Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cheek Tooth Extraction Via a Minimally Invasive Transbuccal Approach and Intradental Screw Placement in 54 Equids.

OBJECTIVE To describe (1) preoperative findings and surgical technique, (2) intraoperative difficulties, and (3) postoperative complications and long-term outcome of equine cheek tooth extraction using a minimally invasive transbuccal screw extraction (MITSE) technique. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case series. ANIMALS Fifty-four equids; 50 horses, 3 ponies, and 1 mule. METHODS Fifty-eight MITSE procedures were performed to extract cheek teeth in 54 equids. Peri- and intraoperative difficulties, as well as short- (<1 month) and long-term (>6 months) postoperative complications were recorded. Followup information was obtained through telephone interviews, making specific inquiries about nasal discharge, facial asymmetry, and findings consistent with surgical site infection. RESULTS Preoperative findings that prompted exodontia included 50 cheek teeth with apical infections, 48 fractures, 4 neoplasia, 2 displacements, and 1 supernumerary tooth. Previous oral extraction was attempted but had failed in 55/58 (95%) animals because of cheek tooth fracture in 28, or insufficient clinical crown for extraction with forceps in 27. MITSE was successful in removing the entire targeted dental structure in 47/58 (81%) procedures. However, MITSE failed to remove the entire targeted dental structure in 11/58 (19%) procedures and was followed by repulsion in 10/11 (91%). Short-term postoperative complications included bleeding (4/58 procedures, 7%) and transient facial nerve paralysis (4/58 procedures, 7%). Owners were satisfied with the functional and cosmetic outcome for 40/41 (98%) animals with followup. CONCLUSION MITSE offers an alternate for cheek tooth extraction in equids, where conventional oral extraction is not possible or has failed. Overall, there was low morbidity, which compares favorably with invasive buccotomy or repulsion techniques.
Knowledge, attitude and practice of B.Sc. Pharmacy students about antibiotics in Trinidad and Tobago

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of B.Sc. Pharmacy students about usage and resistance of antibiotics in Trinidad and Tobago. Methods: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study involving B.Sc. Pharmacy students. The questionnaire was divided into five components including Demographics data, knowledge about antibiotic use, attitude toward antibiotic use and resistance, self-antibiotic usage and possible causes of antibiotic resistance. Data were analyzed by employing Mann-Whitney and Chi-square tests using SPSS version 20. Findings: The response rate was 83.07%. The results showed good knowledge of antibiotic use among students. The overall attitude of pharmacy students was poor. About 75% of participants rarely use antibiotics, whereas self-decision was the major reason of antibiotic use (40.7%) and main source of information was retail pharmacist (42.6%). Common cold and flu is a major problem for which antibiotics were mainly utilized by pharmacy students (35.2%). Conclusion: The study showed good knowledge of pharmacy students regarding antibiotic usage. However, students′ attitude towards antibiotic use was poor. The study recommends future studies to be conducted with interventional design to improve knowledge and attitude of pharmacy students about antibiotic use and resistance.
Sensitivity of parallel applications to large differences in bandwidth and latency in two-layer interconnects

This paper studies application performance on systems with strongly non-uniform remote memory access. In current generation NUMAs the speed difference between the slowest and fastest link in an interconnect-the "NUMA gap"-is typically less than an order of magnitude, and many conventional parallel programs achieve good performance. We study how different NUMA gaps influence application performance, up to and including typical wide-area latencies and bandwidths. We find that for gaps larger than those of current generation NUMAs, performance suffers considerably (for applications that were designed for a uniform access interconnect). For many applications, however, performance can be greatly improved with comparatively simple changes: traffic over slow links can be reduced by making communication patterns hierarchical-like the interconnect. We find that in four out of our six applications the size of the gap can be increased by an order of magnitude or more without severely impacting speedup. We analyze why the improvements are needed, why they work so well, and how much non-uniformity they can mask.
AltiKa: a Ka-band Altimetry Payload and System for Operational Altimetry during the GMES Period

This paper describes the Ka-band altimetry payload and system that has been studied for several years by CNES, ALCATEL SPACE and some science laboratories. Altimetry is one of the major elements of the ocean observing system to be made sustainable through the GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) and GMES (Global Monitoring of the Environment and Security) programs. A short review of some mission objectives to be fulfilled in terms of mesoscale oceanography in the frame of the GEOSS and GMES programs is performed. To answer the corresponding requirements, the approach consisting in a constellation of nadir altimeter is discussed. A coupled Ka-band altimeter-radiometer payload is then described; technical items are detailed to explain how this payload shall meet the science and operational requirements, and expected performances are displayed. The current status of the payload development and flight perspectives are given.
Best practices for selection and application of firefighting foam

The article provides studies concerning the selection for the usage of firefighting foam in the aspect of human, property, environmental safety and sustainable development. Foam concentrates are products of the chemical industry, which, due to the type of raw materials, technology, usage method and waste disposal involved, are an important element of the industrial and environmental safety. Considering the range of extinguishing concentrates available on the market, with their different scope and performance effectiveness, it is necessary to responsibly plan purchases of required extinguishing agents. For testing all types of firefighting foam agent: synthetic, aqueous film forming, protein, fluoroprotein and fluoroprotein film forming concentrates were used. The standard test method ISO 7203-1:2011 for low-expansion foams used for the control, extinction and inhibition of reignition of fires of water-immiscible liquids was applied. The use of an appropriately selected and properly concentrated firefighting foam to extinguish a fire allows decreasing the duration of the fire and its consequences for the environment. The amount of used extinguishing agents will be substantially smaller. In the article the impact of considered use of firefighting foams on their effectiveness and potential dangers resulting from an inappropriate choice was shown.
Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide as a Healing Mediator in Crohn’s Disease

The vasoactive intestinal peptide/pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide (VIP/PACAP) system is considered as a paradigm for the use of a neuroendocrine-immune mediator in therapy. We review the role of VIP in 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis as a murine model of Crohn’s disease. VIP treatment led to the recovery of clinical factors, the amelioration of parameters related to the recruitment and traffic of cell populations, and the balance of inflammatory mediators derived from granulocytes, antigen-presenting cells and T lymphocytes including Th1, Th2 and Th17. Finally, the most recent data validate its therapeutic role through the modulation of TLR2 and 4 receptors.
Serum Leptin Levels in Patients with Pollen-Induced Allergic Rhinitis

Background: Several studies have outlined a possible relationship between an increased body mass index (BMI) and respiratory allergic diseases, such as asthma and rhinitis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the serum leptin levels in a cohort of patients with pollen-induced allergic rhinitis, enrolled outside the pollen season, and in a group of healthy controls. Methods: The study included 75 subjects: 41 patients with moderate–severe persistent allergic rhinitis due to a pollen allergy and 34 normal subjects. All subjects were prospectively and consecutively evaluated. A skin prick test and blood sampling for assessing serum leptin levels, eosinophils, specific IgE, and nasal challenge were performed in all subjects. Results: After analyzing genders separately, female allergic patients showed significantly higher levels than normal females (p = 0.031), whereas the comparison between allergic and normal males was not significant (p = 0.9651). Leptin serum levels were significantly related with age in normal (p = 0.0059) and allergic (p = 0.0042) females. In addition, BMI and leptin levels were significantly correlated (p = 0.01) in all allergic patients; there were other significant relationships between leptin levels and symptom severity in females (p = 0063, r = 0.68), peripheral eosinophils in males (p = 0.023, r = 0.49), and allergen threshold dose at nasal challenge in both genders (males: p = 0.0001, r = –0.85; females: p = 0.0001, r = –0.95). Conclusions: This preliminary study provides the first evidence of significantly higher leptin serum levels in female patients with pollen-induced allergic rhinitis outside the pollen season.
Effect of Telephone Follow-up by Nurses on Self-care in Children with Diabetes

Background: Diabetes is a serious chronic disease during childhood. Because of the chronic nature of the disease, self-care is necessary. Education alone is not effective in providing care. Misunderstanding by the patients regarding diabetes during the training programs render telephone follow-up after training essential. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study with two groups (experimental and control) was conducted in two phases in 2014. The study population consisted of 70 children of 10–18 years of age with type I diabetes (35 patients in the experimental group and 35 in the control group). The participants were randomly selected from the patients referring to the Sedigheh Tahereh Diabetic Research and Treatment Center in Isfahan, Iran. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire on self-care and a glycosylated hemoglobin recording form. The experimental group received 12 weeks of telephone follow-up training by the center, whereas the control group received no follow-up. Results: The results showed that, after intervention, the total mean score of self-care in all aspects of diabetes care for children was significantly higher in the experimental group (p < 0.001). In addition, a statistically significant difference was observed between the experimental and control groups in terms of mean glycosylated hemoglobin after the intervention (p = 0.030). Conclusions: It can be concluded that telephone follow-up by a nurse can improve total self-care and glycosylated hemoglobin in patients with type I diabetes.
Generalized Instrumental Variables

This paper concerns the assessment of direct causal effects from a combination of: (i) nonexperimental data, and (ii) qualitative domain knowledge. Domain knowledge is encoded in the form of a directed acyclic graph (DAG), in which all interactions are assumed linear, and some variables are presumed to be unobserved. We provide a generalization of the well-known method of Instrumental Variables, which allows its application to models with few conditional independeces.
The use of buccal fat pad free graft in closure of soft-tissue defects and dehiscence in the hard palate

Introduction: The integrity of the palatal mucosa can be lost due to congenital, pathological, and iatrogenic conditions. Various surgical techniques have been suggested for the closure of palatal defects. The aim of the current study is to present the free buccal fat pad graft as a novel technique to repair the soft-tissue defects at the palate. Patients and Methods: During a 2-year period, the free fat tissue graft harvested from the buccal fat pad (BFP) (FBFG) and used to reconstruct five soft-tissue defects of the palate in five patients (2 women, 3 men; mean age, 34 years; range, 22–58 years). In two patients, the palatal defect size was 2–3 cm and resulted from the resection of pleomorphic adenoma. In two other patients, the defect was due to odontogenic lesion, and in the last patient, the etiology was an iatrogenic dehiscence during maxillary segmentation surgery. Patients were examined every 2 weeks in the first 3 months and thereafter every 3 months. Results: Five patients were treated with FBFG to reconstruct palatal defects and were followed up for 6–24 months. The healing process of the BFP and the recipient sites were uneventful, with minimal morbidity. At 3 months after the surgery, there was complete epithelialization of the graft at the recipient sites. Conclusions: Harvesting of FBFG is a simple procedure with minor complications; manipulation and handling the graft are easy. The use of FBFG in reconstruction of small and medium palatal defects is encouraging with excellent clinical outcomes.
A 3D printed melt-compounded antibiotic loaded thermoplastic polyurethane heart valve ring design: an integrated framework of experimental material tests and numerical simulations

Abstract Heart diseases are one of the commonest causes of death worldwide. These include valve pathologies such as valve stenosis, regurgitation, failure and similar, for which usually a valve substitution procedure is required. Different prosthesis alternatives (both biological and artificial) are nowadays available in the heart surgery panorama, but there are still issues and aspects to improve. The principal requirements for heart valve prostheses are an efficient fluid dynamic function and long-term durability without the need for anticoagulation therapy, coupled with the possibility of patient-specific customization. Given this scenario, the presented tasks might be fulfilled by the recent advances of additive manufacturing technology (AM), which offers versatility of shapes and materials to be printed. In this work, the full flexibility of AM technique has been exploited to demonstrate the feasibility of a custom drug-loaded polymeric heart valve ring for crimpable prostheses. Two different medical-grade polymeric filaments for AM have been extruded: an aromatic Polyester-Based Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU-E) and a Thermoplastic Silicone-Polycarbonate-urethane compound filament (TSPCU). Both materials find different applications in medical fields, thanks to their mechanical and biocompatibility features. A drug-loading procedure has been set to obtain an antibiotic-filled polymer material and the relative biocompatibility has been consequently investigated. Specimens have been printed with a Fused Deposition Method and uniaxial traction tests have been performed at different printing temperatures and infill orientation angles. To evaluate the damaging risk given by the HVR crimping process, a Finite Element (FE) simulation of the crimping load has been set. The TSPCU has appeared to be the best material to realize the prosthesis in terms of tensile stress values. The ultimate mechanical characteristics of TSPCU have resulted to be higher if compared with TPU-E, regardless of raster orientation angle and temperature. The qualitative characterization of the drug loading process of TSPCU has been successful: standard disc diffusion method has revealed a well-defined inhibition zone on the bacterial culture. The effectiveness of the antibiotic has been maintained even after the extrusion and the printing process. The simulated crimping procedure on the HVR has revealed that the maximum Von Mises stress value is below the ultimate stress taken from experimental tests. The reported results demonstrate the feasibility of a crimpable antibiotic loaded HVR realized through TSPCU 3D printing. Graphical Abstract
Uterine activity during the third stage of labor.

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of intrauterine pressure catheters (IUPCs) to measure uterine activity during the third stage of labor. METHODS The study was conducted in a tertiary-care center. All births were attended by certified nurse-midwives. Low-risk pregnant women at term gestation had intrauterine monitoring attempted during the third stage of labor. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance. RESULTS Of the 36 women in the study, 19 had clear contractions recorded, 4 had unclear contractions, and 13 had flat tracings. The IUPC was useful for measuring uterine activity in a small number of women during the third stage of labor. When measured, uterine contractions were variable in strength and frequency. DISCUSSION Intrauterine pressure catheters can be used as a measurement of uterine activity during the third stage of labor and should be considered for future research about third-stage physiology. Further work is needed to determine the best procedure for placement, and IUPC use before expulsion of the placenta will not be useful in all women. Effective measurement of uterine activity may guide future research on interventions to reduce the risk of postpartum hemorrhage.
Macrophages and Cell-Cell Spread of HIV-1

Macrophages have been postulated to play an important role in the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection. Their ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and their resistance to virus-induced cytopathic effects allows them to serve as reservoirs for long-term infection. Thus, exploring the mechanisms of virus transmission from macrophages to target cells such as other macrophages or T lymphocytes is central to our understanding of HIV-1 pathogenesis and progression to AIDS, and is vital to the development of vaccines and novel antiretroviral therapies. This review provides an overview of the current understanding of cell-cell transmission in macrophages.
A randomized controlled trial on the efficacy of intermittent cervical traction for patients with chronic neck pain

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of intermittent cervical traction in the treatment of chronic neck pain over a 12-week follow-up. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Setting: Hospital-based outpatient practice. Subjects: Seventy-nine patients with chronic neck pain. Interventions: Subjects were randomly assigned to either experimental group (n = 39, mean age = 50.5 ± 9.8) or control group (n = 40, mean age = 48.8 ± 9.1). Experimental group received intermittent cervical traction and control group received infrared irradiation alone; twice a week over a period of six weeks. Outcome measurements: The values of Chinese version of the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ), verbal numerical pain scale (VNPS), and cervical active range of motion (AROM) were measured at baseline, six-week and 12-week follow-up. Results: No significant differences were found between the two groups in the NPQ (P > 0.05), VNPS (P > 0.05) and AROM (P > 0.05).
Numerical Investigation of Periodic Fluctuations in Energy Efficiency in Centrifugal Pumps at Different Working Points

In order to simulate the energy efficiency fluctuation behavior of an industrial centrifugal pump with a six-blade impeller, a full-scale three-dimensional (3D) an unsteady state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was used. Five operational points with different flow fluxes were numerically investigated by using the Navier–Stokes code with shear-stress transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model. The predicted performance curves agreed well with the test data. A sine function was fitted to the transient calculation results and the results show that the efficiency fluctuates mainly on the blade passing frequency, while the fluctuation level varies with flow rate. Furthermore, high efficiency is not necessarily associated with low fluctuation level. The efficiency fluctuation level is high at part-load points, and becomes relatively low when flow rate exceeds the design value. The effect of change in torque is greater than that of the head lift with respect to fluctuations of efficiency. Based upon the analysis of velocity vector distribution of different impeller phase positions, a hypothesis which considers both the effect of pump’s structural shape and flow fluxes was proposed to explain the above behavior by analyzing the impeller–tongue interaction. This work enriches the theoretical system of flow parameters fluctuation of centrifugal pump, and provides useful insight for the optimal design of centrifugal pumps.
High‐Temperature Ionic Epitaxy of Halide Perovskite Thin Film and the Hidden Carrier Dynamics

High‐temperature vapor phase epitaxy (VPE) has been proved ubiquitously powerful in enabling high‐performance electro‐optic devices in III–V semiconductor field. A typical example is the successful growth of p‐type GaN by VPE for blue light‐emitting diodes. VPE excels as it controls film defects such as point/interface defects and grain boundary, thanks to its high‐temperature processing condition and controllable deposition rate. For the first time, single‐crystalline high‐temperature VPE halide perovskite thin film has been demonstrated—a unique platform on unveiling previously uncovered carrier dynamics in inorganic halide perovskites. Toward wafer‐scale epitaxial and grain boundary‐free film is grown with alkali halides as substrates. It is shown the metal alkali halides could be used as universal substrates for VPE growth of perovskite due to their similar material chemistry and lattice constant. With VPE, hot photoluminescence and nanosecond photo‐Dember effect are revealed in inorganic halide perovskite. These two phenomena suggest that inorganic halide perovskite could be as compelling as its organic–inorganic counterpart regarding optoelectronic properties and help explain the long carrier lifetime in halide perovskite. The findings suggest a new avenue on developing high‐quality large‐scale single‐crystalline halide perovskite films requiring precise control of defects and morphology.
Grandparents raising grandchildren.

When parents are absent or unable to raise their children, grandparents are often the ones who step in. Raising a second generation brings many rewards, including the fulfillment of giving your grandkids a sense of security, developing a deeper relationship, and keeping the family together. It also comes with many challenges. No matter how much you love your grandkids, taking them into your home requires major adjustments. But with the right guidelines and support, you can roll back the years and make a real difference in the lives of your grandchildren.