The relationship between facial skeletal class and expert-rated interpersonal skill: an epidemiological survey on young Italian adults

BACKGROUND: The facial region plays a major role in determining physical attractiveness, so we assessed the hypothesis that the capability of successfully managing interpersonal relationships in young adults might be related to the facial skeletal class. METHODS: 1,014 young subjects applying to the Military Academy of Pozzuoli, Italy, were enrolled and the cephalometric evaluation was performed by calculating the angular relationships between skeletal points localized by the lateral cephalogram of the face, sorting the subjects in three groups corresponding to each major facial skeletal class. Concurrently, the subjects were evaluated by a team of psychiatrists administering the MMPI-2 test followed by a brief colloquium with each candidate, in order to identify those subjects characterized by low skills for managing interpersonal relationships. RESULTS: According to the psychiatric evaluation about 20% of the subjects were considered potentially unable to manage successfully interpersonal relationships (NS). Males displayed an about two-fold increased risk of being NS. No differences were shown in the distribution of the NS male subjects among the three different facial skeletal classes. On the other hand, NS females displayed a different distribution among the three facial skeletal classes, with a trend of about two-fold and four-fold, respectively, for those subjects belonging to classes II and III, respect to those belonging to class I. CONCLUSION: Females may be more sensitive to physical factors determining beauty, such as the facial morphology certainly is. This finding appears to be interesting especially when thinking about possible orthodontic interventions, although further study is certainly needed to confirm these results

Particle release from implantoplasty of dental implants and impact on cells

Abstract: Background: With increasing numbers of dental implants placed annually, complications such as peri-implantitis and the subsequent periprosthetic osteolysis are becoming a major concern. Implantoplasty, a commonly used treatment of peri-implantitis, aims to remove plaque from exposed implants and reduce future microbial adhesion and colonisation by mechanically modifying the implant surface topography, delaying re-infection/colonisation of the site. This in vitro study aims to investigate the release of particles from dental implants and their effects on human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs), following an in vitro mock implantoplasty procedure with a diamond burr. Materials and methods: Commercially available implants made from grade 4 (commercially pure, CP) titanium (G4) and grade 5 Ti-6Al-4 V titanium (G5) alloy implants were investigated. Implant particle compositions were quantified by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) following acid digestion. HGFs were cultured in presence of implant particles, and viability was determined using a metabolic activity assay. Results: Microparticles and nanoparticles were released from both G4 and G5 implants following the mock implantoplasty procedure. A small amount of vanadium ions were released from G5 particles following immersion in both simulated body fluid and cell culture medium, resulting in significantly reduced viability of HGFs after 10 days of culture. Conclusion: There is a need for careful evaluation of the materials used in dental implants and the potential risks of the individual constituents of any alloy. The potential cytotoxicity of G5 titanium alloy particles should be considered when choosing a device for dental implants. Additionally, regardless of implant material, the implantoplasty procedure can release nanometre-sized particles, the full systemic effect of which is not fully understood. As such, authors do not recommend implantoplasty for the treatment of peri-implantitis

SANI definition of Clinical Remission in Severe Asthma: a Delphi consensus

: Severe Asthma affects about 10% of the asthmatic population, and it is characterized by a low lung function and a higher count of blood leucocytes, mainly eosinophils. To date, various definitions are used in clinical practice and in the literature to identify asthma remission: clinical remission, inflammatory remission, and complete remission. The aim of this work is to highlight a consensus for asthma remission using a Delphi method. In the context of SANI (Severe Asthma Network Italy), accounting for 57 Severe Asthma Centers and more then 2200 patients, a Board of six expert drafted a list of candidate statements in a questionnaire, which has been revised to minimize redundancies and ensure clear and consistent wording for the first round (R1) of the analysis. 32 statements have been included in the R1 questionnaire, and then submitted to a panel of 80 experts, which used a 5-points Likert scale to measure their agreement to each statement. Then, an Interim Analysis of R1 data have been performed, items were discussed and considered to produce a consistent questionnaire for the round 2 (R2) of the analysis. After this, the Board set the R2 questionnaire, which included only the important key topics. Panelists have been asked to vote the statements in the R2 questionnaire afterwards. During R2, the criteria of complete clinical remission (the absence of need for OCS, symptoms, exacerbations/attacks, and a pulmonary function stability) and those of partial clinical remission (the absence of need for OCS, and 2 out of 3 criteria: the absence of symptoms, exacerbations/attacks, and a pulmonary stability) were confirmed. This SANI Delphi Analysis defined a valuable, independent and easy to use tool to test the efficacy of different treatments in patients with severe asthma enrolled into the SANI registry

Molecular Typing and Phenotype Characterization of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Blood in Taiwan

BACKGROUND: Staphylococcus aureus causes a variety of severe infections such as bacteremia and sepsis. At present, 60-80% of S. aureus isolates from Taiwan are methicillin resistant (MRSA). It has been shown that certain MRSA clones circulate worldwide. The goals of this study were to identify MRSA clones in Taiwan and to correlate the molecular types of isolates with their phenotypes. METHODS: A total of 157 MRSA isolates from bacteremic patients were collected from nine medical centers. They were typed based on polymorphisms in agr, SCCmec, MLST, spa, and dru. Phenotypes characterized included Panton-Valentine leucocidin (pvl), inducible macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B resistance (MLSBi), vancomycin (VA) and daptomycin (DAP) minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC), and superantigenic toxin gene profiles. Difference between two consecutive samples was determined by Mann-Whitney-U test, and difference between two categorical variables was determined by Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Four major MRSA clone complexes CC1, CC5, CC8, and CC59 were found, including 4 CC1, 9 CC5, 111 CC8, and 28 CC59 isolates. These clones had the following molecular types: CC1: SCCmecIV and ST573; CC5: SCCmecII and ST5; CC8: SCCmecIII, ST239, and ST241, and CC59: SCCmecIV, SCCmecV(T), ST59, and ST338. The toxin gene profiles of these clones were CC1: sec-seg-(sei)-sell-selm-(seln)-selo; CC5: sec-seg-sei-sell-selm-(seln)-selp-tst1; CC8: sea-selk-selq, and CC59: seb-selk-selq. Most isolates with SCCmecV(T), ST59, spat437, and dru11 types were pvl(+) (13 isolates), while multidrug resistance (≥4 antimicrobials) were associated with SCCmecIII, ST239, spa t037, agrI, and dru14 (119 isolates) (p<0.001). One hundred and twenty four isolates with the following molecular types had higher VA MIC: SCCmecII and SCCmecIII; ST5, ST239, and ST241; spa t002, t037, and t421; dru4, dru10, dru12, dru13, and dru14 (p<0.05). No particular molecular types were found to be associated with MLSBi phenotype. CONCLUSIONS: Four major MRSA clone complexes were found in Taiwan. Further studies are needed to delineate the evolution of MRSA isolates