Root canal treatment of traumatized permanent teeth with external root resorption

External root resorption is an important challenge in the preservation of traumatized teeth. External root resorption is observed in cases of replanted teeth from dental trauma. Root canal dressing containing calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) is one recommended clinical approach for external root resorption treatment. However, complete control of external resorption may not be possible due to certain factors, such as the smear layer, which is formed by reaming and filing during root canal treatments. The smear layer plugs dentinal tubules and inhibits the effects of Ca(OH)2 as a root canal dressing material. Our study showed that root canal irrigation with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) with an ultrasonic device is the most effective method to remove the smear layer. Additionally, we observed an alkaline environment at the outer root surface due to ion diffusion from Ca(OH)2 following this treatment. As a result, the combined use of EDTA and NaOCl with an ultrasonic device for root canal irrigation led to good control of external root resorption

Non-Gaussian athermal fluctuations in active gels

Dynamic networks designed to model the cell cytoskeleton can be reconstituted from filamentous actin, the motor protein myosin and a permanent cross-linker. They are driven out of equilibrium when the molecular motors are active. This gives rise to athermal fluctuations that can be recorded by tracking probe particles that are dispersed in the network. We have here probed athermal fluctuations in such “active gels” using video microrheology. We have measured the full distribution of probe displacements, also known as the van Hove correlation function. The dominant influence of thermal or athermal fluctuations can be detected by varying the lag time over which the displacements are measured. We argue that the exponential tails of the distribution derive from single motors close to the probes, and we extract an estimate of the velocity of motor heads along the actin filaments. The distribution exhibits a central Gaussian region which we assume derives from the action of many independent motor proteins far from the probe particles when athermal fluctuations dominate. Recording the whole distribution rather than just the typically measured second moment of probe fluctuations (mean-squared displacement) thus allowed us to differentiate between the effect of individual motors and the collective action of many motors

Risk Factors for Severity of Pneumothorax after CT-Guided Percutaneous Lung Biopsy using the Single-Needle Method

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the risk factors for the severity of pneumothorax after computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous lung biopsy using the single-needle method. We reviewed 91 biopsy procedures for 90 intrapulmonary lesions in 89 patients. Patient factors were age, sex, history of ipsilateral lung surgery and grade of emphysema. Lesion factors were size, location and pleural contact. Procedure factors were position, needle type, needle size, number of pleural punctures, pleural angle, length of needle passes in the aerated lung and number of harvesting samples. The severity of pneumothorax after biopsy was classified into 4 groups: "none", "mild", "moderate" and "severe". The risk factors for the severity of pneumothorax were determined by multivariate analyzing of the factors derived from univariate analysis. Pneumothorax occurred in 39 (43%) of the 91 procedures. Mild, moderate, and severe pneumothorax occurred in 24 (26%), 8 (9%) and 7 (8%) of all procedures, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that location, pleural contact, number of pleural punctures and number of harvesting samples were significantly associated with the severity of pneumothorax (p<0.05). In conclusion, lower locations and non-pleural contact lesions, increased number of pleural punctures and increased number of harvesting samples presented a higher severity of pneumothorax