AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF BIRD DAMAGE IN VINEYARDS OF THE MARLBOROUGH REGION

Production Economics,

Recent advances in hypertension and cardiovascular toxicities with vascular endothelial growth factor inhibition

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A novel in vitro periodontal pocket model to evaluate the effect of root surface instrumentation on biofilm-epithelial cell interactions.

OBJECTIVE To develop a novel in vitro periodontal pocket model for evaluating the effect of two different root surface instrumentation modalities on biofilm-epithelial cell interactions. MATERIALS AND METHODS An artificial periodontal pocket model was created using an impression material. Dentin discs were prepared and incubated for 3.5 days with a biofilm consisting of 12 bacterial strains. Then, the discs were inserted into the pocket model and instrumented for 10 s or 10 strokes either with ultrasonics (US) or hand instruments (HI). Subsequently, a glass slide coated with epithelial cells was placed in close vicinity to the discs. After incubation of the pocket model in a 5% CO2 atmosphere for 6 h, residual bacteria of the biofilm as well as bacteria adhering to or invaded into epithelial cells were determined using colony-forming unit (cfu) counts and real-time PCR. Further, as a parameter of the pro-inflammatory cell response, interleukin (IL)-8 expression was determined by ELISA. RESULTS Compared to untreated control, HI reduced the cfu counts by 0.63 log10 (not significant) and US by 1.78 log10 (p = 0.005) with a significant difference between the treatment modalities favoring US (p = 0.048). By trend, lower detection levels of Tannerella forsythia were detected in the US group compared to HI. Concerning the interaction with epithelial cells, half of the control and the HI samples showed epithelial cells with attaching or invading bacteria, while US displayed bacteria only in two out of eight samples. In addition, US resulted in significantly lower IL-8 secretion by epithelial cells compared to the untreated control. Between HI and controls, no statistically significant difference in IL-8 secretion was found. CONCLUSION This newly developed in vitro model revealed in terms of biofilm-epithelial cell interaction after root surface instrumentation that compared to hand curettes, ultrasonic instrumentation appeared to be more effective in removing bacterial biofilm and in decreasing the inflammatory response of epithelium to biofilm. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Ultrasonic instrumentation might be more advantageous to reduce cellular inflammatory response than hand instruments

Effects of Two Energy Scales in Weakly Dimerized Antiferromagnetic Quantum Spin Chains

By means of thermal expansion and specific heat measurements on the high-pressure phase of (VO)$_2$P$_2$O$_7$, the effects of two energy scales of the weakly dimerized antiferromagnetic $S$ = 1/2 Heisenberg chain are explored. The low energy scale, given by the spin gap $\Delta$, is found to manifest itself in a pronounced thermal expansion anomaly. A quantitative analysis, employing T-DMRG calculations, shows that this feature originates from changes in the magnetic entropy with respect to $\Delta$, $\partial S^{m}/ \partial \Delta$. This term, inaccessible by specific heat, is visible only in the weak-dimerization limit where it reflects peculiarities of the excitation spectrum and its sensitivity to variations in $\Delta$.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures now identical with finally published versio

Oral health-related quality of life of patients rehabilitated with fixed and removable implant-supported dental prostheses.

Dental implants have become a mainstream treatment approach in daily practice, and because of their high survival rates over time, they have become the preferred treatment option for prosthetic rehabilitation in many situations. Despite the relatively high predictability of implant therapy and high costs to patients, patient perceptions of success and patient-reported outcome measures have become increasingly significant in implant dentistry. Increasing numbers of publications deal with oral health-related quality of life and/or patient-reported outcome measures. The aim of this paper was to provide an overview of the available evidence on oral health-related quality of life of fully and partially dentate patients rehabilitated with fixed and removable implant-supported dental prostheses. A comprehensive electronic search was performed on publications in English up to 2021. A selection of standardized questionnaires and scales used for the evaluation of oral health-related quality of life were analyzed and explained. The analysis encompassed three aspects: a functional evaluation of oral health-related quality of life, an esthetic assessment of oral health-related quality of life, and a cost-related evaluation of oral health-related quality of life for rehabilitation with dental implants. The data demonstrated that the preoperative expectations of patients markedly affected the outcomes perceived by the patients. As expected, reconstructions supported by implants substantially improved the stability of conventional dentures and allowed improved function and patient satisfaction. However, from a patient's perspective, oral health-related quality of life was not significantly greater for dental implants compared with conventional tooth-supported prostheses. The connection of the implants to the prostheses with locators or balls indicated high oral health-related quality of life. The data also suggest that patient expectation is not a good predictor of treatment outcome. In terms of esthetic outcomes, the data clearly indicate that patients' perceptions and clinicians' assessments differed, with those of clinicians yielding higher standards. There were no significant differences found between the esthetic oral health-related quality of life ratings for soft tissue-level implants compared with those for bone-level implants. Comparison of all-ceramic and metal-ceramic restorations showed no significant differences in patients' perceptions in terms of esthetic outcomes. Depending on the choice of outcome measure and financial marginal value, supporting a conventional removable partial denture with implants is cost-effective when the patient is willing to invest more to achieve a higher oral health-related quality of life. In conclusion, the oral health-related quality of life of patients rehabilitated with implant-supported dental prostheses did not show overall superiority over conventional prosthetics. Clinicians' and patients' evaluations, especially of esthetic outcomes, are, in the majority of cases, incongruent. Nevertheless, patient-reported outcomes are important in the evaluation of function, esthetics, and the cost-effectiveness of treatment with implant-supported dental prostheses, and should be taken into consideration in daily practice

Two-loop amplitudes for t t ¯ H production: the quark-initiated N f -part

We present numerical results for the two-loop virtual amplitude entering the NNLO corrections to Higgs boson production in association with a top quark pair at the LHC, focusing, as a proof of concept of our method, on the part of the quark-initiated channel containing loops of massless or massive quarks. Results for the UV renormalised and IR subtracted two-loop amplitude for each colour structure are given at selected phase-space points and visualised in terms of surfaces as a function of two-dimensional slices of the full phase space

Spontaneous regeneration of keratinized tissue at implants and teeth.

AIM To investigate the spontaneous regeneration of the implanto-mucosal and dento-gingival unit after complete removal of keratinized tissue (KT). MATERIALS AND METHODS One hemi-mandible per dog (n = 4) was allocated to receive three dental implants (test sites, premolar region), whereas three premolars on the contralateral side were controls. After osseointegration, the entire KT (buccal + lingual) was surgically excised on all test and control sites, leaving the bone exposed. Clinical measurements were performed before excision (T0 ) and after 12 weeks (T1 ). Following healing, the animals were euthanized, and the specimens were histologically processed. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed. RESULTS Clinical measurements revealed that at T1 , on all teeth, a band of KT was spontaneously regenerated (mean width: 2.60 ± 0.66 mm), whereas on implants, KT was detected only occasionally at mesial or distal but not at buccal sites (mean total: 0.35 ± 0.53 mm; p < .0001). Histologically, spontaneous regeneration of the dento-gingival unit was evident, displaying masticatory mucosa. At the implant sites, on the other hand, the implanto-mucosal unit was characterized by a non-keratinized epithelium and elastic fibres, indicating the characteristics encountered in alveolar mucosa. CONCLUSION After excision of KT at implant sites, the spontaneous regeneration of the soft tissue is characterized by a non-keratinized epithelium typical for alveolar mucosa, while at tooth sites the spontaneous regeneration was characterized by soft tissue resembling gingiva

Clinical and histologic evaluation of heterotopic mucosa transpositioning at teeth and dental implants.

AIM To investigate the healing after heterotopic mucosa transpositioning at dental implants and teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hemimandible per dog (n = 4) was allocated to receive 3 implants (test), whereby 3 premolars on the contralateral side served as controls. After osseointegration, a Z-plasty was performed on the buccal aspect of the test and control sites to heterotopically move the zone of keratinized tissue (KT) into a region with non-keratinized tissue (nKT) and vice versa. Clinical measurements were performed before (T0) and at 12 weeks following heterotopic transposition (T1). Thereafter, specimens were processed for histological analysis. RESULTS Clinical measurements revealed that at T1, a band of KT was reestablished at teeth (mean: 2.944 ± 1.866 mm), whereas at implants, the transpositioned nKT resulted in a mucosa without any signs of keratinization (mean: 0 mm; p < .0001). At implant sites, the probing attachment level loss was more pronounced compared to tooth sites (-1.667 ± 1.195 mm and -1.028 ± 0.878 mm, respectively; p = .0076). Histologically, the transpositioned nKT, was accompanied by the formation of KT at the tooth but not at implant sites. The supracrestal soft tissues were statistically significantly higher at tooth compared to implant sites (2.978 ± 0.483 mm and 2.497 ± 0.455 mm, p = .0083). The transpositioned KT remained mostly unaltered in its morphological characteristics. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study indicate that: (a) transpositioned KT may retain its morphological characteristics; and (b) transpositioned nKM was accompanied by the formation of KT at the tooth but not at implant sites

High-throughput screen with the l,d-transpeptidase LdtMt2 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis reveals novel classes of covalently reacting inhibitors

Disruption of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a promising target for treating tuberculosis. The L,D-transpeptidase LdtMt2, which is responsible for the formation of 3 → 3 cross-links in the cell wall peptidoglycan, has been identified as essential for M. tuberculosis virulence. We optimised a high-throughput assay for LdtMt2, and screened a targeted library of ∼10 000 electrophilic compounds. Potent inhibitor classes were identified, including established (e.g., β-lactams) and unexplored covalently reacting electrophilic groups (e.g., cyanamides). Protein-observed mass spectrometric studies reveal most classes to react covalently and irreversibly with the LdtMt2 catalytic cysteine (Cys354). Crystallographic analyses of seven representative inhibitors reveal induced fit involving a loop enclosing the LdtMt2 active site. Several of the identified compounds have a bactericidal effect on M. tuberculosis within macrophages, one with an MIC50 value of ∼1 μM. The results provide leads for the development of new covalently reaction inhibitors of LdtMt2 and other nucleophilic cysteine enzymes