First approach to assess the effects of nanoplastics on the soil species Folsomia candida: A mixture design with bisphenol A and diphenhydramine.

The terrestrial environment is one of the main recipients of plastic waste. However, limited research has been performed on soil contamination by plastics and even less assessing the effects of nanoplastics (NPls). Behind the potential toxicity caused per se, NPls are recognized vectors of other environmental harmful contaminants. Therefore, the main aim of the present study is to understand whether the toxicity of an industrial chemical (bisphenol A - BPA) and a pharmaceutical (diphenhydramine - DPH) changes in the presence of polystyrene NPls to the terrestrial invertebrate Folsomia candida. Assessed endpoints encompassed organismal (reproduction, survival and behavior) and biochemical (neurotransmission and oxidative stress) levels. BPA or DPH, 28 d single exposures (1 to 2000 mg/kg), induce no effect on organisms' survival. In terms of reproduction, the calculated EC50 (concentration that causes 50% of the effect) and determined LOEC (lowest observed effect concentration) were higher than the environmental concentrations, showing that BPA or DPH single exposure may pose no threat to the terrestrial invertebrates. Survival and reproduction effects of BPA or DPH were independent on the presence of NPls. However, for avoidance behavior (48 h exposure), the effects of the tested mixtures (BPA + NPls and DPH + NPls) were dependent on the NPls concentration (at 0.015 mg/kg - interaction: no avoidance; at 600 mg/kg - no interaction: avoidance). Glutathione S-transferase activity increased after 28 d exposure to 100 mg/kg DPH + 0.015 mg/kg NPls (synergism). The increase of lipid peroxidation levels found after the exposure to 0.015 mg/kg NPls (a predicted environmental concentration) was not detected in the mixtures (antagonism). The results showed that the effects of the binary mixtures were dependent on the assessed endpoint and the tested concentrations. The findings of the present study show the ability of NPls to alter the effects of compounds with different natures and mechanisms of toxicity towards soil organisms, showing the importance of environmental risk assessment considering mixtures of contaminants.

The Incidence of Dental Caries in Children with Down Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Scientific evidence regarding the incidence of dental caries in Down syndrome (DS) patients is limited and sometimes presents divergent opinions among authors, making it difficult to reach definitive conclusions. We aimed to evaluate the caries incidence in the DS pediatric population and compare it against healthy controls. The search was performed using 4 universal databases: Cochrane, B-on, Biomed, and PubMed. The selected articles were synthesized and subsequently evaluated according to an adaptation of the Quality Assessment Checklist for Prevalence Studies risk of bias tool, and analysis charts were performed by the Risk of Bias visualization tool (ROBVIS). Statistics and graphs were performed by Open Meta Analyst and JASP software. The confounding effect on caries incidence of the following factors was evaluated through meta-regression: age, Male/Female (M/F) ratio, DMFT, dmft, and study geographic location. Overall, the incidence of caries in the DS population was 49.9%, whereas in the control population was 63.4%. The M/F ratio, DMFT, and dmft significantly affected the incidence of DS individuals (p-value < 0.05). The evidence regarding the lower pooled incidence of caries in individuals with DS regarding controls is limited by the few scientific reports available and cross-section designs. Therefore, further studies are needed to confirm these results.

Industrial noise: A new stimulus for dental pulp aging? Qualitative and quantitative analysis in Wistar rat teeth-A pilot study.

Morphological changes induced by industrial noise have been experimentally observed in several organs. This study aims to characterize the effect of industrial noise on the pulp cell density of Wistar rats from a histological point of view, through qualitative and quantitative analysis. The histologic sections were observed over the optical microscope and photographed using 10x and 40x magnifications and analyzed using an image processing software. They refer to a group of animals exposed to industrial noise for 3 months and for 7 months (EG) and another group of animals kept in silence for control (CG) during the same periods. There was a significant decrease in pulp cell density in teeth of the animals exposed for 3 months when compared to control teeth group (p = 0.01). However, in the group exposed for 7 months, no statistically significant differences were found (p = 0.66). Even so, we found an evident relationship between exposure to industrial noise and teeth morphological changes. The observed changes are similar to the modifications found on aged teeth. Therefore, this study places industrial noise as an aggressive stimulus that can cause a reaction of the pulp-dentin complex with morphological changes compatible with premature aging of the tooth.

Oral Health Status of Adult Dysphagic Patients That Undergo Endoscopic Gastrostomy for Long Term Enteral Feeding.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG) is required to maintain a feeding route when neurological or cancer dysphagia impact oral intake. This study aimed to evaluate the oral health and oral changes of PEG-patients without oral feeding for three months. METHODS: Prospective observational study, with a PEG-patients convenience sample. Data were obtained before PEG (T0) and 3 months after gastrostomy (T1). Initial oral hygiene habits were collected through a questionnaire. Intra-oral evaluation was performed using: Plaque Index (IP), Gingival Index (IG), Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth Index (DMF), Community Periodontal Index (CPI), and Attachment Loss (AL). T0 and T1 were compared to evaluate oral health evolution. RESULTS: Thirty-nine patients aged 65.3 ± 17.4 years were included. Initial (T0) oral health was worse than expectable. Between assessments period, oral indexes suffered a general deterioration with statistical relevance to the DMF. The frequency of deep periodontal pockets and attachment loss remained stable. CONCLUSIONS: PEG-patients presented poor oral health and insufficient oral hygiene habits, even before gastrostomy. After three months of PEG feeding, oral health suffered a general deterioration. This outcome was probably associated with the absence of oral feeding activity, which is beneficial to oral homeostasis, and further reduced oral hygiene. Improved oral daily care and dental appointments should become part of the PEG-patients follow-up.

A Neural Network Approach towards Generalized Resistive Switching Modelling.

Resistive switching behaviour has been demonstrated to be a common characteristic to many materials. In this regard, research teams to date have produced a plethora of different devices exhibiting diverse behaviour, but when system design is considered, finding a 'one-model-fits-all' solution can be quite difficult, or even impossible. However, it is in the interest of the community to achieve more general modelling tools for design that allows a quick model update as devices evolve. Laying the grounds with such a principle, this paper presents an artificial neural network learning approach to resistive switching modelling. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated firstly with two simulated devices and secondly with a 4 µm2 amorphous IGZO device. For the amorphous IGZO device, a normalized root-mean-squared error (NRMSE) of 5.66 × 10-3 is achieved with a [2, 50,50 ,1] network structure, representing a good balance between model complexity and accuracy. A brief study on the number of hidden layers and neurons and its effect on network performance is also conducted with the best NRMSE reported at 4.63 × 10-3. The low error rate achieved in both simulated and real-world devices is a good indicator that the presented approach is flexible and can suit multiple device types.

Industrial noise and tooth wear - experimental study.

UNLABELLED: Tooth wear is a complex multifactorial process that involves the loss of hard dental tissue. Parafunctional habits have been mentioned as a self-destructive process caused by stress, which results in hyperactivity of masticatory muscles. Stress manifests itself through teeth grinding, leading to progressive teeth wear. The effects of continuous exposure to industrial noise, a "stressor" agent, cannot be ignored and its effects on the teeth must be evaluated. AIMS: The aim of this study was to ascertain the effects of industrial noise on dental wear over time, by identifying and quantifying crown area loss. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 39 Wistar rats were used. Thirty rats were divided in 3 experimental groups of 10 animals each. Animals were exposed to industrial noise, rich in LFN components, for 1, 4 and 7 months, with an average weekly exposure of 40 hours (8h/day, 5 days/week with the weekends in silence). The remaining 9 animals were kept in silence. The areas of the three main cusps of the molars were measured under light microscopy. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: A two-way ANOVA model was applied at significance level of 5%. RESULTS: The average area of the molar cusps was significantly different between exposed and non-exposed animals. The most remarkable differences occurred between month 1 and 4. The total crown loss from month 1 to month 7 was 17.3% in the control group, and 46.5% in the exposed group, and the differences between these variations were significant (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that industrial noise is an important factor in the pathogenesis of tooth wear.

Effects of industrial noise on circumpulpar dentin--a field emission scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis.

Chronic exposure to Industrial Noise (IN), rich in Low Frequency Noise (LFN), causes systemic fibrotic transformation and sustained stress. Dental wear, significantly increased with exposure to LFN, affects the teeth particularly through the circumpulpar dentin. Our goal is to understand the consequences of IN exposure on the circumpulpar dentin of Wistar rats. 10 Wistar rats were exposed to IN for 4 months, according to an occupationally simulated time schedule and 10 animals were used as age-matched controls. The first and the second upper and lower molars of each animal were processed for observation by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) analysis was performed. In exposed animals FESEM showed a 2.0 to 6.0 µm-dense mineral band between dentin and the pulp with no regular continuity with the tubules. This structure had a few tubules where the odontoblasts processes could be observed embedded within the band and collagen fibers were trapped inside. EDS analysis revealed that it was hydroxyapatite similar to dentin, with a higher carbon content. FESEM results show that the band may be tertiary reparative dentin formed by odontoblast-like cells, but the increased amount of carbon (EDS) could mean that it is sclerotic dentin. IN should be acknowledge as a strong stimulus, able to cause an injury to odontoblasts and to the formation of reparative tertiary dentin, in a process that may accelerate the aging of the teeth, either by direct impact of acoustic pressure pulsations or by increased stress and dental wear.

A wearable sensor network for human locomotion data capture.

A new wearable data capture system for gait analysis is being developed. It consists of a pantyhose with embedded conductive yarns interconnecting customized sensing electronic devices that capture inertial and electromyographic signals and sends aggregated information to a personal computer through a wireless link. The use of conductive yarns to build the myoelectric electrodes and the interconnections of the wired sensors network, as well as the topology and functionality of the sensor modules are presented.