Schmalz (Germany)

This study aimed to explore the latent factors associated to functional dentition (FD), quantify their clustering across probability levels, and derive precision prevention strategies. A cross-sectional study of 423 adults aged 65-74 were conducted using data from a 2021 national surveillance project in China. After preliminary selection of potential variables through multivariable logistic regression, latent class analysis (LCA) was performed in R. Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), and entropy determined the optimal number of latent classes. Bootstrap resampling and a confusion matrix assessed model performance. Participants were classified into a low-probability group (Class 1, N = 136, 32.2%) and a high-probability group (Class 2, N = 287, 67.8%), representing the best fit (AIC = 2700.36, BIC = 2744.88, Entropy = 0.733). Compared to Class 2, Class 1 exhibited lower toothbrushing frequency and oral health knowledge level, but higher proportions of root caries, AL > 5mm, and unrestored tooth loss. The model showed good stability (average agreement rate = 0.867) and strong predictive performance (Kappa = 0.806, Accuracy = 0.915, Sensitivity = 0.862, Specificity = 0.940, Precision = 0.875, F1-score = 0.869). LCA identified distinct subgroups at varying FD probability and quantified clustered associated factors, supporting the accurate identification of high-risk populations and the development of targeted prevention strategies.

<bold>Background:</bold> Oral steroids are still regularly used for treatment of patients with severe asthma. Still there is scarce data on the differences between severe asthma patients on OCS long term therapy compared to patients without regular OCS treatment. <bold>Methods:</bold> Data from 3134 patients with severe asthma from the German Asthma Net's registry were evaluated and 977 patients with long term OCS therapy (OCS group) and 2157 patients without OCS (nonOCS) were compared. <bold>Results:</bold> There were no significant differences in BMI, asthma duration, or smoking habits between the two groups. Patients in the OCS group received a median dose of 10 mg prednisolone and were more symptomatic and experienced significantly more exacerbations compared to nonOCS patients. Asthma control was poorer in the OCS group compared to nonOCS. In addition, OCS group patients had lower median FEV₁, Tiffeneau index, and higher residual volume compared to nonOCS. Prevalence of chronic sinusitis was higher in OCS group (52% vs. 41%, p<0.0001). In addition, OCS group patients exhibited higher FeNO levels (55 ppb vs. 46 ppb, p=0.0009), whereas eosinophil counts were not different and IgE levels tended to be lower. nonOCS patients were more likely to have allergic asthma compared to OCS group patients. OCS group patients received higher doses of ICS (BDP 1400 µg vs. 1000 µg, p<0.0001). Treatment with biologic was equally common in both groups. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> There are differences between OCS group and nonOCS. OCS group patients exhibit more severe disease characteristics and poorer asthma control. These findings highlight the need for optimized treatment strategies in this group.

With increasing demands on the productivity and efficiency of manufacturing plants and rising energy costs, manufacturers of components and systems in industrial automation must also ensure that their products are used to their full potential in the intended application. This applies to automated handling with vacuum handling systems too. The energy consumption of such systems is highly dependent on the required holding force. In industrial automation, the required holding force is calculated from a few discrete positions of the surface gripper and the gripping object from the handling process. These positions are called load cases. However, the continuous transition between the kinematic positions of the individual load cases is not observed. The new approach presented in this paper allows an accurate calculation of the holding force required in the transition position when moving along a trajectory. Based on this new approach, the energy consumption of the vacuum handling system can be reduced. A validation with several experiments show good results.

ABSTRACTNew firms are an important source of job creation, but the underlying economic mechanisms for why this is so are not well understood. Using an identification strategy that links shocks to local income to job creation in the nontradable sector, we ask whether job creation arises more through new firm creation or through the expansion of existing firms. We find that new firms account for the bulk of net employment creation in response to local investment opportunities. We also find significant gross job creation and destruction by existing firms, suggesting that positive local shocks accelerate churn.

Of the 2790 local health departments (LHDs) in the United States, Internet homepages were located for 1986. We reviewed each homepage to document the presence of 9 elements deemed to be critical for effective communications during emergency or disaster situations. LHD Web site homepages had a mean of 4.1 (±1.4) elements. Among the findings, this review revealed that 4 of 5 (80.5%) of the LHDs included the agency phone number, half (49.4%) provided links to emergency information, and about 1 in 5 (19.6%) listed an agency e-mail address. Fewer than 1 in 20 (4.3%) of the LHD homepages reviewed allowed visitors to sign up for automatic alerts or notifications. We suggest that these results be used as a starting point in developing a standardized template containing the 9 homepage elements. Such a template complements National Incident Management System protocols and can provide a recognizable source of consistent and reliable information for people during a public health emergency or disaster.