The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of orthodontic malocclusion with periodontal status, dental caries, and sociodemographic status. Our study population consisted of a sample of 836 school children (384 male and 452 female, aged 11–14 years). Four experienced orthodontists and two experienced periodontists performed the clinical examinations. The Treatment Priority Index (TPI), Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN), decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) scores, and a questionnaire that surveyed socio-demographic status of students were used. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were used to measure the association between variables. TPI scores showed that 36.4% of the students had normal occlusion, while 41.2% had slight, 15.7% had definite, 4% had severe, and 2.7% had very severe malocclusion. TPI values did not show any significant differences between pupils in different age, gender, socioeconomic status groups, and CPITN scores, whereas there was a significant relationship between TPI and DMFT scores. The orthodontic treatment need was not significantly correlated with CPITN or socio-demographic status; however, the correlation coefficient showed a significant relationship between TPI and DMFT scores.

Background

The results of sputum culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis must be awaited in most cases, which delays the start of treatment in patients with sputum smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis. We investigated whether plasma chitotriosidase activity is a strong marker for early diagnosis of tuberculosis in patients for whom a bacillus smear is negative and tuberculosis culture is positive.

Methods

Clinical, radiological, and laboratory features were evaluated in 75 patients, 17 of whom were diagnosed as having active tuberculosis by negative acid-fast bacillus smear and positive culture, 38 as having sequel tuberculosis which was radiologically and microbiologically negative, and 20 who served as healthy controls. Serum chitotriosidase activity levels were measured in both cases and controls.

Results

The mean age of the cases with active pulmonary tuberculosis, cases with sequel lesions, and controls was 23 ± 2.4 years, 22 ± 1.7 years, and 24 ± 2.1 years, respectively. Serum chitotriosidase levels were 68.05 ± 72.61 nmol/hour/mL in smear-negative, culture-positive pulmonary tuberculosis cases (Group A) and 29.73 ± 20.55 nmol/hour/mL in smear-negative, culture-negative sequel pulmonary tuberculosis cases (Group B). Serum chitotriosidase levels from patients in Group A were significantly higher than in Group B and Group C. There was no statistically significant difference in serum chitotriosidase levels between cases with sequel pulmonary tuberculosis (Group B, smear-negative, culture-negative) and healthy controls (Group C).

Conclusion

In patients with active tuberculosis and a negative sputum smear for acid-fast bacillus, plasma chitotriosidase activity seems to be a strong marker for diagnosis of active disease which can be used while awaiting culture results.

In our previous study, we have demonstrated that analyzing the skin impedances measured along the key points of the dermatomes might be a useful supplementary technique to enhance the diagnosis of spinal cord injury (SCI), especially for unconscious and noncooperative patients. Initially, in order to distinguish between the skin impedances of control group and patients, artificial neural networks (ANNs) were used as the main data classification approach. However, in the present study, we have proposed two more data classification approaches, that is, support vector machine (SVM) and hierarchical cluster tree analysis (HCTA), which improved the classification rate and also the overall performance. A comparison of the performance of these three methods in classifying traumatic SCI patients and controls was presented. The classification results indicated that dendrogram analysis based on HCTA algorithm and SVM achieved higher recognition accuracies compared to ANN. HCTA and SVM algorithms improved the classification rate and also the overall performance of SCI diagnosis.

The feasibility of using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) sensor nodes is studied in a distributed network, aiming at dynamic surveillance and tracking of ground targets. Data acquisition by low-cost (<$50 US) miniature low-power radar through a wireless mote is described. We demonstrate the detection, ranging and velocity estimation, classification and tracking capabilities of the mini-radar, and compare results to simulations and manual measurements. Furthermore, we supplement the radar output with other sensor modalities, such as acoustic and vibration sensors. This method provides innovative solutions for detecting, identifying, and tracking vehicles and dismounts over a wide area in noisy conditions. This study presents a step towards distributed intelligent decision support and demonstrates effectiveness of small cheap sensors, which can complement advanced technologies in certain real-life scenarios.

Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia (AML) is a malignant disease of bone marrow. Due to its high morbidity rate, early diagnosis and appropriate medical therapy is essential. Rapidly forming gingival hyperplasia is usually the first sign of this disease. This case report describes a 17-year-old female who presented rapid gingival overgrowth together with gingival bleeding in only two weeks time. A medical consultation was asked from hematology clinics and after a detailed medical examination Acute Monocytic Leukemia (FAB M5) was rendered. Chemotherapy was the choice of treatment. The patient responded well to chemotherapeutic induction regimen and after two months of medical therapy disease remised and gingival hyperplasia regressed. This case report shows that the gingival hyperplasia may represent an initial manifestation of an underlying systemic disease. Also, early medical therapy in acute monocytic leukemia may resolve the gingival hyperplasia that companies the disease progression.

We reviewed the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) experience with salvage high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) in paediatric patients with extragonadal germ-cell tumour (GCT). A total of 23 children with extragonadal GCT, median age 12 years (range 1–20), were treated with salvage HDC with haematopoietic progenitor cell support. The GCT primary location was intracranial site in nine cases, sacrococcyx in eight, retroperitoneum in four, and mediastinum in two. In all, 22 patients had a nongerminomatous GCT and one germinoma. Nine patients received HDC in first- and 14 in second- or third-relapse situation. No toxic deaths occurred. Overall, 16 of 23 patients (70%) achieved a complete remission. With a median follow-up of 66 months (range 31–173 months), 10 (43%) are continuously disease-free. Of six patients who had a disease recurrence after HDC, one achieved a disease-free status with surgical resection followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In total, 11 patients (48%) are currently disease-free. Eight of 14 patients (57%) with extracranial primary and three of nine patients (33%) with intracranial primary GCT are currently disease-free. HDC induced impressive long-term remissions as salvage treatment in children with extragonadal extracranial GCTs. Salvage HDC should be investigated in prospective trials in these patients.