Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Perceived recovery as a predictor of physical activity participation after mild stroke

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify what acute care variables and/or perceived recovery factors could predict decreased participation in physical activities post-mild stroke. Methods: Secondary analysis of persons with mild stroke. Participants were split into two groups based on the percentage of high-demand leisure (HDL) activities retained on the Activity Card Sort (ACS) at 6 months post-stroke. Demographic variables, measures from the acute care setting (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), premorbid Barthel Index, and Modified Rankin Scale), and a perceived recovery measure collected at 6 months post-stroke (Stroke Impact Scale (SIS)) were analyzed between groups using independent samples t-tests and logistic regression. Results: There were no significant differences between groups on any of the demographic or acute care setting measures. Logistic regression indicated that only the overall perceived recovery (p = 0.05) and strength domain scores (p = 0.01) of the SIS were statistically significant factors for determining the percent of retained HDL activities following mild stroke. Conclusions: Clinicians must consider the clients’ own perceived recovery level and other more subjective factors in determining what barriers are limiting their physical activity participation after stroke. Implications for Rehabilitation Persons with mild stroke are significantly decreasing their participation in physical activities post-stroke. Common stroke measures from the acute care setting that are currently used in practice are not sensitive enough to predict the changes in physical activity after mild stroke. Perceived level of recovery/limitations should be considered by clinicians in determining what barriers are affecting clients’ physical activity participation after stroke.
Present at the completion : creating legacies at the International Criminal Tribunals

The rise of international criminal law and the proliferation of international criminal tribunals is one of the most striking developments in international law and international politics over the last two decades. Given the pending closure of the ad hoc tribunals, the question of their legacies has become increasingly topical. This thesis examines the institutional creation of legacies at the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and for Rwanda (ICTR), the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). Drawing on extensive field research, including over 230 interviews with key personnel, the thesis examines how each of the tribunals responded to the spectre of organisational decline. It finds an array of actors and institutions actively involved in the perpetuation of their international organisations and in the manufacturing of legacies. Incorporating insights from multiple disciplines, the analysis traces, and explains, variation across these processes of social construction. In theoretical terms, the thesis conceives of ‘legacy building’ as an unexamined yet central coping strategy vis-a-vis organisational demise that is aimed, first and foremost, at meaning making. Challenging the common depiction of legacies as objectively measurable end results, the study demonstrates that legacies are actively produced, not passively acquired. This is shown to be so because the impending closure of international organisations raises existential questions –– at both the institutional and individual level –– about their ownership, legitimacy and raison d’etre. Accordingly, the comparative analysis of the ICTY, ICTR, SCSL and ECCC reveals a hectic ‘legacy turn’ in the work of the tribunals that resulted in heightened, though not always effective, organisational reflexivity. The analysis contributes to filling an evident research gap in the study of international law. By showing where legacies come from, it challenges conventional, descriptive portrayals of the development of the international criminal tribunals. It unpacks what conventional accounts take as a given: the existence of legacies. But the research findings are relevant beyond international criminal law. They speak to the broader question of how international organisations portray––and perpetuate––themselves upon the completion of their mandate.
The Novel Genes emmABC Are Associated with Exopolysaccharide Production, Motility, Stress Adaptation, and Symbiosis in Sinorhizobium meliloti

ABSTRACT The nitrogen-fixing symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti senses and responds to constantly changing environmental conditions as it makes its way through the soil in search of its leguminous plant host, Medicago sativa (alfalfa). As a result, this bacterium regulates various aspects of its physiology in order to respond appropriately to stress, starvation, and competition. For example, exopolysaccharide production, which has been shown to play an important role in the ability of S. meliloti to successfully invade its host, also helps the bacterium withstand osmotic changes and other environmental stresses. In an effort to further elucidate the intricate regulation of this important cell component, we set out to identify genetic factors that may affect its production. Here we characterize novel genes that encode a small protein (EmmA) and a putative two-component system (EmmB-EmmC). A mutation in any of these genes leads to increased production of the symbiotically important exopolysaccharide succinoglycan. In addition, emm mutants display membrane-associated defects, are nonmotile, and are unable to form an optimal symbiosis with alfalfa, suggesting that these novel genes may play a greater role in the overall fitness of S. meliloti both during the free-living stage and in its association with its host.
Stock Market Volatility Dynamics: A Volume Filtered-GARCH Model

We present a two-factor volatility model to study the impact of news arrival and trading volume on stock returns variance. The model can explicitly account for the association between volatility and volume, as well as the persistence in equity variance. Unlike the standard "Mixture of Distribution Hypothesis", the conditional variance is governed by the stochastic information arrival and adds a persistent GARCH component, in order to disentangle transient from persistent volatility variations. The common observation that large volumes are associated with high volatility is explained by the fact that unexpected shocks in volume increase volatility, which is not the case for expected volumes of trading. Furthermore, the persistence of volatility is essentially unrelated to volume implying that the latter does not explain ARCH effect. Finally, we find that unexpected shocks in volume and the persistent GARCH component are both main drivers of volatility dynamics.
Early intervention for incipient insanity: early notions from the 19th century English literature

Early intervention programmes in mental illnesses started to bloom in the 1990s, and many programmes have been established worldwide during the past twenty years. However, the concept of early intervention has emerged during the 19th century but it did not make much impact on practice. The aim of this review is to identify the difficulties appeared during that period of time which could provide insight into the modern development of early intervention initiatives.
Activity‐dependent subcellular localization of NAC1

The expression of the transcriptional regulator NAC1 is increased in the nucleus accumbens of rats withdrawn from cocaine self‐administration, and in vivo studies indicate that the up‐regulation is a compensatory mechanism opposing the acute effects of cocaine. Both mammalian two‐hybrid assay and punctate localization largely in the nucleus suggest NAC1 is a transcriptional regulator. However, in this report it is shown that in differentiated PC12 and Neuro2A cells, as well as in primary cortical neurons, NAC1 is diffusely expressed not only in the cell nucleus but also in cytoplasm. Blockade of spontaneous electrical activity by tetrodotoxin prevented the diffuse expression of NAC1, and depolarization with high potassium concentrations induced diffuse cellular localization in non‐differentiating cells. The use of protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors and activator, as well as the systematic mutation of potential PKC phosphorylation sites in NAC1, demonstrated that phosphorylation of residue S245 by PKC is a necessary event inducing diffuse NAC1 expression outside of the nucleus. These observations indicate a potential non‐transcriptional role for NAC1 in the brain.
Whole-body Vibration Exposure Intervention among Professional Bus and Truck Drivers: A Laboratory Evaluation of Seat-suspension Designs

Long-term exposure to seated whole-body vibration (WBV) is one of the leading risk factors for the development of low back disorders. Professional bus and truck drivers are regularly exposed to continuous WBV, since they spend the majority of their working hours driving heavy vehicles. This study measured WBV exposures among professional bus and truck drivers and evaluated the effects of seat-suspension designs using simulated field-collected data on a vibration table. WBV exposures were measured and compared across three different seat designs: an air-ride bus seat, an air-ride truck seat, and an electromagnetically active (EM-active) seat. Air-ride seats use a compressed-air bladder to attenuate vibrations, and they have been in operation throughout the transportation industry for many years. The EM-active seat is a relatively new design that incorporates a microprocessor-controlled actuator to dampen vibration. The vibration table simulated seven WBV exposure scenarios: four segments of vertical vibration and three scenarios that used field-collected driving data on different road surfaces—a city street, a freeway, and a section of rough roadway. The field scenarios used tri-axial WBV data that had been collected at the seat pan and at the driver's sternum, in accordance with ISO 2631-1 and 2631-5. This study found that WBV was significantly greater in the vertical direction (z-axis) than in the lateral directions (x-and y-axes) for each of the three road types and each of the three types of seats. Quantitative comparisons of the results showed that the floor-to-seat-pan transmissibility was significantly lower for the EM-active seat than for either the air-ride bus seat or the air-ride truck seat, across all three road types. This study also demonstrated that seat-suspension designs have a significant effect on the vibrations transmitted to vehicle operators, and the study's results may prove useful in designing future seat suspensions.
A Novel Space Vector Modulation Based Control Strategy for Z-Source Inverter

In this study, a novel control strategy based on Distributed Space Vector Modulation is proposed considering to improve dynamic performance of Z Source Inverter (ZSI) while obstructing high voltage stresses on inverter switches and high loss. Distributed space vector modulation lets ZSI output voltage to be controlled by Z source capacitor voltage with a simple equation. Therefore, only one voltage feedback is enough to control inverter output voltage. Furthermore, no zero state is utilized in the proposed control strategy so an additional control loop for modulation index is no longer needed. Flexible modulation index lets work with flexible dc line voltage and it makes it possible to limit voltage stresses across inverter switches so ZSI has low cost switches and also high efficiency. Moreover, the proposed control method has been investigated for both resistive and inductive loads due to ZSI load power factor depended characteristics. Effectiveness of the suggested control method is verified with Matlab/Simulink simulations considering sudden changes both in dc source and load level.
Rights to health and struggles for accountability in a Brazilian municipal health council

Citizens’ Constitution’ for giving legal form to the demands mobilised in the struggle for democratisation. The realisation of this right is intimately linked with the pursuit of accountability. The architecture of the Brazilian health system has at its foundation an acknowledgement of the contribution that citizens can make to equitable and efficient service delivery through their role in mechanisms of accountability. The right to health is instantiated in the monthly meetings of conselhos de saude, health councils, at municipal, state and national level, in which representatives of civil society come together with health workers and representatives from the municipal government to audit health spending and approve health plans. Endowed with the power to make binding decisions, the conselhos are mandated by law to approve budgets, plans and accounts before monies can be released from the federal coffers. The health of the population is a fundamental resource for the nation; and maintaining national health systems that can deliver services to the mass of the population, especially those who can least afford health care, is of symbolic as well as political and economic importance. Yet the provision of public health services also requires resources. It involves significant investment and management of public monies, and difficult decisions over allocations of ever-diminishing budgets. Throw in the complications of a mixed health system, where there is statutory acknowledgement of the limits of state provision and the need to contract out particular services to the private sector, and add historic distrust on the part of citizens in the probity of its bureaucrats, and the interplay between the realisation of rights and demands for accountability become all the more complicated. C H A P T E R
Socioeconomic Status and Health among Older Adults in Rural and Urban China

Objective: The association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, which has proven to be quite robust, is rarely tested in societies where levels of economic development and systems of stratification differ from those in Western developed countries. This article examines associations in rural and urban China. Method: Techniques include logit equation estimates of separate and pooled samples. The latter employ interaction terms to test rural and urban effects. Socioeconomic indicators include those more customarily used in these types of studies (e.g., education) and several that are less traditional (e.g., pension eligibility). Results: Results indicate associations exist in China. Bank savings is the strongest predictor. Some unexpected results are also found, including a positive association between socioeconomic status and chronic conditions (e.g., cardiovascular disease) among older adults in urban China. Discussion: Use and access to a health care professional might explain part of this anomaly.
Students' participation in decision making: a study of public secondary school strikes in Nairobi Province

The concept of participatory decision making permeates virtually all facets of our lives today. However, students’ participation in decision making as a tool towards the enhancement of administrative effectiveness and efficiency in Kenyan secondary schools has not been wholly embraced by schools. The inadequate facilitation of students’ participation in secondary school decision making processes has been cited in various forums as a cause of school strikes/unrests as a result of lack and/or limited students' participation in decision making. The study was envisaged to serve as an important pointer for efforts towards enhancement of participatory decision making in secondary schools in Kenya. The study sought to fulfill four objectives, namely: 1. To find out the key factors that explain the increasing student strikes in secondary schools in Nairobi Province in the late 1990s. 2. To investigate whether limited and/or lack of students’ participation in decision making processes had any significant influence on upsurge of student strikes in Nairobi province in the 1990s. 3. To explore the extent to which principals involved students in school decision making processes. 4. To examine whether changes calling for multipartism have had any significant influence on students’ demand for participation in decision making. To realize these objectives, the study tested three hypotheses. The dependent variable for all these research questions was student strikes. The hypotheses sought to establish whether the dependent variable was influenced by the following independent variables; type of school, limited and/or lack of student participation in decision making processes and undemocratic prefect system in schools. The study was designed as a cross sectional survey research study. Random sampling was used to select 35 public secondary schools in Nairobi province. All students and principals in the selected schools were given questionnaires to complete. In all, 478 secondary school students and 25 principals were studied. Based on the study’s data, the following are the key findings of this study: 1. Majority of the students (67.9%) revealed that they were not satisfied that they were adequately involved in decision making processes in their school. 2. The most prevalent causes of school strikes and unrests among secondary school students were lack of student participation in decision making, lack of dialogue between principals and students, too much powers vested on prefects, lack of democratic system in schools and drug abuse among students. 3. The majority of principals tended to exercise complete control over some democratic processes in school seen as most appropriate for students’ participation. This came out despite their acceptance that students’ participation in decision making is very important since they are the direct recipients of the decisions so made. vii
Efficacy of sirolimus (rapamycin) administered concomitantly with a subtherapeutic dose of cyclosporin in the treatment of severe psoriasis: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND The identification of a highly potent immunosuppressive/antiproliferative agent with an acceptable toxicity profile has long been a goal for the management of severe plaque psoriasis. OBJECTIVES To investigate the efficacy and safety of sirolimus (Rapamune) for severe psoriasis when given alone or in association with cyclosporin. METHODS In a randomized, double-blind, eight parallel group, pilot study in 24 out-patient centres in seven European countries, 150 patients, 18 years and older, with severe chronic plaque psoriasis were given sirolimus 0.5, 1.5 and 3.0 mg m(-2) daily for 8 weeks, either alone or in association with a subtherapeutic dose of cyclosporin (1.25 mg kg(-1) daily). Cyclosporin 5 mg kg(-1) daily was the positive control and cyclosporin 1.25 mg kg(-1) daily the negative control. The primary efficacy variable was the mean percentage reduction in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). Safety assessments included monitoring of adverse events, clinical laboratory parameters and sirolimus/cyclosporin blood concentrations. RESULTS The greatest mean percentage decreases in PASI were seen with cyclosporin 5.0 mg kg(-1) daily (70.5%) and with sirolimus 3.0 mg m(-2) daily + cyclosporin 1.25 mg kg(-1) daily (63.7%). Both groups demonstrated significantly better results than cyclosporin 1.25 mg kg(-1) daily (mean decrease 33.4%). Serum creatinine levels were significantly lower for groups with sirolimus alone and sirolimus plus reduced-dose cyclosporin when compared with cyclosporin 5.0 mg kg(-1) daily. Adverse events associated with sirolimus included thrombocytopenia (5%), hyperlipidaemia (9%), aphthous stomatitis (9%) and acne (13%), whereas adverse events associated with cyclosporin included hot flushes (12%), hyperlipidaemia (9%) and increased serum creatinine (9%). CONCLUSIONS The concomitant administration of sirolimus with a subtherapeutic dose of cyclosporin in severe psoriasis may permit a reduction in their respective toxicities, notably cyclosporin-induced nephrotoxicity.
What makes a healthier nurse, workplace or leisure physical activity? Informed by the Australian and New Zealand e-Cohort Study.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE To investigate health differences between nurses who report meeting the daily physical activity recommendations in or away from the workplace. BACKGROUND Adhering to the national physical activity recommendations has known health benefits. Whilst often considered a workplace active profession, data are emerging of poor health amongst nurses. However, health differences between workplace or leisure-time physically active nurses are understudied. DESIGN The investigation is an observation study of Australian and New Zealand nurses. Data were generated from the longitudinal, population-based, observational e-Cohort nursing survey. METHODS Data were informed and groups defined by the self-reported minutes per day of moderate physical activity collected from a large international survey of practicing nurses (n = 2264). Groups were: Group (G) 1--high workplace (≥30 minutes/day)/high leisure (≥30 minutes/day), G2--high workplace/low leisure (<30 minutes/day), G3--low workplace/low leisure (<30 minutes/day) and G4--low workplace/high leisure. RESULTS G2 had a high BMI and were younger than G4. G4 were significantly more active away from work and more likely to report cycling to work than G2. In contrast, G2 were most likely to have taken sick days because of their health (χ(2) = 19·101), have difficulty sleeping most of the time and have a medical history of diagnosed anxiety and depression. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that improved well-being can be achieved in nursing cohort through leisure-time physical activity. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE This research shows that nurse should consider leisure-time physical activity necessary to maintain and prolong health and that workplace activity is not a sufficient stimulus. This has important implications for workforce planners and administrators.
Behavioural sensitization and enhanced dopamine response in the nucleus accumbens after intravenous cocaine self‐administration in mice

The behavioural effects of cocaine are enhanced in animals with a prior history of repeated cocaine administration. This phenomenon, referred to as sensitization, is also associated with an increase in cocaine‐evoked extracellular dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens. Behavioural and neurochemical sensitization has been demonstrated in rats with a prior history of cocaine self‐administration and in those that had received experimenter‐administered cocaine. Although it is clear that the repeated non‐contingent administration also results in behavioural sensitization in the mouse, the issue of whether behavioural and neurochemical sensitization also occur in this species following intravenous cocaine self‐administration has not been assessed. The present study used the technique of in vivo microdialysis in conjunction with operant self‐administration to characterize cocaine‐evoked locomotor activity and dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens in mice with a prior history of intravenous cocaine self‐administration or those that had received yoked infusions of cocaine. Mice that had received contingent or non‐contingent infusions of cocaine exhibited an enhanced behavioural response to cocaine and increased cocaine‐evoked dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens. There was no difference between groups in the magnitude of this effect. Prior exposure to cocaine did not modify baseline dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens. These data demonstrate that mice with previous cocaine self‐administration experience show an enhanced behavioural and dopamine response to cocaine in the nucleus accumbens. Furthermore, control over cocaine infusion does not significantly alter the magnitude of the sensitized behavioural and presynaptic dopamine responses observed in response to a challenge dose of cocaine.