Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2018 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
Background: Accurate functional diagnosis of coronary stenosis is vital for decision\nmaking in coronary revascularization. With recent advances in computational fluid\ndynamics (CFD), fractional flow reserve (FFR) can be derived non-invasively from coronary\ncomputed tomography angiography images (FFRCT) for functional measurement\nof stenosis. However, the accuracy of FFRCT is limited due to the approximate modeling\napproach of maximal hyperemia conditions. To overcome this problem, a new CFD\nbased non-invasive method is proposed.\nMethods: Instead of modeling maximal hyperemia condition, a series of boundary\nconditions are specified and those simulated results are combined to provide a\npressure-flow curve for a stenosis. Then, functional diagnosis of stenosis is assessed\nbased on parameters derived from the obtained pressure-flow curve.\nResults: The proposed method is applied to both idealized and patient-specific\nmodels, and validated with invasive FFR in six patients. Results show that additional\nhemodynamic information about the flow resistances of a stenosis is provided, which\ncannot be directly obtained from anatomy information. Parameters derived from the\nsimulated pressure-flow curve show a linear and significant correlations with invasive\nFFR (r > 0.95, P < 0.05).\nConclusion: The proposed method can assess flow resistances by the pressure-flow\ncurve derived parameters without modeling of maximal hyperemia condition, which is\na new promising approach for non-invasive functional assessment of coronary stenosis...
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of total implant-bone surface contact area of dental implants applied on partial\nor total edentulous patients on the increase in the level of blood titanium level. Changes of the blood titanium levels were evaluated\nafter placement of the dental implants in 30 patients including 15 females and 15 males. Patients were divided into 3 groups as\ndental implants were applied on only maxilla, only mandible, or both of them. Taking into the consideration anatomic formation\nand prosthetic indication, dental implant-bone total contact area was calculated and saved for each patient after dental implants\nplacement. Blood samples of the patients taken preoperatively and postoperatively at 12 weeks were analyzed by ICP-MS device.\nBlood titanium levels of preoperative and postoperative blood samples were analyzed for each patient and results were evaluated\nstatistically. In the evaluation after analyzing blood titanium level changes, while a statistically significant decrease was observed\nin Group 1 patients, a statistically significant increase was observed in Group 2 and Group 3 patients to blood titanium level. A\nstatistically significant difference was observed between Group 1 and Group 2 and between Group 1 and Group 3 patients of blood\ntitanium levels.The change of the blood titanium level was not related to total implant-bone surface area, number of the implants,\nand gender. In our study, no correlation was found between change of blood titanium level and total contact area with bone of\ndental implants.We believe that more accurate results can be obtained with biopsy of tissues and organs on animal studies....
Pre-transfusion bedside compatibility test is mandatory to check that the donor and the\nrecipient present compatible groups before any transfusion is performed. Although blood typing\ndevices are present on the market, they still suffer from various drawbacks, like results that are\nbased on naked-eye observation or difficulties in blood handling and process automation. In this\nstudy, we addressed the development of a red blood cells (RBC) agglutination assay for point-of-care\nblood typing. An injection molded microfluidic chip that is designed to enhance capillary flow\ncontained anti-A or anti-B dried reagents inside its microchannel. The only blood handling step in\nthe assay protocol consisted in the deposit of a blood drop at the tip of the biochip, and imaging\nwas then achieved. The embedded reagents were able to trigger RBC agglutination in situ, allowing\nfor us to monitor in real time the whole process. An image processing algorithm was developed on\ndiluted bloods to compute real-time agglutination indicator and was further validated on undiluted\nblood. Through this proof of concept, we achieved efficient, automated, real time, and quantitative\nmeasurement of agglutination inside a passive biochip for blood typing which could be further\ngeneralized to blood biomarker detection and quantification....
Background/Purpose. Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of gums that causes loss of supporting structures of teeth,\nthat is, gingiva, periodontal ligament, cementum, and alveolar bone. Levels of various cytokines in the serum, gingival tissues,\nand gingival crevicular fluid in patients with chronic periodontitis have been studied, but limited data are available on the level of\ncytokines in saliva. Therefore, a study was designed to determine levels of salivary IL-6 and IL-17 in patients with calculus associated\nchronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods. It was a comparative, cross-sectional study that is comprised of 41 healthy controls\nand 41 calculus associated chronic periodontitis patients (CP patients). According to the degree of attachment loss, CP patients\nwere subcategorized as mild (CAL 1-2 mm), moderate (CAL 3-4 mm), and severe (CAL > 5 mm) forms of periodontitis. Salivary\nlevels of IL-6 and IL-17 were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Data was analyzed using\nSPSS 20.0. Results. Between healthy controls and CP patients (moderate and severe disease), a statistically significant difference\nwas observed in the concentrations of IL-6 and IL-17. In CP patients, the highest mean �± SD of salivary IL-6 and IL-17 was\nobserved in severe CP, followed by moderate and mild CP. Regarding level of IL-6, a statistically significant difference was observed\nbetween mild and severe disease and between moderate and severe subcategories of CP patients. Similarly, statistically significant\ndifference was observed in the level of IL-17 between mild andmoderate, mild and severe disease, and moderate and severe disease.\nConclusion. The levels of salivary IL-6 and IL-17 were increased significantly in calculus associated CP patients as compared to\nhealthy controls and these levels increased with the progression of CP. Clinical Significance. Salivary levels of IL-6 and IL-17 may\nhelp in the subcategorization of CP....
This study explores determining the sex of humans from blood stains taken from different surfaces and compares the time course\nof detection with the conventional PCR, Conventional LoopMediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP), and LAMP-Lateral Flow\nDipstick (LFD). For the DNA templates, 7 male and 7 female blood stained samples were extracted and added to LAMP and PCR\nreaction solution to amplify the SRY gene. The DNA samples were extracted from the following blood stained materials: cloth,\nwood, clay, and tile. Then, the samples were stored at roomtemperature for 1, 7, 30, and 60 day(s). After the DNA amplification, the\ngel electrophoresis process was applied to detect LAMP product.The LFD was combined with the LAMP to detect LAMP product\non the male cloth samples. For the male samples, the time course of detection on the first and seventh days indicated positive for\nboth LAMP and PCR products on all the surfaces while no DNA amplification was found on any of the female samples. On day 30,\npositive LAMP product was still found on all the male samples. However, it had faded on the tiles.Moreover, all the male samples,\nwhich had tested positive for PCR product, were blurred and unclear. On day 60, LAMP product was still found on all the male\nsamples. Conversely, the PCR method resulted in no bands showing for any of themale samples. However, the LAMP-LFD method\ndetected product on all the male samples of cloth.The results show that the LAMP is an effective, practical, and reliable molecularbiological\nmethod. Moreover, the LFD can increase the efficiency and sensitivity of the LAMP, making it more suitable for field\nstudies because gel electrophoresis apparatus is not required....
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