Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence Collection in Cloud Provider Chains

With the increasing importance of cloud computing, compliance concerns get into the focus of businesses more often. Furthermore, businesses still consider security and privacy related issues to be the most prominent inhibitors for an even more widespread adoption of cloud computing services. Several frameworks try to address these concerns by building comprehensive guidelines for security controls for the use of cloud services. However, assurance of the correct and effective implementation of such controls is required by businesses to attenuate the loss of control that is inherently associated with using cloud services. Giving this kind of assurance is traditionally the task of audits and certification. Cloud auditing becomes increasingly challenging for the auditor the more complex the cloud service provision chain becomes. There are many examples for Software as a Service (SaaS) providers that do not own dedicated hardware anymore for operating their services, but rely solely on other cloud providers of the lower layers, such as platform as a service (PaaS) or infrastructure as a service (IaaS) providers. The collection of data (evidence) for the assessment of policy compliance during a technical audit is aggravated the more complex the combination of cloud providers becomes. Nevertheless, the collection at all participating providers is required to assess policy compliance in the whole chain. The main contribution of this paper is an analysis of potential ways of collecting evidence in an automated way across cloud provider boundaries to facilitate cloud audits. Furthermore, a way of integrating the most suitable approaches in the system for automated evidence collection and auditing is proposed.
Differences in the Regulation of Fibroblast Contraction of Floating Versus Stressed Collagen Matrices*

To learn more about the regulation of contraction of collagen matrices by fibroblasts, we compared the ability of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) to stimulate contraction of floating and stressed collagen matrices. In floating collagen matrices, PDGF and LPA stimulated contraction with similar kinetics, but appeared to utilize complementary signaling pathways since contraction obtained by the combination of growth factors exceeded that observed with saturating concentrations of either alone. The PDGF-simulated pathway was selectively inhibited by the protein kinase inhibitor KT5926. In stressed collagen matrices, PDGF and LPA stimulated contraction with different kinetics, with LPA acting rapidly and PDGF acting only after an ∼1-h lag period. Pertussis toxin, known to block signaling through the Gi class of heterotrimeric G-proteins, inhibited LPA-stimulated contraction of floating but not stressed matrices, suggesting that LPA-stimulated contraction depends on receptors coupled to different G-proteins in floating and stressed matrices. On the other hand, the Rho inhibitor C3 exotransferase blocked contraction of both floating and stressed collagen matrices. These results suggest the possibility that distinct signaling mechanisms regulate contraction of floating and stressed collagen matrices.
Cloning and expression profiling of polycomb gene, DNA Polymerase Alpha (POLα) from tomato Solanum lycopersicum L.

The decision to replicate its DNA is of crucial importance for every cell and, in many organisms, is decisive for the progression through the entire cell cycle. DNA polymerases are required to maintain the integrity of genome during DNA replication. DNA Polymerase Alpha (POLα) encodes the putative catalytic subunit of the DNA polymerase α which plays an essential role in the initiation of DNA replication. Here, we present the cloning, characterization and expression of a putative SlPOLα gene in tomato by isolating cDNA clones corresponding to SlPOLα gene from tomato using primers designed from available ESTs based on conserved sequences between PcG genes in Arabidopsis thaliana and tomato. The SlPOLα cDNAs were cloned into pBS plasmid and sequenced. Both 5' and 3' RACE were generated and sequenced. The flcDNA for SlPOLα gene length was composed of 4,944 bp, containing 103 bp in the 5'UTR; 4,683 bp in the ORF; and 158 bp in 3'UTR. The translated ORF encodes a polypeptide of 1,561 amino acids. Alignment of deduced amino acids indicated that there are highly conserved regions between tomato SlPOLα predicted protein and hypothetical plant POLα gene family members. Both unrooted phylogenetic trees, constructed using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods indicated that there is a close relationship between SlPOLα predicted protein and POLα protein of Mimulus guttatus. SlPOLα was strongly expressed in proliferating tissues (closed floral buds) and moderately expressed in flower tissues, whereas, it was weakly expressed in non-proliferating tissues (unripe fruit).
Population Pharmacokinetic Study of Cyclosporine Based on NONMEM in Chinese Liver Transplant Recipients

A population pharmacokinetic study of cyclosporine (CsA) was performed in liver transplant recipients. A total of 3731 retrospective drug monitoring data points at predose (C0) and 2 hours postdose (C2) were collected from 124 liver transplant recipients receiving CsA micromulsion. Population pharmacokinetic analysis was performed using the program NONMEM (nonlinear mixed-effect modeling). Various covariates potentially related to CsA pharmacokinetics were explored, and the final model was validated by a bootstrap method and by assessing the predictive performance using empiric Bayesian estimates. A one-compartment model with first-order absorption was considered. Population parameters of apparent clearance (CL/F) and volume of distribution were estimated as 23.1 L/h and 105 L, respectively. CL/F was influenced by four covariates: duration of CsA therapy (DT), hematocrit (HCT), and concurrent prednisone dose (PR). The final model for CL/F was fitted as follows: CL/F = 23.1 + 0.5 × (DT/200) - 0.07 × HCT + 0.04 × PR. The interindividual variability in CL/F, volume of distribution, and Ka calculated as coefficient of variation were 15.1%, 9.3%, and 66.0%, respectively. The intraindividual variability was 18.6%. The model fitted well with the observed data, and the bootstrap method guaranteed robustness of the population pharmacokinetic study model. Model validation was performed by a visual predictive check. Moreover, simulation was conducted to facilitate the individualized treatment based on patient information and the final model. The model to characterize population pharmacokinetic study of CsA provided better clinical individualization of CsA dosing in liver transplant recipients based on patient information and to assess patients' suitability for CsA therapy.
A Polytropic Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus Promoter Isolated from Multiple Tissues from a Sheep with Multisystemic Lentivirus-Associated Inflammatory Disease

Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) is a lentivirus that infects both goats and sheep and is closely related to maedi-visna virus that infects sheep; collectively, these viruses are known as small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLV). Infection of goats and sheep with SRLV typically results in discrete inflammatory diseases which include arthritis, mastitis, pneumonia or encephalomyelitis. SRLV-infected animals concurrently demonstrating lentivirus-associated lesions in tissues of lung, mammary gland, joint synovium and the central nervous system are either very rare or have not been reported. Here we describe a novel CAEV promoter isolated from a sheep with multisystemic lentivirus-associated inflammatory disease including interstitial pneumonia, mastitis, polyarthritis and leukomyelitis. A single, novel SRLV promoter was cloned and sequenced from five different anatomical locations (brain stem, spinal cord, lung, mammary gland and carpal joint synovium), all of which demonstrated lesions characteristic of lentivirus associated inflammation. This SRLV promoter isolate was found to be closely related to CAEV promoters isolated from goats in northern California and other parts of the world. The promoter was denoted CAEV-ovine-MS (multisystemic disease); the stability of the transcription factor binding sites within the U3 promoter sequence are discussed.
Three‐dimensional SF6 data and tropospheric transport simulations: Signals, modeling accuracy, and implications for inverse modeling

Surface emissions of SF 6 are closely tied to human activity and thus fairly well known. They therefore can and have been used to evaluate tropospheric transport predicted by models. A range of new atmospheric SF 6 data permit us to expand on earlier studies. The purpose of this first of two papers is to characterize known and new transport constraints provided by the data and to use them to quantify predictive skill of the MOZART-2 atmospheric chemistry and transport model. Main noteworthy observational constraints are (1) a well-known steep N-S gradient at the surface confined to an ≈40° wide latitude band in the tropics; (2) a fairly uniform N-S gradient in the upper troposphere; (3) an increase in the temporal variation in upper troposphere Northern Hemisphere records with increasing latitude; (4) a negative SF 6 gradient in Northern Hemisphere vertical profiles from the surface to 8 km height, but a positive gradient in the Southern Hemisphere; and (5) a clear reflection in surface records of large-scale seasonal atmosphere movements like the undulations of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Comparison of observations with simulations reveal excellent modeling skills with regards to (1) large-scale annual mean latitudinal gradients at remote surface sites (relative bias of N-S hemisphere difference < 5%) and aloft (≈10 km, relative bias ≤ 25%); (2) seasonality in signals at remote sites caused by large-scale movements of the atmosphere; (3) time variation in upper troposphere records; (4) "faithfulness" of advective transport on timescales up to ≈1 week; and (5) the general shapes and seasonal variation of vertical profiles. The model (1) underestimates the variation in the vertical of profiles, particularly those from locations close to high emissions regions, and (2) overestimates the difference in SF 6 between the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and free troposphere over North America, and thus likely Eurasia, during winter by approximately a factor of 2 (STD ≈ 100%). The comparisons permit estimating lower bounds on representation errors which are large for sites close to continental outflow regions. Given the magnitude of the signals and signal variance, SF 6 provides a strong constraint on interhemispheric transport, PBL ventilation, dispersion pathways of northern midlatitude surface emissions through the upper troposphere, and large-scale movements of the atmosphere.
Safety of GnRH agonists and antagonists

The widespread application of protocols using gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists or antagonists in assisted reproduction treatment has led to an increasing number of pregnancies exposed to these drugs. This issue has raised scepticism as to the safety of these medications, concerning both pregnant women and their offspring. The main parameters that can be studied to ensure the safety of GnRH analogues include: a) systemic and local reactions to the medication; b) incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS); c) direct effect on oocytes and embryos; and d) the health of those children exposed. So far, no systemic side effects and no major local reactions have been reported following the use of GnRH agonists or third-generation antagonists. On the other hand, the incidence of OHSS seems to be higher with GnRH agonist protocols compared to conventional or GnRH antagonist protocols. The recent cloning of the GnRH receptor has led to the demonstration of GnRH receptor gene expression in the human ovary, although the existence of GnRH receptors per se remains controversial. Similarly, the potential direct effect of GnRH analogues on the follicles and oocytes remains a matter of debate. The incidence of miscarriage and the health of children born as a result of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment do not appear to be influenced by the GnRH agonist treatment. This also seems to be the case for the GnRH antagonists, although the available information on this issue is still limited. Therefore, most of the accumulated data concerning the safety of the GnRH analogues are encouraging, and no serious side effects have been reported. On the other hand, as no definite conclusions about the safety of these drugs can be drawn until now, continued assessment of the aforementioned parameters in long-term follow-up studies is recommended.
Ascending Aortic Aneurysms: Review of 100 Consecutive Cases

Aneurysms of the ascending aorta, if undiagnosed or untreated, may result in left ventricular failure from aortic valvular insufficiency. Aortic rupture, dissection, or compression of adjacent vital structures may also occur. The application of refined cardiopulmonary bypass devices, prosthetic heart valves, and synthetic grafts now allows successful surgical management of this disorder. This report presents our current diagnostic methods, surgical techniques, and the early and late results of 100 consecutive patients undergoing surgical treatment of aneurysms of the ascending aorta. There were 72 males and 28 females, ranging in age from 25 to 72 (ave 51.2) years. All patients had angiographic studies to demonstrate precisely the location of the aneurysm and the presence or absence of aortic valvular insufficiency. Sixty-three patients required concomitant aortic valve replacement, and the remaining 37 patients had only aneurysm resection and replacement. Pathological studies revealed 69 aneurysms were atherosclerotic, 22 were secondary to cystic medial necrosis, with the remaining 9 considered to be possibly leutic in origin. Despite the magnitude of the surgery and the advanced ages of some of these patients, the overall operative and hospital mortality rates were 4% and 9%. Survival rates by actuarial representation in 82 patients at 2, 4, 6, and 8 years were 82.9%, 78%, 70%, and 69.5%, respectively.
Load torque and stator resistance estimations with unscented Kalman filter for speed-sensorless control of induction motors

In this study, speedsensorless IM drive based on unscented Kalman filter (UKF) with the online estimations of stator stationary axis components of stator currents, rotor fluxes, rotor mechanical speed, load torque including the friction term, and stator resistance is designed. Therefore, the proposed speed-sensorless IM drive is robust to load torque and stator resistance changes. Different challenging scenarios including ramp- and step-type variations in load torque and stator resistance at both zero and high speeds are performed in computer simulations to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed UKF based speedsensorless drive.
Structured LDPC codes with low error floor based on PEG tanner graphs

Progressive edge-growth (PEG) algorithm was proven to be a simple and effective approach to design good LDPC codes. However, the Tanner graph constructed by PEG algorithm is non-structured which leads the positions of l's of the corresponding parity check matrix fully random. In this paper, we propose a general method based on PEG algorithm to construct structured Tanner graphs. These hardware-oriented LDPC codes can reduce the VLSI implementation complexity. Similar to PEG method, our CP-PEG approach can be used to construct both regular and irregular Tanner graphs with flexible parameters. For the consideration of encoding complexity and error floor, the modifications of proposed algorithm are discussed. Simulation results show that our codes, in terms of bit error rate (BER) or packet error rate (PER), outperform other PEG-based LDPC codes and are better than the codes in IEEE 802.16e.
Analysis of Implicit Relationships on Wikipedia through Elucidatory Objects

is a better option for a client to gain information of particular objects than other search engines. Previously, cohesion-based technique is used for analysis of implicit and explicit relationships between two objects but this technique is inadequate to analyze the relationships because it uses one or two concepts of connectivity, distance and co-citation. We proposed a method for analysis of relationships between objects by using generalized flow based technique which replicates all the concepts. We prove that our process is the most suitable for measuring the strength of relationships between source and destination objects by using elucidatory objects as well as grade the target objects by its strength. Here we quantitatively extract the elucidatory objects.
How information system investment evaluation is being initiated: an actor network theory perspective

Determining whether investments in information technology IT have an impact on firm performance has been and continues to be a major problem for information system IS researchers and practitioners. To better understand the often far-reaching implications associated with technology investment and interrelated IS evaluation, this study follows actor-network theory ANT as a theoretical lens and interpretive case study as a methodology. This paper seeks to make a contribution to the theory of IS evaluation in a developing country context to close a gap in knowledge by generating new understanding of the IS pre-evaluation practices adopted by a large Jordanian bank. In addressing the above issues the study serves an important objective which is to provide valuable insights regarding the way in which IS investments projects are evaluated, which is currently lacking in both the information systems and the management literature.
Are Regional Habitat Models Useful at a Local-Scale? A Case Study of Threatened and Common Insectivorous Bats in South-Eastern Australia

Habitat modelling and predictive mapping are important tools for conservation planning, particularly for lesser known species such as many insectivorous bats. However, the scale at which modelling is undertaken can affect the predictive accuracy and restrict the use of the model at different scales. We assessed the validity of existing regional-scale habitat models at a local-scale and contrasted the habitat use of two morphologically similar species with differing conservation status (Mormopterus norfolkensis and Mormopterus species 2). We used negative binomial generalised linear models created from indices of activity and environmental variables collected from systematic acoustic surveys. We found that habitat type (based on vegetation community) best explained activity of both species, which were more active in floodplain areas, with most foraging activity recorded in the freshwater wetland habitat type. The threatened M. norfolkensis avoided urban areas, which contrasts with M. species 2 which occurred frequently in urban bushland. We found that the broad habitat types predicted from local-scale models were generally consistent with those from regional-scale models. However, threshold-dependent accuracy measures indicated a poor fit and we advise caution be applied when using the regional models at a fine scale, particularly when the consequences of false negatives or positives are severe. Additionally, our study illustrates that habitat type classifications can be important predictors and we suggest they are more practical for conservation than complex combinations of raw variables, as they are easily communicated to land managers.
An effective composite PAPR reduction technique of OFDM by using DFT precoding with piecewise linear companding

OFDM is multicarrier wireless communication modulation scheme, which is a magnetizing approach for wireless communication applications to achieve very huge data rates. However, OFDM key constraint is its large peak to average power ratio (PAPR), the result of unusual distortion occurred when passed through a nonlinear devices like data converters (DAC and ADC) and high power amplifiers (HPA) at the transmitter due to OFDM's large PAPR. Many techniques were proposed to minimize PAPR, but the PAPR is reduced at the cost of increasing the BER. In this paper combination of Piecewise linear companding with DFT is proposed to minimize the PAPR profoundly. Simulation results display that this proposed method obtains effective reduction of PAPR while improving the performance of BER without sacrificing the performance of Power Spectral Density (PSD).
Experiencing a presentation through a mixed reality boundary

We describe a pilot study of the use of a mixed reality environment for distributed presentations involving virtual and physical audiences and speakers. Our aims were to establish mutual awareness between all participants; to present physical and virtual worlds as being spatially integrated; and to support moderate sized audiences. We used a mixed reality boundary to join a physical space to a collaborative virtual environment so that the two appeared to be adjacent but distinct components of a single space. Two presentations were staged to a mixed physical and virtual audience, one by a virtual speaker and one by a physical speaker. Each presentation was followed by a question and answer session. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews and video recordings revealed that some degree of mutual awareness was established between participants and that physical participants may have viewed the environment as being more spatially integrated than virtual participants. We propose that improving avatars and video textures in the virtual environment may further enhance the experience.
Detection of generalized-roughness bearing fault using statistical-time indices of instantaneous frequency of motor voltage space vector

This paper proposes a new approach to detect generalized-roughness bearing faults via motor voltage monitoring which has not been studied in the literature yet. The proposed method detects the bearing faults using analysis of instantaneous frequency of voltage signals. Our proposed method is superior to previous ones in a number of aspects. First, obtaining voltage signals is easier than other signals such as vibration, sound pressure, and temperature. Second, it is computationally simple method. Third, our proposed method is non-invasive. The Experimental results show that these impacts are so strong that even simple time-domain indices are able to detect bearing defects. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.