The Non-Coding RNA Journal Club: Highlights on Recent Papers-12.

We are delighted to share with you our twelfth Journal Club and highlight some of the most interesting papers published recently [...].

Prediction of motor recovery after ischemic stroke: Clinical and diffusion tensor imaging study.

BACKGROUND: The severity of stroke-induced disruption to the corticospinal tract (CST) would be predictable to affect motor outcome. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a noninvasive technique that can be applied to assess the structural integrity of the CST. AIM OF THE WORK: To assess the value of DTI in patients early presenting with acute ischemic stroke as a prognostic modality to predict the clinical outcome PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-four patients with acute ischemic stroke underwent clinical assessment using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Modified Rankin Scale (mRS), Medical Research Council (MRC) score, Morticity Index (MI), and DTI to detect the degree of reduction of fractional anisotropy (FA), and pattern of CST at baseline and after 6 months follow up. Seventeen age, sex matched controls underwent DTI assessment. RESULTS: The stroke patients showed a significant reduction in the baseline FA values of the CSTs on the affected sides compared to the contralateral sides and controls. Moreover, they showed lower mean baseline FA lesion side and FA ratio(rFA) compared to follow up. The patients with high baseline FA, rFA showed good recovery response with cut off values of 0.483, 0.948 respectively. There was a significant negative correlation between baseline FA on the lesion side, rFA and follow up NIHSS, and MRS scores and they had a significant positive correlation with follow up MI scores. CONCLUSION: Patients with higher baseline FA, rFA values were correlated with better motor recovery, and could predict the motor recovery in ischemic stroke patients.

Ultra-short versus standard-length dental implants in conjunction with osteotome-mediated sinus floor elevation: A randomized controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: The ability to restore missing teeth with dental implants is dictated by the available bone and by the presence of anatomical structures. The potential to insert ultrashort implants avoids additional surgical procedures and its inherent complications. The last European Association of Dental Implantologists consensus in 2016 defined ultrashort implants and standard-length dental implants as <6 and >8 mm, respectively. PURPOSE: The present study aimed to investigate whether single standing ultrashort dental implants (US) could provide a viable therapeutic alternative to osteotome mediated sinus floor elevation in combination with standard-length dental implants (SL) 10 mm in posterior maxillary rehabilitation with reduced bone height. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted as a prospective parallel group controlled clinical trial with a 12 month follow-up, where 48 implants were randomized into two groups; US-group (5.5 mm) and SL-group (10 mm) implants placed with osteotome-mediated sinus floor elevation. Crestal bone loss (CBL) was defined as the study's primary outcome, while implant survival, buccal bone thickness, implant stability, probing depth, gingival recession, and adverse effects were assessed as secondary outcomes. RESULTS: Mesial CBL was 1.13 ± 0.52 mm in SL- and 0.72 ± 0.52 mm in US-group (P = .021), while distal CBL was 1.44 ± 0.72 mm in SL- and 0.91 ± 0.69 mm in US-group at 12 months (P = .0179). Regarding implant stability, probing depth, and gingival recession there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Regarding implants' survival, three implants were lost in the US-while only one implant was lost in the SL-group (P = .6085; Fisher's exact test). Nevertheless, the ultrashort implants were associated with a tripling of the failure rate and uncertainty where the true failure rate is uncertain (relative risk 3.0; confidence interval 0.3-26.8). CONCLUSIONS: Within the current trial's limitations, US-appear appear promising as they are associated less postoperative discomfort, minimal invasiveness and less CBL. However, larger sample size is required to determine whether the ultrashort have an acceptable survival rate.

ANN Surface Roughness Optimization of AZ61 Magnesium Alloy Finish Turning: Minimum Machining Times at Prime Machining Costs.

Magnesium alloys are widely used in aerospace vehicles and modern cars, due to their rapid machinability at high cutting speeds. A novel Edgeworth⁻Pareto optimization of an artificial neural network (ANN) is presented in this paper for surface roughness (Ra) prediction of one component in computer numerical control (CNC) turning over minimal machining time (Tm) and at prime machining costs (C). An ANN is built in the Matlab programming environment, based on a 4-12-3 multi-layer perceptron (MLP), to predict Ra, Tm, and C, in relation to cutting speed, vc, depth of cut, ap, and feed per revolution, fr. For the first time, a profile of an AZ61 alloy workpiece after finish turning is constructed using an ANN for the range of experimental values vc, ap, and fr. The global minimum length of a three-dimensional estimation vector was defined with the following coordinates: Ra = 0.087 µm, Tm = 0.358 min/cm³, C = $8.2973. Likewise, the corresponding finish-turning parameters were also estimated: cutting speed vc = 250 m/min, cutting depth ap = 1.0 mm, and feed per revolution fr = 0.08 mm/rev. The ANN model achieved a reliable prediction accuracy of ±1.35% for surface roughness.

Phytochemical investigation and hepatoprotective activity of Cupressus sempervirens L. leaves growing in Egypt.

Three phenolic compounds cosmosiin, caffeic acid, and p-coumaric acid were isolated for the first time from the leaves of Cupressus sempervirens L., together with cupressuflavone, amentoflavone, rutin, quercitrin, quercetin, myricitrin. The isolated compounds were identified using (1)H- and (13)C-NMR spectra. The hepatoprotective activity of the MeOH extract was carried out in liver homogenate of normal and CCl(4)-treated rats; a significant decrease in glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, glutamate pyruvate transaminase, cholesterol level, and triglycerides, while a significant increase in the total protein level, was observed after the oral administration of MeOH extract. The free radical scavenging activity against stable 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH*) was measured for MeOH extract and some of the isolated phenolic compounds in comparison with alpha-tocopherol and butylated hydroxy toluene as standard antioxidants using ESR technique, showed high antioxidant activity for quercetin, rutin, caffeic acid, and p-coumaric acid.