Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a Novel Medical Device for Mucositis and Peri-Implantitis Treatment

In spite of all the developments in dental implantology techniques, peri-implant diseases are frequent (prevalence up to 80% and 56% of subjects for mucositis and peri-implantitis, respectively) and there is an urgency for an effective treatment strategy. This paper presents an innovative electromedical device for the electromagnetic treatment of mucositis and peri-implantitis diseases. This device is also equipped with a measurement part for bioimpedance, which reflects the health conditions of a tissue, thus allowing clinicians to objectively detect impaired areas and to monitor the severity of the disease, evaluate the treatment efficacy, and adjust it accordingly. The design of the device was realized considering literature data, clinical evidence, numerical simulation results, and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) pre-compliance tests, involving both clinicians and engineers, to better understand all the needs and translate them into design requirements. The reported system is being tested in more than 50 dental offices since 2019, providing efficient treatments for mucositis and peri-implantitis, with success rates of approximately 98% and 80%, respectively.
Housing Wealth and Wage Bargaining

We examine the relationship between housing equity and wage earnings. We first provide a simple model of wage bargaining where failure leads to both job loss and mortgage default. Moreover, foreclosure generates disutility beyond selling a home. We test this prediction using nine waves of the national American Housing Survey. Employing a rich set of time and place controls, individual fixed effects, and an instrumental variable strategy, we find that people with an underwater mortgage command a significantly lower wage than other homeowners. This finding survives a number of robustness checks. We also include other determinants of "house lock" such as a favorable mortgage interest rate relative to the current rate and a capped property tax assessment, but we do not find these factors lower earnings. We conclude that negative equity matters because default is unpleasant or costly, not because it precludes an out-of-state job search.
Solar Coronal Jets Extending to High Altitudes Observed during the 2017 August 21 Total Eclipse

Coronal jets, which extend from the solar surface to beyond 2 R⊙, were observed in the polar coronal hole regions during the total solar eclipse on 2017 August 21. In a time-series of white-light images of the corona spanning 70 minutes taken with our multi-site observations of this eclipse, six jets were found as narrow structures upwardly ejected with an apparent speed of about 450 km s−1 in polar plumes. On the other hand, extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) images taken with the Atmospheric Image Assembly of the Solar Dynamics Observatory show that all of the eclipse jets were preceded by EUV jets. Conversely, all the EUV jets whose brightnesses are comparable to ordinary soft X-ray jets and that occurred in the polar regions near the eclipse period, were observed as eclipse jets. These results suggest that ordinary polar jets generally reach high altitudes and escape from the Sun as part of the solar wind.
Diagnosing and Enhancing Gaussian VAE Models

Although variational autoencoders (VAEs) represent a widely influential deep generative model, many aspects of the underlying energy function remain poorly understood. In particular, it is commonly believed that Gaussian encoder/decoder assumptions reduce the effectiveness of VAEs in generating realistic samples. In this regard, we rigorously analyze the VAE objective, differentiating situations where this belief is and is not actually true. We then leverage the corresponding insights to develop a simple VAE enhancement that requires no additional hyperparameters or sensitive tuning. Quantitatively, this proposal produces crisp samples and stable FID scores that are actually competitive with a variety of GAN models, all while retaining desirable attributes of the original VAE architecture.
Leaching Retention of CCA Metals from High- Temperature Reaction with Alkaline Earth and Iron Based Sorbents

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) was the dominant wood preservative used for outdoor wood products to prevent structural decay prior to its phase down starting from 2004. Incineration is one key disposal alternative for CCA-treated wood; however, it results in volatilization of metals at high temperature and accumulation of metals in ash. The objective of this study was to assess alkaline earth and iron based sorbents for their capability to minimize leaching of metals from the incinerator ash. Experiments were carried out by heating CCA metal spikes combined with sorbents to temperatures of 700, 900 and 1100 o C. The residual ash was analyzed for leaching retention using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) and speciation by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results show that alkaline earth sorbents (cement, calcium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide) were the most promising for reducing the leaching of arsenic from the ash below the 5 mg/L TCLP limit and retaining copper at concentrations below detection limits. For chromium, iron and magnesium based sorbents resulted the highest retention with low leachate concentrations (<5 mg/L) at temperatures of 1100 o C. Leaching appeared to be highly pH dependent with As and Cu leaching more at low pH values and Cr leaching more at high pH values. Results also indicate that the formation of compounds like Ca 3 As 2 O 7 , FeCr 2 O 4 and CuCr 2 O 4 during the reaction reduced the volatilization of metals. The results suggest that a combination of sorbents at different stages of high-temperature processes may offer effective control of the leaching of CCA metals.
Influence of catch cropping on nitrate contents in soil and soil solution

The influence of catch cropping on the nitrate contents in soil and soil solution was investigated in a three-year field experiment conducted on the experimental research station Gross Luesewitz situated in the north-eastern part of Germany. The N uptake of catch crops was estimated as well as the Nmin content of soil and the nitrate-N content in the corresponding soil solution. The highest N uptake was found for raphanobrassica and oil radish (> 240 kg ha-1 N). These two crops and phacelia led to the strongest reduction of the nitrate-N concentration in soil solution in 90 cm. A significant correlation between N uptake of crops and nitrate-N content in soil solution was found (r = 0.87, p < 0.001). There was also an association between the N uptake of crops and the Nmin content in soil (0-90 cm) in autumn (r = -0.69, p < 0.001). However, the level of N uptake of plants failed to predict the Nmin content in soil in spring of the following year. In spring soil did not show significant differences of Nmin content between the tested variants. By far the highest nitrate-N concentration in the soil solution in 90 cm was found under fallow.
Mental Health of Medical and Non-Medical Professionals during the Peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Nationwide Study

Background: The study aimed to compare psychopathological expressions during the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, as declared on March 11th 2020 by the World Health Organization, with respect to which institutional variables might distinguish the impact of COVID-19 in medical and non-medical professionals. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed nationwide between 16th March and the 26th April 2020 in Poland. A total of 2039 respondents representing all healthcare providers (59.8%) as well as other professionals filled in the sociodemographic section, the General Health Questionnaire-28 and the author’s questionnaire with questions related to exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, the availability of protective measures, quarantine, change of working hours and place of employment during the pandemic, as well as feelings associated with the state of the pandemic. Results: Medical professionals more often presented with relevant psychopathological symptoms (GHQ-28 (General Health Questionnaire-28) total score >24) than the non-medical group (60.8% vs. 48.0%, respectively) such as anxiety, insomnia and somatic symptoms even after adjustment for potential confounding factors. Male sex, older age and appropriate protective equipment were associated with significantly lower GHQ-28 total scores in medical professionals, whereas among non-medical professionals, male sex was associated with significantly lower GHQ-28 total scores. Conclusions: Somatic and anxiety symptoms as well as insomnia are more prevalent among medical staff than workers in other professions. Targeting the determinants of these differences should be included in interventions aimed at restoring psychological well-being in this specific population. Apparently, there are present gender differences in psychological responses that are independent of profession.
The Lyman break analogue Haro 11: spatially resolved chemodynamics with VLT FLAMES

Using VLT/Fibre Large Array Multi Element Spectrograph (FLAMES) optical integral field unit observations, we present the first spatially resolved spectroscopic study of the well-known blue compact galaxy Haro 11, thought to be a local analogue to high-redshift Lyman break galaxies. Haro 11 displays complex emission line profiles, consisting of narrow (full width at half-maximum, FWHM ≲ 200 km s-1) and broad (FWHM ∼ 200–300 km s-1) components. We identify three distinct emission knots kinematically connected to one another. A chemodynamical analysis is presented, revealing that spatially resolved ionic and elemental abundances do not agree with those derived from integrated spectra across the galaxy. We conclude that this is almost certainly due to the surface brightness weighting of electron temperature in integrated spectra, leading to higher derived abundances. We find that the eastern knot has a low gas density, but a higher temperature (by ∼4000 K) and consequently an oxygen abundance ∼0.4 dex lower than the neighbouring regions. A region of enhanced N/O is found specifically in Knot C, confirming previous studies that found anomalously high N/O ratios in this system. Maps of the Wolf–Rayet (WR) feature at 4686 A reveal large WR populations (∼900–1500 stars) in Knots A and B. The lack of WR stars in Knot C combined with an age of ∼7.4 Myr suggests that a recently completed WR phase may be responsible for the observed N/O excess. Conversely, the absence of N-enriched gas and strong WR emission in Knots A and B suggests that we are observing these regions at an epoch where stellar ejecta has yet to cool and mix with the interstellar medium.
Low Vitamin C Status in Patients with Cancer Is Associated with Patient and Tumor Characteristics

Vitamin C (ascorbate) acts as an antioxidant and enzyme cofactor, and plays a vital role in human health. Vitamin C status can be affected by illness, with low levels being associated with disease due to accelerated turnover. However, robust data on the ascorbate status of patients with cancer are sparse. This study aimed to accurately measure ascorbate concentrations in plasma from patients with cancer, and determine associations with patient or tumor characteristics. We recruited 150 fasting patients with cancer (of 199 total recruited) from two cohorts, either prior to cancer surgery or during cancer chemo- or immunotherapy. A significant number of patients with cancer had inadequate plasma ascorbate concentrations. Low plasma status was more prevalent in patients undergoing cancer therapy. Ascorbate status was higher in women than in men, and exercising patients had higher levels than sedentary patients. Our study may prompt increased vigilance of ascorbate status in cancer patients.
One Share - One Vote: The Theory

The theoretical literature on security-voting structure can be organized around three questions: What impact do nonvoting shares have on takeover outcomes? How does disproportional voting power affect the incentives of blockholders? What are the repercussions of mandating one share - one vote for firms' financing and ownership choices? Overall, the costs and benefits of separating cash flow and votes reflect the fundamental governance trade off between disempowering blockholders and empowering managers. It is therefore an open question whether mandating one share - one vote would improve the quality of corporate governance, notably in systems that so far relied on active owners.
The non-isothermal stage of magnetic star formation - II. Results

In a previous paper we formulated the problem of the formation and evolution of fragments (or cores) in magnetically supported, self-gravitating molecular clouds in axisymmetric geometry, accounting for the effects of ambipolar diffusion and Ohmic dissipation, grain chemistry and dynamics, and radiative transfer. Here, we present results of star formation simulations that accurately track the evolution of a protostellar fragment over 11 orders of magnitude in density (from 300 to ≈10 14 cm −3 ), i.e. from the early ambipolar-diffusion-initiated fragmentation phase, through the magnetically supercritical, dynamical-contraction phase and the subsequent magnetic decoupling stage, to the formation of a protostellar core in near hydrostatic equilibrium. As found by Fiedler & Mouschovias, gravitationally-driven ambipolar diffusion leads to the formation and subsequent dynamic contraction of a magnetically supercritical core. Moreover, we find that ambipolar diffusion, not Ohmic dissipation, is responsible for decoupling all the species except the electrons from the magnetic field, by a density of ≈3 × 10 12 cm −3 . Magnetic decoupling precedes the formation of a central stellar object and ultimately gives rise to a concentration of magnetic flux (a ‘magnetic wall’) outside the hydrostatic core – as also found by Tassis & Mouschovias through a different approach. At approximately the same density at which Ohmic dissipation becomes more important than ambipolar diffusion (7 × 10 12 cm −3 ), the grains carry most of the electric charge as well as the electric current. The prestellar core remains disc like down to radii ∼10 au, inside which thermal pressure becomes important. The magnetic flux problem of star formation is resolved for at least strongly magnetic newborn stars by this stage of the evolution, i.e. by a central density ≈10 14 cm −3 . T he hydrostatic core has radius ≈2 au, density ≈10 14 cm −3 , temperature ≈300 K, magnetic field
Pushing the Precision Limit of 14C AMS

High precision for radiocarbon cannot be reached without profound insight into the various sources of uncertainty which only can be obtained from systematic investigations. In this paper, we present a whole series of investigations where in some cases 16O:17O:18O served as a substitute for 12C:13C:14C. This circumvents the disadvantages of event counting, providing more precise results in a much shorter time. As expected, not a single effect but a combination of many effects of similar importance were found to be limiting the precision. We will discuss the influence of machine tuning and stability, isotope fractionation, beam current, space charge effects, sputter target geometry, and cratering. Refined measurement and data evaluation procedures allow one to overcome several of these limitations. Systematic measurements on FIRI-D wood show that a measurement precision of ±20 14C yr (1 σ) can be achieved for single-sputter targets.
Statutory Minimum Wages in the EU: Institutional Settings and Macroeconomic Implications

This paper analyses some macroeconomic implications of the statutory minimum wage in the member states of the European Union and assesses how its institutional design influences these outcomes. First, the paper looks at the institutional dimensions of statutory minimum wage setting. On the basis of this information, an indicator of institutional stringency is built to characterise the degree of predictability of minimum wage setting. Second, it explores the impact of minimum wage changes on employment, prices, consumption, and poverty.
Effect of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilization on the content of macroelements in fruits of aubergine (Solanum melongena L.) grown on organic substrates.

A plant growing experiment was conducted in 2003-2004 on the aubergine cultivars Epic F1 and Solara F1 grown in an unheated polyethylene tunnel greenhouse at the Experimental Station in Marcelin, the University of Life Sciences in Poznañ. The seedlings were planted on 15 May on beds at a 0.5×0.5 m spacing, i.e. 4 plants m–2, in 6 dm3 cylinders filled with substrate limed to pHH2O = 6.5, which consisted of: 1) highmoor peat from Lithuania, 2) pine bark from the pulp plant Zak3ady Celulozowe + fen peat from Biskupice near Poznañ (v : v = 1 : 1). The basic fertilization, i.e. pre-vegetation fertilization and top dressing with macronutrients, based on an analysis of the substrate was applied, using the universal method in 0.03 M CH3COOH. The fertilization was designed to achieve the following substrate abundance levels: L (N – 300, P – 265, K – 500 mg dm–3), S (N – 400, P – 350, K – 665 mg dm–3), H (N – 500, P – 440, K – 830 mg dm–3), while maintaining the N : P : K ratio as 1 : 0.9 : 1.7. The aim of this study has been to determine the effect of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium on the content of macronutrients in fruits of two aubergine cultivars grown on organic substrates. The fruits were harvested in the first decade of August and underwent chemical analyses in order to determine concentrations of macroelement. For determination of the total forms of nutrients, the fruit samples were subjected to wet mineralization and the following nutrients were assayed: N, P, K, Ca, Mg. Significant differences between
Protein profiling of milk from native Nordic cattle breeds in relation to technological properties

Bovine milk and milk products are important parts of human diet. The protein composition of milk can vary depending on e.g. breed, diet and environment. Therefore, the dairy industry is interested in identifying which factors affect the protein composition of the milk. Selecting for special traits within breeds could promote some technological properties for special dairy products. The milk and protein composition have therefore been an important research topic. Both earlier and recent studies of current Scandinavian dairy milk have revealed strong relations between milk protein genotype on one side and processing qualities on the other side. This has been shown in milk from individual dairy cows and will, depending on genotype characteristic and distribution of genotypes in milk at mixing, also manifest in tank milk. 69 milk samples from two native Danish breeds, Red Danish and Jutland Cattle, and two native Swedish breeds, Swedish Mountain and Swedish Red Polled, were characterized in milk composition and processing qualities. By studying the protein profile and genotype variants in native Nordic breeds, a possible difference in protein profile compared to current dairy breeds could be observed. By LC-MS analysis, an identification of the most common casein (CN) proteins and whey proteins, κ-CN, αs2-CN, αs1-CN, β-CN, β-lactoglobulin (β-LG) and α-lactalbumin (α-LA), together with the protein isoform of κ-CN (glycosylated κ-CN) and αs1-CN (phosphorylated αs1CN), was performed. Furthermore, the total and ionic calcium content was measured, and a subset of milk samples with different genetic variants and PTMs were collected and further analyzed by 2-DGE. Genotype, relative protein content and calcium content were also compared to two technological properties, rennet coagulation time and gel strength after 40 min, for evaluation of native Nordic milk characteristics for further dairy processing. The most frequently occurring genotype of the major milk proteins were identified as AB for κCN, AA for αs2-CN, BB for αs1-CN, A1A2 for β-CN, BB for β-LG and BB α-LA. LC-MS analysis of milk from native Nordic breeds revealed a higher frequency of β-CN F than previously reported in Scandinavian breeds, and which have previously been identified in non-coagulating milk in Danish Holstein-Friesian cattle. One native Nordic cattle breed, Swedish Mountain, had more suitable properties for cheese production, compared to the other three breeds in this study. These findings give evidence for further breeding of some native Nordic breeds to niche dairy products.
A heat balance method for measuring water flux in the stem of intact plants

This paper describes the method and apparatus for measuring the flow rate of water in intact plant stems, on the basis of heat balance of a stem segment. Under stationary conditions, the heat energy supplied continuously to a segment of plant stem is partitioned into three components such as conduction, mass flow and convection [see Eq. (1)]. By predetermining both heat losses due to conduction in the stem and convection from the segment surface into ambient air, it is possible to evaluate the heat loss due to mass flow of water in the stem, that is, the water flow rate equivalent to the transpiration stream. The water flow rate evaluated by this method is compared with the transpiration loss of water determined directly by weighing potted soybean and sunflower plants and measured by using a chamber method. The comparison shows there is a good agreement between them. This indicates that the newly developed method can be applied for determining transpiration rates of intact plants under laboratory and field conditions.
Catalytic ozonation oxidation of ketoprofen by peanut shell-based biochar: effects of the pyrolysis temperatures

ABSTRACT A series of peanut shell (HS)-based biochar were prepared at different pyrolysis temperatures and subsequently used as the effective ozonation catalysts for ketoprofen (KET) degradation in aqueous solution. The physicochemical properties and morphology of the obtained biochar were analysed by ICP, TG, XRD, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, BET and etc. characterizations. The results demonstrated that the pyrolysis temperature played an important role on the structure and morphology of HS-based biochar. As the pyrolysis temperature increased, the cellulose and hemicellulose of HS gradually decomposed, resulting in the loss of biochar mass, improvement of the surface roughness, the increase of specific surface area, and the formation of new functional groups. The HS-based biochar pyrolyzed at 600°C (HS600) achieved the fast KET degradation rate with the pseudo-first-order rate constant of 0.922 min−1 and the low adsorption rate of 1.3% in O3/HS600 process. Meanwhile, the effects of the HS600 dosage, initial KET concentration, temperature, water matrix, and solution pH on KET degradation were systematically evaluated. Besides, the HS600 displayed great stability and reusability towards KET degradation during multiple cycling experiments. Moreover, the single oxygen, superoxide radical and hydroxyl radical were involved in O3/HS600 process and the mechanisms for the improvement of KET degradation were also elucidated. It could be speculated that the enhancement of the catalytic ozonation by HS-based biochar was probably attributed to the increased active sites and the intense chemical bonds, and delocalized π electron. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
Biocatalytic Asymmetric Hydrocyanation in the Presence of (R)-Oxynitrilases Entrapped in Lens-Shaped Gels

This contribution contains a brief review of our results on the recent development of a cross-linked and subsequently polyvinylalcohol-entrapped (R)-oxynitrilase and its application in the asymmetric hydrocyanation. In the presence of this novel LentiKat ® entrapped oxynitrilase as a biocatalyst, and benzaldehyde as an aldehyde component, the desired (R)mandelonitrile was obtained in good yields and with high enantioselectivities. This new type of immobilized lens-shaped biocatalyst has a well-defined macroscopic size in mm-range, and can be re-used efficiently.