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In-vitro effects of novel periodontal scalers with a planar ultrasonic piezoelectric transducer on periodontal biofilm removal, dentine surface roughness, and periodontal ligament fibroblasts adhesion.
OBJECTIVES
To compare ultrasonic scaler prototypes based on a planar piezoelectric transducer with different working frequencies featuring a titanium (Ti-20, Ti-28, and Ti-40) or stainless steel (SS-28) instrument, with a commercially available scaler (com-29) in terms of biofilm removal and reformation, dentine surface roughness and adhesion of periodontal fibroblasts.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A periodontal multi-species biofilm was formed on specimens with dentine slices. Thereafter specimens were instrumented with scalers in a periodontal pocket model or left untreated (control). The remaining biofilms were quantified and allowed to reform on instrumented dentine slices. In addition, fibroblasts were seeded for attachment evaluation after 72 h of incubation. Dentine surface roughness was analyzed before and after instrumentation.
RESULTS
All tested instruments reduced the colony-forming unit (cfu) counts by about 3 to 4 log10 and the biofilm quantity (each p < 0.01 vs. control), but with no statistically significant difference between the instrumented groups. After 24-hour biofilm reformation, no differences in cfu counts were observed between any groups, but the biofilm quantity was about 50% in all instrumented groups compared to the control. The attachment of fibroblasts on instrumented dentine was significantly higher than on untreated dentine (p < 0.05), with the exception of Ti-20. The dentine surface roughness was not affected by any instrumentation.
CONCLUSIONS
The planar piezoelectric scaler prototypes are able to efficiently remove biofilm without dentine surface alterations, regardless of the operating frequency or instrument material.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Ultrasonic scalers based on a planar piezoelectric transducer might be an alternative to currently available ultrasonic scalers
Il progetto CELTUDALPS: nuove prospettive sulla mobilità territoriale e la variazione genetica in Svizzera ed Italia settentrionale durante la tarda età del Ferro
La discussione delle maggiori tendenze bioculturali in Europa durante la
tarda età del Ferro può giovarsi di un continuo apporto di dati biogeochimici
e biomolecolari. Rispetto ad altre aree geografiche, tuttavia, sono ancora
pochi i dati disponibili sulla variabilità genetica e mobilità' territoriale
nei territori della Svizzera e dell'Italia settentrionale durante questo periodo.
L'obiettivo del progetto CELTUDALPS è approfondire questi temi attraverso
l'analisi multidisciplinare di un ampio campione scheletrico (circa
500 individui) che rappresenta gruppi culturali La Tène in Svizzera e Italia
settentrionale tra il IV e il I secolo a.C. Attraverso analisi genetiche, isotopiche
e funerarie CELTUDALPS si propone di: (a) stimare le differenze e
le somiglianze nella mobilità territoriale tra i vari contesti analizzati; (b) ricostruire
la loro variabilità e storia genetiche; (c) esplorare i nessi tra
mobilità, rapporti di parentela e struttura sociale. In questo intervento introduciamo
lo sfondo teorico della nostra ricerca e discutiamo la rilevanza
culturale, sociale, e biologica dei primi risultati emersi dal progetto sul
campione svizzero
EnDovascular Therapy Plus Best Medical Treatment (BMT) Versus BMT Alone for MedIum distal VeSsel Occlusion sTroke (DISTAL): An international, multicentre, randomized-controlled, two-arm, assessor-blinded trial.
RATIONALE
Whether endovascular therapy (EVT) in addition to best medical treatment (BMT) in people with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to a medium distal vessel occlusion (MDVO) is beneficial remains unclear.
AIM
To determine if people experiencing an AIS due to an isolated MDVO (defined as the co- or non-dominant M2 segment, the M3 or M4 segment of the middle cerebral artery, the A1, A2, or A3 segment of the anterior cerebral artery or the P1, P2 or P3 segment of the posterior cerebral artery) will have superior outcome if treated with EVT in addition to BMT compared to BMT alone.
SAMPLE SIZE
To randomize 526 participants 1:1 to EVT plus BMT or BMT alone.
METHODS AND DESIGN
A multicentre, international, prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded-endpoint (PROBE) superiority trial.
OUTCOMES
The primary efficacy endpoint is the distribution of disability levels on the modified Rankin Scale at 90 days. Secondary clinical efficacy outcomes include normalized change in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score from baseline to day 1, cognitive outcome at 90 days, and health-related quality of life at 90 days. Safety outcomes include all serious adverse events, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 24 h, and all-cause mortality up to 90 days. Secondary imaging outcomes include successful reperfusion at end of EVT procedure and recanalization of target artery at 24 h.
DISCUSSION
DISTAL will inform physicians whether EVT in addition to BMT in people with AIS due to a MDVO is more efficacious than BMT alone
Antipsychotic-Related DRESS Syndrome: Analysis of Individual Case Safety Reports of the WHO Pharmacovigilance Database.
INTRODUCTION
Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome is gaining attention in pharmacovigilance, but its association with antipsychotics, other than clozapine, is still unclear.
METHODS
We conducted a case/non-case study with disproportionality analysis based on the World Health Organization (WHO) global spontaneous reporting database, VigiBase®. We analyzed individual case safety reports of DRESS syndrome related to antipsychotics compared to (1) all other medications in VigiBase®, (2) carbamazepine (a known positive control), and (3) within classes (typical/atypical) of antipsychotics. We calculated reporting odds ratio (ROR) and Bayesian information component (IC), with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Disproportionate reporting was prioritized based on clinical importance, according to predefined criteria. Additionally, we compared characteristics of patients reporting with serious/non-serious reactions.
RESULTS
A total of 1534 reports describing DRESS syndrome for 19 antipsychotics were identified. The ROR for antipsychotics as a class as compared to all other medications was 1.0 (95% CI 0.9-1.1). We found disproportionate reporting for clozapine (ROR 2.3, 95% CI 2.1-2.5; IC 1.2, 95% CI 1.1-1.3), cyamemazine (ROR 2.3, 95% CI 1.5-3.5; IC 1.2, 95% CI 0.5-1.7), and chlorpromazine (ROR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1-2.1; IC 0.6, 95% CI 0.1-1.0). We found 35.7% of cases with co-reported anticonvulsants, and 25% with multiple concurrent antipsychotics in serious compared to 8.6% in non-serious cases (p = 0.03). Fatal cases were 164 (10.7%).
CONCLUSIONS
Apart from the expected association with clozapine, chlorpromazine and cyamemazine (sharing an aromatic heteropolycyclic molecular structure) emerged with a higher-than-expected reporting of DRESS. Better knowledge of the antipsychotic-related DRESS syndrome should increase clinicians' awareness leading to safer prescribing of antipsychotics
Pre-therapy PET-based voxel-wise dosimetry prediction by characterizing intra-organ heterogeneity in PSMA-directed radiopharmaceutical theranostics.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Treatment planning through the diagnostic dimension of theranostics provides insights into predicting the absorbed dose of RPT, with the potential to individualize radiation doses for enhancing treatment efficacy. However, existing studies focusing on dose prediction from diagnostic data often rely on organ-level estimations, overlooking intra-organ variations. This study aims to characterize the intra-organ theranostic heterogeneity and utilize artificial intelligence techniques to localize them, i.e. to predict voxel-wise absorbed dose map based on pre-therapy PET.
METHODS
23 patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer treated with [177Lu]Lu-PSMA I&T RPT were retrospectively included. 48 treatment cycles with pre-treatment PET imaging and at least 3 post-therapeutic SPECT/CT imaging were selected. The distribution of PET tracer and RPT dose was compared for kidney, liver and spleen, characterizing intra-organ heterogeneity differences. Pharmacokinetic simulations were performed to enhance the understanding of the correlation. Two strategies were explored for pre-therapy voxel-wise dosimetry prediction: (1) organ-dose guided direct projection; (2) deep learning (DL)-based distribution prediction. Physical metrics, dose volume histogram (DVH) analysis, and identity plots were applied to investigate the predicted absorbed dose map.
RESULTS
Inconsistent intra-organ patterns emerged between PET imaging and dose map, with moderate correlations existing in the kidney (r = 0.77), liver (r = 0.5), and spleen (r = 0.58) (P < 0.025). Simulation results indicated the intra-organ pharmacokinetic heterogeneity might explain this inconsistency. The DL-based method achieved a lower average voxel-wise normalized root mean squared error of 0.79 ± 0.27%, regarding to ground-truth dose map, outperforming the organ-dose guided projection (1.11 ± 0.57%) (P < 0.05). DVH analysis demonstrated good prediction accuracy (R2 = 0.92 for kidney). The DL model improved the mean slope of fitting lines in identity plots (199% for liver), when compared to the theoretical optimal results of the organ-dose approach.
CONCLUSION
Our results demonstrated the intra-organ heterogeneity of pharmacokinetics may complicate pre-therapy dosimetry prediction. DL has the potential to bridge this gap for pre-therapy prediction of voxel-wise heterogeneous dose map
Bond strength and marginal adaptation of resin composites and correlations with clinical results.
OBJECTIVES
Due to innumerable confounding factors and a high number of types and brands of dental restorative materials, the clinical performance of restorative materials are sought predicted by various in vitro tests. However, only few such tests have been found to correlate well with clinical findings. Thus, the present study determined the in vitro dentin bond strength and marginal adaptation of Class II restorations and correlated the results to their clinical outcomes.
METHODS
Dentin bond strength (µTBS and µSBS) and marginal gap formation of Class II restorations (replica technique and SEM) were measured after 24 h and 6 m water storage using eight combinations of adhesive and resin composite. Clinical outcomes (mean survival time, Hazard Ratio, annual failure rate; n = 10.695) were gained from a data set of a retrospective multicenter study of direct restorations.
RESULTS
Significant differences were found for dentin bond strength and marginal gap formation between the restorative material groups, and negative effects of long-term storage were observed. µTBS correlated significantly with certain clinical outcomes of Class I restorations, while µSBS correlated with certain clinical outcomes of Class II, III, IV and V restorations. Marginal gap formation in enamel and number of paramarginal fractures correlated with certain clinical outcomes of Class II restorations.
SIGNIFICANCE
Using the same restorative materials in vitro as in vivo, gave significant, but weak correlations between in vitro bond strength or marginal adaptation and clinical outcomes, lending support to the use of in vitro tests in early stages of material selection
Prognostic Value of [99mTc]Tc-DPD Quantitative SPECT/CT in Patients with Suspected and Confirmed Amyloid Transthyretin-Related Cardiomyopathy and Preserved Left Ventricular Function.
Quantitative 99mTc-3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid ([99mTc]Tc-DPD) SPECT may be used for risk-stratifying patients with amyloid transthyretin-related cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). We aimed to analyze the predictive value of quantitative [99mTc]Tc-DPD SPECT/CT in suspected and confirmed ATTR-CM according to different disease stages. Methods: The study enrolled consecutive patients with suspected ATTR-CM who were referred to a single tertiary center and underwent quantitative [99mTc]Tc-DPD SPECT/CT allowing SUVmax and SUVpeak analysis. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at baseline (i.e., ≥50% and <50%). Clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic parameters and major adverse cardiac events (i.e., all-cause death, sustained ventricular tachyarrhythmia, hospitalization for heart failure, implantation of a cardioverter defibrillator) were investigated for any correlation with quantitative uptake values. Results: In total, 144 patients with suspected ATTR-CM were included in the study (98 with LVEF ≥ 50% and 46 with LVEF < 50%), of whom 99 were diagnosed with ATTR-CM (68.8%; 69 with LVEF ≥ 50% and 30 with LVEF < 50%). A myocardial SUVmax of at least 7 was predictive of major adverse cardiac events at 21.9 ± 13.0 mo of follow-up (hazard ratio, 2.875; 95% CI, 1.23-6.71; P = 0.015) in patients with suspected or confirmed ATTR-CM (global χ2 = 6.892, P = 0.02) and an LVEF of at least 50%. SUVmax was not predictive in patients with an LVEF of less than 50% and suspected or confirmed ATTR-CM. Conclusion: In patients with suspected or confirmed ATTR-CM and preserved LVEF, representing an early disease stage, quantitative [99mTc]Tc-DPD SPECT should be considered to improve early-stage risk stratification