Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ridge preservation with freeze-dried bone allograft and a collagen membrane compared to extraction alone for implant site development: a clinical and histologic study in humans.

BACKGROUND Tooth extraction typically leads to loss of ridge width and height. The primary aim of this 6-month randomized, controlled, blinded, clinical study was to determine whether ridge preservation would prevent post-extraction resorptive changes as assessed by clinical and histologic parameters. METHODS Twenty-four patients, 10 males and 14 females, aged 28 to 76 (mean 51.5 +/- 13.6), requiring a non-molar extraction and delayed implant placement were randomly selected to receive either extraction alone (EXT) or ridge preservation (RP) using tetracycline hydrated freeze-dried bone allograft (FDBA) and a collagen membrane. A replaced flap, which did not completely cover the sockets, was used. Following extraction, horizontal and vertical ridge dimensions were determined using a modified digital caliper and an acrylic stent, respectively. Prior to implant placement, a 2.7 x 6.0 mm trephine core was obtained and preserved in formalin for histologic analysis. RESULTS The width of the RP group decreased from 9.2 +/- 1.2 mm to 8.0 +/- 1.4 mm (P<0.05), while the width of the EXT group decreased from 9.1 +/- 1.0 mm to 6.4 +/- 2.2 mm (P<0.05), a difference of 1.6 mm. Both the EXT and RP groups lost ridge width, although an improved result was obtained in the RP group. Most of the resorption occurred from the buccal; maxillary sites lost more width than mandibular sites. The vertical change for the RP group was a gain of 1.3 +/- 2.0 mm versus a loss of 0.9 +/- 1.6 mm for the EXT group (P<0.05), a height difference of 2.2 mm. Histologic analysis revealed more bone in the RP group: about 65 +/- 10% versus 54 +/- 12% in the EXT group. The RP group included both vital bone (28%) and non-vital (37%) FDBA fragments. CONCLUSIONS Ridge preservation using FDBA and a collagen membrane improved ridge height and width dimensions when compared to extraction alone. These dimensions may be more suitable for implant placement, especially in areas where loss of ridge height would compromise the esthetic result. The quantity of bone observed on histologic analysis was slightly greater in preservation sites, although these sites included both vital and non-vital bone. The most predictable maintenance of ridge width, height, and position was achieved when a ridge preservation procedure was employed.
Investigating women's participation in protest politics between 1991 and 2001

The involvement of women in both conventional and unconventional forms of political participation in South Africa has over the past 10 years, and often at present, been experienced as problematic and limited. Exacerbating the problem of limited access and information, the study of, and literature about, women's participation in unconventional forms of politics have also been limited. It is the aim of this study to contribute to our knowledge in this area. This study investigates women's participation in unconventional politics between 1991 and 2001. This period is specifically important, as it makes possible the examination of trends in women's political participation before and after the democratic transition in 1994. This makes it possible for us to speculate about the influence of transition on women's political participation. I propose and evaluate two mam hypotheses in which I; firstly, expect women's participation in protest politics to decrease between 1991 and 2001, and secondly, expect to find women's levels of participation in protest to be consistently lower than that of their male counterparts. The complex set of variables influencing women's participation is evaluated according to the socialization and structural approaches, which offer different assumptions about the reasons for the trends in women's participation. In conclusion, I offer the main findings of my research, as well as suggesting possible areas still to be investigated within the field, as deduced from the questions arising out of my analysis in this project. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
Participation in continuous, on-the-job training and the impact on job satisfaction: longitudinal evidence from the German labour market

A number of studies in the human resources literature acknowledge the importance of workplace training for inducing organizational commitment on the part of workers. However, small sample sizes and the absence of relevant panel data have raised concerns about the general validity of results and highlighted the need for further research to explicitly include on-the-job training as an important facet of job satisfaction. A similar empirical gap exists in the economics and industrial organization literature, where, despite the importance of both on-the-job training and job satisfaction to influence labour productivity, the relationship between the two has received surprisingly little attention. The aim of this paper is to bridge this gap in our knowledge and assess the impact of further training on job satisfaction in the western regions of Germany. We use data derived from the German Socio-economic Panel, which covers the period 1984 to 2002. Concentrating on full-time employed individuals, we focus in particular on the 1989, 1993 and 2000 interview waves, which include a number of questions on work-related training and offer detailed information on the type and duration of training received, and whether employers sponsored such training. The empirical results of the study provide information about the decision to participate in further training and the latter's impact on job satisfaction. Gender inequality issues in Germany's segmented labour market are explained by reference to discrepancy theory, equity theory, social exchange theory and the perception of a breach in the psychological contract between firms and female trainees.
Tariff-rate quotas: failed market access instruments?

Tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) were one of the policy instruments enshrined in the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture, intended to improve market access for politically sensitive commodities and sometimes to continue managed trade regimes. This paper examines country and commodity coverage, tariffs bound and applied, administrative methods adopted, quota fill rates and import trends under TRQs. Experience with implementation shows there are problems with underfill and limitations on imports as a result of administrative methods. TRQs have effectively sanctioned import quotas, accompanied by rents and the need to allocate quota rights. Both theory and practice lead to our recommendation for eventual elimination of this instrument through lowering most favoured nation tariffs. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.
Unraveling Sterol-dependent Membrane Phenotypes by Analysis of Protein Abundance-ratio Distributions in Different Membrane Fractions Under Biochemical and Endogenous Sterol Depletion*

During the last decade, research on plasma membrane focused increasingly on the analysis of so-called microdomains. It has been shown that function of many membrane-associated proteins involved in signaling and transport depends on their conditional segregation within sterol-enriched membrane domains. High throughput proteomic analysis of sterol-protein interactions are often based on analyzing detergent resistant membrane fraction enriched in sterols and associated proteins, which also contain proteins from these microdomain structures. Most studies so far focused exclusively on the characterization of detergent resistant membrane protein composition and abundances. This approach has received some criticism because of its unspecificity and many co-purifying proteins. In this study, by a label-free quantitation approach, we extended the characterization of membrane microdomains by particularly studying distributions of each protein between detergent resistant membrane and detergent-soluble fractions (DSF). This approach allows a more stringent definition of dynamic processes between different membrane phases and provides a means of identification of co-purifying proteins. We developed a random sampling algorithm, called Unicorn, allowing for robust statistical testing of alterations in the protein distribution ratios of the two different fractions. Unicorn was validated on proteomic data from methyl-β-cyclodextrin treated plasma membranes and the sterol biosynthesis mutant smt1. Both, chemical treatment and sterol-biosynthesis mutation affected similar protein classes in their membrane phase distribution and particularly proteins with signaling and transport functions.
Geolocation database approach for secondary spectrum usage of TVWS

The secondary usage of TV white spaces (TVWS) is one of the most promising implementations of the cognitive radio concept. At the same time, the TV broadcasting services should not be affected by harmful interference from secondary users. This paper investigates the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and ECC (Electronic Communications Committee) proposed rules for enabling secondary spectrum access in TVWS. These two approaches are evaluated on a small geographical area. The obtained results and their appropriate analysis revealed an existence of trade-off between the provided level of primary system protection and estimated secondary usable capacity, emphasizing the advantages and weaknesses of both approaches.
Binding Pocket Alterations in Dihydrofolate Synthase Confer Resistance to para-Aminosalicylic Acid in Clinical Isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

ABSTRACT The mechanistic basis for the resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to para-aminosalicylic acid (PAS), an important agent in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, has yet to be fully defined. As a substrate analog of the folate precursor para-aminobenzoic acid, PAS is ultimately bioactivated to hydroxy dihydrofolate, which inhibits dihydrofolate reductase and disrupts the operation of folate-dependent metabolic pathways. As a result, the mutation of dihydrofolate synthase, an enzyme needed for the bioactivation of PAS, causes PAS resistance in M. tuberculosis strain H37Rv. Here, we demonstrate that various missense mutations within the coding sequence of the dihydropteroate (H2Pte) binding pocket of dihydrofolate synthase (FolC) confer PAS resistance in laboratory isolates of M. tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis. From a panel of 85 multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis clinical isolates, 5 were found to harbor mutations in the folC gene within the H2Pte binding pocket, resulting in PAS resistance. While these alterations in the H2Pte binding pocket resulted in reduced dihydrofolate synthase activity, they also abolished the bioactivation of hydroxy dihydropteroate to hydroxy dihydrofolate. Consistent with this model for abolished bioactivation, the introduction of a wild-type copy of folC fully restored PAS susceptibility in folC mutant strains. Confirmation of this novel PAS resistance mechanism will be beneficial for the development of molecular method-based diagnostics for M. tuberculosis clinical isolates and for further defining the mode of action of this important tuberculosis drug.
Forecasting Future Salaries in the Czech Republic Using Stochastic Modelling

Abstract Background: In spite of the course of the economic crisis of 2008, there have not been changes dramatic to the extent that they would strongly alter the behaviour of the trend in the Average Gross Monthly Wages and the Monthly Wage Medians in the Czech Republic. In order to support public and monetary planning, reliable forecasts of future salaries are indispensable. Objectives: The aim is to provide an outline of the behaviour of the average gross wages and the gross wage medians of the Czech business sphere up to the end of 2018 using an optimised random walk model and an optimised ARIMA Model with a constant. Methods: Consumer price indices were used in the confrontation of the behaviour of the Average Gross Monthly Wages and the Monthly Wage Medians with the behaviour of inflation in the Czech Republic. The Box-Jenkins methodology is used for the time series modelling. Results: The Czech Average Gross Monthly Wages and the Monthly Wage Medians in the business sector will continue to grow more rapidly than the Czech inflation growth, expressed by consumer price indices. Conclusions: It is possible to expect that the rising trend of the Average Gross Monthly Wages and the Gross Wage Medians will be more rapid than the growth of inflation.
Adjunctive cognitive remediation for schizophrenia using yoga: an open, non-randomised trial

Background: Yoga therapy (YT) improves cognitive function in healthy individuals, but its impact on cognitive function among persons with schizophrenia (SZ) has not been investigated. Objective: To evaluate the adjunctive YT for cognitive domains impaired in SZ. Methods: Patients with SZ received YT or treatment as usual (TAU; n = 65, n = 23, respectively). Accuracy and speed for seven cognitive domains were assessed using a computerised neurocognitive battery (CNB), thus minimising observer bias. Separately, YT was evaluated among patients with bipolar I disorder (n = 40), major depressive disorder (n = 37) and cardiology outpatients (n = 68). All patients also received routine pharmacotherapy. Patients were not randomised to YT or TAU. Results: In comparison with the SZ/TAU group, the SZ/YT group showed significantly greater improvement with regard to measures of attention following corrections for multiple comparisons; the changes were more prominent among the men. In the other diagnostic groups, differing patterns of improvements were noted with small-to-medium effect sizes. Conclusions: Our initial analyses suggest nominally significant improvement in cognitive function in SZ with adjunctive therapies such as YT. The magnitude of the change varies by cognitive domain and may also vary by diagnostic group.
Creating a Writer's Identity on the Boundaries of Two Communities of Practice

In this case study, we explore the way one student, who aspired to become a professional writer, learned through her writing activity in two communities: academia and public relations. We use activity theory to conceptualize the student’s learning as an activity that balances between individual agency in meaning making and the social, historical and cultural forces that shape how individuals make meaning. Perceiving the two settings as communities of practice that provided opportunities for pursuing shared enterprises and engaging in collective learning, we show how the student’s simultaneous participation in these contrasting communities challenged and refined her understanding of what it means to be an effective writer . We discuss how the work she engaged in on the boundaries of two writing communities enhanced her developing identity as a professional writer as she became aware of and tested the limitations of writing in these two communities. Our study shows the benefit of providing opportunities for teachers and students to explore how contrasting communities of practice define successful writing activity and how writing activity operates in the cultural and political sphere of each community.
Branch Point Identification and Sequence Requirements for Intron Splicing in Plasmodium falciparum

ABSTRACT Splicing of mRNA is an ancient and evolutionarily conserved process in eukaryotic organisms, but intron-exon structures vary. Plasmodium falciparum has an extreme AT nucleotide bias (>80%), providing a unique opportunity to investigate how evolutionary forces have acted on intron structures. In this study, we developed an in vivo luciferase reporter splicing assay and employed it in combination with lariat isolation and sequencing to characterize 5′ and 3′ splicing requirements and experimentally determine the intron branch point in P. falciparum. This analysis indicates that P. falciparum mRNAs have canonical 5′ and 3′ splice sites. However, the 5′ consensus motif is weakly conserved and tolerates nucleotide substitution, including the fifth nucleotide in the intron, which is more typically a G nucleotide in most eukaryotes. In comparison, the 3′ splice site has a strong eukaryotic consensus sequence and adjacent polypyrimidine tract. In four different P. falciparum pre-mRNAs, multiple branch points per intron were detected, with some at U instead of the typical A residue. A weak branch point consensus was detected among 18 identified branch points. This analysis indicates that P. falciparum retains many consensus eukaryotic splice site features, despite having an extreme codon bias, and possesses flexibility in branch point nucleophilic attack.
The Effects of Cannabis Use on Wages of Prime-age Males*

This paper uses a data set collected among inhabitants of Amsterdam, to study whether wages of prime‐age male workers are affected by cannabis use. The analysis shows that recent cannabis use has a negative effect on wages. The size of the wage effect depends on the age of onset. The earlier the start of cannabis use the larger the negative wage impact.
Feature selection to detect botnets using machine learning algorithms

In this paper, a novel method to do feature selection to detect botnets at their phase of Command and Control (C&C) is presented. A major problem is that researchers have proposed features based on their expertise, but there is no a method to evaluate these features since some of these features could get a lower detection rate than other. To this aim, we find the feature set based on connections of botnets at their phase of C&C, that maximizes the detection rate of these botnets. A Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used to select the set of features that gives the highest detection rate. We used the machine learning algorithm C4.5, this algorithm did the classification between connections belonging or not to a botnet. The datasets used in this paper were extracted from the repositories ISOT and ISCX. Some tests were done to get the best parameters in a GA and the algorithm C4.5. We also performed experiments in order to obtain the best set of features for each botnet analyzed (specific), and for each type of botnet (general) too. The results are shown at the end of the paper, in which a considerable reduction of features and a higher detection rate than the related work presented were obtained.
Low power Adiabatic Logic based on 2PC2AL

This paper presents a new adiabatic circuit based on the 2-Phase Clocked CMOS Adiabatic Logic (2PC2AL). By adding two logic switches between the power supply and charging-discharging transistor, it can prevent the floating of the nodes and avoid unnecessary energy loss. In this paper, we apply the proposed adiabatic logic circuit to a 4×4-bit multiplier in the LTspice by using a 0.18 µm standard CMOS process. The simulation results show that the function of circuits can be realized and the power consumption can be reduced greatly compared to the CMOS circuit when the frequency ranges from 100 Hz to 100 MHz.
Impact of infrastructures on paid work opportunities and unpaid work burdens on rural women in Bangladesh

This study deals with two questions: what role infrastructures can play in promoting paid work opportunities for women and what specific type of infrastructure can reduce women's time burden? The study brings empirical evidence on these two questions in a specific country context. Findings from an econometric model that endogenises women's paid and unpaid work show that the impacts of infrastructure on women's work and total time burden depend on the type of a particular infrastructure and availability of other infrastructures. While hard infrastructure shows significant influence on women's work with a lag, a rise in paid work outside home has not been equally compensated by a decline in unpaid work at home. The findings have important policy implications in infrastructure policy design and provision. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Optimized methods for total nucleic acid extraction and quantification of the bat white-nose syndrome fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, from swab and environmental samples

The continued spread of white-nose syndrome and its impacts on hibernating bat populations across North America has prompted nationwide surveillance efforts and the need for high-throughput, noninvasive diagnostic tools. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis has been increasingly used for detection of the causative fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, in both bat- and environment-associated samples and provides a tool for quantification of fungal DNA useful for research and monitoring purposes. However, precise quantification of nucleic acid from P. destructans is dependent on effective and standardized methods for extracting nucleic acid from various relevant sample types. We describe optimized methodologies for extracting fungal nucleic acids from sediment, guano, and swab-based samples using commercial kits together with a combination of chemical, enzymatic, and mechanical modifications. Additionally, we define modifications to a previously published intergenic spacer–based qPCR test for P. destructans to refine quantification capabilities of this assay.
Health information systems, decentralisation and democratic accountability

While decentralisation is a much‐used term in development discourse, there is lack of clarity about how much autonomy should be granted to local agencies in programme implementation. This is particularly the case in the health sector in developing countries where decentralisation has resulted in the primary health centre (PHC) being identified as the focal point for the delivery of basic health services to rural citizens. An important element of primary healthcare reform has been the implementation of health information systems (HIS). These systems primarily account for monies spent to higher levels of administration and funding bodies rather than account for primary healthcare provision to citizens. In this article, we focus on various emergent processes of change that are occurring under the auspices of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in India to strengthen the interface between the PHC and the community. We present a case study of Gumballi PHC in Karnataka, South India. Our findings reveal ways in which these new processes can be supported by conceptualising the HIS as more than a mere reporting tool. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.