Modulating the Hydration Behaviour of Calcium Chloride by Lactam Complexation

Complexation of calcium chloride with bis(lactam) ligand L1 allows the formation of both an unstable anhydrous complex, an aqua complex {[Ca2(μ-L1)2(H2O)9]Cl4]}n (1) and a related hydrate incorporating additional lattice water of crystallization {[Ca(μ-L1)(H2O)5]Cl2·H2O}n (2). Related mono(lactam) L2 does not form aqua complexes but the anhydrous complex {[CaCl2(μ-L2)2]}n (3), is highly deliquescent. An unusual ethanol solvate is also reported {[CaCl2(L2)(EtOH)]}n (4)

N-alkyl pyrrolidone ether podands as versatile alkali metal ion chelants

This work explores the coordination chemistry of a bis(pyrrolidone) ether ligand. Pyrrolidones are commercially important functional groups because of the high polarity and hence high hydrophilicity and surface affinity. An array of alkali metal ion complexes of a podand bearing two pendant pyrrolidone functionalities, namely 1-{2-[2-(2-oxo-pyrrolid-1-yl)-ethoxy]-ethyl}-pyrrolid-2-one (1) are reported. Reaction of this ligand with sodium hexafluorophosphate gives two discrete species of formulae [Na(1)2]PF6 (3) and [Na3(H2O)2(μ-1)2](PF6)3 (4), and a coordination polymer {[Na3(μ3-1)3(μ2-1)](PF6)3}n (5). The same reaction in methanol gives a 1 : 1 complex, namely [Na2(μ-1)2(MeOH)2](PF6)2 (6). Use of tetraphenyl borate as a less coordinating counter ion gives [Na2(1)2(H2O)4](BPh4)2 (7) and [Na2(1)4](BPh4)2 (8). Two potassium complexes have also been isolated, a monomer [K(1)2]PF6 (9) and a cyclic tetramer [K4(μ4-H2O)2(μ-1)4](PF6)4 (10). The structures illustrate the highly polar nature of the amide carbonyl moiety within bis(pyrrolidone) ethers with longer interactions to the ether oxygen atom. The zinc complex is also reported and {[ZnCl2(μ-1)]}n (11) exhibits bonding only to the carbonyl moieties. The ether oxygen atom is not necessary for Na+ complexation as exemplified by the structure of the sodium complex of the analogue 1,3-bis(pyrrolid-2-on-1-yl)- butane (2). Reaction of compound 1 with lithium salts results in isolation of the protonated ligand

Utility of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) in the assessment of a sample of patients with Alzheimer’s disease in Chile

ABSTRACT The Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) is an informant-based instrument that measures the presence and severity of 12 Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (NPS) in patients with dementia, as well as informant distress. Objective: To measure the psychometric properties of the NPI-Q and the prevalence of NPS in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Chile. Methods: 53 patients with AD were assessed. Subjects were divided into two different groups: mild AD (n=26) and moderate AD (n=27). Convergent validity was estimated by correlating the outcomes of the NPI-Q with Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) scores and with a global cognitive efficiency test (Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination - Revised - ACE-R). Reliability of the NPI-Q was analysed by calculating its internal consistency. Prevalence of NPS was estimated with both the NPI and NPI-Q. Results: Positive and significant correlations were observed between the NPI-Q, the NPI, and the ACE-R (r=0.730; p<0.01 and 0.315; p<0.05 respectively). The instrument displayed an adequate level of reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.783). The most prevalent NPS were apathy/indifference (62.3%) and dysphoria/depression (58.5%). Conclusion: The NPI-Q exhibited acceptable validity and reliability indicators for patients with AD in Chile, indicating that it is a suitable instrument for the routine assessment of NPS in clinical practice

Utility of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) in the assessment of a sample of patients with Alzheimer’s disease in Chile

The Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) is an informant-based instrument that measures the presence and severity of 12 Neuropsychiatric Symptoms (NPS) in patients with dementia, as well as informant distress.Objective: To measure the psychometric properties of the NPI-Q and the prevalence of NPS in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Chile.Methods: 53 patients with AD were assessed. Subjects were divided into two different groups: mild AD (n=26) and moderate AD (n=27). Convergent validity was estimated by correlating the outcomes of the NPI-Q with Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) scores and with a global cognitive efficiency test (Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination - Revised - ACE-R). Reliability of the NPI-Q was analysed by calculating its internal consistency. Prevalence of NPS was estimated with both the NPI and NPI-Q.Results: Positive and significant correlations were observed between the NPI-Q, the NPI, and the ACE-R (r=0.730; p&lt;0.01 and 0.315; p&lt;0.05 respectively). The instrument displayed an adequate level of reliability (Cronbach's alpha=0.783). The most prevalent NPS were apathy/indifference (62.3%) and dysphoria/depression (58.5%).Conclusion: The NPI-Q exhibited acceptable validity and reliability indicators for patients with AD in Chile, indicating that it is a suitable instrument for the routine assessment of NPS in clinical practice.</p

Outcomes of root resection therapy up to 16.8Â years: A retrospective study in an academic setting

BackgroundRoot resection has been considered a viable treatment option for molars with furcation defects. However, need of a multidisciplinary approach could potentially deem this procedure less successful. The aim of the present article was to determine survival rates of root resection procedure and reasons for failure in an academic setting.MethodsPatient- related demographic data, medical history information, and relevant data pertaining to the root- resected teeth performed from January 1990 to September 2017 were reviewed through electronic and paper chart. Survival rates were analyzed using Kaplan- Meier estimate. Association between the reasons for failure and independent variables was established by a Pearson Chi- squared and Kruskal- Wallis test.ResultsA total of 85 patients with an average follow- up of 5 ± 4.3 years (range: 1 to 16.8 years) were included in the present article. A total of 47 molar teeth treated with root resection remained as part of the dentition (55.3%) and 38 (44.7%) failed. The mean survival time with the Kaplan- Mayer analysis was 109.9 months (9.1 years). Fracture (39.5%), caries (26.3%), and periodontal disease (23.7%) were the most common causes for failure. Interestingly, the majority of failures occurred in the first 4 years after therapy (n = 31; 81.5% of all failures).ConclusionsRoot resection therapy remains a treatment solution for molars with furcation defects. In an academic setting, >50% of teeth remained functional after 9 years of root resection therapy.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154884/1/jper10422.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154884/2/jper10422_am.pd

Using periodontal staging and grading system as a prognostic factor for future tooth loss: A long- term retrospective study

BackgroundA new classification of periodontal diseases aimed to identify periodontal disease based on a multidimensional staging and grading system has been recently proposed. However, up to date, its prognostic predictive capability has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to assess if parameters included in the new classification were predictive of tooth loss after a long- term follow- up (>10 years) in patients with periodontitis.MethodsPatients presented with periodontitis at the University of Michigan between January 1966 and January 2004 were screened and categorized according to the new classification of periodontitis. Number/Reasons of teeth loss in patients who underwent at least one session/year of maintenance during the entire follow- up period were extracted and used to analyze the prognostic capabilities of variables (staging, grading, and Extent) included in the new classification.ResultsA total number of 292 patients with a mean follow- up of 289.7 ± 79.6 months were included. 31 (10.6%) patients were classified as Stage 1, 85 (29.1%) as Stage 2, 146 (50%) as Stage 3, and 30 (10.3%) as Stage 4. For grading, 34 (11.7%) were classified as Grade A, 193 (66.1%) as Grade B, and 65 (22.2%) as Grade C. Results of multilevel Cox regression analyses revealed a statistically significant association between stage (HR:3.73 between Stage 4 and Stage 1) and grade (HR: 4.83 between Grade C and Grade A) at baseline and periodontal related tooth loss, whereas no differences were detected for the extent of periodontitis.ConclusionThis study provides the initial evidence regarding the predictive ability of the new classification of periodontitis. Patients in either Stage 4 or Grade C showed a significantly higher periodontal- related tooth loss.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154975/1/jper10442_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154975/2/jper10442.pd

The conservation of human functional variants and their effects across mammals

Despite the clear potential of livestock models of human functional variants to provide important insights into the biological mechanisms driving human diseases and traits, their use to date has been limited. Generating such models via genome editing is costly and time consuming, and it is unclear which variants will have conserved effects across species. In this study we address these issues by studying naturally occurring livestock models of human functional variants. We show that orthologues of over 1.6 million human variants are already segregating in domesticated mammalian species, including several hundred previously directly linked to human traits and diseases. Models of variants linked to particular phenotypes, including metabolomic disorders and height, are preferentially shared across species, meaning studying the genetic basis of these phenotypes is particularly tractable in livestock. Using machine learning we demonstrate it is possible to identify human variants that are more likely to have an existing livestock orthologue, and, importantly, we show that the effects of functional variants are often conserved in livestock, acting on orthologous genes with the same direction of effect. Consequently, this work demonstrates the substantial potential of naturally occurring livestock carriers of orthologues of human functional variants to disentangle their functional impacts

Development of a nomogram for the prediction of periodontal tooth loss using the staging and grading system: A long- term cohort study

AimTo develop and internally validate a nomogram built on a multivariate prediction model including parameters from the new classification of periodontal diseases, able to predict, at baseline, the occurrence of tooth loss due to periodontal reason (TLP).Materials and MethodsA total of 315 individuals diagnosed with periodontal disease and receiving a minimum of one annual supportive periodontal therapy visit were included in the study. Patients were staged and graded based upon baseline data. The population was divided into a development (254 patients) and a validation (61 patients) cohort to allow subsequent temporal validation of the model. According to the TLP at the 10- year follow- up, patients were categorized as - low tooth loss- (- ¤ 1 TLP) or - high tooth loss- (- ¥ 2 TLP). Bootstrap internal validation was performed on the whole data set to calculate an optimism- corrected estimate of performance.ResultsThe generated nomogram showed a strong predictive capability (AUC = 0.81) and good calibration with an intercept = 0 and slope = 1. These findings were confirmed by internal validation using bootstrapping (average bootstrap AUC = 0.83).ConclusionsThe clinical implementation of the present nomogram guides the prediction of patients with high risk of disease progression and subsequent tooth loss for personalized care.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163380/2/jcpe13362.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163380/1/jcpe13362_am.pd

Impact of the Mass Drug Administration for malaria in response to the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone

Background: As emergency response to the Ebola epidemic, the Government of Sierra Leone and its partners implemented a large-scale Mass Drug Administration (MDA) with artesunate–amodiaquine (ASAQ) covering >2.7 million people in the districts hardest hit by Ebola during December 2014–January 2015. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) evaluated the impact of the MDA on malaria morbidity at health facilities and the number of Ebola alerts received at District Ebola Command Centres. Methods: The coverage of the two rounds of MDA with ASAQ was estimated by relating the number anti-malarial medicines distributed to the estimated resident population. Segmented time-series analysis was applied to weekly data collected from 49 primary health units (PHUs) and 11 hospitals performing malaria parasitological testing during the study period, to evaluate trends of malaria cases and Ebola alerts during the post-MDA weeks compared to the pre-MDA weeks in MDA- and non-MDA-cheifdoms. Results: After two rounds of the MDA, the number of suspected cases tested with rapid diagnostic test (RDT) decreased significantly by 43 % (95 % CI 38–48 %) at week 1 and remained low at week 2 and 3 post-first MDA and at week 1 and 3 post-second MDA; RDT positive cases decreased significantly by 47 % (41–52 %) at week 1 post-first and remained lower throughout all post-MDA weeks; and the RDT test positivity rate (TPR) declined by 35 % (32–38 %) at week 2 and stayed low throughout all post-MDA weeks. The total malaria (clinical + confirmed) cases decreased significantly by 45 % (39–52 %) at week 1 and were lower at week 2 and 3 post-first MDA; and week 1 post-second MDA. The proportion of confirmed malaria cases (out of all-outpatients) fell by 33 % (29–38 %) at week 1 post-first MDA and were lower during all post-MDA weeks. On the contrary, the non-malaria outpatient cases (cases due to other health conditions) either remained unchanged or fluctuated insignificantly. The Ebola alerts decreased by 30 % (13–46 %) at week 1 post-first MDA and much lower during all the weeks post–second MDA. Conclusions: The MDA achieved its goals of reducing malaria morbidity and febrile cases that would have been potentially diagnosed as suspected Ebola cases with increased risk of nosocomial infections. The intervention also helped reduce patient case-load to the severely strained health services at the peak of the Ebola outbreak and malaria transmission. As expected, the effect of the MDA waned in a matter of few weeks and malaria intensity returned to the pre-MDA levels. Nevertheless, the approach was an appropriate public health intervention in the context of the Ebola epidemic even in high malaria transmission areas of Sierra Leone