Can adjunctive corticosteroid therapy improve patient-centered outcomes following third molar surgery? A systematic review

Third molar surgery is frequently associated with postoperative discomfort such as pain, edema and trismus. We aimed to evaluate the current evidence on the efficacy of adjunctive corticosteroid therapy in improving patient-centered outcomes following third molar surgery

Grade Uncertainty and its Impact on Ore Grade Reconciliation between the Resource Model and the Mine

Major differences between estimated grade and actual grade are a usual problem in many open pit mines. The estimated grade is predicted in exploration stage from data obtained from boreholes, whereas the actual grade would be determined only after the mining operation. The poor reconciliation between the values of estimated and actual grades can cause major economic losses to the mining industry. Many different factors affect the reconciliation process in a mining operation. The nature of the orebody, the random uncertainty and the systematic errors are three main sources affecting the reconciliation process in exploration stage of the orebody. In this paper each source of uncertainty is studied and a probabilistic model is presented to determine the role of each item in total uncertainty of the grade parameter. The model ability was investigated in the study of real data taken from an iron open pit mine in Iran. The results showed the systematic uncertainty, the nature of the orebody and the random uncertainty are the main causes of poor reconciliation in the case study respectively

Novel preparation of controlled porosity particle/fibre loaded scaffolds using a hybrid micro-fluidic and electrohydrodynamic technique.

The purpose of this research was to produce multi-dimensional scaffolds containing biocompatible particles and fibres. To achieve this, two techniques were combined and used: T-Junction microfluidics and electrohydrodynamic (EHD) processing. The former was used to form layers of monodispersed bovine serum albumin (BSA) bubbles, which upon drying formed porous scaffolds. By altering the T-Junction processing parameters, bubbles with different diameters were produced and hence the scaffold porosity could be controlled. EHD processing was used to spray or spin poly(lactic-co-glycolic) (PLGA), polymethysilsesquioxane (PMSQ) and collagen particles/fibres onto the scaffolds during their production and after drying. As a result, multifunctional BSA scaffolds with controlled porosity containing PLGA, PMSQ and collagen particles/fibres were obtained. Product morphology was studied by optical and scanning electron microscopy. These products have potential applications in many advanced biomedical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields e.g. bone regeneration, drug delivery, cosmetic cream lathers, facial scrubbing creams etc

Influence of gap size and development stages on the silvicultural characteristics of oriental beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) regeneration

We studied 11 gaps covered with beech saplings (< 1.30 m tall) in a reserve compartment (compartment 139, district one, Langa forest, watershed 36: Kazemrood) of the Caspian beech forest in N Iran. Two transects, each 2 m wide, were laid along the longest (N-S) and shortest (E-W) axis of each gap. Five micro sample plots, each 4 m2, were established: one at the center, and one at each corner. Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of saplings with a diameter at breast height less than 7.5 cm were examined in the micro sample plots. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis test were performed using SPSS software for quantitative characteristics, and chi-square test for qualitative characteristics. Results indicated that medium-sized (200-500 m2) gaps promote the growth of oriental beech saplings of desirable silvicultural forms during decay and initial stages

The Increased Level of Serum p53 in Hepatitis B-Associated Liver Cirrhosis

BACKGROUND: The ability of tumour suppressor protein p53 (P53) to regulate cell cycle processes can be modulated by hepatitis B virus (HBV). While preliminary evidences indicates the involvement of protein-x of HBV (HBx) in altering p53 DNA binding, no further data have been accumulated for the significance of serum p53 in chronic hepatitis B virus infected patients. METHODS: 72 non-cirrhotic and 19 cirrhotic patients infected by HBV were enrolled for the analysis in this study. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to study the concentrations of serum p53 protein. The tertiary structures of HBx and P53 were docked by Z-dock and Hex servers for in-silico protein-protein interaction analysis. RESULTS: There was a significant association between the serum p53 and cirrhosis (OR=1.81 95 CI: 1.017-3.2, P=0.044). Cirrhotic patients had higher level of serum p53 compare with chronic infection of HBV (1.98+/-1.22 vs. 1.29+/-0.72 U/ml, P=0.05). No evidence of correlation was seen between the different variables such as age, gender, log viral load, serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) with serum p53. Tertiary model shows that the amino acid residues from Arg110 to Lys132 of the N-terminal of P53 which is critical for ubiquitination, are bonded to a region in N- terminal of HBx amino acid residues from Arg19 to Ser33. CONCLUSION: There is an increase in serum p53 in HBV-related cirrhosis patients. In this case, HBx might be responsible for such higher concentration of p53 through HBx-p53 protein-protein interaction, as is shown by molecular modeling approach

Instance reduction for one-class classification

Instance reduction techniques are data preprocessing methods originally developed to enhance the nearest neighbor rule for standard classification. They reduce the training data by selecting or generating representative examples of a given problem. These algorithms have been designed and widely analyzed in multi-class problems providing very competitive results. However, this issue was rarely addressed in the context of one-class classification. In this specific domain a reduction of the training set may not only decrease the classification time and classifier’s complexity, but also allows us to handle internal noisy data and simplify the data description boundary. We propose two methods for achieving this goal. The first one is a flexible framework that adjusts any instance reduction method to one-class scenario by introduction of meaningful artificial outliers. The second one is a novel modification of evolutionary instance reduction technique that is based on differential evolution and uses consistency measure for model evaluation in filter or wrapper modes. It is a powerful native one-class solution that does not require an access to counterexamples. Both of the proposed algorithms can be applied to any type of one-class classifier. On the basis of extensive computational experiments, we show that the proposed methods are highly efficient techniques to reduce the complexity and improve the classification performance in one-class scenarios

A Probabilistic Model to Improve Reconciliation of Estimated and Actual Grade in Open Pit Mining

Many of the open-pit mines suffer from the lack of reconciliation between estimated and actual grades. In a mining operation, grade reconciliation is the comparison between the values of the estimated grade calculated in exploration stage and the actual grade obtained from more reliable data such as blast holes’ samples. Many different factors affect the degree of reconciliation in a mining operation. In this paper, the factors related to estimated grade which affect the reconciliation process in the exploration stage of the orebody are investigated. These factors constitute the sources of uncertainty for the upcoming phases of the mining life. Among these parameters, the inherent variability, statistical uncertainty, and systematic uncertainty are the most important factors. In this work, these parameters are studied in further detail, and, accordingly, for each of these uncertainties, a correction factor is determined in the proposed model. The model was applied to the study of real data taken from an iron open-pit mine in Iran. The results of the case study indicated that the systematic uncertainty, inherent variability, and statistical uncertainty are, in order, the main sources of uncertainty on grade reconciliation process. Applying the correction factors to estimated grade values has increased the amount of grade reconciliation from 10%, at original condition, to 50%, at new condition, in the case study

Fast dissolving paracetamol/caffeine nanofibers prepared by electrospinning

A series of polyvinylpyrrolidone fibers loaded with paracetamol (PCM) and caffeine (CAF) was fabricated by electrospinning and explored as potential oral fast-dissolving films. The fibers take the form of uniform cylinders with smooth surfaces, and contain the drugs in the amorphous form. Drug–polymer intermolecular interactions were evidenced by infrared spectroscopy and molecular modeling. The properties of the fiber mats were found to be highly appropriate for the preparation of oral fast dissolving films: their thickness is around 120–130 μm, and the pH after dissolution in deionized water lies in the range of 6.7–7.2. Except at the highest drug loading, the folding endurance of the fibers was found to be >20 times. A flavoring agent can easily be incorporated into the formulation. The fiber mats are all seen to disintegrate completely within 0.5 s when added to simulated saliva solution. They release their drug cargo within around 150 s in a dissolution test, and to undergo much more rapid dissolution than is seen for the pure drugs. The data reported herein clearly demonstrate that electrospun PCM/CAF fibers comprise excellent candidates for oral fast-dissolving films, which could be particularly useful for children and patients with swallowing difficulties

The Effectiveness of Sovodak in the Treatment of Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

Background:&nbsp;Recently, interferon-free treatment has been considered for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C due to their high therapeutic success and lack of serious side effects. The combination of&nbsp;Sofosbuvir&nbsp;and&nbsp;Daclatasvir&nbsp;is effective in the treatment of the disease because of its pan-genotype. In the present study, the effectiveness of&nbsp;Sovodak, which is a combination of the aforementioned two drugs in one tablet, in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C and cirrhosis was investigated. Methods:&nbsp;Patients with chronic hepatitis C whose diagnosis was confirmed by HCV RNA–PCR test were included in the study. These patients received one&nbsp;Sovodak&nbsp;tablet daily (for 12 weeks for non-cirrhotic patients and 24 weeks for cirrhotic patients). Sustained virologic response (SVR) was assessed by PCR test 12 weeks after the end of the treatment and one year later. Also, serum levels of liver enzymes, platelet count, and liver stiffness (using elastography method) were measured and their levels were compared before and after treatment in patients. Results:&nbsp;Findings related to the PCR test in patients showed that the level of SVR was 100% in patients 12 weeks after treatment (SVR-12). In three cirrhotic patients who received only 12 weeks of drug treatment, the disease recurred a year later. According to the results, ALT and AST serum levels were significantly decreased (P &lt; 0.001), and platelet count level was increased (P &lt; 0.001) one year after the end of the treatment period. Also, the liver stiffness index measured using FibroScan was significantly decreased in patients 12 weeks after the end of the treatment (P &lt; 0.001). Conclusion:&nbsp;The results of this study, in line with other studies, showed the effective role of&nbsp;Sovodak&nbsp;in completely eliminating the HCV virus in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Cirrhotic patients need to receive treatment for at least six months. Key words: Sovodak, hepatitis C, sustained virologic response, effectiveness, liver cirrhosi