Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Physiochemical Properties of Experimental Nano-hybrid MTA

Introduction:The development of new pulp capping agents has paved the way towards the preservation of pulp vitality, which is an important goal in restorative dentistry. This study sought to assess the calcium ion release, pH and setting of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) Angelus, an experimental formulation of nano-hybrid MTA containing nano-SiO2, nano-Al2O3 and nano-TiO2 and MTA Angelus plus nano-oxides. Methods:In this experimental study, five specimens from each material were placed in polypropylene tubes and immersed in a flask containing deionized distilled water. The amount of calcium ions released into the solution from each material was measured at 15 minutes, one hour and 24 hours using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The pH of the solutions was measured using a pH meter at the respective time points. Setting time was also assessed using a Gilmore needle. Data were analyzed using the repeated measures ANOVA. Results:The amount of released calcium ions was not significantly different among the groups (P=0.060). All materials were alkaline and the pH at 24 hours was significantly higher than the other two time points in all groups (P<0.001). The experimental group had the shortest and MTA Angelus had the longest setting time. All materials were alkaline and capable of releasing calcium. Addition of nanoparticles to MTA Angelus significantly decreased the setting time but had no effect on the release of calcium ions or pH. Abbreviations: mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), vital pulp therapy (VPT)
Effects of Intracerebroventricularly and Intraperitoneally Administered Growth Hormone on Body Weight and Food Intake in fa/fa Zucker Rats

Growth hormone (GH) possesses multiple metabolic effects, in particular with regard to glucose and lipid homeostasis. Studies on the effects of GH on body weight and food and water intake are scarce and have yielded controversial results. We investigated the effects of different modes of GH administration on the parameters of body weight and food intake as well as on insulin and leptin concentrations in fa/fa Zucker rats. In control experiments, aqua pro injectione was given. GH was administered over a time period of 11 days at a daily dose of 250 µg intraperitoneally (i.p.) and 25 µg intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.). While both food intake and body weight were found to be unaltered in the four groups after this observation period, there was an enhanced food intake and consecutively an increase in body weight over the day period when compared to the night period in the groups of rats that received GH i.c. v. or i.p. This tendency was also shown for water intake. Insulin and leptin concentrations were similar in all groups. Thus, injection of GH appears to modify food intake-related behavior, since the periods of enhanced food and water intake were shifted from night- to daytime. Thus, while in general the metabolic parameters remained unchanged, the activity pattern was clearly modified.
DNA Methylation-Derived Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio: An Epigenetic Tool to Explore Cancer Inflammation and Outcomes

Background: The peripheral blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a cytologic marker of both inflammation and poor outcomes in patients with cancer. DNA methylation is a key element of the epigenetic program defining different leukocyte subtypes and may provide an alternative to cytology in assessing leukocyte profiles. Our aim was to create a bioinformatic tool to estimate NLR using DNA methylation, and to assess its diagnostic and prognostic performance in human populations. Methods: We developed a DNA methylation–derived NLR (mdNLR) index based on normal isolated leukocyte methylation libraries and established cell-mixture deconvolution algorithms. The method was applied to cancer case–control studies of the bladder, head and neck, ovary, and breast, as well as publicly available data on cancer-free subjects. Results: Across cancer studies, mdNLR scores were either elevated in cases relative to controls, or associated with increased hazard of death. High mdNLR values (>5) were strong indicators of poor survival. In addition, mdNLR scores were elevated in males, in nonHispanic white versus Hispanic ethnicity, and increased with age. We also observed a significant interaction between cigarette smoking history and mdNLR on cancer survival. Conclusions: These results mean that our current understanding of mature leukocyte methylomes is sufficient to allow researchers and clinicians to apply epigenetically based analyses of NLR in clinical and epidemiologic studies of cancer risk and survival. Impact: As cytologic measurements of NLR are not always possible (i.e., archival blood), mdNLR, which is computed from DNA methylation signatures alone, has the potential to expand the scope of epigenome-wide association studies. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(3); 328–38. ©2016 AACR.
The Hall Technique and conventional restorative treatment in New Zealand children's primary oral health care – clinical outcomes at two years

BACKGROUND New Zealand children's oral health care is mostly provided in primary care oral health clinics. Little is known about treatment outcomes. HYPOTHESIS/AIM To investigate different treatment outcomes of primary molar carious lesions in a sample of children in primary care. DESIGN Quasi-experimental study of 180 5- to 8-year-old children. Each child had one carious primary molar treated by a dental therapist with a plastic restorative material (PRM) or a pre-formed stainless steel crown placed with the Hall Technique (HT). After 2 years, restorative outcomes were categorised as success, minor failure, or major failure. Data were analysed using Chi-square tests. RESULTS A total of 147 (82%) children were followed up; mean follow-up period 25 months (range: 21-35 months). Failure was observed significantly more in the PRM group (32%) than the HT group (6%). When baseline carious lesions were radiographically deep with marginal ridge breakdown (MRB), there was a higher proportion of major failures than when they were shallow without MRB (33% and 1%, respectively; P < 0.001). Among the deep lesions, those treated with the HT showed better success than PRM. CONCLUSIONS There was a much higher success rate in the children treated with HT than PRM. Deep carious lesions responded better to HT than PRM.
The Theory of Planned Behavior: A Review of its Applications to Health-Related Behaviors

Purpose. To review applications of Ajzen's theory of planned behavior in the domain of health and to verify the efficiency of the theory to explain and predict health-related behaviors. Methods. Most material has been drawn from Current Contents (Social and Behavioral Sciences and Clinical Medicine) from 1985 to date, together with all peer-reviewed articles cited in the publications thus identified. Findings. The results indicated that the theory performs very well for the explanation of intention; an averaged R2 of . 41 was observed. Attitude toward the action and perceived behavioral control were most often the significant variables responsible for this explained variation in intention. The prediction of behavior yielded an averaged R2 of . 34. Intention remained the most important predictor, but in half of the studies reviewed perceived behavioral control significantly added to the prediction. Conclusions. The efficiency of the model seems to be quite good for explaining intention, perceived behavioral control being as important as attitude across health-related behavior categories. The efficiency of the theory, however, varies between health-related behavior categories.
The Social Provisions Scale: psychometric properties of the SPS-10 among participants in nature-based services

Abstract Purpose: This article analyses the psychometric properties of the Social Provisions Scale 10-items version. Methods: The Social Provisions Scale was analysed by means of the polytomous Rasch model, applied to data on 93 young adults (16–30 years) out of school or work, participating in different nature-based services, due to mental or drug-related problems. Results: The psychometric analysis concludes that the original scale has difficulties related to targeting and construct validity. In order to improve the psychometric properties, the scale was modified to include eight items measuring functional support. The modification was based on theoretical and statistical considerations. Conclusion: After modifications the scale showed not only satisfying psychometric properties, but it also clarified uncertainties regarding construct validity of the measure. However, further analysis on larger samples are required. Implications for Rehabilitation Social support is important for a variety of rehabilitation outcomes and for different patient groups in the rehabilitation context, including people with mental health or drug-related problems. Social Provisions Scale may be used as a screening tool to assess social support of participants in rehabilitation, and the scale may also be an important instrument in rehabilitation research. There might be issues measuring structural support using a 10-items version of the Social Provisions Scale but it seemed to work well as an 8-item scale measuring functional support.
Extreme Selection Strategies in Gene Mapping Studies of Oligogenic Quantitative Traits Do Not Always Increase Power

It is well known that obtaining adequate statistical power to detect linkage to or association with genes for complex quantitative traits can be very difficult. In response, investigators have developed a number of power-enhancing strategies that consider restraints such as genotyping (and/or phenotyping) costs. In the context of both association and sib pair linkage studies of quantitative traits, one of the most widely discussed techniques is the selective sampling of phenotypically extreme individuals. Several papers have demonstrated that such extreme sampling can markedly increase power (under certain circumstances). However, the parenthetical phrase in the previous sentence has generally not been made explicit and it appears to be implied that the more phenotypically extreme the individuals, the more power one has. In this paper, we show by simulation that this is not true under all circumstances. In particular, we show that under oligogenic models, where some biallelic quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have markedly asymmetric allele frequencies and large mean displacement among genotypes, and others have less asymmetric allele frequencies and smaller mean displacement among genotypes, power to detect linkage to or association with the latter QTL can actually decrease by sampling more extreme sib pairs. This suggests that more extreme sampling is not always better. The ‘optimal’ sampling scheme may depend on both what one suspects the underlying genetic architecture to be and which of the oligogenic QTL one has greatest interest in detecting.
Reactivation of hepatitis B virus by corticosteroids in a case of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome.

Dr. G. Rostoker, MD, Department of Nephrology, Henri Mondor Hospital, F-64010 Créteil (France) Dear Sir, Lai et al. [1] recently reported their experience of corticosteroids in Hepatitis B virus surface antigenaemia (HbS) persistent carriers with associated membranous nephropathy [1]. They observed an increase in liver enzymes in 3/7 patients, an enhancement of Hbe antigenemia in 3, an increase in HBV-DNA in 5/6 patients with a decrease after the withdrawal of steroids. We treated an idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (segmental glomerulo-sclerosis) in a 20-year-old Malian patient having a persistent isolated HbS antigenemia unrelated to the nephropathy. Before therapy he was negative for both Hbe antigen and serum HBV-DNA. He received steroids (1 mg/kg/day) for 4 months during which the proteinuria completely disappeared. He was then reevaluated for this HbS status: we observed the disappearance of antiHbe antibodies associated with the appearance of both Hbe antigen and serum HBV-DNA; the delta serology was negative. Concomitantly a 5-fold increase of alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) was noted. Steroids were then rapidly tapered to 10 mg/day and ciclosporin was introduced (4 mg/kg/day). 2 months later, ALAT was normal, HBV-DNA and Hbe antigen were no longer detectable while anti-Hbe antibodies reappeared. We therefore conclude as Lai et al. [1] that corticosteroids may be harmful in HbS carrier nephrotic patients by inducing viral replication whatever the histological type of glomerular disease is and that liver enzymes, HBV serology, HBV-DNA and delta serology should be carefully monitored in these patients if steroids or immuno-suppressive agents have to be used [2, 3]. References
Primary Tuberculosis in the Gluteal Muscle of a Patient with Chronic Renal Failure

Patients suffering from chronic renal failure (CRF) are at increased risk for contracting tuberculosis (TB) due to their impaired immunity. In this patient group, extrapulmonary involvement is more common than the pulmonary form of TB, and symptoms tend to be milder and less distinctive than those seen in the general population. Pyomyositis secondary to TB is relatively rare. We report a case of TB pyomyositis in the setting of CRF. The nonspecific symptoms that are typical of CRF patients with TB make it particularly difficult to establish the diagnosis in this patient group. In order to avoid diagnostic delays, which may increase the risk of complications and mortality, TB should be kept in mind in any case of ongoing fever and infection that does not respond to seemingly appropriate therapy. In addition, TB should always be suspected in endemic areas, even in the absence of osseous involvement.
Diagnostic Accuracy of Centrally Restricted Diffusion in the Differentiation of Treatment-Related Necrosis from Tumor Recurrence in High-Grade Gliomas

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Centrally restricted diffusion has been demonstrated in recurrent high-grade gliomas treated with bevacizumab. Our purpose was to assess the accuracy of centrally restricted diffusion in the diagnosis of radiation necrosis in high-grade gliomas not treated with bevacizumab. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, we enrolled patients with high-grade gliomas who developed a new ring-enhancing necrotic lesion and who underwent re-resection. The presence of a centrally restricted diffusion within the ring-enhancing lesion was assessed visually on diffusion trace images and by ADC measurements on 3T preoperative diffusion tensor examination. The percentage of tumor recurrence and radiation necrosis in each surgical specimen was defined histopathologically. The association between centrally restricted diffusion and radiation necrosis was assessed using the Fisher exact test. Differences in ADC and the ADC ratio between the groups were assessed via the Mann-Whitney U test, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed. RESULTS: Seventeen patients had re-resected ring-enhancing lesions: 8 cases of radiation necrosis and 9 cases of tumor recurrence. There was significant association between centrally restricted diffusion by visual assessment and radiation necrosis (P = .015) with a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 88.9%, a positive predictive value 85.7%, and a negative predictive value of 80% for the diagnosis of radiation necrosis. There was a statistically significant difference in the ADC and ADC ratio between radiation necrosis and tumor recurrence (P = .027). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of centrally restricted diffusion in a new ring-enhancing lesion might indicate radiation necrosis rather than tumor recurrence in high-grade gliomas previously treated with standard chemoradiation without bevacizumab.
Transferrin Variants as Markers of Migrations and Admixture between Populations in the Baltic Sea Region

Transferrin (TF) types were examined by isoelectric focusing in an attempt to elucidate migrations and admixture between populations in the Baltic Sea region. A highly significant heterogeneity between populations was found with respect to TF*C subtypes as well as the rare TF variants B2, B0-1 and DCHI. With the exception for Estonia, increased frequencies of the TF*C3 allele were observed east of the Baltic Sea. The island of Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea also showed a high TF*C3 frequency indicating an eastern influence. The TF*DCHI allele, a marker of eastern (Finno-Ugric) influence, was found in Finland and Estonia and on the island of Gotland, but not in mainland Sweden and in the Baltic peoples (Latvians and Lithuanians). These results indicate the presence of a Finno-Ugric, most likely Estonian or Livonian, genetic influence in the Gotland population.
PCR-RFLP-Detected Human Papilloma Virus Infection in a Group of Senegalese Women Attending an STD Clinic and Identification of a New HPV-68 Subtype

Cancer of the cervix is the most common malignant tumor among women in Africa and, in particular, Senegal. Studies of the prevalence of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection in Africa have mainly focused on carcinomas. Data on the presence of the virus in women with normal cervical cytology are scarce. In this study, 158 cytologically normal women who had been referred to the ‘Institut Pasteur de Dakar’ (Senegal) for various genital complaints were investigated for the presence of HPV on exfoliated cells by PCR-RFLP. HPV was detected in 13.9% of cases. Oncogenic type HPV 16 was the most common type (40.9%), followed by HPV 53 and HPV 58, both detected in 13.6% of cases. Mixed HPV infections were present in 13.6% of the subjects. Only HPVs belonging to the intermediate-high risk group were detected. These data suggest the need for careful cytological control of patients. A PCR-HPV fragment (GA115) possessing an original RFLP pattern was isolated. After sequencing, it showed a nucleotide homology of 97.1% with HPV 68 and should therefore be considered a new HPV 68 subtype. The use of PCR-RFLP strategy enables detection and typing of all known and as yet unknown genital HPVs. Variant and subtype classification of HPV types identified by oligonucleotide probe methods may need to be refined, especially for less prevalent HPVs and in areas where little information on HPV prevalence is available. More studies are needed to characterize satisfactorily the epidemiology of HPV in Africa.
Design, analysis and manufacturing of lattice structures: an overview

ABSTRACT A lattice structure is a space-filling unit cell that can be tessellated along any axis with no gaps between cells. These structures are an emerging solution to weight, energy and advanced manufacturing time reduction. To date, there is no compilation of literature or state-of-the-art reviews in the lattice structure field due to their prevalence across a wide range of research areas. A systematic review would therefore aid in identifying the wide scope of lattice structure design and applications. The objective of this extensive review is to provide a summary of lattice structure literature as well as determine the latest research trends, in an attempt to identify future areas of investigation. Through the conducted research, significant limitations were identified in the lattice structure definition; a redefinition is proposed with the inclusion of a reference system as well as widening the scope to include scaled unit cell tessellation as a primary topology. This compilation of limitations and future work might provide a clearer understanding of technological and theoretical limitations regarding lattice structures, as well as highlighting areas of further research required in the design, design analysis, manufacturing, application and characterisation areas of lattice structures.
Lymphocyte T Subset Counts in Children with Hypercholesterolemia Receiving Dietary Therapy

Background: In children with hypercholesterolemia, dietary therapy is indicated; however, we do not know if a low-fat diet can modify some organic functions, i.e. immune function. Methods: 42 children with hypercholesterolemia received a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet during 6 months. At baseline and after the treatment period, we determined a lipoprotein profile and some immune characteristics: immunoglobulins G, A and M; complement components (C3, C4 and factor B), and blood lymphocyte subsets (CD3, CD4 and CD8). Results: Total cholesterol serum concentrations showed a significant reduction after 6 months of dietary therapy (p = 0.008). After 6 months on a low-fat diet, lymphocyte T subset counts (CD3, CD4 and CD8) showed significant decreases (p < 0.01 to p < 0.003), but lymphocyte counts were always within normal ranges. There was also a significant correlation between changes in some lymphocyte T subset counts (CD3 and CD8) and changes in triglyceride serum concentrations (p < 0.05). Conclusions: A low-fat, low-cholesterol diet diminished CD3, CD4 and CD8 lymphocyte subset counts that are elevated in children with hypercholesterolemia. Dietary therapy, with emphasis on the intake of n–3 fatty acids, could be useful in the modulation of the immune response at the atheromatous plaque level.
FPGA-based accelerator for losslessly quantized convolutional neural networks

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) have been widely used for various computer vision tasks. While GPUs are the most common platform for CNN implementation, FPGAs are promising alternatives to provide better energy efficiency. Recent work demonstrates the potential of network quantization to reduce the model size and enhance computation efficiency while maintaining comparable accuracy to the full precision counterparts. Quantized CNN is especially suitable for FPGA implementation due to the presence of values with non-trivial bitwidth. In this paper, we present the design of an FPGA-based accelerator for losslessly quantized CNNs using High Level Synthesis tool. The experiment result shows that our design achieves 12.9 GOPS/Watt for quantized Alexnet on Imagnet Dataset.
Effects of Task Demands on Olfactory, Auditory, and Visual Event-Related Potentials Suggest Similar Top-Down Modulation Across Senses

A widely held view is that top-down modulation of sensory information relies on an amodal control network that acts through the thalamus to regulate incoming signals. Olfaction lacks a direct thalamic projection, which suggests that it may differ from other modalities in this regard. We investigated the late positive complex (LPC) amplitudes of event-related potentials (ERP) from 28 participants, elicited by intensity-matched olfactory, auditory and visual stimuli, during a condition of focused attention, a neutral condition, and a condition in which stimuli were to be actively ignored. Amplitudes were largest during the attend condition, lowest during the ignore condition, with the neutral condition in between. A Bayesian analysis resulted in strong evidence for similar effects of task across sensory modalities. We conclude that olfaction, despite its unique neural projections, does not differ from audition and vision in terms of task-dependent neural modulation of the LPC.