Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Supraphysiological protection from replication stress does not extend mammalian lifespan

Replication Stress (RS) is a type of DNA damage generated at the replication fork, characterized by single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) accumulation, and which can be caused by a variety of factors. Previous studies have reported elevated RS levels in aged cells. In addition, mouse models with a deficient RS response show accelerated aging. However, the relevance of endogenous or physiological RS, compared to other sources of genomic instability, for the normal onset of aging is unknown. We have performed long term survival studies of transgenic mice with extra copies of the Chk1 and/or Rrm2 genes, which we previously showed extend the lifespan of a progeroid ATR-hypomorphic model suffering from high levels of RS. In contrast to their effect in the context of progeria, the lifespan of Chk1, Rrm2 and Chk1/Rrm2 transgenic mice was similar to WT littermates in physiological settings. Most mice studied died due to tumors -mainly lymphomas-irrespective of their genetic background. Interestingly, a slightly higher percentage of transgenic mice developed tumors compared to WT mice. Our results indicate that supraphysiological protection from RS does not extend lifespan, indicating that RS may not be a relevant source of genomic instability on the onset of “normal” aging.
Polymyositis/dermatomyositis is a potential risk factor for acute respiratory failure: a pulmonary heart disease

Background Studies on the association between polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) and acute respiratory failure (ARF) are considerably limited. We investigated whether ARF is associated with PM/DM using a nationwide cohort study. Methods We identified 1,374 patients with newly diagnosed PM/DM and 13,740 comparison individuals without PM/DM (non-PM/DM) randomly selected from the general population; frequency matched by age, sex, and index year using the National Health Insurance Research Database; and followed up until the end of 2011 to measure the incidence of ARF. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to measure the hazard ratio (HR) of ARF for the PM/DM cohort in comparison with the non-PM/DM cohort. Results The adjusted HR of ARF was 5.05 for the PM/DM cohort compared with the non-PM/DM cohort after adjusting for sex, age, comorbidities, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) score and medicine. The risk of ARF significantly increased irrespective of age, sex, comorbidities and medicine. Meanwhile, the PM/DM cohort with comorbidities, such as cardiac disease (hypertension), pulmonary disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia), and pulmonary vascular diseases had additive effects on the incident ARF. Conclusions This study determined the cross-reaction of pulmonary heart disease in the PM/DM cohort with incident ARF even without comorbidities.
Supporting Disaster Relief Efforts Internationally: A Call to Counseling Psychologists

The increased occurrence of natural and human-made disasters has led to a greater call for culturally sensitive engagement in disaster mental health. In this article, we aim to stimulate culturally focused participation and competence among counseling psychologists who engage in disaster mental health work. Framed within an ecological and systemic interaction of individual, cultural, community, and structural factors, the article is based on two cross-cultural competency models emphasizing, cultural intelligence, language proficiency, cognitive complexity and flexibility, and highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, in the planning and delivery of disaster relief services. In particular, we address (a) specific cultural challenges, (b) skills and competencies needed, and (c) recommendations for online resources, that are relevant to counseling psychologists who seek to promote emotional resiliency in individuals and communities impacted by a disaster.
Gender inequality in the South African labour market: Insights from the Employment Equity Act data

abstract In the years following the end of Apartheid, South Africa introduced the Employment Equity Act as part of legislation designed to address entrenched racial and gender inequalities. Through section 27 of the Act, firms are required to report on the representation and remuneration of their workers by gender and population group. In this study, unprecedented access to the data generated by this reporting was used to assess gender-based occupational segregation and pay gaps in 2015 and 2016. We found the data on employment to be relatively trustworthy and to show that women (and especially black and coloured women) continue to be under-represented in high-skilled and management positions. Substantial gender pay gaps were found, but the reliability of these estimates was made questionable by a high number of apparent errors and inconsistencies in the remuneration data. The data has several advantages over other household and firm surveys, but these issues undermine its potential for the estimation of gender pay gaps among workers matched on occupational skill levels. This analysis shows that more needs to be done to ensure that this data is appropriately processed and distributed, so that it can shed light on the state of women in the South African labour market and be used to effectively address inequalities in pay and representation.
Confirmation of the Reduction and Containment of the Femoral Head with CT or MRI Scans in DDH: The Need for Repeated Scans

The accuracy of reduction of the femoral head in the acetabulum after the application of plaster casts in open and closed reduction was retrospectively assessed by means of CT or MRI scan in 59 patients and 67 hips. Scanning after the first plaster application showed that the position was not maintained in the hip spica in 1 out of 37 patients (3%), who had undergone open reduction, and 8 out of 30 (27%), who had undergone closed reduction. All hips shown to be reduced and contained at the time of the first scan, and held in a spica remained reduced on subsequent scans. This study shows that the hip is vulnerable to redisplacement, especially after closed reduction, but stabilises after the first 6 to 8 weeks in plaster. This suggests therefore that repeating the scan after each plaster change was not necessary, and that resources could be conserved. This study has also shown that all the 113 CT scans clearly defined the anatomy but 6 out of the 33 MRI scans were blurred and needed repeating.
Impact of Metacognitive Strategy Instruction on Iranian EFL Learners’ Listening Anxiety

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of metacognitive strategy instruction intervention on reducing language listening anxiety of Iranian EFL learners in the light of 2 listening metacognitive strategy instruction models of Integrated Experiential Learning Task (IELT) (Goh, 2010) and Metacognitive pedagogical Sequence (MPS) (Vandergrift, 2004). Participants were 63 B1 level learners who were chosen through random sampling and were randomly assigned to 2 experimental and 2 control groups. Before and after the intervention, Kim’s (2000) Foreign Language Listening Anxiety scale (FLLAS) and the listening section of Preliminary English Test (PET) were administered to all groups as pre and post tests. All four groups were taught by the same researcher and the listening comprehension material was constant over the groups. The first experimental group received IELT intervention, the second experimental group received MPS intervention, and both control groups received traditional product-based listening comprehension instruction while the active control group also received explicit instruction of the metacognitive strategies. ANCOVA results proved that although both IELT and MPS were effective in lowering anxiety level, the performance of MPS was of a large effect size, and it was a better model to lower learners’ anxiety. Both models significantly improved learners’ listening comprehension.
TRAINING FOR FUTURE INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION PROFESSIONALS AT THE CARLOS III UNIVERSITY OF MADRID THROUGH INTERNSHIP IN LIBRARIES, ARCHIVES AND DOCUMENT CENTRES

The overall aim of this study was to determine whether the Carlos III University of Madrid’s Information and Documentation degree programme has delivered training suited to library, archive and information centre needs and to what extent such training should be restructured to rise to the challenges posed by relentless technological change. With those aims in mind, a competence matrix was applied to analyse the department’s historic series of worksite tutors’ assessments of students and the results of surveys conducted among both communities. The results attested to overall student and tutor satisfaction with the programme.
Teacher leadership inside the classroom: Implications for effective language teaching

On definitional and conceptual basis, strong correspondences exist between leadership and the teaching profession yet leadership is nonetheless occasionally studied in the classroom context. This study investigated in-class teacher leadership based on the Full Range Leadership (FRL) model in tertiary-level English language teaching context in Turkey, with the aim of eventually identifying the effective/ineffective classroom leader characteristics. This paper reports the results of a study designed with a mixed methods approach, using a questionnaire survey, which included Classroom Leadership Instrument, a modified version of Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire administered to the students and face-to-face interviews with both instructors and students. One particular subject course was determined in two English language-related departments in a Turkish state university and the instructors teaching and the students taking this course were selected as the subject group of the study. 305 students took part in the survey while among these students, 18 were further interviewed besides the four instructors teaching the course. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive tests while interviews and observations were content-analyzed. Both quantitative and qualitative results, in broad terms, showed that language instructors displayed all three leadership styles of FRL, namely, transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership, with changing extents for each style. The results indicated that instructors with higher tendencies for transformational and active components of transactional styles were rather more organized, enthusiastic and committed and they were attributed with more positive and effective characteristics by their students while those with higher passive transactional and laissez-faire leadership scores were accordingly less effective in both teaching activities and their relationships with the students. Lastly, it is concluded that transformational and active transactional leadership characteristics contribute to effective leadership inside the classroom and an integration of these characteristics into teaching practices and teacher-student interaction promises potential positive outcomes. Keywords: Classroom leadership, language classrooms, effective language teaching, transformational leadership, transactional leadership.
Improvement in biochemical parameters in patients with type 2 diabetes after twenty-four sessions of aerobic exercise: A randomized controlled trial

Background: Diabetes is a cosmopolitan health problem worldwide, especially in Asia. It is a metabolic disorder originating from insulin secretion deficiency, insulin performance or both. When both factors are involved, abnormal complications may result. Exercise training plays an important role in controlling diabetic parameters, including biomechanical variables. Objectives: This study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of exercise on biochemical parameters in patients with diabetes. Methods: This study was a randomized control trial. A total of 30 volunteers met the inclusion criteria and were randomly divided to 2 groups, aerobic and control, by block randomization method. This study was performed during May to October 2016 in Iran. The intervention protocol included 24 sessions (8 weeks) of aerobic exercise on the treadmill with zero slope, 3 days per week for 30 minutes per session. Intensity of training protocol was 50 to 70 maximum heart rate. Measurements of biochemical parameters were done before and after the 24 sessions Results: There were no significant differences in anthropometric, gender, age, diabetic history, cardiac ejection fraction, and biochemical variables (P > 0.05). After 8 weeks, results were as follows: fasting blood glucose (FBS) (130.92 (45.43) Mg/dL), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (6.62 (1.52) percent), cholesterol (150.62 (24.07) Mg/dL), triglyceride (119.62 (39.18) Mg/dL), Low density lipoprotein (LDL) (77.23 (26.73) Mg/dL), and very low density of lipoprotein (VLDL) (23.92 (7.90) Mg/dL); these were significantly reduced in the training group (P < 0.05), yet, not in the control group. Alternatively, high density lipoprotein (HDL) remained unchanged in the aerobic group (47.85 (17.83) Mg/dL) while it was increased in the control group (42.07 (8.86) Mg/dL). Also, C-reactive protein (CRP)) 2.43 (1.03) Mg/L) and microalbumin (12.32 (1.21) Mg) values didn’t change between the 2 groups. Conclusions: Eight weeks of aerobic exercise was shown to be effective in controlling biochemical parameters. However, longer training duration is needed in order to modify CRP. © 2017, Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal.
Triggers of Ischemic Stroke: Results from the Stroke Onset Pilot Study

P153 Despite progress in the identification of risk factors for stroke, relatively little is known about the immediate precipitants or triggers of acute ischemic stroke (IS). We therefore conducted a pilot study to determine the presence of potential triggers within 24 hours preceding the onset of IS to establish the feasibility of conducting a case-crossover study of potential triggers of IS. The case-crossover design is an epidemiologic method that uses each patient as his/her own control, developed to evaluate the effect of potential triggers on the incidence of acute events. During the time of the pilot, we recruited 50 patients (88% of all eligible hospitalized patients) mean age 62±16 years, including 32% women. Patients were typically interviewed in hospital within 2 or 3 days of the onset of IS. The structured interview covered use of medications, caffeinated beverages, alcohol, smoking behavior, illicit drugs including marijuana and cocaine, timing of meals particularly unusually large meals, episodes of straining for defecation or urination, sexual intercourse and heavy physical exertion. Separate questions emphasized lifting heavy objects, and psychometric evaluations of anger, anxiety and depression. Large vessel atherothrombotic lesions were responsible for 39% of strokes, cardioembolic sources for 28%, small vessel disease (lacunar infarcts) for 22%, and other etiologies for 11%. The prevalence of exposure in the year prior to stroke varied from 10% for marijuana to 88% for caffeinated beverages. Exposure to potential triggers in the 24 hours before stroke onset was reported in over 30% of cases, including heavy exertion ≥ 6 METs (8%), lifting ≥ 50lbs (10%), straining for urination or defecation (4%), sexual intercourse (2%), outbursts of anger (4%), alcohol (28%), and marijuana (6%). The Stroke Onset Study Pilot demonstrates that potential triggers are present in approximately one-third of patients with IS. A larger study is required to assess whether external stressors can trigger the onset of stroke. Identifying and understanding the mechanisms by which particular exposures trigger the onset of stroke may lead to novel preventive strategies.
ASTHMA CARE PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES AMONG GENERAL PRACTITIONERS AT BAHAWALPUR

BACKGROUND: Bronchial asthma is a major health problem in Pakistan and there is a substantial variation among General Practitioners in both their knowledge and management practices, including the assessment of severity of asthma, monitoring of the asthmatic patients and the use of proper medications. PURPOSE: This study was carried out to characterize the current knowledge, beliefs, and practices of asthma management among general practitioners at Bahawalpur and its suburbs. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study involving 109 conveniently selected registered general practitioners in Bahawalpur and its suburbs, carried out from April 2007 to August 2007. The data was collected with the help of a pre tested questionnaire and was analyzed manually. MAIN RESULTS: The male to female ratio among the GPs was 17:1. The mean age of GPs was 46 years and the mean duration of medical practice was about 14 years. Average number of cases of asthma seen by the GPs was more than two per week. Most of the GPs were found to be prescribing only oral Beta2 agonists and/or oral Theophyllines. Only a few of the GPs were found educating their patients about the proper technique of using an inhaler device. Knowledge about childhood asthma was poor. CONCLUSIONS: This study concluded that there is a need for improving the performance of GPs about asthma management.
Inhibition of DNAJ-HSP70 interaction improves strength in muscular dystrophy

Dominant mutations in the HSP70 co-chaperone DNAJB6 cause a late onset muscle disease termed limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 1D (LGMD1D), which is characterized by protein aggregation and vacuolar myopathology. Disease mutations reside within the G/F domain of DNAJB6, but the molecular mechanisms underlying dysfunction are not well understood. Using yeast, cell culture, and mouse models of LGMD1D, we find that the toxicity associated with disease-associated DNAJB6 requires its interaction with HSP70, and that abrogating this interaction genetically or with small molecules is protective. In skeletal muscle, DNAJB6 localizes to the Z-disc with HSP70. Whereas HSP70 normally diffuses rapidly between the Z-disc and sarcoplasm, the rate of HSP70’s diffusion in LGMD1D mouse muscle is diminished likely because it has an unusual affinity for the Z-disc and mutant DNAJB6. Treating LGMD1D mice with a small molecule inhibitor of the DNAJ-HSP70 complex re-mobilizes HSP70, improves strength and corrects myopathology. These data support a model in which LGMD1D mutations in DNAJB6 are a gain-of-function disease that is, counter-intuitively, mediated via HSP70 binding. Thus, therapeutic approaches targeting HSP70:DNAJB6 may be effective in treating this inherited muscular dystrophy.
Comparison between TRCReady MTB and MTB ELITe MGB kit for the direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in respiratory and non-respiratory samples

Background : A recent World Health Organization survey estimated about 10.4 million new tuberculosis (TB) cases per year with a high mortality rate. A rapid and accurate diagnosis of TB is very important for the optimal treatment and the prevention of spread. In the last few years rapid nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB) were developed. Materials and methods : In this study we have compared TRCReady MTB, based on the Transcription Reverse Transcription Concerted Reaction technology (TRC) and MTB ELITe MGB Kit, a qualitative nucleic acid amplification assay, for the direct detection of MTB in 56 respiratory and 24 non-respiratory specimens, collected from September to November 2015. Results : Both methods did not detect any MTB in 45 respiratory samples and in 22 non-respiratory specimens with negative cultures. MTB ELITe MGB Kit identified MTB in 8 respiratory samples with MTB positive cultures, 7 of which were detected by TRCReady MTB as well. Two non-respiratory MTB positive cultures were correctly identified by both methods. In two respiratory samples with Mycobacterium Other Than Tuberculosis positive cultures both methods provided negative results. Conclusions : In conclusion, TRCReady MTB performance proved comparable to that of MTB ELITe MGB Kit in the diagnosis of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary TB, with a shorter analytical time (50 vs 110 min).
CUSTOMER-BASED BRAND EQUITY OF RETAIL BANKS IN VIETNAM

Việc phát triển vốn thương hiệu trên nền tảng khách hàng (Customer-based brand equity - CBBE) với các ngân hàng bán lẻ ở Việt Nam vẫn chưa rõ ràng và chủ đề này chưa được nghiên cứu đầy đủ vì Việt Nam là một quốc gia đang phát triển. Để thực hiện nghiên cứu về CBBE ở Việt Nam, bài nghiên cứu này thực hiện khảo sát 157 đối tượng là khách hàng của một hoặc nhiều ngân hàng. Dựa trên phương pháp phân tích cấu trúc tuyến tính và kỹ thuật phân tích nhân tố khám phá, các phát hiện cho thấy có mối quan hệ giữa sự hài lòng, chất lượng và tính độc đáo của thương hiệu, nghĩa là chất lượng cảm nhận tăng sẽ dẫn đến sự hài lòng về thương hiệu tăng. Tương tự, tính độc đáo của thương hiệu tăng cũng dẫn đến tăng sự hài lòng. Sự hài lòng về thương hiệu làm tăng sự trung thành với thương hiệu. Nghiên cứu này cũng cho thấy chất lượng cảm nhận và sự độc đáo của thương hiệu phải hình thành trước sự hài lòng để làm tăng sự trung thành với thương hiệu. Hơn nữa, tác động trực tiếp của chất lượng cảm nhận và sự độc đáo của thương hiệu đối với sự trung thành của thương hiệu thấp hơn tác động gián tiếp thông qua sự hài lòng về thương hiệu.
Chitinophaga vietnamensis sp. nov., a multi-drug resistant bacterium infecting humans.

We describe a new multidrug resistant Chitinophaga species that was isolated from patients with type 2 diabetes in Vietnam. Strain BD 01T was cultivated in 2017 from a blood sample of a patient suffering from bacteremia. Strain VP 7442 was isolated in 2018 from a pleural fluid sample of a patient who had presented with lung abscess and pleural effusion. Both strains are aerobic, Gram-negative, non-motile and non-spore-forming. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of both strains are 100 % similar and share a highest 16S sequence identity with Chitinophaga polysaccharea MRP-15T of 97.42 %. Their predominant fatty acid is iso-C15 : 0 (73.8 % for strain BD 01T and 79.8 % for strain VP 7442). The draft genome sizes of strains BD 01T and VP 7442 are 6 308 408 and 6 308 579 bp, respectively. They are resistant to beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones, metronidazole, fosfomycin, vancomycin and macrolides, and exhibit 20 and 18 antimicrobial resistance-related genes, respectively. Using the multiphasic taxonogenomic approach, we propose that strains BD 01T (=CSUR P9622=VTCC 70981) and VP 7442 (=CSUR P9623=VTCC 70982) represent a new species, for which we propose the name Chitinophaga vietnamensis sp. nov. Strain BD 01T was chosen as type strain of C. vietnamensis sp. nov.