Dental Implant Systems

Among various dental materials and their successful applications, a dental implant is a good example of the integrated system of science and technology involved in multiple disciplines including surface chemistry and physics, biomechanics, from macro-scale to nano-scale manufacturing technologies and surface engineering. As many other dental materials and devices, there are crucial requirements taken upon on dental implants systems, since surface of dental implants is directly in contact with vital hard/soft tissue and is subjected to chemical as well as mechanical bio-environments. Such requirements should, at least, include biological compatibility, mechanical compatibility, and morphological compatibility to surrounding vital tissues. In this review, based on carefully selected about 500 published articles, these requirements plus MRI compatibility are firstly reviewed, followed by surface texturing methods in details. Normally dental implants are placed to lost tooth/teeth location(s) in adult patients whose skeleton and bony growth have already completed. However, there are some controversial issues for placing dental implants in growing patients. This point has been, in most of dental articles, overlooked. This review, therefore, throws a deliberate sight on this point. Concluding this review, we are proposing a novel implant system that integrates materials science and up-dated surface technology to improve dental implant systems exhibiting bio- and mechano-functionalities

Sonocrystallisation of Lactose in an Aqueous System

Although research on sonocrystallisation of lactose has been reported in the literature (yield and crystal size), the effect of ultrasound variables on nucleation and growth rate of lactose have not been studied. In this study, lactose crystallisation with ultrasound was compared with mechanical agitation using the induction time method at 22 °C. Ultrasound had a significant effect in reducing induction times and narrowing the metastable zone width but had no effect on individual crystal growth rate or morphology. A rapid decrease in induction time was observed up to 0.46 Wg-1 power density. Sonication up to 3 min decreased the induction time, but no further reduction was observed beyond 3 min. It was not possible to generate the nucleation rates achieved by sonication using agitation alone. 1 min sonication at 0.46 Wg1 power density followed by continuous stirring was found to be the optimum under the experimental conditions tested

Metatarsophalangeal joint pain in psoriatic arthritis: a cross-sectional study

Methods. Thirty-four consecutive patients with PsA (mean age 45.3 years, 65% female, mean disease duration 9.9 years) and 22 control participants (mean age 37.9 years, 64% female) underwent clinical and US examination to determine the presence of pain, swelling, synovitis, erosions, effusions and submetatarsal bursae at the MTP joints. Mean barefoot peak plantar pressures were determined at each MTP joint. Levels of pain, US-determined pathology and peak pressures were compared between groups. Binary logistic regression was used to identify demographic, clinical examination-derived, US-derived and plantar pressure predictors of pain at the MTP joints in the PsA group. Results. The presence of pain, deformity, synovitis, erosions (P < 0.001) and submetatarsal bursae and peak plantar pressure at MTP 3 (P < 0.05) were significantly higher in the PsA group. MTP joint pain in PsA was independently predicted by high BMI, female gender and the presence of joint subluxation, synovitis and erosion. Conclusion. These results suggest local inflammatory and structural factors, together with systemic factors (gender, BMI), are predominantly responsible for painful MTP joints in PsA, with no clear role for plantar pressure characteristics

Existence Theorem for a Fractal Sturm-Liouville Problem

In this article, using a new calculus defined on fractal subsets of the set of real numbers, a Sturm-Lioville type problem is discussed, namely the fractal Sturm-Liouville problem. The existence and uniqueness theorem has been proved for such equations. In this context, the historical development of the subject is discussed in the introduction. In Section 2, the basic concepts of Fα -calculus defined on fractal subsets of real numbers are given, i.e., Fα -continuity, Fα -derivative and fractal integral definitions are given and some theorems to be used in the article are given. In Section 3, the existence and uniqueness of the solutions for the fractal Sturm-Liouville problem are obtained by using the successive approximations method. Thus, the well-known existence and uniqueness problem for Sturm-Liouville equations in ordinary calculus is handled on the fractal calculus axis, and the existing results are generalized

Prognostic relevance of acquired uniparental disomy in serous ovarian cancer

BACKGROUND: Acquired uniparental disomy (aUPD) can lead to homozygosity for tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes. Our purpose is to determine the frequency and profile aUPD regions in serous ovarian cancer (SOC) and investigated the association of aUPD with clinical features and patient outcomes.METHODS: We analyzed single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array-based genotyping data on 532 SOC specimens from The Cancer Genome Atlas database to identify aUPD regions. Cox univariate regression and Cox multivariate proportional hazards analyses were performed for survival analysis.RESULTS: We found that 94.7% of SOC samples harbored aUPD; the most common aUPD regions were in chromosomes 17q (76.7%), 17p (39.7%), and 13q (38.3%). In Cox univariate regression analysis, two independent regions of aUPD on chromosome 17q (A and C), and whole-chromosome aUPD were associated with shorter overall survival (OS), and five regions on chromosome 17q (A, D-G) and BRCA1 were associated with recurrence-free survival time. In Cox multivariable proportional hazards analysis, whole-chromosome aUPD was associated with shorter OS. One region of aUPD on chromosome 22q (B) was associated with unilateral disease. A statistically significant association was found between aUPD at TP53 loci and homozygous mutation of TP53 (p < 0.0001).CONCLUSIONS: aUPD is a common event and some recurrent loci are associated with a poor outcome for patients with serous ovarian cancer

Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) EST and SSR marker development, annotation, and transferability

Orchardgrass, or cocksfoot [Dactylis glomerata (L.)], has been naturalized on nearly every continent and is a commonly used species for forage and hay production. All major cultivated varieties of orchardgrass are autotetraploid, and few tools or information are available for functional and comparative genetic analyses and improvement of the species. To improve the genetic resources for orchardgrass, we have developed an EST library and SSR markers from salt, drought, and cold stressed tissues. The ESTs were bi-directionally sequenced from clones and combined into 17,373 unigenes. Unigenes were annotated based on putative orthology to genes from rice, Triticeae grasses, other Poaceae, Arabidopsis, and the non-redundant database of the NCBI. Of 1,162 SSR markers developed, approximately 80% showed amplification products across a set of orchardgrass germplasm, and 40% across related Festuca and Lolium species. When orchardgrass subspecies were genotyped using 33 SSR markers their within-accession similarity values ranged from 0.44 to 0.71, with Mediterranean accessions having a higher similarity. The total number of genotyped bands was greater for tetraploid accessions compared to diploid accessions. Clustering analysis indicated grouping of Mediterranean subspecies and central Asian subspecies, while the D. glomerata ssp. aschersoniana was closest related to three cultivated varieties

Gaining strategic insights into Logistics 4.0: expectations and impacts

YesThe developments brought by Industry 4.0 have spread to various components in a supply chain, where logistics is of utmost importance due to the intermediate role of logistics service providers (LSPs) operating among different actors. Despite such a vital role, the extant literature lacks from the extensive analysis of Industry 4.0 implementations in the logistics industry, particularly for LSPs. Accordingly, this study sets out to investigate, comprehensively, Industry 4.0 projections in logistics and their reflections on LSPs by adopting a multidimensional approach. In this respect, the key themes influenced by Industry 4.0 developments are initially determined through a structured survey conducted in the Turkish logistics industry. Then, in the same industry, both the probabilities and the impacts of Industry 4.0-focused thematic statements are examined through an integrative interview survey, which also incorporates ‘why-type’ of questions. Consequently, this study offers academic implications in terms of demonstrating possible changes in the logistics industry from the operational, financial, and human resources aspects. Additionally, the findings serve as a reference for logistics professionals while fostering their competitive Industry 4.0 initiatives and facilitating their strategic decisions

Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) EST and SSR marker development, annotation, and transferability.

Orchardgrass, or cocksfoot [Dactylis glomerata (L.)], has been naturalized on nearly every continent and is a commonly used species for forage and hay production. All major cultivated varieties of orchardgrass are autotetraploid, and few tools or information are available for functional and comparative genetic analyses and improvement of the species. To improve the genetic resources for orchardgrass, we have developed an EST library and SSR markers from salt, drought, and cold stressed tissues. The ESTs were bi-directionally sequenced from clones and combined into 17,373 unigenes. Unigenes were annotated based on putative orthology to genes from rice, Triticeae grasses, other Poaceae, Arabidopsis, and the non-redundant database of the NCBI. Of 1,162 SSR markers developed, approximately 80% showed amplification products across a set of orchardgrass germplasm, and 40% across related Festuca and Lolium species. When orchardgrass subspecies were genotyped using 33 SSR markers their within-accession similarity values ranged from 0.44 to 0.71, with Mediterranean accessions having a higher similarity. The total number of genotyped bands was greater for tetraploid accessions compared to diploid accessions. Clustering analysis indicated grouping of Mediterranean subspecies and central Asian subspecies, while the D. glomerata ssp. aschersoniana was closest related to three cultivated varieties

Erdheim Chester disease presented isolated breast and axillary involvement

Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare non-Langerhans cell histiocytosis of unknown aetiology. The most common sites of involvement are the long bones, skin, orbit, pituitary and retroperitoneal space. Isolated breast involvement is rare in the literature. ECD of the breast has been rarely reported. ECD should be considered in the differential diagnosis of histiocytoid breast lesions, including fat necrosis and histiocytoid invasive mammary carcinoma. In this case report, we present an unusual presentation isolated breast involvement of ECD with radiological and histopathology findings