Leading patient-centric crisis preparedness in healthcare: Lessons from Ukraine.

Challenges in the delivery of high-quality patient centric care in Canada is plagued by staff and medical supplies shortages and spiking burnout rates leading to closures of more than a thousand emergency rooms in 2023. A literature review was conducted to examine the crisis preparedness and responsiveness of healthcare establishments in Ukraine in a warfare context, with the intent of exacting recommendations to respond to shortages in Canadian hospitals. Utilizing queries on distinct databases, more than 17,500 entries were found, narrowed, and selected for review.

Tooth displacement in shortened dental arches: a three-dimensional finite element study.

Statement Of Problem: Some patients may opt for a prosthetic rehabilitation without replacing all missing teeth, finishing treatment with a reduced dental arch. This choice may be due to biologic reasons or financial restrictions. It is unclear if a reduced dental arch functions as well as a complete dental arch.

Influence of the expansion screw height on the dental effects of the hyrax expander: a study with finite elements.

Introduction: Our objective was to evaluate the influence of the expansion screw height of a hyrax expander on the degree of dental inclination during rapid maxillary expansion by using the finite element method.

Methods: The hyrax expander and the maxillary arch were modeled by using Solidworks software (Dassault Systèmes, Paris, France). Three distinct finite element method models were created by simulating different screw heights relative to the plane that intersected the center of resistance of the maxillary first molars.

A sparse representation method for magnetic resonance spectroscopy quantification.

In this paper, a sparse representation method is proposed for magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) quantification. An observed MR spectrum is composed of a set of metabolic spectra of interest, a baseline and a noise. To separate the spectra of interest, the a priori knowledge about these spectra, such as signal models, the peak frequencies, and linewidth ranges of different resonances, is first integrated to construct a dictionary.

Stress patterns on implants in prostheses supported by four or six implants: a three-dimensional finite element analysis.

Purpose: Using the three-dimensional finite element method (FEM), this study compared the biomechanical behavior of the "All-on-Four" system with that of a six-implant-supported maxillary prosthesis with tilted distal implants. The von Mises stresses induced on the implants under different loading simulations were localized and quantified.

Materials And Methods: Three-dimensional models representing maxillae restored with an "All-on-Four" and with a six-implant-supported prosthesis were developed in three-dimensional design software and then transferred into FEM software.

Addressable bipartite molecular hook (ABMH): immobilized hairpin probes with sensitivity below 50 fM.

Sensitivity and specificity of nucleic acid binding probes immobilized on solid supports are essential features of microarrays. Whereas conventional biochips apply nonquenched linear probes (cDNA, oligonucleotides), hairpin structures containing a fluorophore-quencher system comprise important prerequisites required for ideal transcriptional probes. We describe here the generation of addressable bipartite molecular hook (ABMH) probes and the characterization of their performance analyzing biological and clinical samples, also in comparison to linear oligonucleotide arrays.

A deformable model-based system for 3D analysis and visualization of tumor in PET/CT images.

This paper presents a tumor detecting system that allows interactive 3D tumor visualization and tumor volume measurements. An improved level set method is proposed to automatically segment the tumor images slice by slice. PET images are used to detect the tumor while CT images make a 3D representation of the patient's body possible.

Tooth displacement due to occlusal contacts: a three-dimensional finite element study.

The use of the Finite Element Method (FE) is an appropriate way to study occlusal forces and tooth movement. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of different occlusal contact patterns on tooth displacement in an adult dentition using a three-dimensional FE model of a human maxilla and mandible. Initially, images of a computerized tomography scan were redrawn in a computer program (CATIA) followed by the FE mesh construction.

Transcription in response to physical stress--clues to the molecular mechanisms of exercise-induced asthma.

To clarify stress-induced immunological reactions and molecular events during exercise and the potential relevance to exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, transcriptional responses to standardized physical stress were determined. Six healthy, young volunteers underwent an endurance exercise of 90% of their individual anaerobic threshold for 90 min. Time-dependent alterations in the expression pattern of leukocytes from healthy, trained subjects were analyzed by DNA microarrays before and 2 h and 6 h after exercise.

Human endothelial cells selectively express large amounts of pancreatic-type ribonuclease (RNase 1).

Pyrimidine-specific ribonucleases are a superfamily of structurally related enzymes with distinct catalytic and biological properties. We used a combination of enzymatic and non-enzymatic assays to investigate the release of such enzymes by isolated cells in serum-free and serum-containing media. We found that human endothelial cells typically expressed large amounts of a pancreatic-type RNase that is related to, if not identical to, human pancreatic RNase.

Combination genetic therapy to inhibit HIV-1.

Compared with single agents, combination antilentiviral pharmacotherapy targets multiple HIV-1 functions simultaneously, maximizing efficacy and decreasing chances of escape mutations. Combination genetic therapy could theoretically enhance efficacy similarly, but delivery of even single genes to high percentages of hematopoietic cells or their derivatives has proven problematic. Because of their high efficiency of gene delivery, we tested recombinant SV40-derived vectors (rSV40s) for this purpose.

Low-dose chemotherapy combined with an antiangiogenic drug reduces human glioma growth in vivo.

This study evaluates the efficacy of the combination of an antiangiogenic drug and conventional chemotherapeutics for the treatment of experimental human gliomas. As an antiangiogenic, we used recombinant human PEX, a fragment of matrix metalloproteinase-2 that we have previously shown to have a significant antimitotic, anti-invasive, and antiangiogenic properties against human glioblastoma in vitro and in vivo. We used carboplatin and etoposide as the two chemotherapeutic drugs routinely used in our institution (Ospedale Maggiore de Milano) for the treatment of malignant gliomas.

The response of Aeromonas hydrophila to oxidative stress induced by exposure to hydrogen peroxide.

Aeromonas hydrophila, an opportunist human pathogen of low virulence, was shown to display a high degree of sensitivity upon exposure to hydrogen peroxide. As with other species, Aer. hydrophila is able to develop the capacity to resist loss of viability induced by such oxidative stress.

Incidence of mesophilic Aeromonas within a public drinking water supply in north-east Scotland.

The motile mesophilic Aeromonas are ubiquitous to a wide variety of aquatic environments including drinking water distribution systems. Concern over the presence of mesophilic Aeromonas in public drinking water supplies has been expressed in recent years as it has been regarded as a pathogenic organism of importance in gastroenteritis. A major drinking water distribution system in north-east Scotland was monitored over a 12 month period to determine the prevalence of mesophilic Aeromonas.

False-positive coliform reaction mediated by Aeromonas in the Colilert defined substrate technology system.

The Colilert defined substrate technology system allows specific, one-step detection of both coliforms and Escherichia coli while claiming to suppress the influence of non-coliform heterotrophs. The Colilert assay was examined in order to determine whether organisms from the genus Aeromonas could interfere and cause production of a false-positive coliform result as aquatic Aeromonas are known to constitute a fraction of the heterotrophic population found in drinking water. Results obtained clearly demonstrate that Aeromonas sp.

[The visual field of pseudophakic patients. Perimetric and statistical study].

One hundred and twenty two visual fields were studied in 98 pseudophakic subjects, using cinetic perimetry according to Goldmann, in order to plot the internal (I1), medium (I2) and peripheral (I4) isopters. Computerized processing of data provided average results, allowing the following conclusions: In general, 20% of the total surface is lost in pseudophakia. This loss, as a consequence of prismatic effects of lenses, involves the internal isopters (26%) rather than the peripheral isopters (15%).