329 research outputs found
T7-like bacteriophages to control biofilm forming bacteria
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT
Development of a device to simulate tooth mobility
Objectives: The testing of new materials under simulation of oral conditions is essential in medicine. For simulation of fracture strength different simulation devices are used for test set-up. The results of these in vitro tests differ because there is no standardization of tooth mobility in simulation devices. The aim of this study is to develop a simulation device that depicts the tooth mobility curve as accurately as possible and creates reproducible and scalable mobility curves. Materials and methods: With the aid of published literature and with the help of dentists, average forms of tooth classes were generated. Based on these tooth data, different abutment tooth shapes and different simulation devices were designed with a CAD system and were generated with a Rapid Prototyping system. Then, for all simulation devices the displacement curves were created with a universal testing machine and compared with the tooth mobility curve. With this new information, an improved adapted simulation device was constructed. Results: A simulations device that is able to simulate the mobility curve of natural teeth with high accuracy and where mobility is reproducible and scalable was developed
The Randomized Shortened Dental Arch Study: Tooth Loss
The evidence concerning the management of shortened dental arch (SDA) cases is sparse. This multi-center study was aimed at generating data on outcomes and survival rates for two common treatments, removable dental prostheses (RDP) for molar replacement or no replacement (SDA). The hypothesis was that the treatments lead to different incidences of tooth loss. We included 215 patients with complete molar loss in one jaw. Molars were either replaced by RDP or not replaced, according to the SDA concept. First tooth loss after treatment was the primary outcome measure. This event occurred in 13 patients in the RDP group and nine patients in the SDA group. The respective Kaplan-Meier survival rates at 38 months were 0.83 (95% CI: 0.74-0.91) in the RDP group and 0.86 (95% CI: 0.78-0.95) in the SDA group, the difference being non-significant
Quantum Theory contents insertion in High School curricula
A inovação cientĂfica e tecnolĂłgica do sĂ©culo XX foi esmagadora. Contudo, a nossa experiĂŞncia docente permite-nos afirmar que as aprendizagens na escola secundária estĂŁo longe de acompanhar a evolução que se verifica na sociedade atual. No entanto, já estĂŁo a ser incluĂdos alguns conteĂşdos de FĂsica Moderna nos currĂculos oficiais de vários paĂses, parecendo evidenciar uma preocupação em atualizar a preparação dos jovens para o mundo que os rodeia. Neste artigo relatamos um estudo que fizemos acerca dos currĂculos de FĂsica de alguns paĂses, sobretudo no que diz respeito Ă Teoria Quântica, a grande invenção do sĂ©culo XX, tentando identificar os conteĂşdos selecionados e a maneira como estes se integram nas orientações curriculares gerais.In the XXth century, scientific and technological innovation has been overwhelming. Our teaching
profession lead us to believe that studies in High Schools do not follow the evolution of ideas that characterizes
our modern society. However, some contents of Modern Physics are already included in the official curricula
of several countries, which seem to be worried about the improvement of today’s youth training. In this paper
we report a study made about Physics’ curricula in several countries, emphasizing Quantum Theory issues, the
biggest invention of the XXth century, trying to identify the selected subjects selected and the way they fit into
general curricula orientations
BRCA1 mislocalization leads to aberrant DNA damage response in heterozygous ABRAXAS1 mutation carrier cells
Peer reviewe
Molecular origin of enhanced proton conductivity in anhydrous ionic systems
YesIonic systems with enhanced proton conductivity are widely viewed as promising electrolytes in fuel cells and batteries. Nevertheless, a major challenge toward their commercial applications is determination of the factors controlling the fast proton hopping in anhydrous conditions. To address this issue, we have studied novel proton-conducting materials formed via a chemical reaction of lidocaine base with a series of acids characterized by a various number of proton-active sites. From ambient and high pressure experimental data, we have found that there are fundamental differences in the conducting properties of the examined salts. On the other hand, DFT calculations revealed that the internal proton hopping within the cation structure strongly affects the pathways of mobility of the charge carrier. These findings offer a fresh look on the Grotthuss-type mechanism in protic ionic glasses as well as provide new ideas for the design of anhydrous materials with exceptionally high proton conductivity
Alpha-Photon Coincidence Spectroscopy Along Element 115 Decay Chains
Produced in the reaction 48Ca+243Am, thirty correlated α-decay chains were observed in an experiment conducted at the GSI Helmholzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, Germany. The decay chains are basically consistent with previous findings and are considered to originate from isotopes of element 115 with mass numbers 287, 288, and 289. A set-up aiming specifically for high-resolution charged particle and photon coincidence spectroscopy was placed behind the gas-filled separator TASCA. For the first time, γ rays as well as X-ray candidates were observed in prompt coincidence with the α-decay chains of element 115
A comparison of genomic profiles of complex diseases under different models
Background: Various approaches are being used to predict individual risk to polygenic diseases from data provided
by genome-wide association studies. As there are substantial differences between the diseases investigated, the data
sets used and the way they are tested, it is difficult to assess which models are more suitable for this task.
Results: We compared different approaches for seven complex diseases provided by the Wellcome Trust Case
Control Consortium (WTCCC) under a within-study validation approach. Risk models were inferred using a variety of
learning machines and assumptions about the underlying genetic model, including a haplotype-based approach with
different haplotype lengths and different thresholds in association levels to choose loci as part of the predictive
model. In accordance with previous work, our results generally showed low accuracy considering disease heritability
and population prevalence. However, the boosting algorithm returned a predictive area under the ROC curve (AUC)
of 0.8805 for Type 1 diabetes (T1D) and 0.8087 for rheumatoid arthritis, both clearly over the AUC obtained by other
approaches and over 0.75, which is the minimum required for a disease to be successfully tested on a sample at risk,
which means that boosting is a promising approach. Its good performance seems to be related to its robustness to
redundant data, as in the case of genome-wide data sets due to linkage disequilibrium.
Conclusions: In view of our results, the boosting approach may be suitable for modeling individual predisposition to
Type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis based on genome-wide data and should be considered for more in-depth
research.This work was supported by the Spanish Secretary of Research, Development
and Innovation [TIN2010-20900-C04-1]; the Spanish Health Institute Carlos III
[PI13/02714]and [PI13/01527] and the Andalusian Research Program under
project P08-TIC-03717 with the help of the European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF). The authors are very grateful to the reviewers, as they believe that
their comments have helped to substantially improve the quality of the paper
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