Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microalbuminuria among participants with high-normal blood pressure attending a tertiary health institution in Nigeria

Background: Participants with high-normal blood pressure (BP) (systolic BP [SBP] 130–139 mmHg and/or diastolic BP [DBP] 85–89 mmHg) have higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors compared with optimal BP (SBP <120 mmHg and/or DBP <80 mmHg). In the present study, the prevalence of microalbuminuria, factors associated with it, and other CVD risk factors were assessed among participants with high-normal BP in comparison to controls. Methods and Results: Out of 200 participants screened, 92 with high-normal BP (Group 1) and 97 with optimal BP (Group 2) who had no history of hypertension or diabetes mellitus were consecutively recruited after satisfying the inclusion criteria. Microalbuminuria was determined using Micral test strips using first-morning urine sample. The mean age of participants in Group 1 was 33.39 ± 5.17 years, while that for Group 2 was 27.01 ± 7.4 years (P ≤ 0.001). The prevalence of microalbuminuria was higher among participants in Group 1 than in participants in Group 2 (12.9% vs. 4.1%, P = 0.037). Participants in Group 1 were older, had higher mean SBP, DBP, body mass index (BMI), fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides than those in Group 2. Pearson's correlation coefficient showed a significant association between BMI and microalbuminuria among all the study participants (r = 0.625, P ≤ 0.007), and the BMI explains 37.7% of the variability of urinary albumin excretion among participants (R2 = 0.377, P = 0.007). Conclusion: Participants with high-normal BP had a higher prevalence of microalbuminuria and risk factors for CVD than those with optimal BP. The results suggest that participants' BMI is linked to urinary albumin excretion, and if proven in larger studies, the findings might be useful in the early prevention of CVD among individuals with high-normal BP.
Influence of type of cement and their thickness on stress distribution at dentin-cement interface of computer-aided designed glass fiber post: A three-dimensional finite element analysis

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the effect of type of cement, and their thickness on stress distribution at dentin-cement interface of computer-aided designed glass fiber post using three-dimensional finite element analysis. Materials and Methods: Nine 3D models of endodontically treated maxillary second premolar were divided into three groups according to the adhesive cement used PermaCem (Group I), Variolink II (Group II), and ParaCore (Group III). Each group was further divided into subgroup a, b, and c on the basis of the thickness of the adhesive cement 50 μm, 200 μm, and 300 μm, respectively. All the models were simulated to be cemented with computer-aided designed glass fiber post and core followed by zirconia crown. The core was modeled with incomplete ferrule. The load of 200N at 45° at lingual and central fossa was applied. Maximum von Mises stresses distribution was calculated. Results: Maximum and minimum stresses in dentin were seen in the Ic and IIIa, respectively. Maximum and minimum stresses in cement were seen in IIIc and Ia, respectively. Conclusion: The von Mises stresses in dentin can be minimized by keeping the cement thickness minimum and selecting the cement whose modulus of elasticity is closest to that of dentin.
Evaluation of different desensitizing agents on dentinal tubule occlusion: A scanning electron microscope study

Background: Dentinal hypersensitivity occurs on exposed dentin and depends on the patency of dentinal tubules. The purpose of this study was to evaluate different desensitizing agents on dentinal tubule occlusion by scanning electron microscopy. Materials and Methods: Thirty teeth were collected from extracted sound maxillary premolars. Samples were sectioned mesiodistally to obtain 30 buccal and 30 lingual surfaces, and enamel was removed in order to simulate hypersensitive dentin. Specimens were randomly divided into four groups. Group 1: 10 samples were coated with Gluma desensitizer, Group 2: 10 samples were coated with VivaSens, Group 3: 10 samples were coated with MS Coat, Group 4: 10 samples each of the contralateral parts of samples were coated with Gluma desensitizer, VivaSens, and MS Coat on which no desensitizing agent was applied, which acted as the controls. All the specimens were examined under SEM, and photomicrographs were evaluated to assess the opening of dentinal tubules in the controls and occlusion of dentinal tubules in their contralateral parts coated with the desensitizing agents. Results: Statistically significant amount of tubules got occluded after the application of MS Coat desensitizer as compared to tubules that got occluded after the application of VivaSens desensitizer and Gluma desensitizer. Conclusion: MS Coat showed better results in the closure of the dentinal tubules, followed by VivaSens and then Gluma desensitizer.
Comparative evaluation of clinical and radiographical outcomes of immediate versus delayed dental implant placement: A prospective study

Background: To investigate the crestal bone changes following immediate versus delayed dental implant placement. Aims and Objective: Comparative evaluation of clinical and radiographical outcomes of immediate versus delayed dental implant placement: A prospective study. Methods: A prospective randomized comparative study was conducted in total of ten implant sites in patients within the age group of 20 to 60 years comprising both male and female visiting the Out-Patient Department of Periodontics, Himachal Dental College, Sunder Nagar (H.P.). Clinical parameters were recorded at baseline (1 month), 3 months and 6 months; they included Probing depth (PD), Radiographic Assessment (RA) for crestal bone changes. Results: On intergroup comparison, the mean difference of the probing between Group I and Group II showed that Group I had slightly higher probing depth [Table 1] than Group II during 1st to 3rd month and 3rd to 6th month period and On intergroup comparison, the mean difference of the crestal bone changes [Table 2] between Group I and Group II showed that Group II had slightly higher bone loss than Group I during 1st to 3rd month and 3rd to 6th month period. Conclusion: Within limitations of this study, it can be concluded that there was significant crestal bone loss in Group II (delayed implantation) at both mesial and distal surface during 3rd to 6th month's observation period. Furthermore, a continuous bone resorption was observed over the time in both the groups. Due to small sample size, short duration, and two-dimensional radiographical assessment of crestal bone loss during follow-up in the study, long-term survival of two-piece implants in both the groups cannot be determined; so, further studies are required to be done.
Orthodontic perspective in causing the severity of malocclusion in hypodontia patients: A clinical study

Aim: This study was aimed to compare Bolton's ratio and the arch width of patients with hypodontia with that of the control group. Materials and Methods: Ten cases with congenitally missing teeth and 10 cases of the control group were grouped in this study. It was guided by Bolton's ratio and Ashley Howe's analysis considering the tooth material and comparing tooth material to jaw size in the latter. Tooth width measurements were compared using a t-test, statistically significant at P < 0.05. Results: Patients with hypodontia shows significantly lower Bolton's ratio as compared to the control group. However, the values when compared statistically were not significant (P > 0.05). Arch width analysis showed significantly reduced basal arch width dimensions in hypodontia patients (P < 0.05) with preponderance toward nonextraction. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the hypodontia patients have comparatively narrower mesiodistal tooth measurements (prominently in posterior segments), lower Bolton's ratio, and reduced basal arch width as compared to control population. The treatment of patients showed preponderance toward nonextraction methodology.
Effect of different force magnitudes on the photoelastic stress in overdenture retained by two implants

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the photoelastic stress on mandibular overdenture retained by single implant when submitted to occlusal forces exerted by maxillary conventional denture in occlusion, or single axial force on first molars. Materials and Methods: Occlusal forces of 10, 20 and 30 kgf were exerted on the maxillary denture in occlusion with the mandibular overdenture adapted in the photoelastic model. Axial forces with same magnitudes were also individually exerted on the right and left first molars of the overdenture. Qualitative analysis were made in images obtained with polariscope, and quantitative analysis with the FRINGES program. Results: Qualitative analysis showed that the stress was located predominantly around the implant in all force magnitudes. Increase of occlusal force promoted higher stress on the implant. Increased axial single force on the left and right first molars caused higher stress on the medial region of the mandible body, and higher stress was induced in the side of loading. Quantitative analysis showed that the occlusal force promoted the following values: 10 kgf (T = 252.58; N = 0.54); 20 kgf (T = 1033.87; N = 2.21) and 30 kgf (T = 1009.99; N = 2.16); axial force on left molar promoted the following values: 10 kgf (T = 256.95; N = 0.55); 20 kgf (T = 265.07; N = 0.72) and 30 kgf (T = 266.38; N = 0.70); and axial force on right molar promoted the following values: 10 kgf (T = 986.11; N = 2.11); 20 kgf (T = 969.30; N = 2.07) and 30 kgf (T = 1012.68; N = 2.16). Conclusion: In conclusion, the stresses were concentrated at around the implant and in the medial region of the mandible body when the overdentures were submitted to occlusal forces; axial forces on the molars promoted stress at the implant and the mandible body in the side of loading, and the increase of the force promoted higher stress in both loading types.
Saliency Based Video Object Recognition inSingle Concept Video

This paper presents a saliency based video object extraction and recognition framework. The extraction framework automatically extract foreground object of interest without any use of training data. The recognition system uses list of training data beforehand. For extracting the foreground object from a video, it uses visual and motion saliency features . A conditional random field is used to effectively combine the saliency induces features. Our proposed method is able to preserve spatial continuity and temporal consistency. Experiments results on variety video shows that our proposed system provides qualitatively satisfactory video object extraction (VOE) results.
The Politics of the Basic Income Guarantee: Analysing Individual Support in Europe

Abstract This article analyses individual level support for a Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) using the European Social Survey. At the country level, support is highest in South and Central Eastern Europe, but variation does not otherwise seem to follow established differences between varieties of capitalisms or welfare state regimes. At the individual level, findings are broadly in line with the expectations of the political economy literature. Left-leaning individuals facing high labour market risk and/or on low incomes are more supportive of a BIG, whereas current union members are less likely to support a BIG, consistent with the insider-outsider literature. However, when controlling for confounding variables, union membership is not statistically significant, suggesting that it is not membership per se, but the characteristics of unionised workers that make them less supportive. In many countries, a coalition between centrist and left-leaning individuals therefore seems most promising, but its political feasibility depends on whether enough union members are favourable to a BIG and on the level of opposition from high income and/or conservative parts of the electorate.
Haptic feedback control of a smart wheelchair

The haptic feedback, which is natural in assistive devices intended for visually impaired persons, has been only recently explored for people with motor disability. The aim of this work is to study its potential, particularly for assistance in the driving of powered wheelchairs. After a review of the literature for the previous related work, we present the methodology and the implementation procedure of a haptic feedback control system on a prototype of a smart wheelchair. We will also describe the approaches utilized to determine the appropriate force feedback that will ensure a cooperative behaviour of the system, and we will detail the two haptic driving modes that were developed, namely the active and passive modes. Experiments on a real prototype were carried out to study the contribution of the method in powered wheelchair driving and to evaluate the interest of the force feedback on the control joystick of the wheelchair. They are discussed on the basis of performance measures.
Long-range dependence in Ethernet traffic offered to interconnected DQDB MANs

Accurate mathematical modeling of etherogeneous sources corresponding to future integrated services will strongly affect efficient design of telecommunication networks. Teletraffic theory, originally developed for circuit switched voice networks, have to be extended by the construction of new models which are capable of describing the detailed nature of broadband traffic. Recent studies show that a correct approach to the problem of traffic modeling have to be carried out on the basis of measurements collected in real circumstances and not just by considering pseudo-ideal isolated traffic sources which could underestimate the interesting queuing statistics of the network. The paper addresses the need for a wider set of mathematical tools capable to build up a basic set of models extracted from real measurements. Following recent measurement studies we point out that the integration of different methodology is of extreme interest in discovering the statistical characteristics of broadband traffic. We deal with models of the traffic offered by LAN to a MAN corresponding to a connectionless LAN to LAN interconnection service provided by a DQDB MAN. The aim is the post processing of data traffic for the construction of the building blocks to be used in hierarchical block oriented simulation models of broadband networks. We show that also collecting traffic patterns with medium/low time resolution it is possible to confirm the results obtained with high quality tools and longer measurements. The main target of this study is to obtain an easy way to estimate the relevant parameters of a packet arrival process. <<ETX>>
A Newton Div-Curl Least-Squares Finite Element Method for the Elliptic Monge–Ampère Equation

Abstract This paper develops a new finite element approach for the efficient approximation of classical solutions of the elliptic Monge–Ampère equation. We use an outer Newton-like linearization and a first-order system least-squares reformulation at the continuous level to define a sequence of first-order div-curl systems. For problems on convex domains with smooth and appropriately bounded data, this framework gives robust results: convergence of the nonlinear iteration in a small number of steps, and optimal finite element convergence rates with respect to the meshsize. Numerical results using standard piecewise quadratic or cubic elements for all unknowns illustrate convergence results.
Evaluation of the combined effects of doxorubicin and bortezomib on the human acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line

Abstract Increasing numbers of oncological patients and growing drug resistance ensure that new methods of cancer treatment are intensively sought. Combining drugs for a synergistic effect is one of several possible ways to mitigate this problem. This leads to reducing the effective drug dose and the occurrence of side effects. Doxorubicin (DOX) is an antineoplastic agent that has several mechanisms of action. DOX intercalates between base pairs of DNA helix, inhibits topoisomerase II and also forms reactive oxygen species. Bortezomib (BZT) is an antitumor agent belonging to the group of proteasome inhibitors. It has been observed that BZT triggers an oxidative stress response in vitro and in vivo. Accumulation of oxidatively damaged proteins and the simultaneously blocking of the proteasome can be very damaging to the tumour cell. For this reason, the aim of the study was to assess the potentially synergistic effect of DOX and BZT on human acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In the work, the cells were treated with both agents and their combinations and the effect was evaluated on the basis of morphological assessment, MTT assay and level of reduced glutathione measurement. The study has shown that on acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells, synergistic effects came about in the combination of 1nM BZT with a wide range of concentrations of DOX. Herein, the visible, coactive effect of DOX and BZT was observed on oxidative stress levels. This phenomenon can be essential in blunting the possibility of rapid manifestation of resistance seen in BZT monotherapy. In addition, the needed very low concentrations of DOX reduce the risk of therapy side effect.
Glaucoma vs. Biomechanical Properties of Cornea

Abstract The paper deals with the influence of various biomechanical parameters on the intraocular pressure (IOP). The IOP is a very important factor in more accurate diagnosis and better management of glaucoma. To get a more realistic value of IOP the measurement methodology must reflect the patient’s individual biometric and biomechanical parameters, for example age, sex, race, biomechanical properties of cornea, etc. Many measuring methods are based on the applanation of cornea during its loading by the measuring device - tonometers. These tonometers apply the Imbert – Fick law [1], which determines their size. This work also addresses the current approaches to creating more realistic IOP data.
The Diversification Strategy and Business Groups’ Performance in Poland

Abstract Objective: The aim of the study is to identify the scope in which business groups in Poland apply the diversification strategy and examine it influence on the performance of a business group. Methodology: The research method is a critical analysis of academic literature as well as documents analysis (desk research). Authors applied also statistical inference. Findings: Conducted research on business groups in Poland showed that business groups in Poland are moderately diversified. The study showed also that the diversification strategy does not differentiate the performance of business groups. Value Added: The paper is a unique summary of the researches about diversification strategy and business group performance. The theory review and empirical studies deepen research on business groups and their strategies. Recommendations: It is recommended for business groups to explore the diversification strategies in the context of performance as implementing it may be crucial for further business group development.
In vitro evaluation of anticancer activity of sodium hyaluronate-titanium dioxide bionanocomposite

Abstract The purpose of the current research is to optimize the synthesis of sodium hyaluronatetitanium dioxide nanocomposite with the highest anticancer activity. To this end, the Taguchi method was followed to design nine experiments with different ratios of sodium hyaluronate biopolymer, titanium dioxide nanoparticles and stirring times. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the synthesis of the nanoparticle and nanocomposite. The comparison of anticancer activity level of synthesized nanocomposites using MTT assay showed that the nanocomposite synthesized in the conditions of experiment 9 (8 mg/ml of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, 2 mg/ml of sodium hyaluronate biopolymer and 60 min stirring time) had the maximum anticancer activity against Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) cell line. According to the results, the Taguchi method can be employed as an effective and useful strategy to save time and cost in order to determine the optimal conditions for the synthesis of sodium hyaluronate-titanium dioxide nanocomposite with the most favorable anticancer activity.
"E-book flood" for changing EFL learners' reading attitudes

* Abstract: This paper was intended to investigate the effects of using e-books (or texts with multimedia support) in an ERP (extensive reading program) on EFL (English as a foreign language) learners' attitudes toward reading in English. In a junior high school in northern Taiwan, 109 students from 3 intact classes were recruited in the 10-week ERP of e-books. Each class was introduced to a list of 140 selected e-books for the reading program; each student was then encouraged to read e-books after school, with the target of reading 4 e-books every week. The degree of changes in reading attitudes was assessed by using the reading attitudes scale (Stokmans, 1999) before and after the e-book ERP. In addition, the teacher's class notes of the students' reading behaviors and reactions as well as their spontaneous oral or written feedback were analyzed to be triangulated with the quantitative data. The results showed that the e-books had positive effects on the students' attitudinal changes in all dimensions of reading attitudes, namely, utility, development, enjoyment and escape, as well as in all the cognitive, affective and conative components. The results also showed that the features of the e-books, especially oral reading, highlighting, animations and music/sound effects, were considered important to change their attitudes. The implementation of interaction and learner control in the e-books guaranteed positive attitudinal changes as well.
The Impact of Investments in New Digital Technologies on Wages – Worker-Level Evidence from Germany

Abstract The strong rise of digitalization, automation, machine learning and other related new digital technologies has led to an intense debate about their societal impacts. The transitions of occupations and the effects on labor demand and workers’ wages are still open questions. Research projects dealing with this issue often face a lack of data on the usage of new digital technologies. This paper uses a novel linked employer–employee data set that contains detailed information on establishments’ technological upgrading between 2011 and 2016, a recent period of rapid technological progress. Furthermore, we are the first to develop a digital tools index based on the German expert database BERUFENET. The new index contains detailed information on the work equipment that is used by workers. Hence, we observe the degree of digitalization on both the establishment level and the worker level. The data allow us to investigate the impact of technology investments on the wage growth of employees within establishments. Overall, the results from individual level fixed effects estimates suggest that investments in new digital technologies at the establishment level positively affect the wages of the establishments’ workers. Sector-specific results show that investments in new digital technologies increase wages in knowledge intensive production establishments and non-knowledge intensive services. The wage growth effects of employees in digital pioneer establishments relative to the specific reference group of workers in digital latecomer establishments are most pronounced for low- and medium-skilled workers.