Search

The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of two methods for collecting saliva samples from infants under 2 years of age for cariogenic streptococci (CS) count. Two collection methods were applied in 11 infants. In Method (A), saliva samples were collected by swabbing the inner cheek mucosa and floor of the mouth in figure of eight motions with a sterile cotton swab until it was soaked. In method (B), saliva samples were collected by aspiration of 1 ml of saliva with a sterile plastic syringe on the floor of the mouth, after stimulation with glove. The samples were cultured in modified Gold’s broth (MSMG), and on trypticase, yeast extract, sucrose, cystine and bacitracin culture medium (TYSCB). In method (A), the swab with the sample was unloaded in situ on TYSCB and placed in PBS medium for transport. Then, 100 μl of the eluate was seeded in MSMG. In method (B) 100 μl were seeded in TYSCB and 100 μl in MSMG. Both culture media were incubated under capnophilic conditions for 48 hours at 37 °C. Colony forming units (CFU/ml) were counted by calibrated operators (kappa = 0.75). The presence of cariogenic streptococci (CS) (Streptococcus mutans-Streptococcus sobrinus) was determined by qPCR in the samples collected by both methods. The CFU/ml counts in MSMG differed significantly between methods (p = 0.021). In TYSCB, the recovery of CFU/ml was higher in method (A), without significant difference (p = 0.705). The molecular technique detected presence of CS, with no difference between collection methods. Collecting saliva samples by swabbing proved more effective in terms of recovery of microorganisms, and did not affect the detection of presence of CS by molecular techniques.

The results of a numerical investigation of the melting of a PCM occupying an axisymmetric volume in the presence of gravity are presented. The PCM is held between two circular supports maintained at different temperatures. The melting process, which is analyzed for n-octadecane, is affected by a combination of thermocapillary and natural convection. If the PCM is heated from above, the convective motion driven by the thermocapillary force is opposed by the buoyant force, which reduces the heat transfer rate. If the PCM is heated from below, natural convection acts in the same sense as thermocapillary convection and the heat transfer rate is increased. The volume $$\mathcal {V}$$ V of the PCM relative to an ideal cylinder, which selects the shape of the PCM/air interface, is found to play an important role. The overall effect of natural convection on heat transfer is characterized by the ratio of the melting time in microgravity to that of the same system with gravity. This gain factor is greater (less) than unity when heating from below (above) and depends strongly on $$\mathcal {V}$$ V , particularly for smaller PCM volumes.

The objective of this study was to establish the correlation between an index for caries treatment needs and an index for caries lesions detection and evaluation. A cross-sectional study was performed on three samples of children aged 3 (n = 302), 5 (n = 183), and 11-14 years old (n = 60), attending early childhood centers and schools in the cities of Avellaneda, Rio Grande, and Buenos Aires. Dental caries treatment needs were estimated on every child through the Caries Treatment Needs Index (CTNI) for programming resources allocation. Also, a diagnosis of dental caries was made according to ICDAS II criteria. After the diagnostic procedures, a dental care program was developed. The ICDAS II variable was operationalized by grouping the codes into four categories: G1: code 0; G2: code 1-2; G3: code 3; G4: code 4-5-6. Measures of central tendency and dispersion were calculated for both variables, and the correlation was calculated using the Spearman coefficient. Results revealed that in the group of 3-year-old children, a significant correlation was observed in G1 (rho = -0.822); G2 (rho = 0.330); G3 (rho = 0.509) and G4 (rho = 0.710) between both indexes. For the group of 5-year-old children, a significant correlation was observed in G1 (rho = -0.821); G2 (rho = 0.260); G3 (rho = 0.344) and G4 (rho = 0.840). In the group of children 11-14 years of age, a significant correlation was observed in G1 (rho = -0.692); G3 (rho = 0.437) and G4 (rho = 0.764). The indices analyzed in this study (CTNI and ICDAS II) show reasonable equivalence for use in clinical and epidemiological studies based on the statistical analysis.El objetivo de este estudio fue establecer la correlación entre un índice de necesidad de tratamiento de caries y un índice para la detección y evaluación de lesiones de caries. Se realizó un estudio de corte transversal en tres muestras de niños de 3 años (n = 302), 5 años (n = 183) y 11-14 años (n = 60), que asistían a centros y escuelas de primera infancia en las ciudades de Avellaneda, Rio Grande y Buenos Aires. Las necesidades de tratamiento de caries dentales se estimaron en cada niño a través del Índice de Necesidad de Tratamiento de Caries (INTC) para la asignación de recursos de programación. Además, se realizó un diagnóstico de caries dental según los criterios de la ICDAS II. Después de los procedimientos de diagnóstico, se desarrolló un programa de atención odontológica. La variable ICDAS II se operacionalizó agrupando los códigos en cuatro categorías: G1: código 0; G2: código 1-2; G3: código 3; G4: código 4-5-6. Se calcularon medidas de tendencia central y dispersión para ambas variables y la correlación se calculó mediante el coeficiente de Spearman. Los resultados revelaron que en el grupo de niños de 3 años se observó una correlación significativa en G1 (rho = -0,822); G2 (rho = 0,330); G3 (rho = 0,509) y G4 (rho = 0,710) entre ambos índices. Para el grupo de niños de 5 años se observó una correlación significativa en G1 (rho = -0,821); G2 (rho = 0,260); G3 (rho = 0,344) y G4 (rho = 0,840). En el grupo de niños de 11 a 14 años se observó una correlación significativa en G1 (rho = -0,692); G3 (rho = 0,437) y G4 (rho = 0,764). Los índices analizados en este estudio (INTC e ICDAS II) muestran una equivalencia razonable para su uso en estudios clínicos y epidemiológicos, basado en el análisis estadístico realizado.

A numerical analysis of the thermocapillary-driven melting of phase change materials (PCMs) in weightlessness is presented. The phase change is explored for different PCMs with moderate melting temperatures, due to their potential for thermal control in space applications. We consider three different alkanes — n-octadecane, n-nonadecane, and n-eicosane — and gallium. Results are discussed in terms of the dimensionless Stefan (Ste) and Marangoni (Ma) numbers, which quantify the importance of the latent heat and the thermocapillary effect during the phase change process, respectively, and the container aspect ratio $$\Gamma$$ Γ . For alkanes, similar results are obtained with melting rate enhancements that depend on $$\Gamma$$ Γ . In short (deep) containers, the thermocapillary effect accelerates melting — with respect to the conduction-driven case — by a factor of as much as 4 depending on Ma, while in large (shallow) containers, this enhancement factor can take values up to 20. The best performance is featured by n-eicosane, followed closely by n-octadecane. For gallium, results differ substantially due to its high thermal diffusivity, leading to a significant reduction of the enhancement up to a value of approximately 1.2 at large Ma and $$\Gamma$$ Γ .

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are recurrent in the NW Patagonia fjords system and their frequency has increased over the last few decades. Outbreaks of HAB species such as Alexandrium catenella, a causal agent of paralytic shellfish poisoning, and Protoceratium reticulatum, a yessotoxins producer, have raised considerable concern due to their adverse socioeconomic consequences. Monitoring programs have mainly focused on their planktonic stages, but since these species produce benthic resting cysts, the factors influencing cyst distributions are increasingly gaining recognition as potentially important to HAB recurrence in some regions. Still, a holistic understanding of the physico-chemical conditions influencing cyst distribution in this region is lacking, especially as it relates to seasonal changes in drivers of cyst distributions as the characteristics that favor cyst preservation in the sediment may change through the seasons. In this study, we analyzed the physico–chemical properties of the sediment (temperature, pH, redox potential) and measured the bottom dissolved oxygen levels in a “hotspot” area of southern Chile, sampling during the spring and summer as well as the fall and winter, to determine the role these factors may play as modulators of dinoflagellate cyst distribution, and specifically for the cysts of A. catenella and P. reticulatum. A permutational analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) showed the significant effect of sediment redox conditions in explaining the differences in the cyst assemblages between spring-summer and fall-winter periods (seasonality). In a generalized linear model (GLM), sediment redox potential and pH were associated with the highest abundances of A. catenella resting cysts in the spring-summer, however it was sediment temperature that most explained the distribution of A. catenella in the fall-winter. For P. reticulatum, only spring-summer sediment redox potential and temperature explained the variation in cyst abundances. The implications of environmental physico-chemical seasonality for the resting cysts dynamics of both species are discussed., DETECCIÓN INNOVADORA DE PROLIFERACIONES ALGALES TÓXICAS: UNA NECESIDAD FRENTE AL CALENTAMIENTO GLOBAL, DIANAS, SI

Salmonid Rickettsial Septicaemia (SRS), caused by Piscirickettsia salmonis, is the most important infectious disease in the Chilean salmon farming industry. An opportunity to control this disease is to use functional micronutrients to modulate host mechanisms of response to the infection. Since P. salmonis may affect the host antioxidant system in salmonids, particularly that dependent on selenium (Se), we hypothesized that fish’s dietary selenium supplementation could improve the response to the bacterial infection. To address this, we defined a non-antibiotic, non-cytotoxic concentration of selenium to evaluate its effect on the response to in vitro infections of SHK-1 cells with P. salmonis. The results indicated that selenium supplementation reduced the cytopathic effect, intracellular bacterial load, and cellular mortality of SHK-1 by increasing the abundance and activity of host glutathione peroxidase. We then prepared diets supplemented with selenium up to 1, 5, and 10 mg/kg to feed juvenile trout for 8 weeks. At the end of this feeding period, we obtained their blood plasma and evaluated its ability to protect SHK-1 cells from infection with P. salmonis in ex vivo assays. These results recapitulated the observed ability of selenium to protect against infection with P. salmonis by increasing the concentration of selenium and the antioxidant capacity in fish’s plasma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the protective capacity of selenium against P. salmonis infection in salmonids, becoming a potential effective host-directed dietary therapy for SRS and other infectious diseases in animals at a non-antibiotic concentration.

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are chemical systems characterized by the production of hydroxyl radicals and other reactive oxygen species. One of the most important AOP systems are the Fenton and Fenton-like reactions. The main limitation in the reactivity of these systems is the solubility and redox equilibria of Fe3+/Fe+2 species. In this way, the use of iron ligands (redox active or redox inert) is one of the most common ways to modulate the Fenton reaction. These systems are called Chelated Mediated Fenton (CMF) reaction. The 1,2-dihydroxybenzene (1,2-DHB) type ligands are one of the most used redox active compounds to drive a Fenton reaction because these ligands can chelate Fe3+ and reduce it to Fe2+ enhancing de ability of Fenton systems to generate hydroxyl radicals. These systems are called the dihydroxybezene driven Fenton reaction. In this study, the effects of five 1,2-DHBs (substituted in position 4) for driving the Fenton reaction were evaluated. The DHBs utilized were: 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid and 3,4-dihydroxybenzonitrile (electron-withdrawing substituents), 4-tert-butylcatechol and 4-methylcatechol (electron-donating substituents) and catechol (without substituent). The degradation of rhodamine B by different Fe3+/H2O2/1,2-DHB systems were determined at pH values between 1 and 9. These values were correlated (by a multivariate model) with the Fe+3 speciation at these pH values. To determine the Fe+3/1,2-DHB complex concentration, the stability constants for the mono, bis and tris complexes were experimentally determined. The log β1, log β2 and log β3 for the assayed 1,2-DHB were 19.30, 27.21, 45.69 for catechol; 19.52, 28.90, 44.66 for 4-methylcatechol; 19.93, 27.16, 44.77 for 4-tert-butylcatechol; 15.57, 23.46, 42.03 for 3,4-dihydroxybenzonitrile and 17.68, 29.79 and 46.27 for 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, respectively. From the multivariate model (R2 = 0.994), it was determined that only Fe+3 aquocomplex, [Fe(OH)2]+ and [FeDHB]+ were significant (p < 0.05) for rhodamine B degradation, which is independent of the nature of the DHB utilized.

To assess the impact of oral conditions on oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in infants in ten Latin America countries (LAC). A cross-sectional study was conducted with 930 pairs of 1-to-3-year-old children/parents from 10 LAC, as a complementary study of the Research Observatory for Dental Caries of the Latin American Region. The scale ECOHIS, previously tested and valid in ten countries, was applied to parents/caregivers of children to measure OHRQoL. Statistical analysis included descriptive data analysis and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA-One-Way) were performed to compare age groups with OHRQoL. Bootstrapping procedures (1000 re-samplings; 95%CI Bca) were performed. The mean scores of the ‘Child Impact’ section in the LAC was 4.0(±8.3), in the ‘Family Impact’ section was 2.0(±4.0), and in overall ECOHIS score was 6.0(±12.0). In the ‘Child Impact’ section, Argentina 10.0(+2.4) and Venezuela 17.8(±17.5) demonstrated mean scores higher than the LAC total data. In the ‘Family Impact’ section, the countries with higher mean scores were Argentina 4.9(±2.0), Ecuador 2.1(±3.1) and Venezuela 7.9(±7.8). In the overall ECOHIS score, Argentina 15.1 (±4.1) and Venezuela 25.7(±25.2) has higher mean scores than the values of LAC. There is an association between children's age and parents' report of impact on the OHRQoL (p

Candida dubliniensis (Cd) and Candida albicans (Ca) are the most frequently isolated yeasts in HIV+ patients. Some of the enzymes produced by these yeasts are considered virulence factors since they contribute to pathogenicity of Candida spp. The aim of the present study was to compare production of enzymes such as phospholipase (Ph), proteinase (P), and hemolysin (H) by Cd and Ca strains isolated from periodontal HIV-positive patients receiving and not receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Subgingival biofilm samples were obtained using paper points, and a sample of oral mucosa was taken using a swab. Phenotypic and molecular methods were used to isolate 39 strains of Candida, including 25 strains of Cd and 14 strains of Ca, obtained from 33 periodontal pocket samples and 6 oral mucosa samples collected from 15 HIV+ patients (8 receiving and 7 not receiving HAART). Malt egg-yolk agar, albumin agar and blood agar were used to evaluate pH, P and H production respectively. The strains were inoculated in duplicate and incubated at 37 ºC. Colony and halo diameters were measured. A greater proportion of Ca was observed in patients not receiving HAART, and a higher proportion of Cd was observed in those under HAART, Chi2 p< 0.001. Phospholipase production was observed in 92.9% percent of isolated Ca strains but in none of the isolated Cd strains. Proteinase production was high in Ca and Cd strains isolated from patients not receiving HAART. Hemolysin production was observed in all the studied strains, though it was significantly higher (p=0.04) in Ca and Cd strains isolated from patients not receiving HAART. To sum up, the proportion of Candida dubliniensis strains was highest in the subgingival biofilm of patients receiving HAART, and Cd strains were found to express fewer virulence factors than Ca strains.

Introduction Haemophilic pseudotumour (HP) is an encapsulated haematoma in patients with haemophilia (PWH) which has a tendency to progress and produce clinical symptoms related to its anatomical location. Aim To show the experience of one surgeon who has been using mini-invasive technique to treat pseudotumours of limbs in PWH with and without inhibitors at one centre for 28 years. Materials and methods Thirty-three patients with 39 HP were treated. All patients had haemophilia A. Twenty-four patients had no inhibitors (72.8%), and 9 had inhibitors (27.2%). The mean follow-up was 16 years (1-25). All patients had x-rays and MRIs. All of them received Buenos Aires protocol as conservative treatment for 6 weeks. MRIs were repeated after 6 weeks' treatment to assess response to treatment. Surgery was performed in patients who did not respond to conservative treatment. Results After Buenos Aires protocol, four pseudotumours did not shrink (10.24%), 33 (84.61%) shrank, and two (5.12%) healed. Thirty-seven pseudotumours had surgery, 35 pseudotumours (94.59%) healed with minimally invasive treatment, and two did not heal (5.41%). No infection was observed with this treatment. The mortality rate for the series was 0%. Conclusion The minimally invasive treatment of pseudotumours was effective in 95% of the cases and resulted in no mortality in this series after 28 years.

There are a few in Argentina publications regarding the presentation of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalized and emergency care in vulnerable populations that compares the first and second wave, and it has few reports in developing countries. The objective is to determine whether in the care of vulnerable patients, to succeed against COVID-19, multiple public health tools and interventions necessary to minimize morbidity and mortality. The study is a prospective cohort investigation of 3028 patients during second wave with lab-confirmed COVID-19, who required any of the Health Centers response from April 1, 2021, to June 30, 2021. In a previous publication, our group analyzed the situation of hospitalized patients during the first wave in the same region, "Southeast Network" (SN), Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA). SN with 1.8 million inhabitants residing in urban and rural areas. A total of 14 health centers with different levels of care complexity provide care to patients in the region. The information of each patient with COVID-19 evaluated by SN, was incorporated in an Epidemiological Dashboard. The investigation was designed and reported with consideration of observational studies in epidemiology. A total of 57.9% patients were men, and the mean age (SD) was 52.1 (13.5) years. Sixty four percent patients with pre-existing diseases, most frequent hypertension and diabetes, but diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease presented higher risk. A total of 24.7% were hospitalized in Intensive Therapy Unit. The mortality of the cohort was 22.9%. Mortality was higher for patients aged 65 or more, and for those had some pre-existing disease. But, it was a slightly more than double that in the first wave, it is possible mainly due to the fact that more than doubled of patients in Second wave required hospitalization in ITU, compared to First wave. The patients presented greater severity of their medical condition at the time of their hospitalization. These findings were similar to those reported by other authors. Another possible cause of the high number of patients in the period studied is due to the fact that most of the hospitalized population had not been vaccinated. The health system was able to respond to the demand.

Resumen Introduccion El estatus focal, convulsivo y no convulsivo, es una entidad frecuentemente subdiagnosticada, sobre la cual no hay suficientes trabajos de investigacion publicados acerca de tipos de estatus focales mas frecuentes, factores de riesgo asociados a farmacorresistencia o morbimortalidad. Objetivo/metodo Realizamos un estudio descriptivo basado en la revision de historias clinicas de pacientes con estatus epileptico focal, internados en clinica medica entre diciembre de 2013 y abril de 2017, con el objetivo de analizar las caracteristicas demograficas de la poblacion atendida, los diferentes tipos de estatus focales, la morbimortalidad, los factores asociados con refractariedad al tratamiento y la relacion entre las variables mortalidad y refractariedad con las variables temporales. Para las variables cualitativas se describieron frecuencias y porcentajes; en la variables cuantitativas, promedios, desviacion estandar, minimos y maximos. Al comparar frecuencias se uso el test de Chi cuadrado y al comparar promedios, el test de la t de Student para muestras independientes. En todos los casos los test estadisticos aplicados fueron para muestras independientes y se uso un nivel de significacion menor del 5% para rechazar la hipotesis nula. Resultados Se analizaron 27 pacientes, 15 mujeres y 12 hombres, en los cuales el tipo de estatus mas frecuente fue el focal no convulsivo. La farmacorresistencia estuvo relacionada significativamente con el tiempo de evolucion de los sintomas. La mortalidad se vinculo con la gravedad de la enfermedad subyacente. Conclusiones El estatus focal es una afeccion frecuentemente subdiagnosticada. La sospecha clinica y una adecuada interpretacion del electroencefalograma son fundamentales para un rapido diagnostico y tratamiento, como tambien para optimizar la respuesta terapeutica.

Numerical simulations are used to analyze the dynamics of a free surface excited by thermal modulations at the lateral boundaries that generate a time-dependent thermocapillary flow. Fluid parameters are selected to be representative of 5 cSt silicone oil. Following the work of Gligor et al. [“Thermocapillary-driven dynamics of a free surface in microgravity: Response to steady and oscillatory thermal excitation,” Phys. Fluids 34, 042116 (2022)], the response of the free surface to oscillatory thermal excitation is characterized by the displacement of the contact points, and a frequency sweep is used to obtain a Bode-type diagram that reveals a resonance peak in the vicinity of the first sloshing mode. The ability of the thermocapillary flow to excite this sloshing mode suggests a control strategy that uses thermal modulations to dampen sloshing motion. After the response of the isothermal surface to a generic pulse-like inertial perturbation is measured, a classical proportional integral derivative control is implemented and the effect of its gains is considered separately. The efficacy of the controller is characterized by the decay time of the contact point oscillations and by a cost function. The effect of possible delays in the control loop is accounted for. Finally, a controller with a derivative gain is selected and used to dampen the motion induced by a reboosting maneuver of the International Space Station.

Este libro está dedicado a la universidad como protagonista de cambios. El texto lleva a comprender la universidad como ámbito de la relación indivisible de organización-sistema, en donde el todo es más que la suma de las partes, y el producto es el conocimiento como fin, medio y fundamento para el desarrollo de la persona (sentido crítico) y la respuesta al entorno (razón instrumental). A lo largo del texto se va construyendo la imagen de la universidad-ecosistema productora de novedad, donde la única certeza es la incertidumbre y que, además está en permanente crecimiento espiral, que transforma su entorno apuntado a la construcción de la ciudadanía responsable y la persona libre; la espiral del conocimiento sin control de casualidad. Un ecosistema, como el de la universidad propuesta, se encuentra en permanente construcción y deconstrucción, es el comenzar que es crear permanentemente con el presente y el pasado que está ya asumido en el presente. Redescubrir la frescura natural de un ecosistema inmerso en la universidad, y la vivencia pura de comunidad, nos llevará de la mano a quienes presumimos de catedráticos, al origen más puro del conocimiento humano que tienen saber de vida, a la pureza refrescante de lo inédito y el valor auténtico de lo ingenuo, para que en ese instante seamos nosotros, comunidad en la que se autoorganiza y construye proyectos de vida, cultura y destino.

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are known to show difficulties in the interpretation of human conversational facial expressions. With the recent advent of artificial intelligence, and more specifically, deep learning techniques, new possibilities arise in this context to support people with autism in the recognition of such expressions. This work aims at developing a deep neural network model capable of recognizing conversational facial expressions which are prone to misinterpretation in ASD. To that end, a publicly available dataset of conversational facial expressions is used to train various CNN-LSTM architectures. Training results are promising; however, the model shows limited generalization. Therefore, better conversational facial expressions datasets are required before attempting to build a full-fledged ASD-oriented support system.