Publications by authors named "Balmer M"

Objectives: To report on soft tissue contour changes at pontic sites with or without soft tissue grafting over an observation period of 15 years.

Methods: Fourteen patients received a fixed dental prosthesis (FDP) in the posterior zone in a controlled clinical study and were available at the 15-year follow-up. Eight patients received a subepithelial connective tissue graft in the pontic area (test) while six received the FDP without soft tissue grafting (control).

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Objectives: To assess the costs and efforts of maintenance therapy following implant treatment with fixed restoration over an observation period of 10 years.

Material And Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial included 64 patients who were randomly assigned to receive one of two implant systems (AST or STM) and fixed restoration. Patients were included in a regular maintenance program and were examined at loading, 1, 3, 5, 8, and 10 years.

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Objectives: To compare marginal bone levels, biological, and technical outcomes of screw-retained versus cemented all-ceramic implant-supported zirconia-based single crowns after an observation period of 7.5 years.

Methods: Forty-four single implants in the esthetic zone in 44 patients (22 females, 22 males) were randomly assigned to two types of restorations: SR (screw-retained); veneered one-piece zirconia abutment and CR (cement-retained); veneered lithium disilicate crown intraorally cemented on a one-piece zirconia abutment.

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Objective: To assess the clinical, radiographic and patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) of posterior zirconia and titanium implants at 1 year of implant loading.

Materials And Methods: Forty-two patients with two adjacent missing teeth were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial with a within-subject controlled design. Each patient received one zirconia (Zr) and one titanium (Ti) implant, with the mesial and distal positions randomized.

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Introduction: The glutaraldehyde test (GAT) allows for animal-side semi-quantitative estimation of fibrinogen and gamma-globulin concentrations in blood samples of adult cattle and therefore detection of inflammatory disease conditions. However, the test has potential limitations, especially due to the latency period until sufficiently high fibrinogen and/or gamma-globulin concentrations are reached. The aim of the present study was therefore to assess the association between results of GAT with other inflammatory markers including hematologic variables, fibrinogen, plasma haptoglobin and serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations.

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Article Synopsis
  • The scoping review aimed to evaluate the existing scientific evidence on the use of Optical See-Through Head-Mounted Displays (OST-HMD) in dentistry and identify areas needing further research.
  • A systematic search of databases like PubMed and Web of Science led to the inclusion of nine studies, covering various dental disciplines and engaging 138 participants.
  • The findings highlight a limited number of studies, thus preventing strong evidence-based recommendations for clinical use; however, existing data suggests potential benefits for both clinical practice and education, indicating a need for more comprehensive studies in the future.
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, uses a surface expressed trimeric spike glycoprotein for cell entry. This trimer is the primary target for neutralizing antibodies making it a key candidate for vaccine development. During the global pandemic circulating variants of concern (VOC) caused several waves of infection, severe disease, and death.

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Article Synopsis
  • This scoping review aimed to evaluate how digital applications are used in prosthetic diagnostics and treatment planning by analyzing relevant clinical trials for their significance and potential future impact.* -
  • The methods involved a thorough search of clinical trials focusing on prosthodontics that used digital tools, resulting in the inclusion of 18 studies with over 14,000 participants, showing a focus on fixed and removable prosthodontics and various digital applications like 3D modeling.* -
  • The findings indicate a low number of trials overall, with the strongest potential for digital technologies in fixed prosthodontics and virtual treatment simulations, highlighting artificial intelligence's growing role, while calling for more research to better understand these technologies' capabilities.*
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Dendritic cells (DCs) actively sample and present antigen to cells of the adaptive immune system and are thus vital for successful immune control and memory formation. Immune cell metabolism and function are tightly interlinked, and a better understanding of this interaction offers potential to develop immunomodulatory strategies. However, current approaches for assessing the immune cell metabolome are often limited by end-point measurements, may involve laborious sample preparation, and may lack unbiased, temporal resolution of the metabolome.

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Objective: This narrative review summarises the current evidence on the role of dietary fibre in enteral nutrition in the prevention and therapy of sepsis, with a focus on critically ill patients. The aim is to discuss the implications for clinical practice and identify future directions for policy and research.

Resources: We searched MEDLINE and Google Scholar for records on sepsis, critically ill, enteral nutrition, and dietary fibre.

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Background: Although co-formulants constitute a substantial portion of the total plant protection product (PPP) mass applied to crops, data on residue formation and the behaviour of these substances on plants are scarce. In an earlier study we demonstrated that co-formulants commonly used in PPPs can form considerable residues, i.e.

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Introduction: Intravenous cannulation is a core competence in medicine, but is considered challenging to learn. This study investigates the effectiveness of three educational strategies used to refresh the intravenous cannulation skills of first-year medical students: mental imagery, part-task trainer simulation and written instructions.

Materials And Methods: In this single-centre randomised controlled trial, first-year medical students were assigned to one of three different refresher tutorials on intravenous cannulation.

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Aim: The purpose of the present retrospective case series was to introduce a minimally invasive two-stage flapless crown lengthening procedure where a gingivectomy was avoided or minimized by reducing the bone height through a tunneling technique.

Materials And Method: Ten patients (median age 46.6 years, range 26.

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Titanium oral implants are still considered "state of the art" in implant dentistry, with well-documented survival rates. However, their grayish color and high prevalence of peri-implant infections have resulted in controversial discussion as to whether tooth-like-colored, metal-free zirconia ceramic implants provide sufficient potential to be considered equal regarding treatment outcomes. The present position paper has been composed upon invitation by the European Association of Osseointegration in order to provide an update on the current level of evidence regarding zirconia implants in clinical trials.

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The objective of this study was to clinically and radiologically evaluate the performance of a short (8 mm), 1-piece, zirconia implant after an observation period of 1 year in function. A total of 47 patients with 1 missing tooth in the position of a premolar or molar were recruited. Short (8 mm), 1-piece, zirconia implants were placed and loaded after a healing period of 2 to 4 months with monolithic crowns made of 3 different materials.

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The prevalence of overweight and obesity is rising rapidly, currently affecting 1.9 billion adults worldwide. Prebiotic dietary fibre supplementation is a promising approach to improve weight loss and reduce metabolic complications in overweight and obese subjects due to modifications of the microbiota composition and function.

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Goblet cells secrete mucin to create a protective mucus layer against invasive bacterial infection and are therefore essential for maintaining intestinal health. However, the molecular pathways that regulate goblet cell function remain largely unknown. Although GPR35 is highly expressed in colonic epithelial cells, its importance in promoting the epithelial barrier is unclear.

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The relevance of extracellular magnesium in cellular immunity remains largely unknown. Here, we show that the co-stimulatory cell-surface molecule LFA-1 requires magnesium to adopt its active conformation on CD8 T cells, thereby augmenting calcium flux, signal transduction, metabolic reprogramming, immune synapse formation, and, as a consequence, specific cytotoxicity. Accordingly, magnesium-sufficiency sensed via LFA-1 translated to the superior performance of pathogen- and tumor-specific T cells, enhanced effectiveness of bi-specific T cell engaging antibodies, and improved CAR T cell function.

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The synthesis and characterization of the first homoleptic open-shell transition metal phosphinidenide is presented. By reacting [MnL] (L = -N(SiMe)) with [(sIDipp)PK] (sIDipp = 1,3-bis(2,6-di-iso-propylphenyl)-imidazolidine-2-ylidene), the formation of [Mn{P(sIDipp)}] instead of the initially expected adduct [KMn{P(sIDipp)}L] is observed. Interestingly, a solvent change from toluene to -pentane leads to the formation of [(sIDipp)PK(EtO)][MnL] after work-up, which can be seen as intermediate in the formation process of [Mn{P(sIDipp)}].

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Epidemiological simulations as a method are used to better understand and predict the spreading of infectious diseases, for example of COVID-19. This paper presents an approach that combines a well-established approach from transportation modelling that uses person-centric data-driven human mobility modelling with a mechanistic infection model and a person-centric disease progression model. The model includes the consequences of different room sizes, air exchange rates, disease import, changed activity participation rates over time (coming from mobility data), masks, indoors vs.

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Objective: To analyze the clinical outcomes of all-ceramic single crowns (SCs) and fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) supported by ceramic implants.

Materials And Methods: Based on a focused question and customized PICO framework, electronic (Medline/EMBASE/Cochrane) and manual searches for studies reporting the clinical outcomes of all-ceramic SCs and FDPs supported by ceramic implants ≥12 months were performed. The primary outcomes were reconstruction survival and the chipping proportion.

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Smarter Intensive Care Medicine: Choosing Wisely®, less is more, appropriate is better … and so what? The current situation in the Swiss intensive care medicine! The top 9 list of the Swiss Society for Intensive Care Medicine (SSICM) was published in 2017. What is the status of this initiative in terms of its implementation in Swiss intensive care units, its impact on patient care and on the costs of intensive care medicine? What developments in the published evidence justify updating the list and what measures are needed to continue this initiative in the coming years? This article provides an up-to-date overview of the SSICM's Choosing Wisely® initiative.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study analyzed how the surface topography of zirconia implants impacts first bone implant contact (fBIC) over a 5-year period, using a cohort of 63 implants from two centers.
  • It was found that while there was a significant difference in the initial distance between the implant shoulder and fBIC between centers, there were no notable differences in measurements over time or between centers after the initial placement.
  • The results suggest that fBIC can occur on both moderately rough and smooth implant surfaces, indicating that soft tissue can adapt to varied implant topographies.
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Purpose: The goal of this study is to examine the suitability of in-line infrared measurements to monitor, in real-time, surfactant concentration in the viral vaccine drug substance during a 50KDa tangential flow filtration (TFF) process.

Methods: A ReactIR™ 702L instrument was used to gather spectra of process off-line samples and reference materials to assess the feasibility of monitoring surfactant concentration during a TFF process in real-time. Both univariate and multivariate models were used to evaluate the off-line sample data and were found to be in good agreement with surfactant concentration values obtained by HPLC.

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The novel severe respiratory syndrome-like coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) causes COVID-19 in humans and is responsible for one of the most destructive pandemics of the last century. At the root of SARS-CoV infection is the interaction between the viral spike protein and the human angiotensin converting enzyme 2 protein, which allows the virus to gain entry into host cells through endocytosis. In this work, we apply hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) to provide a detailed view of the functional footprint and conformational dynamics associated with this interaction.

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