Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of periodontal destruction patterns among patients with and without the habit of smokeless tobacco use--a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The effects of tobacco smoking on the prevalence and severity of periodontal disease have been well documented. However, very few studies have assessed the effects of oral smokeless tobacco (ST) on the periodontium. Considering the widespread use of ST products globally, the effects of such products on the periodontal tissues may be important. The present study was performed to compare retrospectively the patterns of periodontal destruction among oral ST users and never-users with periodontitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS Data from 149 patients with periodontitis (60 ST users and 89 never-users) were compared for mean scores of probing depth, recession (REC) and clinical attachment loss (CAL) and the mean percentage of sites with different ranges of probing depth, REC and CAL. RESULTS For full-mouth scores, mean REC and CAL were significantly higher in ST users than in never-users (p < 0.001 and p = 0.008, respectively). For different regions of the dentition, mean scores of REC were significantly higher among ST users than among never-users (p < 0.001 for all regions), and mean scores of CAL were significantly higher for ST users in mandibular (p < 0.001), buccal (p = 0.008), lingual (p = 0.022), anterior (p = 0.012) and molar (p = 0.009) sites. Generally, there were higher percentages of sites with shallow pockets (0-3 mm), REC of ≥ 1 mm and CAL of ≥ 3 mm in ST users than in never-users. However, only differences for REC categories were significant for all regions (p < 0.001). ST users had a significantly higher proportion of sites with CAL of ≥8 mm for full-mouth sites (p = 0.003), mandibular teeth (p < 0.001), buccal sites (p = 0.002), anterior teeth (p = 0.040) and molars (p = 0.007). CONCLUSION ST users tend to have more severe REC and CAL and a greater proportion of sites with higher values of REC and CAL compared with never-users. The greatest increase in severity of CAL was found to be localized to sites on mandibular teeth, buccal surfaces, anteriors and molars, which may be a result of the retention of the ST product in the oral cavity.
The efficacy of single-dose administration of thrombopoietin with coadministration of either granulocyte/macrophage or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in myelosuppressed rhesus monkeys.

Thrombopoietin (TPO) was evaluated for efficacy in a placebo-controlled study in rhesus monkeys with concurrent administration of either granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) or granulocyte CSF, (G-CSF). Rhesus monkeys were subjected to 5 Gy total-body irradiation (TBI), resulting in 3 weeks of profound pancytopenia, and received either TPO 5 microg/kg intravenously (I.V.) at day 1 (n = 4), GM-CSF 25 microg/kg subcutaneously (S.C.) for 14 days (n = 4), TPO and GM-CSF (n = 4), G-CSF 10 microg/kg/d S.C. for 14 days (n = 3), TPO and G-CSF (n = 4), or placebo (carrier, n = 4; historical controls, n = 8). Single-dose I.V. treatment with TPO 1 day after TBI effectively counteracted the need for thrombocyte transfusions (provided whenever thrombocyte levels were <40 x 10(9)/L) and accelerated platelet reconstitution to normal levels 2 weeks earlier than placebo controls. TPO/GM-CSF was more effective than single-dose TPO alone in stimulating thrombocyte regeneration, with a less profound nadir and a further accelerated recovery to normal thrombocyte counts, as well as a slight overshoot to supranormal levels of thrombocytes. Monkeys treated with TPO/GM-CSF uniformly did not require thrombocyte transfusions, whereas those treated with GM-CSF alone needed two to three transfusions, similar to the placebo-treated monkeys, which required, on average, three transfusions. Also, reticulocyte production was stimulated by TPO and further augmented in monkeys treated with TPO/GM-CSF. TPO alone did not stimulate neutrophil regeneration, whereas GM-CSF shortened the period of neutrophil counts less than 0.5 x 10(9)/L by approximately 1 week; TPO/GM-CSF treatment elevated the neutrophil nadir, but did not further accelerate recovery to normal values. TPO also augemented the neturophil response to G-CSF, resulting in similar patterns of reconstitution following TPO/G-CSF and TPO/GM-CSF treatment. TPO/GM-CSF resulted in significantly increased reconstitution of CD34+ bone marrow cells and progenitor cells such as GM-CFU and BFU-E. Adverse effects of combining TPO with the CSFs were not observed. It is concluded that (1) a single I.V. administration of TPO is sufficient to prevent severe thrombocytopenia following myelosuppression, (2) TPO/G-CSF and TPO/GM-CSF treatment result in distinct response patterns, with TPO/GM-CSF being superior to TPO/G-CSF in stimulating thrombocyte and erythrocyte recovery while being equivalent in stimulating neutrophil recovery; and (3) TPO significantly improves the performance of CSFs in alleviating severe neutropenia.
Testing the Development and Diffusion of E-Government and E-Democracy: A Global Perspective

E-government uses information and communication technology to provide citizens with information about public services. Less pervasive, e-democracy offers greater electronic community access to political processes and policy choices. Few studies have examined these twin applications separately, although they are widely discussed in the literature as distinct. The authors, Chung-pin Lee of Tamkang University and Kaiju Chang and Frances Stokes Berry of Florida State University, empirically analyze factors associated with the relative level of development of e-government and e-democracy across 131 countries. Their hypotheses draw on four explanations of policy change—learning, political norms, competition, and citizen pressures. All four explanations are strongly linked to nations where e-government policy is highly advanced, whereas a country’s e-democracy development is connected to complex internal factors, such as political norms and citizen pressures.
Classification of Naturally Occurring Arterial Disease in the Dog 1

Evaluation of induced arterial toxicity in safety assessment of drugs involves recognition of morphologic differences between groups of animals. In this organ system, as in all others, it is necessary to be familiar with the background pathology that can occur in control animals of the test species, since such lesion “noise” may complicate the evaluation of drug-related effects if naturally occurring diseases have morphologic features in common with those that can be produced by drugs. Background arterial lesions have been regarded as relatively unimportant in both the laboratory-maintained beagle and in the larger range of domesticated breeds of dog and few of these vascular lesions lead, per se, to functional organ compromise. At least this appears to be the case in young and middle-aged subjects, within the epidemiologic limits of data from veterinary medical centers where systematic and thorough necropsies are done and recorded. Arterial lesions are, however, not uncommon naturally occurring incidental necropsy findings in dogs; however, in most cases they are of uncertain functional significance. This presentation summarizes the main pathologic patterns of lesions that can affect arteries in dogs that are not used in safety evaluation studies. The main patterns can be classified as degenerative, proliferative, and inflammatory, although there is some overlap between these partly arbitrary designations. In some cases, etiopathogenesis of the arterial lesion is unclear; in others, there are clear associations with disease processes in other organ systems. Congenital vascular lesions and vascular components of congenital cardiac defects are excluded from consideration since such lesions are unlikely to occur in dog populations used in the safety assessment of drugs.
Comparison of soil properties as influenced by organic and conventional farming systems

This paper summarizes data from previous and current studies on two adjacent farms, one organically managed and the other conventionally managed, in the Palouse region of eastern Washington. The 320-hectare organic farm has been managed without the use of commercial fertilizers and only limited use of pesticides since the farm was first plowed in 1909. The 525-hectare conventional farm, first cultivated in 1908, began receiving recommended rates of commercial fertilizers and pesticides in 1948 and the early 1950's, respectively. The organically-farmed Naff silt loam soil had significantly higher organic matter, cation exchange capacity, total nitrogen, extractable potassium, water content, pH, polysaccharide content, enzyme levels, and microbial biomass than did the conventionally-farmed Naff soil. Also, the organically-farmed soil had significantly lower modulus of rupture, more granular structure, less hard and more friable consistence, and 16 centimeters more topsoil. This topsail difference between farms was attributed to significantly greater erosion on the conventionally-farmed soil between 1948 and 1985. The difference in erosion rates between farms was most probably due to their different crop rotation systems; Le. , only the organic farm included a green manure crop in its rotation, and it had different tillage practices. These studies indicate that, in the long-term, the organic farming system was more effective than the conventional farming system in maintaining the tilth and productivity of the Naff soil and in reducing its loss to erosion.
Socialist Summer-home Settlements in Post-socialist Suburbanisation

The construction of new housing has been the most visible of all the spatial changes to have affected the post-socialist suburban landscape. It is argued in this article that former summer-home settlements are a hidden component of contemporary residential suburbanisation in former socialist countries. The building of summer or weekend homes (dacha settlements in the former Soviet Union) around major cities for urban residents was a specific feature of socialist metropolitan planning. After removing construction restrictions, the stock of vacant dachas started to support the supply side of the suburban housing market. While dachas were a reserve of affordable housing during the recession of the 1990s, they served as a stock of building plots during the construction boom of the mid 2000s. In the Tallinn Metropolitan Area, former second homes are even more important than new post-1991 residential areas in terms of giving access to detached houses to the metropolitan population.
Managements' Views on Share Buy-Backs: An Australian Survey

Share buy-backs are a relatively new concept in the Australian business environment. This study surveys managements' motivations and various other aspects concerning share buy-back activity. The results reveal that these motivations vary across the five different types of buy-backs. For on-market buy-backs the most relevant motivations are to improve financial performance (i.e., earnings per share) and financial position (i.e., net asset backing per share) followed by signalling of future expectations or underpricing. Interestingly, managements' response regarding the relevant motivations is similar regardless of whether their companies had conducted a buy-back or not. This provides evidence of widespread support for the relevant motivations. In addition, Australian managers believe that they are familiar with the potential benefits and legislative requirements of buy-backs, but that their shareholders often do not understand or are not favourably disposed towards buy-back events. Finally, two major explanations are identified for the initial conservatism towards buy-backs. Those explanations are (i) legal complexity and cost and (ii) the perceived negative disposition of the sharemarket towards buy-backs.
Metallothionein: an intracellular protein to protect against cadmium toxicity.

Metallothioneins (MT) are low-molecular-weight, cysteine-rich, metal-binding proteins. MT genes are readily induced by various physiologic and toxicologic stimuli. Because the cysteines in MT are absolutely conserved across species, it was suspected that the cysteines are necessary for function and MT is essential for life. In attempts to determine the function(s) of MT, studies have been performed using four different experimental paradigms: (a) animals injected with chemicals known to induce MT; (b) cells adapted to survive and grow in high concentrations of MT-inducing toxicants; (c) cells transfected with the MT gene; and (d) MT-transgenic and MT-null mice. Most often, results from studies using the first three approaches have indicated multiple functions of MT in cell biology: MT (a) is a "storehouse" for zinc, (b) is a free-radical scavenger, and (c) protects against cadmium (Cd) toxicity. However, studies using MT-transgenic and null mice have not strongly supported the first two proposed functions but strongly support its function in protecting against Cd toxicity. Repeated administration of Cd to MT-null mice results in nephrotoxicity at one tenth the dose that produces nephrotoxicity in control mice. Human studies indicate that 7% of the general population have renal dysfunction from Cd exposure. Therefore, if humans did not have MT, "normal" Cd exposure would be nephrotoxic to humans. Thus, it appears that during evolution, the ability of MT to protect against Cd toxicity might have taken a more pivotal role in the maintenance of life processes, as compared with its other proposed functions (i.e. storehouse for zinc and free radical scavenger).
A monolithic tunable out-of-plane inductor based on NiTi two-way shape-memory-alloy

This paper reports a novel out-of-plane tunable inductor using NiTi shape-memory-alloy (SMA) with two-way shape-memory-effect. The five-turns coil with an overall diameter of 7.2 mm is monolithically fabricated in a single step and is trained to have two memorized out-of-plane states: martensite (cold-state) and austenite (hotstate). The coil provides large displacement between these states to create a linear inductance tuning. A total inductance range of 15.6% and a maximum quality factor of ∼16 at 161 MHz have been achieved. The developed tunable inductor was demonstrated a tunable radio frequency low pass filter.
Industrializing Knowledge: University-Industry Linkages in Japan and the United States

There is intense public interest in the role of universities as a source of science-based innovations. To increase our understanding of this role, this book compares the economic effects of university research in the United States and Japan--countries similar in economic and technological capabilities but different in culture, tradition, and institutional structure. Incorporating historical, sociological, and industrial perspectives, the book discusses both the mechanics of university-industry interactions and how policies encouraging such interactions can address regional and national needs. Some of the results of this comparative study are surprising. For example, contrary to common assumptions, collaboration between individual faculty members and colleagues in industry appears to be as high in Japan as it is in the United States. It also becomes clear that it is the pace of technological change, more than government incentives, that puts universities in the position of driving the most exciting areas of business growth. Finally, although universities are vital to the networks that lead to innovation-growth, experience in both Japan and the United States suggests that policies aimed at transforming economically depressed areas through the promotion of university-based ventures are difficult to implement when the environment for economic transformation is weak.
Innovation policies in Thailand: towards a system of innovation approach?

The issue of the rationale for public intervention under the system of innovation (SI) perspective has recently received increasing attention from scholars and practitioners. However, with few exceptions, this literature has been based on the analysis of innovation policies and innovation systems in industrialized countries neglecting almost completely the specific policy dilemmas that arise from the weak and fragmented innovation systems that characterize developing countries. In the last few years, a growing number of developing countries have adopted the SI approach officially in their innovation policy. Yet, there has not been an adequate attempt to systematically analyze how (and if) this has been done in practice. This study attempts to shed some light on this issue by analyzing the innovation policy of Thailand. It suggests that while the innovation system approach might be officially adopted by a government, the practice follows old innovation paradigms and hardly addresses systemic problems.
How Well is Aid Allocated? Descriptive Measures of Aid Allocation: A Survey of Methodology and Results

Although many factors affect which countries actually receive aid, a case can be made for evaluating donor allocative performance with respect to the average income of recipients. A number of indicators are commonly used for such an assessment. Based on criteria developed in this paper, two such indicators — Suits' index and McGillivray's adjusted performance index — are shown to be the most suitable. These indicators are used to compare the performance of bilateral donors: Denmark is found to have the most progressive aid allocation, and the USA the least progressive. The indicators are also used to assess trends in allocative performance for four donors: France, Japan, the UK and USA. There appears to have been a general worsening of allocative performance in the early 1980s, with some improvement in the later part of the decade.
Understanding how Practices of Teacher Education in Pakistan Compare with the Popular Theories and Narrative of Reforms of Teacher Education in International Context

Movements to reform teacher education are underway in many parts of the world, including Europe, Australia, North America and many other developing countries. The directions of and the approaches to these reforms vary in each country. Invariably changing educational policies across countries, innovations, research, and ongoing discourse in the field have contributed to new ways of understanding teacher education in different societies. This reflective paper examines the critical gaps in understanding the main causes underlying core issues facing teacher education and professional development in Pakistan; how the efforts and perspectives about reforming teacher education in Pakistan compare with the practices and the popular narratives shaping the discourse on teacher education in international/global context. The prevalent discourse around teacher education in Pakistan clearly reflects a narrow focus in that the literature produced in Pakistan tends to over emphasize the structural and organizational issues, and there is a clear tendency to over look the philosophical, conceptual and pedagogical underpinnings to teacher education practices, which have received greater attention in the international context. The Pakistani perspective on teachers’ learning and development stresses upon the technical aspect of teaching profession, which involves subject knowledge and a fixed set of skills required to transfer that knowledge to students. Teachers’ leaning in other critical domains such as personal, social and ethical, immensely emphasized in the international literature, have received little or no attention in Pakistani context. The narratives of reform, particularly approaches to teachers’ continued professional development including reflective practice, action/collaborative research and ICT and many other informal way of learning have gained wide popularity in the literature in the international context.
Trade and Wage Inequality: Local Versus Global Comparative Advantages

This paper shows that disentangling the local and global dimensions of trade can be crucial to get a better understanding of the trade impact on wage inequality. In particular, it allows us to reconcile the empirical evidence with the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson predictions. Our focus here is on Italy, which represents, in our opinion, an appropriate case study. As for local trade -within its own cone of diversification - Italy is specialized in the production of unskill-intensive goods, while for global trade -with respect to the other cone of diversification- it is mainly specialized in the production of skill-intensive goods. On the evidence of these specialization patterns, we point out that the local trade entails a strong impact on wage inequality. In particular, in line with the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson predictions, the local export performance reduces wage inequality since it favours blue-collar workers. As for global trade, it affects and increases wage inequality through the export channel, again consistently with the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson predictions.
Efficient Estimation of Additive Partially Linear Models

I consider the problem of estimating an additive partially linear model using general series estimation methods with polynomial and splines as two leading cases. I show that the finite-dimensional parameter is identified under weak conditions. I establish the root-n-normality result for the finite-dimensional parameter in the linear part of the model and show that it is asymptotically more efficient than a semiparametric estimator that ignores the additive structure. When the error is conditional homoskedastic, my finite-dimensional parameter estimator reaches the semiparametric efficiency bound. Efficient estimation when the error is conditional heteroskedastic is also discussed.
The effect of interactive neurostimulation therapy on myofascial trigger points associated with mechanical neck pain: a preliminary randomized, sham-controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES This trial was conducted to assess the effectiveness of interactive neurostimulation (INS) therapy on the treatment of pain associated with myofascial trigger points (MTPs) in adults with mechanical neck pain. DESIGN This was a preliminary, randomized, sham-controlled trial. SETTING The trial was conducted in a tertiary-care institution. SUBJECTS The participants were 23 adults with pain and MTPs in the neck or shoulder lasting>2 weeks. INTERVENTIONS INS (active or sham) was delivered for 10 minutes in a single session over the MTP area in each patient. OUTCOME MEASURES Immediately following the intervention, subjects were tested for pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) and 10-cm visual analogue scale score (VAS) for pain intensity. At the 5 day follow-up, two additional tests were performed: the neck disability index (NDI) and the patient specific functional scale (PSFS) for function. RESULTS Improvements in function (PSFS) were observed in the treatment group, which were of clinical significance in selected subjects. These effects were statistically greater than those obtained in the sham group but were overall not at a level of clinical significance in this small population. Improvements in pain intensity (VAS) and neck disability (NDI) were observed in both the treatment and sham groups, indicating that INS had no greater benefit using these measures. There was no change in PPTs following either the active or sham treatment. CONCLUSIONS INS is a new and emerging therapy, which may be efficacious for managing musculoskeletal conditions, such as myofascial pain syndrome. This study demonstrated improvements in function in individuals with MTPs following INS therapy, which may be of clinical significance in certain patients with neck or shoulder pain. Further large-scale clinical trials are required to confirm this effect and to determine if INS also reduces pain and neck disability.