The Vertical Reference System in the Argentine Republic

This paper is a summary of the tasks that have been developed and the ones that are under development in the Argentine Republic by means of joint activities, agreements and cooperation among institutions, together with national and international scientific and educational agencies, related to: -Completion, calculation, unification and link to planialtimetric networks. -Gravity activities and procedures used for heights correction. -Linking to neighboring countries networks. -Initial leveling experiences by means of GPS technology, and results obtained. -Regional and national geoid modeling. -Determination of vertical crustal movements, evaluation of sea technology, variations of the mean sea level and its influence over the zero of the argentine height system.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Prolongación ascendente de campos potenciales en el dominio espacial

Con el objeto de investigar las posiblidades de empleo de la continuación ana lítica ascendente como filtro, se analiza la prolongación de campos potenciales en el dominio espacial tanto con operador finito como bidimensional. Se estudió en forma independiente y conjunta la influencia en el resultado de los errores por digitalización y truncamiento de los datos y del filtro, y se da un criterio para el muestreo de datos y el cálculo del operador de oonvolución en función de la profundidad estimada de la estructura y de la altura de la prolongación respectivamente para minimizar la influencia de ambos errores. Se analizaron además las posibilidades de uso de ambos operadores para filtrar efectos de estructuras finitas, bidimensionales y combinaciones de ambas a través de ejemplos. El cálculo se lleva a cabo mediante un sistema de dos programas de computación.The purpose of this paper is to investígate the posibilities of using i the upward continuation as a filtering process. For that, the upward continuation of potential field data in the spatial domain with both finite and bidimensioanl operators is analized. The influence in the results of digitization and truncation errors either in the filter and in data was studied. In order to reduce the influence of these tvo errors, an idea about data sam- pling and aonvolution operator calculation as a function of the estimated depth of the subterranean mass and the elevation of continuation respectively isgiven. More over, some numerical examples ilústrate the posibilities of using both convolution operators in the filtering of finite and bidimensional structures effect. The calculation is performed through a two progranmes computation system.Asociación Argentina de Geofísicos y Geodesta

E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products impact on dental color parameters

Objectives: Abstaining from tobacco smoking may not only improve general health, but also reduce teeth staining and restore teeth whiteness. Compared with conventional cigarettes, E-cigarettes (ECs) and heated tobacco products (HTPs) may offer substantial reduction in exposure to pigmented tar-like compounds of cigarette smoke. It is possible that improvements in dental color indices may be observed in those who have stopped smoking combustible cigarettes by switching to tar-free nicotine delivery products. Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated and compared dental color parameters by digital spectrophotometry among five different groups: individuals who currently smoke ; individuals who used to smoke but have quit ; individuals who have never smoked ; exclusive users of electronic cigarettes (former smokers) ; and exclusive users of heated tobacco products (former smokers) . Results: Dental whiteness in current cigarette smokers was notably worse compared with never and former smokers, (13.38 Whiteness Index for Dentistry (WID) units vs. 19.96 and 16.79 WID units). Remarkably high WID values (i.e., whiter teeth) were also observed in ECs (16.72 WID units) and HTPs users (17.82 WID units). Compared to current smokers, difference in dental whiteness for ECs and HTPs users was visually noticeable (ΔWID difference being on average > 2.90 units). The colour differences measured as delta E*(ΔE*) were all visually detectable except for the comparison between ex-smokers and ECs users for which no perceptible color difference was observed (0.415). Conclusion: Exclusive use of ECs and HTPs is associated with better dental color measurements than current smoking, suggesting that tar-free nicotine delivery technologies are unlikely to have negative effects on dental appearance. Clinical significance: Use of alternative nicotine delivery systems may be associated with cosmetic benefits with important implications for those smokers perceiving dental aesthetics as a significant problem. For these an oral-based narrative may be a much more significant reason to refrain from smoking than the fear of developing smoking-related diseases in future

Changes in Oral Health and Dental Esthetic in Smokers Switching to Combustion-Free Nicotine Alternatives: Protocol for a Multicenter and Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial

BackgroundAlthough the detrimental effects of conventional combustible cigarettes on oral health and dental esthetics are well known, there is limited information about the long-term impact of combustion-free nicotine alternatives (C-F NA) such as e-cigarettes or heated tobacco products. ObjectiveThis multicenter, prospective, 3-parallel-arm randomized controlled trial will investigate whether switching from combustible cigarettes to C-F NA will lead to measurable improvements in oral health parameters and dental esthetics over 18 months in adult smokers with limited gum disease. MethodsRegular smokers not intending to quit and without clinical signs of periodontitis will be randomly assigned (1:4 ratio) to either standard of care with brief cessation advice (control group; arm A) or C-F NA use (intervention group; arm B). The study will also include a reference group of never smokers (reference group; arm C). The primary end point is the change in the Modified Gingival Index (MGI) score from baseline between the control arm (arm A) and the intervention arm (arm B) at the 18-month follow-up. In addition, the study will analyze the within- and between-group (arms A, B, and C) changes in MGI assessment, plaque imaging, dental shade quantitation, tooth stain scores, and oral health–related quality of life questionnaires measured at each study time point. All participants will attend a total of 7 clinic visits: screening, enrollment, and randomization (visit 0); baseline visit—day 14 (visit 1); day 90 (visit 2); day 180 (visit 3); day 360 (visit 4); and day 540 (visit 5). This multicenter study will be conducted in 4 dental clinics in 4 countries. The statistical analysis will involve descriptive statistics for continuous and categorical data. Primary end points will undergo tests for normality and, based on distribution, either a 2-sided t test or Mann-Whitney U test. Linear mixed model with random factors center and study arms by center will also be applied. Secondary end points, including MGI assessment and quality of life, will be subjected to similar tests and comparisons. Only if one value of the parameter MGI is missing after day 1, the last available observation will be carried forward. The analysis will be performed on the substituted data. Secondary parameters will not have missing value replacement. ResultsParticipant recruitment began in October 2021, and enrollment was completed in June 2023. Results will be reported in 2025. ConclusionsThis will be the first study to provide key insights into oral health benefits or risks associated with using C-F NA in smokers who are seeking alternatives to cigarette smoking. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04649645; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04649645 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/5322

U-BIOPRED clinical adult asthma clusters linked to a subset of sputum omics

Background: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease in which there is a differential response to asthma treatments. This heterogeneity needs to be evaluated so that a personalized management approach can be provided. Objectives: We stratified patients with moderate-to-severe asthma based on clinicophysiologic parameters and performed an omics analysis of sputum. Methods: Partition-around-medoids clustering was applied to a training set of 266 asthmatic participants from the European Unbiased Biomarkers for the Prediction of Respiratory Diseases Outcomes (U-BIOPRED) adult cohort using 8 prespecified clinic-physiologic variables. This was repeated in a separate validation set of 152 asthmatic patients. The clusters were compared based on sputum proteomics and transcriptomics data. Results: Four reproducible and stable clusters of asthmatic patients were identified. The training set cluster T1 consists of patients with well-controlled moderate-to-severe asthma, whereas cluster T2 is a group of patients with late-onset severe asthma with a history of smoking and chronic airflow obstruction. Cluster T3 is similar to cluster T2 in terms of chronic airflow obstruction but is composed of nonsmokers. Cluster T4 is predominantly composed of obese female patients with uncontrolled severe asthma with increased exacerbations but with normal lung function. The validation set exhibited similar clusters, demonstrating reproducibility of the classification. There were significant differences in sputum proteomics and transcriptomics between the clusters. The severe asthma clusters (T2, T3, and T4) had higher sputum eosinophilia than cluster T1, with no differences in sputum neutrophil counts and exhaled nitric oxide and serum IgE levels. Conclusion: Clustering based on clinicophysiologic parameters yielded 4 stable and reproducible clusters that associate with different pathobiological pathways