Chan ceist duit a bhás go bráth: 'An Lon Dubh Báite'

This article discusses an enigmatic poem by the 18th century Gaelic poet Séamas Mac Cuarta, and three subsequent translations into English. The poem is written in the 'Trí Rann agus Amhrán' form, reminiscent of the English sonnet.

A cephalometric study of class II malocclusions treated with mandibular surgery

INTRODUCTION:

Class II malocclusion is often associated with retrognathic mandible. Some of these problems require surgical correction. The purposes of this study were to investigate treatment outcomes in patients with Class II malocclusions whose treatment included mandibular advancement surgery and to identify predictors of good outcomes.
METHODS:

Pretreatment and posttreatment cephalometric radiographs of 90 patients treated with mandibular advancement surgery by 57 consultant orthodontists in the United Kingdom before September 1998 were digitized, and cephalometric landmarks were identified. Paired samples t tests were used to compare the pretreatment and posttreatment cephalometric values for each patient. For each cephalometric variable, the proportion of patients falling within the ideal range was identified. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of achieving ideal range outcomes for the key skeletal (ANB and SNB angles), dental (overjet and overbite), and soft-tissue (Holdaway angle) measurements.
RESULTS:

An overjet within the ideal range of 1 to 4 mm was achieved in 72% of patients and was more likely with larger initial ANB angles. Horizontal correction of the incisor relationship was achieved by a combination of 75% skeletal movement and 25% dentoalveolar change. An ideal posttreatment ANB angle was achieved in 42% of patients and was more likely in females and those with larger pretreatment ANB angles. Ideal soft-tissue Holdaway angles (7 degrees to 14 degrees ) were achieved in 49% of patients and were more likely in females and those with smaller initial SNA angles. Mandibular incisor decompensation was incomplete in 28% of patients and was more likely in females and patients with greater pretreatment mandibular incisor proclination. Correction of increased overbite was generally successful, although anterior open bites were found in 16% of patients at the end of treatment. These patients were more likely to have had initial open bites.
CONCLUSIONS:

Mandibular surgery had a good success rate in normalizing the main dental and skeletal relationships. Less ideal soft-tissue profile outcomes were associated with larger pretreatment SNA-angle values, larger final mandibular incisor inclinations, and smaller final maxillary incisor inclinations. The use of mandibular surgery to correct anterior open bite was associated with poor outcomes.

Effects of diphosphine structure on aurophilicity and luminescence in Au(I) complexes

The effects of diphosphine flexibility and bite angle on the structures and luminescence properties of Au(I) complexes have been investigated. A range of diphosphines based on heteroaromatic backbones [bis(2-diphenylphosphino)phenylether (dpephos), 9,9-dimethyl-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)xanthene (xantphos), and 4,6-bis(diphenylphosphino)dibenzofuran (dbfphos)] has been used to prepare mono- and digold derivatives. A clear relationship between the presence of aurophilic contacts and the emission properties of dinuclear complexes has been observed, with one of the complexes studied, [Au(2)Cl(2)(micro-xantphos)], exhibiting luminescence thermochromism.

Factors identifying pigs predisposed to tail biting

Approximately 5% of pigs slaughtered in the UK have been tail-bitten, leading to welfare and production issues. Tail biting is sporadic and not all pigs tail bite. The aim of this study was to identify factors that are common in pigs that perform tail-biting behaviour, and that might be used in a predictive way to identify such animals.

The behaviour of 159 pigs was observed in the post-weaning period. Pigs were weaned at 4 weeks of age. In the week prior to weaning and at 6 weeks of age each pig was individually tested in a tail chew test (tail chew test 1 and 2, respectively). The tail chew test involved recording the pig's behaviour directed towards two ropes, one of which had been soaked in saline solution and the other not. The production performance of the pigs was recorded from birth to 7 weeks of age. Time spent performing tail-biting behaviour correlated positively with time in contact with the rope in tail chew test 2 (r = 0.224, P 1.5% tail biting 8.96 kg, = 1.5% tail biting 15-75 kg, = or = 1.5% tail biting 260 g/day, = 1.5% tail biting 343 g/day, 0.05).

The results suggest that pigs that tail bite have some nutritional deficiency that results in performance of foraging behaviour that is expressed in intensive housing as ear/tail biting.

The first structural characterization of a [2.2]PHANEPHOS - Transition-metal complex: Structure of rac-[Pd(4,12-bis(diphenylphosphino)[2.2]paracyclophane)Cl-2]

The solid-state structure of the [2.2]PHANEPHOS-transition-metal complex rac-[Pd(4,12-bis(diphenylphosphino)[2.2]paracyclophane)Cl-2] has been established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The P-Pd-P bite angle is ideally suited to catalytic processes such as carbon-carbon cross-coupling reactions, which involve reductive elimination as the rate-determining step.

Age-related oral changes

Age-related oral changes are seen in the oral hard and soft tissues as well as in bone, the temporomandibular joints and the oral mucosa. As older patients retain their natural teeth for longer, the clinical picture consists of normal physiological age changes in combination with pathological and iatrogenic effects.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: With an ageing population retaining more of its natural teeth for longer, dental professionals should expect to observe oral age changes more frequently.

Aggressiveness as a component of fighting ability in pigs using a game-theoretical framework

Understanding animal contests has benefited greatly from employing the concept of fighting ability, termed resource-holding potential (RHP), with body size/weight typically used as a proxy. However, victory does not always go to the larger/heavier contestant and the existing RHP approach thereby fails to accurately predict contest outcome. Aggressiveness, typically studied as a personality trait, might explain part of this discrepancy. We investigated whether aggressiveness forms a component of RHP, examining effects on contest outcome, duration and phases, plus physiological measures of costs (lactate and glucose). Furthermore, using the correct theoretical framework, we provide the first study to investigate whether individuals gather and use information on aggressiveness as part of an assessment strategy. Pigs, Sus scrofa, were assessed for aggressiveness in resident-intruder tests whereby attack latency reflects aggressiveness. Contests were then staged between size-matched animals diverging in aggressiveness. Individuals with a short attack latency in the resident-intruder test almost always initiated the first bite and fight in the subsequent contest. However, aggressiveness had no direct effect on contest outcome, whereas bite initiation did lead to winning in contests without an escalated fight. This indirect effect suggests that aggressiveness is not a component of RHP, but rather reflects a signal of intent. Winner and loser aggressiveness did not affect contest duration or its separate phases, suggesting aggressiveness is not part of an assessment strategy. A greater asymmetry in aggressiveness prolonged contest duration and the duration of displaying, which is in a direction contrary to assessment models based on morphological traits. Blood lactate and glucose increased with contest duration and peaked during escalated fights, highlighting the utility of physiological measures as proxies for fight cost. Integrating personality traits into the study of contest behaviour, as illustrated here, will enhance our understanding of the subtleties of agonistic interactions.

Injurious tail biting in pigs: How can it be controlled in existing systems without tail docking?

Tail biting is a serious animal welfare and economic problem in pig production. Tail docking, which reduces but does not eliminate tail biting, remains widespread. However, in the EU tail docking may not be used routinely, and some 'alternative' forms of pig production and certain countries do not allow tail docking at all. Against this background, using a novel approach focusing on research where tail injuries were quantified, we review the measures that can be used to control tail biting in pigs without tail docking. Using this strict criterion, there was good evidence that manipulable substrates and feeder space affect damaging tail biting. Only epidemiological evidence was available for effects of temperature and season, and the effect of stocking density was unclear. Studies suggest that group size has little effect, and the effects of nutrition, disease and breed require further investigation. The review identifies a number of knowledge gaps and promising avenues for future research into prevention and mitigation. We illustrate the diversity of hypotheses concerning how different proposed risk factors might increase tail biting through their effect on each other or on the proposed underlying processes of tail biting. A quantitative comparison of the efficacy of different methods of provision of manipulable materials, and a review of current practices in countries and assurance schemes where tail docking is banned, both suggest that daily provision of small quantities of destructible, manipulable natural materials can be of considerable benefit. Further comparative research is needed into materials, such as ropes, which are compatible with slatted floors. Also, materials which double as fuel for anaerobic digesters could be utilised. As well as optimising housing and management to reduce risk, it is important to detect and treat tail biting as soon as it occurs. Early warning signs before the first bloody tails appear, such as pigs holding their tails tucked under, could in future be automatically detected using precision livestock farming methods enabling earlier reaction and prevention of tail damage. However, there is a lack of scientific studies on how best to respond to outbreaks: the effectiveness of, for example, removing biters and/or bitten pigs, increasing enrichment, or applying substances to tails should be investigated. Finally, some breeding companies are exploring options for reducing the genetic propensity to tail bite. If these various approaches to reduce tail biting are implemented we propose that the need for tail docking will be reduced. © 2014 The Animal Consortium.

Gramsci, austerity common sense and the attacks on the welfare state: The need to understand and resist the imposition of the global neoliberal agenda and the role of the social work profession.

During the last 30 years governments almost everywhere in the world are furthering a global neoliberal agenda by withdrawing the state from the delivery of services, decreasing social spending and lowering corporate taxation etc. This restructuring has led to a massive transfer of wealth from the welfare state and working class people into capital. In order to legitimize this restructuring conservative governments engage in collective blaming towards their denizens. This presentation will examine some of the well circulated phrases that have been used by the dominant elite in some countries during the last year to legitimize the imposition of austerity measures. Phrases such as, ‘We all partied’ used by the Irish finance minister, Brian Lenihan, to explain the Irish crisis and collectively blame all Irish people, ‘We must all share the pain’, deployed by another Irish Minister Gilmore and the UK coalition administration’s sound bite ‘We are all in this together’, legitimize the imposition of austerity measures. Utilizing the Gramscian concept of common sense (Gramsci, 1971), I call these phrases ‘austerity common sense’. They are austerity common sense because they both reflect and legitimate the austerity agenda. By deploying these phrases, the ruling economic and political elite seek to influence the perception of the people and pre-empt any intention of resistance. The dominant theme of these phrases is that there is no alternative and that austerity measures are somehow self-inflicted and, as such, should not be challenged because we are all to blame. The purpose of this presentation is to explore the “austerity common sense” theme from a Gramscian approach, focus on its implications for the social work profession and discuss the ways to resist the imposition of the global neoliberal agenda.