Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tracking Rootkit Footprints with a Practical Memory Analysis System

In this paper, we present MAS, a practical memory analysis system for identifying a kernel rootkit's memory footprint in an infected system. We also present two large-scale studies of applying MAS to 848 real-world Windows kernel crash dumps and 154,768 potential malware samples. Error propagation and invalid pointers are two key challenges that stop previous pointer-based memory traversal solutions from effectively and efficiently analyzing real-world systems. MAS uses a new memory traversal algorithm to support error correction and stop error propagation. Our enhanced static analysis allows the MAS memory traversal to avoid error-prone operations and provides it with a reliable partial type assignment. Our experiments show that MAS was able to analyze all memory snapshots quickly with typical running times between 30 and 160 seconds per snapshot and with near perfect accuracy. Our kernel malware study observes that the malware samples we tested hooked 191 different function pointers in 31 different data structures. With MAS, we were able to determine quickly that 95 out of the 848 crash dumps contained kernel rootkits.
The Europeanization of Human Rights

There is a widespread conviction that contemporary criminal justice developments can best be analysed in terms of their capacity to reassure an anxious public rather than to reduce crime in any straightforward way. Construing current changes as primarily driven by efforts to placate public insecurity downplays several crucial factors of contemporary political rule. States, especially those within Europe, are increasingly integrated around human rights values that circumscribe their actions. These norms provide a resource for national citizens to make claims against states for interests that have been downgraded. This article analyses how this process of the Europeanization of human rights, coupled with crucial domestic factors, has tempered the shift toward a repressive model of criminal justice by introducing greater regulation and oversight of policing by the Irish state. This may presage a splintering of state sovereignty as some of its organizations are inspired by adherence to transnational values, an allegiance that may impede any move towards authoritarian state rule.
Place identity and residential satisfaction: Differences between native and immigrant populations

Abstract This research focuses on the concepts of place identity, social identity, residential satisfaction and community participation among immigrant and native populations. Two sample populations were analyzed: 148 Latin Americans and 150 native Spanish residents of Málaga. Comparisons drawn between the groups yielded higher levels of place identity—with the neighbourhood, city and country—, residential satisfaction and community participation among the native population. Immigrants displayed greater place identity and residential satisfaction if they were employed and lived in their own home, in comparison with those renting a property and in unemployment. The length of residence in the neighbourhood affected neighbourhood identity among immigrants, with differences between those who had been living there for the longest and shortest periods of time. Furthermore, in spite of the high levels of neighbourhood identity among the native population, after five years living in the neighbourhood, the differences between natives and immigrants disappeared. In addition, greater place identity was seen to be linked with greater community participation and residential satisfaction.
Spacious phagosome formation within mouse macrophages correlates with Salmonella serotype pathogenicity and host susceptibility

Light microscopic studies indicated a correlation between the virulence for mice of different Salmonella serotypes and the ability to form or maintain spacious phagosomes (SP) within mouse macrophages. Although Salmonella typhimurium induced membrane ruffling, macropinocytosis, and SP formation in macrophages from BALB/c mice, serotypes which are nonpathogenic for mice produced markedly fewer SP. SP formation correlated with both serotype survival within mouse macrophages and reported lethality for mice. Time-lapse video microscopy demonstrated that the human pathogen S. typhi induced generalized macropinocytosis and SP formation in human monocyte-derived macrophages, indicating a similar morphology for the initial phases of this host-pathogen interaction. In contrast to bone marrow-derived macrophages from BALB/c mice, macrophages from S. typhimurium-resistant outbred (CD-1) and inbred (CBA/HN) mice did not initiate generalized macropinocytosis after bacterial infection and formed markedly fewer SP. These deficiencies were not due to the Ihy resistance genotype of these mice, as macrophages from mice that were congenic except for the Ihy locus demonstrated equal SP formation in response to S. typhimurium. The observation that S. typhimurium-resistant CD-1 and CBA/HN mice are deficient in the ability to form and/or maintain SP indicates that a variable host component is important for SP formation and suggests that the ability to induce or form SP affects susceptibility to S. typhimurium. When serotypes nonpathogenic for mice were used to infect BALB/c macrophages, or when CD-1 or CBA/HN mouse macrophages were infected by S. typhimurium, some of the SP that formed shrank within seconds. This rapid shrinkage suggests that SP maintenance is also important for S. typhimurium survival within macrophages. These studies indicate that both host and bacterial factors contribute to SP formation and maintenance, which correlate with Salmonella intracellular survival and the ability to cause lethal enteric (typhoid) fever.
Linking EfS and Biodiversity? A UK-wide survey of the status of education within local biodiversity action plans

This article explores the potential for developing education for sustainability (EfS) through biodiversity planning in the UK. The current status of education within local biodiversity action plans (LBAPs) is evaluated using the findings of a UK-wide survey of action plans conducted in April 1999. Links between environmental education, EfS and biodiversity education are identified and international and national statements of policy are referred to. The conclusions drawn from this article are that biodiversity practitioners have the tools to deliver EfS through implementation of LBAPs—the concept allowing close links to Local Agenda 21, formal education, business and industry and the community at large. Currently there is a disparity between what is said and what is done, i.e. education is recognised as an important element of biodiversity planning but policy is not always included to encourage practical action. Practitioners should be wary of simply 'rebranding' environmental education as EfS for the complexity of the sustainability issue requires a new and innovative approach to involving individuals and organisations alike.
A Framework of Personal Knowledge Management in the Context of Organisational Knowledge Management

KM initiatives in organisations have often run into difficulties at the implementation level. Research into the causes of these problems has shifted attention to the human dimension of KM. Recently some researchers have focused on personal knowledge management skills and practices to emphasise this dimension. How are these three concepts ‘personal’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘management’ interrelated in a concept of PKM? What role does PKM play in the context of organizational KM?
Sport Policy Development in New Zealand

Sport policies are underpinned by particular interpretive frameworks or paradigms . These paradigms shape: a) the construction of policy problems, b) the alternative approaches to resolving these problems and c) what is considered to be an acceptable government intervention. This article investigates how a policy paradigm shaped the findings and recommendations of New Zealand’s Ministerial Taskforce on Sport, Fitness and Leisure. Using empirical data gathered from observations of the Taskforce’s consultations, interviews with Taskforce members and a review of public submissions, it is argued that a paradigm (stressing rationalization and integration) served as the basis for recommendations to reduce the number of regional sports trusts, to centralize control over the sector and to coordinate the administration of sport. Two fundamental contradictions and paradoxes arising from this paradigm shift are discussed. The first notes the historical contingencies that gave rise to the problem of fragmented sport delivery structures, including government’s preference for contractual agreements and decentralized control. The second examines the appropriateness of centralizing powers given the inherent need for specialized (and autonomous) delivery mechanisms. This study’s focus on paradigms helps to explain how policies can alter institutional relations and the lived world of actors with respect to their identities, opportunities and capacities to act.
Saturday Morning at the Jail: Implications of Incarceration for Families and Children†

Little is known about the experience of families affected by incarceration, yet current trends indicate that millions of children have a parent who is imprisoned. Using a conceptual framework that acknowledges the losses associated with a parent's incarceration, 56 caregivers visiting an incarcerated family member during children's visiting hours were interviewed. The interview gathered information about family, health, economics, and the legal aspects of the inmate's situation. Overall, families were at risk economically before incarceration, and the most vulnerable became even more financially strained afterward. Other problems believed to be created by incarceration included parenting strain, emotional stress, and concerns about children's loss of involvement with their incarcerated parent. Implications for family practice and policy are discussed.
The Challenges of Being a Mother in a Stepfamily

Children in stepfamilies are at increased risk of negative outcomes compared to children in first marriages, although most fare adequately or well. Researchers have emphasized the importance of defining the stepfamily processes that support or hinder child adjustment. This article considers the challenges that mothers face as they raise their children in stepfamily households. It examines the stepfamily processes that might account for the increased problems that some mothers experience in the transition to stepfamily living. These include the preparation of children for remarriage, the demands on mothers' attention, the stepparent role and its impact on mothers and children, and loyalty issues and coalitions. These areas are important foci for researchers as mothers need evidenced-based guidance to assist them in supporting children to adjust to the family changes.
Building Library Success Using the Balanced Scorecard1

How do you measure your library’s success? Is it circulation numbers? Is it the number of patrons? Or is it the number of searches on your electronic databases? In a recent customer survey, EBSCO Publishing found that over 60 percent of its customers had no “formal” way of quantifiably tracking organizational success and that over 50 percent of public and academic libraries used informal customer feedback as their primary metric of success. This difficulty of defining and clarifying success can affect the library as a whole, the community it serves, and individual employees. While most libraries can communicate their mission and clearly articulate their overall goals, often there are no defined means or metrics that link these goals to library services, resources, and programs activities. Because there are no defined metrics, there is no ability to assess success (or failure) of any activity or outlay of resources. But there are a number of methods and approaches designed to help library managers develop assessment strategies to ascertain library effectiveness and efficiency and community impacts and benefits. See, for example, Joseph R. Matthews [1], John Carlo Bertot and Denise M. Davis [2], J. C. Durrance and K. E. Fisher [3], and Fred M. Heath, Martha Kyrillidou, and Consuealla A. Askew [4]. There are even free online resources designed to assist librarians with outcomes-based evaluation and
Computational Light Painting Using a Virtual Exposure

Light painting is an artform where a light source is moved during a long‐exposure shot, creating trails resembling a stroke on a canvas. It is very difficult to perform because the light source needs to be moved at the intended speed and along a precise trajectory. Additionally, images can be corrupted by the person moving the light. We propose computational light painting, which avoids such artifacts and is easy to use. Taking a video of the moving light as input, a virtual exposure allows us to draw the intended light positions in a post‐process. We support animation, as well as 3D light sculpting, with high‐quality results.
Therapeutic effects of EGCG: a patent review

ABSTRACT Introduction: Green tea contains polyphenolic flavanoids such as epigallocatechin-3- gallate (EGCG), epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG), epigallocatechin (EGC) and epicatechin (EC). EGCG is the most abundant and active compound in green tea. Extensive research has shown that it has significant antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anti-microbial, and neuroprotective properties and has therapeutic potential against various human diseases. Areas covered: This review focuses on the applications of EGCG alone, and in combination with other compounds, for the treatment of various types of cancers, metabolic, neurodegenerative, and microbial diseases, and discusses its mechanism of action in cell line and animal modesl. Recent advances, which include the use of nanoencapsulated EGCG to enhance the drug delivery and reduce cell toxicity, have also been discussed along with the comprehensive analysis of the specific granted patents associated with EGCG. Expert opinion: Under the current scenario, the role of EGCG as a therapeutic agent is being utilised and new approaches are being formulated to overcome the problem of stability and bioavailability of EGCG. EGCG and its derivatives could be used for the development of drugs for the treatment of cancer, as well as various microbial, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Toward survivable SCADA

This paper reports on our experience designing and implementing the first survivable SCADA system – one capable of providing correct behavior with minimal performance degradation even during a cyber attack that compromises part of the system. We describe the challenges we faced while attempting to integrate modern intrusion-tolerant protocols with the SCADA architecture and present the techniques we developed to overcome these challenges.
Real-time interfaces for composing real-time systems

Recently, a number of frameworks were proposed to extend interface theory to the domains of single-processor and distributed real-time systems. This paper unifies some of these approaches and proves properties like refinement and independent implementability. We also explicitly state the requirements to a framework for these properties to be fulfilled. Further, a new notion of adaptive interfaces is introduced that supports the design by providing mechanisms for propagating system constraints, such as (end-to-end) delays, available computing and communication resources, buffer spaces, and energy. Guarantees and assumptions on interfaces are not any longer static but adapt according to the system environment. This can be used to answer synthesis questions at design time or to adapt system parameters to changing environment requirements at run-time. The applicability of the presented framework is proven by adapting it to a number of different real-time analysis models.
How Stable is the Predictive Power of the Yield Curve? Evidence from Germany and the United States

Empirical research over the last decade has uncovered predictive relationships between the slope of the yield curve and subsequent real activity and inflation. Some of these relationships are highly significant, but their theoretical motivations suggest that they may not be stable over time. We use recent econometric techniques for break testing to examine whether the empirical relationships are in fact stable. We consider continuous models, which predict either economic growth or inflation, and binary models, which predict either recessions or inflationary pressure. In each case, we draw on evidence from Germany and the United States. Models that predict real activity are somewhat more stable than those that predict inflation, and binary models are more stable than continuous models. The model that predicts recessions is stable over our full sample period in both Germany and the United States.
Proceedings of 2005 International Symposium on Intelligent Signal Processing and Communication Systems along & across Algorithm for Routing Events and Queries in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we investigate efficient strategies for routing events and queries in a wireless sensor network where energy is a major concern. Our Along & Across algorithm makes use of a hop tree structure. Event attributes are routed along hop levels while queries are routed across hop levels to seek for match. Location information is not assumed. Simulation results show that our algorithm yields much higher hitting probability between event attributes and queries than a previously proposed algorithm, Rumor Routing algorithm in a moderate-traffic environment. As a result, our algorithm consumes up to 72.6% less transmission overhead. As such, our Along & Across algorithm is sound and should be very useful to wireless sensor network developers.
Free body analysis, beam mechanics, and finite element modeling of the mandible of Alligator mississippiensis

The mechanical behavior of mammalian mandibles is well‐studied, but a comprehensive biomechanical analysis (incorporating detailed muscle architecture, accurate material properties, and three‐dimensional mechanical behavior) of an extant archosaur mandible has never been carried out. This makes it unclear how closely models of extant and extinct archosaur mandibles reflect reality and prevents comparisons of structure–function relationships in mammalian and archosaur mandibles. We tested hypotheses regarding the mechanical behavior of the mandible of Alligator mississippiensis by analyzing reaction forces and bending, shear, and torsional stress regimes in six models of varying complexity. Models included free body analysis using basic lever arm mechanics, 2D and 3D beam models, and three high‐resolution finite element models of the Alligator mandible, incorporating, respectively, isotropic bone without sutures, anisotropic bone with sutures, and anisotropic bone with sutures and contact between the mandible and the pterygoid flange. Compared with the beam models, the Alligator finite element models exhibited less spatial variability in dorsoventral bending and sagittal shear stress, as well as lower peak values for these stresses, suggesting that Alligator mandibular morphology is in part designed to reduce these stresses during biting. However, the Alligator models exhibited greater variability in the distribution of mediolateral and torsional stresses than the beam models. Incorporating anisotropic bone material properties and sutures into the model reduced dorsoventral and torsional stresses within the mandible, but led to elevated mediolateral stresses. These mediolateral stresses were mitigated by the addition of a pterygoid‐mandibular contact, suggesting important contributions from, and trade‐offs between, material properties and external constraints in Alligator mandible design. Our results suggest that beam modeling does not accurately represent the mechanical behavior of the Alligator mandible, including important performance metrics such as magnitude and orientation of reaction forces, and mediolateral bending and torsional stress distributions. J.Morphol. 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Sleep deprivation modulates brain mRNAs encoding genes of glycogen metabolism

Replenishment of brain glycogen stores depleted during waking has been suggested to constitute one of the functions of sleep [Benington, J. H. & Heller H. C. (1995) Prog. Neurobiol. , 45, 347]. We have tested the hypothesis that the level of expression of enzymes involved in glycogen metabolism could undergo variations throughout the sleep‐waking or rest‐activity cycle, and after 6 h of ‘gentle’ total sleep deprivation in mice. Specifically, we determined the variations in mRNAs coding for protein targeting to glycogen (PTG), glycogen synthase and glycogen phosphorylase, all considered as key regulators of glycogen metabolism. Glycogen synthase and glycogen phosphorylase mRNAs exhibited significant variations throughout the light‐dark cycle with a maximum at the middle of the light period and a minimum at the middle of the dark period. Following sleep deprivation, a two‐fold increase in PTG mRNA and a decrease of mRNAs encoding glycogen synthase and glycogen phosphorylase were observed. These transcriptional events have functional consequences as the activity of glycogen synthase was increased 2.5‐fold indicating a stimulating effect of sleep deprivation on glycogen synthesis. These results indicate that (i) expression of genes related to brain glycogen metabolism exhibit variations throughout the sleep‐waking or rest‐activity cycle and (ii) given the almost selective localization of glycogen to astrocytes, these cells might participate in the regulation of sleep.
Bilingualism in international schools: a model for enriching language education

If there is one educational setting where bilingualism is valued and nurtured, one would think that it is the international school. International schools, which exist around the world, serve educational needs of expatriate children from diverse language backgrounds. The staff composition is often international as well, and the parents are generally eager to instil in their children a cosmopolitan mindset. One paradox of the international school, then, is that despite such built-in linguistic and cultural diversity, bilingualism is not as aggressively promoted as one would imagine, and, instead, English often dominates as the sole language of instruction. NonEnglish-speaking students are referred to as ESL students rather than bilinguals. Maurice Carder, who has taught at the Vienna International School in Austria since 1981 and is currently the head of its ESL and Mother-Tongue Department, has written Bilingualism in International Schools as a call for international schools around the world to promote additive bilingualism more effectively. In this endeavour, Carder proposes a three-prong model for enriching language education for second language (L2) learners (29):