Multimorbidity patterns of oral clinical conditions, social position, and oral health-related quality of life in a population-based survey of 12-yr-old children.

The aim of this study was to describe the patterns of multimorbidities of oral clinical conditions in children. The association between social position and number of oral clinical conditions, and the relationship of social position and number of oral clinical conditions with oral health-related quality of life [OHRQoL, measured using the Brazilian Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (Child-OIDP)] were also investigated. The study analysed data on 7,208 children, 12 yr of age, from the Brazilian Oral Health Survey (SBBrasil Project). Cluster analysis based on the observed/expected (O/E) ratios identified six significant clusters of oral clinical conditions: (i) dental caries and missing teeth; (ii) dental caries and dental trauma; (iii) dental trauma and gingivitis; (iv) dental caries, missing teeth, and dental trauma; (v) dental caries, dental trauma, and gingivitis; and (vi) all oral clinical conditions. Ordinal regression showed that poor social position was associated with a large number of oral clinical conditions. Poisson regression demonstrated that low social position and greater number of oral clinical conditions increased the likelihood of poor OHRQoL (Child-OIDP extent). The four oral clinical conditions clustered into six distinct clusters among Brazilian children. Multimorbidity of oral clinical conditions predicted poor OHRQoL. Social position was of high relevance to multimorbidity of oral clinical conditions and children's OHRQoL

Retention systems for extraoral maxillofacial prosthetic implants: a critical review

We describe the techniques available for retention of implant-supported prostheses: bar-clips, O-rings, and magnets. We present reported preferences and, although this is limited by the heterogeneity of methods used and patients studied, we hope we have identified the best retention systems for maxillofacial prosthetic implants. If practitioners know the advantages and disadvantages of each system, they can choose the most natural and comfortable prosthesis. We searched the PubMed and Scopus databases, and restricted our search to papers published 2001–13. MeSH terms used were Maxillofacial prosthesis and Craniofacial prosthesis OR Craniofacial prostheses. We found a total of 2630 papers, and after duplicates had been removed we analysed the rest and found 25 papers for review. Of these, 12 were excluded because they were case reports or non-systematic reviews. Of the remaining 13, 10 described group analyses and seemed appropriate to find practitioner’s choices, as cited in the abstract (n=1611 prostheses). Three papers did not mention the type of prosthetic connection used, so were excluded. The most popular choices for different conditions were analysed, though the sites and retention systems were not specified in all 10 papers. The bar-clip system was the most used in auricular (6/10 papers) and nasal prostheses (4/10). For the orbital region, 6/10 favoured magnets. Non-osseointegrated mechanical or adhesive retention techniques are the least expensive and have no contraindications. When osseointegrated implants are possible, each facial region has a favoured system. The choice of system is influenced by two factors: standard practice and the abilities of the maxillofacial surgeon and maxillofacial prosthetist

Contextual and individual determinants of non-utilization of dental services among Brazilian adults

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of contextual and individual determinants with non-utilization of dental services among Brazilian adults. METHODS: Data were from adults aged 35-44 years (N = 7,265) from the 2010 Brazilian Oral Health Survey (SB Brasil Project). Non-utilization of dental services was assessed whether the individual has never had a dental visit over the whole life time. Independent variables were selected according to Andersen's behavioral model. Contextual variables included Human Development Index-longevity (HDI-Longevity) (predisposing demographic), HDI-Education and Gini index (predisposing social), integration of oral health teams into Primary Care (enabling health policy), and HDI-Income (enabling financing). Individual data were age and sex (predisposing demographic), ethnicity and schooling (predisposing social), family monthly income (predisposing enabling), perceived dental treatment (perceived need), and decayed teeth (evaluated need). The relationship of contextual and individual variables with non-utilization of dental services was assessed through multilevel logistic regression analysis to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: The prevalence of non-utilization of dental services was 4.7 percent. Adults living in cities with high HDI-Income were less likely to never have a dental visit. The odds of non-utilization of dental services were lower for adults living in cities with high HDI-Longevity. Sex, skin color, dental treatment needs, poor socioeconomic characteristics, perceived dental treatment needs, and decayed teeth were also associated with non-utilization of dental services. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that contextual enabling and predisposing factors, individual sociodemographic, and needs-related characteristics influence non-utilization of dental services by Brazilian adults

Rare genetic diseases affecting skeletal development and oral health disparities among children and adolescents: a pathway analysis

Background: To examine the relationships of rare genetic diseases affecting skeletal development, socio-demographic characteristics, and oral health-related behaviours with dental clinical measures in children and adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study paired by age, gender and social class included 61 children and adolescents with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (N=40) or mucopolysaccharidoses (N=21) and those without genetic rare diseases (N=60). Participants were selected at two referral hospitals for rare genetic diseases in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Caregivers completed a questionnaire to obtain age, gender, caregiver’s schooling, social class, patterns of dental attendance and duration of breastfeeding. Oral hygiene, dental caries, dental anomalies and malocclusion were assessed through dental examinations. The relationships between variables were estimated through Pathway analysis using the maximum likelihood method. Results: Rare genetic diseases affecting skeletal development were directly associated with dental caries (β=0.22), dental anomalies (β=0.36) and malocclusion (β=0.29). They were also inversely linked to a preventive pattern of dental attendance (β=-0.25). Rare genetic diseases affecting skeletal development were associated with poor oral hygiene (β=0.28) and shorter breastfeeding duration (β=-0.21). Rare genetic diseases affecting skeletal development were linked indirectly with dental caries, a reduced pattern of dental attendance and poor oral hygiene (β=0.43). Patterns of dental attendance mediated the link between rare genetic diseases affecting skeletal development and malocclusion (β=-0.05). Conclusion: Rare genetic diseases affecting skeletal development were associated with poor oral health. Patterns of dental attendance and poor oral hygiene mediated the link between rare genetic diseases affecting skeletal development and dental clinical measures

Anatomy of BioJS, an open source community for the life sciences

BioJS is an open source software project that develops visualization tools for different types of biological data. Here we report on the factors that influenced the growth of the BioJS user and developer community, and outline our strategy for building on this growth. The lessons we have learned on BioJS may also be relevant to other open source software projects

Bioactivity screening of pinhão (Araucaria Angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze) seed extracts: the inhibition of cholinesterases and α-amylases, and cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory activities

The objective of this work was to determine the potential bioactive properties of extracts from bio-residues of pinhão (Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze) seeds, namely the α-amylase and cholinesterase inhibition, cytotoxicity, and anti-inflammatory properties. The pinhão extracts evaluated were obtained from cooking water (CW) and as an ethanolic extract from residual pinhão seed shells (PS). Catechin was the major compound found in both extracts. The PS extract presented higher antioxidant levels and the better inhibition of human salivary and porcine pancreatic α-amylases when compared to the CW extract. Also, based on in vivo evaluations, the PS extract did not differ significantly from acarbose when compared to a control group. The most potent inhibitor of cholinesterases was the CW extract. No cytotoxicity toward normal cells was detected, and neither extract showed anti-inflammatory activity. The PS extract presented cytotoxic activity toward non-small-cell lung, cervical, hepatocellular and breast carcinoma cell lines. Overall, the results demonstrated the potential bioactivity of extracts obtained from pinhão bioresidues.The authors thank CNPq (Chamada Universal – MCTI/CNPq No. 28/2018, Process 421541/2018-0) and Fundação Araucária (convênio 039/2019) for financial support. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. The authors thank Central Analítica Multiusuário da UTFPR Campo Mourão (CAMulti-CM) for analysis. Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984 – Associated Laboratory LSRE-LCM was funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) and by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. The authors are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for financial support through national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020). M. I. Dias and L. Barros would like to acknowledge national funding from FCT, P. I., through the institutional scientific employment program-contract.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Thermostatistics of deformed bosons and fermions

Based on the q-deformed oscillator algebra, we study the behavior of the mean occupation number and its analogies with intermediate statistics and we obtain an expression in terms of an infinite continued fraction, thus clarifying successive approximations. In this framework, we study the thermostatistics of q-deformed bosons and fermions and show that thermodynamics can be built on the formalism of q-calculus. The entire structure of thermodynamics is preserved if ordinary derivatives are replaced by the use of an appropriate Jackson derivative and q-integral. Moreover, we derive the most important thermodynamic functions and we study the q-boson and q-fermion ideal gas in the thermodynamic limit.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure

Consumer perception of Brazilian traced beef

The objective of this study was to determine consumers understanding of beef traceability, identifying how consumers value this meat and traceability elements to be presented on retail shelves. The method used in this study was a survey through the internet applying the Sphinx software. The sample consisted of 417 consumers, mostly living in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Consumers are aware of certified beef, consider it important, but this is not a demand. As to traced beef, most consumers (62.4%) are in favor of mandatory traceability of beef cattle in Brazil, but 86.6% disagree with the destination of traced beef only to the foreign market. The majority of people are willing to pay more for traced beef and consider traceability a market opportunity, used as a differentiating tool