Assessment of the relationship between fractal analysis of mandibular bone and orthodontic treatment duration : A retrospective study.

PURPOSE: This retrospective study aimed to determine whether a correlation exists between the fractal dimension value and overall orthodontic treatment duration in children and young adults. METHODS: The study included a total of 643 patients (age: 10-25 years) who received orthodontic treatment between January 2015 and March 2020. Patient records and pretreatment panoramic radiographs were evaluated. The regions of interest selected for calculating fractal dimension were the bilateral mental foramen regions of the mandible. Fractal dimension was set in relation to orthodontic treatment duration using a linear regression model which was also adjusted for potential confounding variables. Total treatment duration was the outcome variable of interest used as a continuous variable. The predictor variables of interest included age, gender, type of dental and skeletal malocclusion, vertical growth pattern, extraction type, and fractal dimension. RESULTS: The mean age, treatment duration, and fractal dimension were 14.56 years, 27.01 months, and 1.23 mm, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the fractal dimension had a significant influence on overall treatment duration (P < 0.001). From the other variables, Angle class II malocclusion significantly influenced treatment duration (P < 0.01), age showed a significant negative correlation with treatment duration (P < 0.01), and treatment duration significantly increased for patients with tooth extractions (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: There was a negative correlation between fractal dimensions at the mandibular mental region and total orthodontic treatment duration. Fractal dimension analysis may help to understand physiologic features of alveolar bone and predict orthodontic tooth movement.

The comparison of the anatomical and symptomatic outcomes of sacrocolpopexy and posterior intravaginal slingoplasty.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to compare abdominal sacrocolpopexy (ASCP) with posterior intravaginal slingoplasty (PIVS) in terms of lower urinary tract symptoms and anatomical restoration. METHODS: Ninety-two patients underwent PIVS and 98 patients underwent ASCP. RESULTS: Regarding ASCP, the blood loss, operation time, and hospitalization length were 537 ml, 94.5 min, and 3.07 days, respectively. Eight (8) patients required blood transfusion; urinary retention was diagnosed in four cases, surgical side infection was seen in three cases; constipation was a problem in nine cases; retroperitoneal haematoma was observed in one case; and bladder injury happened in two cases. Regarding PIVS, the blood loss, operation time, and hospitalization length were 275 ml, 53 min, and 2.08 days, respectively. Intramuscular haematoma was diagnosed in one patient, and constipation was a problem in one patient. CONCLUSIONS: ASCP and PIVS had same efficiency for the treatment of vault prolapse during the study follow-up. Both operations had good anatomical restoration for rectocele and cystocele. Moreover, PIVS also cured enterocele as an additional advantageous over ASCP. Besides, PIVS has significantly improved stress urinary incontinence, nocturia, and pelvic pain in terms of lower urinary tract symptoms compared to ASCP.

Effects of lipopolysaccharide on blood-brain barrier permeability during pentylenetetrazole-induced epileptic seizures in rats.

We investigated the effects of lipopolysachharide (LPS) on functional and structural properties of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) during pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced epileptic seizures in rats. Arterial blood pressure was significantly elevated during epileptic seizures irrespective of LPS pretreatment. Plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-1, interleukin (IL)-6, nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) increased while catalase concentrations decreased in animals treated with LPS, PTZ and LPS plus PTZ. The significantly increased BBB permeability to Evans blue (EB) dye in the cerebral cortex, diencephalon and cerebellum regions of rats by PTZ-induced seizures was markedly reduced upon LPS pretreatment. Immunoreactivity for tight junction proteins, zonula occludens-1 and occludin, did not change in brain vessels of animals treated with PTZ and LPS plus PTZ. Glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity was increased in LPS, but not in PTZ and LPS plus PTZ. These results indicate that LPS pretreatment reduces the passage of EB dye bound to albumin into the brain, at least partly, by increasing plasma NO and IL-6 levels during PTZ-induced epileptic seizures. We suggest that LPS may provide protective effects on the BBB integrity during epileptic seizures through transcellular pathway, since the paracellular route remained unaffected by LPS and LPS plus PTZ.

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics and management of oropharyngeal tularemia outbreak.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with tularemia and the effectiveness of the administered treatments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients treated in our hospital between January 2009 and March 2011 and diagnosed with tularemia were evaluated retrospectively. Patients' epidemiological and clinical characteristics, administered treatments, and posttreatment findings were recorded on patient monitoring forms. RESULTS: At anamnesis, 29% of patients used water from wells and 71% used water from the network supply; moreover, 48.4% had a history of contact with animals and 87.1% a history of lethargy. At physical examination, 96.8% had a mass in the neck and 90.3% had fever. Gentamycin + doxycycline therapy was administered to 45.2% of patients, while levofloxacin, gentamycin, and streptomycin were used for the other patients. After treatment, neck masses persisted in 48.4% of patients and complaints of lethargy and fever in 6.5%. Treatment of these patients was initiated once tularemia had been diagnosed, as test results were announced about 3 weeks later. Lymphadenopathy excision was performed on 19.4% of patients in whom neck mass persisted. CONCLUSION: Appropriate empiric antibiotherapy should be commenced in patients presenting with neck mass, fever, and lethargy in regions with tularemia epidemics.

Association of VNTR polymorphisms in DRD4, 5-HTT and DAT1 genes with obesity.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between VNTR polymorphisms of DRD4, DAT1 and 5-HTT genes and obesity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Peripheral blood samples of 234 obese (BMI ≥ 30) and 148 healthy individuals (BMI ≤ 25) were objected to PCR to detect the VNTR of the 2nd intron of 5-HTT, 3rd exon of DRD4 and 3'UTR of DAT1 genes. RESULTS: The association between obesity and genotype distributions of 5-HTT, DAT1 and DRD4 genes and between obesity and distributions of allele frequencies were tested by Chi Square (χ(2)) test and were not found statistically significant. BMI values for genotype of obese and morbidly obese (BMI > 40) individuals were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis and not found statistically significant differences between BMI values for the most frequent genotypes of 5-HTT, DAT1 and DRD4 genes. CONCLUSIONS: As a conclusion, there was no association between 5-HTT, DAT1 and DRD4 genes VNTR polymorphisms and obesity.