Impacts of augmented reality on foreign language teaching: a case study of Persian language.

The use of information technology in the field of foreign language teaching as an auxiliary tool is very important. In a foreign language classroom, place is just an abstract concept; where the language is separated from the community, culture and places in which it is used. Augmented reality is a technology in which virtual components are simultaneously combined with the real environment. Our aim in this study is to investigate the effects of location-based augmented reality in teaching Persian as a foreign language. In this study, after consulting with professors in the field of Persian language teaching and reviewing similar researches, we came to the conclusion that nothing has been done to teach Persian language using augmented reality. Therefore, a Persian game based on augmented reality was designed and implemented and then evaluated. For evaluation, two methods have been used; the user and the heuristic evaluation. Experts in the field of Persian language teaching, human-computer interaction and a number of language learners participated in the evaluation. Their feedback shows that the use of augmented reality increases satisfaction, enthusiasm and interaction with the environment and people, and also makes the process of learning and memorizing concepts more efficient.

A Comparison of 940 nm Diode Laser and Cryosurgery With Liquid Nitrogen in the Treatment of Gingival Physiologic Hyperpigmentation Using Split Mouth Technique: 12 Months Follow Up.

Introduction: Gingival hyperpigmentation is excessive deposition of melanin pigments in the epithelium of gingiva which affects facial esthetics. Various surgical methods for gingival depigmentation have been used to treat the darkened color of pigmented gingiva. This study compared the use of 940 nm diode laser and liquid nitrogen cryosurgery in the treatment of gingival physiologic hyperpigmentation in terms of gingival depigmentation, postoperative pain, healing duration, pigmentation recurrence, and patients' satisfaction. Methods: Fifteen systemically healthy patients (11 females and 4 males; 17-35 years of age) with bilateral gingival physiologic hyperpigmentation were enrolled in this split-mouth randomized study. Maxillary anterior labial gingiva of each patient was divided into left and right halves, and each half was randomly depigmented by either laser or cryosurgery. Patients were given questionnaires to evaluate the procedures and were followed up in 3, 7, 10, 17 and 21 days postoperatively for the assessment of gingival healing and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the treatments to detect any sign of pigmentation recurrence. Results: The severity of post-op pain measured by visual analogue scale (VAS) was mild to average and showed no significant difference between the 2 modalities (P>0.05). There was no considerable swelling or hemorrhage after the treatment procedures and the healing duration was significantly shorter in laser (P<0.05). The degree of pigmentation in all gingival sites treated by laser reached and remained at zero until the last follow up (1 year) and reached zero in 9 out of 15 cryosurgerytreated sites. All patients were completely satisfied with the laser, and 9 out of 15 were completely satisfied with cryosurgery. No pigmentation recurrence was observed during any follow-up periods. Conclusion: Removal of gingival physiologic hyperpigmentation by laser therapy and cryotherapy was effective and safe. The efficiency of the laser was better than cryotherapy.

Quantum dot light emitting devices for photomedical applications.

While OLEDs have struggled to find a niche lighting application that can fully take advantage of their unique form factors as thin, flexible, lightweight and uniformly large-area luminaire, photomedical researchers have been in search of low-cost, effective illumination devices with such form factors that could facilitate widespread clinical applications of photodynamic therapy (PDT) or photobiomodulation (PBM). Although existing OLEDs with either fluorescent or phosphorescent emitters cannot achieve the required high power density at the right wavelength windows for photomedicine, the recently developed ultrabright and efficient deep red quantum dot light emitting devices (QLEDs) can nicely fit into this niche. Here, we report for the first time the in-vitro study to demonstrate that this QLED-based photomedical approach could increase cell metabolism over control systems for PBM and kill cancerous cells efficiently for PDT. The perspective of developing wavelength-specific, flexible QLEDs for two critical photomedical fields (wound repair and cancer treatment) will be presented with their potential impacts summarized. The work promises to generate flexible QLED-based light sources that could enable the widespread use and clinical acceptance of photomedical strategies including PDT and PBM.

ECM Composition and Rheology Regulate Growth, Motility, and Response to Photodynamic Therapy in 3D Models of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is characterized by prominent stromal involvement, which plays complex roles in regulating tumor growth and therapeutic response. The extracellular matrix (ECM)-rich stroma associated with this disease has been implicated as a barrier to drug penetration, although stromal depletion strategies have had mixed clinical success. It remains less clear how interactions with ECM, acting as a biophysical regulator of phenotype, not only a barrier to drug perfusion, regulate susceptibilities and resistance to specific therapies. In this context, an integrative approach is used to evaluate invasive behavior and motility in rheologically characterized ECM as determinants of chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) responses. We show that in 3D cultures with ECM conditions that promote invasive progression, response to PDT is markedly enhanced in the most motile ECM-infiltrating populations, whereas the same cells exhibit chemoresistance. Conversely, drug-resistant sublines with enhanced invasive potential were generated to compare differential treatment response in identical ECM conditions, monitored by particle tracking microrheology measurements of matrix remodeling. In both scenarios, ECM-infiltrating cell populations exhibit increased sensitivity to PDT, whether invasion is consequent to selection of chemoresistance, or whether chemoresistance is correlated with acquisition of invasive behavior. However, while ECM-invading, chemoresistant cells exhibit mesenchymal phenotype, induction of EMT in monolayers without ECM was not sufficient to enhance PDT sensitivity, yet does impart chemoresistance as expected. In addition to containing platform development with broader applicability to inform microenvironment-dependent therapeutics, these results reveal the efficacy of PDT for targeting the most aggressive, chemoresistant, invasive pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma associated with dismal outcomes for this disease. IMPLICATIONS: ECM-infiltrating and chemoresistant pancreatic tumor populations exhibit increased sensitivity to PDT. Mol Cancer Res; 15(1); 15-25. ©2016 AACR.

Isotretinoin-associated Sweet's syndrome: a case report.

OBJECTIVE: Sweet's syndrome (SS) is characterized by various clinical symptoms, physical features, and pathological findings. Although cases of SS are very rare, there has been an increase in the incidence of drug-induced SS. Till date, there have been only few reported cases of isotretinoin-induced SS. In this report, we describe the case of a 19-year-old girl who developed SS after systemic treatment with oral isotretinoin for nodulocystic acne. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this report emphasize the importance of evaluating isotretinoin as a possible, though uncommon, cause of SS and replacing it with another treatment if its involvement is suspected.

Longitudinal measurement of extracellular matrix rigidity in 3D tumor models using particle-tracking microrheology.

The mechanical microenvironment has been shown to act as a crucial regulator of tumor growth behavior and signaling, which is itself remodeled and modified as part of a set of complex, two-way mechanosensitive interactions. While the development of biologically-relevant 3D tumor models have facilitated mechanistic studies on the impact of matrix rheology on tumor growth, the inverse problem of mapping changes in the mechanical environment induced by tumors remains challenging. Here, we describe the implementation of particle-tracking microrheology (PTM) in conjunction with 3D models of pancreatic cancer as part of a robust and viable approach for longitudinally monitoring physical changes in the tumor microenvironment, in situ. The methodology described here integrates a system of preparing in vitro 3D models embedded in a model extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffold of Type I collagen with fluorescently labeled probes uniformly distributed for position- and time-dependent microrheology measurements throughout the specimen. In vitro tumors are plated and probed in parallel conditions using multiwell imaging plates. Drawing on established methods, videos of tracer probe movements are transformed via the Generalized Stokes Einstein Relation (GSER) to report the complex frequency-dependent viscoelastic shear modulus, G*(ω). Because this approach is imaging-based, mechanical characterization is also mapped onto large transmitted-light spatial fields to simultaneously report qualitative changes in 3D tumor size and phenotype. Representative results showing contrasting mechanical response in sub-regions associated with localized invasion-induced matrix degradation as well as system calibration, validation data are presented. Undesirable outcomes from common experimental errors and troubleshooting of these issues are also presented. The 96-well 3D culture plating format implemented in this protocol is conducive to correlation of microrheology measurements with therapeutic screening assays or molecular imaging to gain new insights into impact of treatments or biochemical stimuli on the mechanical microenvironment.

Evaluation of PUVA-Induced Skin Side Effects in Patients Referred to the Imam Reza Hospital of Mashhad in 2005-2007.

BACKGROUND: Systemic oral psoralens plus UVA therapy (PUVA) is a therapeutic method used with considerable success in many different skin disorders. PUVA therapy causes some cutaneous and noncutaneous side effects and in the present research we deal with cutaneous side effects. AIMS: Evaluation of patients to know the different skin side effects of PUVA and their importance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients referred to the phototherapy unit of Imam Reza Hospital of Mashhad entered the research and skin examination was taken place initially and every 3 months thereafter. Whenever any side effect appeared, it was recorded in the information sheet. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-eight patients were included in the research, 61 were male between 15 and 75 years and 67 were female between 10 and 61 years of age. Age of female patients at the time of cutaneous side effect appearance was less than male patients. The most common early side effect was pruritus (34.3%) and the rarest was telangiectasia (0.7%). One case of late side effect in the form of squamous cell carcinoma was observed in a patient who had received other carcinogenic drugs as well. Complications such as skin dryness, pruritus, erythema and burning sensation occurred at low doses of UVA, while dermatitis, severe limb pain and acne at moderate doses and PUVA lentigines, hypertrichosis and lichenoid lesions appeared at high doses of UVA. CONCLUSION: Considering the significant therapeutic effects and few serious side effects, PUVA therapy is a suitable and safe method for treatment of certain skin diseases.

p63 expression in randomized odontogenic cysts.

OBJECTIVE: To find out the immunohistochemical assessment of p63 expression in odontogenic cysts based on the differences among their clinical behaviors. METHODS: This study was carried out on 34 archival paraffin-embedded specimens of odontogenic cysts. We obtained the specimens from the Pathology Department of Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran from March 2003 to February 2008. The specimens comprised 12 dentigerous cysts, 9 radicular cysts, and 13 keratocystic odontogenic tumors (KCOTs). The immunohistochemical technique was performed using the Envision system for evaluation of p63 expression. RESULTS: The KCOT revealed the highest p63 expression and the differences between the 3 groups was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: P63 expression might be helpful when identifying cyst types with more aggressive and invasive phenotype.

Oral submucous fibrosis in a young patient.

A seventeen-year-old male presented with a restriction in the oral cavity. The oral mucosa was white and he could not protrude his tongue. For 4 years he had habitually held a powdery material containing betel nut in the oral vestibule for several minutes a day. A biopsy of the labial mucosa was carried out and a diagnosis of oral submucous fibrosis was confirmed. This is a premalignant condition. Oral submucous fibrosis is very rare in young patients.