Evaluation of healing criteria for success after periapical surgery

INTRODUCTION: In periapical surgery, the absence of standardization between different studies makes it difficult to compare the outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To compare the healing classification of different authors and evaluate the prognostic criteria of periapical surgery at 12 months. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 278 patients (101 men and 177 women) with a mean age of 38.1 years (range 11 to 77) treated with periapical surgery using the ultrasound technique and a 2.6x magnifying glass, and silver amalgam as root-end filling material were included in the study. Evolution was analyzed using the clinical criteria of Mikkonen et al., 1983; radiographic criteria of Rud et al., 1972; the overall combined clinical and radiographic criteria of von Arx and Kurt, 1999; and the Friedman (2005) concept of functional tooth at 12 months of surgery. RESULTS: After 12 months, 87.2% clinical success was obtained according to the Mikkonen et al., 1983 criteria; 73.9% complete radiographic healing using Rud et al. criteria; 62.1% overall success, following the clinical and radiographic parameters of von Arx and Kurt, and 91.9% of teeth were functional. The von Arx and Kurt criteria was found to be the most reliable. CONCLUSION: Overall evolution according to von Arx and Kurt agreed most closely with the other scales.

Projection structure of a member of the amino acid/polyamine/organocation transporter superfamily

The L-arginine/agmatine antiporter AdiC is a key component of the arginine-dependent extreme acid resistance system of Escherichia coli. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that AdiC belongs to the amino acid/polyamine/organocation (APC) transporter superfamily having sequence identities of 15-17% to eukaryotic and human APC transporters. For functional and structural characterization, we cloned, overexpressed, and purified wild-type AdiC and the point mutant AdiC-W293L, which is unable to bind and consequently transport L-arginine. Purified detergent-solubilized AdiC particles were dimeric. Reconstitution experiments yielded two-dimensional crystals of AdiC-W293L diffracting beyond 6 angstroms resolution from which we determined the projection structure at 6.5 angstroms resolution. The projection map showed 10-12 density peaks per monomer and suggested mainly tilted helices with the exception of one distinct perpendicular membrane spanning alpha-helix. Comparison of AdiC-W293L with the projection map of the oxalate/formate antiporter from Oxalobacter formigenes, a member from the major facilitator superfamily, indicated different structures. Thus, two-dimensional crystals of AdiC-W293L yielded the first detailed view of a transport protein from the APC superfamily at sub-nanometer resolution.

Assessment of a robust opportunistic routing for video transmission in dynamic topologies

Mobile multimedia ad hoc services run on dynamic topologies due to node mobility or failures and wireless channel impairments. A robust routing service must adapt to topology changes with the aim of recovering or maintaining the video quality level and reducing the impact of the user's experience. In those scenarios, beacon-less Opportunistic Routing (OR) increases the robustness by supporting routing decisions in a completely distributed manner based on protocol-specific characteristics. However, the existing beacon-less OR approaches do not efficiently combine multiple metrics for forwarding selection, which cause higher packet loss rate, and consequently reduce the video quality level. In this paper, we assess the robustness and reliability of our recently developed OR protocol under node failures, called cross-layer Link quality and Geographical-aware OR protocol (LinGO). Simulation results show that LinGO achieves multimedia dissemination with QoE support and robustness in scenarios with dynamic topologies.

Integration of WSNs into enterprise systems based on semantic physical business entities

Internet of Things based systems are anticipated to gain widespread use in industrial applications. Standardization efforts, like 6L0WPAN and the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) have made the integration of wireless sensor nodes possible using Internet technology and web-like access to data (RESTful service access). While there are still some open issues, the interoperability problem in the lower layers can now be considered solved from an enterprise software vendors' point of view. One possible next step towards integration of real-world objects into enterprise systems and solving the corresponding interoperability problems at higher levels is to use semantic web technologies. We introduce an abstraction of real-world objects, called Semantic Physical Business Entities (SPBE), using Linked Data principles. We show that this abstraction nicely fits into enterprise systems, as SPBEs allow a business object centric view on real-world objects, instead of a pure device centric view. The interdependencies between how currently services in an enterprise system are used and how this can be done in a semantic real-world aware enterprise system are outlined, arguing for the need of semantic services and semantic knowledge repositories. We introduce a lightweight query language, which we use to perform a quantitative analysis of our approach to demonstrate its feasibility.

Dear Brand, Please Help me to Become a True-Man Out of the Truman: The Role of Brand Authenticity

Although brand authenticity is gaining increasing interest in academia and managerial practice, empirical studies on its contribution to the branding literature are still limited. The authors therefore conceptually and empirically examine the emergence and outcomes of perceived brand authenticity (PBA). A prior multi-phase scale development process resulted in a 17-item PBA scale to measure its four dimensions of credibility, integrity, symbolism, and longevity. Brand authenticity perceptions are influenced by indexical, existential, and iconic cues, whereby the latter’s influence is moderated by consumers’ level of marketing skepticism. Further, PBA increases emotional brand attachment. This relationship is particularly strong for consumers with a high level of self-authenticity. In addition, PBA effects are stronger in a North American market context compared to a European context.

Conidial germination of Botryosphaeria dothidea Mough.: Fr (Ces. & De Not.) and histological alterations on stems of pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus H.) (Haworth) Britton & Rose

Conidial germination of Botryosphaeria dothidea (anamorph: Fusicoccum) in sterile distilled water and 1% sterile dextrose solution was evaluated at 4, 6, 12, 24 and 36 h after incubation. Also, it was described the anatomical changes on pitahaya stems induced by this fungus, collected in the field and artificially inoculated in the laboratory. Conidial germination was less than 30% in water and it was improved when 1% dextrose was added to the water. In 1% dextrose solution the germination was 90% after 4h of incubation and 100% at 6 h. Pathogen germ tubes had entered through wounds and sometimes through stomata and hyphae colonized intra and intercellularly in the parenchyma-chlorenchyma tissues. On naturally and artificially diseased stems the main alterations were: destruction of cuticle, hyperplasia of epidermal and collenchymatous hypodermal cells and conform the advance of the pathogen a layer of lignified periderm was formed surrounding the damaged tissues; however, it couldn't stop the advance of the pathogen and the cells that surrounded the lesion suffered necrosis.

In search of the ox : Gateways to understanding human individuation through guidance

Este ensayo sintetiza varias aristas teóricas prácticas dirigidas a una de las decisiones personales más importantes en todo ser humano, el camino del autoconocimiento. Siempre y cuando se reflejen esas necesidades intrínsecas del ser, el hombre contemporáneo está descubriendo que en la satisfacción de los requerimientos materiales, finalmente no se encuentra ni la felicidad, ni la paz verdadera. En medio de este imaginario, el rol del Orientador está en su capacidad de guía fundamentado en unos principios y valores que garanticen que ese camino sea hallado, puesto que su gran compromiso consigo mismo y con los demás es precisamente acompañar en el descubrimiento de los talentos y potencialidades de ese sujeto para aprovechar su genialidad e innatas formas de normal crecimiento hacia la felicidad y armonía. Entre los caminos están los estudiados por un sinnúmero de teóricos expertos en la existencia humana como Ortega y Gasset, Sabater, Jung, Heidegger, Gadamer, Luckmann, Habermas, Bauman, Binswanger. Es un apasionante recorrido por estos análisis motivantes y sobre todo retadores.

In search of the ox : Gateways to understanding human individuation through guidance

Este ensayo sintetiza varias aristas teóricas prácticas dirigidas a una de las decisiones personales más importantes en todo ser humano, el camino del autoconocimiento. Siempre y cuando se reflejen esas necesidades intrínsecas del ser, el hombre contemporáneo está descubriendo que en la satisfacción de los requerimientos materiales, finalmente no se encuentra ni la felicidad, ni la paz verdadera. En medio de este imaginario, el rol del Orientador está en su capacidad de guía fundamentado en unos principios y valores que garanticen que ese camino sea hallado, puesto que su gran compromiso consigo mismo y con los demás es precisamente acompañar en el descubrimiento de los talentos y potencialidades de ese sujeto para aprovechar su genialidad e innatas formas de normal crecimiento hacia la felicidad y armonía. Entre los caminos están los estudiados por un sinnúmero de teóricos expertos en la existencia humana como Ortega y Gasset, Sabater, Jung, Heidegger, Gadamer, Luckmann, Habermas, Bauman, Binswanger. Es un apasionante recorrido por estos análisis motivantes y sobre todo retadores.

In search of the ox : Gateways to understanding human individuation through guidance

Este ensayo sintetiza varias aristas teóricas prácticas dirigidas a una de las decisiones personales más importantes en todo ser humano, el camino del autoconocimiento. Siempre y cuando se reflejen esas necesidades intrínsecas del ser, el hombre contemporáneo está descubriendo que en la satisfacción de los requerimientos materiales, finalmente no se encuentra ni la felicidad, ni la paz verdadera. En medio de este imaginario, el rol del Orientador está en su capacidad de guía fundamentado en unos principios y valores que garanticen que ese camino sea hallado, puesto que su gran compromiso consigo mismo y con los demás es precisamente acompañar en el descubrimiento de los talentos y potencialidades de ese sujeto para aprovechar su genialidad e innatas formas de normal crecimiento hacia la felicidad y armonía. Entre los caminos están los estudiados por un sinnúmero de teóricos expertos en la existencia humana como Ortega y Gasset, Sabater, Jung, Heidegger, Gadamer, Luckmann, Habermas, Bauman, Binswanger. Es un apasionante recorrido por estos análisis motivantes y sobre todo retadores.