Scientific Research Publishing

Opportunistic and pathogenic microorganisms usually use the oral cavity as a reservoir. While routine dental practice, there might be a high risk of infection for all participants of dental treatment, including patients, providers, dental assistants and laboratory technicians. And the omission of a proper disinfection of dental prostheses might increase the risk for transmission of communicable diseases (e.g. Hepatitis B virus) and facultative pathogenic microorganisms. Dentures are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth; they are supported by the surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. The disinfection of dentures before and after contact with patients is theoretically an obligation to prevent transmission of infection.   However, there are no products available which are designed for the specific use of disinfecting dentures. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of chemical disinfectants on elastic modulus, flexural st...

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominately dopamine-producing (“dopaminergic”) neurons in a specific area of the brain called substantia nigra. Symptoms generally develop slowly over years. PD is widely recognized by its motor characteristics; however there are well-described non-motor manifestations such as dementia, major depression, sleep disorder, autonomic dysfunction, and pain. In fact, the estimated prevalence of pain in PD varies widely and can be up to 85% of patients. This may largely reflect musculoskeletal and arthralgias secondary to dystonia. However, it is observed that pain persists in regions unaffected by dystonia, which may involve a commonly overlooked and poorly understood etiology of central pain. The objective of this study was to discuss a case report of central pain in Parkinson’s disease in an outpatient setting. A 67-year-old-male patient with Parkinson’s disease presented with gradual onset of right upp...

Guided bone regeneration (GBR) technique is a widely utilized surgical approach in the augmentation of alveolar bone deformities that are frequently observed in edentulous patients. A wide range of nonresorbable and resorbable barrier membranes are currently used in GBR procedures to prevent soft tissue infiltration and achieve osseous tissue formation. Chitosan nanofiber membranes have been known to have a high degree of biocompatibility and support new bone formation with controllable biodegradation. The surface area of these membranes may allow them to serve as local delivery carriers for different biologic mediators. Simvastatin, an affordable and widely used hypolipidemic agent in the management of cardiovascular diseases, may be a promising alternative to these growth factors for bone healing stimulation.   The aim of this study was to evaluate simvastatin loaded chitosan nanofiber membranes for guided bone regeneration (GBR) applications and their ability to enh...

In the dairy industry, heat treatments—such as pasteurization—are widely used to stabilize the microbial evolution of the milk and increase the shelf-life of dairy products, or simply to cook the product. But meanwhile, the milk undergoes physico-chemical and biochemical changes: the proteins, especially, can be modified to a greater or lesser extent. In fact, heat treatment of milk may cause whey proteins and caseins to form aggregates. These soluble and micellar aggregates and their other properties (size, composition, shape, etc.) can affect the techno-functionalities to the milk, conferring interesting or negative features depending on the application in dairy industries. In this study, the authors proposed a new approach to characterise those protein aggregates. The authors prepared the samples by using skim milk and whey powders. pH and acidity were measured in triplicate before the heat treatment of the milk. Then the heat treatment of milk was carried out. The two extracts...

Patient satisfaction in facilities such as hospitals is related to the quality of nursing care and should be emphasized. And entering into patients’ subtle emotions, a sub-service not directly reflected in patients’ fees, exerts an influence on patient satisfaction. In fact, the sustainability of patient satisfaction is essential to the continuation of medical institutions. And nurses bear a central role in healthcare teams in influencing patient satisfaction and are part of a comprehensive medical system, while processes and structural factors affect the degree of patient satisfaction regarding nursing care. In this study, the authors aimed to ascertain a method for building good nurse-patient relations from the narratives of veteran nurses who have accumulated profound nursing experience, and to show these phenomena in model form. The authors conducted an interview with the participant concerning a specific mode of involvement that satisfactorily preserves nurse-patient rela...

Edible flowers are used to add special colors and flavors to dishes. The color of edible flowers is an important factor that influences consumer purchasing. Studies on edible flowers have mainly analyzed the chemical compositions, identified the chemical structures that result in their distinct colors, and evaluated their physiological functions. Concerning the physiological functions of edible flowers, anti-oxidative activity has been well documented, while other activities have been less reported. In this study, the physiological functions of 70% ethanol extracts of 6 edible flowers of different colors— Chrysanthemum morifolium  (Chry., yellow),  Rosa miniature  (Rosa, red),  Dendrobium phalaenopsis  (Dend., purple),  Viola x wittrockiana  cv. fluna (Fluna, white),  Viola x wittrockiana  cv. pansy (Pansy, orange), and  Primula x juliana  (Prim., blue)—were evaluated in vitro . Anti-oxidant activity was evaluated based on...

Eating is important as a means of communication, in addition to maintaining life. It is well known that people’s taste experiences are improved when another individual is present, in comparison to eating alone. This promotion effect of eating with another person is called the “social facilitation of eating,” which refers not only to increase in the amount of food intake, but also to taste as well. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the opinions of people eating together affect the taste of the foods they eat. In addition, if the opinions of others influence taste for one of the people eating with them, are the others’ opinions related to the empathy of individuals? Finally, this study was also intended to consider whether the taste threshold changes depending on the opinions of others. Twelve nonsmoking, young healthy women (aged 18.4 ± 0.8 years old; mean ± SD) participated in the present study. They had no food allergies. The participants tasted bread under...

Growth retardation, which includes stunting, wasting, underweight and micronutrient deficiency, continues to be a major public health problem in most low-income countries. Growth retardation and micronutrient deficiency contribute to mortality, morbidity, reduced immune competence and impaired cognitive function and productivity.   In Bangladesh, school feeding programs with fortified biscuits have been evaluated. However, the impacts of a school meal program using local foods on the growth and nutritional status of children have not been investigated.  In this study, the authors aimed to determine whether a school meal program (SMP) using local foods with soybean could improve children’s growth and micronutrient status in rural Bangladesh. Two primary schools were randomly assigned as intervention (SMP; n = 172) and control (non-SMP; n = 182) schools. Children in the intervention school were supplied a school meal with local foods including soybean, containing more t...

Woven fabrics, characterized with the special structure form, are widely used as reinforcement of textile composites in structural applications by far. Roving cloth, as one of the woven fabrics, is characterized with the cross section of the warp fiber bundles and weft fiber bundles, which are usually used as reinforcement for laminate molding. GFRP (glass fiber reinforced plastic) materials, characterized by high strength, low cost, low density, corrosion resistance, are also adopted in the form of glass woven fabric as reinforcements. Generally, final fracture of composites is considered to be caused by the accumulation of these microcracks or fractures. Thus, initial fracture, which represents the initiation of micro fracture, is considered to be significant in determining the fracture mechanism. In this paper, investigation on the initial fracture behavior was carried out on roving glass woven fabric reinforced composites which were manufactured by hand lay-up me...

Inflammation is the physiological and pathological response to cell injury, which results in the recruitment of leukocytes and plasma proteins to affected tissue and activation of tissue-resident macrophages causing para-inflammation. If the process becomes unregulated, the inflammatory response that normally destroys and eliminates pathogens is also capable of injuring normal tissues. First line management of an unregulated inflammatory response is to limit excessive inflammation. Traumeel is a compound that is utilized by a wide variety of healthcare practitioners to treat inflammatory states. It is composed of various natural plant and mineral extracts, which target the inflammatory pathways following soft-tissue injury. It is utilized extensively in Germany for multiple inflammatory conditions. Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) are a drug class that reduce pain, decrease fever, prevent blood clots and, in higher doses, decrease inflammation. Although highl...