An evaluation of the PALS after treatment modelling intervention to reduce dental anxiety in child dental patients

Aim.  The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the passivity to activity through live symbolic (PALS) after treatment modelling intervention to reduce child dental anxiety.
Methods.  A convenience sample of consecutive 5- to 10-year-old dental patients were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. Self-reported child dental anxiety was assessed at the start of each visit. At the end of each visit, children in the intervention group were introduced to a glove puppet, which acted as the PALS model. The intervention group children re-enacted the treatment they had just received on the puppet's teeth. At the end of each visit, the control children received motivational rewards only. The change in dental anxiety scores was examined by t -tests and analysis of covariance.
Results.  The final analysis included 27 intervention children and 26 control children. For the intervention group, there were no statistically significant changes in dental anxiety over a course of treatment, between first and second preventive visits, between first and second invasive treatment visits, or between first attendance and subsequent recall attendance. For the control group, a statistically significant decrease in dental anxiety was observed between the first and second invasive dental treatment visits.
Conclusion.  The PALS after treatment modelling intervention was ineffective in reducing child dental anxiety.     

Blood cell dynamics in P-selectin-deficient mice

P-selectin is expressed on the surfaces of activated platelets and endothelium where it mediates binding to leukocytes. P-selectin- deficient mice were shown to exhibit peripheral neutrophilia (Mayadas et al: Cell 74:541, 1993). We now show that this is not caused by changes in bone marrow precursors nor by a lack of neutrophil margination. Both P-selectin-positive and -negative animals displayed similar increases in peripheral blood neutrophil numbers after injection of epinephrine. However, clearance of 51Chromium-labeled neutrophils is delayed in mice deficient for P-selectin, indicating that the neutrophilia is at least in part the result of delayed removal. We detected no obvious alterations in lymphocyte differentiation, distribution, or adhesion to high endothelial venules in peripheral lymph nodes. Through intravital microscopy, we examined the impact of P-selectin deficiency on leukocyte/endothelial interaction beyond the initial stages of inflammation. Four hours after the administration of an inflammatory irritant, leukocyte rolling was observed even in the absence of P-selectin. There were significantly fewer rolling cells relative to wild-type mice, and their velocity was reduced. Moreover, in the peritonitis model, the number of peritoneal macrophages in wild-type mice increased threefold at 48 hours, whereas the macrophages in the mutant mice remained near baseline levels. Thus, whereas P-selectin is known to be involved in early stages of an inflammatory response, our results indicate that it is additionally responsible for leukocyte rolling and macrophage recruitment in more prolonged tissue injury.     

Prospective effects of perceived risk of developing HIV/AIDS on risk behaviors among injection drug users in Puerto Rico

The relationship between perceived risk of developing AIDS and subsequent behavioral risk status is estimated for 1740 Puerto Rican injection drug users (IDUs). Prospective behavioral effects were examined comparing data collected at mo intervals approximately 6 months apart. We estimated the association between perceived risk at baseline and risky behaviors at follow-up with unadjusted odds ratios. We confirmed the results with adjusted odds ratios using logistic regressions which included baseline risk status as well as socio-demographic and health status covariates. The analyses showed that having a high HIV/AIDS risk perception was related to subsequent sharing of needles, injection of drugs in shooting galleries and sharing of cookers. None of the tests between risk perception and sex risk behaviors showed a significance association. Increasing IDUs' perceived vulnerability to HIV/AIDS might not be effective in helping reduce HIV risk behaviors. IDUs perceiving themselves to be at high risk of AIDS might believe there is little they can do to reverse the consequences of risky behavior.     

CHANGES IN DISC ELECTROPHORETIC PATTERNS IN GLOBULINS IN SERUM OF CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA

The aim of this investigation was to study types of protein in asthmatic sera in relation to allergy. There are differences in the serum of some patients with asthma when compared with normal controls. There is an increase in the slow alpha globulin fraction, demonstrable by acrylamide gel electrophoresis. Similar changes have been reported in sera from patients with tuberculosis, pneumonia and bronchiectasis. Sera from patients with chronic infections also show intense gamma globulin bands.     

Induction of proinflammatory cytokine and antioxidant enzyme gene expression following brief myocardial ischaemia

The purpose of this study was to determine if proinflammatory cytokines are up-regulated during reperfusion following sublethal ischaemia, and whether concurrent up-regulation of antioxidant enzymes occurs. Open-chest rats were subjected to 15 min of ischaemia followed by 1 or 3 h reperfusion (R). Myocardium from the ischaemic zone showed a significantly higher (P < 0.01) generation of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances at 1 h and 3 h R. Northern blots showed a weak signal in controls for IL-6 mRNA (0.13 ± 0.01); this was elevated to 0.68 ± 0.12 at 1 h and 0.69 ± 0.10 at 3 h R. Neither IL-1β nor tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were detectable in controls. IL-1β rose to 0.78 ± 0.07 at 1 h and 0.51 ± 0.08 at 3 h R, and TNF-α rose to 0.69 ± 0.10 at 1 h and 0.38 ± 0.15 at 3 h R. Western blotting showed no signals in the control, but readily detectable signals at 1 h R; these remained high (IL-6) or decreased (IL-1β and TNF-α) at 3 h R. mRNA analysis for antioxidant enzymes revealed a weak signal in controls for catalase (CAT; 0.16 ± 0.08), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px; 0.15 ± 0.06) and superoxide dismutase (SOD; 0.21 ± 0.05). After 1 h R, levels increased significantly for CAT (0.46 ± 0.10; P < 0.025) and GSH-Px (0.51 ± 0.13; P < 0.01), but remained similar to controls for SOD (0.26 ± 0.15). At 3 h R the mRNA levels were significantly elevated for the three enzymes (CAT 0.48 ± 0.13; GSH-Px 0.47 ± 0.10; SOD 0.54 ± 0.08). We conclude that mRNA for proinflammatory cytokines is expressed early in reperfusion, and that the proteins are present in heart tissue. Also, reperfusion is associated with rapid expression of genes for antioxidant enzymes, which may enhance reactive oxygen intermediate (ROI) scavenging.