Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robust congestion control for ip multicast

IP multicast is a network service for scalable distribution of data to multiple receivers. Traditional protocols for multicast congestion control rely on trust: each party is assumed to follow guidelines for fair bandwidth sharing. However, with the growth and commercialization of the Internet, the assumption of universal trust is no longer tenable. In this dissertation, we consider a relaxed model where receivers are untrustworthy and can misbehave to acquire an unfairly high bandwidth at the expense of competing traffic. Our experiments with existing multicast protocols show that each of the evaluated protocols is vulnerable to receiver misbehavior. To take the first step towards robust multicast designs for distrusted environments, we focus on the class of feedback-free protocols where receivers provide no feedback to the sender and control congestion by regulating their subscription levels in the multi-group session. Unfortunately, the mechanism of group subscription offers a misbehaving receiver an opportunity to inflate its subscription level. Such inflated subscription attacks pose a major threat to fairness of bandwidth allocation. This dissertation is the first to solve the problem of inflated subscription. The presented designs rely on an insight that the ability of a receiver to access a multicast group should be tied with the congestion status of the receiver. First, we address individual attacks where a receiver inflates its subscription with no assistance from other receivers. Our solution guards access to multicast groups with dynamic keys and consists of two independent components: DELTA (Distribution of ELigibility To Access)—a novel method for in-band distribution of group keys to receivers that are eligible to access the groups according to the congestion control protocol, and SIGMA (Secure Internet Group Management Architecture)—a generic architecture for key-based group access at edge routers. DELTA and SIGMA require only minimal generic changes in the edge routers, do not alter the core of the network, and introduce no auxiliary servers. Then, we extend the design to protect multicast congestion control against inflated subscription of colluding receivers. To illustrate that integration with DELTA and SIGMA makes multicast protocols robust to inflated subscription and preserves other congestion control properties, we derive and evaluate robust adaptations of RLM and FLID-DL protocols.
Swine Dysentery: Aetiology, Pathogenicity, Determinants of Transmission and the Fight against the Disease

Swine Dysentery (SD) is a severe mucohaemorhagic enteric disease of pigs caused by Brachyspira hyodysenteriae, which has a large impact on pig production and causes important losses due to mortality and sub-optimal performance. Although B. hyodysenteriae has been traditionally considered a pathogen mainly transmitted by direct contact, through the introduction of subclinically infected animals into a previously uninfected herd, recent findings position B. hyodysenteriae as a potential threat for indirect transmission between farms. This article summarizes the knowledge available on the etiological agent of SD and its virulence traits, and reviews the determinants of SD transmission. The between-herds and within-herd transmission routes are addressed. The factors affecting disease transmission are thoroughly discussed, i.e., environmental survival of the pathogen, husbandry factors (production system, production stage, farm management), role of vectors, diet influence and interaction of the microorganism with gut microbiota. Finally, prophylactic and therapeutic approaches to fight against the disease are briefly described.
Different synaptic mechanisms of long-term potentiation induced by nicotine and tetanic stimulation in hippocampal CA1 region of rats.

AIM To investigate whether long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by nicotine and tetanic stimulation in the hippocampal CA1 region shares different mechanisms. METHODS Extracellular population spikes of the pyramidal cell layer in the hippocampal CA1 region were recorded in vitro. RESULTS LTP induced by the tetanic stimulation could be facilitated by nicotine 10 micromol/L, meanwhile, the tetanic stimulation did the same effect on LTP induced by nicotine 10 micromol/L. MK-801 10 micromol/L or NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) 20 micromol/L blocked LTP induced by tetanic stimulation, but did not inhibit LTP induced by nicotine. CONCLUSION LTP induced by nicotine shares different synaptic mechanisms with LTP induced by tetanic stimulation.
Transcriptome-Based Identification of Differently Expressed Genes from Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae Strains Exhibiting Different Virulence in Rice Varieties

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) causes bacterial blight (BB) in rice (Oryza sativa L.). In this study, we investigated the genome-wide transcription patterns of two Xoo strains (KACC10331 and HB1009), which showed different virulence patterns against eight rice cultivars, including IRBB21 (carrying Xa21). In total, 743 genes showed a significant change (p-value < 0.001 in t-tests) in their mRNA expression levels in the HB1009 (K3a race) strain compared with the Xoo KACC10331 strain (K1 race). Among them, four remarkably enriched GO terms, DNA binding, transposition, cellular nitrogen compound metabolic process, and cellular macromolecule metabolic process, were identified in the upregulated genes. In addition, the expression of 44 genes was considerably higher (log2 fold changes > 2) in the HB1009 (K3a race) strain than in the Xoo KACC10331 (K1 race) strain. Furthermore, 13 and 12 genes involved in hypersensitive response and pathogenicity (hrp) and two-component regulatory systems (TCSs), respectively, were upregulated in the HB1009 (K3a race) strain compared with the Xoo KACC10331 (K1 race) strain, which we determined using either quantitative real-time PCR analysis or next-generation RNA sequencing. These results will be helpful to improve our understanding of Xoo and to gain a better insight into the Xoo–rice interactions.
SLAM-Aided Stem Mapping for Forest Inventory with Small-Footprint Mobile LiDAR

Accurately retrieving tree stem location distributions is a basic requirement for biomass estimation of forest inventory. Combining Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is a commonly used positioning strategy in most Mobile Laser Scanning (MLS) systems for accurate forest mapping. Coupled with a tactical or consumer grade IMU, GNSS offers a satisfactory solution in open forest environments, for which positioning accuracy better than one decimeter can be achieved. However, for such MLS systems, positioning in a mature and dense forest is still a challenging task because of the loss of GNSS signals attenuated by thick canopy. Most often laser scanning sensors in MLS systems are used for mapping and modelling rather than positioning. In this paper, we investigate a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM)-aided positioning solution with point clouds collected by a small-footprint LiDAR. Based on the field test data, we evaluate the potential of SLAM positioning and mapping in forest inventories. The results show that the positioning accuracy in the selected test field is improved by 38% compared to that of a traditional tactical grade IMU + GNSS positioning system in a mature forest environment and, as a result, we are able to produce a unambiguous tree distribution map.
Diminished Monocyte Function in Microfilaremic Patients with Lymphatic Filariasis and Its Relationship to Altered Lymphoproliferative Responses

ABSTRACT Antigen-specific hyporesponsiveness to filarial antigens is a phenomenon observed in patent infection with lymph-dwelling filarial parasites of humans. This phenomenon has been attributed to a multitude of factors, one of which is altered monocyte function. To examine the role played by monocytes in filarial infection, we assessed the responses of monocytes obtained from normal and filarial parasite-infected individuals to both crude filarial antigen and purified recombinant filarial antigen WbSXP-1 and attempted to relate these to the altered lymphoproliferative responses seen in filarial infection. Monocytes from microfilaremic (MF) patients demonstrated an inability to respond to lipopolysaccharide compared to monocytes from endemic normal persons or from lymphedema patients. Indeed, interleukin 1β (IL-1β) production was severely limited, a finding that did not extend to monocyte responses to filarial antigens. Serum from MF patients reduced adherence and spreading of normal monocytes, a finding not seen with serum from the other clinical groups. Interestingly, there was a significant correlation between the production of IL-1β and adherence. Moreover, the levels of spontaneous production of IL-1β correlated with high levels of spontaneous secretion of IL-10. The effects observed were not a result of diminished viability or alteration in the expression of the cell surface markers CD14 and HLA-DR. These data suggest that monocyte function is dampened in MF patients, a finding which could alter lymphoproliferative responses during patent infection.
Fuzzy discriminant analysis based feature projection in myoelectric control

The myoelectric signal (MES) from human muscles is usually utilized as an input to the controller of a multifunction prosthetic hand. In such a system, a pattern recognition approach is usually employed to discriminate between the MES from different classes. Since the MES is recorded using multi channels, the feature vector size can become very large. In order to reduce the computational cost and enhance the generalization capability of the classifier, a dimensionality reduction method is needed to identify an informative moderate size feature set. This paper proposes a novel feature projection technique based on a combination of Fisher's Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), and Fuzzy Logic. The new method, called FLDA, assigns different membership degrees to the data points thus reducing the effect of overlapping points in the discrimination process. Furthermore, the concept of Mutual Information (MI) is introduced in the fuzzy memberships in order to assign weights to the features (attributes) according to their contribution to the discrimination process. The FLDA method is tested on a seven classes MES dataset and compared with other feature projection techniques proving its superiority.
Catastrophic crop insurance effectiveness: does it make a difference how yield losses are conditioned?

The study evaluates the effectiveness of a catastrophic drought-index insurance developed by applying two alternative methods - the standard regression analysis and the copula approach. Most empirical analyses obtain estimates of the dependence of crop yields on weather by employing linear regression. By doing so, they assume that the sensitivity of yields to weather remains constant over the whole distribution of the weather variable and can be captured by the effect of the weather index on the yield conditional mean. In our study we evaluate, whether the prediction of farm yield losses can be done more accurately by conditioning yields on extreme realisations of a weather index. Therefore, we model the dependence structure between yields and weather by employing the copula approach. Our preliminary results suggests that the use of copulas might be a more adequate way to design and rate weather-based insurance against extreme events.
Test selection, adaptation, and evaluation: a systematic approach to assess nutritional influences on child development in developing countries.

BACKGROUND Evaluating the impact of nutrition interventions on developmental outcomes in developing countries can be challenging since most assessment tests have been produced in and for developed country settings. Such tests may not be valid measures of children's abilities when used in a new context. AIMS We present several principles for the selection, adaptation, and evaluation of tests assessing the developmental outcomes of nutrition interventions in developing countries where standard assessment tests do not exist. We then report the application of these principles for a nutrition trial on the Indonesian island of Lombok. SAMPLE Three hundred children age 22-55 months in Lombok participated in a series of pilot tests for the purpose of test adaptation and evaluation. Four hundred and eighty-seven 42-month-old children in Lombok were tested on the finalized test battery. METHODS The developmental assessment tests were adapted to the local context and evaluated for a number of psychometric properties, including convergent and discriminant validity, which were measured based on multiple regression models with maternal education, depression, and age predicting each test score. RESULTS The adapted tests demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties and the expected pattern of relationships with the three maternal variables. Maternal education significantly predicted all scores but one, maternal depression predicted socio-emotional competence, socio-emotional problems, and vocabulary, while maternal age predicted socio-emotional competence only. CONCLUSION Following the methodological principles we present resulted in tests that were appropriate for children in Lombok and informative for evaluating the developmental outcomes of nutritional supplementation in the research context. Following this approach in future studies will help to determine which interventions most effectively improve child development in developing countries.
K-edge imaging in x-ray computed tomography using multi-bin photon counting detectors

After passage through matter, the energy spectrum of a polychromatic beam of x-rays contains valuable information about the elemental composition of the absorber. Conventional x-ray systems or x-ray computed tomography (CT) systems, equipped with scintillator detectors operated in the integrating mode, are largely insensitive to this type of spectral information, since the detector output is proportional to the energy fluence integrated over the whole spectrum. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate to which extent energy-sensitive photon counting devices, operated in the pulse-mode, are capable of revealing quantitative information about the elemental composition of the absorber. We focus on the detection of element-specific, K-edge discontinuities of the photo-electric cross-section. To be specific, we address the question of measuring and imaging the local density of a gadolinium-based contrast agent, in the framework of a generalized dual-energy pre-processing. Our results are very promising and seem to open up new possibilities for the imaging of the distribution of elements with a high atomic number Z in the human body using x-ray attenuation measurements. To demonstrate the usefulness of the detection and the appropriate processing of the spectral information, we present simulated images of an artherosclerotic coronary vessel filled with gadolinium-based contrast agent. While conventional systems, equipped with integrating detectors, often fail to differentiate between contrast filled lumen and artherosclerotic plaque, the use of an energy-selective detection system based on the counting of individual photons reveals a strong contrast between plaque and contrast agent.
Association between insufficiently physically active and the prevalence of obesity in the United States.

BACKGROUND Numerous public health organizations have adopted national physical activity recommendations. Despite these recommendations, over half of the US population does not meet the minimum recommendation for physical activity, with large variations across individual US states. METHODS Using the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) prevalence data for physical activity and obesity by state, we performed a weighted least squares regression using prevalence of obesity (BMI>or=30 kg/m2) as the dependent variable and insufficiently physically active (included completely sedentary), age, race, gender, and median household income as the independent variables. RESULTS The unadjusted weighted least squares regression revealed a strong correlation between a state's prevalence of obesity and the prevalence of insufficiently physically active (R=.76, R2=.58, P<.0001). After adjusting for age, gender, race, and median household income, the prevalence of insufficiently physically active is still a significant predictor of the state prevalence of obesity (partial R=.44, R2=.19 P=.004). CONCLUSION Macroenvironmental and sociopolitical disparities between individual US states that transcend simple state-level demographic factors need to be examined more rigorously to identify unique barriers and promoters of physical activity.
A comparison of different allergometric tests, skin prick test, Pharmacia UniCAP® and ADVIA Centaur®, for diagnosis of allergic diseases in children

Background: The diagnosis of allergic disease is performed by skin prick tests (SPT) or through the demonstration of specific IgE in a blood sample via an in vitro test. The measurement of IgE concentration against allergens provides critical information in clinical allergy. Standardized and reproducible methods contribute to the quality of diagnosis and treatment of allergic disease.
Pedicle instrumentation in the thoracic spine. A morphometric and cadaveric study for placement of screws.

STUDY DESIGN In part 1 of the study, the morphometry of thoracic pedicles and bony landmarks for pedicle screw placement were evaluated. In part 2, pedicle screws were inserted in fresh cadavers, using a different entry point in the left and right pedicles. OBJECTIVES To identify the safest entry point and screw orientation for pedicle screws in the thoracic spine. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA A few morphometric investigations have been performed on thoracic vertebrae, but the safest technique for screw insertion in thoracic pedicles has not been analyzed. METHODS Mean, range, and standard deviations of pedicle transverse diameter and pedicle orientation were measured in 99 dried thoracic vertebrae. We evaluated the position of the bottom of the superior facet and that of the superior border of the transverse process in relation to the center of the pedicle. The relation between the pedicle axis and the superior facet in the frontal plane was also assessed. In part 2 of the study, pedicle screws were inserted in fresh cadavers at the intersection between the superior border of the transverse process and the middle of the superior facet (entry point A) and between the former and the lateral two thirds of the facet (entry point B). RESULTS The smallest transverse diameter was found at 16 (mean 4.3 mm) where pedicles measured less than 5 mm in 68% of the specimens. In the frontal plane, the pedicle axis intersected the middle of the superior facet in 15% of specimens, the lateral two-thirds in 62%, and the lateral border of the facet in 23%. Of the 126 screws inserted in fresh human cadavers, 15 (24%) of the screws inserted using entry point A and 10 (16%) of those inserted using entry point B violated the pedicle cortex (P > 0.05). Six (10%) of the screws inserted using entry point A compared with no screw inserted using entry point B penetrated the anterior vertebral cortex (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS Pedicles between T4 and T8 may not be wide enough for screw fixation. An entry point for pedicle screws located at the intersection between the superior border of the transverse process and the lateral two thirds of the superior facet seems more likely to be in line with the pedicle axis than do other entry points. In the lower thoracic vertebrae this entry point, in combination with insertion of the screws more medially oriented than the pedicle axis, significantly reduces the risk of violating the anterior vertebral cortex.
Dynamic resource allocation algorithm for metropolitan optical packet-switched ring networks

The problem studied in this paper is a wavelength allocation algorithm applied to a metropolitan optical packet-switched ring network. Existing algorithms that provide optimal wavelength allocation generally require excessive computational time even with a small network of 8 to 16 nodes. Therefore, those approaches seem to be inappropriate for providing a dynamic real time wavelength allocation, which reacts as rapidly as possible to the growth of data traffic. In this work we present an approach for real time resource allocation (the so-called R2A) algorithm applied to optical packet-switched ring networks. This is based on equivalent bandwidth methods and heuristic iterative algorithm that can be executed in real-time. We also use simulations to evaluate the performance of the network configured according to the wavelength allocation map provided by R2A.
Experiments in Example-based Image Filter Retrieval

We present a novel image filter generation method and an image filter retrieval algorithm and analyse their properties. Based on an original image and a filtered version of the original, the retrieval algorithm can find, to a high probability, which filter was applied to the original from a large pre-defined list of filters, without having to apply all filters to the original image, which is usually a time consuming task when the number of filters is large. This is achieved by pre-computing image annotations for a set of filtered images obtained by applying the pre-defined filters to a database of 50 images. Using standard imagebased annotation techniques, we show that the filter retrieval can be achieved by taking the closest images to the original from the database and analysing those known images instead. The retrieval algorithm has a set of parameters and we present results of experiments with these values to maximise the probability of retrieving the correct filter.
Exercise training modulates functional sympatholysis and α‐adrenergic vasoconstrictor responsiveness in hypertensive and normotensive individuals

Essential hypertension is linked to an increased sympathetic vasoconstrictor activity and reduced tissue perfusion. Exercise training can improve the ability to override sympathetic vasoconstrictor activity. Here we show that 8 weeks of exercise training reduces the vasoconstrictor response to sympathetic nerve activity (induced by tyramine) and improves the ability to override sympathetic vasoconstrictor activity. We found no difference in the ability to override sympathetic vasoconstrictor activity during exercise, the reduction in blood flow in response to increases in sympathetic nerve activity or the hyperaemic response to infused ATP between normo‐ and hypertensive subjects. These results help us to better understand how exercise training can reduce blood pressure and improve tissue perfusion.