Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison between tapered and cylindrical implants in the posterior regions of the mandible: A prospective, randomized, split‐mouth clinical trial focusing on implant stability changes during early healing

BACKGROUND Companies affirm that tapered implants show adequate initial stability, while their installation in the lower arch is uncommon in clinical practice. PURPOSE To compare the clinical outcomes of tapered and cylindrical implants and to study their effect on bone site characteristics and peri-implant health during healing. MATERIALS AND METHODS The implant site dimensions were assessed by linear measurements using CBCT prior to the installation of 40 implants in the posterior mandible (20 tapered and 20 cylindrical). The bone type was registered during drilling via the surgeon's tactile perception, following the classification of Lekholm and Zarb. Primary stability (PS) was determined by the insertion torque (IT) and the implant stability quotient (ISQ). Secondary stability (SS) and the peri-implant health was monitored for 3 months through the visible plaque index (VPI), the peri-implant inflammation (PI), the probing depth index (PDI), and the gingival bleeding index (GBI). Significant differences were investigated with t-tests for independent samples, chi-square tests or Fisher's exact test. Pearson's correlation test was used to investigate the relationship between the bone site characteristics and PS (IT and ISQ), as well as the relationships between IT and ISQ for each implant type. RESULTS Tapered and cylindrical implants showed no significant differences for any outcome variable (P > .05). A significant decrease in ISQ was observed after 7 days of healing (P = .0002), followed by a gradual increase beginning at 21 days (P = .0010) until the last follow-up time at 90 days (P = .0319). The cortical height was correlated with IT; while medullary bone dimensions were correlated with the PS as evidenced by the ISQ values. The insertion torque was significantly correlated with the PS only for the cylindrical dental implants. CONCLUSIONS Tapered and cylindrical implants have similar biological behavior during the healing process. Bone site characteristics can influence insertion torque and implant stability.
"Active back school", prophylactic management for low back pain: three-year follow-up of a randomized, controlled trial.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the long-term effect of the Active Back School programme on minimizing recurrences of episodes of low back pain. Forty-three subjects were randomly allocated to the Active Back School group and 38 to the control group. There were no significant differences between the groups with regard to baseline characteristics. The Active Back School programme comprised 20 lessons each divided into a 20-min theoretical and a 40-min exercise part during a 13-week period. Nine participants (11%) dropped out during the study period. Recurrence of new low back pain episodes was significantly less (p = 0.04), and the time from inclusion to the first new low back pain episode was significantly on the side of the Active Back School group (p < 0.01). The duration of sick leave was found to be significantly shorter (p < 0.01) in the Active Back School group compared to the control group. The Active Back School reduced the recurrence and severity of new low back pain episodes at 36 months' follow-up.
Using Employer Input to Assess Graduate Marketing Education Effectiveness: A Working Example of Curriculum Development

As demands increase for accountability in business education, marketing educators may find that input from employers on desirable skill sets will provide the needed information to assess their current curriculum and guide course and curriculum development. This paper describes the results of such a survey and offers suggestions for how its results may improve the demonstrable skills of graduate marketing students.
Antiproliferative and phytochemical analyses of leaf extracts of ten Apocynaceae species

Background: The anticancer properties of Apocynaceae species are well known in barks and roots but less so in leaves. Materials and Methods: In this study, leaf extracts of 10 Apocynaceae species were assessed for antiproliferative (APF) activities using the sulforhodamine B assay. Their extracts were also analyzed for total alkaloid content (TAC), total phenolic content (TPC), and radical scavenging activity (RSA) using the Dragendorff precipitation, Folin–Ciocalteu, and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays, respectively. Results: Leaf extracts of Alstonia angustiloba, Calotropis gigantea, Catharanthus roseus, Nerium oleander, Plumeria obtusa, and Vallaris glabra displayed positive APF activities. Extracts of Allamanda cathartica, Cerbera odollam, Dyera costulata, and Kopsia fruticosa did not show any APF activity. Dichloromethane (DCM) extract of C. gigantea, and DCM and DCM:MeOH extracts of V. glabra showed strong APF activities against all six human cancer cell lines. Against breast cancer cells of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, DCM extracts of C. gigantea and N. oleander were stronger than or comparable to standard drugs of xanthorrhizol, curcumin, and tamoxifen. All four extracts of N. oleander were effective against MCF-7 cells. Extracts of Kopsia fruticosa had the highest TAC while those of Dyera costulata had the highest TPC and RSA. Extracts of C. gigantea and V. glabra inhibited the growth of all six cancer cell lines while all extracts of N. oleander were effective against MCF-7 cells. Conclusion: Extracts of C. gigantea, V. glabra, and N. oleander therefore showed great promise as potential candidates for anticancer drugs. The wide-spectrum APF activities of these three species are reported for the first time and their bioactive compounds warrant further investigation.
INTERNAL GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS, AGENCY PROBLEMS AND FAMILY OWNERSHIP: EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRALIA

This paper investigates whether family firms use dividends, board composition and debt to expropriate the wealth of minority shareholders or to mitigate agency problems. Utilising panel data on a sample of publicly traded firms in Australia over the period 2000-2005, this study provides evidence that family firms pay optimal and higher levels of dividends and debt compared with their non-family counterparts. The study also finds that family firms have significantly lower proportions of independent directors on the board, but this is consistent with the optimal (value maximization) use of board composition. These results provide evidence that family firms mitigate rather than exacerbate moral hazard problems between owners and minority shareholders in Australia. This study adds to the very limited research into the relationship between family ownership and corporate governance mechanisms in Australia.
Immature Oocytes from Unprimed Juvenile Mice Become a Valuable Source for Embryo Production When Using C-Type Natriuretic Peptide as Essential Component of Culture Medium1

ABSTRACT C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) and its receptor natriuretic peptide receptor 2 (NPR2) play a paramount role in the maintenance of oocyte meiotic arrest in antral follicles via the regulation of the intra-oocyte levels of cyclic guanosine monophosphate and cyclic adenosine monophosphate. We investigated the potential of CNP 1) to maintain oocyte meiotic arrest during a prolonged prematuration culture and 2) to sustain acquisition of developmental competence of immature cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs). Compact COCs were collected from small antral follicles of prepubertal unprimed mice and placed in prematuration culture under different CNP-supplemented media conditions. A preliminary analysis showed a dose-dependent effect of CNP on the maintenance of meiotic arrest. A dose of 25 nM maintained oocytes under meiotic arrest for 24 h, and this period was extended to 48 h in the presence of estradiol. Analysis of transzonal projections of COCs cultured with CNP indicated that oocyte-cumulus connections were well preserved after the prolonged prematuration culture. Furthermore, CNP medium supplemented with FSH and GDF9 promoted oocyte growth and induced a shift in oocyte chromatin configuration from a predominantly dispersed to a condensed configuration. Following in vitro maturation, oocytes cultured under CNP were capable of extruding the first polar body at a high rate (around 80%). Blastocyst formation was significantly improved when oocytes were cultured under CNP-supplemented medium containing FSH and GDF9. This study reports for the first time a prolonged prematuration culture system, with CNP as the pivotal factor, that can efficiently maintain oocytes retrieved from unprimed prepubertal mice under meiotic arrest while promoting their acquisition of developmental competence.
ADAM Binding Protein Eve-1 Is Required for Ectodomain Shedding of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Ligands*

A disintegrin and metalloproteases (ADAMs) are implicated in the ectodomain shedding of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) ligands in EGFR transactivation. However, the activation mechanisms of ADAMs remain elusive. To analyze the regulatory mechanisms of ADAM activation, we performed yeast two-hybrid screening using the cytoplasmic domain of ADAM12 as bait, and identified a protein that we designated Eve-1. Two cDNAs were cloned and characterized. They encode alternatively spliced isoforms of Eve-1, called Eve-1a and Eve-1b, that have four and five tandem Src homology 3 (SH3) domains in the carboxyl-terminal region, respectively, and seven proline-rich SH3 domain binding motifs in the amino-terminal region. The short forms of Eve-1, Eve-1c and Eve-1d, translated at Met-371 are human counterparts of mouse Sh3d19. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that Eve-1 is abundantly expressed in skeletal muscle and heart. Western blot analysis revealed the dominant production of Eve-1c in human cancer cell lines. Knockdown of Eve-1 by small interfering RNA in HT1080 cells reduced the shedding of proHB-EGF induced by angiotensin II and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, as well as the shedding of pro-transforming growth factor-α, promphiregulin, and proepiregulin by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, suggesting that Eve-1 plays a role in positively regulating the activity of ADAMs in the signaling of EGFR-ligand shedding.
Topic-based Amharic text summarization with probabilistic latent semantic analysis

This paper investigates the problem of building a concept-based single-document Amharic text summarization system. Because local languages like Amharic lack extensive linguistic resources, we propose to use statistical approaches called topic modeling to create our text summarizer. The proposed algorithms are language and domain independent and hence can also be used for other local languages. More specifically, we propose to use the topic modeling approach of probabilistic latent semantic analysis (PLSA). We show that a principled use of the term by concept matrix that results from a PLSA model can help produce summaries that capture the main topics of a document. We propose and test six algorithms to help explore the use of the term by concept matrix. All of the algorithms have two common steps. In the first step, keywords of the document are selected using the term by concept matrix. In the second step, sentences that best contain the keywords are selected for inclusion in the summary. To take advantage of the kind of texts we experiment with (news articles) the algorithms always select the first sentence of the document for inclusion in the summary. After experimenting with corpus of news articles of different category at different extraction rates, the result obtained is encouraging.
Factors Influencing Consumer Trust in Mobile Payments in the United Arab Emirates

While mobile payments have been adopted by a huge number of businesses, the body of knowledge regarding user trust in mobile payments shows that trust is a major issue in its adoption and development. The purpose of this study was to better understand the factors that influence consumer trust in mobile payments in one significant country in this region; The United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the research region. The UAE is one of the leading economies in the Middle East Arab region, and mobile technology is well advanced and widely utilised. An analysis of relevant literature provided the basis for the development of a conceptual model. The model, classified into five logical groups (consumer characteristics, environmental influences, provider characteristics, perceived risks and mobile-device characteristics), was further explored, validated, extended and tested through a mixed-method methodology, combining both qualitative (phase one) and quantitative (phase two) approaches, with semi-structured interviewing in exploratory focus groups and an online survey being used respectively. The findings of the qualitative phase were used to clarify the appropriateness of the preliminary Consumer Trust in Mobile Payments (CTMP) model, which was accordingly revised and extended. The second phase (the quantitative approach) was based on a survey of 340 respondents in the UAE. The collected data were analysed by using Structural Equation Modelling with the Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM) approach. Many of the factors in the qualitative CTMP model were successfully validated and statistically significant. The resulting, quantitatively weighted CTMP model shows that users‟ awareness and provider‟s trustworthiness are the most positive influential factor, followed by perceive security levels and device-design suitability. Customers‟ uncertainty avoidance, on the other hand, is the most negatively influential factor on trust, followed by perceived privacy risks associated with m-payments. The model contributes towards better acceptance and usage of mobile payments. The findings also provide a number of theoretical implications for academic research and useful information for practitioners.
The association between polymorphisms in RLIP76 and drug response in epilepsy.

INTRODUCTION Approximately 30% of patients with epilepsy are resistant to treatment with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). The ABC drug transporter proteins are hypothesized to mediate drug resistance in epilepsy. More recently, a non-ABC putative transporter, RLIP76, has also been proposed to be involved in the mechanism of pharmacoresistance. One previous association study of six polymorphisms in RLIP76 failed to find any association with drug resistance in a retrospective cohort of epilepsy patients. We aimed to look for an association with outcomes reflecting drug response in a larger prospective cohort, with gene-wide coverage. PATIENTS AND METHODS We investigated the role of common polymorphisms in RLIP76 in epilepsy pharmacoresistance by genotyping 23 common RLIP76 polymorphisms in a prospective cohort of 503 epilepsy patients, from the standard and new anti-epileptic drugs (SANAD) prospective study of new and old AEDs. A total of 13 of these were tested for association with four outcomes reflecting response to drugs: time to first seizure, time to 12-month remission, time to withdrawal due to inadequate seizure control, and time to withdrawal due to unacceptable adverse drug events. RESULTS No significant associations, allowing for multiple testing, were found in the whole cohort. There was also no effect in a subgroup of patients on carbamazepine, which is thought to be a RLIP76 substrate, although two polymorphisms were associated with time to first seizure (p = 0.007). DISCUSSION We failed to demonstrate any association between RLIP76 polymorphisms and four different measures of drug response in the larger cohort, but a subgroup analysis of patients receiving carbamazepine suggested an association that should be investigated further. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that common variants in RLIP76 are unlikely to contribute to epilepsy drug response.
TOWARDS THE FORMATION OF SHARIAH COMPLIANT HOTEL IN MALAYSIA: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON ITS OPPORTUNITIES AND

Halal hub is a concerted effort among the Islamic countries such as Halal food, halal manufacturers, halal pharmaceuticals, halal cosmetics, halal packaging halal logistics products as well as halal services from all over the world. In fact, it has been a goal of the Malaysia as an Islamic country and being seriously on establishing a Halal hub for the product as well as services in finance and tourism. Due to an interesting development of Shariah Compliant hotel , it is very pertinent to illustrate several features and the characteristics of hospitality services which comes within the Islamic context which universally accepted and tailoring with the tourist packages especially to accommodate the needs of the upcoming boom of Muslim travelers and vacationers from the Middle East West Asia and other Islamic countries Using the example of Malaysia as a case study, this paper will also illustrate the opportunities which arise in delivering of such concept of the so-called an Islamic hotel brands. Apart from that, the barriers and challenges that might be faced by the hospitality industries in developing Shariah Compliant hotel in Malaysia are then discussed and identified. The study will be conducted using qualitative research in which data is collected through library research and session of interviews with the relevant authorities. It is hopeful that the finding of this paper can provide information to the authoritative body and to industry players as well. The results of this paper will also indicate the importance for the hoteliers to have knowledge and fully prepared with the opportunities and challenges that they might be facing prior developing Shariah Compliant Hotel in Malaysia.
Re-imagining Money and Banking: A New Monetarist Approach

This paper uses the framework created by Gu, Mattesini, Monnet, and Wright (2013) to present a very old, but forgotten, model of banking. The mechanism design approach of GMMW is used to demonstrate that in an environment with anonymous agents, liquidity frictions, and positive discount factors, the introduction of a paid account-keeper – or bank – improves welfare by making it possible for non-banks to monetize the value of the weight that they put on the future. A crucial aspect of this model of banking is that the payments system is based on unsecured credit, not on collateralized obligations.
A Content Analysis of Catholic School Written Discipline Policies

School discipline has traditionally endorsed the use of exclusionary practices (i.e. suspension and expulsion). Such practices can have a negative short- and long-term impact on student lives, and tend to be enforced disproportionately with certain student populations. Although public school discipline policies have received increased scrutiny in recent years, Catholic school policies have received very little attention. This study presents the results of a content analysis of the written discipline policies of 33 Catholic secondary schools from two dioceses within a major metropolitan area in the United States. Results suggest that although variability exists in the types of behaviors included in formal written policies, schools in this sample rely heavily on exclusionary practices as possible consequences to many behaviors, even relatively minor ones. Further, they include positive or restorative consequences minimally, if at all. Suggestions for future research related to discipline practices in Catholic schools are made.
DETERMINANTS OF DIVIDEND POLICY IN KUWAIT STOCK EXCHANGE

This paper seeks to find the determinants of dividend policy of the firms in Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE). The study uses a firm-level panel data set of publicly traded firms on the Stock Exchange between 2011 and 2014. Three determinants have been employed (company size, profitability and financial leverage) and the data analyzed within the framework of OLS regression technique. The results show that the dividend policy in KSE Market is positively affected by leverage and risk and are positively affected by profitability, and company size. Consequently, the major determinants of dividend policy of the firms in KSE are profitability, leverage, level of risk and size. In all, the study found support for the profitability theory and agency cost theory, therefore, the determinants of dividend policy that are suggested by research in developed markets can be applied in developing market as well.
Genes involved in melanoma susceptibility and progression

Despite the ever-increasing levels of biologic complexity, major strides have been made in the past few years in three fundamental areas of research critical to understanding the biology of melanoma development and progression: 1) identifying a potential susceptibility gene on 9p21 and defining its role in control of the cell cycle; 2) the cataloguing of cytoplasmic, cell surface, and secreted proteins that play major roles in the ability of melanoma cells to migrate from the primary tumor to distant sites; and 3) the elucidation of the interconnected signal transduction pathways that couple the functions of these proteins to basic cellular processes such as architecture, locomotion, and gene transcription. This review briefly discusses each of these areas.
Gap Analysis between Provisional Diagnosis on Admission and Final Diagnosis during Discharge-A Comparative Study

Background: Achieving a high degree of diagnostic accuracy is important in practice of medicine. High degree of accuracy of provisional diagnosis may lead to use of lesser number of investigations with lesser cost burden to the health sector. Therefore, this gap analysis study aims to find out that how accurately provisional diagnosis matches final diagnosis. Methodology: This was a retrospective record based comparative study done in the Medicine Ward of R.G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata over a period of one month. Every patient having planned discharged on a particular day from male/female ward were selected and his/her treatment file was viewed and relevant informations were collected. The major outcome variable of the study was the matching/unmatching of final diagnosis with provisional diagnosis of the case. Results: Out of 420 patients, 182(43.3%) had their final diagnosis same as that of their provisional diagnosis. Association was found to be significant in case of period of hospital stay, referrals, type of investigations and number of investigations. Clinical examination had 55.4% sensitivity and while diagnostic investigations had sensitivity of 44.51% . Conclusion: Matching of provisional diagnosis with discharge diagnosis with greater accuracy and lesser number of investigations can lead to greater patient satisfaction along with lesser burden on health resources of the state. Technological developments for diagnosis are important but will never supplant the role of careful history taking for symptoms and clinical examination for signs. Keywords - gap analysis, provisional diagnosis, final diagnosis