Resin-Based Materials Protect Against Erosion/Abrasion-a Prolonged In Situ Study.

While patient compliance is key to preventive measures related to dental erosion, the application of resin-based materials could serve as an additional treatment to inhibit erosion progression. This in situ study evaluated the effect of applying resin-based materials, including resin infiltrant, on previously eroded enamel subjected to prolonged erosive and abrasive challenges. The factors under study were types of treatment (infiltrant [Icon], sealant [Helioseal Clear], adhesive [Adper Scotchbond Multi-Purpose Plus], and control [no treatment]); wear conditions (erosion [ERO] and erosion + abrasion [ERO + ABR]) and challenge time (5 and 20 days) in a single-phase study. The blocks were prepared from bovine enamel, eroded (0.01 M HCl, pH 2.3 for 30 seconds) and randomized among treatments, wear conditions, and volunteers. The application of resin-based materials followed the manufacturers' recommendations. Twenty-one volunteers wore the palatal intraoral device, in which one row corresponded to ERO and the other to ERO + ABR. In each row, all treatments were represented (2 blocks per treatment). For 20 days, the erosive challenge was performed 4 times/day (immersion in 0.01 M HCl, pH 2.3, for 2 minutes) for the ERO condition. For the ERO + ABR condition, two of the erosive challenges were followed by abrasion for 15 seconds with fluoride dentifrice slurry. Enamel and/or material loss was measured using profilometry (initial, after treatment, and after the end of the fifth and 20th days of in situ erosive challenge) and analyzed by ANOVA models and Tukey's test (α=0.05). The results showed that the application of resin-based materials did not cause superficial enamel loss. The infiltrant group showed a thicker layer of material above the enamel compared with the other materials (p=0.001). After the erosive challenge, there was no difference between the conditions ERO and ERO + ABR (p=0.869). All materials protected the enamel against erosion progression compared with the control group (p=0.001). Based on these results, we conclude that the application of resin-based materials results in protection of previously eroded enamel subjected to in situ erosive and abrasive challenge for 20 days.

Impact to public and environment of NORM industries in Italy.

Italian legislation requires companies undertaking certain work activities involving naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) to check compliance with action levels (1 mSv y(-1) for workers, 0.3 mSv y(-1) for the public). A project is being carried out by ARPAV and other Environmental Agencies to estimate doses to members of the public from NORM from several activities (refractory and tile industry, integrated steelworks, phosphate industry, aluminium production, coal-fired power plants). Activity concentration values of residues have been compared with general clearance levels given in Radiation Protection 122 part 2 and, in several cases, these levels appeared to be exceeded. Doses due to air emissions from stacks, from wastes in disposal sites and from the use of fertilisers in agriculture have been calculated through simulation models (PC-Cream, Resrad, Unscear algorithms), which produce fairly low dose estimates. A major problem for NORM control in Italy at the moment is the lack of official technical and legislative rules (concerning, for instance, residues and effluents management).

Management of NORM-containing processing residuals from hydrocarbons extraction and treatment plants.

Eni, in collaboration with ARPA Veneto, laid down a procedure for the exposure assessment of workers and the public to natural radionuclides contained in oil sludge during their future removal from hydrocarbons extraction and treatment plants. Reference legislation for this study is Italian Legislative Decree 241/00, which regulates protection from exposure to ionising radiation also for working activities with naturally occurring radioactive materials.

Anticipatory postural adjustments prior to step initiation are hypometric in untreated Parkinson's disease: an accelerometer-based approach.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs), prior to step initiation, are bradykinetic in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) and may be one of the factors associated with 'start hesitation'. However, little is known about APAs in the early stage of PD. In this study, we determined whether body-worn accelerometers could be used to characterize step initiation deficits in subjects with early-to-moderate, untreated PD. METHODS: Eleven PD and 12 healthy control subjects were asked to take two steps. Postural adjustments were compared from center of pressure (COP) and from acceleration of the trunk at the center of mass level (L5). RESULTS: Our findings show that APAs measured from the peak COP displacement toward the swing leg and the peak trunk acceleration toward the stance leg were smaller in untreated PD compared with control subjects. The magnitude of APAs measured from peak COP displacements and accelerations were correlated. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that quantitative analysis of step initiation from one accelerometer on the trunk could provide useful information for the characterization of patients in early stages of PD, when clinical evidence of start hesitation may not be detectable. Ambulatory monitoring of step initiation is also promising for monitoring patient progression in the home environment, and eventually providing feedback for preventing freezing of gait episodes.

Instabilidade funcional do tornozelo: controle motor e aplicacao fisioterapeutica / Functional instability of the Ankle: motor control and physical therapy application

A instabilidade funcional do tornozelo e um problema cronico muito frequente, principalmente entre atletas. Esse problema e sempre abordado na pratica fisioterapeutica, porem pouco se sabe de concreto acerca de sua verdadeira etiologia. Por essa razao, os tratamentos fisioterapeuticos atualmente oferecidos sao pouco padronizados e pouco fundamentados cientificamente. Neste artigo e feita uma revisao da literatura sobre a instabilidade funcional do tornozelo, ressaltando os aspectos mais relevantes para atualizacao do fisioterapeuta que trata essa lesao. Juntamente com esta revisao foram mostrados alguns dados de um estudo de movimentos voluntarios realizados em laboratorio. Primeiro lugar, foi descrito um tornozelo normal em seus aspectos anatomicos e funcionais. Em seguida relatou-se a incidencia do entorse e sua relacao com a instabilidade funcional. Depois, discorreu-se sobre os mecanismos de lesao, assim como as modificacoes e adaptacoes das estruturas envolvidas no entorse. Na sequencia foram escritos os possiveis mecanismos defesa e protecao do organismo para evitar lesoes em inversao do tornozelo. Tambem discutimos como as mudancas nesses mecanismos podem predispor o individuo ao entorse, enfocando particularmente as respostas reflexas mono e polissinapticas (reacoes pre-programadas) na musculatura dessa articulacao. Alem das respostas reflexas, tambem foi abordado o papel do controle dos movimentos voluntarios do tornozelo na instabilidade funcional. Finalmente, elegeu-se um sistema de avaliacao fisioterapeutica e classificacao do entorse, tambem fazendo consideracoes em relacao as condutas adotadas para o tratmento da instabilidade funcional do tornozelo