ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hispanics disproportionately experience preventable oral health conditions in the United States. This study aimed to determine the oral health knowledge (OHK) of Hispanic adults in Iowa to identify potential gaps in knowledge. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included a convenience sample of self-identifying Hispanic adults. Data pertaining to oral health literacy and demographic, cultural, and dental characteristics were collected. OHK was assessed with the Conceptual Measure of Oral Health Knowledge, and it was categorized as low or high. Bivariate analyses and multiple logistic regression models were conducted to identify the variables related to OHK (P < .05). Institutional review board approval was obtained. RESULTS: Three hundred thirty-eight participants completed the questionnaire, 68% of participants completed the questionnaire in Spanish, and 51% of all participants had low OHK. Participants were less likely to correctly answer questions pertaining to children's oral health, periodontal disease, and oral cancer. Low OHK was associated with having less than 12th grade education, lack of dental insurance, and preference for a Spanish-speaking oral health care provider. CONCLUSIONS AND PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: OHK appears to be low in this population. Increasing OHK may help decrease oral health disparities and improve oral health outcomes. Furthermore, it is important that oral health care providers have an understanding of barriers that can impede patients' understanding of the health care system. Specifically, minority populations, such as Hispanics, may have a harder time because of certain cultural differences that exist among this ethnic group.
Subject(s)
Hispanic or Latino , Oral Health , Adult , Child , Cross-Sectional Studies , Humans , Iowa , Surveys and Questionnaires , United StatesABSTRACT
Lithium-ion batteries are crucial to the future of energy storage. However, the energy density of current lithium-ion batteries is insufficient for future applications. Sulfur cathodes and silicon anodes have garnered a lot of attention in the field due their high capacity potential. Although recent developments in sulfur and silicon electrodes show exciting results in half cell formats, neither electrode can act as a lithium source when put together into a full cell format. Current methods toward incorporating lithium in sulfur-silicon full cells involves prelithiating silicon or using lithium sulfide. These methods however, complicate material processing and creates safety hazards. Herein, we present a novel full cell battery architecture that bypasses the issues associated with current methods. This battery architecture gradually integrates controlled amounts of pure lithium into the system by allowing lithium the access to external circuit. A high specific energy density of 350 Wh/kg after 250 cycles at C/10 was achieved using this method. This work should pave the way for future researches into sulfur-silicon full cells.
ABSTRACT
Water decontamination and oil/water separation are principal motives in the surge to develop novel means for sustainability. In this prospect, supplying clean water for the ecosystems is as important as the recovery of the oil spills since the supplies are scarce. Inspired to design an engineering material which not only serves this purpose, but can also be altered for other applications to preserve natural resources, a facile template-free process is suggested to fabricate a superporous, superhydrophobic ultra-thin graphite sponge. Moreover, the process is designed to be inexpensive and scalable. The fabricated sponge can be used to clean up different types of oil, organic solvents, toxic and corrosive contaminants. This versatile microstructure can retain its functionality even when pulverized. The sponge is applicable for targeted sorption and collection due to its ferromagnetic properties. We hope that such a cost-effective process can be embraced and implemented widely.
