Titanium throughout Throw CuSn AlloysA Evaluation
Background and objective Little is known about the anatomical characteristics of root morphology in molars lost due to periodontal reason. The aim of this study was to study root morphology in maxillary and mandibular molars lost due to periodontitis by investigating the frequency of root fusion, classifying fusion types, and measuring radicular groove depth by micro-computed tomography. Material and methods Ninety-eight posterior teeth were collected from 87 Japanese patients during the study period. Of these, maxillary (N = 36) and mandibular (N = 22) second molars lost most frequently were assessed for root fusion and morphology. Results The 36 maxillary second molars included nine (25%) teeth with a single root, 14 (39%) with two roots, and 13 (36%) with three roots. Of the 23 maxillary second molars with fused (1 and 2) roots, there were 11 (48%), 2 (9%), 1 (4%), 1 (4%), 3 (13%), and 5 (22%) teeth with root types 1-6, respectively. The 22 mandibular second molars comprised 14 (64%) teeth with a single root, 7 (32%) with two roots, and one (4%) with three roots. Of the 14 mandibular second molars with a fused (1) root, 12 (86%) had a C-shaped root and two (14%) had a non-C-shaped root. Conclusion We observed a higher frequency of root fusion in the present study compared with that reported by previous studies using randomly selected second molars.The anodic reaction in direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs), ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) faces challenges, such as incomplete electrooxidation of ethanol and high cost of the most efficient electrocatalyst, Pt in acidic media at low temperature. In this study, core-shell electrocatalysts with an Au core and Pt-based shell (Au@Pt) are developed. The Au core size and Pt shell thickness play an important role in the EOR activity. The Au size of 2.8 nm and one layer of Pt provide the most optimized performance, having 6 times higher peak current density in contrast to commercial Pt/C. SnO2 as a support also enhances the EOR activity of Au@Pt by 1.73 times. Further modifying the Pt shell with Ru atoms achieve the highest EOR current density that is 15 and 2.5 times of Pt/C and Au@Pt. Our results suggest the importance of surface modification in rational design of advanced electrocatalysts.Objective The project aims to build a framework for conducting clinical trials for long-term interplanetary missions to contribute to innovation in clinical trials on Earth, especially around patient involvement and ownership. Methods We conducted two workshops in which participants were immersed in the speculative scenario of an interplanetary mission in which health problems emerged that required medical trials to resolve. The workshops used virtual reality and live simulation to mimic a zero-gravity environment and visual perception shifts and were followed by group discussion. see more Results Some key aspects for the framework that emerged from the workshops included (a) approaches to be inclusive in the management of the trial, (b) approaches to be inclusive in designing the research project (patient preference trials, n-of-1 trials, designing clinical trials to be part of a future prospective meta-analysis, etc), (c) balancing the research needs and the community needs (eg, allocation of the participants based on both research and community need), (d) ethics and partnerships (ethics and consent issues and how they relate to partnerships and relationships). Conclusion In identifying some key areas that need to be incorporated in future planning of clinical trials for interplanetary missions, we also identified areas that are relevant to engaging patients in clinical trials on Earth. We will suggest using the same methodology to facilitate more in-depth discussions on specific aspects of clinical trials in aerospace medicine. The methodology can be more widely used in other areas to open new inclusive conversations around innovating research methodology.As the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) continues to expand in clinical settings, accurate identification of circulating tumor DNA mutations is important to validate its use in the clinical management for cancer patients. Here, we aimed to characterize mutations including clonal hematopoiesis (CH)-related mutations in plasma cfDNA and tumor tissues using the same ultradeep NGS assay and evaluate the clinical significance of CH-related mutations on the interpretation of liquid biopsy results. Ultradeep targeted NGS using Oncomine Pan-Cancer Panel was performed on matched surgically resected tumor tissues, peripheral blood cells (PBCs), and 120 plasma cfDNA samples from 38 colorectal cancer patients. The clinical significance of the CH-related mutations in plasma cfDNA was evaluated by longitudinal monitoring of the postoperative plasma samples. Among the 38 patients, 74 nonsynonymous mutations were identified from tumor tissues and 64 mutations from the preoperative plasma samples. Eleven (17%) of the 64 mutations identified in plasma cfDNA were also detected in PBC DNA and were identified to be CH-related mutations. Overall, 11 of 38 (29%) patients in this cohort harbored at least one CH-related mutation in plasma cfDNA. These CH-related mutations were continuously detected in subsequent postoperative plasma samples from three patients which could be misinterpreted as the presence of residual disease or as lack of treatment response. Our results indicated that it is essential to integrate the mutational information of PBCs to differentiate tumor-derived from CH-related mutations in liquid biopsy analysis. This would prevent the misinterpretation of results to avoid misinformed clinical management for cancer patients.Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) causes a significant health burden in Australia and up to 50% of Australians with CKD remain undiagnosed. Aims The objective of this study was to estimate the five-year risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD) from general practice clinical records, and to investigate the spatial variation and hot spots of CKD risk in an Australian community. Method A cross-sectional study designed using de-identified general practice clinical data recorded from 2010 to 2015. 16 general practices participated in this study from West Adelaide, Australia. We used health record of 36,565 patients aged 35-74, with no prior history of CKD. The five-year estimated CKD risk was calculated using the QKidney® algorithm. Individuals' risk score was aggregated to Statistical Area Level 1 to predict community CKD risk. A spatial hotspots analysis was applied to identify the communities with greater risk. Results The mean estimated five-year risk for CKD in the sample population was 0·95% (0·93 to 0·97).