Dental erosion is a prevalent condition that occurs worldwide. It is the result of exposure of the enamel and dentin to nonbacterial acids of extrinsic and intrinsic origin, whereby mineral loss occurs from the surface of the tooth. The most frequently affected areas are the palatal surface of maxillary incisors and the occlusal surface of the mandibular first molars in adolescents. Characteris...

Image of a sculpture by Penny Hardy that reflects our negative influence on natural environment.

Epidemiology Few epidemiological studies of the prevalence and severity of tooth erosion have yet been performed on a national basis. Studies have focused on small groups of patients, often pre-selected, for example because of symptoms. Thus erosion was seen largely in patients with symptoms of gastric reflux (Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease or GORD) and later was recognised in patients with ...

BACKGROUND Plants play a pivotal role in soil stabilization, with above-ground vegetation and roots combining to physically protect soil against erosion. It is possible that diverse plant communities boost root biomass, with knock-on positive effects for soil stability, but these relationships are yet to be disentangled. QUESTION We hypothesize that soil erosion rates fall with increased plan...

A rectangular gridded ion thruster discharge chamber is investigated for operation with multiple discharge cathode assemblies. The multiple-cathode approach attempts to increase thruster throughput and lifetime by operating three discharge cathode assemblies sequentially, possibly providing a threefold increase in discharge chamber life. Previous multiple-cathode electric propulsion devices, su...

Water erosion creates negative impacts on agricultural production, infrastructure, and water quality across the world. Regional-scale water erosion assessment is important, but limited by data availability and quality. Satellite remote sensing can contribute through providing spatial data to such assessments. During the past 30 years many studies have been published that did this to a greater o...

A formidable challenge in the present multi-step Cu CMP process, employed in the ultra-large-scale integration (ULSI) technology, is the control of wafer surface non-uniformity, which primarily is due to dielectric erosion and Cu dishing. In contrast with the earlier experimental and semi-theoretical investigations, a systematic way of characterizing and modeling dielectric erosion in both sing...

We evaluate links between climate and simulated river bank erosion for one of the world's largest rivers, the Mekong. We employ a process-based model to reconstruct multidecadal time series of bank erosion at study sites within the Mekong's two main hydrological response zones, defining a new parameter, accumulated excess runoff (AER), pertinent to bank erosion. We employ a hydrological model t...

Solid particle erosion is an important material degradation mechanism. Although various methods of coating are tried and used for protection against erosion, thermal sprayed coating for such purpose is the most widely used method. In this chapter, evolution of thermal sprayed coating, erosion testing methods, and erosive wear of thermal sprayed coatings are discussed extensively with emphasis o...

these advantages will not be fully recognized unless the spatial and temporal predictability of process-based Spatially averaged soil erosion data provide little information on models are validated. Thus, spatially distributed erosion soil erosion dynamics. Dynamically varied, spatially distributed erosion data are needed to better understand erosion processes and data are of great importance i...