Identifying Markov Chain Models from Time-to-Event Data: An Algebraic Approach.

Many biological and medical questions can be modeled using time-to-event data in finite-state Markov chains, with the phase-type distribution describing intervals between events. We solve the inverse problem: given a phase-type distribution, can we identify the transition rate parameters of the underlying Markov chain? For a specific class of solvable Markov models, we show this problem has a unique solution up to finite symmetry transformations, and we outline a recursive method for computing symbolic solutions for these models across any number of states. Using the Thomas decomposition technique from computer algebra, we further provide symbolic solutions for any model.

Synthesis and structures of cobalt-expanded zirconium- and cerium-oxo clusters as precursors for mixed-metal oxide thin films.

Transforming current complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology to fabricate memory chips and microprocessors into environmentally friendlier electronics requires the development of new approaches to resource- and energy-efficient electron transport and switching materials. Metal and multi-metal oxide layers play a key role in high-end technical applications. However, these layers are commonly produced through high-energy and high-temperature procedures.

Benchmarking the Quality Practices of Global Pharmaceutical Manufacturing to Advance Supply Chain Resilience.

Over the past several decades, pharmaceutical manufacturing has become increasingly global and supply chains have become longer, more complex, and fragmented. While pharmaceutical products available to patients and customers typically conform with appropriate standards, supply chains are often affected by disruptive events and shocks that impact public health. One approach to assuring the availability of quality pharmaceutical products is to encourage drug manufacturers to invest in quality management maturity (QMM) and promote continual improvement.

Synthesis and crystal structure of a one-dimensional chain-like strontium(II) coordination polymer built of -methyldi-ethano-lamine and isobutyrate ligands.

The one-dimensional coordination polymer () [Sr(ib)(Hmda)] (Hib = isobutyric acid, CHO, and Hmda = -methyldi-ethano-lamine, CHNO), namely, -poly[[(-methyldi-ethano-lamine-κ ,,')strontium(II)]-di-μ-isobutyrato-κ ,':;κ :,'], was prepared by the one-pot aerobic reaction of [ZrO(OH)(ib)(HO)]·3Hib with Sr(NO) and Hmda in the presence of MnCl and EtN in aceto-nitrile. The use of MnCl is key to the isolation of as high-quality colorless crystals in good yield. The mol-ecular solid-state structure of was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

Close Cassini flybys of Saturn's ring moons Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Pandora, and Epimetheus.

Saturn's main ring system is associated with a set of small moons that either are embedded within it or interact with the rings to alter their shape and composition. Five close flybys of the moons Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Pandora, and Epimetheus were performed between December 2016 and April 2017 during the ring-grazing orbits of the Cassini mission. Data on the moons' morphology, structure, particle environment, and composition were returned, along with images in the ultraviolet and thermal infrared.

In situ collection of dust grains falling from Saturn's rings into its atmosphere.

Saturn's main rings are composed of >95% water ice, and the nature of the remaining few percent has remained unclear. The Cassini spacecraft's traversals between Saturn and its innermost D ring allowed its cosmic dust analyzer (CDA) to collect material released from the main rings and to characterize the ring material infall into Saturn. We report the direct in situ detection of material from Saturn's dense rings by the CDA impact mass spectrometer.

Elution of TEGDMA and HEMA from polymerized resin-based bonding systems.

Objectives: In this study the amount of TEGDMA and HEMA eluted from several adhesive systems was quantified.

Methods: The adhesive systems were applied according to manufacturers' instructions in an analytic vial. The adhesive systems used were (abbreviation and producer in parenthesis): cmf adhesive system(®) (CMF) (Saremco), ENAbond (EB) (Micerium), Optibond FL (OB) (Kerr), Adper Scotchbond Multi-Purpose (SB) (3M ESPE), Silorane System Adhesive (SSA) (3M ESPE), Syntac Classic (SC) (Ivoclar Vivadent) and XP Bond (XPB) (Dentsply).

Expression of CYP450-2E1 and formation of 2,3-epoxymethacrylic acid (2,3-EMA) in human oral cells exposed to dental materials.

Objectives: Methacrylate-based (co)monomers released from dental composites can be, metabolized in vivo to methacrylic acid (MA). MA can be further oxidized to the toxic 2,3-epoxymethacrylic acid (2,3-EMA) by cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes. The subform CYP450-2E1, can metabolize xenobiotics with low-molecular weight to epoxides.

[Swallowing-related quality of life in oral cavity cancer. The German version of the Anderson Dysphagia Inventory].

Background: The objective of this study was to validate the German version of the Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (ADI), as well as to grade it by using health-related quality of life as an external criterion.

Patients And Methods: A total of 102 patients (26 women, 76 men) aged 34-90 years (61.1+/-10.

Automatic, computer-based speech assessment on edentulous patients with and without complete dentures - preliminary results.

Dental rehabilitation of edentulous patients with complete dentures includes not only aesthetics and mastication of food, but also speech quality. It was the aim of this study to introduce and validate a computer-based speech recognition system (ASR) for automatic speech assessment in edentulous patients after dental rehabilitation with complete dentures. To examine the impact of dentures on speech production, the speech outcome of edentulous patients with and without complete dentures was compared.

Quantitative determination of TEGDMA, BHT, and DMABEE in eluates from polymerized resin-based dental restorative materials by use of GC/MS.

This study investigated the leaching of ingredients from several commercial dental composite resins cured with LED, and immersed in methanol or water for 24 h, respectively. The composites used were: Admira Dentin (VOCO), Artemis Schmelz (Enamel) (Ivoclar Vivadent), Els extra low shrinkage (Saremco Dental), Filtek Supreme XT Dentin (3 M ESPE), Gradia Direct (GC), Venus & Venus flow (Heraeus Kulzer), and XRV Herculite Prodigy Enamel (Kerr). From each dental composite four specimens with defined structure and 100-mg net weight were made.

Osteotomy and primary wound closure in bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw: a prospective clinical study with 12 months follow-up.

Goals Of Work: This is a prospective clinical study aimed at assessing the success rate of osteotomy and primary wound closure in patients with bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw (BONJ).

Materials And Methods: Fifty patients who had received bisphosphonates intravenously and subsequently suffered from BONJ were included in the study. All patients underwent osteotomy of the affected jaw bone region and primary wound closure under general anaesthesia.

Volatile methacrylates in dental practices.

Purpose: In recent years, an increase of occupational respiratory diseases, such as asthma caused by methacrylates, has been observed in dental personnel. In this study, the exposure of dental personnel to various volatile methacrylates was investigated.

Materials And Methods: The air levels of methacrylates were measured during filling treatment while bonding agents were used in 4 dental practices in Munich, Germany.

Development and application of a simplified sample preparation method for determination of TEGDMA and related metabolites.

Analysis of biological samples obtained from in vivo experiments can be often challenging. In general it is not possible to apply the commonly used matrices that are necessary for the experiments to the desired analysis systems without further conditioning or sample purification steps. Besides possible adverse effects for instruments, interference between analytes and matrices can affect the correct measurement of analytes.

In vitro stability of methylmethacrylic acid, TEGDMA and HEMA exposed to esterases.

Objectives: Comonomers used in dental restorative materials, e.g. triethylenglycoledimethacrylate (TEGDMA), hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) and methylmethacylic acid (MMA) are methacrylic acid esters.

Excretion of dental resin monomers and metabolic intermediates via urine in guinea pigs.

Objective: Monomers like BisGMA (Bisphenol-A-glycidyldimethacrylate) and comonomers like TEGDMA (triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate) are used in dental restorative materials in order to build up the three-dimensional network of filling materials. Since earlier investigations revealed uptake and subsequent metabolism of unpolymerized remainders of (co)monomers, the present experiment investigates the metabolic urine pattern of guinea pigs (n=4) after application of TEGDMA or BisGMA (each dose=0.02 mmol/kg body weight=100%), respectively.

Cytotoxicity of the dental composite component TEGDMA and selected metabolic by-products in human pulmonary cells.

Objectives: The comonomer triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (TEGDMA) is a commonly used constituent of resin-based dental materials. Upon placement, light-cured dental polymers may release a wide spectrum of residual compounds due to incomplete monomer-conversion during polymerization. Apart from liberating unreacted monomers, additional compound release might occur due to mechanical wear and enzymatic degradation on the salivary surface of resin fillings.

Distribution and excretion of BisGMA in guinea pigs.

Bisphenol-A-glycidyldimethacrylate (BisGMA) is used in many resin-based dental materials. It was shown in vitro that BisGMA was released into the adjacent biophase from such materials during the first days after placement. In this study, the uptake, distribution, and excretion of [(14)C]BisGMA applied via gastric and intravenous administration (at dose levels well above those encountered in dental care) were examined in vivo in guinea pigs to test the hypothesis that BisGMA reaches cytotoxic levels in mammalian tissues.

The dust halo of Saturn's largest icy moon, Rhea.

Saturn's moon Rhea had been considered massive enough to retain a thin, externally generated atmosphere capable of locally affecting Saturn's magnetosphere. The Cassini spacecraft's in situ observations reveal that energetic electrons are depleted in the moon's vicinity. The absence of a substantial exosphere implies that Rhea's magnetospheric interaction region, rather than being exclusively induced by sputtered gas and its products, likely contains solid material that can absorb magnetospheric particles.

A belt of moonlets in Saturn's A ring.

The origin and evolution of planetary rings is one of the prominent unsolved problems of planetary sciences, with direct implications for planet-forming processes in pre-planetary disks. The recent detection of four propeller-shaped features in Saturn's A ring proved the presence of large boulder-sized moonlets in the rings. Their existence favours ring creation in a catastrophic disruption of an icy satellite rather than a co-genetic origin with Saturn, because bodies of this size are unlikely to have accreted inside the rings.

Toxicity potentiation by H2O2 with components of dental restorative materials on human oral cells.

Toxicity potentiation of two monomers [bisphenol-A-glycidyldimethacrylate (BisGMA) and urethanedimethacrylate (UDMA)] as well as two comonomers [triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (TEGDMA) and 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA)], each in combination with H(2)O(2), was investigated on the viability on human gingival fibroblasts (HGF) and human pulpal fibroblasts (HPF). The applied concentration of H(2)O(2) was 0.06 or 0.

Cell death effects of resin-based dental material compounds and mercurials in human gingival fibroblasts.

In order to test the hypothesis that released dental restorative materials can reach toxic levels in human oral tissues, the cytotoxicities of the resin-based dental (co)monomers hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA), triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (TEGDMA), urethanedimethacrylate (UDMA), and bisglycidylmethacrylate (BisGMA) compared with methyl mercury chloride (MeHgCl) and the amalgam component mercuric chloride (HgCl2) were investigated on human gingival fibroblasts (HGF) using two different test systems: (1) the modified XTT-test and (2) the modified H 33342 staining assay. The HGF were exposed to various concentrations of the test-substances in all test systems for 24 h. All tested (co)monomers and mercury compounds significantly (P<0.

Cassini dust measurements at Enceladus and implications for the origin of the E ring.

During Cassini's close flyby of Enceladus on 14 July 2005, the High Rate Detector of the Cosmic Dust Analyzer registered micron-sized dust particles enveloping this satellite. The dust impact rate peaked about 1 minute before the closest approach of the spacecraft to the moon. This asymmetric signature is consistent with a locally enhanced dust production in the south polar region of Enceladus.

Cytotoxicity of dental composite (co)monomers and the amalgam component Hg(2+) in human gingival fibroblasts.

Unpolymerized resin (co)monomers or mercury (Hg) can be released from restorative dental materials (e.g. composites and amalgam).

Identification of 2,3-epoxymethacrylic acid as an intermediate in the metabolism of dental materials in human liver microsomes.

Objectives: In previous studies it could be demonstrated that methacrylic acid (MA) is an intermediate in the metabolism of unpolymerized dental comonomers, released from dental restorative materials. This study was performed to identify the possible dental material intermediate 2,3-epoxymethacrylic acid (2,3-EMA) from MA in human liver microsomes. Most epoxy compounds are regarded as highly toxic substances.