Analysis of palatal rugae morphology before and after orthodontic treatment by a digital image recognition system / Análisis de la morfología de las rugas palatinas antes y después de tratamiento ortodóncico por un sistema de reconocimiento por imágenes digitales

To analyze the accuracy rate of a digital image recognition system in matching the palatal rugae Morphology after orthodontic treatment, before orthodontic treatment and to provide theoretical evidence for individual identification in the field of forensic dentistry. High-resolution digital images of the palatal rugae were taken under particular conditions from each patient before and after orthodontic treatment. Features of each digital image were extracted using a digital image recognition system and included in the palatal rugae database. Using an MATLAB software system, information matching of the palatal rugae was performed. From the matching results, the accuracy rate of individual identification of orthodontic patients was 100 %, with a Euclidean distance of 0. The accuracy rate in matching palatal rugae patterns before and after orthodontic treatment was 95.67 %. The results were statistically significant with P < 0.05. Palatal rugae pattern is highly individual-specific. After orthodontic treatment, palatal rugae are morphologically diverse, but these changes do not greatly influence the individual identification in the field of forensic dentistry, which provides a new method of and pathway to forensic identification.

El objetivo de este trabajo consistitó en analizar la tasa de exactitud de un sistema de reconocimiento de imágenes digitales en la adaptación de la morfología de la rugosidad palatina después del tratamiento ortodóncico, antes del tratamiento ortodóncico y proporcionar evidencia teórica para la identificación individual en el campo de la odontología forense. Las imágenes digitales de alta resolución de las rugas palatinas fueron tomadas bajo condiciones particulares de cada paciente antes y después del tratamiento ortodóncico. Las características de cada imagen digital se extrajeron utilizando un sistema de reconocimiento de imagen digital y se incluyeron en la base de datos de rugas palatinas. Utilizando el software MATLAB, se realizó la comparación de información de las rugas palatinas. A partir de los resultados coincidentes, la tasa de exactitud de la identificación individual de los pacientes ortodóncicos fue del 100 %, con una distancia euclídea de 0. La tasa de precisión en los patrones de rugas palatinas coincidentes antes y después del tratamiento ortodóncico fue del 95,67 %. Los resultados fueron estadísticamente significativos con P < 0,05. El patrón palatino de las rugas es altamente individual-específico. Después del tratamiento ortodóncico, las rugas palatinas son morfológicamente diversas, pero estos cambios no influyen mucho en la identificación individual en el campo de la odontología forense, lo que proporciona un nuevo método y vía para la identificación forense.

Application of palatal rugae morphology in forensic identification / Aplicación de la morfología de las rugas palatinas en la identificación forense

To investigate the feasibility of application of digital images of the palatal rugae in forensic identification. One hundred patients, consisting of 50 males and 50 females, who received treatment between January 2015 and June 2015 at Shanxi Medical University Stomatological Hospital, China, were included in this study. High-resolution digital image of the palatal rugae was taken from each patient using a digital SLR camera and then processed using a digital image recognition system, including noise reduction, contrast enhancement, image segmentation, feature extraction, edge detection and information matching. Using an MATLAB software system, match results and the time taken by each operator for information matching were recorded. The digital image recognition system assisted in information matching of the palatal rugae. Three oral physicians had a 100% correction rate in information matching. Two other operators failed in formation matching in one or two cases. The time taken by oral physicians for information matching was shorter than that taken by the other two operators. Unique palatal rugae morphology has gradually become a novel marker for forensic identification. Digital images of the palatal rugae morphology contribute to rapider and more accurate forensic identification.

El objetivo fue investigar la viabilidad de la aplicación de imágenes digitales de rugas palatinas para la identificación forense. Se incluyeron 100 pacientes, 50 hombres y 50 mujeres, que recibieron tratamiento entre enero de 2015 y junio de 2015 en el Hospital Odontológico de la Universidad Médica de Shanxi, China. Se tomaron imágenes digitales de alta resolución de las rugas palatinas de cada paciente utilizando una cámara réflex digital y luego se procesaron mediante un sistema de reconocimiento de imagen digital, incluyendo reducción de sonido, mejora del contraste, segmentación de imágenes, extracción de características, detección de márgenes y coincidencia de la información. Mediante el programa MATLAB se registraron los resultados y el tiempo de cada operador para obtener información coincidente, además se utilizó el sistema de reconocimiento de imágenes digitales para hacer coincidirlas con la información de las rugas palatinas. Tres odontólogos informaron una tasa de corrección del 100 % al realizar cruces de información. Otros dos operadores fracasaron en uno o dos casos. El tiempo asignado por los odontólogos para la coincidencia de la información fue menor al de los otros operadores. La morfología especializada de las rugas palatinas se ha convertido gradualmente en un nuevo marcador para la identificación forense. Las imágenes digitales de la morfología de las rugas palatinas contribuyen a una rápida y precisa identificación forense.

Palatal rugae for the construction of forensic identification / Rugas palatinas en identificación forense

This study aims to explore the role of palatal rugae pattern in forensic identification by coding of palatal rugae characteristics, and to construct a forensic identification system for oral palatal rugae. One hundred models were included in this study for a systemic coding of palatal rugae pattern based on the shape, quantity, location, and distribution of palatal rugae. Among the involved 100 models, palatal rugae types varied among individuals and palatal rugae pattern was different between men and women, even between two sides in the same individual. Palatal rugae pattern can be used for forensic identification of oral soft tissue and this study proposes a new means for the identification by coding of palatal rugae pattern based on the shape, quantity, location and distribution.

Este estudio tuvo como objetivo explorar el patrón de rugas palatinas en la identificación forense mediante la codificación de las características de éstas. Además se elaboró un sistema de identificación forense. Fueron incluidos cien modelos para una codificación sistemática del patrón de rugas palatinas basado en su forma, cantidad, ubicación y distribución. En todos los modelos se identificó una variación entre los individuos y en el patrón entre hombres y mujeres. El patrón de rugas palatinas puede ser utilizado para la identificación forense de tejido blando oral y este estudio propone un método nuevo para codificarlas.

Pulmonary cryptococcosis in non-AIDS patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical features, management, and prognosis of pulmonary cryptococcosis in non-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. METHOD: 24 cases of pulmonary cryptococcosis with accurate pathological diagnosis were retrospectively studied. RESULTS: 15 male patients and nine female patients were diagnosed at the first affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from November 1999 to November 2011. The mean age at the time of diagnosis was 44.2±11.3 years (range: 24 to 65 years). Among these patients, 13 had other comorbidities. 15 were symptomatic and the other nine were asymptomatic. The most common presenting symptoms were cough, chest tightness, expectoration, and fever. None had concurrent cryptococcal meningitis. The most frequent radiologic abnormalities on chest computed tomography (CT) scans were solitary or multiple pulmonary nodules, and masses or consolidations, and most lesions were located in the lower lobes. All patients had biopsies for the accurate diagnosis. Among the 24 patients, nine patients underwent surgical resections (eight had pneumonectomy via thoracotomy and one had a pneumonectomy via thoracoscopy). Five of the patients who underwent surgery also received antifungal drug therapy (fluconazole) for one to three months after the surgery. The other 15 only received antifungal drug therapy (fluconazole or voriconazole) for three to six months (five patients are still on therapy). The follow-up observation of 19 patients who had already finished their treatments lasted from two to 11 years, and there was no relapse, dissemination, or death in any of these patients. CONCLUSION: Non-AIDS patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis have a good prognosis with appropriate management.

Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction Analysis of Sewage Samples to Determine Oral Polio Vaccine Circulation Duration and Mutation After Mexican National Immunization Weeks.

BACKGROUND: Oral polio vaccine (OPV) can mutate and cause outbreaks of paralytic poliomyelitis with prolonged replication. After poliovirus eradication, global use of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) may be needed until all OPV stops circulating. Mexico, where children receive routine IPV but where OPV is given only during biannual national immunization weeks (NIWs), provides a natural setting to study duration of OPV circulation in a community primarily vaccinated with IPV. METHODS: One-liter sewage samples from four separate arroyos (creeks) near Orizaba, Mexico, were collected monthly for 12 months. Concentrated sewage underwent RNA extraction, reverse transcription, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect OPV serotypes 1, 2, and 3 and their variants containing the serotype-specific point mutation in the 5' untranslated region associated with neurovirulence. RESULTS: OPV was detected 3, 4, 5, and 7 months after the May 2010 NIW, but was not detected at 6 or 8 months. A second and third NIW occurred in February 2011 and May 2011, and OPV was detected in the sewage monthly after both of these NIW through July 2011 when collection stopped. The OPV detected was primarily serotype 2 and predominantly contained the point mutations in the 5' untranslated region associated with increased neurovirulence. CONCLUSIONS: OPV was detected in sewage as late as 7 months after an NIW in a Mexican community primarily vaccinated with IPV, but was not detected at 8 months, suggesting that OPV circulation may have ceased. These data suggest that in communities with high vaccination rates, 1 or 2 years of IPV administration after OPV cessation could be sufficient to prevent outbreaks of paralytic poliomyelitis from vaccine-derived strains.

Use of a novel real-time PCR assay to detect oral polio vaccine shedding and reversion in stool and sewage samples after a mexican national immunization day.

During replication, oral polio vaccine (OPV) can revert to neurovirulence and cause paralytic poliomyelitis. In individual vaccinees, it can acquire specific revertant point mutations, leading to vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP). With longer replication, OPV can mutate into vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV), which causes poliomyelitis outbreaks similar to those caused by wild poliovirus. After wild poliovirus eradication, safely phasing out vaccination will likely require global use of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) until cessation of OPV circulation. Mexico, where children receive routine IPV but where OPV is given biannually during national immunization days (NIDs), provides a natural setting to study the duration of OPV circulation in a population primarily vaccinated with IPV. We developed a real-time PCR assay to detect and distinguish revertant and nonrevertant OPV serotype 1 (OPV-1), OPV-2, and OPV-3 from RNA extracted directly from stool and sewage. Stool samples from 124 children and 8 1-liter sewage samples from Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico, collected 6 to 13 weeks after a NID were analyzed. Revertant OPV-1 was found in stool at 7 and 9 weeks, and nonrevertant OPV-2 and OPV-3 were found in stool from two children 10 weeks after the NID. Revertant OPV-1 and nonrevertant OPV-2 and -3 were detected in sewage at 6 and 13 weeks after the NID. Our real-time PCR assay was able to detect small amounts of OPV in both stool and sewage and to distinguish nonrevertant and revertant serotypes and demonstrated that OPV continues to circulate at least 13 weeks after a NID in a Mexican population routinely immunized with IPV.

Overexpression of the pineapple fruit bromelain gene (BAA) in transgenic Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) results in enhanced resistance to bacterial soft rot

Bromelain is a crude protein extract obtained from pineapple stems, which comprises a variety of proteolytic enzymes. It exhibits potential therapeutic activities against trauma, inflammation, autoimmune diseases and malignant disorders. In this study, we cloned BAA1 (the gene encoding fruit bromelain) into a plant expression vector that was then used to transform Brassica rapa and overexpress BAA1 under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter. We demonstrate that constitutive overexpression of BAA1 in B. rapa confers enhanced resistance to the soft rot pathogen Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. carotovorum. These results suggest that it could be utilized for protecting plants from attack by bacterial pathogens.

Simulation of smoke plumes from agricultural burns: application to the San Luis/Rio Colorado airshed along the U.S./Mexico border.

Vegetation fires emit a number of air pollutants, thus impacting air quality at local, regional and global scales. One such pollutant is the particulate matter (PM) that is known to trigger adverse health effects. In this study, the CALPUFF/CALMET/MM5 modeling system is employed to simulate PM(10) dispersion (PM with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 microm) from agricultural fires in the Yuma/San Luis area along the U.S./Mexico border, with the aim of investigating local and regional air quality impacts of fires. To the extent possible the data collected from and observations made in the study area were employed to infer inputs to the modeling system, but insufficient information available on burning practices and input parameters, such as the duration of fire, PM(10) emission rate and plume rise, necessitated relying on some previously published research as well as the Fire Emission Production Simulator (FEPS) model to provide necessary inputs. Under the simulated conditions the fire plumes did not disperse much, and thus mostly affected the area near the sources. The PM impact of fires on populated (receptor) areas in Yuma/San Luis was less than 15 microg/m(3), calculated on the basis of EPA-recommended 24-hr averaged PM(10). If the formation of secondary particles is considered, the impacts could have been greater. In order to conduct more realistic fire plume simulations, it is imperative to have accurate fire-activity records such as the firing technique applied, fuel condition, time of burning as well as some model updates. In all, this paper presents a methodology for calculating agricultural-burns introduced PM, while identifying critical improvements that need to be made in future work.