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Unsightly colour changes may occur in the enamel around bonded orthodontic brackets.

The aim of this study is to analyze the assemblage of trilobites in the Silurian sequences of Iran by exploring stratigraphic section of the Silurian Niur Formation (Asadli section). Based on comprehensive field studies and laboratory investigations three Trilobite genera were identified in the study area including Calymene blumenbachii, Gravicalymene convolva, Dalmanites brevigladiolus and Calymene sp. according to this trilobite assemblage a Rhuddanian to Telychian stages (Llandovery) is suggested for deposition of the study strata. The recognized trilobite fauna will be used as a base for future geological studies on the Silurian strata in Kopeh-Dagh Basin. This is the first report of trilobites from the Silurian (Llandovery) Niur Formation in Asadli section, north- east, Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new modified quantitative Kato-Katz thick-smear technique for the detection of helminth eggs in faeces preserves hookworm eggs unaltered for a long time, while with the classic Kato-Katz technique, they disappear after approximately 2 h in tropical climates and thus slides must be read within hours after sample collection. For an independent comparison of these two laboratory techniques, faecal smears from 263 school children were examined in two surveys and prevalence, intensity of infection and costs of surveys calculated. There was no statistical difference between the methods in detecting prevalence and stratification of the sample in different classes of intensity. While there was no statistical difference for the arithmetic mean of the epg for T. trichiura and only a small difference for A. lumbricoides (P=0.04), we observed a highly significant difference for hookworm mean intensities of infections (P<0.001). From the public health viewpoint both methods provided similar results, but due to its simplicity and widespread use the classical Kato-Katz technique remains first choice for community investigation of soil-transmitted nematodes. However, the Nigrosin-Eosin approach has several advantages and can be a valuable alternative in certain circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The dead state can affect the value sets derived from discrete choice experiments (DCEs). Our aim was to empirically assess the direct impact of the immediate death state on health utilities using discrete choice experiment with time (DCE TTO )., Methods: A sample of the general population in Quebec, Canada, completed two approaches: DCE TTO followed by a best-worst scaling with time (BWS TTO ) (hereafter referred to as DCE BWS ), versus DCE TTO followed by the dominated option and the immediate death state (hereafter referred to as DCE DOD ), both designed with the SF-6Dv2. In DCE BWS , all participants first completed 10 DCE TTO choices (i.e., option A vs B), followed by 3 BWS TTO . In DCE DOD , the same participants first completed the same 10 DCE TTO choices, followed by a repeated choice between the dominated option (i.e., A or B) and the immediate death state. A conditional logit model was used to estimate value sets. The performance of models was assessed using goodness of fit using Bayesian information criterion, parameters' logical consistency, and levels' significance. The direct impact of the death state on DCE latent utilities was evaluated by examining the magnitude of coefficients, assessing the agreement among the value sets estimated by DCE TTO with DCE BWS and with DCE DOD using Bland-Altman plots, the proportion of worst-than-dead (WTD) health states, and analyzing the range of estimated values., Results: From 398 participants, a total of 348 participants were included for final analysis. The number of parameters with illogical consistency and non-significant coefficients was lower in DCE BWS . The observed consistency in the relative importance of dimensions across all approaches suggests a stable and reliable ranking. The utility range for DCE DOD (- 0.921 to 1) was narrower than for DCE TTO (- 1.578 to 1) and DCE BWS (- 1.150 to 1). The DCE DOD estimated a lower percentage of WTD health states (20.01 %) compared to DCE TTO (47.19 %) and DCE BWS (33.73 %). The agreement between DCE TTO and DCE BWS was slightly stronger than between DCE TTO and DCE DOD , and the mean utility values were higher in DCE DOD than in DCE BWS ., Conclusions: The inclusion of the immediate death state directly within DCE increased utility values. This increase was higher when the immediate death was included in a sequence within a DCE TTO (i.e., DCE DOD ) than when it was included in a continuum of DCE TTO (i.e., DCE BWS ). The use of DCE DOD was potentially better suited to incorporate the dead state into a DCE., Competing Interests: Declarations. Funding: This study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Knowledge Development Grants Program 2015–2017, file number 430-2015-00712. The CIRANO and the Fondation de l’IUSMM also funded a post-doctoral scholarship for the analysis of the data. Conflicts of interest: Thomas G. Poder is an editorial board member of Applied Health Economics and Health Policy. He was not involved in the selection of peer reviewers for the manuscript nor any of the subsequent editorial decisions. Ethics approval: The study was approved by an institutional ethics committee, with reference number #2016–1350, from the Comité d’éthique de la recherche of the CIUSSS de l'Estrie–CHUS. Consent to participate: Informed consent was obtained from all respondents. Consent for publication: Informed consent was obtained from all respondents. Availability of data and material: All data of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Code availability: Not applicable. Authors' contributions: TGP conceptualized this study. TGP and HA analyzed and interpreted the data, as well as wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors revised the manuscript critically and approved the final version., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Objective: To develop a value set for the Short-Form 6-Dimension version 2 (SF-6Dv2) by incorporating societal preferences obtained from three distinct approaches: Standard Gamble (SG), composite Time Trade-Off (cTTO), and Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE)., Methods: Data were gathered from the general population of Quebec, Canada, using the standardized valuation protocol developed by EuroQol for the cTTO and DCE tasks, as well as the valuation protocol developed by Sheffield University for the SG. The SG and cTTO data were analyzed using OLS, GLS, GLS Tobit, and heteroskedastic Tobit models. Conditional logit model was used for the DCE, while hybrid, hybrid Tobit, and heteroskedastic hybrid were applied to analyze the combined data from SG, cTTO, and DCE. The performance of models was assessed using mean absolute error (MAE), the logical consistency of the parameters, and significance levels., Results: Over 56,000 observations collected from the SG, cTTO, and DCE were analyzed. The utility values generated by DCE were generally lower than those provided by cTTO and SG. Among the models tested, the heteroskedastic hybrid model demonstrated the best fit in terms of logical consistency and statistically significant coefficients. This model generated a value set ranging from -0.216 for the worst health state (555655) to 1 for full health (111111), with 0.52% of the values being negative and a MAE of 0.281. Among dimensions, the largest decrements were consistently found in the pain dimension, highlighting its significant impact on overall health state valuations., Conclusion: A heteroskedastic hybrid model using data from SG, cTTO, and DCE was identified as the most effective approach for generating the SF-6Dv2 value set and is expected to provide key input for healthcare decision-making., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)