Community-Dwelling,Older Women's Perspectives on Therapeutic Life Review: A Qualitative Analysis

The purpose of this study was to elicit the participants' perspective of a Therapeutic Life Review intervention program delivered by a home care worker. Following the intervention by the home care worker, 13 of the 14 older women receiving home care services were interviewed to examine their experiences. Qualitative data analysis revealed five themes: (1) Someone was there to listen to my story, (2) It was a special time, (3) A valued interaction with the home care worker developed, (4) Remembering was meaningful and pleasurable, and (5) Integration with one's lived experiences was healing. Three case scenarios illustrate the lives of these older women.     

Periodontal pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum promote tumor progression in an oral-specific chemical carcinogenesis model

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a lethal disease whose incidence is increasing. Epidemiologic studies demonstrate an association between periodontitis and oral cancer, and periodontal pathogens are implicated in the pathogenesis of numerous disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and gastrointestinal malignancies. Nevertheless, a causal role for periodontal pathogens in OSCC has not been shown, partly due to the lack of an appropriate animal model. Here, utilizing a newly-established murine model of periodontitis-associated oral tumorigenesis, we report that chronic bacterial infection promotes OSCC, and that augmented signaling along the IL-6-STAT3 axis underlies this effect. Our results indicate that periodontal pathogens P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum stimulate tumorigenesis via direct interaction with oral epithelial cells through Toll-like receptors. Furthermore, oral pathogens stimulate human OSCC proliferation and induce expression of key molecules implicated in tumorigenesis. To the best of our knowledge, these findings represent the first demonstration of a mechanistic role for oral bacteria in chemically induced OSCC tumorigenesis. These results are highly relevant for the design of effective prevention and treatment strategies for OSCC.     

Micro-Imaging by Interference Microscopy: A Case Study of Orientation-Dependent Guest Diffusion in MFI-Type Zeolite Host Crystals

Because of the small particle size, orientation-dependent diffusion measurements in microporous materials remains a challenging task. We highlight here the potential of micro-imaging by interference microscopy in a case study with MFI-type crystals in which, although with different accuracies, transient concentration profiles in all three directions can be observed. The measurements, which were performed with “rounded-boat” shaped crystals, reproduce the evolution patterns of the guest profiles recorded in previous studies with the more common “coffin-shaped” MFI crystals. The uptake and release patterns through the four principal faces (which in the coffin-shaped crystals extend in the longitudinal direction) are essentially coincident and there is no perceptible mass transfer in the direction of the long axis. The surface resistances of the four crystal faces through which mass transfer occurs are relatively small and have only a minor effect on the mass transfer rate. As a result of the pore structure, diffusion in the crystallographic c direction (which corresponds to the direction of the long axis) is expected to be much slower than in the transverse directions. This could explain the very low rate of mass transfer observed in the direction of the long axis, but it is also possible that the small end faces of the crystal may have high surface resistance. It is not possible to distinguish unequivocally between these two possibilities. All guest molecules studied (methyl-butane, benzene and 4-methyl-2-pentyne) show the same orientation dependence of mass transfer. The long 4-methyl-2-pentyne molecules would be expected to propagate at very different rates through the straight and sinusoidal channels. The coinciding patterns for uptake through the mutually perpendicular crystal faces therefore provide clear evidence that both the coffin shaped crystals and the rounded-boat-shaped crystals considered in this study, must be intergrowths rather than pure single crystals.