METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the correlation between HCV Ag and HCV RNA and to identify the prevalence of active HCV infection among HCV seropositive HD patients from dialysis centres across West Malaysia from July 2019 to May 2020. Pre-dialysis blood was taken and tested for both HCV Ag and HCV RNA tests. HCV Ag was tested with Abbott ARCHITECT HCV Ag test.
RESULTS: We recruited 112 seropositive HD patients from 17 centres with mean age of 54.04 ± 11.62 years, HD vintage of 14.1 ± 9.7 years, and male constitute 59.8% (67) of the study population. HCV Ag correlates well with HCV RNA (Spearman test coefficient 0.833, p 3000 IU/mL, HCV Ag had a higher sensitivity of 95.1% and greater correlation (Spearman test coefficient 0.897, p
Methods: We enrolled and reviewed 122 biopsy-proven NAFLD patients. Advanced fibrosis was defined as fibrosis stages 3-4. Noninvasive assessments included aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) ratio, AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), AST/ALT ratio, diabetes (BARD) score, fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score, and NAFLD fibrosis score.
Results: FIB-4 score had the highest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 0.86 and 94.3%, respectively, for the diagnosis of advanced fibrosis. FIB-4 score
Materials and Methods: Stainless steel dies with the American Dental Association specification 19 were made. Die has three horizontal and two vertical lines which are used for taking the impression. Two cross-points at the junction of the vertical lines with line 2 were marked as x and x' and served as beginning and end points of measurements for dimensional accuracy. Accuracy was evaluated 30 min after making each impression. If at least two of the three horizontal lines were reproduced continuously between cross-points, this impression was considered satisfactory. The specimens are poured with Type IV gypsum product and allowed to set completely for 24 h. Then, dimensional stability was measured in the model by measuring the distance between the two lines and comparing the distance with the measurement of line on metal die, which was used to make the impression.
Results: The mean value obtained for light- and medium-bodied VPS ether was 0.05370 and 0.05330 and for light and medium-bodied polyvinyl siloxane was 0.06370 and 0.07150, respectively. The mean value for polyether monophase was 0.06430. Two-way ANOVA and post hoc test showed statistical significance.
Conclusion: The newer VPS ether material showed good surface detail reproduction and dimensional stability when compared with polyvinyl siloxane and polyether.