Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The relationship between normative orthodontic treatment need and oral health-related quality of life.

OBJECTIVES The first objective was to assess whether having had orthodontic treatment affected the levels of oral health-related quality of life impacts in Brazilian adolescents. A second objective was to assess the relationship between a normative clinical measure of orthodontic treatment need and two measures of oral health-related quality of life. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted in Bauru, SP, Brazil, on 1675 randomly selected adolescents aged between 15 and 16 years. Adolescents were clinically examined using the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). Two oral health-related quality of life measures, namely the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) and the shortened version of the Oral Health Impacts Profile (OHIP-14) were used to assess the adolescents' oral health-related impacts. Multiple logistic regression was used in the data analysis. RESULTS Adolescents who had completed orthodontic treatment reported less oral health impacts on their daily life activities than those currently under treatment or those who never had any treatment. Combining the IOTN index with either of the two oral health-related quality of life measures used in this study provided more information about the adolescents' perceived satisfaction with their appearance than the IOTN on its own. CONCLUSION Current methods of assessing orthodontic need should be complemented by oral health-related quality of life measures with valid psychometric properties, and measures of perceived need.
Intermediation, reciprocity and compatibility in regional innovation systems - an interregional comparison

This paper investigates the possible presence of three problems in regional innovation systems (RIS): intermediation, reciprocity and compatibility. Based on i¬ rm data gathered for three different regions, Northern Hesse, Jena and Sophia Antipolis, we can show that a low propensity to cooperate in a RIS is related to poorly performing intermediaries and a low complementarity with the regional knowledge base. The issue of trust in cooperating tends to have no effect on the propensity to cooperate. However, it is a main determinant of failed cooperation projects.
Response to Calcium of Skinned Gallbladder Smooth Muscle from Newborn and Adult Guinea Pigs

ABSTRACT: Guinea pig gallbladder smooth muscle contractility undergoes a period of postnatal maturation. Because tissues from adult animals contract more forcefully than tissues from newborn animals when stimulated with agonists that activate the contractile process through different mechanisms (receptor activation, membrane depolarization), we proposed that factors unrelated to the mechanism of action of the agonist may contribute to the difference in force development between the age groups. Our study tested this hypothesis by examining the in vitro contractile response to calcium of membrane skinned muscle preparations from newborn and adult guinea pigs. Cell membranes were permeabilized using a Triton X-100 (0.5%) skinning solution. The muscle strips were rinsed in relaxing solution then contracted with calcium. The contracting solution contained either 1, 5, 10, or 20 μM calcium. Each muscle strip was stimulated with a single concentration of calcium. The resutls can be summarized as follows: I) the maximal response of the skinned preparations did not differ from that of membrane intact preparations: 2) tissues from each age group contracted in a dose-response manner with the maximal response occurring at 10 μM calcium; and 3) at each caleium concentration, tissues from adult animals devellped more active force than tissues from newborn animals. The data suggest that the postnatal maturation of gallbladder smooth muscle contractility includes factors involved in calcium activation of the excitation-contraction compling process.
Clinical outcomes of two different types of open-door laminoplasties for cervical compressive myelopathy: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND Hirabayashi open-door laminoplasty is the most typical surgical treatment option for cervical compressive myelopathy, however, this conventional approach has many complications. To minimize these complications, many modified approaches have been devised. AIMS To compare clinical outcomes of two different types of open-door laminoplasties for cervical compressive myelopathy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifty patients (31 men and 19 women) with cervical compressive myelopathy were prospectively allocated to two groups, 25 patients in each group. Patients in Group A underwent Hirabayashi open-door laminoplasty and patients in Group B underwent modified instrumented approach. The following parameters were studied: operation time, blood loss, perioperative complications, Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) scores, axial pain, and short-form 36 (SF-36). Cervical lordosis was reviewed as lordotic angle, measured at C2-C7. RESULTS Mean operation time and blood loss in both the groups were similar. Perioperative complications occurred more frequently in Group A than in Group B. Although there were no significant differences in postoperative JOA scores between the two groups, axial pain was significantly decreased in Group B at final follow-up. The scores of all subscales of SF-36 were higher in Group B than in Group A. CONCLUSION Both the conventional and instrumented techniques provide similar good results but the instrumented technique provided better axial pain relief and lower incidence of perioperative complications.
Structural identification of production functions

This paper examines some of the recent literature on the identi�cation of production functions. We focus on structural techniques suggested in two recent papers, Olley and Pakes (1996), and Levinsohn and Petrin (2003). While there are some solid and intuitive indenti�cation ideas in these papers, we argue that the techniques, particularly those of Levinsohn and Petrin, su¤er from collinearity problems which we believe cast doubt on the methodology. We then suggest alternative methodologies which make use of the ideas in these papers, but do not su¤er from these collinearity problems.
The Revival of Scale Effects

Scale effects in growth, positive effects of the population size on per capita output growth, have been rejected by cross-country regressions. This paper, however, finds that long-run time-series data supports the effects. Moreover, although scale effects in growth seem to be inconsistent with the fact that a substantial increase in the R&D labor in the postwar United States did not raise its growth rate, the theoretical part of this paper proposes costly international knowledge diffusion as its possible reason, suggesting that growth did not improve most likely because additional R&D labor was devoted to knowledge diffusion, rather than innovation. Calibration analysis shows that the key variables predicted by the model are not very different from their actual values in the postwar United States.
An Event Study of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE): Implications for Post-Dollarisation Market Efficiency

This paper investigates the impact of earnings (full-year, half-year and dividend) announcements and cautionary statements on returns of ZSE listed companies post-dollarisation of the economy in 2009. A standard CMRM based event study methodology (EVM) is applied to weekly returns from January 2010 to December 2012. Findings suggest that earnings announcements and cautionary statements have no impact on returns of companies traded on the ZSE characterised by a very weak correlation of between ‘good/bad news’ and the direction of significant CARs. We conclude that alleged insider trading, high costs of trading and market undervaluation make it difficult for EVM to detect abnormal returns, thereby painting picture of compliance with the weak to semi-strong forms of the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014. v5n3p273
Do Market Efficiency Measures Yield Correct Inferences? A Comparison of Developed and Emerging Markets

Using data from 56 markets, we find that short-term reversal, post-earnings drift, and momentum strategies earn similar returns in emerging and developed markets. Variance ratios and market delay measures often show greater deviations from random walk pricing in developed markets. Conceptually, we show that commonly used efficiency tests can yield misleading inferences because they do not control for the information environment. Our evidence corrects misperceptions that emerging markets feature larger trading profits and higher return autocorrelation, highlights crucial limitations of weak and semi-strong form efficiency measures, and points to the importance of measuring informational aspects of efficiency. The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Society for Financial Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org. , Oxford University Press.
Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration: A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Utility of the ProCore Biopsy Needle for Lymph Node Sampling

Objective: The ProCore ultrasound biopsy needle, used primarily to obtain intra-abdominal tissue core biopsies, has not been widely used for endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). In this pilot study we evaluated the utility of the ProCore needle for sampling mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes during EBUS-TBNA. Design: Thirty-two patients were identified using both ProCore and conventional fine-needle aspiration (FNA) needles for sampling mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes (the study group). Another 33 patients underwent EBUS-TBNA using an FNA needle only (the control group). Specimen satisfactory rates were compared between the study and control groups. Aspirate smears and cell blocks were evaluated for the cellularity of lesional cells and bronchial contamination in a subset of patients in the study group. Results: Overall, the ProCore needle did not show additive value to specimen adequacy when comparing the satisfactory rates of the study and control groups (94 vs. 89%). The ProCore needle also did not procure significantly more lesional cells than the FNA needle. Conclusion: Our experience shows that the ProCore needle does not provide additive value when performing an FNA of mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes. The evaluation of more cases with this new technique is necessary to better determine the clinical utility of using ProCore during EBUS-TBNA.
Why are polar residues within the membrane core evolutionary conserved?

Here, we present a study of polar residues within the membrane core of alpha‐helical membrane proteins. As expected, polar residues are less frequent in the membrane than expected. Further, most of these residues are buried within the interior of the protein and are only rarely exposed to lipids. However, the polar groups often border internal water filled cavities, even if the rest of the sidechain is buried. A survey of their functional roles in known structures showed that the polar residues are often directly involved in binding of small compounds, especially in channels and transporters, but other functions including proton transfer, catalysis, and selectivity have also been attributed to these proteins. Among the polar residues histidines often interact with prosthetic groups in photosynthetic‐ and oxidoreductase‐related proteins, whereas prolines often are required for conformational changes of the proteins. Indeed, the polar residues in the membrane core are more conserved than other residues in the core, as well as more conserved than polar residues outside the membrane. The reason is twofold; they are often (i) buried in the interior of the protein and (ii) directly involved in the function of the proteins. Finally, a method to identify which polar residues are present within the membrane core directly from protein sequences was developed. Applying the method to the set of all human membrane proteins the prediction indicates that polar residues were most frequent among active transporter proteins and GPCRs, whereas infrequent in families with few transmembrane regions, such as non‐GPCR receptors. Proteins 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Türkiye'de Enflasyon - Büyüme İlişkisi : Zaman Serisi Analizi

The relationship between inflation and growth in Turkey is examined in this paper with time series analysis using quarterly data related to 1987-2002 period. A unidirectional casuality runs from inflation to growth within the Granger casuality analysis. The regression analysis we have made points out that inflation effects growth negatively. Every 1 point increase in inflation is found to decrease growth rate by 0.37 points during the examined period.
Pre‐clinical evidence of enhanced oral bioavailability of the P‐glycoprotein substrate talinolol in combination with morin

Most known interactions between herbal extracts and drugs involve the inhibition of drug‐metabolizing enzymes, but little is yet known about the possible role of transporters in these interactions. In order to evaluate the effect of one of such prominent flavonoids, morin, on P‐glycoprotein related efflux carriers, measurements of transport characteristics through Ussing chambers, in situ perfusion and in vivo drug absorption studies were performed with the transported, yet not metabolized model compound talinolol.
Information technology in peripheral small and medium hospitality enterprises: strategic analysis and critical factors

Small and medium hospitality organisations (SMHOs) are increasingly recognized as pivotal in the ability of destinations to benefit from tourism as well as to satisfy tourism demand. However, it is recognized that they are often marginalized from the mainstream tourism industry, owing to their inability and reluctance to utilize information technologies (ITs). This paper is based on research undertaken in peripheral SMHOs, located in rural Wales destinations, Alpine French resorts and the Greek Aegean Islands. It explores the factors determining the adaptation of ITs by examining the stakeholders of small hospitality organizations, as well as the push and pull factors they exercise. It also illustrates a number of catalysts for ITs penetration and future trends in the hospitality industry, e.g. disintermediation and mass customization. Argues that SMHOs which fail to adapt and utilize ITs will suffer competitive disadvantages and jeopardize the prosperity of destinations.
The Effects of Increasing Plasma Concentrations of Dexmedetomidine in Humans

Background This study determined the responses to increasing plasma concentrations of dexmedetomidine in humans. Methods Ten healthy men (20–27 yr) provided informed consent and were monitored (underwent electrocardiography, measured arterial, central venous [CVP] and pulmonary artery [PAP] pressures, cardiac output, oxygen saturation, end-tidal carbon dioxide [ETCO2], respiration, blood gas, and catecholamines). Hemodynamic measurements, blood sampling, and psychometric, cold pressor, and baroreflex tests were performed at rest and during sequential 40-min intravenous target infusions of dexmedetomidine (0.5, 0.8, 1.2, 2.0, 3.2, 5.0, and 8.0 ng/ml; baroreflex testing only at 0.5 and 0.8 ng/ml). Results The initial dose of dexmedetomidine decreased catecholamines 45–76% and eliminated the norepinephrine increase that was seen during the cold pressor test. Catecholamine suppression persisted in subsequent infusions. The first two doses of dexmedetomidine increased sedation 38 and 65%, and lowered mean arterial pressure by 13%, but did not change central venous pressure or pulmonary artery pressure. Subsequent higher doses increased sedation, all pressures, and calculated vascular resistance, and resulted in significant decreases in heart rate, cardiac output, and stroke volume. Recall and recognition decreased at a dose of more than 0.7 ng/ml. The pain rating and mean arterial pressure increase to cold pressor test progressively diminished as the dexmedetomidine dose increased. The baroreflex heart rate slowing as a result of phenylephrine challenge was potentiated at both doses of dexmedetomidine. Respiratory variables were minimally changed during infusions, whereas acid–base was unchanged. Conclusions Increasing concentrations of dexmedetomidine in humans resulted in progressive increases in sedation and analgesia, decreases in heart rate, cardiac output, and memory. A biphasic (low, then high) dose–response relation for mean arterial pressure, pulmonary arterial pressure, and vascular resistances, and an attenuation of the cold pressor response also were observed.
A province-level analysis of economies of scale in Canadian food processing

Cost functions of three Canadian food-processing sectors (meat, bakery, and dairy) are estimated using provincial data. A translog functional form is used, and the concavity property of the cost function is imposed locally. The Morishima substitution elasticities and scale elasticities are computed for different provinces. Inference is carried out using asymptotic theory as well as bootstrap methods. The evidence suggests that there are significant substitution possibilities between the agricultural input and other production factors in the meat and bakery sectors. Scale elasticities suggest that increasing returns to scale are present in the bakery and meat industries. To account for supply management in the dairy sector, separability between raw milk and other inputs was introduced. There exists evidence of increasing returns to scale at the industry level in the small producing provinces, but decreasing returns to scale in the two largest dairy provinces (Ontario and Quebec). lJEL Classification: D240, C300r. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A systematic review of dydrogesterone for the treatment of recurrent miscarriage

Abstract The objective of this systematic review was to assesses whether the orally acting progestagen, dydrogesterone lowers the incidence of subsequent miscarriage in women with recurrent miscarriage. A computerized search was performed in Medline, Embase and Ovid Medline for original reports with the product name “Duphaston” or “dydrogesterone” and limited to clinical human data. Thirteen reports of dydrogesterone treatment were identified. Two randomized trials and one non-randomized comparative trial were identified, including 509 women who fulfilled the criteria for meta-analysis. The number of subsequent miscarriages or continuing pregnancies per woman was compared in women receiving dydrogesterone compared to standard bed rest or placebo intervention. There was a 10.5% (29/275) miscarriage rate after dydrogesterone administration compared to 23.5% in control women (odds ratio for miscarriage 0.29 [confidence interval 0.13–0.65] and 13% absolute reduction in the miscarriage rate). The adverse and side effects were summarised in all 13 reports, and seemed to be minimal. Although all the predictive and confounding factors could not be controlled for, the results of this systematic review show a significant reduction of 29% in the odds for miscarriage when dydrogesterone is compared to standard care indicating a real treatment effect.
Intraindustry Specialization and the Proposed Korea–United States Free Trade Agreement

Changes in intraindustry specialization indicators over the 2000–2007 period are used to assess factor adjustment pressures that may arise in Korea from the proposed Korea–United States Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). There is considerable scope for intraindustry specialization between Korea and the United States. Results show few industries in Korea are candidates for adjustment problems. The 14 industries that may face adjustment pressures account for 13% of all Korean imports from the United States. Long tariff phase-out periods, tariff-rate quotas and import safeguards will be used to ease factor adjustment pressures in import-sensitive industries.
Evidence on Corporate Hedging Policy

Abstract This paper provides empirical evidence on the determinants of corporate hedging decisions. The paper examines the evidence in light of currently mandated financial reporting requirements and, in particular, the constraints placed on anticipatory hedging. Data on hedging are obtained from 1992 annual reports for a sample of 3,022 firms. Out of the 771 firms classified as hedgers, 543 firms disclose information in their annual reports on their hedging activities; the remaining 228 firms report use of derivatives but no information on hedging activities. Based on the evidence, I draw the following conclusions with respect to the models of hedging: evidence is inconsistent with financial distress cost models; evidence is mixed with respect to contracting cost, capital market imperfections, and tax-based models; and evidence uniformly supports the hypothesis that hedging activities exhibit economies of scale.
A simple scaling approach to produce climate scenarios of local precipitation extremes for the Netherlands

Scenarios of future changes in small scale precipitation extremes for the Netherlands are presented. These scenarios are based on a new approach whereby changes in precipitation extremes are set proportional to the change in water vapor amount near the surface as measured by the 2m dew point temperature. This simple scaling framework allows the integration of information derived from: (i) observations, (ii) a new unprecedentedly large 16 member ensemble of simulations with the regional climate model RACMO2 driven by EC-Earth, and (iii) short term integrations with a non-hydrostatic model Harmonie. Scaling constants are based on subjective weighting (expert judgement) of the three different information sources taking also into account previously published work. In all scenarios local precipitation extremes increase with warming, yet with broad uncertainty ranges expressing incomplete knowledge of how convective clouds and the atmospheric mesoscale circulation will react to climate change.
Absenteeism predictors: least squares, rank regression, and model selection results

This paper examines the determinants of absenteeism using ordinary least squares rank-based regressions and a model selection procedure. The results show that personal attributes are the most important determinants of long-term absences. For total working days lost, the penalty factors are the most significant predictors. The results also show that absenteeism tends to be lower among firms with more part-time workers. Unionization, on the other hand, increases the total days lost due to absenteeism.