Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Osteoblast and osteoclast responses to A/B type carbonate-substituted hydroxyapatite ceramics for bone regeneration

The influence of carbonate substitution (4.4 wt%, mixed A/B type) in hydroxyapatite ceramics for bone remodeling scaffolds was investigated by separately analyzing the response of pre-osteoblasts and osteoclast-like cells. Carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHA) (Ca9.5(PO4)5.5(CO3)0.5(OH)(CO3)0.25-CHA), mimicking the chemical composition of natural bone mineral, and pure hydroxyapatite (HA) (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2-HA) porous ceramics were processed to obtain a similar microstructure and surface physico-chemical properties (grain size, porosity ratio and pore size, surface roughness and zeta potential). The biological behavior was studied using MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblastic and RAW 264.7 monocyte/macrophage cell lines. Chemical dissolution in the culture media and resorption lacunae produced by osteoclasts occur with both HA and CHA ceramics, but CHA exhibits much higher dissolution and greater bioresorption ability. CHA ceramics promoted a significantly higher level of pre-osteoblast proliferation. Osteoblastic differentiation, assessed by qRT-PCR of RUNX2 and COLIA2, and pre-osteoclastic proliferation and differentiation were not significantly different on CHA or HA ceramics but cell viability and metabolism were significantly greater on CHA ceramics. Thus, the activity of both osteoclast-like and osteoblastic cells was influenced by the carbonate substitution in the apatite structure. Furthermore, CHA showed a particularly interesting balance between biodegradation, by osteoclasts and chemical dissolution, and osteogenesis through osteoblasts’ activity, to stimulate bone regeneration. It is hypothesized that this amount of 4.4 wt% carbonate substitution leads to an adapted concentration of calcium in the fluid surrounding the ceramic to stimulate the activity of cells. These results highlight the superior biological behavior of microporous 4.4 wt% A/B CHA ceramics that could beneficially replace the commonly used HA of biphasic calcium phosphates for future applications in bone tissue engineering.
Exploring Ethnic Inequalities in Admission to Russell Group Universities

This article analyses national university applications and admissions data to explore why ethnic minority applicants to Russell Group universities are less likely to receive offers of admission than comparably qualified white applicants. Contrary to received opinion, the greater tendency of ethnic minorities to choose highly numerically competitive degree subjects only partially accounts for their lower offer rates from Russell Group universities relative to white applicants with the same grades and ‘facilitating subjects’ at A-level. Moreover, ethnic inequalities in the chances of receiving an admissions offer from a Russell Group university are found to be greater in relation to courses where ethnic minorities make up a larger percentage of applicants. This latter finding raises the possibility that some admissions selectors at some Russell Group universities may be unfairly rejecting a proportion of their ethnic minority applicants in an attempt to achieve a more ethnically representative student body.
A comparison of drawing inks using ultraviolet and infrared light examination techniques

Basic ink types that have been in use over the past centuries include those based on carbon black pigments, iron gall inks, and bister. The latter two turn brown with age and are difficult to distinguish. Chemical or spot testing on pen and ink drawings may destroy either ink or support. Ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) illuminations have been found to be useful in such identification procedures; the findings were corroborated by artificial aging tests using an environmental chamber and a fluorescent light bank. The materials, equipment, and procedure are described. Iron gall detected by fluorescing halo can indicate potential damage to the paper before deterioration itself becomes visible.
Study on the Risk of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma After Vismodegib Therapy for Basal Cell Carcinoma: Not a Case-Control Study.

Study on the Risk of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma After Vismodegib Therapy for Basal Cell Carcinoma: Not a Case-Control Study To the Editor In the May 2016 issue of JAMA Dermatology, Mohan et al1 report an increased risk of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) after vismodegib therapy for basal cell carcinoma (BCC). 1 They collected data from a cohort of 55 patients with BCC treated with vismodegib and compared the risk of CSCC with that in a cohort of 125 patients with BCC not treated with vismodegib. The authors present the study as a case-control study, which it is not. The definition of a case-control study can be found in any textbook in basic epidemiology: A case-control study is a type of observational study in which 2 existing groups differing in outcome are identified and compared on the basis of some supposed causal attribute.2 The 2 groups in the study by Mohan et al1 were selected on the basis of a difference in a possible risk exposure (ie, vismodegib treatment) and, when compared, found to differ in outcome (ie, CSCC). 1 With this design, the study is a cohort study in which 2 cohorts were followed longitudinally to compare outcomes. Data were collected retrospectively, but this does not make it a case-control study. The study has other and more important methodological concerns than being mislabeled a case-control study. These are, however, nicely discussed by the authors1 and in an accompanying editorial by Rübben et al.3
An Investigation into the Prevalence of Dental Caries and its Treatment Among the Adult Population With Low Socio-Economic Status in Baku, Azerbaijan

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of dental caries and its treatment among the adult population of Baku, Azerbaijan, with low socio-economic status (SES). Methods: Home-based and workplace dental examinations were performed on 681 adults (of whom 338 were male and 343 were female) from the age groups 15-19 years, 20-29 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years, 50-59 years, 60 years and older, all of whom resided in Baku city. The subjects were workers and unemployed people with low incomes. The World Health Organization 1997 criteria were used for diagnosis and recording of Decayed, Missing, or Filled Teeth (DMFT) index. Dental caries was diagnosed at the caries into dentine at the (D3) threshold, using a visual method with mouth mirrors, dental probes and daylight illumination. Results: Results demonstrated an overall average caries prevalence of 96.7%. The lowest prevalence (86.1%) was in the 15-19 years group. Prevalence increased with age. The mean DMFT for all ages was 9.12, of which the M element was 6.81 and the F element only 0.35, resulting in a very low Care Index of 3.8%. There was a mean of 0.41 teeth per subject, which manifested symptoms of either pulpitis or periapical infection and a mean of 0.72 teeth per subject present as retained roots. In general, the subjects exhibited very low motivation for undergoing dental treatment and a poor level of hygiene. Conclusion: The study demonstrated a very high prevalence of caries among Baku�s population with low SES, a very high proportion of missing teeth, and a very low proportion of filled teeth, resulting in an extremely low Care Index, demonstrating the inadequacy of the dental health service and the need to develop a programme aimed at improving the dental health service provided for those from the lowest SES in Baku.
Crime, New housing, and housing incivilities in a first‐ring suburb: Multilevel relationships across time

Abstract Concepts deriving from criminology, housing policy, and environmental psychology are integrated to test two ways that housing conditions could relate to crime in a declining first‐ring suburb of Salt Lake City. For existing housing, we use a model to test whether housing incivilities, such as litter and unkempt lawns, are associated with later crime. For new housing, we test whether a new subdivision on a former brownfield creates spillover reductions in nearby crime and incivilities. Police‐reported crime rates were highest for residences near the brownfield and lowest for those farther away. After the subdivision was constructed, this linear decline disappeared, reflecting less crime adjacent to the new subdivision, but also more crime farther away. A multilevel analysis shows that incivilities, particularly litter and unkempt lawns on the block, predict unexpected increases in crime. Both brownfield redevelopment and reductions in incivilities may be important ways to improve declining suburban areas.
Minutiae extraction scheme for fingerprint recognition systems

A complete minutiae extraction scheme for automatic fingerprint recognition systems is presented. The proposed method uses improving alternatives for the image enhancement process, leading consequently to an increase in the reliability in the minutiae extraction task. In the first stages, image normalization and the orientation field of the fingerprint are calculated. The local orientation of the ridges serve as parameter for the next processing stages. Details of the adaptive morphological filtering used for ridge extraction and background noise elimination are described. Evaluation results are obtained from both inked and scanned fingerprints. Conclusions in terms of Goodness Index (GI), which compares the results obtained by automatic minutiae extraction with manually extracted ones, are provided in order to test the global performance of this approach.
2 Innate Immunity of Airway Epithelium and COPD

The mammalian immune system consists of two branchesinnate and adaptive immune systems and together they provide protection against infection. Innate immunity is a first line of host defense and is responsible for immediate recognition of pathogens to prevent microbial invasion. In addition innate immune responses also stimulate adaptive immune system (Medzhitov and Janeway, 1997). Cellular components of innate immune system include mucosal epithelial cells, macrophages, neutrophils, natural killer cells, basophils, eosinophils and others. The airway mucosa represents the body’s largest mucosal surface and is the first point of contact for inhaled microorganisms, environmental pollutants, airborne allergens and cigarette smoke (Diamond et al., 2000). Airway mucosa provides protection against potentially hazardous inhaled factors by multiple mechanisms. For instance, mucus secreted by the airway epithelium covers the apical surface of airway epithelium and traps inhaled microorganisms, allergens and particulate material. The trapped material is then cleared by mucociliary escalator away from lungs and towards the pharynx. Tight junctions between the polarized airway epithelial cells restrict the paracellular movement of solutes and ions, and prevent pathogens from gaining access to the submucosal compartment. In addition to its role as a physical barrier between environmental factors and internal milieu, airway epithelial cells also play a critical role in bridging innate and adaptive immune defenses (Hammad and Lambrecht, 2011; Kato and Schleimer, 2007). Airway epithelial cells express number of innate immune receptors also known as pattern recognition molecules, which recognizes pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPS) or danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPS) to initiate appropriate innate defense mechanisms. This includes elaboration of antimicrobial molecules, proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines that recruits and activates other mucosal innate immune cells. The responses of activated innate immune cells lead to recruitment of immune cells into epithelium or airway lumen and initiate adaptive immune responses. Continuous exposure to environmental stimuli, such as cigarette smoke, noxious gases or other environmental hazards may lead to prolonged and aberrant activation of airway epithelial cells resulting in excessive expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines that recruit large number of inflammatory cells into airway lumen. This in turn leads to persistent inflammation, airway damage and abnormal repair, impaired innate immune responses. There are reports suggesting that exposure to cigarette smoke also
Comparison of risk and protective factors associated with smartphone addiction and Internet addiction

Background and Aims Smartphone addiction is a recent concern that has resulted from the dramatic increase in worldwide smartphone use. This study assessed the risk and protective factors associated with smartphone addiction in college students and compared these factors to those linked to Internet addiction. Methods College students (N = 448) in South Korea completed the Smartphone Addiction Scale, the Young’s Internet Addiction Test, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, the Beck Depression Inventory I, the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (Trait Version), the Character Strengths Test, and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale. The data were analyzed using multiple linear regression analyses. Results The risk factors for smartphone addiction were female gender, Internet use, alcohol use, and anxiety, while the protective factors were depression and temperance. In contrast, the risk factors for Internet addiction were male gender, smartphone use, anxiety, and wisdom/knowledge, while the protective factor was courage. Discussion These differences may result from unique features of smartphones, such as high availability and primary use as a tool for interpersonal relationships. Conclusions Our findings will aid clinicians in distinguishing between predictive factors for smartphone and Internet addiction and can consequently be utilized in the prevention and treatment of smartphone addiction.
CONSIDERATION OF SPILLOVER EFFECT IN ACTIVE VIBRATION SUPPRESSION OF A SMART COMPOSITE PLATE USING PIEZOELECTRIC ELEMENTS

IN THIS PAPER, THE PROBLEM OF VIBRATION SUPPRESSION OF A SMART COMPOSITE PLATE WITH BONDED PIEZOELECTRIC PATCHES IS CONSIDERED. A HIGHER ORDER PLATE MODEL IS USED FOR FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF THE PLATE AND THE PID CONTROLLER IS USED TO GENERATE CONTROL VOLTAGE COMMAND TO THE PIEZO ACTUATORS FROM THE PIEZO SENSORS DATA. DERIVED FORMULATION AND THE CONTROL ALGORITHM IS IMPLEMENTED IN A FINITE ELEMENT (FE) CODE AND THE FE MODELING RESULTS ARE VERIFIED USING AVAILABLE RESULTS OF PREVIOUS STUDIES. THE EFFECT OF CONTROL GAIN ON THE VIBRATION SUPPRESSION CHARACTERISTICS IS STUDIED. FURTHERMORE, SINCE FE MODELING REDUCES THE ORDER OF THE REAL PROBLEM, THE PROBLEM OF UN-MODELED RESIDUAL MODES ON THE SO-CALLED SPILLOVER EFFECT IS INVESTIGATED.
Cone dystrophy or macular dystrophy associated with novel autosomal dominant GUCA1A mutations

Purpose Sixteen different mutations in the guanylate cyclase activator 1A gene (GUCA1A), have been previously identified to cause autosomal dominant cone dystrophy (adCOD), cone–rod dystrophy (adCORD), macular dystrophy (adMD), and in an isolated patient, retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The purpose of this study is to report on two novel mutations and the patients’ clinical features. Methods Clinical investigations included visual acuity and visual field testing, fundus examination, high-resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus autofluorescence imaging, and full-field and multifocal electroretinogram (ERG) recordings. GUCA1A was screened by Sanger sequencing in a cohort of 12 French families with adCOD, adCORD, and adMD. Results We found two novel GUCA1A mutations—one amino acid deletion, c. 302_304delTAG (p.Val101del), and one missense mutation, c.444T>A (p.Asp148Glu)—each of which was found in one family. The p.Asp148Glu mutation affected one of the Ca2+-binding amino acids of the EF4 hand, while the p.Val101del mutation resulted in the in-frame deletion of Valine-101, localized between two Ca2+-binding aspartic acid residues at positions 100 and 102 of the EF3 hand. Both families complained of visual acuity loss worsening with age. However, the p.Asp148Glu mutation was present in one family with adCOD involving abnormal cone function and an absence of macular atrophy, whereas p.Val101del mutation was encountered in another family with adMD without a generalized cone defect. Conclusions The two novel mutations described in this study are associated with distinct phenotypes, MD for p.Val101del and COD for p.Asp148Glu, with no intrafamilial phenotypic heterogeneity.
Target dependent score normalization techniques and their application to signature verification

Score normalization methods in biometric verification, which encompass the more traditional user-dependent decision thresholding techniques, are reviewed from a test hypotheses point of view. These are classified into test dependent and target dependent methods. The focus of the paper is on target dependent score normalization techniques, which are further classified into impostor-centric, target-centric, and target-impostor methods. These are applied to an on-line signature verification system on signature data from the First International Signature Verification Competition (SVC 2004). In particular, a target-centric technique based on the cross-validation procedure provides the best relative performance improvement testing both with skilled (19%) and random forgeries (53%) as compared to the raw verification performance without score normalization (7.14% and 1.06% Equal Error Rate for skilled and random forgeries, respectively).
On The Effects of Sampling Rate and Interpolation in HMM-Based Dynamic Signature Verification

In this work, resampling techniques and interpolation are applied to on-line signatures. Their effect on the performance of an on-line signature system using hidden Markov models is studied. The presented techniques are based on linear interpolation and Catmull-Rom cubic splines. Experimental results are provided on the MCYT database comprising 16,500 signatures from 330 subjects and as many skilled forgeries. Our approach allows to reduce the sampling rate of the on-line signature capture system, leading to the reduction of storage resource requirements and increased simplicity without compromising and even enhancing the system performance. This also leads to the discussion of which is the minimum sampling rate for HMM-based dynamic signature verification.
Benchmarks for software clone detection: A ten-year retrospective

There have been a great many methods and tools proposed for software clone detection. While some work has been done on assessing and comparing performance of these tools, very little empirical evaluation has been done. In particular, accuracy measures such as precision and recall have only been roughly estimated, due both to problems in creating a validated clone benchmark against which tools can be compared, and to the manual effort required to hand check large numbers of candidate clones. In order to cope with this issue, over the last 10 years we have been working towards building cloning benchmarks for objectively evaluating clone detection tools. Beginning with our WCRE 2008 paper, where we conducted a modestly large empirical study with the NiCad clone detection tool, over the past ten years we have extended and grown our work to include several languages, much larger datasets, and model clones in languages such as Simulink. From a modest set of 15 C and Java systems comprising a total of 7 million lines in 2008, our work has progressed to a benchmark called BigCloneBench with eight million manually validated clone pairs in a large inter-project source dataset of more than 25,000 projects and 365 million lines of code. In this paper, we present a history and overview of software clone detection benchmarks, and review the steps of ourselves and others to come to this stage. We outline a future for clone detection benchmarks and hope to encourage researchers to both use existing benchmarks and to contribute to building the benchmarks of the future.
Role of endocrine responsiveness and adjuvant therapy in very young women (below 35 years) with operable breast cancer and node negative disease.

BACKGROUND There is limited knowledge about prognosis, and treatment effects in young women with node-negative disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS We evaluated biological features, treatment recommendations and prognosis for 841 premenopausal patients with pT1-3, pN0 and M0, operated from 1997 to 2001. RESULTS Patients below 35 years (101, 12%) were more likely to have tumors > 2 cm (35.6% versus 24.2%, P = 0.002), grade 3 (48.5% versus 31.9%, P = 0.009) and with elevated Ki-67 expression (62.4% versus 50.7%, P = 0.002). At the multivariate analysis a statistically significant difference in disease-free survival (DFS, HR 4.44; 95% CI 2.53 to 7.78, P < 0.0001), risk of distant metastases (DDFS) (HR 3.23; 95% CI 1.32 to 7.94, P = 0.011) and overall survival (OS) (HR 2.89; 95% CI 1.06 to 7.87, P = 0.038) was observed for younger versus older patients and in the subgroup with endocrine responsive tumors (DFS, HR 5.17, 95% CI 2.72-9.83, P = < 0.0001; DDFS, 3.76, 95% CI 1.33-10.6, P = 0.013; OS, 4.71, 95% CI 1.09-20.4, P = 0.039 ). CONCLUSIONS Compared with less young, very young patients with endocrine responsive and node-negative breast cancer have a worse prognosis. Tailored treatments should be explored in this cohort of patients.
Defining scandal in sports: media and corporate sponsor perspectives

The United States sports industiy is a multi-billion dollar industry. Corporations attempt to curry favor with consumers by aligning their products and services with this popular industry through sports sponsorship and endorsement opportunities. The upside to this association is well-documented in the sports marketing literature. Less well known however, is the impact on corporate brands when a scandal erupts around an athletic endorser such as a team, coach, or player. Numerous sports scandals such as the recruiting scandal at the University of Colorado or the Kobe Bryant rape case raise serious questions about the impact of sports scandals on both professional and amateur athletic institutions, sponsors, participants, and other constituents. The purpose of the present research study is twofold: (1) to attempt to identify aspects of a sports scandal that influence our perception of the impact of the event and (2) to understand the short and longterm effects of sports scandals on the consumers' affiliation with the sponsors' products, sports organization, and with the sport entity involved in the scandal.
Tissue characterization of prostate cancer using quantitative analysis of low frequency ultrasound

Current accepted methodologies used for detection of the prostate rumor involve measurements of prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, patient age followed by ultrasound guided biopsies leaving a lot to desire in the ability to correctly identify lesions. Also PSA level test has been shown to produce a high number of false positives leading to unnecessary invasive biopsies. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the use of trans-rectal conventional low frequency (1-10MHz) ultrasound as a non-invasive imaging modality for the detection of prostate tumors. Currently we are investigating the use of multiparameter spectroscopic analysis of the ultrasound radio frequency signal in combination with ultrasound elastrographic imaging of the prostate and correlating the results with whole-mount histopathology from radical prostatectomy. Ten patients with prostate cancer prior to surgery were subjected to trans-rectal conventional low frequency ultrasound scans. Parametric maps are generated for each individual spectral parameter. Ratios of disease area versus normal prostatic tissue are identified using low frequency ultrasound and compared with the equivalent ratios obtained from whole-mount histopathology. Preliminary results show that areas of suspected disease identified by spectral parameters correlate with areas of disease presence in the corresponding whole-mount sections. An initial software platform performing visualization of areas of disease based on parametric maps generated from spectral analysis methods was developed.