One challenge facing dental hygiene, as well as dental, education is to identify clinical teaching strategies promoting critical thinking and clinical reasoning. These skills are crucial elements in the practice of dental hygiene. A two-group design (intervention, n=28, and control, n=30) assessed irst-year dental hygiene students using pre-and post-Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT) scores to evaluate the effect of relective blogging on critical thinking skills. A relective blog rubric, based on Mezirow's levels of relection, determined if relective blogging increased the level of relection for dental hygiene students. The results suggest within this nonprobability sample that relective blogging did not produce a signiicant change in students' HSRT scores (p>0.05). However, analyses of relective blog rubric scores demonstrated statistically signiicant improvements (p<0.05) in students' levels of relection. Furthermore, data analysis revealed a correlation (p<0.05) between HSRT subscale scores and the element of relection scores for the intervention group. This study addressed needs of the dental and dental hygiene education community by examining the use of blogs, an emerging technology, as a tool for relecting on clinical experiences and, in turn, for promoting critical thinking.

Since this is the first TTM study in Taiwan, continued TTM testing is needed to adequately determine the applicability of the TTM and to identify the most effective theory-based physical activity interventions.

Mechanisms are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of ever-increasing technological resources for nursing student use. The authors tracked the use of personal digital assistants versus textbook resources by junior-level baccalaureate nursing students throughout 1 semester. The authors discuss the results of that activity and provide a starting point for the evaluation of the use of personal digital assistants by nursing students.

This study determined and compared rates and mechanisms of lactate transport in red blood cells (RBCs) of persons with 1) sickle cell disease (HbSS), 2) sickle cell trait (HbAS), and 3) a control group (HbAA). Blood samples were drawn from 30 African-American volunteers (10 HbSS, 10 HbAS, 10 HbAA). Lactate influx into RBCs was measured by using [14C]lactate at six (2, 5, 10, 15, 25, and 40 mM) unlabeled lactate concentrations. The monocarboxylate transporter pathway was blocked by p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid to determine its percent contribution to total lactate influx. Generally, total lactate influx into RBCs from the HbSS group was significantly greater than influx into RBCs from HbAS or HbAA, with no difference between HbAS and HbAA. Faster influx into HbSS RBCs was attributed to increased monocarboxylate transporter activity [increased apparent Vmax (V'max)]. V'max (4.7 +/- 0.6 micromol x ml(-1) x min(-1)) for HbSS RBCs was significantly greater than V'max of HbAS RBCs (2.9 +/- 1.5 micromol x ml(-1) x min(-1)) and HbAA RBCs (2.0 +/- 0.5 micromol x ml(-1) x min(-1)). Km (42.8 +/- 8 mM) for HbSS RBCs was significantly greater than Km (27 +/- 12 mM) for HbAA RBCs. We suspect that elevated erythropoietin levels in response to chronic anemia and/or pharmacological treatment (erythropoietin injections, hydroxyurea ingestion) is the underlying mechanism for increased lactate transport capacity in HbSS RBCs.

The Horizon Wimba online Web-conferencing voice system was used to facilitate dialogue and decrease transactional distance in a Web-based course. Small-group (< or =6)discussion sessions were held and addressed topics pertinent to clinical practice. Students were asked to evaluate the synchronous voice discussion groups via a Flashlight survey at the end of the semester. Anecdotal and survey responses indicated that discussion groups increased dialogue between faculty and students.