Relationships between dietary behaviours,oral hygiene and mutans streptococci in dental plaque of a group of infants in southern England

This report is part of a prospective study on dietary behaviours, feeding practices, oral hygiene and dental health during the first 18 months of life in a cohort of infants living in southern England. In this part of the study the prevalence of mutans streptococci in the plaque of 1-year-old children and its correlation with sociodemographic status, dietary behaviour and oral hygiene practices over the first 12 months of life were studied. Dietary habits, oral hygiene and dental health at 18 months were also studied. The study group comprised 163 infants. At 12 months of age all children had a dental examination and a plaque sample was removed from the labial surfaces of upper incisors for microbiological examination. A further dental examination took place at 18 months of age; no plaque was sampled. Longitudinal dietary information was obtained with a 3-day food diary at 6, 12 and 18 months of age. Parents/carers completed two structured questionnaires on sociodemographic factors, oral hygiene and feeding behaviour over the first 18 months of life when their children were 12- and 18-month-old. No child exhibited dental caries at 12 and 18 months of age; 18 and 25% had visible dental plaque at 12 and 18 months, respectively. Seven children (4%) had detectable mutans streptococci in their plaque at 12 months of age. Children who had started brushing their teeth or who had had their teeth brushed by 12 months of age were less likely to have detectable mutans streptococci in their plaque than those who had not (P=0.02). The amount of mutans streptococci was significantly correlated with the total number of eating/drinking events per day (P<0.001) and bordered on significant correlation with the mean daily frequency of consumption of foods and drinks containing non-milk extrinsic sugars (P=0.05). None of the sociodemographic variables-sex, social class, mother's level of education-were associated with the detection of mutans streptococci in this group of infants. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that two variables were independently and positively correlated with the presence of mutans streptococci in the plaque; these were age when tooth brushing started and total eating and drinking events per day.     

Maternal contamination with PCBs and reproductive outcomes in an Australian population

Polychlorinated biphenyls used previously in industry are widespread environmental contaminants under scrutiny for their possible reproductive effects in humans. In this study, 200 breast milk samples from eligible Victorian mothers were used for measuring maternal contamination and their possible effect on the offspring was investigated. No significant association was found between maternal PCB contamination and low birth weight, small for gestational age and previous miscarriage or stillbirth. The elevated odd ratios of prematurity, increased with increase in contamination level but were nonsignificant. Higher PCB contamination was not in favor of any gender in the offspring. Our results suggest that chronic, low contamination with PCBs does not pose a reproduction threat in humans.     

Diagnosis of an Enteric Duplication with Pertechnetate 99mTc Scanning

A case of enteric duplication is reported in which preoperative pertechnetate ^99mTc scanning demonstrated localized uptake in the region of the anatomic abnormality. This test is recommended for use in the evaluation of lower gastrointestinal bleeding in infants and children.     

Psychometric properties of a Persian-language version of the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire: ATQ-Persian

AIMS: To examine the psychometric properties of a Persian-language version of Hollon and Kendall's (1980) Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ-Persian)--a measure of negative automatic thoughts in depression. METHODS: In a sample of 125 student volunteers from two Iranian universities we assessed the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of ATQ-Persian, and examined its concurrent validity against the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck et al., 1996). We also examined the factor structure of the test through comparing the fit of various proposed factor-analytic models to the data using confirmatory factor analysis. RESULTS: ATQ-Persian had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.96), test-retest reliability (r = 0.84) and correlation with the Beck Depression Inventory (r = 0.77). Using a receiver operating characteristics curve, a score of 53 on ATQ-Persian was associated with a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 78% for detecting moderate to severe depression defined through Beck Depression Inventory. None of the proposed factorial models fitted the data well. However, models with correlated factors generally provided better fit than models with orthogonal factors, suggesting that the latent factors underlying ATQ-Persian are highly correlated. CONCLUSIONS: These data support the reliability and validity of ATQ-Persian as a measure of negative automatic thoughts in depression.     

Bilateral Optic Nerve Head Angiomas and Retrobulbar Haemangioblastomas in von Hippel-Lindau Disease

A 39-year-old man presented with progressive visual loss in both eyes. His past medical history was remarkable for biopsy-proven bilateral adrenal phaeochromocytomas. Ophthalmoscopy revealed an optic nerve head angioma and macular lipid exudates in the right eye and a regressed optic nerve head angioma in the left eye. A fluorescein angiogram revealed a lobulated pattern of leakage and venous staining from the optic nerve head angioma. Brain and orbital magnetic resonance imaging showed haemangioblastomas of the right intraorbital and left paraclinoid optic nerves and in the left cerebellopontine angle area. These findings were consistent with a clinical diagnosis of von Hippel-Lindau disease.