LLukas22/scidocs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate pulpotomy in mature permanent teeth with carious exposures.

AIM
To assess the outcome of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) complete pulpotomy in permanent teeth with carious exposures.


METHODOLOGY
Fifty-two permanent molar teeth with fully developed roots and vital pulps in 43 patients aged 11-51 years were included. Preoperative pulpal and periapical diagnosis was established. After informed consent, each tooth was anaesthetized, isolated with dental dam and disinfected with 5% NaOCl before caries excavation; subsequently, a full pulpotomy was performed. Haemostasis was achieved, and Grey MTA (Angelus, Londrina, Brazil) was placed as the pulpotomy agent; a moist cotton pellet was placed, and the tooth was temporized with the intermediate restorative material (IRM). Permanent restorations were placed 1 week later if the tooth was asymptomatic, and a postoperative periapical radiograph was taken. Clinical and radiographic evaluation was completed at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and 3 years postoperatively.


RESULTS
Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of irreversible pulpitis were established in 44/52 teeth, and periapical rarefaction was present in 14 teeth. Immediate failure occurred in one tooth. The recall rate ranged from 92% at 3 months to 80.3% at 3 years, with an overall 100% clinical and 97.5% radiographic success during the first year, and 92.7% success at 3 years. All cases with periapical rarefaction were associated with improvement in the periapical index (PAI) score. Two cases had new periapical rarefaction associated with dislodgment of the permanent restoration. A hard tissue barrier was detected radiographically in 5 cases and canal narrowing in 7 cases.


CONCLUSION
MTA full pulpotomy was a successful treatment option for cariously exposed pulps in mature permanent molar teeth.
Library Guides: Integrated Social Sciences Program: Conflict & Cooperation

Guide for the online Integrated Social Sciences program Finding sources related to conflict & cooperation
Matrix reactions of silver atoms with ozone molecules

Matrix reaction of silver atoms with ozone molecules is studied. (AIP)Matrix reaction of silver atoms with ozone molecules is studied. (AIP)
The Effect of Azithromycin in Adults with Stable Neutrophilic COPD: A Double Blind Randomised, Placebo Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive airway disease characterised by neutrophilic airway inflammation or bronchitis. Neutrophilic bronchitis is associated with both bacterial colonisation and lung function decline and is common in exacerbations of COPD. Despite current available therapies to control inflammation, neutrophilic bronchitis remains common. This study tested the hypothesis that azithromycin treatment, as an add-on to standard medication, would significantly reduce airway neutrophil and neutrophils chemokine (CXCL8) levels, as well as bacterial load. We conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in COPD participants with stable neutrophilic bronchitis.


METHODS
Eligible participants (n = 30) were randomised to azithromycin 250 mg daily or placebo for 12 weeks in addition to their standard respiratory medications. Sputum was induced at screening, randomisation and monthly for a 12 week treatment period and processed for differential cell counts, CXCL8 and neutrophil elastase assessment. Quantitative bacteriology was assessed in sputum samples at randomisation and the end of treatment visit. Severe exacerbations where symptoms increased requiring unscheduled treatment were recorded during the 12 week treatment period and for 14 weeks following treatment. A sub-group of participants underwent chest computed tomography scans (n = 15).


RESULTS
Nine participants with neutrophilic bronchitis had a potentially pathogenic bacteria isolated and the median total bacterial load of all participants was 5.22×107 cfu/mL. Azithromycin treatment resulted in a non-significant reduction in sputum neutrophil proportion, CXCL8 levels and bacterial load. The mean severe exacerbation rate was 0.33 per person per 26 weeks in the azithromycin group compared to 0.93 exacerbations per person in the placebo group (incidence rate ratio (95%CI): 0.37 (0.11,1.21), p = 0.062). For participants who underwent chest CT scans, no alterations were observed.


CONCLUSIONS
In stable COPD with neutrophilic bronchitis, add-on azithromycin therapy showed a trend to reduced severe exacerbations sputum neutrophils, CXCL8 levels and bacterial load. Future studies with a larger sample size are warranted.


TRIAL REGISTRATION
Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12609000259246.
Robust localization using relative and absolute position estimates

A low cost strategy based on well calibrated odometry is presented for localizing mobile robots. The paper describes a two-step process for correction of 'systematic errors' in encoder measurements followed by fusion of the calibrated odometry with a gyroscope and GPS resulting in a robust localization scheme. A Kalman filter operating on data from the sensors is used for estimating position and orientation of the robot. Experimental results are presented that show an improvement of at least one order of magnitude in accuracy compared to the un-calibrated, un-filtered case. Our method is systematic, simple and yields very good results. We show that this strategy proves useful when the robot is using GPS t o localize itself as well as when GPS becomes unavailable for some time. As a result robot can move in and out of enclosed spaces, such as buildings, while keeping track of its position on the fly.
The relation of postmenopausal hormone therapy to serum uric acid and the risk of coronary heart disease events: the Heart and Estrogen-Progestin Replacement Study (HERS).

PURPOSE
To determine whether baseline serum uric acid (UA) levels and estrogen-progestin (E+P)-associated change in serum UA in postmenopausal women with coronary disease are associated with recurrent coronary heart disease (CHD) events.


METHODS
2763 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Heart and Estrogen-Progestin Replacement Study (HERS) were randomly assigned to take conjugated E+P or placebo in a secondary CHD prevention study. The primary outcome for these analyses was nonfatal myocardial infarction or CHD death during a mean follow up of 4.1 years.


RESULTS
The baseline serum UA for the cohort was 5.4 mg/dl and, compared with placebo, E+P on average lowered serum UA levels slightly (0.2 mg/dl) at one year of follow up (p<0.0001). Baseline serum UA levels were associated in simple proportional hazards models with CHD events; each standard deviation increase (1.3 mg/dl) was associated with a 22% increased risk of primary CHD events (p=.0001). This association, however, was no longer statistically significant after multivariable adjustment (p=0.36). There was no association between on-study change in serum UA level and any CHD outcome.


CONCLUSION
Treatment with E+P lowered serum UA levels slightly, but neither baseline UA nor change in UA affected CHD risk.
Home blood pressure monitoring alone vs. combined clinic and ambulatory measurements in following treatment-induced changes in blood pressure and organ damage.

BACKGROUND
Out-of-office blood pressure (BP) measurement using home BP (HBP) or ambulatory BP (ABP) monitoring is often necessary for the accurate evaluation of hypertension. These methods have several similarities but also have major differences. Therefore, they are regarded as complementary, and there is uncertainty on how they should be applied in clinical practice. This study compared hypertension management based on clinic and ABP measurements or on HBP measurements alone.


METHODS
Untreated subjects with elevated BP were randomized to treatment initiation and titration based on clinic and ABP measurements or on HBP measurements alone. Target organ damage was assessed at baseline and after 1 year of treatment with echocardiographic left ventricular mass index (primary endpoint), pulse wave velocity, and urinary albumin excretion.


RESULTS
A total of 145 subjects were randomized, and 116 completed the study (mean age = 50.7±10.5 years; 69 men (59%); mean follow-up = 13.4±1.4 months). There was no difference between the 2 arms in treatment-induced change in left ventricular mass index (mean difference = 0.50±1.11 g/m2; 95% confidence interval (CI) = -1.70 to 2.70). Moreover, there was no difference between the 2 arms in treatment-induced changes in pulse wave velocity (mean difference = -0.16±0.42 m/s; 95% CI = -0.99 to 0.66), urinary albumin excretion (mean difference = -0.85±4.28 mg/dl; 95% CI = -9.37 to 7.66), HBP and ABP levels, and hypertension control rates.


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that HBP monitoring alone is as reliable as combined clinic and ABP measurements in monitoring the effects of antihypertensive drug treatment on BP and preclinical target organ damage.
Data Mining techniques for the detection of fraudulent financial statements

This paper explores the effectiveness of Data Mining (DM) classification techniques in detecting firms that issue fraudulent financial statements (FFS) and deals with the identification of factors associated to FFS. In accomplishing the task of management fraud detection, auditors could be facilitated in their work by using Data Mining techniques. This study investigates the usefulness of Decision Trees, Neural Networks and Bayesian Belief Networks in the identification of fraudulent financial statements. The input vector is composed of ratios derived from financial statements. The three models are compared in terms of their performances. 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
MultiNet: Real-time Joint Semantic Reasoning for Autonomous Driving

While most approaches to semantic reasoning have focused on improving performance, in this paper we argue that computational times are very important in order to enable real time applications such as autonomous driving. Towards this goal, we present an approach to joint classification, detection and semantic segmentation using a unified architecture where the encoder is shared amongst the three tasks. Our approach is very simple, can be trained end-to-end and performs extremely well in the challenging KITTI dataset. Our approach is also very efficient, allowing us to perform inference at more then 23 frames per second. Training scripts and trained weights to reproduce our results can be found here: https://github.com/MarvinTeichmann/MultiNet
Immigrant Populations as Victims: Toward a Multicultural Criminal Justice System

• Survey respondents said that domestic violence was the crime least reported. Sexual assault and gang violence were also thought more likely to go unreported. In a sample taken from immigrant The increasing influx of immigrants to the United States poses special challenges for the criminal justice system. Until recently, however, social science research has paid little attention to immigrants in the criminal justice system. A recent national assessment program survey conducted for the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) revealed that the issue of cultural diversity has become a concern of criminal justice professionals.
Late reoperations after repaired acute type A aortic dissection.

OBJECTIVE
Late complications can develop in patients after surgery for aortic type A dissection, mandating redo surgery on the ascending aorta and arch.


METHODS
From 2006 to 2010, 23 patients (aged 41-69 years) who had late complications related to previous aortic surgery for acute type A dissection underwent redo surgery. Initial surgery included ascending aorta replacement in all cases.


RESULTS
The main indications for reoperation were progressive enlargement of the false lumen of the aortic arch or descending aorta and suture line dehiscence in 10 patients each. All patients with progressive aneurysm formation in nonresected aortic segments had persistent dissection within the aortic arch since initial surgery. Suture line dehiscence led to a localized hematoma in most cases. Three patients presented with graft infection and extensive perigraft hematoma. The average time interval from the initial repair to the redo procedure was 71±56 months. Exchange of the formerly implanted Dacron graft in the ascending aorta was the most frequently used surgical procedure. Implantation of a valved conduit was deemed necessary in 4 cases, and isolated aortic valve replacement was necessary in 2 cases. A hybrid stent graft was used in 6 patients. All patients survived surgery, and 1 patient died of postoperative low output cardiac failure in hospital. Only 1 major stroke was noted.


CONCLUSIONS
Complex reoperations for repaired acute type A dissection can be performed safely. The concern for the reoperative risk should not dictate the operative strategy during the initial procedure in acute type A dissection.
An approach to fault diagnosis of helicopter planetary gears

Failure of flight critical components on-board a helicopter could cause an accident resulting in loss of life and/or aircraft. It is imperative, therefore, that precursors of such failure modes be monitored continuously and remedial action be taken as soon as feasible in order to avoid catastrophic events. A crack in the planetary carrier of a UH-60 Blackhawk main transmission has received recently extensive evaluation through analysis of vibration data (J. Keller et al., 2003). The rotorcraft main transmission includes a planetary gear train comprising an inner "sun" gear surrounded by five rotating "planets". Torque is transmitted through the sun gear to the planets, which ride on a planetary carrier. The planetary carrier plate, in turn, transmits torque to the main rotor shaft and blades. The U.S. Army Aviation Engineering Directorate conducted a series of experimental tests with faulted and unfaulted carrier plates on a test cell and also on-aircraft to determine if a fault (a plate crack) can be detected via vibration monitoring. This paper introduces a methodology to analyze raw vibration data provided to Georgia Tech from the carrier testing. The analysis approach consists of selection and extraction of appropriate features from vibration data indicative of the fault condition and the construction of an optimum feature vector. Test cell data sampled at 100 kHz for torque cases ranging from 20% to 100% were processed. On-aircraft data covered a limited torque range up to 30% due to safety considerations. Both raw and time synchronous data were considered and features in the time, frequency and wavelet domains were investigated. The analysis results indicate that a selected subset of features clearly distinguishes between the faulted and unfaulted cases.
Safety of and tolerance to adenosine infusion for myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography in a Japanese population.

BACKGROUND
Adenosine has been available for use in myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in Japan since 2005. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of and tolerance to thallium-201 myocardial perfusion SPECT with intravenous adenosine infusion in Japanese patients with suspected coronary artery disease.


METHODS AND RESULTS
Two hundred and six consecutive patients who underwent an adenosine infusion (120 mug . kg(-1) . min(-1)) SPECT at Sumitomo Besshi Hospital (Niihama, Japan) were investigated. The effects of adenosine infusion were monitored for each patient. A coronary angiography was performed in 81 patients. Adenosine infusion significantly decreased blood pressure and increased heart rate. Adverse reactions were observed in 161 patients (78.2%). Most reactions were transient, disappearing soon after the termination of adenosine infusion. No serious adverse reactions, such as acute myocardial infarction or death, occurred. Adenosine infusion was terminated in 3 patients (1.5%) because of near syncope or sustained 2:1 atrioventricular block. Electrocardiographic changes occurred in 15 patients (7.3%). Self-assessed scoring after SPECT showed that the patients were very tolerant (74.6% of 177 patients) of adenosine infusion myocardial SPECT. The sensitivity and specificity were 75.0% and 69.7%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Adenosine infusion myocardial SPECT is safe and well tolerated in the Japanese population, despite the frequent occurrence of minor adverse reactions.
Psoas hitch and Boari flap ureteroneocystostomy.

Introduction In the middle of the last century, Dolff [1], Paquin [2] and Zimmermann et al. [3] developed principles for ureteroneocystostomy after gynaecological ureter injuries. Turner-Warwick and Worth [4] adopted these techniques, named it the ‘Psoas Bladder-Hitch Procedure’ and applied this technique of ureteroneocystostomy for the treatment of distal ureteric obstruction, ureteric fistulas and ‘distended duplication’ of the upper urinary tract.
TQM, innovation and the role of cultural change

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to better understand the influence of total quality management (TQM) practices on incremental and radical innovation, examining the role of diverse cultural change as a mediator, particularly in firms where ever-increasing competitive pressure demands a combination of quality and innovation. Design/methodology/approach – From previous research on the influence of TQM practices on innovation, the paper proposes a model which is tested through a survey carried out on a sample of 72 Spanish firms that have been drastically hit by competition from Asian companies, achieving a 51.42 percent valid return rate. Findings – None of the sets of TQM practices directly affects radical innovation, while all of them have a significant and positive relationship with incremental innovation. However, when the paper introduces cultural change as a mediating factor, the model’s goodness of fit improves substantially, and all the relations are significant. Research limitations/implications – The results reveal the power of cultural change to connect the diversity of the TQM practices and incremental and radical innovation. Further research is needed for a more comprehensive understanding of the role of cultural change in these relationships and to test the model in a longitudinal study. Practical implications – Managers can use the potential inherent in TQM to stimulate a paradoxical cultural context that favours innovation. This is especially relevant for enhancing radical innovation. Social implications – Given the extent to which TQM has been applied over the last 20 years, the social impact of this study is relevant, particularly in the current environment of economic crisis which calls for an increase in efficiency and innovation, adaptation and change. Originality/value – The paper introduces a multidimensional analysis of TQM and a broad perspective of innovation. The paper also develops an original definition of cultural change made up of apparently contradicting values, including exploitation and exploration, and introduces it as a mediating variable in the TQM-innovation model.
Radiosynovectomy using yttrium-90, phosphorus-32 or rhenium-188 radiocolloids versus corticoid instillation for rheumatoid arthritis of the knee.

BACKGROUND
Radiosynovectomy (RSO) is widely used in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Commercially available radiopharmaceuticals are costly, and therefore new agents may be of interest. Radiocolloids labelled with less costly and more accessible radionuclides are of interest to developing countries. We investigated the efficacy of different formulations in RA.


METHODS
In a multicentre effort, a cohort of 99 RA patients with knee involvement underwent RSO. Sixty-eight patients were treated with 184 ± 4 MBq Y-90 silicate (Y-90), 15 patients with 53 ± 11 MBq P-32 colloid (P-32), and 16 patients with 451 ± 110 MBq of Re-188 tin colloid (Re-188). Corticosteroid group (CSG) consisting of 46 patients received an intra-articular instillation of 20-40 mg triamcinolone. Pain response was evaluated by a 10-step visual analogue scale (VAS) before, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months following the procedure.


RESULTS
In the RSO group (n = 99), pain relief by VAS from 6 ± 2 before to 5 ± 3, 4 ± 2, 3 ± 2 and 4 ± 2 at 1, 3, 6, 12 months after RSO was documented (Y-90 group: 6 ± 2 to 3 ± 2; P-32: 5 ± 2 to 3 ± 2, Re-188: 7 ± 2 to 4 ± 2 before vs. 6 months after therapy, respectively). The CSG VAS values were 6 ± 2 before and 5 ± 2, 4 ± 3, 5 ± 2 and 6 ± 2 at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after corticosteroid instillation, respectively. Pain relief achieved with the three radiocolloid formulations did not differ significantly (P > 0.1). Pain relief at 12 months was more durable in RSO compared to CSG, P < 0.05. At 3 months, pain relief (>2 steps) was reported by 86% of RSO versus 67% of CSG, at 6 months 72 versus 46% and at 12 months 46 versus 21%. Side effects, i.e. swelling or transient pain increase, were recorded in 16% of patients but resolved within 1 month.


CONCLUSION
Therapeutic efficacy of RSO for RA of the knee applying either P-32, Re-188 or Y-90 provides comparable results. Pain relief by RSO is longer lasting as compared to corticosteroid instillation.
Spondyloarthropathies in Japan: nationwide questionnaire survey performed by the Japan Ankylosing Spondylitis Society.

OBJECTIVE
The Japan Ankylosing Spondylitis Society conducted a nationwide questionnaire survey of spondyloarthropathies (SpA) in 1990 and 1997, (1) to estimate the prevalence and incidence, and (2) to validate the criteria of Amor and the European Spondylarthropathy Study Group (ESSG) in Japan.


METHODS
Japan was divided into 9 districts, to each of which a survey supervisor was assigned. According to unified criteria, each supervisor selected all the clinics and hospitals with potential for SpA patients in the district. The study population consisted of all patients with SpA seen at these institutes during a 5 year period (1985-89) for the 1st survey and a 7 year period (1990-96) for the 2nd survey.


RESULTS
The 1st survey recruited 426 and the 2nd survey 638 cases, 74 of which were registered in both studies. The total number of patients with SpA identified 1985-96 was 990 (760 men, 227 women). They consisted of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (68.3%), psoriatic arthritis (12.7%), reactive arthritis (4.0%), undifferentiated SpA (5.4%), inflammatory bowel disease (2.2%), pustulosis palmaris et plantaris (4.7%), and others (polyenthesitis, etc.) (0.8%). The maximum onset number per year was 49. With the assumption that at least one-tenth of the Japanese population with SpA was recruited, incidence and prevalence were estimated not to exceed 0.48/100,000 and 9.5/100,000 person-years, respectively. The sensitivity was 84.0% for Amor criteria and 84.6 for ESSG criteria.


CONCLUSION
The incidence and prevalence of SpA in Japanese were estimated to be less than 1/10 and 1/200, respectively, of those among Caucasians. The adaptability of the Amor and ESSG criteria was validated for the Japanese population.