Mapping the dynamic transfer functions of eukaryotic gene regulation.

Biological information can be encoded within the dynamics of signaling components, which has been implicated in a broad range of physiological processes including stress response, oncogenesis, and stem cell differentiation. To study the complexity of information transfer across the eukaryotic promoter, we screened 119 dynamic conditions-modulating the pulse frequency, amplitude, and pulse width of light-regulating the binding of an epigenome editor to a fluorescent reporter. This system revealed tunable gene expression and filtering behaviors and provided a quantification of the limit to the amount of information that can be reliably transferred across a single promoter as ∼1.

Current status of nitrous oxide as a behavior management practice routine in pediatric dentistry.

Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) as a behavioral management intervention in children has attained an excellent safety record and is, therefore, used widely. As is true of any diagnostic or therapeutic dental intervention, however, its usage merits periodic review, even if-or particularly when-it is routinely applied. For example, when N(2)O is used in combination with other sedatives, such polypharmacy can produce potentially serious side effects.

Ethical considerations in the use of nitrous oxide in pediatric dentistry.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) has become a routine intervention in contemporary American dental practice, especially in the management of children. However, routines translate to confidence which in turn may lead to overconfidence, such that possible risks and misuses are insufficiently acknowledged. This article ethically evaluates the use of nitrous oxide as a practice routine in treating children.

Extirpation of the primary canine tooth follicles: a form of infant oral mutilation.

Background: Ebinyo is a form of infant oral mutilation (IOM), widely practiced in rural areas of eastern Africa, in which traditional healers and other village elders extirpate the primary canine tooth follicles of infants by using crude, often unsterilized, instruments or utensils. Traditional folklore suggests that the underlying tooth follicles, thought to resemble worms, are the cause of high temperature, vomiting, loss of appetite and diarrhea in infants. In addition to the serious and potentially fatal immediate postsurgical complications, many of those who undergo this practice exhibit characteristic long-term adverse dentoalveolar effects.