The Effect of Viscosity of Oral Moisturizers and Residual Ridge Form on the Retention Force of Maxillary Complete Dentures

Aim: To study the effects of viscosity of oral moisturizers and residual ridge form on theretention force of maxillary complete dentures.Methods: Thirty-five maxillary edentulous participants were recruited. Three types of oralmoisturizers with different viscosities, artificial saliva, and denture adhesive were used. Thesewere applied between the intaglio surface of the denture and basal seat mucosa. The centralincisor was loaded 45° upward to the occlusal plane. The force needed to dislodge the denturewas measured using a digital force gauge. Dental impressions of the polished surfaces andintaglio surfaces of the maxillary complete dentures were obtained. Then, duplicate dentureswere cast using auto polymerizing acrylic resin. The buccolingual molar residual ridge form wasassessed using the dental impressions. The duplicate denture was used to measure the positionalrelationship of the central incisor edge, anterior residual ridge crest, and posterior border ofdentures. The effect of residual ridge form on retention force was analyzed.Results: The gel-type oral moisturizer showed significantly greater retention than theother types (P < .05). The retention force and buccolingual molar residual ridge form were notcorrelated. As the ratio of the distance from the central incisor to the anterior residual ridgecrest and the distance from the anterior residual ridge crest to the posterior denture borderincreased, retention force decreased (r = -0.352; P < .01).Conclusion: The results indicate that the retention force of dentures is affected by oralmoisturizer viscosity and the relative position of the anterior residual ridge crest

Change of nurses' perceptions and factors related to those perceptions after introducing a new 24hours free-visiting system

本研究の目的は、都内の周産期センター(NICU12床・GCU18床)における24時間自由面会導入前後の看護職の受け止めとその変化の内容及び関連する要因を明らかにすることである。研究デザインは記述的研究であり、対象は24時間自由面会導入前後、各1ケ月以上対象施設に勤務した看護職15名であった。データ収集は半構成インタビューを用い、得られた結果は質的に分析した。結果、自由面会導入前、看護職の多くが、「親子の関わり」の探まりに期待をもちながら、同時に「家族のケア」「子どもへのケア」には気がかり不安といった否定的な思いをもっていた。導入後、看護職の多くは、導入前の期待はそのまま期待通りであり、否定的な思いとしてあげられていた問題は、顕在化していないと捉えていた。看護職の受け止めにかかわる要因としてには「経験年数」「親子関係についての考え方」「両親が常にいることへの認識の変化」「面会者数の変動がないと捉えていたこと」といった看護職側の要因と、ゆったりすごせる場を作ること、両親への教育方法を、より両親の主体性を尊重したものに変更したことなどの、場の要因があった。今後,自由面会をよりよいものとするための、いくつかの課題が明らかになった。The purpose of this study was to describe the changes of nurses' perceptions after introducing a 24-hour free visiting system and factors that influenced on the changes. The study was conducted at a perinatal care center in Tokyo (NICU 12 units and GCU 18 units), using a descriptive research design. The subjects of this study were 15 registered nurses who worked at GCU for at least one month before and after introducing the 24-hour free visiting system. (GCU stands for growing care units) All subjects were interviewed using a semi-constructed questionnaire. The data were analyzed qualitatively. Before introducing the 24-hour free visiting system, although most of nurses expected that it would promote "deeper relationships between parents and babies", they also had some negative feelings that it might be a cause of disturbance of "family care" and " baby care." After introducing this system, however, nurses recognized that it resulted in development of deep relationships between parents and babies as they expected. and that the concerns. which they had before introducing this system, did not happen. Two main categories of factors related to these changes of nurses' perceptions were identified: factors related to nurses themselves and those related to surrounding environment (or working climate). Factors related to nurses themselves were "years of experiences," "belief of relationship between parents and babies," and "recognition of the real numbers of the visitors." "Relaxed space" and "educational intervention to parents" were included in factors related to working climate. Finally, several implications for clinical practice were identified

Prevalence and risk factors for cornea guttata in the Reykjavik Eye Study

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldPURPOSE: To establish the age- and gender-specific prevalence of cornea guttata (CG) in citizens of Reykjavik, Iceland, 55 years and older. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, random, population-based study. PARTICIPANTS: The 774 participants were those participating in the second examination of the Reykjavik Eye Study. At baseline, we had a response rate of 75.8%, and at the 5-year follow-up, 88% of the survivors participated. METHODS: We used slit-lamp and non-contact specular microscopy and endothelial specular photography as well as computer-assisted morphometry. We used a standardized grading system for CG. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Diagnosis of primary central CG. RESULTS: The prevalence of CG is 11% for females and 7% for males both for right eyes and left eyes. Higher weight and higher body mass index are found to be associated with decreased risk of CG. Having smoked more than 20 pack-years increased the risk of CG more than 2-fold (P<0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Cornea guttata seem to be found more commonly in women than in men. Smoking for more than 20 pack-years increases the risk of developing CG more than 2-fold

DNA-dependent protein kinase enhances DNA damage-induced apoptosis in association with Friend gp70

Friend leukemia virus (FLV) infection strongly enhances gamma-irradiation-induced apoptosis of hematopoietic cells of C3H hosts leading to a lethal anemia. Experiments using p53 knockout mice with the C3H background have clarified that the apoptosis is p53-dependent and would not be associated with changes of cell populations caused by the infection with FLV. In bone marrow cells of FLV + total body irradiation (TBI)-treated C3H mice, the p53 protein was prominently activated to overexpress p21 and bax suggesting that apoptosis-enhancing mechanisms lay upstream of p53 protein in the signaling pathway. Neither of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK)-deficient SCID mice nor ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene knockout mice with the C3H background exhibited a remarkable enhancement of apoptosis or p53 activation on FLV + TBI-treatment indicating that DNA-PK and ATM were both essential. ATM appeared necessary for introducing DNA damage-induced apoptosis, while DNA-PK enhanced p53-dependent apoptosis under FLV-infection. Surprisingly, viral envelope protein, gp70, was co-precipitated with DNA-PK but not with ATM in FLV + TBI-treated C3H mice. These results indicated that FLV-infection enhances DNA damage-induced apoptosis via p53 activation and that DNA-PK, in association with gp70, might play critical roles in modulating the signaling pathway

Data from: Methods for estimating causal relationships of adverse events with dietary supplements

Objective: Dietary supplement use has increased over past decades, resulting in reports of potentially serious adverse events. The aim of this study was to develop optimised methods to evaluate the causal relationships between adverse events and dietary supplements, and to test these methods using case reports. Design: Causal relationship assessment using prospectively collected data. Setting and participants: 4 dietary supplement experts, 4 pharmacists and 11 registered dietitians (5 men and 14 women) examined 200 case reports of suspected adverse events using the modified Naranjo scale and the modified Food and Drug Administration (FDA) algorithm. Primary outcome measures: The distribution of evaluation results was analysed and inter-rater reliability was evaluated for the two modified methods employed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and Fleiss’ κ. Results: Using these two methods, most of the 200 case reports were categorised as ‘lack of information’ or ‘possible’ adverse events. Inter-rater reliability among entire assessors ratings for the two modified methods, based on ICC and Fleiss’ κ, were classified as more than substantial (modified Naranjo scale: ICC (95% CI) 0.873 (0.850 to 0.895); Fleiss’ κ (95% CI) 0.615 (0.615 to 0.615). Modified FDA algorithm: Fleiss’ κ (95% CI) 0.622 (0.622 to 0.622). Conclusions: These methods may help to assess the causal relationships between adverse events and dietary supplements. By conducting additional studies of these methods in different populations, researchers can expand the possibilities for the application of our methods