Assessment of the efficiency of dental excavation methods using laser speckle imaging.

This paper introduces a novel application of the laser speckle technique in dentistry, focusing on assessing the efficiency of dental excavation methods used to remove decayed tooth structure. The aim is to evaluate the efficiency of two chemo-mechanical agents and the high-speed drill using the laser speckle technique, which offers objective, non-invasive, and real-time evaluation capabilities. Extracted human primary molars with active occlusal carious lesions were sectioned into three parts, with each part allocated to one of three groups: Group 1 (Brix3000®), Group 2 (Papacarie DUO®), and Group 3 (High-speed drill mechanical caries removal). Caries removal was performed using the designated agent or method for each group. After caries excavation, speckle imaging using a 632.8 nm laser was conducted. Additionally, SEM was used to acquire micro-photographs of the surface morphology of the treated samples. The findings reveal insights into the comparative efficiency of the three dental excavation agents and methods using the laser speckle technique. The speckle parameters extracted from speckle patterns generated by treated teeth provide valuable information for evaluating the performance of the excavation methods. The scanning electron microscopy images also offer detailed visual evidence to support the analysis. This paper demonstrates the potential of the laser speckle technique for assessing the efficiency of dental excavation methods. The objective, non-invasive, and real-time evaluation provided offers advantages over subjective visual assessment and manual measurements.

Development in life expectancy with good and poor cognitive function in the elderly European Population from 2004-05 to 2015.

BACKGROUND: Living not just longer, but also cognitively healthier, and more independent lives is essential if European countries are to cope with the financial challenges that the shifting age composition of Europe's population presents. Here we investigate the change in life expectancy (LE) spent with good and poor cognitive function among older adults across Europe. METHODS: LE with good/poor cognitive function was estimated by the Sullivan Method. Cross-sectional data on cognitive functioning was obtained from 23,213 (wave 1, 2004-05) and 40,874 (wave 6, 2015) 50+-year-olds of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Information on mortality was obtained from the Eurostat Database. Results for 70+-year-olds were emphasized. RESULTS: LE with good cognitive function increased with 1.6 years from 10.7 years (95% CI: 10.6-10.9) in 2004-05 to 12.4 years (95% CI: 12.3-12.5) in 2015 for 70+-year-olds. Disparity was observed across sex and region. In 2004-05, a 70+-year-old woman could expect to spend 30.9% (95% CI: 29.4-32.4) of her remaining LE with poor cognitive function compared to 27.7% (95% CI: 26.0 -29.4) for men. In 2015, women (24.4% (95% CI: 23.4-25.3)) had considerably caught up with men (24.8% (95% CI:23.7.25.8)), shifting the pattern in favor of women. In 2004-05 and 2015, Northern Europeans had the lowest LE with poor cognitive function while Southern Europeans had the highest, but made the most improvement during the period. CONCLUSIONS: Overall we find that LE with poor cognitive function has been compressed in the European population of 70+-year-olds.

Radiofrequency modulator for marine lidar radar systems featuring compact and agile extra-cavity architecture using a polarimetric effect.

This paper proposes a new, to the best of our knowledge, modulator architecture for a microwave-modulated lidar for marine applications. The principle is based on the use of an infrared picosecond laser source, coupled to an external cavity, ensuring wavelength conversion in the visible range as well as radiofrequency modulation. Wavelength conversion is performed by a nonlinear crystal associated with adapted mirrors, while multiple round trips and polarization control in the cavity ensure microwave modulation. This paper presents both modeling of the emitted signal and the practical realization of this device.

Micellar enhanced photo-induced fluorescence and absorbance for the development of an on-site early warning water quality monitoring system for pesticides.

This paper describes two prototypes of an on-site Early Warning Water Quality Monitoring System (EWWQMS) for pesticide quantification in natural waters. As many pesticides are non-fluorescent, the EWWQMS setup uses UV photoconversion to form highly fluorescent photoproducts. To enhance sensitivity, the two prototypes use micellar-enhanced fluorescence with surfactant (cetyl trimethyl ammonium chloride) in aqueous solution. To improve specificity, four UV LEDs at different wavelengths then excite the fluorescent photoproducts. The EWWQMS prototypes also employ UV absorption for quantification of non-photosensitive pesticides. The first prototype detects the pesticides via a diode array spectrometer. The second system is developed with higher resolution spectrometer and an intensified CCD camera detection to improve the sensitivity of the method. These experimental set-ups are described, explained and tested. Analytical applications were carried out online in CTAC aqueous solution, for the determination of isoproturon, flufenoxuron and profenofos. The calibration curves obtained are linear over one order of magnitude, and the detection limits are in the ng mL-1 range. The analytical performances of these new methods are good compared with other published classical micellar enhanced photo-induced fluorescence methods for the determination of pesticides in aqueous solutions. Our results show that these EWWQMS prototypes can be used as a warning system to protect against pesticide contamination exceeding the threshold of treatment capabilities at industrial facilities using natural waters.

Healthy life expectancy by frailty state in Europe from 2004 to 2015: findings from SHARE.

BACKGROUND: As populations age, the possible consequences of increased frailty are a major concern for the health sector. Here, we investigate how life expectancy with and without frailty has changed during a 10-11-year-period across Europe. METHODS: The Sullivan method was used to investigate changes in life expectancy with and without frailty in 10 European countries. Frailty status (non-frail, pre-frail and frail) was determined by use of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe Frailty Instrument (SHARE-FI). Data on frailty prevalence was obtained from 21 698 individuals in wave 1 (2004-05) and 38 859 individuals in wave 6 (2015) of the SHARE. Information on mortality was obtained from the Eurostat Database. RESULTS: In 2015, women aged 70 spent 25.0% (95% CI: 24.0-26.1) of their remaining life expectancy in a frail state, and the number for men was 11.5% (95% CI: 10.7-12.3). Southern Europeans spent 24.2% (95% CI: 22.9-25.4) of their remaining life expectancy in a frail state and the numbers for Central Europeans and Northern Europeans were 17.0% (95% CI: 16.0-17.9) and 12.2% (95% CI: 10.9-13.5), respectively. From 2004-05 to 2015, life expectancy increased by 1.1 years (from 15.3 to 16.4 years) for 70-year-old Europeans. Similarly, non-frail life expectancy increased by 1.1 years (95% CI: 0.8-1.4), whereas no significant changes in life expectancy in frail states were observed. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that Europeans today spend more years in a non-frail state than Europeans did 10-11 years ago. Our findings reflect a considerable inequality by gender and region.

Effect of family nursing therapeutic conversations on patients with heart failure and their family members: Secondary outcomes of a randomised multicentre trial.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study evaluates the short-term (3 months), medium-term (6 months) and long-term (12 months) effect of family nursing therapeutic conversations added to conventional care versus conventional care on social support, family health and family functioning in outpatients with heart failure and their family members. BACKGROUND: It has been emphasised that increased social support from nurses is an important resource to strengthen family health and family functioning and thus improve the psychological well-being of patients with heart failure and their close family members. DESIGN: A randomised multicentre trial. METHODS: A randomised multicentre trial adhering to the CONSORT checklist was performed in three Danish heart failure clinics. Consecutive patients (n = 468) with family members (n = 322) were randomly assigned to either the intervention or control group. Participants were asked to fill out family functioning, family health and social support questionnaires. Data were measured ahead of first consultation and again after 3, 6 and 12 months. RESULTS: Social support scores increased statistically significant both at short-term (p = 0.002) medium-term (p = 0.008) and long-term (p = 0.018) among patients and their family members (p = <0.001; 0.007 and 0.014 respectively) in the intervention group in comparison with the control group. Both patients and their family members reported increased reinforcement, feedback, decision-making capability and collaboration with the nurse. No significant differences between the intervention and control groups were seen in the family health and family functioning scales among patients and family members. CONCLUSIONS: Family nursing therapeutic conversations were superior to conventional care in providing social support from nurses. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Family nursing therapeutic conversations are suitable to improve the support from nurses among families living with heart failure.

Interpretation of the bacterial growth process based on the analysis of the speckle field generated by calibrated scattering media.

The speckle imaging technique has been proven to be a reliable and effective method for real-time monitoring of the growth kinetics of any bacterium in suspension. To understand the interaction between the light and the bacterial density, a simulation of the bacterial growth of Bacillus thuringiensis was performed using calibrated microspheres of different concentrations and sizes. Results show that the decrease of speckle grain size with the increase of the medium scattering coefficient reveals the two essential phases of the bacterial growth: the exponential phase where the number of the bacteria increases and the stationary phase where sporulation and cell lysis occur.

Correction to: A nonsynonymous mutation in PLCG2 reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia, and increases the likelihood of longevity.

The IPDGC (The International Parkinson Disease Genomics Consortium) and EADB (Alzheimer Disease European DNA biobank) are listed correctly as an author to the article, however, they were incorrectly listed more than once.

Single speckle image analysis for monitoring the hardening kinetics of glass ionomer cements.

In this paper, we monitor the setting reaction of commercial glass ionomer cements using a laser speckle technique and adopting a spatial approach in the analysis of recorded speckle images. Experimental results showed that spatial contrast and speckle grain size increased as two studied cements underwent their setting reactions. After combining two geometrical configurations to measure the intensities of backscattered and transmitted light, we concluded that the increase in speckle grain size was caused by an increase in size of the scattering centers, since cement components aggregate and hence transition from a Rayleigh to a Mie scattering regime. Finally, two main phases were distinguished in the hardening process, as reported in the literature; however, the technique we propose has the advantage of easily identifying these two phases. The analysis of a single speckle image offers multiple advantages over the temporal analysis of a series of speckle images, in particular due to the low number of images recorded and a far shorter image processing time.

The effect of smoking on the healthy life expectancy of Palestinian men in the West Bank: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: The high prevalence of smoking (40%) in men living in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territory is a major challenge for the Palestinian health authorities. The aim of this study was to estimate life expectancy and the average lifetime with and without chronic disease in men living in the West Bank who had never smoked, were ex-smokers, or were smokers. METHODS: We used a life table for the male population in the West Bank and Danish relative risk estimates for death for smokers and ex-smokers versus never smokers and data from the 2010 Palestinian Family Survey. We estimated expected life time with and without chronic disease, and the contributions from the mortality and morbidity effects to smoking-related differences in average lifetime with and without chronic disease were assessed by decomposition. FINDINGS: The life expectancy of a Palestinian man aged 15 years who would never start smoking was 59·5 years, of which 41·1 years (95% CI 40·3-41·9) were expected to be without chronic disease. Ex-smokers could expect 57·9 years of remaining life time, 37·7 years (35·9-39·4) of which would be without chronic disease. For life-long heavy smokers, the expected lifetime was 52·6 years, of which 38·5 years (37·3-39·7) would be without chronic disease. Of the total loss of 6·9 years of life expectancy in heavy smokers, the mortality effect accounted for 2·5 years without disease and 4·4 years with disease, whereas the morbidity effect was negligible. The morbidity component of the decomposition accounted for 1·7 years with disease for moderate smokers and 2·9 years without disease for ex-smokers. INTERPRETATION: The high prevalence of smoking causes a considerable loss of life-years and life time without chronic disease. We recommend that the Palestinian health authorities enforce an anti-smoking law. FUNDING: None.

A nonsynonymous mutation in PLCG2 reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia, and increases the likelihood of longevity.

The genetic variant rs72824905-G (minor allele) in the PLCG2 gene was previously associated with a reduced Alzheimer's disease risk (AD). The role of PLCG2 in immune system signaling suggests it may also protect against other neurodegenerative diseases and possibly associates with longevity. We studied the effect of the rs72824905-G on seven neurodegenerative diseases and longevity, using 53,627 patients, 3,516 long-lived individuals and 149,290 study-matched controls. We replicated the association of rs72824905-G with reduced AD risk and we found an association with reduced risk of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We did not find evidence for an effect on Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis (MS) risks, despite adequate sample sizes. Conversely, the rs72824905-G allele was associated with increased likelihood of longevity. By-proxy analyses in the UK Biobank supported the associations with both dementia and longevity. Concluding, rs72824905-G has a protective effect against multiple neurodegenerative diseases indicating shared aspects of disease etiology. Our findings merit studying the PLCγ2 pathway as drug-target.

Monitoring the curing kinetics of glass ionomer cements by modeling the temporal correlation of speckle images.

Glass ionomer cements (GIC) originated in the mid-twentieth century with the rising demand for dental materials to be biocompatible and cost-effective. Due to their unique ability to bond to tooth structure, coupled with their fluoride-releasing potential, GIC are widely used in pediatric dentistry. However, the curing kinetics of these materials are not extensively documented. In this study, we show that dynamic laser speckle is an efficient method for monitoring the acid-base reaction that occurs during the self-setting of conventional GIC. Plotted temporal correlation curves, showing the degree of similarity between several recorded speckle patterns, indicate that the GIC kinetics reaction slows down during the curing phenomenon. Furthermore, the numerical fit of the temporal correlation curves with a Lorentzian profile gives the characteristic times of the reaction and reveals two phases during GIC hardening.

Rise, stagnation, and rise of Danish women's life expectancy.

Health conditions change from year to year, with a general tendency in many countries for improvement. These conditions also change from one birth cohort to another: some generations suffer more adverse events in childhood, smoke more heavily, eat poorer diets, etc., than generations born earlier or later. Because it is difficult to disentangle period effects from cohort effects, demographers, epidemiologists, actuaries, and other population scientists often disagree about cohort effects' relative importance. In particular, some advocate forecasts of life expectancy based on period trends; others favor forecasts that hinge on cohort differences. We use a combination of age decomposition and exchange of survival probabilities between countries to study the remarkable recent history of female life expectancy in Denmark, a saga of rising, stagnating, and now again rising lifespans. The gap between female life expectancy in Denmark vs. Sweden grew to 3.5 y in the period 1975-2000. When we assumed that Danish women born 1915-1945 had the same survival probabilities as Swedish women, the gap remained small and roughly constant. Hence, the lower Danish life expectancy is caused by these cohorts and is not attributable to period effects.

Combination of photoinduced fluorescence and GC-MS for elucidating the photodegradation mechanisms of diflubenzuron and fenuron pesticides.

Diflubenzuron (DFB) and fenuron (FEN) are benzoylurea and phenylurea pesticides, widely used in Senegal, that do not exhibit any natural fluorescence, but can be determined by means of photoinduced fluorescence (PIF) methods. Photodegradation of DFB and FEN yielded a number of fluorescent and non-fluorescent photoproducts. For both pesticides, at least 10 photoproducts were detected and identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). To identify the formed fluorescent DFB and FEN photoproducts, their fluorescence spectra were compared with those of standard compounds, including phenol and p-hydroxyaniline.

Dentinal tubule penetration of AH Plus, BC Sealer and a novel tricalcium silicate sealer: a confocal laser scanning microscopy study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this in vitro study was to assess the dentinal tubule penetration of three different sealers, AH Plus, BC Sealer and a novel tricalcium silicate sealer (NTS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-six human maxillary central incisors were divided into three experimental groups (n = 32) and were filled with gutta-percha using a single-cone technique in conjunction with one of the three sealers: AH Plus, BC Sealer or NTS. The roots in each group were cross-sectioned at 1 and 5 mm from the root apex, and the surfaces were examined under confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The sealer penetration depths were measured at their maximum depths and at four circumferential depths (12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock) and were evaluated using ImageJ software (ImageJ, NIH). RESULTS: The maximum and mean penetration depths were significantly higher at 5 mm compared to 1 mm from the apex in the AH Plus (p < 0.001), BC Sealer (p < 0.001) and NTS groups (p < 0.001). No significant difference was observed between the groups at 1 mm for both parameters. The maximum and mean penetration depths were significantly lower at 5 mm for AH Plus compared with the other two groups (p = 0.012). CONCLUSIONS: Within the study limitations, the BC Sealer and NTS demonstrated better tubule penetration results than the AH Plus sealer. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although no study has confirmed a relationship between the penetration depth of root canal sealers and the prevention of apical periodontitis, dentinal tubule sealer penetration may improve obturation quality.

Frailty and Associated Factors among Centenarians in the 5-COOP Countries.

BACKGROUND: The global number of centenarians is still strongly growing and information about the health and healthcare needs of this segment of the population is needed. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of frailty among centenarians included in a multinational study and to investigate associated factors. METHODS: The 5-COOP study is a cross-sectional survey including 1,253 centenarians in 5 countries (Japan, France, Switzerland, Denmark, and Sweden). Data were collected using a standardized questionnaire during a face-to-face interview (73.3%), telephone interview (14.5%), or by postal questionnaire (12.2%). The 5 dimensions of the frailty phenotype (weight loss, fatigue, weakness, slow walking speed, and low level of physical activity) were assessed by using self-reported data. Factors associated with frailty criteria were investigated by using multivariate regression models. RESULTS: Almost 95% of the participants had at least 1 frailty criterion. The overall prevalence of frailty (3 criteria or more) was 64.7% (from 51.5% in Sweden to 77.6% in Switzerland), and 32.2% of the participants had 4 or 5 criteria. The most frequent criteria were weakness (84.2%), slow walking speed (77.6%), and low level of physical activity (72.5%), followed by fatigue (43.8%) and weight loss (23.8%). Factors associated with frailty included data collection modes, country of residence, gender, living in institution, depression, dementia, disability, falls, and sensory impairments. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that reaching 100 years of age rarely goes without frailty and sheds light on factors associated with frailty at a very old age.

The impact of smoking on expected lifetime with and without chronic disease among Palestinian men in the West Bank.

Background: The purpose of the study was to estimate life expectancy and the average lifetime with and without chronic disease among male never smokers, ex-smokers and smokers living in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territory. Methods: The study used a life table for the West Bank male population and Danish relative risk estimates for death for smokers and ex-smokers vs. never smokers and utilized data from the Palestinian Family Survey 2010. Expected lifetime with and without chronic disease was estimated and the contributions from the mortality and the morbidity effect to smoking related difference in average lifetime with and without chronic disease were assessed by decomposition. Results: In the West bank 40% of the male population are smokers. Life expectancy of 15-year-old Palestinian men who would never start smoking was 59.5 years, 41.1 of which were expected to be without chronic disease. Ex-smokers could expect 57.9 years of remaining lifetime, 37.7 years of which without disease. For lifelong heavy smokers (> 20 cigarettes per day), the expected lifetime was reduced to 52.6 years, of which 38.5 years were without chronic disease. Of the total loss of 6.9 years of life expectancy among heavy smokers, the mortality effect accounted for 2.5 years without and 4.4 years with disease, whereas the morbidity effect was negligible. Conclusions: The high prevalence of smoking causes a considerable loss of life years and lifetime without chronic disease. We recommend the Palestinian health authorities to enforce the anti-smoking law.

Translation and field testing of the family functioning, family health and social support questionnaire in Danish outpatients with heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Valid and reliable instruments to assess family functioning, health and social support in families with heart failure constitute a cornerstone in the detection of the families' needs, in improving their functioning and in evaluating the effects of nursing interventions. AIM: To translate the three scales of the Family Functioning, Family Health and Social Support (FAFHES) questionnaire from Finnish into Danish, to test validity and reliability of the Danish version among outpatients with heart failure and to add to previous studies by reconstructing scales using confirmatory factor analysis. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used to study a sample of 330 patients with heart failure who completed the FAFHES. The validity (dimensionality) and reliability (internal consistency and test-retest) were assessed for each of the three scales. The scales were constructed using confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: Patients were primarily men (76%) with a mean age of 66.5 (SD 12.5), categorised as New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification II (80%) and NYHA III (20%) for clinical severity of symptoms. In all three modified scales, construct validity was supported by the analysis. There were strong correlations within the factors, with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.73 to 0.95 across the three scales, and significant, though weak, correlations between most of the factors. None of the revised scales showed good model fit according to the goodness-of-fit indices used. The test-retest showed interclass correlation coefficients ranging between 0.69 and 0.86, indicating acceptable test-retest reliability. CONCLUSION: The Danish version of the FAFHES is an instrument that can be used to measure family functioning, family health and social support from the perspective of the patient with heart failure. Further testing is recommended.

Extra-cavity radiofrequency modulator for a lidar radar designed for underwater target detection.

The hybrid lidar-radar technique is commonly used for shallow underwater target detection. This technique requires a powerful blue-green RF-modulated laser with stable microwave frequency. In this paper, a novel modulator design perfectly suited for this application is proposed. It consists of an extra-cavity modulator composed of two plane mirrors and a second-harmonic generator stage within the cavity to maximize the energy efficiency. This modulator is coupled with a picosecond Nd:YAG infrared laser source to insure the emission of a powerful pulse (up to 5 mJ). Results considering this architecture show stable modulation frequency and a powerful modulated beam. As the emitted signal lasts only a few nanoseconds, a range-gating method can be used for target localization. This emitted signal has experimentally proven to preserve input beam polarization, which also can be employed to enhance the target return.

Persistent social inequality in life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy: Outlook for a differential pension age in Denmark?

AIMS: The state old-age pension in Denmark increases to keep pace with the projected increase in average life expectancy (LE) without any regard to the social gap in LE and expected lifetime in good health. The purpose of this study was to compare changes in LE and disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) between groups of Danes with high, medium and low levels of education. METHODS: Nationwide register data on education and mortality were combined with data from the Surveys of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) surveys in 2006-2007, 2010-2011 and 2013-2014 and the DFLE by educational level was estimated by Sullivan's method for each of these three time points. RESULTS: Between 2006-2007 and 2013-2014, LE among 65-year-old men and women with a low educational level increased by 1.3 and 1.0 years, respectively, and by 1.4 and 1.3 years for highly educated men and women. The gap in LE between people with high and low levels of education remained more than 2 years. In 2006-2007, 65-year-old men with a high level of education could expect 3.2 more years without disability than men of the same age with a low level of education. In 2013-2014, the difference was 2.9 years. For women, the results were 3.7 and 3.4 years, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: With the persistent social inequality in LE of more than 2 years and the continuous gap between high and low educational groups in DFLE of about 3 years, a differential pension age is recommended.