Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Direct and transdentinal antibacterial activity of chlorhexidine.

PURPOSE To evaluate the antibacterial effect of different chlorhexidine (CHX) concentrations against Streptococcus mutans using the agar-diffusion method with and without human dentin discs placed between the bacteria and the test substances. METHODS For the direct application (agar-well technique), a base layer containing 15 mL of BHI agar and 300 microL of S. mutans inoculum (10(9) cfu/mL) was prepared in Petri dishes. Six wells per dish were made at equidistant points and immediately filled with CHX gels (0.12%, 0.2%, 1% and 2%), 35% phosphoric acid and pure natrosol (n = 6 wells/substance). Paper discs soaked in sterile distilled water served as control group (n = 6). For the indirect application (transdentinal diffusion), 0.2 mm- and 0.5 mm-thick human dentin discs (36 discs/thickness) had the hydraulic conductance determined, which allowed the homogeneous allocation of them to the experimental and control groups. The discs were placed at equidistant points on the Petri dishes containing BHI with the S. mutans inoculum (six discs per dish; one per substance) with the pulpal side in contact with the bacteria. In the discs treated with CHX gels, dentin surface was etched with H3PO4 and rinsed with distilled water before CHX gel application for 1 minute. After both direct and indirect application, the dishes were incubated for 24 hours and the bacterial growth inhibition zones formed around the wells and dentin discs were measured. Data were analyzed statistically by the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests at 5% significance level. RESULTS In the direct test, all CHX concentrations presented a dose-dependent antibacterial activity against S. mutans. In the indirect test, there were statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) among all groups and the largest microbial growth inhibition zones were observed when 2% CHX was applied on 0.2 mm-thick discs (P < 0.05). It was concluded that all evaluated CHX gels exhibited both direct and transdentinal antibacterial activity against S. mutans. This effect of CHX was strongly influenced by the CHX concentration as well as the dentin barrier thickness.
The generalized quadratically stability for a fuzzy descriptor system

In this paper, the notions of generalized quadratic stability and generalized quadratic stabilizability are introduced to fuzzy descriptor systems with norm-bounded time-varying uncertainties in both the state and input matrices. The conditions for generalized quadratic stability and generalized quadratic stabilizability are deduced respectively, and the appropriate state feedback controller is given.
Immediate Upstream Sequence of Arrestin Directs Rod-specific Expression in Xenopus *

Arrestins are a family of proteins that modulate G protein-coupled receptor responses with distinct arrestin genes expressed in rods and cones. To understand the regulatory mechanisms controlling rod-specific expression, the abundant Xenopusrod arrestin cDNA and a partial genomic clone, containing the immediate upstream region and amino terminus of the polypeptide, have been characterized. The deduced polypeptide has ∼69% identity to other vertebrate rod arrestins. Southern blot analysis and polymerase chain reaction of intronic sequences demonstrated multiple alleles for rod arrestin. DNase I footprinting with retinal proteins revealed four major DNA binding sites in the proximal promoter, coinciding with consensus sequences reported in mammalian promoters. Purified bovineCrx homeodomain and mouse Nrl proteins protected a number of these sites. A dual approach of transient embryo transfections and transgenesis was used to locate transcriptional control sequences essential for rod-specific expression inXenopus. Constructs containing −1287/+113 of 5′ upstream sequence with or without intron 1 directed high level expression, specifically in rods. A construct containing only −287/+113 directed expression of green fluorescent protein solely in rod cells. These results suggest that the Crx and Nrl binding sites in the proximal promoter are the primary cis-acting sequences regulating arrestin gene expression in rods.
Addition of Hydrolyzed Guar to Enteral Feeding Products in Type I Diabetic Patients

Worsening glucose intolerance and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) ( 1 4), a catastrophic complication in pregnancy, is associated with j3-sympathomimetic therapy of premature labor (5). In most prior reports of DKA in pregnancy, treatment was begun only after ketoacidosis had developed, increasing the risk of morbidity and mortality for both mother and baby. We report a case of terbutaline-induced insulin resistance in pregnancy in which aggressive insulin treatment may have prevented the development of ketoacidosis. The patient is a 33-year-old woman who has had type I diabetes since 1988 and who became pregnant with twins in 1991. Before pregnancy, she weighed 62 kg and was treated with a total of 22 U of insulin in a multiple-dose regimen; at 33 weeks' gestation, her weight was 76 kg and her total insulin requirement was 81 U/day. Premature labor was noted, MgSO4 tocolysis was unsuccessful, and she was begun on subcutaneous terbutaline at 0.25 mg every 4 h and intravenous insulin at 1 U/h. Insulin requirements began to rise within 90 min of beginning terbutaline, reaching 18 U/h at 10 h of terbutaline and falling to 4 U/h by 48 h and 2 U/h by 90 h after initiation of terbutaline. Insulin requirements fluctuated between 0 and 4 U/h until the patient was delivered of healthy twin boys at 37.5 weeks. j3-sympathomimetic therapy of premature labor is often necessary when magnesium sulfate tocolysis is not successful. Although nifedipine has been suggested as an alternative tocolytic therapy (6,7), j3-mimetic drugs are still widely used (8). Although we cannot predict that our patient would have developed ketoacidosis had we not used large doses of intravenous insulin, this complication has been described with the parenteral administration of most j3-mimetic agonists. We suggest that expectant management with intravenous insulin at the onset of subcutaneous terbutaline infusion can prevent diabetic ketoacidosis in women treated with terbutaline tocolysis.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H7N9) Virus, Tennessee, USA, March 2017

In March 2017, highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H7N9) was detected at 2 poultry farms in Tennessee, USA. Surveillance data and genetic analyses indicated multiple introductions of low pathogenicity avian influenza virus before mutation to high pathogenicity and interfarm transmission. Poultry surveillance should continue because low pathogenicity viruses circulate and spill over into commercial poultry.
An alternative to conventional hand‐sewing colocolic anastomosis: anastomosis with absorbable surgical barrier film without sutures

Aim As a result of its high morbidity and mortality rates, anastomotic leakage is one of the most feared complications in colorectal surgery. Therefore, this issue is one of the most relevant in colorectal surgery and a lot of work has been conducted to research it. The aim of this experimental study was to compare colocolic anastomosis performed by using absorbable surgical barrier film without suture and conventional anastomosis performed by hand‐sewing technique in terms of anastomosis safety.
Expression and organization of BP74, a cyclic AMP-regulated gene expressed during Dictyostelium discoideum development

We have characterized a cDNA and the corresponding gene for a cyclic AMP-inducible gene expressed during Dictyostelium development. This gene, BP74, was found to be first expressed about the time of aggregate formation, approximately 6 h after starvation. Accumulation of BP74 mRNA did not occur in Dictyostelium cells that had been starved in fast-shaken suspension cultures but was induced in similar cultures to which cyclic AMP pulses had been added. The BP74 cDNA and gene were characterized by DNA sequence analysis and transcriptional mapping. When the BP74 promoter region was fused with a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene and reintroduced into Dictyostelium cells, the transfected chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene displayed the same developmentally regulated pattern of expression as did the endogenous BP74 gene, suggesting that all of the cis-acting elements required for regulated expression were carried by a 2-kilobase cloned genomic fragment. On the basis of sequence analysis, the gene appeared to encode a protein containing a 20-residue hydrophobic sequence at the amino-terminal end and 26 copies of a 20-amino-acid repeat.
Assessment of GFP fluorescence in cells of Streptococcus gordonii under conditions of low pH and low oxygen concentration.

Use of green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a molecular reporter is restricted by several environmental factors, such as its requirement for oxygen in the development of the fluorophore, and its poor fluorescence at low pH. There are conflicting data on these limitations, however, and systematic studies to assess the importance of these factors for growing bacterial cultures are lacking. In the present study, homogeneous expression of the gfpmut3* gene directed by a synthetic constitutive lactococcal promoter was demonstrated in batch cultures and in biofilms of Streptococcus gordonii DL1. A lower limit of oxygen concentration for maturation of the GFP fluorophore was determined: fluorescence was emitted at 0.1 p.p.m. dissolved oxygen (in conventionally prepared anaerobic media lacking reducing agents), whereas no fluorescence was detected in the presence of 0.025 p.p.m. dissolved oxygen (obtained by addition of L-cysteine as reducing agent). When an anaerobically grown (non-fluorescent) >50 microm thick biofilm was shifted to aerobic conditions, fluorescence could be detected within 4 min, reaching a maximum over the next 16 min. It was not possible to detect any fluorescence gradients (lateral or vertical) within the >50 microm thick biofilm, and fluorescence development after the shift to aerobic conditions occurred throughout the biofilm (even at the substratum). This suggests that oxygen gradients, which might result in reduced GFP fluorescence, did not exist in the >50 microm thick biofilm of this organism. Production of lactic acid and the subsequent acidification in batch cultures of S. gordonii DL1 led to a decrease in fluorescence intensity. However, severe pH reduction was prevented when the bacterium was grown as a biofilm in a flowcell, and a homogeneous distribution of a strong fluorescence signal was observed. These findings show that GFP can be applied to studies of oxygen-tolerant anaerobic bacteria, that densely packed, flowcell-grown biofilms of S. gordonii do not develop oxygen gradients inhibitory to GFP fluorescence development, and that the often transient nature of GFP fluorescence in acid-producing bacteria can be overcome in flowcells, probably by the elimination of metabolic by-product accumulation.
Selective dissemination of XML documents based on genetically learned user model and Support Vector Machines

Extensible Markup Language (XML) has emerged as a medium for interoperability over the Internet. As the number of documents published in the form of XML is increasing, there is a need for selective dissemination of XML documents based on user interests. In the proposed technique, a combination of Adaptive Genetic Algorithms and multi class Support Vector Machine (SVM) is used to learn a user model. Based on the feedback from the users, the system automatically adapts to the user's preference and interests. The user model and a similarity metric are used for selective dissemination of a continuous stream of XML documents. Experimental evaluations performed over a wide range of XML documents, indicate that the proposed approach significantly improves the performance of the selective dissemination task, with respect to accuracy and efficiency.
Recent advances in the diagnosis and management of migraine

The World Health Organization considers that severe migraine can be as disabling as quadriplegia.1 The disorder affects as many of 15% of adults in North America and Western Europe and is probably one of the commonest reasons for patients to see their doctors. Traditionally, headache is given little time in medical teaching, but headache science is advancing rapidly, fuelled by developments in treatment and neuroscience, and there is a sense of excitement perhaps unrivalled in neurology. Many recent advances have particular relevance to clinical practice in terms of both diagnosis and management; I will highlight these. Interested readers should see recent monographs listed in the Further reading box for more detailed accounts of the management of headache disorders. I based my selection of topics for this review on clinical themes that arise from referrals to the Headache Group at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. Thus the primary driver for the review is clinical practice. Information has come particularly from my reading large sections of a major reference work on headache as an editor (see Further reading box), and from the major headache journals, Cephalalgia and Headache , which I hand searched for the past decade. These sources are supplemented by PubMed searches and information from the most recent congress of the International Headache Society in Kyoto (10-12 October 2005). Some aspects of this review are based on a recent publication.2 The development and promulgation of the International Headache Society's diagnostic criteria in 1988 was an important milestone, giving clear guidance and having widespread acceptance. Migraine was defined by the component clinical parts of an attack so that the most important tool for the clinician was a good history (box 1). The second edition of the international classification of headache disorders (ICHD-II)3 has seen fine tuning …
Selecting a New Analyzer for the Hematology Laboratory:The Experience at OhioHealth Hospitals

This paper details a decision-making process used by OhioHealth Hospitals to select a company to supply all hematology laboratories in the system with instruments, reagents, and service. The 2-phase approach included an initial assessment of 5 companies. In the second phase, 2 companies, Beckman Coulter and Sysmex, were evaluated by an in-depth assessment of product line, technical performance, operational performance, and financial analysis. Results from all surveys and side-by-side studies are presented. The task force made up of representatives from all hospital laboratories made a final recommendation to partner with Beckman Coulter. Lab. Hematol. 2001;7:245‐254
Soluble CD 163 , a Novel Marker of Activated Macrophages , Is Elevated and Associated With Noncalcified Coronary Plaque in HIV-Infected Patients

Tricia H. Burdo,1, Janet Lo,2, Suhny Abbara,3 Jeffrey Wei,2 Michelle E. DeLelys,4 Fred Preffer,4 Eric S. Rosenberg,5 Kenneth C. Williams,1 and Steven Grinspoon2 1Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill; 2Program in Nutritional Metabolism, 3Cardiovascular Imaging, Department of Radiology, and 4Pathology Department, and 5Division of Infectious Diseases, and Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is an independent predictor for macroangiopathy in Japanese type 2 diabetic patients: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE To clarify the clinical characteristics of type 2 diabetic patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to assess whether NAFLD is related to angiopathy. METHODS The study included 388 Japanese type 2 diabetic outpatients without viral hepatitis. The main outcome measures were angiopathy and NAFLD. RESULTS The 388 subjects were divided into two subgroups based on alcohol consumption. Fatty liver was recognized in 36 of the 142 drinking patients (25%). There was no association of fatty liver disease with diabetic macro- or microangiopathy in these patients. Fatty liver disease (namely, NAFLD) was recognized in 77 of the 246 non-drinking patients (31%). Type 2 diabetic patients with NAFLD had a significantly younger age, higher body mass index level, higher levels of HbA1c, total cholesterol and triglyceride, lower HDL-C level, higher prevalence rates of hypercholesterolemia and obesity than counterparts without NAFLD. In addition, individuals in the elderly (≥65 years) non-drinking group with NAFLD had a significantly higher prevalence rates of diabetic macroangiopathy, coronary heart disease and thicker intima-media thickness level than their counterparts without NAFLD. The logistic regression analysis showed that NAFLD is an independent predictor of diabetic macroangiopathy. CONCLUSION NAFLD was associated with an increased prevalence of diabetic macroangiopathy and coronary heart disease in elderly patients. In addition, NAFLD is an independent predictor for diabetic macroangiopathy. These findings suggest that type 2 diabetic patients with NAFLD should be considered as a high risk group for developing macroangiopathy, even if macroangiopathy is not clinically detected.
Inertial aided monocular SLAM for GPS-denied navigation

This paper addresses the problem of navigation in GPS-denied scenarios using a low-cost inertial measurement unit (IMU) and monocular video data. It is shown how the standard error state Kalman-Filter approach for GPS-INS integration can be extended to take advantage of imagery measurements by augmenting the filter state with the coordinates of landmarks in inverse depth parameterization. This yields a robust monocular SLAM algorithm that computes the desired navigation solution and a sparse feature map at the same time and is suitable for real-time operation. Results are presented which demonstrate the applicability of this approach for indoor and outdoor scenarios.
Selective genotyping to detect quantitative trait loci for multiple traits in outbred populations.

Selective genotyping (i.e., genotyping of individuals that are extreme for a quantitative trait) has been undertaken in many studies but has usually been limited to one trait of interest. This paper outlines the implications of selective genotyping when applied to a daughter design. Formulas are presented that enable unbiased estimation of QTL effects for the selectively genotyped and correlated traits. Formulas were verified using simulation. Further, formulas are presented to enable power calculations to be undertaken for the selectively genotyped trait and correlated traits. These algorithms are demonstrated with a numerical example.
Persistent Ductus Arteriosus in Ill and Premature Babies

Thirty-eight ill and premature babies with a diagnosis of persistent ductus arteriosus (PDA) are described. All were patients in the Neonatal Unit of Hammersmith Hospital. 16 of them, who were born during a year in which all babies in the Unit were examined repeatedly and specifically for clinical evidence of PDA, have been compared to a control group in respect of sex, gestational age, weight for dates, birth asphyxia, and respiratory distress. It is concluded that PDA in this selected group of babies was significantly associated with female sex and respiratory distress but not with gestational age, weight for dates, or birth asphyxia. Though in these babies clinical evidence of PDA often persisted for several weeks, closure was spontaneous in the great majority. Five babies developed heart failure and 4 of these responded well to medical treatment. It is suggested that in view of the frequency of spontaneous closure there is no indication to administer oxygen-enriched air to premature babies solely for the purpose of encouraging their ductuses to close.
Parametric and Semiparametric IV Estimation of Network Models with Selectivity

We propose parametric and semiparametric IV estimators for spatial autoregressive models with network data where the network structure is endogenous. We embed a dyadic network formation process in the control function approach as in Heckman and Robb (1985). In the semiparametric case, we use power series to approximate the correction terms. We establish the consistency and asymptotic normality for both parametric and semiparametric cases. We also investigate their finite sample properties via Monte Carlo simulation.
Surface representation using geodesic morphology

A symmetrical axis transform (SAT) using geodesic morphology for 3-D object representation is proposed. The SAT has been previously defined using Euclidean morphological operations. An extension of the SAT to represent arbitrary non-Euclidean surfaces using geodesic operators is described. The concept of a surface skeleton is defined. Initial experimental results are also provided. <<ETX>>
No fixed nucleotide difference between Africans and Non-Africans at the pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 alpha-subunit locus.

THE genetic diversity within and between human populations has been a topic of intense research for the past three decades because of its relevance to human genetics and evolution ([Cavalli-Sforza 1969][1]; [Nei and Roychoudhury 1972][2]). Of particular interest is the degree of genetic
Protective immunity to Shiga-like toxin I following oral immunization with Shiga-like toxin I B-subunit-producing Vibrio cholerae CVD 103-HgR

This study addresses a mechanism for inducing systemic immunity to Shiga-like toxins by oral administration of a Shiga-like toxin I B-subunit-expressing Vibrio cholerae vaccine strain [CVD 103-HgR(pDA60)]. Two sets of three rabbits were given either CVD 103-HgR or CVD 103-HgR(pDA60) orally. All rabbits immunized with CVD 103-HgR(pDA60) developed neutralizing serum antibodies to Shiga-like toxin I. None of the controls developed such antibodies.
Analog-to-Digital Conversion Based on Modular Blocks Exploiting Cross-Gain Modulation in Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

A new approach based on modular blocks to implement all-optical analog-to-digital conversion is presented. The basic blocks exploit cross-gain modulation in semiconductor optical amplifiers. A four-level signal at 20 Gsamples/s is successfully quantized and coded onto 2 bits. The output extinction ratio of the encoded bits is higher than 3.6 dB. The extinction ratio can be improved by means of a thresholder, e.g., a saturable absorber, at each output port.
A Wise Object Framework for Distributed Intelligent Adaptive Systems

Designing Intelligent Adaptive Distributed Systems is an open research issue addressing nowadays technologies such as Communicating Objects (COT) and the Internet of Things (IoT) that increasingly contribute to our daily life (mobile phones, computers, home automation, etc.). Complexity and sophistication of those systems make them hard to understand and to master by human users, in particular end-users and developers. Those are very often involved in learning processes that capture all their attention while being of little interest for them. To alleviate human interaction with such systems and help developers to produce them, we propose WOF, an object oriented framework founded on the concept of \emph{Wise Object} (WO). A WO is a software-based entity that is able to learn on itself and also on the others (e.g. its environment). Wisdom refers to the experience (on its own behavior and on the usage done of it) such object acquires by its own during its life. In the paper, we present the WOF conceptual architecture and the Java implementation we built from it. Requirements and design principles of wise systems are presented. To provide application (e.g. home automation system) developers with relevant support, we designed WOF with the minimum intrusion in the application source code. The adaptiveness, intelligence and distribution related mechanisms defined in WOF are inherited by application classes. In our Java implementation of WOF, object classes produced by a developer inherit the behavior of Wise Object (WO) class. An instantiated system is then a Wise Object System (WOS) composed of wise objects that interact through an event bus according to publish-subscribe design pattern.