Social gradient in the cost of oral pain and related dental service utilisation among South African adults

Background: Oral pain affects people's daily activities and quality of life. The burden of oral pain may vary across socio-economic positions. Currently, little is known about the social gradient in the cost of oral pain among South Africans. This study therefore assessed the social gradient in the cost of oral pain and the related dental service utilisation pattern among South African adults. Methods: Data were obtained from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of South African adults ?16 year-old (n = 2651) as part of the South African Social Attitudes Survey conducted by the South African Human Sciences Research Council. The survey included demographic data, individual-level socio-economic position (SEP), self-reported oral health status, past six months' oral pain experience and cost. The area-level SEP was obtained from the 2010 General Household Survey (n = 25,653 households) and the 2010/2011Quarterly Labour Force Survey conducted in South Africa. The composite indices used for individual-level SEP (? = 0.76) and area-level SEP (? = 0. 88) were divided into tertiles. Data analysis was done using t-tests and ANOVA. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: The prevalence of oral pain among the adult South Africans was 19.4 % (95 % CI = 17.2-21.9). The most commonly reported form of oral pain was 'toothache' (78.9 %). The majority of the wealthiest participants sought care from private dental clinics (64.7 %), or from public dental clinics (19.7 %), while the poorest tended to visit a public dental clinic (45 %) or nurse/general medical practitioner (17.4 %). In the poorest areas, 21 % responded to pain by 'doing nothing'. The individual expenditure for oral pain showed a social gradient from an average of ZAR61.44 spent by those of lowest SEP to ZAR433.83 by the wealthiest (national average ZAR170.92). Average time lost from school/work was two days over the six-month period, but days lost was highest for those living in middle class neighbourhoods (3.41), while those from the richest neighbourhood had lost significantly fewer days from oral pain (0.64). Conclusions: There is a significant social gradient in the burden of oral pain. Improved access to dental care, possibly through carefully planned universal National Health Insurance (NHI), may reduce oral health disparities in South Africa.Scopus 201

Folliculin mutations are not associated with severe COPD

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rare loss-of-function folliculin (<it>FLCN</it>) mutations are the genetic cause of Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome, a monogenic disorder characterized by spontaneous pneumothorax, fibrofolliculomas, and kidney tumors. Loss-of-function folliculin mutations have also been described in pedigrees with familial spontaneous pneumothorax. Because the majority of patients with folliculin mutations have radiographic evidence of pulmonary cysts, folliculin has been hypothesized to contribute to the development of emphysema.</p> <p>To determine whether folliculin sequence variants are risk factors for severe COPD, we genotyped seven previously reported Birt-Hogg-Dubé or familial spontaneous pneumothorax associated folliculin mutations in 152 severe COPD probands participating in the Boston Early-Onset COPD Study. We performed bidirectional resequencing of all 14 folliculin exons in a subset of 41 probands and subsequently genotyped four identified variants in an independent sample of345 COPD subjects from the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (cases) and 420 male smokers with normal lung function from the Normative Aging Study (controls).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>None of the seven previously reported Birt-Hogg-Dubé or familial spontaneous pneumothorax mutations were observed in the 152 severe, early-onset COPD probands. Exon resequencing identified 31 variants, including two non-synonymous polymorphisms and two common non-coding polymorphisms. No significant association was observed for any of these four variants with presence of COPD or emphysema-related phenotypes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Genetic variation in folliculin does not appear to be a major risk factor for severe COPD. These data suggest that familial spontaneous pneumothorax and COPD have distinct genetic causes, despite some overlap in radiographic characteristics.</p

Complicity and contestation in the gentrifying urban primary school.

The transformation of primary schools in gentrifying localities has sometimes been referred to as a form of ‘class colonisation’. This article draws on ethnographic research with teachers, teaching assistants, and parents in two inner-London primary schools to explore the largely unexamined role of school leaders (headteachers) in mediating gentrification processes within urban schools. It argues that institutional history, contexts of headship and leadership style all play an important role in negotiating and recontextualising middle-class mobilisation and power to re-shape primary schools. Headteachers’ relationship to gentrification is therefore not simply one of complicity, but often of contestation and conflict. This article therefore challenges understandings of gentrification as a hegemonic process, and contributes to a more nuanced picture of the educational consequences of gentrification, particularly the institutional realities and experiences of urban social change

Genetic variants in novel pathways influence blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk.

Blood pressure is a heritable trait influenced by several biological pathways and responsive to environmental stimuli. Over one billion people worldwide have hypertension (≥140 mm Hg systolic blood pressure or  ≥90 mm Hg diastolic blood pressure). Even small increments in blood pressure are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. This genome-wide association study of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, which used a multi-stage design in 200,000 individuals of European descent, identified sixteen novel loci: six of these loci contain genes previously known or suspected to regulate blood pressure (GUCY1A3-GUCY1B3, NPR3-C5orf23, ADM, FURIN-FES, GOSR2, GNAS-EDN3); the other ten provide new clues to blood pressure physiology. A genetic risk score based on 29 genome-wide significant variants was associated with hypertension, left ventricular wall thickness, stroke and coronary artery disease, but not kidney disease or kidney function. We also observed associations with blood pressure in East Asian, South Asian and African ancestry individuals. Our findings provide new insights into the genetics and biology of blood pressure, and suggest potential novel therapeutic pathways for cardiovascular disease prevention

Comparative Resistance of Three Line Crosses of Broiler Chickens to Three Species of Eimeria

Resistance of three line crosses of broiler chickens to challenges with three species of Eimeria (E. tenella, E. maxima and E. acervulina) as measured by body weight gain, feed efficiency, pigmentation, liveability and faecal scores were compared in this study. Mild infections of E. acervulina, E. tenella and E. maxima produced growth depression from the infection during the first week post inoculation (pi). Differences in body weight gains at 7 days pi between the infected broiler strains (A x A verses B x A and D x D versus D x D) were significant (p&lt;0.05), whereas, differences in weight gains between infected D x D and B x A were not significant (p&gt;0.05). The uninfected birds had significantly better liveability (p&lt;0.05) than the infected ones, but, the difference between the uninfected and the infected (B x A) was not significant (p&gt;0.05). Feed efficiency for the entire period, D &ndash; 2 to D+14, for the three line crosses were best in the following order: B x A, D x D and A x A. The A x A line crosses had significantly more watery and bloody faces (p&lt;0.05) than the other line crosses.&nbsp; More watery and bloody faeces were seen at 7 days pi than any other day the faces were scored. The study shows that B x A line crosses of broilers performed significantly better (p&lt;0.05) in all categories tested than the other line crosses

Comparative Resistance of Three Line Crosses of Broiler Chickens to Three Species of Eimeria

The resistance of three line crosses of broiler chickens to challenges with three species of Eimeria (E. tenella, E. maxima and E. acervulina) as measured by body weight gain, feed efficiency, pigmentation, liveability and faecal scores were compared in this study. Mild infections of E. acervulina, E. tenella and E. maxima produced growth depression in the infected birds during the first week post inoculation (pi). Differences in body weight gains at 7 days pi between the infected broiler strains (A x A verses B x A and D x D versus D x D) were significant (p&lt;0.05); whereas, differences in weight gains between infected D x D and B x A were not significant (p&gt;0.05). The uninfected birds had significantly better liveability (p&lt;0.05) than the infected ones; but, the difference between the uninfected and the infected (B x A) was not significant (p&gt;0.05). Feed efficiency for the entire period, D &ndash; 2 to D+14, for the three line crosses were best in the following order: B x A, D x D and A x A. The A x A line crosses had significantly more watery and bloody faces (p&lt;0.05) than the other line crosses. More watery and bloody faeces were seen at 7 days pi than any other day the faces were scored. The study shows that B x A line crosses of broilers performed significantly better (p&lt;0.05) in all categories tested than the other line crosses