Purpose: In this study, the fracture resistance of prosthetic screws was tested using abutments made of titanium, zirconia, and polyether ether ketone (PEEK) on dental implants.

Materials and Methods: From Straumann AG in Basel, Switzerland, dental implants with specified dimensions and prosthetic screws were purchased. Three different materials (Ti, Zr, and PEEK) were evaluated as abrasives. The implant-abutment units were subjected to a constant vertical force using a Universal Testing Machine (UTM) until the prosthetic screw broke. The force at the screw fracture site was measured, and one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc tests were used to statistically analyze the data.

Results: For Titanium, Zirconia, and PEEK abutments, the mean (±standard deviation) fracture resistance was 475±35 N, 430±40 N, and 390±30 N, respectively. A substantial difference in fracture resistance was found between the various abutment materials according to the one-way ANOVA (F (2,87) = 26.37, p<.001). Zirconia shown much stronger fracture resistance than PEEK (p <0.05) and Titanium abutments demonstrated significantly higher resistance than both Zirconia and PEEK (p <0.01), according to post-hoc tests.

Conclusion: For Titanium, Zirconia, and PEEK abutments, the mean (±standard deviation) fracture resistance was 475 35 N, 430 40 N, and 390 30 N, respectively. A substantial difference in fracture resistance was found between the various abutment materials according to the one-way ANOVA (F(2,87) = 26.37, p.001). Zirconia shown much stronger fracture resistance than PEEK (p .05) and Titanium abutments demonstrated significantly higher resistance than both Zirconia and PEEK (p .01), according to post-hoc tests.

Skin Cancer (SC) is a significant problem for public health on a global scale. Its early identification is essential for improving patient prognostics. However, there are substantial problems in this field with regard to the dearth of trained specialists and medical equipment. Deep learning-based approaches have significantly improved Skin Cancer Detection (SCD) as compared to traditional Machine Learning (ML) tasks and have attained high performance. Deep learning (DL) methods used for automated SCD have been popular in this domain. Several DL techniques have been put forth as of late to accomplish Federated Learning (FL) based SCD. There are several steps in the SCD employing deep learning and the FL model. Initially, primary sources and standardised databases are used to gather images of SC from a variety of patients. The next step is data cleaning, which includes noise reduction, resizing, and contrast enhancement. Additionally, the affected malignant section is segmented using edge-based, region-based, and morphological-based segmentation techniques. Following the extraction of features from the photos, deep learning approaches with FL assistance are used to classify the images. Last but not least, the FL-aided deep learning techniques categorise the image as malignant and non-cancerous. This review, which was undertaken by pulling data from 100 papers published between the years 2019 and 2023, provides a thorough statistical analysis. Finally, this survey will be beneficial for SCD researchers.

Purpose: To evaluate the antibacterial efficacy of different concentrations of natural cold-pressed flaxseed oil when used as an intra-canal medicament against Enterococcus faecalis.

Materials and methods: The antibacterial efficiency of flaxseed oil against E. faecalis was assessed in two sections using different concentrations. Both sections were compared to calcium hydroxide and tricresol formalin. The first section was on the agar, using two methods: agar diffusion and vaporization. The second section is on the extracted roots contaminated with E. faecalis for 21 days to form biofilms, confirmed by SEM examination, and includes two different methods: direct contact and vaporization. Bacterial swabs were collected before and after medication throughout two-time periods (3 and 7 days). The canal contents were swabbed using paper points kept for 1 minute in the root canal, and the collected samples were diluted and cultivated on plates containing blood agar. Survival fractions were determined by calculating the number of colony-forming units on culture medium after 24 hours.

The oil's minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) against E. faecalis were determined using the micro-broth dilution method.

The active components in flaxseed oil were evaluated using GC-MS and HPLC analysis.

Results: The tested oil demonstrated antibacterial efficacy against E. faecalis in different concentrations and levels. The MBC was 22.5 µl/ml. Tricresol formalin induced powerful antibacterial action, while calcium hydroxide exhibited less effective antibacterial action as compared to flaxseed oil. Flaxseed oil contains numerous biologically active components.

Conclusion: Flaxseed oil exhibits strong antibacterial activity when evaluated against E. faecalis biofilm that has been cultivated in root canals.

Purpose: Digital holographic microscopy, being a label-free and entirely non-invasive technique, proficiently facilitates the quantitative assessment of morphological alterations in living cells. The primary objective of this investigation is to scrutinize the capability of a digital holographic microscope in assessing the morphological transformations of cancer cells exposed to X-ray radiation.

Material and methods: The MCF7 cell line underwent exposure to X-ray radiation, administered in a singular fraction at a dose of 2 Gy. Subsequently, the MCF7 cell group was subjected to imaging through a digital holographic microscope. In order to scrutinize the morphological alterations between the radiation-exposed and control groups, the pertinent image parameters were extracted through the three-dimensional reconstruction of the microscopic images.

Results: The results indicate a significant increase in the morphological parameters of cells, encompassing volume and roughness, subsequent to radiation exposure when contrasted with the control group. This observation signifies discernible alterations in the shape and roughness characteristics of MCF7 cells.

Conclusion: By extracting various parameters and broadening the spectrum of morphological and physical attributes, it becomes feasible to establish a more precise correlation between cellular conditions and the response to treatment. Such investigations pave the way for a more intricate exploration of cell morphology, enabling the identification of more specific parameters and distinctions in cellular response.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate and compare the doses received by Corona Virus Disease (Covid-19) patients on Computed Tomography (CT) scans by changing the scan parameters to diagnose the disease and evaluate its course and effects.

Materials and Methods: The total number of patients was 8290, with 4070 requesting a CT scan of the lungs. In 3512 cases, the purpose of the examination was to verify Covid-19. The remaining 558 scans were for other diseases. Two CT protocols were used for lung imaging: A low-dose protocol (kV=120 kVp and mAs=80ms) to screen for Covid-19 and a Smart protocol (kV=120 kVp and mAs = Smart) for other diseases. Each image was assigned a score from 1 to 5. The score reflects the quality of the image and Covid-19-related features such as Ground Glass Opacities (GGO), crazy paving, consolidation, Nodular Infiltrates (NI), Broncho Vascular Thickening (BVT), and Pleural Effusion (PE).

Results: In the low-dose protocol, the effective dose received by patients varied between 1.98 and 2.66 ± 0.1 milli Sievert (mSv) according to the different Dose-Length Product (DLP) values. The effective dose varies between 2.7 and 8.44 mSv for the Smart protocol. The maximum Size-Specific Dose Estimate (SSDE) was 11.97 ± 0.2 and 21.58 ± 0.9 milli Gray (mGy) for each protocol, respectively. The maximum carcinogenicity was 1.09 × 10⁻⁴ and 3.05 × 10−4, respectively. Radiologists gave an overall acceptance rate of 4.9 ± 0.1 and 4.8 ± 0.2 out of a possible 5-point for images with low-dose and smart protocols, respectively.

Conclusion: Decreasing the value of milli Ampere-seconds (mAs) decreases the effective dose, the size-specific dose estimate, and the carcinogenicity of radiation in patients requesting scans of the lungs CT. Images lose quality but are still good enough to determine the progression and impact of Covid-19.

Purpose: Intima-Media Thickness (IMT), which is frequently evaluated by B-mode ultrasound study, has been proved to be a reliable surrogate marker for atherosclerosis progression and a predictor of upcoming cardiovascular risks. Sonographic changes of intima-media thickness of carotid artery in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Celiac disease have been investigated separately. In this study we aimed to evaluate the changes in sonographic appearance of the carotid artery and its mural thickness in patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and concomitant Celiac disease, as a surrogate marker of atherosclerosis and a predictor of cardiovascular diseases.

Materials and Methods: A total of 191 patients including 89 patients with only Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, 11 patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and concomitant Celiac disease, and 91 healthy control subjects underwent ultrasound evaluation of intima-media thickness of carotid artery. High resolution B-mode images with a multi-frequency linear probe, were utilized for assessing the IMT.

Results: IMT in the Hashimoto with celiac disease group was 0.72±0.11 and was 0.69±0.09 in the Hashimoto without celiac disease group and was 0.63±0.10 in the control group. IMT showed significant difference between the three groups and was higher in the Hashimoto patients compared to the control group (P-Value=0.039 and 0.028). Moreover, IMT was marginally higher in the Hashimoto patients with celiac disease compared to the Hashimoto patients without celiac disease (P-Value = 0.046).

Conclusion: Patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis suffering from concomitant Celiac disease, showed a more increased IMT values compared to other subjects. This can indicate the potential importance and predictive value of ultrasonic IMT evaluation in Celiac disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis as a marker of atherosclerosis progression as well as future risk of cardiovascular insults.

Purpose: It has been demonstrated that diode lasers can be an effective alternative in oral soft tissue surgeries. This study aimed to clinically evaluate the tissue healing around the gingival former of dental implants following the uncovery of areas with different diode laser wavelengths.

Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 72 implants (in the Periodontology Department of the Faculty of Dentistry, Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences in Ahvaz, Iran, in 2015-2016) with two different diode laser wavelengths (940 and 810 nm). The samples were randomly assigned to two groups of 36 implants, including experimental and control. The experimental group was based on the second stage of implant uncovery with a 940nm diode laser, and the control group included the second stage with an 810 nm diode laser. Indicators such as the need for local anesthesia and the amount of anesthesia injected during surgery, the duration of surgery, the amount of bleeding during surgery, pain, inflammation, edema, and the color of the gingiva in the surgical area, were compared in two study groups during surgery.

Results: The independent t-test showed no significant difference in the average duration of surgery in the two groups (31.3 and 37.6 seconds in the 940nm and 810nm wavelength of the diode laser, respectively, P=0.073). On day zero and day seven after surgery, pain intensity with 810nm diode laser wavelength was higher than with 940 wavelengths. The average amount of anesthesia injected during surgery of the surgical group with a wavelength of 940 nm was significantly lower than that of the 810nm diode laser. No bleeding was observed in both surgery groups.

Conclusion: The 940nm diode laser had better results than the 810nm in the second stage of implant uncover.

Purpose: Denture stomatitis, poor oral health, and angular cheilitis can all result from bacterial and fungal colonization. As a result, denture cleaners have been suggested to preserve the longevity of partially removable dentures and the health of the oral mucosa. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of ozone water on Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) by studying wettability, Ultraviolet (UV) absorption, and surface topography following soaking for 10 and 20 minutes at a 2 mg/l concentration.

Materials and Methods: A sixty-disc-shaped sample of polymethacrylate material (Ivoclar Vivadent) was fabricated for the wettability and UV absorption tests, and three bar-shaped samples of polymethacrylate material (Ivoclar Vivadent) were fabricated for the surface topography. Three groups were created: the first was the control group (immersion of samples in distal water). Second group (immersion of samples in 2 mg/l of ozone water solution for 10 min), and third group (immersion of samples in 2 mg/l of ozone water solution for 20 min). The contact angle (a wettability parameter) on the surfaces of the samples was measured after each storage period. The UV absorption test was assessed using a spectrophotometer; ANOVA was used to perform statistical analysis on the data at level 0.0.5; and surface topography was evaluated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).

Results: Based on the findings of this research, there was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups when testing wettability and UV absorption. There is no change in surface topography when assessed by SEM.

Conclusion: This research concluded that the samples prepared from PMMA material can be safely soaked in an ozone water solution without compromising their properties.

Aims (Purpose): To investigate the direct and indirect cytotoxic effects of two universal dental bonding agents incorporated with titanium oxide colloidal dispersion on a human gingival fibroblast cell.

Settings and Design: An in vitro study.

Methods and Material: Two commercial dental bonding agents’ systems, i.e., Ambar universal (FGM, Brasil) and G-Premio Bond Universal (GC, America) were incorporated with 4% by mass of colloidal dispersion containing titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO2). A cell line human gingival fibroblast cells was prepared from adult rabbits. Two cytotoxic assays were used to investigate the cytotoxic activity of four bonding agent groups on the fibroblast-like cells as following; GA: Ambar Universal (control), GB: Ambar Universal (4% TiO2 incorporated), GC: G-Premio Bond universal (control), and GD: G-Premio Bond (4% TiO2 incorporated). Forty bonding agent samples (5 x 1 mm discs) were prepared from the bonding agent groups and used for MTT assay, and 32 discs were used for the HCS assay.

Statistical analysis used: Statistical analysis was performed using the independent variable t-conducted by the IBM-SPSS software program.

Results: The results from the cytotoxic assays showed a high degree of cytocompatibility for all tested bonding agents. However, the incorporated bonding agent Groups (GII and GIV) showed significantly less cytotoxic effects than their controls. Also, groups GIII and GIV showed significantly higher cytocompatibility than GI and GII.

Conclusions: Incorporation of 4% by mass of colloidal dispersion of TiO2 nanoparticles significantly enhanced the biocompatibility of the tested universal bonding agents in comparison to their control groups.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate potential changes in the maxillary sinus associated with dental and periapical pathologies regarding a clinical and radiological assessment.

Materials and Methods: A group of 200 patients, presenting with various upper posterior dental pathologies (periapical granuloma, periodontitis, pyogenic infections, and odontogenic cysts), was included over a 6-year period (2015-2021). Patients with oro-antral fistula, patients with dental implants excluded because defects can be created as a result of other factors like surgeon skills or dental implant complications.

Totally edentulous maxillae or malignant tumors were excluded. Clinical and radiological assessments, including Panoramic Radiograph and Cone Beam CT scan, were conducted in the Maxillofacial Departments of Al-Kindy Teaching Hospital and the College of Dentistry at the University of Baghdad. Comprehensive dental treatment and follow-up were administered to all patients.

Results: The study group comprised 60 male patients (30%) and 140 female patients (70%) with an age range of 20-60 years and an average age of 40 years. Among the 200 cases, only 18 (9%) exhibited sinus effects, indicative of chronic maxillary sinus disease. Notably, 5 cases (2.5%) displayed pathological alterations in the maxillary antrum (Max An).

Conclusion: Within this group, maxillary sinus diseases arising from dental pathologies accounted for approximately 2.5% of cases. Dental pathologies extending into the sinus elicited diverse radiographic changes, often without overt symptoms. Dental treatment emerged as a primary approach for managing such cases, effectively addressing associated sinus alterations.

Purpose: Utilizing imaging to improve physicians' diagnostic accuracy is one of the primary priorities of radiology departments. When the image is of poor quality, it is likely to be rejected, and its repetition will expose patients and staff to unnecessary ionizing radiation. Given the significant nature of this issue, the current study aimed to evaluate the rate and reasons for radiograph rejections in emergency (public practice) and non-emergency (private practice) radiology departments of Yasuj, Iran.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out over 14 days in Yasuj, Iran, in the accident and emergency (round-the-clock) and non-emergency (day) medical imaging departments. In terms of quality, a total of 7,006 images were classified into the following three grades; A (Good), B (Fair), and C (rejected). The grade C radiographs were categorized into 9 classes according to the reasons for rejection.

Results: During this study, 7,006 radiographs were examined, of which 6,458 (92.2%) were categorized as grade A. Additionally, 401 radiographs (5.7%) were categorized as grade B, and 147 radiographs (2.1%) were considered to be grade C, which means that they were rejected. Out of the rejected radiographs, 69 (1.9%) were from emergency departments, while 78 (2.3%) were from non-emergency radiology departments. The most common reasons for the rejection of radiographs were the patient's incorrect positioning in 45 cases (30.6%) and the patient's motion in 43 cases (29.3%).

Conclusion: In comparison to previous research, the current study's percentage of rejected images was deemed acceptable. Radiologists are advised to frequently assess the reason and rate for rejecting radiographs to enhance the effectiveness of their radiology unit.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to create an Intelligence System (IS) to analyze the Electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics of patients with mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) and healthy volunteers. Generally, mTBI research demonstrates that patients suffer from Working Memory (WM). The frontal cortex is involved in the clinical physiology of mTBI and is crucial for delayed memory.

Materials and Methods: The Frontal-Medial Theta (FMT) is one of the most critical factors in mTBI verification. The oscillatory strength of FMT (4-8Hz) over the Frontal-Medial Cortex (FMC) or Supplementary Motor Area (SMA) and the medial-Sensory Motor Cortex (mSMC) is associated with efficient WM performance. The designed IS accesses the FMT of mTBI and healthy subjects by FCz and Cz electrodes placed in FMC or SMA and mSMC, respectively. The Multi-level Discrete Wavelet Transformation (MDWT) of EEG (FCz and Cz) is suggested here to investigate the mTBI. The FMT rhythms of EEG of FCz and Cz channels are extracted through 3-level-DWT. Then, 1768 features [712 features of healthy subjects + 1056 features of mTBI patients] for both the FCz and Cz electrodes were calculated via their FMT using eight statistical feature computations.

Results: The study found that the FMT strength of FCz and Cz electrodes is similar. The Bagging Classifier achieved 83.3333% accuracy with the 20-fold validation for the FCz electrode.

Conclusion: The strength of the FMT-FCz and FMT-Cz electrodes is approximately the same, and both are equally crucial to investigating mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Purpose: One of the indirect methods that has been proposed as a way of the detection of anemia is blood attenuation in non-contrast Computed Tomography (CT) scans. Some indices of non-contrast CT scans have been studied as a clue. Most known of such indices include aortic blood density and the difference between blood density and aortic wall density. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate the left ventricle blood attenuation and its relation to patients’ hemoglobin levels.

Materials and Methods: A total of 523 patients who underwent non-contrast chest CT scan with available hemoglobin levels within 48 hours of interval from CT scan acquisition were recruited for this study. Left ventricle blood attenuation was measured and the correlation with hemoglobin levels was evaluated.

Results: There was found to be a linear correlation between blood attenuation in the left ventricle and hemoglobin levels (r=0.33). Our results showed that the highest level of accuracy for diagnosis of anemia is in the Hounsfield Unit of 37.5 for women and 38.5 for men (with 68% sensitivity and 60% specificity) which can be regarded as a reliable threshold.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that the attenuation of the blood in the left ventricle can potentially be a hint for anemia and further evaluation for Hb levels.

Purpose: Schizophrenia (SZ), which affects 0.45% of adults worldwide, is a complex mental illness with unknown causes and mechanisms. Neuroimaging techniques have been used to study changes in the brain of patients with SZ. In this study, we aim to construct brain subnetworks, analyze the association of structure with function, and investigate them with graph measures. We hope to identify important subnetworks and graph measures for SZ diagnosis.

Materials and Methods: This study investigates the structural and functional brain connectivity of 27 healthy controls (HC) and 27 patients with SZ. Independent component analysis (ICA) and joint ICA (jICA) are used to construct subnetworks based on functional and structural connectivity. An association between structural and functional connectivity is examined. Joint functional and structural subnetworks are also examined and compared with independent analysis of functional and structural subnetworks. Several graph measures are used in the whole brain and its subnetworks.

Results: In this study, we investigated brain connectivity in HC and SZ patients using graph measures. The study analyzed both the whole brain and brain subnetworks to better understand the importance of partitioning the brain into subregions. Our results suggest that analyzing whole brain may not be the most effective method for studying brain peculiarities of SZ patients. In addition, multimodal brain analysis has proven to be effective in understanding SZ. There is no one-to-one relationship between structural and functional connectivity in the brain. Certain measures such as maximum modularity, clustering coefficient, network strength, global efficiency and path length were important in distinguishing patients with SZ from HCs in specific subnetworks. This study recommends further investigation of specific subnetworks that overlap with default mode, visual, and somatomotor resting state networks.

Conclusion: This study emphasizes importance of subnetwork and multimodal analysis for understanding SZ disease.

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) and intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation (iTBS), in Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) patients using resting-state Electroencephalography (EEG). iTBS is a novel form of magnetic stimulation with the potential to produce similar anti-depressant effects but in a much shorter time.

Materials and Methods: In two stimulation protocols, 78 patients with TRD received 20 sessions. Depression symptoms were assessed based on the changes in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) scores at baseline, after the last session, and at 4 weeks after treatment. Resting-state EEG was measured at baseline and after the last session. EEG power spectrum was extracted and power changes were evaluated statistically.

Results: There was no significant difference in response and remission rates between the two groups. Following 10 Hz rTMS and iTBS, the clinical indexes improved by 48.5 ± 19.8 % (p-value < 0.05) and 50.4 ± 21.7 % (p-value < 0.05), respectively. There was a significant reduction in the mean depression scores for both treatment groups (p < 0.05). Following treatment, TRD patients showed considerable enhancement in gamma power at the left DLPFC site (F3, F5, and F7 electrode) in the iTBS group and significant increases in delta power at the F3 and F7 electrode sites in the 10 Hz rTMS group.

Conclusion: iTBS provides clinical advantages, which showed that the results did not contrast altogether with results from a standard course of rTMS treatment. It might be invaluable from a clinical, benefit, and understanding perspective. Biomarkers of clinical outcomes such as resting-state brain activity measured with EEG may save individuals worthless treatment and moderately limited clinical assets.

Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the effectiveness of Transcranial Doppler (TCD) screening as a primary preventive measure against overt strokes in sickle cell patients at the Basrah Center for Hereditary Blood Diseases. The study's objectives were to analyze descriptive statistics of enrolled patients and investigate potential correlations between TCD values and various factors, such as age, sex, mean hemoglobin levels, and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) domains.

Materials and Methods: TCD screening was introduced at the Basrah Center for Hereditary Blood Diseases in 2012, utilizing an imaging ultrasonic machine. Four years later, it transitioned to a non-imaging technique, significantly expanding the service. The screening was carried out by two specially trained senior radiologists, resulting in more than 300 annual examinations.

Results: Among the enrolled patients, no abnormal TCD values (above 200) were recorded. However, 23 patients exhibited conditional values (170-200), with a higher prevalence among males and homozygous SCA individuals. These patients had a mean Hb F of 18.2%, Hb S of 70.2%, a mean age of 8.9 years, and an Hb level of 7.45 gm/dL.

Conclusion: Transcranial Doppler screening at Basrah Center for Hereditary Blood Diseases has proven effective in preventing overt strokes in sickle cell patients. The absence of abnormal TCD values in the enrolled patients suggests that early intervention and monitoring through TCD can be a valuable tool in managing sickle cell disease. Further analysis revealed potential associations between conditional TCD values and specific factors, such as age, sex, mean hemoglobin levels, and HPLC domains, which warrant continued investigation for a better understanding of risk factors in sickle cell patients.

Purpose: Timely detection of breast cancer is essential for improving treatment outcomes, particularly in the field of oncology. Several diagnostic techniques are available, and one promising approach is the use of Quantum Dots (QDs) for accurate and early detection. This study focuses on the utilization of cadmium selenium QDs with and without silver coating, which can modulate the transfer intensity of light sources.

Materials and Methods: Cadmium selenium QDs with silver coating (CdSe@Ag₂S) were synthesized and characterized. These QDs were then mixed with blood samples containing different concentrations of hemoglobin to simulate breast cancer conditions. The mixture was injected into phantom vessels representing breast tissue, and the transmitted light intensity was measured using a power meter. The light source used operated in the near-infrared range at a wavelength of 635 nm.

Results: The transmitted light intensity from vessels containing normal hemoglobin concentration was measured at 5.24 mW. However, in cancerous breast tissue, the intensity decreased to 4.56 mW and 3.34 mW for two and four times the hemoglobin concentrations, respectively. When the CdSe QDs were combined with different hemoglobin concentrations, the intensities of transmitted light were found to be 3.14 mW, 2.26 mW, and 1.22 mW for normal, twice, and four times the concentration of hemoglobin in turn. Furthermore, when the test was conducted using CdSe@Ag₂S QDs, the intensities of transmitted light were 1.83 mW, 2.52 mW, and 3.31 mW for the same hemoglobin concentrations, respectively.

Conclusion: This study concludes that the combination of different hemoglobin concentrations with QDs enables the differentiation between healthy and cancerous blood, enabling the early detection of breast cancer during its initial stages of development. Early detection of breast cancer has significant potential for improving treatment outcomes in the field of oncology.

Background: Three-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) allows simultaneous evaluation of the entire left ventricular (LV) volume, motion, and mechanical dyssynchrony. This study aimed to provide valuable data on the feasibility and reliability of 3DE in assessing LV dyssynchrony in healthy individuals.

Methods: One hundred healthy volunteers, including both genders, with mean age, weight, and BMI of 39.64±10.21 years, 76.57±14.65 kg, and 27.59±4.3 kg.m^-2, respectively, without evidence of structural heart or chronic disease, were included. 3DE examinations were conducted using a 4-chamber view and the full-volume method for all volunteers. Dyssynchrony was automatically quantified as the systolic dyssynchrony index (SDI) for selected LV segments using Q-lab software. The standard deviation (SD) of the time to attain minimum systolic volume was considered as SDI. This time length was expressed as % R-R to compensate for the variability of heart rate and increase reproducibility. Consequently, a single SDI (global SDI) was available for quantifying the degree of LV dyssynchrony by comparing all segments.

Results: According to echocardiographic findings, the mean global LV-SDI, apical SDI, basal SDI, and mid SDI were 28.68±15.48 msec, 26.16±27.47 msec, 24.41±14.35 msec, and 22.07±18.24 msec, respectively. After correction for RR duration, the mean global LV-SDI was 3.49±1.97%, apical SDI: 3.21±3.58%, basal SDI: 2.97±1.82%, and mid SDI: 2.68±2.19%.

Conclusion: 3DE proves to be a useful tool for evaluating LV dyssynchrony. The data provided include age- and sex-related changes in total and regional SDI in healthy volunteers, serving as a suitable reference for further investigations into LV dyssynchrony changes.

Purpose: The Xtrim-PET preclinical scanner is specifically designed for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of small laboratory animals. This study aims to increase the spatial resolution of the scanner by implementing gantry wobbling.

Materials and Methods: The gantry wobbling was evaluated using the Gate Monte Carlo code. To prevent image blurring during gantry wobbling, all locations detected in the 3D output were corrected in the sinogram matrix according to the coincidence time of annihilation photons and the gantry motion. In order to evaluate the performance of the scanner using the wobbling motion data acquisition technique, coincidence data from the scanning of NEMA-NU4 and Hot-Rod phantoms were modified, reconstructed and compared to without wobbling mode.

Results: The spatial resolution in the center of the scanner with and without implementing wobbling technique was obtained as 0.91 mm and 1.93 mm, respectively. The total sensitivity, detection efficiency, and scan time were obtained the same in both with and without wobbling modes. The results indicate that the data acquisition mode with gantry wobbling motion increases the resolution up to 52.8%

Conclusion: The proposed data acquisition mode can be used to design a cost-effective high-resolution scanner.

Introduction: The use of CT scan in diagnosis is increasing significantly. The purpose of This study is evaluating the normal brain and chest Computed Tomography (CT) scans at six medical imaging departments in Tehran and evaluate the radiation dose and estimate the cancer risk associated with these normal CT scans.

Materials and methods:  The data of 1080 patients between 20 to 50 years old referred to the six medical imaging centers in Tehran hospitals (1^st January to 30^th March) were collected. Patients were categorized into six groups according to their ages. In this study, a radiologist helped us in interpreting the CT scan images. The DRL was assessed and the BEIR VII model was used to estimate the radiation cancer.

Results: Among the 1080 patients, 642 (59%) were males and the average age of the patients was 45.05 ± 22.60 years. Brain CT scans in 65% cases and chest CT scan in 52% were reported normal. The third quartile of CTDI_vol, DLP, and ED values in the brain and chest scans were calculated and introduced as local DRL values. These values were determined as 22.13, 428.58, and 0.65 for CTDI_vol, DLP, and ED values in the brain scan, and 5, 187.35, and 3.71 in the chest scan. The highest risk of cancer incidence in the brain scan was related to leukemia with a value of 0.73 per 100000 exposures, followed by thyroid with a value of 0.62 in women aged 20-25 years. And in the chest scan, the highest risk of cancer incidence was related to breast cancer with a value of 22.4 per 100000 followed by lung cancer with a value of 19.02 in the same age group.

Conclusion: As the age decreases, the risk of cancer increases, therefore, by optimizing the radiation dose and avoiding CT scans without indications, the risk of cancer can be significantly reduced.

Purpose: At resting state, the human brain releases cycles of Electroencephalography (EEG), which has been proven aberrant in persons with schizophrenia. Deep learning methods and patterns found in EEG of brain activity are helpful features for verifying schizophrenia. The proposed study demonstrates the applicability of alpha-EEG rhythm in a Gated-Recurrent-Unit-based deep learning model for studying schizophrenia.

Materials and Methods: This study suggests Rudiment Densely-Coupled Convolutional Gated Recurrent Unit (RDCGRU) for the EEG rhythm (gamma, beta, alpha, theta, and delta) based diagnoses of schizophrenia. The model includes multiple 1-D-Convolution (Con-1-D) folds with steps greater than 1, which enables the model to programmatically and effectively learn how to reduce the incoming signal. The Con-1-D layers and numerous Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) layers comprise the Exponential-Linear-Unit activation function. This powerful activation function facilitates in-deep-network training and improves classification performance. The Densely-Coupled Convolutional Gated Recurrent Unit (DCGRU) layers enable RDCGRU to address the training accuracy loss brought on by vanishing or exploding gradients. This makes it possible to develop intense, deep versions of RDCGRU for more complex problems. The sigmoid activation function is implemented in the digital classifier's output nodes.

Results: The RDCGRU framework performs efficiently with alpha-EEG rhythm (88.06%) and harshly with delta-EEG rhythm (60.05%). The research achievements: In EEG rhythm-based schizophrenia verification, GRU cells with the RDCGRU deep learning model performed better with alpha-EEG rhythm.

Conclusion: The α-EEG rhythm is a crucial component of the RDCGRU deep learning model for studying schizophrenia using EEG rhythms. In our investigation of RDCGRU deep learning architectures, we noticed that Con-1-D layers connected special learning networks function well with the α-EEG rhythm for the EEG rhythm-based verification of schizophrenia.

Objective: While there is evidence that neurofeedback (NF) can reduce seizure frequency and enhance sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy, the neural mechanisms underlying such effects are not well understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the neuromodulatory effects of SMR NF training on functional and structural connectivity in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy.

Methods: Four patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), diffusion MRI (dMRI), quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG), and Integrated Visual and Auditory (IVA-2) test before and after 6 to 8 weeks of SMR NF training. We assessed alterations in functional and structural connectivity within and between six brain networks based on the automated anatomical labeling (AAL) atlas.

Results: All four patients showed a reduction in seizure frequency ranging from 35% to 100% after SMR NF training, with two patients experiencing a reduction within the first week of treatment. IVA-2 scores increased for all patients compared to the pre-treatment baseline, indicating cognitive improvement. Post-treatment fMRI revealed no significant differences in functional connectivity between patients and control cases, despite significant differences in some brain networks observed in pre-treatment fMRI. We also found increased fractional anisotropy (FA) values between subcortical and auditory networks after SMR training.

Significance: Our study provides promising evidence for the neural basis of SMR NF training in the treatment of drug-resistant focal epilepsy. The observed reductions in seizure frequency, improvements in cognitive abilities, and increased FA values suggest that SMR NF training may be an effective treatment for patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy.

Abstract

Purpose: Magnetoencephalography is the recording of magnetic fields resulting from the activities of brain neurons and provides the possibility of direct measurement of their activity in a non-invasive manner. Despite its high spatial and temporal resolution, magnetoencephalography has a weak amplitude signal, drastically reducing the signal-to-noise ratio in case of environmental noise. Therefore, signal reconstruction methods can be effective in recovering noisy and lost information.

Materials and Methods: The magnetoencephalography signal of 11 healthy young subjects was recorded in a resting state. Each signal contains the data of 148 channels which were fixed on a helmet. The performance of three different reconstruction methods has been investigated by using the data of adjacent channels from the selected track to interpolate its information. These three methods are the surface reconstruction methods, partial differential equations algorithms, and finite element-based methods. Afterward to evaluate the performance of each method, R-square, root mean square error, and signal-to-noise ratio between the reconstructed signal and the original signal were calculated. The relation between these criteria was checked through proper statistical tests with a significance level of 0.05.

Results: The mean method with the root mean square error of 0.016  0.009 (mean  SD) at the minimum time (3.5 microseconds) could reconstruct an epoch. Also, the median method with a similar error but in 5.9 microseconds with a probability of 99.33% could reconstruct an epoch with an R-square greater than 0.7.

Conclusion: The mean and median methods can reconstruct the noisy or lost signal in magnetoencephalography with a suitable percentage of similarity to the reference by using the signal of adjacent channels from the damaged sensor.

Purpose:  The human brain is comprised of distinct regions, each contributing uniquely to behavioral control. The execution of even basic tasks necessitates synchronized activities among multiple brain regions. Fundamental cognitive functions hinge on the capacity to retain and flexibly manipulate information, a key role ascribed to working memory (WM). This study seeks to enhance our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying WM and elucidate the coordinated neural activities spanning various brain regions.

Materials and Methods: To achieve this objective, the invasively recorded electrophysiological activities from medial temporal (MT) cortex of human using high number of electrodes were analyzed. The subjects did a verbal working memory task including three phases: encoding, maintenance and retrieval.

Phase synchronization between electrode signals in common frequency rhythms determined by phase locking value (PLV) was used to create brain network graphs.

Results: This study validates prior findings on neural synchronization in the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, and amygdala during WM within the theta, alpha, and beta bands. Analysis of Phase Locking Value (PLV) dynamics during encoding and maintenance, reveals strong modulation in the theta, alpha and beta rhythm. Notably, PLV of theta oscillation between channels within posterior hippocampal region was significantly reduced during maintenance. Conversely, PLV of theta-alpha rhythms between anterior hippocampal region (AHL) and amygdala/entorhinal cortex was significantly increased by WM.

 Conclusion:

This study, for the first time demonstrates the networks involved in WM within MT areas in the human brain. These findings underscore the frequency-specific intricacies in WM modulation, providing valuable insights into neural coordination during specific processing stages.

Purpose: Understanding neural mechanisms is critical for discerning the nature of brain disorders and enhancing treatment methodologies. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) plays a vital role in gaining this knowledge by recording various brain regions. In this study, our primary aim was to categorize visual objects based on fMRI data during a natural scene viewing task. We intend to elucidate the challenges and limitations of previous models in order to produce a generalizable model across different subjects using advanced deep learning methods.

Materials and Methods: We've designed a new deep learning model based on transformers for processing fMRI data. The model includes two blocks, the first block receives fMRI data as input and transforms the input data to a set of features called fMRI space. Simultaneously a visual space is extracted from visual images using a pre-trained inceptionv3 network. The model tries to construct the fMRI space similar to the extracted visual space. The other block is a fully connected (FC) network for object recognition based on fMRI space. Using transformer capabilities and an overlapping method, the proposed architecture accounts for structural changes across different voxel sizes of the subjects' brains.

Results: A unique model was trained for all subjects with different brain sizes. The results demonstrated that the proposed network achieves an impressive similarity correlation between visual space and fMRI space around 0.84 for train and 0.86 for test dataset. Furthermore, the classification accuracy was about 70.3%. These outcomes underscored the effectiveness of our fMRI transformer network in extracting features from fMRI data.

Conclusion: The results indicated the potential of our model for decoding images from the brain activities of new subjects. This unveils a novel direction in image reconstruction from neural activities, an area that has remained relatively uncharted due to its inherent intricacies.

Purpose: Nowadays, detecting brain tumors is a crucial application. If a tumor is discovered later on, the medical issues are significant. Therefore, early diagnosis is essential. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the most recent detection, diagnosis, and assessment technology.

Materials and Methods: In this study, MRI images are segmented before input to a pulse-coupled neural network model to identify the existence of a tumor in the brain picture. The doctor may turn to this model for assistance if there are more input MRI brain pictures. This work preprocesses the images using normalization smoothing with linear filter and adaptive histogram. Statistical and Local Binary Patterns (LBP) features are extracted from the preprocessed images to perform the classification process. The Deep Convolutional Network (DCNN) is used to segment the image. The Pulse Coupled Neural Networks (PCNN) categorize the input images as normal and tumor.

Results: Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and precision are the various metrics evaluated. This work achieves 99.35 accuracies, 99.78 sensitivity, 98.45 specificities, and 97.61 precision. This work is compared with previous implementations to measure performance.

Conclusion: The comparison analysis improves tumor segmentation and classification accuracy. The suggested method yields great outcomes.

Purpose: The breast is a radiosensitive organ and it is important to prevent the Contralateral Breast (CLB) from irradiation in radiotherapy. In this study, the received dose of CLB was calculated and compared between two breast radiotherapy techniques, including physical stationary and motorized wedged fields.

Materials and Methods: Forty female patients undergoing breast radiotherapy with supraclavicular involvement were randomly selected. Twenty were treated with the tangential fields using physical wedges and twenty patients were treated with the tangential fields using motorized wedges. Three thermo-luminescent dosimeters (TLD GR-200) were placed on the CLB skin to estimate the breast dose. Dosimetric parameters for target tissue and organs at risk (OARs) were obtained from the plans of the evaluated techniques and compared to find the differences. CLB doses were compared between the radiotherapy techniques using an independent T-test.

Results: There were no significant differences in the target tissue and OARs dosimetric parameters between the evaluated radiotherapy techniques. The results showed that the measured CLB skin doses in patients treated with the motorized wedges were significantly higher than the physical wedge radiotherapy technique, 201.5±20.4 mGy vs. 159.8 ±14.2 mGy (P<0.05).

Conclusion: The physical wedged fields technique had lower doses for CLB compared to the fields using motorized wedges. Therefore, it can be proposed to use tangential physical wedged fields for patients with high concern about the CLB. Furthermore, more research considering radiotherapy techniques without using wedges in medial tangent fields and other relevant parameters can be performed to obtain a better evaluation of the CLB dose.

Purpose: The incorporation of Nanoparticles (NPs) in Computed Tomography (CT) imaging significantly enhances the contrast, clarity, and sensitivity of CT scans, leading to a substantial improvement in the accuracy and reliability of diagnostic information obtained from the images. The objective of the current research was to investigate the application of gold (Au) NPs in enhancing the imaging capabilities of Breast Cancer (BC) cells.

Materials and Methods: Au NPs were synthesized by loading Trastuzumab (TZ) on PEGylated Au NPs. Firstly, Au NPs were produced and coated with PEG-SH to form PEG-Au NPs. Next, TZ was coupled with OPSS-PEG-SVA to enable its attachment to the PEG-Au NPs. The resulting NPs were characterized for their structure, size, and morphology using standard analytical techniques. To assess the potential of the developed NPs for CT scan imaging of BC cells, SKBr-3 cells were treated with Au NPs and TZ-PEG-Au NPs. Additionally, the cytotoxicity of the NPs was evaluated with the MTT technique.

Results: The SEM and TEM analyses revealed that the synthesized NPs exhibited a spherical shape and displayed a relatively uniform size distribution (approximately 45 nm). The results showed that the developed Au NPs have acceptable biocompatibility and superior X-ray attenuation properties compared to a commonly used contrast agent.

Conclusion: Based on our results, it can be concluded that the proposed TZ- Polyethylene Glycol-Au NPs are suitable for CT imaging of BC cells.

Purpose: Recently, using hadrons as therapeutic beam is highly advised for radiation treatment of deep seated tumors due to desired conforming of three dimensional dose distribution onto tumor volume. This refers to physical properties of common available hadrons versus photons and electrons in colliding with patient body atoms that is our main challenge is this work, in a comparative fashion. Methods: In this work, protons Caron- and Oxygen-Ions are considered as therapeutic beams while irradiating a given tumor located at soft tissue equivalent phantom to mimic patient body using Monte Carlo FLUKA code. The high impact properties of available beams implemented at hadron therapy facilities are investigated quantitatively, during simulation process while no study have been done formerly. Results: Depth dose profiles of hadrons, linear energy transfer, beams lateral divergence, spread out Bragg peak, produced neutrons and produced positron emitter as radioisotopes produced due to colliding hadrons with nucleus of the atoms are measured, numerically. The latter case include C-10, C-11, N-13 and O-15 at soft tissue that are highly important for proton range verification inside patient body using positron emission tomography system. Conclusion: Among hadrons, linear energy transfer of Carbon- and Oxygen ion is superior versus proton due to their high atomic numbers that reduce treatment fraction remarkably. Furthermore, at proton therapy the main source of produced neutrons are passive or active modulation devices located in front of therapeutic beam. Among produced positron emitters, C-11 and O-15 are remarkable for providing functional image to assess hadrons range.

Purpose: Nowadays, the use of polymer composites with several metals to design and build new radiation composite shields with practical features in radiology is expanding.

Materials and Methods: Three metal oxides, including Bismuth oxide (Bi₂O₃), Tungsten oxide (WO₃), and Tin oxide (SnO₂) were used as mono-metal and bimetallic compound silicon matrixes for clarification of their practical use. Monte Carlo simulation methods were used to enter the specifications of each metal in combination with silicon. The mass attenuation coefficients of the mono- and bimetallic composites were calculated in the energy ranges of 40 to 150 KeV by classification to low/ medium/high groups.

Results: The results showed the beam reduction ability for both the mono- and the bimetallic composites. The mass attenuation coefficients of Bi₂O₃, WO₃, and SnO₂ at 80 KeV were 0.38, 0.33, and 0.57 cm²/gr, respectively. Moreover, the Bismuth-Tin bimetallic combination at low energies and the Bismuth-Tungsten at high energies had better attenuation than the other samples. To select bimetallic compounds with a high attenuation coefficient, it is better to match the energy used in the imaging method specifically. For example, in the 70-90 KeV energy range, the Sn-W combination had the highest beam attenuation coefficient.

Conclusion: The advantage of mono- and bimetallic shields in terms of energy attenuation amount depends on beam energy and shielding metal “K-absorption” edge. In comparing the attenuation of recorded beams in low, medium, and high ranges of energy, mono-metallic Bismuth shows higher attenuation coefficients than mono-metallic Tungsten and bi-metallic Bismuth–Tungsten. Dose reduction of the bi-metallic state of Bismuth - Tin was greater than that of mono-metallic Bismuth and Tin in low energies. Also, the attenuation of the Bi-Sn composite shield in low energy was the highest amount among all silicon composite shields.

Purpose: In this research, using the Geant4 software toolbox and metamaterials as a neutron shield, it was tried to introduce the proper metamaterial for this matter.

Materials and Methods: Boron Neutron Capture Therapy )BNCT( treatment is one of the most significant approaches used to treat brain tumors. The neutron source that is the main part of the BNCT method is produced by protons irradiation of ⁷Li converter. The brain tumor tissue, which contains a high concentration of ¹⁰B, is exposed to thermal neutron energy that is moderated by shield material. The dose of alpha particles that produced by the neutron decay of ¹⁰B in tumor tissue can be calculated by changing the metamaterial thickness. The best thickness of metamaterial for minimizing the radioactive elements production in brain tumor is calculated using the Geant4 toolkit.

Results: Waveguide Core (WC( metamaterial with 10 cm thickness is suitable for neutron moderation. The secondary elements produced in brain tumors is less than other thickness that is calculated by taking into account the alpha spectrum in tumor tissue. The alpha spectrum was calculated by the interaction of neutron spectrum released by the WC metamaterial.

Conclusion: The dose of alpha and secondary particles was obtained by the calculation of numbers and energy of these particles in brain tumors. The number of radioactive elements produced in the tumor tissue, as well as the most effective thickness of proper metamaterial to reduce the dose of secondary particles indicated that the WC metamaterial with a thickness of 17 cm is the best material for reducing radiation of neutron source that is produced by 35 MeV proton irradiation of ⁷Li neutron converter.

Lung cancer is a deadly disease which has high occurrence and death rates, worldwide. Computed Tomography (CT) imaging is being widely used by clinicians for detection of lung cancer. Radiomics extracted from medical images together with Machine Learning (ML) platform has given encouraging results in lung cancer diagnosis. Therefore, this study is proposed with the aim to efficiently apply and evaluate radiomics and ML techniques to classify pulmonary nodules in CT images. Lung Image Data Consortium is utilized in which nodules are given malignancy score 1 through 5 i.e. benign through malignant. Three scenarios are created randomly using these groups: G54 Vs G12, G543 Vs G12, and G54 Vs G123. Radiomics are extracted using Shape, Gray Level Co-occurrence Method, Gray Level Difference Method, and Gray Level Run Length Matrix along with Wavelet Packet Transform. To select a relevant set of features, four techniques i.e. Chi-square test, Analysis of variance, boosted ensemble classification tree and bagged ensemble classification tree are applied. The classification of nodule into benign or malignant is evaluated by using six models of Support vector machine. The results, in Scenario 1, show that MGSVM+Chi-square yields the best outcome compared to rest of the models with 75.3% accuracy, 77.9% sensitivity and 71.5% specificity. In Scenario 2, QSVM+Chi-square yields the best outcome compared to rest of the models with 74.7% accuracy, 70.3% sensitivity and 77.4% specificity. And in Scenario 3, CSVM+BACET yields comparatively better results with70.3% accuracy, 70.6% sensitivity and 62.1% specificity.

This paper would go on to provide more detail about the specific methods used in the SC2SSP model, as well as the dataset and evaluation metrics used to test its performance. It might also mention any notable findings or contributions of the study, such as the ability of the model to identify high-risk areas for the virus or the potential for the technique to be applied to other infectious diseases. The proposed model SC2SSP is a multiclass supervised learning technique that aims to predict the scope and severity of the SAR-COV2 virus using data on confirmed cases and deaths. The model utilizes a combination of algorithms to classify the spread and impact of the virus in different regions. The results show that the proposed technique outperforms traditional methods in accurately predicting the scope and severity of the virus, and can aid in the development of more effective mitigation strategies.

The specific techniques used in the SC2SSP model could include a variety of machine learning algorithms such as Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, and Neural Network etc. The model may also utilize techniques for handling imbalanced data, such as oversampling or under sampling, as well as feature selection methods to identify the most relevant input features for the prediction task. Additionally, ensemble methods such as bagging or boosting can also be used to further improve the model's performance. This makes the model more robust and accurate in predicting the scope and severity of the SAR-COV2 virus. In addition, the paper could mention the use of different evaluation metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, AUC-ROC etc to evaluate the performance of the model. Furthermore, the paper would also provide the results of the model comparing it with the traditional methods and showing the improvement in the performance of the proposed model. The results show that the proposed technique outperforms traditional methods in accurately predicting the scope and severity of the virus, and can aid in the development of more effective mitigation strategies.

Purpose: There is a growing interest in the clinical application of new PET radiopharmaceuticals. This study focuses on using ⁶⁴Cu-DOTA-Trastuzumab for Positron Emission Tomography–Computed Tomography (PET/CT) imaging in gastric cancer patients. It aims to enhance the understanding of its bio-kinetic distribution and absorbed dose for safe and practical application in nuclear medicine.

Materials and Methods: The study was conducted at the Agricultural, Medical, and Industrial Research School (AMIRS), where ⁶⁴Cu was produced and purified. The radiopharmaceutical ⁶⁴Cu-DOTA-Trastuzumab was prepared, and three patients with confirmed Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 (HER2)-positive gastric cancer underwent PET/CT scans at 1, 12 and 48 hours post-injection. Images were gained using a Discovery IQ PET/CT system and analyzed for an SUV. Bio-distribution was modeled using a two-exponential function, and absorbed doses were calculated using IDAC-Dose 2.1 software. CT doses were also evaluated.

Results: The study found that post-injection imaging at 12 hours or more provided superior image quality. The liver exhibited the highest cumulative activity, followed by the spleen and other organs. The effective dose estimates for ⁶⁴Cu-DOTA-Trastuzumab were within acceptable limits. CT dose calculations revealed that sensitive organs received higher doses.

Conclusion: This study successfully assessed the bio-kinetic distribution and absorbed dose of ⁶⁴Cu-DOTA-Trastuzumab in gastric cancer patients, demonstrating its safety and potential for clinical use. The optimal timing for PET/CT imaging and dosimetry data can inform clinical decision-making. Further research is warranted to explore the therapeutic potential of ⁶⁴Cu-DOTA-Trastuzumab and to establish clinical guidelines for its use.

Purpose: The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of incorporating of nanohydroxyapatite in to hydrogen peroxide bleaching material on color, microhardness and morphological features of dental enamel.

Materials and Methods: 33 sound maxillary first premolar were used for the study. Enamel blocks (7mm× 5mm×3mm) were prepared from the middle third of buccal halves of each tooth. Each dental block was embedded in self-curing acrylic resin with exterior enamel surface exposed for various applications. The dental blocks were  randomly divided into three groups (n=11) according to the bleaching technique. The groups were designed as follows: control; hydrogen peroxide (HP) and hydrogen peroxide with nanohydroxyapatite (HP-nHAp) groups. Color measurements and microhardness tests were conducted before and after treatment. one sample represented each group was selected for morphological analysis.

Results: The  results showed  that both HP and HP-nHAp groups induced color changing. Enamel microhardness loss of HP group was significantly higher than that of HP-nHAp and control groups. The enamel morphological changes was only observed in HP group.

Conclusion: nHAp could significantly reduce the enamel microharness loss caused by HP while preserving enamel surface morphological features without affecting bleaching efficacy.

Purpose: Diabetes, resulting from insufficient insulin production or utilization, causes extensive harm to the body. The conventional diagnostic methods are often invasive. The classification of diabetes is essential for effective management. The progression in research and technology has led to additional classification approaches. Machine Learning (ML) algorithms have been deployed for analyzing the huge dataset and classifying diabetes.

Materials and Methods: The classification and the regression of diabetic and non-diabetic are performed using the XGBoost mechanism. On the other hand, the proposed class-centric Focal XG-Boost is applied to elevate the model performance by measuring the similarity among the features. The prediction of the model is based on the classification and regression rates of diabetic and non-diabetic individuals, which are anticipated using applicable and effectual metrics to estimate their working performance.

The dataset used in the Class-Centric Focal XG Boost model is attained using the Arduino Uno Kit. The data collection is done under a sampling rate of 100 Hz. The data are gathered from Bharati Hospital Pathology Laboratories, located in Pune.

Results: The inclusive outcomes of the proposed model with their appropriate Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) among classification and regression, with the suitable dataset used in the study are exemplified.

Conclusion: The proposed Class-Centric Focal XG Boost model has numerous advantages and is less delicate to the hyperparameters than the conventional XGBoost algorithm. As a part of the real-time application of the Class-Centric Focal XG Boost model, the model can be utilized in other communicable and communicable disease classification and detection.

Purpose: The goal of biomedical researchers is to overcome harmful bacteria' resistance to antibiotics by developing new active chemicals quickly, cheaply, easily, and environmentally.

Materials and Methods: In this instance, iron nanoparticles (Fe-NPs) were created using a green method by mixing an equal volume of Zingiber officinale aqueous extract with a 100 ml solution of ferrous chloride tetrahydrate (FeCl2.4H2O (0.4 M)). The distinctive dark brown color shift of the mixture indicated the production of Fe-NPs.

Results: This suggests that the nanocomposite was created and the reaction occurred. FT-IR, TEM, and UV-Vis spectroscopy were utilized to analyze phytosynthesized Fe-NPs. Overall, the phytosynthesized Fe-NPs show activities that enable their use in various biomedical and biotechnological applications. Additionally, the antimicrobial effect was investigated against Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli).

Conclusion: The antibacterial activity of E. coli was determined, and the highest zone of inhibition was observed at the concentration of 100 μg/mL.

Purpose: People with Down Syndrome must be served special because they have an intellectual disability with abnormality in memory and learning, so, creating a model for DS recognition may provide safe services to them, using the transfer learning technique can improve high metrics with a small dataset, depending on previous knowledge, there is no available Down syndrome dataset, one can use to train.

Materials and Methods: A new dataset is created by gathering images, two classes (Down=209 images, non-Down=214 images), and then expanding this dataset using Augmentation to be the final dataset 892 images (Down=415images, Non-Down=477 images. Finally, using a suitable training model, in this work, Xception and Resnet models are used, the pretrained models are trained on Imagenet dataset which consists of (1000) classes.

Results: By using Xception model and Resnet model, it concluded that when using Resnet model the accuracy = 95.93% and the loss function =0.16, while by using Xception model, the accuracy =96.57% and the loss function =0.12.

Conclusion: A transfer learning is used, to overcome the suitability of dataset size and minimize the cost of training, and time processing the accuracy and loss function is good when using Xception model, in addition, the Xception metrics are the best by comparing with the previous studies.

Purpose: Lung cancer treatment often involves radiotherapy, which can lead to an increased risk of secondary cancers in sensitive organs and Organs At Risk (OARs). Understanding this risk is crucial for optimizing treatment strategies and minimizing long-term adverse effects. The objective of this study is to estimate the Secondary Cancer Risks (SCRs) in sensitive organs and OARs using radiation-induced cancer risk prediction models, specifically the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) VII model and the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) model.

Materials and Methods: The radiotherapy dosimetric data of 30 lung cancer patients were collected all of whom underwent Computed Tomography (CT) scans. The PCRT-3D Treatment Planning System (TPS) was used for the treatment planning process. The risks were calculated based on the dose distribution in the target volume. The models for Excess Absolute Risk (EAR) and Excess Relative Risk (ERR) values (per 100,000 person-year) were utilized to estimate SCRs in planning target volume, OARs, and sensitive organs.

Results: The results indicate that, according to the BEIR VII model, the estimated EAR of cancer per 100,000 person-years was 38.39 in the heart, 35.83 in the esophagus, 5.49 in the contralateral lung, 2.17 in the liver, and 3.41 in the pancreas. Conversely, using the ICRP model, the EAR was calculated to be 58.73 in the heart, 38.78 in the esophagus, 20.48 in the contralateral lung, 3.49 in the liver, and 5.44 in the pancreas. These findings suggest that lung cancer patients treated with 3DCRT exhibit relatively high SCRs in the heart, esophagus, and contralateral lung organs in both models.

Conclusion: In this study, SCRs in a range of organs in lung cancer patients treated with 3DCRT were quantified. Our findings revealed that there were comparatively high SCRs in the heart in 3DCRT of lung cancer patients. Based on the findings of the current investigation, the ICRP model SCRs are greater in comparison to the BEIR VII model. These findings underscore the importance of considering SCRs in treatment planning and highlight the need for further research to optimize radiation therapy strategies and minimize long-term risks for lung cancer patients.

Purpose: In this work, nanocomposite with different weight ratios reduce graphene oxide/copper doping-anatase (rGO/Cu-TiO₂) has been successfully prepared using the photolysis method to evaluate the role of rGO/Cu in photovoltaic properties performance application as a photoanodes.

Materials and Methods: The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman spectrum, and X-Ray Photoelectron (XPS) results analysis confirmed successfully incorporating rGO/Cu in the TiO₂ crystal structure. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) reveals the formation of spherical agglomeration nanoparticles with a size approximately equal to 18nm.

Results: The current density–voltage curves (J-V) and Intensity-Modulated Photocurrent Spectroscopy (IMPS) showed that the incorporation of rGO sheets enhances the ability of N3 loading of (rGO/Cu-TiO₂) photoanodes with faster charge transfer.

Conclusion: Our results illustrate that optimal Cu and rGO can increase the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (4.56%) by 8.2% higher than TiO₂ DSSCs (3.52%).

Purpose: The quality of the image in SPECT scans depends on the imaging parameters which are determined experimentally in the field of nuclear medicine. Designing a dedicated scanning parameter for ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE SPECT images is required to optimize reconstruction. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of different filters on image quality for bone SPECT scanning using ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE.

Materials and Methods: The filtered back-projection reconstruction method was used in neuro-endocrine tumor scanning using ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE. Three hours after injection of ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE, SPECT scans from ¹⁷⁷Lu-DOTATATE for 30 patients were acquired using a dual-head EvoExel detector system. Seven parameters were considered, including the contrast/noise ratio, injection activity, uptake duration, acquisition time per injection, frame time, measuring time, and type of filters.

Results: In all cases, the application of different filters increased Contrast to Noise Ratio (CNR) (9.1%, 1.8%, 10.9%, 61.8%, 23.6%, 29.1%, and 58.2% for Wiener, Butterworth, Parzen, Metz, Ramp, Shepp-Logan, and Hamming filters, respectively). The percentage of increase in Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) was 3.3%, 1.7%, -24%, 21.7%, 9.8%, 11.9%, and 20.6%.

Conclusion: Based on the quantitative analysis of the results, the application of the Metz filter (power 2) and Hamming filter (with 0.27, 0.47, and 0.67 cut-off frequencies) on SPECT scans of neuro-endocrine tumors is recommended because of their capacity to provide high-quality images.

Purpose: In this study, we propose a novel generalizable hybrid underlying mechanism m for mapping Human Pose Estimation (HPE) data to muscle synergy patterns, which can be highly efficient in improving visual biofeedback.

Materials and Methods: In the first step, Electromyography (EMG) data from the upper limb muscles of twelve healthy participants are collected and pre-processed, and muscle synergy patterns are extracted from it. Concurrently, kinematic data are detected using the OpenPose model. Through synchronization and normalization, the Successive Variational Mode Decomposition (SVMD) algorithm decomposes synergy control patterns into smaller components. To establish mappings, a custom Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit (BiGRU) model is employed. Comparative analysis against popular models validates the efficacy of our approach, revealing the generated trajectory as potentially ideal for visual biofeedback. Remarkably, the combined SVMD-BiGRU model outperforms alternatives.

Results: the results show that the trajectory generated by the model is potentially suitable for visual biofeedback systems. Remarkably, the combined SVMD-BiGRU model outperforms alternatives. Furthermore, empirical assessments have demonstrated the adept ability of healthy participants to closely adhere to the trajectory generated by the model output during the test phase.

Conclusion: Ultimately, the incorporation of this innovative mechanism at the heart of visual biofeedback systems has been revealed to significantly elevate both the quantity and quality of movement.

Purpose: Microorganism colonization, namely Candida albicans (C. albicans), on silicone facial prostheses, with subsequent dermatitis and prosthesis material degradation, are another problems added to the list for maxillofacial defect patients, who have already suffered a lot of physical and psychological pain during their injury and treatment journey. This study aimed to investigate the most effective percentage of thymol powder for retarding Candida albicans adhesion and colonisation on the surface of thymol-modified maxillofacial silicone material.

Materials and Methods: Study specimens were made from room temperature vulcanised VerSilTal (VST-50) maxillofacial silicone, which is impregnated with thymol powder in percentages of 0.75 wt.% and 1 wt.%, according to the results of the pilot study. Fourty silicone specimens were fabricated for the main study and divided into four groups: group A (negative control without additive), groups B and C (0.75 and 1 wt.% thymol additive, respectively), and group D (positive control with 1.4 wt.% nystatin additive). Candida adherence testing estimated the antifungal properties of thymol-modified maxillofacial silicone specimens through microscopic counting of adherent C. albicans cells on the silicone specimens’ surface. ANOVA and Games-Howell’s honesty significant difference tests  were utilised for group comparisons (significance level set at P < 0.05).

Results: Statistically, group B exhibited the maximum significant reduction in candida adherence mean value which is 13.575 (P = 0.000) as compared to the rest of the study groups including the positive and the negative controls.

Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that thymol powder is a powerful antifungal agent that may be successfully incorporated into maxillofacial silicone to create material that has effective inherent sanitation against C. albicans fungi.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the biological effects of photon radiation and its potential for cancer treatment through targeted radiation therapy by studying direct and indirect DNA damage induced by 15, 30, and 50 keV photon radiation using Geant4-DNA Monte Carlo simulations.

Materials and Methods: Two spherical cells (C and C₂) and their cell nucleus were modeled in liquid water. An atomic DNA model constructed in the Geant4-DNA Monte Carlo simulation toolkit, containing 125,000 chromatin fibers, was placed inside the nucleus of the C₂ cell. The number of direct and indirect single-strand breaks (SSBs), double-strand breaks (DSBs), and hybrid double-strand breaks (HDSB) in the C₂ cell caused by 15, 30, and 50 keV photons were calculated for N₂←CS, N₂←Cy, N₂←C, and N₂←N Target←Source combinations, at the distances of 0, 2.5, and 5 μm between two cells.

Results: Low energy (15 keV) photons emitted within the cell surface and the cell cytoplasm resulted in the highest DNA damage, producing markedly higher SSBs, DSBs, and HDSBs compared to the whole cell and the nucleus sources across 0-5 μm target distances. Increasing the photon energy to 30 and 50 keV showed 81-96% reduced DNA damage. Additionally, the 2.5 μm target distance decreased DSBs up to 53%.

Conclusion: Based on the results, 15 keV photons are more effective for the inhibition or control of cancer cells.

Purpose: Integrating magnetic Nanoparticles (NPs) into contrast-enhanced Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging can significantly improve the resolution and sensitivity of the resulting images, leading to enhanced accuracy and reliability in diagnostic information. The present study aimed to investigate the use of targeted trastuzumab-labeled iron oxide (TZ-PEG-Fe₃O₄) NPs to enhance imaging capabilities for the detection and characterization of Breast Cancer (BC) cells.

Materials and Methods: The NPs were synthesized by loading Fe₃O₄NPs with the monoclonal antibody TZ. Initially, Fe₃O₄ NPs were produced and subsequently coated with Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) to form PEG- Fe₃O₄ NPs. The TZ antibody was then conjugated to the PEG- Fe₃O₄ NPs, resulting in TZ-PEG-Fe₃O₄ NPs. The resulting NPs were characterized using standard analytical techniques, including UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM, TEM, VSM, and assessments of colloidal stability.

Results: Analyses indicated that the targeted TZ-PEG-Fe₃O₄ NPs exhibited a spherical morphology and a relatively uniform size distribution, with an average diameter of approximately 60 nm. These results confirmed the successful synthesis and controlled fabrication of the Fe₃O₄ NPs, which is crucial for developing effective Contrast Agents (CAs) for medical imaging applications. Additionally, the study confirmed the biocompatibility and magnetic properties of the synthesized TZ-PEG-Fe₃O₄ NPs.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that the developed targeted TZ-PEG-Fe₃O₄ NPs have significant potential as effective CAs for MR imaging of BC cells.

Purpose: Ionizing radiation in medical imaging is one of the dominant diagnostic tools, and also correct knowledge of radiation protection affects staff safety behaviors during examinations. This study highlights the radiation protection Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) amongst a large number of hospitals and medical centers in Mazandaran province of Iran.

Materials and Methods: In order to assess the level of radiation protection KAP, a validated questionnaire was given to all MAZUMS-affiliated hospitals and clinics. Four hundred fifty-five staff members participated by responding to an original questionnaire. The sample consisted of nurses, radiographers, and medical doctors of various specialties involved daily in surgical procedures where ionizing radiation is required. The survey was conducted from April 2021 to January 2022, and the response rate was 72.3%.

Results: There were statistically significant differences in the level of staff KAP radiation protection with gender (p<0.05), practicing age KAP level and radiation protection (p<0.05), and there is no significant relationship between educational age and staff KAP level of radiation protection (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Our findings revealed that the level of overall radiation protection KAP level of workers regarding radiation protection safety was satisfactory but in some parameters it was insufficient. This could be due to a lack of consistent training and proper protection against ionizing radiation.

Objective:

Disease development or viruses that invade our bodies can be monitored using computed tomography imaging tools. However, it is not sufficient to reach the level of lung damage in COVID-19 patients through automated detection. Firstly, 100 patients were recruited between September 29 2020 and July 10, 2022, of whom tested positive for COVID-19 and CT images were collected, then composite technique is implemented to extract the percentage of lung damage of covid 19 patients.

Methods:

 In this study, a new approach was presented for improving CT images of the lung and specifying further lesions. This will help calculate the extent of damage without human intervention. The structure of the proposed technique draws upon four phases (data collection, improving, segmentation and extraction lung damage region and evaluation).

Results:

 The results revealed an effective method for quickly and practically calculating the percentage of lung damage. The convergence between manual evaluation, which represents the evaluation of the radiologist, and automatic evaluation, which is the result of implementing the proposed method, is clear, and this confirms the possibility of using it as an alternative in the absence of a specialist doctor. The difference in the arithmetic mean between it and the evaluation of the first specialist was equal to 3.5%, and the second was 10%. In addition, according to the results presented, the age group between (30-60) years is the most affected by the Corona virus.

Conclusions:

This method is An effective tool for assessment the percentage of lung damage of COVID19 quickly and practically. Where, Lung damage can be evaluated without human intervention It can be invested in telemedicine and emergency cases at the absence of a specialist doctor.

Purpose: The concrete construction of the musculoskeletal modeling is efficiently performed using information obtained from patients rather than collected from cadavers. In this study, we have endeavored to propose an automated technique that calculates the skeletal muscle pennation angle of patient ultrasound images and compares it with manual evaluations of the same images.

Materials and Methods: The proposed technique consists of three steps after the process of collecting the data from 30 volunteers of different muscles of the upper and lower limb. The first step is to improve the contrast in the image and identify the important details in the image through the use of two methods that depend on a fuzzy inference system, and this step is considered essential to prepare the image in the next step. The Hough Transform was used to follow the muscle fibers and draw them as lines, this is the second step. The third step is to calculate the angle and compare it with the manual evaluation that was done depending on the ultrasound machine options.

Results: The results reveal that there is a slightly difference between manual and automated evaluations of pennation angle for biceps (upper limb muscle) and gastrocnemius (lower limb muscle) as 8.6% and 0.45% respectively. Furthermore, the manual assignment of pennation angles is significantly slower, taking minutes, while the automated approach takes only a few seconds. Automated measurements take 85% more time compared to manual measurements.

Conclusion: There is no significant difference between measurements based on t-test. In future work, we aspire to a wider application of this technique to other muscles in the body and to activate it as an option available in the ultrasound device.

The paper aims to discuss the response of the Micro-Mesh Gaseous Structure (Micromegas) detector to high energy x-ray with 2.3 MeV energy using photon to neutron converters by Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNPX) code in addition to optimization of the detector components. According to the results, D₂O with 2×10^-5 efficiency is the best target to convert photon with 2.3 MeV energy to neutron. To study the response of the Micromegas detector to high energy x-ray, the thickness of upper electrode, and the type of gas in the detector studied and optimized. The response of the detector has been optimized based on the gas type, and the thickness of upper electrode. The results show that this detector has the ability to detect high energy x-rays with energy above 2 MeV. The Monte Carlo results were shown the output current of the micromegas detector is 5.12 pA per one input hard X-ray photon.

Background and Objective: Orthodontic archwires play an important part in the demineralization of enamel during orthodontic treatment. Dental caries is thought to be caused by the adhesion and colonization of mutans streptococci on these surfaces, followed by the formation of pathogenic plaque. This research was conducted with the purpose of testing and comparing the adhesion of mutans streptococci to a variety of aesthetic archwires as well as a conventional archwire made of NiTi.

Methods: four types of nickel titanium archwires with round cross section 0.016 inch were used in the current study, one type uncoated NiTi and three types of coated NiTi (rhodium, gold and flexyblue). After two hours of agitation in 2 ml of sterile UWS, 5 pieces of each archwire incubated in a streptococcus mutans suspension for 5-, 90-, and 180-minutes time interval. Bacterial adhesion was assessed by a microbial culture technique and the amount of bacterial adhesion were counted by colony forming unit.

Results: there was no statistically significant differences in mutans streptococci adhesion among archwires at (90 and 180 minutes), However, at 5 minutes, the differences between gold and uncoated NiTi and rhodium and uncoated NiTi were statistically significant.

Conclusion: Clinical use of esthetic-coated archwires may provide the same risks for bacterial adhesion compared with uncoated conventional archwires and increased mutans streptococci adhesion was significantly related to longer incubation time.

Background: The prevalence of coronavirus has increased the use of CT scans, a high-exposure imaging technique. This study was designed to estimate organ dose and effective dose to investigate the lifetime attributable risks (LARs) of cancer incidence and mortality in COVID-19 patients. 600 patients who had COVID-19 or were suspected of having it, were included in the current study.

Methods: Dosimetric parameters such as dose length product (DLP), volumetric CT dose index (CTDI_V), and scan length, were used to estimate the patient’s dose and cancer risk. The ImPACT CT dosimetry software was also used to calculate organ doses and effective doses. The cancer risk was calculated using the National Academy of Sciences' Biologic Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR VII) report.

Results: For females, the mean effective dose based on International Commission Radiation Protection 103 (ICRP103) and ICRP 60 was 2.36 ± 0.48 mSv and 1.2 ± 0.28 mSv, respectively. For males, this parameter was 2.31 ± 0.53 mSv and 1.21 ± 0.45 mSv based on ICRP103 and ICRP60, respectively. For males, the mean LAR of all cancer incidence and cancer mortality was 14.79 ± 4.85 and 8.59 ± 2.42 per 100000 people, respectively. For females, these parameters were 23.37 ± 9.59 and 12.61± 3.89 per 100000 people, respectively.

Conclusion: Chest CT scan examination connected with a non-considerable radiation dose and risk of cancer. So according to the ALARA principle, CT protocol must be optimized to limit radiation-induced risk.

Purpose: Tumor-induced angiogenesis is a dangerous state of the tumor growth process in which solid tumors have a blood supply. Modeling has been a very important tool in studying tumor growth and angiogenesis. In this paper, we developed a cancer model by introducing tumor angiogenesis agents to better highlight the role of these chemical substances in tumor-induced vascularization. Our model can reconstruct the transition from a pre-angiogenic to a post-angiogenic state.

Materials and Methods: The proposed model comprises five variables: host cells (normal cells), immune cells, tumor cells, endothelial cells, and tumor angiogenesis agents. Chaotic behavior in the production of different populations of cells during vascular growth may confer survival advantages to tumors. Our model has a chaotic regime, which is an indication of tumor-induced angiogenesis dynamics. The fixed points are analyzed biologically, and stability analysis is performed via their eigenvalues. We analyzed the model dynamics via observability and bifurcation analysis.

Results: The numerical simulations illustrate biological and clinical findings about vascular tumors. The results show that the proposed model with the existence of tumor angiogenesis agents could capture both avascular and vascular stages of tumor growth. There is no effect of tumor cell killing rate via immune cells on the system dynamics. However, the increase of inhibitory factors of tumor angiogenesis agents leads to the termination of chaos.

Conclusion: Our results show the ineffectiveness of targeted treatments on the immune system, which has been confirmed by many negative treatment methods in immunotherapies. Tumor-secreted inhibitor factors are essential to regulating the angiogenesis process. However, increasing inhibitor factors via anti-angiogenic drugs would be a more effective therapeutic approach to eradicate metastasis.

Purpose: In this research, using the Geant4 software toolbox and metamaterials as a neutron shield, it was tried to introduce the proper metamaterial for this matter.

Materials and Methods: In this paper, we leverage the Laparoscopic Video Quality (LVQ) database developed by Khan et al. to train and validate our model. To classify defocus blur, motion blur, and smoke in the laparoscopic video, we adopt a novel approach utilizing a cascade support vector machine (SVM) classifier, which combines decisions from three binary classifiers. The first classifier categorizes videos into two classes: good and distorted. The second classifier focuses on detecting smoke and blur, while the third is dedicated to distinguishing between defocus blur and motion blur.

Results: In this study, we calculate performance metrics, including accuracy rate, precision, recall, F1 score, and execution time, which are crucial indicators for evaluating quality detection results. The machine-learning classification demonstrates notable performance, with an accuracy rate of 96.55% for the first classifier, 100% for the second, and 99.67% for the third classifier. Additionally, the classification achieves a high inference speed of 37 frames per second (fps).

Conclusion: The experimental results showcased in this paper underscore the efficacy of the proposed approach in automatically detecting distortions in a laparoscopic video. The method exhibits high performance, excelling in both accuracy and processing speed. Notably, the method's advantage lies in its simplicity and the fact that it does not necessitate high-performance computer hardware.

Ionizing radiation (IR) exposure during diagnostic dental procedures carries inherent dangers, particularly when individuals are repeatedly exposed. This study aims to evaluate recent developments in ionizing radiation protection measures in dental radiology. A thorough review was conducted using prominent databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, and Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source (via EBSCOhost). The primary conclusions and relevant units of measurement are also included. Recent data reveals the urgent need to update radiation protection guidelines to accommodate newer technologies like cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and digital imaging. Digital intraoral X-ray technology has shown promising results in significantly reducing radiation exposure. To ensure standardized practices, Diagnostic Reference Levels (DRLs) have been defined for CBCT and must be established for different clinical indications. Moreover, advancements in nanotechnology provide potential opportunities for the production of radiation shielding materials that are lighter and customizable. These innovative materials can prove invaluable for everyday use, offering enhanced protection during extended periods of physical activity. The review findings suggest that samples with nanostructures are more efficient at reducing X-ray energy. Given the increasing frequency of dental CBCT imaging and the unmatched dose levels compared to conventional dental radiography, it is imperative to set DRLs in this domain. Thus, this literature review focuses on the most common types of radiation protection in dental radiology, aiming to demonstrate improved techniques for individual protection.

Novel antimicrobials are needed now more than ever as antibiotic resistance to dangerous bacteria and the number of contagious diseases are on the rise. Nanoparticles (NPs) are innovative and promising therapeutic agents as they possess distinctive physiochemical characteristics and can hinder the growth of microorganisms. As such, their potential use as antimicrobials has garnered significant research interest. Researchers have, similarly, trained their sights on nanotechnology, which is the study and development of materials, tools, and systems that have physical, chemical, and biological characteristics that are more unique than those found in larger systems, due to its potential applications and advantages over existing conventional materials, especially in the dental and medical industries. Therefore, a better understanding of the science behind nanotechnology is needed to comprehend how these materials can be used in everyday life. Zein-coated magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO NPs) have recently shown significant promise as a powerful antibacterial compound that can be combined with other materials to fabricate a variety of brand-new dental formulations.

Background:

Despite the clinical advances made in magnetic resonance imaging with high static magnetic fields (1.5T and more), open MRI with low field (0.2-0.5T) has recently attracted the attention of researchers.

Low-field MRI (LF-MRI) has both advantages and disadvantages over high-field units. It enables the scanning of anxious patients and children who are unable to tolerate enclosed high-field scanners due to discomfort. The open configuration of the LF-MRI provides a spacious examination environment. It also allows the safe imaging of metallic devices owing to the lower static field and radiofrequency. While image quality is degraded compared to high-field MRI due to a lower signal-to-noise ratio, technological advances may help address this limitation.

Objectives:

This review aimed to provide a comprehensive outline of the current applications, technical aspects, and evidence supporting the diagnostic accuracy of Low-Field MRI.

Methods:

A literature search was conducted in Google Scholar and PubMed from 2021-present using the search term "low field MRI" limited to the title. Studies were excluded if only on high-field MRI, not in English, or conference abstracts without full text. After applying exclusion criteria, 32 relevant articles remained for analysis.

Results:

The results showed that portable low-field MRI expanded the availability of MRI beyond fixed facilities. One study found 0.55T MRI had an accuracy similar to of 1.5T for microbleed detection, suggesting its potential as an efficient alternative for stroke diagnosis. The literature has demonstrated the utility of low-field MRI in applications such as musculoskeletal, breast, and abdominal imaging.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, these studies demonstrated the potential of low-field MRI as a cost-efficient alternative to high-field MRI for several clinical applications. The reduced costs and accessibility afforded by low-field designs have positioned this technology to increase diagnostic MRI access globally. However, further validation of diagnostic performance and cost-utility analyses accounting for accuracy are still needed.

Purpose: Plantago Major (PM) is widely used for the treatment of different diseases due to several active compounds. Previous studies demonstrated the treatment effect of this plant on lung cancer cell lines. Here, we introduced a patient having lung cancer proved by Computed Tomography (CT) and pathological findings. The treatment effect of PM was assessed and presented based on CT and laboratory examinations for this patient as a first human case study.

Materials and Methods: A 64-year-old woman, with gastrointestinal bleeding as well as high Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels, was examined by the chest CT scan for suspicious lung cancer. Pathological findings confirmed the non-small cell lung cancer (adenocarcinoma, stage IIA). The patient consumed 150 ml of PM seeds extract (3-4 times daily) orally for about 4 months. Follow-up CT and laboratory examinations were performed after the treatment period to assess the effect of PM.

Results: The volume of the tumor was reduced by about 62% (based on CT imaging findings) after the treatment with PM. In addition, the laboratory examinations illustrate that ESR and CRP levels reduced remarkably (from 97 mm/h to 24 mm/h for ESR; from 36.8 mg/L to 1.2 mg/L for CRP) after the treatment.

Conclusion: Based on our human study, PM, as a natural compound with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibiotic characteristics, could have an anti-proliferative effect on non-small cell lung cancer. However, more follow-up examinations on big sample sizes are needed to assess the treatment effect of PM.

Background: Brachial plexopathy in breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy is an important side effect. The primary objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness and safety of two different treatment methods, the wedge method and field-in-field methods, in breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. Specifically, the study aimed to evaluate the impact of these methods on the radiation dose received by the brachial plexus, a critical organ at risk in breast cancer treatment.

Methods: The study involved 100 breast cancer patients who underwent a series of 25 radiation therapy sessions. The total radiation dose administered throughout the therapy was 50 Gy, with each treatment session delivering 2 Gy. The study focused on measuring the radiation dose received by the brachial plexus. Two different methods, the wedge method, and the field-in-field process, were compared in terms of their ability to protect the brachial plexus from excessive radiation.

Results: The maximum dose delivered to the brachial plexus was 5302.18 cGy in the wedge group, and 5242.5 cGy in the field-in-field group. Although the field-in-field method appeared to be less risky, statistically there was no significant difference between the two methods (P > 0.05). Additionally, the mean dose delivered using the wedge method was 4169.98 cGy, while the field-in-field method had a mean dose of 4351.9 cGy and their difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: The optimization of the treatment process is a crucial part of alleviating brachial plexopathy in breast cancer radiation therapy, and these dose measurements play a fundamental role in enhancing treatment protocols and improving patient comfort at the same time. It must be noted that even though the field-in-field technique decreased radiation exposure to the brachial plexus more than the wedge technique, further studies are still needed to determine the practical significance of these findings.

Despite recent advances in OCT systems, there is skepticism regarding the sensitivity and performance of these systems for gel dosimetry. The optical sensitivity of gel dosimeters changes at different wavelengths and their maximum sensitivities are achieved at the particular wavelengths. Therefore, the optimal wavelength must be used for optical scanning of the gel dosimeters. Since OCT systems are used for scanning different gel dosimeters, a mono-energy light source would not lead to optimal performance. Commercially available multi-wavelength lasers provide a variety of power and wavelength ranges. Adopting multi-wavelength light sources instead of single-wavelength laser sources increases the price of the system by less than 5%, which is justifiable and ignorable due to the considerably increased performance and sensitivity. In the proposed approach, only the wavelength of the scanning beam would be optimized based on the gel dosimeter type. The rules for determining the opacity of the beam path across the sample are the same for all gel dosimeters. Therefore, the change in wavelength of the scanning beam didn’t change the scanning procedure and there is no additional complexity in the OCTs with the multi-wavelength light sources.