ABSTRACT
Background: The aim of this study was to assess the COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, and practice among dental students (DS) and internship students at Ajman University (AU). Methods: A cross-sectional, web-based study was conducted among Ajman dental college students registered in the academic year 2019/2020, about COVID-19 during the first week of April 2020. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to all DS to examine their knowledge and attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic. Chi-square (χ2) test was used to investigate the level of association among categorical variables at the significance level of p < 0.05. Results: Out of 769 students in the dental college, majority (75%) had adequate knowledge of COVID-19, but only 40.6% of the participants projected a positive attitude. A positive behavior was reported by an overwhelming 94.5% of the participants. Participants above 25 years of age had significantly higher (p < 0.001) adequate knowledge (88.2%), positive attitude (56.9%), and positive behavior (100%) compared to those below 25 years of age. Study participants reported social media (71.1%), government websites (63.7%), and family and friends (41.0%) as top three sources of information regarding COVID-19 related information. Conclusion: The results of this study show that AU dental and internship students have adequate knowledge and positive attitude of the COVID-19 pandemic but the majority are not eager to adopt effective strategies to avoid the spread of COVID-19 (practice). Further education should be offered to encourage efficient infection management practices to protect students, faculty, and other university staff.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The retzius-sparing approach for robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) has been increasingly adopted. Symptomatic lymphoceles are a widespread complication of RARP with pelvic lymph node dissection. Here, we present a new technique, the peritoneal purse-string suture (PPSS), that seems to reduce the rate of symptomatic lymphoceles following retzius-sparing RARP with extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND). METHODS: The radical prostatectomy and bilateral lymphadenectomy are performed through three separate peritoneal openings. The PPSS uses a single suture in a way similar to a purse-string suture; the openings of both lymphadenectomy fields are widened, and the rectovesical opening from the prostatectomy is simultaneously closed. This report retrospectively evaluates the perioperative and postoperative outcomes of two consecutive patient cohorts undergoing RARP with ePLND by a single surgeon between May 2015 and June 2019, one cohort prior to introducing PPSS as control (n = 145) and the other after introducing PPSS (n = 91). RESULTS: The two study groups were comparable on baseline characteristics, except ASA. There were no Clavien-Dindo grade IV-V complications, and comparable rates of grade I-III complications. The difference in postoperative lymphocele formation was 22% in PPSS versus 27% in the control group (p = 0.33). The rate of symptomatic lymphoceles was significantly lower in the PPSS group (3% vs. 10%, p = 0.047). CONCLUSION: The PPSS is a feasible procedure that reduces symptomatic lymphoceles in patients undergoing RARP with a retzius-sparing approach.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Dental students must complete two stages of training, namely, preclinical training on phantom head models and clinical training on actual patients to acquire the practical skills required by their Bachelor of Dental Surgery program.Our objectives are to evaluate the level of improvement of the manual skills obtained by third-year dental students after one full academic year of preclinical training courses using dexterity tests under direct and indirect vision and to compare the improvement among male and female dental students under the same conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 72 preclinical students participated in our cohort trial, each of whom was assigned a random identification number that was only known to the researchers. After the beginning of the academic year, the experiment was performed under identical conditions for both the O'Connor Tweezer Dexterity Test and the Purdue Pegboard Test. The examinations were conducted at two distinct times: T0 before phantom laboratory training (the beginning of preclinical sessions) and T1 after phantom laboratory training (9 months after T0). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Signed-rank test of Wilcoxon over two separate periods (T0 and T1), comparisons were made between the direct and indirect visual dexterity test scores. In addition, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare results across gender. The statistical significance (p-value) was set at below 0.05 with a confidence level of 95%. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was detected between the T0 and T1 assessments on the Purdue Pegboard Test and the O'Connor Tweezer Dexterity Test for all selected dentistry students in both direct and indirect conditions (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Further investigation in other dental departments or schools, particularly those with different entry standards, is required prior to making a definitive conclusion about the use of these dexterity assessments as predictors of prospective dental students' performance.
ABSTRACT
Sodium chloride, NaCl, is commonly used as a proxy for sea spray aerosols. However, field work has demonstrated that sea spray aerosols also often contain a significant organic component. In this work, we examine the effect of amino acids on the hygroscopic properties of NaCl aerosols using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer coupled to a flow-cell apparatus. It is found that the effect can be drastically different depending on the nature of the amino acid. More hydrophilic amino acids such as glycine lead to continuous hygroscopic growth of internally mixed NaCl-amino acid aerosols generated from an equimolar precursor solution. However, more hydrophobic amino acids such as alanine do not significantly alter the hygroscopicity of NaCl aerosols. The hydropathy scale is found to be a good qualitative diagnostic for the effect that an amino acid will have on the hygroscopicity of NaCl.