Clinical feasibility of mandibular implant overdenture retainers submitted to immediate load

Gerodontology 2010; doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2010.00374.x
Clinical feasibility of mandibular implant overdenture retainers submitted to immediate load Introduction: Millions of people around the world do not have access to the benefits of osseointegration. Treatments involving oral rehabilitation with overdentures have been widely used by specialists in the oral medicine field. This is an alternative therapy for retention and stability achievement in total prosthesis with conventional treatment, and two implants are enough to establish a satisfactory overdenture. Objective: The objectives of the study were to evaluate 16 patients of both sexes, with an average age of 47.4 ± 4 years, using electromyographic analysis of masseter and temporal muscles and analyse the increase of incisive and molar maximal bite force with their existing complete dentures and following mandibular implant overdenture therapy to assess the benefits of this treatment. Materials and methods: For these tests, the Myosystem‐BR1 electromyograph and the IDDK Kratos dynamometer were used. Statistical analysis was performed using the repeated measures test (SPSS 17.0). Results: A decrease in electromyographic activity during the rest, lateral and protrusion movements and increase of the maximal incisive and molar bite force after 15 months with a mandibular implant overdenture was observed. Conclusion: All the patients in this study reported a considerable improvement in the masticatory function and prostheses stability following treatment. It is possible to propose that the use of mandibular implants overdenture should become the selected treatment for totally edentulous patients to facilitate oral function and quality of life.     

Optical Nanofocusing on Tapered Metallic Waveguides

Tapered metal wires show a remarkable ability to ‘squeeze’ the lateral extent of a propagating surface-plasmon-polariton mode as it travels toward the tip of the taper. The transformation can be continued well below the diffraction limit to terminate at a nanoscale apex where intense near-fields are created. We perform the first full numerical simulations to investigate and quantify this phenomenon. We find optimal angles for maximal tip-field enhancement on conical wires by considering absorption, scattering to radiation and reflection. The optimal parameters we obtain contradict the conditions for adiabatic tapering, thereby advocating the use of numerical simulations. Despite the influence of losses, nanofocusing is still highly efficient for a broad range of practical metals, visible wavelengths and taper geometries. Diverse nano-optic applications can benefit directly and significantly from the results.     

Assignment of the NRAS protooncogene to chromosome 12 of Syrian hamster by in situ hybridization.

The NRAS protooncogene codes for a GTP binding/GTPase p21 protein which resides on the inner surface of the plasma membrane. Using a human cDNA probe for NRAS, we have assigned the gene to Syrian hamster chromosome 12 with the most likely localization being 12qa5.