Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Acceleration and Relocation of Abandonment in a Mediterranean Mountainous Landscape: Drivers, Consequences, and Management Implications

Land abandonment in European mountains threatens habitats shaped for centuries by low-intensity agriculture and grazing. Hence, it is important to identify spatiotemporal patterns in rural abandonment, and relate them to biophysical and socioeconomic drivers. We pursued these goals in the theoretical context of transitions from traditional to productivist and then to post-productivist agriculture. We conducted a case study in a representative of southern Europe sub-mountainous marginal area that was once traditionally exploited (Pindus range, Epirus, Greece). Land cover was mapped from the outset of abandonment (years 1945, 1970, 1996 and 2015), and we subsequently calculated landscape metrics. An Intensity Analysis facilitated the comparison of rates of land cover change between time periods. By employing random forest modelling, we related socioeconomic, physiographic, geological and climatic predictors to land type occurrence and succession intensity. We found that farmland decreased from 30% to 3% during the 70 years of the study period, and that forest increased from 22% to 63%. The landscape’s heterogeneity, ecotone diversity, and spatial aggregation decreased. Abandonment and succession accelerated and relocated to lower elevation, especially during the latest time period, which was related to a second depopulation wave and livestock decrease. The remaining lowland farmlands were of productivist agriculture, and no widespread post-productivist regime was found. Thus, our study supports the view that policies, which have been mainly based on the linear transition of agricultural regimes in northern Europe, must take into account southern European mountains, where widespread abandonment can coexist with limited intensification and extensification.
Bilingual Hong Kong primary school children’s vocabulary: The impact of Filipina domestic workers

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of Filipina domestic workers (FilDWs) on bilingual Hong Kong children’s language development. More specifically, it looked at FilDWs’ influence on the L1 Cantonese-receptive vocabulary and word reading, and the L2-English receptive vocabulary of bilingual Hong Kong primary school children attending an English Medium of Instruction (EMI) school. Methodology: A total of 64 children aged 8–9 participated in the main study. Thirty-four children from homes with FilDWs and 30 from homes with no FilDW took receptive vocabulary tests in Cantonese and English, a Cantonese word reading test, and a working memory capacity (WMC) test. Data and analyses: Test scores of both participating groups were compared and analyzed with independent t-tests. The content validity index was employed to validate the receptive vocabulary tests. Findings: Participants from households with FilDWs scored significantly higher on the English receptive vocabulary test, while no significant differences between the two groups were found on either the Cantonese tests or the WMC test. The results suggest that FilDWs exert a positive impact on the L2-English receptive vocabulary, without a negative impact on L1 Cantonese-receptive vocabulary or word reading, of bilingual Hong Kong primary school children from EMI schools. Originality: This study’s Socioeconomic-status (SES)-matched groups (as measured via level of maternal education) and comparable levels of school-based language exposure clearly highlight the role of home language, especially L2 English, exposure. It is also the first study investigating the impact of FilDWs on children’s language acquisition that employed a WMC test. Implications: The study makes a practical contribution by informing Hong Kong parents of bilingual children attending EMI schools that they can expect their children’s English vocabulary to benefit via the employment of a FilDW, without a trade-off effect on L1-Cantonese.
EPIDEMIOLOGY OF DOWN’S SYNDROME & Β- THALASSEMIA IN INDIA

Down’s syndrome and Beta (β) Thalassemia are commonly prevalent genetic diseases worldwide. Down’s syndrome is predominantly caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21 or trisomy 21. Maternal age above 35 years significantly increases the chances of a Down’s syndrome birth. In India, there are approximately 21,000 Down’s syndrome births every year. β-Thalassemia is a blood disorder caused by abnormal synthesis of the β chains of hemoglobin. India has over 35-45 million carriers of this disease. This is a survey-based study, which aims to understand the epidemiology of Down’s syndrome and Beta Thalassemia in the Indian population. This online survey was answered by 297 Indian or Indian origin adults. Both females and males were the respondents. Results of the study indicated that prevalence of Down’s syndrome is low in India while that of β-thalassemia is moderate. The correlation between the maternal and paternal ages at the time of birth of a Downs syndrome affected person was determined and the analyses showed that there was a positive correlation.
Serum-Induced Expression of Brain Natriuretic Peptide Contributes to Its Increase in Patients with HFpEF

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are increased in both patients with heart failure with preserved (HFpEF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), but the reasons for this remain unclear. Our purpose was to examine whether serum-induced BNP (iBNP) expression partly contributes to increased BNP in patients with HFpEF. BNP reporter cardiomyocytes from pBNP-luc-KI mice were stimulated with serum from patients with HFpEF or HFrEF (n = 114 and n = 82, respectively). Luciferase activity was examined as iBNP and the iBNP-to-BNP ratio was evaluated. Patient characteristics and clinical parameters were compared, and multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine independent predictors of the iBNP-to-BNP ratio. Female sex and frequencies of atrial fibrillation, hypertension and the use of a calcium channel blocker (CCB) were higher in HFpEF. The iBNP-to-BNP ratio was significantly higher in HFpEF (26.9) than in HFrEF (16.1, p < 0.001). Multivariate regression analysis identified the existence of HFpEF as an independent predictor of the iBNP-to-BNP ratio after adjusting for all other measurements (β = 0.154, p = 0.032). Age, hemoglobin, CCB usage and deceleration time were also independent predictors (β = 0.167, p = 0.025; β = 0.203, p = 0.006; β = 0.138, p = 0.049; and β = 0.143, p = 0.049, respectively). These results indicate that the elevated BNP in patients with HFpEF is partly due to iBNP from the heart.
Local and Global Structure for Urban ALS Point Cloud Semantic Segmentation with Ground-Aware Attention

Interpretation of airborne laser scanning (ALS) point clouds plays a notably role in geo-information production. As a critical step for interpretation, accurate semantic segmentation can considerably broaden various applications of ALS data. However, most existing methods cannot provide precise annotations and high robustness, owing to occlusions, varied point densities, and complex and incomplete object structures. Therefore, we developed a semantic segmentation framework focusing on ALS point clouds. The framework comprises contextual feature extraction from a local neighborhood, scene-aware global information representation, and ground-aware attention module. To verify its effectiveness, comprehensive experiments were conducted on three airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) datasets: DublinCity, Dayton Annotated LiDAR Earth Scan (DALES), and DFC2019 datasets. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves better segmentation performance than that of some advanced methods. For the DublinCity dataset, our model’s overall accuracy (OA) can be improved to 67.5%, with an average F1(AvgF1) of 37.6%. For the DALES dataset, our method achieved an OA of 96.5% and a mean intersection over union (mIoU) of 77.6%. Our method also achieves a more accurate result on the DFC2019 dataset than that obtained using other models, with an OA of 94.8% and an AvgF1 of 81.4%.
COVID-19 Infection Presenting as Myalgia, Abnormal Liver Function Tests and the Guillain-Barre Syndrome

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection typically presents with respiratory symptoms. Additionally, there are a number of less frequent neurological manifestations of infection with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with case reports suggesting an association with the Guillain-Barre syndrome. Most patients present with the typical upper respiratory symptoms in association with these neurological symptoms. We present a case of an unvaccinated gentleman with none of the typical respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 who presented with the Guillain Barre syndrome and myalgia. His symptoms settled following treatment with intravenous immunoglobulins. This case highlights the importance of testing for COVID-19 in patients without typical symptoms but who present with neurological illness and supports the use of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy.
The silver economy on wheels: a narrative review of the mature-aged, hypermobile gig worker phenomena

ABSTRACT In this narrative review, we provide a historical overview of the rising trend towards vehicle-based living, focusing on mature-aged, hypermobile, gig workers. We draw on findings from several bodies of literature, including road-based tourism and digital nomadism, as well as narratives from popular culture artefacts. Focusing on the nexus of tourism, housing, senior entrepreneurship, remote work, and active ageing, we identify opportunities for the growing silver economy, including ways for regional areas to attract patronage and leverage purchasing decisions associated with shifting population demographics. Scholarly awareness of this previously neglected, and largely invisible cohort of society is weak. Further research is proposed to aid in better understanding the needs of mature-aged, hypermobile gig workers, and associated market opportunities.
Style-Shifting in EFL Students’ Written Assignments: Beyond the Textual Representations

Investigating English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ writing performance is a continuing concern within the field of research on writing. The present contribution scrutinizes style-shifting in EFL students’ assignments through an examination of the nature of their image-schemas of different types of academic genres, the most prominent factors that may affect the structure of these image-schemas, and the effect of the insufficient structure of these image-schemas, if any, on students’ written assignments. A number of semi-structured interviews were conducted and sample texts were analyzed, following a content analysis approach integrated with a grounded theory approach. The study shows that EFL students’ image-schemas seem to be interactive, interpretive, and dynamic in nature. It also shows that the structure of these image-schemas can be influenced by several cognitive, affective, social, and contextual factors. Significantly, the insufficient structure of these image-schemas may lead EFL students to shift their style locally and globally.
Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency After COVID-19 Diagnosed by Insulin Tolerance Test and Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Test

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can affect multiple organs and systems, including the endocrine system. Its symptoms can last for months, resulting in post-COVID-19 conditions, among others. A small number of patients have central adrenal insufficiency (CAI) months after recovery from COVID-19; nevertheless, its pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated. The insulin tolerance test (ITT) is a gold standard test assessing the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, and the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) test is useful for differentiating CAI into secondary (pituitary) and tertiary (hypothalamic) adrenal insufficiency. We present a case of new-onset CAI in a young female patient who had no medical history other than COVID-19. Adrenocorticotropin hormone and cortisol responded poorly to both insulin-induced hypoglycemia and CRH administration. These findings suggest that the pituitary gland may be the primary site of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal dysfunction, although magnetic resonance imaging of the pituitary gland was unremarkable. To our knowledge, this is possibly the first and only case report of new-onset secondary adrenal insufficiency after recovery from COVID-19 in which the ITT and the CRH test were performed and highly suggestive for the pathogenesis of not only post-COVID-19 CAI but also post-COVID-19 conditions.
Problems Faced by Rural Women in Availing Bandhan Microfinance in Tinsukia District of Assam

The present paper is an attempt to identify the problems faced by the rural women in availing Bandhan microfinance. The study was conducted in Margherita sub-division, Tinsukia district of Assam during the period of June 2021 – July 2021 and the study design adopted was exploratory cum descriptive. For the present study thirty percent groups were selected from each selected Bandhan Banking unit. Thus, 108 members of Bandhan groups were selected for the study as respondent. The results indicated that the most common problem faced by the respondents in availing the microfinance services was short period for repayment, not clear about the interest rate and credit expenditure on family crisis. It can be concluded from the studythat the respondents faced problems after availing the microfinance serviceswhich needs to be addressed.
Risk management in public service delivery: multi-dimensional scale development and validation

Abstract Risk is omnipresent in public service delivery, which can be difficult to accept politically. Risk management is leadership behavior targeted toward enabling frontline workers to mitigate negative consequences to service recipients in risky situations. The aim of this article is to develop a theoretical framework of risk management in public service delivery and an associated, standardized, individual-level scale for use in studying leadership behavior. The article develops and tests a second-order model of risk management, employing insights from qualitative interviews with 16 public service managers and data from a survey of 187 public service managers and 698 of their employees. The factor structure was tested and validated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The results show that the scale correlates with public service motivation, turnover intention, and visionary leadership, which provides evidence of criterion and convergent validity. The scale has no relationship to number of work hours or age, which is supportive of discriminant validity.
THE THERAPEUTICAL POTENTIAL OF GABAPENTIN COMBINED WITH DIOSCOREA OPPOSITA THUNB EXTRACTS ON A MURINE MODEL OF VASCULAR DEMENTIA BY MODULATING P2RX7 RECEPTORS

This paper aimed to investigate the therapeutically effect of gabapentin (GBP) combined with Dioscorea opposita Thunb extracts (DOTE) on vascular dementia (VD) and the underlying mechanism related to P2X7 receptor (P2RX7) modulation using a murine model. Sixty Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group, GBP group, DOTE group, and GBP + DOTE group, 12 animals per group. The VD rat model was obtained by repeatedly clipping the bilateral common carotid artery reperfusion method. The Morris water maze test was used to evaluate animal behaviour, and qPCR was used to detect the change of P2RX7 protein expression in hippocampal tissues. The results showed that compared with the normal group, the elusive incubation period of the rats in the model group was significantly prolonged, and the number crossing the original platform quadrant was significantly reduced. Compared with the model group, the GBP group, the DOTE group, and the GBP + DOTE group, all had significantly shortened escape latency and significantly increased the number of passes through the original platform quadrant, with the GBP + DOTE group having the shortest escape latency and the most access through the original platform quadrant. The treatment significantly decreased the morphological changes observed in the model group and downregulated the P2X7R expression, the effect being superior in the GBP + DOTE group. In conclusion, GBP combined with DOTE extract can improve VD rats' learning and memory ability and protect neuronal cells.
Altitudinal variation in body size and resistance to stress in Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in southern Turkey

Tolerance of cold and heat and body size are traits that are important in thermal selection. Latitudinal and altitudinal transects include environments that gradually change in temperature. However, while there are studies on the effects on body size and cold tolerance in natural populations sampled mostly along latitudinal transects, there are few such studies along altitudinal transects. Resistance to starvation and desiccation, which are also thought to be affected by temperature, are the focus of studies on clines. In this study, we measured the variation in tolerance of cold (chill coma recovery time), body size, resistance to starvation and desiccation in isofemale lines of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans that originated from four locations (50 m – 1500 m) along an altitudinal transect in the southern part of Turkey. This revealed clines in the tolerance of cold and body size along the altitudinal transect with some degree of difference between these two species, whereas there were no clines in resistance to starvation and desiccation. This study revealed some differences and similarities between the sibling species D. melanogaster and D. simulans. * Corresponding author; e-mail: ergideniz.ozsoy@hacettepe.edu. tr INTRODUCTION Distribution of species and their phenotypic variation in many quantitative traits are shaped by different environmental factors (temperature, air pressure, humidity etc.). Spatially or temporally changing environmental conditions act as selective agents driving the evolution of traits. Organisms cope with these varying selective pressures by local adaptation to different environmental conditions, which eventually generates clines in traits (Endler, 1977). Temperature is one of the most important environmental factors affecting various traits, especially in ectotherms (Cossins & Bowler, 1987) and thus thermal limits are reported for many species (Stillman & Somero, 2000; Duarte et al., 2012; van Heerwaarden et al., 2012). The reproducibility of the latitudinal clines for many traits, including body size (Calboli et al., 2003) and cold tolerance, suggests that natural selection is more important than demographic or other stochastic processes. Similarly, the environmental variation along altitudinal transects is very similar to that along latitudinal transects. However, latitudinal and altitudinal transects show a remarkable difference in terms of geographic scales; the difference between the lowest and highest latitude can cover thousands of kilometres, whereas it can be only a few kilometres in Eur. J. Entomol. 119: 140–147, 2022 doi: 10.14411/eje.2022. 015
Gonyaulacalean tabulation revisited using plate homology and plate overlap, with emphasis on the ventral area (Dinophyceae)

ABSTRACT We propose a standardization of the gonyaulacalean (Dinophyceae) Kofoidian plate tabulation using plate homology and overlap patterns, on the basis of a new morphological study of species belonging to 17 genera previously classified in the order Gonyaulacales: Acanthogonyaulax, Alexandrium, Amphidoma, Azadinium, Ceratium, Ceratocorys, Cladopyxis, Cribroperidinium, Fragilidium, Gonyaulax, Heterodinium, Lingulodinium, Paleophalacroma, Peridiniella, Spiraulax, Triadinium and Tripos. The plate immediately left of the flagellar pore is reinterpreted as a sulcal plate rather than its more conventional interpretation as a postcingular plate. With this new perspective the studied genera fall into two groups: 1) genera with only five Kofoidian postcingular plates (Acanthogonyaulax, Alexandrium, Ceratocorys, Cribroperidinium, Gonyaulax, Lingulodinium, Spiraulax and Triadinium) or six postcingular plates (Fragilidium); 2) genera with six Kofoidian postcingular plates, as well as differences in episomal plate patterns (Amphidoma, Azadinium, Cladopyxis, Heterodinium, Paleophalacroma and Peridiniella). The former are here considered true gonyaulacaleans, whilst the latter need further study for a more appropriate phylogenetic placement, and are here informally called non-gonyaulacaleans. In these non-gonyaulacalean genera, the first posterior intercalary plate overlaps the first postcingular plate/anterior left sulcal plate, but is always overlapped by the second postcingular homologue plate (a plate in similar position) demonstrating that the first plate of the postcingular series is not homologous in the two groups. Additionally, the identical overlapping pattern shows that the anterior left sulcal plate (Ssa) in gonyaulacaleans with five postcingular plates is the same plate as the first postcingular plate in gonyaulacaleans with six postcingular plates. Kofoidian definitions of posterior intercalary plates as well as antapical plates remain the same and are applied here. The Kofoidian hyposomal plate formula for gonyaulacaleans would then be 5–6''', 2p, 1''''.
Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Systematic Review

Simple Summary Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a group of heterogenous neoplasms arising from the diffuse neuroendocrine system. Several therapies have been added to the treatment landscape that have improved long-term outcomes. Despite therapeutic advancements, the symptom burden of the disease remains high, impacting health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In this study, we reviewed the impact of different treatment modalities on HRQoL in NET patients. Through a thorough literature review, 61 out of 2375 publications met the inclusion criteria. All randomized phase III trials leading to drug approvals showed a lack of deterioration of HRQoL, and one showed improved QoL. Capturing and understanding patient-reported outcome data is of vital importance for both patients and physicians to make treatment-related decisions. Abstract Therapeutic advancements in neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) have improved survival outcomes. This study aims to review the impact of the current therapeutics on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in NET patients. A literature review was performed utilizing PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and EMBASE, using the keywords “Carcinoid”, “Neuroendocrine tumor”, “NET”, “Quality of life”, “Chemotherapy”, “Chemoembolization”, “Radiofrequency ablation”, “Peptide receptor radionucleotide therapy”, “PRRT”, “Surgery”, “Everolimus”, “Octreotide”, “Lanreotide”, “Sunitinib”, and “Somatostatin analog”. Letters, editorials, narrative reviews, case reports, and studies not in English were excluded. Out of 2375 publications, 61 studies met our inclusion criteria. The commonly used instruments were EORTC QLQ-C30, FACT G, and EORTC- QLQ GI.NET-21. HRQoL was assessed in all pivotal trials that led to approvals of systemic therapies. All systemic therapies showed no worsening in HRQoL. The NETTER-1 study was the only study to show a statistically significant improvement in HRQoL in several domains. The trial examining sunitinib versus placebo in pancreatic NETs showed no change in QoL, except for worsening of diarrhea. In addition to clinical outcomes, patient-reported outcomes are a key element in making appropriate treatment decisions. HRQoL data should be readily provided to patients to assist in shared decision-making.