Type II c-Met inhibitors: molecular insight into crucial interactions for effective inhibition.

The c-Met tyrosine kinase plays an important role in human cancers. Preclinical studies demonstrated that c-Met is over-expressed, mutated and amplified in a variety of human tumor types and design of more potent c-Met inhibitors is a priority. In this study, 14 molecular dynamics simulations of potent type II c-Met inhibitors were run to resolve the critical interactions responsible for high affinity of ligands towards c-Met considering the essential flexibility of protein-ligand interactions.

Impact of Parents' Sense of Coherence on Children's Oral Health-Related Behaviors and Dental Caries Experience among Newcomers.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between parents' sense of coherence (SOC) and children's oral health outcomes among newcomers (immigrants to Canada).

Methods: Immigrant parents with children aged 1-12 years who lived in Canada for 10 years or less were recruited. Outcome variables included children's caries experience (DMFT/dmft) and oral health-related behaviors (frequency of toothbrushing, sugar intake, and dental visits).

Modeling the Theory of Planned Behaviour to predict adherence to preventive dental visits in preschool children.

Objectives: Dental caries is the most common chronic childhood disease that occurs in a continuum and can be prevented by children and their parents' adherence to recommended oral health behaviors. Theory-driven tools help practitioners to identify the causes for poor adherence and develop effective interventions. This study examined the Expanded Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) Model by adding the concept of Sense of Coherence (SOC) to predict parental adherence to preschooler's preventive dental visits.

Clustering and Sampling of the c-Met Conformational Space: A Computational Drug Discovery Study.

Background: c-Met kinase plays a critical role in a myriad of human cancers, and a massive scientific work was devoted to design more potent inhibitors.

Objective: In this study, 16 molecular dynamics simulations of different complexes of potent c-Met inhibitors with U-shaped binding mode were carried out regarding the dynamic ensembles to design novel potent inhibitors.

Methods: A cluster analysis was performed, and the most representative frame of each complex was subjected to the structure-based pharmacophore screening.

Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict Dental Attendance and Caries Experience among Children of Newcomers.

This study aimed to explore the predictors of regular dental attendance behavior and caries experience among children of newcomers to Canada using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A total of 274 newcomer parents with a child aged 1 to 12 years old who had lived in Canada for 10 years or less participated in this cross-sectional study. Children underwent a dental examination to measure their deft/DEFT, and parents completed a self-administered questionnaire.

Cementum regeneration using stem cells in the dog model: A systematic review.

Objective: Restoring lost tissues of the periodontium, such as cementum, is essential in reducing the risk of tooth loss due to periodontitis and/or severe root resorption. Stem cell therapy is a regenerative strategy in cementum regeneration. This systematic review aimed to analyze the effect of various stem cells and their transplantation method on cementum regeneration in the dog model.

Parent's Sense of Coherence and Children's Oral Health-Related Behaviors: Is There an Association?

Purpose: Parental capacity to face day-to-day stressors has a relevant role in recognizing and mobilizing resources to control children's oral health behaviors. This capacity has been explored by means of the sense of coherence. The purpose of this study was to explore the association between mothers' sense of coherence (SOC) and their preschool children's oral health-related behaviors.

Associations among dental insurance, dental visits, and unmet needs of US children.

Background: In this study, the authors explored the associations between dental visits and unmet dental needs of children on the basis of their insurance type in the United States.

Methods: The authors used the National Health Interview Surveys from 1997 through 2014 to collect data on dental visits, unmet dental needs, and type of insurance for children aged 2 to 17 years in the United States. Unmet dental need was based on not receiving needed dental care during the past year because of financial constraints.

Predictors of postretention stability of mandibular dental arch dimensions in patients treated with a lip bumper during mixed dentition followed by fixed appliances.

Objective: To identify which dental and/or cephalometric variables were predictors of postretention mandibular dental arch stability in patients who underwent treatment with transpalatal arch and lip bumper during mixed dentition followed by full fixed appliances in the permanent dentition.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-one patients were divided into stable and relapse groups based on the postretention presence or absence of relapse. Intercuspid, interpremolar, and intermolar widths; arch length and perimeter; crowding; and lower incisor proclination were evaluated before treatment (T0), after lip bumper treatment (T1), after fixed appliance treatment (T2), and a minimum of 3 years after removal of the full fixed appliance (T3).

Short- and long-term evaluation of mandibular dental arch dimensional changes in patients treated with a lip bumper during mixed dentition followed by fixed appliances.

Objective: To evaluate short- and long-term mandibular dental arch changes in patients treated with a lip bumper during the mixed dentition followed by fixed appliances, compared with a matched control sample.

Materials And Methods: Dental casts and lateral cephalograms obtained from 31 consecutively treated patients before (T0) and after (T1) lip bumper, after fixed appliances (T2), and a minimum of 3 years after fixed appliances (T3) were analyzed. The control group was matched as closely as possible.

Impact of Sense of Coherence on Oral Health Behaviors: A Systematic Review.

Objectives: The aim of this review was to critically analyze the empirical evidence on the association between Sense of Coherence (SOC) and oral health behaviors through a systematic approach.

Methods: A systematic search up to April 2015 was carried out using the following electronic bibliographic databases: PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE; ISI Web of Science; and Ovid PsychInfo. Studies were included if they evaluated the relationship between SOC and oral health behaviors including tooth cleaning, fluoride usage, dietary habits, dental attendance, and smoking.

Factors associated with the development of dental caries in children and adolescents in studies employing the life course approach: a systematic review.

The purpose of this article was to conduct a systematic review of studies that used the life course approach to evaluate the association between factors experienced in early life and throughout the lifetime and the development of dental caries in children and adolescents. A systematic search of five electronic databases was carried out. Hand searches of the reference lists of the included articles and a gray literature search were also performed.

Predictors of long-term stability of maxillary dental arch dimensions in patients treated with a transpalatal arch followed by fixed appliances.

Background: The aim of this retrospective study was to identify which dental and/or cephalometric variables were predictors of long-term maxillary dental arch stability in patients treated with a transpalatal arch (TPA) during the mixed dentition phase followed by full fixed appliances in the permanent dentition.

Methods: Thirty-six patients, treated with TPA followed up by full fixed appliances, were divided into stable and relapse groups based on the long-term presence or not of relapse. Intercuspid, interpremolar and intermolar widths, arch length and perimeter, crowding, and upper incisor proclination were evaluated before treatment (T 0), post-TPA treatment (T 1), post-fixed appliance treatment (T 2), and a minimum of 3 years after full fixed appliances' removal (T 3).

A study on quantitative structure-activity relationship and molecular docking of metalloproteinase inhibitors based on L-tyrosine scaffold.

Background: MMP-2 enzyme is a kind of matrix metalloproteinases that digests the denatured collagens and gelatins. It is highly involved in the process of tumor invasion and has been considered as a promising target for cancer therapy. The structural requirements of an MMP-2 inhibitor are: (1) a functional group that binds the zinc ion, and (2) a functional group which interacts with the enzyme backbone and the side chains which undergo effective interactions with the enzyme subsites.

The effect of pH on solubility of nano-modified endodontic cements.

Aims: To evaluate the effect of storage pH on solubility of white mineral trioxide aggregate (WMTA), bioaggregate (BA), and nano WMTA cements.

Materials And Methods: Forty-eight moulds randomly allocated into three groups of pH 4.4 (group A), 7.

Mechanical response of dental cements as determined by nanoindentation and scanning electron microscopy.

This study evaluated the effects of nanoindentation on the surface of white mineral trioxide aggregate (WMTA), Bioaggregate and Nano WMTA cements. Cements were mixed according to the manufacturer directions, condensed inside glass tubes, and randomly divided into three groups (n = 8). Specimens were soaked in synthetic tissue fluid (pH = 7.

A segmented principal component analysis--regression approach to QSAR study of peptides.

We employed segmented principal component analysis and regression, as a new methodology in quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR), to define new amino acid indices. The descriptors are first classified into different groups (based on the similarity in the information contents they are possessing) and then each group is subjected to principal component analysis (PCA), separately. The extracted principal components (PC) from the descriptor data matrix of each group can be considered as new sources of amino acid indices.

Prediction of gas chromatographic retention indices of some amino acids and carboxylic acids from their structural descriptors.

In this work, quantitative structure-retention relationship (QSRR) approaches were applied for modeling and prediction of the retention index of 282 amino acids (AAs) and carboxylic acids (CAs). Descriptors that were used to encode structural features of molecules in a data set were calculated by using the Dragon software. The genetic algorithm (GA) and stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR) methods were used to select the most relevant descriptors.

A segmented principal component analysis-regression approach to quantitative structure-activity relationship modeling.

The major problem associated with application of principal component regression (PCR) in QSAR studies is that this model extracts the eigenvectors solely from the matrix of descriptors, which might not have essentially good relationship with the biological activity. This article describes a novel segmentation approach to PCR (SPCAR), in which the descriptors are firstly segmented to different blocks and then principal component analysis (PCA) is applied on each segment to extract significant principal components (PCs). In this way, the PCs having useful and redundant information are separated.

Linear and nonlinear quantitative structure-property relationship models for solubility of some anthraquinone, anthrone and xanthone derivatives in supercritical carbon dioxide.

A quantitative structure-property relation (QSPR) study was conducted on the solubility in supercritical fluid carbon dioxide (SCF-CO2) of some recently synthesized anthraquinone, anthrone and xanthone derivatives. The data set consisted of 29 molecules in various temperatures and pressures, which form 1190 solubility data. The combined data splitting-feature selection (CDFS) strategy, which previously developed in our research group, was used as descriptor selection and model development method.

Quantitative structure-retention relationship for the Kovats retention indices of a large set of terpenes: a combined data splitting-feature selection strategy.

A data set consisting of a large number of terpenoids, the widely distributed compounds in nature that are found in abundance in higher plants, have been used to develop a quantitative structure property relationship (QSPR) for their Kovats retention index. QSPR models are usually obtained by splitting the data into two sets including calibration (or training) and prediction (or validation). All model building steps, especially feature selection procedure, are performed using this initial splitting, and therefore the performances of the resulted models are highly dependent on the initial data splitting.