Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Health-promoting lifestyle behaviors among nurses in private hospitals in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND An individual's lifestyle influences health, and health-promoting behaviors and a healthy lifestyle are crucial means to maintain health. Nurses play a significant role as models in health-promoting activities. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to describe the current health-promoting lifestyle of nurses in private hospitals and investigate possible associations between health behaviors and demographic characteristics. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 420 nurses were assessed using the Health-Promotion Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-II) scale as a self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS The mean age of about 78% women and 22% men was 33.12±8.52 years. Most of them (98%) were non-Saudi, and 50% had a diploma; 38% had 5-10 years of experience, 50% were married, 49% had children, and 64% had a monthly income of less than 3000 Saudi Riyal. 'Spiritual growth' showed the highest mean score and 'physical activity' showed the lowest mean score. Significant differences in nurses' health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and significant correlations were found between the HPLP-II and demographic variables. CONCLUSION Nurses' display of health responsibility, nutrition, interpersonal relations, and stress management behaviors was moderate. Although their physical activity was low, their spiritual growth was high. For older, married, and those nurses whose monthly income was more than 3000 Saudi Riyal, the nutrition score was higher. Age, marital, and economic status were associated significantly with nutritional health behavior. RECOMMENDATION Development and training programs should be performed to raise awareness of the importance of health education and health promotion, and the necessary facilities should be provided at the work place to encourage healthy behavior.
Experimental Infection of California Birds with Western Equine Encephalomyelitis and St. Louis Encephalitis Viruses

Abstract A total of 27 bird species from the San Joaquin and Coachella valleys of California were inoculated subcutaneously with sympatric strains of western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE) and St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) viruses. Overall, 133 of 164 birds inoculated with WEE virus developed a viremia detected by plaque assay; significantly greater than 72 of 163 birds inoculated with SLE virus. Host competence was calculated as the average number of days that each avian species had a viremia ≥2 log10 plaque-forming units per 0.1 ml, the threshold for infecting susceptible Culex tarsalis Coquillett, the primary vector of these viruses in California. Eleven of 20 species inoculated with WEE virus had a value ≥1 and were considered to be competent hosts, whereas only six of 22 species inoculated with SLE virus had a value ≥1. Overall, 133 of 164 birds inoculated with WEE virus and 105 of 163 inoculated with SLE virus produced antibody detectable by enzyme immunoassay and/or plaque reduction neutralization test. Six birds infected with WEE virus (one house finch, three mourning doves, one Brewer’s sparrow, and one white-crowned sparrow) and nine birds infected with SLE virus (two house finches, three white-crowned sparrows, one song sparrow, two Western scrub-jays, and one orange crowned warbler) contained viral RNA detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction at necropsy >6 wk postinoculation; infectious WEE and SLE viruses were only recovered from three mourning doves and an orange-crowned warbler, respectively, after blind passage in mosquito cells. Our study indicated that birds with elevated field antibody prevalence rates may not be the most competent hosts for encephalitis viruses and that relatively few birds developed chronic infections that could be important in virus persistence and dispersal.
Emerging Markets: Evaluating Graham’s Stock Selection Criteria on Portfolio Return in Saudi Arabia Stock Market

Graham’s stock selection criteria enable investors to be more cautious in selecting their portfolios in order to generate abnormal return. Graham’s model was widely examined in various developed market where the stock markets and companies are more mature and economy of the countries are more stable. However, the selection criteria model was not commonly examined in emerging countries despite of their rapid economic growth and diversified sectors in the stocks trading. Hence, this study attempts to investigate the relevance of Graham’s stock selection criteria on the portfolio returns of the Saudi Arabia stock market. Saudi Arabia represents the fastest growing market in the Middle East primarily Arabian Gulf Cooperation Council region thus testing the market is justified. The study found that despite of being young and immature stock market, Saudi stock market was able to offer abnormal return to the investors and Graham’s model of stock selection is indeed valuable to investors.
Host identity is a dominant driver of mycorrhizal fungal community composition during ecosystem development.

Little is known about the response of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities to ecosystem development. We use a long-term soil chronosequence that includes ecosystem progression and retrogression to quantify the importance of host plant identity as a factor driving fungal community composition during ecosystem development. We identified arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant species from 50 individual roots from each of 10 sites spanning 5-120 000 yr of ecosystem age using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP), Sanger sequencing and pyrosequencing. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities were highly structured by ecosystem age. There was strong niche differentiation, with different groups of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) being characteristic of early succession, ecosystem progression and ecosystem retrogression. Fungal alpha diversity decreased with ecosystem age, whereas beta diversity was high at early stages and lower in subsequent stages. A total of 39% of the variance in fungal communities was explained by host plant and site age, 29% of which was attributed to host and the interaction between host and site (24% and 5%, respectively). The strong response of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to ecosystem development appears to be largely driven by plant host identity, supporting the concept that plant and fungal communities are tightly coupled rather than independently responding to habitat.
Is commercial lending affected by knowledge of auditor switches from Big 4 firms to regional firms

Purpose - This paper aims to examine whether knowledge about companies switching auditors from Big 4 firms to regional firms affects commercial lending decisions. Design/methodology/approach - The approach used is an experiment where bank loan officers make judgments about risk and probabilities of granting a line of credit. Findings - Neither risk assessments nor probabilities of granting credit differed for companies that switch auditors from Big 4 firms to regional firms as compared to companies that did not switch auditors. For companies that did switch auditors, providing a reason for the switch did not influence lending decisions. Research limitations/implications - Lenders were given questionnaires that do not contain all of the information they may have used in actual loan decision settings. Also, the hypothetical nature of the decisions and incentives may not produce the responses that would be given in actual lending scenarios. Practical implications - When applying for bank loans, companies need not be concerned about having switched auditors from Big 4 to regional firms. Also, companies that switch from Big 4 firms to regional firms need not worry about whether or not to provide a reason for the audit firm switch. Originality value - This study adds to the auditor switching literature by investigating the effects of switches from Big 4 firms to regional firms on commercial lending decisions.
International networks ideas and family change.

This paper begins with the observation that family change has been a common occurrence in many places around the world. Social scientists have accumulated a wide array of structural and ideational explanations of this worldwide family change. In this paper we focus our attention on one particular set of ideational forces that we refer to as developmental idealism. We suggest that it has been disseminated widely around the world where it has had enormous influence on family behavior beliefs and values. Our contention that developmental thinking and conclusions have had extensive international dissemination is supported by new evidence from Nepal and Argentina. We find that in both countries most ordinary people have considerable knowledge of the ideas of development substantial knowledge about the major countries of the world can rate countries on their levels of education and development believe that there is an association between socioeconomic development and family structure and believe that economic development and family structures and relationships are causally connected with economic development causing family change and family change causing economic development. At this point in our research program we cannot draw conclusions about the sources of these ideas in Argentina and Nepal or about their implications for family change. Further data collection and analysis will be required for answering these questions. (authors)
RACK1-mediated Integration of Adhesion and Insulin-like Growth Factor I (IGF-I) Signaling and Cell Migration Are Defective in Cells Expressing an IGF-I Receptor Mutated at Tyrosines 1250 and 1251*

The scaffolding protein receptor for activated C kinase (RACK1) has been proposed to mediate the integration of insulin-like growth factor I receptor (IGF-IR) and adhesion signaling. Here we investigated the mechanism of this integration of signaling, by using an IGF-IR mutant (Y1250F/Y1251F) that is deficient in anti-apoptotic and transforming function. RACK1 was found to associate with the IGF-IR only in adherent cells and did not associate with the IGF-IR in nonadherent cells, lymphocytic cells, or cells expressing the Y1250F/Y1251F mutant. In R– cells transiently expressing the Y1250F/Y1251F mutant RACK1 became constitutively associated with β1 integrin and did not associate with Shc, Src, or Shp2. This was accompanied by the loss of formation of a complex containing the IGF-IR, RACK1, and β1 integrin; loss of migratory capacity; enhanced Src and FAK activity; enhanced Akt phosphorylation; and decreased p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activity. Shc was not phosphorylated in response to IGF-I in cells expressing the Y1250F/Y1251F mutant and remained associated with protein phosphatase 2A. Similar alterations in signaling were observed in cells that were stimulated with IGF-I in nonadherent cultures. Our data suggest that disruption of RACK1 scaffolding function in cells expressing the Y1250F/Y1251F mutant results in the loss of adhesion signals that are necessary to regulate Akt activity and to promote turnover of focal adhesions and cell migration.
Reduced muscular fatigue after a 12-week leucine-rich amino acid supplementation combined with moderate training in elderly: a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial

Background Age-related muscle loss is characterised by a progressing decrease in muscle mass, strength and function. Besides resistance training and physical activity, appropriate nutrition that is rich in protein, especially branched-chain amino acids, is very important to support training effects and positively influence the protein synthesis to degradation ratio. Aim The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a 12-week leucine-rich amino acid supplementation in combination with moderate training. Methods Forty-eight healthy subjects exercised for 30 min three times per week and received either a leucine-rich amino acid supplementation or a placebo. Before and after supplementation, volunteers performed an exhaustive eccentric exercise protocol. Maximal concentric strength, muscle soreness, creatine kinase (CK), type II collagen collagenase cleavage neoepitope (C2C), C propeptide of type II procollagen (CP2) and safety assessments were performed before exercise and after 3, 24, 48 and 72 hours. Results The supplementation with leucine resulted in reduced loss of strength at 0 and 3 hours after downhill walking compared with the placebo (p=0.0439). The reduction of C2C/CP2 ratio deflection was significantly increased (p=0.038) due to leucine compared with the placebo. The same tendency could be observed for the recovery phase. No significant supplement effects for muscle soreness and CK could be observed. Conclusion The principle findings show that leucine-rich amino acid supplementation can counteract the negative effects of eccentric exercise. The treatment resulted in a reduction of exercise-induced strength loss.
Average protein density is a molecular‐weight‐dependent function

The mass density of proteins is a relevant basic biophysical quantity. It is also a useful input parameter, for example, for three‐dimensional structure determination by protein crystallography and studies of protein oligomers in solution by analytic ultracentrifugation. We have performed a critical analysis of published, theoretical, and experimental investigations about this issue and concluded that the average density of proteins is not a constant as often assumed. For proteins with a molecular weight below 20 kDa, the average density exhibits a positive deviation that increases for decreasing molecular weight. A simple molecular‐weight‐depending function is proposed that provides a more accurate estimate of the average protein density.
The Intergenerational Transmission of Schooling among the Education-Rationed

We estimate the intergenerational transmission of schooling in a country where the majority of the population was rationed in its access to education. By eliminating apartheid-style policies against blacks, the 1980 education reforms in Zimbabwe swiftly tripled the transition rate to secondary schools. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, we find a robust intergenerational transmission. A one-year increase in the schooling of the mother raises her child’s attainment by 0.073 years; the corresponding father-to-child spillover is 0.092 years. Choices in the marriage and labor markets mediate the size of these schooling transmissions. Several smoothness and placebo tests validate our design.
Requirement for the Dynein Light Chain km23-1 in a Smad2-dependent Transforming Growth Factor-β Signaling Pathway*

We have identified km23-1 as a novel transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) receptor (TβR)-interacting protein that is also a light chain of the motor protein dynein (dynein light chain). Herein, we demonstrate by sucrose gradient analyses that, in the presence of TGFβ but not in the absence, km23-1 was present in early endosomes with the TβRs. Further, confocal microscopy studies indicate that endogenous km23-1 was co-localized with endogenous Smad2 at early times after TGFβ treatment, prior to Smad2 translocation to the nucleus. In addition, immunoprecipitation/blot analyses showed that TGFβ regulated the interaction between endogenous km23-1 and endogenous Smad2 in vivo. Blockade of km23-1 using a small interfering RNA approach resulted in a reduction in both total intracellular Smad2 levels and in nuclear levels of phosphorylated Smad2 after TGFβ treatment. This decrease was reversed by lactacystin, a specific inhibitor of the 26 S proteasome, suggesting that knockdown of km23-1 causes proteasomal degradation of phosphorylated (i.e. activated) Smad2. Blockade of km23-1 also resulted in a reduction in TGFβ/Smad2-dependent ARE-Lux transcriptional activity, which was rescued by a km23-1 small interfering RNA-resistant construct. In contrast, a reduction in TGFβ/Smad3-dependent SBE2-Luc transcriptional activity did not occur under similar conditions. Furthermore, overexpression of the dynactin subunit dynamitin, which is known to disrupt dynein-mediated intracellular transport, blocked TGFβ-stimulated nuclear translocation of Smad2. Collectively, our findings indicate for the first time that a dynein light chain is required for a Smad2-dependent TGFβ signaling pathway.
Savings after Retirement: A Survey

The saving patterns of retired US households pose a challenge to the basic life-cycle model of saving. The observed patterns of out-of-pocket medical expenses, which rise quickly with age and income during retirement, and heterogeneous life span risk can explain a significant portion of US saving during retirement. However, more work is needed to distinguish these precautionary saving motives from other motives, such as the desire to leave bequests. Progress toward disentangling these motivations has been made by matching other features of the data, such as public and private insurance choices. An improved understanding of whether intended bequests left to children and spouses are due to altruism, risk sharing, exchange motivations, or a combination of these factors is an important direction for future research.
Productivity Risk and Industry Momentum

A productivity shock identified through a vector autoregression model is a priced risk factor for one‐month industry momentum portfolios and commands a positive risk premium. Stocks in winning industries have greater sensitivity to productivity news, thereby earning higher average returns than stocks in losing industries. This evidence lends support to an Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing Model (ICAPM) with human wealth. In many specifications, exposure to productivity risk captures more than half of the observed industry momentum profits. This paper studies the sources of profits and attributes the risks of industry momentum portfolios to the behavior of their underlying cash flows.
Height Contributes to the Gender Difference in Wait‐List Mortality Under the MELD‐Based Liver Allocation System

This study examined factors associated with the gender disparity in wait‐list mortality in the MELD era. Adult patients listed for liver transplantation from 2002 to 2008 were included. Females [12 585(36%)] and males [22 126(64%)] differed clinically by age (54 vs. 52 years), height (1.6 vs. 1.8 m), listing estimated glomerular filtration rate [(eGFR); 70 vs. 83 mL/min] and cirrhosis etiology. Holding MELD constant, females were at 19% (95% CI, 1.13–1.25, p < 0.001) higher risk of wait‐list mortality than males under the current allocation system. The relative hazard increased with worsening renal function, whether measured by serum creatinine or eGFR. Adjustment for MELD, age, African‐American race, cirrhosis etiology, region and ABO group attenuated this relative hazard (HR 1.16; 95% CI, 1.10–1.22; p < 0.001) but additional adjustment for height completely explained this gender disparity in wait‐list mortality (HR 1.05; 95% CI, 0.98–1.12; p = 0.2). Transplantation rates, however, remained lower among females, even after adjustment for height (HR 0.88; 95% CI, 0.82–0.92; p < 0.001). In conclusion, under the current liver allocation system, women have a 19% increased risk of wait‐list mortality compared to men with the same MELD scores. Height contributes to this gender disparity, possibly reflecting differences in transplantation rates for shorter individuals.
CTL-Mediated Selective Pressure Influences Dynamic Evolution and Pathogenic Functions of HIV-1 Nef1

HIV-1 Nef plays multiple roles in modulating immune responses, even though it is a dominant CTL target itself. How Nef accomplishes the balance between such conflicting selective pressures remains elusive. By genetic and functional studies, we found that Arg75Thr and Tyr85Phe mutations, located in a well-conserved proline-rich region in Nef, were differently associated with escape from CTL responses specific for two overlapping HLA-B35-restricted epitopes. CTLs specific for an epitope, that selected Tyr85Phe, were elicited earlier and had more potent functional avidities than did those that selected Arg75Thr. Although the double mutant could escape from both CTLs, the mutations are rarely observed in combination naturally. Introduction of both mutations reduced Nef’s HLA class I down-regulation activity and increased the susceptibility of virus-infected cells to recognition by CTLs targeting other epitopes. Moreover, the mutant Nef was impaired in the association with activated cellular kinases and in the enhancement of viral replication. These results highlight CTL immunosurveillance as important modulators of Nef’s biological activity in the infected host.
Target‐Specific Glutamatergic Regulation of Dopamine Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area

Abstract: Dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are thought to play a critical role in affective, motivational, and cognitive functioning. There are fundamental target‐specific differences in the functional characteristics of subsets of these neurons. For example, DA afferents to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) have a higher firing and transmitter turnover rate and are more responsive to some pharmacological and environmental stimuli than DA projections to the nucleus accumbens (NAc). These functional differences may be attributed in part to differences in tonic regulation by glutamate. The present study provides evidence for this mechanism: In freely moving animals, blockade of basal glutamatergic activity in the VTA by the selective α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA)/kainate antagonist LY293558 produced an increase in DA release in the NAc while significantly decreasing DA release in the PFC. These data support an AMPA receptor‐mediated tonic inhibitory regulation of mesoaccumbens neurons and a tonic excitatory regulation of mesoprefrontal DA neurons. This differential regulation may result in target‐specific effects on the basal output of DA neurons and on the regulatory influence of voltage‐gated NMDA receptors in response to phasic activation by behaviorally relevant stimuli.
Shortening of action potential duration is not prerequisite for cardiac protection by ischemic preconditioning or a KATP channel opener.

Our purpose was to determine whether amelioration of myocardial contractile dysfunction by an ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel opener or ischemic preconditioning is mediated by shortening of action potential duration during the early period of ischemia. Extracellular potassium concentration ([K+]e), monophasic action potential duration (MAPD) and thickening fraction were measured during ischemia and reperfusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery in anesthetized dogs. Control dogs were subjected to a 10-min occlusion (test occlusion) followed by a 120-min reperfusion. The five dogs which made up the pinacidil group, received 0.03 mg/kg as an i.v. bolus and then were infused at a rate of 0.04 mg/kg/h for 20 min prior to the test occlusion. In the preconditioning group, six dogs were subjected to a 5-min occlusion and a 10-min reperfusion prior to the test occlusion and reperfusion. Both pinacidil and preconditioning improved regional contraction during reperfusion after the test occlusion. In the control group, MAPD shortened and [K+]e increased during ischemia. Preconditioning abolished MAPD shortening and blunted the rise of [K+]e during ischemia. Pinacidil did not affect either the shortening of MAPD or [K+]e elevation during ischemia. These results suggest that the shortening of MAPD is not a prerequisite for amelioration of contractile dysfunction by a KATP channel opener or ischemic preconditioning.