Stoma care appliances: an overview

A core aim in stoma care is to ensure the appliance (also known as a pouch or bag) establishes and maintains a secure seal, and so identifying the appropriate appliance for an individual ostomate is vital. This article presents a summary of the latest available range of stoma appliances on the market. There are two types of pouching systems: one and two piece. There are three main types of stoma appliances: closed, drainable and urostomy. Stoma care nurses need to be well informed about stoma appliance innovation, so that they can advise patients on what appliance is best for them. It is also the role of a stoma care nurse to educate patients on the technique for appliance application. If a patient is wearing an inappropriate appliance or they have a poor application technique, this can result in stoma complications, such as leakage and/or sore peristomal skin.

Contribution to the selection of cutting fluid type and its application technique for grinding of bearing steel

The elevated heat generation in grinding can develop high temperatures at the contact zone, which can adversely affect the surface integrity of the workpiece, especially when grinding hardened steels with conventional abrasives. Thus, the correct selection of cooling-lubrication condition is essential to avoid or attenuate any possible negative effect to workpiece surface integrity. However, the literature lacks work comparing different cutting fluid application technique (e.g. flood and minimum quantity lubrication – MQL) using the same fluid on both techniques. In this context, this work aims to contribute to the selection of cutting fluid type and its application technique for the grinding of bearing steel. Experimental trials were conducted comparing the use of semisynthetic and synthetic cutting fluids, both applied via conventional (flood) and MQL techniques. Different cutting conditions were also tested. A 24 full factorial design of experiment (DOE) was carried out with the following factors: fluid application technique, type of fluid, workspeed, and radial depth of cut. An analysis of main effects and interactions was performed for surface finish (Ra parameter) results, including a prediction model based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The morphology of ground surface and microhardness below machined surface were also analyzed. The results showed that the ground surface finish was strongly dependent on the cutting fluid type and its application technique combination: superior finishing was observed with the combination of semisynthetic fluid delivered via flood technique and with synthetic fluid delivered via MQL technique. From the surface morphology analysis, it was observed that the inferior lubrication capacity of synthetic fluid applied via flood condition deteriorated the surface finish and morphology. The surfaces ground with semisynthetic fluid provided, in general, lower values of Ra and lower microhardness variation. The prediction model for Ra showed a maximum error of 14% in comparison to the measured values.

Marginal Sealing of Bulk Fill versus Conventional Composites in Class II Composite Restorations: An In Vitro Study

Objectives: Bulk fill composites are preferred to conventional composites with time-consuming incremental application technique, given that they have good mechanical properties and low microleakage. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the dentinal marginal microleakage of bulk fill (in two viscosities) and conventional composites in class II cavities in maxillary premolars. Materials and Methods: In this in vitro studyˏ 42 class II cavities were prepared in the mesial and distal surfaces of 21 maxillary premolars extending 1 mm below the cementoenamel junction, and restored with Grandio composite with 2-mm increments, and X-tra fil and X-tra base with 4-mm increments. After 24 h of storage at 37oC and 100% humidity, they were thermocycled (500 cyclesˏ 5-55oC), stored in basic fuchsine, sectioned, and evaluated under a stereomicroscope (×40). The microleakage scores of the gingival margin were recorded. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS 21 via the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests at P≤0.05 level of significance. Results: No statistically significant differences were noted among the groups in marginal microleakage (P=0.47). No statistically significant difference was noted between bulk and incremental application techniques in this respect either (P=0.23). Conclusion: There was no difference in marginal microleakage between the bulk fill and conventional composites.