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Non-invasive ambulatory blood pressure monitoring has been used to assess circadian rhythms in blood pressure in a qualitative fashion. However, there are no established methods for assessing circadian changes in blood pressure in a quantitative fashion. In this study, we developed a quantitative method to evaluate the circadian rhythm based on profile analysis and a cumulative chi-square technique. This method was used to analyse the circadian blood pressure variations in 100 normotensive volunteers and 127 hypertensive patients. Three blood pressure profiles were identified for the normotensive group, while four were identified for the hypertensive group. Furthermore, there was a relationship between the discriminate blood pressure profiles and the severity of hypertension. We conclude that profile analysis of 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring may be used to stratify patients with regard to the risk of complications of hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many factors contribute to the microleakage of a restoration. One of the more important is the method of cavity preparation. This study compared the microleakage behavior of composite restorations placed in cavities prepared by different techniques. It also compared and correlated the microleakage data produced by an electrochemical vs a staining technique. Class V cavities were prepared in 48 premolars by four techniques: (1) tungsten carbide bur in a high-speed handpiece followed by acid etching; (2) air abrasion (27 µm Al2O3) followed by acid etching; (3) air abrasion (50 µm Al2O3) and (4) air abrasion (27 µm Al2O3), with n=12 in each group. All teeth were restored with Prime and Bond 2.1 and Tetric Flow, then thermocycled between 5° and 55°C for 5000 cycles with a one minute dwell at each temperature. After thermocycling, a PVC-covered Cu wire was inserted apically into the pulp chamber of each tooth and sealed into position. Leakage was continuously followed by a conductimetric method for 75 days. The teeth then were immersed in 50% AgNO3 for two hours, rinsed in distilled water for 60 seconds, then placed in a rapid photographic developer solution for two hours, followed by rinsing and sectioning for microscopic examination. Electrochemical data were examined by ANOVA and Newman-Keuls multiple comparison tests, while Kruskal-Wallis and Rank Sum Difference tests were used on the staining evaluations. Spearman's rho test was used to correlate the two test techniques. Electrochemical data for cavities prepared with a bur or air abrasion followed by acid etching prior to restoration showed significantly less (p≤0.05) microleakage (mean leakage currents of 1.89 & 1.57 µA, respectively) than teeth prepared with air abrasion alone (mean leakage currents of 3.60 & 3.40 µA, respectively). Rank sum AgNO3 staining data (196 & 242 vs 371 & 368) supported these findings. The correlation between the electrochemical and staining data was significant (p≤0.05) for all four groups of test specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capabilities of computed tomography (CT), ultrasonography (US), and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging were studied in order to determine the role of each of these noninvasive examinations for estimating the T-factor of hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). Fifty-one patients with surgically proven HCCs received CT (50 patients), US (46 patients), and MR (44 patients). The images of CT, US, and MR were prospectively evaluated for main tumor size, intrahepatic metastases, and vascular invasion, which compose the T-factor of HCC, and compared to pathological results. The sizes of the main tumor were estimated correctly by all examinations. For estimating intrahepatic metastases, US (74%) and MR (73%) were superior to CT (65%). For estimating portal invasion, CT (79%) was superior to US (70%) and MR (66%), because CT could demonstrate the segmental staining caused by portal invasion. The estimates of hepatic venous invasion were difficult during any of the examinations. We conclude that presurgical evaluations of the T-factor require the use of US and CT or MR and CT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]