Abstract Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disc displacement is a clinical sign often found in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and associated with TMJ osteoarthrosis. Osteoarthrosis is a ...degenerative joint disease that may be associated with pain and functional disability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the odds ratio (OR) of joints with disc displacement presenting osteoarthrosis via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis. In total, 224 TMJ images from patients with signs and symptoms of a TMD were evaluated. The OR, a measure of association, was used to calculate the likelihood of TMJ disc displacement (with or without reduction) with osteoarthrosis. Joints with anterior disc displacement with reduction (ADDwR) and anterior disc displacement without reduction (ADDwoR) were 2.73- and 8.25-times, respectively, more likely to have osteoarthrosis. A nine-times greater likelihood of osteophyte occurrence was observed in cases of ADDwoR, whereas a lower OR for their occurrence (OR 2.96) was observed in cases of ADDwR. The significant OR of joints with disc displacement presenting osteoarthrosis, particularly in cases of ADDwoR, emphasizes the importance of accurate assessment of changes in disc position, which may be associated with other painful and functional disorders of the TMJ.
This work represents the first step towards the application of machine learning techniques in the prediction of statistical design allowables of composite laminates. Building on data generated ...analytically, four machine algorithms (XGBoost, Random Forests, Gaussian Processes and Artificial Neural Networks) are used to predict the notched strength of composite laminates and their statistical distribution, associated to the uncertainty related to the material properties and geometrical features. This work focuses not only on the so-called Legacy Quad Laminates (0°/90°/±45°), typically used in the design of composite aerostructures, but also on the newer concept of double-double (or double-angle ply) laminates. Very good representations of the design space, translating in low generalization relative errors of around ±10%, and very accurate representations of the distributions of notched strengths around single design points and corresponding B-basis allowables are obtained. All machine learning algorithms, with the exception of the Random Forests, show very good performances, with Gaussian Processes outperforming the others for very small number of data points while Artificial Neural Networks have better performance for larger training sets. This work serves as basis for the prediction of first-ply failure, ultimate strength and failure mode of composite specimens based on non-linear finite element simulations, providing further reduction of the computational time required to virtually obtain the design allowables for composite laminates.
•Determination of arsenic in the sugarcane brandy is important due to high consumption.•Method sensitive involving Cu2+ solutions and a CNTPE containing polymeric resins.•The proposed method is ...accurate and involves the use of simple, inexpensive reagents.•The results show the potential applicability of the method to real sample analysis.•The method not has drawbacks regarding interference.
We have developed an eletroanalytical method that employs Cu2+ solutions to determine arsenic in sugarcane brandy using an electrode consisting of carbon paste modified with carbon nanotubes (CNTPE) and polymeric resins. We used linear sweep (LSV) and differential-pulse (DPV) voltammetry with cathodic stripping for CNTPE containing mineral oil or silicone as binder. The analytical curves were linear from 30 to 110μgL−1 and from 10 to 110μgL−1 for LSV and DPV, respectively. The limits of detection (L.O.D.) and quantification (L.O.Q.) of CNTPE were 10.3 and 34.5μgL−1 for mineral oil and 3.4 and 11.2μgL−1 for silicone. We applied this method to determine arsenic in five commercial sugarcane brandy samples. The results agreed well with those obtained by hydride generation combined with atomic absorption spectrometry (HG AAS).
Fraudulent milk adulteration is a dangerous practice in the dairy industry that is harmful to consumers since milk is one of the most consumed food products. Milk quality can be assessed by Fourier ...Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), a simple and fast method for obtaining its compositional information. The spectral data produced by this technique can be explored using machine learning methods, such as neural networks and decision trees, in order to create models that represent the characteristics of pure and adulterated milk samples.
Thousands of milk samples were collected, some of them were manually adulterated with five different substances and subjected to infrared spectroscopy. This technique produced spectral data from the milk samples composition, which were used for training different machine learning algorithms, such as deep and ensemble decision tree learners. The proposed method is used to predict the presence of adulterants in a binary classification problem and also the specific assessment of which of five adulterants was found through multiclass classification. In deep learning, we propose a Convolutional Neural Network architecture that needs no preprocessing on spectral data. Classifiers evaluated show promising results, with classification accuracies up to 98.76%, outperforming commonly used classical learning methods.
The proposed methodology uses machine learning techniques on milk spectral data. It is able to predict common adulterations that occur in the dairy industry. Both deep and ensemble tree learners were evaluated considering binary and multiclass classifications and the results were compared. The proposed neural network architecture is able to outperform the composition recognition made by the FTIR equipment and by commonly used methods in the dairy industry.
The treatment against visceral leishmaniasis (VL) presents problems, mainly related to the toxicity and/or high cost of the drugs. In this context, a prophylactic vaccination is urgently required. In ...the present study, a
Leishmania
protein called LiHyE, which was suggested recently as an antigenic marker for canine and human VL, was evaluated regarding its immunogenicity and protective efficacy in BALB/c mice against
Leishmania infantum
infection. In addition, the protein was used to stimulate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from VL patients before and after treatment, as well as from healthy subjects. Vaccination results showed that the recombinant (rLiHyE) protein associated with liposome or saponin induced effective protection in the mice, since significant reductions in the parasite load in spleen, liver, draining lymph nodes, and bone marrow were found. The parasitological protection was associated with Th1-type cell response, since high IFN-γ, IL-12, and GM-CSF levels, in addition to low IL-4 and IL-10 production, were found. Liposome induced a better parasitological and immunological protection than did saponin. Experiments using PBMCs showed rLiHyE-stimulated lymphoproliferation in treated patients’ and healthy subjects’ cells, as well as high IFN-γ levels in the cell supernatant. In conclusion, rLiHyE could be considered for future studies as a vaccine candidate against VL.
The pseudo-ilmenite structure ABO
3
have been increasingly highlighted in the optoelectronic area. Nanoparticles of undoped lithium niobates (LiNbO
3
) and codoped with rare earths (LiNbO
3
: Dy
3+/
...Tb
3+
) were synthesized by the solid-state reaction method and calcined in a controlled way. The properties and structural changes of niobates were evaluated from data obtained in XRD and Rietveld refinement. The SEM-FEG micrographs showed different morphologies obtained (cubes, plates, tetrahedrons and polyhedra) according to the variation of the doping and co-doping process. Optical properties were measured and studied based on the results obtained from the UV-Vis spectrophotometer and photoluminescence assays. The photoluminescence presented by LiNbO
3
was associated with the existence of superficial defects in the particles, i.e., centers of recombination of photogenerated charges favorable to the property. The effect of concentration of dopants was investigated in properties photoluminescence. Photometric measurements (CRI, purity, CCT, LER) were analyzed and a modulation of the emitted color as a function of the concentration of the dopants. According to the obtained results, LiNbO
3
: Dy
3+
/Tb
3+
presents itself as a material with great potential in optical device applications.
Graphical Abstract
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a serious problem in Military Police Officers (MPO), which accounts for up to 45% of the sick leave rates. It has been assumed that the strength and the endurance of ...trunk flexor and extensor muscles are CLPB key factors, but it is not known whether these attributes are related to pain intensity. It was aimed to determine whether the strength and endurance of trunk flexor and extensor muscles differ in MPO with no pain (CON;
= 24), moderate (MOD;
= 42), and severe (SEV;
= 37) nonspecific chronic low back pain (CLBP).
The peak torque and endurance test of trunk flexor (PTF.BM
) and extensor (PTE.BM
) muscles were compared. A multiple regression analysis was used to identify pain intensity predictors in all groups (PAIN) and according to pain intensity (MOD and SEV).
The PTF.BM
was negatively related to pain and was a significant predictor, irrespective of pain intensity (PAIN).
When pain intensity was considered the PTF.BM
and PTE.BM
explained the pain in the MOD, while the PTE.BM
and service time explained pain intensity in the SEV. Endurance of the flexor and extensor muscles was not related to pain intensity. These results indicated that training protocols must emphasize specific strengthening routines.
The current study aimed to assess whether the A122V causal polymorphism promotes alterations in the functional and structural proprieties of the CXC chemokine receptor type 1 protein (CXCR1) of ...cattle Bos taurus by in silico analyses. Two amino acid sequences of bovine CXCR1 was selected from database UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot: a) non-polymorphic sequence (A7KWG0) with alanine (A) at position 122, and b) polymorphic sequence harboring the A122V polymorphism, substituting alanine by valine (V) at same position. CXCR1 sequences were submitted as input to different Bioinformatics' tools to examine the effects of this polymorphism on functional and structural stabilities, to predict eventual alterations in the 3-D structural modeling, and to estimate the quality and accuracy of the predictive models. The A122V polymorphism exerted tolerable and non-deleterious effects on the polymorphic CXCR1, and the predictive structural model for polymorphic CXCR1 revealed an alpha helix spatial structure typical of a receptor transmembrane polypeptide. Although higher variations in the distances between pairs of amino acid residues at target-positions are detected in the polymorphic CXCR1 protein, more than 97% of the amino acid residues in both models were located in favored and allowed conformational regions in Ramachandran plots. Evidences has supported that the A122V polymorphism in the CXCR1 protein is associated with increased clinical mastitis incidence in dairy cows. Thus, the findings described herein prove that the replacement of the alanine by valine amino acids provokes local conformational changes in the A122V-harboring CXCR1 protein, which could directly affect its post-translational folding mechanisms and biological functionality.
OBJECTIVEThe purpose of this study was to analyze the systemic effects of stair climbing exercise, low-level laser therapy (LLLT), and the association of both treatments on pelvic member ...functionality and ankle joint histomorphometric aspects of Wistar rats submitted to experimental rheumatoid arthritis (RA) protocol. METHODSMale Wistar rats were randomly distributed into the following 8 groups: control; control LLLT; control exercise; control LLLT and exercise; arthritis group; arthritis LLLT; arthritis exercise; and arthritis LLLT and exercise, with n = 8 for functional and n = 5 for histomorphometrical tests. The experimental RA was induced by complete Freund adjuvant injection in the knee joint cavity. Functionality was evaluated by proprioception and motor function using Sciatic Functional Index and maximum angle reached at an inclined plane. Histomorphometrical aspects were evaluated in the ankle joint after histological routine. RESULTSThe arthritis LLLT and exercise group had positive effects in Sciatic Functional Index (F 3.96 = 11.3, P < .001) and in inclined plane (F 3.4 = 36.1, P < .001). The arthritis exercise group presented a greater number of chondrocytes in the tibia (Wald 1; 6605.6 = 25.2, P < .001) and talus (Wald 1; 15958.6 = 19.8, P = .006) in relation to the other groups. The arthritis group morphology showed significant degenerative lesions as subintima with angiogenesis, inflammatory cells, flocculated articular cartilage, chondrocytes disorganization and pannus. Even with the higher chondrocytes number, the arthritis exercise group had morphological characteristics more similar to the control group. CONCLUSIONLow-level laser therapy and exercise restored functionality, and exercise restored morphological aspects of tissues in experimentally induced RA in rats.
We report on the ultrafast magnetization dynamics of Co60Fe40/Pt5 multilayers studied with femtosecond laser pulses. The samples were grown at room temperature by DC magnetron sputtering with Ta ...capping and Pt buffer layers and present the same thickness and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy as determined by vibrating sample magnetometry. Controlled growth rate of the Pt buffer layer modified the anisotropy fields and magnetic domain sizes as measured by magnetic force microscopy (MFM). An estimation of the average magnetic domain sizes was obtained from the profile of the self-correlation transform of the MFM images. For multilayers having an average magnetic domain size of 490 nm, we report a damped precession of the magnetization which decays with a time constant of ∼100 ps and which has a frequency which varies from 8.4 GHz to 17.0 GHz as the external field increases from 192 mT to 398 mT. Fitting the precession dynamics with the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation we evaluated the damping α, which decreases from 0.18 to 0.05 with increasing magnetic domain sizes (127 nm to 490 nm). These α values are higher than for single layers suggesting an enhanced scattering and spin pumping effects from the Pt adjacent layers. In addition, the precession frequency increases from 2.04 GHz to 11.50 GHz as the anisotropy field of the multilayers increases from 6.5 kOe to 13.0 kOe. Finally, a comparative analysis between micromagnetic simulations and MFM images allowed us to determine the exchange stiffness (Aex) in the Co60Fe40/Pt5 multilayers.
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