Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical benefits of oral irrigation for periodontitis are related to reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and plaque.

BACKGROUND Although a growing body of evidence indicates that oral irrigation with water has therapeutic benefits in periodontitis, the mechanisms of action have not been elucidated. The aims of this study were: (1) to analyze the effects of oral irrigation (Water Pik Oral Irrigator) on the clinical signs of adult periodontitis (AP) and on the levels of interleukin-1 beta (IL-beta), prostaglandin-E2 (PGE2), interleukin-10 (IL-10) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in GCF, and (2) to analyze the influence of the periodontitis-related IL-1 genotype (IL-1GT) on these variables. METHOD A single-center, blinded study in otherwise healthy humans (n= 52) with localized mild to moderate AP was carried out, using the following groups: group A (n= 12), no oral hygiene for 14 days; group B (n=20), routine oral hygiene (ROH) for 14 days; group C (n=20), supra-gingival oral irrigation plus ROH for 14 days. Group A patients were crossed-over to group C for 14 days (=day 28) after a professional prophylaxis. Group assignment was randomized by a coin toss, with the exception of group A subjects, who were self-selected as per recommendations of the internal review board for human subjects. GCF was sampled from 3 study teeth per patient and analyzed for IL-1 beta, PGE2, IL-10 and IFN gamma by ELISA on days 0, 7, 14 and 28. Probing pocket depths (PPD), clinical attachment levels (CAL), bleeding on probing (BOP), gingival index (GI) and plaque index (PI) were measured by a calibrated examiner (TWS) on days 0, 14 and 28. Analysis of covariance was performed using SAS 6.12 and Proc Mixed with group and IL-1GT as the factors and the baseline levels as the covariate, with output being least squares means and least significant difference (LSD). Significant differences were declared if the p-value for the F-statistic was < or =0.05. RESULTS Oral irrigation plus ROH resulted in a significant reduction in PPD, BOP, GI and PI, as well as IL-beta levels by 7 days and PGE2 levels by 14 days, relative to ROH or no oral hygiene. Interestingly, decreased IL-1 beta levels in patients using oral irrigation plus ROH was accompanied by a trend for increased levels of the "anti-inflammatory" cytokine IL-10. ROH reduced GI, BOP and PI, and PGE2 levels by 14 days, but had no effect on IL-1 beta or IL-10 levels relative to no oral hygiene. The effects of no oral hygiene were reversed by a prophy followed by oral irrigation plus ROH for 14 days. No clinical differences were evident between IL-1 GT (+) patients (n= 1) and GT (-) patients (n=40), but the former had significantly elevated levels of GCF IL-10 and borderline increases in IL-1 beta (p=0.07). CONCLUSIONS Oral irrigation with water for 14 days had an improved therapeutic benefit for AP over that of routine oral hygiene alone and this improvement was accompanied by a down-modulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine profile in GCF.
Insider Trading and the Legal Expertise of Corporate Executives

This study investigates whether legal expertise of insiders negatively (restraint effect) or positively (enabling effect) affects their trading performance. I show that insiders with legal education earn significantly lower abnormal returns when they make purchases compared to those without legal expertise. This finding is stronger in well-governed firms, and is robust to controlling for various insider attributes (e.g., positions held by the insider). Also, purchases by legal insiders are associated with lower future earnings surprises and firm profitability. In addition, legal insiders trade less following SEC enforcement activity. The results suggest that insiders with law degrees behave more conservatively.
İki Bölgeli Güç Sistemininin Optikten Esinlenen Optimizasyon Algoritması ile Optimal Yük Frekans Kontrolü

Bu calismada, iki bolgeli bir guc sistemindeki frekansi kontrol eden PID kontroloru parametrelerinin en uygun degerlerinin belirlenmesi icin etkin ve yeni bir optimizasyon yontemi olan Optikten Esinlenen Optimizasyon (OIO) algoritmasi onerilmistir. Yansima kanunlarina gore; ic bukey aynaya paralel gelen isinlar, yansidiktan sonra bir noktada toplanirlar. Dis bukey aynaya paralel gelen isinlar ise, aynanin arkasindaki bir noktadan cikiyormus gibi birbirinden uzaklasarak yansirlar. Yontem, bu aynalardaki yansima ve goruntunun olusmasindaki farkliliklar esas alinarak gelistirilmis bir sayisal optimizasyon teknigidir. Onerilen yonteme gore elde edilen sonuclar, yaygin olarak bilinen ve kullanilan Parcacik Suru Optimizasyonu ve Bakteri Suru Optimizasyonu yontemleriyle elde edilen sonuclar ile karsilastirilmistir. Sonuclar hatanin zaman agirlikli karelerinin toplami performans indeksine gore alinmistir. Elde edilen sonuclar gozonune alindiginda, onerilen yontemin diger yontemlere gore, maksimum cokme ve yerlesme suresi degerleri icin daha bir iyi performansa sahip oldugu gorulmustur.
Les mécanismes de la neuropathie auditive AUNA1

La neuropathie auditive est une forme de surdite caracterisee par une atteinte des cellules ciliees internes (qui detectent les ondes sonores et les transforment en message nerveux) et/ou des neurones afferents primaires (qui vehiculent les messages nerveux jusqu'au noyau cochleaire), associee a une activite normale des cellules ciliees externes (qui amplifient les ondes sonores). AUNA1 est la premiere neuropathie auditive hereditaire a avoir ete decrite. Elle est causee par une mutation ponctuelle situee dans le promoteur du gene DIAPH3, resultant en une surexpression de DIAPH3. La proteine DIAPH3, un membre de la famille des formines, est connue pour promouvoir la nucleation et l’elongation des filaments d’actine ainsi que la stabilisation des microtubules. Nous avons etudie les mecanismes d’AUNA1 a partir d’un modele murin transgenique surexprimant le gene diap3, l’orthologue murin de DIAPH3. Les souris transgeniques developpent une surdite dont les caracteristiques sont semblables a celles d’AUNA1. Cette surdite est due a une perte d’activite des cellules ciliees internes. L’activite synaptique et les courants potassiques de ces cellules ne sont pas alteres. En revanche, la microscopie electronique revele une fusion des stereocils (expansions cytoplasmiques qui permettent la detection des ondes sonores) et une deformation de la plaque cuticulaire (plateforme qui assure l’ancrage des stereocils). Par la technique d’immunomarquage, nous avons mis en evidence une invasion de la plaque cuticulaire par des microtubules. Enfin, nous avons demontre que la proteine Diap3 est localisee dans la plaque cuticulaire des cellules ciliees internes, suggerant ainsi que la surexpression de diap3 provoque un remodelage du reseau de microtubule des cellules ciliees internes, a l’origine de la surdite AUNA1.
Involvement of K+ Channels in Adenosine A2A and A2B Receptor-Mediated Hyperpolarization of Porcine Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells

This study investigated the effects of the following adenosine agonists: 5´-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA), N6-cyclopentyadenosine (CPA) 2-[p-(2-carboxyethyl)]phenylamino-5´N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (CGS-21680), and 2-chloroadenosine (CAD) and its antagonist, 4-(2-[7-amino-2-{2-furyl}]1,2,4-triazolo[2,3-a][1,3,5]triazin-5-ylamino]ethyl)phenol (ZM-241385), a selective A2A adenosine receptor antagonist, and the involvement of the K+ATP and KCa channels on the resting membrane potential (RMP) of confluent monolayers of cultured porcine coronary artery endothelial cells (PCAECs). Adenosine agonists and K+ATP channel openers (pinacidil, cromakalim) hyperpolarized cultured PCAECs. The average RMP was −32.31 ± 1.2 mV. Adenosine agonists at 10−5M caused a significant increase in RMP to −65.0 ± 1.5 mV for CAD (a nonselective adenosine receptor agonist) to −75.9 ± 1.6 mV for CGS-21680 (a selective A2A receptor agonist) and to −87.0 ± 3.5 mV for NECA (a nonselective A1/A2A/A2B receptor agonist). Pinacidil and cromakalim at 10 &mgr;M increased the membrane potential to −76.2 ± 1.2 mV and −75.22 ± 0.12 mV, respectively. The hyperpolarization induced by adenosine receptor agonists and KATP openers was inhibited by an application of the K+ATP channel blocker glibenclamide (10 &mgr;M), indicating the involvement of the K+ATP channel in the adenosine-mediated hyperpolarization of PCAECs. Moreover, 1-EB10, a selective opener of the maxi-KCa channel, hyperpolarized PCAECs, and the effect of 1-EB10 was completely blocked by a selective, irreversible blocker of the high conductance KCa (maxi-K) channels (penitrem A), but it only partially blocked the effect of NECA. ZM-241385 has no effect on hyperpolarization elicited by K+ATP and KCa channel openers. However, ZM-241385 significantly blocked the hyperpolarization effect of CAD and CGS-21680. ZM-241385 partially blocked the hyperpolarizing effect of NECA, and a combination of ZM-241385 and penitrem A further blocked the hyperpolarizing effect of NECA. These results further support the involvement of K+ channels in adenosine A2A and A2B receptor–mediated hyperpolarization of PCAECs.
Relationships between Aphasia and Apraxia

Aphasia and apraxia are two major neuropsychological syndromes that in most cases are caused by injuries in the left cerebral hemisphere. Clinical studies have revealed a double dissociation between aphasia and apraxia, and a strong correlation in their cerebral lateralization. These clinical observations suggest that aphasia and apraxia are independent syndromes. On the other hand, there are many parallels between language and praxis, including symbol representation and sequential motor control. The two syndromes are also similar in that their clinical variations can be classified into reception/production problems and semantic/nonsemantic problems. It appears that language and praxis systems make use of anatomically adjacent and possibly overlapping networks.
Expression of haem oxygenase‐1 correlates with tumour aggressiveness and BRAFV600E expression in thyroid cancer

Haem oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) is an inducible enzyme that participates in haem degradation. Recent studies have indicated that HO‐1 activation may play a role in tumour development and progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of HO‐1 in thyroid cancer and its clinicopathological significance.
Molecular and Cellular Pathobiology Cyclin D 3 Compensates for the Loss of Cyclin D 1 during ErbB 2-Induced Mammary Tumor Initiation and Progression

Cyclin D1 regulates cell proliferation and is a candidate molecular target for breast cancer therapy. This study addresses whether Cyclin D1 is indispensable for ErbB2-associated mammary tumor initiation and progression using a breast cancermodel inwhich this cell-cycle regulator can be genetically ablated prior to or after neoplastic transformation. Deficiency in Cyclin D1 delayed tumor onset but did not prevent the occurrence of mammary cancer in mice overexpressing wild-type ErbB2. The lack of Cyclin D1 was associated with a compensatory upregulation of Cyclin D3, which explains why the targeted downregulation of Cyclin D1 in establishedmammary tumors had no effect on cancer cell proliferation. Cyclin D1 andD3 are overexpressed in human breast cancer cell lines andprimary invasive breast cancers, andCyclinD3 frequently exceeded the expression of CyclinD1 inErbB2positive cases. The simultaneous inhibition of both cyclins in mammary tumor cells reduced cancer cell proliferation in vitro and decreased the tumor burden in vivo. Collectively, the results of this study suggest that only the combined inhibition of Cyclin D1 and D3 might be a suitable strategy for breast cancer prevention and therapy. Cancer Res; 71(24); 7513–24. 2011 AACR.
PAWS: towards a participatory approach to business process reengineering

Companies normally hire external consultants to carry out their business process re-engineering. While this can be simple and efficient in the short term, it may not be convenient in the mid and long term. A low level of workers' involvement with a consequent resistance to changes, and a continuous dependency on external consultancy are the main drawbacks. We propose an alternative approach to BPR in which company workers play an active and important role re-designing the organization's processes in a cooperative style. The method includes stepwise refinement and is expected to generate better results than the traditional approach.
3D-printing and electronic packaging - current status and future challenges

3D-Printing, or Additive Manufacturing, has received significant media attention during the last five years. A number of companies are now commercializing materials, design tools, and 3D-Printers and these are being used in a number of sectors for digital manufacturing including aerospace, medical, construction and consumer products. But what impact is 3D-Printing having on electronic packaging and manufacturing? Companies that produce and sell 3D-Printers as well as EDA and MCAD companies are now promoting 3D-Printing towards the electronics sector. This paper details the current status of 3D-printing for the manufacture and packaging of electronic systems, and provides some insights on how it may impact our community in the future. Challenges related to the performance and electrical behavior of printed conductive materials are discussed as they must meet or better the performance of materials currently used. And of course the overall quality and reliability of any 3D-printed electronic system must meet industry requirements. The paper will detail developments taking place in design and modelling tools and how these can be used in addressing some of these challenges.
Risk Factors for HIV Infection Among Haitian Adolescents and Young Adults Seeking Counseling and Testing in Port-au-Prince

Objectives:Many Haitian adolescents and youth are highly vulnerable to HIV infection. It was important to define the risk factors of the young people who are already seeking care. Methods:Among 3391 sexually active 13- to 25-year-olds in our Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) Center in Port-au-Prince from October 2005 to September 2006, we assessed associations between demographic and behavioral factors and HIV status using multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results:We diagnosed HIV infection in 6.3% of 2533 females and 5.5% of 858 males. Age-specific prevalence was 3.4% for 13- to 15-year-olds, 4.7% for 16-19, and 6.8% for 20-25 (P = 0.02). Poor education, not residing with parents, currently or formerly married, having a child, and being self-referred or referred by others VCT services were significant predictors of HIV in females. HIV infection was associated with considering oneself at higher risk, although most youth did not recognize this risk. HIV in females was also associated with suspected/confirmed sexually transmitted infection, especially genital ulcers (ORadj = 2.28, 95% confidence interval: 1.26 to 4.13), years of sexual activity (Ptrend = 0.07), and suspicion that partners had other partners or an sexually transmitted infection. Among males, HIV was associated with drug use (though uncommon) and sexual debut with a casual/unknown person (ORadj = 3.18, 95% confidence interval: 1.58 to 6.42). HIV-infected young people were more likely to be rapid plasma reagin positive and less likely to use condoms. Conclusion:Young Haitians are a key target for HIV prevention and care and avail themselves readily of youth-focused VCT services.
The effect of probiotic microorganisms and bioactive compounds on chemically induced carcinogenesis in rats.

Diet interventions and natural bioactive supplements have now been extensively studied to reduce risks of colon cancer, which is one of the major public health problem throughout the world. The objective of our investigation was to study the effects of probiotic, prebiotic, nutritional plant extract, and plant oil on selected biochemical and immunological parameters in rats with colon cancer induced by N,N dimethylhydrazine (DMH). Male and female Wistar albino rats were were fed by a high-fat (HF) diet (10% fat in the diet) and were divided into 9 groups: Control group; PRO group - HF diet supplemented with probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum to provide 3 x 109 c.f. u. of strain/1 ml of medium; PRE group - HF diet supplemented with inulin enriched with oligofructose (2% of HF diet); HES group - HF diet supplemented with plant extract of Aesculus hippocastanum L. (1% of HF diet); OIL group - HF diet comprised Linioleum virginale (2% of HF diet); and combination of probiotic microorganisms and bioactive compounds in the groups - PRO-PRE, PRO-HES, PRO-OIL, PRE-OIL. Carcinogenesis was initiated with subcutaneous injection of DMH (20 mg/kg) two times at week interval and dietary treatments were continued for the six weeks. Application of probiotic microorganisms and bioactive compounds in all treated groups significantly decreased the activities of bacterial enzymes (p<0.001), the fecal bile acids concentration (p<0.01; p<0.001) and significantly increased serum TNFalpha level (p<0.001) in comparison to the control rats. The number of coliforms was reduced in PRO, PRO-PRE, PRO-OIL and PRE-OIL groups and significantly higher count of lactobacilli (p<0.05) was observed in PRO-PRE, PRO-OIL and PRE-OIL groups in compare with the controls. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that probiotic microorganisms and bioactive compounds could exert a preventive effect on colon carcinogenesis induced by DMH.
Diagnóstico do provisionamento de recursos para máquinas virtuais em nuvens IaaS

A computacao em nuvem trouxe recentemente uma pequena revolucao na tecnologia da informacao. Neste paradigma, provedores de nuvem assumem o onus de adquirir, operar e gerenciar infraestruturas computacionais, que sao entao locadas a clientes de nuvem. Um dos modelos de servico de nuvens e infraestrutura como servico (infrastructure-asa- service, IaaS), no qual provedores oferecem como recursos capacidades de processamento, armazenamento e comunicacao, normalmente associadas a instâncias de maquinas virtuais. Ainda que clientes IaaS possam ajustar os recursos alocados de acordo com as suas necessidades uma caracteristica chave das nuvens , o dimensionamento de recursos permanece um desafio, uma vez que faltam meios para identificar com precisao a capacidade necessaria para satisfazer a demanda das aplicacoes. Muitos usuarios incorrem no subprovisionamento, prejudicando o desempenho de suas aplicacoes, ou no superprovisionamento, pagando por recursos que nao sao realmente necessarios. Este trabalho usa monitoracao para prover um modelo de diagnostico, permitindo que um cliente de nuvem determine se os recursos disponiveis para suas maquinas virtuais estao provisionados corretamente, ou se estao sub- ou superprovisionados. Foram avaliados os recursos de processador, memoria e rede, que podem ser facilmente reservados nos ambientes de virtualizacao atuais. A eficacia da abordagem proposta e demonstrada por resultados experimentais em maquinas virtuais Linux na plataforma de virtualizacao Xen
A zigzag cascaded multilevel inverter topology with self voltage balancing

This paper presents a zigzag cascaded multilevel inverter topology. The proposed new inverter has the following advantages: 1) only one dc source is needed and with no voltage balancing problem, 2) the output voltage can be boosted or bucked, positive or negative, 3) input and output share the same ground. Compared to the traditional multilevel inverter, it has simpler structure and control strategy. Theoretical analysis for this new inverter is presented. A prototype was built and the experimental results verify the analysis.
Improvement of power quality using a hybrid UPQC in renewable energy

In this paper a reduced rating star-connected transformer based Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC) has been proposed for power quality improvement in wind energy source. This work comprises of a three phase three wire UPQC, a star connected transformer and a LC filter. This hybrid approach significantly improves the performance of UPQC under unbalance source voltage condition. The UPQC adopted to compensate current and voltage-quality problems of sensitive loads and Suppressing the load current harmonics under distorted supply conditions. The UPQC consists of a shunt and series converter having a common dc link. The dc link control strategy is based on the fuzzy-logic controller. The proposed solution has been analyzed and described, and a model of a 500-kV A wind energy source is considered. The extensive simulation results have been carried out in MATLAB/Simulink environment power system blockset toolboxes. From the results it has been shown that hybrid UPQC achieves superior capability of mitigating the effects of voltage sag/swell and suppressing the load current harmonics under distorted supply conditions.
Simulation of a DFIG-based wind turbine with active filtering function using Matlab/Simulink

This paper deals with a wind energy conversion system (WECS), based on a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) and an electromechanical active power filter (APF). The objective is to respond simultaneously to electric energy requirement and power quality concerns. The proposed WECS is able not only to track the maximum power point of the wind energy but also to dampen harmonic currents from the grid line. To achieve these purposes, back-to-back pulse width modulation (PWM) voltage source converters (VSCs) are employed to excite the DFIG rotor. To control the power converters, two regulation loops, following the field oriented control (FOC) method, have been conceived. The first loop, dedicated to the rotor converter, enables a decoupled control of active and reactive powers flows. As well, it permits the cancellation of the most noteworthy harmonics from the utility current. The second loop, devoted to the front-end converter (FEC), makes it possible to regulate the DC-bus voltage shared between the two converters. Furthermore, the paper provides a study of the DFIG sub and super-synchronous operating modes which can be reached by acting on the wind speed. To demonstrate the performance of aforementioned WECS, a Matlab/Simulink model was established and simulated. Results seem to be very promising.
PDEs-based Gaussian noise removal from color images

This study presents a Gaussian noise removal method using the improved trace-based approach for color images. The presented method employs partial differential equations (PDEs)-based approach including both smoothing (regularization) term and fidelity (data) term in the energy functional. So, the structure of the input image is well preserved during noise removal processes. Also, we estimate the standard deviation of Gaussian noise in the wavelet domain. In addition, due to the fact that the type of Gaussian noise is easily perceived via a selected block in a flat (homogeneous) region of the noisy input image, the presented method is considered as a semi-automated noise removal approach. The validity of the presented method is depicted via experimental results.
Complete Genome Sequence of Bacillus velezensis GQJK49, a Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacterium with Antifungal Activity

ABSTRACT Bacillus velezensis GQJK49 is a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium with antifungal activity, which was isolated from Lycium barbarum L. rhizosphere. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of B. velezensis GQJK49. Twelve gene clusters related to its biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, including antifungal and antibacterial antibiotics, were predicted.