Background: Clear aligner therapy (CAT) has become an increasingly popular alternative to fixed appliances, yet its effectiveness in achieving complex orthodontic tooth movements remains limited. Composite attachments are routinely incorporated to enhance biomechanical control, but the optimal attachment shape, position, and dimension for maximizing movement efficiency are still unclear. Objective: To evaluate how the shape, position, and dimensions of composite...

Dentistry 

Introduction: Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a chronic progressive optic neuropathy which is a major cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Its pathogenesis, which is still poorly understood, involves intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Most of the treatment is based on intraocular pressure, which is the main modifiable factor. Among extraocular factors, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is rarely investigated in practice by ophthalmologists. Also, few studies in sub-Saharan Africa...

Ophthalmology 

Objectives: Acute dental pain due to symptomatic irreversible pulpitis associated with symptomatic apical periodontitis represents one of the most challenging emergencies in endodontics. Occlusal reduction has traditionally been proposed as an adjunctive procedure to relieve postoperative pain following root canal treatment. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of occlusal reduction in reducing postoperative pain intensity in patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis ...

Dentistry 

Primary Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) Deficiency Type 5 is a rare, autosomal recessive mitochondrial disorder that impairs cellular energy production. Neonatal-onset forms often present with extensive multisystem involvement and carry a poor prognosis. CoQ10, a lipid-soluble component of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, plays a crucial role in oxidative phosphorylation. Mutations affecting genes such as COQ2, COQ4, or PDSS2 disrupt CoQ10 biosynthesis, leading to various mit...

Pediatrics 

This research describes how to synthesize graphene oxide following modified Hummer’s technique, then its chemical reduction to produce reduced graphene oxide as a final graphene-like product. Due to its peculiar properties, graphene, a distinct carbon allotrope with an atom-thick structure, is regarded as a mysterious substance in the modern day. Because of its incredible electronic, mechanical, optical and thermal characteristics, it has attracted attention of researchers on a global scale. Rec...

Fundamentals of Material Science 

Optimizing the drying conditions prior to processing Irvingia gabonensis kernels into vegetable oil is a crucial step in preserving the quality of the final product. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of two drying methods (air-drying and oven-drying) on the quality parameters of the extracted oil and the resulting oil cakes. The results showed that oven-dried kernels exhibited a significantly lower moisture content (0.58 ± 0.01%) compared to air-dried kernels (2.44 ± 0.01%). The oil yie...

Food Science & Technology 

It is estimated that 23% of the Ugandan population is malnourished and 5% of the rural population is considered to be chronically food insecure while 35% of the rural population is considered highly vulnerable to food insecurity. South Western Uganda Agro ecological Zone is equally faced with inter-related challenges of food insecurity. Although the region is known as a food basket for Uganda, there are reports of malnutrition resulting from consumption of inadequate and low nutrient foods. The ...

Agricultural Science  Food Science & Technology 

The effects of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) on exercise-induced fatigue remain unclear, as previous studies have reported inconsistent results. To address fatigue associated with physiological stress, the combined use of Cistanche tubulosa aqueous extract (CTE) and ubiquinol (QH) has increasingly been reported to provide antioxidant benefits and support mitochondrial energy production, including adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis; however, the underlying mechanisms remain to be fully elucid...

Food Science & Technology 

Aiming at the problems of intensity inhomogeneity, boundary blurring and noise interference in the segmentation of three-dimensional volume data (such as medical images and industrial CT data). In this paper, the hidden Markov random field based on Gaussian mixture model is used for the initial segmentation of volume data, and the statistical and spatial information of the image is effectively used to obtain a reasonable initial contour and region division. Then, the level set method is used for...

Image Processing 

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common inherited hemoglobi-nopathies in the West African sub-region and is frequently complicated by musculoskeletal manifestations, especially avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head. This complication can progress to femoral head collapse and secondary osteoarthritis, leaving total hip arthroplasty (THA) as the only definitive solution. However, THA in patients with SCD is fraught with unique challenges: altered bone morphology, poor bone quali...

Orthopedics