Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interactions of L-3,5,3'-Triiodothyronine, Allopregnanolone, and Ivermectin with the GABAA Receptor: Evidence for Overlapping Intersubunit Binding Modes

Structural mechanisms of modulation of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptors by neurosteroids and hormones remain unclear. The thyroid hormone L-3,5,3’-triiodothyronine (T3) inhibits GABAA receptors at micromolar concentrations and has common features with neurosteroids such as allopregnanolone (ALLOP). Here we use functional experiments on α2β1γ2 GABAA receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes to detect competitive interactions between T3 and an agonist (ivermectin, IVM) with a crystallographically determined binding site at subunit interfaces in the transmembrane domain of a homologous receptor (glutamate-gated chloride channel, GluCl). T3 and ALLOP also show competitive effects, supporting the presence of both a T3 and ALLOP binding site at one or more subunit interfaces. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations over 200 ns are used to investigate the dynamics and energetics of T3 in the identified intersubunit sites. In these simulations, T3 molecules occupying all intersubunit sites (with the exception of the α-β interface) display numerous energetically favorable conformations with multiple hydrogen bonding partners, including previously implicated polar/acidic sidechains and a structurally conserved deformation in the M1 backbone.
Isolation and characterization of Newcastle disease virus from vaccinated commercial layer chicken.

Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious and wide spread viral disease of the avian species causing severe economic losses in domestic poultry, especially chickens [1]. This disease is still one of the most important diseases in poultry production worldwide and remains a major constraint against the development of both industrial and village poultry production in Asia in spite of control measures including vaccination which has been applied since 1950s. Its global impact is enormous and remains a major barrier to international trade in poultry and poultry products and a greater drain on the world economy. The causative agent of the disease is Newcastle disease virus (NDV) also designated asAvian paramyxovirus serotype 1, which is a negativesense single-stranded RNA virus and belongs to the genus within the family [2]. The disease can vary from clinically in apparent to highly virulent forms, depending on the virus strain and the host species. NDV detection and pathotyping of avian isolates are extremely important because the appearance of virulent virus has significant economic consequences related to vaccination and eradication, impairing the ability of a given geographic region to export poultry products [3]. The widespread presence of lentogenic strains in feral birds and the use of such viruses as live vaccines mean that isolation of NDV is not enough to confirm a disease diagnosis and compliance with statutory requirements that may be in place [4]. Viral characterization using the pathogenicity test or nucleotide sequencing is also required, as the importance and impact of a given NDV isolate are directly related to its virulence. Hence analysis of a given field disease solely may be an unreliable measurement of pathogenicity due to the possibility of concurrent infections and bad technical management, laboratory assessments of the virus pathogenicity are necessary. Avulavirus Paramyxoviridae Veterinary World, EISSN: 2231-0916 Available at www.veterinaryworld. org/Vol.7/July-2014/3.pdf
Does workplace violence exist in primary health care? Evidence from Serbia.

BACKGROUND Violence in the workplace is a serious social and public health problem. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of workplace violence and to identify potential predictors of workplace violence at Serbian Primary Health Care (PHC) centres. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2012 and July 2013. The sample consisted of medical and non-medical staff employed at PHC centres in Belgrade, Serbia. Among 1757 currently presented at work, 1526 returned the questionnaires. The data were collected by questionnaire Workplace Violence in the Health Sector-Country Case Studies, developed by the ILO/ICN/WHO/PSI. Binary logistic regression was conducted to assess the association between exposure to workplace violence and sociodemographic and work-related characteristics. RESULTS The prevalence of workplace violence, was 803 (52.6%), with 147 (18.3%), exposed to physical violence. Multiple logistic regression models indicated that the following work-related characteristics were positive associated of workplace violence with working between 18:00 and 07:00 h [odds ratio (OR): 1.37, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08-1.73], nurses as a professional group (OR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.16-3.17), working with preschool children (OR: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.34-0.91). There was negative association of workplace violence with encouragement to report violence (OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.49-0.76) and the number of staff in the same work setting (OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.56-0.96). CONCLUSIONS More than half of employees in Belgrade PHC centres were exposed to different types of workplace violence. There is a need for interventions to protect health workers and provide safer workplace environments.
Analysis of the 2014 "APEC Blue" in Beijing Using More than One Decade of Satellite Observations: Lessons Learned from Radical Emission Control Measures

During the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meetings in Beijing, the Chinese government made significant efforts to clear Beijing’s sky. The emission control measures were very effective and the improved air quality during the APEC Meetings was called the “APEC Blue”. To monitor and estimate how these emission control measures affected air quality in Beijing and its five neighboring large cities (Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Jinan, and Qingdao), we compared and analyzed the satellite-retrieved Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) products of the pre-APEC (18–31 October), APEC (1–11 November), and post-APEC periods (11–31 November) in 2002–2014 and daily PM2.5 measurements of the three periods in 2014 on the ground. Compared with the pre- and post-APEC periods, both ground and satellite observations indicated significantly reduced aerosol loading during the 2014 APEC period in Beijing and its surroundings, but with apparent spatial heterogeneity. For example, the peak value of PM2.5 in Beijing were around 100 µg∙m−3 during the APEC period, however, during the pre- and post-APEC periods, the peak values were up to 290 µg∙m−3. The following temporal correlation analysis of mean AOT values between Beijing and other five cities for the past thirteen years (2002–2014) indicated that the potential emission source regions strongly impacting air quality of Beijing were confined within central and southern Hebei as well as northern and southwestern Shandong, in correspondence with the spatial pattern of Digital Earth Model (DEM) of the study region. In addition to stringent emission control measures, back trajectory analysis indicated that the relatively favorable regional transport pattern might also have contributed to the “APEC Blue” in Beijing. These results suggest that the “APEC Blue” is a temporarily regional phenomenon; a long-term improvement of air quality in Beijing is still challenging and joint efforts of the whole region are needed.
The Impact of Interface Design During an Initial High-Technology AAC Experience: A Collective Case Study of People with Aphasia

Abstract The purpose of this collective case study was to describe the communication behaviors of five people with chronic aphasia when they retold personal narratives to an unfamiliar communication partner using four variants of a visual scene display (VSD) interface. The results revealed that spoken language comprised roughly 70% of expressive modality units; variable patterns of use for other modalities emerged. Although inconsistent across participants, several people with aphasia experienced no trouble sources during the retells using VSDs with personally relevant photographs and text boxes. Overall, participants perceived the personally relevant photographs and the text as helpful during the retells. These patterns may serve as a springboard for future experimental investigations regarding how interface design influences the communicative and linguistic performance of people with aphasia.
N-Acetyltransferase 1 (NAT1) Genotype: A Risk Factor for Urinary Bladder Cancer in a Lebanese Population

In Lebanon, bladder cancer is the second most incident cancer among men. This study investigates a possible association between N-acetyltransferase 1 (NAT1) genotype, a drug-metabolizing enzyme coding gene, and bladder cancer in Lebanese men. A case-control study (54 cases and 105 hospital-based controls) was conducted in two major hospitals in Beirut. Cases were randomly selected from patients diagnosed in the period of 2002–2008. Controls were conveniently identified and selected from the same settings. Data was collected using interview questionnaire and blood analysis. NAT1 genotypes were determined by PCR-RFLP. Statistical analysis revolved around univariate, bivariate, and multivariate logistic regression models, along with checks for effect modification. Results showed NAT1∗14A allele, smoking, occupational exposure to combustion fumes, and prostate-related symptoms, to be risk factors for bladder cancer. The odds of carrying at least one NAT1∗14A allele are 7 times higher in cases compared to controls (OR = 7.86, 95% CI: 1.53–40.39). A gene-environment interaction was identified for NAT1∗14A allele with occupational exposure to combustion fumes. Among carriers of NAT1∗14A allele, the odds of bladder cancer dropped to 2.03 from 3.72. Our study suggests NAT1∗14A allele as a possible biomarker for bladder cancer. Further research is recommended to confirm this association.
The influence of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and pay satisfaction on turnover intention of academic staffs in selected private higher education institution in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

Various literature reviews have investigated employee turnover intention within both the private and public sectors. However, little is known about employee turnover intention within Private Higher Education Institution in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between job satisfaction, organizational commitment and pay satisfaction on turnover intention among academic staffs in Private Higher Education Institution in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. In this study, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and pay satisfaction acts as independent variables. Meanwhile, turnover intention acts as dependent variable. This study adopts correlational study survey to answer the three research questions developed. The method of data analysis includes descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results imply that relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment does not have significant effect on turnover intention. However, the result of the relationship between pay satisfaction shows a significant influence on turnover intention. The findings indicated that pay satisfaction is the root cause of turnover intention, while job satisfaction and organizational commitment has minor influence on the turnover intention. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are also presented in this study. This research should serve as a guide to management in Private Higher Education Institution, especially in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah to deepen their understanding of the employees' behavior and take the necessary steps to reduce the turnover intention.
A 2nd-order Delta Sigma AD modulator using dynamic amplifier and dynamic SAR quantizer

A proof-of-concept Delta Sigma AD modulator using dynamic analog components is designed and fabricated in 90nm CMOS technology. The measurement results of an experimental prototype demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed switched-capacitor (SC) architecture to realize a 2nd-order Delta Sigma AD modulator with ring amplifier based integrators and dynamic comparator based successive approximation register (SAR) quantizer. The integrators in the modulator are realized by ring amplifier without static current. Multi-bit quantizer and analog adder in the feedforward modulator is realized by a passive-adder embedded SAR analog-to-digital converter (ADC) which consists of capacitor array and a dynamic comparator. The dynamic comparator does not dissipate static power when a pre-amplifier is not used. Measurement results of peak SNDR=77.51dB and SNR=80.08dB are achieved while a sinusoid −1dBFS input is sampled at 12MS/s for the bandwidth is BW=94kHz. The total analog power consumption of the modulator is 0.37mW while the supply voltage is 1.1V.
Effect of Lithium Therapy on Non-enzymatic Antioxidants in Patients with Bipolar Affective Disorder

Aim: Brain is more vulnerable to oxidative free radicals than other tissues. Oxidative stress might primarily or secondarily be involved in the pathogenesis of bipolar affective disorder. Therefore this study was aimed to estimate & compare parameters of oxidative stress and antioxidant levels in bipolar patients and healthy controls. Methods: A total of 32 bipolar patients and 30 healthy subjects were recruited in this study. Serum MDA level was measured as indicator of lipid peroxidation and vitamin C, E & glutathione were determined as a measure of antioxidant status. Results: Significantly (p<0.001) elevated MDA level was found in patient before treatment (7.11 ± 1.62 nmol/ml) as compared to control (3.02 ± 1.30 nmol/ml) group. Patients on follow-up also had significantly increased MDA level (5.37 ± 1.36 nmol/ml) as compared to control group and decrease in level was significant (p<0.001) in comparison to before treatment patients. Vitamin C (0.82 ± 0.32 mg/dl), E (0.77 ± 0.20 mg/dl) and glutathione (4.44 ± 0.91 μmol/gm Hb) levels were significantly (p<0.001) reduced in patient group compared with those of control (1.53 ± 0.56 mg/dl), (1.27 ± 0.37 mg/dl) and (9.66 ± 1.79 μmol/gm Hb) respectively. Conclusion: The findings suggest that there is increased oxidative stress in bipolar patients in comparison to controls.
Evaluación de Funciones Ejecutivas en Estudiantes Universitarios con Niveles de Autoeficacia Percibida Baja

Las funciones ejecutivas se han definido como una capacidad para formular metas, planearlas y llevarlas a cabo efectivamente. Por otro lado, las creencias de autoeficacia representan un mecanismo cognitivo que media entre el conocimiento y la accion y determina, junto con otras variables, el exito de las propias acciones. El objetivo de este estudio fue conocer las caracteristicas de desempeno en el funcionamiento ejecutivo, en una muestra de jovenes universitarios de acuerdo con su nivel de autoeficacia percibida. Para ello se utilizo la Escala de Autoeficacia en Conductas Academicas (EACA) y la Bateria Neuropsicologica de Funciones Ejecutivas (BANFE-2). Participaron 36 estudiantes, lo cuales fueron divididos en tres grupos de acuerdo a su autoeficacia percibida: baja, satisfactoria y alta. Los estudiantes con autoeficacia baja tuvieron puntajes bajos en tareas academicas de comprension, comunicacion, atencion y excelencia ( p < .05). A su vez, este grupo tuvo: i ) el mayor numero de errores negativos ( p < .05) en el subtest de metamemoria que resultan de la propia subestimacion sobre su desempeno; ii ) el mayor tiempo en la clasificacion de cartas ( p < .05); y, iii ) el mayor numero de errores en el subtest Stroop ( p < .05). Se concluye que existe una relacion entre algunas de las funciones ejecutivas y la autoeficacia percibida, dado que las creencias que tienen los estudiantes sobre si mismos representan un factor basico para el logro de sus actividades academicas y la toma de decisiones que tienen que enfrentar en su trayectoria academica.
Analog placement with common centroid constraints

In order to reduce parasitic mismatch in analog circuits, some groups of devices are required to share a common centroid while being placed. Devices are split into smaller ones and placed with a common center point. We will address this problem of handling common centroid constraint in placement. A new representation called center-based corner block list (C-CBL) is proposed which is a natural extension of corner block list (CBL) [1] to represent a common centroid placement of a set of device pairs. C-CBL is complete and non-redundant in representing any common centroid mosaic packings with pairs of blocks to be matched. To address the same problem with an additional constraint that devices are required to be placed uniformly to average out the parasitic errors, a grid-based approach is proposed. Experimental results show that both approaches are fast and promising, and have high scalability that even large data sets can be handled effectively.
Experience of Animate Similarity Concepts in Multimedia Database

This paper describes and reports an experience related to several applications of the Animate Vision Paradigm to query processing and indexing in multimedia databases. In particular we show as two main problems related to video and image databases may be usefully advantaged by an Animate Image Similarity model, namely the video segmentation problem and the image retrieval task in a Query By Example environment.
RETRIEVAL INDUCED FORGETTING AND ADULT SECOND LANGUAGE VOCABULARY ACQUISITION: PRELIMINARY INSIGHTS FROM A WELSH LANGUAGE TRAINING STUDY

The current investigation explored the role of retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), a process whereby retrieval of information from memory perturbs access to related material, in second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition. Prior research has indicated that retrieving words in one language may cause difficulties remembering equivalent words in another language. Here, subjects learned novel Welsh words, half of which were then retrieved in English. EEG was recorded throughout the experiment with a view to assess whether ERP components previously associated with RIF were present. Behavioural results showed that, at a final test of Welsh knowledge, subjects exhibited significantly longer RTs to items that had been retrieved in English, compared to those which had not. This is taken as preliminary evidence for a role of RIF during L2 acquisition. ERP components previously associated with RIF were not elicited, likely due to differences in experimental design between previous research and the current investigation.
A review of post-operative infections in veterinary orthopaedic surgery

Summary Surgical site infections are an inherent risk in orthopaedic surgery and many of the infections that develop are likely to be non-preventable. However, a variety of measures can be undertaken to reduce the risk and impact of surgical site infections. The development and implementation of an infection control program, including surgical site infection surveillance, can be an important tool for patient management. All veterinary practices should have some form of infection control program in order to address surgical site infections, among other issues, and to provide the optimal and expected level of care.
Selective impairment of hippocampal neurogenesis by chronic alcoholism: Protective effects of an antioxidant

A major pathogenic mechanism of chronic alcoholism involves oxidative burden to liver and other cell types. We show that adult neurogenesis within the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus is selectively impaired in a rat model of alcoholism, and that it can be completely prevented by the antioxidant ebselen. Rats fed for 6 weeks with a liquid diet containing moderate doses of ethanol had a 66.3% decrease in the number of new neurons and a 227–279% increase in cell death in the dentate gyrus as compared with paired controls. Neurogenesis within the olfactory bulb was not affected by alcohol. Our studies indicate that alcohol abuse, even for a short duration, results in the death of newly formed neurons within the adult brain and that the underlying mechanism is related to oxidative or nitrosative stress. Moreover, these findings suggest that the impaired neurogenesis may be a mechanism mediating cognitive deficits observed in alcoholism.
What is Brunei Society? Reflections on a Conceptual and Ethnographic Issue:

Introduction Although a general survey of the ethnographic literature on Brunei Darussalam is urgently needed so that we might satisfactorily assess what has been accomplished and what remains to be done, I do not propose to present an overview here. In the course of the discussion I shall indicate some of the strengths and weaknesses of the anthropology of Brunei, but, in the main, I shall be concerned with both a conceptual and an ethnographic issue which I believe is of crucial importance to Brunei studies. The discussion also leads me to propose certain matters for future anthropological investigation both in Brunei and neighbouring territories. The issue which I have in mind is certainly not particular to Brunei. It has been confronted by anthropologists who have undertaken fieldwork in complex multi-ethnic situations in other parts of South East Asia; it is especially well illustrated in Edmund Leach's study of the political systems of Highland Burma (1964) and in J6rome Rousseau's analysis of Central Borneo society (1990; see also King, 1993). However, in the case of Brunei it is of special interest because of the long history of this sultanate and the fact that Brunei Darussalam is the only surviving, politically independent Malay Islamic monarchy in South East Asia (Braighlinn, 1992: 18ff.). The sultanate therefore provides us with the most direct example of a sociopolitical system whose constituent elements, both ideological and non ideological, demonstrate processes of, on the one hand, transformation and innovation and, on the other, continuity and the celebration of tradition. The subject to be addressed is that of the conceptualization, definition, and description of Brunei society in the context of an established political system dominated by one ethnic group. In investigating the matter of what we mean by Brunei society, I think we are able to examine and re-order the separate ethnographic studies of various communities in parts of north-west Borneo in quite interesting ways. Therefore, it allows us a point of
Protest and protect

A phenomenological study reveals Chinese mothers’ perception and interpretation of smartphone (tablet) in their everyday communications and interactions with their young children. In total, 23 in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Data of the current study indicated that Chinese mothers’ perception of smartphone (tablet) in their everyday lives’ communication and interaction with young children is both grounded and reflective of their parenting philosophy and family communication style. Data of the current study indicated that today’s Chinese mothers have a mixed feeling toward the role of smartphone and tablet plays in their parenting practices. According to those participants, the smartphone and tablet both help and hurt their communications and interactions with their children. There are both direct and indirect benefits of using smartphone for parenting. Similarly, the smartphone (tablet) also hurts Chinese mothers’ communications and interactions with their children directly and indirectly.