SALIVARY PARAMETERS ALTERED IN SMOKERS AND POSSIBLE CORRELATIONS WITH THE CARIOGENIC ACTIVITY

Objectives. Our research team aimed to evaluate the effects smoking has on several salivary parameters and to assess if there are any correlations between smoking and the cariogenic activity. Material and method. The present research included a total of 35 participants. Saliva was collected from every participant to the study. Salivary chloride, calcium and potassium levels, as well as salivary flux and pH were determined for all subjects. Results. Our results showed significantly lower salivary flux and pH levels in smokers compared to nonsmokers (p < 0.01). Chloride, calcium and potassium we found to have higher concentrations in smokers compared to the control group. However, a statistical significance could be found only for calcium (p = 0.02). Moreover, we were able to find in the smokers group a positive correlation in smokers between salivary chloride levels and cariogenic activity as well as a negative correlation could be found in smokers between salivary calcium levels and the cariogenic activity Conclusions. The results of the present study show that smoking alters salivary parameters and that these modifications can favour the development of dental caries

Mixed-initiative Control for Teaching and Learning in Disciple

Disciple is an approach to agent development by subject matter experts where an expert teaches a Disciple agent his or her problem solving expertise in a way that resembles how a person teaches another person. This paper presents an overview of the teaching and learning process during which the expert helps Disciple to learn and Disciple helps the expert to teach it, emphasizing the mixed-initiative control of the component agents of Disciple, particularly the Modeling agent, the Rule Learning agent and the Exception-based Ontology Learning agent. It discusses current implementations, evaluation results

Automatic Knowledge Acquisition from Subject Matter Experts

This paper presents current results in developing a practical approach, methodology and tool, for the development of knowledge bases and agents by subject matter experts, with limited assistance from knowledge engineers. This approach is based on mixed-initiative reasoning that integrates the complementary knowledge and reasoning styles of a subject matter expert and a learning agent, and on a division of responsibilities for those elements of knowledge engineering for which they have the most aptitude. The approach was evaluated at the US Army War College, demonstrating very good results and a high potential for overcoming the knowledge acquisition bottleneck. 1

Parallel Knowledge Base Development by Subject Matter Experts

Abstract. This paper presents an experiment of parallel knowledge base development by subject matter experts, performed as part of the DARPA’s Rapid Knowledge Formation Program. It introduces the Disciple-RKF development environment used in this experiment and proposes design guidelines for systems that support authoring of problem solving knowledge by subject matter experts. Finally, it compares Disciple-RKF with the other development environments from the same DARPA program, providing further support for the proposed guidelines.

1. DISCIPLE-RKF LEARNING AGENT

This paper presents Disciple-RKF, a learning agent shell that can be used by subject matter experts, with limited assistance from knowledge engineers, to develop knowledge-based agents incorporating their expertise

Sustainable development of Romanian cities through biogas production from municipal wastes and application in co-combustion processes

Today municipal wastes represent a general problem from multiple points of view: necessary space for depositing, odor, possible soil contamination. In the same time, a large quantity of organic residual material remains unused in terms of energy conversion by potentially producing a biofuel which, in its term, can be used for covering at least partially, the human demand for energy. In this context, the present paper underlines the possible applications of anaerobic fermentation for biogas production by using as main substrate solid municipal waste from city of Timisoara, Romania, inside a pilot installation for determining its potential for further usage at larger scale in firing or co-firing processes; in this context, conclusions will be traced, based on the resulted experiments

THE USE OF PLASMATIC AND SALIVARY PROTEIN FRACTIONS FOR ASSESSING CARIOACTIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE OF ALCOHOLIC ETIOLOGY

Objectives. To determine the correlations between carioactivity, quantified by the cariogenic index, and total plasma proteins, protein fractions and salivary immunoglobulins. Material and method. We conducted the study on a group of 23 patients with chronic liver disease of alcoholic etiology, who underwent clinical and paraclinical examinations. Total plasma proteins, albumin, alpha-1-globulins, alpha-2-globulins, beta-globulins, gamma-globulins, plasmatic IgG, IgA, IgM, plasma IgA/IgG and salivary immunoglobulins values were determined. Results. We determined the following mean values: cariogenic index 1.78±1.00, total plasmatic protein concentration 7.45±0.51 g/l, albumin 59.90±6.63%, α1-globulin 3.79±1.58%, α2-globulin 9.08±0.95%, β-globulin 11.44±2.80%, γ-globulin 15.79±3.42%, plasmatic IgG 14.76±3.64 g/l, plasmatic IgA 3.58±1.94 g/l, plasmatic IgA/IgG ratio 0.24±0.13, plasmatic IgM 1.43±0.65 g/l, total salivary proteins 1.25±0.85 g/l, salivary IgG 3.05±0.63 mg/dl, salivary IgA 22.18±7.33 mg/dl, salivary IgA/IgG ratio 7.31±2.60. Conclusions. We have established statistically significant correlations between the cariogenic index and the total plasma proteins, plasmatic alpha-2 fraction and plasmatic IgG

The surgical safety checklist and patient outcomes after surgery: a prospective observational cohort study, systematic review and meta-analysis

© 2017 British Journal of Anaesthesia Background: The surgical safety checklist is widely used to improve the quality of perioperative care. However, clinicians continue to debate the clinical effectiveness of this tool. Methods: Prospective analysis of data from the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), an international observational study of elective in-patient surgery, accompanied by a systematic review and meta-analysis of published literature. The exposure was surgical safety checklist use. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality and the secondary outcome was postoperative complications. In the ISOS cohort, a multivariable multi-level generalized linear model was used to test associations. To further contextualise these findings, we included the results from the ISOS cohort in a meta-analysis. Results are reported as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals. Results: We included 44 814 patients from 497 hospitals in 27 countries in the ISOS analysis. There were 40 245 (89.8%) patients exposed to the checklist, whilst 7508 (16.8%) sustained ≥1 postoperative complications and 207 (0.5%) died before hospital discharge. Checklist exposure was associated with reduced mortality [odds ratio (OR) 0.49 (0.32–0.77); P\u3c0.01], but no difference in complication rates [OR 1.02 (0.88–1.19); P=0.75]. In a systematic review, we screened 3732 records and identified 11 eligible studies of 453 292 patients including the ISOS cohort. Checklist exposure was associated with both reduced postoperative mortality [OR 0.75 (0.62–0.92); P\u3c0.01; I2=87%] and reduced complication rates [OR 0.73 (0.61–0.88); P\u3c0.01; I2=89%). Conclusions: Patients exposed to a surgical safety checklist experience better postoperative outcomes, but this could simply reflect wider quality of care in hospitals where checklist use is routine