Efficacy of CAD/CAM Technology in Interventions Implemented in Orthodontics: A Scoping Review of Clinical Trials.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology in interventions implemented in orthodontics. Methods: A scoping review of scientific evidence was accomplished, involving different databases. MesH terms and keywords were provided to examine clinical trials (CTs) in all languages. Exclusively CTs that fulfilled the eligibility criteria were admitted. Results: Eight CTs were chosen. These experiments evaluated 542 patients. Four CTs compared the computer-aided indirect bonding method versus the traditional direct bonding of orthodontic brackets. Three CTs compared CAD/CAM retainers with other types of retainers, and one CT compared the CAD/CAM group with multistranded stainless steel wires versus stainless steel wires. Regarding the efficacy of the interventions with CAD/CAM technology used in orthodontics, variable results were found. The indirect bonded customized CAD/CAM brackets presented just a slight effect on the treatment efficacy and therapy results. Two CTs showed that an indirect bonding self-ligating standard system had a similar quality of therapy in comparison with the CAD/CAM customized bracket system. Concerning the clinical failure rate, no differences were presented between the CAD/CAM retainer and other retainers. A CAD/CAM system had more loose brackets than a noncustomized system and was observed also a greater amount of immediate debonding with CAD/CAM indirect bonding than with direct bonding. CAD/CAM fixed retainers revealed inferior relapse and fewer failures than lab-based and conventional chairside retainers. No changes between treatment groups were observed regarding the total therapy time, amount of appointments, and quantity of archwire bends. Conclusions: In general terms, no greater efficacy of CAD/CAM technology was observed over traditional therapies used in orthodontics. However, it was found that gingival inflammation and the accumulation of bacterial plaque and dental calculus were lower when CAD/CAM retainers were used. When comparing interventions that include CAD/CAM systems with conventional therapies, no significant reduction in care times was found.

Novel enzyme-free immunomagnetic microfluidic device based on Co0.25Zn0.75Fe2O4 for cancer biomarker detection.

Early diagnosis of cancer by biomarker detection has been widely studied since it can lead to an increase in patient survival rates. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) play an important role in this field acting as a valuable tool in the biomarker immunocapture and detection. In this work, Co0.25Zn0.75Fe2O4 (CoZnFeONPs) nanoparticles were synthesized and applied as enzyme mimics of peroxidase-like catalysis in a disposable enzyme-free microfluidic immunoarray device (µID). The catalytic activity of CoZnFeONPs was evaluated by hydrogen peroxide detection using cyclic voltammetry and the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant was estimated by Lineweaver-Burk equation showing good Km values. In µID, the immunosensors were assembled with monoclonal antibody against CYFRA 21-1 covalently immobilized on graphene oxide previously deposited on the screen-printed carbon-based electrodes. Under optimized conditions, the method presented a good linear response for CYFRA 21-1 in the range of 3.9-1000 fg mL-1 achieving an ultralow limit of detection (LOD) of 0.19 fg mL-1. For comparison, Fe3O4 nanoparticles (FeONPs) was also synthetized and presented results slight inferior to that obtained with CoZnFeONPs. The methods developed using both MNPs exhibited countless advantages when compared with the immunosensors developed for CYFRA-21-1, previously reported in the literature. The methods were successful applied for the detection of CYFRA 21-1 in real serum samples of healthy and prostate cancer patients and showed good correlation with results obtained with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The CoZnFeONPs associated with the disposable microfluidic immunoarray device provides a simple and effective method for biomarker detection that could satisfy the need for a low-cost and rapid test for early diagnosis of cancer.

Annotation of a hybrid partial genome of the coffee rust (Hemileia vastatrix) contributes to the gene repertoire catalog of the Pucciniales.

Coffee leaf rust caused by the fungus Hemileia vastatrix is the most damaging disease to coffee worldwide. The pathogen has recently appeared in multiple outbreaks in coffee producing countries resulting in significant yield losses and increases in costs related to its control. New races/isolates are constantly emerging as evidenced by the presence of the fungus in plants that were previously resistant. Genomic studies are opening new avenues for the study of the evolution of pathogens, the detailed description of plant-pathogen interactions and the development of molecular techniques for the identification of individual isolates. For this purpose we sequenced 8 different H. vastatrix isolates using NGS technologies and gathered partial genome assemblies due to the large repetitive content in the coffee rust hybrid genome; 74.4% of the assembled contigs harbor repetitive sequences. A hybrid assembly of 333 Mb was built based on the 8 isolates; this assembly was used for subsequent analyses. Analysis of the conserved gene space showed that the hybrid H. vastatrix genome, though highly fragmented, had a satisfactory level of completion with 91.94% of core protein-coding orthologous genes present. RNA-Seq from urediniospores was used to guide the de novo annotation of the H. vastatrix gene complement. In total, 14,445 genes organized in 3921 families were uncovered; a considerable proportion of the predicted proteins (73.8%) were homologous to other Pucciniales species genomes. Several gene families related to the fungal lifestyle were identified, particularly 483 predicted secreted proteins that represent candidate effector genes and will provide interesting hints to decipher virulence in the coffee rust fungus. The genome sequence of Hva will serve as a template to understand the molecular mechanisms used by this fungus to attack the coffee plant, to study the diversity of this species and for the development of molecular markers to distinguish races/isolates.