Comparative study of heat release of various cement base materials during their setting

An ideal cement base material in order to protect the pulpal tissue from several external irritations (microbial, mechanical, thermal, galvanic and osmotic irritations) must present the following requirements: to attach or bond to the residual dentin, to be biocompatible, to present suitable physicomechanical, antimicrobial and optical properties, to be color stable, easy to use and rapid to set. Thermal phenomena developed during the mixing and setting are a factor influencing the biocompatibility properties of these materials. Cement base materials are used under various types of filling materials (amalgams, composite resins, gold and porcelain inlays) and are placed in contact with the dentin that contains exposed dentinal tubules. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible exothermic reaction of these materials and to measure the developing temperatures for a time period from their mixing up to the completion of their setting. We studied the following types of cement base materials: a) Zinc oxide eugenol cement, b) Zinc phosphate cement, c) Zinc polycarboxylate cement and d) Glass ionomer cement both light and self curied. From the obtained results we observed that ZOE cements developed the lowest temperatures ranging from 32.8°C to 37°C, while Zinc phosphate cements developed the highest temperatures ranging from 44.4°C to 52°C. The other two types of materials Zinc polycarboxylate and Glass ionomer cements developed biocompatible temperatures ranging from 38°C to 40.8°C, which usually do not cause deteriorations and harms to the pulp.We concluded that the ZOE cements presented the best thermal behaviour followed by Zinc polycarboxylate and Glass ionomer cements. Hence, these materials can be safely used without causing any pulpal response.Un cément de fond idéal en vue de protéger le tissu pulpaire de diverses irritations externes (irritations microbiennes, mécaniques, thermiques, galvaniques et osmotiques) doit présenter les propriétés suivantes: pouvoir s’attacher ou se lier à la dentine résiduelle, être biocompatible, présenter des propriétés physicomécaniques, antimicrobiennes et optiques, de conserver une teinte stable, d’être d’utilisation facile et mise en place rapide. Le phénomène thermique qui se déroule au cours du mélange et de la mise en place est un facteur qui influence les propriétés de biocompatibilité de ces matériaux.Les céments de fond sont utilisés sous différents types de matériaux de comblement (amalgame, résines composites, inlays en or et en porcelaine) et sont placés en contact avec de la dentine et des tubuli dentinaires ouverts.Le but de cette étude a été d’investiguer la réaction exothermique possible de ces matériaux et de mesurer les températures développées pour la période de temps allant de leur mélange à la fin de leur mise en place.Nous avons étudié les céments de fond suivants: Oxyde de Zinc Eugénol (OZE), le Phosphate de Zinc, le Polycarboxylate de Zinc et l’Ionomère de Verre. Les résultats obtenus nous ont permis de constater que OZE développent les températures les moins élevées entre 32.8° à 37°C, tandis que le phosphate de Zinc développe les températures les plus élevées entre 44.4° à 52°C. Les deux autres types de céments, le Polycarboxylate de Zinc et l’Ionomère de Verre développent des températures biocompatibles entre 38° et 40.8°C, qui habituellement ne provoquent pas de détériorations ou dommages à la pulpe.Nous concluons que les céments OZE présentent le meilleur comportement thermique suivis par le Polycarboxylate de Zinc et l’Ionomère de Verre. Par conséquent, ces matériaux peuvent être utilisés en toute sécurité en n’étant responsables d’aucune réponse pulpaire

Legionella species colonization of water distribution systems, pools and air conditioning systems in cruise ships and ferries

Background: Legionnaires' disease continues to be a public health concern in passenger ships. This study was scheduled in order to investigate Legionella spp. colonization of water distribution systems (WDS), recreational pools, and air-conditioning systems on board ferries and cruise ships in an attempt to identify risk factors for Legionella spp. colonization associated with ship water systems and water characteristics. Methods: Water systems of 21 ferries and 10 cruise ships including WDS, air conditioning systems and pools were investigated for the presence of Legionella spp. Results: The 133 samples collected from the 10 cruise ships WDS, air conditioning systems and pools were negative for Legionella spp. Of the 21 ferries WDS examined, 14 (66.7%) were legionellae-positive. A total of 276 samples were collected from WDS and air conditioning systems. Legionella spp. was isolated from 37.8% of the hot water samples and 17.5% of the cold water samples. Of the total 96 positive isolates, 87 (90.6%) were L. pneumophila. Legionella spp. colonization was positively associated with ship age. The temperature of the hot water samples was negatively associated with colonization of L. pneumophila serogroup (sg) 1 and that of L. pneumophila sg 2 to 14. Increases in pH >= 7.8 and total plate count >= 400 CFU/L, correlated positively with the counts of L. pneumophila sg 2 to 14 and Legionella spp. respectively. Free chlorine of >= 0.2 mg/L inhibited colonization of Legionella spp. Conclusion: WDS of ferries can be heavily colonized by Legionella spp. and may present a risk of Legionnaires' disease for passengers and crew members. Guidelines and advising of Legionnaires' disease prevention regarding ferries are needed, in particular for operators and crew members

The impact of Covid-19 on research into work and health

Background: The global coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic created a profound disruption to the delivery of planned scientific research with unknown immediate and potentially longer-term impacts. Aims: We explored researchers’ experiences of the impact of the pandemic on the continued development and delivery of research into work and health, and on research infrastructure in this field. Methods: A cross-sectional study. Results: Thirty-three questionnaires were completed, representing a response rate of 15%. Sixty-one per cent of respondents were female, the majority (78%) had over 11 years of research experience and 76% worked mainly in academia. Most respondents (88%) were able to progress with research during the pandemic. A small proportion (4%) had studies paused or suspended due to the pandemic, while a larger proportion (19%) had research staff redeployed to assist with other studies or furloughed. Respondents described a range of emerging practical and logistical issues for research into work and health during the pandemic. Some benefited from increased opportunities to collaborate on new multidisciplinary studies, opportunities to engage participants in work and health research, and more flexible and inclusive work practices. Others experienced challenges that had an adverse impact, such as hampering research delivery (e.g. barriers to participant screening and intervention delivery), poor (home) working environments, reduced team cohesion and isolation. A range of future priorities for research was highlighted. Conclusions: We describe lessons learned and opportunities that can be used to support or further research activities in the field of work and health research in the future

Work-Related Mental Health and Job Performance: Can Mindfulness Help?

Work-related mental health issues such as work-related stress and addiction to work impose a significant health and economic burden to the employee, the employing organization, and the country of work more generally. Interventions that can be empirically shown to improve levels of work-related mental health – especially those with the potential to concurrently improve employee levels of work performance – are of particular interest to occupational stakeholders. One such broad-application interventional approach currently of interest to occupational stakeholders in this respect is mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). Following a brief explication of the mindfulness construct, this paper critically discusses current research directions in the utilization of mindfulness in workplace settings and assesses its suitability for operationalization as an organization-level work-related mental health intervention. By effecting a perceptual-shift in the mode of responding and relating to sensory and cognitive-affective stimuli, employees that undergo mindfulness training may be able to transfer the locus of control for stress from external work conditions to internal metacognitive and attentional resources. Therefore, MBIs may constitute cost-effective organization-level interventions due to not actually requiring any modifications to human resource management systems and practises. Based on preliminary empirical findings and on the outcomes of MBI studies with clinical populations, it is concluded that MBIs appear to be viable interventional options for organizations wishing to improve the mental health of their employees

Research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: A call to action for psychological science

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has caused the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents the greatest international biopsychosocial emergency the world has faced for a century, and psychological science has an integral role to offer in helping societies recover. The aim of this paper is to set out the shorter- and longer-term priorities for research in psychological science that will (a) frame the breadth and scope of potential contributions from across the discipline; (b) enable researchers to focus their resources on gaps in knowledge; and (c) help funders and policymakers make informed decisions about future research priorities in order to best meet the needs of societies as they emerge from the acute phase of the pandemic. The research priorities were informed by an expert panel convened by the British Psychological Society that reflects the breadth of the discipline; a wider advisory panel with international input; and a survey of 539 psychological scientists conducted early in May 2020. The most pressing need is to research the negative biopsychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate immediate and longer-term recovery, not only in relation to mental health, but also in relation to behaviour change and adherence, work, education, children and families, physical health and the brain, and social cohesion and connectedness. We call on psychological scientists to work collaboratively with other scientists and stakeholders, establish consortia, and develop innovative research methods while maintaining high-quality, open, and rigorous research standards

Research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: A call to action for psychological science

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has caused the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents the greatest international biopsychosocial emergency the world has faced for a century, and psychological science has an integral role to offer in helping societies recover. The aim of this paper is to set out the shorter- and longer-term priorities for research in psychological science that will (a) frame the breadth and scope of potential contributions from across the discipline; (b) enable researchers to focus their resources on gaps in knowledge; and (c) help funders and policymakers make informed decisions about future research priorities in order to best meet the needs of societies as they emerge from the acute phase of the pandemic. The research priorities were informed by an expert panel convened by the British Psychological Society that reflects the breadth of the discipline; a wider advisory panel with international input; and a survey of 539 psychological scientists conducted early in May 2020. The most pressing need is to research the negative biopsychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate immediate and longer-term recovery, not only in relation to mental health, but also in relation to behaviour change and adherence, work, education, children and families, physical health and the brain, and social cohesion and connectedness. We call on psychological scientists to work collaboratively with other scientists and stakeholders, establish consortia, and develop innovative research methods while maintaining high-quality, open, and rigorous research standards

Embedding Physical Activity into Community-Based Peer Support Groups for those Severely Affected by Mental Illness

Despite a growing evidence base on the effectiveness of community-based physical activity interventions for mental health, there is a lack of studies that focus on those affected by severe mental illness (SMI), who often experience poorer physical health, and are less physically active than the wider population. The use of peer support groups in this context is also understudied, despite benefits being documented in other contexts. This study examined the impact and process of a nationwide project to embed physical activity into peer support groups for those affected by SMI. Following the embedding of physical activity within peer support groups, interviews and focus groups were conducted to explore the experiences of those involved with the project and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The key findings related to: 1) the social aspects of embedding physical activity in the groups; 2) the focus on peer support and informal physical activity (rather than organised sport) being beneficial; 3) doing things differently and lessons to learn; and 4) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, we found that peer support is an important feature to include in projects encouraging those severely affected by mental illness to become more physically active

A SARS-CoV-2 RBD vaccine fused to the chemokine MIP-3α elicits sustained murine antibody responses over 12 months and enhanced lung T-cell responses

BackgroundPrevious studies have demonstrated enhanced efficacy of vaccine formulations that incorporate the chemokine macrophage inflammatory protein 3α (MIP-3α) to direct vaccine antigens to immature dendritic cells. To address the reduction in vaccine efficacy associated with a mutation in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mutants, we have examined the ability of receptor-binding domain vaccines incorporating MIP-3α to sustain higher concentrations of antibody when administered intramuscularly (IM) and to more effectively elicit lung T-cell responses when administered intranasally (IN).MethodsBALB/c mice aged 6–8 weeks were immunized intramuscularly or intranasally with DNA vaccine constructs consisting of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain alone or fused to the chemokine MIP-3α. In a small-scale (n = 3/group) experiment, mice immunized IM with electroporation were followed up for serum antibody concentrations over a period of 1 year and for bronchoalveolar antibody levels at the termination of the study. Following IN immunization with unencapsulated plasmid DNA (n = 6/group), mice were evaluated at 11 weeks for serum antibody concentrations, quantities of T cells in the lungs, and IFN-γ- and TNF-α-expressing antigen-specific T cells in the lungs and spleen.ResultsAt 12 months postprimary vaccination, recipients of the IM vaccine incorporating MIP-3α had significantly, approximately threefold, higher serum antibody concentrations than recipients of the vaccine not incorporating MIP-3α. The area-under-the-curve analyses of the 12-month observation interval demonstrated significantly greater antibody concentrations over time in recipients of the MIP-3α vaccine formulation. At 12 months postprimary immunization, only recipients of the fusion vaccine had concentrations of serum-neutralizing activity deemed to be effective. After intranasal immunization, only recipients of the MIP-3α vaccine formulations developed T-cell responses in the lungs significantly above those of PBS controls. Low levels of serum antibody responses were obtained following IN immunization.ConclusionAlthough requiring separate IM and IN immunizations for optimal immunization, incorporating MIP-3α in a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine construct demonstrated the potential of a stable and easily produced vaccine formulation to provide the extended antibody and T-cell responses that may be required for protection in the setting of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Without electroporation, simple, uncoated plasmid DNA incorporating MIP-3α administered intranasally elicited lung T-cell responses

Automated office blood pressure measurements in primary care are misleading in more than one third of treated hypertensives: The VALENTINE-Greece Home Blood Pressure Monitoring study

Abstract Background This study assessed the diagnostic reliability of automated office blood pressure (OBP) measurements in treated hypertensive patients in primary care by evaluating the prevalence of white coat hypertension (WCH) and masked uncontrolled hypertension (MUCH) phenomena. Methods Primary care physicians, nationwide in Greece, assessed consecutive hypertensive patients on stable treatment using OBP (1 visit, triplicate measurements) and home blood pressure (HBP) measurements (7 days, duplicate morning and evening measurements). All measurements were performed using validated automated devices with bluetooth capacity (Omron M7 Intelli-IT). Uncontrolled OBP was defined as ≥140/90 mmHg, and uncontrolled HBP was defined as ≥135/85 mmHg. Results A total of 790 patients recruited by 135 doctors were analyzed (age: 64.5 ± 14.4 years, diabetics: 21.4%, smokers: 20.6%, and average number of antihypertensive drugs: 1.6 ± 0.8). OBP (137.5 ± 9.4/84.3 ± 7.7 mmHg, systolic/diastolic) was higher than HBP (130.6 ± 11.2/79.9 ± 8 mmHg; difference 6.9 ± 11.6/4.4 ± 7.6 mmHg, p Conclusions In primary care, automated OBP measurements are misleading in approximately 40% of treated hypertensive patients. HBP monitoring is mandatory to avoid overtreatment of subjects with WCH phenomenon and prevent undertreatment and subsequent excess cardiovascular disease in MUCH

Screening for multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria: what is effective and justifiable?

Effectiveness is a key criterion in assessing the justification of antibiotic resistance interventions. Depending on an intervention's effectiveness, burdens and costs will be more or less justified, which is especially important for large scale population-level interventions with high running costs and pronounced risks to individuals in terms of wellbeing, integrity and autonomy. In this paper, we assess the case of routine hospital screening for multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (MDRGN) from this perspective. Utilizing a comparison to screening programs for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) we argue that current screening programmes for MDRGN in low endemic settings should be reconsidered, as its effectiveness is in doubt, while general downsides to screening programs remain. To accomplish justifiable antibiotic stewardship, MDRGN screening should not be viewed as a separate measure, but rather as part of a comprehensive approach. The program should be redesigned to focus on those at risk of developing symptomatic infections with MDRGN rather than merely detecting those colonised