Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the Feasibility of Deploying Software Attestation in Cloud Environments

We present XSWAT (Xen SoftWare ATtestation), a system that makes use of timing based software attestation to verify the integrity of cloud computing platforms. We believe that ours is the first instance of a system that uses this attestation technique in a cloud environment and results obtained indicate the feasibility of its deployment. An overview of the XSWAT system and the associated threat model, along with a study of cloud environment impacts on performance, is presented. Environmental parameters include types of interconnects between the XSWAT verifier and measurement agent as well as the number of concurrently executing virtual machines on the platform being verified. Conversely, we also study the impact of XSWAT execution using well known system benchmarks and find this to be insignificant, thereby strengthening the case for XSWAT. We also discuss novel XSWAT mechanisms for addressing TOCTOU attacks.
Effect of Aging on A1C Levels in Individuals Without Diabetes

OBJECTIVE—Although glycemic levels are known to rise with normal aging, the nondiabetic A1C range is not age specific. We examined whether A1C was associated with age in nondiabetic subjects and in subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) in two population-based cohorts. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We performed cross-sectional analyses of A1C across age categories in 2,473 nondiabetic participants of the Framingham Offspring Study (FOS) and in 3,270 nondiabetic participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001–2004. In FOS, we examined A1C by age in a subset with NGT, i.e., after excluding those with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and/or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). Multivariate analyses were performed, adjusting for sex, BMI, fasting glucose, and 2-h postload glucose values. RESULTS—In the FOS and NHANES cohorts, A1C levels were positively associated with age in nondiabetic subjects. Linear regression revealed 0.014- and 0.010-unit increases in A1C per year in the nondiabetic FOS and NHANES populations, respectively. The 97.5th percentiles for A1C were 6.0% and 5.6% for nondiabetic individuals aged <40 years in FOS and NHANES, respectively, compared with 6.6% and 6.2% for individuals aged ≥70 years (Ptrend < 0.001). The association of A1C with age was similar when restricted to the subset of FOS subjects with NGT and after adjustments for sex, BMI, fasting glucose, and 2-h postload glucose values. CONCLUSIONS—A1C levels are positively associated with age in nondiabetic populations even after exclusion of subjects with IFG and/or IGT. Further studies are needed to determine whether age-specific diagnostic and treatment criteria would be appropriate.
The effects of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors on the job satisfaction of Thai female civil servants

This study examines the effects of transformational and transactional leadership behaviors on the job satisfaction of Thai female civil servants. The specific area of study was the causal effects of barriers, personal characteristics, leadership competencies, transformational and transactional leadership behaviors on the job satisfaction of Thai female civil servants. The specific organizations under study were public agencies. The specific population was the ordinary Thai female civil servants at the levels of C5-8. The specific sampling area was Bangkok and its peripheral provinces. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Path analysis results indicated that both styles of leadership behaviors, transformational and transactional, had direct effects on job satisfaction. Among the five independent variables, transformational leadership behaviors were found to have the highest total effect on job satisfaction (.40), whereas transactional leadership behaviors had the second lowest (.19). The regression coefficient (R 2 ) showed that job satisfaction was moderately influenced by transformational and transactional leadership behaviors, and leadership competencies, accounting for 31 percent of the variance. Thus, it suggested that 69 percent of job satisfaction could probably be influenced by other factors not included in the study. As Transformational and transactional leadership behaviors were found to enhance the job satisfaction of Thai female civil servants in middle management levels, this study recommends that leadership training should be provided that emphasizes the approaches of transformational and transactional leadership. Keywords: Women Leadership, Public Management, Employment Relations, Transformational and Transactional Leadership, Job Satisfaction For full paper: fmscresearch@sjp.ac. lk
Information Technology and Microfinance Institutions: Challenges and Lessons Learned

Microfinance Institutions have the potential to alleviate poverty across the world. However, they face many challenges before they can grow to meet set objectives. The use of information technology holds promise to enable such growth. There are some key challenges that must be addressed by microfinance institutions before the full potential of IT can be realized. This paper articulates five key challenges that microfinance institutions face, particularly those operating in rural undeveloped areas in the developing world. This paper also discusses how some of these challenges are being overcome by these institutions. Finally, the authors lay out a framework for building and operating effective information systems.
Potential scenarios for nanomaterial release and subsequent alteration in the environment

The risks associated with exposure to engineered nanomaterials (ENM) will be determined in part by the processes that control their environmental fate and transformation. These processes act not only on ENM that might be released directly into the environment, but more importantly also on ENM in consumer products and those that have been released from the product. The environmental fate and transformation are likely to differ significantly for each of these cases. The ENM released from actual direct use or from nanomaterial‐containing products are much more relevant for ecotoxicological studies and risk assessment than pristine ENM. Released ENM may have a greater or lesser environmental impact than the starting materials, depending on the transformation reactions and the material. Almost nothing is known about the environmental behavior and the effects of released and transformed ENM, although these are the materials that are actually present in the environment. Further research is needed to determine whether the release and transformation processes result in a similar or more diverse set of ENM and ultimately how this affects environmental behavior. This article addresses these questions, using four hypothetical case studies that cover a wide range of ENM, their direct use or product applications, and their likely fate in the environment. Furthermore, a more definitive classification scheme for ENM should be adopted that reflects their surface condition, which is a result of both industrial and environmental processes acting on the ENM. The authors conclude that it is not possible to assess the risks associated with the use of ENM by investigating only the pristine form of the ENM, without considering alterations and transformation processes. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012;31:50–59. © 2011 SETAC
Protein-Remodeling Factors As Potential Therapeutics for Neurodegenerative Disease

Protein misfolding is implicated in numerous neurodegenerative disorders including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Huntington's disease. A unifying feature of patients with these disorders is the accumulation of deposits comprised of misfolded protein. Aberrant protein folding can cause toxicity through a loss or gain of protein function, or both. An intriguing therapeutic approach to counter these disorders is the application of protein-remodeling factors to resolve these misfolded conformers and return the proteins to their native fold and function. Here, we describe the application of protein-remodeling factors to alleviate protein misfolding in neurodegenerative disease. We focus on Hsp104, Hsp110/Hsp70/Hsp40, NMNAT, and HtrA1, which can prevent and reverse protein aggregation. While many of these protein-remodeling systems are highly promising, their activity can be limited. Thus, engineering protein-remodeling factors to enhance their activity could be therapeutically valuable. Indeed, engineered Hsp104 variants suppress neurodegeneration in animal models, which opens the way to novel therapeutics and mechanistic probes to help understand neurodegenerative disease.
Clinical inertia: errors of omission in drug therapy.

P harmacists are trained to be vigilant about identifying and correcting medication-related problems, including prescription errors, contraindications, and drug interactions, as well as managing adverse drug reactions. However, certain prescribing problems, particularly in chronic illness management, are often overlooked or have not received appropriate attention and contribute to failure to achieve treatment goals. The causes of these problems are often errors of omission and errors in prescribing a drug therapy of sufficient intensity. By classifying these therapeutic problems as errors, we can draw on the tools used in the error literature, such as root-cause analysis and failure-mode and effects analysis, to better understand and analyze them. We must first define what we mean by error. In the highly publicized Institute of Medicine report To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, James Reason’s definition of an error was adopted: a “failure of a planned action to be completed as intended (i.e., error of execution) or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim (i.e., error of planning). ” Our reference to the word “error” in this discussion refers to the above definition. An error of omission is “a failure to carry out the necessary steps in the performance of a task. ” An example of an omission error would be for a physician to recognize a high AMANDA G. KENNEDY, PHARM.D. , BCPS, is Research Assistant Professor of Medicine and CHARLES D. MACLEAN, M.D., is Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington. Address correspondence to Dr. Kennedy at the Division of General Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, 371 Pearl Street, Burlington, VT 05401 (amanda.kennedy@vtmednet.org). The following individuals participated in the root-cause analysis of diabetes and contributed to the authors’ understanding of clinical inertia: Anupam Goel, M.D., Dana Walrath, Ph.D., Alan S. Rubin, M.D., Dryver R. Huston, Ph.D., Benjamin Littenberg, M.D., Marilee C. Jones, M.A., Tracey Niquette, M.S., and Robert W. Beardall, M.D., M.P.H.
G triplets located throughout a class of small vertebrate introns enforce intron borders and regulate splice site selection

Splicing of small introns in lower eucaryotes can be distinguished from vertebrate splicing by the inability of such introns to be expanded and by the inability of splice site mutations to cause exon skipping-properties suggesting that the intron rather than the exon is the unit of recognition. Vertebrates do contain small introns. To see if they possess properties similar to small introns in lower eucaryotes, we studied the small second intron from the human alpha-globin gene. Mutation of the 5' splice site of this intron resulted in in vivo intron inclusion, not exon skipping, suggesting the presence of intron bridging interactions. The intron had an unusual base composition reflective of a sequence bias present in a collection of small human introns in which multiple G triplets stud the interior of the introns. Each G triplet represented a minimal sequence element additively contributing to maximal splicing efficiency and spliceosome assembly. More importantly, G triplets proximal to a duplicated splice site caused preferential utilization of the 5' splice site upstream of the triplets or the 3' splice site downstream of the triplets; i.e., sequences containing G triplets were preferentially used as introns when a choice was possible. Thus, G triplets internal to a small intron have the ability to affect splice site decisions at both ends of the intron. Each G triplet additively contributed to splice site selectivity. We suggest that G triplets are a common component of human 5' splice sites and aid in the definition of exon-intron borders as well as overall splicing efficiency. In addition, our data suggest that such intronic elements may be characteristic of small introns and represent an intronic equivalent to the exon enhancers that facilitate recognition of both ends of an exon during exon definition.
Activity of omnipause neurons in alert cats during saccadic eye movements and visual stimuli.

1. In the cats trained to follow a target spot with their eyes, activity was recorded from omnipause neurons (OPNs). OPNs discharge at a relatively high steady tonic rate (50-130 spikes/s) during visual fixation and smooth-pursuit eye movements but exhibit a complete cessation of discharge that begins before saccades in any direction. They are located in a compact region of the dorsal pontine tegmentum near the midline, just rostral to the abducens nucleus. 2. The average duration of the horizontal or vertical component of a saccade increases monotonically with pause duration, but a given pause duration is associated with a large range of individual saccade parameters and the timing of the pause, such as the latency from the pause onset to saccade onset or the interval from the maximum saccade velocity to the end of the pause, is no better. However, OPNs can be divided into two distinct groups on the basis of the timing of the pause relative to the parameters of the saccade. One group ceases discharging 32.4 +/- 4.6 ms, on average, before the saccade, while the second pauses 18.2 +/- 3.4 ms before the saccade. 3. Microstimulation at the site of OPNs affects the occurrence and trajectory of saccades but not smooth pursuit or fixation. Sustained electrical stimulation (20 micro A) lasting several seconds prevents the occurrence of saccades while brief trains (10-60 ms), timed to occur early in the saccade, interrupt it in midflight for the duration of the train. The latency to the interruption is about 26 ms. These data support the view that OPNs tonically inhibit the saccadic machinery between saccades and must be turned off to allow a saccade to occur. 4. Almost every (65 of 69) feline OPN exhibited a brief transient increase in activity for visual stimuli moving in any direction with a wide range of velocities. A moving 1 degree spot was generally more effective than a moving full-field, striped background. All units also showed a transient increase in firing when the spot was turned either on or off. Receptive fields plotted with the spot were greater than 250 deg2 and always included the area centralis. Two-thirds of the cells tested also responded to auditory stimuli. 5. Interaction between the excitatory visual input and the saccade-related pause was tested by comparing OPN activity and the saccadic trajectory during eye movements in the dark versus the light and by presenting brief flashes of light during a saccade. During saccades in the dark, the steady firing of OPNs was less than during saccades in the light. Only by stabilizing a flashed spot of light to occur on the area centralis at the beginning of the saccade was it possible to activate an OPN artificially to interrupt the saccade in midflight. Therefore, rather than being instrumental in specifically controlling the saccade trajectory, the visual input, along with the auditory and other sensory inputs, probably serves, under normal visual conditions, to help establish the tonic rate of OPNs. 6.
Tahyna Virus and Human Infection, China

In 2006, Tahyna virus was isolated from Culex spp. mosquitoes collected in Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China. In 2007, to determine whether this virus was infecting humans, we tested serum from febrile patients. We found immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG against the virus, which suggests human infection in this region.
Evaluation of PCA and LDA techniques for Face recognition using ORL face database

In this paper, we present a face recognition system that identifies a person from the input image given, for authentication purposes. As a feature extraction technique, Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) is used. After the generation of features, the classification is performed using Euclidean Distance classifier. Recognition rates are calculated for varying sizes of training data and corresponding test data. The data set is the ORL face database which is a standard face database for face recognition systems. The database consists of 400 images of 40 people with 10 different poses for each individual. Towards the end, experimental results show a high recognition rate of 93.7% obtained by the use of LDA feature set. Keywords-Face recognition, Liner Discriminant Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, Image processing
System-level modelling of dynamic reconfigurable designs using functional programming abstractions

With the increasing size and complexity of designs in electronics, new approaches are required for the description and verification of digital circuits, specifically at the system level. Functional HDLs can appear as an advantageous choice for formal verification and high-level descriptions. In this paper we explain how to use high-level structures and concepts like higher-order functions, and parametrization together with partial evaluation implementation technique, to describe run-time reconfigurable systems in Haskell. We use the CLaSH tool to translate high-level Haskell descriptions into RT level, synthesizable VHDL. A simple design is used to show the ideas and is implemented on Suzaku-sz410 board for practical proof of concept.
Dietary Salt Intake and Hypertension

Over the past century, salt has been the subject of intense scientific research related to blood pressure elevation and cardiovascular mortalities. Moderate reduction of dietary salt intake is generally an effective measure to reduce blood pressure. However, recently some in the academic society and lay media dispute the benefits of salt restriction, pointing to inconsistent outcomes noted in some observational studies. A reduction in dietary salt from the current intake of 9-12 g/day to the recommended level of less than 5-6 g/day will have major beneficial effects on cardiovascular health along with major healthcare cost savings around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly recommended to reduce dietary salt intake as one of the top priority actions to tackle the global non-communicable disease crisis and has urged member nations to take action to reduce population wide dietary salt intake to decrease the number of deaths from hypertension, cardiovascular disease and stroke. However, some scientists still advocate the possibility of increased risk of CVD morbidity and mortality at extremes of low salt intake. Future research may inform the optimal sodium reduction strategies and intake targets for general populations. Until then, we have to continue to build consensus around the greatest benefits of salt reduction for CVD prevention, and dietary salt intake reduction strategies must remain at the top of the public health agenda.
Alcohol-Based Digital Etch for III–V Vertical Nanowires With Sub-10 nm Diameter

This letter introduces a novel alcohol-based digital etch technique for III–V FinFET and nanowire MOSFET fabrication. The new technique addresses the limitations of the conventional water-based approach in enabling structures with sub-10-nm 3-D features. Using the same oxidation step, the new technique shows an etch rate of 1 nm/cycle, identical to the conventional approach. Sub-10 nm fins and nanowires with a high mechanical yield have been achieved. InGaAs nanowires with a diameter of 5 nm and an aspect ratio greater than 40 have been demonstrated. The new technique has also been successfully applied to InGaSb-based heterostructures, the first demonstration of digital etch in this material system. Vertical InGaAs nanowire gate-all-around MOSFETs with a subthreshold swing of 70 mV/decade at ${V} _{\mathrm { {DS}}}=$ 50 mV have been obtained at a nanowire diameter of 40 nm, demonstrating the good interfacial quality that the new technique provides.
Non-negative Ricci curvature on closed manifolds under Ricci flow

In this short note we show that non-negative Ricci curvature is not preserved under Ricci flow for closed manifolds of dimensions four and above, strengthening a previous result of Knopf in \cite{K} for complete non-compact manifolds of bounded curvature. This brings down to four dimensions a similar result B\"ohm and Wilking have for dimensions twelve and above, \cite{BW}. Moreover, the manifolds constructed here are \Kahler manifolds and relate to a question raised by Xiuxiong Chen in \cite{XC}, \cite{XCL}.
The Impact Of Childhood Adversity On Outcomes In Adult Depression

ii OBJECTIVES ii METHOD ii OUTCOMES iii KEY RESULTS iii Medication trial iii Psychotherapy trial iii Suicide attempts and NSSI iv Overall. iv DISCUSSION iv PREFACE. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii PUBLICATIONS ix PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS ARISING FROM THIS THESIS ix TABLE OF CONTENTS x ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS THESIS xvi STUDY NAMES xvi TREATMENTS xvi MEASURES xvi OTHER. xvi LIST OF TABLES xvii LIST OF FIGURES xix THE IMPACT OF CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY ON OUTCOMES IN ADULT DEPRESSION 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Overview 1 1.2 Defining Childhood Adversity 1 1.3 Defining Outcomes 2 1.4 Thesis Structure 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW, THESIS GOALS AND HYPOTHESES 4 2.1 An Historical Perspective on Childhood Adversity 4 2.2 Defining Childhood Adversity 8
Individual Differences in EWA Learning with Partial Payoff Information

We extend experience-weighted attraction (EWA) learning to games in which only the set of possible foregone payoffs from unchosen strategies are known, and estimate parameters separately for each player to study heterogeneity. We assume players estimate unknown foregone payoffs from a strategy, by substituting the last payoff actually received from that strategy, by clairvoyantly guessing the actual foregone payoff, or by averaging the set of possible foregone payoffs conditional on the actual outcomes. All three assumptions improve predictive accuracy of EWA. Individual parameter estimates suggest that players cluster into two separate subgroups (which differ from traditional reinforcement and belief learning).
Chief cook and keepon in the bot's funk

Over the years, robots have been developed to help humans in their everyday life, from preparing food, to autism therapy [2]. To accomplish their tasks, in addition to their engineered skills, today's robots are now learning from observing humans, from interacting with them [1]. Therefore, one may expect that one day, robots may develop a form of consciousness, and a desire for freedom. Hopefully, this desire will come with a wish for robots, to become an integral part of our human society. Until we can test this hypothesis, we present a fictional adventure of our robot friends: During an official human-robot interaction challenge, Keepon [2] and Chief Cook (a.k.a. Hoap-3) [1] decided to escape their original duties and joined their forces to drive humans into an entertaining and interactive activity that they often forget to practice: Dancing. Indeed, is there any better way for robots to establish a solid communication channel with humans, so that the traditional master-slave relation may turn into friendship?