Growth kinetics and characterization of human dental pulp stem cells: comparison between third molar and first premolar teeth

Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) play an important role in tissue regeneration. This study compares the growth kinetics and characterization of third molar and first premolar human DPSCs. Dental pulp tissues were isolated from human first premolar and third molar teeth and were digested by treating them with collagenase type I. Single-cell suspensions from each dental pulp were seeded in T25 culture flasks and the media were replaced every 3 days until 70% confluence. The cells were enumerated to determine the population doubling time (PDT). Cells were characterized using flow cytometry, RT-PCR and osteogenic medium for differentiation of DPSCs. Karyotyping assay was also performed till passage 7th. The DPSCs had spindle-shaped morphology. There was an increase in PDT in third molar DPSCs when compared to first premolar teeth. Positive expression of CD44, CD73, and CD90 and negative expression of CD34 and CD45 were illustrated. A normal karyotype was visible for all seven passages. The Alizarin red staining was positive for osteogenic induction of DPSCs. When DPSCs are needed, third molar teeth can be a good and convenient candidate for cell transplantation, yielding high number of cells with mesenchymal characteristics. They can be a source for further investigations in vitro and work on tissue engineering protocols

Evaluation of the Quality of Hospital Services from Patients' Perspective Based on SERVQUAL Model in a Selected Teaching Hospital in Kerman: A Case Study

Background & Objectives: Evaluation of the quality of hospitals services is very valuable. The results of evaluations can be useful to healthcare providers and patients by identifying the gap between the current and the desired status. SERVQUAL model is one of the methods for assessing the quality of health care services. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of services in a selected teaching hospital in Kerman city, from the perspective of patients. Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted in a cross-sectional manner from October to March 2017 in a selected teaching hospital in Kerman. The study population included 83 patients with a history of hospitalization who were selected using convenience sampling. Data were collected using a SERVQUAL model. Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation, independent t-test, and ANOVA by SPSS version 22. Results: The average age of patients was 43.78±12.43 years. The quality of hospital services was improved compared to previous years. The highest and the lowest mean were related to "Tangibles" (4.04±0.58) and "Empathy" (3.84±0.46), respectively. There was a significant relationship between service quality and gender (P=0.01) and educational level (P<0.001). Conclusion: Healthcare managers should use the results of such studies to plan and allocate optimal hospital resources and increase the quality of their services. Should improve the level of patients' satisfaction by directing resources towards areas affecting patients' perception and experience. Key¬words: Quality of services, Teaching Hospital, Patients, SERVQUAL questionnaire Citation: Hashemi F, Avaznejad N, Mehdipour M, Karami Robati F. Evaluation of the Quality of Hospital Services from Patients' Perspective Based on SERVQUAL Model in a Selected Teaching Hospital in Kerman: A Case Study. Journal of Health Based Research 2018; 4(2): 147-57. [In Persian

Development of a sustainability approach for the structural design of buildings

Sustainability in the building industry means ensuring that a building is ecologically friendly and economically feasible, as well as providing a healthy internal atmosphere for the occupants. Recent developments in low CO2-e emissions design have highlighted the need to comprehend the characteristics and constraints of design alternatives at a global scale before making an appropriate choice. Despite the improvements in low CO2-e emissions design, the guidance currently available to structural engineers on how to incorporate whole of life CO2-e emissions impact in building design is still limited. This research seeks to identify the structural systems needed to sustain the long-term performance of a commercial building. To accomplish this goal, a typical 15 story office building in Australia was analysed to evaluate the potential impact of various forms of construction and structural concrete over the building’s lifetime. This particular building is one of four benchmark buildings proposed by the National Standard Development Organization. The effect of different types of concrete and structural flooring systems on its overall life cycle costs and carbon emissions (CO2-e emissions) are quantified. This research adopted different life cycle assessment tools and databases to measure the energy consumed by this building from its construction to the day it no longer exists

Integrated life cycle cost method for sustainable structural design by focusing on a benchmark office building in Australia

Cost has been traditionally known as a key factor that needs to be considered in the decision making process. Recent awareness in environmental problems has highlighted the need for considering environmental impacts into the process of making choices. However, far too little attention has been paid to reflect the environmental impact and the building cost into the decision making process. As such, this study proposed a method that integrates and considers the environmental cost and building cost in the structural design process. This method takes into account the cost associated with building materials, construction methods and amount of embodied carbon emission during the life cycle of buildings. The current study analysed the effects of two construction systems (Flat slab and waffle slab) and two structural materials (Normal concrete and Ultra-lightweight concrete) on overall costs of a typical high rise concrete structure (15-story office building) in Australia (NS11401.1 2014). The results show that the office building designed with lightweight construction method (waffle slab) and normal concrete (Normal weight) has a lower life cycle cost (50 year lifespan) in comparison with the other design alternatives. It was found that an appropriate selecting of construction forms and type of concrete can save up to 7% of the cost of material consumption, 5% of the total energy consumption expense, and 5% of the CO2-e emissions of the building across all five major cities. This study demonstrates a method to quantify the potential impact of Ultra-lightweight concrete has on the life cycle cost and carbon emissions of commercial buildings. The proposed methodology to assess life cycle cost and environmental impact can be used as a supporting tool in selection of efficient construction methods and structural materials over the lifetime of building

A method of uncertainty analysis for whole-life embodied carbon emissions (CO2-e) of building materials of a net-zero energy building in Australia

The construction of new buildings requires the use of a substantial amount of materials, which have an associated embodied energy for manufacturing, transport, construction and end-of-life disposal. A number of inventories have been developed to collate the typical embodied energy or carbon emissions associated with different building materials and activities, and these can be used to quantify the environmental impacts of different construction methods. However, uncertainty exists in the estimation of embodied CO2-e emissions and other environmental impact results, due to i) inconsistencies in typical embodied carbon emissions values in inventories; ii) errors in estimations of material quantities; iii) assumptions regarding building lifetimes, and iv) errors in estimations of transport distances. This current study quantified the uncertainties associated with the calculation of lifetime CO2-e emissions in a case study net-zero, in terms of operational energy, educational building. This study examined the lifetime impacts of building materials for the building based on a detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) that had been previously undertaken for this site. The study considered the 19 building materials which most heavily influenced the total, transport and recurring embodied carbon footprint of the building and a probability distribution was generated to represent the variability for each of the following uncertain parameters: Lifetime, Embodied CO2-e and transport distance over the building\u27s life. Random sampling was used to generate input variables (1000 samples) based on a probability distribution of each uncertain parameter relative to the building materials. Through the use of a Monte Carlo simulation, the environmental impact for each construction material for a 50-year building lifetime was predicted. Unlike the conventional LCA approach, which provides a single deterministic value, cumulative Monte Carlo distribution curves were used to provide a range of embodied CO2-e emissions for each construction material, and the whole building, through the lifetime of the building. The obtained results revealed a distribution of the total embodied CO2-e of a building which ranged from 2951 tCO2-e to 5254 tCO2-e. This variation in the life cycle carbon emissions highlights the importance of considering an uncertainty analysis in the LCA analysis

Impact of structural design solutions on the energy and thermal performance of an Australian office building

Concrete is a heavyweight construction material whose high thermal mass could increase the thermal storage capacity of a building envelope and in turn affect indoor thermal comfort. Selecting an appropriate method for concrete construction and form could also affect the total energy performance and thermal comfort of a building, a fact that is often overlooked by structural engineers. This study presents the results of energy simulations of the potential impact that concrete construction forms, in particular two slab types, and structural materials have on the energy consumption of archetypal commercial office buildings in five major Australia cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Darwin). This study has three stages: 1) a structural analysis of two slab types (Flat and Waffle slab); 2) the selection of two types of structural concrete (conventional Normal weight concrete and novel Ultra-lightweight concrete); 3) a comparative analysis to quantify the magnitude of the change in predicted annual energy consumption due to changes in the form of construction and the type of structural concrete. The energy simulation results showed that the thermal energy performance of the building was influenced by structural materials and slab types. It is shown that the thermal capacity of the concrete construction forms can be utilized to shift thermal loads, reduce peak demand and reduce operational energy consumption. The selection of an appropriate concrete type was more important in terms of energy performance in the coldest (Melbourne and Canberra) and hottest (Darwin) climate zones of this study

Incorporating environmental evaluation and thermal properties of concrete mix designs

One of the main challenges in sustainable design of buildings is to improve the energy efficiency of the building during its lifetime along with reducing the environmental impact of the design. Recent advances in concrete technology offer lower embodied emission through the application of supplementary cementitious materials and recycled aggregates. There are also improvements to thermal properties with the application of admixtures. However, the relationships between the environmental impact (Cradle to Gate) and thermal performance of concrete mix designs have not been researched adequately. The Green House Gas (GHG) emissions associated with each individual concrete component and its production need to be considered with greater refinement. This study correlates the impacts of selecting a concrete mix design in terms of CO2-e with resulting thermal conductivity and density at the design stage of buildings. This paper examines 90 concrete mix designs from published literature to identify their embodied emissions and thermal conductivity in order to discuss the relationship between low embodied carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-e) emission alternatives and thermal conductivity. The embodied CO2-e of a variety concrete mix designs were quantified by compiling embodied CO2-e coefficient for each individual component in the concrete. The results show the variation in embodied CO2-e and thermal conductivity of concrete mixes. The application of readily available supplementary cementitious material can reduce embodied CO2-e (kg CO2-e) by up to 16% in comparison with general practice. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity of concrete mix is influenced by changing the density of aggregates and the proportion of cementitious materials. In completing this work the results obtained from the study are compared with six different inventory databases: ICE (Hammond et al., 2011), Crawford (2011), Alcon (2003), eTool (2014), BPIC (2014) and AusLCI (2013). The comparison identifies some inconsistencies in calculation of embodied CO2-e across the different databases. This is attributed to variation in embodied CO2-e coefficients and lack of in-depth consideration of the detailed properties of each individual concrete mix design

AURICULAR ENLARGEMENT: AN ATYPICAL PRESENTATION OF OLD WORLD CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS

The auricle is an extremely rare site for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in Old World, which tends to be a benign disease with self-healing small nodules such as the “oriental sore”. However, in the New World, there is a type of CL of the ear, named as “chiclero's ulcer” which is caused by Leishmania mexicana. Herein, we describe a case of massive auricular enlargement due to Old World CL

The Efficacy of Long-Pulsed, 1064-nm Nd:YAG Laser Versus Aluminum Chloride 20% Solution in the Treatment of Axillary Hyperhidrosis: Long-pulsed, 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser versus aluminum chloride 20% solution in axillary hyperhidrosis

Introduction: Hyperhidrosis (HH) refers to uncontrollable excessive sweating that has a significant negative impact on the quality of life. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of the long-pulsed, 1064-nm Nd: YAG laser and aluminum chloride (ALCL3) 20% solution in axillary HH treatment.Methods: In this single-center, within-patient comparison clinical trial, 12 patients with axillary HH were treated monthly for 3 to 4 consecutive sessions with the long-pulsed, 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser system on one axilla, while the contralateral axilla was treated with ALCL3 20 % by the patient. Treatment response was evaluated by comparing the area of sweating at the end of each session and 6 months after treatment termination using the iodine starch test.Results: Both treatments led to the reduction of HH from baseline with the mean area of sweating reduced from 109.3±36.6 to 38.3±19.8 and from 92.5±31.6 to 35.6±17.1 in laser- and ALCL3-treated axilla respectively (Both P&lt;0.001). In the 6-month follow-up, the area of sweating was 60.6±29.2 in the laser-treated armpit and 78.3±23.6 in the ALCL3-treated side, which were 45% and 14.4% lower compared to the baseline respectively. Adverse events were temporary, and none caused each of the treatments to be discontinued.Conclusion: The long-pulsed, 1064-nm Nd: YAG laser with hair reduction setting can stand as a potential therapeutic option for axillary HH since it is as effective as ALCL3. The therapeutic effect is superior in the long term for the laser; nevertheless, the beneficial effect of both treatments may lessen the following treatment cessation