Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Inferential or Differential: Privacy Laws Dictate

So far, privacy models follow two paradigms. The first paradigm, termed inferential privacy in this paper, focuses on the risk due to statistical inference of sensitive information about a target record from other records in the database. The second paradigm, known as differential privacy, focuses on the risk to an individual when included in, versus when not included in, the database. The contribution of this paper consists of two parts. The first part presents a critical analysis on differential privacy with two results: (i) the differential privacy mechanism does not provide inferential privacy, (ii) the impossibility result about achieving Dalenius's privacy goal [5] is based on an adversary simulated by a Turing machine, but a human adversary may behave differently; consequently, the practical implication of the impossibility result remains unclear. The second part of this work is devoted to a solution addressing three major drawbacks in previous approaches to inferential privacy: lack of flexibility for handling variable sensitivity, poor utility, and vulnerability to auxiliary information.
An improved GPU MapReduce framework for data intensive applications

The MapReduce paradigm is one of the best solutions for implementing distributed applications which perform intensive data processing. In terms of performance regarding this type of applications, MapReduce can be improved by adding GPU capabilities. In this context, the GPU clusters for large scale computing can bring a considerable increase in the efficiency and speedup of data intensive applications. In this article we present a framework for executing MapReduce using GPU programming. We describe several improvements to the concept of GPU MapReduce and we compare our solution with others.
Isolation and Characterization of Three Mammalian Orthoreoviruses from European Bats

In recent years novel human respiratory disease agents have been described in South East Asia and Australia. The causative pathogens were classified as pteropine orthoreoviruses with strong phylogenetic relationship to orthoreoviruses of flying foxes inhabiting these regions. Subsequently, a zoonotic bat-to-human transmission has been assumed. We report the isolation of three novel mammalian orthoreoviruses (MRVs) from European bats, comprising bat-borne orthoreovirus outside of South East Asia and Australia and moreover detected in insectivorous bats (Microchiroptera). MRVs are well known to infect a broad range of mammals including man. Although they are associated with rather mild and clinically unapparent infections in their hosts, there is growing evidence of their ability to also induce more severe illness in dogs and man. In this study, eight out of 120 vespertilionid bats proved to be infected with one out of three novel MRV isolates, with a distinct organ tropism for the intestine. One isolate was analyzed by 454 genome sequencing. The obtained strain T3/Bat/Germany/342/08 had closest phylogenetic relationship to MRV strain T3D/04, isolated from a dog. These novel reoviruses provide a rare chance of gaining insight into possible transmission events and of tracing the evolution of bat viruses.
Unexpected diversity and a new species of Epizoanthus (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) attached to eunicid worm tubes from the Pacific Ocean

Abstract Epizoanthus species are generally found in association with other marine invertebrates such as hermit crabs and gastropods. Although Epizoanthus spp. are relatively common, there is limited information about their diversity and ecology due to their habitats or hosts, often being below the depths of SCUBA diving (>~50 m). In particular, the Epizoanthus fauna of the Indo-Pacific Ocean remains poorly understood. In this study, the diversity of Epizoanthus species associated with eunicid worm tubes from shallow waters in the Pacific Ocean we investigated using molecular analyses (mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 = COI, mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA = mt 16S-rDNA, nuclear internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA = ITS-rDNA) combined with morphological and ecological data. The combined data set leads us to describe two new species; Epizoanthus inazuma sp. n. and Epizoanthus beriber sp. n. Both new species are found in low-light environments: Epizoanthus inazuma sp. n. on mesophotic coral reef slopes and reef floors, or on the sides of overhangs; Epizoanthus beriber sp. n. has only been found in caves. Morphological characteristics of these two new species are very similar to Epizoanthus illoricatus Tischbierek, 1930 but the two new species are genetically distinct. Mesentery numbers and coloration of polyps may be useful diagnostic characteristics among eunicid-associated Epizoanthus species. These results demonstrate that there is high potential for other potentially undescribed zoantharian species, particularly in underwater cave habitats.
Molecular Determinants of Interactions between the N-Terminal Domain and the Transmembrane Core That Modulate hERG K+ Channel Gating

A conserved eag domain in the cytoplasmic amino terminus of the human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) potassium channel is critical for its slow deactivation gating. Introduction of gene fragments encoding the eag domain are able to restore normal deactivation properties of channels from which most of the amino terminus has been deleted, and also those lacking exclusively the eag domain or carrying a single point mutation in the initial residues of the N-terminus. Deactivation slowing in the presence of the recombinant domain is not observed with channels carrying a specific Y542C point mutation in the S4–S5 linker. On the other hand, mutations in some initial positions of the recombinant fragment also impair its ability to restore normal deactivation. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) analysis of fluorophore-tagged proteins under total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) conditions revealed a substantial level of FRET between the introduced N-terminal eag fragments and the eag domain-deleted channels expressed at the membrane, but not between the recombinant eag domain and full-length channels with an intact amino terminus. The FRET signals were also minimized when the recombinant eag fragments carried single point mutations in the initial portion of their amino end, and when Y542C mutated channels were used. These data suggest that the restoration of normal deactivation gating by the N-terminal recombinant eag fragment is an intrinsic effect of this domain directed by the interaction of its N-terminal segment with the gating machinery, likely at the level of the S4–S5 linker.
Noninvasive imaging of biological tissues using optical reflectance system

The noninvasive detection of inhomogeneities in biological tissues is studies using phantoms. The proposed reflectance systems consist of a scanning probe with four units. Each unit equipped with a photon injection port, and these ports are arranged in a straight line fashion to collect the backscattered photons from different depths. The inhomogeneities are placed in three different depths like 7mm, 12mm, and 17mm respectively. Through source ports light is superimposed on tissue phantom and collect the backscattered light from various depth. Red and Infrared light emitting diodes with a wavelength of 660nm and 940nm is used in the system. Twelve photodetectors are arranged in four layers with three in each. In order to obtain more information about inhomogeneities, the distance between source and detector also varies (7mm, 12mm, and 17mm). The data obtained from two different wavelength gives exact information about the location of inhomogeneities. By using the method, it is possible to detect inhomogeneities in the early stages of cancer. The advantages are time taken for scanning a given area is lower, easy to locate inhomogeneties, user-friendly, the cost of the system is less.
Research and Development of Thermal Error Compensation Embedded in CNC System

The effective compensation upon machining error, which is given rise to by machine tool's thermal deformation, is an important fashion of improving machining efficiency in CNC system. The external thermal error compensation method is mostly adopted because of the closure in conventional CNC system. In order to solve embedded integral problem of real-time thermal error compensation function in CNC system, an concentrating approach is introduced by integral design. Of a concentrating manner, the thermal deformation error of X-axis screw is modeled and analyzed in THK6370 Horizontal processing centre. Not only is the inserted thermal error real-time compensation function realized in complete open CNC system, but also can the thermal error on-line real-time compensation be executed. Finally, the experiment validates the concentrating mode and the effective compensation of thermal deformation error can be implemented upon THK6370 horizontal machining centre X-axis screw.
The Native Wolbachia Symbionts Limit Transmission of Dengue Virus in Aedes albopictus

Background The chikungunya (CHIK) outbreak that struck La Reunion Island in 2005 was preceded by few human cases of Dengue (DEN), but which surprisingly did not lead to an epidemic as might have been expected in a non-immune population. Both arboviral diseases are transmitted to humans by two main mosquito species, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. In the absence of the former, Ae. albopictus was the only species responsible for viral transmission on La Reunion Island. This mosquito is naturally super-infected with two Wolbachia strains, wAlbA and wAlbB. While Wolbachia does not affect replication of CHIK virus (CHIKV) in Ae. albopictus, a similar effect was not observed with DEN virus (DENV). Methods/Principal Findings To understand the weak vectorial status of Ae. albopictus towards DENV, we used experimental oral infections of mosquitoes from La Reunion Island to characterize the impact of Wolbachia on DENV infection. Viral loads and Wolbachia densities were measured by quantitative PCR in different organs of Ae. albopictus where DENV replication takes place after ingestion. We found that: (i) Wolbachia does not affect viral replication, (ii) Wolbachia restricts viral density in salivary glands, and (iii) Wolbachia limits transmission of DENV, as infectious viral particles were only detected in the saliva of Wolbachia-uninfected Ae. albopictus, 14 days after the infectious blood-meal. Conclusions We show that Wolbachia does not affect the replication of DENV in Ae. albopictus. However, Wolbachia is able to reduce viral infection of salivary glands and limit transmission, suggesting a role of Wolbachia in naturally restricting the transmission of DENV in Ae. albopictus from La Reunion Island. The extension of this conclusion to other Ae. albopictus populations should be investigated.
An efficient multihop routing scheme in the large scale battlefield wireless sensor network

Energy efficiency has been known as the most significant problem in all facets of the wireless sensor network operations. For large scale WSN deployed in the battlefield it is necessary to consider energy depletion imbalance, extra overhead and delay brought by the increase of the hop number when designing energy-aware routing scheme. This paper presents a novel routing scheme (Cooperative Robust Routing) that can enhance the energy efficiency of the large scale WSN by combining two concepts of cooperative communication and multiple sinks. Our simulations show CRR outperforms DSDV in energy conservation due to local region path repair.
Deploying Wireless Sensor Networks under Limited Mobility Constraints

In this paper, we study the issue of sensor network deployment using limited mobility sensors. By limited mobility, we mean that the maximum distance that sensors are capable of moving to is limited. Given an initial deployment of limited mobility sensors in a field clustered into multiple regions, our deployment problem is to determine a movement plan for the sensors to minimize the variance in number of sensors among the regions and simultaneously minimize the sensor movements. Our methodology to solve this problem is to transfer the nonlinear variance/movement minimization problem into a linear optimization problem through appropriate weight assignments to regions. In this methodology, the regions are assigned weights corresponding to the number of sensors needed. During sensor movements across regions, larger weight regions are given higher priority compared to smaller weight regions, while simultaneously ensuring a minimum number of sensor movements. Following the above methodology, we propose a set of algorithms to our deployment problem. Our first algorithm is the optimal maximum flow-based (OMF) centralized algorithm. Here, the optimal movement plan for sensors is obtained based on determining the minimum cost maximum weighted flow to the regions in the network. We then propose the simple peak-pit-based distributed (SPP) algorithm that uses local requests and responses for sensor movements. Using extensive simulations, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithms from the perspective of variance minimization, number of sensor movements, and messaging overhead under different initial deployment scenarios.
Sketching on 3D structured surfaces

This paper presents a sketching tool that enables its users to draw and paint on 3D structured surfaces. Users of the proposed system take a picture of target objects and sketch with reference to the taken picture. They can not only sketch on the pictures but can also change their viewpoint of the sketched environment, since the system captures 3D structure by using a depth sensor as well as RGB data. Trial usage of the system shows that our users can rapidly extract their target objects/space and extend their ideas by taking pictures and drawing/painting on them. This paper also discusses the feasibility of extension of the simple idea from personal usage to collaborative spatial designing by multiple designers, by enabling the merging of 3D sketch spaces.
Paternal and Maternal Experiences in Caring for Chinese Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Hong Kong

This paper reports the results of an exploratory study that (i) identified parental stress and competence, parents’ perception of their children's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and the parent-child relationship in caring for children with ADHD; (ii) compared paternal and maternal experiences in these areas; and (iii) examined the effect of children's ADHD behavior on paternal and maternal experiences in Hong Kong Chinese parents. Seventy-two (59.5%) mothers and 49 (40.5%) fathers participated in the study, in which data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The results showed that: (i) mothers’ level of parental stress was higher than fathers’, but paternal and maternal competence in child-rearing did not significantly vary; (ii) mothers perceived the child's ADHD behavior more seriously than fathers; (iii) both mothers and fathers had positive perceptions of their parent-child relationship; and (iv) gender, employment, ADHD symptoms, and parental satisfaction explained the significant variance in parental stress but did not explain the significant variance in parental competence. Implications for social work practice and service development are discussed.
One real-time personalized recommendation systems based on Slope One algorithm

With the development of recommendation systems, reasonable designed recommendation algorithms and application on actual systems have been important fields of personalized recommendation. System characteristics and users' specific needs become two key considerations of these algorithms. Since many actual systems are user-intensive and their items are significantly classified, we design a real-time personalized recommendation systems based on Slope One algorithm. It shows a good computing complexity in our analysis, and deserves to be widely promoted.
Foto2Events: From Photos to Event Discovery and Linking in Online Social Networks

Online social networking has become the predominant activity in the digital world thanks to multimedia data (mainly photos) sharing (e.g., Photos now represent 93% of the top posts on Facebook). Discovering events where users are involved using their own posts and those shared by their friends would be of great importance. In this paper, we address this issue by providing an original approach able to detect, enrich and also link user's events using photos shared within his online social networks. Using metadata, our approach provides a multi-dimensional gathering of similar photos using their temporal, geographical, and social facets. To validate our approach, we implemented a prototype called Foto2Events and conducted a set of experiments on real and generated data. Results show that our approach works well for various metadata distributions.
Optimized Region Competition Algorithm Applied to the Segmentation of Artificial Muscles in Stereoscopic Images

This paper addresses the implementation of the Region Competition algorithm for segmenting stereoscopic video sequences. The segmentation performed by this algorithm is an essential stage for the 3D characterization of artificial muscles. Image sequences are acquired by a two-cam computer vision system. The aim of this work is to come up with optimal and efficient segmentation of these images; the information obtained from the first segmented frame of the video sequence is used for segmenting the next frame and so on. Redundancy between stereoscopic pairs of images is also used to optimize the segmentation. In this paper, the Region Competition algorithm is described and a specific implementation is detailed. It also shows how to solve particular problems of stereoscopic video segmentation. Finally, results yielded from experiments are presented and discussed.
Acute Exposure to Microcystin-Producing Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa Alters Adult Zebrafish (Danio rerio) Swimming Performance Parameters

Microcystins (MCs) are toxins produced by cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), primarily Microcystis aeruginosa, forming water blooms worldwide. When an organism is exposed to environmental perturbations, alterations in normal behavioral patterns occur. Behavioral repertoire represents the consequence of a diversity of physiological and biochemical alterations. In this study, we assessed behavioral patterns and whole-body cortisol levels of adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) exposed to cell culture of the microcystin-producing cyanobacterium M. aeruginosa (MC-LR, strain RST9501). MC-LR exposure (100 μg/L) decreased by 63% the distance traveled and increased threefold the immobility time when compared to the control group. Interestingly, no significant alterations in the number of line crossings were found at the same MC-LR concentration and time of exposure. When animals were exposed to 50 and 100 μg/L, MC-LR promoted a significant increase (around 93%) in the time spent in the bottom portion of the tank, suggesting an anxiogenic effect. The results also showed that none of the MC-LR concentrations tested promoted significant alterations in absolute turn angle, path efficiency, social behavior, or whole-body cortisol level. These findings indicate that behavior is susceptible to MC-LR exposure and provide evidence for a better understanding of the ecological consequences of toxic algal blooms.
Investigating the Emotiv EPOC for cognitive control in limited training time

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) that utilise electroencephalography (EEG) have been studied for many years as a means of communication and control for physically disabled individuals. Through training, people can learn to use imagined motor movements as computer input or to control assistive technology. The Emotiv EPOC is an inexpensive, lightweight, wireless BCI headset, and provides systems for control and affective measurement. Some studies have successfully used this device for control, however most fail to indicate the time and effort required to achieve the reported results. As an initial step to provide a quantification of the training time required, we ran two studies investigating cognitive control. Using just their mind, participants in the first experiment moved a virtual cube left and right, and in the latter made three-choice selections. The first study employed a fixed training scheme approximating 11 minutes, and resulted in a 36% average success rate. The latter task allowed 15 minutes of self-directed training, increasing the average success to 46.8%. We detail our investigations with the EPOC, including analysis of detection filters for maximising cognitive control, and we review the Affectiv suite and how to analyse the user’s emotional measurements it provides. Future applications should be aware that a more practical level of control requires a greater training time than one short session.
IFITM3 Polymorphism rs12252-C Restricts Influenza A Viruses

The IFITM3 polymorphism rs12252-C, which encodes an IFITM3 isoform (Δ21 IFITM3) lacking 21 amino acids at the amino terminus, has been controversially associated with poor clinical outcomes in patients with H1N1 influenza A virus (IAV) infections. In vitro studies have shown that Δ21 IFITM3 loses its ability to restrict H1N1 IAV. Subsequent research has also revealed that tyrosine 20 is the key determinant for IFITM3 endocytic trafficking, which is essential for the efficient anti-viral activity of IFITM3. In contrast to previous studies, we demonstrated that both Δ21 IFITM3 and an IFITM3 variant (Y20A IFITM3), in which tyrosine 20 is substituted with alanine, strongly restricted entry mediated by IAV H1, H3, H5, and H7 proteins. Δ21 IFITM3 also efficiently suppressed replication of H1N1 and, to a lesser extent, H3N2 IAV. Δ21 IFITM3 and Y20A IFITM3 had broader subcellular distributions than full-length IFITM3 but an abundant amount of both IFITM3 variants still localized to late endosomes and lysosomes. Our data indicate that tyrosine 20 partially regulates the subcellular localization of IFITM3 but is not functionally essential for IFITM3-mediated IAV restriction. They also suggested that mechanisms, other than viral entry restriction, might contribute to variations in clinical outcomes of H1N1 influenza associated with rs12252-C.
Effect of Axial Segmentation of Permanent Magnets on Rotor Loss in Modular Permanent-Magnet Brushless Machines

This paper presents a computationally efficient technique in determining the influence of the finite axial length of the permanent magnets on the rotor eddy-current loss in modular brushless ac machines. The technique is employed to quantify the effectiveness of axially segmenting the permanent magnets of four-phase, eight-slot, ten-pole and five-phase, ten-slot, 12-pole brushless machines, which have been designed to meet the performance requirements of an electromechanical flight control surface actuator for a "more-electric" aircraft.
A Market-based MAS Framework for Microgrids

Abstract This paper proposes a distributed multi-agent system (MAS) framework for market-based control in Microgrids. The proposed system consists of two main entities, Energy Selling Agents (ESAs) and Energy Buying Agents (EBAs). In order to alleviate the internal complexity of the agent, three kinds of delegate mobile agents are designed. They are issued by the corresponding agents according to their different functions assumed in the BDI (belief, desire, intention) architecture, such as one kind of delegate mobile agent fulfills the function for building and maintaining the environment information. Through the coordination and interaction of the agents and the delegate mobile agents, the energy exchange between the power resource units and the local loads is realized dynamically.