Proposed educational objectives for hospital-based dentists during catastrophic events and disaster response

The purpose of this project was to define education and training requirements for hospital-based dentists to efficiently and meaningfully participate in a hospital disaster response. Eight dental faculty with hospital-based training and/or military command and CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive) expertise were recruited as an expert panel. A consensus set of recommended educational objectives for hospital-based dentists was established using the following process: 1) identify assumptions supported by all expert panelists, 2) determine current advanced dental educational training requirements, and 3) conduct additional training and literature review by various panelists and discussions with other content and systems experts. Using this three-step process, educational objectives that the development group believed necessary for hospital-based dentists to be effective in treatment or management roles in times of a catastrophic event were established. These educational objectives are categorized into five thematic areas: 1) disaster systems, 2) triage/medical assessment, 3) blast and burn injuries, 4) chemical agents, and 5) biological agents. Creation of training programs to help dentists acquire these educational objectives would benefit hospital-based dental training programs and strengthen hospital surge manpower needs. The proposed educational objectives are designed to stimulate discussion and debate among dental, medical, and public health professionals about the roles of dentists in meeting hospital surge manpower needs.     

Identification of Novel ROR2 Gene Mutations in Indian Children with Robinow Syndrome

Ob­jec­ti­ve: Robinow syndrome (RS) is an extremely rare genetic disorder characterized by short-limbed dwarfism, defects in vertebral segmentation and abnormalities in the head, face and external genitalia. Mutations in the ROR2 gene cause autosomal recessive RS (RRS) whereas mutations in WNT5A are responsible for the autosomal dominant (AD) form of RS. In AD Robinow patients, oral manifestations are more prominent, while hemivertebrae and scoliosis rarely occur and facial abnormalities tend to be milder.Methods: Three unrelated patients from different parts of India were studied. These patients were diagnosed as RRS due to presence of characteristic fetal facies, mesomelia, short stature, micropenis, hemivertebrae and rib abnormalities. One of the patients had fetal facies and micropenis but unusually mild skeletal features. This patient’s mother had mild affection in the form of short stature and prominent eyes. Testosterone response to human chorionic gonadotropin was investigated in two patients and were normal. The exons and exon-intron boundaries of the ROR2 gene were sequenced for all probands. Bioinformatics analysis was done for putative variants using SIFT, PolyPhen2 and Mutation Taster.Results: Patients 1, 2 and 3 were homozygous for c.G545A or p.C182Y in exon 5, c.227G>A or p.G76D in exon 3 and c.668G>A or p.C223Y in exon 6 respectively. Prenatal diagnosis could be performed in an ongoing pregnancy in one family and the fetus was confirmed to be unaffected. Conclusion: ROR2 mutations were documented for the first time in the Indian population. Knowledge of the molecular basis of the disorder served to provide accurate counseling and prenatal diagnosis to the families.     

Prediction of rehospitalization and death in severe heart failure by physicians and nurses of the ESCAPE trial

BackgroundThe predictive accuracy of physician investigators and nurse coordinators in estimating the risk of rehospitalization and death was determined for 373 hospitalized patients with severe advanced heart failure enrolled in the Evaluation Study of Congestive Heart Failure and Pulmonary Artery Catheterization Effectiveness trial.Methods and ResultsEstimates were made at discharge, and patients were followed for 6 months after hospitalization. A statistical prognostic model was developed from clinical and laboratory data for the end points of rehospitalization and death. Both nurse and physician predictions of death were generally associated with the observed deaths (c-indices of 0.675 and 0.611), although the nurses' prediction was significantly better (chi-square = 4.75, P = .029). The prediction ability of the prognostic model was similar to the physicians' model (c-index = 0.603). The predictions of rehospitalization were much weaker for nurse, physician and prognostic models.ConclusionsNurses' estimations of survival in discharged, advanced-stage heart failure patients were superior to either physicians' or model-based predictions. Not nurses, physicians, or the prognostic model provided useful predictions for rehospitalizations, but this may have resulted from the fact that the rehospitalization estimates did not include the death risk.     

Liver tissue engineering and cell sources: issues and challenges

Liver diseases are of major concern as they now account for millions of deaths annually. As a result of the increased incidence of liver disease, many patients die on the transplant waiting list, before a donor organ becomes available. To meet the huge demand for donor liver, alternative approaches using liver tissue engineering principles are being actively pursued. Even though adult hepatocytes, the primary cells of the liver are most preferred for tissue engineering of liver, their limited availability, isolation from diseased organs, lack of in vitro propagation and deterioration of function acts as a major drawback to their use. Various approaches have been taken to prevent the functional deterioration of hepatocytes including the provision of an adequate extracellular matrix and co‐culture with non‐parenchymal cells of liver. Great progress has also been made to differentiate human stem cells to hepatocytes and to use them for liver tissue engineering applications. This review provides an overview of recent challenges, issues and cell sources with regard to liver tissue engineering.     

PROTEIN KINASE C AND TRANSMITTER RELEASE

1. Protein kinase C (PKC) is an important second messenger-activated enzyme. In noradrenergic nerves it appears to be tonically activated by diacylglycerol (DAG) to facilitate transmitter release and the steps in this involve activation of phospholipase C, generation of DAG and activation of PKC. It is suggested that the subsequent facilitation of transmitter release is due to the phosphorylation of proteins involved in the release process distal to Ca²⁺entry, presumably those involved in vesicle dynamics. 2. There are differences between central noradrenergic neurons and sympathetic nerves. In central neurons PKC appears to be tonically active and its inhibition results in a decrease in noradrenaline release under most, if not all, conditions. 3. In sympathetic nerves PKC inhibitors only decrease transmitter release during high-frequency stimulation and not during low-frequency stimulation. At high frequency there is a gradual increase in the effect of PKC inhibitors on transmitter release during the first 15 s of a stimulation train. It is suggested that this is due to a progressive rise in intracellular Ca²⁺ and a consequent activation of PKC. 4. Activation of PKC by phorbol esters produces a large enhancement in action potential-evoked noradrenaline release in both the central nervous system and in peripheral tissues. The structural requirements of the phorbol esters for maximal effect suggest that the phorbol esters must access the interior of the nerve terminal to activate PKC and the neural membrane acts as a barrier for highly lipophilic phorbol esters, thereby reducing their activity. Activation of PKC represents one of the most powerful ways to enhance transmitter release and may have therapeutic potential.     

All hazards training: incorporating a catastrophe preparedness mindset into the dental school curriculum and professional practice

Catastrophic preparedness should be incorporated into the dental school curriculum. The experience at New York University College of Dentistry is that a combination of catastrophic preparedness elements integrated within existing courses with a short, meaningful capstone course dedicated to all hazards preparedness can be accomplished successfully and meet proposed competencies for training in the dental curriculum. The roles and responsibilities in catastrophic response preparedness and response of dentists are actively being discussed by the dental profession. An element of that discussion has to include the "what" and "how" of education and training for dentists at the predoctoral level and after dental school graduation. The concepts presented in this article should be debated at all levels of the profession.