Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A novel decision-making process for tooth retention or extraction.

BACKGROUND Implant-supported restorations have become the most popular therapeutic option for professionals and patients for the treatment of total and partial edentulism. When implants are placed in an ideal position, with adequate prosthetic loading and proper maintenance, they can have success rates >90% over 15 years of function. Implants may be considered a better therapeutic alternative than performing more extensive conservative procedures in an attempt to save or maintain a compromised tooth. Inadequate indication for tooth extraction has resulted in the sacrifice of many sound savable teeth. This article presents a chart that can assist clinicians in making the right decision when they are deciding which route to take. METHODS Articles published in peer-reviewed English journals were selected using several scientific databases and subsequently reviewed. Book sources were also searched. Individual tooth- and patient-related features were thoroughly analyzed, particularly when determining if a tooth should be indicated for extraction. RESULTS A color-based decision-making chart with six different levels, including several factors, was developed based upon available scientific literature. The rationale for including these factors is provided, and its interpretation is justified with literature support. CONCLUSION The decision-making chart provided may serve as a reference guide for dentists when making the decision to save or extract a compromised tooth.
The structure of sodium niobate (T2) at 600°C, and the cubic-tetragonal transition in relation to soft-phonon modes

Abstract The structure of NaNbO3, phase T2 (immediately below the cubic phase), has been determined from lattice parameters and difference reflections. It is tetragonal C-face-centred, with a= 7·8698(8) A, c=3·9428(4) A at 600°c. It corresponds to condensation of an M3 soft-phonon mode from the cubic phase, in contrast to SrTiO3 where the condensing mode is Γ25. The anomalous changes in mean square values of atomic displacements have been derived from changes in lattice parameters. Hence the intensities of x-ray scattering are calculated and compared with direct measurements of diffuse scattering by other workers, with satisfactory agreement. A mechanism for the transition is postulated.
Probability analysis in art conservation

Analysis of manuscript inks is very important because it gives information on the authenticity and the dating of manuscripts. Inks are semi-transparent pigments which are very difficult to discriminate because of the influence of the support on which they are often found. For this reason ink is often examined using destructive techniques of analysis. However, in the case of old manuscript inks it is frequently impossible to apply destructive techniques for their analysis because of the historical and cultural value of manuscripts. Statistical analysis offers the best opportunity for developing effective solutions on the non-destructive characterization of manuscript inks. In this paper we present a novel method for the ink recognition problems that is based on the optical ink information represented through a mixture of Gaussian functions so as the ink classification using the Bayes’ decision rule can be feasible.
eHealth solutions in the context of Internet of Things

The article analyzes the impact of “IoT - Internet of Things” on the design of new eHealth solutions. The authors aim to illustrate that the communication models, protocols and technologies promoted under the IoT concept have a great potential in the implementation of Internet-based healthcare systems. The experiments performed by the authors in the field of eHealth reveal some possible solutions, but also some open questions.
Conceptual and Methodological Issues in Evaluations of Road Safety Countermeasures

Researchers have a long history in the conduct of evaluations of road safety countermeasures. However, despite the strengths of some evaluative road safety evaluations that align with previous and current thinking on program evaluation, few published road safety evaluations have followed standard conceptualization and methodology outlined in numerous program evaluation textbooks, journal articles and Web-based handbooks. However, conceptual and methodological challenges inherent in many evaluations of road safety countermeasures can affect causal attribution. Valid determination of causal attribution is enhanced by use of relevant theory or hypotheses on the putative mechanisms or pathways of change and by the use of a process evaluation to assess the actual implementation process. This article provides a detailed description of the constructs of causal chain, program logic models and process evaluation. This article provides an example of how these standard methods of theory-driven evaluation can improve the interpretation of outcomes and enhance causal attribution of a road safety countermeasure.
Optimizing spoken dialogue management with fitted value iteration

In recent years machine learning approaches have been proposed for dialogue management optimization in spoken dialogue systems. It is customary to cast the dialogue management problem into a Markov Decision Process (MDP) and to find the associated optimal policy using Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms. Yet, the dialogue state space is usually very large (even infinite) and standard RL algorithms fail to handle it. In this paper we explore the possibility of using a generalization framework for dialogue management which is a particular fitted value iteration algorithm (namely fitted-Q iteration). We show that fitted-Q, when applied to continuous state space dialogue management problems, can generalize well and makes efficient use of samples to learn the approximate optimal stateaction value function. Our experimental results show that fittedQ performs significantly better than the hand-coded policy and relatively better than the policy learned using least-square policy iteration (LSPI), another generalization algorithm. Index Terms: Spoken Dialogue Systems, Dialogue Management, Reinforcement Learning
The comparison of a novel continuous cardiac output monitor based on pulse wave transit time and echo Doppler during exercise

A new technology called estimated continuous cardiac output (esCCO) uses pulse wave transit time (PWTT) obtained from an electrocardiogram and pulse oximeter to measure cardiac output (CO) non-invasively and continuously. This study was performed to evaluate the accuracy of esCCO during exercise testing. We compared esCCO with CO measured by the echo Doppler aortic velocity-time integral (VTIao_CO). The correlation coefficient between esCCO and VTIao_CO was r= 0.87 (n= 72). Bias and precision were 0.33 ± 0.95 L/min and percentage error was 31%. The esCCO could detect change in VTIao_CO larger than 1 L/min with a concordance rate of 88%. In polar plot, 83% of data are within 0.5 L/min, and 100% of data are within 1 L/min. Those results show the acceptable accuracy and trend ability of esCCO. Change in pre-ejection period (PEP) measured by using M-mode of Diagnostic Ultrasound System accounted for approximately half of change in PWTT. This indicates that PEP included in PWTT has an impact on the accuracy of esCCO measurement. In this study, the validity of esCCO during exercise testing was assessed and shown to be acceptable. The result of this study suggests that we can expand its application.
Non-uniform unit selection and the similarity metric within BT's Laureate TTS system

In BT's Laureate text to speech system, the process of generating natural sounding synthetic speech from text can be viewed as a three stage process. The first stage attempts to convert general text into some form of normalised textual representation. This stage may consist of a number of components which are designed to handle domain specific problems. The second stage converts the normalised linear orthographic input data into a structured linguistic description. This stage consists of a number of components comprising orthography to phoneme conversion, syntactic analysis, performance parsing, and the prediction of duration and intonation. The third and final stage uses this linguistic structure to generate synthetic speech. The nature of the production stage differs depending on the production method. The Laureate system has, over the last five years, been concentrating on a concatenative approach. Clearly the method of unit selection used within this stage contributes significantly to the eventual quality of the synthetic speech produced. This paper will describe the method of unit selection currently implemented within Laureate. Concatenative speech synthesis systems generate speech from a unit inventory of sounds. The phoneme has proved the most popular symbolic representation of sound in these systems, but simply storing one sample phone for each phoneme is not sufficient for good quality synthesis. Coarticulation is one reason why this is so – the production of one phone can be highly influenced by its preceding and following neighbours. The challenge for all methods of unit selection is to provide an efficient method of selecting units which, in some clearly specified way, provide the best approximation to the desired phones available within the inventory. The Laureate system uses mixed N-phone units. In theory such units could be of arbitrary size, but in practice, they are constrained to a maximum of three phones (triphone). In addition, unlike traditional methods of unit selection, Laureate does not attempt to find the best unit from a fixed pre-selected set. Rather, it dynamically generates a sequence of units based on a global cost. Units are selected using purely phonologically motivated criteria, without reference to any acoustic features either desired or available within the inventory. Details of the selection process will be provided within the paper together with a discussion on existing short falls of the method and future envisaged improvements.
Numerically Stable Moment Matching for Linear Systems Parameterized by Polynomials in Multiple Variables With Applications to Finite Element Models of Microwave Structures

Parametric model-order reduction is a very powerful methodology for analyzing large-scale systems with multiple parameters. This paper extends the theory of moment-matching single-point methods to linear systems parameterized by multivariate polynomials. We propose a new algorithm that exhibits high numerical robustness and short runtimes, allows for direction-dependent model orders, and is easy to parallelize. To demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the suggested approach, we present the response surfaces of two microwave finite-element models, featuring the operating frequency and material properties as parameters.
On the microstructure of bituminous binders

The objective of this work is to study the common features and the evolution of microstructures of bituminous binders regardless of their grade (PEN 10/20 to 160/220) and source/origin using the atomic force microscope operated in phase contrast mode. All bituminous binders show the same microstructural features, consisting of three distinct phases, the perpetua-, peri- and catana-phase. The perpetua-phase is soft and viscoelastic in nature, the peri-phase is relatively stiff and solid in nature and the catana-phase is alternatingly hard and soft in nature and is always found in the middle of the peri-phase. Experiments at different temperatures result in a quantitative picture of the changes/transitions between the different microphases upon heating. Phase formation is reversible with respect to temperature, upon heating homogenisation occurs and upon cooling re-formation of the phases can be observed.
Advances in Therapeutic Fc Engineering – Modulation of IgG-Associated Effector Functions and Serum Half-life

Today, monoclonal immunoglobulin gamma (IgG) antibodies have become a major option in cancer therapy especially for the patients with advanced or metastatic cancers. Efficacy of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is achieved through both its antigen-binding fragment (Fab) and crystallizable fragment (Fc). Fab can specifically recognize tumor-associated antigen (TAA) and thus modulate TAA-linked downstream signaling pathways that may lead to the inhibition of tumor growth, induction of tumor apoptosis, and differentiation. The Fc region can further improve mAbs’ efficacy by mediating effector functions such as antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, complement-dependent cytotoxicity, and antibody-dependent cell-mediated phagocytosis. Moreover, Fc is the region interacting with the neonatal Fc receptor in a pH-dependent manner that can slow down IgG’s degradation and extend its serum half-life. Loss of the antibody Fc region dramatically shortens its serum half-life and weakens its anticancer effects. Given the essential roles that the Fc region plays in the modulation of the efficacy of mAb in cancer treatment, Fc engineering has been extensively studied in the past years. This review focuses on the recent advances in therapeutic Fc engineering that modulates its related effector functions and serum half-life. We also discuss the progress made in aglycosylated mAb development that may substantially reduce the cost of manufacture but maintain similar efficacies as conventional glycosylated mAb. Finally, we highlight several Fc engineering-based mAbs under clinical trials.
CFTR regulation in human airway epithelial cells requires integrity of the actin cytoskeleton and compartmentalized cAMP and PKA activity

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mutation ΔF508CFTR still causes regulatory defects when rescued to the apical membrane, suggesting that the intracellular milieu might affect its ability to respond to cAMP regulation. We recently reported that overexpression of the Na+/H+ exchanger regulatory factor NHERF1 in the cystic fibrosis (CF) airway cell line CFBE41o-rescues the functional expression of ΔF508CFTR by promoting F-actin organization and formation of the NHERF1–ezrin–actin complex. Here, using real-time FRET reporters of both PKA activity and cAMP levels, we find that lack of an organized subcortical cytoskeleton in CFBE41o-cells causes both defective accumulation of cAMP in the subcortical compartment and excessive cytosolic accumulation of cAMP. This results in reduced subcortical levels and increased cytosolic levels of PKA activity. NHERF1 overexpression in CFBE41o-cells restores chloride secretion, subcortical cAMP compartmentalization and local PKA activity, indicating that regulation of ΔF508CFTR function requires not only stable expression of the mutant CFTR at the cell surface but also depends on both generation of local cAMP signals of adequate amplitude and activation of PKA in proximity of its target. Moreover, we found that the knockdown of wild-type CFTR in the non-CF 16HBE14o-cells results in both altered cytoskeletal organization and loss of cAMP compartmentalization, whereas stable overexpression of wt CFTR in CF cells restores cytoskeleton organization and re-establishes the compartmentalization of cAMP at the plasma membrane. This suggests that the presence of CFTR on the plasma membrane influences the cytoskeletal organizational state and, consequently, cAMP distribution. Our data show that a sufficiently high concentration of cAMP in the subcortical compartment is required to achieve PKA-mediated regulation of CFTR activity.
Association of DNA repair gene polymorphisms with response to platinum-based doublet chemotherapy in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

PURPOSE To identify polymorphisms in DNA repair genes that affect responses to platinum-based doublet chemotherapy in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS In total, 640 patients with NSCLC who received platinum-based doublet chemotherapy in the National Cancer Center Hospital in Japan from 2000 to 2008 and whose responses were evaluated by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) participated in a study of the association between response and genotypes for 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 27 DNA repair genes. Candidate SNPs were selected in a discovery set of 201 patients, and their associations were validated in an independent set of 439 patients by prespecified P value criteria. RESULTS Homozygotes for the minor allele TP53-72Pro of the Arg72Pro SNP in the TP53 gene showed a better response rate (54.3%) than those for the major allele TP53-72Arg (29.1%; P = 4.4 × 10(-5)) irrespective of therapeutic regimens, and minor allele homozygotes had significantly longer progression-free and overall survivals than major allele homozygotes (hazard ratio [HR], 0.85; 95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = .020; and HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.74 to 0.99; P = .039). Minor allele carriers for SNP Lys940Arg in the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) gene showed a better response rate to the paclitaxel regimen (45.8%) than to the gemcitabine regimen (10.5%; P for interaction = .019). CONCLUSION Polymorphisms in the TP53 and PARP1 genes are involved in inter-individual differences in the response to platinum-based doublet chemotherapy in patients with NSCLC.
The acoustic reflex latency test: Clinical application

Acoustic reflex latency is the time interval between onset of an intense auditory stimulus and onset of middle‐ear muscle contraction. The hypothesis was proposed that a retrocochlear lesion involving the afferent (VIIIth nerve) portion of the reflex are should result in a prolongation of the reflex latency. A clinical procedure, the Acoustic Reflex Latency Test (ARLT), its protocol, methods and equipment were developed in order to test this hypothesis clinically. Absolute latency values and interaural latency differences (ILD) were established on 4 populations which included normals, cochlear lesions due to Ménière's disease, cochlear lesions of variable etiology, and 11 cases of surgically confirmed acoustic tumor.
Comparison of Mutations in the p 53 and Kras Genes in Lung Carcinomas from Smoking and Nonsmoking Women 1

Lung cancer incidence is increasing in women with little or no tobacco exposure, and the cause of this trend is not known. One possibility is increased sensitivity to environmental tobacco smoke in women nonsmokers diagnosed with lung cancer. To determine whether mutations associated with tobacco exposure are found in the lung tumors of women who are lifetime nonsmokers or occasional smokers, we compared the p53 and K-ras mutational spectra in lung carcinomas from 23 female nonsmokers, 2 female occasional smokers (<10 packyears), and 30 female long-term smokers (20–100 packyears). We also looked for p53 and K-ras mutations in three carcinoid lung tumors, two from female nonsmokers and one from a female occasional smoker. For the p53 gene, exons 4–8 were examined for mutations; for the K-ras gene, exon 1 was examined. No mutations were found in the carcinoid tumors. In lung carcinomas, p53 mutations were identified in six (26.1%) of the cases from lifetime nonsmokers and consisted of five transitions (including three C to T, one G to A, and one T to C) and one T to A transversion. In comparison, p53 mutations were identified in 10 (31.3%) of the 32 lung carcinomas from short-term and long-term smokers and consisted of six transversions (four G to T, one A to T, and one G to C), one A to G transition, one C to T transition, and two deletions of one to four bp. Mutations in the p53 gene found in nonsmokers also occurred in either different codons or different positions within a codon compared with those seen in long-term smokers. K-ras mutations in codon 12 were identified in two lung carcinomas (8.7%) from lifetime nonsmokers. The K-ras mutations found were a G to T transversion and a G to A transition. Eight (25%) of the 32 lung carcinomas from smokers contained K-ras mutations in codons 12 and 13 (four G to T transversions and four G to A transitions). In addition, six silent mutations that are most likely polymorphisms were found in both smokers and nonsmokers. These results confirm that K-ras mutations are more frequent in smokers than in nonsmokers, but that the same type of mutation in the K-ras gene is found in both groups. In contrast, although the frequency of mutation in the p53 gene was similar in lifetime nonsmokers compared with long-term smokers, the types and spectra of mutation are significantly different. Two of the C to T transitions found in nonsmokers, but none of those found in smokers, occur at the C of a CpG site. These results suggest the mutagen(s) and/or mechanisms of p53 mutations in women nonsmokers are different from those responsible for p53 mutations in women smokers, which are probably largely induced by tobacco mutagens.
Continuous-time consensus with discrete-time communication

This paper describes a solution to a consensus problem whereby a group of agents evolve in continuous-time and exchange information at discrete instants of times. In the setup adopted each agent is viewed as a node in a graph, its evolution is represented by a scalar node variable, and all agents seek to agree on a common value. The agents are allowed to exchange information among each other but only at specified update times. The topology of the communication network can change over time and the information received by one agent from a subset of the other agents may be outdated. The solution proposed relies on the introduction of an extra variable for each agent that is updated instantaneously at update times. In between updates, both the node and the extra variables evolve in a continuous fashion. The proof that consensus is achieved is done by reducing the system under study to a discrete-time equivalent one and resorting to results on consensus for discrete-time systems.
Multi-view Dimensionality Reduction for Dialect Identification of Arabic Broadcast Speech

In this work, we present a new Vector Space Model (VSM) of speech utterances for the task of spoken dialect identification. Generally, DID systems are built using two sets of features that are extracted from speech utterances; acoustic and phonetic. The acoustic and phonetic features are used to form vector representations of speech utterances in an attempt to encode information about the spoken dialects. The Phonotactic and Acoustic VSMs, thus formed, are used for the task of DID. The aim of this paper is to construct a single VSM that encodes information about spoken dialects from both the Phonotactic and Acoustic VSMs. Given the two views of the data, we make use of a well known multi-view dimensionality reduction technique known as Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA), to form a single vector representation for each speech utterance that encodes dialect specific discriminative information from both the phonetic and acoustic representations. We refer to this approach as feature space combination approach and show that our CCA based feature vector representation performs better on the Arabic DID task than the phonetic and acoustic feature representations used alone. We also present the feature space combination approach as a viable alternative to the model based combination approach, where two DID systems are built using the two VSMs (Phonotactic and Acoustic) and the final prediction score is the output score combination from the two systems.