Influence of endodontic motors on the behaviour of root canal shaping instruments: an in vitro comparative study.

Aims: The endodontic literature reports a lot of comparative study on endodontic instruments, concerning as well their geometry, instrumental dynamics, material, mechanical behavior or heat treatment. However, to our knowledge, no study has focused on the influence of endodontic motors on the shaping abilities of endodontic instruments. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the influence of the endodontic motors on root canal shaping instruments.

The epidemiology of dystonia: the Hannover epidemiology study.

The prevalence of dystonia has been studied since the 1980s. Due to different methodologies and due to varying degrees of awareness, resulting figures have been extremely different. We wanted to determine the prevalence of dystonia according to its current definition, using quality-approved registries and based on its relevance for patients, their therapy and the health care system.

Virtual aids and students' performance with haptic simulation in implantology.

Objetives: This study aims to validate that haptic simulator assistance could improve drilling ability in implantology and that the repetition of training session could highlight a learning curve.

Methods: This work was carried out with 88 first-year dental students. After randomization, students were divided into two groups.

Emotional experience in patients with clinically isolated syndrome and early multiple sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Evidence suggests that there are changes in the processing of emotional information (EP) in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). It is unclear which functional domains of EP are affected, whether these changes are secondary to other MS-related neuropsychological or psychiatric symptoms and if EP changes are present in early MS. The aim of the study was to investigate EP in patients with early MS (clinically isolated syndrome and early relapsing/remitting MS) and healthy controls (HCs).

Multi-parameter immune profiling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells by multiplexed single-cell mass cytometry in patients with early multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory demyelinating and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Studies in rodent models demonstrated an association of CNS-infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages with disease severity. However, little is known about humans.

Uncovering convolutional neural network decisions for diagnosing multiple sclerosis on conventional MRI using layer-wise relevance propagation.

Machine learning-based imaging diagnostics has recently reached or even surpassed the level of clinical experts in several clinical domains. However, classification decisions of a trained machine learning system are typically non-transparent, a major hindrance for clinical integration, error tracking or knowledge discovery. In this study, we present a transparent deep learning framework relying on 3D convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and layer-wise relevance propagation (LRP) for diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS), the most widespread autoimmune neuroinflammatory disease.

Intrathecal IgM production is a strong risk factor for early conversion to multiple sclerosis.

Objectives: To evaluate intrathecal immunoglobulin M (IgM) production, as compared to previously established risk factors, as risk factor for conversion from clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) to multiple sclerosis (MS) and to explore the association of intrathecal IgM production with onset age and radiologic and CSF findings in CIS/early MS.

Methods: Comprehensive CSF data, including oligoclonal immunoglobulin G (IgG) bands (OCB) and calculated intrathecal IgM and IgG production, were collected in a prospective study of 150 patients with CIS/early MS with regular clinical and MRI assessments.

Results: Intrathecal IgM production >0% occurred in 23.

MRI Markers and Functional Performance in Patients With CIS and MS: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Brain atrophy is a widely accepted marker of disease severity with association to clinical disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). It is unclear to which extent this association reflects common age effects on both atrophy and function. To explore how functional performance in gait, upper extremities and cognition is associated with brain atrophy in patients with Clinically Isolated Syndrome (CIS) and relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), controlling for effects of age and sex.

7 Tesla MRI of Balo's concentric sclerosis versus multiple sclerosis lesions.

Background: Baló's concentric sclerosis (BCS) is a rare condition characterized by concentrically layered white matter lesions. While its pathogenesis is unknown, hypoxia-induced tissue injury and chemotactic stimuli have been proposed as potential causes of BCS lesion formation. BCS has been suggested to be a variant of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Association of Retinal Ganglion Cell Layer Thickness With Future Disease Activity in Patients With Clinically Isolated Syndrome.

Importance: Clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) describes a first clinical incident suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS). Identifying patients with CIS who have a high risk of future disease activity and subsequent MS diagnosis is crucial for patient monitoring and the initiation of disease-modifying therapy.

Objective: To investigate the association of retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) results with future disease activity in patients with CIS.

Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in serum and DNA load in saliva are not associated with radiological or clinical disease activity in patients with early multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To investigate the association of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) and viral capsid antigen (VCA) immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibodies in serum as well as EBV DNA load in saliva with radiological and clinical disease activity in patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and early relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS).

Methods: EBNA-1 and VCA immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibodies were determined in serum of 100 patients with CIS/early RRMS and 60 healthy controls. EBV DNA load was measured in saliva of 48 patients and 50 controls.

Retinal imaging and axonal degeneration in later onset multiple sclerosis.

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the CNS typically affecting younger adults and resulting in neuro-axonal degeneration already at early stages of the disease. Less is known about the effects of a later disease onset (LOMS, onset >50years of age). Analysis of retinal layers by optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive method to investigate retinal and neuro-axonal degeneration.

Fine specificity of the antibody response to Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-2 and other Epstein-Barr virus proteins in patients with clinically isolated syndrome: A peptide microarray-based case-control study.

We analyzed the fine specificity of antibodies to Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-2 (EBNA-2) and other Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) proteins in 29 patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS, the first clinical manifestation of multiple sclerosis [MS]) and 29 controls with a peptide microarray containing 117 overlapping peptides representing the full-length EBNA-2 protein and 71 peptides from 8 further EBV proteins. While EBV peptide antibodies were elevated in CIS, suggesting that EBV contributes to MS early during disease development, they discriminated groups only slightly better than EBNA-1 antibodies. Thus, the additional value of EBV peptide antibodies as diagnostic biomarkers for CIS appears moderate.

Analysis of Lymphocytic DNA Damage in Early Multiple Sclerosis by Automated Gamma-H2AX and 53BP1 Foci Detection: A Case Control Study.

Background: In response to DNA double-strand breaks, the histone protein H2AX becomes phosphorylated at its C-terminal serine 139 residue, referred to as γ-H2AX. Formation of γ-H2AX foci is associated with recruitment of p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1), a regulator of the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks. γ-H2AX expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was recently proposed as a diagnostic and disease activity marker for multiple sclerosis (MS).

Next-generation sequencing identifies altered whole blood microRNAs in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder which may permit discrimination from multiple sclerosis.

Background: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and multiple sclerosis (MS) have a similar clinical phenotype but represent distinct diseases, requiring different therapies. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs whose expression profiles can serve as diagnostic biomarkers and which may be involved in the pathophysiology of neuroinflammatory diseases. Here, we analyzed miRNA profiles in serum and whole blood of patients with NMOSD and clinically isolated syndrome (CIS)/relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) as well as healthy controls by next-generation sequencing (NGS).

Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D, but not the bioavailable fraction of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, is a risk factor for multiple sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels correlate with higher disease activity in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, it is not clear whether low 25(OH)D levels directly contribute to increased disease activity or merely represent a consequence of reduced endogenous vitamin D synthesis in more disabled MS patients. Furthermore, recent data suggest that bioavailable vitamin D, which also integrates the levels of vitamin D binding proteins and albumin, could be a biologically more relevant parameter than 25(OH)D.

Association of serum Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-1 antibodies and intrathecal immunoglobulin synthesis in early multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. A characteristic feature of MS is an intrathecal synthesis of immunoglobulin (Ig)G. In 90 patients with clinically isolated syndromes/early relapsing-remitting MS, serum antibodies to Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-1, but not to EBV viral capsid antigen, rubella, or varicella zoster virus, were higher (p=0.

Neuronal Na+/K+ ATPase is an autoantibody target in paraneoplastic neurologic syndrome.

Objectives: To identify an autoreactivity in a 66-year-old woman who presented with combined brainstem and cerebellar syndrome including vertical gaze palsy, severe progressive ataxia, and spastic tetraparesis, an acute deterioration of vision, dysarthria, and dysphagia with concurrent diagnosis of a colon adenocarcinoma.

Methods: Patient's serum and CSF underwent comprehensive autoantibody screening by indirect immunofluorescence assay and immunoblot. For autoantigen purification, a histo-immunoprecipitation technique was developed followed by mass spectrometrical analysis.

Multiple sclerosis: the elevated antibody response to Epstein-Barr virus primarily targets, but is not confined to, the glycine-alanine repeat of Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-1.

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have elevated antibodies against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), but data on the epitope-resolved specificity of these antibodies are scarce. Using a peptide microarray containing 1465 peptides representing 8 full-length EBV proteins, we identified higher (p<0.001) antibody reactivities to 39 EBV-peptides in MS patients (n=29) compared to healthy controls (n=22).

Botulinum neurotoxin type A injections reduce spasticity in mild to moderate hereditary spastic paraplegia--report of 19 cases.

Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is characterized by lower extremity spasticity. Symptomatic therapy generally includes physical therapy and oral antispastic agents, in selected cases intrathecal baclofen. Because of the positive results in other treatments of spasticity, the use of botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT-A) might also be considered for patients with HSP.

Autonomic dysfunction in ALS: a preliminary study on the effects of intrathecal BDNF.

This pilot study aimed at exploring the effects of intrathecally administered brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on autonomic functions in patients with ALS. A battery of autonomic sympathetic and parasympathetic tests was performed at baseline and after nine months of treatment in 10 ALS patients participating in a double-blind placebo-controlled phase II/III study of intrathecally administered BDNF. Results of patients treated with BDNF (25 or 150 microg/day) were compared to those receiving placebo.

Leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) gene mutations in women with unexplained infertility and recurrent failure of implantation after IVF and embryo transfer.

Objective: Leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) plays a central role in the control of implantation. We undertook this study to investigate the prevalence of LIF gene alterations in women with unexplained infertility and with recurrent failure of implantation after in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryo transfer.

Patients And Methods: Forty five women with recurrent failure of implantation after IVF (group A), 50 with unexplained infertility (group B) and 105 fertile women (controls) were screened for LIF gene mutations.

Impaired salivary gland function reveals autonomic dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Recent studies have revealed autonomic dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We studied salivary gland function by quantitative scintigraphy in ALS patients (n = 30) and healthy controls (n = 30). Uptake of (99m)Tc-pertechnetate in the parotid and submandibular glands was significantly decreased in ALS patients.