Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Three-dimensional evaluation of changes in upper airway volume in growing skeletal Class II patients following mandibular advancement treatment with functional orthopedic appliances.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess three-dimensionally the upper airway changes following functional appliance treatment in growing Class II patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Pre-and post-treatment Cone beam computed tomography scans of 20 patients (age range: 9 to 12; mean: 11.4 ± 1.0 years) were retrieved from the list of patients previously treated with functional appliances in the Postgraduate Clinic at the Section of Orthodontics, Aarhus University, Denmark. Total and partial volumes of the upper airway (ie, lower nasopharynx, velopharynx, and oropharynx) were calculated. To rule out the effect of growth, the changes in the functional appliance group were compared to an age-matched Class I group of 18 patients (age range: 8 to 14; mean: 11.8 ± 1.4 years). RESULTS In the functional appliance group, all the partial and total volumes were significantly larger at the end of treatment when compared to the start of treatment ( P < .003). On the other hand, when comparing the changes for the total and partial volumes of the upper airway in the functional appliance group with the Class I group, a statistical difference was seen only for the oropharynx ( P = .022) and total volume ( P = .025), with the functional appliance group showing a larger volume increment. CONCLUSIONS An increase in the upper airway volume was found after treatment with functional appliances. This difference was mainly related to the changes at the oropharynx level, which differed significantly from what was observed in the Class I group.
Cognitive Function and Monoamine Neurotransmission in Schizophrenia: Evidence From Positron Emission Tomography Studies

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a non-invasive imaging technique used to assess various brain functions, including cerebral blood flow, glucose metabolism, and neurotransmission, in the living human brain. In particular, neurotransmission mediated by the monoamine neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, has been extensively examined using PET probes, which specifically bind to the monoamine receptors and transporters. This useful tool has revealed the pathophysiology of various psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, and the mechanisms of action of psychotropic drugs. Because monoamines are implicated in various cognitive processes such as memory and executive functions, some PET studies have directly investigated the associations between monoamine neurotransmission and cognitive functions in healthy individuals and patients with psychiatric disorders. In this mini review, I discuss the findings of PET studies that investigated monoamine neurotransmission under resting conditions, specifically focusing on cognitive functions in patients with schizophrenia. With regard to the dopaminergic system, some studies have examined the association of dopamine D1 and D2/D3 receptors, dopamine transporters, and dopamine synthesis capacity with various cognitive functions in schizophrenia. With regard to the serotonergic system, 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptors have been studied in the context of cognitive functions in schizophrenia. Although relatively few PET studies have examined cognitive functions in patients with psychiatric disorders, these approaches can provide useful information on enhancing cognitive functions by administering drugs that modulate monoamine transmission. Moreover, another paradigm of techniques such as those exploring the release of neurotransmitters and further development of radiotracers for novel targets are warranted.
Angiotensin 1-7 administration alters baroreflex sensitivity and renal function in sympathectomized rats

Background: Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays an important role in cardiovascular and kidney functions to regulate the systematic blood pressure. The baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) index is a quantitative index that was considered as a prognostic indicator for cardiovascular system risk which is known as heart rate change to blood pressure change ratio ( HR MAP ∆ ∆ ). Sympathetic nerve is an arm of the BRS which may be influenced by RAS vasodilatory arm function. Objectives: To determine the role of angiotensin 1-7 (Ang1-7) accompanied by bilateral renal denervation (RDN) on BRS and renal function. Methods: Male and female anesthetized Wistar rats were subjected to RDN and treated with Ang1-7 (300 and 1000 ng.kg-1.min-1). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) responses to phenylephrine (PE) infusion were measured to determine BRS index. As kidney function markers, the creatinine clearance (CrCl) and urine flow (UF) were also determined. Results: The results showed that BRS increased significantly in RDN male rats treated with Ang1-7 compared to vehicle (P<0.05). BRS attenuates significantly in RDN male rats treated with vehicle or Ang1-7 when compared with non-RDN (control). In female rats, the BRS decreased significantly in Ang1-7 treated group (P<0.05). Also, the BRS was significantly different between non-RDN and RDN female rats treated with Ang1-7 (P<0.05). The ClCr in female and UF in both genders increased by Ang1-7 infusion in RDN and non-RDN rats. The alteration of serum nitrite level by Ang1-7 in non-RDN and RDN groups was gender related. Conclusion: The Ang1-7 infusion could alter the BRS index in RDN rat’s gender dependently. The ClCr response to Ang1-7 infusion in male rats was dose related.
Nueva gestión pública y arreglo organizacional en el gobierno municipal de Texcoco

Este articulo aborda de dos maneras, cuestiones relativas a la incidencia de la ngp en el arreglo organizacional, de manera general, considera que la gran difusion que han adquirido los diferentes enfoques emergentes, como la propia ngp, no se ha acompanado de la investigacion suficiente para valorar el efecto real que puede causar en la Administracion publica actuante; de manera particular, se aproxima a esta discusion a traves de informacion empirica recabada en ocasion de un trabajo de investigacion, enfocado en el periodo 2006-2009 del gobierno municipal en Texcoco, Estado de Mexico. En el marco conceptual se describe el perfil de la ngp, asi como dos de sus principales herramientas, la Gestion Estrategica y la Gestion de Calidad, las cuales son tratadas como variables independientes; despues, se atiende el AO, como variable dependiente, formando el concepto a partir de las contribuciones de la TO
Lactobacillus for Vaginal Microflora Correction

Introduction Despite the significant progress made in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, there is still a high rate of vaginal dysbiosis in Kazakh women. The use of antibiotics in the treatment of vaginal dysbiosis contributes to the elimination of pathogens as well as microflora, which can lead to a decrease in local immunity and more favorable conditions for infection spread. The most physiologically safe and promising method for the restoration of vaginal biocenosis is the use of probiotics administered by a vaginal route. Methods We have allocated 64 of cultures of Lactobacillus from the vaginal epithelium of healthy women of reproductive age and women with diagnosed bacterial vaginosis (BV). Identification of cultures was performed by PCR analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA. Evaluation of biological significance was determined by the following criteria: high antagonistic activity against Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens, Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiella ozaenae, and Staphylococcus aureus; and production of hydrogen peroxide, resistance to antibiotics, adhesive activity. We studied the symbiotic relationship of selected biologically active of cultures to each other and received options for consortiums with properties of probiotics through co-cultivation. Results Results of genotyping showed that the isolated lactobacilli belong to the seven species: L. fermentum, L. salivarius, L. gasseri, L. crispatus, L. jensenii, L. plantarum, and L. delbrueskii. L. fermentum, L. salivarius, L. gasseri, and L. jensenii occur in women with suspected BV. The highest percentage of occurrence in the vagina of healthy women was L. fermentum (28%). Most strains of lactobacilli possess high inhibitory activity for all test-strains, except Candida albicans (37.5%). 56% of studied cultures revealed high adhesion to human erythrocytes. All lactobacillus strains were resistant to metronidazole, 80% to kanamycin, 57% to vancomycin, and sensitivity to roxithromycin, amoxiclav, ampicillin was diagnosed in all strains. 50% of cultures showed a moderate sensitivity to gentamicin and cefazolin. In a study of peroxide-producing activity, 80% of the cultures exhibited peroxide-producing activity. As a result of screening, the 7 most active strains of lactobacilli were selected for development of 10 variants of probiotic consortia. Also, there was increase of adhesive activity in the consortia compared to other components. These consortia can be used for the treatment of BV in addition to metronidazole. Conclusion The probiotic consortia identified in this study had high antagonistic, adhesive properties, and resistance to metronidazole. These probiotics can potentially be used for the development of biological products for the treatment and prevention of bacterial vaginosis.
Underexpressed CNDP 2 Participates in Gastric Cancer Growth Inhibition through Activating the MAPK Signaling Pathway

Gastric cancer, the fourth most common malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, is mostly the result of genetic and epigenetic alterations during its progression (1,2). It is well known that understanding the mechanisms in gastric carcinogenesis through the identification and characterization of tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes is crucial to understanding tumor pathogenesis and will help to discover novel targets for therapies (3). The mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), for which activities are regulated by Ras/Raf expression, are mainly composed of three serine/threoninerelated protein kinases: extracellular signal–related kinases (ERKs), c-Jun NH2-terminal kinases (JNKs) and p38 MAPKs. Generally, the ERK signaling pathway is typically associated with cell survival, proliferation and differentiation and protecting cells against apoptosis, whereas the JNK and p38 cascades are usually involved in promoting cell growth and apoptosis (4). It has been shown that abnormal MAPK expression is correlated with tumorigenesis and metastatic potential for gastric cancer (5). Thus, identifying new tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes that participate in the MAPK pathway could lead to the discovery of new therapies for gastric cancer. Cytosolic non-specific dipeptidase 2 (CNDP2), also known as carboxypeptidase of glutamate-like (CPGL), is expressed in all human tissues, and its isoform is CPGL-B, which lacks exons 3 and 4 (6). The cndp2 gene that translates a dinuclear metalloproteases has 39.5% homology to peptidase family M20 and may belong to the M20A subfamily (6,7). Previously, Zhang et al. (7) observed that the isoform CPGL-B is downregulated in hepatocellular cancer and could inhibit the viability, colony formation and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. A recent report also demonstrated that the loss of CNDP2 functioned as a tumor suppressor gene in pancreatic cancer and that the loss of CNDP2 and CPGL-B
Design and Measurement Error Analysis of a Low-Friction, Lightweight Linear Series Elastic Actuator

Series elastic actuators (SEAs) have many benefits for force controlled robotic applications. Placing an elastic member in series with a rigid actuator output enables more-stable force control and the potential for energy storage while sacrificing position control bandwidth. This paper presents the design and measurement error analysis of a low-friction, lightweight linear SEA used in the Shipboard Autonomous Fire Fighting Robot (SAFFiR). The SAFFiR SEA pairs a stand-alone linear actuator with a configurable compliant member. Unlike most electric linear actuators, this actuator does not use a linear guide, which reduces friction and weight. Unlike other SEAs which measure the force by measuring the spring deflection, a tension and compression load cell is integrated into the design for accurate force measurements. The configurable compliant member is a titanium cantilever with manually adjustable length. The final SEA weighs 0.82[kg] with a maximum force of 1,000[N]. The configurable compliant mechanism has in a spring constant range of 145–512[kN/m]. Having no linear guide and incorporating the load cell into the universal joint both introduce measurement errors. The length error across a parallel ankle joint is less than 0.015[mm] and the force measurement error is less than 0.25% of the actual force. Finally, several changes are suggested for the next iteration of the SEA to improve its usability on future robots. © 2013 ASME
Chemical investigations of male and female leaf extracts from Schinus molle L.

Abstract The pepper-tree Schinus molle is an evergreen ornamental plant with various and diversified list of medical uses. In this article we analysed the chemical composition of male and female leaves of this plant during the off-flowering and flowering seasons. The leaf extracts were obtained by using a sequential extraction with solvents of different polarities and the chemical composition was investigated by GC-MS. The results showed a total of twenty-three components, in which elemol is the most abundant constituent followed by bicyclogermacrene, γ-eudesmol, α-eudesmol, β-eudesmol and isocalamendiol. The petroleum ether and diethyl ether extracts from male and female flowering and off-flowering leaves consisted of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons as a major constituent followed by monoterpene hydrocarbons, while the acetone extracts showed a different composition. The obtained results show differences in the chemical composition between male and female and flowering and not flowering.
Recognizing Depression from the Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis

Major depression is one of the leading causes of disability, morbidity, and mortality worldwide. The brain–gut axis functions are disturbed, revealed by a dysfunction of the brain, immune system, endocrine system, and gut. Traditional depression treatments all target the brain, with different drugs and/or psychotherapy. Unfortunately, most of the patients have never received any treatment. Studies indicate that gut microbiota could be a direct cause for the disorder. Abnormal microbiota and the microbiota–gut–brain dysfunction may cause mental disorders, while correcting these disturbance could alleviate depression. Nowadays, the gut microbiota modulation has become a hot topic in treatment research of mental disorders. Depression is closely related with the health condition of the brain–gut axis, and maintaining/restoring the normal condition of gut microbiota helps in the prevention/therapy of mental disorders.
The Cascading Analysts Algorithm

We study changes in metrics that are defined on a cartesian product of trees. Such metrics occur naturally in many practical applications, where a global metric (such as revenue) can be broken down along several hierarchical dimensions (such as location, gender, etc). Given a change in such a metric, our goal is to identify a small set of non-overlapping data segments that account for a majority of the change. An organization interested in improving the metric can then focus their attention on these data segments. Our key contribution is an algorithm that naturally mimics the operation of a hierarchical organization of analysts. The algorithm has been successfully applied within Google's ad platform (AdWords) to help Google's advertisers triage the performance of their advertising campaigns, and within Google Analytics to help website developers understand their traffic. We empirically analyze the runtime and quality of the algorithm by comparing it against benchmarks for a census dataset. We prove theoretical, worst-case bounds on the performance of the algorithm. For instance, we show that the algorithm is optimal for two dimensions, and has an approximation ratio log d-2 (n+1) for d ≥ 3 dimensions, where n is the number of input data segments. For the advertising application, we can show that our algorithm is a 2-approximation. To characterize the hardness of the problem, we study data patterns called conflicts These allow us to construct hard instances of the problem, and derive a lower bound of 1.144 d-2 (again d ≥3) for our algorithm, and to show that the problem is NP-hard; this justifies are focus on approximation.
The need for appropriate registration of pregnancy outcomes under newer oral glucose‐lowering therapies

Because of the increase in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in young adults, women of childbearing age are frequently treated with newer glucose‐lowering therapies, and an increase in unintentional exposure to therapies unapproved for use during pregnancy is expected. The clinician is left with the dilemma of deciding between discontinuation of a novel agent that is providing excellent glycaemic control, while switching to other agents may cause deterioration of glycaemia, and continued use of novel agents that may have uncertain effects on the unborn child. For T2DM, pregnancy data are collected only via spontaneous reporting systems. Therefore, we evaluated the available data on pregnancy outcomes under newer glucose‐lowering agents in pharmaceutical safety databases. We found that data on pregnancy outcomes with new glucose‐lowering agents in T2DM are scarce, with a high risk of bias towards negative outcomes, limiting their usefulness in robustly assessing safety. Because of the lack of information at present, these agents are not recommended for use during pregnancy or when planning pregnancy. To better guide clinical practice, structured systems of assessing pregnancy outcomes in women receiving these novel agents are urgently needed.
Structure cristalline, caractérisation spectroscopique, calcul DFT et analyse de surface Hirshfeld du perchlorate de p-toluidinium

A new organic perchlorate, C7H10N+·ClO4 −, was synthesized by slow evaporation at room temperature and its crystal structure was determined. This compound was characterized by powder XRD, IR, and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The DFT optimized structure at the B3LYP/6–311++G (d,p) level was compared with the experimentally determined molecular structure in the solid state. Hirshfeld surface and fingerprint plots are presented and discussed.
Non-Linear Quest Generation

This paper presents a method for generating game quests supporting concurrency and user-choice. We formalize the notion of a quest in the form of a directed hypergraph and algorithms for generating such quests over a user-defined set of verbs and nouns. Our experimental results demonstrate the complexity and diversity of the quest space. We then compare the richness of our generated quests with a corpus of existing quests.
Utilizing air traffic communications for OSINT on state and government aircraft

In recent times, we have witnessed a trend in which communications data is increasingly collected and made open source by the public. A prominent example is the tracking of aircraft movements using unencrypted air traffic control (ATC) communication. This paper studies the implications of such new open source aircraft datasets on the operational privacy of military and government actors. We use publicly available aircraft metadata in conjunction with unfiltered ATC communication gathered from the collaborative sensor network OpenSky. We show that using these datasets, it is possible to collect, process and analyze large numbers of movements in an automated fashion, providing insights into potentially sensitive operations.
Laparoscopic transgastric resection of gastric submucosal tumor located near the esophagogastric junction

Aim: Laparoscopic wedge resection is widely accepted as the choice of treatment for gastric submucosal tumors (GST). However, tumors on the posterior wall at the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) are difficult to approach. Laparoscopic transgastric resection (LTR) is a novel technique to remove gastric tumors that are unresectable by endoscopy due to their size and location. The aim of the article is to assess the feasibility and oncological outcomes of this laparoscopic approach for intraluminal GST located in the posterior wall and near the EGJ. Methods: A retrospective analysis of all patients with GST located at the EGJ who underwent LTR at our institution from January 2015 to February 2016 was performed. Results: Of the 4 patients who underwent LTR, 3 were female and 1 was male, with a mean age of 74.5 years. LTR was successfully performed in all the cases. All patients received a complete resection with negative margins. Histopathologic diagnoses were gastrointestinal stromal tumor in 2 cases and leiomyoma in the other 2. Median tumor size was 3.45 cm. The mean operation time was 173 min (range 120-232 min). One patient experienced a postoperative hematemesis, but was treated conservatively. The mean postoperative stay was 8 days (range 4-15 days). Conclusions: LTR is feasible and difficult localizations can be reached with ease. It is an appropriate alternative to laparoscopic wedge resections especially for localizations that cannot be accessed by laparoscopy such as tumors located near the EGJ.
Investigating Label Noise Sensitivity of Convolutional Neural Networks for Fine Grained Audio Signal Labelling

We measure the effect of small amounts of systematic and random label noise caused by slightly misaligned ground truth labels in a fine grained audio signal labeling task. The task we choose to demonstrate these effects on is also known as framewise polyphonic transcription or note quantized multi-fO estimation, and transforms a monaural audio signal into a sequence of note indicator labels. It will be shown that even slight misalignments have clearly apparent effects, demonstrating a great sensitivity of convolutional neural networks to label noise. The implications are clear: when using convolutional neural networks for fine grained audio signal labeling tasks, great care has to be taken to ensure that the annotations have precise timing, and are free from systematic or random error as much as possible - even small misalignments will have a noticeable impact.
Phonological use of the larynx: a tutorial

This paper concerns the role of the larynx in speech communication. All the world's languages use characteristic configuration of the larynx, at the segmental, lexical, and supralexical levels. Concerning the segmental level, we first present a) the use of different phonation types to distinguish between consonants and vowels in the languages of the world, b) the use of the larynx as the place of articulation for the glottal consonants, and c) laryngeal maneuvers for the production of ejective and implosive consonants. Concerning the lexical level, we then discuss the use of specific patterns of the fundamental frequency movements at the lexical level to contrast between words in tonal languages and in languages with melodic stress. Third, the involvement of the larynx to transmit linguistic and paralinguistic information at the sentence level is treated in the last part.
Behaviour No single solution : application of behavioural principles in mitigating human e wildlife con fl ict

a U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Ohio Field Station, Sandusky, OH, U.S.A. b Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, U.S.A. c U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, CO, U.S.A. d Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT, U.S.A.