Aloe vera: A Multipurpose Healer and Bacterial Eradicator

The Aloe vera plant is a succulent known for its rich content in vitamins and minerals, thus gaining popularity over the years in healthcare products. With advancements in alternative medicine, it has been recently found useful in dentistry due to properties such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial actions that contribute to wound healing. The purpose of this study was to examine and discover how Aloe vera can be used as an alternative therapy in the dental field. The PubMed, Google Scholar and Dentistry & Oral Sciences (DOSS) databases were utilized to find current scientific evidence on the effects of Aloe vera. Relevant articles were summarized to write a review of findings. In this study, 21 articles published from 2015 to present were reviewed. From the studies, there is strong evidence to support that Aloe vera exhibits beneficial effects in prevention of carious lesions, non-surgical scaling and root planing in patients with chronic periodontitis, and oral wounds. Furthermore, it is cost effective and easily accessible. This review’s findings indicate that dental health care providers could recommend Aloe vera as a preventive and an alternative treatment option to improve patients’ oral health status.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/denh_student/1005/thumbnail.jp

A Methodology for the Prioritization of Invasive Plant Management in Alaska

The control of invasive, non-native plants is of increasing concern in ecosystem management as invasive plant species are found to be threatening natural resources through the disruption of biodiversity, habitat structure, and ecosystem processes across the world. State Government leadership in invasive plant management policy is required to ensure efforts are coordinated and cost effective. As resources for managing invasive plants are limited, the need to evaluate and rank non-native species is a primary concern before expensive management is attempted so that the most threatening species may be addressed first. An objective, repeatable and clearly defined methodology for prioritizing invasive plant management within Department of Natural Resources, Division of Agriculture (DOA) was developed. The development process reviewed literature on the philosophy of decision analysis and various case studies in its application to natural resource projects and act as a guide for the development of an initial process framework. Subject matter experts were engaged to develop the decision criteria using a Delphi survey technique to collect information on experts’ current priorities and tolerances for invasive plants. The final product includes a process diagram, a summary worksheet, and a detailed record of the evaluation decision, rationale, and supporting resources.List of Acronyms / List of Figures and Tables / Abstract / Introduction / Background / LIterature Review / Research Methods / Results / Conclusions / Recommendations for Further Research / Acknowledgments / Literature Cited / Appendice

Cross Approximation Methods for Integral Equation Matrices with Complex Structure

Electrical and computer engineers rely on electromagnetic field (EM) theory to formulate and design systems that utilize information or energy obtained from a signal. Over time these systems have been increased in scale and complexity and adapted to handle a wider array of problems. This has motivated substantial developments in computational sciences including the area of computational electromagnetics (CEM).The focus of CEM is the simulation of electromagnetic fields. At the University of Kentucky, the CEM group has developed several modeling tools that are based on the application of approximation theory to integral equations. This allows the physical problem to be represented as a linear system of equations. Often times, these simulations prove difficult to implement due to issues related to hardware limitations, problem scale, complicated geometries, etc. To deal with large problems that might otherwise exceed the capacity of a computing platform, several sparse sampling methods have been developed. These methods enable the construction of controllably accurate, data-sparse representations of large, dense matrices using only a sparse set of samples of the underlying matrix. One such method is the Adaptive Cross Approximation (ACA) - which is a type of Pseudoskeleton (PSK) method. However, recently it has been observed that the ACA fails to provide adequate error control for certain types of structured, low-rank matrices. In this presentation, we develop modified versions of the ACA and investigate their application to matrices for which the original ACA fails

Embodied reflection ‐ exploring creative routes to teaching reflective practice within dance training

This article draws from a collaboration between Rambert School of Dance, University of Kent, University College London Institute of Education and an anthropological filmmaker. Together we took a creative and embodied approach to teaching reflective practice within a conservatoire to second-year dance students. In this article, we explore where this somatically inspired pedagogy sits within dance training. We discuss the nature of reflection for dance training, and in particular consider embodied reflective practice. Finally we offer effective methodologies for drawing out and capturing embodied practice

Unexpected phase locking of magnetic fluctuations in the multi-k magnet USb

The spin waves in the multi-k antiferromagnet USb soften and become quasielastic well below the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature TN. This occurs without a magnetic or structural transition. It has been suggested that this change is in fact due to dephasing of the different multi-k components: a switch from 3-k to 1-k behavior. In this work, we use inelastic neutron scattering with tridirectional polarization analysis to probe the quasielastic magnetic excitations and reveal that the 3-k structure does not dephase. More surprisingly, the paramagnetic correlations also maintain the same clear phase correlations well above TN (up to at least 1.4TN)

A classical statistical model for distributions of escape events in swept-bias Josephson junctions

We have developed a model for experiments in which the bias current applied to a Josephson junction is slowly increased from zero until the junction switches from its superconducting zero-voltage state, and the bias value at which this occurs is recorded. Repetition of such measurements yields experimentally determined probability distributions for the bias current at the moment of escape. Our model provides an explanation for available data on the temperature dependence of these escape peaks. When applied microwaves are included we observe an additional peak in the escape distributions and demonstrate that this peak matches experimental observations. The results suggest that experimentally observed switching distributions, with and without applied microwaves, can be understood within classical mechanics and may not exhibit phenomena that demand an exclusively quantum mechanical interpretation.Comment: Eight pages, eight figure

No Evidence for Orbital Loop Currents in Charge Ordered YBa2_2Cu3_3O6+x_{6+x} from Polarized Neutron Diffraction

It has been proposed that the pseudogap state of underdoped cuprate superconductors may be due to a transition to a phase which has circulating currents within each unit cell. Here, we use polarized neutron diffraction to search for the corresponding orbital moments in two samples of underdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ with doping levels $p=0.104$ and 0.123. In contrast to some other reports using polarized neutrons, but in agreement with nuclear magnetic resonance and muon spin rotation measurements, we find no evidence for the appearance of magnetic order below 300 K. Thus, our experiment suggests that such order is not an intrinsic property of high-quality cuprate superconductor single crystals. Our results provide an upper bound for a possible orbital loop moment which depends on the pattern of currents within the unit cell. For example, for the CC-$\theta_{II}$ pattern proposed by Varma, we find that the ordered moment per current loop is less than 0.013 $\mu_B$ for $p=0.104$.Comment: Comments in arXiv:1710.08173v1 fully addresse

Characterization of the denaturation and renaturation of human plasma vitronectin I. Biophysical characterization of protein unfolding and multimerization

Upon treatment with denaturing agents, vitronectin has been observed to exhibit conformational alterations which are similar to the structural changes detected when vitronectin binds the thrombin-antithrombin complex or associates with the terminal attack complex of complement. Denaturation and renaturation of vitronectin isolated from human plasma were characterized by changes in intrinsic fluorescence. Unfolding by chemical denaturants was irreversible and accompanied by self-association of the protein to form vitronectin multimers. Self-association was evaluated by equilibrium analytical ultracentrifugation which demonstrated that multimers form only during the refolding process after removal of denaturant, that multimeric vitronectin dissociates to constituent subunits readily upon treatment with chemical denaturant, and that intermolecular disulfide cross-linking occurs primarily at the dimer level among a subset of constituent vitronectin subunits within the multimer. The monomeric form of vitronectin isolated from human plasma partially unfolds at intermediate concentrations of denaturant to an altered conformation with a high propensity to associate into multimers. Folding of vitronectin in vivo appears to be regulated by partitioning of folding intermediates toward either of two conformations, one that exists as a stable monomer and another that associates into a multimeric form

Embodied Reflection: Exploring somatic narratives within dance training

This article draws from a collaboration between Rambert School of Dance, University of Kent, University College London Institute of Education and an anthropological filmmaker. Together we took a creative and embodied approach to teaching reflective practice within a conservatoire to second-year dance students. In this article, we explore where this somatically inspired pedagogy sits within dance training. We discuss the nature of reflection for dance training, and in particular consider embodied reflective practice. Finally we offer effective methodologies for drawing out and capturing embodied practice