Bacterial atmospheric contamination during routine dental activity

Routine dental procedures cause atmospheric bacterial contamination in the dental clinic and laboratory. This environmental hazard, quantified by the Air Microbial Index, was shown in our study to be directly related to aerosol creating instruments and ventilation.peer-reviewe

Bacterial cross-contamination between the dental clinic and laboratory during prosthetic treatment

Prosthetic treatment involves various stages in construction. This may result in cross-contamination between the dental clinic and laboratory. According to results obtained from the study, recommendations were made so as to reduce as much as possible cross-contamination, making a safer environment for the dental team and patient.peer-reviewe

A prosthetic approach to maxillary defects

Prosthetic rehabilitation of maxillary defects is a subject which has attracted considerable attention in dental literature. The literature on maxillary obturators is briefly reviewed and a technique for their construction, using a two stage temporary obturator, is described. The use of a temporary obturator is now generally recognised as essential immediately following maxillary resection. The essential functions of a temporary obturator are outlined, including restoration of facial contour and prevention of surgical cavity contamination. The construction of a permanent appliance is initiated when the surgical cavity has healed completely. This period varies with the individual patient but is usually in the region of two months after operation.peer-reviewe

Oral Cancer in Malta

The incidence of oral cancer is influenced by a variety of recognized contributory factors. A proportion of these factors are national habits. As a consequence the Incidence varies enormously from country to country and between different racial groups in the same country. This study, covering a four year period 1969-1972, was undertaken with a view to putting into perspective the problem of oral cancer in Malta. Oral cancer accounts for 6.2% of the total number of malignancies. This can be regarded as a relatively low percentage. A wide range of figures is reported from other countries varying between 5% and 50%. In Malta cancer of the lip is seen to account for the majority of oral tumours 55.9%. The incidence of oral malignancies is commoner in males than in females although cancer of the tongue is not uncommon in females. The relatively high incidence per 100,000 population of cancer of the lip gives cause for concern. This is no doubt due, in part, to the high level of actinic rays in the island.peer-reviewe

Isospin breaking in the nucleon mass and the sensitivity of β decays to new physics

We discuss the consequences of the approximate conservation of the vector and axial currents for the hadronic matrix elements appearing in β decay if nonstandard interactions are present. In particular, the isovector (pseudo)scalar charge gS(P) of the nucleon can be related to the difference (sum) of the nucleon masses in the absence of electromagnetic effects. Using recent determinations of these quantities from phenomenological and lattice QCD studies we obtain the accurate values gS=1.02(11) and gP=349(9) in the modified minimal subtraction scheme at μ=2  GeV. The consequences for searches of nonstandard scalar interactions in nuclear β decays are studied, finding for the corresponding Wilson coefficient εS=0.0012(24) at 90% C.L., which is significantly more stringent than current LHC bounds and previous low-energy bounds using less precise gS values. We argue that our results could be rapidly improved with updated computations and the direct calculation of certain ratios in lattice QCD. Finally, we discuss the pion-pole enhancement of gP, which makes β decays much more sensitive to nonstandard pseudoscalar interactions than previously thought

In silico identification of a potentially novel binding modality for 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds having 2(3h)-benzazolonic heterocycles within the pparγ ligand binding pocket : a de novo design study

Rosiglitazone withdrawal from the market has led to a renewed interest in the Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor γ (PPARγ) as target for hypoglycaemic therapy – this time, via partial agonism. This may be achieved by using selective PPARγ modulators such as S-26948. A receptor-based drug design approach was adopted in this study, using the bound conformation of rosiglitazone within the PPARγ ligand binding pocket to identify S-26948 conformers, and consequently generate high affinity novel molecules. S-26948 conformer 17 was chosen, which exhibited an alternative binding modality with respect to rosiglitazone. Ligand binding pocket mapping of this orientation identified a larger pocket with respect to that delineated by the bound coordinates of rosiglitazone, and an additional theoretical novel pocket within PPARγ. Therefore, currently used PPARγ ligands may not occupy the entire breadth of the ligand binding pocket, warranting further investigation from a receptor modality point of view.peer-reviewe

Chronopharmacology of antihypertensives

Pharmacological treatments of hypertension are associated with a reduction in cardiovascular risk. The blood pressure of both normotensive and hypertensive patients has a particular pattern associated to the biological clock set according to a circadian rhythm. One of the aims of this study was to test the long acting anti-hypertensive medications, atenolol and perindopril for their chronopharmacological properties in their effect on systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels over a period of 24 hours when administered in the morning or evening. Other aims were to compare blood pressure control in patients on atenolol and perindopril with control and normotensive patients and to obtain hourly systolic and diastolic blood pressure values using the ambulatory blood pressure monitor. An ambulatory blood pressure monitor was applied to the recruited patients for 24 hours and results analysed. Atenolol provides better blood pressure control during the early morning following a morning dose, whilst it results in an elevated blood pressure during the early morning when administered in the evening. Evening administered perindopril did not result in optimum blood pressure control throughout the 24h whilst morning administration resulted in an elevated early morning peak during the critical early morning period.peer-reviewe

Statistics of extremal intensities for Gaussian interfaces

The extremal Fourier intensities are studied for stationary Edwards-Wilkinson-type, Gaussian, interfaces with power-law dispersion. We calculate the probability distribution of the maximal intensity and find that, generically, it does not coincide with the distribution of the integrated power spectrum (i.e. roughness of the surface), nor does it obey any of the known extreme statistics limit distributions. The Fisher-Tippett-Gumbel limit distribution is, however, recovered in three cases: (i) in the non-dispersive (white noise) limit, (ii) for high dimensions, and (iii) when only short-wavelength modes are kept. In the last two cases the limit distribution emerges in novel scenarios.Comment: 15 pages, including 7 ps figure