Got Caries? Breast milk and Early Childhood Caries?

Objective: To provide an analysis of the association between the longevity of breastfeeding and development of ECC. Determine the optimal time frame in which mothers should cease breastfeeding to reduce ECC development. Methods: Dr. Brickhouse, PubMed, Google Scholar and other scholarly databases were utilized to find current scientific evidence on the effects of breast milk on ECC. Relevant articles were summarized to write a review of literature. 16 articles published from 2015 to the present date were reviewed and cited. Results: From the studies, there is strong evidence to support breastfeeding beyond 12 months of age increases the prevalence of ECC. Furthermore, increased frequency and duration of breastfeeding leads to higher incidence of ECC. Conclusion: Findings indicate dental health care providers should recommend either ceasing breastfeeding at 12 months of age or provide ECC prevention education to caregivers. Further research is required to minimize data discrepancies between US and international countries.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/denh_student/1002/thumbnail.jp

Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) FLOW

The Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association (NSEA) is a non-profit organization that aims to educate, inspire and engage the community to take action to keep wild salmon here in Whatcom County for future generations. NSEA sees salmon as a vital part of the local culture, economy, and environment, and therefore is working to engage the community to preserve, protect, and care for the wellbeing and stability of salmon runs. The work of the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association focuses on restoring riparian zones, local education of all ages, and community engagement and outreach. NSEA sees engaging in this work as a means to provide local salmon populations with their best prospect of success and survival. Three main types of restoration are done by NSEA consisting of stream bank restoration, fish passage barrier removal, and stream transformation. One way that restoration is done is by organizing community work parties at which volunteers of any experience level can work alongside NSEA staff to restore stream banks and riparian zones. Work party restoration efforts include planting or live-staking native trees and shrubs, removal of non-native species, garbage removal, and tree cage assembly and removal. Stream bank restoration also takes place on Students For Salmon field trips, but mostly consists of non-native plant removal. Fish passage barrier removal is another restoration effort performed that involves fixing culverts that are not conducive to upstream migration or removing culverts to be replaced with bridges. This works to increase the usability of streams and allow for salmon to journey back upstream as easily as they came down. Another effort to improve habitat is stream transformation which involves in-stream restoration of important salmon habitat features such as gravel and large woody debris. By adding these elements, crucial salmon habitat has the potential to dramatically increase in productivity. These three efforts combined have already proven to improve local salmon habitat

Host-feeding preferences and temperature shape the dynamics of West Nile virus: a mathematical model of assessing the abatement planning

West Nile virus (WNV) is prevalent in the United States but it shows considerable divergence in transmission patterns and spatio-temporal intensity.It is to be noted that the mechanism that drives the transmission potential of WNV is described by the abilities of host species to maintain and disseminate the pathogens pertinent with different eco-epidemiological factors that have an influence on the contact rates amongst the interacting species.There is growing evidence that several vectors exhibit strong feeding preferences towards different host communities.We construct a process based weather driven ordinary differential equation (ODE) model to understand the impact of one vector species Culex pipiens, preferred avian and non-preferred human hosts and compared it surveillance data for the Culex pipiens complex collected in Cook County, Illinois, USA.In our mechanistic model, we also demonstrate that adulticide treatments produced significant reductions in the Culex pipiens population.We take into account the feeding index that can be described as the ratio between observed frequency of mosquitoes feeding on one host compared to another host, divided by the expected frequency of mosquitoes feeding on these two hosts based on the presence of the particular hosts to develop this transmission model for WNV. Our findings demonstrate that the interplay between the feeding index and mosquito abatement strategy is rather a complex phenomenon and it induces a heterogeneous contact rates that should be included while modelling multi-host, multi-vector transmission model

Lattice dynamics of orthorhombic NdGaO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e

A complete set of infrared-active and Raman-active lattice modes is obtained from density functional theory calculations for single-crystalline centrosymmetric orthorhombic neodymium gallate. The results for infraredactive modes are compared with an analysis of the anisotropic long-wavelength properties using generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry. The frequency-dependent dielectric function tensor and dielectric loss function tensor of orthorhombic neodymium gallium oxide are reported in the spectral range of 80–1200 cm−1. A combined eigendielectric displacement vector summation and dielectric displacement loss vector summation approach augmented by considerations of lattice anharmonicity is utilized to describe the experimentally determined tensor elements. All infrared-active transverse and longitudinal optical mode pairs obtained from density functional theory calculations are identified by our generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry investigation. The results for Raman-active modes are compared to previously published experimental observations. Static and high-frequency dielectric constants from theory as well as experiment are presented and discussed in comparison with values reported previously in the literature

The South African stroke risk in general practice study

Background. Incidence of stroke is increasing in sub-Saharan Africa and stroke prevention is an essential component of successful stroke management. General practitioners (GPs) are well placed to manage stroke risk factors. To design appropriate strategies for risk factor reduction we need to know the risk factor prevalence in each of the population groups attending GPs. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of stroke risk factors in the South African general practice population. Method. We conducted a multicentre, observational study of patients attending general practice in South Africa. Two hundred general practices were randomly selected from lists provided by pharmaceutical representatives. Each GP approached 50 consecutive patients aged 30 years and older. Patients completed an information sheet and the GP documented the patient’s risk factors. The resulting sample is relevant if not necessarily representative in a statistical sense. Results. A total of 9 731 questionnaires were returned out of a possible 10 000. The mean age of particpants was 50.7 years. Seventy-six per cent had 1 or more risk factors and 40% had 2 or more risk factors. Hypertension was the commonest risk factor in all population groups (55%) but was highest in black patients (59%). Dyslipidaemia was commonest in whites (37%) and least common in blacks (5%). Diabetes was commonest in Asians (24%) but least common in whites (8%). Risk factors other than smoking increased with age. Conclusion. This study provides unique data on the prevalence of stroke risk factors in a South African general practice population. Risk factors are common in all population groups, but differ in distribution among the groups. There is considerable opportunity to reduce the burden of stroke in South Africa through GP screening for and treatment of risk factors

Lattice dynamics of orthorhombic NdGaO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e

A complete set of infrared-active and Raman-active lattice modes is obtained from density functional theory calculations for single-crystalline centrosymmetric orthorhombic neodymium gallate. The results for infraredactive modes are compared with an analysis of the anisotropic long-wavelength properties using generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry. The frequency-dependent dielectric function tensor and dielectric loss function tensor of orthorhombic neodymium gallium oxide are reported in the spectral range of 80–1200 cm−1. A combined eigendielectric displacement vector summation and dielectric displacement loss vector summation approach augmented by considerations of lattice anharmonicity is utilized to describe the experimentally determined tensor elements. All infrared-active transverse and longitudinal optical mode pairs obtained from density functional theory calculations are identified by our generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry investigation. The results for Raman-active modes are compared to previously published experimental observations. Static and high-frequency dielectric constants from theory as well as experiment are presented and discussed in comparison with values reported previously in the literature

Lattice dynamics of orthorhombic NdGaO\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3e

A complete set of infrared-active and Raman-active lattice modes is obtained from density functional theory calculations for single-crystalline centrosymmetric orthorhombic neodymium gallate. The results for infraredactive modes are compared with an analysis of the anisotropic long-wavelength properties using generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry. The frequency-dependent dielectric function tensor and dielectric loss function tensor of orthorhombic neodymium gallium oxide are reported in the spectral range of 80–1200 cm−1. A combined eigendielectric displacement vector summation and dielectric displacement loss vector summation approach augmented by considerations of lattice anharmonicity is utilized to describe the experimentally determined tensor elements. All infrared-active transverse and longitudinal optical mode pairs obtained from density functional theory calculations are identified by our generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry investigation. The results for Raman-active modes are compared to previously published experimental observations. Static and high-frequency dielectric constants from theory as well as experiment are presented and discussed in comparison with values reported previously in the literature

Groundwater depth thresholds for tree condition

A range of ecological processes supported by groundwater are at risk where socio-economic and climate drivers increase net groundwater demand. Previous research has indicated close links between groundwater and riparian/floodplain tree condition. However, little is known about the nature of the relationship or whether critical groundwater-tree condition thresholds exist. Threshold responses may indicate the existence of groundwater depths associated with rapid ecological change. This study provides evidence of threshold responses between groundwater depth and tree condition in the Condamine catchment in eastern Australia, where groundwater decline due to over-extraction is well documented. It collates tree condition data (118 sites) from recent studies of two dominant Australian floodplain species, Eucalyptus camaldulensis Denh. (river red gum) and E. populnea F. Muell. (poplar box). Boosted regression trees and quantile regression were used to investigate the nature of the relationship and threshold values. A distinct non-linear response of tree condition to groundwater depth was identified, with thresholds identified at 12.5–17.2 m for E. camaldulensis and 15.6–22.0 m for E. populnea. Threshold responses may be explained in terms of physiological limitations to rooting depth in these and similar floodplain/riparian species, with groundwater decline effectively decoupling tree roots from accessible moisture resources leaving trees more vulnerable to hydraulic stress and/or failure particularly under drought conditions. The existence of thresholds suggest that groundwater decline may trigger rapid ecological changes in riparian and floodplain tree species, which may have important implications not only for their future persistence but also the various ecological functions they support