Risks and benefits of removal of impacted third molars: critical review of the literature. 1]

Because of the ever-increasing enthusiasm that new graduates have demonstrated for practising minor oral surgery procedures, the authors believed that it would be useful to translate the results of a research project done in 1990 by Drs. David S. Precious and Paul Mercier, who are well-known oral and maxillofacial surgeons. This paper is about the risks and benefits associated with the removal of impacted third molars.     

A weight-bearing, water-based exercise program for osteopenic women: Its impact on bone, functional fitness, and well-being

Objective: To evaluate the effects of a weight-bearing, waterbased, exercise program designed for women with low bone mass.Design: A test-retest cross-sectional, prospective study.Setting: Community-dwelling women from a Canadian city.Participants: Seventy-seven postmenopausal women, 50 to 70 years of age, with spinal or femoral bone density below the fracture threshold.Intervention: Subjects exercised in a pool with waist-high water for 60 minutes, 3 days a week, over a 12-month period. Forty minutes of each session were devoted to successive jumps and muscular exercises designed to promote bone accretion, strength, and endurance.Main Outcome Measures: Spinal and femoral bone mineral density (BMD) measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, functional fitness (flexibility, coordination, agility, strength/endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance) assessed with the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance battery, and psychological states evaluated with Dupuy's General Well-Being Schedule.Results: Spinal BMD decreased significantly (p < .001), whereas there was no change in femoral neck BMD (p = .90). Four of the parameters chosen to assess functional fitness, namely, flexibility, agility, strength/endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance, were affected positively by the exercise program (all p values <.001). Psychological well-being also improved significantly after participation in the exercise program (p < .001).Conclusion: The intervention was successful in improving the functional fitness and psychological well-being of the participants, despite a lack of effect on the skeletal system. Future studies are needed to identify water exercises that are safe yet exert enough stress on the bones to initiate a bone response.     

IANA task force on nutrition and cognitive decline with aging

Cognitive impairment can be influenced by a number of factors. The potential effect of nutrition has become a topic of increasing scientific and public interest. In particular, there are arguments that nutrients (food and/or supplements) such as vitamins, trace minerals, lipids, can affect the risk of cognitive decline and dementia, especially in frail elderly people at risk of deficiencies. Our objective in this paper is to review data relating diet to risk of cognitive decline and dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD). We chose to focus our statements on homocysteine-related vitamins (B-vitamins), antioxidant nutrients (vitamins E and C, carotenoids, flavonoids, enzymatic cofactors) and dietary lipids. Results of epidemiological studies may sometimes appeared conflicting; however, certain associations are frequently found. High intake of saturated and trans-unsaturated (hydrogenated) fats were positively associated with increased risk of AD, whereas intake of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats were protective against cognitive decline in the elderly in prospective studies. Fish consumption has been associated with lower risk of AD in longitudinal cohort studies. Moreover, epidemiologic data suggest a protective role of the B-vitamins, especially vitamins B9 and B12, on cognitive decline and dementia. Finally, the results on antioxidant nutrients may suggest the importance of having a balanced combination of several antioxidant nutrients to exert a significant effect on the prevention of cognitive decline and dementia, while taking into account the potential adverse effects of these nutrients. There is no lack of attractive hypotheses to support research on the relationships between nutrition and cognitive decline. It is important to stress the need to develop further prospective studies of sufficiently long duration, including subjects whose diet is monitored at a sufficiently early stage or at least before disease or cognitive decline exist. Meta analyses should be developed, and on the basis of their results the most appropriate interventional studies can be planned. These studies must control for the greatest number of known confounding factors and take into account the impact of the standard social determinants of food habits, such as the regional cultures, social status, and educational level.     

Immune-mediated destruction of transfected myocytes following DNA vaccination occurs via multiple mechanisms

The delivery of antigenic proteins in the context of a DNA vaccine leads to the intracellular synthesis of antigen and the induction of both humoral and cellular immune responses. Subsequent to immune activation, any transfected cell expressing the immunogenic protein should, by the rules of immunology, become a legitimate target for removal by immune-mediated mechanisms. Herein, we have used an indirect assay of myocyte integrity following intra-muscular (i.m.) delivery of a DNA vaccine, in mice with various immune deficiencies, to determine which immunological mechanisms may be involved in destruction of antigen-expressing cells. We demonstrate that destruction of antigen- expressing myocytes following i.m. injection of a DNA vaccine is dependent on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II restricted CD4+ T cell activation, but is not mediated solely by MHC I-restricted or perforin-mediated lysis and appears to have a component that is antibody-mediated. Although we studied myocytes, the results likely represent what happens to any transfected cell expressing a foreign antigen. This study underscores the ability of DNA vaccines at inducing antigen-specific immune responses that include a number of effector mechanisms. From the perspective of gene therapy, this study highlights the significance of immune activation when considering strategies where maintenance of therapeutic gene expression is desired.     

Dietary resilience as described by older community-dwelling adults from the NuAge study "if there is a will -there is a way!"

Many older adults experience age-related changes that can have negative consequences for food intake. Some older adults continue to eat well despite these challenges showing dietary resilience. We aimed to describe the strategies used by older adults to overcome dietary obstacles and to explore the key themes of dietary resilience. The sample was drawn from the five-year Québec Longitudinal Study "NuAge". It included 30 participants (80% female) aged 73-87 years; 10 with decreased diet quality and 20 with steady or increased diet quality; all had faced key barriers to eating well. Semi-structured interviews explored how age-related changes affected participants' experiences with eating. Thematic analysis revealed strategies used to overcome eating, shopping, and meal preparation difficulties. Key themes of dietary resilience were: prioritizing eating well, doing whatever it takes to keep eating well, being able to do it yourself, getting help when you need it. Implications for health professionals are discussed.     

Nutrition factors in relation to cellular and regulatory immune variables in a free-living elderly population

Aging is associated with a greater susceptibility to nutrition deficiencies and to progressive senescence of the immune system. To test whether nutrition status contributes to the immunologic changes observed in elderly individuals, we examined the relationship between nutrition status and in vitro indices of immune responses in 82 healthy, free-living elderly individuals. Nutrition status was assessed by anthropometric measurements, 7 d food records, and blood concentrations of selected nutrients. Using regression analyses, we found that none of the nutrition factors was associated with cytotoxic activity of natural killer (NK) cells against the leukemic cell line K562. However, our results suggest that the dietary intakes of vitamins E and D negatively influenced the activity of interleukin 2 (IL-2) measured by a bioassay in which the CTLL cell line was used. An association may exist between particular aspects of nutrition status and regulation of immune response by IL-2. The need for further studies is emphasized.     

Comparisons show construction management's benefits.

Analysis of competitive bid, design-build, and construction management approaches shows that construction management offers owners substantial advantages regarding project cost and quality and substantial involvement and control throughout the process.