Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of an Endosseous Oral Implant System According to UNI EN ISO 14801 Fatigue Test Protocol

Purpose:The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the maximum fracture load and the mechanical performance to cyclic fatigue stress of a dental implant system. Methods:An experimental study according to the international standards (UNI EN ISO 14801: 2008) was carried out using 15 implants (3.80 mm of diameter and 13 mm of length) with applied straight titanium abutment tightened to 30 N. Five samples were subjected to compression stress at break. Based on the mean fracture load value obtained in this test, the levels of dynamic loading range were set that were carried on at a frequency of 15 Hz for 5 × 106 cycles. Results:The compression stress at break mean value of the tested implants was 499.40 N (SD ±50.1 N). In the mechanical fatigue stress test, the fatigue limit for 5 × 106 load cycles for all tested samples was 250 N. Conclusions:The evaluated implant system proved to withstand considerable mechanical loads under the “worst-case” loading situation performed according to UNI EN ISO 14801 standard. The reliability of this test protocol makes it suitable to be accomplished for understanding and comparing mechanical properties of other implant systems.
The relationship between socio-economic inequalities, intimate partner violence and economic abuse: A national study of women in the Philippines

Economic abuse against women has for too long remained a relatively ‘unseen’ part of interpersonal violence, in spite of intimate partner violence (IPV) being a public health problem. Most studies on economic abuse derive especially from the USA and amongst women in shelters, and their findings are not easily generalisable to low–middle-income countries. Socio-economic inequalities render women vulnerable to control and risk of abuse. We investigated the role of socio-economic inequalities in the association between IPV and economic abuse. Logistic regression analyses were performed on cross-sectional data from a nationally representative sample of 8478 women aged 15–49 years in the 2008 Philippines Demographic and Health Surveys. Results indicated strong positive associations between both physical IPV and emotional IPV and all four forms of economic abuse. Measures of socio-economic inequalities and other covariates such as no education, primary education, unemployment and justifying wife beating were also statistically significant. Findings suggest the increased need for health care practitioners to include economic abuse during the assessment of and response to IPV, the implementation of a multidimensional approach to providing tangible support and women-centred responses in reported cases of economic abuse, as well as measures that enhance socio-economic equality and increase economic opportunities for women.
Investigation of the threshold for allergic reactivity to chromium

Allergy to chromium is relatively common, often in association with exposure to cement or in leather manufacture. However, in certain locations, there appears to be a relatively large cohort of chromium‐sensitive individuals whose allergy cannot be explained by these common sources. In particular, this group include Israeli housewives with persistent hand eczema and concomitant patch test positivity to chromium. The causation of their allergy has been linked with relatively high levels of chromium contamination in household products. To provide further information in respect of the definition of safe levels for such products, we examined 17 chromium‐allergic individuals to determine their threshold for reaction under closed patch test and repeated open application test (ROAT) conditions. The data derived indicated that, on normal skin, the patch test threshold was 10 ppm chromium; in the presence of an irritant (sodium lauryl sulfate) the threshold was closer to 1 ppm, 2/17 subjects giving 1+ reactions at this concentration. In the more realistic exposure conditions of the ROAT, 8/14 individuals failed to react to 50 ppm, whilst 3/15 reacted to 5 ppm. Interestingly, there was very poor correlation between patch test sensitivity and ROAT sensitivity. To ensure the large majority of chromium‐allergic individuals do not suffer elicitation of their allergy, as well as to limit the development of new chromium‐sensitive subjects, it is recommended that household products adhere to a previously published standard of a maximum limit of 5 ppm, with an ultimate target of 1 ppm contamination by chromium.
Diffusion tensor imaging of the hippocampus predicts the risk of dementia; the RUN DMC study

Cerebral small vessel disease is one of the most important risk factors for dementia, and has been related to hippocampal atrophy, which is among the first observed changes on conventional MRI in patients with dementia. However, these volumetric changes might be preceded by loss of microstructural integrity of the hippocampus for which conventional MRI is not sensitive enough. Therefore, we investigated the relation between the hippocampal diffusion parameters and the risk of incident dementia, using diffusion tensor imaging, independent of hippocampal volume.
Polysomnography after adenotonsillectomy in mild pediatric obstructive sleep apnea.

OBJECTIVES a) To determine the need for intensive monitoring on the first operative night of surgery in children undergoing adenotonsillectomy for mild obstructive sleep apnea; b) to examine the effect of narcotics on postoperative obstructive sleep apnea. DESIGN Randomized, prospective study. SETTING University hospital. PATIENTS Children, ranging in age between 1 and 18 yrs, presented to the Pediatric Otolaryngology Clinic for adenotonsillectomy for mild obstructive sleep apnea defined as from one to 15 obstructive apnea events per hour on preoperative polysomnogram. INTERVENTIONS Patients were assigned to receive either a narcotic- or a halothane-based anesthetic for adenotonsillectomy. A postoperative polysomnogram was performed in the pediatric intensive care unit on the first operative night. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Eighteen patients were recruited, 15 of whom met inclusion criteria: nine patients received a halothane-based anesthetic and six patients received a fentanyl-based anesthetic. When the data were analyzed by pooling both groups, the differences between pre- and postoperative sleep studies demonstrated a reduction in the number of obstructive events and less severe oxygen desaturations on the operative night. Total sleep time between the two sleep studies decreased from 371 +/- 13 to 304 +/- 14 mins. The number of obstructive apnea events/hr decreased as well. The lowest oxygen saturation measured during rapid eye movement sleep was 78 +/- 5% preoperatively and 92 +/- 1% postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that children without underlying medical conditions, neuromotor diseases, or carniofacial abnormalities, 1 to 18 yrs of age, who suffer from mild obstructive sleep apnea, have improvements documented by polysomnography on the night of surgery following adenotonsillectomy and do not necessarily need to be monitored intensively. These findings were not significantly affected by the choice of intraoperative anesthetic.
arly priming with inactivated poliovirus vaccine ( IPV ) and ntradermal fractional dose IPV administered by a microneedle evice : A randomized controlled trial

Introduction: Inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) introduction and phased oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) cessation are essential for eradication of polio. Methods: Healthy 6-week old infants in Bangladesh were randomized to one of five study arms: receipt of trivalent OPV (tOPV) or bivalent OPV (bOPV) at ages 6, 10 and 14 weeks, intramuscular IPV or intradermal one-fifth fractional dose IPV (f-IPV) at ages 6 and 14 weeks, or f-IPV at ages 6 and 14 weeks with bOPV at age 10 weeks (f-IPV/bOPV). All participants received tOPV at age 18 weeks. Results: Of 975 infants randomized, 95% (922) completed follow-up. Type 1 seroconversion after 3 doses at 6, 10 and 14 weeks was higher with bOPV compared with tOPV (99% vs 94%, p = 0.019). Seroconversions to types 1 and 3 after 2 IPV doses at ages 6 and 14 weeks were no different than after 3 doses of tOPV or bOPV at ages 6, 10 and 14 weeks. A priming response, seroconversion 1 week after IPV at 14 weeks among those who did not seroconvert after IPV at 6 weeks, was observed against poliovirus types 1, 2 and 3 in 91%, 84% and 97%, respectively. Compared with IPV, f-IPV failed non-inferiority tests for seroconversion with 1 or 2 doses and priming after 1 dose. Discussion: The findings demonstrate considerable priming with IPV at age 6 weeks, comparable immunogenicity of tOPV and bOPV, and inferior immunogenicity of one-fifth f-IPV compared with IPV. If IPV induced priming at age 6 weeks is similar to that at age 14 weeks, IPV could be administered at a younger age and possibly with a higher coverage.
Retention of luting agents on implant abutments of different height and taper.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the retention of four cements used to lute metal restorations onto computer designed and manufactured titanium implant abutments of different heights and convergence angles. MATERIAL AND METHODS Test specimens consisted of metal coping cemented on Procera titanium abutments of 5, 7, and 9 mm of height, and of 0 degrees , 4 degrees , and 8 degrees of convergence angle. The cements used were zinc-phosphate, zinc oxide-eugenole, polyurethane resin with and without vaseline. The samples were tested in a universal testing machine. The mean uniaxial load at point of separation was determined. The results were statistically evaluated with ANOVA. RESULTS The luting agent, the height, and the taper influence the retention of metal casting on customized CAD-CAM implant abutments. CONCLUSION The most retentive cement was zinc-phosphate, followed by polyurethane, polyurethane plus vaseline, and zinc oxide-eugenol.
Thyroid “Hot Spots”: Their Relationship to Life Stress

&NA; The prevalence of thyroid gland “hot spots”‐‐areas which are hyperavid for 131I‐‐is reported for several samples of euthyroid and otherwise normal subjects. A longitudinal study, in progress for 12 years, sought to determine the fate of the hot spot over time, and to ascertain whether or not changes in the hot spot are related to life strain. The results suggest that such a relationship exists and that lige strain, usually prolonged and severe, may stimulate the hot spot to progress on to clinical thyrotoxicosis.
Hematopoietic Differentiation from Embryonic Stem Cells

Since the development of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in 1998, the potential of stem cell-based manufacturing of tissues or organs as a form of regenerative medicine has drawn broad interest because hESCs are pluripotent and can proliferate infinitely without losing their pluripotency (Thomson et al., 1998). More recently, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were generated from human fibroblasts (Takahashi et al., 2007) as well as other cell sources (Stadtfeld and Hochedlinger, 2010), thus accelerating the goals of research to realize regenerative medicine. Theoretically, any organ can be generated from ESCs, but the obstacles to manufacturing solid organs in vitro remain great. Solid organs such as kidney and liver require wellfunctioning three-dimensional structures consisting of different kinds of cells as well as formation of and communication with blood vessels. Considering this, hematopoietic progenitors or mature blood cells derived from ESCs may be among the most attractive applications because blood cells can operate as single cells without forming a multicellular structure. Here, we describe methods of hematopoietic differentiation from ESCs, particularly focusing on hESCs, and some problems that need to be resolved before hESCderived blood cells can be applied in the clinical setting.
Combination of signal injection and neural networks for sensorless control of inverter fed induction machines

For mechanical sensorless control of inverter-fed induction machines, a satisfactory performance at low speed down to zero fundamental frequency can so far only be achieved by evaluating inherent saliencies of the induction machine. Similar to other sensorless methods based on signal injection, the resulting control signals of the indirect flux detection method by on-line reactance measurement is influenced by every saliency, for example, the saturation based, the slotting, and the anisotropy saliency as well as by load and flux level. Since these influences are extremely dependent on the machine design, they can hardly be calculated in advance and removed by filtering or digital signal processing. However, the possibility of utilizing a neural network for learning the individual dependencies and removing the unwanted influences can provide a very satisfactory result. Since the easy implementation of a neural network does only use a small amount of calculation power, the algorithms can be implemented even in low-cost signal processors. Measurements on mechanical sensorless controlled induction machines present adequate results up to about rated load, depending on the transient electrical behaviour, and with this on the design parameters of the induction machine.
Evidence-Based Medicine: Orbital Floor Fractures

Learning Objectives: After studying this article, the participant should be able to: 1. Explain the epidemiology, anatomy, and pathophysiology of orbital floor fractures. 2. Select the optimal timing of—and understand the indications for—operative repair of orbital floor fractures. 3. List advantages and disadvantages of the surgical approaches and materials available for orbital floor reconstruction. 4. Identify special considerations in treating pediatric patients presenting with orbital floor fractures. Summary: This maintenance of certification module reviews the anatomy, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of orbital floor fractures in addition to special considerations for pediatric patients. The Appendix shows the evidence rating scale used for the literature review in creating this maintenance of certification article.
Improving Child Nutrition? The Integrated Child Development Services in India

Levels of child malnutrition in India have fallen only slowly during the 1990s despite significant economic growth and considerable expenditure on the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme of which the major component is supplementary feeding for malnourished children. To begin to unravel this puzzle this article assesses the programme’s placement and its outcomes using NFHS data from 1992 and 1998. The authors find that programme placement is clearly regressive across states. The states with the greatest need for the programme — the poor Northern states which account for nearly half of India’s population and which suffer from high levels of child malnutrition — have the lowest programme coverage and the lowest budgetary allocations from the central government. Programme placement within states is more progressive: poorer and larger villages have a higher probability of having an ICDS centre as do those with other development programmes or community associations. In terms of outcomes the authors find little evidence of programme impact on child nutrition status in villages with ICDS centres. (authors)
Hyposmia and Disgust: Gender-Specific Effects

Reduced olfactory function is associated with altered trait disgust in men. This study sought to determine whether hyposmic women show similar changes in disgust responsiveness. We compared patients with hyposmia (25 men, 23 women) and 50 normosmic individuals (25 men, 25 women) with regard to their tendency to experience disgust across different disgust domains (disgust proneness), their self-disgust and their tendency to perceive their own disgust feelings as difficult to control and embarrassing (disgust sensitivity). We replicated the finding that male patients reported elevated self-disgust and disgust proneness toward a specific disgust domain (poor hygiene), whereas female patients obtained comparable disgust scores as the female control group. Both men and women of the patient group indicated disgust regulation difficulties in social contexts. In conclusion, we found greater changes in trait disgust in men with hyposmia. This gender-specific effect, which might be a result of more efficient compensatory behaviors in women, needs further investigation.
Asymmetric dimethylarginine, vascular calcifications and parathyroid hormone serum levels in hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA)is an endogenous amino acid similar to l-arginine and able to inhibit the enzyme endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). It is a factor of impaired nitric oxide (NO) synthesis. Serum levels of ADMA in chronic kidney disease (CKD) increase due to defective inactivation and excretion. High ADMA levels are associated with endothelial dysfunction and cardiovascular damage. A linkage between ADMA levels and vascular calcifications of CKD can therefore be hypothesized. This study explores also a possible relation between ADMA and parathyroid hormone (PTH) serum levels, which are known to be linked to increased rates of cardiovascular death. METHODS The study was carried out in 79 patients on hemodialysis (HD), mean age 59.25 +/- 12 years. In all patients, serum ADMA, PTH, Ca, P, bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP), cholesterol and albumin were measured. In addition, the patients were subjected to multislice computed tomography for heart calcification evaluation. RESULTS Correlation analysis of ADMA showed a significant relation with total and coronary calcium volumes, HD vintage, body mass index (BMI), cholesterol, serum albumin, PTH, natural logarithm of PTH (LnPTH) and BALP. Multiple regression analysis selected HD vintage, albumin and PTH as predictive variables for coronary calcium volume, while ADMA was excluded. With LnPTH as dependent variable, ADMA, serum calcium and BMI were predictive variables with R2 of 0.37. ADMA as dependent variable was also predicted by PTH, HD vintage, albumin and BMI. CONCLUSIONS Despite the results of bivariate analysis showing a linkage between ADMA and cardiac and coronary calcifications, regression analysis showed only a spurious association. The strong positive correlation between ADMA and LnPTH, validated by the regression analysis, may suggesta link between ADMA and PTH-derived vascular damage. ADMA levels could be influenced by the severity of hyperparathyroidism and contribute to cardiovascular death linked to PTH of hemodialysis patients.
Beyond Strategies

Links between teachers' pedagogical beliefs and teaching practices were investigated with respect to process writing instruction. Participants included 5 teachers, 44 general education students, and 23 special education students in 2 elementary multi-age inclusion classrooms. Findings suggested that, although the teachers shared similar views on inclusion and were convinced of the uniqueness of their respective instructional approaches, they nuanced their writing instruction to conform to their implicit theories about teaching, learning, and disability. One set of teachers believed that the writing “breakdowns” of students with disabilities required a structural approach— sequenced, individualized, phonics-based instruction targeting individual performance levels. Another set of teachers advocated a relational approach, wherein students with disabilities are “protected” and “empowered” in learning communities characterized by shared activities, student choice, and interpersonal communication.
Generation and Characterization of Mutant Mice Lacking Ryanodine Receptor Type 3*

The ryanodine receptor type 3 (RyR-3) functions as a Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) channel and is distributed in a wide variety of cell types including skeletal muscle and smooth muscle cells, neurons, and certain non-excitable cells. However, the physiological roles of RyR-3 are totally unclear. To gain an insight into the function of RyR-3 in vivo, we have generated mice lacking RyR-3 by means of the gene targeting technique. The mutant mice thus obtained showed apparently normal growth and reproduction. Although Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release from intracellular Ca2+ stores of the mutant skeletal muscle differed in Ca2+ sensitivity from that of wild-type muscle, excitation-contraction coupling of the mutant muscle seemed to be normal. Moreover, we could not find any significant disturbance in the smooth muscle and lymphocytes from the mutant mice. On the other hand, the mutant mice showed increased locomotor activity, which was about 2-fold greater than that of the control mice. These results indicate that the loss of RyR-3 causes no gross abnormalities and suggest that the lack of RyR-3-mediated Ca2+ signaling results in abnormalities of certain neurons in the central nervous system.
Investigation of the results of a smoking cessation clinic and the factors associated with success

To investigate the success rate and factors affecting success at a smoking cessation clinic. Materials and methods: In this study, 608 patients (397 male and 211 female) admitted to a smoking cessation clinic to quit smoking between 1 January 2006 and 1 June 2010 were investigated. Routine biochemical and hematological tests, pulmonary function tests, exhaled carbon monoxide levels, electrocardiographs, and chest X-rays were obtained from all of the patients. The questionnaire forms, including the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), were filled by all of the participants. At the end of months 6, 12, and 18, the smoking cessation success rates were reviewed. Factors contributing to the success rate, causes of smoking, difficulties encountered in quitting, and factors that increased the desire to smoke were evaluated. SPSS 11 was used in the statistical analyses (chi-square test). P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Statistically significant factors included male sex, obtaining physician advice, and an FTND score of ≤6. Inclination was the most common cause of starting to smoke, and the most commonly encountered difficulty in quitting was irritability and an increased desire to smoke in the postprandial period. Conclusion: This study found a smoking cessation success rate of 40.4% over 1 year. The clinic was effective for smoking cessation. The findings from this clinic will be valuable for future tobacco control studies.
Estimates and projections of hepatitis B‐related hepatocellular carcinoma in Australia among people born in Asia‐Pacific countries

Background and Aim: Australia has increasing immigration from hepatitis B virus (HBV) endemic countries of the Asia‐Pacific region (APR). This study estimates immigration‐related chronic HBV cases, chronic HBV prevalence, and HBV‐related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from 1960 to 2005 and projects HBV‐related HCC to 2025 in Australia among people born in the APR.