Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Practical Side-Channel Attacks against WPA-TKIP

We measure the usage of cipher suites in protected Wi-Fi networks, and do this for several distinct geographic areas. Surprisingly, we found that 44.81% of protected networks still support the old WPA-TKIP cipher. Motivated by this, we systematically analyze the security of several implementations of WPA-TKIP, and present novel side-channel attacks against them. The presented attacks bypass existing countermeasures and recover the Michael message authentication key in 1 to 4 minutes. Using this key, an adversary can then decrypt and inject network traffic. In contrast, previous attacks needed 7 to 8 minutes. These results stress the urgent need to stop using WPA-TKIP.
1 Structural domains of the Bacillus thuringiensis 2 Vip 3 Af protein unraveled by tryptic digestion of 3 alanine mutants 4

Vip3 proteins are increasingly used in insect control in transgenic crops. To shed light on 10 the structure of these proteins, we used the approach of trypsin fragmentation of mutants altering 11 the conformation of the Vip3Af protein. From an alanine scanning on Vip3Af, we selected mutants 12 with an altered proteolytic pattern. Based on the protease digestion patterns, their effect on 13 oligomer formation, and theoretical cleavage sites, we generated a map of the Vip3Af protein with 14 five domains, which match some of the domains proposed independently by two in silico models. 15 Domain I ranges from aa12-198, domain II from aa199-313, domain III from aa314-526, domain IV 16 from aa527-668 and domain V from aa669-788. The effect of some of the mutations on the ability to 17 form a tetrameric molecule revealed that domains I-III are required for tetramerization, while 18 domain V is not. The involvement of domain IV in the tetramer formation is not clear. Some 19 mutations distributed from near the end of domain I up to the end of domain II affect the stability 20 of the first three domains of the protein and negatively impact oligomerization upon trypsin 21 treatment. Because of the high sequence similarity among Vip3 proteins, we propose that our 22 domain map can be extended to many other members of the Vip3 family of proteins. 23
Factors Impeding Effective Crop Production in Ethiopia

In the Ethiopia crop agriculture, pillar in balancing the food diet of the majority people, as a whole and the cereals specifically is facing serious and vast challenges which in turn affect the supply of food grains. Various research institutes in Ethiopia have revealed several factors which affect crop production over the past three decades, but their findings are not synthesized into a whole and difficult to access as such. This study attempts to review various existing research findings and present them holistically. The most common factors are lack of more recently introduced improved seeds, initial capital for investment, loss of cropland, labor, pesticides, invasive alien species, farm storage techniques, methods of small scale irrigation, and religious and cultural challenges. Thorough understanding these constraints, researchers and policy makers can make useful recommendations to crop growers’ on farm improvement system and not on how to devastate well designed sustainable crop production systems. Succinct and collated scientific information would help to shade light on the best standards to overcome most factors affecting crop production and enhance the productivity and quality of crops. Moreover, this paper offers more implications and recommendations for various stakeholders in Ethiopian and similar contexts.
A feedforward/feedback neural control structure and its application to a robotic system

In this paper, a feedforward/feedback neural control structure with learning capability is proposed, which consists of a neural identifier and three blocks of controllers: a feedforward controller for generating the computed torque, a PD controller, and a multilayer neural controller for compensation of error and disturbance. A higher order multilayer neural network is used for constructing the neural identifier and the neural controller combined with the conventional controllers in cascade. The control performance is compared with that of the conventional feedback/feedforward controller without neural networks. Computer simulation shows that the proposed control structure is very effective in controlling a robotic system.
A REVIEW ON THE IMPACT OF ANTHROPOGENIC NOISE ON BIRDS

This review addresses the impacts of the noise, the vital role of acoustic communication and the response of the bird in overcoming the increased anthropogenic noise. The rapid development human activities nowadays induce the noise that interrupt the acoustic communication of birds. Disturbance of the signals transmission causes detrimental impact on the birds as they are highly depending on the acoustic communication for their survival, territory defense and reproduction. Continuous exposure of the noise then results in the declination of species richness of which have been stated by several past studies. Although most of the studies stated that the negative impact as a consequences from the anthropogenic noise, however there is positive effect contributed by the noise of which are also recorded in other studies. Moreover, the impacts other variables such as vegetation density that cause major changes to the bird population as compared to noise have also been highlighted in several studies. This indicates that considering several influencing factor is important in measuring impact that leads to the changes that occur within the bird population. Thus, in depth studies on the impacts of anthropogenic noise towards the species of birds by taking into account other contributing variables is important to enable the noise management to be conducted effectively especially in development areas as way in conserving the biodiversity of the bird population.
The efficacy of volar locking plates and external fixation for patients with unstable distal radial fractures : a meta-analysis

Questions/Purposes: In this meta-analysis, we compared the use of volar locking plates (VLPs) with external fixation (EF) for unstable distal radial fractures. Materials and methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using VLPs and EF in patients with unstable distal radial fractures. Trials were performed before July 2017 and retrieved using MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library databases. The meta-analysis was performed using STATA version 12.0. Results: Ten RCTs with a total of 932 patients were included. Of these, 451 were in the VLP group and 481 in the EF group. The VLP group had a higher Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score at 3 months (P<0.001) and 6 months (P<0.001); the scores were comparable for the groups at 12 months (P=0.166). Range of motion was better in the VLP group at 3 months. No difference between the groups was seen at 6 and 12 months. Grip strength in the VLP group was significantly greater than that in the EF group at 3 months (P<0.001); no difference between the groups was seen at 6 (P=0.526) and 12 months (P=0.507). There was no significant difference in reoperation and complication rates between the two procedures. Conclusions: We found that VLP may have improved functional recovery in the early period after surgery, but patients undergoing either VLP or EF showed similar levels of functional recovery at a later stage. The study was limited by the heterogeneity of the trials and should be interpreted with caution. Multicenter RCTs of higher quality and with larger sample numbers are needed.
Prediction Model of Coal and Gas Outburst Based on Rough Set-Unascertained Measure Theory

This paper proposes a risk evaluation model based on rough sets (RS) and the unascertained measure theory (UMT) for solving the accuracy problem of coal and gas outburst prediction with the aim to reduce economic losses and casualties in coal mining. The coal and gas outburst prediction problem is constrained by the selection of the prediction indexes, the coupling of a single index, and the weight of each index. The proposed RS-UMT model applies two modified techniques. The first one is a method for index weight determination that was improved by rough set theory. The second one is a method for coupling a single index that was modified by the unascertained measure theory. The RS-UMT model not only well solves the problem of coupling a single index of coal and gas outbursts, but also solves the problem that the weight is susceptible to subjective factors and prior knowledge. The RS-UMT model was used to judge the risk degree of outburst of 10 mining faces in the Pingdingshan No. 8 Mine and No. 10 Mine. The predictive results of the model were basically identical to the actual measured results. The performance of the RS-UMT model was also compared to existing methods. Based on the case study it can be concluded that the RS-UMT model is an accurate and very promising method for solving the coal and gas outburst prediction problem.
HPC Application in Cloud Environment

High Performance Computing applications on Cloud are of significance because of cost-effectiveness and elasticity. Reliability analysis of HPC applications on Cloud is an important area of study to better utilize infrastructure while dealing fault tolerant issues in a Cloud environment. In this work, we present a reliability model of a Cloud system under four scenarios: 1) Hardware components fail independently and software components fail independently; 2) software components fail independently and hardware components are correlated in failure; 3) correlated software failure and independent hardware failure; 4) dependent software and hardware failures. Moreover, we propose an optimal checkpoint placement technique based on reliability information for each scenario. Results show that if failure of the nodes and/or software in the system possesses a degree of dependency, the system becomes less reliable, which means that the failure rate increases and the mean time to failure decreases. Also, an increase in the number of nodes decreases the reliability of the system. Moreover, the optimal checkpoint interval decreases when the reliability of the system decreases. Key-words: Fault tolerance, reliability, cloud computing, cloud performance. ACRONYMS CDF Cumulative distribution function pdf Probability density function TTF Time to failure HPC High performance computing MTTF Mean time to failure
Variants of Teaching First Course in Database Systems.

In order to effectively conduct a course, the instructor should be clear about the course contents, methodology of teaching, and about the relevant literature, mainly, the textbooks. Furthermore, it is imperative to assign appropriate time to each topic so as to conduct the course efficaciously. To assist the Database course instructor in deciding these factors, some ground work has been done, which widely ranges from timely published computer science curricula by ACM and IEEE-CS to the articles published in journals and conferences. The major ingredients for this course are the course contents, and the methodology. Based on the course contents and a selected methodology two other factors are incorporated i.e. which textbooks are more suitable for each methodology, and how much time should be allocated to each topic in each methodology. To this end, we have conducted a survey of the top universities of the world, so as to accumulate relevant data that mainly comprises of the detailed course outlines. We have analyzed this collected data, and have also incorporated our own teaching experience, and as a principal contribution of this article we present a consolidated course content domain along with relevant learning outcomes, and different methodologies that can be used for teaching an elementary course in database systems.
Effect of Cold Application Versus Contrast Hydrotherapy on Patients Knee Osteoarthritis Outcomes

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent and far common debilitating form of arthritis which can be defined as a degenerative condition affecting synovial joint. Physical agents can fight the painful process such as cold or contrast hydrotherapy Aim. Evaluate the effect of cold application versus contrast hydrotherapy on pain control, functional abilities and quality of life. Setting: The study was conducted at Assuit University Hospital in out patients’ clinics. Subjects: 180 adult patients with knee osteoarthritis. Tools: were selected four tools Tool I: Bio-socio demographic characteristics Tool II: 0-10 Numeric pain rating scale. Tool II1: health assessment questionnaire. Tool IV: WHOQOL-BREF Results: decreased mean of pain score between contrast group than cold group (3.5 ± 2.1 vs 7.0 ± 1.9 respectively, improve mean HAQ disability index score intervention was 17.9 ± 6.3 &12.7 ± 5.9 between cold and contrast hydrotherapy respectively and increasing mean between contrast group than cold group regarding all domain of quality of life. Conclusion: greater pain relief and functional improvements found when subjects used contrast therapy. Recommendation: Superficial contrast therapy should be included in the early effort to manage patients with osteoarthritis.
Comparison of Viscous Grid Layer Growth Rate of Unstructured Grids on CFD Drag Prediction Workshop Results

The effect of viscous grid layer growth rate on CFD force and moment prediction with unstructured grids is studied. The subject of the comparison is the NASA Common Research Model (CRM) used in the fourth AIAA CFD Drag Prediction Workshop (DPW). The CRM is representative of transport style config urations. Two families of unstructured grids were developed using VGRID which differed in viscous layer spacing as well as surface grid distribution. Although both grids met the DPW gridding guidelines, there were significant differences in drag, lift, and pressure distribution. To determine the cause of the discrepancy, a third grid was generated using the s urface grid from one family and the viscous spacing of the second family. The results for the third grid were consistent with those with the same viscous spacing. Detailed anal ysis of the boundary layer profiles determined that the differences are due to inadequa te resolution in the outer boundary layer. All grids conformed to normally accepted gu idelines for viscous grid generation, however the results indicate more study is needed t o determine gridding requirements for accurate force and moment prediction using CFD.
Survey Design for Studies of Measurement Error in Physical Activity Assessments

Energy expenditure (EE) data obtained from 24hour physical activity (PA) recalls and objective activity sensing devices are often subject to considerable measurement error, but limited information is available about the sources and form of the measurement errors. We consider the problem of developing a sample design for a PA survey that includes 24-hour recalls and measurements from an objective sensing device. Our goal is to investigate measurement error models for EE. We propose models for recall-based and objective measures of EE, derive method of moments estimators of model parameters, and use data from a pilot study to calculate preliminary estimates. Finally, we consider the variance estimates for parameters in determining appropriate sample designs.
The Effectiveness of the Hybrid Graphical Representation Method in Visually Combining and Communicating Logical and Spatial Relationships between Scheduled Activities

The Effectiveness of the Hybrid Graphical Representation Method in Visually Combining and Communicating Logical and Spatial Relationships between Scheduled Activities. (May 2012) Meena Nageeb, B.S., the American University in Cairo; M.S., Colorado State University Co-Chairs of Advisory Committee: Dr. Stuart Anderson Dr. Julian Kang This research endeavor investigated the possibility to combine the visual advantages of both graphical schedule visualization methods, the Linked Gantt Charts (LGC) and Flowline graphs (FLG), derived from the activity-based and location-based scheduling systems, to help resolve some of their shortcomings by capitalizing on their combined strengths. In order to accomplish the goal of the research, a graphical representation system that combines these two scheduling visualization methods, LGC and FLG, is developed. Afterwards, the research attempted to empirically validate the ability of the proposed tool to visually communicate and combine logical and spatial relationships between scheduled activities. This is compared to comprehending the same information by looking at a stand-alone LGC or FLG. The accuracy and time, of deciphering various details of a sample project schedule, are used as parameters to evaluate the proposed scheduling visualization tool, and compare it to the existing LGC and FLG systems. The Hybrid Graphical Representation (HGR) is the tool developed by this research to combine Linked Gantt Chart bars from the activity-based scheduling approach, and flow-lines from the location-based scheduling approach. The HGR concept is founded on the basic idea that both LGC and FLG share a common X-axis, Time. The only difference is in a LGC the Activities are listed on the Y-axis, while the FLG shows Locations on the Y-axis. This research proposed adding a third dimension to
Implementation of Self-Checking Carry-Select Adder Based on Two-Rail Encoding in FPGA

Self-checking carry-select adder design based on two-rail encoding is an efficient method, due to its arithmetic operations and short delay. This paper presents the design of the Compressor based Self-checking carry-select adder design . The circuit can detect all single stuck-at faults during on-line operation mode. Its performance is increased by using compressor by replacing all full adders.
Mobile Sensing for Social Collaborations

In this paper, we present three interesting ongoing and future research projects on the topics of mobile collaborative sensing, namely: (a) efficient network management for context-aware participatory sensing, (b) 3D mobile collaborations, and (c) opportunistic social collaborations. The proposed concepts, models, and solutions could be largely beneficial in the developing world, by using the mushroom popularity of the smartphones and online social networks. We address their technical challenges and solutions from the support of the information quality and efficient network management perspectives. The main objective of this paper is to receive early feedback from researchers and practitioners in the areas of mobile computing and social collaboration, and to brainstorm and synergy new collaboration opportunities.
Diversity in Remittances on the Performance of Financial Institutions : Case of Dahabshiil Bank in Hargeisa Somaliland

There is lack of researcher’s agreement on the future of remittance companies. This study diagnosed how product diversity in remittance effects organizational performance The specific objectives of this study were to find out how product diversity in remittances affect organizations performance, to determine whether agency relationship plays a vital role in organizational performance, to know if remittance operations effect organizational performance and to assess whether the cost of remittances affect organizational performance. A sample of 40 employees was selected from the population 130 employees using stratified random sampling technique. Both primary and secondary data was used. Primary data was collected by aid of questionnaires while secondary data was collected from already published sources such as company publications and financial statements. Validity and reliability of the instruments was assessed before embarking on large scale data collection. Data was analyzed by aid of SPSS model and percentages and presented by aid of frequency tables. The study found that product diversity in remittances, agency relationship, remittances operations and the cost of remittance all affects organizational performance. The study established that there is a positive relationship between product diversity and organizational performance. The study recommends regulators need to promptly elaborate and introduce a modern legal foundation for effective banking supervision. The study recommends further research on the role of commercial banks in eradication of inflation rates in Somaliland and also the efficiency of the current central banks laws in curbing the inflation pandemic in Somaliland.
Traffic analysis in optical burst switching networks : a trace-based case study

Optical burst switching (OBS) appears as a promising technology for building dynamic optical transport networks. The main advantage of OBS is that it allows for dynamic allocation of resources at sub-wavelength granularity. Nevertheless, the burst contention problem, which occurs frequently inside the network, has to be addressed before OBS can be really deployed as the next generation optical transport network. Recently a lot of attention is devoted to different approaches for resolving contentions in OBS networks. Although performance analysis of these approaches is strongly dependent on the traffic characteristics in the network, the majority of the studies is so far based on very hypothetical traffic assumptions. In this study we use traces of real measurements in the Internet to derive realistic data about the traffic that is injected into the OBS network. Specifically, we investigate the marginal distributions of burst size, burst interdeparture time, assembly delay and number of packets per burst as well as the burstiness of the burst traces. We demonstrate that the performance of an OBS core node using the real traces is pretty similar to the results obtained when the traffic arriving to the core node is assumed to be Poisson. In fact, usage of the Poisson as the process of burst arrival to the core node leads in all the investigated cases to an upper bound on the burst drop rate at that node. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.