Diel and seasonal timing of sound production by black drum (Pogonias cromis)

Acoustic recorders were used to document black drum (Pogonias cromis) sound production during their spawning season in southwest Florida. Diel patterns of sound production were similar to those of other sciaenid fishes and demonstrated increased sound levels from the late afternoon to early evening—a period that lasted up to 12 hours during peak season. Peak sound production occurred from January through March when water temperatures were between 18° and 22°C. Seasonal trends in sound production matched patterns of black drum reproductive readiness and spawning reported previously for populations in the Gulf of Mexico. Total acoustic energy of nightly chorus events was estimated by integration of the sound pressure amplitude with duration above a threshold based on daytime background levels. Maximum chorus sound level was highly correlated with total acoustic energy and was used to quantitatively represent nightly black drum sound production. This study gives evidence that long-term passive acoustic recordings can provide information on the timing and location of black drum reproductive behavior that is similar to that provided by traditional, more costly methods. The methods and results have broad application for the study of many other fish species, including commercially and recreationally valuable reef fishes that produce sound in association with reproductive beha

Outcome of secondary root canal treatment: a systematic review of the literature.

UNLABELLED: AIMS (I): To investigate the effects of study characteristics on the reported success rates of secondary root canal treatment (2 degrees RCT or root canal retreatment); and (ii) to investigate the effects of clinical factors on the success of 2 degrees RCT. METHODOLOGY: Longitudinal human clinical studies investigating outcome of 2 degrees RCT which were published upto the end of 2006 were identified electronically (MEDLINE and Cochrane database 1966-2006 Dec, week 4). Four journals (Dental Traumatology, International Endodontic Journal, Journal of Endodontics, Oral Surgery Oral Medicine Oral Pathology Endodontics Radiology), bibliographies of all relevant papers and review articles were hand-searched. Two reviewers (Y-LN, KG) independently assessed and selected the studies based on specified inclusion criteria and extracted the data onto a pre-designed proforma, independently. The criteria were: (i) Clinical studies on 2 degrees RCT; (ii) Stratified analyses available for 2 degrees RCT where 1 degrees RCT data included; (iii) Sample size given and larger than 10; (iv) At least 6-month post-operative review; (v) Success based on clinical and/or radiographic criteria (strict = absence of apical radiolucency; loose = reduction in size of radiolucency); and (vi) Overall success rate given or could be calculated from the raw data. Three strands of evidence or analyses were used to triangulate a consensus view. The reported findings from individual studies, including those excluded for quantitative analysis, were utilized for the intuitive synthesis which constituted the first strand of evidence. Secondly, the pooled weighted success rates by each study characteristic and potential prognostic factor were estimated using the random effect model. Thirdly, the effects of study characteristics and prognostic factors (expressed as odds ratios) on success rates were estimated using fixed and random effects meta-analysis with DerSimonean and Laird's methods. Meta-regression models were used to explore potential sources of statistical heterogeneity. Study characteristics considered in the meta-regression analyses were: decade of publication, study-specific criteria for success (radiographic, combined radiographic & clinical), unit of outcome measure (tooth, root), duration after treatment when assessing success ('at least 4 years' or '<4 years'), geographic location of the study (North American, Scandinavian, other countries), and qualification of the operator (undergraduate students, postgraduate students, general dental practitioners, specialist or mixed group). RESULTS: Of the 40 papers identified, 17 studies published between 1961 and 2005 were included; none were published in 2006. The majority of studies were retrospective (n = 12) and only five prospective. The pooled weighted success rate of 2 degrees RCT judged by complete healing was 76.7% (95% CI 73.6%, 89.6%) and by incomplete healing, 77.2% (95% CI 61.1%, 88.1%). The success rates by 'decade of publication' and 'geographic location of study' were not significantly different at the 5% level. Eighteen clinical factors had been investigated in various combinations in previous studies. The most frequently and thoroughly investigated were 'periapical status' (n = 13), 'size of lesion' (n = 7), and 'apical extent of RF' (n = 5) which were found to be significant prognostic factors. The effect of different aspects of primary treatment history and re-treatment procedures has been poorly tested. CONCLUSIONS: The pooled estimated success rate of secondary root canal treatment was 77%. The presence of pre-operative periapical lesion, apical extent of root filling and quality of coronal restoration proved significant prognostic factors with concurrence between all three strands of evidence whilst the effects of 1 degrees RCT history and 2 degrees RCT protocol have been poorly investigated

A prospective study of the factors affecting outcomes of nonsurgical root canal treatment: part 1: periapical health.

AIM: To investigate the probability of and factors influencing periapical status of teeth following primary (1°RCTx) or secondary (2°RCTx) root canal treatment. METHODOLOGY: This prospective study involved annual clinical and radiographic follow-up of 1°RCTx (1170 roots, 702 teeth and 534 patients) or 2°RCTx (1314 roots, 750 teeth and 559 patients) carried out by Endodontic postgraduate students for 2-4 (50%) years. Pre-, intra- and postoperative data were collected prospectively on customized forms. The proportion of roots with complete periapical healing was estimated, and prognostic factors were investigated using multiple logistic regression models. Clustering effects within patients were adjusted in all models using robust standard error. RESULTS: proportion of roots with complete periapical healing after 1°RCTx (83%; 95% CI: 81%, 85%) or 2°RCTx (80%; 95% CI: 78%, 82%) were similar. Eleven prognostic factors were identified. The conditions that were found to improve periapical healing significantly were: the preoperative absence of a periapical lesion (P = 0.003); in presence of a periapical lesion, the smaller its size (P ≤ 0.001), the better the treatment prognosis; the absence of a preoperative sinus tract (P = 0.001); achievement of patency at the canal terminus (P = 0.001); extension of canal cleaning as close as possible to its apical terminus (P = 0.001); the use of ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) solution as a penultimate wash followed by final rinse with NaOCl solution in 2°RCTx cases (P = 0.002); abstaining from using 2% chlorexidine as an adjunct irrigant to NaOCl solution (P = 0.01); absence of tooth/root perforation (P = 0.06); absence of interappointment flare-up (pain or swelling) (P =0.002); absence of root-filling extrusion (P ≤ 0.001); and presence of a satisfactory coronal restoration (P ≤ 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Success based on periapical health associated with roots following 1°RCTx (83%) or 2°RCTx (80%) was similar, with 10 factors having a common effect on both, whilst the 11th factor 'EDTA as an additional irrigant' had different effects on the two treatments

A comparison of the expected and actual pain experienced by women during insertion of an intrauterine contraceptive device.

Objective: To compare the expected and actual pain experienced with the insertion of intrauterine contraception in women, and to determine whether either of these are related to their personal circumstances, or affected their satisfaction with the procedure. Design: A convenience sample of 89 women aged 15-50 attending a sexual health clinic for same day intrauterine contraception insertion were given a questionnaire which they completed following the procedure. The women were asked to rate their expectation of pain prior to insertion and to rate the actual pain they experienced immediately after insertion, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being severe pain. Information on the women’s circumstances and their level of satisfaction with the procedure was also obtained. Results: Overall, the median actual pain experienced by women during insertion (4) was significantly lower than the expected pain median (6) (p<0.001). For those women who had not had a previous vaginal delivery, actual pain was significantly higher compared with women who had a previous vaginal delivery (median [IQR] = 6 [3.5-7.5] and 3 [1-5], p<0.001), respectively), but there was no significant difference between expected and actual pain experiences. In women who had a previous vaginal delivery, actual pain was much lower than expected (p<0.001). Neither actual nor expected pain experiences were linked to any other socio-demographic reproductive health or service use factors. Conclusion: All women had a high expectation of pain prior to IUD insertion but, for those who had a previous vaginal delivery, this was significantly greater than that actually experienced. Satisfaction levels overall were high. Counselling of women should take into account their expected pain prior to IUD insertion and consideration should be given to alternative and additional methods of pain relief in women who had not had a previous vaginal delivery

On the temperature of surfaces

The concept of the temperature of a surface is introduced from the viewpoint of the physical chemistry of surfaces. The surface, near surface and microlayer regions of the interface are defined. Most methods measure the temperature of the microlayer or at best the near surface region and may err in representing the surface temperature. Methods based on capillary ripples actually measure the surface temperature since surface tension (or surface tension tensor when a monolayer has been spread or absorbed at the interface) is the main restoring force that controls their propagation. Light scattering methods are described for determining the elevation of very small amplitude capillary waves through the computation of various correlation functions from which the surface tension can be estimated. Procedures for estimating the surface temperature are described

Electron cyclotron maser emission mode coupling to the z-mode on a longitudinal density gradient in the context of solar type III bursts

Copyright 2012 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. This article appeared in Physics of Plasmas 19, 110702 (2012) and may be found at .supplemental material at http://astro.qmul.ac.uk/~tsiklauri/sp.htmlsupplemental material at http://astro.qmul.ac.uk/~tsiklauri/sp.htm

Chaos in an Exact Relativistic 3-body Self-Gravitating System

We consider the problem of three body motion for a relativistic one-dimensional self-gravitating system. After describing the canonical decomposition of the action, we find an exact expression for the 3-body Hamiltonian, implicitly determined in terms of the four coordinate and momentum degrees of freedom in the system. Non-relativistically these degrees of freedom can be rewritten in terms of a single particle moving in a two-dimensional hexagonal well. We find the exact relativistic generalization of this potential, along with its post-Newtonian approximation. We then specialize to the equal mass case and numerically solve the equations of motion that follow from the Hamiltonian. Working in hexagonal-well coordinates, we obtaining orbits in both the hexagonal and 3-body representations of the system, and plot the Poincare sections as a function of the relativistic energy parameter $\eta$. We find two broad categories of periodic and quasi-periodic motions that we refer to as the annulus and pretzel patterns, as well as a set of chaotic motions that appear in the region of phase-space between these two types. Despite the high degree of non-linearity in the relativistic system, we find that the the global structure of its phase space remains qualitatively the same as its non-relativisitic counterpart for all values of $\eta$ that we could study. However the relativistic system has a weaker symmetry and so its Poincare section develops an asymmetric distortion that increases with increasing $\eta$. For the post-Newtonian system we find that it experiences a KAM breakdown for $\eta \simeq 0.26$: above which the near integrable regions degenerate into chaos.Comment: latex, 65 pages, 36 figures, high-resolution figures available upon reques

Cold dark matter and primordial superheavy particles

The hypothesis that cold dark matter consists of primordial superheavy particles, the decay of short lifetime component of which led to the observable mass of matter while long living component survived up to modern times manifesting its presence in high energetic cosmic rays particles is investigated.Comment: LaTeX, 5 pages, no figure