The ability of thiourea to scavenge hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals during the intra-coronal bleaching of bloodstained root-filled teeth

The document attached has been archived with permission from the Australian Dental Association. An external link to the publisher’s copy is included.Background: Hydrogen peroxide, an agent used in the intra-coronal bleaching of root-filled teeth for over a century, has been shown to diffuse from the pulp chamber to the outer root surface. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that destructive hydroxyl radicals, the by-products of the bleaching process, have been detected on the external root surface. The control of such diffusion may be of importance in minimizing the risk of invasive cervical resorption (ICR) which has been linked to intra-coronal bleaching of discoloured root-filled teeth using hydrogen peroxide. The aims of the present in vitro study are to quantify the diffusion of hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals to the outer root surface following intra-coronal bleaching, and to evaluate the ability of thiourea incorporated into the bleaching protocol to scavenge residual hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals. Methods: Thirty-five single rooted premolar teeth with intact cementum at the cemento-enamel junction were used in this project. Thirty teeth were stained with red blood cells and root-filled with gutta-percha and AH26. The five unstained teeth were root-filled and constituted a negative control (Group 1). The stained teeth were divided equally into the following experimental groups and subjected to various intra-coronal bleaching regimes: Group 2 – ‘walking bleach’ with 20μl 30 per cent w/w hydrogen peroxide; Group 3 – 20μl 30 per cent w/w hydrogen peroxide and thermocatalytically activated; Group 4 – 20μl acidified thiourea; Group 5 – 20μl acidified thiourea and 20μl 30 per cent w/w hydrogen peroxide; Group 6 – 20μl acidified thiourea and 20μl one per cent sodium hypochlorite; Group 7 – 20μl acidified thiourea, 20μl one per cent sodium hypochlorite and 20μl 30 per cent w/w hydrogen peroxide. The reaction products of the bleaching process were quantified at the outer root surface using high performance liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD).Results: Results showed that hydrogen peroxide used alone in Groups 2 and 3 was able to be detected at the outer root surface in 100 per cent of the samples, and that the presence of the hydroxyl radical generated in both groups was detected in equal amounts (P<0.05). When thiourea was incorporated into the bleaching protocols in Groups 5–7, it was shown to scavenge both hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals to a significant degree (P<0.05). Conclusions: Acidulated thiourea is an effective scavenger of residual hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radicals generated during the intra-coronal bleaching of bloodstained root-filled teeth.DS Farmer, P Burcham, PD Mari

A virtual reality embodiment technique to enhance helping behavior of police toward a victim of police racial aggression

There is an alarming level of violence by police in the US toward African Americans. Although this may be rooted in explicit racial bias, the more intractable problem is overcoming implicit bias, bias that is non-conscious but demonstrated in actual behavior. If bias is implicit, it is difficult to change through explicit methods that attempt to change attitudes. We carried out a study using virtual reality (VR) with 38 officers in a US police department, who took part in an interrogation of an African American suspect alongside an officer who was racially abusive toward the suspect. Seventeen of the participants witnessed the interview again from a third person perspective (Observer) and 21 from the embodied perspective of the suspect, now a victim of the interrogation (Victim condition), having been assigned randomly to these two groups. Some weeks later, all witnessed aggression by an officer toward an African American man in a virtual cafe scenario. The results show that the actions of those who had been in the Victim condition were coded as being more helpful toward the victim than those in the Observer condition. We argue that such VR exposures operate at the experiential and implicit level rather than the explicit, and hence are more likely to be effective in combating aggression rooted in implicit bias

Межі правової регламентації політики ЄС у сфері охорони здоров’я: права людини, вакцинація і Covid

Галан В. О. Межі правової регламентації політики ЄС у сфері охорони здоров’я: права людини, вакцинація і Covid / В. О. Галан, С. В. Фоміна // Наукові праці Національного університету «Одеська юридична академія». Т. 29 / голов. ред. Ю. В. Цуркан-Сайфуліна ; МОН України, НУ «ОЮА». – Одеса : Видавничий дім «Гельветика», 2021. – C. 61-77. DOI https://doi.org/10.32837/npnuola.v28i29.717У процесі роботи досліджується проблематика примусової вакцинації в праві Європейського Союзу. Розглянуто співвідношення суспільної необхідності примусової вакцинації та неприпустимості обмежень прав людини. Прослідковано суперечність між недоторканними правами людини як цінністю Європейського Союзу й введенням заходів примусового медичного впливу на осіб. Досліджено зв’язок примусової вакцинації з такими елементами принципу верховенства права, як законність і пропорційність, окреслено відповідну практику Європейського Суду з прав людини, Суду Справедливості й деяких інших інстанцій, проаналізовано нормативні акти, якими регламентується примусова вакцинація, а також указано на проблеми реалізації положень таких нормативних актів, запропоновано шляхи подолання неузгодженості між правами людини й необхідністю повсюдної імунізації. У результаті дослідження було зроблено висновки про необхідність зміни загального під- ходу до правового регулювання примусової вакцинації, а саме вказано на доцільність заміни санкцій за відмову від вакцинації на відповідні заохочення, а також висунуто припущення про ефективність проведення освітніх заходів із метою інформування осіб про вакцинацію, її необхідність і наслідки, а також про те, що загальна імунізація на сучасному етапі розвитку медичної науки є єдиним засобом захисту людства від інфекційних і вірусних хвороб. Оскільки метою діяльності Європейського Союзу є забезпечення сталого розвитку європейського суспільства, європейське нормативне регулювання вакцинації потребує подальшого вдосконалення задля досягнення балансу між публічним інтересом та індивідуальними правами окремої людини й відповідності таких медичних заходів положенням Конвенції про захист прав та основоположних свобод і Хартії основних прав Європейського Союзу. Зважаючи на проведений протягом роботи аналіз практики Європейського суду з прав людини, можемо вказати на те, що на відміну від практики Європейського суду з прав людини попередніх років у сучасних рішеннях Європейський суд із прав людини або не визнає примусову вакцинацію порушенням прав людини, або ж визнає таке порушення виправданим і пропорційним.law. During this study, we carried the research of the correlation between the necessity of the compulsory vaccination and the inadmissibility of human rights’ limitation. There was made a point about a certain contradiction between human rights as a value of European Union law and existing medical intervention actions. We decompound the correlation of the compulsory vaccination and the specific elements of the rule of law principle, such as supremacy of law and proportionality, – in this contest we analyzed the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, Court of Justice of the European Union and other judicial instances, the corresponding normative acts were also dissected, as well as the difficulties which occur in the practical application of the relevant regulations. As a result, we indicated certain methods in order to level the compulsory vaccination necessity to human rights. In this research we concluded that the general approach to compulsory vaccination ought to be changed, notably that it would be appropriate to replace sanctions for refusal of vaccination with appropriate incentives, it was also suggested that of educational initiatives aiming to inform the community about vaccination, its necessity and consequences could be efficient. It was mentioned that general immunization is at this stage of scientific progress the only method to protect the population against infectious and viral diseases. Considering the fact that the basic objective of the European Union is to guarantee the sustainable development of the European community, the legal regulation of compulsory vaccination requires further improvement in order to achieve a balance between the public interest and the individual rights of private persons, as well as the compliance of such medical procedures with the rules of the Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Proceeding the analysis of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in this article, it is possible to point that in recent decisions of the ECtHR either does not consider the forced vaccination a violation of human rights, or considers such a violation as justified and proportionate, in contrast to the practice of the ECtHR of previous years

Activity of key enzymes of antioxidant system in rat blood plasma under the effect of histamine and sodium hypochlorite

The effects of histamine in 1 mg/kg and 8 mg/kg doses that correspond to the doses causing pathological effects at experimental conditions and of sodium hypochlorite in 5 mg/l dose – the lowest concentration of sodium hypochlorite that affects a body by oral administration, on the key enzymes of blood plasma antioxidant system were studied. It was found that histamine used in both concentrations intensified superoxide dismutase activity for 14 days. The simultaneous injections of histamine and sodium hypochlorite caused significant activation of superoxide dismutase in rats. Sodium hypochlorite received by rats with drinking solution caused the same effect. The catalase activity of blood plasma was not significantly affected by histamine, and its activity was significantly increased only under the influence of biogenic amine in 1 mg/kg dose on the 7th day of the experiment. Sodium hypochlorite caused a decline in catalase activity both in intact animals and in animals that received histamine injections subcutaneously. The injection of histamine in 1 mg/kg dose caused an increase in glutathione peroxidase activity on the 1st and 7th day of the experiment. Histamine in 8 mg/kg dose caused the intensification of glutathione peroxidase activity only on the 1st day, followed by the inhibition on the 14th day of the experiment. Sodium hypochlorite received by rats with drin­king solution led to general lowering of glutathione peroxydase activity in blood plasma

Effectiveness of a smartphone app to increase parents' knowledge and empowerment in the MMR vaccination decision: A randomized controlled trial

Researchers are trying to build evidence for mhealth effectiveness in various fields. However, no evidence yet is showing the effectiveness of mhealth on parents' attitudes and behavior with regard to recommended vaccination of their children. The aim of this study was to look into the effects of 2 smartphone-based interventions targeting MMR vaccination knowledge and psychological empowerment respectively. The interventions used gamification features and videos in combination with text messages. We conducted a 2x2 between-subject factorial randomized controlled trial (absence/presence of knowledge intervention X absence/presence of empowerment intervention) with parents of young children in Italy. We randomly allocated 201 eligible participants to one of the 4 conditions. Data were collected by questionnaires at baseline and posttest. Primary outcomes were MMR vaccination knowledge, psychological empowerment, risk perception, and preferred decisional role; secondary outcomes included MMR vaccination intention, attitude, confidence, and recommendation intention. A significant gain in vaccination knowledge was reported by all experimental groups compared with the control (F(3,179) = 48.58, p < .000), while only those receiving both interventions reported a significant increase in their psychological empowerment (t(179) = -2.79, p = .006). Participants receiving the intervention targeting knowledge reported significantly higher intention to vaccinate (t(179) = 2.111; p = .03) and higher confidence in the decision (t(179) = 2.76; p = .006) compared with the control group. Parent-centered, gamified mobile interventions aimed at providing parents with vaccination-related information can be used to increase their knowledge, their intention to vaccinate as well as their confidence in the vaccination decision