Assessment of Oral Stereognosis and Denture Satisfaction in Old Denture Wearers: A Retrospective Study

OBJECTIVES Stereognosis has been investigated occasionally to predict the prognosis of treatment with complete dentures. This study evaluated oral stereognosis and satisfaction levels in completely edentate patients wearing prostheses for at least three months. METHODOLOGY From November 2014 and January 2016, data from 322 patients' follow-up visits were collected from records of the Prosthodontics department at Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro. Denture satisfaction was assessed using a self-structured proforma, and oral stereognosis was measured using different-shaped objects made from self-cure acrylic resin, kept in the oral cavity without showing them to the patient. The frequency of qualitative variables was determined for data analysis, and a chi-square test was applied. Significant P-values were defined as those less than 0. RESULTSThe male-to-female ratio was 1.2:1, with 50.9% wearing a prosthesis for less than a year and the minimum range being 3-6 years (13.66 %). Only 31 had stereognosis positive but were completely satisfied with their prosthesis, while 85 who were unsatisfied were found to have positive sensory perception. Statistical analysis for all groups shows a p-value of 0.000 for patient satisfaction with denture wear which is statistically significant. Most patients with the least duration of wear found their stereognosis positive and were unsatisfied with the prosthesis and vice versa. The chi-square test shows a statistically significant value for both groups of stereognosis i-e 0.0001.. CONCLUSION Patients with the shortest period of wear were found to be more dissatisfied, but their oral perception remained intact, while those with more experience complained less but had reduced stereognosis

Modeling and simulation of PI-Fuzzy Control on Gas Pilot Plant via Matlab/Simulink and Industrial PC

PID controllers are most commonly used in the industrial plants because of their good performance and easiness of use. Due to growth technology, new advanced techniques have come into existence either to produce new things or to improve existing ones. Several techniques can be used but having advanced control system, we are looking forward to design system which behaves in the same way as to what human do, and this is known as artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence techniques have been used to convert human experience into a form understandable by computers. Intelligent systems are usually describes by analogies with biological systems, for example looking at human beings perform control tasks, recognize patterns, or make decisions. Notably fuzzy logic emerged as a tool to deal with uncertain, imprecise or qualitative decision making problem, controllers that combine intelligent and conventional techniques are commonly used in the intelligent control of complex dynamic systems. In this work the pilot fuzzy control used to improve existing traditional control systems by adding and an extra layer of intelligence to current control method to make it more efficient, the focus of this work is to design, analysis and implementation of PI-fuzzy control on a gas pilot plant using industrial PC

RAMP: RDMA Migration Platform

Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) can be used to implement a shared storage abstraction or a shared-nothing abstraction for distributed applications. We argue that the shared storage abstraction is overkill for loosely coupled applications and that the shared-nothing abstraction does not leverage all the benefits of RDMA. In this thesis, we propose an alternative abstraction for such applications using a shared-on-demand architecture, and present the RDMA Migration Platform (RAMP). RAMP is a lightweight coordination service for building loosely coupled distributed applications. This thesis describes the RAMP system, its programming model and operations, and evaluates the performance of RAMP using microbenchmarks. Furthermore, we illustrate RAMPs load balancing capabilities with a case study of a loosely coupled application that uses RAMP to balance a partition skew under load

Climate Change and Drought: Impact of Food Insecurity on Gender Based Vulnerability in District Tharparkar

Climate change has now become a reality that has intensified the sufferings of people living in arid ecosystems. Decrease in rainfall, rise in temperature and increase in the frequency of extreme events are some of the changes observed in the semi-arid desert of district Tharparkar. For thousands of years, people of Tharparkar are coping with drought and aridity of the land by using indigenous knowledge. However, global changes in the climatic pattern and deterioration of social and economic conditions have pushed the inhabitants of this arid region into extreme vulnerable situation. This paper investigates the link between climate-induced natural disasters, particularly drought, from the perspective of changing climate patterns which have resulted in food insecurity and water scarcity. The paper analyses the rainfall pattern in the last 38 years—dividing it into two periods i.e. from 1975-1994 and 1995-2014. The findings of the paper have challenged the prevailing notions about aridity and rainfall patterns in Tharparkar district. The research found that there is an increase in average annual precipitation in the district with erratic patterns. Thus, the nature of drought in the district has changed from its historic pattern of less or no rainfall to more but erratic rainfall that is more threatening to livelihoods of the people that in turn have multiplier effect on water and food insecurity. In particularly, women are more vulnerable in the absence of social security and lack of basic necessities for their survival amidst drought. For instance, traditionally the burden of managing water resources falls on women, which leads to an increased work load during the time of drought and also water scarcity. JEL Classification: Q54, Q56, Q25, I30 Keywords: Climate, Environment and Development, Drought, Water, Povert

Taking Synchrony Seriously: A Perceptual-Level Model of Infant Synchrony Detection

Synchrony detection between different sensory and/or motor channels appears critically important for young infant learning and cognitive development. For example, empirical studies demonstrate that audio-visual synchrony aids in language acquisition. In this paper we compare these infant studies with a model of synchrony detection based on the Hershey and Movellan (2000) algorithm augmented with methods for quantitative synchrony estimation. Four infant-model comparisons are presented, using audio-visual stimuli of increasing complexity. While infants and the model showed learning or discrimination with each type of stimuli used, the model was most successful with stimuli comprised of one audio and one visual source, and also with two audio sources and a dynamic-face visual motion source. More difficult for the model were stimuli conditions with two motion sources, and more abstract visual dynamics—an oscilloscope instead of a face. Future research should model the developmental pathway of synchrony detection. Normal audio-visual synchrony detection in infants may be experience-dependent (e.g., Bergeson, et al., 2004)

Skeletal manifestations of scurvy: A case report from dubai

Introduction: Nutritional deficiencies are rarely reported in developed countries. We report a child of Pakistani origin brought up in Dubai who developed skeletal manifestations of scurvy due to peculiar dietary habits. Case Presentation: A 4.5 year old boy presented with pain and swelling of multiple joints for three months and inability to walk for two months. Dietary history was significant for exclusive meat intake for the preceding two years. On examination the child\u27s height and weight were below the 5th percentile for his age. He was pale and tachycardic. There was significant swelling and tenderness over the wrist, knee and ankle joints, along with painful restriction of motion. Basic blood workup was unremarkable except for anemia. However, X-rays showed delayed bone age, severe osteopenia of the long bones, epiphyseal separation, cortical thinning and dense zone of provisional calcification, suggesting a radiological diagnosis of scurvy. The child was started on vitamin C replacement therapy. Over the following two months, the pain and swelling substantially reduced and the child became able to walk. Repeat X-rays showed improvement in the bony abnormalities. Conclusion: Although scurvy is not a very commonly encountered entity in the modern era, inappropriate dietary intake can lead to skeletal abnormalities which may be confused with rickets. A high index of suspicion is thus required for prompt diagnosis of scurvy in patients with bone and joint symptoms

Ultrasound-guided Intralesional Bleomycin Injection (IBI) for Treatment of Cutaneous Hemangiomas and Vascular Malformations

Purpose: To report the therapeutic outcome of ultrasound-guided intralesional injection of bleomycin in the treatment of cutaneous hemangiomas and vascular malformations. Material & Methods: The medical records of patients with cutaneous hemangiomas and vascular malformations treated with the intralesional injection of bleomycin under ultrasound guidance between August 2009 and June 2013 at the Indus Hospital, Karachi were reviewed retrospectively using a computerized medical record information management system. Data were extracted using a pre-coded performa that included patient demographics, type and location of lesion, number of treatments, presenting/pre- and post-treatment clinical symptoms (pain, swelling, heaviness, size, discoloration), ultrasound appearance and vascularity, and post-treatment side effects. The dose range of bleomycin was 0.5-1.0 mg/kg, but not exceeding 15 mg in a single session. A maximum of four treatments were given in any given patient except for one, who presented with recurrence after a year of complete resolution. Therapeutic outcome was determined using review of ultrasound images and recorded clinical assessment. Treatment response was categorized as: (i) complete resolution [more than 90% reduction]; (ii) substantial reduction [more than 50% reduction]; (iii) mild reduction [25% reduction]; or, (iv) no improvement [ \u3c 10% reduction]. Results: A total of 30 patients (16 female, 14 male), ranging in age from 8 months to 48 years (mean age 10.2 years), were treated from 2009 to 2013. There were 23 hemangiomas. Seven were vascular malformations, of which five were lymphatic malformations and two were venous malformations. Twenty-eight lesions were located in the head and neck region, and two were peripheral.. In 24 of the 30 patients (76%), treatment had been completed. In six patients (21%) treatment was ongoing at the time of this report. Seventeen of the 23 hemangiomas (74%) were completely resolved clinically and on ultrasound, five (22%) showed substantial improvement and one (4%) showed mild improvement. In five of the seven vascular malformations (71%) lymphatic malformations resolved completely, and two (29%) venous malformations showed substantial improvement. Of the 13 patients presenting with discoloration, there was complete resolution in one (7.7%), marked reduction in 11 (84.6%) and mild reduction in one (7.7%). Of seven patients presenting with pain, there was complete resolution in two (28.6%), marked reduction in two (28.6%), mild reduction in two (28.6%), and no improvement in one (14.3%). There were no pulmonary complications. Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided intralesional injection of bleomycin is an option to consider for the treatment of certain types of cutaneous hemangiomas and vascular malformations. Prospective studies should be undertaken to understand the various factors contributing to therapeutic success