Cone beam computed tomography findings in temporomandibular joint of chronic qat chewers: Dimensional and osteoarthritic changes

The social habit of chewing qat (also known as khat) is widely practised in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It has been linked with various oro-facial conditions, including temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD). This cross-sectional, comparative study sought to investigate the effects of qat chewing on temporomandibular joint (TMJ), using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). A total of 85 Yemeni males were included. The participants were divided into two groups: Qat chewers (QC; n = 41) and non-qat chewers (NQC; n = 44). Relevant data were obtained using a structured questionnaire and standardised clinical examination. Additionally, CBCT images of the TMJs were obtained, and then, osteoarthritic changes and TMJ dimensions were analysed. SPSS 21 was used for statistical analyses, with a significant level was set at 0.05. Compared to NQC, a significantly higher proportion of QC presented with clinical signs of TMDs. The qualitative CBCT findings revealed significantly higher osteoarthritic changes in QC than in NQC: osteophyte (51.2% vs 22.7%; P = .008), subcortical sclerosis (48.8% vs 27.3%; P = .047), articular surface flattening (46.3% vs 6.8%; P = .009) and subcortical cysts (43.9% vs 4.5%; P < .001). However, CBCT quantitative findings (condylar dimensions) did not show significant differences between the two groups. The chewing side of the QC group showed slightly more changes compared to the non-chewing side. The results demonstrate that qat chewing has detrimental effects on TMJ manifested mainly as osteoarthritic changes. Further large-scale studies are recommended.     

2018年某高校新生体质指数及生活习惯的调查分析

目的 了解江苏某高校2018级新生体质指数及生活习惯,分析生活习惯对体质指数的影响,为指导大学生养成健康生活习惯、塑造良好身体素质提供依据。方法 入学体检测量新生身高、体重,随机抽取部分专业学生完成生活习惯调查。结果 完成调查问卷的350名新生,体质指数正常、过轻、过重、肥胖者占比分别为57.71%、28%、10.29%和4%。男生体质指数高于女生(P<0.01),男生过重及肥胖检出率高于女生(P<0.05),女生过轻检出率高于男生(P<0.01)。完成调查问卷的新生中,65.43%每日规律三餐饮食,69.14%有每周运动的习惯。规律饮食组体质指数正常检出率高于非规律饮食组(P<0.05),每周运动3次及以上学生体质指数正常检出率高于其他学生(P<0.05)。超重学生睡眠满意度低于其他学生(P<0.05)。结论 新入学大学生体质指数过轻与超重问题并存,饮食及运动习惯有待改善,高校需重视体质指数监测,有针对性开展饮食及运动健康教育。     

健康相关生命质量高分组和低分组生活习惯和中医体质量表转换分比较

目的 探索健康相关生命质量高分组和低分组的生活习惯和中医体质转换分的差异。方法 从1 114例健康体检人群数据库中，分别抽取简明健康状况调查问卷（the MOS 36-item short form health survey, SF-36）的生理领域得分、心理领域得分的前27%（301例）和后27%（301例）作为高分组和低分组，比较两组的生活习惯和中医体质量表转换分。结果 SF-36生理领域和心理领域高分组和低分组的吸烟偏好比较，差异无统计学意义（P>0.05）；两组饮酒偏好、睡眠时间、中医体质量表转换分比较，差异具有统计学意义（P<0.05），其中高分组好饮酒者较多，睡眠时间为7～8 h者较多，平和质者较多，平和质转换分较高，8种偏颇体质转换分较低；心理领域高分组有运动习惯者较多（P<0.05），而生理领域高分组和低分组的运动习惯差异无统计学意义（P>0.05）。结论 SF-36高分组和低分组的生活习惯和中医体质因素存在一定差异，通过改善睡眠时间、运动习惯及偏颇体质可能会提高健康相关生命质量。     

Smoking, a weak predictor of periodontitis in older adults

BACKGROUND: The impact of smoking habits on periodontal conditions in older subjects is poorly studied. AIMS: To assess if a history of smoking is associated with chronic periodontitis and medical history in older subjects. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The medical and dental history was collected from 1084 subjects 60-75 years of age. Smoking history information was obtained from self-reports. Periodontal variables [clinical probing depth (PD)>/=5.0 mm, clinical attachment levels (CALs) >/=4.0 mm], and radiographic evidence of alveolar bone loss were assessed. RESULTS: 60.5% had never smoked (NS), 32.0% were former smokers (FS) (mean smoke years: 26.1 years, SD+/-13.1), and 7.5% were current smokers (CS) (mean smoke years 38.0 years, (SD+/-12.1). The proportional distribution of CAL >/=4.0 mm differed significantly by smoking status (NS and CS groups) (mean difference: 12.1%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.5-22.6, p<0.02). The Mantel-Haenszel common odds ratio between smoking status (CS+FS) and periodontitis (>20% bone loss) was 1.3 (p<0.09, 95% CI: 0.9-2.0) and changed to 1.8 (p<0.02, 95% CI: 1.3-2.7) with 30 years of smoking as cutoff. A weak correlation between number of years of smoking and CAL>/=4.0 mm was demonstrated (r(2) values 0.05 and 0.07) for FS and CS, respectively. Binary logistic forward (Wald) regression analysis demonstrated that the evidence of carotid calcification, current smoking status, gender (male), and the number of remaining teeth were explanatory to alveolar bone loss. CONCLUSIONS: A clinically significant impact on periodontal conditions may require 30 years of smoking or more. Tooth loss, radiographic evidence of carotid calcification, current smoking status, and male gender can predictably be associated with alveolar bone loss in older subjects.     

Effect of a chronic nail‐biting habit on the oral carriage of Enterobacteriaceae

Background/aims: Nail biting is a common oral habit in children and young adults. However, its effect on the oral carriage of Enterobacteriaceae is unclear. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the differences in prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae in saliva samples from subjects with and without a nail‐biting habit. Methods: Saliva samples were taken from 25 subjects who were nail‐biters and 34 subjects with no oral habit. The mean chronological age for all subjects was 13.5 ± 1.9 years. The saliva samples were studied microbiologically. A Pearson chi‐squared test was performed to compare the prevalence of Enterobacteriaceae in the saliva samples of the subjects with and without nail‐biting habits. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in the prevalence of Escherichia coli and total Enterobacteriaceae between both groups (P < 0.001). E. coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter cloacae and Enterobacter gergoviae were found in the saliva samples of 19 of the 25 nail‐biting subjects (76%), whereas E. coli, E. aerogenes and E. cloacae were detected in the saliva samples of only nine of the 34 subjects who were not nail‐biters (26.5%). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, the Enterobacteriaceae were more prevalent in the oral cavities of children with nail‐biting habits than in children with no oral habit.     

Museum specimens reveal loss of pollen host plants as key factor driving wild bee decline in The Netherlands

Evidence for declining populations of both wild and managed bees has raised concern about a potential global pollination crisis. Strategies to mitigate bee loss generally aim to enhance floral resources. However, we do not really know whether loss of preferred floral resources is the key driver of bee decline because accurate assessment of host plant preferences is difficult, particularly for species that have become rare. Here we examine whether population trends of wild bees in The Netherlands can be explained by trends in host plants, and how this relates to other factors such as climate change. We determined host plant preference of bee species using pollen loads on specimens in entomological collections that were collected before the onset of their decline, and used atlas data to quantify population trends of bee species and their host plants. We show that decline of preferred host plant species was one of two main factors associated with bee decline. Bee body size, the other main factor, was negatively related to population trend, which, because larger bee species have larger pollen requirements than smaller species, may also point toward food limitation as a key factor driving wild bee loss. Diet breadth and other potential factors such as length of flight period or climate change sensitivity were not important in explaining twentieth century bee population trends. These results highlight the species-specific nature of wild bee decline and indicate that mitigation strategies will only be effective if they target the specific host plants of declining species.Pollinating insects such as bees play an essential role in the pollination of wild plants (1) and crops (2). However, reported population declines in both wild and managed bees (3–5) have raised concerns about loss of pollination services and triggered interest in identifying the underlying causes for bee decline (6). Land use change and agricultural intensification are major drivers of biodiversity loss in general (7, 8) and are considered the most important environmental drivers of loss of wild bee diversity in particular (6, 9). It is generally believed that these drivers affect bees, which depend on floral resources in both their larval and adult life stages, through repercussions on the availability of floral resources in contemporary anthropogenic landscapes (9–11), but, so far, scientific evidence that loss of floral resources is driving bee decline is lacking. Nevertheless, current strategies to mitigate bee decline focus primarily on enhancing floral resources (12). To prioritize and develop effective mitigation strategies, it is essential to identify the mechanisms underlying bee population trends and assess whether these are mediated by floral resources.Although bees as a group are declining, individual species show more variable responses, with some species declining sharply while others remain stable or even increase under current land use change and agricultural intensification (3, 4, 13). These differential responses can be used to disentangle the effects of floral resource availability from those of other potential factors affecting bee population trends. The proportion of the floral resources in contemporary anthropogenic landscapes that can be used for forage by a bee species depends on its diet breadth and host plant preference, and it may be expected that species that have declined have a narrower diet breadth and prefer host plants that have declined (14, 15). However, diet breadth and host plant preference of bee species is difficult to assess. Presently observed host plant use does not necessarily reflect actual preference, as preferred host plants may have gone locally extinct and bees that have declined may have become restricted in their food choice in their remaining habitats (15). In addition, if host plant use is measured for more individuals of abundant, widespread species than for rare ones, an apparent link between diet breadth and population trend may simply arise as a sampling artifact (16). Furthermore, the relationship between host plant use and population trend may be confounded by species’ rarity prior to the onset of major environmental changes (17), as rarity in itself increases susceptibility to stochastic events (18) and has been shown to be one of the most important factors predicting population decline in various taxa (19–21). Surprisingly, to our knowledge, none of the studies that have so far examined the relationship between diet breadth and/or host plant preference and bee population trends have taken species’ initial rarity into account (e.g., refs. 3, 4, 15, and 22). Other factors, such as body size (4, 23), phenology (4, 22), and sensitivity to climate change (4, 24, 25) may be associated with bee decline as well, and, to date, the relative importance of diet breadth and pollen host plant preference in explaining bee population trends remains unclear.Here we solve this problem by analyzing historical pollen preferences of wild bees (15). Bees are generally more selective in their choice of food plants when foraging for pollen (source of protein and minerals for both larvae and adults) than nectar (source of energy) (26, 27). Distributional changes in plant species from which pollen is collected therefore probably exerts a larger influence on bee populations than changes in nectar plants. We investigate whether and to what extent loss of preferred floral resources drives bee population trends in The Netherlands, one of the most human-modified and intensively farmed countries in the world. Over the course of the twentieth century, agriculture has intensified in The Netherlands (Fig. S1) and the area of seminatural habitat preferred by bees has diminished to only one-fifth of the area at the beginning of the twentieth century (Fig. S2). More than half of the bee species are currently on the national Red List (28). As such, this country is a particularly suitable study area to identify critical factors associated with bee population decline.We assessed pollen host plant use of bee species independently from their population trends by analyzing pollen loads on the bodies of bee specimens that were collected before 1950 (15), before the onset of agricultural intensification in The Netherlands. Altogether, our analysis included trend and trait data of 57 bee species in 10 genera and 4 subfamilies (Table S1). We calculated population trend indices for bee species and their host plants (period 1902–1949 vs. 1975–1999) using extensive national species distribution datasets (13, 29). Linear mixed models, with bee subfamily as a random factor to account for phylogeny, and a multimodel inference approach were used to examine the relationship between bee population trends and pollen host plant use, simultaneously taking into account differences in species’ rarity before the onset of agricultural intensification and other factors that have been proposed to explain bee population trends.