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Journal of Conservative Dentistry : JCD 2021Characteristics of dental pulp capping agents may influence its interaction with the pulpal cells and can impact the treatment outcome.
CONTEXT
Characteristics of dental pulp capping agents may influence its interaction with the pulpal cells and can impact the treatment outcome.
AIMS
This study aims to microscopically characterize various pulp capping agents following hydration.
SETTINGS AND DESIGN
Original research.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Disk-shaped specimens of five calcium silicate-based materials, i.e., mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) Angelus, Biodentine, TheraCal LC, ApaCal ART, and Endocem MTA were prepared. After final set, the materials were immersed in 10 mL of deionized water for 14 days at 37°C. The set materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive analysis (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis along with pH analysis of the storage solution using pH meter.
RESULTS
On SEM analysis, all the materials showed crystalline deposition on the cement surface with Biodentine exhibiting the most dense and homogenous microstructure. Calcium-silicate-hydrate and calcium hydroxide (CH) were observed as dark-grey and light-grey matrix material, respectively. EDX analysis revealed a high concentration of calcium. The other major elements were oxygen and carbon. The surface calcium concentration in the tested specimens was as follows: Biodentine (42.59 wt.%) > MTA Angelus (38.51wt.%) > Endocem MTA (30.24wt.%) > TheraCal LC (27.51wt.%) > ApaCal ART (22.02wt.%). On XRD analysis, all the materials exhibited peaks for tricalcium silicate and CH, after 14 days of hydration.
CONCLUSIONS
The higher surface calcium level in Biodentine and MTA Angelus may enhance reparative dentin formation. The surface calcium concentration of Endocem MTA and ApaCal ART was found to be lesser than that of MTA Angelus, but with the added advantage of fast-setting property. Hence, they are potential alternative materials for vital pulp therapy.
PubMed: 35399764
DOI: 10.4103/jcd.jcd_460_21 -
Journal of Oral Science Jan 2022Acids contained in foods and drinks are involved in the initiation and progression of dental erosion which causes tooth wear. The authors evaluated the neutralizing...
PURPOSE
Acids contained in foods and drinks are involved in the initiation and progression of dental erosion which causes tooth wear. The authors evaluated the neutralizing activity of alkaline electrolyzed water (AEW) in vitro and in vivo.
METHODS
The neutralizing ability of AEW against eight beverages was investigated in vitro. Furthermore, in an in vivo study, the effect of mouth rinsing with AEW on the pH of the oral cavity acidified with acidic beverages was examined. Following mouth rinsing, the oral pH was measured using a pH meter with a micro pH-sensor at the cervical surface of the mandibular teeth and the surface of soft tissues.
RESULTS
Regarding the neutralizing ability, the higher the pH of the AEW, the lower the volume required for neutralization of the tooth surface. Changes in the pH by mouth rinsing with AEW and purified tap water (PTW) were analyzed. The degree of increase of pH with AEW was greater than with PTW at almost all sites.
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that AEW has the potential to prevent the initiation and progression of dental erosion. Mouth rinsing with AEW could be a simple and effective way to prevent the initiation and progression of dental erosion and dental caries.
Topics: Beverages; Dental Caries; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Mouth; Mouthwashes; Tooth Erosion; Water
PubMed: 34759078
DOI: 10.2334/josnusd.21-0262 -
Journal of Family Medicine and Primary... Apr 2020To evaluate the effectiveness of oral exercise on oral function among the elderly at a selected old age home in Chennai.
PURPOSE
To evaluate the effectiveness of oral exercise on oral function among the elderly at a selected old age home in Chennai.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The present study adopted a one-group pretest and posttest (preexperimental) design.
METHODS
Participants received intervention "oral exercise" which comprised of exercises for expression muscles (orbicularis oculi, buccinator and orbicularis oris), tongue, salivary glands, and swallowing. The pre- and posttests included assessment of oral function (dry mouth symptoms, amount of salivary pH, salivary secretion, size of mouth opening, halitosis, and oral motor function) using summated xerostomia inventory, spitting into a measuring container for 10 min, pH meter, Vernier caliper, organoleptic test, and Sunnybrook facial grading system, respectively.
RESULTS
Using nonprobability convenience sampling technique, a total of 48 older people living in an old age home who met the inclusion and dental screening criteria were recruited. There was a statistically considerable difference noted in the mean scores of the dry mouth symptoms ( = 11.88), amount of salivary secretions ( = 17.05), salivary pH ( = 8.68), size of mouth opening ( = 14.76), halitosis ( = 13.13), and oral motor function ( = 11.52) at <.001 before and after oral exercise among the elderly.
CONCLUSION
Oral exercise as a self-regulating intervention can efficiently promote oral health of older people.
PubMed: 32670937
DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_899_19 -
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Sep 2022This study assessed the functional threshold power and the time to exhaustion estimated from the Allen & Coggan test and verify whether performance level has an... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVES
This study assessed the functional threshold power and the time to exhaustion estimated from the Allen & Coggan test and verify whether performance level has an influence on this parameter.
DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.
METHODS
Twenty-minute test proposed by Allen & Coggan and cycling test to exhaustion were used to obtain the functional threshold power and a time to exhaustion. Cyclists were divided into performance groups based into 4 categories according to their VO.
RESULTS
The median (interquartile range) time to exhaustion at the functional threshold power was 35 (31-38) minutes for recreationally trained cyclists, 42 (38-51) for trained ones, 47 (41-56) for well-trained ones and 51 (44-59) for professional level cyclists. Time to exhaustion increased with cyclists' experience and performance level (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
The high time to exhaustion variability observed in this study suggests that functional threshold power and time to exhaustion should be assessed and reported independently for each subject. Also, cyclists' performance level and experience should be factored in when attempting to study the time to exhaustion, as better performing and more experienced cyclists consistently show longer times to exhaustion at the functional threshold power.
Topics: Bicycling; Cross-Sectional Studies; Exercise Test; Humans; Oxygen Consumption; Physical Endurance; Time
PubMed: 35835698
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2022.06.007 -
Journal of the American Geriatrics... Feb 2021Physical activity (PA) preserves mobility, but few practices screen older adults for mobility impairment or counsel on PA. (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
BACKGROUND
Physical activity (PA) preserves mobility, but few practices screen older adults for mobility impairment or counsel on PA.
DESIGN
"Promoting Active Aging" (PAA) was a mixed-methods randomized-controlled pilot, to test the feasibility and acceptability of a video-based PA counseling tool and implementation into practice of two mobility assessment tools.
SETTING
Three primary care practices affiliated with Wake Forest Baptist Health.
PARTICIPANTS
Adults aged 65 years and older who presented for primary care follow-up and were willing and able to answer self-report questions and walk 4 meters (n = 59).
INTERVENTION
Video-based PA counseling intervention versus control video, "Healthy Eating."
MEASUREMENTS
Potential participants completed mobility assessments: self-report (Mobility Assessment Tool-short form (MAT-sf)) and performance based (4-meter walk test). We assessed PAA's implementation-feasibility, acceptability, and value-via interviews and surveys. Effectiveness was measured via participant attendance at a PA information session.
RESULTS
Of 92 patients approached, 89 (96.7%) agreed to mobility assessment. Eighty-nine completed MAT-sf, and 97.8% (87/89) completed 4-meter walk test. Sixty-seven (75%) met eligibility criteria, and 59 (88%) consented to be randomized either to the PA counseling intervention (Video-PA) or to active control (Video-C). Most participants viewed the walk test positively (51/59; 86.4%). Staff reported that completion of patient surveys, MAT-sf, and videos required significant staff time and support (median = 26 minutes for all), resulting in low acceptability of MAT-sf and the videos. Attendance at a PA information session did not differ by randomization group (Video-PA = 11/29 (37.9%); Video-C = 12/30 (40%); 95% confidence interval for difference in proportion = -0.29 to 0.25).
CONCLUSIONS
Mobility assessment, particularly a 4-meter walk test, was feasible in primary care. Tablet-based assessment (MAT-sf) and video counseling tools, selected to reduce staff effort, instead required significant time to implement. Future work to promote PA should identify effective ways to facilitate adoption of PA in sedentary older adults that do not burden staff.
Topics: Aged; Exercise; Feasibility Studies; Female; Health Promotion; Health Services Accessibility; Healthy Aging; Humans; Implementation Science; Male; Mobility Limitation; Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; Pilot Projects; Preventive Health Services; Primary Health Care; Remote Consultation; Walk Test
PubMed: 33006763
DOI: 10.1111/jgs.16838 -
Academic Emergency Medicine : Official... Feb 2023
Topics: Child; Humans; Croup; Epinephrine; Bronchodilator Agents; Nebulizers and Vaporizers; Administration, Inhalation; Metered Dose Inhalers
PubMed: 36307996
DOI: 10.1111/acem.14616 -
The Journal of Neuroscience : the... Apr 2023The ability to extract rhythmic structure is important for the development of language, music, and social communication. Although previous studies show infants' brains...
The ability to extract rhythmic structure is important for the development of language, music, and social communication. Although previous studies show infants' brains entrain to the periodicities of auditory rhythms and even different metrical interpretations (e.g., groups of two vs three beats) of ambiguous rhythms, whether the premature brain tracks beat and meter frequencies has not been explored previously. We used high-resolution electroencephalography while premature infants ( = 19, 5 male; mean age, 32 ± 2.59 weeks gestational age) heard two auditory rhythms in the incubators. We observed selective enhancement of the neural response at both beat- and meter-related frequencies. Further, neural oscillations at the beat and duple (groups of 2) meter were phase aligned with the envelope of the auditory rhythmic stimuli. Comparing the relative power at beat and meter frequencies across stimuli and frequency revealed evidence for selective enhancement of duple meter. This suggests that even at this early stage of development, neural mechanisms for processing auditory rhythms beyond simple sensory coding are present. Our results add to a few previous neuroimaging studies demonstrating discriminative auditory abilities of premature neural networks. Specifically, our results demonstrate the early capacities of the immature neural circuits and networks to code both simple beat and beat grouping (i.e., hierarchical meter) regularities of auditory sequences. Considering the importance of rhythm processing for acquiring language and music, our findings indicate that even before birth, the premature brain is already learning this important aspect of the auditory world in a sophisticated and abstract way. Processing auditory rhythm is of great neurodevelopmental importance. In an electroencephalography experiment in premature newborns, we found converging evidence that when presented with auditory rhythms, the premature brain encodes multiple periodicities corresponding to beat and beat grouping (meter) frequencies, and even selectively enhances the neural response to meter compared with beat, as in human adults. We also found that the phase of low-frequency neural oscillations aligns to the envelope of the auditory rhythms and that this phenomenon becomes less precise at lower frequencies. These findings demonstrate the initial capacities of the developing brain to code auditory rhythm and the importance of special care to the auditory environment of this vulnerable population during a highly dynamic period of neural development.
Topics: Infant, Newborn; Adult; Humans; Male; Infant; Acoustic Stimulation; Auditory Perception; Brain; Electroencephalography; Hearing; Periodicity; Music
PubMed: 36914264
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1100-22.2023 -
Archivos Espanoles de Urologia Jul 2020Urinary pH is a decisive factor in several pathologies, there by an informative marker employed in treatment decisions. Although extensively used, the urinary pH...
OBJECTIVES
Urinary pH is a decisive factor in several pathologies, there by an informative marker employed in treatment decisions. Although extensively used, the urinary pH dipstick test may not be sufficiently accurate or precise for clinical decisions and more robust methodologies need to be considered. In this study, we compare pH measurements when using aportable medical device and different dipstick tests.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Four pH dipstick brands and a Lit-Control® pH Meter were tested using commercial buffer solutions with seven distinct pH values representing the physiological range in urine (4.66; 5.0;5.5; 6.0; 7.0; 7.5; 8.0). A statistical analysis was performed to assess the correlation of measured versus real values, together with validity measures as resolution,precision and accuracy.
RESULTS
Validity measures stated the superiority of the portable pH meter, with a reduced dispersion of data and more exact values. Additionally, correlation analysis demonstrate that the pH values obtained with the pH meter were the closest to the buffers' real pH values.
CONCLUSION
The detailed comparative study presented here reveal the superiority of a portable pH meter to several of the most used dipstick brands in the clinic.Lit-Control® pH Meter represents a reliable alternative when a monitoring of urinary pH is needed, as may happen during the screening of diseases or treatment monitoringin the clinic, as well as during the self-monitoringby the patient under professional supervision at home.
Topics: Employment; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Reagent Strips; Urinalysis
PubMed: 32633250
DOI: No ID Found -
MSystems Apr 2023Nutrient availability can significantly influence microbial genomic and proteomic streamlining, for example, by selecting for lower nitrogen to carbon ratios....
Nutrient availability can significantly influence microbial genomic and proteomic streamlining, for example, by selecting for lower nitrogen to carbon ratios. Oligotrophic open ocean microbes have streamlined genomic nitrogen requirements relative to those of their counterparts in nutrient-rich coastal waters. However, steep gradients in nutrient availability occur at meter-level, and even micron-level, spatial scales. It is unclear whether such gradients also structure genomic and proteomic stoichiometry. Focusing on the eastern tropical North Pacific oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), we use comparative metagenomics to examine how nitrogen availability shapes microbial and viral genome properties along the vertical gradient across the OMZ and between two size fractions, distinguishing free-living microbes versus particle-associated microbes. We find a substantial increase in the nitrogen content of encoded proteins in particle-associated over free-living bacteria and archaea across nitrogen availability regimes over depth. Within each size fraction, we find that bacterial and viral genomic nitrogen tends to increase with increasing nitrate concentrations with depth. In contrast to cellular genes, the nitrogen content of virus proteins does not differ between size fractions. We identified arginine as a key amino acid in the modulation of the C:N ratios of core genes for bacteria, archaea, and viruses. Functional analysis reveals that particle-associated bacterial metagenomes are enriched for genes that are involved in arginine metabolism and organic nitrogen compound catabolism. Our results are consistent with nitrogen streamlining in both cellular and viral genomes on spatial scales of meters to microns. These effects are similar in magnitude to those previously reported across scales of thousands of kilometers. The genomes of marine microbes can be shaped by nutrient cycles, with ocean-scale gradients in nitrogen availability being known to influence microbial amino acid usage. It is unclear, however, how genomic properties are shaped by nutrient changes over much smaller spatial scales, for example, along the vertical transition into oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) or from the exterior to the interior of detrital particles. Here, we measure protein nitrogen usage by marine bacteria, archaea, and viruses by using metagenomes from the nitracline of the eastern tropical North Pacific OMZ, including both particle-associated and nonassociated biomass. Our results show higher genomic and proteomic nitrogen content in particle-associated microbes and at depths with higher nitrogen availability for cellular and viral genomes. This discovery suggests that stoichiometry influences microbial and viral evolution across multiple scales, including the micrometer to millimeter scale associated with particle-associated versus free-living lifestyles.
Topics: Seawater; Proteome; Proteomics; Oxygen; Nitrogen; Bacteria; Archaea; Genome, Viral; Amino Acids
PubMed: 36920198
DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01095-22 -
BioMed Research International 2022This study was aimed at investigating the effect of pelvic tilt taping on muscle strength, pelvic inclination, and gait function in patients with stroke. (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of Pelvic Stabilization Training with Lateral and Posterior Tilt Taping on Pelvic Inclination, Muscle Strength, and Gait Function in Patients with Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Study.
BACKGROUND
This study was aimed at investigating the effect of pelvic tilt taping on muscle strength, pelvic inclination, and gait function in patients with stroke.
METHODS
A total of 60 patients with stroke were included in our study and randomly divided into three groups: the posterior pelvic tilt taping (PPTT, = 20), the lateral pelvic tilt taping (LPPP) with PPTT (LPPP+PPTT, = 20), and the control ( = 20) groups. All participants performed pelvic stabilization exercises consisting of 6 movements: supine, side lying, quadruped, sitting, squatting, and standing (30 min/day, five days/week, for six weeks). PPTT to correct anterior pelvic tilt was applied to the LPTT+PPTT and PPTT groups, and lateral pelvic tilt taping was additionally applied to the LPTT+PPTT group. LPTT was performed to correct the pelvis tilted to the affected side, and PPTT was performed to correct the anterior pelvic tilt. The control group did not undergo taping. A hand-held dynamometer was used to measure the hip abductor muscle strength. In addition, a palpation meter and 10-meter walk test were used to assess pelvic inclination and gait function.
RESULTS
Muscle strength was significantly stronger in the LPTT+PPTT group than in the other two groups ( = 0.01). The anterior pelvic tilt was significantly improved in the taping group compared to the control group ( < 0.001), and the lateral pelvic tilt was significantly improved in the LPTT+PPTT group compared to the other two groups ( < 0.001). Significantly greater improvements in gait speed were observed in the LPTT+PPTT group than in the other two groups ( = 0.02).
CONCLUSIONS
PPPT can significantly affect pelvic alignment and walking speed in patients with stroke, and the additional application of LPTT can further strengthen these effects. Therefore, we suggest using taping as an auxiliary therapeutic-intervention method in postural control training.
Topics: Humans; Pelvis; Posture; Gait; Stroke; Muscle Strength
PubMed: 37333857
DOI: 10.1155/2022/9224668