Explore the vast range of titles available.

ObjectivesTo evaluate the dental and skeletal effects that occur in the correction of anterior open bite with clear aligners.Materials and methodIn this single-center retrospective study, the mechanism of anterior open bite closure using clear aligners (Invisalign, Align Technology, Santa Clara, CA, USA) was evaluated by cephalometric superimposition based on records of patients consecutively treated by a single, experienced Invisalign provider. Inclusion criteria consisted of anterior open bite (overbite < 0.5 mm), adult patients (18+) at the beginning of treatment, consecutive records, and good quality pre- and post-treatment records, where the required landmarks were clearly visible.ResultsA total of 45 patients were included for data analysis with a mean age of 30.73 ± 8.0 years and initial open bite of − 1.21 ± 1.15 mm. During treatment, the upper incisors showed significant (p < 0.05) retraction [U1-SN′(°) = − 10.91 ± 6.95°], [U1-SN′perp(mm) = − 2.57 ± 1.75 mm] and extrusion [U1-SN′(mm) = 1.45 ± 0.89 mm]. The lower incisors also showed significant retraction [IMPA(°) = − 3.73 ± 4.91°), (ΔL1-MP′perp (mm) = − 1.08 ± 1.59] and extrusion (ΔL1-MP′(mm) = 0.53 ± 0.74). Regarding molar position, no significant changes were noted in the anteroposterior position of the upper [ΔU6-SN′perp(mm) = 0.01 ± 1.08 mm] and lower molar [ΔL6-MP′perp(mm) = 0.03 ± 0.87 mm]; however, there was a statistically significant intrusion of the upper [ΔU6-SN′(mm) = − 0.47 ± 0.59 mm] and lower molar [ΔL6-MP′(mm) = − 0.39 ± 0.76 mm].ConclusionOpen bite closure with clear aligners occurred due to a combination of maxillary and mandibular incisor extrusion and maxillary and mandibular molar intrusion, with slight mandibular auto rotation. Significant retraction of maxillary and mandibular incisors was also observed with treatment. Clear aligners are effective in reducing/controlling the vertical dimension in open bite patients.

BackgroundThe influence of different biological agents on the rate of orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) has been extensively reviewed in animal studies with conflicting results. These findings cannot be extrapolated from animals to humans. Therefore, we aimed to systematically investigate the most up-to-date available evidence of human studies regarding the effect of the administration of different biological substances on the rate of orthodontic tooth movement.MethodsA total of 8 databases were searched until the 16th of June 2020 without restrictions. Controlled randomized and non-randomized human clinical studies assessing the effect of biological substances on the rate of OTM were included. ROBINS-I and the Cochrane Risk of Bias tools were used. Reporting of this review was based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.ResultsA total of 11 studies (6 randomized clinical trials and 5 prospective clinical trials) were identified for inclusion. Local injections of prostaglandin E1 and vitamin C exerted a positive influence on the rate of OTM; vitamin D showed variable effects. The use of platelet-rich plasma and its derivatives showed inconsistent results, while the local use of human relaxin hormone showed no significant effects on the rate of OTM.LimitationsThe limited and variable observation periods after the administration of the biological substances, the high and medium risk of bias assessment for some included studies, the variable concentrations of the assessed biological agents, the different experimental designs and teeth evaluated, and the variety of measurement tools have hampered the quantitative assessment of the results as originally planned.Conclusions and implicationsDespite the methodological limitations of the included studies, this systematic review provides an important overview of the effects of a variety of biological agents on the rate of tooth movement and elucidates the deficiencies in the clinical studies that have been conducted so far to evaluate the effectiveness of these agents in humans, providing some guidelines for future robust research.Trial registrationPROSPERO (CRD42020168481, www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero)

Introduction A methyl donor depleted (MDD) diet dramatically suppresses intestinal tumor development in Apc -mutant mice, but the mechanism of this prevention is not entirely clear. Objectives We sought to gain insight into the mechanisms of cancer suppression by the MDD diet and to identify biomarkers of cancer risk reduction. Methods A plasma metabolomic analysis was performed on Apc Δ14/ + mice maintained on either a methyl donor sufficient (MDS) diet or the protective MDD diet. A group of MDS animals was also pair-fed with the MDD mice to normalize caloric intake, and another group was shifted from an MDD to MDS diet to determine the durability of the metabolic changes. Results In addition to the anticipated changes in folate one-carbon metabolites, plasma metabolites related to fatty acid metabolism were generally decreased by the MDD diet, including carnitine, acylcarnitines, and fatty acids. Some fatty acid selectivity was observed; the levels of cancer-promoting arachidonic acid and 2-hydroxyglutarate were decreased by the MDD diet, whereas eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) levels were increased. Machine-learning elastic net analysis revealed a positive association between the fatty acid-related compounds azelate and 7-hydroxycholesterol and tumor development, and a negative correlation with succinate and β-sitosterol. Conclusion Methyl donor restriction causes dramatic changes in systemic fatty acid metabolism. Regulating fatty acid metabolism through methyl donor restriction favorably effects fatty acid profiles to achieve cancer protection.

Vaccine protection against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection wanes over time, requiring updated boosters. In a phase 2, open-label, randomized clinical trial with sequentially enrolled stages at 22 US sites, we assessed safety and immunogenicity of a second boost with monovalent or bivalent variant vaccines from mRNA and protein-based platforms targeting wild-type, Beta, Delta and Omicron BA.1 spike antigens. The primary outcome was pseudovirus neutralization titers at 50% inhibitory dilution (ID 50 titers) with 95% confidence intervals against different SARS-CoV-2 strains. The secondary outcome assessed safety by solicited local and systemic adverse events (AEs), unsolicited AEs, serious AEs and AEs of special interest. Boosting with prototype/wild-type vaccines produced numerically lower ID 50 titers than any variant-containing vaccine against all variants. Conversely, boosting with a variant vaccine excluding prototype was not associated with decreased neutralization against D614G. Omicron BA.1 or Beta monovalent vaccines were nearly equivalent to Omicron BA.1 + prototype or Beta + prototype bivalent vaccines for neutralization of Beta, Omicron BA.1 and Omicron BA.4/5, although they were lower for contemporaneous Omicron subvariants. Safety was similar across arms and stages and comparable to previous reports. Our study shows that updated vaccines targeting Beta or Omicron BA.1 provide broadly crossprotective neutralizing antibody responses against diverse SARS-CoV-2 variants without sacrificing immunity to the ancestral strain. ClinicalTrials.gov registration: NCT05289037 . Analysis of antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines encoding variant-specific spike, with or without ancestral spike, suggests no loss of neutralization of the ancestral virus with variant-only vaccines, which may simplify future vaccine updates.

Neutralizing antibody titer has been a surrogate endpoint for guiding COVID-19 vaccine approval and use, although the pandemic’s evolution and the introduction of variant-adapted vaccine boosters raise questions as to this surrogate’s contemporary performance. For 985 recipients of an mRNA second bivalent or monovalent booster containing various Spike inserts [Prototype (Ancestral), Beta, Delta, and/or Omicron BA.1 or BA.4/5] in the COVAIL trial (NCT05289037), titers against 5 strains were assessed as correlates of risk of symptomatic COVID-19 (“COVID-19”) and as correlates of relative (Pfizer-BioNTech Omicron vs. Prototype) booster protection against COVID-19 over 6 months of follow-up during the BA.2-BA.5 Omicron-dominant period. Consistently across the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine platforms and across all variant Spike inserts assessed, both peak and exposure-proximal (“predicted-at-exposure”) titers correlated with lower Omicron COVID-19 risk in individuals previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, albeit significantly less so in naïve individuals [e.g., exposure-proximal hazard ratio per 10-fold increase in BA.1 titer 0.74 (95% CI 0.59, 0.94) for naïve vs. 0.41 (95% CI 0.23, 0.64) for non-naïve; interaction p = 0.013]. Neutralizing antibody titer was a strong inverse correlate of Omicron COVID-19 in non-naïve individuals and a weaker correlate in naïve individuals, posing questions about how prior infection alters the neutralization correlate. Here the authors analyze data from COVAIL trial participants receiving an mRNA second COVID-19 vaccine boost and show that, while neutralizing antibody titer is correlated with Omicron COVID-19 risk, the correlation is weak in naïve individuals compared to previously infected ones. _

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are autoimmune diseases with chronically elevated inflammatory activity. Treatments typically have been aimed at decreasing inflammation. While RA and SLE are known to have a high incidence of congestive heart failure (HF), the mechanism behind this remains elusive. We sought to assess the outcomes of HF patients with either RA or SLE as opposed to HF patients without RA or SLE. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of the Healthcare Utilization Project - National Inpatient Sample Database from 2010 to 2015 (third quarter). Patients with a primary admitting diagnosis of HF were queried, and those with or without a diagnosis of either SLE or RA were separated into two groups. In-hospital mortality, total charges (TOTCHG), and length of stay (LOS) were analyzed with a multivariate regression model adjusted for demographical and comorbidity variables, using generalized linear models with family binomial, gamma, and negative-binomial, respectively. A p-value smaller than 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. All the statistical analyses were performed in R 3.5.5 (R Core Team, 2013, http://www.R-project.org/). Results  The in-hospital mortality (3.4% v/s 4.43%), mean TOTCHG ($46k v/s $51k), and mean LOS (5.79 v/s 6.12 days) were significantly lower in HF patients with RA/SLE when compared with HF patients without RA/SLE. A younger age (70.5 v/s 72.6 years) and a female preponderance (75% v/s 51%) were evident in the RA/SLE group. Both groups consistently showed a significant disparity in the rates of hospitalization, which was inversely related to household income. p-value was less than 0.001 for all the above outcomes. Conclusions  RA/SLE patients are associated with better in-hospital outcomes of HF. The underlying mechanism is unclear in terms of this paradox. Given the fact that the majority of RA/SLE patients are treated with agents aimed at decreasing inflammation, this may shed light on the role of inflammation being an important contributor to HF and implicate a future therapeutic direction.

The Cox regression model is a commonly used model in survival analysis. In public health studies, clinical data are often collected from medical service providers of different locations. There are large geographical variations in the covariate effects on survival rates from particular diseases. In this paper, we focus on the variable selection issue for the Cox regression model with spatially varying coefficients. We propose a Bayesian hierarchical model which incorporates a horseshoe prior for sparsity and a point mass mixture prior to determine whether a regression coefficient is spatially varying. An efficient two-stage computational method is used for posterior inference and variable selection. It essentially applies the existing method for maximizing the partial likelihood for the Cox model by site independently first, and then applying an MCMC algorithm for variable selection based on results of the first stage. Extensive simulation studies are carried out to examine the empirical performance of the proposed method. Finally, we apply the proposed methodology to analyzing a real data set on respiratory cancer in Louisiana from the SEER program.

Changes in vegetation greenness have altered the regional terrestrial water cycle, yet their influence on drought remains unclear. To quantify the impact of vegetation greenness change on drought across global vegetation zones, this study conducted two simulations with and without linear trends in the Leaf Area Index (LAI), based on the Standardized Precipitation‐Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) combined with the calibrated Shuttleworth‐Wallace potential evapotranspiration (PET) equation. Results revealed vegetation greening affected 71% of areas, and over 55% of areas experienced increases in PET, decreases in SPEI (indicating drying), and intensified drought conditions. The linear trends in LAI increased potential transpiration but decreased potential soil evaporation in most regions. The changes in drought are determined by the combined effects of these changes in potential transpiration and soil evaporation. This study highlights the critical role of vegetation greenness change in influencing drought.