Self-assessed neurological disturbances after surgical removal of impacted lower third molar: a pragmatic prospective study on 423 surgical extractions in 247 consecutive patients

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the combined role of current radiographic risk indicators and patient age in predicting lower lip sensitivity disturbances after surgical removal of impacted lower third molars. The question was which combinations indicate low or high risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study was implemented involving 247 consecutive outpatients who underwent 423 surgical extractions. The predictor variables were patient age and risk indicators observed on panoramic radiographs. The outcome variable was the incidence of self-assessed lip sensitivity alterations. The extractions were subdivided into four groups according to the predictors. RESULTS: Two hundred forty-five teeth were extracted in patients younger than 25 years and 178 in patients 25 years old or older; radiographic risk indicators were associated with 226 out of 423 teeth (53.43%). No permanent neurological damage was observed. Transient lip sensitivity alterations were observed in five cases (1.18%; 95% confidence interval\u2009=\u20090.4 to 2.7%), all in the older group with radiographic risk indicators. CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate a low overall incidence of transient lip sensitivity impairment that occurred only in the presence of radiographic risk indicators in patients aged 65\u200925 years. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Informed consent should include the possibility of inferior alveolar nerve injury in mature patients with radiographic risk indicators. Prophylactic removal of impacted teeth with radiographic signs of risk may be indicated when the patient is not yet aged 25 years

Production and detection of doubly charmed tetraquarks

The feasibility of tetraquark detection is studied. For the cc\bar{u}\bar{d} tetraquark we show that in present (SELEX, Tevatron, RHIC) and future facilities (LHCb, ALICE) the production rate is promising and we propose some detectable decay channels.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Scale Factor in Double Parton Collisions and Parton Densities in Transverse Space

The scale factor $\sigma_{eff}$, which characterizes double parton collisions in high energy hadron interactions, is a direct manifestation of the distribution of the interacting partons in transverse space, in such a way that different distributions give rise to different values of $\sigma_{eff}$ in different double parton collision processes. We work out the value of the scale factor in a few reactions of interest, in a correlated model of the multi-parton density of the proton recently proposed.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Cone-beam computed tomography accuracy in pulp chamber size evaluation: An ex vivo study

This study aimed to assess ex vivo the accuracy of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), as compared to operative microscope, for evaluating pulp chamber size. A total of forty teeth were extracted for periodontal reasons and a horizontal section was done at the most apical level of the cement-enamel junction. The pulp chamber was photographed using a digital camera connected to an optical microscope. Then, the tooth was scanned with CBCT and the horizontal slide matching the anatomical section of pulp chamber was digitally stored. The pulp chamber section area was measured through image analysis software. The two methods provided similar results, either for monoradicular (P = 0.14) or multiradicular teeth (P = 0.93). Correlation was statistically significant (P < 0.0001), being the coefficient r = 0.89 and 0.94 for monoradicular and multiradicular teeth, respectively. Conclusively, CBCT is suitable for pulp chamber morphology evaluation. However, it has limitations in detecting the anatomical variability of small branches in root canal system

Double parton distributions in the leading logarithm approximation of perturbative QCD

Recent CDF measurements of the inclusive cross section for a double parton scattering attach a great importance to any theoretical calculations of two-particle distribution functions. Using a parton interpretation of the leading logarithm diagrams of perturbative QCD theory, generalized Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi-Dokshitzer equations for the two-parton distributions are re-obtained. The solutions of these equations are not at all the product of two single-parton distributions what is usually applied to the current analysis as ansatz.Comment: 8 pages, LaTe

APPLICAZIONE DI TECNICHE NUMERICHE ALL\u2019INTERAZIONE CINEMATICA PALO-TERRENO

Nella nota vengono presentati i risultati di modellazioni numeriche di interazione cinematica palo-terreno, eseguite sia su modelli teorici che per un esempio reale di terreni stratificati altamente deformabili. Nello studio sono stati utilizzati due diversi programmi commerciali per applicazioni di ingegneria geotecnica. Nel primo caso \ue8 stata condotta una modellazione agli elementi finiti 2D e si sono effettuati dei confronti con altri studi di letteratura. Nel secondo caso \ue8 stato invece impiegato un codice alle differenze finite 3D, adottando nelle analisi lineari anche uno smorzamento numerico non convenzionale. Si sono pertanto sviluppate le procedure di validazione e calibrazione di questo tipo di modellazione per poter procedere in futuro con analisi pi\uf9 avanzate

VBL: Virtual Biophysics Lab

VBL (Virtual Biophysics Lab) is a computational project to develop a basic numerical model of tumor spheroids. This paper is a status report that describes the structure of the code that implements the model, and the progress made up to February 2008, and also some recent results in modeling the effects of radiations on cells in a bioreactor

An environment to share in-service training on the net: An action-research about charge in primary and middle school

The net was one of the determining factors in a training of a Group of 4 primary and middle school teachers (L. M. in Forni Di Sopra and C. D. F. in Villa Santina, P. C. in Tolmezzo and D. S. in Gemona, all places in the mountains of Friuli, in the Nord-East of Italy) in an action-research on the electric charge. It was developed through meetings with researchers in physics education and Exchange and sharing of experiences and projects on the net, in an environment designed for teaching activities and under the guidance of a project tutor. The environment allowed to establish different kinds of relations: between teachers, between them and researchers, between classes. It offered to teachers (two in middle school and two in primary school) a place for discussions during the design of paths to be presented to their classes, to structure and share the products of their training both during and after it, to reflect on their training path

A quantitative study on the growth variability of tumour cell clones in vitro

Objectives: In this study, we quantify the growth variability of tumour cell clones from a human leukemia cell line. Materials and methods: We have used microplate spectrophotometry to measure the growth kinetics of hundreds of individual cell clones from the Molt3 cell line. The growth rate of each clonal population has been estimated by fitting experimental data with the logistic equation. Results: The growth rates were observed to vary among different clones. Up to six clones with a growth rate above or below the mean growth rate of the parent population were further cloned and the growth rates of their offsprings were measured. The distribution of the growth rates of the subclones did not significantly differ from that of the parent population thus suggesting that growth variability has an epigenetic origin. To explain the observed distributions of clonal growth rates we have developed a probabilistic model assuming that the fluctuations in the number of mitochondria through successive cell cycles are the leading cause of growth variability. For fitting purposes, we have estimated experimentally by flow cytometry the maximum average number of mitochondria in Molt3 cells. The model fits nicely the observed distributions of growth rates, however, cells in which the mitochondria were rendered non functional (rho-0 cells) showed only a 30% reduction in the clonal growth variability with respect to normal cells. Conclusions: A tumor cell population is a dynamic ensemble of clones with highly variable growth rate. At least part of this variability is due to fluctuations in the number of mitochondria.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figure

Recognition and genotyping of minor germplasm of Friuli Venezia Giulia revealed high diversity

The wealth of vine varieties that used to exist in Friuli Venezia Giulia has been progressively lost. In order to ascertain the current situation regarding vine germplasm in the region, between 2001 and 2008, a wide-ranging study was conducted of recovery, conservation and molecular characterization with microsatellite markers (SSR) of accessions of minor germplasm at risk of erosion or extinction. A total of 178 accessions were analyzed and 93 varieties identified. Of these, 44 are already registered in the Italian Catalogue, 8 have been imported and are well-known foreign varieties even if not registered in the Italian Catalogue, 38 are potentially autochthonous and of these only 15 are described or at least cited in the literature; there are no hypotheses on the remaining three. In order to obtain information on possible genetic similarities, three types of software were used to process the molecular data, but only Structure allowed the existence of two principal groupings to be hypothesized for some of the presumed Friuli autochthons: one that gravitates around ‘Prosecco’ and the other around ‘Refoscone’.