Amelioration of the Impact of Physical Fatigue on Cognitive Performance by Phytochemicals: The Effect of a Blackcurrant Supplement : A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

Exercise-induced physical fatigue is thought to impair the cognitive functioning, and therefore mental performance, of the brain. Intervention studies have demonstrated that phytochemical supplementation can facilitate improved cognitive and physical performance. However, little is known about phytochemical supplementations’ ability to ameliorate physical fatigue effects on cognitive performance upon congestion. To investigate this hypothesis, the present study investigated the effects phytochemical compounds, from a blackcurrant supplement, had in regards to reducing physical fatigue effects on cognitive performance while under mental loads. Seventy-two healthy participants completed >10 mins of a high intensity intermittent cycling task (HIIT) (physical fatigue cohort) or >10 mins watching an emotionally neutral documentary (control cohort). Half of the participants in each condition received a blackcurrant supplement one hour before beginning the experimental session. Baseline cognitive tasks and mood questionaries were completed before ingestion of a blackcurrant extract, again before post-task measurements were completed, and also immediately following the experimental session. Analysis of the subjective selfreports revealed that HIIT was successful at inducing physical fatigue, however, had no effect on subsequent cognitive performance. Further analyses demonstrated that supplementation with a blackcurrant extract had no influence on cognitive performance. The null results for an effect of physical fatigue on cognitive performance made interpretation of this finding difficult. Overall, effect size calculations indicated that a larger sample size would not have resulted in statistically significant findings. It was concluded that the specific high intensity intermittent exercise used in the present study, did not induce a level of fatigue in participants’ that would subsequently impair cognitive performance. Blackcurrant supplement did not demonstrate an ability to enhance cognitive performance following a physically fatiguing task. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed and some potentially useful future studies outlined in the second and third chapters

Chiral Symmetry restoration from the hadronic regime

We discuss recent advances on QCD chiral symmetry restoration at finite temperature, within the theoretical framework of Effective Theories. $U(3)$ Ward Identities are derived between pseudoscalar susceptibilities and quark condensates, allowing to explain the behaviour of lattice meson screening masses. Unitarized interactions and the generated $f_0(500)$ thermal state are showed to play an essential role in the description of the transition through the scalar susceptibilityComment: 10 pages, 9 figures. Proceedings of "XII Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum

Immunocompromised patients and coronavirus disease 2019: a review and recommendations for dental health care

In less than four months, an unprecedented pandemic changed the world scenario, closing institutions and commerce, paralyzing sports championships, blocking frontiers, and putting almost all populations in a house quarantine regimen. Immunocompromised patients are within the high-risk group to severe outcomes from COVID-19. However, there is no clear evidence of the association between impaired immune host status and complications from SARS-CoV-2 infection so far. The virus is transmitted by inhalation or direct contact with infected secretions, and therefore the dental office is a highly susceptible environment for such transmission. Here, we review the literature and discuss immunological COVID-19 related issues. We also make suggestions for immunocompromised patients’ support in this new emerging context of clinical dental practice. Until comprehensive findings are published, individuals with impaired immunity should be considered as high-risk. Cross infection control procedures for the clinical care of immunocompromised patients should follow the same guidelines that are being proposed for immunocompetent ones. However, during the active outbreak, people under immunosuppressive conditions should not receive elective procedures, even if they do not have symptoms or exposure history to COVID-19, and in case of emergence, care must be done in a separate airborne room. In the pos-pandemic phase, the dental care general recommendations should be the same for all subjects. Changes in the current guidelines have been proposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection control in order to provide the best and safe dental practice. However, they still need to be validated by future studies

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis and Helicobacter pylori

Background: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a recurrent painful ulcerative disorder that commonly affects the oral mucosa. Local and systemic factors such as trauma, food sensitivity, nutritional deficiencies, systemic conditions, immunological disorders and genetic polymorphisms are associated with the development of the disease. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a gram-negative, microaerophile bacteria, that colonizes the gastric mucosa and it was previously suggested to be involved in RAS development. In the present paper we reviewed all previous studies that investigated the association between RAS and H. pylori. Material and Methods: A search in Pubmed (MEDLINE) databases was made of articles published up until July 2015 using the following keywords: Helicobacter Pylori or H. pylori and RAS or Recurrent aphthous stomatitis. Results: Fifteen experimental studies that addressed the relationship between infection with H. pylori and the presence of RAS and three reviews, including a systematic review and a meta-analysis were included in this review. The studies reviewed used different methods to assess this relationship, including PCR, nested PCR, culture, ELISA and urea breath test. A large variation in the number of patients included in each study, as well as inclusion criteria and laboratorial methods was observed. H. pylori can be detected in the oral mucosa or ulcerated lesion of some patients with RAS. The quality of the all studies included in this review was assessed using levels of evidence based on the University of Oxford’s Center for Evidence Based Medicine Criteria. Conclusions: Although the eradication of the infection may affect the clinical course of the oral lesions by undetermined mechanisms, RAS ulcers are not associated with the presence of the bacteria in the oral cavity and there is no evidence that H. pylori infection drives RAS developmen

Ossifying odontogenic fibroma: a rare case report

Odontogenic fibroma (OF) is a rare benign odontogenic neoplasm that is most commonly found in the mandibular/ premolar region of female patients in the second to fourth decades of life. Well-defined radiolucent lesions that may induce root resorption are normally observed. Rare variants of OF have been described in the prior literature, including references to: 1) giant cell lesions, 2) amyloid-like protein deposition, and 3) ossifying variants. Immuno - histochemistry can contribute to understanding the biological behavior and the pathogenesis of OF. Therefore, this case report aimed to describe a new case of ossifying OF and discuss the histopathology and immunohistochemical features

Solitary fibrous tumor of the parotid gland: case report

Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) is a rare spindle cell neoplasm that usually develops in the pleura and peritoneum. The head and neck region is involved in only 6% of the cases. Involvement of the parotid gland is a rare phenomenon, with only 24 cases reported in the literature. The aim of this study is to report an additional case of SFT affecting the parotid gland, and to review the literature on previously reported cases. The patient was a 42-year-old male with a 4-cm, fibro-elastic, movable, painless nodule in the inferior lobe of the parotid gland. The lesion was surgically excised and, following histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis, a diagnosis of SFT was rendered. The patient has been followed-up for ten months, with no signs of recurrence. Clinical, histopathological, immunohis tochemical and treatment aspects of the tumor are discussed

Odontogenic keratocyst in the maxillary sinus: Report of two cases

SummaryThe odontogenic keratocyst (OKC) is well known for its tendency to recur, potential aggressive behaviour and defined histopathological feature. OKC occurrence in the maxilla is unusual and its appearance in the maxillary sinus very uncommon. This article reports two distinct cases of OKCs associated with unerupted molars in the maxillary sinus of two boys. The lesions were surgically treated and no recurrence has been observed on follow-up. OKC clinical features and treatment are discussed

Etiology, risk factors and management of implant fractures

Implant fracture is an infrequent and late biomechanical complication with a serious clinical outcome. In effect, such fractures pose important problems for both the patient and the dental surgeon. According to most literature sources, the prevalence of dental implant fractures is very low (approximately 2 fractures per 1000 implants in the mouth). Considering that implant placement is becoming increasingly popular, an increase in the number of failures due to late fractures is to be expected. Clearly, careful treatment can contribute to reduce the incidence of fracture. An early diagnosis of the signs alerting to implant fatigue, such as loosening, torsion or fracture of the post screws and prosthetic ceramic fracture, can help prevent an undesirable outcome. The present literature review describes the management options and discusses the possible causal mechanisms underlying such failures, as well as the factors believed to contribute to implant fracture

Anti-apoptotic gene transcription signature of salivary gland neoplasms

BACKGROUND: Development of accurate therapeutic approaches to salivary gland neoplasms depends on better understanding of their molecular pathogenesis. Tumour growth is regulated by the balance between proliferation and apoptosis. Few studies have investigated apoptosis in salivary tumours relying almost exclusively on immunohistochemistry or TUNEL assay. Furthermore, there is no information regarding the mRNA expression profile of apoptotic genes in salivary tumors. Our objective was to investigate the quantitative expression of BCL-2 (anti-apoptotic), BAX and Caspase3 (pro-apoptotic genes) mRNAs in salivary gland neoplasms and examine the association of these data with tumour size, proliferative activity and p53 staining (parameters associated with a poor prognosis of salivary tumours patients). METHODS: We investigated the apoptotic profile of salivary neoplasms in twenty fresh samples of benign and seven samples of malignant salivary neoplasms, using quantitative real time PCR. We further assessed p53 and ki-67 immunopositivity and obtained clinical tumour size data. RESULTS: We demonstrated that BCL-2 mRNA is overexpressed in salivary neoplasms, leading to an overall anti-apoptotic profile. We also found an association between the anti-apoptotic index (BCL-2/BAX) with p53 immunoexpression. A higher proliferative activity was found in the malignant tumours. In addition, tumour size was associated with cell proliferation but not with the transcription of apoptotic genes. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we show an anti-apoptotic gene expression profile in salivary neoplasms in association with p53 staining, but independent of cell proliferation and tumour size