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Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) refers to the malignancy of squamous cells in the head and neck region. Ranked as the seventh most common cancer worldwide, HNSCC has a very low survival rate, highlighting the importance of finding therapeutic targets for the disease. Integrins are cell surface receptors that play a crucial role in mediating cellular interactions with the extracellular matrix (ECM). Within this protein family, Integrin αV (ITGAV) has received attention for its important functional role in cancer progression. In this study, we first demonstrated the upregulation of ITGAV expression in HNSCC, with higher ITGAV expression levels correlating with significantly lower overall survival, based on TCGA (the Cancer Genome Atlas) and GEO datasets. Subsequent in vitro analyses revealed an overexpression of ITGAV in highly invasive HNSCC cell lines UM1 and UMSCC-5 in comparison to low invasive HNSCC cell lines UM2 and UMSCC-6. In addition, knockdown of ITGAV significantly inhibited the migration, invasion, viability, and colony formation of HNSCC cells. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays indicated that SOX11 bound to the promoter of ITGAV gene, and SOX11 knockdown resulted in decreased ITGAV expression in HNSCC cells. In conclusion, our studies suggest that ITGAV promotes the progression of HNSCC cells and may be regulated by SOX11 in HNSCC cells.

Objectives: The objectives of this retrospective study were to analyze telehealth utilization for two specialty care practices: oral medicine (OM) and oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) during the first 2 years of the pandemic, its impact as a new treatment modality and on participating providers, as well as identify the type of patient visit that most readily adopted telehealth. Methods: Retrospective study of patients who sought specialty services, OM and OMFS, at an outpatient clinic in a university health system setting between March 1, 2019, and February 28, 2022. Source data were obtained from Epic, an electronic medical record application. Data were graphed using Tableau and Microsoft Excel software. Statistical analysis was performed utilizing chi-squared test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: OMFS utilized telehealth 12% of the time, and OM 8% of the time. The majority (87%) of telehealth visits were for return patients (RPs). Compared with the first year of the pandemic, there was a decrease in the number of telehealth visits in the second year (p = 0.0001). As of August 2022, new patient (NP) telehealth encounters have largely returned to prepandemic levels (0-1.5%), whereas RP telehealth visits remained at an average level of 11.4% (9.4-12.4%). Surveyed providers consider telehealth as an effective complement to in-person care and will continue its use (4.2/5 Likert scale). Conclusions: Telehealth has become a viable pathway of care for OM and OMFS who previously did not utilize the remote platform to deliver healthcare. As a new treatment modality, telehealth is perceived as impactful in increasing access to specialty care by participating providers. NP visits are now almost completely in person, but telehealth continues for RPs. Ongoing demand for telehealth highlights urgency to develop appropriate standards and effective remote diagnostic/monitoring tools to maximize telehealth's capability to leverage finite health care resources and increase access to specialty care.

The wadis are environments of great ecological and economic importance. They are the seat of several hydraulic developments. The latter disrupts the functioning of the wadi in different ways. They modify their hydrological regime, disrupt the ecological conditions upstream and downstream of the reservoir, reduce the self-purification capacities, and modify the processes of erosion and solid transport. It is in this perspective that we have carried out a study of the impact of hydraulic installations on the quality of the waters of the Mafragh watershed. The hydrographic network of the watershed receives the wastewater discharged by the localities and by the industries located along these rivers. This wastewater contributes to the degradation of the water quality of the wadis. The spatio-temporal variation of the water quality index showed a good quality at the level of the dams, while at the level of the sites, which are located downstream, the quality generally varies between bad and very bad during the study period.

BACKGROUND: Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) represents one of the major subsets of head and neck cancer, which is characterized by unfavorable prognosis, frequent lymph node metastasis, and high mortality rate. The molecular events regulating tongue tumorigenesis remain elusive. In this study, we aimed to identify and evaluate immune-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as prognostic biomarkers in TSCC. METHODS: The lncRNA expression data for TSCC were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the immune-related genes were downloaded from the Immunology Database and Analysis Portal (ImmPort). Pearson correlation analysis was performed to identify immune-related lncRNAs. The TCGA TSCC patient cohort was randomly divided into training and testing cohorts. In the training cohort, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to determining key immune-related lncRNAs, which were then validated through Cox regression analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis in the testing cohort. RESULTS: Six immune-related signature lncRNAs (MIR4713HG, AC104088.1, LINC00534, NAALADL2-AS2, AC083967.1, FNDC1-IT1) were found to have prognostic value in TSCC. Multivariate and univariate cox regression analyses showed that the risk score based on our six-lncRNA model, when compared to other clinicopathological factors (age, gender, stage, N, T), was an important indicator of survival rate. In addition, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated significantly higher overall survival in the low-risk patient group than the high-risk patient group within both training and testing cohorts. The ROC analysis indicated that the AUCs for 5-year overall survival were 0.790, 0.691, and 0.721, respectively, for training, testing, and entire cohorts. Finally, PCA analysis demonstrated that the high-risk and low-risk patient groups presented significant deviation regarding their immune status. CONCLUSIONS: A prognostic model based on six immune-related signature lncRNAs was established. This six-lncRNA prognostic model has clinical significance and may be helpful in the development of personalized immunotherapy strategies.

Late detection and specialist referral result in poor oral cancer outcomes globally. High-risk LRMU populations usually do not have access to oral medicine specialists, a specialty of dentistry, whose expertise includes the identification, treatment, and management of oral cancers. To overcome this access barrier, there is an urgent need for novel, low-cost tele-health approaches to expand specialist access to low-resource, remote and underserved individuals. The goal of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of remote versus in-person specialist visits using a novel, low-cost telehealth platform consisting of a smartphone-based, remote intraoral camera and custom software application. A total of 189 subjects with suspicious oral lesions requiring biopsy (per the standard of care) were recruited and consented. Each subject was examined, and risk factors were recorded twice: once by an on-site specialist, and again by an offsite specialist. A novel, low-cost, smartphone-based intraoral camera paired with a custom software application were utilized to perform synchronous remote video/still imaging and risk factor assessment by the off-site specialist. Biopsies were performed at a later date following specialist recommendations. The study's results indicated that on-site specialist diagnosis showed high sensitivity (94%) and moderate specificity (72%) when compared to histological diagnosis, which did not significantly differ from the accuracy of remote specialist telediagnosis (sensitivity: 95%; specificity: 84%). These preliminary findings suggest that remote specialist visits utilizing a novel, low-cost, smartphone-based telehealth tool may improve specialist access for low-resource, remote and underserved individuals with suspicious oral lesions.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) refers to the malignancy of squamous cells in the head and neck region. Ranked as the seventh most common cancer worldwide, HNSCC has a very low survival rate, highlighting the importance of finding therapeutic targets for the disease. Integrins are cell surface receptors that play a crucial role in mediating cellular interactions with the extracellular matrix (ECM). Within this protein family, Integrin αV (ITGAV) has received attention for its important functional role in cancer progression. In this study, we first demonstrated the upregulation of ITGAV expression in HNSCC, with higher ITGAV expression levels correlating with significantly lower overall survival, based on TCGA (the Cancer Genome Atlas) and GEO datasets. Subsequent in vitro analyses revealed an overexpression of ITGAV in highly invasive HNSCC cell lines UM1 and UMSCC-5 in comparison to low invasive HNSCC cell lines UM2 and UMSCC-6. In addition, knockdown of ITGAV significantly inhibited the migration, invasion, viability, and colony formation of HNSCC cells. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays indicated that SOX11 bound to the promoter of ITGAV gene, and SOX11 knockdown resulted in decreased ITGAV expression in HNSCC cells. In conclusion, our studies suggest that ITGAV promotes the progression of HNSCC cells and may be regulated by SOX11 in HNSCC cells.

ABSTRACTClinical trials have shown that acupuncture may be effective in treating xerostomia.2 Acupuncture reduces symptoms related to xerostomia in patients who are refractory to current management such as pilocarpine.3 A 60-year old female patient presented with xerostomia after receiving radiation for adenoid cystic carcinoma. Patient reported attempting various treatment modalities to improve RIX that included but not limited to Pilocarpine prescription and over the counter saliva substitutes. After 3 months, patient decided to seek care at UCLA School of Dental Medicine’s Orofacial Pain Clinic for dental acupuncture treatment. We opted to utilize Dr Niemtzow’s protocol for this case study. Dr Richard Niemtzow, a colonel in the US Air Force, created an acupuncture protocol that is point precise to treat radiotherapy-induced xerostomia (RIX) for cancer patients.6 Per Dr Niemtzow’s medical acupuncture protocol, three auricular and four digital points were bilaterally placed for 45 minutes. Patient subsequently received intraoral dry needling protocol on two tongue and two palatal acupuncture points for two minutes. Treatment was repeated the next day. By including dental acupuncture after Dr Niemtzow’s protocol, saliva production increased by an average of two times more compared to Dr Niemtzow’s stand alone treatment. The intraoral acupuncture protocol may have additionally stimulated the parotid, submandibular, sublingual, and minor palatal salivary glands, resulting in an increase of salivary production. Studies have shown at least two neuropeptides, vasoactive intestinal peptide and calcitonin gene-related peptide, to be present in salivary glands that can stimulate salivary secretion.7 The intraoral dry needling protocol is an invaluable addition to provide relief from radiation-induced xerostomia. Further investigation with a larger patient population should be considered to standardize dental acupuncture.

This paper presents a novel approach for secure communication utilizing a chaotic hybrid optical bistable system and chaotic modulation. The proposed crypto system encrypts the message at the transmitter using the chaotic hybrid optical bistable system with decorrelation operation to improve the chaotic sequence's performance. The encoded message is then injected into the dynamics of the chaotic memristor system. At the receiver, the synchronization of the two chaotic systems with passive control and predictive control allows for the recovery of the message through chaotic demodulation. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated through numerical simulation using medical images.

Background: Until now, there has been limited information on the prevalence and the phylogeny of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Ixodes ticks in Tunisia, particularly in Ixodes inopinatus. Methods: The present study aimed to determine the prevalence and the phylogeny of B. burgdorferi s.l., in coexisted I. ricinus and I. inopinatus ticks collected from Northern Tunisia. One hundred questig ticks were collected during winter 2020 by tick-dragging method in Beja gouvernorate located in the north of Tunisia. Real-time PCR panel targeting B. burgdorferi s.l. 23S rRNA gene were performed. Positive DNA samples were subjected to conventional PCRs targeting 457 bp fragment of the Borrelia sp. flagellin (fla) gene using primers FlaF/FlaR. The identified Borrelia sp. isolate underwent partial sequence analysis to determine genospecies and evaluate their phylogenetic position. Results: The study revealed a prevalence rate of 28% (28/100) for B. burgdorferi sensu lato in the Ixodes ticks. The prevalence rates across tick species and genders did not show significant variations (p > 0.05). Interestingly, the study underlines the coexistence of I. inopinatus and I. ricinus sharing the same geographic areas in Northern Tunisia. Furthermore, DNA of B. lusitaniae was detected in I. inopinatus ticks for the first time in Tunisia. Revealed B. lusitaniae bacterium is similar to previously identified strains in Mediterranean region, but distinct from those isolated exclusively from countries of Eastern and Central Europe, such as Serbia, Romania, and Poland. This study highlights the prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in I. ricinus/I. inopinatus ticks, and reveals B. lusitaniae in I. inopinatus ticks for the first time in Tunisia. Conclusion: These findings suggest the involvement of I. inopinatus as a potential vector of this pathogenic genospeciess in Tunisia. This may help understanding the ecology of Ixodes ticks, the natural infection and the transmission dynamics of Borrelia species in this country.

Induction motors make up approximately 80% of the electric motors in the railway sector due to their robustness, high efficiency, and low maintenance cost. Nevertheless, these motors are subject to failures which can lead to costly downtime and service interruptions. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing fault diagnosis systems for railway traction motors using advanced non-invasive detection and data analysis techniques. Implementing these methods in railway applications can prove challenging due to variable speed and low-load operating conditions, as well as the use of inverter-fed motor drives. This comprehensive review paper summarizes general methods of fault diagnosis for induction machines. It details the faults seen in induction motors, the most relevant signals measured for fault detection, the signal processing techniques for fault extraction as well as some classification algorithms for diagnosis purposes. By giving the advantages and drawbacks of each technique, it helps select the appropriate method that could address the challenges of railway applications.

The impact of the building and construction sector on climate change is becoming more important and recognized. Multiple initiatives around the globe have been utilized to design and develop residential structures, aiming to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions; yet, there are several barriers to effective construction processes. This research outlines the gaps and barriers encountered by key stakeholders that were engaged during the preconstruction phase of a three-story multi-generational low-impact Passive House in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Through direct observation and open-ended interviews, the primary data are collected, and secondary data from a comprehensive literature review are detailed to capture the challenges faced during different phases of the implementation of sustainable residential dwellings. This study highlights the limited knowledge and experience in sustainable building design as a common barrier among participants along with the insufficiency of the regulatory framework governing adopted building codes in Arkansas, in facilitating sustainable building design implementation. These challenges, among others, are then thoroughly examined, and recommendations to address them are described.

The main purpose of this study is to quantify and compare the embodied carbon (EC) from the materials used or designed to build the Adohi Hall, a residence building located on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, AR. It has been constructed as a mass timber structure. It is compared to the same building design with a steel frame for this study. Based on the defined goal and scope of the project, all materials used in the building structure are compared for their global warming potential (GWP) impact by applying a life cycle assessment (LCA) using a cradle-to-construction site system boundary. This comparative building LCA comprises the product stage (including raw material extraction, processing, transporting, and manufacturing) plus transportation to the construction site (nodule A1–A4, according to standard EN 15804 definitions). In this study, GWP is primarily assessed with the exclusion of other environmental factors. Tally®, as one of the most popular LCA tools for buildings, is used in this comparative LCA analysis. In this study, the substitution of mass timber for a steel structure with a corrugated steel deck and concrete topping offers a promising opportunity to understand the GWP impact of each structure. Mass timber structures exhibit superior environmental attributes considering the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 eq). Emissions per square meter of gross floor area for mass timber stand at 198 kg, in stark contrast to the 243 kg CO2 eq recorded for steel structures. This means the mass timber building achieved a 19% reduction in carbon emissions compared to the functional equivalent steel structure within the building modules A1 to A4 studied. When considering carbon storage, about 2757 tonnes of CO2 eq are stored in the mass timber building, presenting further benefits of carbon emission delays for the life span of the structure. The substitution benefit from this construction case was studied through the displacement factor (DF) quantification following the standard process. A 0.28 DF was obtained when using mass timber over steel in the structure. This study provides insights into making more environmentally efficient decisions in buildings and helps in the move forward to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and address GWP mitigation.

Background: Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) represents one of the major subsets of head and neck cancer, which is characterized by unfavorable prognosis, frequent lymph node metastasis, and high mortality rate. The molecular events regulating tongue tumorigenesis remain elusive. In this study, we aimed to identify and evaluate immune-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) as prognostic biomarkers in TSCC. Methods: The lncRNA expression data for TSCC were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the immune-related genes were downloaded from the Immunology Database and Analysis Portal (ImmPort). Pearson correlation analysis was performed to identify immune-related lncRNAs. The TCGA TSCC patient cohort was randomly divided into training and testing cohorts. In the training cohort, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to determining key immune-related lncRNAs, which were then validated through Cox regression analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis in the testing cohort. Results: Six immune-related signature lncRNAs (MIR4713HG, AC104088.1, LINC00534, NAALADL2-AS2, AC083967.1, FNDC1-IT1) were found to have prognostic value in TSCC. Multivariate and univariate cox regression analyses showed that the risk score based on our six-lncRNA model, when compared to other clinicopathological factors (age, gender, stage, N, T), was an important indicator of survival rate. In addition, Kaplan–Meier survival analysis demonstrated significantly higher overall survival in the low-risk patient group than the high-risk patient group within both training and testing cohorts. The ROC analysis indicated that the AUCs for 5-year overall survival were 0.790, 0.691, and 0.721, respectively, for training, testing, and entire cohorts. Finally, PCA analysis demonstrated that the high-risk and low-risk patient groups presented significant deviation regarding their immune status. Conclusions: A prognostic model based on six immune-related signature lncRNAs was established. This six-lncRNA prognostic model has clinical significance and may be helpful in the development of personalized immunotherapy strategies.

Abstract Background Abortion is a serious problem for sheep flocks and it is responsible for considerable economic losses. The epidemiological situation of abortion causing agents in sheep is poorly documented in Tunisia. This study aims to investigate the status of three abortion causing agents (Brucella spp, Toxoplasma gondii, and Coxiella burnetii) among organized flocks in Tunisia. Results A total of 793 sample blood collected from twenty-six flocks in seven governorates in Tunisia, were tested by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (i-ELISA) for antibodies against three abortion causing agents (Brucella spp, Toxoplasma gondii, and Coxiella burnetii). Risk factors for individual-level seroprevalence were analyzed using a logistic regression model. Results revealed that 19.7%, 17.2%, and 16.1% of the tested sera were positive for toxoplasmosis, Q fever, and brucellosis, respectively. Mixed infection was found in all the flocks with 3 to 5 responsible abortive agents simultaneously. Logistic regression showed that the management practices (control of new introduction, common grazing and watering point, workers exchange, presence of lambing box on the farm) and the history of infertility and the presence of abortion in neighboring flocks were likely to increase the probability of being infected by the three abortive agents. Conclusions Evidence of the positive relationship between seroprevalence of abortion causing agents and several risk factors, suggests further investigations to better understand the etiology of infectious abortions in flocks to develop an applicable preventive and control program.

Late detection and specialist referral result in poor oral cancer outcomes globally. High-risk LRMU populations usually do not have access to oral medicine specialists, a specialty of dentistry, whose expertise includes the identification, treatment, and management of oral cancers. To overcome this access barrier, there is an urgent need for novel, low-cost tele-health approaches to expand specialist access to low-resource, remote and underserved individuals. The goal of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of remote versus in-person specialist visits using a novel, low-cost telehealth platform consisting of a smartphone-based, remote intraoral camera and custom software application. A total of 189 subjects with suspicious oral lesions requiring biopsy (per the standard of care) were recruited and consented. Each subject was examined, and risk factors were recorded twice: once by an on-site specialist, and again by an offsite specialist. A novel, low-cost, smartphone-based intraoral camera paired with a custom software application were utilized to perform synchronous remote video/still imaging and risk factor assessment by the off-site specialist. Biopsies were performed at a later date following specialist recommendations. The study’s results indicated that on-site specialist diagnosis showed high sensitivity (94%) and moderate specificity (72%) when compared to histological diagnosis, which did not significantly differ from the accuracy of remote specialist telediagnosis (sensitivity: 95%; specificity: 84%). These preliminary findings suggest that remote specialist visits utilizing a novel, low-cost, smartphone-based telehealth tool may improve specialist access for low-resource, remote and underserved individuals with suspicious oral lesions.

Shiga‑toxin‑producing E. coli (STEC) is a foodborne pathogen associated with outbreaks worldwide that can be identified in the feces and in the meat of food‑producing animals. Our study aimed to evaluate the incidence of E. coli O157:H7 in the feces of diarrheic camels (Camelus dromedarius) in Tunisia. From January 2018 to April 2019, 120 unduplicated fecal samples were obtained from diarrheic camels located in southern Tunisia. Non‑sorbitol‑fermenting colonies were confirmed as E. coli O157 via latex agglutination test and were screened for the presence of rfbEO157, fliCH7, stx1, stx2, eaeA, and ehxA genes by PCR. All isolates were examined for their susceptibility to 21 antibiotics. Of the 70 E. coli isolates that were recovered from 120 diarrheic camels, 4 (5.7%) were identified as STEC O157:H7. All isolates harbored ehxA and eae genes. Shiga toxin genes stx2 and stx1 were present in 50% and 25% of isolates, respectively. All E. coli O157:H7 isolates were sensitive to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cefotaxime, cefepime, aztreonam, colistin, and sulfamethoxazole‑trimethoprim. All isolates belonged to the phylogroup E. This is the first report of E. coli O157:H7 isolates from diarrheic camels in Tunisia with a prevalence of 4 isolates (3.3%) amongst 120 fecal samples. This study supports the necessity for a platform purposed for regular screening and surveillance programs in food‑producing animals and meat products, to perform early and rapid identification of food‑borne pathogens.

(1) Background: Increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI) has been linked to several inflammatory conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the relationship between IBD and MI remains unclear. Here, we implemented an original mouse model combining IBD and MI to determine IBD’s impact on MI severity and the link between the two diseases. (2) Methods: An IBD model was established by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) administration in drinking water, alone or with oral C. albicans (Ca) gavage. IBD severity was assessed by clinical/histological scores and intestinal/systemic inflammatory biomarker measurement. Mice were subjected to myocardial ischemia–reperfusion (IR), and MI severity was assessed by quantifying infarct size (IS) and serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) levels. (3) Results: IBD mice exhibited elevated fecal lipocalin 2 (Lcn2) and IL-6 levels. DSS mice exhibited almost two-fold increase in IS compared to controls, with serum cTnI levels strongly correlated with IS. Ca inoculation tended to worsen DSS-induced systemic inflammation and IR injury, an observation which is not statistically significant. (4) Conclusions: This is the first proof-of-concept study demonstrating the impact of IBD on MI severity and suggesting mechanistic aspects involved in the IBD–MI connection. Our findings could pave the way for MI therapeutic approaches based on identified IBD-induced inflammatory mediators.

Ischemic heart disease (IHD), especially myocardial infarction (MI), is a leading cause of death worldwide. Although coronary reperfusion is the most straightforward treatment for limiting the MI size, it has nevertheless been shown to exacerbate ischemic myocardial injury. Therefore, identifying and developing therapeutic strategies to treat IHD is a major medical challenge. Snake venoms contain biologically active proteins and peptides that are of major interest for pharmacological applications in the cardiovascular system (CVS). This has led to their use for the development and design of new drugs, such as the first-in-class angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor captopril, developed from a peptide present in Bothrops jararaca snake venom. This review discusses the potential usefulness of snake venom toxins for developing effective treatments against IHD and related diseases such as hypertension and atherosclerosis. It describes their biological effects at the molecular scale, their mechanisms of action according to their different pharmacological properties, as well as their subsequent molecular pathways and therapeutic targets. The molecules reported here have either been approved for human medical use and are currently available on the drug market or are still in the clinical or preclinical developmental stages. The information summarized here may be useful in providing insights into the development of future snake venom-derived drugs.

Objective: Since the introduction in 2004, global usage of e-cigarettes (ECs) has risen exponentially. However, the risks of ECs on oral health are uncertain. The purpose of this study is to understand if EC aerosol exposure impacts the gene pathways of normal human oral keratinocytes (NHOKs), particularly the unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway. Materials and methods: EC aerosols were generated reproducibly with a home-made puffing device and impinged into the culture medium for NHOKs. DNA microarrays were used to profile the gene expression changes in NHOKs treated with EC aerosols, and the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) was used to reveal signaling pathways altered by the EC aerosols. Quantitative PCR was used to validate the expression changes of significantly altered genes. Results: DNA microarray profiling followed by IPA revealed a number of signaling pathways, such as UPR, cell cycle regulation, TGF-β signaling, NRF2-mediated oxidative stress response, PI3K/AKT signaling, NF-κB signaling, and HGF signaling, activated by EC aerosols in NHOKs. The UPR pathway genes, C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), X box binding protein 1 (XBP1), and inositol-requiring enzyme 1 alpha (IRE1α) were all significantly up-regulated in EC aerosol-treated NHOKs whereas immunoglobulin heavy-chain binding protein (BIP) and PRKR-like ER kinase (PERK) were slightly up-regulated. qPCR analysis results were found to be well correlated with those from the DNA microarray analysis. The most significantly changed genes in EC aerosol-treated NHOKs versus untreated NHOKs were CHOP, ATF4, XBP1, IRE1α and BIP. Meanwhile, Western blot analysis confirmed that CHOP, GRP78 (BIP), ATF4, IRE1α and XBP1s (spliced XBP1) were significantly up-regulated in NHOKs treated with EC aerosols. Conclusion: Our results indicate that EC aerosols up-regulate the UPR pathway genes in NHOKs, and the induction of UPR response is mediated by the PERK - EIF2α - ATF4 and IRE1α - XBP1 pathways.

OBJECTIVE:To compare knowledge and attitude of dental students in two countries towards E-cigarettes and their long-term effects. MATERIAL AND METHODS:An anonymous cross-sectional survey, using self-administered questionnaires, was conducted amongst dental students from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry (UCLA) and Universidad Europea of Madrid (UE). RESULTS:There were significant differences in knowledge and perception of E-cigarettes between dental students from both countries. Three (3%) of the participants from UE sample smoked E-cigarettes every day, compared to none of the students from UCLA. Almost 54 (80%) students from UCLA claimed that they had never experimented with an E-cigarette, whereas 61 (65%) of UE sample reported not having experimented with E-cigarettes in the past. More than 15% of students in both populations were unsure of the potentially harmful effects of E-cigarette usage. A significantly higher proportion of the Spanish sample used conventional cigarettes compared to the US sample 53 (56%) compared to 36 (24%), P

OBJECTIVE:To compare knowledge and attitude of dental students in two countries towards E-cigarettes and their long-term effects. MATERIAL AND METHODS:An anonymous cross-sectional survey, using self-administered questionnaires, was conducted amongst dental students from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry (UCLA) and Universidad Europea of Madrid (UE). RESULTS:There were significant differences in knowledge and perception of E-cigarettes between dental students from both countries. Three (3%) of the participants from UE sample smoked E-cigarettes every day, compared to none of the students from UCLA. Almost 54 (80%) students from UCLA claimed that they had never experimented with an E-cigarette, whereas 61 (65%) of UE sample reported not having experimented with E-cigarettes in the past. More than 15% of students in both populations were unsure of the potentially harmful effects of E-cigarette usage. A significantly higher proportion of the Spanish sample used conventional cigarettes compared to the US sample 53 (56%) compared to 36 (24%), P