Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of moxidectin nicotine-conditioned cue on nicotine-seeking behavior in mice

Current pharmacotherapies for nicotine abuse are few and relatively inefficient demonstrating the need for the development of new, effective remedies. Moxidectin is used as an anti-parasitic agent in both animals and humans, it also activates GABA receptors. The objective of the present investigation was to study the effect of moxidectin on nicotine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in male Swiss mice. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) route was used for nicotine (0.5mg/kg) administration for a 3-day conditioning program. The influences of moxidectin on the reinforcing characteristics of nicotine were tested in mice given i.p. treatment of moxidectin (5 and 10mg/kg) 30 minutes prior to per nicotine administration. CPP was extinguished by repeated testing, through which conditioned mice were daily given two doses of moxidectin (5 and 10mg/kg, i.p.). Subsequently, the potency of moxidectin in blocking the reinstatement of CPP provoked by priming given low-dose nicotine (0.1mg/kg, i.p.) was also evaluated. Moxidectin treatment illustrated a reserve of acquisition of nicotine-induced CPP. It was reduced priming nicotine-induced reinstatement and accelerated the extinction of CPP. Relatively nicotine enhanced the locomotor, motor activity but was not statistically significant. In conclusion, the outcomes demonstrate the potential for the development of moxidectin as a new pharmacotherapy for the treatment of nicotine addiction.
Disinhibited-Like Behavior Correlates With Frontal Cortex Damage in Alcohol-Induced Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is induced by thiamine deficiency (TD) and mainly related to alcohol consumption. Frontal cortex dysfunction has been associated to impulsivity and disinhibition in WKS patients. The pathophysiology involves oxidative stress, excitotoxicity and inflammatory responses leading to neuronal death, but the relative contributions of each factor (alcohol and TD, isolate or in interaction) to these phenomena are still poorly understood. A rat model was used by forced consumption of 20% (w/v) alcohol for 9 months (CA), TD hit (TD diet + pyrithiamine 0.25 mg/kg, i.p. daily injections the last 12 days of experimentation; TDD), and both combined treatments (CA+TDD). Motor and cognitive performance and cortical damage were examined. CA caused hyperlocomotion as a possible sensitization of ethanol-induced excitatory effects and recognition memory deficits. In addition, CA+TDD animals showed a disinhibited-like behavior, which appears to be dependent on TDD. Also, combined treatment led to more pronounced alterations in nitrosative stress, lipid peroxidation, apoptosis and cell damage markers. Correlations between injury signals and disinhibition suggest that CA+TDD disrupts behaviors dependent on the frontal cortex. Our study sheds light on the potential disease-specific mechanisms, reinforcing the need for neuroprotective therapeutic approaches along with preventive treatments for the nutritional deficiency in WKS.
Fire Regime Impacts on Postfire Diurnal Land Surface Temperature Change Over North American Boreal Forest

Wildfire is the most prevalent natural disturbance in the North American boreal forest (NABF) and can cause postfire land surface temperature change (ΔTfire) through biophysical processes. Fire regimes, such as fire severity, fire intensity, and percentage of burned area (PBA), may influence ΔTfire through their impacts on postfire vegetation damage and, if so, there may be important feedbacks between fire regime and climate warming through biophysical effects. Here, we employ satellite observations to investigate postfire diurnal ΔTfire across NABF. We further use a stepwise multiple linear regression model to examine the driving factors for ΔTfire by incorporating latitude, fire regime variables, and their interactions. Our results demonstrate a pronounced asymmetry in diurnal ΔTfire, characterized by daytime warming in contrast to nighttime cooling. Clear latitudinal patterns are found in ΔTfire, with stronger effects in lower latitudes. Such latitudinal patterns of ΔTfire, especially the daytime one, are driven by both latitudinal patterns in fire regimes and an increased sensitivity of ΔTfire to fire regime as the latitude decreases. The multiple linear regression model explains 37% of the variance in daytime ΔTfire, whereas for the nighttime ΔTfire the explanatory power is rather low (5%). For daytime ΔTfire, fire severity accounted for most (43.65%) of the model explanatory power, followed by PBA (24.60%) and fire intensity (13.10%). Our results highlight important fire regime impacts on daytime ΔTfire and, further, on the annual ΔTfire, suggesting that fire might amplify future boreal climate change through positive feedbacks between fire regime and postfire surface warming.
Hybrid maximum likelihood frequency offset estimation in coherent OFDM systems

One of the well known problems in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system is its vulnerability to frequency offset. In practice, most coherent OFDM systems transmit pilot symbols on some of the subcarriers to estimate channel attenuation and also add a cyclic prefix (CP) to avoid intercarrier interference and intersymbol interference. A hybrid maximum likelihood estimation algorithm based on the redundancy of both cyclic prefix and pilot subcarriers is proposed for the correction of frequency offset. If the frame timing has been synchronised in advance, by considering the two kinds of redundancy simultaneously, the performance of the proposed hybrid algorithm could achieve significant improvement under low SNR and short CP. As to high SNR and long CP, the performance of this hybrid algorithm is almost identical to that of CP-based only algorithm. Some comparative simulations are given to illustrate the advantages of the proposed hybrid estimation scheme.
IMM/MHT solution to radar benchmark tracking problem

The benchmark problem addresses the efficient allocation of an agile beam radar in the presence of highly maneuverable targets and radar electronic countermeasures (ECM). This paper presents methods for applying an interacting multiple model/multiple hypothesis tracking (IMM/MHT) tracker to this radar tracking and resource allocation problem. The manner in which IMM/MHT tracking and data association methods lead to efficient agile beam radar allocation is discussed and results showing that this approach is more efficient than previously proposed methods is presented. However, results indicate that the presence of ECM requires that the allocated signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) be increased and the allowable track position uncertainty be decreased from the values that would be chosen to minimize energy allocation when no ECM is present.
How environment dynamics affects production scheduling: Requirements for development of CPPS models

Production scheduling can be affected by many disturbances in the manufacturing system, and consequently, the feasible schedules previously defined became obsolete. Emerging of new technologies associated with Industry 4.0, such as Cyber-Physical Production Systems, as a paradigm of implementation of control and support in decision making, should embed the capacity to simulate different environment scenarios based on the data collected by the manufacturing systems. This paper presents the evaluation of environment dynamics effect on production scheduling, considering three scheduling models and three environment scenarios, through a case study. Results show that environment dynamics affect production schedules, and a very strong or strong positive correlation between environment dynamics scenarios and total completion time with delay, over three scheduling paradigms. Based on these results, the requirement for mandatory inclusion of a module for different environment dynamics scenarios generation and the corresponded simulations, of a Cyber-Physical Production Systems architecture, is confirmed.
Cultural and Linguistic Validation of Asian Diabetes Quality of Life Scale to Filipino

Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a serious health issue in every nation of the world. The quality of life of diabetic patients is sometimes compromised because of the numerous medications being taken and as a consequence of the diabetic complications. There is a need for a validated Filipino translated quality of life questionnaire that can be used by researchers in the Philippines. Methods This is a linguistic validation study of the Filipino version of the Asian Diabetes Quality of Life Scale (ADQOL). The ADQOL was translated in Filipino, back translated to English, reviewed, tested on patients, revised, and finalized. Content validity, cognitive validity, and test stability using test-retest reliability were determined. Results The item content validity index showed a score of 1.00 except for two numbers which scored 0.80 and 0.90 on clarity. The scale content validity index universal agreement and average also scored 1.00 for representativeness, relevance and appropriateness. The comprehension index average was 0.97 while the average clarity index was 0.96. The per item Cronbach’s alpha score ranged from 0.86 – 0.89 with no item lower than 0.70, while the overall Cronbach’s alpha was 0.88. The test retest reliability showed a Bland Altmann Plot repeatability correlation of 0.813 and a Pearson’s correlation of 0.820. Conclusion The validity and reliability testing of the Filipino version of the Asian Diabetes Quality of Life questionnaire had a higher validity and reliability score as compared with the original English version making it a valid and reliable tool for researchers who would want to measure the quality of life of Filipino patients with type 2 diabetes.
Sodium alginate-guar gum and carbopol based methotrexate loaded mucoadhesive microparticles for colon delivery: An in vitro evaluation

Methotrexate (MTX) is famous for its therapeutic potential against different cancers including colorectal cancer. Goal of the present investigation was to formulate MTX loaded mucoadhesive microparticles for colon targeting. The optimized formulation (MTX-MS2) was composed of mucoadhesive polymers (sodium alginate, guar gum and carbopol 940) in an appropriate ratio. MTX-MS2 was developed by ionic-gelation method. The suitable particle size and zeta potential were found to be 21.10 ± 0.18 μm and 3.01 ± 0.16 mV for MTX-MS2 respectively. The % yield (98.60 ± 2.12), % entrapment efficiency (97.98 ± 1.22) and % drug loading (1.04 ± 0.03) were estimated for MTX-MS2. The swelling index (0.99 ± 0.04 θ) and mucoadhesion (97.29 ± 4.61%) were significantly ( *** P ˂ 0.01 ) achieved with MTX-MS2 as compared to other formulations. The optimum drug release (96.07 ± 4.52%) was significantly achieved with MTX-MS2 at simulated gastric fluid (pH 7.4) for 36 h in a sustained manner. This profile may be attributed towards excellent mucoadhesivness of the polymers used in the formulation. Therefore, the current investigation suggests that mucoadhesive carrier system could be promising approach for colon delivery. Thus, the proposed work would be helpful for the treatment of colorectal cancer.
Spatiotemporal distribution of seasonal snow water equivalent in High Mountain Asia from an 18-year Landsat–MODIS era snow reanalysis dataset

Abstract. Seasonal snowpack is an essential component in the hydrological cycle and plays a significant role in supplying water resources to downstream users. Yet the snow water equivalent (SWE) in seasonal snowpacks, and its space–time variation, remains highly uncertain, especially over mountainous areas with complex terrain and sparse observations, such as in High Mountain Asia (HMA). In this work, we assessed the spatiotemporal distribution of seasonal SWE, obtained from a new 18-year HMA Snow Reanalysis (HMASR) dataset, as part of the recent NASA High Mountain Asia Team (HiMAT) effort. A Bayesian snow reanalysis scheme previously developed to assimilate satellite-derived fractional snow-covered area (fSCA) products from Landsat and MODIS platforms has been applied to develop the HMASR dataset (at a spatial resolution of 16 arcsec (∼500 m) and daily temporal resolution) over the joint Landsat–MODIS period covering water years (WYs) 2000–2017. Based on the results, the HMA-wide total SWE volume is found to be around 163 km3 on average and ranges from 114 km3 (WY2001) to 227 km3 (WY2005) when assessed over 18 WYs. The most abundant snowpacks are found in the northwestern basins (e.g., Indus, Syr Darya and Amu Darya) that are mainly affected by the westerlies, accounting for around 66 % of total seasonal SWE volume. Seasonal snowpack in HMA is depicted by snow accumulating through October to March and April, typically peaking around April and depleting in July–October, with variations across basins and WYs. When examining the elevational distribution over the HMA domain, seasonal SWE volume peaks at mid-elevations (around 3500 m), with over 50 % of the volume stored above 3500 m. Above-average amounts of precipitation causes significant overall increase in SWE volumes across all elevations, while an increase in air temperature (∼1.5 K) from cooler to normal conditions leads to an redistribution in snow storage from lower elevations to mid-elevations. This work brings new insight into understanding the climatology and variability of seasonal snowpack over HMA, with the regional snow reanalysis constrained by remote-sensing data, providing a new reference dataset for future studies of seasonal snow and how it contributes to the water cycle and climate over the HMA region.
Efficacy of ultrasonography for structural categorisation of abnormal uterine bleeding

Background: Abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is defined as bleeding from the uterine corpus endometrium to be precise, the bleeding is abnormal in regularity, volume, frequency, or duration. The international federation of gynecology and obstetrics (FIGO) categorized AUB based on structured medical history, laboratory tests, ultrasound, and or hysteroscopy-based techniques.The classification is based on the phrase "PALM- COEIN", (pronounced “pahm-koin”) of which "PALM" represents polyp, adenomyosis, leiomyoma, malignancy (and hyperplasia) and defines structural pathologies that can be assessed visually. Transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) is the first-line imaging test for the evaluation of abnormal uterine bleeding in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. The purpose of this study was to estimate the diagnostic effectiveness of two-dimensional ultrasound (TAS and TVS) in assessing the structural causes of AUB and to compare the histopathological and intraoperative findings with ultrasound.Methods: It was a prospective observational study. A total of 200 women presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding between the age group of 18-55 years were included in study. All patients were subjected to routine investigations for AUB and ultrasonography (USG). Wherever appropriate the findings of USG were compared with intra-operative and histopathology findings.Results: Diagnostic accuracy of USG was 78.1% with sensitivity and specificity of 88.5% and 60%. Positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) was 79.4% and 75%. USG is a simple, safe, fast, efficient and tolerable procedure. In diagnosing structural uterine pathology responsible for abnormal uterine bleeding, it has outstanding diagnostic accuracy and should be followed in all such cases.Conclusions: We cannot be definitive in our approaches always, USG act as a wonderful modality to help us not only in identifying the structural causes but also the functional causes. However, the gold standard of identifying endometrial pathology is histopathology and it can’t be replaced by anything.
Flexibility of Contactless Power Transfer using Magnetic Resonance Coupling to Air Gap and Misalignment for EV

Nowadays, the establishment of the technologies of contactless power transfer (CPT) for electric vehicles (EVs) are needed. The system can provide people with a convenient charging system which can powers their EVs wirelessly and automatically when they park. Traditional CPT solutions have the problem of distance between transmitting antennas and receiving antennas (air gap), as well as from the misalignment of the antennas. Those systems cannot power at a great distance and the efficiency is very low. In this paper, CPT by magnetic resonance couplings and small antennas are proposed. These techniques more easily span air gaps and are more forgiving to antennas misalignments than traditional solutions. The Efficiencies are still high when the air gaps are longer than the diameter of the antennas. As well, the efficiencies are over 90% when the antennas are half a diameter out of alignment. For example, when the air gap and the displacement is 150mm, the efficiency is about 96%. The magnetic resonant couplings can power wirelessly even if there is a weak connection. Thus, a large air gaps with high efficiency are possible. The relation between two resonant frequencies and the coupling coefficient are described using the method of equivalent circuits. As well, the relation between resonant frequencies and the efficiencies, especially the moment of decreasing, are described.
A switched-capacitor filter having very low sensitivity to capacitance ratio errors and to finite amplifier gains

A number of circuit topologies have been proposed for the realization of low sensitivity switched-capacitor filters. One such approach is based on a parallel connection of two allpass sections so that low sensitivity with respect to capacitance ratios is achieved. An improved version of that implementation is proposed in this brief, resulting in a structure that has very low sensitivity to capacitance ratio errors and to operational amplifier finite gains. These properties have been verified by computer simulations, also included in the paper.
Méthodes de reconstruction denses pour la vision active

Ce papier cherche a analyser comment introduire des donnees tridimensionnelles au sein d'un systeme de vision active. En effet, nous nous sommes proposes de realiser une reconstruction dense 3D a partir de l'analyse d'une sequence monoculaire, dans un paradigme de vision active. Nous presentons tout d'abord les differents algorithmes deja existants dans le domaine de la reconstruction dense, en faisant ressortir leurs avantages et leurs inconvenients. Nous decrivons, ensuite, l'algorithme choisi pour pallier a certains de ces inconvenients. Enfin, nous montrons quelques resultats a partir d'images synthetiques ou de vues reelles acquises par la tete artificielle.
A Herd Effect Detection Method Based on Text Features

The herd effect is a common phenomenon in social society. The detection of this phenomenon is of great significance in many tasks based on social network analysis such as recommendation. However, the research on social network and natural language processing seldom focuses on this issue. In this paper, we propose an unsupervised data mining method to detect herding in social networks. Taking shopping review as an example, our algorithm can identify other reviews which are affected by some previous reviews and detect a herd effect chain. From the overall perspective, the cross effects of all views form the herd effect graph. This algorithm can be widely used in various social network analysis methods through graph structure, which provides new useful features for many tasks.
Ecosystem effectuation: creating new value through open innovation during a pandemic

The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic confronts us with a global grand challenge representing an unprecedented crisis for health, economies, and societies. While digital champions are thriving, a large number of businesses and industries have been facing radical uncertainty, pushing some to the edge of collapse. This emergency calls for new ways to look at organizational ambidexterity and business model innovation. In this paper, we present and discuss a unique case study of a low-cost airline, AirAsia. With their fleet of aircraft grounded, and unable to pursue any incremental innovation opportunities, AirAsia decided to follow a radical ambidexterity path - focusing on exploration by building an innovation ecosystem. This case not only offers insights on a novel way to create value through open innovation but also extends the body of knowledge on entrepreneurial effectuation by introducing the concept of an ecosystem effectuation. AirAsia's case shows that, in financially distressed times, business model reconfiguration may not be enough, and instead of selecting means to attain goals, the goals may be created upon available means.
Laboratory evaluation of porous iron composite for agricultural drainage water filter treatment.

Agricultural subsurface drainage waters containing nutrients (nitrate/phosphate) and pesticides are discharged into neighboring streams and lakes, frequently producing adverse environmental impacts on local, regional, and national scales. On-site drainage water filter treatment systems can potentially prevent the release of agricultural contaminants into adjacent waterways. A recently developed porous iron composite (PIC) product may have promise as a filter material for drainage water treatment. Therefore, a laboratory study was initiated to evaluate the feasibility of using PIC for this purpose. Laboratory experiments included saturated falling-head hydraulic conductivity tests, contaminant (nutrient/pesticide) removal batch tests, and saturated solute transport column tests. The saturated falling-head hydraulic conductivity tests indicate that the original PIC product by itself has a high enough hydraulic conductivity (>0.001 cm s-1) to make this material hydraulically practical for filter treatment use. PIC hydraulic conductivity can be further enhanced (>0.01 cm s-1) by utilizing only the portion of this material retained on a 100 mesh sieve (particle size > 0.15 mm). Batch test results carried out with spiked drainage water and either unsieved or 100 mesh sieved PIC showed nitrate reductions of greater than 30%, and 100% removal of the pesticide atrazine. Saturated solute transport column tests with spiked drainage water provided more insight on the effectiveness and efficiency of utilizing PIC for drainage water filter treatment. These column tests confirm that PIC is capable of nearly complete removal of atrazine, and significant nitrate reduction. Additionally, once the phosphate originally present within the PIC material is leached out, the PIC then exhibited ability to remove large quantities of phosphate. Consequently, these laboratory findings support employment of PIC for use within on-site agricultural drainage water filter treatment systems.
Experimental demonstration of a vehicle stability control system in a split-μ manoeuvre

In this paper a sliding-mode yaw moment controller and fuzzy logic wheel slip controller are proposed to enhance vehicle stability in a split-μ manoeuvre. The proposed wheel slip controller shows good performance in improving vehicle handling in a braking manoeuvre. However, when a braking manoeuvre was conducted under the split-μ condition, the yaw moment generated by the asymmetric braking forces may cause the vehicle-handling stability to deteriorate. The sliding-mode yaw moment controller was introduced to regulate the wheel slip controller to improve the vehicle-handling performance. A target slip allocation algorithm was employed to coordinate the control conflict between the anti-lock braking system and vehicle stability control. First, the proposed control system was evaluated through pure computer simulation and a hardware in-the-loop simulation system. Then an experimental test was also introduced to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control system.