Application of latent class analysis in assessing the awareness, attitude, practice and satisfaction of paediatricians on sleep disorder management in children in Italy.

AIM: To identify subgroups regarding paediatricians' awareness, attitude, practice and satisfaction about management of Sleep-Disordered Breathing (SDB) in Italy using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a large sample of Italian paediatricians. Using a self-administered questionnaire, the study collected information on 420 Paediatric Hospital Paediatricians (PHPs) and 594 Family Care Paediatricians (FCPs). LCA was used to discover underlying response patterns, thus allowing identification of respondent groups with similar awareness, attitude, practice and satisfaction. A logistic regression model was used to investigate which independent variables influenced latent class membership. Analyses were performed using R 3.5.2 software. A p-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Two classes were identified: Class 1 (n = 368, 36.29%) "Untrained and poorly satisfied" and Class 2 (n = 646, 63.71%) "Trained and satisfied." Involving paediatric pneumologists or otorhinolaryngologists in clinical practice was associated with an increased probability of Class 2 membership (OR = 5.88, 95%CI [2.94-13.19]; OR = 15.95, 95% CI [10.92-23.81] respectively). Examining more than 20 children with SDB during the last month decreased the probability of Class 2 membership (OR = 0.29, 95% CI [0.14-0.61]). FCPs showed a higher probability of Class 2 membership than PHPs (OR = 4.64, 95% CI [3.31-6.55]). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the LCA approach can provide important information on how education and training could be tailored for different subgroups of paediatricians. In Italy standardized educational interventions improving paediatricians' screening of SDB are needed in order to guarantee efficient management of children with SDB and reduce the burden of disease

Clinical and radiographic evaluation of early loaded narrow diameter implants – 1‐year follow‐up

Objective To evaluate the clinical performance of A stra T ech O sseo S peed™ TX 3.0 S implants using one‐stage surgical procedure and early loading in the anterior region. Material and methods This is a prospective, single arm, multi‐centre study. Patients missing teeth at positions 12, 22 and 32–42 were eligible to enter the study. The implants ( O sseo S peed™ TX 3.0 S ) used in the study were of 3 mm diameter and of different lengths. One‐stage surgery was performed, and healing abutments were used during the 6–10 weeks healing period. Clinical and radiographic examinations were assessed at implant installation, loading and at the 6‐ and 12‐month follow‐up visits. Results Ninety‐seven implants were placed in 69 patients at six different study centres in D enmark, G ermany, I taly, S pain, S weden and the U nited K ingdom. The survival rate was 95.9%. No implants have been lost after loading (100% survival rate after loading). Mean marginal bone loss 1 year after installation was 0.065 mm ( SD  = 1.018). The frequency of bone loss ≥1 mm was 6.6% and 51.3% of the implants demonstrated no bone loss or even bone gain from the surgical visit to the first year follow‐up visit. Mean probing pocket depth and gingival zenith score were stable from crown placement to the 6‐ and 1‐year follow‐up visits. Conclusion Treatment with O sseo S peed™ TX 3.0 S implants is a safe and predictable option in the anterior region where physical space is limited. Minimal marginal bone loss was observed during the first year follow‐up.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91103/1/clr2254.pd

A systematic review on marginal bone loss around short dental implants (<10 mm) for implant‐supported fixed prostheses

Purpose This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effect of implant length on peri‐implant marginal bone loss ( MBL ) and its associated influencing factors. Material and methods An electronic search of the PubMed and MEDLINE databases for relevant studies published in English from November 2006 to July 2012 was performed by one examiner ( AM ). Selected studies were randomized clinical trials, human experimental clinical trials or prospective studies (e.g., cohort as well as case series) with a clear aim of investigating marginal bone loss of short dental implants (<10 mm) supporting fixed prostheses. A random‐effect meta‐regression model was used to determine the relationship between the effect size mean MBL and the covariate “implant length.” Additionally, a subgroup analysis, by means of a random‐effect one‐way ANOVA model, comparing mean MBL values at different levels of each factor (“type of connection” and “type of prostheses”) was also performed. Results The meta‐regression of mean MBL on the moderator “implant length” was found to be insignificant ( P  = 0.633). Therefore, it could not be concluded that implant length had an effect on peri‐implant MBL . In addition, standardized differences in mean MBL on the subgroups short (<10 mm) and standard (≥10 mm) implants, as determined by the meta‐analysis (random‐effect model), were found to be statistically insignificant ( P  = 0.222). Conclusions Within limitations of the present systematic review, it could be concluded that short dental implants (<10 mm) had similar peri‐implant MBL as standard implants (≥10 mm) for implant‐supported fixed prostheses.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108654/1/clr12236.pd

Helicobacter pylori and pregnancy-related disorders.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is investigated in gastric diseases even during pregnancy. In particular, this Gram-negative bacterium seems to be associated with hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. During the last decade, the relationship among H. pylori and several extra-gastric diseases strongly emerged in literature. The correlation among H. pylori infection and pregnancy-related disorders was mainly focused on iron deficiency anemia, thrombocytopenia, fetal malformations, miscarriage, pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction. H. pylori infection may have a role in the pathogenesis of various pregnancy-related disorders through different mechanisms: depletion of micronutrients (iron and vitamin B(12)) in maternal anemia and fetal neural tube defects; local or systemic induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines release and oxidative stress in gastrointestinal disorders and pre-eclampsia; cross-reaction between specific anti-H. pylori antibodies and antigens localized in placental tissue and endothelial cells (pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction, miscarriage). Since H. pylori infection is most likely acquired before pregnancy, it is widely believed that hormonal and immunological changes occurring during pregnancy could activate latent H. pylori with a negative impact not only on maternal health (nutritional deficiency, organ injury, death), but also on the fetus (insufficient growth, malformation, death) and sometime consequences can be observed later in life. Another important issue addressed by investigators was to determine whether it is possible to transmit H. pylori infection from mother to child and whether maternal anti-H. pylori antibodies could prevent infant’s infection. Studies on novel diagnostic and therapeutic methods for H. pylori are no less important, since these are particularly sensitive topics in pregnancy conditions. It could be interesting to study the possible correlation between H. pylori infection and other pregnancy-related diseases of unknown etiology, such as gestational diabetes mellitus, obstetric cholestasis and spontaneous preterm delivery. Since H. pylori infection is treatable, the demonstration of its causative role in pregnancy-related disorders will have important social-economic implications

Definition and Analysis of Uncertainty Contributors in the Dimensional Measurement of Bronze Sintered Samples

The paper concerns the definition and estimation of uncertainty elements. This topic is matched with Direct Metal Selective Laser Sintering used for manufacturing the samples. The UNI ENV ISO 14253-2: 2003 standard deals with uncertainty sources in dimensional measurement. This paper treats just those ones regarding measurement procedure, measurement equipment and workpiece. The aim of this paper is estimating combined standard uncertainty. Measurement repeatability, workpiece fixing and number of points for the definition of geometric elements arise from measurement procedure. Measurement equipment uncertainty is connected with Maximum Permissible Error. As far as workpiece uncertainty components, surface roughness, form error and temperature are checked

Dimensional Analysis in Selective Laser Melting

This paper aims to use dimensional analysis technique for evaluating the properties of laser sintered components manufactured with Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process from metallic powders. The complexity of SLM does not allow to define an exhaustive mathematical model which involves all governing parameters and, therefore, the dimensional analysis might be a powerful tool for the expression of output parameters as function of dimensionless numbers appropriately defined from the input parameters set. As an example of the developed procedure, the paper explains the construction of a response function for the expression of relative density

Investigation on edge joints of Inconel 625 sheets processed with laser welding

Abstract Laser welding of Inconel 625 edge joint beads in square groove configuration was investigated. The use of different weld geometries in new aerospace solutions explains research on edge joints. A structured plan was carried out in order to characterize the process defining the influence of laser power and welding speed and to study possible interactions among the governing factors. As weld pool protection is crucial in order to obtain sound joints when processing superalloys, a special glove box for gas supply was designed to upgrade the welding head. Welded joints were characterized referring to bead profile, microstructure and X-rays. It was found that heat input plays an important role as it affects welding stability, porosity content and bead shape. Results suggest operating with low values of heat input to reduce porosity and guarantee stable bead conformation. Furthermore, a decrease in the grain size has been observed as a consequence of decreasing heat input

Porosity evolution in aluminum alloy 2024 bop and butt defocused welding by Yb-YAG disk laser

In many industrial applications, in order to obtain good results in laser welding processes, it may not be sufficient to use a focused beam on the upper surface, so a defocused beam is required instead. This study aims to investigate which advantages a defocused beam may offer in welding aluminum alloy 2024 using Yb:YAG disk laser. A characterization of laser beam geometry is preliminary necessary, in order to correlate bead features and effective specific energy provided. Porosity content decrease and enhanced penetration depth have been obtained with defocused beam; welding behavior has been related to magnesium loss via EDS analysis. Considering the shape of the cross sections of the bead in butt welding, the relation between key-hole instability and porosity formation has also been discussed. For the alloy in exam, the welding range to perform structurally sound and defect-free welds is found to be tight