Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Insights into nurses’ work: Exploring relationships among work attitudes and work-related behaviors

Background: Work attitudes have been associated with work productivity. In health care, poor work attitudes have been linked to poor performance, decreased patient safety, and quality care. Hence, the importance, ascribed in the literature, of work that clearly identifies the relationships between and among work attitudes and work behaviors linked to performance. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to better understand the relationships between work attitudes—perceived organizational justice, perceived organizational support (POS), affective commitment—consistently associated with a key type of performance outcome among nurses’ organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Methodology: A survey was developed and administered to frontline nurses working in the province of Ontario, Canada. Data analysis used path analytic techniques. Results: Direct associations were identified between interpersonal justice and POS, procedural justice and POS, and POS and affective commitment to both one’s supervisor and one’s co-workers. Affective commitment to patients and career was directly associated with OCBs. Affective commitment to one’s co-worker was directly associated with OCBs directed toward individuals, as affective commitment to one’s organization was with OCBs directed toward the organization. Finally, OCBIs and OCBs were directly associated. Conclusions: Examining the relationships of these constructs in a single model is novel and provides new information regarding their complexity. Findings suggest that prior approaches to studying these relationships may have been undernuanced, and conceptualizations may have led to somewhat inaccurate conclusions regarding their associations. Practice Implications: With limited resources, knowledge of nurse work attitudes can inform human resource practices and operational policies involving training programs in employee communication, transparency, interaction, support, and performance evaluation.
PERCUTANEOUS ENDOSCOPIC GASTROSTOMY (PEG): RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF A 7-YEAR CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

Aims: Since its description in 1980, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy has become the modality of choice for providing enteral access to patients who require long-term enteral nutrition. This study aimed to evaluate current indications and complications associated with PEG feeding. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients who referred to our endoscopic unit of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology of the Medical Center University of Sarajevo for PEG tube placement over a period of 7 years. Medical records of 359 patients dealing with PEG tube placement were reviewed to assess indications, technical success, complications and the need for repeat procedures. Results: The indications for enteral feeding tube placement were malignancy in 44% (n=158), of which 61% (n=97) patients were suffering of head and neck cancer and 39% (n=61) of other malignancy. Central nervous disease was the indication in 48.7 % (n=175) of patients. Cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) accounted for 20% (n=73), head injury for 16% (n=59) and cerebral palsy for 11% (n=38). In 6.13% (n=22) of patients minor complications occur which included wound infection (0.8%), inadvertent PEG removal (2.5%) and tube blockage (1.1%). 11 patients experienced major complications including hemorrhage, tube migration and perforation. There were no deaths related to PEG procedure placement and the overall 30-day mortality rate due to primary disease was 15.8%. Oral feeding was resumed in 23% of the patients and the tube was removed subsequently after 6 -12 months. Conclusions: Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy is a save and minimally invasive endoscopic procedure associated with a low morbidity (9.2%) rate, easy to follow-up and to replace when blockage occurs. Over a seven-year period we noticed an increase of 63% in PEG placement at our department.
Gender differences in smoking behavior among adolescents in Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE To describe and assess gender differences in current cigarette smokers' according to certain variables including prevalence, access to tobacco, knowledge and attitude, environmental tobacco smoke, cessation of smoking, tobacco related advertisements, and education on tobacco in school among adolescents in grades 7-12 in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. METHODS A random sample of schools in Tabuk city was obtained using a 2-stage cluster, in April 2005. A total of 16 governmental schools were selected. Within the schools, 48 classes were selected, targeting grades was 7 to 12. An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was used to select 1,505 participants, with 96% response rate. RESULTS Out of 1,505 students, 22.3% (34% males, 11.1% females) were current cigarette smokers (students who had smoked on one or more days in the 30 days preceding the survey), and 5.8% (11.1% males, 0.7% females) were daily smokers. There were significant gender differences concerning source of cigarettes, usual place of smoke, intensity of smoking, knowledge on addiction of tobacco, exposure to education on tobacco, attitudes, and exposure to tobacco smoke in public places. While no significant gender differences were found with respect to age of initiation, knowledge of health hazards of tobacco, exposure to media, desire to quit, or exposure to tobacco smoke at home. CONCLUSION For the suppression of the use of tobacco by adolescents in Saudi Arabia differential intervention strategies and policies in males and females are needed, such as reducing youth access to cigarettes-in addition to intensive school and community anti-tobacco programs.
The Behavioral and Intermediate Effects of Advertising on Firm Performance: An Empirical Investigation of the Restaurant Industry

The purpose of this study was to identify tangible and intangible gains resulting from advertising in restaurant businesses from both the marketing and finance/accounting perspectives. Specifically, this study examined both behavioral and intermediate effects of advertising on consumer behavior and firm performance. Annual sales, profit, Tobin’s Q, and advertising expenditure of 119 restaurant firms from 1991 to 2012 were used for data analysis. The findings revealed that advertising led to an immediate increase in consumer demand, but failed to improve profit. The effect of advertising on sales and profit through brand equity was found to be insignificant. This study suggests a new angle on the use of advertising and brand strategies in the restaurant industry and discusses potential directions for future research.
The framing of international competitiveness in Canada’s climate change policy: trade-off or synergy?

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has identified competitiveness concerns as perhaps the most significant barrier to ambitious climate policies in the developed world. This article assesses the nature of these concerns, and argues that they are not necessarily the rational response to a clear and obvious impact of climate policies on international competitiveness, but are politically constructed. Competitiveness concerns reflect a ‘trade-off’ frame of this relationship, in which international competitiveness and climate policies are portrayed as conflicting. However, an analysis of Canadian climate policy reveals that governments can reframe this relationship, invoking a ‘synergy’ frame in which the two goals are viewed as complementary. Because governments can choose to adopt a different frame of competitiveness, to the extent that competitiveness concerns serve as a barrier to more ambitious climate politics, it is a barrier that can be overcome. Policy relevance Statements about the impact that climate policy has on international competitiveness should not be accepted as clear and obvious, but need to be carefully scrutinized. Hence, governments have greater scope for action on climate change than is sometimes claimed.
Changes in Osteocalcin after Femoral Neck Fracture

In a group of elderly patients with osteoporosis and femoral neck fracture, osteocalcin concentrations rose significantly in the first week after fracture fixation. The changes in osteocalcin correlated well with the changes in plasma 1,25***-dihydroxycholecalciferol (P < 0·001).
Minimal residual disease after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for chronic myeloid leukaemia: a metaphase‐FISH study

Metaphase‐FISH was adopted for the detection of proliferating Philadelphia‐positive (Ph+) residual leukaemic cells in 25 patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia treated with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Patients were followed up during their clinical remission for 4–50 months (median 17 months) after BMT. 80 bone marrow samples were studied. For most of the cases no fewer than 1000 metaphases were analysed. Six patients (24%) showed residual Ph+ cells during the first 6 months and two others by the end of the first year after BMT. Three patients relapsed during the study and in two of them residual Ph+ cells were detected during the first 6 months after BMT. In 17 patients no Ph+ cells were detected at any stage of follow‐up and 16 (94.1%) of them continue in complete clinical and haematological remission. Our results indicate that metaphase‐FISH is a reliable tool in the quantitation of proliferating residual leukaemic cells. We suggest that consecutive findings of equal amounts of residual leukaemic cells do not necessarily predict a relapse. However, their presence calls for follow‐up at shorter intervals where an increasing number of these cells predicts an ensuing relapse.
Nutritional status and dietary intake of children with acute leukaemia during induction or consolidation chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND The assessment of nutritional status among paediatric patients is important for the planning and execution of nutritional strategies that strive to optimise the quality of life and growth among sick children. The present study aimed to evaluate the nutritional status and dietary intake among children with acute leukaemia. METHODS This cross-sectional study included 53 paediatric patients aged 3-12 years old, who were diagnosed with either acute lymphoblastic leukaemia or acute myelogenous leukaemia and were undergoing chemotherapy treatments (induction or consolidation phase). Patients were matched for sex, age (±6 months) and ethnicity with healthy children as controls. Weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference, mid-upper arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, mid-upper arm muscle area and fat area were determined. Dietary intake was assessed using 3-day food records. RESULTS Anthropometric variables were generally higher among patients compared to controls, although the differences were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The prevalence of overnutrition among patients according to body mass index-for-age, waist circumference-for-age, mid-upper arm circumference-for-age and triceps skinfold-for-age were 24.5%, 29.1%, 17.0% and 30.2%, respectively. Mean energy [5732 ± 1958 kJ (1370 ± 468 kcal) versus 6945 ± 1970 kJ (1660 ± 471 kcal), P < 0.01], protein (50.0 ± 19.7 g versus 62.3 ± 22.3 g, P < 0.01) and fat (43.6 ± 18.9 g versus 58.3 ± 16.7, P < 0.001) intakes of patients were significantly lower than controls. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of being overweight and obesity in children with acute leukaemia was higher despite lower energy intake compared to controls. Studies assessing physical activity, the complex interaction and the effects of treatment drugs are warranted to better manage malnutrition among paediatric patients.
Oxygen as attractant and repellent in bacterial chemotaxis

Studies of bacterial chemotaxis to oxygen (aerotaxis) over a broad range of oxygen concentrations showed that at high concentrations, oxygen was a repellent of Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, and some bacilli, whereas it is known that at lower concentrations (less than or equal to 0.25 mM dissolved oxygen), oxygen is an attractant. In a temporal assay of aerotaxis, S. typhimurium in medium equilibrated with air (0.25 mM dissolved oxygen) and then exposed to pure oxygen (1.2 mM) tumbled continuously for approximately 20 s. The oxygen concentration that elicited a half-maximal negative (repellent) response was 1.0 mM for both S. typhimurium and E. coli. The receptor for the negative chemoresponse to high concentrations of oxygen is apparently different from the receptor for the positive chemoresponse to low concentrations of oxygen, since the oxygen concentration that elicits a half-maximal positive (attractant) response in S. typhimurium and E. coli is reported to be 0.7 microM. Adaptation to high concentrations of oxygen, like adaptation to low concentrations of oxygen, was independent of methylation of a transducer protein. Only the response to low oxygen concentrations, however, was altered by interaction with the amidated Tsr transducer in cheB mutants.
In-vitro selection of highly stabilized protein variants with optimized surface.

Thermostable proteins are of prime importance in protein science, but it has remained difficult to develop general strategies for stabilizing a protein. Site-directed mutagenesis based on comparisons with thermophilic homologs is rarely successful because the sequence differences are too numerous and dominated by neutral mutations. Here we used a method of directed evolution to increase the stability of a mesophilic protein, the cold shock protein Bs-CspB from Bacillus subtilis. It differs from its thermophilic counterpart Bc-Csp from Bacillus caldolyticus at 12 surface-exposed positions. To elucidate the stabilizing potential of exposed amino acid residues, six of these variant positions were randomized by saturation mutagenesis, the corresponding library of sequences was inserted into the gene-3-protein of the filamentous phage fd, and stabilized variants were selected by the Proside technique. Proside links the increased protease resistance of stabilized protein variants with the infectivity of the phage. Many strongly stabilized variants of Bs-CspB were identified in two selections, one in the presence of a denaturant and the other at elevated temperature. Several of them are significantly more stable than the naturally thermostable homolog Bc-Csp, and the best variant reaches Tm-Csp (the homolog from the hyperthermophile Thermotoga maritima) in stability. Remarkably, this variant differs from Tm-Csp at five and from Bc-Csp at all six randomized positions. This indicates that proteins can be strongly stabilized by many different sets of surface mutations, and Proside selects them efficiently from large libraries. The course of the selection could be directed by the conditions. In an ionic denaturant non-polar surface interactions were optimized, whereas at elevated temperature variants with improved electrostatics were selected, pointing to two different strategies for stabilization at protein surfaces.
Countrywide Molecular Survey of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strains in Poland

ABSTRACT The present investigation was undertaken to assess the proportion of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains among hospital-acquired isolates and to determine the clones of MRSA currently circulating in Poland by using a number of molecular techniques. Between January and May 2005, methicillin resistance was investigated among a total of 915 S. aureus isolates collected from 39 hospitals. A total of 208 (22.7%) isolates were positive for the mecA gene by PCR. The molecular characterization of MRSA isolates was carried out by the multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat fingerprinting, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, multilocus sequence typing, and staphylococcal chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec) typing methods. The Hungarian (PFGE B; ST239, SCCmec type III [ST239-III]), Iberian (ST247-I), and Berlin (ST45-IV) clones were predominant, representing approximately 52.9, 11.5, and 10.0% of the MRSA isolates, respectively. A decline in the proportion of earlier MRSA clones, such as ST5-IV (a Pediatric clone), ST80-IV) (a Mediterranean clone), ST239-III (a Polish and Brazilian clone), and ST30-IV (a southwest Pacific clone) was observed. Additionally, the emergence of an MRSA clone with SCCmec type V, possibly representing a community-acquired strain, was observed in two hospitals during this study.
Effect of alpine skiing training on tendon mechanical properties in older men and women

Strain is one of the parameters determining tendon adaptation to mechanical stimuli. The aim of this study was to test whether the patellar tendon strain induced during recreational alpine skiing would affect tendon mechanical properties in older individuals. Twenty‐two older males and females (67 ± 2 years) were assigned to a 12‐week guided skiing programe (IG) and 20 aged‐matched volunteers served as controls (CG). Patellar tendon mechanical properties and cross‐sectional area (CSA) were measured before and after training, with combined dynamometry and ultrasonography scanning. None of the variables changed significantly in the CG after training. In the IG, tendon stiffness and Young's modulus were increased (respectively, 14% and 12%, P<0.01), without any significant change in tendon CSA. In addition, changes in tendon stiffness were blunted in women (9%) compared with men (19%). Serum IGF‐1 concentration tended to be lower in women (−19%, P=0.07). These results demonstrate that the mechanical stimulus induced by alpine skiing is sufficient to elicit adaptive changes in patellar tendon mechanical and material properties in older subjects. Furthermore, the present sex‐specific adaptations are consistent with previous reports of lower collagen metabolic responsiveness in women and may be underpinned by anthropometric and metabolic differences.
Non‐stress antenatal cardiotocography‐a prospective randomized clinical trial

Summary. A randomized controlled trial examined the effects of non‐stress antepartum cardiotocography on obstetric management and assessed its usefulness as a diagnostic test of fetal compromise. Daily cardiotocograph recordings were made in 396 antenatal patients at increased risk of fetal compromise but were withheld from the clinicians responsible for care in half the cases. The frequency of intrapartum fetal distress and low Apgar score was similar in the two groups. The three normally‐formed perinatal deaths all occurred in the revealed group but in only one case could earlier obstetric intervention have altered the outcome. Availability of non‐stress cardiotocography was not associated with an increased rate of induction of labour or caesarean section.
17&bgr;-Estradiol Attenuates Conduit Pulmonary Artery Mechanical Property Changes With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a rapidly fatal vascular disease, strikes women more often than men. Paradoxically, female PAH patients have better prognosis and survival rates than males. The female sex hormone 17&bgr;-estradiol has been linked to the better outcome of PAH in females; however, the mechanisms by which 17&bgr;-estradiol alters PAH progression and outcomes remain unclear. Because proximal pulmonary arterial (PA) stiffness, one hallmark of PAH, is a powerful predictor of mortality and morbidity, we hypothesized that 17&bgr;-estradiol attenuates PAH-induced changes in mechanical properties in conduit proximal PAs, which imparts hemodynamic and energetic benefits to right ventricular function. To test this hypothesis, female mice were ovariectomized and treated with 17&bgr;-estradiol or placebo. PAH was induced in mice using SU5416 and chronic hypoxia. Extra-lobar left PAs were isolated and mechanically tested ex vivo to study both static and frequency-dependent mechanical behaviors in the presence or absence of smooth muscle cell activation. Our static mechanical test showed significant stiffening of large PAs with PAH (P<0.05). 17&bgr;-Estradiol restored PA compliance to control levels. The dynamic mechanical test demonstrated that 17&bgr;-estradiol protected the arterial wall from the PAH-induced frequency-dependent decline in dynamic stiffness and loss of viscosity with PAH (P<0.05). As demonstrated by the in vivo measurement of PA hemodynamics via right ventricular catheterization, modulation by 17&bgr;-estradiol of mechanical proximal PAs reduced pulsatile loading, which contributed to improved ventricular–vascular coupling. This study provides a mechanical mechanism for delayed disease progression and better outcome in female PAH patients and underscores the therapeutic potential of 17&bgr;-estradiol in PAH.
Repeat MRI in Acute Rhabdomyolysis: Correlation with Clinicopathological Findings

Objective Four cases of acute rhabdomyolysis are presented and the correlation between clinicopathological and MR findings is discussed. Materials and Methods The cases include carnitine palmitoyltransferase I deficiency presenting as compartment syndrome, acute polymyositis, acute myositis associated with Epstein–Barr virus infection, and glycyrrhizin- and diuretic-induced hypokalemic myopathy. Results The T2-weighted MR images revealed high intensity lesions in the affected muscle groups. The lesions seen on MR correlated precisely with the symptoms and neurological deficits of the patients. Repeat MR studies showed that the high intensity lesions seen on T2-weighted MR images resolved in parallel with the clinical course. Conclusion This reversibility of the MR findings suggests that the high intensity lesions do not reflect permanent myopathic changes, but probably represent transient edema in the acute phase of rhabdomyolysis.
Potassium Channel Blockade Enhances Atrial Fibrillation–Selective Antiarrhythmic Effects of Optimized State-Dependent Sodium Channel Blockade

Background— The development of effective and safe antiarrhythmic drugs for atrial fibrillation (AF) rhythm control is an unmet clinical need. Multichannel blockers are believed to have advantages over single-channel blockers for AF, but their development has been completely empirical to date. We tested the hypothesis that adding K+-channel blockade improves the atrium-selective electrophysiological profile and anti-AF effects of optimized Na+-channel blockers. Methods and Results— Realistic cardiomyocyte-, tissue-, and state-dependent Na+-channel block mathematical models, optical mapping, and action potential recording were used to study the effect of Na+-current (INa) blockade with or without concomitant inhibition of the rapid or ultrarapid delayed-rectifier K+ currents (IKr and IKur, respectively). In the mathematical model, maximal AF selectivity was obtained with an inactivated-state Na+-channel blocker. Combining optimized Na+-channel blocker with IKr block increased rate-dependent and atrium-selective peak INa reduction, increased AF selectivity, and more effectively terminated AF compared with optimized Na+-channel blocker alone. Combining optimized Na+-channel blocker with IKur block had similar effects but without IKr block–induced ventricular action potential prolongation. Consistent with the mathematical model, in coronary-perfused canine hearts, the addition of dofetilide (selective IKr blocker) to pilsicainide (selective INa blocker) produced enhanced atrium-selective effects on maximal phase 0 upstroke and conduction velocity. Furthermore, pilsicainide plus dofetilide had higher AF termination efficacy than pilsicainide alone. Pilsicainide alone had no statistically significant effect on AF inducibility, whereas pilsicainide plus dofetilide rendered AF noninducible. Conclusions— K+-channel block potentiates the AF-selective anti-AF effects obtainable with optimized Na+-channel blockade. Combining optimized Na+-channel block with blockade of atrial K+ currents is a potentially valuable AF-selective antiarrhythmic drug strategy.