Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of the Addition of Varying Concentrations of Silver Nanoparticles on the Fluoride Uptake and Recharge of Glass Ionomer Cement

This study aimed to compare the amount of fluoride uptake and the recharge and release characteristics of conventional glass ionomer cement (GIC) without any additives in comparison to conventional glass ionomer cement supplemented with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) at two concentrations: 0.1% and 0.2% (w/w). A total of 60 specimens were used in this in vitro study. The sample was divided into six groups—including three groups without fluoride charge: Group 1 (conventional GIC), Group 2 (GIC with 0.1% silver nanoparticles), and Group 3 (GIC with 0.2% silver nanoparticles; and three groups with fluoride charge: Group 4 (conventional GIC with fluoride); Group 5 (GIC with 0.1% silver nanoparticles with fluoride); Group 6 (GIC with 0.2% silver nanoparticles with fluoride), where Group 1 is considered the control group and the other five groups are used as the test groups. The amount of fluoride released was measured on days 1, 2, 7, 15, and 30. The comparisons were made between the groups with and without fluoride and among all the groups. A significant difference in the amount of fluoride released was observed between the groups, with the highest amount occurring in Group 1, followed by Group 2; the lowest amount of fluoride released was observed in Group 3 (p < 0.05). The groups with fluoride recharge (Groups 4, 5, and 6) exhibited a higher amount of fluoride release than the groups with no recharge (Groups 1, 2, and 3); however, Group 1 has more fluoride release compared to all other groups on days 1, 2, 7, 15, and 30 (p < 0.05). The amount of released fluoride decreased from day 1 to day 30 in all of the groups in the study. Despite the antimicrobial and anticariogenic benefits of adding silver nanoparticles to GIC, it seems that fluoride release characteristics are significantly affected by the addition of this material. This may force the clinician to a compromise between the antimicrobial benefit of silver nanoparticles and the remineralizing advantage of fluoride.
Protective Effect against Neosporosis Induced by Intranasal Immunization with Neospora caninum Membrane Antigens Plus Carbomer-Based Adjuvant

Neospora caninum is an obligate intracellular protozoan responsible for abortion and stillbirths in cattle. We previously developed a mucosal vaccination approach using N. caninum membrane proteins and CpG adjuvant that conferred long-term protection against neosporosis in mice. Here, we have extended this approach by alternatively using the carbomer-based adjuvant Carbigen™ in the immunizing preparation. Immunized mice presented higher proportions and numbers of memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Stimulation of spleen, lungs and liver leukocytes with parasite antigens induced a marked production of IFN-γ and IL-17A and, less markedly, IL-4. This balanced response was also evident in that both parasite-specific IgG1 and IgG2c were raised by immunization, together with specific intestinal IgA. Upon intraperitoneal infection with N. caninum, immunized mice presented lower parasitic burdens than sham-immunized controls. In the infected immunized mice, memory CD4+ T cells predominantly expressed T-bet and RORγt, and CD8+ T cells expressing T-bet were found increased. While spleen, lungs and liver leukocytes of both immunized and sham-immunized infected animals produced high amounts of IFN-γ, only the cells from immunized mice responded with high IL-17A production. Since in cattle both IFN-γ and IL-17A have been associated with protective mechanisms against N. caninum infection, the elicited cytokine profile obtained using CarbigenTM as adjuvant indicates that it could be worth exploring for bovine neosporosis vaccination.
Stimulating civic behavior? The paradoxes of incentivising self-organization

ABSTRACT Crowding theory has highlighted the unintended consequences that well-meant financial incentives can have on behaviour. Using field research, this study applies crowding theory to self-organising citizens’ initiatives in the Netherlands. Citizens’ initiatives create different kinds of goods and services and are sometimes supported by governmental ‘citizens’ initiatives stimulation funds’. We found that (1) the crowding effect is multifaceted; (2) the psychological processes and mechanisms of crowding in and out are subtle and can happen simultaneously; (3) in some instances, stimulation funds seem to have affected the preferences of the initiatives, such as expectations about the funds’ presence and procedures; and, (4) stimulation funds are well-suited to instrumentally support the initiatives in realising their plans and ambitions, but less suited in fostering civic behaviour or spontaneous self-organisation. Our research raises important considerations about the possibilities and constraints for stimulating civic behaviour through stimulating citizens’ initiatives.
Influence of Atmospheric Conditions on Mechanical Properties of Polyamide with Different Content of Recycled Material in Selective Laser Sintering

The price of material is an important factor when selecting the additive polymer procedure. In selective laser sintering (SLS), the price can be reduced by the recycling of material, i.e., with different shares of original and recycled material, as well as by the orientation of the product during manufacturing. Numerous tests warn that orientation in the direction of z axis should be as low as possible to reduce the total price of the product. The product also has to satisfy the influence of atmospheric conditions to which it is exposed during its lifetime, i.e., UV radiation and humid environment. UV light, with sun being its most common source, and average humidity in different parts of the world can be approximately from 20% to 90%, depending on time, day and geographic location. In this work, the test specimens have been made of original, mixed and 100% recycled material and then exposed to the influences of UV radiation and water absorption. After having been exposed to atmospheric conditions for a longer time, the mechanical properties of the polyamide products made by selective laser sintering were tested. The results show that exposure to UV radiation reduces tensile elongation at all ratios of recycled material and orientation of 70–90% except in the z direction, while in flexural deformation it is the other way around. The effect of water was observed only between the 7th–14th day of absorption with a decrease in strength until the deformation did not change.
Brief interventions in primary care for hazardous and harmful alcohol consumption: meta-analytic summary of three decades of research to inform clinical practice

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Alcohol and Alcoholism following peer review. The version of record F R Beyer, F Campbell, N Bertholet, J B Daeppen, J B Saunders, E D Pienaar, C R Muirhead, E F S Kaner, The Cochrane 2018 Review on Brief Interventions in Primary Care for Hazardous and Harmful Alcohol Consumption: A Distillation for Clinicians and Policy Makers, Alcohol and Alcoholism is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agz035
Intrusion Detection in Distributed Frequency Control of Isolated Microgrids

This paper presents a framework for distributed frequency control and intrusion detection in isolated microgrids (MGs). First, a distributed secondary control for isolated MGs, consisting of the local droop control at the primary level and a distributed node-to-node update at the secondary level, is proposed for achieving a proportional power sharing while maintaining the nominal system frequency. By casting it as a consensus optimization problem, we adopt the partial primal–dual algorithm for a totally distributed update requiring only neighboring information exchange. Attack models as well as countermeasures for malicious attacks on the communication network are also investigated. Two types of malicious attacks on the communication network, including link and node attacks, are studied. Model-based anomaly detection and localization strategies are developed by exploring the dual variable-related metrics. Numerical experiments have been performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control and countermeasure metrics.
(2016). Damage initiation in polymer matrix composites under high-cycle fatigue loading: A question of definition or a material property? International Journal of Fatigue 87 , 59-62.

Damage initiation in composites under high-cycle fatigue loading is often defined by the presence of a crack of detectable size. This article is intended to assess if damage initiation under cyclic loading can also be described in a more physical way. In order to achieve this, SN-curves for fatigue damage initiation are normalized by dividing the maximum stress per load cycle by the static strength. By presenting normalized fatigue damage initiation data, the influence of specimen geometry, test setup and fiber type can be eliminated. The normalized presentation of the experimental data suggests that fatigue damage initiation in composites subjected to high-cycle fatigue loading may indeed be a material property of the resin which can be described by a normalized SN-curve.
CMAR_A_250522 4009..4016

Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei City, Anhui Province 230031, People’s Republic of China Background: Germacrone, a natural product isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Rhizoma Curcuma, has been reported to exhibit antitumor activities in vitro. To further understand the antitumor mechanism of germacrone, we investigated the growth inhibitory effect of germacrone on the human prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 (androgen independent) and 22RV1 (androgen dependent). Materials and Methods: Prostate cancer cells were cultured with different concentrations of germacrone, and cell viability was measured by MTT assay. The levels of proteins were measured by Western blotting. Cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. Images of autophagy-related protein staining were captured by fluorescence microscopy. Autophagic flux was assessed by detecting the LC3B-II level. Results: Our results indicated that germacrone treatment significantly inhibited cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, with IC50 values of 259 μM for PC-3 cells and 396.9 μM for 22RV1 cells. Germacrone-treated cells also exhibited induction of autophagy, as evidenced by elevated LC3B-II protein expression levels and punctuate patterns. Additionally, an autophagy inhibitor enhanced the growth inhibitory effect of germacrone.Moreover, the phosphorylation of Akt and mTOR was inhibited in germacrone-treated prostate cancer cells. Conclusion: Germacrone induced apoptosis and autophagy in prostate cancer cells by inhibiting the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Germacrone treatment also led to the activation of protective autophagy. These findings suggest that germacrone may potentially contribute to the development of a new therapeutic agent for prostate cancer treatment.
Root canal assessment of mandibular incisors in an Indian population using cone beam CT

Aim: To assess the variation in root canal anatomy of mandibular incisors in an Indian population, using cone beam CT (CBCT). Material and methods: A retrospective study of 130 Indian patients who underwent a CBCT (Orthophos XG-3D, Sirona, Germany) scan for implants were selected for assessment of variation in the root canal anatomy in the mandibular incisors. The canal configurations were categorised according to Vertucci’s classification. Two endodontists and an oral radiologist assessed the images, and the findings were recorded with respect to variation in anatomy, sex of the patient, side of the jaw, and type of incisor. Results: Vertucci type I and type III configurations were more prevalent in both mandibular central and lateral incisors. A percentage of 53.1% males and 46.9% females were included in this study. Males showed a 56.5% incidence of single root canal and 12.5% of double root canal. Females showed a 52.25% incidence of a single root canal and 8.75% showed a double root canal. The right side incisors showed an 83.85% likelihood of cases with single root canal and double root canal in 16.15% cases. The left side incisors showed an 83.45% likelihood of cases with single root canal, and double root canal in 16.55% of cases. On average 54.6%, 6.9%, and 38.45% of central incisors showed type I, II and III respectively. With respect to the lateral incisors, an average of 52.3%, 5.8%, 49.5% showed type I, II and III respectively. Conclusion: The CBCT scanner was able to detect these complex variations. This suggests that CBCT has potential as an auxiliary tool in the evaluation of mandibular incisors with complex canal morphology to improve the quality of root canal therapy. Sushma P. Jaju Senior Lecturer, Dept of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Rishi Raj College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre, Bhopal, India
Reliability Evaluation of Composite Power Systems Considering Wind Farms Based on Cross Entropy and Dynamic Orthogonal List

Abstract With large-scale wind farms integrated into power systems, the computational requirements for reliability evaluation of composite power systems are increasing. This paper introduces a new concept of dynamic orthogonal list, which is a form of multiple failure retrievals to avoid repeatedly calling the optimal power flow (OPF) program in the stage of state evaluation. An existing algorithm of cross-entropy (CE) method was developed to deal with the rare events in sampling. The major contribution of CE is to achieve convergence faster and reduce the number of samples, thus shortening the consuming time in the stage of sampling. This paper proposes a fast reliability evaluation process which combines the CE method with dynamic orthogonal list (CE-DOL), comprehensively improving the computational efficiency of Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). The proposed method is tested on a modified IEEE-RTS 79 system. In addition, for comparison purposes, the efficiencies of MCS, CE, and CE-DOL are estimated in the cases of different system adequacies. It is shown that, in range of certain reliability level, the proposed method is much more efficient compared with the CE method. Finally, the applicability of different methods is analyzed under different system reliability levels.
Pregnancy Complications-Consequence of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Hyperinsulinemia and hyperandrogenemia are the hormonal changes which are linked to the pregnancy complications seen in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Aim : This study was done to determine the complications that can occur in pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome, and to ascertain whether the complications are related to PCOS per se or the Body Mass Index (BMI) of the women. Materials and Methods : Data was collected from case records. Study group had women with PCOS, selected according to Rotterdam criteria and control group had women with unexplained infertility, with women in both groups achieving pregnancy either spontaneously, following ovulation induction (OI) with timed intercourse or controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) with Intrauterine insemination (IUI). Study design : A retrospective study. Study duration: Women who attended the clinic between January 2009 – Dec 2014, Study Setting : Department of Reproductive Medicine and Andrology, Chettinad Super Speciality Hospital, Chennai. Results : There were 110 women in the study group and 64 women in the control group. The age and BMI of women in both groups were comparable. The incidence of miscarriage, congenital anomalies, preterm delivery, operative delivery and neonatal complications were similar in both groups. Incidence of Gestational Diabetes mellitus (GDM) was significantly higher in women with PCOS (22.6%), and there was an upward trend with increasing BMI. There was also an increased incidence of Large for gestational age babies in women with PCOS, but there was no statistical significance. Conclusion : Unlike previous publications, our study revealed no significant increase in pregnancy and neonatal complications in women with PCOS, except for Gestational diabetes, the incidence of which was related to BMI. Therefore, we suggest that PCOS and the pregnancy complications are a consequence of increasing BMI, and that PCOS may not be incriminated as the independent cause for these complications.
SOIL MICROBIAL ACTIVITY AS BIOINDICATORS DURING THE DECOMPOSITION OF GRASS RESIDUES IN SANDY CLAY LOAM SOIL

Assessing the quality of the soil is an important method in determining the sustainability and environmental impact of agricultural ecosystems. Soil microbial indices like microbial biomass and microbial activity are important criteria for the determination of soil quality. Laboratory incubation study was undertaken to examine the influence of 2 grass residues on changes in soil microbial indices {(microbial (Cmic: Corg), metabolic (qCO2), carbon mineralization (qM) and microbial biomass change rate (qC) quotients)} in a sandy clay loam soil. Both P.maximum and D.horizontalis amended soil showed maximum soil respiration rate (11.90 mgCO2-C g-1 soil) while P.maximum had maximum cumulative respiration rate (199.90 mgCO2-C g-1 soil) . Microbial biomass C was significantly improved by both P.maximum and D.horizontalis residues under study (158.08 and 162 mg/g respetively). The qCO2 among different grass residues ranged from 1.23 to 1. 24μg CO2- C μg-biomass-C -1 on the 82nd day. The results showed that incorporation of both grass residues impacted a positive effect on microbial flora and their activity. The study suggests that the despite the high C:N ratio of grasses, its seems to be of advantage in the maintenance of soil quality in a sandy clay loam soil.
Portal Diagnosis and prognosis of Alzheimer s disease in subjects with mild cognitive impairment

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common cause of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the time between the diagnosis of MCI and the diagnosis of dementia is highly variable. In this study we investigated which known risk factors and biomarkers of AD pathology were associated with rapid progression from MCI to dementia. Of the 203 subjects with MCI, 91 progressed to AD-type dementia and were considered to have MCI-AD at baseline. Subjects with MCI-AD were older, more frequently female and carrier of the APOE-ε4 allele, had lower scores on the mini-mental state examination (MMSE), more medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) and lower levels of Aß1-42 and increased levels of t-tau and p-tau in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) compared to subjects without AD-type dementia at follow up. Of the 91 subjects with MCI-AD we had data available of CSF (N=56), MTA (N=76) and APOE-genotype (N=63). Among the subjects with MCI-AD, MTA (hazard ratio (HR) 2.2, p=0.004) and low MMSE score (HR 2.0 p=0.007) were associated with rapid progression to dementia. High CSF t-tau (HR 1.7, p=0.07) and p-tau (1.7, p=0.08) tended to be associated with rapid progression to dementia. CSF Aβ1-42, APOE status, age, gender and educational level were not associated with time to dementia. Our findings implicate a different role for biomarkers in diagnosis and prognosis of MCI-AD. While amyloid markers can be used to identify MCI-AD, injury markers may predict rapid progression to dementia.
AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF LASER TRANSFORMATION HARDENING OF UNALLOYED TITANIUM USING ND:YAG LASER

This research paper presents the investigation on laser transformation hardening (LTH) of unalloyed titanium of 1.6mm thickness sheet, nearer to ASTM Grade 3 of chemical composition was investigated using 2KW CW Nd: YAG Laser. The effects of laser process parameters: laser power750-1250W), scanning speed (1000-3000 mm/min) and focal point position (-10mm to -30mm) on the hardened bead profile parameters such as hardened bead width (HBW) and hardened depth (HD) was investigated using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The experimental design is based on an independent quadratic Box-Behnken Design (BBD) matrix. The reduced linear and quadratic polynomial equations for predicting hardened bead width and hardened depth of bead profile were developed. Adequacies of models were examined by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) technique. The results designate that the mathematical models developed predict the responses adequately adequate within the limits of hardening parameters being employed. It is recommended that the regression equations can be used to find optimum laser hardening conditions for desired criterion.
University of Groningen Preschool behavioral and social-cognitive problems as predictors of (pre)adolescent disruptive behavior Emond,

This article describes preschool social understanding and difficult behaviors (hot temper, disobedience, bossiness and bullying) as predictors of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and aggressive conduct disorder (ACD) in a Dutch population sample of (pre)adolescents (N = 1943), measured at age 10–12 and at age 13–15. ODD and ACD were assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist and the Youth Self-Report, preschool behavior was evaluated by the parental questionnaire ‘How was your child as a preschooler? (age 4–5)’. Adjusted for each other, all difficult preschool behaviors except bullying were associated with adolescent ODD, while only bullying significantly predicted adolescent ACD. Furthermore, the results suggest a qualitative difference between ODD and ACD in terms of the social component of the disorders: poor preschool social understanding was associated with the development of ACD but not of ODD; and poor social understanding interacted with difficult preschool behaviors to predict later ACD but not ODD. The associations did not differ between boys and girls, and were roughly similar for preadolescent (age 10–12) and early adolescent (age 13–15) outcomes. The finding that poor social understanding was implicated in the development of ACD but not in the development of ODD may help to demarcate the individuality of each disorder and offer leads for (differential) treatment strategies.
EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM ADOPTION IN NIGERIA

—The acceptance of video surveillance systems at homes, offices and business enterprises nowadays to reduce incidences of theft, burglaries, sexual offences and other forms of crimes is increasing. This study investigated the factors that influence adoption of video surveillance systems in Nigeria. Based on Rogers’ diffusion of innovation model, the effect of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability on adoption of video surveillance systems was examined. Structural equation model analysis of the collected data shows that relative advantage, compatibility, trialability and observability significantly influence adoption of video surveillance systems. However, the results indicate that adoption of video surveillance systems is not influenced significantly by complexity. Thus, complexity of video surveillance systems is perceived as a barrier to adoption of this technological innovation among Nigerians.