A periodontite é uma doença infecciosa caracterizada pela inflamação dos tecidos de suporte dos dentes, perda de inserção e perda óssea. O diagnóstico convencional da periodontite é realizado por meio da avaliação dos parâmetros clínicos e radiográficos. Entretanto, novas modalidades diagnósticas para identificação do início e progressão da periodontite estão sendo estudadas, o que possibilitaria o diagnóstico precoce da progressão da doença, assim como avaliação da resposta ao tratamento periodontal. Este estudo se propôs a monitorar a atividade da doença periodontal e descrever as características clínicas e moleculares de sítios periodontais ativos em progressão em pacientes com periodontite crônica, a partir da avaliação da expressão gênica de sítios periodontais e da avaliação de proteínas inflamatórias salivares e do fluido gengival crevicular, antes e após a terapia periodontal básica. Foram selecionados 27 indivíduos e classificados em dois grupos: grupo Controle (n=9) - pacientes saudáveis; grupo DP (n=18) - pacientes com periodontite crônica. O exame clínico foi realizado por um único examinador experiente em três tempos: (i) quinze dias antes da terapia periodontal, (ii) no dia da terapia periodontal e (iii) 60 dias após a terapia periodontal. A coleta de fluido gengival foi realizada no baseline, 15 e 60 dias após a terapia; a coleta de saliva foi realizada no baseline e 60 dias após a terapia e a coleta de tecido gengival apenas no baseline. Para a coleta de fluido gengival e tecido gengival, os sítios foram classificados em: sítios com inflamação (PS &ge; 5 mm e presença de sangramento à sondagem nos dois exames clínicos iniciais); sítios sem inflamação (PS &le; 3 mm e ausência de sangramento à sondagem nos dois exames clínicos iniciais); e sítios controle (PS &le; 3 mm e ausência de sangramento à sondagem). Os sítios com e sem inflamação pertenciam ao mesmo paciente do grupo DP. A análise de expressão gênica de VEGF, MMP-8, IL-10, RANK-L, OPG e TGF-&beta;1 foi realizada através da Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase em Tempo Real (RT-PCR). As análises de marcadores na saliva e fluido gengival foram realizadas pelo imunoensaio Multiplex Cytokine Profiling, exceto para MMP-8 que foi feito através do método ELISA. Os sítios com inflamação apresentaram maior expressão de RANK-L, OPG, IL-10 e TGF-&beta;1 (p < 0,05) e maior quantidade (pg) de VEGF (p=0,009) e IL-10 (p < 0,05) no fluido gengival. Os pacientes do grupo DP apresentaram maior quantidade (pg) de RANK-L (p=0,03) e OPG (p=0,0002) na saliva, antes da terapia. A atividade da doença em sítios periodontais a após terapia básica é um evento de baixa ocorrência, mas apenas uma pequena fração dos sítios permaneceu com perda de inserção progressiva. Os biomarcadores utilizados neste estudo podem ser úteis para detectar inflamação, mas não para identificar sítios ativos em progressão. / Periodontal disease is a chronic microbial infection characterized by inflammation of supportive tissues and alveolar bone loss. Because of the increasing prevalence of the disease, diagnostic modalities for the early identification of periodontitis initiation and progression are being studied. Cytokines associated to host defense has been identified in saliva, gingival crevicular fluids and gingival tissues of periodontal patients. In this study, we aimed to monitor periodontal disease activity and investigate clinical and molecular features of active sites through saliva, gingival crevicular fluid and gingival tissue samples. Fifty-seven subjects were enrolled for this study, 18 with chronic periodontitis (PD group) and 9 subjects that were periodontal and systemically healthy (control group). The patients underwent clinical examination and collection of saliva before and two months after the non-surgical periodontal therapy; collection of gingival crevicular fluid at baseline, 15 days and 2 months after therapy; and collection of gingival tissue samples at baseline. For collection of gingival crevicular fluid and gingival tissue samples, sites were classified as: inflamed (probing depth &ge; 5 mm and bleeding on probe); non-inflamed (probing depth &le; 3 mm without bleeding on probe); and control sites (probing depth &le; 3 mm without bleeding on probe from control group). Inflamed and non-inflamed sites belongs to the same patient PD group. Samples of whole saliva were collected for assessment of the levels of MMP-8, VEGF, IL-10, RANKL, OPG and TGF-&beta;1 using the multiplex cytokine profiling assay. Samples of gingival crevicular fluid were collected for assessment of the levels of MMP-8, VEGF and IL-10 using the multiplex cytokine profiling assay, except for MMP-8 (ELISA assay). Inflamed and non-inflamed lesion in each patient underwent biopsy for the Real Time PCR gene expression analysis for MMP-8, VEGF, IL-10, RANKL, OPG and TGF-&beta;1. At baseline, higher expression of mRNA for RANK-L, OPG, IL-10 e TGF-&beta;1 were found in inflamed sites (p < 0.05) and higher total amount of IL-10 (0,29 pg/sample) compared to non-inflamed (0,21 pg/sample) and control sites (0.21 pg/sample) (p < 0.05). 15 days after therapy, total amount of VEGF were higher in inflamed sites (11.43 pg/sample), compared to non-inflamed sites (7.38 pg/sample) (p=0.009). PD group showed higher total amount (pg) of RANKL (p=0.03) and OPG (p=0.0002) after periodontal therapy. Thus, we concluded that disease activity seems to be an event of relative low probability of occurrence, however, a small percentage of sites keeps showing progressive attachment loss even after basic periodontal therapy. The specific biomarkers used in this study may be helpful to detect inflammation but not to discriminate progressive active sites.

No description available.

A periodontite é uma doença infecciosa caracterizada pela inflamação dos tecidos de suporte dos dentes, perda de inserção e perda óssea. O diagnóstico convencional da periodontite é realizado por meio da avaliação dos parâmetros clínicos e radiográficos. Entretanto, novas modalidades diagnósticas para identificação do início e progressão da periodontite estão sendo estudadas, o que possibilitaria o diagnóstico precoce da progressão da doença, assim como avaliação da resposta ao tratamento periodontal. Este estudo se propôs a monitorar a atividade da doença periodontal e descrever as características clínicas e moleculares de sítios periodontais ativos em progressão em pacientes com periodontite crônica, a partir da avaliação da expressão gênica de sítios periodontais e da avaliação de proteínas inflamatórias salivares e do fluido gengival crevicular, antes e após a terapia periodontal básica. Foram selecionados 27 indivíduos e classificados em dois grupos: grupo Controle (n=9) - pacientes saudáveis; grupo DP (n=18) - pacientes com periodontite crônica. O exame clínico foi realizado por um único examinador experiente em três tempos: (i) quinze dias antes da terapia periodontal, (ii) no dia da terapia periodontal e (iii) 60 dias após a terapia periodontal. A coleta de fluido gengival foi realizada no baseline, 15 e 60 dias após a terapia; a coleta de saliva foi realizada no baseline e 60 dias após a terapia e a coleta de tecido gengival apenas no baseline. Para a coleta de fluido gengival e tecido gengival, os sítios foram classificados em: sítios com inflamação (PS &ge; 5 mm e presença de sangramento à sondagem nos dois exames clínicos iniciais); sítios sem inflamação (PS &le; 3 mm e ausência de sangramento à sondagem nos dois exames clínicos iniciais); e sítios controle (PS &le; 3 mm e ausência de sangramento à sondagem). Os sítios com e sem inflamação pertenciam ao mesmo paciente do grupo DP. A análise de expressão gênica de VEGF, MMP-8, IL-10, RANK-L, OPG e TGF-&beta;1 foi realizada através da Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase em Tempo Real (RT-PCR). As análises de marcadores na saliva e fluido gengival foram realizadas pelo imunoensaio Multiplex Cytokine Profiling, exceto para MMP-8 que foi feito através do método ELISA. Os sítios com inflamação apresentaram maior expressão de RANK-L, OPG, IL-10 e TGF-&beta;1 (p < 0,05) e maior quantidade (pg) de VEGF (p=0,009) e IL-10 (p < 0,05) no fluido gengival. Os pacientes do grupo DP apresentaram maior quantidade (pg) de RANK-L (p=0,03) e OPG (p=0,0002) na saliva, antes da terapia. A atividade da doença em sítios periodontais a após terapia básica é um evento de baixa ocorrência, mas apenas uma pequena fração dos sítios permaneceu com perda de inserção progressiva. Os biomarcadores utilizados neste estudo podem ser úteis para detectar inflamação, mas não para identificar sítios ativos em progressão. / Periodontal disease is a chronic microbial infection characterized by inflammation of supportive tissues and alveolar bone loss. Because of the increasing prevalence of the disease, diagnostic modalities for the early identification of periodontitis initiation and progression are being studied. Cytokines associated to host defense has been identified in saliva, gingival crevicular fluids and gingival tissues of periodontal patients. In this study, we aimed to monitor periodontal disease activity and investigate clinical and molecular features of active sites through saliva, gingival crevicular fluid and gingival tissue samples. Fifty-seven subjects were enrolled for this study, 18 with chronic periodontitis (PD group) and 9 subjects that were periodontal and systemically healthy (control group). The patients underwent clinical examination and collection of saliva before and two months after the non-surgical periodontal therapy; collection of gingival crevicular fluid at baseline, 15 days and 2 months after therapy; and collection of gingival tissue samples at baseline. For collection of gingival crevicular fluid and gingival tissue samples, sites were classified as: inflamed (probing depth &ge; 5 mm and bleeding on probe); non-inflamed (probing depth &le; 3 mm without bleeding on probe); and control sites (probing depth &le; 3 mm without bleeding on probe from control group). Inflamed and non-inflamed sites belongs to the same patient PD group. Samples of whole saliva were collected for assessment of the levels of MMP-8, VEGF, IL-10, RANKL, OPG and TGF-&beta;1 using the multiplex cytokine profiling assay. Samples of gingival crevicular fluid were collected for assessment of the levels of MMP-8, VEGF and IL-10 using the multiplex cytokine profiling assay, except for MMP-8 (ELISA assay). Inflamed and non-inflamed lesion in each patient underwent biopsy for the Real Time PCR gene expression analysis for MMP-8, VEGF, IL-10, RANKL, OPG and TGF-&beta;1. At baseline, higher expression of mRNA for RANK-L, OPG, IL-10 e TGF-&beta;1 were found in inflamed sites (p < 0.05) and higher total amount of IL-10 (0,29 pg/sample) compared to non-inflamed (0,21 pg/sample) and control sites (0.21 pg/sample) (p < 0.05). 15 days after therapy, total amount of VEGF were higher in inflamed sites (11.43 pg/sample), compared to non-inflamed sites (7.38 pg/sample) (p=0.009). PD group showed higher total amount (pg) of RANKL (p=0.03) and OPG (p=0.0002) after periodontal therapy. Thus, we concluded that disease activity seems to be an event of relative low probability of occurrence, however, a small percentage of sites keeps showing progressive attachment loss even after basic periodontal therapy. The specific biomarkers used in this study may be helpful to detect inflammation but not to discriminate progressive active sites.

No description available.

Self-compassion is increasingly recognised as beneficial in psychotherapy, but can also be experienced as threatening. Attachment priming has been shown to enhance affiliative behaviours even in those with insecure trait attachment styles, and to decrease arousal and threat sensitivity. The current study investigated (a) associations between self-criticism, self-compassion, fear of self-compassion and trait attachment insecurity, and (b) whether attachment-related security priming could promote state self-compassion and reduce physiological arousal when self-compassion induction was attempted by self-critical individuals. 49 participants with high levels of self-reported self-criticism completed either a 'secure' or a 'neutral' prime before undertaking a loving-kindness meditation. Participants' heart rate and skin conductance levels were collected at baseline and during the priming and meditation; participants also self-rated their levels of state self-criticism, state self-compassion and state attachment security at each of these points. Correlational analyses (Spearman's rho) found positive associations between trait self-criticism and trait attachment insecurity and between trait fear of self-compassion and trait attachment insecurity, although not between low trait self-compassion and trait attachment insecurity. Group and time differences were analysed using a combination of parametric (ANOVA, t-test) and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal Wallis, Wilcoxon Signed Rank) as some data were not normally distributed). Attachment priming was shown to significantly enhance state self-compassion and also to significantly increase state attachment security and decrease state attachment avoidance, although not state self-criticism or state attachment anxiety, and to give some reductions in physiological arousal. This benefit, however, did not persist in subsequent exposure to loving-kindness meditation, although individuals not receiving attachment priming also showed some reduction of threat and activation of soothing systems from loving-kindness meditation. These findings suggest that attachment priming and loving-kindness meditation may increase self-compassion for some self-critical people, but there are not necessarily cumulative benefits from combining these practices.

This thesis offers an analysis of the possible harm of death, posing three questions: Who is the subject of the harm? What is the nature of the harm? And, when does the harm take place? Epicurus demonstrates on hedonistic grounds that given the irreversible annihilation of the subject and the impossibility of experience, death cannot harm the one who dies at any time. The experience condition is central to this claim, stating that experience is necessary for harm. Despite the strength of the Epicurean inspired No- Subject Thesis, it remains counter to pretheoretical intuitions regarding the harmfulness of death. This thesis proposes an alternative justification for the belief that death is harmful by extending the possible subjects of harm to include the bereaved. It is my view that the No-Subject Thesis successfully shows that death is not harmful to the one who dies, and in support of the Epicurean position, it will be defended against variations of Thomas Nagel’s antithetical position. Nagel’s view is motivated by the belief that death is bad because it deprives the deceased of some good he or she could have had, had death taken place at a later time. Criticisms of the Deprivation Thesis relate to the effectiveness of counterexamples to the experience condition, and the challenge of the temporal location problem, given that we will assume, along with Epicurus, that death annihilates the subject. However, this thesis argues that it is a restricted understanding of the possible subjects of harm that causes the counter-intuitive conclusion of the No-Subject Thesis. By extending the possible bearers of harm to include the bereaved, and characterising the nature of the harm as the loss experienced by the bereaved, one can posit an unproblematic account of the nature and subject of the harm of death. Indeed, by identifying a living person as the subject of harm, the experience condition can be satisfied. Furthermore, a clearly delineated temporal location of the harm can be identified insofar as the bereaved are harmed from the time at which he or she learns of the death of the loved other. However, it will be argued that the harm diminishes over time, reflecting the experience of the bereaved that he or she can recover after the loss of the beloved. A defence of this position will be offered, responding to the Epicurean claim that the death of a loved other does not constitute a significant loss in virtue of the belief that individual subjects are replaceable. By extending the scope of the possible harm of death to account for the social context within which death occurs, one can retain the logical strength of the Epicurean inspired No-Subject Thesis, and yet justify the intuition that death remains a bad thing for the bereaved, giving rational grounds for fearing death in terms of social deprivation.

Background/Aims: Children and young people in residential care often exhibit complex emotional and behavioural needs. Attachment theory is frequently used to explain these difficulties, whereby a young person's early experience can influence their internal representations of relationships and their subsequent interactions within the residential milieu. Thus, residential childcare staff have a fundamental role supporting young people, to facilitate therapeutic change and mitigate poor long-term outcomes. Policy and research often recommend staff training and attachment-informed care, yet there is very limited understanding of how this translates into practice or influences outcomes. Therefore, this thesis aimed to systematically review literature on the types, measurement and effectiveness of residential staff training, focussed upon psychosocial outcomes. It also aimed to construct an explanatory theory of how residential staff make sense of, and use, attachment theory in practice. Methods: Research aims are addressed in two studies. Literature on residential staff training was systematically reviewed in Journal Article 1. This was conducted through a search of electronic databases, quality assessment of included studies, and subsequent narrative synthesis. Journal Article 2 used qualitative methodology in the form of constructivist grounded theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty residential staff members through an iterative process of data collection and analysis, and theoretical sampling, until theoretical saturation was achieved. Results: Eighteen studies were included in the systematic review. Results highlight heterogeneous staff training, often evaluated through measurement of staff knowledge, skills and/or attitudes, and/or child behaviour frequency. Findings offer tentative support for the positive impact of training upon staff skills but other outcomes remain unclear. Results from Journal Article 2 indicate that staff had difficulty articulating attachment theory and often did not have a coherent narrative to describe attachment theory to practice links. Instead, they focussed upon a natural process of building relationships within a challenging context, with attachment theory only coming to the forefront when deemed relevant. Conclusions: The effectiveness of residential staff training remains unclear due to the methodological limitations of included studies. Significant improvements are identified for future evaluations of training to address this issue. Future staff training may benefit from limiting jargon, developing theory to practice links, and facilitating staff reflective function. Recommendations of attachment-informed care must also recognise the complexity of the residential system; and the current disparity between attachment theory narrative within policy and research, and practice.

No description available.

Researchers have taken the adult attachment instruments established in the western countries into other cultural settings. Taiwan is one of the many countries to which cross-cultural adult attachment research has been extended to, and where translated attachment survey instruments were applied. The problem with these translated measurements in Taiwan, however, is that the commonly-used instruments were not peer-reviewed, and often no reliability tests were even done, and the cultural appropriateness of these translated measurements was not evaluated. The usage and results of these instruments may therefore be questionable. The purpose of this current study is to present a Mandarin Chinese version of the Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ) that was translated following common protocols, administered to 320 native Taiwanese participants, and evaluated for measurement invariance. Various statistical analyses (including reliability test, confirmatory factor analysis, , and measurement invariance test) were conducted, and results from the Taiwanese college students who responded to the Chinese AAQ were compared with the results of the same instrument written and administered in its original English format and delivered to 330 participants in the United States. CFA revealed that a revision of the original AAQ was necessary. Measurement invariance test further indicated that while configural invariance was established, the findings on metric invariance were mixed, and the scalar invariance was partially established. These findings suggested a potential lack of equivalence between the Chinese and English adult attachment measurement. Specifically, some items of the scales were less invariant than others, indicating specific possible cultural differences between the two ethnic groups.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate factors that contribute to the social adjustment to college for gifted emerging adults. Specifically, perceived parental attachment, and social competence were included. Additionally, social competence was examined to determine if it served as a mediator between parental attachment and social adjustment to college. Responses from 70 participants recruited from the Honors Program at Florida State University (FSU) were included in analysis of the data, which comprised of 19 males (27.1%) and 51 females (72.9%) with a mean age of 19.27 years (SD = 1.05). Results from bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses revealed positive, significant correlations between parental attachment and social adjustment to college, parental attachment and social competence, and social competence and social adjustment to college. Analyses also found that social competence partially mediated the relationship between parental attachment and social adjustment to college. The majority of research regarding gifted individuals focuses on the experience and developmental domains within the K-12 setting. The findings of the present study add to the significant dearth of literature concerning the college experience of gifted individuals. Specifically, the results provide support that a secure parental attachment influences positive development of social competence and better social adjustment to college in gifted emerging adults. Furthermore, these findings are important factors for researchers, clinicians, and university officials to consider when assessing the needs of gifted and non-gifted emerging adults in a college setting, and when developing social support services and resources for students.