The nature of secondary school pupils' spatial ability in mathematics Some instructional alternatives

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Prevalence of noncarious cervical lesions among adults: A systematic review

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to systematically review the literature on noncarious cervical lesions (NCCLs) and calculate an overall prevalence estimate. METHODS: The protocol of this systematic review was prepared according to PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines. The MEDLINE-PubMed and Cochrane-CENTRAL databases were searched. Relevant published papers that provided information regarding the prevalence or number of NCCLs among general or specific populations were included. RESULTS: The initial search identified 569 titles and abstracts, 24 of which met the eligibility criteria involving 14,628 participants. The weighted mean prevalence of NCCLs among the whole studied population was 46.7 % (95 % CI: 38.2; 55.3 %), ranging from 9.1%-93%. Based on sub-analyses, studies with populations older than 30 years revealed higher weighted prevalence (53 %) than those with populations younger than 30 years (43 %). Regarding the diagnostic method, when visual or tactile clinical examination was used, the prevalence was lower than when the Smith and Knight tooth wear index was used. When different definitions were used, the weighted mean prevalence varied from 28 % to 62 %. As to the terms used to address the lesions, the prevalence was higher when "noncarious cervical lesion" was used and lower when "root defects," "abrasion," or "abfraction" were used. When geographical regions were compared, South America had the highest reported prevalence of NCCLs, while the United States had the lowest. Moreover, general populations presented the highest prevalence, slightly higher than dental populations, whose members frequented dental practices. CONCLUSION: The overall prevalence of NCCLs was 46.7 % and higher in older populations. Visual and tactile clinical examination underestimate this prevalence compared to the established index. The terms and definitions used also influenced the prevalence data. Distinct geographical differences were observed, and general populations were more inclined to present NCCLs

Determination Of Essential And Toxic Elements In Maternal Milk Collected In Taubaté, São Paulo State, Brazil

This work is concerned with the investigation of oligoelements and heavy metals in the maternal milk (colostrum and mature milk). The specific objectives are: (i) to verify the performance of the analytical procedures; (ii) to compare the composition of the colostrum and the mature breast milk and (iii) to verify if the maternal milk is contaminated by toxic elements. Throughout the year of 2004, 79 samples of colostrum and 16 samples of breast milk were analysed (Ca, Cr, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Se, Pb and Zn). The samples were submitted to an acid digestion in a closed system, and flame atomic absorption (FAAS) and/or electro thermal atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) were used for the determination. Tests were performed on standard NIST-certified milk-powder to validate the reliability of subsequently collected analytical data. The reproducibility varied from 1.9 to 12.2% (FAAS) and from 2.8 to 9.2% (GFAAS). It was found significant difference at 5% level between the concentrations in colostrum and mature milk only for calcium (129.33 and 208.85 mg L-1, respectively) and for iron (1.414 and 2.561 mg L-1, respectively). The lead concentrations in colostrum (0.209 mg L-1) and mature milk (0.136 mg L-1) were very high compared to the ANVISA (a Brazilian regulatory agency), that establishes a maximum of 0.05 mg kg-1. Analytical methodologies developed here show excellent performance using both FAAS and GFAAS. The maternal milk contains all essential oligo-elements. The lead high level suggests necessity of a strong control of food and regions contamination to avoid its presence in maternal milk.1218892(2007) Produtos Lácteos: Algumas considerações nutricionais e econômicas, , http://www.iea.sp.gov.br, IEA-Instituto de Economia Agrícola. Retrieved December, 21, 2007 from (in Portuguese)Holmlund, U., Amoudruz, P., Johansson, M.A., Haileselassie, Y., Ongoiba, A., Kayentao, K., Traore, B., Sverremark-Ekstrom, E., Maternal country of origin, breast milk characteristics and potential influences on immunity in offspring (2010) Clinical and Experimental Immunology, 162 (3), pp. 500-509Valent, F., Horvat, M., Mazej, D., Stibilj, V., Barbone, F., Maternal diet and selenium concentration in human milk from an italian population (2011) Journal of Epidemiology, 21 (4), pp. 285-292Nascimento, L.F.C., Izario Filho, H.J., Stroppa, F.D., Pereira, M.L., Baccan, N., Cadmium quantification in Brazilian mothers colostrum: A regional study (2005) Revista Brasileira de Saúde Materno Infantil, 5, pp. 193-198Soares, V.A., Kus, M.M.M., Peixoto, A.L.C., Carrocci, J.S., Salazar, R.F.S., Izário Filho, H.J., Determination of nutritional and toxic elements in pasteurized bovine milk from Vale do Paraiba region (Brazil) (2010) Food Control, 21, pp. 45-49Silvestre, M.D., Lagarda, M.J., Farré, R., Martinez-Costa, C., Brines, J., Copper, iron and zinc determinations in human milk using FAAS with microwave digeston (2000) Food Chemistry, 68, pp. 95-99Moran, V.H., Lowe, N., Crossland, N., Berti, C., Cetin, I., Hermoso, M., Koletzko, B., Dykes, F., Nutritional requirements during lactation (2010) Towards European alignment of reference values: The EURRECA network. Maternal and Child Nutrition, 6 (2), pp. 39-54Thandrayen, K., Pettifor, J.M., Maternal vitamin D status: Implications for the development of infantile nutritional rickets (2010) Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America, 39 (2), pp. 303-320Lönnerdal, B., Regulation of mineral and trace elements in human milk: Exogenous and endogenous factors (2000) Nutrition Reviews, 58 (8), pp. 223-229Krachler, M., Rossipal, E., Micetik-Turk, D., Trace element transfer from mother to the newborn-investigation on triplets of colostrum, maternal and umbilical cord serium (1999) European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 53, pp. 486-494Celada, A., Brusset, R., Gutierrez, J., Herreros, V., No correlation between iron concentration in breast milk and maternal iron stores (1982) Helvica Paediatrica Acta, 37, pp. 11-16Arnaud, J., Favier, A., Cooper, iron, manganese and zinc contents in human colostrum and transitory milk of French women (1995) Science of the Total Environment, 159, pp. 9-15Christian, P., West Jr., K.P., Interactions between zinc and Vitamin A: An update (1998) American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 68, pp. 435S-441SPisacane, A., Graziano, L., Mazzarella, G., Scarpellino, B., Zona, G., Breast-feeding and urinary tract infection (1992) Journal of Pediatrics, 120, pp. 87-89Gunshin, H., Yoshikawa, M., Doudou, T., Kato, N., Trace elements in human milk, cow's milk and infant formula (1985) Agriculture and Biological Chemistry, 40, pp. 21-26Bellisota, G., Pasti, F., Valdes, M., Torboli, A., The use of total-reflection x-ray fluorescence to track the metabolism and excretion of selenion in human (1999) Spectrochimica Acta Part B, 58, pp. 1481-1485Picciano, M.F., Trace elements in human milk and infants formulas: Nestle Nutre Workshop (1985) Trace Elements Nutrition Child, 8, pp. 157-174Moreira, F.R., Moreira, J.C., A importância da análise de especiação do chumbo em plasma para avaliação dos riscos à saúde (2004) Química Nova, 27, pp. 251-260. , (in Portuguese)Nascimento, L.F.C., Izário Filho, H.J., Oliveira, B.E., Níveis de chumbo em colostro humano: Um estudo no Vale do Paraíba (2006) Revista Brasileira de Saúde Materno Infantil, 6 (1), pp. 69-74. , (in Portuguese)Okada, I.A., Sakuma, A.M., Maio, F.D., Dovidauskas, S., Zenebon, O., Evaluation of lead and cadmium levels in milk due to environmental contamination in the Paraiba Valley region of Southeastern Brazil (1997) Journal of Public Health, 31 (2), pp. 140-143Salazar, R.F.S., Alcântara, M.A.K., Izário Filho, H.J., Evaluation of sample preparation methods and optimization of nickel determination in vegetable tissues (2011) Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo, 35, pp. 241-248White, M.A., Sabbione, E., Trace element reference values in tissues from inhabitants of the European Union. X: A study of 13 elements in blood and urine of a United Kingdom population (1998) Science of the Total Environment, 216, pp. 253-270Al-Awadi, F.M., Srikumar, T.S., Trace-element status in milk and plasma of Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti lactating mothers (2000) Nutrition, 16, pp. 1069-1073Schlemmer, G., Graphite furnace AAS for complex samples: Detection limits, precision, long-term stability (1996) Atomic Spectroscopy, 17, pp. 15-21Miller, J.C., Miller, J.N., (1993) Statistics for analytical chemistry, p. 256. , (3rd ed.). Elsevier, New YorkWelz, B., Abuse of the analyte addition technique in atomic absorption spectrometry (1986) Fresenius' Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 325, pp. 95-101L'Vov, B.V., Electrothermal atomization: The way toward absolute methods of atomic absorption analysis (1978) Spectrochimica Acta, Part B, 33, pp. 153-198Elmer, P., (1996) Analytical methods: Atomic absorption spectroscopy, p. 300. , Perkin Elmer ed., (Cookbok)Schlemmer, G., Graphite furnace AAS for complex samples: Detection limits, precision, long-term stability (1996) Atomic Spectroscopy, 17 (1), pp. 15-21Turan, S., Saygi, S., Kiliç, Z., Acar, O., Determination of heavy metal contents in human colostrums samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometry (2001) Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, 47, pp. 81-85Silva, P.R., Dorea, J.G., Boaventure, G.R., Multielement determination in small samples of milk by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (1997) Biological Trace Element Research, 59 (1-3), pp. 57-62Donangelo, C.M., Trugo, N.M., Koury, J.C., Silva, M.I.B., Freitas, L.A., Feldheim, W., Iron, zinc, foliate and vitamin B12 nutritional status and milk composition of low-income Brazilian mothers (1989) European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 43, pp. 253-266Trugo, N.M., Donangelo, C.M., Koury, J.C., Silva, M.I.B., Freitas, L.A., Concentration and distribution pattern of selected micronutrients in preterm and term milk from urban Brazilian mothers during early lactation (1988) European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 42, pp. 496-507Baird, C., (2002) Química ambiental, pp. 402-433. , (2nd ed.). Bookman, Proto Alegre(2007) ANVISA-Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, , http://anvisa.gov.br, Decree number 55.871/65. Retrieved December, 21, 2007 from (in Portuguese

Lipophilicity assessement in drug discovery: Experimental and theoretical methods applied to xanthone derivatives

For the last several years, searching of new xanthone derivatives (XDs) with potential pharmacological activities has remained one of the main areas of interest of our group. The optimization of biological activity and drug-like properties of hits and leads is crucial at early stage of the drug discovery pipeline. Lipophilicity is one of the most important drug-like properties having a great impact in both pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics processes. In this work, we describe the lipophilicity of a small library of bioactive XDs, previously synthesized by our group, using different methods: computational, vortex-assisted liquid–liquid microextraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (VALLME-HPLC), reversed-phase high-performance thin layer chromatography (RP-HPTLC), reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC), and biomembrane model by the partition between micelles and aqueous phase. The different results obtained by the used methods were compared and discussed. The methodologies and data gathered in this study will expand the investigation of lipophilicity of XDs, an important class of compounds in medicinal chemistry. © 2017 ElsevierThis work was partially supported through national funds provided by FCT/MCTES − Foundation for Science and Technology from the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education (PIDDAC) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the COMPETE − Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC) programme , under the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013, the project PTDC/MAR-BIO/4694/2014 (reference POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016790; Project 3599–Promover a Produção Científica e Desenvolvimento Tecnológico e a Constituição de Redes Temáticas (3599-PPCDT)) in the framework of the programme PT2020 . José Soares thanks the financial support of National Funds from FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia), FEDER under Program PT2020 (project 007265 −UID/QUI/50006/2013), and through the FCT PhD Programmes and by Programa Operacional Potencial Humano (POCH), specifically by the BiotechHealth Programme (Doctoral Programme on Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology Applied to Health Sciences), reference PD/00016/2012. José Soares thanks FCT and POPH (Programa Operacional Potencial Humano) for his PhD grant (SFRH/BD/98105/2013). Appendix

Accessing lipophilicity of drugs with biomimetic models: A comparative study using liposomes and micelles

Lipophilicity is a physicochemical property of crucial importance in drug discovery and drug design. Biomimetic models, such as liposomes and micelles, constitute a valuable tool for the assessment of lipophilicity through the determination of partition coefficients (log Kp). However, the lack of standardization hampers the judgment about which model or method has the best and broadest passive drug permeation predictive capacity. This work provides a comparative analysis between the methodologies based on biomimetic models to determine the partition coefficient (log Kp). For that purpose, a set of reference substances preconized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines was used. The biomimetic models employed were liposomes and micelles composed by 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (DMPC) and hexadecylphosphocholine (HePC), respectively. Both lipids were used as representative phospholipids of natural membranes. The partition coefficients between biomimetic models and aqueous phases were determined by derivative spectroscopy at physiological conditions (37 °C and pH 7.4). The partition coefficients obtained using biomimetic models are quite different and more reliable than the ones obtained using an octanol/water system. Comparing the performance of the two biomimetic models, micelles revealed to be suitable only for substances with high molar absorption coefficient and log Kp > 3, but in general liposomes are the best model for accessing lipophilicity of drugs. Furthermore, a comparison between experimental data and the partition coefficients determined by the computational method COSMOmic is also provided and discussed. As a final summarizing result, a decision tree is provided in order to guide the selection of a tool for assessing the lipophilicity of drugs. © 2018 ElsevierThis work was supported by European Union (FEDER funds POCI/01/0145/FEDER/007265 ) and National Funds (FCT/MEC, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Educação e Ciência) under the Partnership Agreement PT2020 UID/QUI/50006/2013 ; through the FCT PhD Programmes and by Programa Operacional Capital Humano (POCH), specifically by the BiotechHealth Programme (Doctoral Programme on Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology Applied to Health Sciences), reference PD/00016/2012; through the FCT and POCH for the PhD grants (SFRH/BD/98105/2013 and PD/BD/105957/2014, respectively) and for the Investigator grant (IF/00293/2015); and through the financial support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The authors would also like to thank Sara Cravo and Gisela Adriano for the technical support. Appendix

3D morphometric evaluation of the dental arches in children with cleft lip and palate submitted to different surgical techniques

Objectives: This study aimed to compare dimensional alterations of dental arches in children with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate before and after different techniques of primary plastic surgeries. Materials and methods: The sample was divided into two groups: group 1\u2014cheiloplasty by Millard\u2019s technique and one-stage palatoplasty by von Langenbeck\u2019s technique; group 2\u2014cheiloplasty by Millard\u2019s technique and two-stage palatoplasty: anterior palatoplasty by Hans Pichler\u2019s technique and posterior palatoplasty by Sommerlad\u2019s technique. Dental arches were evaluated before (T1), after the first phase (T2), and 1 year after the second phase (T3) of primary surgeries. Linear measurements and palatal area were assessed. To analyze the method\u2019s error, interclass correlation coefficient was applied. ANOVA (followed by Tukey test), dependent, and independent t-test were used (p < 0.05). Results: At T1, the intertuberosity distance was statistically greater in G2 (p = 0.004). At T2, the anterior length of the dental arch was statistically greater in G2 (p = 0.025), while the area of the smaller palatal segment (p = 0.001), cleft area (p = 0.014), and total area (p = 0.002) were statistically smaller in G2. At T3, the intertuberosity distance was statistically greater in G2 (p = 0.017). Conclusion: This study suggests that cheiloplasty and one-stage palatoplasty resulted in smaller growth of maxilla than cheiloplasty and two-stage palatoplasty in the linear measurements (T-T\u2019 and I-CC\u2019) and total area of the dental arches. Clinical relevance. Surgical protocols need to be evaluated to verify their effects aiming at improving the clinical practice of the interdisciplinary team, determining new parameters for the rehabilitation of individuals with cleft lip and palate

Efeito do óleo essencial de pimenta longa (Piper hispidinervum C. DC) e do emulsificante Tween® 80 sobre o crescimento micelial de Alternaria alternata (Fungi: Hyphomycetes) The effect of Long-pepper essential oil (Piper hispidinervum C. DC.) and of Tween®; 80 emulsifier on the mycelial growth of Alternaria alternate (Fungi: Hyphomycetes)

Este trabalho objetivou avaliar o efeito do óleo essencial de folhas de pimenta longa (Piper hispidinervum C. DC), sobre o crescimento micelial de Alternaria alternata e a análise da influência da concentração do emulsificante Tween® 80 no controle deste fitopatógeno. O óleo essencial foi obtido pela técnica "arraste a vapor d'água", utilizando-se aparelho de Clevenger modificado, e posteriormente submetido, à análise por cromatografia em fase gasosa acoplada a espectrômetro de massas CG-EM a CG. Para os ensaios biológicos, o método foi o bioanalítico in vitro observando-se o crescimento ou inibição do micélio de A. alternata no meio de cultura BDA na presença de diferentes concentrações do óleo essencial (0, 100, 250, 500 e 1000 mgL-1 ) sob diferentes concentrações de Tween® 80. Adotou-se esquema fatorial com quatro repetições, em delineamento inteiramente casualizado (DIC). Observou-se que o óleo essencial de pimenta longa apresentou inibição sobre o crescimento micelial do fungo A. alternataem todas as concentrações analisadas, sendo que na concentração de 1000 mgL-1 esta inibição foi de 100% , e a porcentagem de emulsificante (Tween® 80), influenciou na atividade fungitóxica das concentrações de 250 mgL -1 e 500 mgL -1 do óleo essencial.<br>The object of this work was to evaluate the effectof essential oils from Long-pepper leaves Piper hispidinervum on the mycelial growth of Alternaria alternata and to analyze the influence of emulsifier Tween® 80 concentration in the control of this phytopathogen. The essential oil was obtained by steam stream distillation, using a modified Clevenger apparatus, and the chemical composition was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy GC-MS and GC. For biological tests, the bioanalytical in vitro method was used, observing the growth or inhibition of such phytopathogen in BDA culture media, in the presence of different essential oil concentrations (0, 100, 250, 500, e 1000 mgL -1) under different Tween® 80 concentrations. Factorial scheme with four repetitions, in entirely randomized outline was adopted. The essential oil of Long-pepper inhibited the micellial growth of the A. alternata fungus at all of the concentrations tested. A 100% inhibition at the 1000 mgL -1 concentration was observed, and the percentage of emulsifier (Tween® 80) influenced the fungitoxic activity at the 250 mgL-1 and 500 mgL -1 concentrations of the essential oil