Surface roughness and Streptococcus mutans adhesion on surface sealant agent coupled interim crown materials after dynamic loading.

BACKGROUND With the application of surface sealant agents, smooth surfaces can be achieved in a shorter time when compared with conventional polishing. However, studies on the performance of these agents against chewing forces are not many. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the surface roughness and Streptococcus mutans adhesion on surface sealent coupled interim prosthetic materials after chewing simulation. METHODS One hundred and twelve specimens were fabricated from two poly(methyl methacrylate) (Tab 2000, Dentalon Plus) and two bis-acryl (Tempofit, Protemp 4) interim crown materials and divided into 4 groups (n = 7) according to applied surface treatment: conventional polishing (control) and 3 surface sealant (Palaseal, Optiglaze, Biscover) coupling methods. The surface roughness values (Ra) were measured with a profilometer before (Ra0) and after aging through dynamic loading in a multifunctional chewing simulator for 10,000 cycles at 50 N load combined with integral thermocycling (between 5 and 55 °C) (Ra1). Specimens were incubated with Streptococcus mutans suspension and the total number of adherent bacteria was calculated by multiplying the counted bacterial colonies with the dilution coefficient. RESULTS Surface sealant agent application significantly decreased the surface roughness compared with conventionally polished specimens, except for Optiglaze or BisCover LV applied Protemp 4 and Palaseal or Biscover LV applied Tempofit. Surface roughness after dynamic loading showed a statistically significant increase in all groups, except for the control groups of Tab 2000 and Protemp 4. A positive correlation was found between surface roughness values of interim prosthodontic materials and the quantitiy of Streptococcus Mutans. CONCLUSIONS Even though surface sealant agent application significantly decreased the surface roughness compared with conventionally polished specimens, dynamic loading significantly increased the surface roughness of all surface sealant coupled materials. The Ra values of all test groups were higher than the plaque accumulation threshold (0.20 µm). Streptococcus mutans adhered more on rougher surfaces

ANP application for evaluating Turkish mobile communication operators

The proposed decision model, based on Analytic Network Process (ANP), has been developed in order to determine the dynamics of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) market. In accordance with the sequence of ANP, first of all, the problem was structured and modeled. At the next step, a quantitative analysis was conducted with the customers in order to assess the importance of the related factors and forecast the market shares of the Turkish mobile communication operators. The forecasted market share values were compared with actual ones for the validation of the decision model. The assessed importance of the factors in a valid model would be a potential competitive advantage for the mobile operators

ANP application for evaluating Turkish mobile communication operators

The proposed decision model, based on Analytic Network Process (ANP), has been developed in order to determine the dynamics of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) market. In accordance with the sequence of ANP, first of all, the problem was structured and modeled. At the next step, a quantitative analysis was conducted with the customers in order to assess the importance of the related factors and forecast the market shares of the Turkish mobile communication operators. The forecasted market share values were compared with actual ones for the validation of the decision model. The assessed importance of the factors in a valid model would be a potential competitive advantage for the mobile operators

[YouTube as an informational source for brachial plexus blocks: evaluation of content and educational value].

YouTube, the most popular video-sharing website, contains a significant number of medical videos including brachial plexus nerve blocks. Despite the widespread use of this platform as a medical information source, there is no regulation for the quality or content of the videos. The goals of this study are to evaluate the content of material on YouTube relevant to performance of brachial plexus nerve blocks and its quality as a visual digital information source

25-Hydroxy vitamin D levels in premenopausal Turkish women with uterine leiomyoma

We aimed to evaluate the relationship between serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels and the risk of uterine fibroids in premenopausal women in Turkish population in this prospective observational cross-sectional study. Sixty-eight women with at least one uterine leiomyoma >= 10 mm were compared with 56 healthy controls. Serum 25-(OH) vitamin D-3 levels were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. The groups were similar in terms of age, BMI, gravidity and parity numbers. The mean level of 25-(OH) D3 were 7.28 +/- 4.94 ng/ml and 78% of patients (n=97) had severe vitamin D deficiency (<10 ng/mL). Vitamin D levels were significantly lower in the study group (6.54 +/- 4.66 ng/ml vs. 8.18 +/- 5.16 ng/ml, respectively; p=.009). Vitamin D levels were not correlated with size, volume, localization and number of leiomyomas. Traditional covered clothing style, low education level and being housewife were risk factors for Vitamin D deficiency. This is the first study that investigates the vitamin D levels in women with leiomyomas in Turkish population. Influence of vitamin D on uterine leiomyoma formation to may lead to new preventive strategies in the future

Are the cesarean section skin scar characteristics associated with intraabdominal adhesions located at surgical and non-surgical sites

Objective: To investigate whether skin scar characteristics are associated with the presence and severity of abdominal or pelvic adhesions in women who have undergone previous cesarean section

Lightweight, mobile free-space optical communications in disaster scenarios for transmission of Earth observation data: feasibility study

Free-space optical (FSO) links are an effective alternative to radio frequency (RF) to handle high-rate data transmission in case of a general communication service failure in disaster scenarios. Establishing high data rate links under the impacts of extreme environmental conditions, like the unregulated RF spectrum, is a very challenging issue. This paper focuses on multicopter (e.g., quadrocopter or hexacopter) based earth observation systems. Its main objective is to show that FSO communication can provide a high-rate link for transmitting earth observation data from a multicopter to a ground station, even under environmental disaster conditions. Before analyzing the feasibility of such an optical multicopter system, the main system structure will be discussed in detail. Several system designs will be compared and evaluated based on link budget calculations. In this process, a novel Grating Light Valve (GLV) retroreflector modulator technology will be introduced in this work. The study will emphasize that a reliable 100 Mbit/s FSO data transmission will be feasible to provide a downlink capacity for multicopter based earth observation systems

Risk Factors of Prolonged Hospitalization in Patients with Hyperemesis Gravidarum

Purpose: To evaluate the risk factors of prolonged hospitalization in patients with hyperemesis gravidarum (HEG). Material and Methods: The medical records of 114 patients who were admitted to the Zekai Tahir Burak Womens Health Education and Research Hospital with a diagnosis of HEG in the period January 2013 to June 2014 were analyzed retrospectively. Hospital stay of more than 4 days was considered as prolonged hospitalization. Ninety -three patients with HEG who needed hospitalization less than four days formed the control group and 21 patients with HEG who needed hospitalization equal to or longer than four days formed the study group. The variables regarding age, body mass index, week of pregnancy, number of parity, daily vomiting number, number of days in hospital, need of combined antiemetic use, complete blood count, biochemistry markers, hormone tests, urine analysis were evaluated to assess their relationship with the risk factors for prolonged hospitalization in patients with HEG. Results: Twenty-one of 114 patients diagnosed with HEG had a prolonged hospital stay, with a mean stay of 5.1 days. Age, body mass index, week of pregnancy, need of using combined antiemetics, complete blood count parameters, liver and kidney function tests were not associated with the duration of hospitalization. Daily vomiting, maternal serum TSH levels and blood urea nitrogen levels were 2.4 +/- 1.3 vs 4.2 +/- 1.9; p= 0.01, 1.19 +/- 0.71 vs 0.82 +/- 0.67; p= 0.04, 21.2 +/- 6.4 vs 18.1 +/- 5.3; p= 0.03; respectively, and these differences were found to be statistically significant among groups. The serum maternal TSH < 0.1 and micro;IU/mL and vomiting and #8805; 5 per day were found to be significant indicators for longer hospitalization (OR = 4.05, 95%CI = 1.07-15.3; P <0.05, OR=9.55, 95%CI = 1.81-50.4 P <0.05; respectively). Conclusion: Number of vomiting per day and maternal serum TSH levels could help physicians to estimate the risk of prolonged hospitalization; however further investigations are needed in large population studies. Identifying the high risk patients is important both for prevention of HEG and beginning appropriate antiemetic treatment to avoid complications to reduce the economic costs. [Cukurova Med J 2015; 40(1.000): 113-118

Eyeliner in Bladder: A Case Report

Intravesical foreign objects in bladder are really seen rarely. Most of the time, the reasons of insertions of the foreign body are self-autoerotism to iatrogenic urological procedures, migration from surrounding organs or trauma. It can damage the bladder and may result in several urogenital and bowel complications. Herein, we present a case in a 42-year-old female with an eyeliner pencil self-introduced into the urethra with successfully removal of eyeliner from bladder despite to the anamnesis given involuntarily due to embarrassment, guilt and humiliation. [Cukurova Med J 2015; 40(1.000): 158-161