Probing problems and priorities in oral health (care) among community dwelling elderly in the Netherlands: a mixed method study

Background: Complex dentitions and decline in adequate oral hygiene in elderly may lead to poor oral health. This may have impact on their general health, wellbeing and quality of life. With increased longevity, the problems and needs in oral health of community dwelling elderly lead to changes in oral health care needs. We identified and prioritized problems and needs in oral health of community dwelling elderly. Methods: The problems and needs in oral health of community dwelling elderly were elicited during focus groups and interviews. The list of problems and needs derived thereof was presented to 97 elderly who prioritized these. Results: Overall, older people appeared to be satisfied with their current oral health, and the maintenance and care for their oral health. Cost of care was identified as a major problem in general. There are differences in current perceived problems and needs and problems and needs anticipated for the future. Perceived current problems and needs concern dental care provision and knowledge on oral health of professionals and patients. For anticipated future problems and needs the importance of daily oral care by caregivers was prioritised, while emphasis was placed on fear of losing autonomy. Conclusion: It is important to take the perspectives and expectations of elderly into account in policy and planning of future oral health care practice, because these differ from the perspectives of dental professionals

Još o toksičnosti kadmija - s posebnim osvrtom na nastanak oksidacijskoga stresa i na interakcije s cinkom i magnezijem

Discovered in late 1817, cadmium is currently one of the most important occupational and environmental pollutants. It is associated with renal, neurological, skeletal and other toxic effects, including reproductive toxicity, genotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. There is still much to find out about its mechanisms of action, biomarkers of critical effects, and ways to reduce health risks. At present, there is no clinically efficient agent to treat cadmium poisoning due to predominantly intracellular location of cadmium ions. This article gives a brief review of cadmium-induced oxidative stress and its interactions with essential elements zinc and magnesium as relevant mechanisms of cadmium toxicity. It draws on available literature data and our own results, which indicate that dietary supplementation of either essential element has beneficial effect under condition of cadmium exposure. We have also tackled the reasons why magnesium addition prevails over zinc and discussed the protective role of magnesium during cadmium exposure. These findings could help to solve the problem of prophylaxis and therapy of increased cadmium body burden.Iako je otkriven tek 1817. godine, kadmij je trenutačno jedan od najvažnijih onečišćivača životne i radne sredine. Štetno djeluje na bubrege, živčani sustav, kosti, reproduktivni sistem, a ima i genotoksične i karcinogene efekte. Nužna su dalja istraživanja vezana za mehanizme njegove toksičnosti, biomarkere efekata, kao i načine smanjenja rizika za zdravlje. Osim toga, do danas nije otkriven agens efikasan u terapiji trovanja kadmijem s obzirom na to da je kadmij intracelularni kation. U ovom radu dan je sažet pregled važnih mehanizama toksičnosti kadmija, kao što su nastanak oksidativnog stresa i interakcije s esencijalnim elementima, cinkom i magnezijem, na osnovi dostupnih literaturnih podataka, kao i naših ispitivanja koja upućuju na to da povećani unos navedenih esencijalnih elemenata pokazuje pozitivne efekte pri ekspoziciji kadmiju. Obrazložena je prednost suplementacije magnezijem pred suplementacijom cinkom i razmatrana preventivna uloga magnezija pri intoksikaciji kadmijem. Ovi su rezultati doprinos rješavanju problema profi lakse i terapije trovanja kadmijem

Physiological and cell ultrastructure disturbances in wheat seedlings generated by Chenopodium murale hairy root exudate.

Chenopodium murale L. is an invasive weed species significantly interfering with wheat crop. However, the complete nature of its allelopathic influence on crops is not yet fully understood. In the present study, the focus is made on establishing the relation between plant morphophysiological changes and oxidative stress, induced by allelopathic extract. Phytotoxic medium of C. murale hairy root clone R5 reduced the germination rate (24% less than control value) of wheat cv. Nataša seeds, as well as seedling growth, diminishing shoot and root length significantly, decreased total chlorophyll content, and induced abnormal root gravitropism. The R5 treatment caused cellular structural abnormalities, reflecting on the root and leaf cell shape and organization. These abnormalities mostly included the increased number of mitochondria and reorganization of the vacuolar compartment, changes in nucleus shape, and chloroplast organization and distribution. The most significant structural changes were observed in cell wall in the form of amoeboid protrusions and folds leading to its irregular shape. These structural alterations were accompanied by an oxidative stress in tissues of treated wheat seedlings, reflected as increased level of H2O2 and other ROS molecules, an increase of radical scavenging capacity and total phenolic content. Accordingly, the retardation of wheat seedling growth by C. murale allelochemicals may represent a consequence of complex activity involving both cell structure alteration and physiological processes.This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Protoplasma. The final authenticated version is available online at: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00709-018-1250-0

Kinetics of Organic Matter Biodegradation in Leachate from Tobacco Waste

Sve stroži zakonski propisi, kojima se štiti okoliš, zahtijevaju obradu nastalog otpada i procjednih voda prije odlaganja, odnosno ispuštanja u okoliš. U radu je istražena biorazgradnja organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi dobivenoj iz duhanskog otpada. Pokusi su provedeni u šaržnom reaktoru s početnom koncentracijom aktivnog mulja 3,03 g dm-3 te različitim početnim koncentracijama organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi, izraženoj kao vrijednost kemijske potrošnje kisika (KPK), u rasponu od 0,5 do 3,0 g dm-3. Monodova jednadžba je odabrana za matematički opis kinetike biorazgradnje procjedne vode. Dobivene vrijednosti biokinetičkih parametara iznosile su Y = 0,25 g g-1, kd = 0,005 d-1, µmax = 0,39 d-1 i Ks = 5,45 g dm-3. Aktivni mulj pokazuje sposobnost razgradnje organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi. Učinkovitost procesa biorazgradnje iznosila je u prosjeku 80,3 %.Treatment of wastes and leachate evolved in landfills is today an imperative due to rigorous environmental protection legislation. In this work, biodegradation of the organic fraction in tobaccowaste leachate was studied. Experiments were carried out in a batch reactor at initial concentration of activated sludge of 3.03 g dm–3 and different initial concentrations of organic matter in leachate, expressed as COD, which ranged from 0.5 to 3.0 g dm–3. The working volume of the reactor (Fig. 1) was 7 dm3 within the cylindrical porous liner and it was filled with the suspension of leachate and activated sludge . The liner was designed such that it did not allow activated sludge to pass through. Continuous up-flow aeration was provided by a membrane pump. The temperature during the biodegradation process was 23 ± 2 °C. Dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature in reactor were monitored continuously by probes connected to a remote meter. Toxicity of leachate was performed by toxicity test using marine bacteria Vibrio fischeri before starting with the biodegradation in the batch reactor. The obtained results showed that effective concentration of leachate is EC50 = 1.6 g dm–3 and toxicity impact index is TII50=9.99, meaning that untreated leachate must not be discharged into the environment before treatment. The results of the biodegradation process of leachate in batch reactor are presented in Table 1 and Fig. 2. The ratio Xv/X was almost constant throughout the experiments and ranged from 0.69 do 0.73. This implies that the concentration of biomass remained unchanged during the experiments, and average yield was 5.26 %. The important kinetic and stoichiometric parameters required for performance of the biological removal process, namely the Y, Ks, kd, and µmax were calculated from the batch experiments (Table 2). The experimental results of the influence of initial substrate concentrations on substrate degradation rate, and influence of initial substrate concentrations on biomass growth rate in comparison with Monod model are presented in Figs. 3 and 4. These results suggest that selected model describes well the biodegradation process of leachate in batch reactor. Microscopic examination of activated sludge showed that flocs were healthy and compact, with simultaneous formation of young flocs (Table 3, Figs. 5a and 5b). Figure 6 presents the decrease in organic matter in the leachate and increase in activated sludge concentration within two days of biodegradation during which activated sludge showed strong ability to degrade organic matter, while process efficiency (Fig. 7) was approximately 80.3 %

Kinetics of Organic Matter Biodegradation in Leachate from Tobacco Waste

Sve stroži zakonski propisi, kojima se štiti okoliš, zahtijevaju obradu nastalog otpada i procjednih voda prije odlaganja, odnosno ispuštanja u okoliš. U radu je istražena biorazgradnja organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi dobivenoj iz duhanskog otpada. Pokusi su provedeni u šaržnom reaktoru s početnom koncentracijom aktivnog mulja 3,03 g dm-3 te različitim početnim koncentracijama organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi, izraženoj kao vrijednost kemijske potrošnje kisika (KPK), u rasponu od 0,5 do 3,0 g dm-3. Monodova jednadžba je odabrana za matematički opis kinetike biorazgradnje procjedne vode. Dobivene vrijednosti biokinetičkih parametara iznosile su Y = 0,25 g g-1, kd = 0,005 d-1, µmax = 0,39 d-1 i Ks = 5,45 g dm-3. Aktivni mulj pokazuje sposobnost razgradnje organskih tvari u procjednoj vodi. Učinkovitost procesa biorazgradnje iznosila je u prosjeku 80,3 %.Treatment of wastes and leachate evolved in landfills is today an imperative due to rigorous environmental protection legislation. In this work, biodegradation of the organic fraction in tobaccowaste leachate was studied. Experiments were carried out in a batch reactor at initial concentration of activated sludge of 3.03 g dm–3 and different initial concentrations of organic matter in leachate, expressed as COD, which ranged from 0.5 to 3.0 g dm–3. The working volume of the reactor (Fig. 1) was 7 dm3 within the cylindrical porous liner and it was filled with the suspension of leachate and activated sludge . The liner was designed such that it did not allow activated sludge to pass through. Continuous up-flow aeration was provided by a membrane pump. The temperature during the biodegradation process was 23 ± 2 °C. Dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature in reactor were monitored continuously by probes connected to a remote meter. Toxicity of leachate was performed by toxicity test using marine bacteria Vibrio fischeri before starting with the biodegradation in the batch reactor. The obtained results showed that effective concentration of leachate is EC50 = 1.6 g dm–3 and toxicity impact index is TII50=9.99, meaning that untreated leachate must not be discharged into the environment before treatment. The results of the biodegradation process of leachate in batch reactor are presented in Table 1 and Fig. 2. The ratio Xv/X was almost constant throughout the experiments and ranged from 0.69 do 0.73. This implies that the concentration of biomass remained unchanged during the experiments, and average yield was 5.26 %. The important kinetic and stoichiometric parameters required for performance of the biological removal process, namely the Y, Ks, kd, and µmax were calculated from the batch experiments (Table 2). The experimental results of the influence of initial substrate concentrations on substrate degradation rate, and influence of initial substrate concentrations on biomass growth rate in comparison with Monod model are presented in Figs. 3 and 4. These results suggest that selected model describes well the biodegradation process of leachate in batch reactor. Microscopic examination of activated sludge showed that flocs were healthy and compact, with simultaneous formation of young flocs (Table 3, Figs. 5a and 5b). Figure 6 presents the decrease in organic matter in the leachate and increase in activated sludge concentration within two days of biodegradation during which activated sludge showed strong ability to degrade organic matter, while process efficiency (Fig. 7) was approximately 80.3 %

Prioritering en aanbevelingen in de mondzorg voor ouderen

De mondgezondheid van ouderen, vooral kwetsbare zorgafhankelijke ouderen is suboptimaal. In een Priority Setting Partnershiponderzoek hebben ouderen en andere belanghebbenden geparticipeerd om ervaren belemmeringen in de mondzorg te inventariseren en hieruit agendapunten voor onderzoek te destilleren. Hiertoe zijn in 5 focusgroepen discussies gehouden met respectievelijk een groep ouderen, verzorgers, externe partijen en behandelaars. In een vijfde zogenoemde consensusgroep werd de definitieve lijst van prioriterende agendapunten geformuleerd. De belangrijkste prioriteiten betreffen beleid en organisatie, bewustwording, samenwerking tussen verschillende zorgverleners, financiering en organisatie van mondzorg voor thuiswonende ouderen, en onderwijs over mondzorg aan alle zorgverleners. Bewustwording over het belang van de mondgezondheid van ouderen bij zorgverleners is de eerste stap naar betere mondgezondheid van ouderen in Nederland

Resolving the Diaporthe species occurring on soybean in Croatia

Diaporthe (anamorph = Phomopsis) species are plant pathogens and endophytes on a wide range of hosts including economically important crops. At least four Diaporthe taxa occur on soybean and they are responsible for serious diseases and significant yield losses. Although several studies have extensively described the culture and morphological characters of these pathogens, their taxonomy has not been fully resolved. Diaporthe and Phomopsis isolates were obtained from soybean and other plant hosts throughout Croatia. Phylogenetic relationships were determined through analyses of partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α) gene and ITS nrDNA sequence data. By combining morphological and molecular data, four species could be distinguished on soybeans in Croatia. Diaporthe phaseolorum is described in this study and its synonyms are discussed. Diaporthe phaseolorum var. caulivora is raised to species status and the name Diaporthe caulivora is introduced to accommodate it. A species previously known as Phomopsis sp. 9 from earlier studies on sunflower, grapevine, rooibos and hydrangea is reported for the first time on soybean, and is formally described as Diaporthe novem. The well-known soybean pathogen Phomopsis longicolla was also collected in the present study and was transferred to Diaporthe longicolla comb. nov. The presence of these species on herbaceous hosts raises once more the relevance of weeds as reservoirs for pathogens of economically important plants