Methods dentists use to diagnose primary caries lesions prior to restorative treatment: Findings from The Dental PBRN.

OBJECTIVE: To (1) quantify the diagnostic techniques used by Dental Practice-Based Research Network (DPBRN) dentists before they decide to treat primary caries lesions surgically and (2) examine whether certain dentist, practice, and patient characteristics are associated with their use. METHODS: A total of 228 DPBRN dentists recorded information on 5,676 consecutive restorations inserted due to primary caries lesions on 3,751 patients. Practitioner-investigators placed a mean of 24.9 (SD = 12.4) restorations. Lesions were categorized as posterior proximal, anterior proximal, posterior occiusal, posterior smooth, or anterior smooth. Techniques used to diagnose the lesion were categorized as clinical assessment, radiographs, and/or optical. Statistical analysis utilized generalized mixed-model ANOVA to account for the hierarchical structure of the data. RESULTS: By lesion category, the diagnostic technique combinations used most frequently were clinical assessment plus radiographs for posterior proximal (47%), clinical assessment for anterior proximal (51%), clinical assessment for posterior occlusal (46%), clinical assessment for posterior smooth (77%), and clinical assessment for anterior smooth (80%). Diagnostic technique was significantly associated with lesion category after adjusting for clustering in dentists (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: These results--obtained during actual clinical procedures rather than from questionnaire-based hypothetical scenarios--quantified the diagnostic techniques most commonly used during the actual delivery of routine restorative care. Diagnostic technique varied by lesion category and with certain practice and patient characteristics.

Methods dentists use to diagnose primary caries lesions prior to restorative treatment: findings from The Dental PBRN.

OBJECTIVE: To (1) quantify the diagnostic techniques used by Dental Practice-Based Research Network (DPBRN) dentists before they decide to treat primary caries lesions surgically and (2) examine whether certain dentist, practice, and patient characteristics are associated with their use. METHODS: A total of 228 DPBRN dentists recorded information on 5676 consecutive restorations inserted due to primary caries lesions on 3751 patients. Practitioner-investigators placed a mean of 24.9 (SD=12.4) restorations. Lesions were categorised as posterior proximal, anterior proximal, posterior occlusal, posterior smooth, or anterior smooth. Techniques used to diagnose the lesion were categorised as clinical assessment, radiographs, and/or optical. Statistical analysis utilised generalised mixed-model ANOVA to account for the hierarchical structure of the data. RESULTS: By lesion category, the diagnostic technique combinations used most frequently were clinical assessment plus radiographs for posterior proximal (47%), clinical assessment for anterior proximal (51%), clinical assessment for posterior occlusal (46%), clinical assessment for posterior smooth (77%), and clinical assessment for anterior smooth (80%). Diagnostic technique was significantly associated with lesion category after adjusting for clustering in dentists (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: These results - obtained during actual clinical procedures rather than from questionnaire-based hypothetical scenarios - quantified the diagnostic techniques most commonly used during the actual delivery of routine restorative care. Diagnostic technique varied by lesion category and with certain practice and patient characteristics.

Online teaching efficacy of nurse faculty.

The purpose of this study was to examine variables that affect nurse faculty self-efficacy levels and participation in online teaching. Specifically, this study sought to understand how teaching experience and preparatory experiences might correlate with high or low self-efficacy perceptions of online teaching in the domains of student engagement, instructional strategies, classroom management, and use of computers. The 32-item Michigan Nurse Educators Sense of Efficacy for Online Teaching instrument was used to measure online teaching efficacy through a Web-based survey that collected data from a cross-section of Michigan nurse educators employed at public accredited higher education institutions. Findings revealed that the 140 nurse educators in this study had "some" to "quite a bit" of online teaching efficacy. High online teaching efficacy scores correlated positively with mastery and preparatory experiences. Primarily, the highest levels of online teaching efficacy resulted after teaching at least three online courses. This study has implications for nurse administrators interested in growing online offerings in their schools. For nurse educators, important motivating variables include the use of satisfactory preparatory experiences and release time through the third online teaching experience. These experiences are related to higher online teaching efficacy that correlates to participation in online teaching.

Characterization of a hollow fiber bioartificial liver device.

A three-compartment bioartificial liver (BAL) has been developed for potential treatment of fulminant hepatic failure. It has been shown previously that viability and liver-specific functions were maintained in laboratory-scale bioreactors of such design. In this study, the performance of hepatocytes in a clinical-scale bioartificial liver was verified by sustained specific production rates of albumin and urea, along with oxygen consumption rates for up to 56 h and liver-specific gene expression for up to 72 h. In addition, transmission of porcine endogenous retrovirus and other type C retroviral particles across the hollow fibers was not detected under both normal and extreme operating fluxes. These results demonstrate that the clinical-scale BAL performs at a level similar to the laboratory scale and that it offers a viral barrier against porcine retroviruses.

They answered the call: Nebraska nurses join the ranks in World War II.

On December 7, 1941, there were fewer than 1,000 nurses in the Army Nurse Corps. That infamous day, 82 of those brave nurses were stationed in Hawaii. Their bravery, leadership and calmness under extreme duress foreshadowed the amazing role nurses would play in World War II. In the months and years that followed Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor, over 59,000 American nurses would answer the call and join the Army Nurse Corps. Courageous Nebraskan women were among them.