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Introduction: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of Invisalign's (Align Technology, Santa Clara, Calif) optimized and conventional attachments on rotational and extrusive tooth movements.Methods: Initial, predicted, and achieved digital dental models from 100 orthodontic patients were exported from Invisalign's ClinCheck software as stereolithography files and subsequently imported into the Slicer CMF program (version 4.7.0; http://www.slicer.org) for superimpositions on posterior teeth with no planned movement. Rotational and extrusive measurements for both optimized and conventional attachments were made on 382 teeth from the superimposition of the initial and predicted models (predicted movement) and from the superimposed initial and achieved models (achieved movement). Predicted and achieved movements were compared along with movements of teeth with optimized and conventional attachments.Results: Differences between accuracies of tooth movements using optimized vs conventional attachments for both rotation and extrusion were neither statistically nor clinically significant. Mean predicted values were larger than mean achieved values for all attachment types and movements (P < 0.0001). For extrusion, the mean difference between predicted and achieved movements was clinically significant (0.40 mm and 0.62 mm for optimized and conventional attachments, respectively). Overall, the mean accuracy was 57.2%. Mean accuracy was 63.2% for rotation and 47.6% for extrusion. Interproximal reduction or spacing did not significantly affect accuracy.Conclusions: Conventional attachment types may be just as effective as Invisalign's proprietary optimized attachments for rotations of canines and premolars and extrusion of incisors and canines. Clinicians should consider overcorrecting tooth movements, especially anterior tooth extrusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The Xerostomia Inventory (XI) has been developed to assess self-perceived xerostomia. The aim of this study was to describe the translation and the preliminary validation of the XI in older Greeks. Materials and methods The XI was translated into Greek and then back translated into English. Minor modifications were performed after a pilot testing and the final scale was interviewer-administered in 100 older participants visiting Open Care Community Centers for Older People in Athens. The preliminary validation procedure included calculation of the internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's α coefficient and corrected item-total correlations, principal component analysis, investigation of the discriminant validity by testing any variation related to sociomedical and oral variables and concurrent validity assessing the correlation between the XI and the response to a single question about self-perceived mouth dryness. Results The factor analysis XI revealed a modified seven-item scale (XI-7), showing good internal consistency (Cronbach's α: 0.78). There were significant correlations with self-perceived mouth dryness, indicating satisfying concurrent validity, and significant differences related to depression, diabetes, antidepressive medications and polypharmacy showing acceptable discriminant validity. Conclusions The preliminary investigation of the Greek version of the Xerostomia Inventory revealed a 7-item questionnaire that demonstrated good internal consistency and validity and will be further tested in older patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) has been developed for the patient-reported assessment of oral health problems in older people. The aims of the present study were to translate the GOHAI into the Greek language, adapt the Greek version culturally, and perform a preliminary validation in an older Greek population. Materials and methods GOHAI was translated from English into Greek by two bilingual translators and then back translated. The translated version was interviewer-administered in a sample of 100 older people. Internal consistency reliability and principal component analysis with Varimax rotation was performed. Concurrent and discriminant validity and test-retest reliability were assessed. Descriptive statistics and analysis between variables were also performed. Results GOHAI showed satisfying internal consistency (Cronbach's α: 0.88), while the Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed three factors requiring further investigation. The scale showed satisfying concurrent validity with significant correlations with the general single-item questions. Discriminant validity was acceptable identifying differences in relation to medical conditions and medications used. Conclusions The acceptable internal consistency and validity of the Greek version of the GOHAI recorded in the present study encourages its use in older people. The present translation of the GOHAI merits further validation in a larger cohort as well as in a geriatric context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a six-step model for the use of shared decision-making (SDM) in decisions about genital surgery for children born with disorders of sex development (DSD). Clinical information on DSD is presented, along with the controversies surrounding the use of early genital surgery in patients with DSD. The concept of SDM is also explained. The SDM model includes the development of appropriate team, perceiving and addressing emotions and defining concerns and values.

The 'Attack upon Preves and Vonizza' (fig. 1), both Greek cities then under Turkish rule, is an unpublished veduta that originally formed part of the important collection amassed, in his retirement, in Venice by the Saxon general, Marshall Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg (1661-1747), who had fought in campaigns against the Turks. The Marshall's Gallery was housed in the Palazzo Loredan. The veduta in question presents a war incident that took place in 1717 (contrary to the statement made by some scholars that the painting was purchased by Schulenburg in that year). It is inventoried as painted by Ston (though it is unclear if this means the cooperation of the brothers Giuseppe and Antonio Stom/Ston or the sole work of one of them, probably Antonio). It is in any case the result of the patron's direct knowledge of the historical event and of the painter's/painters' indirect artistic inclination (contrary to what has been suggested by some scholars regarding relevant works by Canaletto or Simonini which are wrongly supposed to have been painted in situ). In essence, the patron guided the painter's hand. The painting is now displayed in the National Historical Museum of Greece (Athens, Old Parliament). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, intelligent connectionist systems such as artificial neural networks have been proved very powerful in a wide area of applications. Consequently, the ability to interpret their structure was always a desirable feature for experts. In this field, the neural logic networks (NLN) by their definition are able to represent complex human logic and provide knowledge discovery. However, under contemporary methodologies, the training of these networks may often result in non-comprehensible or poorly designed structures. In this work, we propose an evolutionary system that uses current advances in genetic programming that overcome these drawbacks and produces neural logic networks that can be arbitrarily connected and are easily interpretable into expert rules. To accomplish this task, we guide the genetic programming process using a context-free grammar and we encode indirectly the neural logic networks into the genetic programming individuals. We test the proposed system in two problems of medical diagnosis. Our results are examined both in terms of the solution interpretability that can lead in knowledge discovery, and in terms of the achieved accuracy. We draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the system and we propose further research directions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]