Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PhiOpenSSL: Using the Xeon Phi Coprocessor for Efficient Cryptographic Calculations

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is the main protocol used to secure Internet traffic and cloud computing. It relies on the computation-intensive RSA cryptography, which primarily limits the throughput of the handshake process. In this paper, we design and implement an OpenSSL library, termed PhiOpenSSL, which targets the Intel Xeon Phi (KNC) coprocessor, and utilizes Intel Phi's SIMD and multi-threading capability to reduce the SSL computation latency. In particular, PhiOpenSSL vectorizes all big integer multiplications and Montgomery operations involved in RSA calculations and employs theChinese Remainder Theorem and fixed-window exponentiation in its customized library. In an experiment involving the computation of Montgomery exponentiation, PhiOpenSSL was as much as 15.3 times faster than the two other reference libcrypto libraries, one from the Intel Many-core Platform Software Stack (MPSS) and the other from the default OpenSSL. Our RSA private key cryptography routines in PhiOpenSSL are 1.6-5.7 times faster than those in these two reference systems.
Eddies in the stream: the prevalence of uncertain plans for retirement.

OBJECTIVE This study examined an assumption of retirement theory that typifies older workers as preretirees who are planfully engaged in paths toward retirement. METHODS Using survey responses among workers in the 1992 and 1994 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, we described the prevalence of nonsubstantive answers to questions about the expected form and timing of retirement (e.g., "don't know," "haven't thought about it"). We tested explanations for this uncertainty as an artifact of the survey process, but also as an outcome of the opportunity structure for retirement planning. RESULTS Survey procedure did generate some of these noncommittal responses. Depending on question type, approximately 10% to 40% of workers did not state when or how they would retire, and such responses were less prevalent across age and time. In addition, categorical uncertainty about form and timing was theoretically predictable in a framework that supposed that workers less subject to a socially attended life--at work or away--would be more undecided about the future. DISCUSSION Uncertainty is an authentic, meaningful stance toward retirement that theory and research design should not ignore. Just as actual transitions to retirement can be ambiguous or blurred, the expectation of retirement, as well, can be untidy.
Control of Primordial Follicle Recruitment by Anti-Müllerian Hormone in the Mouse Ovary1.

The dimeric glycoprotein anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) is a mem- ber of the transforming growth factor-b superfamily of growth and differentiation factors. During male fetal sex differentiation, AMH is produced by Sertoli cells and induces degeneration of the Mullerian ducts, which form the anlagen of part of the internal female genital system. In females, AMH is produced by the ovary, but only postna- tally. The function of AMH in the ovary is, however, still unknown. Female AMH null mice were reported to be fertile, with normal litter size, but this does not exclude a more subtle function for ovarian AMH. To investigate the function of AMH in the ovary, the complete follicle population was determined in AMH null mice, in mice het- erozygous for the AMH null mutation, and in wild-type mice of dif- ferent ages: 25 days, 4 months, and 13 months. In the present study we found that ovaries of 25-day- and 4-month-old AMH null females, compared to those of wild-type females, contain more preantral and small antral follicles. In addition, in 4- and 13-month-old AMH null females, smaller numbers of primordial follicles were found. Actually, in 13-month-old AMH null females, almost no primordial follicles could be detected, coinciding with a reduced number of preantral and small antral follicles in these females. In almost all females heterozy- gous for the AMH null mutation the number of follicles fell in between the numbers found in wild-type and AMH null females. In 4-month- old AMH null females serum inhibin levels were higher and FSH levels were lower compared to those in wild-type females. In contrast, inhibin levels were lower in 13-month-old AMH null females, and FSH levels were unchanged compared to those in wild-type females. Furthermore, the weight of the ovaries was twice as high in the 4-month-old AMH null females as in age-matched wild-type females. We conclude that AMH plays an important role in primordial follicle recruitment, such that more primordial follicles are recruited in AMH null mice than in wild-type mice; the mice heterozygous for the AMH null mutation take an in-between position. Consequently, the ovaries of AMH null females and those of females heterozygous for the AMH null mutation will show a relatively early depletion of their stock of primordial follicles. The female AMH null mouse may thus provide a useful model to study regulation of primordial follicle recruitment and the relation between follicular dynamics and ovarian aging. (Endocrinology 140: 5789 -5796, 1999)
[Contamination of the food products by lead, cadmium and copper in the area at risk of Gela (Sicily)].

OBJECTIVE to make an initial evaluation on the impact of environmental pollution on the food safety of some agricultural products in the area of Gela, an official area of environmental crisis according to Italian legislation. SETTING Gela (Caltanisetta ) Sicily MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES the investigation looked at the contamination of the food chain, one of the main sources of exposure for the local population. A sample of 13 artichokes and 13 tomatoes where sprayed with contaminated water and the levels of Pb (II), Cd (II) end Cu (II) where then measured. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS the analysis of the samples investigated shows a high level of metal contamination which can be linked to both the polluted water and air. It is therefore easier to forecast a scenario of exposure for the local population through the food chain.
Gene Expression and Signal Transduction in Water-Stress Response

Land plants suffer from dehydration or water stress not only under drought and high-salt-concentration conditions but also under low-temperature conditions. They respond and adapt to water stress to survive these environmental stress conditions. Water stress induces various biochemical and physiological responses in plants. Under water-stress conditions plant cells lose water and decrease turgor pressure. The plant hormone ABA increases as a result of water stress, and ABA has important roles in the tolerance of plants to drought, high salinity, and cold. A number of genes that respond to drought, salt, and cold stress at the transcriptional level have recently been described (for review, see Ingram and Bartels, 1996; Shinozaki and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, 1996; Bray, 1997). The mRNAs of water-stress-inducible genes decrease when the plants are released from stress conditions, which is consistent with evidence that shows that these genes respond to water stress or dehydration. The functions of some gene products have been predicted from sequence homology with known proteins and are thought to have a role in protecting the cells from water deficit (Ingram and Bartels, 1996; Bray, 1997). Expression patterns of dehydration-inducible genes are complex. Some genes respond to water stress very rapidly, whereas others are induced slowly after the accumulation of ABA. Most of the genes that respond to drought, salt, and cold stress are also induced by exogenous application of ABA (for review, see Shinozaki and YamaguchiShinozaki, 1996; Bray et al., 1997). It appears that dehydration triggers the production of ABA, which in turn induces various genes. Several genes that are induced by water stress are not responsive to exogenous ABA treatment. These findings suggest the existence of both ABAindependent and ABA-dependent signal transduction cascades between the initial signal of drought or cold stress and the expression of specific genes (Shinozaki and Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, 1996; Bray et al., 1997). Promoter analysis of droughtand cold-inducible genes has identified several cis-acting elements that are involved in ABAdependent and ABA-independent responses to conditions of water stress. Details of molecular mechanisms regulating responses of plant genes to water stress remain to be discovered, and there are many questions to be examined at the molecular level. These include the sensing mechanisms of water stress or osmotic stress, modulation of the stress signals to cellular signals, transduction of the cellular signals to the nucleus, transcriptional control of stress-inducible genes, and the function and cooperation of stress-inducible genes allowing water-stress tolerance. This Update focuses on recent progress toward understanding the signal transduction cascades leading to expression of water-stressinducible genes. Possible sensors of osmotic stress in plants are discussed based on our knowledge of yeast and bacterial sensors. A glossary of terms is included to facilitate the reading.
The Management Accounting Needs of Small Enterprises And the Role of Small Accounting Practices.

Management accounting research has previously focused mostly on large firms rather than SMEs despite the significance of SMEs in the UK economy. The high failure rate of small enterprises in the UK points to the need to increase their financial robustness. Small accounting practices (SAPs) would seem to provide a possible alternative source of management accounting information for businesses too small to afford in-house accountants, but the literature over thirty years suggests that this approach has not been adopted. The sparse research in this area has proposed disparate reasons for the limited use of SAPs, without providing a definitive explanation. The intractability of the barriers to the use of SAPs for the provision of management accounting information points to a mismatch between management accounting theory, which tends to be based on neo-classical economics, and the approach used in practice in small firms and SAPs. The research investigates these barriers, assessing the extent to which owner-managers carry out management accounting in small enterprises despite the opportunity costs involved and explores the reasons behind their tendency not to seek management accounting services from SAPs. It also evaluates the potential of SAPs to provide management accounting services and the reasons limiting their promotion. The research draws on a critical realist perspective using qualitative, multiple case studies involving semi-structured interviews to examine the degree to which neo-classical economic theory,old institutional economics and new institutional sociology can explain how the barriers have arisen and why they have remained. The findings expand existing research on management accounting by bringing into focus the interaction between actors and their structural context in small firms and SAPs, demonstrating how that shapes management accounting practices, particularly with regard to the barriers to the greater use of SAPs.
Factors Affecting Company’s Profitability: A Case Study of Company Financing under Mega And SBY Era

This research is intended to show another proxy of government performance measurement from the capital market data. This research also is directed to compare the differences of company financing between Mega and SBY era, to examine the relationship of company financing and company profitability, and to interpret profoundly the results using the capital market data. Data were gathered from the Indonesian Capital Market Directory (ICMD) starting from 2001 up to 2006. Geometric mean was used to profoundly trace the influence of presidential leadership era and to balance financial data between Mega (2001 – 2003) and SBY era (2005). Hypotheses were confirmed by employing paired sample t test and linear regression analysis. This research draws three main conclusions. Firstly, collateral ratio and equity to total assets ratio are significantly different between Mega era and SBY era. Nevertheless, there is no significant difference in current liabilities to total assets, long-term liabilities to total assets, capital structure, and return on assets between Mega and SBY era. Secondly, current liabilities to total assets and long-term liabilities to total assets have a negative and significance influence to company’s profitability. Lastly, equity to total assets has a positive and significant effect on company’s profit. Findings are discussed to provide possibility factors behind the financing issue.
Novel method to assess motion blur kernel parameters and comparative study of restoration techniques using different image layouts

In general, recorded image can perpetually characterized a degraded version of the original image caused by inadequacy in the imaging and capturing process. There exists several kinds of degradations that need to be considered to restore degraded images. Such kinds of degradations are blur, noise, illumination and color imperfections. Among those, two major categories of degradations namely, motion blur and noise are considered in this study. For restoring degraded image, it is important to know the degradation function, commonly point spread function (PSF) of blurred image. This study focuses an approach to assess PSF parameters from blurred and noisy images. Furthermore, this study presents comparative analysis of different non-blind image restoration techniques based on Wiener and Lucy-Richardson algorithm for different types of image layouts. The experimental result illustrates blur images without noise and with noise are successfully restored.
Metabolic Control by Inflammation and Immunity Myeloid cell TRAF 3 promotes metabolic inflammation , insulin resistance , and hepatic steatosis in obesity

Zheng Chen, Hong Shen, Chengxin Sun, Lei Yin, Fei Tang, Pan Zheng, Yang Liu, Robert Brink, and Liangyou Rui Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Warm-start cuts for Generalized Benders Decomposition

In this paper, we describe a decomposition algorithm suitable for two-stage convex stochastic programs known as Generalized Benders Decomposition. For this algorithm we propose a new reformulation that incorporates a lower bound cut that serves as a warm-start, decreasing the overall computation time. Additionally, we test the performance of the proposed reformulation on two modiﬁcations of the algorithm (bunching and multicut) using numerical examples. The numerical part is programmed in MATLAB and uses state-of-the-art conic solvers.
Formal and informal fees for maternal health care services in five countries: policies practices and perspectives.

User fees are gaining widespread use in government health programs as a means of alleviating pressure on constrained budgets as demand for services increases. Concerns that fees reduce access to services among the poor have led to the promotion of fee exemption mechanisms in order to protect those unable to pay for services. The exemptions however may not effectively ensure access among the poor because (1) informal fees and other costs associated with seeking and receiving services are not alleviated by most exemption mechanisms and (2) exemption mechanisms are poorly implemented. The low proportion of formal fees to total costs to the consumer and the unpredictable nature of informal fees and other costs of access may actually work against formal fee exemption mechanisms. Even though little is known about how well fee and waiver mechanisms function for maternal health services it is important to understand whether exemption mechanisms alone hold promise for protecting access for the poor or whether the mechanisms need to be supplemented with other strategies. This study was conducted simultaneously in five countries: Egypt India (Uttaranchal) Kenya Peru and Vietnam. The objectives were to survey actual costs to consumers for antenatal and delivery care; survey current fee and waiver mechanisms; assess the degree to which these mechanisms function; assess the degree to which informal costs to consumers constitute a barrier to service; and review current policies and practices regarding the setting of fees and the collection retention and use of revenue. (excerpt)
Choroid Plexus Transporters for Drugs and Other Xenobiotics

The transporter mediated uptake of various drugs and toxic compounds by choroid plexuses has been extensively described over the last decades. In conjunction with several other specific features of the choroidal tissue such as its drug metabolism and antioxidant capacities, these transport activities contribute to the neuroprotective functions attributed to the choroid plexus. Recently, the molecular identity and localization of the proteins responsible for the influx and efflux of drugs and metabolites at the choroid plexus has started to be deciphered, thus allowing a better understanding of the directionality and significance of the transport processes observed at the choroid plexus. Transport of drugs and metabolites involves mainly the SLC (solute carrier) and ABC (ATP-Binding Cassette) transporter super-families. In this review, we describe the identity and mechanism of transport of the SLC and ABC members so far characterized at the choroid plexus.
Speaker individualities in speech spectral envelopes

The aim of the three psychoacoustic experiments described here was to clarify whether there are speaker individualities in the spectral envelopes, in which frequency bands such individualities exist, and how frequency bands having speaker individualities can be manipulated. The LMA analysis-synthesis system was used to prepare stimuli varied specific frequency bands, and the frequency bands having speaker individualities were estimated experimentally. The results indicate that(1)speaker individualities exist in spectral envelopes,(2)these individualities are mainly at frequencies higher than 22 ERB rate(2212 Hz)and vowel characteristics exist from 12 ERB rate(603 Hz)to 22 ERB rate, and(3)the voice quality can be controlled by replacing the higher frequency band of one talker with that of other talkers. The replace point is the adjacent spectral local minimum below the spectral local maximum around 23 ERB rate in the spectral envelopes.
BSE and the safety of milk

SIR, — Dr Michael Tyshenko's paper on bse and the safety of milk from Canadian dairy cattle ([Tyshenko 2007][1]) commented that the experimentally established value of 10 per cent, based on references published in 1997, remains the accepted contribution for the maternal transmission of bse in
Coordination problems, strategic complementarities, and multiple equilibria in an alternative fuel market

High energy prices and climate change created public interest in developing alternatives to petroleum-based fuel. Automobiles that operate on alternative fuel require a fixed investment: additional equipment must be installed on traditional engines or must be purchased a new special vehicle. Consumers hesitate to make this fixed investment until they are confident the alternative fuel will be available and convenient to use; this creates strategic complementarity in consumers’ alternative fuel investment decisions. Multiple equilibria are present when the equilibrium threshold of the relative payoff is concaved in market penetration of the alternative. Concavity of the threshold follows from the cost of infrastructure investment. The initial cost of alternative infrastructure is high, but once a base level is in place the cost of additional units of the alternative fuel is low. Thus, the threshold of relative payoffs is concave in market penetration of the alternative fuel. Further, the distribution of relative payoffs among consumers affects policymakers’ ability to influence market penetration of the alternative. The distribution of relative payoffs represents a population’s spatial heterogeneity in cost effectiveness of the alternative technology. This arises from transportation or other geographically relevant investment costs. Therefore, if population centers are clustered in an area of low investment cost, a government incentive to use the alternative fuel is more likely to be effective. However, if the population is uniformly distributed over space or clustered in areas of high cost a much larger government investment is required to achieve widespread adoption of the alternative technology.
Mutant HFE H63D Protein Is Associated with Prolonged Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Increased Neuronal Vulnerability*

A specific polymorphism in the hemochromatosis (HFE) gene, H63D, is over-represented in neurodegenerative disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer disease. Mutations of HFE are best known as being associated with cellular iron overload, but the mechanism by which HFE H63D might increase the risk of neuron degeneration is unclear. Here, using an inducible expression cell model developed from a human neuronal cell line SH-SY5Y, we reported that the presence of the HFE H63D protein activated the unfolded protein response (UPR). This response was followed by a persistent endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, as the signals of UPR sensors attenuated and followed by up-regulation of caspase-3 cleavage and activity. Our in vitro findings were recapitulated in a transgenic mouse model carrying Hfe H67D, the mouse equivalent of the human H63D mutation. In this model, UPR activation was detected in the lumbar spinal cord at 6 months then declined at 12 months in association with increased caspase-3 cleavage. Moreover, upon the prolonged ER stress, the number of cells expressing HFE H63D in early apoptosis was increased moderately. Cell proliferation was decreased without increased cell death. Additionally, despite increased iron level in cells carrying HFE H63D, it appeared that ER stress was not responsive to the change of cellular iron status. Overall, our studies indicate that the HFE H63D mutant protein is associated with prolonged ER stress and chronically increased neuronal vulnerability.
Reconstruction of concave surface of the specular object using of inter-reflection

Active triangulation methods assume that points in a scene are only illuminated by the sources of light. However, this assumption is valid only when the light is reflected at one time from a single convex surface. Actual objects often include concave surfaces where points reflect light between themselves. In the presence of these inter-reflections, active triangulation methods produce erroneous estimates of shape. In this paper, an approach is proposed to recover the shape of a specular object in the presence of inter-reflection, with prior knowledge on the shape information of specular object or not. Both simulation and experiment results proved that the proposed approach was effective.
Edge disjoint monochromatic triangles in 2-colored graphs

Let N (n; k) be the minimum number of pairwise edge disjoint monochromatic complete graphs Kk in any 2-coloring of the edges of a Kn. Upper and lower bounds on N (n; k) will be given for k¿ 3. For k = 3, exact values will be given for n6 11, and these will be used to give a lower bound for N (n; 3). c © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Lactobacillus sakei CRL1862 improves safety and protein hydrolysis in meat systems

The capacity of Lactobacillus sakei CRL1862 to prevent the growth of pathogens and its ability to degrade sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar proteins in pork meat systems was evaluated. In addition, basic safety aspects of Lact. sakei CRL1862 such as production of biogenic amines and antibiotic susceptibility were addressed.