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Objective: This study was designed to investigate the attitudes of individuals aged 18-24 towards complementary and alternative medicine. Material-Method: The sample of the cross-sectional study, an analytical type of research, consisted of 178 people aged 18- 24, with at least primary education, technological devices, and the ability to use internet networks. The data were collected using the Socio-Demographic Information Form and the Complementary, Alternative, and Conventional Medicine Attitudes Scale (CACMAS). Descriptive statistics, independent groups t-test, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, Tukey tests, and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The significance level was taken as 0.05 in the interpretation of the results. Results: Several factors were found to positively impact mean scale scores (p < 0.05), including having a large family, perceiving complementary or alternative medicine practices as beneficial, recommending these practices to close relatives or friends. Additionally, it has been found that believing complementary medicine practices to be more beneficial than treatments provided by healthcare institutions also positively influenced scale score averages (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The study found that around half of participants aged 18-24 used complementary and alternative medicine practices, and that some personal attitudes influenced attitudes towards complementary medicine. Hence, there exists a necessity to disseminate accurate information regarding the appropriate utilization of complementary medicine practices, ensuring their application by qualified individuals, and to engage the younger people in such initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of topical subgingival application of doxycycline hyclate (DH) gel adjunctive to non-surgical periodontal therapy on gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-8 levels in chronic and aggressive periodontitis patients. Forty teeth of 10 chronic periodontitis patients and 32 teeth of eight aggressive periodontitis patients were screened for 6 months. Scaling and root planing (SRP) was applied to the control sites and DH gel adjunctive to SRP was applied to the test sites of each patient simultaneously. GCF MMP-8 levels were analysed at baseline, 7 days; and at 1, 3 and 6 months by Sandwich Elisa Method. At 1, 3 and 6 months, probing depth (P < 0.0051) and plaque scores and bleeding on probing values (P = 0.000) significantly decreased in each group when compared with the baseline, but there was no statistically significant difference between the test and control sites. GCF MMP-8 levels reduced presenting statistically significant differences on 7 days, 1, 3 and 6 months in four of the groups (P < 0.05); however, intergroup differences were not statistically significant. Developing functional and immunological-based chair-side MMP tests might serve as useful adjunctive diagnostic tools when monitoring the effects of DH gel application.

Objectives: To test the effect of locally delivered doxycycline (DOX) administered 2 weeks prior to minimally invasive periodontal regeneration in terms of presurgical inflammatory status and cytokine expression profile in the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF). Secondary aim was to assess the early wound healing index (EHI) at 2 weeks after surgery., Background: It is hypothesized that healing after periodontal regeneration is dependent on preoperative soft tissue condition, and that local antibiotics may improve the site-specific inflammatory status at short time., Methods: Sites associated with periodontal intrabony defects requiring regenerative surgery and showing bleeding on probing (BoP) were included. At T0, experimental sites were randomly treated with subgingival instrumentation with or without topic DOX application. After 2 weeks (T1), defects were approached by means of minimally invasive surgical technique. GCF was sampled at both T0 and T1 for inflammatory biomarker analysis. Two weeks after surgery, the EHI was evaluated (T2)., Results: Forty-four patients were included. At T1, the number of BoP+ sites was statistically significantly less in the test group (27.3% vs. 72.7%; p < .01). The total amount of interleukin (IL)-1β (p < .001), matrix-metalloproteinases (MMP)-8 (p < .001), and MMP-9 (p = .010) in the GCF significantly decreased in the test group at T1, with relevant differences compared to controls. At T2, the EHI had an average value of 1.45 ± 0.86 in the test group while in the control, it was 2.31 ± 1.43 (p = .027). A statistically significantly positive correlation was observed between the amount of IL-1β and MMP-9 and EHI scores., Conclusions: Within the limitations of this study, sites treated with DOX showed improved clinical and molecular inflammatory parameters before surgery, as well as soft tissue healing 2 weeks after surgery., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Periodontal Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Copyright of Erdem is the property of Ataturk Kultur Merkezi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Turkish Studies - Language & Literature is the property of Electronic Turkish Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: Although its roots go back centuries, there is still a demand for traditional medicine practices and it is important to know the opinion of the society and healthcare professionals about the subject. Our study aims to determine the attitudes of healthcare professional and non-healthcare hospital staff about traditional medicine. Material-Method: A two-stage questionnaire, a demographic information section, and the Complementary, Alternative, and Conventional Medicine Attitudes Scale (CACMAS) was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov Smirnov, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis and chi-square tests were used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 681 staff of nine public and private hospitals participated in the study. 65.4% (n=439) of the participants were healthcare professionals, 34.6% (n=232) were non-healthcare professionals. The mean scores of the healthcare professional respondents were 92.6 (±16.7), of the non-healthcare professional respondents were 126.1 (±11.7). Conclusion: In our study, it was found that healthcare professionals' attitudes towards traditional medicine practices were more negative than non-healthcare professionals. However, as according to the current legislation in many countries around the world, only physicians who receive standard training and other healthcare professionals under their supervision are authorized to perform traditional medicine practices in Turkey. As a result of our study, it was determined that the attitudes of healthcare professionals and other segments of the society should be observed about traditional medicine practices and that measures should be taken to bring together the supply and demand for traditional medicine on a legal basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Wissen Kompakt is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article, the work on Ge nanocrystals embedded in dielectric films formed by phase separation from supersaturated solid solutions is reviewed. Different methods to synthesize supersaturated solid solutions are covered, e.g., magnetron sputtering, ion implantation, and chemical vapor deposition. The phase separation is activated by subsequent high temperature annealing. Important parameters that influence the formation and properties of the Ge nanocrystals are discussed. Various matrix materials like SiO2, Al2O3, HfO2, HfAlOx, Lu2O3, ZrO2, TaZrOx, and Si3N4 are reported in the literature. The influence of the matrix on the formation and properties of the Ge nanocrystals is addressed in this review. Ge nanocrystals are investigated for applications such as charge storage nodes in nonvolatile memory devices or as silicon technology compatible light emitters. A key to establish these applications seems to be embedding the Ge nanocrystals in still amorphous matrices. This could help to avoid grain boundaries that act as leakage paths for electrical charges (unfavorable for nonvolatile memories) and facilitate defects, which could act as recombination centers (unfavorable for light emitters). A further important point is the synthesis of size and position controlled Ge nanocrystals. Both aspects are reviewed for Ge nanocrystals embedded in the mentioned matrix materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this pilot study was to assess the release of locally delivered doxycycline by poly (l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microspheres in the periodontal pocket of patients with chronic periodontitis, treated by non-surgical periodontal therapy. Nineteen sites of non-adjacent teeth of four different patients were evaluated. Five milligram of PLGA microspheres loaded with 16 doxycycline hyclate (DOX) was administered per periodontal site. To quantify DOX released into the periodontal pocket, gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) was collected from the sites on days 2, 5, 7, 10, 15, and 20 after DOX application, and high-performance liquid chromatography was performed. Data were statistically assessed by ANOVA/Tukey test. At days 2, 5, and 7, the DOX concentration was stably sustained (23.33 ± 1.38, 23.4 ± 1.82, and 22.75 ± 1.33 μg/mL, respectively), with no significant differences over these assessment times (p > 0.05). At days 10 and 15, a tendency was observed toward a decrease in DOX concentration (21.74 ± 0.91 and 20.53 ± 4.88 μg/mL, respectively), but a significant decrease in GCF drug concentration (19.69 ± 4.70 μg/mL) was observed only on day 20. The DOX delivery system developed demonstrated a successful sustained release after local administration, as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review aimed to rank the clinical efficacy of commercially available single-application local drug delivery and adjunctive agents (LDAs) compared with subgingival mechanical debridement (SMD) in nonsurgical periodontal therapy (NSPT). Randomized controlled clinical trials that compared LDAs against SMD alone or with placebo in adults (aged at least 18 years) diagnosed with periodontitis with a minimum of 6 months follow-up were included. A frequentist approach to random-effects network meta-analysis was implemented. The efficacies of the LDAs measured by probing pocket depth (PPD) reduction and clinical attachment level (CAL) gain were reported as mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The treatments were ranked according to their P-score. Four network meta-analyses suggested that sulfonic/sulfuric acid gel (PPD MD −1.13 mm, 95% CI −1.74 to −0.53, P-score 0.91; CAL MD −1.09 mm, 95% CI −1.58 to −0.61, P-score 0.95) and doxycycline hyclate gel (PPD MD −0.90 mm, 95% CI −1.50 to −0.30, P-score 0.93; CAL MD −0.84 mm, 95% CI −1.40 to −0.28, P-score 0.92) were the most effective in reducing PPD and gaining CAL in split-mouth and parallel studies, respectively (moderate certainty of evidence). LDAs have differing efficacies, but they present with possible clinical significance over SMD alone in NSPT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]