Establishing dental recall interval for Pakistani children: A longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the caries increment rate in children to establish appropriate dental recall interval. METHODS: The prospective longitudinal study was conducted from May 2016 to October 2017 in Bhakkar city of Punjab, Pakistan, and comprised schoolchildren aged 12 years. The caries progression rate was measured using the Modified Beck's method or adjusted caries increment. The response rate at baseline and at each follow-up was compared. Bonferroni correction was used to compare baseline mean caries increment with caries increment at 6, 12 and 18 months. Data was analysed using SPSS 17 and Stata 14. RESULTS: Of the 226 subjects enrolled, 183(81%) were present at the last follow-up. However, only 147(65%) subjects were available for all the four measurements. Significantly high caries increment among cavitated lesions was observed at all the three follow-ups compared to the baseline (p=0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The caries increment rate was low in cavitated lesions, but when non-cavitated and cavitated lesions were merged, they showed high caries increment.

The design and construction of an electrohydrodynamic cartesian robot for the preparation of tissue engineering constructs.

In this work we bring together replicating rapid prototyping technology with electrohydrodynamic phenomena to develop a device with the ability to build structures in three-dimensions while simultaneously affording the user a degree of designing versatility and ease that is not seen in conventional computer numerically controlled machines. An attempt at reproducing an actual human ear using polycaprolactone was pursued to validate the hardware. Five different polycaprolactone solution concentrations between 7-15 wt% were used and printing was performed at applied voltages that ranged from 1 to 6 kV and at flow rates from 5 µl/min to 60 µl/min. The corresponding geometrical and aesthetic features of the printed constructs were studied to determine the effectiveness of the device. The 15 wt% concentration at 60 µl/min under an applied electric field of 6 kV was identified as the best operating parameters to work with.

Evaluation of iodine, iron, and selenium in biological samples of thyroid mother and their newly born babies.

BACKGROUND: There is accumulating facts that the metabolism of essential trace elements is altered in thyroid patients. AIM: The aim of present study was to compare the status of essential trace elements, iodine, iron (Fe), and selenium (Se) in biological samples (serum and urine) of goitrous mothers (age ranged 30-40) and their newly born infants (n=76). An age matched 68 non-goitrous mothers and their infants, residing in the same locality, were selected as referents. For a comparative study, the biological samples of non-goitrous and goitrous pregnant and non pregnant female subjects of the same age group and socio-economic status were also analyzed. METHODS: The Fe and Se concentrations in biological samples were determined by a flame and hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry respectively, while iodine was measured by iodide-ion selective electrode, prior to microwave assisted acid digestion. The validity and accuracy of the methodology was checked by certified reference materials. RESULTS: The mean values of iodine, Fe and Se in serum and urine samples of thyroid mothers and their infants were significantly lower as compared to the referent mothers-infants pairs (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The deficiencies of essential trace elements may adversely affect the health of women and their neonates.