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Outcomes used in trials regarding the prevention and treatment of orthodontically induced white spot lesions: A scoping review
No full textIntroduction: The objective was to identify and summarize the outcomes and evaluation methods used in clinical trials regarding the prevention and treatment of orthodontically induced white spot lesions (WSLs).Methods: Three electronic databases were searched to identify studies that were: 1) clinical trials on prevention and/or treatment of orthodontically induced WSLs; 2) reported in English; and 3) published between January 2010 and October 2019. At least two authors assessed the eligibility and extracted the characteristics, outcomes and evaluation methods used from included studies. All disagreements were resolved through discussion.Results: Among 1328 studies identified, 51 were eligible and included. A total of 48 different outcomes and 11 different evaluation methods were used in these studies. The most frequently used outcomes were WSLs clinical visual examination scores (n=22, 43.1%), DIAGNOdent values (n=14, 27.5%), fluorescence loss measured with quantitative light-induced fluorescence (QLF) (n=10, 19.6%), and lesion area measured with QLF (n=10, 19.6%). The most frequently used evaluation methods were clinical examination (n=25, 49.0%), visual inspection by photographs (n=15, 29.4%), DIAGNOdent (n=14, 27.5%), and QLF (n=10, 19.6%). None of the included studies reported data on quality of life.Conclusion: Substantial outcome heterogeneity exists among studies regarding prevention and treatment of orthodontically induced WSLs. Most of the identified outcomes are aimed to assess morphologic changes of WSLs and may not reflect patient perspectives
The Home Screen Media Environment of Saudi Toddlers
No full textThe past few years have witnessed a rapid increase in children’s use of screen media. Despite the widespread use of technology in Saudi Arabia, research on screen media use among young children is scarce. The current study provides a comprehensive picture of screen media use and literacy practices among 220 1- to 3-year-olds in Saudi Arabia using an online survey. Findings showed that the vast majority of these children had started using screens before the age of 2 years. Saudi toddlers’ overall screen time was about 3 hours a day which exceeds screen time recommendations by the World Health Organization. Iftah Ya Simsim (the Arabic version of Sesame Street) was children’s favourite TV show, YouTube was their favourite mobile media app, and children’s songs were their most frequently viewed content type on mobile media. The amount of time toddlers spent with screens was higher than their engagement with reading. More than 40% of the children were never read to, and one quarter had no children’s books at home. Results of this study provide a better understanding of children’s screen use and reading practices; an important first step in guiding the development of research-driven recommendations for all stakeholders on the use of screens by young children
A mini-review of graphene based materials for electrodes in electrocardiogram (ECG) sensing
No full textOver the past decade a number of Graphene Based Materials (GBM) have been reported as electrodes for electrocardiogram (ECG) sensing. A wide variety of GBM electrodes have become available, enabling novel electrodes with several degrees of freedom, such as flexibility, strechability, and washability to potentially outperform conventional Silver/Silver Chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrodes. This paper provides a critical analysis of the recent advances in GBM electrodes for monitoring ECG signals. The results show that heart monitoring is possible with GBM electrodes, at the cost of a generally reduced Signal-to-Noise Ratio compared to conventional Ag/AgCl electrodes. The benefit is that the potential for flexible electrodes, and electrodes integrated into textiles for clothing, is greatly enhanced with GBM electrodes. Further work is required on GBM electrodes for motion artefact robustness, sensitivity, biocompatibility, polarization, longevity, and interaction between these factors is still required
Poor sleep behavior burden and risk of COVID-19 mortality and hospitalization:United Kingdom, March—December 2020
No full textEye Gaze and Perceptual Adaptation to Audiovisual Degraded Speech
No full textPurpose: Visual cues from a speaker’s face may benefit perceptual adaptation to degraded speech, but current evidence is limited. We aimed to replicate results from previous studies to establish the extent to which visual speech cues can lead to greater adaptation over time, extending existing results to a real-time adaptation paradigm (i.e., without a separate training period). A second aim was to investigate whether eye gaze patterns towards the speaker’s mouth were related to better perception, hypothesising that listeners who looked more at the speaker’s mouth would show greater adaptation. Method: A group of listeners (N=30) were presented with 90 noise-vocoded sentences in audiovisual format while a control group (N=29) were presented with the audio signal only. Recognition accuracy was measured throughout and eye tracking was used to measure fixations towards the speaker’s eyes and mouth in the audiovisual group.Results: Previous studies were partially replicated: the audiovisual group had better recognition throughout and adapted slightly more rapidly, but both groups showed an equal amount of improvement overall. Longer fixations on the speaker’s mouth in the audiovisual group were related to better overall accuracy. An exploratory analysis further demonstrated that the duration of fixations to the speaker’s mouth decreased over time. Conclusions: The results suggest that visual cues may not benefit adaptation to degraded speech as much as previously thought. Longer fixations on a speaker’s mouth may play a role in successfully decoding visual speech cues, however this will need to be confirmed in future research to fully understand how patterns of eye gaze are related to audiovisual speech recognition. All materials, data, and code are available at https://osf.io/2wqkf/.<br/
A Hamiltonian Decomposition for Fast Interior-Point Solvers in Model Predictive Control
No full textOptimal decision-making tools are essential in industry to achieve high performance. One of these tools is model predictive control (MPC),which is an advanced control technique that generates an action that affects the controlled variables, while satisfying the process’ operationalconstraints. At the core of the MPC algorithm lies an optimization problem that is solved by a numerical method at every sample time.New demand for more self-contained modular processes has seen MPC embedded in small-scale platforms. This has prompted a needfor custom-made numerical methods that help to run the computationally demanding optimization algorithms efficiently. In this paper, wepropose two approaches that factorize the Newton system of the interior-point method based on the two-point boundary-value problemstructure, rarely explored in MPC. Exploiting the Hamiltonian form of the augmented system, we derive an incomplete LU factorization.A direct method is available to compute the solution of the system using a forward substitution of a series of matrices. We also proposea preconditioned Krylov method that converges within a small number of iterations only depending on the number of states
1H, 13C, 15N backbone resonance assignment for the 1-164 construct of human XRCC4
No full textDNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) represent the most cytotoxic DNA lesions, as – if mis- or unrepaired – they can cause cell death or lead to genome instability, which in turn can cause cancer. DSBs are repaired by two major pathways termed homologous recombination and non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). NHEJ is responsible for repairing the vast majority of DSBs arising in human cells. Defects in NHEJ factors are also associated with microcephaly, primordial dwarfism and immune deficiencies. One of the key proteins important for mediating NHEJ is XRCC4. XRCC4 is a dimer, with the dimer interface mediated by an extended coiled-coil. The N-terminal head domain forms a mixed alpha-beta globular structure. Numerous factors interact with the C-terminus of the coiled-coil domain, which is also associated with significant self-association between XRCC4 dimers. A range of construct lengths of human XRCC4 were expressed and purified, and the 1-164 variant had the best NMR properties, as judged by consistent linewidths, and chemical shift dispersion. In this work we report the 1H, 15N and 13C backbone resonance assignments of human XRCC4 in the solution form of the 1-164 construct. Assignments were obtained by heteronuclear multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. In total, 156 of 161 assignable residues of XRCC4 were assigned to resonances in the TROSY spectrum, with an additional 11 resonances assigned to His-Tag residues. Prediction of solution secondary structure from a chemical shift analysis using the TALOS+ webserver is in good agreement with the published X-ray crystal structures of this protein
Listening to Children and Young People: An Educational Psychology Service Co-production Journey
No full text‘Co-production’ is advocated within UK legislation outlining children and young people’s right to be heard and to take part in the development of the services they use. This paper aims to explore understanding and knowledge around engaging with children and young people about how services can be co-produced within education. By using cycles of action and reflection, this research presents what children and young people think is important when working with, and receiving services from, educational psychologists, and explores the experiences of both children and young people, and educational psychologists, as they have worked and continue to work together to co-construct an educational psychology service
Response to letter regarding 'Systemic therapies in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: How do older patients fare?'
No full textViews and experiences of pregnant women and their partners regarding reduced fetal movements: A narrative literature review from a low resource setting perspective.
No full textBackground: Globally there are 2 million stillbirths annually, 98 % of which occur in low-income settings (LICs). Stillbirth may be associated with the maternal perception of reduced fetal movements (RFM) in LICs. However, little is known about maternal experiences of RFM and subsequent engagement with health services in LICs.Aim: This narrative literature review aimed to improve understanding of views and experiences of RFM in pregnant women in LICs using information synthesized from international studies.Methodology: The literature reviewed qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies guided by a systematic approach. The findings were discussed narratively.Findings: Forty studies were identified, only four of which were from LICs. The four main themes identified were:- Maternal perception of fetal movements, facilitators and barriers to seeking health care, RFM as a predictor of fetal outcomes, knowledge of fetal movements and management strategies.Conclusion: A variety of factors may influence the maternal perception of RFM and experience of care. As most studies were conducted in HICs, it is imperative to describe women’s experiences of RFM in LIC settings