Neighborhood greenspace exposure as a protective factor in dementia risk among U.S. adults 75 years or older: a cohort study

Background Research suggests that greenspace may confer neurocognitive benefits. This study examines whether residential greenspace is associated with risk of dementia among older adults. Methods Greenspace exposure was computed for 3047 participants aged 75 years and older enrolled in the Gingko Evaluation of Memory Study (GEMS) across four U.S. sites that prospectively evaluated dementia and its subtypes, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), and mixed pathologies, using neuropsychiatric evaluations between 2000 and 2008. After geocoding participant residences at baseline, three greenspace metrics—Normalized Difference Vegetative Index, percent park overlap within a 2-km radius, and linear distance to nearest park—were combined to create a composite residential greenspace measure categorized into tertiles. Cox proportional hazards models estimated the associations between baseline greenspace and risk of incident all-cause dementia, AD, and Mixed/VaD. Results Compared to low residential greenspace, high residential greenspace was associated with a reduced risk of dementia (HR = 0.76 95% CI: 0.59,0.98) in models adjusted for multiple covariates. After additional adjustment for behavioral characteristics, Apolipoprotein E ɛ4 status, and other covariates, the association was slightly attenuated (HR = 0.82; 95% CI:0.63,1.06). Those exposed to medium levels of greenspace also had 28% lower risk (HR = 0.72; CI: 0.55, 0.95) of dementia compared to those with low greenspace in adjusted models. Subtype associations between high residential greenspace and AD were not statistically significant. Greenspace was not found to be significantly associated with mixed/vascular pathologies. Conclusions This study showed evidence for an association between residential greenspace and all-cause dementia among older adults. Future research with larger sample size, precise characterization of different dementia subtypes, and assessment of residential greenspace earlier in life may help clarify the role between exposure to greenspace and dementia risk.

Accuracy of printed models obtained from intraoral scanning

Objectives: To compare the accuracy of two methods for the manufacturing of physical models: I) intraoral scanning and resin-printed models; and II) addition silicone impression and gypsum model. Materials and methods: A dental manikin was used as the master model and compared with five gypsum models (g1) and five resin printed models (g2) by analyzing linear measurements at four sites (M1, M2, M3, and M4) using an image measuring instrument. The mean values of the experimental models were compared to those of the master model using one-sample t-test. The samples of each group at the same site were compared with an independent t-test. For all tests, a significance level of 5% (0.05) was considered. Results: The confidence intervals from M1, M2, and M4 sites for both gypsum and resin models presented statistically lower linear distance when compared to the reference values. At m3, the mean value for the gypsum models was not statistically different from the reference mean value (p > 0.05); however, resin-printed models presented a statistically different mean value (p < 0.05), as well as lower values of linear distance. Conclusions: When compared to gypsum models, resin- printed models differed greatly from the master model, indicating the need for standardizing the printing protocol, for its variables may influence printed models accuracy.

Distance between the center of the FAZ measured automatically and the highest foveal bulge using OCT-angiography in elderly healthy eyes

The center of the fovea, termed the foveola, is the area of highest visual acuity, has the highest density of cone photoreceptors. We investigated the distance between the automatically-determined center of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and the manually-determined highest foveal bulge (FB) point using single swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) instrument. This cross-sectional study included 49 eyes of 49 individuals (34 women and 15 men; median age: 68 years) with no history of ocular disorders. The FAZ in the superficial capillary plexus was automatically determined using the Kanno–Saitama macro method, and the center of the FAZ was automatically determined using ellipse approximation. Another candidate foveal center, the highest FB point, was determined manually on the serial cross-sectional B-scan images. As a result, the foveal center was manually identified as the highest FB point on B-scan OCTA images. The center of the FAZ was more likely to be located inferior to the highest FB point (p = 0.031). In participants with a total (linear) distance of more than 50 μm between the center of the FAZ and the highest FB point, the displacement was significantly more in the horizontal direction than in the vertical direction (p = 0.017). These results can be applicable to further studies regarding the spatial relationships between the center of the FAZ and the highest FB point in various macular diseases or previously-treated eyes.

P081 Assessment of Change in Palatoglossus Length with Mandibular Advancement and Relationship to Response to Mandibular Advancement Splint Therapy in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea

Background The palatoglossus is a muscle of the soft palate extending from the palatine aponeurosis inferolaterally along the pharyngeal wall inserting at the posterolateral surface of the tongue. Palatoglossal stimulation dilates the retropalatal space in subjects with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Whether there is alteration in palatoglossus length during mandibular advancement and how this relates to Mandibular Advancement Splint (MAS) outcomes is unknown. Methods Participants with OSA referred for MAS underwent upper airway MRI with and without mandibular advancement. The linear distance between the origin of the palatoglossus muscle at the palatine aponeurosis and its insertion at the tongue was measured to approximate palatoglossus length. The difference in measured lengths with and without mandibular advancement was calculated. Change in palatoglossus with advancement was compared to treatment outcomes. Progress to date 71 participants with mean±SD AHI 26.0±16.1 events/hr were included in our study. Mean±SD palatoglossus length was 49.58±5.74mm. With mandibular advancement, mean±SD palatoglossus length was 51.21±5.46mm this was a significant change in length of mean±SD 1.63±4.3mm. This was a mean±SD 4.79±9.08% alteration in length with mandibular advancement. Treatment response was not significantly related to change in palatoglossus length (p&gt; 0.05). Intended outcome and Impact Our intention was to demonstrate significant length alteration in palatoglossus with mandibular advancement and correlate this to treatment outcome. This may highlight palatoglossus as a target for MAS or other OSA therapies for future clinicians.

Processing of discourse anaphors by L2 speakers of English

This study examines the cognitive information processes that Turkish advanced non-native speakers of English employ in assigning the referents of this and that in reading and production. We predicted that these speakers would assign referents in relation to the linear distance between discourse-linked anaphors and their referents in the discourse (i.e., based on spatial-temporal features of this and that), which means they would prefer this for a referent mentioned in the proximal chunk of text and that for a referent mentioned in the distal chunk. We also predicted that readers would not assign referents based on the focusing features of this and that. We tested our predictions in two eye- tracking reading experiments and one sentence-completion experiment. Turkish L2 learners’ on- line reference resolution in reading experiments was different from that of English native speakers that were tested in a previous study. In the eye-tracking experiments, Turkish L2 learners did not show evidence of using a recency strategy to resolve referential ambiguity and did not use spatial- temporal or focusing features of this and that to assign referents. On the other hand, in the sentence- completion experiment, the effect of prominence of discourse structure in the use of this and that was qualitatively similar to that of English native speakers, but their indexing of the degree of focus of this and that was different. Our results suggest that the difference between Turkish L2 learners and English native speakers is due to L1 interference.

A Guide to Bilateral Cleft Lip Markings: An Anthropometric Study of the Normal Cupid's Bow

Objective The aim of this study was to define the ratio of the heights of the vermilion between the peaks and trough of the Cupid’s bow and hence assist in defining the point of closure on the lateral lip element to achieve a balanced Cupid's bow in bilateral lip repair based on our findings. Design This study is a retrospective observational study of the anthropometrics of the upper lip's Cupid’s bow. Three-dimensional (3D) images of toddlers between 2009 and 2016 were extracted from a normative 3D image database of toddlers at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. Patients Participants from the normative 3D image database at the age of 1 year were studied. This excluded any patients with prior trauma or surgical intervention of the nasolabial region. Intervention Landmarks measured were right and left crista philtri (cphR and cphL), labial superius (ls), stomion (sto), right and left chelion, and labial fissure (lf). Outcome Vermilion height of the right peak, trough, and left peak of the Cupid’s bow was calculated by analyzing the vertical linear distance between cphR–lf, ls–sto, and cphL–lf. The ratio between the median and paramedian heights were recorded. Results The paramedian height of the upper lip vermilion is consistently greater than the midline height. There was no significant sexual dysmorphism between ratio of paramedian to midline height on the right ( P = .538) and left ( P = .410). Conclusion We describe an anthropometric observation of the vermilion relationship at the Cupid’s bow and define a specific lateral lip marking for bilateral cleft lip repair based on our anthropometric findings.

Automated Brain Tumor Prediction System using Natural Language Processing (NLP)

In this paper, we proposed an Automated Brain Tumor Prediction System which predicts Brain Tumor through symptoms in several diseases using Natural Language Processing (NLP). Term Frequency Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) is used for calculating term weighting of terms on different disease’s symptoms. Cosine Similarity Measure and Euclidean Distance are used for calculating angular and linear distance respectively between diseases and symptoms for getting ranking of the Brain Tumor in the ranked diseases. A novel mathematical strategy is used here for predicting chance of Brain Tumor through symptoms in several diseases. According to the proposed novel mathematical strategy, the chance of the Brain Tumor is proportional to the obtained similarity value of the Brain Tumor when symptoms are queried and inversely proportional to the rank of the Brain Tumor in several diseases and the maximum similarity value of the Brain Tumor, where all symptoms of Brain Tumor are present.

Spatial and temporal variation in the genetic structure of Dascyllus trimaculatus (Pomacentridae) in the Bohol Sea

The potential of microsatellite markers to detect the spatial and temporal genetic structure of reef fish populations within a linear distance of 300 km in the absence of geographic barriers was tested in the Bohol Sea, central Philippines, using the three-spot damselfish Dascyllus trimaculatus. A total of 672 samples from 7 populations in the Bohol Sea were processed to determine temporal and spatial patterns of genetic variability using ten previously developed and tested microsatellite markers. The extent of differentiation was determined based on a variance-based measure of population structure FST and RST, and genetic distances Ds , DA, and dm2, each of which makes different assumptions on the process of migration, mutation, selection, and genetic drift. Patterns of temporal and spatial variation were consistent among 36 possible pairs of populations. Reef groups are defined as (1) the Mantigue-Dinagat on the northeast edge of the Bohol Sea; (2) the Selinog and Dapitan islands, to the southwest and central Bohol sea populations (3) Apo and (4) Sumilon to the west, and (5) Balicasag group to the northwest. The presence of structure in the absence of geographic barriers suggests the influence of strong surface circulation patterns that differ from the east to the west side of the region. The consistency of a population’s genetic signatures over multiple temporal sampling dates implies strong habitat selection for genotypes. Genetic breaks were detected at a distance 4x greater than the marine protected area’s average size, suggesting a minimum linear distance for networking of MPAs should be expanded to this scale. KEYWORDS: Conservation, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, marine protected area, microsatellite markers, population genetics, reef fish

Adjustment of an Integrated Geodetic Network Composed of GNSS Vectors and Classical Terrestrial Linear Pseudo-Observations

The paper proposes a new method for adjusting classical terrestrial observations (total station) together with satellite (GNSS-Global Navigation Satellite Systems) vectors. All the observations are adjusted in a single common three-dimensional system of reference. The proposed method does not require the observations to be projected onto an ellipsoid or converted between reference systems. The adjustment process follows the transformation of a classical geodetic network (distances and horizontal and vertical angles) into a spatial linear (distance) network. This step facilitates easy integration with GNSS vectors when results are numerically processed. The paper offers detailed formulas for calculating pseudo-observations (spatial distances) from input terrestrial observations (horizontal and vertical angles, horizontal distances, height of instrument and height of target). The next stage was to set observation equations and transform them into a linear form (functional adjustment model of geodetic observations). A method was provided as well for determining the mean errors of the pseudo-observations, necessary to assess the accuracy of the values following the adjustment (point coordinates). The proposed algorithm was verified in practice whereby an integrated network made up of a GNSS vector network and a classical linear-angular network was adjusted.