Multimorbidity patterns of oral clinical conditions, social position, and oral health-related quality of life in a population-based survey of 12-yr-old children.

The aim of this study was to describe the patterns of multimorbidities of oral clinical conditions in children. The association between social position and number of oral clinical conditions, and the relationship of social position and number of oral clinical conditions with oral health-related quality of life [OHRQoL, measured using the Brazilian Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (Child-OIDP)] were also investigated. The study analysed data on 7,208 children, 12 yr of age, from the Brazilian Oral Health Survey (SBBrasil Project). Cluster analysis based on the observed/expected (O/E) ratios identified six significant clusters of oral clinical conditions: (i) dental caries and missing teeth; (ii) dental caries and dental trauma; (iii) dental trauma and gingivitis; (iv) dental caries, missing teeth, and dental trauma; (v) dental caries, dental trauma, and gingivitis; and (vi) all oral clinical conditions. Ordinal regression showed that poor social position was associated with a large number of oral clinical conditions. Poisson regression demonstrated that low social position and greater number of oral clinical conditions increased the likelihood of poor OHRQoL (Child-OIDP extent). The four oral clinical conditions clustered into six distinct clusters among Brazilian children. Multimorbidity of oral clinical conditions predicted poor OHRQoL. Social position was of high relevance to multimorbidity of oral clinical conditions and children's OHRQoL

Avalanches in the Weakly Driven Frenkel-Kontorova Model

A damped chain of particles with harmonic nearest-neighbor interactions in a spatially periodic, piecewise harmonic potential (Frenkel-Kontorova model) is studied numerically. One end of the chain is pulled slowly which acts as a weak driving mechanism. The numerical study was performed in the limit of infinitely weak driving. The model exhibits avalanches starting at the pulled end of the chain. The dynamics of the avalanches and their size and strength distributions are studied in detail. The behavior depends on the value of the damping constant. For moderate values a erratic sequence of avalanches of all sizes occurs. The avalanche distributions are power-laws which is a key feature of self-organized criticality (SOC). It will be shown that the system selects a state where perturbations are just able to propagate through the whole system. For strong damping a regular behavior occurs where a sequence of states reappears periodically but shifted by an integer multiple of the period of the external potential. There is a broad transition regime between regular and irregular behavior, which is characterized by multistability between regular and irregular behavior. The avalanches are build up by sound waves and shock waves. Shock waves can turn their direction of propagation, or they can split into two pulses propagating in opposite directions leading to transient spatio-temporal chaos. PACS numbers: 05.70.Ln,05.50.+q,46.10.+zComment: 33 pages (RevTex), 15 Figures (available on request), appears in Phys. Rev.

Thickness-modulated tungsten-carbon superconducting nanostructures grown by focused ion beam induced deposition for vortex pinning up to high magnetic fields

We report efficient vortex pinning in thickness-modulated tungsten–carbon-based (W–C) nanostructures grown by focused ion beam induced deposition (FIBID). By using FIBID, W–C superconducting films have been created with thickness modulation properties exhibiting periodicity from 60 to 140 nm, leading to a strong pinning potential for the vortex lattice. This produces local minima in the resistivity up to high magnetic fields (2.2 T) in a broad temperature range due to commensurability effects between the pinning potential and the vortex lattice. The results show that the combination of single-step FIBID fabrication of superconducting nanostructures with built-in artificial pinning landscapes and the small intrinsic random pinning potential of this material produces strong periodic pinning potentials, maximizing the opportunities for the investigation of fundamental aspects in vortex science under changing external stimuli (e.g., temperature, magnetic field, electrical current)

Multifractal characterisation of length sequences of coding and noncoding segments in a complete genome

The coding and noncoding length sequences constructed from a complete genome are characterised by multifractal analysis. The dimension spectrum $D_{q}$ and its derivative, the 'analogous' specific heat $C_{q}$, are calculated for the coding and noncoding length sequences of bacteria, where $q$ is the moment order of the partition sum of the sequences. From the shape of the $$ and $C_{q}$ curves, it is seen that there exists a clear difference between the coding/noncoding length sequences of all organisms considered and a completely random sequence. The complexity of noncoding length sequences is higher than that of coding length sequences for bacteria. Almost all $D_{q}$ curves for coding length sequences are flat, so their multifractality is small whereas almost all $D_{q}$ curves for noncoding length sequences are multifractal-like. We propose to characterise the bacteria according to the types of the $C_{q}$ curves of their noncoding length sequences.Comment: 15 pages with 5 figures, Latex, Accepted for publication in Physica

Disordered hyperuniformity in superconducting vortex lattices

The current carrying capability of type II superconductors under magnetic fields is determined to a large extent by the interaction of superconducting vortices with pinning centers. Vortices are arranged in lattices with varying degrees of disorder depending on the balance between the intervortex interactions and the pinning strength. We analyze here vortex arrangements in disordered vortex lattices of different superconducting systems, single crystals (Co-doped NbSe2, LiFeAs, and CaKFe4As4), and amorphous W- based thin films (with critical temperatures T-c from 4 K to 35 K and critical fields from 3.4 T to more than 90 T). We calculate for each case the structure factor and number variance and compare to calculations on an interacting set of partially pinned particles. We find that random density fluctuations appear when pinning overcomes interactions and show that the suppression of density fluctuations is correlated to the presence of interactions. We discuss the results within the framework of hyperuniform distributions and find that all studied lattices follow a similar increase of the number variance with the defect density

VINHOS QUE PENSAM - parte II/III UTILIZAÇÃO DA CONDUTIVIDADE ELÉTRICA APARENTE DO SOLO NA INSTALAÇÃO E GESTÃO DAS CULTURAS: EXEMPLIFICAÇÃO NA VINHA

o principal objetivo deste trabalho passou por verificar: • a relação entre a CEa do solo e os indicadores de textura; • se a CEa do solo poderá ser um parâmetro importante na instalação e gestão de parcelas de vinha ou outro tipo de culturas

VINHOS QUE PENSAM - parte I/III GESTÃO DO VIGOR VEGETATIVO DA VINHA A PARTIR DE SENSORES ATIVOS MUTIESPECTRAIS PRÓXIMOS

Costumo dizer que o projeto “Vinhos que pensam” nasceu de um aperto de mão entre a equipa de Agricultura de Precisão da Universidade de Évora e a Fundação Eugénio de Almeida, nasceu sem financiamento próprio mas com uma visão muito clara de criar valor social na área da vitivinicultura Alentejana. Passados 6 anos, julgamos que o conhecimento produzido é relevante para a atividade e gestão vitivinícola Alentejana, no entanto, novas perguntas surgem todos os anos e dessa forma somos alimentados na motivação de prosseguir com este projeto, ao qual, outras entidades e vontades se vão agora também associando. A Agrobótica, muito recentemente, desafiou-nos a apresentar os resultados mais relevantes do projeto “Vinhos que pensam” e com o maior prazer lhe dissemos que sim, no entanto, colocou-se-nos um problema, os resultados mais relevantes, muito dificilmente caberiam num único artigo, como tal, decidimos dividir tais resultados em três artigos, este primeiro mais virado para os aspetos da gestão do vigor da vegetação da vinha; o segundo mais virado para os sensores geoelétricos do solo e sua aplicação na gestão e estudo do solo; e por fim, um terceiro mais virado para aspetos da nutrição das plantas considerando a interação solo/planta e a utilização dos sensores multiespectrais

Proximity effect and strong coupling superconductivity in nanostructures built with an STM

We present high resolution tunneling spectroscopy data at very low temperatures on superconducting nanostructures of lead built with an STM. By applying magnetic fields, superconductivity is restricted to length scales of the order of the coherence length. We measure the tunneling conductance and analyze the phonon structure and the low energy DOS. We demonstrate the influence of the geometry of the system on the magnetic field dependence of the tunneling density of states, which is gapless in a large range of fields. The behavior of the features in the tunneling conductance associated to phonon modes are explained within current models.Comment: 4 figures, 4 page

Contextual and individual determinants of non-utilization of dental services among Brazilian adults

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of contextual and individual determinants with non-utilization of dental services among Brazilian adults. METHODS: Data were from adults aged 35-44 years (N = 7,265) from the 2010 Brazilian Oral Health Survey (SB Brasil Project). Non-utilization of dental services was assessed whether the individual has never had a dental visit over the whole life time. Independent variables were selected according to Andersen's behavioral model. Contextual variables included Human Development Index-longevity (HDI-Longevity) (predisposing demographic), HDI-Education and Gini index (predisposing social), integration of oral health teams into Primary Care (enabling health policy), and HDI-Income (enabling financing). Individual data were age and sex (predisposing demographic), ethnicity and schooling (predisposing social), family monthly income (predisposing enabling), perceived dental treatment (perceived need), and decayed teeth (evaluated need). The relationship of contextual and individual variables with non-utilization of dental services was assessed through multilevel logistic regression analysis to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: The prevalence of non-utilization of dental services was 4.7 percent. Adults living in cities with high HDI-Income were less likely to never have a dental visit. The odds of non-utilization of dental services were lower for adults living in cities with high HDI-Longevity. Sex, skin color, dental treatment needs, poor socioeconomic characteristics, perceived dental treatment needs, and decayed teeth were also associated with non-utilization of dental services. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that contextual enabling and predisposing factors, individual sociodemographic, and needs-related characteristics influence non-utilization of dental services by Brazilian adults