Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MEng Thesis Proposal

Canetti et al. [1] have proposed a scheme to limit off-line dictionary attacks against passwordprotected local storage, without the use of any secure hardware or secret storage, and under the assumption that all data in local storage can be modified by the attacker. Forcing a human to take part in the login process makes this desire a reality. To gain access to the machine, the user inputs a password. The password, in turn, specifies a number of puzzles that can only be solved by humans, and the solutions to those puzzles form the secure key. While conceptually interesting, this system exists only on paper. I propose that I implement a concrete version of such a system, making reasonable and secure choices for functions and puzzles along the way, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master’s of Engineering.
Returns to Retained Ownership through Finishing for Beef Cattle Originating from Tennessee

Annually, cow-calf producers face the decision of whether to sell their calves at weaning or to retain ownership of them. This study determines how animal characteristics, carcass quality, and a supplemental prepartum feeding program for cows impacts returns to retaining ownership of calves through finishing. Data from 2013-2014 regarding 160 cattle originating in Tennessee and finished in an Iowa feedlot using retained ownership was collected. An ordinary least squares regression indicates animal characteristics and carcass quality have a significant impact on retained ownership returns and the supplemental prepartum feeding program decreased returns. Sensitivity analysis determined how feed costs influence returns.
Uncertainty, Flexibility, Valuation & Design:

The 21 st century presents humankind with perhaps its greatest challenge since our species almost went extinct some 70,000 years ago in Africa. A big part of meeting that challenge lies in how the urbanization of three billion additional people (equal to the entire world population in 1960) will be accomplished between now and mid-century, on top of necessary renewal and renovation of the earth‘s existing cities. China alone will urbanize 300 million more people between now and 2030. (That is equal to the entire population of the U.S., the world‘s third most populous country, and just 20 years! ) This is development on a scale and pace that is an order of magnitude greater than the past century, in a world resource and climate environment that is near the breaking point, in a context of greater technological, financial, and economic uncertainty than ever before.
Product dependence and bifunctionality compromise the ultrasensitivity of signal transduction cascades

Covalent modification cycles are ubiquitous. Theoretical studies have suggested that they serve to increase sensitivity. However, this suggestion has not been corroborated experimentally in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that the assumptions of the theoretical studies, i.e., irreversibility and absence of product inhibition, were not trivial: when the conversion reactions are close to equilibrium or saturated by their product, “zero-order” ultrasensitivity disappears. For high sensitivities to arise, not only substrate saturation (zero-order) but also high equilibrium constants and low product saturation are required. Many covalent modification cycles are catalyzed by one bifunctional ‘ambiguous’ enzyme rather than by two independent proteins. This makes high substrate concentration and low product concentration for both reactions of the cycle inconsistent; such modification cycles cannot have high responses. Defining signal strength as ratios of modified (e.g., phosphorylated) over unmodified protein, signal-to-signal response sensitivity equals 1: signal strength should remain constant along a cascade of ambiguous modification cycles. We also show that the total concentration of a signalling effector protein cannot affect the signal emanating from a modification cycle catalyzed by an ambiguous enzyme if the ratio of the two forms of the effector protein is not altered. This finding may explain the experimental result that the pivotal signal transduction protein PII plus its paralogue GlnK do not control steady-state N-signal transduction in Escherichia coli. It also rationalizes the absence of strong phenotypes for many signal-transduction proteins. Emphasis on extent of modification of these proteins is perhaps more urgent than transcriptome analysis.
Simultaneous Heterogenotypic Renal Cell Carcinoma: Immunohistochemical and Karyoptic Analysis by Comparative Genomic Hybridization

We report a rare collision tumor of a nodule-in-nodule pattern between a clear cell-type carcinoma and a collecting duct carcinoma in a 24-year-old man. Whereas the outer nodule is quite different from the ‘conventional renal cell carcinoma (RCC)’ with respect to vascularity, the inner nodule is quite distinctive as regards immunophenotype and karyotype results. Karyotyping the latter by means of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) disclosed gains of chromosome regions in 1q21.2-qter, 5q21-qter, 6q16.3-qter and 17q21.2-qter along with a loss in 1p21-p31.14, 9q31-pter, 11, 13q12-qter, 15q12-qter and 18q21.1-qter. The clear cell carcinoma surrounding the daughter nodule revealed no 3p loss by means of CGH, unlike most cases of conventional RCC that are seemingly associated with poor vasculature. In summary, to our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an unclassified RCC featuring a unique growth pattern composed of a mixed clear cell type without a 3p loss and a variant of CDC with a unique karyotypic alteration.
A Previously Unrecognized Step in Pentachlorophenol Degradation in Sphingobium chlorophenolicum Is Catalyzed by Tetrachlorobenzoquinone Reductase (PcpD)

ABSTRACT The first step in the pentachlorophenol (PCP) degradation pathway in Sphingobium chlorophenolicum has been believed for more than a decade to be conversion of PCP to tetrachlorohydroquinone. We show here that PCP is actually converted to tetrachlorobenzoquinone, which is subsequently reduced to tetrachlorohydroquinone by PcpD, a protein that had previously been suggested to be a PCP hydroxylase reductase. pcpD is immediately downstream of pcpB, the gene encoding PCP hydroxylase (PCP monooxygenase). Expression of PcpD is induced in the presence of PCP. A mutant strain lacking functional PcpD has an impaired ability to remove PCP from the medium. In contrast, the mutant strain removes tetrachlorophenol from the medium at the same rate as does the wild-type strain. These data suggest that PcpD catalyzes a step necessary for degradation of PCP, but not for degradation of tetrachlorophenol. Based upon the known mechanisms of flavin monooxygenases such as PCP hydroxylase, hydroxylation of PCP should produce tetrachlorobenzoquinone, while hydroxylation of tetrachlorophenol should produce tetrachlorohydroquinone. Thus, we proposed and verified experimentally that PcpD is a tetrachlorobenzoquinone reductase that catalyzes the NADPH-dependent reduction of tetrachlorobenzoquinone to tetrachlorohydroquinone.
THE EFFECTS OF REAL GDP, INFLATION, FDI, AND BUSINESS REGULATION TO DOMESTIC INVESTMENT: A CASE OF THE ASEAN 5 IN 2003-2012

ASEAN as a group of developing economies or emerging markets and strategic market becomes a place for investment that attracts many investors. ASEAN 5 namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand showed a unique movement in the period before the 2008 global financial crisis to post-crisis. Seeing the movement of the economic growth, it is needed to see how the investment role in supporting the growth of a country's output. Which investment is definitely an important factor needed by all countries as a driver of economic and domestic development. So it is important to find out how the other important macroeconomics variable namely real GDP, inflation, FDI, and business regulation in the period 2003 to 2012 affect domestic investment in ASEAN 5 countries. By using Panel Data Analysis, this research found that several important points regarding those objectives. Revealed that real GDP has a significant positive effect on domestic investment. While FDI and business regulation have significantly negative effects on domestic investment. But Inflation is likely not a big deal for domestic investors which it is insignificant affecting the domestic investment in ASEAN 5 for 2003-2012 case. Those findings explain that the government has to manage or even put more intensive effort towards GDP performance by implementing pro-investment policy. And also fiscal policy is one of important drivers for domestic investment. Each country has to increase the quality of human resources, infrastructure, while in the same time, good governance and efficient regulation is needed in most countries. Reduction of procedures and bureaucracy quality improvement are the most priorities in the ASEAN 5 countries. And domestic investors and government together have to put more efforts in making improvement and technological innovation. Keywords: Domestic Investment, Real GDP, Inflation, FDI, Business Regulation, ASEAN 5.
Education and the decision to migrate: an econometric analysis of migration in Venezuela.

Interstate labor force migration in Venezuela was estimated for 3 groups of migrants classified by their own educational levels. Regional educational levels and education-specific average wages were included as explanatory variables in order to distinguish between the various effects of education on migration and to estimate differences in the response of educated and uneducated migrants to other explanatory variables. The basic model resembled that used in other econometric studies of migration; migration was assumed to be a function of a number of origin and destination state characteristics which were believed likely to represent costs and benefits of living in various states for most persons. Migration rates rather than absolute numbers were the dependent variable. Zellner's regression technique was employed, and appropriate F statistics were used to test the null hypothesis of equal response of migrants to each of the explanatory variables across educational levels. A substantial proportion of the variance in migration rates was explained for each level of education. The results showed that educated members of the labor force in Venezuela are more mobile and also that there are significant differences in the responses of educated and uneducated migrants to variables which reflect the costs and benefits of alternative locations. The educated were less deterred by increased distance and more responsive to wage rates in alternative locations. The educated appear to be more mobile because of their greater access to information and greater incentives to make additional investments in search of better opportunities. Both educated and uneducated migrants are attracted to more populated regions but the elasticity is almost twice as high for the educated. Educational opportunity was found to be an important locational advantage for those who already had attended secondary school. The less educated are less likely to move to states with high educational levels, perhaps because they fear job competition from the educated. Destination unemployment variables were not highly significant for the uneducated. Results of the study indicate that disaggregation of migration by educational levels is necessary for a clear understanding of the complex relationships involved.
Sulfasalazine-induced exacerbation of ulcerative colitis.

SULFASALAZINE is used extensively to treat ulcerative colitis. Maintenance therapy with sulfasalazine decreases the frequency of relapse, and the drug has also been used to treat mild to moderate flare-ups of ulcerative colitis.1 , 2 We report studies in a patient with ulcerative colitis in remission who had unequivocal endoscopic and histologic evidence of relapses after oral and rectal challenges with sulfasalazine. Both challenges also provoked the systemic manifestation of iridocyclitis. Case Report A 35-year-old male physician had two weeks of rectal bleeding at the age of 19. At the ages of 21 and 22 he had recurrences of blood-streaked stool. Sulfasalazine .
Surgical treatment for lumbar lateral recess stenosis with the full-endoscopic interlaminar approach versus conventional microsurgical technique: a prospective, randomized, controlled study.

OBJECT Extensive decompression with laminectomy where appropriate is often still described as the method of choice in surgery for lateral recess stenosis. Nonetheless, tissue-sparing procedures are becoming more common. Endoscopic techniques have become the standard in many areas because of the advantages they offer in surgical technique and in rehabilitation. Transforaminal and interlaminar access provide 2 full-endoscopic (FE) techniques for lumbar spine surgery. The goal of this prospective randomized controlled study was to compare the surgical results for the FE technique via the interlaminar approach with those of the conventional microsurgical technique in patients with degenerative lateral recess stenosis. METHODS A total of 161 patients with FE or microsurgical decompression underwent follow-up for 2 years. In addition to general and specific parameters, the following measuring instruments were used: visual analog scale, German version of the North American Spine Society instrument, and the Oswestry low-back pain disability questionnaire. RESULTS The results show that 74.5% of patients reported no longer having leg pain, and 20.5% had only occasional pain. The clinical results were the same in both groups. The rate of complications and revisions was significantly reduced in the FE group. The FE techniques brought advantages in the following areas: operation, complications, traumatization, and rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS The clinical results of the FE interlaminar technique are equal to those of the microsurgical technique. At the same time, there are advantages in the operation technique, such as reduced traumatization. The FE interlaminar spinal decompression procedure is a sufficient and safe supplement and alternative to microsurgical procedures.
Web Mail is not Dead!: It's Just Not Human Anymore

Many have noticed that personal communications have slowly moved from mail to social media and instant messaging platforms, especially with younger generation [6]. Yet Web Mail traffic continues to steadily grow. A paradox? Not really. We have observed at Yahoo Research that the nature of email traffic has significantly changed in the last two decades, and it is now dominated by machine-generated messages. These messages include hotel newsletters, from which users forgot to unsubscribe, repeated, and often annoying, notifications from a social media site, or critical information such as a flight e-ticket, a purchase invoice, or a telephone bill. In this talk, I first share some elements of this journey that led us to this critical finding that 90% of today's Web Mail is sent by automatic scripts [1]. I then discuss the challenges and opportunities this drastic change offers. First the key challenge: namely, the need for Web mail services to revisit their usage assumptions and their traditional features in light of this change. An obvious example is the "reply" button being displayed by default below messages sent from a "no-reply@" sender. Another feature is mail classification, which has finally experienced some changes in the last few years, [4]. I then discuss the opportunities in this era of big data. One first insight is that messages that have been generated by a same script, share some semantic commonality. Being able to automatically cluster such messages, and map such clusters into "templates" brings great value for discovering meaning, for generalizing findings and predicting behaviors [5]. A second insight is that within this commonality, the differences bring even more value, which allows highlighting what makes individuals unique within a crowd. In particular we discuss extraction techniques that automatically identify these unique elements [2]. Yet, they also present a clear risk in terms of privacy and I describe the absolute need for guaranteeing k-anonymity in our mining techniques, [3]. I conclude by encouraging the research community to explore this new domain of Web mail search and data mining.
Stability and Bifurcation Analysis of Cyclic Genetic Regulatory Networks with Mixed Time Delays

This paper analyzes the stability and bifurcation criteria of cyclic genetic regulatory networks with mixed time delays (discrete and Gamma-type distributed delays). It is of more realistic biological background to use Gamma-type distributed delay kernels to describe the delays in the process between genes. The key aim of our research is to reveal more about the dynamic functions played by biochemical parameters and different mechanisms of discrete and distributed time delays. The existence of positive equilibria in this kind of genetic network is verified. With the mathematical tools of subharmonic function and complex theory, exact conditions of biochemical parameters for stability and bifurcations in cyclic genetic regulatory networks with both positive and negative gains are deduced, respectively. Finally, several simulation examples are adopted to deepen our analysis.
Leaning to Train: Linking Financial News Articles to Company Short Names

As a special type of named entity, company name is frequently mentioned in financial news articles, leading to significant necessity on company-oriented information retrieval and management. However, company names are usually mentioned with short names, which are sometimes ambiguous. For example, apple refers in some cases to Apple Incorporation while in other cases to a kind of sweet fruit. This motivates our research on linking financial news articles to company short name, which aims to determine whether a mention in an article is short name of a company. The supervised approach requires labor on annotation of news article that mention the specific company short name. It is rather unpractical as new company short names appear constantly. In this work, we propose a self-contained unsupervised learning framework, which relies on probabilistic topic model to collect training data automatically. Experimental results show that the performance is close to the state-of-the-art supervised approach which relies on human-judged gold standard.
Requirements for hyaluronic acid binding by CD44: a role for the cytoplasmic domain and activation by antibody

The CD44-negative T lymphoma AKR1 (CD44.2 genotype) was transfected with a CD44.1 cDNA. The intact cDNA conferred on the transfected cells the ability to bind hyaluronic acid (HA) both from solution and immobilized on culture plates. It also conferred a CD44-dependent and hyaluronidase-sensitive increase in adhesion to a lymph node endothelial cell line. A mutant cDNA which codes for a CD44 molecule lacking most of the cytoplasmic domain of CD44 was also transfected into AKR1, and cell sorting was used to select transfectants expressing levels of cell surface CD44 expression comparable with the line transfected with the wild-type CD44 cDNA. The cells transfected with the mutant construct bound fluoresceinated HA from solution very poorly, but did adhere to immobilized HA, though less well than cells transfected with the wild-type construct. This result indicates that the cytoplasmic domain of CD44 is necessary for binding of HA from solution but is not required for binding to immobilized HA, although it may contribute to adhesion following ligand recognition. A monoclonal antibody (mAb), IRAWB 14, which reacts with CD44 on all CD44+ cells dramatically induced HA binding by some CD44+ cell lines that did not constitutively bind HA. The transfectant expressing a CD44 molecule with a truncated cytoplasmic domain could be induced by this antibody to bind fluoresceinated-HA from solution. Splenic T cells did not bind fluoresceinated HA constitutively. In the presence of the IRAWB 14 mAb, virtually all CD44+ splenic T cells bound HA. Induction was immediate and occurred equally well at room temperature and at 4 degrees C, indicating that the new HA-binding activity was due to preexistent CD44 molecules. These results are compatible with an antibody-induced activation of CD44 by either a conformational change in the CD44 molecule or a change in the distribution of CD44 molecules on the cell surface.
Strategic e-HR: Matching e-Business Value Drivers and HR Management Tasks

The scant e-HR literature has thus far focused on the shift from traditional HR Management to the adoption of e-HR. However, very little attention has been granted into understanding the strategic match between actual HR tasks and e-HR value creation. This paper embeds e-business logic into HR operations management. This is done by conceptualizing a framework for analyzing and evaluating e-HR activities in terms of the fit between e-business value drivers and key HR activities. This effort culminates in suggesting e-HR value creation analysis matrix, based on which five propositions are formulated predicting the relative impact each value driver may have on different HR activities.
Extending the Human Resource Architecture: Relational Archetypes and Value Creation

Theories of knowledge-based competition focus on internal resources as the source of value creation. The HR architecture (Lepak & Snell, 1999) brought human resource management directly into this forum by developing a model of human capital allocation and management. We attempt to extend the HR architecture by introducing a framework of relational archetypes—entrepreneurial and cooperative—that are derived from unique combinations of three dimensions (cognitive, structural, and affective) that characterize internal and external relationships of core knowledge employees. Entrepreneurial archetypes facilitate value creation from external partnerships while cooperative archetypes facilitate value creation from internal partnerships. This paper identifies how each of these archetypes is managed by a corresponding HR configuration and how they together contribute to value creation by facilitating organizational learning via exploration and exploitation.
Pengaruh Kompetensi dan Independensi Dewan Komisaris Terhadap Pelaksanaan Good Corporate Governance

Board characteristics have become an interesting area of research for many years. It is believedthat board characteristics have a positive effect on internal audit quality. This study examines theimpact of board competency and independency on good corporate govemance practices. Theresponses of 32 President Directors (CEO) from non financial BUMNs to the questionnaires wereanalyzed by using regression analysis. The results of this study were generally consistent with theprior empirical research. The results also support the research hypotheses that board competencyand independency influence good corporate governance practices with positive direction.Therefore, it can be concluded that the board competency and independency will influence thequality of good corporate governance practices.