The relationship among daily sugar exposure, dental plaque composition and caries patterns in the primary dentition is not known. Three groups of 20 children (18–48 months old) were studied: (1) caries-free (CF), (2) presenting pit and fissure caries (PFC), and (3) with nursing caries (NC). Dental caries index (dmfs) was assessed and the frequency of daily sugar exposure (TS) and its forms were estimated by questionnaires. Fluoride (F), calcium (Ca), inorganic phosphorus (P_i), insoluble polysaccharide (IP) and mutans streptococci were quantified in dental plaque. The three groups of children were statistically different regarding daily sugar exposure. Concentrations of F, Ca and P_i were lower and the IP and mutans streptococci statistically higher in dental plaque from NC children than those from CF children. PFC children also showed statistically lower F and P levels in their plaque than CF children. Statistically significant correlations were found between IP, TS and dmfs from NC and PFC children. A statistically significant correlation between mutans streptococci in plaque from anterior teeth and dmfs for NC children was also observed. These results suggest that the dietary sugar experience changes the biochemical and microbiological composition of dental plaque, which could partly explain the different caries patterns observed in primary dentition.

We investigate the topological theory obtained by twisting the N = (2, 2) supersymmetric nonlinear sigma model with target a bihermitian space with torsion. For the special case in which the two complex structures commute, we show that the action is a Q-exact term plus a quasi-topological term. The quasi-topological term is locally given by a closed twoform which corresponds to a flat gerbe-connection and generalises the usual topological term of the A-model. Exponentiating it gives a Wilson surface, which can be regarded as a generalization of a Wilson line. This makes the quantum theory globally well-defined.

We discuss two dimensional N-extended supersymmetry in Euclidean signature and its R-symmetry. For N = 2, the R-symmetry is SO(2) × SO(1, 1), so that only an A-twist is possible. To formulate a B-twist, or to construct Euclidean N = 2 models with Hflux so that the target geometry is generalised Kahler, it is necessary to work with a complexification of the sigma models. These issues are related to the obstructions to the existence of non-trivial twisted chiral superfields in Euclidean superspace.

We investigate the target space geometry of supersymmetric sigma models in two dimensions with Euclidean signature, and the conditions for N = 2 supersymmetry. For a real action, the geometry for the N = 2 model is not the generalized Kähler geometry that arises for Lorentzian signature, but is an interesting modification of this which is not a complex geometry.