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To analyze the effect of a sugarcane cystatin (CaneCPI-5) on the microbial profile and viability, as well as on the prevention of dentin demineralization using a microcosm biofilm model. Ninety bovine dentine specimens were divided into five experimental groups according with the solution they were treated for 60 s: (1) PBS (negative control), (2) 0.12% chlorhexidine (positive control), (3) Fluoride (500 ppm F, as NaF), (4) 0.025 mg/ml CaneCPI-5, and (5) 0.05 mg/ml CaneCPI-5. Specimens were incubated with inoculum (McBain's saliva plus human saliva) in the first 8 h, and from then on, they were exposed to McBain saliva containing sucrose and daily treated (60 s) with the solutions for 5 days. Resazurin and colony-forming unit counting assays were performed. Dentin demineralization was measured by transverse micro-radiography (TMR). 0.12% chlorhexidine significantly reduced the metabolic activity of the microcosm biofilm in relation to the negative control and treated groups (p < 0.01). CHX and F significantly reduced the counts of total microorganisms, mutans group streptococci, and lactobacilli when compared with the negative control. None of the treatments was able to significantly reduce dentin demineralization in comparison with the negative control. In the model evaluated, CaneCPI-5 neither altered the microcosm biofilm profile and viability nor protected dentin against demineralization., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the aesthetic perception and treatment need in individuals of different ethnicities with various degrees of laterognathism assessed by orthodontists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and laypersons., Methods: Three male descendants of different ethnicities were assessed, in which the mandibular deviation was manipulated digitally in different angulations (from 0 to 8°). The assessment was performed by three groups (orthodontists, maxillofacial surgeons, and laypersons (n = 20)), and it consisted of scoring the degree of pleasantness of the images presented in a numerical scale and indicating or not a corrective treatment for the respective image., Results: The higher the degree of deviation, the lower the scores assigned to the image (p < 0.05). Laypersons assigned the highest scores, with a significant difference between laypersons and oral and maxillofacial surgeons (p < 0.05). In terms of treatment need according to the group of evaluators, there were no statistically significant differences among them (p > 0.05). Moreover, the increase in degree of deviation increased the perception of treatment need (p < 0.05). The African faces received the highest scores, with significant differences from the Caucasian faces (p < 0.05). The overall tendency was higher treatment indication for the Caucasian faces, with statistically significant differences from the African faces (p < 0.05)., Conclusion: The greater the mandibular deviation, the lower the aesthetic pleasantness. Laypersons are less critical regarding the assessment of mandibular deviation. There was no difference for treatment indication by the different groups of evaluators. In addition, ethnicity may influence the perception and treatment indication.

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of low back pain (LBP) and the association with home posture habits while watching TV and using the computer in adolescents., Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with high school adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Students answered questions regarding sociodemographic variables, lifestyle, posture (illustration), time watching TV, time using computer, time playing video game and the presence and impact of LBP. Multivariate logistic regression was used to investigate the association between home posture habits and LBP., Results: The prevalence of LBP was 46.8 % (18.2 % chronic low back pain [CLBP] and 28.6 % acute low back pain [ALBP]). As LBP consequence, 23 % (n = 253) of the students took medication, 9.1 % (n = 100) missed classes and 8.2 % (n = 90) sought a physician. Slump postures while watching TV and using the desktop computer were associated with CLBP (OR 3.22, 95 % CI 1.38-7.5 and OR 1.7, 95 % CI 1.06-2.73, respectively). Participants who watched TV seated in bed yielded an OR of 2.14 (95 % CI 1.06-4.32) for ALBP and who used the notebook lying belly down in bed yielded an odds ratio (OR) of 2.26 (95 % CI 1.02-5.01) for ALBP. Among confounding factors, female sex was associated with CLBP and ALBP, work (no) was a protective factor associated with ALBP., Conclusion: Our findings support the high prevalence and the substantial impact of LBP in late adolescence and add the association with inappropriate home postural habits.

The clinical diagnosis of pure neural leprosy (PNL) remains a public health care problem mainly because skin lesions-the cardinal features of leprosy-are always absent.Moreover, the identification of the leprosy bacillus is not easily achieved even when a nerve biopsy can be performed. In an attempt to reach a reliable PNL diagnosis in patients referred to our Leprosy Outpatient Clinic, this study employed a variety of criteria. The nerve biopsies performed on the 67 individuals whose clinical, neurological, and electrophysiological examination findings strongly suggested peripheral neuropathy were submitted to M. leprae identification via a polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Mononeuropathy multiplex was the most frequent clinical and electrophysiological pattern of nerve dysfunction, while sensory impairment occurred in 89% of all cases and motor dysfunction in 81%. Axonal neuropathy was the predominant electrophysiological finding, while the histopathological nerve study showed epithelioid granuloma in 14% of the patients, acid fast bacilli in 16%, and nonspecific inflammatory infiltrate and/or fibrosis in 39%. PCR for M. leprae was positive in 47% of the nerve biopsy samples (n=23). PCR, in conjunction with clinical and neurological examination results, can be a powerful tool in attempting to identify and confirm a PNL diagnosis.