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In Iran, allocating tractors and agricultural machinery to regions that have different characteristics has been a challenge. This study was carried out in order to develop an optimal and practical model for distribution of agricultural machinery throughout the country. Gini coefficient was used in order to investigate whether current status of tractor distribution is suitable. This coefficient confirmed that the current tractor power distribution is not appropriate since there were no relationships between Gini coefficient of distributed machinery power and crop production or farm area. Accordingly, two main techniques were applied to develop a suitable agricultural machinery distribution pattern; i.e. a Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and a Weight Restriction Data Envelopment analysis (WR-DEA) technique. A power distribution category was defined in order to show qualitatively how much machinery power should be sent to each province. The outputs of both FAHP and WR-DEA models showed that three and nine provinces need „much more power? and „more power?, respectively, while four and three provinces need „absolutely no more power? and are „currently suitable?, respectively. The sensitivity analysis revealed that none of the developed models was sensitive to the weights defined by a panel of experts. The similarity of the results obtained from both models implies that the provided agricultural machinery distribution pattern is reliable and can be used in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effects of local and systemic metronidazole in patients with chronic periodontitis., Materials and Methods: In this randomized clinical study, 30 patients (3 teeth per patient) were treated in three groups: scaling and root planing (SRP) treatment alone, metronidazole tablet as adjunctive treatment, and metronidazole gel as adjunctive treatment. BOP (bleeding on probing), PPD (pocket probing depth), and CAL (clinical attachment level) data were collected at the beginning and 3 months later. Collected data were tested by Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests., Results: BOP, CAL, and PPD levels were significantly different at the beginning of treatment and after 3 months, and this was true for all treatments. BOP, CAL, and PPD levels did not differ significantly between the three groups after the treatment (p > 0.05)., Conclusion: The effectiveness of these methods was all equal and SRP is still considered as the gold standard in the treatment of periodontal diseases. Further studies are needed to confirm the findings. Chronic periodontitis is a progressive disease that can cause tooth loss. The accepted treatment is SRP. Antibiotics used systemically can penetrate the depth of the periodontal pockets but have several side effects. Hence, using a less complicated medicinal form as a topical gel as adjunctive therapy in treating chronic periodontitis can be more effective., Trial Registration: Iranian clinical trial https://en.irct.ir/: IRCT20210408050898N1., (© 2024 The Author(s). Clinical and Experimental Dental Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Liquorice is a perennial legume that grows principally in Asia, the Middle East and some parts of Europe. The sweet root extract is mainly used in the pharmaceutical, food and confectionary industries. It contains 400 compounds, including triterpene saponins and flavonoids, which are responsible for liquorice's bioactivities. The wastewater (WW) arising from the processing of liquorice can have negative environmental effects and must be treated before being discharged into the environment. Different WW treatment solutions are available. In the last years, increasing attention has been paid to the environmental sustainability of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The present article discusses a hybrid biological (anaerobic-aerobic) and post-biological (lime-alum-ozone) WWTP, designed to treat 105 m 3 /day complex liquorice root extract WW for agricultural purposes. The influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD 5 ) were found to be 6000-8000 mg/L and 2420-3246 mg/L, respectively. With a biological hydraulic retention time of 8.2 days and no addition of extra nutrients, the WWTP reached a stable condition after 5 months. Over the course of 16 months, its highly efficient biological treatment reduced COD, BOD 5 , total suspended solids (TSS), phosphate, ammonium, nitrite, nitrate and turbidity by 86-98 %. However, the WW's colour proved resilient: only 68 % of the colour was removed by the biological treatment, necessitating a combination of biodegradation-lime-alum-ozonation processes in order to reach 98 % efficiency. Thus, this study reveals that liquorice root extract WW can successfully be treated and reused for crop irrigation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this manuscript., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of preparing for implant site osteotomy with conventional drilling or piezosurgery on the stability of oral implants after a 5 month follow-up period. Thirty patients participated in this randomized clinical trial and received two implants in posterior mandible in bone of the same quality. All surgical procedures were performed by the same surgeon. Implant stability amounts were measured by resonance frequency analysis using the Osstell Mentor device and are reported in the format of implant stability quotient (ISQ) values at baseline and 90 and 150 days after surgery. All implants were well osseointegrated. Differences in ISQ levels were statistically significant in the piezosurgery group at all time intervals, whereas those in the conventional drill group were not significant as analyzed by analysis of variance. The significance of differences between the two groups in each time interval was assessed with Student's t test. In the second interval (90 days), there were statistically significant differences in ISQ levels between the two groups at the buccal, lingual side of implants and mean of two measurements, but at baseline and 150 days, there were no significant differences between these techniques. The early increase of ISQ values in piezoelectric sites shows that piezosurgery is a less traumatic bone osteotomy method with a shorter inflammatory phase and little resorption compared with sites prepared by conventional drilling. ISQ values of up to 60-65 at the time of insertion of the implant predict a good prognosis for immediate implant loading. In this study, the ISQ values were almost always higher than this, offering the safe condition for immediate or early loading protocols after the piezoelectric method of implant site osteotomy. These results may increase predictability of immediate-loading procedure in oral implantology.

Use of platelet concentrates to increase implant stability, due to their regenerative potential, has recently attracted the attention of researchers. This study aimed to assess the effect of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) on dental implant stability. This clinical trial evaluated 10 patients who received 50 dental implants. Each patient received at least two implants. Half of the implants were placed in the sockets along with PRF while the remaining half were inserted conventionally without PRF. Implant stability was measured by resonance frequency analysis on the day of surgery (T1), at one week (T2), and at one month (T3). At the end of the first week (T2), the mean implant stability quotient (ISQ) was 59.85 ± 5.32 in the PRF group and 55.99 ± 3.39 in the non-PRF group. Compared to baseline, the ISQ increased in the PRF group by 0.12 ± 0.47 (P = 1.000) and decreased in the non-PRF group by 2.42 ± 0.36 (P < 0.001). At one month postoperatively, ISQ significantly increased by 6.89 ± 0.96 in the PRF group and by 4.82 ± 0.92 in the non-PRF group compared to baseline (P < 0.001). Application of PRF in the implant osteotomy site can prevent or minimize primary reductions in implant stability and seems to enhance the process of osseointegration.