviors.
The Conjunctivitis of Solar (Actinic) Prurigo

Abstract: Solar (actinic) prurigo (SP) is an abnormal reaction to sunlight that affects mostly the Indian and mestizo populations of America, and is well known in Canada and the United States. It is quite common in Mexico, Central, and South America, although rare in Europe. It usually starts in childhood in both sexes and in about 30–50% of cases involves the oral and ocular mucosa. In this study we present the clinical and histopathologic conjunctival findings in 11 of 105 children with SP. Clinically the most important features were photophobia, some degree of pterygium, and pinguecula, hyperemia, Trantas' dots, hyaline exudate, and follicles. Histopathologically the changes were epithelial, such as epidermoid metaplasia and absence of goblet cells, and stromal changes, which were the most diagnostically relevant. These consisted of lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrates, usually with eosinophils, melanosis, and solar elastosis. We believe this constellation of criteria will be useful for a better characterization of SP.
Chronic periaortitis and periarteritis

A review of the histology of atherosclerotic aneurysms shows that all are accompanied by adventitial inflammation and fibrosis, usually slight. Severe degrees of this periaortic inflammation are visible macroscopically and give rise to the conditions variously known as inflammatory aneurysm or perianeurysmal retro‐peritoneal fibrosis. The disease appears identical to most cases of idiopathic retro‐peritoneal fibrosis, except that in this condition the aorta is not dilated. Less commonly similar adventitial inflammation and fibrosis are seen around coronary arteries. The appearances suggest that all these forms of inflammation are essentially identical and probably due to hypersensitivity to antigens in the atheromatous plaque.