Dental education at The University of Adelaide: an evaluation

A bstract — Dental students, staff, and practitioners participated in an evaluation of the dental curriculum at The University of Adelaide between 1978 and 1981. The need for curriculum reform was expressed by all three groups, especially with respect to the teaching of basic sciences, some biomedical subjects, behavioural science, and practice management. Dental staff and practitioners have also indicated serious misgivings about the quality of clinical skills of new graduates. Proposals for reform are directed to resolving these and other curriculum problems revealed in the evaluation.     

Low serum BDNF levels in depressed patients cannot be attributed to individual depressive symptoms or symptom cluster

Objectives. Low serum BDNF levels have been found in depressed patients. No study has systematically investigated whether individual symptoms or symptom profiles within a depressed population contribute to low BDNF levels found in depressed subjects. Methods. All 1070 patients with a past 6-month diagnosis of major depressive disorder from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) were included. Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) and Inventory of Depressive Symptoms (IDS) items were tested individually in separate multiple regression analyses with serum BDNF level as the dependent and the CIDI or IDS item as independent variable. Subsequently, we compared BDNF levels between patients with seasonal affective disorder (based on the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire) and melancholic depression, atypical depression and moderate depression (based on a latent class analysis). All analyses were adjusted for confounders. Results. Only one item was significantly associated with serum BDNF levels, namely the CIDI item “loss of interest” (β = 0.14; P < 0.01). Counterintuitively the presence of this symptom was associated with higher BDNF levels. Other items and the comparison between different types of depression did not reveal significant differences. Conclusions. Decreased serum BDNF levels in depression cannot be attributed to a specific symptom or symptom cluster.     

The efficacy of removable devices to offload and heal neuropathic plantar forefoot ulcers in people with diabetes: a single‐blinded multicentre randomised controlled trial

Non‐removable offloading is the ‘gold standard’ treatment for neuropathic diabetic plantar forefoot ulcers. However, removable offloading is the common ‘standard of care’. We compared three removable offloading devices for ulcer healing efficacy. In this multicentre, randomised controlled trial, 60 persons with neuropathic diabetic plantar forefoot ulcers were randomly assigned to wear a custom‐made knee‐high cast [BTCC (bivalved TCC)], custom‐made ankle‐high cast shoe or a prefabricated ankle‐high forefoot‐offloading shoe (FOS). Primary outcome was healing at 12 weeks. Dynamic plantar pressures, daily stride count and treatment adherence were assessed on a randomly selected subset (n = 35). According to intention‐to‐treat analysis, 58% of patients healed with BTCC [OR 0·77 (95% CI 0·41–1·45) versus FOS], 60% with cast shoe [OR 0·81 (95% CI 0·44–1·49) versus FOS] and 70% with FOS (P = 0·70). Mean ± SD peak pressure in kPa at the ulcer site was 81 ± 55 for BTCC, 176 ± 80 for cast shoe and 107 ± 52 for FOS (P = 0·005); stride count was 4150 ± 1626, 3514 ± 1380 and 4447 ± 3190, respectively (P = 0·71); percentage of 2‐week intervals that patients wore the device <50% of time was 17·3%, 5·2% and 4·9%, respectively. Non‐significant differences in healing efficacy between the three devices suggest that, when non‐removable offloading is contraindicated or not available, each can be used for plantar forefoot ulcer offloading. Efficacy is lower than previously found for non‐removable offloading maybe because suboptimal adherence and high stride count expose the patient to high repetitive stresses. These factors should be carefully considered in decision making regarding ulcer treatment.