Explore and compare the knowledge, attitude, and acceptance of dental implant as a treatment option among sub-population of Saudi Arabia

Objectives: Implant therapy has gained wide popularity in the recent years. A complete information on implant therapy should be provided to patient by the dentist. The aim of present study is to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, source of information and acceptance of dental implants among the general population in the Southern region of Saudi Arabia.Methods: A total of 712 patients were randomly selected from the OPD of dental hospitals across the southern region of Saudi Arabia. The designed questionnaire comprised of 15 open-ended questions. Only Saudi national population was selected for the survey. The questionnaire was divided into demographic data, knowledge, attitude and participant’s acceptance towards implant therapy. The collected data were statistically analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences.Results: Out of 712 participants, 675 complete the survey. 59.1% were male and 41.9% were females with an average age of 39.6 years old. All variables except for age showed statistically significant difference in the knowledge about implant among the study groups (p<0.05). The knowledge score was directly related to education and professional status of the participants. Majority of the patients (66%) with a history of implant therapy were satisfied with the placed implant. 41% of the participants reported high cost as a limiting factor for selecting an implant treatment. Conclusions: Population from the southern region of Saudi Arabia has moderate knowledge about dental implant treatment. Dentists were found to be the most important source of information to the patient. The major barrier for not selecting implant treatment was the high cost of the implant therapy

Letrozole before TESE in Non-Obstructive Azoospermia, Does It Affect Sperm Retrieval Rate, A Retrospective Study

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of letrozole 2.5 mg, an aromatase inhibitor, on the sperm retrieval rate (SRR) by the testicular sperm extraction (TESE) procedures that was done for the treatment of males with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA).Materials and methods: Data was collected retrospectively from males diagnosed with non-obstructive azoospermia who underwent TESE procedure in the duration between May 2010 until June, 2018. The collected data includes the age of the patient, body mass index (BMI), testicular volume, hormonal profile (FSH LH, prolactin, testosterone), and the use of letrozole preoperatively. Logistic regression was done to address the association of these parameters to the sperm’s retrieval rate.Results: The study screaned 145 patients. Eighty patients fit the inclusion criteria and thus they were statistically analyzed. The use of letrozole was associated with negative TESE outcome (p=0.006), odd (0.154) CI 0.04-0.579. The other factors had no significant correlation to the TESE results.Conclusion: The evidence in this study showed an adverse effect of letrozole use on TESE results of those with high FSH

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Effect of Thermally Reduced Graphene on the Characteristics and Performance of Polysulfone Mixed Matrix Ultrafiltration Membranes

Ultrafiltration (UF) polymeric membranes are widely used in water treatment and support desalination and gas separation membranes. In this article, we enhance the performance of Polysulfone (PSF) mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) by dispersing different concentrations of thermally reduced graphene (TRG) nanofillers. The UF PSF-TRG MMMs were fabricated via the phase inversion process, and the impact of TRG loading on the characteristics of the membrane, including hydrophilicity, porosity, roughness, and morphology, were analyzed using a contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and dynamic mechanical analysis. Incorporating TRG into the PSF matrix led to favorable effects in the instantaneous de-mixing during phase inversion, increasing the porosity and hydrophilicity of MMMs and improving the mechanical properties of the membranes. Moreover, membrane performance was examined to remove dispersed oil from oil–water emulsion and support air-dehumidification membranes. MMM performance in terms of flux and oil rejection was superior to the control PSF membrane. Incorporating 0.25% TRG into PSF resulted in a 70% water flux increase and higher oil rejection compared to the control PSF membrane. As a support for air-dehumidification membranes, the MMM also demonstrated enhanced humidity reduction and an over 20% increase in water vapor permeance over the control PSF membrane. These results indicate that the PSF-TRG MMMs are an excellent candidate for reliable oil–water separation and as a support for air-dehumidification membranes

Neutrosophic model for vehicular malfunction detection

The internet of vehicular things (IOVT) is an important modern technology that offers many advantages and facilities; however, if vehicular malfunctions are not detected in a timely manner, it may cause many dangers and serious accidents. To achieve safe self-driving vehicles, safety and security measures must be taken. In this work, a safety and security model are proposed to evaluate the level of vehicular malfunctions and determine the corresponding danger in terms of road safety. The proposed model presents the optimal actions and alternatives for self-driving vehicles to avoid crises. The objective of this study to develop a hybrid model for multicriteria decision-making problems using neutrosophic theory to handle vehicular malfunctions that occur in the IOVT environment under uncertain conditions and conflicting information. In addition, the technique for order of preference by similarity to the ideal solution is used to prioritize the corresponding alternatives in the case of vehicular malfunction. A case study considering four likely vehicular defects is presented to ensure the applicability and availability of the proposed model

Neutrosophic Multi-Criteria Decision Making Approach for IoT-Based Enterprises

Internet of Things (IoT) connects billion of devices to afford inventive opportunities between things and people. The rapid development of products related to IoT is a new challenge to keep security issues, lack of confidence, and understanding of IoT. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is a classic multi criteria decision making (MCDM) method used to analyze and scale complex problems and to obtain weights for the selected criteria. The vague and inconsistent information in real situations can lead to decision maker's confusion

Could the bulbar urethral end location on the cystourethrogram predict the outcome after posterior urethroplasty for pelvic fracture urethral injury?

ABSTRACTObjectives To identify cystourethrogram (CUG) findings that independently predict the outcome of posterior urethroplasty (PU) following pelvic fracture urethral injury (PFUI).Methods Findings of CUG included the location of the proximal end of the bulbar urethra in zones A (superficial) or B (deep) according to its relationship with the pubic arch. Others included the presence of pelvic arch fracture, bladder neck, and posterior urethral appearance. The primary outcome was the need for reintervention either endoscopically or by redo urethroplasty. Independent predictors were modeled using a logistic regression model and a nomogram was constructed and internally validated using 100-bootstrap resampling. Time-to-event analysis was performed to validate the results.Results A total of 196 procedures in 158 patients were analyzed. The success rate was 83.7% with 32 (16.3%) procedures requiring direct vision internal urethrotomy, urethroplasty, or both in 13 (6.6%), 12 (6.1%), and 7 (3.6%) patients, respectively. On multivariate analysis, bulbar urethral end located at zone B (odds ratio [OR]: 3.1; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1–8.5; p = 0.02), pubic arch fracture (OR: 3.9; 95%CI: 1.5–9.7; p = 0.003), and previous urethroplasty (OR: 4.2; 95% CI: 1.8–10.1; p = 0.001) were independent predictors. The same predictors were significant in the time-to-event analysis. The nomogram discrimination was 77.3% and 75% in the current data and after validation.Conclusions The location of the proximal end of the bulbar urethra and redo urethroplasty could predict the need for reintervention after PU for PFUI. The nomogram could be used preoperatively for patient counseling and procedure planning