Changing trend of caries from 1989 to 2004 among 12-year old Sardinian children

BACKGROUND: During the past decades, the prevalence of caries disease in the population of Western industrialized countries has decreased markedly. In children also, a reduction of dental caries experience has been reported by many authors. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the trend of dental caries prevalence in 12-year-old children living in the city of Sassari, (Italy), by five cross-sectional studies conducted in 1989, 1992, 1995, 1998 and 2004. METHODS: In all cohorts, dental caries (DMFT and SiC Index according to WHO indications), was measured. For each variable measured (DMFT and sub-indices, SiC Index), differences in proportions among the five cohorts during the fifteen years were tested using chi2-square test. RESULTS: The mean DMFT index decreased from 4.3 +/- 3.1 in 1989 to 0.8 +/- 1.5 in 2004. The prevalence of untreated caries (DT) had a notable decrease between 1992 and 1995, increased slightly between 1995 and 1998 and had the greatest decrease in 2004. The number of filled teeth remains low. The percentage of caries-free children increased from 10% to 64%, whereas the percentage of untreated caries changed from 44% in 1989 to 62% in 2004. SiC Index decreased from 7.8 in 1989 to 3.9 in 2004. CONCLUSION: On the basis of the results of DMFT and SiC Index, caries experience has been reduced. The vigilance and the promotion of a higher standard of personal oral hygiene and dental check-ups are necessary to obtain an improvement of oral status in the future adult population and to reach the new WHO global goals

The Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stroke has global importance and it causes an increasing amount of human suffering and economic burden, but its management is far from optimal. The unsuccessful outcome of several research programs highlights the need for reliable data on which to plan future clinical trials. The Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive aims to aid the planning of clinical trials by collating and providing access to a rich resource of patient data to perform exploratory analyses. METHODS: Data were contributed by the principal investigators of numerous trials from the past 16 years. These data have been centrally collated and are available for anonymized analysis and hypothesis testing. RESULTS: Currently, the Virtual International Stroke Trials Archive contains 21 trials. There are data on \u3e15,000 patients with both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Ages range between 18 and 103 years, with a mean age of 69+/-12 years. Outcome measures include the Barthel Index, Scandinavian Stroke Scale, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, Orgogozo Scale, and modified Rankin Scale. Medical history and onset-to-treatment time are readily available, and computed tomography lesion data are available for selected trials. CONCLUSIONS: This resource has the potential to influence clinical trial design and implementation through data analyses that inform planning

MetNH3 Whim Bog Intercomparison Off-line ammonia metrology intercomparison

There is no regular quality assurance programme for ammonia passive samplers despite widespread use of these samplers across Europe and the rest of the world. In order to improve standards and begin to embed quality assurance in the measurement of ambient ammonia using passive samplers, within the EMRP MetNH3 project a passive sampler intercomparison was planned to enable side-by side exposure of the samplers to varying levels of ammonia in the field. From this experiment and in parallel the NPL CATFAC experiment (also within MetNH3), sufficient information and protocols could be developed. The method and infrastructure developed will then be available for future studies

VISIONS: the VISTA Star Formation Atlas: I. Survey overview

Galaxie

Search for Lorentz and CPT violation using sidereal time dependence of neutrino flavor transitions over a short baseline

A class of extensions of the Standard Model allows Lorentz and CPT violations, which can be identified by the observation of sidereal modulations in the neutrino interaction rate. A search for such modulations was performed using the T2K on-axis near detector. Two complementary methods were used in this study, both of which resulted in no evidence of a signal. Limits on associated Lorentz and CPT-violating terms from the Standard Model extension have been derived by taking into account their correlations in this model for the first time. These results imply such symmetry violations are suppressed by a factor of more than 10 20 at the GeV scale

EuFe2_2As2_2 under high pressure: an antiferromagnetic bulk superconductor

We report the ac magnetic susceptibility $\chi_{ac}$ and resistivity $\rho$ measurements of EuFe$_2$As$_2$ under high pressure $P$. By observing nearly 100% superconducting shielding and zero resistivity at $P$ = 28 kbar, we establish that $P$-induced superconductivity occurs at $T_c \sim$~30 K in EuFe$_2$As$_2$. $\rho$ shows an anomalous nearly linear temperature dependence from room temperature down to $T_c$ at the same $P$. $\chi_{ac}$ indicates that an antiferromagnetic order of Eu$^{2+}$ moments with $T_N \sim$~20 K persists in the superconducting phase. The temperature dependence of the upper critical field is also determined.Comment: To appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., Vol. 78 No.