Introduction
The influence of aligners on the activity of the masticatory muscles is still controversial, especially regarding the behaviour associated with awake bruxism (AB).
Objective
To compare ...the frequency of AB behaviours between patients treated with aligners and fixed appliances.
Methods
The sample comprised 38 Class I patients (mean age 22.08 years), divided by simple randomisation into two groups: OA group; orthodontic aligners (n 19) and FA group; fixed appliance (n 19). The frequency of AB was investigated by the ecological momentary assessment using an online device (mentimeter), during 7 following days at different timepoints, before and after appliance placement and in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th months of orthodontic treatment. These variables were also evaluated: level of anxiety by the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory, stress by the Perceived Stress Scale, catastrophising related to pain and degree of hypervigilance by the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire, and the presence of facial pain evaluated by the DC/TMD.
Results
There was no difference between groups in the frequency of AB behaviours, with mean of 53.5% for group OA and 51.3% for FA. The most frequent behaviour was slightly touching the teeth, and in FA group, there was a significant reduction in this behaviour soon after appliance placement. The groups did not differ concerning the degree of anxiety, stress, catastrophising, hypervigilance and facial pain.
Conclusion
The orthodontic treatment performed with aligners or fixed appliances did not influence the frequency of AB during the 6 months of treatment.
Registry of Clinical Trials
(REBEC): RBR‐9zytwf.
Age-related complications such as neurodegenerative disorders are increasing and remain cureless. The possibility of altering the progression or the development of these multifactorial diseases ...through diet is an emerging and attractive approach with increasing experimental support. We examined the potential of known bioavailable phenolic sulfates, arising from colonic metabolism of berries, to influence hallmarks of neurodegenerative processes. In silico predictions and in vitro transport studies across blood-brain barrier (BBB) endothelial cells, at circulating concentrations, provided evidence for differential transport, likely related to chemical structure. Moreover, endothelial metabolism of these phenolic sulfates produced a plethora of novel chemical entities with further potential bioactivies. Pre-conditioning with phenolic sulfates improved cellular responses to oxidative, excitotoxicity and inflammatory injuries and this attenuation of neuroinflammation was achieved via modulation of NF-κB pathway. Our results support the hypothesis that these small molecules, derived from dietary (poly)phenols may cross the BBB, reach brain cells, modulate microglia-mediated inflammation and exert neuroprotective effects, with potential for alleviation of neurodegenerative diseases.
The importance of planktonic microbial communities is well acknowledged, since they are fundamental for several natural processes of aquatic ecosystems. Microorganisms naturally control the flux of ...nutrients, and also degrade and recycle anthropogenic organic and inorganic contaminants. Nevertheless, climate change effects and/or the runoff of nutrients/pollutants can affect the equilibrium of natural microbial communities influencing the occurrence of microbial pathogens and/or microbial toxin producers, which can compromise ecosystem environmental status. Therefore, improved microbial plankton monitoring is essential to better understand how these communities respond to environmental shifts. The study of marine microbial communities typically involves highly cost and time-consuming sampling procedures, which can limit the frequency of sampling and data availability. In this context, we developed and validated an in situ autonomous biosampler (IS-ABS) able to collect/concentrate in situ planktonic communities of different size fractions (targeting prokaryotes and unicellular eukaryotes) for posterior genomic, metagenomic, and/or transcriptomic analysis at a home laboratory. The IS-ABS field prototype is a small size and compact system able to operate up to 150 m depth. Water is pumped by a micropump (TCS MG2000) through a hydraulic circuit that allows in situ filtration of environmental water in one or more Sterivex filters placed in a filter cartridge. The IS-ABS also includes an application to program sampling definitions, allowing pre-setting configuration of the sampling. The efficiency of the IS-ABS was tested against traditional laboratory filtration standardized protocols. Results showed a good performance in terms of DNA recovery, as well as prokaryotic (16S rDNA) and eukaryotic (18S rDNA) community diversity analysis, using either methodologies. The IS-ABS automates the process of collecting environmental DNA, and is suitable for integration in water observation systems, what will contribute to substantially increase biological surveillances. Also, the use of highly sensitive genomic approaches allows a further study of the diversity and functions of whole or specific microbial communities.
Considerable research has documented that exposure to traumatic events has negative effects on physical and mental health. Much less research has examined the predictors of traumatic event exposure. ...Increased understanding of risk factors for exposure to traumatic events could be of considerable value in targeting preventive interventions and anticipating service needs.
General population surveys in 24 countries with a combined sample of 68 894 adult respondents across six continents assessed exposure to 29 traumatic event types. Differences in prevalence were examined with cross-tabulations. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine whether traumatic event types clustered into interpretable factors. Survival analysis was carried out to examine associations of sociodemographic characteristics and prior traumatic events with subsequent exposure.
Over 70% of respondents reported a traumatic event; 30.5% were exposed to four or more. Five types - witnessing death or serious injury, the unexpected death of a loved one, being mugged, being in a life-threatening automobile accident, and experiencing a life-threatening illness or injury - accounted for over half of all exposures. Exposure varied by country, sociodemographics and history of prior traumatic events. Being married was the most consistent protective factor. Exposure to interpersonal violence had the strongest associations with subsequent traumatic events.
Given the near ubiquity of exposure, limited resources may best be dedicated to those that are more likely to be further exposed such as victims of interpersonal violence. Identifying mechanisms that account for the associations of prior interpersonal violence with subsequent trauma is critical to develop interventions to prevent revictimization.
Although there has been an increase in three-dimensional (3D) scanning methods available on the market, they are generally expensive. The DI3D system is considered a good scanner for the acquisition ...of soft tissue surface images. The Microsoft Kinect scanner is a much more affordable alternative for acquiring 3D models. The aim of this study was to determine whether the precision and accuracy of Kinect are similar to those of DI3D. To verify the accuracy, 10 patients were scanned with both methods The models of each patient acquired from the two scanners were superimposed using a surface-to-surface registration technique, and the distances between the models were recorded for 10 different anatomical regions of interest. For the evaluation of precision, one patient was scanned 11 different times with the Kinect scanner, and these models were compared using the same superimposition method. It was found that the average difference between the two methods was 0.3±2.03mm. The assessment of reproducibility showed an average difference between the images taken with Kinect of 0.1±0.6mm (P<0.05, one-sample t-test). Thus, Kinect showed good precision and reasonable accuracy, and appears to be an interesting and promising resource for facial analysis.
Hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) is the major dose-limiting adverse effect of the clinical use ifosfamide (IFOS). The incidence of this side effect can be as high as 75%. Mesna has been used to reduce the ...risk of HC, although 5% of patients who get IFOS treatment may still suffer from HC. In previous studies, our group demonstrated that α-phellandrene (α-PHE) possesses anti-inflammatory activity, which opens the door for its study in the attenuation of HC. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential uroprotective effect of the α-PHE in the mouse model of IFOS-induced HC. In order to analyze the reduction of the urothelial damage, the bladder wet weight, hemoglobin content, and the Evans blue dye extravasation from the bladder matrix were evaluated. To investigate the involvement of neutrophil migration and lipid peroxidation and involvement of enzymatic and endogenous non-enzymatic antioxidants, the tissue markers myeloperoxidase (MPO), malondialdehyde, nitrite/nitrate (NOx), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and reduced glutathione (GSH) were evaluated. TNF-α and IL-1β were measured by ELISA immunoassay technique. The results show that pretreatment with α-PHE significantly reduced urothelial damage that was accompanied by a decrease in the activity of MPO, MDA, and NOx levels and prevention of the depletion of SOD and GSH in bladder tissues. In the assessment of cytokines, α-PHE was able to significantly reduce TNF-α level. However, it does not affect the activities of IL-1β. These data confirm that α-PHE exerts potent anti-inflammatory properties and demonstrates that α-PHE represents a promising therapeutic option for this pathological condition.
Abstract
STUDY QUESTION
Can all types of testicular germ cells be accurately identified by microscopy techniques and unambiguously distributed in stages of the human seminiferous epithelium cycle ...(SEC)?
SUMMARY ANSWER
By using a high-resolution light microscopy (HRLM) method, which enables an improved visualization of germ cell morphological features, we identified all testicular germ cells in the seminiferous epithelium and precisely grouped them in six well-delimitated SEC stages, thus providing a reliable reference source for staging in man.
WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN
Morphological characterization of germ cells in human has been done decades ago with the use of conventional histological methods (formaldehyde-based fixative -Zenker-formal- and paraffin embedding). These early studies proposed a classification of the SEC in six stages. However, the use of stages as baseline for morphofunctional evaluations of testicular parenchyma has been difficult because of incomplete morphological identification of germ cells and their random distribution in the human SEC.
STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
Testicular tissue from adult and elderly donors with normal spermatogenesis according to Levin's, Johnsen's and Bergmann's scores were used to evaluate germ cell morphology and validate their distribution and frequency in stages throughout human spermatogenesis.
PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
Testicular tissue from patients diagnosed with congenital bilateral agenesis of vas deferens (n = 3 adults) or prostate cancer (n = 3 elderly) were fixed in glutaraldehyde and embedded in araldite epoxy resin. Morphological analyses were performed by both light and transmission electron microscopy.
MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
HRLM method enabled a reliable morphological identification of all germ cells (spermatogonia, spermatocytes and spermatids) based on high-resolution aspects of euchromatin, heterochromatin and nucleolus. Moreover, acrosomal development of spermatids was clearly revealed. Altogether, our data redefined the limits of each stage leading to a more reliable determination of the SEC in man.
LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
Occasionally, germ cells can be absent in some tubular sections. In this situation, it has to be taken into account the germ cell association proposed in the present study to classify the stages.
WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Our findings bring a new focus on the morphology and development of germ cells during the SEC in human. Application of HRLM may be a valuable tool for research studies and clinical andrology helping to understand some testicular diseases and infertility conditions which remain unsolved.
STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST
Experiments were partially supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
Not applicable.
•Incubation effect of GaN at 1030, 515 and 343 nm.•Micromachining threshold fluence of GaN.•Fs-laser micromachining of GaN.
This paper presents a study on the incubation effect during fs-laser ...micromachining of gallium nitride films with three different wavelengths (1030, 515 and 343 nm) by varying the number of laser pulses applied per sample surface area and measuring the damage threshold fluence using the zero damage method. As we implemented the exponential defect accumulation model to the experimental incubation data, we determined the value of the incubation parameter of (0.02 ± 0.01) for 1030 nm, (0.07 ± 0.01) for 515 nm and (0.4 ± 0.1) for 343 nm. This shows that for excitation in the green and infrared spectral region, GaN requires approximately 100 overlapping pulses in order for the incubation to take place while, for ultraviolet excitation, the incubation was achieved faster, with the overlap of about 10 pulses. Furthermore, we compared our data for the single pulse damage threshold with a theoretical model that takes into account multiphoton and avalanche ionization. Our results indicate that at 343 nm and 515 nm, micromachining is dominated by multiphoton ionization, while at 1030 nm other effects, such as tunneling ionization, must also be contributing. Finally, we believe this paper brings relevant information on the fs-laser micromachining of GaN.
Aim
This cross‐sectional study aimed to investigate the microbial profile and to quantify the levels of endotoxins (LPS) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) present in periapical lesions associated with root ...filled teeth and those that had received root canal retreatment. It also aimed to investigate the association between microorganisms and their virulence factors with clinical and radiographic features.
Methodology
Patients with periapical lesions in teeth with post‐treatment endodontic disease following primary root canal treatment (n = 19) and unsuccessful root canal retreatment (n = 13) were treatment planned for endodontic microsurgery, where the periapical lesions were collected. Clinical and radiographic data were also collected. For microbiological analysis, nested polymerase chain reaction was used to detect 17 bacterial species. Levels of LPS and LTA were determined using limulus amebocyte lysate and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays, respectively. The Student t‐test or Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney tests were applied to compare the data on LPS and LTA with clinical and radiographic features. The associations between the clinical and radiographic features and the bacterial species were analysed using the Fisher’s exact test. A significance level of 5% was adopted.
Results
Bacterial DNA, LPS and LTA were detected in all samples. Parvimonas micra was the most commonly detected species in all groups, followed by Enterococcus faecalis, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Porphyromonas endodontalis. The type of endodontic treatment, whether a primary root canal treatment or retreatment, was not associated with the presence of any bacterial species in periapical lesions. The levels of LPS and LTA in periapical lesions of root filled teeth were not significantly different from those that had been retreated. Associations between the levels of LPS and LTA with clinical signs and symptoms were found. No association was found between specific bacteria and clinical features.
Conclusion
Periapical lesions associated with teeth after primary root canal treatment and retreatment had similar polymicrobial composition. The levels of LPS and LTA in periapical lesions associated with teeth after primary root canal treatment and retreatment were similar, and both were associated with the same symptomatology.
ABSTRACT
This study analyzes the spatiotemporal variability of rainfall and temperature (minimum, maximum and average) trends at 47 stations throughout the Brazilian Legal Amazon for the period ...1973–2013. Annual, wet season and dry season trends were quantified by Sen's slope for each station and the entire region. The Mann–Kendall test was used to determine the statistical significance of the trends. For the whole region, minimum, maximum and average annual temperatures showed increasing trend of approximately 0.04 °C per year. The rainfall showed an insignificant trend for most stations for annual and seasonal series. Nevertheless, some stations showed significant increasing trends in the annual and wet season rainfalls while a few stations showed decreasing trends for the dry season rainfall. A positive trend of the annual range between wet and dry season rainfall was found in some stations, caused mainly by an increasing trend in wet season rainfall.
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