Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
User Authentication Using Neural Network in Smart Home Networks

Security has been an important issue in the smart home applications. In home networks with distributed architectures that consist of a broad range of wired or wireless devices, it is likely that unauthorized access to some restricted data or devices may occur. Therefore, it becomes important to consider issues of security, authentication and access control. The authentication and authorization of users in smart environments are the key factors in the security of home networks. User authentication has been traditionally based on PIN, password, key, smart card or biometrics. Password-based authentication is widely used to identify legitimate users, because passwords are cheap, easy and reasonably accurate. In conventional password-based authentication methods, passwords store as a password or verification table. These methods use some encryption algorithms to prevent the passwords from being revealed, but they are still vulnerable. In this paper, we train a neural network to store encrypted passwords and use it instead of the password or verification table. This proposed method can solve the security problems in some authentication system and can be used to store the user profiles and access controls in smart home networks.
Inhibition of caspase-9 by oridonin, a diterpenoid isolated from Rabdosia rubescens, augments apoptosis in human laryngeal cancer cells

Rabdosia rubescens, a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine, has increasingly gained attention for its use as an antitumor herb. Oridonin, a bioactive diterpenoid isolated from Rabdosia rubescens, has been reported to induce apoptosis in human laryngeal cancer HEp-2 cells by our group. Here, we made unexpected observations that the caspase-9 inhibitor (C9i) enhanced apoptosis in response to selected stimuli, and HEp-2 cells which were made deficient in caspase-9 using siRNA exhibited no resistance to apoptotic signals and actually demonstrated increased apoptotic sensitivity to oridonin. The results were reversed by the transfection of an exogenous caspase-9 expression vector. Caspase-9 reduced sensitivity to apoptotic stimuli through reactive oxygen species (ROS)-suppressing and autophagy-promoting methods. ROS triggered the progression of apoptosis through activation of both the caspase-9-independent mitochondrial pathway and death receptor pathways, and the autophagy had an anti-apoptotic function in oridonin-treated HEp-2 cells. These collective results suggest that oridonin targets caspase-9 to alter ROS production and autophagy situation to promote HEp-2 cell apoptosis. Therefore, oridonin has the potential to be developed as an anticancer agent, and the combination of oridonin with those agents leading to reduction of caspase-9 expression in tumor cells could represent a novel approach to human laryngeal cancer treatment.
NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES ADVERTISING AND COMPETITION IN PRIVATIZED SOCIAL SECURITY: THE CASE OF MEXICO

This paper examines how advertising impacts competition and equilibrium prices in the context of a privatized pension market. We use detailed administrative data on fund manager choices and worker characteristics at the inception of Mexico’s privatized social security system, where fund managers had to set prices (management fees) at the national level, but could select sales force levels by local geographic areas. We develop a model of fund manager choice, price and advertising competition (in terms of sales force deployment), nesting models of informative and persuasive advertising. We find evidence in favor of the persuasive view; exposure to sales force lowered price sensitivity and increased brand loyalty, leading to inelastic demand and high equilibrium fees. We simulate oft-proposed policy solutions: a supply-side policy with a competitive government player, and a demand-side policy which increases price elasticity. We find that demand-side policies are necessary to foster competition in social-safety-net markets with large segments of inelastic consumers. Justine S. Hastings Brown University Department of Economics 64 Waterman Street Providence, RI 02912 and NBER justine_hastings@brown.edu Ali Hortaçsu Department of Economics University of Chicago 1126 East 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637 and NBER hortacsu@uchicago.edu Chad Syverson University of Chicago Booth School of Business 5807 S. Woodlawn Ave. Chicago, IL 60637 and NBER chad.syverson@chicagobooth.edu An online appendix is available at: http://www.nber. org/data-appendix/w18881
Three-dimensional, non-invasive, cross-sectional imaging of protein crystals using ultrahigh resolution optical coherence tomography

Micro-scale, non-invasive, three-dimensional cross-sectional imaging of protein crystals was successfully accomplished using ultra-high resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) with low noise, Gaussian like supercontinuum. This technique facilitated visualization of protein crystals even those in medium that also contained substantial amounts of precipitates. We found the enhancement of the scattered signal from protein crystal by inclusion of agarose gel in the crystallization medium. Crystals of a protein and a salt in the same sample when visualized by UHR-OCT showed distinct physical characteristics, suggesting that protein and salt crystals may, in general, be distinguishable by UHR-OCT. UHR-OCT is a nondestructive and rapid method, which should therefore find use in automated systems designed to visualize crystals.
Augmenting user interaction in a smart home applying commonsense knowledge

In this paper, we present a system that augments user interaction to elicit intelligence of a living room adorned with aware artefacts. These artefacts are computationally augmented everyday objects, like a phone, a light, a TV, etc., which are enabled to communicate their operational states among themselves. The operational state of an artefact is usually changed to another state as a result of an interaction by the user. Our system augments such interactions by improvising other spatially correlated artefacts with the help of commonsense knowledge. For example, if a user picks up a ringing phone while the TV is on, the system either mutes or reduces the TV volume. In this case the phone’s state is changed to “in use” state due to deliberate interaction of the user and simultaneously the state of the TV may be changed to “mute” or “low volume” by the system. Such idea of augmenting user interaction has been elaborated in this paper. We present the computational model and the implementation detail of our approach and also demonstrate its feasibility through an informal user study.
Probabilistic Maneuver Prediction in Traffic Scenarios

Traffic scene understanding is an important part of future advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). In this paper we present a probabilistic approach for this problem. We use Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) for modeling the spatiotemporal dependencies of traffic situations. The parameters of the individual models are learned from a data base, generated by a professional driving simulation software. New oncoming situations are firstly perceived by an on-board sensor system including radar and camera. After the parameters of traffic participants are estimated they are used for recognition and prediction of the traffic maneuver by evaluating the likelihood for the learned models. Experimental results in real-world environments have shown that the method can robustly recognize driving maneuvers. As an example, the prediction of lane change maneuvers shows the benefit for different ADAS functions.
Design of a robotic device for assessment and rehabilitation of hand sensory function

This paper presents the design and implementation of the Robotic Sensory Trainer, a robotic interface for assessment and therapy of hand sensory function. The device can provide three types of well controlled stimuli: (i) angular displacement at the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint using a remote-center-of-motion double-parallelogram structure, (ii) vibration stimuli at the fingertip, proximal phalange and palm, and (iii) pressure at the fingertip, while recording position, interaction force and feedback from the user over a touch screen. These stimuli offer a novel platform to investigate sensory perception in healthy subjects and patients with sensory impairments, with the potential to assess deficits and actively train detection of specific sensory cues in a standardized manner. A preliminary study with eight healthy subjects demonstrates the feasibility of using the Robotic Sensory Trainer to assess the sensory perception threshold in MCP angular position. An average just noticeable difference (JND) in the MCP joint angle of 2.46° (14.47%) was found, which is in agreement with previous perception studies.
Inhomogeneities in the universe

Standard models of galaxy formation predict that matter distribution is statistically homogeneous and isotropic and characterized by (i) spatial homogeneity for r < 10 Mpc h−1, (ii) small-amplitude structures of relatively limited size (i.e. r < 100) Mpc h−1 and (iii) anti-correlations for r > rc ≈ 150 Mpc h−1 (i.e. no structures of size larger than rc). Whether or not the observed galaxy distribution is interpreted to be compatible with these predictions depends on the a priori assumptions encoded in the statistical methods employed to characterize the data and on the a posteriori hypotheses made to interpret the results. We present strategies to test the most common assumptions and we find evidence that, in the available samples, galaxy distribution is spatially inhomogeneous for r < 100 Mpc h−1 but statistically homogeneous and isotropic. We conclude that the observed inhomogeneities pose a fundamental challenge to the standard picture of cosmology but they also represent an important opportunity which may open new directions for many cosmological puzzles.
A Framework for Comparative Performance Analysis of MPI Applications

Parallel application developers are facing a myriad of parameters when trying to understand the performance behavior of their code. Even within a single hardware configuration, the performance of any application will depend among others on factors such as the MPI library or some application level input parameters. This paper deals with the problem on how to determine the cause for performance variations of an application. Based on tracefiles of the application generated for several scenarios and an according documentation of the parameters used for each run, the PERDAC performance analysis tool is calculating statistical properties of the performance data gathered, such as average, standard deviation, maximum and minimum across the different runs. In the current implementation, the performance data comprises of the total execution time of an MPI function on a process, the number of occurrences of each MPI function and optionally some hardware performance counters such as cache hits or cache misses. In a second step, the results of the statistical analysis are traversed in search for parameters, which show an non-uniform behavior in the analyzed execution scenarios.
Using group communication to monitor web-based group learning

In a web group-learning environment, students must communicate with other group members on the Internet to accomplish group projects and share knowledge. Communication is likely to affect performance and so analysing the relationship between communicative relationships and group performance may help teachers to monitor groups effectively. Certain tasks are necessary to perform such an analysis — recording group communication, extracting communication relationships and determining the relationship between group communication and group performance. This study developed a method for determining relationships and rules for predicting performance to enable teachers to take act appropriately according to the predicted performance of the group. Four group performance indicators are considered — average grades within a group, project grade, frequency of resource-sharing and drop-out rate. Experimental results are presented, concerning the application of the methodology to a web class of 706 students, divided into 70 groups. The experimental results show that group communication patterns significantly affect group performance.
An overview of home automation systems

Home automation system achieved great popularity in the last decades and it increases the comfort and quality of life. In this paper an overview of current and emerging home automation systems is discussed. Nowadays most home automation systems consist of a smartphone and microcontroller. A smart phone application is used to control and monitor the home appliances using different type of communication techniques. In this paper the working principle of different type of wireless communication techniques such as ZigBee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EnOcean and GSM are studied and their features are compared with each other so the users can choose their own choice of technology to build home automation system. Moreover in this research work the survey of different home automation systems is discussed and their advantages and drawbacks are also highlighted.
Activation of the GLP-1 Receptors in the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract Reduces Food Reward Behavior and Targets the Mesolimbic System

The gut/brain peptide, glucagon like peptide 1 (GLP-1), suppresses food intake by acting on receptors located in key energy balance regulating CNS areas, the hypothalamus or the hindbrain. Moreover, GLP-1 can reduce reward derived from food and motivation to obtain food by acting on its mesolimbic receptors. Together these data suggest a neuroanatomical segregation between homeostatic and reward effects of GLP-1. Here we aim to challenge this view and hypothesize that GLP-1 can regulate food reward behavior by acting directly on the hindbrain, the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), GLP-1 receptors (GLP-1R). Using two models of food reward, sucrose progressive ratio operant conditioning and conditioned place preference for food in rats, we show that intra-NTS microinjections of GLP-1 or Exendin-4, a stable analogue of GLP-1, inhibit food reward behavior. When the rats were given a choice between palatable food and chow, intra-NTS Exendin-4 treatment preferentially reduced intake of palatable food but not chow. However, chow intake and body weight were reduced by the NTS GLP-1R activation if chow was offered alone. The NTS GLP-1 activation did not alter general locomotor activity and did not induce nausea, measured by PICA. We further show that GLP-1 fibers are in close apposition to the NTS noradrenergic neurons, which were previously shown to provide a monosynaptic connection between the NTS and the mesolimbic system. Central GLP-1R activation also increased NTS expression of dopamine-β-hydroxylase, a key enzyme in noradrenaline synthesis, indicating a biological link between these two systems. Moreover, NTS GLP-1R activation altered the expression of dopamine-related genes in the ventral tegmental area. These data reveal a food reward-suppressing role of the NTS GLP-1R and indicate that the neurobiological targets underlying food reward control are not limited to the mesolimbic system, instead they are distributed throughout the CNS.
Analysis of cane-assisted walking through nonlinear optimization

Assistance to walking is a key point in improving autonomy during daily living activities of elderly and disabled people. Despite the significant number of active robotized walkers and canes proposed in the literature, only few studies focused on the mechanical influence of assistive devices on the gait generation process. A deeper analysis of assisted walking dynamics is very likely to help improving the design and the adequacy of the robotized assistants. In this paper a simulation framework of impaired and cane assisted gaits is developed. Simulations of common passive cane assistance allow a deeper analysis of its contributions to the locomotion. The behaviour of an active cane and its beneficial impact on the energetics of impaired gaits are exposed.
Findings of a Four-Year Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial Comparing Two-Piece and One-Piece Zirconia Abutments Supporting Single Prosthetic Restorations in Maxillary Anterior Region

The purpose of this randomized controlled study is to investigate the clinical results obtained over four years and incidence of complications associated with one- versus two-piece custom made zirconia anchorages, in single tooth implant-supported restorations of the maxillary anterior region. Sixty-five patients, with a total of 74 missing maxillary teeth, were selected in the period from February 2007 to July 2010. Two different ways of custom made zirconia abutment and final prosthetic restoration were evaluated: a standard zirconia abutment associated with a pressed layer of lithium disilicate with an all-ceramic cemented restoration versus one-piece restoration with the facing porcelain fired and pressed straight to the custom made zirconia abutment. In 29 cases, the restoration consisted of an all-ceramic restoration for cementation (two pieces); in 45 cases the restoration was a screw-retained restoration (one piece). Three all-ceramic restorations broke during the observation time. Two one-piece restorations fractured after 26 months. At follow-up examination there were no significant differences between one-piece and two-piece groups regarding the PI, BI, and MBL. Awaiting studies with longer follow-up times, a careful conclusion is that zirconia anchorages for single-implant restorations seem to demonstrate good short-term technical and biological results.
To flip or not to flip: lipid–protein charge interactions are a determinant of final membrane protein topology

The molecular details of how lipids influence final topological organization of membrane proteins are not well understood. Here, we present evidence that final topology is influenced by lipid–protein interactions most likely outside of the translocon. The N-terminal half of Escherichia coli lactose permease (LacY) is inverted with respect to the C-terminal half and the membrane bilayer when assembled in mutants lacking phosphatidylethanolamine and containing only negatively charged phospholipids. We demonstrate that inversion is dependent on interactions between the net charge of the cytoplasmic surface of the N-terminal bundle and the negative charge density of the membrane bilayer surface. A transmembrane domain, acting as a molecular hinge between the two halves of the protein, must also exit from the membrane for inversion to occur. Phosphatidylethanolamine dampens the translocation potential of negative residues in favor of the cytoplasmic retention potential of positive residues, thus explaining the dominance of positive over negative amino acids as co- or post-translational topological determinants.
One step further in large-scale evaluations: the V-DS environment

Validating current and next generation of distributed systems targeting large-scale infrastructures is a complex task. Several methodologies are possible. However, experimental evaluations on real testbeds are unavoidable in the life-cycle of a distributed middleware prototype. In particular, performing such real experiments in a rigorous way requires to benchmark developed prototypes at larger and larger scales. Fulfilling this requirement is an open challenge but is mandatory in order to fully observe and understand the behaviors of distributed systems. In this work, we present our Virtualization environment for large-scale Distributed Systems, called V-DS, as an answer for reaching scales steps further than current experimental evaluation scales. Then, through the use of V-DS, we experimentally benchmark the scalability of three P2P libraries by reaching scales commonly used for evaluations through simulations. Notably, our results on the Grid'5000 research testbed show that only one of the P2P library can optimally build overlays, whatever the size of the overlay is
Multi-objective Decision Support for Brokering of Cloud SLA

The selection of Cloud providers, whose offers best fit the requirements of a particular application, is a complex issue due to the heterogeneity of the Cloud services, resources, technology and service levels offered by the several providers. In this paper, we illustrate a model for the resolution of a problem of choice between alternatives, when numerous and often contradictory points of view must be taken simultaneously in consideration. We describe its implementation inside Cloud Agency to broker the proposals that best fit user's needs.
Can the food-entrainable oscillator ameliorate the deleterious effect of circadian rhythm disruption in an animal model of social jet lag?

Today’s society fosters circadian rhythm disruptions. In particular, individuals often experience “social jet lag” (SJL), resulting in differences between weekday and weekend sleep schedules, and disruption of their light-entrainable oscillator (LEO). The current study investigated the interaction between the LEO and the food-entrainable oscillator (FEO) by implementing a novel animal model of SJL, the “social jet lag manipulation” (SJM). Particularly, the impact of SJL on retention and acquisition of hippocampal-dependent and non-hippocampal-dependent tasks was investigated. During Experiment One, while receiving one (FEO access) or many (no FEO access) meals per day, rats were trained under a 12:12 light-dark cycle, then exposed to the SJM. SJM and Control rats retained the tasks equally, yet rats with FEO access retained hippocampal-dependent tasks better than rats without FEO access. During Experiment Two, while receiving one or many meals per day, rats were exposed to the SJM during hippocampal-dependent and non-hippocampal-dependent task training. SJM and Control rats acquired the tasks equally. However, rats with FEO access acquired the hippocampal-dependent task faster than rats without FEO access. While no detrimental impact of the SJM was apparent, actograms suggested that the SJM induced free-running activity. Previous shift work models have induced free-running activity, causing hippocampal-dependent learning and memory deficits. It is, therefore, possible that the hippocampal-dependent tasks used in the current study were not sensitive enough to display hippocampal deficits. Nonetheless, the current findings displaying the benefit of FEO access for learning and memory indicate the need to further investigate this oscillator and its potential benefits.
The EPC Sensor Network for RFID and WSN Integration Infrastructure

Despite the popularity of current radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless sensor networks (WSN), current research fails to propose the global vision that is needed for truly pervasive computing. In this paper we introduce our effort to build a global standard infrastructure for WSN and RFID based on the EPCglobal standard architecture framework. By leveraging the EPC network infrastructure, our proposed EPC sensor network will effectively provide standardized WSN/RFID integration framework to support sensor data sharing.