Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Privacy preserving search index for image databases based on SURF and order preserving encryption

Managing large personal image databases requires efficient privacy preserving indexing methods to allow for their outsourcing to possibly curious cloud servers. To construct a secure inverted index in this paper, first, visual words are extracted from stored images based on the Speeded-Up and Robust Features (SURF). Next, Order Preserving Encryption (OPE) is used to encipher the frequencies of occurrence of the extracted visual words. Another scale and rotation invariant feature, which is the local HSV histogram, is included for comparison. From the obtained results, it is apparent that SURF achieves more precise results. Aggregation of both features is considered to further improve the accuracy. The effects of the weighting scheme of the visual words and their number on the performance are investigated. Weighted term frequency inverse document frequency (tf-idf) together with the Jaccard similarity measure yield the best performance. OPE encryption is shown to have minor impact on the retrieval accuracy. To reduce encryption time, a lookup table is constructed. The inverted index reduces the search time significantly compared to a sequential search scheme as apparent from the results. A comparative study with recent related schemes demonstrates the competitiveness of the implemented system in terms of computational efficiency and accuracy.
Media Education as a Tool to Develop Foreign Language Communicative Competence

The article deals with the issues of developing the foreign–language communicative competence by media education of the student. It shows the importance of the research, which is devoted to the organizing teaching a foreign language, e.g. English, in order to form the foreign– language communicative competence by means and on material of foreign–language media. The author analyzes lingo–didactic opportunities of media education from the point of their application in teaching students in the Linguistics direction. It studies the media literacy of the student as the purpose and result of media education, media knowledge, media ability and media attitudes as media literacy components. The analysis of the current state of teaching a foreign language has revealed the contradiction connected with the need of media education to work in foreign–language information space and the lack of due activities to build media knowledge, media abilities and media attitudes of the student. According to the theoretical studying of the scientific works of the Russian and foreign researchers, the described experience of adding a media educational component to the curricular of a foreign language we have held a forming experiment where we were developing the competence by means of media education. The received results confirm the hypothesis; demonstrate high potential of media education to develop the foreign– language communicative competence.
Checkpoint defects require WRNIP1 to counteract R-loop-associated genomic instability

Conflicts between replication and transcription are common source of genome instability and many factors participate in prevention or removal of harmful R-loops. Here, we demonstrate that a WRNIP1-mediated response plays an important role in counteracting accumulation of aberrant R-loops. Using human cellular models with compromised ATR-dependent checkpoint activation, we show that WRNIP1 is stabilised in chromatin and is needed for maintaining genome integrity by mediating the ATM-dependent phosphorylation of CHK1. Furthermore, we show that loss of WRN or ATR signalling leads to accumulation of R-loop-dependent parental ssDNA, which is covered by RAD51. We demonstrate that WRNIP1 chromatin retention is also required to stabilise the association of RAD51 with ssDNA in proximity of R-loops. Therefore, in these pathological contexts, ATM inhibition or WRNIP1 abrogation is accompanied by increased levels of genomic instability. Overall our findings reveal a novel function of WRNIP1 in preventing R-loop-driven genome instability, providing new clues to understand the way replication-transcription conflicts are resolved.
Clinico-laboratory profile and outcome of dengue fever among children attending a tertiary care hospital of rural Telangana, India

Background: Dengue is a self-limiting, vector-borne disease transmitted by Aedes mosquito, causing a major public health threat globally. The objective of this study is to assess the clinical profile and outcome of the dengue infection in children less than 14 years of age September 2018 to August 2019 at the Pediatric Department of S.V. S. Medical College, the tertiary care hospital in Mahabubnagar, Telanagana.Methods: Prospective study of 82 hospitalized children of <14 years with the diagnosis of dengue illness. Children with diagnosis of dengue were classified further in to two groups as per WHO guidelines, Non-severe dengue fever (probable dengue, dengue with warning signs) and ‘Severe Dengue’ (Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever and/or Dengue Shock Syndrome (DHF/DSS). A separate questionnaire form used for documenting clinical history, laboratory parameters. Haematological parameters were noted, chest x-ray, ultra-sonogram in required cases was done. Children were managed as per WHO protocol. The outcomes of the cases were mentioned as discharge, left against medical advice and death.Results: A total of 82 children with dengue were divided in to 55(67%) non severe dengue and 27(33%) severe dengue with males 56(68.2%) and females 26(31.7%). The most common age of presentation was between 6-10 years 34(41.5%). Fever 73(89%) was the most common presenting symptoms. Pleural effusion and hepatomegaly were the commonest clinical findings 28(34.1%) each, which were more among the severe dengue patients. Gall bladder edema 29(35.3%) was the most common ultra-sonogram finding. Significant elevation of transaminases (SGOP, SGPT) was seen in 39(47.5%). Severe thrombocytopenia was observed in 22(26.8%) children. Management was by administration of colloids and crystalloids.Conclusions: Dengue is a global problem. Presenting features include high grade fever, vomiting, abdominal pain, skin rash. Early recognition of symptoms and proper management can reduce the mortality.
Etude de la dynamique de mouillage et démouillage de polymères à l'état fondu pour l'élaboration de biocomposites Study of dynamic wetting and dewetting phenomena with molten polymers for biocomposite processing

Ce travail a pour objectif de calibrer un protocole de mesure permettant d'identifier les parametres cles dans les phenomenes de dynamique de mouillage lors de la mise en oeuvre de composites. Pour valider la procedure, des materiaux modeles ont ete etudies : des films cellulosiques en tant que substrats, et des paraffines et polyethylene glycols comme liquides. La procedure experimentale a consiste a caracteriser le substrat en termes de morphologie et de chimie de surface, en montrant qu'en premiere approximation on peut s'affranchir des heterogeneites de surface. La caracterisation de liquides en fonction de la temperature et en fonction de la masse molaire a ete ensuite analysee en prenant en compte l'etat fondu des polymeres. Les conditions de temperature et de masse molaire ont ete ensuite considerees en dynamique de mouillage et demouillage. Les resultats ont bien ete decrit par l'approche hydrodynamique pour un certain intervalle de valeur du nombre capillaire. Sur la base de ces modeles, des parametres physiques ont ete estimes, en precisant l'influence de la temperature et des longueurs de chaine de polymeres sur la dynamique de mouillage. Abstract The aim of this study was to set an experimental protocol in order to identify key parameters in wetting dynamics during liquid composite manufacturing. To validate the procedure, model materials were studied : cellulose films as substrates, and paraffins and polyethylene glycols as liquids. The experimental procedure consisted of characterizing the substrates in terms of morphology and surface chemistry, showing that, as a first approximation, it was possible to consider substrates as model surfaces without physico-chemical defects. The characterization of liquids as a function of temperature and molar mass was then performed, considering an additional issue : the molten state of polymers. Temperature conditions and molar mass were then considered in wetting and dewetting dynamic. The results were well described by the hydrodynamic approach for a range of capillary numbers. Using these models, physical parameters were estimated, explaining the influence of temperature and polymer chain lengths on wetting dynamics.
Temperature and host diet jointly influence the outcome of infection in a
 Daphnia‐
 fungal parasite system

Climate change has the potential to shape the future of infectious diseases, both directly and indirectly. In aquatic systems, for example, elevated temperatures can modulate the infectivity of waterborne parasites and affect the immune response of zooplanktonic hosts. Moreover, lake warming causes shifts in the communities of primary producers towards cyanobacterial dominance, thus lowering the quality of zooplankton diet. This may further affect host fitness, resulting in suboptimal resources available for parasite growth. Previous experimental studies have demonstrated the respective effects of temperature and host diet on infection outcomes, using the zooplankter Daphnia and its microparasites as model systems. Although cyanobacteria blooms and heat waves are concurrent events in nature, few attempts have been made to combine both stressors in experimental settings. Here, we raised the zooplankter Daphnia (two genotypes) under a full factorial design with varying levels of temperature (the standard 19°C and elevated 23°C), food quality (Scenedesmus obliquus as high‐quality green algae, Microcystis aeruginosa and Planktothrix agardhii as low‐quality cyanobacteria) and exposed them to the parasitic yeast Metschnikowia bicuspidata. We recorded life history parameters of the host as well as parasite traits related to transmission. The combination of low‐quality cyanobacterial diets and elevated temperature resulted in additive detrimental effects on host fecundity. Low‐quality diets reduced parasite output, while temperature effects were context dependent. Overall, we argue that the combined effects of elevated water temperature and poor‐quality diets may decrease epidemics of a common fungal parasite under a climate change scenario.
A Privacy Preserving Authentication Scheme for Roaming in IoT-Based Wireless Mobile Networks

The roaming service enables a remote user to get desired services, while roaming in a foreign network through the help of his home network. The authentication is a pre-requisite for secure communication between a foreign network and the roaming user, which enables the user to share a secret key with foreign network for subsequent private communication of data. Sharing a secret key is a tedious task due to underneath open and insecure channel. Recently, a number of such schemes have been proposed to provide authentication between roaming user and the foreign networks. Very recently, Lu et al. claimed that the seminal Gopi-Hwang scheme fails to resist a session-specific temporary information leakage attack. Lu et al. then proposed an improved scheme based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) for roaming user. However, contrary to their claim, the paper provides an in-depth cryptanalysis of Lu et al.’s scheme to show the weaknesses of their scheme against Stolen Verifier and Traceability attacks. Moreover, the analysis also affirms that the scheme of Lu et al. entails incorrect login and authentication phases and is prone to scalability issues. An improved scheme is then proposed. The scheme not only overcomes the weaknesses Lu et al.’s scheme but also incurs low computation time. The security of the scheme is analyzed through formal and informal methods; moreover, the automated tool ProVerif also verifies the security features claimed by the proposed scheme.
Fatores de risco relacionados à condição de saúde periodontal em universitários Risk factors related to periodontal health status in undergraduate students

Introduction: Periodontal disease may have its onset during childhood and adolescence and slowly progress throughout life. In undergraduate students, the most common and prevalent form the disease is gingivitis. Objective: To assess the periodontal health status of a sample of undergraduate studentsand assess a possible association between the disease and socio-demographic variables, as well as the disease’s risk factors. Material and method: The sample consisted of 306 undergraduate students volunteers aged between 19 and 35 years. The oral health indices used were the CPI and DMFT. Data processing and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS  version 18.0 for Windows. The classification of periodontal status was dichotomized in CPI<3 and CPI≥3. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out to evaluate the association between periodontal status and the independent variables. Result: The sample consisted of 51.3% female and 48.7% male, mostly with income less than 6 Brazilian minimum salaries. 14.4% of the sample was caries free. The worst periodontal status was in sextant #6 and 20.9% had shallow periodontal pockets in one sextant at least. There was an association between periodontal health status and gender, income, level of oral hygiene and flossing (p <0.05), but not between that and DMFT sample (p = 0.48). Conclusion: The sample showed mild periodontal disease condition, with no deep pockets. Female subjects, who earn more than 4 minimum salaries, with a good level of oral hygiene and who use dental floss had better periodontal health.
Uporaba laserskega skeniranja za vrednotenje poškodovanosti dreves zaradi žledoloma

Na obmocju GGE Snežnik smo ocenili poskodovanost krosenj po žledolomu iz leta 2014. Obmocje smo posneli z laserskim skeniranjem novembra 2013 in aprila 2014. Lidarske podatke smo obdelali v programih ArcMap in CloudCompare. V raziskavo smo vkljucili 111 dreves, od tega 65 navadnih jelk (Abies alba Mill.) in 46 navadnih bukev (Fagus sylvatica L.). S programom CloudCompare smo izracunali razdalje med tockami, ki so si bile najbližje med oblakoma tock iz let 2013 in 2014. Tako smo ugotovili razdalje poskodovanosti, s katerimi smo ugotovili naslednje: bukve so bile statisticno znacilno bolj poskodovane kot jelke (p 0,05).
Reduction in surface climate change achieved by the 1987 Montreal Protocol

The benefits of the 1987 Montreal Protocol in reducing chlorofluorocarbon emissions, repairing the stratospheric ozone hole, shielding incoming UV radiation, reducing the incidence of skin cancer and mitigating negative ecosystem effects are all well documented. Projected future climate impacts have also been described, mainly focused on a reduced impact of the mid-latitude jet as the ozone hole gradually repairs. However, there is little appreciation of the surface warming that has been avoided as a result of the Montreal Protocol, despite CFCs being potent greenhouse gases. Instead, the issue of ozone depletion and climate change are often thought of as two distinct problems, even though both ozone and CFCs impact Earth’s radiation budget. Here we show that a substantial amount of warming has been avoided because of the Montreal Protocol, even after factoring in the surface cooling associated with stratospheric ozone depletion. As of today, as much as 1.1 °C warming has been avoided over parts of the Arctic. Future climate benefits are even stronger, with 3 °C–4 °C Arctic warming and ∼1 °C global average warming avoided by 2050; corresponding to a ∼25% mitigation of global warming. The Montreal Protocol has thus not only been a major success in repairing the stratospheric ozone hole, it has also achieved substantial mitigation of anthropogenic climate change both today and into the future.
Wireless ad hoc Sensor Networks for City Street Light Maintenance

Wireless embedded devices, especially those of the open source hardware/software kind have seen rapid growth in recent years. This kind of devices when combined with ad hoc networks and sensor data can be a low-cost and highly scalable solution to many applications. In this paper we describe the experience of taking this concept of network infrastructure, developing application infrastructure and applying it, as a prototype, to a practical situation for a medium-sized city in the Buenos Aires province outer area, Argentina. We implement a novel sensor data delivery platform using open source hardware and software focused on streetlight maintenance at a fraction of the commercial implementation costs. To the extent of our knowledge this is the first system developed, deployed and documented in a Latin American country. Also presented in this paper is the system architecture as well as the design of hardware and software components as well as the results obtained.
Farming of Non-human Animals for Food and Fiber

Author(s): Buyukmihci, NC | Abstract: This paper discusses the moral implications of raising non-human animals for food and fiber. The systematic privation to which these animals are subjected, the serious compromise to their welfare and the lack of necessity for an animal-based diet are documented. Although suggestions are offered for improvement in the manner in which these animals are raised, it is argued that discontinuing our dependence on animal-based products is the only way to prevent animal suffering.
A multiple-trait Bayesian Lasso for genome-enabled analysis and prediction of complex traits

A multiple-trait Bayesian LASSO (MBL) for genome-based analysis and prediction of quantitative traits is presented and applied to two real data sets. The data-generating model is a multivariate linear Bayesian regression on possibly a huge number of molecular markers, and with a Gaussian residual distribution posed. Each (one per marker) of the T × 1 vectors of regression coefficients (T : number of traits) is assigned the same T –variate Laplace prior distribution, with a null mean vector and unknown scale matrix Σ. The multivariate prior reduces to that of the standard univariate Bayesian LASSO when T = 1. The covariance matrix of the residual distribution is assigned a multivariate Jeffreys prior and Σ is given an inverse-Wishart prior. The unknown quantities in the model are learned using a Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling scheme constructed using a scale-mixture of normal distributions representation. MBL is demonstrated in a bivariate context employing two publicly available data sets using a bivariate genomic best linear unbiased prediction model (GBLUP) for benchmarking results. The first data set is one where wheat grain yields in two different environments are treated as distinct traits. The second data set comes from genotyped Pinus trees with each individual was measured for two traits, rust bin and gall volume. In MBL, the bivariate marker effects are shrunk differentially, i.e., “short” vectors are more strongly shrunk towards the origin than in GBLUP; conversely, “long” vectors are shrunk less. A predictive comparison was carried out as well where, in wheat, the comparators of MBL where bivariate GBLUP and bivariate Bayes Cπ, a variable selection procedure. A training-testing layout was used, with 100 random reconstructions of training and testing sets. For the wheat data, all methods produced similar predictions. In Pinus, MBL gave better predictions that either a Bayesian bivariate GBLUP or the single trait Bayesian LASSO. MBL has been implemented in the Julia language package JWAS and is now available for the scientific community to explore with different traits, species and environments. It is well known that there is no universally best prediction machine and MBL represents a new piece in the armamentarium for genome-enabled analysis and prediction of complex traits.
Thin films for smart windows : synthesis of temperature-responsive vanadium oxide for energy-efficient glazing applications

The material presented in this thesis highlights different ways of producing temperature-responsive monoclinic VO2 [VO2(M)] for energy-efficient glazing applications, and the improvement of their thermochromic properties. VO2(M) has been widely studied due to its specific thermochromic properties, which make it a promising material to use in home and commercial facade glazing for reducing energy consumptions. VO2(M) thin films were deposited on glass substrate using atmospheric chemical vapour deposition (APCVD) - a well-known deposition process commonly used in industry. The thermochromic properties of the films were optimised, which resulted in a doubling of the visible light transmittance (TLUM) and a fivefold increase in the solar modulation efficiency (ΔTSOL). Further improvements of the thermochromic properties were carried out by the synthesis of VO2-based multilayers. Aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) was also used to produce VO2(M) thin films from a newly produced vanadium alkoxide precursor. Furthermore, this precursor showed to be ideal for the formation of V2O3 films with bixbyite structure, which had interesting gas sensing properties. This is the first time that bixbyite-type V2O3 has been synthesised as thin films using AACVD. Finally, continuous hydrothermal flow synthesis (CHFS), a lab-scale process that showed promising results for the production of nanoparticles (NPs) at semi industrialscale, was used to synthesize VO2(M) NPs. The direct synthesis of phase-pure monoclinic VO2 was achieved for the first time, with an average particle size smaller than 40 nm.
Inhibitory effects on the HMG-CoA Reductase in the chemical constituents of the Cassia mimosoides Linn

Abstract Cassia mimosoides Linn has been used from ancient times and used for treating hepatitis for its supposedly medically beneficial properties. In this study, different constituents of the Cassia mimosoides Linn (β-Sitosterol, Oleanolic Acid, Emodin, Carotene, Resorcinol, Luteolin, and α-L-Rhamnose) were evaluated for potential anti-HMG-CoA reductase effect. The inhibitory effects of HMG-CoA reductase of Cassia mimosoides Linn extracts and Pravastatin inhibitor at different concentrations (at doses of 1, 5, 25 or 125 μg/mL, respectively) in reaction system (70 mmol/L phosphate buffer, 200mmol/L NADPH, 5 μg HMG-CoA reductase, 2 mmol/L EDTA, 2 mmol/L cysteamine, 0.06% BSA) into 37°C preheat HMG-CoA for initiating this reaction, and then determined the change of HMG-CoA reductase activity (ΔAΔt) at 340 nm, the inhibition ratio of HMG-CoA reductase activity and its dynamic change of inhibitory effect within 15 min and the descent rate of NADPH. Emodin, Luteolin, β-Sitosterol, Oleanolic Acid, α-L-Rhamnose and Carotene showed good inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase activity. Among them, only the Emodin (1 and 5 μg/mL) groups showed a significant decrease of HMG-CoA reductase activity compared to the Pravastatin (1 and 5 μg/mL) groups respectively. In addition, the HMG-CoA reductase activity in the Emodin and Luteolin (25 and 125 μg/mL) groups was clearly lower than the Pravastatin (25 and 125 μg/mL) groups respectively. And the Emodin and Luteolin (1, 5, 25 or 125 μg/mL) groups exhibited a stable effect on inhibiting the HMG-CoA reductase within 15 min. These findings further support the exploration of Cassia mimosoides Linn as a potential agent for the treatment of hepatitis in future studies.