Dental status and treatment needs of a New Zealand institutionalised elderly population.

A survey of 359 elderly residents of rest homes and geriatric hospitals in the Manawatu and Horowhenua districts showed that approximately two-thirds were aged 80 or over, and 19.5 percent were dentate, with a mean 13.3 teeth per dentate subject. A mean of 4.6 teeth per dentate subject had caries of either the crown or root, or both. Older males had substantially higher extraction requirements than other subjects. The periodontal needs of the sample were generally low and dominated by the need for calculus removal.     

Melanotic neuroectodermal tumour of infancy: an immunohistochemical and ultrastructural study

Two cases of melanotic neuro-ectodermal tumour of infancy (MNTI)—a rare neoplasm arising in the first year of life—are reported, with the results of immunohistochemical and ultrastructural examination. The tumours consisted of a biphasic cell population in a fibrous stroma. The small, darkly staining cells comprising the first population stained positively for synaptophysin, showing them to be neuroblasts, and the large epithelioid cells comprising the second cell population stained positively with the antibodies HMB-45 and NKI-Beteb, showing them to be melanocytes. Ultrastructural examination of the second case confirmed the biphasic nature of the tumour cells, with secretory granules and neurofilaments in the neuroblastic population, and melanosomes in the epithelioid population. These results add to the evidence supporting the neural crest origin of MNTI and confirm its formation from two distinct cell lines. Both cases have responded to local excision, with no recurrence more than a year after initial treatment.     

The impact of early palatal obturation on consonant development in babies with unrepaired cleft palate.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether palatal obturators enhance consonant development during babbling for babies with unrepaired cleft palate. PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen babies with cleft palate who had worn anterior palatal obturators prior to palatal surgery were matched to 14 unobturated babies according to cleft type, sex, and age at time of presurgical evaluation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Spontaneous vocalizations of the obturated and unobturated groups were compared to determine whether differences were evident in size of consonant inventory as well as place and manner of consonant production. RESULTS: Paired t tests revealed no significant differences between the groups in size of consonant inventory or place and manner of consonant production. There was a trend for babies in the obturated group to produce more glottal consonants. CONCLUSIONS: In general, the findings of this study suggested that palatal obturators do not appear to facilitate production of anterior palatal consonants during babbling.     

Short-term exposure to alcohol increases the permeability of human oral mucosa

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of short-term exposure to ethanol on the permeability barrier properties of human oral mucosa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Permeability constants (Kp x 10(-4) cm min(-1)) to tritiated water were determined, for untreated human ventral tongue, and following treatment with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), 5, 15 or 40% ethanol using an in vitro perfusion chamber system. Some samples were also exposed to fluorescent-labelled albumin and examined by fluorescence microscopy. Permeability barrier lipid composition was assessed in treated and untreated mucosa by heat separation, solvent extraction and thin layer chromatography. RESULTS: Fifteen per cent ethanol significantly increased mucosal permeability (5.8 +/- 0.44; P < 0.05) compared with untreated, PBS and 5% ethanol treated mucosa (4.69 +/- 0.26, 4.48 +/- 0.3 and 4.13 +/- 0.27, respectively). Albumin was restricted to the epithelial surface in control tissue, but extended further through the epithelium and, in some cases, into the connective tissue after treatment with ethanol. Biochemical analysis revealed no significant difference in the epithelial lipid composition of treated and untreated mucosa. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that short-term exposure to ethanol may act as a permeability enhancer, possibly by causing molecular rearrangement of the permeability barrier, not as a result of lipid extraction.     

Isolation and characterization of fifteen microsatellite loci in Leopard grouper (Mycteroperca rosacea) via 454 pyrosequencing

Leopard grouper (Mycteroperca rosacea) are distributed from Bahía Magdalena, through the Gulf of California and as far south as Jalisco, Mexico. They are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to significant fishing-induced declines over the past decade. Microsatellite loci were isolated by constructing a shotgun genomic library and sequencing using 454 XL + titanium chemistry. We characterized 15 polymorphic loci in 120 samples from three geographic locations. Genotyping yielded 15–60 alleles per locus with observed levels of heterozygosity ranging from 0.575 to 0.975.