Oral health-related quality of life following dental treatment under general anaesthesia for early childhood caries - a UK-based study.

Objective To assess parental reports of changes in oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of young children in the UK with early childhood caries (ECC) following dental treatment under general anaesthesia (DGA). To compare the impact of oral rehabilitation (OR) and extraction-only (Exo) treatment approaches on this. Methods Data were collected using the proxy reported components of the Child Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (COHRQoL®) questionnaire: the Parent-Caregivers Perceptions questionnaire (P-CPQ) and Family Impact Scale (FIS), from a convenience sample of parents of children receiving DGA at a UK Paediatric Dental Department. Mean scores and prevalence impacts were compared pre- and postoperatively with mean change score and effect sizes calculations. Results Seventy-eight parents were recruited (51 children undergoing OR, 27 Exo) with 6 lost to follow-up (92.3%). Following treatment, changes in mean P-CPQ and FIS scores were statistically significant (P < 0.0001) with medium to large effect sizes (0.45–1.39). The differences in change scores between the two treatment approaches were not statistically different. Conclusion DGA for young children with early childhood caries resulted in substantial improvements in parent's ratings of their child's OHRQoL and of the impact on their families. Larger cohort studies are needed to validate these preliminary findings

Reduced cortical renal GLUT1 expression induced by angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition in diabetic spontaneously hypertensive rats

Diabetes in spontaneously hypertensive rats is associated with cortical renal GLUT1 and GLUT2 overexpression. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of the angiotensin-converting enzyme blockade on cortical renal GLUT1 and GLUT2 expression, urinary albumin and urinary TGF-&#946;1. Streptozotocin, 50 mg/kg, or citrate buffer (N = 16) was administered as a single injection into the tail vein in adult spontaneously hypertensive rats (~260 g). Thirty days later, these diabetic spontaneously hypertensive rats received ramipril by gavage: 0.01 mg·kg-1·day-1 (D0.01, N = 14), 1 mg·kg-1·day-1 (D1, N = 9) or water (D, N = 11) for 15 days. Albumin and TGF-&#946;1 (24-h urine), direct arterial pressure, renal tissue angiotensin-converting enzyme activity (fluorometric assay), and GLUT1 and GLUT2 protein levels (Western blot, renal cortex) were determined. Glycemia and glycosuria were higher (P < 0.05) in the diabetic rats compared with controls, but similar between the diabetic groups. Diabetes in spontaneously hypertensive rats lowered renal tissue angiotensin-converting enzyme activity (40%), which was reduced further when higher ramipril doses were used. Diabetes associated with hypertension raised GLUT1 by 28% (P < 0.0001) and GLUT2 by 76% (P = 0.01), and both doses of ramipril equally reduced cortical GLUT1 (D vs D1 and vs D0.01, P &#8804; 0.001). GLUT2 levels were reduced in D0.01 (P < 0.05 vs D). Diabetes increased urinary albumin and TGF-&#946;1 urinary excretion, but the 15-day ramipril treatment (with either dose) did not reduce them. In conclusion, ramipril is effective in lowering renal tissue angiotensin-converting enzyme activity, as well as blocking cortical GLUT1 overexpression, which may be beneficial in arresting the development of diabetic nephropathy

Mixedness and entanglement for two-mode Gaussian states

We analytically exploit the two-mode Gaussian states nonunitary dynamics. We show that in the zero temperature limit, entanglement sudden death (ESD) will always occur for symmetric states (where initial single mode compression is $z_0$) provided the two mode squeezing $r_0$ satisfies $0 < r_0 < 1/2 \log (\cosh (2 z_0)).$ We also give the analytical expressions for the time of ESD. Finally, we show the relation between the single modes initial impurities and the initial entanglement, where we exhibit that the later is suppressed by the former.Comment: Accepted for publication in Optics Communication

GWAS of human bitter taste perception identifies new loci and reveals additional complexity of bitter taste genetics.

Human perception of bitterness displays pronounced interindividual variation. This phenotypic variation is mirrored by equally pronounced genetic variation in the family of bitter taste receptor genes. To better understand the effects of common genetic variations on human bitter taste perception, we conducted a genome-wide association study on a discovery panel of 504 subjects and a validation panel of 104 subjects from the general population of São Paulo in Brazil. Correction for general taste-sensitivity allowed us to identify a SNP in the cluster of bitter taste receptors on chr12 (10.88- 11.24 Mb, build 36.1) significantly associated (best SNP: rs2708377, P = 5.31 × 10(-13), r(2) = 8.9%, β = -0.12, s.e. = 0.016) with the perceived bitterness of caffeine. This association overlaps with-but is statistically distinct from-the previously identified SNP rs10772420 influencing the perception of quinine bitterness that falls in the same bitter taste cluster. We replicated this association to quinine perception (P = 4.97 × 10(-37), r(2) = 23.2%, β = 0.25, s.e. = 0.020) and additionally found the effect of this genetic locus to be concentration specific with a strong impact on the perception of low, but no impact on the perception of high concentrations of quinine. Our study, thus, furthers our understanding of the complex genetic architecture of bitter taste perception

Quantifying the decay of quantum properties in single-mode states

The dissipative dynamics of Gaussian squeezed states (GSS) and coherent superposition states (CSS) are analytically obtained and compared. Time scales for sustaining different quantum properties such as squeezing, negativity of the Wigner function or photon number distribution are calculated. Some of these characteristic times also depend on initial conditions. For example, in the particular case of squeezing, we find that while the squeezing of CSS is only visible for small enough values of the field intensity, in GSS it is independent of this quantity, which may be experimentally advantageous. The asymptotic dynamics however is quite similar as revealed by the time evolution of the fidelity between states of the two classes.Comment: Accepted versio

A simple model for magnetism in itinerant electron systems

A new lattice model of interacting electrons is presented. It can be viewed as a classical Hubbard model in which the energy associated to electron itinerance is proportional to the total number of possible electron jumps. Symmetry properties of the Hubbard model are preserved. In the half-filled band with strong interaction the model becomes the Ising model. The main features of the magnetic behavior of the model in the one-dimensional and mean-field cases are studied.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Physica

Characteristic Time and Maximum Mixedness: Single Mode Gaussian States in Dissipative Channels

We derive an upper limit for the mixedness of single bosonic mode gaussian states propagating in dissipative channels. It is a function of the initial squeezing and temperature of the channel only. Moreover the time at which von Neumann's entropy reaches its maximum value coincides with that of complete loss of coherence, thus defining a quantum-classical transition.Comment: Accepted versio

Electron localization : band-by-band decomposition, and application to oxides

Using a plane wave pseudopotential approach to density functional theory we investigate the electron localization length in various oxides. For this purpose, we first set up a theory of the band-by-band decomposition of this quantity, more complex than the decomposition of the spontaneous polarization (a related concept), because of the interband coupling. We show its interpretation in terms of Wannier functions and clarify the effect of the pseudopotential approximation. We treat the case of different oxides: BaO, $\alpha$-PbO, BaTiO$_3$ and PbTiO$_3$. We also investigate the variation of the localization tensor during the ferroelectric phase transitions of BaTiO$_3$ as well as its relationship with the Born effective charges

Nonlinear Spinor Fields and its role in Cosmology

Different characteristic of matter influencing the evolution of the Universe has been simulated by means of a nonlinear spinor field. Exploiting the spinor description of perfect fluid and dark energy evolution of the Universe given by an anisotropic Bianchi type-VI, VI$_0$, V, III, I or isotropic Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) one has been studied. It is shown that due to some restrictions on metric functions, initial anisotropy in the models Bianchi type-VI, VI$_0$, V and III does not die away, while the anisotropic Bianchi type-I models evolves into the isotropic one.Comment: 22 pages, 12 Figure

Soil biochemistry and microbial activity in vineyards under conventional and organic management at Northeast Brazil.

The São Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that orgThe São Francisco Submedium Valley is located at the Brazilian semiarid region and is an important center for irrigated fruit growing. This region is responsible for 97% of the national exportation of table grapes, including seedless grapes. Based on the fact that organic fertilization can improve soil quality, we compared the effects of conventional and organic soil management on microbial activity and mycorrhization of seedless grape crops. We measured glomerospores number, most probable number (MPN) of propagules, richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) species, AMF root colonization, EE-BRSP production, carbon microbial biomass (C-MB), microbial respiration, fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activity (FDA) and metabolic coefficient (qCO2). The organic management led to an increase in all variables with the exception of EE-BRSP and qCO2. Mycorrhizal colonization increased from 4.7% in conventional crops to 15.9% in organic crops. Spore number ranged from 4.1 to 12.4 per 50 g-1 soil in both management systems. The most probable number of AMF propagules increased from 79 cm-3 soil in the conventional system to 110 cm-3 soil in the organic system. Microbial carbon, CO2 emission, and FDA activity were increased by 100 to 200% in the organic crop. Thirteen species of AMF were identified, the majority in the organic cultivation system. Acaulospora excavata, Entrophospora infrequens, Glomus sp.3 and Scutellospora sp. were found only in the organically managed crop. S. gregaria was found only in the conventional crop. Organically managed vineyards increased mycorrhization and general soil microbial activity