Outpatient Ductal Steroid Irrigations as an Adjuvant Treatment to Sialendoscopy in Recurrent Inflammatory Obstructive Sialadenitis

The aim of this study is to retrospectively investigate the effectiveness of outpatient ductal steroid irrigations (DSIs) as an adjuvant treatment in recurrent inflammatory obstructive sialadenitis (RIOS). A retrospective chart review of prospectively recruited RIOS patients was randomly assigned to group A (i.e., interventional sialendoscopy) or group B (i.e., interventional sialendoscopy with outpatient DSIs). The statistical analysis detected any postoperative difference between groups in terms of the number and severity (attested by 0–10 VAS pain) of episodes of swelling. Interventional sialendoscopy and DSIs were effective and well tolerated in all 122 patients, and a significantly reduced number of salivary gland swelling episodes (p-value = 0.01) was documented in group B compared to group A at any follow-up assessment. When the specific aetiology was considered, repeated DSIs were more effective than interventional sialendoscopy alone in patients with type 1 or 3 stenoses and in those without mucous plugs. Our results confirm the safety and effectiveness of interventional sialendoscopy (both as a single-modality and a multimodal approach) in a large series of adult patients with RIOS at short-, medium-, and long-term analyses. The superiority of a combined therapeutic protocol, with a positive effect still detectable 12 months after the end of the treatment, was attested as well

Near- and Middle-Infrared Monitoring of Burned Areas from Space

We describe a methodology to discriminate burned areas and date burning events that use a burn-sensitive (V, W) index system defined in near-/mid-infrared space. Discrimination of burned areas relies on a monthly composite of minimum of W and on the difference between this composite and that of the previous month. The rationale is to identify pixels with high confidence of having burned and aggregate new burned pixels on a contextual basis. Dating of burning events is based on the analysis of time series of W, and searching for the day before maximum temporal separability is achieved. The procedure is applied to the fire of Monchique, a large event that took place in the southwest of Portugal in August 2018. When the obtained pattern of burned pixels is compared against a reference map, the overall accuracy is larger than 99%; the commission and omission errors are lower than 5 and 10%, respectively; and the bias and the Dice coefficient are above 0.95 and 0.9, respectively. Differences between estimated dates of burning and reference dates derived from remote-sensed observations of active fires show a bias of 0.03 day and a root mean square difference of 0.24 day

Clustering and forecasting of dissolved oxygen concentration on a river basin

The aim of this contribution is to combine statistical methodologies to geographically classify homogeneous groups of water quality monitoring sites based on similarities in the temporal dynamics of the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration, in order to obtain accurate forecasts of this quality variable. Our methodology intends to classify the water quality monitoring sites into spatial homogeneous groups, based on the DO concentration, which has been selected and considered relevant to characterize the water quality. We apply clustering techniques based on Kullback Information, measures that are obtained in the state space modelling process. For each homogeneous group of water quality monitoring sites we model the DO concentration using linear and state space models, which incorporate tendency and seasonality components in different ways. Both approaches are compared by the mean squared error (MSE) of forecasts

COVID-19 isolation drape for sialendoscopy-assisted transfacial approach to parotid gland

Surgical procedures requiring close contact with saliva, such as salivary gland surgery, may determine the risk of spreading the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The use of PPE and isolation settings are mandatory to protect health workers

Recent increasing frequency of compound summer drought and heatwaves in Southeast Brazil

An increase in the frequency of extremely hot and dry events has been experienced over the past few decades in South America, and particularly in Brazil. Regional climate change projections indicate a future aggravation of this trend. However, a comprehensive characterization of drought and heatwave compound events, as well as of the main land-atmosphere mechanisms involved, is still lacking for most of South America. This study aims to fill this gap, assessing for the first time the historical evolution of compound summer drought and heatwave events for the heavily populated region of Southeast Brazil and for the period of 1980-2018. The main goal is to undertake a detailed analysis of the surface and synoptic conditions, as well as of the land-atmosphere coupling processes that led to the occurrence of individual and compound dry and hot extremes. Our results confirm that the Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais states have recorded pronounced and statistically significant increases in the number of compound summer drought and heatwave episodes. In particular, the last decade was characterized by two austral summer seasons (2013/14 and 2014/15) with outstanding concurrent drought and heatwave conditions stemmed by severe precipitation deficits and a higher-than-average occurrence of blocking patterns. As result of these land and atmosphere conditions, a high coupling (water-limited) regime was imposed, promoting the re-amplification of hot spells that resulted in mega heatwave episodes. Our findings reveal a substantial contribution of persistent dry conditions to heatwave episodes, highlighting the vulnerability of the region to climate change

Is dental amalgam a higher risk factor rather than resin‐based restorations for systemic conditions? A systematic review

Objective: The aim of this study was to confirm the hypothesis that patients with one or more amalgam restorations have an increased risk for systemic diseases rather than patients with resin-based restorations. Data: The data search produced an initial 3568 total number of records. All titles and abstract were reviewed by five independent examiners, and only 36 records were selected for full text in depth examination. Out of these, only nine publications matched the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. Sources: Electronic databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Knowledge) were searched up to June 2019. In addition, a manual search was carried out on journals related to this topic. Study selection: All selected human clinical studies compared patients with dental amalgam restorations to patients with non-amalgam restorations on restorative material related diseases/health conditions with at least 50 patients and a reasonable follow up. The systemic effects of dental restorations were analyzed. As for any systemic effects, there was no difference between amalgam and composite restoration. Conclusions: With the limitations of the few available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the matter, amalgam restorations, similarly to other modern resin-based materials, were not related to an increased risk of systemic diseases or conditions. Clinical significance: On the basis of the available RCTs, amalgam restorations, if compared with resin-based fillings, do not show an increased risk for systemic diseases. There is still insufficient evidence to exclude or demonstrate any direct influence on general health. The removal of old amalgam restorations and their substitution with more modern adhesive restorations should be performed only when clinically necessary and not just for material concerns. In order to better evaluate the safety of dental amalgam compared to other more modern restorative materials, further RCTs that consider important parameters such as long and uniform follow up periods, number of restorations per patient, and sample populations representative of chronic or degenerative diseases are needed