Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient translation of the RpoS sigma factor in Salmonella typhimurium requires host factor I, an RNA-binding protein encoded by the hfq gene

The RpoS transcription factor (also called sigma Sor sigma 38) is required for the expression of a number of stationary-phase and osmotically inducible genes in Escherichia coli. RpoS is also a virulence factor for several pathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella typhimurium. The activity of RpoS is regulated in response to several different signals, at the transcriptional and translational levels as well as by proteolysis. Here we report that host factor I (HF-I), the product of the hfq gene, is required for efficient expression of rpoS in S. typhimurium. HF-I is a small, heat-stable, site-specific RNA-binding protein originally characterized for its role in replication of the RNA bacteriophage Q beta of E. coli. Its role in the uninfected bacterial cell has previously been unknown. Assays of Beta-galactosidase in strains with rpoS-lac fusions, Western blot (immunoblot) analysis, and pulse-labeling and immunoprecipitation of both fusion proteins and native RpoS show that an S. typhimurium hfq mutant has a four- to sevenfold reduction in expression of rpoS that is attributable primarily to a defect in translation. These results add a new level of complexity to the regulation of RpoS activity.
Continuing professional development for a diverse VET practitioner workforce

This occasional paper provides a stocktake of recent developments in continuing professional development for vocational education and training (VET) practitioners. It explores issues such as industry currency, the debate around a professional association for VET and the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment as the minimum qualification for VET practitioners. Through synthesising the literature, the paper highlights enduring issues for continuing professional development in VET, such as the need to address both pedagogical knowledge and industry skills, and the necessity for individuals to actively engage and willingly participate in professional development in order for changes in practice to occur.
Analisis Pengaruh Struktur Modal Terhadap Profitabilitas Pada Industri Perbankan Yang Terdaftar Di Bei (Periode Tahun 2013-2015)

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh struktur modal terhadap profitabilitas pada industri perbankan. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah perbankan yang terdaftar di BEI berjumlah 40 bank. Sampel dalam penelitian ini adalah 15 bank yang saham/deviden yang tinggi di BEI dengan kriteria-kriteria. Hasil dari analisis regresi yaitu variabel DER (X1), memiliki koefisien regresi sebesar -0.126 dan memiliki arah yang negatif tidak signifikan secara parsial terhadap Profitabilitas (ROA), variabel NPL (X2), memiliki koefisien regresi sebesar -0.120 dan memiliki arah negatif tidak signifikan secara parsial terhadap Profitabilitas (ROA), dan variabel CAR (X3), memiliki koefisien regresi sebesar 0.052 dan memiliki arah positif tidak signifikan secara parsial terhadap Profitabilitas (ROA), Variabel Struktur modal (DER,NPL,CAR) secara simultan berpengaruh tidak signifikan terhadap Profitabilitas (ROA)
Sustainable Competitive Advantage Needs Green Human Resource Practices: A Framework for Environmental Management

Abstract The aim of this theoretical essay is to analyze the role of human resource (HR) management to achieve organizational sustainable competitive advantage (SCA), through the Natural Resource Based View (NRBV) perspective. We performed an exploratory-descriptive bibliographic research. We first provide key definitions to identify SCA, such as sustainability, sustainable development, and organizational sustainability. We then developed a theoretical framework integrating HR practices with NRBV strategies (pollution prevention, product stewardship, and sustainable development) in order to achieve SCA. As results, a set of propositions regarding HR management and sustainability are offered to be empirically analyzed in future research. The major contribution of this study is to offer an integrative framework of HR practices and NRBV strategies. This paper also adds value to managers by presenting ways to implement HR management for organizational sustainability achievement.
Enhancing Customer Service Experience Through Customer Involvement and Familiarity in Malaysian Public Universities

Growing competition among Malaysian public universities makes it imperative to understand the important role of customer service experience in today’s higher education service environment. As a pillar of the university, Academic Affairs Department (AAD) is entrusted to meet the needs and demands of its customers especially the academic staff of the university. In service organizations, like public universities, employee (academic staff) service experience directly correlates with student satisfaction and university performance. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the factors that influence academic staff’s service experience. Hence, the primary focus of this study is to examine the relationship of involvement and familiarity in influencing customer service experience among academic staff in Malaysian public universities. The research model hypothesized that customer involvement and familiarity have significant impact on customer service experience. The study employed a quantitative research. The survey method was utilized and for data collection, a self-administered questionnaire was constructed to gather data from 454 Malaysian public universities’ academic staff. Proportionate stratified random sampling was utilized in this study. Correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to analyse the data. All research questions and objectives were answered by performing hierarchical regression analysis. The findings revealed significant relationships between customer involvement and familiarity and customer service experience. Overall, this study provided support the importance of highlighting customer involvement and familiarity in managing academic staff’s customer service experience. The results offer several theoretical and practical implications to Malaysian public universities’ administrators, particularly the AAD and also to policy makers and other practitioners especially in designing effective customer service experience strategies.
Group B Streptococcus vaccine: state of the art

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is cause of neonatal invasive diseases as well as of severe infections in the elderly and immune-compromised patients. Despite significant advances in the prevention and treatment of neonatal disease, sepsis and meningitis caused by GBS still represent a significant public health care concern globally and additional prevention and therapeutic strategies against infection are highly desirable. The introduction of national recommended guidelines in several countries to screen pregnant women for GBS carriage and the use of antibiotics during delivery significantly reduced disease occurring within the first hours of life (early-onset disease), but it has had no effect on the late-onset diseases occurring after the first week and is not feasible in most countries. Availability of an effective vaccine against GBS would provide an effective means of controlling GBS disease. This review provides an overview of the burden of invasive disease caused by GBS in infants and adults, and highlights the strategies for the development of an effective vaccine against GBS infections.
The effect of greenhouse gas emissions on cost of debt: Evidence from Canadian firms

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relation between GHG emissions and cost of debt and to estimate the cost that lenders are imputing to GHG emissions. Data on GHG emissions were hand-collected from Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) reports, while data on the cost of debt and other financial data were obtained from Bloomberg Professional database. Using a sample of Canadian firms, the results show that GHG emissions increase firms’ cost of debt. In other words, for each additional tonne of GHG emissions, the cost of debt increases on average by 11-15%. These results imply that creditors incorporate firms’ GHG emissions into their lending decisions and they penalize the polluting firms. This could encourage firms to reduce and manage their GHG emissions since there is a cost associated with these emissions. This study is one of the first to examine the relationship between GHG emissions and the cost of debt.
The Effect of Short-term Treatment with Fennel on Bone Density in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives The goal of this study is to assess the effect of fennel on bone density. Methods This was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, which studied sixty eligible postmenopausal women, who were randomly assigned to fennel and placebo groups. Then, the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry was utilized to measure bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) of the spine, femoral neck, intertrochanter, and trochanter at the baseline and after three-month follow-up. Results The mean BMD and BMC at lumbar spine (P = 0.14, P = 0.504), total hip femoral (P = 0.427, P = 0.471), trochanter (P = 0.075, P = 0.07), intertrochanter, (P = 0.864, P = 0.932) and femoral neck (P = 0.439, P = 0.641) was not significantly different between the fennel and placebo groups. Conclusions The results of this study did not approve the effect of fennel on bone density in post-menopausal women. However, to gain deeper insights, further studies with longer durations and larger sample sizes are recommended.
Probabilistic modelling of rainfall induced landslide hazard assessment

Abstract. To evaluate the frequency and distribution of landslides hazards over Japan, this study uses a probabilistic model based on multiple logistic regression analysis. Study particular concerns several important physical parameters such as hydraulic parameters, geographical parameters and the geological parameters which are considered to be influential in the occurrence of landslides. Sensitivity analysis confirmed that hydrological parameter (hydraulic gradient) is the most influential factor in the occurrence of landslides. Therefore, the hydraulic gradient is used as the main hydraulic parameter; dynamic factor which includes the effect of heavy rainfall and their return period. Using the constructed spatial data-sets, a multiple logistic regression model is applied and landslide hazard probability maps are produced showing the spatial-temporal distribution of landslide hazard probability over Japan. To represent the landslide hazard in different temporal scales, extreme precipitation in 5 years, 30 years, and 100 years return periods are used for the evaluation. The results show that the highest landslide hazard probability exists in the mountain ranges on the western side of Japan (Japan Sea side), including the Hida and Kiso, Iide and the Asahi mountainous range, the south side of Chugoku mountainous range, the south side of Kyusu mountainous and the Dewa mountainous range and the Hokuriku region. The developed landslide hazard probability maps in this study will assist authorities, policy makers and decision makers, who are responsible for infrastructural planning and development, as they can identify landslide-susceptible areas and thus decrease landslide damage through proper preparation.
Analysis of managerial and healthcare indicators after nursing personnel upsizing.

OBJECTIVE analyze healthcare and managerial indicators after nursing personnel upsizing. METHOD a retrospective, descriptive study was conducted using data from computer systems of a university hospital in southern Brazil. Healthcare and managerial indicators related to the first half of 2013 and 2014 were statistically analyzed. RESULTS increases of 40.0% in the number of nurses and 16.0% in the number of nursing technicians led to reductions of 12.0% in the number of sickness absences, 21.8% in positive balance for compensatory time off, 92.0% in paid overtime. Reductions of 75.0% in pressure ulcer rates, 10.5% in the number of falls and 50.0% in infections due to indwelling catheter use were also observed. CONCLUSION nursing staff upsizing caused a positive impact on managerial and healthcare indicators and helped qualify care and improve work conditions for the nursing team.
The relationship between experience and mental workload in anaesthetic practice: an observational study

Mental workload is seen as a key factor in defining performance and expertise in some complex work environments, but there are no validated instruments for assessing mental workload in anaesthesia. We studied the mental workload of 20 anaesthetists of varying levels of experience, during five routine cases each, by measuring the delay in their responses to a frequently, but randomly, administered vibrotactile stimulus as a secondary task. We delivered, and recorded response times for, 6096 stimuli, with a median (range) of 55.5 (9–178) responses per case. Subjects learnt rapidly to respond to the device and there was no evidence of a ‘learning curve’ that might bias our results. There was limited evidence of a relationship between workload and experience; for instance, in trainees completing simple cases, mental workload had a negative linear relationship with training grade (rho = −0.360, p = 0.006). However, average differences between trainees and qualified practitioners in response times to the stimulus were overshadowed by differences between subjects at the same level of experience. Finally, although the number of ‘hands full’ responses was small, removing these from the analysis had a greater effect than expected, suggesting that the ‘hands full’ condition is not random, but varies with experience and may be independently associated with expertise. This method appears feasible for use in clinical practice and may, with refinement, aid the identification and tracking of the development of expertise in anaesthetic trainees.
PENGARUH FAKTOR-FAKTOR PENENTU STRUKTUR MODAL TERHADAP STRUKTUR MODAL (Studi pada Perusahaan Manufaktur yang Terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia periode 2014-2016)

The study aims to explain the influence of capital structure determinants on capital structure on 72 manufacturing companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange during the periode of 2014-2016. The independent variables are firm size, tax shields, profitability, asset stucture, operating leverage, and growth. Using explanatory type and quantitative approach, this study employs multivariate regression method to see the contribution of each variabel in influence capital structure. The result of this research showed that firm size, tax shields, profitability, asset stucture, operating leverage, and growth simultaneously influence capital structure. Base on partial test (t-test), firm size and asset structure have a positive influence to the capital structure. Tax shields, profitability, operating leverage, and growth do not influence toward capital stucture. Kеywords: Firm Size, Tax Shields, Profitability, Asset Stucture, Operating Leverage, Growth, and Capital Structure. АBSTRАK Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis faktor-faktor penentu struktur modal terhadap struktur modal pada 72 perusahaan manufaktur yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia periode 2014-2016. Variabel independen yang digunakan yaitu ukuran perusahaan, penghematan pajak, profitabilitas, struktur aktiva, operating leverage , dan tingkat pertumbuhan. Jenis penelitian yang digunakan yaitu penelitian penjelasan dan pendekatan kuantitatif, penelitian ini menggunakan analisis regresi linier berganda yang digunakan untuk mengetahui pengaruh setiap variabel independen terhadap struktur modal. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ukuran perusahaan, penghematan pajak, profitabilitas, struktur aktiva, operating leverage , dan tingkat pertumbuhan secara simultan berpengaruh terhadap struktur modal. Berdasarkan hasil uji parsial (uji t) variabel ukuran perusahaan dan struktur aktiva secara parsial berpengaruh positif terhadap struktur modal. Variabel penghematan pajak, profitabilitas, operating leverage , dan tingkat pertumbuhan secara parsial tidak memiliki pengaruh terhadap struktur modal. Kаtа Kunci: Ukuran Perusahaan, Penghematan Pajak, Profitabilitas, Struktur Aktiva, Operating Leverage , Tingkat Pertumbuhan, Struktur Modal.
Waiting Time Between Failure of First Graft and Second Kidney Transplant and Graft and Patient Survival

Background The number of patients with end-stage renal disease being relisted for a second kidney transplant is increasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between waiting time for a second transplant and outcomes after that second transplant. Methods Using Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant registry, patients who have received second kidney transplants between 1997 and 2009 were included. The associations between waiting time, defined as duration of dialysis between first allograft failure and second transplantation, and clinical outcomes including acute rejection, graft and patient survival were examined using adjusted logistic and Cox regression models. Results Of the 911 recipients, the median follow-up time was 4.7 years resulting in 4825 person-years of follow-up. Increasing waiting time before second transplants was associated with an increased risk of early acute rejection occurring within the first 6 months after transplant (adjusted odds ratio, 1.11; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.06-1.16; P < 0.001), severe vascular and/or humoral rejection (adjusted odds ratio, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.11; P = 0.011), overall graft failure (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02-1.10; P = 0.001), all-cause mortality (adjusted HR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.07-1.19; P < 0.001), and death with a functioning graft (adjusted HR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.06-1.18; P < 0.001), independent of donor, recipient, and immunological factors. Conclusions Prolonged waiting time for a second transplant was associated with inferior patient and graft outcomes.
Ultrasonographic intra-abdominal depth and its relation to haemostatic factors in healthy males.

OBJECTIVE To examine the relationship of intra-abdominal fat to plasma haemostatic factors. SUBJECTS 60 healthy, predominantly nonobese, male volunteers aged 38 years. MEASUREMENTS Anthropometry, sonographic intra-abdominal depth (IAD), as an indicator of intra-abdominal fat, plasma lipids, plasma insulin (at fasting and after glucose load), various plasma haemostatic factors. RESULTS Sonographic IAD correlated positively with plasma fibrinogen (r = 0.33; P < 0.01), PAI-1 activity (r = 0.52; P < 0.0001) and antigen (r = 0.32; P < 0.05), and negatively with t-PA activity, at baseline and after stasis (r = -0.28 and r = 0.31; P < 0.05). Factor VII levels did not correlate significantly with sonographic IAD. Haemostatic variables were also closely associated with BMI, plasma triglyceride and insulin concentrations. Most correlations of haemostatic factors with IAD disappeared after adjustment for either BMI or insulin or triglycerides, except PAI-1 levels which maintained a significant association even after simultaneous adjustment for all potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS These results, obtained by sonography, confirm our previous findings of significant associations of haemostatic variables with visceral fat accumulation by using computed tomography, and highlight the role of the intra-abdominal fat as an independent predictor of PAI-1 activity.
Engineering optimisation by cuckoo search

A new metaheuristic optimisation algorithm, called Cuckoo Search (CS), was developed recently by Yang and Deb (2009). This paper presents a more extensive comparison study using some standard test functions and newly designed stochastic test functions. We then apply the CS algorithm to solve engineering design optimisation problems, including the design of springs and welded beam structures. The optimal solutions obtained by CS are far better than the best solutions obtained by an efficient particle swarm optimiser. We will discuss the unique search features used in CS and the implications for further research.
Progressive Herpetic Linear Endotheliitis

Purpose: To report the clinical course of a rare case of bilateral herpetic linear endotheliitis. Methods: A 70-year-old man presented with bilateral circumferential bullous edema with stromal edema progressing centrally in the left cornea and bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment simultaneously. Serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibodies against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) were tested for, and aqueous humor from both eyes was examined separately using polymerase chain reaction for the presence of HSV1 DNA. Results: Serum antibody titers against HSV1 were positive. In the polymerase chain reaction, the aqueous humor showed HSV1 DNA in both eyes. Forty milligrams of prednisolone was given per day and 200 mg of oral acyclovir was given 4 times daily, but corneal edema progressed. After penetrating keratoplasty surgery in the left eye, recurrent herpetic endotheliitis also seemed to occur. Conclusions: HSV-1 may cause bilateral corneal linear endotheliitis and hearing impairment simultaneously. Linear endotheliitis should be regarded as a manifestation of HSV1 corneal infection. There is a poor prognosis, and severe corneal edema can result if aggressive treatment is not used.
Identification of a retinoic acid response element upstream of the murine Hox-4.2 gene

Hox genes play an important role in the process of vertebrate pattern formation, and their expression is intricately regulated both temporally and spatially. All-trans-retinoic acid (RA), a physiologically active metabolite of vitamin A, affects the expression of a large number of Hox genes in vitro and in vivo. However, the regulatory mechanisms underlying the RA response of these genes have not been extensively studied, and no response element for RA receptors (RARs) has been characterized in a Hox regulatory region. The expression of murine Hox-4.2 and its human homolog, HOX4B, is increased in embryonal carcinoma (EC) cell lines upon RA treatment (M. S. Featherstone, A. Baron, S. J. Gaunt, M.-G. Mattei, and D. Duboule, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:4760-4764, 1988; A. Simeone, D. Acampora, V. Nigro, A. Faiella, M. D'Esposito, A. Stornaiuolo, F. Mavilio, and E. Boncinelli, Mech. Dev. 33:215-228, 1991). Using transient expression assays, we showed that luciferase reporter gene constructs carrying genomic sequences located upstream of Hox-4.2 responded to RA in murine P19 EC cells. A 402-bp NcoI fragment was necessary for the RA responsiveness of reporter constructs. This fragment contained a regulatory element, 5'-AGGTGA(N)5AGGTCA-3', that closely resembles the consensus sequence for an RA response element. The Hox-4.2 RA response element was critical for the RA induction and specifically bound RARs. In addition, the response to RA could be inhibited by expressing a dominant negative form of RAR alpha in transfected P19 EC cells. These results suggested that Hox-4.2 is a target for RAR-mediated regulation by RA.