Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial spillovers of tourism activity on housing prices: The case of Croatia

The tourism effects on housing prices within cities and regions have been analyzed in the literature, but there is a lack of evidence on the spatial effects of these processes. In areas hit by overtourism, house price hikes have the potential of spillovers to adjacent cities and towns as well as across wider space. Our study widens existing knowledge on the tourism-housing relationship by exploring the existence and extent of spatial spillovers from tourism-intensive cities and towns on housing prices of neighboring areas. A Durbin spatial autoregression panel model is applied on a population of cities and towns from Croatia, one of the small tourism-driven European economies during the 2012–2019 period. Different spatial weight matrices are applied to the model to explore the spatial reach of effects. Our findings, robust to the use of different tourism activity proxies, provide support to the existence of spatial spillover effects. The strongest effects of tourism on housing prices within and between cities come through the conversion of housing stock in rental properties rather than through the increase of private accommodation share in total accommodation capacities. Particularly strong effects are found once full spatial correlation is taken into account.
COVID-19 in congenital heart disease (COaCHeD) study

Background COVID-19 has caused significant worldwide morbidity and mortality. Congenital heart disease (CHD) is likely to increase vulnerability and understanding the predictors of adverse outcomes is key to optimising care. Objective Ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on people with CHD and define risk factors for adverse outcomes. Methods Multicentre UK study undertaken 1 March 2020–30 June 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected on CHD diagnoses, clinical presentation and outcomes. Multivariable logistic regression with multiple imputation was performed to explore predictors of death and hospitalisation. Results There were 405 reported cases (127 paediatric/278 adult). In children (age <16 years), there were 5 (3.9%) deaths. Adjusted ORs (AORs) for hospitalisation in children were significantly lower with each ascending year of age (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.96 (p<0.01)). In adults, there were 24 (8.6%) deaths (19 with comorbidities) and 74 (26.6%) hospital admissions. AORs for death in adults were significantly increased with each year of age (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.10 (p<0.01)) and with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH; OR 5.99, 95% CI 1.34 to 26.91 (p=0.02)). AORs for hospitalisation in adults were significantly higher with each additional year of age (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.05 (p=0.04)), additional comorbidities (OR 3.23, 95% CI 1.31 to 7.97 (p=0.01)) and genetic disease (OR 2.87, 95% CI 1.04 to 7.94 (p=0.04)). Conclusions Children were at low risk of death and hospitalisation secondary to COVID-19 even with severe CHD, but hospital admission rates were higher in younger children, independent of comorbidity. In adults, higher likelihood of death was associated with increasing age and PAH, and of hospitalisation with age, comorbidities and genetic disease. An individualised approach, based on age and comorbidities, should be taken to COVID-19 management in patients with CHD.
Selecting Path Models in SEM: A Comparison of Model Selection Criteria

Model comparison is one useful approach in applications of structural equation modeling. Akaike’s information criterion (AIC) and the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) are commonly used for selecting an optimal model from the alternatives. We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of various model selection criteria, including AIC, BIC, and their extensions, in selecting an optimal path model under a wide range of conditions over different compositions of candidate set, distinct values of misspecified parameters, and diverse sample sizes. The chance of selecting an optimal model rose as the values of misspecified parameters and sample sizes increased. The relative performance of AIC and BIC type criteria depended on the magnitudes of the parameter misspecified. The BIC family in general outperformed AIC counterparts unless under small values of omitted parameters and sample sizes, where AIC performed better. Scaled unit information prior BIC (SPBIC) and Haughton's BIC (HBIC) demonstrated the highest accuracy ratios across most of the conditions investigated in this simulation.
Deposition of micron-sized inertial particles on flat surfaces: effects of electrostatic forces and surface roughness

Abstract Micron-sized particles are prone to deposit on smooth surfaces. A micron-sized particle collision-deposition model including the effects of electrostatic forces, integrated with the factors of particle size, material properties, elastic–plastic deformation, particle charging, surface roughness, and van der Waals forces, is proposed. The effects of the electrostatic forces on the critical deposition velocity, collision duration, and coefficient of restitution (COR), which is the ratio of particle velocity after and before the collision, are investigated for 1–20 μm sand particles colliding with glass, steel, and aluminum alloy surfaces. The results show that the electrostatic forces of sand particles are approximately 106–108 times their gravity and increase the impact duration. Moreover, these forces increase the critical deposition velocity by 2.32–6.89% for the glass surface and decrease the COR by 0.6–3.5% for the three surfaces, while the particle size is below 20 μm and the roughness is 1 nm. The electrostatic forces ranked from the maximum to the minimum are those of the aluminum alloy, steel, and glass surfaces for the same particle size and surface roughness. The developed model can perfect the theory of particle flow and gas-particle two-phase flow.
The Endogenous Opioid Met-Enkephalin Modulates Thalamo-Cortical Excitation Inhibition Balance in a Medial Thalamus-Anterior Cingulate Cortex Circuit

Activation of opioid receptors in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) mediates aspects of analgesia induced by both exogenous and endogenous opioids. We have previously shown that opioid signaling disrupts both afferent excitatory and indirect inhibitory synaptic transmission from the medial thalamus (MThal) to the ACC, but the effects of endogenous opioids within this circuit remain poorly understood. The goal of the current study was to understand how the endogenous opioid, [Met]5-enkephalin (ME), modulates thalamic-driven excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission onto layer V pyramidal neurons in the ACC. We used pharmacology, brain slice electrophysiology and optogenetic stimulation to study opioid-mediated modulation of optically evoked glutamatergic and GABAergic transmission. The results revealed that ME inhibited both AMPA-mediated excitatory and GABA-mediated inhibitory synaptic transmission in the ACC. However, inhibitory transmission was more potently inhibited than excitatory transmission by ME. This preferential reduction in GABAA-mediated synaptic transmission was primarily due to the activation of delta opioid receptors by ME and resulted in a net disinhibition of MThal-ACC excitatory pathway. These results suggest that moderate concentrations of ME can lead to net excitation of ACC circuitry and that analgesia may be associated with disinhibition rather than inhibition of ACC subcircuits.
After Christchurch: Alt-right Discourse and Ideology in Australia and the Platformisation of Extremism

ABSTRACT The emergence of the alt-right in the US since 2008 has been widely documented but its international impacts have received less attention. Located in the context of the 2019 Christchurch massacre of 51 people by an Australian alt-right influenced gunman and based in analysis of two Australian forums, XYZ.net. au and #DingoTwitter, this article investigates the transnational spread of alt-right discourse in the context of the platformisation of extremism. Through historical and content analysis of the sites, the paper shows how key alt-right ideologies of ‘white replacement’ and ‘white genocide’, along with anti-Semitic and misogynist ideologies, are adapted to local contexts by alt-right influenced actors. Platform logics, it is argued, provide new possibilities for the mutation and spread of ‘translocal whiteness’ and for the deployment of alt-right ‘metapolitical’ strategies that seek to normalise racist discourse.
The Escherichia coli chromosome moves to the replisome

The replisome, a large multi-subunit assembly, carries out the process of chromosome replication, connecting the unwrapping of the parental DNA with the creation of new daughter strands. In Escherichia coli, it is debated whether the two replisomes move independently along the two chromosome arms during replication or if they remain in close proximity, with the DNA being pulled toward the replisomes as replication progresses. Here, we use fluorescence microscopy to determine the location and diffusivity of the replisome and various chromosomal loci throughout the cell cycle of the model organism E. coli. We find that (i) the two replisomes are confined to a region of 250 nm and 120 nm along the cell long and short axis respectively, and the chromosomal loci move through this region sequentially based on distance from the origin of replication. (ii) When a locus is being replicated, its diffusivity slows down. (iii) There is no indication that replication initiation occurs close to the cell membrane as has been proposed in a few previous studies. In conclusion, our data supports a model with DNA moving towards stationary replisomes at replication.
The dominant role of post-transcriptional regulation in Yarrowia lipolytica to repeated O2 limitations

Rational scale-up strategies to accelerate bioprocess development, require sound knowledge of cellular behaviour under industrial conditions. In this study, the strictly aerobic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is exposed to repeated oxygen limitations, approximated from a large-scale cultivation. A data-driven multi-omics strategy is deployed to elucidate its transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolic response. Throughout a single perturbation, metabolite and protein levels showed dynamic profiles while they returned to steady state values when aerobic conditions were restored. After repeated oscillations, significant cellular rearrangements were found, with a special focus on central carbon metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, lipid, and amino acid biosynthesis. Most notably, metabolite levels as well as the catabolic reduction charge are maintained at higher concentrations. Moreover, proteins involved in NADPH-consuming anabolic pathways showed an increased abundance, which is suggested to be compensated for through an increased pentose-phosphate pathway activity. Although dynamics were found on all three omics levels, the proteomic and metabolic changes were in most instances not supported by strong transcriptional changes. Thus, this work suggests that the response of Y. lipolytica to (repeated) oxygen oscillations is strongly regulated by post-transcriptional mechanisms. These findings provide novel insights into potential cellular regulation on an industrial scale, thereby facilitating a more efficient bioprocess development through mitigating any undesired behaviour. Key points - Dynamic response of Yarrowia lipolytica to industrial oxygen profiles. - New metabolic steady states are found after exposure to repeated oxygen oscillations. - A multi-omics strategy elucidates the importance of post-transcriptional mechanisms.
Teosinte Pollen Drive guides maize diversification and domestication by RNAi

Meiotic drivers subvert Mendelian expectations by manipulating reproductive development to bias their own transmission. Chromosomal drive typically functions in asymmetric female meiosis, while gene drive is normally postmeiotic and typically found in males. Using single molecule and single-pollen genome sequencing, we describe Teosinte Pollen Drive, an instance of gene drive in hybrids between maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) and teosinte mexicana (Zea mays ssp. mexicana), that depends on RNA interference (RNAi). 22nt small RNAs from a non-coding RNA hairpin in mexicana depend on Dicer-Like 2 (Dcl2) and target Teosinte Drive Responder 1 (Tdr1), which encodes a lipase required for pollen viability. Dcl2, Tdr1, and the hairpin are in tight pseudolinkage on chromosome 5, but only when transmitted through the male. Introgression of mexicana into early cultivated maize is thought to have been critical to its geographical dispersal throughout the Americas, and a tightly linked inversion in mexicana spans a major domestication sweep in modern maize. A survey of maize landraces and sympatric populations of teosinte mexicana reveals correlated patterns of admixture among unlinked genes required for RNAi on at least 4 chromosomes that are also subject to gene drive in pollen from synthetic hybrids. Teosinte Pollen Drive likely played a major role in maize domestication and diversification, and offers an explanation for the widespread abundance of “self” small RNAs in the germlines of plants and animals.
Analysis of a European general wildlife health surveillance program: chances, challenges and recommendations

In the context of a One Health perspective general wildlife health surveillance (GWHS) gains importance worldwide, as pathogen transmission among wildlife, domestic animals and humans raises health, conservation and economic concerns. However, GWHS programs operate in the face of legal, geographical, financial, or administrative conditions. The present study uses a multi-tiered approach to understand the current characteristics, strengths and gaps of a European GWHS that operates in a fragmented legislative and multi-stakeholder environment. The aim is to support the implementation or improvement of other GWHS systems by managers, surveillance experts, and administrations. To assess the current state of wildlife health investigations and trends within the GWHS, we analyzed 20 years of wildlife diagnostic data, conducted an online survey and phone interviews with official field partners (hunting administrators, game wardens and hunters), and performed a time-per-task analysis. Firstly, we found that infectious disease dynamics, the level of public awareness for specific diseases, research activities and increasing population sizes of in depth-monitored protected species, together with biogeographical and political boundaries all impacted case numbers and can present unexpected challenges to a GWHS. Secondly, we found that even a seemingly comprehensive GWHS can feature pronounced information gaps, with underrepresentation of common or easily recognizable diseases, blind spots in non-hunted species and only a fraction of discovered carcasses being submitted. Thirdly, we found that substantial amounts of wildlife health data may be available at local hunting administrations or disease specialist centers, but outside the reach of the GWHS and its processes. In conclusion, we recommend that fragmented and federalist GWHS programs like the one addressed require a central, consistent and accessible collection of wildlife health data. Also, considering the growing role of citizen observers in environmental research, we recommend using online reporting systems to harness decentrally available information and fill wildlife health information gaps.
Feeding behaviour, species associations and natural diets of 10 Cyprinid fish species from South-West Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has been a favored region for studies of fish assemblages in tropical streams. Food, habitats, reproduction and species segregation have been in focus. The present paper introduces a new approach, comparing feeding behavior of 10 indigenous cyprinid species as observed in aquaria under standardized conditions. It is found that species with similar feeding habits (as to substrate preferences and some characteristics of snapping and processing) are largely separated in their typical habitats in the wild. This conclusion is similar to what others, working with largely the same species in the same region, have found, namely that co-existing species differ in their food preferences. But our conclusion was arrived at independently on the basis of different data. Advantages of behavior studies in this context are discussed, such as identification of evolutionary adaptations in behavior and added information on where in their common habitat co-occurring species collect certain food items that are commonly found in gut content analyses.
Effect of the DC-bias electric field on the phase transition characteristics in PMN ceramics

Abstract Relaxor ferroelectrics play an important role for technological applications, mainly for using in the fabrication of actuators, transducers and sensors. Therefore, there has been an increasing interest of the scientific community in the investigation of the physical properties of such system in order to better elucidate the observed intriguing and unsolved phenomena. In this work, relaxor Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PMN) ceramic system was prepared and the dielectric properties have been studied in details as a function of frequency, temperature and magnitude of the DC-bias electric field. Results reveal that the temperature dependence of the dielectric permittivity can be successfully described in the whole analyzed temperature range (100–400 K) by using a macroscopic statistical model, which describe the dielectric response in relaxor systems with diffuse phase transition (DPT). By using this phenomenological model, the temperature and DC-bias electric field dependences of the dielectric permittivity have been also revisited, from the analysis of the DPT behavior, promoting a careful discussion on the nature of the phase transition in relaxors materials. The calculated sizes of the polar nanoregions (PNRs) suggest the development of a structural disorder in the studied system, which promote the high diffuse ferroelectric transition as the amplitude of the DC-bias electric field increases.
Waste pickers’ perception of occupational hazards and well-being in a Nigerian megacity

ABSTRACT This study examined occupational risks associated with waste picking and pickers well-being in Lagos, Nigeria. A convenience sampling technique was employed to select 152 landfill-waste pickers, and the respondent-driven sampling technique was used to select 53 street-waste pickers. We discovered that waste pickers were exposed to occupational health risks such as body pain, tiredness, twisted ankles, chest pain, and eye soreness. Non-use of personal protective equipment contributed to waste pickers’ susceptibility to occupational health risks. Most waste pickers were dissatisfied with their well-being connected to the unhealthy conditions in which they work, the extreme poverty they live in, and the stigmatisation they experience. The study concludes that waste pickers’ well-being is critical for effective solid waste management; hence, they should be considered adequately in policy design and implementation programs/strategies.
Self-imposed Filter Bubble Model for Argumentative Dialogues

During their information seeking people tend to filter out all the parts of the available information that do not fit their existing beliefs or opinions. In this paper we present a model for this “Self-imposed Filter Bubble” (SFB) consisting of four dimensions. Thereby, we aim to 1) estimate the probability of the user being caught in an SFB and consequently, 2) identify suitable clues to reduce this probability in the further course of a dialogue. Using an exemplary implementation in an argumentative dialogue system, we demonstrate the validity and applicability of this model in an online user study with 102 participants. These findings serve as a basis for developing a system strategy to break the user’s SFB and contribute to a sustainable and profound reflection on a topic from all viewpoints.
Developing A Conversational Interface for an ACT-based Online Program: Understanding Adolescents’ Expectations of Conversational Style

A preventative approach is crucial for adolescents’ mental well-being, as problems often arise at a young age. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based intervention approach used to enhance psychological flexibility, a central factor in adolescents’ mental well-being. Conversational interfaces are recently being experimented with in mental health promotion. Their conversational style plays a significant role in creating meaningful experiences to achieve positive intervention outcomes. In this study, our objective was to understand adolescents’ expectations of the conversational style of a text-based virtual coach being developed as part of an ACT-based online program to support intervention engagement. We evaluated eight conversation scripts by collecting qualitative and quantitative data through an online survey from over 200 adolescents. Our findings provide insights on preferred conversational interface features regarding conversational style, including language use, artificiality, and empathy in the domain of adolescent mental well-being.
Quantum coherent control of laser-kicked molecular rotors

The objective of this dissertation is the experimental study and control of laser-kicked molecular rotors. Nonresonant rotational Raman excitation of linear molecules by periodic sequences of ultra-short laser pulses allows for the realization of a paradigm system the periodically kicked rotor. This apparently simple physical system has drawn much interest within the last decades, especially due to its role in the field of quantum chaos. This thesis presents an experimental apparatus capable of producing long sequences of high-energy femtosecond pulses. Rotation of diatomic molecules, the most basic version of quantum rotors, is investigated under multi-pulse excitation. In the case of periodic kicking, the wave function of the quantum rotor dynamically localizes in the angular momentum space, similarly to Anderson localization of the electronic wave function in disordered solids. We present the first direct observation of dynamical localization in a system of true rotors. The suppressed growth of rotational energy is demonstrated, as well as the noise-induced recovery of diffusion, indicative of classical dynamics. We examine other distinct features of the quantum kicked rotor and report on quantum resonances, the phenomena of rotational Bloch oscillations and Rabi oscillations. In addition, multi-pulse excitation is investigated in the context of creating broad rotational wave packets. Another goal of the reported study is the coherent control of quantum chaos. We demonstrate that the relative phases in a superposition of rotational states can be used to control the process of dynamical localization. We specify the sensitivity to external parameters and illustrate the loss of control in the classical limit of laser-molecule interaction. Our work advances the general understanding of the dynamics of laser kicked molecules and complements previous studies of the quantum kicked rotor in a system of cold atoms. The results encourage further studies, e.g. of quantum phenomena which are unique to true rotors. The possibility of control in classically chaotic systems has far reaching implications for the ultimate prospect of using coherence to control chemical reactions.