Monolithic zirconia and digital impression: case report

The aim of this study is to present a clinical case of a full arch prosthetic rehabilitation on natural teeth, combining both digital work-flow and monolithic zirconi

Gender assessment through three-dimensional analysis of maxillary sinuses by means of Cone Beam Computed Tomography

OBJECTIVE: The availability of a low dose radiation technology such as Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) in dental practice has increased the number of scans available for forensic purposes. Moreover, specific software allows for three-dimensional (3D) characterization of the maxillary sinuses. This study was performed to determine whether sinus maxillary volumes can be useful to identify gender after validating the use of the Dolphin software as a tool for volumetric estimation of maxillary sinus volumes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The validation was performed by four different operators measuring the volume of six phantoms, where the real volume was already known. The maxillary sinus volumes of 52 patients (26 males and 26 females) mean age 24.3 were calculated and compared between genders and sagittal skeletal class subdivision. The measurements for patients and phantoms were based on CBCT scans (ILUMA™) processed by Dolphin 3D software. RESULTS: No statistical difference was observed between the real volume and the volume measurements performed by the operators. No statistical difference was found in patient's maxillary sinus volumes between gender. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, it is not possible to support the use of maxillary sinuses to discern sexual difference in corpse identification

Light-meson leptonic decay rates in lattice QCD+QED

The leading electromagnetic (e.m.) and strong isospin-breaking corrections to the $\pi^+ \to \mu^+ \nu[\gamma]$ and $K^+ \to \mu^+ \nu[\gamma]$ leptonic decay rates are evaluated for the first time on the lattice. The results are obtained using gauge ensembles produced by the European Twisted Mass Collaboration with $N_f = 2 + 1 + 1$ dynamical quarks. The relative leading-order e.m.~and strong isospin-breaking corrections to the decay rates are 1.53(19)\% for $\pi_{\mu 2}$ decays and 0.24(10)\% for $K_{\mu 2}$ decays. Using the experimental values of the $\pi_{\mu 2}$ and $K_{\mu 2}$ decay rates and updated lattice QCD results for the pion and kaon decay constants in isosymmetric QCD, we find that the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $| V_{us}| = 0.22538(46)$, reducing by a factor of about $1.8$ the corresponding uncertainty in the Particle Data Group review. Our calculation of $|V_{us}|$ allows also an accurate determination of the first-row CKM unitarity relation $| V_{ud}|^2 + | V_{us}|^2 + | V_{ub}|^2 = 0.99988(46)$. Theoretical developments in this paper include a detailed discussion of how QCD can be defined in the full QCD+QED theory and an improved renormalisation procedure in which the bare lattice operators are renormalised non-perturbatively into the (modified) Regularization Independent Momentum subtraction scheme and subsequently matched perturbatively at $O(\alpha_{em}\alpha_s(M_W))$ into the W-regularisation scheme appropriate for these calculations.Comment: 63 pages, 10 figures and 2 tables. Version matches the published pape

Implant survival and success rates in patients with risk factors: results from a long-term retrospective study with a 10 to 18 years follow-up

OBJECTIVE: Risk factors for implant therapy are represented by all general and local conditions that through various mechanisms can increase either short-term and long-term failure risk. The aim of this study is to assess the implant survival and implant success rates with single and multiple risk factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: To address the research purpose, a retrospective cohort study was designed and implemented, including a sample of 225 patients with a total of 871 implants placed. The following risk factors were considered: smoking, bruxism, bone augmentation procedures and the presence of load risk (implants with crown/implant relation > 0.8; angulation > 25°; presence of cantilever). Follow-up ranged from 10 years to 18 years (average follow-up 13.6 years). Failures were subdivided into short-term failures, before the prosthetic phase, and long-term failures, after definitive prosthesis. The success criteria published by Albrektsson and Zarb were adopted. A Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to calculate hazard ratio, with a statistically significant p-value <0.05. RESULTS: Out of the 871 implants placed, 138 did not meet the success criteria, (success rate 84.16%), sixty (43.47%) were classified as "early failure" and seventy-eight as "late failure" (56.53%). A total of 70 dental implants were removed, with a survival rate of 91.96%. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of a single risk factor does not imply a marked increase of failure risk. Among the analyzed factors, the one that proved to be the most dangerous was bruxism, even when presented as the only risk factor. Bruxism with load risk proved to be the most dangerous association (success rate 69.23%) and could be included among the absolute contraindications for implant treatment

A randomized clinical trial about presence of pathogenic microflora and risk of peri-implantitis: comparison of two different types of implant-abutment connections

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this in vivo study was to evaluate two different types of implant-abutment connections: screwed connection and cemented connection, analyzing peri-implant bacteria microflora as well as other clinical parameters. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty implants were selected, inserted in 20 patients, 10 with a screwed implant-abutment connection (Group 1) and 10 with a cemented implant-abutment connection (Group 2). The peri-implant microflora was collected, after at least 360 days from the prosthetic rehabilitation, using paper points inserted in peri-implant sulcus for 30 s. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) Real-time analyzed the presence of 9 bacteria periodontal-pathogens and Candida albicans. RESULTS: Our findings showed that bacteria colonized all Groups analyzed, the average bacterial count was 3.7 E +08 (±1.19) in Group 1, compared to 2.1 E +08 (±0.16) in Group 2; no statistically significant differences were observed (p>0.0.5). In Group 1, however, bacterial colonization of peri-implant sulci was over the pathogenic threshold for 5 bacteria, indicating a high-risk of peri-implantitis. Also in Group 2, results showed a microflora composed by all bacteria analyzed but, in this case, bacterial colonization of peri-implant sulci was over the pathogenic threshold for only 1 bacterium, indicating a lower risk of peri-implantitis. Moreover, clinical parameters (PPD > 3 mm and m SBI > 0) confirmed a greater risk of peri-implantitis in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that, also after only 360 days, implants with screwed connection showed a higher risk of peri-implantitis that implants with cemented connection

Fixture-abutment connection surface and micro-gap measurements by 3D micro-tomographic technique analysis

X-ray micro-tomography (micro-CT) is a miniaturized form of conventional computed axial tomography (CAT) able to investigate small radio-opaque objects at a-few-microns high resolution, in a non-destructive, non-invasive, and tri-dimensional way. Compared to traditional optical and electron microscopy techniques, which provide two-dimensional images, this innovative investigation technology enables a sample tri-dimensional analysis without cutting, coating or exposing the object to any particular chemical treatment. X-ray micro-tomography matches ideal 3D microscopy features: the possibility of investigating an object in natural conditions and without any preparation or alteration; non-invasive, non-destructive, and sufficiently magnified 3D reconstruction; reliable measurement of numeric data of the internal structure (morphology, structure and ultra-structure). Hence, this technique has multi-fold applications in a wide range of fields, not only in medical and odontostomatologic areas, but also in biomedical engineering, materials science, biology, electronics, geology, archaeology, oil industry, and semi-conductors industry. This study shows possible applications of micro-CT in dental implantology to analyze 3D micro-features of dental implant to abutment interface. Indeed, implant-abutment misfit is known to increase mechanical stress on connection structures and surrounding bone tissue. This condition may cause not only screw preload loss or screw fracture, but also biological issues in peri-implant tissues

Defective Behaviour of an 8T SRAM Cell with Open Defects

The defective behaviour of an 8T SRAM cell with open defects is analyzed. Full and resistive open defects have been considered in the electrical characterization of the defective cell. Due to the similarity between the classical 6T SRAM cell and the 8T cell, only defects affecting the read port transistors have been considered. In the work, it is shown how an open in a defective cell may influence the correct operation of a victim cell sharing the same read circuitry. Also, it is shown that the sequence of bits written on the defective cell prior to a read action can mask the presence of the defect. Different orders of critical resistance have been found depending on the location of the open defect. A 45nm technology has been used for the illustrative example presented in the wor

Inflammation, neurodegeneration and protein aggregation in the retina as ocular biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease in the 3xTg-AD mouse model

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. In the pathogenesis of AD a pivotal role is played by two neurotoxic proteins that aggregate and accumulate in the central nervous system: amyloid beta and hyper-phosphorylated tau. Accumulation of extracellular amyloid beta plaques and intracellular hyper-phosphorylated tau tangles, and consequent neuronal loss begins 10-15 years before any cognitive impairment. In addition to cognitive and behavioral deficits, sensorial abnormalities have been described in AD patients and in some AD transgenic mouse models. Retina can be considered a simple model of the brain, as some pathological changes and therapeutic strategies from the brain may be observed or applicable to the retina. Here we propose new retinal biomarkers that could anticipate the AD diagnosis and help the beginning and the follow-up of possible future treatments. We analyzed retinal tissue of triple-transgenic AD mouse model (3xTg-AD) for the presence of pathological hallmarks during disease progression. We found the presence of amyloid beta plaques, tau tangles, neurodegeneration, and astrogliosis in the retinal ganglion cell layer of 3xTg-AD mice, already at pre-symptomatic stage. Moreover, retinal microglia in pre-symptomatic mice showed a ramified, anti-inflammatory phenotype which, during disease progression, switches to a pro-inflammatory, less ramified one, becoming neurotoxic. We hypothesize retina as a window through which monitor AD-related neurodegeneration process

Social closeness,salivary hormones and physical exercise

Introduction: Saliva collection and analysis is quickly becoming a useful and non-invasive tool for the evaluation of sport biomarkers. The aim of this study is to create a multidisciplinary assessment model, which can help to provide psychological and physiological responses, related to sport performances, social closeness and performance anxiety management in team sports. Materials and methods: We enrolled in our research 26 female volleyball players aged 13 ± 1 years old of three different teams (T1: 12 players; T2: 9 players; T3: 5 players). Saliva collection was carried out before and after the match for every team. Then we analyzed cortisol and progesterone concentrations through Elisa standard kits. Results: The results of the T-test performed on the total results showed a statistically significant relationship (p < 0.05) in cortisol levels pre and post match: in fact, it has been shown a statistical significant decrease (p < 0.001). The analysis performed using just samples post match shows a negative correlation between social closeness, cortisol and progesterone levels, with p < 0.010 for progesterone vs social closeness and p < 0.012 for cortisol vs social closeness, which indicates that increasing of one of the two hormones reduces relationship. About the winner teams and the looser teams, there is a negative correlation between pre match cortisol levels and performance anxiety (p < 0.042)