Parental report of dental pain and discomfort in preschool children is associated with sleep disorders: a cross-sectional study in Brazilian families.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the prevalence of sleep disorders in Brazilian preschool children and its associations with parental report of dental pain and discomfort. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 604 Brazilian preschoolers (4-5 years old). Sleep disorders (SD) and the parental report of dental pain and discomfort (DPD) were evaluated using the Brazilian versions of the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) and the Dental Discomfort Questionnaire (DDQ-B), respectively. Bivariate and multivariate Poisson regression analyses with robust variance were performed to analyze the association between SDSC and DP. RESULTS: Prevalence of SD ranged from 7 to 21%. 7.9% of the children had DPD indicating the need for more invasive dental procedures (DDQ-B ≥ 5). Significant associations were found between DPD and the following SDSC domains: sleep hyperhidrosis (p = 0.024; PRa = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.04-1.83), disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep (p < 0.001; PRa = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.15-1.73), parasomnias (p < 0.001; PRa = 1.82; 95% CI: 1.39-2.37), and sleep-wake transition disorders (p = 0.018; PRa = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.04-1.58). Children with higher prevalence of DPD presented 20% higher prevalence of SD than children lower prevalence of DPD (p = 0.039; PRa = 1.20; 95% CI: 1.01-1.44). CONCLUSION: Preschool children with higher prevalence of DPD are more likely to have SD, such as hyperhidrosis, disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, parasomnias, and sleep-wake transition.

Biologic effects of heregulin/neu differentiation factor on normal and malignant human breast and ovarian epithelial cells.

The heregulins are a family of ligands with ability to induce phosphorylation of the p185HER-2/neu receptor. Various investigators have reported a variety of responses of mouse and human breast and ovarian cells to this family of ligands including growth stimulation, growth inhibition, apoptosis and induction of differentiation in cells expressing the HER-2/neu receptor. Some of the disparity in the literature has been attributed to variations in the cell lines studied, ligand dose applied, methodologies utilized or model system evaluated (i.e. in vitro or in vivo). To evaluate the effects of heregulin on normal and malignant human breast and ovarian epithelial cells expressing known levels of the HER-2/neu receptor, this report presents the use of several different assays, performed both in vitro and in vivo, in vitro proliferation assays, direct cell counts, clonogenicity under anchorage-dependent and anchorage-independent conditions, as well as the in vivo effects of heregulin on human cells growing in nude mice to address heregulin activity. Using a total of five different biologic assays in nine different cell lines, across two different epithelia and over a one log heregulin dose range, we obtained results that clearly indicate a growth-stimulatory role for this ligand in human breast and ovarian epithelial cells. We find no evidence that heregulin has any growth-inhibitory effects in human epithelial cells. We also quantitated the amount of each member of the type I receptor tyrosine kinase family (RTK I, i.e. HER-1, HER-2, HER-3 and HER-4) in the cell lines employed and correlated this to their respective heregulin responses. These data demonstrate that HER-2/neu overexpression itself affects the expression of other RTK I members and that cells expressing the highest levels of HER-2/neu have the greatest response to HRG.

Embossable grating couplers for planar waveguide optical sensors.

Planar optical waveguides are an attractive tool for use in analytical chemistry and spectroscopy. Although similar to fiber optics, planar waveguides have been slow to be commercially accepted due to the difficulty of coupling light into the guide. Generally, prism coupling is the method of choice in the laboratory, as efficiencies approaching 80% can be reached. However, prisms are impractical for routine use for several reasons: expensive positioning equipment is required, coupled power is sensitive to environmental fluctuations, and prism coupling prohibits the fabrication of a truly planar device. The use of thin gratings on the surface of the waveguide allows for a two-dimensional structure to be maintained, while providing enough efficiency to be useful as a sensor. Our research efforts focus on developing a technique to make inexpensive, reproducible gratings that are easy to fabricate. By chemically modifying the surface of a commercial grating with a suitable release agent, it is possible to emboss replica gratings onto a variety of waveguide types. The fabrication of embossed gratings will be described, and their performance on glass, ion-diffused, polymer, and semiconductor waveguides will be presented.

gamma-irradiation-induced grafting of poly (styrenesulfonate) to poly(tetrafluoroethylene) shielded microelectrodes.

A new method for the fabrication and polymer modification of microelectrodes is described. These electrodes are constructed by heat sealing the electroactive material in dual shrink/melt poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) under vacuum. The PTFE shield may be activated to provide a support upon which polymers of interest may be grafted. gamma-Irradiation was used to graft polymerize styrene to the surface. The poly-(styrene) was subsequently sulfonated with chlorosulfonic acid to form poly(styrenesulfonate). Scanning electron microscopy and Raman microspectroscopy provide evidence that the poly-(styrenesulfonate) film has been formed and extends over the electrode material. Voltammetry indicates that hexaammine-ruthenium(III) cation is preconcentrated and stabilized via an association with the polymer film.

Increased potency of carbachol in isolated rat left atria after chronic reserpine pretreatment.

Chronic reserpine pretreatment has been shown to produce postjunctional beta-adrenergic supersensitivity in cardiac tissue. The present investigation was undertaken to determine whether chronic reserpine administration also alters the heart's sensitivity to muscarinic cholinoceptor agonists. The direct and indirect (antiadrenergic) negative inotropic effects of muscarinic agonists were examined in isolated rat left atria at various times after initiation of reserpine pretreatment (1.0 mg.kg-1 x day-1 for 7 days). Supersensitivity to the positive inotropic effects of isoproterenol was demonstrated at 1, 2, and 3 wk after initiation of treatment. Concentration-response curves were then obtained for the muscarinic agonist carbachol and the adenosine A1 receptor agonist (-)-N6-(2-phenylisopropyl)-adenosine (PIA) in reducing the inotropic response to isoproterenol (3.16 microM). The potency of carbachol was increased by approximately 2.0-fold at 1, 2, and 3 wk. Also, sensitivity to the direct negative inotropic effects of carbachol was increased 1.7-fold at 1 wk but not at 2 and 3 wk. At 1 wk, reserpine pretreatment did not alter either the direct or the indirect negative inotropic effects of PIA. These results show that postjunctional beta-adrenergic supersensitivity produced by chronic reserpine pretreatment is accompanied by a reciprocal increase in sensitivity of isolated rat left atria to the negative inotropic effects of muscarinic agonists.