54 research outputs found
Pain and anxiety control in dentistry ā the foundation of successful practice, but the Cinderella of dental pre-registration education
The control of patientsā pain and anxiety has been a fundamental part of the practice of dentistry since Horace Wells underwent dental treatment using nitrous oxide anaesthesia in 1844, and subsequently used it on his own patients prior to an ill-fated demonstration in Massachusetts General Hospital in 1845 [1]. The use of nitrous oxide was the first of a number of major milestones in this area. These included the use of ether by William TG Morton in 1846 [2], and the first administration of local anaesthesia for dentistry by William Halsted in 1844 [3]. The development of inhalation sedation for dentistry, as opposed to general anaesthesia, was popularised by Harry Langha who first described the technique in the 1940s before running the first postgraduate sedation course in 1949 [4]. Techniques of intravenous sedation followed with the work of Jorgensen in 1945 and then Drummond-Jackson the founder of the Society for the Advancement of Anaesthesia in Dentistry in 1957 [5].Full Tex
The use of Intranasal Midazolam in a special care dentistry department within a hospital based setting:Technique and Cases
āJust engage in it or not, you get out what you put inā:student and staff experiences of feedback and feedforward in workplace-based learning environments
Editorial: Championing inclusion and diversity: inclusive design practices and approaches for education
Parental Intention to Support the Use of Computerized Cognitive Training for Children With Genetic Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Children with genetic neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as Down syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and Fragile X syndrome may show a range of cognitive impairments, including impairments in executive functions (EF). EF are related to general intelligence, academic achievement, and literacy and mathematical skills. EF deficits are linked to a variety of clinically and socially important behaviors. Therefore, methods for improving EF in children with NDDs could be beneficial. One method for improving EF is through cognitive training. Research on commercial brain training programmes and video games suggests that EF can be improved through training, both in healthy adults and in children with NDDs. Computerized cognitive training (CCT) therefore represents a potentially viable intervention for children with NDDs. For training to be effective, it is important that an appropriate regimen is followed. Since children are likely to engage with training at home, the intentions of their parents to support them are therefore important. However, no research has investigated the attitudes of parents of children with NDDs to CCT. To address this, we developed a questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior, which states that a person's intention to engage in a behavior is predicted by (1) their attitude toward the behavior, (2) their perception of subjective norms regarding the behavior (i.e., perceived social pressure), and (3) their perceived control over the behavior. The questionnaire was completed by parents of children with NDDs; 58 unique responses were retained for analyses. Parents reported low levels of knowledge of CCTs, and low levels of experience with CCTs (both their own experience and their child's experience). However, our results also show that parents of children with NDDs have positive beliefs about the potential of CCT to benefit their children and intend to support the use of CCT by their children. Linear modeling showed that, of the three constructs of the theory of planned behavior, only attitudes significantly predicted intention. Finally, parents' beliefs about the benefits of CCT correlated positively with positive attitudes toward such training. We also found limited evidence that parents of boys have more positive attitudes regarding CCT than parents of girls
Developing a Task Switching Training Game for Children With a Rare Genetic Syndrome Linked to Intellectual Disability
Subterranean sympatry : an investigation into diet using stable isotope analysis
In the Western Cape three species of mole-rat occur in sympatry, however, little is known about differences in their dietary
preferences. Dietary composition of the three species; the common mole-rat (Cryptomys hottentotus hottentotus), the Cape
mole-rat (Georychus capensis) and the Cape dune mole-rat (Bathyergus suillus) were examined using stable isotope analysis.
Blood, fur and claw samples were collected from 70 mole-rats, in addition to several potential food items, to assess food
selection of the three species under natural conditions. Overall there was a significant difference in the isotopic composition
(d13C and d15N) between all three species and significant differences in their diet composition. There were also significant
differences between tissues in all three species suggesting temporal variation in diet. The small size and colonial lifestyle of
C. h. hottentotus allows it to feed almost 100% on bulbs, while the solitary and larger species G. capensis and B. suillus fed to
a greater extent on other resources such as grasses and clover. B. suillus, the largest of the species, had the most generalized
diet. However, overall all species relied most heavily upon geophytes and consumed the same species suggesting
competition for resources could exist. We also showed a high level of individual variation in diet choices. This was most
pronounced in B. suillus and G. capensis and less so in C. h. hottentotus. We demonstrate that stable isotope analysis can
successfully be applied to examine dietary patterns in subterranean mammals and provide insights into foraging patterns
and dietary variation at both the inter and intra population level.G. Robb was funded by a University of Pretoria Post-doctoral fellowship. N. Bennett and fieldwork costs were funded through the Department of
Science and Technology and National Research Foundation SARChI Chair of Mammal Behavioural Ecology and Physiology.http://www.plosone.orgab201
The influence of food quantity on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values in southern African spiny mice (Acomys spinosissimus)
Stable isotope analysis is frequently applied as a tool to examine dietary patterns in
animals. However, some of the underlying assumptions associated with using this
approach are increasingly being questioned. We carried out a controlled diet
experiment on the southern African spiny mouse (Acomys spinosissimus Peters,
1852) to test a number of aspects relating to these assumptions and also examine
the hypothesis that stable isotopes, especially Ī“15N, can be used to provide evidence
of nutritional stress. We compared the Ī“13C and Ī“15N values of livers and blood from
animals that were fed ad libitum with animals undergoing a 10% reduction in food
supply. Food-restricted animals showed no significant difference in Ī“15N; however,
Ī“13C values of both liver and blood were depleted. Restricted animals also had a
significantly lower C:N ratio. We examined the role of lipids and found following lipid
extraction that both livers and lipids still showed the same separation in carbon
values. Tissueādiet discrimination values were also calculated and found to be
higher for both Ī13C and Ī15N compared with other mice species. Empirical values
for discrimination rates were then compared with values calculated using an
alternative method based on employing generic values and were found to be
dissimilar, suggesting the use of generic values are not always appropriate. Our
results highlight the need for greater understanding of the assumptions associated
with using stable isotope analysis to examine diet and we suggest that studying a
single species under captive conditions presents an ideal method to begin to test
these hypotheses.Department of Science and Technology ā National Research Foundation. South African Research Chair in mammal behavioural ecology and physiology. University of Pretoria.http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/journal/cjzhb2016Zoology and Entomolog
Convalescent plasma therapy for the treatment of patients with COVIDā19: Assessment of methods available for antibody detection and their correlation with neutralising antibody levels
Introduction
The lack of approved specific therapeutic agents to treat coronavirus disease (COVIDā19) associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSāCoVā2) infection has led to the rapid implementation of convalescent plasma therapy (CPT) trials in many countries, including the United Kingdom. Effective CPT is likely to require high titres of neutralising antibody (nAb) in convalescent donations. Understanding the relationship between functional neutralising antibodies and antibody levels to specific SARSāCoVā2 proteins in scalable assays will be crucial for the success of a largeāscale collection. We assessed whether neutralising antibody titres correlated with reactivity in a range of enzymeālinked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) targeting the spike (S) protein, the main target for human immune response.
Methods
Blood samples were collected from 52 individuals with a previous laboratoryāconfirmed SARSāCoVā2 infection. These were assayed for SARSāCoVā2 nAbs by microneutralisation and pseudoātype assays and for antibodies by four different ELISAs. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to further identify sensitivity and specificity of selected assays to identify samples containing high nAb levels.
Results
All samples contained SARSāCoVā2 antibodies, whereas neutralising antibody titres of greater than 1:20 were detected in 43 samples (83% of those tested) and >1:100 in 22 samples (42%). The best correlations were observed with EUROimmun immunoglobulin G (IgG) reactivity (Spearman Rho correlation coefficient 0.88; p 1:100 with 100% specificity using a reactivity index of 9.1 (13/22).
Discussion
Robust associations between nAb titres and reactivity in several ELISAābased antibody tests demonstrate their possible utility for scaledāup production of convalescent plasma containing potentially therapeutic levels of antiāSARSāCoVā2 nAbs
Computational analysis of antibody dynamics identifies recent HIV-1 infection.
CAPRISA, 2017.Abstract available in pdf
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