bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Relationship between Socio-Economic Aspects and Education Level of Group Ages 18-25 towards Teeth-Brushing Habit
Authors: Indriasari Putri Rahmadhany  , Aulia Ramadhani  , Abigail Reyhan Kesuma  , Riska Nur Arifianti P.N  , Nada Fajrina  , Nadhia S. Latuamury
Published: March 2021

Background: Dental and oral health problems in the community can arise due to behavioral factors orattitudes ignoring oral and dental hygiene. The level of education and the factors that affect children’s owndental health have been presented in various studies.Objective: To analyze the relationship between socio-economic aspects and the level of education of peopleaged 18-25 years towards the habit of brushing teeth in the city of Surabaya.Method: This type of research is an observational analytic study with a design using a cross sectionalstudy approach. In this study, related data were collected regarding the relationship between education andsocioeconomic levels of the age range of 18-25 years on the habit of brushing properly taken at the sametime.Results: There was no significant relationship between education and socio-economic level with the habitof brushing teeth.Conclusion: It was concluded that there was no significant relationship between education level with thehabit of brushing teeth and the relationship of socioeconomic level with the habit of brushing teeth.
Efficacy of Tongue Stimulation in Neurorehabilitation– A Narrative Review
Authors: Jayaprakash Jayavelu  , Jasobanta Sethi  , Sahil Kohli  , Tariq Matin
Published: March 2021

Introduction: The tongue is being represented bilaterally in the motor homunculus of the brain. Tongue hasbeen used as an effective interface to send signals to central nervous system. The purpose of this article is toreview all articles related to tongue stimulation in neurological rehabilitation.Method: All studies including case studies, cohort studies, experimental studies and reviews, which dealtwith tongue stimulation in neurological conditions during the period between 2010 and 2020, were includedin the study.Results: Tongue Stimulation has been used effectively n rehabilitation for improving balance in patientswith vestibular disorders, multiple sclerosis patients, spinal cord injury patients and stroke patients. TongueStimulation has also been used to improve motor recovery in stroke patients.Conclusion: Tongue stimulation becomes a novel mode of stimulation in inducing neuroplasticity and canbe used in wide variety of neurological patients. Further researches needs to be done on the effect of tonguestimulation on upper extremity rehabilitation in stroke patients.
Use of Postoperative TENS Along with Rehabilitation Protocol Following Total Knee Replacement for Better Results
Authors: Jyoti Sahni  , Rituraj Verma  , Taruna Verma  , Vikas Sharma
Published: March 2021

Objective: To assess the viability of TENS in diminishing agony and increasing function following TKR.Sample: 30 subjects (age>55years)chose based on consideration and avoidance standardsare included inthe study.Method: 30 subjects were taken in the study,chosen based on consideration and rejection models andarbitrarily assigned to each group. Group 1 and group2. Experimental group (group 1) received TENS andexercise while control group received only exercises for 20 days (6 days per week). Functional testing wasdone using a questionnaire.Results: Paired t-test was used for statistical analysis. There was huge distinction between the two groups(A & B). The experimental group has significant improvement then the observational group. The pain VASscore has more difference. There was no significant difference in ADL activities score.Conclusion: It was concluded that applying TENS along with exercises on initial days of rehabilitationshows better results and increases the recovery process.
A Review on Efficacy of Sensors in Capturing Biophysical Measures and its Application in the Field of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation
Authors: Md Abu Shaphe  , Rashid Ali Beg  , Mudasir N Shah  , Aksh Chahal  , Amr S Shalaby
Published: March 2021

Background: Use of sensors for assessment and treating orthopedic and neurological conditions inphysical therapy and rehabilitation is in practice since last 2 decades. Its efficiency has been promising withadvancements in research and clinical practice.Objective: The aim of the present review is to synthesize and evaluate studies which have performed a roleto test efficacy of sensors following orthopedic and neurological conditions for research and clinical practicein physical therapy and rehabilitation.Data Source: Are view of articles identified from high impact journal from Springer, Hindawi, MDPI,PLOSone, De Gruyter was performed by both researchers.Study Eligibility Criteria: Articles published only in English between January, 2010 and December, 2019were included which investigated role of sensors in physical therapy and rehabilitation.Study Appraisal and Synthesis Method: Studies were grouped as wearable, bio-mechanical pressure,motion capture sensing technology and stretch sensors.Results: From the 17 articles identified, 10 papers were involved in the review which was deemed as beingof high quality.Conclusion: Sensor technology is a full-fledged and rapidly growing field with imperative focus andnoteworthy role in assessment and treatment for upper and lower limbs insufficiencies, spinal curvecorrections in numerous orthopedic and neurological conditions. Research over the past 10 years grandlyfocused on the use of sensors in physical therapy and rehabilitation.
L1 vs. L2 vs. L3 transfer: Evidence contra wholesale transfer models and privileged languages from grammatical gender and definiteness acquisition in sequential quardilinguals
Authors: Ozernyi Daniil M.
Published: March 2021

The acquisition of the fourth language (L4A) is an underinvestigated field, and this study of acquisition of grammatical gender and determiners in sequential quadrilinguals (RUS-UKR-ENG-FRA) of CEFR A0 to A2 levels of French (n=22) aims at testing the hypothesis that all three languages are available as a source of transfer to (L4). The results were found to be significant by ANOVAs and MANOVA, thus the study presents evidence to support the hypothesis that language learning is cumulative, as well as to scrutinize the existing models of L3A on how they could be extended to the research in L4A and what the boundaries of "linguistic proximity" used so widely in L3A theories are.
The role of verb semantics in Hungarian verb-object order
Authors: Demszky Dorottya
Published: March 2021

Hungarian is often referred to as a discourse-configurational language, since the structural position of constituents is determined by their logical function (topic or comment) rather than their grammatical function (e.g., subject or object). We build on work by Komlósy (1989) and argue that in addition to discourse context, the lexical semantics of the verb also plays a significant role in determining Hungarian word order. In order to investigate the role of lexical semantics in determining Hungarian word order, we conduct a large-scale, data-driven analysis on the ordering of 380 transitive verbs and their objects, as observed in hundreds of thousands of examples extracted from the Hungarian Gigaword Corpus. We test the effect of lexical semantics on the ordering of verbs and their objects by grouping verbs into 11 semantic classes. In addition to the semantic class of the verb, we also include two control features related to information structure, object definiteness and object NP weight, chosen to allow a comparison of their effect size to that of verb semantics. Our results suggest that all three features have a significant effect on verb-object ordering in Hungarian and among these features, the semantic class of the verb has the largest effect. Specifically, we find that stative verbs, such as fed 'cover', jelent 'mean' and övez 'surround', tend to be OV-preferring (with the exception of psych verbs which are strongly VO-preferring) and non-stative verbs, such as bírál 'judge', csökkent 'reduce' and csókol 'kiss', verbs tend to be VO-preferring. These findings support our hypothesis that lexical semantic factors influence word order in Hungarian.
Aspect as an indicator of a clausal size in Involuntary State Constructions in BCS
Authors: Melnikova Anna
Published: March 2021

Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS) has a productive ‘involuntary state construction (ISC) with a modal interpretation. There is an ongoing debate concerning the syntactic complexity of this construction. According to one account – the “mono-clausal analysis”, ISCs have only one (overt) lexical verb, and the modal interpretation stems from the imperfective operator (Rivero and Milojević-Sheppard 2003,Rivero 2009, Tsedryk 2016). There is also a “bi-clausal account” which argues in favor of a covert matrix verb of involuntary disposition feel-like, which takes a clausal ModP complement, giving the modal interpretation (Marušič & Žaucer 2005 [henceforth M&Ž]). In this paper, I provide additional evidence in favor of the bi-clausal approach and in so doing, account for a previously unresolved aspectual restriction on the construction, namely that it is ungrammatical with a perfective lexical verb. The main claim is that the unavailability of perfective in the ISC is due to selectional properties of covert feel-like, which results in the violation of requirements on perfective.
Exclamations and their discourse effects in Japanese
Authors: Hirayama Hitomi
Published: March 2021

This paper discusses two kinds of sentences with nante that can express exclamations in Japanese. I show that these two nante exclamations show the contrast observed between sentence exclamations and wh-exclamatives in English (Rett 2011). Based on the data, I propose that nante in the two types of sentences can be analyzed in a unified way: nante is like what in English in that it can range over a variety of categories. The semantic composition shows that the two nante sentences have different sentence types and hence different discourse effects (Farkas & Roelofsen 2017). One type is a marked assertion, and the other is a bonafide exclamative. I show the contrast using the discourse model in Farkas & Bruce (2010): the exclamative updates the speaker’s commitment, not the potential future common ground.
Coarticulation and learnability of transparent vowels in vowel harmony
Authors: Finley Sara
Published: March 2021

The representations of transparent vowels in vowel harmony have been of interest to phonologists because of the challenges they pose for constraints on locality and complexity. One proposal is that transparent vowels in back vowel harmony may be intermediate between front and back. The present study uses two artificial language learning experiments to explore the psychological reality of acoustic differences in transparent vowels in back vs. front vowel contexts. Participants were exposed to a back/round vowel harmony language with a neutral vowel that was spliced so that the F2 was lower in back vowel contexts and higher in front vowel contexts (the Natural condition) or the reverse (the Unnatural condition). While only participants in the Natural condition of Experiment 1 were able to learn the behavior of the transparent vowel relative to a No-Training control, there was no difference between the Natural and Unnatural conditions. In Experiment 2, only participants in the Natural condition learned the vowel harmony pattern, though there were no significant differences between the two conditions. No condition successfully learned the behavior of the transparent vowel in Experiment 2. These results suggest that the effects of small differences in the F2 value of transparent back vowels on learnability are minimal.
Sluicing Cannot Apply In-Situ in Japanese
Authors: Hiraiwa Ken
Published: March 2021

Ross (1969) proposed that sluicing in English is derived by wh- movement and deletion. The wh-movement analysis, however, is not straight- forward in wh-in-situ languages like Japanese. A number of studies argued that sluicing in Japanese is based on wh-cleft structure with much empirical evidence. More recently, however, Kimura (2010) and Abe (2015) have proposed an in-situ analysis of sluicing in Japanese, which deletes everything but a wh-phrase (and the Q-complementizer) in situ, without movement. In this paper, building on immobile elements, I will provide decisive evidence against the in-situ deletion analysis of sluicing and for the wh-cleft analysis of sluicing.
Real-time processing of event descriptions for partially- and fully-completed events: Evidence from the visual world paradigm
Authors: Kaplan Max J. , Raju Amulya , Arunachalam Sudha
Published: March 2021

The current study investigated non-culminating accomplishments through an experimental lens. We used a well-established paradigm for studying real-time language processing using eye-tracking, the visual world paradigm. Our study was modeled after Altmann and Kamide’s (2007) investigation of processing of aspectual information contained in a perfect verb form (e.g., has eaten). We compared English-speaking adults’ interpretations of sentences like ‘The girl has eaten a cookie’ and ‘The girl was eating a cookie’ in the context of one of two visual scenes. In the Full Completion condition, the scene depicted two referents that were compatible with the predicate: one was compatible with the expected end state of the event (e.g., an empty plate), the other with an unrealized version of the event (e.g., an uneaten cookie). In the Partial Completion condition, the scene depicted a referent that was compatible with a partially-completed version of the event (e.g., part of a cookie on a plate) and an unrealized interpretation (e.g., an uneaten cookie). For verb forms in the perfect (e.g., has eaten) but not in the progressive, we found a difference between conditions; listeners preferred to look at the fully-affected referent in the Full Completion condition as compared to the partially-affected referent in the Partial Completion condition. We take the results as suggestive in favor of a pragmatic rather than semantic account of non-culmination interpretations in English.
Deriving Arabic verbal "templates" without templates
Authors: Zukoff Sam
Published: March 2021

Much of the recent OT-based literature on Arabic root-and-pattern morphology has identified prosodic constraints as a main driver of the language’s verbal "templates". I argue instead that the system is governed by non-prosodic (morpho)phonological constraints (in the spirit of McCarthy 1993). Following much recent work, this approach views Arabic’s root-and-pattern system as garden-variety morpheme concatenation that is subject to unusual complications in the phonology and/or at the (morpho)syntax-phonology interface. This paper outlines an integrated analysis of the morphophonological properties of the Arabic verbal system without CV templates or prosodic constraints.
Source tags
Authors: Kiss Angelika
Published: March 2021

In this paper I argue that when question tags such as huh? in (North American) English, eh? in Italian and mi? in Hungarian follow a declarative anchor, they are subject to special contextual constraints. They convey that the speaker perceives the addressee to be a source for p, the proposition conveyed by the anchor, and in addition, the presupposition that the speaker herself is a source for the addressee being a source for p.
Understanding the effects of language revitalization workshops using long-format speech environment recordings
Authors: Nee Julia
Published: March 2021

Long-format speech environment (LFSE) recordings are increasingly used to understand language acquisition among young children (Casillas & Cristia 2019). But in language revitalization, older children are sometimes the largest demographic acquiring a language. In Teotitlán del Valle, Mexico, older children have participated in Zapotec language revitalization workshops since 2017. To better understand how these children use language, and to probe whether the language workshops impact language use, I invited learners to collect LFSE recordings. This study addresses two main questions: (1) what methodological challenges emerge when children ages 6-12 collect LFSE data?; and (2) what do the data suggest about the effects of the Zapotec workshops? I argue that, while creating LFSE recordings with older children presents methodological challenges, the results are useful in highlighting the importance of not only teaching language skills, but of creating spaces where learners are comfortable using the Zapotec language.
Sibilant harmony in Santiago Tz’utujil (Mayan)
Authors: Lyskawa Paulina , Ranero Rodrigo
Published: March 2021

We analyze sibilant harmony in the Santiago Atitlán dialect of Tz’utujil (Mayan), a phenomenon that was briefly described by Dayley (1985). Novel data show that the obligatory harmony process (i) is asymmetrical (triggered only by [+ant] sibilants), (ii) progressive, and (iii) applies long-distance. Furthermore, we argue that the process is not stem-controlled. In contextualizing the phenomenon within the typology of sibilant harmony (Hansson 2010), we conclude that it is unique. Finally, we suggest that Santiago Tz’utujil sibilant harmony has been stable diachronically because the target segment /ʃ/ is always in the stressed syllable, thus being salient in the input during acquisition.
Resumptive pronouns facilitate processing of long-distance relative clause dependencies in second language English
Authors: Zenker Fred , Schwartz Bonnie D.
Published: March 2021

This study provides evidence that resumptive pronouns (RPs) can facilitate the processing of long-distance subject relative clause (RC) dependencies during second language (L2) sentence comprehension, even where they are disallowed in both the first language (L1) and the target language. A test group of 29 L1-Korean L2 learners (L2ers) of English and a control group of 25 native English speakers completed an online self-paced reading task (SPRT) and an offline acceptability judgment task (AJT) designed to test whether RPs reflect Interlanguage grammar representations and/or a strategy to alleviate processing overload. Analysis of the SPRT data from both response times and comprehension question accuracy indicates that RPs assisted the L2ers, but not the native speakers, with dependency resolution in long-distance RCs. For the AJT data, a proficiency effect was observed whereby some lower-proficiency L2ers, but not the higher-proficiency ones or the native speakers, tended to prefer RPs over gaps in long-distance RCs. The implications of these findings and plans for future research are discussed.
Controlling overt subjects in Mandarin
Authors: Li Daoxin
Published: March 2021

Overt controlees have been observed in different languages, and previous proposals diverge in whether to analyze them as lexicalized PROs or not. In this study, I present new evidence from Mandarin for non-PRO overt controlees in finite control. This study also demonstrates a structural difference between exhaustive control and partial control, where the partial reading arises from an associative morpheme, thus providing new perspectives for PC theories.
Attributive subcomparatives in Japanese
Authors: Ohtaka Akane
Published: March 2021

This paper aims to explain the difference in grammaticality between Japanese attributive subcomparatives with quantity adjectives (e.g., ooku/takusan ‘many’) and those with non-quantity adjectives (e.g., omosiroi ‘interesting’). My analysis assumes that Japanese clausal comparatives involve degree abstraction (Shimoyama 2012, see also Bhatt and Takahashi 2011). Degree abstraction is generally assumed to require movement of a null degree operator. In the case of attributive clausal comparatives, the movement takes place from the left branch position. If no operation that alleviates a left branch island violation is available, we would expect that the resulting sentences would be ungrammatical. I propose that in Japanese, quantifier float can play a role in ameliorating extraction out of the left branch islands. More specifically, I argue that (i) Japanese attributive subcomparatives with quantity adjectives involve quantifier float of the quantity adjectives, and that (ii) quantifier float carries the degree operators associated with the adjectives to a position where degree operator movement can originate.
Speech tested for Zipfian fit using rigorous statistical techniques
Authors: De Palma Paul , Garcia-Camargo Leon Antonio , Kilfoyle Jeb , Vandam Mark , Stover Joseph
Published: March 2021

Zipf’s law describes the relationship between the frequencies of words in a corpus and their rank. Its most basic form is a simple series, indicating that the frequency of a word is inverselyproportional to its rank:1/2, 1/3, 1/4,...The past two decades have seen the emergence of usage-based and cognitive approaches to language study. A key observation of these approaches, along with the importance of frequency, is that speech differs in substantial and structural ways from writing. Yet, except for a few older analyses performed on very small corpora, most studies of Zipf’s law have been done on written corpora. Further, a judgement of Zifianness in much of this work is based on loose and informal criteria.  In fact, sophisticated statistical techniques have been developed for curve fitting in recent years in the mathematics and physics literature. These include the use of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistic, along with maximum likelihood estimation to generate p-values and the use of the complementary error function for normal distributions. The latter helps determine if a corpus, failing a Zipfian fit, might be better described by another distribution. In this paper, we will:Show that three corpora of recorded speech follow a power law distribution using rigorous statis- tical techniques: Buckeye, Santa Barbara, MiCaseDescribe preliminary results showing that the techniques outlined in this paper may be useful in the diagnoses of those conditions that can include disordered speech.Explain how to do the analyses described in this paper.Explain how to download and use the R/Python code we have written and packaged as the Zipf Tool Kit
Perception and production of [voice] contrasts in Dutch word-initial plosives
Authors: Pfiffner Alexandra M.
Published: March 2021

This study examines relative cue weights to the [voice] contrast in Dutch word-initial plosives. Perception and production data were collected from 25 native speakers, divided into two gender-balanced age groups (22-29; 61-71). Perception stimuli were artificially-manipulated continua /pɑd/-/bɑd/ ('trail', 'bath') and /tɑl/-/dɑl/ ('quantity', 'valley'), varying in amount of prevoicing and f0 of the following vowel. Results show that both prevoicing and f0 are used as cues to phonological voicing. Production results show an increasing rate of devoicing in younger participants, and significant f0 differences in all speakers. This suggests that cue weights are in the process of changing.
Grammaticalization in Somali and the development of morphological tone
Authors: Kaldhol Nina Hagen , Stausland Johnsen Sverre
Published: March 2021

We demonstrate how grammaticalization may cause the restructuring of prosodic systems, leading to the development of new prosodic types. Illustrated with data from Northern Somali and related varieties, we show how a restricted tone system has developed into one of morphological tone through grammatical­ization of independent words to bound forms. Diachronic change has weakened the “accentual” properties of the High tone in Somali, and the tone patterns are synchronically best analyzed as properties of morphological constructions rather than of prosodic domains.
Exploring the connection between Question Under Discussion and scalar diversity
Authors: Ronai Eszter , Xiang Ming
Published: March 2021

Previous research has revealed that different scalar expressions give rise to scalar inferences (SIs) at different rates. This variation has been termed scalar diversity. In this study, we investigate the role of Questions Under Discussion (QUDs) in explaining this variation in SI rates. Investigating 43 different scalar expressions, we first show that explicit QUDs robustly affect calculation rates: questions based on the stronger of two scalar terms lead to higher SI rates than questions promoting the weaker one. Second, we explore whether the likelihood of asking the stronger question in general (Question Availability) can explain the scalar diversity effect. Our results suggest that Question Availability is indeed a predictor of scalar diversity, but only for scales where both terms denote intervals (unbounded scales), and not for scales where the stronger member has a fixed meaning (bounded scales).
Perceptual difficulty differences predict asymmetry in redundant modification with color and material adjectives
Authors: Kursat Leyla , Degen Judith
Published: March 2021

When referring to objects, speakers are often more specific than necessary for the purpose of establishing unique reference, e.g., by producing redundant modifiers. A computational model of referring expression production that accounts for many of the key patterns in redundant adjectival modification assumes that adjectives differ in how noisy (reliable), and consequently, how useful they are for reference. Here we investigate one hypothesis about the source of the assumed adjectival noise: that it reflects the perceptual difficulty of establishing whether the property denoted by the adjective holds of the contextually relevant objects. In Exp.1, we collect perceptual difficulty norms for items that vary in color and material. In Exp. 2, we test the highest (material) and lowest (color) perceptual difficulty items in a reference game and find that material is indeed less likely to be mentioned redundantly, replicating previous work. In Exp. 3, we obtain norms for the tested items in a second perceptual difficulty measure with the aim of testing the effect of perceptual difficulty within property type. The overall results provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that the propensity to redundantly use color over material adjectives may be driven by the relative ease of assessing an object’s color, compared to the relative difficulty of assessing its material.
Assessing sensitivity to Condition A in the case of Chinese reflexives
Authors: Lyu Jun , Kaiser Elsi
Published: March 2021

There are two reflexives in Mandarin Chinese, ziji (‘self’) and ta-ziji (‘s/he-self’). It is often assumed that ziji can be bound by a non-local antecedent while ta-ziji cannot. This is because ziji can be used as an exempt anaphor licensed by discourse-pragmatic conditions. However, prior research shows that, in contexts without perspectival cues, ziji tends to be interpreted as a ‘regular’ syntactically bound reflexive, exhibiting a similar locality bias as ta-ziji. However, prior studies comparing the locality biases of ziji and ta-ziji present divergent results. In this study, we report two forced choice judgment experiments to assess which reflexive, ziji or ta-ziji, exhibits a stronger locality bias. Overall, our results fit better with claims that in local contexts, ta-ziji is preferred over ziji; we find no clear evidence of ziji being preferred over ta-ziji in local contexts. Our results are compatible with the idea that ta-ziji, rather than ziji, is more constrained by Condition A.
Common names and proper nouns: Morphosyntactic evidence of a complete nominal paradigm
Authors: Jambrović Samuel
Published: March 2021

The terms "common noun" and "proper name" encode two dichotomies that are often conflated. This paper explores the possibility of the other combinations—"common name" and "proper noun"—and concludes that both exist on the basis of their morphosyntactic behavior. In support of common names, inflectional regularization is determined to result from a "name" layer in the structure, meaning that common nouns that regularize are, in fact, common names (computer mouses, tailor’s gooses). In support of proper nouns, there are bare singular count nouns in English that receive definite interpretations and seem to be licensed as arguments by the same null determiner as proper names (I left town, she works at home). Not only does a four-way distinction between nouns, names, proper nouns, and proper names achieve greater empirical coverage, but it also captures the independent morphosyntactic effects of [PROPER] and [NAME] as features on D and N, respectively.
Afrikanetz kruegeri – New species of Cossinae (Lepidoptera, Cossidae) from Namibia
Authors: Yakovlev Roman V.
Published: March 2021

The article describes a new species, Afrikanetz kruegeri sp. n. from Namibia, Kunene Region. The article has 3 illustrations.
A mathematical model for Vibrio-phage interactions
Authors: Botelho Christopher , Kong Jude Dzevela , Lucien Mentor Ali Ber , Shuai Zhisheng , Wang Hao
Published: March 2021

A cholera model has been formulated to incorporate the interaction of bacteria and phage. It is shown that there may exist three equilibria: one disease free and two endemic equilibria. Threshold parameters have been derived to characterize stability of these equilibria. Sensitivity analysis and disease control strategies have been employed to characterize the impact of bacteria-phage interaction on cholera dynamics.
How to avoid en masse lobectomy using VATS technique in presence of hilar fibrosis
Authors: Amore Dario , Casazza Dino , Saglia Alessandro , Imitazione Pasquale , Caterino Umberto , Curcio Carlo
Published: March 2021

Perivascular fibrosis is technically one of the most challenging issue to manage during thoracoscopic lobectomy and it is associated with increased risk of hemorrhagic injury. Here we report a case of thoracoscopic right lower lobectomy performed with individual dissection of segmental arteries due to dense adventitial fibrosis around the right lower lobe pulmonary artery. This approach may be considered as an alternative to the so-called “en masse” lobectomy and a way to avoid conversion to thoracotomy.
Table of Contents Vol 9, No 1 (2020)
Authors: Office Editorial
Published: March 2021

No abstract available.
Pulp Regeneration in an Immature Maxillary Central Incisor Using Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel
Authors: Singh Harveen , Rathee Kirti , Kaur Amandeep , Miglani Neha
Published: March 2021

Pulp regenerative procedure is one of the treatment options for endodontically involved immature permanent teeth. The regenerative endodontic procedure was performed in a child of 9 years. After thorough canal disinfection using triple antibiotic paste for 21 days, bleeding was induced from the apex to provide for the stem cells. After that hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel was introduced into the canal space to act as injectable scaffold for pulp regeneration. This was followed by mineral trioxide aggregate placement to provide tight seal from the coronal aspect. Later, the tooth was restored with composite restoration. This approach offers the clinicians great opportunity to physiologically strengthen the immature root walls. The present report presents a regenerative endodontic procedure with HA hydrogel for a traumatized central incisor with arrested root development. The continued root development in the present case suggests that this treatment option may be able to resume the root maturation process in immature teeth with open apices.
Chorea-acanthocytosis
Authors: Urs Aadithya B. , Augustine Jeyaseelan , Khan Azhar Ahmed
Published: March 2021

Chorea-acanthocytosis (ChAc) is an autosomal recessive, progressive neurological disorder due to mutation in VPS13A gene causing defects in sorting of protein making the cell membrane unstable, leading to star-shaped erythrocytes. This neurological disorder includes features such as elevated creatinine kinase, atrophy of basal ganglia, and oral manifestations such as frequent cheek and tongue biting. It is a rare neurological condition with an estimate of <1000 cases worldwide. A case of 47-year-old male patient with a history of seizures and neurological problems presenting with oral ulceration has been discussed. The diagnosis of ChAc was confirmed by molecular investigations showing VPS13A gene mutation. The physical appearance includes chorea and dystonia with impaired gait. We attempt to highlight the oral features of ChAc. The oral manifestations include frequent tongue and cheek biting occurring due to dystonia affecting the muscles of head and neck region.
Comparative Evaluation of Osteogenic Potential of Conventional Glass-ionomer Cement with Chitosan-modified Glass-ionomer and Bioactive Glass-modified Glass-ionomer Cement - An In vitro Study
Authors: Ranjani Muthukrishnan Sudharshana , Kavitha Mahendran , Venkatesh Srinivasan
Published: March 2021

Aim:

The aim of this study was to compare the osteogenic potential of conventional glass-ionomer cement (GIC) with chitosan-modified GIC (CH-GIC) and bioactive glass-modified GIC (BAG-GIC) as a function of time in varying proportions.

Materials and Methods:

CH-GIC was prepared by adding 10 v/v% (Group II) and 50 v/v% (Group III) CH to the commercial liquid of GIC. BAG-GIC was prepared by the addition of 10 wt% (Group IV) and 30 wt% (Group V) of BAG to the GIC powder. Conventional GIC was kept as Group I. Nine round-shaped samples measuring 2 mm thick and 5 mm in diameter were prepared for every experimental material. Human osteosarcoma cells were cultured and cell proliferation was assessed at 24, 48, and 72 h using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, and cell differentiation was assessed at 7,14, and 21 days using alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assay. All experiments were done in triplicate. The data obtained were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey honestly significant difference post hoc multiple comparisons at 0.05 level significance.

Results:

Cell culture studies showed a significant increase in proliferative activity and ALP activity in Group II, III, IV, and V than Group I at all-time intervals (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in osteogenic potential between CH-GIC and BAG-GIC groups.

Conclusion:

The osteogenic potential was significantly higher in CH-GIC and BAG-GIC compared to conventional GIC.
Evaluation of Postoperative Pain after Pulpectomy using Different File Systems in Primary Teeth
Authors: Lakshmanan Lakshimi , Somasundaram Sujatha , Jeevanandan Ganesh , Subramanian EMG
Published: March 2021

Objective:

The purpose of this systematic review was to compare the incidence and intensity of postoperative pain after pulpectomy using different instrumentations in primary teeth.

Materials and Methods:

An extensive literature search in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, LILAC, SIGLE, and Google Scholar was performed to identify English language articles with human subjects that evaluated the effects of different instruments on postoperative pain after pulpectomy.

Results:

The search retrieved 187 references. After screening of the abstracts and articles, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of three articles were included in the systematic review. Of the three included studies, two of them had a moderate risk of bias and one showed a high risk of bias.

Conclusion:

The use of rotary instruments contributed to a lower incidence and intensity of postoperative pain than did the hand instruments in all the three studies. More high-quality randomized clinical trials are needed in this field in future studies to support the evidence.
Effect of Cathodic Arc Plasma Deposition on Shear Bond Strength between Palladium Cobalt Chromium Coated with Titanium Nitride and Titanium Aluminium Nitride with Ceramic
Authors: Prabhakar Vaishnavi , Chidambaranathan Ahila Singaravel , Balasubramanium Muthukumar
Published: March 2021

Background:

The success of esthetic ceramo-metal restoration is strongly influenced by its bond strength. The success of ceramo-metal restoration is subjective to its bond strength.

Aim and Objectives:

The aim of this study is to evaluate the shear bond strength between palladium-based cobalt chromium (Co-Cr) alloy coated with titanium nitride (TiNi) and titanium aluminum nitride with feldspathic ceramics.

Materials and Methods:

According to the International Organization for standardization 9693; technical report 1,140,640 samples were prepared using Palladium-based Co-Cr alloy with ×4 vertical projection resting on 5 mm diameter base. The samples were divided into Group: A (control), Group: B (Sandblasted), Group: C (TiNi coated), and Group: D (titanium aluminum nitride coated by cathodic arc plasma deposition, following which feldspathic ceramic application was performed. Shear bond test was performed using universal testing machine and surface analysis was performed using scanning electron microscope.

Results:

The mean shear bond strength for Group A was 172.994 ± 3.739 N, Group B 209.485 ± 5.913 N, Group C 176.536 ± 4.780 N, and Group D 260.576 ± 16.351 N. Comparison within the groups was made using one-way ANOVA, and multiple group comparisons were made using Tukey's honestly significant difference Post hoc test where the P < 0.001was considered statistically significant.

Conclusion:

Palladium based Co-Cr alloy coated with titanium aluminum nitride by cathodic plasma arc deposition showed maximum shear bond strength with feldspathic ceramic compared to noncoated, sandblasted, and TiNi coated alloy.
Effects of ventilation mode type on intra-abdominal pressure and intra-operative blood loss in patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery
Authors: Kundra Sandeep , Gupta Rekha , Luthra Neeru , Dureja Mehak , Katyal Sunil
Published: March 2021

Background and Aims:

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of mode of mechanical ventilation; pressure-controlled ventilation (PCV) vs. volume-controlled ventilation (VCV) on airway pressures, intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and intra-operative surgical bleeding in patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery.

Methods:

This was a prospective, randomised study that included 50 American Society of Anesthesiologists class I and II patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery who were mechanically ventilated using PCV or VCV mode. The respiratory parameters (peak and plateau pressures) and IAP were measured after anaesthesia induction in supine position, 10 min after the patients were changed from supine to prone position, at the end of the surgery in prone position, and after the patients were changed from prone to supine position. The amount of intraoperative surgical bleeding was measured by objective and subjective methods.

Results:

The primary outcome was the amount of intraoperative surgical bleeding. It was significantly less in the PCV group than in the VCV group (137 ± 24.37 mL vs. 311 ± 66.98 mL) (P = 0.000). Similarly, on comparing other parameters like peak inspiratory pressures, plateaupressures and IAP, the patients in PCV group had significantly lower parameters than those in VCV group (P < 0.05). No harmful events were recorded.

Conclusion:

In patie,nts undergoing lumbar spine surgery, use of PCV mode decreased intraoperative surgical bleeding, which may be related to lower intraoperative respiratory pressures and IAP.
Incidence of Secondary Bacterial Infections Following Utilization of Tocilizumab for the Treatment of COVID-19 – A Matched Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: Moore Joanna L. , Stroever Stephanie J. , Rondain Patricia E. , Scatena Robyn N.
Published: March 2021

Introduction:

Immunosuppressive agents are theorized to target the cytokine storm syndrome in COVID-19. However, the downstream effects regarding susceptibilities to secondary infection risk remains unknown. This study seeks to determine risk differences for secondary infections among COVID-19 patients who did and did not receive tocilizumab.

Methods:

We conducted a matched retrospective cohort study from two large, acute care hospitals in Western Connecticut from March 1, to May 31, 2020. We collected variables using manual medical record abstraction. The primary exposure variable was any dose of tocilizumab. The primary outcome was any healthcare-associated bacterial or fungal infection as defined by the National Healthcare Safety Network. We performed a Kaplan–Meier analysis to assess the crude difference in cumulative probability of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) across exposure groups. We also performed a multivariable Cox regression analysis to determine the hazard ratio for HAI by exposure group while controlling for potential confounders.

Results:

The Kaplan–Meier analysis demonstrated no difference in the cumulative probability of HAI across groups. The adjusted hazard of HAI for patients given tocilizumab was 0.85 times that of patients not given tocilizumab (95% confidence interval = 0.29, 2.52, P = 0.780) after controlling for relevant confounders.

Conclusions:

Tocilizumab did not increase the incidence of secondary infection among COVID-19 patients. Larger, randomized trials should evaluate infection as a secondary outcome to validate this finding.
The Role of Genetic Mutations in Y Chromosome Infertility Syndrome
Authors: Asadi Shahin
Published: March 2021

Sex chromosome Y infertility is a genetic disorder that affects sperm production and causes affected men to become infertile. Most men with Y chromosome infertility syndrome have some sperm cells in their urine that can be extracted for this purpose. As the name implies, this type of infertility is caused by changes in the Y sex chromosome. Infertility of the Y sex chromosome is usually caused by the removal of genetic material in areas of the Y chromosome called Azosperm Factor (AZF) A, B or C.

Keywords: Azosperm Factor; Oligospermia, Sperm Cell: Sex chromosome Y infertility
Progressive Behavior Modification for Diabetes Patients Based on the GH-Math-Physical Medicine Method Along with the Psychological and Physiological Linkage Pattern Analysis
Authors: Hsu Gerald C
Published: March 2021

The author self-studied abnormal (traumatized) and behavior psychology for nine years and he also conducted his own research on endocrinology including chronic diseases, especially diabetes, for another nine years.

1.1. He has contemplated a specific question

“Why do some type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients choose to face serious complications, including death, rather than change their lifestyle in order to control their diabetic conditions?”

1.2. T2D patients have faced three major challenges

1.2.1. Availability of accurate disease information with either physical evidence or quantitative proof, not just some general qualitative descriptions that may include either false or commercial driven purpose over the internet (knowledge issue).

1.2.2. Awareness of disease status and then be able to overcome “self-denial” to move onto “psychological acceptance” state in order to take effective action. The most difficult barriers are having willpower, determination, and persistence on lifestyle change (psychology issues).

1.2.3. A non-invasive, effective, and ease-of-use artificial intelligence technology (AI) based tool to accurately predict outcomes and also guide patients (technology issue).

His previous three specific papers in this area have already addressed the general understanding of the possible reasoning from a behavior psychology viewpoint by using wave theory, energy theory, frequency domain analysis (Fourier Transform), and segmentation pattern analysis. In those papers he also linked the patient’s psychological issues and diabetes physiological characteristics together in a mathematical and quantitative manner.

From his T2D clinical cases, he was able to identify some of those patients’ key personality traits and psychological behavior patterns. In this paper, he further tries to offer a few practical “tips” in order to help diabetes patients to control their disease. He named his approach as the “Progressive Behavior Modification” which is also a part of the generalized “MPM: Mentality-Personality Modeling”.
CUSTOMER ORIENTATION OF SERVICE EMPLOYEES: A PHANTOM MODEL APPROACH
Authors:   Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Institute of Technology, Karachi., Farooghi Reema
Published: March 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze Customer Retention as a result of Customer Service Employees. It helps to study the attitude of the customers and analyze the factors that are held important by the customers towards achievement of their satisfaction. Methodology: CFA and Path Analysis have been used to analyze the data collected from young telecom users. Data has been collected using convenience sampling from young telecom consumers using self-administered questionnaire. Findings: The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between Customer Orientation of Service Employees and Customer Retention, Customer Satisfaction and Emotional Commitment. It is also analyzed that there Customer Satisfaction and Emotional Commitment mediates the effect between Customer Orientation of Service Employees (COSE) and Customer Retention. Practical Implications: This study contributes in a number of ways. First it provides an understanding regarding the relationship of Service Employees and Customer Retention. Secondly it helps to analyze the criteria that need to be used so as to increase customer satisfaction and their involvement in the organization; thirdly it provides empirical evidence of the work and theory laid by Hennig-Thurau, 2004.
INVESTOR CONFIDENCE, CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, STOCK LIQUIDITY AND DIVIDEND POLICY
Authors:   Middlesex University, UK., Rizwan Muhammad
Published: March 2021

Purpose: The objective of this study is to examine the impact of investor confidence, corporate governance and stock liquidity on dividend policy of firms listed on Pakistan stock exchanges from 2010-2015. The liquidity constraint enabled a superior association with the interests of the controlling shareholders, particularly outside investors, which make a significant enhancement in firms’ liquidity and governance. Findings: Our results indicate that dividends have a less significant impact on investor confidence after the corporate governance. Practical Implication: Our interpretation is that the improvement in corporate governance, especially the improvement in the alignment between growth opportunities and cash dividends, may take longer time to emerge. These findings provide strong evidence that shift in corporate governance and stock liquidity influence dividend policy of a firm in a substantial manner. Another implication is that stock liquidity matters in firms’ dividend decision-making; the liquidity deficiency is compensated by large cash dividends.
Swimming in Flavored Water Leads to Avoidance of that Flavorin Laboratory Rats (Rattus norvegicus)
Authors: Nakajima Sadahiko
Published: March 2021

This article consists of two experiments reporting conditioned flavor avoidance (or taste aversion) in laboratory rats that swam in the flavored water. A statistically reliable effect was demonstrated in Experiment 1 by using a simple conditioning procedure with sweet (sodium saccharin) water. Compared with control rats that had no swimming experience or those that swam in tap water, experimental rats showed avoidance of the sweet water in the choice test between it and tap water, if they had swum in the sweet water for 20 min over four days. Rinsing the rats off with tap water after the swimming had no effect on this flavor avoidance learning. This finding suggests that tasting the sweet water during swimming was critical. Experiment 2 confirmed the flavor avoidance learning in swimming rats by a differential conditioning procedure with sour (citric acid) and bitter (denatonium benzoate) solutions. Although the effect size was relatively small in the two experiments reported here, this new procedure may contribute to future research concerning Pavlovian conditioning due to its procedural simplicity.