Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The use of mineral trioxide aggregate in clinical and surgical endodontics.

Fig. 1 ProRoot MTA (Dentsply Tulsa Dental, Tulsa, Oklahoma). A significant problem in clinical dentistry in general, and in restorative dentistry and endodontics in particular, is isolation of the operative field for moisture control. The root canal system to be obturated must be dry in order to obtain a good seal, and contamination with blood must be avoided. During a direct pulp capping procedure, hemorrhage must be controlled. When attempting to seal a root perforation, a dry field is essential. Further, during apical surgery, the retropreparation must be absolutely dry. Recently, Torabinejad and colleagues 41 developed a new cement named Mineral Trioxide Aggregate (MTA; ProRoot MTA, Dentsply Tulsa Dental) (Fig. 1), which appears to have all of the characteristics of an ideal cement to seal communication between the root canal system and the oral cavity (mechanical and carious pulp exposures), and between the root canal system and the periodontium (iatrogenic perforations, open apices, resorbed apices, root-end preparations). MTA is an endodontic cement that is extremely biocompatible, capable of stimulating healing and osteogenesis, and is hydrophilic. MTA is a powder that consists of fine trioxides (Tricalcium oxide, Silicate oxide, Bismute oxide) and other hydrophilic particles (Tricalcium silicate, Tricalcium aluminate, responsible for the chemical and physical properties of this aggregate), which set in the presence of moisture. Hydration of the powder results in formation of a colloidal gel with a pH of 12.5. The gel solidifies to a hard solid structure in approximately three-four hours. This cement is different from other materials currently in use because of its biocompatibility, antibacterial properties, marginal adaptation and sealing properties, and its hydrophilic nature. In terms of biocompatibility, Koh et al. and Pitt Ford et al. demonstrated the absence of cytotoxicity when MTA came in contact with fibroblasts and osteoblasts, and the formation of dentin bridges when the material was used for direct pulp capping. Other studies 16,39,45,48 demonstrated the growth of cementum, periodontal ligament, and bone adjacent to MTA when used to seal perforations, as well as when employed as a retrofilling material in surgical endodontics. Torabinejad et al. demonstrated that the antibacterial properties of MTA are superior to that of amalgam, IRM (a zinc-oxide eugenol cement reinforced with polymethyl methacrilate), and SuperEBA (a zinc-oxide eugenol cement reinforced with aluminum oxide and with ethoxybenzoic acid). Nonetheless, its antimicrobial spectrum is limited, and if bacterial contamination is suspected or if acute inflammation is present, it is advisable to raise the pH and disinfect the root canal using a calcium hydroxide paste for one week before MTA.38 Furthermore, the marginal adaptation and sealing properties of MTA are far superior to amalgam, IRM, and SuperEBA. As noted, the characteristic that distinguishes MTA from other materials used 1 The use of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate in clinical and surgical endodontics
Mutations in membrane cofactor protein (CD46) gene in Indian children with hemolytic uremic syndrome

Abstract Background Mutations in the CD46 gene account for an important proportion of patients with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) who characteristically show multiple relapses, no response to plasma exchange and low recurrence risk in allograft. We screened for mutations in CD46 in patients with and without circulating anti-factor H (FH) antibodies–associated aHUS. Methods We estimated CD46 surface expression by flow cytometry and sequenced the CD46 gene in 23 and 56 patients with and without circulating anti-FH antibodies, respectively. Human Splicing Finder and PolyPhen2 were used for in silico prediction of pathogenicity. Results Two novel and three known (c.286 +2T > G, c.104G > A and c.565T > G) mutations in CD46 were found in nine (11.4%) patients; one patient had a variant of unknown significance and two patients presented during the first year of life. Novel intronic (c.1127 + 46C > G) and exonic (c.911C > T) mutations are proposed to activate cryptic splicing sites or alter protein conformation. Markedly reduced CD46 surface expression was found in homozygous states in five patients. Conclusion Patients with mutations in CD46 present at all ages, including the first year of life. Mutations in intron 2, (c.286 +2T > G) may be a potential hot spot in Indian children. Flow cytometry for CD46 expression is a satisfactory screening tool enabling early diagnosis.
RushMon: Real-time Isolation Anomalies Monitoring

Motivated by the applicability of HogWild! -style algorithms, people turn their focus on system architectures that provide ultra-high throughput random-access with very limited or no isolation guarantees, and build inconsistent-tolerant applications (i.e., large scale optimization algorithms) on top of them. Although some optimization algorithms have theoretical convergence guarantees, sometimes these systems fail to compute the correct results when the presumptions of convergence cannot hold. Moreover, there is no practical way to tell whether a given result is accurate (without cross validation) or to tune the isolation strength on-the-fly. To resolve these problems, these systems need an indicator to report the number of "bad event" caused by "out-of-order" executions. In this paper, we tackle this problem. Based on transaction processing theory, we find the number of cycles in the dependency graph, and demonstrate it is a good indicator. With this observation, we propose the first real-time isolation anomalies monitor. Our monitor is at least 1000x faster than naive implementations and reports accurate isolation anomalies levels with less than 1% extra overhead. Monitoring anomalies in a real-time manner efficiently protects the systems from excessive isolation anomalies which could lead to incorrect results. We verify the performance and effectiveness of our monitor via extensive experimental studies.
Azithromycin Inhibits the Replication of Zika Virus

Background: The emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) is associated to dramatic complications in fetuses and neonates. As there is no vaccine and no drug to prevent and treat ZIKV infections, there is an urgent need to have active drugs against ZIKV that can be used during pregnancy. Large screening strategies suggested that azithromycin (AZ) has an in vitro activity against ZIKV, we provide additional data supporting this hypothesis. Methods: We tested the efficacy of AZ on ZIKV-infected Vero cells at a concentration that can be reached in vivo in amniotic fluid. We conducted two experiments with addition to infected cells of a single dose or multi doses of 50 mg/L of AZ, and analyzed ZIKV replication by immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and by measuring viral RNA loads at different times up to 96 h post-infection (hpi). Results: Addition of a single dose of 50 mg/L of AZ prevented replication of ZIKV during 48 hpi; after 48 hpi, ZIKV replication was detected by IFA but viral RNA loads remained lower than in untreated infected cells. ZIKV replication was inhibited by addition of multi doses of 50 mg/L of AZ. Conclusions: Our data confirm the in vitro activity of AZ against ZIKV. Since there will be no active specific drugs and vaccine available soon against ZIKV, AZ might be the first compound that could prevent and treat ZIKV infections, with the advantages of being an approved and safe drug usable during pregnancy.
Cariogenicity induced by commercial carbonated beverages in an experimental biofilm-caries model

ABSTRACT Objectives Frequent consumption of sugars-containing carbonated beverages has been associated with caries, but the consequences on the dental biofilm remain unclear. The aim was to evaluate the effect of commercial carbonated beverages and their sugar-free version on enamel and dentine demineralization and on the cariogenic properties of Streptococcus mutans biofilms. Materials and Methods Biofilms of S. mutans UA159 were grown on enamel and dentin slabs and exposed 3 times/ day for 5 min, to a commercial cola or orange-flavored carbonated beverage or to their sugar-free version. Biofilms/slabs were recovered to assess biomass, viable microorganisms, protein content and polysaccharides. Demineralization was estimated by the variation of Knoop surface microhardness. Results Exposures to the biofilm with sugars-containing carbonated beverages resulted in similar biomass, viable microorganisms, proteins, and polysaccharides than sucrose (P < 0.05). The sugar-free cola and orange-flavored drink showed lower effect on the biofilm, as compared with sucrose or their sugared version (P < 0.05). All of the products tested, included the sugar-free, showed higher demineralization than the negative control (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Sugars-containing carbonated beverages enhance cariogenic activity of S. mutans biofilms, comparable with sucrose. Sugar-free carbonated beverages also have a high demineralizing potential, without affecting biofilm properties.
Predictors of immune reconstitution syndrome in organ transplant recipients with cryptococcosis: implications for the management of immunosuppression.

BACKGROUND Risk factors including how changes in immunosuppression influence the occurrence of immune reconstitution syndrome (IRS) in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients with cryptococcosis have not been fully defined. METHODS SOT recipients with cryptococcosis were identified and followed for 12 months. IRS was defined based on previously proposed criteria. RESULTS Of 89 SOT recipients, 13 (14%) developed IRS. Central nervous system (CNS) disease (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 6.23; P = .03) and discontinuation of calcineurin inhibitor (AOR, 5.11; P = .02) were independently associated with IRS. Only 2.6% (1/13) of the patients without these risk factors developed IRS compared with 18.8% (6/32) with 1 risk factor, and 50% (6/12) with both risk factors (χ(2) for trend, P = . 0001). Among patients with CNS disease, those with neuroimaging abnormalities (P = .03) were more likely to develop IRS, irrespective of serum or CSF cryptococcal antigen titers and fungemia. Graft rejection after cryptococcosis was observed in 15.4% (2/13) of the patients with IRS compared with 2.6% (2/76) of those without IRS (P = .07). CONCLUSIONS We determined variables that pose a risk for IRS and have shown that discontinuation of calcineurin inhibitors was independently associated with 5-fold increased risk of IRS in transplant recipients with cryptococcosis.
Idiopathic Central Nervous System Inflammatory Disease in the Setting of HLA-B27 Uveitis

ABSTRACT Purpose: The purpose of the article is to describe a novel case of idiopathic central nervous system inflammatory disease with bilateral human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27-positive anterior uveitis. Methods/Results: A 15-year-old African American boy with bilateral HLA-B27-positive anterior uveitis controlled with topical and oral steroids for 8 months acutely developed headaches, left eyelid ptosis, and binocular diplopia. Imaging showed lesions in the right midbrain, superior colliculus, cerebellar peduncles, and cerebellar vermis and leptomeningeal enhancement along the vermian foliae. Cerebral spinal fluid tests showed mild lymphohistiocytic pleocytosis with negative cytology; inflammatory and infectious workup were negative. He received intravenous methylprednisolone without initial symptomatic improvement; repeat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed reduced lesion burden. Oral steroids were continued; his symptoms resolved in 1 month. Repeat MRI 2 months after presentation showed almost complete lesion resolution. Conclusions: Chronic lymphocytic inflammation with pontine perivascular enhancement responsive to steroids (CLIPPERS) was diagnosed. HLA-B27 positivity may represent a novel association with CLIPPERS.
Induction of Epstein-Barr Virus Oncoprotein LMP1 by Transcription Factors AP-2 and Early B Cell Factor

ABSTRACT Latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is a major oncogene essential for primary B cell transformation by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). Previous studies suggested that some transcription factors, such as PU.1, RBP-Jκ, NF-κB, and STAT, are involved in this expression, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. Here, we identified binding sites for PAX5, AP-2, and EBF in the proximal LMP1 promoter (ED-L1p). We first confirmed the significance of PU.1 and POU domain transcription factor binding for activation of the promoter in latency III. We then focused on the transcription factors AP-2 and early B cell factor (EBF). Interestingly, among the three AP-2-binding sites in the LMP1 promoter, two motifs were also bound by EBF. Overexpression, knockdown, and mutagenesis in the context of the viral genome indicated that AP-2 plays an important role in LMP1 expression in latency II in epithelial cells. In latency III B cells, on the other hand, the B cell-specific transcription factor EBF binds to the ED-L1p and activates LMP1 transcription from the promoter. IMPORTANCE Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) is crucial for B cell transformation and oncogenesis of other EBV-related malignancies, such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma and T/NK lymphoma. Its expression is largely dependent on the cell type or condition, and some transcription factors have been implicated in its regulation. However, these previous reports evaluated the significance of specific factors mostly by reporter assay. In this study, we prepared point-mutated EBV at the binding sites of such transcription factors and confirmed the importance of AP-2, EBF, PU.1, and POU domain factors. Our results will provide insight into the transcriptional regulation of the major oncogene LMP1.
Recent advance in study of polysulfonamide

Polysulfonamide is the organic high temperature material that belongs to the aromatic polyamide series.Polysulfonamide fiber is the only product in high temperature resistant fiber that Chinese owned the independent intellectual property rights.The successful development of the polysulfonamide fiber made our country have the synthetic fiber that could resistant to 250℃. Because of the excellent physicochemical properties,the polysulfonamide obtained important application in many fields,for example,military,modern industry and environmental protection and so on.This review systematic summarized the research status of the polysulfonamide.It introduced the development history of the polysulfonamide fiber in detail,homopolycondensation of the polysulfonamide spinning solution,modification methods of the polysulfonamide,including modification of the molecular structure by copolymerization and composite material with nano technology;the formation method of the polysulfonamide fiber.At the end of this review,it pointed out the weak part of the polysulfonamide basic research,and the research direction of the polysulfonamide in the future.
The conformation of the histone H3 tail inhibits association of the BPTF PHD finger with the nucleosome

Histone tails harbor a plethora of post-translational modifications that direct the function of chromatin regulators, which recognize them through effector domains. Effector domain/histone interactions have been broadly studied, but largely using peptide fragments of histone tails. Here, we extend these studies into the nucleosome context and find that the conformation adopted by the histone H3 tails is inhibitory to BPTF PHD finger binding. Using NMR spectroscopy and MD simulations, we show that the H3 tails interact robustly but dynamically with nucleosomal DNA, substantially reducing PHD finger association. Altering the electrostatics of the H3 tail via modification or mutation increases accessibility to the PHD finger, indicating that PTM crosstalk can regulate effector domain binding by altering nucleosome conformation. Together, our results demonstrate that the nucleosome context has a dramatic impact on signaling events at the histone tails, and highlights the importance of studying histone binding in the context of the nucleosome.
Topic Classification Based on Improved Word Embedding

Topic classification is a foundational task in many NLP applications. Traditional topic classifiers often rely on many humandesigned features, while word embedding and convolutional neural network based on deep learning are introduced to realize topic classification in recent years. In this paper, the influence of different word embedding for CNN classifiers is studied, and an improved word embedding named HybridWordVec is proposed, which is a combination of word2vec and topic distribution vector. Experiment on Chinese corpus Fudan set and English corpus 20Newsgroups is conducted. The experiment turns out that CNN with HybridWordVec gains an accuracy of 91.82% for Chinese corpus and 95.67% for English corpus, which suggests HybridWordVec can obviously improve the classification accuracy comparing with other word embedding models like word2vec and GloVe.
Photo‐Realistic Statistical Skull Morphotypes: New Exemplars for Ancestry and Sex Estimation in Forensic Anthropology

Graphic exemplars of cranial sex and ancestry are essential to forensic anthropology for standardizing casework, training analysts, and communicating group trends. To date, graphic exemplars have comprised hand‐drawn sketches, or photographs of individual specimens, which risks bias/subjectivity. Here, we performed quantitative analysis of photographic data to generate new photo‐realistic and objective exemplars of skull form. Standardized anterior and left lateral photographs of skulls for each sex were analyzed in the computer graphics program Psychomorph for the following groups: South African Blacks, South African Whites, American Blacks, American Whites, and Japanese. The average cranial form was calculated for each photographic view, before the color information for every individual was warped to the average form and combined to produce statistical averages. These mathematically derived exemplars—and their statistical exaggerations or extremes—retain the high‐resolution detail of the original photographic dataset, making them the ideal casework and training reference standards.
Peeking the Impact of Points of Interests on Didi

Recently, the online car-hailing service, Didi, has emerged as a leader in the sharing economy. Used by passengers and drivers extensive, it becomes increasingly important for the car-hailing service providers to minimize the waiting time of passengers and optimize the vehicle utilization, thus to improve the overall user experience. Therefore, the supply-demand estimation is an indispensable ingredient of an efficient online car-hailing service. To improve the accuracy of the estimation results, we analyze the implicit relationships between the points of Interest (POI) and the supply-demand gap in this paper. The different categories of POIs have positive or negative effects on the estimation, we propose a POI selection scheme and incorporate it into XGBoost [1] to achieve more accurate estimation results. Our experiment demonstrates our method provides more accurate estimation results and more stable estimation results than the existing methods.
Relationship between ZnT8Ab, the SLC30A8 gene and disease progression in children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes

Autoantibodies against the newly established autoantigen in type 1 diabetes, zinc transporter 8, ZnT8, are presented as two types, ZnT8RAb and ZnT8WAb. The rs13266634 variant of the SLC30A8 gene has recently been found to determine the type of ZnT8Ab. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of this genetic variant and the ZnT8Ab on the residual beta-cell function during disease progression the first year after disease diagnosis in children with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. This cohort consists of 257 children aged < 16 years, all patients were newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. A Boost-test was carried out at 1, 6, and 12 months to characterize the residual beta-cell function. Carriers of the CC and CT genotype groups of the rs13266634 SNP of the SLC30A8 gene had higher stimulated C-peptide levels the first year after onset compared with those of the TT genotype group (29%, p = 0.034). CC genotype carriers were highly associated with the presence of ZnT8RAb subtype during disease progression (compared with TT, p < 0.0001). On the other hand, the TT genotype was associated with the presence of ZnT8WAb subtype during disease progression (compared with CC, p < 0.0001). The C allele of the SLC30A8 gene is associated with preserved beta-cell function in type 1 diabetes patients. The genetic determination of the rs13266634 variant on the ZnT8Ab specificity is sustained the first 12 months after the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in a pediatric cohort.
Smooth muscle cells differentiated from mesenchymal stem cells are regulated by microRNAs and suitable for vascular tissue grafts

Tissue-engineered vascular grafts with long-term patency are greatly needed in the clinical settings, and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) are a critical graft component. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are used for generating SMCs, and understanding the underlying regulatory mechanisms of the MSC-to-SMC differentiation process could improve SMC generation in the clinic. Here, we found that in response to stimulation of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1), human umbilical cord–derived MSCs abundantly express the SMC markers α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA), smooth muscle protein 22 (SM22), calponin, and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (SMMHC) at both gene and protein levels. Functionally, MSC-derived SMCs displayed contracting capacity in vitro and supported vascular structure formation in the Matrigel plug assay in vivo. More importantly, SMCs differentiated from human MSCs could migrate into decellularized mouse aorta and give rise to the smooth muscle layer of vascular grafts, indicating the potential of utilizing human MSC-derived SMCs to generate vascular grafts. Of note, microRNA (miR) array analysis and TaqMan microRNA assays identified miR-503 and miR-222-5p as potential regulators of MSC differentiation into SMCs at early time points. Mechanistically, miR-503 promoted SMC differentiation by directly targeting SMAD7, a suppressor of SMAD-related, TGFβ1-mediated signaling pathways. Moreover, miR-503 expression was SMAD4-dependent. SMAD4 was enriched at the miR-503 promoter. Furthermore, miR-222-5p inhibited SMC differentiation by targeting and down-regulating ROCK2 and αSMA. In conclusion, MSC differentiation into SMCs is regulated by miR-503 and miR-222-5p and yields functional SMCs for use in vascular grafts.
New Techniques for Path Planning in Image Space ; CU-CS-1052-09

Abstract : We propose two new methods for performing local path search directly in the image space of a camera sensor. The first technique utilizes a high-resolution local image space subsystem to determine the farthest point along a global Cartesian path that can be reached along an unobstructed heading, thereby short-cutting as much of the global path as possible. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first image space planning technique that is both suitable for navigation in unstructured environments and does not use a graph-search algorithm in the image space subsystem. The second technique that we propose improves the local image space subsystem of a hierarchical image/Cartesian space planner by determining when it is safe to translate at full speed. Both techniques are implemented on an autonomous robot and experimentally evaluated against a hierarchical top-down Cartesian planner and a previously proposed hierarchical image/Cartesian space planner. Each system is tested three times on three different course layouts. The first proposed method performs comparably to existing systems when evaluated on the criteria of path length and total runtime. The second technique consistently outperforms the other three systems with respect to total runtime.