Exploring the Therapeutic Efficacy of Parsley (Petroselinum crispum Mill.) as a Functional Food: Implications in Immunological Tolerability, Reduction of Muscle Cramps, and Treatment of Dermatitis.

The status of parsley as a well-known folk medicine noted for its nutritional and medicinal properties prompted the exploration of its potential as a functional food and natural remedy. The paper aims to investigate the potential of parsley to enhance muscle function and alleviate psoriasiform dermatitis, eventually establishing it as a natural, well-tolerated alternative with specific benefits for both muscles and skin. This study examines the tolerability of parsley in a cohort of 937 participants by assessing immunoglobulin G (IgG) reactions. The findings reveal high tolerability, as 96.26% of participants experienced no adverse effects. Among the 902 individuals lacking hypersensitivity, 37.02% reported muscle cramps, with a notable 15.02% reduction observed in the subgroup consuming parsley juice. In the subset of 32 subjects with dermatitis, the application of parsley extract ointment led to a significant decrease in dermatological parameters (redness, thickness, scaling). While the control group exhibited improvements, statistical significance was not observed. Notably, four categories of affected area reduction were identified, with scaling demonstrating the most pronounced impact. The results propose that parsley holds promise for favorable tolerability, contributing to the alleviation of muscle cramps and presenting an effective alternative in dermatitis treatment. Nonetheless, sustained validation through long-term studies is imperative to substantiate these preliminary findings.

MRI compatibility of orthodontic brackets and wires: systematic review article.

BACKGROUND: Before the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination fixed orthodontic devices, such as brackets and wires, cause challenges not only for the orthodontist but also for the radiologist. Essentially, the MRI-safe scan of the fixed orthodontic tools requires a proper guideline in clinical practice. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to examine all aspects of MRI-safe scan, including artifact, thermal, and debonding effects, to identify any existing gaps in knowledge in this regard and develop an evidence-based protocol. METHODS: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement was used in this study. The clinical question in "PIO" format was: "Does MRI examination influence the temperature of the orthodontic devices, the size of artifacts, and the debonding force in patients who have fixed orthodontic bracket and/or wire?" The search process was carried out in PubMed, PubMed Central, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. The search resulted in 1310 articles. After selection according to the eligibility criteria, 18 studies were analyzed by two reviewers. The risk of bias was determined using the Quality In Prognosis Studies tool. RESULTS: Out of the eligible 18 studies, 10 articles examined the heating effect, 6 were about the debonding effect, and 11 measured the size of artifact regarding brackets and wires. Considering the quality assessment, the overall levels of evidence were high and medium. The published studies showed that heating and debonding effects during MRI exposure were not hazardous for patients. As some wires revealed higher temperature changes, it is suggested to remove the wire or insert a spacer between the appliances and the oral mucosa. Based on the material, ceramic and plastic brackets caused no relevant artifact and were MRI-safe. Stainless steel brackets and wires resulted in susceptibility artifacts in the orofacial region and could cause distortion in the frontal lobe, orbits, and pituitary gland. The retainer wires showed no relevant artifact. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the thermal and debonding effects of the fixed orthodontic brackets and wires were irrelevant or resoluble; however, the size of the artifacts was clinically relevant and determined most significantly the feasibility of fixed brackets and wires in MRI examination.

Quick remedy commits and their impact on mining software repositories.

Most changes during software maintenance and evolution are not atomic changes, but rather the result of several related changes affecting different parts of the code. It may happen that developers omit needed changes, thus leaving a task partially unfinished, introducing technical debt or injecting bugs. We present a study investigating "quick remedy commits" performed by developers to implement changes omitted in previous commits. With quick remedy commits we refer to commits that (i) quickly follow a commit performed by the same developer, and (ii) aim at remedying issues introduced as the result of code changes omitted in the previous commit (e.g., fix references to code components that have been broken as a consequence of a rename refactoring) or simply improve the previously committed change (e.g., improve the name of a newly introduced variable). Through a manual analysis of 500 quick remedy commits, we define a taxonomy categorizing the types of changes that developers tend to omit. The taxonomy can (i) guide the development of tools aimed at detecting omitted changes and (ii) help researchers in identifying corner cases that must be properly handled. For example, one of the categories in our taxonomy groups the reverted commits, meaning changes that are undone in a subsequent commit. We show that not accounting for such commits when mining software repositories can undermine one's findings. In particular, our results show that considering completely reverted commits when mining software repositories accounts, on average, for 0.07 and 0.27 noisy data points when dealing with two typical MSR data collection tasks (i.e., bug-fixing commits identification and refactoring operations mining, respectively).

Comparison of alternative integration sites in the chromosome and the native plasmids of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 in respect to expression efficiency and copy number.

BACKGROUND: Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 provides a well-established reference point to cyanobacterial metabolic engineering as part of basic photosynthesis research, as well as in the development of next-generation biotechnological production systems. This study focused on expanding the current knowledge on genomic integration of expression constructs in Synechocystis, targeting a range of novel sites in the chromosome and in the native plasmids, together with established loci used in literature. The key objective was to obtain quantitative information on site-specific expression in reference to replicon copy numbers, which has been speculated but never compared side by side in this host. RESULTS: An optimized sYFP2 expression cassette was successfully integrated in two novel sites in Synechocystis chromosome (slr0944; sll0058) and in all four endogenous megaplasmids (pSYSM/slr5037-slr5038; pSYSX/slr6037; pSYSA/slr7023; pSYSG/slr8030) that have not been previously evaluated for the purpose. Fluorescent analysis of the segregated strains revealed that the expression levels between the megaplasmids and chromosomal constructs were very similar, and reinforced the view that highest expression in Synechocystis can be obtained using RSF1010-derived replicative vectors or the native small plasmid pCA2.4 evaluated in comparison. Parallel replicon copy number analysis by RT-qPCR showed that the expression from the alternative loci is largely determined by the gene dosage in Synechocystis, thereby confirming the dependence formerly proposed based on literature. CONCLUSIONS: This study brings together nine different integrative loci in the genome of Synechocystis to demonstrate quantitative differences between target sites in the chromosome, the native plasmids, and a RSF1010-based replicative expression vector. To date, this is the most comprehensive comparison of alternative integrative sites in Synechocystis, and provides the first direct reference between expression efficiency and replicon gene dosage in the context. In the light of existing literature, the findings support the view that the small native plasmids can be notably more difficult to target than the chromosome or the megaplasmids, and that the RSF1010-derived vectors may be surprisingly well maintained under non-selective culture conditions in this cyanobacterial host. Altogether, the work broadens our views on genomic integration and the rational use of different integrative loci versus replicative plasmids, when aiming at expressing heterologous genes in Synechocystis.

Increased level of LIGHT/TNFSF14 is associated with survival in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

OBJECTIVES: Multiple cytokines have been implicated in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), but tumor necrosis factor superfamily 14 (LIGHT/TNFSF14) and oncostatin-M (OSM) have not been previously explored. AIMS OF THE STUDY: The primary objective of this study was to examine the relationship between TNFSF14 and OSM levels and survival. Our secondary goal was to investigate a potential association between these markers and the incidence of delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI). MATERIALS & METHODS: We consecutively recruited 60 patients with a clinical diagnosis of aSAH. LIGHT/TNFSF14 and OSM serum concentrations were determined by ELISA. The primary endpoint was survival at Day 30, while development of DCI was assessed as secondary outcome. RESULTS: Patients had significantly higher levels of both markers than the control group (median of LIGHT: 18.1 pg/ml vs. 7 pg/ml; p = 0.01; median of OSM: 10.3 pg/ml vs. 2.8 pg/ml, p < 0.001). Significantly lower serum level of LIGHT/TNFSF14 was found in nonsurviving patients (n = 9) compared with survivors (n = 51; p = 0.011). Based on ROC analysis, serum LIGHT/TNFSF14 with a cutoff value of >7.95 pg/ml predicted 30-day survival with a sensitivity of 71% and specificity of 78% (Area: 0.763; 95% CI: 0.604-0.921, p = 0.013). In addition, it was also a predictor of DCI with a sensitivity of 72.7% and a specificity of 62.5% (AUC: 0.702; 95% CI: 0.555-0.849, p = 0.018). Based on binary logistic regression analysis, LIGHT/TNFSF14 was found to be independently associated with 30-day mortality, but not with DCI. CONCLUSION: In this cohort, a higher serum level of LIGHT/TNFSF14 was associated with increased survival of patients with aSAH.

Evaluation of the effect of vitamin D3 on mandibular condyles in an ovariectomized mouse model: a micro-CT study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the effect of ovariectomy and vitamin D3 on bone microstructure; this effect was examined in three regions of interest at one femoral and two mandibular sampling sites bone in an ovariectomized mouse model. METHODS: Thirty-six week-old female mice were randomly divided into three groups: 10 subjects were given oral cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) daily for 6 weeks after undergoing bilateral ovariectomy (D3 group), while 10 ovariectomized subjects (OVX) and 10 subjects who underwent a sham operation (SHAM) received peanut oil daily during the investigation. After extermination, the left hemimandible and femur were removed and scanned by micro-CT. The bone micromorphology parameters were analyzed and the BMD was calculated. RESULTS: The bone volume fraction (BV/TV) was significantly lower in the trabecular bone of the mandibular condyle in the OVX group than in the SHAM and D3 groups. Also there was a significant difference between the SHAM and D3 groups. The specific bone surface (BS/BV) was significantly higher in the OVX and D3 groups than in the SHAM group. Trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) was significantly higher in the SHAM group, and the trabecular bone pattern factor (Tb.Pf) was significantly higher in the OVX group than in the other two groups. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the femur and the mandible was significantly lower in the OVX group than in the SHAM and D3 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that ovariectomy causes a significantly weaker bone microstructure in the mandibular condyle, where the protective effect of vitamin D3 resulted in a partial resorption.

Redirecting photosynthetic electron flux in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 by the deletion of flavodiiron protein Flv3.

BACKGROUND: Oxygen-evolving photoautotrophic organisms, like cyanobacteria, protect their photosynthetic machinery by a number of regulatory mechanisms, including alternative electron transfer pathways. Despite the importance in modulating the electron flux distribution between the photosystems, alternative electron transfer routes may compete with the solar-driven production of CO2-derived target chemicals in biotechnological systems under development. This work focused on engineered cyanobacterial Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 strains, to explore possibilities to rescue excited electrons that would normally be lost to molecular oxygen by an alternative acceptor flavodiiron protein Flv1/3-an enzyme that is natively associated with transfer of electrons from PSI to O2, as part of an acclimation strategy towards varying environmental conditions. RESULTS: The effects of Flv1/3 inactivation by flv3 deletion were studied in respect to three alternative end-products, sucrose, polyhydroxybutyrate and glycogen, while the photosynthetic gas fluxes were monitored by Membrane Inlet Mass Spectrometry (MIMS) to acquire information on cellular carbon uptake, and the production and consumption of O2. The results demonstrated that a significant proportion of the excited electrons derived from photosynthetic water cleavage was lost to molecular oxygen via Flv1/3 in cells grown under high CO2, especially under high light intensities. In flv3 deletion strains these electrons could be re-routed to increase the relative metabolic flux towards the monitored target products, but the carbon distribution and the overall efficiency were determined by the light conditions and the genetic composition of the respective pathways. At the same time, the total photosynthetic capacity of the Δflv3 strains was systematically reduced, and accompanied by upregulation of oxidative glycolytic metabolism in respect to controls with the native Flv1/3 background. CONCLUSIONS: The observed metabolic changes and respective production profiles were proposedly linked with the lack of Flv1/3-mediated electron transfer, and the associated decrease in the intracellular ATP/NADPH ratio, which is bound to affect the metabolic carbon partitioning in the flv3-deficient cells. While the deletion of flv3 could offer a strategy for enhancing the photosynthetic production of desired chemicals in cyanobacteria under specified conditions, the engineered target pathways have to be carefully selected to align with the intracellular redox balance of the cells.

Development of a quantitative preclinical screening model for implant osseointegration in rat tail vertebra.

OBJECTIVES: Functional tooth replacement and bone regeneration are parts of the daily practice in modern dentistry, but well-reproducible and relatively inexpensive experimental models are still missing. We aimed to develop a new small animal model to monitor osseointegration utilizing the combination of multiple evaluation protocols. MATERIAL AND METHODS: After cutting the tail between the C4 and C5 vertebrae in Wistar rats, costume made, parallel walled, non-threaded implants were placed into the center of the tail parallel with its longitudinal axis using a surgical guide. Osseointegration of the titanium implants was followed between 4 and 16 weeks after surgery applying axial extraction force, and resonance frequency analysis as functional tests, and histomorphometry and micro-CT as structural evaluations. RESULTS: In functional tests, we observed that both methods are suitable for the detection of the time-dependent increase in osseointegration, but the sensitivity of the pull-out technique (an approximately five times increase with rather low standard error) was much higher than that of the resonance frequency analysis. In structural evaluations, changes in the detected bone implant contact values measured by histomorphometry (yielding 1.5 times increase, with low variations of data) were more reliable than micro-CT based evaluations to screen the developments of contact between bone and implant. CONCLUSION: Our results provide evidence that the caudal vertebrae osseointegration model is useful for the preclinical evaluation of implant integration into the bone. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The combination of the biomechanical and structural tests offers a well-reproducible small animal system that can be suitable for studying the integration of various implant materials and surface treatments.

Development and Characterisation of Gastroretentive Solid Dosage Form Based on Melt Foaming.

Dosage forms with increased gastric residence time are promising tools to increase bioavailability of drugs with narrow absorption window. Low-density floating formulations could avoid gastric emptying; therefore, sustained drug release can be achieved. Our aim was to develop a new technology to produce low-density floating formulations by melt foaming. Excipients were selected carefully, with the criteria of low gastric irritation, melting range below 70°C and well-known use in oral drug formulations. PEG 4000, Labrasol and stearic acid type 50 were used to create metronidazole dispersion which was foamed by air on atmospheric pressure using in-house developed apparatus at 53°C. Stearic acid was necessary to improve the foamability of the molten dispersion. Additionally, it reduced matrix erosion, thus prolonging drug dissolution and preserving hardness of the moulded foam. Labrasol as a liquid solubiliser can be used to increase drug release rate and drug solubility. Based on the SEM images, metronidazole in the molten foam remained in crystalline form. MicroCT scans with the electron microscopic images revealed that the foam has a closed-cell structure, where spherical voids have smooth inner wall, they are randomly dispersed, while adjacent voids often interconnected with each other. Drug release from all compositions followed Korsmeyer-Peppas kinetic model. Erosion of the matrix was the main mechanism of the release of metronidazole. Texture analysis confirmed that stearic acid plays a key role in preserving the integrity of the matrix during dissolution in acidic buffer. The technology creates low density and solid matrix system with micronsized air-filled voids.

Difficulties in the diagnosis of periapical translucencies and in the classification of cemento-osseous dysplasia.

BACKGROUND: Cemento-osseous dysplasia is a benign fibro-osseous lesion of the tooth-bearing region of the jaws with a periodontal ligament origin. It appears predominantly in Black and Asian middle-aged females. Its importance is that it could mimic a periapical lesion in the early, translucent stage. CASE PRESENTATION: In this report a rare case of familial cemento-osseous dysplasia is presented: a 50-years old Caucasian woman with labial paraesthesia and radiological translucency around the roots of the mandibular incisors and the first molar teeth. The lesion around the first molar was diagnosed as periapical granuloma and a root canal treatment was carried out. The diagnosis of florid cemento-osseous dysplasia and the treatment plan based on two- and three-dimensional radiographic examinations were certified histologically after surgical removal of the lesion. We screened the family members - including the patient's mother, daughter and son - and identified a periapical version of cemento-osseous dysplasia in the daughter. Our case highlights the difficulties of differential diagnosis of cemento-osseous dysplasia and other periapical pathologies. The inconsistencies in the present classification of cemento-osseous dysplasia are also discussed with a proposal for a different classification based on new aspects that would be very helpful in setting up a correct treatment plan. CONCLUSION: Differentiation of endodontic and non-endodontic origin of radiolucency and distinguishing it from anatomical landmarks by appropriate clinical evaluation and using vitality testing can give an opportunity to prevent unnecessary endodontic treatment. The current categories of cemento-osseous dysplasia classification do not cover the early stage of a hereditary florid form of cemento-osseous dysplasia. Instead of anatomical location of the lesion, clinical and genetic features may be recommended as parameters of cemento-osseous dysplasia classification.

Translation efficiency of heterologous proteins is significantly affected by the genetic context of RBS sequences in engineered cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.

BACKGROUND: Photosynthetic cyanobacteria have been studied as potential host organisms for direct solar-driven production of different carbon-based chemicals from CO2 and water, as part of the development of sustainable future biotechnological applications. The engineering approaches, however, are still limited by the lack of comprehensive information on most optimal expression strategies and validated species-specific genetic elements which are essential for increasing the intricacy, predictability and efficiency of the systems. This study focused on the systematic evaluation of the key translational control elements, ribosome binding sites (RBS), in the cyanobacterial host Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, with the objective of expanding the palette of tools for more rigorous engineering approaches. RESULTS: An expression system was established for the comparison of 13 selected RBS sequences in Synechocystis, using several alternative reporter proteins (sYFP2, codon-optimized GFPmut3 and ethylene forming enzyme) as quantitative indicators of the relative translation efficiencies. The set-up was shown to yield highly reproducible expression patterns in independent analytical series with low variation between biological replicates, thus allowing statistical comparison of the activities of the different RBSs in vivo. While the RBSs covered a relatively broad overall expression level range, the downstream gene sequence was demonstrated in a rigorous manner to have a clear impact on the resulting translational profiles. This was expected to reflect interfering sequence-specific mRNA-level interaction between the RBS and the coding region, yet correlation between potential secondary structure formation and observed translation levels could not be resolved with existing in silico prediction tools. CONCLUSIONS: The study expands our current understanding on the potential and limitations associated with the regulation of protein expression at translational level in engineered cyanobacteria. The acquired information can be used for selecting appropriate RBSs for optimizing over-expression constructs or multicistronic pathways in Synechocystis, while underlining the complications in predicting the activity due to gene-specific interactions which may reduce the translational efficiency for a given RBS-gene combination. Ultimately, the findings emphasize the need for additional characterized insulator sequence elements to decouple the interaction between the RBS and the coding region for future engineering approaches.

Cube-Rhombellane Related Structures: A Drug Perspective.

Rhombellanes represent a new class of structures, of which homeomorphs may be synthesized as real molecules. Cube-rhombellane is a double-shell structure, with vertices of degree 3 and 6, respectively. Several hypothetical structures/molecules were proposed and computed using molecular graph theory and coordination chemistry principles. Some geometries were optimized at the B3LYP/6-31G (d, p) level of theory, followed by harmonic vibrational frequency analysis at the same level of theory, single point data were collected in view of molecular stability evaluation. Some of the bioactive functionalized structures were also proposed and explored by molecular mechanics (MM)-based conformational analysis, to check their internal mobility. Drug-like properties of the proposed molecular structures were compared with some existing nano-molecules (fullerenes, nanotubes). ADME and other physico-chemical characteristics were computed using commercial software. Substructures of the proposed molecules, useful in a future synthesis, were provided by retro combinatorial synthesis (RECAP). Computational results obtained are promising regarding ADME properties, drug-likeness and nano-properties.

[Emergency diagnosis of the acute vestibular syndrome]. / Az akut vestibularis szindróma sürgosségi diagnosztikájával szerzett tapasztalatok.

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: To diagnose acute vestibular syndrome (AVS) in a prospective study by a new bedside test (providing 1A evidence) based on oculomotor analysis and assessment of hearing loss. To assess the frequency of central and peripheral causes of acute vestibular syndrome in the emergency room. To establish the diagnostic accuracy of acute cranial computed tomography as compared to oculomotor analysis done by video oculography goggles and audiometry. METHOD: Between 1st March 2016 and 1st March 2017 we documented 125 patients (62 women, 63 men, average age 53 years) in the emergency room of the Petz Aladár County Teaching Hospital using the above bedside and instrumental testing. Diagnosis was verified by cranial magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: According to the results of the instrumental examination in AVS in 67% we found a peripheral cause and in 33% a central pathology. In 62% isolated posterior circulation stroke manifested itself by isolated vertigo without additional focal signs and the acute cranial computed tomography showed negative results in 96%. The instrumental examination increased diagnostic accuracy by making the diagnosis of isolated inferior semicircular canal vestibular neuritis possible. CONCLUSIONS: The new bedside oculomotor test is suitable for the diagnosis of posterior circulation stroke manifesting with isolated vertigo in early cases, when the routine neuroradiologic methods have a lower sensitivity or are not available. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(51): 2029-2040.

[Childhood sporadic type of hemiplegic migraine with arteria cerebri media hypoperfusion]. / Gyermekkori sporadikus hemiplegiás migrén arteria cerebri media hipoperfúzióval.

Hemiplegic migraine is a rare subtype of migraine that is associated with reversible motor weakness in the aura phase. This is an uncommon form of migraine usually starting in childhood. The purpose of this case report is to highlight the differential diagnostic difficulty of the first attack. We describe a case, where the fluctuating unilateral motor weakness and aphasia suggested that the patient had ischaemic stroke. Nevertheless the brain MRI and MR angiography, the measured 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) concentration changes and the spontaneously improving clinical status proved the diagnosis of hemiplegic migraine. The MRI and MR angiography was very beneficial in establishing the correct diagnosis in this case. To distinguish between the familiar and sporadic type of hemiplegic migraine further genetic tests can be carried out.

[New recommendations in oncocardiology]. / Az onkokardiológiai ellátás új irányelvei.

It is well-known that modern oncotherapy significantly reduced the mortality of malignant diseases. However, serious side effects of the applied cancer therapies have evolved, which may adversely affect the cardiovascular system. Early side effects often limit therapeutic success of oncotherapy and may require treatment interruption, while late-onset side effects can adversely influence the long-term survival of patients recovering from cancer. Oncocardiology is a new medical field gaining more and more attention. It aims at the optimisation of the efficacy of cancer therapy and clinical outcome of patients. In the current review we present such important recommendations that may help the management of cardiovascular toxicity of cancer therapy in the everyday clinical practice.

[Revascularisation of the aorta, of the renal and of the lower limb arterial systems]. / Revascularisatio az aortában, a veseartériákban és az alsó végtagok artériás rendszerében.

Revascularisation aims to create a patent lumen in an acutely or chronically occluded or stenosed vessel. Interventional radiology has developed and used minimally invasive methods for decades concurring surgical methods and medical therapy. Innovative fields in healthcare may be handicapped since revolutionary solutions usually gain wide acceptance slowly and the results of randomized controlled trials are reported late. At present endovascular recanalization, dilatation and stent placement have achieved a well-established role in the treatment of stenosis or occlusion of the aorta, and renal and peripheral arteries.

Coregulated genes link sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase and arsenic metabolism in Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803.

Although the biogeochemistry of the two environmentally hazardous compounds arsenic and sulfide has been extensively investigated, the biological interference of these two toxic but potentially energy-rich compounds has only been hypothesized and indirectly proven. Here we provide direct evidence for the first time that in the photosynthetic model organism Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803 the two metabolic pathways are linked by coregulated genes that are involved in arsenic transport, sulfide oxidation, and probably in sulfide-based alternative photosynthesis. Although Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803 is an obligate photoautotrophic cyanobacterium that grows via oxygenic photosynthesis, we discovered that specific genes are activated in the presence of sulfide or arsenite to exploit the energy potentials of these chemicals. These genes form an operon that we termed suoRSCT, located on a transposable element of type IS4 on the plasmid pSYSM of the cyanobacterium. suoS (sll5036) encodes a light-dependent, type I sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase. The suoR (sll5035) gene downstream of suoS encodes a regulatory protein that belongs to the ArsR-type repressors that are normally involved in arsenic resistance. We found that this repressor has dual specificity, resulting in 200-fold induction of the operon upon either arsenite or sulfide exposure. The suoT gene encodes a transmembrane protein similar to chromate transporters but in fact functioning as an arsenite importer at permissive concentrations. We propose that the proteins encoded by the suoRSCT operon might have played an important role under anaerobic, reducing conditions on primordial Earth and that the operon was acquired by the cyanobacterium via horizontal gene transfer.

[Clinical examination of the gingival effects of three glass ionomer restorative materials (GC Fuji IX GP, GC Fuji IX GP EXTRA és GC EQUIA)]. / GC Fuji IX GP, GC Fuji IX GP EXTRA és GC EQUIA üvegionomer tömoanyagok gingiva állapotára gyakorolt hatásának vizsgálata.

The restoration of cervical abrasions, erosions or cervical carious lesions is still challenging because of their unpredictable adhesion and possible negative effects on the marginal plaque accumulation. The impact of three different glass ionomer cements (GIC) on the marginal gingiva and root sensitivity was studied. Furthermore, it was investigated in details, whether or not a recently developed light curing varnish (GC Coat - EQUIA) had any additional effect on the gingival tissue. A total number of 30 non-smokers with healthy gingiva having at least one cervical supra/paragingival abrasion/erosion/abfraction defects were enrolled in the present study. The cervical defects were randomly restored by using one of the three GIC and the gingival parameters were recorded and evaluated at baseline, 6 weeks and 6 months. According to our results root sensitivity were substantially decreased in all the three groups. Plaque scores were also reduced in all groups with the greatest improvement at the sites where the new varnish were applied. Although this improvement was not reflected by the gingival parameters, such as bleeding on probing and crevicular fluid flow, since both were slightly increased in the varnish group. However, neither the intra-group, nor the intergroup differences reached statistical significance. Consequently, the three investigated GIC did not significantly affect the gingival health, therefore they might serve as alternative for the treatment of such cervical lesions. Nevertheless, the new light cure varnish-coated GIC did not seem to be either clinically or statistical significantly more favorable.

Treatment of In-stent Restenosis of the Internal Carotid Artery Using Drug-eluting Balloons.

PURPOSE: In-stent restenosis (ISR) following internal carotid artery (ICA) stenting is relatively common with an estimated incidence of 5%. Treatment options include repeat angioplasty with conventional or drug-eluting balloons (DEB), repeat stent angioplasty and surgical intervention. Application of DEB in ISR of the coronary and peripheral arteries is an established method; however, data on DEB treatment of ICA ISR are sparse. In this work, results from a retrospective cohort of 45 patients harboring 46 ICA ISR lesions treated with DEB angioplasty are presented. METHODS: Clinical, procedural and imaging data from DEB angioplasty treatment of 46 high-grade ICA ISR lesions in 45 patients, performed between 2013 and 2021 were collected. A single type of DEB (Elutax, Aachen Resonance, Aachen, Germany) was used in all procedures. Imaging follow-up was performed by regular Doppler ultrasound (DUS), verified by computed tomography angiography (CTA) in cases suspicious for a recurrent ISR. RESULTS: Technical success was 100%. Intraprocedural and postprocedural complications were not encountered. Clinical follow-up was obtained in all patients. Recurrent stroke in the affected territory was not encountered. A recurrent ISR following DEB treatment was confirmed by DUS and CTA in 4/46 (8.7%) of the lesions and were retreated with DEB. A third recurrent ISR occurred in a single case (2%) and following a second DEB retreatment there were no signs of a fourth recurrence after 36 months follow-up. CONCLUSION: The use of DEB angioplasty is a safe and effective treatment of ICA ISR lesions, yielding significantly better results compared to other modalities. Randomized multicenter studies are warranted.

Are Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Three-Dimensional Histological Reconstructions Reliable for the Assessment of Trabecular Microarchitecture?

Objectives: This study aimed to create a three-dimensional histological reconstruction through the AI-assisted classification of tissues and the alignment of serial sections. The secondary aim was to evaluate if the novel technique for histological reconstruction accurately replicated the trabecular microarchitecture of bone. This was performed by conducting micromorphometric measurements on the reconstruction and comparing the results obtained with those of microCT reconstructions. Methods: A bone biopsy sample was harvested upon re-entry following sinus floor augmentation. Following microCT scanning and histological processing, a modified version of the U-Net architecture was trained to categorize tissues on the sections. Detector-free local feature matching with transformers was used to create the histological reconstruction. The micromorphometric parameters were calculated using Bruker's CTAn software (version 1.18.8.0, Bruker, Kontich, Belgium) for both histological and microCT datasets. Results: Correlation coefficients calculated between the micromorphometric parameters measured on the microCT and histological reconstruction suggest a strong linear relationship between the two with p-values of 0.777, 0.717, 0.705, 0.666, and 0.687 for BV/TV, BS/TV, Tb.Pf Tb.Th, and Tb.Sp, respectively. Bland-Altman and mountain plots suggest good agreement between BV/TV measurements on the two reconstruction methods. Conclusions: This novel method for three-dimensional histological reconstruction provides researchers with a tool that enables the assessment of accurate trabecular microarchitecture and histological information simultaneously.