Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Biodegradation, soft and hard tissue integration of various polyethylene glycol hydrogels: a histomorphometric study in rabbits.

OBJECTIVES (i) To evaluate biodegradation, hard and soft tissue integration using various polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels; (ii) to evaluate the influence of arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) on two types of PEG hydrogels. MATERIAL AND METHODS In seven rabbits, six treatment modalities were randomly applied subperiosteally on the skull: (1) a dense network PEG hydrogel (PEG1), (2) PEG1 modified with RGD (PEG1-RGD), (3) a looser network PEG hydrogel (PEG2), (4) PEG2 modified with RGD (PEG2-RGD), (5) a collagen membrane, and (6) a polylactide/polyglycolide/trimethylene carbonate membrane. The animals were sacrificed at 14 days. Histomorphometric analyses were performed on undecalcified Epon sections using a standardized region of interest. For statistical analysis, paired t-test and signed rank test were applied. RESULTS PEG1 and PEG1-RGD remained intact and maintained the shape. PEG2 and PEG2-RGD completely degraded and were replaced by connective tissue and bone. The largest amount of mineralized tissue was found for PEG2-RGD (21.4%), followed by PEG 2 (9.5%). The highest percentage of residual hydrogel/membrane was observed for PEG1-RGD (55.6%), followed by PEG1 (26.7%). CONCLUSIONS Modifications of the physico-chemical properties of PEG hydrogels and the addition of RGD influenced soft and hard tissue integration and biodegradation. PEG1 showed an increased degradation time and maintained the shape. The soft tissue integration was enhanced by adding an RGD sequence. A high turn-over rate and extensive bone regeneration was observed using PEG2. The addition of RGD further improved bone formation and soft tissue integration.
Detectability of colorectal neoplastic lesions using a narrow‐band imaging system: A pilot study

Background and Aim: Flat and depressed colorectal neoplastic lesions can be difficult to identify using conventional colonoscopy techniques. Narrow‐band imaging (NBI) provides unique views especially of mucosal vascular network and helps in visualization of neoplasia by improving contrast. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using NBI for colorectal neoplasia screening.
Configuration Context Reduction for Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Architecture

Coarse-grained reconfigurable architecture (CGRA) combines the performance of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and the flexibility of general-purpose processors (GPPs), which is a promising solution for embedded systems. With the increasing complexity of reconfigurable resources (processing elements, routing cells, I/O blocks, etc.), the reconfiguration cost is becoming the performance bottleneck. The major reconfiguration cost comes from the frequent memory-read/write operations for transferring the configuration context from main memory to context buffer. To improve the overall performance, it is critical to reduce the amount of configuration context. In this paper, we propose a configuration context reduction method for CGRA. The proposed method exploits the structure correlation of computation tasks that are mapped onto CGRA and reduce the redundancies in configuration context. Experimental results show that the proposed method can averagely reduce the configuration context size up to 71% and speed up the execution up to 68%. The proposed method does not depend on any architectural feature and can be applied to CGRA with an arbitrary architecture.
Prevalence and distribution of dental restorative materials in US Air Force veterans.

OBJECTIVES Millions of restorative procedures are performed annually in the United States, yet very little is known about their distribution in the general population. With increasing concern about potential adverse health effects of some restorative materials, a better understanding of the extent of exposure to these materials in the population is important. The purpose of this study is to report the prevalence, patterns, and distribution of dental restorative materials in a population of male veterans. METHODS This collaborative study with the US Air Force examined 1,166 male veterans to assess exposure to dental amalgam and other restorative materials. An inventory of dental materials in the study population was obtained through oral examinations. Dental materials were classified into five categories: (1) amalgam; (2) resin; (3) porcelain, cement, or temporary, including ionomer (PCT); (4) cast gold alloys/direct filling gold; and (5) other metals (OM). The mean age of the study participants was 52.9 years. Over 94 percent of the study participants were dentate. RESULTS The study participants averaged 45.8 restored/replaced surfaces. Restored/replaced surfaces increased with age while the number of teeth decreased with age. The most frequently used restorative material was amalgam, averaging 19.89 surfaces per subject, followed by PCT (9.38), resins (8.99), OM (5.52), and gold (4.91). The distributions of restorative materials varied by age, arch type, and location in the mouth. CONCLUSION The study population experienced substantial exposure to dental materials.
[Correlation between disorders of lipid metabolism and hypertension in 10,892 participants in the Heureka Study].

UNLABELLED Hypertension and hyperlipidemia belong to the most important and most frequent cardiovascular risk-factors. It is known that hypertensive patients show hypercholesteremia more often than normotonic persons and some of the mechanisms causing this unfavourable combination seem to be disclosed. METHOD AND RESULTS During the important Swiss research-exhibition Heureka (april to november 1991) in Zürich, blood pressure (BD), pulse, cholesterol and in 822 probands additionally HDL, were investigated in 11,997 volunteers. Cardiovascular risk-factors were registered by means of a questionnaire. 10,892 completed questionnaires (5973 female, 4919 male probands) could be used for this analysis intended to answer the question whether a relation between blood pressure and cholesterol exists. Stratification and multivariate analysis allowed consideration of certain factors that could possibly influence the results (anthropometry, age). A separate multiple linear regression analysis with cholesterol as dependent variable was made for female and male probands respectively whereby regression coefficients for systolic and diastolic blood pressure values remained significant (p < 0.001). In the highest cholesterol-quintile 36.4% hypertensive probands (in the lowest 6%) were found. Distribution of cholesterol was distinctly different in a group with diastolic blood pressure values < 70 mmHg compared to the group with values > 100 mmHg. Higher diastolic pressures were associated with higher cholesterol values even after stratification in age-classes and diastolic pressure classes. CONCLUSIONS These results underline the hypothesis, that cholesterol modifies blood pressure. Thus the relevance of a disturbed lipid metabolism for accompanying hypertension seems to be confirmed and an adapted antihypertensive therapy considering all risk factors is proposed as the most successful strategy.
Monitoring Red Sea Bream Scale Fluorescence as a Freshness Indicator

Red sea bream (Pagrus major) scale fluorescence characteristics were identified as a potential rapid and non-destructive means for assessing the fish’s freshness. To investigate this, live red sea breams were purchased, slaughtered, and prior to measurement, stored at 22 ± 2 °C for 27 h. During subsequent storage, the K value of the dorsal meat—as a standard freshness indicator—along with front-face fluorescence spectra of representative dorsal scales, were measured simultaneously at 3 h intervals. Two major fluorescent peaks, A and B, were identified with excitation and emission wavelength pairs of 280/310 nm and 340/420 nm, which were mainly contributed to by tyrosine and collagen, respectively. Subsequent analysis showed that the fluorescence intensity ratio of peak B to A (IB/IA) increased linearly during storage (R2 = 0.95) and is proposed as a potential non-destructive index of fish freshness. Thus, our results suggest that the fluorescence characteristics of fish scales can be used to assess fish carcass freshness during storage.
New equilibria for noncooperative two‐person games

New equilibrium concepts for noncooperative two‐person games are introduced and examined. Although these equilibria coincide with the Nash equilibria in all constant‐sum games, they differ significantly in other cases. In particular, for finite repetitions of the prisoner's dilemma, some cooperating strategy combinations become equilibria.
How do firms make use of open source communities

Relying on four in-depth case studies of firms involved with open source software, we investigate how firms make use of open source communities, and how that use is associated with their business models. Three themes - accessing, aligning and assimilating are inductively developed for how the firms relate to the external knowledge created in the communities. For each theme, we make an argument about the tactics associated with each theme and their positive and negative consequences. The findings are related to the literature on the open and distributed nature of innovation, and various theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Consumption-Portfolio Policies: An Inverse Optimal Problem

Abstract We study a problem that is the "inverse" of Merton [ J. Econ. Theory 3 (1971), 373–413]. For a given consumption-portfolio policy, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for it to be optimal for "some" agent with an increasing, strictly concave, time-additive, and state-independent utility function when the risky asset price follows a general difussion process. These conditions involve a set of consistency and state independency conditions and a partial differential equation satisfied by the consumption-portfolio policy. We also provide an integral formula which recovers the utility function that supports a given optimal policy. The inverse optimal problem studied here should be viewed as a dynamic recoverability problem in financial markets with continuous trading. Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: D9, G11.
A Detailed Protocol for Subcellular RNA Sequencing (subRNA‐seq)

In eukaryotic cells, RNAs at various maturation and processing levels are distributed across cellular compartments. The standard approach to determine transcript abundance and identity in vivo is RNA sequencing (RNA‐seq). RNA‐seq relies on RNA isolation from whole‐cell lysates and thus mainly captures fully processed, stable, and more abundant cytoplasmic RNAs over nascent, unstable, and nuclear RNAs. Here, we provide a step‐by‐step protocol for subcellular RNA‐seq (subRNA‐seq). subRNA‐seq allows the quantitative measurement of RNA polymerase II–generated RNAs from the chromatin, nucleoplasm, and cytoplasm of mammalian cells. This approach relies on cell fractionation prior to RNA isolation and sequencing library preparation. High‐throughput sequencing of the subcellular RNAs can then be used to reveal the identity, abundance, and subcellular distribution of transcripts, thus providing insights into RNA processing and maturation. Deep sequencing of the chromatin‐associated RNAs further offers the opportunity to study nascent RNAs. Subcellular RNA‐seq libraries are obtained within 5 days. © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Procurement and Delivery of Required Performance: Case Study

Abstract A case study is presented pertaining to a performance based contract for the delivery of a specified capability and level of assurance (availability) for a fleet of assets. Increasingly, organisations are recognising that they need to focus on their core business rather than try to be best at everything. Thus operational service delivery organisations are concentrating their focus on how the asset is used rather than the technical details of how to make it available for service. This thinking better manages the potential conflict of interest between asset ownership and service delivery and allows the shift of asset availability risk to another party (eg. the builder or allied supplier). However, the purchase and delivery of a required performance regime brings with it new challenges for both the operator and the supplier of that capability. This paper will explore the technical challenges faced and their successful solution through a performance based contracting strategy requiring demonstration, early in the design and build stage, that required asset availability can be met. In particular the approach to progressively assure the design solution represents the risk expectations of both parties from the earliest stages through reliability, availability and maintainability modelling is explained. The use of such models, to achieve a common understanding of solution issues and to focus both parties attention on areas where effort would achieve both a technically and financially sustainable outcome for both, is explained.
Activation of epithelial Na+ channels by protein kinase A requires actin filaments.

We have recently demonstrated a novel role for "short" actin filaments, a distinct species of polymerized actin different from either monomeric (G-actin) or long actin filaments (F-actin), in the activation of epithelial Na+ channels. In the present study, the role of actin in the activation of apical Na+ channels by the adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) was investigated by patch-clamp techniques in A6 epithelial cells. In excised inside-out patches, addition of deoxyribonuclease I, which prevents actin polymerization, inhibited Na+ channel activation mediated by PKA. Disruption of endogenous actin filament organization with cytochalasin D for at least 1 h prevented the PKA-mediated activation of Na+ channels but not activation following the addition of actin to the cytosolic side of the patch. To assess the role of PKA on actin filament organization, actin was used as a substrate for the specific phosphorylation by the PKA. Actin was phosphorylated by PKA with an equilibrium stoichiometry of 2:1 mol PO4-actin monomer. Actin was phosphorylated in its monomeric form, but only poorly once polymerized. Furthermore, phosphorylated actin reduced the rate of actin polymerization. Thus actin allowed to polymerize for at least 1 h in the presence of PKA and ATP to obtain phosphorylated actin filaments induced Na+ channel activity in excised inside-out patches, in contrast to actin polymerized either in the absence of PKA or in the presence of PKA plus a PKA inhibitor (nonphosphorylated actin filaments). This was also confirmed by using purified phosphorylated G-actin incubated in a polymerizing buffer for at least 1 h at 37 degrees C. These data suggest that the form of actin required for Na+ channel activation (i.e., "short" actin filaments) may be favored by the phosphorylation of G-actin and may thus mediate or facilitate the activation of Na+ channels by PKA.
Evaluation of Natural Change of Skin Function in Split‐Thickness Skin Grafts by Noninvasive Bioengineering Methods

BACKGROUND Autologous split-thickness skin grafts (STSGs) are considered the mainstay for the treatment of large full-thickness wounds. There have been few studies reporting the natural change of the skin function in STSGs after procedure, however. OBJECTIVE The objective was to evaluate the natural change of the skin function in STSG using noninvasive bioengineering methods. METHODS Eighteen patients were eligible for the study. The skin functions of the graft and the control site were evaluated by an evaporimeter, corneometer, mexameter, and cutometer at Postoperation Days 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. RESULTS Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) of the graft was maintained around that of the normal skin. The values of the skin hydration testing generally decreased during the follow-up period. Erythema was highly maintained for the whole period. For the pigmentation, the ratio tended to increase after 6 months. The skin pliability of the graft was abruptly decreased at 0.5 month, and it recovered from 3 to 12 months. The value did not reach that of the normal skin, however. CONCLUSION Our results showed that the STSGs had changed within the frame of the skin function, including the TEWL, epidermal hydration, color, and pliability, throughout 1 year after surgery.
SMEs and the internationalisation of R&D activities: knowledge transfer flows between firms

This study focuses on companies (SMEs) that belong to the industrial sectors of mechanics and electronics, and operate in dynamic international business markets. The objective of this work is to identify and evaluate the real and financial effects of innovation in enriching technological assets. Realisation and the availability of global knowledge sources have induced firms to re-think the configuration of activities that are based on knowledge, such as manufacturing and R&D. The paper also seeks to analyse the way in which knowledge transfer occurs between elements of the same company for a company that has production and research activities located in different foreign markets. We also evaluate the impact of knowledge flows that increase the efficiency of the innovative processes and produce more general positive economic effects.
An Almost Ideal Demand System Analysis for Meats with Habit Formation and Structural Change

In this paper, Canadian meat consumption patterns are analyzed using a dynamic version of the almost ideal demand system (AIDS). Structural change in the demand for meats is examined by testing for non-constancy of the parameters of the non-linear system. It is concluded that Canadian meat consumption patterns can be explained by a combination of habit persistence as well as changes in prices, consumer expenditures and tastes. Incorporating the dynamic element of a habit effect in the AIDS model improves the consistency between demand theory and the observed data. The hypothesis of structural change in demand during the late 1970s cannot be rejected. The detected structural shift is related to the intercept terms of the expenditure share equations, suggesting changes in taste in the demand for different meats. Consumption expenditures have shifted from beef to chicken but remained stable for pork; a 6% decline in the expenditure share of beef and a 33% increase in the expenditure share of chicken seem to have been due to this structural shift. Le present document analyse la consommation de viande au Canada au moyen d'une version dynamique du systeme de la demande quasi ideale. Les auteurs examinent le change-ment structurel de la demande de viande en verifiant si les parametres du systeme non lineaire sont constants ou non. Ils en concluent que le comportement de la demande de viande au Canada peut s'expliquer a la fois par la persistence des habitudes et par les change-ments observes au niveau des prix, des depenses des consommateurs et des gouts de ces derniers. L'integration d'un element dynamique au modele, soit l'incidence des habitudes, accroit la coherence entre la demande theorique et les observations. L'hypothese que la demande aurait change vers la fin des annees 1970 ne peut etre rejetee. La modification structurelle decelee est associee aux coordonnees a l'origine des equations de repartition des depenses, ce qui suggere des changements de gout en ce qui concerne les differentes viandes. Ainsi, les achats de poulet ont augmente au detriment du boeuf mais les depenses sont restees stables pour le porc; on a observe une regression de 6 p. 100 des achats de boeuf et une hausse de 33 p. 100 de la demande de poulet, variation qui semble a l'origine du changement structurel observe.
A discussion of different methods of constructing regional welfare weights

Income per capita is an important and hence widely used measure in the construction of social welfare weights. This paper, however, aims to discuss the construction of social welfare weights based not merely on Income per capita but on equally distributed equivalent income (EDEI). For example, the use of EDEI allows the intra-regional distribution of income to be taken directly into account when constructing regional welfare weights. Based on the data regarding two contrasting geographical regions of Turkey, the paper aims to demonstrate the impact of using EDEI, as opposed to unadjusted per capita income, on the magnitudes of calculated regional welfare weights. The EDEI method would be useful for the purpose of constructing regional welfare weights for application in the appraisal of social projects within the EU
Absorbable vs. non‐absorbable antibiotics in the treatment of small intestine bacterial overgrowth in patients with blind‐loop syndrome

Background : Small intestine bacterial overgrowth is associated with the presence of predisposing conditions, acting through different mechanisms. Therefore, the failure to define a standardized therapy may be due to a methodological bias: to treat a condition characterized by different pathophysiological mechanisms with the same pharmacological approach. Non‐absorbable antibiotics could have a lower efficacy than absorbable drugs in patients with blind loops which exclude a portion of the intestine from the transit.
Understanding Environmental Models in Their Legal and Regulatory Context

Environmental models are playing an increasingly important role in most jurisdictions and giving rise to disputes. Despite this fact, lawyers and policy-makers have overlooked models and not engaged critically with them. This is a problematic state of affairs. Modeling is a semi-autonomous, interdisciplinary activity concerned with developing representations of systems and is used to evaluate regulatory behavior to ensure it is legitimate. Models are thus relevant to lawyers and policy makers but need to be engaged with critically due to technical, institutional, interdisciplinary and evaluative complexities in their operation. Lawyers and policy-makers must thus think more carefully about models and in doing so reflect on the nature of their own disciplines and fields.
Multinational Management Strategy and Human Resource Decision Making In the Single European Market

There has been considerable academic interest in the consequences of European integration for multinational companies and their subsidiaries, and the co-ordination and control of human resource decision making. Against the backdrop of this debate, this paper examines the impact of European integration on management organization and human resource decision making in 13 British multinational companies. Although there were partial moves towards the development of European managers, a European-wide approach to human resource matters was not yet a conspicuous feature of this sample of multinationals. the global preoccupations of the companies, as well as the persistence of national variations in consumer markets and modes of product regulation, were clearly major constraints on the emergence of European forms of corporate organization and underpinned the lack of enthusiasm for distinctively European approaches to employee management. Copyright 1996 Basil Blackwell Ltd.