Outcome of Chair-Side Dental Fear Treatment: Long-Term Follow-Up in Public Health Setting

Aim. Purpose of this practice and data-based study was to evaluate the outcome of dental fear treatment of patients referred to the Clinic for Fearful Dental Patients (CFDP) in the primary oral health care, City of Oulu, Finland, during period 2000-2005. Methods. A psychological approach including behavioral interventions and cognitive behavioral therapy (BT/CBT) was used for all participants combined with conscious sedation or dental general anesthesia (DGA), if needed. The outcome was considered successful if later dental visits were carried out without any notifications in the patient records of behavioral problems or sedation. Data collection was made in 2006; the average length of the observation period from the last visit in the CFPD to data collection was 2y 3m (SD 1y 5m). All information was available for 163 patients (mean age 8.9y at referral). Study population was dominated by males (58.0%). Cause for referrals was mostly dental fear (81.0%) or lack of cooperation. Results. The success rate was 69.6% among females and 68.1% among males. Success seemed to be (p=0.053) higher for those treated in 12years compared with the older ones. The participants, without need for dental general anesthesia (DGA) in the CFDP, had significantly a higher success rate (81.4%) compared with those who did (54.8%, p<0.001). Use of conscious oral sedation (p=0.300) or N2O (p=0.585) was not associated with the future success. Conclusions. A chair-side approach seems successful in a primary health care setting for treating dental fear, especially in early childhood. Use of sedation seems not to improve the success rate

Beyond Text: The co-creation of dramatised character and iStory

This article is an outcome of the Beyond Text Project (Autumn 2016-Summer2019)In exploring the impact of reflective and work applied approaches we are curious how vivid new insights and collective ‘Eureka’ momentums occur. These momentums can be forces for work communities to gain competitive advantages. However, we know little of how learning is actively involved in the processing of creating new insights and how such a turning to learning –mode (Pässilä and Owens, 2016) can be facilitated. In the light of cultural studies and art education, we explore how the method of dramatising characters in a specific innovation culture can be facilitated. In this viewpoint we are suggesting one approach for this type of turning to learning which we call Beyond Text, outlining its theoretical underpinnings, its co-creative development & its application In this Beyond Text context we are introducing the method of dramatising characters (DC) and the method of iStory both of which are our own design based on the theory of the four existing categories of research-based theatre (RBT). The findings of this viewpoint article are that both iStory as well as DC methods are useful and practical learning facilitation processes and platforms that can be adopted for use in organizations for promoting reflexivity. Especially they can act as a bridge between various forms of knowing and consummate the other knowledge types (experiential, practical and propositional) in a way that advances practice-based innovation. The originality and value of iStory and DC is that they can be utilized as dialogical evaluation methods when traditional evaluation strategies and pre-determined indicators are unusable

The charging of neutral dimethylamine and dimethylamine-sulfuric acid clusters using protonated acetone

Sulfuric acid is generally considered one of the most important substances taking part in atmospheric particle formation. However, in typical atmospheric conditions in the lower troposphere, sulfuric acid and water alone are unable to form particles. It has been suggested that strong bases may stabilize sulfuric acid clusters so that particle formation may occur. More to the point, amines - strong organic bases - have become the subject of interest as possible cause for such stabilization. To probe whether amines play a role in atmospheric nucleation, we need to be able to measure accurately the gas-phase amine vapour concentration. Such measurements often include charging the neutral molecules and molecular clusters in the sample. Since amines are bases, the charging process should introduce a positive charge. This can be achieved by, for example, using chemical ionization with a positively charged reagent with a suitable proton affinity. In our study, we have used quantum chemical methods combined with a cluster dynamics code to study the use of acetone as a reagent ion in chemical ionization and compared the results with measurements performed with a chemical ionization atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight mass spectrometer (CI-APi-TOF). The computational results indicate that protonated acetone is an effective reagent in chemical ionization. However, in the experiments the reagent ions were not depleted at the predicted dimethylamine concentrations, indicating that either the modelling scheme or the experimental results - or both - contain unidentified sources of error.Peer reviewe

Effect of alloy treatment and coiling temperature on microstructure and bending performance of ultra-high strength strip steel

Two different high strength B-containing microalloyed steel strips produced in industrial processing conditions, one treated with Ti and the other treated with Al, processed by controlled rolling, accelerated cooling and coiling in two different temperatures ranges [723 K to 733 K (450 °C to 460 °C)] and [633 K to 653 K (360 °C to 380 °C)] were subjected to bend testing. The Ti treated steel coiled at the higher temperature 733 K (460 °C) showed the best bending performance. The relatively softer (tensile strength of and even {112} in the sub-surface region as well as uniformity of through thickness texture of the rolled sheet improve the bendability. In the presence of crack initiators, like coarse and brittle TiN particles found in the Ti treated steel, a harder microstructure and the presence of Cube and Goss texture in the sub-surface layer, seen for the lower coiling temperature can cause local transgranular cleavage cracking. Finally the post-uniform elongation obtained from tensile testing and bendability follow a good correlation

High efficiency of alphaviral gene transfer in combination with 5-fluorouracil in a mouse mammary tumor model

Copyright: Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: The combination of virotherapy and chemotherapy may enable efficient tumor regression that would be unachievable using either therapy alone. In this study, we investigated the efficiency of transgene delivery and the cytotoxic effects of alphaviral vector in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in a mouse mammary tumor model (4 T1).Methods: Replication-deficient Semliki Forest virus (SFV) vectors carrying genes encoding fluorescent proteins were used to infect 4 T1 cell cultures treated with different doses of 5-FU. The efficiency of infection was monitored via fluorescence microscopy and quantified by fluorometry. The cytotoxicity of the combined treatment with 5-FU and alphaviral vector was measured using an MTT-based cell viability assay. In vivo experiments were performed in a subcutaneous 4 T1 mouse mammary tumor model with different 5-FU doses and an SFV vector encoding firefly luciferase.Results: Infection of 4 T1 cells with SFV prior to 5-FU treatment did not produce a synergistic anti-proliferative effect. An alternative treatment strategy, in which 5-FU was used prior to virus infection, strongly inhibited SFV expression. Nevertheless, in vivo experiments showed a significant enhancement in SFV-driven transgene (luciferase) expression upon intratumoral and intraperitoneal vector administration in 4 T1 tumor-bearing mice pretreated with 5-FU: here, we observed a positive correlation between 5-FU dose and the level of luciferase expression.Conclusions: Although 5-FU inhibited SFV-mediated transgene expression in 4 T1 cells in vitro, application of the drug in a mouse model revealed a significant enhancement of intratumoral transgene synthesis compared with 5-FU untreated mice. These results may have implications for efficient transgene delivery and the development of potent cancer treatment strategies using alphaviral vectors and 5-FU.publishersversionPeer reviewe

FGF10/FGFR2 signal induces cell migration and invasion in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer has one of the highest mortalities among all malignancies and there is an urgent need for new therapy. This might be achieved by resolving the detailed biological mechanism, and in this study we examined how pancreatic cancer cells develop aggressive properties by focusing on signalling through the fibroblast growth factor (FGF)10 and FGF receptor (FGFR)2, which play important roles in pancreatic organogenesis. Immunostaining of pancreatic cancer tissues showed that FGFR2 was expressed in cancer cells, whereas FGF10 was expressed in stromal cells surrounding the cancer cells. Patients with high FGFR2 expression in cancer cells had a shorter survival time compared to those with low FGFR2 expression. Fibroblast growth factor 10 induced cell migration and invasion of CFPAC-1 and AsPC-1 pancreatic cancer cells through interaction with FGFR2-IIIb, a specific isoform of FGFR2. Fibroblast growth factor 10 also induced expression of mRNA for membrane type 1-matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, and increased secretion of TGF-β1 protein from these cell lines. These data indicate that stromal FGF10 induces migration and invasion in pancreatic cancer cells through interaction with FGFR2, resulting in a poor prognosis. This suggests that FGF10/FGFR2 signalling is a promising target for new molecular therapy against pancreatic cancer

Lack of relationship between TIMP-1 tumour cell immunoreactivity, treatment efficacy and prognosis in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) is a natural inhibitor of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) which are proteolytic enzymes involved in degradation of extracellular matrix thereby favoring tumour cell invasion and metastasis. TIMP-1 activity in tumour tissue may therefore play an essential role in the progression of a malignant tumour.</p> <p>The primary aim of the present study was to evaluate TIMP-1 protein immunoreactivity in tissue from primary ovarian cancer patients and associate these findings with the course of the disease including response to treatment in the individual patient.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>TIMP-1 was assessed by immunohistochemistry (in tissue micro arrays) in a total of 163 ovarian cancer specimens obtained from primary debulking surgery during 1991-1994 as part of a randomized clinical protocol.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Positive TIMP-1 immunoreactivity was found in 12.3% of the tumours. The median survival time for the 143 patients with TIMP-1 negative tumours was 23.7 months [19.0-29.4] 95% CI, while the median survival time for the 20 patients with TIMP-1 positive tumours was 15.9 months [12.3-27.4] 95% CI. Although a difference of 7.8 months in median overall survival in favor of the TIMP-1 tumour negative patients was found, this difference did not reach statistical significance (<it>p </it>= 0.28, Kaplan-Meier, log-rank test). Moreover, TIMP-1 immunoreactivity was not associated with CA125 response (p = 0.53) or response at second look surgery (p = 0.72).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>TIMP-1 immunoreactivity in tumour tissue from patients with primary epithelial ovarian cancer did not correlate with patient survival or response to combination platinum/cyclophosphamide therapy.</p