Publications by authors named "Wilkins G"

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of an intraoral scanner to digitally duplicate complete dentures and analyze the effects of mesh reduction of digital files on the surface area and volume accuracy of complete dentures, in vitro.

Methods: A mandibular complete denture was scanned by a desktop scanner to create a digital STL reference file (control). Fifteen identical scans were created by using an intraoral scanner and exported as STL files (test group).

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The interactions of proteins to form complexes play a crucial role in cell function. Data on protein-protein or pairwise interactions (PPI) typically come from a combination of sample separation and mass spectrometry. Since 2010, several extensive, high-throughput mass spectrometry-based experimental studies have dramatically expanded public repositories for PPI data and, by extension, our knowledge of protein complexes.

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Rett syndrome (RTT) is a paediatric neurodevelopmental disorder spanning four developmental stages. This multi-system disorder offers a unique window to explore genotype-phenotype relationships in a disease model. However, genetic prognosticators of RTT have limited clinical value due to the disorder's heterogeneity on multiple levels.

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Aim: Remethylation disorders such as 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase () deficiency reduce the remethylation of homocysteine to methionine. The resulting hyperhomocysteinemia can lead to serious neurological consequences and multisystem toxicity. The role of genotypes has not been investigated in patients with Rett Syndrome (RTT).

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Patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass procedures require inotropic support to improve hemodynamic function and cardiac output. Current inotropes such as dobutamine, can promote arrhythmias, prompting a demand for improved inotropes with little effect on intracellular Ca flux. Low-dose carbon monoxide (CO) induces inotropic effects in perfused hearts.

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Objective: Musculoskeletal (MSK) causes of chest pain are considered common in emergency care, yet management is limited, reported outcomes are poor and prevalence data in New Zealand are lacking. The present study aims to estimate the prevalence of MSK chest pain in New Zealand EDs and describe the characteristics of MSK chest pain cases.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted based on de-identified clinical notes extracted from four hospitals within the South Island of New Zealand from 3 months spanning 1 March to 31 May 2021.

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Background: Health technology innovation is increasingly supported by a bottom-up approach to priority setting, aiming to better reflect the concerns of its intended beneficiaries. Web-based forums provide parents with an outlet to share concerns, advice, and information related to parenting and the health and well-being of their children. They provide a rich source of data on parenting concerns and priorities that could inform future child health research and innovation.

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Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) and S1P receptors (S1PR) regulate many cellular processes, including lymphocyte migration and endothelial barrier function. As neutrophils are major mediators of inflammation, their transendothelial migration may be the target of therapeutic approaches to inflammatory conditions such as ischaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). The aim of this project was to assess whether these therapeutic effects are mediated by S1P acting on neutrophils directly or indirectly through the endothelial cells.

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Background: Most approaches to the creation of an interatrial shunt require placement of a permanent implant to maintain patency.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of a no-implant interatrial shunt for patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF).

Methods: This was a multicenter, uncontrolled study of patients with HFpEF/HFmrEF and NYHA functional class ≥II, ejection fraction >40%, and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) during supine exercise ≥25 mm Hg with PCWP-to-right atrial gradient ≥5 mm Hg.

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Reported rates of invasive pneumococcal disease were markedly lower than normal during the 2020/2021 winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the first year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about rates of carriage of pneumococcus among adults during this period. Between October 2020-August 2021, couples in the Greater New Haven Area, USA, were enrolled if both individuals were aged 60 years and above and did not have any individuals under the age of 60 years living in the household.

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Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) are innovative biological products categorised as either gene, somatic cell, tissue-engineered or combined therapies. As of March 2022, 12 ATMPs are marketed in the EU and UK. We identified 482 unique ATMPs within 616 technology records from the National Institute for Health and Care Research Innovation Observatory database, 4 of which are currently marketed.

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ScanMedicine is a novel searching system dedicated to providing health care professionals, patients, carers, the public, decision- and policy-makers, and researchers with open access to the development pipeline underpinning health technology innovations. In the first phase of developing ScanMedicine, we have focused on capturing and consolidating clinical trial records hosted on national and international clinical trials registries and medical device approval data from the FDA. ScanMedicine has been developed based on microservice architecture allowing the system to be constantly improved in a flexible and scalable manner.

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Background: There is need to consider the value of soft intelligence, leveraged using accessible natural language processing (NLP) tools, as a source of analyzed evidence to support public health research outputs and decision-making.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the value of soft intelligence analyzed using NLP. As a case study, we selected and used a commercially available NLP platform to identify, collect, and interrogate a large collection of UK tweets relating to mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Systolic and diastolic dysfunction in diabetes have frequently been associated with abnormal calcium (Ca) regulation. However, there is emerging evidence that Ca mishandling alone is insufficient to fully explain diabetic heart dysfunction, with focus shifting to the properties of the myofilament proteins. Our aim was to examine the effects of diabetes on myofilament Ca sensitivity and Ca handling in left ventricular tissues isolated from the same type 2 diabetic rat hearts.

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Due to the limitations caused by the specific dimensions of milling burs, milling machines may inaccurately fabricate restorations by either over-reducing or under-reducing restorative material, respectively known as "overmilling" and "undermilling". Overmilling occurs when the bur is unable to accommodate areas smaller than the size of the bur, especially at cusp tips and sharp line angles. This results in excess cement space and a weaker restoration.

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The cardiovascular benefits of regular exercise are unequivocal, yet patients with type 2 diabetes respond poorly to exercise due to a reduced cardiac reserve. The contractile response of diabetic cardiomyocytes to β-adrenergic stimulation is attenuated, which may result in altered myofilament calcium sensitivity and posttranslational modifications of cardiac troponin I (cTnI). Treadmill running increases myofilament calcium sensitivity in nondiabetic rats, and thus we hypothesized that endurance training would increase calcium sensitivity of diabetic cardiomyocytes and alter site-specific phosphorylation of cTnI.

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Introduction: Resistant hypertension (RHT) is a phenotype of hypertension that is challenging to manage by medications alone. While high grade evidence supports physical activity (PA) and exercise to reduce blood pressure (BP) in hypertension, it is unclear whether these are also effective for RHT.

Aims: To determine the quality of evidence for the effectiveness of PA and exercise and the change of magnitude of 24-hour ambulatory BP (24hABP) in adults with RHT.

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