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Objective: The biochemical approach of dental age using aspartic acid racemization has been widely reported. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the reliability and accuracy of dental age estimation using aspartic acid racemization rate analysis. Design: Eight research databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, Cochrane, MEDLINE, TRIP, Web of Science, and Scopus) were utilised to gather and assess published literatures in compliance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and reported in PROSPERO (CRD42020208877). This systematic review and meta-analysis focused solely on cross-sectional studies. The quality evaluation was performed using the GRADE system. The standardized mean difference between estimated and chronological age was meta-analyzed using the random effects model. Result: The literature review yielded 213 studies, of which 26 were considered acceptable for inclusion in this report. Out of 26 studies, 19 presented sufficient evidence for meta-analysis and the remaining 7 were used to construct a qualitative review. According to the meta-analysis, premolar-related studies had the least variability (Tau2 = 0.23; I2 = 72%) among other tooth groups. Conclusion: A substantial degree of heterogeneity was found in every type of tooth. Only the premolar teeth had lower degree variability; thus, it is safe to believe that the premolar tooth is the best for this type of age estimation. It is recommended to develop population-specific mathematical equations to improve the accuracy of this age estimation approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slow decline disease caused by Tylenchulus semipenetrans is a major threat to global citrus production. Identification of suitable bio-agents that can be applied through a drip irrigation system by growers becomes inevitable for successful citrus production. Hence, field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of different liquid bio-inoculants, such as Bacillus subtilis, Purpureocillium lilacinum, and Trichoderma viride delivered through drip irrigation system on acid lime trees naturally infected with T. semipenetrans. They were applied at 4 L/ha, and their effect was compared with that of the spot application of carbofuran 3G at 100 g per tree. All tested bio-inoculants substantially suppressed the population density of T. semipenetrans in soil and acid lime roots. Among the bio-inoculants, P. lilacinum with 54.9–74.4% and 53.4–74.3% reductions in population in soil and root, respectively, performed best, followed by B. subtilis and T. viride. The effect of P. lilacinum was comparable to that of the chemical standard check carbofuran in location I, but P. lilacinum surpassed carbofuran in location II. Survival in soil and colonization on acid lime roots by P. lilacinum was higher than by B. subtilis and T. viride. The egg mass parasitization by P. lilacinum was also 7.1–7.5 times higher than by T. viride. The suppression of T. semipenetrans by P. lilacinum led to an increase in the number of fruits (19.0–23.3%), fruit weight (20.2–22.3%), and fruit yield (35.4–40.3%) in acid lime trees. The cost–benefit ratio by P. lilacinum was also higher (1: 2.6–1: 3.0), whereas it was lower in carbofuran treatment (1: 2.3—1: 2.4). It is concluded that the delivery of liquid P. lilacinum at 4 L/ha through a drip irrigation system was highly effective and economical for the management of acid lime trees infected with T. semipenetrans under field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Development of human dentition has been used as a predictor for evaluating the growth and maturity of an individual. It is fairly identical in a specific population, but the effect of development on subjects with dental anomalies had not been fully explored, particularly on subjects with supernumerary teeth (ST). This study hence aims to evaluate the dental development of children with and without ST. Materials and methods: Sample size calculation was conducted and 320 radiographs of subjects with and without supernumerary teeth (ST) were obtained from the archives of a teaching hospital. The subjects in both groups were age and sex matched. All the subjects belong to southern Chinese ethnicity aged 2 to 14 years. The left-side dentition was scored, and dental age (DA) was estimated by obtaining scores from the southern Chinese dental reference dataset. Paired t test was used to calculate the difference between chronological age and dental age (CA-DA) for boys and girls with and without ST and further based on the number and position of ST. Results: The difference between chronological age and dental age (CA-DA) was 0.10 years for boys and 0.19 years for girls with ST whilst 0.01 and 0.05 years for boys and girls without ST (p > 0.05). The boys with bilateral ST showed significant delay in dental development of 0.23 years (p < 0.05). Position of the ST did not have any influence on dental age. Conclusions: No significant difference was observed in the dental development of children with and without supernumerary teeth. Clinical relevance: Understanding dental development of children with supernumerary teeth may be useful in appropriate treatment planning of such conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Reduction of microbial load from the root canal systems is a pre-requisite for healing of lesions of endodontic origin. Such microbial reduction is influenced by the method of irrigant delivery and activation. The aim of this systematic review was to compare the effect of ultrasonically activated irrigation (UAI) with other irrigation techniques on the reduction of microorganisms during root canal disinfection.Materials and methods: The research question was created based on the PICO strategy. Two reviewers independently performed a comprehensive literature search in electronic databases. Following application of inclusion and exclusion criteria to the selected articles, a systematic data extraction sheet was constructed. The selected articles were assessed using methodological quality scoring protocol. The risk of bias in selected studies was critically assessed by two reviewers.Results: A total of 15 articles were included for the systematic review. The included studies were heterogeneous in study design; hence, meta-analysis was not performed. The overall risk of bias for the selected studies was moderate. Overall, UAI showed superior reduction of microbial counts, resulting in better disinfection compared to other irrigation systems chosen for comparison in this review.Conclusion: The use of UAI can bring about superior microbial reduction within the root canal system compared to other irrigant activation techniques.Clinical relevance: Activation of irrigants with ultrasonic brings about significant bacterial reduction from the root canal systems compared to other methods of irrigant activation and conventional syringe irrigation. This might help in improving the outcome of root canal treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Is Demirjian's original method really useful for age estimation in a forensic context?" in the September 27, 2016 issue.

In this work, we have improved the order of the double-step Newton method from four to five using the same number of evaluation of two functions and two first order Fréchet derivatives for each iteration. The multi-step version requires one more function evaluation for each step. The multi-step version converges with order 3 r+5, r≥1. Numerical experiments are done comparing the new methods with some existing methods. Our methods are also tested on Chandrasekhar's problem and the 2-D Bratu problem to illustrate the applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]