Surface treatment of indirect resin composite surfaces before cementation

Statement of problem. Controversy surrounds the use of hydrofluoric acid to prepare precementation surfaces of indirect composites.Purpose. This study was conducted to compare effects of combining hydrofluoric or orthophosphoric acid with microetching as precementation treatments.Material and methods. Nine specimens of three composite materials were prepared to simulate heat-cured indirect restorations. The specimen surfaces were prepared with one of three treatments. Adhesive Bond II and Twinlook cements were used to bond a phosphoric acid-etched disk of P50 to the treated surface. Analysis of variance and Scheffé tests were used to assess the bond strength data. Scanning electron microscopy and microscopic analysis of the fractured and treated surfaces were also performed.Results. Bond strengths for all surface treatments did not significantly differ. Hybrids had a higher bond strength with etching than microfills, and mechanical roughening produced the greatest bond strengths with microfills. Microetching with orthophosphoric acid produced higher bond strengths than microetching with hydrofluoric acid on hybrids.Conclusions. Acid etching alone is not sufficient to produce effective bond strengths, and hydrofluoric acid treatments are detrimental to the resin composite. (J Prosthet Dent 1997;77:568-72.)     

Transfer of lumbosacral load to iliac bones and legs Part 1: Biomechanics of self-bracing of the sacroiliac joints and its significance for treatment and exercise

This study deals primarily with the stability of the base of the spine. The sacroiliac joints are vulnerable to shear loading on account of their predominantly flat surfaces. This raises the question of what mechanisms are brought into action to prevent dislocation of the sacroiliac joints when they are loaded by the weight of the upper part of the body and by trunk muscle forces. First a model is introduced to compare load transfer in joints with spherical and with flat joint surfaces. Next we consider a biomechanical model for the equilibrium of the sacrum under load, describing a self-bracing effect that protects the sacroiliac joints against shear according to ‘the sacroiliac joint compression theory’, which has been demonstrated in vitro. The model shows joint stability by the application of bending moments and the configuration of the pelvic arch. The model includes a large number of muscles (e.g. the gluteus maximus and piriformis muscles), ligaments (e.g. the sacrotuberous, sacrospinal, and dorsal and interosseous sacroiliac ligaments) as well as the coarse texture and the ridges and grooves of the joint surfaces.     

Day-to-Day Variation in Iron Status Indexes is Similar for Most Measures in Elderly Women With and Without Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective To determine the day-to-day variation in biochemical measures of iron status in a group of elderly women with rheumatoid arthritis compared with a group of healthy elderly women.Design Venous blood samples were collected from each subject on 3 nonconsecutive days during a 2-week study period; subjects had fasted overnight. Variability in hemoglobin level, hematocrit value, serum iron concentration, total iron-binding capacity, transferrin saturation, serum ferritin concentration, and plasma transferrin receptor level was determined.Subjects Two groups of women, one with rheumatoid arthritis (n=10) and another that was apparently healthy (n=10).Statistical analyses Variance component analysis was used to estimate the biological variation (σ²_day) and analytic variation (σ²_rep) for each iron index. The coefficient of variation (CV) for each variance component was calculated: coefficient of biological variation = CV_day, coefficient of analytic variation = CV_rep, and coefficient of a single future determination = CV_fd.Results The CV_rep for all iron indexes was smaller than the CV_day in both groups. The CV_day was considerably higher for serum iron concentration and for transferrin saturation than for the other indexes in both groups (16.6% arid 16.6% in healthy subjects and 33.6% and 28.2%, respectively, in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis). The higher CV_day for serum iron concentration and transferrin saturation translated into a higher CV_fd for these indexes. Because of the higher variance for these two indexes, more sampling days were required for reliable estimates. CV_da and CV_fd for plasma transferrin receptor level were relatively low.Conclusions These findings corroborate our previous finding that variation of serum ferritin concentration in the elderly is lower than that demonstrated in younger populations. This aging effect persists in the presence of rheumatoid arthritis. Fasting appeared to improve reliability in the determinations for serum iron concentration and transferrin saturation. Variability estimates for the indexes other than serum iron concentration and transferrin saturation were not altered by the inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis. Plasma transferrin receptor level is a reliable index for assessing iron status in populations with rheumatoid arthritis. J Am Diet Assoc. 1996; 96:247-251.     

Myocardial perfusion and function in dogs with moderate coronary stenosis

MRI studies of first-pass contrast enhancement with polylysine-Gd-DTPA and myocardial tagging using spatial modulation of magnetization (SPAMM) were performed to assess the feasibility of a combined regional myocardial blood flow and 2D deformation exam. Instrumented closed-chest dogs were imaged at a baseline control state (Cntl) followed by two interventions: moderate coronary stenosis (St) achieved by partial occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) and moderate coronary stenosis with dobutamine loading (StD). Hypoperfusion of the anterior region (ANT) of the myocardium (LAD distribution) relative to the posterior wall (POS) based on the upslope of the signal intensity time curve from the contrast-enhanced MR images was demonstrated only with dobutamine loading (ANT:POS Cntl=1.077 ± 0.15 versus ANT:POS StD=0.477 ± 0.11, P<0.03) and was confirmed with radio-labeled microspheres measurements (ANT:POS Cntl=1.18 ± 0.2 ml/min/g versus ANT:POS StD=0.44 ± 0.1 ml/min/g; P<0.002). Significant changes in regional myocardial shortening were only seen in the StD state (P<0.02); the anterior region showed impaired myocardial shortening with dobutamine loading (P=NS), whereas the nonaffected POS region showed a marked increase in shortening when compared with Cntl (Cntl=0.964 ± 0.02 versus StD=0.884 ± 0.03; P<0.001). These results demonstrate that an integrated quantitative assessment of regional myocardial function and semiquantitative assessment of myocardial blood flow can be performed noninvasively with ultrafast MRI.