Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tearing down the Internet

Recent advances in scale-free networks have claimed that their topologies are very weak against attacks. The inhomogeneous connectivity distribution of large-scale current communication networks, such as the Internet, could be exploited by evil hackers in order to damage these systems. However, there have not been many studies on the approaches and consequences of such targeted attacks. In this paper, we propose an in-depth study of the Internet topology robustness to attacks at the network layer. Several attacking techniques are presented, as well as their effects on the connectivity of the Internet. We show that although the removal of a small fraction of nodes (less than 10%) can damage the Internet connectivity, such a node removal attack would still require a large amount of work to be carried out. To achieve this, we study in detail the interactions between the intradomain and interdomain levels of the Internet through the use of an overlay.
Early childhood language memory in the speech perception of international adoptees*

ABSTRACT It is as yet unclear whether the benefits of early linguistic experiences can be maintained without at least some minimal continued exposure to the language. This study compared 12 adults adopted from Korea to the US as young children (all but one prior to age one year) to 13 participants who had no prior exposure to Korean to examine whether relearning can aid in accessing early childhood language memory. All 25 participants were recruited and tested during the second week of first-semester college Korean language classes. They completed a language background questionnaire and interview, a childhood slang task and a Korean phoneme identification task. Results revealed an advantage for adoptee participants in identifying some Korean phonemes, suggesting that some components of early childhood language memory can remain intact despite many years of disuse, and that relearning a language can help in accessing such a memory.
What are the real problems for patients with functional dyspepsia?

BACKGROUND Patients with functional dyspepsia (FD) have more complaints than just the dyspepsia. METHOD One hundred FD patients were assessed with regard to psychologic, medical, and social factors, before randomization, in a study of cognitive therapy. They were asked to list their main problem areas or 'target complaints'. RESULTS Dyspepsia was the third most frequent target complaint (26 patients), and anxiety was the most frequent one (65 patients). Patients identifying dyspepsia as a target complaint differed from the other FD patients in several aspects. They had significantly more dyspeptic symptoms (p < 0.05) and scored significantly higher on multiple somatic complaints (p = 0.001), depression (p = 0.025), general psychopathology (p = 0.043), the global assessment scale (p = 0.001), and the General Health Questionnaire (p = 0.040). However, they did not have more somatic predisposing factors like consumption of alcohol and coffee or infection with Helicobacter pylori than the patients with other target complaints. CONCLUSIONS Anxiety and not dyspepsia was the most frequent target complaint, and patients who identified dyspepsia as a target complaint did not have more somatic predisposing factors.
Applying mathematical models in cloud computing: A survey

As more and more information on individuals and companies are placed in the cloud, concerns are beginning to grow about just how safe an environment it is. It is better to prevent security threats before they enter into the systems and there is no way how this can be prevented without knowing where they come from. The issue of resource allocation and revenue maximization is also equally important especially when it comes to cloud security. This brings about the necessity of different modelling techniques including but not limited; security threat, resource allocation and revenue maximization models. This survey paper will try to analyse security threats and risk mitigation in cloud computing. It gives introduction of how viral attack can invade the virtual machines on the cloud, discusses the top security threats and countermeasures by providing the viral threat modelling in virtual machines and risk mitigation. Resource allocation models and revenue maximization techniques are also discussed.
Long-term outcomes of end-stage renal disease patients admitted to the ICU.

BACKGROUND End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) have poor survival and high rates of readmission; however, little evidence exists on long-term outcomes. We set out to investigate the long-term (6 and 12 months) survival of ESRD patients admitted to the ICU and whether differential survival could be explained by dialysis modality and vascular access. METHODS We compared the admission characteristics, outcomes and readmission rates of 619 ESRD [95 peritoneal dialysis (PD), 334 hemodialysis with a catheter (HD CVC), 190 hemodialysis with an AV fistula (HD AVF)] patients admitted to 11 ICU's in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Parametric and nonparametric tests were used as appropriate to determine differences in baseline characteristics. Multivariable Cox and logistic regression was used to assess outcomes between the groups. RESULTS The 6- and 12-month crude survival was 62 and 52%, respectively. In a univariate model, modality and vascular access were associated with an increased hazard ratio (HR) of death [PD HR 1.60 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20-2.13, HD CVC HR 1.55 95% CI 1.25-1.93] compared to patients on HD with an AVF. In three different multivariate adjusted models, this association persisted with HRs for death of 1.63-1.75 for PD and 1.50-1.58 for HD CVC. CONCLUSIONS Overall long-term survival of ESRD patients after admission to the ICU is poor. Being on PD or being dialyzed with a catheter was independently associated with an increased mortality.
Influence of shear stress magnitude and direction on atherosclerotic plaque composition

The precise flow characteristics that promote different atherosclerotic plaque types remain unclear. We previously developed a blood flow-modifying cuff for ApoE−/− mice that induces the development of advanced plaques with vulnerable and stable features upstream and downstream of the cuff, respectively. Herein, we sought to test the hypothesis that changes in flow magnitude promote formation of the upstream (vulnerable) plaque, whereas altered flow direction is important for development of the downstream (stable) plaque. We instrumented ApoE−/− mice (n = 7) with a cuff around the left carotid artery and imaged them with micro-CT (39.6 µm resolution) eight to nine weeks after cuff placement. Computational fluid dynamics was then performed to compute six metrics that describe different aspects of atherogenic flow in terms of wall shear stress magnitude and/or direction. In a subset of four imaged animals, we performed histology to confirm the presence of advanced plaques and measure plaque length in each segment. Relative to the control artery, the region upstream of the cuff exhibited changes in shear stress magnitude only (p < 0.05), whereas the region downstream of the cuff exhibited changes in shear stress magnitude and direction (p < 0.05). These data suggest that shear stress magnitude contributes to the formation of advanced plaques with a vulnerable phenotype, whereas variations in both magnitude and direction promote the formation of plaques with stable features.
Sex as Gibbs Sampling: a probability model of evolution

We show that evolutionary computation can be implemented as standard Markov-chain Monte-Carlo (MCMC) sampling. With some care, `genetic algorithms' can be constructed that are reversible Markov chains that satisfy detailed balance; it follows that the stationary distribution of populations is a Gibbs distribution in a simple factorised form. For some standard and popular nonparametric probability models, we exhibit Gibbs-sampling procedures that are plausible genetic algorithms. At mutation-selection equilibrium, a population of genomes is analogous to a sample from a Bayesian posterior, and the genomes are analogous to latent variables. We suggest this is a general, tractable, and insightful formulation of evolutionary computation in terms of standard machine learning concepts and techniques. In addition, we show that evolutionary processes in which selection acts by differences in fecundity are not reversible, and also that it is not possible to construct reversible evolutionary models in which each child is produced by only two parents.
Epistasy Search in Population-Based Gene Mapping Using Mutual Information

Gene mapping intends to identify the causal genetic regions of a specific phenotype mostly a complex disease. These diseases are believed to have multiple contributing loci that are potentially unknown and often have subtle patterns making them hard to find. Shannon's mutual information figure is used as a criterion. Algorithms based on this criterion as presented and discussed. Furthermore, an algorithm is proposed to form relevance chains. The proposed algorithms are especially in favor of diseases having almost equally contributing regions known as being epistatic and is applied to both simulated and real data. AMD disease results are included. Some highly associated markers are found in AMD. C# source files for relevance-chains are freely available at https://www. sharemation. com/amanzour.
Decentralized control for multichannel active vibration isolation

This paper describes a theoretical and experimental investigation into an active four-mount vibration isolation system, in which electromagnetic actuators are installed in parallel with each of the four passive mounts placed between a three-dimensional piece of equipment and a vibrating base structure. Decentralized velocity feedback control is applied, where each actuator is operated independently by feeding back the corresponding equipment vibration velocity at the same location. Although one end of the actuator acts at the sensor position on the equipment, the system is not collocated because of the reactive force at the other end acting on the flexible base structure, whose dynamics may be strongly coupled with the mounted equipment. The investigation of this actuator installation and its practical implementation are the motivation of this research. Isolation of low-frequency vibration is considered where the equipment can be modeled as a rigid body and the mounts as lumped-parameter springs and dampers. A general theoretical formulation for analysing multiple-mount vibration isolation systems using the impedance method is presented and is used to investigate the control mechanisms involved. Experimental results show that up to 14 dB reduction in the kinetic energy of the equipment can be achieved in practice. If very high gains are used in the experiments, however, instability occurs at low frequencies due to phase shifts in the transducer conditioning electronics.
Self-esteem of individuals with cerebral palsy

Self-esteem is one of the key components of the self-concept, so that these two terms are considered as synonymous by many authors. Persons with cerebral palsy are often faced with social isolation and peer rejection. There is a number of barriers related to social environment that hamper participation of persons with CP, which has particularly negative impact on possibilities in the fields of education, employment , as well as on active participation in the community. This state has negative influence on the level of self-esteem and development of impoverished identity and integrity of these persons.
Evidence for a presynaptic adenylate cyclase system facilitating [3H]norepinephrine release from rat brain neocortex slices and synaptosomes

The effects of drugs known to enhance intracellular cyclic AMP levels on depolarization-induced [3H]norepinephrine release from superfused rat neocortical slices and synaptosomes were investigated. The adenylate cyclase activator forskolin, the membrane-permeating cyclic AMP analogues 8-bromo-cyclic AMP and dibutyryl cyclic AMP, as well as the phosphodiesterase inhibitors isobutylmethylxanthine and 4-(3- cyclopentyloxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-pyrolidone (ZK 62771) enhanced the electrically evoked release of [3H]norepinephrine from superfused rat brain neocortex slices. 8-Bromo-cyclic GMP was without effect on the electrically evoked release. When [3H]norepinephrine release was enhanced by prolonging the electrical pulse duration from 2 msec to 10 msec, the relative inhibitory effect of the Ca2+ channel blocker Cd2+ and the relative facilitatory effect of the K+ channel blocker 4- aminopyridine remained unaffected. In striking contrast, the relative facilitatory effects of forskolin and 8-bromo-cyclic AMP were strongly reduced, whereas the effect of ZK 62771 was almost doubled. When veratrine-induced release of [3H]norepinephrine from cortex synaptosomes was examined, the facilitatory effects of forskolin, 8- bromo-cyclic AMP, and ZK 62771 were even more pronounced than in brain slices. The data strongly support the hypothesis that a presynaptic adenylate cyclase system plays a facilitatory role in the stimulus- secretion coupling process in central noradrenergic nerve terminals.
Management of herpes zoster (shingles) and postherpetic neuralgia

Herpes zoster (HZ) results from recrudescence of varicella zoster virus latent since primary infection (varicella). The overall incidence of HZ is ∼ 3/1000 of the population per year rising to 10/1000 per year by 80 years of age. Approximately 50% of individuals reaching 90 years of age will have had HZ. In ∼ 6%, a second attack may occur (usually several decades after the first). Patients with HZ can transmit the virus to a non-immune individual causing varicella. HZ is not contracted from individuals with varicella or HZ. Reduced cell-mediated immunity to HZ occurs with ageing, explaining the increased incidence in the elderly and from other causes such as tumours, HIV and immunosuppressant drugs. Diagnosis is usually clinical from typical unilateral dermatomal pain and rash. Prodromal symptoms, pain, itching and malaise, are common. The most common complication of HZ is postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), defined as significant pain or dysaesthesia present ≥ 3 months after HZ. PHN results from damage and secondary changes within components of the nervous system subserving pain. Some motor deficit is common; severe and long-lasting paresis may rarely accompany HZ. More than 5% of elderly patients have PHN at 1 year after acute HZ. Predictors of PHN are, greater age, acute pain and rash severity, prodromal pain, the presence of virus in peripheral blood as well as adverse psychosocial factors. Therapy for acute HZ is intended to reduce acute pain, hasten rash healing and reduce the risk of PHN and other complications. Antiviral drugs are close to achieving these aims but do not entirely remove risk of PHN. Oral steroids show no protective effect against PHN. Adequate analgesia during the acute phase may require strong opioid drugs. Nerve blocks and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) may reduce the risk of PHN although firm evidence is lacking. PHN requires thorough evaluation and development of a management strategy for each individual patient. Initial therapy is with TCAs (e.g., nortriptyline) or the anticonvulsant gabapentin. Topical lidocaine patches frequently reduce allodynia. Strong opioids are sometimes required. Topical capsaicin cream is beneficial for a small proportion of patients but is poorly tolerated. NMDA antagonists have not proved beneficial with the exception of ketamine. Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) may be effective in some cases. HZ is a common condition. Severe complications such as stroke, encephalitis and myelitis are relatively rare whereas sight threatening complications of ophthalmic HZ are more common. PHN is common, distressing and often intractable. Good management improves outcome.
The first death: A student's experience

About the book: This anthology offers a unique collection of personal accounts of death, dying and bereavement. It examines representations of death, dying and bereavement in fiction, poetry, the media and the Internet, as well as exploring visual representations of death and dying. Included are: visual representations of the changing meaning of death within societies; examples of the ways in which the Web is being used to give and receive support when people are dying or when they have been bereaved; the moral, ethical and emotional issues involved in caring for people at the end-of-life; lay and professional personal accounts of miscarriage and the death of family members including children, siblings and parents; suicide and assisted suicide, the role of humour after someone dies, intimacy at the end-of-life and the impact of autopsy; and, reflections from survivors and people who have been bereaved following traumatic and mass death and disaster. This highly distinctive book will be key reading for professionals, students and those involved in the care of dying and bereaved people.
Vascular graft endothelialization: comparative analysis of canine and human endothelial cell migration on natural biomaterials.

Canines are typically used as the standard preclinical model to gauge the success of vascular graft materials. However, canines spontaneously re-endothelialize vascular grafts, whereas humans do not, even after years. This raises questions of why there are differences in vascular healing between humans and other species and whether the canine is the appropriate preclinical model. In the present study we evaluated human and canine endothelial cell (EC) migration on the novel cross-linked collagen biomaterial PhotoFix(TM) pericardium. We compared in vitro migration of these cells on PhotoFix alone and on PhotoFix adsorbed with various growth factors (aFGF and bFGF) and adhesion proteins (fibronectin, collagen IV, vitronectin, and laminin). We also compared human and canine ECs in terms of their morphologies and prostacyclin production. We found that human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs) and canine ECs (CECs) migrated well on PhotoFix, suggesting that this biomaterial may be a good vascular graft candidate. Both cell types responded similarly to different growth factors and adhesive proteins, but HUVEC migration was consistently higher than that for CECs. This suggested that human in vivo graft re-endothelialization is likely not hindered by poor endothelial migration but is hindered by other cellular or graft properties.
A Survey on Bandwidth Aware Routing Protocol

—For Mobile Ad-hoc Network (MANET), It is a major challenge to provide QoS guarantee like satisfying bandwidth requirement, minimizing delay, minimizing jitter etc. To meet the bandwidth demand successfully is one of the important issue for multimedia application. This paper presents a survey of some existing routing protocol based on bandwidth estimation looking at their Estimation techniques and their proposed solutions features, which could be very useful for future improvement .
Analysis of mixed RF/FSO system with imperfect CSI estimation

In this invited paper, we present utilization of free-space optical (FSO) link in overcoming a connectivity gap between the backbone and last mile access networks. The non-line-of-sight area is bridged by radio frequency (RF) link by employing relaying technology, while the FSO link is used to deliver transmission from the relay to the end user. Firstly, a brief recapitulation of main results in the field of mixed dual-hop relaying RF/FSO system is presented. Further, the performance of mixed dual-hop amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying RF/FSO system is analysed. The outage probability expression of investigated system is provided, considering variable gain AF relay when channel state information (CSI) estimation is imperfect. The Nakagami-m fading environment is adopted for RF hop, while the intensity fluctuations of optical signal are assumed to origin from both atmospheric turbulence and pointing errors. Numerical results are presented and validated by Monte Carlo simulations. Effects of different system and channel parameters are observed. It is concluded that outdated CSI used for relay gain adjustment has an important impact on the mixed RF/FSO system performance.
A Single Immunization with Soluble Recombinant Trimeric Hemagglutinin Protects Chickens against Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus H5N1

Background The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus H5N1 causes multi-organ disease and death in poultry, resulting in significant economic losses in the poultry industry. In addition, it poses a major public health threat as it can be transmitted directly from infected poultry to humans with very high (60%) mortality rate. Effective vaccination against HPAI H5N1 would protect commercial poultry and would thus provide an important control measure by reducing the likelihood of bird-to-bird and bird-to-human transmission. Methodology/Principal Findings In the present study we evaluated the vaccine potential of recombinant soluble trimeric subtype 5 hemagglutinin (sH53) produced in mammalian cells. The secreted, purified sH53 was biologically active as demonstrated by its binding to ligands in a sialic acid-dependent manner. It was shown to protect chickens, in a dose-dependent manner, against a lethal challenge with H5N1 after a single vaccination. Protected animals did not shed challenge virus as determined by a quantitative RT-PCR on RNA isolated from trachea and cloaca swabs. Also in mice, vaccination with sH53 provided complete protection against challenge with HPAI H5N1. Conclusions/Significance Our results demonstrate that sH53 constitutes an attractive vaccine antigen for protection of chickens and mammals against HPAI H5N1. As these recombinant soluble hemagglutinin preparations can be produced with high yields and with relatively short lead time, they enable a rapid response to circulating and potentially pandemic influenza viruses.
Different Effects on Fast Exocytosis Induced by Synaptotagmin 1 and 2 Isoforms and Abundance But Not by Phosphorylation

Synaptotagmins comprise a large protein family, of which synaptotagmin 1 (Syt1) is a Ca2+ sensor for fast exocytosis, and its close relative, synaptotagmin 2 (Syt2), is assumed to serve similar functions. Chromaffin cells express Syt1 but not Syt2. We compared secretion from chromaffin cells from Syt1 null mice overexpressing either Syt isoform. High time-resolution capacitance measurement showed that Syt1 null cells lack the exocytotic phase corresponding to the readily-releasable pool (RRP) of vesicles. Comparison with the amperometric signal confirmed that the missing phase of exocytosis consists of catecholamine-containing vesicles. Overexpression of Syt1 rescued the RRP and increased its size above wild-type values, whereas the size of the slowly releasable pool decreased, indicating that the availability of Syt1 regulates the relative size of the two releasable pools. The RRP was also rescued by Syt2 overexpression, but the kinetics of fusion was slightly slower than in cells expressing Syt1. Biochemical experiments showed that Syt2 has a slightly lower Ca2+ affinity for phospholipid binding than Syt1 because of a difference in the C2A domain. These data constitute evidence for the function of Syt1 and Syt2 as alternative, but not identical, calcium-sensors for RRP fusion. By overexpression of Syt1 mutated in the shared PKC/calcium/calmodulin-dependent kinase phosphorylation site, we show that phorbol esters act independently and upstream of Syt1 to regulate the size of the releasable pools. We conclude that exocytosis from mouse chromaffin cells can be modified by the differential expression of Syt isoforms and by Syt abundance but not by phosphorylation of Syt1.