Prevalence of caries and developmental defects of enamel in 9-10 year old children living in areas in Brazil differing water fluoride histories

Aims To assess the prevalences of caries, of developmental defects of enamel and their interrelationship in Brazilian 9-10-year-olds from areas of contrasting fluoridation histories.Methods systematic random sampling procedures were used to select children from an area where water had been fluoridated in 1963 and from a second area where water had been fluoridated since 1998. Clinical examinations for caries were carried out using the DMFT index and WHO diagnostic criteria. Developmental defects of enamel on upper incisors were diagnosed using the DDE index.Results A difference of 40% in DMFT was observed, with a lower prevalence of disease in the area fluoridated since 1963. Diffuse opacities affected 14.3% of the children from the area fluoridated since 1963 compared with only 2.4% in the area fluoridated in 1998. Children living in the area fluoridated in 1963 who had diffuse defects had twice the chance of being free from caries compared with those living in the same area who had no defects or who had only demarcated or hypoplastic defects.Conclusions This study confirms previous ones in showing the benefits of water fluoridation. Diffuse opacities of upper incisors affected relatively few subjects in either of the two areas.

Benzoate ion determination in beverages by using a potentiometric sensor immobilized in a graphite matrix

The characteristics, performance, and application of an electrode, namely. Pt\Hg\Hg-2(Bzt)(2)\graphite, where Bzt stands for benzoate ion. are described. This electrode responds to Bzt with sensitivity of 57.7 +/- 1.0 mV/decade over the range 5 x 10(-4)-1 x 10(-1) mol l(-1) at pH 6.0-8.0 with a detection limit of 1.6 x 10(-4) mol l(-1). The electrode shows easy construction, fast response rime (between 10-30 s), low-cost, acid excellent response stability (lifetime > 6 months, in continuous use), the proposed sensor displayed good selectivity for benzoate in the presence of several carboxylate and inorganic anions. It was used to determine benzoate in various beverages by means of the standard additions method. The results obtained by using this electrode compared very favorably with those given by the official AOAC spectrophotometric method and by a HPLC procedure as well. (C) 2001 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

p-Aminobenzoate ion determination in pharmaceutical formulations by using a potentiometric sensor immobilized in a graphite matrix

The characteristics, performance, and application of an electrode, namely, Pt\Hg\Hg-2(PABzt)(2)\ graphite, where PABzt stands for p-aminobenzoate ion, are described. This electrode responds to PABzt with sensivity of (58.1 +/- 1.0) mV per decade over the range 1.0 x 10(-4) to 1.0 x 10(-1) mol l(-1) at pH 6.5-8.0 and a detection limit of 3.2 x 10(-5) mol l(-1). The electrode shows easy construction, fast response time (within 10-30 s), low-cost, and excellent response stability (lifetime greater than 6 months, in continuous use). The proposed sensor displayed good selectivity for p-aminobenzoate in the presence of several substances, especially, concerning carboxylate and inorganic anions. It was used to determine p-aminobenzoate in pharmaceutical formulations by means of the standard additions method. The results obtained by using this electrode compared very favorably with those given by an HPLC procedure. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Glasses containing lutetium fluoride

Glasses containing lutetium fluoride have been prepared in the system BaF2 - SrF2 - ZnF2 - LuF3 - InF3. The composition of the phases crystalling out of these glasses suggests octahedral pre-arrangement comprising [LuF6] and [Sr(Ba)F-2 structural fragments.

Phase transition in poly(vinylidene fluoride) investigated with micro-Raman spectroscopy

The phase transition from the non-polar a-phase to the polar beta-phase of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) has been investigated using micro-Raman spectroscopy, which is advantageous because it is a nondestructive technique. Films of alpha-PVDF were subjected to stretching under controlled rates at 80 degrees C, while the transition to P-PVDF was monitored by the decrease in the Raman band at 794 cm(-1) characteristic of the a-phase, along with the concomitant increase in the 839 cm-1 band characteristic of the P-phase. The alpha ->beta transition in our PVDF samples could be achieved even for the sample stretched to twice (2 X -stretched) the initial length and it did not depend on the stretching rate in the range between 2.0 and 7.0 mm/min. These conclusions were corroborated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction experiments for PVDF samples processed under the same conditions as in the Raman scattering measurements. Poling with negative corona discharge was found to affect the a-PVDF morphology, improving the Raman bands related to this crystalline phase. This effect is minimized for films stretched to higher ratios. Significantly, corona-induced effects could not be observed with the other experimental techniques, i.e., X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy.

Positronium-alkali-ion scattering in the close-coupling approximation

We present results for low- and medium-energy elastic and capture cross sections for positronium-atom-alkali-ion scattering using the coupled static close-coupling approximation.

Determination of interfacial co-ion concentration in ionic micelles by chemical trapping: Halide concentration at the interface of sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles

Products from the spontaneous reaction of a long-chain arenediazonium salt, 2,6-dimethyl-4-hexadecylbenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate(16-ArN2BF4), in aqueous micellar solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)? are used to estimate the local concentration of chloride and bromide ions at the micellar surface. The arenediazonium ion, 16-ArN2+, which is totally bound to the SDS micelle, reacts by rate-determining loss of N-2 to give an aryl cation that traps available nucleophiles, i,e., H2O, Cl-, and Br-, to give stable phenol, 16-ArOH, and halobenzene products, 16-ArCl and 16-ArBr, respectively. Product yields, determined by HPLC, are related to local concentrations using calibration curves obtained from independent standards. The local concentrations determined by this method are consistent with co-ion concentrations calculated, using a cell model, by numerical integration of the Poisson-Boltzmann equation (PBE) taking into account salt-induced micellar growth. The salt dependence of the intel facial concentrations of Cl- and Br- are identical. indicating no specific interactions in the interfacial co-ion compartment. PBE calculations predict that, in micellar SDS, increasing the concentration of a particular halide salt (NaX) at constant concentration of another halide (NaY) should result in an increase in the local concentrations of both co-ions. Using this chemical-trapping method, this prediction was demonstrated experimentally.

Lead-cadmium oxyfluoride glasses and glass-ceramics

Glasses and glass-ceramics have been obtained in oxyfluoride systems involving lead and cadmium fluorides and one of the well-known glass former oxides SiO2, B2O3 and TeO2. Vitreous domains were established and a wide range of compositions including high heavy metal contents lead to stable glasses. Amorphous structures have been studied by short-range order spectroscopy techniques (Raman scattering and x-ray absorption) and molecular basic structures have been identified. Besides the usual oxides, the role of glass former could also be proposed for cadmium ions. Special attention has been paid for crystallization process. Cubic lead fluoride, cubic lead tellurite, tetragonal tellurium oxide and a solid solution of the type Pb1-xCdxF2 are obtained as crystallization products depending on the composition and temperature of heat treatments. Pb1-xCdxF2 solid solutions are well known superionic materials and obtaining this solid solution as a crystal phase could be very interesting for applications concerning ionic electrical conduction properties. The addition of rare earth ions led to the control of the crystallization process. In the presence of the nucleating ion only the cubic form beta-PbF2 was identified. Rare earth ions are present in the crystal phase and crystal-like spectroscopic properties were observed suggesting interesting applications for these perfectly transparent glass ceramics in photonics.

RECENT HEAVY-ION EXPERIMENTS AND STATISTICAL-MODEL OF HADRONS

The combined CERN and Brookhaven heavy ion (H.I.) data supports a scenario of hadron gas which is in chemical and thermal equilibrium at a temperature T of about 140 MeV. Using the Brown-Stachel-Welke model (which gives 150 MeV) we show that in this scenario, the hot nucleons have mass 3 pi T and the pi and rho mesons have masses close to pi T and 2 pi T, respectively. A simple model with pions and quarks supports the co-existence of two phases in these heavy ion experiments, suggesting a second order phase transition. The masses of the pion, rho and the nucleon are intriguingly close to the lattice screening masses.

A new approach for determining stability constants of metal ion complexes in aquatic systems based on flow injection-ion exchange-flame atomic absorption spectrometry coupling

A method based an ion exchange(IE)-atomic absorption spectrometry(AAS) coupled by flow techniques, allowing the determination of formation constants of, at least, the first species of complex systems, in aqueous solution, was developed.The IE-AAS coupling reduces significantly the number of experimental steps in comparison with IE batch methods, resulting in an important increase in analytical rate. The method is simple both from experimental and computational points of view, making possible its utilization by workers without special expertise in the field of complex equilibria in solution. on the other hand, taking into account mainly the amount of hollow cathode lamps available to date, the developed procedure may be applied, within certain limitations, to the study of many systems whose features prevent the use of traditional approaches.

Influence of fluoride-containing solutions on the translucency of flowable composite resins

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of fluoride-containing solutions on the translucency of flowable composite resins, with respect the immersion time. Flow-It! (FI) and Natural Flow (NF) composite resins and three commercial brands of fluoride-containing solutions (Fluordent, Fluorgard and Oral B) were used. Specimens were prepared and stored in the solutions at 37degreesC, until the measurements were made after the following treatments: T1 - after 1 hour in relative humidity; T2 - after 1 h in solution; T3 - 24 h; T4 - 48 h; T5 - after a week; from T9, the measurements were accomplished weekly, up to 30-day immersion. To obtain translucency values an electrophoresis equipment was employed. Data were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey tests. The results disclosed that NF showed highest values of translucency and was statistically different from FI (p < 0.001). As regards the solutions, Fluordent and Oral B presented similar values and were statistically superior to Fluorgard (p < 0.05). Concerning the immersion time, similar results were observed for the different evaluation periods. It may be concluded that the fluoride-containing solutions affected the translucency of the composite resins, independently of the materials used. Among the tested resins, NF presented the best performance. (C) 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers.