Autoimmunity and the oral cavity

Purpose of Review: This review aims to make the oral health practitioner and researcher aware of autoimmune diseases that present in the mouth and have implications for oral health. Specifically, the autoimmune pathophysiology, examples of treatments, sequelae, and impact on oral health will be discussed. The limitations of our current knowledge and understanding of these diseases will also be highlighted. Recent Findings: Over the past decade, it has become clear that there is a bidirectional relationship between oral health and autoimmune disease at other body sites; including diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. Improving the oral health of patients with autoimmune diseases may reduce morbidity associated with such diseases. Summary: Autoimmune diseases impact the oral cavity both directly and indirectly and are increasing in prevalence. As such, there is a growing need for the oral health practitioners to be aware of how autoimmune disease impacts the oral cavity. Further research is necessary to improve our understanding of the bidirectional relationship between oral health and autoimmune disease

The Use of Manganese Substituted Ferrotitanium Alloys for Energy Storage

Experimental results are presented on properties of major practical importance in the utilization of manganese-substituted ferrotitanium alloys as hydrogen storage media. Consideration is given to (1) pressure-composition-temperature characteristics, (2) particle attrition properties, (3) effects of long-term cycling on alloy stability, (4) ease of activation and reactivation, and (5) effects of contaminants on alloy activity. The performance of ternary alloys is compared with that of titanium iron as is the development of an optimum ternary alloy for use with a particular peak shaving operation, i.e., the regenerative H2-Cl system

Whatever happened to the progenitors of supernovae 2008cn, 2009kr and 2009md?

We present new late-time, high-resolution observations of the sites of supernovae (SNe) 2008cn, 2009kr and 2009md, acquired with the Hubble Space Telescope. In all instances, significant flux from the SNe is still recovered at late times. We show that the previous identification of the progenitor of SN 2008cn was actually a blend of two sources, whose locations are resolved in these new observations. We suggest that the progenitor of SN 2008cn was actually a red supergiant with Minit < 16 M⊙. In the late-time observations of SN 2009kr, we find that the pre-explosion source (previously thought to be a yellow supergiant) is most probably a small compact cluster with mass ∼6000 M⊙. In late-time F814W observations of the site of SN 2009md, we find a single point source with identical brightness to the pre-explosion source, suggesting some caution in assuming that the pre-explosion source was the progenitor

Spectropolarimetry of the 2012 outburst of SN 2009ip: A bi-polar explosion in a dense, disc-like CSM

We present a sequence of eight spectropolarimetric observations monitoring the geometric evolution of the late phase of the major 2012 outburst of SN 2009ip. These were acquired with the Focal Reducer and Low Dispersion Spectrograph polarimeter mounted on European Southern Observatory VLT. The continuum was polarized at 0.3-0.8 per cent throughout the observations, showing that the photosphere deviated substantially from spherical symmetry by 10-15 per cent. Significant line polarization is detected for both hydrogen and helium at high velocities. The similarity in the polarized signal between these elements indicates that they form in the same location in the ejecta. The line polarization (p ~ 1-1.5 per cent) at low velocities revealed the presence of a highly aspherical hydrogen- and helium-rich circumstellar medium (CSM). Monte Carlo simulations of the observed polarimetry were performed in an effort to constrain the shape of the CSM. The simulations imply that the polarimetry can be understood within the framework of a disc-like CSM inclined by 14° ± 2° out of the line of sight, obscuring the photosphere only at certain epochs. The varying temporal evolution of polarization at high and low velocities indicated that the fast-moving ejecta expanded with a preferred direction orthogonal to that of the CSM

Explainable deep learning-based survival prediction for non-small cell lung cancer patients undergoing radical radiotherapy

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Survival is frequently assessed using Cox proportional hazards (CPH) regression; however, CPH may be too simplistic as it assumes a linear relationship between covariables and the outcome. Alternative, non-linear machine learning (ML)-based approaches, such as random survival forests (RSFs) and, more recently, deep learning (DL) have been proposed; however, these techniques are largely black-box in nature, limiting explainability. We compared CPH, RSF and DL to predict overall survival (OS) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving radiotherapy using pre-treatment covariables. We employed explainable techniques to provide insights into the contribution of each covariable on OS prediction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The dataset contained 471 stage I-IV NSCLC patients treated with radiotherapy. We built CPH, RSF and DL OS prediction models using several baseline covariable combinations. 10-fold Monte-Carlo cross-validation was employed with a split of 70%:10%:20% for training, validation and testing, respectively. We primarily evaluated performance using the concordance index (C-index) and integrated Brier score (IBS). Local interpretable model-agnostic explanation (LIME) values, adapted for use in survival analysis, were computed for each model. RESULTS: The DL method exhibited a significantly improved C-index of 0.670 compared to the CPH and a significantly improved IBS of 0.121 compared to the CPH and RSF approaches. LIME values suggested that, for the DL method, the three most important covariables in OS prediction were stage, administration of chemotherapy and oesophageal mean radiation dose. CONCLUSION: We show that, using pre-treatment covariables, a DL approach demonstrates superior performance over CPH and RSF for OS prediction and use explainable techniques to provide transparency and interpretability

Continuum Foreground Polarization and Na i Absorption in Type Ia SNe

We present a study of the continuum polarization over the 400-600 nm range of 19 SNe Ia obtained with FORS at the VLT. We separate them into those that show Na i D lines at the velocity of their hosts and those that do not. Continuum polarization of the sodium sample near maximum light displays a broad range of values, from extremely polarized cases like SN 2006X to almost unpolarized ones like SN 2011ae. The non-sodium sample shows, typically, smaller polarization values. The continuum polarization of the sodium sample in the 400-600 nm range is linear with wavelength and can be characterized by the mean polarization (Pmean). Its values span a wide range and show a linear correlation with color, color excess, and extinction in the visual band. Larger dispersion correlations were found with the equivalent width of the Na i D and Ca ii H and K lines, and also a noisy relation between Pmean and RV, the ratio of total to selective extinction. Redder SNe show stronger continuum polarization, with larger color excesses and extinctions. We also confirm that high continuum polarization is associated with small values of RV. The correlation between extinction and polarization - and polarization angles - suggest that the dominant fraction of dust polarization is imprinted in interstellar regions of the host galaxies. We show that Na i D lines from foreground matter in the SN host are usually associated with non-galactic ISM, challenging the typical assumptions in foreground interstellar polarization models

Spin-dependent thermoelectric transport coefficients in near-perfect quantum wires

Thermoelectric transport coefficients are determined for semiconductor quantum wires with weak thickness fluctuations. Such systems exhibit anomalies in conductance near 1/4 and 3/4 of 2e^2/h on the rising edge to the first conductance plateau, explained by singlet and triplet resonances of conducting electrons with a single weakly bound electron in the wire [T. Rejec, A. Ramsak, and J.H. Jefferson, Phys. Rev. B 62, 12985 (2000)]. We extend this work to study the Seebeck thermopower coefficient and linear thermal conductance within the framework of the Landauer-Buettiker formalism, which also exhibit anomalous structures. These features are generic and robust, surviving to temperatures of a few degrees. It is shown quantitatively how at elevated temperatures thermal conductance progressively deviates from the Wiedemann-Franz law.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. B 2002; 3 figure

Detector Description and Performance for the First Coincidence Observations between LIGO and GEO

For 17 days in August and September 2002, the LIGO and GEO interferometer gravitational wave detectors were operated in coincidence to produce their first data for scientific analysis. Although the detectors were still far from their design sensitivity levels, the data can be used to place better upper limits on the flux of gravitational waves incident on the earth than previous direct measurements. This paper describes the instruments and the data in some detail, as a companion to analysis papers based on the first data.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures 17 Sept 03: author list amended, minor editorial change