Dentoalveolar heights in skeletal class I normodivergent facial patterns

OBJECTIVE: To determine the dentoalveolar heights (mm) in skeletal class I normodivergent facial pattern and compare the same heights in male and female subjects. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Orthodontics Clinic, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from July to October 2009. METHODOLOGY: Eighty one subjects were selected from the orthodontic record at the Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi. The inclusion criteria were an age range of 12 to 30 years and skeletal class I normodivergent facial pattern with exclusion criteria of prior orthodontic treatment, restored teeth and craniofacial anomalies/syndromes. The pre-treatment cephalographs of the patients were traced manually on acetate paper by the principal investigator. The various land marks were marked and the parameters were recorded. Mean and standard deviations were determined. Independent sample t-test was used to find gender dimorphism. RESULTS: The mean age of the sample was 15.8 3.4 years. Mean ANB angle for the entire sample was 2.6degrees 1.2degrees and for angle SN-MP was 31.5degrees 2.5degrees. Descriptive analysis presented mean value of upper anterior, upper posterior, lower anterior and lower posterior dentoalveolar heights to be 28.5 2.7 mm, 22.9 2.6 mm, 41.3 2.9 mm and 31.5 3.2 mm respectively. Male subjects had significantly greater mean values for lower anterior and posterior dentoalveolar heights (p=0.02 and 0.05 respectively). CONCLUSION: The mean dentoalveolar heights for the skeletal class I normodivergent sample were established. No gender dimorphism was found for upper dentoalveolar heights however, lower anterior and lower posterior were significantly greater in males as compared to females. All the values of dentoalveolar heights for male subjects were greater than female subjects

Plaque index in multi-bracket fixed appliances

Objective: To compare the plaque index in patients receiving multi-bracket fixed orthodontic treatment for various factors like age, gender, socio-economic status, brushing practices, meal habits, types of brackets, types of ligations, use of mouthwash and duration of treatment. Study Design: Cross-sectional analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Orthodontics Clinic, The Aga Khan University Hospital, from September to November 2011. Methodology: Socio-demographic and clinical modalities were defined and recorded for 131 patients having multi-bracket fixed appliances. The plaque index of subjects were recorded according to the Silness and Loe plaque index method. Independent sample t-test was used to see difference in plaque index in factors having two variables. One way ANOVA and Post-Hoc Tukey tests were used to see difference in plaque index in factors having three variables. Kappa statistics was used to assess inter examiner reliability. P-value of ≤ 0.05 was taken to be significant. Results: The sample comprised of 37% males (n = 48) and 63% females (n = 83). The plaque index had statistically significant association with practice of brushing i.e., timing of brushing (p=0.001), method of brushing (p=0.08), type of ligatures (p=0.05) and frequency of visits (p=0.01). Conclusion: The plaque accumulation is significantly decreased in subjects who brush the teeth twice or more than twice a day and those who brush their teeth after breakfast. The use of interdental brush and stainless steel ligatures had significantly low plaque. Subjects presenting with more frequent appointments of short-period had significantly less plaque

Resilience and agility in sustainable supply chains: A relational and dynamic capabilities view

The outbreak of COVID-19 has exposed vulnerabilities of supply chains (SCs) and has further accentuated the importance of creating resilient, agile and sustainable SCs. The present study assesses the role of SC technology capabilities in supporting organisations to enhance their SC resilience, thereby improving them on the sustainability front. Drawing from the relational and dynamic capabilities view, the study develops a conceptual model to test the hypothesised relationships. We test the hypotheses employing a survey-based approach that utilises a cross-sectional design. The study uses factor analysis and structural equation modelling techniques to test the fit of the measures to the structural models. We collected the data from the manufacturing / logistics firms in the UK and the US. The findings indicate that SC technology capabilities, agility and visibility positively enhance SC resilience, which in turn affects SC sustainability positively. We understand how SC resilience can determine the effectiveness of the efforts towards enhancing technology capability. Firms must collaborate and build technology capabilities to achieve resilient and sustainable SCs. This research would assist the practitioners and researchers in understanding the role of technology capability and SC resilience and guide them with respect to the configuration of sustainable SCs

Yield and water productivity of rice as influenced by responsive drip irrigation, alternate wetting and drying versus conventional flooding under silty loam soil texture

Rice is a semi-aquatic crop, thus demands waterlogged condition in root zone, hence farmers generally puddle the land before transplanting to control deep drainage losses, which is destructive to the soil physical, chemical and biological health. Addressing these issues, this research study evaluated the yield and water productivity (WP) benefits of rice (PK 1121) for the un-puddled alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and responsive drip irrigation (RDI) against the conventional flooding (CF) with puddling, as control during 2021, using randomized complete block design with three replicates. The results indicated significantly less (p ≤ 0.05) irrigation application (76% < CF) but with larger (18%) yield trade-off for the RDI treatment. Although, the AWD treatment showed comparatively less water saving (32% < CF) but resulted relatively higher yield (4% > CF). Nevertheless, the WP of RDI was significantly higher (249% > CF) but reduction in irrigation application was the main contributor. In contrast, both higher yield and reduced irrigation contributed to the higher WP (52% > CF) of AWD treatment. The study shows the prospects of increased WP by AWD at convenience and less cost, than the RDI system for PK 1121 rice variety. However, increasing the water release capacity of RDI or using drought tolerant variety may increase the WP of rice under RDI system at no yield trade-off, which may be instrumental for growing rice without puddling in the water scarce areas of the country

Determination of Most Frequent Emergencies in Patients with Fixed and Removable Orthodontic Appliances at Tertiary Care Dental Hospital

OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency of emergencies in patients with fixed and removable orthodontic appliances at tertiary care dental hospital. METHODOLOGY: A questionnaire was designed for this descriptive cross-sectional study to be filled by the clinician (L3/L4 FCPS resident) at the end of addressing every orthodontic emergency. Sampling was done under consecutive non-probability protocols. Descriptive statistics were applied to determine the frequency of different orthodontic emergencies, and Pearson’s chi-square test was applied to determine association of emergencies with gender and etiology of emergency (patient related vs operator related). Data was analyzed on SPSS version 20. RESULTS: A total of 175 patients reported with orthodontic emergencies. The sample comprised 38.3% males and 61.7% females. Most frequent orthodontic emergency reported was deboned brackets in fixed appliances, while the most common emergency in removable appliances was traumatic PNAM. A statistically significant association (Pearson’s Chi Square=4.74, Cramer’s V=0.165, p=0.029) was seen for removable and fixed appliance emergencies with males and females. CONCLUSION: Most frequent fixed appliance orthodontic emergencies were deboned brackets while for removable appliance emergencies were trauma due to PNAM. Emergencies with removable appliances were mostly due to the operator related factors, while in fixed appliances patient related factors were dominating

Correlation of Dental and Skeletal Maturity Using Dimirgian and Cervical Vertebral Maturation Indices in Orthodontic Patients

OBJECTIVES To determine the correlation between skeletal and dental maturity using the cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) index (CVMI) and Demirjian index (DI) in orthodontic patients. METHODOLOGY Panoramic and lateral cephalogram radiographs of 105 patients pretreatment records were retrieved. Tooth calcification stages for mandibular left molar were recorded using Demirjian Index on the panoramic radiograph. The skeletal maturation stages were evaluated on a lateral cephalogram through CVMI staging. Fisher’s exact test and Cramer’s V values were estimated to determine the correlation between DI and CVMI. Weighted kappa statistics were used to determine the reproducibility of inter-observer assessment of DI and CVMI. A p-value of ≤ 0.05 was taken to be statistically significant. RESULTS A statistically significant correlation is present among the various stages of DI and CVMI for the males (Fisher exact = 25.006, Cramer’s V = 0.848, p = < 0.001) and females (Fisher exact = 41.006, Cramer’s V = 0.623, p = <0.001). A comparison of DI with respect to CVMI shows a more advanced skeletal stage in males than for female subjects. CONCLUSION The correlation between CVMI and DI stages was found to be highly significant. Stage D and F of DI were significantly correlated with stage 3 and stage 4 of CVMI in females and males respectively

Threshold primary tumour sizes for nodal and distant metastases in papillary and follicular thyroid cancers.

Abstract BACKGROUND: In papillary and follicular thyroid cancers (PTC, FTC), nodal and distant metastasis are generally considered important determinants of recurrence and survival, respectively. However, there is no consensus about the threshold primarytumour size (PTS) for these determinants. The aim of this study was to assess size relationships for developing nodal, pulmonary, bone and overall distant metastases. METHODS: This prospective study covered 139 (93 females and 46 males) consecutive biopsy proven patients with PTC (114/139, mean age 41.0 ± 15.7 years, M: F, 35%:65%) and FTC (25/139, mean age 39.2 ± 14.3 years, M: F: 24%:76%). RESULTS: Average primary tumor size was 23.4 ± 11.1 mm and 26.5 ± 13.1 mm for PTC and FTC respectively (p value=0.223). Nodal metastasis was found more common in PTC than FTC (49% vs 28%, p value \u3c0.05), whereas overall distant metastasis was approximately the same (13% and 24%, p value =0.277); however, bone metastasis was significantly higher in FTC than PTC (24% vs 5%, p value \u3c0.05). Cumulative risk for nodal and distant metastases for FTC and PTC starts at PTS \u3c20 mm and may indicate an unusual aggressive tumor behavior in the studied population. Highest cumulative risk for nodal and pulmonary metastases in PTC and for bone metastasis in FTC was found to be ≥ 50 mm PTS. CONCLUSION: We conclude that a PTS of \u3c20 mm may indicate an unusual aggressive tumor behavior with highest cumulative risk for nodal and pulmonary metastases in PTC and for bone metastasis in FTC with a cutoff of ≥ 50 mm

Design of microstrip patch antenna to deploy unmanned aerial vehicle as UE in 5G wireless network

The use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been increasing rapidly in the civilian and military applications, because of UAV's high-performance communication with ground clients, especially for its intrinsic properties such as adaptive altitude, mobility, and flexibility. UAV deployment can be monitored and controlled through 5G wireless network as user equipment (UE) along with other devices. A highly directive microstrip patch antenna (MPA) could establish long-distance communication by overcoming air attenuation and reduce co-channel interference in the limited region if UAV uses a specifically dedicated band, which might enhance spatially reuse of the spectrum. Also, MPA is highly recommended for UAV because of its low weight, low cost, compact size, and flat shape. In this paper, we have designed a highly directive single-band 2×2 and 4×4 antenna array for 5.8 GHz and 28 GHz frequency respectively for UAV application in a focus to deploy UAV through 5G wireless network. Here, The Roger RT5880 (lossy) material utilize as a substrate due to its lower dielectric constant which achieves higher directivity and good mechanical stability. Inset feed technique used to feed antenna for lowering input impedance which provides higher antenna efficiency. The results show a wider bandwidth of 702 MHz and 1.596 GHz for 5.8 GHz and 28 GHz antenna array correspondingly with a compact size

In vitro and in vivo anthelmintic activity of terminalia arjuna bark

The present study was carried out to evaluate the anthelmintic activity of Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.) bark locally used as an anthelmintic. Lethal median concentration (LC50 values) of methanolic extract of T. arjuna bark in egg hatch and larval development tests against Haemonchus contortus ova and larva were found to be 645.65 and 467.74 μg mL-1, respectively. Inadult motility assay, efficacy of the extract was evident by the mortality of H. contortus at different hours post exposure. Invivo results revealed maximum (87.3%) egg count percent reduction (ECR) in sheep treated with crude methanolic extract @ 3 g kg-1 body weight on day 11 post-treatment (PT). The data revealed dose-dependent anthelmintic activity both in the invitro and in vivo studies, thus justifying its use in the traditional medicine system of Pakista

Polyester Usage in Manufacturing of Electrical and Mechanical Products and Assemblies

This chapter focuses on the processes in which polyester is usually used for the manufacturing of mechanical components and assemblies. Various methods of manufacturing these products are mentioned in this chapter. These methods include wet layup method, filament winding, pultrusion, vacuum bagging and autoclave curing, resin transfer molding (RTM) and vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM). Various production levels and properties can be achieved by polyester resin using abovementioned processes. Each process has its own benefits and disadvantages, which are discussed in this chapter. Furthermore, the use of polyester in making electrical insulation is also discussed in the chapter. Advantages and disadvantages of each impregnation technique are also explained