Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Antioxidant on Coronal Seal of Dentin Following Sodium Hypochlorite and Hydrogen-peroxide Irrigation.

Aim: Comparative analysis of the coronal microleakage of a self-etching priming dentin adhesive with the use of antioxidant (Sodium Ascorbate (SA) and herbal quercetin) after Sodium hypochloride (NaOCl) and hydrogen-peroxide (H2 O2 ) irrigation. Materials and Methods: Seventy single root canals were enlarged and seven different treatment protocols were applied throughout the root canal treatment. The groups 1, 2 and 3 were irrigated with NaOCl. Group 1 was used as the negative control with only NaOCl irrigation whereas in group2, Sodium Ascorbate was applied as an additional irrigation agent following NaOCl.In group 3,herbal antioxidant Quercetin(Q) was applied as an additional irrigation agent following NaOCl.Hydrogen-peroxide irrigation was used in groups 4, 5 and 6, the procedural steps were similar to those of groups 1, 2 and 3: H2 O2 in group 4, Sodium Ascorbate application in group 5,and herbal antioxidant Quercetin group 6.Group 7 was positive control with saline irrigation alone. All root were obturated with A-H Plus root canal sealer and protaper F4 guttapercha cones immediately after irrigation. A self-etching priming adhesive plus ceram-x mono composite resin was applied after the endodontic treatment. The microleakage of dentin margins was determined using dye-penetration test under microscope. Statistical Analysis:-In this study,Kruskal-Wallis test,Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon W tests were used. Results: Kruskal-Wallis test with P=0.000 indicated that a significant difference exists between all the seven groups. NaOCl, H2 O2 groups demonstrated higher leakage scores than the controls (P<0.005). Leakage pattern of groups 2, 3, 5 and 6 did not differ significantly from the control (P>0.05). Conclusion: After control group 7, group 2 showed significantly less amount of dye penetration as compared with the other groups.
Hedged Language and Partisan Media Influence Belief in Science Claims

Sources of scientific information vary in partisanship and epistemic stance toward science. The current study examined how hedged language (certain vs. tentative) and partisanship of sources (liberal vs. conservative vs. scientific sources) interacted with participants’ epistemic beliefs and political ideology to influence belief in science-related claims and trust in sources. Findings showed that “hedged” language influenced belief in information for individuals with certain epistemic profiles. Participants with higher faith in intuition demonstrated lower belief in claims from scientific sources. Additionally, individuals with a higher conviction that “truth” is political demonstrated lower belief when liberal sources used certain language.
Software-Based Real-Time Full-Duplex Relaying: An Experimental Study

Relaying in wireless networks is one of the most important concepts to improve the overall communication performance and to increase coverage. Relay systems can work in either half or full-duplex mode. Half-duplex relaying unfortunately increases the overall latency and also causes spectral losses. On the other hand, in-band full-duplex relaying helps to overcome such issues by simultaneously receiving packets from the source and forwarding them towards the destination. We present a software-based real-time full-duplex relaying system, which we implemented in GNU Radio. The system supports running simulations using an abstract channel model as well as over-the-air experiments using Software Defined Radios (SDRs). A major challenge in developing such a system is dealing with self-interference. For this, we constructed a new looped self-interference cancellation system and integrated it with the GNU Radio implementation. In an experimental study, we validated and evaluated our system to characterize the practical performance of the proposed full-duplex relay system. Our main focus is on the impact of the residual looped self-interference, for which we show analytical and simulation results to confirm the experimental study.
Reduced Complexity Sparse Recovery Detectors for Differential Space Shift Keying MIMO System

Differential space shift keying (DSSK) alleviates the need of channel knowledge at the receiver side while retaining all SSK inherent advantages. In DSSK system, the receiver relies on the received blocks at two consecutive time slots to decode the message and arbitrary number of transmit antennas can be deployed that are not necessarily power of two. Besides, at each time instant only single transmit antenna is active to eliminate inter-channel interference (ICI) and facilitates the use of single RF–chain transmitter. Yet, the spectral efficiency of DSSK scheme is lower than its counterpart coherent SSK system and decays further for larger number of transmit antennas. As well, the receiver computational complexity grows exponentially with the transmitted block size and optimum detection gets impractical for large configurations. Hence, this paper aims at proposing reduced complexity, but yet efficient, receivers for DSSK system utilizing the inherent sparsity structure of DSSK. Reported results reveal significant enhancements where massive reduction in computational complexity is attained, especially for large configurations, while maintaining pragmatic error probability.
Germline genetic determinants of immunotherapy response in metastatic melanoma.

3004 Background: Ipilimumab-based immunotherapy has substantially increased survival for patients with advanced melanoma, however, the benefit is observed only in a small portion of treated patients. It is highly plausible, yet completely unexplored, that germline genetic factors modulate immunotherapy outcome. In this study we performed whole-exome sequencing (WES) to discover novel germline determinants of response to ipilimumab. Methods: Blood samples were collected from >60 metastatic melanoma patients treated by ipilimumab at the New York University Langone Medical Center. WES was performed on objective responders (OR) and non-responders (NR), defined by immune-related response criteria, using the Nextera platform (Illumina) at average 30x coverage. We have implemented a novel modified method for testing the association between OR and NR by variant, gene and enrichment of molecular networks. Gene-Set Enrichment Analysis and Pathway Studio were used to test the pathway associations. Results: The preli.
A Hardware Model of the Human Cerebral Cortex: Basic Principles and Prospects

The time has come for computing inspired by the structure of the brain. Algorithms that use neural networks and deep learning, imitating some aspects of the human brain, allow digital computers to reach incredible heights in language translation, finding elusive patterns in huge volumes of data. But while engineers continue to actively develop this computational strategy, capable of much, the energy efficiency of digital computing is reaching its limit. Our data centers and supercomputers already consume megawatts 2% of all electricity consumed in the USA goes to data centers. And the human brain is well worth 20 watts, and this is a small fraction of the energy contained in the daily food consumed. If we want to improve computing systems, we need to make computers look like brains [1,2]. A surge of interest in neuromorphic technologies is associated with this idea, promising to move computers beyond simple neural networks, towards circuits that work as neurons and synapses. The development of physical circuits similar to the brain is already quite well developed. The work done in my laboratory and other institutions around the world over the past 35 years has led to the creation of artificial nerve components, similar to synapses and dendrites, which react and generate electrical signals in much the same way as real ones.
Potential for soil organic carbon sequestration in grasslands in East African countries: A review

Grasslands occupy almost half of the world's land area. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a key indicator of soil fertility and grassland productivity. Increasing SOC stocks (so-called SOC sequestration) improves soil fertility and contributes to climate change mitigation by binding atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Grasslands constitute about 70% of all agricultural land, but their potential for SOC sequestration is largely unknown. This review paper quantitatively summarizes observation-based studies on the SOC sequestration potential of grasslands in six East African countries (Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) and seeks to identify knowledge gaps related to SOC sequestration potential in the region. In the studies reviewed, SOC stocks in grasslands range from 3 to 93 Mg C/ha in the upper 0.3 m of the soil profile, while SOC sequestration rate ranges from 0.1 to 3.1 Mg C ha(-1) year(-1) under different management strategies. Grazing management is reported to have a considerable impact on SOC sequestration rates, and grassland regeneration and protection are recommended as options to stimulate SOC sequestration. However, a very limited number of relevant studies are available (n = 23) and there is a need for fundamental information on SOC sequestration potential in the region. The effectiveness of potential incentive mechanisms, such as payments for environmental services, to foster uptake of SOC-enhancing practices should also be assessed.
Policy resolution of shared data in online social networks

Online social networks have practically a go-to source for information divulging, social exchanges and finding new friends. The popularity of such sites is so profound that they are widely used by people belonging to different age groups and various regions. Widespread use of such sites has given rise to privacy and security issues. This paper proposes a set of rules to be incorporated to safeguard the privacy policies of related users while sharing information and other forms of media online. The proposed access control network takes into account the content sensitivity and confidence level of the accessor to resolve the conflicting privacy policies of the co-owners.
Pharmacodynamic biomarkers of outcomes in the phase III study of lenvatinib in 131I-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (SELECT).

6014 Background: Lenvatinib (LEN)–an oral multikinase inhibitor of VEGFR1–3, FGFR1–4, PDGFRα, RET, and KIT—significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) vs placebo (PBO) in the SELECT study. Baseline (BL) Ang2 levels were previously identified as prognostic and predictive of LEN response, and increase in FGF23 levels is a surrogate pharmacodynamic biomarker of FGFR1 inhibition. Here we investigated serum circulating cytokine/angiogenic factors (CAFs) as potential pharmacodynamic biomarkers of LEN efficacy and disease progression in SELECT. Methods: Blood samples from 387/392 (99%) randomized patients (pts) were collected at baseline, cycle 1 day 15 (C1D15), day 1 of subsequent cycles, and treatment end. TG and CAF levels (Ang2, VEGF, sTie2, and FGF23) were measured by ELISA. Results: From cycle 1,VEGF levels were consistently elevated for pts on LEN, whereas Ang2 and sTie2 levels were consistently decreased compared with PBO. FGF23 levels increased by 20.8% (C1D15) and 28.6% (C2D1). Although TG .
a high HIV prevalence setting

Abstract Rationale/objective: Xpert ® MTB/RIF is a novel automated molecular diagnostic recently endorsed by the World Health Organization. However, performance-related data from high HIV prevalence settings are limited. The impact of sample-related factors on performance and the significance of Xpert ® MTB/RIF-positive culture-negative discordance remain unclear. Methods: Xpert ® MTB/RIF was evaluated using single archived spot-sputum samples from 496 South African patients with suspected TB. Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture positivity and phenotypic resistance to rifampicin served as reference standards. Results: Overall, Xpert ® MTB/RIF detected 95% (95% CI: 88-98%; 89/94) of smear-positive culture-positive cases and the specificity was 94% (91-96%; 320/339). The sensitivity in smear-negative cases was 55% (35-73%; 12/22) when the analysis was restricted to 1ml of unprocessed sputum and culture time-to-positivity of ≤28 days. Compared to smear-microscopy (n=94), Xpert ® MTB/RIF detected an additional 17 cases (n=111) representing an 18% (11-27%; 111/94) relative increase in the rapid TB case detection rate. Moreover, compared to smear-microscopy, the inclusion of Xpert
Maternal and fetal characteristics of premature deliveries in Western

Birth of a baby less than 37 weeks of gestational age is known as preterm birth. The reduction of preterm birth is a demanding proposal since the cause, in many situations; it is hard to get hold off (1). Due to its complex nature, mechanisms underpinning preterm birth are not clearly understood. Causal factors of that include medical conditions of the mother or foetus, genetic influences, environmental exposure, infertility treatments, behavioral and socio-economic factors as well as iatrogenic prematurity (2). The occurrence of complications, and mortality rate, were found to be higher in preterm babies. In fact preterm ones have an increased risk of death in the first year of life (infant mortality), with most of the deaths occurring in the first month of life (neonatal mortality) (3). This is often summarized by contrasting the pattern of preterm births, which comprise 6-10% of all births in Western countries, with that of preterm deaths, which comprise more than two-thirds of all perinatal deaths. Furthermore, among surviving infants, preterm birth is implicated in approximately half of all pediatric neurodevelopmental disabilities, (4-5) including cerebral palsy (6), long-term morbidity, (7,8,4) and high healthcare costs (9, 10). Data on preterm birth rates are not routinely collected in many countries as well as in Algeria, and there were no published findings on maternal and fetal characteristics of premature deliveries in Western Algeria. Therefore, and in order to promote the primary prevention of prematurity in our region, our aim was to determine the possible risk factors which are common causes of preterm deliveries in mothers delivered at the neonatology department of obstetrics and Gynecology Specialized Hospital of Sidi Bel Abbes city (Western Algeria) as well as fetal characteristics of preterm birth babies. Information derived from the study will be used in public enlightenment campaigns on the prevention of preterm birth in Algeria.
A rede de ação pública em torno da agroecologia e produção orgânica no Distrito Federal

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. A rede de ação pública em torno da agroecologia e produção orgânica no Distrito Federal, Eric Sabourin, Raimundo Tadeu, Mario Lúcio de Ávila
The effect of atopy on asthma severity and asthma control in children with asthma

Objective: Asthma is the most common chronic inflammatory disease of airways in children worldwide. It was speculated that in the presence of atopy, asthma severity and control show alteration. In this study we aim to investigate the association between atopy and asthma control and asthma severity. Material and Methods: Children between 6-17 years of age with diagnosis of persistent asthma, being followed in pediatric allergy and pulmonology clinics between November 2015 and January 2016 were involved. At enrollment, sociodemographic and asthmatic characteristics were investigated and asthma severity were determined and asthma control test (ACT) were administered.In order to determine the presence of atopy, the IgE levels, skin prick test and inhalant panel tests were obtained from the records. The IgE levels, skin prick tests, and inhalant panel tests were compared to asthma severity and asthma control. Results: Out of 106 patients, 60 (56.6%) were male and 46 (43.0%) were female. The mean age was 11.2±2.7 years. There was no association between the presence of atopy and asthma control (p=0.764). The serum IgE levels, skin prick tests and serum specific inhalant allergens were significantly high in patients with severe persistant asthma (p=0.022). Conclusion: There is an association between the presence of atopy and asthma severity but there is no association between the presence of atopy and asthma control.
Simulation research to enhance patient safety and outcomes: recommendations of the Simnovate Patient Safety Domain Group

The use of simulation-based training has established itself in healthcare but its implementation has been varied and mostly limited to technical and non-technical skills training. This article discusses the possibilities of the use of simulation as part of an overarching approach to improving patient safety, and represents the views of the Simnovate Patient Safety Domain Group, an international multidisciplinary expert group dedicated to the improvement of patient safety. The application and integration of simulation into the various facets of a learning healthcare system is discussed, with reference to relevant literature and the different modalities of simulation which may be employed. The selection and standardisation of outcomes is highlighted as a key goal if the evidence base for simulation-based patient safety interventions is to be strengthened. This may be achieved through the establishment of standardised reporting criteria. If such safety interventions can be proven to be effective, financial incentives are likely to be necessary to promote their uptake, with the intention that up-front cost to payers or insurers be recouped in the longer term but reductions in complications and lengths of stay.
Study and Analysis of Pounding Effect between Adjacent RC Buildings

Pounding occurs when the adjacent buildings start vibration out of phase during the seismic activity which causes the collision between the adjacent structures. Due to higher cost of land in cities people have tendency to attach the buildings at property line. Earthquakes can cause pounding when adjacent buildings have little gap or no gap providing separation. Due to pounding effect structural and non – structural damage may occur in the adjacent buildings. The main objective of this research is to assess the seismic response of common residential RC buildings that has been constructed with no gap with the adjacent structures and to find the minimum gap requirement for the commonly constructed buildings of Nepal. For this study two different cases with varying separation distance between adjacent buildings have been considered. First case is the adjacent buildings having equal storey height but different number of stories. It includes models having 4 and 2 stories and 4 and 3 stories. Second case is the adjacent buildings having unequal storey height but same number of stories. It includes models having 3 and 3 stories and 4 and 4 stories. In both cases adjacent buildings have same material & sectional properties. Non-linear dynamic analysis is performed using El-centro earthquake data as ground motion. Gap element has been used to simulate the pounding force between buildings. Adjacent buildings having different overall height are modelled in SAP 2000 v 15 using gap element for pounding study. The seismic responses in terms of joint displacement, joint acceleration, pounding force are presented. Joint displacement and joint acceleration comparison for both pounding and no pounding cases are presented. Gap calculation from NBC and IS code, ABS and SRSS method was compared with gap required to avoid pounding force between adjacent structures and appropriate gap was recommended.
Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring Using Current Shapelets

Using a single-point sensor, non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) discerns the individual electrical appliances of a residential or commercial building by disaggregating the accumulated energy consumption data without accessing to the individual components. To classify devices, potential features need to be extracted from the electrical signatures. In this article, a novel features extraction method based on current shapelets is proposed. Time-series current shapelets are determined from the normalized current data recorded from different devices. In general, shapelets can be defined as the subsequences constituting the most distinguished shapes of a time-series sequence from a particular class and can be used to discern the class among many subsequences from different classes. In this work, current envelopes are determined from the original current data by locating and connecting the peak points for each sample. Then, a unique approach is proposed to extract shapelets from the starting phase (device is turned on) of the time-series current envelopes. Subsequences windowed from the starting moment to a few seconds of stable device operation are taken into account. Based on these shapelets, a multi-class classification model consisting of five different supervised algorithms is developed. The performance evaluations corroborate the efficacy of the proposed framework.
Optical Dosimetry and Treatment Planning for Photodynamic Therapy

Accurate dosimetry and treatment planning for photodynamic therapy (PDT) require knowledge of tissue optical properties and models of light propagation. We present techniques, based on reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopy, to examine these problems using analytical approximations and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. We begin with studies that monitored PDT in mouse models using reflectance and fluorescence spectroscopy. In the first, spectroscopy informed the optimization of treatment parameters for methylene blue PDT, with dependencies on injection vehicle, drug-light interval, and fluence found. In the second, fluorescence photobleaching during Pc 4 PDT was examined for correlation to tumor response. Irradiance-dependent photobleaching was demonstrated, but was not predictive of tumor response. Next we outline the graphics processing unit enhanced MC model that was used to simulate light propagation in tissue. We demonstrate a number of source models that were used in subsequent experiments. We then focus on the recovery of optical properties from diffuse reflectance measurements by examining two studies. In the first study, diffuse reflectance measurements were made at the surface of human kidneys to extract optical properties, which were then used in MC simulations of interstitial PDT. We found that the optical properties measured make PDT feasible in human kidneys. We then examined the interstitial recovery of optical properties using a custom optical probe. This recovery was based on a MC model of the probe used, with a mean error of 6.5% in the determination of absorption.