Material and methods: The extracortical bone bridge interface's radiological parameter was evaluated at the prosthesis bone junction two years after surgery utilising a picture archiving and communication system (PACS). The radiograph's anteroposterior and lateral view was analysed for both thickness and length in all four cortices. The analysis was done in SPSS Version 24 using One-Way ANOVA and independent T-Test. Results were presented as mean and standard deviation and considered significant when the p-value was < 0.05.
Results: The mean average thickness was 2.2293mm (SD 1.829), and the mean average length was 31.95% (SD 24.55). We observed that the thickness and length of EBBI were superior in the young patient or patients with giant cell tumour that did not receive chemotherapy, compared to patients treated for osteosarcoma. The distal femur also had better EBBI compared to the proximal tibia. However, the final multivariable statistical analysis showed no significant difference in all variables. EBBI thickness was significantly and positively correlated with EBBI Length (p<0.001). We conclude that, for each 1mm increase in EBBI thickness, the length will increase by 0.06% on average. About 17.2% of patients out of the 29 showed no radiological evidence of EBBI.
Conclusion: From our study, there were no factors that significantly contributed to the formation and incorporation of EBBI.
Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the antimicrobial effects of MP, AV, and MP + AV in comparison with Ca(OH)2 against E. faecalis, as an intracanal medicament.
Materials and Methods: Antimicrobial activity of MP, AV, MP + AV, Ca(OH)2, and dimethyl sulfoxide was tested against E. faecalis using antimicrobial sensitivity testing, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). The results were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test with Mann-Whitney post hoc test and repeated measures analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc test (P < 0.05).
Results: For agar well-diffusion method, MP + AV gave maximum inhibition zone diameter (mean: 8.11 ± 0.015 mm), MP (mean: 6.21 ± 0.046 mm, Ca(OH)2 (mean: 5.5 ± 0.006), and AV (mean: 5.05 ± 0.012) with P < 0.05. MIC for MP + AV was 2 mg/ml, MP at 8 mg/ml, Ca(OH)2 at 8 mg/ml, and AV at 16 mg/ml. The MBC for MP + AV is at 4 mg/ml, MP at 16 mg/ml, Ca(OH)2 at 16 mg/ml, and AV at 32 mg/ml.
Conclusion: The combination of MP and AV consistently showed better antimicrobial activity compared to MP and AV alone against E. faecalis. The findings suggest that MP and AV used in combination may be an ideal intracanal medicament in FET and PET.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the SR, tensile strength (TS), and percentage elongation (% E) of different SEs subjected to outdoor weathering in the Malaysian climate.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Type-II dumbbell-shaped specimens (N-120) (nonweathered=15, weathered=15) were made from 3 room-temperature vulcanized (A-2000, A-2006, and A-103) and 1 heat-temperature vulcanized (M-511) silicone (Factor II). For 6 months, weathered specimens were subjected to outdoor weathering inside a custom exposure rack. Simultaneously, the nonweathered specimens were kept in a dehumidifier. Subsequently, the SR was measured with a profilometer; TS and % E were measured by using a universal testing machine. Two-way ANOVA was used to compare the means of the tested properties of the nonweathered and weathered specimens, and pairwise comparison was carried out between the silicones (α=.05).
RESULTS: After outdoor weathering, the SR, TS, and % E were adversely affected by weathering in the Malaysian environment. Among the silicone materials, A-2000 showed the least TS changes (2.51 MPa), while A-2006 demonstrated significant changes in percentage elongation after outdoor weathering (266.5%). M-511 exhibited the highest mean value (2.50 μm) for SR changes. In addition, A-103 SE showed statistically significant differences in most pairwise comparisons for all 3 dependent variables.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on the evaluation of mechanical properties, A-103 can be suggested as a suitable silicone for maxillofacial prostheses fabricated for tropical climates. However, A-2000 can be a suitable alternative, although significant changes to surface roughness were detected after outdoor weathering.
METHODS: Microbiological samples from 71 subjects with infected root canals were aseptically collected, and cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar, and C. albicans was identified using multiplex polymerase chain reaction, and the isolates were further subtyped using ABC genotyping system. Their relative virulence was compared using further four archival samples of endodontic origin from another geographical region, and four more salivary isolates, as controls. The virulence attributes compared were biofilm formation, and production of phospholipase and haemolysin, and the susceptibility to nystatin, amphotericin B, ketoconazole, and fluoconazole was also tested.
RESULTS: 4 out of 71 samples (5.6%) yielded Candida species. On analysis of variance among the groups, the intracanal isolates, mainly Genotype A, possessed a high degree of phospholipase and haemolysin activity (p
Methods: This school-based, non-randomised controlled study was conducted among secondary school students with a total of 236 respondents. The KAPS score were assessed before and 1 month after using self-administered validated KAPS questionnaire on TB. Analysis was done using repeated measures ANOVA.
Results: The mean percentage score (SD) for baseline knowledge, attitude, practice and stigma score for the respondents were 54.0 (4.48), 65.6 (1.74), 70.0 (1.43) and 66.0 (6.88), respectively. There was a significant difference (P < 0.001) in the knowledge and stigma score for intervention group compared to control group, adjusted for gender, ethnicity and smoking status 4 weeks post-TB educational programme. However, with regards to attitude and practice score, there was no significant difference (P = 0.210 and P = 0.243, respectively).
Conclusion: TB education programme was effective in improving knowledge and stigma related to TB. This health education programme can be used as one of the strategies for the prevention and control of TB in schools.
DESIGN: A double-blind, cluster-randomized approach was used as a randomization method for this study to evaluate the stress management interventional program.
METHODS: A cluster-randomized controlled trial was carried out in eight comprehensive healthcare centres in Amman city, Jordan; four centres were randomly assigned to each experimental and control group. One hundred and seventy nurses were selected randomly from March 2019 - August 2019 and data were collected by using the Nursing Stress Scale & brief COPE over three data collection times. Both descriptive and inferential statistics (repeated measure ANOVA, Independent t test, and chi-squared) were used to answer the research questions of this study.
RESULTS: The results showed that both the levels of occupational stress and coping strategies were significantly different between the two study groups over the three data collection points (p
Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among 103 pharmacists from 74 different community pharmacies to assess their knowledge about the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting by using a pre-validate knowledge questionnaire consisting of 12 questions related to it. The pharmacists' responses were measured at a 3-point Likert scale (Poor=1, Moderate=2, and Good=3) and data was entered in SPSS version 22. The minimum and maximum possible scores for knowledge questionnaires were 12 and 36 respectively. Quantitative data was analyzed by using One Way ANOVA and Paired t-test whereas Chi-square and Fisher exact test were used for qualitative data analysis. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all the analyses.
Results: About 92% of the pharmacist had good knowledge regarding the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting with a mean knowledge score of 32.88±3.16. One-way ANOVA determined a significant difference of employment setting (p<0.043) and years of experience (<0.008) with mean knowledge scores of Pharmacists. Pharmacists' knowledge was significantly associated with their years of experience with the Chi-square test.
Conclusion: Pharmacists exhibit good knowledge regarding the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting. However, with an increasing trend of herbal medicine use and its adverse drug reaction reporting it recalls the empowerment of experienced pharmacists with training programs in this area for better clinical outcomes.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty patients with one dry socket each, at University Dental Hospital Sharjah, were divided into three treatment groups based on their choice. In group I (n = 30), conventional treatment comprising of gentle socket curettage and saline irrigation was done. Group II (n = 15) dry sockets were treated with CGF and group III (n = 15) sockets were lased with LLLT. All dry socket patients were seen at day 0 for treatment and subsequently followed-up at 4, 7, 14, and 21 days. Pain score, perisocket inflammation, perisocket tenderness, and amount of granulation tissue formation were noted.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data were analyzed as mean values for each treatment group. Comparisons were made for statistical analysis within the group and among the three groups to rank the efficacy of treatment using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Statistically significant difference is kept at p < 0.05.
RESULTS: Conventional treatment group I took more than 7 days to match the healing phase of group II CGF treated socket and group III LLLT irradiated socket (p = 0.001). When healing rate between CGF and LLLT are compared, LLLT group III showed a delay of 4 days compared with CGF in granulation tissue formation and pain control.
CONCLUSION: CGF treated socket was superior to LLLT in its ability to generate 75% granulation tissue and eliminate pain symptom by day 7 (p = 0.001).
Methods: A randomized control trial study was run among 2120 cancer patients in public hospitals in Peninsular Malaysia, from Apr 2016-Jan 2018. The treatment group received counselling regarding chemotherapy by using developed module. The data were collected at three time-points: baseline, 1st, 2nd and 3rd follow-ups after counseling by Validated Malay version of the WHOQOL-BREF of questionnaire. Data analyses were done using χ2 and two-way repeated measure ANOVA.
Results: The treatment group improved significantly as compared to control group in physical health, psychological health, social relationship, environment and overall QOL (P<0.00).
Conclusion: The "Managing Patients on Chemotherapy" book along with repetitive counselling by pharmacists is a useful intervention for improving QOL of cancer patients undergoing treatment.