Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impossible Differential Cryptanalysis of Pelican, MT-MAC-AES and PC-MAC-AES

In this paper, the impossible differential cryptanalysis is extended to MAC algorithms Pelican, MT-MAC and PC-MAC based on AES and 4-round AES. First, we collect message pairs that produce the inner near-collision with some specific differences by the birthday attack. Then the impossible differential attack on 4-round AES is implemented using a 3-round impossible differential property. For Pelican, our attack can recover the internal state, which is an equivalent subkey. For MTMAC-AES, the attack turns out to be a subkey recovery attack directly. The data complexity of the two attacks is 2 chosen messages, and the time complexity is about 2 queries. For PC-MAC-AES, we can recover the 256-bit key with 2 chosen messages and 2 queries.
Attenuation of Semliki Forest Virus Neurovirulence by MicroRNA-Mediated Detargeting

ABSTRACT Artificial target sequences for tissue-specific miRNAs have recently been introduced as a new means for altering the tissue tropism of viral replication. This approach can be used to improve the safety of oncolytic viruses for cancer virotherapy by restricting their replication in unwanted tissues, such as the liver. Semliki Forest virus (SFV) is a positive-strand RNA virus and, similar to the related alphaviruses, like Sindbis virus, has potential as a gene therapy vector and an oncolytic virotherapy agent, but this potential is limited by the neurovirulence of these alphaviruses. Here, we have generated a replicative SFV4 carrying six tandem targets for the neuron-specific miR124 between the viral nonstructural protein 3 and 4 (nsp3 and nsp4) genes. When administered intraperitoneally into adult BALB/c mice, SFV4-miRT124 displayed an attenuated spread into the central nervous system (CNS) and greatly increased survival. Peripheral replication was not affected, indicating neuron-specific attenuation. Moreover, a strong protective SFV immunity was elicited in these animals. Intracranial infection of adult mice with SFV4-miRT124 showed greatly reduced infection of neurons in the brain but led to the infection of oligodendrocytes in the corpus callosum. Taken together, our data show that miR124-mediated attenuation of neurovirulence is a feasible and promising strategy for generating safer oncolytic alphavirus virotherapy agents.
Biodistribution of Radioiodinated Adenovirus Fiber Protein Knob Domain after Intravenous Injection in Mice

ABSTRACT The knob domains from the fiber proteins of adenovirus serotypes 2 and 12 were labeled with radioiodine and then injected into the bloodstreams of mice. Knob proteins with functional binding sites for the coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) were cleared rapidly from the circulation, with radioactivity appearing predominantly in the stomach, while knob mutants unable to bind to CAR remained in the blood circulation for a prolonged period. The clearance of radiolabeled wild-type knob from the blood was slowed by coinjecting an excess of unlabeled wild-type knob protein. An earlier study showed that 99mTc-labeled knob protein with intact CAR-binding activity also cleared rapidly from the blood circulation of mice, with radioactivity accumulating predominantly in the liver (K. R. Zinn et al., Gene Ther. 5:798-808, 1998). Together these results suggest that rapid clearance of knob protein from the blood results from specific binding to CAR in the liver and that the bound knob then enters a degradative pathway. The elevated levels of radioiodine in the stomach observed in our experiments are consistent with deiodination of labeled knob by dehalogenases in hepatocyte microsomes and uptake of the resultant free radioiodine by Na/I symporters in the gastric mucosa. Although CAR has been shown to localize in tight junctions of polarized epithelial cells, where it functions in intercellular adhesion, the results of our study suggest that a subset of CAR molecules in the liver is highly accessible to ligands in the blood and able to rapidly deliver bound ligand to an intracellular degradative compartment.
Magnitude of Reward and Preference in a Delayed-Reward Situation

The present experiment was designed to investigate the effect of magnitude of differences in reward on preference for immediate versus delayed reinforcement. 28 6- to 7-yr. -olds and 56 10- to 12-yr. -olds were tested under each of the two experimental conditions. Under Condition 1 subjects were offered a choice between a small immediate or medium delayed reward; under Condition 2 between a small immediate or large delayed reward. A significant difference in preference as a function of magnitude differences was obtained. Differences in preferences with age were not demonstrated.
Approximate dynamic programming with Gaussian processes

In general, it is difficult to determine an optimal closed-loop policy in nonlinear control problems with continuous-valued state and control domains. Hence, approximations are often inevitable. The standard method of discretizing states and controls suffers from the curse of dimensionality and strongly depends on the chosen temporal sampling rate. In this paper, we introduce Gaussian process dynamic programming (GPDP) and determine an approximate globally optimal closed-loop policy. In GPDP, value functions in the Bellman recursion of the dynamic programming algorithm are modeled using Gaussian processes. GPDP returns an optimal state- feedback for a finite set of states. Based on these outcomes, we learn a possibly discontinuous closed-loop policy on the entire state space by switching between two independently trained Gaussian processes. A binary classifier selects one Gaussian process to predict the optimal control signal. We show that GPDP is able to yield an almost optimal solution to an LQ problem using few sample points. Moreover, we successfully apply GPDP to the underpowered pendulum swing up, a complex nonlinear control problem.
Concerns of Teachers: A Developmental Conceptualization1

I. This research was begun in the Mental Health in Teacher Education Project NIMH Grant No. 2M6635 and continued under USOE Grant No. OE 3-10-032 in the Personality, Teacher Education and Teaching Behavior Project and USOE Grant No. OE 6-o0-io8 of the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education, Co-directors Robert F. Peck and Oliver H. Bown. 2. The author wishes to acknowledge the contributions to this study of O. H. Bown, Geneva H. Pilgrim, Meda M. White and Beulah Newlove and the assistance of Mildred Bunch, Jane O'Brien, Carol Case and Judith Garrard.
Obstacles or motors of Europeanization? German media and the transnationalization of public debate

Abstract This article aims to contribute to the discussion on the Europeanization of public spheres. It is the starting point for an investigation into the role of the media in transnational debate in Germany. The study aims to determine whether the media function as either a motor of or an obstacle to Europeanization of national public debate, compared to other actors. Drawing on empirical data from the project ‘The transformation of political mobilisation and communication in European public spheres’ (Europub.com), we analyze the communications through which political actors, civil society actors, and the media in Germany make public demands on European issues. Sources on which this investigation was built were the news and editorial section of two national quality newspapers (center-left, center-right), one tabloid and one regional newspaper in the period between 2000 and 2002. The findings show that the demands made by the media are generally more European in scope than those made by other political actors. Regarding the evaluation of EU integration and the frames that are advocated, the German press and the political elite are rather convergent.
Quality Enhancement of Low Bit Rate Mpeg1-Layer 3 Audio Based on Audio Resynthesis

One of the most popular audio compression formats is indisputably the MPEG1-Layer 3 format which is based on the idea of low-bit transparent encoding. As these types of audio signals are starting to migrate from portable players with inexpensive headphones to higher quality home audio systems, it is becoming evident that higher bit rates may be required to maintain transparency. We propose a novel method that enhances low bit rate MP3 encoded audio segments by applying multichannel audio resynthesis methods in a post-processing stage or during decoding. Our algorithm employs the highly efficient Generalized Gaussian mixture model which, combined with cepstral smoothing, leads to very low cepstral reconstruction errors. In addition, residual conversion is applied which proves to significantly improve the enhancement performance. The method presented can be easily generalized to include other audio formats for which sound quality is an issue.
A compact 3-D cubic antenna for wireless sensor networks

The wireless Sensor network (WSN) consisting of spatially autonomous distributed devices using sensors to monitor physical or environmental conditions at different locations. Each node in WSN consists of Sensing, Processing and communication capability. The major constrain of WSN is the energy consumption. The energy consumption of radio communication unit is much higher. So it is necessary to design an antenna which improves the energy efficiency. This paper deals with the design of cubic antenna and its performance are analyzed. The cubic antenna produces a truly Omni-directional pattern in both E-plane and H-plane, which allows for orientation independent communication between the sensor nodes. The frequency of operation lies in the UHF RFID band (902 MHz-928 MHz) centered at resonant frequency 915MHz. The ultra compact cubic antenna has dimensions of 27cm3. The shape of the antenna allows for “smart” packaging, as the cubic structure allows housing for the sensors. The fabrication can be performed on six (planar) sides on liquid crystal polymer substrate, and then folded into the cubic structure. This concept may be easily reconfigured for many values of impedances and design parameters.
Absolute integrity is the basis of heroic leadership

Subordinates will forgive a leader almost any mistake, except a lack of integrity, William A. Cohen argues. “Don't say ‘it is a jungle out there’ and that you have to make compromises. Follow the path of integrity. Do this and others in your organization will do it too and you will build the foundation that can and will make a difference not only in your organization, but also in society as a whole,” Cohen says. Citing a wide variety of leaders who displayed absolute integrity, Cohen challenges us all to live up to their example.
Platelet calcium homeostasis is abnormal in patients with severe arteriosclerosis.

To evaluate platelet calcium homeostasis in a typical thrombosis-prone clinical condition, 14 patients with severe arteriosclerosis and 11 healthy control subjects were studied. Platelet intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) was evaluated by means of the fluorescent probe fura 2 under resting conditions and after challenge with 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5 U/mL thrombin (final concentrations). Three different concentrations of extracellular ionized calcium ([Ca2+]e) were used: 1 mmol/L, 1 mumol/L, and < 1 nmol/L. Resting platelet [Ca2+]i was significantly higher (P < .001) in patients than in control subjects. After addition of 0.05 U/mL thrombin, the relative increase of [Ca2+]i was lower in patients than in control subjects in each of the three [Ca2+]e conditions (P = .05 at 1 mmol/L, P = .02 at 1 mumol/L, and P = .04 at < 1 nmol/L). After addition of 0.1 U/mL thrombin, the relative increase of [Ca2+]i was lower in patients than in control subjects under two [Ca2+]e conditions, 1 mumol/L and < 1 nmol/L (P = .04 and P = .03 respectively). With 0.5 U/mL thrombin, a trend toward lower values in patients than in control subjects was observed, reaching statistical significance (P = .03) only at < 1 nmol/L [Ca2+]e. These results suggest that calcium homeostasis is abnormal in platelets from patients with severe arteriosclerosis and probably reflects a chronic activation.
Interpersonal Effects in Computer-Mediated Interaction

Several theories and much experimental research on relational tone in computer-mediated communication (CMC) points to the lack of nonverbal cues in this channel as a cause of impersonal and task-oriented messages. Field research in CMC often reports more positive relational behavior. This article examines the assumptions, methods, and findings of such research and suggests that negative relational effects are confined to narrow situational boundary conditions. Alternatively, it is suggested that communicators develop individuating impressions of others through accumulated CMC messages. Based upon these impressions, users may develop relationships and express multidimensional relational messages through verbal or textual cues. Predictions regarding these processes are suggested, and future research incorporating these points is urged.
Growth Hormone and Bile Acid Synthesis Key Role for the Activity of Hepatic Microsomal Cholesterol 7 a-hydroxylase in the Rat

Growth hormone (GH) has an important role in the regulation of hepatic LDL receptor expression and plasma lipoprotein levels. This investigation was undertaken to characterize the effects of GH on hepatic cholesterol and bile acid metabolism in the rat. In hypophysectomized (Hx) rats, the activities of the ratelimiting enzymes in cholesterol and bile acid biosynthesis, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG CoA reductase) and cholesterol 7 a -hydroxylase (C7 a OH), were reduced by 71 and 64%, respectively. HMG CoA reductase mRNA levels were reduced by 37%, whereas C7 a OH mRNA was increased by 81%. LDL receptor expression was reduced by 18% in Hx rats, without any change in the LDL receptor mRNA levels. Although the normal diurnal variation of C7 a OH activity was preserved in Hx rats, the activity of C7 a OH was much reduced both at midday and midnight. Total hepatic cholesterol was increased by 14% in Hx animals whereas microsomal cholesterol was unchanged. The rate of cholesterol esterification was enhanced (by 38%) in liver microsomes from Hx rats. Stepwise hormonal substitution of Hx rats showed that GH, but not thyroid hormone or cortisone, was essential to normalize the enzymatic activity of C7 a OH. GH also normalized the altered plasma lipoprotein pattern in Hx rats, and increased the fecal output of bile acids. The latter effect was particularly evident when GH was combined with cortisone and thyroid hormone. Also in normal rats, GH stimulated C7 a OH activity. In conclusion, GH has an essential role to maintain a normal enzymatic activity of C7 a OH, and this, at least in part, explains the effects of GH on hepatic cholesterol metabolism. GH is also of critical importance to normalize the altered plasma lipoprotein pattern in Hx rats. ( J. Clin. Invest. 1997. 99:2239–2245.)
Factors Affecting the Efficacy of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs in Preventing Post–Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography Pancreatitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Objectives To identify the factors affecting the efficacy of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in preventing post–endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis (PEP). Methods We systematically searched databases for relevant studies published from inception to November 2013. Results A meta-analysis of 11 randomized trials (n = 2497) revealed a significant reduction in PEP in patients who received NSAIDs compared with that in patients who received placebo (relative risk [RR], 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41–0.85; P = 0.005). In subgroup analysis by treatment type, indomethacin had no significant effect (RR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.38–1.15; P = 0.14), whereas other NSAIDs showed significant benefit (RR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.29–0.91; P = 0.02). Only rectal administration significantly reduced the incidence of PEP (RR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.32–0.58; P < 0.00001). The risk for PEP was the lowest among patients who received NSAIDs before ERCP (RR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.29–0.78; P = 0.003). NSAIDs did not significantly reduce the risk of PEP in men (RR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.34–1.09), patients with sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.38–2.54), or patients with pancreatic duct injection (RR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.35–1.18). Conclusions Rectal administration of NSAIDs (especially diclofenac), before ERCP, seemed to be the most effective strategy for preventing PEP.
Project AURORA: Infrastructure and flight control experiments for a robotic airship

Project AURORA aims at the development of unmanned robotic airships capable of autonomous flight over user‐defined locations for aerial inspection and environmental monitoring missions. In this article, the authors report a successful control and navigation scheme for a robotic airship flight path following. First, the AURORA airship, software environment, onboard system, and ground station infrastructures are described. Then, two main approaches for the automatic control and navigation system of the airship are presented. The first one shows the design of dedicated controllers based on the linearized dynamics of the vehicle. Following this methodology, experimental results for the airship flight path following through a set of predefined points in latitude/longitude, along with automatic altitude control are presented. A second approach considers the design of a single global nonlinear control scheme, covering all of the aerodynamic operational range in a sole formulation. Nonlinear control solutions under investigation for the AURORA airship are briefly described, along with some preliminary simulation results. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Trends in the Use of Evidence-based Therapies Early in the Course of Acute Myocardial Infarction and its Influence on Short Term Patient Outcomes

Aim: To evaluate changes in management practices and its influence on short term hospital outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) admitted during two different time periods, 2007 and 2004. Methods and Results: We studied AMI patients from two acute coronary syndrome registries carried out in Kuwait in 2007 and 2004. We included 1872 and 1197 patients from the 2007 and 2004 registries, respectively. When compared with 2004, patients from the 2007 registry had similar baseline clinical characteristics. In 2007 compared to 2004, during the in-hospital period, patients with AMI received significantly more statins (94% vs. 73%%, p<0.0001), Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) (70% vs. 47%, p<0.001), and Clopidogrel (38% vs. 4%, p<0.001), while beta-blockers use dropped in 2007 compared to 2004 (63% vs. 68%, p=0.0066). The rates of in-hospital mortality and recurrent ischemia were significantly lower in the 2007 cohort compared with the 2004 cohort (for mortality 2.2% vs. 3.9%, P=0.0008, for recurrent ischemia 13.7% vs. 20.4%, P=0<0.0001). Higher utilization of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers and statins were the main contributors to the improved in-hospital mortality and morbidity. In Conclusion: In the acute management of AMI, there was a significant increase in the use of statins, ACE inhibitors and Clopidogrel in 2007 compared to 2004. This was associated with a significant decrease in the in-hospital mortality and recurrent ischemia. Adherence to guidelines recommended therapies improved in-hospital outcomes.
New Directions in Motherhood Studies

This article surveys scholarship on motherhood and mothering published over the past decade. Academic scholars and writer-activists have written about mothers and mothering in a diversity of genres and a with broad range of disciplinary and theoretical approaches. Work on motherhood is wide-ranging and fragmented, but taken as a whole, this work simultaneously insists on the particularity and specificity of motherhood while at the same time rejecting any notion of a fixed or essential aspect of maternal experience, desire, or subjectivity. The article argues that academic feminism has marginalized and neglected both mothers as mothers and the study of motherhood more generally. This essay endeavors to bring this literature to the attention of academic feminists and to argue for the necessity of including motherhood in a broader feminist movement.
What's Wrong with Carrying Capacity for Tourism?

This department has been specifically created to include findings of special significance and problem areas of subtle nuances in tourism research Insightful contributions presenting the state-of-the-art, preferably from the developing societies, will be appreciated. It will also encourage scholars and authors to think against the grain, probing the consistency of theoretical notions and research trends whose heuristic value is all too often taken for granted. For details, contact Editor-in-Chief, Tourism Recreation Research, A-965/6 Indira Nagar, Lucknow, India, e-mail. tvsingh@sancharnet.in
aComment: mining annotations from comments and code to detect interrupt related concurrency bugs

Concurrency bugs in an operating system (OS) are detrimental as they can cause the OS to fail and affect all applications running on top of the OS. Detecting OS concurrency bugs is challenging due to the complexity of the OS synchronization, particularly with the presence of the OS specific interrupt context. Existing dynamic concurrency bug detection techniques are designed for user level applications and cannot be applied to operating systems. To detect OS concurrency bugs, we proposed a new type of annotations - interrupt related annotations - and generated 96,821 such annotations for the Linux kernel with little manual effort. These annotations have been used to automatically detect 9 real OS concurrency bugs (7 of which were previously unknown). Two of the key techniques that make the above contributions possible are: (1) using a hybrid approach to extract annotations from both code and comments written in natural language to achieve better coverage and accuracy in annotation extraction and bug detection; and (2) automatically propagating annotations to caller functions to improve annotating and bug detection. These two techniques are general and can be applied to non-OS code, code written in other programming languages such as Java, and for extracting other types of specifications.
Excess infant mortality among Native Hawaiians: identifying determinants for preventive action.

OBJECTIVES We identified potential determinants and cause-specific sources of excess infant mortality among Native Hawaiians. METHODS We compared infant mortality rates among Native Hawaiians and Whites by using data from the 2002 to 2009 Hawai'i State Linked Birth/Infant Death Cohort File. We evaluated the components of excess infant mortality by age and underlying cause of death as well as maternal sociodemographic, behavioral, and chronic condition disparities. RESULTS The Native Hawaiian infant mortality rate was more than twice that for Whites (7.9 vs 3.5/1000 live births). Excess Native Hawaiian infant mortality was equally apportioned to neonatal and postneonatal deaths. Preterm-related causes of death accounted for 43.9% of the infant mortality disparity, followed by sudden unexpected infant death (21.6%) and injury (5.6%). In multivariable models, maternal educational inequality accounted for the largest portion of the neonatal mortality disparity (20.9%); younger maternal age (12.2%) and smoking (9.5%) were the only significant contributors to the postneonatal mortality disparity. CONCLUSIONS Addressing educational inequalities, promoting safe sleep practices, and reducing smoking among Native Hawaiian mothers would help to eliminate excess infant mortality.