On Coordinating Personalized Web Services using COOPS

This paper presents CooPS, which is a method for Coordinating Personalized Services. These services are primarily offered to mobile users. Very little has been done so far regarding first, personalizing Web services for the benefit of mobile users and second, providing the methodological support to designers who specify the operations of personalization. Various obstacles still exist such as lack of techniques for modeling and specifying the integration of personalization into Web services, and existing approaches for Web services composition typically facilitate orchestration only, while neglecting contextual information on users and Web services

THE PREVALENCE OF MALOCCLUSION AND ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT NEED IN A SAMPLE OF SYRIAN CHILDREN

Knowledge of a population’s epidemiological situation is vital in planning and provision of dental health services. The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of malocclusion and orthodontic treatment need in Syrian children. A randomly selected sample of 200 Syrian children aged between 8 and 13 years was collected from three different public schools in Damascus. For each participant, the records were a pair of dental study casts and a frontal intra-oral photograph. Firstly, Angle’s classification was used to classify malocclusion and the treatment need was assessed utilizing the Aesthetic Component (AC) and the Dental Health Component (DHC) of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). The treatment demand was also evaluated in association with gender and the connection between the two components of IOTN was statistically ascertained. The results of the study showed that more than one third of the subjects in the sample were in moderate to great need for orthodontic treatment. No significant difference in treatment need was found between genders and a statistically significant association was expressed between the two components of IOTN

Screening of Ionic Liquids and Deep Eutectic Solvents for Physical CO2Absorption by Soft-SAFT Using Key Performance Indicators

RC2-2019-007 PID2019108014RB-C21 SFRH/BD/130965/2017 UID/QUI/50006/2019The efficient screening of solvents for CO2 capture requires a reliable and robust equation of state to characterize and compare their thermophysical behavior for the desired application. In this work, the potentiality of 14 ionic liquids (ILs) and 7 deep eutectic solvents (DESs) for CO2 capture was examined using soft-SAFT as a modeling tool for the screening of these solvents based on key process indicators, namely, cyclic working capacity, enthalpy of desorption, and CO2 diffusion coefficient. Once the models were assessed versus experimental data, soft-SAFT was used as a predictive tool to calculate the thermophysical properties needed for evaluating their performance. Results demonstrate that under the same operating conditions, ILs have a far superior performance than DESs primarily in terms of amount of CO2 captured, being at least two-folds more than that captured using DESs. The screening tool revealed that among all the examined solvents and conditions, [C4 py][NTf2] is the most promising solvent for physical CO2 capture. The collection of the acquired results confirms the reliability of the soft-SAFT EoS as an attractive and valuable screening tool for CO2 capture and process modeling.publishersversionpublishe

SARS-CoV-2 variants and their relevant mutational profiles: update summer 2021

: Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by it, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been undergoing a genetic diversification leading to the emergence of new variants. Nevertheless, a clear definition of the genetic signatures underlying the circulating variants is still missing. Here, we provide a comprehensive insight into mutational profiles characterizing each SARS-CoV-2 variant, focusing on spike mutations known to modulate viral infectivity and/or antigenicity. We focused on variants and on specific relevant mutations reported by GISAID, Nextstrain, Outbreak.info, Pango, and Stanford database websites that were associated with any clinical/diagnostic impact, according to published manuscripts. Furthermore, 1,223,338 full-length high-quality SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences were retrieved from GISAID and used to accurately define the specific mutational patterns in each variant. Finally, mutations were mapped on the three-dimensional structure of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to assess their localization in the different spike domains. Overall, this review sheds light and assists in defining the genetic signatures characterizing the currently circulating variants and their clinical relevance. IMPORTANCE Since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, several recurrent mutations, particularly in the spike protein, arose during human-to-human transmission or spillover events between humans and animals, generating distinct worrisome variants of concern (VOCs) or of interest (VOIs), designated as such due to their clinical and diagnostic impacts. Characterizing these variants and their related mutations is important in tracking SAR-CoV-2 evolution and understanding the efficacy of vaccines and therapeutics based on monoclonal antibodies, convalescent-phase sera, and direct antivirals. Our study provides a comprehensive survey of the mutational profiles characterizing the important SARS-CoV-2 variants, focusing on spike mutations and highlighting other protein mutations

Factors influencing patient satisfaction with dental appearance and treatments they desire to improve aesthetics

Background: We assessed factors influencing patients’ satisfaction with their dental appearance and the treatments they desired to improve dental aesthetics. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed out among 235 adult patients who visited the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia dental clinic. A structured, interviewer-guided questionnaire was used to identify patient satisfaction with their general dental appearance, cosmetic elements and desired treatments. Results: The 235 patients consisted of 70 males (29.8%) and 165 females (70.2%), of mean age 31.5 years (SD 13.0). Of these patients, 124 (52.8%) were not satisfied with their general dental appearance. In addition, 132 patients (56.2%) were not happy with the color of their teeth, 76 (32.3%), regarded their teeth were poorly aligned, 62 (26.4%), as crowded and 56 (23.4%) protruded. Dissatisfaction with tooth color was significantly higher in female than in male patients (odds ratio [OR] of 1.99 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13-3.50). Tooth whitening was the treatment most desired by patients (48.1%). Results of multiple logistic regression analysis showed that patient dissatisfaction with general dental appearance was significantly associated with female gender (OR = 2.18; 95% CI: 1.18-4.03), unhappiness with tooth color (OR = 3.05; 95% CI: 1.74-5.34) and the opinion that their teeth protruded (OR = 2.91, 95% CI: 1.44-5.91)

Modulation of the virus-receptor interaction by mutations in the V5 loop of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) following in vivo escape from neutralising antibody

<b>BACKGROUND:</b> In the acute phase of infection with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), the virus targets activated CD4+ T cells by utilising CD134 (OX40) as a primary attachment receptor and CXCR4 as a co-receptor. The nature of the virus-receptor interaction varies between isolates; strains such as GL8 and CPGammer recognise a "complex" determinant on CD134 formed by cysteine-rich domains (CRDs) 1 and 2 of the molecule while strains such as PPR and B2542 require a more "simple" determinant comprising CRD1 only for infection. These differences in receptor recognition manifest as variations in sensitivity to receptor antagonists. In this study, we ask whether the nature of the virus-receptor interaction evolves in vivo.<p></p> <b>RESULTS:</b> Following infection with a homogeneous viral population derived from a pathogenic molecular clone, a quasispecies emerged comprising variants with distinct sensitivities to neutralising antibody and displaying evidence of conversion from a "complex" to a "simple" interaction with CD134. Escape from neutralising antibody was mediated primarily by length and sequence polymorphisms in the V5 region of Env, and these alterations in V5 modulated the virus-receptor interaction as indicated by altered sensitivities to antagonism by both anti-CD134 antibody and soluble CD134.<p></p> <b>CONCLUSIONS:</b> The FIV-receptor interaction evolves under the selective pressure of the host humoral immune response, and the V5 loop contributes to the virus-receptor interaction. Our data are consistent with a model whereby viruses with distinct biological properties are present in early versus late infection and with a shift from a "complex" to a "simple" interaction with CD134 with time post-infection.<p></p&gt

Cellulose acetate phthalate, a common pharmaceutical excipient, inactivates HIV-1 and blocks the coreceptor binding site on the virus envelope glycoprotein gp120

BACKGROUND: Cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP), a pharmaceutical excipient used for enteric film coating of capsules and tablets, was shown to inhibit infection by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and several herpesviruses. CAP formulations inactivated HIV-1, herpesvirus types 1 (HSV-1) and 2 (HSV-2) and the major nonviral sexually transmitted disease (STD) pathogens and were effective in animal models for vaginal infection by HSV-2 and simian immunodeficiency virus. METHODS: Enzyme-linked immunoassays and flow cytometry were used to demonstrate CAP binding to HIV-1 and to define the binding site on the virus envelope. RESULTS: 1) CAP binds to HIV-1 virus particles and to the envelope glycoprotein gp120; 2) this leads to blockade of the gp120 V3 loop and other gp120 sites resulting in diminished reactivity with HIV-1 coreceptors CXCR4 and CCR5; 3) CAP binding to HIV-1 virions impairs their infectivity; 4) these findings apply to both HIV-1 IIIB, an X4 virus, and HIV-1 BaL, an R5 virus. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide support for consideration of CAP as a topical microbicide of choice for prevention of STDs, including HIV-1 infection