Background — Although attritive and abrasive wear of recent composite resins has been substantially reduced, in vitro wear testing with reasonably simulating devices and quantitative determination of resulting wear is still needed. Three-dimensional scanning methods are frequently used for this purpose. The aim of this trial was to compare maximum depth of wear and volume loss of composite samples, evaluated with a contact profilometer and a non-contact CCD camera imaging system, respectively. Method — Twenty-three random composite specimens with wear traces produced in a ball-ondisc sliding device, using poppy seed slurry and PMMA suspension as third-body media, were evaluated with the contact profilometer (TalyScan 150, Taylor Hobson LTD, Leicester, UK) and with the digital CCD microscope (VHX1000, KEYENCE, Osaka, Japan). The target parameters were maximum depth of the wear and volume loss. Results — The individual time of measurement needed with the non-contact CCD method was almost three hours less than that with the contact method. Both, maximum depth of wear and volume loss data, recorded with the two methods were linearly correlated (r 2> 0.97; p< 0.01). Conclusion — The contact scanning method and the non-contact CCD method are equally suitable for determination of maximum depth of wear and volume loss of abraded composite resins.

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In order to rapidly judge the response to intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (Ⅳ tPA) treatment, we retrospectively analyzed clinical data, such as MRI diffusion-weighted images (DWI), and treatment outcomes in 73 patients who developed anterior circulation disorders. The patients with favorable outcomes (modified Rankin Scale [mRS]: 2 or less) at discharge accounted for 32.9%. In these patients, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) value, DWI Alberta Stroke Programme Early CT Score (ASPECTS), and the incidence of large artery (internal carotid artery [ICA]/ sphenoidal segment of the middle cerebral artery [M1]) occlusion at their hospital visit were lower, higher, and lower, respectively (all P < 0.05 in univariate analysis). Multivariate analysis showed significant differences in DWI ASPECTS and the incidence of large artery occlusion. A DWI ASPECTS of at least 8 was found to be predictive of favorable outcomes. However, subclass analysis in the group with a DWI ASPECTS of 8 or higher predicting favorable outcome revealed 13 patients (41.9%) with unfavorable (mRS, 3-6) outcome. The factor associated with unfavorable outcomes is ICA occlusion. The combination of DWI ASPECTS and MRA appeared to be useful for predicting outcomes of Ⅳ tPA.

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