The prevalence of pulp stones in a Turkish paediatric cohort from the Isparta district: an 8-year retrospective radiographic study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the prevalence of pulp stones in a Turkish paediatric cohort from the Isparta district using panoramic radiographs. METHODS: Panoramic radiographs of 19,857 children and adolescents between the ages of 9 and 18 years were retrospectively analysed to determine the prevalence and distribution of pulp stones. Teeth with pulp stones were classified in terms of dentition, location, dental status and complete or incomplete root formation. Statistical analysis was carried out by applying Chi­square and Mann-Whitney U. Univariate logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the factors affecting pulp stone status. Differences were considered as significant when p < 0.05. RESULTS: Out of a total of 19,857 patients, pulp stones were identified in 6.5%. Among the 548,415 teeth examined, 0.96% had pulp stones. The incidence of pulp stones in girls (7.4%) was higher than in boys (5.7%) (p < 0.001). The prevalence of pulp stones increased with age and was significantly higher in molar teeth. A significant difference existed in the incidence of pulp stones according to the jaws (p < 0.001). In both jaws, no statistically significant difference was observed in terms of teeth with pulp stones being on the right and left (p = 0.834). Of molars with pulp stones, 91.8% had completed root formation. The majority of patients (37.7%) had pulp stones in four teeth. CONCLUSION: Knowing the incidence of pulp stones in paediatric patients by dentists, endodontists, and paediatric dentists will help prevent complications that may occur during applications by facilitating the determination of appropriate methods, especially during endodontic procedures.

From Industrial Food Waste to Bioactive Ingredients: A Review on the Sustainable Management and Transformation of Plant-Derived Food Waste.

According to the United Nations, approximately one-third of the food produced for human consumption is wasted. The actual linear "Take-Make-Dispose" model is nowadays obsolete and uneconomical for societies and the environment, while circular thinking in production systems and its effective adoption offers new opportunities and benefits. Following the "Waste Framework Directive" (2008/98/CE), the European Green Deal, and the actual Circular Economy Action Plan, when prevention is not possible, recovering an unavoidable food waste as a by-product represents a most promising pathway. Using last year's by-products, which are rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds, such as dietary fiber, polyphenols, and peptides, offer a wake-up call to the nutraceutical and cosmetic industry to invest and develop value-added products generated from food waste ingredients.

Decreased MEFV gene expression in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a major cause of adult chronic inflammatory arthritis and an autoimmune disease of unknown etiology in which the inflammatory pathology involves T cell activation. Genetic mutations in the Mediterranean fever (MEFV) gene, encoding pyrin, influence the severity of RA, but the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. In this study, we investigated whether the full-length MEFV gene (MEFV-fl) and the exon 2-deleted splice isoform (MEFV-d2) expression are associated with or responsible for the clinical conditions of RA. This study include 47 patients with RA and 47 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis was performed to examine transcriptional changes in MEFV gene expression from peripheral blood samples. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of peripheral blood cells revealed the downregulation of MEFV-fl mRNA in non-treated patients compared with healthy controls and treated patients. MEFV-d2 expression was not different between groups. This is the first study to investigate the expression of MEFV transcript in RA. Deregulation of the MEFV gene is likely to result in uncontrolled inflammation as observed in RA. Therefore, downregulation of MEFV-fl may be involved in the pathogenesis of early-stage RA and treatment and may ameliorate MEFV-fl expression.

The effect of moderate altitude on some respiratory parameters of physical education and sports' students.

OBJECTIVES: Analysis of the effects of moderate altitude on some respiratory functions of students enrolled in School of Physical Education and Sports. METHODS: The study group comprised of 9 female and 10 male volunteers who were attending a 5-day skiing training camp. All participants were enrolled in School of Physical Education and Sports at Gazi University. The male students had an age range of 22.2 +/- 1.7 years, height of 175.0 +/- 4.3 cm, and body weight of 71.0 +/- 10.4 kg; the female students had an age range of 21.2 +/- 1.7 years, height of 167.1 +/- 4.9 cm, and body weight of 53.7 +/- 4.8 kg. Respiratory tests were performed on the 1st and 5th days (the first and second measurements) at an altitude of 1880 m (in Ilgaz Mountain); 10 days after being exposed to high altitude, further tests were performed at an altitude of 856 m (in Ankara) (the third measurement). Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 10.0). Intragroup differences were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). According to the results of normality test results, an independent-sample t test was used in comparisons between the groups. A significance level of p < .05 was used in analysis. RESULTS: Statistical analysis indicated that there was no significant difference between the intragroup comparisons of female and male students. Intergroup comparisons showed significant differences in forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume (FEV), peak expiratory flow (PEF), maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV), and VC parameters (p < .05). CONCLUSION: The authors conclude that moderate altitude does not have any effect on some respiratory parameters after 5 days of skiing camp.

Acaricidal activity of Satureja thymbra L. essential oil and its major components, carvacrol and gamma-terpinene against adult Hyalomma marginatum (Acari: Ixodidae).

The acaricidal activity of a volatile essential oil hydrodistillate of Satureja thymbra L. (Lamiaceae) and its major constituents, carvacrol and gamma-terpinene, were evaluated against field-collected unfed adult Hyalomma marginatum. The distillate was tested against this tick species at 5, 10, 20, and 40 microL/L while the two major components were each tested at 10 microL/L. Generally, tick mortality to the S. thymbra distillate increased with concentration and exposure time. Ticks exposed to vapors from cotton wicks containing at least 40 microL/L resulted in complete (100%) mortality at 3h. The lower concentrations provided >or=90% mortality at 3h post treatment with complete mortality at 24h. Knockdown was observed only in the carvacrol and gamma-terpinene treatments. Ticks exposed to carvacrol-treated wicks produced >93% knockdown at 3h but at 24h approximately 57% were dead. The gamma-terpinene treatment produced >or=90% knockdown at 105 min through 3h but at 24h only about 87% of the ticks were dead.

Effects of Two Temperature Storage Regimes on the Efficacy of 3 Commercial Gel Baits against the German Cockroach, Blattella germanica L. (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae).

BACKGROUND: To compare the effectiveness of 3 commercial gel bait formulations containing fipronil (Goliath(©) Cockroach Gel 0.05% AI), chlorpyrifos-A (Clean Bait(©) Gel, 2% AI), and chloropyrifos-B (Serpa(©) Gel 2% AI) against German cockroaches (Blattella germanica) when stored at 23(°)C and 30(°) C after treatment. METHODS: Laboratory bioassays consisted of placing groups of fifteen cockroaches (a random combination of adult, mixed sex and large nymphs-stage 6) into a 5 L cylindrical plastic container with one drop of product (avg 0.10 g ± 0.01 g) applied to a 76 mm x 26 mm glass microscope slide affixed to the bottom of each container (one product tested per container). Cumulative mortality was assessed at 6 h, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 d after application. To determine the further effects of storage temperature after treatment on residual activity of the gels, a drop of each product was applied to separate glass microscope slides and stored at either 23(°) C (warm) or 30(°) C (hot) under dark conditions for 0, 1, 7, 14, 30, 45, 60 and 90 d after application. RESULTS: Freshly applied baits (day 0) containing fipronil provided complete cockroach mortality (100%) within 5 d whereas chloryrifos-A and chlorpyrifos-B provided ≈72% and 88% mortality, respectively. Generally, cockroach mortality was greater when gels were stored at 30(°)C compared with 23(°) C. CONCLUSION: The fipronil gel formulation proved to be as efficacious as the chlorpyrifos gels and in some instances surpased the latter formulations depending on storage time and temperature by providing ≈90% mortality at 90 d post treatment.

Ionization-induced electron trapping in ultrarelativistic plasma wakes.

The onset of trapping of electrons born inside a highly relativistic, 3D beam-driven plasma wake is investigated. Trapping occurs in the transition regions of a Li plasma confined by He gas. Li plasma electrons support the wake, and higher ionization potential He atoms are ionized as the beam is focused by Li ions and can be trapped. As the wake amplitude is increased, the onset of trapping is observed. Some electrons gain up to 7.6 GeV in a 30.5 cm plasma. The experimentally inferred trapping threshold is at a wake amplitude of 36 GV/m, in good agreement with an analytical model and PIC simulations.

The effect of taurine on renal ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is one of the most common causes of renal dysfunction. Taurine is an endogenous antioxidant and a membrane-stabilizing, intracellular, free beta-amino acid. It has been demonstrated to have protective effects against I/R injuries to tissues other than kidney. The aim of this study was to determine whether taurine has a beneficial role in renal I/R injury. Forty Wistar-Albino rats were allocated into four groups as follows: sham, taurine, I/R, and I/R+taurine. Taurine 7.5 mg/kg was given intra-peritoneally to rats in the groups taurine and I/R+taurine. Renal I/R was achieved by occluding the renal arteries bilaterally for 40 min, followed by 6 h of reperfusion. Immediately thereafter, blood was drawn and tissue samples were harvested to measure 1) serum levels of BUN and creatinine; 2) serum and/or tissue levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6PD), 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGD) and glutathione reductase (GSH-red); 3) renal morphology; and 4) immunohistochemical staining for P-selectin. Taurine administration reduced I/R-induced increases in serum BUN and creatinine, and serum and tissue MDA levels (p<0.05). Additionally, taurine lessened the reductions in serum and tissue glutathione levels secondary to I/R (p<0.05). Taurine also attenuated histopathologic evidence of renal injury, and reduced I/R-induced P-selectin immunoreactivity (p<0.05). Overall, then, taurine administration appears to reduce the injurious effects of I/R on kidney.

Hosing instability in the blow-out regime for plasma-wakefield acceleration.

The electron hosing instability in the blow-out regime of plasma-wakefield acceleration is investigated using a linear perturbation theory about the electron blow-out trajectory in Lu et al. [in Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 165002 (2006)10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.165002]. The growth of the instability is found to be affected by the beam parameters unlike in the standard theory Whittum et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 991 (1991)10.1103/PhysRevLett.67.991] which is strictly valid for preformed channels. Particle-in-cell simulations agree with this new theory, which predicts less hosing growth than found by the hosing theory of Whittum et al.

Positron production by x rays emitted by betatron motion in a plasma wiggler.

Positrons in the energy range of 3-30 MeV, produced by x rays emitted by betatron motion in a plasma wiggler of 28.5 GeV electrons from the SLAC accelerator, have been measured. The extremely high-strength plasma wiggler is an ion column induced by the electron beam as it propagates through and ionizes dense lithium vapor. X rays in the range of 1-50 MeV in a forward cone angle of 0.1 mrad collide with a 1.7 mm thick tungsten target to produce electron-positron pairs. The positron spectra are found to be strongly influenced by the plasma density and length as well as the electron bunch length. By characterizing the beam propagation in the ion column these influences are quantified and result in excellent agreement between the measured and calculated positron spectra.

Hose instability and wake generation by an intense electron beam in a self-ionized gas.

The propagation of an intense relativistic electron beam through a gas that is self-ionized by the beam's space charge and wakefields is examined analytically and with 3D particle-in-cell simulations. Instability arises from the coupling between a beam and the offset plasma channel it creates when it is perturbed. The traditional electron hose instability in a preformed plasma is replaced with this slower growth instability depending on the radius of the ionization channel compared to the electron blowout radius. A new regime for hose stable plasma wakefield acceleration is suggested.

Multi-GeV energy gain in a plasma-wakefield accelerator.

A plasma-wakefield accelerator has accelerated particles by over 2.7 GeV in a 10 cm long plasma module. A 28.5 GeV electron beam with 1.8 x 10(10) electrons is compressed to 20 microm longitudinally and focused to a transverse spot size of 10 microm at the entrance of a 10 cm long column of lithium vapor with density 2.8 x 10(17) atoms/cm3. The electron bunch fully ionizes the lithium vapor to create a plasma and then expels the plasma electrons. These electrons return one-half plasma period later driving a large amplitude plasma wake that in turn accelerates particles in the back of the bunch by more than 2.7 GeV.

The role of taurine added to pulmonary reperfusion solutions in isolated guinea pig lungs.

An experimental comparative study on isolated guinea pig-lungs has been undertaken to determine the probable beneficial effects of adding taurine to pulmonary reperfusion solutions in lung ischemia-reperfusion. 20 guinea pigs were used. The isolated lungs (n = 10 in each group) previously being perfused by oxygenated Krebs-Henseleit solution were put in normothermic ischemic conditions. After 3 hours of normothermic ischemia the lungs were reperfused (with Krebs-Henseleit solution in the control group, Krebs-Henseleit solution plus taurine 10(-2) M in the experiment group) for 20 minutes. Pulmonary artery pressures, tissue malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels were measured before and after the ischemic period and also at the end of reperfusion. Malondialdehyde and glutathione levels of the pefusate were measured before ischemic period and at the end of reperfusion. An electron microscopic analysis was performed on the lung tissues before and after the ischemic period and also at the end of reperfusion. Decreased pulmonary artery pressure, tissue perfusate MDA levels and increased perfusate GSH levels were observed in taurine added group. Electron microscopic evaluation supported our findings indicating preservation of lamellar bodies of type II pneumocytes. It is concluded that taurine may play an important role in protecting tissue against ischemia-reperfusion injury by functioning as an antioxidant.

The protective effect of taurine pretreatment on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic damage--a light and electron microscopic study.

The results regarding taurine pretreatment on CCl(4)-induced hepatic injury are controversial. To assess the therapeutic efficacy of taurine on rat liver injury, hepatic malondialdehyde, glutathione, and hydroxyproline levels together with morphologic alterations in the liver following CCl(4) administration were investigated. The rats were divided into three groups. Taurine-treated animals received 15 ml/kg/day of a 5% taurine solution by a gastric tube for 5 days before administering CCl(4) (2 ml/kg, intraperitoneally, in a single dose). CCl(4)-treated rats received the same amount of saline solution. Control animals received no treatment. The increase of hepatic malondialdehyde formation in the CCl(4)-treated group was partially prevented by taurine pretreatment, but taurine had no significant effect on the glutathione and hydroxyproline content in the CCl(4)-treated rats. Taurine pretreatment induced a marked beneficial effect regarding the prevention of hepatocellular necrosis and atrophy as demonstrated morphologically. In conclusion, these results suggest that taurine pretreatment might not significantly change the biochemical parameters, but prevents the morphologic damage caused by CCl(4) in the early stages.

Role of the nitric oxide pathway on ischemia-reperfusion injury in an isolated perfused guinea pig heart.

We examined the role of the nitric oxide (NO) pathway on ischemia-reperfusion injury with the use of isolated perfused guinea pig hearts. We administered to the heart either L-arginine or N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) before or after 20 min of ischemia, and we observed the heart rate, aortic pressure, and contractile force, as well as the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH). We observed that L-NAME increased the tissue MDA levels and aortic pressure. On the other hand, L-arginine before the onset of reperfusion decreased aortic pressure and tissue MDA levels but increased the tissue GSH levels. We concluded that L-arginine administration before the onset of reperfusion improves myocardial recovery from ischemic injury.

Metoprolol prevents ischemia-reperfusion injury by reducing lipid peroxidation.

Myocardial ischemia and reperfusion result in endothelial and ventricular dysfunction. Beta-blockers protect the myocytes from injury by acting as anti-ischemia agents. These anti-ischemic effects of the beta-blockers are due not only to their negative inotropic/chronotropic effects but also to a lipid peroxidation reducing mechanism. Thus, beta-blockers enhance myocardial recovery. In the present study 20 isolated guinea-pig hearts were perfused with Krebs-Henseleit buffer (KHB) using a Langendorff apparatus. The animals were allocated into 2 groups. In the study group (Group I), metoprolol, as the beta-blocker agent, was added into the KHB and in the control group (Group II) perfusion was performed without metoprolol. The percentage change (%change) of heart rate, developed pressure and dP/dtmax; malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels of the perfusate and heart tissue were obtained as data. The %change of heart rate was 70.5+/-9.2 in the study group and 87.3+/-8.2 in the control (p = 0.003). The %change of developed pressure was 68.7+/-14.4 and 55.9+/-8.6 in the study group and control group, respectively (p = 0.04). The % change of dP/dt was 63.3+/-10.0 in the study group and 54.4+/-5.3 in the control group (p = 0.01). The tissue MDA level was 31.0+/-5.5 nmol/g tissue in the study group and 53.5+/-4.2 nmol/g tissue in the control group (p = 0.0002). The tissue GSH levels were 1.08+/-0.20 and 0.80+/-0.07 (mol/g tissue) in Groups I and II, respectively (p = 0.001). The levels of the perfusate MDA decreased and the levels of the perfusate GSH increased significantly in the metoprolol group in the postreperfusion period in comparison with the preischemia term (p = 0.003 and p = 0.03, respectively). Metoprolol reduces ischemic injury via prevention of lipid peroxidation and reduces the myocardial energy demand by decreasing the heart rate.

Taurine and calcium interaction in protection of myocardium exposed to ischemic reperfusion injury.

We aimed to investigate the cardio-protective role of taurine with low calcium level against reperfusion damage by adding taurine to extracellular fluid. Guinea-pig hearts were mounted on Langendorf perfusion apparatus and different compositions of perfusion solutions were prepared for each experimental group. After 20 min of normothermic ischemia the hearts were reperfused. Pre-ischemic, post-ischemic and post-reperfusion percentage changes of heart rate and contractile force were compared. Post-reperfusion tissue weight, malondialdehyde (MDA) and prostaglandin E-like activity (PGE-like activity) were assessed. Taurine-added low-calcium perfusion solution significantly decreased the postischemic myocardial injury.

Role of ischemic preconditioning on ischemia-reperfusion injury of the lung.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Ischemia-reperfusion injury of the lung frequently occurs after cardiopulmonary bypass, after pulmonary thromboembolectomy, and especially during lung transplantation. The protective effects of preconditioning on the heart, liver, bones, and various other organs have been previously evaluated. In this comparative study, we used isolated guinea pig lungs to show the effects of preconditioning on lung ischemia. METHODS: The lungs (n = 10 in each group) were mounted on a modified Langendorff perfusion apparatus and perfused by Krebs-Henseleit solution for 30 min. We applied an ischemic preconditioning (5 min ischemia + 5 min perfusion, two times) in the experimental group. After 3 h of normothermic ischemia, the lungs were reperfused for 30 min. Pulmonary artery pressures and malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels of the tissue and the perfusate were measured before and after the ischemic period and also at the end of reperfusion. Electron microscopic evaluation was done on randomly selected lungs of three animals in each group at the end of the experiment. RESULTS: Both MDA and GSH levels of tissue and perfusate decreased in the experimental group after reperfusion, although the reduction in GSH levels did not reach statistical significance. The increase in pulmonary artery pressure was lower in the preconditioning group after reperfusion. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed that ischemic preconditioning of the lung may have a protective effect in ischemic-reperfusion injury.

Role of free oxygen radicals and prostanoids in the pathogenesis of Henoch-Schönlein Purpura.

The pathogenesis of Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (HSP) is still controversial. The aim of our study was to investigate the role of oxidative stress and cyclooxygenase (CO) pathway products in the pathogenesis of HSP. In order to investigate this, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, indicating lipid peroxidation, prostaglandin E (PGE)-like activity as inflammatory mediator and vitamin E (vit-E) levels indicating anti-oxidant status were studied in a group of 10 children with HSP (five girls and five boys, aged 6-21 years, mean 10.7 years), both in the acute and recovery phase of the disease and in five age and sex-matched healthy children as a control group. The patients were also grouped into low and high clinical score groups. Plasma levels of MDA and PGE-like activity were significantly elevated in the active phase of HSP compared to the recovery phase. Vit-E levels were significantly reduced in the active phase compared to the recovery phase. The plasma levels of PGE-like activity of the patients obtained in the active phase were significantly higher than the levels of the control group, whereas the levels of the recovery phase were significantly lower than in the control group. No such difference between the controls and MDA and vit-E levels in the patient group was shown. No correlation between the clinical scores and the parameters studied could be found. Our findings indicate that oxidant stress and CO pathway products may play a role in the pathogenesis of HSP.

The dose-dependent effects of L-carnitine in myocardial protection in normothermic ischemia.

L-Carnitine has been shown to improve the post-ischemic recovery of myocardial function and metabolic measurements that are reduced in the course of ischemia and reperfusion of the heart. In this study we used 40 male guinea-pigs in order to determine if the effect of L-carnitine which is used in the protection of the post-ischemic reperfused heart, is dose-dependent or not. All harvested hearts were perfused for 30 min on modified Langendorf apparatus with oxygenized Krebs-Henseleit solution. After this period, in (n = 10), 5 mmol and 10 mmol (group B, n = 10) of L-carnitine were added into a Krebs-Henseleit solution. After 20 min, perfusion was complete and the hearts were then exposed to normothermic ischemia for 20 minutes. Following the ischemia, hearts were reperfused with the same solutions for 30 min. In group C (n = 10), 10 mmol of L-carnitine was added into the solution at the post-ischemic reperfusion step. In the control group, the same procedures were performed without using L-carnitine. Matching was done according to the contractile force of the heart rate and the levels of malondialdehyde and adenosine deaminase. When 10 mmol L-carnitine was added into the perfusion solutions at the pre-ischemic period, the best results were obtained and myocardial damage was much less than the control group. The protective effects of L-carnitine in normothermic ischemia is dose-dependent and it must be given at the pre-ischemic period.