Lingual abscess: a rarity

Abscess of the tongue seems to be a rare clinical entity and is a potentially life threatening infection. This acute enlargement of the tongue can present as an emergency, due to an air-way compromise and disseminated infection to other regions. Thus, a tongue abscess should be considered in all cases of acute tongue swellings, especially when host defenses are severely impaired. In acute cases the diagnosis of tongue abscess can be reached clinically. In later cases, culture and smear analysis are useful diagnostic tools, whereas antibiotics provide considerable amelioration of symptoms. Although none of our cases were life threatening, but we could able to diagnose these cases, based on their classic clinical symptoms and all three cases were confirmed by using standard diagnostic tool. They were put on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs for the relief of symptoms followed by the local drainage. The following article explains pathophysiology, differential diagnosis and management of these tongue abscess cases in detail

The prevalence of tongue lesions in Libyan adult patients

This is the first ever-detailed study of tongue diseases in Libyan population, where the tongue conditions found in 320 patients (9.2%) of 3,460 consecutive patients screened in the department of Oral Medicine and Oral Diagnosis at faculty of dentistry, Benghazi Libya. Both sexes were affected almost equally and only 25 patients were aware of their tongue disease. Forty patients had one or more systemic illness, 34 of them was on regular medications. Fissured tongue was the most prevalent condition, as it has been found in 155(48.4%) patients, depapillated tongue in 82(25.6%) patients and geographic tongue in 55(17.2%) patients, other disease conditions were found in a lesser number of patients. Fifty-four patients had painful tongue conditions; other complaints included malodor, speech interferences or swallowing difficulties. Most conditions were confined to the tongue and in more than 90%, there had been involvement of the dorsum of the tongue. Fortunately, most tongue conditions can easily be diagnosed on clinical grounds by any experienced clinician, hence, the histopathological examination and other investigations are needed in only few cases. There is a wide variation in the prevalence of most of tongue diseases worldwide due to the lack of uniformity in criteria of the studies. Thus, more studies are needed in this regard

Study of Sensorless Controller for Direct Drive Wind Electric Conversion Systems

The direct drive machine used in wind turbine systems (WECS) is efficient due to absence of losses rotor losses and lower no load current. The goal of this study is to propose and develop a neuron-based controller to optimize wind turbine output power by considering two objectives; maximize power extraction by wind turbine and predict and analyze pitch angle to gain maximum power. The proposed controller is designed to take the following inputs: wind velocity, pitch angle and wind turbine electrical output. The controller then finds the optimal pitch to predict the maximum power that can be extracted. The controller has a neural network model that is a feed forward, three-layered perceptron. This model explains the integration of controller providing wind speed estimation and robust control of maximum power extraction with no rapid drift on the power coefficient curve.Electrical Engineerin

In vitro study on anthelmintic activity of Aristolochia indica and A. tagala roots

The present study has been undertaken to screen the anthelmintic potential of aqueous root extracts of Aristolochia indica Linn. and A. tagala Cham. against adult Indian earthworm Pheritima posthuma and round worms Ascaridia galli. Different concentrations of the extracts ranging from 2-8 mg/mL were screened. Piperazine citrate was used as reference standard. Extract of A. tagala was found to be more potent and effective at the dose level of 2 mg/mL compared to the extract of A. indica. Extracts showed dose dependant activity. The study reports that the plants A. indica and A. tagala roots possess potent anthelmintic properties.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Evolution, Epidemiology and Etiology of Temporomandibular Joint Disorders

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is unique to mammals, but among different mammalian groups, its morphology and function vary enormously. It is likely that various species show less loading of jaw joints during chewing than humans do. It took approximately 130 million years for the evolutionary process to stabilize this composite, basic vertebrate head skeleton to the jaws. Very little documentations are noted on anthropology of TMJ. When it is concerned with epidemiology, temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) have a number of consistent findings and various causative factors that can contribute to TMDs. The aim of the following article is to provide detailed information regarding its evolution, epidemiology and various causative factors leading to TMDs. Key Message: The masticatory system is extremely complex

Status of occurrence of recurrent apthous stomatitis in a group of Libyan patients

Aim/Objective: This prospective study had a questionnaire prepared to get the information regarding recurrent apthous stomatitis (RAS) in a group of Libyan patients. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire containing a total of 14 questions giving personal and apthous ulcer details were recorded. All the details of each patient were entered into Microsoft Excel sheet and the details were recoded and interpreted. Results: Among 7500 patients who visit the outpatient department every year 460 (6%) of them who were volunteers and gave a history of RAS were selected in the study group. The age of these patients ranged between 10 and 45 years. Among different types of ulcers, 48 (10%) of them showed major apthous ulcer formation, 404 (88%) of them had minor apthous ulcer formation, whereas 8 (2%) of them had herpetiform ulcers. Among 460 patients with h/o RAS 46 (10%) of them were sufferings from different systemic health problems. Total 120 (26%) of them had triggers before the occurrence of RAS and 325 (70%) patients were without any triggers 15 (4%) of them were not aware of any triggers. When the question was asked about occurrence of RAS whether it is related to stress, 384 (83%) of them correlated it with stress and 76 (17%) of them did not. Different sites with their recurrence and duration of the ulcer were recorded. About 45 (9%) were on different treatment modalities. Among 460 of them, 156 (34%) of them had RAS at the day of examination and 304 of them were free from ulcers 304 (66%). Conclusion: Early detection and management of these patients by finding underlying etiology is essential for better management of these cases

Prevalence of eruption status of third molars in Libyan students

Background: The aim of the present study is to determine the number of third molars per person, angulation, level, amount of space for eruption of third molar between ramus of mandible and second molar and the eruption status of third molar in a group of Libyan students, with different impaction patterns and agenesis of third molars. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive retrospective study, a total of 200 students (100 male and 100 female students of bachelor of dental surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Garyounis University, Benghazi, Libya) were enrolled. Students who had complete complement of teeth within the age group 17-26 years were selected for this study, while those cases who had history of extraction of any of the teeth or who refused to give consent were excluded. Before starting the study, ethical concern from the ethical committee, IRB and informed consent from each student who underwent radiography were obtained. Results: The results showed that 5% of third molars were congenitally missing. Approximately 93.5% of the subjects had all four third molars, 1% had two third molars and 0.5% had one third molars with 2.5% having agenesis of all third molars. Third molar agenesis showed predilection for maxilla with higher proportion in females (3%) than males (2.1%). Angular position was maximum with vertical position (5.83%), with least being horizontal impactions. Level of occlusal plane of third molar similar to that of adjacent tooth was seen in 44.74%, below the occlusal plane in 24.76%, totally impacted noted in 30%. Conclusion: The present study showed that 33% of the teeth were fully erupted and 66% were in various stages of eruption and 5% were congenitally missing in these students

An insight into the swine-influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in humans

WHO declares on June 11, 2009, that H1N1 (Swine-influenza A) is pandemic. There have been nearly 30,000 confirmed H1N1 cases across 74 countries. The reports have shown sharp increase in the number of infections reported in recent days from Chile, Japan, and the UK, and other parts of the world, with the most dramatic increase recorded in Australia where more than 1200 cases were reported in a very short duration. As per the latest report of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, death from swine flu has reached to 1235. Around 12,3397 people have been tested in India as on February 1, 2010. In India, 23.3% of people who have tested for swine flu are found suffering from swine flu. Also around 4% of people who have tested positive for swine flu have died and could not be saved in India. The New York Times has reported that this is the first flu for being pandemic in the last 41 years. This article enlightens the brief review about the swine influenza virus, its modes of spread, and prevention measures. The aim of this article is to bring awareness in general and know the consequences of the infection

Eruption status of third molars in South Indian city

Aim : The aim of the present study is to determine the number of third molars per person, angulation, level, amount of space for eruption of third molar between ramus of mandible and second molar status of root and also to study the difficulty index. Objective: To study the eruption status of third molar in South Indian population. Materials and methods: The study conducted at Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology. Maratha Mandals NG Halgekar College of Dental Sciences and Research Centre. Belgaum, Karnataka, India A total of 150 patients (54 females and 96 males) visiting outpatient department between the age group of 17 and 30 with a mean age of 23.5 years were selected- Before starting the study, ethical concern taken from the ethical committee and informed consent from each patent who underwent radiographic examination. Results: The results showed approximately 94.66% of the subjects had all four third molars, 8.6% had three third molars, 4.6% had two third molars and 2% had one third molars with 3.3% having agenesis of all third molars. Third molar agenesis showed predilection for upper jaw with higher proportion in females (5 5%) than males (2%). Angular position seen maximum with vertical position (66.16%) with least being horizontal impactions. Level of occlusal plane of third molar similar to that of adjacent tooth seen in 52.65%. Below the occlusal plane in 19.61 %, totally impacted teeth noted in 27.73%. More than 75% of the teeth had complete root formation. Among total number of teeth, 518 (91.51 %) teeth were easy to extract and remaining 33 (5.8%) were difficult to extract. Conclusion: Radiological and clinical findings have correlated to assess whether teeth were easy to extract or difficult. Because of the increasing incidence of unerupted third molars and the association of numerous complications with these retained teeth, assessment of germ position and prognosis of third molar eruption is necessary for better patient management