Assembling a physical model helps students grasp human somatosensory pathways.

Mastering the complexity of the nervous system is essential for education programs in physiology, anatomy, and neuroscience. Students often struggle when learning somatosensory pathways, which convey information from sensory neurons to the somatosensory cortex in the brain. Active learning activities incorporating physical models have been shown to increase content comprehension as well as enjoyment of the learning process.

Does covering routine dental care for the Medicare population produce cost savings in Medicare? A preliminary 2-year analysis.

Objectives: We estimated the association between the use of preventive dental care and medical use and expense for older persons over a 2-year period to determine if a Medicare dental benefit for routine care could result in potential cost savings in Medicare.

Methods: We relied on 2008-2014 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data to estimate separate logistic and lognormal ordinary least squares regressions to analyze the influence of year 1 preventive dental care on either year 1 or year 2 use and expenses for total health care, office-based care, outpatient care, inpatient stays, emergency department visits, and prescription drugs.

Results: Our findings provide evidence over a 2-year period that a Medicare dental benefit for routine care could produce an increase in office-based visits and expense.

The demand for preventive and restorative dental services among older adults.

Many older Americans have poor access to dental care, resulting in a high prevalence of oral health problems. Because traditional Medicare does not include dental care benefits, only older Americans who are employed, have post-retirement dental benefits or spousal coverage, or enroll in certain Medicare Advantage plans are able to obtain dental care coverage. We seek to determine the extent to which poor access to dental insurance and high out-of-pocket costs affect dental service use by the elderly.

Diversity in the use of specialized dental services by older adults in the United States.

Objectives: We estimated the use of any dental services and the use of specific types of dental services conditional on any dental use for adults 50 and over in the United States to analyze: a) disparities in the use of specialized dental services and b) whether older adults receiving routine dental care use fewer expensive specialized dental services.

Methods: We relied on data tabulations and estimated logistic regressions from the 2014 Medical Expenditure Panel Study to analyze the influence of various covariates such as age, race/ethnicity, education, dental insurance, income, and health status on the likelihood of a) using any dental care and b) using routine dental care (prophylaxis, examinations, bitewings, etc.) and specialized services for restorative, periodontal, oral surgery, or prosthetic dental care conditional on using any dental care.

Differences Among Older Adults in the Types of Dental Services Used in the United States.

The purpose of this article is to explore differences in the socioeconomic, demographic characteristics of older adults in the United States with respect to their use of different types of dental care services. The 2008 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) collected information about patterns of dental care use and oral health from individuals aged 55 years and older in the United States. We analyze these data and explore patterns of service use by key characteristics before modeling the relationship between service use type and those characteristics.

A Research Note on Transitions in Out-of-Pocket Spending on Dental Services.

Objective: We analyze correlates of the direction and magnitude of changes in out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for dental care by older Americans over a recent 4-year period.

Methods: We analyzed data from the 2006 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. We estimated multinomial logistic models of the direction and linear regression models of the amounts of OOP changes over survey periods.

Response error in reporting dental coverage by older Americans in the health and retirement study.

The aim of this research was to analyze the inconsistency in responses to survey questions within the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) regarding insurance coverage of dental services. Self-reports of dental coverage in the dental services section were compared with those in the insurance section of the 2002 HRS to identify inconsistent responses. Logistic regression identified characteristics of persons reporting discrepancies and assessed the effect of measurement error on dental coverage coefficient estimates in dental utilization models.

Dental care coverage and use: modeling limitations and opportunities.

Objectives: We examined why older US adults without dental care coverage and use would have lower use rates if offered coverage than do those who currently have coverage.

Methods: We used data from the 2008 Health and Retirement Study to estimate a multinomial logistic model to analyze the influence of personal characteristics in the grouping of older US adults into those with and those without dental care coverage and dental care use.

Results: Compared with persons with no coverage and no dental care use, users of dental care with coverage were more likely to be younger, female, wealthier, college graduates, married, in excellent or very good health, and not missing all their permanent teeth.

Dental use and expenditures for older uninsured Americans: the simulated impact of expanded coverage.

Objective: To determine if providing dental insurance to older Americans would close the current gaps in dental use and expenditure between insured and uninsured older Americans.

Data Sources/study Setting: We used data from the 2008 Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) supplemented by data from the 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).

Study Design: We compared the simulated dental use and expenditures rates of newly insured persons against the corresponding rates for those previously insured.

Artificial oxygen carrier with pharmacologic actions of adenosine-5'-triphosphate, adenosine, and reduced glutathione formulated to treat an array of medical conditions.

Effective artificial oxygen carriers may offer a solution to tackling current transfusion medicine challenges such as blood shortages, red blood cell storage lesions, and transmission of emerging pathogens. These products, could provide additional therapeutic benefits besides oxygen delivery for an array of medical conditions. To meet these needs, we developed a hemoglobin (Hb)-based oxygen carrier, HemoTech, which utilizes the concept of pharmacologic cross-linking.

Dental care coverage and use: modeling limitations and opportunities.

Objectives: We examined why older US adults without dental care coverage and use would have lower use rates if offered coverage than do those who currently have coverage.

Methods: We used data from the 2008 Health and Retirement Study to estimate a multinomial logistic model to analyze the influence of personal characteristics in the grouping of older US adults into those with and those without dental care coverage and dental care use.

Results: Compared with persons with no coverage and no dental care use, users of dental care with coverage were more likely to be younger, female, wealthier, college graduates, married, in excellent or very good health, and not missing all their permanent teeth.

Patterns of older Americans' health care utilization over time.

Objectives: We analyzed correlates of older Americans' continuous and transitional health care utilization over 4 years.

Methods: We analyzed data for civilian, noninstitutionalized US individuals older than 50 years from the 2006 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. We estimated multinomial logistic models of persistent and intermittent use of physician, inpatient hospital, home health, and outpatient surgery over the 2004-2008 survey periods.

Biological inquiry: a new course and assessment plan in response to the call to transform undergraduate biology.

We transformed our first-year curriculum in biology with a new course, Biological Inquiry, in which >50% of all incoming, first-year students enroll. The course replaced a traditional, content-driven course that relied on outdated approaches to teaching and learning. We diversified pedagogical practices by adopting guided inquiry in class and in labs, which are devoted to building authentic research skills through open-ended experiments.

Dental usage under changing economic conditions.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between changes in household finances (wealth and income) and changes in dental utilization at the onset of the recent recession in a population of older Americans.

Methods: Data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were analyzed for U.S.

Wealth effect and dental care utilization in the United States.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship of wealth and income and the relative impact of each on dental utilization in a population of older Americans, using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).

Methods: Data from the HRS were analyzed for US individuals aged 51 years and older during the 2008 wave of the HRS. The primary focus of the analysis is the relationship between wealth, income, and dental utilization.

Adenosine-5'-triphosphate-adenosine-glutathione cross-linked hemoglobin as erythropoiesis-stimulating agent.

An effective hemoglobin (Hb)-based blood substitute that acts as a physiological oxygen carrier and volume expander ought to stimulate erythropoiesis. A speedy replacement of blood loss with endogenous red blood cells should be an essential feature of any blood substitute product because of its relatively short circulatory retention time and high autoxidation rate. Erythropoiesis is a complex process controlled by oxygen and redox-regulated transcription factors and their target genes that can be affected by Hb physicochemical properties.

The influence of changes in dental care coverage on dental care utilization among retirees and near-retirees in the United States, 2004-2006.

Objectives: We examined dental care utilization transition dynamics between 2004 and 2006 in the context of changing dental coverage status.

Methods: We used data from the Health and Retirement Study for persons aged 51 years and older to estimate a multivariable model of dental care use transitions with controls for dental coverage and retirement transitions and other potentially confounding covariates.

Results: We found that Americans aged 51 years and older who lost dental coverage between the 2004 and 2006 survey periods were more likely to stop dental care use between periods, and those who gained coverage were more likely to start dental care use between periods, than those without coverage in both periods.

Differential co-localization with choline acetyltransferase in nervus terminalis suggests functional differences for GnRH isoforms in bonnethead sharks (Sphyrna tiburo).

The nervus terminalis (NT) is a vertebrate cranial nerve whose function in adults is unknown. In bonnethead sharks, the nerve is anatomically independent of the olfactory system, with two major cell populations within one or more ganglia along its exposed length. Most cells are immunoreactive for either gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) or RF-amide-like peptides.

Investing in preventive dental care for the Medicare population: a preliminary analysis.

Objectives: We estimated the use of preventive dental care services by the US Medicare population, and we assessed whether money spent on preventive dental care resulted in less money being spent on expensive nonpreventive procedures.

Methods: We used data from the 2002 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey to estimate a multinomial logistic model to analyze the influence of predisposing, enabling, and need variables in identifying those beneficiaries who used preventive dental care, only nonpreventive dental care, or no dental care in a multiple-variable context. We used regression models with similar controls to estimate the influence of preventive care on the utilization and cost of nonpreventive dental care and all dental care.

Gender differences in platelet aggregation in healthy individuals.

This study evaluated gender variability in platelet aggregation in response to common agonists. Platelet aggregation was measured in 36 healthy men and women free of any antiplatelet medication, aged 22-36 years, of Caucasian (White not of Hispanic origin), Hispanic, and African-American not of Hispanic origin. In this ex-vivo study, we investigated platelet aggregation in response to adenosine-5'-diphosphate (ADP), epinephrine (EPI), arachidonic acid (AA) and collagen (COL), using a platelet ionized calcium aggregometer (Chrono-Log Co.

Dental care coverage transitions.

Objective: To examine dental insurance transition dynamics in the context of changing employment and retirement status.

Study Design: Data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were analyzed for individuals 51 years and older between the 2004 and 2006 waves of the HRS.

Methods: The primary focus of the analysis is the relationship between retirement and transitions in dental care coverage.

Control of oxidative reactions of hemoglobin in the design of blood substitutes: role of the ascorbate-glutathione antioxidant system.

Uncontrolled oxidative reactions of hemoglobin (Hb) are still the main unresolved problem for Hb-based blood substitute developers. Spontaneous oxidation of acellular ferrous Hb into a nonfunctional ferric Hb generates superoxide anion. Hydrogen peroxide, formed after superoxide anion dismutation, may react with ferrous/ferric Hb to produce toxic ferryl Hb, fluorescent heme degradation products, and/or protein-based free radicals.

Intrinsic toxicity of hemoglobin: how to counteract it.

The development of safe and effective blood substitutes is of great importance in both civilian and military medicine. The currently tested hemoglobin (Hb)-based oxygen carriers, however, have toxicity and efficacy problems. A number of unwanted effects have been observed in human trials, creating doubts about their clinical usefulness.

Evaluation of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)-like activity of acellular hemoglobin.

Despite the tremendous progress in research on hemoglobin (Hb) cellular and molecular responses, the current understanding of Hb's overall intrinsic toxicity is still limited. The complete mechanism of Hb-induced vasoconstriction has not yet been established, particularly the involvement of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Some studies emphasized that Hb may augment the vascular responsiveness to angiotensin (Ang)-II.