Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stability of skeletal changes induced by growth modulation procedures in the treatment of skeletal Class II malocclusion

Objective: Objective of this study, based on an evaluation of lateral cephalograms, was to evaluate the degree of skeletal changes produced by the various growth modulative procedures in the treatment of skeletal Class II malocclusion and to characterize the stability of these changes in the years after treatment. Materials and Methods: Total of 40 patients with Class II malocclusion was divided into three groups according to appliance used, i.e. removable or fixed functional appliances (n = 10), combination of functional appliance with headgear (n = 10), and only headgear (n = 10). In addition, almost a matched control group (n = 10) also characterized by skeletal Class II pattern and were under observation, for more than 2 years was also selected. Lateral cephalograms of each patient were taken at the start of treatment (T1), at its completion (T2), and long-term posttreatment (T3). Results: This study showed significant improvement in maxillomandibular relationship in treated group compared to control group, and the changes remained stable in posttreatment phase. Restriction of maxillary growth was evident in headgear and combination groups whereas significant forward movement of the mandible was seen in functional group. Conclusion: Analysis of lateral cephalograms indicates that growth modulation therapy in angle Class II malocclusion brings about desired skeletal changes which remain relatively stable over a long-term period.
Textile Industrial Effluent Treatment by Azo Dye Decolorizing Bacterial Consortium

Wastewater generated by different production steps of a textile mill have high pH, temperature, detergents, oil, suspended and dissolved solids, toxic and non-biodegradable matter, color and alkalinity. Due to their ease of manufacturing methodology, azo dye accounts for almost 80% of annual production of dyes all over the world. There are over 10,000 commercially available dyes with a production of over 7×10 5 tons per year (Tripathi et al., 2011). Waste water from fabric, printing and dyeing pose serious International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 8 Number 11 (2019) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas. com
Green diabetes mellitus: a pilot project

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTIONMost of approximately 422 million people globally have diabetes mellitus use sharps for glucose monitoring. Many adults with diabetes are unaware of safe disposal methods, posing a risk of injury or potential infection to others. AIMTo determine how adults with diabetes dispose of diabetes care-related waste and to assess changes in their disposal habits after receiving brief targeted education during medical visits. METHODSAmbulatory adults with diabetes (aged ≥18 years) were enrolled during their medical visit. After completing an initial questionnaire, a handout on safe disposal practices was discussed with them, which was followed by a second questionnaire 3 months later. RESULTSThere were 111 participants at baseline (mean age 55 years, 50.4% had diabetes for >10 years, 52% female, 74.7% insulin users, 59.4% had home sharps containers, 53.1% had previous diabetes education). Of these, 40.5% reported disposing of sharps in their household trash. Insulin use, previous diabetes education or having a ‘Red Sharps’ container at home were each significantly associated with safe disposal (all P<0.05). Of the 96 (86.5%) participants who completed the second questionnaire, unsafe disposal of sharps fell from 39.6% to 10.4% (P<0.001). Preferred method of container disposal was the use of drop-off sites (pharmacies, doctors’ offices and hospitals). Outside their homes, 18.8% of completers had used regular trash for sharps disposal. Post education, this fell to 8.7% (P=0.065). Post education, reuse of sharps decreased from 38.3% to 14.9% (P<0.001) and improper handling of sharps (eg bending or cutting) fell from 18.8% to 9.4% (P=0.004). CONCLUSIONSSafe sharps disposal can be improved by providing a simple handout with a brief discussion at the time of medical visits. Disposal methods that are easy, convenient and free-of-charge are needed to further increase safety.
The Pain Disability Questionnaire (PDQ): evaluating the efficacy of the psychosocial and functional subscales for 12-month post-treatment outcomes after total knee arthroplasty

Background: The Patient Disability Questionnaire (PDQ) has been shown to have good predictive validity for outcomes after total hip arthroplasty (TKA). However, the PDQ subscales (psychosocial and functional disability) have not been assessed independently. This study assesses 1-year surgical outcomes based on the PDQ’s psychosocial and functional disability subscale scores. Methods: The sample included 130 participants undergoing TKA. Physical and psychosocial measures included the PDQ, Knee Society Score (KSS), Western Ontario McMaster Arthritic Index (WOMAC), and the Short Form-36 Health Inventory (SF-36). Univariate correlations were used to cross-validate all subscales. Multivariate gamma and linear regressions were used to associate PDQ functional and psychosocial disability subscale scores with WOMAC and SF-36, 1 yr after TKA. Results: Poorer PDQ psychosocial scores were associated with being younger, black or Hispanic, and using Medicaid. Poorer functional disability scores were associated with being younger, female, black or Hispanic, and using Medicaid or without insurance. Multivariate regressions revealed that baseline PDQ psychosocial and functional disability were both significantly associated with 1-year WOMAC total scores and 1-year SF-36 Mental Composite Scores. Conclusions: The PDQ is useful in predicting 1-year outcomes for patients undergoing TKA. Worse baseline PDQ subscale scores indicated worse quality of life, more pain and stiffness of the joints, as determined by comparative WOMAC and SF-36 scores. Clinical implications from this study suggest screening patients before surgery to identify factors that could hinder recovery time or cause pain or function remission in adults undergoing TKA.
Evolution of plumes and turbulent dynamics in deep-ocean convection

Three-dimensional numerical simulations are performed to investigate the dynamics of deep-ocean convection. Organized structures of denser fluid moving downwards, known as plumes, are formed during the initial evolution. We propose a scaling for the diameter and velocity of these plumes based on surface flux magnitude $B_{0}$ and the thermal/eddy diffusivity. Rotation effects are found to be negligible during this initial evolution. At a later time $t>2\unicode[STIX]{x03C0}/f$, where $f$ is the Coriolis parameter, the flow comes under the influence of rotation, which stabilizes the flow by inhibiting the conversion of potential energy to turbulent kinetic energy. At moderate to low rotation rates, the dense fluid plummets and spreads laterally as a gravity current along the bottom boundary. However, at high rotation rates, the flow reaches a quasi-geostrophic state (before the dense fluid reaches the bottom boundary) with an approximate balance between the pressure gradient and the Coriolis forces. We also see the formation of baroclinic vortices and a rim current at the interface of the mixed and surrounding fluids at high rotation rates. A quantitative analysis of the root-mean-square velocities reveals that higher rotation rates result in lower turbulence intensities. Closure of the turbulent kinetic energy budget is also achieved with an approximate balance between the buoyancy flux and the dissipation rate.
Side effect profile of hepatitis C treatment with peginterferon alpha-2b and ribavarin

Chronic hepatitis C infection is a very common disease globally affecting over 180 million people. It is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer and a primary indication for liver transplantation. The major types of side effects include fatigue, influenza-like symptoms, gastrointestinal disturbances, neuropsychiatric symptoms and hematologic abnormalities. These side effects may be treatment limiting and require dose reduction or drug discontinuation. Numerous other side effects occur with lower frequencies but may still have an impact on the tolerability of antiviral therapy. Pegylated interferons (peginterferon alfa-2a and peginterferon alfa2b) have significantly improved pharmacokinetics resulting in improved antiviral efficacy, which also has ABSTRACT
Analysing policies to increase graduate population: do tuition fees matter?

ABSTRACT Although broadening equal access to higher education has been an objective public policy for decades, little is known about the effectiveness of alternative means for achieving this goal. Moreover, it has raised a need of explaining the heterogeneity in Higher Education attainment across European countries, where high level of graduate population can be observed both in the presence of high- and low-levels of fees. This paper surveys the extant literature providing some background on the economic concepts of higher education market, and reviews key determinants of demand and supply. A theoretical and empirical model of aggregate demand and supply of higher education is derived, with the aim to facilitate the understanding of the challenges in today’s higher education systems, as well as the opportunities for development. The model is validated on some exemplary case studies describing different relationships between the level of public investment and levels of graduate population.
A pilot study of Alexa for autonomous second language learning

Although initial research involving Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) for language learning have yielded promising results, no study has examined their use in the context of Autonomous Second Language Learning (ASLL). Thus, the main goal of this pilot study was to investigate the use of an IPA, specifically Alexa, for ASLL. Two Japanese university second language (L2) English students participated in a four-week study, which involved the learners interacting with Alexa through the Echo Dot speaker in their respective homes. Learner usage data was collected via the Alexa website and the students’ attitudes toward the IPA for ASLL were evaluated through a survey consisting of 12 Likert-scale items and four open-ended questions. It was found that while the L2 students had positive opinions toward the use of Alexa for ASLL, the learners did not make active use of the technology.
Can we measure practical wisdom?

ABSTRACT Wisdom, long a topic of interest to moral philosophers, is increasingly the focus of social science research. Philosophers have historically been concerned to develop a rationally defensible account of the nature of wisdom and its role in the moral life, often inspired in various ways by virtue theoretical accounts of practical wisdom (phronesis). Wisdom scientists seek to, among other things, define wisdom and its components so that we can measure them. Are the measures used by wisdom scientists actually measuring what philosophers have in mind when they discuss practical wisdom? I argue that they are not. Contemporary measures of wisdom and its components may pick out some necessary prerequisites of practical wisdom, but they do not measure a philosophically plausible practical wisdom or its components. After explaining the argument and defending it against objections, I consider its implications. Should wisdom scientists ignore the philosophical conception of practical wisdom in favor of other conceptions, revise their methods to try to measure it, or continue the interdisciplinary study of practical wisdom without expecting to measure it? I make a preliminary argument for the third option.
Clinical and functional outcomes of surgical management of distal femur fractures using distal femur locking compression plate

Distal femur fractures are reported to be less than 1% of all fractures and between 4 to 6 percent of all femoral fractures. Knowledge of anatomy of articular block with trapezoidal shape on axial section and anterior bowing of femur shaft is critical for operative treatment of distal femur fractures. In this prospective study, distal femoral locking compression plate was used for surgical management of these fractures to evaluate the clinico-radiologic and functional outcomes. 40 patients having 41 distal femur fractures were managed with open reduction and internal fixation using distal femur locking compression plate as per standard AO technique during period of July 2014 to September 2016. Patients were followed up for a minimum of 6 months. Average time of union was 18.23 weeks. Complications seen were delayed union in 2 cases, plate bending in one case who had an episode of seizure, was reoperated & union achieved later on and implant breakage in one case. Superficial infection was seen in 2 cases. Results were found to be excellent in 70%, good in 15%, fair in 12.5% and poor in 2.5% of the patients.
Evaluations and Methods for Explanation through Robustness Analysis

Among multiple ways of interpreting a machine learning model, measuring the importance of a set of features tied to a prediction is probably one of the most intuitive ways to explain a model. In this paper, we establish the link between a set of features to a prediction with a new evaluation criterion, robustness analysis, which measures the minimum distortion distance of adversarial perturbation. By measuring the tolerance level for an adversarial attack, we can extract a set of features that provides the most robust support for a prediction, and also can extract a set of features that contrasts the current prediction to a target class by setting a targeted adversarial attack. By applying this methodology to various prediction tasks across multiple domains, we observe the derived explanations are indeed capturing the significant feature set qualitatively and quantitatively.
Concordance of intraoperative frozen section diagnosis with routine histopathological diagnosis

Introduction: Intra-operative frozen section plays an important role in the management of surgical patients and yet it must be used prudently to avoid the indiscriminate usage of this important technique as it is subject to many limitations in comparison to the routine paraffin embedded tissue sections. In this study we have attempted to look at the concordance between the intraoperative frozen section diagnosis versus the regular histopathological diagnosis in our patients. Aim of the study: To correlate the diagnosis given on Frozen section with Histopathological diagnosis.Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study carried over a period of six months, from January 2019 to June 2019. Intraoperative Frozen sections were compared with routine regular paraffin embedded histopathology diagnosis in 51 patients. Detailed clinical history like age, gender, site, duration of lesions were noted. Results: Various specimen types were received for Frozen sections during the time frame of this study, which included bone, soft tissue, genitourinary, skin, brain, and gastrointestinal tract tissue samples. Frozen section requests included asking for a diagnosis of a lesion (72.5%), margin status of a resected specimen containing malignancy (3.92%), lymph node status for the presence of metastatic tumor (23.5%). All the 51 cases (100%) of frozen section impressions were concordant with routine histopathological diagnosis.Conclusion: The Intra-operative consultation using Frozen section is a very useful tool and guides the surgeon to intraoperatively modify the surgical approach. However, regular histopathological analysis is the gold standard for diagnosis.
Correlated Motions of Conserved Polar Motifs Lay out a Plausible Mechanism of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Activation

Recent advancements in the field of experimental structural biology have provided high-resolution structures of active and inactive state G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), a highly important pharmaceutical target family, but the process of transition between these states is poorly understood. According to the current theory, GPCRs exist in structurally distinct, dynamically interconverting functional states of which populations are shifted upon binding of ligands and intracellular signaling proteins. However, explanation of the activation mechanism on an entirely structural basis gets complicated when multiple activation pathways and active receptor states are considered. Our unbiased, atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of the mu-opioid receptor in a physiological environment revealed that external stimulus is propagated to the intracellular surface of the receptor through subtle, concerted movements of highly conserved polar amino acid side chains along the 7th transmembrane helix. To amend the widely accepted theory we suggest that the initiation event of GPCR activation is the shift of macroscopic polarization between the ortho- and allosteric binding pockets and the intracellular G protein-binding interface. Table of Contents Graphic
Crop growth and development dynamics of two fodder beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cultivars sown on different dates in New Zealand

ABSTRACT Two fodder beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cultivars (‘Rivage’ and SF Brigadier™) were evaluated in a field experiment to quantify the effect of cultivar and sowing date on growth physiology. The crops were sown on 19 September, 17 October, 17 November and 15 December in 2014. Crops were sequentially harvested and separated into storage root, leaf blade and petiole for analysis. Fodder beet growth was sigmoidal; the growth of leaf blades and petioles dominated the lag phase while storage root growth dominated the exponential phase. The appearance of the 25th leaf marked the beginning of the exponential phase. The maximum growth rate was not affected by the cultivar or sowing date. Total dry matter (DM) yield was the same for September- and October-sown crops (2444 ± 164 g DM m−2); showing little advantage of early sowing because cold temperatures slowed canopy development. The November- and December-sown crops produced 18% and 30% lower yield than the October-sown crops. ‘Rivage’ partitioned 5% greater DM to the storage root, an indication of greater sink strength, than SF Brigadier. Information on the pattern of growth can aid management decisions for optimising yield, and is valuable for the improvement of fodder beet models.
Diane Abbott, misogynoir and the politics of Black British feminism’s anticolonial imperatives: ‘In Britain too, it’s as if we don’t exist’

This article argues that it is remiss to understand the acute intensification of White supremacist politics in contemporary Britain without paying close attention to how this racism is inherently gendered and sexualised. This will be discussed in relation to the gendered racism of ‘misogynoir’ as experienced by the British Member of Parliament Diane Abbott. The article uses Shirley Anne Tate’s powerful analysis of the Sable-Saffron Venus in the English imaginary to argue that forms of British, and more explicitly English, national identity have been worked out on the back of systemic efforts to erase the material and epistemic presence of Black women in Britain from the British body politic. It further argues that the politics of erasure extends to the epistemic elision of Black British feminist theorising within the field of social theory. What then are the consequences and interplay of both the lived and epistemic acts of violence? I explore these issues by mapping Black British feminism’s anticolonial politics to argue that we should bring this tradition to bear in our analysis of this most recent iteration of racism in our contemporary times.
Understanding and Modeling the Occurrence of E. coli Blooms in Drinking Water Reservoirs

Certain strains of Escherichia coli have been reported to bloom in the environment, resulting in high concentrations in waters in the absence of apparent fecal input or human pathogens, and in turn, undermining its reliability as an indicator of recent fecal contamination. Given the capacity of environmental strains of E. coli to replicate in the environment, the objective of this research work was to investigate whether any of the routinely measured parameters could predict the onset of an E. coli bloom in drinking water reservoirs. Information from historical catchment, weather, and water quality data were extracted for a number of Australian reservoirs that experienced E. coli blooms. Data were preprocessed and analyzed with time series analysis, linear and nonlinear regression, and self‐organizing maps. Findings suggest that warm water, dry catchments, algal blooms, and nutrient availability were important factors in increasing the propensity for a bloom. Nutrient availability can be affected by many extrinsic factors that are often not well characterized, such as bushfires and back burning, decomposition of aquatic species, and dust storms. Based on data analysis outputs, a data‐driven Bayesian Network model was developed, which, considering the paucity of data for some key input parameters, should only be used to trigger more intensive monitoring programs whenever the predicted risk of a bloom exceeds predetermined key thresholds. Such new data could be fed into the model to continuously improve its accuracy, and to eventually predict and proactively manage future blooms.
A qualitative survey of pre-payment scheme for healthcare services in a rural Nigerian community

Prepayment method for financing health care is one of the means to achieving the desired universal health coverage. However, expanding health insurance to cover the larger informal sector of the population in Nigeria is a persistent challenge especially in the rural areas. This study was carried out to assess the perception of health insurance scheme among rural dwellers in southwest Nigeria. Qualitative data was obtained with the aid of a focus group discussion guide. The FGD questions were framed along familiar themes common to prepayment methods as found in health insurance schemes. A total of six FGD sessions were conducted. Each of the FGD sessions consisted of between 8 – 12 participants. Two FGD sessions, consisting of separate male and female homogeneous groups were conducted in each of the three wards selected for the study. One FGD session lasted between one and a half to two hours and was audio-recorded. Qualitative data were analyzed manually engaging predetermined as well as emerging themes. Awareness about the health insurance scheme was quite low among study participants. Knowledge of the few who had ever heard about it was inadequate. Respondents generally had a positive attitude towards prepayment schemes and willingness to participate in it was high but were skeptical about its sustainability. Strategies to improve awareness about health insurance and its benefit packages among potential beneficiaries are desirable. Keywords: Prepayment scheme, Health insurance, Informal sector, Rural dwellers
Maternal obstetric complications in teenage pregnancy in Kasturba Hospital, Delhi: A case control study

Background: Teenage pregnancy, a social problem distributed worldwide, has serious implications on maternal and child health, especially in the context of developing countries. Objective: To evaluate the maternal obstetric complications in teenage pregnancy Setting : This case control study, prospective study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Kasturba Hospital Delhi. Hundred women attending Antenatal clinic (ANC) Outpatient department (OPD) with urine pregnancy test positive were enrolled in the study Result: Maternal outcome in teenage pregnancy which revealed mild anaemia (88%), Severe Preeclampsia (20%), preterm delivery (18%), and UTI (36%) are main complications associated with teenage pregnancy. Conclusion: Teenage mothers developed more obstetric and perinatal complications, such as anaemia, preeclampsia, UTI, preterm births, Birth asphyxia and delivered babies with low-birthweight compared to the older mothers.