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Attachment level has been used as the "gold standard" for assessment of the progression of periodontal disease. However, the measurement of attachment level by periodontal probing can be subject to a large number of error sources. Recently, we have designed experiments by using an electronic probe to identify the magnitude of error components due to the instrument, gingival tissue condition, position or probing angle, and time interval between replicate probings. Even with a very careful clinical setting, a few percent of uncontrollable large errors or outliers could not be avoided. A previously used 'option-3' probing scheme to reduce the unexpected large error is justified from the mathematical viewpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short sleep duration has been linked to an increased obesity risk, and emerging evidence suggests that diet quality potentially influences this association. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the association of obesity with sleep duration and diet quality in adults. The participants comprised 10,967 adults (4623 men and 6344 women) aged 19-64 years who participated in the 7th National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016-2018). Sleep duration was categorized into adequate (≥7 h) and insufficient (<7 h). Diet quality was evaluated using the Korean Healthy Eating Index (KHEI), with scores ranging from 0 to 100, based on 14 dietary components. Obesity was associated with higher rates of insufficient sleep in women but not in men. After adjusting for covariates, the obesity risk in women with insufficient sleep was approximately 1.3 times higher than that in women with adequate sleep (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 1.270 [1.058-1.525]), and this association was exclusively observed in the "KHEI ≤ median score" group (men, 59.95; women, 63.30). In conclusion, enhanced diet quality may act as an effect modifier in the association between insufficient sleep and a high obesity risk in women. These findings suggest that the association between sleep duration and obesity risk is potentially modified by dietary quality in adult women. Future studies with larger sample sizes and a prospective or interventional design are warranted to augment current knowledge regarding the association of diet quality/dietary patterns, and sleep duration with obesity.

Real-time monitoring and quantification of exhaust pollutants is crucial but is troublesome because of extremely harsh thermochemical conditions, and in this regard mixed-potential sensing technology can be a realistic solution. In this study, BiVO 4 nanoparticles are decorated onto the preformed porous sensing electrode (SE) backbone by homogeneous infiltration process to improve the sensing performance in mixed-potential sensor. The influence of nanoparticle decoration on phase composition, microstructure and sensing performance are analyzed by physical and electrochemical techniques. Corresponding results indicate that the microstructure tailoring enhances the sensor performance, by extending the triple phase boundary (TPB) and surface area of SE itself. The sensitivity (-119.47 mV/decade) and response time (20 s) of i-BVO SE-based sensor at 600 ℃ are 20 % higher and 8 s faster than bare BiVO 4 SE-based sensor (99.24 mV/decade and 28 s). Additionally, the i-BVOǀYSZǀPt cell exhibits good selectivity and cross-sensitivity toward NH 3 without any dependency on oxygen partial pressure (pO 2 ). The fabricated sensor is also found stable towards cyclic and long-term operations. Electrochemical Impendence Spectroscopy (EIS) and DC polarization studies were performed to confirm the mixed-potential behavior. Conclusively, the superior sensing performance of i-BVO SE compared to various oxide based SEs highlights its suitability for mixed-potential NH 3 sensing., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Hyperstoichiometric (p-type) misfit-layered calcium cobaltites have been studied as components in various high-temperature electrochemical devices. Multiple studies have reported their applications or physical properties, but systematic studies on their defect structures and thermodynamic quantities are still insufficient. In this study, the oxygen nonstoichiometry and the electrical conductivity of Gd-Cu co-doped misfit cobalt oxide were measured as functions of temperature and oxygen partial pressure, along with thermodynamic quantities. The behavior of oxygen nonstoichiometry could not be explained by a defect structure assuming the ideal solution, as it showed a positive deviation in Raoult's law. The redesigned nonideal proposed defect structure, considering that the deviation originated from the high concentration of degenerate holes, could describe the oxygen nonstoichiometry precisely; and in this process, the values of , , N v , , γ h , and were quantitatively extracted. These values were compared with those obtained for the undoped system. The total electrical conductivity was measured using a dense specimen obtained via spark plasma sintering, and the anisotropic nature of the material was confirmed.

Background/aim: Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a cancer-selective, cell-death-inducing agent with little toxicity to normal cells. However, various human cancers and cancer cell lines have been reported to be resistant to TRAIL. Molecular clarification of resistance mechanism is needed., Materials and Methods: Compound screening, proliferation assays, western blotting, and flow cytometry were used to examine the sensitizer activity of methyl transferase inhibitor BIX-01294 in combination with TRAIL, in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. RNA sequencing analysis and single guide (sg)RNA-mediated gene deletion were used to investigate the role of survivin in sensitization., Results: In HCC cells, BIX-01294 enhanced TRAIL sensitivity by reducing survivin expression at the RNA level. Small interference RNA-mediated gene knockdown demonstrated the mechanism of sensitization to be via the reduction of survivin., Conclusion: Euchromatin histone methyltransferase 2 (EHMT2) inhibition by BIX-01294 may be a potent anti-tumor therapeutic strategy for human HCC., (Copyright© 2019, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

When measurement are subject to rare but large errors, it is better to measure twice instead of once, and, if the two measurements differ too much, to take a third measurement. This is called the option-3 scheme. This paper shows that when the measurement error is the mixture of two normal random variables, use of the median of the three measurements is better than use of the average of the two closest. To reach the maximum sample size benefit, the threshold for taking the third measurement is approximately three times the measurement error standard deviation.

Detecting changes in longitudinal data is important in medical research. However, the existence of measurement outliers can cause an unexpected increase in the false alarm rate in claiming changes. To reduce the outliers, a new method has been developed. In this scheme, two measures are initially taken and, if they are closer than a specified threshold, the average of the two is considered to be the estimate of the true mean; otherwise a third measurement is taken, and the mean of the closest pair is considered to be the estimate. It is shown that this method has considerable sample size advantage over naive repeated measurements. Moreover, this scheme is robust for outlier error distribution. Evidence on outlier removal in dental attachment probing is used as an example.

Longitudinal data of attachment level (AL) or the alveolar bone level are often used to assess the progression of periodontal disease. This paper tries to identify the most efficient method to detect the changes of AL in a general periodontal research environment; that is, a sequential decision based on multiple sites. Several existing methods suggested in the periodontal research literature such as the tolerance, running median, cusum, and regression methods as well as change-point detection methods in the statistical literature are examined. It is found that the regression method is most convenient among the several methods that are equally effective in change detection. Formulae, tables and their usage are discussed in detail.