Nebivolol might be Beneficial in Osteoporosis Treatment: A Hypothesis

Nebivolol is a β-blocker that is highly selective for β1-adrenergic receptors with vasodilating properties. This property can be attributed to an endothelial release of nitric oxide (NO). It has been reported that nebivolol also reduces intracellular oxidative stress. There are some studies conducted in humans and animal models which have shown that NO is an important regulator of bone metabolism. However, oxidative stress and antioxidant systems may play important roles in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. In this paper, we hypothesized that nebivolol may have beneficial effects via nitric oxide and antioxidant action in osteoporosis treatment

The use of spatial graphs for optimal obstacle placement: A study on impact of the clutter spatial distribution

Consider a situation where the goal is to place true obstacles in an environment cluttered with false obstacles in order to maximize the total traversal length of a navigating agent (NAVA). Prior to the traversal, NAVA is given location information and probabilistic estimates of each disk-shaped regions being a true obstacle. The NAVA can disambiguate a disk's status only when situated on its boundary. There exists an obstacle placing agent (OPA) that locates obstacles prior to NAVA's traversal. The goal of OPA is to place true obstacles in between the clutter in such a way that NAVA's traversal length is maximized in a game-theoretic sense. We call this the optimal obstacle placement with disambiguations problem. A particular variant we consider is the one where OPA knows the clutter spatial distribution type, but not the exact locations of clutter disks. In this study, we show how such a continuous obstacle field can be fruitfully discretized using spatial graphs. We discuss the impact of different clutter spatial distribution types on the optimal obstacle placement scheme including homogeneous and inhomogeneous Poisson, Matern, Thomas, Strauss and hardcore spatial distributions. Our methodology is based on utilization of repeated measures analysis of variance for analysis of traversal lengths for various obstacle placing schemes for identification of the optimal combination

Adaptation of the simulated risk disambiguation protocol to a discrete setting

Suppose a spatial arrangement of possibly hazardous regions needs to be speedily and safely traversed, and there is a dynamic capability of discovering the true nature of each hazard when in close proximity of it; the traversal may enter the associated region only if it is revealed to be nonhazardous. The problem of identifying an optimal policy for where and when to execute disambiguations so as to minimize the expected length of the traversal has been proven intractable in many broad settings. In this manuscript, we adapt the basic strategy of a policy called the simulated risk disambiguation protocol of Fishkind et al. (2006) to a different, discretized setting (a Canadian Traveller Problem with dependent edge probabilities), and we compare the performanc

Accelerated Tooth Movement with Orthodontic Mini-Screws

This case report outlines the possibility of accelerated tooth movement with the combination of microosteoperforation and mini-screws. A 14-year-old male patient presented Class II malocclusion with maxillary incisor protrusion. Upper first premolars were extracted, and after leveling, accelerated canine distalization started. For pre- and postdistalization times, amount of distalization, periodontal health, and root resorption were assessed. Within the limitations of this case report, micro-osteoperforations with mini-screw have a potential for shortening the treatment time

Disambiguation protocols based on risk simulation

Abstract — Suppose there is a need to swiftly navigate through a spatial arrangement of possibly forbidden regions, each region marked with the probability that it is indeed forbidden. In close proximity to any of these regions, you have the dynamic capability of disambiguating the region and learning for certain whether or not the region is forbidden—only in the latter case may you proceed through that region. The central issue is how to most effectively exploit this disambiguation capability to minimize the expected length of the traversal. Regions are never entered while they are possibly forbidden and, thus, no risk is ever actually incurred. Nonetheless, for the sole purpose of deciding where to disambiguate, it may be advantageous to simulate risk, temporarily pretending that possibly forbidden regions are riskily traversable, and each potential traversal is weighted with its level of undesirability, which is a function of its traversal length and traversal risk. Introduced in this paper is the simulated risk disambiguation protocol, which has you follow along a shortest traversal—in this undesirability sense—until an ambiguous region is about to be entered; at that location, a disambiguation is performed on this ambiguous region. (The process is then repeated from the current location, until the destination is reached.) We introduce the tangent arc graph as a means of simplifying the implementation of simulated risk disambiguation protocols, and we show how to efficiently implement the simulated risk disambiguation protocols which are based on linear undesirability functions. The effectiveness of these disambiguation protocols is illustrated with examples, including an example involving mine countermeasures path planning. Index Terms — probabilistic path planning, disambiguation protocol, random disambiguation path, Canadian Traveller Problem, visibility graph. I