Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Stimulus Parameters on the Recruitment Characteristics of Direct Nerve Stimulation

The effect of stimulus parameters on the recruitment characteristics of motor nerve was studied for regulated current monophasic and balanced charge biphasic stimuli. Results of a nerve model investigation indicated that the threshold difference between different diameter nerve fibers would be dependent on pulse width, the choice between monophasic and biphasic stimuli, and the delay between the primary cathodic and secondary anodic pulses. Threshold difference increased with decreasing pulse width, the greatest effects evident for pulses less than 100 ¿s. Biphasic stimulation with no delay between pulses provided greater threshold separation than monophasic stimulation or biphasic stimulation with delay. Animal experiments, in which recruitment in a nerve trunk composed of mixed diameter nerve fibers was examined, showed a decrease in recruitment slope with a decrease in pulse width and with the use of a biphasic, zero delay pulse. These results were examined through muscle force measurements using both a metal loop electrode encircling the nerve trunk and a nerve cuff electrode, i. e. , a loop electrode in an insulating tube.
The acculturation of knowledge workers in Malaysian industries

Human capital plays an important role in enhancing competitiveness of firms by adopting a culture that emphasizes the use and optimizing of knowledge, a work culture that adapts and masters new technology easily, encourages research works and innovation. In a competitive global economy, technology progress requires workers to give high priorities towards the acquisition of knowledge. The acculturation of knowledge workers would facilitate Malaysian industries to adopt, adapt and invent objects in order to meet the challenges of their natural and social environment. This paper examines the patterns of workersâ€™ cultural attributes and its relationship with their acquisition of knowledge. It identifies the level of technological knowledge amongst the workers, factors that influence computer literacy and their capabilities in research and development (R&D) and innovation. It also highlights the challenges that hinder the acculturation of knowledge workers in Malaysian industries
How managers can influence professional drivers' accident rate

People who drive as part of their work have different accident liabilities. Some of this variation is due to factors that are within the manager's reach with various methods. As help for managers (especially of car fleets), a limited review of the scientific literature was written, concentrating on some variables, which have been shown to relate to accidents, and various methods for changing these and increasing driving safety in the company by management. Also, some popular methods for which there is no evidence of a positive effect were discussed, including driver skills training.
Bosentan therapy for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension

a Clinics of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland b Clinic of Pulmonology, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland c Critical Care Unit and Division of Internal Medicine, Regional Hospital, Locarno, Switzerland d Clinic of Pulmonology, University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland e Clinic of Pulmonology, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland f Clinic of Pulmonology, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland For the Swiss Society for Pulmonary Hypertension SSPH
Products of Independent non-Hermitian Random Matrices

We consider the product of a finite number of non-Hermitian random matrices with i.i. d. centered entries of growing size. We assume that the entries have a finite moment of order bigger than two. We show that the empirical spectral distribution of the properly normalized product converges, almost surely, to a non-random, rotationally invariant distribution with compact support in the complex plane. The limiting distribution is a power of the circular law.
THE IMPACT OF JOB SATISFACTION ON JOB PERFORMANCE: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

Employee attitudes are important to management because they determine the behavior of workers in the organization. The commonly held opinion is that “A satisfied worker is a productive worker”. A satisfied work force will create a pleasant atmosphere within the organization to perform well. Hence job satisfaction has become a major topic for research studies. The specific problem addressed in this study is to examine the impact of job satisfaction on performance. It considered which rewards (intrinsic and extrinsic) determine job satisfaction of an employee. It also considered influence of age, sex and experience of employees on level of job satisfaction. In addition it investigated in most satisfying event of an employee in the job, why employees stay and leave the organization. Data were collected through a field survey using a questionnaire from three employee groups, namely Professionals, Managers and Non-managers from twenty private sector organizations covering five industries. The analysis data revealed that there exists positive correlation between job satisfaction and performance of employees.
Th2 Responses Predominate during the Early Phases of Infection in Patients with Localized Cutaneous Leishmaniasis and Precede the Development of Th1 Responses

ABSTRACT Intralesional Th2 responses preceded the development of Th1 responses in localized cutaneous leishmaniasis due to Leishmania guyanensis. Although the number of parasites increased in Th2 lesions, no correlation was found between the levels of cytokine expression and the number of parasites. In contrast, the decreased number of parasites in Th1 lesions is negatively correlated to gamma interferon expression.
Evaluation of the A/Seal/Mass/1/80 virus in squirrel monkeys

An influenza A virus isolated from seals [A/Seal/Mass/1/80 (H7N7)] and an isolate of this virus obtained from a human conjunctiva were evaluated for replication and virulence in squirrel monkeys. When the seal virus was administered intratracheally, it replicated in lungs and nasopharynges and induced illness almost to the same extent that a human influenza A virus [A/Udorn/72 (H3N2)] did. In one monkey that died of pneumonia, the seal virus was recovered from spleen, liver, and muscle as well as lung. After conjunctival administration in monkeys, the seal virus replicated to a peak titer in the conjunctivae 30-fold greater than that attained by the human virus, but this difference was not statistically significant. In contrast, the seal virus replicated less well than the human virus in the tracheae and nasopharynges when administered by the conjunctival route. These results indicate that the seal virus can replicate efficiently in primates, that it can spread systemically, and that it might differ from human virus in being able to replicate slightly better in primate conjunctival tissue.
Peptidoglycan Molecular Requirements Allowing Detection by the Drosophila Immune Deficiency Pathway1

Innate immune recognition of microbes is a complex process that can be influenced by both the host and the microbe. Drosophila uses two distinct immune signaling pathways, the Toll and immune deficiency (Imd) pathways, to respond to different classes of microbes. The Toll pathway is predominantly activated by Gram-positive bacteria and fungi, while the Imd pathway is primarily activated by Gram-negative bacteria. Recent work has suggested that this differential activation is achieved through peptidoglycan recognition protein (PGRP)-mediated recognition of specific forms of peptidoglycan (PG). In this study, we have further analyzed the specific PG molecular requirements for Imd activation through the pattern recognition receptor PGRP-LC in both cultured cell line and in flies. We found that two signatures of Gram-negative PG, the presence of diaminopimelic acid in the peptide bridge and a 1,6-anhydro form of N-acetylmuramic acid in the glycan chain, allow discrimination between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Our results also point to a role for PG oligomerization in Imd activation, and we demonstrate that elements of both the sugar backbone and the peptide bridge of PG are required for optimum recognition. Altogether, these results indicate multiple requirements for efficient PG-mediated activation of the Imd pathway and demonstrate that PG is a complex immune elicitor.
The Recombinant Phage Lysin LysK Has a Broad Spectrum of Lytic Activity against Clinically Relevant Staphylococci, Including Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT This study concerns the cloning, characterization, and expression of the lysin (LysK) from staphylococcal phage K in Lactococcus lactis. Lactococcal lysates containing recombinant LysK were found to inhibit a range of different species of staphylococci isolated from bovine and human infection sources, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. LysK thus has potential as an antimicrobial for applications in the prevention and/or treatment of infections caused by staphylococci.
Perpendicular nonlinear waves in an electron–positron–ion plasma

Waves propagating perpendicular to a magnetic field in a plasma consisting of electrons, positrons, and ions are studied theoretically and numerically. In a three component plasma, there appears a frequency domain in which the magnetosonic waves cannot propagate; thus, we have two separate modes below the electron cyclotron frequency. Their dispersion relations are discussed. Then, Korteweg–de Vries equations are derived for these modes. A solitary wave of the low-frequency mode has a soliton width 1–103 times as large as the electron skin depth and has an electric potential 1–102 times as large as that in an electron–ion plasma; both of them increase with decreasing ion density. A solitary wave of the high-frequency mode has a soliton width of the order of the electron skin depth and has negligibly small electric potential. Three-fluid simulations show that the low-frequency mode solitary pulse can emit high-frequency mode solitons, if the amplitude of the original pulse is large and the ion density is low.
Managing chromoblastomycosis

Chromoblastomycosis is a subcutaneous fungal infection caused by the traumatic inoculation of the skin with pigmented saprophytic moulds. Although infection is rarely fatal, it is characteristically chronic and can be complicated by lymphatic damage and malignant transformation. Despite a variety of treatment modalities, which are often combined and include long courses of antifungals, surgical excision and destructive physical therapies, it remains one of the most difficult deep mycotic infections to eradicate.
Brain homogenates from human tauopathies induce tau inclusions in mouse brain

Filamentous inclusions made of hyperphosphorylated tau are characteristic of numerous human neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, tangle-only dementia, Pick disease, argyrophilic grain disease (AGD), progressive supranuclear palsy, and corticobasal degeneration. In Alzheimer’s disease and AGD, it has been shown that filamentous tau appears to spread in a stereotypic manner as the disease progresses. We previously demonstrated that the injection of brain extracts from human mutant P301S tau-expressing transgenic mice into the brains of mice transgenic for wild-type human tau (line ALZ17) resulted in the assembly of wild-type human tau into filaments and the spreading of tau inclusions from the injection sites to anatomically connected brain regions. Here we injected brain extracts from humans who had died with various tauopathies into the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of ALZ17 mice. Argyrophilic tau inclusions formed in all cases and following the injection of the corresponding brain extracts, we recapitulated the hallmark lesions of AGD, PSP and CBD. Similar inclusions also formed after intracerebral injection of brain homogenates from human tauopathies into nontransgenic mice. Moreover, the induced formation of tau aggregates could be propagated between mouse brains. These findings suggest that once tau aggregates have formed in discrete brain areas, they become self-propagating and spread in a prion-like manner.
Ensuring the application of sound forest practices on private forests: challenges facing the design and implementation of state compliance monitoring programmes.

States have invested significantly in the development of programmes that encourage more widespread application of preferred forest management practices. Many such practices have as a primary focus the nation’s non-industrial private forests, comprising 353 million acres owned by more than 9 million landowners (National Research Council, 1998). These practices are often identified as best management practices (BMPs), acceptable management practices, forest practice guidelines or forest practice rules. Developed primarily since the mid-1970s and designed for voluntary or mandatory use primarily by private landowners and timber harvesters, 47 states in 1996 reported having a programme that advances the application of best management practices (National Association of State Foresters, 1996). These programmes were often a response to federal laws (for example, Clean Water Act of 1987, Coastal Zone Management Act Amendments of 1990) which required the development of state plans to control non-point source water pollution and which encouraged proactive approaches to plan implementation. As state best management practices programmes (both voluntary and regulatory in nature) were developed, attention focused on designing and implementing programmes to evaluate the use of these preferred practices. Developing such programmes requires attention to several key issues (MFRC, 1997). Examples include determining:
Effect of Dietary and Litter Amendment on Litter Quality and Broiler Performance during Rainy Season

The study was conducted to determine the effect of low protein diet supplemented with enzyme protease along with litter amendment with sodium bisulphate to assess the effect on litter quality and broiler performance during rainy season. 240 day old Cobb broiler chicks were randomly distributed into four treatment groups, having 3 replicates of 20 chicks each. Control group (Tc) had no dietary and litter amendments and the other three included, litter amendment with sodium bisulphate (Ts), dietary amendment with low protein supplemented with protease enzyme (Tp) and both dietary and litter amendment (Tsp). Production parameters performance assessed by body weight, feed efficiency and survivability and litter parameters like litter pH, litter moisture, litter microbial count and litter nitrogen were studied. The result shows a significant (p<0.05) higher average body weight in Ts group (1633g) followed by Tsp group (1581g) than by Tp group (1535) in comparison to control (Tc) group (1515g) during 42 days of study. Best FCR was observed in Ts diet fed group. The survivability was more in all the treatments groups compared to control group. The overall hygiene and growth of broiler chick was better in Ts and Tsp group as compared to Tp and Tc group. It was concluded that that treatment with low protein diet along with protease enzyme supplementation recorded marginally equal body weight and FCR compared to control group however, litter amendment with sodium bisulphate shown significant improvement on the growth rate in the litter amended groups as compared to control group.
By the numbers: Individual Bias and Enterprise Risk

In theory, enterprise risk management (ERM) appears to be a succinct and effective risk management model. In practice, as is the case with most managerial techniques, the devil is in the implementation. This study explores this issue by examining how the composition of ERM groups determines which risks are managed and which risks are ignored. In two experiments, we find that groups with accounting or financial backgrounds place greater emphasis on financial risks compared with cross-functional groups. Results suggest that organizations will achieve different ERM outcomes from using cross-functional groups than financially oriented group.
Jacobsen Syndrome and Beckwith‐Wiedemann Syndrome Caused by a Parental Pericentric Inversion inv(11)(p15q24)

Here we report on a male infant presenting the typical pattern of Jacobsen syndrome including trigonocephaly, thrombocytopenia, congenital heart defect, urethral stenosis, and partial agenesis of the corpus callosum. Conventional karyotyping, FISH, SKY and CGH analyses showed that the region distal to the MLL locus on 11q23 was lost and replaced by the distal region of 11p, leading to a partial trisomy of 11p and a partial monosomy of 11q. According to ISCN (1995) the karyotype can be described as 46,XY,add(11)(q2? 3). ish 11ptel(D11S2071x3),11qtel(VIJyRM2072x1). Array‐CGH analysis allowed us to narrow down the breakpoints to 11p15.1 and 11q24.1. Methylation analyses of genes located on 11p showed an increased level of the non‐methylated paternal allele of the KCNQ1OT1 gene, confirming the concomitant presence of Beckwith‐Wiedemann syndrome (BWS). The phenotype resulting from the 11q deletion seems to dominate the phenotype due to the distal 11p trisomy. Investigation of the parents revealed that this chromosomal rearrangement was caused by a paternal pericentric inversion inv(11)(p15q24).
Asset Measurement Bases in UK and IASC Standards

Disclosed is an absorbent garment including a pair of outer containment flaps and a pair of inner containment flaps, said outer and inner containment flaps being formed from a first integral sheet of containment flap material having a length, said inner containment flaps having a length less than the length of said first sheet of containment flap material. Also described is a method of producing the absorbent garments.
Study of Random Telegraph Signals in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors

Random telegraph signals (RTSs) are observed in the single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) field-effect transistors. The RTS mechanism is studied in detail. It is shown that trapping/detrapping due to the defects in the oxide is the main reason for RTSs in the carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNT-FETs). The amplitude of the RTSs in CNT-FETs is mainly attributed to mobility modulation. The defect causing the RTSs is a hole-type Coulomb repulsive center located near the valance band of the SWNT
Tailored desensitization strategies in ABO blood group antibody incompatible renal transplantation

ABO blood group incompatible renal transplantation, using desensitization procedures, is an effective strategy. Efforts have been made to reduce desensitization: these are usually applied to all patients indiscriminately. The Guy's Hospital ABO blood group incompatible desensitization regimen uses a tiered approach, tailoring strategy according to initial antibody titres. Sixty‐two ABO blood group incompatible living donor transplant recipients were compared with 167 recipients of blood group compatible living donor renal transplants. There were no statistically significant differences in allograft survival rates at 1 or 3 years post‐transplant, rejection in the first year post‐transplant or renal function in the first 3 years post‐transplant. There was a higher rate of death in ABO blood group incompatible transplant recipients – this could be associated with differences in age and HLA mismatch between the two groups. Four ABO blood group incompatible patients experienced antibody‐mediated rejection (no episode was associated with a rise in ABO blood group antibodies). Of the patients who received no desensitization, or rituximab alone, none has experienced antibody mediated rejection or experienced allograft loss. Tailoring the use of desensitization in ABO blood group incompatible renal transplantation according to initial ABO blood group antibody titres led to comparable results to blood group compatible transplantation.
Enterohaemorrhagic and other Shiga toxin‐producing Escherichia coli (STEC): Where are we now regarding diagnostics and control strategies?

Escherichia coli comprises a highly diverse group of Gram-negative bacteria and is a common member of the intestinal microflora of humans and animals. Generally, such colonization is asymptomatic; however, some E. coli strains have evolved to become pathogenic and thus cause clinical disease in susceptible hosts. One pathotype, the Shiga toxigenic E. coli (STEC) comprising strains expressing a Shiga-like toxin is an important foodborne pathogen. A subset of STEC are the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), which can cause serious human disease, including haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS). The diagnosis of EHEC infections and the surveillance of STEC in the food chain and the environment require accurate, cost-effective and timely tests. In this review, we describe and evaluate tests now in routine use, as well as upcoming test technologies for pathogen detection, including loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and whole-genome sequencing (WGS). We have considered the need for improved diagnostic tools in current strategies for the control and prevention of these pathogens in humans, the food chain and the environment. We conclude that although significant progress has been made, STEC still remains an important zoonotic issue worldwide. Substantial reductions in the public health burden due to this infection will require a multipronged approach, including ongoing surveillance with high-resolution diagnostic techniques currently being developed and integrated into the routine investigations of public health laboratories. However, additional research requirements may be needed before such high-resolution diagnostic tools can be used to enable the development of appropriate interventions, such as vaccines and decontamination strategies.
An Exploratory Study into the Multidimensional Nature of Quality in Analytical Laboratories: Managerial Implications

The management of quality in analytical laboratories is heavily biased toward assuring the quality of the data produced by laboratories, with little or no attention being given to the way in which customers are served. To investigate the nature of laboratory quality, a modified SERVQUAL instrument was used to determine the expectations of laboratory staff members, and internal and external clients at the Council for Geoscience Laboratory in South Africa. The results suggest that laboratory quality is dichotomous in nature, consisting of aspects related to both technical and functional quality. Although technical quality is regarded as more important by the customers and laboratory staff members surveyed than functional quality, the latter is also very important to customers when deciding which laboratory to employ. This has important implications for the management of quality in laboratories, where technically trained personnel may have to be sensitized to the functional quality needs of their customers. Conflicts of interest that may arise when trying to meet both functional and technical quality expectations of customers need to be identified by laboratory managers and managed accordingly.