Impact of a Tutored Theoretical-Practical Training to Develop Undergraduate Students’ Skills for the Detection of Caries Lesions: Study Protocol for a Multicenter Controlled Randomized Study

Background: Tutored laboratorial activities could be a manner of improving the competency development of students. However, its impact over conventional theoretical classes has not yet been tested. Additionally, different university contexts could influence this issue and should be explored. Objective: To assess the impact of a tutored theoretical-practical training for teaching undergraduate students to detect caries lesions as compared with theoretical teaching activities. The impact of these teaching/learning activities will be assessed in terms of efficacy, cost/benefit, retention of knowledge/acquired competences, and student acceptability. Methods: Sixteen centers (7 centers from Brazil and 9 centers from other countries throughout the world) are involved in the inclusion of subjects for this protocol. A randomized controlled study with parallel groups will be conducted. One group (control) will be exposed to a 60- to 90-minute conventional theoretical class and the other group (test) will be exposed to the same theoretical class and also a 90-minute laboratory class, including exercises and discussions based on the evaluation of a pool of images and extracted teeth. The mentioned outcomes will be evaluated immediately after the teaching activities and also in medium- and long-term analyses. To compare the long-term outcomes, students who enrolled in the university before the participating students will be interviewed for data collection and these data will be used as a control and compared with the trained group. This stage will be a nonrandomized phase of this study, nested in the main study. Appropriate statistical analysis will be performed according to the aims of this study. Variables related to the centers will also be analyzed and used to model adjustment as possible sources of variability among results. Results: This ongoing study is funded by a Brazilian national funding agency (CNPq- 400736/2014-4). We expect that the tutored theoretical-practical training will improve the undergraduate students’ performance in the detection of caries lesions and subsequent treatment decisions, mainly in terms of long-term retention of knowledge. Our hypothesis is that tutored theoretical-practical training is a more cost-effective option for teaching undergraduate students to detect caries lesions. Conclusions: If our hypothesis is confirmed, the use of laboratory training in conjunction with theoretical classes could be used as an educational strategy in Cariology to improve the development of undergraduate students’ skills in the detection of caries lesions and clinical decision-making

Daily fluctuation in rotifer population abundance in two environments of the upper Paraná River floodplain, Brazil

Daily fluctuation of rotifer population abundance was studied in a lake and in a river of the Upper Paraná River floodplain. Samples were collected in the open water for 14 consecutive days, in the high and low water periods. Densities were higher in the lake, chiefly in the low water period. During the studied period, changes in species dominance were observed. Rotifer abundance showed that higher variability occurred during the high water period in both environments. Rotifer abundance showed high variability in the river during the sampling days. In the lake, fluctuation was related to the hydrological periods. Rotifer abundance fluctuations in the lake were influenced by regional factors (fluviometric level); and in the river by local factors (flow). The sampling design pointed out that seasonal samples are necessary to evaluate rotifer abundance in the lake. However, this is not the case in the river where seasonal differences in abundance were not observed

Planktonic and non-planktonic rotifers in two environments of the Upper Paraná River floodplain, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Investigations were carried out for the composition and occurrence of rotifer taxa of different forms and sizes during two distinct hydrological periods, in two environments (river and lake). Two sampling stations were established in open water of each environments. Surface samples were taken daily for 14 days. The faunistic similarity between the environments was established using Jaccard's index. One hundred and fourty three taxa were identified. The largest number of taxa was recorded in the river. Faunistic similarity between these environments was greater during high water. The planktonic taxa predominated and the difference for the non-planktonic ones was not marked. Non-planktonic taxa predominated in the river, while both types were numerous in the lake. We observed a larger number of smaller-sized taxa in both environments (&gt; 200µm to 600µm in length). This was related to the shallowest depths and to current velocity, which moved benthic and periphytic taxa from the bottom and littoral zone into the water column.</jats:p

As desigualdades sociais e a saúde bucal nas capitais brasileiras

ResumoApesar da melhoria das condições de vida dos brasileiros, ainda persiste um panorama de iniquidades em saúde bucal. Este estudo ecológico avaliou a relação das condições socioeconômicas e de política de saúde pública com as de saúde bucal nas capitais brasileiras. Foi realizada análise fatorial com os indicadores de condições socioeconômicas, revelando dois fatores comuns: deprivação econômica e condição sociossanitária. Em seguida, executou-se análise de regressão linear múltipla para os indicadores de saúde bucal (média CPO-D 12 anos, média de dentes perdidos e taxa de população livre de cárie) com os dois fatores em comum e a fluoretação da água de abastecimento. A análise de regressão linear múltipla para o CPO-D das capitais foi estimado pelas condições sociossanitárias e fluoretação, ajustado pela deprivação econômica; enquanto que o modelo para a média de dentes perdidos foi estimado apenas pela fluoretação e deprivação econômica, e, por fim, o modelo para a taxa da população livre de cárie nas capitais brasileiras foi estimado pela condição econômica e sociossanitária ajustadas pelo abastecimento de água fluoretada. Portanto, os resultados apontam a necessidade de ações sociais que impactem nas condições de vida da população para redução da cárie dentária