Influence of cone-beam computed tomography image artifacts on the determination of dental arch measurements

Objective: To compare dental plaster model (DPM) and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in the measurement of the dental arches, and investigate whether CBCT image artifacts compromise the reliability of such measurements. Materials and Methods: Twenty patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of metallic restorations in the posterior teeth. Both dental arches of the patients were scanned with the CBCT unit i-CAT, and DPMs were obtained. Two examiners obtained eight arch measurements on the CBCT images and DPMs and repeated this procedure 15 days later. The arch measurements of each patient group were compared separately by the Wilcoxon rank sum (Mann-Whitney U) test, with a significance level of 5% (alpha = .05). Intraclass correlation measured the level of intraobserver agreement. Results: Patients with healthy teeth showed no significant difference between all DPM and CBCT arch measurements (P > .05). Patients with metallic restoration showed significant difference between DPM and CBCT for the majority of the arch measurements (P > .05). The two examiners showed excellent intraobserver agreement for both measuring methods with intraclass correlation coefficient higher than 0.95. Conclusion: CBCT provided the same accuracy as DPM in the measurement of the dental arches, and was negatively influenced by the presence of image artifacts.To compare dental plaster model (DPM) and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in the measurement of the dental arches, and investigate whether CBCT image artifacts compromise the reliability of such measurements. Twenty patients were divided into two gro842274278sem informaçãosem informaçã

Valorisation of natural extracts from marine source focused on marine by-products: A review

The wide chemical and biological diversity observed in the marine environment makes the ocean an extraordinary source of high added value compounds (HAVC) which can be employed in many applications. Minerals, lipids, amino acids, polysaccharides and proteins from marine sources have unique features and, surprisingly, their highest concentration is often found in parts of marine organisms that are commonly discarded. Fish heads, viscera, skin, tails, offal and blood, as well as seafood shells possess several HAVC suitable for human health applications, yet most end up as residues throughout the raw material processing. This review updates information on this issue and conveys critical analysis of the chief methodologies to carry out extraction, purification and eventual transformation, with a focus on their actual and potential applications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Accelerated Metastasis after Short-Term Treatment with a Potent Inhibitor of Tumor Angiogenesis

SummaryHerein we report that the VEGFR/PDGFR kinase inhibitor sunitinib/SU11248 can accelerate metastatic tumor growth and decrease overall survival in mice receiving short-term therapy in various metastasis assays, including after intravenous injection of tumor cells or after removal of primary orthotopically grown tumors. Acceleration of metastasis was also observed in mice receiving sunitinib prior to intravenous implantation of tumor cells, suggesting possible “metastatic conditioning” in multiple organs. Similar findings with additional VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors implicate a class-specific effect for such agents. Importantly, these observations of metastatic acceleration were in contrast to the demonstrable antitumor benefits obtained when the same human breast cancer cells, as well as mouse or human melanoma cells, were grown orthotopically as primary tumors and subjected to identical sunitinib treatments

Analytical functions from a stochastic model for extractions of a hydroelectric reservoir after the rainy season

[ES] El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo el planteamiento de ecuaciones estocásticas para la resolución de los niveles de embalse de un sistema hidroeléctrico que opera en cascada a través de 2 presas, en los meses posteriores a la época de lluvias, específicamente, los meses de noviembre y diciembre. A partir de los modelos de control markovianos se establecen el espacio de estados, el espacio de acciones, el kernel de transición y las funciones de ganancia y costo, para luego proponer una función objetivo que maximice una ecuación de optimalidad mediante variables continuas. Como resultado se determinan ecuaciones de los beneficios esperados en unidades energéticas de GW-hora, así como un modelo de políticas óptimas basado en estados continuos. En conclusión, se obtiene un conjunto de funciones analíticas que dependen de la época del año y los volúmenes actuales de cada uno de los embalses, para así determinar la mejor política de decisión para obtener el mayor beneficio de energía sin poner en riesgo la seguridad de la población por posibles derrames y minimizando déficits.[EN] The objective of the present work is the approach of stochastic models that allow to determine the level of a hydroelectric system that operates in cascade through two reservoirs, in the months after the rainy season, specifically, the months of November and December. The components that determine the control model are the state space, the action set, the transition kernel, and the so-called reward and cost functions, and with them it is proposed to maximize the optimality equation through the objective function by continuous variables The result is the obtaining of benefit equations given in GW-hour, as well as obtaining an optimal policy model through the continuous states. It is concluded that analytical functions can be obtained that only depend on the current volumes of the reservoirs and the time of the year, and thereby establish the optimal policy to maximize energy and minimize spills avoiding situations of risk to the population and minimizing deficits.De La Cruz-Courtois, O.; Guichard, D.; Arganis, M. (2020). Funciones analíticas a partir de un modelo estocástico de las extracciones de una presa hidroeléctrica después de la temporada de lluvias. Ingeniería del agua. 24(4):235-253. https://doi.org/10.4995/ia.2020.12311OJS235253244Abolghasemi, R.H. 2008. Optimization of the Kootenay river hydroelectric system with a linear programming model. Master Thesis, University of Canada, Canada.Ailing, Li. 2004. A study on the large-scale system descomposition-coordination method used in optimal operation of a hydroelectric system. Water International, 29(2), 228-231. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060408691772Alegría, A. 2010. Política de operación óptima del sistema de presas del Río Grijalva. Efectos de la curva guía. Tesis de Maestría, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.Arganis, M.L., Domínguez, R., Cisneros-Itube, H., Fuentes-Mariles, G. 2008. Syntetic sample generation of monthly inflows into two dams using the modified Svanidze method. Hydrological sciences journal, 53(1), 130-141. https://doi.org/10.1623/hysj.53.1.130Ahmad, A., El-Shafie, A., Razali, S.F.M., Mohamad, Z.S. 2014. Reservoir optimization water resources: a review. Water Resources Management, 28(11), 135-146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0700-5Barros, T.L.M, Tsai, F.T.C., Yang, S., Lopes, J.E.G., Yeh, W.W.G. 2003. Optimization of larg-scale hydropower system operations. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 129(3), 178-188. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(2003)129:3(178)Bertsekas, D.P. 1995. Dynamic Programming and Optimal Control. Prentice-Hall, Massachusetts, USA.Butcher, W.S. 1971. Stochastic dynamic programming for optimal reservoir operation. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 71(11), 143-158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.1971.tb01683.xCrichigno, J., Talavera, F. 2012. Enrutamiento multicast utilizando optimización multiobjetivo. Ingeniería y Ciencia, 4(7), 87-111.De la Cruz-Courtois, O., Guichard, R., Arganis, M. 2018. Políticas de operación óptima de presas para generación hidroeléctrica con modelos markovianos y variable continua. Pakbal, 44(3), 12-25.Domínguez, R., Arganis, M. 2001. Revisión de las políticas de operación de las presas Angostura y Malpaso en el río Grijalva. Informe de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad, CDMX, México.Domínguez, R., Arganis, M., Carrizosa, E. 2006. Determinación de avenidas de diseño y ajuste de los parámetros del modelo de optimización de las políticas de operación del sistema de presas del Río Grijalva. Informe de Comisión Federal de Electricidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.Eschenbach, E.A., Magee, T., Zagona, E., Goranflo, M., Shane, R. 2001. Goal programming Decision Support System for Multiobjective Operation of Reservoir Systems. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 127(2), 108-120. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(2001)127:2(108)García, V., 1992. Aprovechamientos hidroeléctricos y de bombeo. Trillas. CDMX, México.Hernández-Lerma, O., Laserre, J. 1991. Discrete-Time Markov Control processes. Basic optimality criteria, Springer, New York, USA.Labadie, J.W. 2004. Optimal Operation on Multireservoir Systems: State-of-the-art Review. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 130(2), 93-111. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(2004)130:2(93)Labadie, J.W., Lee, J.H. 2007. Stochastic optimization of multireservoir systems via reinforcement learning. Water Resources Research, 43 W11408. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006WR005627Mendoza-Pérez, A., Jasso-Fuentes, H., De la Cruz-Courtois, O. 2016. Constrained Markov decision processes in Borel spaces: from discounted to average optimality. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 84(3), 489-525. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00186-016-0551-3Quitana F, F. 1981. Aplicaciones de la Programación Dinámica a la Operación de Presas. Tesis. Universidad de Sonora, Sonora, México.Rani, D., Moreira, M.M. 2010. Simulation-Optimization Modeling: A Survey and Potential Application in Reservoir Systems Operation. Water Resources Management, 24, 1107-1138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-009-9488-0Rincón, L. 2012. Introducción a los procesos estocásticos. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México.Sánchez, C.E., Andreu A.J. 2002. Expansión óptima de sistemas de recursos hídricos superficiales: Aplicación a un sistema real en España. In 11 Congreso Intern. de Métodos Numéricos en Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas (Vol 1).Sánchez, C.E., Wagner, G.A., 2003. Determinación de reglas de operación óptima para dos embalses, utilizando un algoritmo genético. Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, México.Sánchez, C.E., Wagner, G.A., 2004. Modelo numérico para la operación óptima de un hidrosistema de aguas superficiales. Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua, 15(2), 23-38.Kumar, V., Yadav, S.M. 2018. Optimization of reservoir operation with a new approach in evolutionary computation using TLBO and Jaya Algorithm. Water Resources Management, 32, 4375-4391. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-018-2067-5Yakowitz, S.J. 1982. Dynamic Programming Applications in Water Resources. Water Resources Research, 18(4), 673-696. https://doi.org/10.1029/WR018i004p00673Wurbs, R.A. 1993. Reservoir-System Simulation and Optimization Models. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 116(1), 52.70. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(1993)119:4(455

Leaders-cheaters in male group cooperation: differences in nonverbal communication and genetic factors

Here we report on the results of an experimental study investigating "who?" emerges as a leader in the context of male group cooperation and "how?" they do that. The study was designed based on the iterated Public Goods Game, played face-to-face in groups composed of four male strangers. The game involved interactions both with and without communication to allow the assessment of individual cooperative strategies, leadership potential, and individual features of positive nonverbal expressiveness during interactions. Along with the individual behavioural characteristics we have addressed personality traits (the Big Five) and an oxytocin receptor gene polymorphism (OXTR: SNP rs53576; A/G) as putative markers of individual sociability. Our results revealed that emergent leaders most often employed the strategy of unconditional cooperation ("altruism") and were characterized by enhanced positive facial expressiveness and extraversion compared to non-leaders. However, a fraction of emergent leaders (25%) turned out to be occasional free-riders ("cheaters"). Their distinctive features were the highest scores on extraversion, exaggerated activity in negotiations, and over-expression of positive nonverbal elements. Given the high efficiency of leaders-cheaters' behaviour, we consider this result as the evidence for supernormal stimuli functioning in humans. Moreover, leaders-cheaters were characterized by a specific allelic frequency of OXTR rs53576 (heterozygosity: AG). The homozygous GG variant of this SNP is argued to be associated with prosociality, and the AA, on the contrary, with poor sociability. The heterozygous variant (AG) probably is a compromise that enables its carriers to successfully combine high social skills with anti-social behavior (free-riding). This finding supports existing evidence on the role of OXTR rs53576 in human social behaviour

Variability of prey preferences and uptake of anthropogenic particles by juvenile white seabream in a coastal lagoon nursery ground

Marine plastic litter, originating from land-based sources, enters the marine environment by passing through coastal ecosystems such as lagoons and estuaries. As early life history stages (ELHS) of many commercially important fish species rely on these transitional areas as nursery grounds, we hypothesized that they encounter a spatial gradient of habitat quality and pollution from inner to outer parts of their vital environment. With sizes < 5 mm, anthropogenic particles (AP), among them microplastic (MP) fibers and fragments, entail a high bioavailability for ELHS of fish, potentially facilitating AP uptake at early developmental stages which may have implications for their survival and growth. This study provides a contextualization baseline between feeding preferences and uptake of AP by the white seabream Diplodus sargus (Linnaeus, 1758) in an estuarine nursery ground on the southern coast of Portugal. Juvenile fish showed a generalized, omnivorous feeding mode with differences in trophic resource utilization between individuals collected at distinct seagrass meadows in the lagoon. A total of 23.13% of the fish (n = 147) were detected with AP in the gastrointestinal tract, and the mean number of AP per AP-feeding individual was 1.64 +/- 1.04, with anthropogenic fibers (n = 47) occurring more frequently than fragments (n = 9). Knowledge of the underlying factors for MP ingestion will be greatly enhanced by considering environmental conditions along with species-stage and life-stage specific feeding modes and prey preferences which shape the uptake probability of anthropogenic fibers and fragments.LA/P/0101/2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

miR-23~27~24 clusters control effector T cell differentiation and function

Coordinated repression of gene expression by evolutionarily conserved microRNA (miRNA) clusters and paralogs ensures that miRNAs efficiently exert their biological impact. Combining both loss- and gain-of-function genetic approaches, we show that the miR-23~27~24 clusters regulate multiple aspects of T cell biology, particularly helper T (Th) 2 immunity. Low expression of this miRNA family confers proper effector T cell function at both physiological and pathological settings. Further studies in T cells with exaggerated regulation by individual members of the miR-23~27~24 clusters revealed that miR-24 and miR-27 collaboratively limit Th2 responses through targeting IL-4 and GATA3 in both direct and indirect manners. Intriguingly, although overexpression of the entire miR-23 cluster also negatively impacts other Th lineages, enforced expression of miR-24, in contrast to miR-23 and miR-27, actually promotes the differentiation of Th1, Th17, and induced regulatory T cells, implying that under certain conditions, miRNA families can fine tune the biological effects of their regulation by having individual members antagonize rather than cooperate with each other. Together, our results identify a miRNA family with important immunological roles and suggest that tight regulation of miR-23~27~24 clusters in T cells is required to maintain optimal effector function and to prevent aberrant immune responses

Capillary Condensation and Interface Structure of a Model Colloid-Polymer Mixture in a Porous Medium

We consider the Asakura-Oosawa model of hard sphere colloids and ideal polymers in contact with a porous matrix modeled by immobilized configurations of hard spheres. For this ternary mixture a fundamental measure density functional theory is employed, where the matrix particles are quenched and the colloids and polymers are annealed, i.e. allowed to equilibrate. We study capillary condensation of the mixture in a tiny sample of matrix as well as demixing and the fluid-fluid interface inside a bulk matrix. Density profiles normal to the interface and surface tensions are calculated and compared to the case without matrix. Two kinds of matrices are considered: (i) colloid-sized matrix particles at low packing fractions and (ii) large matrix particles at high packing fractions. These two cases show fundamentally different behavior and should both be experimentally realizable. Furthermore, we argue that capillary condensation of a colloidal suspension could be experimentally accessible. We find that in case (ii), even at high packing fractions, the main effect of the matrix is to exclude volume and, to high accuracy, the results can be mapped onto those of the same system without matrix via a simple rescaling.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, submitted to PR

GARBAN: genomic analysis and rapid biological annotation of cDNA microarray and proteomic data

Genomic Analysis and Rapid Biological ANnotation (GARBAN) is a new tool that provides an integrated framework to analyze simultaneously and compare multiple data sets derived from microarray or proteomic experiments. It carries out automated classifications of genes or proteins according to the criteria of the Gene Ontology Consortium at a level of depth defined by the user. Additionally, it performs clustering analysis of all sets based on functional categories or on differential expression levels. GARBAN also provides graphical representations of the biological pathways in which all the genes/proteins participate. AVAILABILITY: http://garban.tecnun.es

Seminal magnetic fields from Inflato-electromagnetic Inflation

We extend some previous attempts to explain the origin and evolution of primordial magnetic fields during inflation induced from a 5D vacuum. We show that the usual quantum fluctuations of a generalized 5D electromagnetic field cannot provide us with the desired magnetic seeds. We show that special fields without propagation on the extra non-compact dimension are needed to arrive to appreciable magnetic strengths. We also identify a new magnetic tensor field $B_{ij}$ in this kind of extra dimensional theories. Our results are in very good agreement with observational requirements, in particular from TeV Blazars and CMB radiation limits we obtain that primordial cosmological magnetic fields should be close scale invariance.Comment: Improved version. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1007.3891 by other author