Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pharmacists' attitudes toward worklife: results from a national survey of pharmacists.

OBJECTIVES To provide a current profile of pharmacists' attitudes toward worklife and determine how demographic, family, and practice variables influence work attitudes. DESIGN Cross-sectional descriptive survey. SETTING Nationwide sample of licensed pharmacists in the United States. PARTICIPANTS 1,737 actively practicing pharmacists. INTERVENTIONS Mailed survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Previously validated rating scales were used to measure job satisfaction, job stress, work-home conflict, role overload, role ambiguity, and role conflict. Family variables included the number and age(s) of children and marital status; demographic variables included age, gender, race, years of experience, region, and degree; practice variables included setting, position, work status, and work activities. RESULTS Although 67.2% of pharmacists were satisfied with their job, more than 68% experienced job stress and role overload, and 48% experienced work-home conflict. The levels of role ambiguity, role conflict, and job stress were significantly higher in chain, mass merchandiser, and hospital settings relative to independent settings. Wanting to spend more time in consultation was most positively associated with role ambiguity, role overload, and role conflict and most negatively associated with job satisfaction. Gender, race, years of experience, marital status, and children also affected work attitudes. CONCLUSION Those interested in the quality of worklife of pharmacists need to develop and implement realistic methods to decrease the role stress that pharmacists continue to face. Unless role stress of pharmacists is lessened, the profession may be endangering not only the physical and mental health of its current and future practitioners, but possibly compromising patient safety as well.
A Third Millennium Levantine Pottery Production Center: Typology, Petrography, and Provenance of the Metallic Ware of Northern Israel and Adjacent Regions

Although long considered a hallmark of the EB II-III of northern Canaan, Metallic Ware (sometimes termed Abydos Ware, Combed Ware) has eluded systematic characterization. Defined by its highly fired fabric, Metallic Ware comprises a full range of household forms, excluding cooking pots. It is widely distributed between Taʿanakh in the south and Tyre in the north, and from Khirbet ez-Zeraqun in the east to the Mediterranean coast. Wherever found, it exhibits a unity of typology, chronology (floruit in EB II, decline in EB III), and fabric. Sherds from eight sites were analyzed petrographically, revealing a similar geological provenance: Lower Cretaceous formations that crop out mainly in the Hermon massif and north, in Lebanon. In view of its stylistic affinity to contemporary Canaanite pottery, it is proposed that Metallic Ware was produced in workshops centered around the upper Jordan Valley and distributed from there, in large quantities, to sites as far away as 100 km. Its pattern of distribution reflects a highly integrated, perhaps centralized, economy in EB II in northern Canaan and adjacent regions.
p16INK4A Hypermethylation Is Associated with Hepatitis Virus Infection, Age, and Gender in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Purpose: The tumor suppressor gene p16INK4A is mainly inactivated by an epigenetic change involving promoter hypermethylation in hepatocarcinogenesis. The possible clinical impact of p16INK4A methylation and the potential risk factors for this epigenetic alteration have not been thoroughly investigated. Experimental Design: We studied the methylation status and mRNA and protein expression of p16INK4A in 50 hepatocellular carcinomas and corresponding nonneoplastic liver lesions using methylation-specific PCR, reverse transcription-PCR, and immunohistochemical techniques. Results: p16INK4A hypermethylation was observed in 58% (29 of 50) of the hepatocellular carcinomas and 16% (6 of 38) of the corresponding chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis tissue samples. p16INK4A methylation was significantly associated with mRNA and protein expression (P < 0.001 and P = 0.003, respectively). All of the p16INK4A-methylated tumors were positive for hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus markers, but none of the virus-negative tumors exhibited p16INK4A methylation (P = 0.006). The frequency of p16INK4A hypermethylation tended to be higher in hepatitis C virus-related tumors (23 of 32, 72%) than in hepatitis B virus-related tumors (6 of 13, 46%; P = 0.1). Aberrant methylation of p16INK4A was also related significantly to increasing age, female gender, and normal levels of serum PIVKA-II (P = 0.02, 0.04, and 0.04, respectively). No statistically significant difference in survival was observed between patients with p16INK4A hypermethylation and those without. Conclusions: Our observations suggest that p16INK4A hypermethylation may contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis from an early stage and that multiple risk factors, such as viral infections, age, and gender, may be associated with p16INK4A hypermethylation in hepatocarcinogenesis.
Genetic variation in dopaminergic neuromodulation influences the ability to rapidly and flexibly adapt decisions

The ability to rapidly and flexibly adapt decisions to available rewards is crucial for survival in dynamic environments. Reward-based decisions are guided by reward expectations that are updated based on prediction errors, and processing of these errors involves dopaminergic neuromodulation in the striatum. To test the hypothesis that the COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism leads to interindividual differences in reward-based learning, we used the neuromodulatory role of dopamine in signaling prediction errors. We show a behavioral advantage for the phylogenetically ancestral Val/Val genotype in an instrumental reversal learning task that requires rapid and flexible adaptation of decisions to changing reward contingencies in a dynamic environment. Implementing a reinforcement learning model with a dynamic learning rate to estimate prediction error and learning rate for each trial, we discovered that a higher and more flexible learning rate underlies the advantage of the Val/Val genotype. Model-based fMRI analysis revealed that greater and more differentiated striatal fMRI responses to prediction errors reflect this advantage on the neurobiological level. Learning rate-dependent changes in effective connectivity between the striatum and prefrontal cortex were greater in the Val/Val than Met/Met genotype, suggesting that the advantage results from a downstream effect of the prefrontal cortex that is presumably mediated by differences in dopamine metabolism. These results show a critical role of dopamine in processing the weight a particular prediction error has on the expectation updating for the next decision, thereby providing important insights into neurobiological mechanisms underlying the ability to rapidly and flexibly adapt decisions to changing reward contingencies.
Regulated proteolysis of a cross-link–specific peptidoglycan hydrolase contributes to bacterial morphogenesis

Significance Peptidoglycan (PG) is a unique and essential cross-linked, bag-like macromolecule that completely encases the cytoplasmic membrane and confers shape and rigidity to a bacterial cell. Therefore, bacterial cell growth is tightly coupled to PG expansion, requiring the coordinate activity of hydrolases that cleave the cross-links and synthases that catalyze the cross-link formation. This study highlights the importance of cross-link cleavage and its regulation in PG biogenesis by demonstrating the modulation of a cross-link–specific PG hydrolytic enzyme, MepS, by a previously unidentified degradation system consisting of an outer membrane lipoprotein, NlpI and a periplasmic protease, Prc. These studies facilitate better understanding of bacterial cell wall synthesis, which is a target of several antimicrobial therapeutic agents. Bacterial growth and morphogenesis are intimately coupled to expansion of peptidoglycan (PG), an extensively cross-linked macromolecule that forms a protective mesh-like sacculus around the cytoplasmic membrane. Growth of the PG sacculus is a dynamic event requiring the concerted action of hydrolases that cleave the cross-links for insertion of new material and synthases that catalyze cross-link formation; however, the factors that regulate PG expansion during bacterial growth are poorly understood. Here, we show that the PG hydrolase MepS (formerly Spr), which is specific to cleavage of cross-links during PG expansion in Escherichia coli, is modulated by proteolysis. Using combined genetic, molecular, and biochemical approaches, we demonstrate that MepS is rapidly degraded by a proteolytic system comprising an outer membrane lipoprotein of unknown function, NlpI, and a periplasmic protease, Prc (or Tsp). In summary, our results indicate that the NlpI–Prc system contributes to growth and enlargement of the PG sacculus by modulating the cellular levels of the cross-link–cleaving hydrolase MepS. Overall, this study signifies the importance of PG cross-link cleavage and its regulation in bacterial cell wall biogenesis.
Virtual Environments in Higher Education - Immersion as a Key Construct for Learning 4.0

In light of the increasing technological developments, working life and education is changing and becoming more complex, interconnected and digital. These changed circumstances require new and modified competences of future employees. Education has to respond to the changing requirements in working life. To prepare for this, a technological-oriented teaching and learning process as well as gaining practical experience is crucial for students. In this context, Virtual Reality (VR) technologies provide new opportunities for practical experience in higher education, where they can further intensify the students learning experiences to a more immersive and engaging involvement in the learning process. To evaluate the potential of immersive virtual learning environments (VLE) for higher education and to understand more deeply which kind of experiences students gain while learning in immersive virtual environments (VE) an experimental research study is carried out. The paper describes education in light of industry 4.0 first and gives an overall view of immersive learning and the role of VR Technologies. Then the user study to measure user experience (UX) in immersive VLE is presented. Preliminary results are outlined and discussed with a view of further research.
Role of a SpoVA Protein in Dipicolinic Acid Uptake into Developing Spores of Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT The proteins encoded by the spoVA operon, including SpoVAD, are essential for the uptake of the 1:1 chelate of pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (DPA2,6) and Ca2+ into developing spores of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. The crystal structure of B. subtilis SpoVAD has been determined recently, and a structural homology search revealed that SpoVAD shares significant structural similarity but not sequence homology to a group of enzymes that bind to and/or act on small aromatic molecules. We find that molecular docking placed DPA2,6 exclusively in a highly conserved potential substrate-binding pocket in SpoVAD that is similar to that in the structurally homologous enzymes. We further demonstrate that SpoVAD binds both DPA2,6 and Ca2+-DPA2,6 with a similar affinity, while exhibiting markedly weaker binding to other DPA isomers. Importantly, mutations of conserved amino acid residues in the putative DPA2,6-binding pocket in SpoVAD essentially abolish its DPA2,6-binding capacity. Moreover, replacement of the wild-type spoVAD gene in B. subtilis with any of these spoVAD gene variants effectively eliminated DPA2,6 uptake into developing spores in sporulation, although the variant proteins were still located in the spore inner membrane. Our results provide direct evidence that SpoVA proteins, in particular SpoVAD, are directly involved in DPA2,6 movement into developing B. subtilis spores.
A novel caching scheme for the backbone of Named data networking

Internet traffic has been exponentially growing with the increasing demand of content dissemination. This explosive growth in traffic poses a significant challenge to the networks, especially backbones. To address the challenge, the emerging content-oriented Named Data Networking (NDN) has been proposed due to its attractive advantages, such as network load reduction, low dissemination latency and energy efficiency. To achieve these benefits from NDN paradigm, the content caching strategy plays the most important role. In this paper, we present a popularity-based coordinated caching scheme with the objective of eliminating both the inter-domain and intra-domain redundant traffic of a backbone network. In this design, the global content popularity is obtained by the weighted aggregation of local content popularity at the routers, then the cache placement can be calculated based on the access cost guided by the global content popularity. We test our caching scheme on the publicly available backbone networks: Abilene and GEANT. Simulation results show that the proposed caching scheme achieves around 30% higher cache hit rate and 20% more traffic reduction, compared with the widely used Leaving Copies Everywhere (LCE) and Random Cache (RanCache) scheme.
Cationic Biomimetic Particles of Polystyrene/Cationic Bilayer/Gramicidin for Optimal Bactericidal Activity

Nanostructured particles of polystyrene sulfate (PSS) covered by a cationic lipid bilayer of dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) incorporated gramicidin D (Gr) yielding optimal and broadened bactericidal activity against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The adsorption of DODAB/Gr bilayer onto PSS nanoparticles (NPs) increased the zeta-average diameter by 8–10 nm, changed the zeta-potential of the NPs from negative to positive, and yielded a narrow size distributions for the PSS/DODAB/Gr NPs, which displayed broad and maximal microbicidal activity at very small concentrations of the antimicrobials, namely, 0.057 and 0.0057 mM DODAB and Gr, respectively. The results emphasized the advantages of highly-organized, nanostructured, and cationic particles to achieve hybrid combinations of antimicrobials with broad spectrum activity at considerably reduced DODAB and Gr concentrations.
Experimental study of diphtheritic polyneuritis in the rabbit and guinea pig. II. The effect of diphtheria toxin on lipide biosynthesis by guinea pig nerve.

Diphtheritic polyneuritis was induced in guinea pigs by injection of incompletely neutralized toxin-antitoxin mixture. At varying intervals after the injection, simples of peripheral nerves from these animals were incubated in Warburg vessels in the presence of a labelled lipide precursor (acetate or phosphate); the total lipides were then extracted and counted. Nerve preparations from litter mate pair-fed animals served as controls. Histologically, no damage was observed until 6 or 7 days after the injection, at which time some fibers began to show segmental demyelination. From the fifth day onward there was a slow decrease in total nerve lipide content and a slight decrease in percentage dry weight. Oxygen uptake was slightly depressed at 5 days, and moderately elevated from 15 days onwards. The incorporation of acetate into the total lipides was profoundly and persistently depressed, a measurable decrease being apparent as early as 24 hours. The incorporation of phosphate into the lipides tended to increase only in the later stages of the disease, when fibers undergoing Wallerian degeneration were found admixed with those showing the characteristic segmental demyelination. These biochemical changes were interpreted as a manifestation of an early and persistent depression of the function of myelin maintenance, in the absence of any stimulus to the Schwann cell. This situation was contrasted with the changes previously found in Wallerian degeneration, in which the depression of myelin maintenance is accompanied by hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the Schwann cells. When liver slices from normal and treated animals were incubated under the same conditions as the nerves, no significant difference was found in the rates of incorporation of the label. Normal nerves and white matter, incubated for 4 hours in the presence of large amounts of toxin, were not demonstrable affected. Starvation alone was found to have considerable effect on lipide biosynthesis in peripheral nerves. After 5 days of partial food restriction, the rate of incorporation of acetate was reduced to one-half the control value, while histologically the nerves appeared normal.
Increasing secrecy capacity via joint design of cooperative beamforming and jamming

In this paper, we propose a hybrid cooperative scheme to improve the secrecy rate for a cooperative network in presence of multiple relays. Each relay node transmits a mixed signal consisting of weighted source signal and intentional noise. The problem of power allocation and joint design of beamforming and jamming weights are investigated, and an iterative solution for the secrecy rate maximization problem is presented. The numerical results demonstrate that the proposed hybrid scheme further improves secrecy rate, as compared to traditional cooperative schemes.
Totally laparoscopic versus open gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a matched cohort study.

BACKGROUND The role of laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of gastric cancer is still controversial, particularly in terms of oncologic efficacy. The aim of this study was to compare short-term outcomes of laparoscopic and open resection for gastric cancer at a single Western institution. SUBJECTS AND METHODS This study was designed as a matched cohort study from a prospective gastric cancer database. Forty-one patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer between June 2008 and January 2012 were matched with 41 patients undergoing open gastrectomy in the same time period. Patient pairing was done according to age, gender, type of gastrectomy (subtotal or total), and tumor stage via a randomized statistical method. The short-term outcomes and oncologic adequacy of the laparoscopic and open procedures were compared. A D2 lymph node dissection was performed in the majority of patients in both groups. RESULTS The two study groups were similar with respect to patient and tumor characteristics. Laparoscopic procedures were associated with a decreased blood loss (118.7 versus 312.4 mL, P<.005), incidence of surgery-unrelated complications (3 versus 9 patients, P<.05), and duration of hospital stay (8.1 versus 11.5 days, P<.05) but increased operative time for both subtotal (223.5 versus 158.2 minutes, P<.001) and total (298.1 versus 185.5 minutes, P<.001) gastrectomies. The mean number of retrieved lymph nodes after D2 dissection was similar: 30.0 for laparoscopic and 29.7 for open patients. CONCLUSIONS Within the limitations of a nonrandomized analysis, this study shows that the laparoscopic approach is a safe and oncologically adequate option for the treatment of gastric cancer, which compares favorably with open gastrectomy in short-term outcomes.
The molecular mechanisms of vitamin C on cell cycle regulation in B16F10 murine melanoma

Vitamin C has inconsistent effects on malignant tumor cells, which vary from growth stimulation to apoptosis induction. It is well known that melanoma cells are more susceptible to vitamin C than any other tumor cells, but the precise mechanism remains to be elucidated. In the present study, the proliferation of B16F10 melanoma cells was suppressed by vitamin C, which induced growth arrest in a dose‐dependent manner without cytotoxic effects. Therefore, we investigated the changes in cell cycle distribution of B16F10 melanoma cells by staining DNAs with propidium iodide (PI). The growth inhibition of B16F10 melanoma by vitamin C was associated with an arrest of cell cycle distribution at G1 stage. In addition, the levels of p53‐p21Waf1/Cip1 increased during G1 arrest, which were essential for vitamin C‐induced cell cycle arrest. The increased p21Waf1/Cip1 inhibited CDK2. Moreover, the activity of p53‐p21Waf1/Cip1 pathway was closely related with the activation of checkpoint kinase 2 (Chk2). Inhibitor of the PI3K‐family, LY294002 and the ATM/ATR inhibitor, caffeine, blocked vitamin C‐induced growth arrest in B16F10 melanoma cells. These results suggest that vitamin C might be a potent agent to inhibit proliferative activity of melanoma cells via the regulation of Chk2‐p53‐p21Waf1/Cip1 pathway. J. Cell. Biochem. 102: 1002–1010, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
The clinical importance of vitamin D (cholecalciferol): a paradigm shift with implications for all healthcare providers.

Reprint requests: InnoVision Communications, 169 Saxony Rd, Suite 103, Encinitas, CA 92024; phone, (760) 633-3910 or (866) 828-2962; fax, (760) 633-3918; e-mail, alternative.therapies@ innerdoorway.com. Or visit our online CME Web site by going to http://www.alternative -therapies.com and selecting the Continuing Education option. tice for more than 35 years, he is Board Certified in Family Practice and is Associate Professor of Family Medicine at University of Texas Medical School in Houston. John Cannell, MD, is a medical physician practicing in Atascadero, California, and is president of the Vitamin D Council (Cholecalciferol-Council.com), a non-profit, taxexempt organization working to promote awareness of the manifold adverse effects of vitamin D deficiency.
Organizational Citizenship Behavior and the Quantity and Quality of Work Group Performance

Despite the widespread interest in the topic of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), little empirical research has tested the fundamental assumption that these forms of behavior improve the effectiveness of work groups or organizations in which they are exhibited. In the present study, the effects of OCBs on the quantity and quality of the performance of 218 people working in 40 machine crews in a paper mill located in the Northeastern United States were examined. The results indicate that helping behavior and sportsmanship had significant effects on performance quantity and that helping behavior had a significant impact on performance quality. However, civic virtue had no effect on either performance measure.
Constrained power control in cellular radio systems

High system capacities can be achieved by controlling the transmitter power in multiuser radio systems. Power control with no constraint on the maximum power level has been studied extensively in earlier work. Transmitter power is at a premium in radio systems such as cellular systems and PCS. There is a limit on the maximum transmitter power especially at the terminals (e.g. mobile units and handsets) since the power comes from a battery. In this paper we study power control that maximizes the minimum carrier to interference ratio (CIR), with a constraint on the maximum power. The optimal power vector solution lies on the boundary of the constrained power vector set and achieves a balance in the CIR's. Results indicate that the constraints do not induce any stability problems. A distributed scheme with favourable convergence properties and close to optimum performance is presented. Simulation results show that the algorithm tries to maximize the number of terminals served with CIR greater than or equal to the target CIR, while conserving power. <<ETX>>
Optical Beamforming Network Based on Fiber-Optical Delay Lines and Spatial Light Modulators for Large Antenna Arrays

An optical beamformer for antenna arrays based on fiber-optical delay lines for feeding subarrays and spatial light modulators to change the radio-frequency phase of independent antenna elements is proposed. The architecture has the potential to control antenna arrays of a large number of elements. Preliminary experimental results to show the feasibility of the concept are provided