Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hardware Identification via Sensor Fingerprinting in a Cyber Physical System

A lot of research in security of cyber physical systems focus on threat models where an attacker can spoof sensor readings by compromising the communication channel. A little focus is given to attacks on physical components. In this paper a method to detect potential attacks on physical components in a Cyber Physical System (CPS) is proposed. Physical attacks are detected through a comparison of noise pattern from sensor measurements to a reference noise pattern. If an adversary has physically modified or replaced a sensor, the proposed method issues an alert indicating that a sensor is probably compromised or is defective. A reference noise pattern is established from the sensor data using a deterministic model. This pattern is referred to as a fingerprint of the corresponding sensor. The fingerprint so derived is used as a reference to identify measured data during the operation of a CPS. Extensive experimentation with ultrasonic level sensors in a realistic water treatment testbed point to the effectiveness of the proposed fingerprinting method in detecting physical attacks.
Modelling Session Activity with Neural Embedding

Neural embedding techniques are being applied in a growing number of machine learning applications. In this work, we demonstrate a neural embedding technique to model users’ session activity. Specifically, we consider a dataset collected from Microsoft’s App Store consisting of user sessions that include sequential click actions and item purchases. Our goal is to learn a latent manifold that captures users’ session activity and can be utilized for contextual recommendations in an online app store.
Attacking SCADA systems: A practical perspective

As Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Industrial and Automation Control System (IACS) architectures became more open and interconnected, some of their remotely controlled processes also became more exposed to cyber threats. Aspects such as the use of mature technologies and legacy equipment or even the unforeseen consequences of bridging IACS with external networks have contributed to this situation. This situation prompted the involvement of governmental, industrial and research organizations, as well as standardization entities, in order to create and promote a series of recommendations and standards for IACS cyber-security. Despite those efforts, which are mostly focused on prevention and mitigation, existing literature still lacks attack descriptions that can be reused to reproduce and further research specific use cases and scenarios of security incidents, useful for improving and developing new security detection strategies. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a set of attacks targeting a SCADA hybrid testbed that reproduces an electrical grid for energy distribution (medium and high voltage). This environment makes use of real SCADA equipment to faithfully reproduce a real operational deployment, providing a better insight into less evident SCADA- and device-specificities.
Mobile Advertising in Different Stages of Development: A Cross-Country Comparison of Consumer Attitudes

Mobile technologies imply many opportunities for marketing, in particular a direct communication with consumers without time or location barriers. However, some aspects of mobile marketing such as mobile advertising still require further research. The diffusion of mobile technologies is considered a factor that may impact consumers' perceptions and behavior. Consumer attitudes toward mobile advertising are an important issue, but little is known about the role of m-commerce diffusion in attitude formation. Consumer attitudes toward mobile advertising may therefore differ across countries. This paper investigates whether consumers in more advanced markets concerning m-commerce show a different attitude toward mobile advertising than consumers in less developed markets. We present two empirical studies conducted in Japan and Austria. The results indicate that entertainment and informativeness are significant antecedents in both samples, but with different strengths of relationship.
An integrated approach of AHP and DEMATEL methods in evaluating the criteria of auto spare parts industry

This study uses both analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) methods to evaluate the criteria in auto spare parts industry in Taiwan. Traditionally, AHP does not consider indirect effects for each criterion and assumes that criteria are independent without further addressing the interdependence between or among the criteria. Thus, the importance computed by AHP can be viewed as short-term improvement opportunity. On the contrary, DEMATEL method not only evaluates the importance of criteria but also depicts the causal relations of criteria. By observing the causal diagrams, the improvement based on cause-oriented criteria might improve the performance effectively and efficiently for the long-term perspective. As a result, the major advantage of integrating AHP and DEMATEL methods is that the decision maker can continuously improve suppliers’ performance from both short-term and long-term viewpoints.
Efficient object motion detection based on RGB-D image

Low-cost RGB-D camera, such as Kinect have widely used in image processing. Although Kinect can provide depth and color information simultaneously, but the depth information is very noisy. In this paper, we proposed a novel motion detection scheme based on edge-and-depth to enhance the object motion detection in RGB-D camera. Our proposed algorithm can fast detect motion regions without background model building. It is efficient to be used in many applications, e.g. image recognition, tracking.
Decoding neuronal patterns resulting from visual responses to animations: 'lddball' paradigms based in stimuli animation.

As principais caracteristicas das desordens do espectro autista incluem a ocorrencia de defices de interaccao social e de comunicacao, assim como de um repertorio de actividades, comportamentos e interesses marcadamente restritos e estereotipados. Os objectivos desta tese passam pela criacao e validacao de um novo tipo de paradigmas de potenciais evocados de tipo 'oddball' (baseados em eventos raros imersos noutros mais frequentes) usando estimulos tridimensionais (3D) como forma de dissecar as redes cognitivas subjacentes a atencao a estimulos animados de complexidade e significado social crescente. Esta dissertacao apresenta cinco diferentes paradigmas 'oddball', tendo como estimulos base objectos simples ou modelos 3D de seres humanos. Tres paradigmas sao paradigmas do tipo classico em que os estimulos “piscam”. Os outros dois estimulos baseiam-se na animacao de modelos 3D de seres humanos como foco de atencao. Os resultados comprovam que objectos ou modelos 3D conseguem gerar uma resposta P300, semelhante a observada em paradigmas classicos, e que a animacao de modelos visuais humanos pode ser usada do ponto de vista metodologico em estudos de foco de atencao.
Automatic vehicle tracking and recognition from aerial image sequences

This paper addresses the problem of automated vehicle tracking and recognition from aerial image sequences. Motivated by its successes in the existing literature we focus on the use of linear appearance subspaces to describe multi-view object appearance and highlight the challenges involved in their application as a part of a practical system. A working solution which includes steps for data extraction and normalization is described. In experiments on real-world data the proposed methodology achieved promising results with a high correct recognition rate and few, meaningful errors (type II errors whereby genuinely similar targets are sometimes being confused with one another). Directions for future research and possible improvements of the proposed method are discussed.
Essays in decision making under cognitive load

Author(s): Sanjurjo, Adam Angel | Abstract: My first chapter tests several hypotheses of information overload in an experiment where subjects estimate security prices under variable signal loads. Peter Katuscak and I find that as information load increases subjects eventually stop assimilating further information, and they shift increasing weight towards the most salient information. This combination of results leaves information receivers vulnerable to strategic manipulation by senders. My second chapter builds on the multiple attribute search experiment, and analysis, of Gabaix and Laibson (2006) in four ways; I provide a basic description of subjects' search behavior, study behavior on the individual subject level, provide a partial characterization of optimality, and compare subjects' behavior to my partial characterization of optimality. I find that subjects' search behavior violates optimality at high rates, but is also highly systematic, that 98% of all search behavior can be explained by four simple, exclusive, types, and that subjects often search conditionally too deeply within alternatives and exhibit strong adjacency biases in switching between alternatives. I also observe unambiguous evidence of memory failure by subjects. My third chapter tests the hypothesis that working memory limits can explain subjects' main systematic deviations from optimality, as well as other fact patterns in search, in the Gabaix and Laibson (2006) dataset. First I show that the most popular type of search pattern by subjects also requires the unique minimum amount of working memory load. Second, I show that more systematic search sequences require less working memory load than more "random- looking" sequences. These theoretical results strongly suggest that a simple model of search in which working memory is limited, but subjects otherwise search optimally, can explain Gabaix and Laibson's subjects' main systematic deviations from optimality as well as other fact patterns from the dataset
Agreement Among Adolescents, Parents, and Teachers on Adolescent Personality

Agreement between adolescents, mothers, fathers, and teachers on adolescents’ personality traits was investigated in a longitudinal study. The targets for personality ratings were the adolescents who participated in the European Youth Heart Study in Estonia. There were 593 participants in the first wave and 480 participants in the follow-up study 3 years later. Adolescents’ self-reports as well as father, mother, and teacher ratings were collected using questionnaires to measure the five-factor model of personality. In both waves, inter-rater agreement was highest between mothers and fathers, was low to moderate for parent-self ratings, and was lowest for ratings between self and teacher, mother and teacher, and father and teacher. Test-retest correlations were moderate for parent and self-ratings but failed to reach statistical significance for three of the five teacher-rated traits, suggesting lower reliability of teacher ratings. Possible explanations for the low agreement between teachers and other judges are discussed.
On Dynamics of Integrate-and-Fire Neural Networks with Conductance Based Synapses

We present a mathematical analysis of networks with integrate-and-fire (IF) neurons with conductance based synapses. Taking into account the realistic fact that the spike time is only known within some finite precision, we propose a model where spikes are effective at times multiple of a characteristic time scale δ, where δ can be arbitrary small (in particular, well beyond the numerical precision). We make a complete mathematical characterization of the model-dynamics and obtain the following results. The asymptotic dynamics is composed by finitely many stable periodic orbits, whose number and period can be arbitrary large and can diverge in a region of the synaptic weights space, traditionally called the “edge of chaos”, a notion mathematically well defined in the present paper. Furthermore, except at the edge of chaos, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the membrane potential trajectories and the raster plot. This shows that the neural code is entirely “in the spikes” in this case. As a key tool, we introduce an order parameter, easy to compute numerically, and closely related to a natural notion of entropy, providing a relevant characterization of the computational capabilities of the network. This allows us to compare the computational capabilities of leaky and IF models and conductance based models. The present study considers networks with constant input, and without time-dependent plasticity, but the framework has been designed for both extensions.
A study on channel estimation methods for time-domain spreading MC-CDMA systems

In time-domain spreading MC-CDMA systems, which are candidates for the 4G system, data and pilot symbols are spread in the time domain and code-multiplexed. To combat fading issues, we need to conduct channel estimation by using the code-multiplexed pilot symbols. In this paper, we propose a channel estimation method for highly accurate channel estimation; it is a combination of a two-dimensional channel estimation method and an impulse response-based channel estimation method. We evaluate the proposed method by computer simulations.
Locating Nodes with EASE: Mobility Diffusion of Last Encounters in Ad Hoc Networks

Routing in large-scale mobile ad hoc networks is challenging because all the nodes are potentially moving. Geographic routing can partially alleviate this problem, as nodes can make local routing decisions based solely on the destinations' geographic coordinates. However, geographic routing still requires an efficient {\em location service}, i.e., a distributed database recording the location of every destination node. Devising efficient, scalable, and robust location services has received considerable attention in recent years. The main purpose of this paper is to show that {\em node mobility} can be exploited to disseminate destination location information {\em without incurring any communication overhead}. We achieve this by letting each node maintain a local database of the time and location of its last encounter with every other node in the network. This database is consulted by packets to obtain estimates of their destination's current location. As a packet travels towards its destination, it is able to successively refine an estimate of the destination's precise location, because node mobility has ``diffused'' estimates of that location. We define and analyze a very simple algorithm called EASE (Exponential Age SEarch) and show that in a model where $N$ nodes perform independent random walks on a square lattice, the length of the routes computed by EASE are on the same order as the distance between the source and destination {\em even for very large $N$. } Therefore, without exchanging any explicit location information, the length of EASE routes are within a constant factor of routes obtained with perfect information. We discuss refinements of the EASE algorithm and evaluate it through extensive simulations. We discuss general conditions such that the mobility diffusion effect leads to efficient routes without an explicit location service. In practical settings, where these conditions may not always be met, we believe that the mobility diffusion effect can complement existing location services and enhance their robustness and scalability.
The Skn7 response regulator of Saccharomyces cerevisiae interacts with Hsf1 in vivo and is required for the induction of heat shock genes by oxidative stress.

The Skn7 response regulator has previously been shown to play a role in the induction of stress-responsive genes in yeast, e.g., in the induction of the thioredoxin gene in response to hydrogen peroxide. The yeast Heat Shock Factor, Hsf1, is central to the induction of another set of stress-inducible genes, namely the heat shock genes. These two regulatory trans-activators, Hsf1 and Skn7, share certain structural homologies, particularly in their DNA-binding domains and the presence of adjacent regions of coiled-coil structure, which are known to mediate protein-protein interactions. Here, we provide evidence that Hsf1 and Skn7 interact in vitro and in vivo and we show that Skn7 can bind to the same regulatory sequences as Hsf1, namely heat shock elements. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a strain deleted for the SKN7 gene and containing a temperature-sensitive mutation in Hsf1 is hypersensitive to oxidative stress. Our data suggest that Skn7 and Hsf1 cooperate to achieve maximal induction of heat shock genes in response specifically to oxidative stress. We further show that, like Hsf1, Skn7 can interact with itself and is localized to the nucleus under normal growth conditions as well as during oxidative stress.
Achieving synchronization of networks by an auxiliary hub

In this letter, we study complete synchronization in quite generic networks of coupled oscillators, where both the connectivity topology and coupling mechanism may be arbitrary. We propose a method, i.e., introducing an auxiliary hub which decreases the average path length and meanwhile increases the clustering coefficient of the network, to achieve complete synchronization. We demonstrate that the method is successful in synchronizing some classical network models, which cannot synchronize intrinsically. That is, a network, which itself is impossible to synchronize, can adaptively achieve the complete synchronization by introducing an auxiliary hub. The present results give insights on how the network structure influences the synchronizability and how the synchronization of generic networks can be achieved regardless of their own complexity.
Lineage and Genogroup-Defining Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms of Escherichia coli O157:H7

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a zoonotic human pathogen for which cattle are an important reservoir host. Using both previously published and new sequencing data, a 48-locus single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based typing panel was developed that redundantly identified 11 genogroups that span six of the eight lineages recently described for E. coli O157:H7 (J. L. Bono, T. P. Smith, J. E. Keen, G. P. Harhay, T. G. McDaneld, R. E. Mandrell, W. K. Jung, T. E. Besser, P. Gerner-Smidt, M. Bielaszewska, H. Karch, M. L. Clawson, Mol. Biol. Evol. 29:2047–2062, 2012) and additionally defined subgroups within four of those lineages. This assay was applied to 530 isolates from human and bovine sources. The SNP-based lineage groups were concordant with previously identified E. coli O157:H7 genotypes identified by other methods and were strongly associated with carriage of specific Stx genes. Two SNP lineages (Ia and Vb) were disproportionately represented among cattle isolates, and three others (IIa, Ib, and IIb) were disproportionately represented among human clinical isolates. This 48-plex SNP assay efficiently and economically identifies biologically relevant lineages within E. coli O157:H7.
Tracking myocardial deformation using phase contrast MR velocity fields: a stochastic approach

The authors propose a new approach for tracking the deformation of the left-ventricular (LV) myocardium from two-dimensional (2-D) magnetic resonance (MR) phase contrast velocity fields. The use of phase contrast MR velocity data in cardiac motion problems has been introduced by others (N.J. Pelc et al., 1991) and shown to be potentially useful for tracking discrete tissue elements, and therefore, characterizing LV motion. However, the authors show here that these velocity data: 1) are extremely noisy near the LV borders; and 2) cannot alone be used to estimate the motion and the deformation of the entire myocardium due to noise in the velocity fields. In this new approach, the authors use the natural spatial constraints of the endocardial and epicardial contours, detected semiautomatically in each image frame, to help remove noisy velocity vectors at the LV contours. The information from both the boundaries and the phase contrast velocity data is then integrated into a deforming mesh that is placed over the myocardium at one time frame and then tracked over the entire cardiac cycle. The deformation is guided by a Kalman filter that provides a compromise between 1) believing the dense field velocity and the contour data when it is crisp and coherent in a local spatial and temporal sense and 2) employing a temporally smooth cyclic model of cardiac motion when contour and velocity data are not trustworthy. The Kalman filter is particularly well suited to this task as it produces an optimal estimate of the left ventricle's kinematics (in the sense that the error is statistically minimized) given incomplete and noise corrupted data, and given a basic dynamical model of the left ventricle. The method has been evaluated with simulated data; the average error between tracked nodes and theoretical position was 1.8% of the total path length. The algorithm has also been evaluated with phantom data; the average error was 4.4% of the total path length. The authors show that in their initial tests with phantoms that the new approach shows small, but concrete improvements over previous techniques that used primarily phase contrast velocity data alone. They feel that these improvements will be amplified greatly as they move to direct comparisons in in vivo and three-dimensional (3-D) datasets.
Evaluating Reputation in VGI-Enabled Applications

Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) is an approach to crowdsource information about geospatial objects around us, as implemented in Open Street Map, Google Map Maker and WikiMapia projects. The value of this content has been recognized by both researchers and organizations for acquiring free, timely and detailed spatial data versus standard spatial data warehouses where objects are created by professionals with variable updating time. However, evaluating its quality and handling its heterogeneity remain challenging concerns. For instance, VGI data sources have been compared to authoritative geospatial ones on specific regions/areas in order to determine an average overall quality level. In user-oriented VGI-based applications, it can be more relevant to assess the quality of particular contents, like specific Points of Interest. In this case, evaluation can be performed indirectly by reputation scores associated with the specific content. This paper focuses on this last aspect. Our contribution primarily provides a comprehensive model and architecture for reputation evaluation aimed to assess quality of VGI content. On the other hand, we also focus on applications by discussing two motivating scenarios for reputation-enhanced VGI data in the context of geospatial decision support systems and in recommending tourist itineraries.
Gut Catalase-Positive Bacteria Cross-Protect Adjacent Bifidobacteria from Oxidative Stress

Bifidobacteria isolated from infant gut and breast milk exhibited different abilities to grow under microaerobic conditions, alone or in the presence of added catalase. In the present study, we demonstrated that some Bifidobacterium strains unable to grow under microaerobic conditions were cross-protected on solid media from oxidative stress by adjacent colonies of gut catalase-positive Staphylococcus epidermidis or Escherichia coli, but not by a catalase-deficient E. coli. The results of this study support the possible contribution of catalase-positive bacteria to the establishment of certain bifidobacteria in non-anaerobic human niches of the infant gastrointestinal tract or mammary gland.