Evaluation of the biocompatibility of root canal sealers on human periodontal ligament cells ex vivo

Odontology - The aim of this study was to evaluate the biocompatibility of two comparatively new calcium silicate containing sealers (MTA-Fillapex and BioRoot-RCS) with that of two established...     

The severely impaired do profit most: short-term and long-term predictors of therapeutic change for a parent management training under routine care conditions for children with externalizing problem behavior

Short-term and long-term predictors of therapeutic change due to parent management training were investigated. Therapeutic change was defined as the change in outcome measures [externalizing problem behavior and parenting self-efficacy (PSE)] from before treatment to afterward. Three different types of predictors were analyzed: child variables (gender, age, and initial externalizing and internalizing behavior), parent variables (age, initial PSE and parental psychopathology) and socioeconomic status and other sociodemographic characteristics of the family (parental school education, employment, family status, language). The parent management training was part of the Prevention Program for Externalizing Problem Behavior, which was evaluated as an effectiveness trial under routine care conditions using a within-subject control group design. Between 78 and 270 families were included in the analysis, which investigated therapeutic change over two time intervals: (1) immediate change from the pre-treatment to the post-treatment assessments, and (2) long-term-change from pre-treatment to 1-year follow-up. Throughout several analyses, the only predictor of therapeutic change that was consistently significant over the two time periods for the externalizing problem behavior of the child was the initial externalizing problem behavior. More impaired children improved more. Similarly, the only predictor of therapeutic change for the two time periods in PSE was the initial level of PSE. Parents with less PSE gained more during the course of the training.     

Diagnostic impact of myotonic discharges in myofibrillar myopathies

Introduction: In patients with myofibrillar myopathies (MFM), myotonic discharges have occasionally been detected by needle electromyography (EMG). Nevertheless, this peculiar type of spontaneous repetitive discharge has not attracted special interest in the genetically heterogeneous MFMs. Methods: EMG features were analyzed in 6 patients with genetically confirmed MFM (n = 1 MYOT, n = 1 DES, n = 2 ZASP, n = 2 FLNC). Results: Fibrillation potentials, positive sharp waves, and myotonic discharges were found in all 6 patients, and complex repetitive discharges were found in 5. Myotonic discharges were detected in approximately 50% of the analyzed muscles independent of the site, including distal (3/6), proximal limb (4/6), and paravertebral muscles (3/6). Clinical myotonia could not be elicited in any patient. Conclusions: Myotonic discharges appear to be part of the electrodiagnostic characteristics of myofibrillar myopathy. Along with other appropriate clinical and histological findings, the presence of myotonic discharges supports the diagnosis of myofibrillar myopathy. Muscle Nerve 47: 845–848, 2013     

Steuerliche Einordnung der wirtschaftlichen Vorteile aus einer Vertragsarztzulassung

Der wirtschaftliche Vorteil einer Vertragsarztzulassung stellt kein gesondert zu bewertendes Wirtschaftsgut dar, sondern einen wertbildenden Faktor des Wirtschaftsguts “Praxiswert” im Rahmen des Gesamtkaufpreises zum Erwerb der Vertragsarztpraxis.     

Sialyl Lewis(x) antigen as defined by monoclonal antibody AM-3 is a marker of dysplasia in the colonic adenoma-carcinoma sequence.

Monoclonal antibody AM-3 (MAb AM-3) raised against a sialomucin from human colorectal carcinoma has previously been shown to define a carbohydrate epitope, which is detectable by immunocytochemistry on all investigated colonic carcinomas and is expressed in correlation with the grade of dysplasia in colonic adenomas (Hanski et al., J. Clin. Pathol., 43: 379-385, 1990). Epitope analyses in solid-phase enzyme immunoassays revealed that AM-3 antibody recognizes the sialylated Lewis(x) sequence on a branched O-linked glycan and its reductively cleaved alditol from human amniotic mucins. In comparative binding and binding inhibition studies MAbs AM-3 and CSLEX1 displayed reciprocal affinities to mucins versus gangliosides. Correspondingly, the weaker binding activities of AM-3 versus CSLEX to III3-alpha Fuc-IV3-alpha NeuAc-nLcOse4-Cer or to monogangliosides from human granulocytes were measured. Gangliosides from a human colon carcinoma were recognized by MAb CSLEX1 exhibiting a broader specificity to various sialyl-Lewis(x) antigens and by MAb FH6 reactive to sialyl-dimeric Lewis(x) antigen, but not by MAb AM-3. In conclusion, MAb AM-3 is distinguished from other sialyl Lewis(x)-specific MAbs by its selective reactivity to mucin-carried epitopes on the monomeric antigen.     

Dysfunctional attentional networks in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: evidence from an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study.

BACKGROUND: Although there is evidence for attentional dysfunction in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the neural basis of these deficits remains poorly understood. METHODS: We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate brain activations related to three particular aspects of attention: alerting, reorienting, and executive control. Sixteen medication-naive boys with ADHD and 16 healthy boys, aged 8 to 12 years, were studied. RESULTS: Behaviorally, children with ADHD showed a significant impairment only in their executive control system compared to healthy subjects. Neurally, children with ADHD (relative to controls) recruited deviant brain regions for all three attentional networks: less right-sided activation in the anterior cingulate gyrus during alerting, more fronto-striatal-insular activation during reorienting, and less fronto-striatal activation for executive control. ADHD symptom severity was associated with dysregulation of the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal within the putamen during reorienting and executive control. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrated altered brain mechanism in ADHD associated with all three attentional networks investigated. For alerting and executive attention, our data indicate a deviant mechanism of cortical control, while ADHD children may have adopted altered strategies for reorienting of attention. Our results also stress the etiological role of functional abnormalities in the putamen in medication-naive ADHD.