Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The nursing profession in Saudi Arabia: an overview.

AIM The study aims to provide an overview of the nursing profession in Saudi Arabia, including its history, educational development, workforce and professional practice. BACKGROUND Saudi Arabia is faced with a chronic shortage of Saudi nurses, accompanied by high rates of turnover. Expatriate nurses form a large proportion of the nursing workforce in Saudi healthcare facilities, with Saudis comprising only 29.1% of the total nursing workforce. Despite the fact that the proportion of Saudi nurses is very low in general, this rate is lower in the private health sector where local nurses comprise only 4.1% of the total. METHODS Data relating to the nursing profession in Saudi Arabia were extracted from published literature identified through search of a range of publically available databases such as Medline, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Saudi health databases, Saudi health journals, government reports and relevant texts. Obtained information was evaluated for relevance and grouped on a thematic basis. CONCLUSION The status of nursing in Saudi Arabia should be enhanced in order to make it a worthwhile career. The media should engage in helping to promote a positive image of the nursing profession. The education sector should reconsider the length of nursing training (5 years compared with 3 years in many developed countries) while maintaining competent and safe practice. Reducing the financial burden on the nursing student through provision of additional financial support would encourage more students. In particular, nurses should be paid a full salary during the intern year as currently occurs with medical students.
Infection Listeria monocytogenes T Cells during + CD4 - Antigen-Specific Foxp3 Selective Priming and Expansion of

The Foxp3-expressing subset of regulatory CD4 (cid:2) T cells have deﬁned Ag speciﬁcity and play essential roles in maintaining peripheral tolerance by suppressing the activation of self-reactive T cells. Similarly, during chronic infection, pathogen-speciﬁc Foxp3-expressing CD4 (cid:2) T cells expand and actively suppress pathogen-speciﬁc effector T cells. Herein, we used MHC class II tetramers and Foxp3 gfp knockin mice to track the kinetics and magnitude whereby pathogen-speciﬁc Foxp3 (cid:2) CD4 (cid:2) and Foxp3 (cid:1) CD4 (cid:2) cells are primed and expand after acute infection with recombinant Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) expressing the non-“self”-Ag 2W1S 52–68 . We demonstrate that Lm infection selectively primes proliferation, expansion, and subsequent contraction of Lm-speciﬁc Foxp3 (cid:1) effector CD4 (cid:2) cells, while the numbers of Lm-speciﬁc Foxp3 (cid:2) CD4 (cid:2) regulatory cells remain essentially unchanged. In sharp contrast, puriﬁed 2W1S 52–68 peptide primes coordinated expansion of both Foxp3 (cid:2) regulatory and Foxp3 (cid:1) effector T cells with the same Ag speciﬁcity. Taken together, these results indicate selective priming and expansion of Foxp3 (cid:1) CD4 T cells is a distinguishing feature for acute bacterial infection. The Journal of Immunology, 2009, 182: 3032–3038. regulated for potentially detrimental self-reactive responses to be actively suppressed while simultaneously allowing protective responses to
Structural Basis for Effector Control and Redox Partner Recognition in Cytochrome P450

Getting Active The P450 cytochromes are a family of enzymes that contain a heme cofactor and catalyze the oxidation of organic substrates, including drugs. Protein partners are required to deliver electrons to P450. Insight into this mechanism has come from studies of bacterial P450cam; however, a lack of structures of redox complexes has hindered understanding. Tripathi et al. (p. 1227) describe the high resolution crystal structures of oxidized and reduced P450cam complexed with its redox partner putidaredoxin (Pdx). Pdx favors binding to the more open form of P450cam, which enables establishment of the water-mediated H-bonded network required for proton-coupled electron transfer and O2 activation. The redox partner of P450cam stabilizes it in an open conformation to facilitate proton-coupled electron transfer. Cytochromes P450 catalyze a variety of monooxygenase reactions that require electron transfer from redox partners. Although the structure of many P450s and a small handful of redox partners are known, there is very little structural information available on redox complexes, thus leaving a gap in our understanding on the control of P450–redox partner interactions. We have solved the crystal structure of oxidized and reduced P450cam complexed with its redox partner, putidaredoxin (Pdx), to 2.2 and 2.09 angstroms, respectively. It was anticipated that Pdx would favor closed substrate-bound P450cam, which differs substantially from the open conformer, but instead we found that Pdx favors the open state. These new structures indicate that the effector role of Pdx is to shift P450cam toward the open conformation, which enables the establishment of a water-mediated H-bonded network, which is required for proton-coupled electron transfer.
Asymptomatic bacteriuria among HIV positive pregnant women

The prognostic significance of asymptomatic bacteriuria resides in the observation that the prevalence is, relatively, high in persons with certain medical conditions, such as diabetes mellitus and pregnancy. This prevalence might, even, be higher in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection. Hence, this study set out to determine the prevalence of asymptomatic bacteriuria among symptom free and newly enrolled HIV infected pregnant women attending PMTCT unit of Antiretroviral clinic of University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria between 1st May and 30th September 2007. Information was obtained on the socio-demographic characteristics of the subjects, CD4 count and viral load. Microbial culture was carried out on aseptically collected urines from the patients. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS 12 package. There were 161analyzable samples from the participants. The mean age and gestational age at presentation of participants was 30.49 ± 4.3 years and 27.3± 3.2 weeks, respectively with modal parity of 2. Twenty-five (15.5%) of the urine samples significantly grew bacteria. The CD4 cells were significantly lower and the viral loads significantly higher (250.52 Vs 355.57 cells/mm3; 88,731 Vs 55,384 copies/ml; p=
Expression and distribution of ZO‐3, a tight junction MAGUK protein, in mouse tissues

Background: Three related MAGUK proteins, ZO‐1, ZO‐2 and ZO‐3, are concentrated at the cytoplasmic surface of tight junctions. However, in contrast to ZO‐1/ZO‐2, our knowledge of the expression and distribution of ZO‐3 is still fragmentary, partly due to a lack of antibodies that specifically distinguish ZO‐3 from ZO‐1 and ZO‐2.
Multi-level and Multi-route Innovation Policies in China: A Programme Evaluation Based on Firm-level Data

Since the Chinese government’s rapid increase in expenditures on science and technology (S&T) during the 2000s, numerous related policies have been implemented by national-, provincial-, city-and prefecture-level governments in China. Each level of government aims to promote innovation activities; however, few empirical evaluations have been conducted for each policy level and category. This study estimates the treatment effects of innovation policies at each government level and category by using firm-level survey data from Chengdu, an inland city. Results suggest that aggregated S&T policies stimulate effective firm-level innovation activities, in particular, city-level policies and various government services. On the other hand, some policy categories, including tax incentives, seem to be inefficient and these results are also consistent with related studies. Restructuring the current policy menu and establishing further feedback mechanisms for S&T policy will improve the efficacy of such spending.
Alogliptin plus voglibose in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with an open-label, long-term extension

Abstract Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of alogliptin and placebo as add-on therapy in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes who experienced inadequate glycemic control on voglibose plus diet/exercise therapy. Research design and methods: During an 8 week screening phase, patients aged ≥20 years were stabilized on voglibose 0.2 mg three times daily plus diet/exercise therapy. Those with HbA1c between ≥6.9% and <10.4% were randomly assigned to 12 weeks’ double-blind treatment with once daily alogliptin 12.5 or 25 mg, or placebo. The primary endpoint was the change in HbA1c at 12 weeks from baseline. Patients then entered an open-label, 40 week extension trial (patients in the placebo group were randomly allocated to alogliptin 12.5 or 25 mg). Clinical trials registration: www.clinicaltrials. gov; pivotal trial NCT01263483; Long term trial NCT01263509. Results: Least square mean change in HbA1c after 12 weeks’ therapy from baseline (primary endpoint) was significantly greater in the alogliptin 12.5 mg (−0.96%; P < 0.0001) and 25 mg (−0.93%; P < 0.0001) groups compared with placebo (+0.06%). This was associated with statistically significant improvements in other measures of glycemic control, in particular sustained reductions in fasting plasma glucose and postprandial plasma glucose. These benefits were maintained for the duration of the 1 year study and, importantly, they were achieved without detrimental effects on tolerability/safety. In particular, there was no increase in the rate of hypoglycemia and almost no changes in mean body weight. Conclusions: Addition of once daily alogliptin to voglibose monotherapy in Japanese patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes produced clinically significant improvements in glycemic control, and was well tolerated.
The Sea Anemone Toxin Bc2 Induces Continuous or Transient Exocytosis, in the Presence of Sustained Levels of High Cytosolic Ca2+ in Chromaffin Cells*

We have isolated and characterized a new excitatory toxin from the venom of the sea anemone Bunodosoma caissarum, named Bc2. We investigated the mechanism of action of the toxin on Ca2+-regulated exocytosis in single bovine adrenal chromaffin cells, monitoring simultaneously fura-2 fluorescence measurements and electrochemical recordings using a carbon fiber microelectrode. Bc2 induced quantal release of catecholamines in a calcium-dependent manner. This release was associated with a sustained rise in cytosolic Ca2+ and displayed two different patterns of response: a continuous discharge of prolonged duration that changed to a transient burst as the toxin concentration (or incubation time) increased. Continuous secretion was dependent on the activity of native voltage-dependent Ca2+channels and showed a pattern similar to that of α-latrotoxin; however, its kinetics adjusted better to that of continuous cell depolarization with high K+ concentration. In contrast, transient secretion was independent of Ca2+ entry through native voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels and showed inhibition of late vesicle fusion that was accompanied by “freezing” of F-actin disassembly. These new features make Bc2 a promising new tool for studying the machinery of neurotransmitter release.
Differential regulation of prostaglandin synthesis by angiotensin peptides in porcine aortic smooth muscle cells: subtypes of angiotensin receptors involved.

We determined the role of AT1 and AT2 angiotensin receptors as mediators of prostaglandin (PG) release and mobilization of intracellular Ca++ in cultures of porcine vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) with subtype-selective angiotensin (Ang) II receptor antagonists. The binding of [125I]Ang II to porcine VSMC showed an equilibrium constant (KD) of 0.52 nM and a binding capacity (Bmax) of 14.8 fmol/mg protein. Using the AT1 antagonists DuP 753, its metabolite EXP 3174, and L-158,809, [125I]Ang II binding was displaced in a clearly biphasic manner, indicating the presence of two binding sites. Consistent with this, the AT2 antagonist CGP 42112A also displayed a biphasic curve, whereas another AT2 antagonist, PD 123177, showed a 20% reduction in binding. Ang I, Ang II and Ang-(1-7) stimulated PGE2 as well as PGI2 synthesis in a dose-dependent pattern. Ang II but not Ang I or Ang-(1-7) also caused an increase in the intracellular concentration of Ca++. Ca++ mobilization by Ang II was blocked by the AT1 antagonist DuP 753, but not by the AT2 antagonists. Ang II- and Ang I-stimulated (10 nM) PG production was attenuated by all three AT1 antagonists. However, both CGP 42112A (100 nM) and PD 123177 (100 nM) also attenuated PG release in response to Ang II. The enhancement in PG release by Ang I (10 nM) was significantly reduced by CGP 42112A (100 nM), but not by PD 123177 (1 microM). Of the AT1 antagonists, only high doses of DuP 753 or L-158,809 partially reduced the Ang-(1-7)-induced release of PG. CGP 42112A was ineffective for blocking Ang-(1-7)-stimulated PG release. Ang-(1-7)-stimulated PGE2 and PGI2 production was significantly reduced by PD 123177. Unlike DuP 753 or L-158,809, but similar to the sarcosine antagonists, EXP 3174 (10 nM) abolished the angiotensin peptide-induced PG production. These data show that Ang I and Ang II stimulate PGE2 and PGI2 release via activation of both AT1 and AT2 receptors in porcine VSMC. Ang II stimulates intracellular Ca++ mobilization via activation of AT1 receptors only. Because Ang-(1-7) enhanced PGE2 and PGI2 release via activation of angiotensin receptors having greater affinity for PD 123177 than CGP 42112A, although CGP 42112A showed a greater ability to block the Ang I response, these data further suggest differences in these two compounds at AT2 receptors. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Human Rights in the EU and the US: Social Worker v. Good Cop?

The EU and the United States are the most important state promoters of human rights and share a common human rights legacy. However, the human rights approaches of the EU and the US display crucial differences in comparison to each other: first, the acceptance of social and economic rights in Europe v. a focus on individual freedom in the US; second, a stricter and harsher law enforcement in the US; and third, the possibility for EU citizens to address international human rights courts and commissions. Values and attitudes explain the transatlantic divide in human rights. The EU emphasizes dignity as the core value underpinning human rights and is more reluctant towards the use of force inside and outside its borders. In the US, negative freedom is the paramount value for justifying human rights and the United States are more willing to use force against criminals, terror suspects and enemies abroad.
Vena Cava Filter Retrieval Rates and Factors Associated With Retrieval in a Large US Cohort

Background Retrieval of vena cava filters (VCFs) is important for safety as complications increase with longer dwell times. This study assessed VCF retrieval rates and factors associated with retrieval in a national cohort. Methods and Results VCFs were identified by procedural codes from an administrative claims database. Patients were identified who had a VCF placement during a hospitalization from a national commercial administrative claims database. Indications for VCF placement were identified as pulmonary embolism with or without deep vein thrombosis, deep vein thrombosis only, or prophylactic. Patient demographic and clinical characteristics were included in proportional hazard regression models to find associations with early (90‐day) and 1‐year VCF retrieval. Initiation of anticoagulation and the correlation between time‐to‐retrieval and time‐to‐initiation of anticoagulation were observed. Of 54 766 patients receiving a VCF, 36.9% had pulmonary embolism, 43.9% had deep vein thrombosis only, and 19.2% had no apparent venous thromboembolism present. Over the 1 year of follow‐up, the cumulative incidence of VCF retrieval was 18.4%. Retrieval increased over time from a low of 14.0% in 2010 up to ≈24% in 2014. In adjusted time‐to‐event models, increasing age, differing regions, and some comorbidities were associated with poorer retrieval rates. Initiation of anticoagulation was poorly correlated with retrieval, with anticoagulation preceding retrieval by a median of 51 days while those without retrieval had a median of 278 days of exposure to anticoagulation. Conclusions VCF retrieval increased over the study period but remained suboptimal and was weakly correlated with anticoagulation initiation.
Use of Nebulized Heparin, Nebulized N-Acetylcysteine, and Nebulized Epoprostenol in a Patient With Smoke Inhalational Injury and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Smoke inhalation injury (SIJ) is associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality in patients with burns. SIJ causes airway damage, inflammation, and bronchial obstruction, resulting in decreased oxygenation and perfusion status in these patients. Retrospective studies have compared the use of nebulized heparin (NH) plus nebulized N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and albuterol in patients with SIJ to those who received standard ventilator support with bronchodilator therapy. These studies are associated with a decrease in mortality when NH and nebulized NAC are administered to patients with SIJ. Approximately 20% of patients who develop SIJ will also develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Epoprostenol, a selective pulmonary vasodilator, has been utilized in the treatment of ARDS with mixed results for improving gas exchange. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of the concomitant administration of NH, nebulized NAC, and nebulized epoprostenol following SIJ in a burn patient with ARDS.
Strategies for Improving Nursing Students' Mental Health Clinical Rotation

ABSTRACT: Mental illness is a huge problem many people face in the U.S. and around the world. The American Psychiatric Nurses Association indicates there is a shortage of nurses in every level and role in psychiatric-mental health nursing. Raising up a generation of nurses who want to work with the mentally ill is a challenge for nurse educators. The use of role playing and simulation in the learning lab prior to entering the clinical setting and reflective journaling in the clinical rotation can improve undergraduate nursing students' mental health clinical experience.
Voluntary activation of ankle muscles is accompanied by subcortical facilitation of their antagonists

Flexion and extension movements are organized reciprocally, so that extensor motoneurones in the spinal cord are inhibited when flexor muscles are active and vice versa. During and just prior to dorsiflexion of the ankle, soleus motoneurones are thus inhibited as evidenced by a depression of the soleus H‐reflex. It is therefore surprising that soleus motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have been found not to be reduced and even facilitated during a voluntary dorsiflexion. The objective of this study was to investigate if MEPs, evoked by TMS, show a similar facilitation prior to and at the onset of contraction of muscles that are antagonists to the muscle in which the MEP is evoked and if so, examine the origin of such a facilitatory motor programme. Eleven seated subjects reacted to an auditory cue by contracting either the tibialis anterior (TA) or soleus muscle of the left ankle. TMS was applied to the hotspot of TA and soleus muscles on separate days. Stimuli were delivered prior to and at the beginning of contraction. Soleus MEPs were significantly facilitated when TMS was applied 50 ms prior to onset of plantar flexion. Surprisingly, soleus MEPs were also facilitated (although to a lesser extent) at a similar time in relation to the onset of dorsiflexion. TA MEPs were facilitated 50 ms prior to onset of dorsiflexion and neither depressed nor facilitated prior to plantar flexion. No difference was found between the facilitation of the soleus MEP and motor evoked responses to cervicomedullary stimulation prior to dorsiflexion, suggesting that the increased soleus MEPs were not caused by changes at a cortical level. This was confirmed by the observation that short‐latency facilitation of the soleus H‐reflex by subthreshold TMS was increased prior to plantar flexion, but not prior to dorsiflexion. These findings suggest that voluntary contraction at the ankle is accompanied by preceding facilitation of antagonists by a subcortical motor programme. This may help to ensure that the direction of movement may be changed quickly and efficiently during functional motor tasks.
The corporate political activity of MNEs under the pressures of institutional duality

The paper investigates how multinational subsidiaries develop their political strategies within the constraints of institutional duality. Based on the empirical investigation of western subsidiaries operating in the post-socialist institutional context of Hungary, I develop a model that illustrates how political capabilities – affected by institutional duality - underpin the lobbying strategy of MNE subsidiaries. The article makes a theoretical connection between the literatures on institutional duality and corporate political activity (CPA) and makes three distinct theoretical contributions. First, I transfer the analysis of nonmarket strategies from the institutional to the firm level, by opening the black box of how subsidiaries develop host country strategies. Second, by focusing on the process of how subsidiaries turn external and internal resources into political capabilities, I argue that institutional duality should be viewed as an endogenous aspect of the institutional framework, which equips firms with political capabilities, rather than an exogenous factor that constraints companies and disadvantage them in the host environment (Nell et al., 2014, Tempel et al., 2006). Third the study contributes to the theory of MNE parent-subsidiary management literature by extending our knowledge on how parent strategies affect the development of subsidiary’s political strategies.
Audio-vestibular findings in patients with vestibular neuritis.

19 patients with the clinical diagnosis vestibular neuritis, i.e., cases with unilaterally ENG verified abolished or reduced caloric reactions but without symptoms of central nervous involvement or hearing impairment, participated in the study. In addition to ENG examinations and Békésy audiometry all patients were submitted to stapedius reflex tests and auditory brainstem response examinations (ABR) for signs of subclinical auditory nerve engagement. In all but one of the 19 patients the caloric reactions improved; 8 of the 13 patients available for tests after one year recovered completely. The ABR was normal in all cases but the stapedius reflex thresholds were pathologically elevated and remained so in about half of the subjects throughout the observation time; reflex decay was not present in anyone. Cases with pathologically elevated stapedius reflex thresholds showed a tendency to slower recovery of the vestibular function than the group with the normal reflexes. The results were interpreted to indicate lack of eighth nerve or CNS engagement. The possibility that subjects with reflex threshold elevation may constitute a group with constitutional weakness of the audio-vestibular apparatus disposed for vestibular disease is discussed.
Serotonin in the solitary tract nucleus shortens the laryngeal chemoreflex in anaesthetized neonatal rats

What is the central question of this study? Failure to terminate apnoea and arouse is likely to contribute to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Serotonin is deficient in the brainstems of babies who died of SIDS. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that serotonin in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) would shorten reflex apnoea. What is the main finding and its importance? Serotonin microinjected into the NTS shortened the apnoea and respiratory inhibition associated with the laryngeal chemoreflex. Moreover, this effect was achieved through a 5‐HT3 receptor. This is a new insight that is likely to be relevant to the pathogenesis of SIDS.