Pseudo-Class III malocclusion treatment with Balters' Bionator.

The aim of this article is to show the use of the Balters' Bionator in pseudo-Class III treatment. The importance of differentiating between true Class III and pseudo-Class III is emphasized. The therapeutic results of a Balters' Bionator appliance are presented in three case reports of subjects in the mixed dentition. In this stage of development it is possible to correct an isolated problem. The use of the Bionator III in this kind of malocclusion enabled the correction of a dental malocclusion in a few months and therapeutic stability of a mesially-positioned mandible encouraging favourable skeletal growth

The Intra-Night Optical Variability of the bright BL Lac object S5 0716+714

We address the topic of the Intra-Night Optical Variability of the BL Lac object S5 0716+714. To this purpose a long term observational campaign was performed, from 1996 to 2003, which allowed the collection of a very large data set, containing 10,675 photometric measurements obtained in 102 nights. The source brightness varied in a range of about 2 mag, although the majority of observations were performed when it was in the range 13.0 < R < 13.75. Variability time scales were estimated from the rates of magnitude variation, which were found to have a distribution function well fitted by an exponential law with a mean value of 0.027 mag/h, corresponding to an e-folding time scale of the flux tau_F = 37.6 h. The highest rates of magnitude variation were around 0.10--0.12 mag/h and lasted less than 2 h. These rates were observed only when the source had an R magnitude < 13.4, but this finding cannot be considered significant because of the low statistical occurrence. The distribution of tau_F has a well defined modal value at 19 h. Assuming the recent estimate of the beaming factor delta about 20, we derived a typical size of the emitting region of about 5 times 10^{16}/(1 + z) cm. The possibility to search for a possible correlation between the mean magnitude variation rate and the long term changes of the velocity of superluminal components in the jet is discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, accepted for Astronomy and Astrophysic

Two new high-energy γ-ray blazar candidates

We report the detection of two new γ-ray sources in the Fermi-Large Area Telescope sky (Pass 8) at energies higher than 20 GeV and confirmed at lower energies, using a source detection tool based on the Minimum Spanning Tree algorithm. One of these sources, at a Galactic latitude of about -4°, is a new discovery, while the other was previously reported above 50 GeV in the 2FHL catalogue. We searched for archival multiwavelength data of possible counterparts and found interesting candidates. Both objects are radio sources and their Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer infrared colours are typical of blazars. While, for the former source, no optical spectra are available, for the latter, a puzzling optical spectrum corresponding to a white dwarf star is found in the 6dF data base. We discuss the spectral energy distributions of both sources and possible interpretations

Black hole masses and enrichment of z ~ 6 SDSS quasars

We present sensitive near-infrared spectroscopic observations for a sample of five z ~ 6 quasars. These are amongst the most distant, currently known quasars in the universe. The spectra have been obtained using ISAAC at the VLT and include the CIV, MgII and FeII lines. We measure the FeII/MgII line ratio, as an observational proxy for the Fe/alpha element ratio. We derive a ratio of 2.7+/-0.8 for our sample, which is similar to that found for lower redshift quasars, i.e., we provide additional evidence for the lack of evolution in the FeII/MgII line ratio of quasars up to the highest redshifts. This result demonstrates that the sample quasars must have undergone a major episode of iron enrichment in less than one Gyr and star formation must have commenced at z > 8. The linewidths of the MgII and CIV lines give two estimates for the black hole masses. A third estimate is given by assuming that the quasars emit at their Eddington luminosity. The derived masses using these three methods agree well, implying that the quasars are not likely to be strongly lensed. We derive central black hole masses of 0.3-5.2 10^9 solar masses. We use the difference between the redshift of MgII (a proxy for the systemic redshift of the quasar) and the onset of the Gunn Peterson trough to derive the extent of the ionized Stromgren spheres around our target quasars. The derived physical radii are about five Mpc. Using a simple ionization model, the emission of the central quasars would need of order 10^6-10^8 year to create these cavities in a surrounding intergalactic medium with a neutral fraction between 0.1 and 1.0. As the e-folding time scale for the central accreting black hole is on the order of a few times 10^7 year, it can grow by one e-folding or less within this time span.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 15 pages, 8 figure

The membranotropic peptide gh625 to combat mixed candida albicans/klebsiella pneumoniae biofilm: Correlation between in vitro anti-biofilm activity and in vivo antimicrobial protection

The antibiofilm activity of a gH625 analogue was investigated to determine the in vitro inhibition and eradication of a dual-species biofilm of Candida albicans and Klebsiella pneumoniae, two leading opportunistic pathogens responsible for several resistant infections. The possibility of effectively exploiting this peptide as an alternative anti-biofilm strategy in vivo was assessed by the investigation of its efficacy on the Galleria mellonella larvae model. Results on larvae survival demonstrate a prophylactic efficacy of the peptide towards the infection of each single microorganism but mainly towards the co-infection. The expression of biofilm-related genes in vivo showed a possible synergy in virulence when these two species co-exist in the host, which was effectively prevented by the peptide. These findings provide novel insights into the treatment of medically relevant bacterial–fungal interaction

wall to wall spatial prediction of growing stock volume based on italian national forest inventory plots and remotely sensed data

Abstract Spatial predictions of forest variables are required for supporting modern national and sub-national forest planning strategies, especially in the framework of a climate change scenario. Nowadays methods for constructing wall-to-wall maps and calculating small-area estimates of forest parameters are becoming essential components of most advanced National Forest Inventory (NFI) programs. Such methods are based on the assumption of a relationship between the forest variables and predictor variables that are available for the entire forest area. Many commonly used predictors are based on data obtained from active or passive remote sensing technologies. Italy has almost 40% of its land area covered by forests. Because of the great diversity of Italian forests with respect to composition, structure and management and underlying climatic, morphological and soil conditions, a relevant question is whether methods successfully used in less complex temperate and boreal forests may be applied successfully at country level in Italy. For a study area of more than 48,657 km2 in central Italy of which 43% is covered by forest, the study presents the results of a test regarding wall-to-wall, spatially explicit estimation of forest growing stock volume (GSV) based on field measurement of 1350 plots during the last Italian NFI. For the same area, we used potential predictor variables that are available across the whole of Italy: cloud-free mosaics of multispectral optical satellite imagery (Landsat 5 TM), microwave sensor data (JAXA PALSAR), a canopy height model (CHM) from satellite LiDAR, and auxiliary variables from climate, temperature and precipitation maps, soil maps, and a digital terrain model. Two non-parametric (random forests and k-NN) and two parametric (multiple linear regression and geographically weighted regression) prediction methods were tested to produce wall-to-wall map of growing stock volume at 23-m resolution. Pixel level predictions were used to produce small-area, province-level model-assisted estimates. The performances of all the methods were compared in terms of percent root mean-square error using a leave-one-out procedure and an independent dataset was used for validation. Results were comparable to those available for other ecological regions using similar predictors, but random forests produced the most accurate results with a pixel level R2 = 0.69 and RMSE% = 37.2% against the independent validation dataset. Model-assisted estimates were more precise than the original design-based estimates provided by the NFI

Admission Hyperglycemia in Setting of Acute Heart Failure is Associated with Increased In-hospital Mortality Among Patients without Diabetes

Background: Heart Failure (HF) in the setting of comorbid diabetes mellitus (DM) has been extensively examined and is associated with increased mortality. More recently, hyperglycemia independent of DM status during critical illness admissions has become recognized as an indicator of poor outcomes. Despite evolving understanding of DM in the setting of acute HF, hyperglycemia at time of admission for acute HF has not been examined with regard to in-hospital treatment and patient outcomes. Objective: The goal of this study is to examine differences in in-hospital treatment and outcomes of patients hospitalized for acute HF according to glycemic status. Methods: The sample consisted of 9,748 residents of the Worcester (MA) metropolitan area hospitalized at all 11 greater Worcester medical centers for acute decompensated HF during the years 1995 - 2004 with data available on diabetic status and admission glucose measurements. Patients were stratified into three groups based on history of DM and admission hyperglycemia defined by glucose ≥200 mg/dL: 1) nondiabetic, normoglycemic (NDNG); 2) non-diabetic, hyperglycemic (NDHG); and 3) diabetic (DM). Results: Non-diabetic, normoglycemic patients were similar to NDHG patients with respect to age and medical history and were significantly older and less likely to have a history of various comorbid conditions such as hypertension, stroke and renal disease when compared to diabetics (p-values Conclusions: The results of our population-based investigation suggest that non-diabetic patients hospitalized for acute HF who are hyperglycemic at the time of admission represent a vulnerable group of patients at risk for increased mortality during hospitalization. Hyperglycemia ≥200 mg/dL during acute HF hospitalization should be taken into account when providing in-hospital management for HF with additional consideration given to ascertainment of diabetic status and glycemic control

Regulation of prolactin secretion during the estrus in rats: Possible role of glucocorticoids

Mifepristone (MIF) administration to cycling rats at proestrus induces hypersecretion of prolactin (PRL) at the following estrus.We aimed to assess whether this effect is due to the antiprogesterone or antiglucocorticoid action of MIF and to help underscore the nature of the circulating hormone(s) regulating PRL secretion at estrus. Female cycling rats in proestrus were treated with vehicle; the progesterone (Pg) and glucocorticoid receptor antagonists, MIF (5 mg/kg) or ORG-33628 (5 mg/kg); the glucocorticoid agonist dexamethasone (DEX; 27 mg/kg) ± MIF; or the inhibitor of steroid synthesis aminoglutethimide (AG; 150 mg/kg) ± MIF. The animals' blood was sampled the same day at 1800 h and at 1800 h of the following day to assess for circulating PRL and Pg levels. To distinguish antiglucocorticoid from antiprogesterone effects of MIF, we administered a highly specific neutralizing antibody against Pg. None of the antagonists modified serum PRL values at proestrus but increased PRL levels at estrus. DEX decreased the secretion of PRL at proestrus, yet the effect was entirely blocked by MIF. Furthermore, DEX decreased PRL at estrus in a MIF-reversible manner, suggesting that adrenal corticoids during proestrous may regulate PRL secretion at estrus. AG increased PRL secretion at estrus, whereas its association with MIF produced an even higher response. PRL concentration at estrus was not modified by the antiprogesterone antibody, suggesting that the effect of MIF is a consequence of its antiglucocorticoid effect and not due to its antiprogesterone properties. In conclusion, PRL secretion in the afternoon of the estrus is most likely regulated by glucocorticoids through an inhibitory action.Fil: López Fontana, Constanza Matilde. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Maselli, María Eugenia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: de Di Nasso, Florencia E. G.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Telleria, C. M.. Sanford School Of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Caron, Ruben Walter. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentin

ParkDB: a Parkinson's disease gene expression database

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common, adult-onset, neuro-degenerative disorder characterized by the degeneration of cardinal motor signs mainly due to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. To date, researchers still have limited understanding of the key molecular events that provoke neurodegeneration in this disease. Here, we present ParkDB, the first queryable database dedicated to gene expression in PD. ParkDB contains a complete set of re-analyzed, curated and annotated microarray datasets. This resource enables scientists to identify and compare expression signatures involved in PD and dopaminergic neuron differentiation under different biological conditions and across species. Database URL: http://www2.cancer.ucl.ac.uk/Parkinson_Db2