Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Possible Positive Feedback Modulation of Acetylcholine Release through the Stimulation of Alpha-7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors on Bipolar Neurons in Pig Retina

A POSSIBLE POSITIVE FEEDBACK MODULATION OF ACETYLCHOLINE RELEASE THROUGH THE STIMULATION OF ALPHA-7 NICOTINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTORS ON BIPOLAR NEURONS IN PIG RETINA by Viralkumar Patel Glaucoma is associated with excitotoxicity in which increased glutamate release leads to apoptotic death o f retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Acetylcholine (ACh) has shown neuroprotection o f RGCs through the stimulation o f RGCs’ nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). The cholinergic amacrine cells are the only cells in retina which synthesize and release ACh. They get excitatory inputs from bipolar cells. The presence o f aTnicotinic acetylcholine receptors (aTnAChRs) on the cholinergic amacrines, bipolar cells and RGCs is documented. Recently, stimulation o f presynaptic nAChRs o f cholinergic cells was shown to enhance ACh release in the rat superior cervical ganglion. Therefore, we hypothesized that aTnAChRs stimulation by tropisetron and PNU282987 (a7nAChR agonists) could induce ACh release through either direct stimulation o f cholinergic amacrine u7nAChRs or indirect stimulation o f bipolar u7nAChRs. For ACh release studies, pig eyes were dissected and cholinergic amacrine cells were labeled with 40pCi o f ^H-choline in which the retina was flashed with light (3Hz) for 30 minutes to maximize ^H-choline uptake. Then, the eyecup was transferred to a perfusion chamber, washed for 20 minutes. 1 minute output fractions were collected into vials and prepared for liquid scintillation counting. To assess the viability o f the preparation, light and kainate were applied. Light (2-3 fold increase), kainate (3-4 fold; lO-lOOpM), a7nAChR agonists (2-4 fold; O.Ol-lOOnM) evoked ACh release greater than the baseline in the absence o f DNQX (a glutamate receptor antagonist). In the presence o f DNQX, which blocked bipolar input to cholinergic cells, a7nAChRs stimulation did not increase ACh release from baseline. Hence, the possibility o f indirect input of bipolar a7nAChRs for ACh release was supported. Our results indicate that ACh release through a7nAChRs stimulation is possible and specifically the bipolar a7nAChRs release o f ACh via an indirect positive feedback mechanism. During excitotoxicity, ACh released by amacrine cells, might feedback on bipolar nAChRs to increase ACh release. The neuroprotective effect o f tropisetron on u7nAChRs on isolated RGCs is documented. Our study suggests that tropisetron might also protect RGCs through increased ACh release by possible indirect modulation. This study indicates the possibility o f dual therapeutic targets o f a7nAChRs in the retina for neuroprotection against RGC excitotoxicity.
Using activity-based modeling to predict spatial and temporal electrical vehicle power demand in Flanders

ir Luk Knapen Email: luk.knapen@uhasselt.be Tel: +32 (0) 11 26 91 26 ir Bruno Kochan Email: bruno.kochan@uhasselt.be Tel: +32 (0) 11 26 91 47 Prof dr ir Tom Bellemans Email: tom.bellemans@uhasselt.be Tel: +32 (0) 11 26 91 27 Prof dr Davy Janssens Email: davy.janssens@uhasselt.be Tel: +32 (0) 11 26 91 28 Prof dr Geert Wets Email: geert.wets@uhasselt.be Tel: +32 (0) 11 26 91 58 Corresponding author : Geert Wets (*)
Analysis of communicative features of user interfaces

The concept of usability has evolved in different research communities and the focus of research has varied. During the last couple of years, research has been oriented towards acknowledging more appropriately the social context of IT system use. The purpose of this paper is to investigate further the usefulness of a communicative perspective on user interfaces, as a means to understand the IT artefact as part of social and organizational context. Such a perspective seems to be important to promote designs that are both use-able and act-able.
An Approach to Improve the Efficiency of Optical System for Inter-Satellite Laser Communication

The optical system proposed in this paper is developed from double reflector cassegrain antenna with parabolic contour for the main dish and a hyperbolic contour for the sub-dish. Due to the e nhancement of obscuration of secondary mirror, the large amount of transmitted power is blocked, hence diffractive optical elements(DOE) are added . Even though the pre-collimator used for magnification ,adaptive optical system need additional diffractive phase corrector and beam shaper which can diffract the obscured part of transmitted beam into the domain unobscured by the secondary mirror and improve beam quality. In the Design of DOEs, Phase profile of DOEs are calculated using GS algorithm. the beam divergence is unchanged and peak intensity of receiver plane increased, so nearly hundred percent emission efficiency of new fi guration is achieved.
The effects of customer benefit and regulation on environmental product innovation.: Empirical evidence from appliance manufacturers in Germany

Environmental product (EP) innovations and their determinants have received increasing attention from researchers during the past years. So far, empirical studies have shown inconsistent results, especially regarding the impact of regulation. In this paper, I seek to advance the understanding of EP-innovation by introducing and testing a novel research framework. First, a novel unit of analysis, the environmental issue level, is applied. EP-innovation is not studied in broad terms but specifically for four environmental issues that are relevant to the electrical and electronic appliances industry: energy efficiency, toxic substances, material efficiency, and electromagnetic fields. Second, the customer benefit, a concept from the green marketing literature, is included as an explanatory variable for EP-innovation for the first time. The argument is that green products which besides their public benefits have private environmental benefits for the customer (e.g., energy savings) will generate stronger consumer demand and can thus constitute the firm's motivation to implement those innovations in the first place. Third, EP-innovation is observed more comprehensively, measuring its extent and level of novelty. I apply this research framework to study EP-innovations of German manufacturers of electrical and electronic appliances. My results support the issue level as unit of analysis. The impact of customer benefit and regulation on EP-innovation is analyzed with logit regression and the results clearly show that both customer benefit and regulation play a key role for EP-innovation. They not only foster the implementation of EP-innovations but also their broad application and their level of novelty.
2.5D inversion of airborne electromagnetic data

2.5D electromagnetic (EM) modelling computes the response of a 3D source from an arbitrary 2D geoelectrical model. As such, it is practical for airborne EM (AEM) data to be inverted using 2.5D modelling provided that the geoelectrical cross-section is relatively constant along a strike length that exceeds the AEM system footprint. The program ArjunAir is introduced for modelling and inversion based on a 2D finite-element method that enables the accurate simulation of 3D source excitation for full domain models inclusive of topography, non-conforming boundaries, and very high resistivity contrasts. Inversion is based on an iterative Gauss-Newton method that is solved using the damped eigenparameter algorithm. Examples are presented for synthetic and practical frequency and time-domain AEM surveys for which inversion run-times are on the order of hours.
WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN LIBYA: CHALLENGES AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

Water shortage or scarcity is becoming a major concern for many nations across the world. The situation is worsened by rapid urbanization and population growth in developing countries, thus increase competition for water used for irrigated agriculture. Various efforts have been made by the authorities in the developing countries to provide sufficient water and improve the quality of water resources. Yet, there are still many developing countries facing shortages of water for domestic and agricultural purposes, especially during the dry months of the year. Libya is one of the Northern African countries that have been experiencing water shortages especially in urban areas. This paper aims to identify the current situation and constraints of water resources management in Libya. The latter part is devoted to the solutions and recommendations at individual, community, state and government levels that can help solving the water problems in Libya. A number of previous studies on the water resources management and challenges perceived by both developed and developing countries were critically reviewed. It was found that water scarcity in developing countries is expected to be worsen as their population are expected to increase gradually year by year and it can be summarized from the reviewed previous studies that lack of government planning, industrial and human wastes along with government intervention and mismanaging water resources are some of the critical constraints towards achieving sustainable management in most of the countries including Libya. Potential solutions such as improving supply demand and good quality management of water resources must be taken into consideration. In addition, active participation from the local residents by enhancing awareness amongst them would be one of the supportive strategies to minimize the constraints. Sustainable economic and environmental management together with efficient use of water is required to conserve our clean water supply.
Enriching ‘Senso Comune’ with Semantic Role Sets

The paper describes the design and the results of a manual annotation methodology devoted to enrich the Senso Comune resource with semantic role sets for predicates. The main issues encountered in applying the annotation criteria to a corpus of Italian language are discussed together with the choice of anchoring the semantic annotation layer to the underlying dependency syntactic structure. We describe the two experiments we carried to verify the reliability of the annotation methodology and to release the annotation scheme. Finally, we discuss the results of the linguistic analysis of the annotated data and report about ongoing work.
Vessel Motion Statistical Learning based on Stored AIS Data and Its Application to Trajectory Prediction

A vessel motion statistical learning based on stored AIS data is proposed in this paper. This paper divide the region of interest into a uniformly sized grid, and analyze the stored AIS data messages according the vessel’s position and index the motion information into the unique grid. The sailing state variation between messages are highlighted. Several predictors are designed to predict the vessel’s position and the prediction error is get comparing the true position achieved from AIS messages. Experimental results show that the proposed model is credible and the prediction accuracy is higher.
FOOD RETAIL SALES (PRICING): THEORY AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FOR GERMAN GROCERY STORES

Retail pricing indicates many phenomena, such as sales or rigidities. A number of models have been proposed in particular to explain the occurrence of sales. Focussing on the market for fresh foods the model by Varian and the loss leader argument seem to be intuitively best fitting to the conditions in the fresh food market. From these models we derive several hypotheses that are tested for a unique data set of the German fresh food retail market The data set consists of weekly prices for ten food items in 131 grocery shops over the period from 1995 to 2000. The results support to some extent the Varian model and also indicate some dynamic loss leader pricing. However, rejections of some hypothesis provide some hints for successive models adjustments. Promising extensions of the theory might be based on the consideration of menu and switching costs.
Interaction of drought stress and UV-B radiation - impact on biomass production and flavonoid metabolism in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.)

The response of plants to stress such as UV-radiation or drought highly depends on the species, cultivar, plant organ, developmental stage, and furthermore, is influenced by ecophysiological interactions. Drought stress as well as UV irradiation are the most adverse factors for plant growth and productivity. In the present study, the interactive effect of UV-B and drought stress on biomass, primary and secondary metabolites, and mediated enzyme activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL, EC 4.3.1.5) was investigated in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). It was found that biomass production decreased in response to both stressors, while dry matter, total phenolic contents and the flavonol quercetin were not significantly affected by UV-B and drought stress, neither solely nor in combination. In contrast, anthocyanins and luteolin accumulated only in response to drought stress. However, the precursor amino acid proline as well as the activity of PAL increased under conditions of increased UV-B and water deficit. Thus, the present results deduce that both stressors acted either synergistically or to some extent antagonistically in terms of inducing plant protective mechanisms.
Incidence, salience, and spillovers: The direct and indirect effects of tax credits on wages

Tax credits are a popular way to alleviate in‐work poverty. A common empirical assumption is that the benefit of the tax credit is borne solely by the claimant workers. However, economic theory suggests no particular reason why this should be the case. This paper investigates the impact of the Working Families' Tax Credit, introduced in the UK in 1999, on wages. Unlike similar tax credit policies, this tax credit was paid through employers rather than directly to workers, making it more salient to the employer. Using a novel identification strategy, we can separately identify the effect on wages associated with an increase in the amount of tax credit and that associated with the change in salience. We find evidence that: (1) through the salience mechanism the firm cuts the wage of claimant workers relative to similarly skilled nonclaimants by 30 percent of the tax credit, which is approximately 7 percent of the wage, and (2) there is a negative spillover effect onto the wages of claimant and nonclaimant workers of 1.7 percent, which is approximately 8 percent of the tax credit for claimant workers.
Control synthesis of uncertain Roesser-type discrete-time two-dimensional systems

This paper is concerned with control synthesis of uncertain Roesser-type discrete-time two-dimensional (2D) systems. The mathematical model of the 2D system’s parameter uncertainty, which may appear typically in many actual environment, is modeled as a convex bounded uncertain domain. By using the Lyapunov stability theory, stabilization conditions is proposed in with the purpose of ensuring the robust asymptotical stability of the underlying closed-loop uncertain Roesser-type discrete-time 2D systems. Furthermore, the obtained result of this paper is formulated in the form of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), which can be easily solved via standard numerical software. Finally, a numerical example is also provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed result.
Sunflower Array Antenna with Adjustable Density Taper

A deterministic procedure to design a nonperiodic planar array radiating a rotationally symmetric pencil beam pattern with an adjustable sidelobe level is proposed. The elements positions are derived by modifying the peculiar locations of the sunflower seeds in such a way that the corresponding spatial density fits a Taylor amplitude tapering law which guarantees the pattern requirements in terms of beamwidth and sidelobe level. Different configurations, based on a Voronoi cell spatial tessellation of the radiative aperture, are presented, having as a benchmark the requirements for a typical multibeam satellite antenna.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of ferroelectric semiconductor SbSI crystals

The paper presents the X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) of the valence band (VB) and of the principal core levels from the (110) and (001) planes for the ferroelectric semiconductor SbSI single crystal in the temperature range 215-390 K. The excitation source was Al Kmonochromatic radiation (1486.6 eV). XPS were analysed in the energy range 0-1400 eV. Experimentally obtained energies were compared with the results of theoretical ab initio calculations of surface and bulk atoms in the paraelectric and ferroelectric phases. The structure of VB is calculated and confirmed experimentally. Large shifts (3-5 eV) in the core-level binding energies of surface atoms relative to bulk atoms have been observed. They show a dramatic dependence on the surface crystallographic plane. This is the first observation of XPS shifts of that magnitude in solids. Influence of the phase transition on VB and core levels is studied and the mechanism of the XPS shifts in SbSI crystals is discussed.
Study of Clinical and Biochemical Parameters of Type 2 Diabetic Subjects with Pulmonary Tuberculosis

Aims: Type 2 DM is a global epidemic and recognized as a threat to pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) control worldwide especially in developing countries. When tuberculosis is diagnosed in diabetic subjects both can be affected in term of clinical presentation and course of disease. The aim of the study was to evaluate the demographic, clinical and biochemical parameters of newly detected PTB patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: Seventy two diabetic subjects with newly detected PTB attending outpatient department, BIRDEM were studied. Patients with fever, cough, hemoptysis and/or weight loss were interviewed by a structured questionnaire. After thorough clinical examination, blood sugar, complete blood count (CBC), ESR, sputum for bacteriological culture and acid fast bacilli (AFB) (3 samples), X-ray chest were done. The diagnosis of PTB was based on a positive sputum AFB test, a suggestive CBC report or typical radiographic findings with high clinical probability. Diagnosed PTB cases were included in the study. All patients were followed up at least at1st, 3rd and 6th month of antitubercular therapy. Result: Mean age of study subjects was 46(19-75) years. The study subjects do not have past history of tuberculosis. Most of the study subjects (98.6%) were on insulin for treatment of diabetes. Mean body mass index (BMI) was 19.9kg/m². Mean ESR (mm in 1st hour) was 94.5 with 60% subjects having ESR >100. Sputum for bacteriological culture revealed no growth in 77.3% patients. Chest X-ray revealed cavity in 47.2%, opacity in 40.3%, both opacity and cavity in 5.6 %, pleural effusion in 5.6% and 5.5% had no detectable lesion. All patients were sputum AFB positive and among them 73.6% (n=53) had AFB positive in all 3 samples. Most of the patients (n=62, 86.6%) become sputum AFB negative after one month of treatment initiation. Rest 10 subjects (13.4%) become sputum negative in 2 months follow up and all of these patients had cavitary lesions in chest X-rays. A good number of the patients (98%) with positive x-ray finding showed radiological improvement after 2 months of antitubercular treatment. All the patients completed their therapy without any interruption for 6 months. Conclusion: Pulmonary cavity and opacity is the commonest radiological finding among study subjects. Sputum positivity for AFB is a good diagnostic tool for PTB in diabetic subjects. Subjects with cavitary lesion in chest X-ray become sputum negative than others. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/birdem.v4i1. 18545 Birdem Med J 2014; 4(1): 5-8
Autism Spectrum Disorder: Does Diet Have An Impact?

The search to identify metabolic defects leading to autistic behaviors that might respond to dietary treatment has resulted in several possibilities. The role of branched chain amino acids in improving ASD symptoms in a select group of patients with a mutation in the BCKDK (Branched Chain Ketoacid Dehydrogenase Kinase) gene was investigated. In this case, the disorder results in neurological symptoms due to an unbalanced level of amino acids entering the brain, especially several which are metabolized to neurotransmitters [8]. Another known genetic polymorphism occurs in the gene, TMLHE (trimethyllysine hydroxylase, epsilon) which is responsible for producing the first enzyme leading to carnitine synthesis. Deficient blood levels of carnitine lead to reduced transport of carnitine into the brain, with abnormal synaptic development [9]. Other possible dietary supplements being evaluated are those that are involved in enhancing onecarbon metabolism. Inadequate intake of vitamins including a derivative of folic acid (5-methyl THF), choline and pyridoxine as well as several amino acids (methionine, serine and glycine) that contribute to the functioning of the “folate cycle” and therefore the epigenetic process of DNA methylation, may be involved in the development of ASD. Recently, it has also been shown that lower than normal levels of these nutrients are found in the blood of both ASD children and their parents. The most intriguing evidence of dietary adequacy of nutrients contributing to the “folate cycle” and susceptibility to ASD comes from dietary studies on mothers with and without the MTHFR (methyl tetrahydrofolate reductase) 677C>T polymorphism. Mothers who had this polymorphism had a greater risk of having a child with ASD when folic acid intake was low prior to and during the early part of pregnancy [10]. Other than the neurological defects which occur with ASD,
Time to recurrence of any opportunistic infection after treatment of it among people living with HIV infection in Debre Markos, Northwest Ethiopia: retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: Antiretroviral therapy improves time to death of people living with HIV; however, little is known about its effect on improving time of recurrence of opportunistic infections after treatment of any preceding infection. Hence, this study was aimed at assessing time to recurrence of any opportunistic infection after treatment of any preceding opportunistic infection, its magnitude and associated factors. Methods: Retrospective cohort study was used and the required sample size was 536. Study participants were selected randomly from the list of adult people living with HIV attending the public health facilities for ART. Univariate analysis was used to describe patients’ baseline and follow up characteristics. Kaplan-meier survival and log rank test were used to estimate survival and compare survival curves respectively. Cox proportional-hazard regression model was used to calculate hazard rate and to determine independent predictors of time to recurrence. Results: During a median of 43 person weeks follow up, opportunistic infections recurred in 75.7% the participants and the proportion was not significantly different (p=0.614) in pre-ART and ART people living with HIV. The incidence rate of any opportunistic infection recurrence was 1.31 per 100 person weeks which differs by ART exposure status which was 1.57 and 1.13 per 100 person weeks in pre-ART and ART PLHIV respectively. The median time of survival was 57 weeks; however, it was different in pre-ART and ART PLHIV that was 52 and 64 weeks respectively. Marital status, occupational status, follow up CD4 count, base line hemoglobin value, ART exposure, base line ART adherence, base line and follow up prophylaxis exposure and adherence were predictors of survival. Conclusion: The incidence rate of any opportunistic infection recurrence was 1.31 per 100 person weeks. Attention should be given for widowed, ART/prophylaxis non-adhering patients while continuing HIV care for all people living with the virus.