Objectives: The applied orthodontic force causes remodeling of the periodontium through the selective release of cytokines causing resorption of bone, enabling controlled movement of the tooth. This ...study compared the cytokine profile between patients treated with conventional labial and lingual fixed orthodontic appliances. Patients and Methods: The study included 80 patients in need of orthodontic treatment, out of which 40 patients were treated by the labial fixed appliance and 40 by the lingual fixed appliance. Gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) specimens were gathered from both the groups using a microcapillary pipette. The samples were collected at the beginning of the treatment and after 21 days. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to evaluate the cytokine levels. Results: Interleukin (IL)-1α, 1β, 2, 8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels were significantly high (P < 0.001) in GCF of participants treated with conventional labial fixed appliance. IL-1α, 1β, 2, 6, 8, and TNF-α levels were significantly high (P < 0.001) in GCF of participants treated by the lingual fixed appliance. The concentrations of TNF-α and IL-1β were increased higher than other cytokines in both the treatment groups. Conclusion: Overall, the lingual fixed appliance had higher cytokine levels than a labial fixed appliance. Analyzing the GCF cytokine levels during orthodontic treatment could provide an ideal platform for monitoring the progress of the treatment.
Flibanserin (FLB) is a multifunctional serotonergic agent used for treating hypoactive sexual desire disorder in premenopausal women via oral administration. FLB has a reported limited oral ...bioavailability of 33% that could be attributed to the drug's first-pass metabolism. In addition, FLB has a pH-dependent solubility that could be a challenging factor for drug dissolution in the body neutral fluid, and consequently, absorption via mucosal barriers. Thus, this work aims at investigating the potential of utilizing nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks and to enhance nose-to-brain drug delivery.
Box-Behnken design was applied to explore the impact of solid lipid % (SL%,
), liquid lipid % (LL%,
), and sonication time (ST,
) on particle size. The optimized NLC formulation was characterized and incorporated into gellan gum in situ gel. The prepared gel was subjected to in vitro drug release, in vivo pharmacokinetic performance, and histopathological assessment in rats.
Statistical analysis revealed a significant negative effect for both SL% and ST on NLCs size. In contrast, a significant positive effect was observed for the LL%. The optimized formulation showed spherical shape with vesicular size of 114.63 nm. The optimized FLB-NLC in situ gel exhibited adequate stability and enhanced in vitro release compared to raw FLB control gel. The plasma and brain concentrations of the drug after nasal administration in rats increased by more than 3-6-fold, respectively, compared to raw FLB in situ gel. In addition, the histopathological studies revealed the absence of any pathological signs.
The aforementioned results highlight the safety of FLB-NLC in situ nasal gel and its potential to improve the drug bioavailability and brain delivery.
Radicalisation and Media Hoskins, Andrew; Awan, Akil; O'Loughlin, Ben
2011, 20110203, 2011-02-03, 20110101
eBook
This book examines the circulation and effects of radical discourse by analysing the role of mass media coverage in promoting or hindering radicalisation and acts of political violence.
There is a ...new environment of conflict in the post-9/11 age, in which there appears to be emerging threats to security and stability in the shape of individuals and groups holding or espousing radical views about religion, ideology, often represented in the media as oppositional to Western values. This book asks what, if anything is new about these radicalising discourses, how and why they relate to political acts of violence and terror, and what the role of the mass media is in promoting or hindering them.
This includes exploring how the acts themselves and explanations for them on the web are picked up and represented in mainstream television news media or Big Media, through the journalistic and editorial uses of words, phrases, graphics, images, and videos. It analyses how interpretations of the term 'radicalisation' are shaped by news representations through investigating audience responses, understandings and misunderstandings. Transnational in scope, this book seeks to contribute to an understanding of the connectivity and relationships that make up the new media ecology, especially those that appear to transcend the local and the global, accelerate the dissemination of radicalising discourses, and amplify media/public fears of political violence.
This book will be of interest to students of security studies, media studies, terrorism studies, political science and sociology.
1. Media and Radicalization: Grappling Uncertainties in the New Media Ecology 2. Legitimising Jihadist ideology 3. Media Jihad 4. Media Events: Televisual Connections 2004-2006 5. The Mainstream Nexus of Radicalization: The 2008-09 Gaza Conflict 6. Audience Uncertainties: Imagining the Mainstream and Extremes 7. Conclusion: The New Media Ecology Model
'Given the extensive scope of the authors' research and their clear and insightful analysus of the content and discourses of radicalization across media platforms, Radicalisation and Media: connectivity and terrorism in the new media ecology is a must read for scholars, security policy makers and general readers who will each find something to learn from, something to think about and something to be a little more 'uncertain' about.' - Hiba Ghanem, Journal of International Relations Research, Violence and Terrorism, Issue 1, January 2012
'...this is a first-rate book that furthers in significant ways our understanding of the interconnectivity between old-timers and newcomers in the new media/communication ecology and how these linkages influence the information that influences how citizens think about radicalisation and the threat of terrorist violence. While recommended for those involved in the study of terrorism, counterterrorism, media and communication, the volume is equally informative for those working in the media and public officials who deal with the causes and consequences of radicalisation.' Critical Studies on Terrorism, 4 (3)
Akil N. Awan is a Lecturer in Contemporary Islam and the current RCUK Fellow in the ‘Contemporary History of Faith, Power and Terror’ in the Departments of History at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Andrew Hoskins is Interdisciplinary Research Professor of Global Security in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow.
Ben O’Loughlin is Reader in International Relations at Royal Holloway University of London and Associate Director of the New Political Communication Unit.
We sought to measure the effect of lockdown, implemented to contain COVID-19 infection, on routine living and health of patients with chronic diseases and challenges faced by them.
A semi-structured ...online questionnaire was generated using “Google forms” and sent to the patients with chronic diseases using WhatsApp. Data were retrieved and analyzed using SPSS.
Out of 181 participants, 98% reported effect of lockdown on their routine living while 45% reported an effect on their health. The key challenges due to lockdown were to do daily exercise, missed routine checkup/lab testing and daily health care.
It is important to strategize the plan for patients with chronic diseases during pandemic or lockdown.
•The patients living with chronic diseases are more vulnerable to the lockdown.•Lockdown has effected the routine living and health of the patients with chronic diseases.•People with mental health issues might have more effect of the lockdown.
Electron beam brazing (EBB) of 2 mm thick Zr62Al13Ni7Cu18 bulk metallic glass (BMG) plate to Ti metal has successfully been accomplished by employing optimized electron beam brazing parameters and ...providing high cooling rate during solidification. The beam was irradiated 0.3 mm on the BMG side from the interface to avoid significant change in the chemical composition of weld metal in comparison to the base BMG. The welded joint was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray radiography techniques. The welded joint was found to be very sound with no crystallization or defects around the interface. Finally, microhardness profile across the welded joint was determined indicating a little increase in the hardness of the weld metal in comparison to that of BMG.
•Welding of Zr based BMG to Ti metal was successfully achieved by electron beam.•Welding was performed at accelerating voltage of 30 KV and 20 mA current.•The beam was irradiated at a distance of 0.3 mm on BMG side from the interface.•The increased hardness of weld metal was due to diffusion of Ti into molten BMG.
The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), is one of the most destructive insect pests of crucifer crops in Pakistan and other parts of the world where crucifers are grown. It has displayed an ...ability to develop resistance to most insecticides rapidly due to a range of biochemical and behavioral factors. Two factors affecting toxicity of insecticides, host plants and insecticide synergists, were assessed under laboratory conditions. The LC50 values of different insecticides varied significantly and feeding by P. xylostella on different host plants sometimes significantly affected their toxicity. Against P. xylostella collected in Pakistan, the insect growth regulator chlorfluazuron was the most toxic compound (LC50 of 0.0006 mg a.i. ml−1) and dimethoate was the least toxic (LC50 of 76.6 mg a.i. ml−1). Feeding on different hosts significantly affected toxicity of some insecticides. For example, when larvae were fed rocket plants, Eurica sativa, the LC50 of λ-cyhalothrin was 0.105 mg a.i. ml−1 whilst it was 0.035 a.i. ml−1 when larvae were fed cabbage, Brassica oleracea var. capitata. The LC50 values of lufenuron, profenofos, λ-cyhalothrin, spinosad and avermectin alone were 1.14, 8.67, 0.0418, 0.37, and 0.013 mg a.i. ml−1, respectively. With some, but not all insecticides, a low but sometimes significant level of synergism was recorded with use of the synergists piperonyl butoxide and S,S,S-tributyl phosphorotrithioate.
•Susceptibility to insecticides by diamondback moths in Pakistan varied dramatically.•The insect growth regulator chlorfluazuron was the most toxic.•Dimethoate was the least toxic insecticide.•Different host plants affected the toxicity of some insecticides.•Synergists affected the toxicities of some insecticides.
The 8 October 2005 Kashmir earthquake ruptured an out‐of‐sequence Himalayan thrust known as the Balakot‐Bagh thrust. The earthquake's hypocenter was located at a depth of 15 km on the ramp close to a ...possible ramp/flat transition. In the weeks following the earthquake a GPS network was installed to measure postseismic displacement. The initial measurements in November 2005 were followed by other campaigns in January and August 2006, in March and December 2007, and in August 2008 and 2009. Two hypotheses were tested: post‐seismic displacements controlled by viscous relaxation of the lower crust or by afterslip along a flat north of the ramp affected by the main shock. A single Newtonian viscosity for the different periods cannot be determined by numerical simulations of viscous relaxation, which may indicate that the viscosity of the lower crust is non‐Newtonian or that viscous relaxation does not control postseismic displacements. Numerical simulations using dislocations in a uniform elastic half‐space indicate afterslip north of the ramp of the earthquake along a flat connected to the ramp. Slip along the northwestern portion of the flat accrued to about 285 mm between November 2005 and August 2006, while slip along the southeastern portion accrued to 130 mm over the same time period. Residual misfit of the observed and predicted displacements clearly indicated that afterslip is a better explanation for the observations than the hypothesis of viscous relaxation. The time evolution of the afterslip was found to be consistent with that predicted from rate‐strengthening frictional sliding.
Key Points
Postseismic deformation mechanisms
Afterslip along a flat and relation with aftershocks
Viscous relaxation of lower crust
Background
Day-case surgery is associated with significant patient and cost benefits. However, only 43% of cholecystectomy patients are discharged home the same day. One hypothesis is day-case ...cholecystectomy rates, defined as patients discharged the same day as their operation, may be improved by better assessment of patients using standard preoperative variables.
Methods
Data were extracted from a prospectively collected data set of cholecystectomy patients from 166 UK and Irish hospitals (CholeS). Cholecystectomies performed as elective procedures were divided into main (75%) and validation (25%) data sets. Preoperative predictors were identified, and a risk score of failed day case was devised using multivariate logistic regression. Receiver operating curve analysis was used to validate the score in the validation data set.
Results
Of the 7426 elective cholecystectomies performed, 49% of these were discharged home the same day. Same-day discharge following cholecystectomy was less likely with older patients (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), higher ASA scores (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.15–0.23), complicated cholelithiasis (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31 to 0.48), male gender (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.58–0.74), previous acute gallstone-related admissions (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.48–0.60) and preoperative endoscopic intervention (OR 0.40, 95% CI 0.34–0.47). The CAAD score was developed using these variables. When applied to the validation subgroup, a CAAD score of ≤5 was associated with 80.8% successful day-case cholecystectomy compared with 19.2% associated with a CAAD score >5
(p
< 0.001).
Conclusions
The CAAD score which utilises data readily available from clinic letters and electronic sources can predict same-day discharges following cholecystectomy.
Episodic GPS measurements are used to quantify the present‐day velocity field in the northwestern Himalaya from the southern Pamir to the Himalayan foreland. We report large postseismic displacements ...following the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and several mm/yr thrusting of the central segment of the Salt Ranges and Potwar Plateau over the foreland, westward thrusting of Nanga Parbat above the Kohistan Plateau, and ~12 mm/yr SSE velocities of the Karakorum Ranges and of the Deosai and Kohistan Plateaus relative to the Indian Plate. Numerical simulations allow to determine a first approximation of slip along active faults: (1) substantial creep of ~87 mm/yr between 2006 and 2012 along the flat northeast of the Balakot‐Bagh Thrust affected by the 2005 earthquake; (2) ~5 mm/yr slip of the central segment of the Salt Ranges and Potwar Plateau, whereas their western boundaries are clearly inactive over the time span covered by our measurements; (3) 13 mm/yr ductile slip along the Main Himalayan Thrust modeled by a dislocation dipping 7° northward, locked at a depth of 15 km; and (4) ~20 mm/yr slip along the shear zone forming the western boundary of Nanga Parbat, between depths of 1.6 and 6.5 km. Residuals velocities suggest the existence of left‐lateral strike slip along the Jhelum Fault.
Key Points
Key GPS data for the NW Himalaya
Better understanding of Nanga Parbat tectonics
Identification of the Indus‐Kohistan seismic zone as the locking zone of the MHT
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