Tribological behaviour of Ti or Ti alloy vs. zirconia in presence of artificial saliva

Abutment is the transmucosal component in a dental implant system and its eventual appearance has a major impact on aesthetics: use of zirconia abutments can be greatly advantageous in avoiding this problem. Both in the case of one and two-piece zirconia abutments, a critical issue is severe wear between the zirconia and titanium components. High friction at this interface can induce loosening of the abutment connection, production of titanium wear debris, and finally, peri-implant gingivitis, gingival discoloration, or marginal bone adsorption can occur. As in vivo wear measurements are highly complex and time-consuming, wear analysis is usually performed in simulators in the presence of artificial saliva. Different commercial products and recipes for artificial saliva are available and the effects of the different mixtures on the tribological behaviour is not widely explored. The specific purpose of this research was to compare two types of artificial saliva as a lubricant in titanium-zirconia contact by using the ball on disc test as a standard tribological test for materials characterisation. Moreover, a new methodology is suggested by using electrokinetic zeta potential titration and contact angle measurements to investigate the chemical stability at the titanium-lubricant interface. This investigation is of relevance both in the case of using zirconia abutments and artificial saliva against chronic dry mouth. Results suggest that an artificial saliva containing organic corrosion inhibitors is able to be firmly mechanically and chemically adsorb on the surface of the Ti c.p. or Ti6Al4V alloy and form a protective film with high wettability. This type of artificial saliva can significantly reduce the friction coefficient and wear of both the titanium and zirconia surfaces. The use of this type of artificial saliva in standard wear tests has to be carefully considered because the wear resistance of the materials can be overestimated while it can be useful in some specific clinical applications. When saliva is free from organic corrosion inhibitors, wear occurs with a galling mechanism. The occurrence of a super-hydrophilic saliva film that is not firmly adsorbed on the surface is not efficient in order to reduce wear. The results give both suggestions about the experimental conditions for lab testing and in vivo performance of components of dental implants when artificial saliva is used

Challenges to recruitment of participants with MCI in a multicentric neuropsychological study

Background: Data on recruitment of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) samples are seldom reported and this issue can be an important source of research waste. Aim: To describe the recruitment challenges and reasons for non-eligibility faced during a bi-centre clinical study assessing the predictive value of a neuropsychological battery of the progression to dementia. Methods: Potential MCI participants were identified from databases of the two memory clinics based in Milan (Italy) and invited to the screening assessment. Results: About 50% of the cases initially identified were ineligible according to inclusion/exclusion criteria and the two sites took 22 months to recruit the planned 150 people. The main reasons for non-eligibility were the MMSE score (41%), age (14%), presence of cerebrovascular disorders (9%), perceptual deficits (6%), neurological (6%) or psychiatric (4%) comorbidities and low education (5%). Conclusion: Awareness of the reasons for exclusion and of the time needed to recruit the planned sample would provide hints for the planning of future studies on MCI

Radiation Damage of Polycrystalline CVD Diamond with Graphite Electrical Contacts

In this work we show preliminary results of radiation damage for a polycrystalline diamond with graphite contacts in terms of time response after 62 MeV protons irradiation for a total fluence of (2.0±0.08)×1015 protons/cm2. In addition, we describe the realization of a new type of device made with graphite micro-strips by laser micro-writing on diamond surface. In this way we made 20 graphite micro-strips of width about 87 m and spacing between each other of about 60 $\mu$m

FHR short and long-term variability associated with fetal breathing

Peer Reviewe

Evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of three memory tests for early Alzheimer's disease (pe-2013-02356465) : a preliminary report

Aims: The main aim of this multicentric longitudinal project is to investigate the specificity and sensitivity of three memory tests (FCSRT, STMBT, DMS48) proposed as cognitive marker for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we report preliminary baseline data on healthy controls, people with MCI and patients with AD. Subjects and methods: Data collected on 13 AD, 16 MCI, 16 healthy older (HO) and 16 healthy younger (HY) adults were analysed. All participants underwent the three experimental tests along with a standard neuropsychological evaluation in one single session. Results: For the FCSRT, a three-way ANOVA with GROUP as the between-subjects factor and TASK (free, cued) and TIME (immediate, delayed) as within-subjects measures revealed a significant effect of GROUP (HY = HO > MCI > AD; p free, ; p delayed; p MCI > AD; p paired = abstract; p HO > MCI > AD; p 3; p binding; p< .001) and a significant interaction between STIMULUS and GROUP (p= .003). Discussion: The present report study shows reports for the first time a comparison across Controls, MCI and AD on three memory tests proposed as cognitive markers for AD. For the FCSRT both the timing of recall and the presence of a cue are relevant factors to influence patient performances. For the DMS48 the most sensitive indexes to differentiate between controls and patients are the unpaired and abstract items, while for the STMBT the binding condition is more affected in patients are regardless of the number of items presented are. These preliminary data are encouraging in confirming that these tests may offer an aid to diagnosis of early AD, but a larger sample and longitudinal data are needed to address the main research question of this planned study. *** References: Barbeau, E, Didic, M, Tramoni, E, Felician, O, Joubert, S, Sontheimer, A, Ceccaldi, M, Poncet, M. (2004). Evaluation of visual recognition memory in MCI patients. Neurology 62, 1317-1322. Frasson P, Ghiretti R, Catricala E, Pomati S, Marcone A, Parisi L, Rossini PM, Cappa SF, Mariani C, Vanacore N, Clerici F (2011) Free and cued selective reminding test: an Italian normative study. Neurological Sciences 32:1057-1062 Parra MA, Abrahams S, Fabi K, Logie R, Luzzi S, Della Sala S (2009) Short-term memory binding deficits in Alzheimer's disease. Brain 132:1057-106

Metabolic Syndrome and Autoimmune Diabetes: Action LADA 3

OBJECTIVE—The purpose of this study was to estimate whether prevalence of metabolic syndrome in adult European diabetic patients is associated with type of diabetes

Vegan-vegetarian low-protein supplemented diets in pregnant CKD patients: fifteen years of experience

Background: Pregnancy in women with advanced CKD becoming increasingly common. However, experience with low-protein diets in CKD patients in pregnancy is still limited. Aim of this study is to review the results obtained over the last 15 years with moderately restricted low-protein diets in pregnant CKD women (combining: CKD stages 3-5, proteinuria: nephrotic at any time, or &gt; =1 g/24 at start or referral; nephrotic in previous pregnancy). CKD patients on unrestricted diets were employed for comparison. Methods: Study period: January, 2000 to September, 2015: 36 on-diet pregnancies (31 singleton deliveries, 3 twin deliveries, 1 pregnancy termination, 1 miscarriage); 47 controls (42 singleton deliveries, 5 miscarriages). The diet is basically vegan; since occasional milk and yoghurt are allowed, we defined it vegan-vegetarian; protein intake (0.6-0.8 g/Kg/day), keto-acid supplementation, protein-unrestricted meals (1-3/week) are prescribed according to CKD stage and nutritional status. Statistical analysis was performed as implemented on SPSS. Results: Patients and controls were similar (p: ns) at baseline with regard to age (33 vs 33.5), referral week (7 vs 9), kidney function (CKD 3-5: 48.4 % vs 64.3 %); prevalence of hypertension (51.6 % vs 40.5 %) and proteinuria &gt;3 g/24 h (16.1 % vs 12.2 %). There were more diabetic nephropathies in on-diet patients (on diet: 31.0 % vs controls 5.3 %; p 0.007 (Fisher)) while lupus nephropathies were non-significantly higher in controls (on diet: 10.3 % vs controls 23.7 %; p 0.28 (Fisher)). The incidence of preterm delivery was similar (&lt;37 weeks: on-diet singletons 77.4 %; controls: 71.4 %). The incidence of other adverse pregnancy related outcomes was non-significantly lower in on-diet patients (early preterm delivery: on diet: 32.3 % vs controls 35.7 %; birth-weight = &lt;1.500 g: on diet: 9.7 % vs controls 23.8 %). None of the singletons in the on-diet series died, while two perinatal deaths occurred among the controls (p = 0.505). The incidence of small for gestational age (SGA &lt;10th centile) and/or extremely preterm babies (&lt;28th week) was significantly lower in singletons from on-diet mothers than in controls (on diet: 12.9 % vs controls: 33.3 %; p: 0.04 (Fisher)). Conclusion: Moderate protein restriction in the context of a vegan-vegetarian supplemented diet is confirmed as a safe option in the management of pregnant CKD patients

Observations of Forbush Decreases of Cosmic-Ray Electrons and Positrons with the Dark Matter Particle Explorer

The Forbush decrease (FD) represents the rapid decrease of the intensities of charged particles accompanied with the coronal mass ejections or high-speed streams from coronal holes. It has been mainly explored with the ground-based neutron monitor network, which indirectly measures the integrated intensities of all species of cosmic rays by counting secondary neutrons produced from interaction between atmospheric atoms and cosmic rays. The space-based experiments can resolve the species of particles but the energy ranges are limited by the relatively small acceptances except for the most abundant particles like protons and helium. Therefore, the FD of cosmic-ray electrons and positrons have just been investigated by the PAMELA experiment in the low-energy range (&lt;5 GeV) with limited statistics. In this paper, we study the FD event that occurred in 2017 September with the electron and positron data recorded by the Dark Matter Particle Explorer. The evolution of the FDs from 2 GeV to 20 GeV with a time resolution of 6 hr are given. We observe two solar energetic particle events in the time profile of the intensity of cosmic rays, the earlier, and weaker, one has not been shown in the neutron monitor data. Furthermore, both the amplitude and recovery time of fluxes of electrons and positrons show clear energy dependence, which is important in probing the disturbances of the interplanetary environment by the coronal mass ejections

The legal framework for financial advertising:curbing behavioural exploitation

Policy makers and behavioural finance scholars express growing concern that marketing practices by financial institutions exploit retail investors’ behavioural biases. Investor protection regulation should thus address these marketing practices and include mechanisms curbing behavioural exploitation. That raises the question whether the marketing communications regime of the new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive can live up to this demand. This article develops a regulatory model that integrates behavioural finance insights into the new marketing communications regime. It then determines how regulatory authorities can apply this model when they interpret and apply specific regulatory requirements. It demonstrates how a regulatory authority or a court can translate empirical behavioural finance research findings into legal arguments when assessing whether marketing practices can significantly distort a model investor’s decision-making process. The article further establishes that the detailed requirements imposed on investment firms by the new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive are necessary in order to protect investors from behavioural exploitation. Finally, the article submits policy proposals that aim to protect investors more effectively from behavioural exploitation