Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Investigations of microcircuitry in the rat barrel cortex using an experimentally constrained layer V pyramidal neuron model

The mammalian neocortex consists of repeated structural and functional units known as columns, spanning the six layers of the isocortex. A column encompasses different types of neurons sharing common response properties to afferent inputs. The coding and processing of information in local microcircuits comprised of interconnected neurons from different populations define the functional properties of the columns, and can be regarded as the basis of information processing in the cortex. The barrel cortex of the rat, which receives sensory information from the facial whiskers of the animal, provides a useful model system for investigating the properties of microcircuits, since the columnar structure is well defined with each large barrel-related column receiving its primary input from one facial whisker. In this thesis, the detailed distribution of connections formed by neuronal populations in the local microcircuitry onto the dendrites of large layer V intrinsically burst firing (IB) pyramidal cells of the rat barrel cortex was investigated. These neurons have large dendritic trees consisting of subdomains with different intrinsic properties, suggesting that the specific position of individual synapses on the dendrites could be critical. Layer V IB pyramidal neurons have been shown to play a critical role in learning processes as well as the modulation of ongoing behaviour in the awake animal. Simulations and analysis of extensive datasets from mapping of functional connections between layer V IB neurons and local neuronal populations were carried out using an experimentally constrained single neuron model. Simulation results suggest that projections from neurons located in the local and neighbouring columns of the rat barrel cortex selectively target the basal and proximal apical dendritic domains of the layer V IB neurons. Feedback connections from higher cortical areas critical in learning processes are known to selectively target the distal apical tufts of layer V pyramidal cells, thus the findings in this thesis suggest the existence of a functional segregation of the inputs to different dendritic subdomains correlated with the intrinsic properties of the dendritic compartments that they target.
Case 3525 Tricoelia variopedata Renier, [1804] (currently Chaetopterus variopedatus; Annelida, Polychaeta): proposed conservation of the specific name

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 81.1 of the Code, is, firstly, to conserve the widespread current usage of the name Chaetopterus variopedatus, which is used by polychaete taxonomists and ecologists around the world despite the fact that it is derived from the officially unpublished works of Renier. Furthermore, we request an amendment to the entry for Renier [1804b] in the Official Index of Works in Zoology to make it clear that some names in that unpublished work have been validated by the Commission.
Non-invasive manipulation of membrane potential in intact living cells

All living cells contain the electrogenic enzyme Na/K ATPase, whose function is to pump ions against the electrochemical gradient, in order to provide potential energy which is later used for cellular processes such as action potentials, muscle contraction and facilitated transport. Using a technique developed in our lab, exploiting the molecule’s voltage dependence, it is possible to increase this pump function by many folds. Optical measurement of the membrane potential of living cells was made using a potentiommetric dye, with successful manipulation of the ionic concentration and membrane potential reported. Additional supporting results are presented, along with extension of this field to the study of cardiac Myocytes, representing a progression to Mammalian cells, with advantages to future clinical research evident. Successful manipulation of membrane potential was also achieved using cells in a two dimensional tissue matrix, which more closely approximates the living system, and hence is closer to an eventual clinical application. Also, expedited recovery from electrical injury was recorded, demonstrating a possible therapeutic application of the technique.
Ameliorative Effect of Salvadora persica (Miswak) on Cigarette Smoke Induced Anxiety and Depression in Rats

Objectives: The aim of the study is to evaluate the anxiolytic and antidepressant activity of Salvadora persica in cigarette smoke-induced neurobehavior changes in rats. Methods: The lyophilized decoction of Salvadorapersica (S. persica) was administered daily for four weeks by oral route at the doses 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg to the cigarette smoke exposed rats. The depression and anxiety studies were done by forced swim test and elevated plus maze test, respectively. The serum levels of monoamine oxidase-A and relative brain weight were also determined. The results were analyzed statistically by one-way ANOVA followed by Duncans’ multiple range tests. p<0.05 was considered to indicate the significance of results. Results: The observation from the study indicated that exposure of cigarette smoke for eight weeks significantly (p<0.01) enhanced the experimental parameters of depression and anxiety, besides increasing the monoamine oxidase-A and relative brain weight when compared with control animals. Administration of S. persica exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition in the neurobehavioral parameters. S. persica at 200 mg/kg produced significant (p<0.01) antidepressant and antianxiety effects. The treatment was also found to reduce the serum monoamine oxidase-A and relative brain weight in the cigarette smoked animals. Conclusion: The data suggests that decoction of S. persica might possess antidepressant and anxiolytic properties in the cigarette smoke exposed animals. These actions could be related to its antioxidant and reversal in the neurocircuilatory changes induced by the cigarette smoke.
Asymptotic models of species-area curve for measuring diversity of dry tropical forest tree species

band pattern in both the digestion schedules. MS1 and MS4 were, however, somewhat interrelated phylogeneti-cally, as their dissimilarity coefficient was low, around 1.5 in both the digestions. PS1002 was phylogenetically closer to PS201, although their dissimilarity coefficient was between 1 and 1.5 in the two digestions performed. From the above observations, it was possible to con-clude that bacteria that grew on undiluted SPC and those grown on 1/100th medium were phylogenetically dis-tinct. Oligophiles constitute a different class of micro-organisms with typically different metabolic set up than the copiotrophs. It is believed that oligophiles do not arise by simple adaptation of copiotrophs to thrive in low nutrient condition. Rather, they represent a specific line of evolution, enriched by low nutrient conditions which prevail in most of the natural environment. It is evident that a highly heterogeneous system like the soil harbours both copiotrophs and oligophiles independent of the overall nutrient status. Also, there exists a series of micro env ironments which differ in nutrient availability both quantitatively and qualitatively. Each microenv iron -ment appears to harbour microorganisms with the typical metabolic set up that suits best for growth and multiplic a-tion. Thus, it is nearly impossible to design a single lab o-ratory condition (medium) adapted to the r ecovery of all types of bacteria. In this study, a class of low nutrient-loving microorganisms could be cultured successfully in the laboratory, however, with slight modification of the classical pure culture techniques. The oligophiles were found to be more abundant than the copiotrophs in a given environmental sample. This opens up the possibility to explore a big part of the uncultured bacterial dive rsity .
Adoption of Integrated Voice Assistants in Health Care - Requirements and Design Guidelines

Integrated voice assistants (IVA) receive more and more attention and are widespread for entertainment use cases, such as radio hearing or web searches. At the same time, the health care segment suffers in process inefficiency and missing staff, whereas the usage of IVA has the potential to improve caring processes and patient satisfaction. By applying a design science approach and based on a qualitative study, we identify IVA requirements, barriers and design guidelines for the health care sector. The results reveal three important IVA functions: the ability to set appointments with care service staff, the documentation of health history and the communication with service staff. Integration, system stability and volume control are the most important non-functional requirements. Based on the interview results and project experiences, six design and implementation guidelines are derived.
An Optimized Complementary Filter For An Inertial Measurement Unit Contain MPU6050 Sensor

Abstract (It can be said that the system of sensing the tilt angle and speed of a multi-rotor copter come in the first rank among all the other sensors on the multi-rotor copters and all other planes due to its important roles for stabilization. The MPU6050 sensor is one of the most popular sensors in this field. It has an embedded 3-axis accelerometer and a 3-axis gyroscope. It is a simple sensor in dealing with it and extracting accurate data. Everything changes when this sensor is placed on the plane. It becomes very complicated to deal with it due to vibration of the motors on the multirotor copter. In this study, two main problems were diagnosed was solved that appear in most sensors when they are applied to a high-frequency vibrating environment. The first problem is how to get a precise angle of the sensor despite the presence of vibration. The second problem is how to overcome the errors that appear when the multirotor copter revolves around its vertical axis during the tilting in either direction x or y or both. The first problem was solved in two steps. The first step involves mixing data of the gyroscope sensor with the data of auxetometer sensor by a mathematical equation based on optimized complementary filter using gray wolf optimization algorithm GWO. The second step involves designing a suitable FIR filter for data. The second problem was solved by finding a non-linear mathematical relationship between the angles of the copter in both X and Y directions, and the rotation around the vertical axis of multirotor copter frame.
Capital Flight and Economic Growth: The Case of ECCAS, ECOWAS and SADC Countries

The aim of this study is to make a comparative analysis of the effects of capital flight on economic growth in ECCAS, ECOWAS and SADC countries over the 1984-2015 period. The pooled mean groups (PMG) regression results show that the effect of capital flight on economic growth is negative and significant in SADC, unlike ECOWAS and ECCAS, where it is either positive or negative depending on whether or not the interaction between capital flight and private investment is taken into account. The main recommendation is to make the investment climate more attractive and promote the development of technological research, which could help minimize the outflow of capital in the long run.
Development of Postimplantation Mouse Embryos: Unexplored Field Rich in Unanswered Questions

In mammalian development, many embryologically important events occur during the early postimplantation period. These include determination and formation of the embryonic axis and germ layers, the central nervous system (CNS), neural crest cells, and the heart and circulatory system. The primordial germ cells (PGCs) also appear and migrate to the genital ridges during this period. Difficulties in culture and experimental manipulation of postimplantation embryos have, however, hindered detailed study of these important events in mammalian embryos, leaving many important questions unanswered. In this review, I describe many important but still unexplored developmental events during the postimplantation period by reviewing studies in recent reports, which are relatively limited in number but strongly encourage further investigation. I also summarize various methods to circumvent the problem of i naccessi bi I ity of post i m plan t at ion embryos inside the uterus and enable experimental manipulation of living embryos. Mammalian embryos have unique tissues that differ from those of other chordate embryos. Two embryonic tissues receive particular attention here, because they need renaming judging from the results of recent lineage studies (Fig. 1). One is 'embryonic ectoderm. ' In this review, I use 'epiblast' in place of it, because as this tissue produces not only ectodermal tissues but also mesodermal and endodermal tissues of the fetus, 'epiblast,' which implies only the topological location of the tissue, seems more appropriate. The second tissue that needs renaming is 'mesoderm', which is formed in embryos at the primitive streak stage. Again, it includes not only embryonic and extra-embryonic mesoderm cells but also definitive endoderm cells of the fetus. In
Thermal stability study of Cu1.97Se superionic thermoelectric materials

With the development of high-temperature thermoelectric materials, especially the superionic copper selenide (Cu2−xSe), thermal stability and cycling thermoelectric performance have become a great concern recently. Here we demonstrate that the excellent repeatability of the thermal cycling data of a simple Cu–Se binary system can be obtained. The thermal stability was systematically studied via measuring the thermal-cycling thermoelectric performances of Cu1.97Se samples with different rates of Se evaporation by adopting a simple and controllable method, i.e., the conventional solid-state sintering method. The samples fabricated using the conventional sintering method exhibited an optimized figure of merit of 0.8 at 800 K with very good thermal repeatability and stability from 400 K to 800 K. The results indicated that the conventional sintering method can also be adopted to fabricate materials with satisfactory thermoelectric performance. It was found that the repeatability of thermal cycling data is directly related to the sintering temperature and indirectly associated with the evaporation of Se. The Cu1.97Se samples sintered at low temperatures experienced less evaporation of Se with good thermal repeatability, while they exhibited relatively low thermoelectric performance due to high carrier concentration. Although the samples sintered at high temperatures show a large variation in the thermal cycling performance, the repeatability could be improved by the further annealing process, which reveals that good thermal stability of thermoelectric materials can be obtained via post-treatment.
Stress behaviour across human tooth by temperature gradient resulting of laser irradiation

The authors report the simulation of temperature distribution and thermally induced stress in the premolar tooth under ND-YAG pulsed laser beam. The Three-Phase-Lag (TPL) non-Fourier model is proposed to describe the heat conduction in the human tooth with nonhomogeneous inner structures. A premolar tooth comprising enamel, dentin, and pulp with real shapes and thicknesses are considered and a numerical method of finite difference was adopted to solve the time-dependent TPL bio-heat transfer, strain and stress equations. The surface heating scheme is applied for simulation of laser therapy. The aim of this laser therapy is that the temperature of pulp reaches to 47oC. The results are achieved as a function of laser heat flux showed when laser beam is irradiated downward (from the top of the tooth), the temperature and thermally induced stress increase as a function of time. The temperature increment is high on the top layers of tooth that is a result of strong absorption of beams by enamel. The thermal stress and strain in the enamel and dentin layers are more than the pulp layer that is a result of weak thermal expansion of them proportional to the pulp layer.
Pre-service teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism in school: an evaluation of a course concept for introducing linguistically responsive teaching

Abstract The present study looks at pre-service teachers’ beliefs about multilingualism in school and to what extent these can be influenced. It is based on the pre- and post-test evaluation of a seminar concept promoting linguistically responsive teaching, which was tested with N = 27 pre-service teachers in Germany during the course of one semester. The evaluation was conducted using the DaZKom-beliefs survey, which measures pre-service teachers’ beliefs about (1) Linguistic Responsiveness, (2) Responsibility for Language Facilitation, and (3) Valuing Multilingualism in a linguistically heterogeneous classroom. The study concentrates on the following questions: Does the course on linguistically responsive teaching have an effect on pre-service teachers’ beliefs towards multilingualism in school? Do the scales reflect the course structure and its contents? The results suggest that the course had a positive impact on pre-service teachers’ beliefs particularly with respect to the two scales (2) Responsibility for Language Facilitation and (3) Valuing Multilingualism that correspond closely with the course contents. The overall effect including all scales was highly significant. These findings provide further insight for teacher training programs as to if and how far it is possible to influence beliefs by means of targeted learning opportunities.
Robust Detection of the North-West African Upwelling From SST Images

Analysis and study of coastal upwelling using sea surface temperature (SST) satellite images is a common procedure because of its coast effectiveness (economic, time, frequency, and manpower). Developing on the Ekman theory, we propose a robust method to identify the upwelling regions along the north-west African margin. The proposed method comes to overcome the issues encountered in a recent method devoted for the same purpose and for the same upwelling system. Afterward, we show how our method can serve as a framework to study and monitor the spatio-temporal variability of the upwelling phenomenon in the studied region.
Stratigraphic palynology of the Middle–Late Triassic successions of the Central North Sea

Historically, the continental Triassic successions of the Central North Sea have proven difficult to correlate, in part due to the poor palynomorph recovery associated with these sedimentary rocks. The existing framework for correlation is lithostratigraphic and, whilst this has proven effective in United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) Quad 30 where the mudstone members are well defined, elsewhere in the basin it is more problematic with confident identification of stratigraphic units becoming more difficult. Samples from 32 wells within UKCS Quads 22, 29 and 30, and Norwegian Quads 7, 15 and 16 underwent palynological analysis in which a processing method was utilized that was designed to concentrate palynomorph recovery from Triassic strata. The results of this analysis allowed the proposal of a new zonal scheme consisting of eight biozones. These biozones can then be used to correlate the Triassic successions of the Central North Sea (CNS), helping to provide both clarity and age constraint on previously disputed stratigraphic units, particularly the J-members of the Skagerrak Formation. Within the correlation framework outlined here, the Julius Mudstone Member is shown to be a productive horizon for palynomorph recovery, representing a widespread swamp environment. Here, its lateral extent is defined which is an important consideration when correlating the Triassic stratigraphy of the CNS given that this member can compartmentalize potential reservoirs contained within these successions. The stratigraphic palynology outlined here also allows clarity on the J-member equivalence of some of the informal units previously described within Triassic successions of the CNS, including the Marnock Shale and Heron Shale.
Agglomeration dynamics in liquid–solid particle-laden turbulent channel flows using an energy-based deterministic approach

A deterministic particle–particle agglomeration technique is applied together with direct numerical simulation and four-way coupled Lagrangian particle tracking in order to accurately simulate and investigate fully coupled agglomerating particle-laden channel flows at a shear Reynolds number, Reτ = 180. The collision outcome determination (recoil or aggregate) is based on the balance between kinetic energy dispersed in the collision and the work required to overcome the van der Waals attractive potential. The influence of particle size (dP = 202 μm, 286 μm, and 405 μm), both at a fixed volume fraction (ϕP = 10−3) and a fixed primary injected particle number (NP = 109 313), on the resulting collision and agglomeration dynamics is investigated. Attention is also focused on how collision and agglomeration rates vary throughout the wall-normal regions of the channel flow. The results demonstrate that the normalized collision rates are similar for all particle sizes at the fixed volume fraction but increase with particle size at the fixed particle number, and a preference is observed for collisions to occur close to the walls. Despite this, in all cases considered here, agglomeration events are most frequent at the center of the channel, with agglomeration efficiencies also peaking in this region. In terms of particle diameter effects, the smallest particles exhibit the greatest preference to aggregate, given that a collision has already occurred. Furthermore, whereas normalized collision and agglomeration event counts show differing diameter-dependence based on whether the number of primary particles or the volume fraction is fixed, agglomeration rates show diameter-independence and as such are based solely on particle size and local dispersive properties. Analysis of the dynamic collision properties throughout the channel confirms that agglomeration is favored within the bulk flow region due to low relative particle velocities and small collision angles at this location. The temporal evolution of important interaction properties is investigated, all of which demonstrate stability over the course of the time simulated. Particle diameter is also shown to influence the long-term population of higher-order agglomerates, with (for a given volume fraction) smaller particles aggregating faster to form larger particles. The systems studied, which resemble those present in the processing of nuclear waste, all exhibit substantial agglomeration over the time considered. This reinforces the importance of accurately modeling agglomeration dynamics in flows where electrokinetic interactions are important in order to correctly predict multiphase flow properties over long timeframes.