Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Binder: a system to aggregate multiple internet gateways in community networks

We present a novel system termed Binder that seamlessly aggregates multiple geographically distributed Internet gateways in community networks. The proxy based approach taken in Binder allows for applications on end-user devices to enjoy the benefits from gateway aggregation without requiring any modifications. Binder makes novel use of multipath TCP (MPTCP), and additionally leverages OpenVPN tunneling and loose source routing (in a limited form that avoids security concerns) as part of an easily deployable implementation. Binder supports flexible gateway aggregation without negative effects from packet reordering through its use of MPTCP and generalizes link aggregation mechanisms to handle distributed links. Our proof of concept evaluation of Binder using a real implementation over an emulation based lab testbed demonstrate its benefits in terms of bandwidth aggregation, load balancing and fault tolerance relative to common practice.
Optimal design of fir filters in complex Chebyshev sense using semi-infinite programming method

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel method of an optimal Chebyshev design for FIR filters in a complex domain using a linear semi-infinite optimization technique. One of difficulties of such the design problem is to assure an optimality of the obtained solution because of a nonlinearity of the problem and an ambiguity of a number of extremal frequencies. In the proposed method, the nonlinear optimization problem is transformed to the linear semi-infinite optimization problem, and can be solved by the three phase method, which is based on an optimality condition strictly. Some design examples are shown to illustrate a performance of the proposed method.
Near zero turn-on voltage high-efficiency UHF RFID rectifier in silicon-on-sapphire CMOS

A UHF RFID rectifier which turns on at near zero input voltage is demonstrated. The rectifier is fabricated in 0.25-µm silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) CMOS technology using intrinsic, near zero threshold devices. A novel improved cross-coupled bridge topology is used to minimize the leakage incurred through the use of intrinsic devices while maintaining their low power turn on characteristics. The fabricated rectifier demonstrates a peak power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 71.5% at 915MHz with a RF input of −4 dBm and a 30 kΩ load. More importantly, a PCE ≫ 30% was measured for all RF input powers between −28 and −4 dBm demonstrating state-of-the-art efficiency across a wide range of input powers.
Encryption as an abstract datatype : An extended

At the Dolev-Yao level of abstraction, security protocols can be specified using multisets rewriting. Such rewriting can be modeled naturally using proof search in linear logic. The linear logic setting also provides a simple mechanism for generating nonces and session and encryption keys via eigenvariables. We illustrate several additional aspects of this direct encoding of protocols into logic. In particular, encrypted data can be seen naturally as an abstract data-type. Entailments between security protocols as linear logic theories can be surprisingly strong. We also illustrate how the well-known connection in linear logic between bipolar formulas and general formulas can be used to show that the asynchronous model of communication given by multi-set rewriting rules can be understood, more naturally as asynchronous process calculus (also represented directly as linear logic formulas). The familiar proof theoretic notion of interpolants can also serve to characterize communication between a role and its environment.
Finding Tizen security bugs through whole-system static analysis

Tizen is a new Linux-based open source platform for consumer devices including smartphones, televisions, vehicles, and wearables. While Tizen provides kernel-level mandatory policy enforcement, it has a large collection of libraries, implemented in a mix of C and C++, which make their own security checks. In this research, we describe the design and engineering of a static analysis engine which drives a full information flow analysis for apps and a control flow analysis for the full library stack. We implemented these static analyses as extensions to LLVM, requiring us to improve LLVM's native analysis features to get greater precision and scalability, including knotty issues like the coexistence of C++ inheritance with C function pointer use. With our tools, we found several unexpected behaviors in the Tizen system, including paths through the system libraries that did not have inline security checks. We show how our tools can help the Tizen app store to verify important app properties as well as helping the Tizen development process avoid the accidental introduction of subtle vulnerabilities.
Image retrieval system based on bag of view words model

In this paper, the theory of bag of view words model is introduced for image retrieval, and a method to enhance accuracy rate of the model is provided. In addition, an image retrieval system is also constructed for movie posters. The system matches the pictures uploaded with the corresponding movie from the gallery, and is more accurate and efficient.
The majority of inducible DNA repair genes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis are induced independently of RecA

In many species of bacteria most inducible DNA repair genes are regulated by LexA homologues and are dependent on RecA for induction. We have shown previously by analysing the induction of recA that two mechanisms for the induction of gene expression following DNA damage exist in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Whereas one of these depends on RecA and LexA in the classical way, the other mechanism is independent of both of these proteins and induction occurs in the absence of RecA. Here we investigate the generality of each of these mechanisms by analysing the global response to DNA damage in both wild‐type M. tuberculosis and a recA deletion strain of M. tuberculosis using microarrays. This revealed that the majority of the genes that were induced remained inducible in the recA mutant stain. Of particular note most of the inducible genes with known or predicted functions in DNA repair did not depend on recA for induction. Amongst these are genes involved in nucleotide excision repair, base excision repair, damage reversal and recombination. Thus, it appears that this novel mechanism of gene regulation is important for DNA repair in M. tuberculosis.
Engrailed Homeobox Genes Regulate Establishment of the Cerebellar Afferent Circuit Map

The spatial organization of the cerebellar afferent map has remarkable correspondence to two aspects of intrinsic patterning within the cerebellum embodied by a series of lobules and Purkinje cell (PC)-striped gene expression. Using male and female mice, we tested whether the Engrailed (En) homeobox genes are a common genetic substrate regulating all three systems, since they are expressed in spatially restricted domains within the cerebellum and are critical for patterning PC gene expression and foliation. Indeed, we discovered that En1/2 are necessary for the precise targeting of mossy fibers to distinct lobules, as well as their subsequent resolution into discrete parasagittal bands. Moreover, each En gene coordinately regulates afferent targeting and the striped pattern of PC protein expression (e.g., ZebrinII/AldolaseC) independent of regulating foliation. We further found that En1/2, rather than the presence of a full complement of lobules, are critical for generating PC protein stripes and mossy fiber bands, and that PC striped gene expression is determined before afferent banding. Thus, the En transcription factors not only regulate cerebellum circuit topography, but they also link afferent and efferent neurons precisely enough that alterations in PC protein expression can be used as a read out for underlying defects in circuitry. In summary, our data suggest that En1/2 are master regulators of three-dimensional organization of the cerebellum and coordinately regulate morphology, patterned gene expression, and afferent topography.
Improving Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Low-Income Customers at Farmers Markets: Philly Food Bucks, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2011

Introduction We evaluated whether Philly Food Bucks, a bonus incentive program at farmers markets, is associated with increased fruit and vegetable consumption and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) sales at farmers markets in low-income areas. Methods A convenience sample of 662 customers at 22 farmers markets in low-income neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was surveyed via face-to-face interviews. Questions addressed shopping characteristics, self-reported change in fruit and vegetable consumption, whether customers tried new fruits or vegetables, use of Philly Food Bucks, and demographic information. Market-level SNAP sales and Philly Food Bucks redemption data were also collected to monitor sales patterns. Results Philly Food Bucks users were significantly more likely than nonusers to report increasing fruit and vegetable consumption (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.6–3.7; P < .001) and to report trying new fruits or vegetables (OR 1.8; 95% CI, 1.2–2.7; P = .006). At the market level, average SNAP sales more than doubled at farmers markets in low-income areas in the first 2 years of the Philly Food Bucks program. At the city’s largest farmers market in a low-income area, the program was associated with an almost 5-fold higher increase in annual SNAP sales compared with baseline. Conclusion Results from this study demonstrate that a bonus incentive program tied to SNAP was associated with self-reported increases in fruit and vegetable consumption and increased SNAP sales at participating farmers markets in low-income communities. More research is warranted to evaluate the long-term impact of bonus incentives on farmers market use, dietary behaviors, and health outcomes.
Phase and absorption retrieval using incoherent X-ray sources

X-ray phase contrast imaging has overcome the limitations of X-ray absorption imaging in many fields. Particular effort has been directed towards developing phase retrieval methods: These reveal quantitative information about a sample, which is a requirement for performing X-ray phase tomography, allows material identification and better distinction between tissue types, etc. Phase retrieval seems impossible with conventional X-ray sources due to their low spatial coherence. In the only previous example where conventional sources have been used, collimators were employed to produce spatially coherent secondary sources. We present a truly incoherent phase retrieval method, which removes the spatial coherence constraints and employs a conventional source without aperturing, collimation, or filtering. This is possible because our technique, based on the pixel edge illumination principle, is neither interferometric nor crystal based. Beams created by an X-ray mask to image the sample are smeared due to the incoherence of the source, yet we show that their displacements can still be measured accurately, obtaining strong phase contrast. Quantitative information is extracted from only two images rather than a sequence as required by several coherent methods. Our technique makes quantitative phase imaging and phase tomography possible in applications where exposure time and radiation dose are critical. The technique employs masks which are currently commercially available with linear dimensions in the tens of centimeters thus allowing for a large field of view. The technique works at high photon energy and thus promises to deliver much safer quantitative phase imaging and phase tomography in the future.
Understanding Spatiotemporal Patterns of Human Convergence and Divergence Using Mobile Phone Location Data

Investigating human mobility patterns can help researchers and agencies understand the driving forces of human movement, with potential benefits for urban planning and traffic management. Recent advances in location-aware technologies have provided many new data sources (e.g., mobile phone and social media data) for studying human space-time behavioral regularity. Although existing studies have utilized these new datasets to characterize human mobility patterns from various aspects, such as predicting human mobility and monitoring urban dynamics, few studies have focused on human convergence and divergence patterns within a city. This study aims to explore human spatial convergence and divergence and their evolutions over time using large-scale mobile phone location data. Using a dataset from Shenzhen, China, we developed a method to identify spatiotemporal patterns of human convergence and divergence. Eight distinct patterns were extracted, and the spatial distributions of these patterns are discussed in the context of urban functional regions. Thus, this study investigates urban human convergence and divergence patterns and their relationships with the urban functional environment, which is helpful for urban policy development, urban planning and traffic management.
Rapid Adaptation of a Polygenic Trait After a Sudden Environmental Shift

Although many studies have shown that a population initially well adapted to its environment can evolve rapidly when conditions suddenly change, the. Although a number of studies have shown that natural and laboratory populations initially well adapted to their environment can evolve rapidly when conditions suddenly change, the dynamics of rapid adaptation are not well understood. Here a population genetic model of polygenic selection is analyzed to describe the short-term response of a quantitative trait after a sudden shift of the phenotypic optimum. We provide explicit analytical expressions for the timescales over which the trait mean approaches the new optimum. We find that when the effect sizes are small relative to a scaled mutation rate, small to moderate allele frequency changes occur in the short-term phase in a synergistic fashion. In contrast, selective sweeps, i.e., dramatic changes in the allele frequency, may occur provided the size of the effect is sufficiently large. Applications of our theoretical results to the relationship between QTL and selective sweep mapping and to tests of fast polygenic adaptation are discussed.
Technology-Enhanced Discriminative Programs in Children with Autism 1 st

Autism can impact a subject’s communication, socialization and language abilities with different degrees of severity. Specific therapy is needed to improve and maintain these abilities over time. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) enriches communication with images, video or gestures to help children with autism understand the task. Discrete Trial Training (DTT), breaking up a task into small trials of increasing levels of difficulty (structured trials), is used in teaching autistic children. In this paper, we compare the progress of seven autistic children while carrying out classic and technology-enhanced Applied Behavior Analysis discriminative programs, including matching, receptive and expressive trials. Results show that learning times are reduced; i.e., children in the sample required less time to master new articles and to generalize previously mastered skills.
Hypothesis, Inserting Bacterial Natural Transformation Protein Complexes Into Human Cells For Efficient Gene Therapy Using Naked Dna

Naked DNA is a non-toxic vector for therapeutic gene delivery. However, current methods of transfection with naked DNA reach a limited range of susceptible tissues and have a low efficiency. The transfection of clinically important post-mitotic cells is particularly challenging because in these cells DNA need to pass the nuclear barrier. Thus, new principles for the transfer of naked DNA into human cells are required and can be found among the genetic exchange mechanisms in bacteria, where gene entry into cells via pick-up and transfer of naked DNA is known as “transformation”. In a number of bacteria, dedicated molecular machinery facilitates cell entry of free DNA by the process of “natural transformation”. In transformation-competent bacterial cells, specialised protein complexes mediate the binding of free double-stranded DNA, its fragmentation, cell entry and conversion to single-stranded DNA. I propose to exploit bacterial natural transformation machinery for a two-step transfection of human cells with therapeutic naked DNA. Firstly, the bacterial transformation protein complexes are inserted into the plasma membranes or nuclear envelopes of the target human cells and, secondly, the double-stranded vector DNA is supplied for the processing by the installed DNA transfer apparatus. I hypothesize that non-toxic bacterial transformation complexes residing in their new human milieu can promote the ultra-efficient transfer of exogenous therapeutic naked DNA. As the introduction of DNA into mammalian cells by non-viral means is called “transfection”, I propose to name the bacterial transformation complexes functioning in their new eukaryotic surroundings as “transfectosomes”. The initial step of the gene delivery should exploit the modern methods of extraneous protein insertion into mammalian cells, such as cell painting, engineering of cell permeable proteins with targeted intracellular localization, physical techniques of protein transfer like e l e c t r o i n s e r t i o n a n d e l e c t r o p o r a t i o n . Sequence-selective natural transformation systems are known and can be taken advantage of to exclude undesired (e.g. gene silencing) portions of vector DNA from entering human nucleoplasm. Improved transfectosomes can possibly be engineered for better establishment and performance in human membranes. The hypothesis can be tested by comparing the naked D N A t r a n s f e r e f f i c i e n c y i n t o t h e transfectosome-bearing and the naive human cells in ex-vivo and in-vivo gene therapy sett ings. Immunogenicity of the transfectosomes can be modulated by protein engineering. As the delivered fragments of single-stranded DNA are highly recombinogenic, the confirmation of the hypothesis can lead to a breakthrough in gene repair therapy of dominantly inherited familial hypercholesterolemia, polycystic kidney disease and trinucleotide repeat disorders.
Summarization Based on Thematic Representation of Texts

The described approach to text summarization is based on thematic representation of a text. Thematic representation includes nodes of thematically related terms simulating topics of the text. Thematic representation is created on the basis of detailed description of the domain and allows to create coherent summaries tbr texts of any size, to control length of summary using structural representation of contents of documents.
Selenium and leptin levels in febrile seizure: a case-control study in children

Purpose Febrile seizures (FS) are seizures that occur between the age of 6 and 60 months, but its pathophysiology still is not fully understood. There is limited information about the correlation between levels of selenium and leptin with FS. This study aimed to determine the relationship between serum levels of selenium and leptin in children with FS. Methods This case-control study was conducted in a University Hospital in Shahrekord, Iran, in 2011. The serum levels of selenium and leptin of 25 children with simple febrile seizure (case group) were compared with 25 febrile children without seizure (control group) in acute phase and after three months. The levels of serum selenium and leptin were measured by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method, respectively. Results In acute phase, the mean serum level of selenium in case and control groups were 95.88±42.55 and 113.25±54.43 µg/dL, respectively, and difference was not significant (P=0.415), but after three months, this level had a significant increase in both groups (P<0.001). In acute phase, the mean serum leptin level in case and control groups were 0.94±0.5 and 0.98±0.84 ng/mL, respectively, but difference was not significant (P=0.405). After three months, serum leptin level had no significant change in both groups (P=0.882). Conclusion These observations suggest that serum levels of selenium and leptin have not specific relation with FS but overllay is lower, however, further study is recommended. Also selenium level in stress and acute phase was significantly lower than recovery phase.
Decision-making Biases and Information Systems

Information systems and in particular decision support systems have been developed to supplement human information processing and to assist with decision-making. Human decision-making is facilitated by the often unconscious use of heuristics in situations where it may not be possible or feasible to search for the best decision. Judgemental heuristics have previously been found to lead to biases in decision-making. When information systems are used as decision aids, they may have an influence on biases. This study investigates the role of information systems in introducing, reinforcing or reducing biases. It was found that information systems have the ability to introduce new biases and to reinforce biases. Information systems can also reduce biases, but this requires innovative thinking on the way information is represented and the way human decision-making processes are supported. It was also found that in the real world, as opposed to the laboratories where biases are usually measured, other constraints on rational decision-making, such as politics or data errors, can overshadow the effects of biases.
European Conference on Information Systems ( ECIS ) 2009 A sad story : The case of constrained infrastructures caused by IT

Customs is one domain which has faced the need for information systems in a globalizing world. In customs there is a need for close collaboration between business and government in order to build robust technological infrastructures supporting processes related to export and import of goods. This has led to a move towards eCustoms. This case study reports from a longitudinal study of a Danish exporter which has faced the challenges of implementing eCustoms in its daily operations. The introduction of eCustoms to replace the existing customs infrastructure based on the Single Administrative Document (SAD) has led to new challenges for the Danish exporter such as destandardized procedures and increased reporting. The particular contribution of the study is the observed longing to the “good old paper-based days” where things were more standardized than after the digitalization of the processes. The study is interpreted through the lens of “double infrastructures”. The underlying assumption guiding the study is that eCustoms represents one infrastructure on top of another well established infrastructure of global trade.
Highlights from XMM-Newton

The launch of the Chandra (NASA) and XMM-Newton (ESA) X-ray observatories in 1999 has revolutionized our view of the Universe, by providing astrophysical information about many classes of sources with unprecedent detail. The high throughput of XMM-Newton makes it the ideal instrument to provide low to moderate resolution spectroscopy of faint and extended sources. After 3 years of operations, XMM-Newton has observed many types of astronomical sources and delivered very interesting results in many areas. In this review, we highlight a few points where the contribution of XMM-Newton has significantly furthered our knowledge of the energetic Universe.