Does Early Treatment Improve Clinical Outcome of Class II Patients? A Retrospective Study

The present study was carried out to evaluate the benefits from one-phase Class II Early Treatment (ET) using extraoral forces and functional appliances but without intermaxillary forces and eventual lower leeway space preservation compared to two-phase Class II Late Treatment (LT) with the need for extractions and full fixed appliances as well as lower incisor proclination. The ET group (n = 239, 115 M, 124 F, mean age 10.6 ± 1.2 years), with first premolars not in contact and the second deciduous lower molars preserved, was compared to the LT group (n = 288, 137 M, 151 F, mean age 12.4 ± 1.5 years). The ET group was first treated with headgears, growth guide appliances, or Teuscher activators and, in borderline crowding cases, with lower space maintenance by a lingual arch, lip bumper, or fixed utility arch. The LT group and the second phase of ET were treated with full fixed appliances including intermaxillary forces such as Class II elastics or noncompliance devices; headgear and a growth guide appliance were also used. Cephalograms and plaster models were taken before (T1) and after treatment (T2) to calculate cephalometric changes and space balance discrepancies. The differences between T1 and T2 were analyzed by a t-test for normally distributed data and by the Mann–Whitney Test for nonnormally distributed data at a level of p < 0.05. The groups were defined as statistically homogeneous at T1. A statistical analysis showed that the ET group (mean treatment time 35.3 ± 13.3 months) was significantly associated with a 22.2% lower extraction rate, 15.9% less need for a full fixed appliance, and more than 5◦ less incisor proclination in the nonextraction cases compared to the LT group (mean treatment time 25.9 ± 8.1 months); treatment time significantly increased in the ET group compared to the LT group. Early Class II treatment resulted in a significant treatment effort reduction in more than one third of the patients and less lower incisor proclination, even if it clinically increased treatment time

World Not Lost: Rural Southern Populations in 20th Century Italian Literature and Cinema

With the rise of the Grand Tour in the eighteenth century, the European imagination was imbued with a less than favorable view of Southern Italy, one which ignited an enduring stereotype of its inhabitants as indolent and pleasure-seeking. This stereotype is particularly evident in the representation of Southern agrarian populations, who, in the literature and cinema of last century, are portrayed as uniquely unmodern. As Italy began to rebuild from the detritus of WWII, the publication of Carlo Levi’s Cristo si è fermato a Eboli (1945) contributed to a reshaping of Italian national identity which penetrated the imagined boundaries between North and South. In doing so, Levi’s masterpiece became responsible for “announcing” to the rest of the nation the little-known conditions of the Southern peasant existence. Ultimately, however, Levi’s canonical text further reinforced this image of Southern difference that had already been strongly entrenched in the collective European and Northern Italian imaginations. Other figures of Italy’s literary and filmic postwar era, such as filmmaker Vittorio De Seta and Lucanian poet Rocco Scotellaro herald the intrinsic value and indispensability of the Southern peasant class to Italy’s national identity. This dissertation explores the trajectory of the modern literary representation of Italy's agrarian civilization following WWII. I adopt Gramsci's concept of the "subaltern other," as a framework by which to understand the Southern Question and chart the evolving perspectives on Southerners as expressed in literature, cinema, poetry, and other cultural reproduction before and after Italy’s Unification of 1861. In doing so, I assert that the consideration of the South as retrograde finds origin in the eighteenth-century Grand Tour Reiseliteratur which touted a conveniently Romantic and caricatured image of the South, a colonial perspective that became engrained during Fascism and later seeped into the genre of memoir in the twentieth century. I offer a close textual analysis of works by the principal figures of Italy’s postwar literary, scientific, and cinematic milieu who turned their focus to traditional Southern populations, specifically, Carlo Levi’s Cristo si è fermato a Eboli, Ernesto de Martino’s ethnographies Il mondo magico (1948) and Sud e magia (1959), Vittorio de Seta’s short documentary films from the 1950s, and a selection of Rocco Scotellaro’s poetry as well as his two works of prose, L’uva puttanella and Contadini del Sud (1953). My principal aim is to assert how representations have strengthened a collective imaginary of an “othered’ South; moreover, I endeavor to illustrate how “outside” perspectives of Northerners and wealthy Southerners alike (such as Levi and De Seta) should be considered alongside marginalized, native authors such as Lucanian poet, Rocco Scotellaro. To this end, Chapter 3 argues that Scotellaro’s autobiography, L’uva puttanella is a postcolonial response to Levi’s caricatured representation of the South and that his poetic oeuvre should be considered a distinctly unsentimental attempt to reconcile ancient custom with a modern political voice. Ultimately, I aim to demonstrate that my selection of postwar literary and filmic texts is consistent with the geophilosophical writings of Cassano and Alcaro who champion an epistemological reframing of the South, one that invites us to rethink Southern Italy not in relation to the North, but rather for itself. This juxtaposition illustrates the ways in which literary and cinematic representations have contributed to the enduring marginalization of the South

Occlusal plane changes after molar distalization with a pendulum appliance in growing patients with class II malocclusion : A retrospective cephalometric study

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the skeletal and dental changes after distalization with a pendulum appliance in growing patients with Class II malocclusion, focusing on the occlusal plane (OP). Methods: The sample included 24 patients with Class II malocclusion (10 boys, 14 girls); their mean age was 12.1 years. All patients underwent molar distalization and had 2 serial cephalograms traced at baseline (T1) and after distalization (T2). Angular and linear dental changes were calculated by taking the sella-nasion (SN), palatal plane (PP), and pterygoid vertical as reference. OP inclination was compared with SN, PP, and mandibular plane. The collected data were computed for all the tested variables, and one-way paired t-test was used to assess the significance of the differences between the time points. α was set at 0.05. Multiple linear regressions were used to predict the OP changes. Results: The mean total treatment time was 8±2 months to obtain a super Class I molar relationship. In T1-T2 interval, statistically significant incisor buccal tipping of 5°±3.6° (p<0.05), first molar distal tipping of 8.9°±8.3° (p<0.001), and second molar tipping of 8.2°±8.1° (p<0.001) were observed. The maxillary first and second molars moved significantly backward by 2.8±3.2 mm (p<0.05) and 3.7±2.7 mm (p<0.001), respectively. Only the premolars showed a statistically significant anchorage loss of 2.7±3.3 mm (p<0.05); over-jet increased significantly at 1.3±1.2 mm (p<0.05). Regarding the OP, none of the tested variables showed any statistically significant changes between T1-T2. Conclusion: The pendulum appliance showed efficacy in distalizing the maxillary first and second molars at the expense of anterior anchorage loss. The OP did not show statistically significant changes after molar distalization

PEEK Retainers without CAD-CAM: Simple Solutions for Everyday Challenges

Background: The need to perform occasional or continuous MRI exams and the interference with metal orthodontic appliances might be important and take a primary role during retention since the retention period is significantly longer than orthodontic treatment. Several non-metallic materials were proposed as potential alternatives to perform fixed retainers in orthodontics, but they showed internal limits. Methods: Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) was used in the present clinical report as a fixed orthodontic retainer in the lower arch in order to perform an appliance with mechanical properties comparable to metallic ones but with a higher biocompatibility material and without the need for removal in case of an MRI exam. The retainer wire was handmade in the studio and then shaped to fit the arch. Results: PEEK showed a good capability for constructing a lingual fixed retainer compared to other aesthetic non-metallic and metallic materials. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this study proposes how to easily build a retainer in PEEK and provides a clinical example of how this material can be beneficial

Asymmetric Michael Addition of Dimethyl Malonate to 2 Cyclopenten-1-one Catalyzed by a Heterobimetallic Complex

A. Preparation of GaNa-(S)-BINOL((S)-2) Solution (0.05 M).2 A flame-dried 1L, three-necked round-bottomed flask with 24/40 joints and a 1.5" Teflon coated egg-shaped magnetic stir bar is brought into a nitrogen filled glovebox (Note 2). The flask is charged with gallium (III) chloride (5.0 g, 28.4 mmol, 1.0 equiv) (Notes 3 and 4). The flask is sealed with three rubber septa (one of which is fitted with an internal temperature probe) brought out of the glovebox, and put under positive pressure of nitrogen via a needle attached to a nitrogen line. Another flame-dried 1L, three-necked round-bottomed flask with 24/40 joints and a 1.5" Teflon coated egg-shaped magnetic stir bar is charged with (S)-(-)-1,1'-bi(2-naphthol) ((S)-BINOL, (S)-1) (16.26 g, 56.8 mmol, 2.0 equiv) (Note 5). The flask is sealed with three rubber septa (one of which is fitted with a thermometer) and evacuated and backfilled with nitrogen three times (5 minutes under vacuum per cycle). A flame-dried 500 mL round-bottomed flask with a 24/40 joint and a 1" Teflon coated egg-shaped magnetic stir bar is charged with sodium tert -butoxide (10.92 g, 113.6 mmol, 4.0 equiv) (Note 6). The flask is sealed with a rubber septum and evacuated and backfilled with nitrogen three times (5 minutes under vacuum per cycle)

Treatment outcome of class II malocclusion therapy including extraction of maxillary first molars: a cephalometric comparison between normodivergent and hyperdivergent facial types

Background: The dentoalveolar component of a Class II division 1 malocclusion can be orthodontically treated either with extractions or by distalization of the molars. This study aimed to compare skeletal, dentoalveolar and profile changes in normodivergent and hyperdivergent Class II Division I growing patients orthodontically treated with fixed appliances including maxillary first molar extraction. Methods: Sixty-four patients treated orthodontically with full fixed appliances including maxillary first molar extractions were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into a normodivergent group (Group N; 30° ≤ SN^GoGn < 36°) consisting of 38 patients (17M, 21F; mean age 13.2 ± 1.3 years) and a hyperdivergent (Group H; SN^GoGn ≥ 36°) including 26 patients (12M, 14F; mean age 13.7 ± 1.1 years). Lateral cephalograms were available before (T0) and after treatment (T1) and cephalometric changes were calculated for 10 linear and 13 angular variables. The Shapiro–Wilk test confirmed a normal distribution of data, hence parametric tests were employed. The Student t-test was used to compare groups at baseline. The paired t-test was used to analyze intragroup changes between timepoints, and the Student t-test for intergroup comparisons. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: The Class II division 1 malocclusion was successfully corrected, and the facial profile improved both in normodivergent and hyperdivergent patients. Divergency increased by 0.76 ± 1.99° in Group N (p = 0.02) while it decreased −0.23 ± 2.25° (p = 0.60); These changes were not significant between groups after treatment (p = 0.680). Most dentoskeletal measurements changed significantly within groups but none of them showed statistically significant differences between groups after treatment. Dental and soft tissue changes were in accordance with the biomechanics used for this Class II orthodontic therapy. Discussion: The effect of orthodontic treatment of Class II division 1 malocclusion including extraction of the maxillary first molars in growing patients can be considered clinically equivalent in normodivergent and hyperdivergent patients. For this reason, this orthodontic treatment can be considered a viable option in the armamentarium of the Class II Division I therapy for both facial types

Failed Orthodontic PEEK Retainer: A Scanning Electron Microscopy Analysis and a Possible Failure Mechanism in a Case Report

This study presents a scanning electron microscopy analysis of a failed PEEK retainer in an orthodontic patient. After 15 months of use, the patient reported a gap opening between teeth 41 and 42. The PEEK retainer was removed and sent for electron microscope analysis. To investigate the failure, scanning electron microscopy was employed to assess the microstructure and composition of the retainer at various magnifications. These findings suggest that the failure of the PEEK retainer was multifaceted, implicating factors such as material defects, manufacturing flaws, inadequate design, environmental factors, and patient-related factors. In conclusion, this scanning electron microscopy analysis offers valuable insights into the failure mechanisms of PEEK retainers in orthodontic applications. Further research is necessary to explore preventive strategies and optimize the design and fabrication of PEEK retainers, minimizing the occurrence of failures in orthodontic practice

Landscape of transcription in human cells

Eukaryotic cells make many types of primary and processed RNAs that are found either in specific subcellular compartments or throughout the cells. A complete catalogue of these RNAs is not yet available and their characteristic subcellular localizations are also poorly understood. Because RNA represents the direct output of the genetic information encoded by genomes and a significant proportion of a cell's regulatory capabilities are focused on its synthesis, processing, transport, modification and translation, the generation of such a catalogue is crucial for understanding genome function. Here we report evidence that three-quarters of the human genome is capable of being transcribed, as well as observations about the range and levels of expression, localization, processing fates, regulatory regions and modifications of almost all currently annotated and thousands of previously unannotated RNAs. These observations, taken together, prompt a redefinition of the concept of a gene