Treatment of horizontal root‐fractured maxillary incisors – a case report

Abstract – Traumatic dental injuries often occur to the teeth and their supporting tissues and they are the main reasons for emergency visit to a dental clinic. Management of a fracture depends on its position and the extent of root involvement. Horizontal root fractures are not seen frequently and the treatment consists of reduction and long‐term rigid fixation of the coronal segment. The present case demonstrates the successful management of two horizontally fractured maxillary central incisors with a follow‐up period of 9 months.     

Working‐correlation‐structure identification in generalized estimating equations

Selecting an appropriate working correlation structure is pertinent to clustered data analysis using generalized estimating equations (GEE) because an inappropriate choice will lead to inefficient parameter estimation. We investigate the well‐known criterion of QIC for selecting a working correlation structure, and have found that performance of the QIC is deteriorated by a term that is theoretically independent of the correlation structures but has to be estimated with an error. This leads us to propose a correlation information criterion (CIC) that substantially improves the QIC performance. Extensive simulation studies indicate that the CIC has remarkable improvement in selecting the correct correlation structures. We also illustrate our findings using a data set from the Madras Longitudinal Schizophrenia Study. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

聚合酶链反应检测铜绿假单胞菌感染性角膜溃疡的实验研究及临床应用

目的：探索聚合酶链反应（PCR）技术对铜绿假单胞菌感染性角膜溃疡快速诊断的可行性。优越性及其在临床应用中的价值。方法：建立PCR检测标准铜绿假单胞菌方法，对兔铜绿假单胞菌感染性角膜溃疡模型研究并应用于临床，并与细菌培养做比较。结果：铜绿假单胞菌扩增出一条长504bp的阳性条带，其他常见细菌，人和兔正常角膜组织均为阴性，动物模型PCR敏感性为93.8%。特异性为100.0%；细菌培养敏感性为68.7%。特异性为93.7%。临床标本PCR阳性率为66.7%；细菌培养阳性率为38.1%。结论：PCR技术对快速检测实验室和临床标本中的铜绿假单胞菌具有重要的应用价值。     

Assessing ethical problem solving by reasoning rather than decision making

Context The assessment of ethical problem solving in medicine has been controversial and challenging. The purposes of this study were: (i) to create a new instrument to measure doctors’ decisions on and reasoning approach towards resolving ethical problems; (ii) to evaluate the scores generated by the new instrument for their reliability and validity, and (iii) to compare doctors’ ethical reasoning abilities between countries and among medical students, residents and experts. Methods This study used 15 clinical vignettes and the think‐aloud method to identify the processes and components involved in ethical problem solving. Subjects included volunteer ethics experts, postgraduate Year 2 residents and pre‐clerkship medical students. The interview data were coded using the instruments of the decision score and Ethical Reasoning Inventory (ERI). The ERI assessed the quality of ethical reasoning for a particular case (Part I) and for an individual globally across all the vignettes (Part II). Results There were 17 Canadian and 32 Taiwanese subjects. Based on the Canadian standard, the decision scores between Taiwanese and Canadian subjects differed significantly, but made no discrimination among the three levels of expertise. Scores on the ERI Parts I and II, which reflect doctors’ reasoning quality, differed between countries and among different levels of expertise in Taiwan, providing evidence of construct validity. In addition, experts had a greater organised knowledge structure and considered more relevant variables in the process of arriving at ethical decisions than did residents or students. The reliability of ERI scores was 0.70–0.99 on Part I and 0.75–0.80 on Part II. Conclusions Expertise in solving ethical problems could not be differentiated by the decisions made, but could be differentiated according to the reasoning used to make those decisions. The difference between Taiwanese and Canadian experts suggests that cultural considerations come into play in the decisions that are made in the course of providing humane care to patients.     

平面导板在深覆(牙合)矫治中的临床应用研究

目的：探讨平面导板矫治重度深覆[牙合]患者的作用机制及临床作用要点。方法：对18名生长发育期的重度深覆[牙合]患者,用平面导板来打开咬合,并对咬合打开前后的硬软组织变化进行分析。结果：①上下后牙及牙槽高度均增加,下后牙及牙槽高度的增加值大于上后牙及牙槽高度的增加值,而对前牙及牙槽高度的影响无统计学差异;②上下颌骨在水平方向上无改变,但下颌平面角与下面高/全面高治疗后较治疗前增大,后面高/前面高治疗后较治疗前减小;③覆[牙合]减小,Spee氏曲线得到整平;④松弛的下唇肌肉得到紧张,从而改善了侧貌外形。结论：平面导板使覆[牙合]减小主要是后牙及后牙齿槽突高度增加的结果,对生长发育期的低角重度深覆[牙合]患者治疗效果较好。     

Reversal of vascular 18F-FDG uptake with plasma high-density lipoprotein elevation by atherogenic risk reduction

Vascular 18F-FDG uptake marker represents inflammation in atherosclerotic lesions, but whether inflammation can be reversed by risk-modifying interventions has not, to our knowledge, been demonstrated. In this study, we evaluated the change of vascular 18F-FDG uptake in response to lifestyle intervention on serial PET/CT scans and further assessed how the findings relate to atherogenic risk reduction. METHODS: A total of 60 healthy adults underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT scans and atherogenic risk-factor assessment at baseline and again after 17.1 +/- 8.3 mo of practicing lifestyle modification. The PET/CT images were evaluated for the presence of vascular 18F-FDG lesions, and vessel-to-blood-pool 18F-FDG ratios were measured. Indices from summed ratios of positive lesions were compared and correlated to atherogenic risk factors. RESULTS: At follow-up, significant reductions in diastolic blood pressure (P < 0.05), total cholesterol (P < 0.05), and low-density lipoprotein level (P < 0.05) and an increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level (P < 0.0001) were demonstrated. On the initial PET/CT scan, 50 of 60 subjects showed 1 or more 18F-FDG-positive lesions (5.9 +/- 5.0/subject), leading to a total of 352 vascular sites. On follow-up, 18F-FDG-positive lesions were significantly reduced to 2.1 +/- 2.2 sites per subject (P < 0.0001) and a total of 124 sites (64.8% reduction). Follow-up 18F-FDG-positive rates were significantly reduced for the aorta and iliac arteries. In addition, significant reductions in the whole-body 18F-FDG index from 1.39 +/- 1.23 to 0.53 +/- 0.59 (P < 0.0001) and carotid 18F-FDG index from 0.08 +/- 0.16 to 0.03 +/- 0.06 (P = 0.01) were shown. The whole-body 18F-FDG index correlated with total cholesterol (P < 0.05) and HDL level (P < 0.05), and the magnitude of reduction in the 18F-FDG index closely correlated to the amount of increase in plasma HDL level (P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrated that vascular 18F-FDG uptake is reversed in response to atherogenic risk reduction by lifestyle intervention and that the magnitude of improvement correlates to increases in plasma HDL levels. Thus, serial 18F-FDG PET/CT may be useful for monitoring improvements in the inflammatory component of atherosclerotic lesions in response to risk modification.