Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Party group collapse and strategic switching in the European Parliament

The literature on party group switching in the European Parliament contends that members re-affiliate primarily for strategic reasons. This article advances the discussion by also considering the occurrence of non-strategic switches which follow the collapse of weakly institutionalized groups. Using an original dataset which includes DW-Nominate scores (1979–2009), I operationalize policy-seeking behavior among strategic switchers by deriving member- and delegation-to-group policy distance variables. The pooled logistic regression models using a penalized maximum likelihood estimator make it possible to address quasicomplete separation, and the results show that members from large groups and delegations have significantly lower odds of switching. Further, as members or delegations become incongruent with their group, the odds of switching increase. The study has important implications for research investigating the relationship between weak party institutionalization and parliamentary behavior.
Perception of knowledge and attitudes towards COVID-19 in a group of citizens in the urban area of Huánuco

Objetivo. Identificar la relación entre los conocimientos y el tipo de actitudes frente a la COVID-19 en los ciudadanos de la zona urbana de Huánuco. Métodos. Estudio observacional, descriptivo y transversal, con enfoque cuantitativo; realizado en la ciudad de Huánuco, 2020. La muestra fueron 168 ciudadanos. Se aplicaron un cuestionario de conocimientos y una escala de actitudes frente a la COVID-19 previamente validados. Se aplicó la prueba &#967;² de Pearson y el coeficiente de correlación (rho) de Spearman. Resultados. Al analizar el tipo de conocimiento frente a la COVID-19, el 62,5 % (105) de la muestra se ubicó en la categoría "desconoce". Analizando el tipo de actitudes percibidos por los ciudadanos frente a la COVID-19, el 36,9 % (62) tuvieron actitudes positivas, mientras que el 63,1 % (106) presentó actitudes negativas. Contrastando la relación del conocimiento y el tipo de actitudes frente a la COVID-19, se encontró significancia estadística entre ambas variables (p <0,005). El grado de escolaridad presentó relación significativa con los conocimientos sobre la COVID-19 (r = 0,314; p < 0,000). Conclusión. Existe relación directa entre los conocimientos y el tipo de actitudes frente a la COVID-19 en los ciudadanos de la zona urbana de Huánuco; es decir, existe desconocimiento sobre la COVID-ia19 y, a su vez, la gran mayoría evidencia actitudes negativas.
Association Between Serum Nitric Oxide Level and Changes in Thyroid Function Test in a Population-based Study: Tehran Thyroid Study Participants (TTS)

Background Nitric oxide (NO) plays a key role in thyroid function regulation through the inhibition of iodide (I) uptake at the thyroidal sodium-iodide symporter (NIS) and impacts on the thyroid vascularity and blood flow. Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the association between serum NO metabolites (NOx) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxin (FT4), and anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPOAb) changes. Also, it aimed at evaluating the correlation between serum NOx and the incidence of clinical hypothyroidism, characterized by elevated TSH level and decreased FT4 concentration, and subclinical hypothyroidism, characterized by mildly elevated TSH level despite FT4 concentration within the normal range, over three years of follow-up. Methods This study included 1,137 participants of the Tehran Thyroid study (TTS), aged > 20 years old, for whom data on serum TSH, FT4, and TPOAb in the third and fourth phases, and serum NOx in the third phase were available. Changes in TSH (ΔTSH), FT4 (ΔFT4), and TPOAb (ΔTPO) between the third and fourth phases were calculated, and the associations between serum NOx and ΔTSH, ΔFT4, and ΔTPOAb were assessed after multivariable adjustment using linear regression analysis. Results No significant association was found between serum NOx and ΔTSH, ΔFT4, and ΔTPOAb after the multivariable adjustment; neither was any observed in TPOAb split groups after multivariable adjustment. No significant association was found between serum NOx tertiles and clinical and subclinical hypothyroidism incidence in the fourth phase of TTS. Conclusions There was no association between serum NOx levels and changes in TSH, FT4, and TPOAb and clinical and subclinical hypothyroidism incidence.
Engaging shoppers through mobile apps: the role of gamification

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of several intrinsic motivations driving consumers' intention to buy using a mobile app, namely: shopping gamification, focussed attention, shopping enjoyment and socialness, through the mediating role of shopping engagement. The online shopping experience is investigated in its dual role as direct driver of the intention to buy using a mobile app and as moderator of the shopping engagement – intention to buy using a mobile app path.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical analysis was performed in China due to the extensive usage of mobile shopping apps amongst the Chinese population. A structural equation model was estimated on 893 valid and complete structured questionnaires collected amongst a sample of Chinese consumers.FindingsFindings confirm that intrinsic motivations (i.e. shopping gamification, focussed attention, shopping enjoyment and socialness) indirectly influence the intention to buy using a mobile app channelled by shopping engagement. Most remarkably, results show that the online shopping experience positively moderates the shopping engagement – intention to buy using a mobile app path.Originality/valueThe novelty of the paper lies in the conceptual and empirical evidence provided on shopping gamification, within the retailing marketing domain. The study investigates other related intrinsic motivations that jointly with shopping gamification directly influence shopping engagement and indirectly impact mobile shopping intention. The paper provides insights into the moderating role of online shopping experience, a key aspect when the challenge concerning gamification is considered.
Mental Health Status of Youth Diagnosed With ASD Who Received Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention as Young Children

Abstract Many youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience comorbid mental health issues. However, treatment history is rarely reported in these samples making it impossible to determine whether there is any relation between treatment history and later mental health functioning. Further, studies that report on outcomes of early intensive behavioural intervention (EIBI) rarely report long-term outcomes or mental health outcomes. This means that very little is known about the mental health status of children who previously received EIBI. This brief report describes the mental health profiles of 12 youth diagnosed with ASD who previously received EIBI, including measures of internalizing and externalizing disorders, and specific anxiety symptoms. The majority of participants (approximately 70%) were not experiencing significant mental health difficulties (reported by youth, parents and teachers). However, group mean scores for internalizing difficulties were significantly worse than those of the normative sample (reported by parents and teachers).
Effective Algorithms for the Economic Lot-Sizing Problem with Bounded Inventory and Linear Fixed-Charge Cost Structure

Efficient algorithms for the economic lot-sizing problem with storage capacity are proposed. On the one hand, for the cost structure consisting of general linear holding and ordering costs and fixed setup costs, an OT2 dynamic programming algorithm is introduced, where T is the number of time periods. The new approach induces an accurate partition of the planning horizon, discarding most of the infeasible solutions. Moreover, although there are several algorithms based on dynamic programming in the literature also running in quadratic time, even considering more general cost structures and assumptions, the new solution uses a geometric technique to speed up the algorithm for a class of subproblems generated by dynamic programming, which can now be solved in linearithmic time. To be precise, the computational results show that the average occurrence percentage of this class of subproblems ranges between 13% and 45%, depending on both the total number of periods and the percentage of storage capacity availability. Furthermore, this percentage significantly increases from 13% to 35% as the capacity availability decreases. This reveals that the usage of the geometric technique is predominant under restrictive storage capacities. Specifically, when the percentage of capacity availability is below 50%, the average running times are on average 100 times faster than those when this percentage is above 50%. On the other hand, an OT on-line array searching method in Monge arrays can be used when the costs are non-speculative costs.
Towards a desistance-focused approach to probation supervision for people who have committed Intimate Partner Violence: A digital toolkit pilot study

We analyse practitioner and service user reflections on a digitally enabled toolkit designed to enable desistance-focused conversations within routine probation supervision of men with convictions for Intimate Partner Violence in England and Wales. We explore how to embed inclusive therapeutic service provision within the role of public sector National Probation Service practitioners through the testimony of case managers (N = 9) and people on probation (N = 7). We discuss the strengths and challenges of the approach and its implementation. The findings are discussed in the context of: the forthcoming Domestic Abuse Bill; the renationalisation of probation; the recovery of probation services following the COVID-19 pandemic; and the emergence of technology that supports desistance.
Engaging People with Energy Efficiency: A Randomised Controlled Trial Testing the Effects of Thermal Imaging Visuals in a Letter Communication

The study tested the effect of adding visualisations to a communication to engage householders with an energy efficiency programme. External wall insulation is an appropriate way of insulating homes, yet take-up is low. Householders may be unaware of the heat loss from uninsulated walls. In earlier research, seeing thermal images prompted the uptake of simple energy efficiency actions amongst householders. Thermal images were added to a standard letter to visualise heat transfer from a home before and after external wall insulation had been installed. A randomised controlled trial tested three types of letter (standard, standard plus thermal image showing problem, standard plus thermal images showing problem and solution) in 5483 UK households. The target outcome was the rate of telephone enquiries after exposure to the letters. Enquiry rates were low (1.6%) and did not differ between letter type. We discuss the null effect in relation to the target action (external wall insulation), the manner of presentation of the visuals (mass communication, letter through the door) and the ingredients of a persuasive intervention. Findings suggest that taking a key ingredient from an intervention and applying it in a different context may result in the loss of its impact.
Formal Education and Contentious Politics: The Case of Violent and Non-Violent Protest

This study investigates the effect that formal education, as a factor of socio-economic development, has on the intensity and forms of political protest. By way of increased socialization of democratic values, increased cognitive understanding of the society at large, and human capital to participate in protests, increases in a country’s level of formal education should theoretically lead to increased levels of peaceful protest. However, increases in formal education are also theorized to play a mitigating role on the intensity of violent protests (riots) for the previously mentioned reasons as well as the fact that education acts as a strong factor in increasing social mobility. With data from 1960 to 2010 and spanning 216 countries, our empirical tests demonstrate a significant positive relationship between formal education and the intensity of anti-government protests at the early stages of socio-political development and a strong negative relationship between education and riots along the full range of data, with the later stages of development revealing a particularly strong negative correlation.
Aqueous alteration and bioalteration of a synthetic enstatite chondrite

Understanding the transformations of highly reduced enstatite chondrites (EC) in terrestrial environments, even on very short timescales, is important to make the best use of the cosmochemical and mineralogical information carried by these extraterrestrial rocks. Analogs of EC meteorites were synthesized at high pressure and high temperature. Then, their aqueous alterations, either abiotic or in the presence of the bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans or Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, were studied under air, at pH ~2, 20 °C, and atmospheric pressure. They stayed in shaken batch reactors for 15 days. Reference experiments were carried out separately by altering only one mineral phase among those composing the synthetic EC (i.e., sulfides: troilite or Mg‐Ca‐rich sulfides, enstatite, and Fe70Si30). Composition of the alteration aqueous media and microstructures of the weathered solids were monitored by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and by scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Alteration sequence of the different mineral components of the synthetic EC was found to occur in the following order: magnesium‐calcium sulfides > troilite > iron‐silicon metallic phase > enstatite regardless of the presence or absence of the microorganisms. Such small biological effects might be due to the fact that the alteration conditions are far from biologically optimal, which is likely the case in most natural environments. The exposed surfaces of an EC meteorite falling on Earth in a wet and acidic environment could lose within a few hours their Ca‐ and Mg‐rich sulfides (oldhamite and niningerite). Then, in <1 week, troilite and kamacite could be altered. In a wet and acidic environment, only the enstatite would remain intact and would weather on a much slower geological timescale.
Novel Numerical Spiking Neural P Systems with a Variable Consumption Strategy

A novel variant of NSN P systems, called numerical spiking neural P systems with a variable consumption strategy (NSNVC P systems), is proposed. Like the spiking rules consuming spikes in spiking neural P systems, NSNVC P systems introduce a variable consumption strategy by modifying the form of the production functions used in NSN P systems. Similar to the delay feature of the spiking rules, NSNVC P systems introduce a postponement feature into the production functions. The execution of the production functions in NSNVC P systems is controlled by two, i.e., polarization and threshold, conditions. Multiple synaptic channels are used to transmit the charges and the production values in NSNVC P systems. The proposed NSNVC P systems are a type of distributed parallel computing models with a directed graphical structure. The Turing universality of the proposed NSNVC P systems is proved as number generating/accepting devices. Detailed descriptions are provided for NSNVC P systems as number generating/accepting devices. In addition, a universal NSNVC P system with 66 neurons is constructed as a function computing device.
microRNA-17-5p downregulation inhibits autophagy and myocardial remodelling after myocardial infarction by targeting STAT3

Abstract MicroRNAs (miRs) are reported to regulate myocardial infarction (MI). This study was performed to investigate the function and mechanism of miR-17-5p in myocardial remodelling after MI. Initially, a mouse model of MI was established and MI mice were infected with lentivirus antago-miR-17-5p vector. High expression of miR-17-5p was found in myocardial tissues after MI. After inhibiting miR-17-5p expression, myocardial fibrosis, scarring, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis were improved, LC3-II/LC3-I ratio and Beclin-1 expression were decreased but p62 expression was increased. The dual-luciferase assay suggested that miR-17-5p targeted STAT3 and negatively regulated its expression. Then, after inhibiting STAT3 expression using STAT3 inhibitor S31-201, the fibrosis, scarring, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis were deteriorated, along with the rise of LC3-II/LC3-I and Beclin-1 expression, the reduction of p62 expression and the reversion of MI attenuation. In conclusion, inhibition of miR-17-5p can inhibit myocardial autophagy through targeting STAT3 and then inhibit myocardial remodelling, thereby protecting the myocardium after MI.
Medication incidents and pharmacist interventions in relation to directly acting oral anticoagulants in hospital settings: evaluation using Reason’s Accident Causation Theory

BackgroundDirect oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have revolutionised anticoagulant pharmacotherapy. However DOACs medication incidents are known to be common.ObjectiveTo assess medication incidents associated with DOACs using an error theory and to analyse pharmacists’ contributions in minimising medication incidents in secondary care settings.SettingA large University tertiary academic hospital in the West Midlands of England.MethodsMedication incident data from the incident reporting system (48-months period) and pharmacist interventions data from the prescribing system (26-month period) were extracted. Reason’s Accident Causation Model was used to identify potential causality of the incidents. Pharmacists’ intervention data was thematically analysed.Main outcome measure(a) Frequency, type and potential causality of DOACs incidents, (b) Nature of pharmacists’ interventions.ResultsA total of 812 DOACs reports were included in the study (124 medication incidents and 688 intervention reports). Missing drug/omission was the most common incident type (26.6%,n = 33) followed by wrong drug (16.1%,n = 20) and wrong dose/strength (11.3%,n = 14). A high majority (89.5%,n = 111) of medication incidents were caused by active failures. Patient discharge without anticoagulation supply and failure to restart DOACs post procedure/scan were commonly recurring themes. The majority of (38.1%,n = 262) the pharmacist interventions were related to pharmacological strategy (i.e., drug or dose changes or discontinuation). Impaired renal function was the most common reason for dose adjustments.ConclusionPrescribers’ active failure rather than system errors (i.e. latent failures) are contributing to DOACs incidents. Rreinforcement of guideline adherence, prescriber education, harnessing pharmacists’ roles and mandating renal function information in prescriptions are likely to improve patient safety.
Students’ motivation to engage in music lessons: The Cypriot context

Students’ motivation has often been the subject of discussion in the field of music education. This article reports on an exploration of students’ motivation during their first year of attending music lessons in Cypriot lower secondary schools (Year 7). This study was a longitudinal study tracking the students (N = 170) over one academic year. The first questionnaire was completed as students entered secondary school and the second at the end of their first year when students had encountered the new Cypriot music curriculum for the first time. The findings indicate that students’ overall motivation by the end of their first year at secondary school had diminished. As noted in previous research, problems with student motivation in school music were persistent, notwithstanding changes to the curriculum. The implications of the findings to enhance students’ motivation were examined, and future research directions are discussed.
Antibiotic resistance pattern in Shigella species isolated from children with acute diarrhea in Tabriz city, Iran

Background and aim: Shigella is one of the leading causes of acute diarrhea in children worldwide. Antibiotic resistance in this bacterium has increased due to the indiscriminate use of common antibiotics. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and pattern of antibiotic resistance in Shigella species isolated from children with acute diarrhea in Tabriz hospitals. Materials and methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 321 samples suspected of Shigella were collected from children's diarrhea stool samples and identified using standard microbiological and biochemical tests. Antibiotic resistance was also determined using disk diffusion by the Kirby-Bauer method. Results: A total of 84 samples were positive for Shigella. Among them, S. flexneri species with 83.3% had the highest frequency and S. boydii with 13.1%, S. sonnei with 2.4% and S. dysanteriae with 1.2% had the lowest frequency. The highest resistance was related to the antibiotics cotrimoxazole (92.85%), tetracycline and ampicillin (67.86%) and the lowest resistance was related to imipenem antibiotics (2.38%) and ceftizoxime (9.52%). Conclusion: The present study showed that Shigella flexneri is the predominant species isolated from children with Shigellosis in hospitals in Tabriz city. Our results also indicate an increase in resistance to common antibiotics. Therefore, it is recommended that antimicrobial susceptibility testing be performed in the study area prior to antibiotic administration.
Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions and the Impact of a Nutrition-Integrated Pilot Curriculum

Studies have demonstrated the positive effects of nutrition education on elementary students’ overall well-being. However, teachers continue to report a lack of instructional time, suitable curriculum, self-efficacy, and support as barriers to integrating nutrition into the daily curriculum. To address these barriers, this study developed and implemented a 16-week standards-based nutrition-integrated curriculum entitled Fuel to Learn. Participants included fourth-grade teachers (N=9) across North Mississippi. Qualitative observational data were collected via teacher feedback after each Fuel to Learn lesson through a web-based portal. Three themes emerged from the qualitative data and were categorized as follows: (a) supporting student engagement of nutrition and academic skills with integration; (b) ease of delivery with integrated methods; and (c) meeting the demands of classroom differentiation. Quantitative data were also collected at the conclusion of the study through a curriculum evaluation survey, providing further insight into teachers’ perceptions of the curriculum. Similar to the qualitative findings, survey results suggest that teachers perceived the curriculum to be engaging, suitable, and developmentally appropriate.
Gut microbiota and the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease

In recent years, significant findings with respect to the association of the gut microbiota and various human diseases have been discovered. The diversity can be explained by a multitude of interactions between intrinsic and environmental factors that are unique to each individual. This uniqueness of the microbiota may explain why some individuals are more prone to develop cardiovascular diseases. Gut dysbiosis plays a significant role in various pathophysiological processes. It can be postulated that health is linked to the homeostasis of the gastrointestinal microbiota. We provide an overview of diagnostic procedures to determine the microbiota’s composition, the mechanisms of microbiota interactions and some effects of the microbiota on the development of cardiovascular diseases. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) Pr ep r n