Color Stability of Ceramic Brackets Immersed in Artificial Saliva and A Potentially Staining Health Drink Solution: An Invitro study

OBJECTIVES: The aim and objective of the study was to determine the color stability of ceramic brackets both monocrystalline and polycrystalline immersed in artificial saliva and potentially staining health drink solution intermittently. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 40 ceramic brackets (20 monocrystalline and 20 polycrystalline) were selected and divided into two groups A and B. Group A includes 10 monocrystalline and 10 polycrystalline ceramic brackets immersed in artificial saliva which is the control group. Group B includes 10 monocrystalline and 10 polycrystalline ceramic brackets immersed in artificial saliva and intermittently placed in health drink powder solution which is the experimental group. The duration of immersion is about 15 months. The color changes in the ceramic brackets were evaluated by the spectrophotometer in terms of light transmittance and visual assessment by two operators periodically at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 months. Interoperator variability is also assessed. Statistical analyses were done using SPSS software version 17. One way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Multivariate analysis were carried out to analyze significant differences in color changes. RESULTS: The results of the spectrophotometer and visual assessment showed that monocrystalline ceramic brackets produced less stain immersed in health drink solution when compared with the polycrystalline ceramic brackets which was statistically significant from T1 to T5. Both the brackets produced staining and showed gradual increase in the stain uptake. CONCLUSION: The present in vitro study concluded that both the monocrystalline and polycrystalline ceramic brackets undergo staining when placed in staining solution. Comparatively monocrystalline ceramic brackets produced less stain and were better than the polycrystalline ceramic brackets about 25%. The combined effect of time, type of bracket and type of staining solution had influenced the degree of stain uptake

Oral Health Status and Treatment Needs of Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease in Government Hospital, Madurai City: A Cross Sectional study

AIM : To evaluate the oral health status and treatment needs of Chronic Kidney Disease patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS : A cross sectional study was carried out among the chronic kidney disease patients attending the government hospital, Madurai district to evaluate the oral health status of chronic kidney disease patients. A total of 124 participants (62 cases and 62 controls) were examined for the assessment of oral health status using modified WHO oral health assessment form 1997. The study population (n=62) was selected randomly from Chronic Kidney Disease patients regularly attending Department of Nephrology and the Control group (n=62) was recruited from the dental out-patients Government Rajaji Medical College, Madurai. Salivary urea levels were then analyzed to determine its relationship with the oral health status of the participants. RESULTS : Sociodemographic data revealed that the mean age of the CKD patients was 43.11 years and that of the control group was 47.11. With respect to the gender, about 34.4% (n=42) were males and 65.6 % (n=82) were females. Majority of the participants were in upper lower class (82.0%), followed by the lower middle class. About 71.9 % of CKD patients exhibit some kind of oral manifestations. Halitosis is the most common oral sign present. The presence of both shallow and deep periodontal pockets was found more in the chronic kidney disease patients when compared with the controls. The loss of attachment of 4-5 mm was found more in the CKD patients than in the controls and is statistically significant (p < 0.001). The presence of decayed tooth was found more in the healthy controls (4.47+3.47) than in the CKD patients (3.27+3.04) and this difference is found to be statistically significant (p=0.035). The mean salivary urea levels were higher in the CKD patients (136.75+54.036) than in the control group (59.56 + 27.822). CONCLUSION : The oral health status of patients with Chronic Kidney Disease was found to have less dental caries and a worse periodontal health when compared to the systemically healthy subjects

Nanocatalyst Mediated Biodiesel Production from Waste Lipid as Feedstock: A Review

Petroleum-based fuels are widely utilized and pose a threat to the environment, necessitating an urge to bring up an equally effective substitute. Globally, research is focused on biofuel production from various sources which is renewable, highly affordable, and has lesser carbon emission. Biomass is used as raw material to produce biodiesel to achieve clean, green, and renewable fuel. Edible and nonedible raw materials are utilized for the production of biodiesel. Biodiesel from lipid sources produced through the transesterification process serves as an effective alternative for the production of renewable fuel with reduced carbon emissions and greenhouse gases. The cost of biodiesel is dependent on raw materials and catalysts. The acidic and basic homogeneous catalysis reaction has a corrosive effect during synthesis and poses a risk in scalability. The heterogeneous reaction is costlier and has poor performance in the transesterification of lipids. Raw material contributes to 70–80% of the overall production cost. Municipal sewage sludge (MSS) is rich in lipid content and serves as promising raw material for biodiesel production. Nanocatalyst has superior activity in producing pure products with fewer side reactions. This paper reviews the lipid extraction techniques and biodiesel production from MSS using various nanocatalysts

System for Monitoring and Identifying theft from Domestic Water Supplies

This system for monitoring and identifying theft from domestic water supplies utilizes advanced sensors and machine learning algorithms to detect and analyze patterns of water usage, identifying anomalies and potential instances of theft. The system can be easily installed and integrated into existing water supply infrastructure, allowing for real-time monitoring and analysis of water usage data. By providing actionable insights and alerts, the system enables water supply companies to quickly respond to instances of theft, reducing losses and ensuring a more equitable distribution of resources. It utilizes various sensors and algorithms to detect anomalies in water usage patterns, which could indicate theft. The system includes a dashboard that allows water supply companies to monitor usage and receive alerts in real-time. By using this system, water supply companies can improve their efficiency, reduce water losses, and save costs associated with theft. The system is easy to install and can be integrated with existing water supply networks. The system has the potential to significantly reduce water losses due to theft, improving water supply sustainability and reducing costs for water providers. The system has the potential to significantly reduce water losses due to theft, improving water supply

PROMIS CAT in SLE Personal non-commercial use only

ABSTRACT. Objective. The aims of this study were to assess the construct validity and the test-retest reliability of Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) computerized adaptive tests (CAT) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SL

The potential of using circulating tumour cells and their gene expression to predict docetaxel response in metastatic prostate cancer

BackgroundDocetaxel improves overall survival (OS) in castration-resistant prostate cancer (PCa) (CRPC) and metastatic hormone-sensitive PCa (mHSPC). However, not all patients respond due to inherent and/or acquired resistance. There remains an unmet clinical need for a robust predictive test to stratify patients for treatment. Liquid biopsy of circulating tumour cell (CTCs) is minimally invasive, can provide real-time information of the heterogeneous tumour and therefore may be a potentially ideal docetaxel response prediction biomarker.ObjectiveIn this study we investigate the potential of using CTCs and their gene expression to predict post-docetaxel tumour response, OS and progression free survival (PFS).MethodsPeripheral blood was sampled from 18 mCRPC and 43 mHSPC patients, pre-docetaxel treatment, for CTC investigation. CTCs were isolated using the epitope independent Parsortix® system and gene expression was determined by multiplex RT-qPCR. We evaluated CTC measurements for post-docetaxel outcome prediction using receiver operating characteristics and Kaplan Meier analysis.ResultsDetection of CTCs pre-docetaxel was associated with poor patient outcome post-docetaxel treatment. Combining total-CTC number with PSA and ALP predicted lack of partial response (PR) with an AUC of 0.90, p= 0.037 in mCRPC. A significantly shorter median OS was seen in mCRPC patients with positive CTC-score (12.80 vs. 37.33 months, HR= 5.08, p= 0.0005), ≥3 total-CTCs/7.5mL (12.80 vs. 37.33 months, HR= 3.84, p= 0.0053), ≥1 epithelial-CTCs/7.5mL (14.30 vs. 37.33 months, HR= 3.89, p= 0.0041) or epithelial to mesenchymal transitioning (EMTing)-CTCs/7.5mL (11.32 vs. 32.37 months, HR= 6.73, p= 0.0001). Significantly shorter PFS was observed in patients with ≥2 epithelial-CTCs/7.5mL (7.52 vs. 18.83 months, HR= 3.93, p= 0.0058). mHSPC patients with ≥5 CTCs/7.5mL had significantly shorter median OS (24.57 vs undefined months, HR= 4.14, p= 0.0097). In mHSPC patients, expression of KLK2, KLK4, ADAMTS1, ZEB1 and SNAI1 was significantly associated with shorter OS and/or PFS. Importantly, combining CTC measurements with clinical biomarkers increased sensitivity and specificity for prediction of patient outcome.ConclusionWhile it is clear that CTC numbers and gene expression were prognostic for PCa post-docetaxel treatment, and CTC subtype analysis may have additional value, their potential predictive value for docetaxel chemotherapy response needs to be further investigated in large patient cohorts

Degenerating Orr-Sommerfeld Eigenmodes and Development of Three-dimensional Perturbations

Degeneracies of temporally damped Orr-Sommerfeld eigenmodes are studied primarily for plane Poiseuille flow. The discrete spectrum of the eigenmodes is shown to possess infinitely much degeneracy, each appearing at a certain combination of k (the modulus of resultant wavenumber) and αR (the streamwise wavenumber times the Reynolds number). The streamwise phase velocities of the degeneracies are close to about 2/3of the centreline velocity, and their damping rates decrease with increasing Reynolds number. Interestingly, several degeneracies are operative even at sub-transitional Reynolds number. Degeneracies are found also in water table flow and some of these degeneracies are shown to have the same characteristics and modal structures as those in plane Poiseuille flow. The responses of the degeneracies in plane Poiseuille flow are investigated through the initial-value problem. The initial perturbation field is chosen to be free of normal vorticity, and its velocity component normal to the walls is described by the generalized Orr-Sommerfeld eigenfunction in the normal direction. The subsequent temporal development of this normal velocity is shown to be that of monotonical decay, in the linear regime. Notable initial growth is exhibited by the streamwise velocity of the two-dimensional perturbation flow in case of the least damped degeneracy. Nevertheless, in all cases of the degeneracies investigated, the two-dimensional perturbation flow looses its kinetic energy with increasing time. In the case of a three-dimensional perturbation flow, the span wise variations in the normal velocity induce normal vorticity. The amplitude of the induced vorticity and, hence, that of the streamwise perturbation velocity are shown to grow to significant peak values, before the exponential decay predicted by the linear theory sets in. The amplitude of the induced vorticity is shown to increase also with increasing Reynolds number. The presence of normal vorticity causes the perturbation flow to gain kinetic energy from the basic Poiseuille flow. This gain is so great in cases of the least damped symmetric and anti symmetric degeneracies, that the perturbation flow overcomes its energy loss due to viscous dissipation and exhibits significant initial growth of its kinetic energy, at crucial Reynolds numbers such as the transitional one. These growths, according to the linear theory, do not influence the normal velocity that is monotonically decaying with time. It is shown, however, that these growths are to be followed by nonlinear equations at about the transitional Reynolds number. It is also shown that describing the solution of the nonlinear system as waves travelling in one single oblique direction does not change the monotonous behaviour of the normal velocity. Key words: degeneracy, double eigenvalue, Orr-Sornmerfeld equation, direct resonance, stability, plane Poiseuille flow, water table flow, initial-value problem, three-dimensionality, vortex stretching, induced vorticity, nonlinearity, Reynolds stress, perturbation energy.Degeneracies of temporally damped Orr-Sommerfeld eigenmodes are studied primarily for plane Poiseuille flow. The discrete spectrum of the eigenmodes is shown to possess infinitely much degeneracy, each appearing at a certain combination of k (the modulus of resultant wavenumber) and αR (the streamwise wavenumber times the Reynolds number). The streamwise phase velocities of the degeneracies are close to about 2/3of the centreline velocity, and their damping rates decrease with increasing Reynolds number. Interestingly, several degeneracies are operative even at sub-transitional Reynolds number. Degeneracies are found also in water table flow and some of these degeneracies are shown to have the same characteristics and modal structures as those in plane Poiseuille flow. The responses of the degeneracies in plane Poiseuille flow are investigated through the initial-value problem. The initial perturbation field is chosen to be free of normal vorticity, and its velocity component normal to the walls is described by the generalized Orr-Sommerfeld eigenfunction in the normal direction. The subsequent temporal development of this normal velocity is shown to be that of monotonical decay, in the linear regime. Notable initial growth is exhibited by the streamwise velocity of the two-dimensional perturbation flow in case of the least damped degeneracy. Nevertheless, in all cases of the degeneracies investigated, the two-dimensional perturbation flow looses its kinetic energy with increasing time. In the case of a three-dimensional perturbation flow, the span wise variations in the normal velocity induce normal vorticity. The amplitude of the induced vorticity and, hence, that of the streamwise perturbation velocity are shown to grow to significant peak values, before the exponential decay predicted by the linear theory sets in. The amplitude of the induced vorticity is shown to increase also with increasing Reynolds number. The presence of normal vorticity causes the perturbation flow to gain kinetic energy from the basic Poiseuille flow. This gain is so great in cases of the least damped symmetric and anti symmetric degeneracies, that the perturbation flow overcomes its energy loss due to viscous dissipation and exhibits significant initial growth of its kinetic energy, at crucial Reynolds numbers such as the transitional one. These growths, according to the linear theory, do not influence the normal velocity that is monotonically decaying with time. It is shown, however, that these growths are to be followed by nonlinear equations at about the transitional Reynolds number. It is also shown that describing the solution of the nonlinear system as waves travelling in one single oblique direction does not change the monotonous behaviour of the normal velocity. Key words: degeneracy, double eigenvalue, Orr-Sornmerfeld equation, direct resonance, stability, plane Poiseuille flow, water table flow, initial-value problem, three-dimensionality, vortex stretching, induced vorticity, nonlinearity, Reynolds stress, perturbation energy