Ethnic variations in sagittal condylar guidance angles

Observations of a Chinese population seem to indicate that certain ethnic differences exist which may invalidate the use of dental articulators constructed as the result of measurements made on a Caucasian population. A group of Caucasian students had been examined for a previous study. Upper and lower study models of the jaws of a group of Singaporean Chinese students were articulated in the tooth position on a Dentatus ARL articulator. Measurements were made of the angle between the occlusal plane and the Frankfort plane, the S. C. G. As and the Balkwill angle.

The results indicate that considerable anatomical differences do exist between these two distinctive ethnic groups. These findings have important implications for all restorative and prosthetic dentistry which requires the use of a dental articulator.     

Clinical recurrence of hepatitis A following liver transplantation for acute liver failure

This paper documents clinically significant recurrence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection in a 63-year-old man transplanted for HAV-related acute liver failure. HAV RNA was documented in the explant and, following early clearance from the blood and graft, was again detected in postoperative biopsies at the time of an acute hepatic illness. Although the clinical and biochemical abnormalities resolved completely, the patient had a second episode of graft dysfunction 6 months later and investigations revealed hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related chronic active hepatitis consistent with acquired HCV infection at the time of transplantation. The possible interaction with hepatitis A may have delayed the appearance of hepatitis C. Administration of HAV immunoglobulin at the time of transplantation should be considered in all cases of HAV-related fulminant hepatic failure. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Cardiovascular and endocrine effects of clonidine premedication in neurosurgical patients

The present study was conducted to examine the haemodynamic and endocrine effects of clonidine, given as sole preanaesthetic medication, in neurosurgical patients. Nineteen patients of ASA physical status I and II, subjected to craniotomy, randomly received po premedication of either clonidine (300 micrograms, n = 9) or placebo (n = 10). Blood pressure and heart rate were monitored continuously, while arterial blood samples were collected at specific times, from induction of anaesthesia to recovery, for the measurement of plasma concentrations of epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol, aldosterone, and glucose. Clonidine treatment led to a decrease in mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), heart rate (HR), and plasma cortisol and aldosterone concentrations throughout the study, compared with placebo (P less than 0.05). Clonidine, however, did not prevent increases in MABP (16 +/- 5 mmHg, mean +/- SE, P less than 0.05) and HR (18 +/- 4 bpm, P less than 0.05) during induction of anaesthesia, which was comparable to the placebo group. Plasma catecholamine concentrations did not differ between the two groups. Plasma glucose concentrations increased in both groups at the end of the study (P less than 0.05), but were lower in clonidine-treated patients (P less than 0.05). Though statistically significant, the observed inhibitory haemodynamic and endocrine effects of clonidine seem to be of minor clinical importance. As the action of clonidine on cerebral blood flow regulation is not well known, we see no advantage in the preanaesthetic administration of clonidine to neurosurgical patients with normal cardiovascular status.     

The role of patient education in the management of childhood asthma

Because patient behavior plays a major role in the prevention or precipitation of acute asthma attacks, patient education is an important adjunct to its medical management. A number of self-management education programs for patients with asthma recently have been developed and made available for widespread use. Many are aimed at children over the age of 6 years and their parents. They are designed for use with several types of patients in a variety of settings. Evidence of program effectiveness is of uneven quality, but what is available suggests that a number of the programs can be of significant value in reducing asthma morbidity. Self-management education programs for parents of preschool-age children and for adults with asthma are much less numerous and well developed than those for school-age children. Particular attention is given to the process by which the AIR POWER and AIR WISE programs for children were developed, since this systematic development process is generalizable to patient education programs for other age groups and health problems.     

Correlation between serum and adipose tissue levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in 50 persons from Missouri

Paired human serum and adipose tissue samples were analyzed from 50 persons for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) by high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). On a lipid weight basis, the range of values in adipose tissue spanned approximately 2.5 orders of magnitude, from 3.3 to 969 parts per trillion (ppt). After adjusting the adipose tissue 2,3,7,8-TCDD levels for total lipid content and the serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD levels for total lipid content, the mean of the partitioning ratio of adipose tissue to serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD was 1.09 (standard deviation = 0.385, standard error = 0.060). On this same total lipid weight basis, the adipose tissue and serum levels of 2,3,7,8-TCDD were highly correlated, r = 0.98. The high correlation between adipose tissue and serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD levels in this study indicates that serum 2,3,7,8-TCDD is a valid measurement of 2,3,7,8-TCDD body burden concentration.     

Friendly visiting as a means of informing homebound senior citizens of health-related community services

Health-related community services designed for the senior population include delivered and congregate meals, visiting health-aides and nurses, adult day care and telephone and postal checks. Friendly visiting programs may prove helpful in informing homebound senior citizens of these health-related community services. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of friendly visiting as a means of informing homebound senior citizens of health-related community services.Visited homebound seniors were contrasted with homebound controls. Visiting occurred in two forms. One group received visitors from an ongoing friendly visiting program (VISITING AS IS) in their community and a second group received visitors who were specifically trained to convey community referral information (REACH). A control group received no visiting of any kind. All three groups were administered pre- and post-interviews asking their knowledge of eight community services. At the end of the twelve week program, the post-interview means of the two homebound visited groups did differ significantly from the mean of the unvisited controls when contrasts were made using pre-interview scores as the covariate,F(2,78)=8.19 (p<.05). The homebound senior citizens visited by the REACH visitors increased their knowledge of services significantly more than the homebound seniors contacted by VISITING AS IS visitorsF(1,52)=7.20 (p<.01). While the simple act of being visited did lead to increased knowledge at the .05 level, trained visitors were able to convey such information to a greater degree (p<.01). Awareness of community services can be effectively transmitted by friendly visitors and improved when a program is implemented to train the visitors to meet his goal.Keryl L. Keller, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Health Studies and E. Kay Flatten, P.E.D. is Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Education and Leisure Studies at Iowa State University, Ames, IA. Barbara C. Wilhite, Ed.D. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Recreation at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL.Portions of this research were funded by Grant No. 90AR0060 from the Administration on Aging Office of Human Development Services, Department of Health & Human Services and by the Graduate College and Research Institute Studies in Education at Iowa State University.