Objectives
To evaluate local effect of gaseous ozone on bacteria in deep carious lesions after incomplete caries removal, using chlorhexidine as control, and to investigate its effect on pulp ...vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), and superoxide dismutase (SOD).
Materials and methods
Antibacterial effect was evaluated in 48 teeth with diagnosed deep carious lesion. After incomplete caries removal, teeth were randomly allocated into two groups regarding the cavity disinfectant used: ozone (open system) or 2% chlorhexidine. Dentin samples were analyzed for the presence of total bacteria and
Lactobacillus
spp. by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. For evaluation of ozone effect on dental pulp, 38 intact permanent teeth indicated for pulp removal/tooth extraction were included. After cavity preparation, teeth were randomly allocated into two groups: ozone group and control group. VEGF/nNOS level and SOD activity in dental pulp were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and spectrophotometric method, respectively.
Results
Ozone application decreased number of total bacteria (
p
= 0.001) and
Lactobacillus
spp. (
p
< 0.001), similarly to chlorhexidine. The VEGF (
p
< 0.001) and nNOS (
p
= 0.012) levels in dental pulp after ozone application were higher, while SOD activity was lower (
p
= 0.001) comparing to those in control pulp.
Conclusions
Antibacterial effect of ozone on residual bacteria after incomplete caries removal was similar to that of 2% chlorhexidine. Effect of ozone on pulp VEGF, nNOS, and SOD indicated its biocompatibility.
Clinical relevance
Ozone appears as effective and biocompatible cavity disinfectant in treatment of deep carious lesions by incomplete caries removal technique.
The objective of this research was to analyze the correlation of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), C-reactive protein (CRP), soluble programmed cell death ligand 1 (sPD-L1), and Schlafen 11 ...(SLFN11) with the response to first-line chemotherapy in a cohort of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) patients, and to determine their potential as predictive serum biomarkers.
A total of 60 SCLC patients were included. Blood samples were taken to determine CRP, sPD-L1, and SLFN11 levels. The first sampling was performed before the start of chemotherapy, the second after two cycles, and the third after four cycles of chemotherapy.
The patients who died earlier during the study had NLR and SLFN11 concentrations significantly higher compared to the survivor group. In the group of survivors, after two cycles of chemotherapy, the NLR ratio decreased significantly (
< 0.01), but after four cycles, the NLR ratio increased (
< 0.05). Their serum SLFN11 concentration increased significantly (
< 0.001) after two cycles of chemotherapy, but after four cycles, the level of SLFN11 fell significantly (
< 0.01). CRP, NLR, and SLFN11 were significant predictors of patient survival according to Kaplan-Meier analysis. The combination of inflammatory parameters and SLFN11 with a cutoff value above the 75th percentile of the predicted probability was associated with significantly lower overall survival in SCLC patients (average survival of 3.6 months vs. 4.8 months).
The combination of inflammatory markers and the levels of two specific proteins (sPD-L1, SLFN11) could potentially serve as a non-invasive biomarker for predicting responses to DNA-damaging therapeutic agents in SCLC.
Organizational citizenship behaviour represents the behaviour of the employees that goes beyond their duties. This type of behaviour from the perspective of employer is very desirable since it ...produces many positive consequences regarding individual and the overall organizational performances. However, readiness of the employees to exert this type of behaviour is influenced by many factors. One of the most important is fulfilment of employees’ psychological contract. Since that there are two basic forms of contracts, relational and transactional, the aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between these types of psychological contract and organizational citizenship behaviour. For the purpose of testing proposed hypothesis, t-test, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analysis were applied. The results showed that there is a positive relation and positive impact of relational psychological contract on the organizational citizenship behaviour, which was not the case when it was about the transactional contract.
Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an emerging, transboundary viral pox disease affecting cattle of all ages and breeds. The serological assay for monitoring immunity following vaccination is a virus ...neutralization test (VNT/OIE) that determines the neutralization index (NI). The first validated enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; IDVet) has become commercially available, facilitating large-scale serosurveillance for LSD. Although the VNT is labor intensive and time consuming, it is still the recommended test by the OIE. Thus, in this study, we modified the virus neutralization test by employing Madin-Darby bovine kidney (MDBK) cells. The qualitative results obtained with the modified method were compared to the qualitative results obtained by VNT/OIE and ELISA. We used blood sera received within a surveillance program for LSD in 2018. In total, 291 serum samples were tested using VNT/MDBK and ELISA. Of 291 samples, 80 samples were tested by VNT/OIE and used for comparison of the performances between VNT/MDBK and VNT/OIE. The compatibility of results obtained by VNT/MDBK and VNT/OIE resulted in a kappa index of 0.9 with overall proportion agreement of 0.96. Agreement between VNT/MDBK and VNT/OIE was achieved in 56 positive and 21 negative samples. The compatibility of results obtained by ELISA and VNT/MDBK were compared on 291 samples in total and resulted in a kappa index 0.834 with overall proportion agreement of 0.955. Agreement between ELISA and VNT/MDBK was achieved in 238 positive and 40 negative samples. The results obtained demonstrated a strong correlation between VNT/MDBK and the other two methods, indicating the suitability of VNT/MDBK for the detection of the LSD virus-specific neutralizing antibodies.
Theory of unpleasant symptoms – TOUS – has been developing since the 1990s. TOUS is a theory in healthcare developed by healthcare workers and intended to be applied by them. According to this ...theory, multiple symptoms may occur simultaneously, interact with each other and be multiplicative. Several symptoms have been presented, including also psychological, physiological and cognitive aspects of a patient’s personality. Symptom models described in the TOUS are the nociceptive model of dyspnea, symptom interpretation model, model of chronic dyspnea and symptom management model. TOUS is the first model to describe multiple, mutually related symptoms. By studying this theory, it can be concluded that controlling a single symptom is beneficial for controlling other symptoms. TOUS views a set of occurring symptoms without isolating any of the symptoms, but allowing for each symptom to be monitored separately. The theory helps in planning nursing interventions and facilitates healthcare delivery in general. The purpose of this theory is to help healthcare workers understand the symptoms and the methods used for their management. TOUS has been developed through clinical research; it establishes a logical connection between the symptoms and extends theoretical knowledge by taking into account previous factors, experiences of single or multiple symptoms and their impact on performance.
(Mikšić Š, Bošnjaković M, Simić I, Stanić B, Stanković M, Stojkov Ž. Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms and Concept of Nursing Support. SEEMEDJ 2018; 2(2); 17-22)
Despite the implementation of control measures (preventive dog vaccination), rabies has become endemic in Croatia, with red foxes being the main reservoir species. Oral rabies vaccination (ORV) ...campaigns supported by the European Commission have been conducted twice a year since the spring of 2011. The first campaigns were limited to the northern and eastern parts of the country, and from the autumn of 2012, the program was extended to the entire country. The Lysvulpen vaccine containing the SAD Bern strain was used for ORV. Following the vaccination campaigns, the number of rabies cases decreased, and the last positive case was recorded in February 2014. The bait uptake ranged from 24.86% to 84.62% and the immunisation rate from 11.24% to 35.64%.
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