study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background For treating deep caries lesions, selective or stepwise (one- and two-step) incomplete excavation seems advantageous compared with complete caries removal. However, current evidence regarding the success, as defined by not requiring any retreatments, or survival of teeth after different excavations is insufficient for definitive recommendation, especially when treating deciduous teeth. Moreover, restoration integrity has not been comparatively analyzed longitudinally, and neither patients’, dentists’ or parents’ preferences nor the clinical long-term costs emanating from both initial and retreatments have been reported yet. Methods/Design The planned study is a prospective multicenter, two-arm parallel group, randomized controlled clinical trial comparing selective and stepwise excavation in deciduous molars with deep, active caries lesions without pulpal symptoms. We will recruit 300 children aged between three and nine-years-old with a minimum of one such molar. Patients participating in another study, or those with systemic diseases, disabilities or known allergies to used materials as well patients with teeth expected to exfoliate within the next 18 months will be excluded. After inclusion, sequence generation will be performed. Initial treatment will follow dental routine. During excavation, leathery, moist and reasonably soft dentin will be left in proximity to the pulp followed by adhesive restoration of the cavity. Afterwards, patients’, dentists’ and parents’ subjective assessment of the treatment will be recorded using visual analogue or Likert scales. Re-examination will be performed after six months, and only then teeth will be allocated to one of the two interventions. Selectively excavated teeth will not be treated further, whilst for stepwise caries removal, a second excavation will be performed until only hard dentin remains. Clinical re-evaluations will be performed after 12, 24 and 36 months. Restorations will be reassessed using modified Ryge criteria. Objectively or subjectively required retreatments will determine success and survival. Retreatments will be evaluated both subjectively and regarding generated costs. Discussion Based on the results of the trial, decision-making for treating deep caries lesions in deciduous molars based on multiple criteria should be feasible

Bees increase seed set of wild plants while the proportion of arable land has a variable effect on pollination in European agricultural landscapes

Background and aims - Agricultural intensification and loss of farmland heterogeneity have contributed to population declines of wild bees and other pollinators, which may have caused subsequent declines in insect-pollinated wild plants. Material and methods - Using data from 37 studies on 22 pollinator-dependent wild plant species across Europe, we investigated whether flower visitation and seed set of insect-pollinated plants decline with an increasing proportion of arable land within 1 km. Key results - Seed set increased with increasing flower visitation by bees, most of which were wild bees, but not with increasing flower visitation by other insects. Increasing proportion of arable land had a strongly variable effect on seed set and flower visitation by bees across studies. Conclusion - Factors such as landscape configuration, local habitat quality, and temporally changing resource availability (e.g. due to mass-flowering crops or honey bee hives) could have modified the effect of arable land on pollination. While our results highlight that the persistence of wild bees is crucial to maintain plant diversity, we also show that pollen limitation due to declining bee populations in homogenized agricultural landscapes is not a universal driver causing parallel losses of bees and insect-pollinated plants.Peer reviewe

Panurginus niger NYLANDER 1848

Panurginus niger NYLANDER, 1848 China: 1♀, 1♁ S.China-Yunnan, Jinghong, 15.07.199 0, leg. S. Becvar, coll. OLMLPublished as part of Hopfenmüller, Sebastian, 2022, A new bee species of the Panurginus niger group from the Tien Shan Mountains, Central Asia (Hymenoptera, Anthophila, Andrenidae), pp. 175-181 in Linzer biologische Beiträge 54 (1) on page 177, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.750730

Panurginus muraviovi ROMANKOVA & ASTAFUROVA 2011

Panurginus muraviovi ROMANKOVA & ASTAFUROVA, 2011 Kazakhstan: 1♀, 1♁ Almaty r., 10km W Kalinino, 44°11'N 78° 30'E, 1600 alt, 04.06.201 6, leg. J. Halada; 22♀♀, 12♁♁ East K. pr., 5km N Samarskoe, 610m, 49°03'38''N 83°22'12''E, 01.06.201 6, leg. J. Halada; 2♀♀, 12♁♁ East K. pr., 20km N Zyryanovsk, 500m, 49°54'41''N 84°16'40''E, 03.05.201 6, leg. J. Halada; all specimen in coll. OLMLPublished as part of Hopfenmüller, Sebastian, 2022, A new bee species of the Panurginus niger group from the Tien Shan Mountains, Central Asia (Hymenoptera, Anthophila, Andrenidae), pp. 175-181 in Linzer biologische Beiträge 54 (1) on page 177, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.750730

Panurginus hartmanni Hopfenmüller 2022, nov.sp.

Panurginus hartmanni nov.sp. (Fig. 1-9) T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: ♁, Kirgisien, 9.06.199 8, Seidenstr. n At-Bashi, 2100m, N 41°12‘ E 75° 50‘, leg. P. Hartmann (Coll. ZSM). Paratypes (14♁♁, 4♀♀): 1♁ same dates as Holotype (Coll. ZSM); 2♁♁, 3♀♀ Kirgisien, 9.06.199 8, Korschoy Korgun B. At-Bashi, 2100m, N 41° 07’ E 75° 42’, leg. P Hartmann (Coll. ZSM and Coll. Hopfenmüller); 11♁, 1♀ Kazakhstan, Almaty pr., 5-10km W Saryzhaz, 1900m, 42°54'37''N 79°30'14''E, leg. J. Halada, 6.6.201 6 (10♁♁, 1♀ Coll. OLML, 1♁ Coll. Hopfenmüller). D i a g n o s i s: Panurginus hartmanni fits well in the P. niger group with narrow gonostylus and inside bent and triangular enlarged penis valve. The males can be separated by the charactersitic genitalia and pregenital sterna, especially the margin of sternite 6 with its shallow arch and very short bristles. The females of P. hartmanni are quite similar to P. niger, P. muraviovi and P. labiatus. Whereas P. niger and P. muraviovi can be separated by there more scattered punctures on the terga, P. labiatus differs by more dense punctures on scutum and more and larger pits on the clypeus. The females of P. hartmanni also differ from all other species in the P. niger group by the quite straight and short marginal zone of tergite 1 and 2. D e s c r i p t i o n o f m a l e: Body length: 4.5-5.5 mm. Shape: Head transverse. F1 conical, slightly longer than wide apically, F2 and F3 shorter than wide, other flagellomeres about as long as wide, but last one longer than wide. Labral plate narrowly rounded to slightly triangular, with median depression. Facial fovea very small and inconspicuous. Hind basitarsus 3.5-4 times as long as wide. Metasomal terga with marginal zone depressed and relatively parallel, only slightly enlarged medially. Marginal zone of T2 and T3 less than half the length of disc. Pregenital Sterna & Genitalia: S6 with posterior margin medially elevated to shallow arch with very short bristles. S7 with posterior margin slightly elevated and central shortly divided. S8 with short neck and apical plate bent outside. Gonostylus narrow, mostly parallel-sided, apically rounded, after third of length bowed inward. Penis valve apically triangular enlarged and bent inside, dorsally with a few long erect hairs. Sculpture: Body generally shiny. Lower part of face with sparse punctures, upper part of face with more dense punctures, mostly 1-2 diameters apart. Scutum and scutellum with sparse punctures on disc, backward denser, especially in the middle. Metanotum densely punctured. Metasomal terga with dense punctures on disc, getting sparser on last terga. Marginal zone of terga without punctures. The specimens from Kazakhstan have denser punctures on the terga than the specimens from Kyrgyztan. Basal and marginal zone of terga slightly shagreened. Coloration: Wing veins yellow or brownish. Clypeus yellow. Antenna underneath brownish to yellow. Legs partly yellow, especially basitarsi, parts of tibia, tip of femur. Tarsomeres 2-5 brownish to yellow. D e s c r i p t i o n o f f e m a l e: Body length 4.5-5.0 mm Shape: Head slightly transverse. F1 conical, slightly longer than wide apically, F2 and F3 shorter than wide, other flagollemeres about as long as wide, but last one longer than wide. Labral plate narrowly rounded to slightly triangular, with median depression. Facial fovea straight, only slightly depressed. Metasomal terga with marginal zone depressed and relatively parallel, only slightly enlarged medially. Marginal zone of T2 about half the length of disc, of T3 about 2/3 the length of disc. Sculpture: Body generally shiny. Lower part of face with sparse punctures, mostly 3-5 diameters apart, upper part of face more dense punctures, mostly 1-2 diameters apart, on vertex even denser. Scutum and scutellum with sparse punctures on disc, on posterior margin denser, on scutellum also on the middle line. Metasomal terga with dense punctures on disc, getting sparser on last terga. Marginal zone without punctures. Basal and marginal zone of terga slightly shagreened. Coloration: Wing veins yellow, some slightly brownish. Antenna underneath bright yellow, only flagellomers 1 and 2 dark. Tarsomers yellow or brownish. D i s t r i b u t i o n: Panurginus hartmanni was found in the Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgyztan and in Kazakhstan near the border to Kyrgyztan. The two locations are about 400 km away from each other. The specimens were found between 1,900 m and 2,100 m altitude. At the two locations in Kyrgyztan Panurginus hartmanni was collected together with Halictus leucahenaeus (det. Ebmer). E t y m o l o g y: The new species is named after the German biologist Peter Hartmann (1947-2010), an enthusiastic bee specialist who collected the new species in Kyrgyztan (DÖTTERL 2015).Published as part of Hopfenmüller, Sebastian, 2022, A new bee species of the Panurginus niger group from the Tien Shan Mountains, Central Asia (Hymenoptera, Anthophila, Andrenidae), pp. 175-181 in Linzer biologische Beiträge 54 (1) on pages 177-179, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.750730

Results of general linear models.

<p>Effects of connectivity, patch density, percentage semi-natural habitats, patch slope and patch area on abundance and richness of different groups of wild bees. (+) and (−) indicate the relation of the effects.</p

Effects of connectivity on wild bee abundance.

<p>Effects of connectivity on nest-building bees and cuckoo bees (A) and on habitat specialists and generalists (B). Regression lines: (A) y = −0,11x+156,67; (B) y = −0,11x+134,84.</p

Overview of the study region and example site for illustration of the used landscape metrics.

<p>(A) Study region with all sampled sites (red dots). (B) Example site where the black patch in the middle is the sampled calcareous grassland, red patches are calcareous grasslands in the surrounding landscape, green patches are other semi-natural habitats and blue lines are borders between different land-use patches. The Connectivity Index takes area and distance of red patches to the black patch (sampled site) into account. Landscape composition is the percentage of semi-natural habitats (all green and red patches). Landscape configuration is the number of patches (blue lines) in the landscape (patch density).</p

Impact of an Oral Hygiene Intervention in People with and without Dementia on Oral Health Parameters-Results from the Oral Health, Bite Force, and Dementia (OrBiD) Pilot Study

This study aimed to assess the influence of an oral hygiene intervention on oral health, depending on the degree of dementia. A clinical evaluation of oral health parameters (index of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT-index), periodontal screening index (PSI), oral hygiene index (OHI), and bleeding on probing (BOP)) was performed in 120 subjects assigned to five groups, based on the mini mental state examination (MMSE) at baseline and after 12 months. Each MMSE group (no dementia (noDem, MMSE 28-30), mild cognitive impairment (mCI, MMSE 25-27), mild dementia (mDem, MMSE 18-24), moderate dementia (modDem, MMSE 10-17), and severe dementia (sDem, MMSE ≤ 9)) was split into control (no intervention) and experimental groups (intervention on oral hygiene: increased frequency, daily usage of high-fluoride toothpaste). In total, 99 out of 120 subjects were included in the analysis. The dropout rate was high in subjects with modDem and sDem due to death. In subjects with noDem, mCI, and mDem, no changes in the DMFT were found, but improvements in the OHI, BOP, and PSI were observed. Subjects with modDem or sDem demonstrated a deterioration in DMFT; however, in these patients, OHI improved in all control and experimental groups, BOP improved in the experimental group only, and PSI did not improve at all. The scope of improving oral health parameters by increasing the recall frequency and by continuously using high fluoride toothpaste is at its limits in people with severe dementia. Multidimensional approaches should be sought to improve the oral health of vulnerable older patients