Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Survey of diabetes knowledge and practices of dental hygienists.

BACKGROUND Increasing incidence of diabetes in the United States and risk for more severe periodontal disease in individuals with poorly controlled diabetes make it essential to provide access to education to prepare oral health providers to care for this population. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this survey was to assess the dental hygienist's diabetes knowledge, beliefs concerning the disease, and clinical practices to identify professional continuing education needs. analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to determine if significant differences existed in the amount of muscle activity generated with each fulcrum. METHODS A 5-part survey was constructed using the American Diabetes Association 2007 Clinical Practice Guidelines and the American Association of Periodontology Commissioned Review of diabetes and periodontal disease. Invitations to participate were disseminated electronically to American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) members. A convenience sample of dental hygienists (n=392) representing 48 states participated. RESULTS The majority of the respondents were female (99%), ages 41 to 60 (60.1%), and in practice more than 16 years (58.3%). Major deficits in knowledge were associated with the patient's hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) value and implications for diabetes control (50%). The survey responses indicated confusion about the current classifications of diabetes with 70% of respondents using classifications that are no longer recognized. Seventy-five to 90% of participants were unfamiliar with the impact of various types of diabetes medications on dental care. CONCLUSIONS Dental hygienists in this survey demonstrated a need for enhancing knowledge about diabetes as it applies to clinical patient care. The areas of greatest need included the American Diabetes Association Clinical Practice Guidelines for standards of care, diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, medications, and best practices for interacting with other health professionals when caring for people with diabetes.
Current options for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis

The diagnostic options for chronic pancreatitis have evolved over recent years. The previous gold standard references for structural imaging and exocrine pancreatic function testing have both been supplanted and redesigned. Endoscopic retrograde pancreatography has now been overtaken by endoscopic ultrasound and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, whilst the old technique for Dreiling tube pancreatic function testing has now been replaced by the endoscopic pancreatic function test. New advances in endoscopic ultrasound elastography have also extended the options for evaluating pancreatic masses to differentiate mass-forming chronic pancreatitis from malignancy. Genetic contribution to chronic pancreatitis is also now more widely recognized than ever before.
¿La descentralización empereza?. Efecto de las transferencias sobre los ingresos tributarios municipales en Colombia

En este estudio se estima el efecto de las transferencias, como mecanismo transmisor de la descentralizacion, sobre los ingresos tributarios municipales en Colombia. Se utiliza una metodologia de diferencias en diferencias, la cual permite tener en cuenta los cambios en la tendencia de crecimiento de los ingresos, de acuerdo con las caracteristicas propias de cada municipio, antes y despues de la descentralizacion. La estrategia empirica supera algunos problemas econometricos presentes en otros estudios. Se encuentra que el comportamiento de los ingresos tributarios municipales mejoro simultaneamente con el aumento de las transferencias, especialmente para el caso del impuesto predial. Este resultado rechaza la hipotesis de que el aumento en las transferencias desestimula el esfuerzo tributario, fenomeno conocido como pereza fiscal. El esfuerzo fiscal es diferencial de acuerdo con las caracteristicas demograficas y socioeconomicas de cada municipio.
Relationships of Serum Leptin Levels with Biochemical Markers of Bone Turnover and with Growth Factors in Normal Weight and Overweight Children

Objective: To examine the hypothesis of an influence of leptin on growth factors and on biochemical markers of bone turnover of prepubertal overweight children. Design and Methods: 395 prepubertal children, 6–13 years of age, were selected and the relationships between circulating serum levels of leptin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), insulin growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and some biochemical markers of bone turnover (osteocalcin, OC; carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen, PICP, and carboxyterminal propeptide of type I collagen, ICTP) were analyzed. The subjects were subdivided into normal weight (NW, n = 163) and weight excess (WE, n = 232) subjects. Results and Conclusions: Significant differences between the two groups were found for leptin (p < 0.01), IGF-I (p < 0.01) and IGFBP-3 (p < 0.01), with higher values in WEs, and for OC (p < 0.01) with higher values in NWs. A significant reduction of leptin (p < 0.01) and IGFBP-3 (p < 0.01) serum values and an increase of those of OC (p < 0.01) and PICP (p < 0.05), but not of ICTP, were registered in 103 WEs who showed a drop in weight excess during a weight-excess reduction program. No variations were observed in 26 non-responsive subjects. In a multivariate analysis in which leptin, corrected by BMI and sex, was the independent variable, a significant negative correlation was found with PICP (β = –0.235, p < 0.01), IGF-I (β = –0.180, p < 0.01) and height velocity (β = –0.155, p < 0.01). There was no correlation with OC, ICTP and IGFBP-3. The results demonstrate that nutritional status and leptin levels are involved in the regulation of growth factors and biochemical markers of bone formation.
Environmental enrichment during adolescence reverses the effects of prenatal stress on play behaviour and HPA axis reactivity in rats

Prenatal stress (PS) can produce profound and long‐lasting perturbations of individual adaptive capacities, which in turn can result in an increased proneness to behavioural disorders. Indeed, in PS rats there is evidence of impaired social play behaviour, disturbances in a variety of circadian rhythms, enhanced anxiety and increased hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity. This study was designed to experimentally investigate the degree of reversibility of PS‐induced disturbances of social play and HPA reactivity by assessing the effect of the enrichment of the physical environment on PS rats during periadolescence. PS subjects showed a reduced expression of social play behaviour and a prolonged corticosterone secretion in response to restraint stress, but both these effects were markedly reversed following environmental enrichment. Interestingly, the enrichment procedure increased social behaviour but had no effect on corticosterone secretion in nonstressed animals, indicating a differential impact of the postnatal environment as a function of prenatal background. As a whole, results clearly indicate that rats prenatally exposed to stress can benefit during periadolescence from the modulatory effects of an enriched environment. Moreover, they confirm that PS may well represent a suitable animal model for the design and testing of new therapeutic strategies for behavioural disorders produced by early insults.
Pneumococcal coinfection with human metapneumovirus.

BACKGROUND Infection with the newly discovered human metapneumovirus (hMPV) may lead to hospitalization of children with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), although the pathogenesis thereof remains to be elucidated. METHODS This hypothesis-generating study involved a cohort of children randomized to receive 9-valent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine or placebo and who were tested for hMPV infection when hospitalized for LRTI. By use of a nested reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assay targeted at amplifying a fragment of the hMPV fusion (F) protein gene, 202 such infections were identified among 2715 episodes of LRTI in children. RESULTS Among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-uninfected children who had received 3 doses of conjugate pneumococcal vaccine, the incidence of hMPV-associated LRTI was reduced by 45% (95% confidence interval [CI], 19%-62%; P = .002), and the incidence of clinical pneumonia was reduced by 55% (95% CI, 22%-74%; P = .003). Similarly, in fully vaccinated HIV-infected children, the incidence of hMPV-associated LRTI was reduced by 53% (95% CI, 3%-77%; P = .035), and that of clinical pneumonia was reduced by 65% (95% CI, 19%-85%; P = .020). CONCLUSIONS The pathogenesis of hMPV-associated LRTI that results in hospitalization of both HIV-infected and -uninfected children involves bacterial coinfection with pneumococcus, and a significant proportion of these hospitalizations may be prevented by vaccination with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.
Meta‐analysis of functional brain imaging in specific phobia

Although specific phobia is a prevalent anxiety disorder, evidence regarding its underlying functional neuroanatomy is inconsistent. A meta‐analysis was undertaken to identify brain regions that were consistently responsive to phobic stimuli, and to characterize changes in brain activation following cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). We searched the PubMed, SCOPUS and PsycINFO databases to identify positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies comparing brain activation in specific phobia patients and healthy controls. Two raters independently extracted study data from all the eligible studies, and pooled coordinates from these studies using activation likelihood estimation, a quantitative meta‐analytic technique. Resulting statistical parametric maps were compared between patients and healthy controls, in response to phobic versus fear‐evoking stimuli, and before and after therapy. Thirteen studies were included, comprising 327 participants. Regions that were consistently activated in response to phobic stimuli included the left insula, amygdala, and globus pallidus. Compared to healthy controls, phobic subjects had increased activation in response to phobic stimuli in the left amygdala/globus pallidus, left insula, right thalamus (pulvinar), and cerebellum. Following exposure‐based therapy widespread deactivation was observed in the right frontal cortex, limbic cortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum, with increased activation detected in the thalamus. Exposure to phobia‐specific stimuli elicits brain activation that is consistent with current understandings of the neuroanatomy of fear conditioning and extinction. There is evidence that the effects of CBT in specific phobia may be mediated through the same underlying neurocircuitry.
Childhood Abuse and Current Intimate Partner Violence: A Population Study in Hong Kong

Previous studies have established that childhood violence victimization is associated with current experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). Existing literature, however, focused exclusively on female survivors and physical IPV and relied on non-representative samples. The present study examined the associations between life adversities and IPV using a representative sample of 1,239 men and women aged between 18 and 97. Participants provided information on their demographic characteristics, lifetime history of adverse life events, and past year IPV. Results show that IPV is common with 32.8% of the participants having reported past year psychological aggression, 4.5% reported physical abuse, and 1.1% reported injury. Various life adversities were also common with 21.7% having reported family disruption, 6% having experienced abuse or witnessing violence, and 2.1% life-threatening events. Logistic regression analyses revealed that experiencing abuse or witnessing violence in childhood is associated with a greater risk of past year psychological aggression, physical assault, and injury. Results were significant even after controlling for demographics and other life adversities. Family disruption in childhood was associated with increased risk of past year injury, but the association diminished after controlling for the rest of the variables. Experience of life-threatening events was not associated with any form of past year IPV. Altogether, our results point out that childhood victimization, especially physical abuse by parents, is associated with future long-term risk of IPV. This highlights the importance of early prevention and intervention for child abuse.
Gastric emptying in critically ill patients is accelerated by adding cisapride to a standard enteral feeding protocol: results of a prospective, randomized, controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of cisapride, a relatively new prokinetic agent, on gastric emptying in critically ill patients. DESIGN Prospective, randomized, controlled study. SETTING Adult medical/surgical intensive care unit in a university hospital. PATIENTS Twenty-one consecutively enrolled patients, requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation and enteral feeding. INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive either no cisapride or 10 mg of cisapride four times daily, which was added to a standard enteral nutrition feeding protocol. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Gastric emptying was evaluated by daily measurements of gastric residue and on days 5 through 7 by bedside scintigraphy. Normal values for gastric clearance of a tracer-labeled test meal and for measurements obtained in the supine position were determined in ten healthy volunteers. The mean time at which 50% of the technetium 99m-labeled test meal was eliminated from the stomach (T 1/2) in this control group was 31 +/- 15 mins. In ten critically ill patients (enteral nutrition group), gastric emptying was markedly delayed after 5 to 7 days of enteral feeding (mean T 1/2 = 78 +/- 40 mins; p < .002 as compared with the control group). In contrast, patients treated with cisapride (cisapride group) showed an accelerated gastric emptying (mean T 1/2 = 18 +/- 7 mins; p > .05 as compared with controls; p < .005 as compared with enteral nutrition group). The mean gastric residue over a 1-wk period was also significantly lower in the cisapride group than in the enteral nutrition group (17.7 +/- 8.9 vs. 94.5 +/- 33.4 mL; p < .001). CONCLUSIONS The data indicate that gastric emptying in critically ill, sedated, and mechanically ventilated patients can be significantly improved by adding cisapride to a routine enteral feeding protocol.
Telomeres in Trisomy 21 Amniocytes

Individuals with trisomy 21 have an increased risk of developing leukemia and premature dementia. They also have a higher rate of telomere loss. The aim of the study was to compare telomere length and the hTERC gene copy number, which encodes the telomerase RNA subunit, in amniocytes of trisomy 21 conceptions and normal pregnancies. A quantitative fluorescence-in-situ protocol (Q-FISH) was used to compare telomere length in amniocytes cultured from 11 trisomy 21 conceptions and from 14 normal pregnancies. Quantification was conducted using novel computer software. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to assess the percentage of cells with additional copies of hTERC. We found that the immunofluorescence intensity, which represents telomere length, was significantly lower in amniocytes from trisomy 21 conceptions compared to the control group. The trisomy 21 group had a higher number of cells with additional copies of hTERC. This observation could be one of the cytogenetic parameters that represent a state of genetic instability and might play a role in the pathomechanism of typical features of Down syndrome, such as dementia and malignancy.
Psychiatric Disturbance in Mentally Handicapped Patients

Summary One hundred and two mentally handicapped and severely mentally handicapped patients with behaviour disorders and superadded mental illnesses which, in most cases, had not responded adequately to oral medication, entered a 12-week study of fluphenazine decanoate depot injections. Some of the patients had the additional complications of epilepsy, organic brain damage, and physical handicap. Highly significant overall improvements occurred, irrespective of such factors as the patient's age, sex, degree of mental handicap, or co-existence of epilepsy, or brain damage. Hyperpyrexia was not encountered. Extrapyramidal disturbance in 22 of the patients, were mostly well controlled by antiparkinson medication; eight of the 12 patients with pre-trial extrapyramidal abnormalities lost these during the study. Fluphenazine decanoate injections proved a reliable drug-delivery system, which may improve difficult behaviours and enable the mentally handicapped patient to be more receptive to behaviour-shaping exercises, aimed at improving long-term personality adjustment.
Effects of copper vapor laser radiation on the root canal wall of human teeth: a scanning electron microscope study.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of copper vapor laser radiation on the radicular wall of human teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS Immediately after the crowns of 10 human uniradicular teeth were cut along the cement-enamel junction, a chemical-surgical preparation of the radicular canals was completed. Then the roots were longitudinally sectioned to allow for irradiation of the surfaces of the dentin walls of the root canals. The hemi-roots were separated into two groups: one (control) with five hemi-roots that were not irradiated, and another (experimental) with 15 hemi-roots divided into three subgroups that were submitted to the following exposure times: 0.02, 0.05, and 0.1 s. A opper vapor laser (510.6 nm) with a total average power of 6.5 W in green emission, frequency of 16.000 Hz, and pulse duration of 30 ns was used. RESULTS The results obtained by scanning electron microscope analysis showed the appearance of a cavity in the region of laser beam impact, with melting, recrystallization, and cracking on the edges of the dentin of the cavity due to heat diffusion. CONCLUSIONS We determined that the copper vapor laser produces significant morphologic changes in the radicular wall of human teeth when using the parameters in this study. However, further research should be done to establish parameters that are compatible with dental structure in order to eliminate thermal damages.
Determinants of soybean adoption and performance in Northern Ghana

Soybean has been the world’s fastest growing crop over the last 15 years. Yet, as an untraditional and unfamiliar crop, soybean requires small farmers to move beyond their traditional production practices and marketing arrangements in order to produce a successful crop. We employ complexity theory to frame soybean’s production and market differences as significant and non-incremental for smallholder farmers, thus making soybean a ‘long-jump’ agricultural technology problem. We consider three estimation strategies using a primary dataset of smallholder women soybean producers in the Upper West region of Ghana. We first employ probit and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models to understand adoption and performance. We then employ a combined spatial-autoregressive with spatial-autoregressive disturbances (SARAR) model using generalised spatial two-stage least squares to understand cross-unit interactions in a spatial dimension. We find positive, large and significant spatial autoregressive dependence and knowledge spillover to affect the soybean yields of smallholder female farmers within spatial networks. This finding provides guidance for agricultural development practitioners regarding the importance of social interaction and information provision when promoting long-jump technologies like soybean.
Screening of Derris indica Bennet. for cytotoxicity against Artemia salina and phytotoxicity on mustard seeds.

Chloroform extracts of the fruit shell, leaves, root bark, root wood, seeds, stem bark and stem wood of Derris indica Bennet. were tested against the brine shrimp, A rtemia salina nauplii. All the test extracts of D. indica were found to be effective. The LC 50 values of the extracts were 15312.37, 92.074 and 29.661 ppm for the fruit shell; 60922.83, 61.522 and 23.777 ppm for the leaf; 15312.37, 51.477 and 19.169 ppm for the root bark; 2598.584, 30.480 and 8.260 ppm for the root wood; 545.025,26.730 and 7.719 ppm for the seed; 60922.83, 114.549 and 29.572 ppm for the stem bark and 7734.618, 58.501 and 23.694 ppm for the stem wood at 30 minute, 24 hours and 48 hours post exposures respectively at doses 200, 100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25, 3.125 and 1.563 ppm against A. salina . The toxicity of the extracts could be arranged in the order: seed > root wood > root bark> stem wood > leaf > fruit shell > stem bark extract. However, the extracts did not significantly inhibit the germination of mustard oil seeds, and thus its application to crops or to the crop field may not cause any harm to crop plants. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/ujzru.v31i0. 15402 Univ. j. zool. Rajshahi Univ. Vol. 31, 2012 pp. 59-64
Magnetic Properties and Interfacial Anisotropies of Pt/Co/AlOx Perpendicularly Magnetized Thin Films

The thin films of Pt/Co/AlOx, showing perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, were grown by magnetron sputtering with AlOx formed by the oxidation of thin Al layers using an oxygen atom source. Films were studied as a function of Pt thickness and Al oxidation, and films that showed full remanence and sharp switching coercivity were achieved. In order to prevent further oxidation of the interface in ambient conditions, we use a double Al growth and oxidation process. The magnetooptical Kerr effect and vibrating sample magnetometry were used to analyze these films. We find an effective perpendicular anisotropy of 2 × 106 erg/cm3, with the majority of the perpendicular anisotropy coming from the Pt/Co interface. From the sweep rate dependence on the coercivity, we are able to extract an activation volume of 4.3 ± 0.5 × 10-18 cm3, similar to other Co-based perpendicular systems.
Evaluation of beneficial effects of nonnutritive sucking in preterm infants.

The effects of nonnutritive sucking (NNS) were studied in 40 preterm infants weighing less than or equal to 1800 g and of less than or equal to 35 weeks gestation by using a pacifier. The provision of NNS accelerated the maturation of sucking resulting in a faster transition from gavage to oral feedings. Treated infants (20) were ready for bottle feeds 1.54 days earlier, took their bottle feeds 1.5 min/30 ml faster and were transferred out of the nursery on an average . 5 days earlier than the control infants. No adverse effects due to NNS were observed throughout the period of study. This resulted in an earlier union with their mother, less maternal deprivation and decreased work load on the nursery staff. Used judiciously this simple and safe modality of providing a pacifier for NNS during tube feeding may be useful in the management of preterm infants.
Observation of cusps during the levelling of free surfaces in viscous flows

We experimentally study the formation of cusps at the free surfaces of viscous fluids in three simple cases that portray possible natural or industrial processes. Two cases concern levelling driven by gravity: the case (A) of a sinusoidal surface and the case (B) of a single groove. In the third case (C), an initially sinusoidal surface evolves under the action of a fast enough lateral compression that the effects of gravity are negligible. Case (A) shows a critical aspect ratio above which the cusps form. Case (B) allows a more detailed study of the evolution of the cuspidal structure, which does not change in shape but reduces its size according to a simple power law dependence in time. In case (C), cusps form even for small initial aspect ratios.