Low Level Laser Therapy in the Treatment of Temporomandibular Joint Arthritis: Questions and Answers

Osteoarthritis (OA) affects a large proportion of the population. Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) is a light source that generates extremely pure light, of a single wavelength. The effect is not thermal, but rather related to photochemical reactions in the cells. LLLT was introduced as an alternative non-invasive treatment for OA about 10 years ago, but its effectiveness is still controversial. For the treatment of OA, the results are conflicting in different studies and may depend on the method of application of the LLLT . Clinicians and researchers should consistently report the characteristics of the LLLT device and the application techniques used; consequently new trials on LLLT should make use of standardized, validated outcomes Low-level energy diode laser therapy has been used in a variety of chronic and acute pain conditions, including neck, back and myofascial pain, degenerative osteoarthritis, and tennis elbow and also may be an effective treatment for burning mouth syndrome. LLLT reduces also pain in knee osteoarthritis and improves microcirculation as well as stimulated collagen production and fibroblast activity in the irradiated area. .Mandibular function may be improved in LLLT patients proving the effectiveness in the treatment of pain, as demonstrated by a significant improvement in clinical signs and symptoms of temporomandibular joint disc displacement without reduction and osteoarthritis at the end of treatment and stability over a period of 1 month. Other results suggest that LLLT (application of 10 J/cm(2) and 15 J/cm(2)) can be considered as a useful method for the treatment of temporomandibular disorders (TMD)-related pain, especially long lasting pain.. LLLT is demonstrated also to be an appropriate treatment for TMD and should be considered as an alternative to other methods Finally low level laser therapy with the suggested dose range significantly reduces pain and improves health status in chronic joint disorders, but the heterogeneity in patient samples, treatment procedures and trial design calls for cautious interpretation of the results] The aim of our contribute is to assess the effectiveness of LLLT in the treatment of temporomandibolar joint osteoarthritis by trying to reply to the controversial questions about this topic. The research method will consist in examining the existing literature not in the light of a systematic review but in the tentative to offer a practical solutions to the problems arising from the application of the LLT. The key results we attend will be on treatment of osteoarthritis patients with high levels of pain-related fear in order to optimize daily functioning. It opens up opportunities for tailoring treatment

Cyclic fatigue resistance of Nickel-Titanium reciprocating instruments tested with an innovative kinematics

Aim: To evaluate cyclic fatigue resistance of different Nickel-Titanium instruments tested with an innovative reciprocating kinematics. Methodology: Eighty Nickel-Titanium reciprocating instruments were tested in cyclic fatigue resistance: WaveOne Primary (n = 20), WaveOne Gold Primary (n = 20), Reciproc R25 (n = 20) and Reciproc Blue R25 (n = 20). The cyclic fatigue of each brand was measured with two different motors and kinematics settings: (1) X-Smart Plus (Denstply Maillefer) used in \u2018\u2018WaveOne All\u2019\u2019 or \u2018\u2018Reciproc All\u2019\u2019 setting, according to manufacturer\u2019s instruction; (2) a 4:1 contra-angle (Cefla, Imola, Italy) with an experimental kinematics (Goldspeed EVOE4 \u2014 Cefla, Italy) (EVO) with different rotation angles and based on a sinusoidal acceleration. The time to fracture in an artificial stainless-steel canal (908 angle and a 5-mm radius of curvature) was digitally recorded. Mean life, beta (failure rate) and eta (characteristic life i.e. the number of seconds at which 63.2% of the product has failed) were calculated for each group and compared with Weibull analysis. Results: InstrumentstestedwiththekinematicsEVOpresentedhighervaluesofetainallgroups. Reciproc Blue showed the highest eta value (233.05) and Wave One Gold the lower failure probability (46.98%). Wave One instruments showed similar fatigue resistance when tested with EVO or X-Smart. Conclusion: Tested kinematics with different angles and based on sinusoidal reciprocating acceleration had a positive impact on fatigue lifetime of reciprocating instruments. Present findings suggest the possibility of future improvements in the clinical use of reciprocating files

Antibacterial activity and molecular docking studies of a selected series of Hydroxy-3-arylcoumarins

Antibiotic resistance is one of the main public health concerns of this century. This resistance is also associated with oxidative stress, which could contribute to the selection of resistant bacterial strains. Bearing this in mind, and considering that flavonoid compounds are well known for displaying both activities, we investigated a series of hydroxy-3-arylcoumarins with structural features of flavonoids for their antibacterial activity against different bacterial strains. Active compounds showed selectivity against the studied Gram-positive bacteria compared to Gram-negative bacteria. 5,7-Dihydroxy-3-phenylcoumarin (compound 8) displayed the best antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 11 µg/mL, followed by Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA strain) and Listeria monocytogenes with MICs of 22 and 44 µg/mL, respectively. Moreover, molecular docking studies performed on the most active compounds against Staphylococcus aureus tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase and topoisomerase II DNA gyrase revealed the potential binding mode of the ligands to the site of the appropriate targets. Preliminary structure–activity relationship studies showed that the antibacterial activity can be modulated by the presence of the 3-phenyl ring and by the position of the hydroxyl groups at the coumarin scaffoldThis work was partially supported by a grant from the University of Cagliari (FIR) and by Galician Plan of Research, Innovation and Growth 2011–2015 (Xunta da Galicia Plan I2C, ED481B 2014/086–0 and ED481B 2018/007S

The Use of a Disclosing Agent During Resective Periodontal Surgery for Improved Removal of Biofilm

A total removal of the bacterial deposits is one of the main challenges of periodontal therapy. A surgical approach is sometimes required in order to allow a correct access to the areas not thoroughly reached during the initial therapy. The present study focuses on the surgical scaling effectiveness in root deposits removal; the potential support of a disclosing agent during this procedure is also evaluated. Forty surgical periodontal patients were randomly divided between surgeries where the operator was informed about a final examination of the residual root deposits and surgeries where the operator was not informed. Straight after scaling procedures a supervisor recorded the O’Leary Plaque Index of the exposed roots by mean of a disclosing agent and the percentage of teeth with residual biofilm. After the stained deposits removal, a second chromatic examination was performed and new data were collected. Mann-Whitney U-test and Wilcoxon test for paired samples were used for comparisons respectively between the two surgery groups and the first and the second chromatic examination; one-sided p-value was set at 0.05. At first examination no significant differences between the two groups were observed regarding Plaque Index (p=0.24) and percentages of teeth with residual biofilm (p=0.07). The 100% removal of roots deposits was never achieved during the study but a significant reduction of 80% of root deposits was observed between first and second examination (p=0.0001). Since root deposits removal during periodontal surgery resulted always suboptimal, the use of a disclosing agent during this procedure could be a useful and practical aid

Clinical Features, Cardiovascular Risk Profile, and Therapeutic Trajectories of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Candidate for Oral Semaglutide Therapy in the Italian Specialist Care

Introduction: This study aimed to address therapeutic inertia in the management of type 2 diabetes (T2D) by investigating the potential of early treatment with oral semaglutide. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 2021 and April 2022 among specialists treating individuals with T2D. A scientific committee designed a data collection form covering demographics, cardiovascular risk, glucose control metrics, ongoing therapies, and physician judgments on treatment appropriateness. Participants completed anonymous patient questionnaires reflecting routine clinical encounters. The preferred therapeutic regimen for each patient was also identified. Results: The analysis was conducted on 4449 patients initiating oral semaglutide. The population had a relatively short disease duration (42%  60% of patients, and more often than sitagliptin or empagliflozin. Conclusion: The study supports the potential of early implementation of oral semaglutide as a strategy to overcome therapeutic inertia and enhance T2D management

Matematica e Marineria Accademia e Scuola di Marina nel Regno di Napoli

La storia di una delle più importanti marinerie dell'Italia pre-unitaria attraverso la storia dell'insegnamento delle matematiche praticato nell'Accademia e nelle scuole di marina napoletane. L'Accademia di Marina, istituita a Napoli nel 1735 da Carlo III di Borbone, fu una grande scuola teorica e pratica. In essa, a testimonianza della centralità conferita allo studio delle matematiche, fin dalla sua fondazione vi furono chiamati matematici tra i più insigni del Regno di Napoli. Altrettanto deve dirsi per le scuole nautiche che, istituite originariamente per impartire un mestiere ai giovinetti orfani di marinai, grazie al continuo incremento dello studio delle matematiche, divennero via via scuole addette alla formazione e all'addestramento di figure professionali qualificate da impiegare nei vari compiti di una marineria, militare e mercantile, in continua evoluzione

Le carte di Domenico Chelini dell'Archivio Generale delle Scuole Pie e la Corrispondenza Chelini-Cremona (1863-1878)

Il ritrovamento delle carte di Domenico Chelini nell'Archivio delle Scuole Pie di Roma ha consentito di ricostruire aspetti inediti della vita e dell'opera di questo matematico lucchese, uno dei pochi professori universitari ad essere epurato all'alba dell'Unità d'Italia. In questo volume, oltre alla ricostruzione di vicende che vanno a completare la biografia del Chelini, si è pubblicato l'inventario particolareggiato delle sue carte, ricche di notizie e di aspetti scientifici, nonché 35 lettere a lui scritte da Luigi Cremona e 3 da lui scritte a quest'ultimo. Queste lettere consentono di conoscere aspetti per niente noti della vita privata e scientifica dei due interlocutori, e allo stesso tempo fanno luce su molti avvenimenti che caratterizzarono la vita matematica italiana del tempo

Le carte di Domenico Chelini dell'Archivio Generale delle Scuole Pie e la corrispondenza Chelini-Cremona (1863-1878)

il ritrovamento delle carte di Domenico Chelini nell'Archivio Generale delle Scuole Pie di Roma ha consentito di ricostruire aspetti inediti della vita e dell'opera di questo matematico lucchese, uno dei pochi professori universitari ad essere epurato all'alba dell'unità d'Italia. In questo volume, oltre alla ricostruzione delle vicende che vanno a completare la biografia di Chelini, si è pubblicato l'inventario delle sue carte, ricche di notizie e di aspetti scientifici, nonchè le lettere a lui scritte da Luigi Cremona. Queste lettere consentono di conoscere aspetti poco noti della vita privata e scientifica dei due interlocutori, e allo stesso tempo fanno luce su molti avvenimenti che caratterizzarono la vita matematica italiana del tempo

I carteggi Cesàro-Torelli, Landau-Torelli

In questo lavoro descriviamo il fondo del matematico napoletano Gabriele Torelli, conservato a Firenze, e presentiamo le lettere che Cesàro e Landau scrissero a Torelli tra il 1884 e il 1905. La corrispondenza tratta soprattutto di alcune questioni relative alle loro ricerche in teoria dei numeri. Un altro tema discusso nelle lettere è la composizione di alcuni importanti testi universitari. Molto spazio è dedicato anche a varie questioni concernenti concorsi universitari