Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mineralization of dentin induced by treatment with bioactive glass S53P4 in vitro

Dentin hypersensitivity can be managed to occlude dentin tubules, but none of the agents used are components of natural dentin. Using a calcium phosphate precipitation (CPP) method, dentin tubules can be occluded with a calcium phosphate (CaP) layer similar to the major inorganic component of dentin. The CPP method utilizes acidic pH conditions, such as etching of dentin, over the course of several dental treatments. A gentler method can be used to produce a CaP layer on the surface of dentin. By treating with bioactive glass S53P4 (BAG), or regular commercial glass (CG), mineralization occurs in physiologically neutral solutions such as simulated body fluid (SBF) and remineralization solution (RMS). After a short period of immersion, silica is dissolved from both types of glass, but the amount of silica released is much greater from BAG than from CG. The dissolved silica is adsorbed on the surface of dentin during the pretreatment procedure and enhances the mineralization of dentin in SBF. After 14 days' mineralization the dentin is fully covered by the CaP layer, but after 14 days' immersion in RMS decalcification of the dentin occurs. Pretreatment with BAG decreases the degree of decalcification of dentin during the mineralization process. These findings suggest that bioactive glass S53P4 can be used as a therapeutic material for mineralization of dentin and its tubules in a physiological environment.
High-order multibit modulators and pseudo data-weighted-averaging in low-oversampling ΔΣ ADCs for broad-band applications

High-speed high-resolution /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) for broad-band communication applications must be designed at a low oversampling ratio (OSR). However, lowering the OSR limits the efficiency of a /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ ADC in achieving a high-resolution A/D conversion. This paper presents several techniques that enable the OSR reduction in /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ ADCs without compromising the resolution. 1) Noise transfer function (NTF). In this paper, a single-stage multibit /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator with a high-order finite-impulse-response NTF is proposed to achieve high signal-to-quantization-noise ratios at low OSRs. Its key features include: decreased circuit complexity, improved robustness to modulator coefficient variations, and reduced sensitivity to integrator nonlinearities. Its performance is validated through behavioral simulations and compared to traditional /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator structures. 2) Signal transfer function (STF). This paper describes how the STF of a /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator can be designed, independently of the NTF, in order to significantly reduce the harmonic distortion due to opamp nonidealities and to help lower the power dissipation. 3) Dynamic element matching (DEM) is also presented. Data weighted averaging (DWA) has prevailed as the most practical DEM technique to linearize the internal digital-to-analog converter (DAC) of a multibit /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ modulator, especially when the number of DAC elements is large. However, the occurrence of in-band signal-dependent tones, when using DWA at a low OSR, degrades the spurious-free dynamic range. This paper proposes a simple technique, called pseudo DWA, to solve the DWA tone problem without sacrificing the signal-to-noise ratio. Its implementation adds no extra delay in the /spl Delta//spl Sigma/ feedback loop and requires only minimal additional digital hardware. Existing schemes for DWA tone reduction are also compared.
A Statistical Deterministic Implied VolatilityModel

We considerthe implied volatility surface to characterise agentsbelief of the future evolution of stock price returns. However, today’s market prices do not provide us with the right future anticipations of the stock price process. This is because the impliedvolatility surface is neitherstationarynorMarkovian.It is thereforenatural to model the evolution of the implied volatility surface directly. Our goal is to model the implied volatility surface with general dynamics by relating its future evolution to an observable stochastic process and by adding noises. We choose to link the stock price process to the implied volatility which implies that the volatility surface is dynamically modified according to stock price realisations. We model the stock price process discretely and using conditional expectations we define its joint distributions. We calibrate the transition matrices to historical data augmenting our filtration set by adding past vanilla option prices. To satisfy the absence of arbitrage opportunities, we will impose that future smile surfaces are compatible with today’s prices of calls and puts. Also, defining a deterministic smile surface means defining a future deterministic density for stock process. Therefore, a natural condition would be to impose that the future density is actually a conditional density. That is what we will formalise as the Kolmogorovcompatibility condition. We then apply our approach to the pricing of forward start and cliquet options andshow thatthe forwardvolatility hasto behigherthanthe spotvolatility because of the risk attached to such products which is not taken into account in today’s information.
Genetic Characterization of Plasmid-Associated Triphenylmethane Reductase in Listeria monocytogenes

ABSTRACT The enzyme triphenylmethane reductase (TMR) reduces toxic triphenylmethane dyes into colorless, nontoxic derivatives, and TMR-producing microorganisms have been proposed as bioremediation tools. Analysis of the genome of Listeria monocytogenes H7858 (1998-1999 hot dog outbreak) revealed that the plasmid (pLM80) of this strain harboring a gene cassette (bcrABC) conferring resistance to benzalkonium chloride (BC) and other quaternary ammonium disinfectants also harbored a gene (tmr) highly homologous to TMR-encoding genes from diverse Gram-negative bacteria. The pLM80-associated tmr was located two genes downstream of bcrABC as part of a putative IS1216 composite transposon. To confirm the role of tmr in triphenylmethane dye detoxification, we introduced various tmr-harboring fragments of pLM80 in a pLM80-cured derivative of strain H7550, from the same outbreak as H7858, and assessed the resistance of the constructs to the triphenylmethane dyes crystal violet (CV) and malachite green. Transcriptional and subcloning data suggest that the regulation of TMR is complex. Constructs harboring fragments spanning bcrABC and tmr were CV resistant, and in such constructs tmr transcription was induced by sublethal levels of either BC or CV. However, constructs harboring only tmr and its upstream intergenic region could also confer resistance to CV, albeit at lower levels. Screening a panel of BC-resistant L. monocytogenes strains revealed that all those harboring bcrABC and adjacent pLM80 sequences, including tmr, were resistant to CV and decolorized this dye. The findings suggest a potential role of TMR as a previously unknown adaptive attribute for environmental persistence of L. monocytogenes.
Synthesis, Positron Emission Tomography Imaging, and Therapy of Diabody Targeted Drug Lipid Nanoparticles in a Prostate Cancer Murine Model.

The blood clearance of chemotherapeutic drugs such as doxorubicin (Dox) can be extended by incorporation into lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and further improved by tumor targeting with antibody fragments. We used positron emission tomography (PET) imaging in a murine prostate cancer model to evaluate tumor targeting of LNPs incorporating Dox and antiprostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) diabodies. Dox-LNPs were generated by mixing or covalent attachment to water soluble distearoylphosphatidyl ethanolamine-polyethylene glycol (DSPE-PEG)2000. Cu-64 PET imaging was performed with DOTA-conjugated Dox, PEG-LNP, or an anti-PSMA site-specific cysteine-diabody. Since the mixture Dox+PEG-LNP was unstable in serum, further studies utilized Dox covalently bound to LNP ± covalently bound DOTA-cys-diabody (cys-DB)-LNP. Blood clearance of covalent Dox-PEG-LNP was slower than Dox alone or Dox+PEG-LNP. PET imaging of 64Cu-DOTA-Dox-PEG-LNP reached a maximum of 10% ID/g in tumors compared with 3% ID/g of 64Cu-DOTA-Dox, due to the prolonged blood clearance. Mixing 64Cu-DOTA-cys-DB-PEG-LNP with covalent Dox-PEG-LNP gave LNPs containing both drug and tumor targeting cys-DB. The mixed LNPs exhibited increased tumor uptake (15% ID/g) versus untargeted 64Cu-DOTA-Dox-PEG-LNPs (10% ID/g) demonstrating feasibility of the approach. Based on these results, a therapy study with mixed LNPs containing cys-DB-LNP and either Dox-LNP or the antitubulin drug auristatin-LNP showed significant reduction of tumor growth with the auristatin-diabody-LNP mixture, but not the Dox-diabody-LNP mixture.
Long‐term results of AIEOP‐8805 protocol for acute B‐cell lymphoblastic leukemia of childhood

Acute B‐cell leukemia (B‐ALL) is a rare form of pediatric leukemia characterized by a very high‐proliferation index, rapid clinical progression, and a high frequency of central nervous system (CNS) involvement. Commonly, it is treated in the clinical trials for Burkitt lymphoma, of which it represents the leukemic counterpart.
A System to Track Work Progress at Construction Jobsites

To coordinate work effectively in a construction site, supervisors need to know who is doing what, where, and whether the work is progressing according to plan. Similarly, workers need to have clear instructions to execute the work effectively. Currently available solutions do not support information-sharing between the different participants in a construction site, resulting in decision bottlenecks and high coordination costs. In this paper we present a Work Tracking System (WTS) for construction. This system manages the information flows between project participants to support better communication about task scope, progress, and completion. The WTS automatically reports work progress and compares it to the original plan, allowing supervisors and workers to have a common understanding of the project status. We describe the implementation of the WTS system prototype, which leverages mobile devices and cloud computing to bring the technology to the field. We also present the feedback received from different participants in a mid-rise residential building project who evaluated the system. The evaluators liked the prototype’s 4D visualization of the work performed, its facilitation of setting work priorities, and its support for accelerating decision-making. The feedback that we received also stressed the need to include filters that allow users to sort through information more efficiently and manage tasks at different levels of detail.
Elements of the Fibrinolytic System

Abstract: The blood fibrinolytic system comprises an inactive proenzyme, plasminogen, that can be converted to the active enzyme, plasmin. Plasmin degrades fibrin into soluble fibrin degradation products, by two physiological plasminogen activators (PA), the tissue type PA (t‐PA) and the urokinase type PA (u‐PA). t‐PA mediated plasminogen activation is mainly involved in the dissolution of fibrin in the circulation. u‐PA binds to a specific cellular receptor (u‐PAR), resulting in enhanced activation of cell bound plasminogen. Inhibition of the fibrinolytic system may occur either at the level of the PA, by specific plasminogen activator inhibitors (PAI), or at the level of plasmin, mainly by α2‐antiplasmin. Several molecular interactions have been observed between the fibrinolytic and the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) system; both systems may cooperate in generating proteolytic activity. Thus, stromelysin‐1 (MMP‐3) cleaves a 55‐kDa kringle 1–4 fragment, containing the lysine binding site(s) involved in cellular binding, from plasminogen and removes a 17‐kDa NH2‐terminal fragment, containing the cellular receptor binding site, from urokinase (u‐PA). Thereby, MMP‐3 may downregulate cell associated plasmin activity by decreasing the amount of activatible plasminogen, without affecting cell bound u‐PA activity.
Single Purkinje cell can innervate multiple classes of projection neurons in the cerebellar nuclei of the rat: A light microscopic and ultrastructural triple‐tracer study in the rat

Two different populations of projection neurons are intermingled in the cerebellar nuclei. One group consists of small, γ‐aminobutyric acid‐containing (GABAergic) neurons that project to the inferior olive, and the other group consists of larger, non‐GABAergic neurons that provide an input to one or more, usually premotor, centers in the brainstem, such as the red nucleus, the thalamus, and the superior colliculus. All cerebellar nuclear neurons are innervated by GABAergic Purkinje cells. In this study, we investigated whether individual Purkinje cells of the C1 zone of the paramedian lobe of the rat innervate both groups of projection neurons in the anterior interposed nucleus. Two different, retrogradely transported tracers, either cholera toxin β subunit (CTb) or wheat germ agglutinin coupled to horseradish peroxidase (WGA‐HRP) and a gold lectin tracer were injected into the red nucleus and the inferior olive, respectively, whereas Purkinje cell axons were anterogradely labeled with biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) injected into the paramedian lobule.
Evolutionary optimization of weight coefficients of power spectrum for detection of driver-induced steering oscillations

The proposed method applies genetic algorithms (GA) to optimize the weight coefficients of the power spectrum of the Fourier-transformed signal of lateral acceleration of a moving car. The evolved weighted power spectrum detects the steering oscillations caused by the delayed steering response of a human driver in normal, routine driving situations - traffic-less driving on straight and curved roads. Delayed steering response is often a result of drivers having an inadequate cognitive load due to either distraction or cognitive overload. The experimental results, conducted on a realistically simulated car and its environment, indicate that, compared to the power spectrum featuring equal (flat) weight coefficients, the evolved weighted power spectrum facilitates improved discrimination between (i) signals of the lateral acceleration of the car driven by cognitively impaired (i.e., distracted by texting on a mobile phone while driving) drivers and (ii) analog signals of the car, driven by fully attentive drivers. Moreover, for all human drivers who participated in the experiments, the weighted power spectrum of the lateral acceleration of the car driven with distraction, even on a straight section of the road (i.e., inherently featuring lower values of the power spectrum) is even higher than that of the car driven by attentive drivers along curved roads (inherently, featuring higher values of the power spectrum). These results suggest that the proposed method would be applicable for discriminating between subtle driver-induced steering oscillations on straight roads and well-manifested, yet normal steering behavior of drivers when cornering. We view the obtained results as a step towards the development of an early warning system of the inadequate cognitive load of drivers under routine driving conditions - well before any urgent reaction to an eventually dangerous traffic situation might be needed.
Degenerate Diffusion Operators Arising in Population Biology

We analyze a class of partial differential equations that arise as "backwards Kolmogorov operators" in infinite population limits of the Wright-Fisher models in population genetics and in mathematical finance. These are degenerate elliptic operators defined on manifolds with corners. The classical example is the Kimura diffusion operator, which acts on functions defined on the simplex in R^n. We introduce anisotropic Holder spaces, and prove existence, uniqueness and regularity results for the heat and resolvent equations defined by this class of operators. This suffices to prove that the C^0-graph closure generates a strongly continuous semigroup, and that the associated Martingale problem has a unique solution. We give a detailed description of the nullspace of the forward Kolmogorov operator.
Tenets of Community Leadership

Local community leaders know what is needed in their communities. Interest in multilateral leadership is growing as communities aspire to more local control. This type of leadership employs structures and tools that benefit the collective good. This chapter presents five tenets of leadership that exemplify that focus on local control: transformation, communication, collaboration, planning, and integrity. A case study illustrates how these tenets have been applied in a real-world setting. These tenets are the foundation for a vision of leadership centered in the local community.
High unemployment points to below-target (but still stable) inflation

The Federal Reserve has a mandate to promote price stability and full employment. Generally, “price stability” is given a forward-looking interpretation. Policy should be conducted so that expected medium-term (two- to five-year) inflation is low and stable or, less strictly, so that expected inflation beyond the next few years is low and stable. Households and businesses, too, are generally more interested in where prices are headed than in where they have been.
Socioemotional wealth : an obstacle or a springboard to creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship in family firms?

This chapter takes a socioemotional wealth (SEW) perspective to explain how families influence the sensing and seizing of entrepreneurial opportunities in family firms. Specifically, this model proposes that some aspects of the family's SEW are conducive to opportunity recognition, while others impair it. Moreover, the presence of SEW goals leads family owners to favor certain entrepreneurial outcomes because there is a socioemotional reward for the family, even if there are no clear economic advantages. It is also suggested that family ownership negatively affects firms' transforming capacity in innovation. The end goal of this presentation is to enhance understanding of the positive and negative aspects of the family dimension on entrepreneurship and to guide future research in this area.
Vitamin E restores endothelium dependent vasodilatation in cholesterol fed rabbits: in vivo measurements by photoplethysmography.

OBJECTIVE Pulse curve plethysmography was used to examine the effect of vitamin E on endothelium dependent and independent vasodilatation in unanaesthetised cholesterol fed rabbits in vivo. The height of the dicrotic notch was used as an index of general arterial vasodilatation. METHODS Twenty eight rabbits were divided into three study groups; a control group (group 1, n = 8), a group fed 1% cholesterol (group 2, n = 10), and a group fed 1% cholesterol with the addition of 0.2% vitamin E after four weeks (group 3, n = 10). After six weeks on diet the vasodilator responses to acetylcholine and glyceryl trinitrate were measured by photoplethysmography of the rabbit ear. Recordings were made during light sedation at baseline and during infusion of acetylcholine (1.5, 3.0, 6.0, and 12 micrograms.min-1) and glyceryl trinitrate (3.75, 7.5, and 15.0 micrograms.min-1). In a second set of experiments with control fed rabbits (n = 5), acetylcholine infusions were given before and after infusion of L-nitro-arginine (15 mg). RESULTS The relative height of the dicrotic notch (which predominantly indicates arterial tone in the larger vessels) was reduced by acetylcholine in a dose dependent manner, but in cholesterol fed rabbits (group 2) this response was significantly decreased. Rabbits receiving concomitant dietary vitamin E responded in a similar manner to controls. The difference was most prominent using acetylcholine at a dose of 3.0 micrograms.min-1, where the mean change from baseline was 11(SEM 4)% in group 2, compared to 31(6)% in group 1 (p = 0.01), and to 26(5)% in group 3 (p = 0.02). Similar differences between the groups were observed for the increase in heart rate during acetylcholine infusions. In contrast, the responses to glyceryl trinitrate were similar in all groups. After infusions of L-nitro-arginine, the responses to acetylcholine were blunted. CONCLUSIONS Supplementation with vitamin E restored the otherwise reduced vascular response to acetylcholine in cholesterol fed rabbits. Analysis of photoplethysmographic pulse curves is a simple non-invasive method of evaluating arterial vasodilator effects. However, the nature of the measured dilator response needs to be characterised further.
Extending the Research Agenda

Most studies of the geography of international trade provide little more than descriptions of the pattern of commodity movements at the international scale, albeit with increasing technical sophistication. For their theoretical base, they draw on the theory of comparative advantage, to which they add the “geographical concepts” of frictions of distance and preferred trading partners. This largely a historical approach takes no account of how comparative advantages are created as part of the process of combined and uneven development, which is central to the operation of capitalism, and hence can provide no explanation for the patterns so painstakingly described. To stimulate a more theoretically-informed approach, this essay sketches an outline of the links among trade, the process of uneven development, the state, and the major economic actors, within which a research agenda focusing on explanation can be situated.