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Objectives: Currently, there is lack of human in vitro full tooth models that hold the odontoblast layer with pulp tissue in their native environment. The appearance of new in vitro and in vivo models has provided new understanding of the potential of tissue engineering in dental pulp regeneration. However, the development of new in vitro full tooth models will allow us to get closer to in vivo conditions. Thus, the aim of this study is to preserve a living dentin-pulp complex, in a novel in vitro full crown model, after tooth extraction. Methods: Twenty intact third molars, after preparation, were divided into four groups, with five samples each. We placed the negative control samples (C) in saline, and the tested groups were placed (T) in supplemented DMEM, at two different times: 1 and 7 days. The specimens were processed for light microscopy observation. Results: Contrary to C-groups, T-groups showed a functional dentin-pulp complex. The treated dentin-pulp complex presents normal histological appearance. Conclusions: This study showed that it is possible to preserve a living dentin-pulp complex after tooth extraction during 7 days.

On 19 September 2021, a volcanic eruption began on the island of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain). The eruption has allowed the assessment of an unprecedented multidisciplinary study on the effects of the volcanic plume. This work presents the estimation of the spectral direct radiative forcing (ΔF) and efficiency (ΔFEff) from solar radiation measurements at the Izaña Observatory (IZO) located on the island of Tenerife (∼140 km from the volcano). During the eruption, the IZO was affected by different types of aerosols: volcanic, Saharan mineral dust, and a mixture of volcanic and dust aerosols. Three case studies were identified using ground-based (lidar) data, satellite-based (Sentinel-5P Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument, TROPOMI) data, reanalysis data (Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2, MERRA-2), and backward trajectories (Flexible Trajectories, FLEXTRA), and subsequently characterised in terms of optical and micro-physical properties using ground-based sun-photometry measurements. Despite the ΔF of the volcanic aerosols being greater than that of the dust events (associated with the larger aerosol load present), the ΔFEff was found to be lower. The spectral ΔFEff values at 440 nm ranged between −1.9 and −2.6 Wm−2nm−1AOD−1 for the mineral dust and mixed volcanic and dust particles, and between −1.6 and −3.3 Wm−2nm−1AOD−1 for the volcanic aerosols, considering solar zenith angles between 30∘ and 70∘, respectively.

Abstract The combined release of the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii (Athias-Henriot) and the mirid Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) provides effective biological control of the tobacco whitefly (Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius)) in greenhouse eggplant. However, knowing how plants’ trichomes affect pest-predator interactions could improve whitefly management. Here, the effect of two varieties with either the presence or absence of trichomes was assessed on naturally occurring whitefly populations and predator abundance in a first experiment under field conditions. Predator-prey models were developed to assess the effect of trichomes on pest and predator population dynamics under field conditions. In a second semi-field experiment, the occurrence and oviposition preferences of B. tabaci and A. swirskii in the same eggplant varieties were compared. Significantly higher numbers of whitefly and mite, adults and eggs, were found on the hairy variety in both experiments. However, no differences were found in N. tenuis abundance between varieties under field conditions. Predator-prey models showed that whitefly growth rate increased in the hairy variety. N. tenuis and A. swirskii showed different fitness parameters according to the variety, with the former displaying better performance in the hairless variety and the latter in the hairy variety. Both predators effectively controlled the increase in whitefly populations in both varieties. Overall, the findings suggest that the hairless variety is more effective in deterring whiteflies. Additionally, the higher population of A. swirskii on the hairy variety indicates that this predator benefited from both the presence of trichomes and the prey.

A recurring aspect of Kafka’s “anti-heroes” is hesitation, remaining stuck on the threshold, waiting in vain to be able to gain access. This is highlighted in an exemplary way by the parable that contains the meaning of the Trial, Before the Law: the countryman waits his whole life to be able to cross the door guarded by the guardian. The other parable of Hasidic inspiration, A Message from the Emperor, also presents a similar situation, albeit inverted: the message sent by the dying emperor cannot reach the “individual”, who nevertheless awaits it confidently, the continuity of the path does not allow the messenger to reach the goal. In this impossibility of having access – to the Law, to the Truth, to existence, to birth or death, as in the case of the hunter Gracchus – we can read the condition of the foreigner of the Jew Kafka, the sense of exclusion from life developed by the authoritarian paternal upbringing, his refusal of a “normal” life – that of a public official and a husband. Many Kafkaesque characters thus live in a liminal situation, prisoners of the transition: the protagonist of The Castle waits in vain for his request to be accepted, he exhausts himself in an incessant questioning, in an interpretative effort which is a replica, in language and thought, of the inability to move and overcome obstacles.

Abstract Having a direct or indirect band gap can influence the potential applications of a semiconductor, for indirect band gap materials are usually not suitable for optoelectronic devices. Even though this is a fundamental property of semiconducting materials, discussed in textbooks, no unified theory exists to explain why a material has a direct or indirect band gap. Here we used an interpretable machine learning model, the multiVariate dAta eXplanation (VAX) method, to gather information from a dataset of materials extracted from the Materials Project. The dataset contains more than 10000 entries, and atomic properties such as the number of electrons, electronic affinity and orbital energies were used as features to build random forest models that successfully explain the directness of the band gaps. Our results indicate that symmetry is an important feature that dictates the target property, which is the reason why our analysis is made based on sub-groups with similar structures. These sub-groups include materials with zincblende, rocksalt, wurtzite, and perovskite structures. Besides the symmetry of the materials, the existence or not of d bands and the relative energy of atomic orbitals were found to be important in defining whether a material’s band gap is direct or indirect. In conclusion, interpretable machine learning methods such as VAX can be useful in obtaining physical interpretation from materials databases.

The Self-Organizing Map (SOM) algorithm is a clustering algorithm used in a wide variety of application domains. Over the last few decades, it has been accelerated using various hardware architectures, including FPGAs, CPUs, and GPUs. This publication presents an High-Level Synthesis-based implementation that utilizes multiple processing elements to realize a high-performance system architecture. An extensive design space exploration was conducted to evaluate the performance range of the architecture. For this, vector dimensions ranging from 8 up to 512 and map sizes from $16\times 16$ to $512\times 512$ were used. The evaluation was performed using two different AMD/Xilinx UltraScale+ FPGA systems, the VCU128 PCIe-based accelerator card and the ZCU106 stand-alone evaluation kit. From the achieved results, it can be seen that the performance scales nearly linearly for a given vector dimension when the map size is increased. In addition, the energy efficiency for both FPGAs was analyzed, revealing that while the ZCU106 is less powerful in terms of raw compute power, it requires up to $4\times $ less power and, depending on the configuration, can be $2\times $ more energy efficient compared to the VCU128. One of the main reasons for this is that it does not require a dedicated host system but utilizes its internal ARM cores. Finally, a comparison against state-of-the-art SOM implementations was conducted. The proposed design achieves a speed-up of up to 458.7, $1{,}630.4$ , and 4.9 compared to other CPU, GPU, and FPGA realizations, respectively.

RESUMO Este artigo está dividido em duas partes completamente diferentes. A primeira apresenta um breve comentário comentado sobre as principais contribuições para o debate teórico em Economia Política no Brasil nos anos 80, compreendendo três grandes correntes: a marxista/neomarxista, a neoricardiana e a pós-keynesiana. A segunda parte tenta identificar algumas das questões mais importantes que os economistas políticos (não apenas no Brasil) enfrentam na atual crise da teoria econômica que dizem respeito, na visão do autor, aos problemas teóricos do tempo na economia: lógica vs. tempo histórico; curto prazo vs. longo prazo; equilíbrio vs. análise dinâmica.

Battery electric vehicles represent a technological pathway for reducing carbon emissions in personal road transport. However, for the widespread adoption of this type of vehicle, the user experience should be similar to that of combustion engine vehicles. To achieve this objective, a robust and reliable public charging infrastructure is essential. In Spain, the electric recharging infrastructure is growing quickly in metropolitan areas but much more slowly on roads and highways. The upcoming charging stations must be located along high-volume traffic corridors and in proximity to the Trans-European Transport Network. The main contribution of this research is to offer a method for examining the essential electricity infrastructure investments required in scenarios involving substantial electric vehicle adoption. The methodology includes a sensitivity analysis of fleet composition and market share, recharging user behavior, charging station density, and vehicle efficiency improvements. To this end, the authors have developed a simplified probabilistic model, addressing the effect of the involved parameters through a comprehensive scenario analysis. The results show that the actual number of high-capacity charging plugs on Spanish roads is significantly lower than the European regulation requirements for the year 2030 considering an electric vehicle market share according to the Spanish Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan 2021–2030 objectives and it is far from the necessary infrastructure to cover the expected demand according to the traffic flow. Under these circumstances, the charging peak power demand reaches over 7.4% of the current Spanish total power demand for an electric vehicle fleet, which corresponds to only 12% of the total.

In the field of structural damage detection through vibration measurements, most existing methods demand extensive data collection, including vibration readings at multiple levels, strain data, temperature measurements, and numerous vibration modes. These requirements result in high costs and complex instrumentation processes. Additionally, many approaches fail to account for model uncertainties, leading to significant discrepancies between the actual structure and its numerical reference model, thus compromising the accuracy of damage identification. This study introduces an innovative computational method aimed at minimizing data requirements, reducing instrumentation costs, and functioning with fewer vibration modes. By utilizing information from a single vibration sensor and at least three vibration modes, the method avoids the need for higher-mode excitation, which typically demands specialized equipment. The approach also incorporates model uncertainties related to geometry and mass distribution, improving the accuracy of damage detection. The computational method was validated on a steel frame structure under various damage conditions, categorized as single or multiple damage. The results indicate up to 100% accuracy in locating damage and up to 80% accuracy in estimating its severity. These findings demonstrate the method’s potential for detecting structural damage with limited data and at a significantly lower cost compared to conventional techniques.

Introduction: DNA methylation is proposed as a novel biomarker able to monitor molecular events in human papillomavirus (HPV) infection pathophysiology, enabling the distinction between HPV-induced lesions with regression potential from those that may progress to HPV-related cancer. Methods: This meeting report summarises the presentations and expert discussions during the HPV Prevention and Control Board-focused topic technical meeting on DNA methylation validation in clinician-collected and self-collected samples, novel DNA methylation markers discovery, implementation in cervical cancer screening programs, and their potential in women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Results: Data presented in the meeting showed that HPV-positive, baseline methylation-negative women have a lower cumulative cervical cancer incidence than baseline cytology-negative women, making DNA methylation an attractive triage strategy. However, additional standardised data in different settings (low- versus high-income settings), samples (clinician-collected and self-collected), study designs (prospective, modelling, impact) and populations (immunocompetent women, women living with HIV) are needed. Conclusion: Establishing international validation guidelines were identified as the way forward towards accurate validation and subsequent implementation in current screening programs.

Permanent magnet motors have become very important in recent years due to the popularization of electric vehicles in the context of the efforts to transition to zero-emission transportation. This has encouraged researchers and hobbyists to learn about electric motor design. However, designing electric motors is not a simple task, as the information to achieve it is not easily available to everyone and it is usually complicated to understand. For that reason, this paper presents the equations and a basic process to design radial flux surface-mounted PM synchronous motors. This design method is the result of combining and organizing information from previous publications to create a relatively simple design guide. The result is a table of equations and a series of general guidelines that were verified by designing and simulating a 500 W eight-pole 2.6 Nm average torque dual-rotor motor and a 20 W four-pole 106 mNm single-rotor motor. The simulations validated the equations and the design method presented in this paper to be used by those interested in the field of electric motors and vehicles; therefore, in the future, others may contribute with improvements, particularizations or optimizations of this methodology, or even create their own.

Cacao (Theobroma cacao L) is one of the most relevant crops in terms of economy and social rural development in Colombia. Cacao is also an important crop due to its potential to replace illicit crops and it is related to less deforestation and preserves the biodiversity. There are several cacao districts in Colombia, one of these being Arauca. The Department of Arauca is the second largest cocoa producing region in Colombia; however, it is heavily affected by armed conflict. To raise the knowledge and technology available in the region, integrating data on the occurrence of cacao farms with climatic variables becomes a powerful socioeconomic mapping tool for maintaining agrobiodiversity and food security in the region. Consequently, this type of agrodiversity data and agroclimatic approaches help to better manage agrobiodiversity, as in the cacao region of Arauca. These tools are even more relevant in biodiverse regions, such as flooded savannahs and tropical forest ecosystems, which are currently undergoing drastic changes due to agricultural expansion and climate change. One of the knowledge gaps in Colombia´s cacao regions is that there are currently no agroclimatic maps made with a social and scientific approach. This study aimed to provide a database of the spatial distribution of cacao farms in Arauca, as well as agroclimatic maps that identify and locate cacao climate regions in Arauca. We also present a presence-only matrix consisting of twenty-six tree species, or agrobiodiversity, distributed across the study region and specifically associated with the cacao forestry systems in Arauca.We present the first database of both climate and agrobiodiversity data related to cacao farms in Arauca, developed with a research and socioeconomic vision that generated a novel approach for the agroclimatic zoning of cocoa in the Arauca Region and Colombia. Using 1,538 cacao farms at the regional scale, we identified two national and six regional-scale climate and soil regions. The selection at the local scale allowed us to classify 180 cacao farms comprising nine agroclimatic clusters in Arauca. We found twenty-six tree species distributed across the cacao climate zones. This dataset and its related maps also represent the agrobiodiversity of cultivated cacao locally. This is the most complete climate and agrobiodiversity dataset of cacao farms distribution in one of the top cocoa-producing regions in the country. These outputs are crucial because they constitute a baseline for developing research in the biodiversity of agroforestry systems, pests and diseases, pollutant presence, genetics, post-harvest processing and cocoa quality and safety.

The main contribution of this paper is to present a simple algorithm that theoretically and numerically assesses the switching angles of an inverter operated with the SPWM technique. This technique is the most widely used for eliminating harmonics in DC-AC converters for powering motors, renewable energy applications, household appliances, etc. Unlike conventional implementations of the SPWM technique based on the analog or digital comparison of a sinusoidal signal with a triangular signal, this paper mathematically performs this comparison. It proposes a simple solution to solve the transcendental equations arising from the mathematical analysis numerically. The technique is validated by calculating the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the generated signal theoretically and numerically, and the results indicate that the calculated angles produce the same distribution of harmonics calculated analytically and numerically. The algorithm is limited to single-phase inverters with unipolar SPWM.

BackgroundDespite decreasing COVID-19 disease severity during the Omicron waves, a proportion of patients still require hospitalization and intensive care.ObjectiveTo compare demographic characteristics, comorbidities, vaccination status, and previous infections in patients hospitalized for community-associated COVID-19 (CAC) in predominantly Delta, Omicron BA.1 and BA.4/5 SARS-CoV-2 waves.MethodsData were extracted from three national databases—the National COVID-19 Database, National Vaccination Registry and National Registry of Hospitalizations.ResultsAmong the hospitalized CAC patients analyzed in this study, 5,512 were infected with Delta, 1,120 with Omicron BA.1, and 1,143 with the Omicron BA.4/5 variant. The age and sex structure changed from Delta to BA.4/5, with the proportion of women (9.5% increase), children and adolescents (10.4% increase), and octa- and nonagenarians increasing significantly (24.5% increase). Significantly more patients had comorbidities (measured by the Charlson Comorbidity Index), 30.3% in Delta and 43% in BA.4/5 period. The need for non-invasive ventilatory support (NiVS), ICU admission, mechanical ventilation (MV), and in-hospital mortality (IHM) decreased from Delta to Omicron BA.4/5 period for 12.6, 13.5, 11.5, and 6.3%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed significantly lower odds for ICU admission (OR 0.68, CI 0.54–0.84, p < 0.001) and IHM (OR 0.74, CI 0.58–0.93, p = 0.011) during the Delta period in patients who had been fully vaccinated or boosted with a COVID-19 vaccine within the previous 6 months. In the BA.1 variant period, patients who had less than 6 months elapsed between the last vaccine dose and SARS-CoV-2 positivity had lower odds for MV (OR 0.38, CI 0.18-0.72, p = 0.005) and IHM (OR 0.56, CI 0.37- 0.83, p = 0.005), but not for NIVS or ICU admission.ConclusionThe likelihood of developing severe CAC in hospitalized patients was higher in those with the Delta and Omicron BA.1 variant compared to BA.4/5.

The main contribution of this paper is the assets of the current and voltage ripples in a buck converter with an LED load. The results indicate that the ripples are different and that it is possible to reduce the passive filter concerning the model of the LED as a simple resistance. The paper presents the design and simulation of a buck converter as a power supply for an LED lamp. Modeling the LED as a resistor and a voltage source (SVRM), the equations to calculate the components of the circuit using the SVRM model are presented, where the Fourier series and phasors are used to calculate the output filter. The equations are validated with SPICE simulations. The results indicate that the SVRM model for the LED load affects the calculation of the output filter of the buck converter as well as the voltage and current ripples, making it a more precise design alternative to the proposed development.

This paper aims to propose a new sizing approach to reduce the footprint and optimize the performance of an LCL filter implemented in photovoltaic systems using grid-connected single-phase microinverters. In particular, the analysis is carried out on a single-phase full-bridge inverter, assuming the following two conditions: (1) a unit power factor at the connection point between the AC grid and the LCL filter; (2) a control circuit based on unipolar sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM). In particular, the ripple and harmonics of the LCL filter input current and the current injected into the grid are analyzed. The results of the Simulink simulation and the experimental tests carried out confirm that it is possible to considerably reduce filter volume by optimizing each passive component compared with what is already available in the literature while guaranteeing excellent filtering performance. Specifically, the inductance values were reduced by almost 40% and the capacitor value by almost 100%. The main applications of this new design methodology are for use in single-phase microinverters connected to the grid and for research purposes in power electronics and optimization.

Ozone is increasingly utilized in dental caries treatment due to its antibacterial properties. In a context of limited studies and no consensus on protocols, this research aims to assess ozone’s antibacterial efficacy on cariogenic bacteria and its potential adverse impact on dentin bond strength. Streptococcus mutans, Streptococcus sobrinus, Lactobacillus casei, and Actinomyces naeslundii suspensions were exposed to 40 μg/mL of ozone gas and 60 μg/mL of ozonated water (80 s) via a medical ozone generator. Negative and positive control groups (chlorhexidine 2%) were included, and UFC/mL counts were recorded. To examine microtensile bond strength (µTBS), 20 human molars were divided into four groups, and class I cavities were created. After ozone application, samples were restored using an etch-and-rinse and resin composite, then sectioned for testing. The SPSS v. 28 program was used with a significance level of 5%. The µTBS results were evaluated using one-way ANOVA, Tukey HSD, and Games-Howell. Bacterial counts reduced from 106 to 101, but dentin µTBS was significantly impacted by ozone (ANOVA, p < 0.001). Despite ozone’s attractive antibacterial activity, this study emphasizes its detrimental effect on dentin adhesion, cautioning against its use before restorative treatments.

ABSTRACTFour molluscum contagiosum virus (MOCV) genotypes (MOCV1–4) and four subtype variants (MOCV1p, MOCV1va, MOCV1vb, and MOCV1vc) were partially characterized using restriction enzyme profiling in the early 1980s/1990s. However, complete genome sequences of only MOCV1 and MOCV2 are available. The evolutionary pathways of MOCV genotypes and subtype variants with unavailable sequences remain unclear, and also whether all MOCV genotypes/subtype variants can be reliably detected and appropriately categorized using available PCR-based protocols. We de novo fully characterized and functionally annotated 47 complete MOCV genomes, including two putative non-MOCV1/2 isolates, expanding the number of fully characterized MOCV genomes to 66. To ascertain the placement of any putative novel MOCV sequence into the restriction profiling typing scheme, we developed an original framework for extracting complete MOCV genome sequence-based restriction profiles and matching them with reference restriction profiles. We confirmed that two putative non-MOCV1/2 isolates represent the first complete genomes of MOCV3. Comprehensive phylogenomic, recombination, and restriction enzyme recognition site analysis of all 66 currently available MOCV genomes showed that they can be agglomerated into six phylogenetic subgroups (PG1–6), corresponding to the subtype variants from the pioneering studies. PG5 was a novel subtype variant of MOCV2, but no PGs corresponded to the subtype variants MOCV1vb or MOCV4. We showed that the phylogenetic subgroups may have diverged from the prototype MOCV genotype lineages following large-scale recombination events and hinted at partial sequence content of MOCV4 and direction of recombinant transfer in the events that spawned PG5 and the yet undetected subtype variant MOCV1vb.IMPORTANCEFour molluscum contagiosum virus (MOCV) genotypes (MOCV1–4) and four subtype variants were partially characterized using restriction enzyme profiling in the 1980s/1990s, but complete genome sequences of only MOCV1 and MOCV2 are available. The evolutionary pathways whereby genotypes/subtype variants with unavailable sequences emerged and whether all MOCVs can be detected using current diagnostic approaches remain unclear. We fully characterized 47 novel complete MOCV genomes, including the first complete MOCV3 genome, expanding the number of fully characterized genomes to 66. For reliably classifying the novel non-MOCV1/2 genomes, we developed and validated a framework for matching sequence-derived restriction maps with those defining MOCV subtypes in pioneering studies. Six phylogenetic subgroups (PG1–6) were identified, PG5 representing a novel MOCV2 subtype. The phylogenetic subgroups diverged from the prototype lineages following large-scale recombination events and hinted at partial sequence content of MOCV4 and direction of recombinant transfer in the events spawning PG5 and yet undetected MOCV1vb variant.

IntroductionIn Italy, since December 2022, the COVID-19 vaccination has been extended to children aged 6 months–4 years with conditions of fragility and to those healthy at the request of the parent. The purposes of the cross-sectional survey were to determine the willingness and hesitancy of the parents/guardians to have their healthy children vaccinated against COVID-19.MethodsThe survey was performed among 389 parents/guardians with a child aged 6 months–4 years randomly selected from seven kindergartens and eight nursery schools in the geographic area of Naples, Italy.ResultsOnly 10.5% were very concerned about the risk of infection, and the mean values regarding the perceived utility and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine were 3.3 and 3.2, respectively. Only 13.7% of participants were willing to consent to vaccinate the selected child against COVID-19, while 20.1% were uncertain and 66.2% did not intend. Parents/guardians of older children, those who received information about the COVID-19 vaccine from physicians or pediatricians, those who believed that the COVID-19 vaccine was useful, and those with lower hesitancy regarding the COVID-19 vaccine were more willing to vaccinate their child. The mean Parent Attitudes About Childhood Vaccines (PACV-5) score was 5.6, with 33.1% of respondents who were identified as highly hesitant toward COVID-19 vaccination (score ≥ 7). Parents/guardians with a lower perceived safety of the COVID-19 vaccine were more likely to be highly hesitant.DiscussionThe findings reveal the need to improve community-based education campaigns and effective promotion of the COVID-19 vaccination to increase willingness and address parental safety concerns.

ABSTRACT Bats are reservoirs of various coronaviruses that can jump between bat species or other mammalian hosts, including humans. This article explores coronavirus infection in three bat species (Tadarida brasiliensis, Eumops bonariensis, and Molossus molossus) of the family Molossidae from Argentina using whole viral metagenome analysis. Fecal samples of 47 bats from three semiurban or highly urbanized areas of the province of Santa Fe were investigated. After viral particle enrichment, total RNA was sequenced using the Illumina NextSeq 550 instrument; the reads were assembled into contigs and taxonomically and phylogenetically analyzed. Three novel complete Alphacoronavirus (AlphaCoV) genomes (Tb1–3) and two partial sequences were identified in T. brasiliensis (Tb4–5), and an additional four partial sequences were identified in M. molossus (Mm1–4). Phylogenomic analysis showed that the novel AlphaCoV clustered in two different lineages distinct from the 15 officially recognized AlphaCoV subgenera. Tb2 and Tb3 isolates appeared to be variants of the same virus, probably involved in a persistent infectious cycle within the T. brasiliensis colony. Using recombination analysis, we detected a statistically significant event in Spike gene, which was reinforced by phylogenetic tree incongruence analysis, involving novel Tb1 and AlphaCoVs identified in Eptesicus fuscus (family Vespertilionidae) from the U.S. The putative recombinant region is in the S1 subdomain of the Spike gene, encompassing the potential receptor-binding domain of AlphaCoVs. This study reports the first AlphaCoV genomes in molossids from the Americas and provides new insights into recombination as an important mode of evolution of coronaviruses involved in cross-species transmission. IMPORTANCE This study generated three novel complete AlphaCoV genomes (Tb1, Tb2, and Tb3 isolates) identified in individuals of Tadarida brasiliensis from Argentina, which showed two different evolutionary patterns and are the first to be reported in the family Molossidae in the Americas. The novel Tb1 isolate was found to be involved in a putative recombination event with alphacoronaviruses identified in bats of the genus Eptesicus from the U.S., whereas isolates Tb2 and Tb3 were found in different collection seasons and might be involved in persistent viral infections in the bat colony. These findings contribute to our knowledge of the global diversity of bat coronaviruses in poorly studied species and highlight the different evolutionary aspects of AlphaCoVs circulating in bat populations in Argentina.

Monkeypox virus was imported into Finland during late May–early June 2022. Intrahost viral genome variation in a sample from 1 patient comprised a major variant with 3 lineage B.1.3–specific mutations and a minor variant with ancestral B.1 nucleotides. Results suggest either ongoing APOBEC3 enzyme–mediated evolution or co-infection.

This review article systematically summarizes the existing literature on utilizing machine learning (ML) techniques for the control and monitoring of electric machine drives. It is anticipated that with the rapid progress in learning algorithms and specialized embedded hardware platforms, ML-based data-driven approaches will become standard tools for the automated high-performance control and monitoring of electric drives. In addition, this article also provides some outlook toward promoting its widespread application in the industry with a focus on deploying ML algorithms onto embedded system-on-chip field-programmable gate array devices.

Nowadays the efficient use of energy is a major issue in applications such as electric vehicles. However, there are some phenomena that affect electric vehicle performance. One of those phenomena is the torque ripple of electric motors, which interferes with traction and the suspension system (causing vibration that stresses this system), and it can also introduce electric current harmonics into the battery, reducing its life, since torque ripple is partly a consequence of non-sinusoidal back EMF. For those reasons this is a topic worth investigating. The torque ripple of permanent magnets (PM) motors can be reduced in design or through control. Since control techniques have been reviewed and design methods have not, this paper presents a comparison of several design techniques to reduce torque ripple by different approaches and categorize them to show the characteristics of each group. A discussion is then made about the advantages and disadvantages of the designs, in general, as well as some comments about the missing, but important information, in the papers, such as the effects on efficiency. The study shows that a combination of methods provide the best results, although it complicates fabrication and suggests that this is a promising line of future investigation on torque ripple reduction methods.

BackgroundIn Italy, on December 2022, COVID-19 vaccination was recommended for children aged 6 months-4 years with frail conditions and for those healthy. The purposes of the survey were to understand parental willingness and hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccination of children with frail conditions in Italy and related influencing factors.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was performed among 445 parents with a child aged 6 months-4 years with frail conditions who attended a teaching hospital and a public hospital randomly selected in the city of Naples, Italy.ResultsAlmost one third (29.9%) were willing to vaccinate their frail children against COVID-19, whereas 21.3% were uncertain, and 48.8% did not intend to vaccinate. Parents with a higher level of perception that the vaccine is useful and safe and those who had received information by pediatrician were more likely to be willing to vaccinate their child. The mean Parent Attitudes About Childhood Vaccines (PACV-5) score was 3.4, with 13.5% of parents high-hesitant for the COVID-19 vaccination for their child. Parents with a higher COVID-19 vaccine-related safety concerns, those who have delayed at least one shot of a recommended vaccine for their child, and those who did not have received at least three doses of the vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 were more likely to be high-hesitant.ConclusionThe survey findings have important implications for designing interventions to increase willingness and to reduce hesitancy for COVID-19 vaccine among parents of frail children aged 6 months-4 years in Italy.

La presente investigación sociolingüística tiene como objetivo principal rastrear diversas percepciones en torno a la variación entonativa de diferentes localidades en contextos rurales y urbanos en la provincia de Melipilla, Región Metropolitana. En la metodología, se incorporó un acercamiento etnográfico a las diferentes localidades, en las que se aplicó una encuesta de percepción a 87 sujetos, hombres y mujeres, de entre 18 y 70 años. En este artículo, se darán a conocer los resultados más relevantes en torno a las percepciones y autopercepciones acerca de usos específicos de estas comunidades y de su identidad hablada, entendiendo que dichas entidades se aproximan entre sí debido a la creciente urbanización de las localidades rurales cercanas a Santiago de Chile (Céspedes 2017).

This paper is a summary of the last ten years of work on the study of parabolic trough collectors (PTCs) and compound parabolic collectors (CPCs) coupled to photovoltaic and thermal solar receiver collectors (SCR-PVTs). While reviewing the state of the art, numerous review papers were found that focused on conventional solar receiver collector (SRC) technology for solar thermal generation. However, there is a lack of review papers summarizing SRC-PVT hybrid technology for solar electric/thermal generation, which would be beneficial for researchers interested in this area of research. This paper provides a review of SRC-PVT hybrid technologies. The theoretical foundations for analyzing and modeling PTC and CPC concentrators coupled to SRC-PVT are described, with an emphasis on modeling through thermal resistances and energy balances. Additionally, this section provides a concise overview of previous studies that have addressed the modeling of PTC and CPC collectors coupled to SCR-PVT, as well as experimental information useful for the validation of new mathematical models of SRC-PVT.

To better understand the natural history of anogenital warts (AGWs) and the dynamics of HPV6/11 infection in regional hairs, 32 newly diagnosed male patients with AGWs and 32 age-matched healthy controls were closely followed. During enrollment and six follow-up visits (every 2.6 months), 43 AGW tissues and 1232 anogenital and eyebrow hair samples were collected. This is the closest longitudinal monitoring of AGW patients to date. Patients were treated according to standards of care. The HPV6/11 prevalence was 19.9% in the patients’ hair samples (HPV6 B1 in 53.1%) and 0% in the controls. The highest HPV6/11 prevalence was found in pubic hairs (29.0%) and the lowest in eyebrows (7.1%). The odds of having HPV6/11-positive hairs increased with smoking, shaving the anogenital region, and age. A close association between HPV6/11 presence in hairs and clinically visible AGWs was observed. The proportion of patients with visible AGWs and HPV6/11-positive hairs declined during follow-up with similar trends. No particular HPV6/11 variant was linked with an increased AGW recurrence, but the sublineage HPV6 B1 showed significantly higher clearance from hairs. Despite treatment, 78.1% and 62.5% of the AGW patients experienced one and two or more post-initial AGW episodes, respectively. The patients with HPV6/11-positive hairs or visible AGWs at a preceding visit demonstrated substantially higher odds of presenting with visible AGWs at a subsequent visit.

In this note we study inhomogeneous random bipartite graphs in random environment. These graphs can be thought of as an extension of the classical Erd\H os-R\'enyi random bipartite graphs in a random environment. We show that the expected number of perfect matchings obeys a precise asymptotic.

ABSTRACT Hepatitis A diagnosis relies on serology and occasionally on hepatitis A virus (HAV) RNA detection. For timely diagnosis and the avoidance of drawing additional blood, molecular testing is often performed as reflex testing by using blood specimens that were initially sent for anti-HAV serology. Reflex molecular testing is preferably performed from different sample aliquots, but, for limited sample quantities, it uses samples that have been preprocessed in an immunoassay analyzer. In 2012, we first observed sporadic HAV RNA-positive cases that were inconsistent with patients’ serological profiles and/or medical histories, suggesting that occasional laboratory contamination was causing false-positive PCR results. Multiple external quality assurance (EQA) and laboratory surface contamination checks were performed, questionable specimens were tested with various HAV RNA tests, and follow-up serum/stool samples were collected. All contamination-check samples and samples from healthy individuals tested HAV RNA-negative, and the laboratory successfully passed all EQAs. The HAV RNA-positive results were reproducible with various HAV RNA assays. No patients seroconverted, and their follow-up samples were consistently HAV RNA-negative. Finally, a detailed review of testing protocols revealed a correlation between HAV RNA false positivity and preceding anti-HAV testing with the Cobas-e411 automated immunoassay analyzer. HAV RNA was detected in the Cobas-e411 anti-HAV reagents, with the HAV sequences matching those from the false-positive samples. Preceding anti-HAV testing using two other immunoassay analyzers did not result in subsequent HAV RNA false positivity during reflex testing. The Cobas-e411 pipetting procedure with a single pipette tip collecting samples and anti-HAV reagents contaminated the original sample with the HAV RNA that was present in the immunoassay’s reagents, thereby resulting in HAV RNA false positivity during the reflex testing. IMPORTANCE We present the first report of sporadic HAV PCR false-positive results that have been observed during the reflex testing of serum samples that have previously been tested for anti-HAV antibodies and have been caused by contamination with HAV RNA that is present in the reagents of the commercial anti-HAV immunoassay, with potentially serious clinical consequences. Although HAV RNA was consistently detected in the anti-HAV reagents of all three automated immunoassay analyzers that were in use in our laboratory, only the use of one analyzer and the corresponding commercial anti-HAV immunoassay reagents resulted in contamination that led to false positive HAV RNA results, and this was due to a peculiar pipetting mode of action in which the analyzer uses a single pipette tip to collect both anti-HAV reagents and a sample, which consequently causes the permanent contamination of the original sample with HAV RNA. Manufacturers should strongly consider the occasional need for reflex molecular testing from preprocessed samples and design their analyzers in a way that prevents contamination.

Nucleocapsid gene-positive, envelope gene-negative (N2+/E-) SARS-CoV-2 PCR results obtained with the Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 assay are an infrequent phenomenon. We assessed the validity of the N2+/E- cases with an indirect approach by analyzing their occurrence in relation to overall positive PCR rates and absolute number of PCR tests (24,909 samples, collected June 2021 to July 2022). Additionally, 3022 samples were analyzed with the Xpert Xpress CoV-2-plus assay in August/September 2022. The incidence of monthly N2+/E- cases closely followed the overall frequency of positive tests (p

Monitoring financial transactions is a critical Anti-Money Laundering (AML) obligation for financial institutions. In recent years, machine learning-based transaction monitoring systems have successfully complemented traditional rule-based systems to reduce the high number of false positives and the effort needed to review all the alerts manually. Unfortunately, machine learning-based solutions also have disadvantages: while unsupervised models can detect novel anomalous patterns, they are usually characterized by a high number of false alarms; supervised models, instead, usually offers a higher detection rate but require a large amount of labeled data to achieve such performance. In this paper, we present Amaretto, an active learning framework for money laundering detection that combines unsupervised and supervised learning techniques to support the transaction monitoring processes by improving the detection performance and reducing the compliance management costs. Amaretto exploits novel selection strategies to target a subset of transactions for investigation, making more efficient use of the feedback provided by the analyst. We perform the experimental evaluation on a synthetic dataset provided by the industrial partner, which simulates the profiles of clients trading in international capital markets. We show that Amaretto outperforms state-of-the-art solutions by reducing money laundering risk and improving detection performance. In particular, we compare state-of-the-art unsupervised and supervised techniques commonly used in the AML domain with the ones implemented in this work. We show that the Isolation and Random Forests of Amaretto perform best in the task under analysis, with an AUROC of 0.9 for the first (20% better on average) and a detection rate of 0.793 for the second (30 % better on average). In addition, they are characterized by lower investigation costs computed in terms of the daily number of transactions to be examined and the number of false positives and false negatives. Finally, we compare Amaretto against a state-of-the-art active learning fraud detection system, achieving better detection performances and lower costs in all the analyzed scenarios. Worth mentioning, Amaretto improves the detection rate up to 50 % and reduces the overall cost by 20% in the most realistic scenario under analysis.

Reinforcement learning algorithms have been very successful at solving sequential decision-making problems in many different problem domains. However, their training is often time-consuming, with training times ranging from multiple hours to weeks. The development of domain-specific architectures for reinforcement learning promises faster computation times, decreased experiment turn-around time, and improved energy efficiency. This paper presents a review of hardware architectures for the acceleration of reinforcement learning algorithms. FPGA-based implementations are the focus of this work, but GPU-based approaches are considered as well. Both tabular and deep reinforcement learning algorithms are included in this survey. The techniques employed in different implementations are highlighted and compared. Finally, possible areas for future work are suggested, based on the preceding discussion of existing architectures.

This paper presents the design of an adaptive controller that solves the synchronization control problem of two identical Nwachioma chaotic systems in a master-slave configuration. The closed-loop stability is guaranteed by means of a Lyapunov-like analysis. With the aim of verifying the feasibility and performance of the proposed approach, a comparison with an active control algorithm is developed at the numerical simulation level. Based on such results, the master-slave Nwachioma chaotic system in closed-loop with adaptive control is now being experimentally tested by using two personal computers and two low-cost Arduino UNO boards. The experimental results not only show the good performance of the adaptive control but also that Arduino UNO boards are an excellent option for the experimental setup.

BackgroundLarge longitudinal studies with repeated pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements, a direct measure of arterial stiffness, are required to realize the full potential of arterial stiffness in clinical practice. To facilitate such studies it is important to increase the power of a study by reducing within-subject variability of PWV, and to ease the use of a PWV device in clinical settings by minimizing PWV measurement difficulties.MethodsWe systematically investigated experimental setting and meteorological conditions, as well as physiological factors and participant characteristics, to determine whether and to what extent they affected: between- and within-subjects variability of PWV recordings, and measurement difficulties of a particular device. We conducted a 2-week longitudinal block-randomized cross-over study with two blinded observers and two commonly used devices: applanation tonometry SphygmoCor CvMS and oscillometric Arteriograph to assess carotid-femoral (cfPWV) or aortic (PWVao) PWV, respectively. Our sample had uniform and wide-spread distribution of age, blood pressures, hypertensive status and BMI. Each participant (N = 35) was recorded 12 times over 3 visiting days, 7 days apart. On each day, recordings were made twice in the morning (7–10 a.m.) and afternoon (16–18 p.m.). Data were analyzed using multilevel mixed-effects models, separately for each device.ResultsIn addition to age and mean arterial pressure (MAP) that strongly affected both cfPWV and PWVao, other significant factors appeared to indicate a measurement approach. cfPWV as a more direct measure of arterial stiffness was additionally affected by hypertension status, outdoor temperature, interaction of MAP with outdoor temperature and the order of visit, with MAP within-subject variability contributing on average 0.27 m/s to difference in repeated measurements at 5°C and 0.004 m/s at 25°C. PWVao measurements derived at a single brachial site were more dependent on age than cfPWV and also depended on personal characteristics such as height and sex, and heart rate; with within-subject MAP variability adding on average 0.23 m/s to the difference in repeated measures. We also found that female sex significantly increased, and recording in afternoon vs. morning significantly decreased measurement difficulties of both devices.ConclusionWe identified factors affecting PWV recordings and measurement-difficulties and propose how to improve PWV measuring protocols.

Summary: Background: There is limited data on human papillomaviruses (HPV) prevalence in transpeople due to low acceptance rate of screening methods. HPV tests from self-collected urine are gender-neutral, have a high acceptance, and have a comparable accuracy in females to clinician-collected samples. The aim of this study was to evaluate both the HPV prevalence in the urine in a large cohort of 200 transpeople with common risk profiles and the acceptability of such screening method. Methods: The study was conducted at the outpatient clinic for transpeople at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. 200 transpeople have been enrolled between May and October 2021. Inclusion criteria were gender identity dysphoria, age over 18 years, and adequate language skills.Subjects were asked to answer a survey concerning gender identity, established risk factors for HPV infections as well as their preference regarding urine or provider-collected cytology-/HPV-based screening, and to provide a urine sample. Five patients not able to provide urine were excluded. HPV genotyping was performed using a validated multiplex real-time PCR assay, which simultaneously detects 28 HPV genotypes. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04864951. Findings: Overall HPV positivity was 19·0% (37/195), 24·2% in female to male, 11·8% in male to female, 26·3% in genderqueer/non binary/other subjects, 27·9% in subjects currently having a cervix, and 26·0% in subjects born with cervix. Independent of gender reassignment surgery, being born with a cervix was associated with a higher risk of HPV infections (p = 0·008), yet 42·3% (44/104) have never attended cervical cancer screening. Overall, 79·0% (154/195) of transpeople would prefer urine HPV tests to provider-collected HPV screening. Interpretation: HPV testing in self-collected urine samples provides a unique opportunity for screening of this hard-to-reach population and should be evaluated in further studies. Funding: None.

Early diagnosis of cattle diseases such as mastitis caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) can be made effective if on-site detection methods with portable instruments are available. In this work, we fabricated immunosensors based on a layer-by-layer (LbL) film of chitosan and carbon nanotubes coated with a layer of antibodies to detect S. aureus. Using electrical and electrochemical impedance spectroscopies, detection was possible in buffer solutions and in milk with limits of detection which could be as low as 2.6 CFU/mL for milk, sufficient to detect mastitis at early stages. This high sensitivity is ascribed to the specific interactions involving the antibodies, as demonstrated with polarization-modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS). The selectivity of the immunosensor was verified by distinguishing S. aureus-containing samples from possible interferents found in milk, for which the interactive document mapping (IDMAP) was employed. Because the interferents affected the spectra, in spite of this distinguishability, we treated the data with a machine learning technique with decision tree models. A multidimensional calibration space was then obtained with rules that permit interpretability and predictability in detecting S. aureus in matrices with high variability as in milk.

BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 infection does not confer long immunity. However, studies suggest that prior infection is associated with lower risk of reinfection and milder outcomes of recurrent infections. The aims of this retrospective observational case-control study were to describe the clinical and molecular characteristics of genetically confirmed Delta reinfection cases and to assess the potential protective role of preceding infection on the severity of reinfection.MethodsWe used next generation sequencing (NGS) to explore if cases with two positive real time RT-PCR tests > 90 days apart were infected with a different SARS-CoV-2 variant. Cases with confirmed reinfection between August 1st and October 31st, 2021 (the Delta wave) in Slovenia were matched 1:4 by age, sex and timeframe (week of positive test) with individuals with primary infection. Sociodemographic and epidemiologic data, vaccination status, and data on hospitalization and outcome of infection were retrieved from several centralized and standardized national databases. Additional epidemiologic surveys were performed on a limited number of cases and controls.ResultsWe identified 628 cases of genetically confirmed reinfection during the study period and matched them with 2,512 control subjects with Delta primary infection. Primary infections in individuals with reinfection were mainly caused by B.1.258.17 (51.1%), followed by B.1.1.7 (15.1%) and reinfection was detected on average 271 days after primary infection (range 101–477 days). Our results show a substantially lower probability of hospitalization in cases with reinfection compared with controls (OR: 0.21, p = 0.017), but no significant difference was observed in intensive care unit admission and deaths. We observed a significantly lower proportion of vaccinated individuals among cases compared to controls (4.5% vs. 28.2%), suggesting that hybrid immunity leads to lower probability of reinfection. Detailed analysis of the temporal distribution of variants, responsible for reinfections, showed no significant differences in reinfection potential.ConclusionReinfection with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant resulted in fewer hospitalizations compared to the primary Delta infection, suggesting that primary infection may, to some extent, produce at least short lasting protective immunity. This study provides additional insight into the reinfection dynamics that may allow appropriate public health measures to be taken in subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Pathophysiology of placental syndromes is still unclear, and umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) might play a role in the development of these syndromes. In this prospective cohort study, we evaluated proliferative abilities of two types of UC-MSCs, Wharton’s Jelly MSCs (WJ-MSCs) and cord blood MSCs (CB-MSCs), in placental syndromes. Methods: A total of 16 cord blood and umbilical cord samples were seeded and cultured until MSC growth potential exhaustion. Cumulative population doublings were employed for studying growth potential, and flow cytometry immunophenotyping for verification of mesenchymal markers. Results: In our prospective cohort study, on one hand CB-MSCs from pathological pregnancies showed a significant reduction of growth potential, on the other hand WJ-MSCs showed a trend toward higher growth potential. This trend is consistent with the well-known faster-growing phenotype of WJ-MSCs under low oxygen atmosphere. Moreover, it’s well understood that chronic hypoxia is a main feature of both intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and preeclampsia, thus, our data perfectly match with the well-known clinical characteristics. Conclusions: Growth potential of CB-MSCs obtained from placental syndromes tended to be reduced compared to that of MSCs from healthy pregnancies. Our results need to be confirmed in larger in vitro studies, as a higher number of CB- and WJ-MSC would better clarify pathophysiology of placental syndromes.

The objectives of this study were to characterize the microtensile bond strength to enamel of two experimental adhesive systems, one containing a novel monomer and the other having the same composition as commercial adhesive systems, and comparing them to commercial materials. Two experimental adhesive systems were developed in the lab, one with Bisphenol A diglycidyl methacrylate (Bis-GMA) and the other with G(2)-isocyanatoethyl methacrylate (G-IEMA) as a substitute for Bis-GMA. Twenty healthy human permanent molars were cut into halves and randomly divided into eight groups based on the application mode. The experimental universal adhesive system without Bis-GMA demonstrated comparable adhesive strength to enamel as the other universal adhesive systems containing Bis-GMA.

Currently, composite resins are widely used as aesthetic restorative materials. The success of any aesthetic restoration depends on the stability of the material’s colour. Colour change in composite resin restorations is one of the most frequent reasons for their replacement. The aim of this study is to evaluate the change in colouration, using the CIE L*a*b* colour system, of nanohybrid and microhybrid composite resins when they are exposed to potential staining solutions over a period of 14 days.

In the elderly, many chronic diseases and systemic conditions, medications, and salivary dysfunctions, mostly caused by therapeutic radiation and chemotherapy, are associated with hyposalivation and xerostomia, affecting quality of life. The purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate potential factors associated with xerostomia and/or hyposalivation in a local elderly population. Almost half of the participants had hyposalivation and some reported xerostomia. There was a significant association between hyposalivation and xerostomia. Hyposalivation was most common among women, those taking one or more types of medication simultaneously, those taking antidepressants, and participants with rheumatoid arthritis and depression. There was a tendency for individuals with poorer oral-health-related quality of life to exhibit hyposalivation.

This cross-sectional survey was conducted to investigate the willingness and uptake of recommended vaccinations against influenza, meningococcal B and ACWY, pneumococcal, rotavirus and the influencing factors among 565 parents of children aged 6 months to 5 years with chronic medical conditions in Italy. Only 34.9% of the sample received all vaccinations. Parents whose selected child was vaccinated against the five diseases were those who had received recommendations from physicians, who did not believe that children should get fewer vaccinations at the same time, those whose child was aged 2–3 and 4–5 years compared to 6 months–1 year, and those who acquired information from physicians. Only 17.9% were willing to vaccinate their child. Parents with a university degree, those who acquired information from physicians, and those whose child had a more recent diagnosis were more likely to be willing to vaccinate their child. Parents who believed that children should get fewer vaccines at the same time, those without a university degree, and those who did not acquire information from physicians were more likely to not have vaccinated their child because they were concerned about vaccines’ side effects. Public health policymakers should provide efforts to promote the uptake for an adequate protection of this high-risk group.

The main contribution of this paper is the inductive compensation of a wireless inductive power transmission circuit (IPT) with resonant open-loop inductive coupling. The variations in the coupling coefficient k due to the misalignment of the transmitter and receiver are compensated with only one auxiliary inductance in the primary of the inductive coupling. A low-power prototype was implemented with the following specifications: input voltage Vin = 27.5 V, output power Po = 10 W, switching frequency f = 500 kHz, output voltage Vo = 12 V, transmission distance d = 1.5 mm. Experimental results varying the distance “d” with several values of the compensation inductor demonstrate the feasibility of the proposal. An efficiency of 75.10% under nominal conditions was achieved. This proposal is a simple compensation topology for wireless chargers of cellular phones presenting small distances between the transmitter and receiver.

The aim of this study was to evaluate and quantify, in vitro, the extent of coronal discoloration induced by bioceramic materials over time. In total, 44 human monoradicular teeth were divided into four groups (n = 11), according to the applied material: Negative control (NC); White MTA ProRoot® (WMTAP); Biodentine™ (BD); and TotalFill® BC RRM™ Putty (TF). Teeth were immersed in saline solution and incubated at 37 °C; the following periods of time were defined: before incubation: [t0]—without bioceramic material, t1—immediately after the bioceramic material placement; after incubation: t24h—24 h, t7d—7 days, and 30d—30 days. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis were performed. Cochran’s Q test was used to evaluate coronal discoloration across the different groups, while the Kruskal–Wallis test was employed to determine differences in discoloration among the groups at each time interval. Additionally, the Friedman test was applied to analyze the variations in discoloration within each group over time. A significance level of 5% was set. All experimental groups revealed coronal discoloration over time: NC (p = 0.001), WMTAP (p < 0.001), BD (p = 0.001), and TF (p = 0.006). No significant differences were observed between groups for each time interval (p > 0.05). The WMTAP group varied the most considering the intervals [t0—t1] and [t24h—t7d] (p = 0.037) compared to the remaining experimental groups.