Can we identify older people most vulnerable to living in cold homes during winter?

Purpose

Living in a cold home increases the risk of dying in winter, especially in older people. However, it is unclear which individual factors predict whether older people are living in cold homes.

Evaluating and Valuing Drugs for Rare Conditions: No Easy Answers

We find ourselves in an era of unprecedented growth in the development and use of so-called “orphan” drugs to treat rare diseases, which are poised to represent more than one-fifth of pharmaceutical expenditures by 2022. This widespread use has been facilitated by legislative and regulatory incentives in both the United States and abroad, yet US payers and health systems have not yet made a concerted effort to understand whether and how rare diseases require special considerations on their part and how to adapt traditional methods of health technology assessment and economic evaluation to accommodate these situations. In this article, we explore the general ethical dilemmas that rare diseases present, steps taken by health technology assessment bodies worldwide to define the level of rarity that would necessitate special measures and the modifications to their assessment and valuation processes needed, and the contextual components for rare-disease evaluation that lie outside of the assessment framework as a guide to US decision makers on constructing a formal and relevant process stateside.     

Partikuläre Emissionen aus Einzelraumfeuerungen für Holzbrennstoffe

Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz - Holzfeuerungen werden in den letzten Jahren aufgrund ihres hohen Anteils am deutschen Feinstaubausstoß in der...     

Der Stellenwert von Muttermilch für die gesunde Entwicklung Frühgeborener – aktuelle Übersicht und praktische Aspekte

Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz - In den letzten Jahren konnte der immense Vorteil der Muttermilchernährung für Frühgeborene belegt werden: in Bezug...     

Histological and Genotoxic Biomarkers in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Prochilodus lacustris</Emphasis> (Pisces,Prochilodontidae) for Environmental Assessment in a Protected Area in the Northeast of Brazil

The quality of aquatic environments all around the world is being altered by different human activities that represent direct threat to the ecological system and the aquatic biota. This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of histological and genotoxic alterations in Prochilodus lacustris as indicators of anthropic impacts in a lacustrine environment in northeast Brazil. The histological alterations were evaluated using the histological alteration index, and the genotoxic alterations were detected using the micronuclei test, at three sampling stations (S1, S2 and S3). The gills presented lesions with three stages of severity, with mild lesions more frequent in the specimens collected at station S1. Mild hepatic tissue lesions were the most frequent type in both areas. Micronucleus analysis showed that station S3 was the most affected. The biological responses observed indicated that the fish are under influence of environmental changes. It is important to highlight that the organisms collected at station S3 had a more compromised health status.     

Immediate function with NobelPerfect implants in the anterior dental arch

This study examined the clinical performance of the scalloped NobelPerfect implant in a one-stage procedure (immediate provisionalization in the esthetic zone). In 20 patients, immediate prosthetic restorations were placed on 31 NobelPerfect implants and followed for up to 27 months. Outcome variables were success rates, marginal bone levels, and Pink Esthetic Score (PES) assessed per implant. One implant failed (success rate: 96.8%). Marginal bone levels averaged 1.7 mm above the first thread and remained stable during the observation period. Mean PES ratings were 11.3 (range, 8 to 14). Survival rates, marginal bone levels, and esthetic results suggest proof of principle for the preservation of the interproximal bony lamella with a scalloped implant design.     

Interfacial evaluation of experimentally weakened roots restored with adhesive materials and fibre posts: an SEM analysis

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the bonding interface in experimentally weakened roots reinforced with adhesive restorative materials and quartz fibre posts, varying the light-exposure time of the composite resin used for root reinforcement. METHODS: Twelve extracted human maxillary incisors teeth were used. The crowns were removed and the roots were endodontically treated. After post space preparation, the roots were assigned to four groups. The thickness of the root dentine was reduced and adhesively restored with composite resin light-activated through a translucent fibre post for either 40s (group 1), 80s (group 2) or 120s (group 3). In the case of control (group 4), the roots were not weakened. One day after post cementation, the specimens were sectioned transversally in three slices and processed for scanning electron microscopic analysis to observe bonding interface formation, quality of the hybrid layer and density of resin tags using a four-step scale method. RESULTS: Formation of a hybrid layer and resin tags were evident in all groups. There was no statistically (p>0.05) significant difference between the regions analysed in each group (Friedman test) and between groups in each section depth (Kruskal-Wallis test). Furthermore, comparison of the flared/reinforced groups showed that the different times used for composite resin cure did not affect the results significantly (Kruskal-Wallis test, p=0.2139). CONCLUSIONS: Different light-exposure times used for composite resin polymerisation during root canal reinforcement did not affect significantly the formation and quality of the dentine/adhesive/composite resin bonding interface.