Dental students' ability to assess gingival health status with DAAGS software

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of dental students at different levels of education (Basic, Preclinic, and Clinic groups) to assess the level of gingival health status by using the Development of Ability to Assess Gingival Status (DAAGS) computer software program designed according to the Oral Rating Index (ORI) criteria. Two hundred and thirteen dental students at three levels of dental education voluntarily participated in three DAAGS tests in which they judged twenty-four photos. The three groups were first- and second-year dental students (Basic), third- and fourth-year dental students who had not yet participated in the clinical periodontology course (Preclinic), and fifth-year dental students who had completed the clinical periodontology course (Clinic). A gold standard of each photo was shown after completing Test 1, and then Test 2 was conducted immediately. Two weeks later, the third test was performed. Analyses of differences among the groups and between the tests for each groups were carried out by using Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon Sign Rank tests, respectively. Students were asked to evaluate the DAAGS by written survey. Most of the students had a positive opinion. There were significant differences among the groups for correct and irrelevant answers and overall ability (p<0.001). The Basic group showed a significant (p<0.01) improvement between Test 1 and Test 2. This improvement was greater than Preclinic students and almost equal to Clinic students. The findings from this study indicate that the DAAGS software can serve as a useful instructional tool for education.     

Childhood tinea incognito caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. interdigitale mimicking pustular psoriasis

Tinea incognito refers to fungal infection whose clinical appearance is modified or aggravated by administration of systemic or topical corticosteroids. We report a case of pustular psoriasis-like tinea incognito caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. interdigitale under topical corticosteroid therapy. Sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer 2 region, in addition to the D1D2 domain of the 26S ribosomal RNA gene, was helpful in identifying the fungal species.     

Regiospecific profiles of fatty acids in triacylglycerols and phospholipids from Adzuki beans (Vigna angularis)

Regiospecific distributions of fatty acids (FA) of triacylglycerols (TAG) and phospholipids (PL) isolated from five cultivars of adzuki beans (Vigna angularis) were investigated. The lipids comprised mainly PL (72.2-73.4 wt-%) and TAG (20.6-21.9 wt-%), whilst other components were detected in minor proportions (0.1-3.4 wt-%). The principal profiles of the FA distribution in the TAG and PL were evident in the beans among the five cultivars: unsaturated FA were predominantly distributed in the sn-2 position, whilst saturated FA primarily occupied the sn-1 or the sn-3 position in the these lipids. The results would be useful information to both producers and consumers for manufacturing traditional adzuki confectionaries such as wagashi in Japan.     

Point-like radioactive source with multiple absorber capsules for evaluating PET scanners

Objective  

Radioactive sources for evaluating sensitivity and uncertainty in the radioactivity measurements performed using PET scanners must be equipped with absorber materials that ensure the annihilation of positrons. Attenuation and scattering owing to the absorber materials produce uncertainty in the performance evaluation. The aim of this study is to propose a point-like radioactive source with multiple absorber capsules, for which evaluation can be independent of scatter and attenuation owing to the source absorbers.     

One successful end-of-life home care handled by three physicians

Aging population has been advancing in Ito city located in the northern part of Izu peninsula. Many elderly people are hoping to receive an end-of-life care at home, but there is no home care section in Ito municipal hospital, a flagship hospital in this region. One of the end-stage leukemia patients of our hospital hoped to die at home. We report a case that three physicians joined together to take care of this terminal patient with a cooperation from nurses, home-visit nursing care station and a care manager.     

The anxiety and influence factors of care managers who provide a home palliative care for terminal cancer patients--a comparison between nursing staffs and others

In home palliative care, care managers play an important part. But we suspect that care managers, who don't have a medical license, may feel an anxiety. So, we investigated if these care managers felt an anxiety, and would like to report a role of nursing staffs in home palliative care. Method: We surveyed care managers who were working in the western part of Hiroshima. The number of care managers was 199. And 129 of them(86.9%)filled out the questionnaire. We used c 2 -test and analyzed the difference of an anxiety between nursing staffs and the others. Results: The care managers felt an anxiety about the patient's condition and the therapy rather than nursing staffs. Conclusion: Nursing staffs play an important role by doing a therapeutic management for terminal cancer patients, an explanation for the family of patients, and a cooperation with other staffs.