Self-Perceptions of the Impact of Oral Problems on the Social Behavior of Preschoolers.

INTRODUCTION: Investigating preschool children's social behaviors and the association with oral health variables helps to understand child development. Besides that, different perceptions need to be explored regarding the impact of oral problems on the social behavior between the child's self-report and parent's/caregiver's proxy report. OBJECTIVE: To determine which socioeconomic and oral factors are associated with difficulty sleeping and playing and the avoidance of smiling in preschoolers. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a representative random sample of 769 pairs of parents/caregivers and 5-y-old preschoolers. The preschoolers answered a questionnaire on difficulty sleeping, difficulty playing, and the avoidance of smiling for reasons related to oral problems. The parents/caregivers answered a questionnaire addressing socioeconomic characteristics as well as the use of dental services. Two calibrated dentists examined the children for the determination of dental caries, traumatic dental injury (TDI), malocclusion, and bruxism. Descriptive and Poisson regression analysis for complex samples with robust variance was used to test the associations (α = 5%). RESULTS: The variables associated with difficulty sleeping were low household income (confidence interval [CI]: 1.40-3.01), number of untreated dental caries (CI, 1.02-1.04), dental pain (CI, 1.76-3.59), TDI (CI, 1.08-2.11), and anterior open bite (CI, 1.11-2.20). Difficulty playing also was associated with the low household income (CI, 1.34-3.15), number of untreated dental caries (CI, 1.01-1.04), dental pain (CI,1.42-3.61), and TDI (CI, 1.13-2.33). The number of untreated dental caries (CI, 1.02-1.05), dental pain (CI, 1.03-2.88), anterior open bite (CI, 1.30-3.26), and not using dental services (CI, 1.13-2.73) were determinant factors for the avoidance of smiling. CONCLUSION: Socioeconomic, symptomatic, and/or oral esthetic problems exerted an impact on the social behavior of the preschoolers analyzed, such as playing, sleeping, and smiling. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER STATEMENT: The results of the present study may help parents and clinicians to understand better the association of oral problems with the social behavior of preschool children. Moreover, this study shows the importance of listening to children in clinical decisions. These results also can help in the elaboration of oral health policies.

Prescribing errors intercepted by pharmacist intervention in care of patients hospitalised with breast and gynaecological cancer at a Brazilian teaching hospital.

Oncologic inpatients often require multiple drug therapy. They may be at higher risk of experiencing prescribing errors, which pharmacist interventions may help to avoid. This study aimed to evaluate the types of prescribing errors, pharmaceutical interventions and differences in clinical significance, in prescriptions for hospitalised patients with breast and gynaecological cancer. A cross-sectional, prospective study was conducted at the oncology ward of a clinic specialised in breast and gynaecology cancer. A clinical pharmacist analysed prescriptions, identified errors, performed interventions and classified clinical significance. A total of 1,874 prescriptions of 248 patients were evaluated; 11.5% prescriptions were involved at least in one prescribing error, totalising 283 errors. The most common error was unsafe medication due to drug interaction (89[31.4%]). Drugs for the alimentary tract and metabolism, and nervous system were the most involved in errors with statistical association (p = .0246 and p = .0002 respectively). Of the 294 interventions, 73.5% were accepted. The clinical significance of prescribing errors and interventions were classified as significant and very significant respectively. The pharmacist interventions obtained a good acceptance rate and impact significantly, avoiding prescribing errors classified as significant.

Carboxymethylation of ulvan and chitosan and their use as polymeric components of bone cements.

Ulvan, extracted from the green algae Ulva lactuca, and chitosan, extracted from Loligo forbesis squid-pen, were carboxymethylated, yielding polysaccharides with an average degree of substitution of ∼98% (carboxymethyl ulvan, CMU) and ∼87% (carboxymethyl chitosan, N,O-CMC). The carboxymethylation was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and quantified by conductimetric titration and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance. The average molecular weight increased with the carboxymethylation (chitosan, Mn 145→296 kDa and Mw 227→416 kDa; ulvan, Mn 139→261 kDa and Mw 368→640 kDa), indicating successful chemical modifications. Mixtures of the modified polysaccharides were tested in the formulation of polyacrylic acid-free glass-ionomer bone cements. Mechanical and in vitro bioactivity tests indicate that the inclusion of CMU in the cement formulation, i.e. 0.50:0.50 N,O-CMC:CMU, enhances its mechanical performance (compressive strength 52.4±8.0 MPa and modulus 2.3±0.3 GPa), generates non-cytotoxic cements and induces the diffusion of Ca and/or P-based moieties from the surface to the bulk of the cements.

Biofuels from continuous fast pyrolysis of soybean oil: a pilot plant study.

The continuous fast pyrolysis of soybean oil in a pilot plant was investigated. The experimental runs were carried out according to an experimental design alternating the temperature (from 450 to 600 degrees C) and the concentration of water (from 0% to 10%). The liquid products were analyzed by gas chromatography and by true boiling point (TPB) distillation. A simple distillation was used to obtain purified products such as gasoline and diesel. Physical-chemical analysis showed that these biofuels are similar to fossil fuels. Mass and energy balances were carried out in order to determine the vaporization enthalpy and the reaction enthalpy for each experiment. The thermal analysis showed that it is possible to use the products as an energy source for the process.

Inverse relationship between cord blood adiponectin concentrations and the number of cigarettes smoked during pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: Maternal smoking is linked with several neonatal metabolic disorders. Adiponectin is an adipose-specific hormone with anti-inflammatory and antiatherogenic properties. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of maternal smoking on cord blood adiponectin concentrations. METHODS: We evaluate the effect of maternal smoking on cord blood adiponectin concentrations comparing 14 full-term and seven preterm newborns born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy with 77 full-term and 10 preterm neonates born to non-smokers mothers. RESULTS: Maternal smoking during pregnancy was significantly associated with decreased adiponectin levels of preterm newborns (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings also reveal a significant relationship between the reported number of cigarettes smoked during pregnancy and cord blood adiponectin concentrations (p = 0.01), suggesting that this association could have a causal relationship.

Simultaneous determination of E-2-nonenal and beta-damascenone in beer by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with UV detection.

A method for the simultaneous determination of E-2-nonenal and beta-damascenone in beer by reversed-phase liquid chromatography using UV detection is presented. The method consists of beer steam distillation, followed by an extraction/concentration step using Sep-Pak Plus C18 RP cartridges and determination by HPLC at 226 nm UV-absorption maximum. The identity of the compounds was confirmed by GC analysis with MS detection of the isolated fractions. A recovery factor of approximately 80% was obtained for beta-damascenone with a R.S.D. of 3%. E-2-Nonenal and beta-damascenone were monitored in a comparative study of fresh and either naturally and forced aged beer. The results obtained show that both compounds have a similar behaviour through an extended storage of beer and consequently can be used as good analytical markers of beer ageing. Nevertheless, the use of beta-damascenone seems to be more convenient because this compound appears in beer in higher concentrations than E-2-nonenal, thus making it easier to measure.

Determination of E-2-nonenal by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection assay for the evaluation of beer ageing.

The analysis of E-2-nonenal is of considerable interest for the brewery industry as this compound is claimed to be responsible for a paper/cardboard unpleasant flavour. Usually, the presence of E-2-nonenal can be noticed in aged beers at levels higher than 0.1 microg/l. In this work, an analytical method was developed to determine E-2-nonenal in beer involving steam distillation of beer followed by an extraction/concentration step using solid-phase extraction and determination of E-2-nonenal by HPLC with UV detection. Fastness and simplicity are the main advantages of the proposed method, when compared with other existing methodologies for the determination of E-2-nonenal in beer. Using the developed conditions, the interference of E-2-nonenal formed by degradation of its precursors during steam distillation is almost negligible. The presence of sulphur dioxide at legal levels does not interfere with the assay. The method was used in a comparative study of fresh and either naturally or forced aged beers. A much larger chromatographic peak was found near the peak of E-2-nonenal that correlates well with the peak of E-2-nonenal. Identification of the corresponding compound is currently under investigation, considering its future application on the evaluation of beer ageing.

Differential pulse polarographic determination of alpha-dicarbonyl compounds in foodstuffs after derivatization with o-phenylenediamine.

A differential pulse polarographic method has been developed for the indirect determination of diacetyl and other vicinal diketones in foodstuffs, based on the quantitative derivatization of the diketones with o-phenylenediamine to give quinoxalines. The method allows the identification of diacetyl and methylglyoxal in brandy, vinegar, wine, and butter samples. The polarographic reduction peaks of the quinoxalines formed are sufficiently separate, in some cases, to allow the simultaneous determination of these two compounds. The polarographic method is not affected by the presence of sulfite ion, probably because the o-phenylenediamine is capable of dislodging the alpha-diketones from their sulfite complexes.

Determination of aniline by adsorptive stripping voltammetry using an improved diazotization and coupling procedure application to the evaluation of the light degradation of D&C red no. 33 in the presence of ascorbic acid.

A method for the determination of aniline was developed, based on the diazotization and coupling of the aromatic amine to form an azo compound capable of being determined by adsorptive stripping voltammetry. A fast derivatization procedure was developed using 1-naftol as the coupling agent. A detection limit of 0.8 mug/l was obtained for aniline, using an accumulation time of 2 min. The method was applied in the determination of the amount of aniline in the colouring matter D&C Red No. 33, after a liquid-liquid extraction with chloroform, before and after submitting the colouring matter to a process of degradation, using accelerated light conditions in the presence of ascorbic acid.

Evaluation of the nutritional status of 1st-year school children in Campinas, Brazil.

We present findings from a study of nutritional status amongst 1st year primary school children in Brazil. The study was based on a 10% stratified random sample of children in Campinas, Sao Paulo State. The primary schools in the city were grouped into four socio-economic strata (high, medium, low and very low) based on the type of school maintenance (private or maintained by the local or by the State government) and the socio-economic characteristics of the school's catchment area. The nutritional status of 1942 children was assessed by looking at the distributions of z-scores of weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height in relation to growth charts of the National Center for Health Statistics reference population. In the overall population, 22% of the children were found to be stunted (z-score of height-for-age less than -1.0), 15% wasted (z-score of weight-for-height less than -1.0), 22% underweight (z-score of weight-for-age less than -1.0) and 5% overweight (z-score of weight-for-height greater than 2.0). These figures represent an excess of 6% of stunted children and also 6% of underweight children in comparison with the expected values in the NCHS reference population, and an excess of 2% overweight. The data were analysed by age, sex, ethnic group and socio-economic level. Both stunting and low weight-for-age were observed in 32% of children from the very low socio-economic level, with the highest percentages amongst the oldest children. A total of 11.6% of children from the high socio-economic stratum were obese. These results emphasize the need for different programmes to deal with nutritional problems in different groups of the population.

Osteossintese por compressao nas fraturas diafisarias dos ossos do antebraco. / Osteosynthesis by compression in forearm diaphysis fractures

Os autores apresentam os resultados do tratamento com osteossintese por compressao de 42 fraturas diafisarias dos ossos do antebraco de 29 adultos operados no periodo compreendido entre setembro de 1976 a setembro de 1979, no Hospital de Clinicas da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Houve consolidacao em 37 (88,9%) destas fraturas. Foram identificadas falhas tecnicas que explicaram a falta de consolidacao das 5 outras