Search

Statement of problem Limited information is available on the differences between tissue-level implants with an ultrathin threaded microsurface conical transmucosal portion and bone-level implants rehabilitated with conical custom abutments. Purpose The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess the outcomes of crowns designed as per the biologically oriented preparation technique (BOPT) cemented on conical titanium abutments on tissue-level and bone-level implants. Material and methods Patients consecutively rehabilitated with a delayed loading protocol with anterior implant-supported single crowns with a feather-edge margin, in function for at least 4 years, were recruited and divided into 2 groups based on the implant type they had received: tissue-level implants with a conical transmucosal portion or bone-level implants rehabilitated with a conical abutment by following the platform switching concept. Bone resorption, pink esthetic score (PES), and white esthetic score (WES) were collected and analyzed. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney test was performed to analyze all parameters (α=.05 for all tests). Results A total of 43 participants (48 implants) were included in the present study. The mean follow-up period was 4.5 years (range 52-64 months). A statistically significant difference (P=.004) was found in the mean ±standard deviation bone resorption between tissue-level implants (0.38 ±0.46 mm) and bone-level implants (0.83 ±0.58 mm). Higher values for both PES and WES were obtained in the tissue-level implant group. Conclusions Within the limitations of the present retrospective study, tissue-level implants with a conical transmucosal portion seem to provide a suitable alternative to bone-level implants in the anterior area.

Image post-processing corrects for cardiac and respiratory motion (MoCo) during cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) stress perfusion. The study analyzed its influence on visual image evaluation. Sixty-two patients with (suspected) coronary artery disease underwent a standard CMR stress perfusion exam during free-breathing. Image post-processing was performed without (non-MoCo) and with MoCo (image intensity normalization; motion extraction with iterative non-rigid registration; motion warping with the combined displacement field). Images were evaluated regarding the perfusion pattern (perfusion deficit, dark rim artifact, uncertain signal loss, and normal perfusion), the general image quality (non-diagnostic, imperfect, good, and excellent), and the reader’s subjective confidence to assess the images (not confident, confident, very confident). Fifty-three (non-MoCo) and 52 (MoCo) myocardial segments were rated as ‘perfusion deficit’, 113 vs. 109 as ‘dark rim artifacts’, 9 vs. 7 as ‘uncertain signal loss’, and 817 vs. 824 as ‘normal’. Agreement between non-MoCo and MoCo was high with no diagnostic difference per-patient. The image quality of MoCo was rated more often as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ (92 vs. 63%), and the diagnostic confidence more often as “very confident” (71 vs. 45%) compared to non-MoCo. The comparison of perfusion images acquired during free-breathing and post-processed with and without motion correction demonstrated that both methods led to a consistent evaluation of the perfusion pattern, while the image quality and the reader’s subjective confidence to assess the images were rated more favorably for MoCo.

Background: Using an age and gender matched-pair case-control study, we aimed to estimate the long-term prevalence of psychophysical olfactory, gustatory , and chemesthesis impairment at least one year after SARS-CoV-2 infection considering the background of chemosensory dysfunction in non-COVID-19 population. Methodology: This case-controlled study included 100 patients who were home-isolated for mildly symptomatic COVID-19 between March and April 2020. One control regularly tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection and always tested negative was matched to each case according to gender and age. Chemosensory function was investigated by a comprehensive psychophysical evaluation including ortho- and retronasal olfaction and an extensive assessment of gustatory function. Differences in chemosensory parameters were evaluated through either Fisher’s exact test or Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: The psychophysical assessment of chemosensory function took place after a median of 401 days from the first SARS-CoV-2 positive swab. The evaluation of orthonasal smell identified 46% and 10% of cases and controls, respectively, having olfactory dysfunction, with 7% of COVID-19 cases being functionally anosmic. Testing of gustatory function revealed a 27% of cases versus 10% of controls showing a gustatory impairment. Nasal trigeminal sensitivity was significantly lower in cases compared to controls. Persistent chemosensory impairment was associated with emotional distress and depression. Conclusion: More than one year after the onset of COVID-19, cases exhibited an excess of olfactory, gustatory , and chemesthesis disturbances compared to matched-pair controls with these symptoms being associated to emotional distress and depression.

Chemosensory impairments have been established as a specific indicator of COVID-19. They affect most patients and may persist long past the resolution of respiratory symptoms, representing an unprecedented medical challenge. Since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic started, we now know much more about smell, taste, and chemesthesis loss associated with COVID-19. However, the temporal dynamics and characteristics of recovery are still unknown. Here, capitalizing on data from the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research (GCCR) crowdsourced survey, we assessed chemosensory abilities after the resolution of respiratory symptoms in participants diagnosed with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy. This analysis led to the identification of two patterns of chemosensory recovery, partial and substantial, which were found to be associated with differential age, degrees of chemosensory loss, and regional patterns. Uncovering the self-reported phenomenology of recovery from smell, taste, and chemesthetic disorders is the first, yet essential step, to provide healthcare professionals with the tools to take purposeful and targeted action to address chemosensory disorders and their severe discomfort.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) provide hundreds of students with teaching materials, assessment tools, and collaborative instruments. The assessment activity, in particular, is demanding in terms of both time and effort; thus, the use of artificial intelligence can be useful to address and reduce the time and effort required. This paper reports on a system and related experiments finalised to improve both the performance and quality of formative and summative assessments in specific data science courses. The system is developed to automatically grade assignments composed of R commands commented with short sentences written in natural language. In our opinion, the use of the system can (i) shorten the correction times and reduce the possibility of errors and (ii) support the students while solving the exercises assigned during the course through automated feedback. To investigate these aims, an ad-hoc experiment was conducted in three courses containing the specific topic of statistical analysis of health data. Our evaluation demonstrated that automated grading has an acceptable correlation with human grading. Furthermore, the students who used the tool did not report usability issues, and those that used it for more than half of the exercises obtained (on average) higher grades in the exam. Finally, the use of the system reduced the correction time and assisted the professor in identifying correction errors.

The present work aimed to study the distribution and richness of Gesneriaceae in the Serra da Mantiqueira (SM), located in Southeastern Region of Brazil, as well as to evaluate the conservation degree of endemic species and possible areas of endemism of this Serra. The analyzed data were obtained from the literature, as well as from eight herbariums with representative collections of the SM, from field expeditions and an online database, and then marked on a map which was divided into 0.5° × 0.5° grid squares. Richness grid similarity analyzes were performed for the 55 species found, while a parsimony analysis of endemism and the conservation status evaluation were only performed with the 15 endemic species of Gesneriaceae registered for the SM. The highest richness was found for Northern Mantiqueira and the similarity between the squares confirmed the two SM sectors and the existence of a relationship between the interior of the ES and the Zona da Mata of MG. The 15 endemic species of the SM should be considered threatened to some degree due to restricted distribution, reduced populations and/or anthropogenic impact in their occurrence habitats. Given this richness, there is an imminent need for conservation policies which truly guarantee effective protection of the SM, as it represents a relevant refuge for species in general.

Correction: Chemical Senses, Volume 46, 2021, bjab050, https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjab050 Published: 08 December 2021 Recent anecdotal and scientific reports have provided evidence of a link between COVID-19 and chemosensory impairments, such as anosmia. However, these reports have downplayed or failed to distinguish potential effects on taste, ignored chemesthesis, and generally lacked quantitative measurements. Here, we report the development, implementation, and initial results of a multilingual, international questionnaire to assess self-reported quantity and quality of perception in 3 distinct chemosensory modalities (smell, taste, and chemesthesis) before and during COVID-19. In the first 11 days after questionnaire launch, 4039 participants (2913 women, 1118 men, and 8 others, aged 19-79) reported a COVID-19 diagnosis either via laboratory tests or clinical assessment. Importantly, smell, taste, and chemesthetic function were each significantly reduced compared to their status before the disease. Difference scores (maximum possible change +/- 100) revealed a mean reduction of smell (-79.7 +/- 28.7, mean +/- standard deviation), taste (-69.0 +/- 32.6), and chemesthetic (-37.3 +/- 36.2) function during COVID-19. Qualitative changes in olfactory ability (parosmia and phantosmia) were relatively rare and correlated with smell loss. Importantly, perceived nasal obstruction did not account for smell loss. Furthermore, chemosensory impairments were similar between participants in the laboratory test and clinical assessment groups. These results show that COVID-19-associated chemosensory impairment is not limited to smell but also affects taste and chemesthesis.The multimodal impact of COVID-19 and the lack of perceived nasal obstruction suggest that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus strain 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may disrupt sensory-neural mechanisms.

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the primary stability of two implants with the same macro- and micromorphology but different thread design and analyze their clinical outcomes over a one-year period. Materials and Methods. 14 patients needing a partial rehabilitation with a delayed loading approach (DEL group: 9 patients) or a full-arch rehabilitation treated with immediately loaded fixed prostheses supported by 4 implants following the Columbus Bridge Protocol (CBP) (IL group: 5 patients) were included. In each patient, at least one SY (implant with standard threads) and one SL implant (implant with an augmented depth of the threads) were randomly inserted. Primary outcome measures were the number of threads exposed at a torque of 30 Ncm and 50 Ncm and final insertion torque. Secondary outcome measures were implant and prosthetic failure, peri-implant bone resorption, and periodontal parameters: bleeding on probing (BoP), plaque index (PI), and probing depth (PD) evaluated at 3, 6, and 12 months of healing. Results. Nineteen SY and 19 SL implants were inserted in 14 patients. Twenty implants (10 SL and 10 SY) were inserted in the IL group, while 18 (9 SL and 9 SY) were inserted in the DEL group and followed-up for 12 months. No patients dropped out. No implants and prostheses failed. No biological complications were identified. No significant differences were found between SY and SL implants comparing the number of exposed threads when inserting the implant with a torque insertion of 30 N (T student test p=.142 and U test p=.164). At 50 N, no threads were visible in either groups. Final torque insertion values were higher for SL (mean: 48.42 Ncm) compared to SY implants (mean: 43.42 Ncm) without a statistically significant difference. All the implants showed good clinical outcomes at the 1-year-in-function visit. Conclusions. After 12 months of function, both implant types provided good clinical outcomes without statistically significant differences between the two groups. A difference in insertion torque (even if not statistically significant) was found with higher insertion torque values for SL implants with a larger thread depth.

Pixelwise image classification based on time series profiles has been very effective in several applications. In this letter, we investigate recently proposed image-based time series encoding approaches [e.g., Gramian angular summation field/Gramian angular difference field (GASF/GADF) and Markov transition field (MTF)] to support the identification of eucalyptus regions in remote sensing images. We perform a comparative study concerning the combination of image-based representations suitable for encoding the most important time series patterns with the ability of state-of-the-art deep-learning-based approaches for characterizing image visual properties. The comparative study demonstrates that the evaluated image representations, combined with different deep learning feature extractors lead to highly effective classification results, which are superior to those of recently proposed methods for time-series-based eucalyptus plantation detection.

International audience; The development of “portable, low cost and low consumption” gas microsensors is one of the strong needs for embedded portable devices in many fields such as public domain. In this paper, a new approach is presented on making, on the same chip, a network of head-to-tail facing PN junctions in order to miniaturize the sensor network and considerably reduce the required power for heating each cell independently. This paper is about recognizing a device that integrates both sensing and self-heating. This first study aims to evaluate the possibilities of this type of diode network for use as a gas sensor. The first part concerns the description of the technological process that is based on a doped polysilicon wafer in which a thin layer of metal oxide (a gallium-doped zinc oxide in our case) is deposited by RF sputtering. An electrical model will be proposed to explain the operation and advantage of this approach. We will show the two types of tests that have been carried out (static and dynamic) as well as the first encouraging results of these electrical characterizations under variable atmospheres.

This study prospectively assessed the 6-month prevalence of self-reported and psychophysically measured olfactory dysfunction in subjects with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Self-reported smell or taste impairment was prospectively evaluated by SNOT-22 at diagnosis, 4-week, 8-week, and 6-month. At 6 months from the diagnosis, psychophysical evaluation of olfactory function was also performed using the 34-item culturally adapted University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (CA-UPSIT). 145 completed both the 6-month subjective and psychophysical olfactory evaluation. According to CA-UPSIT, 87 subjects (60.0%) exhibited some smell dysfunction, with 10 patients being anosmic (6.9%) and seven being severely microsmic (4.8%). At the time CA-UPSIT was administered, a weak correlation was observed between the self-reported alteration of the sense of smell or taste and olfactory test scores (Spearman’s r = −0.26). Among 112 patients who self-reported normal sense of smell at last follow-up, CA-UPSIT revealed normal smell in 46 (41.1%), mild microsmia in 46 (41.1%), moderate microsmia in 11 (9.8%), severe microsmia in 3 (2.3%), and anosmia in 6 (5.4%) patients; however, of those patients self-reporting normal smell but who were found to have hypofunction on testing, 62 out of 66 had a self-reported reduction in sense of smell or taste at an earlier time point. Despite most patients report a subjectively normal sense of smell, we observed a high percentage of persistent smell dysfunction at 6 months from the diagnosis of syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, with 11.7% of patients being anosmic or severely microsmic. These data highlight a significant long-term rate of smell alteration in patients with previous SARS-COV-2 infection.

International audience; The increasing popularity of social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook has led to a rise in the presence of hate and aggressive speech on these platforms. Despite the number of approaches recently proposed in the Natural Language Processing research area for detecting these forms of abusive language, the issue of identifying hate speech at scale is still an unsolved problem. In this paper, we propose a robust neural architecture which is shown to perform in a satisfactory way across different languages, namely English, Italian and German. We address an extensive analysis of the obtained experimental results over the three languages to gain a better understanding of the contribution of the different components employed in the system, both from the architecture point of view (i.e., Long Short Term Memory, Gated Recurrent Unit, and bidirectional Long Short Term Memory) and from the feature selection point of view (i.e., ngrams, social network specific features, emotion lexica, emojis, word embeddings). To address such in-depth analysis, we use three freely available datasets for hate speech detection on social media on English, Italian and German.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effect of various titanium abutment modifications on the behaviour of peri-implant soft tissue healing, inflammation and maintenance. MATERIAL AND METHODS An electronic database research until 30 April 2019 was performed. A meta-analysis (MA) for each outcome parameter was performed by using the random-effects models with the DerSimonian-Laird estimator. RESULTS Ten studies were included in the present review. Four studies with a long follow-up (5-6 years) reported the outcomes in a heterogeneous way and were suitable for MA. Six studies (4 RCT, 2 CCT) including 118 patients and 182 implants dealing with a modified healing abutment surface and short follow-up were selected for MA. The MA for PI and BoP as outcome showed no significant differences between surfaces (PI: P = 0.091; BoP: P = 0.099). The MA for PD as outcome showed no significant differences between surfaces (P = 0.488). No statistical significance was found by evaluating each mixed-effects model for potential moderators (type of study, study design, number of implants, follow-up length). The other four studies with a longer follow-up (5-6 years) reported contradictory results depending on the surface treatment investigated. CONCLUSIONS Within their limits, the present findings suggest that peri-implant soft tissue may not be affected by the surface treatment of titanium abutments on the short term. Contrasting results are reported in longer follow-up periods depending on the technique used to modify the abutment. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Clinicians should carefully evaluate the use of a modified titanium surface in their practice. Even if no differences in terms of inflammation are present at short term, these findings need to be validated in long-term studies.

This paper explores how geography shapes human uses of the maritime space along the Atlantic archipelagic territories of Macaronesia, a biogeographical region that includes the archipelagos of the Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cape Verde. The way specific geographic characteristics of these islands influence and even determine maritime uses and activities is analyzed in a three-layers approach in the following order: socio-economic analysis, sectorial analysis and uses and activities analysis. The biophysical and geographical characteristics of each archipelago will be considered throughout the analysis, highlighting the common aspects and peculiarities between each region. After a comprehensive overview of the main economic activities, the discussion suggests that certain specificities need to be taken into account in maritime spatial planning processes when planning and managing human uses at sea, to promote the sustainable development of local communities, particularly in archipelagic regions.

The aim of the present report was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of edentulous jaws rehabilitated with the Brånemark Novum protocol over a 16-year period. Between April and November 2001, four patients (three males, one female) were rehabilitated with fixed full-arch rehabilitations supported by three immediately loaded implants following the Brånemark Novum protocol. Cumulative survival rates (CSRs) of the implants and prosthesis, bleeding on probing (BOP), Plaque Index (PI), probing depth (PD), implant stability quotient (ISQ; as measured through resonance frequency analysis [RFA]), and peri-implant bone resorption were evaluated over time, up to the 16-year follow-up. At 16 years of follow-up, no implant failed (CSR 100%) and no prosthesis needed to be substituted (CSR 100%). During the period between the 11th and 16th year of follow-up, bone level (mean: 2.2 mm at 16 years) and RFA values remained stable. At the 16-year follow-up, the implants presented high PI (79.2%) but low BOP (10.4%) values. Mean PD was 3.30 mm (range: 2 to 6 mm). One biologic complication was detected on a central implant (crater-form bone destruction), and several prosthodontic complications occurred during the 16 years (fractures of resin or teeth), the majority of which were registered on the same parafunctional patient. This is the first description of the Brånemark Novum protocol rehabilitation with a 16-year follow-up. The outcomes demonstrated very good long-term outcomes for this protocol.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-11T00:48:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2019-10-01 Pro-Reitoria de Pesquisa da UFMG Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Cedro Textil, Reserva Vellozia, Parque Nacional da Serra do Cipo Plant phenology studies rely on long-term monitoring of life cycles of plants. High-resolution unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and near-surface technologies have been used for plant monitoring, demanding the creation of methods capable of locating, and identifying plant species through time and space. However, this is a challenging task given the high volume of data, the constant data missing from temporal dataset, the heterogeneity of temporal profiles, the variety of plant visual patterns, and the unclear definition of individuals' boundaries in plant communities. In this letter, we propose a novel method, suitable for phenological monitoring, based on convolutional networks (ConvNets) to perform spatio-temporal vegetation pixel classification on high-resolution images. We conducted a systematic evaluation using high-resolution vegetation image datasets associated with the Brazilian Cerrado biome. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is effective, overcoming other spatio-temporal pixel-classification strategies. Univ Fed Minas Gerais, Dept Comp Sci, BR-31270901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Comp, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, BR-13506900 Sao Paulo, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, IGCE, BR-13506900 Sao Paulo, Brazil Univ Stirling, Biol & Environm Sci, Fac Nat Sci, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, BR-13506900 Sao Paulo, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, IGCE, BR-13506900 Sao Paulo, Brazil FAPEMIG: APQ-00449-17 FAPESP: 2013/50155-0 FAPESP: 2013/50169-1 FAPESP: 2009/54208-6 FAPESP: 2016/26170-8 FAPESP: 2018/06918-3 CNPq: 424700/2018-2 CAPES: 001 CAPES: 88881.145912/2017-01 Cedro Textil, Reserva Vellozia, Parque Nacional da Serra do Cipo: PELD-CRSC-17

The world population growth has raised concerns about food security. Agricultural systems are asked to satisfy a growing demand for food with increasingly limited resources, and simultaneously still must reduce the impacts on the environment. This scenario encourages the search for safe and sustainable production strategies. Reducing losses in the production process can be one of the main ways to guarantee food safety. In fruticulture, it is estimated that more than 50% of the production can be lost between harvest and the final consumer due to postharvest diseases caused by phytopathogenic fungi. The fungi of the genus Colletotrichum are opportunistic and are associated with several diseases, being the anthracnose the most relevant in terms of the quality and yield losses in fruit species around worldwide. To control these diseases, the use of synthetic fungicides has been the main instrument utilized, however, because of their phytotoxicity to human health, the environment, and strong selection pressure imposed by continuous applications, the fungicides have caused resistance in the pathogen populations. So reducing the excessive application of these products is indispensable for human health and for sustainable Agriculture. Towards this purpose, research has been carried out to identify the phytopathological potentiality of essential oils (EOs) extracted from plants. Therefore, this review aims to contribute to the formation of knowledge bases, about the discoveries, recent advances, and the use of EOs as a strategy to alternatively control fungal disease caused by Colletotrichum spp. in postharvest fruits. Here, we provide valuable information exploring the application potential of essential oils as commercially useful biorational pesticides for food preservation, contributing to sustainable production and global food security.

This study aimed to retrospectively investigate the effect of bone graft after extraction of wisdom teeth impacting with the distal aspect of the second molar, on soft tissue wound healing, bone loss, and periodontal parameters. Sixteen patients treated an for impacted mandibular wisdom tooth at least one year ago were re-called (18 teeth). Dental panoramic tomography and periodontal parameters were assessed. A graft material was used to fill the post-extractive sockets in the test group (GUIDOR easy-graft CRYSTAL), whereas in the control group, the socket was filled using a collagen sponge and blood clot (Hemocollagene, Septodont, Matarò, Spain). The radiographic bone loss was measured at the distal aspect of the second molar. The Wilcoxon singed-rank test for paired data was performed to evaluate statistical differences. In the test group, only two cases out of nine showed bone loss, with an average of 0.55 ± 1.30 mm. Conversely, in the control group, five teeth out of nine showed bone resorption with an average of 1.22 ± 1.30 mm. However, the differences were not statistically significant. Periodontal parameters at the second molar demonstrated similar behavior between the test and control groups. Soft tissue healing complications were lower in the grafted compared to the comparator sites without reaching statistical significance. Within the limitations of the present study, no difference was found between the two groups.

Recent accelerated MRI reconstruction models have used Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) to reconstruct relatively high-quality images from highly undersampled k-space data, enabling much faster MRI scanning. However, these techniques sometimes struggle to reconstruct sharp images that preserve fine detail while maintaining a natural appearance. In this work, we enhance the image quality by using a Conditional Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Network combined with a novel Adaptive Gradient Balancing (AGB) technique that automates the process of combining the adversarial and pixel-wise terms and streamlines hyperparameter tuning. In addition, we introduce a Densely Connected Iterative Network, which is an undersampled MRI reconstruction network that utilizes dense connections. In MRI, our method minimizes artifacts, while maintaining a high-quality reconstruction that produces sharper images than other techniques. To demonstrate the general nature of our method, it is further evaluated on a battery of image-to-image translation experiments, demonstrating an ability to recover from sub-optimal weighting in multi-term adversarial training., arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1905.00985

Chemosensory impairments have been established as a specific indicator of COVID-19. They affect most patients and may persist long past the resolution of respiratory symptoms, representing an unprecedented medical challenge. Since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic started, we now know much more about smell, taste, and chemesthesis loss associated with COVID-19. However, the temporal dynamics and characteristics of recovery are still unknown. Here, capitalizing on data from the Global Consortium for Chemosensory Research (GCCR) crowdsourced survey, we assessed chemosensory abilities after the resolution of respiratory symptoms in participants diagnosed with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy. This analysis led to the identification of two patterns of chemosensory recovery, limited (partial) and substantial, which were found to be associated with differential age, degrees of chemosensory loss, and regional patterns. Uncovering the self-reported phenomenology of recovery from smell, taste, and chemesthetic disorders is the first, yet essential step, to provide healthcare professionals with the tools to take purposeful and targeted action to address chemosensory disorders and its severe discomfort.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a widespread malignancy with high mortality. In particular, a delay in its diagnosis dramatically decreases the survival rate. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate and summarize clinical results in the literature, regarding the potential use of salivary microRNAs (miRNAs) as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for OSCC patients. Twelve papers were selected, including both case–control and cohort studies, and all of them detected significantly dysregulated miRNAs in OSCC patients compared to healthy controls. Based on our results, salivary miRNAs might provide a non-invasive and cost-effective method in the diagnosis of OSCC, and also to monitor more easily its evolution and therapeutic response and therefore aid in the establishment of specific therapeutic strategies.

International audience; Recent studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of cross-lingual language model pre-training on different NLP tasks, such as natural language inference and machine translation. In our work, we test this approach on social media data, which are particularly challenging to process within this framework, since the limited length of the textual messages and the irregularity of the language make it harder to learn meaningful encodings. More specifically, we propose a hybrid emoji-based Masked Language Model (MLM) to leverage the common information conveyed by emo-jis across different languages and improve the learned cross-lingual representation of short text messages, with the goal to perform zero-shot abusive language detection. We compare the results obtained with the original MLM to the ones obtained by our method, showing improved performance on German, Italian and Spanish.

Contains fulltext : 228204.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) In a preregistered, cross-sectional study we investigated whether olfactory loss is a reliable predictor of COVID-19 using a crowdsourced questionnaire in 23 languages to assess symptoms in individuals self-reporting recent respiratory illness. We quantified changes in chemosensory abilities during the course of the respiratory illness using 0-100 visual analog scales (VAS) for participants reporting a positive (C19+; n=4148) or negative (C19-; n=546) COVID-19 laboratory test outcome. Logistic regression models identified univariate and multivariate predictors of COVID-19 status and post-COVID-19 olfactory recovery. Both C19+ and C19- groups exhibited smell loss, but it was significantly larger in C19+ participants (mean±SD, C19+: -82.5±27.2 points; C19-: -59.8±37.7). Smell loss during illness was the best predictor of COVID-19 in both univariate and multivariate models (ROC AUC=0.72). Additional variables provide negligible model improvement. VAS ratings of smell loss were more predictive than binary chemosensory yes/no-questions or other cardinal symptoms (e.g., fever). Olfactory recovery within 40 days of respiratory symptom onset was reported for ~50% of participants and was best predicted by time since respiratory symptom onset. We find that quantified smell loss is the best predictor of COVID-19 amongst those with symptoms of respiratory illness. To aid clinicians and contact tracers in identifying individuals with a high likelihood of having COVID-19, we propose a novel 0-10 scale to screen for recent olfactory loss, the ODoR-19. We find that numeric ratings ≤2 indicate high odds of symptomatic COVID-19 (4

14 pages, 5 figures, supporting information https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2009, In the Anthropocene, marine ecosystems are rapidly shifting to new ecological states. Achieving effective conservation of marine biodiversity has become a fast-moving target because of both global climate change and continuous shifts in marine policies. How prepared are we to deal with this crisis? We examined EU Member States Programs of Measures designed for the implementation of EU marine environmental policies, as well as recent European Marine Spatial Plans, and discovered that climate change is rarely considered operationally. Further, our analysis revealed that monitoring programs in marine protected areas are often insufficient to clearly distinguish between impacts of local and global stressors. Finally, we suggest that while the novel global Blue Growth approach may jeopardize previous marine conservation efforts, it can also provide new conservation opportunities. Adaptive management is the way forward (e.g., preserving ecosystem functions in climate change hotspots, and identifying and targeting climate refugia areas for protection) using Marine Spatial Planning as a framework for action, especially given the push for Blue Growth, This article is based upon ideas developed in two workshops in Naples in November 2017 and November 2018 organized as part of the COST Action 15121 ‘Advancing marine conservation in the European and contiguous seas (MarCons; www.marcons-cost.eu; Katsanevakis et al. 2017) supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology, CA15121). It is also partly supported by an Israel Science Foundation grant to GR (grant no. 1982/16), With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

This study prospectively assessed the long-term prevalence of self-reported and psychophysically measured olfactory dysfunction in subjects with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Self-reported smell or taste impairment was prospectively evaluated by SNOT-22 at diagnosis, 4-week, 8-week, and 6-month. At 6 months from the diagnosis, psychophysical evaluation of olfactory function was also performed using the 34-item culturally adapted University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (CA-UPSIT). 145 completed both the 6-month subjective and psychophysical olfactory evaluation. According to CA-UPSIT, 87 subjects (60.0%) exhibited some smell dysfunction, with 54 (37.2) being mildly microsmic, 16 (11.0%) moderately microsmic, 7 (4.8%) severely microsmic, and 10 patients (6.9%) being anosmic. At the time CA-UPSIT was administered, a weak correlation was observed between the self-reported alteration of sense of smell or taste and olfactory test scores (Spearman’s r=-0.26). Among 112 patients who self-reported normal sense of smell at last follow-up, CA-UPSIT revealed normal smell in 46 (41.1%), mild microsmia in 46 (41.1%), moderate microsmia in 11 (9.8%), severe microsmia in 3 (2.3%), and anosmia in 6 (5.4%) patients; however, of those patients self-reporting normal smell but who were found to have hypofunction on testing, 62 out of 66 had self-reported reduction in sense of smell or taste at an earlier time point. Despite most patients report a subjectively normal sense of smell, we observed a high percentage of persistent smell dysfunction at 6 months from the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, with 11.7% of patients being anosmic or severely microsmic. These data highlight a significant long-term rate of smell alteration in patients with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Introduction Ultrasonography is widely used as the first tool to evaluate fatty liver disease, and the hepatorenal index is a semi-quantitative method that improves its performance. Fibrosis can co-exist with steatosis or even replace it during disease progression. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of fibrosis on the measurement of steatosis using the hepatorenal index. Materials and methods This cross-sectional study included 89 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and in whom liver fibrosis was determined by ultrasound elastography. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to compare between the results of the sonographic hepatorenal index and the quantification of steatosis using magnetic resonance spectroscopy as well the accuracy of detecting moderate to severe steatosis using sonography in two groups of patients: (A) without advanced fibrosis and (B) with advanced fibrosis. Advanced fibrosis was defined as a shear wave speed ≥ 1.78 m/s on ultrasound elastography. We calculated the area under the curve (AUC-ROC) to detect the ability of the hepatorenal index to differentiate light from moderate to severe steatosis in both groups. Moderate to severe steatosis was defined as a fat fraction > 15% on the magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The intra-observer variability was assessed using the Bland-Altman plot. Results Among patients, the mean age was 54.6 years and 59.6% were women, 50.6% had a body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2, 29.2% had moderate to severe steatosis, and 27.2% had advanced fibrosis. There was a correlation between steatosis grading by ultrasonography and magnetic resonance in group A (0.73; P < 0.001), but not in Group B (0.33; P = 0.058). The AUC-ROC for detecting a steatosis fraction ≥ 15% was 0.90 and 0.74 in group A and group B, respectively. The intra-observer variability for the hepatorenal index measurements was not significant (-0.036; P = 0.242). Conclusion The hepatorenal index is not appropriate for estimating steatosis in livers with advanced fibrosis.

Deep-sea hydrothermal vent fields are globally rare (abundant in numbers, but extremely small in area) and are rich in extraordinary life based on chemosynthesis rather than photosynthesis. Vent fields are also sources of polymetallic sulfides rich in copper and other metals. Mineral resources of the international seabed beyond national jurisdictions (referred to as the “Area”) are administered by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which has the mandate to organize and control mineral resource-related activities and to ensure effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects which may arise from such activities. To date, the ISA has approved 3 contracts for mineral exploration on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (nMAR) and is developing a Regional Environmental Management Plan (REMPs) for polymetallic sulfide resources in the Area of northern MAR, including the application of area-based management tools to address the potential impacts of mining activities. Several intergovernmental organizations have developed suites of criteria to identify vulnerable, sensitive, and ecologically or biologically significant ecosystems in need of protection. In this case study, we combine criteria developed by FAO for VMEs (Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems), by CBD for EBSAs (Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas), and by IMO for PSSAs (Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas) to assess whether the 11 confirmed vent fields on the nMAR may meet these criteria. Our assessment indicates that all vent fields meet multiple criteria for vulnerability, sensitivity, and ecological or biological significance, and 10 of 11 vent fields meet all criteria for ecosystems in need of protection. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The present post-trial follow-up investigated the influence of titanium implants with different surface treatments on clinical behavior of soft and hard peri-implant tissues. Each of the 18 included patients received at least two adjacent implants: one control implant with a dual acid-etched (DAE) surface in their apical portion and a machined coronal part, and one test implant with a DAE surface up to its coronal portion. Peri-implant bone level change (BLC), probing depth (PD), bleeding on probing (BOP) and plaque index (PI) were recorded. A total of 42 implants was inserted. The mean follow-up period was 9.3 years (range: 5–16 years) and there were six dropouts. No implant failed. Moderate crestal bone remodeling occurred during the first year after implant insertion, with lower bone loss next to test implants compared to control ones (0.80 vs. 1.39 mm, p = 0.002). This difference was also detected at the 5- (p = 0.011), 6- (p = 0.008) and 7-year follow-up appointment (p = 0.027). No statistically significant differences were found in bone resorption between implants rehabilitated with ceramic vs. composite resin veneering material. No statistically significant differences were detected between test and control implants for BOP, PI, and PD at any time point. The results of the present study suggest that DAE surfaces reduce peri-implant bone loss in the initial phase of healing compared to machined surfaces, while they do not significantly affect soft peri-implant tissue and bone maintenance in the long-term. In conclusion, the minimally rough surfaces favour peri-implant bone maintenance and their effect is greater in the first year post implant insertion.

Background Although full‐arch immediately loaded rehabilitations are widely used nowadays, little information is available on which implant/abutment connection is the most suitable in this type of treatment. Purpose The aim of the present multicentric split‐mouth clinical trial was to compare the clinical outcomes of two different implant‐abutment connections applied in full‐arch immediate loading rehabilitations: external hexagon connection (EHC) versus internal hexagon connection (IHC). Materials and methods Twenty patients were rehabilitated with immediately loaded fixed full‐arch rehabilitations. All the implants presented the same macro‐ and micro‐topography but different implant/abutment connection. IHC were used in one randomly selected side of the jaw and EHC in the other side. Outcome measures were implant survival rate, peri‐implant marginal bone loss (MBL), plaque index (PI), probing depth (PD), and bleeding on probing (BoP) evaluated at 3, 6, 12, and 36‐month post‐loading. Any technical and biological complication was recorded. Kaplan–Meier procedure and linear mixed model were used to perform statistical analysis. Results Forty‐three EHC and 40 IHC implants were inserted. No patients dropped out and two implants failed in the first 6 months. The CSR was 97.7% for EHC and 97.5% for IHC implants. No statistically significant differences were found among the two groups for any of the parameters at any time point. At the 36‐month follow‐up visit a slight difference was found in MBL with a mean value of 1.7 mm in the EHC and of 1.9 mm in the IHC group (p = 0.355). No biologic complications were identified. Seven loosed abutment screws were identified in the entire follow‐up period, two in the EHC, and five in the IHC group without a statistically significant difference (p = 0.394). Conclusions After 36 months in function, both internal and external hexagon connections provided good clinical outcomes and were not associated with any significant difference.

The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the clinical outcomes of frameworks made of different materials in patients with implant-supported full-arch prostheses. A literature search was conducted on MEDLINE, Scopus and Cochrane Library, until the 1st of March 2021, with the following search terms: framework or substructure combined with “dental implants”. The outcomes evaluated were: implant and prosthesis survival, bone resorption, biological and technical complications. The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions was employed to assess the risk of bias in randomized clinical trials. The Newcastle–Ottawa quality assessment scale was used for non-randomized studies. In total, 924 records were evaluated for title and abstract, and 11 studies were included in the review: 4 clinical randomized trials and 7 cohort studies. The framework materials investigated were: gold alloy, titanium, silver-palladium alloy, zirconia and polymers including acrylic resin and carbon-fiber-reinforced composites. High implant and prosthetic cumulative survival rates were recorded by all included studies. Various materials and different fabrication techniques are now available as alternatives to traditional cast metal frameworks, for full-arch implant-supported rehabilitations. Further long-term studies are needed to validate the use of these materials and clarify their specific clinical indications and manufacturing protocols to optimize their clinical outcomes.

Background Diabetic nephropathy (DN), one of the major complications of diabetes, is characterized by albuminuria, glomerulosclerosis, and progressive loss of renal function. Loss of TIMP3, an Extracellular Matrix bound protein affecting both inflammation and fibrosis, is a hallmark of DN in human subjects and mouse models. Methods This study was designed to provide evidences that the modulation of the system involving TIMP3 and its target A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17), may rescue kidney pathology in diabetic mice. Mice with cell‐targeted overexpression of TIMP3 in myeloid cells (MacT3), podocyte‐specific ADAM17 knockout mice (∆PodA17), and DBA/2J mice, were rendered diabetic at 8 weeks of age with a low‐dose streptozotocin protocol. DBA/2J mice were administered new peptides based on the human TIMP3 N‐terminal domain, specifically conjugated with G3C12, a carrier peptide highly selective and efficient for transport to the kidney. Twelve weeks after Streptozotocin injections, 24‐hour albuminuria was determined by ELISA, kidney morphometry was analyzed by periodic acid‐shift staining, and Real Time‐PCR and western blot analysis were performed on mRNA and protein extracted from kidney cortex. Results Our results showed that both genetic modifications and peptides treatment positively affect renal function and structure in diabetic mice, as indicated by a significant and consistent decline in albuminuria along with reduction in glomerular lesions, as indicated by reduced mesangial expansion and glomerular hypertrophy, decreased deposition of extracellular matrix in the mesangium, diminished protein expression of the NADPH oxidases 4 (NOX4), and the improvement of podocyte structural markers such as WT1, nephrin, and podocin. Moreover, the positive effects were exerted through a mechanism independent from glycemic control. Conclusions In diabetic mice the targeting of TIMP3 system improved kidney structure and function, representing a valid approach to develop new avenues to treat this severe complication of diabetes., • Loss of TIMP3 contributes to the onset and progression of diabetic nephropathy in human and mouse. • Strategies aimed to increase TIMP3 activity in the diabetic kidney positively affect renal structure and function. • Exogenous TIMP3 peptides, specifically targeted to the kidney, may represent a therapeutic approach for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.

Simple Summary Diabetic people have an increased risk of developing several types of cancers, particularly pancreatic cancer. The higher availability of glucose and/or lipids that characterizes diabetes and obesity is responsible for the increased production of highly reactive carbonyl compounds, a condition referred to as “carbonyl stress”. Also known as glycotoxins and lipotoxins, these compounds react quickly and damage various molecules in cells forming final products termed AGEs (advanced glycation end-products). AGEs were shown to markedly accelerate tumor development in an experimental model of pancreatic cancer and AGE inhibition prevented the tumor-promoting effect of diabetes. In humans, carbonyl stress has been associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer and recognized as a possible contributor to other cancers, including breast and colorectal cancer. These findings suggest that carbonyl stress is involved in cancer development and growth and may be the mechanistic link between diabetes and pancreatic cancer, thus representing a potential drug target. Abstract Both type 2 (T2DM) and type 1 (T1DM) diabetes mellitus confer an increased risk of pancreatic cancer in humans. The magnitude and temporal trajectory of the risk conferred by the two forms of diabetes are similar, suggesting a common mechanism. Carbonyl stress is a hallmark of hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia, which accompanies T2DM, prediabetes, and obesity. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that diabetes promotes pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in experimental models of T2DM, a finding recently confirmed in a T1DM model. The carbonyl stress markers advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), the levels of which are increased in diabetes, were shown to markedly accelerate tumor development in a mouse model of Kras-driven PDAC. Consistently, inhibition of AGE formation by trapping their carbonyl precursors (i.e., reactive carbonyl species, RCS) prevented the PDAC-promoting effect of diabetes. Considering the growing attention on carbonyl stress in the onset and progression of several cancers, including breast, lung and colorectal cancer, this review discusses the mechanisms by which glucose and lipid imbalances induce a status of carbonyl stress, the oncogenic pathways activated by AGEs and their precursors RCS, and the potential use of carbonyl-scavenging agents and AGE inhibitors in PDAC prevention and treatment, particularly in high-risk diabetic individuals.

BackgroundCOVID-19 has heterogeneous manifestations, though one of the most common symptoms is a sudden loss of smell (anosmia or hyposmia). We investigated whether olfactory loss is a reliable predictor of COVID-19.MethodsThis preregistered, cross-sectional study used a crowdsourced questionnaire in 23 languages to assess symptoms in individuals self-reporting recent respiratory illness. We quantified changes in chemosensory abilities during the course of the respiratory illness using 0-100 visual analog scales (VAS) for participants reporting a positive (C19+; n=4148) or negative (C19-; n=546) COVID-19 laboratory test outcome. Logistic regression models identified singular and cumulative predictors of COVID-19 status and post-COVID-19 olfactory recovery.ResultsBoth C19+ and C19-groups exhibited smell loss, but it was significantly larger in C19+ participants (mean±SD, C19+: -82.5±27.2 points; C19-: -59.8±37.7). Smell loss during illness was the best predictor of COVID-19 in both single and cumulative feature models (ROC AUC=0.72), with additional features providing negligible model improvement. VAS ratings of smell loss were more predictive than binary chemosensory yes/no-questions or other cardinal symptoms, such as fever or cough. Olfactory recovery within 40 days was reported for ∼50% of participants and was best predicted by time since illness onset.ConclusionsAs smell loss is the best predictor of COVID-19, we developed the ODoR-19 tool, a 0-10 scale to screen for recent olfactory loss. Numeric ratings ≤2 indicate high odds of symptomatic COVID-19 (4

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are part of first-line treatment for reduced ejection fraction heart failure (HFrEF). The aim was to assess the benefits and adverse effects of ACE inhibitors in HFrEF with a focus on important patient outcomes. A systematic review of double-blind randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and comparison of ACE inhibitors versus placebo, in HFrEF patients published in French or English. Searches were undertaken of Medline, Cochrane Central, and Embase. The primary outcomes were all-cause mortality and adverse events. From 636 articles analysed, 11 were included (13,882 patients). For all-cause mortality (5 RCTs, 9277 patients), the number needed to treat (NNT) to avoid one death at 6 months was 50 (33–107). The NNT to prevent one death at 12 months (6 RCTs, 13,016 patients) was 63 (35–314). Under the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, the evidence was of moderate quality. The number needed to harm was 12 (10–15) for cough, 20 (14–31) for hypotension, 23 (17–36) for dizziness, 31 (23–47) for hyperkalaemia, and 49 (30–121) for increased creatinine levels. The quality of evidence was moderate for these criteria except for cough (low quality of evidence). This review focuses on clinical elements necessary in a shared decision-making process. In practice, general practitioners will be able to use these data to discuss ACE inhibitor treatment with HFrEF patients. This study was registered in the PROSPERO registry under the reference number CRD42018096930.

Specific microRNA (miRNA) expression profiles have been reported to be predictive of specific clinical outcomes of dental implants and might be used as biomarkers in implant dentistry with diagnostic and prognostic purposes. The aim of the present narrative review was to summarize current knowledge regarding the use of miRNAs in implant dentistry. The authors attempted to identify all available evidence on the topic and critically appraise it in order to lay the foundation for the development of further research oriented towards the clinical application of miRNAs in implant dentistry.

Purpose Because of short signal lifetimes and respiratory motion, 3D lung MRI is still challenging today. Zero-TE (ZTE) pulse sequences offer promising solutions as they overcome the issue of short T 2 ∗ . Nevertheless, as they rely on continuous readout gradients, the trajectories they follow in k-space are not adapted to retrospective gating and inferred motion correction. Theory and methods We propose AZTEK (adaptive ZTE k-space trajectories), a set of 3D radial trajectories featuring three tuning parameters, to adapt the acquisition to any moving organ while keeping seamless transitions between consecutive spokes. Standard ZTE and AZTEK trajectories were compared for static and moving phantom acquisitions as well as for human thoracic imaging performed on 3 volunteers (1 healthy and 2 patients with lung cancer). Results For the static phantom, we observe comparable image qualities with standard and AZTEK trajectories. For the moving phantom, spatially coherent undersampling artifacts observed on gated images with the standard trajectory are alleviated with AZTEK. The same improvement in image quality is obtained in human, so details are more delineated in the lung with the use of the adaptive trajectory. Conclusion The AZTEK technique opens the possibility for 3D dynamic ZTE lung imaging with retrospective gating. It enables us to uniformly sample the k-space for any arbitrary respiratory motion gate, while preserving static image quality, improving dynamic image quality and guaranteeing continuous readout gradient transitions between spokes, which makes it appropriate to ZTE.

Background: Ultraviolet (UV) and non-thermal plasma functionalization are surface treatment modalities that seem able to improve osseointegration. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the effect of the two methods and possible differences. Materials and Methods: The systematic research of pre-clinical animal studies was conducted up to May 2020 in the databases PubMed/Medline, Scopus and the Cochrane Lybrary. A meta-analysis was performed by using the DerSimonian–Laird estimator in random-effects models. Results: Through the digital search, 518 articles were identified; after duplicate removal and screening process 10 papers were included. Four studies evaluating UV treatment in rabbits were included in the meta-analysis. The qualitative evaluation of the included studies showed that both UV photofunctionalization and non-thermal plasma argon functionalization of titanium implant surfaces might be effective in vivo to improve the osseointegration. The meta-analysis on four studies evaluating UV treatment in rabbits showed that bone to implant contact values (expressed as standardized mean differences and raw mean differences) were significantly increased in the bio-activated groups when follow-up times were relatively homogeneous, although a high heterogeneity (I2 > 75%) was found in all models. Conclusions: The present systematic review and meta-analysis on pre-clinical studies demonstrated that chair-side treatment of implants with UV or non-thermal plasma appear to be effective for improving osseointegration. This systematic review supports further clinical trials on this topic.

PURPOSE A prospective cohort multicenter study was undertaken to identify risk factors for implant survival, complications, and patient-centered outcomes following single-tooth immediate implant placement and loading in esthetic areas. MATERIALS AND METHODS Consecutive immediate implants placed in incisors, canines, and premolar sites were included. Variables recorded as possible risk factors included smoking habit, systemic conditions or therapies, previous assumption of bisphosphonates, inability to take amoxicillin, untreated periodontitis, thin periodontium, parafunctional habits, suppuration, bone dehiscences, and buccal bone fracture during implant insertion. Outcome variables included implant survival, recession, other complications, and patient satisfaction. RESULTS Data of 215 implants in 215 patients were collected in 15 centers in 2 years. One implant was seated with a torque < 30 Ncm and was not immediately loaded. It was successfully loaded 10 weeks after placement and was healthy 2 years later. This implant was excluded from subsequent analysis. Potential risk factors were identified in 116 patients (54.21%). There were 11 dropouts after 1 year and 37 after 2 years. Failures were relatively frequent (14.6%) before the delivery of the definitive prosthesis. No significant association was observed between early failures and risk factors. One failure and six recessions were observed after the definitive prosthesis. High satisfaction scores (mean score of 9.47/10 and 9.55/10 for esthetics and function, respectively) were recorded at 2 years. No recession occurred in the no-risk group. Five mucositis cases and one peri-implantitis case were observed in the 2-year follow-up. CONCLUSION Failures were frequent before the definitive restoration and could not be explained by specific risk factors. Tissues appeared stable after the definitive restoration. Patients were very satisfied during the follow-up.

Automated complex word identification (CWI) is a crucial task in several applications, from readability assessment to lexical simplification. So far, several works have modeled CWI with the goal of targeting the needs of non-native speakers. However, studies in language acquisition show that different native languages can create positive or negative interferences w.r.t. reading comprehension, favouring or hindering the understanding of a document in a foreign language. Therefore, we propose to modify CWI to address the specific difficulties connected to different native languages. In particular, we present a pipeline that, based on the user native language, identifies complex terms by automatically detecting cognates and false friends on the fly. The selection presented by the CWI module is adaptive in that it changes depending on the native language of the user. We implement and evaluate our approach for four different native languages (French, English, German and Spanish), in a setting where documents are written in Italian and should be read by language learners with low proficiency. We show that a personalised strategy based on false friend detection identifies complex terms that are different from those usually selected with standard approaches based on word frequency.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) ranks seventh as a cause of death worldwide. Chronic complications, including cardiovascular, renal, and eye disease, as well as DM-associated non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) account for most of the morbidity and premature mortality in DM. Despite continuous improvements in the management of late complications of DM, significant gaps remain. Therefore, searching for additional strategies to prevent these serious DM-related conditions is of the utmost importance. DM is characterized by a state of low-grade chronic inflammation, which is critical in the progression of complications. Recent clinical trials indicate that targeting the prototypic pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1 β) improves the outcomes of cardiovascular disease, which is the first cause of death in DM patients. Together with IL-18, IL-1β is processed and secreted by the inflammasomes, a class of multiprotein complexes that coordinate inflammatory responses. Several DM-related metabolic factors, including reactive oxygen species, glyco/lipoxidation end products, and cholesterol crystals, have been involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease, and diabetic retinopathy, and in the promoting effect of DM on the onset and progression of atherosclerosis and NAFLD. These metabolic factors are also well-established danger signals capable of regulating inflammasome activity. In addition to presenting the current state of knowledge, this review discusses how the mechanistic understanding of inflammasome regulation by metabolic danger signals may hopefully lead to novel therapeutic strategies targeting inflammation for a more effective treatment of diabetic complications.

The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) was established by the Conference of Parties in 2002 to decrease the loss of plant diversity, reduce poverty and contribute to sustainable development. To achieve this overarching goal, the GSPC has established a series of targets, one of which is to ensure that plant diversity is well understood, so that it can be effectively conserved and used in a sustainable manner. Brazil hosts more than 46,000 species of plants, algae and fungi, representing one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth, and playing a key role in the GSPC. To meet the GSPC goals of Target 1 and facilitate access to plant diversity, Brazil committed to preparing the List of Species of the Brazilian Flora (2008-2015) and the Brazilian Flora 2020 (2016-present). Managing all the information associated with such great biodiversity has proven to be an extremely challenging task. Here, we synthesize the history of these projects, focusing on the multidisciplinary and collaborative approach adopted to develop and manage the inclusion of all the knowledge generated though digital information systems. We further describe the methods used, challenges faced, and strategies adopted, as well as summarize advances to date and prospects for completing the Brazilian flora in 2020.

Purpose To estimate implant survival and peri-implant bone resorption around long vs normal-length implants in full-arch immediate loading rehabilitation of maxillary arches of low bone quality (D4). Materials and methods A total of 45 patients received two mesial normal-length (10 to 15 mm) or longer (18 to 20 mm) implants and two long (18 to 20 mm) distally tilted implants. Differences in bone resorption at 24 months were assessed using the Mann-Whitney U Test. Results At the 24-month follow-up, no significant differences were found in survival (global cumulative survival rate: 98.9%) or bone resorption (mean: 1.1 mm) between long and normal implants (P = .053). Conclusion At 24 months, the use of long implants provides favorable survival and bone maintenance results in the immediate loading rehabilitation of low-quality maxillary arches.

Diabetes is an established risk factor for pancreatic cancer (PaC), together with obesity, a Western diet, and tobacco smoking. The common mechanistic link might be the accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), which characterizes all of the above disease conditions and unhealthy habits. Surprisingly, however, the role of AGEs in PaC has not been examined yet, despite the evidence of a tumour-promoting role of receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE), the receptor for AGEs. Here, we tested the hypothesis that AGEs promote PaC through RAGE activation. To this end, we investigated the effects of the AGE Nϵ -carboxymethyllysine (CML) in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) cell lines and in a mouse model of Kras-driven PaC interbred with a bioluminescent model of proliferation. Tumour growth was monitored in vivo by bioluminescence imaging and confirmed by histology. CML promoted PDA cell growth and RAGE expression, in a concentration-dependent and time-dependent manner, and activated downstream tumourigenic signalling pathways. These effects were counteracted by RAGE antagonist peptide (RAP). Exogenous AGE administration to PaC-prone mice induced RAGE upregulation in pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias (PanINs) and markedly accelerated progression to invasive PaC. At 11 weeks of age (6 weeks of CML treatment), PaC was observed in eight of 11 (72.7%) CML-treated versus one of 11 (9.1%) vehicle-treated [control (Ctr)] mice. RAP delayed PanIN development in Ctr mice but failed to prevent PaC promotion in CML-treated mice, probably because of competition with soluble RAGE for binding to AGEs and/or compensatory upregulation of the RAGE homologue CD166/ activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule, which also favoured tumour spread. These findings indicate that AGEs modulate the development and progression of PaC through receptor-mediated mechanisms, and might be responsible for the additional risk conferred by diabetes and other conditions characterized by increased AGE accumulation. Finally, our data suggest that an AGE reduction strategy, instead of RAGE inhibition, might be suitable for the risk management and prevention of PaC. Copyright © 2018 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The aim of the present systematic review was to investigate the effect of residual bone height (RBH) and vertical bone gain on new bone formation (NBF) and graft shrinkage after lateral sinus lifts using different biomaterials. METHODS An electronic search was conducted on three databases to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published until January 2021 with at least one follow-up at 6 months and at least five patients treated, comparing biomaterials used for maxillary sinus augmentation with a lateral approach. Graft volumetric changes, RBH, vertical bone gain, implant failure, and post-operative complications were evaluated. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool. RESULTS We used 4010 identified studies, of which 21 were RCTs. Overall, 412 patients and 533 sinuses were evaluated. Only three publications had an overall low risk of bias. After 6 months, xenograft (XG) showed the least volume reduction (7.30 �� 15.49%), while autogenous graft (AU) was the most reabsorbed (41.71 �� 12.63%). NBF appeared to not be directly correlated with RBH; on the contrary, the overall linear regression analysis showed that NBF significantly decreased by 1.6% for each mm of postoperative vertical graft gain. This finding suggests that the greater the augmentation, the lower the NBF. A similar tendency, with a regression coefficient even higher than the overall one, was also observed with alloplast (AP) and XG. CONCLUSIONS The present results suggested that NBF was essentially independent of preoperative bone height. On the contrary, the smaller the volume was of the graft placed, the higher the amount of new bone formed, and the smaller the graft shrinkage was. Minimizing the augmentation volume might be beneficial to graft healing and stability especially when using AP and XG.

The mosquito Aedes aegypti L. is one of the largest vectors of human pathogens, including the dengue and chikungunya viruses. However, its control is challenging. Synthetic insecticides are one of the most used methods of vector control, but their use raises a series of environmental issues. Therefore, the application of natural products constitutes an alternative practice, as they can be effective, easily biodegradable and inexpensive. The essential oil obtained from leaves of guava ( Psidium guajava L.) has shown promising larvicidal activity against A. aegypti . However, the existence of different essential oil chemotypes in this species makes it necessary to study the influence of such variation on the larvicidal activity. In the present work, the essential oils from the guava cultivars SEC, C4, C6, PAL and PET were evaluated for larvicidal effect on A. aegypti . The oils were found to be efficient, with LC 50 ranging from 39.48 to 64.25 μg mL −1 . SEC was the most promising cultivar, with lowest LC 50 and one of the highest extraction yields among the cultivars (0.35%). The chromatographic profile of the essential oils evidenced mainly sesquiterpenes; hence, this group of compounds may be responsible for the larvicidal effect. Besides constituting a larvicide alternative, the use of essential oils could also create new income sources for guava producers, since a large amount of plant matter is generated as a result of successive prunings.

Frameworks made of carbon fibre-reinforced composites (CFRC) seem to be a viable alternative to traditional metal frameworks in implant prosthodontics. CFRC provide stiffness, rigidity and optimal biocompatibility. The aim of the present prospective study was to compare carbon fibre frameworks versus metal frameworks used to rigidly splint implants in full-arch immediate loading rehabilitations. Forty-two patients (test group) were rehabilitated with full-arch immediate loading rehabilitations of the upper jaw (total: 170 implants) following the Columbus Bridge Protocol with four to six implants with distal tilted implants. All patients were treated with resin screw-retained full-arch prostheses endowed with carbon fibre frameworks. The mean follow-up was 22 months (range: 18-24). Differences in the absolute change of bone resorption over time between the two implant sides (mesial and distal) were assessed performing a Mann-Whitney U-test. The outcomes were statistically compared with those of patients rehabilitated following the same protocol but using metal frameworks (control group: 34 patients with 163 implants - data reported in Tealdo, Menini, Bevilacqua, Pera, Pesce, Signori, Pera, Int J Prosthodont, 27, 2014, 207). Ten implants failed in the control group (6·1%); none failed in the test group (P = 0·002). A statistically significant difference in the absolute change of bone resorption around the implants was found between the two groups (P = 0·004), with greater mean peri-implant bone resorption in the control group (1 mm) compared to the test group (0·8 mm). Carbon fibre frameworks may be considered as a viable alternative to the metal ones and showed less marginal bone loss around implants and a greater implant survival rate during the observation period.

To evaluate the feasibility and image quality of respiratory motion–resolved 4D zero echo time (ZTE) lung MRI compared with that of 3D ZTE. Our institutional review board approved this study. Twenty-one patients underwent lung scans using 3D ZTE and 4D ZTE sequences via prospective and retrospective soft gating techniques, respectively. Image qualities of 3D ZTE and 4D ZTE at end-expiration were compared through objective and subjective assessments. The quality of end-expiratory images of 3D ZTE and 4D ZTE of the two groups with different lung functions was also compared. Images were successfully acquired in all patients without any adverse events. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of lung parenchyma and thoracic structures were significantly (all p

In this paper we present our submission to sub-task A at SemEval 2020 Task 12: Multilingual Offensive Language Identification in Social Media (OffensEval2). For Danish, Turkish, Arabic and Greek, we develop an architecture based on transfer learning and relying on a two-channel BERT model, in which the English BERT and the multilingual one are combined after creating a machine-translated parallel corpus for each language in the task. For English, instead, we adopt a more standard, single-channel approach. We find that, in a multilingual scenario, with some languages having small training data, using parallel BERT models with machine translated data can give systems more stability, especially when dealing with noisy data. The fact that machine translation on social media data may not be perfect does not hurt the overall classification performance.

Purpose This pilot study was conducted to evaluate the cleaning efficacy of an angled implant brush for home oral hygiene of full-arch fixed-implant prostheses. Methods Forty-one patients treated with a full-arch implant rehabilitation in the maxilla or mandible (164 implants) for at least 4 months were enrolled. The screw-retained fixed prostheses were removed and baseline (T0) parameters were recorded, including plaque index (PI), probing depth (PD), and bleeding on probing (BOP). All patients completed a 5-item questionnaire on hygiene maintenance and received an implant brush for home hygiene. After 1 month (T1) PI, PD, and BOP were recorded again and patients completed a 7-item questionnaire to evaluate their satisfaction with the implant brush. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to evaluate the significance of changes in PI, PD, and BOP. A P value, Graphical Abstract