Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fracture Resistance of Endodontically Treated Teeth Restored With Bulk Fill, Bulk Fill Flowable, Fiber-reinforced, and Conventional Resin Composite.

The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the fracture resistance of endodontically treated teeth restored with different types of restorative resins. METHODS AND MATERIALS Seventy-two sound maxillary premolar teeth were randomly divided into six groups (n=12). The teeth in the first group were left intact and tested as unprepared negative control (group I) specimens. The teeth in the remaining five groups were prepared with MOD cavities and endodontically treated. The teeth in one of the five groups (positive control group II) were unrestored. The rest of the prepared cavities were restored as follows: group III: bulk fill resin composite/Filtek Bulk Fill (3M ESPE); group IV: bulk fill flowable resin composite + nanohybrid/SureFil SDR Flow + Ceram.X Mono (Dentsply); group V: fiber-reinforced composite + posterior resin composite/GC everX posterior + G-aenial posterior (GC Corp.); and group VI: nanohybrid resin composite/Tetric N-Ceram (Ivoclar/Vivadent). Each restorative material was used with its respective adhesive system. The restored teeth were stored in distilled water for 24 hours at 37°C and were then thermocycled (5-55°C, 1000×). Specimens were subjected to a compressive load until fracture at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance followed by the post hoc Tukey honestly significantly different test (p<0.05). RESULTS Sound premolar teeth (group I negative control) showed significantly higher fracture resistance than did the other tested groups (p<0.05). No statistically significant differences were found in the fracture resistance values of the restored groups (groups III, IV, V, and VI) (p>0.05). The lowest values were obtained in the positive control group (group II); these values were significantly lower than those of the other groups (p<0.05). CONCLUSION The fracture resistance values of endodontically treated teeth restored with either bulk fill/bulk fill flowable or fiber-reinforced composite were not different from those restored with conventional nanohybrid resin composite.
Chromosome 1 heteromorphism in patients with malignant disease: a constitutional marker for a high-risk group?

injury. As an ambulance carries only one scoop stretcher, another has to be obtained. In a busy accident department a second ambulance may often be about from which a scoop stretcher could be borrowed. We, however, believe that a second stretcher should be standard equipment in an accident and emergency department. It could then also be used to move the severely injured from trolley to x-ray table or bed. This is much easier and safer, as well as more comfortable for the casualty, than the traditional straight-lift or poles-and-canvas method. This stretcher has proved popular with the ambulance service and with our general-practitioner accident unit on many occasions.We have found its versatility of great value, even on wet and uneven ground.I We have successfully used it to remove a casualty with spinal injuries lying face down at the bottom of a narrow, 2-m-deep trench and on many occasions at the road-side and on building sites in all weathers.
Skin and Cushing syndrome.

'I feel like a traffic light stuck on red. My friends ask me if I'm having hot flushes but this isn't flushes, it's permanent and I'm still having periods. ' Carol is describing her facial appearance. She is 42 years of age, has had trouble controlling her weight all her life and has gained 10 kg over the past 2-3 years.
Distributed extremum seeking control over unknown network

This paper considers the solution of large-scale real-time optimization problems in the absence of precise knowledge of network connectivity in a distributed environment. The knowledge of the communication network is assumed to be unknown and the agents are faced with the task of ensuring that the system's unknown overall cost is minimized. Each agent can measure two unknown cost functions referred to as the local optimization cost and the local disagreement cost respectively. To tackle this problem, a distributed proportionalintegral extremum seeking control technique is proposed, one that solves both problems simultaneously. Included is a simulation example that shows the effectiveness of this technique.
SMC method for online prediction in hidden Markov models

Purpose – As the conventional multistep‐ahead prediction may be unsuitable in some cases, the purpose of this paper is to propose a novel method based on joint probability distributions, which provides the most probable estimation for the predicted trajectory.Design/methodology/approach – Many real‐time series can be modeled in hidden Markov models. In order to predict these time series online, sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) method is applied for joint multistep‐ahead prediction.Findings – The data of monthly national air passengers in China are analyzed, and the experimental results demonstrate that the method proposed and the corresponding online algorithms are effective.Research limitations/implications – In this paper, SMC method is applied for joint multistep‐ahead prediction. However, with the increasing of prediction step, the number of particles is increasing exponentially, which means that the prediction steps cannot be too large.Practical implications – A very useful advice for researchers who stu.
Spontaneous regression of primary malignant melanomas with regional metastases

NE OF THE PROBLEMS PRESENTED BY THE 0 variable biologic behavior of malignant melanoma is the development of metastases in the absence of an obvious primary lesion on the skin. Of the first 461 patients with melanoma observed in the M. D. Anderson Hospital 40 (8.7%) had such lesions. Within recent years the authors have been interested especially in malignant melanoma and have collaborated in an attempt to explain the phenomenon. Detailed histories have been obtained; physical examinations have been exceedingly thorough and specimens removed have been examined microscopically. This approach has been rewarding: In 8 cases the historical, physical and histopathologic observations combined have provided evidence sufficient to justify the conclusion that the primary malignant melanomas regressed spontaneously; in the ninth case only the historical evidence of such a lesion was lacking. These 9 cases are reported herein.
Giant-Stroke, Superelastic Carbon Nanotube Aerogel Muscles

Improved electrically powered artificial muscles are needed for generating force, moving objects, and accomplishing work. Carbon nanotube aerogel sheets are the sole component of new artificial muscles that provide giant elongations and elongation rates of 220% and (3.7 × 104)% per second, respectively, at operating temperatures from 80 to 1900 kelvin. These solid-state–fabricated sheets are enthalpic rubbers having gaslike density and specific strength in one direction higher than those of steel plate. Actuation decreases nanotube aerogel density and can be permanently frozen for such device applications as transparent electrodes. Poisson's ratios reach 15, a factor of 30 higher than for conventional rubbers. These giant Poisson's ratios explain the observed opposite sign of width and length actuation and result in rare properties: negative linear compressibility and stretch densification.
Simulating a wearable lower-body exoskeleton device for torque and power estimation

The article presents design and preliminary simulation results for a lower-body exoskeleton system. The device has 5DoF per leg and a common hip rotation degree between both legs. The mathematical model of the combined human-exoskeleton system is developed using the Robotics Toolbox in Matlab. Simulations are carried out to observe joint torque and power profiles for straight-line on-ground walking in the sagittal plane. The results indicate the validity of developed model and show promise for the design of links and actuation systems in future.
What Explains the Low Profitability of Microfinance Institutions in Africa

While microfinance institutions (MFIs) in other regions have continuously reported positive profits, those operating in Africa economies continue to post negative profits. Why has this remained so? This study uses unbalanced panel dataset comprising of 210 MFIs across 32 Africa economies, operating during the 1997-2008 period to study the determinants of MFI profitability. We find that apart from credit risk and managerial inefficiency, average profitability is higher for MFIs that are larger and more highly capitalized. MFI returns are affected by corruption which may reduce the probability that MFI will invest in a country. We find no evidence suggesting a statistically significant relationship between changes in macroeconomic variables and profitability of MFIs, which may be an indication of the high resilience of MFI on local macroeconomic conditions. The evidence gathered in this thesis is important for forming credit market policy that may help deepen the quality and quantity of access to finance particularly by the poor.
A method for on‐line measurement of water‐soluble organic carbon in ambient aerosol particles: Results from an urban site

An instrument for on‐line continuous measurement of the water‐soluble organic carbon (WSOC) component of aerosol particles is described and results from an urban site in St. Louis are presented. A Particle‐into‐Liquid Sampler impacts ambient particles, grown to large water droplets, onto a plate and then washes them into a flow of purified water. The resulting liquid is filtered and the carbon content quantified by a Total Organic Carbon analyzer providing continuous six‐minute integral measurements with a detection limit of 0.1 μg C/m3. Summer and fall measurements of WSOC and organic carbon (OC) indicated WSOC/OC ratio typically ranged from 0.40 to 0.80. A diurnal variation in WSOC/OC that correlated with ozone was observed over extended periods in June; however, other periods in August had no correlation. The results suggested that WSOC was composed of a complex mixture of compounds that may contain a significant fraction from secondary organic aerosol formation.
Fear-Appeal Messages: Message Processing and Affective Attitudes

Theories of fear appeals suggest that fear-inducing messages can be effective, but public service announcements (PSAs) that emphasize fear do not always lead to desired change in behavior. To better understand how fear-inducing PSAs are processed, an experiment testing the effects of exposure to safe-driving messages is reported. College students (N = 108) viewed PSAs of varying message sensation value (MSV). Results indicated that messages with medium MSV resulted in intentions to drive more slowly than messages with low or high MSV. Measures of affective attitudes indicated that medium MSV messages resulted in fast driving being rated as less fun and exciting than those of either high or low MSV. These affective evaluations mediated the effect of message exposure on driving intention. Message derogation was not related to message intensity. Production of message-related thoughts decreased, and emotional thoughts increased with message intensity. This decrease in processing of message content suggested a limited capacity explanation for the effect of highly intense fear appeals.
The costs and benefits of long-term CEO contracts

This paper uses a new dataset of 3,717 US CEO employment contracts to study the time horizon of CEOs. Longer contracts offer better protection against dismissals: turnover probability increases by 20% each year that passes towards contract expiration. In theory, this should encourage CEOs to pursue long-term projects. Using an instrumental variable approach based on inter-state judicial differences, I show that contract horizon is indeed positively correlated with investment. However, longer contracts also make it harder to dismiss undisciplined managers and therefore impose less discipline. Consistent with this argument, CEOs under short-term contracts perform better in (the fewer) acquisitions that they make, and CEOs under longer contracts enjoy more salary increases and perquisites. Overall, firm value does not differ across contract types.
Amorphous silicon charge storage layer of nonvolatile memory with trigate nanowires structure

This study demonstrates a trigate poly-Si nonvolatile memory (NVM) with an amorphous silicon (a-Si) charge trapping layer. The NWs SOAOS (silicon-oxide–amorphous silicon-oxide-silicon) NVM exhibits higher program/erase (P/E) efficiency than that of a conventional SONOS NVM. Moreover, SOAOS NVM shows greater endurance (> 2.4 V after 104 cycles) and longer charge retention time (> 109 s for 31% charge loss at 85°C). The result reveals that SOAOS-NVM has potential in system-on-panel and 3D stacked NVM applications.
User-Centered Security Mechanisms for Protecting Information Sharing in the Cloud

End-users have become accustomed to the ease with which cloud-based systems allow them to exchange messages, pictures, and other files with colleagues, friends, and family. This convenience, however, typically comes at the expense of disclosing this (often highly personal) information to the service provider in the process. Furthermore, users have little control over which third-parties—e.g., storage providers, unauthorized friends, hackers, advertisement companies, and governmental agencies—access their data. Several studies have identified security and privacy as the biggest concerns for companies when adopting cloud-based solutions, but not much is known about end-users’ attitudes and practices. Given the high amount of personal information that users often disclose on such platforms, detractors claim that users care little or not at all about their privacy. To disprove such beliefs, we conducted an extensive crosscultural study. Our results show that consumers have strong privacy concerns, trust local storage more than the cloud when storing sensitive data, and are only partially aware of the risks they face in the cloud. Based on this initial study, we identify the need for novel, user-centered security mechanisms to help non-technical users protect the information they share in the cloud. A number of systems have been proposed to limit the service providers’ access to this information, yet these systems typically require trusted servers, are platform specific (e.g., work for Facebook only), or fail to hide that confidential communication is taking place. In this thesis, we present a novel system that enables users to share data over any web-based cloud storage platform, while both protecting the confidentiality of the communicated data and hiding the fact that the exchanged data is confidential. We provide a proof-of-concept implementation of our system in the form of a publicly available Firefox plugin, and demonstrate the viability of our approach through a performance evaluation.
Essays on the Impact of Institutional Investors on Firms' Liquidity and Payout Policy

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How Does Labor Market Discrimination Afiect Capital Investment? The Efiects of Fan Discrimination on Stadium Investment

We investigate the possibility that labor market discrimination afiects economic outcomes in the complementary capital market. Previous research contains ample theoretical justiflcation, and empirical evidence, that discrimination afiects wages and employment in labor markets. However, the efiects of discrimination against minority labor on transactions in markets for other inputs used in production is not known. We develop a model of the optimal capital stock put in place by flrms in the presence of customer discrimination and test this model using data on sports facility construction over the period 1908-2003. The empirical evidence suggests that teams in cities with more racial segregation spend less on these facilities, conflrming the predictions of the model about the efiect of customer discrimination on capital investment.
Electronic shell effects in triaxially deformed metal clusters: A systematic interpretation of experimental observations.

We develop and apply a semiempirical shell-correction method to calculate the binding energies of open-shell, neutral and charged, simple-metal clusters, which can be modeled as triaxially deformed jellium droplets. Systematics of ground-state properties of clusters with sizes up to 100 atoms, such as ionization potentials and electron affinities, are studied and compared to available experimental measurements on sodium, potassium, and copper clusters. We also report on systematics of the energetics of fission channels for doubly charged cationic and anionic species, as well as the energetics of monomer and dimer separation channels, and compare them to experimental data. Pertaining to characteristic patterns as a function of cluster size in the above quantities, triaxial shell effects exhibit a rich structure, yielding overall substantial improvement in the agreement between theory and experiment. In particular, we show that the lifting of the degeneracies in the electron spectra via cluster triaxial-shape deformations underlies the appearance of odd-even alternations in such patterns. Furthermore, our analysis of ground-state properties can lead to unambiguous assignments of equilibrium cluster shapes, as well as shape isomers.
Hierarchical approach for deriving a reproducible unblocked LU factorization

We propose a reproducible variant of the unblocked LU factorization for graphics processor units (GPUs). For this purpose, we build upon Level-1/2 BLAS kernels that deliver correctly-rounded and reproducible results for the dot (inner) product, vector scaling, and the matrix-vector product. In addition, we draw a strategy to enhance the accuracy of the triangular solve via iterative refinement. Following a bottom-up approach, we finally construct a reproducible unblocked implementation of the LU factorization for GPUs, which accommodates partial pivoting for stability and can be eventually integrated in a high performance and stable algorithm for the (blocked) LU factorization.
Evaluation as a Tool for Developing the Quality of Academic Libraries. Case Study at a Large and Traditional Research Oriented Scandinavian University

The leaders of our universities will ask today if we offer those services that a top university requires and whether the proposed resources for the libraries are worth investing. Establishing the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) requires the establishing of quality systems. Quality assurance systems will be introduced throughout the entire European academic sector and will certainly have significant impact on the development of academic organizations. The collaborative effort to evaluate European universities is coordinated by ENQA, the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher education (Standards, 2005). Most European countries have developed a national quality assurance system. The solutions of different countries can be divided into three different classes: 1) Auditing countries[1] (institutional audit, quality audit, evaluation of quality assurance systems, enhancement-led institutional review): England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Finland, 2) Accreditation[2]: Holland, Germany and 3) Combination or another system: Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden (Audits, 2006).
Quality Management, Supply Chain Management, and Just in Time: A Model of their Impact on Business Performance

Just in time, quality management, and supply chain management have in recent years been proposed as means of improving product quality and responsiveness, while simultaneously reducing cost. The three can also be used as complementary elements of an integrated strategy aimed at improving an organization's competitiveness. This study proposes and tests a structural equation model that examines linkages between just in time, quality management, supply chain management and supplier management, and their impact on business performance. Results show that while just in time, quality and supply chain management efforts are indeed mutually supportive, it is a firm's efforts in the area of quality management that directly drive business performance. Activities related to just in time and supply chain management impact business performance only via their impact on quality management. Results also indicate that while supplier management is directly influenced by quality and supply chain management efforts, it does not influence performance.
A different approach to WTO negotiations in services

International negotiations on the liberalisation of service trade are concentrated at non-tariff barriers (NTBs). National government measures form important obstacles for service providers when they want to access foreign markets. International studies predict substantial welfare benefits from removing trade obstacles for services. Negotiations on lowering these obstacles are complicated because government regulations are seldom strictly oriented at keeping foreign firms out their domestic service markets. Some of them (e.g. quantity-based restrictions) are clearly at odds with WTO principles. We argue however that in most cases regulators primarily aimed at correcting domestic market failures with disregard for the potential repercussions for foreign providers of services. In negotiations this problem can be approached by introducing economic necessity tests, but that is a very long and tedious process. We propose a different negotiation approach based on lessons learned from WTO negotiations on agricultural support measures.
Cloud security and privacy

This book, written by recognized authorities in the tech security world, addresses issues that affect any organization preparing to use cloud computing as an option. Cloud computing has emerged as a popular way for corporations to save money that would otherwise go into their IT infrastructure. However, along with the promise of cloud computing there has also been considerable skepticism about the type and extent of security and privacy that these services provide. Cloud Security and Privacy walks you through the steps you need to take to ensure your web applications are secure and your data is safe, and addresses regulatory issues such as audit and compliance. Ideal for IT personnel who need to deliver and maintain applications in the cloud, business managers looking to cut costs, service providers, and investors, this book provides the detailed information on cloud computing security that has been lacking, until now.
An international phase 3 trial in head and neck cancer: Quality of life and symptom results

The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) 24954 phase 3 randomized clinical trial compared 2 schemes of combined chemotherapy for patients with resectable cancers of the hypopharynx and larynx: sequential induction chemotherapy and radiotherapy versus alternating chemoradiotherapy. The current study reports detailed effects of both treatment arms on health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) and symptoms.