Identifying the barriers and facilitators for homeless people to achieve good oral health.

OBJECTIVE: A qualitative exploration of the barriers and facilitators for people experiencing homelessness achieving good oral health. PARTICIPANTS: Adults using two homeless centres in Leeds. METHODS: Focus group discussions were convened with homeless people using support services. Both an inductive and deductive approach to data analysis was taken. Themes were identified and then a framework applied to analysis using Nvivo software. RESULTS: Three focus group discussions with 16 participants were conducted with people experiencing homelessness. The barriers identified were insufficient information on local dental services, negative attitudes of oral health professionals, low priority of dental care, anxiety and cost of dental treatments. Facilitators included single dental appointments, accessible dental locations and being treated with respect. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the barriers that prevent people experiencing homelessness from maintaining and improving their oral health, the participants were aware that they needed oral healthcare and requested that dental services were made available to them and were accessible in line with their socioeconomic status and needs.

A flow injection system, comprising a biosensor based on a screen-printed carbon electrode containing Meldola's Blue-Reinecke salt coated with glucose dehydrogenase, for the measurement of glucose.

A biosensor for the measurement of glucose in serum has been developed, based on a screen-printed carbon electrode modified with Meldola's Blue-Reinecke salt, coated with the enzyme glucose dehydrogenase (from Bacillus sp.), and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide coenzyme (NAD+). A cellulose acetate layer was deposited on top of the device to act as a permselective membrane. The biosensor was incorporated into a commercially available, thin-layer, amperometric flow cell operated at a potential of only +0.05 V versus Ag/AgCl. The mobile phase consisted of 0.2 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 0.1 M potassium chloride solution, and a flow rate of 0.8 ml min(-1) was used throughout the investigation. The biosensor response was linear over the range of 0.075-30 mM glucose, with the former representing the detection limit. The precision of the system was determined by carrying out 20 repeat injections of a 5-mM glucose standard, and the calculated coefficient of variation was 3.9%. It was demonstrated that this biosensor system could be applied to the direct measurement of glucose in serum without pretreatment. Therefore, this would allow high-throughput analysis, at low cost, for this clinically important analyte.

Attitudes towards Oral Health in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Qualitative Study Nested within a Randomized Controlled Trial.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) present a higher incidence and severity of periodontitis than the general population. Our study, Outcomes of Periodontal Treatment in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (OPERA), was a randomized waiting-list controlled trial using mixed methods. Patients randomized to the intervention arm received intensive periodontal treatment, and those in the control arm received the same treatment with a 6-mo delay. AIM: The nested qualitative component aimed to explore patients' experiences and priorities concerning oral health and barriers and facilitators for trial participation. METHODS: Using purposive sampling until thematic saturation was reached, we conducted 21 one-to-one semistructured interviews with randomized patients in either of the 2 treatment arms as well as with patients who did not consent for trial participation. RESULTS: The patients described their experiences about RA, oral health, and study participation. Previous experiences with dental care professionals shaped patients' current perceptions about oral health and the place of oral health on their list of priorities compared with other conditions. Patients also highlighted some of the barriers and facilitators for study participation and for compliance with oral health maintenance. The patients, in the control arm, presented their views regarding the acceptable length of waiting time for the intervention. CONCLUSION: The associations between periodontal and systemic health are increasingly recognized by the literature. Our study provided an insight into RA patients' experiences and perceptions about oral health. It also highlighted some of the barriers and facilitators for participating in a periodontal interventional study for this group. We hope that our findings will support the design of larger interventional periodontal studies in patients with RA. The complex challenges faced by the burden of RA and the associated multimorbidities in this patient group might highlight opportunities to improve access to oral health services in this patient population. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER STATEMENT: This article provided insights into the experiences and perceptions of rheumatoid arthritis patients about their oral health to improve patient participation in a definitive clinical trial.

CHFR methylation strongly correlates with methylation of DNA damage repair and apoptotic pathway genes in non-small cell lung cancer.

DNA methylation occurs commonly in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We sought to determine the frequency and relationship of methylation of key genes involved in the pathways of mitotic checkpoint control, DNA damage repair, apoptosis, and growth factor signaling in these patients. We analyzed the DNA methylation status of eight genes (CHFR, FANCF, MGMT, p16, DAPK, ASC or TMS-1, RAR-B, and CRBP1) using nested methylation-specific PCR (MSP) on over 314 paraffin-embedded, human non-small cell lung cancer samples. We determined the methylation frequency of each gene in addition to the association of the methylation of each gene with other members of the panel. Methylation was a common event in these samples. Our methylation analysis showed frequencies of methylation of 10% for CHFR, 14% for FANCF, 30% for MGMT, 29% for p16, 17% for DAPK, 33% for ASC, 38% for RAR-B, and 7% for CRBP1. There was a strong correlation between methylation of the mitotic G2-M checkpoint gene, CHFR, and methylation of other genes in our panel involved in DNA damage repair (FANCF and MGMT) and apoptosis (DAPK and ASC) but not with other genes in our panel, including p16 (the G1-S checkpoint gene), CRBP1, or RAR-B. In addition, MGMT methylation strongly correlated with the pro-apoptotic gene, ASC. There are distinct associations of methylated genes in non-small cell lung cancer involving DNA damage repair, apoptosis, and the G2-M mitotic checkpoint control. Further studies are warranted to determine whether these methylation patterns have implications for prognosis in addition to prediction of response to chemotherapeutic agents commonly used in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, such as radiotherapy and platinum- or taxane-based chemotherapy.

Some considerations concerning cochlear implantation in IFACF-ORL.

The article analyzes the patients who have received a cochlear implant at "Prof. Dr. Dorin Hociota" Institute of Phonoaudiology and Functional ENT Surgery, Bucharest, over a period of 13 years, from the beginning of this program in the year 2000. It presents the types of devices used, the particularities of the patients, the surgical techniques and the outcome, critically analyzing the complications encountered. The authors' comments on the selection of patient protocol, surgical intraoperative challenges and cochlear implant technologies and capabilities are presented.

Amperometric lactate biosensor for flow injection analysis based on a screen-printed carbon electrode containing Meldola's Blue-Reinecke salt, coated with lactate dehydrogenase and NAD+.

A biosensor for the measurement of lactate in serum has been developed, which is based on a screen-printed carbon electrode, modified with Meldola's Blue-Reinecke Salt (MBRS-SPCE), coated with the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase NAD(+) dependent (from Porcine heart), and NAD(+). A cellulose acetate layer was deposited on the top of the device to act as a permselective membrane. The biosensor was incorporated into a commercially available, thin-layer, amperometric flow cell operated at a potential of only +0.05 V vs. Ag/AgCl. The mobile phase consisted of 0.2 M phosphate buffer pH 10 containing 0.1 M potassium chloride solution; a flow rate of 0.8 ml min(-1) was used throughout the investigation. The biosensor response was linear over the range 0.55-10 mM lactate; the former represents the detection limit. The precision of the system was determined by carrying out 10 repeat injections of 10 mM l(+)lactic acid standard; the calculated coefficient of variation was 4.28%. It was demonstrated that this biosensor system could be applied to the direct measurement of lactate in serum without pre-treatment; therefore, this would allow high throughput-analysis, at low cost, for this clinically important analyte.