Does the Bleaching Gel Application Site Interfere With the Whitening Result? A Randomized Clinical Trial

SUMMARY This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the bleaching gel application site on chromatic changes and postoperative sensitivity in teeth. Thirty patients were selected and allocated to three groups (n=10 per group), according to the location of the gel: GI, cervical application; GII, incisal application; and GIII, total facial. The amount and time of application of the 35% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) gel were standardized. Color changes were analyzed by ΔE and Wid (bleaching index), using the values obtained in the readings conducted on a digital spectrophotometer in the cervical (CRs) and incisal regions (IRs) of the teeth. Spontaneous sensitivity was assessed using the questionnaire, and the stimulated sensitivity caused by the thermosensory analysis (TSA). The analysis occurred in five stages: baseline, after the first, second, and third whitening sessions (S), and 14 days after the end of the whitening, using the linear regression statistical model with mixed effects and post-test by orthogonal contrasts (p<0.05). Although the IR was momentarily favored, at the end of the treatment, the restriction of the application site provided results similar to those obtained when the gel was applied over the entire facial surface. Regarding sensitivity, only the GI showed spontaneous sensitivity. In the TSA, GIII had less influence on the threshold of the thermal sensation. It was concluded that the chromatic alteration does not depend on the gel application site. Spontaneous sensitivity is greater when the gel is concentrated in the cervical region (CR), and the teeth remain sensitized by thermal stimuli even after 14 days.

Intravenous versus subcutaneous delivery of biotherapeutics in IBD: an expert’s and patient’s perspective

Several biologic treatments are available in addition to intravenous also in subcutaneous form for treatment of chronic diseases. Benefits of the subcutaneous application of drugs include self-administration by the patient, shorter time of application process with less infusion related adverse events and consequently lower healthcare costs. With appropriate education and support patients are able to administer their treatments at home. This leads to improvement of quality of life, reduction of time needed to travel to the healthcare institution and consequently also reduces costs also for the patient.Over one million residents in the USA and 2.5 million in Europe are estimated to have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with substantial costs for health care. These estimates do not factor in the ‘real’ price of IBD, which can impede career aspirations, instil social stigma and impair quality of life in patients.The Virtual Community Meeting, which offered an exchange of experience and opinions from healthcare professionals who are active in treating IBD, and patients with this chronic disease, revealed in-depth arguments and answers to some essential questions: which patients prefer subcutaneous over intravenous dosing; which patients continue to favour intravenous infusions; what are the limitations regarding both applications; what is the patient’s role in therapeutical decision-making and how does IBD affect the patient’s work, finances and quality of life? The aim of this article is to discuss the differences between subcutaneous and intravenous dosing from the health-economic, scientific, and personal perspectives.The meeting offered strong confirmation that most of the patients and healthcare professionals prefer subcutaneous over intravenous drug administration but emphasise the management of risks associated with treatment compliance. Patient education provided by the IBD team in this regard is mandatory. Quality of life of patients is poorer during active disease, but the findings that it can improve over time, including as a result of home- or self-administration of biologics, may be encouraging for individuals with this chronic disease.

Bacteriophages to control plant diseases

Crop yield loss due to bacterial plant pathogens need to be reduced to increase global food production demand. Currently available disease management strategies involving copper-based bactericides and antibiotics are losing efficacy due to development of resistance in bacteria. There is long familiar demand of environmentally friendly and sustainable strategies to control bacterial diseases. Bacteriophages are virus that kill target bacteria without affecting another microorganism and environment. Bacteriophage efficiency on phyllosphere is mainly affected by ultraviolet (UV) light. Use of combination of phage, mixture with phage carrier bacteria and optimizing time of application helps in persistence of bacteriophage. There are several bacteriophage products already available in the market to control destructive bacterial diseases. Unlike chemical based traditional control measure, bacteriophage mixture can be easily amended to reduce resistance development in bacteria. In this chapter, the authors discuss from phage isolation to interaction with bacteria and control mechanism of plant diseases.

Effects of Nitrogen, Azoxystrobin and a Biostimulant Based on Brown Algae and Yeast on Wild Rocket Features at Harvest and During Storage

Recently, the use of biostimulant substances of different origins has been affirmed. They act differently on the physiological processes of the plant, helping to improve its productive response and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. Therefore, the response of the wild rocket to two substances known to have biostimulating activity (Azoxystrobin, and a fluid extract of brown algae and yeast), was evaluated. Two experimental trials (Exp 1 and Exp 2) were carried out in the greenhouse. The collected product, in addition to being evaluated from a qualitative point of view, was used for evaluation of shelf life. Exp 1 involved the comparison of two N levels with two Azoxystrobin levels (treated–Azo+, and untreated control). Exp 2 involved the comparison of two N levels, and two biostimulating substances based on Azoxystrobin (Azo+) and on fluid extracts of yeast and brown algae (YBA+), in addition to untreated control. A split-plot experimental design with three replications was used. Azo+ increased marketable yield of wild rocket by 16.8% and enhanced some qualitative features at harvest as the increase in chlorophyll (+17.8%) and carotenoids (+13.5%), and decrease in nitrates (−10.6%), regardless of the nitrogen level. Furthermore, Azo+ increased the shelf life (+2.5 days) of wild rocket stored at 3.5 °C. In particular, Azo+ slowed the loss of chlorophyll (yellowing) and the worsening of odor and visual appearance. As Azoxystrobin is a fungicide effective for the control of some diseases of wild rocket, its use should be promoted as it would offer not only the benefit of disease control but also improved production and shelf life. YBA+ caused an increase in the chlorophyll content (+12.5%) at harvest of wild rocket, but reduced its antioxidant activity (−40%). YBA+ did not cause substantial variations in shelf life with the exception of a slowdown in the degradation of carotenoids. Further research is desirable to evaluate other variables such as the dose and time of application.

Allelopathic potential of siam weed (Chromolaena odorata L.) extract for enhancing soybean productivity

Many tropical invasive species have strong allelopathic effects. Chromolaena odorata is reported to have the best potential to act as bioherbicide against several weeds on crops. This research was conducted in May-September 2019 to evaluate the efficacy of C. odorata extract on soybean plant. This study employed Randomized Block Design (RBD) Factorial with two factors. The first factor was 4 different doses of C. odorata extracts: 0, 8, 16 and 24 tons ha−1. The second factor was 3 different times of application: 0, 7 and 14 days after planting. Variables observed were number of pods per plant, seed weight per plant, weight of 100 seeds and dry seed yield. The findings indicated that the extract did have effect on seed weight per plant, weight of 100 seeds and yield of dry seeds. The application of extract 16-24 tons ha−1 has improved the seed weight per plant, weight of 100 seeds, and yield of dry seeds. There was no interaction between siam weed extract and time of application in all variables observed.

Effectiveness of Stretching in Post-Stroke Spasticity and Range of Motion: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Spasticity is one of the most frequent and disabling clinical manifestations of patients with stroke. In clinical practice, stretching is the most widely used physiotherapeutic intervention for this population. However, there is no solid evidence for its effectiveness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of different types of stretching in reducing post-stroke spasticity. Research was carried out until March 2021 in the following scientific databases: PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and PEDro. The PEDro scale and the Cochrane collaboration tool were used to assess the methodological quality and risk of bias of the studies. Eight articles were selected for qualitative analysis; six of them contributed information to the meta-analysis. No conclusive evidence was obtained on the effectiveness of stretching in terms of treating spasticity and range of motion in patients with stroke. Further research is necessary in order to determine the effectiveness of the use of stretching in this population, considering the different types of stretching (static and dynamic), the time of application, the measurement of the different components of spasticity, and the extrapolation of functional results.

Zoledronate Bound to Ceramics Increases Ectopic Bone Volume Induced by rhBMP6 Delivered in Autologous Blood Coagulum in Rats

Autologous bone graft substitute (ABGS) containing rhBMP6 in autologous blood coagulum (ABC) with synthetic ceramics is a novel therapeutic solution for bone repair. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the application of Zoledronate (ZOL) with ABGS might enhance the properties of newly formed bone. The effect of ZOL on bone induction was tested in a rat subcutaneous implant model. ZOL bound to synthetic ceramics was added into ABGS implants, and the quantity, quality, and longevity of the induced bone were assessed by micro-CT, histomorphometry, and histology over a period of 365 days. Local use of ZOL in the ABGS implants with ceramics had no influence on the bone volume (BV) on day 14 but subsequently significantly increased BV on days 35, 50, 105, 140, and 365 compared to the control implants. Locally applied ZOL had a similar effect in all of the applied doses (2–20 µg), while its systemic use on stimulating the BV of newly induced bone by ABGS depended on the time of application. BV was increased when ZOL was applied systemically on day 14 but had no effect when applied on day 35. The administration of ZOL bound to ceramics in ABGS increased and maintained the BV over a period of one year, offering a novel bone tissue engineering strategy for treating bone defects and spinal fusions.

​Defoliants Harvest-aid Chemicals: Cost Effective Technology to Facilitate Synchronized Maturity for Mechanical Harvesting in Cotton: A Review

In the recent years, increasing labour cost and shortage of labour being the major constraints to follow manual harvesting in cotton in staggered manner. Further, it is very expensive and farmers would like to increasingly opt for mechanical harvesting. In this context, it is suggested that research should focus to reduce cost of cultivation substantially by promoting the use of synchronized maturity in cotton and use of defoliants to encourage mechanical harvesting. In agriculture, defoliants are used to eliminate the leaves of a crop plant so that they do not interfere with the harvesting by machinery. Early harvesting with good boll opening can also be achieved by use of defoliants. The use of defoliants also reduces the trash content in picked cotton which will also help in improving the quality of cotton. There is a need to identify suitable defoliant with suitable dose and time of application so as to facilitate mechanical harvesting in rainfed cotton. Some of the successful defoliants for uniform boll bursting and higher yield of cotton such as rthrel, rthepon, mepiquat chloride (MC), sodium salt and DU (Dropp Ultra) are the hormonal defoliants and TDZ thidiazuron butifos, merphos, tribufos and tribufate are the herbicidal defoliants. The best combination of thidiazuron + diuron (DCMU), pyraflufen ethyl, thidiazuron + diuroncellular isozyme, Ethephon + AMADS, ethephon + cyclanilide ethephon + tribufos Mepiquat chloride (MC) + cyclanilide may be recommended to facilitate mechanical harvesting in cotton.

PSXI-18 Nitrogen fertilization management of winter pastures for stocker cattle production

Bermudagrass is often over-seeded with a cool-season annual grass for grazing purposes. In the Gulf Coast region, summer perennials will not become dormant until there are low soil and ambient temperatures. Nitrogen fertilizer is an expensive input and its split application for winter pastures is recommended. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the time of application of N fertilizer or its substitution with red clover as a source of N. Three treatments were evaluated in 3 consecutive years (2 replicates per year) on annual ryegrass (cv. Marshall) no-tilled planted (45 kg/ha) on Tifton-85 bermudagrass: 1) Urea in late November and mid-late January; 2) Red clover planted with annual ryegrass; 3) Urea in January only. Thirty crossbred steers (203±24 kg) were blocked by BW and randomly assigned to 1 of 6 groups. Each group were continuously stocked on 1.34 ha pastures for 90 d. Forage mass, botanical composition, and nutritive value of the pastures were determined from the time of the first N application and every 15 d thereafter. There was treatment x year interaction (P = 0.03) in botanical composition. Greater proportions (P = 0.03) of bermudagrass were present on the 2-application treatment on every sampling date until d 15 of the grazing period in Year 1 and 3. This was a result of N absorbed by bermudagrass which impacted its nutritive value (P = 0.01) although not forage production (P = 0.07). In Year 2, annual ryegrass dominated the swards due to a cold artic front in early November. Steers grazing fertilized treatments had greater gains (P = 0.04), while production per ha was greater (P = 0.03) when N was applied in January than when no N was applied. Hay production (kg DM/ha) was similar (P = 0.06) among treatments. Opportunities for improved economics of production and enhanced sustainability appear to be realistic objectives with changes in fertilization strategy.

CAVE-based immersive learning in undergraduate courses: examining the effect of group size and time of application

Immersive virtual reality is increasingly regarded as a viable means to support learning. Cave Automatic Virtual Environments (CAVEs) support immersive learning in groups of learners, and is of potential interest for educational institutions searching for novel ways to bolster learning in their students. In previous work we have shown that the use of a CAVE-based virtual learning environment yielded higher learning gains compared to conventional textbook study. Yet, few prior studies have explored the circumstances that yield a trade-off between learning gains and the practical feasibility of providing immersive learning to large student numbers. To gain insight into these circumstances the current study examined two factors: (1) group size (small, medium and large), and (2) time of application (pre-, mid- and late-term of a course). Results indicated learning gains were present for all group sizes and application time periods, with highest learning gains in smaller groups. Learning gains were consistent across application time periods. Additionally, structural equation modeling was applied to assess how learning may result from the use of immersive virtual reality. Results indicated technological virtual reality features predicted learning outcomes via self-reported usability but less so via self-reported presence. Based on the findings, recommendations are presented for effective immersive learning for different group size and application time period configurations. Taken together, the current study elucidates factors affecting learning in immersive virtual reality and facilitates its use in educational practice.