Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The effects of different surface treatments on the shear bond strength of composite resin to machined titanium

THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SURFACE TREATMENTS ON THE SHEAR BOND STRENGTH OF COMPOSITE RESIN TO MACHINED TITANIUM Mohammad AlJadi, D.D.S. Marquette University, 2011 Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the shear bond strength between machined titanium and composite resin using different surface treatments. Materials and Methods: Titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) specimens were ground with 600 grit SiC paper and randomly divided into 6 groups (n=20/group). Group #1 (Control): samples were sandblasted with 110 μm Al2O3 for 10 sec. Group #2 (Rocatec): samples were treated with the Rocatec system following the manufacturer’s directions but the silanization step was eliminated. Group #3 (Silano Pen): samples were treated with the Silano Pen system. Group #4 (H2SO4 etched): samples were sandblasted with 110 μm Al2O3 for 10 sec and etched with 48% H2SO4 for 60 minutes at 60C. Group#5 (acid etching + Rocatec): samples received both treatments as described in Groups 4 and 2, respectively. Group #6 (acid etching + Silano Pen): samples received both treatments as described in Groups 4 and 3, respectively. Composite was bonded to the treated titanium surface, half of the specimens from each group (n=10/group) were subjected to thermocycling, and the samples were tested for shear bond strength in a universal testing machine. Representative samples from each group were evaluated with SEM. Results: Two-way ANOVA revealed that there were significant differences (p < 0.05) in bond strength between the six groups of surface treatment and that thermocycling significantly decreased shear bond strength. There was no significant interaction (p = 0.07) between surface treatment and thermocycling status. With regard to the effect of surface treatment, a Tukey Post Hoc test showed that groups 3 (Silano Pen) and 6 (Silano Pen + H2SO4) showed significantly (p < 0.05) greater bond strengths compared to the rest of the groups. There was no significant difference in the bond strength between the four other groups. Conclusion: 1) Silano Pen is effective in improving the bond strength of titanium to composite resin. 2) The silanization step in the Rocatec system is a critical step and eliminating it may dramatically alter its effectiveness. 3) Combining two surface treatments may not always result in an additive effect. 4) Thermocycling significantly decreased the bond strength regardless of the surface treatment used.
ESAP Students' Perceptions of Skills Learning in Computer-Mediated Intercultural Collaboration

Reports on computer-mediated intercultural exchanges generally focus on their relevance for acquiring linguistic or intercultural competence, but little research exists on other educational outcomes, such as the development of electronic literacies, academic literacies, or study skills. This article uses a multiliteracies approach to telecollaboration, viewing it as an opportunity to develop different skills sets considered important for studying in the 21st century. The discussion is positioned within the field of English for Specific Academic Purposes and describes an online exchange between Sociology students at the universities of Munich Germany and Ljubljana Slovenia. Qualitative research is used to surface participants' perceptions of skills learning through the exchange and provide insights into the competences that these learning environments facilitate.
Use of transcriptional fusions to monitor gene expression: a cautionary tale

Gene fusions are frequently used to facilitate studies of gene expression and promoter activity. We have found that certain reporter genes can, themselves, influence promoter activity. For example, the commonly used luxAB reporter genes can activate or repress transcription from a subset of promoters, generating data apparently at odds with those obtained with other reporter genes. These effects are probably related to an intrinsically curved DNA segment in the 5' coding sequence of the luxA gene. Thus, caution must be observed when one is interpreting results obtained with a single reporter gene system such as luxAB.
Role of the slow current in cardiac electrophysiology.

Twenty-six years ago, Hodgkin and Katz' demonstrated that a large and relatively specific increase in the membrane permeability to sodium ions accounted for the amplitude and rate of voltage change of the depolarization phase of squid nerve action potentials. Using the voltage-clamp technique, Hodgkin and Huxley2 analyzed the currents underlying the nerve action potential. They described two constituents an inward sodium flow followed by an outward potassium flow and formulated equations to describe how these currents vary with transmembrane voltage potential and time. In the ensuing years, cardiac electrophysiologists, assuming that exclusively sodium and potassium movements were involved, applied the Hodgkin-
Phosphorylation of the Carboxyl-Terminal Transactivation Domain of c-Fos by Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Mediates the Transcriptional Activation of AP-1 and Cellular Transformation Induced by Platelet-Derived Growth Factor

ABSTRACT Polypeptide growth factors, such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), promote the reinitiation of DNA synthesis and cell growth through multiple intracellular signaling pathways that converge in the nucleus to regulate the activity of transcription factors, thereby controlling the expression of growth-promoting genes. Among them, the AP-1 (activating protein-1) family of transcription factors, including c-Fos and c-Jun family members, plays a key role, as AP-1 activity is potently activated by PDGF and is required to stimulate cell proliferation. However, the nature of the pathways connecting PDGF receptors to AP-1 is still poorly defined. In this study, we show that PDGF regulates AP-1 by stimulating the expression and function of c-Fos through extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). The latter involves the direct phosphorylation by ERK of multiple residues in the carboxyl-terminal transactivation domain of c-Fos, which results in its increased transcriptional activity. Interestingly, the phosphorylation of c-Fos by ERK was required for the ability of PDGF and serum to stimulate the activity of c-Fos as well as AP-1-dependent transcription. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the ERK-dependent activation of c-Fos is an integral component of the mitogenic pathway by which PDGF regulates normal and aberrant cell growth.
Evaluation of serum aminotransaminases and bilirubin in different treatment regimens for chronic hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects more than 180 million people worldwide and it is the leading cause of chronic liver disease . The aim of this study is to detect liver enzymes and bilirubin levels before and after different anti viral therapies in Egyptian chronic hepatitis C infected patients. One hundred and fifty patients with chronic HCV infection who have anti HCV antibodies detected by ELISA were selected to undergo Real-Time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) ; of them 30 blood samples were positive for HCV antibodies and negative for HCV RNA (control group I) and 120 blood samples were positive for HCV antibodies and positive for HCV RNA (diseased group II) which is subdivided into four groups according to the received treatment; interferon and ribavirin (group IIa), interferon, sofosbuvir and ribavirin (group IIb), sofosbuvir and ribavirin (group IIc) and herbal therapy (group IId). Results revealed; after treatment there was a statistical significant reduction in the mean values of ALT in group IIa, group IIb and group IIc (mean: 38.00, 45.5 and 36.00 U/L respectively; P 0.05). AST levels showed a non significant increase after treatment in group IIa (mean: 43.7 U/L; P>0.05), a non significant decrease in group IIb and group IId (mean: 40.03 and 39.80 U/L respectively; P>0.05) and an extremely significant decrease after treatment in group IIc (mean: 28.30 U/L; P 0.05), a non significant increase after treatment in group IIb (mean: 0.811 mg/dL; P>0.05) and an extremely significant increase in group IIc (mean: 1.05 mg/dL; P 0.05). In conclusion, Serum ALT is a normal value after all treatment regimens included in our study; serum AST is slightly elevated in combination therapy of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin while serum bilirubin is highly elevated in case of sofosbuvir dual therapy than sofosbuvir trible therapy.
PAPILLARY SEROUS CYSTADENOCARCINOMA ARISING IN BENIGN GLANDULAR INCLUSION CYSTS IN PELVIC AND INGUINAL LYMPH NODES

Background: Benign glandular inclusion cysts occurring within lymph nodes have been well described in the literature. However, the malignant potential of these glands is unknown. One previous case report described an adenoacanthoma arising within one of these glands. Case: A 65-year-old woman was previously diagnosed with papillary serous cystadenocarcinoma in the inguinal and pelvic lymph nodes. She had no tumor involving the ovaries or peritoneal surfaces at the time of initial diagnosis. She presented to us 9 years later with a recurrence of this tumor in the obturator fossa and along the vaginal sidewall. Treatment consisted of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Conclusion: Although rare, mullerian tumors can occur in the lymph nodes without simultaneous ovarian or peritoneal involvement, and most likely arise de novo within lymph node inclusion cysts.
Stability of the Static Spike Autosolitons in the Gray--Scott Model

We performed an asymptotic linear stability analysis of the static spike autosolitons (ASs)---self-sustained solitary inhomogeneous states---in the Gray--Scott model of an autocatalytic chemical reaction. We found that in one dimension these ASs destabilize with respect to pulsations or the onset of traveling motion when the inhibitor is slow enough. In higher dimensions, the one-dimensional static spike ASs are always unstable with respect to corrugation and wriggling. The higher-dimensional radially symmetric static spike ASs may destabilize with respect to the radially nonsymmetric fluctuations leading to their splitting when the inhibitor is fast or with respect to pulsations when the inhibitor is slow.
ErbB4 is a suppressor of long-term potentiation in the adult hippocampus

ErbB4 has emerged as a leading susceptibility gene for schizophrenia but the function of the ErbB4 receptor in the adult brain is unknown. Here, we show in the adult hippocampus that long-term potentiation (LTP) of transmission at Schaffer collateral CA1 synapses was markedly enhanced in mutant mice lacking ErbB4. Concordantly, LTP was enhanced by acutely blocking ErbB4 in wild-type animals, indicating that ErbB4 activity constitutively suppresses LTP. Moreover, increasing ErbB4 signaling further suppressed LTP. By contrast, altering ErbB4 activity did not affect basal synaptic transmission or short-term facilitation. Our findings suggest that cognitive deficits in schizophrenia may be a consequence of hyperfunction of ErbB4 signaling leading to suppressed glutamatergic synaptic plasticity, thus opening new approaches for the treatment of this disorder.
Use of ingenol mebutate gel for actinic keratosis in patients in a community dermatology practice.

BACKGROUND Ingenol mebutate gel is a topical field treatment for actinic keratosis (AK) approved for a 2- or 3-day duration of application. OBJECTIVE This chart review examined the efficacy and safety of ingenol mebutate gel for treatment of AK in patients from a community dermatology practice. METHODS A retrospective chart review was conducted for all patients with AK treated with ingenol mebutate gel. RESULTS A total of 135 patients with a prolonged history of AK were treated from April 2012 to January 2013. The majority received cryosurgery to all visible lesions, followed 2 weeks later by ingenol mebutate; areas treated with ingenol mebutate were typically >25 cm² in size. Local skin reactions, consisting of mild to moderate erythema and flaking/scaling, were significantly improved by 1 week after peak inflammation and were not treated in most patients. At 1 to 4 months after treatment of AKs on the face, nearly all patients (99%) achieved ≥75% clearance of baseline and emergent AKs. After treatment of AKs on the scalp or forearm and/or hand, >80% of patients demonstrated ≥75% clearance. LIMITATIONS This was a retrospective chart review of patients from a single practice. CONCLUSION Ingenol mebutate is an effective, well-tolerated topical treatment for AK in sun-damaged skin.
Human Leukocyte Antigen Antibody-Incompatible Renal Transplantation: Excellent Medium-Term Outcomes With Negative Cytotoxic Crossmatch

Background. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibody-incompatible renal transplantation has been increasingly performed since 2000 but with few data on the medium-term outcomes. Methods. Between 2003 and 2011, 84 patients received renal transplants with a pretreatment donor-specific antibody (DSA) level of more than 500 in a microbead assay. Seventeen patients had positive complement-dependent cytotoxic (CDC) crossmatch (XM), 44 had negative CDC XM and positive flow cytometric XM, and 23 had DSA detectable by microbead only. We also reviewed 28 patients with HLA antibodies but no DSA at transplant. DSAs were removed with plasmapheresis pretransplant, and patients did not routinely receive antithymocyte globulin posttransplant. Results. Mean follow-up posttransplantation was 39.6 (range 2–91) months. Patient survival after the first year was 93.8%. Death-censored graft survival at 1, 3, and 5 years was 97.5%, 94.2%, and 80.4%, respectively, in all DSA+ve patients, worse at 5 years in the CDC+ve than in the CDC−ve/DSA+ve group at 45.6% and 88.6%, respectively (P<0.03). Five-year graft survival in the DSA−ve group was 82.1%. Rejection occurred in 53.1% of DSA+ve patients in the first year compared with 22% in the DSA−ve patients (P<0.003). Conclusions. HLA antibody-incompatible renal transplantation had a high success rate if the CDC XM was negative. Further work is required to predict which CDC+ve XM grafts will be successful and to treat slowly progressive graft damage because of DSA in the first few years after transplantation.
Case Study of Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor

Canine Transmissible Venereal Tumor (CTVT) is usually a sexually transmitted neoplasm of the external genitalia of dogs the tumor occurs naturally on the genitals of both male and female dogs. In male dogs it is located on the penis or preputium, and in females is present on the vagina or labia. Even though many treatment aspects are available, here in this case study we mainly deals with chemotherapeutic method of treatment and its effectiveness.
Obesity: a possible risk factor for restless legs syndrome

Abstract Aim/Background: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a frequent neurological and sleep disorder. Metabolic disorders are known to be related to sleep disorders. We prospectively evaluated whether obesity and its possible cofactors were related to the presence of RLS. Materials and Methods: The study included 143 obese and 94 non-obese individuals. Obese patients had a BMI of 30 and over, while non-obese patients had a BMI lower than 30. Patients with arthritis and pregnancy were excluded but not those with diabetes mellitus. Participants who met diagnostic criteria recommended by the International RLS Study Group were diagnosed as having RLS. Depression, anxiety, daytime sleepiness, insomnia and sleep quality were evaluated in detail. Results: The mean age of obese patients was 40.52 years and that of non-obese patients was 39.76 years. The mean body mass index was 36.77 in the obese group and 25.71 in the non-obese group. The occurrence of depression, anxiety, sleep quality, and insomnia scores were significantly higher in obese individuals. The evaluations of daytime sleepiness, sleep efficiency and sleep latency were not significantly different between the groups. Discussion: Although the presence of RLS was correlated with obesity and vascular risk factors at a significant level, it was also shown that depression, anxiety and insomnia were significantly frequent in obese patients (although not daytime sleepiness). Further studies are needed.
The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems

We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Mergings of compact-star binaries are expected to be the most important sources for forthcoming gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy. In the first part of the review, we discuss observational manifestations of close binaries with NS and/or BH components and their merger rate, crucial points in the formation and evolution of compact stars in binary systems, including the treatment of the natal kicks, which NSs and BHs acquire during the core collapse of massive stars and the common envelope phase of binary evolution, which are most relevant to the merging rates of NS-NS, NS-BH and BH-BH binaries. The second part of the review is devoted mainly to the formation and evolution of binary WDs and their observational manifestations, including their role as progenitors of cosmologically-important thermonuclear SN Ia. We also consider AM CVn-stars, which are thought to be the best verification binary GW sources for future low-frequency GW space interferometers.
Hypaque and steroids in the treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

While the origins of sudden sensorineural hearing loss remain unproven and treatment empirical, the most appropriate therapy remains a matter of controversy. In this paper we have analysed the current forms of treatment, i.e. diatrizoate meglumine, steroids and a vasodilator. The results suggest that although several related factors were shown to indicate a good prognosis regardless of the therapy, none of the currently available regimens produces consistently better results than the spontaneous recovery rate of 65% reported by Mattox & Simmons.
Masking-level differences with continuous and with burst masking noise.

Psychometric functions were obtained for several interaural phase combinations with both continuous and burst masking noise. In the burst conditions, the signal (400 cps, 125 msec) and the wide‐band masker (45 dB/cycle) were gated simultaneously; in the continuous conditions, only the signal was gated. Performance on burst N0‐S0 was only about 0.5 dB worse than that on continuous N0‐S0, but the masking‐level differences (MLD's) for N0‐Sπ Nπ‐S0, N0‐Sm, and Nπ‐Sm were 4–6 dB smaller with burst than with continuous noise. In an additional experiment, the noise burst (N0) was gated 0, 75, 150, 250, 400, 600, and 1000 msec before the onset of the signal (Sπ). These MLD's increased gradually between 0 and 600 msec and then leveled off at approximately the value obtained with a continuous masker. A single‐interval YES‐NO procedure was used in these experiments. When two‐alternative forced choice was used, the difference between continuous and burst noise was considerably diminished.
Flexible Limited Sampling Model for Monitoring Tacrolimus in Stable Patients Having Undergone Liver Transplantation With Samples 4 to 6 Hours After Dosing Is Superior to Trough Concentration

Trough (C0) monitoring is not optimal for therapeutic drug monitoring of tacrolimus. To better estimate systemic exposure of tacrolimus and achieve clinical benefit, an improved therapeutic drug monitoring strategy should be developed. The authors examined which single and combination of time points best estimated the empiric “gold standard” AUC0-12h and developed and validated a new, flexible, and accurate limited sampling model for monitoring tacrolimus in patients having undergone liver transplantation. Twenty-three stable patients with full AUC0-12h were divided into two groups based on area under the concentration-time curve/dose. With multiple regression analysis, limited sampling formulae were derived and population-pharmacokinetic-based limited sampling models were developed and validated. A regression analysis was performed between either area under the concentration-time curves calculated with formulae or models with the reference trapezoidal AUC0-12h. Both formulae and models based on single samples C4-C6 (r2 = 0.94 [MPE/MAPE 0/7]-0.90 [2/8] and 0.97 [0/7]-0.97 [1/5]) showed excellent performance. The calculated area under the concentration-time curve target range for tacrolimus was 90 to 130 h*μg/L. Multiple point sampling performed better, especially when using models (r2 > 0.94). C0 was a less precise predictor of AUC0-12h compared with both formulae and models (r2's 0.68 [5/17] and 0.87 [2/14]). In conclusion, trough concentration monitoring is not an accurate method for assessing systemic exposure to tacrolimus in stable patients having undergone liver transplantation. This new limited sampling model, based on single time points C4-C6, shows excellent performance in estimating the AUC0-12h.
Ionizing radiation and longevity of physicians.

There is an admitted difference between radiologists and physicians in general as to their average age at death, but the assumed explanation, that exposure to ionizing radiations shortens life, should not be accepted uncritically. Radiology is one of the newest of medical specialties. The distribution of radiologists into age groups differs from that of physicians in general. There are proportionately fewer radiologists in the older age groups, in which the force of mortality is heaviest. The expected age distribution at death is here recalculated on this basis, using first data from 1940, then data from 1 950. The results do not support the hypothesis that exposure to ionizing radiation has shortened the life of the radiologists; the difference between radiologists and other physicians as to the average age at death can be accounted for simply by differences in age composition between the two groups.
Initial clinical experience with intraaortic balloon pumping in cardiogenic shock.

Our intraaortic cardiac assistance system for patients in cardiogenic shock following myocardial infarction consists of a catheter and balloon inserted through a femoral arteriotomy into the thoracic aorta. The pumping chamber, activated by helium, is synchronized with the heart by signals from the electrocardiogram or the central aortic pressure transducer. Pumping improved two patients' circulatory status; one survived. Two patients died before pumping could begin; in another, an abdominal aortic aneurysm prevented insertion of the pump. Thrombosis did not occur during pumping; hemolysis appeared minimal. Although final evaluation must await more data, balloon pumping appears to be effective in cardiogenic shock. Further study may establish a place for the procedure in myocardial infarction without cardiogenic shock and in low cardiac output syndromes associated with open-heart surgery.