A modified light-cured denture identification technique

Removable dental prostheses are lost frequently or stolen in nursing homes. Dental personnel may not be routinely available to many nursing home residents to place identification labels, and nursing staff members are not trained to use traditional denture marking techniques. This article describes a modified simple marking technique that may be used by either dental personnel or nursing staff members. Using ordinary sandpaper, lead pencil or ball pen, art and craft brush, direct light, and a mono-poly sealer of 1 part heat-cured clear methylmethacrylate powder mixed with 10 parts of autopolymerizing clear orthodontic methylmethacrylate liquid, 26 dentures were labeled for 19 nursing home residents. The technique was quick, cheap, easily applied, nonirritating to mouth tissues, and permanent.     

Mast cells modulate the inflammatory but not the proliferative response in healing wounds

Upon stimulation, mast cells release a heterogeneous group of factors that promote inflammation and influence cell proliferation. Mast cells accumulate at sites of injury, further suggesting a critical role in wound healing. To assess the importance of mast cells in tissue repair, we compared wound healing in mast cell-deficient WBB6F1/J-KitW/KitW-v (KitW/KitW-v) and wild type WBB6F1/++ (WT) mice. During the inflammatory phase, neutrophil infiltration into wounds of the KitW/KitW-v mice was significantly less than that of WT mice (84.6 +/- 10.3 vs. 218 +/- 26.0 cells/10 high-power fields at day 3, p < 0.001), while wound macrophage and T cell infiltration were similar in both strains. The decrease in neutrophils could not be explained by changes in tumor necrosis factor-alpha or macrophage inflammatory protein-2 levels, because the amounts of these two neutrophil chemoattractants were similar in both KitW/KitW-v and WT mice. Surprisingly, the absence of mast cells had no effect on the proliferative aspects of wound healing, including reepithelialization, collagen synthesis, and angiogenesis. Although mast cells are known to release proangiogenic mediators, vascular endothelial growth factor levels were similar in WT and KitW/KitW-v mice. Moreover, levels of fibroblast growth factor-2 were increased in KitW/KitW-v mice (4206 +/- 107 vs. 1865 +/- 249 pg/ml, p < 0.01). These results suggest that mast cells modulate the recruitment of neutrophils into sites of injury, yet indicate that mast cells are unlikely to exert a major influence on the proliferative response within healing wounds.     

The Gastroenterological Society of Australia

In this review, a summary of the objectives and activities of The Gastroenterological Society of Australia is given. It illustrates the multidisciplinary and multi-functional roles of a society that is confident and active in supporting and reflecting the views of its members in the pursuit of excellence in clinical practice, research and education in the various areas of digestive health.     

A Direct Provisional Restoration for Decreased Occlusal Wear and Improved Marginal Integrity: A Hybrid Technique

A direct technique for the fabrication of provisional restorations is described. Occluding surfaces of the provisional restoration are veneered with a light-cure composite resin for increased wear resistance and improved occlusal stability. Also described is a method for reestablishing the provisional restoration's margins to achieve optimal tissue health.     

Quantitative analysis of macrophages and perisinusoidal cells in primary biliary cirrhosis

Immunohistochemistry and image analysis were used to quantify alterations in the Kupffer cell and 'activated' perisinusoidal cell populations in the different stages of primary biliary cirrhosis. Anti-CD68 macrophage antibodies were used to detect Kupffer cells, and anti-α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), PR 2D3 and anti-desmin antibodies to detect perisinusoidal cells. Liver biopsy material was available from 26 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and 23 patients with histologically normal liver. Increased Kupffer cell numbers were observed in periportal/periseptal zones of stage 3 primary biliary cirrhosis ( n = 9), and in random parenchymal areas of stage 3 and stage 4 cases. Significantly increased 'activated' perisinusoidal cell numbers were seen only in periportal/periseptal zones of stage 3 and stage 4 primary biliary cirrhosis. Neither Kupffer cell nor perisinusoidal cell numbers altered significantly in stage 1 and 2 primary biliary cirrhosis ( n = 6). PR 2D3 positivity and increased α-SMA immunoreactivity by perisinusoidal cells in primary biliary cirrhosis support myofibroblastic differentiation of these cells. Human perisinusoidal cells, unlike their rodent counterparts, did not express desmin in primary biliary cirrhosis or control liver. Kupffer cell and 'activated' perisinusoidal cell accumulation in periportal/periseptal zones of the precirrhotic and cirrhotic primary biliary cirrhosis liver support the concept of Kupffer cell-mediated stimulation of perisinusoidal cells. Furthermore, these findings indicate that Kupffer cell–perisinusoidal interactions play an important role in the development of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in primary biliary cirrhosis.     

Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity Studies of Silicone Gel Q7-2159A in Rats and Rabbits

Studies reported here assessed the potential adverse effectsof silicone gel, Dow Corning Q7-2159A, on general reproductionand fetal development in male and female Charles River CD ratsand New Zealand white rabbits. Two control and three treatmentgroups of 30 male and 30 female rats and 25 female rabbits pergroup were used in the one-generation reproduction and developmentaltoxicity studies, respectively. The silicone gel was implantedsubcutaneously in two flank sites at dosage levels of 3, 10,and 30 ml/kg. The highest dose was selected on the basis oflikely human body burden. Control groups received either sterilesaline or carboxymethylcellulose solution in two flank implantationsites. The control and test articles were implanted in maleand female rats 61 and 47 days, respectively, prior to mating(in the rat reproduction study) and approximately 42 days priorto insemination of female rabbits (in the rabbit developmentaltoxicity study). There were no treatmentrelated effects on F₀parental general conditions and reproductive performance, F₁neonatal viability, or growth in the rat reproduction study.No maternal nor developmental effects, including teratogenicity,were observed in rabbits in the groups implanted with Q7-2159Agel in the developmental toxicitystudy.