Purpose: Many studies have shown the ability of low intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) to stimulate the bone, cartilage and tendon regeneration but only a few studied LIPUS interest in the regeneration of the oral mucosa. The purpose of this study is to assess the ability of LIPUS to stimulate the regeneration of the palatal mucosa in a porcine model. Methods: Ten adults mini-pigs were used. Two mucosal wounds were realised on the left and right side of the palate of each pig. The right side was treated with LIPUS at 1 MHz of frequency and 300 mW/cm2 of acoustic intensity. The left side was not treated. The morphology of the wound was evaluated using a polymer silicone molding. Results: The difference between two sides was significant from day 7 with a p value <0.0001. At day 21, the wound is completely healed on all pigs with LIPUS. The control soft tissue defect exposed a healing of 80%. Conclusions: The present study showed that the use of LIPUS on the oral mucosa accelerates the healing of the masticatory mucosa.

Objective We assessed the association between parental prenatal exposures in wood-related jobs and risk of testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) in offspring. Methods NORD-TEST, a registry-based case–control study in Sweden, Finland and Norway, included 8112 TGCT cases diagnosed at ages 14–49 years between 1978 and 2012 with no history of prior cancer, and up to four controls matched to each case on year and country of birth. Parents of cases and controls were identified via linkages with the population registries and their occupational information was retrieved from censuses. The Nordic Occupational Cancer Study Job-Exposure Matrix was used to assign occupational exposures to each parent. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Maternal wood-related job was not associated with the risk of TGCT in offspring (OR 1.08, CI 0.55–2.14), while paternal wood-related job was associated with a decreased risk of TGCT in offspring (OR 0.85, CI 0.75–0.96). None of the specific wood-related jobs, such as upholsterers, sawyers, or construction carpenters, were significantly associated with a risk of TGCT. Only exception was observed in a sensitivity analysis which showed an increased risk in the small group of sons of fathers working as ‘cabinetmakers and joiners’ the year before conception (OR of 2.06, CI 1.00–4.25). Conclusion This large-scale NORD-TEST analysis provided no evidence of an association between parental prenatal exposures in wood-related jobs and TGCT in sons.

ObjectiveThe improvement of patient experience (PE) is related to the experience of staff caring for them. Yet there is little evidence as to which interactions matter the most for both patients and staff, or how they are perceived by them. We aimed to summarise the interactions and the perceptions between patients and staff from studies by using both patient and staff experience data in healthcare institutions.DesignScoping review.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review, including studies dealing with PE and staff experience. Two authors independently reviewed each title/abstract and the selected full-text articles. A list of variables (objective, study design, data sources, tools used, results, interactions, perceptions and actions) was charted and summarised using a narrative approach including both qualitative and quantitative data. Studies were grouped according to their objective and the key interactions summarised according to this stratification. The perceptions of patients and staff were identified in the results of selected studies and were classified into four categories: commonalities and disagreements of perceptions, patients’ perceptions not perceived by professionals and professional’s perceptions not perceived by patients.ResultsA total of 42 studies were included. The stratification of studies by type of objective resulted in six groups that allowed to classify the key interactions (n=154) identified in the results of the selected studies. A total of 128 perceptions related to interaction between patient and staff were reported with the following distribution: commonalities (n=35), disagreements (n=18), patients’ perceptions not perceived by professionals (n=47) and professional’s perceptions not perceived by patients (n=28). We separated positive and negative perceptions, which resulted in seven scenarios, each with actions that can be carried out for one or both populations to overcome barriers.ConclusionThe study of both patient and staff experience allowed the identification of actions that can be taken to change the perceptions of patients and staff.