Laparoscopic Toupet-Sleeve gastrectomy in morbid obese patients with preoperative gastro-esophageal reflux: a 4-year follow-up cohort study.

Aim: To assess the 4-year outcomes after Toupet-Sleeve (TS) gastrectomy in morbid obese patients with concomitant preoperative gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Material And Methods: The study group consisted of 19 consecutive patients operated on between August 2017 and February 2019. There were 5 men and 14 women with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 43 ± 5 kg/m and a mean age of 42 ± 15 years.

Short-course subcutaneous treatment with PQ Grass strongly improves symptom and medication scores in grass allergy.

Background: A modified grass allergen subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) product with MicroCrystalline Tyrosine and monophosphoryl lipid-A as an adjuvant system (Grass MATA MPL [PQ Grass]) is being developed as short-course treatment of grass-pollen allergic rhinitis (SAR) and/or rhinoconjunctivitis. We sought to evaluate the combined symptom and medication score (CSMS) of the optimized cumulative dose of 27,600 standardized units (SU) PQ Grass in a field setting prior to embarking on a pivotal Phase III trial.

Methods: In this exploratory, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial subjects were enrolled across 14 sites (Germany and the United States of America).

A machine learning-based multiscale model to predict bone formation in scaffolds.

Computational modeling methods combined with non-invasive imaging technologies have exhibited great potential and unique opportunities to model new bone formation in scaffold tissue engineering, offering an effective alternate and viable complement to laborious and time-consuming in vivo studies. However, existing numerical approaches are still highly demanding computationally in such multiscale problems. To tackle this challenge, we propose a machine learning (ML)-based approach to predict bone ingrowth outcomes in bulk tissue scaffolds.

A time-dependent mechanobiology-based topology optimization to enhance bone growth in tissue scaffolds.

Scaffold-based bone tissue engineering has been extensively developed as a potential means to treatment of large bone defects. To enhance the biomechanical performance of porous tissue scaffolds, computational design techniques have gained growing popularity attributable to their compelling efficiency and strong predictive features compared with time-consuming trial-and-error experiments. Nevertheless, the mechanical stimulus necessary for bone regeneration, which characterizes dynamic nature due to continuous variation in the bone-scaffold construct system as a result of bone-ingrowth and scaffold biodegradation, is often neglected.

Rhinitis 2020: A practice parameter update.

This comprehensive practice parameter for allergic rhinitis (AR) and nonallergic rhinitis (NAR) provides updated guidance on diagnosis, assessment, selection of monotherapy and combination pharmacologic options, and allergen immunotherapy for AR. Newer information about local AR is reviewed. Cough is emphasized as a common symptom in both AR and NAR.

Shared decision making in allergic rhinitis: An approach to the patient.

Objective: To review what is known about the importance of shared decision making (SDM) in allergic rhinitis.

Data Sources: MEDLINE and PubMed database searches for SDM, patient preferences, patient motivation with mobile apps, over-the-counter medications, adherence, complementary and alternative therapies, nasal steroids, and immunotherapy.

Study Selections: No articles directly dealt with the effects of SDM on outcomes in allergic rhinitis.

EXHANCE-3: a cohort study of the exhalation delivery system with fluticasone for chronic sinusitis with or without nasal polyps.

Background: Inhaled nasal corticosteroid sprays (INS) are often inadequate to treat chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The exhalation delivery system with fluticasone (EDS-FLU; XHANCE®) may improve outcomes in CRS by increasing medication delivery to target superior/posterior anatomic sites. This study assessed safety and efficacy of EDS-FLU in a large population with moderate-to-severe CRS with or without nasal polyps (CRSwNP, CRSsNP).

Shared decision making for the allergist.

Objective: Shared decision making (SDM) is becoming more commonly appreciated and used in medical practice as a way to empower patients who are facing treatment preference-sensitive conditions, such as allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, food allergy, and persistent asthma. The purpose of this review is to educate the allergy health care provider about how SDM works and provide practical advice and allergist-specific SDM resources.

Data Sources: PubMed and online patient decision aid resources.

Pollen count and presentation of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-associated angioedema.

Background: The incidence of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor-associated angioedema is increased in patients with seasonal allergies.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that patients with ACE inhibitor-associated angioedema present during months when pollen counts are increased.

Methods: Cohort analysis examined the month of presentation of ACE inhibitor-associated angioedema and pollen counts in the ambulatory and hospital setting.

Testing plant barcoding in a sister species complex of pantropical Acacia (Mimosoideae, Fabaceae).

Acacia species are quite difficult to differentiate using morphological characters. Routine identification of Acacia samples is important in order to distinguish invasive species from rare species or those of economic importance, particularly in the forest industry. The genus Acacia is quite abundant and diverse comprising approximately 1355 species, which is currently divided into three subgenera: subg.

Towards automated 3D finite element modeling of direct fiber reinforced composite dental bridge.

An automated 3D finite element (FE) modeling procedure for direct fiber reinforced dental bridge is established on the basis of computer tomography (CT) scan data. The model presented herein represents a two-unit anterior cantilever bridge that includes a maxillary right incisor as an abutment and a maxillary left incisor as a cantilever pontic bonded by adhesive and reinforced fibers. The study aims at gathering fundamental knowledge for design optimization of this type of innovative composite dental bridges.

Fibre reinforced composite dental bridge. Part II: Numerical investigation.

Motivated by the clinical success and limitations on experimental investigation of the fibre-reinforced composite dental bridge, this paper aims at providing a numerical investigation into the bridge structure. The finite element (FE) model adopted here is constructed from computer tomography images of a physical bridge specimen. The stress and strain distributions in the bridge structure especially in the bonding interfaces are analyzed in detail.

Fibre reinforced composite dental bridge. Part I: Experimental investigation.

This experimental investigation aims at revealing the mechanical behaviour and failure pattern of direct fibre-reinforced resin-bonded dental bridge with various designs. To evaluate the overall effects of some newly developed dental materials, in the experiment, genuine composite dental bridge specimens are prepared and tested. The ultimate load, stiffness and mode at the failure of the bridges are measured and compared with the design variations.

Influence of core thickness on a restored crown of a first premolar using finite element analysis.

Purpose: This study examined the influence of ceramic coping thickness on the maximum stresses that arise in a first premolar all-ceramic crown.

Materials And Methods: Axisymmetric finite element models with different In-Ceram Alumina coping thicknesses (0.3, 0.

Influence of margin design and taper abutment angle on a restored crown of a first premolar using finite element analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of margin design and taper abutment angle on the stresses developed in all-ceramic first premolar crowns.

Materials And Methods: Four margin designs and three taper abutment angles were independently incorporated into models examined by finite element analysis. A 600-N force was applied vertically downward.

Influence of cement on a restored crown of a first premolar using finite element analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the elastic modulus of cement and luting thickness on the resulting stresses in an axially loaded crown cemented onto a first premolar. A comparison of these stresses was also made with the strength of the constituent materials making up the crown.

Materials And Methods: Examination of the stresses on a restored crown was conducted using finite element analysis.

Finite element analysis studies of a metal-ceramic crown on a first premolar tooth.

Purpose: This study examined the stresses developed during loading in a first premolar metal-ceramic crown made of different metal cores, and used them to anticipate the locations and form of the most likely failure modes. The maximum principal stresses in the porcelain are indicators of fracture, and the von Mises stresses in the metal core are indicators of the location of yielding.

Materials And Methods: Two-dimensional axisymmetric models with different core metals were analyzed using finite element analyses.

Finite element analysis studies of an all-ceramic crown on a first premolar.

Purpose: This study examined the effects of using four different core-ceramic materials on the stresses that developed in a single all-ceramic first premolar crown.

Materials And Methods: This was done by analyzing models constructed in an axisymmetric fashion with finite element analyses. The model had a 600-N vertical load applied uniformly over a circular area on top of the crown.

Preliminary studies on the optimum shape of dental bridges.

Several pre-existing anterior and posterior dental bridge models using Finite elements and the new ceramic material In-Ceram have been developed. The mechanical behaviour of these models has been compared with optimised profiles obtained from a newly developed evolutionary algorithm known as Evolutionary Structural Optimisation (ESO). The results show that the mechanical behaviour of the bridges was mainly restricted by the properties of the porcelain veneer and the design of the bridges themselves.

Variations in posteroanterior stiffness in the thoracolumbar spine: preliminary observations and proposed mechanisms.

Background And Purpose: Evaluation of posteroanterior (PA) movement in the spine is commonly used in the clinic, but little is known about the mechanisms involved. The purposes of this study were to examine variations in PA stiffness along the thoracolumbar spine and to investigate possible factors that might determine the pattern of stiffness.

Subjects: Twenty-one pain-free volunteers (10 male, 11 female), aged 18 to 41 years (mean age=26.

Hydroxychloroquine improves airflow and lowers circulating IgE levels in subjects with moderate symptomatic asthma.

Background: Although antiinflammatory therapy is accepted as the cornerstone of asthma treatment, available systemic immunosuppressive agents are not widely used because of justified concerns over potential toxicity. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is a well-tolerated, safe immunomodulating drug, with proven efficacy in rheumatic diseases and known actions that suggest potential utility in the treatment of asthma.

Objective: We sought to assess the effectiveness of HCQ in subjects with moderate symptomatic asthma.