Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Analysis of crown size and morphology, and gingival shape in the maxillary anterior dentition in Korean young adults

PURPOSE The aim of this investigation was to analyze the dimensions of clinical crowns and to classify the crown and the gingival type in the anterior teeth in Korean young adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS Casts were obtained from 50 subjects ranging in age from 24 to 32. Measurements of length and width were made on the casts using a pair of digital calipers on the entire dentition. Crown thickness and papilla height were also measured and MDW/CL (mesiodistal width to clinical length) and CW/CL (cervical width to clinical length) ratios of the maxillary anterior teeth were calculated. The K-clustering method was used for CW/CL to classify the anterior tooth shape into three groups (tapered, ovoid, and square), and one-way analysis of variance and Duncan's post-hoc comparison were used to evaluate statistical significance between the groups. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed between tooth shape and papillary height (PH) to demonstrate the correlation between tooth shape and gingival morphological characteristics. RESULTS The average length of the maxillary central incisors was 9.89 mm; the mesio-distal width was 8.54 mm; and the ratio of width/length was 0.86 in Korean young adults. The average bucco-palatal thickness of the central incisor was 3.14 mm at the incisal 1/3 aspect. Ovoid type was the most common tooth shape (48%), followed by square type (29%) and taper type (23%) in the central incisors of Korean young adults. Tooth shape and gingival type were correlated with each other. CONCLUSION New reference data were established for tooth size in Korean young adults and the data show several patterns of tooth shape and gingival type. Clinicians should diagnose and treat based on these characteristics for better results in the Korean population.
Effect of ascorbic acid consumption on urinary stone risk factors.

PURPOSE Ascorbic acid (AA) has been implicated as a risk factor for calcium oxalate stones due to its conversion to oxalate and potential acidifying properties. We evaluated the effect of AA consumption on urinary saturation of calcium oxalate (CaOx) and urinary pH. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 12 normal subjects (NS) and 12 CaOx stone formers (SF) underwent 2, 6-day phases of study while maintained on a controlled metabolic diet. In each phase subjects ingested 1 gm AA or an identical appearing placebo twice daily. On the last 2 days of each phase 2, 24-hour urine collections were analyzed for pH and stone risk factors, and blood specimens were submitted for serum chemistry studies. RESULTS No difference in urinary pH was found between placebo and AA phases in NS (6.02 versus 6.02) and SF (6.0 versus 6.0). However, urinary oxalate was statistically significantly higher in the AA versus placebo phase for NS (34.7 versus 28.5 mg, p = 0.008) and SF (41.0 versus 30.5 mg, p <0.001). Likewise, the CaOx relative saturation ratio was significantly higher in the AA versus placebo phase for both groups. CONCLUSIONS Ingestion of 2 gm AA daily results in no change in urinary pH but a moderate though statistically significant increase in urinary oxalate in NS (20%) and SF (33%). Stone formers respond no differently to AA than normal subjects. We recommend limiting AA use to less than 2 gm daily in CaOx stone formers.
Diastolic Function Is Reduced in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes in Response to Exercise

OBJECTIVE To determine whether adolescents with type 1 diabetes have left ventricular functional changes at rest and during acute exercise and whether these changes are affected by metabolic control and diabetes duration. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The study evaluated 53 adolescents with type 1 diabetes and 22 control adolescents. Baseline data included peak exercise capacity and body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Left ventricular functional parameters were obtained at rest and during acute exercise using magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS Compared with nondiabetic control subjects, adolescents with type 1 diabetes had lower exercise capacity (44.7 ± 09 vs. 48.5 ± 1.4 mL/kg fat-free mass [FFM]/min; P < 0.05). Stroke volume was reduced in the diabetes group at rest (1.86 ± 0.04 vs. 2.05 ± 0.07 mL/kg FFM; P = 0.02) and during acute exercise (1.89 ± 0.04 vs. 2.17 ± 0.06 mL/kg FFM; P = 0.01). Diabetic adolescents also had reduced end-diastolic volume at rest (2.94 ± 0.06 vs. 3.26 ± 0.09 mL/kg FFM; P = 0.01) and during acute exercise (2.78 ± 0.05 vs. 3.09 ± 0.08 mL/kg FFM; P = 0.01). End-systolic volume was lower in the diabetic group at rest (1.08 ± 0.03 vs. 1.21 ± 0.04 mL/kg FFM; P = 0.01) but not during acute exercise. Exercise capacity and resting and exercise stroke volumes were correlated with glycemic control but not with diabetes duration. CONCLUSIONS Adolescents with type 1 diabetes have reduced exercise capacity and display alterations in cardiac function compared with nondiabetic control subjects, associated with reduced stroke volume during exercise.
Insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis and glycogen synthase activation after electrical stimulation of epitrochlearis muscles with different initial glycogen contents

Glycogen synthesis increases after muscle contraction and during insulin stimulation, and insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis is enhanced after contraction. We hypothesized that the initial glycogen content influences the magnitude of additive effect of contraction on insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis. Contraction and insulin had full additive effect on rate of glycogen synthesis measured after contraction in muscles with normal and high glycogen content. In muscles with low glycogen, contraction increased insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis nearly as much as in muscles with normal glycogen, but not to the sum of the two stimuli studied separately; still glycogen synthesis was generally highest in muscles with low glycogen. Glycogen synthase fractional activity inversely correlated with glycogen content and contraction increased glycogen synthase fractional activity. Contraction and insulin additively increased glycogen synthase fractional activity at all glycogen contents. In conclusion, after contraction insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis was increased by rather similar magnitude at all glycogen contents in concert with increased glycogen synthase activation.
Circadian distribution of serum cytokines in multiple sclerosis.

AIMS The purpose of this study was to examine circadian distribution of selected cytokine levels (IL-2, IL-10, GM-CSF, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma) in serum of subjects with active Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and non-MS subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS Six females (36-56y) and five males (52-68y) with active MS volunteered and consented for the study conducted at Special Diagnostic Ward of this hospital. All subjects gave their medical history and were given complete physical examination. Low purine meals were served at 16:30, 07:30 and 13:00 h. Lights were "OFF' at 22:30 hr and "ON" at 06:30h. Blood collections were made at 3h intervals over a 24h period of time. Six healthy male subjects (53-76y) subjects' data were obtained from a study conducted 3 years previously using the same procedural protocol. Cytokine assays were assessed using commercial enzyme-linked immuno-absorbent procedure. Time series of average data and the range of change between the highest and lowest concentrations are presented for MS subjects along with data from non-MS subjects. RESULTS IL-2, IL-10, and GM-CSF levels were significantly reduced in females with MS when compared with levels of healthy subjects while their IL-6 levels were increased. The IL-6, GM-CSF and TNF-alpha levels in males with MS were below detection limits. The TNF-alpha levels were essentially similar in MS females and healthy subjects. CONCLUSIONS These preliminary studies, although with very small number of patients and healthy male controls appear to suggest that the circadian analysis of cytokines and other markers of immunity may have utility in understanding the pathogenesis of diseases like MS.
Finite element analysis of stress-breaking attachments on maxillary implant-retained overdentures.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of stress-breaking attachments at the connections between maxillary palateless overdentures and implants. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three-dimensional finite element models were used to reproduce an edentulous human maxilla with an implant-retained overdenture. Two-implant models (in the canine tooth positions on both sides) and four-implant models (in the canine and second premolar tooth positions on both sides) were examined. Stress-breaking material connecting the implants and denture was included around each abutment. Axial loads of 100 N were applied to the occlusal surface at the left first molar tooth positions. In each model, the influence of the stress-breaking attachments was compared by changing the elastic modulus from 1 to 3,000 MPa and the thickness of the stress-breaking material from 1 to 3 mm. Maximum stress at the implant-bone interface and stress at the cortical bone surface just under the loading point were calculated. RESULTS In all models, maximum stress at the implant-bone interface with implants located in the canine tooth position was generated at the peri-implant bone on the loading side. As the elastic modulus of the stress-breaking materials increased, the stress increased at the implant-bone interface and decreased at the cortical bone surface. Moreover, stress at the implant-bone interface with 3-mm-thick stress-breaking material was smaller than that with 1-mm-thick material. CONCLUSION Within the limitations of this experiment, stress generated at the implant-bone interface could be controlled by altering the elastic modulus and thickness of the stress-breaking materials.
Transport Protocols in the Tactical Network Environment

The shift to network centric warfare highlights the deficiencies of existing reliable transport protocols in tactical network environments. Existing transports are designed upon a set of assumptions that are violated by noisy, wireless tactical networks where end-to-end encryption and authentication must be maintained. Protocols such as TCP that are designed for low-corruptive-loss environments provide abysmal performance when deployed in tactical network environments. TCP adaptations that address corruptive loss rates generally violate tactical-network security requirements. As part of a DARPA-funded effort to dramatically improve reliable-transport performance in tactical network environments, Architecture Technology Corporation (ATC) has analyzed the tactical network environment and has examined the behavior of various reliable transport protocols within such environments.
Correlations between papillary thyroid cancer and peripheral blood levels of matrix metalloproteinase‐2, matrix metalloproteinase‐9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐2

Background The relationship between the presence of metalloproteinases and thyroid cancer remains unknown, and many controversies still exist in this field. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlations between papillary thyroid cancer and peripheral blood levels of matrix metalloproteinase‐2, matrix metalloproteinase‐9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐2. Methods The correlations were studied by detecting the levels of matrix metalloproteinase‐2, matrix metalloproteinase‐9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐2 by enzyme‐linked immunosorbant assay and reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction in the peripheral blood of 30 patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma, 27 patients with benign thyroid disease, and 25 healthy volunteers. Results The levels of matrix metalloproteinase‐2, matrix metalloproteinase‐9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐2 in the peripheral blood of patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were significantly higher than those in the peripheral blood of patients with benign thyroid disease and healthy volunteers (P <0.05). However, there were no significant differences between patients with benign thyroid disease and healthy volunteers (P >0.05). The accuracy of detection by both enzyme‐linked immunosorbant assay and reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction in the papillary thyroid cancer group was 83.33%. Conclusions The levels of matrix metalloproteinase‐2, matrix metalloproteinase‐9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐2 in the peripheral blood are helpful in identifying thyroid carcinoma and aid in preoperative assessment.
Number of Cervical Biopsies and Sensitivity of Colposcopy

OBJECTIVE: To examine the influence that type of medical training and number of biopsies have on sensitivity of colposcopically guided biopsies. METHODS: Among 408 women with an adequate enrollment colposcopy and a diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 3 or cancer (CIN 3+) over 2 years in the Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance/Low-Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions (ASCUS-LSIL) Triage Study, we evaluated factors influencing the sensitivity of the enrollment colposcopic procedure. We used contingency table analysis to examine confounding variables and &khgr;2 tests to ascertain statistical significance. RESULTS: Overall, 69.9% of women with a cumulative diagnosis of CIN 3+ had a “true-positive” enrollment colposcopically guided biopsy result of CIN 2 or worse (CIN 2+), the threshold that would trigger excisional therapy. The sensitivity of the procedure did not vary significantly by type of colposcopist. However, the sensitivity was significantly greater when the colposcopists took two or more biopsies instead of one (P<.01), a pattern observed across all types of colposcopists. Independent of the severity of the colposcopic impression, the frequency with which colposcopists took two or more biopsies instead of one varied (in descending order) from nurse practitioners to general gynecologists to gynecologic oncology fellows to gynecologic oncologists (P<.01). CONCLUSION: Colposcopy with guided biopsy or biopsies detects approximately two thirds of CIN 3+. Although the sensitivity of the procedure does not differ significantly by type of medical training, it is greater when two or more biopsies are taken. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2
Regulatory CD4+ T Cells Are Crucial for Preventing CD8+ T Cell-Mediated Autoimmunity1

In vivo studies have shown that regulatory CD4+ T cells regulate conventional CD4+ T cell responses to self- and environmental Ags. However, it remains unclear whether regulatory CD4+ T cells control CD8+ T cell responses to self, directly, or indirectly by decreasing available CD4+ T cell help. We have developed an experimental mouse model in which suppressive and helper T cells cannot mediate their functions. The mouse chimeras generated were not viable and rapidly developed multiple organ autoimmunity. These features were correlated with strong CD8+ T cell activation and accumulation in both lymphoid and nonlymphoid organs. In vivo Ab treatment and secondary transfer experiments demonstrated that regulatory CD4+ T cells play an important direct role in the prevention of peripheral CD8+ T cell-mediated autoimmunity.
Overexpression of the Arabidopsis Syntaxin PEP12/SYP21 Inhibits Transport from the Prevacuolar Compartment to the Lytic Vacuole in Vivo[W]

Golgi-mediated transport to the lytic vacuole involves passage through the prevacuolar compartment (PVC), but little is known about how vacuolar proteins exit the PVC. We show that this last step is inhibited by overexpression of Arabidopsis thaliana syntaxin PEP12/SYP21, causing an accumulation of soluble and membrane cargo and the plant vacuolar sorting receptor BP80 in the PVC. Anterograde transport proceeds normally from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi and the PVC, although export from the PVC appears to be compromised, affecting both anterograde membrane flow to the vacuole and the recycling route of BP80 to the Golgi. However, Golgi-mediated transport of soluble and membrane cargo toward the plasma membrane is not affected, but a soluble BP80 ligand is partially mis-sorted to the culture medium. We also observe clustering of individual PVC bodies that move together and possibly fuse with each other, forming enlarged compartments. We conclude that PEP12/SYP21 overexpression specifically inhibits export from the PVC without affecting the Golgi complex or compromising the secretory branch of the endomembrane system. The results provide a functional in vivo assay that confirms PEP12/SYP21 involvement in vacuolar sorting and indicates that excess of this syntaxin in the PVC can be detrimental for further transport from this organelle.
Performance of MIMO-OFDM systems with Rotation and Component Interleaving Diversity

In this paper, new-diversity schemes are formed by applying Rotation and Component Interleaving Diversity (RCID) technique to Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) Ortogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems and the optimal rotation angles for these systems are examined for M-ary PSK signal constellations. The examination showed that RCID technique has provided an increase in the diversity order of MIMO-OFDM Systems in 8-path Frequency-Selective slowly Rayleigh fading channel with exponential power profile and the improvement in the error performance has decreased as the M level of PSK signals increases. Also, the optimal rotation angles of the systems examined are found to be the same angles as thoseof the uncoded PSK signals in the Flat Rayleigh Fading Channel.
Enhanced Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing With Index Modulation

Index modulation concept has attracted considerable research interest in the past few years. As a realization of index modulation in the frequency domain, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with index modulation (OFDM-IM) has recently been proposed, which conveys information bits through both the subcarrier activation patterns and the amplitude phase modulation constellation points. This paper proposes two enhanced OFDM-IM schemes aimed at achieving higher spectral efficiency and diversity gain, respectively. The first one, termed OFDM with hybrid in-phase/quadrature index modulation (OFDM-HIQ-IM), explores the I- and Q- dimensions jointly for index modulation, allowing transmission of more index modulation bits in each subcarrier group. The second one, termed linear constellation precoded OFDM-IQ-IM (LP-OFDM-IQ-IM), spreads information symbols across two adjacent active subcarriers through linear constellation precoding to harvest additional diversity gain. By maximizing the minimum squared Euclidean distance, two different realizations of LP-OFDM-IQ-IM are derived, which leads to a rotated and a diamond-shaped constellation, respectively. The proposed OFDM-HIQ-IM and LP-OFDM-IQ-IM, as revealed by both theoretical analyses and computer simulations, enable low-complexity detection and exhibit superior error rate performance over the existing OFDM-IM schemes.
Generation of membrane structures during phagocytosis and chemotaxis of macrophages: role and regulation of the actin cytoskeleton

Macrophages are best known for their protective search and destroy functions against invading microorganisms. These processes are commonly known as chemotaxis and phagocytosis. Both of these processes require actin cytoskeletal remodeling to produce distinct F‐actin‐rich membrane structures called lamellipodia and phagocytic cups. This review will focus on the mechanisms by which macrophages regulate actin polymerization through initial receptor signaling and subsequent Arp2/3 activation by nucleation‐promoting factors like the WASP/WAVE family, followed by remodeling of actin networks to produce these very distinct structures.
Redesign of optimistic methods: Improving performance and applicability

The original approach of optimistic concurrency control /2/ has some serious weaknesses with respect to validation, long transactions and starvation. This paper first discusses design alternatives which avoid these disadvantages. Essential improvements can be reached by a new validation scheme which is called snapshot validation. The paper then discusses a validation scheme which especially supports read transactions, so that the number of backups decreases substantially. Finally a very simple solution for the starvation problem is presented. The proposal is perfectly consistent with the underlying optimistic approach.
Power-efficient non-coherent space-time constellations

We consider the problem of digital communication in a Rayleigh flat-fading environment using a multiple-antenna system, when the channel state information is available neither at the transmitter nor at the receiver. It is known that at high SNR, or when the coherence interval is much larger than the number of transmit antennas, a constellation of unitary matrices can achieve the capacity of the non-coherent system. However, at low SNR, high spectral efficiencies, or for small values of coherence interval, the unitary constellations lose their optimality and fail to provide an acceptable performance. In an earlier work, using a design criterion based on the KL distance between distributions, we have shown, for the case of a single transmit antenna, that at low SNR, a multilevel constellation can provide better error rate performance than the unitary constellation of the same size. In this work, we extend those single antenna results to the case of multiple transmit antennas. The interesting result of this work is that the same idea of multilevel constellations can be generalized to design low-power non-coherent constellations for multiple antennas. The resulting constellations overlap with the unitary constellations at high SNR, but at low SNR they have a multilevel structure and show significant performance improvement over unitary constellations of the same size. The performance improvement becomes especially more significant when a large number of receive antennas are used. This property, together with the facts that the proposed constellations eliminate the need for training sequences and are most suitable for low SNR, makes them a good candidate for uplink communication in wireless systems.
Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivity and Endogenous Financial Policy : Evidence from Japan ( DRAFT )

The literature on the Japanese Horizontal Keiretsu, or Main Bank System, is divided on the real effects of bank dependence on firm performance. This paper presents evidence on this issue for the 1980’s and 1990’s using a large sample of Japanese manufacturing firms. Using the eligibility criteria for domestic bond issues that were in place in the 1980’s as a firm sorting criteria, I find that investment-cash flow sensitivity is lowest for those firms known to have faced financing constraints in the bond market. To test whether these results are driven by the relatively higher degree of bank dependence of restricted firms, or are simply an artifact of the problems associated with investment-cash flow sensitivity analysis, I perform several robustness checks using alternative specifications and cash-flow measures. I also derive and estimate an alternative model which is based on the firm’s maximization problem when facing a loan supply curve, and which does not rely on cash flow. The results from this expanded model suggest that bank dependence does reduce financing costs, thus confirming the cash flow sensitivity results. In addition, the results suggest that the over-investment in the 1980’s led to a collapse in the demand for loans in the 1990’s, which is further evidence against a credit crunch. ∗email: pmcguire@umich.edu