12,685 research outputs found

    Mining processes in dentistry

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    Business processes in dentistry are quickly evolving towards digital dentistry . This means that many steps in the dental process will increasingly deal with computerized information or computerized half products. A complicating factor in the improvement of process performance in dentistry, however, is the large number of independent dental professionals that are involved in the entire process. In order to reap the benefits of digital dentistry, it is essential to obtain an accurate view on the current processes in practice. In this paper, so called process mining techniques are applied in order to demonstrate that, based on automatically stored data, detailed process knowledge can be obtained on dental processes, e.g. it can be discovered how dental processes are actually executed. To this end, we analyze a real case of a private dental practice, which is responsible for the treatment of patients (diagnosis, placing of implants and the placement of the final restoration), and the dental lab that is responsible for the production of the final restoration. To determine the usefulness of process mining, the entire process has been investigated from three different perspectives: (1) the control-flow perspective, (2) the organizational perspective and (3) the performance perspective. The results clearly show that process mining is useful to gain a deep understanding of dental processes. Also, it becomes clear that dental process are rather complex, which require a considerable amount of flexibility. We argue that the introduction of workflow management technology is needed in order to make digital dentistry a success

    Relationship between bridging and dimensions of sella turcica with classification of craniofacial skeleton

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    Purpose: In orthodontics, it is essential to determine the craniofacial skeleton pattern (class I, II, III) for planning treatment. Sella turcica bridging that is seen on lateral cephalometric radiographs is considered as a normal finding. This study aimed to compare sella turcica bridging and its dimensions in patients with various craniofacial patterns. Material and methods: A total of 105 lateral cephalometric radiographs (53 men and 52 women), aged 14-26 years, were randomly and equally assigned to three groups of class I, II, and III, respectively. The length, diameter, and depth of the sella turcica as well as sella turcica bridging were determined on radiographs. The chi-squared test was used for assessing the relationship between sella turcica bridging and craniofacial skeleton classification. ANOVA was used for assessing the relationship between the dimensions of the sella turcica and craniofacial skeleton classification. The Pearson's correlation coefficient was used for assessing the relationship between age and the dimensions of the sella turcica. Results: The sella turcica had a normal shape in 64.76% of patients, whereas 35.33% of patients had sella turcica bridging. In total, 11.42% of patients belonged to class I, 34.28% to class II, and 66.62% to class III. The diameter of the sella turcica had a significant relationship with age; the diameter of the sella turcica increased with age (p < 0.001). Conclusions: There is a significant relationship between craniofacial skeleton patterns and sella turcica bridging, i.e., the incidence of sella turcica bridging is higher in class III patients. The sella turcica had a greater diameter in older patients

    The dental management of patients at risk of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw: New paradigm of primary prevention

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    Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is a serious adverse reaction of antiresorptive and antiangiogenic agents; it is a potentially painful and debilitating condition that can considerably affect the quality of life of patients. Furthermore, even if its epidemiology and pathogenesis have still not been fully clarified, several risk factors related to MRONJ have been recognized in prevention protocols. Three main risk factors are as follows: (i) the type of ONJ-related medications: antiresorptive (e.g., Bisphosphonates, Denosumab) and antiangiogenic drugs (e.g., Bevacizumab, Sunitinib); (ii) the category of patient at MRONJ risk: cancer versus non-cancer patient; (iii) the typologies and timing of dental treatments (e.g., before, during, or after the drug administration). The aim of this paper is to describe the new paradigm by the Italian Society of Oral Pathology and Medicine (SIPMO) on preventive dental management in patients at risk of MRONJ, prior to and during/after the administration of the aforementioned ONJ-related drugs. In reducing the risk of MRONJ, dentists and oral hygienists are key figures in applying a correct protocol of primary prevention for pre-treatment and in-treatment patients. However, the necessity of a multidisciplinary standardized approach, with a sustained dialogue among specialists involved, should be always adopted in order to improve the efficacy of preventive strategies and to ameliorate the patient\u2019s quality of life

    Bioinformatics advances in saliva diagnostics

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    There is a need recognized by the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research and the National Cancer Institute to advance basic, translational and clinical saliva research. The goal of the Salivaomics Knowledge Base (SKB) is to create a data management system and web resource constructed to support human salivaomics research. To maximize the utility of the SKB for retrieval, integration and analysis of data, we have developed the Saliva Ontology and SDxMart. This article reviews the informatics advances in saliva diagnostics made possible by the Saliva Ontology and SDxMart

    Predicting the academic success of architecture students by pre-enrolment requirement: using machine-learning techniques

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    In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of applicants seeking admission into architecture programmes. As expected, prior academic performance (also referred to as pre-enrolment requirement) is a major factor considered during the process of selecting applicants. In the present study, machine learning models were used to predict academic success of architecture students based on information provided in prior academic performance. Two modeling techniques, namely K-nearest neighbour (k-NN) and linear discriminant analysis were applied in the study. It was found that K-nearest neighbour (k-NN) outperforms the linear discriminant analysis model in terms of accuracy. In addition, grades obtained in mathematics (at ordinary level examinations) had a significant impact on the academic success of undergraduate architecture students. This paper makes a modest contribution to the ongoing discussion on the relationship between prior academic performance and academic success of undergraduate students by evaluating this proposition. One of the issues that emerges from these findings is that prior academic performance can be used as a predictor of academic success in undergraduate architecture programmes. Overall, the developed k-NN model can serve as a valuable tool during the process of selecting new intakes into undergraduate architecture programmes in Nigeria

    The Research Space: using the career paths of scholars to predict the evolution of the research output of individuals, institutions, and nations

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    In recent years scholars have built maps of science by connecting the academic fields that cite each other, are cited together, or that cite a similar literature. But since scholars cannot always publish in the fields they cite, or that cite them, these science maps are only rough proxies for the potential of a scholar, organization, or country, to enter a new academic field. Here we use a large dataset of scholarly publications disambiguated at the individual level to create a map of science-or research space-where links connect pairs of fields based on the probability that an individual has published in both of them. We find that the research space is a significantly more accurate predictor of the fields that individuals and organizations will enter in the future than citation based science maps. At the country level, however, the research space and citations based science maps are equally accurate. These findings show that data on career trajectories-the set of fields that individuals have previously published in-provide more accurate predictors of future research output for more focalized units-such as individuals or organizations-than citation based science maps

    Outlook: March 1996

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    Alumni publication of the Boston University School of Dental Medicine

    Outlook: Spring 2005

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    Alumni publication of the Boston University School of Dental Medicine

    Cross-disease innate gene signature: Emerging diversity and abundance in RA comparing to SLE and SSc

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    Overactivation of the innate immune system together with the impaired downstream pathway of type I interferon-responding genes is a hallmark of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and systemic sclerosis (SSc). To date, limited data on the cross-disease innate gene signature exists among those diseases. We compared therefore an innate gene signature of Toll-like receptors (TLRs), seven key members of the interleukin (IL)1/IL1R family, and CXCL8/IL8 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from well-defined patients with active stages of RA (n=36, DAS28 >= 3.2), SLE (n=28, SLEDAI>6), and SSc (n=22, revisedEUSTARindex>2.25). Emerging diversity and abundance of the innate signature in RA patients were detected: RA was characterized by the upregulation of TLR3, TLR5, IL1RAP/IL1R3, IL18R1, and SIGIRR/IL1R8 when compared to SSc (Pcorr<0.02) and of TLR2, TLR5, and SIGIRR/IL1R8 when compared to SLE (Pcorr<0.02). Applying the association rule analysis, six rules (combinations and expression of genes describing disease) were identified for RA (most frequently included high TLR3 and/or IL1RAP/IL1R3) and three rules for SLE (low IL1RN and IL18R1) and SSc (low TLR5 and IL18R1). This first cross-disease study identified emerging heterogeneity in the innate signature of RA patients with many upregulated innate genes compared to that of SLE and SSc.Web of Science2019art. no. 357580

    The Blood Ontology: An ontology in the domain of hematology

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    Despite the importance of human blood to clinical practice and research, hematology and blood transfusion data remain scattered throughout a range of disparate sources. This lack of systematization concerning the use and definition of terms poses problems for physicians and biomedical professionals. We are introducing here the Blood Ontology, an ongoing initiative designed to serve as a controlled vocabulary for use in organizing information about blood. The paper describes the scope of the Blood Ontology, its stage of development and some of its anticipated uses
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