Radiological findings of the post-sinus lift maxillary sinus: a computerized tomography follow-up

The purpose of this paper is to present radiological findings of a short-term (8 to 10 months) computerized tomography (CT) follow-up study on 1-stage maxillary sinus lift cases. Pre- and postoperative dental CT scans of 21 patients (24 sinuses) after sinus lift procedures were compared. CT scans were used to assess newly formed bone and its interface with the implants, condition of the sinus membrane, evidence of buccal window cortication, and presence of any sinus pathology. Of the 57 implants placed, 28 had bone fully covering the implant on all sides which did not extend above the apical portion; 20 had bone fully covering the implant which did extend above the apex; and 9 exhibited incomplete bone coverage. All implants supported a fixed ceramo-metal prosthesis, and no implant failures were recorded after 3 years of follow-up. There was evidence of cortication of the buccal window in 10 sinuses; in the 14 remaining sinuses, bone consolidation on the buccal aspect was evident, but no evidence of cortication was seen. All sinuses healed without complications or clinical signs of sinusitis. In 11 sinuses, no changes in membrane thickness were noted. Membrane thickness decreased postoperatively in 12 sinuses, and in one, there was evidence of membrane thickening. Bone cortication in the anterior wall window may serve as an indicator for the remodeling status of the entire graft. Postoperative findings showed a significant improvement in overall membrane thickness. No clinical symptoms of sinusitis were evident, indicating that sinus lift procedures can be considered safe and do not predispose the sinus to acute or chronic sinusitis.     

Immunoreactive circulating endothelin-1 in normal and hypertensive pregnancies.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to measure the circulatory levels of endothelin-1 in the serum of pregnant women with hypertension. STUDY DESIGN: Endothelin-1 levels were measured by means of radioimmunoassay in the serum of 26 pregnant women with hypertension (14 with pregnancy-induced preeclamptic toxemia, 12 with chronic hypertension) and in the serum of 17 control pregnant women and 18 control nonpregnant women. The mean levels in the different groups were subject to statistical analysis with the analysis of variance. RESULTS: The mean level among the women with preeclampsia (29.9 +/- 13.2 fmol/ml) was significantly higher than those of the chronically hypertensive women (16.1 +/- 7.3 fmol/ml, p = 0.002) and of the control pregnant women (19.7 +/- 9.2 fmol/ml, p = 0.011). The mean level of the control nonpregnant women (26.9 +/- 9.3) was significantly higher than that of the control pregnant women (p = 0.029). Among the patients with preeclampsia there was no correlation between endothelin-1 levels and the mean arterial blood pressure. Six to 10 weeks after delivery the mean levels of 15 studied patients (7 with preeclampsia, 8 with chronic hypertension) were similar to the levels of the nonpregnant control women. CONCLUSION: We conclude that increased endothelin-1 production may play a role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.     

Does female age affect embryo morphology?

Deteriorating oocyte quality is commonly believed to be the primary determinant of the decreased implantation potential in older women. We assessed the influence of age on embryo morphology in standard in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) modalities. All 6350 consecutive embryos (2990 IVF, 3360 ICSI) obtained in our Assisted Reproductive Technology Unit from January 1996 through June 1997 were included. High quality embryos were defined as those with equal-sized blastomeres and < 10% fragmentations and a cleavage rate of four cells on day 2 or eight cells on day 3 transfers. The results were analyzed for the standard IVF group, the ICSI group, and the ICSI subgroup with severe male factor infertility (< or = 1 x 10(6) total motile spermatozoa in the ejaculate). For standard IVF, a positive association was observed between female age and increased proportion of good quality embryos. No such association was detected for the ICSI cycles (whole group or subgroup). We conclude that in standard IVF, embryo quality, as reflected by embryo morphology, does not deteriorate with increased maternal age.     

α1-Antitrypsin modifies general natural killer cell interactions with dendritic cells and specific interactions with islet β-cells in favour of protection from autoimmune diabetes

The autoimmune destruction of pancreatic β-cells is the hallmark of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Failure of anti-CD3 antibodies to provide long-lasting reversal of T1D and the expression of a natural killer (NK) cell ligand on β-cells suggest that NK cells play a role in disease pathogenesis. Indeed, killing of β-cells by NK cells has been shown to occur, mediated by activation of the NK cell activating receptor, NKp46. α1-Antitrypsin (AAT), an anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory glycoprotein, protects β-cells from injurious immune responses and is currently evaluated as a therapeutic for recent onset T1D. Although isolated T lymphocytes are not inhibited by AAT, dendritic cells (DC) become tolerogenic in its presence and other innate immune cells become less inflammatory. Yet a comprehensive profile of NK cell responses in the presence of AAT has yet to be described. In the present study, we demonstrate that AAT significantly reduces NK cell degranulation against β-cells, albeit in the whole animal and not in isolated NK cell cultures. AAT-treated mice, and not isolated cultured β-cells, exhibited a marked reduction in NKp46 ligand levels on β-cells. In related experiments, AAT-treated DC exhibited reduced inducible DC-expressed interleukin-15 levels and evoked a weaker NK cell response. NK cell depletion in a T1D mouse model resulted in improved β-cell function and survival, similar to the effects observed by AAT treatment alone; nonetheless, the two approaches were non-synergistic. Our data suggest that AAT is a selective immunomodulator that retains pivotal NK cell responses, while diverting their activities away from islet β-cells.     

The effects of lobeline on nicotine withdrawal-induced depression-like behavior in mice

Rationale

Evidence suggests that neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) ligand lobeline has antidepressant-like properties.

Objectives

The present study investigated the effects of lobeline on nicotine withdrawal-induced depression-like behavior.

Methods

Adult C57BL/6J mice were exposed to nicotine (200 μg/ml) in drinking solution for 3 weeks. During withdrawal, depression-like behavior was measured by the forced swim test (FST). We also determined norepinephrine (NE) levels in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus during nicotine withdrawal. Furthermore, we determined the effects of repeated treatment with lobeline or a selective α4β2 nAChR ligand 3-(pyridine-3?-yl)-cytisine on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and phosphorylated cAMP-responsive element binding (p-CREB) protein expression in the hippocampus.

Results

Withdrawal from chronic nicotine increased immobility time in the FST, a measure for depression-like behavior. Pretreatment with lobeline significantly decreased immobility time during nicotine withdrawal. In addition, pretreatment with lobeline attenuated nicotine withdrawal-induced increased NE levels in the PFC and hippocampus. Further, repeated treatment with lobeline or 3-(pyridine-3?-yl)-cytisine decreased immobility time in the FST and reduced withdrawal-induced increased BDNF and p-CREB expression in the hippocampus.

Conclusions

Taken together, our results indicate that lobeline attenuated nicotine withdrawal-induced depression-like behavior likely by targeting brain nAChRs, noradrenergic neurotransmission, and/or hippocampal BDNF. Thus, lobeline may have some potential to prevent smoking relapse by counteracting nicotine withdrawal-induced depression in humans.     

Perceptions towards disability among social work students in Israel: Development and validation of a new scale

Over the last decades, the disability movement has been advocating for a paradigmatic shift in how disability is perceived and managed: from a medical or individual perspective focusing on the person's body and mind to a social perspective emphasizing the context and barriers of disability. However, we still know little about the perceptions of helping professionals, particularly social workers who work closely with disabled people. Thus, the aim of the current study is to develop and validate a scale—Perceptions Toward Disability Scale (PTDS)—to measure how social workers view disability: as an individual or social category. This paper describes the three phases of the scale's construction. First, scale items were formulated and its content validity was examined. Next, a pilot of 30 social workers completed a questionnaire and an initial exploratory factor analysis was conducted. In the third and main phase, the final draft was completed in 2016 by 565 Israeli social work students to assess its psychometric properties. Both exploratory and confirmatory factorial validity and discriminant validity analyses were conducted. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis revealed two distinct factors: an individual perspective of disability comprised of eight items (α = 0.77) and a social perspective of disability comprised of ten (α = 0.66). Subsequent analyses supported the scale's discriminant validity as indicated by the lack of an association between the Attitude Toward Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP) and the social model subscale (r = .13, p = .19) and by the weak negative relation with the individual model subscale (r = ?.25, p = .01). These findings show that the PTDS possesses promising construct validity and provide support for its utility. This easy‐to‐administer instrument offers several practical benefits and can serve as a framework for further empirical research regarding social work practice with disabled people.     

Listening to food workers: Factors that impact proper health and hygiene practice in food service

Background

Foodborne disease is a significant problem worldwide. Research exploring sources of outbreaks indicates a pronounced role for food workers'' improper health and hygiene practice.

Objective

To investigate food workers'' perceptions of factors that impact proper food safety practice.

Method

Interviews with food service workers in Baltimore, MD, USA discussing food safety practices and factors that impact implementation in the workplace. A social ecological model organizes multiple levels of influence on health and hygiene behavior.

Results

Issues raised by interviewees include factors across the five levels of the social ecological model, and confirm findings from previous work. Interviews also reveal many factors not highlighted in prior work, including issues with food service policies and procedures, working conditions (e.g., pay and benefits), community resources, and state and federal policies.

Conclusion

Food safety interventions should adopt an ecological orientation that accounts for factors at multiple levels, including workers'' social and structural context, that impact food safety practice.     

The Suffering is Similar—Is the Treatment Equal? An Intervention With Arab Terror Injured

In the course of the last Intifada and during the Second Lebanon War, all citizens of Israel were exposed to waves of terrorism that claimed many people wounded and killed, unrelated to religious differences, age, gender, or nationality: Jews and Arabs suffered alike. The acts of terror exposed all inhabitants equally to injury, suffering, and the need to adjust. The professional literature attests that minority groups are at a higher risk of experiencing post-traumatic symptoms as a result of exposure to acts of terror. This article describes the treatment with terror injured, Jews and Arabs, in the frame of the project for terror victims at Rambam Medical Center, in cooperation with Operation Embrace. It also covers the project intervention with casualties of the shooting incident in the Arab town of Shefaram, with the cooperation of Shefaram Social Welfare department. The psycho-social work conducted with the injured, Jews and Arabs, emphasized their similarities, their common fate, and the fact that any of us could be injured in a terror act or a war. The suffering, the loss, and the hurt are common to us all. At the same time, the interventions referred to cultural differences and the diverse ways of coping with the aftermath of the events, based on values, faith, and outlook on life arising from cultural background.     

Health promotion partnerships in Israel: motives,enhancing and inhibiting factors,and modes of structure

Multisectoral cooperation is an important strategy in working for health promotion. Fifty-two health professionals completed a questionnaire measuring factors motivating, enhancing and inhibiting partnerships. The respondents also reported the type or structure of the partnerships. The results indicated that partnerships were formed primarily in order to promote the project; however, previous positive experience with partnerships was also very important as a motivating force for joining partnerships. The three most important facilitating factors were related to project management: effective leadership, aims of the project, and sharing a vision and goals. The two most frequent items mentioned as very important barriers to partnerships were related to dysfunction of the steering committee. Two types or structures of partnerships were identified. The first was fragmental, where partnerships existed only at specific stages of the project; most respondents reported working within this structure. The second type was continuous, where partnerships existed through all the project's stages. Using multiple regression analysis we found that health staff (mainly nurses) worked more frequently in fragmental partnership structures than did health promotion and welfare workers. In addition, the more experienced the respondents, the less they worked in fragmental partnership structures. These results highlight the importance of acquiring skills for working in partnerships and indicate a need for guidelines to be agreed by the partners at the beginning of the working process.