Background and objective: The popularity of ceramic restorations can be attributed to its life-like appearance, durability and biocompatibility and therefore ceramic restorations have been widely used for anterior and posterior teeth. Ceramic restorations have esthetic and biocompatible advantages but low fracture resistance. Since it has high flexural strength and fracture resistance, yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (Y-TZP) is the dental material most commonly used for the core of ceramic crowns and fixed dental prosthesis. In spite of improved mechanical properties, acceptable marginal adaptation and biocompatibility the whitish opacity of zirconia is an obvious esthetic disadvantage. The zirconia framework is often veneered with conventional feldspathic porcelain to achieve a natural appearance. However it is difficult to achieve sufficient bond strength between zirconia and the veneering material. Achieving sufficient bond strength between the veneering ceramic and the zirconia core is a major challenge in the long term clinical success of veneered zirconia restorations. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of different surface treatments on the fracture strength of the two commercially available Zirconia namely Ceramill and ZR-White (AMANNGIRRBACH and UPCERA) respectively.
Method: Two commercially available pre-sinteredyttrium stabilized Zirconia blanks (ZR-White and Ceramill) from AMANNGIRRBACH and UPCERA respectively are used to produce the disc shaped specimens of size (15.2 ± 0.03 mm in diameter and 1.2 ± 0.03 mm thick) from each Zirconia blank. All disc shaped specimens are heated at 1200°C in a furnace for 2 hours to form homogenous tetragonal ZrO2. The dimensions of the specimens are measured with a digital caliper (aerospace). The thickness and diameter of each specimen are calculated as the means of 3 measurements made at random sites. 80 discs from each Zirconia blank are divided into ten groups of 8 specimens each. Heat treatment after airborne-particle abrasion using 50 µm Al2O3 particles and 50 µm silica coated Al2O3 are applied to the upper and lower surfaces of the specimens. Each specimen is held under a pressure of 30 psi for 15 seconds at a direction perpendicular to the surface and at a distance of 30mm with an airborne particle abrasion device for the specimens in the airborne particle abraded groups. Heat treatments were performed at a starting temperature of 500°C, heating rate of 100°c/ min, ending at a temperature of 1000°C and 15 minutes holding time without vacuum for the specimens in the group 4, 5, 9 and 10. Airborne-particle abrasion mimicking the preparation for cementation was applied to the lower surfaces with 50 µm alumina and silica coated alumina particles for the specimens in the groups 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The specimens were cleaned for 15 minutes in an ultrasonic bath co
One of the most important advances in biology has been the discovery that siRNA (small interfering RNA) is able to regulate the expression of genes, by a phenomenon known as RNAi (RNA interference). The discovery of RNAi, first in plants and Caenorhabditis elegans and later in mammalian cells, led to the emergence of a transformative view in biomedical research. siRNA has gained attention as a potential therapeutic reagent due to its ability to inhibit specific genes in many genetic diseases. siRNAs can be used as tools to study single gene function both in vivo and in-vitro and are an attractive new class of therapeutics, especially against undruggable targets for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. The siRNA delivery systems are categorized as non-viral and viral delivery systems. The non-viral delivery system includes polymers; Lipids; peptides etc. are the widely studied delivery systems for siRNA. Effective pharmacological use of siRNA requires 'carriers' that can deliver the siRNA to its intended site of action. The carriers assemble the siRNA into supramolecular complexes that display functional properties during the delivery process.
The association between T. gondii infection and obesity has been scantly studied. Through an age-, and gender-matched case-control study, we determined the association of T. gondii infection and obesity using serological and molecular methods. Cases included 203 persons with obesity, and controls included 203 persons without obesity. Participants were tested for the presence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA). IgG seropositive individuals were further tested for the presence of anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies using an EIA, and T. gondii DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies were found in 16 (7.9%) of the 203 cases and in 18 (8.9%) of the 203 controls (OR=0.87; 95% CI: 0.43-1.77; P=0.72). One (6.3%) of the 16 anti-T. gondii IgG seropositive cases and 6 (33.3%) of the 18 anti-T. gondii IgG seropositive controls were positive for IgM (P=0.09). Mean body mass index (35.5 ± 4.5) in T. gondii seropositive cases was similar (P=0.57) to that (36.1 ± 4.5) found in T. gondii seronegative cases. Stratification by obesity classes (I, II, and III) did not reveal differences (P>0.05) in seroprevalences (7.8%, 7.9%, and 8.1%, respectively) or high (>150 IU/ml) IgG antibody levels (3.3%, 3.9%, and 2.7%, respectively). PCR was positive in 5 (31.3%) of 16 cases, and in 5 (27.8%) of 18 controls examined (P=1.0). We found no serological or molecular evidence of an association between T. gondii infection and obesity in people attending a public health center in the northern Mexican city of Durango.