Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Improving energy efficiency in distributed intrusion detection systems

Recent studies show that malicious traffic has a significant impact on the behavior of networks, thus early dropping of malicious packets could enhance network performance. Furthermore, recent developments in the field of green networking show that it is possible to modulate power consumption according to the traffic level. Intrusion Detection Systems burden the basic routing task with packets inspection; however, traffic reduction could have beneficial results both on network performance and, with next generation routing devices, in network energy consumption. In this paper, we focus on energy consumption and we present an approach to distribute packet inspection over the network nodes, a model to evaluate the changes in network energy consumption according to early or late discovery and discard of rogue packets, and we adopt our technique and model to evaluate by means of simulation how aggressive distributed intrusion detection could be beneficial in terms of network energy savings.
Compact three-way planar power divider using five-conductor coupled line

In this paper, a planar three-way power divider with compact size is presented using quarter-wave long five-conductor couple line. It is analytically proved that the proposed structure allows the performance of three-way power dividers. Based on the derived equations and simulation, the three-way power divider is designed and measured at 2.0GHz. The measurement shows excellent performance with insertion loss of 0.2dB, and return loss and isolation better than 20dB at a design frequency.
Developing an Intelligent Robotic Arm for Stroke Rehabilitation

Arm impairments in patients post stroke involve the shoulder, elbow and wrist simultaneously. Patients may develop spasticity and reduced range of motion (ROM) at the multiple joints with abnormal couplings between the multiple joints and between the multiple degrees of freedom (DOF). They may lose independent control of individual joints and coordination among the joints. This project is aimed at developing a whole arm intelligent rehabilitation robot capable of controlling the shoulder, elbow, and wrist individually and simultaneously while allowing trunk motions, with the following integrated features: 1) it has unique diagnostic capabilities to determine which joints and which DOFs have significant changes in the neuromechanical properties, which joints lose independent control, what are the abnormal couplings, and whether the problem is due to changes in passive muscle properties or active control capabilities; 2) based on the diagnosis, it stretches the spastic/deformed joints forcefully under intelligent control to loosen up the specific stiff joints/DOFs; 3) with the stiff joints loosened up, the patients practice voluntary functional movements with assistance from the robot to regain/improve their motor control capability; and 4) the outcome is evaluated quantitatively at the levels of individual joints, multiple joints/DOFs, and the whole arm.
Design Considerations for Social Fitness Applications: Comparing Chronically Ill Patients and Healthy Adults

This paper presents findings from a two-month comparative study involving a total of 36 participants using a social fitness application called HealthyTogether. Our aim was to understand whether and how patients with chronic diseases and healthy adults respond differently to social incentives, such as competition, cooperation, and accountability, and how these incentives could relate to their engagement in physical activities. We found that community leaderboard served different goals: healthy adults mainly used it to compete with others, and patients used it to validate their normalcy. For the patients, pairing up with strong ties fostered fulfilling fitness goals, while exercising with strangers diminished them. This study shows that social fitness application design for patients should take into account their need for support from communities and close relationships. Furthermore, our findings point towards opportunities for leveraging and modifying existing social fitness applications for patients' health management.
An autonomous multi-agent approach to supply chain event management

Event management is a problem in the supply chain context that requires a solution with the goal of mitigate the event effect during the execution plan. We present an autonomous agent-based approach to support a system for this problem. Our proposal introduces two novel aspects: we conceive the system as a collaborative inter-organizational information system and we aim to provide autonomous mechanisms for the system to perform proactive control actions. We develop an example illustrating the principal concept and how this decomposition and collaborative negotiations allow finding a solution to an exception.
Motor skill learning by increasing the movement planning horizon

We investigated motor skill learning using a path tracking task, where human subjects had to track various curved paths as fast as possible, in the absence of any external perturbations. Subjects became better with practice, producing faster and smoother movements even when tracking novel untrained paths. Using a "searchlight" paradigm, where only a short segment of the path ahead of the cursor was shown, we found that subjects with a higher tracking skill took a longer chunk of the future path into account when computing the control policy for the upcoming movement segment. We observed the same effects in a second experiment where tracking speed was fixed and subjects were practicing to increase their accuracy. These findings demonstrate that human subjects increase their planning horizon when acquiring a motor skill.
Slight Heterogeneity in Multi-core Architecture: An Experimental & Comparative Study

— there is a growing consensus that heterogeneous multicores are the future of CPUs. These processors would be composed of cores that are specifically adapted or tuned to particular types of applications and use cases, thereby increasing performance. The move from homogeneous to heterogeneous multicores causes the design space to explode, however. An architect of a heterogeneous processor must make design decisions per processor core rather than once for the entire processor as before. Currently, there are no methods for handling this design complexity to yield a processor that performs well for real workloads. As a step forward, we propose weak heterogeneity. A weakly heterogeneous processor is one whose cores are different, but not significantly so. The cores share an ISA and major microarchitectural features, differing only in minor details. Limiting the design space in this way allows us to explore the heterogeneous space without becoming overwhelmed by its s ize. We show preliminary results suggesting that a design space so constrained still has interesting trade-offs among performance, power consumption, and area.
Contraction of the abdominal muscles associated with movement of the lower limb.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Activity of the trunk muscles is essential for maintaining stability of the lumbar spine because of the unstable structure of that portion of the spine. A model involving evaluation of the response of the lumbar multifidus and abdominal muscles to leg movement was developed to evaluate this function. SUBJECTS To examine this function in healthy persons, 9 male and 6 female subjects (mean age = 20.6 years, SD = 2.3) with no history of low back pain were studied. METHODS Fine-wire and surface electromyography electrodes were used to record the activity of selected trunk muscles and the prime movers for hip flexion, abduction, and extension during hip movements in each of those directions. RESULTS Trunk muscle activity occurring prior to activity of the prime mover of the limb was associated with hip movement in each direction. The transversus abdominis (TrA) muscle was invariably the first muscle that was active. Although reaction time for the TrA and oblique abdominal muscles was consistent across movement directions, reaction time for the rectus abdominis and multifidus muscles varied with the direction of limb movement. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION Results suggest that the central nervous system deals with stabilization of the spine by contraction of the abdominal and multifidus muscles in anticipation of reactive forces produced by limb movement. The TrA and oblique abdominal muscles appear to contribute to a function not related to the direction of these forces.
Architecture for Multi-Interface Multi-Channel Wireless Net works

With the increase of usage of wireless networks for purposes where the nodes are either stationary or minimally mobile, focus is also on increasing the network capacity of wireless networks. One such way is to use non-overlapping multiple channels provided by 802.11 by using multiple interfaces per node. Multiple nonoverlapped channels exist in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum. However, most IEEE 802.11-based multihop ad hoc networks today use only a single channel. As a result, these networks rarely can fully exploit the aggregate bandwidth available in the radio spectrum provisioned by the standards. Under this scenario, several challenges need to be addressed before all the available channels can be fully utilized. Major ones are design of underlying routing protocols and channel assignment algorithms to go with the existing offthe-shelf hardware. This report summarizes the existing work done in this direction. Also, it lists out three simulators which might be used for simulation studies of such architectures. Lastly, it discusses an extension of NS-2.29 compatible with latest version of gcc and supporting multiple-channel mutiple-interface assignment. Also it gives simulation study of implementation of Hyacinth[2] for more than 2 network interfaces per node.
Characteris Tics and Causes of Immune Dysfunction Related to Uremia and Dialysis

From the immunologic viewpoint, chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by disorders of both the innate and adaptive systems, generating a complex and still not fully understood immune dysfunction. Markers of a chronically activated immune system are closely linked to several complications of CKD and represent powerful predictors for mortality in the CKD population. On the other hand, CKD patients respond poorly to vaccination and to challenges such as bacterial infection. Interestingly, the main causes of death in patients with CKD are cardiovascular and infectious diseases, both being pathologic processes closely linked to immune function. Therefore, accelerated tissue degeneration (as a consequence of chronic inflammation) and increased rate of sepsis (because of a poorly orchestrated immune response) represent the most important targets for interventions aiming to reduce mortality in CKD patients. Understanding the mechanisms behind the immune dysfunction that is peculiar to CKD generates a perspective to improve outcomes in this group of patients.
Network Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s Disease via MRI Based Shape Diffeomorphometry and High-Field Atlasing

This paper examines MRI analysis of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) in a network of structures within the medial temporal lobe using diffeomorphometry methods coupled with high-field atlasing in which the entorhinal cortex is partitioned into eight subareas. The morphometry markers for three groups of subjects (controls, preclinical AD, and symptomatic AD) are indexed to template coordinates measured with respect to these eight subareas. The location and timing of changes are examined within the subareas as it pertains to the classic Braak and Braak staging by comparing the three groups. We demonstrate that the earliest preclinical changes in the population occur in the lateral most sulcal extent in the entorhinal cortex (alluded to as transentorhinal cortex by Braak and Braak), and then proceeds medially which is consistent with the Braak and Braak staging. We use high-field 11T atlasing to demonstrate that the network changes are occurring at the junctures of the substructures in this medial temporal lobe network. Temporal progression of the disease through the network is also examined via changepoint analysis, demonstrating earliest changes in entorhinal cortex. The differential expression of rate of atrophy with progression signaling the changepoint time across the network is demonstrated to be signaling in the intermediate caudal subarea of the entorhinal cortex, which has been noted to be proximal to the hippocampus. This coupled to the findings of the nearby basolateral involvement in amygdala demonstrates the selectivity of neurodegeneration in early AD.
Improving Perception of Air Flow Obstruction in Asthma Patients

Objective The objective of the study was to train asthma patients to improve their ability to discriminate added resistive loads. Methods Training consisted of a task in which patients judged the relative difficulty of breathing through two circuits. Difficulty of breathing through the circuits was varied by addition of resistive loads. We assigned 45 patients randomly to one of three conditions: a feedback plus fading condition, a feedback condition, and a control condition. Results Feedback of accuracy of judgments coupled with fading resulted in reduction of difference threshold. Neither feedback alone nor a control condition in which patients were given experience in making judgments without feedback resulted in threshold change. Conclusions Perception training with added resistive loads may help patients to detect an increase in air flow obstruction due to asthma before it becomes severe.
Progress on environmental Kuznets curves

The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis proposes that there is an inverted U-shape relation between environmental degradation and income per capita. This has been taken to imply that economic growth will eventually redress the environmental impacts of the early stages of economic development. The literature on this issue has developed rapidly over the last five years. This paper examines whether progress has been made on both understanding the EKC phenomenon and on addressing the criticisms raised against the early studies.
Amplification of virus-induced antimelanoma T-cell reactivity by high-dose interferon-alpha2b: implications for cancer vaccines.

PURPOSE The therapeutic effectiveness of cancer vaccines, composed of tumor antigens that are also self-antigens, may be limited by the normal mechanisms that preserve immunological tolerance. Consistent with this notion, we found that vaccination of melanoma patients with recombinant viral vaccines expressing gp100 (a melanoma antigen also expressed by normal melanocytes) produced only transient increases in noncytotoxic T cells specific for immunodominant gp100 epitopes. To improve the therapeutic effects of these vaccines, IFN-alpha2b (IFN-alpha) was administered to some high-risk patients. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 7 HLA-A*0201(+) patients were injected with high doses of IFN-alpha (20 MU/m(2) x 20 doses) at various times after completing the vaccination protocol. Clinical toxicity and responses were documented, and the effects on gp100-reactive T cells were measured by IFN-gamma enzyme-linked immunospot assays, tetramers of HLA-A*0201 and gp100 epitopes, and cellular cytotoxicity assays. RESULTS In patients who had previously responded to vaccination, high doses of IFN-alpha recalled gp100-reactive T cells with the ability to kill gp100-expressing tumor targets in vitro. Concomitant with the reappearance of these cytotoxic T cells, tumor regression was observed in the two patients with clinically evident metastatic disease. CONCLUSIONS The finding that high-dose IFN recalls previously activated tumor-reactive T cells with potent killing ability suggests a strategy to maintain antitumor responses initiated by cancer vaccines.
Estrogen-related receptor- (cid:1) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor- (cid:1) coactivator-1 (cid:2) regulate estrogen-related receptor- (cid:2) gene expression via a conserved multi-hormone response element

The expression of estrogen-related receptor- (cid:1) (ERR (cid:1) ) is stimulated by estrogen in selective tissues. Recently, a correlation between ERR (cid:1) expression and the induction of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor- (cid:2) coactivator-1 (cid:1) (PGC-1 (cid:1) ) in the liver of fasting animals and in cold-stressed brown-fat tissues and skeletal muscle was shown. To explore the molecular mechanisms of ERR (cid:1) regulation by diverse signals, the promoter of the human ERR (cid:1) gene was cloned and characterized. Mutation and deletion analyses revealed that a 53 bp region containing repeated core element AGGTCA motifs of the ERR (cid:1) gene serves as a multi-hormone response element (MHRE) for several nuclear receptors in transient co-transfection studies of human endometrial carcinoma (HEC-1B) cells. Among the nuclear receptors tested, ERR (cid:2) bound to and robustly stimulated the transcription of reporters containing at least two AGGTCA motifs. Ectopic expression of PGC-1 (cid:1) in HEC-1B cells strongly activated the reporter containing the MHRE, presumably via the endogenous nuclear receptor binding to the element. Reducing the endogenous level of ERR (cid:2) by small interfering RNA, and increasing the ERR (cid:2) level by ectopic expression, substantially decreased and increased respectively the transactivation capability of PGC-1 (cid:1) . The activation function 2 domain of the ERR (cid:2) and the L2 and L3 motifs of PGC-1 (cid:1) were essential to transactivate the MHRE. Additionally, PGC-1 (cid:1) increases the amount of endo- genous ERR (cid:2) bound to the MHRE region as determined by a chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. The present study demonstrates that the MHRE of the ERR (cid:1) gene is a target for ERR (cid:2) transactivation, which is enhanced by PGC-1 (cid:1) . Journal of Molecular Endocrinology (2005) 34, 473–487
Baseline Titre of Widal amongst Healthy Blood Donors in Raichur, Karnataka

Background: Lack of proper knowledge of baseline titre of Widal test can lead to over diagnosis of typhoid fever leading to mismanagement of patients. Rapid semiquantitative slide Widal test has replaced conventional tube Widal test in many laboratories, but there is paucity of scientific data regarding how far the results of this rapid test correlate with that of conventional tube Widal test. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate baseline titre of widal using quantitative tube Widal test, to suggest the cut-off value for positive Widal test in this region, and to correlate the results obtained in quantitative tube Widal test with that of rapid semiquantitative slide Widal test. Material and Methods: Sera of 107 apparently healthy blood donors (AHDs) were subjected to quantitative tube and semiquantitative slide Widal test to know the titre. Results: Highest titre obtained by tube Widal test for TO was 1:160, for TH 1:320, for AH1:20, and for BH1:80. Tube Widal titres of < 1:80 for TO and TH were seen in 103(96.2%) and 97(90.6%), TO and TH titres of > 1:160 were seen in 4(3.7%) and 10 (9.3%) respectively. TH titre of 1:320 was seen in 1(0.93%) and no such high titre was reported in relation to TO. Highest titre obtained by semiquantitative slide Widal for TO was 1:320, for TH1:320, for AH-1:40 and for BH1:160. Conclusion: We recommend TO and TH titre of > 1:320 as diagnostic of typhoid fever and for AH and BH, titres of >1:40 and >1:160 should be considered diagnostic respectively in our region. Because of high expected false positivity rate of slide Widal test even at the higher cut-off titre of 1:320, single slide Widal test appears to have little value in the diagnosis of typhoid fever in this region.
On-Line Labeled Topic Model

A large number of electronic documents are labeled using human-interpretable annotations. High-efficiency text mining on such data set requires generative model that can flexibly comprehend the significance of observed labels while simultaneously uncovering topics within unlabeled documents. This paper presents a novel and generalized on-line labeled topic model (OLT) tracking the time development of extracted topics through a structured multi-labeled data set. Our topic model has an incrementally updated principle based on time slices in an on-line fashion, and can detect dynamic trending for labeled topics in parallel. Empirical results are presented to demonstrate lower perplexity and high perfor- mance of our proposed model when compared with other models.
The Billion Dollar Gaps Revisiting Section 162(M)

The paper studies executive compensation anomalies which may be tied to the million dollar cap on executive compensation. The paper explains the regulation, show how firms may react to preserve tax deductibility of the compensation, and document that firms have been adapting their compensation arrangements to preserve tax deductibility of the executive compensation. In particular, I find that compensation has been shifted away from salary towards stock options for the affected executives, and that executives who earn annual salaries above $1 million often defer payment of parts of the salary until retirement. Both schemes preserve tax deductibility of the compensation. The paper also illustrate how the million dollar cap’s preferential tax treatment of at-the-money options may explain its total dominance as equity-based compensation, and how the preferential tax treatment may have played a part in the option backdating scandal which unfolded during the mid 2000s. It may even have been socially optimal to backdate options.
The energy cost of voluntary running in the weasel Mustela nivalis

SUMMARY The small size and elongate shape of weasels (Mustela nivalis) probably evolved to facilitate movement within the burrow systems of prey species, but result in high energy costs of thermoregulation. In this study we measured metabolic rates of weasels during voluntary locomotion to determine whether energy costs of transport are also high in these unusually shaped mammals. In addition, we measured the lower and upper limits of aerobic metabolism [resting metabolic rate (RMR) and maximal oxygen consumption in forced exercise (V̇O2,max)], and used the wide size range of adult weasels to investigate the intraspecific scaling of energy metabolism. Finally, we combined measurements of energy use during running with radiotracking and doubly labeled water data from free-living weasels to estimate the importance of locomotor costs in daily energy budgets. We found that weasels have higher than predicted costs of running, largely because of an elevated intercept of the speed versus metabolic rate relationship. Running costs were strongly affected by the approximately fourfold range of body size in adults. As reported in other studies, the RMR of weasels was considerably higher than predicted from body mass. Maximal oxygen consumption was also higher than predicted, but factorial aerobic scope (V̇O2,max/RMR) was within the normal range for mammals. Intraspecific mass scaling of RMR and V̇O2,max did not differ from typical interspecific mammalian allometries. In wild weasels, locomotor costs comprised roughly 5% of daily energy expenditures; this low value was primarily a result of short travel times and distances.