Response of molars and non-molars to a strict supragingival control in periodontal patients

The posterior position in the arches is one of the factors that underlies the poor prognosis of molar teeth (M). It is speculated that M do not benefit from the oral hygiene routine as well as non-molars (NM) do. This study evaluated the response of M and NM to supragingival control during a 6-month period in 25 smokers (S) and 25 never-smokers (NS) with moderate-to-severe periodontitis. One calibrated examiner assessed visible plaque (VPI) and gingival bleeding (GBI) indexes, periodontal probing depth (PPD), bleeding on probing (BOP), and clinical attachment loss (CAL) at days 0 (baseline), 30 and 180. At baseline, M showed significantly higher mean values of VPI (p = 0.017) and PPD (p < 0.001) compared with NM; CAL was also greater in M (p < 0.001) and was affected by smoking (p = 0.007). The reductions obtained for periodontal indicators at day 180 showed similar responses between M and NM. For CAL, M (NS 0.57 ± 0.50; S 0.67 ± 0.64) and NM (NS 0.38 ± 0.23; S 0.50 ± 0.33) reached an almost significant difference (p = 0.05). Smoking did not influence the response to treatment. Multilevel analysis revealed that, only for PDD reductions, the interaction between sites, teeth and patient was significant (p < 0.001). It was concluded that M benefit from an adequate regimen of supragingival biofilm control; therefore, supragingival condition should be considered in the prognosis of molar teeth.

Measurement of the elliptic anisotropy of charged particles produced in PbPb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV

The anisotropy of the azimuthal distributions of charged particles produced in √sNN=2.76 TeV PbPb collisions is studied with the CMS experiment at the LHC. The elliptic anisotropy parameter, v2, defined as the second coefficient in a Fourier expansion of the particle invariant yields, is extracted using the event-plane method, two- and four-particle cumulants, and Lee-Yang zeros. The anisotropy is presented as a function of transverse momentum (pT), pseudorapidity (η) over a broad kinematic range, 0.3of collision centrality from 0 to 80%. The results are compared to those obtained at lower center-of-mass energies, and various scaling behaviors are examined. When scaled by the geometric eccentricity of the collision zone, the elliptic anisotropy is found to obey a universal scaling with the transverse particle density for different collision systems and center-of-mass energies. © 2013 CERN. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Nilpotent orbits and codimension-2 defects of 6d N = (2, 0)theories

We study the local properties of a class of codimension-2 defects of the 6d N = (2, 0) theories of type J = A, D, E labeled by nilpotent orbits of a Lie algebra $g, where g is determined by J and the outer-automorphism twist around the defect. This class is a natural generalization of the defects of the six-dimensional (6d) theory of type SU(N) labeled by a Young diagram with N boxes. For any of these defects, we determine its contribution to the dimension of the Higgs branch, to the Coulomb branch operators and their scaling dimensions, to the four-dimensional (4d) central charges a and c and to the flavor central charge k. © 2013 World Scientific Publishing Company.

Pharmacokinetic Profile of A New Diclofenac Prodrug without Gastroulcerogenic Effect

Gastrotoxicity is a major problem for long-term therapy with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). DICCIC (1-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)indolin-2-one) is a new diclofenac prodrug, which has proven anti-inflammatory activity without gastroulcerogenic effect. The aim of this work was to compare the pharmacokinetic profiles of diclofenac from DICCIC (7.6 mg/kg equivalent to 8.1 mg/kg diclofenac) and diclofenac (8.1 mg/kg) administration in Wistar rats weighing 250-300 g (n=20). The doses were calculated by interspecific allometric scaling based on the 2 mg/kg from diary human dose of diclofenac. Blood samples were collected in heparinized tubes via the femoral artery through the implanted catheter. The plasma was separated and quantitation was made in a HPLC system with a UV-Vis detector. The confidence limits of the bioanalytical method were appropriate for its application in a preclinical pharmacokinetic study. The AUC of diclofenac from DICCIC (53.7± 5.8 ug/mL.min) was significantly less (Mann Whitney test, p<0.05) than that of diclofenac from diclofenac administration (885.9 ± 124,8 ug/mL.min). Terminal half-life of diclofenac from DICCIC (50.1 ± 17.2 min) was significantly less (Mann Whitney test, p<0.05) than that of diclofenac from diclofenac administration (247.4 ± 100.9 min). Still the parameters clearance and distribution volume were calculated for diclofenac from diclofenac, whose results were 9.2 ±1.2 mL/min.kg and 3.3 ±1.2 L/kg, respectively. The results of DICCIC from DICCIC administration were 108.9 ± 19.6 mL/min.kg and 7.8 ± 2.4 L/kg for clearance and distribution volume, respectively. The pharmacokinetic profile demonstrated that there was an increase in diclofenac elimination and a lower exposure to diclofenac with administration of DICCIC compared to diclofenac. © 2013 Bentham Science Publishers.

Saddle points and rare collisions under scaling approach in a Fermi accelerator with two nonlinear terms

Rare collisions of a classical particle bouncing between two walls are studied. The dynamics is described by a two-dimensional, nonlinear and area-preserving mapping in the variables velocity and time at the instant that the particle collides with the moving wall. The phase space is of mixed type preventing diffusion of the particle to high energy. Successive and therefore rare collisions are shown to have a histogram of frequency which is scaling invariant with respect to the control parameters. The saddle fixed points are studied and shown to be scaling invariant with respect to the control parameters too. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adjunctive antimicrobial photodynamic treatment of experimentally induced periodontitis in rats with ovariectomy

Background: The aim of this study is to compare antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) as an adjunctive therapy to scaling and root planing (SRP) for the treatment of experimentally induced periodontitis in rats with ovariectomy (OVX) that are or are not treated with estrogen replacement. Methods: A total of 270 female rats were divided into three groups: 1) normal rats; 2) rats with OVX; and 3) rats with OVX with estrogen replacement. Periodontal disease was induced through the introduction of a cotton thread around the mandibular left first molar. After 7 days, the ligature was removed, and the rats were randomly divided into the following treatment groups: 1) SRP plus saline solution; 2) SRP plus low-level laser therapy (LLLT); and 3) SRP plus toluidine blue O irrigation followed by LLLT. Ten rats from each group were euthanized at days 7, 15, and 30 after dental treatment. Bone loss (BL) in the furcation region was evaluated using histometric and immunohistochemical analyses. Results: aPDT treatment resulted in reduced BL compared with SRP treatment at all time points. Additionally, rats treated with aPDT exhibited reduced numbers of tartrate-resistant acid-phosphatase-positive cells and more proliferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cells in all treatment groups regardless of estrogen status. Whereas rats treated with aPDT showed weak immunoreactivity to the receptor activator of nuclear factor-k B ligand at day 7 post-treatment, strong osteoprotegerin immunoreactivity was observed at day 15 post-treatment. Conclusion: aPDT is an effective adjunctive therapy for the treatment of periodontitis in rats with OVX that are or are not given estrogen replacement therapy.

The dimensionality of ecological networks

How many dimensions (trait-axes) are required to predict whether two species interact? This unanswered question originated with the idea of ecological niches, and yet bears relevance today for understanding what determines network structure. Here, we analyse a set of 200 ecological networks, including food webs, antagonistic and mutualistic networks, and find that the number of dimensions needed to completely explain all interactions is small (< 10), with model selection favouring less than five. Using 18 high-quality webs including several species traits, we identify which traits contribute the most to explaining network structure. We show that accounting for a few traits dramatically improves our understanding of the structure of ecological networks. Matching traits for resources and consumers, for example, fruit size and bill gape, are the most successful combinations. These results link ecologically important species attributes to large-scale community structure. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Single-particle momentum distributions of Efimov states in mixed-species systems

We solve the three-body bound-state problem in three dimensions for mass imbalanced systems of two identical bosons and a third particle in the universal limit where the interactions are assumed to be of zero range. The system displays the Efimov effect and we use the momentum-space wave equation to derive formulas for the scaling factor of the Efimov spectrum for any mass ratio assuming either that two or three of the two-body subsystems have a bound state at zero energy. We consider the single-particle momentum distribution analytically and numerically and analyze the tail of the momentum distribution to obtain the three-body contact parameter. Our findings demonstrate that the functional form of the three-body contact term depends on the mass ratio, and we obtain an analytic expression for this behavior. To exemplify our results, we consider mixtures of lithium with either two caesium or rubidium atoms which are systems of current experimental interest. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Scaling attractors in interacting teleparallel dark energy

It has been proposed recently the existence of a non-minimal coupling between a canonical scalar field (quintessence) and gravity in the framework of teleparallel gravity, motivated by similar constructions in the context of General Relativity. The dynamics of the model, known as teleparallel dark energy, has been further developed, but no scaling attractor has been found. Here we consider a model in which the non-minimal coupling is ruled by a dynamically changing coefficient α≡f,φ/(f)1/2, with f(φ) an arbitrary function of the scalar field φ. It is shown that in this case the existence of scaling attractors is possible, which means that the universe will eventually enter these scaling attractors, regardless of the initial conditions. As a consequence, the cosmological coincidence problem could be alleviated without fine-tunings. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.

Innovative winemaking: Consumer acceptance of red table wines

Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate the consumer acceptance of Bordô and Isabel wines from innovative winemaking in order to increase red wine consumption by consumers to obtain nutritional benefits. Design/methodology/approach: All wines were produced by a standard procedure of vinification. Pre-drying treatment aimed at drying the grapes up to 22°Brix and static pomace wines presented the constant contact between the must and pomace. Sensory acceptance was carried out by 80 consumers who evaluated eight samples (six experimental wines and two commercial wines) concerning the attributes: appearance, aroma, body, flavor and overall acceptance. Findings: Experimental wines presented higher acceptance when compared to commercial wines and cluster analysis shows the splitting of consumer preferences, highlighting the higher acceptance of traditional Bordô wine and static pomace samples in all sensory attributes. Pre-drying process enhances the concentration of coloured compounds, to highlight the appearance acceptance of these samples. Research limitations/implications: Although this paper has limited the consumer acceptance of red table wines, the innovative treatments will be applied in Vitis vinifera red wines. Practical implications: The wide acceptance of static pomace and pre-drying wines has promoted further information about innovative winemaking that can be applied in Brazilian and worldwide wineries. Social implications: The innovative treatments can change sensorial features of wines and therefore influence the choice of consumers as well as enhancing the nutritional benefits of red wines. Originality/value: The pre-drying and static pomace winemaking are the novelty of this study and the wide acceptance of the sensory attributes concerning these treatments indicates the potential for application in wineries. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Temporal polyethism and life expectancy of workers in the eusocial wasp polistes canadensis canadensis Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A rescaling of the phase space for Hamiltonian map: Applications on the Kepler map and mappings with diverging angles in the limit of vanishing action

A rescale of the phase space for a family of two-dimensional, nonlinear Hamiltonian mappings was made by using the location of the first invariant Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser (KAM) curve. Average properties of the phase space are shown to be scaling invariant and with different scaling times. Specific values of the control parameters are used to recover the Kepler map and the mapping that describes a particle in a wave packet for the relativistic motion. The phase space observed shows a large chaotic sea surrounding periodic islands and limited by a set of invariant KAM curves whose position of the first of them depends on the control parameters. The transition from local to global chaos is used to estimate the position of the first invariant KAM curve, leading us to confirm that the chaotic sea is scaling invariant. The different scaling times are shown to be dependent on the initial conditions. The universality classes for the Kepler map and mappings with diverging angles in the limit of vanishing action are defined. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Periodic compression of an adiabatic gas: Intermittency-enhanced Fermi acceleration

A gas of non-interacting particles diffuses in a lattice of pulsating scatterers. In the finite-horizon case with bounded distance between collisions and strongly chaotic dynamics, the velocity growth (Fermi acceleration) is well described by a master equation, leading to an asymptotic universal non-Maxwellian velocity distribution scaling as v∼t. The infinite-horizon case has intermittent dynamics which enhances the acceleration, leading to v∼t ln t and a non-universal distribution. © Copyright EPLA, 2013.

Influence of two different vinification procedures on the physicochemical and sensory properties of Brazilian non-Vitis vinifera red wines

The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between the physicochemical properties and sensory acceptance of Brazilian red wines by applying chemometric techniques. Therefore, three winemaking processes were carried out: a traditional winemaking process and two novel winemaking processes, pre-drying and static pomace. Significant differences could be identified amongst the physicochemical properties of the wines (P<0.001). The sensory results showed greater acceptance of the wines made after pre-drying of the grapes or from the static pomace, as compared to commercial brands. Cluster analysis and Multidimensional Scaling were successfully applied and their results demonstrated the influence of the total phenolic content and color indexes on acceptance of the appearance of the wines. The odor was associated with the alcohol content, acidity, dry extract, total and reducing sugars and the body of the wines. The flavor was associated with several physicochemical properties which influenced the overall acceptance of the samples. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Assessment of branch outage contingencies using the continuation method

This paper provides a contribution to the contingency analysis of electric power systems under steady state conditions. An alternative methodology is presented for static contingency analyses that only use continuation methods and thus provides an accurate determination of the loading margin. Rather than starting from the base case operating point, the proposed continuation power flow obtains the post-contingency loading margins starting from the maximum loading and using a bus voltage magnitude as a parameter. The branch selected for the contingency evaluation is parameterised using a scaling factor, which allows its gradual removal and assures the continuation power flow convergence for the cases where the method would diverge for the complete transmission line or transformer removal. The applicability and effectiveness of the proposed methodology have been investigated on IEEE test systems (14, 57 and 118 buses) and compared with the continuation power flow, which obtains the post-contingency loading margin starting from the base case solution. In general, for most of the analysed contingencies, few iterations are necessary to determine the post-contingency maximum loading point. Thus, a significant reduction in the global number of iterations is achieved. Therefore, the proposed methodology can be used as an alternative technique to verify and even to obtain the list of critical contingencies supplied by the electric power systems security analysis function. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.