Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hard tissue volume stability of guided bone regeneration during the healing stage in the anterior maxilla: A clinical and radiographic study

BACKGROUND Guided bone regeneration (GBR) is currently the most widely used technique to reconstruct localized peri-implant bone defects. OBJECTIVES To evaluate hard tissue volume stability during the healing stage of GBR with particulate bone graft and resorbable collagen membrane. MATERIALS AND METHODS Twenty-eight patients who were missing a single maxillary incisor and required implant placement combined with GBR were randomly assigned to 2 groups: submerged (n = 14) and transmucosal (n = 14) healing groups. Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) was performed before, immediately after and 6 months post-surgery. The 3 sets of CBCT data were three-dimensionally reconstructed and superimposed. Horizontal hard tissue alterations at different vertical levels were recorded. The relative position and distances from the boundary line of the bony defect envelope to the outlines of the augmented ridge were determined immediately post-augmentation and 6 months after healing. RESULTS Augmented ridge underwent horizontal volume reduction during the healing period. Vertical levels (P = .000) rather than healing strategies (submerged or transmucosal) (P = .182) had statistically significant impacts on the reduction width. The boundary line of the ridge defect envelope located within the bony profile immediately after surgery, but outside of the bony profile after 6 months. CONCLUSIONS GBR with resorbable membrane and particulate bovine bone would undergo horizontal volume reduction during the healing stage. New bone formation at the coronal site may only be predictable within the bony envelope.
Does outdoor air pollution induce new cases of asthma? Biological plausibility and evidence; a review

It is widely accepted that air pollution can exacerbate asthma in those who already have the condition. What is less clear is whether air pollution can contribute to the initiation of new cases of asthma. Mechanistic evidence from toxicological studies, together with recent information on genes that predispose towards the development of asthma, suggests that this is biologically plausible, particularly in the light of the current understanding of asthma as a complex disease with a variety of phenotypes. The epidemiological evidence for associations between ambient levels of air pollutants and asthma prevalence at a whole community level is unconvincing; meta‐analysis confirms a lack of association. In contrast, a meta‐analysis of cohort studies found an association between asthma incidence and within‐community variations in air pollution (largely traffic dominated). Similarly, a systematic review suggests an association of asthma prevalence with exposure to traffic, although only in those living very close to heavily trafficked roads carrying a lot of trucks. Based on this evidence, the UK's Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants recently concluded that, overall, the evidence is consistent with the possibility that outdoor air pollution might play a role in causing asthma in susceptible individuals living very close to busy roads carrying a lot of truck traffic. Nonetheless, the effect on public health is unlikely to be large: air pollutants are likely to make only a small contribution, compared with other factors, in the development of asthma, and in only a small proportion of the population.
THE JOINT ACCOUNT SYSTEM IN NIGERIA:PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

The joint account system is the focus of this paper. It is expediently the focal point of the paper due mainly to the precarious and prater-natural implementation of the well formulated financial policy. Though the joint account system as a financial policy of the local government was given birth to in 1979 constitution following the nation-wide local government reforms of 1976. The system was subsequently abolished in 1989 by the General Ibrahim Babangida administration due to its wrong implementation by the state governments. It later in 1999 following the restoration of civil rule in Nigeria finds its way back into the constitution. The implementation became problematic as various hawks i.e. state Governments turned it into money making venture. This attitude, therefore, became pathological as local government productivity and performance lowered tremendously. The paper, however, considers the problematic aspects of the joint account system and its prospects and finds out that the joint account was made though to forestall possible manipulation, misappropriation and security of fund for the local government, the state governments had turned it into a goldmine for themselves through various illegal deductions, diversion and delay of the statutory allocation of the councils. The paper concludes by maintaining that the good intention of the formulators of the joint account has been defeated due to wrong implementation by the state governments. However, the paper made some plausible recommendations which if judiciously adhered to would check the so many incursions by the state government into council’s allocation.
Development of leadership self-efficacy and collective efficacy: Adolescent girls across castes as peer educators in Nepal

Abstract Adolescent girls in Nepal face enormous social barriers to accessing education and health services due to exclusionary socio-religious traditions and years of conflict. The programme and study reported here address two issues that a national assembly of in-school and out-of-school adolescent girls, who had completed a basic life skills class, and, in the case of unschooled girls, an intensive literacy course, identified as important to their well-being – menstrual restrictions and HIV awareness and prevention. Local non-governmental organizations developed a peer education programme in three districts of Nepal that paired girls from different castes and different educational levels. The programme sought to increase peer educators’ (PE) leadership and collective efficacy for informing peers and adults in their communities about the effects that these issues have on women and girls. In total, 504 girls were selected and trained as PEs. They conducted targeted discussion sessions with other girls and organised mass awareness events, reaching 20,000 people. Examination of the effects of participating in the programme on key outcome measures showed that leadership self-efficacy, which was a central theoretical construct for the programme, provided a strong predictor of both increased HIV knowledge and of practicing fewer menstrual restrictions at endline. The project demonstrated that girls from different caste and educational backgrounds are able to work together to change individual behaviour and to address socio-cultural norms that affect their lives and well-being within their communities.
Algorithmic Trading, Liquidity, and Price Discovery: An Intraday Analysis of the SPI 200 Futures

We study the intraday price impact of algorithmic trading (AT) on futures markets. We find that AT exhibits a strong reverse U-shape intraday pattern, and greater AT activity is related to lower effective spreads, higher realized spreads and lower adverse selection risk, which suggests that algorithmic traders strategically enter the market when transaction costs and information asymmetry are lower. AT is associated with an increase in transaction costs in the subsequent intraday period mainly through an increase in the adverse selection risk, and is positively related to both public and private information. Our results strongly suggest that algorithmic traders are informed and contribute to liquidity and price discovery on the futures markets.
E-commerce and firm bargaining power shift in grocery marketing channels: A case of wholesalers' structured document exchanges

Electronic commerce is transforming interorganizational relationships in marketing channels. Reports frequently note that ‘power’ goes to those who gain relevant trading information in marketing channels. The paper then asks whether and how structured or ‘automated’ trading information exchanges (e.g. electronic data interchange (EDI) links) between suppliers and wholesalers impact on their bargaining power in grocery marketing channels. This paper starts with the view that automated information exchanges favour the suppliers because they obtain trading information and gain marketing flexibility more than the wholesalers do. Focusing on the perspective of grocery wholesalers, the paper examines the relationships between (1) EDI use, (2) suppliers' incentives for EDI, (3) wholesalers' perceived bargaining power and (4) trust and cooperation between wholesalers and suppliers. Based on exploratory survey data from 33 grocery wholesalers, the paper finds that automated information exchanges may lower wholesalers' perceived bargaining power. It also shows that an appropriate level of incentives from suppliers tends to compensate for the power loss. This results in higher trust and cooperation in their trading relationships.
INVESTOR OVEROPTIMISM AND PRIVATE EQUITY PLACEMENTS

We reexamine investor tendency to overweight recent experiences when predicting future performance of firms by examining a sample of firms making private equity placements. Our findings are consistent with the projection argument that investors use the recent experiences of other firms to predict the success of placing firms. Specifically, we find that the placements preceded by a larger number of recently very successful firms are associated with the significantly more favorable market reaction to the placement announcement and significantly poorer post-placement stock price performance. 2005 The Southern Finance Association and the Southwestern Finance Association.
Governance Role of Auditors and Legal Environment: Evidence from Corporate Disclosure Transparency

In a sample of firms originating from 20 countries, we examine whether and how auditor size (our proxy for audit quality) associates with corporate disclosure transparency. While prior studies examine the relation between auditor size and several aspects of financial reporting quality (e.g. discretionary accruals, restatements, etc.), there is limited evidence on how auditor size relates to disclosure transparency. There is also mixed evidence on how auditor size relates to reporting quality in different legal environments. We find that auditor size is positively associated with disclosure transparency around the world and that the association is stronger in code law regimes than in common law regimes. The latter finding supports the view that audits play a greater governing role in weaker legal environments.
Use of Insulin Pump Therapy in the Pediatric Age-Group

Young patients with diabetes, their families, and their diabetes care providers continue to be faced with the challenge of striving to maintain blood glucose levels in the near-normal range. High blood glucose levels with elevated A1C levels are associated with long-term microvascular and macrovascular complications. Recurrent episodes of hypoglycemia, especially at young ages, may cause short- and long-term adverse effects on cognitive function and lead to hypoglycemia unawareness and may be associated with significant emotional morbidity for the child and parents. Fear of hypoglycemia, especially during the night, may compromise quality of life (QOL) for the family and jeopardize efforts to achieve optimal metabolic control. Over the past decade, continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) has gained increasing popularity among patients with diabetes. CSII is the most physiologic method of insulin delivery currently available. It is able to closely simulate the normal pattern of insulin secretion, namely continuous 24-h adjustable “basal” delivery of insulin upon which are superimposed prandial “boluses. ” In addition, CSII offers the possibility of more flexibility and more precise insulin delivery than multiple daily injection (MDI). However, there is still debate among diabetes care practitioners around the world as to whether CSII has advantages over MDI in terms of reduction in A1C levels, occurrence of severe hypoglycemic events, episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and frequency of hospitalizations in young patients. Furthermore, no clear criteria have been established to help the physician choose the “appropriate” patient for CSII therapy. To address these issues, the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology (ESPE), the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrine Society (LWPES), and the International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) convened a panel of expert physicians for a consensus conference endorsed by the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). For each major topic area, …
Management accounting change: a comparative study of Indian and UK organisations

In the last two decades, management accounting research has received considerable attention. The research findings highlight a significant role for management accounting systems in modern organisations due to which management accounting information is now used in planning, decision making, control, performance measurement and business strategy in most organisations. However, as a result of the changing business needs, increased global competition and rapidly changing production technology, the internal management accounting systems of companies face severe challenges. This study, therefore, explores the changes in management accounting systems with respect to a number of change drivers and evaluates those changes in relation to the changing needs of different organisations in India and the UK. Two main drivers of management accounting system change are revealed: increased competition and changes in production technology. It is concluded that changes in management accounting systems attributed to change drivers have considerable effects on organisational performance in both Indian and UK organisations.
Cross-Security Tests of the Mixture of Distributions Hypothesis

Abstract New cross-sectional tests of the Mixture of Distributions Hypothesis are presented. The tests assume that the distribution of the mixing variable (often interpreted as the daily rate of flow of information) is not identical for all securities. Cross-security differences in the mixing distribution cause cross-security differences in the joint distribution of returns and volume. The Hypothesis provides predictions about how these differences appear in the joint distribution. The predictions are confirmed in tests based on cross-security correlations among summary statistics that characterize shape and covariational attributes of the joint distribution of returns and volume. The results are consistent with the Mixture of Distributions Hypothesis.
Antibiotic Coresistance in Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase-Producing Enterobacteriaceae and In Vitro Activity of Tigecycline

ABSTRACT The spread of extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing organisms, particularly those harboring the CTX-M-type enzymes, both in the hospital and in the community, is difficult to discontinue due to the successful mobilization and evolution of the genetic elements harboring ESBL genes and coresistance rates in these isolates. The activities of tigecycline against 285 non-clonally related isolates (172 from Escherichia coli, 84 from Klebsiella spp., 20 from Enterobacter spp., 5 from Salmonella spp., and 4 from Citrobacter spp.) expressing well-characterized ESBLs and recovered in our hospital and its community area of influence were comparatively assessed (CLSI microdilution). Susceptibility rates for meropenem, imipenem, tigecycline, amikacin, and piperacillin-tazobactam were 100%, 100%, 97.5%, 93.3%, and 93%, respectively. Tigecycline (mode MIC, 0.5 μg/ml; MIC90, 1 μg/ml) was 4- to 256-fold more active than doxycycline and minocycline (mode MIC range, 2 to 128 μg/ml). CTX-Ms were the most frequent ESBLs (61.4%), 65.8% in community and 58.6% in nosocomial isolates. CTX-M-9 (22%), CTX-M-14 (15.8%), and CTX-M-10 (14%) were the most represented derivatives. SHV and TEM variants constituted 22.8% and 15.8% of the ESBLs, respectively. Overall coresistance rates were as follows: gentamicin, 27.4%; tobramycin, 27.4%; amikacin, 6.7%; and chloramphenicol, 29.1%. Sulfonamide (61.7%), trimethoprim (52.3%), streptomycin (50.5%), and ciprofloxacin (37.2%) resistance levels were significantly (P < 0.001) associated with CTX-M-9 producers. No tigecycline resistance was observed, although seven Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates exhibited intermediate MICs (4 μg/ml). Tigecycline, lacking cross-resistance with other compounds, could represent an opportunity to reduce the intensity of selection for ESBL-producing organisms derived from the use of other antimicrobial agents. However, this in vitro promise requires support from clinical studies.
Detection of Circulating Mammary Mucin (MUC1) and MUC1 Immune Complexes (MUC1-CIC) in Healthy Women

There is convincing epidemiological evidence that multiparity provides protection against the development of breast cancer. In the present study we evaluated the levels of MUC1 and MUC1 circulating immune complexes (MUC1-CIC) in 135 serum samples obtained from healthy women. The study population included 13 women who had never been pregnant, 31 primiparous pregnant women, 36 multiparous pregnant women who had lactated, 5 multiparous pregnant women who had never lactated, 24 multiparous non-pregnant women who were lactating at the time of the study, 24 multiparous non-pregnant women who had lactated, and 2 multiparous non-pregnant women who had never lactated. The purpose of this work was to detect MUC1 variations during pregnancy and lactation as well as to study the possible induction of a humoral immune response against MUC1 in these conditions. We employed ELISA techniques to measure MUC1 (CASA test) and MUC1-CIC (IgM and IgG) using two anti-MUC1 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs): C595 and SM3. Statistical analysis was performed using the ANOVA test. The pooled results pertaining to pregnant versus non-pregnant women were compared and significant differences were observed in MUC1 and MUC1-CIC-IgM levels detected with both MAbs; the MUC1-CIC-IgG levels detected with C595 were increased in the pregnant group while the MUC1-CIC-IgG levels detected with SM3 did not show any significant differences. When the results were compared between lactating and non-lactating women, no significant differences were found. In conclusion, MUC1 and MUC1-CIC-IgM, detected with both MAbs, and MUC1-CIC-IgG levels detected with the MAb C595 are apparently induced by pregnancy.
THE VALUE OF WATER IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMY: SOME IMPLICATIONS

Abstract The South African Water Research Commission (WRC) initiated a number of research projects aimed at determining the value of water in different sectors of the economy and in different parts of the country. This research is reviewed. Water values were found to differ significantly between sectors, between geographic areas and within geographic areas. As agriculture is a large consumer of water several studies along different rivers were undertaken, including studies on water quality. Average ratios indicate that agriculture is an inefficient user of water in terms of gross income generated per unit of water and also in terms of jobs created per unit of water. Irrigation farming is, however, an important employer of labour while it contributes 30% to the value of farm output. A marginal approach and water demand elasticities also indicate that non-agriculture generally places a high value on water assurance but little value on more than what it already uses. This may indicate that although water is expected to transfer out of agriculture in the longer run, in the short run agriculture may be its best use. Water efficiency could be significantly enhanced if transfers within and between river reaches are promoted, as water shadow prices differ. Inputs from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) are important in water allocation due to socio-economic and environmental externalities of water allocation.
The Dynamics of Portfolio Management Contracts

We consider the multiperiod relationship between a client and a portfolio manager and the resulting problem of motivating a manager of unknown ability to acquire valuable information. We explore the contractual forms and the optimal retention policy of the client and find that the optimal initial set of contracts features a smaller performance based fee component paid to the manager than in a first-best contract, and the contract choice elicits only partial information about the manager. As a result, ex post performance measurement is critical to future recontracting. In general, managers are retained only if the returns on their portfolio exceed the benchmark by an appropriate amount. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
Distributed leadership: rhetoric or reality?

This paper provides insight into distributed leadership by contrasting the oppositional messages found in the literature, and by examining differences in the rhetoric and reality associated with its application. Specifically, the treatment of power and accountability within the distributed leadership theoretical framework is difficult to reconcile. Given the problems associated with the theory and practice of distributed leadership, this paper asks why it is enjoying resurgence at this time? This paper will be of interest to researchers, educators and administrators who are interested in the study and practice of educational leadership.
Privatisation of state security and policing in Lithuania

This paper examines the dynamics of the privatisation of state security and policing in post-Soviet Lithuania. Two periods in the evolution of the industry, each with its distinct set of actors, dynamics and types of services offered are defined and analysed. In the early 1990s, the private security industry was characterised by competition, coercion and negotiations among private protection organisations (or criminal rackets) and four different factions of downsized ex-Soviet military, security and the police force personnel. Since the late 1990s, a consolidation and dramatic expansion of the industry has occurred as private security firms, national as well as transnational, emerged as the dominant institutional form of private security provision in the country. The paper argues that the restructuring and growth experienced by the security industry, since the late 1990s, are only indirectly related to a significant increase in crime throughout the region during the post-independence period. Broader socio-economic and regulatory changes are analysed in order to explain the restructuring and exponential growth of the industry. The contribution made by private firms to the security and stability of the country are discussed, alongside the problems associated with a rapid growth of private policing in Lithuania.