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Introduction: Idiopathic osteosclerosis is an area of increased radiodensity observed on panoramic radiographs. The prevalence of this entity is not known, especially in Indians. Aims and Objectives: To determine the prevalence and epidemiological characteristics of idiopathic osteosclerosis. Materials and Methods: Six hundred and forty panoramic radiographs were retrospectively analyzed for the presence of idiopathic osteosclerosis by a single trained oral radiologist. Statistical Analysis: The data obtained were analyzed using Microsoft Excel (Version 2007) for Windows. Results: Idiopathic osteosclerosis was identified in 32 individuals with a prevalence of 5%. There were 21 female (65.7%) and 11 male (34.3%) participants. There were 31 single, unilateral (96.85%) osteosclerotic lesions and 1 (3.15%) bilateral lesion. Right side localization was noted in 19 participants (57.57%) and left side localization in 14 participants (42.42%). Conclusion: This study illustrates the prevalence of idiopathic osteosclerosis in Indians. Further, it depicts the characteristics of idiopathic osteosclerotic lesions.

Hemangiomas are hamartomatous proliferations of vascular origin. The prevalence of these lesions is about 7% of all the benign tumors of the body. The clinical appearance of hemangiomas varies depending on the location of the vascular proliferation. Complications though rare, can occur such as ulceration, bleeding either due to trauma or spontaneously as well a pain, making treatment a necessity. Different treatment modalities have been proposed both for cutaneous and oral hemangiomas. These include the use of intralesional injection of sclerosing agents, corticosteroids, and anti-cancer drugs. Laser therapy, using CO2and neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet, has also been utilized. Larger lesions are treated with embolization and surgical excision. A case of hemangioma of the upper lip and labial mucosa in a 9-year-old girl, treated with an intralesional sclerosing agent, is being reported.

Background and Aim: The aim was to determine the prevalence of zygomatic air cell defect (ZACD) among children of Indian origin and also to determine the dominant form of ZACD. Materials and Methods: One thousand six hundred and eighty-eight routine panoramic radiographs of subjects between 7 and 18 years, processed between January 2006 and January 2009 were screened, recorded and analyzed for ZACD. Results: Of the 1688 panoramic radiographs examined, 768 were of males and 920 of females. The radiographs were divided into two groups, Group I comprising of subjects in the age 7-12 years and other Group II in the age range 13-18 years. ZACD was found in 50 subjects, accounting for prevalence of 2.96%. Other occurrences found were unilateral 38 cases, bilateral 12, unilocular 20 and multilocular 42 respectively. Conclusion: This study described the prevalence and characteristics of ZACD among selected Indian children. It is essential to know and determine this variant of normal anatomy and differentiate it from pathologies.

Aims and Objectives: Gingival fibrous nodule is considered a normal variant of oral mucosa. So far no studies have been done to determine the prevalence and other characteristics of this entity. Hence, this study was taken up to study the prevalence of gingival fibrous nodule is south Indians. Materials and Methods: This clinical study consisted of 4642 adult subjects who were examined for the presence of gingival fibrous nodules. The age range of the subjects was 10-89 years. The study consisted of 2818 males and 1824 females. Results: One hundred and forty-five gingival fibrous nodules were identified in 128 individuals with a prevalence of 2.75%. They were predominant in males, in the mandibular anterior region. Multiple gingival fibrous nodules were more common than solitary form. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the prevalence of gingival fibrous nodules in south Indians.

Senile purpura is the clinical condition where purpuric spots and ecchymosis develop at the site of minimal injury. It occurs due to laxity of the connective tissue. Oral manifestation of this disease is rare and when one encounters such a case, proper examination with extensive differential diagnosis should be considered along with appropriate investigations. A case of senile purpura in an elderly patient who had developed oral ecchymosis secondary to denture injury is being reported.

Nevus of Ota, a benign melanocytic pigmentary disorder with rare malignant transformation potential, affects 0.014-0.034% of the Asian and Black population and has a strong predilection for females. It occurs in the area innervated by the first and second division of the trigeminal nerve. Oral manifestation is rarely noted with only 14 cases reported till date. This report documents a case of Nevus of Ota with the infrequently noted oral involvement, in an Indian lady. Since oral manifestation is not acknowledged in Tanino′s classification, the authors propose a modification to the same.

Aims: To determine the prevalence, patterns of occurrence and variations of zygomatic air cell defects (ZACDs) using panoramic radiographs. Methods and Materials: Dental panoramic radiographs of 600 outpatients were examined to evaluate the variations and characteristics of ZACDs. Results: ZACDs were identified in 15 subjects out of 600, giving an overall prevalence of 2.5%. Seven ZACDs were seen in males and eight in females. Among the 15 ZACDs, nine were unilateral and six were bilateral. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of ZACD is relatively low in south Indian population and careful radiographic evaluation is needed to detect these entities.

White spongy nevus (WSN) is a rare hereditary dyskeratotic hyperplasia of the mucous membranes. It is an autosomal dominant disorder with variable penetrance. A few cases of WSN occur due to de novo mutations. We report a case of WSN in a 12-year-old female child, with none of her family members having similar lesions.

In this study, experiments are carried out to explore the impact of incorporating Diethyl Ether (DEE) as an additive into biodiesel-Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) blends derived from Pongamia seeds. Our objective was to assess the influences of additives on the engine performance characteristics of a CI engine. The different fuel blends such as BD80+SVO15+DEE5 (comprising 80% biodiesel, 15% SVO, and 5% DEE), BD80+SVO10+DEE10, BD60+SVO35+DEE5, and BD60+SVO30+DEE10 (consisting of 60% biodiesel, 30% SVO, and 10% DEE) are tested and compared these blends with conventional biodiesel and Straight Vegetable Oil blends (BD80+20% SVO and BD60+40%SVO). The inclusion of DEE as an additive had a noticeable impact on engine performance. It significantly improved brake power, reduced Brake-Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC), lowered Brake Specific Energy Consumption (BSEC), and increased Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE). Additionally, all the blends containing DEE as an additive demonstrated decreased emissions of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Carbon Monoxide (CO), with a slight increase in Hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. This research highlights the comparative suitability of DEE as an additive for enhancing the suitability of biodiesel-SVO blends as a fuel source for diesel engines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, a new approach has tried to synthesize and optimize biodiesel production from mixed oils (Pongamia and Mahua) using an in-situ generated KOH from K2CO3 in an NH4OH catalyst mixture using response surface methodology (RSM). A maximum biodiesel yield of 96.5 v/v% was obtained at a catalyst concentration (CC) of 1.5 g K2CO3 in 0.75 g of NH4OH, oil to methanol molar ratio (M:O) of 7:1 at a reaction temperature (RT) of 55°C in 75 min reaction time (Rt). The obtained biodiesel yield is compared and found to be maximum (96.5 v/v%) for K2CO3 in NH4OH catalyst mixture than K2CO3 in H2O, direct K2CO3 and Conventional KOH methods. Furthermore, the presence of carbonate and ammonium ions in the reaction medium resulted in an increased biodiesel yield due to the less possibility for free water molecules formation and with a minimal amount of KOH to drive the reaction toward the right-hand side. The GC-MS, 1HNMR and FTIR techniques were used to confirm the conversion of esters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the effects of annealing temperatures ranging from 225 °C to 325 °C on the magnetic properties of high aspect ratio iron oxide nanorods consisting of a ferrimagnetic Fe3O4 phase and an antiferromagnetic α-Fe2O3 phase in an as-prepared state. Annealing at the aforementioned temperatures under a constant flow of O2 for 3 h leads to an increment of the volume fraction of the antiferromagnetic α-Fe2O3 phase and concomitant enhancement of the crystallinity of the ferrimagnetic Fe3O4 phase. These opposing effects compete with each other, resulting in a decrease in global magnetization with increasing the annealing temperature. The desirable magnetic properties are achieved for the sample annealed at 250 °C. For all samples investigated, we observed an increase in low field magnetization at low temperatures after the sample is field cooled in the presence of a 1T magnetic field, which we attribute to the ordering of macro-spins of the weakly ordered antiferromagnetic α-Fe2O3 phase in the presence of the cooling field. Our study will pave the way for determining the optimal conditions to enhance the magnetic characteristics in iron oxide nanorods, which will enable its use in spintronics and biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite is a rapidly growing topic of research due to the simplicity of obtaining composites that is biodegradable and environmentally friendly. The resulting composites have mechanical properties comparable to synthetic fiber-reinforced composites. In this regard, the present work is formulated with the objectives related to the development, characterization, and optimization of the wt% of reinforcements and the process parameters. The novelty of this work is related to the identification and standardization of the appropriate wt% of reinforcements and parameters for the processing of the areca nut leaf sheath fiber-based polymer composites for enhanced performance attributes. With this basic purview and scope, the composites are synthesized using the hand layup process, and the composite samples of various fiber compositions (20%, 30%, 40%, and 50%) are fabricated. The mechanical characteristics of biodegradable polymer composites reinforced with areca nut leaf sheath fibers are investigated in the present work, with a focus on the effect of fiber composition (tensile properties, flexural strength, and impact strength). The properties of composites are enhanced by combining the areca nut leaf sheath fiber and epoxy resin, with a fiber content of 50% being the optimal wt%. The Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations also ascertain this by depicting the good interfacial adhesion between the areca nut leaf sheath fiber and the epoxy resin. The tensile strength of the composite specimen reinforced with 50% areca nut fiber increases to 44.6 MPa, while the young's modulus increases to 1900 MPa, flexural strength increases to 64.8 MPa, the flexural modulus increases to 37.9 GPa, and impact strength increases to 34.1 k J/m2. As a result, the combination of areca nut leaf sheath fiber reinforced epoxy resin shows considerable potential as a renewable and biodegradable polymer composite. Furthermore, areca nut leaf sheath fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites are likely to replace petroleum-based polymers in the future. The ecosustainability and biodegradability of the composite specimen alongside the improved mechanical characteristics serve as the major highlight of the present work, and can help the polymer composite industry to further augment the synthetic matrix and fiber-based composites with the natural fiber-reinforced composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this review paper is to focus few of the notable research that has been carried out to tackle the problems of disposal of plastic waste and its effective utilization into useful products. Due to less weight, low cost, non-corrosiveness of plastics have led to excessive usage and thus increasing its production resulting in the accumulation of waste plastic in the environment. The previous studies report several techniques to recycle and convert unwanted plastics into alternative fuels. This would be an added advantage to solve the problem of shortage of conventional fuel and thereby promote a sustainable environment. Nevertheless, further research is necessary to report some of the issues that have not yet been addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites has increased over a period of time, majorly due to the ecosustainability and biodegradability of the composites. Among several grades of natural fibers, bamboo fibers offer numerous environmental and cost benefits and possess excellent mechanical characteristics. The superior properties of the bamboo fibers have triggered the research interests in the domain of bamboo fiber-reinforced polymer composites. Among the polymers, polyesters are long chain molecules made up of atoms arranged in various ways with other elements to form the basic building blocks of a polymeric chain. Polyester is being increasingly employed in today's industrial products due to its inherent advantages. As a result, based on the potential properties of bamboo fibers as reinforcing materials and polyester resin as matrix material, the biocomposites are synthesized by hand lay-up technique and the specimens cut as per the standard dimensions and subjected to mechanical investigations, vibration, and morphological characterization as per the ASTM test methods. The increase in fiber weight content has enhanced flexural, tensile, and impact characteristics and improved the damping characteristics of the composite specimens. The microstructural evaluations have revealed the uniform distribution of the bamboo fibers in the resin, and the morphological studies of the fractured specimens have revealed that the fracture is majorly due to the matrix cracks rather than the fiber debonding, which is a major attribute ascertaining the strong coherent strengthening mechanism brought about by the inclusion of bamboo fiber in the polyester resin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]