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Dental implants are made from one or more biomaterials, with titanium and alloys being the most commonly used biomaterials as they exhibit good biocompatibility, mechanical properties and machinability. Osseointegration as defined by Branemark and the closure of soft tissue is the foundation for the success of dental implants. Improving the success rate of dental implants, reducing treatment time, helping with rapid loading and reducing the incidence of peri-implantitis and peri-implant mucositis remains an important area of research in the field of oral implantology. Increasing numbers of studies have focused on altering the surface of titanium and titanium alloy in order to increase their biological activity and facilitate osseointegration and soft tissue healing. To achieve these objectives, various conventional methods exist to alter the surface of titanium, but many revolutionary approaches were implemented with the advent in nanotechnology to efficiently modify the surface. However, with the advent of nanotechnology, an innovative technology called Self Assembly is introduced for surface modification. It is done by imprinting the monolayers on the surface of the biomaterials (titanium or its alloys) by a process called self-assembly. Hence, this paper reviews the progress of the application of the self-assembly technique for the surface modification of titanium and its alloys.KEY WORDS
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Objectives@#This study is aimed to evaluate and compare the effect of moist heat fomentation therapy with ultrasound therapy in patients with the masticatory myalgia. @*Materials and Methods@#The study was conducted on 42 patients with masticatory myalgia, dividing them into two groups; Group A (21 patients), received moist heat therapy and Group B (21 patients), received ultrasound therapy for seven effective days. Prior and after the treatment the numeric rating scale (NRS) and the electromyography (EMG) scores were recorded and compared. The observations were analyzed clinically and statistical support was taken to assess the NRS and EMG data. @*Results@#Irrespective of the groups, patients testified a significant reduction in pain after the treatment. From the EMG readings; even though the standard deviation for each group was varied considerably, EMG recorded an improved muscle activity. Statistical analysis was used to assess and identify the best treatment methodology between the two modalities. @*Conclusion@#From the statistical analysis, it is concluded that, though both the therapies had significantly reduced the symptomatic response, it is moist heat fomentation that improved muscle activity both statistically and clinically in comparison to ultrasound.
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New onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is one of the serious side effects of immunosuppressive medications used in renal transplant recipients. Diabetes in transplantation increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and has adverse outcome on graft and patient survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of NODAT in renal transplant recipients, the risk factors for the development of NODAT and its effect on graft and patient survival. Total 210 patients underwent renal transplantation from Jan 2010 to June 2016. Mean follow-up period after renal transplantation was 38.14 + 20.12 months. NODAT was defined as two consecutive fasting blood glucose determinations above 126 mg/dL. Thirty five (16.66%) recipients developed NODAT, the duration of onset of NODAT was 4.22 months (range 1 month to 30 months) after transplantation. All of them required insulin treatment. NODAT disappeared in 3(8.57%) recipients with reduction in tacrolimus dose and conversion to everolimus. Cox-Regression analysis was done to estimate the hazard ratio at confidence interval to assess whether the age more than 50 years, deceased donor, induction therapy, graft dysfunction, graft rejection, tacrolimus toxicity, everolimus based immunosuppression, HCV and CMV infection were risk factors for the development of NODAT. Induction therapy and graft dysfunction had 2 fold increased risk of development of NODAT and tacrolimus toxicity had 4 fold increased risk of development of NODAT. Fungal infection (17.14% Vs 2.28%, P value 0.00) was significantly higher in NODAT group compared to recipients without G. Swarnalatha, K.R. Karthik, N. Bharathi, S. Raghavendra, K. Siva Parvathi, A. Deepti, T. Gangadhar. New onset diabetes after renal transplantation: An experience from a developing country – India. IAIM, 2017; 4(7): 74-82. Page 75 NODAT. There was no significant difference in 6 months, 1, 2, 3 and 5 years patient survival or the death censored graft survival of recipients with NODAT compared to patients without NODAT
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Immunological cross-reactivity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) in leaf extracts of C3-, C4- and C3-C4 intermediate species of Alternanthera (along with a few other C3- and C4- plants) was studied using anti-PEPC antibodies raised against PEPC of Amaranthus hypochondriacus (belonging to the same family as that of Alternanthera, namely Amaranthaceae). Antibodies were also raised in rabbits against the purified PEPC from Zea mays (C4- monocot-Poaceae) as well as Alternanthera pungens (C4- dicot-Amaranthaceae). Monospecificity of PEPC-antiserum was confirmed by immunoprecipitation. Amount of PEPC protein in leaf extracts of A. hypochondriacus could be quantified by single radial immunodiffusion. Cros- reactivity of PEPC in leaf extracts from selected C3-, C4-, and C3-C4 intermediate species (including those of Alternanthera) was examined using Ouchterlony double diffusion and Western blots. Anti-PEPC antiserum raised against A. hypochondriacus enzyme showed high cross-reactivity with PEPC in leaf extracts of A. hypochondriacus or Amaranthus viridis or Alternanthera pungens (all C4 dicots), but limited cross-reactivity with that of Zea mays, Sorghum or Pennisetum (all C4 monocots). Interestingly, PEPC in leaf extracts of Alternanthera tenella, A. ficoides, Parthenium hysterophorus (C3-C4 intermediates) exhibited stronger cross-reactivity (with anti-serum raised against PEPC from Amaranthus hypochondriacus) than that of Pisum sativum, Commelina benghalensis, Altenanthera sessilis (C3 plants). Further studies on cross-reactivities of PEPC in leaf extracts of these plants with anti-PEPC antisera raised against PEPC from leaves of Zea mays or Alternanthera pungens confirmed two points--(i) PEPC of C3-C4 intermediate is distinct from C3 species and intermediate between those of C3- and C4-species; and (ii) PEPC of C4-dicots was closer to that of C3-species or C3-C4 intermediates (dicots) than to that of C4-monocots.