Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Full-mouth ultrasonic debridement versus quadrant scaling and root planing as an initial approach in the treatment of chronic periodontitis.

AIM To evaluate the clinical efficacy of (i) a single session of "full-mouth ultrasonic debridement" (Fm-UD) as an initial periodontal treatment approach and (ii) re-instrumentation of periodontal pockets not properly responding to initial subgingival instrumentation. METHODS Forty-one patients, having on the average 35 periodontal sites with probing pocket depth (PPD) > or =5 mm, were randomly assigned to two different treatment protocols following stratification for smoking: a single session of full-mouth subgingival instrumentation using a piezoceramic ultrasonic device (EMS PiezonMaster 400, A+PerioSlim tips) with water coolant (Fm-UD) or quadrant scaling/root planing (Q-SRP) with hand instruments . At 3 months, all sites with remaining PPD> or =5 mm were subjected to repeated debridement with either the ultrasonic device or hand instruments. Plaque, PPD, relative attachment level (RAL) and bleeding following pocket probing (BoP) were assessed at baseline, 3 and 6 months. Primary efficacy variables were percentage of "closed pockets" (PPD< or =4 mm), and changes in BoP, PPD and RAL. RESULTS The percentage of "closed pockets" was 58% at 3 months for the Fm-UD approach and 66% for the Q-SRP approach (p>0.05). Both treatment groups showed a mean reduction in PPD of 1.8 mm, while the mean RAL gain amounted to 1.3 mm for Fm-UD and 1.2 mm for Q-SRP (p>0.05). The re-treatment at 3 months resulted in a further mean PPD reduction of 0.4 mm and RAL gain of 0.3 mm at 6 months, independent of the use of ultrasonic or hand instruments. The efficiency of the initial treatment phase (time used for instrumentation/number of pockets closed) was significantly higher for the Fm-UD than the Q-SRP approach: 3.3 versus 8.8 min. per closed pocket (p<0.01). The efficiency of the re-treatment session at 3 months was 11.5 min. for ultrasonic and 12.6 min. for hand instrumentation (p>0.05). CONCLUSION The results demonstrated that a single session of Fm-UD is a justified initial treatment approach that offers tangible benefits for the chronic periodontitis patient.
Preliminary Investigation for Forecasting the Content of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons after Soil Fertilization with Sewage Sludge

In addition to the positive effects on the physical, chemical and biological soil properties of the application of sewage sludge into the soil, there is often an increase of both organic and inorganic pollutants in the soil. One of the most popular organic xenobiotics frequently present in sewage sludge are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The aim of this study is to determine possibilities for forecasting the content of individual PAHs in the soil on the basis of their content in sewage sludge. Two types of sewage sludge with different PAH contents, both in terms of quantity and quality, were examined. The different types of sludge were introduced into the soil in the following doses: 30, 75, 150, 300 and 600 t/ha. The results obtained showed a clear differentiation in the behaviour of individual PAHs in relation to the dose applied and the type of sewage sludge.
Evaluation of Anti-trypanosomal Properties of Four Extracts of Leaves, Stem and Root Barks of Prosopis africana in Laboratory Animals

Qualitative phytochemical and anti-trypanosomal properties of the petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol and aqueous extracts, obtained by cold extraction from the leaves, stem bark and roots of Prosopis africana were evaluated. The methanolic and aqueous extracts of the stem bark and leaves of the plant contained alkaloids, saponins, tannins and flavonoids. Anthraquinone was present in the stem bark methanolic extract and in the methanolic and aqueous extracts of the root as well as the aqueous extract of the leaves. Resins was present in the petroleum ether and chloroform extracts of the stem bark and leaves, while tannins was detected in the methanol and aqueous extracts of the stem bark and leaves of the plant in addition to the petroleum ether and chloroform extracts of the root bark. All the solvent extracts showed strong in vitro anti-trypanosomal activity and 2 and 4 mg/ml, but in vivo only the methanolic extract of the leaves displayed the most promising anti-trypanosomal effect at 200 mg/kg dose. Hence, Prosopis africana extracts possess significant anti-trypanosomal activity to warrant bioassay-guided evaluation and identification of the active principle.
Frequent Screening With Serial Neck Ultrasound Is More Likely to Identify False-Positive Abnormalities Than Clinically Significant Disease in the Surveillance of Intermediate Risk Papillary Thyroid Cancer Patients Without Suspicious Findings on Follow-Up Ultrasound Evaluation

Context: American Thyroid Association (ATA) intermediate-risk thyroid cancer patients who achieve an excellent treatment response demonstrate a low risk of structural disease recurrence. Despite this fact, most patients undergo frequent surveillance neck ultrasound (US) during follow-up. Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the clinical utility of routine screening neck US in ATA intermediate-risk patients documented to have a nonstimulated thyroglobulin less than 1.0 ng/mL and a neck US without suspicious findings after therapy. Patients and Design: Retrospective review of 90 ATA intermediate-risk papillary thyroid carcinoma patients treated with total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine ablation in a tertiary referral center. Main Outcome Measures: A comparison between the frequency of finding false-positive US abnormalities and the frequency of identifying structural disease recurrence in the study cohort was measured. Results: Over a median of 10 years, 90 patients had a median of six US (range 2–16). Structural disease recurrence was identified in 10% (9 of 90) at a median of 6.3 years. Recurrence was associated with other clinical indicators of disease in 5 of the 90 patients (5.6%, 5 of 90) and was detected without other signs of recurrence in four patients (4.8%, 4 of 84). False-positive US abnormalities were identified in 57% (51 of 90), leading to additional testing, which failed to identify clinically significant disease. Conclusions: In ATA intermediate-risk patients who have a nonstimulated thyroglobulin less than 1.0 ng/mL and a neck US without suspicious findings after therapy, frequent US screening during follow-up is more likely to identify false-positive abnormalities than clinically significant structural disease recurrence.
Hair-like airflow sensing with piezoelectric vibrating diaphragm

Inspired by filiform hairs, we propose a three dimensional (3D) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) airflow sensing structure for wind velocity measurement. The piezoelectric Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) diaphragm vibrating at its resonant frequency is used as the sensing element to mimic the neuron. The standing beam on the diaphragm behaves like the hair to collect the airflow drag force. The bending of the standing beam can induce the mechanical strain, resulting the changes in the diaphragm stiffness and subsequently the resonant frequency. Then the airflow velocity can be characterized by the resonant frequency shift of the piezoelectric diaphragm. The microstructure design, fabrication and packaging sequence are described. A specific electronic printed circuit, which converts the resonant frequency shift to a voltage (conversion rate of 0.7 mV/Hz) and enables the data communication to a PC, has been developed. Testing result shows that a 25Hz resonant frequency shift is found when the packaged device is subjected to a wind speed of 10 m/s.
Drug delivery strategies for common orofacial diseases

There are many types of diseases associated with the oral cavity. As an adjunct to professional oral dental care, various drug delivery systems have been developed to improve the treatment or prevention of these diseases. In this manuscript, the current status of drug delivery strategies for these common orofacial diseases is reviewed. Biomineral-binding drug delivery and on-demand drug release are suggested to be considered in the future design of drug delivery systems for orofacial diseases. Apparently, this research field deserves much more attention from both pharmaceutical scientists and dental health professionals.
Sex reversal in medaka treated in vitro with 17α‐methyldihydrotestosterone during oocyte maturation

Using the S‐rR strain of the medaka Oryzias latipes, we examined the effect of a non‐aromatizable androgen on sex determination. Intrafollicular immature oocytes isolated before breakdown of the germinal vesicle were incubated in the presence of 17α‐methyldihydrotestosterone (MDHT) for about 10 h during their maturational period. At the end of incubation, mature oocytes were rinsed and then artificially inseminated in regular saline. The fertilized eggs were then allowed to develop in tap water, and the fry were reared on a regular powdered diet until adulthood. Sex reversal of female to male was observed in a manner dependent on the dose of MDHT. In the solvent control group in which intrafollicular oocytes were matured in medium containing no exogenous androgen, no sex reversal was observed. The present finding, that the sex of medakas can be reversed by a single in vitro exposure of immature oocytes to androgen during the preovulatory period, suggests the existence in the oocyte of a sex determinant sensitive to sex steroids. This method for controlling the sex of eggs before fertilization may establish sex‐determined eggs as potent material for investigating the mechanism of sex determination in the medaka.
Intra-Industry Reactions to Stock Split Announcements

This paper examines whether favorable information conveyed by stock split announcements transfers to non-splitting firms within the same industry. We find that there exists intra-industry reaction; shareholders of non-splitting firms experience significant positive abnormal returns during the stock split announcement period of their industry counterparts. In addition, we find that industry-wide (level of concentration) and firm-specific characteristics (degree of similarity with the splitting firm, level of asymmetric information, and mispricing) are important determinants in explaining the impact of the announcements on non-splitting firms. We further document an increase in earnings subsequent to the announcements which is associated to the stock price reactions. However, we find little evidence that there is a decline in earnings volatility and find no significant relation between change in earnings volatility and announcement period returns.
Clinical Characteristics of Chronic Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia in Chinese Children

Purposes Clinical course and treatment outcome of childhood chronic ITP are quite variable in the literature. We report in the current paper our observation on the clinical behavior of chronic ITP in Chinese children. Patients and Methods We performed a retrospective review (Jan. 1990 to Dec. 2000) of children having low platelet count (plt <150 × 109/L) for more than 6 months without identifiable cause. The indication for treatment was plt ≤20 × 109/L. Remission is defined as plt ≥ 150 × 109/L. Results Thirty-four children were identified within these 11 years. Their median age at diagnosis was 6.7 years (range from 0.4 to 16.8 years). The M:F ratio was 16:18. Bone marrow aspiration was performed in 30/34 cases. The median plt count at presentation was 24×109/L (range 2 to 135 × 109/L). Fourteen of 34 (41%) children eventually achieved durable remission. The chance of remission at 5 years was 66.62% with a median follow-up time of 5.86 years (range 0.72 to 10.41 years). Concerning therapy, 17/34 (50%) required no treatment while for the remaining 17, treatment included steroid (n = 16), IVIG (n = 7) or splenectomy (n = 3). In spite of temporary improvement in most, treatment induced prolonged complete remission (plt >150 × 109/L) in only 2 patients. Twenty of 31 tested had abnormal immune marker(s) at presentation but none evolved into specific autoimmune disease later on. There was no correlation between the remission status, response to treatment, and the presence of autoimmune markers. Conclusion About half of our chronic ITP patients achieved remission within 5 years. Medical treatment does not seem to alter the natural course of the disease but induced a transient response in most cases. Positive autoimmune markers are common among chronic ITP patients and have no significance in predicting outcome.
The Knowledge-Based Resources of Venture Capital Firms' and Born Global Firms' Internationalization

This study analyzes how venture capital firms’ (VCs’) value-added activities affect the speed and scope of the internationalization and growth of born global firms. The existing literature has gaps in terms of the resources that facilitate the development of born global firms and how VCs may contribute certain knowledge-based resources in this development. This study received a response rate of 26% to questionnaires sent to 593 VC-backed entrepreneurs in Sweden. The study complements the survey data with four years of annual report data and tests the relationship between VC value-added activities and the born global firms’ speed and scope with multivariate statistics. The results show that while born global firms are prevalent among Swedish VC-backed firms, there is no significant evidence that VC firms contribute to their speed and scope of internationalization through their knowledge-based resources.
Getting in the Way

New music technologies are often promoted as tools that can enrich music learning experiences, in and out of the classroom. However, their success is context dependent rather than universally assured. This chapter examines some of the limitations that occur in facilitator-led community music activities, where project goals frequently encompass social and health-related as well as musical dimensions, and where sustainability of activities and outcomes is often a priority. Descriptions of music composition projects in three diverse settings—from a remote village in postwar East Timor (Timor-Leste) to a school-based residency in suburban Australia—illustrate some of the limitations of new music technologies. Issues discussed include environmental capacities, workshop flow, and facilitator knowledge. While new music technologies in community music workshops are not inherently problematic, this chapter argues that their effective use requires thorough consideration of the complete environmental and social context.
The Dual Control Model: Current Status and Future Directions

The Dual Control Model proposes that sexual responses involve an interaction between sexual excitatory and sexual inhibitory processes. The model further postulates that individuals vary in their propensity for both sexual excitation and sexual inhibition, and that such variations help us to understand much of the variability in human sexuality. The development of psychometrically validated instruments for measuring such propensities for men (Sexual Inhibition/Sexual Excitation Scales) and for women (Sexual Excitation/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women) is described. These measures show close to normal variability in both men and women, supporting the concept that “normal” levels of inhibition proneness are adaptive. The relevance of the model to sexual development, sexual desire, the effects of aging, sexual identity, and the relation between mood and sexuality are discussed, and the available evidence is reviewed. Particular attention is paid to gender differences and similarities in propensities for sexual excitation and inhibition. Research findings related to sexual problems, high-risk sexual behavior, and the relevance of this model to clinical management of such problems are also summarized. Last, ideas for future use and further development of the Dual Control Model are considered.
A hierarchical method for the reduction of temporal expressions in Pandora

Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is a popular safety analysis technique used to determine the logical combination of events needed to cause a particular system failure. However, FTA is purely combinatorial and cannot analyse the effects of sequences of events. A recent technique named Pandora was proposed as one method of overcoming this limitation by introducing a temporal logic to fault trees, but the resulting expressions are generally more complex. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical method for reducing these expressions to simpler logical equivalents, which can be more easily understood and thus provide a better view of the system failure behaviour.
Preattentive Memory-Based Comparison of Sound Intensity

Changes in the intensity of repeated, ignored sounds elicit the mismatch negativity (MMN) brain response which reflects preattentive detection of the change. It is generally assumed that the MMN in response to intensity changes reflects a memory-based comparison mechanism rather than being due to differential states of refractoriness of intensity-specific cortical neurons. In the present study, an experimental protocol consisting of 4 oddball blocks and 1 control block was used in order to separate memory-comparison-related effects from refractoriness-related ones. This design allowed an assessment of intensity MMN using physically identical stimuli with equal probability of occurrence in separate blocks, while avoiding contamination by refractoriness. Results were consistent with an MMN in response to intensity change that reflects genuine memory-based comparison.
Effect of low-pressure plasma treatment on the color and oxidative stability of raw pork during refrigerated storage

The effect of low-pressure plasma on quality attributes of meat is an important aspect, which must be considered before application in food. The aim of this study was to determine the color, fatty acid composition, lipid oxidation expressed as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and total antioxidant capacity of raw pork samples exposed to helium low-pressure plasma treatment (20 kPa) for 0, 2, 5, and 10 min during the storage period. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substance concentrations of all plasma-treated samples during storage were in the range from 0.26 to 0.61 mg malondialdehyde/kg. Exposure time caused significant changes only in total color difference, hue angle, and chroma after 10 min of treatment. Ferric reducing ability of plasma values of meat samples decreased from 1.93 to 1.40 mmol Trolox Eq/kg after 14 days of storage. The storage period significantly affected proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids, with an increase about 3% after 14 days of refrigeration storage while the content of saturated fatty acids was at the same level. Helium low-pressure plasma does not induce oxidative processes. Application of this decontamination technique while maintaining product quality is possible in food industry.
Acetoacetate as fuel of respiration in the perfused rat heart.

1. The loss of sodium and potassium from isolated rabbit-kidney mitochondria was studied. Addition ofATP and an oxidizable substrate to the incubating medium at 370 caused a significant decrease in the loss of potassium from the mitochondria, but had no effect on the sodium content of the particles. 2. Increasing the pH of incubating medium not containing adenosine triphosphate and substrate by small increments from 6-2 to 7-8 resulted in a significant decrease in the loss of potassium from the mitochondria. These changes in potassium were not observed when adenosine triphosphate and substrate were added to the medium. The sodium content of the particles was not altered by changes in pH. 3. Mitochondria isolated from either the cortex or the medulla of the kidney treated sodium and potassium in a manner similar to those from the whole kidney. However, adenosine triphosphate and substrate did not appear to inhibit loss of potassium from medullary mitochondria as effectively as from cortical mitochondria. 4. Addition of arsenite or 2:4-dinitrophenol to a medium containing adenosine monophosphate and substrate caused a marked increase in the loss of potassium. 5. Possible explanations are presented for the inability to demonstrate decreased loss of sodium in the presence of an oxidizable substrate and adenine nucleotide, and some conflicting results of sodium movements in liver and kidney mitochondria by other investigators are discussed.
Erythrocyte–Platelet Interaction in Uncomplicated Pregnancy

Abstract Maternal and fetal requirements during uncomplicated pregnancy are associated with changes in the hematopoietic system. Platelets and erythrocytes [red blood cells (RBCs)], and especially their membranes, are involved in coagulation, and their interactions may provide reasons for the changed hematopoietic system during uncomplicated pregnancy. We review literature regarding RBC and platelet membrane structure and interactions during hypercoagulability and hormonal changes. We then study interactions between RBCs and platelets in uncomplicated pregnancy, as their interactions may be one of the reasons for increased hypercoagulability during uncomplicated pregnancy. Scanning electron microscopy was used to study whole blood smears from 90 pregnant females in different phases of pregnancy. Pregnancy-specific interaction was seen between RBCs and platelets. Typically, one or more platelets interacted through platelet spreading and pseudopodia formation with a single RBC. However, multiple interactions with RBCs were also shown for a single platelet. Specific RBC–platelet interaction seen during uncomplicated pregnancy may be caused by increased estrogen and/or increased fibrinogen concentrations. This interaction may contribute to the hypercoagulable state associated with healthy and uncomplicated pregnancy and may also play a fundamental role in gestational thrombocytopenia.
Disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Through Company Characteristics at Company Listed on LQ45 Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX)

In the era of globalization, environmental awareness has brought about changes in attitudes towards profit orientation of the social orientation of the company. Management as the agent cannot avoid the reality of the impact of corporate activity that not only generates profits / raise stock prices, but also has environmental impacts such as damage to ecosystems, pollution, and so forth. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of firm characteristics on corporate social responsibility disclosure in corporate annual reports in Indonesia. The populations in this study are 10 companies listed in the LQ45 index of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) with the research period of 2011 until 2015 and meet the criteria established. Analysis of the Data used is multiple linear regressions. The results of this study indicate that public ownership, liquidity, and firm size have no significant effect on corporate social responsibility disclosure. Meanwhile, leverage and profitability have a significant effect on corporate social responsibility disclosure. Keywords: corporate social responsibility disclosure, public ownership, leverage, liquidity, profitability, and firm size.