Treatment of horizontal root‐fractured maxillary incisors – a case report

Abstract – Traumatic dental injuries often occur to the teeth and their supporting tissues and they are the main reasons for emergency visit to a dental clinic. Management of a fracture depends on its position and the extent of root involvement. Horizontal root fractures are not seen frequently and the treatment consists of reduction and long‐term rigid fixation of the coronal segment. The present case demonstrates the successful management of two horizontally fractured maxillary central incisors with a follow‐up period of 9 months.     

Working‐correlation‐structure identification in generalized estimating equations

Selecting an appropriate working correlation structure is pertinent to clustered data analysis using generalized estimating equations (GEE) because an inappropriate choice will lead to inefficient parameter estimation. We investigate the well‐known criterion of QIC for selecting a working correlation structure, and have found that performance of the QIC is deteriorated by a term that is theoretically independent of the correlation structures but has to be estimated with an error. This leads us to propose a correlation information criterion (CIC) that substantially improves the QIC performance. Extensive simulation studies indicate that the CIC has remarkable improvement in selecting the correct correlation structures. We also illustrate our findings using a data set from the Madras Longitudinal Schizophrenia Study. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

实习护生护理程序应用能力的培养

我科开展整体护理以来，将护理程序应用能力作为基础护理技能纳入临床护理教学计划中，提高了实习质量。现将具体做法介绍如下。     

Assessing ethical problem solving by reasoning rather than decision making

Context The assessment of ethical problem solving in medicine has been controversial and challenging. The purposes of this study were: (i) to create a new instrument to measure doctors’ decisions on and reasoning approach towards resolving ethical problems; (ii) to evaluate the scores generated by the new instrument for their reliability and validity, and (iii) to compare doctors’ ethical reasoning abilities between countries and among medical students, residents and experts. Methods This study used 15 clinical vignettes and the think‐aloud method to identify the processes and components involved in ethical problem solving. Subjects included volunteer ethics experts, postgraduate Year 2 residents and pre‐clerkship medical students. The interview data were coded using the instruments of the decision score and Ethical Reasoning Inventory (ERI). The ERI assessed the quality of ethical reasoning for a particular case (Part I) and for an individual globally across all the vignettes (Part II). Results There were 17 Canadian and 32 Taiwanese subjects. Based on the Canadian standard, the decision scores between Taiwanese and Canadian subjects differed significantly, but made no discrimination among the three levels of expertise. Scores on the ERI Parts I and II, which reflect doctors’ reasoning quality, differed between countries and among different levels of expertise in Taiwan, providing evidence of construct validity. In addition, experts had a greater organised knowledge structure and considered more relevant variables in the process of arriving at ethical decisions than did residents or students. The reliability of ERI scores was 0.70–0.99 on Part I and 0.75–0.80 on Part II. Conclusions Expertise in solving ethical problems could not be differentiated by the decisions made, but could be differentiated according to the reasoning used to make those decisions. The difference between Taiwanese and Canadian experts suggests that cultural considerations come into play in the decisions that are made in the course of providing humane care to patients.     

Trans fat intake lowers total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels without changing insulin sensitivity index in Wistar rats

Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that trans fat intake increases the risk of some chronic diseases. We hypothesize that trans fat intake would increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus by changing the lipid profile in plasma, the secretion of adipokines in adipose tissue, and the insulin sensitivity. Accordingly, the major objective of present study was to investigate the effect of dietary intake of trans fat on lipid profile, insulin sensitivity, and adipokine levels in plasma. Two groups of Wistar rats were fed a diet containing 4.5% trans fat or a control diet containing no trans fat for 16 weeks. Fasting glucose level was monitored every 2 weeks. At the end of feeding experiment, blood, heart, kidney, liver, omental adipose tissue, and semitendinosus muscle were collected. The trans fat content in organs, lipid profile, adipokine, insulin, and glucose levels in plasma were analyzed. The trans fat content in adipose tissue, heart, kidney, liver, and muscle of rats fed trans fat were 169.9, 0.6, 1.2, 1.7, and 2.5 mg/g samples, respectively. The trans fat content in these organs contributed to 15.9%, 1.2%, 2.3%, 4.3%, and 6.1% of the total fat, respectively. The plasma glucose level, insulin level, and insulin sensitivity index were not significantly different between the trans fat and control groups. The results indicated that trans fat intake might not be related to insulin resistance. However, lipid profile and plasma adipokine levels were significantly changed after trans fat feeding. The trans fat fed group showed significantly lower total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels than the control group. The decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level may indicate the detrimental effect of trans fat intake on lipid profile. Adiponectin and resistin levels were significantly higher in the trans fat group than the control group. Leptin levels were significantly lower in the trans fat group than the control group. The results indicated that dietary intake of trans fat can significantly change the adipokine levels, but the possible links between adipokine level change caused by trans fat intake and metabolic effects of this change need further investigations.     

洁净手术室的特色设计

文中介绍了我院洁净手术室的三点特色设计,该设计经过两年的使用得到了手术室医务人员的肯定.     

Biphasic Dose Response in Low Level Light Therapy

The use of low levels of visible or near infrared light for reducing pain, inflammation and edema, promoting healing of wounds, deeper tissues and nerves, and preventing cell death and tissue damage has been known for over forty years since the invention of lasers. Despite many reports of positive findings from experiments conducted in vitro, in animal models and in randomized controlled clinical trials, LLLT remains controversial in mainstream medicine. The biochemical mechanisms underlying the positive effects are incompletely understood, and the complexity of rationally choosing amongst a large number of illumination parameters such as wavelength, fluence, power density, pulse structure and treatment timing has led to the publication of a number of negative studies as well as many positive ones. A biphasic dose response has been frequently observed where low levels of light have a much better effect on stimulating and repairing tissues than higher levels of light. The so-called Arndt-Schulz curve is frequently used to describe this biphasic dose response. This review will cover the molecular and cellular mechanisms in LLLT, and describe some of our recent results in vitro and in vivo that provide scientific explanations for this biphasic dose response.     

原发性三叉神经痛的LEKSELL-C伽玛刀治疗

目的 探讨伽玛刀治疗原发性三叉神经痛的方法和效果.方法 对28例原发性三叉神经痛采用LEKSELL-C型伽玛刀治疗,均沿三叉神经走行在三叉神经根近桥脑处选择双靶点治疗.中心剂量75～85Gy,50%等剂量线限定靶点.结果 随访3～11个月,疼痛消失时间平均在术后3.5个月.按疼痛缓解评分,在随访时点,总有效率为96%.结论 LEKSELL-C型伽玛刀是治疗原发性三叉神经痛安全和有效的方法之一.     

实时双平面超声心动图初步临床应用研究

目的　探讨实时双平面超声心动图的临床应用价值。方法　对 83例受检者进行实时双平面超声 (BP)检查 ,其中男 46例 ,女 3 7例 ,平均年龄 2 0 92± 19 16岁。正常人 10例 ,先天性心脏病 44例 ,心瓣膜病 2 6例 ,其他心脏病变3例。结果　实时双平面超声有助于理解心脏立体解剖 ;能通过有限的声窗获得更多的切面 ,并可显示常规经胸超声不易得到的切面 ;多切面显示心脏瓣膜及其病变 ,有利于获得瓣膜狭窄或关闭不全的最佳观察平面 ;多切面显示房、室间隔缺损 ,便于寻找缺损的最佳显示切面以及与毗邻结构的关系。房、室间隔缺损BP、2DE测值与手术测值均有良好相关性 ;室间隔缺损BP测值与手术测值无显著性差异 ;BP、2DE均有低估房间隔缺损大小的倾向。实时双平面超声能同时显示复杂先心病的多种解剖畸形 ,有利于确定房室连接 ;辨认主、肺动脉。结论　实时双平面超声有其独特的优势 ,可为心血管疾病的准确诊断提供更多的信息。