Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Remotely supervised at-home delivery of taVNS for autism spectrum disorder: feasibility and initial efficacy

Background Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has potential clinical application for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). At-home sessions are necessary to allow delivery of repeated sessions, and remove burden on patients for daily visits, and reduce costs of clinic delivery. Our objective was to validate a protocol for remote supervised administration for home delivery of taVNS using specially designed equipment and platform. Methods An open-label design was followed involving administration by caretakers to 12 patients with ASD (ages:7–16). Daily 1-h sessions over 2 weeks were administered under remote supervision. The primary outcome was feasibility, which was assessed by completion rate, stimulation tolerability, and confirmation of programmed stimulation delivery. The secondary measures were initial efficacy assessed by Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised (CASI-R), Parent Rated Anxiety Scale for Youth with ASD (PRAS-ASD), and Clinician Global Impression (CGI) scales. Sleep measures were also tracked using Cleveland Adolescent Sleep Questionnaire (CASQ). Results Across 132 sessions, we obtained an 88.5% completion rate. A total of 22 expected adverse events were reported with headache being the most common followed by transient pain, itchiness, and stinging at the electrode site. One subject dropped out of the study unrelated to the stimulation or the study. Average scores of anxiety (CASI-R, PRAS-ASD, and CGI) and sleepiness (CASQ) were all improved at the 2 week time point. While not powered to determine efficacy, benefits were suggested in this open label pilot. Conclusion Remotely supervised, proxy-administered, at-home delivery of taVNS is feasible in patients with ASD. Initial efficacy supports pursuing larger scale trials.
Tourism in the Most Fragile Environments

Fragility implies that small impacts cause serious damage. In practice, the most fragile environments are wilderness areas with the least previous disturbance. Tourism is growing globally, wilderness is shrinking, and more tourism is occurring in wilderness areas. Tourism can help conserve wilderness if it displaces more damaging land uses such as logging, but this is rare. Commonly, tourism benefits from wilderness conservation without contributing to it. Most tourism in wilderness occurs in areas already reserved for conservation. The current unprecedented scale of recreational use creates significant environmental impacts and converts wilderness reserves to recreational playgrounds. Impacts differ enormously for different activities and ecosystems. Noise, weeds and pathogens pose greater risks in tropical forests than alpine herbfield; trampling much lesser. Easy-to-study impacts such as trampling have been quantified experimentally in a range of ecosystems. Hard-to-measure impacts such as disturbance to cryptic fauna, and microbiological impacts on water quality, are little-studied. There are few studies which quantify tourism activity and ecosystem impact with equal precision, and even fewer which measure the effectiveness of visitor management tools in reducing impacts. Most parks use a toolkit of visitor management techniques, including quotas; zoning; permits; restrictions on particular activities and equipment; education and interpretation; and techniques to harden the environment against impacts. Education is cheapest, but its effectiveness is uncertain. Restrictions work, but are politically difficult. Hardening is easiest, but most expensive, and the end of wilderness. It is therefore increasingly urgent to allocate other public lands to the burgeoning nature tourism industry, so that recreation in wilderness can be restricted to minimal-impact activities, and nature tourism can continue to grow in less fragile environments.
The response of stratospheric constituents to a solar eclipse, sunrise, and sunset

The combination of measurements and detailed stratospheric modeling of time-dependent events can be used to confirm chemical mechanisms and their laboratory rate constants or to deduce additional atmospheric properties such as the temperature structure. Sunset, sunrise, and a solar eclipse are events that are characterized by a relatively strong forcing function of brief duration. For these time scales, the detailed time-dependent photochemical and vertical diffusion equations can be solved to predict the variations of minor constituents that are physically important and accessible to current measurement techniques. Careful simultaneous solutions of these equations have shown a significant daytime variation of ozone down to altitudes of about 30 km that can affect the interpretation of spectral absorption type experiments. The calculated sunset variations of [NO] and [HO] show a log linear concentration decay for limited time periods that can be readily converted into atmospheric temperatures by using known reaction rates up to about 70-km altitude. Measurements of the time-dependent behavior of [NO] and [NO2] during the eclipse of February 26, 1979, are expected to be made from the U2 aircraft at 20-km altitude. If the measurements have sufficient sensitivity, they can be used along with the model predictions to confirm some laboratory chemical rate constants and to estimate the [ClO]/[ClNO3] ratio at 20-km altitude.
Hydraulic aspects of föhn winds in an Alpine valley

This study examines the applicability of single‐layer hydraulic theory to Alpine föhn winds in the example of the flow in the Brenner Pass region (Austria/Italy). The south föhn is described as the gap flow over the Pass and along the associated Wipp Valley. Numerical shallow‐water simulations for a wide range of initial conditions, including shallow‐ and deep‐föhn cases, are discussed and compared with selected measurements collected within the Mesoscale Alpine Programme (MAP). The observational analyses are based on Doppler and aerosol‐backscatter lidar data for a specific föhn case, and on surface observations and radiosoundings for all föhn cases observed within the 70‐day MAP Special Observing Period (SOP).
Microsatellite markers for crop improvement: A review

Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers are a helpful strategy among the various molecular marker techniques for strengthening molecular breeding programs. These are useful markers for genotyping plant populations with tandem repeats of 2-6 base pair length DNA patterns. The expansion of various molecular markers and advances in sequencing technologies has aided crop improvement. Several articles for research scholars with progressive knowledge of molecular genetics have been published in the last three decades to probe the information regarding molecular markers. This article reviews novel advances regarding molecular markers and their implementations in plant breeding for researchers with no expertise in using molecular markers in plant breeding. A superior comprehension of molecular markers, and a better consciousness of the spectrum of crops that can be grown, has resulted from progress in molecular plant breeding, genetics, genomic selection, and genome rectification. Further-generation sequence technology must enable the production of novel genetic markers for multifaceted and amorphous groups through genotyping-by-sequencing and union mapping. The review also discusses almost all the microsatellite markers and their advantages and disadvantages.
Investigations on long‐term temperature changes in the upper stratosphere using lidar data and NCEP analyses

OHP lidar data and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) stratospheric temperature analyses provide long and continuous databases for the middle and upper stratosphere that are highly valuable for long-term studies. However, each data set has limitations. Comparisons between lidar data from 1979 to 1993 and NCEP data interpolated from the global analyses to the lidar location reveal significant mean temperature differences. Insight into the origin of the differences offers an opportunity to improve the overall quality of temperature monitoring in the stratosphere. Some of the differences can be explained by instrumental effects in the lidar system. In the stratosphere most of the limitations in lidar temperatures appear below 35-40 km, due to events of lidar misalignment (as large as 10 K) or to the effects on lidar data of volcanic aerosols (as large as 15 K). Changing biases between lidar and NCEP temperatures above 5 hPa coincide with replacement of satellites used in the NCEP analyses. However, some bias differences in upper stratospheric temperatures remain even after NCEP adjustments are made, based on rocketsonde comparisons. While these biases have been already suspected, they had never been explained. Here we suggest that the remaining bias (2-4 K) is caused by tidal influences, heretofore not accounted for by the NCEP adjustment procedure. Lidar profiles have been filtered in their lower part for misalignment and aerosol contamination. Long-term changes have been compared, and a factor of 2 in trend differences have been reported. No significant trends (at 95% confidence) have been detected except with lidar around the stratopause and with NCEP analyses at 5 and 10 hPa. According to instrumental limitations of both data sets the temperature trend may vary from 1 to 3 K with altitude (10-0.4 hPa). Because only satellite data can provide global trend estimates and because lidar data have been chosen for ground-based stratospheric monitoring programs, we suggest some plans to overcome these difficulties for past and future measurements. This should allow a more confident use for future trend estimates from both data sets.
The Spectrum of Cognitive Dysfunction in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: An Update

Cognitive dysfunction is an important non-motor symptom in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that has a negative impact on survival and caregiver burden. It shows a wide spectrum ranging from subjective cognitive decline to frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and covers various cognitive domains, mainly executive/attention, language and verbal memory deficits. The frequency of cognitive impairment across the different ALS phenotypes ranges from 30% to 75%, with up to 45% fulfilling the criteria of FTD. Significant genetic, clinical, and pathological heterogeneity reflects deficits in various cognitive domains. Modern neuroimaging studies revealed frontotemporal degeneration and widespread involvement of limbic and white matter systems, with hypometabolism of the relevant areas. Morphological substrates are frontotemporal and hippocampal atrophy with synaptic loss, associated with TDP-43 and other co-pathologies, including tau deposition. Widespread functional disruptions of motor and extramotor networks, as well as of frontoparietal, frontostriatal and other connectivities, are markers for cognitive deficits in ALS. Cognitive reserve may moderate the effect of brain damage but is not protective against cognitive decline. The natural history of cognitive dysfunction in ALS and its relationship to FTD are not fully understood, although there is an overlap between the ALS variants and ALS-related frontotemporal syndromes, suggesting a differential vulnerability of motor and non-motor networks. An assessment of risks or the early detection of brain connectivity signatures before structural changes may be helpful in investigating the pathophysiological mechanisms of cognitive impairment in ALS, which might even serve as novel targets for effective disease-modifying therapies.
Probabilistic inversion of airborne electromagnetic data for a multidimensional earth

The inversion of airborne electromagnetic data is inherently non-unique, especially when data uncertainties are taken into account. If one model can be found that fits the data, then it is likely that there are alternative models that fit the data equally well. The probabilistic approach introduced in this work therefore aims at exploring the posterior distribution which is the distribution of models that are in agreement with both the prior information and the data. We quantify the prior information using geostatistics and use a Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique to sample the unknown posterior distribution. Data are predicted taking lateral changes in structure along the flight path into account by employing a 2.5D forward solver. A case study using the Harmony Ni-S deposit in Western Australia shows that our set of samples of the posterior distribution provides a more complete picture of solution space than what can be achieved by non-linear iterative inversion schemes that have previously been employed. Such a picture of the subsurface can ultimately be used to mitigate exploration risk.
Remote sensing and mapping of vegetation community patches at Gudong Oil Field, China: a comparative use of SPOT 5 and ALOS data

Circular or elliptical vegetation community patches resulted from seismic exploration of Shengli Oil Field occurs widely across the Yellow River Delta in China. In order to facilitate the monitoring of vegetation extension and quantify the mechanism of vegetation patch succession, there is a clear need for accurate and economical of detecting the different structures of vegetation patches. This paper compares the efficacy of SPOT 5 and ALOS data in detecting vegetation community patches at Gudong oil field, China. As a result of shape differences between vegetation community patches and background in the image provided by each sensor, canny edge detector and mathematical morphological methods were employed. SPOT 5 data (2.5 m Ground Spatial Distance or GSD, detection accuracy, 91.2%) proved more effective in vegetation community patch delineation than ALOS data (2.5 m GSD, detection accuracy, 89.3%).
A ratio vegetation index adjusted for soil brightness

Abstract Improved parameters for a soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) are derived using SAIL model output for simulated wheat canopy reflectance. The SAVI is much less sensitive than the ratio vegetation index to changes in background caused by soil colour or surface soil moisture content. The parameters are developed to minimize variability due to soil brightness over the practical range of solar elevations, lear angle distributions (LAD) and leaf area indices (LAI). The parameters are added to the near-infrared (NIR) and red reflectances before calculating the NIR/red ratio. Three new versions of the SAVI are developed based on the theoretical consideration of the effects of wet and dry soils. All three are superior to the NIR/red ratio, the perpendicular vegetation index and a soil-adjusted vegetation index. Our simplest version requires the addition of a parameter to the red reflectance. The second and third versions require an iterative procedure to find the best parameters that are then added to .
Inhibitory Effects of Some Hydrocolloids on the Formation of Advanced Glycation End Products and Heterocyclic Amines in Chemical Models and Grilled Beef Patties

Effectively inhibiting the formation of heterocyclic amines (HAs) and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is crucial to human health. In the present study, chemical model systems were used to evaluate the inhibitory effects of seven hydrocolloids on HA and AGE formation. The results showed that hydrocolloids effectively inhibited the formation of two major AGEs. However, their inhibitory action against HA formation showed unexpected results, wherein alginic acid, carrageenan and konjac glucomannan promoted the formation of 2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo [4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), harmane, norharmane and 2-amino-3,8-dimethyl-imidazo [4,5-f]-quinoline (MeIQx). Only chitosan and pectin showed significant inhibitory effects on HAs, reducing HA levels by 34.5–56.3% and 30.1–56.6%, respectively. In grilled beef patties, the addition of 1.5% chitosan and pectin significantly decreased AGE and HA content by 53.8–67.0% and 46.9–68.1%, respectively. Moreover, it had a limited impact on quality and sensory properties. Further mechanism studies conducted in model systems revealed that chitosan and pectin decreased the formation of key intermediates of AGEs and HAs. These findings suggest that chitosan and pectin are powerful inhibitors against AGE and HA formation with minimal impact on food quality. Therefore, their application in meat preparation and processing could effectively decrease human dietary exposure to HAs and AGEs.
Terrain reconstruction algorithm based on epipolar line rectification and dense matching

Terrain reconstruction aims at acquiring height maps by detecting corresponding feature points from two or more down-looking remote sensing images. This paper proposes a terrain reconstruction algorithm based on epipolar line rectification and dense matching. At first, it uses fundamental matrix to rectify stereo images to make their epipolar lines parallel and remove the disparity in vertical direction. Then, dense matching based on grid method is applied, which can provide sufficient matching points to estimate disparity of the rectified images. Finally, the heights of the matched points can be calculated according to the obtained disparity and flight parameters. Experiments show that our algorithm can generate precise and reliable height maps for well depicting terrain features.
Modulación de las emisiones de gases efecto invernadero de un hato lechero

La ganadería es una actividad de gran representatividad en Ecuador, generadora de trabajo y desarrollo, clave para la seguridad alimentaria y fuente de abastecimiento del 34% de proteína para la población; sin embargo, la actividad ganadera representa una alta contribución de las emisiones de gases efecto invernadero, principalmente metano. El objetivo de la investigación fue estimar la huella de carbono generada en el año 2022 de un hato lechero, donde se realizó una recopilación y análisis de datos relacionados al manejo de los componentes de prácticas ganaderas, sistema pastoril y prácticas ambientales, cuyos resultados se procesaron con la herramienta de cálculo de emisiones directas (GLEAM-r) desarrollado por la FAO. Los resultados obtenidos de las emisiones totales de los gases de efecto invernadero fueron de 433764,10 Kg CO2-eq, donde la intensidad de emisiones de leche fue 1,75 Kg CO2-eq por litro de leche producido. Además, la cantidad de CH4 de la fermentación entérica registró el 79,83% de las emisiones totales, la cantidad de CH4 de manejo de excretas fue de 1,17%, mientras que la cantidad de N2O de excretas en las pasturas registraron un porcentaje del 19%. Los resultados de intensidad fueron inferiores a valores referenciales registrados para Ecuador (1,9 Kg CO2-eq por litro de leche producido), ya que en este estudio existe la aplicación de las buenas prácticas ganaderas de ganadería climáticamente inteligente (GCI) que impulsa el incremento sostenible de la producción de carne y leche con baja emisión de GEI, adaptación y construcción de resiliencia al cambio climático.
Development and characterization of symbiotic microcapsules to enhance the viability of probiotic under stressed conditions

ABSTRACT In the present research, the survival and sustainability of a Lactobacillus rhamnosus probiotic has been investigated with regard to the prebiotic impact of introducing two different kinds of onion (Allium cepa L.) peel extract to probiotic microcapsules. Effective inclusion of red and white onion peel extract featuring good prebiotic action into the microcapsules enhanced probiotic survival. The structure, distribution of size, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficacy of probiotics and substances in the extract were evaluated along with the probiotics capability to persist under simulated gastrointestinal circumstances. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was employed to investigate the molecular structure and internal framework. The wall and core components possess adhesive relationships, as demonstrated by FTIR spectra. Probiotics that were free and those that were in capsules were evaluated as well in vitro in undesirable persistence performance (>90%). Probiotics with encapsulation exhibited substantially (p > .05) greater vitality compared free cells, in accordance with an in-vitro experiment. Under simulated gastrointestinal situations, free cells continued diminishing their vitality, but encapsulated cells maintained their viability count beyond the suggested level (107 cfu/g). SEM photographs indicated that probiotics have been effectively encapsulated inblends. The microcapsules were around 191 ± 2 and 176 ± 2 μm in size. These outcomes reveal that these kinds of microcapsules may encourage the probiotic L. rhamnosus prolonged viability and consistency under multiple conditions.
Composición de la dieta del oso andino Tremarctos ornatus (Carnivora: Ursidae) en nueve áreas naturales protegidas del Perú

The diet of the andean bear Tremarctos ornatus was assessed in dry equatorial, tropical rainy, premontane, montane, and upper montane forests, and puna, whithin nine natural protected areas in Peru (Laquipampa, Chaparri, Cutervo, Yanachaga, Yanesha, Megantoni, Amarakaeri, Manu and Machu Picchu) between 2001 and 2008. Six hundred forty six records were obtained related to the bear’s diet: 522 (80.8%) food waste, 62 (9.6%) feces, 55 (8.5%) climbed trees with sign supplies, and 7 (1.1%) scrabbled roots and trunks. Two animal (1.7%) and 114 plant species (98.3%) included in 36 families, were identified. Fruits (35.2%), leaf bases (31.9%), stems (12.3%), and piths (10.2%) were the eaten plant parts. Bromeliaceae (58.5%), Arecaceae (10.3%), Cyclanthaceae (5.9%) and Poaceae (4.1%) were the botanical families most frequently used. The piths of palms (Arecaceae) were the main diet components in the tropical rainy and premontane forests, the fruits were during the rainy season in the dry equatorial one, while the resource availability produced diverse diets in the montane forest. Key words: andean bear, diet, feeding, Peru, protected natural areas.
Noise directivity and group velocity tomography in a region with small velocity contrasts: the northern Baltic shield

S U M M A R Y Ambient noise tomography (ANT) is widely used to image strong velocity variations within the upper crust. Using careful processing, we obtained a 3-D model of shear velocities in the upper crust beneath northern Finland, where the lateral velocity variations are less than 3 per cent. As part of the tomography, the noise field is analysed. It is strongly heterogeneous but the signal-to-noise ratio is sufficient to obtain stable dispersion curves for all profile azimuths. Our results show that the directions of dominant noise sources of Rayleigh and Love waves are the same, but the amplitude distribution with azimuth is different for the two types of waves. More intriguingly, the high frequency Love waves are dominated by a mixture of higher modes rather than the fundamental mode. The reconstructed 3-D model shows the Lapland Granulite Belt as a high velocity body with a limit at surface in excellent agreement with geological observations at surface. Following this interface at depth, our results are compatible with previous studies suggesting an Archean north oriented subduction.