Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Kappa-Opioid Receptor Signaling in the Striatum as a Potential Modulator of Dopamine Transmission in Cocaine Dependence

Cocaine addiction is accompanied by a decrease in striatal dopamine signaling, measured as a decrease in dopamine D2 receptor binding as well as blunted dopamine release in the striatum. These alterations in dopamine transmission have clinical relevance, and have been shown to correlate with cocaine-seeking behavior and response to treatment for cocaine dependence. However, the mechanisms contributing to the hypodopaminergic state in cocaine addiction remain unknown. Here we review the positron emission tomography (PET) imaging studies showing alterations in D2 receptor binding potential and dopamine transmission in cocaine abusers and their significance in cocaine-seeking behavior. Based on animal and human studies, we propose that the kappa receptor/dynorphin system, because of its impact on dopamine transmission and upregulation following cocaine exposure, could contribute to the hypodopaminergic state reported in cocaine addiction, and could thus be a relevant target for treatment development.
Transgenic approaches to altering carbon and nitrogen partitioning in whole plants: assessing the potential to improve crop yields and nutritional quality

The principal components of plant productivity and nutritional value, from the standpoint of modern agriculture, are the acquisition and partitioning of organic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) compounds among the various organs of the plant. The flow of essential organic nutrients among the plant organ systems is mediated by its complex vascular system, and is driven by a series of transport steps including export from sites of primary assimilation, transport into and out of the phloem and xylem, and transport into the various import-dependent organs. Manipulating C and N partitioning to enhance yield of harvested organs is evident in the earliest crop domestication events and continues to be a goal for modern plant biology. Research on the biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, and physiology of C and N partitioning has now matured to an extent that strategic manipulation of these transport systems through biotechnology are being attempted to improve movement from source to sink tissues in general, but also to target partitioning to specific organs. These nascent efforts are demonstrating the potential of applied biomass targeting but are also identifying interactions between essential nutrients that require further basic research. In this review, we summarize the key transport steps involved in C and N partitioning, and discuss various transgenic approaches for directly manipulating key C and N transporters involved. In addition, we propose several experiments that could enhance biomass accumulation in targeted organs while simultaneously testing current partitioning models.
Bimodal Displays Improve Speech Comprehension in Environments with Multiple Speakers

Attending to a single voice when multiple voices are present is a challenging but common occurrence. An experiment was conducted to determine (a) whether presenting a video display of the target speaker aided speech comprehension in an environment with competing voices, and (b) whether the “ventriloquism effect” could be used to enhance comprehension, as found by Driver (1996), using ecologically valid stimuli. Participants listened for target words from videos of an actress reading while simultaneously ignoring the voices of 2 to 4 different actresses. Target-word detection declined as participants had to ignore more distracting voices; however, this decline was reduced when a video display of the target speaker was provided. Neither a signal-detection analysis of performance data nor a gaze-contingent analysis revealed a ventriloquism effect. Providing a video display of a speaker when competing voices are present improves comprehension, but obtaining the ventriloquism effect appears elusive in naturalistic circumstances. Actual or potential applications of this research include those circumstances in which a listener must filter a relevant stream of speech from among multiple, competing voices, such as air traffic control and military environments.
A truthful auction based incentive framework for femtocell access

As cellular operators are suffering from a data explosion problem, and users are consequently experiencing poor data services, the introduction of femtocells offers a cost-effective way to mitigate this problem. Femtocells enable larger network capacity by increasing spatial reuse of the spectrum and shortening the distance to the users. Existing work has shown that open access femtocells, which allow unregistered macro users to connect, are efficient in reducing inter-cell interference and offloading traffic. However, a major obstacle constraining the potential capability of femtocells and open access is the lack of incentives for privately-owned femtocells to serve unregistered users. Hence in this paper, we propose a Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) auction based incentive framework for accessing such selfish femtocells. We consider two scenarios: One scenario involves a single macro user and another scenario has multiple macro users. We design auction schemes for both scenarios and show analytically that our schemes are truthful and have low computational complexity. Extensive simulations validate these properties and show huge performance improvement to the macro users.
A Routing Method for Top-k Query Processing in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

In mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), to acquire only necessary data items, it is effective that each mobile node retrieves data items using a top-k query, in which data items are ordered by the score of a particular attribute and the query-issuing mobile node acquires data items with k highest scores. In our previous works, we proposed top-k query processing methods for reducing traffic and also keeping high accuracy of query result. Those methods focus on the traffic reduction by not sending back unnecessary data items. However, queries are forwarded to all of nodes in the entire area by flooding, and thus, many nodes which do not contribute to the query result have to send redundant top-k queries and replies, which increases unnecessary traffic. In this paper, we propose a routing method for top-k query processing in MANETs. In this method, when each mobile node sends a top-k query, it refers to its own routing table consisting of the ranking of scores of data items in the network and identifiers of nodes to which queries are forwarded to obtain the necessary data items. Moreover, each node updates its own routing table when the link disconnection occurs and scores of data items are updated.
Multi-rate Integration and Modern Taylor Series Method

It is the aim of the paper to describe both new developed Modern Taylor Series Method (MTSM) and well-known multi-rate integration method in real-time simulations. An example is used to demonstrate methodology of both integration methods. To show how simple it is to solve problem using Taylor series the multi-rate integration is described in a great detail.
Approximate Minimum BER Power Allocation for MIMO-THP System

This paper proposes a transmit power allocation (TPA) scheme based on multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) Tomlinson-Harashima preceding (THP) structure, where a TPA matrix is introduced to the conventional MIMO-THP. We analyze the influence of the introduced TPA matrix on the performance of MIMO-THP. The proposed TPA scheme invokes the minimum average uncoded bit-error rate (BER) criterion subjected to a sum-power constraint. During the derivation, we consider the effects of preceding loss factor on the TPA scheme and obtain a closed-form expression of the TPA. Compared to existing TPA methods for MIMO-THP systems, the proposed scheme reduces processing complexity and improves the BER performance.
Random Walker Segmentation based Tag Completion for Image Retrieval

Image retrieval is a technique of accessing texts or images from the web. Although there are various techniques implemented for the image retrieval such as using content based or tag based. Hence by using the technique for the image retrieval can be used in various fields. Tag based Image retrieval is a technique also used for the efficient retrieval of images [1]. Although the technique is efficient but it provides less accuracy, hence for the better access of the image retrieval based on tags segmentation is done and then matrix is generated to classify the images and hence can be retrieved in more accurate manner. Key Terms Tag Completion, Segmentation, Random Walk, Automatic Annotations, CBIR, TBIR.
Finite Dictionary Variants of the Diffusion KLMS Algorithm

The diffusion based distributed learning approaches have been found to be a viable solution for learning over linearly separable datasets over a network. However, approaches till date are suitable for linearly separable datasets and need to be extended to scenarios in which we need to learn a non-linearity. In such scenarios, the recently proposed diffusion kernel least mean squares (KLMS) has been found to be performing better than diffusion least mean squares (LMS). The drawback of diffusion KLMS is that it requires infinite storage for observations (also called dictionary). This paper formulates the diffusion KLMS in a fixed budget setting such that the storage requirement is curtailed while maintaining appreciable performance in terms of convergence. Simulations have been carried out to validate the two newly proposed algorithms named as quantised diffusion KLMS (QDKLMS) and fixed budget diffusion KLMS (FBDKLMS) against KLMS, which indicate that both the proposed algorithms deliver better performance as compared to the KLMS while reducing the dictionary size storage requirement.
Vegetable and fruit consumption and risk of renal cell carcinoma: Results from the Netherlands cohort study

Vegetable and fruit consumption is generally inversely associated with various cancer types, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The Netherlands cohort study on diet and cancer (NLCS) consists of 120,852 men and women, aged 55–69 years, who filled out a self‐administered questionnaire that includes 150‐item food‐frequency questions and additional questions on lifestyle factors, at baseline in 1986. A case‐cohort approach was used. After 9.3 years of follow‐up, 275 microscopically confirmed incident cases were identified. Subjects with incomplete or inconsistent dietary data were excluded, leaving 260 RCC cases for analyses on fruit consumption and 249 RCC cases for analyses on vegetable consumption. Incidence rate ratios (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using Cox proportional hazard models. RRs for exposure variables are expressed per increment of 25 g/day and are adjusted for age, sex, smoking, body mass index and history of hypertension at baseline. The RRs for vegetable consumption were further adjusted for fruit consumption and vice versa. Total vegetable and fruit consumption (RR: 1.00; 95% CI 0.97–1.02), vegetable (RR: 1.00, 95% CI 0.96–1.06) and fruit consumption (RR: 1.00; 95% CI 0.97–1.03) were not associated with RCC risk. Also, no association existed for botanical subgroups of vegetables and fruit. For 30 individual vegetables and fruits, we observed one that significantly increased RR (mandarin consumption, RR: 1.76; 95% CI 1.28–2.42), which must be regarded cautiously because of multiple testing. These results suggest the absence of an association between vegetable and/or fruit consumption and RCC risk. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Active Learning Based Corpus Annotation

Opinion Mining aims to automatically acquire useful opinioned information and knowledge in subjective texts. Research of Chinese Opin-ioned Mining requires the support of annotated corpus for Chinese opinioned-subjective texts. To facilitate the work of corpus annotators, this paper implements an active learning based annotation tool for Chinese opinioned elements which can identify topic, sentiment, and opinion holder in a sentence automatically.
A Methodology for Defining Electricity Demand in Energy Simulations Referred to the Italian Context

Electricity consumption in Europe is constantly increasing, despite the fact that in recent years, huge efforts in terms of programs and regulations have been made towards energy demand reduction and energy systems improvement. Since the electricity demand affects both the operation of the supply and distribution plants and the thermal loads of buildings, the importance of providing a proper definition of demand profiles is evident. The main aim of the paper is to provide a set of standard electricity profiles that can reasonably be adopted as input in energy simulations related to the built environment, with particular regards to the Italian context. The work presented in this paper originated within a wider long lasting research aimed at developing a platform for buildings’ energy simulations at district level, with particular reference to the Italian conditions. In this context, it was necessary to define hourly profiles regarding both occupancy and electricity use for lighting and appliances related to different building uses and typologies. For this purpose, the main methods and references for defining electricity loads in buildings were evaluated and average hourly profiles were accordingly developed for residential and commercial buildings. Then the related internal gains were determined and compared to the current Italian standards.
The effect of firm number on equilibrium product positioning and pricing: a marketing-production perspective

We examine how product design and pricing are affected when the number of firms in the market increases by considering marketing and production variables. We employ a model that adopts marketing notions such as market shares and ideal points to dictate the attraction of the product to consumers. The model also incorporates production costs where the cost of the product increases linearly with increasing product attribute levels. The modeling framework facilitates the existence of a Nash equilibrium in prices and product positions. The number of firms in the market is exogenously defined. When the number of firms in the market increases, firms lower their prices and design their product with features closer to the market's ideal point. This results in lower profits.
Spatial analysis of coral reefs and its degradation patterns in Bunaken National Park

This article will analyze the spatial pattern as well as the degradation pattern of the coral reefs in the Bunaken National Park. Bunaken National Park is a marine national park located in the Province of North Sulawesi; the park was built as means of conservation as well as providing a region for tourism. The national park contains a different type of marine and land ecosystem, one of the many types of the ecosystem that are in the national park is coral reefs. Coral reefs in Bunaken National Park provides different kinds of function and benefits whether for the marine habitats that live around the ecosystem, as well as for the local people who live in the islands of the national park. Remote sensing could be used as a tool to identify the spatial pattern and the type of ecosystem that habits inside shallow sea water. The main issue with this method is that the research cannot be conduct directly to identify which type of ecosystem specifically (such as coral reefs, seagrass, etc.), as well as its condition. Therefore, data collecting is necessary to observe and identify the ecosystem and its condition specifically. This study uses satellite image from Landsat 8 OLI as the main secondary data to be processed. The satellite image will be processed by using an algorithm of shallow water analysis that was introduced by Lyzenga in 1981. Since data verification and data observation is needed for this study, the research observes the pattern of the different type of ecosystem and its condition that spreads around Bunaken National Park. The verification and observation process was done by GPS, there were 250 different samples from the data that were collected around the Bunaken National Park. The sample that was collected in the study area will be used to classify the satellite image that has been processed by shallow water algorithm, on which could identify: seagrass, bleached coral reefs, deceased coral reefs, and healthy coral reefs around the national park. The results of this study show the spatial pattern of the coral reefs is located usually around the islands in the Bunaken National Park. The results show that the coral reefs are mostly located around the islands in the National Park. The map results show that the healthy coral reefs are usually located in the outermost layer around the shallow water ecosystem. The bleached reefs are usually located in the middle section of the shallow water, between the healthy coral and the islands itself. Most of the reefs that died and bleached are in the southwest of Bunaken Island, and the northwest of Nain Island.
Chapter 1 Automatic Red Eye Removal for Digital

The red eye effect is a well known problem in photography. It is often seen in amateur shots taken with a built-in flash, but the problem is also well known to professional photographers. Red eye is the red reflection of the blood vessels in the retina caused when a strong and sudden light strikes the eye. Red eye is a function of at least three things: • Ambient light level. Low level causes the subject's pupil to open wider to admit more light, exposing
Peroxynitrite-Induced Neuronal Apoptosis Is Mediated by Intracellular Zinc Release and 12-Lipoxygenase Activation

Peroxynitrite toxicity is a major cause of neuronal injury in stroke and neurodegenerative disorders. The mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity induced by peroxynitrite are still unclear. In this study, we observed that TPEN [N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis (2-pyridylmethyl)ethylenediamine], a zinc chelator, protected against neurotoxicity induced by exogenous as well as endogenous (coadministration of NMDA and a nitric oxide donor, diethylenetriamine NONOate) peroxynitrite. Two different approaches to detecting intracellular zinc release demonstrated the liberation of zinc from intracellular stores by peroxynitrite. In addition, we found that peroxynitrite toxicity was blocked by inhibitors of 12-lipoxygenase (12-LOX), p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and caspase-3 and was associated with mitochondrial membrane depolarization. Inhibition of 12-LOX blocked the activation of p38 MAPK and caspase-3. Zinc itself induced the activation of 12-LOX, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and activation of p38 MAPK and caspase-3. These data suggest a cell death pathway triggered by peroxynitrite in which intracellular zinc release leads to activation of 12-LOX, ROS accumulation, p38 activation, and caspase-3 activation. Therefore, therapies aimed at maintaining intracellular zinc homeostasis or blocking activation of 12-LOX may provide a novel avenue for the treatment of inflammation, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases in which the formation of peroxynitrite is thought to be one of the important causes of cell death.
Projected distributions of novel and disappearing climates by 2100 AD

Key risks associated with projected climate trends for the 21st century include the prospects of future climate states with no current analog and the disappearance of some extant climates. Because climate is a primary control on species distributions and ecosystem processes, novel 21st-century climates may promote formation of novel species associations and other ecological surprises, whereas the disappearance of some extant climates increases risk of extinction for species with narrow geographic or climatic distributions and disruption of existing communities. Here we analyze multimodel ensembles for the A2 and B1 emission scenarios produced for the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, with the goal of identifying regions projected to experience (i) high magnitudes of local climate change, (ii) development of novel 21st-century climates, and/or (iii) the disappearance of extant climates. Novel climates are projected to develop primarily in the tropics and subtropics, whereas disappearing climates are concentrated in tropical montane regions and the poleward portions of continents. Under the high-end A2 scenario, 12–39% and 10–48% of the Earth's terrestrial surface may respectively experience novel and disappearing climates by 2100 AD. Corresponding projections for the low-end B1 scenario are 4–20% and 4–20%. Dispersal limitations increase the risk that species will experience the loss of extant climates or the occurrence of novel climates. There is a close correspondence between regions with globally disappearing climates and previously identified biodiversity hotspots; for these regions, standard conservation solutions (e.g., assisted migration and networked reserves) may be insufficient to preserve biodiversity.
Deep Reinforcement Learning with Surrogate Agent-Environment Interface

In this paper, we propose surrogate agent-environment interface (SAEI) in reinforcement learning. We also state that learning based on probability surrogate agent-environment interface provides optimal policy of task agent-environment interface. We introduce surrogate probability action and develop the probability surrogate action deterministic policy gradient (PSADPG) algorithm based on SAEI. This algorithm enables continuous control of discrete action. The experiments show PSADPG achieves the performance of DQN in certain tasks with the stochastic optimal policy nature in the initial training stage.
Perceived unmet needs of informal caregivers of people with dementia in Singapore

ABSTRACT Background: This study aimed to explore the experiences and challenges of informal caregivers in Singapore with the intent of identifying the multi-dimensional unmet needs from their perspective and generating caregivers’ needs checklist based on the findings. Methods: Informal caregivers were relatives of people with dementia and were responsible for organizing care and providing regular physical and/or financial support. Using a qualitative research design, informal caregivers’ experiences were explored. A total of ten focus group discussions and 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted with adult caregivers. Caregivers’ perceived unmet needs were identified using thematic analysis. Findings from the qualitative study were combined with inputs from professionals to create a checklist of caregivers’ needs for dementia. Results: The average age of the participants was 52.9 years; the majority of the participants were of Chinese ethnicity (50%), followed by Indian (23%), Malay (22%), and other (3%) ethnic groups. Informal caregivers perceived four categories of unmet needs: (i) emotional and social support, (ii) information, (iii) financial support, and (iv) accessible and appropriate facilities. Caregivers strongly expressed the need for emotional support to overcome the psychological and physical burden of care. Challenges with obtaining adequate information, access to services, and financial barriers were discussed. Based on these findings and expert panel discussions, a checklist of 26 items representing their unmet needs was designed. Conclusions: Informal caregivers face several challenges while caring for their relative with dementia and hence there is a clear demand to address their unmet needs for information, services, respite, and emotional and financial support.