Unethical aspects of homeopathic dentistry

In the last year there has been a great deal of public debate about homeopathy, the system of alternative medicine whose main principles are that like cures like and that potency increases relative to dilution. The House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology concluded in November 2009 that there is no evidence base for homeopathy, and agreed with some academic commentators that homeopathy should not be funded by the NHS. While homeopathic doctors and hospitals are quite commonplace, some might be surprised to learn that there are also many homeopathic dentists practising in the UK. This paper examines the statements made by several organisations on behalf of homeopathic dentistry and suggests that they are not entirely ethical and may be in breach of various professional guidelines

Activation of WNT and BMP signaling in adult human articular cartilage following mechanical injury

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans Arising in a Decorative Tattoo

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is an uncommon, locally aggressive cutaneous tumour of intermediate grade malignancy. A number of reports have linked local trauma of varying aetiology with the later development of DFSP. In addition, a variety of skin disorders and, in rare cases, cutaneous tumours, have been described in association with decorative tattoos. This is often associated with delayed diagnosis. We report the first case of DFSP arising in a tattoo and discuss the available evidence for a causative link between DFSP and local trauma of this nature

Chromatic dispersion monitoring for high-speed WDM systems using two-photon absorption in a semiconductor microcavity

This paper presents a theoretical and experimental investigation into the use of a two-photon absorption (TPA) photodetector for use in chromatic dispersion (CD) monitoring in high-speed, WDM network. In order to overcome the inefficiency associated with the nonlinear optical-to-electrical TPA process, a microcavity structure is employed. An interesting feature of such a solution is the fact that the microcavity enhances only a narrow wavelength range determined by device design and angle at which the signal enters the device. Thus, a single device can be used to monitor a number of different wavelength channels without the need for additional external filters. When using a nonlinear photodetector, the photocurrent generated for Gaussian pulses is inversely related to the pulsewidth. However, when using a microcavity structure, the cavity bandwidth also needs to be considered, as does the shape of the optical pulses incident on the device. Simulation results are presented for a variety of cavity bandwidths, pulse shapes and durations, and spacing between adjacent wavelength channels. These results are verified experimental using a microcavity with a bandwidth of 260 GHz (2.1 nm) at normal incident angle, with the incident signal comprising of two wavelength channels separated by 1.25 THz (10 nm), each operating at an aggregate data rate of 160 Gb/s. The results demonstrate the applicability of the presented technique to monitor accumulated dispersion fluctuations in a range of 3 ps/nm for 160 Gb/s RZ data channel

Prescribing trends of gabapentin, pregabalin and oxycodone; a secondary analysis of primary care prescribing patterns in England

Background The risk of iatrogenic harm from prescription drug use, misuse and abuse of drugs such as gabapentin, pregabalin and oxycodone is substantial. In recent years, deaths associated with these drugs in England have increased. Aims To characterise general practice prescribing trends for gabapentin, pregabalin and oxycodone – termed dependence forming medicines (DFM) – in England and describe potential drivers of unwarranted variation. Design and Setting This study is a retrospective secondary analysis of open source, publicly available government data from various sources pertaining to primary care demographics and prescriptions. Methods This study used five consecutive years (April 2013 – March 2018) of aggregate data to investigate longitudinal trends of prescribing and variation in prescribing trends at practice and clinical commissioning group (CCG) level. Results Annual prescriptions of gabapentin, pregabalin and oxycodone have increased each year over the period. Variation in prescribing trends were associated with GP practice deprivation quintile, where the most deprived GP practices prescribe 313% (p<0.001) and 238% (p<0.001) greater volumes of gabapentin and pregabalin per person than practices in the least deprived quintile. The highest prescribing CCGs of each of these drugs were predominantly in northern and eastern regions of England. Conclusions Substantial increases in gabapentin, pregabalin and oxycodone prescriptions are concerning and will increase iatrogenic harm from drug-related morbidity and mortality. More research is needed to understand the large variation in prescribing between general practices; and to develop and implement interventions to reduce unwarranted variation and increase the appropriateness of prescribing of these drugs

All-optical pulse processing for advanced photonic communication system

This paper investigates the use of a two-photon absorption photodetector for high speed processing of ultrashort optical pulses in advanced photonic communication systems. Specifically the paper describes how the two-photon absorption photodetector maybe employed for chromatic dispersion monitoring in high-speed, wavelength division multiplexed networks, and also for reducing multiple access interference noise in an optical code division multiplexed system

Two-photon-absorption-based OSNR monitor for NRZ-PSK transmission systems

A two-photon absorption microcavity-based technique for monitoring in-band optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) in nonreturn-to-zero phase-shift-keying systems is presented. Experiments using a 10-Gb/s differential phase-shift-keying system showed that accurate measurements ( 1 dB) were possible for OSNRs in excess of 20 dB