Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Protection of Relational Databases by Means of Watermarking: Recent Advances and Challenges

Databases represent today great economical and strategic concerns for both enterprises and public institutions. In that context, where data leaks, robbery as well as innocent or even hostile data degradation represent a real danger, and watermarking appears as an interesting tool. Watermarking is based on the imperceptible embedding of a message or watermark into a database in order, for instance, to determine its origin as well as to detect if it has been modified. A major advantage of watermarking in relation to other digital content protection mechanisms is that it leaves access to the data while keeping them pro‐ tected by means of a watermark, independent of the data format storage. Nevertheless, it is necessary to ensure that the introduced distortion does not perturb the exploitation of the database. In this chapter, we give a general overview of the latest database watermark‐ ing methods, focusing on those dealing with distortion control. In particular, we present a recent technique based on an ontological modeling of the database semantics that rep‐ resent the relationships in between attributes—relationships that should be preserved in order to avoid the appearance of incoherent and unlikely records.
Automatic Pigment Network Classification Using a Combination of Classical Texture Descriptors and CNN Features

The presence of atypical (irregular) pigment networks can be a symptom of melanoma malignum in skin lesions, thus, their proper recognition is a critical task. For object classification problems, the application of deep convolutional neural nets (CNN) receives priority attention nowadays for their high recognition rate. The descriptive features found by CNNs are more hidden than the classically applied ones for texture recognition. In this paper, we investigate whether CNN features outperform the classical texture descriptors in the classification of typical/atypical pigment network. Beyond performing this analysis, we have also found that the aggregation of CNN and classical features within a joint classification framework had a superior performance. Specifically, the union of the CNN and classical feature sets leads to a much higher stability in classification performance for various classifiers. As for quantitative figures, we have reached 90.44% recognition accuracy using a specific subset of this combined feature set obtained by linear forward feature selection and using a Bayes Net as classifier.
Managing Sedentary Behaviour to Reduce the Risk of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease

(142 words) Modern human environments are vastly different to those of our forebears. Rapidly advancing technology in transportation, communications, workplaces and home entertainment confer a wealth of benefits, but increasingly come with costs to human health. Sedentary behaviour – too much sitting as distinct from too little physical activity – contributes adversely to cardiometabolic health outcomes and premature mortality. Findings from observational epidemiology have been synthesised in meta-analyses and evidence is now shifting into the realm of experimental trials with the aim of identifying novel mechanisms and potential causal relationships. We discuss recent observational and experimental evidence that makes a compelling case for reducing and breaking up prolonged sitting time in both the primary-prevention and disease management contexts. We also highlight future research needs, the opportunities for developing targeted interventions, and the potential of population-wide initiatives designed to address too much sitting as a health risk.
Spatial-sequential-spectral context awareness tracking

Visual context has formed a robust stimulation for visual perception. Spatio-temporal context in existing trackers sometimes shows weak reliability in visible light videos with poor quality. Supplemented by the infrared perception, this work exploits the role of visual context in tracking in a spatial-sequential-spectral view, by which to excavate dominance of different contexts in various scenarios. Specifically, we infer it in the Fourier domain with a real-time speed, and incorporate a fully-occlusion handling and scale adaptation with a trajectory regression filter and object contour closure, respectively. Extensive experiments on 50 video clips simultaneously containing registered RGB and thermal bands demonstrate that our tracker shows a state-of-the-art performance.
The devil is in the (implementation) details: an empirical analysis of OAuth SSO systems

Millions of web users today employ their Facebook accounts to sign into more than one million relying party (RP) websites. This web-based single sign-on (SSO) scheme is enabled by OAuth 2.0, a web resource authorization protocol that has been adopted by major service providers. The OAuth 2.0 protocol has proven secure by several formal methods, but whether it is indeed secure in practice remains an open question. We examine the implementations of three major OAuth identity providers (IdP) (Facebook, Microsoft, and Google) and 96 popular RP websites that support the use of Facebook accounts for login. Our results uncover several critical vulnerabilities that allow an attacker to gain unauthorized access to the victim user's profile and social graph, and impersonate the victim on the RP website. Closer examination reveals that these vulnerabilities are caused by a set of design decisions that trade security for implementation simplicity. To improve the security of OAuth 2.0 SSO systems in real-world settings, we suggest simple and practical improvements to the design and implementation of IdPs and RPs that can be adopted gradually by individual sites.
smRithm: Graphical user interface for heart rate variability analysis

Abstract Over the past 25 years, Heart rate variability (HRV) has become a non-invasive research and clinical tool for indirectly carrying out investigation of both cardiac and autonomic system function in both healthy and diseased. It provides valuable information about a wide range of cardiovascular disorders, pulmonary diseases, neurological diseases, etc. Its primary purpose is to access the functioning of the nervous system. The source of information for HRV analysis is the continuous beat to beat measurement of inter-beat intervals. The electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) is considered as the best way to measure inter-beat intervals. This paper proposes an open source Graphical User Interface (GUI): smRithm developed in MATLAB for HRV analysis that will apply effective techniques on the raw ECG signals to process and decompose it in a simpler manner to obtain more useful information out of signals that can be utilized for more powerful and efficient applications in the near future related to HRV.
Neurological perspectives on voltage-gated sodium channels

The activity of voltage-gated sodium channels has long been linked to disorders of neuronal excitability such as epilepsy and chronic pain. Recent genetic studies have now expanded the role of sodium channels in health and disease, to include autism, migraine, multiple sclerosis, cancer as well as muscle and immune system disorders. Transgenic mouse models have proved useful in understanding the physiological role of individual sodium channels, and there has been significant progress in the development of subtype selective inhibitors of sodium channels. This review will outline the functions and roles of specific sodium channels in electrical signalling and disease, focusing on neurological aspects. We also discuss recent advances in the development of selective sodium channel inhibitors.
Vision‐based Obstacle Detection and Navigation for an Agricultural Robot

This paper describes a vision‐based obstacle detection and navigation system for use as part of a robotic solution for the sustainable intensification of broad‐acre agriculture. To be cost‐effective, the robotics solution must be competitive with current human‐driven farm machinery. Significant costs are in high‐end localization and obstacle detection sensors. Our system demonstrates a combination of an inexpensive global positioning system and inertial navigation system with vision for localization and a single stereo vision system for obstacle detection. The paper describes the design of the robot, including detailed descriptions of three key parts of the system: novelty‐based obstacle detection, visually‐aided guidance, and a navigation system that generates collision‐free kinematically feasible paths. The robot has seen extensive testing over numerous weeks of field trials during the day and night. The results in this paper pertain to one particular 3 h nighttime experiment in which the robot performed a coverage task and avoided obstacles. Additional results during the day demonstrate that the robot is able to continue operating during 5 min GPS outages by visually following crop rows.
Usability of Hilbert transform for complex channel transfer function calculation in 60 GHz band

The paper deals with the usability of the Hilbert transform for the calculation of the complex channel transfer function, if only its magnitude is available. For the usability evaluation, we use complex data measured by a vector network analyzer in the frequency range from 55 GHz to 65 GHz in a passenger car cabin which is environment very rich in multipath components. The data are used as reference values and compared with the complex values calculated from the magnitude and from the real part of the measured transfer function. We also verified whether the coherence bandwidth, which can be calculated directly in the frequency domain from measured magnitude data, can be used as the Hilbert transform usability identifier.
The Power of Elaine's Story: A Personal Reflection

There will be few perioperative students (nursing, ODP) or surgical and anaesthetic trainees, who will not have heard of the tragic case of Mrs Elaine Bromiley. A 37 year old mother of two, admitted for an elective endoscopic sinus surgery and septoplasty, Elaine suffered major complications during the induction of general anaesthesia that resulted in her death due to hypoxic brain damage (Harmer 2005). As a student ODP, watching the DVD of the reconstruction of the events that contributed to Elaine's death, I am conscious of the profound impact it had on me and the key learning points for practice.
Gamification in supported geocaching tours

In the fast growing and competitive market of tourism, innovation marketing strategies such as gamification are being used to attract customers. Exploiting game elements in tourist related Apps can encourage the tourists to join a tour. In the tourism industry, which is characterized by high-contact services, providing customer support beside the services can increase customer satisfaction. Tourist Companion is a GeoGamification platform which helps Tourism agents to improve their customer support services. It combines the game features of Geosocial games and Geocaching with customer support to provide competitive advantage for tourism organizations.
Case report of neuroleptic malignant syndrome with prolonged mental changes and severe dyskinesia

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare but lethal adverse response to antipsychotic drugs that is characterized by hyperthermia, muscular rigidity, altered consciousness, and autonomic instability. Due to an increased awareness of this drug‐induced reaction, as well as earlier diagnosis, and a shift towards the use of atypical antipsychotics, the incidence of NMS has declined from 3% to 0.01%‐0.02% (Stübner et al., 2004). Nonetheless, NMS remains a significant source of morbidity and mortality among patients receiving antipsychotics, with a mortality rate of 5.6% (Pileggi & Cook, 2016). Moreover, NMS often requires a stay in an intensive care unit, which could potentially interrupt psychiatric care (Strawn, Keck, & Caroff, 2007). Here, a case of NMS induced by quetiapine and haloperidol is presented. In addition to the classic features of NMS, the patient showed prolonged mental changes and prominent dystonia and oral dyskinesia that lasted for 26 days.
Grape seed extract regulates androgen receptor-mediated transcription in prostate cancer cells through potent anti-histone acetyltransferase activity.

Histone acetylation, which is regulated by histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and deacetylases, is an epigenetic mechanism that influences eukaryotic transcription. Significant changes in histone acetylation are associated with cancer; therefore, manipulating the acetylation status of key gene targets is likely crucial for effective cancer therapy. Grape seed extract (GSE) has a known protective effect against prostate cancer. Here, we showed that GSE significantly inhibited HAT activity by 30-80% in vitro (P < .05). Furthermore, we demonstrated significant repression of androgen receptor (AR)-mediated transcription by GSE in prostate cancer cells by measuring luciferase activity using a pGL3-PSA construct bearing the AR element in the human prostate cancer cell line LNCaP (P < .05). GSE treatment also decreased the mRNA level of the AR-regulated genes PSA and NKX 3.1. Finally, GSE inhibited growth of LNCaP cells. These results indicate that GSE potently inhibits HAT, leading to decreased AR-mediated transcription and cancer cell growth, and implicate GSE as a novel candidate for therapeutic activity against prostate cancer.
Arginase activity of Leishmania isolated from patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is one of the most important vector‐borne parasitic diseases, highly endemic in Iran, and its prevalence is increasing all over the country. Arginase (ARG) activity in isolated Leishmania parasites from CL patients is yet to be explored. This study aimed to compare the ARG activity of isolated Leishmania promastigotes from CL patients with a standard strain of Leishmania major and its influences on the disease pathogenesis. We recruited 16 confirmed CL patients from Qom Province, in central Iran; after detection of Leishmania species using PCR‐RFLP, we assessed the levels of ARG in the isolated promastigotes and determined the parasites’ growth rate. Only L. major was identified from CL patients. The level of ARG activity in the isolated Leishmania promastigotes from CL patients was significantly higher than that obtained from the standard strain of L. major. No significant correlations between ARG activity and lesion size, number or duration were observed; in contrast, a significant negative correlation was seen between ARG level and Leishmania’ growth rate. The obtained results suggest that increased ARG expression and activity in the isolated Leishmania promastigotes might contribute to the higher parasite infectivity and play a major role in the pathogenicity of the CL.
A Review of Ionic Polymeric Soft Actuators and Sensors

Abstract This article reviews properties and characteristics of soft ionic polymer–metal nanocomposites as soft biomimetic multifunctional distributed robotic materials, soft actuators, soft sensors, soft transducers and energy harvesters, and artificial muscles. After presenting some fundamental properties of biomimetic distributed nanosensing and nanoactuation of ionic polymer–metal composites, the discussion extends to some recent advances in manufacturing techniques, 3D fabrication of these soft actuators and sensors and some recent modeling and simulations, sensing and transduction, and product development. The relationships between the properties and their connection to the characteristics of soft actuators and sensors are also discussed.
Patterns of morphological changes and hybridization between sympatric whitefish morphs (Coregonus spp.) in a Swiss lake: a role for eutrophication?

Whitefish, genus Coregonus, show exceptional levels of phenotypic diversity with sympatric morphs occurring in numerous postglacial lakes in the northern hemisphere. Here, we studied the effects of human‐induced eutrophication on sympatric whitefish morphs in the Swiss lake, Lake Thun. In particular, we addressed the questions whether eutrophication (i) induced hybridization between two ecologically divergent summer‐spawning morphs through a loss of environmental heterogeneity, and (ii) induced rapid adaptive morphological changes through changes in the food web structure. Genetic analysis based on 11 microsatellite loci of 282 spawners revealed that the pelagic and the benthic morph represent highly distinct gene pools occurring at different relative proportions on all seven known spawning sites. Gill raker counts, a highly heritable trait, showed nearly discrete distributions for the two morphs. Multilocus genotypes characteristic of the pelagic morph had more gill rakers than genotypes characteristic of benthic morph. Using Bayesian methods, we found indications of recent but limited introgressive hybridization. Comparisons with historical gill raker data yielded median evolutionary rates of 0.24 haldanes and median selection intensities of 0.27 for this trait in both morphs for 1948–2004 suggesting rapid evolution through directional selection at this trait. However, phenotypic plasticity as an alternative explanation for this phenotypic change cannot be discarded. We hypothesize that both the temporal shifts in mean gill raker counts and the recent hybridization reflect responses to changes in the trophic state of the lake induced by pollution in the 1960s, which created novel selection pressures with respect to feeding niches and spawning site preferences.
Role of TRP Channels in Dinoflagellate Mechanotransduction

Transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels are common components of mechanosensing pathways, mainly described in mammals and other multicellular organisms. To gain insight into the evolutionary origins of eukaryotic mechanosensory proteins, we investigated the involvement of TRP channels in mechanosensing in a unicellular eukaryotic protist, the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedra. BLASTP analysis of the protein sequences predicted from the L. polyedra transcriptome revealed six sequences with high similarity to human TRPM2, TRPM8, TRPML2, TRPP1, and TRPP2; and characteristic TRP domains were identified in all sequences. In a phylogenetic tree including all mammalian TRP subfamilies and TRP channel sequences from unicellular and multicellular organisms, the L. polyedra sequences grouped with the TRPM, TPPML, and TRPP clades. In pharmacological experiments, we used the intrinsic bioluminescence of L. polyedra as a reporter of mechanoresponsivity. Capsaicin and RN1734, agonists of mammalian TRPV, and arachidonic acid, an agonist of mammalian TRPV, TRPA, TRPM, and Drosophila TRP, all stimulated bioluminescence in L. polyedra. Mechanical stimulation of bioluminescence, but not capsaicin-stimulated bioluminescence, was inhibited by gadolinium (Gd3+), a general inhibitor of mechanosensitive ion channels, and the phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor U73122. These pharmacological results are consistent with the involvement of TRP-like channels in mechanosensing by L. polyedra. The TRP channels do not appear to be mechanoreceptors but rather are components of the mechanotransduction signaling pathway and may be activated via a PLC-dependent mechanism. The presence and function of TRP channels in a dinoflagellate emphasize the evolutionary conservation of both the channel structures and their functions.
Measurement of the electrostrictive constants of silica and their impact on poled silica devices

In an electro-optic poled-silica switch, modulation arises from both the electro-optic effect and electrostriction. To investigate the magnitude of these two contributions, we measured the phase shift induced in a thin slab of unpoled silica subjected to a strong dc plus a small, low-frequency (0 - 19 MHz) ac voltage. The frequency responses for light polarized parallel and perpendicular to the applied field exhibit a constant term due to electronic dc Kerr, and strong peaks due to electrostriction enhanced by mechanical resonances of the slab. A theoretical model is presented that gives good quantitative agreement with these observations. From this comparison we infer the values of the dc Kerr and electrostrictive constants of silica for each polarization. For the perpendicular polarization, electrostriction largely dominates in the frequency range under study. A potential electrostrictive modulator and the impact of electrostriction on the polarization dependence of poled-silica devices are discussed.
Perianal Comedones: A Rare Incidental Finding

Comedones occur when an overproliferation of keratinocytes blocks sebum secretion in a pilosebaceous duct. Comedones have multiple possible etiologies and contributing factors. While comedones are common to acne, they are also seen in occupational exposures and are associated with certain syndromes. We describe a particularly rare case of comedones at the perianus that is not associated with any known exposure or disease and is a rare incidental finding.
Antimicrobial Peptides for Topical Treatment of Osteomyelitis and Implant-Related Infections: Study in the Spongy Bone

We examined the benefits of short linear α-helical antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) invented in our laboratory for treating bone infection and preventing microbial biofilm formation on model implants due to causative microorganisms of osteomyelitis. For this purpose, we introduced a model of induced osteomyelitis that utilizes human femur heads obtained from the hospital after their replacement with artificial prostheses. We found that the focus of the infection set up in the spongy part of this bone treated with AMP-loaded calcium phosphate cement was eradicated much more effectively than was the focus treated with antibiotics such as vancomycin or gentamicin loaded into the same cement. This contradicts the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) values of AMPs and antibiotics against some bacterial strains obtained in standard in vitro assays. The formation of microbial biofilm on implants made from poly(methylmethacrylate)-based bone cement loaded with AMP was evaluated after the implants’ removal from the infected bone sample. AMPs loaded in such model implants prevented microbial adhesion and subsequent formation of bacterial biofilm on their surface. Biofilms did form, on the other hand, on control implants made from the plain cement when these were implanted into the same infected bone sample. These results of the experiments performed in human bone tissue highlight the clinical potential of antimicrobial peptides for use in treating and preventing osteomyelitis caused by resistant pathogens.
A tapered leaky-wave slot antenna with wideband boresight radiation

A substrate integrated waveguide based leaky-wave antenna with composite right-left-handed tapered slot unit cells is studied for a wideband radiation at the boresight. The antenna consists of a number of slotted-unit cells with varying slot lengths but the unchanged slot widths and the identical embedded rectangular patches. The measured gain at the boresight of the tapered LWA is greater than 9dBi across a wide bandwidth of 4.4% (8.80 GHz–9.20 GHz).