Medicina
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Background and Objectives: The periodontium has important proprioceptive receptors that prevent teeth from using excessive occlusal forces during chewing. There are other receptors from adjacent tissues that replace periodontal ones when teeth are extracted and rehabilitated with prosthesis, although they seem to be less effective. Psychophysical studies investigate tactile sensibility thresholds, which are useful to measure this masticatory efficiency in different prosthetic rehabilitations. ⋯ The mean values of passive tactile sensibility thresholds in implant prosthesis and natural dentition are 6.7 N and 0.8 N, respectively. Conclusions: Implant prosthesis have lower thresholds, that are very close to those present in natural dentition, than complete dentures due to an increased tactile sensibility. Active tactile sensibility thresholds present fewer differences between values than passive tactile ones; as these are only influenced by receptors from periodontal or periimplant tissues.
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Nowadays, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its subfields, Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL), are used for a variety of medical applications. It can help clinicians track the patient's illness cycle, assist with diagnosis, and offer appropriate therapy alternatives. Each approach employed may address one or more AI problems, such as segmentation, prediction, recognition, classification, and regression. ⋯ Thus, this study aims to examine artificial intelligence approaches used in managing Inherited Retinal Disorders, from diagnosis to treatment. A total of 20,906 articles were identified using the Natural Language Processing (NLP) method from the IEEE Xplore, Springer, Elsevier, MDPI, and PubMed databases, and papers submitted from 2010 to 30 October 2021 are included in this systematic review. The resultant study demonstrates the AI approaches utilized on images from different IRD patient categories and the most utilized AI architectures and models with their imaging modalities, identifying the main benefits and challenges of using such methods.
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Background and Objectives: Dietary modification is the principal approach to the management of hyperlipidemia in adults. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a key regulator of plasma cholesterol and a target for novel lipid-lowering pharmacotherapies. This study aimed to explore how circulating levels of PCSK9 changed during Ramadan intermittent fasting in metabolically healthy obese subjects. ⋯ Significant (p < 0.05) reductions in body weight, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and adiponectin were also observed at the end of Ramadan. Conclusions: Observing Ramadan fasting was associated with increased PCSK9 levels in metabolically healthy obese subjects. The complex relationships between PCSK9 and insulin resistance and dysregulation of adipokine secretion in relation to dietary and lifestyle modifications during Ramadan warrant further research.
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Background and Objectives: Cigarette smoking among the youth population has increased significantly in developing countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, no extant literature assesses the prevalence of tobacco use, nor identifies factors associated with smoking. This study determined the prevalence of cigarette smoking among a specific cohort of students and assessed factors related to tobacco use in this population. ⋯ Overall, 87% of all students were aware of the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, 79% were aware of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, and 65% reported that it was difficult to quit. Increased spending of personal money was associated with a higher probability of smoking, while exposure to secondhand smoke increased the odds of smoking by 62%. Conclusion: Policies, strategies, and action plans should be introduced in order to reduce the prevalence of smoking among university students and to create a smoke-free environment at the various universities involved.
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Background and objectives. Gestational diabetes mellitus is an increasingly diagnosed metabolic disorder during pregnancy with unknown pathological pathways. Taking into account the growing numbers of women who are conceiving after assisted reproductive technologies, they comprise an engaging target group for gestational diabetes mellitus etiopathogenesis research. ⋯ Moreover, expression of HMGA2 and ESR1 was significantly reduced in FF cells when compared to endometrial cells. Conclusions. These findings may indicate about the importance of follicular fluid as an indicator for gestational diabetes and should be explored more by further research.