Autogenous biological restoration: clinical and social importance

The Biological Restoration technique aims to use a dental fragment as the main restorative material for the reconstruction of a fractured tooth or with an extensive carious process, which may be autogenous or homogeneous. The objective of this study is to present, through a clinical case, an autogenous biological restoration with 2-year clinical and radiographic monitoring, as an alternative method of restoring teeth with destroyed clinical crown in a 27-year-old male patient. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (Number: 4.236.211). On clinical examination, it was found that tooth 16 had a temporary restoration in glass ionomer cement covering an extensive area involving the mesiopalatal cusp and the mesial crest. It was also noted that the patient had a healthy tooth 18 with no chewing function. Thus, it was proposed to make the autogenous biological restoration using tooth 18 extracted from the patient himself. Finally, after 2 years of follow-up, the restoration has good clinical applicability, showing the viability of the technique.

Converting Development Wells to Observations Wells to Aid Reservoir and Overburden Monitoring for CO2 Sequestration in a Depleted Carbonate Field

Measurement, Monitoring & Verification (MMV) is crucial to ascertain both containment and conformance in Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) projects. The magnitude of parameters to be monitored along with the technologies to be adopted could be very cost intensive and impact overall project Net Present value (NPV). To rationalize the associated costs and maximize the value propositions of existing infrastructure, the development wells in depleted field provide the opportunity to reduce the MMV cost by converting them into observation wells. However, the wells are to be analyzed for their strategic location in the reservoir, fit for purpose plug & abandonment plan and the apt technologies that can be implemented for both reservoir & overburden monitoring. Development wells in the identified depleted field are 30-40 years old and were not designed considering high CO2 concentration. In consequence, the possibility of well leakage due to accelerated corrosion channeling, cracks, along the wellbore cannot be ignored and requires careful evaluation. Rigorous process has been adopted in assessing the feasibility for converting existing producers into observation wells. Wells basis of designs disparity between the producer and the required observation well governs the selection for conversion to observation wells or plugging and abandonment. The reservoir simulation and coupled modelling predict that CO2 plume will reach all wells penetrating the storage reservoir during the initial injection phase. Out of 9 available producers, 2 strategically located wells have been evaluated for conversion based on end injection reservoir pressure of ∼3450psi. Quantitative CO2 leakage through the observation wells has been numerically computed based on all possible pathways for risk characterization. The permeable/perforated zones in these two wells are to be isolated along with the cap-rock restoration technique at deepest depth of ∼4000ft TVDSS. This will ensure the wells are safe & accessible for monitoring CO2 plume migration, CO2 leakage and well integrity by analyzing acquired DAS-VSP, DTS, DPS data and well logs. This paper elaborates unique challenges associated with identifying strategic wells for conversion to observation wells. Minimum plug setting depths, ranging from 3720-3880ft TVDSS, for abandonment of 9 development wells are derived based on fracture gradient and maximum horizontal stress. 2 observation wells require deeper plug setting depth to make caprock accessible at ∼4000ft TVDSS to be restored by utilizing either perforate-wash-cement (PWC) or section milling. Based on the subsurface illumination modelling, deployment of fiber-optics sensors in observation wells promises a cost-effective solution for monitoring CO2 plume migration and leakage by acquiring 4D DAS-VSP survey. Conversion of producers to observation wells promises cost effective MMV application for CO2 plume migration and leakage monitoring along with periodic temperature, pressure, and CO2 concentration measurement in overburden.

Vegetation Community Characteristics Under Different Vegetation Eco-restoration Techniques at Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station

The objective of this study is to understand the characteristics of vegetation communities under different vegetation eco-restoration models (vegetation concrete eco-restoration technique, frame beam filling soil technique, thick layer base material spraying technique, and external soil spray seeding technique). Vegetation coverage, dominant species, species composition, and species diversity of vegetation community under different vegetation eco-restoration modes were analyzed by field survey. The vegetation community of the abandoned slag slope was unstable due to the simple vegetation community structure. The species and number of the thick layer base material spraying slope were low and fail to form a healthy multilayer community structure due to invade of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. Studying the allelopathy of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit and seeking the best species composition that can coexist with it is significant to promote the positive succession of the vegetation community. The frame beam filling soil technique, external-soil spray seeding technique, and vegetation concrete eco-restoration technique can effectively promote the succession process of the vegetation community and have well water and soil conservation capacity. These findings suggest that artificial vegetation eco-restoration measures can effectively promote vegetation eco-restoration and the positive succession of vegetation community of disturbed slopes. The research results can provide scientific advice for vegetation eco-restoration and subsequent control and management of disturbed slopes in the Xiangjiaba project, and also can be helpful to other similar projects.

The digital reconstruction of degraded ancient temple murals using dynamic mask generation and an extended exemplar-based region-filling algorithm

A mural is any piece of artwork sculpted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other permanent surface. This artwork symbolizes various culture’s, traditions, historical events, spiritual stories, and civilizations of respective societies of ancient times. But these mural paintings are subjected to degradation either by various natural causes as well as pollution or by human beings without knowing their value. Restoring these paintings requires skilled artisans who are hard to find these days. Consequently, an efficient image restoration technique is required to meet the particular needs of the paintings. Existing in-painting algorithms largely use pixel-based textural reconstruction. The technique, however, does not work well for images with large, degraded portions. and also fails in the restoration of the structure. To resolve these drawbacks, we propose a combined technique for the textural and structural reconstruction of ancient murals. The proposed Extended Exemplar-based Region-Filling Algorithm uses a patch-based reconstruction procedure and masked images are created automatically using the Dynamic Mask Generation Algorithm. The deteriorated portions are identified by creating masks, and masks are created in such a way that degraded portions have a pixel intensity value of one and the remaining part has a value of zero, and filling is done by analyzing the surrounding pixel values of the degraded pixel. The algorithm reconstructs the structure of the paintings efficiently by generating sketches. The proposed technique reconstructs both the structure and textural information, and ensures efficient reconstructed results, compared to existing in-painting techniques. Performance is evaluated by metrics such as the Mean Square Error (MSE), Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR), and Structural Similarity Index (SSIM).

Performance and Mechanism of the in-situ Restoration Effect on VHCs in the Polluted River Water Based on the Orthogonal Experiment: Photosynthetic Fluorescence Characteristics and Microbial Community Analysis.

Volatile halogenated hydrocarbons (VHCs) attracted many attentions due to its toxic and persistent in the environment. In this research, a novel in situ ecological restoration reactor was applied to the degradation of VHCs in polluted river water. The optimized working condition adaptation of the in-situ restoration technique was evaluated through orthogonal tests. The experiments showed that when the water depth was 0.4 m, the HRT was 5d and the current velocity was 1 m/s, VHCs removal efficiencies could achieve favorable value. The CHCl3 CCl4, C2HCl3 and C2Cl4 removal efficiency could reach 70.27%, 70.59%67.74% and 81.82%, respectively. F test results showed that both HRT and water depth were significantly related to the removal efficiency of reactor. Besides, using underwater modulated chlorophyll fluorometer analyzed the rapid light curves (RLC) of plants in the experiment, which showed that the VHCs of damaged river was harmful to the physiological state of the plants. Moreover, the microbial community structures of fillers in the reactor were tested by high-throughput sequencing, the findings supported that the microbial community made a great response to adapt to the changes of environment of the reactor. The relative abundance of Rhodocyclaceae increased slightly, which hinted that it had good adaptability to VHCs in polluted river water. The research results confirmed that in situ ecological restoration reactor was an economical technology for removal VHCs in polluted river water.

Simulation and Mitigation of the Wrap-Around Artifact in the MRI Image

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an essential clinical imaging modality for diagnosis and medical research, while various artifacts occur during the acquisition of MRI image, resulting in severe degradation of the perceptual quality and diagnostic efficacy. To tackle such challenges, this study deals with one of the most frequent artifact sources, namely the wrap-around artifact. In particular, given that the MRI data are limited and difficult to access, we first propose a method to simulate the wrap-around artifact on the artifact-free MRI image to increase the quantity of MRI data. Then, an image restoration technique, based on the deep neural networks, is proposed for wrap-around artifact reduction and overall perceptual quality improvement. This study presents a comprehensive analysis regarding both the occurrence of and reduction in the wrap-around artifact, with the aim of facilitating the detection and mitigation of MRI artifacts in clinical situations.

Contact-former to restore the age-related characteristics of the contact pads of the posterior teeth

The aim of the study: development and clinical testing of specialised dental instruments and a clinical protocol for the restoration of the age-re-lated characteristics of contact pads during caries treatment of the contact surfaces of posterior teeth applying aesthetic restoration using light-cured composite materials.Materials and research methods. A contact-former of an original design and a medical-technological algorithm for the formation of contact areas of the posterior teeth, taking into account age characteristics, have been developed. A comprehensive assessment of the quality of 289 direct composite restorations of posterior teeth with Class 2 defects according to Black made during the treatment of dental caries in 178 pa-tients aged 20 to 59 years was performed. The condition of 162 composite restorations performed using contact-formers and 127 composite restorations performed using the traditional restoration technique, without the use of contact-formers and other similar tools and techniques.Research results. The compliance of the restorations performed using the developed technique, according to the criteria for restoration of the contact surfaces of the teeth (4 points), was 98.3 ± 1.02% after 7 days after treatment, 92.5 ± 2.07% after 12 months, and 24 months after – 74.8 ± 3.41%. In the comparison groups, 16.3 ± 3.28% (p<0.005) restorations were fully consistent with the clinical requirements for this indicator (4 points) 7 days after treatment, 11.3 ± 2.81% (p<0.005) after 12 months, after 24 months this indicator decreased to 9.8 ± 2.64% (p<0.005).Conclusion. The data obtained make it possible to recommend the use of a contact-former of the original design and the method of restor-ing planar contact points (contact pads) taking into account age-related characteristics within the framework of a personalized approach in the treatment of patients with caries of the contact surfaces of posterior teeth by the method of direct aesthetic restoration with light-cured composite materials.

Ecological Responses of Macroinvertebrates to an In-Stream Ecosystem Restoration Technique in a Tropical Stream in Eastern Uganda

A field experiment was conducted to examine the ecological responses of macroinvertebrates to an in-stream ecosystem restoration technique called woody debris introduced in a stream in different arrangements to show how they (woody debris) affected the macroinvertebrate ecology, specifically assemblage composition and biometrics in River Nabongo. The experiment was carried out in two heterogeneous stream environments i.e., i) in a riffle found in the middle reaches of the river at a higher altitude and ii) a pool in the lower altitude and reaches of the river. Each of these two treatments had a control plot for comparison purposes. Four macroinvertebrate sampling campaigns were launched in experimental sites from September 2019 to April 2021. All restoration structures had more macroinvertebrates than control and pre-treatment sites. The introduction of simple structures at the riffle site led to an increase in collector-filterers from 9-128 individuals, while at the pool site all the structures increased macroinvertebrates by 1151 individuals. Taxon richness was highest in the complex plot with 14±0.41 which significantly differed from the rest of the sampling plots at P<0.05. The relative abundance of taxa at the pool site varied significantly from one sampling plot to another at P<0.05 with the highest mean abundance registered in complex and simple structures having 61.3±0.10 and 23.5±0.11 respectively. It was concluded that complex woody debris structures increase the diversity, abundance and richness of aquatic macroinvertebrates by providing hard substrates for colonization by algae and microorganisms on which macroinvertebrates feed. We recommended that other researchers should study the impact of other in-stream ecosystem restoration techniques such as floating islands, constructed wetlands, D-deflectors, a comparison of which with restored woody debris will enable ecologists to choose the most suitable technique to apply at different stream points.