Causal Set Dynamics: A Toy Model

We construct a quantum measure on the power set of non-cyclic oriented graphs of N points, drawing inspiration from 1-dimensional directed percolation. Quantum interference patterns lead to properties which do not appear to have any analogue in classical percolation. Most notably, instead of the single phase transition of classical percolation, the quantum model displays two distinct crossover points. Between these two points, spacetime questions such as "does the network percolate" have no definite or probabilistic answer.Comment: 28 pages incl. 5 figure

A connectivity mapping approach predicted acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) to induce osteo/odontogenic differentiation of dental pulp cells

International audienc

What lies beneath: exploring links between asylum policy and hate crime in the UK

This paper explores the link between increasing incidents of hate crime and the asylum policy of successive British governments with its central emphasis on deterrence. The constant problematisation of asylum seekers in the media and political discourse ensures that 'anti-immigrant' prejudice becomes mainstr earned as a common-sense response. The victims are not only the asylum seekers hoping for a better life but democratic society itself with its inherent values of pluralism and tolerance debased and destabilised

Equilibrium configurations of two charged masses in General Relativity

An asymptotically flat static solution of Einstein-Maxwell equations which describes the field of two non-extreme Reissner - Nordstr\"om sources in equilibrium is presented. It is expressed in terms of physical parameters of the sources (their masses, charges and separating distance). Very simple analytical forms were found for the solution as well as for the equilibrium condition which guarantees the absence of any struts on the symmetry axis. This condition shows that the equilibrium is not possible for two black holes or for two naked singularities. However, in the case when one of the sources is a black hole and another one is a naked singularity, the equilibrium is possible at some distance separating the sources. It is interesting that for appropriately chosen parameters even a Schwarzschild black hole together with a naked singularity can be "suspended" freely in the superposition of their fields.Comment: 4 pages; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Contemporary operative caries management:consensus recommendations on minimally invasive caries removal

The International Caries Consensus Collaboration (ICCC) presented recommendations on terminology, on carious tissue removal and on managing cavitated carious lesions. It identified 'dental caries' as the name of the disease that dentists should manage, and the importance of controlling the activity of existing cavitated lesions to preserve hard tissues, maintain pulp sensibility and retain functional teeth in the long term. The ICCC recommended the level of hardness (soft, leathery, firm, and hard dentine) as the criterion for determining the clinical consequences of the disease and defined new strategies for carious tissue removal: 1) Selective removal of carious tissue - including selective removal to soft dentine and selective removal to firm dentine; 2) stepwise removal - including stage 1, selective removal to soft dentine, and stage 2, selective removal to firm dentine 6 to 12 months later; and 3) non-selective removal to hard dentine - formerly known as complete caries removal (a traditional approach no longer recommended). Adoption of these terms will facilitate improved understanding and communication among researchers, within dental educators and the wider clinical dentistry community. Controlling the disease in cavitated carious lesions should be attempted using methods which are aimed at biofilm removal or control first. Only when cavitated carious dentine lesions are either non-cleansable or can no longer be sealed, are restorative interventions indicated. Carious tissue is removed purely to create conditions for long-lasting restorations. Bacterially contaminated or demineralised tissues close to the pulp do not need to be removed. The evidence and, therefore these recommendations, supports minimally invasive carious lesion management, delaying entry to, and slowing down, the destructive restorative cycle by preserving tooth tissue, maintaining pulp sensibility and retaining the functional tooth-restoration complex long-term

Identification and validation of novel biomarkers and therapeutics for pulpitis using connectivity mapping

International audienceAim To create an irreversible pulpitis gene signature from microarray data of healthy and inflamed dental pulps, followed by a bioinformatics approach using connectivity mapping to identify therapeutic compounds that could potentially treat pulpitis. Methodology The Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, an international public repositor

Autonomy and caring: towards a Marxist understanding of nursing work

The aim of this paper is to re‐examine nursing work from a Marxist perspective by means of a critique of two key concepts within nursing: autonomy and caring. Although Marx wrote over 150 years ago, many see continuing relevance to his theories. His concepts of capital, ideology and class antagonism are employed in this paper. Nursing's historical insertion into the developing hospital system is seen in terms of a loss of autonomy covered over by the development of cults of loyalty toward those institutions, while the concept of emotional labour is used to re‐examine nursing's high valuing of “caring” and to understand it as potentially exploitative of nurses. Raising awareness of this alternative way of understanding nursing work can become a first step toward change

Scaling-Up of Dental Pulp Stem Cells Isolated from Multiple Niches

Dental pulp (DP) can be extracted from child’s primary teeth (deciduous), whose loss occurs spontaneously by about 5 to 12 years. Thus, DP presents an easy accessible source of stem cells without ethical concerns. Substantial quantities of stem cells of an excellent quality and at early (2–5) passages are necessary for clinical use, which currently is a problem for use of adult stem cells. Herein, DPs were cultured generating stem cells at least during six months through multiple mechanical transfers into a new culture dish every 3–4 days. We compared stem cells isolated from the same DP before (early population, EP) and six months after several mechanical transfers (late population, LP). No changes, in both EP and LP, were observed in morphology, expression of stem cells markers (nestin, vimentin, fibronectin, SH2, SH3 and Oct3/4), chondrogenic and myogenic differentiation potential, even after cryopreservation. Six hours after DP extraction and in vitro plating, rare 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) positive cells were observed in pulp central part. After 72 hours, BrdU positive cells increased in number and were found in DP periphery, thus originating a multicellular population of stem cells of high purity. Multiple stem cell niches were identified in different zones of DP, because abundant expression of nestin, vimentin and Oct3/4 proteins was observed, while STRO-1 protein localization was restricted to perivascular niche. Our finding is of importance for the future of stem cell therapies, providing scaling-up of stem cells at early passages with minimum risk of losing their “stemness”

Learned Generosity? A Field Experiment with Parents and Their Children

An active area of research within the social sciences concerns the underlying motivation for sharing scarce resources and engaging in other pro-social actions. We develop a theoretical framework that sheds light on the developmental origins of social preferences by providing mechanisms through which parents transmit preferences for generosity to their children. Then, we conduct a field experiment with nearly 150 3-5 year old children and their parents, measuring (1) whether child and parent generosity is correlated, (2) whether children are influenced by their parents when making sharing decisions and (3) whether parents model generosity to children. We observe no correlation of independently measured parent and child sharing decisions at this young age. Yet, we find that apart from those choosing an equal allocation of resources between themselves and another child, children adjust their behaviors to narrow the gap with their parent's or other adult's choice. We find that fathers, and parents of initially generous children, increase their sharing when informed that their child will be shown their choice