An in-vitro evaluation of mechanical and esthetic properties of orthodontic sealants.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate mechanical and esthetic Properties of two commercially available orthodontic sealants: Opal(®)Seal (OS) and L.E.D. Pro Seal (PS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Discs of each sealant were prepared to test the following properties: Micro hardness, wear resistance and color stability. Samples were randomly selected after the wear test for SEM imaging to analyze surface morphology. RESULTS: OS was significantly harder than PS (P \u3c 0.001). PS was significantly more wear resistant than OS (P \u3c 0.05). PS showed a greater ∆E*ab (increased staining) when placed in wine or coffee showing a significant difference (P \u3c 0.05). SEM showed particle size, shape and distribution were different for PS and OS reflecting the pattern seen on wear surfaces. CONCLUSION: Both orthodontic sealants are beneficial for protecting enamel. However with better wear properties PS was superior in resisting mechanical stresses. OS was more color stable

Association Between Eosinophilia and Late-onset Circulatory Collapse in Preterm Infants: A case-Control Study

Late-onset circulatory collapse (LCC) in preterm infants is presumably caused by relative adrenal insufficiency. Because eosinophilia is known to be associated with adrenal insufficiency, we attempted to clarify the relation-ship between eosinophilia and LCC in preterm infants. We divided the cases of the infants (born at < 28 weeks’ gestation) admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit in 2008-2010 into 2 groups: those diagnosed with LCC that received glucocorticoids (LCC group), and those who did not receive glucocorticoids (control group). We compared eosinophil counts between the 2 groups and between before and after glucocorticoid treatment in the LCC group. A total of 28 infants were examined: LCC group (n = 12); control group (n = 16). The peak eosin-ophil counts of the LCC group were significantly higher than those of the control group (median: 1.392 × 109/L vs. 1.033 × 109/L, respectively; p = 0.02). Additionally, in the LCC group, the eosinophil counts declined significantly after glucocorticoid treatment (0.877 × 109/L vs. 0.271 × 109/L, p = 0.003). Eosinophil counts in the LCC group were significantly higher than in the control group and decreased rapidly after gluco-corticoid treatment. These results indicate that eosinophilia may be a factor associated with LCC caused by adrenal insufficiency

Detecting broken pointcuts using structural commonality and degree of interest

Pointcut fragility is a well-documented problem in Aspect-Oriented Programming; changes to the base-code can lead to join points incorrectly falling in or out of the scope of pointcuts. Deciding which pointcuts have broken due to base-code changes is a daunting venture, especially in large and complex systems. We present an automated approach that recommends pointcuts that are likely to require modification due to a particular base-code change, as well as ones that do not. Our hypothesis is that join points selected by a pointcut exhibit common structural characteristics. Patterns describing such commonality are used to recommend pointcuts that have potentially broken with a degree of confidence as the developer is typing. The approach is implemented as an extension to the popular Mylyn Eclipse IDE plug-in, which maintains focused contexts of entities relevant to the task at hand using a Degree of Interest (DOI) model. We show that it is accurate in revealing broken pointcuts by applying it to multiple versions of several open source projects and evaluating the quality of the recommendations produced against actual modifications. We found that our tool made broken pointcuts 2.14 times more interesting in the DOI model than unbroken ones, with a p-value under 0.1, indicating a significant difference in final DOI value between the two kinds of pointcuts (i.e., broken and unbroken)

Detecting Broken Pointcuts using Structural Commonality and Degree of Interest

Pointcut fragility is a well-documented problem in Aspect-Oriented Programming; changes to the base code can lead to join points incorrectly falling in or out of the scope of pointcuts. Deciding which pointcuts have broken due to base-code changes is daunting, especially in large and complex systems. We present an automated approach that recommends pointcuts that are likely to require modification due to a certain base-code change and ones that do not. Our hypothesis is that join points selected by a pointcut exhibit common structural characteristics. Patterns describing such commonalities recommend pointcuts that have potentially broken to the developer. The approach is implemented as an extension to the popular Mylyn Eclipse IDE plug-in, which maintains focused contexts of entities relevant to the task at hand using a Degree of Interest (DOI) model

Fraglight: Shedding Light on Broken Pointcuts in Evolving Aspect-oriented Software

Pointcut fragility is a well-documented problem in Aspect-Oriented Programming; changes to the base code can lead to join points incorrectly falling in or out of the scope of pointcuts. Deciding which pointcuts have broken due to base-code changes is daunting, especially in large and complex systems. We demonstrate an automated tool called FRAGLIGHT that recommends a set of pointcuts that are likely to require modification due to a certain base-code change. The underlying approach is rooted in harnessing unique and arbitrarily deep structural commonality between program elements corresponding to join points selected by a pointcut in a particular software version. Patterns describing such commonality are used to recommend pointcuts that have potentially broken with a degree of confidence as the developer is typing. Our tool is implemented as an extension to the Mylyn Eclipse IDE plug-in, which maintains focused contexts of entities relevant to a task

Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Outcomes among Infants

Ventriculoperitoneal shunts (VPSs) are used for the treatment of hydrocephalus. Here we analyzed the outcomes of VPS placements in 24 infants to determine the risk factors for shunt failure. The infants had undergone the initial VPS operation in our hospital between March 2005 and December 2013. They were observed until the end of January 2014. We obtained Kaplan-Meier curves and performed a multivariate Cox regression analysis of shunt failure. Of the 24 cases, the median (range) values for gestational age, birth weight, and birth head circumference (HC) were 37 (27-39) wks, 2,736 (686-3,788) g, and 35.3 (23.0-45.3) cm, respectively. The total number of shunt procedures was 45. Shunt failure rates were 0.51/shunt and 0.0053/shunt/year. Shunt infection rates were 0.13/shunt and 0.0014/shunt/year. The Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed an increased risk for shunt failure in infants ＜1 month old or in the HC ＞90ｵtile. The Cox regression analysis yielded hazard ratios (HRs) of 2.93 (95ｵ confidence interval (CI), 0.96-10.95, p＝0.059) for age ＜1 month, and 4.46 (95ｵCI:1.20-28.91,p＝0.023) for the HC ＞90ｵtile. The multivariate Cox regression analysis showed adjusted HRs of 17.56 (95ｵCI:2.69-202.8, p＝0.001) for age ＜1 month, and 2.95 (95ｵCI:0.52-24.84, p＝0.228) for the HC ＞90ｵtile. Our findings thus revealed that the risk factors for shunt failure in infants include age ＜1 month at the initial VPS placement

Preface to the JOT special issue on ECOOP 2021: selected workshop papers

T In this preface, the editors present an overview of the topics and scope of the ECOOP workshops on ContextOriented Programming (COP), on Implementation, Compilation, Optimization of OO Languages, Programs and Systems (ICOOOLPS), and on Verification and Monitoring at Runtime Execution (VORTEX). They further describe the editorial and reviewing process for their editions at ECOOP 2021. The papers selected for publication are presented and briefly described

Changes in the Features of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease after Introduction of the Seven-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in a Regional Core Hospital of Kochi, Japan

Since the introduction of the seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in 2007, invasive pneumococcal disease has declined, but the incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A has risen worldwide. The present study examined changes in the features of invasive pneumococcal disease since the introduction of the PCV7 in Kochi, Japan. Pediatric cases of invasive pneumococcal disease were investigated before and after vaccine introduction (January 2008 to December 2013). Cases of invasive pneumococcal disease tended to decrease after PCV7 introduction. In addition, before introduction of the vaccine, most serotypes causing invasive pneumococcal disease were those included in the vaccine. However, after the introduction, we found cases infected by serotypes not covered by vaccine. Penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae was the predominant serotype causing invasive pneumococcal disease before introduction of the PCV7, and the susceptibility of this serotype to antibiotics improved after vaccine introduction. Serotype isolates identified after vaccine introduction were also relatively susceptible to antibiotic therapy, but decreased susceptibility is expected

Role of a forward-viewing echoendoscope in fine-needle aspiration

AbstractA prototype forward-viewing echoendoscope has been developed for therapeutic endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA). The hard tip of the forward-viewing echoendoscope, which is shorter than that of the convex type echoendoscope, can be maneuvered flexibly. Using the forward-viewing echoendoscope, the gastrointestinal wall can be vertically punctured along the same axis as the scope, and this process is done more easily than with an oblique-viewing echoendoscope. The diagnostic accuracy of EUS-FNA with the forward-viewing echoendoscope is 97.4%, which is not significantly different to that of the oblique-viewing echoendoscope. The forward-viewing echoendoscope may be useful in situations where the location and procedure are difficult with the oblique-viewing scope, The forward-viewing echoendoscope is able to puncture the gastrointestinal wall vertically with minimal effort, therefore allowing therapeutic EUS procedures such as pseudocyst and abscess drainage, biliary drainage, and pancreatic duct drainage to be performed easily. However, a significant difference between the forward-viewing and oblique-viewing echoendoscopes in pseudocyst drainage has been reported recently. In the future, the forward-viewing and oblique-viewing echoendoscopes will probably be selectively used depending on not only lesion site but also the procedure required in individual patients, thereby facilitating various processes including puncture, tissue collection, and diagnosis, as well as therapeutic procedures