A Retrospective Study of Implant Placement Lateral to the Inferior Alveolar Nerve (ILIAN) in Severely Atrophic Posterior Mandibular Ridges

Currently, there are several techniques being used in the posterior mandible to increase alveolar bone height and width. However, each of these has potential complications and limitations. The purpose of the current study was to present the surgical technique and restorative considerations for implant placement lateral to the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) in cases of severely atrophic edentulous posterior mandibles. In the current study, 26 implants in 16 patients were successfully placed lateral to IAN and restored with splinted screw-retained prostheses with a follow-up time after loading ranging from 3 months to 6 years. Two patients reported complications. One patient had a temporary paresthesia that resolved 3 months after implant placement and the second patient had minor paresthesia which was reduced after implant removal but remained in a small area on the left corner of her lip.

Improving Free Gingival Graft Success Around Implants Using a Completed Implant Restoration.

Keratinized mucosa around implants is considered essential for maintaining peri-implant health. Clinicians may find it necessary to augment keratinized tissue after implant loading when complications arise. Immobilizing the graft can be challenging when there is a complete absence of attached gingiva or when the vestibule is shallow creating an opportunity for muscle forces to move the graft. To overcome these limitations, various stents have been created aimed at improving the stability of soft-tissue grafts around implants; however, many of these stents have drawbacks. This case report presents a novel approach for improving free gingival graft immobility and success around implants that utilizes a completed implant restoration.

Peri-implant Mucositis.

Peri-implant mucositis has been defined as a reversible inflammatory reaction in the soft tissues around a functioning implant with no bone loss. This paper reviews the prevalence, etiology, risk indicators, prevention, and treatment of mucositis. Relying on the literature concerning mucositis, the bacterial etiology is discussed as well as the varying ranges of prevalence, reported to be from 20% to 80% of subjects (13% to 62% of implants) after a minimum of 5 years of implant function. A discussion of the definition of mucositis questions the assumption of it being completely reversible following treatment and challenges the concept of mucositis "transfer" (conversion) to peri-implantitis.

FPGA-Based High-Performance Embedded Systems for Adaptive Edge Computing in Cyber-Physical Systems: The ARTICo³ Framework.

Cyber-Physical Systems are experiencing a paradigm shift in which processing has been relocated to the distributed sensing layer and is no longer performed in a centralized manner. This approach, usually referred to as Edge Computing, demands the use of hardware platforms that are able to manage the steadily increasing requirements in computing performance, while keeping energy efficiency and the adaptability imposed by the interaction with the physical world. In this context, SRAM-based FPGAs and their inherent run-time reconfigurability, when coupled with smart power management strategies, are a suitable solution. However, they usually fail in user accessibility and ease of development. In this paper, an integrated framework to develop FPGA-based high-performance embedded systems for Edge Computing in Cyber-Physical Systems is presented. This framework provides a hardware-based processing architecture, an automated toolchain, and a runtime to transparently generate and manage reconfigurable systems from high-level system descriptions without additional user intervention. Moreover, it provides users with support for dynamically adapting the available computing resources to switch the working point of the architecture in a solution space defined by computing performance, energy consumption and fault tolerance. Results show that it is indeed possible to explore this solution space at run time and prove that the proposed framework is a competitive alternative to software-based edge computing platforms, being able to provide not only faster solutions, but also higher energy efficiency for computing-intensive algorithms with significant levels of data-level parallelism.

Using SRAM based FPGAs for power-aware high performance wireless sensor networks.

While for years traditional wireless sensor nodes have been based on ultra-low power microcontrollers with sufficient but limited computing power, the complexity and number of tasks of today's applications are constantly increasing. Increasing the node duty cycle is not feasible in all cases, so in many cases more computing power is required. This extra computing power may be achieved by either more powerful microcontrollers, though more power consumption or, in general, any solution capable of accelerating task execution. At this point, the use of hardware based, and in particular FPGA solutions, might appear as a candidate technology, since though power use is higher compared with lower power devices, execution time is reduced, so energy could be reduced overall. In order to demonstrate this, an innovative WSN node architecture is proposed. This architecture is based on a high performance high capacity state-of-the-art FPGA, which combines the advantages of the intrinsic acceleration provided by the parallelism of hardware devices, the use of partial reconfiguration capabilities, as well as a careful power-aware management system, to show that energy savings for certain higher-end applications can be achieved. Finally, comprehensive tests have been done to validate the platform in terms of performance and power consumption, to proof that better energy efficiency compared to processor based solutions can be achieved, for instance, when encryption is imposed by the application requirements.

Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy after gastric banding removal: a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is a commonly performed bariatric procedure. When LAGB fails, restrictive procedures such as gastric bypass have been performed. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has been suggested as an alternative, but it has not yet been fully studied. Evaluated in this report are the experiences of patients who underwent LSG, a restrictive procedure, as a rescue procedure for failed LAGB. METHODS: From June 2002 to June 2007, charts of patients who underwent LAGB were reviewed to find those who had undergone LSG as a rescue procedure. RESULTS: Of 294 patients who underwent LAGB, 10 later underwent LSG. Median excess weight loss (EWL) prior to LSG had been 34%; after LSG, median EWL was 55%. Before LSG was performed, patients had a median 11.5 comorbidities, all of which improved after LSG. No major complications or deaths resulted. CONCLUSION: The results suggest LSG might be a reasonable choice for patients who fail LAGB. A formal study comparing LSG with other rescue procedures should be performed.

[Para-median or midline approach in the insertion of a Tenckhoff catheter in patients with ambulatory continuous peritoneal dialysis. Comparative study]. / Abordaje por línea media o paramedia en la colocación de catéter de Tenckhoff en pacientes con diálisis peritoneal continua ambulatoria. Estudio comparativo.

HYPOTHESIS: Insertion of a Tenckhoff catheter through a small para-median incision results in less catheter dysfunction than in cases where insertion is made through a midline incision. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a prospective, longitudinal, comparative, observational study of cause and effect; in other words, it is a study of two cohorts. The study included patients with chronic renal insufficiency aged 16 years and over of either sex who required insertion of a Tenckhoff catheter for peritoneal dialysis treatment. A total of 44 patients were recruited and were divided randomly into two groups: Group A, numbering 23 patients, had their catheter inserted through midline below umbilicus, while Group B numbering 21 patients had their catheter inserted through via para-median approach. The study employed Student t parametric test and chi square trial hypothesis for non-parametric variables. Rejection criterion was p < 0.05. RESULTS: In both groups, cause of chronic renal insufficiency was diabetic nephropathy. After a 30-day follow-up period, the group of patients with catheter inserted through midline incision, i.e., Group A, presented dysfunction in 43.5% of cases. In the group with catheter inserted through para-median incision, i.e., Group B, dysfunction presented in 38% of cases with no other significant statistical difference occurring. Main cause of dysfunction occurring in Group A was catheter migration, whereas in Group B the main cause was dialysis fluid leakage. CONCLUSIONS: This study concluded that there was no significant difference between the two surgical techniques employed for Tenckhoff catheter insertion with regard to incidence of catheter migration, leakage of dialysis solution, catheter obstruction due to adhesions, or post-incisional hernias during the immediate post-surgical period (30 days). Furthermore, no significant difference was found between the two groups with respect to other types of complications such as peritonitis, infection along the subcutaneous catheter pathway, or catheter obstruction due to blood clots.