Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Weak but Critical Links between Primary Somatosensory Centers and Motor Cortex during Movement

Motor performance is improved by stimulation of the agonist muscle during movement. However, related brain mechanisms remain unknown. In this work, we perform a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in 21 healthy subjects under three different conditions: (1) movement of right ankle alone; (2) movement and simultaneous stimulation of the agonist muscle; or (3) movement and simultaneous stimulation of a control area. We constructed weighted brain networks for each condition by using functional connectivity. Network features were analyzed using graph theoretical approaches. We found that: (1) the second condition evokes the strongest and most widespread brain activations (5147 vs. 4419 and 2320 activated voxels); and (2) this condition also induces a unique network layout and changes hubs and the modular structure of the brain motor network by activating the most “silent” links between primary somatosensory centers and the motor cortex, particularly weak links from the thalamus to the left primary motor cortex (M1). Significant statistical differences were found when the strength values of the right cerebellum (P < 0.001) or the left thalamus (P = 0.006) were compared among the three conditions. Over the years, studies reported a small number of projections from the thalamus to the motor cortex. This is the first work to present functions of these pathways. These findings reveal mechanisms for enhancing motor function with somatosensory stimulation, and suggest that network function cannot be thoroughly understood when weak ties are disregarded.
The impact of international immigration and cultural diversity on economic performance, public attitudes and political outcomes in European regions

The dissertation consists of three empirical studies in the field of International Immigration. The first chapter examines whether the effect of cultural diversity on economic performance of European regions is influenced by the level of generalized social trust and individuals’ trust in public institutions. The second chapter investigates how the origin and the skill level of immigrants in European regions affect natives’ attitudes toward them. The last chapter examines the impact of international immigration on electoral support for the radical right in Dutch municipalities.
The Problems of Tourist Sustainability in Cultural Cities: Socio-Political Perceptions and Interests Management

The aim of this article is to analyse the social and political capacity of cities affected by cultural tourism. An investigation is carried out into the state of the situation in saturated destinations, the problems this poses to tourist sustainability and the positions of the various different interest groups. In Europe, many cultural cities-cum-tourist hotspots have reached such high levels of socio-political saturation that the resident population’s capacity for carrying tourism has become overstretched. This has led to a state of irritation among the local population. Social movements now include this on their agenda but the various different interest groups (residents, political groups, entrepreneurs, management bodies) all react differently. We present data relating to the case of Barcelona, with analyses of residents’ and tourists’ opinions, the actions of social mobilization carried out by pressure groups, media repercussion and the reactions of the business sector and political groups. We examine data collected from surveys and opinions carried in the media. The sustainability and management of interests indicate changes in both the number and the type of tourists, the occupation of public spaces, the distribution of profit among entrepreneurs, residents and the political and economic model of society in the future.
Myosin 5a Controls Insulin Granule Recruitment During Late‐Phase Secretion

We have examined the importance of the actin‐based molecular motor myosin 5a for insulin granule transport and insulin secretion. Expression of myosin 5a was downregulated in clonal INS‐1E cells using RNAinterference. Stimulated hormone secretion was reduced by 46% and single‐cell exocytosis, measured by capacitance recordings, was inhibited by 42% after silencing. Silencing of Slac‐2c/MYRIP, which links insulin granules to myosin 5a, resulted in similar inhibition of single‐cell exocytosis. Antibody inhibition of the myosin 5a–Slac‐2c/MYRIP interaction significantly reduced the recruitment of insulin granules for release. The pool of releasable granules independent of myosin 5a activity was estimated to approximately 550 granules. Total internal reflection microscopy was then applied to directly investigate granule recruitment to the plasma membrane. Silencing of myosin 5a inhibited granule recruitment during late phase of insulin secretion. In conclusion, we propose a model where insulin granules are transported through the actin network via both myosin 5a‐mediated transport and via passive diffusion, with the former playing the major role during stimulatory conditions.
Gender Inequality in West African Social Institutions

Discriminatory social institutions – formal and informal laws, social norms and practices – restrict women’s rights and empowerment opportunities across 17 West African countries. New laws and measures to protect and promote women’s economic, political and human rights have been accompanied by impressive reductions in gender gaps. However, discriminatory social institutions still constitute significant impediments to women’s access to land assets and restrict women’s physical integrity and decision-making power in both private and public spheres. This holds back women’s education and economic empowerment, thereby decreasing countries’ potential growth. The data and analysis based on the OECD Development Centre’s Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) aims to provide policy makers with the necessary tools and evidence to design more effective gender-responsive policies. Putting social institutions at the core of policy responses may open new and sustainable vistas to promote gender equality in national and regional development agendas.
Funding, financing and governing urban infrastructures

This Special Issue aims to further understanding and explanation of the funding, financing and governing of urban infrastructure amidst its engagements with contemporary financialisation. Drawing upon empirical material from international cases from Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, it identifies critical issues to advance work in this area. These themes concern: the impacts of financialisation upon shifting the definitions and conceptualisations of urban infrastructure; the worth of adopting more actor-oriented and grounded approaches to financialisation; the importance of affording greater recognition to national and local states as the objects and agents of financialising relations, processes and practices; the substance and ramifications of the emergent informalisation of infrastructure policy-making and governance; and, the implications of financialisation for the evolving and uneven landscapes of urban infrastructure provision. The arguments are, first, that how infrastructure is funded, financed and governed is integral to explaining socially and spatially uneven infrastructural provision and its urban development ramifications; and second, the engagements of urban infrastructure with contemporary financialisation have become central in such accounts. Future research avenues are identified. These comprise: identifying exactly how revenues are generated from infrastructure assets; specifying the relations of financialisation with other processes such as ‘assetisation’, ‘marketisation’ and privatisation; extending the geographical and comparative reach of current studies; elaborating the spaces of regulation in negotiating and accommodating infrastructure financialisation; and, scrutinising the roles of decentralised powers and resources in financialising urban infrastructure and exploring its alternatives.
Sporadic Desmoid Tumors of the Abdominal Wall: The Results of Surgery

Purpose Before the wait-and-see policy became the standard approach in abdominal wall desmoid tumors, surgery was performed on a systematic basis. Surgery remains indicated for progressing tumors but its extent is debatable. The abdominal wall is a common site of origin of sporadic desmoids, usually associated with a favorable prognosis. We analyzed the results of surgery at this specific site. Methods Data from 33 patients affected by sporadic desmoid tumors of the abdominal wall (31 primary, 2 recurrent) consecutively treated at our cancer center between January 2000 and September 2013 were retrospectively studied. Results Twenty-nine patients underwent surgery upfront and 1 after progression during the initial wait-and-see period. Prosthetic reconstruction of the abdominal wall was required in 28 patients. The average hospital stay was 5 days. Three patients developed surgical complications. Local recurrence-free survival was 90% at 5 and 10 years. Three patients had an uneventful childbirth during the follow-up after surgery. Conclusions Desmoid tumors of the abdominal wall have a favorable prognosis after surgical resection, which remains a safe and effective treatment. Wild-type tumors are common, whereas the incidence of S45F mutation in the beta-catenin gene is lower than in other anatomic sites. Upfront surgery may be considered in selected women who wish to bear a child.
Challenges to the Recruitment and Retention of Volunteers in Traditional Nonprofit Organizations: A Case Study of Australian Meals on Wheels

ABSTRACT Australian Meals on Wheels (MoWs) is a well-known, traditional nonprofit organization operating for over 60 years in a mixed economy of welfare, where it is positioned between the increasingly complex demands of state regulation and market efficiency. These contextual challenges cause critical tensions to an organization reliant on humanitarian principles and a large volunteer workforce. Findings show that this organization is experiencing conflicting and multiple identities which are having a significant impact on volunteer recruitment and retention. Specifically, data highlight the external challenges that threaten volunteers relating to regulation and funding, and internal challenges that tend to ignore volunteer value and instead picture volunteers as ageing and resistant to change. Findings suggest that the organization needs to work with all stakeholders to develop a shared organizational identity that blends humanitarianism with managerialism. New inclusive processes can enable better recruitment and retention practices, enabling the organization to “unfreeze” its traditional ways of operating to build a sustainable future for this much-needed organization.
Total extraperitoneal hernioplasty: does the long-term clinical course depend on the type of mesh?

INTRODUCTION Implantation of alloplastic material has become a standard surgical procedure in inguinal hernia repair. The properties of different meshes are discussed as determinants of postoperative outcome. The aim of this study was to comparatively evaluate long-term results after total extraperitoneal hernioplasty (TEP) with a heavyweight polypropylene mesh (PP) and a lightweight polypropylene-polyglactin composite mesh (PP-PG) in a large patient population. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study included patients who underwent TEP for elective repair of uni- or bilateral inguinal hernias between June 1997 and October 2004. We used a heavyweight PP mesh from June 1997 to February 2001 and a lightweight PP-PG mesh from March 2001 to October 2004. Patient data were evaluated by a prospective online registry, and long-term results were assessed by standardized ad hoc questionnaires after a minimum follow-up of 12 (12-103) months. RESULTS Five hundred twenty-two patients aged 18-87 years underwent surgical repair of 655 inguinal hernias, and 370 (70.8%) were evaluated. TEP was performed with PP mesh in 192 cases and with PP-PG mesh in 169 cases. Nine patients died during follow-up; 14.6% (PP) versus 20.1% (PP-PG) patients complained of mild pain, and 8.9% (PP) versus 5.3% (PP-PG) patients reported moderate to severe pain (P > 0.05). Mild dysesthesias occurred in 13.5% of the PP group and 11.8% of the PP-PG group (P = 0.63). Moderate to severe dysesthesias were reported by 6.8% with a heavyweight mesh and by 3.0% with a lightweight mesh (P = 0.10). There were no significant differences with regard to the patients' postoperative return to normal daily activities. The recurrence rate was 5.2% with a PP mesh and 1.8% with a PP-PG mesh (P = 0.08). CONCLUSIONS The long-term results after TEP showed no difference between PP and PP-PG meshes with regard to chronic pain, chronic dysesthesias, postoperative daily activities, and recurrence rates.
A Multicenter Study on the Prevalence of Diabetic Neuropathy in Italy

OBJECTIVE The prevalence of neuropathy, a common complication of diabetes, was determined in diabetic patients recruited from 109 outpatient diabetes clinics in Italy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Neuropathy was diagnosed using the Diabetic Neuropathy Index (DNI), a standardized examination developed for use in the outpatient setting. A total of 8,757 diabetic patients were studied, 51.2% men and 48.8% women, with average and median ages of 56 and 58 years, respectively. RESULTS Of the 8,757 patients, 32.3% had neuropathy, defined as a positive score of > 2 points on the DNI. A total of 2,033 (49.6% men and 50.4% women) were administered the Diabetic Neuropathy Score (DNS), the second component of the screening program, by a neurologist. This component consists of a quantitative neurological examination and nerve conduction studies that together provide a summated score. A total of 335 patients (16.5%) were not neuropathic, and 395 (19.4%) had borderline, 453 (22.3%) mild, 592 (29.1%) moderate, and 258 (12.7%) severe neuropathy. The concordance between a positive score on the DNI and a DNS indicating neuropathy was 83.5%. The severity of neuropathy increased with both age and disease duration. Of patients with neuropathy, 64.1% had an average age between 58 and 59 years with a disease duration between 12.4 ± 8.4 years (mild neuropathy) and 15.6 ± 9.7 years (severe neuropathy). CONCLUSIONS Neuropathy is a common complication of diabetes and, in this study, was present in 32.3% of all patients. An increased awareness of the high prevalence of neuropathy can lead to early therapeutic intervention and possible prevention of later neuropathic complications, such as infection and foot ulcers.
Machine learning based prediction of thermal comfort in buildings of equatorial Singapore

Majority of energy consumption in Singapore buildings is due to air-conditioning, because of its hot and humid weather. Besides attaining a healthy indoor environment, a prior knowledge about the occupant's thermal comfort can be beneficial in reducing energy consumption, as it can save energy which is otherwise spent in extra cooling. This paper proposes a data-driven approach to predict individual thermal comfort level (‘cool-discomfort’, ‘comfort’, ‘warm-discomfort’) using environmental and human factors as input. Six types of classifiers have been implemented-Support Vector Machine (SVM), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Logistic Regression (LR), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and Classification Trees (CT), on a publicly available database of 817 occupants for air-conditioned and free-running buildings separately. Results show that our approach achieves prediction accuracies of 73.14–81.2%, outperforming the traditional Fanger's PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) model, which has accuracies of only 41.68–65.5%. Age, gender, and outdoor effective temperature, which are not included in the PMV model, are found to be important factors for thermal comfort. The proposed approach also outperforms modified PMV models-the extended PMV model and the adaptive PMV model which attain accuracies of 61.75% and 35.51% respectively.
Experiences of women returning to work after maternity leave

With an increase in the number of women in the workforce, numerous studies have looked at the importance of parental leave and benefits of cash, predictors of postpartum depression, and how they affect women, handling work-family conflict, family friendly policies and many more. Of particular interest for many working women is research looking at working mothers and the issues that have an impact on mothers. Longer duration of leave has been shown to have numerous physical and mental health benefits for the mother and the child, such as motherinfant attachment. Similarly, workplace support and work-life balance were found beneficial for working mothers. This study investigates factors such as work-life balance, social support, length of maternity leave and mental health. It explores both the positive and negative impacts these factors have on mothers and their babies once mothers return to work. The study used a qualitative methodology, interviewing 11 working mothers. The participants had returned to work within the last three years, some as recent as four weeks, at the time of the interview. Participants had at least one child under the age of four. The sample of working mothers included most of the mothers working full-time, some working part-time and one mother working as self-employed. Template analysis was used to analyze the interview transcripts. Analysis revealed that working mothers returned to work for myriad reasons after having been on government aided maternity leave. Worklife balance policies like reduced hours and returning part-time initially for some mothers were found along with an understanding supervisor and supportive colleagues. In conclusion, working mothers desired longer leave citing their need to bond with the baby as one of the reason. Mothers had satisfactory support from family, friends and workplace. In addition to the government mandated parental leave policies, working mothers found a lack of information on any additional policies offered by their organizations and preferred more communication on them. iii MOTHERS RETURNING TO WORK
Media ownership and objectivity

iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.1 CHAPTER 2: CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION AND FRAMEWORK.3 Bias.3 Objectivity.4 Theory.5 Theory and the Study.7 CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW.9 Media Coverage: Equal and Fair.9 Media Coverage: Biased.11 The First Examination of Ownership and Objectivity.13 CHAPTER 4: HYPOTHESES.15 CHAPTER 5: RESEARCH METHOD.17 The Population of the Study.17 Key Variables and Definitions.18 The Coding Process.20 CHAPTER 6: FINDINGS.22 CHAPTER 7: DISCUSSIONS.26 Theory.27 Practice.28 Limitations.30 REFERENCES.32 APPENDIX I: CODING SHEET FOR NEWS STORIES.35 APPENDIX II: CODING PROTOCOL FOR NEWS STORIES.36
The Boundary between Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder: Current Concepts and Challenges

Objective: The boundary between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and bipolar disorder (BD) is a controversial subject. Clinically, it can be difficult to diagnose patients who present with both affective instability and impulsivity. This paper reviews concepts and challenges related to the overlap of these disorders. Methods: A Medline search was conducted, using the key words borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, affective disorder, and personality disorder. Reference lists from articles generated were also used. Publications from the last 20 years were considered. Results: Studies demonstrate a greater cooccurrence between these 2 disorders than between BPD and other Axis I disorders or between BD and other Axis II disorders. Some authors suggest that many patients diagnosed with BPD are better described as having BD, that the bipolar classification is too narrow, or that BPD should be considered a variant of affective disorders. Others present evidence supporting BPD as a valid construct. Hypotheses about the relation between the 2 disorders and suggestions for clinical practice are offered. Conclusions: There appears to be sufficient evidence to consider BPD to be a valid diagnosis. Both disorders apply to heterogeneous populations, and their characteristics require further clarification. In diagnostically challenging situations, careful consideration of a patient's longitudinal history is essential. Future research will be important to ensure that our diagnostic classifications reflect clinically useful entities.
Two common SNPs in pri-miR-125a alter the mature miRNA expression and associate with recurrent pregnancy loss in a Han-Chinese population

Although there are plenty of evidence that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that fall within coding sequences of genes are involved in recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), it is still unknown whether the polymorphisms in microRNAs (miRNAs) are related with RPL. In this study, we established this kind of association by confirming significant differences in genotype distribution of rs41275794 (P= 0.0005) and rs12976445 (P= 0.001) within the pri-miR-125a in 217 Han Chinese patients of RPL compared with 431 controls. Based on this observation, two-locus haplotypes were constructed and the A-T haplotype was found to be associated with an increased risk of RPL (OR=2.84, 95%C.I. 1.98-4.07, P=0.0000000057). Further analysis showed that the levels of pre- and mature- miR-125a were down-regulated in the cells transfected with the A-T haplotype, which was consistent with in vivo detection that the level of mature miR-125a was lower in 30 pregnant women with A-T haplotype than that with G-C haplotype. During in vitro RNA processing assays, we found a similar decrease in the amount of pre-miR-125a and decline in binding capacity of nuclear factors to pri-miR-125a with A-T haplotype. More importantly, the reduction in miR-125a, as a consequence of A-T haplotype, further led to less efficient inhibition of target genes, LIFR and ERBB2, which play important roles in the embryo implantation and decidualization. Thus, our data collectively suggest that two common polymorphisms in pre-miR-125a might contribute to the genetic predisposition to RPL by disrupting the production of miR-125a, which consequently interfered in the expression and function of target genes of miR-125a.
Contribution of endothelin to the acute pressor response of L-NAME in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats.

In this study, we examined whether endothelin (ET) plays a role in the short-term increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) after nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition with N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSPs). Experiments were performed by using Inactin-anesthetized male SHRSPs that were pretreated with chlorisondamine to block reflex autonomic cardiovascular effects. Injection of L-NAME (10 mg/kg, i.v.), but not D-NAME, produced rapid and marked increases (74 +/- 3 mm Hg) in MAP that were sustained for >1 h. In SHRSPs that were treated with the ET(A/B) receptor antagonist, L-754,142 (15 mg/kg + 15 mg/kg/h), L-NAME increased MAP by 45 +/- 4 mm Hg (p < 0.0001 compared with L-NAME alone). L-754,142 blocked pressor responses to big ET-1 by >90% but was without effect on pressor responses to norepinephrine. Plasma levels of ET-1 averaged 5 +/- 1 pg/ml in animals given vehicle and were slightly increased in animals given either L-NAME alone (7 +/- 2 pg/ml) or L-754,142 alone (7 +/- 2 pg/ml) but increased markedly when L-NAME and L-754,142 were given together (114 +/- 18 pg/ml). This may relate to an effect of L-754,142 to block ET-receptor-mediated clearance of ET-1. We conclude that ET plays a role in the short-term pressor response after NOS inhibition in SHRSPs.