Influence of Myeloperoxidase Levels on Periodontal Disease: An Applied Clinical Study

In this trial, we evaluated the influence on plasma and salivary myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels of periodontal health, coronary heart disease (CHD), periodontitis, or both periodontitis and CHD. Clinical and periodontal parameters were collected from periodontitis patients (n = 31), CHD patients (n = 31), patients with both periodontitis and CHD (n = 31), and from healthy patients (n = 31) together with saliva and plasma samples. The median concentrations of salivary and plasma MPO were statistically higher in the CHD patients [plasma: 26.2 (18.2–34.4) ng/mg; saliva 83.2 (77.4–101.5) ng/mL, p < 0.01] and in the periodontitis plus CHD patients [plasma: 27.8 (22.5–35.7) ng/mg; saliva 85.6 (76.5–106.7) ng/mL, p < 0.001] with respect to periodontitis and control patients. Through a univariate regression analysis, c-reactive protein (CRP) and CHD (both p < 0.001) and periodontitis (p = 0.024) were statistically correlated with MPO in plasma. The multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that only CRP was statistically the predictor of MPO in plasma (p < 0.001). The multivariate regression analysis in saliva demonstrated that, regarding MPO levels the only predictors were CRP (p < 0.001) and total cholesterol (p = 0.035). The present study evidenced that subjects with CHD and periodontitis plus CHD had higher plasma and salivary levels of MPO compared to subjects with periodontitis and healthy controls

Defective Function of the Fas Apoptotic Pathway in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Correlates with Age at Onset

The Fas death receptor triggers lymphocyte apoptosis through an extrinsic and an intrinsic pathway involving caspase-8 and -9 respectively. Inherited defects of Fas function are displayed by a proportion of patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) especially those with a second autoimmunity (T1DM-p). This study assesses activation of both pathways in Fas-resistant (FasR) patients to localize the defect. 21/28 (75%) T1DM-p, 14/50 (38%) T1DM, and 7/150 (5%) controls were FasR. Analysis of the 35 FasR patients and 20 Fas-sensitive (FasS) controls showed that caspase-9 activity was lower in T1DM-p and T1DM than in controls, whereas caspase-8 activity was lower in T1DM-p than in T1DM and the controls. Single patient analysis showed that 16/35 patients displayed defective activity of one (FasR1), whereas 19 displayed normal activity of both caspases (FasR2) Ages at onset of diabetes mellitus in T1DM and the second autoimmune disease in T1DM-p were lower in FasR than in FasS patients. All FasR1 patients developed diabetes mellitus before the age of 9 years, whereas a later onset was displayed by 26% FasR2 and 53% FasS patients. These data show that defective Fas function may involve both the extrinsic and intrinsic pathway in T1DM and severity correlates with the precocity of the autoimmune attack and its tissue polyreactivity

COVID-19 in the tonsillectomised population

Objective: Interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and pharyngeal associated lymphoid tissue are thought to influence the manifestations of COVID-19. We aimed to determine whether a previous history of tonsillectomy, as a surrogate indicator of a dysfunctional pharyngeal associated lymphoid tissue, could predict the presentation and course of COVID-19. Methods: Multicentric cross-sectional observational study involving seven hospitals in Northern and Central Italy. Data on the clinical course and signs and symptoms of the infection were collected from 779 adults who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and analysed in relation to previous tonsillectomy, together with demographic and anamnestic data. Results: Patients with previous tonsillectomy showed a greater risk of fever, temperature higher than 39°C, chills and malaise. No significant differences in hospital admissions were found. Conclusions: A previous history of tonsillectomy, as a surrogate indicator of immunological dysfunction of the pharyngeal associated lymphoid tissue, could predict a more intense systemic manifestation of COVID-19. These results could provide a simple clinical marker to discriminate suspected carriers and to delineate more precise prognostic models

Thermal characterization in LRE: a parametric analysis on injector arrangement

The injector layout influence on a gaseous-methane/gaseous-oxygen (GCH4/GOX) flame emanating from a single shear coaxial Liquid Rocket Engine (LRE) injector is presented. More specifically, in this contribution we investigate the flame-flame interaction, by collecting a database of two-dimensional axis-symmetric simulations, modeled with a symmetry boundary condition to represent the presence of a neighbouring identical injector. The geometrical feature varied as parameter is the lateral confinement, representative of the mutual distance between adjacent injectors. The differences between such a flame and a flame bounded by an isothermal wall, on equal geometry and injection conditions, is also presented. The numerical framework chosen for the high-pressure, turbulent, non-premixed flame description is based on a unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (uRANS) approach, coupled to a flamelet model accounting for non-equilibrium and non-adiabatic effects

Development and validation of an efficient numerical framework for Conjugate Heat Transfer in Liquid Rocket Engines

In this contribution, the development and validation of a multi-region, multi-physics solver for turbulent combustion and Conjugate Heat Transfer in Liquid Rocket Engine relevant conditions are presented. The solver tackles simultaneously multiple solid and fluid domains, either mono-species or single-species, and enforces an interface condition guaranteeing temperature and heat flux continuity. Two different coupling strategies are developed and validated, making the solver amenable to the numerical simulation of industrial and laboratory time-scales. Results of the validation process are presented, based on several test cases each one devoted to a specific solver feature

Craniomandibular Disorders in Pregnant Women: An Epidemiological Survey

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder has been reported to be 1.5 to two times more common in women than men. Such a gender-based difference could be attributed to behavioral, hormonal, anatomical, and psychological characteristics. Physiological hormonal differences between genders could be one of the possible explanations for the higher incidence of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) in women. As the plasma level of certain female hormones increases during gestation, it could be assumed that there is a higher prevalence of dysfunctional signs and symptoms in pregnant women. We performed an epidemiological survey based on screening for TMD in a group of 108 pregnant women and found that 72% of young women reported significant signs of TMJ disorders, 9% of the young women reported mild signs of TMJ disorders, and 19% of the included subjects reported no signs or symptoms of TMD. The presence of estrogen receptors in the temporomandibular joint of female baboons could be the basis of an explanation for the increased prevalence of dysfunction in young women reported in the literature and the high feedback we have seen of joint noises in pregnant women. On the basis of the present findings, it could be assumed that gestation period could represent a risk factor for craniomandibular dysfunctions

Simulation of a single-element GCH4/GOx rocket combustor using a non-adiabatic flamelet method

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Theoretical and numerical modeling of multicomponent transcritical diffuses interfaces

In this study, we present a theoretical and numerical framework for simulating transcritical flows under a variety of conditions of interest for aerospace applications. A real multi-component and multi-phase thermodynamic model, based on a cubic equation of state and vapor-liquid equilibrium assumptions, is used to describe transcritical mixtures. The versatility of this model is reported since it can represent at the same time the supercritical states and subcritical stable two-phase states at equilibrium. We emphasize the difference in the mixing behaviors conducted with and without the VLE assumptions. The well-known numerical challenges that arise with the coupling between thermodynamics and governing equations under transcritical conditions are addressed by comparing a fully conservative to a quasi-conservative scheme in the context of density-based solvers while discussing the possibility of employing a pressure-based approach given the typically low-Mach number at play for the cases of interest