Efficacy Of Self Research Articles

Comparable Efficacy of Laser-Cut and Braided Self Expanding Metallic Biliary Stent: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

In patients with unresectable malignant biliary obstruction (MBO), endoscopic biliary drainage is the treatment of choice. Self-expanding metallic stents (SEMS) are mainly used for this purpose, and data is limited on the comparative outcomes of laser-cut versus braided SEMS. Herein, we performed the first systematic review and meta-analysis to study the effectiveness and safety of braided and laser-cut SEMS in MBO. Multiple databases, including Medline, Scopus, and Embase, were searched (in May 2022) using specific terms for studies evaluating the outcomes of braided and laser-cut SEMS in MBO. Outcomes of interest were technical and clinical success, recurrent biliary obstruction, and adverse events. Standard meta-analysis methods were employed using the random-effects model. I2% heterogeneity was used to assess the heterogeneity. Seven studies were included in the final analysis. (Laser-cut: 271 patients, 46% females, mean age 70years; and braided: 282 patients, 47% females, mean age 72years). The pooled rate of technical success and clinical success with laser-cut SEMS was 99% (95% CI [95-99; I2 = 0%]), 86% [60-96; I2 = 74%], and 98% [96-99; I2 = 0%], 89% [74-95; I2 = 78%] with braided. The pooled rate of recurrent biliary obstruction with laser-cut SEMS was 26% [14-43; I2 = 88%] and 12% [5-27; I2 = 56%) with braided. Pooled total adverse events were 11% [5-21; I2 = 77%] in laser-cut and 12% [6-24; I2 = 63%] in braided. Our meta-analysis demonstrates similar clinical outcomes with laser-cut and braided SEMS in MBO. Given the comparable performance, a cost-effectiveness analysis might help in choosing one type versus another in patients with MBO.

Randomized controlled clinical trial of the efficacy of the digital self- help program edupression.com® in mild-to-moderate unipolar depressive patients (eFICASY-study)

Randomized controlled clinical trial of the efficacy of the digital self- help program edupression.com® in mild-to-moderate unipolar depressive patients (eFICASY-study)

Patient-centred care with self-compression mammography in clinical practice: a randomized trial compared to standard compression.

To test the efficacy of self- compared to radiographer-led compression to reduce the average glandular dose without affecting image quality and compliance to follow-up mammography. Women presenting for mammography for breast cancer follow-up, symptoms, opportunistic screening, or familial risk were asked to participate and, if willing, were randomized to self-compression or radiographer-led compression. Image quality was assessed blindly by two independent radiologists and two radiographers. Pain and discomfort were measured immediately after mammography and their recall was asked when the women participated in the follow-up mammogram, 1 or 2 years later. In total, 495 women (mean age 57 years +/-14) were enrolled, 245 in the self-compression and 250 radiographer-compression arms. Image quality was similar in the two arms (radiologists' judgement p = 0.90; radiographers' judgement p = 0.32). A stronger compression force was reached in the self- than in the radiographer-arm (114.5 vs. 10.25 daN, p < .001), with a 1.7-mm reduction in thickness (p = .14), and almost no impact on dose per exam (1.90 vs. 1.93 mGy, p = .47). Moderate/severe discomfort was reported by 7.8% vs 9.6% (p = .77) and median pain score was 4.0 in both arms (p = .55). Median execution time was 1 min longer with self-compression (10.0 vs. 9.1 min, p < 0.001). No effect on subsequent mammography was detectable (p = 0.47). Self-compression achieved stronger compression of the breast, with comparable image quality, but did not substantially reduce glandular dose. The proportion of women who attended follow-up mammography was also similar in the two groups. clinicaltrials.gov NCT04009278 KEY POINTS: • In mammography, appropriate compression is essential to obtain high image quality and reduce dose. Compression causes pain and discomfort. • Self-compression has been proposed to reach better compression and possibly increase participation in mammography. • In a randomized trial, self-compression reached stronger compression of the breast, with comparable image quality but with no glandular dose reduction or impact on participation in follow-up mammography.

The efficacy of Self- Compassion Focused Training (CFT) on psychological capital and Social well-being of mothers with Slow-paced child

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Self- Compassion Focused Training on psychological capital and social well-being in mothers with Slow paced children. From this population, 30 mothers were selected using a purposive sampling method and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The Lutens and Keys Social Welfare Questionnaires were used to collect data. The research method was experimental with a pretest-posttest design with the control group. The experimental groups underwent self-compassion training (8 sessions of 90 minutes); The control group was placed on the waiting list for intervention. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance. The results showed that self-compassion education intervention was effective in increasing psychological capital (p <0.05) and social well-being (p <0.01) in mothers with slow-moving children. Therefore, self-compassion training can be used to help mothers with slow-moving children.

Experiencing organ failure in virtual reality: Effects of self- versus other-embodied perspective taking on empathy and prosocial outcomes

This study capitalizes on the unique capability of virtual reality (VR) to examine the efficacy of self- versus other-embodied perspective taking in promoting kidney donation in Singapore. The study used a 2 (self- vs other-embodied) × 2 (mirror vs photo presentation) between-subjects VR experiment ( N = 128), wherein participants played the role of a patient needing a kidney donation, either as themselves or as a typical organ-failure patient. Our findings showed that self-embodied perspective taking triggered self-oriented emotions (i.e. personal distress) and subsequently egoistic motivations that resulted in alternative prosocial behaviors (e.g. monetary donation, volunteering) than kidney donation. We found that embodying the other, rather than the self, had the practical benefit of inducing other-oriented emotions (i.e. empathy) and hence altruistic motivations that promoted kidney donation. This study clarified the conditions under which embodied perspective taking promoted different prosocial outcomes, and the specific mechanisms through which it achieved those outcomes.

Clinical applications of self-hypnosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

We conducted a systematic review of randomized control trials examining the efficacy of self- hypnosis as a clinical treatment. Searching for ‘self-hypnosis’, ‘self-hypnotic’, ‘autosuggestion’, and ‘autohypnosis’ returned 576 studies, of which 22 met the definition of being an RCT. Self-hypnosis has been reported to be efficacious in studies of pain, childbirth, paediatric applications, stress and anxiety. Methodological differences among studies are discussed. Self-hypnosis is most likely to be effective when taught as an independent self-directed skill and when it involves at least three practice sessions before participation in the trial. Experience of hetero-hypnosis does not seem to be essential in producing an effect for self-hypnosis. Studies reporting no effect typically involved participants listening to audio recordings of hetero-hypnosis only. Meta- analysis revealed a medium-to-large effect size for self-hypnosis in clinical treatment.

الفاعلية الذاتية وأساليب التفکير کمنبئات بمهارات اتخاذ القرار لدى طلاب جامعة القصيم

هدف البحث الحالي للتعرف على مستوى مهارات اتخاذ القرار لدى طلاب جامعة القصيم ومستوى الفاعلية الذاتية وأساليب التفکير السائدة لديهم، ومدى إمکانية التنبؤ بمهارات اتخاذ القرار من خلال الفاعلية الذاتية وأساليب التفکير في ضوء نظرية ستيرنبرج، وتکونت العينة من 444 من طلاب جامعة القصيم الذکور من کليات (الشريعة، التربية، اللغة العربية، الزراعة، العلوم، العلوم الصحية التطبيقية) طبق عليهممقياس مهارات اتخاذ القرار للطراونة (2006) ومقياس الفاعلية الذاتية للعدل (2001) وقائمة أساليب التفکير (النسخة القصيرة) لستنبرج وواجنر 1992 تعريب وتقنين (الدرديري والطيب، 2004) وباستخدام الأساليب الإحصائية المناسبة توصل البحث لعدة نتائج منها: - مستوى مهارات اتخاذ القرار لدى طلاب جامعة القصيم فوق المتوسط ولم يصل للمستوى المرتفع. - عدم سيادة أسلوب معين للتفکير لدى الطلاب عينة البحث. - مستوى الفاعلية الذاتية لدى طلاب جامعة القصيم مستوى عالي. - عدم تأثير المستوى الدراسي أوالتخصص الأکاديمي أو التفاعلات المشترکة بين المستوى الدراسي والتخصص الأکاديمي على مهارات اتخاذ القرار. - تسهم الفاعلية الذاتية وأساليب التفکير المختلفة في التنبؤ بمهارات اتخاذ القرار. The current study is trying to identify the extent to which the University of Qassim students have the decision-making skills and the relationship of these skills to self-effectiveness and their ways of thinking in light of the Theory of Steinberg of the Ways of Thinking. This study was applied to the University of Qassim male students in (the colleges of law, education and the Arabic language) the colleges of (Sciences, Agriculture, Health Sciences and Applied Sciences) in the first and seven levels. The Troyandecision-making measurement were used (2006) and the justice self-efficacy measurement (2001) and the Steinberg and Wagner list of thinking skills (short version) 1992 (Arabization and rationing of Dr. Abdulmin’im al Dardiri, and Dr. Issam Al Tayyib 2004). The study found that there are statistically significant differences at the 0.01 level between the experimental average grades of decision-making skills (total score) for the Qassim University students and the proposed average and the differences in favor of the proposed average. The study also found not to rule out a certain way of thinking among a sample study students as confirmed by the study on the efficacy of self of the Qassim University students which has a high level of self-efficacy, as well as the lack of impact of the level of interaction between the level of studies and the academic specialization on the decision making skills. The study also found the results of multiple regression analysis which showed that self efficacy and the ways of thinking, respectively, are the most important independent variables in predicting the decision-making skills (total score).

Prospective Randomized Controlled Study of Efficacy of Self Gripping Mesh in Inguinal Hernia Repair

AbstractBackground: Chronic pain following inguinal hernia repair is a complex problem. Mesh fixation with sutures may be a contributing factor to this pain. A new self gripping mesh (Parietex® Progrip®) was developed to allow sutureless fixation of mesh, avoid chronic pain after hernia surgery and reduce the operative time.Aim of the Work: The aim of this study was to study the efficacy of self gripping mesh in inguinal hernia repair. Methods: Twenty six male patients with uncomplicated inguinal hernia were randomized into 2 groups. Group A: Included 10 patients subjected to repair with polypropylene mesh. Group B: Included 16 patients subjected to repair with parietex® progrip® mesh. They were followed-up for incidence of pain (with VAS) and integrity of the mesh (with U/S).Results: There were no statistically significant differences between both groups regarding age, sex, body mass index or incidence of postoperative pain (p=0.385). The operative time and mesh fixation time were significantly shorter in self gripping mesh group than the sutured mesh group (p<0.001). There were no reported cases of recurrence, haematoma, epididymo-orchitis or testicular atrophy in either group during the follow-up period. Scrotal oedema was detected in 7 cases in group A and 4 cases in group B. Seroma was detected in 3 cases in group A and 2 cases in group B. Wound infection occurred in 2 cases in group A.Conclusion: The higher price of the parietex progrip mesh makes its use questionable. The smaller number of the studied cases with the short follow-up period make us unable to give solid recommendation to use one mesh type than the other.

Take Control: A randomized trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of self- versus physician-managed titration of insulin glargine 300 U/mL in patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes.

AimTo compare the efficacy and safety of self‐ versus physician‐managed titration of insulin glargine 300 U/mL (Gla‐300) in people with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes.MethodsTake Control (EudraCT number: 2015‐001626‐42) was a 24‐week, multi‐national, open‐label, controlled, two‐arm, parallel‐group study in insulin‐naïve and pre‐treated participants, randomized 1:1 to a self‐ or physician‐managed titration of Gla‐300. The fasting self‐monitored plasma glucose (SMPG) target was 4.4 to 7.2 mmol/L. The primary outcome was non‐inferiority of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) change from baseline to week 24. Secondary outcomes included SMPG target achievement without hypoglycaemia, hypoglycaemia incidence, adverse events and participant‐reported outcomes (PROs).ResultsAt week 24, the least squares (LS) mean HbA1c reduction was 0.97% (10.6 mmol/mol) and 0.84% (9.2 mmol/mol) in the self‐ and physician‐managed groups, respectively, with an LS mean difference of −0.13% [95% confidence interval −0.2619 to −0.0004] (–1.4 mmol/mol [–2.863 to –0.004]), demonstrating non‐inferiority (P < 0.0001) and superiority (P = 0.0247) of self‐ versus physician‐managed titration. Significantly more of the self‐ than physician‐managed group achieved SMPG target without hypoglycaemia (67% vs 58%; P = 0.0187). Overall, hypoglycaemia incidence was similar in each group. No safety concerns were reported. In both groups, similar PRO improvements were observed for distress related to diabetes disease burden and for confidence in diabetes self‐management, with even more individuals achieving a clinically relevant reduction in emotional burden and fewer individuals with high emotional burden in the self‐managed group.ConclusionsSelf‐managed titration of Gla‐300 was superior to physician‐managed titration in terms of HbA1c reduction, accompanied by similar total PRO scores, with a clinically relevant reduction in emotional burden, and similar hypoglycaemia frequency.

Efficacy of Self Directed Learning Program to Improve Technical Institute of Nursing Students Management Competencies

The technical nursing students courses contents give opportunity to apply nursing theory and skills in clinical settings, except nursing administrations course have no clinical application, so they required improving their management competencies. Dimensions of management competencies include four core competencies namely leadership, communication, critical thinking and professionalism. Self-directed learning is the amount of responsibility a student accepts for their own learning. The self-directed learner takes control and accepts the freedom to learn what they consider important for themselves. Readiness for self directed learning is the degree to which the student possesses the attitudes, abilities and personal characteristics necessary for self directed learning. Objective: the aim was to study efficacy of self directed learning program to improve technical institute nursing students management competencies. Setting: The study was conducted at Technical Institute of Nursing at Tanta University. Subject: The study subject (130) technical nursing students include second year students in academic year at 2015-2016. Tool: three tools used including self rating scale of self direct learning readiness, management competencies skills scale and knowledge test on self directed learning. Result: Preprogram about half of nursing students had high level of self directed learning readiness, no one or few of technical nursing students have good levels of all dimensions of management competencies, and all technical nursing student had weak level on domains of self directed learning. Compared to immediate and post 3months the majority of technical nursing students had high level of total self-directed learning readiness and good skill level of management skill competencies. except communication dimension (66.9%) were at good level with significant improvement at p 0.05. Conclusion: technical nursing students at Tanta University Faculty of Nursing showed unsatisfied level of skill for all management competencies dimension, they have great need to attend educational training program about self directed learning to improve their management competencies. Recommendation: conduction pre-employment orientation and periodic educational training program and workshop about management competencies and to use self directed learning.ey words: technicKal nursing students, management competencies, self directed learning, self directed learning readiness.

Efficacy of Self Directed Learning Program to Improve Technical Institute of Nursing Students Management Competencies

The technical nursing students courses contents give opportunity to apply nursing theory and skills in clinical settings, except nursing administrations course have no clinical application, so they required improving their management competencies. Dimensions of management competencies include four core competencies namely leadership, communication, critical thinking and professionalism. Self-directed learning is the amount of responsibility a student accepts for their own learning. The self-directed learner takes control and accepts the freedom to learn what they consider important for themselves. Readiness for self directed learning is the degree to which the student possesses the attitudes, abilities and personal characteristics necessary for self directed learning. Objective: the aim was to study efficacy of self directed learning program to improve technical institute nursing students management competencies. Setting: The study was conducted at Technical Institute of Nursing at Tanta University. Subject: The study subject (130) technical nursing students include second year students in academic year at 2015-2016. Tool: three tools used including self rating scale of self direct learning readiness, management competencies skills scale and knowledge test on self directed learning. Result: Preprogram about half of nursing students had high level of self directed learning readiness, no one or few of technical nursing students have good levels of all dimensions of management competencies, and all technical nursing student had weak level on domains of self directed learning. Compared to immediate and post 3months the majority of technical nursing students had high level of total self-directed learning readiness and good skill level of management skill competencies. except communication dimension (66.9%) were at good level with significant improvement at p 0.05. Conclusion: technical nursing students at Tanta University Faculty of Nursing showed unsatisfied level of skill for all management competencies dimension, they have great need to attend educational training program about self directed learning to improve their management competencies. Recommendation: conduction pre-employment orientation and periodic educational training program and workshop about management competencies and to use self directed learning.

Survey-based socio-economic data from slums in Bangalore, India

In 2010, an estimated 860 million people were living in slums worldwide, with around 60 million added to the slum population between 2000 and 2010. In 2011, 200 million people in urban Indian households were considered to live in slums. In order to address and create slum development programmes and poverty alleviation methods, it is necessary to understand the needs of these communities. Therefore, we require data with high granularity in the Indian context. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of highly granular data at the level of individual slums. We collected the data presented in this paper in partnership with the slum dwellers in order to overcome the challenges such as validity and efficacy of self reported data. Our survey of Bangalore covered 36 slums across the city. The slums were chosen based on stratification criteria, which included geographical location of the slum, whether the slum was resettled or rehabilitated, notification status of the slum, the size of the slum and the religious profile. This paper describes the relational model of the slum dataset, the variables in the dataset, the variables constructed for analysis and the issues identified with the dataset. The data collected includes around 267,894 data points spread over 242 questions for 1,107 households. The dataset can facilitate interdisciplinary research on spatial and temporal dynamics of urban poverty and well-being in the context of rapid urbanization of cities in developing countries.

Social Computing

This article explores the influence of social, self, and use factors on the intention to perform social computing actions in online social sites. A survey was conducted using peer-to-peer file sharing as representative of a social computing action. Collected data was analyzed using the structural equation modeling method with partial least squares. These findings show that social computing consensus and social computing cooperation are important social factors that have significant influence on the formation of social norms, which in turn increases the intention of members to perform social computing actions. Interestingly, the widely tested use factors perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use have no significant effect upon a user's intention to perform social computing actions. Furthermore, while social norms have significant influence upon a user's intention to perform social computing actions, self-identity has no significant impact. These findings lead to academic and practical implications on the efficacy of social, self, and use factors in furthering understanding of social computing.

Critical Appraisal on Self Concept in Conversion Disorders

Conversion Disorder is characterized as symptoms mimicking neurological disorder with no underlying physical or medical problem, psychogenic in nature and the onset of symptoms must be recognized or related to psychological stress. The self concept in conversion disorder seems to be distorted and limited. The aim of the study is critical appraisal on self concept in Conversion Disorder and the objectives are to review the studies on self concept in Conversion Disorder. Pubmed, Jastor, Elsevier and Indian Journal of Psychiatry were searched using the word hysteria or conversion disorders, self image, self efficacy, self regulation, ideal self, self esteem and self concept. It was found that patient with Conversion Disorder has a sense of self of a small, fearful and defective child coping in a world dominated by powerful others, they have frustrated needs and accompanied by frustration in the need for ‘self-esteem and self-actualization, Lack awareness of their self efficacy, heightened self-monitoring and construct myths of self which testify to the sincerity and significance of their conversion experiences, may involve a form of deception. It was also found that Repression replaces the unconscious with self deception, they have low self esteem and significantly increased activation in areas involved in the ‘freeze response’ to fear (periaqueductal grey matter), and areas involved in self-awareness and motor control (cingulate gyrus and supplementary motor area).

Peran Efikasi Diri (Self-Efficacy) dan Kemampuan Berpikir Positif terhadap Kemampuan Pemecahan Masalah Matematika

&lt;p&gt;This research was conducted with the purpose of knowing the influence of self-efficacy and positive thinking towards problem-solving ability in mathematics. The hypothesis of this research includes: 1) there is a direct influence of self-efficacy against mathematical problem-solving ability. 2) there is a direct influence ability of positive thinking towards problem-solving ability in mathematics. 3) there is a direct influence of self-efficacy against the ability of positive thinking. 4) there is an indirect influence self-efficacy against the ability of problem-solving through positive thinking. The methods used in this research is a survey method and hypothesis testing using path analysis. Large sample as many as 60 students, with a sampling technique used, was a combination of proportional and random, taken from the three high schools. The research instrument used is self-efficacy of 30 statements, positive thinking of 40 statements, test problem-solving skills in the form of essays as many as 10 questions, which have been tested the validity. The results of hypothesis testing indicate that: 1) there is a significant direct influence self-efficacy against the ability of mathematical problem-solving. 2) there is a significant direct influence ability of positive thinking towards problem-solving ability in mathematics. 3) there is a significant direct influence self-efficacy against the ability of positive thinking. 4) there is a significant indirect influence efficacy of self against the ability of problem-solving through positive thinking.&lt;/p&gt;

Abstract 19473: Safety and Efficacy of Second Generation Self Expanding Portico® Valve System for the Treatment of Failed Aortic Bioprosthesis: Results From an International Multicenter Valve-in-Valve Registry

Background: Portico valve is a second-generation self-expanding repositionable system with a nitinol stent frame and bovine pericardial leaflets, which is increasingly utilized for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) . In this report, we describe the procedural and early clinical results from an international multicenter registry of Portico implantation in patients with degenerated aortic bioprosthesis (Portico ViV). Methodology: Baseline data and outcomes were collected on standard case report forms and by the Valve-in-Valve International Data network from 14 centers across three continents. Procedural endpoints included implantation success and coronary obstruction. Clinical endpoints included death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, major bleeding at 30 days as defined by Valve Academic Research consortium II (VARCII). Result: 45 patients undergoing Portico ViV were included in analysis. The mean age was 79± 7 years with STS (mortality) score of 7±4. These procedures had mainly utilized peripheral arterial access (93%), with transesophageal echocardiogram guidance (60%) for treatment of surgical valve label size ≤21, &gt;21-&lt;25, and ≥25mm in 36, 38 and 27% respectively. Four (9%) of the failed surgical bioprostheses were stentless. Successful implantation was achieved in 44 (98%) cases with no malposition events or clinically-evident coronary obstruction. Post implantation valve area was 1.3 ±0.4 cm2, mean gradient of 17.1 ± 7.7 mmHg and ≥ moderate aortic insufficiency was observed in 3 (7%). One death (2%) related to ischemic stroke occurred within 30 days. Major bleeding and vascular complication in 5 (11%) and 1 (2%) respectively. One patient required permanent pacemaker implantation (2%). Conclusion: Results from this international multicenter registry show that Portico offers a safe and effective treatment of failed surgical bioprosthesis with an added advantage of device retrievability, resulting in low incidence of malpositioning and coronary obstruction. Additional studies and comparison with other transcatheter devices should further determine the hemodynamic and clinical performance of this device for selection of optimal treatment of high risk patients with failed surgical bioprostheses

TCT-665 Safety and Efficacy of Second Generation Self Expanding Portico® Valve System for the Treatment of Failed Aortic Bioprosthesis: Results from an International Multicenter Valve-in-Valve Registry

Background: Portico valve is a second-generation self-expanding repositionable system with a nitinol stent frame and bovine pericardial leaflets, which is increasingly utilized for transcatheter ao...

Cognitive, emotional, and neural benefits of musical leisure activities in stroke and dementia

The capacity of music to engage auditory, cognitive, motor, and emotional functions across cortical and subcortical brain regions and the relative preservation of music in ageing and dementia makes it a promising tool in the rehabilitation of ageing-related neurological illnesses, such as stroke and Alzheimer's disease. As the incidence and prevalence of these illnesses is increasing rapidly, it is important to develop music-based interventions that are enjoyable and effective in the everyday care of the patients. In two single-blind RCTs, the cognitive, emotional, and neural efficacy of self- or caregiver-implemented musical leisure activities was studied in stroke patients ( n = 60) and persons with dementia (PWDs, n = 89). In stroke patients, daily music listening was compared to audio book listening and standard rehabilitation. In PWDs, regular listening and singing of familiar songs were compared to standard care. Original results showed that music listening enhanced the recovery of memory, attention, and mood after stroke [1] and that both singing and music listening helped maintain better cognitive functioning and mood in PWDs [2] . Here, we will present recent results from voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analyses showing that the cognitive and emotional benefits of music listening after stroke are associated with structural neuroplasticity in a network of prefrontal and limbic regions [3] . We will also present new results on how different clinical and demographical factors influence the outcome of the music interventions in PWDs. Musical leisure activities can provide an effective and easily applicable to enhance cognitive and emotional well-being after stroke and in the early stage of dementia.

Speculative Technologies: Debt, Love, and Divination in a Transnationalizing Market

Speculative Technologies:Debt, Love, and Divination in a Transnationalizing Market Larisa Jasarevic (bio) Four young women with love on their mind are waiting to learn about their future. It’s a summer afternoon in a neighborhood of Tuzla, a city in northeastern Bosnia. The waiting room is filled with old sofas, well loved and bent out of shape by a history of bodies getting comfortable, and the table in the middle is crowded with cups, upturned messily and leaking coffee tails. The mood is as inviting as the open seats: expectant, pleasurable, excited by the stories women share of previous visits. New arrivals are instructed on what to expect. One by one, women take their dry coffee cups to Zlata in the adjacent room. Coffee mud has painted the insides of turned cups with an intricate, biographically significant landscape, but Zlata apparently “reads” beyond the phenomenal, grasping what Jacques Derrida calls the very “possibility of an event dawning” (2005, 3). Coffee mud is an appropriately murky medium for grasping what is not (yet), whatever may come to be under the circumstances of habitual uncertainty. The women are living in a precarious, transforming economy, where the market has been exploding since the end of socialism and the 1990s war, drawing masses into the business of trade and consumption. Thus inflated, the economy has been weathering a prolonged shortage of capital since the turn of the millennium. The popular market economy—everyday household provisioning and small entrepreneurship—is sustained by debt: informal lending and borrowing between intimates, kin, and clients and formal bank and microcredit loans. The clientele of Zlata, a coffee cup reader with a fabulous reputation for accuracy and reasonable price, however, are primarily concerned with forecasts for love affairs, illicit passions, urgent or wilting desires, marriage prospects, and such. A [End Page 261] divining session just as often yields business advice, as the women at Zlata’s take it for granted that love and money, market and passion, longing and owing, in short, economic and affective relations are contiguous and intersecting. Zlata’s vision is up to date on Bosnia’s economic trends. I have been casually visiting Zlata since 2006. In 2011, I found the cups much larger and the scope of her vision extended to keep up with the migration of economic opportunities, from regional, largely informal market trade to more transnational pursuits of fortune with American defense contractors (KBR and Fluor International) in Afghanistan and Iraq. Among those who seek her out—and recently, for reasons left unexplained, Zlata has received only women—many work for or are applying to Fluor International or else dating, desiring, marrying, and otherwise caring for men employed or seeking employment in Afghanistan and Iraq. A young woman, anxious about her protracted engagement, walked out of Zlata’s room with assurances about the date for her wedding and, just as exciting, news of her future husband’s job offer in Afghanistan. A later arrival, a mature woman and seasoned trader named Besima, has been visiting eagerly for several weeks, expecting an interview with a Fluor recruiter and, with perhaps more impatience, wondering about the twists and turns of a love affair emerging online. Speculations This is an essay about love, divination, and the debt market. Divination and debt are, clearly, speculative forms, while love, broadly speaking, is a central concern to both divining and debt enterprises in ways that are less obvious and locally specific. This text too is part speculative, part ethnographic. Starting with messy, abundant evidence that local practice effectively interlaces with the affective and economic, I ask what one speculative technology—forecasting the future from coffee mud—can tell us about another: contracting and extending debts. If technologies, with a nod to Foucault (Martin, Gutman, and Hutton 1988, 17–19), could be thought of as matrices of practical reason, concerned with production, efficacy, and care of self and others, then thinking debt via an extended detour of divination and love explores speculation in a different mood. First, this is not the “scheming and projecting” of the [End Page 262] financial speculator, the classic figure, whether in economic history (see Sombart [1915] 1967) or in contemporary critiques and media...

Clinical Evaluation of self and professionally applied desensitizing agents in relieving dentin hypersensitivity after a single topical application: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of self and professionally applied desensitizing agents in relieving dentinal hypersensitivity after single direct topical application. Study Design: This was a randomized controlled trial conducted among 57 patients. 8% Arginine paste was self-applied by the subject and Gluma desensitizer was applied by investigator. Numeric rating scale was used to measure hypersensitivity after tactile stimulus, Schiff scale was used for cold and air blast stimuli respectively. Scores were recorded at baseline, immediately, 15 and 30 days after the application. Friedman, Wilcoxon test as post hoc was used to analyze within group differences, between group differences analyzed using Mann Whitney U test (P<0.05 considered significant). Results: 8% Arginine paste elicited significantly higher reductions in sensitivity (P<0.05) than that of Gluma group at all follow ups. There was a significant decrease in hypersensitivity for both the groups from baseline till final follow-up (P<0.05) for all three stimuli. 8% Arginine paste was found to be more effective than Gluma desensitizer in providing immediate relief from dentine hypersensitivity and also sustained the effect significantly for a period of 30 days. Conclusions: Self applied 8% Arginine paste is effective than professionally applied Gluma desensitizer in relieving dentinal hypersensitivity immediately and over a period of one month. Key words:Dentine hypersensitivity, arginine, gluma, desensitizing agents.