Oral health awareness and care preferences in patients with diabetes : a qualitative study

Background People with type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of oral health problems; however, oral health is currently not included in structured diabetes reviews and education in the UK. Aim and Objectives This study explores the patient experience related to oral health and diabetes, especially in relation to: • Awareness of the link between oral health and diabetes and oral self care needs • Interaction with health professionals in dental and general practice • Preferences for receiving oral health information and education Methods This nested qualitative study involved semi-structured telephone interviews with a purposive sample of 20 participants from a questionnaire study on oral health awareness in patients with diabetes. Interview transcripts were analysed using a thematic framework approach. Results Participants were mostly unaware of the link between oral health and diabetes. Those that had been made aware by a health professional were not given concrete self care advice. Interactions with dental professionals were often limited to informing the dental practice of their diagnosis and current medication. Most participants were in favour of dentists screening for diabetes, but as their general practice was the hub for diabetes care, they felt GPs or nurses should provide oral health information and discuss oral health with patients. Conclusions Written information regarding diabetes and its possible effects on oral health needs to be more readily available to people with diabetes, especially at diagnosis. There may be a place for introducing a structured oral health question in routine diabetes reviews

Motivation and attitudes toward changing health (MATCH): A new patient-reported measure to inform clinical conversations.

ObjectiveTo identify and assess patient motivation to initiate or maintain behavior changes.MethodsAttitudinal statements were developed from structured patient interviews and translated into 18 survey items. Items were analyzed with exploratory factor analysis (EFA).ResultsAn EFA with 340 type 2 diabetes patients identified three areas of patient attitudes toward changing health behaviors: (1) willingness to make changes (3 items; α = 0.69), (2) perceived ability to make or maintain changes (3 items; α = 0.74), and (3) and feeling changes are worthwhile (3 items; α = 0.61). Greater perceived ability and feelings of worthwhileness were associated with positive psychosocial and behavioral management indicators. All three areas were associated with confidence and attitudes toward making a specific behavioral change (e.g., improve diet).ConclusionsMATCH is an internally consistent and valid 9-item scale that provides a profile of factors influencing motivation that can be used in clinical and research settings

Extreme Ultraviolet Emission in the Fornax Cluster of Galaxies

We present studies of the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) emission in the Fornax cluster of galaxies; a relatively nearby well-studied cluster with X-ray emitting cluster gas and a very large radio source. We examine both the large-scale (~size of the X-ray emitting cluster gas), and the small-scale (<arcmin) emission. We find that this cluster has large-scale diffuse EUV emission. However, at the sensitivity level of the existing EUVE data, this emission is due entirely to the low energy tail of the X-ray emitting gas. We have also examined small-scale structures in raw EUVE images of this cluster. We find that small-scale irregularities are present in all raw Deep Survey images as a result of small-scale detector effects. These effects can be removed by appropriate flat-fielding. After flat-fielding, the Fornax cluster still shows a few significant regions of small-scale EUV enhancement. We find that these are emission from stars and galaxies in the field. We find that at existing levels of sensitivity, there is no excess EUV emission in the cluster on either large or small scales.Comment: 6 pages, 3 eps figures, aastex5, Accepted to ApJ

A review of experimental investigations into the acoustic black hole effect and its applications for reduction of flexural vibrations and structure-borne sound

In this paper, a review of experimental investigations into the damping of flexural vibrations and the reduction of radiated sound power using the acoustic black hole effect are presented. The acoustic black hole effect damps flexural vibrations by reducing edge reflections from structures’ free edges via the use of wedges or tapered circular indentations of power-law profile. Wedges of power-law profile materialise one-dimensional acoustic black holes for flexural waves that can absorb a large proportion of the incident flexural wave energy. Tapered circular indentations of power-law profile act as two-dimensional acoustic black holes for flexural waves. The results of experimental investigations into the damping of flexural vibrations in turbofan blades incorporating a power-law profile are described along with the incorporation of two-dimensional acoustic black holes into smooth surfaced composite panels, and composite honeycomb sandwich panels. Finally, the results for multiple indentations (arrays) of two dimensional acoustic black holes and the associated reduction in structure-borne sound are given. The reported results demonstrate that the acoustic black hole effect can provide an effective damping of flexural vibrations in the aforementioned blades and panels, as well as an effective reduction of sound radiation from structures

Damping of flexural vibrations in turbofan blades using the acoustic black hole effect

The results of the experimental study into the damping of flexural vibrations in turbofan blades with trailing edges tapered according to a power-law profile are reported. Trailing edges of power-law profile (wedges), with small pieces of attached absorbing layers, materialise one-dimensional acoustic black holes for flexural waves that can absorb a large proportion of the incident flexural wave energy. The experiments were carried out on four model blades made of aluminium. Two of them were twisted, so that a more realistic fan blade could be considered. All model blades, the ones with tapered trailing edges and the ones of traditional form, were excited by an electromagnetic shaker, and the corresponding frequency response functions have been measured. The results show that the resonant peaks are reduced substantially once a power-law tapering is introduced to the blade. An initial study into the aerodynamic implications of this method has been carried out as well, using measurements in a closed circuit wind tunnel. In particular, the effects of the trailing edge of power-law profile on the airflow-excited vibrations of the fan blades have been investigated. It has been demonstrated that trailing edges of power-law profile with appropriate damping layers are efficient in reduction of the airflow-excited vibrations of the fan blades. The obtained results demonstrate that power-law tapering of trailing edges of turbofan blades can be a viable method of reduction of blade vibrations

Experimental investigations into the acoustic black hole effect and its applications for reduction of flexural vibrations and structure-borne sound

Experimental investigations into the acoustic black hole effect and its applications for reduction of flexural vibrations and structure-borne soun

Acoustic black holes: a new approach to vibration damping in light-weight structures

‘Acoustic black holes’ have been introduced and investigated mainly during the last decade. They can absorb almost 100% of the incident wave energy, which makes them attractive for vibration damping and sound absorption. The main principle of the ‘acoustic black hole effect’ is based on a gradual power-law-type decrease in velocity of the incident wave with propagation distance, linear or faster, to almost zero, which should be accompanied by efficient energy absorption using the attached highly absorbing materials. So far, this effect has been investigated mainly for flexural waves in thin plates for which the required gradual reduction in wave velocity with distance can be easily achieved by changing the plate local thickness according to a power law, with the power-law exponent being equal or larger than two. The key advantage of using the acoustic black hole effect for damping structural vibrations is that it requires very small amounts of added damping materials, in comparison with traditional methods, which is especially important for vibration damping in light-weight structures used in aeronautical and automotive applications. The present paper provides a brief review of the theory of acoustic black holes and of the recent experimental work carried out at Loughborough University on damping structural vibrations using the acoustic black hole effect. Experimental investigations have been carried out on a variety of plate-like and beam-like structures containing one- and two-dimensional acoustic black holes. The results of the experimental investigations demonstrate that in all of the above-mentioned cases the efficiency of vibration damping based on the acoustic black hole effect is substantially higher than that achieved by traditional methods

Slots of power-law profile as acoustic black holes for flexural waves in metallic and composite plates

A new method of damping flexural vibrations in plate-like structures based on the ‘acoustic black hole effect’ has been recently developed and investigated. As ‘acoustic black holes’, one-dimensional elastic wedges of power-law profile covered by narrow strips of absorbing layers near sharp edges have been used initially. The addition of such power-law profiled wedges to edges of rectangular plates or strips results in substantial increase in damping of resonant flexural vibrations in such plates or strips due to the more efficient absorption of flexural waves at the tips of power-law wedges. One of the problems faced by this method of damping is having the wedge tips exposed on the outer edges of the plate or strip. One of the solutions to this problem is to move the wedges inside a plate, so that they form edges of power-law slots within the plate. The present paper reports the results of the experimental investigations into the effects of such slots on damping flexural vibrations. The obtained experimental results show that introducing power-law profiled slots within plates represents an effective method of damping flexural vibrations, which is comparable with the method using power-law wedges at plate edges

Sound radiation of rectangular plates containing tapered indentations of power-law profile

In this paper, the results of the experimental investigations into the sound radiation of vibrating rectangular plates containing tapered indentations of power-law profile are reported. Such tapered indentations materialise two-dimensional acoustic black holes for flexural waves that result in absorption of a large proportion of the incident flexural wave energy and, therefore, cause efficient damping of plate’s flexural vibrations. A multi-indentation plate was compared to a plain reference plate of the same dimensions, and the radiated sound power was determined in accordance with ISO 3744. It was demonstrated that not only do such multiple indentations provide substantial reduction in damping of flexural vibrations within the plate, but also cause a substantial reduction in the radiated sound power. This paper also considers the effect of distribution of the plate’s vibrational response on the amplitudes of the radiated sound. It is shown that, despite an increase in the amplitudes of displacements at the indentations’ tips, the overall reduction in vibration level over the plate is large enough to result in substantial reduction in the radiated sound power

Experimental study of sound radiation by plates containing circular indentations of power-law profile

In this paper, the results of the first experimental investigation into sound radiation of rectangular plates containing tapered indentations of power-law profile are reported. Such tapered indentations materialise two-dimensional acoustic black holes for flexural waves in plates that result in absorption of a large proportion of the incident wave energy. A multi-indentation plate was compared to a plain reference plate of the same dimensions, and the radiated sound power was determined according to ISO 3744. It was demonstrated that not only do such multiple indentations provide substantial reduction in the damping of flexural vibrations within the plates, but also cause a substantial reduction in the radiated sound power. As the amplitudes of the flexural vibrations of a plate are directly linked to the amplitudes of radiated sound from the same plate, this paper also considers the effect of redistribution of the amplitude of the plate's response due to the presence of acoustic black holes on the amplitudes of the radiated sound. The results show that, in spite of some increase in the amplitudes of the displacements at the centres of black holes (circular indentations), the overall reduction of vibration response over the plate is large enough to cause a substantial reduction in the resulting sound radiation from plates containing indentations of power-law profile