Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Changes in alveolar bone height and width following post-extraction ridge augmentation using a fixed bioabsorbable membrane and demineralized freeze-dried bone osteoinductive graft.

BACKGROUND It has been shown that the amount of healed bone following guided bone regeneration (GBR) with demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft (DFDBA) and a bioabsorbable membrane is significantly less than the initial quantity. A study was designed to determine if the amount of GBR would be affected by using an osteoinductive DFDBA and bioabsorbable membrane and membrane stabilization. METHODS Eleven extraction sites (10 patients) were treated with DFDBA and bioabsorbable membrane before placing endosseous implants. Standardized alveolar height and width measurements were taken after extraction, GBR, and 4 months postoperatively, at predetermined measurement points (sites midpoint and 3 mm mesial and distal from the midpoint) and classified as augmented (<1 mm increase of GBR height or width) or grafted (>1 mm increase). Five membranes were stabilized. RESULTS Three mm from the crest, augmented points exhibited a complete loss of augmented width. There was also some loss of pre-GBR bone width (ranging from 4.7% to 20%) at augmented and grafted points. Five mm from the crest, augmented points lost 83.3% to 92.3% of augmented width and grafted points lost 12.9% to 18% of pre-GBR width. Loss of augmented height ranged from 93.5% to 100%. Augmented (except distal) and grafted measurement points lost 2.1% to 12% of pre-GBR height. Comparing tacked and non-tacked sites, the former manifested less loss of augmented bone width, the latter augmented bone height. CONCLUSIONS Results indicate a complete loss of augmented width 3 mm from the crest and almost complete loss in height and width 5 mm from the crest. Membrane stabilization appeared beneficial.
Extracellular Calcium Deprivation in Astrocytes: Regulation of mRNA Expression and Apoptosis

Abstract: Cell viability and gene expression were studied in primary astroglial cells cultured in a nominally calcium‐free medium. Ca2+ deprivation reduced progressively the astrocytes' viability, starting from 12 h; the restoration of a normal Ca2+ concentration (1.8 mM) in the medium after 12‐h deprivation reversed the degenerative effect within 24 h. Biochemical and morphological examinations indicated that cell death induced by Ca2+ deprivation was mediated by apoptosis. This was associated with the expression of c‐fos, c‐jun, and c‐myc, which, with different time courses, were induced in astrocytes after Ca2+ deprivation. Furthermore, shifting to a Ca2+‐free medium modified the expression of Ich‐1S transcript and rapidly increased intracellular cyclic AMP, which has been implicated in the transcriptional activation of immediate‐early genes. The absence of Ca2+ in the medium reduced the expression of constitutive proteins such as α‐actin, clusterin, glial fibrillary acidic protein, amyloid precursor protein, and glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase. The expression of these mRNAs was reduced >50% after 8 h of Ca2+ deprivation, when the effect on cell viability was negligible. When Ca2+ deprivation was prolonged for 24 h the expression of mRNA dropped completely, and restoration of the Ca2+ ions in the medium for 48 h did not reverse this effect. In contrast with general assumption, the apoptotic machinery in astrocytes is activated similarly not only by increased Ca2+ influx but also with the extracellular Ca2+ deprivation.
Soft landings: A fresh scope of service that ensures users and clients get the best out of a new building

Purpose – To disseminate information on a new scope of Service for building projects that embodies post occupancy evaluation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon recent practical experience in the field by the author and examples the background and detail of the new scope of service. Findings – The results of field experience are exampled. Topical research is used to underpin the recommendations. Originality/value – This paper contains the justification for a novel method of delivering new buildings and the detail of the methodology. It will be of practical value to project managers, estates directors and facilities managers.
Maternal mismatches in farmed tilapia strains (Oreochromis spp.) in the Philippines as revealed by mitochondrial COI gene

Abstract The introduction of genetically enhanced tilapia has significantly boosted the performance of Philippine aquaculture industry. While enhanced strains contribute to the increase in tilapia production, genetic characterization of present tilapia stocks is critical to maintain their quality and to ensure the genetic gains are sustained. To understand and determine the genetic relationship of the genetically enhanced strains produced in the Philippines, mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene using DNA barcoding approach was analyzed. Specimens representing 10 genetically enhanced strains (GIFT, FaST, GET-EXCEL, GST, SST, COLD, YY-male, GMT, Molobicus, and BEST), three red tilapia (Taiwan red, Florida red, and FAC-red), and two pure lines (initially identified as O. aureus and O. spilurus) were collected, sequenced, and identified using DNA barcoding. Results revealed that farmed tilapias consisted of four different Oreochromis species. As expected, COI could not distinguish individuals at the strain level but surprisingly, mismatch between the species of maternal origin and present-day offspring was observed. This particular result may pose a question on the genetic purity and integrity of the strains being distributed to farmers and suggests a re-evaluation of the effectiveness of major tilapia breeding centers in maintaining their stocks.
Did the waste management audit failures signal lower firm-wide audit quality at Arthur Andersen?

This study investigates Arthur Andersen’s audit quality in the decade before the collapse of Enron. Andersen’s involvement in the Waste Management audit failures – which relate to audits of the company’s 1992-96 financial statements – led the SEC to accuse Andersen of issuing false and misleading audit reports and resulted in a permanent injunction that prohibited Andersen from further violating securities laws. We examine whether the Waste Management audit failures were symptomatic of widespread audit deficiencies at Andersen. Using three empirical measures of audit quality – discretionary accruals, clients’ propensity to meet or just beat analyst forecasts, and accounting misconduct identified by AAERs – we find no overall evidence suggesting lower average audit quality at Andersen relative to the Big 4 during the period 1992-2001 for a sample of S&P 1500 firms. Focusing on high litigation risk firms, however, we find larger absolute and income-increasing accruals and a greater propensity to meet or just beat analyst forecasts for Andersen clients relative to the Big 4 clients in the period August 7, 2000 to December 31, 2001 after Andersen’s divorce with Andersen Consulting. These findings provide some evidence that, after the divorce, Andersen was not able to constrain aggressive accounting where it may have mattered most, that is, among its clients with the highest litigation risk.
THE ROLE OF GRAVITY IN THE EVOLUTION OF MAMMALIAN BLOOD PRESSURE

Understanding of the factors involved in determining the level of central arterial blood pressure in mammals has been clouded by inappropriate allometric analyses that fail to account for phylogenetic relationships among species, and require pressure to approach 0 as body size decreases. The present study analyses systolic, mean arterial, and diastolic blood pressure in 47 species of mammal with phylogenetically informed techniques applied to two‐parameter equations. It also sets nonlinear, three‐parameter equations to the data to remove the assumption of the two‐parameter power equation that the smallest animals must have negligible blood pressure. These analyses show that blood pressure increases with body size. Nonlinear analyses show that mean blood pressure increases from 93 mmHg in a 10 g mouse to 156 mmHg in a 4 tonne elephant. The scaling exponent of blood pressure is generally lower than, though not significantly different from, the exponent predicted on the basis of the expected scaling of the vertical distance between the head and the heart. This indicates that compensation for the vertical distance above the heart is not perfect and suggests that the pressure required to perfuse the capillaries at the top of the body may decrease in larger species.
Influence of Silica Fume Addition in the Long-Term Performance of Sustainable Cement Grouts for Micropiles Exposed to a Sulphate Aggressive Medium

At present, sustainability is of major importance in the cement industry, and the use of additions such as silica fume as clinker replacement contributes towards that goal. Special foundations, and particularly micropiles, are one of the most suitable areas for the use of sustainable cements. The aim of this research is to analyse the effects in the very long-term (for 600 days) produced by sulphate attack in the microstructure of grouts for micropiles in which OPC (ordinary Portland cement) has been replaced by 5% and 10% silica fume. This line of study is building on a previous work, where these effects were studied in slag and fly ash grouts. Grouts made using a commercial sulphate-resisting Portland cement were also studied. The non-destructive impedance spectroscopy technique, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and Wenner resistivity testing were used. Mass variation and the compressive strength have also been analysed. Apparently, impedance spectroscopy is the most suitable technique for studying sulphate attack development. According to the results obtained, grouts for micropiles with a content of silica fume up to 10% and exposed to an aggressive sulphate medium, have a similar or even better behaviour in the very long-term, compared to grouts prepared using sulphate-resisting Portland cement.
Building Smart Memories and Cloud Services with Derecho

SAGAR JHA, Cornell University, USA JONATHAN BEHRENS, Cornell University, USA and MIT, USA THEO GKOUNTOUVAS, Cornell University, USA MATTHEW MILANO, Cornell University, USA WEIJA SONG, Cornell University, USA EDWARD TREMEL, Cornell University, USA SYDNEY ZINK, Cornell University, USA KENNETH P. BIRMAN, Cornell University, USA ROBBERT VAN RENESSE, Cornell University, USA The coming generation of Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications will process massive amounts of incoming data while supporting data mining and online learning. In cases with demanding real-time requirements, such systems behave as smart memories: high-bandwidth services that capture sensor input, processes it using machine-learning tools, replicate and store “interesting” data (discarding uninteresting content), update knowledge models, and trigger urgently-needed responses. Derecho is a high-throughput library for building smart memories and similar services. At its core Derecho implements atomic multicast and state machine replication. Derecho’s replicated<T> template defines a replicated type; the corresponding objects are associated with subgroups, which can be sharded into keyvalue structures. The persistent<T> and volatile<T> storage templates implement version vectors with optional NVM persistence. These support time-indexed access, offering lock-free snapshot isolation that blends temporal precision and causal consistency. Derecho automates application management, supporting multigroup structures and providing consistent knowledge of the current membership mapping. A query can access data from many shards or subgroups, and consistency is guaranteed without any form of distributed locking. Whereas many systems run consensus on the critical path, Derecho requires consensus only when updating membership. By leveraging an RDMA data plane and NVM storage, and adopting a novel receiver-side batching technique, Derecho can saturate a 12.5GB RDMA network, sending millions of events per second in each subgroup or shard. In a single subgroup with 2-16 members, throughput peaks at 16 GB/s for large (100MB or more) objects. When using version-vector storage, Derecho is limited by the speed of the SSD or RamDisk, showing no loss of performance as group sizes grow. While key-value subgroups would typically use 2 or 3-member shards, unsharded subgroups could be large. In tests with a 128-member group, Derecho’s multicast and Paxos protocols were just 2-3x slower than for a small group, depending on the traffic pattern. With network contention, slow members, or overlapping groups that generate concurrent traffic, Derecho’s protocols remain stable and adapt to the available bandwidth.
Administration of pentoxifylline to improve anemia of hemodialysis patients

Introduction: One of the most important causes of erythropoietin-resistant anemia in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients is increased levels of inflammatory cytokines. Objectives: In this study pentoxifylline, an anti-inflammatory and anti-cytokine drug, with no significant side effects was used to manage anemia in ESRD patients. Patients and Methods: Thirty-nine ESRD patients with erythropoietin-resistant anemia were assigned to two groups, the treatment and the control groups. In treatment group, 19 patients received erythropoietin, venofer and pentoxifylline for 6 months. Patients in control group received erythropoietin and venofer. Hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), albumin and quantitative C-reactive protein (CRP) were measured at the beginning of the study, monthly and at the end of the study. Results: Hb and Hct were significantly increased in the treatment group (9.33±1.25 g/dL and 28.08±3.88% at baseline; 11.22 ± 1.26 g/dL and 34.02 ± 3.72% at sixth month, P = 0.01), but not in the control group. CRP was significantly decreased in the treatment group but no significant change occurred in the control group. Conclusion: Pentoxifylline is effective in improvement of erythropoietin-resistant anemia in ESRD patients.
Direct and indirect effects of new business formation on regional employment

The impact of new business formation on regional employment has been investigated. The main effects occur after a considerable time lag. Obviously, a large part of the effect is not due to job creation by the newcomers but rather is of indirect nature. This implies that a large part of the debate about job creation by new business so far has been misleading.
Financial Participation of Employees in the European Union: Much Ado about Nothing?

This article updates previous research on financial participation, using employee data from the latest (fourth) edition of the European Working Conditions Survey. This is the first to provide the employee perspective on this subject and to cover all sizes of private company in all sectors across the whole enlarged European Union. The contrast between these new findings and those from previous (company-based) surveys is considerable.
Caloric intake and the risk of Alzheimer disease.

BACKGROUND Diet may play a role in Alzheimer disease (AD). OBJECTIVE To examine the association between caloric intake and AD. METHODS Elderly individuals free of dementia at baseline (N = 980) were followed for a mean of 4 years. Daily intake of calories, carbohydrates, fats, and protein were recalled using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire administered between the baseline and first follow-up visits. Proportional hazards models were used to examine the associations of quartiles of intake and incident AD, adjusting for confounders. RESULTS There were 242 incident cases of AD during 4023 years of follow-up (6 cases per 100 person-years). Compared with individuals in the lowest quartile of caloric intake, those in the highest quartile had an increased risk of AD (hazard ratio, 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-2.2). Among individuals with the apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele, the hazard ratios of AD for the highest quartiles of calorie and fat intake were 2.3 (95% CI, 1.1-4.7) and 2.3 (95% CI, 1.1-4.9), respectively, compared with the lowest quartiles. The hazard ratios of AD for the highest quartiles of calorie and fat intake compared with the lowest quartiles in individuals without the apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele were close to 1 and were not statistically significant (P =.83 and P =.61, respectively). CONCLUSION Higher intake of calories and fats may be associated with higher risk of AD in individuals carrying the apolipoprotein E epsilon4 allele.
The impact of E-Verify mandates on labor market outcomes

A number of states have adopted laws that require employers to use the federal government's E-Verify program to check workers' eligibility to work legally in the United States. Using data from the Current Population Survey, this study examines whether such laws affect labor market outcomes among Mexican immigrants who are likely to be unauthorized. We find evidence that E-Verify mandates reduce average hourly earnings among likely unauthorized male Mexican immigrants while increasing labor force participation among likely unauthorized female Mexican immigrants. Furthermore, the mandates appear to lead to better labor market outcomes among workers likely to compete with unauthorized immigrants. Employment rises among male Mexican immigrants who are naturalized citizens in states that adopt E-Verify mandates, and earnings rise among U.S.-born Hispanic men. There is no evidence of significant effects among U.S.-born non-Hispanic whites.
Volume and anion dependency of ouabain-resistant K-Rb fluxes in sheep red blood cells.

The effect of six different anions on the volume response of ouabain-resistant K transport was systematically studied at extracellular pH (pHo) = 7.4 in sheep red blood cells of both low and high K genotype before and after treatment with the sulfhydryl (SH) reagent N-ethylmaleimide (NEM). In methanesulfonate (CH3SO3), both the apparent Rb permeability (P(app)Rb), calculated from ouabain-resistant Rb influx), and K permeability (PK, calculated from the rate constants of ouabain-resistant zero-trans K efflux, 0k(OR)K) were volume independent and close to 10(-10) cm/s for both cell types, but in Cl, Br, I, SCN, and NO3 they were significantly different in low and high K cells with altered cell volumes. Thus, in 15% osmotically shrunken low K cells, P(app)Rb) and PK were similar regardless of the anions present, but upon 10-15% swelling, they increased to approximately 4-6 X 10(-9) cm/s in Br and 2 X 10(-9) cm/s in Cl and also increased with comparatively small increments in I, SCN, and NO3. Treatment with NEM enhanced both P(app)Rb) and PK, particularly in shrunken low K cells, to approximately 10(-8) cm/s in Br and Cl but not in I, SCN, and NO3. In shrunken or isotonic high K cells, P(app)Rb) and PK were close to 10(-10) cm/s in all anions except for SCN. Swelling and/or NEM increased PK and P(app)Rb) in Cl and Br only two- to threefold. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Good, the Poor and the Wealthy: Who Responds Most to College Financial Aid?

Financial aid programmes for students in the United States focus increasingly on academic merit, rather than financial need. There is little empirical evidence, however, on the distributional effects of merit-based aid - who benefits or responds most. We develop a bivariate probit model of the enrolment process estimated using data for a large public university over several years. Results show that merit-based aid increases enrolment for all students, but that financially-able students respond disproportionately, even with academic merit held constant. Thus, increased emphasis on merit in financial aid may exacerbate the trend toward greater income inequality in the US, even among students of equal academic merit.
What Do Stock Splits Really Signal?

Abstract We observe significant post-split excess returns of 7.93 percent in the first year and 12.15 percent in the first three years for a sample of 1,275 two-for-one stock splits. These excess returns follow an announcement return of 3.38 percent, indicating that the market underreacts to split announcements. The evidence suggests that splits realign prices to a lower trading range, but managers self-select by conditioning the decision to split on expected future performance. Presplit runup and post-split excess returns are inversely related, indicating that our results are not caused by momentum.
Law and Finance in Africa

This paper assesses how legal origin influences financial development through regulation quality and the rule of law. It employs all the dimensions identified by the Financial Development and Structure Database of the World Bank. The law channels are instrumented with legal origins to account for financial intermediary dynamics of depth, efficiency, activity and size. The results broadly support the benefits of law mechanisms in financial development. The findings only show partial support for the consensus that English common law countries provide better conditions for financial development. While they dominate in dynamics of depth, activity and size, French civil law countries have an edge in financial allocation efficiency. Portuguese civil law countries broadly fall in-between. With the exception of financial efficiency, French civil law sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are least while North African countries dominate even English common law countries in financial intermediary aspects of depth and activity. French SSA countries dominate overall in allocation efficiency.
Asian Financial Crisis and the Evolution of Korean Banks Efficiency: A DEA Approach

Abstract In the mid-1990s, the East Asian countries experienced severe financial crisis that were followed by deep economic downturns. A variety of methodologies have been used to understand the nature of the Asian financial crisis. However, the impact of the 1997 Asian financial crisis on the efficiency of the financial industry has yet to be critically examined. By employing the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach the present study attempts to examine for the first time the impact of the 1997 Asian financial crisis on the efficiency of the Korean banking sector. The study focuses on three major approaches, namely, intermediation, value added, and operating approaches. The results clearly bring forth the high degree of inefficiency in the Korean banking sector, particularly a year after the Asian financial crisis. We find that the Korean banking sector has consistently exhibit higher technical efficiency levels under value added approach, while technical efficiency seems to be lowest under intermediation approach.