The etiology of BMS remains unknown. Role of various cytokines has been implicated in the development of BMS. The aim of this study was to evaluate levels of salivary IL-2 and IL-6 in patients with BMS, compared with age-matched healthy volunteers (control group). Whole saliva from 30 patients with BMS, age range 55–65, was tested for the presence of IL-6 and IL-2 by enzyme immunoassay. Control group consisted of 30 healthy participants, aged 55–65 years. Saliva IL-2 concentrations in BMS were significantly increased in patients compared to healthy subjects: mean 34.1 ± 9.7 versus 7.3 ± 3.0 pg/mL; P < .001. Patients with BMS had significantly higher concentrations of IL-6 compared to control: mean 30.8 ± 5.6 versus 5.2 ± 2.8 pg/mL; P < .001. In patients with BMS, IL-2 and IL-6 levels in saliva are elevated, correlating with the severity of illness.

The aim of this study was to determine the levels of proinflammatory tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) cytokines in whole unstimulated saliva in subjects with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) before and after treatment with low-level laser therapy (LLLT). BMS is characterized by a continuous, painful burning sensation in a clinically normal-appearing oral mucosa. A sample consisting of 40 consecutive subjects was selected on a voluntary basis from the pool of patients who presented for diagnosis and treatment of BMS at the Oral Medicine Unit of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Rijeka. For determination of salivary levels of TNF-α and IL-6, ELISA (Sigma Immunochemicals, St. Louis, MO, USA) was performed to determine the salivary levels of TNF-α and IL-6. After 4 weeks of LLLT, the salivary levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the experimental group decreased significantly (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the experimental group regarding visual analogue scale.

Aim To develop and test the psychometric characteristics of a questionnaire measuring attitudes toward plagiarism.Methods Participants were 227 undergraduates and graduate students (128 women and 99 men) from three Croatian universities, with a median age of 21 years (range 18 to 48). Research was conducted from March to June 2009. For the purpose of construction of the first version of the questionnaire, 67 statements (items) were developed. The statements were based on the relevant literature and were developed following rules and recommendations for questionnaire writing, and 36 items were chosen for final validation. Factor analysis was used to find out the factor structure of the questionnaire and to measure construct validity. ResultsThe final version of the questionnaire consisted of 29 items divided into a three-factor structure: factor I -positive attitude toward plagiarism (12 items); factor IInegative attitude toward plagiarism (7 items); and factor III -subjective norms toward plagiarism (10 items). Cronbach α was calculated to confirm the reliability of the scale: factor I -α = 0.83; factor II -α = 0.79; and factor III -α = 0.85. Correlations between factors were: -0.37 between I and II, -0.41 between I and III, and +0.31 between II and III.Conclusion Attitudes Toward Plagiarism questionnaire was developed, with good psychometric characteristics. It will be used in future research as a standardized tool for measuring attitudes toward plagiarism. BASIC SCIENCES doi: 10.3325/cmj.2010.51.195 BASIC SCIENCES 196 Croat Med J. 2010 51: 195-201 www.cmj.hrIn recent years, scientific misconduct and academic dishonesty have been in the focus of interest of the academic and scientific community (1-5). Academic misconduct is defined as any type of cheating that compromises the educational process and academic integrity of the institution. It includes plagiarism, fabrication, deception, corruption, and sabotage, while scientific misconduct usually includes fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and other unethical behavior in professional scientific research (6-8). Plagiarism is the most frequent type of misconduct (9,10) and is defined as "unauthorized appropriation of another's work, ideas, methods, results or words without acknowledging the source and original author" (4). Self-plagiarism is widely considered to be a type of plagiarism, and it is defined as the inappropriate presentation of one's own published data or text as new and original. Among all types of misconduct in science and in an academic environment, plagiarism is consider to be the most vicious between peers, because it constitutes theft of intellectual property, which is the core achievement of intellectual work.The implementation of computer technology and the availability of scientific papers and books in electronic form have facilitated plagiarizing by allowing simple "copy-andpaste" procedures (11). On the other hand, the same technology has also enabled the development of plagiarism detection software (12,13).The extent of acade...

Background Blogs are the major contributors to the large increase of new websites created each year. Most blogs allow readers to leave comments and, in this way, generate both conversation and encourage collaboration. Despite their popularity, however, little is known about blogs or their creators.Objectives To contribute to a better understanding of the medical blogosphere by investigating the characteristics of medical bloggers and their blogs, including bloggers’ Internet and blogging habits, their motivations for blogging, and whether or not they follow practices associated with journalism.Methods We approached 197 medical bloggers of English-language medical blogs which provided direct contact information, with posts published within the past month. The survey included 37 items designed to evaluate data about Internet and blogging habits, blog characteristics, blogging motivations, and, finally, the demographic data of bloggers.Pearson’s Chi-Square test was used to assess the significance of an association between 2 categorical variables. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was utilized to reveal the relationship between participants’ ages, as well as the number of maintained blogs, and their motivation for blogging. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed to reveal relationships between practices associated with journalism and participants’ characteristics like gender and pseudonym use.Results A total of 80 (42%) of 197 eligible participants responded. The majority of responding bloggers were white (75%), highly educated (71% with a Masters degree or doctorate), male (59%), residents of the United States (72%), between the ages of 30 and 49 (58%), and working in the healthcare industry (67%). Most of them were experienced bloggers, with 23% (18/80) blogging for 4 or more years, 38% (30/80) for 2 or 3 years, 32% (26/80) for about a year, and only 7% (6/80) for 6 months or less. Those who received attention from the news media numbered 66% (53/80). When it comes to best practices associated with journalism, the participants most frequently reported including links to original source of material and spending extra time verifying facts, while rarely seeking permission to post copyrighted material. Bloggers who have published a scientific paper were more likely to quote other people or media than those who have never published such a paper (U= 506.5, n1= 41, n2= 35, P= .016). Those blogging under their real name more often included links to original sources than those writing under a pseudonym (U= 446.5, n1= 58, n2= 19, P= .01). Major motivations for blogging were sharing practical knowledge or skills with others, influencing the way others think, and expressing oneself creatively.Conclusions Medical bloggers are highly educated and devoted blog writers, faithful to their sources and readers. Sharing practical knowledge and skills, as well as influencing the way other people think, were major motivations for blogging among our medical bloggers. Medical blogs are frequently picked up by mainstream media; thus, b...

Dental students have generally positive attitudes towards e-learning. Teachers should adopt strategies to change negative attitudes by introducing more e-learning courses in lower study years and should encourage students to use the Internet in their education and communication with teachers and colleagues.