Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detecting Targeted Attacks Using Shadow Honeypots

We present Shadow Honeypots, a novel hybrid architecture that combines the best features of honeypots and anomaly detection. At a high level, we use a variety of anomaly detectors to monitor all traffic to a protected network/service. Traffic that is considered anomalous is processed by a "shadow honeypot" to determine the accuracy of the anomaly prediction. The shadow is an instance of the protected software that shares all internal state with a regular ("production") instance of the application, and is instrumented to detect potential attacks. Attacks against the shadow are caught, and any incurred state changes are discarded. Legitimate traffic that was misclassified will be validated by the shadow and will be handled correctly by the system transparently to the end user. The outcome of processing a request by the shadow is used to filter future attack instances and could be used to update the anomaly detector. Our architecture allows system designers to fine-tune systems for performance, since false positives will be filtered by the shadow. Contrary to regular honeypots, our architecture can be used both for server and client applications. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach in a proof-of-concept implementation of the Shadow Honeypot architecture for the Apache web server and the Mozilla Firefox browser. We show that despite a considerable overhead in the instrumentation of the shadow honeypot (up to 20% for Apache), the overall impact on the system is diminished by the ability to minimize the rate of false-positives.
Amplitude and habituation of the orienting reflex as a function of stimulus intensity.

Two within-S experiments involving 20 Ss each and one between-S experiment employing 100 Ss were performed to examine effects of stimulus intensity on orienting response amplitude and habituation. Five intensities of a 1000 Hz tone were presented, ranging from 0 to 40 dB in Experiment I and from 0 to 80 dB in Experiments II and III. Response measures were skin conductance response (SCR) and heart rate (HR). Skin conductance response amplitude increased monotonically with stimulus intensity while HR deceleration was a generally decreasing function which tended to decrease, increase, and finally decrease again as intensity increased. Not only was deceleration greatest at 0 dB but it was more resistant to habituation. Several intensities of test stimulation were presented after habituating stimuli in the between-S experiment. Skin conductance response to test stimuli was facilitated by habituation at 0 dB and depressed by habituation at 80 dB. The results suggest a direct relationship between stimulus intensity and development of habituation.
Orexin Signaling in the Ventral Tegmental Area Is Required for High-Fat Appetite Induced by Opioid Stimulation of the Nucleus Accumbens

The overriding of satiety and homeostatic control mechanisms by cognitive, rewarding, and emotional aspects of palatable foods may contribute to the evolving obesity crisis, but little is known about neural pathways and mechanisms responsible for crosstalk between the “cognitive” and “metabolic” brain in the control of appetite. Here we show that neural connections between the nucleus accumbens and hypothalamus might be part of this link. Using the well known model of selective stimulation of high-fat intake induced by intra-accumbens injection of the μ-opioid receptor agonist d-Ala2-N-Me-Phe4-gly5-ol-enkephalin (DAMGO), we demonstrate that orexin signaling in the ventral tegmental area is important for this reward-driven appetite to override metabolic repletion signals in presatiated rats. We further show that accumbens DAMGO in the absence of food selectively increases the proportion of orexin neurons expressing c-Fos in parts of the perifornical hypothalamus and that neural projections originating in DAMGO-responsive sites of the nucleus accumbens make close anatomical contacts with hypothalamic orexin neurons. These findings suggest that direct accumbens–hypothalamic projections can stimulate hypothalamic orexin neurons, which in turn through orexin-1 receptor signaling in the ventral tegmental area and possibly other sites interfaces with the motivational and motor systems to increase intake of palatable food.
Surgical Implications of Cerebral Dysgenesis

ABSTRACT: Cerebral dysgenesis encompasses varied disorders of brain development. Based on the understanding of these conditions provided by histopathologists, embryologists, radiologists and developmental pediatricians, surgeons are able to appropriately assist in the care of these patients. The surgeon can offer assessment of the ventriculomegaly that commonly accompanies cerebral dysgenesis in addition to providing methods to control hydrocephalus, to reconstruct cranial and facial malformations and to remove dysfunctional tissue. For most patients, surgical intervention is only one of the many factors that determine developmental prognosis. Based on the foundation built by other specialists, this review discusses cerebral dysgenesis from the perspective of historical and current surgical interventions.
Orthogonal Drawings of Series-Parallel Graphs with Minimum Bends

In an orthogonal drawing of a planar graph $G$, each vertex is drawn as a point, each edge is drawn as a sequence of alternate horizontal and vertical line segments, and any two edges do not cross except at their common end. A bend is a point where an edge changes its direction. A drawing of $G$ is called an optimal orthogonal drawing if the number of bends is minimum among all orthogonal drawings of $G$. In this paper we give an algorithm to find an optimal orthogonal drawing of any given series-parallel graph of the maximum degree at most three. Our algorithm takes linear time, while the previously known best algorithm takes cubic time. Furthermore, our algorithm is much simpler than the previous one. We also obtain a best possible upper bound on the number of bends in an optimal drawing.
Measuring Productivity on High Performance Computers

In the high performance computing domain, the speed of execution of a program has typically been the primary performance metric. But productivity is also of concern to high performance computing developers. In this paper we will discuss the problems of defining and measuring productivity for these machines and we develop a model of productivity that includes both a performance component and a component that measures the development time of the program. We ran several experiments using students in high performance courses at several universities, and we report on those results with respect to our model of productivity.
Reply to comment by S. Vatankhah and R.A. Renaut: “Three‐dimensional potential field data inversion with L0 quasinorm sparse constraints”

The comment on “Three-dimensional potential field data inversion with L0 quasi-norm sparse constraints” by Vatankhah mainly gives some advice on my paper. Vatankhah pays attention on the L0 norm, which is applied on the potential field data inversion. Last and Kubik (1983) firstly introduced the compact inversion of gravity data. Later, other inversion studies were based on this principle (e.g.: Portniaguine and Zhdanov 1999). The strategy to obtain compact models is similar to the L0 norm constraint. However, they are not same. In my paper, I used the L0 norm which was firstly introduced in the compressive sensing theory. Compressive sensing is the reconstruction of sparse images or signals from very few samples, by means of solving a tractable optimization problem (Baraniuk 2008; Chartrand 2009). It is a great breakthrough. Later, this principle has been applied in many domains (e.g., Mohimani, Babaie-Zadeh and Jutten 2009; Zhang and Tian 2017). In these researches, an approximate zero norm replaces the L0 norm. In Vatankhah’s comment, there may be some inaccurate understanding. Function f 2 σ (m) (equation (3) in Vatankhah’s comment, corresponding to the function used in Meng (2018)) is better suited for potential field data inversion comparing with f 1 σ (m) (equation (1) in Vatankhah’s comment, introduced by Last and Kubik, 1983). In Vatankhah’s Figure 1(a), for large values of σ and for big absolute values of m, f 2 σ (m) has smaller values than f 1 σ (m), and therefore f 2 σ (m) is smoother than f 1 σ (m). For large σ more weight is imposed on the large elements of the parameter vector m in f 1 σ (m), as compared with f 2 σ (m), yielding a larger penalty on these large elements of m. Thus, the f 2 σ (m) can provide smoother solutions. This phenomenon demonstrates that noise has less effect on f 2 σ (m) than on f 1 σ (m), both used to approximate the L0 norm. Therefore, the f 2 σ (m) function has better performance with big values of σ. Even when σ = 0.1 (Vatankhah’s Fig. 1(b)), f 2 σ (m) have smaller values than f 1 σ (m) for absolute values of m lesser than 0.2, and bigger values than f 1 σ (m) for absolute values ofmbetween 0.2 and 0.6. Therefore, equation (3) can give sparser and better inversion results. Vatankhah’s Figure 1 shows this phenomenon clearly. In the potential field data inversion, the depth-weighting function and density constraint function are very important and commonly used. I think that the researchers can focus on the solution on the L0 norm. For example, the Newton gradient method is applied in my paper, which can effectively avoid the calculations of step size. I think that this reply can help the readers to have a better understanding of this topic.
Ascending the PEAK1 toward targeting TGFβ during cancer progression: Recent advances and future perspectives

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Mortality in patients with solid, epithelial-derived tumors strongly correlates with disease stage and the systemic metastatic load. In such cancers, notable morphological and molecular changes have been attributed to cells as they pass through a continuum of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) states and many of these changes are essential for metastasis. While cancer metastasis is a complex cascade that is regulated by cell-autonomous and microenvironmental influences, it is well-accepted that understanding and controlling metastatic disease is a viable method for increasing patient survival. In the past 5 years, the novel non-receptor tyrosine kinase PEAK1 has surfaced as a central regulator of tumor progression and metastasis in the context of solid, epithelial cancers. Here, we review this literature with a special focus on our recent work demonstrating that PEAK1 mediates non-canonical pro-tumorigenic TGFβ signaling and is an intracellular control point between tumor cells and their extracellular microenvironment. We conclude with a brief discussion of potential applications derived from our current understanding of PEAK1 biology.
Responses of neurons in the marmoset primary auditory cortex to interaural level differences: comparison of pure tones and vocalizations

Interaural level differences (ILDs) are the dominant cue for localizing the sources of high frequency sounds that differ in azimuth. Neurons in the primary auditory cortex (A1) respond differentially to ILDs of simple stimuli such as tones and noise bands, but the extent to which this applies to complex natural sounds, such as vocalizations, is not known. In sufentanil/N2O anesthetized marmosets, we compared the responses of 76 A1 neurons to three vocalizations (Ock, Tsik, and Twitter) and pure tones at cells' characteristic frequency. Each stimulus was presented with ILDs ranging from 20 dB favoring the contralateral ear to 20 dB favoring the ipsilateral ear to cover most of the frontal azimuthal space. The response to each stimulus was tested at three average binaural levels (ABLs). Most neurons were sensitive to ILDs of vocalizations and pure tones. For all stimuli, the majority of cells had monotonic ILD sensitivity functions favoring the contralateral ear, but we also observed ILD sensitivity functions that peaked near the midline and functions favoring the ipsilateral ear. Representation of ILD in A1 was better for pure tones and the Ock vocalization in comparison to the Tsik and Twitter calls; this was reflected by higher discrimination indices and greater modulation ranges. ILD sensitivity was heavily dependent on ABL: changes in ABL by ±20 dB SPL from the optimal level for ILD sensitivity led to significant decreases in ILD sensitivity for all stimuli, although ILD sensitivity to pure tones and Ock calls was most robust to such ABL changes. Our results demonstrate differences in ILD coding for pure tones and vocalizations, showing that ILD sensitivity in A1 to complex sounds cannot be simply extrapolated from that to pure tones. They also show A1 neurons do not show level-invariant representation of ILD, suggesting that such a representation of auditory space is likely to require population coding, and further processing at subsequent hierarchical stages.
Chapter 1 Dynamic Coverage Problems in Sensor Networks

One of the fundamental issues in sensor networks is related to analyzing the coverage, or how well a network of sensors monitors the physical space for an intrusion. The coverage is a measure of the quality of service (QoS) of the sensor network and has been the subject of various studies. The concept of coverage was introduced by Gage in 1992, who studied it in relation to multi-robot systems. He defined three classes of coverage problems: blanket coverage (also known as area coverage), where the goal is to achieve a static arrangement of sensing elements that maximizes the detection rate of targets appearing in the region, sweep coverage, where the goal is to move a number of sensors across the region as to maximize the probability of detecting a target, and barrier coverage, where the objective is to protect the region from unauthorized penetration. While blanket coverage is relatively well researched, the other two types of coverage have been less studied and offer much greater technical challenges. In this survey we concentrate on the two dynamic types of coverage problems, barrier and sweep coverage. We review recent results, proof techniques, analyses, and open problems and challenges. We focus on methods that allow the performance of the algorithms, i.e.
Endothelin Receptor Pharmacology and Function in the Mouse: Comparison with Rat and Man

The endothelin system was characterized in the C57BL/6J mouse, a strain commonly used in genetically manipulated models of cardiovascular disease. Functional responses to endothelin-1 (ET-1) were measured in segments of aorta mounted in wire myographs. Endothelin-1 produced a potent vasoconstriction [EC50: 0.49 nM (0.18-1.3 nM), n = 5], and the maximum response was 11 ± 2.9% KCl response. Competition binding assays (0.1 nM [125I]-ET-1 vs 2 pM to 100 μM PD156707) were conducted on cryostat sections of mouse heart and brain. The endothelin-A (ETA) selective antagonist bound to mouse heart with two affinities, yielding a KDETA of 1.1 ± 0.2 nM (BMAX 130 ± 16 fmol/mg protein) and a KDETB (endothelin-B) of 0.51 ± 0.09 μM (BMAX 14.0 ± 1.1 fmol/mg protein) (n = 5). ETA receptors were predominant in the heart, with competition assays yielding receptor ratios of 90:10 ETA:ETB. Contrastingly, mouse brain was ETB-rich, although PD156707 also competed with two affinities (ETA: KD 0.97 ± 0.87 nM, BMAX 61.7 ± 10 fmol/mg protein; ETB: KD 0.87 ± 0.08 μM, BMAX 132 ± 6.7 fmol/mg protein). In conclusion, we have shown that endothelin-1 is a potent constrictor of mouse aorta and endothelin receptors are highly expressed in mouse heart and brain.
Estimation of hydration free energy for polyethylene glycol oligomers and the relative contributions of hydrophobic and short-ranged chemical interactions

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a non-ionic water soluble polymer that is used as an additive in protein solutions to induce protein crystallization. PEG in dilute solution concentrations and within a molecular weight range, induces an attractive protein-protein interaction. However the strength of this attractive proteinprotein interaction weakens with increasing PEG concentration and molecular weights. Understanding the solvation thermodynamics of PEG is crucial to understanding the molecular mechanisms for the induced protein-protein interaction and its dependence on PEG molecular weights. We calculate the hydration free energy of 1,2-Dimethoxyethane the shortest oligomer of Polyethylene glycol, using an approach similar to Quasi-chemical theory[1, 2]. This approach enables us to calculate the hydration free energy directly from the simulation data and overcome the limitation in van der Waals approach of identifying a suitable reference interaction model. Using this approach we rearrange the estimation of excess chemical potential into a packing contribution of DME molecule in solvent and an interaction contribution due to explicit interaction of DME with solvent. Thus we are able to estimate the relative contributions of hydrophobic, short-ranged chemical interactions identified by quasi-chemical theory and long-ranged interactions to the overall hydration free energy of DME. The hydration free energy of DME was estimated to be 5.14 kcal/mole, which is in good agreement with experimental result[3]. Influence of ether conformations on solvation of DME was studied by estimating the excess chemical potential for some of the most probable conformers in solution.
The Genome of a Pathogenic Rhodococcus: Cooptive Virulence Underpinned by Key Gene Acquisitions

We report the genome of the facultative intracellular parasite Rhodococcus equi, the only animal pathogen within the biotechnologically important actinobacterial genus Rhodococcus. The 5.0-Mb R. equi 103S genome is significantly smaller than those of environmental rhodococci. This is due to genome expansion in nonpathogenic species, via a linear gain of paralogous genes and an accelerated genetic flux, rather than reductive evolution in R. equi. The 103S genome lacks the extensive catabolic and secondary metabolic complement of environmental rhodococci, and it displays unique adaptations for host colonization and competition in the short-chain fatty acid–rich intestine and manure of herbivores—two main R. equi reservoirs. Except for a few horizontally acquired (HGT) pathogenicity loci, including a cytoadhesive pilus determinant (rpl) and the virulence plasmid vap pathogenicity island (PAI) required for intramacrophage survival, most of the potential virulence-associated genes identified in R. equi are conserved in environmental rhodococci or have homologs in nonpathogenic Actinobacteria. This suggests a mechanism of virulence evolution based on the cooption of existing core actinobacterial traits, triggered by key host niche–adaptive HGT events. We tested this hypothesis by investigating R. equi virulence plasmid-chromosome crosstalk, by global transcription profiling and expression network analysis. Two chromosomal genes conserved in environmental rhodococci, encoding putative chorismate mutase and anthranilate synthase enzymes involved in aromatic amino acid biosynthesis, were strongly coregulated with vap PAI virulence genes and required for optimal proliferation in macrophages. The regulatory integration of chromosomal metabolic genes under the control of the HGT–acquired plasmid PAI is thus an important element in the cooptive virulence of R. equi.
Maximum likelihood based HMM state filtering approach to model adaptation for long reverberation

In environment with considerably long reverberation time, each frame of speech is affected by reflected energy components from the preceding frames. Therefore to adapt parameters of a state of HMM, it becomes necessary to consider these frames, and compute their contributions to current state. However, these clean speech frames preceding to a state of HMM are not known during adaptation of the models. In this paper, we propose to use preceding states as units of preceding speech, and estimate their contributions to current state in maximum likelihood fashion. The experimental results on an isolated word recognition task showed significant improvement in performance of speech recognition system for reverberant speech, compared to other methods
Indoor Positioning System using Bluetooth Low Energy

The indoor location-based services has become attractive with the fast improvement of indoor position estimation and with the spread of smart phones. Bluetooth Low Energy is one of the most recent advancements for IoT and particularly appropriate for ultra-low power sensors running on Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor coin cell batteries. Bluetooth Low Energy is effective option for indoor positioning frameworks which offers sensible exactness and minimal effort arrangement. An estimation strategy utilizing Bluetooth low energy labels turns out to be most enhancing and promising among different procedures for assessing area on the grounds that a most of advanced mobile phones uses Bluetooth. The BLE tags transmit advertisement packets intermittently, which incorporate one of universally unique identifier, a major and a minor value only identified with every tag. At the point when a cellphone gets the advertisement packet, the Smartphone Indoor Positioning Application initiates the scanning by turning on Bluetooth and detects a BLE tags. In this paper, received signal strength of BLE tags and transmitting power is measured first so as to take position of BLE tag for indoor situating. BLE CY8CKIT-042 is utilized as a BLE tag to arrange the BLE segment. The figured parameter such as RSSI and transmitting power is used to accesses the distance determination between smartphone and BLE tags.
Involvement of a Branched-Chain Aminotransferase in Production of Volatile Sulfur Compounds in Yarrowia lipolytica

ABSTRACT The enzymatic degradation of l-methionine and the subsequent formation of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) are essential for the development of the typical flavor in cheese. In the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, the degradation of l-methionine was accompanied by the formation of the transamination product 4-methylthio-2-oxobutyric acid. A branched-chain aminotransferase gene (YlBCA1) of Y. lipolytica was amplified, and the l-methionine-degrading activity and the aminotransferase activity were measured in a genetically modified strain and compared to those of the parental strain. Our work shows that l-methionine degradation via transamination is involved in formation of VSCs in Y. lipolytica.