Effect of platelet-rich plasma on healing of class III furcation defects treated with autogenous bone grafting and guided tissue regeneration: a histomorphometric study in dogs

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the platelet-rich plasma (PRP) when used in combination with autogenous bone graft and bioabsorbable membrane (Resolut® ) in the treatment of Class  III furcation defects in dogs. Material and method: Class III furcation defects (5 mm in height and in depth) were surgically created in the mandibular third premolars of five mongrel dogs. After nine weeks, the lesions were treated with scaling and root planning and each defect received one of the following treatments: autogenous bone graft + membrane (group C) or PRP + autogenous bone graft + membrane (group T). After a healing period of 90 days, the animals were sacrificed. Routine histological processing and staining with hematoxilyn and eosin and Masson trichrome were performed and a histomorphometric analysis determined the effect of the treatments on periodontal tissue regereneration. Data were analyzed by Hotelling’s T-squared (p < 0.05). Result: No statistically significant difference between C and T groups was observed by the histomorphometric analysis of the furcation area. Both treatment groups demonstrated similar regenerative results with the furcation defects partially filled and periodontal regeneration limited to the experimental notches of the lesions. (p > 0.05). Conclusion: According to the present results, PRP does not enhance the periodontal regeneration in class III furcation defects treated with autogenous bone graft and bioabsorbable membrane.

Marginal adaptation of Class V restorations with current generation dentin-bonding agents: effect of different dentin surface treatments.

This study sought to assess the use of chlorhexidine with several excipients as a dentin surface treatment and its effect on marginal adaptation of class V restorations with current-generation dentin bonding agents. A total of 120 human third molars were selected and allocated into 12 groups, with standardized buccal class V restorations randomly divided into preconditioned dentin rinsed with: water; water + chlorhexidine; ethanol; or ethanol + chlorhexidine. After rinsing of dentin (previously conditioned with 35% phosphoric acid) with the test solutions, the Adper single bond 2, prime and bond 2.1, and Excite bonding systems were applied randomly. Restorations were performed with FiltekTM Z350 XT composite resin. The resulting specimens were subjected to thermal and mechanical load cycling. Quantitative analysis of marginal adaptation was performed on epoxy replicas by means of scanning electron microscopy. Results were assessed by means of the Kruskal-Wallis test (percentages of continuous margins) and Wilcoxon test (differences between percentages of continuous margins before and after thermal cycling and mechanical loading), at a significance level of p < 0.05. Outcomes in the chlorhexidine-treated groups were not superior to those obtained with other treatments.

Lateral cephalometric diagnosis of asymmetry in Angle Class II subdivision compared to Class I and II

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Inappropriate management conditions, especially for the regressed class, are related to sperm quality in Prochilodus lineatus

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Estimation of the diagnostic accuracy of the glyco-C and US9 gene-based polymerase chain reaction technique for the detection of bovine Herpesvirus type 5 DNA in decomposed brain suspension from a slaughter house using Bayesian analysis, Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Morphometric analysis of long-term dentoskeletal effects induced by treatment with Balters bionator

Objective: To evaluate the long-term effects of the standard (Class II) Balters bionator in growing patients with Class II malocclusion with mandibular retrusion by using morphometrics (thin-plate spline [TPS] analysis). Materials and Methods: Twenty-three Class II patients (8 male, 15 female) were treated consecutively with the Balters bionator (bionator group). The sample was evaluated at T0, start of treatment; T1, end of bionator therapy; and T2, long-term observation (including fixed appliances). Mean age at the start of treatment was 10 years 2 months (T0); at posttreatment, 12 years 3 months (T1); and at long-term follow-up, 18 years 2 months (T2). The control group consisted of 22 subjects (11 male, 11 female) with untreated Class II malocclusion. Lateral cephalograms were analyzed at the three time points for all groups. TPS analysis evaluated statistical differences (permutation tests) in the craniofacial shape and size between the bionator and control groups. Results: TPS analysis showed that treatment with the bionator is able to produce favorable mandibular shape changes (forward and downward displacement) that contribute significantly to the correction of the Class II dentoskeletal imbalance. These results are maintained at a long-term observation after completion of growth. The control group showed no statistically significant differences in the correction of Class II malocclusion. Conclusions: This study suggests that bionator treatment of Class II malocclusion produces favorable results over the long term with a combination of skeletal and dentoalveolar shape changes.

Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS method for quantitative analysis of mirtazapine in human plasma

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Summarization in Math Class

This action research study of twenty students in my sixth grade mathematics classroom examines the implementation of summarization strategies. Students were taught how to summarize concepts and how to explain their thinking in different ways to the teacher and their peers. Through analysis of students’ summaries of concepts from lessons that I taught, tests scores, and student journals and interviews, I discovered that summarizing mathematical concepts offers students an engaging opportunity to better understand those concepts and render that understanding more visible to the teacher. This analysis suggests that non-traditional summarization, such as verbal and written strategies, and strategies involving movement and discussions, can be useful in mathematics classrooms to improve student understanding, engagement in learning tasks, and as a form of formative assessment.

Review of Applied Spatial Data Analysis with R by R. S. Bivand, E. J. Pebesma, and V. Gomez-Rubio

Most authors struggle to pick a title that adequately conveys all of the material covered in a book. When I first saw Applied Spatial Data Analysis with R, I expected a review of spatial statistical models and their applications in packages (libraries) from the CRAN site of R. The authors’ title is not misleading, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how deep the word “applied” is here. The first half of the book essentially covers how R handles spatial data. To some statisticians this may be boring. Do you want, or need, to know the difference between S3 and S4 classes, how spatial objects in R are organized, and how various methods work on the spatial objects? A few years ago I would have said “no,” especially to the “want” part. Just let me slap my EXCEL spreadsheet into R and run some spatial functions on it. Unfortunately, the world is not so simple, and ultimately we want to minimize effort to get all of our spatial analyses accomplished. The first half of this book certainly convinced me that some extra effort in organizing my data into certain spatial class structures makes the analysis easier and less subject to mistakes. I also admit that I found it very interesting and I learned a lot.

The Economics of Threatened Species Conservation: A Review and Analysis

Stabilizing human population size and reducing human-caused impacts on the environment are keys to conserving threatened species (TS). Earth's human population is ~ 7 billion and increasing by ~ 76 million per year. This equates to a human birth-death ratio of 2.35 annually. The 2007 Red List prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) categorized 16,306 species of vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, and other organisms (e.g., lichens, algae) as TS. This is ~ 1 percent of the 1,589,161 species described by IUCN or ~ 0.0033 percent of the believed 5,000,000 total species. Of the IUCN’s described species, vertebrates comprised relatively the most TS listings within respective taxonomic categories (5,742 of 59,811), while invertebrates (2,108 of 1,203,175), plants (8,447 of 297,326), and other species (9 of 28,849) accounted for minor class percentages. Conservation economics comprises microeconomic and macroeconomic principles involving interactions among ecological, environmental, and natural resource economics. A sustainable-growth (steady-state) economy has been posited as instrumental to preserving biological diversity and slowing extinctions in the wild, but few nations endorse this approach. Expanding growth principles characterize most nations' economic policies. To date, statutory fine, captive breeding cost, contingent valuation analysis, hedonic pricing, and travel cost methods are used to value TS in economic research and models. Improved valuation methods of TS are needed for benefit-cost analysis (BCA) of conservation plans. This Chapter provides a review and analysis of: (1) the IUCN status of species, (2) economic principles inherent to sustainable versus growth economies, and (3) methodological issues which hinder effective BCAs of TS conservation.

Treatment times of Class II malocclusion: four premolar and non-extraction protocols

The purpose of this study was to retrospectively compare the treatment times of Class II division 1 malocclusion subjects treated with four first premolar extractions or a non- extraction protocol and fixed edgewise appliances. Eighty- four patients were selected and divided into two groups. Group 1, treated with four first premolar extractions, consisted of 48 patients (27 males and 21 females) with a mean age of 13.03 years and group 2, treated without extractions, consisted of 36 patients (18 males and 18 females) with a mean age of 13.13 years. Group 2 was subdivided into two subgroups, 2A consisting of 16 patients treated in one phase and 2B consisting of 20 patients treated in two phases. The initial and final Treatment Priority Index (TPI), initial ages, initial mandibular crowding, and treatment times of groups 1 and 2 were compared with t- tests. These variables were also compared between group 1 and the subgroups with analysis of variance followed by Tukey's tests. The treatment times for groups 1 and 2 and subgroups 2A and 2B were 2.36, 2.47, 2.25, and 2.64 years, respectively, which were not significantly different. Treatment times with non-extraction and four premolar extraction protocols are similar.

The identification of the pillars of education in the class comprehensiveness in healthcare

The objective of the present study was to verify, based on the analysis of student portfolio narratives, if the four pillars of education were approached in the class "Comprehensiveness in health care", part of the integrated curriculum of the Baccalaureate in Nursing Program of the University of Sao Paulo at Ribeirao Preto College of Nursing. A qualitative, documental study was performed using 46 portfolios constructed during the classes. Data collection was performed using an assessment tool that contained items addressing cognitive and affective dimensions. The data were submitted to thematic categorical analysis using the pillars of education as predefined categories. The results show that the pillars of education were, apparently, included in the class. Despite the present study findings, no evidence was found that the expected competencies were actually discussed among students and faculty, according to the records regarding the evaluations of each pedagogical cycle of the studied class.

The Compositional Aesthetic of Rodolfo Coelho de Souza in Paradise Station: an analysis

This article focuses on the compositional aesthetics of Rodolfo Coelho de Souza (1952-), a Brazilian fine art composer and active researcher, whose concerns surpasses the musical composition isolated from the social communication aspect. This is particularly evident in his piece Paradise Station, which, when analyzed, features the structural depth of its compositional process without disregarding the dialog with the listener and the Brazilian character, according to pitch, rhythm, texture, timbre and dynamics. The present analysis reveals a modular structure based on set classes, worked through a transformation network, which follows the David Lewin model.

Comparative Genome Analysis of Trichophyton rubrum and Related Dermatophytes Reveals Candidate Genes Involved in Infection

The major cause of athlete's foot is Trichophyton rubrum, a dermatophyte or fungal pathogen of human skin. To facilitate molecular analyses of the dermatophytes, we sequenced T. rubrum and four related species, Trichophyton tonsurans, Trichophyton equinum, Microsporum canis, and Microsporum gypseum. These species differ in host range, mating, and disease progression. The dermatophyte genomes are highly colinear yet contain gene family expansions not found in other human-associated fungi. Dermatophyte genomes are enriched for gene families containing the LysM domain, which binds chitin and potentially related carbohydrates. These LysM domains differ in sequence from those in other species in regions of the peptide that could affect substrate binding. The dermatophytes also encode novel sets of fungus-specific kinases with unknown specificity, including nonfunctional pseudokinases, which may inhibit phosphorylation by competing for kinase sites within substrates, acting as allosteric effectors, or acting as scaffolds for signaling. The dermatophytes are also enriched for a large number of enzymes that synthesize secondary metabolites, including dermatophyte-specific genes that could synthesize novel compounds. Finally, dermatophytes are enriched in several classes of proteases that are necessary for fungal growth and nutrient acquisition on keratinized tissues. Despite differences in mating ability, genes involved in mating and meiosis are conserved across species, suggesting the possibility of cryptic mating in species where it has not been previously detected. These genome analyses identify gene families that are important to our understanding of how dermatophytes cause chronic infections, how they interact with epithelial cells, and how they respond to the host immune response. IMPORTANCE Athlete's foot, jock itch, ringworm, and nail infections are common fungal infections, all caused by fungi known as dermatophytes (fungi that infect skin). This report presents the genome sequences of Trichophyton rubrum, the most frequent cause of athlete's foot, as well as four other common dermatophytes. Dermatophyte genomes are enriched for four gene classes that may contribute to the ability of these fungi to cause disease. These include (i) proteases secreted to degrade skin; (ii) kinases, including pseudokinases, that are involved in signaling necessary for adapting to skin; (iii) secondary metabolites, compounds that act as toxins or signals in the interactions between fungus and host; and (iv) a class of proteins (LysM) that appear to bind and mask cell wall components and carbohydrates, thus avoiding the host's immune response to the fungi. These genome sequences provide a strong foundation for future work in understanding how dermatophytes cause disease.

Long-term effects of oil pollution in mangrove forests (Baixada Santista, Southeast Brazil) detected using a GIS-based multitemporal analysis of aerial photographs

Oil spills are potential threats to the integrity of highly productive coastal wetlands, such as mangrove forests. In October 1983, a mangrove area of nearly 300 ha located on the southeastern coast of Brazil was impacted by a 3.5 million liter crude oil spill released by a broken pipeline. In order to assess the long-term effects of oil pollution on mangrove vegetation, we carried out a GIS-based multitemporal analysis of aerial photographs of the years 1962, 1994, 2000 and 2003. Photointerpretation, visual classification, class quantification, ground-truth and vegetation structure data were combined to evaluate the oil impact. Before the spill, the mangroves exhibited a homogeneous canopy and well-developed stands. More than ten years after the spill, the mangrove vegetation exhibited three distinct zones reflecting the long-term effects of the oil pollution. The most impacted zone (10.5 ha) presented dead trees, exposed substrate and recovering stands with reduced structural development. We suggest that the distinct impact and recovery zones reflect the spatial variability of oil removal rates in the mangrove forest. This study identifies the multitemporal analysis of aerial photographs as a useful tool for assessing a system's capacity for recovery and monitoring the long-term residual effects of pollutants on vegetation dynamics, thus giving support to mangrove forest management and conservation.