Achieved competences in temporomandibular disorders/orofacial pain: a comparison between two dental schools in Europe

The aim was to study achieved competences in temporomandibular disorders (TMD)/orofacial pain (OP) at two universities by comparing student's knowledge and understanding, satisfaction with their education and confidence in their clinical competences of TMD/OP

Vitamin D3 supplementation of a high fat high sugar diet ameliorates prediabetic phenotype in female LDLR–/–and LDLR+/+mice

© 2017 The Authors. Immunity, Inflammation and Disease Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. INTRODUCTION: Fatty liver disease is prevalent in populations with high caloric intake. Nutritherapeutic approaches are being considered, such as supplementary Vitamin D 3 , to improve aspects of metabolic syndrome, namely fatty liver disease, hyperlipidemia, and insulin resistance associated with obesity. METHODS: We analyzed female LDLR -/- and LDLR +/+ mice on a 10-week diabetogenic diet for markers of fatty liver disease, metabolic strain, and inflammation. RESULTS: The groups on a high fat high sugar diet with supplementary Vitamin D 3 , in comparison with the groups on a high fat high sugar diet alone, showed improved transaminase levels, significantly less hypertriglyceridemia and hyperinsulinemia, and histologically, there was less pericentral hepatic steatosis. Levels of non-esterified fatty acids and lipid peroxidation products were significantly lower in the group supplemented with additional Vitamin D 3 , as were systemic markers of inflammation (serum endotoxin and IL-6). M2 macrophage phenotype predominated in the group supplemented with additional Vitamin D 3 . Beneficial changes were observed as early as five weeks’ supplementation with Vitamin D 3 and extended to restoration of high fat high sugar diet induced decrease of bone mineral density. CONCLUSION: In summary, Vitamin D 3 was a significantly beneficial dietary additive to blunt a prediabetic phenotype in diet-induced obesity of female LDLR -/- and LDLR +/+ mice

The conceptualisation and measurement of DSM-5 Internet Gaming Disorder: the development of the IGD-20 Test

Background: Over the last decade, there has been growing concern about ‘gaming addiction’ and its widely documented detrimental impacts on a minority of individuals that play excessively. The latest (fifth) edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) included nine criteria for the potential diagnosis of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and noted that it was a condition that warranted further empirical study. Aim: The main aim of this study was to develop a valid and reliable standardised psychometrically robust tool in addition to providing empirically supported cut-off points. Methods: A sample of 1003 gamers (85.2% males; mean age 26 years) from 57 different countries were recruited via online gaming forums. Validity was assessed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), criterion-related validity, and concurrent validity. Latent profile analysis was also carried to distinguish disordered gamers from non-disordered gamers. Sensitivity and specificity analyses were performed to determine an empirical cut-off for the test. Results: The CFA confirmed the viability of IGD-20 Test with a six-factor structure (salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict and relapse) for the assessment of IGD according to the nine criteria from DSM-5. The IGD-20 Test proved to be valid and reliable. According to the latent profile analysis, 5.3% of the total participants were classed as disordered gamers. Additionally, an optimal empirical cut-off of 71 points (out of 100) seemed to be adequate according to the sensitivity and specificity analyses carried

Practice Considerations for Perioperative Ondansetron Use in Parturients Undergoing Cesarean Sections with Spinal Anesthesia

Elective cesarean sections are often performed with spinal anesthesia, a form of neuraxial anesthesia that offers superior pain relief and reduces the risks associated with general anesthesia. However, over 50% of parturients experience side effects from spinal anesthesia, including shivering, hypotension, nausea, and vomiting, which can cause both physiological and psychological issues for the laboring mother and be detrimental to the fetus. Preventing these side effects is vital for improving safety, patient satisfaction, and minimizing complications. While various interventions and medications have been explored to manage these effects, no standardized guidelines exist for their prevention. A review of existing literature highlights the effectiveness of ondansetron in reducing post-spinal anesthesia complications, particularly for women undergoing non-emergent cesarean sections. This proposed final scholarly project addresses the lack of standardized, evidence-based practice (EBP) guidelines by proposing perioperative dosing recommendations for ondansetron. The Johns Hopkins EBP Model will be used as the framework for this project, which employs a quantitative approach to assess the impact of the practice in an academic center with a comprehensive obstetrics unit in central Ohio. While the project aims to develop an evidence-based framework for practice, it is currently not being implemented. The implementation plan spans approximately nine months, including a literature review, data collection, and evaluation. The expected outcomes include a reduction in post-spinal anesthesia side effects such as shivering, hypotension, nausea, and vomiting. This intervention is anticipated to reduce complications, improve maternal and fetal health, lower healthcare costs, and shorten hospital stays

Influence of Night Work on Performance during Lunar Telerobotic Operations

Real-time, reactive telerobotic mission control operations require personnel to actively operate remotely controlled vehicles or robots in real time. Due to the physical separation of the vehicle from the operator, such operations present additional factors that can influence fatigue (degraded mental performance) and workload (mental and physical cost of task requirements), making it difficult to assess how long an individual can conduct operations safely. The upcoming Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover will involve remotely controlling a lunar vehicle from an Earth-based mission control station. In order to determine how long personnel could successfully maintain alertness and performance while operating a rover, we studied seven trained operators in a simulated mission control environment. Operators completed two five-hour simulations in a randomized order, beginning at noon and at midnight. Performance was evaluated every 30 minutes using the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), and NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). On average, participants rated themselves as sleepier on the midnight drives compared to the day drives. Workload was rated higher during the noon drives compared to midnight. Lastly, participants had no change in average reaction time between the two drives. From the analysis, performance showed degradation after approximately three hours of driving. Our findings suggest that rotating drivers at least every three hours would be prudent to allow for breaks, and to minimize performance degradation, particularly during midnight shifts

Limited access to antigen drives generation of early B cell memory while restraining the plasmablast response

Cell fate decisions during early B cell activation determine the outcome of responses to pathogens and vaccines. We examined the early B cell response to T-dependent antigen in mice by single-cell RNA sequencing. Early after immunization, a homogeneous population of activated precursors (APs) gave rise to a transient wave of plasmablasts (PBs), followed a day later by the emergence of germinal center B cells (GCBCs). Most APs rapidly exited the cell cycle, giving rise to non-GC-derived early memory B cells (eMBCs) that retained an AP-like transcriptional profile. Rapid decline of antigen availability controlled these events; provision of excess antigen precluded cell cycle exit and induced a new wave of PBs. Fate mapping revealed a prominent contribution of eMBCs to the MBC pool. Quiescent cells with an MBC phenotype dominated the early response to immunization in primates. A reservoir of APs/eMBCs may enable rapid readjustment of the immune response when failure to contain a threat is manifested by increased antigen availability

Mass spectrometry imaging identifies palmitoylcarnitine as an immunological mediator during Salmonella Typhimurium infection

Salmonella Typhimurium causes a self-limiting gastroenteritis that may lead to systemic disease. Bacteria invade the small intestine, crossing the intestinal epithelium from where they are transported to the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) within migrating immune cells. MLNs are an important site at which the innate and adaptive immune responses converge but their architecture and function is severely disrupted during S. Typhimurium infection. To further understand host-pathogen interactions at this site, we used mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to analyse MLN tissue from a murine model of S. Typhimurium infection. A molecule, identified as palmitoylcarnitine (PalC), was of particular interest due to its high abundance at loci of S. Typhimurium infection and MLN disruption. High levels of PalC localised to sites within the MLNs where B and T cells were absent and where the perimeter of CD169+ sub capsular sinus macrophages was disrupted. MLN cells cultured ex vivo and treated with PalC had reduced CD4+CD25+ T cells and an increased number of B220+CD19+ B cells. The reduction in CD4+CD25+ T cells was likely due to apoptosis driven by increased caspase-3/7 activity. These data indicate that PalC significantly alters the host response in the MLNs, acting as a decisive factor in infection outcome

Seeking Middle Ground: Reconciling two trajectories for food system relocalization

As food systems expand in scale and scope, the sources of their negative externalities are less effectively identified. Globally, this diffusion has resulted in a plethora of paradoxes, as well as a decrease in overall food system resilience to socio-economic and ecological drivers of uncertainty. Relocalizing food production is a potential strategy to address the challenges of conventional food systems. However, relocalization is an umbrella term, with two distinct food production trajectories. One vision for local food system development seeks to holistically integrate human agency with natural agro-ecosystem processes. For example, some activists, scholars and policy makers discuss community-managed organic gardens or agro-ecological farms as critical components of sustainable and just urban food systems. Conversely, several engineers and researchers are seeking to (semi)-separate agricultural activity from an increasingly capricious biosphere, through the development of capital-intensive vertical farming and meat-synthesis technologies. As proponents of both trajectories attempt to construct more localized foodsheds, it is important to consider their potential opportunities, as well as their underlying values and practices, in hopes of enacting broad food system change. The paradigmatic and practical differences between conventional and alternative food systems have been well-elucidated within geographic literature; however, a growing body of scholarship is adopting a more nuanced approach to discuss the multiplicity of alternative agriculture developments. This thesis contributes to this body of literature, through: (1) comparing the outlooks of two distinct local food trajectories for attaining resilient, just food systems; and (2) assessing their underlying values and paradigms. To accomplish this, a thorough review of the literature on local food systems was carried out, in addition to an analysis of twenty-six interviews with stakeholders involved in local food production projects in China as well as Canada. A further twelve publicly-available interviews were selected for analysis. Interviewees included farm managers, researchers, urban planners, urban designers, and community food program managers. The results of this study suggest that the two local food production trajectories have conflicting outlooks for realizing food system justice and resilience. Capital-intensive approaches to local food production have huge productive potential and capacity for resilience-building, through disrupting and optimizing energy-capture processes in agricultural systems, while liberating vast tracts of agricultural land. However, several scholars critique current operations for perpetuating the central tenets of conventional food production, including: commodification, global commodity trade, and the further dis-embedding of consumer relationships with producers and nature. In contrast, more ‘traditional’ approaches to local food production often strengthen community relations and offer opportunity for traditional knowledge sharing and environmental virtue development. However, these operations are time and labour dependent, and are fundamentally dependent on a relatively stable biosphere. These findings suggest that both trajectories, if combined, may address the shortcomings of one another. In terms of underlying paradigms and practices, the results of this study align with an array of literature arguing that local food production projects act in both alternative and conventional ways. Interviewees from both trajectories engaged in multiple forms of economic exchange, and viewed their operations as part of a broader system of local, regional and global, and small to large-scale food production actors. Interviewees from both trajectories differed in their normative commitments to agro-ecosystem management, suggesting that food production is a complex process that cannot be separated from its natural environment, or that food production can be isolated and optimized. To transform conventional food systems, local food production operations must engage with, and work within, broader socio-political institutions. Creating an environment in which local food production projects can experiment with alternative values and practices is critical for their development, in face of increasing socio-economic and ecological uncertainty

Augmentation of post-swelling surgical sealant potential of adhesive hydrogels

National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant GM 49039)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant GM 1S10RR13886-01)Philip Morris InternationalDuPont (Firm)National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowshi