An assessment of the impacts of child oral health in Indonesia and associations with self-esteem, school performance and perceived employability

Background Previous surveys have indicated that a majority of Indonesian children have poor oral health. However, little detailed information is available on underlying causation and none that examine impacts of oral health on child self-esteem, school performance and perceived employability. The aim of this study was to determine levels of child oral health in primary school children in Indonesia, the prevalence of key causal factors; and, to determine relationships between oral health, self-esteem and school academic performance. Methods Cross-sectional epidemiological study in a sample (n = 984) of children aged 6–7 and 10–11 years old attending three public schools in Indonesia. A dental visual impact study was conducted, in which teachers reported their perceptions of the impact of child oral health on school academic performance. Oral health behaviors, self-esteem, and school performance were assessed. The children were clinically examined to measure dental caries and oral cleanliness. Results Teachers believe that children with visually poor oral health and impaired smiles are more likely to perform poorly at school, be socially excluded and have lower job prospects than their peers with visually good oral health and healthy smiles. The percentages of children with decayed teeth were 94 and 90% in the 6-7- and 10–11-year age groups, respectively. Families reported high levels of child consumption of sugar-containing foods and drinks; many had irregular use of fluoride toothpaste. Children with substantial plaque on their teeth achieved significantly lower levels of school performance than their peers with clean teeth. Significant associations were found between school performance and self-esteem for these children. Conclusions The study findings highlight the need for preventive care programs to improve the oral health of children in Indonesia and prospective determination of associations between child oral health; self-esteem and school academic performance

Biophysically motivated efficient estimation of the spatially isotropic R*2 component from a single gradient‐recalled echo measurement

Purpose To propose and validate an efficient method, based on a biophysically motivated signal model, for removing the orientation‐dependent part of R*2 using a single gradient‐recalled echo (GRE) measurement. Methods The proposed method utilized a temporal second‐order approximation of the hollow‐cylinder‐fiber model, in which the parameter describing the linear signal decay corresponded to the orientation‐independent part of R*2. The estimated parameters were compared to the classical, mono‐exponential decay model for R*2 in a sample of an ex vivo human optic chiasm (OC). The OC was measured at 16 distinct orientations relative to the external magnetic field using GRE at 7T. To show that the proposed signal model can remove the orientation dependence of R*2, it was compared to the established phenomenological method for separating R*2 into orientation‐dependent and ‐independent parts. Results Using the phenomenological method on the classical signal model, the well‐known separation of R*2 into orientation‐dependent and ‐independent parts was verified. For the proposed model, no significant orientation dependence in the linear signal decay parameter was observed. Conclusions Since the proposed second‐order model features orientation‐dependent and ‐independent components at distinct temporal orders, it can be used to remove the orientation dependence of R*2 using only a single GRE measurement

Zero sound in a single component fermion - Bose Einstein Condensate mixture

The resonant dynamics of mediated interactions supports zero-sound in a cold atom degenerate mixture of a single component fermion gas and a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). We characterize the onset of instability in the phase separation of an unstable mixture and we find a rich collective mode structure for stable mixtures with one undamped mode that exhibits an avoided crossing and a Landau-damped mode that terminates.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

An evaluation of a storybook targeting parental attitudes, intention and self-efficacy to change their child’s oral health behaviour

Objective: Methods for reducing dental disease have traditionally focused on health education rather than targeting psychosocial determinants of the core behaviours through behaviour change strategies. This study tested a novel intervention in the form of a children’s story (Kitten’s First Tooth) embedded with behaviour change techniques (Abraham and Michie, 2008) with the aim of investigating how effective the intervention was at improving parents’ efficacy and intention to enact oral health behaviours for their child.Methods: A controlled before and after study conducted in a deprived area of England (n=149; child mean age 4 years) with an intervention and control group. Changes in task specific parental self-efficacy (PSE) and intention were measured using the Oral Health Behaviours Questionnaire (OHBQ; Adair et al., 2004) at baseline and 3 months following intervention. Results: Of the 149 participants, 129 returned both baseline and evaluation questionnaires (retention 86.6%), 125 of these pairs of questionnaires were used in the analysis (83.4%). The OHBQ was analysed using a general linear model (ANCOVA). A significant difference was found in favour of the intervention group for PSE related to child tooth brushing behaviours (F(1,1)=12.04, p=0.001), however no change was observed for PSE related to control of dietary sugars. Conclusions: A theorized children’s story can be effective as an oral health promotion intervention by supporting parents to improve their child’s oral health-related behaviour. Change was observed for child tooth brushing but not sugar control. This may reflect story contents or may be indicative of difficulties of changing dietary behaviour

First principles numerical model of avalanche-induced arc discharges in electron-irradiated dielectrics

The model consists of four phases: single electron dynamics, single electron avalanche, negative streamer development, and tree formation. Numerical algorithms and computer code implementations are presented for the first three phases. An approach to developing a code description of fourth phase is discussed. Numerical results are presented for a crude material model of Teflon

Clinical anxiety promotes excessive response inhibition

BACKGROUND: Laboratory tasks to delineate anxiety disorder features are used to refine classification and inform our understanding of etiological mechanisms. The present study examines laboratory measures of response inhibition, specifically the inhibition of a pre-potent motor response, in clinical anxiety. Data on associations between anxiety and response inhibition remain inconsistent, perhaps because of dissociable effects of clinical anxiety and experimentally manipulated state anxiety. Few studies directly assess the independent and interacting effects of these two anxiety types (state v. disorder) on response inhibition. The current study accomplished this goal, by manipulating state anxiety in healthy and clinically anxious individuals while they complete a response inhibition task. METHOD: The study employs the threat-of-shock paradigm, one of the best-established manipulations for robustly increasing state anxiety. Participants included 82 adults (41 healthy; 41 patients with an anxiety disorder). A go/nogo task with highly frequent go trials was administered during alternating periods of safety and shock threat. Signal detection theory was used to quantify response bias and signal-detection sensitivity. RESULTS: There were independent effects of anxiety and clinical anxiety on response inhibition. In both groups, heightened anxiety facilitated response inhibition, leading to reduced nogo commission errors. Compared with the healthy group, clinical anxiety was associated with excessive response inhibition and increased go omission errors in both the safe and threat conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Response inhibition and its impact on go omission errors appear to be a promising behavioral marker of clinical anxiety. These results have implications for a dimensional view of clinical anxiety

Green function Retrieval and Time-reversal in a Disordered World

We apply the theory of multiple wave scattering to two contemporary, related topics: imaging with diffuse correlations and stability of time-reversal of diffuse waves, using equipartition, coherent backscattering and frequency speckles as fundamental concepts.Comment: 1 figur

The BBaRTS Healthy Teeth Behaviour Change Programme for preventing dental caries in primary school children: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were madeThis trial is supported by an unrestricted grant from GlaxoSmithKlin