Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Data Confidentiality using Fragmentation in Cloud Computing

Purpose – The aim of this research is to secure the sensitive outsourced data with minimum encryption within the cloud provider. Unfaithful solutions for providing privacy and security along with performance issues by encryption usage of outsourced data are the main motivation points of this research.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a method for secure and confidential storage of data in the cloud environment based on fragmentation. The method supports minimal encryption to minimize the computations overhead due to encryption. The proposed method uses normalization of relational databases, tables are categorized based on user requirements relating to performance, availability and serviceability, and exported to XML as fragments. After defining the fragments and assigning the appropriate confidentiality levels, the lowest number of Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) is used required to store all fragments that must remain unlinkable in separate locations.Findings – Particularly in the cloud da.
Fast Computation of Tchebichef Moments for Binary and Grayscale Images

Discrete orthogonal moments have been recently introduced in the field of image analysis. It was shown that they have better image representation capability than the continuous orthogonal moments. One problem concerning the use of moments as feature descriptors is the high computational cost, which may limit their application to the problems where the online computation is required. In this paper, we present a new approach for fast computation of the 2-D Tchebichef moments. By deriving some properties of Tchebichef polynomials, and using the image block representation for binary images and intensity slice representation for grayscale images, a fast algorithm is proposed for computing the moments of binary and grayscale images. The theoretical analysis shows that the computational complexity of the proposed method depends upon the number of blocks of the image, thus, it can speed up the computational efficiency as far as the number of blocks is smaller than the image size.
AQUASUN: adaptive window query processing in CAD applications for physical design and verification

CAD applications for physical design and verification very often require enumerating all layout objects whose bounding box intersects an axis-aligned rectangular area. A number of multidimensional access methods exist to process such window queries. The performance of some important design and verification algorithms heavily depends on the processing speed of the used access method. For complex layouts, these methods require huge amounts of resident memory to attain this speed.In this paper, we present a new access method called AQUASUN, which brings a significant query processing performance improvement over other adaptive methods---methods which can cope with a continuously changing layout. These methods generally descend from the database world and are designed to perform the equivalent query in n-dimensional space. Our method is specifically tailored to two dimensions, exploiting 2D optimisations that significantly accelerate window queries within oblong objects like PCB tracks. Furthermore, AQUASUN makes use of an efficient compression technique which greatly cuts down on memory usage.
Trypanosoma cruzi Infection Is Enhanced by Vector Saliva through Immunosuppressant Mechanisms Mediated by Lysophosphatidylcholine

ABSTRACT Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, is transmitted by bug feces deposited on human skin during a blood meal. However, parasite infection occurs through the wound produced by insect mouthparts. Saliva of the Triatominae bug Rhodnius prolixus is a source of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC). Here, we tested the role of both triatomine saliva and LPC on parasite transmission. We show that vector saliva is a powerful inducer of cell chemotaxis. A massive number of inflammatory cells were found at the sites where LPC or saliva was inoculated into the skin of mice. LPC is a known chemoattractant for monocytes, but neutrophil recruitment induced by saliva is LPC independent. The preincubation of peritoneal macrophages with saliva or LPC increased fivefold the association of T. cruzi with these cells. Moreover, saliva and LPC block nitric oxide production by T. cruzi-exposed macrophages. The injection of saliva or LPC into mouse skin in the presence of the parasite induces an up-to-sixfold increase in blood parasitemia. Together, our data suggest that saliva of the Triatominae enhances T. cruzi transmission and that some of its biological effects are attributed to LPC. This is a demonstration that a vector-derived lysophospholipid may act as an enhancing factor of Chagas disease.
Modeling and Simulating Chemical Reactions

Many students are familiar with the idea of modeling chemical reactions in terms of ordinary differential equations. However, these deterministic reaction rate equations are really a certain large-scale limit of a sequence of finer-scale probabilistic models. In studying this hierarchy of models, students can be exposed to a range of modern ideas in applied and computational mathematics. This article introduces some of the basic concepts in an accessible manner and points to some challenges that currently occupy researchers in this area. Short, downloadable MATLAB codes are listed and described.
Diminished Time-Based, but Undiminished Event-Based, Prospective Memory Among Intellectually High-Functioning Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Relation to Working Memory Ability

Objective: Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to carry out an intended action. Working memory is the ability to store information in mind while processing potentially distracting information. The few previous studies of PM in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have yielded inconsistent findings. Studies of working memory ability in ASD have suggested a selective impairment of “visual working memory. ” However, it remains unclear whether any such impairment is the result of diminished (domain-specific; visual/verbal) storage capacity or diminished (domain-general) processing capacity. We aim to clarify these issues and explore the relation between PM and working memory in ASD. Method: Seventeen adults with ASD and 17 age- and IQ-matched comparison participants completed experimental measures of both event-based (perform action x when event y occurs) and time-based (perform action a at time b) PM, plus a self-report measure of PM skills. Participants also completed a working memory test battery. Results: Participants with ASD self-reported diminished PM skill, and showed diminished performance on the time-based, but not event-based, PM task. On the working memory test battery, visual but not verbal storage capacity was diminished among participants with ASD, as was processing ability. Whereas visual storage was associated with event-based PM task performance among comparison participants, verbal storage was associated among ASD participants. Conclusions: ASD appears to involve a selective deficit in time-based PM and a selective difficulty with aspects of working memory that depend on the storage of visual information. However, event-based PM may be achieved through compensatory strategies in ASD.
Adding Causal Relationships to DL-based Action Formalisms

In the reasoning about actions community, causal relationships have been proposed as a possible approach for solving the ramification problem, i. e. , the problem of how to deal with indirect effects of actions. In this paper, we show that causal relationships can be added to action formalisms based on Description Logics without destroying the decidability of the consistency and the projection problem.
Birds prefer to breed in sites with low radioactivity in Chernobyl

Low-level radioactive contamination may affect choice of breeding site and life-history decisions if (i) radioactivity directly affects body condition or (ii) it affects resource abundance that then secondarily influences reproductive decisions. We tested the effects of radioactive contamination on nest-site choice and reproduction in a community of hole nesting birds by putting up nest boxes in areas differing in levels of background radiation. Great tit Parus major and pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca significantly avoided nest boxes in heavily contaminated areas, with a stronger effect in flycatchers than in tits. These preferences could not be attributed to variation in habitat quality or resource abundance, as determined by analyses of habitat use and the relationship between radiation and life-history characters. Likewise, none of these effects could be attributed to individuals of a specific age breeding in the most contaminated areas. Laying date and clutch size were not significantly related to dose rate in either species. Hatching success was depressed by elevated radioactive contamination, interacting with habitat in the great tit and with laying date in the pied flycatcher. Interspecific differences in effects of radiation on nest-site choice suggest that species respond in a species-specific manner to radiation, perhaps related to differences in migratory habits. We suggest that individual body condition rather than secondary effects of radiation on resource abundance account for the effects on nest box use and hatching success.
Long-term effects of maternal exposure to Di (2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate on sperm and testicular parameters in Wistar rats offspring

Background: Phthalate esters have been shown to cause reproductive toxicity in both developing and adult animals. Objective: This study was designed to assess long-term effects of maternal exposure to Di (2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate (DEHP) on reproductive ability of both neonatal and adult male offspring. Materials and Methods: 60 female rats randomly divided in four equal groups; vehicle control and three treatment groups that received 10, 100 and 500 mg/kg/day DEHP via gavage during gestation and lactation. At different ages after birth, the volumes of testes were measured by Cavellieri method, testes weights recorded and epididymal sperm samples were assessed for number and gross morphology of spermatozoa. Following tissue processing, seminiferous tubules diameter and germinal epithelium height evaluated with morphometric techniques. Results: Mean testis weight decreased significantly (p<0.05) in 500 mg/kg/day dose group from 28 to 150 days after birth. Significant decreases were seen in total volumes of testis in 100 (p<0.05) and 500 (p<0.01) mg/kg/day doses groups until 150 days after birth. Seminiferous tubules diameter and germinal epithelium height decreased significantly in 100 (p<0.05) and 500 (p<0.01) mg/kg/day doses groups during postnatal development. Also, mean sperm density in 100 mg/kg/day (p<0.05) and 500 mg/kg/day (p<0.01) doses groups and percent of morphologically normal sperm in highest dose group (p<0.05) decreased significantly until 150 days after birth. Conclusion: Present study showed that maternal exposure to Di (2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate during gestation and lactation caused to permanent and dose-related reductions of sperm and testicular parameters in rats offspring.
Trajectory deviations in airborne SAR: analysis and compensation

This paper concerns the analysis and compensation of trajectory deviations in airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Analysis of the received data spectrum is carried out with respect to the system geometry in the presence of linear, sinusoidal, and general aircraft displacements. This shows that trajectory deviations generally produce spectral replicas along the azimuth frequency that strongly impair the quality of the focused image. Based on the derived model, we explain the rationale of the motion compensation (MOCO) strategy that must be applied at the SAR processing stage in order to limit the resolution loss. To this end aberration terms are separated into range space invariant and variant components. The former can be accounted for either in a preprocessing step or efficiently at range compression stage. The latter needs a prior accommodation of range migration effect. We design the procedure for efficient inclusion of the MOCO within a high precision scaled FT based SAR processing algorithm. Finally, we present results on simulated data aimed at validating the whole analysis and the proposed procedure.
Learning-based versus model-based log-polar feature extraction operators: a comparative study

We compare two distinct primal sketch feature extraction operators: one based on neural network feature learning and the other based on mathematical models of the features. We tested both kinds of operator with a set of known, but previously untrained, synthetic features and, while varying their classification thresholds, measured the operator's false acceptance and false rejection errors. Results have shown that the model-based approach is more unstable and unreliable than the learning-based approach, which presented better results with respect to the number of correctly classified features.
The involvement of auxin in the ripening of climacteric fruits comes of age : the hormone plays a role of its own and has an intense interplay with ethylene in ripening peaches

Ethylene has long been regarded as the main regulator of ripening in climacteric fruits. The characterization of a few tomato mutants, unable to produce climacteric ethylene and to ripen their fruits even following treatments with exogenous ethylene, has shown that other factors also play an important role in the control of climacteric fruit ripening. In climacteric peach and tomato fruits it has been shown that, concomitant with ethylene production, increases in the amount of auxin can also be measured. In this work a genomic approach has been used in order to understand if such an auxin increase is functional to an independent role played by the hormone during ripening of the climacteric peach fruits. Besides the already known indirect activity on ripening due to its up-regulation of climacteric ethylene synthesis, it has been possible to show that auxin plays a role of its own during ripening of peaches. In fact, the hormone has shown the ability to regulate the expression of a number of different genes. Moreover, many genes involved in biosynthesis and transport and, in particular, the signalling (receptors, Auxin Response Factors and Aux/IAA) of auxin had increased expression in the mesocarp during ripening, thus strengthening the idea that this hormone is actively involved in the ripening of peaches. This study has also demonstrated the existence of an important cross-talk between auxin and ethylene, with genes in the auxin domain regulated by ethylene and genes in the ethylene domain regulated by auxin.
Hazelnut consumption decreases the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation, plasma oxidized LDL level and increases the ratio of large/small LDL in normolipidemic healthy subjects.

OBJECTIVE Nut consumption has beneficial effects on protection for development of atherosclerotic process. METHODS Single intervention study design was used to determine the effects of hazelnut-enriched diet (1 g/kg/day) during 4 weeks period on atherogenic tendency of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) by evaluating susceptibility of LDL to oxidation, alpha-tocopherol content of LDL, LDL subfractions, plasma oxidized (ox) LDL, lipid and lipoprotein levels in normolipidemic healthy subjects (n=21). Statistical analysis was performed using paired t test, ANOVA for repeated measurements test, Pearson's and Spearman correlation analyses. RESULTS Lag time for oxidation (baseline 54.6+/- 12.3 min, 15th day 59.3+/- 13.4 min, 30th day 65.2+/- 17.8 min, p=0.001) and ,alpha--tocopherol content of LDL (baseline 4.82+/- 1.2 microg/mg LDL protein, 15th day 4.88+/- 1.4 microg/mg LDL protein, 30th day 5.35+/- 1.7 microg/mg LDL protein, p=0.02) were found to be increased while ox-LDL levels (baseline 57.2+/- 16.2 U/L, 15th day 51.2+/- 13.6 U/L, 30th day 48.2+/- 14.2 U/L, p=0.001) decreased during the study period. Total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein (apo) B and apo B/apo AI ratio were found to be significantly lower while apo AI was higher (p<0.05). In respect to LDL subfraction, ratio of large/small LDL was significantly increased at the end of the study (baseline 3.79+/- 1.35, 15th day 3.41+/- 1.60, 30th day 4.28+/- 2.44, p= 0.046). CONCLUSION Hazelnut-enriched diet may play important role in decrease in atherogenic tendency of LDL by lowering the susceptibility of LDL to oxidation and plasma ox-LDL levels, and increasing the ratio of large/small LDL beyond its beneficial effect on lipid and lipoprotein levels.
A supervisory control system for a multi-fingered robotic hand using datagloves and a haptic device

This paper describes a supervisory control system for a multi-fingered robotic hand. The proposed method enables a slave robotic hand to grasp an object in a remote environment in several ways, manipulate it, and mimic several non-grasping motions. The key components of the proposed control system are a grasping selector in the master system and motion controllers and a controller selector in the slave system. The grasping selector learns to detect motions commanded by an operator using datagloves. We developed two methods to learn the operator's hand shapes, one that prioritizes the learning time and one that prioritizes the probability of correct detection. The controller selector determines the current command and awaits a transition, while the motion controllers stably realize the currently commanded motion. We have demonstrated the stable operation of a three-fingered robotic hand using the proposed method.
Isolation and characterization of mutants that produce the allantoin-degrading enzymes constitutively in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Degradation of allantoin, allantoate, or urea by Saccharomyces cerevisiae requires the participation of four enzymes and four transport systems. Production of the four enzymes and one of the active transport systems is inducible; allophanate, the last intermediate of the pathway, functions as the inducer. The involvement of allophanate in the expression of five distinct genes suggested that they might be regulated by a common element. This suggestion is now supported by the isolation of a new class of mutants (dal80). Strains possessing lesions in the DAL80 locus produce the five inducible activities at high, constitutive levels. Comparable constitutive levels of activity were also observed in doubly mutant strains (durl dal80) which are unable to synthesize allophanate. This, with the observation that arginase activity remained at its uninduced, basal level in strains mutated at the DAL80 locus, eliminates internal induction as the basis for constitutive enzyme synthesis. Mutations in dal80 are recessive to wild-type alleles. The DAL80 locus has been located and is not linked to any of the structural genes of the allantoin pathway. Synthesis of the five enzymes produced constitutively in dal80-1-containing mutants remains normally sensitive to nitrogen repression even though the dal80-1 mutation is present. From these observations we conclude that production of the allantoin-degrading enzymes is regulated by the DAL80 gene product and that induction and repression of enzyme synthesis can be cleanly separated mutationally.
A Mixed Approach to Similarity Metric Selection in Affinity Propagation-Based WiFi Fingerprinting Indoor Positioning

The weighted k-nearest neighbors (WkNN) algorithm is by far the most popular choice in the design of fingerprinting indoor positioning systems based on WiFi received signal strength (RSS). WkNN estimates the position of a target device by selecting k reference points (RPs) based on the similarity of their fingerprints with the measured RSS values. The position of the target device is then obtained as a weighted sum of the positions of the k RPs. Two-step WkNN positioning algorithms were recently proposed, in which RPs are divided into clusters using the affinity propagation clustering algorithm, and one representative for each cluster is selected. Only cluster representatives are then considered during the position estimation, leading to a significant computational complexity reduction compared to traditional, flat WkNN. Flat and two-step WkNN share the issue of properly selecting the similarity metric so as to guarantee good positioning accuracy: in two-step WkNN, in particular, the metric impacts three different steps in the position estimation, that is cluster formation, cluster selection and RP selection and weighting. So far, however, the only similarity metric considered in the literature was the one proposed in the original formulation of the affinity propagation algorithm. This paper fills this gap by comparing different metrics and, based on this comparison, proposes a novel mixed approach in which different metrics are adopted in the different steps of the position estimation procedure. The analysis is supported by an extensive experimental campaign carried out in a multi-floor 3D indoor positioning testbed. The impact of similarity metrics and their combinations on the structure and size of the resulting clusters, 3D positioning accuracy and computational complexity are investigated. Results show that the adoption of metrics different from the one proposed in the original affinity propagation algorithm and, in particular, the combination of different metrics can significantly improve the positioning accuracy while preserving the efficiency in computational complexity typical of two-step algorithms.
Adaptive controller of a master-slave system for transparent teleoperation

This article presents an adaptive control scheme based on position-force architecture to achieve the stability and transparency for teleoperation in unknown or varying environments. Without any knowledge about the parameters of the slave robot and environment dynamics, the proposed scheme guarantees the robustness to the parameter uncertainties of the master robot as well as the stability of the whole teleoperation system. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the transparency and robustness to the parameter uncertainties of the master robot. Experimental results to a master]slave system show the validity of the proposed scheme. Q 1998 John Wiley &