Search

Using finite element analysis (FEA), the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of different aligner trimline extensions and attachment sizes on maxillary first and second molars under expansive forces delivered by clear aligner therapy

The purpose of this study is to estimate the effects of health on the hourly wages of women and men in Turkey by using panel data. The data are used to estimate the earning function, where the natural logarithm of hourly wage is the function of individual characteristics, including health. This work complements previous studies by using a panel in which the education variable, measured by the degree obtained, varies over time and therefore it can be estimated through the within estimator. One of the most important observations of this study is that very good and/or good self-assessed health status has a positive effect on wages more for women than for men. Another important finding is that of significant difference in the rate of return to education, which is higher for women than for men.

Energy resolution of the time-of-flight mass spectrometer was considered. The estimations indicate that the time-lag energy focusing method provides better resolution for the parallel case while the turnaround time is more convenient for the perpendicular position. Hence the applicability of the methods used for the energy resolution depends on beam source arrangement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Özge et al. have argued that Turkish and German monolingual 4-year-old children can interpret case-marking predictively disregarding word order. Heritage speakers (HSs) acquire a heritage language at home and a majority societal language which usually becomes dominant after school enrollment. Our study directly compares two elicitation modes: in-lab and (remote) webcam-based eye-tracking data collection. We test the extent to which in-lab effects can be replicated in webcam-based eye-tracking using the exact same design. Previous research indicates that Turkish HSs vary more in the comprehension and production of case-marking compared to monolinguals. Data from 49 participants-22 Turkish monolinguals and 27 HSs-were analyzed using a binomial generalized linear mixed-effects regression model. In the Accusative condition, participants looked for the suitable Agent before it is appeared in speech. In the Nominative condition, participants looked for the suitable Patient before it is appeared in speech. HSs were able to use morphosyntactic cues on NP1 to predict the thematic role of NP2. This study supports views in which core grammatical features of languages, such as case, remain robust in HSs, in line with the Interface Hypothesis. We were able to replicate the effect of the predictive use of case in monolinguals using webcam-based eye-tracking, but the replication with heritage speakers was not successful due to variability in data collection contexts. A by-participant analysis of the results revealed individual variation in that there were some speakers who do not use case-marking predictively in the same way as most monolinguals and most HSs do. These findings suggest that the predictive use of case in heritage speakers is influenced by different factors, which may differ across individuals and affect their language abilities. We argue that HSs should be placed on a native-speaker continuum to explain variability in language outcomes., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Özsoy, Çiçek, Özal, Gagarina and Sekerina.)

Background: Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) has been considered for treatment of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc)., Objectives: To study the 12-month effects of ECP on laboratory parameters and evaluate the SSc-related long-term survival., Methods: 59 SSc patients who had received at least 6 ECP cycles were included. Lab parameters were assessed at baseline (ECP naïve), after 6 months, and after 12 months. 20-year follow-up data were collected for all patients., Results: 31 (59/52.5%) patients presented with elevated serum III procollagen (sPIIINP) levels at baseline which significantly declined after 6- and 12-month ECP. Total lymphocyte counts as well as circulating immune complexes (CICs) significantly decreased after 12-months ECP. On long-term follow-up, patients had received a median of 37.5 (6-167) ECP cycles over a median period of 64 (6-281) months. 20-year follow-up revealed only 8 (59/13.6%) SSc-related deaths and 51 (59/86.4%) survivors., Conclusions: One-year ECP induces changes in lab parameters, such as sPIIINP, CICs, and lymphocyte counts, which have previously been implicated in the pathogenesis of SSc. More importantly, our data reveal, for the first time, that ECP-treated SSc patients appear to have extremely favorable 20-year survival rates compared to other SSc cohorts reported in the literature.

This study aimed to examine the skeletal, dental, and soft tissue effects of the implant-supported pendulum (ISP) and the zygoma anchorage system (ZAS) used for the distalization of maxillary posterior teeth. Among 30 patients showing Angle class II malocclusion, 15 patients with a mean age of 14.3±1.6 years and treated with ISP were included in the first group; 15 patients with a mean age of 14.7±2.5 years and treated with ZAS were included in the second group. The predistalization and postdistalization lateral cephalograms were analysed. Statistical evaluation was carried out using SPSS. Point A and upper incisors protruded in the ISP group, retruded in the ZAS group. Upper posterior teeth were distalized in both groups, but more in the ZAS group. Significant differences were observed between the groups for the sagittal movements of Point A, incisors, and posterior teeth. Overbite decreased in the ISP group, overjet decreased in the ZAS group, upper and lower lips retruded only in the ZAS group. Both methods provided absolute anchorage for distalization of posterior teeth, but the skeletal and soft tissue outcome and distalization obtained was greater in the ZAS group. Both methods can be used as alternatives to extraoral traction and conventional molar distalization appliances with different patient requirements.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of enamel pre-treatment with a new fluoride-containing casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) complex on the shear bond strength (SBS) of brackets bonded with etch-and-rinse or self-etching adhesive systems. The material comprised 66 extracted human premolars randomly divided into six equal groups with respect to the enamel pre-treatment and adhesive system employed: 1. No pre-treatment and brackets bonded with the etch-and-rinse adhesive system (Transbond XT). 2. Pre-treatment with fluoride-containing CPP-ACP paste (MI Paste Plus) and Transbond XT. 3. Pre-treatment with non-fluoride CPP-ACP paste (MI Paste) and Transbond XT.4. No pre-treatment and brackets bonded with the self-etching adhesive system (Transbond Plus). 5 and 6. Enamel pre-treated as for groups 2 and 3, respectively, and the Transbond Plus. Bonded specimens were subjected to thermal cycling (×1000) before SBS testing. The residual adhesive on the enamel surface was evaluated after debonding with the adhesive remnant index (ARI). Data evaluation was made using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey test for SBS results, and Kruskal-Wallis test for ARI results. The results showed that enamel pre-treatment with either fluoride or non-fluoride CPP-ACP paste had no significant effect on the SBS of the self-etching adhesive system (P > 0.05). Enamel pre-treatment with non-fluoride CPP-ACP in group 3 significantly reduced the SBS of the etch-and-rinse adhesive (P < 0.001), while pre-treatment with fluoride-containing CPP-ACP paste (groups 2 and 5) did not affect debonding values (P > 0.05). The fluoride-containing CPP-ACP did not compromise the SBS of brackets bonded with the tested etch-and-rinse and self-etching systems, but its non-fluoride version significantly decreased the SBS of the etch-and-rinse adhesive system.

Purpose: To evaluate the role of postoperative radiotherapy (RT) in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC)., Methods and Materials: A retrospective multicenter study was performed in 180 patients with MCC treated between February 1988 and September 2009. Patients who had had surgery alone were compared with patients who received surgery and postoperative RT or radical RT. Local relapse-free survival (LRFS), regional relapse-free survival (RRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) rates were assessed together with disease-free survival (DFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) rates., Results: Seventy-nine patients were male and 101 patients were female, and the median age was 73 years old (range, 38-93 years). The majority of patients had localized disease (n = 146), and the remaining patients had regional lymph node metastasis (n = 34). Forty-nine patients underwent surgery for the primary tumor without postoperative RT to the primary site; the other 131 patients received surgery for the primary tumor, followed by postoperative RT (n = 118) or a biopsy of the primary tumor followed by radical RT (n = 13). Median follow-up was 5 years (range, 0.2-16.5 years). Patients in the RT group had improved LRFS (93% vs. 64%; p < 0.001), RRFS (76% vs. 27%; p < 0.001), DMFS (70% vs. 42%; p = 0.01), DFS (59% vs. 4%; p < 0.001), and CSS (65% vs. 49%; p = 0.03) rates compared to patients who underwent surgery for the primary tumor alone; LRFS, RRFS, DMFS, and DFS rates remained significant with multivariable Cox regression analysis. However OS was not significantly improved by postoperative RT (56% vs. 46%; p = 0.2)., Conclusions: After multivariable analysis, postoperative RT was associated with improved outcome and seems to be an important component in the multimodality treatment of MCC., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)