Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
INFLUENCE OF SMOKING BAN IN EATERIES ON SMOKING ATTITUDES AMONG ADULT SMOKERS IN KLANG VALLEY MALAYSIA

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of smoking ban in eateries on smoking behaviors and intention to quit smoking among adult smokers in Klang Valley. A validated questionnaire was utilized for this study whereby three variables of the study (socio-demographic characteristics, smokers attitude, and intention to quit smoking) were measured. The structured questionnaire contained closed ended questions where present of dichotomous(yes/no), multiple choice questions and 7-point likert scale questions. 600 questionnaires were distributed to target respondents in eateries of Klang Valley. The inclusion criteria were local citizen of Malaysia, those who gave consent to take part in the study, literate in English, smokers aged 18 years old and above. The data were analyzed utilizing SPSS software version 21.0. There were 504 completed and usable responses received, which represented an 84% response rate. Majority of smokers in Klang Valley were male which constituted around 78.2% of the respondents. Manufactured cigarette, 75.2% was the most preferred type of nicotine among smokers. Smokers attitude and social support with a smoking ban in restaurants and eateries was significantly associated with intention to quit smoking. 73.8% of smokers agree that the smoking ban in eateries and restaurants have reduced their daily smoking frequency and 58.3% of smokers agreed that the nationwide smoking ban at eateries and public places aspire them to quit smoking.Smoking ban is beneficial to help reduce prevalence of smoking among smokers that in turn helps to reduce secondary smoking and burden of non-communicable diseases in the long run. Though only a little over half of the respondents claimed that the ban inspires them to quit smoking, this is a positive start as the ban was just introduced. When effectively implemented, they are seen as an important element of policy to support behavior change in favor of a healthy lifestyle. The Ministry of Health should push forward with the ban on public smoking as soon as possible. The ban should be in tandem with efforts to help smokers quit. Implementing this scheme nationwide would be a remunerative move to help strive for a better health and cleaner environment for this country.
Street-Level Bureaucrat as Policy Implementation Spearhead

The article aims to investigate the roles of street-level bureaucrats (SLB) in delivering the new policy known as the locking wheel policy in Surakarta City. The city walk of Surakarta is selected as the study locus as it become the pilot project of the policy implementation. Before Regional Regulation of Surakarta No. 1 of 2013 (Organizing Transportation) especially chapter XV clause 231 (1) about locking-wheel penalty implemented, the area was known as an illegal parking spot. At the first time, the implementation process created dynamics but finally this policy successfully implemented. The research used descriptive qualitative method. The data were collected through interviews, documentation and observation. The results found that (1) The SLB actively played five main roles such as providing information, socializing, persuading, educating and taking discretions; (2) Their attitudes when delivering the new policy were a set of communication process that can escalate citizen social changes. This research contributes a new dimension of policy implementation study that the SLB can also run a realm of social change in the scope of communication development. These findings hold an important practical implication that the SLB should have communication competencies to carry out their roles.
Primary oral tuberculosis: A case series of a rare disease

Tuberculosis (TB) is still one of the most life-threatening infectious diseases, resulting in high mortality in adults and is commonly found in developing countries. Lung is primarily affected while extrapulmonary TB is rarely encountered. Oral lesions, although rare, can be seen in both primary and secondary stages of TB. Primary oral TB may present a diagnostic challenge as its clinical features can be nonspecific that mimics other diseases and is usually misdiagnosed. Thus, it is very important to be aware and be highly suspicious of oral TB especially in endemic area. We share 4 such cases of primary oral TB with uncommon presentations (two on the gingiva, one on the palate and one on the tongue) The diagnosis was made by histopathological examination, polymerase chain reaction analysis and Mantoux test. They were successfully treated with antituberculous treatment. In secondary TB, the oral manifestations may be accompanied by lesions in the lungs, lymph nodes or in any other part of the body and can be detected by a systemic examination.
Constitutive Androstane Receptor contributes towards increased drug clearance in cholestasis

Understanding the alterations in drug metabolism in different liver diseases is crucial for appropriate therapeutic intervention. We performed high-throughput RNA sequencing on various liver injury models, including cholestasis, diet-induced steatosis, and regeneration. Comparative liver transcriptome analysis revealed overlapping and distinct gene profiles among different liver diseases. Particularly, cholestatic livers displayed robust induction of drug metabolizing genes. This upregulation is not a generic hepatic stress response, as it was suppressed or unchanged in other models of liver diseases. Consistently, drug metabolic gene profiles were induced in a subset of biliary atresia patients, but not in individuals with hepatitis B or C viral infection, and alcoholic hepatitis. Further analysis revealed this induction was specific to genes regulated by nuclear receptor CAR (Constitutive Androstane Receptor). To test this, we challenged cholestatic mice with a paralytic agent, zoxazolamine. Compared to controls, these mice displayed significantly reduced paralysis time, reflecting increased drug metabolism, and this effect was lost upon inhibition of CAR. Thus, CAR activation can alter therapeutic efficacy of certain drugs in a subset of cholestatic individuals.
Using a generic definition of cachexia in patients with kidney disease receiving haemodialysis: a longitudinal (pilot) study.

BACKGROUND Research indicates that cachexia is common among persons with chronic illnesses and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. However, there continues to be an absence of a uniformed disease-specific definition for cachexia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patient populations. OBJECTIVE The primary objective was to identify cachexia in patients receiving haemodialysis (HD) using a generic definition and then follow up on these patients for 12 months. METHOD This was a longitudinal study of adult chronic HD patients attending two hospital HD units in the UK. Multiple measures relevant to cachexia, including body mass index (BMI), muscle mass [mid-upper arm muscle circumference (MUAMC)], handgrip strength (HGS), fatigue [Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT)], appetite [Functional Assessment of Anorexia/Cachexia Therapy (FAACT)] and biomarkers [C-reactive protein (CRP), serum albumin, haemoglobin and erythropoietin resistance index (ERI)] were recorded. Baseline analysis included group differences analysed using an independent t-test, dichotomized values using the χ2 test and prevalence were reported using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 24 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). Longitudinal analysis was conducted using repeated measures analysis. RESULTS A total of 106 patients (30 females and 76 males) were recruited with a mean age of 67.2 years [standard deviation (SD) 13.18] and dialysis vintage of 4.92 years (SD 6.12). At baseline, 17 patients were identified as cachectic, having had reported weight loss (e.g. >5% for >6 months) or BMI <20 kg/m2 and three or more clinical characteristics of cachexia. Seventy patients were available for analysis at 12 months (11 cachectic versus 59 not cachectic). The FAACT and urea reduction ratio statistically distinguished cachectic patients (P = 0.001). However, measures of weight, BMI, MUAMC, HGS, CRP, ERI and FACIT tended to worsen in cachectic patients. CONCLUSION Globally, cachexia is a severe but frequently underrecognized problem. This is the first study to apply the defined characteristics of cachexia to a representative sample of patients receiving HD. Further, more extensive studies are required to establish a phenotype of cachexia in advanced CKD.
Effect of Threonine Supplementation on Growth Performance, Metabolizable Energy, Morphological Changes and Immune Response in Broiler Chickens Challenged with Coccidia

This study was performed to investigate the effects of dietary threonine (Thr). level on performance, metabolizable energy, intestinal morphology, and immune system in coccidian–infected broiler chickens. The diets contained: 88%, 100% (Non challenged (NC) and challenged control (PC)), 112%, 124%, and 136% of Thr requirement according to Cobb 500 recommendation and fed during grower (pre challenged) and finisher (post challenged) periods. On d 23 (end of grower period), each bird received 0.5 mL of distilled water or received around 24000 sporulated oocysts. On d 23 and 31, one bird per replicate was slaughtered to measure the performance criteria. Mean dietary apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen (AMEn) and digestible energy were greater in NC birds than the challenged birds fed on 88% or 100% Thr diets. Feed intake and blood parameters were not significantly influenced by increasing levels of Thr in the diet. Compared with unchallenged birds with coccidia (NC), the growth performance, morphological parameters (not crypt depth), and immune responses decreased (P < 0.05) in the birds (PC) that were challenged with coccidia, and oocyte numbers were enhanced. Growth performance, jejunal morphology, and immune responses improved and oocyte count decreased in coccidian- challenged birds fed on the diets with greater levels of Thr (P < 0.05). Feeding the challenged birds with the diet containing greater levels of Thr improved (P < 0.05) their growth performance, morphology, and immune responses and decreased oocyte number. The birds fed on the diet with 124% Thr demonstrated a similar response as the NC birds. Increased diet Thr level linearly increased average daily gain and decreased feed conversion ratio in the grower and the whole experimentation periods. The AMEn and digestibility of crude protein were enhanced linearly Thr level increased in coccidian-challenged birds. It is concluded that diets containing 124% of Thr recommendation led to the greatest efficacy on the intestinal immuneresponse and normal growth maintenance of the birds contaminated with coccidia.
Feathering rate impact on growth and slaughter traits of Japanese quail

Abstract A total of 1180 1-day-old Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) chicks were used to investigate the effect of feathering rates on growth and slaughter traits. Feathering rates were classified based on the results of stepwise regression using numbers and lengths of both primaries and secondaries and tail length at 7 and 10 days of age as predictors. At 7 and 10 days old, number of primary feathers had phenotypically positive low correlations (rps) with body weight (BW), whereas number of secondaries had positive medium rps with BW at different ages. Lengths of primary, secondary and tail feathers had highly positive rps with BW traits at different ages. Results of stepwise multiple regressions indicated that BW at 14, 21 and 28 days of age can be predicted using lengths of secondary and tail feathers at 10 days old, number of secondaries at 7 days old and length of secondaries at 7 days old, respectively. Body weight at 35 days of age can be predicted using number of primaries, lengths of secondaries and tail at 10 days of age and number of secondaries at 7 days of age. Higher BWs were obtained in the fast-feathering class from 21 up to 35 days of age than in other groups, whereas the slow-feathering class had the lowest BW. Significant class differences were found for carcass weight, feather weight and dressing% favouring the fast- over the slow-feathering class. Therefore, early feathering rates improved BW at later ages and slaughter traits in Japanese quail.
DNA methylation patterns of replicative senescence are strand-specific and reflect changes in chromatin conformation

Replicative senescence of cells in culture is associated with highly reproducible DNA methylation (DNAm) changes at specific sites in the genome. Thus far, it is largely unclear if these epigenetic modifications are directly regulated, or if they are randomly evoked by other chromatin changes during long-term culture. We have identified CG dinucleotides (CpGs) that become continuously hyper- or hypo-methylated in the course of culture expansion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and other cell types. These modifications provide a biomarker for replicative senescence and correlate with the number of passages in vitro. During reprogramming into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) senescence-associated DNAm is reversed simultaneously with pluripotency-associated DNAm changes. Bisulfite barcoded amplicon sequencing (BBA-seq) demonstrated that upon passaging the DNAm patterns of neighboring CpGs become more complex without evidence of continuous pattern development. Notably, BBA-seq of hairpin-linked DNA molecules demonstrated that many CpG dyads are methylated only on the forward or the reverse strand. This hemimethylation was conserved over many passages, indicating that it was not due to insufficient maintenance of DNAm patterns. Circularized chromatin conformation capture (4C) of senescence-associated CpGs revealed reproducible changes during senescence without evidence for preferential interaction between CpGs that become either hyper- or hypomethylated. Taken together, senescence-associated DNAm fluctuates stochastically at specific sites in the genome. Strand-specific DNAm and reproducible changes in 4C indicate that epigenetic modifications of these CG dyads are not regulated in a targeted manner but rather caused by passage-specific higher order chromatin conformation states.
Ag-Conjugated Nanoparticle Biosynthesis Mediated by Rosemary Leaf Extracts Correlates with Plant Antioxidant Activity and Protein Content

In recent years, the world has witnessed an explosion of interest in biogenic synthesis of metallic nanoparticles (NPs), using plant extracts; however, the plant constituents involved in this reaction are poorly characterized. Here, major components of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) leaf extracts were isolated monthly during 2012-2013 and their competences for Ag–conjugated nanoparticle biosynthesis were studied. Formation of Ag/AgCl–NPs was examined using UV-visible spectroscopy and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Correlation analysis showed that extracts with more protein contents and higher total reducing capacity were more efficient in biosynthesis of Ag/AgCl–NPs. There existed no correlation between total phenolic, ascorbic acid and anthocyanin contents with Ag/AgCl–NPs biosynthesis activity. These results partly explain the mechanisms controlling plant mediated biosynthesis of nanoparticles, with possible applications in standardization of plant materials harvested throughout a year.
Selection for antibiotic resistance is reduced when embedded in a natural microbial community

Antibiotic resistance has emerged as one of the most pressing, global threats to public health. In single-species experiments selection for antibiotic resistance occurs at very low antibiotic concentrations. However, it is unclear how far these findings can be extrapolated to natural environments, where species are embedded within complex communities. We competed isogenic strains of Escherichia coli, differing exclusively in a single chromosomal resistance determinant, in the presence and absence of a pig fecal microbial community across a gradient of antibiotic concentration for two relevant antibiotics: gentamicin and kanamycin. We show that the minimal selective concentration was increased by more than one order of magnitude for both antibiotics when embedded in the community. We identified two general mechanisms were responsible for the increase in minimal selective concentration: an increase in the cost of resistance and a protective effect of the community for the susceptible phenotype. These findings have implications for our understanding of the evolution and selection of antibiotic resistance, and can inform future risk assessment efforts on antibiotic concentrations.
Assessment of cervical lymph node metastasis based on total RNA from saliva and tumor tissue in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: An observational study

Background: In case of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) most patients die within first 2 years due to metastasis. To overcome the limitations and drawbacks of the present available methods of assessment of lymph nodes metastasis, the search for alternative method is needed. Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of salivary and tumor tissue RNA for assessment of lymph node metastasis in patients with OSCC. Methodology: Patients histologically diagnosed with OSCC were included as participants. The unstimulated saliva and tumor tissue were collected and stored at deep freeze before surgical therapy. The pretreatment lymph node metastasis assessment was done by radioimaging investigation. The posttreatment histopathological status of cervical lymph nodes was noted. The RNA was isolated and quantified from stored saliva sample and tumor tissue. The collected data were statistically analyzed for specificity and sensitivity and significance. Results: The area under curve for salivary RNA level is 0.647 and for tumor tissue RNA level is 0.628 with moderate predictability at 95% confidence interval. It was observed that the sensitivity was 63.50% and 71.40% and specificity was 62.70% and 58.80% for saliva and tumor tissue respectively with diagnostic accuracy of 63%–65%. The Kappa statistics showed moderate degree of agreement with high statistical significance (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: Saliva and tumor tissue RNA can be a good marker for pretreatment assessment of lymph node metastasis in patients with OSCC. Although the diagnostic accuracy which range from 63% to 65%, further characterization and study of specific mRNA, siRNA and miRNA may come out with high diagnostic accuracy.
PENDIDIKN FUTURISTIK SEBAGAI UPAYA PENINGKATAN KUALITAS PESERTA DIDIK

Setiap peserta didik merupakan sumberdaya manusia yang diidealisasikan menjadi sumber kekuatan strategis bangsa sekarang maupun masa mendatang. Konstruksi hidup berbangsa dan bernegara ditentukan oleh kualitas peserta didik yang terbentuk dengan baik dan benar melalui suatu proses pembelajaran. Dari proses pembelajaran ini akan bisa diharapkan atau dihasilkan pendidikan yang berorientasi futuristic, yakni pendidikan yang memberikan pola berfikir dan beraktifitas demi masa depannya. Proses pembelajaran berbasis multikultural merupakan salah satu model yang bisa digunakan oleh dunia pendidikan.Kata kunci: pendidikan, futuristik, pembelajaran, proses, multikultural Each student is a human resource that is idealized as a source of national and present strategic strength. The construction of national and state life is determined by the quality of students formed properly and correctly through a learning process. From this learning process, it can be expected or produced futuristic oriented education, namely education that provides thinking patterns and activities for the future. The multicultural-based learning process is one model that can be used by the educational world. Keywords: education, futuristic, learning, process, multicultural
Resource Provisioning for Virtual Network Function Deployment with In-Subnetwork Processing

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) is an efficient approach to simplify and accelerate the deployment of diverse network services. In this paper, we study the problem of link capacity and server purchase to provision the network which enables joint Virtual Network Function (VNF) placement on servers and traffic engineering in a network spanning multiple subnetworks. Each subnetwork is owned and controlled by a different administrator. Given flow demands, we formulate the problem from a sparse optimization perspective and propose an efficient approach based on iteratively solving a sequence of group LASSO problems. Using purchased link capacities and servers, each subnetwork is able to carry out VNF placement and traffic engineering locally to meet flow demands. A scalable and decentralized approach based on the proximal Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) is proposed for this problem. The distributed optimization can be locally solved with minimum information shared with other administrators. Extensive numerical evaluations show the efficiency of our approach against existing work.
Protected areas do not mitigate biodiversity declines: A case study on butterflies

To assess the effectiveness of protected areas in preventing biodiversity decline. We first test whether species richness of butterfly assemblages is higher within European Natura 2000 (N2000) sites than in their surroundings. We then assess temporal trends in butterfly richness and test whether these trends differ inside and outside the N2000 network.
Examination of Psychological Resilience Levels of Basketball and Tennis Players Considering the Gender Variable

In the study pursued in order to determine the psychological resilience levels of individuals who are interested in basketball and tennis sports in university teams and the differences between them considering the gender variable, gender variable levels are given in percentages, and resilience levels have been studied by comparing with their gender with the T-test. Population consists of 50 female and 51 male players and 30 female and 30 male tennis players, in total 161 players. In order to determine to resilience levels of the players, “Psychological resilience scale” developed by Friborg et al. (2005) has been applied. According to the research results, it is concluded that constitutional style, perception of future and social competence psychological resilience sub-dimensions of the tennis players are better than basketball players, family cohesion, social competence and social resources sub-dimensions and total psychological resilience perception of female players are more successful than male players.