Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of proximal caries in conventional and digital radiographs: an in vitro study.

OBJECTIVES To compare digital images to conventional film radiography in the diagnosis of proximal caries. METHODS Fifty-one molars and 24 premolars were studied and divided in groups of three teeth. They were fixed in silicone and radiographed using InSight film (Kodak) and the digital systems Digora (Soredex), DenOptix (Gendex) and CygnusRay MPS (Progeny). Twenty-five radiographs were obtained in each modality and four proximal surfaces were analyzed in each radiograph. Radiographs were interpreted individually by one observer at three different sessions for each imaging modality. Caries lesions were classified according to their depth: (0) absent; (1) restricted to enamel; (2) reaching the dentino-enamel junction; and (3) reaching the dentin. The teeth were sectioned and ground in order to obtain the gold standard and were examined histologically by stereomicroscopy. RESULTS The Kendall test was employed and showed a good intra-observer agreement among the three evaluations implemented. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were all calculated, and there were no significant differences observed among the four imaging modalities studied (ANOVA, p< or =0.05). Besides, the ROC curve was determined for each modality and no statistically significant differences were observed when comparing the areas under the ROC curve at the 5% level of significance. CONCLUSIONS The results demonstrate that the diagnostic accuracy of digital images is similar to that of conventional film radiography in the detection of proximal caries.
The effect of active warm-up and stretching on the flexibility of adolescent soccer players.

AIM The purpose of the investigation was to examine in field conditions the acute effects of passive stretching after a general warming-up bout as well as the effects of passive stretching alone. METHODS Eighteen adolescent team soccer players participated in this study performing 3 different flexibility-training protocols in separate training sessions. In the first treatment stretching protocol a general warm-up was performed where subjects jogged for 20 minutes. The second treatment stretching protocol consisted of the same general warm-up followed by passive stretching of the lower extremities and the trunk, whereas the third and final treatment stretching protocol consisted of passive stretching alone, without any jogging. Passive range of joint motion was examined in hip flexion, hip extension, hip abduction, ankle dorsiflexion, knee flexion and trunk flexion using a goniometer and a flexometer. RESULTS The general warming-up session induced a significantly increased range of motion only at the ankle dorsiflexion joint (P<0.05). Results also suggest that passive stretching alone and passive stretching after a general warming-up bout both induced a significantly increased range in all lower extremity joints and trunk flexion (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Improvements in flexibility are observed after passive muscle elongation, irrespective of warming-up.
Factors associated with strain in informal caregivers of stroke patients.

BACKGROUND Stroke is one of the most prevalent causes of adult disability and handicap. Informal caregivers play an important role in poststroke care. However, informal caregivers may experience strain, which threatens the recovery of stroke subjects. This study aimed to describe changes in strain experienced by informal caregivers from 3 to 6 months after the stroke, and identify the predicting factors. METHODS We recruited pairs of inpatients with ischemic stroke and informal caregivers from a tertiary referral hospital and interviewed them at 3 and 6 months after the stroke. Caregiver strain was evaluated using the Caregiver Strain Index (CSI), with a CSI ≥ 7 indicating considerable caregiver strain. Various factors associated with caregiver strain were analyzed using generalized estimating equations. RESULTS Eighty-nine stroke patients and caregivers completed the study. Considerable strain was reported in 46% and 43% of the caregivers at the 3rd and 6th month, respectively. Patient factors such as severe disabilities (Barthel Index ≤ 60), poor cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination ≤ 23), depression (Beck Depression Inventory [BDI] ≥ 10), and recurrent stroke were predictors for caregiver strain. Caregiver factors, such as changed employment status, help from formal caregivers, and depression (BDI ≥ 10) were also associated with considerable caregiver strain. CONCLUSIONS Nearly 50% of caregivers experienced considerable strain. Interventions aimed at reducing the caregivers' strain should focus on enhancing the functional and emotional status of stroke subjects, prevention of recurrent stroke, and efficient management of depression symptoms in caregivers.
The evolution of sperm morphometry in pheasants

Post‐copulatory sexual selection is thought to be a potent evolutionary force driving the diversification of sperm shape and function across species. In birds, insemination and fertilization are separated in time and sperm storage increases the duration of sperm–female interaction and hence the opportunity for sperm competition and cryptic female choice. We performed a comparative study of 24 pheasant species (Phasianidae, Galliformes) to establish the relative importance of sperm competition and the duration of sperm storage for the evolution of sperm morphometry (i.e. size of different sperm traits). We found that sperm size traits were negatively associated with the duration of sperm storage but were independent of the risk of sperm competition estimated from relative testis mass. Our study emphasizes the importance of female reproductive biology for the evolution of sperm morphometry particularly in sperm‐storing taxa.
Universal and Reconfigurable to UPS Active Power Filter for Line Conditioning

This paper describes an improved universal active power line conditioner designed to attenuate every disturbance in the electric power system and critical loads, except frequency variations. The circuit has a series voltage filter and a parallel current filter interconnected through a shared dc bus. In case of a supply interruption, the current filter reconfigures to UPS and feeds a preselected 20% of load during 500 ms at the expenses of the dc bus. Over previous reconfigurable solutions, the input and output series static switches have been eliminated improving the reliability, efficiency and cost. Optional parallel LC tuned current filters have also been proved to be control compatible. The search has been guided by an iterative analysis-plus-synthesis cost comparative method initiated in previous works, showing the cost of the components involved in each explored topology. Experimental results on three laboratory models and a 400 kVA industrial prototype validate the topology and suggest improvement of some control loops.
Aortic surgery: effect of clonidine on intraoperative catecholaminergic and circulatory stability

Twenty‐eight patients presenting for aortic surgery were randomly assigned in a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled protocol to receive placebo (n=14) or clonidine (4.7 ± 1.2 μg · kg‐1 po; n=14), in addition to flunitrazepam 120 min before induction of anesthesia. Plasma catecholamines (CA) and hemodynamic variables were determined at 7 stages during surgery. In the placebo group, plasma epinephrine (E) and norepinephrine (NE) had risen twofold at skin closure compared to baseline (E: from 109 ± 51 pg p ml‐1 to 294 ± 161 pg · ml‐1; NE: from 658 ± 226 to 1150 ± 494 pg · ml‐1). Plasma CA were significantly lower in the clonidine group (P<0.001 and 0.01 vs placebo for NE and E respectively). In both groups, similar directional changes were observed for the circulatory variables, upon aortic clamping and declamping. In the clonidine group, however, mean arterial pressure was lower at most stages (P<0.05 vs placebo); moreover, stroke volume index was greater in the clonidine group (P>0.05) upon declamping. This improved stability in the clonidine group was achieved with a halving in the number of anesthetic/circulatory interventions (P >0.05 vs placebo). Provided intravascular volume is adequate, clonidine suppresses the increase in plasma catecholamines induced by aortic surgery and improves circulatory stability, with a reduced number of anesthetic/ circulatory adjustments.
Thalamic processing of vibrissal information in the rat: II. Morphological and functional properties of medial ventral posterior nucleus and posterior nucleus neurons

Extracellular recording, intracellular recording, intracellular horseradish peroxidase injection, and receptive field mapping techniques were employed to evaluate the physiological and morphological properties of medial ventral posterior nucleus (VPM) and posterior nucleus (POm) neurons in normal adult rats. Overall, we physiologically characterized 148 VPM and 121 POm neurons. Over 82% of the VPM cells were excited only by deflection of one or more mystacial vibrissae, 10% were activated by displacement of guard hairs, and the remainder were either excited by indentation of the skin or were unresponsive. Less than 40% of the POm cells were activated by vibrissa deflection, 18% were excited by displacement of guard hairs, and another 17% were unresponsive. Most of the rest of the POm cells were excited by stimulation of skin, mucosa, or activation of muscle‐related afferents. Small percentages of POm cells responded only to noxious stimulation, were classified as having a wide dynamic range, or were inhibited by peripheral stimulation. Electrical stimulation of either PrV or SpI activated most neurons in both VPM and POm. This excitation was almost invariably followed by a long‐lasting hyperpolarization which was generally strong enough to prevent responses to either electrical stimuli delivered in the brainstem or mechanical stimulation of the periphery. The receptive fields of vibrissa‐sensitive cells in POm were generally much larger than those of cells in VPM. Data obtained with extracellular recording indicated that VPM and POm cells responded to an average of 1.4 and 4.0 vibrissae, respectively. Intracellular recording from smaller samples of VPM and POm cells demonstrated the existence of inputs that were insufficient to produce spikes from the cell, but did yield epsp's. When both sub‐ and suprathreshold excitation were considered, the average number of vibrissa in the receptive field of a VPM cell was 2.7 and the value for POm cells became 7.8. HRP‐filled neurons recovered in POm (N = 20) generally had much larger dendritic arbors than neurons in VPM (N = 31). For the former cells, the size of the dendritic tree was significantly correlated with the number of vibrissa to which the cell responded; for the latter neurons, it was not.
Genotyping of 73 UM‐SCC head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines

We established multiple University of Michigan Squamous Cell Carcinoma (UM‐SCC) cell lines. With time, these have been distributed to other labs all over the world. Recent scientific discussions have noted the need to confirm the origin and identity of cell lines in grant proposals and journal articles. We genotyped the UM‐SCC cell lines in our collection to confirm their unique identity.
Optical Structure Recognition Software To Recover Chemical Information: OSRA, An Open Source Solution

Until recently most scientific and patent documents dealing with chemistry have described molecular structures either with systematic names or with graphical images of Kekulé structures. The latter method poses inherent problems in the automated processing that is needed when the number of documents ranges in the hundreds of thousands or even millions since graphical representations cannot be directly interpreted by a computer. To recover this structural information, which is otherwise all but lost, we have built an optical structure recognition application based on modern advances in image processing implemented in open source tools, OSRA. OSRA can read documents in over 90 graphical formats including GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PDF, and PS, automatically recognizes and extracts the graphical information representing chemical structures in such documents, and generates the SMILES or SD representation of the encountered molecular structure images.
Prevalence of HIV infection in the United States, 1984 to 1992.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the number of persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) living in the United States and the change in HIV infection prevalence since 1984. DESIGN We estimated HIV prevalence from 3 data sources. We estimated past HIV infection rates from a statistical procedure based on national acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) case surveillance data and estimates of the time from HIV infection to AIDS diagnosis. We also analyzed HIV prevalence data from 2 national surveys, a survey of childbearing woman and a household survey of current health status. We used other data sources to adjust these survey estimates to include groups not covered in the surveys. RESULTS Approximately 0.3% of US residents (650,000-900,000 persons) were infected with HIV in 1992. Approximately 0.6% of men (including adolescent boys > or = 13 years of age) were infected, including approximately 2% of non-Hispanic black men and 1% of Hispanic men. Approximately 0.1% of women (including adolescent girls > or = 13 years of age) were infected, including approximately 0.6% of non-Hispanic black women. Approximately half of all infected persons were men who had sex with men, and one fourth were injecting drug users. The prevalence of HIV infection increased from 1984 to 1992, with a greater relative increase among women than men. CONCLUSIONS The 3 different data sources and methods are consistent in estimating that 650,000 to 900,000 persons were infected with HIV in the United States in 1992. Among adolescents and adults of both sexes, the proportion infected was substantially higher among non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics than among non-Hispanic whites. HIV-related illness will be a major clinical and public health problem in the United States for years to come.
FEASIBILITY OF ENDOSCOPIC SUBMUCOSAL DISSECTION FOR PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC RENAL FAILURE ON HEMODIALYSIS

Background: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is expected as a curative method for node‐negative gastrointestinal cancers. Little is known about ESD for patients with end‐stage chronic renal failure (CRF) on hemodialysis. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ESD for patients with CRF on hemodialysis.
Mother-daughter correlations of obesity and cardiovascular disease risk factors in black and white households: the NHLBI Growth and Health Study.

OBJECTIVES This study sought to evaluate obesity as a potential explanatory factor for the increased relative risk for cardiovascular disease in Black compared with White women. METHODS Familial associations for obesity and cardiovascular disease risk factors were assessed in 720 White and 580 Black mother-daughter pairs from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Growth and Health Study by using Pearson's chi square, Spearman's correlations, and partial correlations. RESULTS Black girls and mothers were significantly heavier and had higher body mass indices than their White counterparts. In each racial group, significant, positive mother-daughter correlations existed for weight, body mass index, and triceps skinfolds, and for all cardiovascular disease risk factors. Obesity measures correlated positively with systolic blood pressure and triglycerides and inversely with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in girls and mothers of both races. Correlations between mothers and daughters for exercise and ideal body shape were weak and did not explain obesity associations. CONCLUSIONS Intrafamilial associations of obesity, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and the obesity-cardiovascular disease risk factor relationship support the position that increased cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality rates in Black women may be linked to excess obesity in Black women compared with White ones.
Rewarding educators and education leaders in research-intensive universities

The reward and recognition of staff focused on learning and teaching is an issue that affects all types of higher education institutions. Research-intensive institutions, for example, have always been conscious of the balance between research and teaching, particularly in relation to funding streams and the REF, but have ensured that their students receive the excellent teaching that they deserve. One indication of this is the increasing number of HEA Fellows at such institutions. At a time of growing emphasis on the importance of high quality student education, the HEA’s research into career structures and prospects - which includes Rebalancing promotion in the HE sector: Is teaching excellence being rewarded by Annette Cashmore et al, and Shifting landscapes: Meeting the staff development needs of the changing academic workforce by William Locke et al – can help to inform policy and practice. The HEA will continue to commission high quality research - from across the sector - to address key issues in this area. The research offered below by Dilly Fung et al focuses solely on the Russell Group – which it is acknowledged comprises only a small section of the UK’s research-intensive institutions - and examines the challenges at those particular institutions. It is hoped that some of the findings, analysis and recommendations might be applicable more broadly, however, in the UK and elsewhere.
Free energy landscape of siRNA-polycation complexation: Elucidating the effect of molecular geometry, polymer flexibility, and charge neutralization

The success of medical threatments with DNA and silencing interference RNA is strongly related to the design of efficient delivery technologies. Cationic polymers represent an attractive strategy to serve as nucleic-acid carriers with the envisioned advantages of efficient complexation, low cost, ease of production, well-defined size, and low polydispersity index. However, the balance between efficacy and toxicity (safety) of these polymers is a challenge and in need of improvement. With the aim of designing more effective polycationic-based gene carriers, many parameters such as carrier morphology, size, molecular weight, surface chemistry, and flexibility/rigidity ratio need to be taken into consideration. In the present work, the binding mechanism of three cationic polymers (polyarginine, polylysine and polyethyleneimine) to a model siRNA target is computationally investigated at the atomistic level. In order to better understand the polycationic carrier-siRNA interactions, replica exchange molecular dynamic simulations were carried out to provide an exhaustive exploration of all the possible binding sites, taking fully into account the siRNA flexibility together with the presence of explicit solvent and ions. Moreover, well-tempered metadynamics simulations were employed to elucidate how molecular geometry, polycation flexibility, and charge neutralization affect the siRNA-polycations free energy landscape in term of low-energy binding modes and unbinding free energy barriers. Significant differences among polymer binding modes have been detected, revealing the advantageous binding properties of polyarginine and polylysine compared to polyethyleneimine.
IL-7 Activates the Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/AKT Pathway in Normal Human Thymocytes but Not Normal Human B Cell Precursors1

IL-7 signaling culminates in different biological outcomes in distinct lymphoid populations, but knowledge of the biochemical signaling pathways in normal lymphoid populations is incomplete. We analyzed CD127/IL-7Rα expression and function in normal (nontransformed) human thymocytes, and human CD19+ B-lineage cells purified from xenogeneic cord blood stem cell/MS-5 murine stromal cell cultures, to further clarify the role of IL-7 in human B cell development. IL-7 stimulation of CD34+ immature thymocytes led to phosphorylation (p-) of STAT5, ERK1/2, AKT, and glycogen synthase kinase-3 β, and increased AKT enzymatic activity. In contrast, IL-7 stimulation of CD34− thymocytes (that included CD4+/CD8+ double-positive, and CD4+ and CD8+ single-positive cells) only induced p-STAT5. IL-7 stimulation of CD19+ cells led to robust induction of p-STAT5, but minimal induction of p-ERK1/2 and p-glycogen synthase kinase-3 β. However, CD19+ cells expressed endogenous p-ERK1/2, and when rested for several hours following removal from MS-5 underwent de-phosphorylation of ERK1/2. IL-7 stimulation of rested CD19+ cells resulted in robust induction of p-ERK1/2, but no induction of AKT enzymatic activity. The use of a specific JAK3 antagonist demonstrated that all IL-7 signaling pathways in CD34+ thymocytes and CD19+ B-lineage cells were JAK3-dependent. We conclude that human CD34+ thymocytes and CD19+ B-lineage cells exhibit similarities in activation of STAT5 and ERK1/2, but differences in activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway. The different induction of PI3K/AKT may at least partially explain the different requirements for IL-7 during human T and B cell development.
A study of the mechanisms by which potassium moves through brain tissue in the rat.

The flux of K+ produced by electric current across the pia‐arachnoid surface of the neocortex of anaesthetized rats has been studied with K+‐selective electrodes in a cup at the surface and with flame photometry. The potential differences developed across three regions of the rat brain (neocortex, cerebellum, hippocampus) have been measured as [K+] was altered in fluid at the surface. The experimental results have been related to those that would be expected (i) if K+ moved principally by diffusion in extracellular space and (ii) if current flow through cells makes a significant contribution to K+ transfer. K movement produced by current across the neocortical surface accounted for 0.06 of the transfer of electric charge with small currents in either direction (ca. 5 microA mm‐2) and with larger currents out of the tissue. Large currents (ca. 20 microA mm‐2) into the tissue produced less K+ movement, but still more than the fraction 0.012 expected for purely extracellular flux. Alternating current pulses (5 Hz) with zero net transfer of charge produced no flux of K+ across the surface, while alternation with unequal durations produced the same effects as the equivalent steady charge transfer. The K+ flux lagged behind the onset and cessation of current with a time constant ca. 45 sec, approximately as expected from calculations with a model of the tissue. A surface‐negative potential shift averaging 2 mV was observed when [K+ ]at the brain surface was increased from 3 to 12 mM. The time for development of half of the full potential change was 20 sec, with the solution changes complete in less than 4 sec. These results are inconsistent with the hypothesis that K+ movement through brain tissue occurs principally through intercellular clefts, except where these movements involve very localized gradients. They are consistent with the conclusion that ca. 5 times as much K+ flux passes through cells (probably largely glial cells) as through extracellular space, with fluxes driven by either extracellular voltage or concentration gradients.