Accuracy of Cephalometric Analyses and Tooth Movements of Conventional vs CBCT-Generated Cephalograms

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare Ricketts and American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) cephalometric measurements and tooth movements from tracings between conventional lateral cephalograms (Sirona Orthophos XG Plus, Charlotte, NC) and CBCT-generated cephalograms (NewTom 5G; QR srl, Verona, Italy). Materials and Methods: Patients who had bilateral Angle’s class II molar were evaluated. Pre-treatment (T1) and post-treatment (T2) conventional lateral cephalograms (CLCs) and CBCT-generated lateral cephalograms (CBLCs) were traced in Quick Ceph Studio using Ricketts and ABO cephalometric analyses. Linear and angular cephalometric measurements from tracings were compared between the two radiographic modalities using one-sample Wilcoxon signed rank test (=0.05) and intraclass correlation coefficient. Ricketts superimpositions between CLCs T1 and CLCs T2, CBLCs T1 and CBLCs T2, and CBLCs T1 and CLCs T2 were also measured to assess molar and incisor movements for the maxillary and mandibular arch. Comparison between the three groups was completed using Friedman’s two-way analysis of variance of ranks and pairwise comparison, adjusted by the Bonferroni correction (=0.05). Results: Records of thirty-eight patients were used in this study. Ricketts and ABO cephalometric measurements between CLCs and CBLCs were statistically significant for 8 out of 26 landmarks. Ricketts superimposition showed that directional tooth movements (DTMs) between the two radiographic modalities were not statistically significant. Total tooth movements (TTMs) showed statistical significance at maxillary molar furcation and maxillary molar root. All statistical significance found in this study did not seem to reach clinical significance. Conclusions: Statistical significance for cephalometric measurements with landmark identification at porion, orbitale, gonion, gnathion, nasion, and pterygomaxillary point was found. DTMs of CLCs and CBLCs were comparable to one another. TTMs did however show statistical significance, which was potentially due to the superimposition of radiopaque structures and the greater density in the region of the maxillary first molar

A Review of Affective Design towards Video Games

AbstractOver the past decade, gaming has become a mainstream form of entertainment. It is one of the fastest growing forms of entertainment and has become a big business, easily rivaling the film industry in terms of consumer spending. However, due to the rapid growth of technology and competitiveness in the industry, game designers are increasingly faced with the challenge of making their games attractive and engaging to its intended users. Over the years, practitioners and researchers in the human-computer interaction (HCI) community have placed a lot of effort in developing processes and methods for use in interdisciplinary fields. An effective user-centered gaming interface plays an important role in the gaming industry and provides valuable contribution in the HCI practice. This is because it supports the mental communication and emotional response of its audiences that is the gamers, thus improving the interaction modes between the user and product. Hence, designing games in a manner that provides the same user experience to all players, irrespective of player motivation, experience or skill is becoming the focus of modern game research. This paper will attempt to address and review the literature on affective design elements, principles and methodologies that are suitable for the video games industry

Radiation dose and cancer risk from pediatric CT examinations on 64-slice CT: A phantom study

Objective: To measure the radiation dose from CT scans in an anthropomorphic phantom using a 64-slice MDCT, and to estimate the associated cancer risk. Materials and methods: Organ doses were measured with a 5-year-old phantom and thermoluminescent dosimeters. Four protocols; head CT, thorax CT, abdomen CT and pelvis CT were studied. Cancer risks, in the form of lifetime attributable risk (LAR) of cancer incidence, were estimated by linear extrapolation using the organ radiation doses and the LAR data. Results: The effective doses for head, thorax, abdomen and pelvis CT, were 0.7 mSv, 3.5 mSv, 3.0 mSv, 1.3 mSv respectively. The organs with the highest dose were; for head CT, salivary gland (22.33 mGy); for thorax CT, breast (7.89 mGy); for abdomen CT, colon (6.62 mGy); for pelvis CT, bladder (4.28 mGy). The corresponding LARs for boys and girls were 0.015-0.053% and 0.034-0.155% respectively. The organs with highest LARs were; for head CT, thyroid gland (0.003% for boys, 0.015% for girls); for thorax CT, lung for boys (0.014%) and breast for girls (0.069%); for abdomen CT, colon for boys (0.017%) and lung for girls (0.016%); for pelvis CT, bladder for both boys and girls (0.008%). Conclusion: The effective doses from these common pediatric CT examinations ranged from 0.7 mSv to 3.5 mSv and the associated lifetime cancer risks were found to be up to 0.16%, with some organs of higher radiosensitivity including breast, thyroid gland, colon and lungs. © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.postprin

Validation of the Malay version of the p-QOL questionnaire

Introduction This study aimed to translate and validate the P-QOL questionnaire in the Malay language. Methods The P-QOL questionnaire was translated into the Malay language and subsequently back-translated to English. Testretest reliability and internal consistency were tested. All patients who visited the gynecology outpatient clinic of UKMMC, UMMC and IIUM between January 2016 and May 2017 completed the P-QOL questionnaires and were assessed for POP-Q staging. Results One hundred twenty patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse and 180 asymptomatic patients were included. The Cronbach’s alpha for each domain was > 0.70, which confirmed that there was a highly acceptable internal consistency. The value varied between 0.88 (role limitation) and 0.912 (sleep/energy). Test-retest reliability showed a significant correlation between the total scores for each domain (p < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between P-QOL domain scores and vaginal examination findings (POP-Q). With a higher POP-Q stage, a higher impact on the quality of life was detected in symptomatic patients. The total scores from all domains were significantly higher in symptomatic patients. Conclusion The Malay translated version of the P-QOL questionnaire is a reliable, consistent, and valid instrument for assessing the severity of the symptoms and impact on the quality of life among women with uterovaginal prolapse. It is easily understood, administered, and self-completed by patient

Prognostication of serial post-intensity-modulated radiation therapy undetectable plasma EBV DNA for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

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Efeitos do tratamento com captopril e losartan em ratos Wistar e ratos espontaneamente hipertensos submetidos a hipertensão arterial pulmonar com monocrotalina

A hipertensão arterial pulmonar (HAP) é uma doença que se inicia com o aumento da resistência das arteríolas pulmonares. Após a sua instalação, sucedem-se várias alterações sobre os sistemas cardiovascular, respiratório e autonômico. Apesar dos trabalhos disponíveis na literatura, o desenvolvimento desta doença em modelos experimentais de hipertensão arterial sistêmica permanece ainda por ser estudado, bem como os efeitos terapêuticos de bloqueadores do sistema renina-angiotensina na reversão desta doença. Os objetivos deste estudo foram avaliar os efeitos cardiovasculares, autonômicos e respiratórios promovidos pela HAP induzida pela monocrotalina (MCT) em ratos Wistar e SHR e os efeitos terapêuticos do tratamento crônico com captopril e losartan na reversão da HAP. Para tanto, foram utilizados ratos Wistar (150-180g) e SHR (150-180g), divididos nos seguintes grupos: Wistar controle tratado com salina ou MCT (WIS-CON-SAL e WIS-CON-MCT, respectivamente), SHR controle tratado com salina ou MCT (SHR-CON-SAL e SHR-CON-MCT, respectivamente), Wistar tratados com Captopril + salina ou MCT (WIS-CPT-SAL e WIS-CPT-MCT, respectivamente), SHR tratados com Captopril + salina ou MCT (SHR-CPT-SAL e SHR-MCT-CPT, respectivamente), Wistar tratados com Losartan + salina ou MCT (WIS-LOS-SAL e WIS-LOS-MCT, respectivamente), SHR tratados com Losartan + salina ou MCT (SHR-LOS-SAL e SHR-LOS-MCT, respectivamente). Os animais tratados com MCT receberam uma única injeção subcutânea (60 mg/Kg SC) e os controles receberam o mesmo volume de salina (~0,8 mL). Ao término da 3ª senama, quando os animais MCTs controle apresentaram HAP, foi feito o tratamento com captopril (100 mg/Kg/mL) ou losartan (30 mg/Kg/mL) na água de beber por 2 semanas no volume diário de 30 mL. Após o tratamento com captopril ou losartan, foram realizados os registros cardiovasculares, respiratórios, gasométricos e a histologia pulmonar. Os resultados mostraram um significativo aumento do Índice Pulmonar nos animais controles tratados com MCT (Wistar e SHR) quando comparados com seus respectivos controles. As pressões ventriculares (PSmáx, PDI e PDF) também foram significativamente aumentadas nos grupos MCTs, bem como os valores de pressão arterial sistólica and diastólica, frequência cardíaca, pressão de pulso e labilidade da pressão arterial média. O tratamento com captopril normalizou todos os parâmetros estudados, no entanto, o losartan se mostrou ineficiente em normalizar os parâmetros hemodinâmicos. As análises morfométricas mostraram um espessamento da camada média dos dos ramos distais da artéria pulmonar e uma diminuição do lúmen nos grupos tratados com MCT. O tratamento com captopril e losartan normalizou estes parâmetros, embora o grupo tratado com losartan tenha sido menos eficaz que o captopril, pois os tratamentos mostraram diferenças significativas entre si. Quanto a avaliação autonômica, os animais MCT mostraram aumento do tônus simpático cardíaco e redução do tônus parassimpático cardíaco. Novamente, o tratamento com captopril normalizou estes parâmetros, enquanto que o losartan foi ineficaz em normalizá-los. Quanto aos parâmetros respiratórios, observamos aumentos no volume corrente, na frequência respiratória, na ventilação minuto e na ventilação alveolar dos animais controles tratados com MCT. Apenas o tratamento com captopril normalizou estes parâmetros. A avaliação gasométrica mostrou que os grupos controles tratados com MCT apresentaram redução da pressão parcial de O2 (hipóxia), aumento da pressão parcial de CO2 (hipercapnia), queda da porcentagem de saturação da hemoglobina (% Hb), aumento do bicarbonato (HCO3-) e acidose. O tratamento com captopril normalizou todos os parâmetros gasométricos, enquanto que o mesmo não foi observado com o losartan para os animais SHR submetidos a HAP. Nossos resultados mostraram que a MCT induziu ao quadro de HAP nos animais Wistar e SHR, bem como importantes alterações cardiovasculares, autonômicas, respiratórias, gasométricas e morfológicas pulmonares. Os tratamentos com captopril e losartan foram capazes de reverter a HAP em animais Wistar e SHR, porém, o captopril se mostrou mais eficiente em normalizar esses parâmetros quando comparados ao losartan. Estes resultados sugerem que o uso de bloqueadores do sistema renina angiotensina pode ser uma opção terapêutica para o tratamento da HAP. Palavras chave: hipertensão arterial pulmonar; monocrotalina; SHR; captopril; losartan

Deleted in Liver Cancer 2 (DLC2) Was Dispensable for Development and Its Deficiency Did Not Aggravate Hepatocarcinogenesis

DLC2 (deleted in liver cancer 2), a Rho GTPase-activating protein, was previously shown to be underexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma and has tumor suppressor functions in cell culture models. We generated DLC2-deficient mice to investigate the tumor suppressor role of DLC2 in hepatocarcinogenesis and the function of DLC2 in vivo. In this study, we found that, unlike homologous DLC1, which is essential for embryonic development, DLC2 was dispensable for embryonic development and DLC2-deficient mice could survive to adulthood. We also did not observe a higher incidence of liver tumor formation or diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in DLC2-deficient mice. However, we observed that DLC2-deficient mice were smaller and had less adipose tissue than the wild type mice. These phenotypes were not due to reduction of cell size or defect in adipogenesis, as observed in the 190B RhoGAP-deficient mouse model. Together, these results suggest that deficiency in DLC2 alone does not enhance hepatocarcinogenesis

Electronic Cigarette Advertising Impacts Adversely on Smoking Behaviour Within a London Student Cohort: A Cross-Sectional Structured Survey.

INTRODUCTION: In contrast to tobacco smoking, electronic cigarette ("vaping") advertisement had been approved in the United Kingdom (UK) in January 2013. Currently, there are an estimated 3.2 million UK e-cigarette users. The impact of e-cigarette advertisement on tobacco use has not been studied in detail. We hypothesised that e-cigarette advertisement impacts on conventional smoking behaviour. METHODS: A cross-sectional structured survey assessed the impact of e-cigarette advertising on the perceived social acceptability of cigarette and e-cigarette smoking and on using either cigarettes or e-cigarettes (on a scale of 1 to 5/'not at all' to 'a lot'). The survey was administered between January to March 2015 to London university students, before and after viewing 5 UK adverts including a TV commercial. RESULTS: Data were collected from 106 participants (22 ± 2 years, 66% male), comprising cigarette smokers (32%), non-smokers (54%) and ex-smokers (14%). This included vapers (16%), non-vapers (77%) and ex-vapers (7%). After viewing the adverts, smokers (2.6 ± 1.0 vs. 3.8 ± 1.1, p = 0.001) and non-smokers (3.2 ± 0.7 vs. 3.7 ± 0.8, p = 0.007) felt smoking was more socially acceptable, compared to before viewing them. Participants were more likely to try both e-cigarettes (1.90 ± 1.03 to 3.09 ± 1.11, p < 0.001) and conventional cigarettes (1.73 ± 0.83 to 2.27 ± 1.13, p < 0.001) after viewing the adverts compared to before. Vapers were less likely to smoke both an e-cigarette, and a conventional cigarette after viewing the adverts. CONCLUSION: E-cigarette advertising encourages both e-cigarette and conventional cigarette use in young smokers and non-smokers. The adverts increase the social acceptability of smoking without regarding the importance of public health campaigns that champion smoking cessation

Decidual-Secreted Factors Alter Invasive Trophoblast Membrane and Secreted Proteins Implying a Role for Decidual Cell Regulation of Placentation

Inadequate or inappropriate implantation and placentation during the establishment of human pregnancy is thought to lead to first trimester miscarriage, placental insufficiency and other obstetric complications. To create the placental blood supply, specialized cells, the ‘extravillous trophoblast’ (EVT) invade through the differentiated uterine endometrium (the decidua) to engraft and remodel uterine spiral arteries. We hypothesized that decidual factors would regulate EVT function by altering the production of EVT membrane and secreted factors. We used a proteomics approach to identify EVT membrane and secreted proteins regulated by decidual cell factors. Human endometrial stromal cells were decidualized in vitro by treatment with estradiol (10−8 M), medroxyprogesterone acetate (10−7 M) and cAMP (0.5 mM) for 14 days. Conditioned media (CM) was collected on day 2 (non-decidualized CM) and 14 (decidualized CM) of treatment. Isolated primary EVT cultured on Matrigel™ were treated with media control, non-decidualized or decidualized CM for 16 h. EVT CM was fractionated for proteins <30 kDa using size-exclusion affinity nanoparticles (SEAN) before trypsin digestion and HPLC-MS/MS. 43 proteins produced by EVT were identified; 14 not previously known to be expressed in the placenta and 12 which had previously been associated with diseases of pregnancy including preeclampsia. Profilin 1, lysosome associated membrane glycoprotein 1 (LAMP1), dipeptidyl peptidase 1 (DPP1/cathepsin C) and annexin A2 expression by interstitial EVT in vivo was validated by immunhistochemistry. Decidual CM regulation in vitro was validated by western blotting: decidualized CM upregulated profilin 1 in EVT CM and non-decidualized CM upregulated annexin A2 in EVT CM and pro-DPP1 in EVT cell lysate. Here, non-decidualized factors induced protease expression by EVT suggesting that non-decidualized factors may induce a pro-inflammatory cascade. Preeclampsia is a pro-inflammatory condition. Overall, we have demonstrated the potential of a proteomics approach to identify novel proteins expressed by EVT and to uncover the mechanisms leading to disease states

Full-length human placental sFlt-1-e15a isoform induces distinct maternal phenotypes of preeclampsia in mice

<div><p>Objective</p><p>Most anti-angiogenic preeclampsia models in rodents utilized the overexpression of a truncated soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) not expressed in any species. Other limitations of mouse preeclampsia models included stressful blood pressure measurements and the lack of postpartum monitoring. We aimed to 1) develop a mouse model of preeclampsia by administering the most abundant human placental sFlt-1 isoform (hsFlt-1-e15a) in preeclampsia; 2) determine blood pressures in non-stressed conditions; and 3) develop a survival surgery that enables the collection of fetuses and placentas and postpartum (PP) monitoring.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Pregnancy status of CD-1 mice was evaluated with high-frequency ultrasound on gestational days (GD) 6 and 7. Telemetry catheters were implanted in the carotid artery on GD7, and their positions were verified by ultrasound on GD13. Mice were injected through tail-vein with adenoviruses expressing hsFlt-1-e15a (n = 11) or green fluorescent protein (GFP; n = 9) on GD8/GD11. Placentas and pups were delivered by cesarean section on GD18 allowing PP monitoring. Urine samples were collected with cystocentesis on GD6/GD7, GD13, GD18, and PPD8, and albumin/creatinine ratios were determined. GFP and hsFlt-1-e15a expression profiles were determined by qRT-PCR. Aortic ring assays were performed to assess the effect of hsFlt-1-e15a on endothelia.</p><p>Results</p><p>Ultrasound predicted pregnancy on GD7 in 97% of cases. Cesarean section survival rate was 100%. Mean arterial blood pressure was higher in hsFlt-1-e15a-treated than in GFP-treated mice (∆MAP = 13.2 mmHg, p = 0.00107; GD18). Focal glomerular changes were found in hsFlt-1-e15a -treated mice, which had higher urine albumin/creatinine ratios than controls (109.3±51.7μg/mg vs. 19.3±5.6μg/mg, p = 4.4x10^-2; GD18). Aortic ring assays showed a 46% lesser microvessel outgrowth in hsFlt-1-e15a-treated than in GFP-treated mice (p = 1.2x10^-2). Placental and fetal weights did not differ between the groups. One mouse with liver disease developed early-onset preeclampsia-like symptoms with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>A mouse model of late-onset preeclampsia was developed with the overexpression of hsFlt-1-e15a, verifying the <i>in vivo</i> pathologic effects of this primate-specific, predominant placental sFlt-1 isoform. HsFlt-1-e15a induced early-onset preeclampsia-like symptoms associated with IUGR in a mouse with a liver disease. Our findings support that hsFlt-1-e15a is central to the terminal pathway of preeclampsia, and it can induce the full spectrum of symptoms in this obstetrical syndrome.</p></div