Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Vector Control, Pest Management, Resistance, Repellents Detection of Pyrethroid Resistance Mutations in the Major Leishmaniasis Vector Phlebotomus papatasi

Phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) are primary vectors of leishmaniasis. Greece and Turkey are both endemic for visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis and are widely affected by the disease. Measures commonly applied for controlling sand flies rely on the use of insecticides, predominantly pyrethroids. A worldwide problem associated with the intensive use of insecticides is the development of resistance. Scarce information is available regarding the resistance status in sand fly populations. Sand flies were collected from Greece (Thessaloniki, Peloponnese, Chios island) and Turkey (Sanliurfa) and analyzed for the presence and frequency of target-site knockdown resistance mutations on the voltage-gated sodium channel (Vgsc) gene. Five sand fly species were included in the analysis: Phlebotomus perfiliewi Parrot, Phlebotomus neglectus Tonnoir, Phlebotomus simici Nitzulescu, Phlebotomus tobbi Adler and Theodor, and Phlebotomus papatasi Scopoli. Their Vgsc gene—domain II was analyzed for the presence of known pyrethroid resistance mutations. The mutation 1014F, associated with pyrethroid-resistant phenotypes, was detected in P. papatasi sand flies from Sanliurfa at an allele frequency of 48%. Homozygotes for the wild type allele 1014L (Leu/Leu) represented 36% of the population, while homozygotes for the resistant allele 1014F (Phe/Phe) and heterozygotes encompassing both alleles (Leu/Phe) each had a frequency of 32%. In all other sand fly species, only the wild type allele 1014L was detected. This is the first report for the detection of resistance mutations in the major leishmaniasis vector P. papatasi and is of major concern regarding leishmaniasis control.
Inferring skeletal production from time-averaged assemblages: skeletal loss pulls the timing of production pulses towards the modern period

Abstract. Age-frequency distributions of dead skeletal material on the landscape or seabed—information on the time that has elapsed since the death of individuals—provide decadal- to millennial-scale perspectives both on the history of production and on the processes that lead to skeletal disintegration and burial. So far, however, models quantifying the dynamics of skeletal loss have assumed that skeletal production is constant during time-averaged accumulation. Here, to improve inferences in conservation paleobiology and historical ecology, we evaluate the joint effects of temporally variable production and skeletal loss on postmortem age-frequency distributions (AFDs) to determine how to detect fluctuations in production over the recent past from AFDs. We show that, relative to the true timing of past production pulses, the modes of AFDs will be shifted to younger age cohorts, causing the true age of past pulses to be underestimated. This shift in the apparent timing of a past pulse in production will be stronger where loss rates are high and/or the rate of decline in production is slow; also, a single pulse coupled with a declining loss rate can, under some circumstances, generate a bimodal distribution. We apply these models to death assemblages of the bivalve Nuculana taphria from the Southern California continental shelf, finding that: (1) an onshore-offshore gradient in time averaging is dominated by a gradient in the timing of production, reflecting the tracking of shallow-water habitats under a sea-level rise, rather than by a gradient in disintegration and sequestration rates, which remain constant with water depth; and (2) loss-corrected model-based estimates of the timing of past production are in good agreement with likely past changes in local production based on an independent sea-level curve.
Learning Constructive Primitives for Real-Time Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment in Super Mario Bros

Among the main challenges in procedural content generation (PCG), content quality assurance and dynamic difficulty adjustment (DDA) of game content in real time are two major issues concerned in adaptive content generation. Motivated by the recent learning-based PCG framework, we propose a novel approach to seamlessly address two issues in Super Mario Bros (SMB). To address the quality assurance issue, we exploit the synergy between rule-based and learning-based methods to produce quality game segments in SMB, named constructive primitives (CPs). By means of CPs, we propose a DDA algorithm that controls a CP-based level generator to adjust the content difficulty rapidly based on players’ real-time game playing performance. We have conducted extensive simulations with sophisticated SMB agents of different types for thorough evaluation. Experimental results suggest that our approach can effectively assure content quality in terms of generic quality measurements and dynamically adjust game difficulty in real time as informed by the game completion rate.
Deep Lip Reading: a comparison of models and an online application

The goal of this paper is to develop state-of-the-art models for lip reading -- visual speech recognition. We develop three architectures and compare their accuracy and training times: (i) a recurrent model using LSTMs; (ii) a fully convolutional model; and (iii) the recently proposed transformer model. The recurrent and fully convolutional models are trained with a Connectionist Temporal Classification loss and use an explicit language model for decoding, the transformer is a sequence-to-sequence model. Our best performing model improves the state-of-the-art word error rate on the challenging BBC-Oxford Lip Reading Sentences 2 (LRS2) benchmark dataset by over 20 percent. As a further contribution we investigate the fully convolutional model when used for online (real time) lip reading of continuous speech, and show that it achieves high performance with low latency.
Impact of Substrate Resistivity on the Vertical Leakage, Breakdown, and Trapping in GaN-on-Si E-Mode HEMTs

This paper presents an extensive investigation of the impact of the resistivity of the silicon substrate on the vertical leakage and charge trapping in 200 V GaN-on-Si enhancement-mode high-electron mobility transistors. Three wafers having different substrate resistivities were submitted to combined DC characterization, step-stress experiments, and electroluminescence (EL) analysis. The results described within this paper demonstrate that: 1) the use of a highly resistive silicon substrate can increase the vertical breakdown voltage of the transistors, due to the fact that the voltage drop on the GaN buffer is mitigated by the partial depletion of the substrate (this latter causes a plateau region in the drain to substrate I–V characteristic) and 2) highly resistive substrate results in stronger trapping effects, due to the capacitance of the depleted substrate and the resulting backgating effects. The results described within this paper indicate that the choice of the resistivity of the substrate is the result of a tradeoff between high breakdown voltage (that could be in principle achieved through a highly resistive substrate) and the minimization of trapping processes (which can be hardly obtained with a resistive substrate).
Towards traceable transient pressure metrology

We describe our progress in developing the infrastructure for traceable transient measurements of pressure. Towards that end, we have built and characterized a dual diaphragm shock tube that allows us to achieve shock amplitude reproducibility of approximately 2.3% for shocks with Mach speeds ranging from 1.26–1.5. In this proof-of-concept study we use our shock tube to characterize the dynamic response of photonic sensors embedded in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a material of choice for soft tissue phantoms. Our results indicate that the PDMS-embedded photonic sensors response to shock evolves over a tens to hundreds of microseconds time scale making it a useful system for studying transient pressures in soft tissue.
Dictionary Learning With Low Computational Complexity for Classification of Human Micro-Dopplers Across Multiple Carrier Frequencies

Recently, several machine learning algorithms have been applied for classifying micro-Doppler signatures from different human motions. However, these algorithms must demonstrate versatility in handling diversity in test and training data to be used for real-life scenarios. For example, situations may arise where the propagation channel or the presence of interference sources in the test site will permit only specific frequency bands of radar operation. These bands may differ from those used previously while training. In this paper, we examine the performances of three sparsity driven dictionary learning algorithms—synthesis, deep, and analysis—for learning unique features extracted from training data gathered across multiple carrier frequencies. These features are subsequently used for classifying test data from another distinct carrier frequency. Our experimental results, from measurement data, show that the dictionary learning algorithms are capable of extracting meaningful representations of the micro-Dopplers despite the rich frequency diversity in the data. In particular, the deep dictionary learning algorithm yields a high classification accuracy of 91% with a very low computational time for testing.
Comparing The Effects Of Menthol Status On The Behavioral Pharmacology Of Smoking Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes

Introduction: An active area of tobacco regulatory science research focuses on examining the effects of varying the nicotine content of cigarettes as part of a potential national policy to lower their nicotine content levels to reduce addiction potential. The present study examines differences in the behavioral effects of reduced nicotine content cigarettes related to their menthol status. Menthol is the only cigarette flavoring that is still legally permissible according to Food and Drug administration regulations. Methods: Participants were 26 current adult smokers from three populations especially vulnerable to tobacco use and addiction (economically disadvantaged women, opioiddependent individuals, individuals with affective disorders) dichotomized as menthol (n=11) or non-menthol (n=15) smokers. Participants completed 14 experimental sessions following acute smoking abstinence (CO<50% baseline level). Across sessions, participants smoked four Spectrum research cigarettes (22 Century Group, Clarence, NY) with varying nicotine content levels (0.4mg/g, 2.4 mg/g, 5.2 mg/g, 15.8 mg/g) or their usual brand cigarette. Research cigarettes were mentholated or non-mentholated corresponding to participants usual brand. Upon completion of smoking, participants completed tasks measuring reinforcing efficacy, subjective effects, topography, and withdrawal and craving measures. Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance was used for all analyses (p<.05). Results: Main effects of menthol status, as well as interactions of nicotine dose and menthol were noted across subscales of subjective effects and direct assessments of reinforcing efficacy. Usual brand mentholated cigarettes produced a profile of equal or greater relative reinforcing effects than usual brand non-mentholated cigarettes, while mentholated research cigarettes produced a profile of effects that fell below (i.e., lower relative reinforcing effects compared to usual brand or non-mentholated cigarettes) those of non-mentholated research cigarettes. Conclusions: Mentholated research cigarettes produce a lower profile of reinforcing and subjective effects, without discernible differences in smoking topography. The potential impact of mentholation on reinforcing efficacy and subjective effects should be considered when using Spectrum research cigarettes.
Enoxaparin versus No Anticoagulation Prophylaxis after Total Knee Arthroplasty in Thai Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background There has been some controversy about routine use of thromboprophylaxis after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in Asian patients. Objective To compare the efficacy and safety of enoxaparin in preventing venous thromboembolic diseases after TKA in Asian patients. Material and Method We randomized 50 patients undergoing primary TKA into two equal groups, 25 patients received once daily subcutaneous enoxaparin injections as thromboprophylaxis and 25 control patients did not receive anticoagulation. The primary outcome was deep vein thrombosis (DVT) identified by color Doppler ultrasonography and/or pulmonary embolism (PE). All significant bleeding complications were recorded. Results Deep vein thrombosis occurred in only one patient in the control group (4%) and in none in the enoxaparin group (0%, p = 0.31). No patient in both groups had clinical signs of PE. No patient had significant bleeding complications. One patient in enoxaparin group had a minor bleeding complication (4%) and also a surgical wound complication. Conclusion We concluded that the incidence of thromboembolic diseases after primary TKA in Thai patients is very low. Enoxaparin had no significant benefit in reducing venous thromboembolic complications after TKA in Asian patients, however it is safe in term of bleeding complications. We do not recommend routine use of enoxaparin as thromboprophylaxis after TKA in Asian patients.
The Vacuolar Protein Sorting-38 Subunit of the Arabidopsis Phosphatidylinositol-3-Kinase Complex Plays Critical Roles in Autophagy, Endosome Sorting, and Gravitropism

The family of phosphatidylinositols (PtdIns) plays essential roles in membrane identity and intracellular trafficking events. In animals and yeast, PtdIn-3-phosphate, which is particularly important for endosomal sorting, lysosomal/vacuolar transport and autophagy, is assembled by two conserved kinase complexes comprised of the catalytic VACUOLAR PROTEIN SORTING (VPS)-34 subunit, along with VPS15, AUTOPHAGY-RELATED (ATG)-6, and either ATG14 (complex I) or VPS38 (complex II). Here, we describe the Arabidopsis ortholog of VPS38 and show by interaction assays that it assembles into a tetrameric PtdIn-3 kinase complex II. Plants missing VPS38 are viable but have dampened pollen germination and heightened seed abortion, and display a dwarf rosette phenotype, with defects in leaf and vascular development and sucrose sensing. vps38 seeds accumulate irregular protein storage vesicles and suppress processing of storage proteins into their mature forms. Consistent with a role for PtdIn-3-phosphate in autophagy, vps38 mutants are hypersensitive to nitrogen and fixed-carbon starvation and show reduced autophagic transport of cargo into vacuoles. vps38 seedlings also have dampened root gravitropism, which is underpinned by aberrant vectoral auxin transport likely caused by defects in plasma membrane/endosome cycling of the PIN-FORMED family of auxin transporters necessary for asymmetric cell elongation. Collectively, this study places VPS38 and its class-III PtdIn-3 kinase complex at the nexus of numerous endosomal trafficking events important to plant growth and development.
The First Norovirus Longitudinal Seroepidemiological Study From Sub-Saharan Africa Reveals High Seroprevalence of Diverse Genotypes Associated With Host Susceptibility Factors

Abstract Background Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) are a prominent cause of gastroenteritis, yet fundamental questions remain regarding epidemiology, diversity, and immunity in sub-Saharan African children. We investigated HuNoV seroprevalence and genetic and sociodemographic risk factors in Ugandan children. Methods We randomly screened 797 participants of a longitudinal birth cohort (Entebbe, EMaBS) and 378 from a cross-sectional survey (rural Lake Victoria, LaVIISWA), for antibodies against HuNoV genotypes by ELISA. We used linear regression modeling to test for associations between HuNoV antibody levels and sociodemographic factors, and with the human susceptibility rs601338 FUT2 secretor SNP and histo-blood group antigens (A/B/O). Results Of EMaBS participants, 76.6% were seropositive by age 1, rising to 94.5% by age 2 years. Seroprevalence in 1 year olds of the rural LaVIISWA survey was even higher (95%). In the birth cohort, 99% of seropositive 2 year olds had responses to multiple HuNoV genotypes. We identified associations between secretor status and genogroup GII antibody levels (GII.4 P = 3.1 × 10−52), as well as ABO and GI (GI.2 P = 2.1 × 10−12). Conclusions HuNoVs are highly prevalent in Ugandan children, indicating a substantial burden of diarrhea-associated morbidity with recurrent infections. Public health interventions, including vaccination, and increased surveillance are urgently needed.
Vasodilator Activity of Compounds Isolated from Plants Used in Mexican Traditional Medicine

Arterial hypertension is one of the main risk factors in the development of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, it is important to look for new drugs to treat hypertension. In this study, we carried out the screening of 19 compounds (triterpenes, diterpenes, sesquiterpenes, lignans, and flavonoids) isolated from 10 plants used in Mexican traditional medicine to determine whether they elicited vascular smooth muscle relaxation and, therefore, could represent novel anti-hypertension drug candidates. The vasorelaxant activity of these compounds was evaluated on the isolated rat aorta assay and the results obtained from this evaluation showed that three compounds induced a significant vasodilatory effect: meso-dihydroguaiaretic acid [half maximal effective concentration (EC50), 49.9 ± 11.2 µM; maximum effect (Emax), 99.8 ± 2.7%]; corosolic acid (EC50, 108.9 ± 6.7 µM; Emax, 96.4 ± 4.2%); and 5,8,4′-trihydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyflavone (EC50, 122.3 ± 7.6 µM; Emax, 99.5 ± 5.4%). Subsequently, involvement of the NO/cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and H2S/ATP-sensitive potassium channel (KATP) pathways on the vasodilator activity of these compounds was assessed. The results derived from this analysis showed that the activation of both pathways contributes to the vasorelaxant effect of corosolic acid. On the other hand, the vasodilator effect of meso-dihydroguaiaretic acid and 5,8,4′-trihydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyflavone, partly involves stimulation of the NO/cGMP pathway. However, these compounds also showed an important endothelium-independent vasorelaxant effect, whose mechanism of action remains to be clarified. This study indicates that meso-dihydroguaiaretic acid, corosolic acid, and 5,8,4′-trihydroxy-3,7-dimethoxyflavone could be used as lead compounds for the synthesis of new derivatives with a higher potency to be developed as drugs for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Artificial neural network approach for technology life cycle construction on patent data

Technology development and its future trends are essential for decision making consideration to decide on the appropriate technology investment. Constructing Technology Life Cycle (TLC) allows stakeholders to identify technology trends in the future. Therefore, the forecasting approaches play a key role to obtain right decision making since there is need forecasting result with high accuracy and less computational time required. This study aims to construct TLC approach based on artificial intelligence to overcome these problems. This approach was developed through Artificial Neural Network (ANN) that has intelligent capability to define the technology performance towards patent analysis for forecasting and fitting the TLC phases. This study also employed the analysis of numerical gradient to strengthen the forecasting result. The potential of the proposed approach has been demonstrated by cordless telephone patent data as the worldwide tools to obtain up-to-date technology information. The findings can contribute to a better understanding of constructing TLC through intelligence approach that supported by numerical gradient analysis. The implication of this study is possibility that the model can be applied to the diverse technologies for facilitating to make proper technology investment decision.
Swimming performance of a bio-inspired robotic vessel with undulating fin propulsion

Undulatory fin propulsion exhibits a high degree of maneuver control—an ideal feature for underwater vessels exploring complex environments. In this work, we developed and tested a self-contained, free-swimming robot with a single undulating fin running along the length of the robot, which controls both forward motion and directional maneuvers. We successfully replicated several maneuvers including forward swimming, reversed motion, diving, station-keeping and vertical swimming. For each maneuver, a series of experiments was performed as a function of fin frequency, wavelength and traveling wave direction to measure swimming velocities, orientation angles and mean power consumption. In addition, 3D flow fields were measured during forward swimming and station-keeping using volumetric particle image velocimetry (PIV). The efficiency for forward swimming was compared using three metrics: cost of transport, wave efficiency and Strouhal number (St). The results indicate that the cost of transport exhibits a V-shape trend with the minimum value at low swimming velocity. The robot reaches optimal wave efficiency and locomotor performance at a range of 0.2–0.4 St. Volumetric PIV data reveal the shed of vortex tubes generated by the fin during forward swimming and station keeping. For forward swimming, a series of vortex tubes are shed off the fin edge with a lateral and downward direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the fin. For station keeping, flow measurements suggest that the vortex tubes are shed at the mid-section of the fin while the posterior and anterior segment of the vortex stay attached to the fin. These results agree with the previous vortex structures based on simulations and 2D PIV. The development of this vessel with high maneuverability and station keeping performance has applications for oceanography, coastal exploration, defense, the oil industry and other marine industries where operations are unsafe or impractical for divers or human-piloted vessels.
Determination of Core Losses in Open-Core Power Voltage Transformers

Power voltage transformers (PVTs) are becoming increasingly present in different substation solutions on a world scale. Such units that are based on the open-core concept introduce several advantages in terms of transformer performance and reliability. This paper provides context for distinct open-core losses, expanding in detail on a measurement-based method for determining both total and specific losses in the open core. The approach is demonstrated on several core model configurations with varying parameters. Apart from loss measurement, the presented core configurations were used to determine and verify the distribution and magnitude of all flux density vector components. The proposed approach is validated by various accompanying measurements but also through comparison with loss measurements performed on several PVT units intended for commercial application.
Particle Swarm Optimization Feature Selection for Breast Cancer Recurrence Prediction

Women who have recovered from breast cancer (BC) always fear its recurrence. The fact that they have endured the painstaking treatment makes recurrence their greatest fear. However, with current advancements in technology, early recurrence prediction can help patients receive treatment earlier. The availability of extensive data and advanced methods make accurate and fast prediction possible. This research aims to compare the accuracy of a few existing data mining algorithms in predicting BC recurrence. It embeds a particle swarm optimization as feature selection into three renowned classifiers, namely, naive Bayes, K-nearest neighbor, and fast decision tree learner, with the objective of increasing the accuracy level of the prediction model.