Thermal Expansion of Composite Resins and Sealants

Linear thermal coefficients of expansion (α) of seven commercial composite resins and four pit and fissure sealants were determined between 0 and 60°C on a thermomechanical analyzer. The thermal expansion curves obtained were nonlinear. Values of α ranged from 26.5 to 39.6 × 10-6 °/C for the composite and from 70.9 to 93.7 x 10-6/°C for the sealants.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67284/2/10.1177_00220345790580020701.pd

A New Composite Restorative Based on a Hydrophobic Matrix

A hydrophobic restorative composite based on a fluorocarbon analog of an alkyl methacrylate and a bisphenol adduct was formulated into a one-paste system, which polymerized in the presence of blue light. Physical, mechanical, and water-related properties were determined. High contact angles and low water sorption were shown by the experimental composite. Capillary penetration of oral fluids around restorations, therefore, could be prevented in the presence of this highly hydrophobic surface. The physical and mechanical properties of the experimental composite were either comparable to or somewhat less favorable than commercial Bis-GMA composites.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67042/2/10.1177_00220345790580100401.pd

Clinical features and therapeutic management of patients admitted to Italian acute hospital psychiatric units: the PERSEO (psychiatric emergency study and epidemiology) survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The PERSEO study (psychiatric emergency study and epidemiology) is a naturalistic, observational clinical survey in Italian acute hospital psychiatric units, called SPDCs (Servizio Psichiatrico Diagnosi e Cura; in English, the psychiatric service for diagnosis and management). The aims of this paper are: (i) to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients, including sociodemographic features, risk factors, life habits and psychiatric diagnoses; and (ii) to assess the clinical management, subjective wellbeing and attitudes toward medications.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 62 SPDCs distributed throughout Italy participated in the study and 2521 patients were enrolled over the 5-month study period.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Almost half of patients (46%) showed an aggressive behaviour at admission to ward, but they engaged more commonly in verbal aggression (38%), than in aggression toward other people (20%). A total of 78% of patients had a psychiatric diagnosis at admission, most frequently schizophrenia (36%), followed by depression (16%) and personality disorders (14%), and no relevant changes in the diagnoses pattern were observed during hospital stay. Benzodiazepines were the most commonly prescribed drugs, regardless of diagnosis, at all time points. Overall, up to 83% of patients were treated with neuroleptic drugs and up to 27% received more than one neuroleptic either during hospital stay or at discharge. Atypical and conventional antipsychotics were equally prescribed for schizophrenia (59 vs 65% during stay and 59 vs 60% at discharge), while atypical drugs were preferred in schizoaffective psychoses (72 vs 49% during stay and 70 vs 46% at discharge) and depression (41 vs 32% during stay and 44 vs 25% at discharge). Atypical neuroleptics were slightly preferred to conventional ones at hospital discharge (52 vs 44%). Polypharmacy was in general widely used. Patient attitudes toward medications were on average positive and self-reported compliance increased during hospital stay.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Results confirm the widespread use of antipsychotics and the increasing trend in atypical drugs prescription, in both psychiatric in- and outpatients.</p

Survival and Complication Rates of Fixed Restorations Supported by Locking-Taper Implants: A Prospective Study with 1 to 10 Years of Follow-Up

The aim of this 10-year follow-up study was to evaluate the implant survival and complication rates of fixed restorations supported by locking-taper implants.Over a 10-year period (January 2002 to December 2011) all patients referred to a single private practice for treatment with fixed restorations (single crowns, SCs; fixed partial prostheses, FPPs; fixed full arches, FFAs) supported by dental implants were considered for inclusion in the study. At each annual follow-up session, clinical, radiographic, and prosthetic parameters were assessed. The surviving implant-supported restorations were defined as "complication free" in the absence of any biological or prosthetic (mechanical or technical) complication. The cumulative implant survival and the "complication-free" survival of fixed implant-supported restorations were identified using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Log-rank test was used to identify correlations between the study variables.In total, 1494 locking-taper implants (727 maxilla, 767 mandible) were placed in 642 patients (356 males, 286 females). Nineteen implants (12 maxilla, 7 mandible) failed. Implant failures were attributed to lack of osseointegration (14 implants), peri-implantitis (4 implants), and mechanical overloading (1 implant). An overall 10-year cumulative implant survival rate of 98.7\% (98.3\% maxilla, 99.1\% mandible) was found. The implant survival rates did not significantly differ with respect to implant location, position, bone type, implant length and diameter, and type of restorations. Among the surviving implant-supported restorations (478 SC, 242 FPP, 19 FFA), a few biological (11/739: 1.4\%) and prosthetic (27/739: 3.6\%) complications were reported. The incidence of mechanical complications was low (3/739: 0.4\%), with three loosened abutments in three SCs (3/478: 0.6\%), and no abutment fractures; technical complications were more frequent (24/739: 3.2\%), with an incidence of decementation of 2.0\% (SC 2.0\%, FPP 1.6\%, FFA 5.2\%) and ceramic/veneer chipping/fracture of 1.2\% (SC 0.0\%, FPP 2.8\%, FFA 10.5\%). A 10-year cumulative "complication-free" survival of restorations of 88.6\% (SC 91.7\%, FPP 83.1\%, FFA 73.8\%) was reported. The complication rates differ significantly with respect to the type of restoration (p < 0.05).Fixed restorations on locking-taper implants seem to be a successful procedure for the rehabilitation of partially and completely edentulous arches

Effect of myocardial fiber direction on epicardial potentials.

BACKGROUND Understanding the relations between the architecture of myocardial fibers, the spread of excitation, and the associated ECG signals is necessary for addressing the forward problem of electrocardiography, that is, predicting intracardiac and extracardiac ECGs from known intracardiac activity. So far, these relations have been studied experimentally only in small myocardial areas. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that potential distributions measured over extensive epicardial regions during paced beats reflect the direction of superficial and intramural fibers through which excitation is spreading in both the initial and later stages of ventricular excitation. We also tried to establish whether the features of the epicardial potential distribution that correlate with fiber direction vary as a function of pacing site, intramural pacing depth, and time elapsed after the stimulus. An additional purpose was to compare measured epicardial potentials with recently published numerical simulations depicting the three-dimensional spread of excitation in the heart muscle and the associated potential fields. METHODS AND RESULTS The hearts of 18 mongrel dogs were exposed and 182 to 744 unipolar electrograms were recorded from epicardial electrode arrays (2.3 x 3.0 to 6.5 x 6.5 cm). Hearts were paced at various intramural depths through an intramural needle. The overall number of pacing sites in 18 dogs was 241. Epicardial potential distributions, electrographic waveforms, and excitation time maps were displayed, and fiber directions in the ventricular wall underlying the electrodes were determined histologically. During the early stages of ventricular excitation, the position of the epicardial maxima and minima revealed the orientation of myocardial fibers near the pacing site in all cases of epicardial and intramural pacing and in 60% of cases of endocardial or subendocardial pacing. During later stages of propagation, the rotation and expansion of the positive areas correlated with the helical spread of excitation through intramurally rotating fibers. Marked asymmetry of potential patterns probably reflected epicardial-endocardial obliqueness of intramural fibers. Multiple maxima appeared in the expanding positive areas. CONCLUSIONS For 93% of pacing sites, results verified our hypothesis that epicardial potential patterns elicited by ventricular pacing reflect the direction of fibers through which excitation is spreading during both the initial and later stages of propagation. Epicardial potential distributions provided information on the site of origin and subsequent helical spread of excitation in an epicardial-endocardial, endocardial-epicardial, or double direction. Results were in agreement with previously published numerical simulations except for the asymmetry and fragmentation of the positive areas. </jats:sec

Formulation and evaluation of a hydrophobic composite plastic

A hydrophobic co-polymer, helptafluorobutylmethacrylate co-para vinyl phenol, was compounded with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and silanated quartz to produce a hydrophobic composite. The experimental composite had satisfactory working properties and had mechanical properties comparable to commercial composite but a higher modulus of resilience. The wear resistance was equal to or greater than the commercial composite depending on whether a two-body abrasion test or a track width versus normal load test was used for the evaluation. The thermal coefficient of expansion and water sorption values were somewhat higher than those of commercial composites.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74217/1/j.1365-2842.1980.tb00454.x.pd