Topical pentoxifylline for pressure ulcer treatment: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of topical pentoxifylline (PTX) on pressure ulcer (PU) healing in critically ill patients. METHOD: In this randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, patients with category I or II PUs were randomly assigned to receive either topical PTX 5% or a placebo twice daily for 14 days. Changes in PU characteristics (category and size) were assessed. The category of the PU was determined by the Stirling Pressure Ulcer Severity Scale (two-digit) at baseline (day zero), day seven and day 14 of treatment. PU length and width was measured with a disposable ruler and expressed as cm2. RESULTS: A total of 112 adult patients were enrolled in the study. Median PU size and score at day zero were 32 (10.00-69.33)cm2 and 1(1.00-2.00) respectively. In the PTX group, the mean differences (95% confidence interval, CI) of all PU scores and sizes decreased significantly across the intervals (day seven versus day zero, day 14 versus day zero, and day 14 versus day seven), compared with the placebo group Conclusion: The severity and size of PUs improved significantly in patients who received topical PTX 5% ointment twice a day for 14 days compared with those in the placebo group. Topical PTX may be considered as a potential option in the treatment of categories I and II PUs in critically ill patients.

Comparison of Residual Triple Antibiotic Paste, Propolis and Calcium Hydroxide on Root Canal Walls in Natural Open Apex Teeth: An In Vitro Study.

INTRODUCTION: Endodontic therapy is challenging in open apex teeth. One of these problems is the residue of medicaments on root canal walls. The aim of this study was to evaluate the amount of residual materials on canal walls after the use as medicaments within natural open apex teeth. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 45 human extracted single-rooted premolars with open apices were selected. After cutting off the crowns, root canals were gently instrumented using #40 files and irrigated with 0.5% sodium hypochlorite. The samples were randomly divided into three groups: calcium hydroxide (CH), triple antibiotic paste (TAP) and propolis (PP). In these groups, CH, TAP, or PP were placed into the canals, respectively. The samples were then restored with temporary fillings. After one week, instrumentation was again performed as mentioned above. The samples were longitudinally cut and scanned and the remaining material in both halves was evaluated using computer software. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the average paste level remaining on the canal walls. RESULTS: The residual amount of CH on the canal walls was significantly higher than that of PP (P=0.001). The residual amount of CH was higher than TAP but this difference was not significant (P=0.144); the residual amount of TAP was higher than PP but this difference was not significant, either (P=0.094). CONCLUSION: PP is superior to CH and TAP in terms of removability from the root canal system within open apex teeth.

The Fractal Patterns of Words in a Text: A Method for Automatic Keyword Extraction.

A text can be considered as a one dimensional array of words. The locations of each word type in this array form a fractal pattern with certain fractal dimension. We observe that important words responsible for conveying the meaning of a text have dimensions considerably different from one, while the fractal dimensions of unimportant words are close to one. We introduce an index quantifying the importance of the words in a given text using their fractal dimensions and then ranking them according to their importance. This index measures the difference between the fractal pattern of a word in the original text relative to a shuffled version. Because the shuffled text is meaningless (i.e., words have no importance), the difference between the original and shuffled text can be used to ascertain degree of fractality. The degree of fractality may be used for automatic keyword detection. Words with the degree of fractality higher than a threshold value are assumed to be the retrieved keywords of the text. We measure the efficiency of our method for keywords extraction, making a comparison between our proposed method and two other well-known methods of automatic keyword extraction.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Charge-coupled Device Sensor and Photostimulable Phosphor Plate Receptor in the Detection of External Root Resorption In Vitro.

Background and aims. Early diagnosis of external root resorption is important for accurate treatment. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of a charge-coupled device (CCD) sensor and a photostimulable phosphor (PSP) plate receptor in the diagnosis of artificial external root resorption. Materials and methods. In this diagnostic in-vitro study, 40 maxillary incisors were mounted in a segment of dry bone and preliminary radiographs were obtained using CCD and PSP sensors. Artificial resorption cavities were produced on the middle-third in half of the samples and on the cervical-third in the other half on the buccal root surfaces. Radiographs were repeated and images were evaluated. Data were statistically analyzed using chi-square and diagnostic tests. Results. There were no significant differences between the two sensors in the sensitivity (p=0.08 and 0.06) and specificity (p=0.13) for the diagnosis of resorption in both root areas. The overall accuracy of CCD was higher than PSP sensor; however, the difference was not statistically significance (p>0.05). Conclusion. CCD and PSP sensors chosen for the present study produced similar results in diagnosing simulated external root resorption.