Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A study to assess the plaque inhibitory action of a new zinc citrate toothpaste formulation.

BACKGROUND, AIMS Zinc-citrate-containing toothpastes have previously been suggested to be of value at inhibiting plaque and gingival inflammation. Present formulations have included triclosan which is thought to contribute major antibacterial/antiplaque effects. Alternative antimicrobial agents and other ingredients such as oils could help to produce equally effective formulations. The aim of this study was to determine whether zinc citrate toothpastes containing bromochlorophene and a triglyceride oil (1% and 8%) could inhibit de novo plaque formation. METHODS Toothpaste slurry rinses were used over a 96-h period by 24 volunteers, whilst omitting all other oral hygiene procedures. For comparative purposes, a conventional commercial fluoride control toothpaste was also used in this triple cross-over double blind study. RESULTS After 24 and 48 h, there were no statistically significant differences in plaque between the 2 test pastes and the control paste, whether assessed using a plaque index or plaque area. After 96 h, however, a significant reduction in plaque score of 10.6% and 24.2%) in plaque area (both p < 0.001) was found for the zinc citrate/1% oil toothpaste compared to the control paste. In addition, at 96 h, the 8% oil toothpaste significantly reduced plaque score compared to the control paste by 4.3% (p = 0.029). CONCLUSIONS These findings would appear to warrant further investigation into the potential value of the zinc citrate/bromochlorophene/triglyceride formulation at inhibiting both plaque and gingival inflammation.
The Sinus Node Electrogram in Patients With and Without Sick Sinus Syndrome: Techniques and Correlation Between Directly Measured and Indirectl Estimated Sinoatrial Conduction Time

Sinus node electrograms (SNEs) were recorded in 44 patients using a standard quadripolar electrode catheter (USCI #6) with 10-mm interelectrode distance. In 23 patients, the catheter was positioned at the junction of the superior vena cava (SVC) and right atrial (RA) wall so that the concave curve of the catheter was facing the concave surface of the RA wall. The distal poles of the catheter were close to but not in direct contact with the RA endocardium underlying the anatomic location of the sinus node (method 1). In 21 patients, the catheter was looped in the RA and advanced to the junction of the SVC-RA wall so that the distal poles of the catheter were in direct contact with the RA endocardium underlying the area of the sinus node (method 2). Stable SNEs could be obtained in 10 of 23 patients (43%) by method 1 and in 18 of 21 (86%) by method 2. SNEs by both methods showed two negatively directed deflections (diastolic and upstroke slope of the sinus node) of low frequency and amplitude occurring after the deflections of the T and U waves but before the P wave and intraatrial electrograms from various atrial sites. Unlike method 1, atrial activation by method 2 was characterized by an atrial injury potential. SNEs by method 2 were more stable and less prone to baseline drifts. Carotid sinus massage performed in 10 patients resulted in prolongation of the onset of the upstroke slope to atrial activation. In one patient, it resulted in marked first-degree sinoatrial block. SNEs were recorded in one patient during and after a run of spontaneous atrial flutter. After termination of atrial flutter, sinoatrial conduction time (SACT) prolonged for the first postflutter sinus beat and normalized by the third sinus beat. Direct SACTwas assessed on the SNE in all 28 patients, 12 of whom had sick sinus syndrome (SSS). SACT was also estimated indirectly by continuous pacing in 28 patients and by premature stimulation in 20 patients. Direct SACT was significantly (p < 0.001) longer in patients with SSS (135 30 msec, mean SD) than in patients without SSS (87 12 msec). There was a good correlation between direct SACT and SACT by continuous pacing (r = 0.843, n = 28) and direct SACT and SACT by premature stimulation (r = 0.778, n = 18). However, in certain patients, there were appreciable differences and direct SACTwas longer than estimated SACT by continuous pacing or premature stimulation. We conclude that (1) the success rate of stable SNEs with no appreciable baseline drift is increased with direct contact of the catheter with atrial endocardium underlying the sinus node area (method 2); (2) carotid sinus massage results in depression of sinus node automaticity and prolongation of SACT; (3) direct SACT is significantly longer in patients with SSS and can separate most patients with from those without SSS; and (4) there is a good correlation between direct SACT and indirectly estimated SACT, although the latter underestimates the actual SACT.
Energy-efficient resource allocation strategy in ultra dense small-cell networks: A Stackelberg game approach

This paper focuses on resource allocation in heterogeneous Ultra Dense small-cell Networks (UDNs), in which massive overlaid small cells are under the coverage of a macro cell. In UDN, both co-tier and cross-tier interference need to be taken into account. When increasing the deployment density of Small-cell Base Stations (SBSs) and the unreasonable energy usage, it results in serious interference and degrades the user's satisfaction, which encourages us to agree on maximizing the total system Energy Efficiency (EE). This problem is non-convex and cannot be solved within polynomial time. Therefore, an efficient hierarchical Resource Allocation (RA) algorithm with reduced computational complexity is proposed to decompose the EE optimization problem into two sub-optimization problems: Sub-Channel Allocation (SCA) process and Power Allocation (PA) process. To solve these two processes, thereafter, we employ a uniform pricing scheme to reduce the feedback overhead and build the PA problem into a two-stage Stackelberg game, where the Macro-cell Base Station (MBS) acts as a follower and SBSs are leaders. The obtained simulation results show that the proposed hierarchical RA algorithm and the two-stage game can achieve a higher EE and a lower computation complexity.
Agency theory: the times, they are a-changin’

Purpose – Theories develop over time and are influenced by both events and people. Looking primarily at the applications between contracting principal-agent relationships, the purpose of this paper is to explore how agency theory emerged from a number of economic and social developments. In doing so, the authors explain how this once dominant theory comes up short regarding varying realms of entrepreneurship as well as with multiple modern business phenomena. Design/methodology/approach – The authors first present a brief overview of agency theory. Second, the authors identify major events and people and address how they impacted the development of agency theory. Third, the authors provide insights on agency theory across three contexts (strategic entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and family business). Implications, limitations, and future research directions are then offered. Findings – The authors provide a deeper understanding of agency theory, thus broadening its underpinnings and enabling re.
Epworth Sleepiness Scale and sleep studies in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is the major symptom of patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). In this study, we examined the relationship between subjective EDS scored with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), objective EDS measured with the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) and sleep variables evaluated with polysomnography for patients with OSAS. Subjects were 10 patients (51.7 ± 19.0 years old). The average ESS and MSLT scores were 10.6 ± 5.6 and 7.7 ± 5.6, respectively. There was no significant relationship between ESS and MSLT. The Multiple Sleep Latency Test had a significant negative relationship with the number of awakenings and the apnea/hypopnea index. No relationship was found between nocturnal hypoxia and either ESS or MSLT. Our findings suggest that objective EDS in OSAS is related with fragmentation of sleep, and that several patients are not aware of their EDS.
Method for the Evaluation of Open Source Software Quality from an IT Untrained User Perspective

The offering and adoption of open source software is growing and today it is an option for users, when they have to accomplish certain tasks, to do their own research on the web to find open source software they can download and install on their computer or use in the Cloud as a Software as a Service (SaaS). From the IT untrained user, no tools or guideline are available in order to evaluate or compare the quality of open source software. How to evaluate the quality of software is not a simple task and more often, the IT untrained user will be unaware of the quality of the software chosen to perform tasks and achieve a goal. This paper presents a basic method for the evaluation of the quality of open source software from an IT untrained user perspective.
Développement et transmission de la métacognition

Dans le domaine des apprentissages, la comprehension de notre propre fonctionnement est centrale. Ainsi, le developpement de la metacognition et la transmission des competences liees sont ici primordiaux. Dans ce travail nous resituons la metacognition par rapport aux notions de conscience, d'attention, et de subjectivite. En mettant en exergue l'intrication existant entre ces dimensions, nous montrons en quoi il est possible de s'inspirer de pratiques travaillant sur la conscience et l'attention pour developper la metacognition. Grâce a une etude longitudinale aupres de jeunes adultes, nous constatons qu'il est possible d'utiliser ces outils nommes pratiques de l'attention (qui regroupent les techniques de relaxation et de meditation) pour developper la metacognition (connaissances et autoevaluations de ses propres performances) de maniere significative. Ces resultats ouvrent une reflexion sur l'elaboration de nouvelles remediations dans ce domaine. Le sujet est alors replace au coeur de la metacognition tant au niveau theorique que pratique, ce qui offre une meilleure comprehension du fonctionnement metacognitif, et permet une mise en perspective de la metacognition par rapport aux autres dimensions de la cognition humaine.
Accumulation of Tau in Autophagic Vacuoles in Chloroquine Myopathy

Long-term administration of chloroquine to rats induces a vacuolar myopathy, which is specifically termed chloroquine myopathy (CM). In CM, tau mRNA levels were transiently upregulated in the early phase, while tau itself slowly accumulated in the late phase. The temporal profiles of tau mRNA levels and its accumulation were very similar to those of (β-amyloid protein precursor (APP) and its carboxyl-terminal fragments, both of which have been known to be degraded in lysosomes. Immunocytochemistry showed that tau progressively accumulated in the rimmed vacuoles exhibiting increased acid phosphatase activities, and immunoelectron microscopy demonstrated that tau was located within autophagic vacuoles. These results suggest that the accumulation of tau in CM is due to defective tau degradation in the lysosomal compartment in the muscle.
3D Site Modelling and Verification of Plant Design for Nuclear Security Applications

It is important in Nuclear Security to detect changes made in a given installation or track the progression of the construction work in a new plant. This paper describes a system accepting multi-sensory, variable scale data as input. Scalability allows for different acquisition systems and algorithms according to the size of the objects/buildings/sites to be modelled. Semi-automated tools support the comparison between the acquired "as-built" and the approved design models. The paper presents examples of the use in indoor and outdoor environments. It shows that it is possible in any time to redo a data acquisition from the same area without any assumptions of exact position, orientation or used scanner. Based on this new information it is possible to detect centimetre changes in the scene.
The Pragmatics of Person and Imperatives in Sign Language of the Netherlands

Abstract We present new evidence against a grammatical distinction between second and third person in Sign Language of The Netherlands (NGT). More precisely, we show how pushing this distinction into the domain of pragmatics helps account for an otherwise puzzling fact about the NGT imperative: not only is it used to command your addressee, it can also express ‘non-addressee-oriented commands’.
Prospective assessment of body weight, body composition, and bone density changes in patients with spondyloarthropathy receiving anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha treatment.

OBJECTIVE To determine the changes in body weight, body composition, and bone density in patients with spondyloarthropathy (SpA) receiving anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) treatment. METHODS One hundred six patients with SpA (80 men, 26 women) aged 20-71 years were included in a 2-year prospective open study. Fifty-nine patients received infliximab (3 or 5 mg/kg/infusion each 6 or 8 weeks); and 47 patients received etanercept (25 mg twice a week) because of persistent active disease despite an optimal treatment, according to ASsessments in Ankylosing Spondylitis Working Group criteria. Body weight, total body composition (lean mass, fat mass), and spine and femoral bone mineral density (BMD; dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) were measured at baseline and at 1 and 2 years. RESULTS There was a significant increase in body weight after 1 year (2.2 +/- 3.9 kg, i.e., 3.4%; p < 0.0001) and 2 years (2.2 +/- 4.7 kg, 3.5%; p < 0.0001), mostly due to a significant gain in fat mass at 1 year (1.4 +/- 2.6 kg, 12.1%; p < 0.0001) and 2 years (1.5 +/- 3.1 kg, 14.5%, p < 0.0001). Gain in lean mass was also significant at 1 year (0.8 +/- 2.2 kg, 1.9%; p < 0.0001) and 2 years (0.9 +/- 2.5 kg, 2%; p < 0.0001). At 2 years, lumbar spine and femur BMD increased: +5.8 +/- 13% (p < 0.0001) and +2.26 +/- 4.5% (p = 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSION This 2-year prospective study showed a significant increase in body weight at 1 year and 2 years, mostly due to a gain in fat mass and a significant increase in BMD, in patients with SpA receiving anti-TNF-alpha treatment.
Subtle Differences in Virus Composition Affect Disinfection Kinetics and Mechanisms

ABSTRACT Viral disinfection kinetics have been studied in depth, but the molecular-level inactivation mechanisms are not understood. Consequently, it is difficult to predict the disinfection behavior of nonculturable viruses, even when related, culturable viruses are available. The objective of this work was to determine how small differences in the composition of the viral genome and proteins impact disinfection. To this end, we investigated the inactivation of three related bacteriophages (MS2, fr, and GA) by UV254, singlet oxygen (1O2), free chlorine (FC), and chlorine dioxide (ClO2). Genome damage was quantified by PCR, and protein damage was assessed by quantitative matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry. ClO2 caused great variability in the inactivation kinetics between viruses and was the only treatment that did not induce genome damage. The inactivation kinetics were similar for all viruses when treated with disinfectants possessing a genome-damaging component (FC, 1O2, and UV254). On the protein level, UV254 subtly damaged MS2 and fr capsid proteins, whereas GA's capsid remained intact. 1O2 oxidized a methionine residue in MS2 but did not affect the other two viruses. In contrast, FC and ClO2 rapidly degraded the capsid proteins of all three viruses. Protein composition alone could not explain the observed degradation trends; instead, molecular dynamics simulations indicated that degradation is dictated by the solvent-accessible surface area of individual amino acids. Finally, despite the similarities of the three viruses investigated, their mode of inactivation by a single disinfectant varied. This explains why closely related viruses can exhibit drastically different inactivation kinetics.
A Model of Herds and Social Learning

One of the most frequent questions asked by economists is how individual members of societies make choices. It can be observed that economic agents imitate other agents' actions. It should be asked why rational people choose to imitate other's behaviour and make decisions that are not based on their own private information. Bikhchandani, Hirshleifer and Welch (1992) showed that fully rational agents, who understand the history of decision making, can generate this kind of behaviour. An important feature of this model is that once individuals begin to imitate others, the social learning process is halted. This paper shows that social learning occurs if agents have a continuum set of actions to choose from or if they just have a sample of the history. It also shows that this type of learning can occur within a herd.
At the Papini hotel: On pragmatism in the study of international relations

Pragmatism is ever more popular amongst those who study international relations. Its emphasis on practice is generally acknowledged as a defining characteristic. There is, however, a general tension within pragmatist thought concerning practice, for pragmatism may emphasize the theorizing of practice. It is, then, distinguished from other theories in International Relations (IR) such as neo-realism or constructivism as a contender in their midst. We delineate a pragmatist theory of IR in the first part of this article, but insist on going beyond merely establishing the next paradigm, for pragmatism may also emphasize the practice of theorizing. Theories are, then, considered different tools useful for dealing with the social world. This will be corroborated in the second part by a close reading of William James. Finally, we submit that instead of a paradigm war, a metaphor such as that of the Papini hotel is needed in IR — a metaphor that accounts for theory competition without neglecting the limitations set by the practice of theorizing itself.
book review: The Developing World of the Child

The Developing World of the Child is a well-written and accessible text aimed to meet the requirements of the post-qualifying award in children’s services and the social work degree. A number of eminent academics and a range of experienced practitioners contribute to the book, which was commissioned by the Government as part of a series of resources aimed at supporting the training and practice of the children’s workforce in the UK. The offi cial sanction for the book’s potential contribution towards professional development is evident in the Foreword by Maria Eagle MP (at the time Parliamentary Under Secretary of Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families). The book is comprehensive and contains 16 chapters and an Afterword. It is divided into three themes, which refl ect the professional and research experience of the authors:
A Novel Hardware Architecture of the Lucas–Kanade Optical Flow for Reduced Frame Memory Access

The Lucas-Kanade (LK) algorithm is a cost-efficient gradient-based algorithm for real-time optical flow generation. An excessive external memory access limits the LK algorithm from being broadly used in practical high-frame-rate applications. To overcome this limitation, this paper proposes a novel hardware architecture that stores the input image after the Gaussian filtering operation instead of the original input image itself. The Gaussian-filtered image is downsampled in both the horizontal and vertical directions, thus reducing the external memory access to one quarter of the original data. The downsampling operation does not cause a significant degradation of accuracy because the Gaussian filter is a low-pass filter that reduces the aliasing effect of downsampling. The downsampled pixels are selected in an interleaved manner across multiple frames to reduce the degradation of accuracy. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm reduces the frame memory access by 61%-75% compared with the previous research.
Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training in Reducing of Aggression and Increasing Self-Esteem in Women with Breast Cancer

intelligence play an important role in variations related to mental health in women with breast cancer. The purpose of present study is considering the effectiveness of mindfulness trainings in reducing of aggression and increasing self-esteem in women with breast cancer. Statistic population of this study includes all Tehran women with breast cancer (visitors of Tajrish hospital) that, 30 of them were selected randomly and divided into two groups of test and control. Participants answer to aggression questionnaires of Bas and Perry and self -esteem questionnaire of Rosenberg before and after mindfulness training. Intergroup covariance analysis was used for analysis of findings. Results showed that cognitive training based on mindfulness is effect full on reducing aggression and increasing self-esteem meaningfully than control group on reducing aggression and increasing self-esteem in women with breast cancer. (p<0.01). regarding cognitive nature of generated problems in effect of breast cancer for women, it is considered that aggression in the way of mindfulness is effective in recovery of problems resulted from hard-cure diseases like cancer.
Statistical analysis of large sets of models

Many applications in Model-Driven Engineering involve processing multiple models, e.g. for comparing and merging of model variants into a common domain model. Despite many sophisticated techniques for model comparison, little attention has been given to the initial data analysis and filtering activities. These are hard to ignore especially in the case of a large dataset, possibly with outliers and sub-groupings. We would like to develop a generic approach for model comparison and analysis for large datasets; using techniques from information retrieval, natural language processing and machine learning. We are implementing our approach as an open framework and have so far evaluated it on public datasets involving domain analysis, repository management and model searching scenarios.
Beliefs about schooled knowledge: Domain specific or domain general?

Abstract This study explored the domain specificity of students' beliefs about academic knowledge in three related studies. Using a four-factor model as an initial framework, a series of domain-specific items about mathematics and history was developed. In Study I, these items were administered to 182 undergraduates, and the psychometric properties and underlying factor structure were examined via exploratory factor analysis. In Study II, the modified instrument, the Domain-Specific Beliefs Questionnaire (DSBQ), was administered to 633 students and a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted. A subsample of participants' responses on the DSBQ was also compared to responses on Schommer's epistemological questionnaire. Study III involved a second confirmatory factor analysis using data from a new sample ( n = 523). Those data were examined for potential gender differences. Overall, the results of this investigation suggested that students possess certain domain-specific beliefs about knowledge in mathematics and history. Further, a significant moderate relationship between the DSBQ and Schommer's questionnaire provided some evidence of domain-generality in undergraduates' epistemological beliefs.