1,159 research outputs found
Chemochemical caries removal: a review of the techniques and latest developments
Chemomechanical caries removal involves the chemical softening of carious dentine followed by its removal by gentle excavation. The reagent involved is generated by mixing amino acids with sodium hypochlorite; N-monochloroamino acids are formed which selectively degrade demineralised collagen in carious dentine. The procedure requires 5-15 minutes but avoids the painful removal of sound dentine thereby reducing the need for local anaesthesia. It is well suited to the treatment of deciduous teeth, dental phobics and medically compromised patients. The dentine surface formed is highly irregular and well suited to bonding with composite resin or glass ionomer. When complete caries removal is achieved, the dentine remaining is sound and properly mineralised. The system was originally marketed in the USA in the 1980's as Caridex. Large volumes of solution and a special applicator system were required. A new system, Carisolv, has recently been launched on to the market. This comes as a gel, requires volumes of 0.2-1.0 ml and is accompanied by specially designed instruments
Explaining national differences in the mortality of Covid-19 : individual patient simulation model to investigate the effects of testing policy and other factors on apparent mortality
There has been extensive speculation on the apparent differences in mortality between countries reporting on the confirmed cases and deaths due to Covid-19. A number of
explanations have been suggested, but there is no clear evidence about how apparent fatality rates may be expected to vary with the different testing regimes, admission policies and other variables. An individual patient simulation model was developed to address this question. Parameters and sensitivity analysis based upon recent international data sources for Covid-19 and results were averaged over 100 iterations for a simulated cohort of over 500,000 patients.
Different testing regimes for Covid-19 were considered; testing admitted patients only, various rates of community testing of symptomatic cases and active contact-tracing and screening.
In the base case analysis, apparent mortality ranged from 10.5% under a policy of testing only admitted patients to 0.4% with intensive contact tracing and community testing. These findings were sensitive to assumptions regarding admission rates and
the rate of spread, with more selective admission policies and suppression of spread increasing the apparent mortality and the potential for apparent mortality rates to exceed 18% under some circumstances. Under all scenarios the proportion of patients tested in the community had the greatest impact on apparent mortality.
Whilst differences in mortality due to health service and demographic factors cannot be excluded, the current international differences in reported mortality are all consistent
with differences in practice regarding screening, community testing and admission policies
Embryo survival in lactating dairy cows
Rates of embryo survival in lactating
dairy cows were assessed in three separate
studies. Based on pregnancy diagnoses 27 to
29 days after timed inseminations, survival to
days 40 to 50 or day 57, depending on the
study, varied from 9 to 88% in cows that
were not cycling before insemination compared
to 57 to 90% in cows that were cycling.
Previously anestrous cows had lower rates of
survival. In one study, supplementing cows
with progesterone before insemination improved
embryo survival
Fixed-time inseminaton of suckled beef cows. 2. Cosynch and progesterone
The Cosynch protocol (GnRH 7 days before and again 48 h after PGF2 with AI at the second GnRH injection) produced pregnancy rates in suckled beef cows that exceeded 50% without heat detection and with only three handlings of all cows. The addition of an intravaginal progesterone insert to the Cosynch protocol improved pregnancy rates in two of the three breeds of cows studied
The mass gap and vacuum energy of the Gross-Neveu model via the 2PPI expansion
We introduce the 2PPI (2-point-particle-irreducible) expansion, which sums
bubble graphs to all orders. We prove the renormalizibility of this summation.
We use it on the Gross-Neveu model to calculate the mass gap and vacuum energy.
After an optimization of the expansion, the final results are qualitatively
good.Comment: 14 pages,19 eps figures, revtex
Dependence of Variational Perturbation Expansions on Strong-Coupling Behavior. Inapplicability of delta-Expansion to Field Theory
We show that in applications of variational theory to quantum field theory it
is essential to account for the correct Wegner exponent omega governing the
approach to the strong-coupling, or scaling limit. Otherwise the procedure
either does not converge at all or to the wrong limit. This invalidates all
papers applying the so-called delta-expansion to quantum field theory.Comment: Author Information under
http://www.physik.fu-berlin.de/~kleinert/institution.html . Latest update of
paper (including all PS fonts) at
http://www.physik.fu-berlin.de/~kleinert/34
Administration of human chorionic gonadotropin at embryo transfer induced ovulation of a first-wave dominant follicle and increased progesterone and transfer pregnancy rates
Beef Cattle Research, 2011 is known as Cattlemen’s Day, 2011Embryo transfer (ET) has become more widespread in recent years as a way to improve
cattle genetics. According to the annual statistical survey of the American Embryo
Transfer Association, more than 200,000 fresh and frozen bovine embryos were
transferred in 2008. But despite advancements in reproductive technologies that have
occurred since ET was commercialized in the 1970s, industrywide pregnancy rates are
only 62.4 and 56.9% for fresh and frozen-thawed ET, respectively. Using ET helps
avoid problems from failed fertilization; however, fertilization failure has been characterized
as a relatively unimportant factor of pregnancy loss. Approximately 10% of pregnancy
failures resulted from fertilization failure and another 10% from failed embryo
development. Approximately 20 to 25% of the pregnancy loss in an ET program could
be characterized as early embryonic loss
Enough is not enough: Medical students’ knowledge of early warning signs of childhood cancer
Background. The reported incidence of childhood cancer in upper-middle-income South Africa (SA) is much lower than in high-income countries, partly due to under-diagnosis and under-reporting. Documented survival rates are disturbingly low, prompting an analysis of potential factors that may be responsible.Objectives. To determine final-year medical students’ level of knowledge of early warning signs of childhood cancer and whether a correlation existed between test scores and participants’ age, gender and previous exposure to a person with cancer.Methods. A two-part questionnaire based on the Saint Siluan mnemonic, testing both recall and recognition of early warning signs of childhood cancer, was administered. The Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test was used to assess differences in continuous and count variables between demographic data, experience and responses, and Fisher’s exact test and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient were used to determine correlations between demographic data, previous contact with persons with cancer and test scores. A novel equality ratio was calculated to compare the recall and recognition sections and allowed analysis of recall v. recognition.Results. The 84 participants recalled a median of six signs each (interquartile range 4 - 7) and correctly recognised a median of 70% in the recognition section, considered a pass mark. There was no correlation between participants’ age, gender, previous contact with a person with cancer and recognition scores. Students with previous exposure to a person with cancer had higher scores in the recall section, but this did not achieve statistical significance. Students were able to recognise more signs of haematological malignancies than central nervous system (CNS) malignancies.Conclusion. The study demonstrated a marked inconsistency between recall and recognition of signs of childhood cancer, with signs of CNS malignancies being least recognised. However, the majority of students could recognise enough early warning signs to meet the university pass standard. Although this study demonstrated acceptable recognition of early warning signs of childhood cancer at one university, we suggest that long-term recall in medical practitioners is poor, as reflected in the low age-standardised ratios of childhood cancer in SA. We recommend increased ongoing exposure to paediatric oncology in medical school and improved awareness programmes to increase early referrals
UK monitoring and deposition of tephra from the May 2011 eruption of Grímsvötn, Iceland
Mapping the transport and deposition of tephra is important for the assessment of an eruption’s impact on health, transport, vegetation and infrastructure, but it is challenging at large distances from a volcano (> 1000 km), where it may not be visible to the naked eye. Here we describe a range of methods used to quantify tephra deposition and impact on air quality during the 21–28 May 2011 explosive basaltic eruption of Grímsvötn volcano, Iceland. Tephra was detected in the UK with tape-on-paper samples, rainwater samples, rainwater chemistry analysis, pollen slides and air quality measurements. Combined results show that deposition was mainly in Scotland, on 23–25 May. Deposition was patchy, with adjacent locations recording different results. Tape-on-paper samples, collected by volunteer citizen scientists, and giving excellent coverage across the UK, showed deposition at latitudes >55°N, mainly on 24 May. Rainwater samples contained ash grains mostly 20–30 μm long (maximum recorded grainsize 80 μm) with loadings of up to 116 grainscm-2. Analysis of rainwater chemistry showed high concentrations of dissolved Fe and Al in samples from N Scotland on 24–27 May. Pollen slides recorded small glass shards (3–4 μm long) deposited during rainfall on 24–25 May and again on 27 May. Air quality monitoring detected increased particulate matter concentrations in many parts of the country. An hourly concentration of particles 53°N) on 24 May but no negative effects on health were reported. Although the eruption column reached altitudes of 20 km above sea level, air mass trajectories suggest that only tephra from the lowest 4 km above sea level of the eruption plume was transported to the UK. This demonstrates that even low plumes could deliver tephra to the UK and suggests that the relative lack of basaltic tephra in the tephrochronological record is not due to transport processes
Together, yet still not equal? Sex integration in equestrian sport
Sex segregation is a core organising principle of most modern sports and is a key element in the marginalisation and subordination of girls and women in sport and beyond. In this article I explore the only Olympic-level sport which is not organised around sex segregation – equestrian sport – in order to consider the implications of sex integration for female participants. I draw on a study conducted on elite riders that found that although sex integration in equestrian sport does not lead to female participants being excluded from high-level competition, men continue to perform disproportionately well. This suggests that although sex integration may be an important step towards breaking down gender hierarchies in sport, without accompanying wider changes in gender norms and expectations, sex integration alone will not be enough to achieve greater gender equality in equestrian sport
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