Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Antierosive Effect of Topical Fluorides: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of In Situ Studies

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of the application of topical fluorides in prevention of erosive tooth wear has been an issue of controversy in the literature. The objective of this systematic review was to assess in situ studies investigating the effects of using topical fluorides on prevention of erosive tooth wear MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two electronic databases PubMed/MEDLINE and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched. Eligibility criteria included in situ-controlled studies that assessed the effect of the erosive process without additional tooth brushing. The search involved English-written articles only. A total of 684 potentially relevant titles and abstracts were found after removal of duplicates, of which 22 full-text articles were selected. Seventeen studies were included in the qualitative synthesis of which 6 studies included in the meta-analysis. The following data were obtained for each study: authors, year of publication, country, study design, periods of study, duration, blinding, interventions (type/concentration/form), tooth substrate, location of the intraoral appliance, number of samples attached to each appliance, type of acidic media used for erosive challenge, duration of erosive challenge, subjects (number/age/sex), reported side effects -if any-, measuring device, amounts of tissue loss. RESULTS: The risk of bias of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration tool for assessing the risk of bias. A meta-analysis of the present study was performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 2.2. 048 software. CONCLUSION: The use of oral hygiene products containing AmF/NaF/SnCl2 or NaF may be effective in the prevention of erosive tooth wear.
Design of an E-band Power Dividing/Combining Network Based on H-Plane 3dB Directional Couplers

In this paper, an E-band four-channel power dividing/combining network is designed based on H-plane 3dB waveguide directional couplers. Firstly, the waveguide H-plane 3dB directional coupler with working frequency of 71~78GHz is designed by HFSS to achieve low loss and high isolation. According to the phase relationship of each port of the coupler, the topology of the power dividing/combining network is worked out, and then the HFSS simulation analysis model for the whole network is established. On the basis of simulation analysis and optimization, a prototype of the four-channel power dividing/combining network of the E-band were manufactured. A back-to-back testing scheme, where a one-fourth dividing network and a four-in-one combining network is jointed together, is adopted to facilitate the testing work. The measured results show that the overall insertion loss of the power dividing/combining network is less than 2.2dB, with a typical value of 1.7dB, in the frequency range of 72~77GHz.
Graphene/SiC dies for electrochemical blood-type sensing

We discuss graphene-on-SiC dies for blood-type sensing. For the sensor application, chemical species to be detected adsorb on the graphene surface and act as electron donors or acceptors resulting in resistance changes of the graphene channel. In this work, graphene films were formed on 4H-SiC substrates by thermal decomposition of the (0001) silicon surface in Ar ambient at a high temperature of 1800–2000 o C. The graphene functionalization was performed by the covalent bonding of a nitrophenyl group (C 6 H 5 NO 2 ) followed by its reduction to a phenylamine group (C 6 H 5 NH 2 ) by using a cyclic voltammetry process. There was a clear and prompt response (current change) of the antibody-coated graphene/SiC dies when the blood antigen matched the antibody. No response occurred when the antibody on the graphene surface mismatched the blood antigen. The experiments demonstrated that a functionalized graphene-on-SiC die has capability in blood sensing, opening a way to manufacture biosensors for detecting blood types and for other applications.
(Re)framing Resistance to Culturally Relevant Education as a Multilevel Learning Problem

Despite evidence of promise, the adoption of culturally relevant educational (CRE) approaches to teaching and learning remains sporadic and underwhelming. In this chapter, we question this state of affairs by investigating teacher resistance to CRE. Through our examination of the literature, we have come to understand teacher resistance to CRE as a multilevel learning problem that stems from (a) limited understanding and belief in the efficacy of CRE and (b) a lack of know-how needed to execute it. We therefore characterize resistance as a learning problem, rather than a problem of individual compliance, and view contextual variation in its take up as an opportunity to learn. Framing teacher resistance to CRE as a multilevel learning problem provides a way forward by shifting the perception of resistance as simply negative to an understanding of resistance as a diagnostic tool, or warning signal about when, where, for whom, and why a change can be particularly difficult. By representing our review of the literature as a problem space map, we offer a tool that can be used to pinpoint, anticipate, and preemptively address the multilevel factors that contribute to teachers’ resistance to CRE.
Reproductive potential of the functionally female native Croatian grapevine 'Grk bijeli'

A native Croatian grapevine 'Grk bijeli', sharing a parent-offspring relationships with 'Tribidrag' (aka 'Zinfandel'), is grown exclusively on the Adriatic island of Korcula. It is one of the grape cultivars with female-only functional flowers, causing reduced fertilisation and leads to problems in grape production and wine quality. A typical cluster of 'Grk bijeli' at maturity contains fully developed seeded berries, in addition to a highly variable proportion of undersized seedless berries. The aim of this study was to identify the cause of the reduced reproduction potential of 'Grk bijeli' in order to establish a better growing environment for improved yield and grape quality. 'Grk bijeli' female gametophyte develops normaly and at maturity contains both egg and central cell, together with two synergid cells and three antipodal cells. On the other hand, 'Grk bijeli' pollen grains show developmental deviations. Specifically, most of the pollen grains undergo the first pollen mitosis and contain one vegetative cell and one generative cell, while 20 % of ungerminating grains also accomplish the second pollen mitosis, giving rise to two sperm cells and one vegetative cell. Morover, 'Grk bijeli' pollen has acolporate morphology, which prevents germination and contributes to reduced reproduction. Furthermore, fertilisation after pollination with other varieties results in various degrees of ovule abortion depending on the pollinator, revealing Croatian cultivars 'Plavac mali crni' and 'Posip bijeli' as favourable varieties. Although this study describes a highly valuable cultivar of local importance, it also contributes to fundamental knowledge of grapevine reproductive biology and offers a strategy for improvement of wine production and oenological performance of semi-fertile varieties in general.
Big data investment and knowledge integration in academic libraries

Recently, big data investment has become important for organizations, especially with the fast growth of data following the huge expansion in the usage of social media applications, and websites. Many organizations depend on extracting and reaching the needed reports and statistics. As the investments on big data and its storage have become major challenges for organizations, many technologies and methods have been developed to tackle those challenges. One of such technologies is Hadoop, a framework that is used to divide big data into packages and distribute those packages through nodes to be processed, consuming less cost than the traditional storage and processing methods. Moreover, it allows an organization to store all its data, unlike the traditional methods of selecting and discarding some data. In this study, researchers investigate the investment of Hadoop in managing the academic libraries’ big data, focusing on three Vs (velocity, variety, and volume). The studied population is academic libraries in Jordanian universities, and the results show how Hadoop framework using the map/reduce technique can be used to manage the big data of such libraries.
Distribution of occlusal contacts in asymptomatic young adults

The proprioceptive receptors in teeth give position signals and have direct influence on the design of the functional pattern. Functional occlusal harmony means the occlusal relationship of opposing teeth in all functional ranges and movements, providing the greatest masticatory efficiency without causing undue strain or trauma to the supporting tissues. Aim of the study. To evaluate whether, for individuals who have completed development and who do not show signs of any functional disorders of the stomatognathic system (as measured by the RDC/TMD), the occlusal contacts are distributed symmetrically along the midline. Material. 18-year-old volunteers comprised students from three randomly selected high schools in Cracow, Poland showing no symptoms of TMD
Multi-scale and -contrast sensorless adaptive optics optical coherence tomography.

Background The roles of the retinal microvasculature and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in maintaining the health and metabolic activity of the retina lend great clinical value to their high-resolution visualization. Methods By integrating polarization diversity detection (PDD) into multi-scale and -contrast sensorless adaptive optics optical coherence tomography (MSC-SAO-OCT), we have developed a novel multi-contrast SAO OCT system for imaging pigment in the RPE as well as flow in the retinal capillaries using OCT angiography (OCTA). Aberration correction was performed based on the image quality using transmissive deformable optical elements. Results MSC-SAO-OCTA imaging was performed at multiple fields-of-view (FOVs) with adjustable numerical aperture (NA). Retinal flow and RPE structural images for in vivo healthy and pathological human posterior eyes were demonstrated to show clinical feasibility of the system. Conclusions High-resolution imaging of retinal vasculature at both large and small FOVs, as well as characterization of RPE topology and deformation, enables more sophisticated and concise investigation of retinal pathologies for in vivo human imaging. MSC imaging may permit detection and analysis of even subtle deformations in the RPE layer using a single instrument.
Decentralized LPWAN infrastructure using blockchain and digital signatures

This paper introduces a fully decentralized low‐power wide‐area network (LPWAN) infrastructure for the Internet of Things (IoT) using the LoRa protocol. While global LPWANs typically require roaming agreements between network providers and a trusted third party for server resolution, we propose a trustless model where the network servers are resolved using a blockchain application. Since LoRaWAN relies on symmetric cryptography, we also propose a new security model that adds non‐repudiation using digital signatures. This paves the way for linking devices to decentralized applications. We finally analyze the impact of this new model on message size and energy requirements.
Asymptotic equivalence of estimating a Poisson intensity and a positive diffusion drift

We consider a diffusion model of small variable type with positive drift density varying in a nonparametric set. We investigate Gaussian and Poisson approximations to this model. In the sense of asymptotic equivalence of experiments, it is shown that observation of the diffusion process until its first hitting time of level one is a natural model for the purpose of inference of the drift density. The diffusion model can be discretized by the collection of level crossing times for a uniform grid of levels. The random time increments are asymptotically sufficient and obey a nonparametric regression model with independent data. This decoupling is then used to establish asymptotic equivalence to Gaussian signal-in-white noise and Poisson intensity models on the unit interval. and also to an i.i. d. model when the diffusion drift function f is a probability density. As an application, we find the exact asymptotic minimax constant for estimating the diffusion drift density with sup-norm loss.
Asynchronous motor drive system using an improved APFC converter

Due to the high input current harmonics created from the power diodes as well as the switching of the inverter, the power factor cannot achieve a unity power factor. This paper presents an improved active power factor correction (APFC) converter for three-phase asynchronous motor drive system. This improved APFC operating in a discontinuous inductor current mode based on bridgeless canonical switching cell is designed and corrects the power factor in grid. In order to obtain high performance of the motor drive system, the dual-mode control strategy and the fuzzy PID is used in this system. Finally, the whole system is verified by software simulation and hardware experiment.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Dissertation STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL SERVICES FOR WORKLOAD MANAGEMENT IN THE CLOUD by VATCHE ISHAKIAN

In hosting environments such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) clouds, desirable application performance is typically guaranteed through the use of Service Level Agreements (SLAs), which specify minimal fractions of resource capacities that must be allocated by a service provider for unencumbered use by customers to ensure proper operation of their workloads. Most IaaS offerings are presented to customers as fixed-size and fixed-price SLAs, that do not match well the needs of specific applications. Furthermore, arbitrary colocation of applications with different SLAs may result in inefficient utilization of hosts’ resources, resulting in economically undesirable customer behavior. In this thesis, we propose the design and architecture of a Colocation as a Service (CaaS) framework: a set of strategic and operational services that allow the efficient colocation of customer workloads. CaaS strategic services provide customers the means to specify their application workload using an SLA language that provides them the opportunity and incentive to take advantage of any tolerances they may have regarding the scheduling of their workloads. CaaS operational services provide the information necessary for, and carry out the reconfigurations mandated by strategic services. We recognize that it could be the case that there are multiple, yet functionally equivalent ways to express an
Streamlining Time-varying VAR with a Factor Structure in the Parameters

I introduce a factor structure on the parameters of a Bayesian TVP-VAR to reduce the dimension of the model's state space. To further limit the scope of over-fitting the estimation of the factor loadings uses a new generation of shrinkage priors. A Monte Carlo study illustrates the ability of the proposed sampler to well distinguish between time-varying and constant parameters. In an application with Swiss data the model proves useful to capture changes in the economy's dynamics due to the lower bound on nominal interest rates.
Improvement of Inertia Weight Declining Strategy Based on Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm

The standard particle swarm optimization algorithm introduces the inertia weighet w , which becomes a calculation method for finding the extremum of the function effectively. It is easy to converge fast. Nowadays, the linear decreasing dynamic, inertia weighting strategy is widely used. Although this improvement is very successful. However, the search process is a nonlinear and complex process. In order to better maintain the balance between global and local search capabilities, this paper proposes a nonlinear decreasing dynamic inertia weighting strategy based on the linear decreasing strategy, using Griewank, Rastrigrin, Sphere, The simulation experiments of four standard test functions of JDSchaffer were carried out, and the inertia weights in the basic particle swarm optimization algorithm were compared with the nonlinear decrement of fixed weight 95.0 = w , linear decreasing LDIW and Chen[6] exponential curve respectively. The improved nonlinear weight decrement strategy is superior to other algorithms in terms of convergence speed, convergence precision number of iterations.
Real-Time Skyline Computation on Data Streams with SLS : Implementation and Experiences

Skyline processing has received considerable attention in the last decade, in particular when filtering the most preferred objects from a multi-dimensional set on contradictory criteria. Most of the work on Skyline computation focus on conventional databases, but stream data analysis becomes a high relevant topic in various academic and business fields. Nowadays, an enormous number of applications require the analysis of time evolving data and therefore the study of continuous query processing has recently attracted the interest of researchers all over the world. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm called SLS for evaluating Skyline queries over continuous settings, and empirically demonstrate the advantage of this algorithm on artificial and real data. Our algorithm continuously monitors the incoming data and therefore is able to maintain the Skyline incrementally. For this, SLS utilizes the lattice structure a Skyline query constructs and analyzes the Skyline in linear time.
Self-Determined to Write: Leveraging Interest, Collaboration, and Self-Direction Through a Journalistic Approach

Abstract Becoming a proficient writer is a core competency for effective communication and central to college and career readiness for learners. Despite broad adoption of more rigorous standards and a push to incorporate writing across the curriculum, the majority of U.S. students across different grade levels fall short of grade-level expectations in writing. This study applies self-determination theory in the design and developmental research of an approach that integrates journalistic interviews and writing practices into typical middle school student English language arts/social studies curricula. In this mixed-methods study, 53 sixth grade students in rural (omitted for review) participated in journalistic learning once per week. The 36-week program applied self-determination theory to build dynamic opportunities for individual interest, collaboration, and self-direction, catalyzing students’ self-determined motivation to write. Findings suggest students experienced regular opportunities to learn and apply skills in collaboration and self-direction and were prepared and satisfied learning those skills. On both quantitative and qualitative data, students reported positive perceptions and attitudes, high levels of individual interest and intrinsic motivation to engage and persist in journalistic research and writing, a flow experience in the writing process, high levels of autonomy to be self-directed, competency for critical thinking, and relational support from their teachers and peers as a result of their participation in journalistic learning. Comparing results from the early phase with results at the end, effects all trended in the positive direction with greater exposure and experience in the program.
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The paper attacks rigid conceptions of experience to reveal a dimension of experience that only appears in memory. Bringing this endangered species of experience to life enhances our understanding of the reconstructive processes of memory. Reasons central to the reconstruction paradigm of memory motivate ‘rotating’ it about its axis of strength, a movement divorcing it from the accuracy-oriented approach. Sections 1 and 2 provide existence proofs of recollective memory this approach leaves unaccommodated. Sections 3 and 4 supply matters of degree memory cases. In Section 5, I explain mammalian laterality, showing our brains and selves have features in the existence proofs. In Section 6, I make clear that understanding how our hemispheres experience and remember is hampered by facile attitudes towards experience.
Politics on Display

Political yard signs are one of the most conspicuous features of American political campaigns, yet they have received little attention as a form of political communication or participation. In a climate in which the American public is highly polarized, these symbols are more than simple campaign tools—they are literal markers of partisan identity. As public cues that push into private life, they affect individuals and their neighborhoods, coloring perceptions of social spaces and impacting social networks. In Politics on Display we answer a series of questions about this familiar feature of electoral politics: Why do people put their preferences out there for the world to see? Do neighborhoods become political battlegrounds? And what are the consequences of displaying yard signs in these spaces where we spend most of our time? We answer these questions with an innovative research design, documenting political life in neighborhoods with complementary data sources: street-level observation of the placement of signs and neighborhood-specific survey research that delves into the attitudes, behavior, and social networks of residents. Integrating these data into a geo-database that also includes demographic and election data—and supplementing these data with nationally representative studies—we bring together insights from political communication, political psychology, and political geography. Against a backdrop of today’s political environment of conflict and division, we advance a new understanding of how citizens experience campaigns, why many still insist on airing their views in public, and what happens when social spaces become political spaces.
Natural fracture propping and earthquake-induced oil migration in fractured basement reservoirs

The geological processes that create fluid storage capacity and connectivity in global fractured basement reservoirs are poorly understood compared to conventional hydrocarbon plays. Hosting potentially multibillion barrels of oil, the upfaulted Precambrian basement of the Rona Ridge, offshore west of Shetland, UK, gives key insights into how such reservoirs form. Oil presence is everywhere associated with sub-millimeter- to meter-thickness mineralized fracture systems cutting both basement and local preseal cover sequences. Mineral textures and fluid inclusion geothermometry suggest a low-temperature (90–220 °C), near-surface hydrothermal system, as does the preservation of clastic sediments in the same fractures. These fills act as permanent props holding fractures open, forming long-term fissures in the basement that permit oil ingress and storage. Calcite-fill U-Pb dating constrains the onset of mineralization and contemporaneous oil charge to the Late Cretaceous. The additional preservation of oil-stained injected sediment slurries and silica gels along basement faults suggests that rift-related seismogenic faulting initiated lateral oil migration from Jurassic source rocks into the adjacent upfaulted ridge. Subsidence below sea level in the latest Cretaceous sealed the ridge with shales, and buoyancy-driven migration of oil into the preexisting propped fracture systems continued long after the cessation of rifting. These new observations provide an explanation for the viability of sub-unconformity fractured basement reservoirs worldwide, and have wider implications for subsurface fluid migration processes generally.
Automatic Detection of Alzheimer’s from Picture Descriptions

Picture description tasks are regularly used in clinical practice to assess cognitive alterations in patients. In this work, we present a computer-based approach to automatically evaluate the performance of older patients during picture description tasks. Our approach measures how much information patients are able to retrieve from the picture, and how pertinent their descriptions are. Our method also provides an evaluation of subtle language alterations that have been identi