Effect of Ozonated Water on the Color Stability of Denture Teeth and Heat Polymerized Acrylic Base Resin

Objective: To determine the effect of ozonated water on the color stability of denture tooth and denture bases. Material and Methods: Thirty denture base discs consisting of 15 Acropars and 15 ProBase Hot specimens with the dimensions of 40 × 5 mm were prepared. Fifteen denture teeth in shade A1 (Ivoclar Vivadent, Schaan, Liechtenstein) were mounted in a specific acrylic jig. All specimens were immersed in three solutions (1% sodium hypochlorite, ozonated water, and distilled water) for four months (one year of clinical use). Color measurements were done with a spectrophotometer and assessed using the CIE L*a*b* colorimetric system (0, 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks). Data were analyzed using the three-way ANOVA and Tukey test ( α =0.05). Results: Tukey's post hoc test revealed a significant change in color in the Acropars denture base for the distilled water group compared to the ozonated water and 1% hypochlorite (p<0.05). Regarding the ProBase Hot denture base, significantly less color change was observed in the 1% hypochlorite group compared to the ozonated water and distilled water (p≤0.001). For the denture teeth, significantly less color change was seen in the distilled water group than in the ozonated water (p=0.015) and 1% hypochlorite (p<0.05) groups. Conclusion: The color change of denture bases and denture tooth in ozonated water are acceptable. Ozonated water can be considered a good disinfectant for cleaning dentures

Paranasal sinuses malignancies : a 12-year review of clinical characteristics

Inadequate epidemiologic investigations of the paranasal sinuses malignancies prompted this retrospective study with special emphasis on a major group of 111 tumors. Clinical records of 111 patients with histologically confirmed malignant tumors of the paranasal sinuses were investigated retrospectively from April 2000 to January 2012. Collection of data included demographic information, clinical manifestations, treatment plans, and histopathology of the tumor. There were 69 (62.16%) male and 42 (37.83%) female patients (male-to-female ratio of 1.6:1), with a median age of 49±12.2 years (range 21 to 88 years). A high level of occurrence was noticed in the fifth (26.3%) decade of life. The most frequent histological types were squamous cell carcinoma (43.5%) and adenoid cystic carcinoma (19%). Among clinical manifestations, nasal obstruction was the most frequent followed by diplopia, and facial swelling. Fifty three patients (47.74%) were treated with combined approach of surgery and radiation therapy. Paranasal sinuses malignancies are rare conditions with nonspecific symptoms which make early diagnosis of the lesions more challenging. The optimal therapeutic protocol for patients suffering from these tumors is still a somewhat controversial entity and requires further studies

Impact Damage Detection in Fiberglass Composites Using Low Acoustic Impedance-Based PZT Transducers

The objective of this work is to evaluate the feasibility of detecting damages caused by impacts in fiberglass-epoxy composites using lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) transducers. Impacts were created by a hammer (unquantified energy) and an automatic impact system (quantified energy) in multiple composite sheets. The mechanism of the damage detection relies on the impedance measurement by a low acoustic impedance (LAI) transducer, which resonates in the radial mode rather than the regular thickness mode. The effect of surface roughness was investigated by using specimens with different quantified surface roughness values. It was shown that the final results are heavily affected by the rough surface and hard boundary conditions. Mainly, we aimed to evaluate the efficiency of low acoustic impedance technique in the damage detection of composites. The tests were carried out in the energy ranges of 10 to 54 joules. The surface of each specimen was gridded with a step size of 5 mm, and the impedance was measured for each location. The final results were normalized using a no-load condition as the reference point. It was shown that the proposed portable and easy-to-use LAI setup could detect the damages qualitatively. The normalized measured impedance was variable, but it showed a significant increase, in some cases as high as 100%, on the impact’s region

Associated Congenital Heart Anomalies in Children with Cleft Lip and Palate: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Cleft lip and palate has a frequency of 1 per 700 live births, making it among the most prevalent orofacial congenital anomalies of the craniofacial region. Congenital heart disease is the most commonly associated disease with oral cleft. Hence, we have reviewed the association between heart disease and cleft lip and/or palate in the pediatric population.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the patients with oral clefts referring to the hospitals affiliated with the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences during 2015 to 2016 were evaluated. Demographic, clinical, and echocardiographic data were collected and analyzed statistically.Results: One hundred twenty two patients with cleft lip and/or palate underwent echocardiography (49.2% males, 50.8% females). Based on Z-score outcomes, most of the patients with scores above zero had isolated cleft palate (63.6%). Patients with Z-scores of 0 to -1.3 and lower than -1.3 mostly had both cleft lip and palate (61.3%) or isolated cleft palate (55.5%), and these differences were significant (p=0.010). Furthermore, the frequency of the patients with Z-scores lower than zero was significantly higher in cleft lip and palate cases with congenital heart disease compared to non-congenital heart disease cases (43 vs. 19; p=0.002). The patients with pathologic symptoms in the physical examination were mainly diagnosed as abnormal based on their echocardiography (71.2%), and those without these symptoms were mainly diagnosed as normal based on their echocardiography (59.2%) with significant differences (p=0.001).Conclusions: No significant difference was observed regarding the distribution of different types of congenital heart disease between the different types of cleft lip and/or palate

Oral and dental health in hospitalized psychiatric patients: a cross-sectional and comparative study in Kerman, Iran

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to assess oral and dental health of hospitalized psychiatric patients.Methods: This cross-sectional study which included 193 psychiatric patients was conducted in two psychiatric hospitals (Shahid Beheshti and Bahman) in Kerman, Iran. According to the duration of the hospital stay, patients were categorized into two groups of acute and chronic. The oral and dental health of the patients was assessed using Decay, Missing, Filling Teeth (DMF-T) index and Oral Assessment Guide for Psychiatric Care (OAG-PC). High score for these two scales indicated a worse oral and dental health.Results: Mean (±SD) DMFT and OAG-PC scores of the patients were 19.74 (±7.88) and 20.77, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that patients in chronic group had higher OAG-PC (P = 0.014), but the difference of DMF-T scores was not statistically significant between the two groups (P = 0.57). After controlling confounding variables, the differences of the DMF-T and OAG-PC scores were not statistically significant between the two groups (P values of 0.88 and 0.64, respectively).Conclusion: Oral and dental health in the studied psychiatric patients was poor. It is vital to improve the oral and dental health status of psychiatric patients

Development of computational image processing algorithms for detecting morphological features of melanoma

This thesis research is focused on advancing image processing techniques and algorithms used for detecting skin melanoma. We have modified previous image processing approaches and developed computational algorithms for quantifying morphological features of a mole image. Applying the algorithms to 20 mole images downloaded from educational websites, we have identified three cut-off ratios to distinguish melanoma images from benign mole images. More specifically, the higher the boundary irregularity ratio, and/or the asymmetry ratio, and/or the color variation ratio, the high chance the mole is melanoma leading. The irregularity ratio cutoff is identified as 1.96, suggesting 96% more circumference length than that of a circle with the same area. One finds that the cut-off ratio for assessing asymmetry of the mole image is 0.109, representing the degree of asymmetry as approximately 11% to place a mole image into the melanoma group. Evaluation of the color variation of the moles leads to a cut-off ratio of the color variation as 0.334. Statistical analyses have been performed to determine the confidence of cut-off ratios, varying from 63% to 81%, for placing a mole image into its correct groups. The algorithms have also been implemented to assess "changes" of mole images over time observed by a dermatologist. Using a ±14% as the definition of changes, the algorithm identifies 9 of the 10 mole images as changed over time. Among the irregularity, asymmetry, color variation, and size ratios, 5 out of the 9 moles have shown changes in one ratio, 2 out the 9 moles have experience changes in two ratios, 1 mole has shown changes in three ratios, and only 1 mole shows changes in all four ratios. The computational results are consistent with the general observations that human eyes are sensitive to size changes and color variation changes, and may not be very good to distinguish changes in border irregularity and asymmetry. The developed algorithms can be helpful to assist a physician in evaluating subtle changes of mole images that may not be very sensitive to the eyes

Effect of Plant Growth Regulators on Callogenesis and Regeneration Of Fritillaria imperialis L

Introduction: Crown imperial (Fritillariaimperialis L.) is an ornamental and medicinal plant native to mountainous regions of Iran. This plant genetic resources is in danger of extinction, because of grazing livestock and pest outbreaks. However, due to slow reproduction in natural conditions and traditional multiplication methods such as scaling and Bulb division, many species of this genus are endangered. Using of biotechnology, namely in vitro plant propagation, is a solution to the problems of reproduction of rare and endangered plant species with difficult propagation and mass production of valuable genotypes. Therefore, micropropagation of F. imperialis through in vitro regeneration is essential for conservation and commercial production. Material and Methods: The bulbs of F. imperialis in dormancy stage obtained from Ilam mountainous regions in Iran and theywere placed in wet vermiculite at 4 °C for 4-6 weeks. Then, Bulbs were surface-sterilized with 70% ethanol for 60s followed by immersion in 5% (v/v) NaOCl solution for 20min with gentle agitation, and they rinsed three times in sterile double distilled water. Explants prepared from the lower third of scales with basal plate and were placed in MS basal medium supplemented with different concentrations of NAA and 2,4-D for callus induction. Test tubes with bulb segments were maintained within 25±2°C in growth chamber at 16 hours light period by the illumination from white florescent tube light and 8 hours dark. After two months callus were transferred to MS basal medium without PGRs. Then, callus excised to 0.5 cm pieces and were transferred to MS basal medium supplemented with NAA in 0, 0.3 and 1 mg/l concentration.Three types of cytokinins with different concentrations were arranged in three seperated experiments. Thefirst experiment medium contained NAA with BA (0, 0.3, 0.5 and 1 mg/l), the second experiment NAA combined with 0, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 mg/l TDZ and the third experiment MS basal medium included NAA with Kin (0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 mg/l). After three months, percentage of callogenesis, diameter of calli, percentage of regeneration, number of leaves and roots and length of leaves and roots were measured. This experiment were carried out in completely randomized design with 4 replications. Results and Discussion: In the first experiment application of NAA and BA on in-vitro multiplication of F. imperialis were evaluated. Highest callogenesis and formation (100 %) was observed in mediums contained 0.3 mg/l NAA + 1 mg/l BA, 0.6 mg/l NAA + (0.3, 0.5 and 1 mg/l) BA. Also, callogenesis was obtained in medium contained 0.5 mg/l BA without NAA. This result showed that only in medium supplemented with 1 mg/l BA provided highest (100%) callogenesis, when NAA concentrations were low. However, high levels of NAA (0.6 mg/l) in all concentrations of BA were obtained maximum callogenesis. We concluded that NAA is essential for callogenesis and enhancing its levels can increase callogenesis. Also, application of low levels of BA (0.4 µM) in callogenesis mediums of Cynodon dactylon contained Auxins resulted in increment of embryogenetic calli formation. In the other hand, presence of BA is essential for plantlet regeneration, however NAA is not necessary. Plantlet regeneration was obtained in PGRs free medium. Statistical analysis of results showed that different concentrations of BA and NAA had significant effects on percentage of callogenesis, diameter of calli, percentage of regeneration, length of leaves and roots (

Effects of stocking density and environmental conditions on performance, immunity, carcase characteristics, blood constitutes, and economical parameters of cobb 500 strain broiler chickens

The effects of stocking density and environmental conditions on performance, economic profit, carcase characteristics, immunity, and blood plasma parameters of Cobb 500 strain of broiler chickens were evaluated. The 4 climate regions (mild and humid, semi-arid, alpine, hot and dry) and 4 densities (10, 15, 17 and 20 chicks/m2) were carried out as a completely randomised design with 4 × 4 factorial arrangement of treatments. The corn and soybean based diets were formulated according to the nutrition requirements guide of the Cobb 500 for starter and grower periods. The amount and the composition of the diet were the same for all experimental groups. Growth performance and feed intake were measured weekly. After the injection of sheep red blood cell at 15 and 35 days, blood samples were taken at 24 and 42 days, respectively, to study the immunity of broiler chickens. At the end of the experiment, 3 birds were slaughtered from each experimental unit for measuring the weights of carcase, abdominal fat, gastrointestinal organs (the total weight of gastrointestinal tract and caeca, and liver) and blood parameters. The interaction effects of stocking density and climate region on feed conversion ratio (in starter period), survival rate, cost, profit, cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoproteins (HDL), HDL/low density lipoproteins (LDL) ratio, and liver enzymes aspartate aminotranferases (AST), also known as serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), and alanine aminotranferase (ALT) were significant (p < .05). Climate and density each had a significant effect on production index (p < .05). The highest production index was obtained in alpine climate. Moreover, the density of 10 chicks/m2 showed the highest production index. The results showed that rearing Cobb strain chickens in hot and dry climate and at the density of 17 chicks/m2 had the most economic benefit. Based on the results of this study to achieve the highest profit in different climates, a density of 17 chicks/m2 (0.633 ft2 per bird) is recommended for Cobb 500 strain chickens.Highlights Nutritional efficiency changes by environmental factors such as climate and stocking density. Obtain sufficient information to combined effect of stocking density and climate on the performance of Cobb 500 broiler chickens. The most reached profit was in the dry climate at a density of 17 chicks/m2 compared to other climates and densities

Effects of stocking density and climate region on performance, immunity, carcass characteristics, blood constitutes, and economical parameters of broiler chickens

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of stocking density and climate region on performance, immunity, carcass characteristics, blood plasma, and economic parameters of the Ross strain of broiler chickens. The effects of four climates (mild and humid, semi-arid, alpine, and hot and dry) and four densities (10, 15, 17, and 20 chicks/m2 ) were studied as a completely randomized design with 4×4 factorial arrangement of treatments. The results showed that the density had a significant effect on feed intake and feed conversion ratio in the starter period and on body weight gain in the grower and the whole periods of the experiment. Moreover, both climate and density had a significant impact on economic performance (live weight, survival rate, production index, meat production/m2 , and profitability). The mild and humid climate and the density of 17 chicks/m2 had the most economic benefit compared with other treatments. The climate type had a significant effect on the relative weights of the breast, wings, neck, proventriculus, and ileum. The effects of climate and density on glucose, triglyceride, very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL), high-density lipoproteins (HDL), LDL/low-density lipoproteins (HDL), total protein and globulin were significant. In addition, the effect of climate on the antibody titer against sheep red blood cells (except for immunoglobulin G on day 28) was significan