Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Classifying service flows in the encrypted skype traffic

In this paper, we consider the problem of detecting Skype traffic and classifying Skype service flows such as voice calls, skypeOut, video conferencing, chat, file upload and download. We propose a classification method for Skype encrypted traffic based on the Statistical Protocol IDentification (SPID) that analyzes statistical values of some traffic attributes. We have evaluated our method on a representative dataset to show excellent performance in terms of Precision and Recall.
Mutability of microsatellites developed for the ant Camponotus consobrinus

Five highly polymorphic (GA)n microsatellite loci are reported for the formicine ant Camponotus consobrinus. The occurrence of many nests with a simple family structure enabled a search for new mutations, 11 of which were found from 3055 informative typings. These mutations were not randomly distributed across loci, 10 of them occurring at the locus Ccon70. The spectrum of mutations across alleles at Ccon70 was also nonrandom, with all of them occurring in alleles in the upper half of the allele size distribution. Six of the Ccon70 mutations decreased allele size. The mutations observed fit the stepwise mutation model well, i.e. mutations could always be assigned to an allele which differed in size from them by one repeat unit. The parental origins of the Ccon70 mutations were established and appear more female biased than vertebrate mutations, significantly so compared with human haemophilia A and primate intron mutations. This result may indicate that the lack of meiosis in males (which are haploid in ants) reduces the mutation rate in that sex relative to species in which both sexes are diploid.
Age of drinking onset and unintentional injury involvement after drinking.

CONTEXT In 1997, unintentional injury was the leading cause of death for persons aged 1 to 34 years. Approximately one third of deaths due to unintentional injury in the United States are estimated to be alcohol related. Onset of drinking at an early age has been found to be associated with alcohol dependence, but whether early-onset drinking increases risk for unintentional injury while drinking is unknown. OBJECTIVE To explore whether persons who started drinking at an early age are more likely to have experienced unintentional injuries while under the influence of alcohol. DESIGN AND SETTING The National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiology Survey, a cross-sectional survey conducted in 1992 of a representative sample of the US population. PARTICIPANTS A total of 42,862 randomly selected adults (response rate, 90%; mean age, 44 years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Unintentional injury involvement while under the influence of alcohol by age of drinking onset (categorized as <14 years, each age from 14-20 years, or >/=21 years). RESULTS Relative to respondents who began drinking at age 21 years or older, those who started before age 14 years as well as those who started at each intervening age up to 21 years were significantly more likely to have been injured while under the influence of alcohol, even after controlling for history of alcohol dependence, heavy drinking frequency during the period that they drank most, family history of alcoholism, and other characteristics associated with earlier onset of drinking. After adjusting for these variables, odds ratios for having been injured while under the influence of alcohol were as follows: for younger than 14 years, 2.98 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.29-3.89); age 14 years, 2.96 (95% CI, 2.26-3.88); age 15 years, 3.14 (95% CI, 2.48-3.97); age 16 years, 2.38 (95% CI, 1.90-2.98); age 17 years, 2.12 (95% CI, 1.66-2.71); age 18 years, 1. 33 (95% CI, 1.08-1.64); age 19 years, 1.42 (95% CI, 1.07-1.89); and age 20 years, 1.39 (95% CI, 1.01-1.91). CONCLUSION Drinking onset at ages younger than 21 years is associated with having experienced alcohol-related injuries. JAMA. 2000;284:1527-1533
Formation and electronic properties of hydrogenated few layer graphene

Motivated by the controversial experimental conclusions on the affinity of few layer graphenes (FLGs) towards hydrogen plasma, we systematically investigate the hydrogenation of FLGs within the framework of density functional theory. The approaching hydrogen atoms from both sides of an FLG induce a structural transition from a layered structure into a hydrogen passivated thin diamond film (HP-TDF). The very low transition barrier of FLG hydrogenation indicates the feasibility of FLG hydrogenation through the proposed mechanism. The increasing formation energy with the thickness of FLGs implies that hydrogenation of single layer graphene is easier than that of FLG, which is in agreement with most experimental observations. Moreover, the electronic properties of HP-TDFs and the hydrogenated bilayer graphene ribbons are also studied.
Auditor Conservatism, Incentive Compensation, and the Quality of Financial Reporting

This paper examines how performance-based compensation for managers influences their reporting behavior and the resulting stance auditors take when deciding whether to certify a manager’s report. The paper makes endogenous the stance auditors take: with a more conservative stance, auditors are less likely to certify an inflated report, but are more likely to refuse to certify an accurate one. The auditor’s tradeoff between these two error types, and the resulting interplay with the level of performance-based pay for managers, play a critical role in determining the level of managerial misreporting, investor welfare, and a number of other key variables. The paper finds that (1) strengthening the link between pay and reported performance can result in a weaker link between pay and actual performance and, consequently, lower managerial effort; (2) conservatism among auditors improves performance measurement; and (3) raising penalties on managers for overstating earnings can reduce audit quality and harm investors, while raising penalties on auditors for certifying overstated results does not harm investors. (JEL D82, G30, G34, G38, K22, M40, M52)
A survey of trauma alert criteria and handover practice in England and Wales

Introduction: Appropriate alerting of patients with trauma and informative handover are necessary to allow a smooth transition of care between the prehospital and hospital teams. Aim: To identify current practice and areas that need to be improved to facilitate the transition from prehospital care to emergency department resuscitation. Methods: A questionnaire postal study of 100 emergency departments and all 32 ambulance service trusts in England and Wales. Results: Emergency departments returned 34 (34%) completed questionnaires, and ambulance trusts returned 16 (50%) completed questionnaires. In all, 56.8% of emergency department responders stated that trauma alert information was relayed through ambulance control, 48.5% stated that alert messages were standardised and 18.5% felt that ambulance crews used the trauma severity scoring system during alerting. 64.7% stated that handover was broadcast to the trauma team and 9.1% routinely received digital photographic images. All ambulance service responders included injury mechanism in their alerting criteria and 53.3% used a standard handover structure with 86.7% familiar with the mnemonic ASHICE (Age, Sex, History, Injuries, Condition, Expected time of arrival) for rapid information transmission. Discussion: Greater cooperation between regional emergency departments and ambulance services is necessary to refine the alerting and handover process, producing a pathway through which vital information is collected by trained personnel and communicated without distortion to the resuscitation room, where it may be utilised to inform life-saving decisions.
A Phase I Study of Indole-3-Carbinol in Women: Tolerability and Effects

We completed a phase I trial of indole-3-carbinol (I3C) in 17 women (1 postmenopausal and 16 premenopausal) from a high-risk breast cancer cohort. After a 4-week placebo run-in period, subjects ingested 400 mg I3C daily for 4 weeks followed by a 4-week period of 800 mg I3C daily. These chronic doses were tolerated well by all subjects. Hormonal variables were measured near the end of the placebo and dosing periods, including determination of the urinary 2-hydroxyestrone/16α-hydroxyestrone ratio. Measurements were made during the follicular phase for premenopausal women. Serum estradiol, progesterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and sex hormone binding globulin showed no significant changes in response to I3C. Caffeine was used to probe for cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2), N-acetyltransferase-2 (NAT-2), and xanthine oxidase. Comparing the results from the placebo and the 800 mg daily dose period, CYP1A2 was elevated by I3C in 94% of the subjects, with a mean increase of 4.1-fold. In subjects with high NAT-2 activities, these were decreased to 11% by I3C administration but not altered if NAT-2 activity was initially low. Xanthine oxidase was not affected. Lymphocyte glutathione S-transferase activity was increased by 69% in response to I3C. The apparent induction of CYP1A2 was mirrored by a 66% increase in the urinary 2-hydroxyestrone/16α-hydroxyestrone ratio in response to I3C. The maximal increase was observed with the 400 mg daily dose of I3C, with no further increase found at 800 mg daily. If the ratio of hydroxylated estrone metabolites is a biomarker for chemoprevention, as suggested, then 400 mg I3C daily will elicit a maximal protective effect.
Varespladib: targeting the inflammatory face of atherosclerosis.

This editorial refers to ‘Randomized trial of an inhibitor of secretory phospholipase A2 on atherogenic lipoprotein subclasses in statin-treated patients with coronary heart disease’, by R.S. Rosenson et al., doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehq374 Atherosclerosis is a complex disease and in its pathogenesis depends on the interaction between lipoproteins and inflammatory mediators.1 This interaction orchestrates the progression of atherosclerosis from its earliest stage when oxidized lipoproteins and leucocytes penetrate dysfunctional endothelium and enter the subendothelial space, right until the end of the process when the plaque becomes unstable and ruptures, leading to a clinical event. Whereas our pharmacological armatorium that targets the lipid component of the risk factor spectrum has been tremendously succesful with the clinical introduction of statins in the middle of the 1990s, drugs that target the inflammatory face of atherosclerosis have thus far been scarce. Among the wide range of chemokines, adhesion molecules, and pro-oxidative substances that affect macrophage recruitment into the arterial wall, members of the phospholipase A2 (PLA2) family have received considerable attention since their purification from human plasma lipoproteins in 1987.2 PLA2s are small and relatively stable ubiquitous enzymes that hydrolyse the sn -2-acyl bond of phospholipids in cell membranes as well as in lipoproteins. This enzymatic activity yields non-esterified fatty acids and lysophospholipids, which are precursors of various proinflammatory mediators including leukotrienes, eicosanoids, prostaglandins, and platelet-activating factors ( Figure 1A ). 3 In addition, both circulating and lipoprotein-bound PLA2s play a role in lipoprotein remodelling by high-affinity binding to specific domains on LDLs and apolipoprotein B. Such modified or oxidized LDL particles bind with higher affinity to endothelial proteoglycans, facilitating the penetration of these atherogenic particles into the subendothelial matrix where they accumulate and trigger additional proinflammatory cascades. The recent large-scale meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for plasma lipids …
Kaempferol acts through mitogen‐activated protein kinases and protein kinase B/AKT to elicit protection in a model of neuroinflammation in BV2 microglial cells

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Kaempferol, a dietary flavonoid and phyto‐oestrogen, is known to have anti‐inflammatory properties. Microglial activation has been implicated in various neurodegenerative diseases. Anti‐inflammatory effects of kaempferol and the underlying mechanisms were investigated by using LPS‐stimulated microglial BV2 cells.
Robotic swarms coordination strategies for minimizing group target congestion

The use of Multi-Robot Systems presents several advantages like increased robustness and, in most cases, time reduction to accomplish a task. In this context, Robotic Swarms is generally related to very large groups of robots. The congestion problem within the mobile robotics field is a well-known field of research. The problem occurs when a large number of autonomous robots tries to reach a common target in the environment at the same time. This paper addresses the congestion problem considering a robotic swarm formed by distinct groups of agents, and we aim to minimize the period of time agents of the same group take to reach the target. We propose two different approaches to optimize the navigation process of the entire group, however, prioritizing members of the same group. The first strategy gives to each group a priority based on the average distance between its members and the target. This team priority will define which robots will move into the target first. The second one states which robots will move based on a randomized group priority. The proposed methodology was evaluated through several experiments in a simulated environment, providing statistical insight on the performance.
Mitochondrial Function in Seasonal Acclimatization versus Latitudinal Adaptation to Cold in the Lugworm Arenicola marina (L.)

Previous studies in marine ectotherms from a latitudinal cline have led to the hypothesis that eurythermal adaptation to low mean annual temperatures is energetically costly. To obtain more information on the trade‐offs and with that the constraints of thermal adaptation, mitochondrial functions were studied in subpolar lugworms (Arenicola marina L.) adapted to summer cold at the White Sea and were compared with those in boreal specimens from the North Sea, either acclimatized to summer temperatures or to winter cold. During summer, a comparison of mitochondria from subpolar and boreal worms revealed higher succinate oxidation rates and reduced Arrhenius activation energies (Ea) in state 3 respiration at low temperatures, as well as higher proton leakage rates in subpolar lugworms. These differences reflect a higher aerobic capacity in subpolar worms, which is required to maintain motor activity at low but variable environmental temperatures—however, at the expense of an elevated metabolic rate. The lower activity of citrate synthase (CS) found in subpolar worms may indicate a shift in metabolic control within mitochondria. In contrast, acclimatization of boreal lugworms to winter conditions elicited elevated mitochondrial CS activities in parallel with enhanced mitochondrial respiration rates. With falling acclimation temperatures, the significant Arrhenius break temperature in state 3 respiration (11°C) became insignificant (5°C) or even disappeared (0°C) at lower levels of Arrhenius activation energies in the cold, similar to a phenomenon known from hibernating vertebrates. The efficiency of aerobic energy production in winter mitochondria rose as proton leakage in relation to state 3 decreased with cold acclimation, indicated by higher respiratory control ratio values and increased adenosine diphosphate/oxygen (ADP/O) ratios. These transitions indicate reduced metabolic flexibility, possibly paralleled by a loss in aerobic scope and metabolic depression during winter cold. Accordingly, these patterns contrast those found in summer‐active, cold‐adapted eurytherms at high latitudes.
Myeloid Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α Is Essential for Skeletal Muscle Regeneration in Mice

The outstanding regeneration ability of skeletal muscle is based on stem cells that become activated and develop to myoblasts after myotrauma. Proliferation and growth of myoblasts result in self-renewal of skeletal muscle. In this article, we show that myotrauma causes a hypoxic microenvironment leading to accumulation of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) in skeletal muscle cells, as well as invading myeloid cells. To evaluate the impact of HIF-1 in skeletal muscle injury and repair, we examined mice with a conditional HIF-1α knockout targeted to skeletal muscle or myeloid cells in a model of soft tissue trauma. No differences in acute trauma size were detected between control and HIF-1α knockout mice. However, muscles of myeloid HIF-1α knockout mice showed a significant delay in myoblast proliferation and growth of regenerating myofibers, in association with decreased expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in HIF-1α–deficient myeloid cells. Moreover, the removal of necrotic cell debris and the regeneration of endothelial cell structure were impaired in myeloid HIF-1α knockout mice that showed delayed invasion of macrophages to the injury site. Our findings for the first time, to our knowledge, demonstrate that myeloid HIF-1α is required for adequate skeletal muscle regeneration.
Vague Lies and Lax Standards of Proof: On the Law and Economics of Advice

This paper analyses a persuasion game where a seller provides (un)biased and (im)precise advice and may be fined by an authority for misleading the buyers. In the equilibrium, biasing the advice and making it noisier are complements. The advice becomes both more biased and less precise with a stricter standard of proof employed by the authority, a larger share of credulous consumers, and a higher buyers' heterogeneity. The optimal policy of the authority is characterized in terms of a standard of proof and resources devoted to the investigation.
Performance of the mood disorders questionnaire in a psychiatric outpatient setting.

OBJECTIVES The Mood Disorders Questionnaire (MDQ) has been the most widely studied screening questionnaire for bipolar disorder, though few studies have examined its performance in a heterogeneous sample of psychiatric outpatients. In the present report from the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services (MIDAS) project, we examined the operating characteristics of the MDQ in a large sample of psychiatric outpatients presenting for treatment. METHODS A total of 534 psychiatric outpatients were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and asked to complete the MDQ. Missing data on the MDQ reduced the number of patients to 480, 10.4% (n = 52) of whom were diagnosed with bipolar disorder. RESULTS Based on the scoring guidelines recommended by the developers of the MDQ, the sensitivity of the scale was only 63.5% for the entire group of bipolar patients. The specificity of the scale was 84.8%, and the positive and negative predictive values were 33.7% and 95.0%, respectively. When impairment was not required to define a case on the MDQ, then sensitivity increased to 75.0%, specificity dropped to 78.5%, positive predictive value was 29.8%, and negative predictive value was 96.3%. CONCLUSIONS In a large sample of psychiatric outpatients, we found that the MDQ, when scored according to the developers' recommendations, had inadequate sensitivity as a screening measure. After the threshold to determine MDQ caseness was lowered by not requiring moderate or severe impairment, the sensitivity of the scale increased, but specificity decreased, and positive predictive value remained below 30%. These results raise questions regarding the MDQ's utility in routine clinical practice.
Stimulation of bovine endothelial cell angiotensin‐I‐converting enzyme activity by cyclic AMP‐related agents

Bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells in culture were used to assess the influence of cyclic nucleotides, isoproterenol (β adrenergic agonist), and theophylline (phosphodiesterase inhibitor) on angiotensin‐I‐converting enzyme (ACE) activity of the cells and culture medium. Dibutyryl cAMP (10−3 M) but not cAMP or dibutyryl cGMP stimulated angiotensin‐l‐converting enzyme (ACE) activity of cells in culture approximately 50–100% but had little influence on ACE activity of the medium. Theophylline at 10−3 M concentration produced a three‐ to fourfold stimulation of both cellular and medium ACE activity. Isoproterenol by itself had no effect on cellular ACE activity but produced a stimulatory effect at 10−7‐10−5 M concentration after pretreatment of cells for 24 hr with 10−4 M theophylline. The results support the concept that ACE activity of endothelial cells is influenced by the cyclic AMP system. ACE activity in cells and that released into medium may be under different regulatory controls.
Dopamine synthesis capacity in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE Elevated presynaptic striatal dopaminergic function is a robust feature of schizophrenia. However, the relationship between this dopamine abnormality and the response to dopamine-blocking antipsychotic treatments is unclear. The authors tested the hypothesis that in patients with schizophrenia the response to antipsychotic treatment would be related to the severity of presynaptic dopamine dysfunction, as indexed using [(18)F]-DOPA uptake positron emission tomography (PET). METHOD Twelve patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, twelve patients with schizophrenia who had responded to antipsychotics, and twelve healthy volunteers matched for gender, age, ethnicity, weight, and cigarette smoking underwent [(18)F]-DOPA PET scanning. [(18)F]-DOPA influx rate constants (K(i)(cer) values) were measured in the striatum and its functional subdivisions. RESULTS Patients who had responded to antipsychotic treatment showed significantly higher K(i)(cer) striatal values than did patients with treatment-resistant illness (effect size=1.11) and healthy volunteers (effect size=1.12). The elevated [(18)F]-DOPA uptake was most marked in the associative (effect size=1.31) and the limbic (effect size=1.04) striatal subdivisions. There were no significant differences between patients with treatment-resistant illness and healthy volunteers in the whole striatum or any of its subdivisions. CONCLUSIONS In some patients with schizophrenia, antipsychotic treatment may be ineffective because they do not exhibit the elevation in dopamine synthesis capacity that is classically associated with the disorder; this may reflect a different underlying pathophysiology or a differential effect of antipsychotic treatment.
An Analog Controlled Variable Gain LNA with Tunable Frequency Bands

An analog controlled Variable Gain LNA (VGLNA) with tunable operating frequency bands is reported. The analog control circuit for the continuous gain variation is proposed as a low voltage version. The fabricated LNA based on 0. 18µm CMOS shows a gain range of 15 ∼ -12dB (27dB gain control), a noise figure (NF) of 2dB, and an IIP3 of -10dBm while 5mA is drawn from a 1.2V supply over the frequency range of 470∼880MHz.