Plasma and cavitation dynamics during pulsed laser microsurgery in vivo

We compare the plasma and cavitation dynamics underlying pulsed laser microsurgery in water and in fruit fly embryos (in vivo) - specifically for nanosecond pulses at 355 and 532 nm. We find two key differences. First, the plasma-formation thresholds are lower in vivo - especially at 355 nm - due to the presence of endogenous chromophores that serve as additional sources for plasma seed electrons. Second, the biological matrix constrains the growth of laser-induced cavitation bubbles. Both effects reduce the disrupted region in vivo when compared to extrapolations from measurements in water.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

NLP Reproducibility For All: Understanding Experiences of Beginners

As natural language processing (NLP) has recently seen an unprecedented level of excitement, and more people are eager to enter the field, it is unclear whether current research reproducibility efforts are sufficient for this group of beginners to apply the latest developments. To understand their needs, we conducted a study with 93 students in an introductory NLP course, where students reproduced the results of recent NLP papers. Surprisingly, we find that their programming skill and comprehension of research papers have a limited impact on their effort spent completing the exercise. Instead, we find accessibility efforts by research authors to be the key to success, including complete documentation, better coding practice, and easier access to data files. Going forward, we recommend that NLP researchers pay close attention to these simple aspects of open-sourcing their work, and use insights from beginners' feedback to provide actionable ideas on how to better support them.Comment: ACL 2023 Theme Trac

Differential CBCT Analysis of Collum Angles in Maxillary and Mandibular Anterior Teeth in Patients with Different Malocclusions

Background: The collum angle is an angular measurement of the difference between the longitudinal axis of the crown and the longitudinal axis of the root. The aim of this study was to determine the mean collum angles for all maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth. In addition, the collum angles of different molar and skeletal classifications were compared for each anterior tooth. Methods: Based on patient records obtained from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, 326 CBCT scans were selected and divided into four molar and skeletal classifications. The patients were divided into Class I, Class II division 1, Class II division 2, and Class III molar and skeletal classifications. For the molar classifications, each side of a patient’s mouth was considered a different sample, whereas in the skeletal classifications, both sides were classified in the same way. After the exclusion criteria, the total sample size used in this study was 652. The collum angles of all anterior teeth were then measured using the angular measurement tool built into Invivo 5.4.5’s software. Results: The mean collum angles for the maxillary central incisors, lateral incisors and canines were 4.13± 6.17 degrees, 6.20±6.53 degrees and 1.11± 6.82 degrees, respectively. For the mandibular arch, the mean collum angle for the central incisors was 5.94±3.71 degrees. The mean collum angles for the mandibular lateral incisors and canines were 6.49±4.32 degrees and 7.82±4.73 degrees. A one sample t-test indicated that all of the collum angles in the anterior teeth were significantly different from zero. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) in conjunction with a Bonferonni post-hoc test was conducted between the molar and skeletal classifications. In the comparison with molar classifications, the maxillary central and lateral incisors were significantly different in the Class II div 2 malocclusion when compared to all other molar classifications. The Class II div 2 collum angle for the maxillary central incisor was 7.86±6.10 degrees, whereas the collum angle for the maxillary lateral incisor was 2.47±6.14 degrees. A similar result was seen in the comparison with skeletal classifications. The Class II div 2 maxillary central incisor had a mean collum angle of 8.91±5.98 degrees whereas the maxillary lateral had a mean collum angle of 1.82±7.15 degrees. A mean comparison between the skeletal and molar classifications indicated that the mean collum angles were not significantly different between the different types of classifications. Conclusions: The mean collum angles found in anterior teeth were significantly different from zero. When comparing these collum angles between different molar malocclusions, the Class II div 2 maxillary central incisors had significantly larger collum angles, while the maxillary lateral incisors had significantly smaller collum angles. The larger collum angle found in Class II div 2 maxillary centrals may possibly be an etiological factor in the development of a deep bite. In addition, larger collum angles may limit biomechanical movements during orthodontic treatment. In particular, attention must be given to root proximity to the cortical plate. Extrusive, intrusive and torquing forces must be carefully examined in teeth with large collum angles in order to prevent root resorption, dehiscences and alveolar perforation during fixed appliance therapy

EFFECTS OF THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OF MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS ON THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR MEMBERS IN VINTAR, ILOCOS NORTE, PHILIPPINES

This study determined the effects of the products and services of Microfinance Institutions on the economic development of their members in Vintar, Ilocos Norte, Philippines.           The descriptive correlational research design was adopted using a survey questionnaire to gather data. A total of 603 respondents were involved. They were taken from the members of two Microfinance Institutions (CARD Bank Inc. and ASA Philippines Foundation Inc.,) in Vintar, Ilocos Norte, Philippines who have been a member for at least two years. The study was delimited into the top three barangays with the most members which are composed of Barangays Parut, Alejo Malasig, and Pedro F. Alviar. Frequency, percentage, weighted mean, Chi-square test, and Pearson r of correlation were used to analyze and interpret the data gathered.           The following were the highlights of the findings of the study. The MFIs are giving their members quality products offered on loan applications and loan features as manifested by a very satisfied and satisfied rating of their members, respectively, as it is significantly and positively related to their economic development. The MFI members’ economic development in terms of financial, personal, and business status are significantly and highly related to their level of satisfaction with the customer services offered by the MFIs. The MFI’s services offered have met the satisfaction level of their members as expressed by a rating of very satisfied and satisfied on customer service and non-financial services, respectively. It was recommended that: On the part of Microfinance Institutions, they should consider the financial status of their members in terms of the reasonable service fee, and allow repayment and reasonable penalties for nonpayment/default to lessen their burden on their expenses, microfinance institutions should also conduct community development projects in different municipalities to increase their members' economic development, and microfinance institutions should provide business training to improve or expand their members’ business strategies.  On the part of the members, they should pay their payments on time and actively participate in the activities of the MFIs. On the part of future researchers, they may also conduct studies in other places that offer products and services of Microfinance Institutions, they may also consider other variables, such as their incentives and benefits

Evaluation of trypanocidal properties of ferrocenyl and cyrhetrenyl N-acylhydrazones with pendant 5-nitrofuryl group

Four N-acylhydrazones of general formulae [R1-C(O)-NH-N=C(R2)(5-nitrofuryl)] with (R1 = ferrocenyl or cyrhetrenyl and R2 = H or Me) are synthesized and characterized in solution and in the solid-state. Comparative studies of their stability in solution under different experimental conditions and their electrochemical properties are reported. NMR studies reveal that the four compounds are stable in DMSO‑d6 and complementary UV-Vis studies confirm that they also exhibit high stability in mixtures DMSO:H2O at 37 °C. Electrochemical studies show that the half-wave potential of the nitro group of the N-acylhydrazones is smaller than that of the standard drug nifurtimox and the reduction process follows a self-protonation mechanism. In vitro studies on the antiparasitic activities of the four complexes and the nifurtimox against Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma brucei reveal that: i) the N-acylhydrazones have a potent inhibitory growth activity against both parasites [EC50 in the low micromolar (in T. cruzi) or even in the nanomolar (in T. brucei) range] and ii) cyrhetrenyl derivatives are more effective than their ferrocenyl analogs. Parallel studies on the L6 rat skeletal myoblast cell line have also been conducted, and the selectivity indexes determined. Three of the four N-acylhydrazones showed higher selectivity towards T. brucei than the standard drug nifurtimox. Additional studies suggest that the organometallic compounds are bioactivated by type I nitroreductase enzymes.</p

Sequencing of 15 622 Gene-bearing BACs Clarifies the Gene-dense Regions of the Barley Genome

Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) possesses a large and highly repetitive genome of 5.1 Gb that has hindered the development of a complete sequence. In 2012, the International Barley Sequencing Consortium released a resource integrating whole-genome shotgun sequences with a physical and genetic framework. However, because only 6278 bacterial artificial chromosome (BACs) in the physical map were sequenced, fine structure was limited. To gain access to the gene-containing portion of the barley genome at high resolution, we identified and sequenced 15 622 BACs representing the minimal tiling path of 72 052 physical-mapped gene-bearing BACs. This generated ~1.7 Gb of genomic sequence containing an estimated 2/3 of all Morex barley genes. Exploration of these sequenced BACs revealed that although distal ends of chromosomes contain most of the gene-enriched BACs and are characterized by high recombination rates, there are also gene-dense regions with suppressed recombination. We made use of published map-anchored sequence data from Aegilops tauschii to develop a synteny viewer between barley and the ancestor of the wheat D-genome. Except for some notable inversions, there is a high level of collinearity between the two species. The software HarvEST:Barley provides facile access to BAC sequences and their annotations, along with the barley–Ae. tauschii synteny viewer. These BAC sequences constitute a resource to improve the efficiency of marker development, map-based cloning, and comparative genomics in barley and related crops. Additional knowledge about regions of the barley genome that are gene-dense but low recombination is particularly relevant

A late Pleistocene–Holocene noble gas paleotemperature record in southern Michigan

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95678/1/grl19236.pd

Folate catabolites in spot urine as non-invasive biomarkers of folate status during habitual intake and folic acid supplementation.

Folate status, as reflected by red blood cell (RCF) and plasma folates (PF), is related to health and disease risk. Folate degradation products para-aminobenzoylglutamate (pABG) and para-acetamidobenzoylglutamate (apABG) in 24 hour urine have recently been shown to correlate with blood folate. Since blood sampling and collection of 24 hour urine are cumbersome, we investigated whether the determination of urinary folate catabolites in fasted spot urine is a suitable non-invasive biomarker for folate status in subjects before and during folic acid supplementation. Immediate effects of oral folic acid bolus intake on urinary folate catabolites were assessed in a short-term pre-study. In the main study we included 53 healthy men. Of these, 29 were selected for a 12 week folic acid supplementation (400 µg). Blood, 24 hour and spot urine were collected at baseline and after 6 and 12 weeks and PF, RCF, urinary apABG and pABG were determined. Intake of a 400 µg folic acid bolus resulted in immediate increase of urinary catabolites. In the main study pABG and apABG concentrations in spot urine correlated well with their excretion in 24 hour urine. In healthy men consuming habitual diet, pABG showed closer correlation with PF (rs = 0.676) and RCF (rs = 0.649) than apABG (rs = 0.264, ns and 0.543). Supplementation led to significantly increased folate in plasma and red cells as well as elevated urinary folate catabolites, while only pABG correlated significantly with PF (rs = 0.574) after 12 weeks. Quantification of folate catabolites in fasted spot urine seems suitable as a non-invasive alternative to blood or 24 hour urine analysis for evaluation of folate status in populations consuming habitual diet. In non-steady-state conditions (folic acid supplementation) correlations between folate marker (RCF, PF, urinary catabolites) decrease due to differing kinetics