Nonlinear dependency of tooth movement on force system directions

Moment-to-force ratios (M:F) define the type of tooth movement. Typically, the relationship between M:F and tooth movement has been analyzed in a single plane. Hence, limited information is available to evaluate a load system elicited by an appliance in 3D. Here, to increment 3-D tooth movement theory, we test the hypothesis that the mathematical relationships between M:F and tooth movement are distinct depending on force system directions. A finite element model of a first maxillary premolar, scaled to average tooth dimensions, was constructed based on a CBCT scan. We conducted finite element analysis (FEA) of the M:F and tooth movement relationships, represented by the projected axis of rotation (C.Rot) in each plane, for 510 different Loads. We confirmed that an hyperbolic equation relates the Distance (C.Res-C.Rot) and M:F; however, the constant of proportionality ("k") varied with non-linearly the force direction. With a force applied parallel to the tooth long axis, "k" was 12 times higher than with a force parallel to the mesio-distal direction and 7 times higher than with a force parallel to the bucco-lingual direction. The M:F has differential influence on tooth movement depending on load directions, and it is an incomplete parameter to describe the quality of an orthodontic load system if not associated with force and moment directions. Moreover, incremental differences in M:F in each plane have different incremental effects on C.Rot position

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Dairy herd management scoring system applied to herds with different size and characteristics

Assessing herd management is an important part of any herd health programme and scoring systems based on questionnaires showed to be useful to identify the critical points and to focus the preventive measures. The results of a field study on applying a questionnaire for risk assessment of intramammary infections and subclinical mastitis in an area characterized by a large variability of herd size and management were reported. Fifty-five dairy herds in Northern Italy were included in this study. In each herd, a trained practitioner interviewed the farmer using a questionnaire on herd management, at the same time quarter milk samples were taken from lactating cows. For each area of interest (heifer housing, lactating cow housing, dry cow housing, calving management, milking management and therapy management) scores obtained from questionnaire analysis were classified in three or four classes to allow the assessment in herdswith different combination of management systems. The results of this study confirm that questionnaires are a powerful tool to assess herd management. Moreover, the use of scores and their grouping in classes allow analysing the relationship between herd management and udder health, even when there are large differences among herds

Lacuna ossea emorragica, descrizione di un casoSolitary bone cyst, a case report.

Lo scopo di questo lavoro è quello di descrivere un caso di una cisti ossea traumatica in un paziente di 11 anni. La lesione è stata diagnosticata dopo aver consigliato di eseguire una ortopantomografia di controllo. La sede di insorgenza della lesione è tra II premolare e I molare inferiori di sinistra,in contiguità con gli apici degli elementi dentari. Dalla visione dell’ OPT i denti in esame erano stati precedentemente devitalizzati, ciò faceva supporre una cisti radicolare, ma al momento dell’ atto chirurgico appariva una lesione,senza parete,contenente liquido ematico. Il capitolo delle lesioni ossee radiotrasparenti è alquanto vasto e solo un attento esame clinico,anamnestico ed istologico possono coadiuvarci nella giusta diagnosi

Mining Invariants from SaaS Application Logs

The increasing popularity of Software as a Service (SaaS) stresses the need of solutions to predict failures and avoid service interruptions, which invariably result in SLA violations and severe loss of revenue. A promising approach to continuously monitor the correct functioning of the system is to check the execution conformance to a set of invariants, i.e., properties that must hold when the system is deemed to run correctly. In this paper we propose a framework and a tool to automatically discover invariants from application logs and to online detect their violation. The framework has been applied on 9 months of log events from a real-world SaaS application. Results show that the proposed tool is able to automatically select 12 invariants with a stringent goodness of fit criteria out of more than 500 potential relationships. We also show the usefulness of our approach to detect runtime issues from logs in the form of violations of selected invariants, corresponding to silent errors that usually go unnoticed by the system maintenance personnel, even if they could represent symptoms of upcoming service failures

Biomechanical Effects of Different Auxiliary-Aligner Designs for the Extrusion of an Upper Central Incisor: A Finite Element Analysis

To evaluate the biomechanical effects of four different auxiliary-aligner combinations for the extrusion of a maxillary central incisor and to define the most effective design through finite element analysis (FEA)

Efficacy and safety of peripheral blood stem cell mobilization and collection: a single-center experience in 190 allogeneic donors.

Background: In the past two decades peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) have increasingly replaced marrow as stem cells source for allogeneic transplantation. The PBSC donation initially applied only to related donors; later, due to the safety of the procedure, it was extended to unrelated donors. Study design and methods: We have retrospectively collected data regarding mobilization, collection, and short- and long-term follow-up of 190 consecutive donors, 174 related and 16 unrelated. All donors followed a standard protocol for mobilization and underwent at least one PBSC collection. Follow-up in related donors was performed every 4 months in the first year and then annually, with no time limits, while unrelated donors were monitored for 10 years. Results: All 190 donors completed the established mobilization protocol. The mobilizing capacity was significantly greater in males and in donors less than 60 years old. No case of major toxicity by granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor was found, nor thromboembolic events. The total dose of CD34+/recipient (median 5.8 7 106/kg recipient/body weight) was statistically correlated with age, CD34+ before and after mobilization, and collection efficiency. Compliance to follow-up was 66%, with a significant difference between related and unrelated (63% vs. 100%, p = 0.03). During follow-up no significant abnormalities in hematologic variables or hematologic malignancies were reported. Conclusion: Our study allowed us to define the PBSC donation as "a safe procedure for the donors," with short- and long-term effects limited to a small percentage of donors and "effective for the recipient," due to the dose of collected CD34+, adequate for transplantation in almost all recipient