A new approach to balance dental fear and anxiety by using BachTM Flower Therapy

Treatments in dentistry currently consist of an interdisciplinary approach, including (but not necessarily limited to) the holistic perspective. The different fields of allopathic and complementary medicine are used together to ensure not only a high-quality restorative treatment, but also to provide patients with psychological and emotional support. This perspective also applies to dental anxiety, which consists of complex (emotional, vegetative and psychomotor) manifestations. One of the most well-known complementary therapies for reducing dental fear and anxiety is BachTM Flower Therapy. Even if the mechanism of action of this therapy is not yet scientifically documented, notable results have been and continue to be reported in the literature in several clinical studies on patients with dental diseases. It is indicated for both adults and children, in the latter when they go through major biological changes, such as primary and permanent dentition. As a conclusion, BachTM flower therapy is effective and complementary to dental treatments applied to patients, by reducing stress, anxiety, as well as creating a climate of peace, trust and confidence, both for the patient and the doctor. In addition, it is a relatively accessible and cheap form of care, with no significant adverse effects noted so far

Solutions for increasing the quality of hydro-technical building elements obtained by numerical simulation

Sewage treatment remains a delicate subject and requires technical improvements to increase the efficiency of the systems responsible for the treatment. Numerical simulations are also a very useful tool, especially if they are used during the design phase. Thus, the paper aims to present the results obtained by CFD numerical simulations in the case of an important element within an existing wastewater treatment plant, namely the waste water treatment well, thus obtaining constructive solutions of a better functionally to the designed version. Through these, the work demonstrates the necessity of analyzes with CFD methods during design of the main elements of hydrotechnical constructions, but also the necessity of adjusting the numerical models with results obtained from experiments, measurements. The results show that the modifications described in the paper would bring significant improvements in waste disposal

The impact of two anticoagulants on erythrocytes morphology in different vertebrate species

In this study, we aimed to highlight the influence of anticoagulants on erythrocyte morphometry in different vertebrate species. Anticoagulants are a category of substances that inhibit blood clotting through various mechanisms. Due to this property, they are used to collect blood samples for a wide range of laboratory tests. The literature mentions that the use of anticoagulants produces morphological changes of erythrocytes, thus influencing results. Blood samples were collected from three warm-blooded vertebrate species (horse, rabbit, and chicken) and one lower vertebrate species with nucleated erythrocytes (fish) in vacutainers with Heparin and EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), in a normal concentration and a double concentration. At the time of harvesting, control smears were performed. In order to be able to compare the effects produced by anticoagulants on the morphology of erythrocytes, they were evaluated morphometrically at intervals of 3, 6, and 24 hrs. after harvest. The following features were evaluated using the Toup View software: length, width, surface and perimeter of erythrocytes for species with anucleated erythrocytes. The same characteristics were evaluated in the nucleus for species with nucleated erythrocytes. The data obtained were processed with statistical programs to highlight changes in erythrocyte morphology produced by anticoagulants

Virus Prevalence in Egg Samples Collected from Naturally Selected and Traditionally Managed Honey Bee Colonies across Europe

Monitoring virus infections can be an important selection tool in honey bee breeding. A recent study pointed towards an association between the virus-free status of eggs and an increased virus resistance to deformed wing virus (DWV) at the colony level. In this study, eggs from both naturally surviving and traditionally managed colonies from across Europe were screened for the prevalence of different viruses. Screenings were performed using the phenotyping protocol of the 'suppressed in ovo virus infection' trait but with qPCR instead of end-point PCR and a primer set that covers all DWV genotypes. Of the 213 screened samples, 109 were infected with DWV, 54 were infected with black queen cell virus (BQCV), 3 were infected with the sacbrood virus, and 2 were infected with the acute bee paralyses virus. It was demonstrated that incidences of the vertical transmission of DWV were more frequent in naturally surviving than in traditionally managed colonies, although the virus loads in the eggs remained the same. When comparing virus infections with queen age, older queens showed significantly lower infection loads of DWV in both traditionally managed and naturally surviving colonies, as well as reduced DWV infection frequencies in traditionally managed colonies. We determined that the detection frequencies of DWV and BQCV in honey bee eggs were lower in samples obtained in the spring than in those collected in the summer, indicating that vertical transmission may be lower in spring. Together, these patterns in vertical transmission show that honey bee queens have the potential to reduce the degree of vertical transmission over time

Virus Prevalence in Egg Samples Collected from Naturally Selected and Traditionally Managed Honey Bee Colonies across Europe

Monitoring virus infections can be an important selection tool in honey bee breeding. A recent study pointed towards an association between the virus-free status of eggs and an increased virus resistance to deformed wing virus (DWV) at the colony level. In this study, eggs from both naturally surviving and traditionally managed colonies from across Europe were screened for the prevalence of different viruses. Screenings were performed using the phenotyping protocol of the ‘suppressed in ovo virus infection’ trait but with qPCR instead of end-point PCR and a primer set that covers all DWV genotypes. Of the 213 screened samples, 109 were infected with DWV, 54 were infected with black queen cell virus (BQCV), 3 were infected with the sacbrood virus, and 2 were infected with the acute bee paralyses virus. It was demonstrated that incidences of the vertical transmission of DWV were more frequent in naturally surviving than in traditionally managed colonies, although the virus loads in the eggs remained the same. When comparing virus infections with queen age, older queens showed significantly lower infection loads of DWV in both traditionally managed and naturally surviving colonies, as well as reduced DWV infection frequencies in traditionally managed colonies. We determined that the detection frequencies of DWV and BQCV in honey bee eggs were lower in samples obtained in the spring than in those collected in the summer, indicating that vertical transmission may be lower in spring. Together, these patterns in vertical transmission show that honey bee queens have the potential to reduce the degree of vertical transmission over time

Comparison of two alternative store formats using a Malmquist-type index

This paper explores the differences in performance between two groups of retailing stores that operate with different formats. The study uses a Malmquist-type index to distinguish internal inefficiencies from those associated with the group (or format) characteristics. A fundamental characteristic of the new index is to compare groups in a static setting. The study described in this paper combines the use of the Malmquist index with statistical tests. The Malmquist-type index is decomposed into sub-indexes for comparing the efficiency spread between groups and the productivity differences between the best-practice frontiers of the groups. The hypothesis tests are used to verify if the differences between groups captured by the Malmquist-type index and its components are statistically significant. There are several methods based on DEA for comparing the performance of two groups, such as the program efficiency method and the comparison of efficiency distributions using statistical hypothesis tests. The method used in this paper is compared with the existing approaches to highlight its strengths and weaknesses. The applicability of the method is illustrated with a case study that compares the performance of heavy bazaar stores (that sell electrical appliances and consumer electronics) with different formats (megastores versus superstores). The study showed that the overall performance of megastores is better due to the effect of a more productive frontier. However, the efficiency spread is larger in megastores than in superstores meaning that there is scope for efficiency improvements

Bridging the Gap between Field Experiments and Machine Learning: The EC H2020 B-GOOD Project as a Case Study towards Automated Predictive Health Monitoring of Honey Bee Colonies.

Honey bee colonies have great societal and economic importance. The main challenge that beekeepers face is keeping bee colonies healthy under ever-changing environmental conditions. In the past two decades, beekeepers that manage colonies of Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) have become increasingly concerned by the presence of parasites and pathogens affecting the bees, the reduction in pollen and nectar availability, and the colonies' exposure to pesticides, among others. Hence, beekeepers need to know the health condition of their colonies and how to keep them alive and thriving, which creates a need for a new holistic data collection method to harmonize the flow of information from various sources that can be linked at the colony level for different health determinants, such as bee colony, environmental, socioeconomic, and genetic statuses. For this purpose, we have developed and implemented the B-GOOD (Giving Beekeeping Guidance by computational-assisted Decision Making) project as a case study to categorize the colony's health condition and find a Health Status Index (HSI). Using a 3-tier setup guided by work plans and standardized protocols, we have collected data from inside the colonies (amount of brood, disease load, honey harvest, etc.) and from their environment (floral resource availability). Most of the project's data was automatically collected by the BEEP Base Sensor System. This continuous stream of data served as the basis to determine and validate an algorithm to calculate the HSI using machine learning. In this article, we share our insights on this holistic methodology and also highlight the importance of using a standardized data language to increase the compatibility between different current and future studies. We argue that the combined management of big data will be an essential building block in the development of targeted guidance for beekeepers and for the future of sustainable beekeeping

Search for exotic resonances decaying into WZ/ZZ in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV

Journal of High Energy Physics 2013.2 (2013): 036 reproduced by permission of Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)Artículo escrito por un elevado número de autores, solo se referencian el que aparece en primer lugar, el nombre del grupo de colaboración, si le hubiere, y los autores pertenecientes a la UAMA search for new exotic particles decaying to the VZ final state is performed, where V is either a W or a Z boson decaying into two overlapping jets and the Z decays into a pair of electrons, muons or neutrinos. The analysis uses a data sample of pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 fb-1 collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at √s=7 TeV in 2011. No significant excess is observed in the mass distribution of the VZ candidates compared with the background expectation from standard model processes. Model-dependent upper limits at the 95% confidence level are set on the product of the cross section times the branching fraction of hypothetical particles decaying to the VZ final state as a function of mass. Sequential standard model W′ bosons with masses between 700 and 940 GeV are excluded. In the Randall-Sundrum model for graviton resonances with a coupling parameter of 0.05, masses between 750 and 880 GeV are also exclude

Searches for long-lived charged particles in pp collisions at √s =7 and 8 TeV

Results of searches for heavy stable charged particles produced in pp collisions at √s =7 and 8 TeV are presented corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb⁻¹ and 18.8 fb⁻¹, respectively. Data collected with the CMS detector are used to study the momentum, energy deposition, and time-of-flight of signal candidates. Leptons with an electric charge between e/3 and 8e, as well as bound states that can undergo charge exchange with the detector material, are studied. Analysis results are presented for various combinations of signatures in the inner tracker only, inner tracker and muon detector, and muon detector only. Detector signatures utilized are long time-of-flight to the outer muon system and anomalously high (or low) energy deposition in the inner tracker. The data are consistent with the expected background, and upper limits are set on the production cross section of long-lived gluinos, scalar top quarks, and scalar τ leptons, as well as pair produced long-lived leptons. Corresponding lower mass limits, ranging up to 1322 GeV/c² for gluinos, are the most stringent to date