Relationship between parental locus of control and caries experience in preschool children – cross-sectional survey

Background: Due to high prevalence and serious impacts, childhood caries represents a public health issue. Behavioural risk factors such as locus of health control have been implicated in the development of the disease; however their association with childhood caries has not been thoroughly studied. The aim of this cross-sectional survey was to assess the relationship between parental locus of health control and caries experience and untreated caries of their preschool children in a representative sample in Czech Republic, adjusting for relevant sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: A representative sample of 285 preschool children and their parents was recruited. Study data included children's dental status recorded in nurseries and parental questionnaires with 13 attitudinal items regarding locus of control (LoC) in caries prevention. The association between parental locus of control and children's caries experience and level of untreated caries was analysed using logistic regression, adjusting for the effect of key sociodemographic variables. Results: There was a statistically highly significant linear trend between increased parental LoC and higher probability of the children to be free from untreated caries, independent from the effect of sociodemographic variables of children and parents. A similar highly statistically significant trend, although not entirely linear, and independent from sociodemographic variables was observed with respect to the chance of the children to be free from caries experience with increasing strength of parental LoC. After full adjustment, children in the strongest parental LoC quintile were 2.81 (1.23–6.42, p< 0.05) times more likely to be free from untreated caries in comparison to the weakest parental LoC quintile and 2.32 (1.02–5.25, p< 0.05) times more likely to be free from caries experience in comparison to the weakest parental LoC quintile. Conclusion: The findings support the hypothesis that higher internal parental LoC is associated with better control of both untreated caries and caries experience in their preschool children and highlight that a more internal LoC within the family is advantageous in the prevention of dental caries

Early Childhood Caries among a Bedouin community residing in the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>ECC is commonly prevalent among underprivileged populations. The Jahalin Bedouin are a severely deprived, previously nomadic tribe, dwelling on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem. The aim of this study was to assess ECC prevalence and potentially associated variables.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>102 children aged 12–36 months were visually examined for caries, mothers' anterior dentition was visually subjectively appraised, demographic and health behavior data were collected by interview.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among children, 17.6% demonstrated ECC, among mothers, 37.3% revealed "fairly bad" anterior teeth. Among children drinking bottles there was about twice the level of ECC (20.3%) than those breast-fed (13.2%). ECC was found only among children aged more than one year (p < 0.001); more prevalent ECC (55.6%) was found among large (10–13 children) families than among smaller families (1–5 children: 13.5%, 6–9 children: 15.6%) (p = 0.009); ECC was more prevalent among children of less educated mothers (p = 0.037); ECC was more prevalent among mothers with "fairly poor" anterior dentition (p = 0.04). Oral hygiene practices were poor.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>ECC levels in this community were not very high but neither low. This changing population might be on the verge of a wider dental disease "epidemic". Public health efforts clearly need to be invested towards the oral health and general welfare of this community.</p

[Charaktere aus Goethe's Werken] / Fr. Pecht gez. C. Geyer gest. A. Schultheiss gest. M. Lämmel gest. L. Sichling gest. J. Bankel gest.

[CHARAKTERE AUS GOETHE'S WERKEN] / FR. PECHT GEZ. C. GEYER GEST. A. SCHULTHEISS GEST. M. LÄMMEL GEST. L. SICHLING GEST. J. BANKEL GEST. [Charaktere aus Goethe's Werken] / Fr. Pecht gez. C. Geyer gest. A. Schultheiss gest. M. Lämmel gest. L. Sichling gest. J. Bankel gest. (1) Illustration: Faust. (1) Illustration: Gretchen. (3) Illustration: Mephistopheles. (5) Illustration: Wagner. (7) Illustration: Helena. (9

Benchmarking engineering curricula with the CDIO syllabus

Four internationally-renowned universities-Chalmers University of Technology, Linkoping University, Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)-developed a benchmark survey that may be used by any engineering school to benchmark curricula for teaching of personal, interpersonal and system building skills. These skills are enumerated in the CDIO Syllabus. Teaching activities were categorized as Introduce, Teach or Utilize, based on intent, time spent, and linkage to learning objectives, assignments and assessment criteria. Interviews were used to collect the data from instructors of the schools\u27 engineering programs. The data was then reduced and analyzed to illuminate patterns of teaching. The results indicate that much effort is expended in covering these topics, but often in an inefficient, uncoordinated and unplanned manner. For example, there are often frequent repetitions of introducing a topic, without ever teaching it. In other instances, students are expected to utilize knowledge without having been taught it. The results of the benchmark survey indicate that a consistent and deliberately designed curriculum in this area could demand no additional resources, yet provide a much more effective education. The survey gives useful indications of how to begin such a curriculum redesign process

Reversal of tumor acidosis by systemic buffering reactivates NK cells to express IFN-&gamma; and induces NK cell-dependent lymphoma control without other immunotherapies.

Like other immune cells, natural killer (NK) cells show impaired effector functions in the microenvironment of tumors, but little is known on the underlying mechanisms. Since lactate acidosis, a hallmark of malignant tissue, was shown to contribute to suppression of effective antitumor immune responses, we investigated the impact of tissue pH and lactate concentration on NK-cell functions in an aggressive model of endogenously arising B-cell lymphoma. The progressive loss of IFN-&gamma; production by NK cells observed during development of this disease could be ascribed to decreased pH values and lactate accumulation in the microenvironment of growing tumors. Interestingly, IFN-&gamma; expression by lymphoma-derived NK cells could be restored by transfer of these cells into a normal micromilieu. Likewise, systemic alkalization by oral delivery of bicarbonate to lymphoma-developing mice was capable of enhancing IFN-&gamma; expression in NK cells and increasing the NK-cell numbers in the lymphoid organs where tumors were growing. By contrast, NK-cell cytotoxicity was dampened in vivo by tumor-dependent mechanisms that seemed to be different from lactate acidosis and could not be restored in a normal milieu. Most importantly, alkalization and the concomitant IFN-&gamma; upregulation in NK cells were sufficient to significantly delay tumor growth without any other immunotherapy. This effect was strictly dependent on NK cells

Benchmarking engineering curricula with the CDIO syllabus

Four internationally-renowned universities-Chalmers University of Technology, Linkoping University, Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)-developed a benchmark survey that may be used by any engineering school to benchmark curricula for teaching of personal, interpersonal and system building skills. These skills are enumerated in the CDIO Syllabus. Teaching activities were categorized as Introduce, Teach or Utilize, based on intent, time spent, and linkage to learning objectives, assignments and assessment criteria. Interviews were used to collect the data from instructors of the schools' engineering programs. The data was then reduced and analyzed to illuminate patterns of teaching. The results indicate that much effort is expended in covering these topics, but often in an inefficient, uncoordinated and unplanned manner. For example, there are often frequent repetitions of introducing a topic, without ever teaching it. In other instances, students are expected to utilize knowledge without having been taught it. The results of the benchmark survey indicate that a consistent and deliberately designed curriculum in this area could demand no additional resources, yet provide a much more effective education. The survey gives useful indications of how to begin such a curriculum redesign process