Interest in dental implantology and preferences for implant therapy: a survey of Victorian dentists.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to gauge dentists' interest, knowledge and training in implantology, and to compare their treatment preferences with current literature. Subsequently, this information may be used to evaluate implantology education pathways. METHODS: A cross-sectional postal survey of 600 randomly selected dentists registered with the Dental Practice Board of Victoria was conducted. Respondents were asked about background, interest and training in implantology, and implant treatment preferences. Results were analysed according to primary practice location, decade of graduation and attendance at continuing professional development (CPD) programmes. RESULTS: One hundred and seventy-six questionnaires were included for analysis. In general, dentists rate their implant knowledge, interest and enjoyment in restoring implants favourably. No differences were found between city and country practitioners, and different graduation decades. The level of CPD significantly influenced treatment preferences. Practitioners were generally unwilling to treat patients taking bisphosphonates, or to perform grafting procedures. Most dentists provide common services to treat peri-implant conditions. Direct-to-fixture is the most popular fixture-abutment connection. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, there is a high level of implant knowledge corresponding to current evidence in the literature. Level of CPD attendance is the most important factor in dentists' willingness to provide more implant therapy options.

A Study of Operator Performance for a Mechanical Sweet Cherry Harvester: Comparison between Manual and Remote-Controlled Operation.

An experimental mechanical sweet cherry harvester was upgraded by changing its rapid impact mechanism to a continuous impact mechanism, in which an end effector (impactor) is positioned on fruit-loaded branches to transfer vibrational energy for fruit removal, and by adding remote control capability. Before the upgrade, the operator was seated at the rear of the harvester to manually control its operation. Adding remote control capability allowed operator mobility while operating the machine. This mobility was aimed at improving operator performance in harvesting cherries. In this study, the performances of the manual and remote operator were compared in terms of the field of view for perceiving target branches, the accuracy of hitting a target branch, and the ease of maneuvering between tree rows. Several sets of photographs totaling 140 individual photos were taken to assess how easy perceiving target branches was in light and dense foliage from the viewpoint of a manual operator and from multiple viewpoints of a remote operator. The percentages of successful hits on the target branch on the first trial (measure of accuracy in positioning the impactor) and the time taken for each successful hit for the manual and remote operator were recorded. The time to travel approximately 126 m long tree rows was also recorded for the manual and remote operators. On average, the remote operator (rank = 6.5) had better perception of the target branch than the manual operator (rank = 3.7) and was more accurate in positioning the impactor on a target branch (93.3% success rate) than the manual operator (84.4% success rate). Similarly, the remote operator spent 19.9 s of positioning time per branch, which was significantly less than the 23.6 s spent by the manual operator. However, the manual operator had better focus and was numerically faster (1.4 km h(-1)) than the remote operator (1.1 km h(-1)), even though the difference was not statistically significant. Overall, the results suggest that remote operation of the harvester may have a potential advantage over manual operation for achieving higher harvesting rates of sweet cherries.

Comparisons of Analysis Methods for Proof-of-Concept Trials.

Drug development struggles with high costs and time consuming processes. Hence, a need for new strategies has been accentuated by many stakeholders in drug development. This study proposes the use of pharmacometric models to rationalize drug development. Two simulated examples, within the therapeutic areas of acute stroke and type 2 diabetes, are utilized to compare a pharmacometric model-based analysis to a t-test with respect to study power of proof-of-concept (POC) trials. In all investigated examples and scenarios, the conventional statistical analysis resulted in several fold larger study sizes to achieve 80% power. For a scenario with a parallel design of one placebo group and one active dose arm, the difference between the conventional and pharmacometric approach was 4.3- and 8.4-fold, for the stroke and diabetes example, respectively. Although the model-based power depend on the model assumptions, in these scenarios, the pharmacometric model-based approach was demonstrated to permit drastic streamlining of POC trials.CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology (2013) 2, e23; doi:10.1038/psp.2012.24; advance online publication 16 January 2013.

Deep sedation in pediatric imaging: efficacy and safety of intravenous chlorpromazine.

BACKGROUND: The quality of MRI and CT depends largely on immobility of the patient during the procedure, which is often difficult to achieve without sedation in children below the age of 6 years. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of intravenous chlorpromazine sedation for repeated imaging in young children treated for cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From July 2003 to January 2007, information on children younger than 6 years of age having MRI or CT was prospectively collected. Forty-five minutes before the scan, a 10-min infusion of chlorpromazine 0.5 mg/kg was administered and managed by non-anesthetic staff. Patient monitoring included continuous measurement of pulse, respiration, oxygen saturation and arterial blood pressure. Procedure-related parameters and adverse events were documented. Sedation was considered successful when the procedure was completed and at least 95% of images were usable. RESULTS: One-hundred-one procedures (82 MRI, 19 CT) were evaluated in 62 children, 3-74 months old. Adequate sedation was achieved in 96% of cases, with mean induction time, 22 min; mean duration of sleep, 72 min, and mean duration of procedure, 33 min. Mean time spent in the radiology unit was 104 min. Ninety-six percent of imaging procedures were successfully completed. No cardiac, respiratory, neurological or allergic complication occurred. CONCLUSION: Intravenous chlorpromazine is safe and effective for procedural sedation in young children with cancer undergoing MRI and CT.