Metabonomics Analysis of Myocardial Metabolic Dysfunction in Patients with Cardiac Natriuretic Peptide Resistance.

Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is an important biological marker and regulator of cardiac function. BNP resistance is characterized by high concentrations of less functionally effective BNP and common in heart failure (HF) patients. However, the roles and consequences of BNP resistance remain poorly understood.

A Silent Infection Pandemic of COVID-19: Epidemiological Investigation and Hypothetical Models.

To explore the epidemic mode of COVID-19, we made an epidemiological investigation, set up hypothetical models, and compared them with hepatitis A virus (HAV) age-specific epidemic characteristic. In the epidemiological investigation, we reported the first familial COVID-19 silent infection in the world. A 19-year-old healthy female COVID-19 virus carrier without any symptoms caused two mild and one severe pneumonia.

Comparison of the fracture resistance of dental implants with different abutment taper angles.

To investigate the effects of abutment taper angles on the fracture strength of dental implants with TIS (taper integrated screwed-in) connection. Thirty prototype cylindrical titanium alloy 5.0mm-diameter dental implants with different TIS-connection designs were divided into six groups and tested for their fracture strength, using a universal testing machine.

Physical modeling with orthotropic material based on harmonic fields.

Although it is well known that human bone tissues have obvious orthotropic material properties, most works in the physical modeling field adopted oversimplified isotropic or approximated transversely isotropic elasticity due to the simplicity. This paper presents a convenient methodology based on harmonic fields, to construct volumetric finite element mesh integrated with complete orthotropic material. The basic idea is taking advantage of the fact that the longitudinal axis direction indicated by the shape configuration of most bone tissues is compatible with the trajectory of the maximum material stiffness.

A newly designed big cup nitinol stent for gastric outlet obstruction.

Aim: To find out whether a newly designed big cup nitinol stent is suitable for treatment of patients with gastric outlet obstruction resulting from gastric cancer.

Methods: The new stent is composed of a proximal big cup segment (20 mm in length and 48-55 mm in diameter), a middle part (60 mm in length and 20 mm in diameter) covered by a polyethylene membrane and a distal sphericity (20 mm in length and 28 mm in diameter). Half of the proximal big cup segment is also covered by a polyethylene membrane, which is adjacent to the middle part of the stent.

Epidemiological survey of mental disorders in the people aged 18 and older in Hebei Province.

Objective: To describe the time point prevalence and distribution of all types of mental disorders in Hebei Province.

Methods: From October 2004 to March 2005, stratified multi-stage cluster randomization was used to identify 24,000 subjects ≥18 years of age in Hebei Province. An expanded version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was used to identify subgroups of subjects at high, moderate and low risk of having a mental disorder, then psychiatrists determined their diagnoses by administering a structured psychiatric examination (SCID) that employs Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-IV).

Use of shadow-speckle correlation method for 3D tooth model reconstruction.

This study presents a method of using shadow-speckle correlation to reconstruct a 3-dimensional (3D) tooth model. Compared with other methods based on laser or optical geometric measurements, the shadow-speckle method overcomes their limitations by using a digital image correlation to reconstruct a 3D tooth model. Using plaster models 4 times the normal tooth size showed that the accuracy of the reconstructed model was estimated at roughly 30 microm, which potentially could be used in direct intraoral applications.

[A review of the statistical methods used in the journal of prosthetic dentistry].

Purpose: To understand the present condition of statistical methods used in the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry.

Methods: The statistical methods used in 448 treatises (from 2001 to 2003) in the journals were reviewed, classified and analysed.

Results: The utilization rates of statistical methods were 28.