Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Commercial Toothpaste Containing Aloe Vera on Dental Plaque and Gingivitis: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Objectives : Aloe vera is a medical plant which has the greater medicinal value and enormous properties for curing and preventing gingivitis and oral diseases. This study aim s to evaluate the effect of a commercial toothpaste containing Aloe vera on the reduction of plaque and gingivitis. Material and methods: 24 patients diagnosed with generalized gingivitis, randomly divided into 2 groups, patients in the test group (n=12) used toothpaste containing Aloe vera, and patients in the control group (n=12) used toothpaste containing fluoride. Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Index (GI), and Bleeding on Probing (BOP) were assessed at days 0 and 30. Subjects were asked to brush their teeth with the stated toothpaste, twice a day, for 30 days. the data on toothpaste tubes were masked for both patients and examiner. Results: A ll clinical parameters showed a significant reduction on 30 th day in both test and control groups, but no significant differences between groups. Conclusion: The results of the present study indicate that commercial toothpaste containing Aloe vera did not show an additional effect on plaque and gingivitis compared to the control fluoridated toothpaste.
The influence of complex microstructure on ultrasonic inspections: numerical simulation studies

Numerical simulation studies are reported which provide insight into the origin of complex ultra­ sonic wave propagation phenomena that are observed in titanium alloys, rendering the conduct and interpretation of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) measurements more difficult than in materials with simpler microstructure. This is of particular importance in the inspection of aircraft engine rotating components because of the possibly catastrophic consequences of failure. The underlying phenomena is the distortion of the beam as it propagates through the material, causing both amplitude and phase modulations with respect to the beam that would exist in an isotropic, homogeneous media. Practical consequences include fluctuations in the signals produced by reflections from calibration reflectors such as flat bottom holes and back surfaces and an apparent excess attenuation implied by the mean values of these signals. The cause of these phenomena has long been believed to be the duplex nature of the microstructure of titanium alloys, which includes large scale features such as prior beta grains as well as small scale features such as colonies. The purpose of the simulations is to guide a better understanding of the dependence of the experimental phenomena on both the parameters of the experiment and the features of the microstructure. The simulation is based on an interdisciplinary approach combining tools from applied mechanics and materials science. The microstructure is described by a generalization of the Potts model to the case of duplex microstructures. The wave propagation is treated by a numerical solution to a 2D scalar wave equation, an approach chosen because it explicitly treats the multiple scattering phenomena believed to be playing a key role in controlling the experimental phenomena. These two tools have been joined to provide a self-consistent simulation package which qualitatively predicts a number of the phenomena that have been observed experimentally. Included are the observations that signal fluctuations are minimum and apparent attenuation is greatest when a beam is focused near the reflector, signal fluctuations are greatest and backscattering is lowest when beams propagate parallel to directions with microstructure elongation, and apparent attenuation (per unit length) is lowest when the beam has traveled a greater propagation distance. The use of the model to verify a simple approach to parameterize the beam distortion is also reported.
The Economics of Contracts: A Primer, 2nd Edition

The theory of contracts grew out of the failure of the general equilibrium model to account for the strategic interactions among agents that arise from informational asymmetries. This popular text, revised and updated throughout for the second edition, serves as a concise and rigorous introduction to the theory of contracts for graduate students and professional economists. The book presents the main models of the theory of contracts, particularly the basic models of adverse selection, signaling, and moral hazard. It emphasizes the methods used to analyze the models, but also includes brief introductions to many of the applications in different fields of economics. The goal is to give readers the tools to understand the basic models and create their own. For the second edition, major changes have been made to chapter 3, on examples and extensions for the adverse selection model, which now includes more thorough discussions of multiprincipals, collusion, and multidimensional adverse selection, and to chapter 5, on moral hazard, with the limited liability model, career concerns, and common agency added to its topics. Two chapters have been completely rewritten: chapter 7, on the theory of incomplete contracts, and chapter 8, on the empirical literature in the theory of contracts. An appendix presents concepts of noncooperative game theory to supplement chapters 4 and 6. Exercises follow chapters 2 through 5.
The aerodynamic characteristics of an exposed racing car wheel

The aerodynamics of an exposed racing car wheel have been analysed using experimental and computational (CFD) techniques. A 40% full-scale pneumatic tyre/wheel assembly was used for the experimental investigations and the exact geometry was replicated in the CFD model. The wheel had an aspect ratio of 0.53 and the tests were conducted at a Reynolds number, based on the wheel diameter, of 2.5 x 10 . Both rotating and stationary wheels were tested with moving and fixed ground-planes, respectively. The experiments were conducted using new and existing methods of data acquisition and analysis. A non-intrusive radio telemetry system was successfully designed and developed that enabled surface static pressure data to be transmitted from a rotating wheel to a local PC. Other experimental techniques included the use of particle image velocimetry (PIV) and a pneumatic non-embedded five-hole pressure probe to investigate the flow-field about the wheel. The early flow separation, which is a characteristic of the rotating wheel, was observed in the surface static pressure distributions and PIV velocity fields. Lift and drag forces were found to decrease as a result of wheel rotation, which agreed with the work of other investigators, and the mechanisms responsible for such force reductions are postulated. The wake structures were investigated and showed weaker streamwise vorticity for the rotating wheel compared to the stationary wheel. The most important and remarkable aspect of this work was the experimental observation and subsequent CFD prediction of the rear jetting flow mechanism whose existence was previously theoretically predicted by another investigator. The PIV velocity fields clearly show the rear jetting phenomenon and this is further corroborated by a negative pressure peak in the surface pressure distributions on the wheel centreline. The effects the rear jetting phenomenon has on the wake mechanics, and hence the forces acting on the rotating wheel, are postulated.
Bacterial contamination of retailed syrups traded in Wukari, North East, Nigeria

There is an increasing concern that syrups may contain pathogenic or non-pathogenic microbes that can pose as public health risk to patients. This research was to investigate the bacterial contamination of retailed syrups sold in Wukari. Eighteen (18) different brands of syrups were collected from different medicine stores in Wukari, North East Nigeria. These various brands of syrups were taken to the Microbiology Laboratory, Federal University Wukari for analysis using standard bacteriological techniques. The results show that syrups samples with contaminants included the M & B paracetamol, Emzor paracetamol, M & B flagyl (Loxagyl), Emzor Chloroquin, M & B Antimalarial preparation (Artelumex), Emzor cough syrup (Emzolyn), Emzor digestion syrup (Emtrisil), Jawa digestion syrup (Jawasil), Emzor multivitamin (Emvite), Tuyil pharmacy multivitamin (Vami-vite), Emzor blood tonic, and Jawa blood tonic while those that contained no contaminants included the Emzor flagyl(Emgyl), M & B chloroquin(Vinaquin), Emzor antimalarial preparation (Lokmal), Jawa cough syrup(D-Koff), Emzor vitamin c and Tuyil pharmacy vitamin C. The researched revealed that twelve (12) of the syrups were contaminated with bacteria isolates of Bacillus spp 9 (45%), Lactobacillus spp 5 (25%), Proteus spp 2 (10%), Staphylococcus aureus 2 (10%), Pseudomonas spp 1 (5%) and Klebsiella spp 1 (5%). The presence of the isolates could possibly be as a result of the production process and improper handling and protection of the containers containing the products. It is therefore recommended that monitoring agencies should ensure that these syrups do not present health hazards to the public during production and retail of products.
Effect of Direct Marketing on Consumer Product Uptake in Commercial Banks in Thika Town

Abstact The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of direct marketing on consumer product uptake in commercial banks in Thika town. The study sought to establish the effect of social media marketing, face to face selling, email marketing and telemarketing on consumer product uptake. The study adopted a descriptive cross sectional survey design and targeted 18 commercial banks operating in Thika Town. Only 16 commercial banks were involved in the study. Two commercial banks were used for piloting. The unit of observation comprised of 10 customers operating with the each of the commercial banks involved in the study making a total of 160 respondents. Structured questionnaires were employed in data collection. Both inferential and descriptive statistics were employed in analyzing the collected data. MS Excel and SPSS software were used in generating the statistics. The results of the study were presented in form of tables and figures. The findings of the study established that directing marketing practices such as social media marketing, face to face selling and telemarketing positively and significantly affect the levels of consumer product uptakes amongst commercial banks operating in Thika Town. The study however established that email market positively but insignificantly affects consumer product uptakes among the commercial banks. The study also recommends that the commercial banks operating in Thika Town should focus on enhancing their face to face selling practices since the practice positively and significantly affects the levels of consumer product uptakes. The study recommends that the commercial banks operating in Thika Town should focus on enhancing their telemarketing practices since the practice positively and significantly affects the levels of consumer product uptakes.
The Job Engagement Scale: Development and Validation of a Short Form in English and French

The original 18-item Job Engagement Scale (JES 18 ) operationalizes a multidimensional hierarchical conceptualization by Kahn (1990) of the investment and expression of an individual’s preferred self in-role performance. Encompassing three dimensions (i.e., physical, cognitive, and emotional), job engagement is a known predictor of organizational performance and personal outcomes. Using a sample ( N = 7185) of military and civilian personnel nested within 60 work units in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and Canadian Department of National Defence (DND), we developed and cross-validated a 9-item short-form (the JES 9 ) of the original JES 18 in English and French. Results demonstrated that both linguistic versions of the JES 9 and JES 18 yielded comparable psychometric properties. The scales also displayed measurement invariance as a function of participants’ sex (male/female), employee type (civilian/regular force/primary reserve), and role (supervisor/employee). Finally, the associations between scores on the JES 9 and the JES 18 and a series of covariates (i.e., employees’ psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness, burnout, and turnover intentions) were assessed. Collectively, results highlight the strong psychometric soundness of the English and French versions of the JES 9 and the JES 18 for organizational practitioners and academics.
Voting at the dawn of a global pandemic

What is the impact of a global health crisis on political behavior? We study the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on electoral choice based on the case of Germany, one of the countries most heavily affected by the crisis. Our data come from the German state of Bavaria, where local elections were held right at the beginning of the pandemic. The elections took place early during the outbreak when there was still substantial variation in the extent to which individual counties and municipalities were affected by the outbreak. This variation provides a unique opportunity to study the causal impact of an event that would shortly after grow into an all-encompassing epidemic. We provide evidence that shows that the disease spread across the state in a mostly haphazard fashion. This lack of a discernible pattern coupled with within-county estimation of effects and a difference-in-differences strategy allow us to causally asses the effect of the spreading of the virus on electoral outcomes. Our results show that the crisis strongly and consistently benefited the dominant regional party, the CSU, and its candidates. For 3 known cases per 100,000 inhabitants, vote shares increased by about 4 percent. We explain our findings with a strategic-alignment mechanism, whereby voters vote into power candidates that they deem most likely to be able to solicit support from higher levels of government. Our findings emphasize the merit of forward-looking theories of voting and provide insights on the functioning of democracy during times of crisis.
Design of cold-formed steel columns at elevated temperatures subject to flexural-torsional buckling

Cold-formed steel members are often subject to axial compression loads in a range of applications. These thin-walled members can be subject to various types of buckling modes, including flexural-torsional buckling. Design standards provide guidelines for columns subject to flexural-torsional buckling modes at ambient temperature. However, there are no specific design guidelines for elevated temperature conditions. Hence extensive research efforts have gone into the many investigations addressing the flexural-torsional buckling behaviour of cold-formed steel columns at elevated temperatures.This research has reviewed the accuracy of the current design rules in AS/NZS 4600 and the North American Specification in determining the member capacities of cold-formed steel columns using the results from detailed finite element analyses and an experimental study of lipped channel columns. It was found that the current ambient temperature Australian and American design rules accurately predicted the member capacities of pin ended lipped channel columns undergoing flexural torsional buckling at elevated temperatures by simply using the appropriate elevated temperature mechanical properties. However, for fixed ended columns with warping fixity undergoing flexural-torsional buckling, it was found that the current design rules significantly underestimated the column capacities as they disregard the beneficial effect of warping fixity. This research has therefore proposed improved design rules and verified their accuracy using finite element analysis and test results of cold-formed lipped channel columns made of three cross-sections and five different steel grades and thicknesses. This paper presents the details of this research study and the results.
Motivating Unrewarded Task Performance: The Dual Effects of Incentives and an Organizational Value Statement in a Multitask Setting

Management control systems research increasingly recognizes the interactive effects of packages of controls. These interactive effects may be exacerbated in multitask settings consisting of both rewarded and unrewarded tasks. Organizational value statements are informal controls shown to alter the relationship between compensation schemes and performance. This study’s purpose is to examine these value statement effects in a multitask environment consisting of both rewarded and unrewarded tasks. Results show that under fixed pay compensation, the presence of a value statement motivates performance on important but unrewarded tasks. Conversely, under piecerate incentive compensation, value statements negatively influence performance on unrewarded tasks. This study contributes to the management control literature by establishing how and when informal management control systems can improve employees’ unrewarded task performance. In contemporary work environments where such multitask arrangements are common, the results suggest informal controls may be preferable to formal controls focused on incentive compensation.
The effect of valproic acid on plasma level of carbamazepine and carbamazepine-10, 11-epoxide in long-term treatment with slow-release drug formulations in pediatric patients: the importance of TDM

Ucel studie: Hodnoceni vlivu kyseliny valproove (VPA) na hladinu karbamazepinu (CBZ) a karbamazepin-10,11-epoxidu (CBZ-E) při dlouhodobe lecbě připravky s pomalým uvolňovanim. Metoda: U 262 vzorků odebraných před podanim od 175 dětských pacientů (< 15 let) byla hodnocena celkova denni davka (PDD), davka na kg (DBW), koncentrace CBZ, CBZ-E, poměry CBZ koncentrace/PDD, CBZ-E koncentrace/PDD, CBZ-E/CBZ a roz­loženi koncentraci CBZ ve vztahu k terapeutickemu rozmezi 4–9 mg. Podrobna analýza byla provedena u 11 pacientů, kteři byli vlastni kontrolou. Výsledky (uvedeny jako průměr ± směrodatna odchylka): Ackoliv pacienti leceni CBZ + VPA uživali vyssi davky než pacienti na monoterapii: PDD 557 ± 204 vs. 400 ± 187 mg, p < 0.001; DBW 20.2 ± 10.5 vs. 13.5 ± 5.8 mg/kg, p < 0.001, nebyl zaznamenan rozdil v průměrne koncentraci CBZ (5.1 ± 1.4 vs. 5.3 ± 1.9 mg/l), CBZ-E (1.2 ± 0.8 vs. 1.1 ± 0.9 mg/l), poměru CBZ-E/CBZ (0.24 ± 0.12 vs. 0.22 ± 0.19) ani v rozloženi koncentraci podle terapeutickeho rozmezi. V terapeutickem optimu bylo 86 % vs. 77 % koncentraci. Koncentrace nad horni hranici terapeutickeho rozmezi se nevyskytovaly. U CBZ + VPA byly nižsi poměry koncentrace CBZ/PDD: 10.3 × 10-3 ± 4.2 × 10-3, vs. 14.9 × 10-3 ± 6.4 × 10-3 mg × L-1/mg, p < 0.001; CBZ/DBW: 0.31 ± 0.17, vs. 0.44 ± 0.19 mg × l-1/mg × kg-1, p < 0.001. Obdobně u 11 pacientů, kteři byli vlastni kontrolou: poměr koncentrace CBZ/PDD 10.9 × 10-3 ± 3.7 × 10-3 vs. 15.0 × 10-3 ± 5.7 × 10-3, p < 0.01; CBZ/DBW 0.35 ± 0.10 vs. 0.40 ± 0.14, p < 0.05. Zda se, že VPA ma indukcni efekt na metabolismus CBZ. Na davce zavisle nežadouci ucinky (ataxie, bolest hlavy) byly popsany u 4 pacientů na monoterapii. Koncentrace CBZ a CBZ-E se nelisila od pacientů bez NUL, byl vsak vyssi poměr CBZ-E/CBZ 6.8 × 10-3 ± 1.6 × 10-3 vs. 3.1 × 10-3 ± 3.6 × 10-3, a CBZ-E/PDD 0.32 ± 0.06 vs. 0.21 ± 0.20, p < 0.05. Zavěr: Významna interakce mezi CBZ a VPA byla uspěsně eliminovana upravou davkovani pomoci TDM.
Localized Expansion of Pedicle Screws for Increased Stability and Safety in the Osteoporotic Spine

When a patient is diagnosed with various spinal injuries, deformities, or advanced degeneration, it is commonly suggested that he/she undergoes surgery for spinal fusion. Most current procedures in spinal fusion restrict mobility in one or multiple levels of the spine so that, over time, new bone will grow between the levels creating a single motionless unit of bone. The bilateral pedicle screw system (BPSS) has long been considered to be the "gold standard" in spinal fusion. However, for patients with osteoporosis, adequate fixation within the bone-screw interface has continuously been difficult to achieve or has come with high risk of other forms of catastrophic damage. Reflecting this, a new pedicle screw design was developed and evaluated against current standard pedicle screws commonly used in spinal surgery. All screw designs were also tested with a common cement augmentation technique surrounding the circumference of the screw. All tests measured pullout strength, stiffness, energy to failure, toughness, and the amount of destruction to the surrounding synthetic bone. While the newly designed pedicle screw failed to produce significantly stronger pullout forces in comparison to the standard screws, it did show evidence of a longer lasting residual axial resistance and a safer mode of failure than the standard screw, hinting that the design may benefit individuals who experience screw pullout and are awaiting reinstrumentation.
Clinical and echocardiographic management of patients with Chronic Heart Failure and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: the SCODIAC Follow up Study

Background SCODIAC study revealed an increasing use of SGLT2 inhibitors in 123 patients affected with Heart Failure (HF) and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), referred to Cardiologists and Diabetologists of the pertaining healthcare districts. SCODIAC Follow Up, the second phase of the program, has been carried out to determine diagnostic and therapeutic pathways in a larger group of HF diabetic patients and to verify whether the use of innovative antidiabetic therapies could modify echocardiographic parameters and influence cardiological therapy. Methods 406 patients affected with HF and T2DM, referred to Cardiologists and Diabetologists of pertaining healthcare districts in Campania, and followed for at least one year between 2018 and 2019, were enrolled in this retrospective study and divided in Group A, composed of 136 HF diabetic patients with preserved Ejection Fraction (HF-pEF) (> 45%) and Group B, formed of 270 HF diabetic patients with reduced EF (HF-rEF) (≤ 45%). All patients had performed periodic clinical evaluations and an echocardiographic exam every 12 months. Anthropometric parameters, HF etiology, co-morbidities, complications and ongoing therapies were collected. Results The clinical and laboratory parameters and the treatments adopted were assessed at beginning and after 12 months of treatment. The antidiabetic therapies resulted modified after one year with a greater use of GLP1 AR, gliptins and SGLT2i. Cardiological therapy resulted also modified with a greater use of ARNI and a reduction of ACE inhibitors and ARBs in HF-rEF patients. At the end of the study echocardiography E velocity, A velocity and E/E’ ratio resulted markedly reduced in 25 HF-pEF patients and in 60 HF-rEF patients treated with SGLT2i, in respect to both the whole sample of subjects at beginning and the other diabetic patients, while LAVi resulted reduced only in HF-pEF patients and EF increased only in HF-rEF patients. Conclusions The approach to the patients with HF and T2DM must necessarily take place in the healthcare districts and be multidisciplinary and integrated in order to tailor therapy to the characteristics of the patient. SGLT2i could improve left ventricular function in HF-rEF patients and modify cardiological therapeutic approach, almost in this setting of patients. Trial registration: The protocol was approved by the University of Naples Federico II Ethics Committee and registered at ClinicalTrial.gov (CT04375943). The principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki were followed.