bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Correlation of Dental Plaque Acidogenicity and Acidurance with Caries Activity – Perspectives of the Ecological Plaque Hypothesis
Authors: Andreadis George , Kalfas Sotirios 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe ecological plaque hypothesis for the aetiopathogenesis of caries implies a microbial shift towards a more acidogenic and aciduric dental plaque microflora, due to a frequent carbohydrate intake. Certain plaque bacteria exhibit metabolic activity, at a low pH. A correlation exists between the increased numbers of some aciduric bacterial species, e.g. mutans streptococci and lactobacilli, and caries activity. The aim of this study was to study the acidogenic (lactate production / mg plaque x min., at pH 7.0) and aciduric potential (lactate production at pH 5.5 / lactate production at pH 7.0) of dental plaque in relation to the caries activity. Samples of dental plaque were collected from fifteen caries free and fifteen caries active children. Plaque suspensions in Ringer’s solution containing 1% sucrose and buffered with 0.5 M MOPS (pH 7.0) or MES (pH 5.5) were incubated aerobically at 37 ºC for 10-20 min. The production of lactic acid in the suspensions was determined by an enzymatic assay. In caries free children, significantly lower acidogenic potential at both pHs were recorded than in caries active children. The highest difference between the groups was in the acidogenic activity at neutral pH. On the contrary, the aciduric potential was lower in the caries active group than in the caries free. Caries activity correlated with the acidogenic potentials of dental plaque at both pH 7.0 and 5.5. A new perspective of the ecological plaque hypothesis based on the increased catabolic ability of plaque is proposed.
Thermal Behavior of Hybrid Composite, Giomer, Ormocer and Silorane: A Comparative Study Using Two Light Curing Intensities
Authors: Tolids Kosmas , Vaimakis Tiverios , Boutsiouki Christina , Gerasimou Paris 
Published: August 2023

AbstractPurpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of type of composite resin (CR) and the intensity of curing device on thermal behavior. A microhybrid composite (C), a giomer (G), an ormocer (O) and silorane (S) were chosen. Specimens were polymerized with a higher (H) and a lower (L) energy LED curing device. Coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) measurements were performed with a dilatometer at temperature range 20-60ºC with temperature raise 2ºC/min. CTE values in lower temperatures (21ºC-37ºC) (CTEa) were compared to CTE values in higher temperatures (37ºC-55ºC) (CTEb). CTEa for all resin composites ranged from 5.43 - 38.67 (x 10-6/ºC) and CTEb from 22.20 - 48.87 (x 10-6/ºC), thus depending on CR type, curing intensity and temperature range. Type of CR and light intensity of curing device have an effect on thermal behavior. The higher the temperature, the higher the CTE for all materials. It is advisable to polymerize C with lower intensity curing unit and S and O with higher intensity. G exhibits the highest CTE values with both curing devices, while O exhibits intermediate results with both light intensities in all temperatures. Higher intensity LED resulted in inhomogenous thermal behavior of the tested materials, especially of S.
Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) of Health Professionals Towards Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) and Pharmacovigilance in a Tertiary Hospital of North India
Authors: Bhati Neha , Gupta Surabhi , Khosla P.P 
Published: August 2023

AbstractPharmacovigilance is a method of quick detection and reporting, of adverse drug reactions and adverse drug events after drug is in clinical use, thus preventing major drug events. Ignorance of physicians in developing world, about reporting adverse drug reaction is a big roadblock to pharmacovigilance. This cascades into many problems e.g.; increased lab to clinic interval, increased premarketing expense for newer drugs. In quickly changing genomes scenario it leads to almost fatal therapeutic failures. The huge population of India and lack of appropriate post marketing surveillance contribute towards disasters due to adverse drug reactions. With evolution of pharmaceutical industry, the Indian doctors have gained wide knowledge of drugs but the area of adverse drug reactions still remains neglected. Indian Government launched National Pharmacovigilance Programme in 2004 to inculcate the culture of Adverse Drug Reaction reporting among Indian health professionals. Medical Council of India has also made Pharmacovigilance Programme mandatory in every medical college. Still the picture is disheartening. Motivated to improve Adverse Drug Event reporting in Chattrapati Shivaji Subharti Hospital, the present survey was conducted to find Knowledge, Attitude, Practices (KAP) of physicians, surgeons & nurses regarding Adverse Drug Reaction reporting.
Troponin Mutation Caused Diastolic Dysfunction and Experimental Treatment in Transgenic Mice with Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Xu Yang , Tian Jie , Huang Xupei 
Published: August 2023

AbstractTroponin, a contractile protein of the thin filament of striated muscle, consists of three subunits: troponin C (TnC), troponin T (TnT), and troponin I (TnI). Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) plays a critical role in regulation of cardiac function. The physiological effect of cTnI, as an inhibitory subunit of troponin complex, is to prevent the interaction between myosin heavy chain heads and actins, i.e. the cross-bridge formation, and to ensure a proper relaxation of cardiac myofilaments. In pathological conditions, the deficiency of cTnI or mutations in cTnI especially in the C-terminus of cTnI is associated with diastolic dysfunction caused by myofibril hypersensitivity to Ca2+. Our laboratory has generated cTnI knockout mouse model to investigate the cellular and molecular function of cTnI and created cTnI mutant disease mouse models to explore the pathophysiology caused by cTnI mutations in the heart. Here, we present our recent studies on physiological function of cTnI in the heart and the pathological consequences caused by the cTnI mutations in the diseased heart using the transgenic mouse models. The mechanisms underlying diastolic dysfunction and heart failure caused by cTnI mutations are explored in cell-based assays and in transgenic animal models. These studies provide us with useful information in searching for therapeutic strategies and target-oriented medication for the treatment of diastolic dysfunction and heart failure.
Factors Predicting the Fall in Clinic Blood Pressure on Repeated Measurements
Authors: Cheung BMY , Cheung AJ 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Aim
Clinic blood pressure (BP) readings tend to decrease towards the true value on repeated measurements. We aimed to identify factors associated with the fall in systolic and diastolic BP on repeated measurements.

Methods
We used BP data on 4943 participants aged ≥20 (2475 men, 2468 women; mean age±SD, 50±18 years) in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-8. Repeated measurements analysis of variance was used to identify predictors of the change in BP with time.

Results
As expected, BP was significantly related to age, gender and body mass index (P<0.001). Both systolic and diastolic BP decreased significantly with time (P<0.001). These decreases were significantly related to age and the maximum cuff pressure (P<0.001). They were not related to body weight, arm dimension, triceps skinfold thickness, cuff size, and consumption of food, coffee and tobacco in the preceding 30 minutes.

Conclusion
Older persons and those with high systolic BP had larger decreases in BP on repeated measurements. Hence, adequate inflation of cuff and repeated measurements in the elderly are key factors for measuring clinic BP accurately.
Overcoming cancer multidrug resistance through inhibition of microparticles
Authors: Vysotski Sora , Winzelberg Rivka , Babayeva Mariana 
Published: August 2023

AbstractOne of the main obstacles to success of chemotherapy agents is the development of cancer resistance. Cancer multi-drug resistance (MDR) is thought to arise from over-expression of efflux transporters on cancer cells’ plasma membranes. Recently, microparticles (MP) were found to play a major role in mediating the resistance to antineoplastic agents. Microparticles can confer MDR phenotype to cancer cells though 3 complimentary pathways: 1) Intercellular transfer of P-gp and MRP1; 2) Intercellular transfer of regulatory nucleic acids that ensure acquisition of MDR phenotype; and 3) Internal sequestration of anticancer drugs to reduce the amount of free active drug. Compounds that inhibit MP formation that are currently under investigation include calpain inhibitors, RhoA inhibitors, ROCK inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, pantethine, glutaminase inhibitors, some anti-platelet drugs and some lipid-lowering agents. This area of research requires further development to select, improve and test those compounds that show the most promise in providing safe and effective treatment against MDR.
An investigation into the factors governing the degree of dissolution enhancement of solid dispersion for poorly soluble drugs
Authors: Farhan Ahmed Bassam , Quah Joan , Lin Lee Elizabeth Pei , Chan Siok-Yee 
Published: August 2023

AbstractSolid dispersion (SD) formulation has attracted much attention due to its potential in enhancing dissolution performances of poorly soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). Recently, a review on dissolution performances of SDs classifies the improvement into 3 categories, where 82 % of the studies showed improved bioavailability, 8 % showed reduced bioavailability and 10 % revealed similar bioavailability as compared to pure APIs. This indicates the inconsistent degrees of dissolution improvement of poorly soluble APIs in SD. Although a few factors related to the choice of carriers have been suggested to contribute to the dissolution improvement, however, the underlying factor determining the discrepancy in the degree of dissolution improvement remains in vague. It is hypothesized that the API contributes to the degree of dissolution improvement of SD. Hence, the factor of amorphous solubility advantage of API which leads to the different degrees of dissolution enhancement of SD is investigated in this research. Polyvinylpyrrolidone vinyl acetate (PVPVA)-based SD is prepared with three poorly soluble APIs. Physicochemical properties of SD were characterized using infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray powder diffraction. The dissolution efficiency of each SD was calculated and compared to physical mixture and pure API. Theoretical amorphous solubility advantage for each API was calculated using the thermal properties obtained from DSC. The calculated values were found to be correlating well with the dissolution enhancement of the respective SDs. Hence, this theoretical approach can be utilized as an initial screening tool of API candidates in SD formulation during early pharmaceutical development.
Mediated by TV Campaign News: Effects of Political Commercials on Voters’ Political Knowledge
Authors: Yu Jusheng 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThis study examined the relationships among voters’ attention to TV campaign news, attention to political commercials and voters’ political knowledge. As a result, it was found that voters’ attention to political ads has a significant effect on their political knowledge and the effect is mediated by their attention to political news. This research finding might shed light on the mechanism of integrated political communication with political news and political advertising as the two primary forms.
An Extensive Comparison of the Next Generation of Wireless Communication Technology: Light-Fidelity (Li-Fi) Versus Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi)
Authors: Shuriji Mushreq Abdulhussain 
Published: August 2023

AbstractWireless communication technology has changed and expanded at an incredible rate particularly within the last few years. Moreover, the demand for wireless communication services has increased due to the fast growth of wireless technology and new revolutionary applications. Nowadays, Wi-Fi is the technology used by most and is widely deployed in homes, offices, coffee shops and airports, etc. It is also widely used with smart phones, tablets and smart TVs, etc. An emerging technology known as Li-Fi is used to off-load data from existing Wi-Fi networks to provide more capacity or where Wi-Fi is not allowed such as, in hospitals, petrochemical plants and aircrafts. After a comprehensive literature survey, there is no extensive comparison of this revolutionary new wireless technology (Li-Fi) with Wi-Fi. This proposed research compares between Light-Fidelity and Wireless-Fidelity in terms of: Radio channel, data rate, range, network size, multiple access, security and applications. In conclusion, Li-Fi technology provides a large license free bandwidth, higher data rate, more safety and availability with a high level of security and privacy compared to Wi-Fi.
Curriculum Development in the Digital Age of Journalism
Authors: Wotkyns III R.S. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractJournalism practitioners and educators alike are grappling with a changing media landscape, desperately trying to keep up. Journalism educators must provide a new journalism curriculum, one that teaches new technology, but also stresses responsible reporting, based on independence, accuracy, and verification.This study was conducted to determine student satisfaction with a new Convergent Journalism major. The first year of the roll out of our new Major here at Metropolitan State University of Denver was 2013-14 academic year. This study is an assessment of the efficacy and relevance of our curriculum development efforts. SurveyMonkey.com was the methodology used to measure stakeholder satisfaction. A well-tested satisfaction survey template was deployed, customized to the task. The sample included all of the students pursuing the Convergent Journalism major. A web link collector was used. More waves of testing will be done this fall before the study is complete. The results so far showed 88% were either extremely satisfied or moderately satisfied. We conclude that our new curriculum for Convergent Journalism is meeting student expectations. Anecdotal feedback from several employers suggests that they too are please with the journalism, multi-platform, digital dissemination and content creating skills of our graduates.
Interpersonal and Communication Skills Development in Therapeutic Theatre
Authors: Ngong Paul Animbom 
Published: August 2023

AbstractMan as a societal being, lives in community settings with other people wherein communication is needed in all daily interactions. Through communication, people are able to share understandings, protect one another and develop methods of solving problems encountered. For these results to be achieved, community members need to develop adequate interpersonal and communication skills which can enable them interact with each other. One approach of developing the aforementioned skills is through therapeutic theatre, which as a forum, permits community members to partake in improvisational acts. It becomes important therefore to find out how these improvisational acts facilitate interpersonal and communication skills. Based on a review of improvisation for therapeutic purposes, this article portrays that the act of engaging in improvisational enactments by community members go a long way to foster the development of interpersonal and communication skills and the enhancement of wellbeing.
An Analysis of Traditional Graphic Design and MultiCommunication Arts Pedagogy
Authors: Rosner Terre Layng 
Published: August 2023

AbstractTraditional visual communication and graphic design curricula at the university level may not adequately educate, train and/or prepare students to successfully work in the intended creative professions. This critical study found three suspected reasons for the problem: first, that higher education art studio and mass communication curricula are stalled in a historical pedagogy that no longer is viable. Second, that employee compensation for traditional graphic design graduates is typically lower than integrated, interdisciplinary, multimedia graduates and third, that current institutional structures are based on past practice constructed by higher education’s territorial resistance to change.
Stakeholder communications by public leaders: Mutual gain or ethical challenge?
Authors: Sturm Kirk , Eller Dan 
Published: August 2023

AbstractUsing communications theory, the aim of this paper was to analyze a case study to describe the potential benefits and pitfalls of two-way Symmetrical and two-way Asymmetrical communication models [1].Public sector leaders communicate with various internal and external stakeholders to achieve organizational goals [2], [3], [4].When a public sector leader adopts a two-way Symmetrical communications approach, the leader works with the various stakeholders to achieve their respective mutual goals [4], [5], [6].When a leader adopts a two-way Asymmetrical communications approach, the leader seeks to achieve organizational goals at the expense of mutual goals with one or more stakeholders. This is accomplished by framing communications in ways that are more likely to be accepted by stakeholders, but in reality, only advances the organizational goals [7].Two-way Asymmetrical communication can also be seen as raising ethical issues since the leader is, in essence, pretending to listen to stakeholders while the underlying intent is to achieve organizational goals [4] & [8]).
Communication Ecosystem Contexts: From Mass Audiences to Mass Messages
Authors: Mohsenian-Rad Mehdi 
Published: August 2023

AbstractMass media used to have ‘mass audiences’. Nowadays, and with the emergence of the Internet and other new media technologies, messages themselves have turned into ‘mass’. These ‘mass messages’ have different densities, varieties, and dynamics in different societies and different countries. Accordingly, in this paper, we take an ecological perspective and resemble mass messages to living organisms that form ‘communication eco-systems’. We then introduce ‘communication ecosystem context’ as a new umbrella concept encompassing various previously known communication contexts. Based upon historical evidences, communication ecosystem contexts are classification into long-term and short-term, which can be formed normally, forcefully, or due to turn of certain events. In this paper the impacts of communication ecosystem contexts on message perception and interpretation have been studied primarily in Iran, and comparison have been made with five different communication ecosystems of Germany, UK, Australia, USA and Canada.
Gender and Communication: A Study on the Career Choices of Taiwanese Women
Authors: Huang Shu-Hui 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThanks to the universal nature of Taiwan’s education, women have accounted for half of all university graduates since 1995. Women are therefore equally competent and well-trained, but Taiwan still suffers from a significant gender pay gap, and women tend to occupy lower-level positions or even leave the workplace altogether - a loss both to these women as individuals and the Taiwanese economy as a whole. This study attempts to: (1) Introduce interpersonal communication as an important variable in understanding the socialization of women and their career choices; (2) Explore the impact of culture and communication on Taiwanese women in order to assess the impact of the father as the ‘opinion leader’ when women make career decisions; assess the extent to which Taiwan can be regarded as a patriarchal society. The study concludes: (1) Taiwanese women’s traditional role in the family rarely conflicts with their own expectations for their future, meaning that they are unable or find it difficult to change their status. (2) Fathers are the ‘opinion leaders’ in women’s career decisions. Regardless of whether the father is controlling or emotionally distant, they have very low expectations for their daughters, causing women to feel lost and ignored. (3) Taiwanese women tend to occupy low-level positions because they lack clear life goals.
Interfacing Effective Communication, Good Governance and Sustainable Development in Nigeria
Authors: Okwechime Chudi 
Published: August 2023

AbstractSuccessive governments in Nigeria have made a singsong of sustainable development. Various development plans have come and gone in budgets and policy documents, the latest being the Transformation Agenda of the Goodluck Jonathan-led Federal government. Is sustainable development a hallmark of good governance? What role can communication play in the interplay between good governance and sustainable development? What is the measure of communication effectiveness? This paper examines the interplay among these seemingly distinct variables in a society marked by such sensitive issues as hunger, unemployment, injustice, political brigandage, massive corruption and profligacy. It draws out measurable lessons on the lopsidedness of communication flow through government owned mass media and systemic obstacles that militate against the attainment of good governance and sustainable development in Nigeria. Consequently, the paper recommends a constructive synergy of the key factors that should enhance the well-being of Nigerians.
Expanding Public Sector Communications: Moving beyond Public Affairs to Facilitate Collaborative Public Relations
Authors: Eller Dan 
Published: August 2023

AbstractTraditionally, public sector agencies communicate to their publics to inform and resolve conflicts. By using a review of the literature, this study describes broadening the role of public sector communications by moving beyond a traditional public affairs model to a more collaborative public relations model utilizing two-way symmetrical communications. Technology and social media in today’s society can be an asset to public agencies in terms of communications that allow for a collaborative model. Results of the study illustrate public sector agencies using two-way symmetrical communications can build stronger relationships with their publics that can benefit the agency and their publics in building and maintaining collaborative long-term relationships.