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Large numbers of family members, particulary women, find themselves in the stressful roles of caring for their frail elders with dementia. Although caregiver respite is seen as one way to mitigate the negative consequences of care giving, many caregivers are reluctant to use services which offer them respite opportunities. By focusing on the similarities between respite and leisure experiences from a feminist perspective, this caregiver hesitancy will be explored. Interpreting the stories of eight women caregivers participating in a qualitative study which examined the experience of respite for family caregivers of persons with dementia, convergence between the experiences of leisure an of respite occur in at least four areas. These included: the experience of freedom, the getting away from obligatory routine, the pursuit of personally satisfying activities, and bothe as an ‘attitude of the mind’.

Laser Doppler flowmetry is a non-invasive electrooptical technique which allows the semi-quantitative recording of pulpal blood flow. This study aimed to determine the reliability (measured as the sensitivity and specificity) of laser Doppler flowmetry as a method of assessing the vitality of traumatised anterior teeth, and to compare it with standard pulpal diagnostic tests. Recordings of pulpal blood flow were taken from 67 non-vital anterior teeth (55 patients), where the pulpal status was confirmed by pulpectomy. For comparison, recordings were also taken from 84 vital anterior teeth (84 patients). Analysis of the recordings allowed diagnostic criteria to be developed which gave the technique a sensitivity and specificity of 1.0 for this sample. None of the other standard pulpal diagnostic methods tested was as reliable. This was usually due to low sensitivities, which ranged between 0.92 for sensibility testing with ethyl chloride down to 0.36 for periapical radiolucency and 0.16 for a history of pain. Laser Doppler flowmetry was found to be a reliable method of assessing the pulpal status of traumatised anterior teeth, although it is technique-sensitive and time-consuming to use.

Summary A Neodyminium-yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd–YAG) pulsed laser was used in vitro to determine whether various laser energy levels from 0.75 W to 1.7 W at 15 pulses s−1 (pps) were able to (i) remove debris from the walls of prepared root canals (ii) remove pulpal tissue from unprepared canals and (iii) create a fused apical plug from dentine chips, hydroxyapatite (HAP) or low-fusing dental porcelain. Single-rooted teeth were sectioned at the amelocemental junction and the crowns discarded. The root canals of 50 teeth were prepared chemomechanically and allocated to four groups of 10 teeth for laser treatment. One group was left unlased as a control. After lasing, the teeth were split longitudinally, stained and examined for residual debris. Results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the groups (P < 0.05). A further 20 teeth were not prepared and lased in the coronal one-third of the root canal at different energy levels; five teeth were not lased. The teeth were split and examined as previously. The results showed that lasing cleaned the coronal part of the root canal almost completely of pulpal tissue. In the final part of the study laser energy was applied to dentine chips, HAP and low-fusing procelain in an attempt to produce a fused apical plug. The laser was unable to melt the dentine chips but some hardening of HAP occurred when combined with blue food-colouring, with or without glycerine, at energy levels of 1.0 W, at 15 pps for 30 s. Superficial hardening of low-fusing porcelain occurred at 1.0 W, 15 pps for 30 s which increased when 1.5 W was applied at 15 pps for 30s.

Shortened hospital stays have necessitated examination of alternative approaches for pre and postoperative teaching. An investigation of one alternative became a study in which a home care preoperative teaching programme for older adults undergoing cataract extractions with lens implants was implemented and evaluated. The findings indicated that the teaching programme was effective and resulted in positive benefits.

Summary Measurements were made of the spectral distribution of light emitted from five commercially available visible-light polymerization units. All emissions peaked between 400 and 500 nm but the ‘functional’ irradiance varied by a factor of 20 for the sources investigated. Timer checks revealed errors of up to 20%. Light output was plotted as a function of time and, after 60 s, varied from −15% to +38% of the initial level. The decrease in irradiance with distance from the end of the guide was such that irradiance at 20 mm was between 20% and 40% of that at 2 mm. The light distribution across the face of each light guide was investigated and significant inhomogeneities discovered. An ultraviolet light (UV) hazard assessment was performed and it was concluded that none of the light sources presented a hazard to the operator in normal use.

This study is an extension of recently reported research concerning the relationships between business simulation game complexity and student perceptions of “learning,”“monotony,” and “appropriateness of challenge.” A game of intermediate-level complexity was used at two education levels. Findings from the current study are compared with findings from an earlier study's intermediate-level complexity game. A number of questions with respect to the earlier findings are raised.

As part of a laboratory evaluation, measurements of abrasion loss and tensile enamel--sealant bond strengths have been made on three visible light cured sealants (two filled, one unfilled), two chemically cured sealants (one filled and one unfilled) and an experimental sealant with alumina filler particles. A UV-cured filled sealant was used as a control. The unfilled sealants had abrasion loss approximately twice that of the filled commercial sealants. The experimental sealant, with filler content above 50%, had an abrasion loss approximately half that of the filled commercial sealants. The chemical cured sealants had bond strengths lower than the UV-cured control, while the bond strengths of the two visible light-cured filled sealants and the experimental sealant were not statistically different from either the unfilled visible light-cured sealant or from the UV-cured filled sealant.

Forty-six male and forty-six female third grade children were assigned to one of two experimental conditions. In one condition Ss were told that they were going to take several tests and were than administered three subtests from the nonverbal battery of the WISC. In the second condition Ss were told that they were going to play several games and were than administered the same three subtests. An analysis of variance applied to the resulting summed scores revealed one significant main effect, task definition (p < .01).

Summary The aim of this study was to measure the rise in temperature during: (i) a single cycle of a curing light unit, (ii) the polymerization of a layer of light-cured lining material, and (iii) the polymerization of a light-cured posterior composite material, and also during combinations of these individual procedures. Experimental work was undertaken in vitro and measurements were made using a thermocouple placed centrally in an insulated PTFE well. Large temperature rises occurred with the use of the curing light alone. The lining material itself did not contribute significantly to the rise in temperature during curing, nor did it provide thermal insulation from the output temperature emitted by the light guide. The presence of a layer of posterior composite reduced the temperature transmitted from the light but the residual temperature rise transmitted was still of such a magnitude as to cause concern regarding possible thermal injury to the pulp.