Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
School absenteeism, academic performance, and self-esteem as proxy measures of oral health status: A cross-sectional study

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of school absenteeism, academic performances, and self-esteem of school-going children on their oral health status. Materials and Methods: The study sample included 2014 children aged 12–15 years from India. Rosenberg self-esteem scale was used to assess the self-esteem of the children. Data on school performance, homework completion, and absenteeism were obtained from the school authorities and parents. Clinical examination for each child was done to assess the Decayed, Missed, and Filled Teeth (DMFT) and Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S) scores. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using Pearson's Chi-square test, Mann–Whitney test, and Kruskal–Wallis test with the aid of SPSS software. Odds ratio was calculated with 95% confidence interval. P ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Oral health had a significant association with school absenteeism and homework completion. School absenteeism was significantly associated with dental caries (P = 0.007) and poor oral hygiene (P = 0.001), whereas homework completion was significantly associated with dental caries alone (P = 0.002). There was no significant association between variables like self-esteem, first language, mathematics, and DMFT/OHI-S score. Conclusion: School records such as absenteeism data and homework completion can be used as proxy measures of the oral health status in children.
The Cognitive Foundations of Cooperation

We conducted an experiment causally manipulating reliance on more intuitive vs. more deliberative behavior through time pressure and time delay. Our design uses a novel manipulation which relies on gradual economic incentives and was devised to avoid the high degree of non-compliance observed in previous experiments. The “social heuristic hypothesis,” which claims that people are intuitively predisposed to cooperate, is not supported in our data. On the aggregate, subjects are not more cooperative under gradually-incentivized time pressure. We also measured individual attitudes on social values and attitudes toward interpersonal risk, and find that both correlate with the tendency to cooperate. A detailed analysis suggests that subjects with a stronger (resp. weaker) prosocial predisposition become more (resp. less) cooperative under time pressure compared to time delay, although the effect is only noticeable for extreme-enough predispositions. A possible interpretation is that relying on more intuitive behavior enhances individual heterogeneous predispositions, while relying on more deliberative behavior moderates them. This suggests that tendencies toward cooperation might not be universal, and rather be moderated by individual characteristics.
Hematology and Plasma Biochemistry of Wild Spectacled Flying Foxes (Pteropus conspicillatus) in Australia

Abstract: The spectacled flying fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) is listed as vulnerable to extinction in Australia. The species' restricted population is in decline, putatively attributed to decreasing habitat, climatic extremes, anthropogenic activities, and more recently, mass mortality events associated with tick paralysis and neonatal cleft palate syndrome. Knowledge of fundamental physiologic parameters of the species is limited. To address this knowledge gap, we sampled 50 wild-caught adult spectacled flying foxes in June (winter) in Far North Queensland, Australia. Hematologic and plasma biochemistry reference ranges were established, and a suite of urine biochemistry analytes were measured. Analyte values were compared within spectacled flying fox sex cohorts and between the spectacled flying fox and the paraphyletic black flying fox (Pteropus alecto). Significant differences in multiple analytes (including erythrocyte, leucocyte, plasma, and urine biochemistry) were found between spectacled flying fox sex cohorts. The majority of spectacled flying fox analyte values did not differ significantly from black flying fox values. Of those analytes that differed between species (erythrocyte, platelet, eosinophil, liver enzyme, and triglyceride levels), the majority were plausibly explained by intraerythrocyte parasite burden and food resource type. Our findings provide baseline data essential to measure and meaningfully interpret flying fox population health in ecologic, conservation, and epidemiologic contexts.
Patients' radiation doses during percutaneous endovascular procedures in arteries of the lower limbs.

BACKGROUND Percutaneous endovascular revascularisation interventions are increasingly used in treatment of lower extremity artery disease and may expose patients to substantial radiation. PATIENTS AND METHODS Dose-area product (DAP) was retrospectively analysed in 1063 consecutive interventions performed in adult patients with lower extremity artery disease in a single tertiary medical centre. Differences between procedure types, stratified according to anatomical region and arterial lesion complexity were evaluated. RESULTS Median DAP for diagnostic interventions was 35.6 (15.0-52.4) Gy cm2 in aorto-below-knee arteriography and 3.2 (2.0-4.5) Gy cm2 in ipsilateral femoral arteriography (p < 0.001). For angioplasty without stenting, median DAP was 53.4 (28.6-87.4) Gy cm2 for pelvic interventions vs. 5.9 (4.3-8.6) Gy cm2 for antegrade ipsilateral femoropopliteal interventions (p < 0.001). For stenting, median DAP was 54.9 (32.5-91.2) Gy cm2 for pelvic interventions vs. 8.3 (6.0-12.3) Gy cm2 for antegrade ipsilateral femoropopliteal interventions (p < 0.001). Inside the same anatomical region, diagnostic interventions were associated with significantly lower DAP than therapeutic interventions. Stenting vs no stenting increased DAP values only in antegrade ipsilateral femoropopliteal interventions (8.3 (6.0-12.3) vs 5.9 (4.3-8.6) Gy cm2 (p < 0.001). Arterial lesion complexity affected DAP values only in antegrade ipsilateral femoropopliteal therapeutic interventions. CONCLUSIONS The most important factor influencing patients' radiation doses was the anatomical region. Pelvic interventions were associated with 6-11-times higher DAP values than femoropopliteal interventions with antegrade ipsilateral approach. Stenting and complexity of lesions increased DAP only in antegrade ipsilateral femoropopliteal interventions.
Gill tissues of the mussel Mytilus edulis chilensis: A new source for antimicrobial peptides

Antimicrobial peptides are small-sized, cationic and amphipathic molecules able to neutralize pathogenic microorganisms. Their antimicrobial effects tie them to mechanisms of immune defense, which is why they have been normally purified from immune cells. We describe an apparently new group of antimicrobial peptides from gill tissues of the mussel Mytilus edulis chilensis . 20 specimens yielded 40 g of gills which produced 16 mg of an enriched fraction with antimicrobial activity as low as 0.045 µg/µl over reference strains. Considering the chemical nature of these molecules we used an acid extraction procedure followed by consecutive cationic exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography steps for peptide enrichment. The resulting post Sep-pak C-18® 20% acetonitrile (ACN) eluate was fractionated by reverse phase HPLC and all resulting fractions were the source for in vitro antimicrobial activity evaluation. Active fractions were characterized by SDS-containing protein gel electrophoresis. All fractions were particularly enriched with low molecular weight peptides displaying neutralizing growth activity against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria and 10 times more efficient over fungal pathogens. Active fractions resulted to be thermostable and non cytotoxic to eukaryotic cells. Considering these results, industrial waste gills of bivalves arise as a new source for antimicrobial molecules.
Temporal Variation of Fish Diversity and Assemblages and Their Associations to Environmental Variables in the Mangrove of Qinzhou Harbor, Guangxi Province, China

The composition and temporal variation of fish assemblages were investigated in the mangrove of Qinzhou Harbor, Guangxi Province, China from October 2011 to September 2012. A total of 67 fish species belonging to 57 genera, 32 families and 12 orders were collected. The Gobiidae (23.9%) were the most species-rich families, and the dominant species were Acentrogobius viridipunctatus and Bostrychus sinensis. Species richness, total abundance, total biomass and individual species abundance or biomass for the numerically abundant fish species were significantly different seasonally, such as abundance and biomass for A. viridipunctatus, B. sinensis, Glossogobius giuris, Acanthogobius hasta, Gerres limbatus, Sillago sihama, Lateolabrax japonicas, Moolgarda cunnesius and Leiognathus brevirostris. The Non-metric Multidimensional Scalings (NMDS) ordination showed a clear separation of fish samples with an anticlockwise direction for different sampling months, which indicated a gradual change in fish assemblages over the months. Results of two-way ANOVA showed fish species richness, total abundance and total biomass were significantly affected by tidal type in the mangrove of Qinzhou Harbor. However, NMDS ordination showed an unclear separation of fish samples between spring tide and neap tide. One-way ANOSIM further revealed no significant effects of tidal type.
Non fermentative gram negative bacilli as nosocomial pathogens: Identification and antibiotic sensitivity in clinical samples of indoor patients

Background: Non fermenting gram negative bacilli (NFGNB) are usually considered to be non pathogenic commensals of little significance, however, data suggest that they are remarkable because of antimicrobial resistance; propensity to cause outbreaks and complex epidemiology. This study was conducted to find out the prevalence and sensitivity pattern of NFGNB from various clinical samples. Methods : A total of 519 samples were received from patients suspected of having hospital acquired infections (HAI), admitted in Sawai Man Singh Hospital, Jaipur, India. Organisms grown on culture were subjected to phenotypic identification along with antimicrobial sensitivity testing by Kirby Bauer’s disc diffusion method. Results : Among 366 culture positive samples, 94 (25.6%) NFGNB were isolated. Maximum pevalence prevalence was found in burn ward i.e. 76.7 % followed by surgical wards 71.0%, surgical ICUs 69.6% and medical ICUs 68.0 %. Highest yield was found in pus/wound samples (95.5%) while it was only 23.7% in blood samples. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most common isolate (48.9%), followed by Acinetobacter baumannii (33%) , Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (13.8%) and Burkholderia cepacia complex (4.3%) . P.aeruginosa and A. baumanii strains were most sensitive to Meropenem. S.maltophilia showed maximum sensitivity with ticarcillin/ clavulanic acid and B. cepacia complex with Piperacillin/ Tazobactam. Conclusion : Isolation of NFGNB and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern should be regarded with all seriousness in clinical practice and epidemiology because they are emerging nosocomial pathogens and by being resistant to multiple antibiotics, their prevalence not only limits the treatment options but also act as a reservoir of drug resistance genes. Nepal Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.3(2) 2014: 101-105
Fake news detection : Network data from social media used to predict fakes

Fake news has swept through the media world in the last few years, and with that comes a wish to be able to accurately and automatically detect these fakes such that action can be taken against them. Social network sites are among one of the places where this kind of data are most shared. Using the structure of these sites, we can predict to a high degree if a post is fake or not. We are doing this not by analyzing the contents of the posts, but using the social structure of the site. These social network data mimics the real world where people with similar interests will come together around topics and positions. Using logistic regression and crowd sourcing algorithms, we consolidate previous findings, with prediction accuracy as high as 93 % on datasets consisting from 4200 posts to 15,500. The algorithms show best performance on full datasets.
The Sun as a planet-host star: proxies from SDO images for HARPS radial-velocity variations

RDH gratefully acknowledges STFC studentship grant number ST/J500744/1, and a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. ACC and RF acknowledge support from STFC consolidated grants numbers ST/J001651/1 and ST/M001296/1. JL acknowledges support from NASA Origins of the Solar System grant No. NNX13AH79G and from STFC grant ST/M001296/1.
Modelling Redshift Space Distortions in Hierarchical Cosmologies

Galaxy redshift surveys allow us to study the 3D spatial distribution of galaxies and clusters. In a homogeneous universe, redshift measurements would probe only the Hubble flow and would provide accurate radial distances for galaxies. In reality, peculiar velocities are gravitationally induced by inhomogeneous structure and distort the measured distances.
A Mechatronic Approach for Anti-slip Control in Railway Traction

Abstract This paper presents a novel mechatronic approach for the detection of wheel slip/slide and antislip control in railway traction systems, to enable an optimal use of adhesion in poor contact conditions. The proposed technique explores the variations in wheelset dynamic properties caused by condition changes at the wheel-rail contact and detects slip conditions from the torsional resonant vibrations of the wheelset axle indirectly. The modeling of a typical traction system, consisting of an induction traction motor (with associated power inverter and field-orientated control) connected to a wheelset via a gearbox, is introduced. The development of the slip detection and control scheme is presented, and the effectiveness of the proposed technique is demonstrated using computer simulations.
The antibacterial effect of mesenchymThe antibacterial effect of mesenchymal stem cells on graft infections: An experimental studyal stem cells on graft infections: An experimental study.

Background In this study, we aimed to investigate the antibacterial effects of mesenchymal stem cells, compared to tigecycline, on graft infection related with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis in a rat model. Methods A total of 42 male adult Wistar rats (age >6 months; weight 300 to 350 g) were divided into six groups including seven rats in each. Group 0 did not undergo any procedure; Group 1 was infected, but untreated; Group 2 was infected and treated with tigecycline without graft placement; Group 3 was infected and received mesenchymal stem cells without graft placement; Group 4 was infected and treated with tigecycline after graft placement; Group 5 was infected and treated with mesenchymal stem cells after graft placement. The pockets created were either left empty or implanted with Dacron grafts. Treatment was commenced at 48 h. Specimens were collected on Day 13. Perigraft tissues were evaluated histopathologically and bacterial colony numbers were counted. Results No bacterial colonization was observed in Group 0, whereas there was a significant colonization in Group 1. Complete eradication was achieved in Group 2 and Group 3 (graft-free groups), and near-complete eradication was achieved in Group 4 and Group 5 (graft-implanted groups). The histopathological findings significantly differed between Group 1-Group 2 and between Group 1-Group 3 (graft-free groups). The histopathological findings were similar between Group 2-Group 3 and between Group 4-Group 5. Conclusion Our study results suggest that mesenchymal stem cells may be a novel, contemporary alternative to antibiotherapy and may decrease the bio-burden of Staphylococcus at the infected graft areas, and mesenchymal stem cell treatment may be as effective as tigecycline.
Doubling Exponent Models for the Analysis of Porous Film Electrodes by Impedance. Relaxation of TiO2 Nanoporous in Aqueous Solution

The paper is concerned with the small signal ac impedance of porous film electrodes in contact with solution. An overview is presented of the standard transmission line model with two transport channels and a crosswise element. The simplest configurations are discussed: a single resistance in one of the channels, and either an interfacial capacitor or a RC transfer circuit at the pore's wall. The resulting relaxation functions are classified in terms of two characteristic frequencies: one for coupled transport and interfacial polarization and another one for the interfacial reaction. Subsequently, these models are extended in order to describe porous electrodes where the interfacial polarization displays complex properties, i.e., frequency dispersion. The capacitive element is described by a constant-phase element (CPE), and it is shown that the fractionary exponent provides an additional and measurable degree of freedom in the parameter space of the relaxation function, whose determination can be explo.
Anthropometric and Immunological Effects of Antiretroviral Therapy in Albanian Adults

Background: Combinated antiretroviral therapy (ART)are known to gives rise CD4+ T-lymphocytecount and increased BMI (body mass index), in subjects treated for HIV/AIDS. Aim: Comparative evaluation of the CD4+ T-lymphocyte countand body mass index (BMI) at patients treated with PI (protease inhibitor) or non-PI(Nucleosid/non nucleoside transcriptase revers inhibitor). Methods. This prospective study was carry out at University Hospital Center “Mother TERESA”, which included adults patients diagnosed with HIV / AIDS, who are treated with one of two following treatment: non nucleoside and nukleozid inhibitor (non-PI) and the other with PI, from 2011 till 2013. Were included only the patients who had data on CD4+ T-lymphocyte countsand BMI in Baseline and after, 6, 12, 24 months, in their file.The data were analized through the SPSS 17. Results: We had studied 89 patients, which were measured BMI and CD4.Patientswho wheretreated with PI have a significant increased of BMI compared with patients who treated with non-PI. (The technique of correlation Kendall's tau_b r = 0.123 p <0:05). Mean time the two groups of treatment provide a significantlyincrease CD4+ T-lymphocyte.
DNMT3L facilitates DNA methylation partly by maintaining DNMT3A stability in mouse embryonic stem cells

Abstract DNMT3L (DNMT3-like), a member of the DNMT3 family, has no DNA methyltransferase activity but regulates de novo DNA methylation. While biochemical studies show that DNMT3L is capable of interacting with both DNMT3A and DNMT3B and stimulating their enzymatic activities, genetic evidence suggests that DNMT3L is essential for DNMT3A-mediated de novo methylation in germ cells but is dispensable for de novo methylation during embryogenesis, which is mainly mediated by DNMT3B. How DNMT3L regulates DNA methylation and what determines its functional specificity are not well understood. Here we show that DNMT3L-deficient mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) exhibit downregulation of DNMT3A, especially DNMT3A2, the predominant DNMT3A isoform in mESCs. DNA methylation analysis of DNMT3L-deficient mESCs reveals hypomethylation at many DNMT3A target regions. These results confirm that DNMT3L is a positive regulator of DNA methylation, contrary to a previous report that, in mESCs, DNMT3L regulates DNA methylation positively or negatively, depending on genomic regions. Mechanistically, DNMT3L forms a complex with DNMT3A2 and prevents DNMT3A2 from being degraded. Restoring the DNMT3A protein level in DNMT3L-deficient mESCs partially recovers DNA methylation. Thus, our work uncovers a role for DNMT3L in maintaining DNMT3A stability, which contributes to the effect of DNMT3L on DNMT3A-dependent DNA methylation.
Can Taxes Tame the Banks? Evidence from the European Bank Levies

Following the 2007–2008 financial crisis, a large number of countries introduced levies on bank borrowing intended to reduce risk in the financial sector. This article studies the behavioural responses to bank levies and finds that banks exposed to levies increased their reliance on equity funding, but at the same time increased the risk of their assets; banks shifted risk from the liability side of their balance sheets to the asset side, which mitigated the impact of government intervention. Our analysis also shows that any reduction in total risk was concentrated among banks that pose no or little threat to financial stability.
The Discovery of Type II Superconductors (Shubnikov Phase)

“It is a fascinating testament to Shubnikov’s great originality and to the terrible times that deprived him of his life and we all of the fruits of the science for so long. Even now, many do not really understand the breakthrough made in Kharkov. ” From the letter of 31 December, 2008, written by Shubnikov Professor D. Larbalistier, Director of Applied Superconductivity Center, USA, on reprinting in English the article (Shubnikov et al., 1937) in 2008.
Regional Grants as Pork Barrel Politics

We investigate the political and economic factors influencing the allocation of regional development grants for a panel of Canadian electoral districts in the 1988-2001 period. In a strong party system such as Canada’s, models of political competition predict little role for individual legislators, as party leaders allocate resources to maximize party success. While spending is targeted toward some “swing” districts, we do also find it is higher in districts represented by members of the government party, especially those in the federal Cabinet, and those of lower seniority. We develop a model featuring bargaining over legislative and non-legislative favours that is consistent with the evidence.
Quantification of Sugar Epimers in Polygalactomannans by ESI-MS/MS

Polygalactomannans (PGMs) represent an important family of polysaccharides. They are obtained from the endosperm of leguminous plant seeds and are employed in a growing number of industrial applications as thickening agents and rheology modifiers. Each PGM has a typical mannose/galactose (M/G) ratio (from ~1 to ~5), which determines its solubility, viscosity and other physico-chemical properties. Complex polysaccharides are commonly characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), whereas mass spectrometry (MS) has not yet seen wide application. In this work, a new quantification method for sugar epimers in PGMs is presented, based on the characteristic fragmentation patterns of mannose and galactose in tandem MS (MS/MS) analyses. Standard galactose and mannose have been analyzed and fragmented in negative-ion mode on a hybrid quadrupole/time-of-flight (qTOF) mass spectrometer equipped with a nano electrospray ionization (ESI) source. The MS/MS spectra indicate accumulation of the same fragments for the two monosaccharides, but significant and reproducible differences in the relative intensities of the product ions. Known mixtures of mannose and galactose have been analyzed by the same procedure to test the applicability of the method for quantification purposes. The resulting peak intensities over the entire MS/MS spectrum can be deconvoluted as a linear combination of the signals from pure mannose and galactose standards, obtaining reliable and reproducible quantification of the epimers. The method has been applied to the characterization of hydrolysis products of PGMs from different species of leguminous plants, such as guar (Cyamopsis tetragonolobus), sesbania (Sesbania bispinosa) and tara (Caesalpinia spinosa), in order to assess specific susceptibility to hydrolysis conditions.