A prognostic model for the outcome of Nobel Biocare Dental Implants with peri-Implant disease after one year

© 2019 by the Authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Background: This investigation, based on a 1-year retrospective cohort study, aimed to estimate and validate a prognostic model for ailing and failing implants due to peri-implant disease. Methods: A total of 240 patients (male: 97; female: 143; average age of 57.3 years) with at least one ailing or failing implant were included: 120 patients for model derivation and 120 patients for model validation. The primary outcome measure was the implant status: success, defined as the arrest of the disease, or failure defined as implant extraction, prevalence or re-incidence of peri-implant disease). Potential prognostic risk indicators were collected at the baseline evaluation. The relative risk (RR) was estimated for the predictors through logistic regression and the c-statistic (95% confidence interval) was calculated for both derivation and validation sets. The significance level was set at 5%. Results: The risk model retrieved the prognostic factors age (RR = 1.04), history of Periodontitis (RR = 3.13), severe peri-implant disease status (RR = 3.26), implant length (RR = 3.52), early disease development (RR = 3.99), with good discrimination in both the derivation set (0.763 [0.679; 0.847]) and validation set (0.709 [0.616; 0.803]). Conclusions: A prognostic risk model for estimating the outcome of implants with peri-implant disease is available, with a good performance considering the c-statistic evaluation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Platform Dependent Verification: On Engineering Verification Tools for 21st Century

The paper overviews recent developments in platform-dependent explicit-state LTL model checking.Comment: In Proceedings PDMC 2011, arXiv:1111.006

Brexit and the Cultural Sector

A collaborative ebook on the effects of the Brexit vote on the UK's cultural sector and its agents: "It's not just the economy, stupid! Brexit and the Cultural Sector", edited by Gesa Stedman and Sandra van Lente. Our contributors come from a broad range of cultural and artistic practice and many of them worry about two aspects which have come to the fore in the context of Brexit: the stark social rift which separates the Leave and Remain camps, and the nasty rise of xenophobia and insularity in all its different shapes and forms. Although our authors do not intend to be read or viewed as all-encompassing, and although they differ in respect to the focus they chose for their essays, poems, or statements, one aspect unifies their utterances: passion. Passion for the multi-faceted characteristics of culture, language, exchange, dialogue, border-crossings, passion for an outward-looking approach to both Britain, its different nations, and its neighbours close and far. A passionate fear of what Britain might lose in the process of departing from the EU. And the fear of loss does not concentrate on the loss of revenue or even on the probable obstacles to travel and artistic exchange once Brexit is in place. But the loss of ambivalence and ambiguity, the loss of conflicting opinions, texts, stances, diversity, in short: everything that culture, which is free to find its own forms of expression, is valued for

Solve-RD: systematic pan-European data sharing and collaborative analysis to solve rare diseases.

For the first time in Europe hundreds of rare disease (RD) experts team up to actively share and jointly analyse existing patient\u27s data. Solve-RD is a Horizon 2020-supported EU flagship project bringing together \u3e300 clinicians, scientists, and patient representatives of 51 sites from 15 countries. Solve-RD is built upon a core group of four European Reference Networks (ERNs; ERN-ITHACA, ERN-RND, ERN-Euro NMD, ERN-GENTURIS) which annually see more than 270,000 RD patients with respective pathologies. The main ambition is to solve unsolved rare diseases for which a molecular cause is not yet known. This is achieved through an innovative clinical research environment that introduces novel ways to organise expertise and data. Two major approaches are being pursued (i) massive data re-analysis of \u3e19,000 unsolved rare disease patients and (ii) novel combined -omics approaches. The minimum requirement to be eligible for the analysis activities is an inconclusive exome that can be shared with controlled access. The first preliminary data re-analysis has already diagnosed 255 cases form 8393 exomes/genome datasets. This unprecedented degree of collaboration focused on sharing of data and expertise shall identify many new disease genes and enable diagnosis of many so far undiagnosed patients from all over Europe

Does electronic clinical microbiology results reporting influence medical decision making: a pre- and post-interview study of medical specialists

Background: Clinicians view the accuracy of test results and the turnaround time as the two most important service aspects of the clinical microbiology laboratory. Because of the time needed for the culturing of infectious agents, final hardcopy culture results will often be available too late to have a significant impact on early antimicrobial therapy decisions, vital in infectious disease management. The clinical microbiologist therefore reports to the clinician clinically relevant preliminary results at any moment during the diagnostic process, mostly by telephone. Telephone reporting is error prone, however. Electronic reporting of culture results instead of reporting on paper may shorten the turnaround time and may ensure correct communication of results. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the implementation of electronic reporting of final microbiology results on medical decision making. Methods. In a pre- and post-interview study using a semi-structured design we asked medical specialists in our hospital about their use and appreciation of clinical microbiology results reporting before and after the implementation of an electronic reporting system. Results: Electronic reporting was highly appreciated by all interviewed clinicians. Major advantages were reduction of hardcopy handling and the possibility to review results in relation to other patient data. Use and meaning of microbiology reports differ significantly between medical specialties. Most clinicians need preliminary results for therapy decisions quickly. Therefore, after the implementation of electronic reporting, telephone consultation between clinician and microbiologist remained the key means of communication. Conclusions: Overall, electronic reporting increased the workflow efficiency of the medical specialists, but did not have an impact on their decision-making

3-D cohesive finite element model for application in structural analysis of heavy duty composite pavements

The problem of stiffness degradation in composite pavement systems from localised fracture damage in the quasibrittle cement bound granular mixture are today taken into account only by empirical formulas. These formulas deals with a limited number of materials in a restricted range of design options and would yield unrealistic results in ultimate loading conditions. Cohesive modelling is one of the primary methods to handle localised damage in quasi-brittle materials, e.g., concrete, describing the potential crack in a discrete manner. To increase the versatility of existing methods this paper presents a numerical analysis of the fracture behaviour of cement bound granular mixtures in composite concrete block pavement systems applying a cohesive model. The functionality of the proposed model is compared to experimental investigations of beam bending tests. The pavement is modelled as a slab on grade and parameters influencing the response such as geometry, material parameters and loading position are studied and compared to experimental results. It is found that a cohesive model is suitable for the description of the fracture behaviour of cement bound granular mixtures. Moreover, it can be shown that adequately good prediction of the structural response of composite pavements is obtained for monotonic loading without significant computational cost, making the model applicable for engineering design purpose. It is envisaged that the methodology implemented in this study can be extended and thereby contribute to the ongoing development of rational failure criteria that can replace the empirical formulas currently used in pavement engineering

An intervention to promote physical activity and self-management in people with stable chronic heart failure The Home-Heart-Walk study: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a chronic debilitating condition with economic consequences, mostly because of frequent hospitalisations. Physical activity and adequate self-management capacity are important risk reduction strategies in the management of CHF. The Home-Heart-Walk is a self-monitoring intervention. This model of intervention has adapted the 6-minute walk test as a home-based activity that is self-administered and can be used for monitoring physical functional capacity in people with CHF. The aim of the Home-Heart-Walk program is to promote adherence to physical activity recommendations and improving self-management in people with CHF.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>A randomised controlled trial is being conducted in English speaking people with CHF in four hospitals in Sydney, Australia. Individuals diagnosed with CHF, in New York Heart Association Functional Class II or III, with a previous admission to hospital for CHF are eligible to participate. Based on a previous CHF study and a loss to follow-up of 10%, 166 participants are required to be able to detect a 12-point difference in the study primary endpoint (SF-36 physical function domain).</p> <p>All enrolled participant receive an information session with a cardiovascular nurse. This information session covers key self-management components of CHF: daily weight; diet (salt reduction); medication adherence; and physical activity. Participants are randomised to either intervention or control group through the study randomisation centre after baseline questionnaires and assessment are completed. For people in the intervention group, the research nurse also explains the weekly Home-Heart-Walk protocol. All participants receive monthly phone calls from a research coordinator for six months, and outcome measures are conducted at one, three and six months. The primary outcome of the trial is the physical functioning domain of quality of life, measured by the physical functioning subscale of the Medical Outcome Study Short Form -36. Secondary outcomes include physical functional capacity measured by the standard six minute walk test, self-management capacity, health related quality of life measured by Medical Outcome Study Short Form -36 and Minnesota Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire, self-efficacy and self-care behaviour.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>A self-monitoring intervention that can improve individual's exercise self-efficacy, self-management capacity could have potential significance in improving the management of people with chronic heart failure in community settings.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry 12609000437268</p