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.
Dietary restriction (DR) reduces adiposity and improves metabolism in patients with one or more symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Nonetheless, it remains elusive whether the benefits of DR in humans ...are mediated by calorie or nutrient restriction. This study was conducted to determine whether isocaloric dietary protein restriction is sufficient to confer the beneficial effects of dietary restriction in patients with metabolic syndrome. We performed a prospective, randomized controlled dietary intervention under constant nutritional and medical supervision. Twenty-one individuals diagnosed with metabolic syndrome were randomly assigned for caloric restriction (CR; n = 11, diet of 5941 ± 686 KJ per day) or isocaloric dietary protein restriction (PR; n = 10, diet of 8409 ± 2360 KJ per day) and followed for 27 days. Like CR, PR promoted weight loss due to a reduction in adiposity, which was associated with reductions in blood glucose, lipid levels, and blood pressure. More strikingly, both CR and PR improved insulin sensitivity by 62.3% and 93.2%, respectively, after treatment. Fecal microbiome diversity was not affected by the interventions. Adipose tissue bulk RNA-Seq data revealed minor changes elicited by the interventions. After PR, terms related to leukocyte proliferation were enriched among the upregulated genes. Protein restriction is sufficient to confer almost the same clinical outcomes as calorie restriction without the need for a reduction in calorie intake. The isocaloric characteristic of the PR intervention makes this approach a more attractive and less drastic dietary strategy in clinical settings and has more significant potential to be used as adjuvant therapy for people with metabolic syndrome.
Parathyroid tumors are very prevalent conditions among endocrine tumors, being the second most common behind thyroid tumors. Secondary hyperplasia can occur beyond benign and malignant neoplasia in ...parathyroid glands. Adenomas are the leading cause of hyperparathyroidism, while carcinomas represent less than 1% of the cases. Tumor suppressor gene mutations such as
and
were demonstrated to be involved in tumor development in both familiar and sporadic types; however, the epigenetic features of the parathyroid tumors are still a little-explored subject. We present a review of epigenetic mechanisms related to parathyroid tumors, emphasizing advances in histone modification and its perspective of becoming a promising area in parathyroid tumor research.
Background
Increasing evidence shows that chronic inflammation plays an important role in thyroid tumorigenesis. Cytokines as central mediators in inflammatory microenvironment can present both ...pro‐tumour and anti‐tumour effects and cytokine release may be influenced by soluble HLA‐G (sHLA‐G), an immune checkpoint molecule whose expression can also be induced by certain cytokines.
Aim
To understand the role of these soluble factors in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).
Methods
We evaluated plasma levels of sHLA‐G and of 13 cytokines using ELISA and flow cytometry, respectively, in PTC patients at two time points: pre‐ and post‐thyroidectomy; and control subjects.
Results
Compared with controls, IL‐6 levels were increased, while IL‐1β, IFN‐α and TGF‐β1 levels were decreased in pre‐thyroidectomy PTC patients. IFN‐α and TGF‐β1 efficiently discriminated patients from controls and were associated with extrathyroidal extension and lymph node metastasis, respectively. In addition, TNF and IL‐13 were associated with male gender, lymph node metastasis and Hashimoto thyroiditis, and sHLA‐G with tumour invasion. Compared with pre‐thyroidectomy, IL‐4, IL‐10, TNF, IFN‐α and TGF‐β1 levels were increased in post‐thyroidectomy.
Conclusion
There are significant changes in the cytokine profile after surgical removal of the thyroid tumour, and IFN‐α e TGF‐β1 showed to be promising cytokines for discriminating PTC patients from controls. We also found that different cytokines are associated with clinicohistopathological characteristics of PTC related to poor prognosis, suggesting that cytokines seem to play an important role in PTC development and management.
Summary
Background
Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), Kindler syndrome (KS) and xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group C (XPC) are three cancer‐prone genodermatoses whose causal ...genetic mutations cannot fully explain, on their own, the array of associated phenotypic manifestations. Recent evidence highlights the role of the stromal microenvironment in the pathology of these disorders.
Objectives
To investigate, by means of comparative gene expression analysis, the role played by dermal fibroblasts in the pathogenesis of RDEB, KS and XPC.
Methods
We conducted RNA‐Seq analysis, which included a thorough examination of the differentially expressed genes, a functional enrichment analysis and a description of affected signalling circuits. Transcriptomic data were validated at the protein level in cell cultures, serum samples and skin biopsies.
Results
Interdisease comparisons against control fibroblasts revealed a unifying signature of 186 differentially expressed genes and four signalling pathways in the three genodermatoses. Remarkably, some of the uncovered expression changes suggest a synthetic fibroblast phenotype characterized by the aberrant expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. Western blot and immunofluorescence in situ analyses validated the RNA‐Seq data. In addition, enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay revealed increased circulating levels of periostin in patients with RDEB.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that the different causal genetic defects converge into common changes in gene expression, possibly due to injury‐sensitive events. These, in turn, trigger a cascade of reactions involving abnormal ECM deposition and underexpression of antioxidant enzymes. The elucidated expression signature provides new potential biomarkers and common therapeutic targets in RDEB, XPC and KS.
What's already known about this topic?
Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), Kindler syndrome (KS) and xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group C (XPC) are three genodermatoses with high predisposition to cancer development.
Although their causal genetic mutations mainly affect epithelia, the dermal microenvironment likely contributes to the physiopathology of these disorders.
What does this study add?
We disclose a large overlapping transcription profile between XPC, KS and RDEB fibroblasts that points towards an activated phenotype with high matrix‐synthetic capacity.
This common signature seems to be independent of the primary causal deficiency, but reflects an underlying derangement of the extracellular matrix via transforming growth factor‐β signalling activation and oxidative state imbalance.
What is the translational message?
This study broadens the current knowledge about the pathology of these diseases and highlights new targets and biomarkers for effective therapeutic intervention.
It is suggested that high levels of circulating periostin could represent a potential biomarker in RDEB.
Linked Comment: Has. Br J Dermatol 2019; 181:440–441.
Plain language summary available online
Autophagy is a conserved process involved in lysosomal degradation of protein aggregates and damaged organelles. The role of autophagy in cancer is a topic of intense debate, and the underlying ...mechanism is still not clear. The hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF2α), an oncogenic transcription factor implicated in renal tumorigenesis, is known to be degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Here, we report that HIF2α is in part constitutively degraded by autophagy. HIF2α interacts with autophagy-lysosome system components. Inhibition of autophagy increases HIF2α, whereas induction of autophagy decreases HIF2α. The E3 ligase von Hippel-Lindau and autophagy receptor protein p62 are required for autophagic degradation of HIF2α. There is a compensatory interaction between the UPS and autophagy in HIF2α degradation. Autophagy inactivation redirects HIF2α to proteasomal degradation, whereas proteasome inhibition induces autophagy and increases the HIF2α-p62 interaction. Importantly, clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is frequently associated with monoallelic loss and/or mutation of autophagy-related gene ATG7, and the low expression level of autophagy genes correlates with ccRCC progression. The protein levels of ATG7 and beclin 1 are also reduced in ccRCC tumors. This study indicates that autophagy has an anticancer role in ccRCC tumorigenesis, and suggests that constitutive autophagic degradation of HIF2α is a novel tumor suppression mechanism.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is responsible for serious hospital infections worldwide and represents a global public health problem. Curcumin, the major constituent of turmeric, ...is effective against MRSA but only at cytotoxic concentrations or in combination with antibiotics. The major issue in curcumin-based therapies is the poor solubility of this hydrophobic compound and the cytotoxicity at high doses. In this paper, we describe the efficacy of a composite nanoparticle made of curcumin (CU) and graphene oxide (GO), hereafter GOCU, in MRSA infection treatment. GO is a nanomaterial with a large surface area and high drug-loading capacity. GO has also antibacterial properties due mainly to a mechanical cutting of the bacterial membranes. For this physical mechanism of action, microorganisms are unlikely to develop resistance against this nanomaterial. In this work, we report the capacity of GO to support and stabilize curcumin molecules in a water environment and we demonstrate the efficacy of GOCU against MRSA at a concentration below 2 µg ml−1. Further, GOCU displays low toxicity on fibroblasts cells and avoids haemolysis of red blood cells. Our results indicate that GOCU is a promising nanomaterial against antibiotic-resistant MRSA.
This work presents a methodology to study the deposition of scale in pipelines of multiphase systems (oil/water/gas), commonly found in the petroleum industry. The scale prediction for the pipelines ...is done through an artificial neural network, trained by using simulated data obtained with MCNP6 code, and transmission measurements. The model considered only barium sulfate (BaSO4) as main scale's material. The transmission setup is composed of a 137Cs (662 keV) volumetric source and one NaI(Tl) detector placed around the pipe. The pulse height distributions recorded in the detectors are used as input data of the artificial neural network. The results showed that 94% of the scale thickness prediction error was within ±5%. The scale thickness in the oil industry's pipes can be calculated by the artificial neural network regardless of the presence of fluids with satisfactory results in water-gas-oil multiphase system with annular flow regime.
•Theoretical models for different thickness scales have been developed using MCNP6 code.•The (BaSO4) deposition of scale can be predicted without knowledge of the presence of fluids.•The detection system uses the 137Cs gamma-ray sources and a NaI(Tl) detector in order calculate transmitted beam.•The approach is based on pulse height distributions pattern recognition by means of ANN.
The presence of magnetic dust can be an important issue for future fusion reactors where plasma breakdown is critical. Magnetic dust has been collected from contemporary fusion devices (FTU, Alcator ...C-Mod, COMPASS and DIII-D) that feature different plasma facing components. The results of morphological and elemental analysis are presented. Magnetic dust is based on steel or nickel alloys and its magnetism is generated by intense plasma-material interactions. In spite of the strong similarities in terms of morphology and composition, X-ray diffraction analysis revealed differences in the structural evolution that leads to non-trivial magnetic responses.
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