Phenotypes of Velopharyngeal Tube Law in Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Objective: The biomechanics of upper airway collapse in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) remains poorly understood. The goal of this study is to compare the area-pressure relationship (tube law) of the velopharynx at peak inspiration and peak expiration.

Study Design: Cross-sectional.

Graphene Oxide-Based Nanocomposites for Stereolithography (SLA) 3D Printing: Comprehensive Mechanical Characterization under Combined Loading Modes.

Additive manufacturing, particularly Stereolithography (SLA), has gained widespread attention thanks to its ability to produce intricate parts with high precision and customization capacity. Nevertheless, the inherent low mechanical properties of SLA-printed parts limit their use in high-value applications. One approach to enhance these properties involves the incorporation of nanomaterials, with graphene oxide (GO) being a widely studied option.

Impact of posture and CPAP on nasal airflow.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients who use continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) often complain of nasal dryness and nasal obstruction as side effects of CPAP. The physiological mechanisms by which CPAP may cause nasal dryness and nasal obstruction remain poorly understood. It has been hypothesized that CPAP interferes with the nasal cycle, abolishing the resting phase of the cycle and leading to nasal dryness.

Effects of Mucosal Decongestion on Nasal Aerodynamics: A Pilot Study.

Objective: Mucosal decongestion with nasal sprays is a common treatment for nasal airway obstruction. However, the impact of mucosal decongestion on nasal aerodynamics and the physiological mechanism of nasal airflow sensation are incompletely understood. The objective of this study is to compare nasal airflow patterns in nasal airway obstruction (NAO) patients with and without mucosal decongestion and nondecongested healthy subjects.

Inhaled fosamprenavir for laryngopharyngeal reflux: Toxicology and fluid dynamics modeling.

Objectives: Approximately 25% of Americans suffer from laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), a disease for which no effective medical therapy exists. Pepsin is a predominant source of damage during LPR and a key therapeutic target. Fosamprenavir (FOS) inhibits pepsin and prevents damage in an LPR mouse model.

Sterile inflammation induces vasculopathy and chronic lung injury in murine sickle cell disease.

Murine sickle cell disease (SCD) results in damage to multiple organs, likely mediated first by vasculopathy. While the mechanisms inducing vascular damage remain to be determined, nitric oxide bioavailability and sterile inflammation are both considered to play major roles in vasculopathy. Here, we investigate the effects of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1), a pro-inflammatory damage-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) molecule on endothelial-dependent vasodilation and lung morphometrics, a structural index of damage in sickle (SS) mice.

Estimation of Nasal Airway Cross-sectional Area From Endoscopy Using Depth Maps: A Proof-of-Concept Study.

Objective: Endoscopy is routinely used to diagnose obstructive airway diseases. Currently, endoscopy is only a visualization technique and does not allow quantification of airspace cross-sectional areas (CSAs). This pilot study tested the hypothesis that CSAs can be accurately estimated from depth maps created from virtual endoscopy videos.

The association of myocardial strain with cardiac magnetic resonance and clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocarditis.

Introduction: The role of myocardial strain in risk prediction for acute myocarditis (AMC) patients, measured by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR), deserves further investigation. Our objective was to evaluate the association between myocardial strain measured by CMR and clinical events in AMC patients.

Material And Methods: This was a prospective single-center study of patients with AMC.

Quantifying strategies to minimize aerosol dispersion in dental clinics.

Many dental procedures are aerosol-generating and pose a risk for the spread of airborne diseases, including COVID-19. Several aerosol mitigation strategies are available to reduce aerosol dispersion in dental clinics, such as increasing room ventilation and using extra-oral suction devices and high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration units. However, many questions remain unanswered, including what the optimal device flow rate is and how long after a patient exits the room it is safe to start treatment of the next patient.

A workflow for viewing biomedical computational fluid dynamics results and corresponding data within virtual and augmented reality environments.

Researchers conducting computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling can spend weeks obtaining imaging data, determining boundary conditions, running simulations and post-processing files. However, results are typically viewed on a 2D display and often at one point in time thus reducing the dynamic and inherently three-dimensional data to a static image. Results from different pathologic states or cases are rarely compared in real-time, and supplementary data are seldom included.

Mandibular advancement reduces pharyngeal collapsibility by enlarging the airway rather than affecting velopharyngeal compliance.

Mandibular advancement devices (MADs) are frequently prescribed for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients, but approximately one third of patients experience no therapeutic benefit. Understanding the mechanisms by which MADs prevent pharyngeal collapse may help optimize MAD therapy. This study quantified the relative contributions of changes in airspace cross-sectional area (CSA) versus changes in velopharyngeal compliance in determining MAD efficacy.

Anatomical determinants of upper airway collapsibility in obstructive sleep apnea: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Upper airway (UA) collapsibility is one of the key factors that determine the severity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Interventions for OSA are aimed at reducing UA collapsibility, but selecting the optimal alternative intervention for patients who fail CPAP is challenging because currently no validated method predicts how anatomical changes affect UA collapsibility. The gold standard objective measure of UA collapsibility is the pharyngeal critical pressure (P).

Morphological integration during postnatal ontogeny: implications for evolutionary biology.

How covariance patterns of phenotypes change during development is fundamental for a broader understanding of evolution. There is compelling evidence that mammalian cranium covariance patterns change during ontogeny. However, it is unclear to what extent variation in covariance patterns during ontogeny can impact the response to selection.

Remotely piloted aircraft-based automated vertical surface survey.

Remotely Piloted Aircrafts (RPAs) are commonly used as a platform for collecting images which can be processed with Structure from Motion-Multi View Stereo (SfM-MVS) to generate 3D models. However, mobile applications for mapping planning are not designed for image acquisition of vertical surfaces, such as quarry walls or large cliffs, leaving the user to a manual flight operation, which does not ensure optimal overlap between images. Here we describe a workflow, based on the Litchi App, for automated RPA missions designed to acquire images of vertical surfaces or structures.

Early emotional memories and bonding as predictors of short-term and long-term outcome in adults with generalized anxiety disorder.

The impact of childhood experiences on the development of psychopathology is well established in the literature. Few studies, however, have assessed parental bonding during childhood as a predictor of response to anxiety disorders treatment. The aim of the study was to examine whether emotional memories of childhood parenting could predict short-term and long-term outcome in three different interventions for patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): mindfulness-based intervention (Body in Mind Training [BMT]), fluoxetine (FLX), and an active control group (quality of life [QoL]).

Methods Applied to the Diagnosis of Cattle Infection: An Overview of the Current State of the Art.

Bovine trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma vivax is a relevant disease in domestic ungulates in Latin America, causing different types of livestock losses, particularly in African and South American countries, leading to loss of millions of dollars/year related to dairy and meat production. In addition, T. vivax trypanosomiasis requires intensive veterinary care.

Toward automatic atlas-based surgical planning for septoplasty.

Purpose: Surgery for nasal airway obstruction (NAO) has a high failure rate, with up to 50% of patients reporting persistent symptoms postoperatively. Virtual surgery planning has the potential to improve surgical outcomes, but current manual methods are too labor-intensive to be adopted on a large scale. This manuscript introduces an automatic atlas-based approach for performing virtual septoplasties.

Control of with imazamox and analysis of environmental indicators in microcosms.

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of imazamox for control of and to assess the effects of plant decomposition on environmental indicators after application of this herbicide in microcosm conditions. The following rates were used: 600, 700, 800 and 900 g ai ha and spray volume 50 L ha. Control efficacy was determined as the percentage (from 0 to 100%) of visible injury symptoms in the plants, biochemical and chemical oxygen demand (BOD and COD), water quality variables, chlorophyll and pheophytin at 0, 7, 15, 30, 45 and 60 days after application (DAA) and fresh and dry biomass at 60 DAA.

Development of a chimeric protein based on a proteomic approach for the serological diagnosis of human tegumentary leishmaniasis.

Leishmania braziliensis is responsible for most cases of human tegumentary leishmaniasis (HTL) and has caused a wide range of clinical manifestations, including cutaneous (CL) and mucosal leishmaniasis (ML). The diagnosis is based on criteria that consider epidemiological data, clinical findings, and laboratory tests and is hard to establish. For laboratory tests, none of the assays available can be considered gold standards for disease detection.

Effect of tube length on the buckling pressure of collapsible tubes.

Background: The higher incidence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in men than in women has been attributed to the upper airway being longer in men. The Starling resistor is the paradigm biomechanical model of upper airway collapse in OSA where a collapsible tube (representing the pharynx) is located between two rigid tubes (representing the nasal cavity and trachea). While the Starling resistor has been extensively studied due to its relevance to many physiological phenomena, the effect of tube length on tube collapsibility has not been quantified yet.

An expert review on breaking barriers in severe asthma in Brazil: Time to act.

Currently, Brazil lacks a national asthma management program and is burdened with nearly 200,000 hospitalizations due to the disease per year and approximately 5 deaths per day. The purpose of this article was to analyze the current issues surrounding severe asthma in Brazil, as the status of diagnosis and treatment is largely unknown, and to provide feasible recommendations to elicit imminent action. A panel of Brazilian medical experts in the field of severe asthma was provided with a series of relevant questions to address prior to a multi-day conference.