What are patients' expectations of orthodontic treatment: a systematic review

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Assessment of the Efficiency of Insecticide Paint and Impregnated Nets on Tsetse Populations: Preliminary Study in Forest Relics of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Glossina palpalis palpalis is the main vector of human and animal trypanosomiasis in Côte d’Ivoire. This species, being the only tsetse species in the city of Abidjan, is hosted by the National park of Banco located in the middle of Abidjan, the zoological park and in a relic forest within the University of Nangui-Abrogoua, both in Abidjan. A programme for the elimination of these suburban tsetse populations has been initiated, in the context of which various tsetse control tools have been evaluated. In the zoological park, insecticidal paint (Inesfly®) was applied around the animal cages, and then supplemented with insecticide-impregnated netting around the larger animal cages. Tsetse population densities were monitored with Vavoua-style traps both inside the zoological park and in the site of University Nangui Abrogoua used as control site. Tsetse densities in the traps fell by over 90% following application of the insecticidal paint, and declined to zero after adding the insecticide impregnated nets in both study sites. The study confirms the close contact between tsetse populations from the zoological park and the University Nangui Abrogoua area, and shows that the sequential use of insecticide paint and impregnated nets can be effective for tsetse control

Grain-size cycles in Salawusu River valley since 150 ka BP

The palaeo-mobile dune sands and fluvio-lacustrine facies with palaeosols in Milanggouwan stratigraphic section of the Salawusu River valley situated at the southeast of the Mu Us Desert experienced abundant remarkable alternative changes of coarse and fine rhythms in grainsize since 150 ka BP, and the grain-size parameters — Mz, σ, Sk, Kg and SC/D also respond to the situation of multi-fluctuational alternations between peak and valley values. Simultaneity the grainsize eigenvalues — ϕ5, ϕ16, ϕ25, ϕ50, ϕ75, ϕ84 and ϕ95 are respondingly manifested as greatly cadent jumpiness. Hereby, the Milanggouwan section can be divided into 27 grain-size coarse and fine sedimentary cycles, which can be regarded as a real and integrated record of climate-geological process of desert vicissitude resulted from the alternative evolvement of the ancient winter and summer monsoons of East Asia since 150 ka BP.published_or_final_versio

Reminder Care System: An Activity-Aware Cross-Device Recommendation System

© 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects large numbers of elderly people worldwide and represents a significant social and economic burden on society, particularly in relation to the need for long term care facilities. These costs can be reduced by enabling people with AD to live independently at home for a longer time. The use of recommendation systems for the Internet of Things (IoT) in the context of smart homes can contribute to this goal. In this paper, we present the Reminder Care System (RCS), a research prototype of a recommendation system for the IoT for elderly people with cognitive disabilities. RCS exploits daily activities that are captured and learned from IoT devices to provide personalised recommendations. The experimental results indicate that RCS can inform the development of real-world IoT applications

萨拉乌苏河流域150 ka BP 以来的粒度旋回

萨拉乌苏河流域米浪沟湾地层剖面150 ka BP 以来古流动砂丘砂与河湖相和古土壤在粒度上具有多次显著的粗细韵律交替变化, 粒度参数- M z、R、Sk、Kg 和SC/ D 亦随之响应为多波动峰谷交替的态势。同时, 粒度特征值- 5 5、5 16、5 25、5 50、5 75、5 84、5 95 相应地表现为非常有节奏地跳动。据此, 将米浪沟湾剖面划分为27 个粒度粗细沉积旋回, 并认为其是150 ka BP 以来在东亚冬夏古代季风交替影响下沙漠演变的一个颇为完整的气候- 地质过程记录。The Milanggouwan stratigraphical section in the Salawusu River Valley takes down 27 alternately evolutionary sediment sequences of the aeolian dune layers with the fluvio-lacustrine facies and palaeosols since 150 ka BP. Based on grain-size analyses of the 86 samples from the section, some views have been put forward: (1) Grain-size accumulative centigrade contents of the aeolian sands in the past 150 ka in Milanggouwan section are mainly characterized by the aeolian palaeo-mobile dune sands, and those of the fluvial facies dominated by very fine sands also contain some quantities of silt and clay. (2) The grain-size general distributional characteristics - Mz (particle diameter) and σ (standard deviation) clearly show that the fluvio-lacustrine facies and palaeosols usually become finer in particles and worse in sorting than the aeolian sands. As regards Sk (bias angle) and Kg (kurtosis) values, the former two increase obviously compared with the latter, displaying positive bias and the latter often proximately symmetrical distributed, only few in negative bias. (3) At vertical direction of the section, the grain-size distributional coarse and fine rhythms vary very pronouncedly with the alternation of sedimentary facies. Mz, σ, Sk, Kg and SC/D (ratio of the sum of silt and clay to sand) of fluvio-lacustrine, palaeosols and aeolian sands separately constitute a commulative between peak and valley values. (4) The values of grain-size parameters lie on their eigenvalues. Taking the eigenvalue Φ50 as a boundary, the Φ75, Φ84 and Φ95 above the eigenvalue have wide flounce range and high sensitivity responding to the sedimentary facies, which may be called 'active eigenvalues'. In contrast with them, those below the above-cited eigenvalue, i.e., Φ5, Φ16 and Φ25, which have relatively narrow flounce range and low sensitivity, are called 'inert eigenvalues'.published_or_final_versio

Proteome profiling of cadmium-induced apoptosis by antibody array analyses in human bronchial epithelial cells

Protein array technology is a powerful platform for the simultaneous determination of the expression levels of a number of proteins as well as post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation. Here, we screen and report for the first time, the dominant signaling cascades and apoptotic mediators during the course of cadmium (Cd)-induced cytotoxicity in human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) by antibody array analyses. Proteins from control and Cd-treated cells were captured on Proteome Profiler™ Arrays for the parallel determination of the relative levels of protein phosphorylation and proteins associated with apoptosis. Our results indicated that the p38 MAPK- and JNK-related signal transduction pathways were dramatically activated by Cd treatment. Cd potently stimulates the phosphorylations of p38α (MAPK14), JNK1/2 (MAPK8/9), and JUN; while the phosphorylations of Akt1, ERK1/2 (MAPK3/1), GSK3β, and mTOR were suppressed. Moreover, there was an induction of proapoptotic protein BAX, release of cytochrome c (CYCS) from mitochondria, activation of caspase-3/9 (CASP3/9); as well as decreased expression of cell cycle checkpoint proteins (TP53, p21, and p27) and several inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) [including cIAP-1/2 (BIRC2/3), XIAP (BIRC4), and survivin (BIRC5)]. Pretreatment of cells with the thiol antioxidant glutathione or p38 MAPK/JNK inhibitors before Cd treatment effectively abrogated ROS activation of p38 MAPK/JNK pathways and apoptosis-related proteins. Taken together, our results demonstrate that Cd causes oxidative stress-induced apoptosis; and the p38 MAPK/JNK and mitochondrial pathways are more importantly participated for signal transduction and the induction of apoptosis in Cd-exposed human lung cells.published_or_final_versio

Traffic agents for improving QoS in mixed infrastructure and ad hoc modes wireless LAN

As an important complement to infrastructured wireless networks, mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) are more flexible in providing wireless access services, but more difficult in meeting different quality of service (QoS) requirements for mobile customers. Both infrastructure and ad hoc network structures are supported in wireless local area networks (WLAN), which can offer high data-rate wireless multimedia services to the mobile stations (MSs) in a limited geographical area. For those out-of-coverage MSs, how to effectively connect them to the access point (AP) and provide QoS support is a challenging issue. By mixing the infrastructure and the ad hoc modes in WLAN, we propose in this paper a new coverage improvement scheme that can identify suitable idle MSs in good service zones as traffic agents (TAs) to relay traffic from those out-of-coverage MSs to the AP. The service coverage area of WLAN is then expanded. The QoS requirements (e.g., bandwidth) of those MSs are considered in the selection process of corresponding TAs. Mathematical analysis, verified by computer simulations, shows that the proposed TA scheme can effectively reduce blocking probability when traffic load is light

Osteochondral Grafting: Effect of Graft Alignment, Material Properties, and Articular Geometry

Osteochondral grafting for cartilage lesions is an attractive surgical procedure; however, the clinical results have not always been successful. Surgical recommendations differ with respect to donor site and graft placement technique. No clear biomechanical analysis of these surgical options has been reported. We hypothesized that differences in graft placement, graft biomechanical properties, and graft topography affect cartilage stresses and strains. A finite element model of articular cartilage and meniscus in a normal knee was constructed. The model was used to analyze the magnitude and the distribution of contact stresses, von Mises stresses, and compressive strains in the intact knee, after creation of an 8-mm diameter osteochondral defect, and after osteochondral grafting of the defect. The effects of graft placement, articular surface topography, and biomechanical properties were evaluated. The osteochondral defect generated minimal changes in peak contact stress (3.6 MPa) relative to the intact condition (3.4 MPa) but significantly increased peak von Mises stress (by 110%) and peak compressive strain (by 63%). A perfectly matched graft restored stresses and strains to near intact conditions. Leaving the graft proud by 0.5 mm generated the greatest increase in local stresses (peak contact stresses = 6.7 MPa). Reducing graft stiffness and curvature of articular surface had lesser effects on local stresses. Graft alignment, graft biomechanical properties, and graft topography all affected cartilage stresses and strains. Contact stresses, von Mises stresses, and compressive strains are biomechanical markers for potential tissue damage and cell death. Leaving the graft proud tends to jeopardize the graft by increasing the stresses and strains on the graft. From a biomechanical perspective, the ideal surgical procedure is a perfectly aligned graft with reasonably matched articular cartilage surface from a lower load-bearing region of the knee

High Expression Levels of Total IGF-1R and Sensitivity of NSCLC Cells In Vitro to an Anti-IGF-1R Antibody (R1507)

© 2009 Gong et al

Phosphorylation of Nrf2 at Multiple Sites by MAP Kinases Has a Limited Contribution in Modulating the Nrf2-Dependent Antioxidant Response

The bZIP transcription factor Nrf2 has emerged as a pivotal regulator of intracellular redox homeostasis by controlling the expression of many endogenous antioxidants and phase II detoxification enzymes. Upon oxidative stress, Nrf2 is induced at protein levels through redox-sensitive modifications on cysteine residues of Keap1, a component of the E3 ubiquitin ligase that targets Nrf2 for ubiquitin-dependent degradation. The mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) have previously been proposed to regulate Nrf2 in response to oxidative stress. However, the exact role of MAPKs and the underlying molecular mechanism remain poorly defined. Here we report the first evidence that Nrf2 is phosphorylated in vivo by MAPKs. We have identified multiple serine/threonine residues as major targets of MAPK-mediated phosphorylation. Combined alanine substitution on those residues leads to a moderate decrease in the transcriptional activity of Nrf2, most likely due to a slight reduction in its nuclear accumulation. More importantly, Nrf2 protein stability, primarily controlled by Keap1, is not altered by Nrf2 phosphorylation in vivo. These data indicate that direct phosphorylation of Nrf2 by MAPKs has limited contribution in modulating Nrf2 activity. We suggest that MAPKs regulate the Nrf2 signaling pathway mainly through indirect mechanisms