The oral cavity harbours a complex microbiome that is linked to dental diseases and serves as a route to other parts of the body. Here, the aims were to characterize the oral microbiota by deep ...sequencing in a low-caries population with regular dental care since childhood and search for association with caries prevalence and incidence. Saliva and tooth biofilm from 17-year-olds and mock bacteria communities were analysed using 16S rDNA Illumina MiSeq (v3-v4) and PacBio SMRT (v1-v8) sequencing including validity and reliability estimates. Caries was scored at 17 and 19 years of age. Both sequencing platforms revealed that Firmicutes dominated in the saliva, whereas Firmicutes and Actinobacteria abundances were similar in tooth biofilm. Saliva microbiota discriminated caries-affected from caries-free adolescents, with enumeration of Scardovia wiggsiae, Streptococcus mutans, Bifidobacterium longum, Leptotrichia sp. HOT498, and Selenomonas spp. in caries-affected participants. Adolescents with B. longum in saliva had significantly higher 2-year caries increment. PacBio SMRT revealed Corynebacterium matruchotii as the most prevalent species in tooth biofilm. In conclusion, both sequencing methods were reliable and valid for oral samples, and saliva microbiota was associated with cross-sectional caries prevalence, especially S. wiggsiae, S. mutans, and B. longum; the latter also with the 2-year caries incidence.
Purpose: The present study investigated the effects of a relaxation training program on self-reported depression and anxiety in participants living with long-term neurological conditions, including ...acquired brain injury, stroke, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis.
Materials and methods: A five-session relaxation training program, plus a follow-up session was offered to people living with a long-term neurological condition as part of routine clinical practice, and was delivered in their own homes. A self-report measure (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) was administered at the pre- and post-intervention time points and at follow-up, around 5 weeks after the final session. Participants also completed an individual assessment of change questionnaire at follow-up, reporting on subjective views of observed changes.
Results: Statistically significant improvements were found on measures of both anxiety and depression following completion of the relaxation program. Scores at follow-up (mean = 5 weeks) revealed the improvement was maintained for anxiety, and there was further significant improvement for depression. Reliable change analyses from pre- to post-intervention demonstrated a clinically significant decrease in anxiety scores for 47% of participants and in depression scores for 30% of participants. No clinically significant increase in depression and anxiety was identified from pre- to post-intervention, and this was generally maintained at follow-up.
Conclusion: Relaxation training is proposed as a clinically effective treatment for anxiety and depression in people living with long-term neurological conditions, which could in turn lead to better functional outcomes of neurorehabilitation. The program investigated here has additional benefits of being delivered in people's own homes, which overcomes barriers to attending hospital, and is consistent with trends towards home as opposed to hospital care. This program may also be less costly to administer as it can be delivered as part of a stepped-care program by therapy assistants under supervision from qualified staff, and encourages self-management over the longer term. Design limitations may reduce the generalisability of these findings, but are clinically encouraging and should stimulate further research.
Implications for Rehabilitation
Relaxation training...* could be offered as an effective first-line intervention, as an alternative to medication to treat anxiety and depression to people living with Long-Term Neurological Conditions
is a self-management strategy which can be taught in people's own homes, if getting out of the house is difficult
can be delivered as a stepped-care intervention via therapy assistants, helping to reduce costs and demands on rehabilitation services
may help to improve the functional outcomes of wider rehabilitation interventions by addressing psychological issues which can be a barrier
Taste and diet preferences are complex and influenced by both environmental and host traits while affecting both food selection and associated health outcomes. The present study genotyped 94 single ...nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in previously reported taste and food intake related genes and assessed associations with taste threshold (TT) and preferred intensity (PT) of sweet, sour and bitter, food preferences, habitual diet intake, and caries status in healthy young Swedish men and women (
= 127). Polymorphisms in the
and
genes were associated with variation in TT and PT for sweet taste as well as sweet food intake. Increasing PT for sweet was associated with increasing preference and intake of sugary foods. Similarly, increasing TT for sour was associated with increasing intake of sour foods, whereas the associations between food preference/intake and TT/PT for bitter was weak in this study group. Finally, allelic variation in the
and
genes was associated with caries status, whereas TT, PT and food preferences were not. It was concluded that variations in taste receptor, glucose transporter and gustducin encoding genes are related to taste perception, food preference and intake as well as the sugar-dependent caries disease.
Previous research on mentor training in early childhood education and care (ECEC) teacher education has shown that relationships are at the core of mentoring (Kupila et al., 2017; Ukkonen-Mikkola et ...al., 2021). This article presents findings from a qualitative study that aims to explore ECEC teachers’ relational professionalism (Furu & Sandvik, 2019) during mentor training. Our research material consisted of essays (n = 77) from the final reflective essay of a mentor training course for ECEC teachers, which were analysed through narrative analysis (Clandinin et al., 2016). The results show that ECEC teachers’ relational professionalism is built in three types of entangled relationships: (1) relation to oneself, (2) relation to the student and (3) relation to colleagues. The results imply that relationally professional mentors are a key factor that contributes to students continuing in the profession after graduation. This requires that the university engages in cooperation and relationships with the ECEC centres that receive students in the practicum. The university needs to offer mentor training and develop rich opportunities for mentors, their colleagues, and leaders in ECEC to establish relationships with all parties involved on all levels.
Bovine milk intake has been associated with various disease outcomes, with modulation of the gastro-intestinal microbiome being suggested as one potential mechanism. The aim of the present study was ...to explore the oral microbiota in relation to variation in self-reported milk intake. Saliva and tooth biofilm microbiota was characterized by 16S rDNA sequencing, PCR and cultivation in 154 Swedish adolescents, and information on diet and other lifestyle markers were obtained from a questionnaire, and dental caries from clinical examination. A replication cohort of 31,571 adults with similar information on diet intake, other lifestyle markers and caries was also studied. Multivariate partial least squares (PLS) modelling separated adolescents with low milk intake (lowest tertile with <0.4 servings/day) apart from those with high intake of milk (≥3.7 servings/day) based on saliva and tooth biofilm, respectively. Taxa in several genera contributed to this separation, and milk intake was inversely associated with the caries causing Streptococcus mutans in saliva and tooth biofilm samples by sequencing, PCR and cultivation. Despite the difference in S. mutans colonization, caries prevalence did not differ between milk consumption groups in the adolescents or the adults in the replication cohort, which may reflect that a significant positive association between intake of milk and sweet products was present in both the study and replication group. It was concluded that high milk intake correlates with different oral microbiota and it is hypothesized that milk may confer similar effects in the gut. The study also illustrated that reduction of one single disease associated bacterial species, such as S. mutans by milk intake, may modulate but not prevent development of complex diseases, such as caries, due to adverse effects from other causal factors, such as sugar intake in the present study.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Students around the world are expected to read, comprehend and learn from growing numbers of English texts in higher educational contexts where the official medium of instruction is the local ...language. Despite this language shift, relatively little attention has been paid to the challenges academic texts in English present for students. The present paper provides insights into first-year university students’ perceptions of and attitudes towards academic reading in English in Sweden through a sequential explanatory design with questionnaires and follow-up interviews. Sweden is often seen as a model country in terms of second-language proficiency in English, but as this study shows, a majority of first-year university students expressed negative attitudes towards academic reading in English. Student responses suggested more than one third of first-year Swedish university students in social science subjects struggled to comprehend and keep up with their assigned reading, with vocabulary and reading speed cited as their biggest challenges. This paper further shows that a considerable number of students entered higher education unaware that they were going to be required to read academic texts in English, with some questioning this common practice. Finally, implications for teachers are discussed.
The oral microbiota plays a significant role in oral health. The present study aims to characterize variations in the oral microbiota relative to the collection site, the dynamics of biofilm ...accumulation, and inherent inter-individual differences.
Whole stimulated saliva and tooth biofilm samples from the 16 defined tooth regions were collected after 1, 2, or 3 days without oral hygiene (accumulation time) in six healthy adults with no signs of active caries or periodontal disease. The routines and conditions before and between sample collections were carefully standardized. Genomic DNA was extracted, and the V3-V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene were amplified by PCR and sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq platform. Sequences were quality controlled, amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were clustered, and taxonomic allocation was performed against the expanded Human Oral Microbiome Database (
HOMD). Microbial community profiles were analyzed by multivariate modeling and a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) effect size (LEfSe) method.
The overall species profile in saliva and tooth biofilm differed between participants, as well as sample type, with a significantly higher diversity in tooth biofilm samples than saliva. On average, 45% of the detected species were shared between the two sample types. The microbiota profile changed from the most anterior to the most posterior tooth regions regardless of whether sampling was done after 1, 2, or 3 days without oral hygiene. Increasing accumulation time led to higher numbers of detected species in both the saliva and region-specific tooth biofilm niches.
The present study confirms that the differences between individuals dominate over sample type and the time abstaining from oral hygiene for oral microbiota shaping. Therefore, a standardized accumulation time may be less important for some research questions aiming at separating individuals. Furthermore, the amount of DNA is sufficient if at least two teeth are sampled for microbiota characterization, which allows a site-specific characterization of, for example, caries or periodontitis.
To describe sonographic features of the microcystic elongated and fragmented (MELF) pattern of myometrial invasion (MI) using the International Endometrial Tumor Analysis (IETA) criteria; to assess ...the effect of the MELF pattern on preoperative ultrasound evaluation of MI; and to determine the relationship of the MELF pattern to more advanced stage (≥ IB) and lymph node metastases in women with endometrioid endometrial cancer.
We included 850 women with endometrioid endometrial cancer from the prospective IETA 4 study. Ultrasound experts performed all ultrasound examinations, according to the IETA protocol. Reference pathologists assessed the presence or absence of the MELF pattern. Sonographic features and accuracy of ultrasound assessment of MI were compared in cases with the presence and the absence of the MELF pattern. The MELF pattern was correlated to more advanced stage (≥IB) and lymph node metastases.
The MELF pattern was present in 197 (23.2%) women. On preoperative ultrasound imaging the endometrium was thicker (p = 0.031), more richly vascularized (p = 0.003) with the multiple multifocal vessel pattern (p < 0.001) and the assessment of adenomyosis was more often uncertain (p < 0.001). The presence or the absence of the MELF pattern did not affect the accuracy of the assessment of MI. The MELF pattern was associated with deep myometrial invasion (≥ 50%) (p < 0.001), cervical stromal invasion (p = 0.037), more advanced stage (≥ IB) (p < 0.001) and lymph node metastases (p = 0.011).
Tumors with the MELF pattern were slightly larger, more richly vascularized with multiple multifocal vessels and assessment of adenomyosis was more uncertain on ultrasound imaging. The MELF pattern did not increase the risk of underestimating MI in preoperative ultrasound staging. Tumors with the MELF pattern were more than twice as likely to have more advanced stage (≥ IB) and lymph node metastases.
The aim of this article is to describe and analyse pupil influence in four Swedish schools. This is done against the backdrop of the changes that have been made in the Swedish curriculum for ...compulsory school as well as theoretical perspectives on democracy and power. The article is based on empirical findings from four compulsory schools in two municipalities in northern Sweden. The material was collected through semi-structured focus group interviews and the scanning of documentation from the schools. Although the Swedish Education Act stipulates that activities in the school must be designed in accordance with fundamental democratic values, many Swedish schools have difficulties working with issues of pupil influence. The conclusions of this study are that a proactive attitude among teachers towards the participation, engagement and motivation of pupils is an important element in a didactics that furthers both the democratic goals and the knowledge goals of the school. It is furthermore important that teachers have a theoretical and practical understanding of democracy and reflect on their views concerning democracy in the implementation of their teaching.
Excessive sucrose consumption is associated with numerous health problems, including dental caries, and is considered to play a critical role in shaping the human microbiota. Here, we aimed to ...confirm the association between sucrose exposure and oral microbiota profile, develop a short food-based index capturing variation among sucrose consumers and validate it against oral microbiota and dental caries in a derivation cohort with 16- to 79-year-old participants (
= 427). Intake and food preferences were recorded by questionnaires and saliva microbiota by 16S rDNA sequencing. Taxonomic similarities clustered participants into five clusters, where one stood out with highest sucrose intake and predicted sugar related metabolic pathways but lowest species diversity in the microbiota. Multivariate modelling of food intake and preferences revealed foods suitable for a sucrose index. This, similarly to sucrose intake, was related to bacterial pattern and caries status. The validity of the sucrose index was replicated in the population-based Gene-Lifestyle Interactions in Dental Endpoints (GLIDE,
= 105,520 Swedish adults) cohort. This suggested that the index captured clinically relevant variation in sucrose intake and that FFQ derived information may be suitable for screening of sucrose intake in the clinic and epidemiological studies, although adjustments to local consumption habits are needed.
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