Antifungal Efficacy of Sodium Hypochlorite and Four Intracanal Medicaments: An in vitro Evaluation

Objective: To evaluate the effect of 2.5% sodium hypochlorite and four intracanal medications on Candida albicans harvested inside root canals. Materials and methods: The contaminated canals were irrigated with sterile saline and then treated as follows: filled with (1) calcium hydroxide and saline, (2) calcium hydroxide and 2% chlorhexidine gluconate, (3) zinc oxide and 2% chlorhexidine gluconate, (4) amphotericin B powder and distilled water, (5) irrigation with 2.5% sodium hypochlorite with no medication and (6) no intracanal medication. Canal access and apex were sealed with cavit and the roots were stored in an incubator at 37 ± 1°C for 14 days. The canals were reinstrumented and irrigated with saline. Sterile paper points were used to transfer the root canal contents to test tubes containing saline. Part of the suspension was harvested on Sabouraud dextrose agar with chloramphenicol and incubated at 37 ± 1°C for 48 hours. Results: Group 5 was effective in 90% of the samples and least effective was group 1 (50% effective). Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, long-term intracanal medication was important to eliminate microorganisms especially Candida albicans present inside root canal.&nbsp

Stress-state dependent cohesive model for fatigue crack growth

In the cohesive framework, a stress-state dependent cohesive model, combined with an irreversible damage parameter has been used in simulation of fatigue crack growth initiation and continued growth. The model is implemented as interface elements and plane strain simulations of crack initiation and growth under cyclic loading are performed. The stressstate of neighboring continuum elements is used in the traction-separation behavior of the cohesive elements. The model is shown to be able to reproduce the typical initiation life as well as fatigue crack growth curves. Further, the effect of the cohesive fatigue parameter on the initiation life and crack growth rates is established. KEYWORDS. Cohesive zone model; Fatigue; Triaxiality; Stress state

Impacts of biomedical hashtag-based Twitter campaign: #DHPSP utilization for promotion of open innovation in digital health, patient safety, and personalized medicine

The open innovation hub Digital Health and Patient Safety Platform (DHPSP) was recently established with the purpose to invigorate collaborative scientific research and the development of new digital products and personalized solutions aiming to improve human health and patient safety. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a Twitter-based campaign centered on using the hashtag #DHPSP to promote the visibility of the DHPSP initiative. Thus, tweets containing #DHPSP were monitored for five weeks for the period 20.10.2020–24.11.2020 and were analyzed with Symplur Signals (social media analytics tool). In the study period, a total of 11,005 tweets containing #DHPSP were posted by 3020 Twitter users, generating 151,984,378 impressions. Analysis of the healthcare stakeholder-identity of the Twitter users who used #DHPSP revealed that the most of participating user accounts belonged to individuals or doctors, with the top three user locations being the United States (501 users), the United Kingdom (155 users), and India (121 users). Analysis of co-occurring hashtags and the full text of the posted tweets further revealed that the major themes of attention in the #DHPSP Twitter-community were related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), medicine and health, digital health technologies, and science communication in general. Overall, these results indicate that the #DHPSP initiative achieved high visibility and engaged a large body of Twitter users interested in the DHPSP focus area. Moreover, the conducted campaign resulted in an increase of DHPSP member enrollments and website visitors, and new scientific collaborations were formed. Thus, Twitter campaigns centered on a dedicated hashtag prove to be a highly efficient tool for visibility-promotion, which could be successfully utilized by healthcare-related open innovation platforms or initiatives

The International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce (INPST) and the power of Twitter networking exemplified through #INPST hashtag analysis

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled "International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce" (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring together in collaborative environment individuals and organizations interested in natural product scientific research, and to empower their interactions by using digital communication tools. Methods: In this work, we present a general overview of INPST activities and showcase the specific use of Twitter as a powerful networking tool that was used to host a one-week "2021 INPST Twitter Networking Event" (spanning from 31st May 2021 to 6th June 2021) based on the application of the Twitter hashtag #INPST. Results and Conclusion: The use of this hashtag during the networking event period was analyzed with Symplur Signals (https://www.symplur.com/), revealing a total of 6,036 tweets, shared by 686 users, which generated a total of 65,004,773 impressions (views of the respective tweets). This networking event's achieved high visibility and participation rate showcases a convincing example of how this social media platform can be used as a highly effective tool to host virtual Twitter-based international biomedical research events