Aesthetic assessment of maxillary lateral and canine implant-supported crowns by laypersons and orthodontists.

INTRODUCTION: The objectives of this study were to evaluate how laypersons and orthodontists evaluate and rank aesthetic parameters of an implant-supported crown (ISC) on the canine position (ISC-C) and lateral position (ISC-L). METHODS: A digital survey of 11 cases, 5 ISC-C, 5 ISC-L and 1 control case without ISC, was distributed to 207 laypersons and 296 orthodontists. All cases included one extraoral photograph and three intraoral photographs. The respondents were asked to identify the ISC and to evaluate the aesthetic parameters regarding colour of the implant (CI), shape of the implant (SI) and gingival colour around ISC (GCI). Differences within and between the groups were tested using Chi-2-test and Independent-Samples t-test. RESULTS: All invited laypersons and 184 orthodontists (62% response rate) answered the survey. Orthodontists (89%) more correctly identified the ISC, regardless of its position, than laypersons (50%) (p < 0.001). Both laypersons (54%) and orthodontists (23%) rated higher proportions of acceptance of CI, SI and GCI in favour for the ISC-L than ISC-C (laypersons: 40%, orthodontists: 10%) (p < 0.001). Assessing each parameter separately, orthodontists rated higher for ISC-L, compared to the ISC-C (p < 0.001). In general, laypersons and orthodontist ranked tooth colour (mean, standard deviation [SD]:8.0,1.5 and 9.0, 1.0) and tooth shape (mean, SD: 8.0, 1.7 and 8.8, 1.2) as aesthetically higher than the gingival colour (mean, SD: 7.2, 2.2 and 8.0, 1.7) (p > 0.001).  Conclusion: Laypersons and orthodontists consider the ISC-L as aesthetically more preferable, compared to the ISC-C.

Impact of Donor Origin on Survival After Orthotopic Heart Transplantation.

Heart transplantation is the definitive management for select patients with end-stage heart failure. Owing to an ongoing organ donor shortage, organs are sometimes allocated from distant locales. These organs may be perceived as less desirable because of donor risk factors and ischemic times. We compared survival after heart transplantation by donors originating from British Columbia (BC), other Canadian provinces, and the United States. This retrospective cohort analysis included all patients transplanted in BC between December 1, 1988, and October 21, 2014, and excluded those with missing data or retransplantation. Among 382 patients, 297 (77.7%) recipients and 238 (62.3%) donors were male. The median recipient age was 54.6 years (interquartile range, 46.0-61.0 years) and the median donor age was 33 years (interquartile range, 22-46 years). Overall 10-year survival was 62.1% (95% confidence interval, 56.3-67.4). There was no difference in 10-year survival when comparing donors from BC, other Canadian provinces, and the United States despite significantly lower median ischemic times in donors from BC. Donor location was not predictive of mortality after controlling for recipient age, donor age, and cold ischemic time. Donor origin did not impact 10-year survival after heart transplantation despite increased ischemic time, suggesting that distant donors result in similar outcomes in BC.

Performance of an experimental wastewater treatment high-rate algal pond in subarctic climate.

A pilot-scale experimental high-rate algal pond (HRAP) was investigated in the subarctic mid-Sweden region, at latitude 63 degrees N. During autumn 2002, conditions included temperatures below 10 degrees C and photosynthetic active radiation below 200 microE/m2 x s. Biochemical oxygen demand was reduced by approximately 90% (approximately 40 g/m3), chemical oxygen demand by 65% (approximately 80 g/m3), total phosphorus by 20% (approximately 1 g/m3), and total nitrogen by 46% (approximately 15 g/m3), at a retention time of approximately 2.5 days. During autumn 2003, the performance of the HRAP appeared better with a more dense microalgae culture; however, as a result of poor settling of the microalgae, the reduction was considerably lower. A major difference between the years was the microalgae composition. In 2002, the large green algae Coelastrum dominated with Chlamydomonas, Scenedesmus, Lagerheimia, and the Cryptophyte Rhodomonas. In 2003, there was a total dominance of the very small green algae Chlorella, known to be difficult to settle. In batch growth experiments during spring 2002, doubling times of 4 to 6 days were achieved. The period of temperatures above 10 degrees C and an insolation of more than approximately 270 uE/m2 x s (125 Langleys), which is well-documented as appropriate for HRAP function (Oswald, 1988a, 1988c), were measured to last for 4 to 4.5 months from early May to late September. However, the growth and treatment performance experiments indicated that a longer season may be possible-6.5 to 7 months, at best-from early April to late October.