The Patient’s and the Therapist’s Evaluation of Bridges of Different Materials and Age

The aim of this study was to find out patients\u27 satisfaction with their bridges made of different materials (metal-ceramics, Au/resin, Ag-Pd/resin). One hundred and sixty four patients were examined at the Dental School, University of Zagreb, Croatia. They assessed their bridges – the overall quality, aesthetics, speech, chewing and the health of the gingiva by the scale from 1–5. The same categories were also assessed by a trained prosthodontist. The majority of the patients was really satisfied and gave the highest grades (quality, aesthetics, speech, etc.) and therefore the results were skewed and asymmetrical towards the biggest scores (biggest grades). The best gingival health was evaluated by the group of patients with ceramic crowns and bridges (p < 0.05) and the worst by the patients with Ag-Pd bridges. Speech was scored higher for the lateral than for the frontal bridges. Patients evaluated the health of the tissue surrounding their bridges, overall quality of fixed prosthodontic appliance and aesthetics with significantly higher scores than the prosthodontist (p < 0.01). The results point at a difference between the patient’s and the therapist\u27s evaluations and to the patient\u27s insufficient care about the gingiva around the bridge abutments

Effects of Succinate on the Growth Rates of Potato, Rauwolfia, and Ginseng in vitro

Effects of succinate on in vitro potato reproduction, callus cultures of Rauwolfia serpentina, and Panax ginseng roots was studied. The optimum succinate concentration giving the maximum the growth rate of potato shoots and callus mass, was found to be 10-5 M. Succinate treatment increased the absolute yield of the alkaloid ajmaline in Rauwolfia callus culture, in spite of a decrease in its specific content

Effects of succinate on the growth rates of potato, Rauwolfia, and ginseng in vitro

Effects of succinate on in vitro potato reproduction, callus cultures of Rauwolfia serpentina, and Panax ginseng roots were studied. The optimum succinate concentration giving the maximum the growth rate of potato shoots and callus mass, was found to be 10-5 M. Succinate treatment increased the absolute yield of the alkaloid ajmaline in Rauwolfia callus culture, in spite of a decrease in its specific content

Possible Metal/Insulator Transition at B=0 in Two Dimensions

We have studied the zero magnetic field resistivity of unique high- mobility two-dimensional electron system in silicon. At very low electron density (but higher than some sample-dependent critical value, $n_{cr}\sim 10^{11}$ cm$^{-2}$), CONVENTIONAL WEAK LOCALIZATION IS OVERPOWERED BY A SHARP DROP OF RESISTIVITY BY AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE with decreasing temperature below 1--2 K. No further evidence for electron localization is seen down to at least 20 mK. For $n_s<N_{cr}$, the sample is insulating. The resistivity is empirically found to SCALE WITH TEMPERATURE BOTH BELOW AND ABOVE $n_{cr}$ WITH A SINGLE PARAMETER which approaches zero at $n_s=n_{cr}$ suggesting a metal/ insulator phase transition.Comment: 10 pages; REVTeX v3.0; 3 POSTSCRIPT figures available upon request; to be published in PRB, Rapid Commu

Plasma dispersion of multisubband electron systems over liquid helium

Density-density response functions are evaluated for nondegenerate multisubband electron systems in the random-phase approximation for arbitrary wave number and subband index. We consider both quasi-two-dimensional and quasi-one- dimensional systems for electrons confined to the surface of liquid helium. The dispersion relations of longitudinal intrasubband and transverse intersubband modes are calculated at low temperatures and for long wavelengths. We discuss the effects of screening and two-subband occupancy on the plasmon spectrum. The characteristic absorption edge of the intersubband modes is shifted relatively to the single-particle intersubband separation and the depolarization shift correction can be significant at high electron densities

Towards A Census of Earth-mass Exo-planets with Gravitational Microlensing

Thirteen exo-planets have been discovered using the gravitational microlensing technique (out of which 7 have been published). These planets already demonstrate that super-Earths (with mass up to ~10 Earth masses) beyond the snow line are common and multiple planet systems are not rare. In this White Paper we introduce the basic concepts of the gravitational microlensing technique, summarise the current mode of discovery and outline future steps towards a complete census of planets including Earth-mass planets. In the near-term (over the next 5 years) we advocate a strategy of automated follow-up with existing and upgraded telescopes which will significantly increase the current planet detection efficiency. In the medium 5-10 year term, we envision an international network of wide-field 2m class telescopes to discover Earth-mass and free-floating exo-planets. In the long (10-15 year) term, we strongly advocate a space microlensing telescope which, when combined with Kepler, will provide a complete census of planets down to Earth mass at almost all separations. Such a survey could be undertaken as a science programme on Euclid, a dark energy probe with a wide-field imager which has been proposed to ESA's Cosmic Vision Programme.Comment: 10 pages. White Paper submission to the ESA Exo-Planet Roadmap Advisory Team. See also "Inferring statistics of planet populations by means of automated microlensing searches" by M. Dominik et al. (arXiv:0808.0004

Гетерологичная экспрессия диаденилатциклазы в виде телец включения, обладающих ферментативной активностью

Using the DNA recombination technique, a new bacterial strain Escherichia coli DAC-22 was derived, whose cells are able to carry out the heterologous expression of Bacillus thuringiensis diadenylate cyclase – the enzyme catalyzing the reaction of adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP) transformation into cyclic 3′,5′-diadenylate (cyclo-di-AMP). To derive the strain, E. coli “Rosetta (DE3) pLysS” cells were originally used as recipients of plasmid pET42a+ with the inserted gene disA encoding diadenylate cyclase of B. thuringiensis. The cells of the recombinant strain are able to produce heterologous diadenylate cyclase localized predominantly (by 90 %) in the fraction of the catalytically active inclusion bodies. The productivity of the new strain with respect to diadenylate cyclase structurally arranged as the inclusion bodies was 720 units/l of cultural fluid. The inclusion bodies formed by the newly engineered strain are intended for use in the technology of producing pharmacologically promising cyclo-di-AMP.С помощью техники рекомбинантной ДНК создан новый бактериальный штамм Escherichia coli ДАЦ-22, клетки которого способны осуществлять гетерологичную экспрессию диаденилатциклазы Bacillus thuringiensis – фермента, катализирующего реакцию трансформации аденозин-5′-трифосфата в циклический 3′,5′-диаденилат (цикло-ди-АМФ). Для получения этого штамма в качестве клеток-реципиентов плазмиды pET42a+ со встроенным геном disA, кодирующим диаденилатциклазу B. thuringiensis, впервые были использованы клетки E. coli «Rosetta (DE3) pLysS». Клетки нового штамма способны продуцировать гетерологичную диаденилатциклазу, около 90 % которой локализовано во фракции каталитически активных телец включения. Продуцирующая способность полученного штамма в отношении диаденилатциклазы, находящейся в составе каталитически активных телец включения, составила 720 ед/л культуральной жидкости. Образуемые этим штаммом тельца включения могут быть использованы в технологии получения фармакологически перспективного цикло-ди-АМФ

Prevention and management of excessive gestational weight gain: a survey of overweight and obese pregnant women

Background - Excessive gestational weight gain is associated with adverse infant, childhood and maternal outcomes and research to develop interventions to address this issue is ongoing. The views of women on gestational weight gain and the resources they would consider helpful in addressing this are however largely unknown. This survey aimed to determine the views of newly pregnant women, living in areas of social disadvantage, on 1) their current body weight and potential gestational weight gain and 2) the resources or interventions they would consider helpful in preventing excessive gestational weight gain. Methods - A convenience sample of overweight and obese pregnant women living in Fife, UK, were invited to complete a short anonymised questionnaire at their 12 week booking visit. Results - 428 women, BMI&#62;25 kg/m2, completed the questionnaire. Fifty-four per cent of respondents were obese (231) and 62% were living in areas of mild to moderate deprivation. Over three-quarters of participants felt dissatisfied with their current weight (81%). The majority of women (60%) expressed some concern about potential weight gain. Thirty-nine percent were unconcerned about weight gain during their pregnancy, including 34 women (19%) who reported having retained weight gained in earlier pregnancies. Amongst those concerned about weight gain advice on physical activity (41%) and access to sports/leisure facilities were favoured resources (36%). Fewer women (12%) felt that group sessions on healthy eating or attending a clinic for individualised advice (14%) would be helpful. "Getting time off work" was the most frequently cited barrier (48%) to uptake of resources other than leaflets. Conclusions- These data suggest a lack of awareness amongst overweight and obese women regarding excessive gestational weight gain. Monitoring of gestational weight gain, and approaches for its management, should be formally integrated into routine antenatal care. Barriers to the uptake of resources to address weight gain are numerous and must be considered in the design of future interventions and services

Chemical characterization and anti-inflammatory effect of rauvolfian, a pectic polysaccharide of Rauvolfia callus

The pectic polysaccharide named rauvolfian RS was obtained from the dried callus of Rauvolfia serpentina L. by extraction with 0.7% aqueous ammonium oxalate. Crude rauvolfian RS was purified using membrane ultrafiltration to yield the purified rauvolfian RSP in addition to glucan as admixture from the callus, with molecular weights 300 and 100-300 kD, respectively. A peroral pretreatment of mice with the crude and purified samples of rauvolfian (RS and RSP) was found to decrease colonic macroscopic scores, the total area of damage, and tissue myelope roxidase activity in colons as compared with a colitis group. RS and RSP were shown to stimulate production of mucus by colons of the colitis mice. RSP appeared to be an active constituent of the parent RS. The glucan failed to possess anti-inflammatory activity. © 2007 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd

OGLE-2005-BLG-018: Characterization of Full Physical and Orbital Parameters of a Gravitational Binary Lens

We present the analysis result of a gravitational binary-lensing event OGLE-2005-BLG-018. The light curve of the event is characterized by 2 adjacent strong features and a single weak feature separated from the strong features. The light curve exhibits noticeable deviations from the best-fit model based on standard binary parameters. To explain the deviation, we test models including various higher-order effects of the motions of the observer, source, and lens. From this, we find that it is necessary to account for the orbital motion of the lens in describing the light curve. From modeling of the light curve considering the parallax effect and Keplerian orbital motion, we are able to measure not only the physical parameters but also a complete orbital solution of the lens system. It is found that the event was produced by a binary lens located in the Galactic bulge with a distance $6.7\pm 0.3$ kpc from the Earth. The individual lens components with masses $0.9\pm 0.3\ M_\odot$ and $0.5\pm 0.1\ M_\odot$ are separated with a semi-major axis of $a=2.5 \pm 1.0$ AU and orbiting each other with a period $P=3.1 \pm 1.3$ yr. The event demonstrates that it is possible to extract detailed information about binary lens systems from well-resolved lensing light curves.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure