Root Canal Anatomy of Maxillary and Mandibular Teeth

It is a common knowledge that a comprehensive understanding of the complexity of the internal anatomy of teeth is imperative to ensure successful root canal treatment. The significance of canal anatomy has been emphasized by studies demonstrating that variations in canal geometry before cleaning, shaping, and obturation procedures had a greater effect on the outcome than the techniques themselves. In recent years, significant technological advances for imaging teeth, such as CBCT and micro-CT, respectively, have been introduced. Their noninvasive nature allows to perform in vivo anatomical studies using large populations to address the influence of several variables such as ethnicity, aging, gender, and others, on the root canal anatomy, as well as to evaluate, quantitatively and/or qualitatively, specific and fine anatomical features of a tooth group. The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the morphological aspects of the root canal anatomy published in the literature of all groups of teeth and illustrate with three-dimensional images acquired from micro-CT technology.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clinical effects of caraway, a traditional medicine for weight loss

The seeds of caraway (Carum carvi L.), a potent medicinal plant, are traditionally used for inducing weight loss. In this study, the anti-obesity properties of caraway aqueous extract (CAE) at 30 mL/day are examined in a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study. At baseline, seventy overweight and obese, healthy, aerobic-trained, women were randomly assigned to two groups (n=35 per group). After 12 weeks, the CAE group, compared with placebo, showed a significant decrease in weight, body mass index, body fat percentage, and anthropometric indices. No changes were detected in the clinical and para-clinical assessments of participants. The findings show that dietary CAE with no limit in diet, when combined with physical activity, is of value in the treatment of obesity in women, lowering their weight, BMI, body fat percentage, and body size, and has no negative clinical effects. This trial is registered as NCT01833377

Effect of Different Placement Techniques on Microleakage of Class V Composite Restorations

Objective: Various techniques of composite placement have been used to decrease microleakage around the composite restorations. Due to controversial results, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of different placement techniques on microleakage in class V composite restorations.Materials and Methods: Sixty class V cavities were prepared on the buccal and lingual surfaces of 30 extracted healthy human premolars. The teeth were randomly assigned to five groups, and were restored with composite resin, using five different techniques:(1) horizontal increments (gingivo-occlusal), (2) horizontal increments (occluso-gingival),(3) oblique increments (gingivo-occlusal), (4) oblique increments (occluso-gingival), and(5) bulk placement. After thermocycling, 500 cycles of between 5°C and 55°C (SD=2),and immersion in 0.5% alcoholic Fuschin, the teeth were then sectioned and evaluated for microleakage by stereomicroscope (×16). Microleakage was scored on a 0-4 scale. Nonparametric Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests served for statistical analysis.Results: Gingival margins of class V cavities showed microleakage regardless of the placement technique. Oblique (gingivo-occlusal) technique showed less microleakage in gingival margins of the restorations compared to bulk technique. The least microleakagein gingival margins was related to group 3 while the most microleakage was related to group 5. Bulk and oblique (gingivo-occlusal) incremental techniques produced significantlydifferent rate of microleakage (P<0.003). Group 3 showed the most difference with groups 5, 1, 2, and 4, respectively.Conclusion: Among four incremental techniques, the gingivo-occlusal oblique filling technique resulted in a lower leakage value, when compared to the bulk filling technique

A fuzzy inference- fuzzy analytic hierarchy process-based clinical decision support system for diagnosis of heart diseases

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Many organizations and institutions are implementing accurate and practical tools to accelerate decision-making process. In this regard, hospitals and healthcare centers are not exceptions, in particular, because they directly impact the health and well-being of the community. When it comes to disease diagnosis, practitioners may have different opinions, which lead to different decisions and actions. On the other hand, the amount of available information, even in a case of a typical disease is so vast that rapid and accurate decision-making may be difficult. For example, practitioners may prescribe several expensive tests in order to diagnose a heart disease whereas many of those tests might not even be required. Accordingly, a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) can be very helpful here. In particular, such a CDSS can be developed as an expert system for those patients who have a high likelihood of developing heart diseases. This study develops an expert system based on Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Inference System in order to evaluate the condition of patients who are being examined for heart diseases. The Fuzzy AHP is used to calculate weights for different criteria that impact developing heart diseases, and the Fuzzy Inference System is used to assess and evaluate the likelihood of developing heart diseases in a patient. The developed system has been implemented in a hospital in Tehran. The outcomes show efficiency and accuracy of the developed approach

Preliminary safety evaluation and biochemical efficacy of a carum carvi extract: Results from a randomized, triple-blind, and placebo-controlled clinical trial

Carum carvi L. (Apiaceae) is known as caraway, and its derivatives find wide medicinal use for health purposes, including for gastrointestinal problems and obesity. Since there is inconsistency among the reports on the safety of this plant in humans, this research was aimed at assessing the safety of a characterized caraway aqueous extract (CAE) in a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled study. Seventy, overweight and obese, healthy women were randomly assigned into placebo (n = 35) and plant extract (n = 35) groups. Participants received either 30 ml/day of CAE or placebo. Subjects were examined at baseline and after 12 weeks for changes in heart rate, blood pressure, urine test, 25-item blood chemistries, and general health status. No significant changes of blood pressure, heart rate, urine specific gravity, and serum blood tests were observed between the two groups before and after treatment. However, in the complete blood count test, red blood cell levels were significantly (p < 0.01) increased, and platelet distribution width was significantly decreased after the dietary CAE treatment, as compared with placebo. No negative changes were observed in the general health status of the two groups. This preliminary study suggests that the oral intake of CAE appears to be without any adverse effects at a dosage of 30 ml daily for a period of 12 weeks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Circulating concentration of interleukin-37 in Helicobacter pylori-infected patients with peptic ulcer: Its association with IL-37 related gene polymorphisms and bacterial virulence factor CagA

The immunopathologic responses play a major role in the development of H. pylori (HP)-related gastrointestinal diseases. IL-37 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine with potent suppressive effects on innate and adaptive immune responses. Here, we investigated the IL-37 levels and two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) including rs3811047 and rs2723176 in IL-37 gene in HP-infected peptic ulcer (PU) patients to identify any relationship. Three groups, including 100 HP-infected PU patients, 100 HP-infected asymptomatic (AS) subjects and 100 non-infected healthy control (NHC) subjects were enrolled to study. Serum IL-37 levels and the genotyping at rs3811047 and rs2723176 were determined using ELISA and SSP�PCR methods, respectively. Significantly higher IL-37 levels were observed in PU patients compared with AS and NHC groups (P &lt; 0.0001). In both PU and AS groups, the CagA+ HP-infected participants displayed higher IL-37 levels compared with those infected with CagA� strains (P &lt; 0.0001). There were significant differences between PU, AS and NHC groups regarding the distribution of genotypes and alleles at rs3811047 and rs2723176 SNPs. The genotype GG and allele G at IL-37 rs3811047 SNP, and the genotype CC and allele C at IL-37 rs2723176 SNP more frequently expressed in PU patients than total healthy subjects (AS + NHC groups) and were associated with an increased risk of PU development (genotype GG: RR = 3.08, P &lt; 0.009; allele G: RR = 2.94, P &lt; 0.01; genotype CC: RR = 5, P &lt; 0.01; and allele C: RR = 5.0, P &lt; 0.02, respectively). The PU patients with allele A at IL-37 rs2723176 SNP expressed higher amounts of IL-37 compared with patients carried allele C at the same position (P &lt; 0.05). In AS carriers and NHC individuals, the IL-37 levels in subjects carried genotype AA or allele A at IL-37 rs2723176 SNP were higher than those carried genotype CC or allele C at the same location (P &lt; 0.01 and P &lt; 0.02 for AS group; P &lt; 0.0001 and P &lt; 0.001 for NHC subjects, respectively). The increased IL-37 levels may be considered as a valuable marker of PU development in HP-infected individuals. The SNPs rs3811047 and rs2723176 were associated with PU development. The CagA status of HP and IL-37 rs2723176 SNP may affect the IL-37 levels. © 2019 Elsevier Lt