Search Results (83)

Background/Objectives: Pulp stones (PSs) are calcified masses, with rounded or oval shapes, ranging from small particles to masses larger than the chamber and/or canals. There are limited data regarding the prevalence of pulp stones in the Iberian population. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of PSs, using CBCT, in an Iberian population, and its association with gender, age, tooth location (arch and hemiarch), dental group, the presence of caries, restorations, alveolar bone loss, and a history of orthodontic treatment. Methods: In total, 300 CBCTs were analyzed, selected from the database of the Dental Clinic of the University of Valencia. A total of 5485 teeth were included. The images were obtained by NewTom equipment and visualized using NNT software 11 by a single calibrated examiner in the axial, sagittal, and coronal planes. The Chi-square test, ANOVA, and t-test were used to analyze the study variables for a significance level of p < 0.05. Results: The prevalence of PSs was 88.3% from the total number of patients assessed and 61.2% from the total number of teeth assessed. No differences were found by gender or age. A significant association was found within tooth groups between arches and hemiarches. The proportion of PSs was 3.7 times higher in teeth with caries, 4.7 times higher in teeth with fillings, and 2.3 times higher in teeth with alveolar bone loss. Conclusions: PSs were more prevalent in molars. The presence of caries, fillings, and bone loss increased the chance of presenting PSs. Maxillary teeth had a higher prevalence of PSs than mandibular teeth. Full article

The presence of sufficient bone volumes is one of the most important criteria for the success of oral implant osseointegration. Therefore, the rehabilitation of edentulous atrophic maxillae represents the greatest challenge in terms of oral rehabilitation. Techniques such as bone grafts, angled implants, short implants, tuberosity, and pterygoid implants may not always be a viable alternative in the subsequent rehabilitation of the posterior atrophic maxilla. A breakthrough occurred when Brånemark first introduced longer, custom-designed implants inserted into the zygomatic bone to support craniofacial prosthesis in the 1980s. When used in the treatment of atrophic jaws, zygomatic implants provide a safe and effective alternative, with stable long-term results. Objectives: We aimed to retrospectively evaluate zygomatic bone resorption ten years after the placement of zygomatic implants. Methods: A retrospective observational study was designed to evaluate bone resorption over ten years following the placement of zygomatic implants. In a study group of 50 patients, using Hounsfield scales, the area of the zygoma and its bone density were established and evaluated. The NewTom NNT Analysis software (NewTom^®, Imola, Italy) was employed to trace the bone and implant limits on CBCT scans. Using this software, the three-dimensional information of the postoperative CBCT image was compared with the ten-year postoperative CBCT image, allowing for the assessment of the zygomatic bone resorption and bone density. Results: Highly significant statistical differences to an alpha level of 0.01 were identified between T0 (pre-op), T1 (12 months), and T2 (120 months) concerning zygomatic bone density, both in the first and in the second quadrants. The post hoc Bonferroni test revealed that significant statistical differences were observed between T0 and the remaining timepoints (T1 and T2), with the latter two exhibiting similar values. Conclusions: The evaluation of the resorption at the level of the zygoma, ten years after the placement of zygomatic implants, reveals that there are no significant losses between the initial and final controls. Therefore, it follows that this type of implant rehabilitation represents a viable alternative approach in patients with bone atrophy of the maxilla, offering a predictable therapeutic solution that enables immediate full function and excellent long-term success rates. However, we must not neglect the potential for future innovations in GBR involving the use of barrier membranes, either resorbable or non-resorbable, and even the application of titanium alveolar customized osteogenic scaffold, in conjunction with autologous bone grafts or biomaterials. Full article

Background/Objectives: With regard to excision of pigmented lesions for detection of malignant melanoma (MM), the number needed to treat (NNT) describes the number of melanocytic nevi that need to be biopsied/excised to detect one MM. The aim should be a low NNT. Methods: Single-center data analysis, including dermatohistopathological records of all nevi and MM cases during 2004–2013 at the Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Regensburg (UKR), was performed. We calculated the NNT, correlating it with the patient’s age and referring physician. The MM to MM in situ ratio was calculated to quantify early detection. As a secondary objective, we stratified into a pre- and post-2008 dataset, coinciding with the introduction of statutory skin cancer screening in Germany. Results: The overall NNT of 118,668 pigmented lesions was 17.2. We found a linear decrease in NNT towards older patients (R² = 62%; p < 0.001). The impact of skin cancer screening in 2008 was marked by a reduction in biopsies/excisions, a shift in age distribution, and a decrease in the NNT from 20.3 to 14.7. Office-based dermatologists had an NNT of 22.3, UKR-based dermatologists had an NNT of 8.0, and non-dermatologists had an NNT of 16.5. Conclusions: The age-related decrease in the NNT emphasizes the importance of age stratification for pigmented lesions. The NNT differed between professional settings. The implementation of skin cancer screening in 2008 was associated with a reduced NNT. Full article

Background: Steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS) and steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) significantly affect children’s quality of life. There are frequent relapses in SSNS and progression in SRNS. IPNA guidelines suggest that monoclonal antibodies like rituximab (RTX) are promising treatments. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of rituximab administration in children with SSNS, encompassing FRNS and SDNS, and SRNS over a two-year follow-up period, facilitating individualized management. Methods: We conducted an open-label, multicenter, randomized, and patient-oriented study (RICHNESS), involving children aged 3–18 with SRNS (18) and SSNS (11) undergoing 2 years continuous RTX therapy. The primary outcome was complete/partial remission (CR/PR), as defined by IPNA/KDIGO guidelines, at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months on RTX; secondary outcomes included adverse events. Key endpoints included the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), the albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR), CD20 levels, IgG levels, and the incidence of infections. Kidney biopsies were performed in 94% of SRNS patients. RTX was administered every 6–9 months, depending on CD20 levels, IgG levels, and the presence of infections. The eGFR and ACR were assessed every 6 months. Results: Some 31 children were selected for RTX treatment. Overall, 2 experienced severe allergic reactions, leading to their exclusion from the final analysis of 29 children. In the SSNS group, all children achieved and maintained complete remission within 2 years. Remission rates in the SRNS group ranged from 39% (RR 0.78; 95% CI: 16.4–61.4%, NNT 9) at the 6th month to 72% (RR 1.44; 95% CI: 51.5–92.9%) over the 2-year follow-up period due to continuous RTX therapy. The median duration of RTX use was 26.1 months, with a median cumulative dose of 1820 mg/m². Adverse reactions and complications were presented by mild infusion-related reactions in 3 children (10.3%), severe allergic reactions in 2 children (6.2%), hypogammaglobulinemia in 7 children (24%), infections in 3 children (10.3%), severe destructive pneumonia in 1 child, recurrent respiratory infections in 2 children, and neutropenia in 1 child (3.44%). Conclusions: RTX was tolerated well, and proved highly effective as a steroid-sparing agent, offering potential in terms of stopping relapses and minimizing steroid-related side effects. It also demonstrated efficacy in slowing progression in SRNS, indicating potential for use in ACR reduction and renal function restoration, but requires careful use given potential severe allergic reactions and infectious complications. Further studies should focus on long-term cost-effectiveness and deferred side effects. Full article

Dendrolimus kikuchii Matsumura (D. kikuchii) is a serious pest of coniferous trees. Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has been widely studied and applied as a biological control agent for a variety of pests. Here, we found that the mortality rate of D. kikuchii larvae after being fed Bt reached 95.33% at 24 h; the midgut membrane tissue was ulcerated and liquefied, the MDA content in the midgut tissue decreased and the SOD, CAT and GPx enzyme activities increased, indicating that Bt has toxic effects on D. kikuchii larvae. In addition, transmission electron microscopy showed that Bt infection caused severe deformation of the nucleus of the midgut tissue of D. kikuchii larvae, vacuoles in the nucleolus, swelling and shedding of microvilli, severe degradation of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum and decreased number. Surprisingly, metabolomics and transcriptome association analysis revealed that four metabolic-related signaling pathways, Nicotinate and nicotinamide metabolism, Longevity regulating pathway—worm, Vitamin digestion and absorption and Lysine degradation, were co-annotated in larvae. More surprisingly, Niacinamide was a common differential metabolite in the first three signaling pathways, and both Niacinamide and L-2-Aminoadipic acid were reduced. The differentially expressed genes involved in the four signaling pathways, including NNT, ALDH, PNLIP, SETMAR, GST and RNASEK, were significantly down-regulated, but only SLC23A1 gene expression was up-regulated. Our results illustrate the effects of Bt on the 5th instar larvae of D. kikuchii at the tissue, cell and molecular levels, and provide theoretical support for the study of Bt as a new biological control agent for D. kikuchii. Full article

Objective: Our study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention based on Motivational Interviewing (MI) performed by healthcare professionals in Primary Care (PC) patients with risky alcohol use through a multicenter, two-arm parallel, cluster-randomized, open-label controlled clinical trial. Methods: PC professionals were randomized into two groups: an Experimental Group (EG) and a Control Group (CG). The study was carried out in PC centers of the Andalusian Health Service, located in Cordoba, Spain. An MI-based approach was implemented with patients recruited in the EG, while health advice was provided to those included in the CG. The follow-up period was 12 months, with five visits scheduled. The consumption of standard drinking units per week was quantified, and risky alcohol use was estimated using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). An intention-to-treat statistical analysis was performed. Relative risk (RR), absolute risk reduction (ARR) and the number of subjects needed to treat (NNT) were used to estimate the intervention effect size. Results: A total of 268 patients were included, 148 in the EG and 120 in the CG. Considering the quantification of risky alcohol use, the ARR at 12 months after baseline visit was 16.46% (95% CI: 5.37–27.99), with an NNT of 6 (95% CI: 4–19). According to the AUDIT, the ARR at 12 months was 13.15% (95% CI: 2.73–24.24%), and the NNT was 8 (95% CI: 4–37). Conclusions: We concluded that MI is more effective than the usual health advice in decreasing risky alcohol use in patients treated in PC. Full article

This paper deals with the problem of multi-robot task scheduling in the Antarctic environments with crevasses. Because the crevasses may cause hazardous situations when robots are operated in the Antarctic environments, robot navigation should be planned to safely avoid the positions of crevasses. However, the positions of the crevasses may be inaccurately measured due to the lack of sensor performance, the asymmetry of sensor data, and the possibility of crevasses drifting irregularly as time passes. To overcome these uncertain and asymmetric problems, this paper proposes a probabilistic multi-robot task scheduling method based on the Nearest Neighbors Test (NNT) algorithm and the probabilistic modeling of the positions of crevasses. The proposed method was tested with a Google map of the Antarctic environments and showed a better performance than the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm and the Genetic Algorithm (GA) in the context of total cost and computational time. Full article

In precise space operation tasks, the impact of disturbing torques on the space flexible robotic arm (SFRA) cannot be ignored. Besides, the slender structure of the SFRA is very likely to generate vibration of the robotic arm. These are all potential hidden dangers in space safety. To quantify the potential risk, an accurate dynamics model of the SFRA considering the disturbing torque is built by Lagrange principle and the assumed modal method (AMM). Moreover, the effects of the disturbing torque, modal order and nonlinear terms on the deformation accuracy of the SFRA are compared. It is observed that the simplified dynamics model with neglecting the nonlinear terms (NNTs) has a high model accuracy and be easily solved. Therefore, the NNTs simplified model is chosen for deriving the transfer function of the SFRA. The parameters of the PI controller are adjusted in real time based on fuzzy rules to reduce the tracking error in the SFRA. In addition, the disturbance observer is designed to observe and compensate of the disturbance torque in the SFRA. The control method of adjusting controller parameters with fuzzy rules based on the disturbance observer greatly improves the rotational control accuracy of the SFRA. Finally, the validity of aforementioned control strategy is confirmed by simulation analysis and experimental results. Full article

Background: Thromboelastometry like ROTEM^® is a point-of-care method used to assess the coagulation status of patients in a rapid manner being particularly useful in critical care settings, such as trauma, where quick and accurate assessment of coagulation can guide timely and appropriate treatment. Currently, this method is not yet comprehensively available with sparse data on its effectiveness in resuscitation rooms. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of early thromboelastometry on the probability of mass transfusions and mortality of severely injured patients. Methods: The TraumaRegister DGU^® was retrospectively analyzed for severely injured patients (2011 until 2020) with information available regarding blood transfusions and Trauma-Associated Severe Hemorrhage (TASH) score components. Patients with an estimated risk of mass transfusion >2% were included in a matched-pair analysis. Cases with and without use of ROTEM^® diagnostic were matched based on risk categories for mass transfusion. A total of 1722 patients with ROTEM^® diagnostics could be matched with a non-ROTEM^® patient with an identical risk category. Adult patients (≥16) admitted to a trauma center in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland with Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale severity ≥3 were included. Results: A total of 83,798 trauma victims were identified after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. For 7740 of these patients, the use of ROTEM^® was documented. The mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) in patients with ROTEM^® was 24.3 compared to 19.7 in the non-ROTEM^® group. The number of mass transfusions showed no significant difference (14.9% ROTEM^® group vs. 13.4% non-ROTEM^® group, p = 0.45). Coagulation management agents were given significantly more often in the ROTEM^® subgroup. Mortality in the ROTEM^® group was 4.1% less than expected (estimated mortality based on RISC II 34.6% vs. observed mortality 30.5% (n = 525)). In the non-ROTEM^® group, observed mortality was 1.6% less than expected. Therefore, by using ROTEM^® analysis, the expected mortality could be reduced by 2.5% (number needed to treat (NNT) 40; SMR of ROTEM^® group: 1:0.88; SMR of non-ROTEM^® group: 1:0.96; p = 0.081). Conclusions: Hemorrhage is still one of the leading causes of death of severely injured patients in the first hours after trauma. Early thromboelastometry can lead to a more targeted coagulation management, but is not yet widely available. This study demonstrated that ROTEM^® was used for the more severely injured patients and that its use was associated with a less than expected mortality as well as a higher utilization of hemostatic products. Full article

Background: This computational analysis investigated sequence complementarities between the TRIM33 gene and human noncoding (nc)RNAs and characterized their interactions in the context of paraneoplastic dermatomyositis. Methods: TRIM33 FASTA sequence (NCBI Reference Sequence: NC_000001.11) was used for BLASTN analysis against Human GRCh38 in the Ensembl.org database. Retrieved ncRNAs showing hits to TRIM33 were searched in the GeneCards.org database and further analyzed through RNAInter, QmRLFS-finder, Spliceator, and NcPath enrichment analysis. Results: A total of 100 hits were found, involving the lncRNAs NNT-AS1, MKLN1-AS, LINC01206, and PAXBP1-AS1, whose dysregulation has been reported in either cancer or dermatomyositis. Additionally, the lncRNAs NNT-AS1 and PAXBP1-AS1 may interact with microRNA-142-3p, reducing its expression and increasing that of TRIM33. Sequence complementarity affected only TRIM33 intron 1, possibly resulting in alternatively spliced isoforms of TIF1γ with increased immunogenicity. The results also revealed nucleotide alignment between TRIM33 and the gene regulatory elements of 28 ncRNA genes involved in immune pathways. Conclusions: This pivotal study demonstrates sequence complementarity between TRIM33 and human ncRNAs dysregulated in cancer and dermatomyositis. This scenario may lead to the overproduction of more immunogenic TIF1γ variants in tumors and the stimulation of autoimmunity. Further experimental analyses using targeted methods such as Western blot or Chip-Seq are required to confirm these data. Full article

Probiotics may represent a safe and easy-to-use treatment option for depression or its metabolic comorbidities. However, it is not known whether metabolic features can influence the efficacy of probiotics treatments for depression. This trial involved a parallel-group, prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled design. In total, 116 participants with depression received a probiotic preparation containing Lactobacillus helveticus Rosell^®-52 and Bifidobacterium longum Rosell^®-175 or placebo over 60 days. The psychometric data were assessed longitudinally at five time-points. Data for blood pressure, body weight, waist circumference, complete blood count, serum levels of C-reactive protein, cholesterol, triglycerides, and fasting glucose were measured at the beginning of the intervention period. There was no advantage of probiotics usage over placebo in the depression score overall (PRO vs. PLC: F(1.92) = 0.58; p = 0.45). However, we found a higher rate of minimum clinically important differences in patients supplemented with probiotics than those allocated to placebo generally (74.5 vs. 53.5%; X²(1,n = 94) = 4.53; p = 0.03; NNT = 4.03), as well as in the antidepressant-treated subgroup. Moreover, we found that the more advanced the pre-intervention metabolic abnormalities (such as overweight, excessive central adipose tissue, and liver steatosis), the lower the improvements in psychometric scores. A higher baseline stress level was correlated with better improvements. The current probiotic formulations may only be used as complementary treatments for depressive disorders. Metabolic abnormalities may require more complex treatments. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04756544. Full article

The sum of independent circular uniformly distributed random variables is also circular uniformly distributed. In this study, it is shown that a family of circular distributions based on nonnegative trigonometric sums (NNTS) is also closed under summation. Given the flexibility of NNTS circular distributions to model multimodality and skewness, these are good candidates for use as alternative models to test for circular uniformity to detect different deviations from the null hypothesis of circular uniformity. The circular uniform distribution is a member of the NNTS family, but in the NNTS parameter space, it corresponds to a point on the boundary of the parameter space, implying that the regularity conditions are not satisfied when the parameters are estimated by using the maximum likelihood method. Two NNTS tests for circular uniformity were developed by considering the standardised maximum likelihood estimator and the generalised likelihood ratio. Given the nonregularity condition, the critical values of the proposed NNTS circular uniformity tests were obtained via simulation and interpolated for any sample size by the fitting of regression models. The validity of the proposed NNTS circular uniformity tests was evaluated by generating NNTS models close to the circular uniformity null hypothesis. Full article

Objectives: To review the evidence on the effectiveness and safety of low-dose-rivaroxaban 2.5 mg twice daily (LDR) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and/or peripheral artery disease (PAD) taking antiplatelets. Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Efficacy endpoints were cardiovascular events (CVEs), myocardial infarction, stroke, all-cause, and cardiovascular death. Any, major, fatal bleeding, and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) were safety endpoints. Numbers needed to treat (NNT), and numbers needed to harm (NNH) were also calculated. Results: Seven RCTs were included with 45,836 patients: 34,276 with CAD and 11,560 with PAD. Overall, 4247 CVEs and 3082 bleedings were registered. LDR in association with either any antiplatelet drug or aspirin (ASA) alone reduced the risk of CVEs (hazard ratio [HR] 0.86, 95% confidence interval [95%CI] 0.78–0.94) and ischemic stroke (HR 0.68, 95%CI 0.55–0.84). LDR + ASA increased the risk of major bleeding (HR 1.71, 95%CI 1.38–2.11) but no excess of fatal bleeding or ICH was found. The NNT to prevent one CVE for LDR + ASA was 63 (43–103) and the NNH to cause major bleeding was 107 (77–193). Conclusions: The combination of LDR with either antiplatelet drugs or low-dose aspirin reduces CVEs and ischemic stroke in patients with CAD/PAD. There was an increased risk of major bleeding but no excess of fatal or ICH was found. LDR seems to have a favorable net clinical benefit compared to ASA treatment alone. Full article

This study examined the sensitivity of single-walled (5,5) aluminium nitride nanotubes ((5,5) AlNNTs) to carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas molecules by performing DFT calculations using a hybrid functional, specifically, B3LYP (Becke’s three-parameter, Lee-Yang-Parr) exchange-correlation functional at a 6–31G* basis set. This research investigates the adsorption behavior of CO₂ and CO molecules on pristine and silicon-doped aluminum nitride nanotubes (AlNNTs) and examines their implications for sensor applications. The study assesses each system’s adsorption energy, sensing potential, and recovery time to gain insights into their binding strength and practical viability. For CO₂ adsorption on (5,5) AlNNT, significant adsorption energy of −24.36 kcal/mol was observed, indicating a strong binding to the nanotube surface, with a sensing potential of 8.95%. However, the slow recovery time of approximately 4.964 days may limit its real-time application. Si-(5,5) AlNNT exhibited a CO₂ adsorption energy of −19.69 kcal/mol, a sensing potential of 5.40%, and a relatively short recovery time of approximately 2.978 min, making it a promising candidate for CO₂ sensing. CO adsorption on (5,5) AlNNT showed an adsorption energy of −25.20 kcal/mol, a sensing potential of 9.095%, but a longer recovery time of approximately 20.130 days. Si-(5,5) AlNNT displayed a high CO adsorption energy of −20.78 kcal/mol, a sensing potential of 4.29%, and a recovery time of approximately 18.320 min. These findings provide insights into the adsorption characteristics of carbon molecules on AlNNTs, highlighting their potential for CO₂ and CO sensing applications. Full article

The aim of our study was to retrospectively evaluate whether the oral administration of L. crispatus (M247) could increase pregnancy and live birth rates in women undergoing assisted reproductive technology procedures. Enrolled women (N = 160) were divided into two groups: treated (N = 80) or untreated (N = 80) with the probiotic strain. The odds ratio (OR) for a treated woman to have a clinical pregnancy (CP) was 1.56. In women aged 30–40 years, M247 increased the probability of a CP in correlation with the progressive rise in BMI, reaching 47% (35% in controls) with a BMI of 35 (OR: 2.00). The CAID statistics showed that in a woman of the blastocyst subgroup, below 43 years, with a BMI over 18.6, treatment with M247 increased the chance of a CP from 28.4% to 44.5% (OR: 2.08; p < 0.05). Considering live births, the rate of the probiotic group was 12.5% versus 7.5% (OR: 1.76). Considering only the blastocyst subgroup, the treatment increased the number of live births by 200% (OR: 3.64; p = 0.05). As confirmed also by statistical indices NNT, NNH, and LHH, the use of M247 demonstrated a risk-benefit ratio to the full advantage of the benefits. Full article