Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Communicating for Equality: How Inclusive Communication Affects Political Participation within Local Communities

This study will examine the relationship among inclusive communication, sense of community belonging, and political participation within local communities. Communication from organizations such as local advocacy and local, mainstream media that contains content acknowledging relevant topics for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community members. I explore ways that Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT) can be applied to organizational inclusive communication’s influence on community marginalized members’ sense of community belonging and political participation. CIT has been applied to the study of racial and economic minority communities in past research in the past, but this study applies CIT to the study of the marginalized LGBT community. The purpose of this research is to discover communication resources that strengthen the likelihood of pro-LGBT political participation in both LGBT community members and heterosexuals. Sense of belonging is a predictor of community members’ active engagement in their communities in CIT and civic participation research. Communication from local organizations and media has not been described as a direct influencer of communication but as more of an influencer of sense of community belonging, which is then predicted to effect community engagement. Another purpose of my study is to see if CIT can be applied to political outcomes. I will also attempt to discover whether communication still has indirect effects on engagement when used in a political context.
A Multidimensional Approach to Measuring Fuel Poverty

In this study we suggest that a more careful and systematic understanding of fuel poverty can be developed through a multidimensional approach to the relationship between monetary poverty, residential energy efficiency, and heating restriction. Our objective is to provide new ways to better identify those who suffer the most from fuel poverty to optimize policy. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to measure poverty in three steps following Sen (1979): (i) combining poverty characteristics into an aggregate measure involving a fuel poverty index (FPI), (ii) identification and comparison of poor people according to existing and new definitions and (iii) testing the robustness of the fuel poverty composite indicator. Our results show that the usual measures reveal a gap that does not consider all the dimensions of fuel poverty, excluding those who are at or above a certain threshold, but who are nevertheless vulnerable.
Intraoperative Floppy-Iris Syndrome: Comparison of Tamsulosin and Drugs Other Than Alpha Antagonists

Abstract Background: To determine and compare the incidence of intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS) features in patients using tamsulosin, and other chronic medications. Methods: We prospectively studied patients who underwent phacoemulsification (PE) between March 2006 and October 2007 on use of tamsulosin or a single medication like antihypertansive (AH), antiaggregant (AAg), antipsycotic (AP) or oral antidiabetic (OAD). Patients were grouped as tamsulosin users (Group 1), previous tamsulosin users (Group 2), chronic medication users (AH, AAg, AP or OAD) (Group 3) and patients with no medication (Group 4). Comparison of pre and postoperative visual acuities, intraocular pressures, intraoperative posterior capsular rupture (PCR) rates and grades of IFIS among groups were evaluated. Results: We studied 1567 eyes of 1530 subjects. Twenty five eyes in the study demonstrated IFIS (1.6%). Five cases were included in Group 1 and IFIS incidence was 80%, while it was 60% in Group 2 (n = 5), 1 % in Group 3 (n = 1099), 1.7% in Group 4 (n = 421). IFIS incidence was significantly higher in Groups 1 and 2 compared to Groups 3 and 4 (p < 0.001). There was no difference between Groups 1 and 2 (p = 1.0) and between 3 and 4 (p = 0.29). Most cases (72%) had all three signs of IFIS. Complete IFIS was seen in one patient in Groups 1 and 2, whereas it was seen in all IFIS patients of Groups 3 and 4 (p < 0.001). Incidence of PCR was significantly higher in Group 1 (p = 0.045). Conclusion: Tamsulosin was found to be the drug which was most likely to be associated with IFIS, but IFIS was also observed in patients chronically using losartan, aspirin, chlorpromazine and metformin. Although, IFIS incidences were found to be similar between chronic users of these drugs and those using no medications at the time of surgery, new studies in the future will introduce the predisposing factors and the possible mechanisms of IFIS with these medications.
High DNA Oxidative Damage in Systemic Sclerosis

Objective. Several lines of evidence suggest that the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is of major importance in the pathogenesis of SSc. Protein and lipid damage have previously been demonstrated, but scarce data are available on oxidative damage to DNA. In patients with SSc, we evaluated levels of 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG), the main validated biomarker of endogenous oxidative damage to DNA, compared to levels of F2-isoprostane, a product of free radical-mediated peroxidation of arachidonic acid. Methods. Urinary levels of 8-oxodG and 8-isoprostaglandin-F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) were determined by competitive ELISA method in consecutive SSc patients and controls matched for age and sex. Results. We included 80 unrelated SSc patients (72 women, mean age 56 ± 11 yrs) and 39 controls (33 women, mean age 64 ± 8 yrs). Urinary levels of 8-oxodG/creat and 8-iso-PGF2α/creat in SSc patients were found to be higher than in controls (6.5 ng/mg vs 3.7 ng/mg, p = 0.0001; and 11.4 ng/mg vs 4.2 ng/mg, p < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, 8-oxodG levels were associated with the presence of pulmonary fibrosis on computerized tomography scan, decreased forced vital capacity, and decreased DLCO/alveolar volume. In patients with the diffuse cutaneous subset, a modified Rodnan skin score > 14 was independently associated with 8-oxodG levels. In SSc, 8-oxodG and 8-iso-PGF2α values were correlated (r = 0.32; p = 0.005). Conclusion. Our study confirmed marked oxidative stress in SSc. We also found increased values of 8-oxodG in SSc patients and a relevant association with a fibrotic phenotype. The predictive value of this marker and its potential influence on fibrotic disturbances remain to be determined.
Is there a relationship between rotavirus positive gastroenteritis and ABO blood groups?: a retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children. There is only a few clinical studies about the relationship between rotavirus gastroenteritis and ABO blood groups. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the role of blood groups, if any present, in the incidence of rotavirus gastroenteritis, and the severity of the gastroenteritis. METHODS The file records of babies born in our hospital and diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis in their follow up were investigated retrospectively. RESULTS The study was conducted with 219 (36.3%) rotavirus positive and 383 (63.6%) rotavirus negative patients. The A blood group was detected more commonly in the rotavirus positive group compared to the rotavirus negative group (50.6 vs. 42.2%, p= 0.047). Hospitalization rates of the cases with rotavirus gastroenteritis among children with the A blood group (30.6 vs. 8%, p= 0.001) were significantly higher. CONCLUSIONS Rotavirus gastroenteritis was determined to be more common in children with A blood group. The hospitalization rates of such patients were detected to be higher. Therefore, rotavirus gastroenteritis among children with blood group A should be monitored closely.
Could mini-PET be used to instead of 4 h original-PET to assess peritoneal permeability in children on peritoneal dialysis?

Abstract Background: Original peritoneal equilibration test (PET) is an implementation that requires hard work for peritoneal dialysis (PD) staff. Therefore, several authors have attempted to validate short and fast PET protocols, with controversial results. The aim of this study was to evaluate the concordance between the mini-PET and original PET in children. Methods: In 26 stable continuous ambulatory PD patients, we performed an original PET with 2.27% (4 h) and a mini-PET with 3.86% glucose PD fluid (1 h) and compared ultrafiltration (UF) and small solute transports obtained with the two methods. Results: Twenty-six children, 14 males, mean age 11.4 ± 5.6 (range 2.5–19 years), were included. Meantime on PD at time of enrollment was 35.2 ± 24.5 months (range 6–84 months). Based on the 4-h creatinine D/P data, the number of the patients within each transport category was as follow: high, 5; average, 18; low, 3. Kappa test showed a significant concordance between original PET and mini-PET (k = 0.610). Based on the 4-h glucose D/D0 data, the number of the patients within each transport category was as follow: high, 5; average, 17; low, 4. Kappa test showed a moderate agreement between original PET and mini-PET (0.514, p = 0.000). When Pearson correlation analysis between original PET and mini-PET was performed, there were significant positive correlations between original 2.27% PET and mini-PET (r = 0.720, p = 0.000, r = 0.638, p = 0.000, respectively). When comparing the numeric results of mini-PET and 4 h of original PET for D/Creatinine, by simple regression analysis, we found statistically significant correlation among PETs. Conclusions: In this study, we showed concordance between the mini-PET and original PET. The 3.86% mini-PET is simple and fast methods to assess free water transport. This also gives information about total UF and small solute transports and it is in good agreement with the original PET.
N- and L- but not P/Q-type calcium channels contribute to neuropeptide release from rat skin in vitro

Here we directly demonstrate the liberation of CGRP from rat skin in vitro induced by high extracellular concentrations of KCl. The EC50 was 52 mM KCl and saturation was reached from 80 mM KCl. The release was entirely dependent on the presence of extracellular calcium ions. It was reduced by non-subtype selective inhibition of voltage-operated calcium channels (VOCCs). Application of selective antagonists suggest expression of L-type and N-type but not P/Q-type VOCCs in cutaneous nociceptive terminals. These may be activated by any suprathreshold depolarizing stimuli to induce neurogenic inflammation. The expression pattern greatly differs from central nociceptive terminals where, in addition, P/Q-type VOCC have been found.
Root colonisation by the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices alters the quality of strawberry fruits (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) at different nitrogen levels.

BACKGROUND Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) increase the uptake of minerals from the soil, thus improving the growth of the host plant. Nitrogen (N) is a main mineral element for plant growth, as it is an essential component of numerous plant compounds affecting fruit quality. The availability of N to plants also affects the AMF-plant interaction, which suggests that the quality of fruits could be affected by both factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of three N treatments (3, 6 and 18 mmol L(-1)) in combination with inoculation with the AMF Glomus intraradices on the quality of strawberry fruits. The effects of each factor and their interaction were analysed. RESULTS Nitrogen treatment significantly modified the concentrations of minerals and some phenolic compounds, while mycorrhization significantly affected some colour parameters and the concentrations of most phenolic compounds. Significant differences between fruits of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants were found for the majority of phenolic compounds and for some minerals in plants treated with 6 mmol L(-1) N. The respective values of fruits of mycorrhizal plants were higher. CONCLUSION Nitrogen application modified the effect of mycorrhization on strawberry fruit quality.
Somatosensory and Spinal Evoked Potentials in Patients With Upper Cervical Neurinoma

Summary: Scalp somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) and spinal evoked potentials (SpEP) were simultaneously recorded from the exposed surface of the upper cervical cord after median nerve stimulation in five patients undergoing surgery for upper cervical neurinomas. Two of the neurinomas were localized at C1 nerve root, two at C2, and one at C3. All patients showed good postsurgical recovery, suggesting that the tumors had not progressed to the stage where most of the nerve fibers were irreparably damaged. In patients with unaffected superficial and deep skin sensation, both SEP and SpEP were normal. In patients with more advanced tumor, the superficial sensation was abnormal but the deep skin sensation was intact. In these patients, the action potential propagation slowed down but continued partially through the tumor site on the relatively less affected side contralateral to the tumor; however, it stopped at the site of the tumor on the ipsilateral side. It is possible that full functional recovery becomes more difficult during the next stage of tumor development when the propagation of action potentials ceases bilaterally. The intraoperative monitoring of both SEP and SpEP thus appears useful for inferring details of functional integrity and prognosis of the spinal cord near a space-occupying tumor during the critical first two stages of neoplasm in which the spinal function is normal, or a sufficiently large fraction of ascending and descending nerve fibers are functionally suppressed, but are capable of recovery after a surgical intervention.
Activation of calcium-dependent calmodulin by calcium(II)3(3,5-diisopropylsalicylate)6(H2O)6 decreases thrombin receptor activating peptide-induced P-selectin expression

We examined the influence of 3,5-diisopropylsalicylic acid (3,5-DIPS) and calcium(II)3(3,5-diisopropylsalicylate)6 (H2O)6 [Ca(II)3(3,5-DIPS)6], a new activator of calcium-dependent calmodulin-triggered nitric oxide synthase, on thrombin-induced platelet P-selectin expression. Citrated whole blood samples were incubated with either ethanol vehicle, 3,5-DIPS, or Ca(II)3(3,5-DIPS)6. These whole blood samples were also co-incubated with thrombin receptor activating peptide (TRAP) or adenosine diphosphate (ADP), to up-regulate P-selectin (CD62P) on platelets. Both TRAP and ADP up-regulated P-selectin on platelets compared with platelets in whole blood samples that were not incubated with either platelet activator. Co-incubation of whole blood samples with TRAP, ADP together with 3,5-DIPS, or Ca(II)3(3,5-DIPS)6 revealed that Ca(II)3(3,5-DIPS)6 caused a decrease in platelet P-selectin expression for TRAP, ADP, and no-activator co-incubated samples of whole blood. Incubation of platelets with 3,5-DIPS also caused a decrease in ADP-induced up-regulation of P-selectin but failed to affect TRAP or no-activator-treated platelets. Incubation of whole blood with Ca(II)3(3,5-DIPS)6 induced some hemolysis. We found that hemolysis increases basal P-selectin expression on platelets. We therefore conclude that Ca(II)3(3,5-DIPS)6 decreased not only basal, but also hemolysis-induced P-selectin expression on platelets. In contrast, incubation of haemolysed whole blood with SIN-1 (standard nitric oxide-releasing drug) had no effect on P-selectin expression. In summary, Ca(II)3(3,5-DIPS)6, a new calmodulin-dependent nitric oxide synthase activator, decreases P-selectin expression of human platelets in response to thrombin receptor activation. Improved calcium-dependent calmodulin activators may become useful drugs for the treatment of disorders associated with platelet activation, and P-selectin may decrease expression due to hemolysis.
Distribution of Kisspeptin Neurones in the Adult Female Mouse Brain

Kisspeptin‐GPR54 signalling is essential for normal reproductive functioning. However, the distribution of kisspeptin neuronal cell bodies and their projections is not well established. The present study aimed to provide a detailed account of kisspeptin neuroanatomy in the mouse brain. Using a polyclonal rabbit antibody AC566, directed towards the final ten C‐terminal amino acids of murine kisspeptin, three populations of kisspeptin‐expressing cell bodies were identified in the adult female mouse brain. One exists as a dense periventricular continuum of cells within the rostral part of the third ventricle, another is found within the arcuate nucleus, and another is identified as a low‐density group of scattered cells within the dorsomedial nucleus and posterior hypothalamus. Kisspeptin‐immunoreactive fibres were abundant within the ventral aspect of the lateral septum and within the hypothalamus running in periventricular and ventral retrochiasmatic pathways. Notable exclusions from the kisspeptin fibre innervation were the suprachiasmatic and ventromedial nuclei. Outside of the hypothalamus, a small number of kisspeptin fibres were identified in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, subfornical organ, medial amygdala, paraventricular thalamus, periaqueductal grey and locus coerulus. All kisspeptin cell body and fibre immunoreactivity was absent in brain tissue from Kiss1 knockout mice. These observations provide a map of kisspeptin neurones in the mouse brain and indicate that a limited number of mostly medial hypothalamic and lateral septal brain regions are innervated by the three hypothalamic kisspeptin cell populations; the functions of these projections remain to be established.
Emotions and Strategic Behaviour: The Case of the Ultimatum Game

Human behaviour in economic interactions has attracted an increasing amount of attention over the last decades. The economic assumption that people would behave focusing on their own material self-interest was proved incomplete, once the empirical evidence consistently showed that many other motives may influence such behaviour. Therefore, models that can incorporate rational decision process as well as other intervening factors are a key issue to both understand the observations from economic experiments and to apply the lessons learned from them. In this paper, we incorporate the influence of emotions to the utility function in an explicit manner, using the Ultimatum Game as a case study. Our model is amenable to analytical study, and is connected with the Circumplex model of emotions and with Kahneman’s two-system theory. The simplicity of the model allows to obtain predictions for the offers and acceptance thresholds. We study two specific examples, when the model parameters are distributed uniformly or normally, and show that in the latter case the results are already qualitatively correct. Although this work can be considered as a first approach, it includes what we believe are the main stylized facts, is able to qualitatively reproduce experimental results in a very simple manner, and can be straightforwardly extended to other games.
Structure and localization of the human SULT1B1 gene: neighborhood to SULT1E1 and a SULT1D pseudogene.

The soluble sulfotransferases are involved in the elimination of xenobiotics, the activation of procarcinogens, and the regulation of hormones. They comprise a gene superfamily (SULT). The structure and chromosomal location of nine human SULT genes are known. We have characterized a further gene, SULT1B1. Its structure is similar to that of other SULT1 genes. However, the total length of its eight exons and the introns (33.6 kb) is larger than that of other human SULT1 genes (4 to 21 kb). The SULT1B1 gene sequence is part of a sequence entry in the unfinished High-Throughput Genomic Sequences (HTGS) division of GenBank. However, the order and orientation of the SULT1B1 exons are not correct in this entry. SULT1B1 is located on chromosome 4q13.1, nearly 100 kb downstream of SULT1E1 on the same strand. The intervening sequence contains a SULT-like structure showing substantial homology to the mouse SULT1D1 cDNA recently described. However, in humans this structure represents a pseudogene (SULT1D1P) because of mutated splice donors/acceptors and in-frame stop codons in the sequence corresponding to exon II. This SULT gene cluster is located on the minus strand of chromosome 4 with SULT1B1 being closest to the centromer.
Interactions between spatial attention and global/local feature selection: an ERP study

The present study examined the interaction between spatial attention and global/local feature processing of visual hierarchical stimuli. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from subjects who detected global or local targets at attended locations while ignoring those at unattended locations. Spatial attention produced enhanced occipital P1 and N1 waves in both global and local conditions. Selection of local features enhanced posterior P1, N1 and N2 waves relative to selection of global features. However, the modulations of the P1 and N2 by global/local feature selection were stronger when spatial attention was directed to the left than the right visual fields. The results suggest neurophysiological bases for interactions between spatial attention and hierarchical analysis at multiple stages of visual processing.
ROTATION AND BRAKING STRATEGIES TO PERFORM A SUCCESSFUL CUTTING MANEUVER

This study aimed to reveal principle movement strategies during successful 90° cutting maneuvers (CMs). Investigation of the pelvis rotation angle showed that subjects mainly use two strategies: one with most of the 90° cutting angle already realized within the body rotation prior to the transition step or one with the rotation executed after transition. These different turning strategies also impacted the way subjects deflected their COM velocity. Pre-rotation results in a more effective movement and less injury risk while post-rotation is suggested to occur in unanticipated cutting maneuvers.
The differential effect of foreign‐born status on preterm birth: a Taiwan population‐based birth registry study

Whether foreign‐born status confers a protective effect on preterm birth in Taiwan was investigated using singleton live birth data from the 2004 Taiwan Birth Registry (n= 211 946). Newborns of foreign‐born mothers (FBMs) comprised 13.7% of the population. The preterm birth rate of newborns of FBMs (5.9%) was significantly lower than that of newborns of Taiwan‐born mothers (TBMs) (8.0%) (P < 0.0001). After having adjusted for predisposing maternal factors or adverse pregnancy conditions, newborns of FBMs still had a lower risk in preterm birth than that of TBMs, with an odds ratio of 0.74 and 95% confidence interval between 0.71 and 0.79. Selection was hypothesised to explain the low preterm birth rate in FBMs.
When China Sneezes Does ASEAN Catch a Cold?

This paper looks at the effects of a China slowdown on Emerging Market Economies (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand) and Frontier Developing Economies (Cambodia, Lao P.D.R., and Vietnam) in ASEAN. The main finding is that the impact of China growth shocks on ASEAN has risen since the global financial crisis. A one percent decline in China’s growth implies a 0.3 percent reduction in growth for ASEAN EMEs and 0.2 for FDEs. An important component of inflation is also shared between ASEAN and China. These magnitudes are double what they were two decades ago due to stronger trade and financial linkages. Finally, a slowdown in China, while having real effects, also has a financial impact via slower credit growth and lower equity prices. This is in line with the existence of both portfolio balance and signaling channels, in which ASEAN market participants absorb news on China economic activity as an indicator over domestic growth prospects.