Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An investigation into the neuroprotective and neurotoxic properties of levodopa, dopamine and selegiline

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a profound loss of dopaminergic neurons from the substantia nigra (SN). Among the many pathogenic mechanisms thought to be responsible for the demise of these cells, dopamine (DA)-dependent oxidative stress and oxidative damage has taken center stage due to extensive experimental evidence showing that DA-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidized DA metabolites are toxic to SN neurons. Despite its being the most efficacious drug for symptom reversal in PD, there is concern that levodopa (LD) may contribute to the neuronal degeneration and progression of PD by enhancing DA concentrations and turnover in surviving dopaminergic neurons. The present study investigates the potential neurotoxic and neuroprotective effects of DA in vitro. These effects are compared to the toxicity and neuroprotective effects observed in the rat striatum after the administration of LD and selegiline (SEL), both of which increase striatal DA levels. The effects of exogenous LD and/or SEL administration on both the oxidative stress caused by increased striatal iron (II) levels and its consequences have also been investigated. 6-Hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) is a potent neurotoxin used to mimic dopaminergic degeneration in animal models of PD. The formation of 6-OHDA in vivo could destroy central dopaminergic nerve terminals and enhance the progression of PD. Inorganic studies using high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD) show that hydroxyl radicals can react with DA to form 6-OHDA in vitro. SEL results in a significant decrease in the formation of 6-OHDA in vitro, probably as a result of its antioxidant properties. However, the exogenous administration of LD, with or without SEL, either does not lead to the formation of striatal 6-OHDA in vivo or produces concentrations below the detection limit of the assay. This is despite the fact that striatal DA levels in these rats are significantly elevated (two-fold) compared to the control group. The auto-oxidation and monoamine oxidase (MAO)-mediated metabolism of DA causes an increase in the production of superoxide anions in whole rat brain homogenate in vitro. In addition to this, DA is able to enhance the production of hydroxyl radicals by Fenton chemistry (Fe(III)-EDTA/H2O2) in a cell free environment. Treatment with systemic LD elevates the production of striatal superoxide anions, but does not lead to a detectable increase in striatal hydroxyl radical production in vivo. The co-adminstration of SEL with LD is able to prevent the LD induced rise in striatal superoxide levels. It has been found that the presence of DA or 6-OHDA is able to reduce lipid peroxidation in whole rat brain homogenate induced by Fe(II)-EDTA/H2O2 and ascorbate (Fenton system). However, DA and 6-OHDA increase protein oxidation in rat brain homogenate, which is further increased in the presence of the Fenton system. In addition to this, the incubation of rat brain homogenate with DA or 6-OHDA is also…
Feature Based Qualitative Classification of Rice Varieties: A Review

305 DOI: 10.37398/JSR.2020. 640242 Abstract: Rice is regarded as main staple food for around 80% of the Southeast Asia population alone. As most nations achieving selfcompetency in rice production, better quality rice is of utmost priority of consumer. It is very tedious work for consumers to analyze the good quality and rice grading in the market. Rice grains’ quality determination is judged visually by human inspectors following manual process which is neither objective in nature nor effective due to non-reliability of results occurring as a result of inexperienced inspectors or human errors. So need for an automatic rice quality grading system arises which can eliminate the inadequacies of manual quality grading process. In this paper, Different techniques of machine learning, deep learning and image processing considering morphological, color, shape, textural as well as other features of rice are analyzed to review the current research scenario in automatic quality grading process. Various procedures and methods are considered for the review purpose to analyze the quality of rice grains on the basis of different features of rice.
HAZE REMOVAL SYSTEM USING IMAGE PROCESSING

Cloudiness evacuation for a solitary picture is comprehended to be a difficult poorly presented issue in PC vision. The exhibition of past picture dehazing technique is confined by the convenience of handstructured highlights. Cloudiness is one among the preeminent significant elements which decrease the outside picture quality. Leaving approaches regularly plan to style their models bolstered standards of fogs. During this paper, we propose a simple yet compelling picture earlier channel before expel dimness from one info picture. The dim channel earlier might be a very measurement of outside dimness free pictures. Its bolstered a key perception most neighborhood fixes in open air dimness free pictures contain a few pixels whose power is unbelievably low in at least one shading channel. Utilizing this earlier with the cloudiness imaging model, we can straightforwardly assess the thickness of the dimness and recoup a top notch fog free picture. Results on an assortment of dim pictures show the intensity of the proposed earlier.
Learning Local Gabor Pattern-Based Discriminative Dictionary of Froth Images for Flotation Process Working Condition Monitoring

This article presents a simple yet powerful online flotation process working condition (FPWC) discrimination approach based on the sparse representation of froth images. It learns a local Gabor pattern-based discriminative dictionary with a linear classification model simultaneously for the FPWC identification by solving a sparsity-constrained optimization problem. The proposed method tends to achieve similar and distinct sparse codes of froth images for the same and different FPWCs, respectively, facilitating the accurate FPWC identification. To ensure the adaptability of the FPWC discrimination model, an incremental learning-based online model updating procedure is further derived to monitor the dynamically changing characteristics of FPWCs based on an introduced sparsity discrimination index. The proposed method was validated on an industrial preferential lead-flotation subcircuit process. The prototype monitoring system with extensive confirmatory and comparative experiments shows the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method, which lays a foundation for the optimal control of industrial flotation processes.
The survival of culture bacteria in fresh and freeze-dried AB yoghurts

Yoghurt bacteria viability is important in providing a number of therapeutic benefits to consumers. The survival of AB-culture (Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium spp.) in traditional commercial yoghurts was reported to be unsatisfactory (Rybka, 1994). Two batches of yoghurt were prepared fermented with : (i) L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium spp. (mixed B. bifidum and B. longum 10 :90) and Streptococcus thermophilus (yoghurt with ABS-culture) ; (ii) as in (i) plus L. delbrueckii subspp. bulgaricus (traditional yoghurt with AB-culture). In yoghurts with ABS culture, L. acidophilus, Bifido-bacterium spps and S. thermophilus were ; after fermentation : 4.0x10 7 , 9.0x10 6 and 2.8x10 9 cfu/mL ; after 36 days of refrigerated storage : 10 7 , 4.9x10 5 and 4.5x10 8 cfu/mL correspondingly. In traditional yoghurt with AB cultutre, L. acidophilus, Bifidobacteriumspp. , L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus were ; after fermentation : 4.0x10 6 , 8.6x10 6 , 1.2x10 8 and 1.6x10 9 cfu/mL ; after 62 days of refrigerated storage : 1.2x10 6 , 1.5x10 6 , < 10 2 , 10 6 cfu/mL respectively. The strain of L. bulgaricus used was a slow lactic acid producer not sufficiently antagonistic towards AB-culture. ABS-culture counts in a commercial yoghurt did not decrease during 48 hours of freeze-drying at -40 °C. After 21 days of storage of the freeze dried yoghurt powder only L. acidophilus population met the suggested minimum levels (10 6 cfu/mL) In freshly prepared experimental yoghurt powders (freeze-dried for 96 hours at -50°C) yoghurt bacteria populations were from 0.25 to 2 log lower than in the fresh liquid product. L. bulgaricus count was reduced from 1.2x10 8 to 3.0x10 5 cfu/mL and these species were the most sensitive to freeze-drying. Viable counts of acidophilus and Bifidobacterium spp. in both commercial and experimental yoghurt powders were less than the suggested minimum levels after 27 days of storage. Reincubation of the powder did not increase viable population of yoghurt bacteria.
Forest Change Detection in Lidar Data Based on Polar Change Vector Analysis

Monitoring forest dynamics is of critical importance for both sustainable forest management and conservation purposes. Light detection and ranging (lidar) data provide a detailed representation of the 3-D structure of forest stands that can be used to analyze a number of trees and stand characteristics. Recently, multiple lidar acquisitions over the same area are becoming more common allowing changes in stand attributes to be assessed over time. In order to effectively utilize such multitemporal data sets for forest dynamics monitoring, we propose a method for unsupervised change detection (CD) of lidar data based on polar change vector analysis (CVA). The proposed method involves extracting relevant lidar point cloud metrics for a given area over time. Pixel-wise difference vectors of the metrics are then converted from Cartesian to polar coordinates to represent the magnitude and direction of change. Finally, the change vectors are analyzed in the polar domain to automatically discriminate between the different classes of change. The method is applied to a multitemporal lidar data set of coniferous forest on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, impacted by various types of land cover change. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of automatically discriminating between different classes of lidar change.
Food Barley Land races Characterization in the Northwestern Highlands of Ethiopia

Barley is an important crop for the North Gondar highlands of Amhara Region, Ethiopia. To assess the characterization of barley landraces, 180 farmers from six villages in three districts of north Gondar zone were selected and surveyed. With regard to distribution status, most of the recorded landraces of barley were endangered. The main end uses of barley in the study area were kolo, beso, tela, injera, korefe, kita and kinche. According to farmers, the main criteria for selecting a variety were varietal characteristics mainly in the pre-harvest operation. The main characteristics for doing so are length of the spike, size of the seed, amount of seed per spike, ability to withstand disease, stand of the plant, tillering ability, number of rows, and germination ability. The majority of farmers renew the seed mostly between 1 and 3 years. The main reasons for renewing are production decline, to prevent landraces from elimination and to increase productivity. The majority of the farmers stated that they do not store seeds for long period of time associated with the fact that they hardly produce any surplus that can be stored for longer years. In barley production, women have roles of joint decisions on number and types of varieties to grow, plot allocation, and storage. However, postharvest processing is mainly decided by women. Farmers have proverbs associated with how much women are important in saving and maintaining barley landraces and make ready when the need arises. Hence, barley genetic resources should be conserved before they are lost and farmers’ variety selection criteria should be incorporated in the modern breeding of barley. The active involvement of women in the maintenance and improvement of landraces should not be undermined in the modern crop improvement programs. Key words: Ethiopia, barley, landrace, characterization, traits.
Ameliorative role of ethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera leaf on aflatoxin B1-induced genotoxicity and biochemical alterations in rats

Background/aim The present study was conducted to assess the ameliorative role of Moringa oleifera leaf extract (MOLE) on genotoxicity and biochemical alteration of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in rats. Materials and methods The rat groups involved negative control, control of DMSO, positive control that received AFB1 in DMSO (0.7 g/kg, body weight) four times weekly for 1 month, groups 4–6 that received the same dose of AFB1 in DMSO at the same period plus MOLE doses (3.3, 4.0 and 4.7 g/kg) daily for 1 month, and groups 7–9 that received MOLE alone at the same doses for 15 days after cessation of AFB1 treatment. Molecular genetic, cytogenetic, sperm, and biochemical studies were documented. Results Genetic and sperm results revealed that AFB1 treatment induced significant elevation of genetic alterations and sperm abnormalities as compared with normal control. Biochemical studies showed that the treatment with AFB1 disturbed the parameters of liver functions, where aspartate-transaminase, alanine-transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase were activated and bilirubin contents as well as the rate of malondialdehyde were increased significantly, but the endogenous antioxidative system (catalase, superoxide-dismutase activities and glutathione as well as total antioxidant capacity) and protein profile were reduced significantly. Moreover, kidney functions (urea, uric acid, and creatinine contents) were elevated under AFB1 administration. The treatment with MOLE significantly minimizes the genetic alterations, sperm abnormalities, and biochemical destruction. These ameliorations were increased by increasing the dose level. Better findings were seen by using MOLE as a therapeutic agent than its using as a protective agent. Conclusion This study revealed that MOLE contains therapeutic factors used in curing of genotoxicity induced by AFB1 in rats, and treatment of animals that were exposed to AFB1 with MOLE significantly ameliorated the genetic, sperm, and biochemical parameters as compared with animals treated with AFB1 alone.
A Flexible and Explainable Vehicle Motion Prediction and Inference Framework Combining Semi-Supervised AOG and ST-LSTM

Accurate trajectory prediction of surrounding vehicles is important for automated vehicles. To solve several existing problems of maneuver-based trajectory prediction, we propose four targeted solutions and establish a trajectory prediction model that integrates semi-supervised And-or Graph (AOG) and Spatio-temporal LSTM (ST-LSTM). To reduce the dependence on the well-labeled dataset, we introduce the concept of sub-maneuvers to improve the classifications of vehicle movements based on the given rough maneuver labels. AOG is used as the backbone of the probabilistic motion inference considering sub-maneuvers. We only define the basic units and inference logics of AOG and design a semi-supervised approach to directly learn the sub-maneuvers and the inference model structure from the training data, without manually specifying the structure (layers and nodes) of the inference model. This approach helps to avoid excessive artificial design or biases. The learned hierarchical motion inference model improves the interpretability of the overall trajectory prediction process. To utilize vehicle interaction information and further yield more accurate prediction, we adopt two different methods to consider vehicle interaction in the two sub-models (maneuver recognition and trajectory prediction). The experiment on NGSIM I-80 dataset shows that the maneuver-based model proposed in this paper (AOG-ST and refined AOG-ST-TB) performs more accurate trajectory prediction results. Although the AOG-ST seems clumsy and slow, we show that it is a flexible and quick model for trajectory prediction for various driving scenarios through the discussion and experiment.
Low-molecular-weight heparin-associated multiple digital necrosis in a patient as a result of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia syndrome

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia syndrome (HITS) is a rare complication of low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH). It is an autoimmune-mediated side effect of LMWH which is caused by platelet-activating antibodies that recognize platelet factor-4/ heparin complexes. Although HITS often leads to thrombosis in large veins and arteries, it can be presented as microvascular thrombosis. In this article, we report a case of HITS complicated with multiple digital necrosis after administration of LMWH.
Adolescence and innovation in the European Upper Palaeolithic

Abstract Abstract Childhood and adolescence are two stages of development that are unique to the human life course. While childhood in the Pleistocene has received considerable attention in recent years, adolescence during the same period remains an understudied area of research. Yet it is during adolescence that key social, physical and cognitive milestones are reached. Thus, through studying adolescents, there is enormous potential for improving our understanding of Upper Palaeolithic lifeways more broadly. The reason for the dearth of these types of studies may be the perceived methodological difficulty of identifying adolescents in the archaeological record. In many ways, it is easier to distinguish children (sensu lato) from adults based on size, developmental age and associated artefacts. Adolescents, however, are often seen as more ambiguous, more liminal. Working within an evolutionary framework and using a definition of adolescence rooted in biology, we draw on psychology, ethnography and palaeodemography to develop a model of what it might have meant to be a ‘teenager’ in the European Upper Palaeolithic. Citing the biological, social and cognitive changes that occur during this life stage, we propose an important role of teenagers in the origins and spread of new ideas and innovations throughout the Late Pleistocene.
A prospective evaluation of contingent loans as a means of financing wild dog exclusion fences

Invasive species, such as wild dogs can be considered an externality arising from the activities of pastoral enterprises, with producers having limited responsibility for the problem and limited capacity to mitigate it. There are therefore arguments for government intervention through encouraging both individual and collective control measures. Governments are however increasingly inclined to ensure recipients of support make some contribution where there are private benefits. An example of this, in Australia, is the requirement that students repay some of the cost of their tertiary education. Using the issue of wild dog exclusion fencing in south-west Queensland as a case study, this paper considers if and how a policy instrument adopted for higher education (HECS-HELP), contingent loans, could be adapted to address problems of externalities in rural Australia. Central to the issue of exclusion fences are high upfront costs and highly variable incomes that limit the ability to recoup those costs according to a predictable timeline. Considering a range of incomes and a variety of private/government shares of the cost of the fences, we examine the effects of revenue contingent loans for the construction of these fences, using model farms developed from survey data for farm businesses in south-west Queensland. We find that contingent loans could mitigate the hardship effects of additional debt and variable incomes. Businesses with smaller properties and relatively lower incomes may however struggle to pay back larger loans. Using south-west Queensland as a case study, we show how different shares of contributions change the time to pay back loans, outline how a contingent loan scheme might be administered and note some issues with integrating personal contingent loans into a collective fence arrangement.
Multipurpose virtual reality environment for biomedical and health applications

Virtual reality is a trending, widely accessible, contemporary technology of increasing utility to biomedical and health applications. However, most implementations of VR environments are tailored to specific applications. We describe the complete development of a novel, open-source virtual reality environment that is suitable for multipurpose biomedical and healthcare applications. The developed environment simulates an immersive (first-person perspective) run in the countryside, in a virtual landscape with various salient features. The utility of the developed VR environment has been validated via two test usage cases: an application in the context of motor rehabilitation following injury of the lower limbs and an application in the context of real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback, to regulate brain function in specific regions of interest. The resulting test applications suggest that the implemented approach is robust, versatile and efficient. Both applications are publicly available via a GitHub repository, in support of the Open Science initiative. We anticipate our contribution to catalyze further progress and replicability with regards to the usage of virtual reality in biomedical and health applications. Index Terms— Motor rehabilitation, neurofeedback, virtual reality.
Churchgoing and Christian Ethics: an Empirical Study among 13- to 15-Year-Old Students in England and Wales

This study explores the connections between churchgoing and two fields of Christian moral values (sex-related and substance-related) among 23,714 13- to 15-year-old students in England and Wales who self-identified as either Christian or as of no religion. Bivariate crosstabulation identifies clear patterns of association. Multiple regression analyses confirm that the associations persist after controlling for personal factors (sex and age) and for psychological factors (extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism). Multiple regression analyses also suggest that additional variance is explained when two aspects of intrinsic religiosity are added to the model (personal prayer and belief in God) and that much of the variance accounted for by churchgoing is mediated through these aspects of intrinsic religiosity. These findings illuminate the connection between the Christian community and communities of moral values.
All-Terrain Cyclocopter Capable of Aerial, Terrestrial, and Aquatic Modes

This paper describes the design and experimental validation of an all-terrain cyclocopter micro air vehicle capable of power-efficient aerial, terrestrial, and aquatic locomotion with seamless transition between the modes. The vehicle has a mass of 1010 g and solely relies on its four cycloidal rotors (cyclorotors) to achieve all modes of locomotion. The cyclorotor rotational speeds and thrust vectors are individually modulated to sustain stable hover in aerial mode. A similar control strategy using aerodynamic forces generated by cyclorotors is also implemented for aquatic locomotion. The wheels are efficiently integrated into the carbon fiber rotor endplates since cyclorotors rotate about the horizontal axis. As a result, the cyclocopter maneuvers in terrestrial mode by directly relying on motor torque. Seamless transition is accomplished using a retractable landing gear system equipped with polystyrene foam pontoons. In aerial mode, the cyclorotors operate at 1550 rpm and consume 232 W to sustain hover. Forward translation at 2 m/s in terrestrial mode requires 28 W, which is a 88% reduction from hover. In aquatic mode, the cyclorotors operate at 348 rpm and consume 19 W, which is a 92% reduction from hover. Overall, a versatile platform capable of multimodal operation is successfully demonstrated with only a modest addition in total mass.