Testing international dental maturation scoring system and population-specific Demirjian versions on Saudi sub-population

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to test the applicability of the Demirjian method and revised versions for estimating chronological age (CA) from dental age (DA) in a sample of children. Study Design: A sample of 252 individuals of known age (4 to 14 yrs), sex (males: 125, females: 127), and ethnicity (Saudi) was collected. Each individual was aged using the original Demirjian method and revised versions, including Saudi, Kuwaiti, Belgian, and revised international curves. The differences between dental age and chronological age were analyzed using paired sample t-tests with Bonferroni corrections and multinomial regression tests at the 0.05 level of significance. Results: The results indicated an over-aging of the sample as a whole by about 10 months using Demirjian tables, 5.5 months using Kuwaiti tables, 24.7 months using Belgian tables, and 5 months using revised international tables. The sample was under-aged by 0.6 month using Saudi tables. The overall discrepancies between CA and DA were statistically significant (P < 0.0001) for all methods with the exception of Saudi curves. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the Saudi population method is most accurate on a Saudi population

Children's oral health-related quality of life and associated factors: Mid-term changes after dental treatment under general anesthesia

Objectives: This study aimed to document the mid-term effects of comprehensive dental treatment under general anesthesia (DTGA) on parent-assessed children's oral health-related quality of life (COHRQoL). A second aim was to examine some epidemiological factors associated with COHRQoL and treatment outcome. Study Design: A pretest-posttest design was followed in which parents were surveyed using the Child Oral Health Quality of Life Questionnaire before and 6-9 months after their children (age ranges 3-10 years) underwent DTGA. Some clinical conditions and epidemiological factors were examined to assess their association with COHRQoL and changes resulting from treatment. Results: The clinical sample consisted of 80 children-parent dyads. The effect sizes of change following DTGA were large for both the child impact section and family impact section of the COHRQoL. COHRQoL scores after treatment were comparable or lower than those of a cross-matched group of children with no complaints related to oral health. Child's age, pain and number of teeth with pulpal involvement showed significant association with both pretreatment scores and change scores. Conclusions: Children's OHRQoL improved after DTGA as assessed by parents 6-9 months postoperatively. Child's age, pain and number of pulpally-involved teeth can be used as predictors for COHRQoL and change scores

Dome C site testing: surface layer, free atmosphere seeing and isoplanatic angle statistics

This paper analyses 3.5 years of site testing data obtained at Dome C, Antarctica, based on measurements obtained with three DIMMs located at three different elevations. Basic statistics of the seeing and the isoplanatic angle are given, as well as the characteristic time of temporal fluctuations of these two parameters, which we found to around 30 minutes at 8 m. The 3 DIMMs are exploited as a profiler of the surface layer, and provide a robust estimation of its statistical properties. It appears to have a very sharp upper limit (less than 1 m). The fraction of time spent by each telescope above the top of the surface layer permits us to deduce a median height of between 23 m and 27 m. The comparison of the different data sets led us to infer the statistical properties of the free atmosphere seeing, with a median value of 0.36 arcsec. The C_n^2 profile inside the surface layer is also deduced from the seeing data obtained during the fraction of time spent by the 3 telescopes inside this turbulence. Statistically, the surface layer, except during the 3-month summer season, contributes to 95 percent of the total turbulence from the surface level, thus confirming the exceptional quality of the site above it

Pharmacological Or Genetic Targeting Of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) Channels Can Disrupt The Planarian Escape Response

In response to noxious stimuli, planarians cease their typical ciliary gliding and exhibit an oscillatory type of locomotion called scrunching. We have previously characterized the biomechanics of scrunching and shown that it is induced by specific stimuli, such as amputation, noxious heat, and extreme pH. Because these specific inducers are known to activate Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels in other systems, we hypothesized that TRP channels control scrunching. We found that chemicals known to activate TRPA1 (allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) and hydrogen peroxide) and TRPV (capsaicin and anandamide) in other systems induce scrunching in the planarian species Dugesia japonica and, except for anandamide, in Schmidtea mediterranea. To confirm that these responses were specific to either TRPA1 or TRPV, respectively, we tried to block scrunching using selective TRPA1 or TRPV antagonists and RNA interference (RNAi) mediated knockdown. Unexpectedly, co-treatment with a mammalian TRPA1 antagonist, HC-030031, enhanced AITC-induced scrunching by decreasing the latency time, suggesting an agonistic relationship in planarians. We further confirmed that TRPA1 in both planarian species is necessary for AITC-induced scrunching using RNAi. Conversely, while co-treatment of a mammalian TRPV antagonist, SB-366791, also enhanced capsaicin-induced reactions in D. japonica, combined knockdown of two previously identified D. japonica TRPV genes (DjTRPVa and DjTRPVb) did not inhibit capsaicin-induced scrunching. RNAi of DjTRPVa/DjTRPVb attenuated scrunching induced by the endocannabinoid and TRPV agonist, anandamide. Overall, our results show that although scrunching induction can involve different initial pathways for sensing stimuli, this behavior’s signature dynamical features are independent of the inducer, implying that scrunching is a stereotypical planarian escape behavior in response to various noxious stimuli that converge on a single downstream pathway. Understanding which aspects of nociception are conserved or not across different organisms can provide insight into the underlying regulatory mechanisms to better understand pain sensation

Joint management of shared aquifers

Joint management of shared aquifer

Estimated glomerular filtration rate is a poor predictor of the concentration of middle molecular weight uremic solutes in chronic kidney disease

Background: Uremic solute concentration increases as Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) declines. Weak associations were demonstrated between estimated GFR (eGFR) and the concentrations of several small water-soluble and protein-bound uremic solutes (MW500Da). Materials and Methods: In 95 CKD-patients (CKD-stage 2-5 not on dialysis), associations between different eGFR-formulae (creatinine, CystatinC-based or both) and the natural logarithm of the concentration of several LMWP's were analyzed: i.e. parathyroid hormone (PTH), Cystatin C (CystC), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), leptin, retinol binding protein (RbP), immunoglobin light chains kappa and lambda (Ig-kappa and Ig-lambda), beta-2-microglobulin (beta M-2), myoglobin and fibroblast growth factor-23 (FGF-23)). Results: The regression coefficients (R-2) between eGFR, based on the CKD-EPI-Crea-CystC-formula as reference, and the examined LMWP's could be divided into three groups. Most of the LMWP's associated weakly (R-2 0.7). Almost identical R-2-values were found per LMWP for all eGFR-formulae, with exception of CystC and beta M-2 which showed weaker associations with creatinine-based than with CystC-based eGFR. Conclusion: The association between eGFR and the concentration of several LMWP's is inconsistent, with in general low R-2-values. Thus, the use of eGFR to evaluate kidney function does not reflect the concentration of several LMWP's with proven toxic impact in CKD

Wavefront outer scale deduced from interferometric dispersed fringes

Astronomy and Astrophysics, v. 448, p. 1225-1234, 2006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20052806International audienc

Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis--Current Dilemmas, Unanswered Questions, Challenges and Priority Needs

Tuberculosis was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1993. Following the declaration and the promotion in 1995 of directly observed treatment short course (DOTS), a cost-effective strategy to contain the tuberculosis epidemic, nearly 7 million lives have been saved compared with the pre-DOTS era, high cure rates have been achieved in most countries worldwide, and the global incidence of tuberculosis has been in a slow decline since the early 2000s. However, the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis, extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis, and more recently, totally drug-resistant tuberculosis pose a threat to global tuberculosis control. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is a man-made problem. Laboratory facilities for drug susceptibility testing are inadequate in most tuberculosis-endemic countries, especially in Africa; thus diagnosis is missed, routine surveillance is not implemented, and the actual numbers of global drug-resistant tuberculosis cases have yet to be estimated. This exposes an ominous situation and reveals an urgent need for commitment by national programs to health system improvement because the response to MDR tuberculosis requires strong health services in general. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and XDR tuberculosis greatly complicate patient management within resource-poor national tuberculosis programs, reducing treatment efficacy and increasing the cost of treatment to the extent that it could bankrupt healthcare financing in tuberculosis-endemic areas. Why, despite nearly 20 years of WHO-promoted activity and >12 years of MDR tuberculosis–specific activity, has the country response to the drug-resistant tuberculosis epidemic been so ineffectual? The current dilemmas, unanswered questions, operational issues, challenges, and priority needs for global drug resistance screening and surveillance, improved treatment regimens, and management of outcomes and prevention of DR tuberculosis are discussed