Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Donepezil Reverses Intermittent Stress-Induced Generalized Chronic Pain Syndrome in Mice

Treatment of fibromyalgia is an unmet medical need. To develop novel therapies for the treatment of fibromyalgia, we explored pain therapeutic actions of existing pharmaceuticals, which inhibit the somatic symptoms frequently observed in fibromyalgia patients. This study first examined the therapeutic actions of pilocarpine, which inhibits dry-eye and dry-mouth symptoms, using an experimental fibromyalgia-like chronic pain model produced by intermittent cold stress (ICS) in mice. A single intraperitoneal and intracerebroventricular, but not intrathecal, pilocarpine administration attenuated ICS-induced thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia, and this action was abolished by muscarinic antagonist pirenzepine (i.c.v.). Treatment with 1–10 μg/kg donepezil (i.p.), which can easily penetrate into the brain, also showed similar therapeutic effects. Importantly, we found that both pilocarpine and donepezil produced antihyperalgesic effects via supraspinal action. Furthermore, repeated donepezil treatments completely cured the ICS-induced hyperalgesia and allodynia even after the cessation of drug treatments. Acute and chronic treatments of these cholinomimetics had no effects on the nociceptive threshold in control animals. By contrast, the lack of morphine (i.c.v.) analgesia initially observed in the ICS model remained in ICS model mice treated with long-term donepezil. Collectively, these findings suggest that stimulation of the muscarinic cholinergic system effectively inhibits some mechanisms underlying chronic pain in the ICS model, but does not inhibit the lack of descending pain-inhibitory mechanisms, which are driven by central morphine.
Stability of Cascaded Fuzzy Systems and Observers

A large class of nonlinear systems can be well approximated by Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy models with linear or affine consequents. It is well known that the stability of these consequent models does not ensure the stability of the overall fuzzy system. Therefore, several stability conditions have been developed for TS fuzzy systems. We study a special class of nonlinear dynamic systems that can be decomposed into cascaded subsystems, which are represented as TS fuzzy models. We analyze the stability of the overall TS system based on the stability of the subsystems and prove that the stability of the subsystems implies the stability of the overall system. The main benefit of this approach is that it relaxes the conditions imposed when the system is globally analyzed, thereby solving some of the feasibility problems. Another benefit is that by using this approach, the dimension of the associated linear matrix inequality (LMI) problem can be reduced. For naturally distributed applications, such as multiagent systems, the construction and tuning of a centralized observer may not be feasible. Therefore, we also extend the cascaded approach to the observer design and use fuzzy observers to individually estimate the states of these subsystems. A theoretical proof of stability and simulation examples are presented. The results show that the distributed observer achieves the same performance as the centralized one, while leading to increased modularity, reduced complexity, lower computational costs, and easier tuning. Applications of such cascaded systems include multiagent systems, distributed process control, and hierarchical large-scale systems.
Transport of Photoelectrons in the Nightside Magnetosphere

[1] Kinetic modeling results are analyzed to examine the transport of photoelectrons through the nightside inner magnetosphere. Two sources are considered, those on the dayside from direct solar illumination and those across the nightside from light scattered by the upper atmosphere and geocorona. A natural filter exists on the nightside for the dayside photoelectrons. Coulomb collisions erode the distribution at low energies and low L shells, and magnetospheric convection compresses the electrons as they drift toward dawn. It is shown that for low-activity levels a band of photoelectrons forms between L = 4 and 6 that extends throughout the nightside local times and into the morning sector. For the scattered light photoelectrons the trapped zone throughout the nightside is populated with electrons of E < 30 eV. At high L shells near dawn, convective compression on the nightside yields an accelerated population with electrons at energies up to twice the ionospheric energy maximum (that is, roughly 1200 eV for dayside photoelectrons and 60 eV for scattered light electrons). Modeled energy and pitch angle distributions are presented to show the features of these populations.
The presentation of Bushmen in cultural tourism: tourists’ images of Bushmen and the tourism provider's presentation of (Hai//om) Bushmen at Treesleeper Camp, Namibia

Abstract This article examines images of Bushmen in Namibian cultural tourism from two angles: that of the tourists and that of the community-based tourism provider. By looking at the tourist activities offered at Treesleeper Camp, it will be shown that in host–guest encounters, tourists’ images of (Hai//om) Bushmen interrelate with the images presented by the local hosts, and that tourists’ perceptions and the images sought to be transmitted by the community-based local tourism provider are (partly) different. Tourists’ quest for authentic Bushmen cultures often reflects the expectation of a pristine and exotic ‘other’ – an image that is derived from colonial views, anthropology, media and the tourism industry. But there are also tourists who are looking for Bushmen in a process of development. The community-based cultural tourism project of Treesleeper attempts to create awareness of Bushmen using their traditions to deal with current life challenges. The dual nature of the project is the starting point for showcasing the recreation of images as well as the tourism provider's ambivalence – in order to fulfil tourists’ expectations – between the objectives to create awareness of the Hai//om Bushmen's cultural heritage and their contemporary life.
Adding Semantic Role Annotation to a Corpus of Written Dutch

We present an approach to automatic semantic role labeling (SRL) carried out in the context of the Dutch Language Corpus Initiative (D-Coi) project. Adapting earlier research which has mainly focused on English to the Dutch situation poses an interesting challenge especially because there is no semantically annotated Dutch corpus available that can be used as training data. Our automatic SRL approach consists of three steps: bootstrapping from a syntactically annotated corpus by means of a rule-based tagger developed for this purpose, manual correction on the basis of the Prop-Bank guidelines which have been adapted to Dutch and training a machine learning system on the manually corrected data.
A middle Cambrian (Series 3, Stage 5) microfaunal assemblage from the Torgau-Doberlug Syncline (Central Germany) and its palaeogeographic implications for the configuration of West Gondwana

A microfauna of small shelly fossils (SSF) is reported here for the first time from middle Cambrian (Series 3, Stage 5) subsurface strata of the Torgau-Doberlug Syncline (TDS), Central Germany. Considering that this microfauna is strongly limited and poorly preserved the material is quite abundant and diverse. The assemblage consists of molluscs (pelagiellids, bivalves), coeloscleritophorans (chancelloriids, halkieriids), poriferids, protoconodonts, cambroclaves, hyoliths, brachiopods, and disarticulated echinoderm remains. Additionally, a probable pterobranch hemichordate is noted. The assemblage is dominated by epifaunal suspension feeders from mid- to outer shelf depositional settings. Stratigraphically it represents (together with rare trilobites) the oldest middle Cambrian (Series 3, Stage 5) fauna known from Central Germany and the entire Saxothuringian Zone. Regardless the taphonomic problems related to the SSF occurrence, close palaeobiogeographic relations are indicated with the Mediterranean shelf of West Gondwana (especially with the areas of southwestern Europe and Morocco). The reported microfauna coupled with recent trilobite and palynomorph research supports assumptions that the Cambrian succession in the TDS is by far more complete than hitherto suggested, emphasizing its importance as a region yielding Cambrian rocks in Central Europe.
Decoding sequential finger movements from preparatory activity in higher‐order motor regions: a functional magnetic resonance imaging multi‐voxel pattern analysis

Performing a complex sequential finger movement requires the temporally well‐ordered organization of individual finger movements. Previous behavioural studies have suggested that the brain prepares a whole sequence of movements as a single set, rather than the movements of individual fingers. However, direct neuroimaging support for this hypothesis is lacking and, assuming it to be true, it remains unclear which brain regions represent the information of a prepared sequence. Here, we measured brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging while 14 right‐handed healthy participants performed two types of well‐learned sequential finger movements with their right hands. Using multi‐voxel pattern analysis, we examined whether the types of the forthcoming sequence could be predicted from the preparatory activities of nine regions of interest, which included the motor, somatosensory and posterior parietal regions in each hemisphere, bilateral visual cortices, cerebellum and basal ganglia. We found that, during preparation, the activity of the contralateral motor regions could predict which of the two sequences would be executed. Further detailed analysis revealed that the contralateral dorsal premotor cortex and supplementary motor area were the key areas that contributed to the prediction consistently across participants. These contrasted with results from execution‐related brain activity where a performed sequence was successfully predicted from the activities in the broad cortical sensory‐motor network, including the bilateral motor, parietal and ipsilateral somatosensory cortices. Our study supports the hypothesis that temporary well‐organized sequences of movements are represented as a set in the brain, and that preparatory activity in higher‐order motor regions represents information about upcoming motor actions.
Comparison of two new methods for the measurement of lung volumes with two standard methods

BACKGROUND The two most commonly used methods for the measurement of lung volumes are helium dilution and body plethysmography. Two methods have been developed which are both easier and less time consuming to perform. Mathematical modelling uses complex calculations from the flow-volume loop to derive total lung capacity (TLC), and the nitrogen balance technique uses nitrogen from the atmosphere to calculate lung volume in a similar way to helium dilution. This study was designed to compare the two new methods with the two standard methods. METHODS Sixty one subjects were studied, 23 with normal lung function, 17 with restrictive airway disease, and 21 with obstructive ventilatory defects. Each subject underwent repeated measurements of TLC by each of the four methods in random order. Reproducible values were obtained for each method according to BTS/ARTP guidelines. Bland-Altman plots were constructed for comparisons between the methods and pairedt tests were used to assess differences in means. RESULTS Bland-Altman plots showed that the differences between body plethysmography and helium dilution fell into clinically acceptable ranges (agreement limits ±0.9 l). The agreement between mathematical modelling or the nitrogen balance technique and helium dilution or body plethysmography was poor (±1.8–3.4 l), especially for subjects with airflow obstruction. CONCLUSIONS Neither of the new methods agrees sufficiently with standard methods to be useful in a clinical setting.
Lived experiences of Iranian parents of beta-thalassemia children

Introduction Thalassemia is a chronic blood disease, which imposes adverse effects on patients and their families. Parents of such patients, given that they had the thalassemia trait, hold themselves responsible for their children’s disease in addition to other difficulties, bear the burden of guilt and hopelessness and worry about the health and future of their children. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of parents of children with thalassemia. Methods The present research was conducted using a descriptive phenomenological approach. A purposive sampling was carried out until data saturation. Participants included 15 parents of children with thalassemia who were referred to the Thalassemia Center of Zabol to perform therapeutic procedures for their child in 2016. Results Extracted interviews were analyzed employing Colaizzi’s method, and four main themes were obtained, including “Gray marriage consanguinity”, “Burdened with increased number of thalassemia children”, “Socio-familial worries” and “Inexpressible wishes for having an ideal society”. Conclusion The results revealed that parents of children with thalassemia experience a wide range of problems in different aspects, such as physical, emotional, mental, social, economic and familial dimensions. Their experiences are valuable and can help in achieving a better understanding of their problems, which in turn can enable the members of the treatment team to play a more active role and the society to have a better understanding of this disease.
Impacts of Livestock Grazing and Tree Clearing on Birds of Woodland and Riparian Habitats

Abstract: We investigated the impact of pastoral management on birds in subtropical grassy eucalypt woodland in southeastern Queensland, Australia, where the patterns of land management have made it possible to disentangle the effects of livestock grazing from those of tree clearing. We recorded changes in bird species composition, density, and relative abundance across two woodland habitat types (riparian and nonriparian) and two levels of clearing (wooded and nonwooded) and three levels of livestock grazing (low, moderate, and high) replicated over space (1000 km2) and time (2001–2002). We predicted that species that depend on understory vegetation would be most negatively affected by livestock grazing. A Bayesian generalized linear model showed that the level of grazing had the greatest effect when trees were present. When trees were absent, the impact of grazing was overshadowed by the effects of a lack of trees. Over 65% of species responded to different levels of grazing, and the abundance of 42% of species varied markedly with habitat and grazing. The most common response to grazing was high species relative abundance under low levels of grazing (28% of species), species absence at high levels of grazing (20%), and an increase in abundance with increasing grazing (18%). Despite having similar bird assemblages, the effect of grazing was stronger in riparian habitat than in adjacent woodland habitat. Our results suggest that any level of commercial livestock grazing is detrimental to some woodland birds, particularly the understory‐dependant species, as predicted. Nevertheless, provided trees are not cleared, a rich and abundant bird fauna can coexist with moderate levels of grazing. Habitats with high levels of grazing, on the other hand, resulted in a species‐poor bird assemblage dominated by birds that are increasing in abundance nationally.
Barriers and motivators to blood and cord blood donations in young African‐American women

The primary aim of this study was to assess potential barriers and motivators to blood and cord blood donation among African‐American women. A telephone survey of African‐American women, ages 18–30 years, in the St. Louis metropolitan area was performed. The survey was administered by trained telemarketing personnel using a Computer‐Assisted Direct Interview (CADI) system. One hundred sixty‐two women were surveyed. Common barriers to blood donation were inconvenience of donor sites (19%), fear of needles (16%), and too much time required to donate (15%). Potential motivators were increasing awareness of need for blood (43%), increasing the number of convenient donor locations (19%), and encouragement by spiritual leaders to have blood drives at their church (17%). Lack of awareness was the only identified barrier to cord blood donation. Most women surveyed (88%) indicated that they definitely or probably would donate cord blood. Strategies to increase the proportion of African‐American blood and cord blood donations may include educating potential donors about the process and benefits of donation to particular patient populations and engaging church leadership in supporting blood and cord blood donations. Am. J. Hematol. 78:198–202, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Local extinction and reignition in turbulent nonpremixed combustion

Recent reports demonstrate progress in the modeling of burning diffusion flames in the absence of extinction (International Workshop on Measurement and Computation of Turbulent Nonpremixed Flame(2000)). However, the prediction of flames whose burning is frequently interrupted by local extinction-reignition events still presents a major modeling problem (Peters (2000)). A recent report by Xu & Pope (1999) shows promising results in modeling of a combusting flame with considerable extinction. Xu & Pope use a PDF modeling approach that is known to be expensive computationally. There is incentive, therefore, to study possible generalizations of the mixture fraction based approaches (flamelet, CMC) that would account for local extinction-reignition events. The present paper reports on direct numerical simulation (DNS) of initially nonpremixed fields of fuel and oxidizer developing in a turbulent field. Initially, the scalar dissipation rate is increasing due to straining leading to localized extinction events. At later times molecular diffusion starts to decrease the scalar dissipation rate, resulting in gradual reignition. Flame element tracking is utilized to show the fields as they would appear in local coordinate systems fixed to different points on the Zst surface. The resulting data are used (a) to study the mechanism of extinction and especially reignition, (b) to elucidate the applicability of the flamelet model to describe these processes, and (c) to examine a possible extension of the model to account for lateral heat diffusion along the Zst surface.
COPPER ACCUMULATION IN VINEYARD SOILS FROM NEMEA, GREECE

Στην eργασία αυτή παρουσιάζουμe το μέγeθος και τη σημασία της συσσώρeυσης χαλκού σe ασβeστούχα eδάφη αμπeλώνων στη Νeμέα της Eλλάδας, ως αποτέλeσμα της eντατικής eφαρμογής χαλκούχων μυκητοκτόνων. Συλλέχθηκαν eπιφανeιακά (0-20 cm) δeίγματα eδαφών από 40 αμπeλώνeς αντιπροσωπeύοντας το σύνολο της γeωργικής γης της Νeμέας το οποίο eίναι αφιeρωμένο στην αμπeλοκαλλιέργeια. Eπίσης, σe 20 τυχαία eπιλeγμένους αμπeλώνeς συλλέξαμe έδαφος μέχρι το βάθος των 50 cm. Στα eδαφικά δeίγματα προσδιορίστηκαν βασικές ιδιότητeς των eδαφών. Οι συγκeντρώσeις του χαλκού (33.1 - 291 mg kg 1 ) στους αμπeλώνeς της Νeμέας eίναι παρόμοιeς μe αυτές που αναφέρονται σe eδάφη αμπeλώνων και σe άλλeς πeριοχές της Eυρώπης. Ο χαλκός έχeι μeτακινηθeί σe βαθύτeρeς στρώσeις του eδάφους μe τα eπίπeδά στο βάθος 50 cm να παραμένουν υψηλότeρα από τις γνωστές συγκeντρώσeις αναφοράς, πιθανόν ως αποτέλeσμα της ανατάραξης του eδάφους λόγω καλλιeργητικών τeχνικών (άροση). H eκχύλιση των διαθέσιμων μορφών του χαλκού eπιτeύχθηκe μe τη βοήθeια του eκχυλιστικού DTPA. Δeν eντοπίσαμe διαφορές στη διαθeσιμότητα χαλκού ανάμeσα στα 2193 eπιφανeιακά δeίγματα eδάφους και στα δeίγματα βάθους 50 cm. Προτeίνονται ο έλeγχος της eφαρμογής και η αποφυγή υπeρβολικής χρήσης χαλκούχων μυκητοκτόνων διασφαλίζοντας ότι η συσσώρeυση του χαλκού στα eδάφη να μην φτάσeι σe eπίπeδα που να eμποδίζουν την ανάπτυξη φυτών.
Stochastic Methods for Sequential Data Assimilation in Strongly Nonlinear Systems

This paper considers several filtering methods of stochastic nature, based on Monte Carlo drawing, for the sequential data assimilation in nonlinear models. They include some known methods such as the particle filter and the ensemble Kalman filter and some others introduced by the author: the second-order ensemble Kalman filter and the singular extended interpolated filter. The aim is to study their behavior in the simple nonlinear chaotic Lorenz system, in the hope of getting some insight into more complex models. It is seen that these filters perform satisfactory, but the new filters introduced have the advantage of being less costly. This is achieved through the concept of second-order-exact drawing and the selective error correction, parallel to the tangent space of the attractor of the system (which is of low dimension). Also introduced is the use of a forgetting factor, which could enhance significantly the filter stability in this nonlinear context.
Understanding the Group Size for Collaborative Work in Wiki-based Communities

This study investigates what factors affect the group size of voluntary contributors to a collaborative task in wiki-based online communities. This study proposes work popularity and online resource availability (scholarly reference and news) as the determinants for group size. The results of the empirical test using the data on 876 English Wikipedia articles show that online resource availability significantly determines the group size, and influences the group performance via the group size. However, work popularity does not affect the group size. The interaction for discussion among group members shows the significant effect as a moderator for the relationship between the group size and group performance.
Developing tourism facilities based on geotourism in Silalahi Village, Geopark Toba Caldera

Toba Caldera is one of the biggest lakes in Indonesia with supervolcano geology phenomenon, and its result amazing natural resources. It makes Toba Lake become the number one tourism in North Sumatera. However, tourism in Toba Lake is still needed development. Geotourism is one of the concept that suitable for this case. It is because geotourism is a new development tourism concept that focuses on the natural and geological phenomenon. Silalahi Village is one of the areas in Toba Caldera that still needs development, especially in tourism facilities sector. This research aims to investigation the facilities concept based on geotourism in Silalahi Village that would be analyzed by three element of tourism facilities namely, accommodation, support facilities and tourism auxiliary facilities. The method used for this research is mixed methods by distributing 100 questionnaires, observations directly to the area and interviews with three informants related parties interested in tourism, such as local people, government, and academics. The data would be processed and analyzed with techniques of exploration. The result shows that the three elements of tourism facilities are still lacking and needs to improve to increase the economy and tourism in the area.