Selection of criteria for assessment of occlusal acceptability

There is no general agreement on criteria that could be applied to distinguish between orthodontically acceptable and non-acceptable occlusions after the completion of dental development. The aim of the present study was to analyse morphological and functional features that could be used as an index to define an acceptable occlusion in young adults. Three expert panels representing specialists in orthodontics and stomatognathic physiology participated in a modified Delphi method. Each panel responded to a questionnaire concerning the usefulness of various occlusal features, and a set of characteristics was selected on the basis of the responses; thereafter, applicability of the chosen characteristics and their cutoffs for an acceptable-non-acceptable dichotomy was tested clinically. To obtain a consensus level of 100%, the last panel session was completed with a group discussion. Assessments made using the morphological criteria were compared with those made with the dental health component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need. The selected morphological characteristics consisted of overjet, overbite, canine relationship, crossbite, scissors bite and midline deviation. The functional evaluation comprised assessments of discrepancy between the centric relation and the intercuspal position, working- and non-working-side contacts and protrusion contacts. The dental health component and our morphological criteria showed different sensitivity to contact point displacements, interdigitation in buccal segments and increased overbite. This study provides a set of morphological and functional indicators reflecting the current consensus opinion of Finnish professionals. Further studies are needed to analyse the reproducibility of assessment of the characteristics included.     

Association of autoimmune type atrophic corpus gastritis with Helicobacter pylori infection

AIM:To study the association between Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)infection and autoimmune type atrophic gastritis. METHODS:Twenty-three patients with different grades of atrophic gastritis were analysed using enzyme immunoassay-based serology,immunoblot-based serology,and histology to reveal a past or a present H.pylori infection.In addition,serum markers for gastric atrophy(pepsinogenⅠ,pepsinogenⅠ/Ⅱand gastrin)and autoimmunity[parietal cell antibodies(PCA), and intrinsic factor(IF),antibodies]were determi...     

XCR-1: An Experimental Cognitive Robot Based on an Associative Neural Architecture

The experimental cognitive robot XCR-1 is a small three-wheel robot with gripper hands, multiple sensory modalities, and self-talk. The robot XCR-1 is designed for studies and experiments with a new paradigm for cognitive computation, namely an associative neural processing style that inherently and seamlessly combines sub-symbolic and symbolic computation. This operation is realized by using associative neurons and neuron groups organized according to the Haikonen Cognitive Architecture. Recently, there have been many efforts toward machine consciousness, and the Haikonen Cognitive Architecture is one attempt in that direction. Human consciousness is characterized by subjective inner experience that is related to qualia. Accordingly, it can be proposed that true conscious machines should also have some kind of inner experience and qualia. On the other hand, it has been argued that qualia are direct and cannot be artificially realized in symbolic systems. In order to facilitate qualia-related practical investigations, the robot XCR-1 utilizes direct perception processes, with dedicated hardware and without symbolic pre-programmed algorithms. The robot XCR-1 does not utilize microprocessors or programs of any kind. Natural language is one manifestation of symbolic processing. The robot XCR-1 is designed also for experiments with simple speech and the basic grounding of the meaning of words. The experiments with the robot XCR-1 could be greatly enhanced if dedicated associative neuron group chips were available.     

Equality as a central concept of nursing ethics: a systematic literature review

Scand J Caring Sci; 2010; 24; 824–832
Equality as a central concept of nursing ethics: a systematic literature review Background: Equality is a central concept in the Western way of thinking and in health care. In ethics research within nursing science, equality is a key concept but the meaning of its contents is more or less presumptive. Aim: The purpose of this study was to define the concept of equality as a value of nursing ethics research. Method: Data were collected through systematic literature review and analysed using deductive and inductive content analysis. Findings: Equality has been studied as a concept and in relation to ethical theories. In nursing ethics, research on equality on theoretical and functional level is presented. These levels consist of dimensions, i.e. themes, that equality is related to. The dimensions of the theoretical level are the equality of being, i.e. universal human value, and distributive equality, i.e. equal opportunities, circumstances and results. The dimensions of functional equality included themes such as critique of distributive equality, context, difference, power and care. Critique is aimed at incompatibility of theoretical level with practice. Context raises questions of each nursing situation in relation to equality. Variation within context is closely related to differences involving parties to nursing, and it is a starting point to questions of equality. Power is understood as comprising knowledge, skills and authority that create differences and questions of equality between nurses and patients and nurses and other professionals or students. Nursing as care always includes relationship between two or more persons and needs to be inspected from the point of view of equality. Conclusion: The concept of equality has been complex to achieve in practice. The dimensions of the levels of equality defined in this study provide an opportunity to reach a better understanding of equality in nursing ethics. There is still a great demand for more research on the concept of equality.     

Gestational diabetes identifies women at risk for permanent type 1 and type 2 diabetes in fertile age: predictive role of autoantibodies

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate the predictive value of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), diabetes-associated autoantibodies, and other factors for development of clinical diabetes later in life. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In this case-control study the presence of autoantibodies was studied in 435 women with GDM and in healthy matched control subjects. The need for exogenous insulin during GDM was recorded. In the GDM group, the mean follow-up period was 5.7 years and in the control group 6.1 years. RESULTS: Among the subjects with GDM, 20 (4.6%) developed type 1 diabetes and 23 (5.3%) developed type 2 diabetes, whereas none of the control subjects became diabetic. Two-thirds of those who developed type 1 diabetes tested positive initially for islet cell antibodies (ICAs), whereas 56% of them had autoantibodies to GAD (GADAs) and 38% to the protein tyrosine phosphatase-related IA-2 molecule. Only 2 of the 23 women who presented later with type 2 diabetes tested positive for autoantibodies. According to multivariate analysis, initial age < or =30 years, the need for insulin treatment for GDM, and antibody positivity for ICAs and GADAs were associated with increased risk for clinical type 1 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy seems to identify women who are at risk of developing diabetes later in life. About 10% of Finnish women with GDM will develop diabetes over the next 6 years; nearly half of them develop type 1 diabetes and the other half type 2 diabetes. Age < or =30 years, the need for insulin treatment during pregnancy, and positivity for ICAs and GADAs confer a high risk of subsequent progression to type 1 diabetes in women affected by GDM.