Predictors of oral health quality of life in older adults

There is limited information regarding oral health status and other predictors of oral health‐related quality of life. An association between oral health status and perceived oral health‐related quality of life (OHQOL) might help clinicians motivate patients to prevent oral diseases and improve the outcome of some dental public health programs. This study evaluated the relationship between older persons' OHQOL and their functional dentition, caries, periodontal status, chronic diseases, and some demographic characteristics. A group of 733 low‐income elders (mean age 72.7 ISD=4.71, 55.6% women, 55.1% members of ethnic minority groups in the U.S. and Canada) enrolled in the TEETH clinical trial were interviewed and examined as part of their fifth annual visit for the trial. OHQOL was measured by the Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI); oral health and occlusal status by clinical exams and the Eichner Index; and demographics via interviews. Elders who completed the four‐year assessment had an average of 21.5 teeth (SD=6.9). with 8.5 occluding pairs (SD=4.6), and 32% with occlusal contacts in all four occluding zones. Stepwise multiple regressions were conducted to predict total GOHAI and its subscores (Physical, Social, and Worry). Functional dentition was a less significant predictor than ethnicity and being foreign‐bom. These variables, together with gender, years since immigrating, number of carious roots, and periodontal status, could predict 32% of the variance in total GOHAI, 24% in Physical, 27% in Social, and 21 % in the Worry subscales. These findings suggest that functional dentition and caries influence older adults' OHQOL, but that ethnicity and immigrant status play a larger role.     

Ocular findings in familial adenomatous polyposis

Background: Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)lesions are predictive congenital phenotypic markersfor familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). Thisprospective screening study aims at assessing theincidence and significance of these lesions in FAPpatients and their family members.Methods: Sixty-two members from three familiesincluding five patients with the diagnosis of FAP havebeen ophthalmologically surveyed. All RPE lesions weredocumented with fundus photography and fluoresceinangiography was performed in 13 subjects.Sigmoidoscopy and/or radiological examination wereperformed annually in 9 family members with typicalRPE lesions during 4 years to allow early diagnosis ofFAP.Results: Typical RPE lesions were present infive FAP patients and 15 family members.Telangiectatic dilatations in the retinal peripherywith small dot-like hemorrhages were detected in 6subjects from 3 families These lesions wereparticularly evident on fluorescein angiography.Annual colon analysis showed polyps in 3 out of 9subjects who were positive for RPE lesions.Conclusion: RPE lesions are valuable as aclinical marker in predicting FAP. The co-existingperipheral vascular alterations which have not beenreported before, are probably related to FAP.     

Clusterlike Headache as a First Sign of Brain Metastases of Lung Cancer

We report on a patient with clusterlike headache and multiple brain metastases of lung cancer. Initially, cluster headache was suggested clinically by characteristic symptoms without any focal central nervous system signs. However, magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated multiple brain metastases. It is possible that tumor necrosis factor may have played a role in initiating the clusterlike headache.     

Nordic contributions to disability policies

The most spectacular contribution from the nordic countries to intellectual disability policy is probably the idea of normalization, but it is not the simplistic notion that can be inferred from international debate. Its major significance may have been to act as an inspiring catchword for the important trend away from institutions Into integrated living. However, it is more fully understood when seen in the concrete context where It has successively developed, and been critically analysed and tested in operation. Scandinavian sociologists and psychologists—as well as politicians—were also among the first to use the concept of quality of life for analysis of social policy, including intellectual disability. The primary medium for implementation has been legislation, where the dominant difficulty is to find a balance between security and freedom, protection and self-determination. Through this process, the role of social engineering in the welfare state, based on humanistic ideas of solidarity, can be followed into today's emphasis on individual influence and participation.     

Immunoreactive p53 and metallothionein expression in duct carcinoma in situ of the breast

 Immunocytochemically detectable MT and p53 have been found more commonly in comedo DCIS of the breast with high-grade cytology. The aim of this study is to confirm these findings and to investigate the relationship between MT and p53 in a single large series of cases of DCIS of the breast. To this end, 127 cases of DCIS were classified histologically according to architecture, cytonuclear differentiation (grade), presence and extent of intraduct necrosis, and using the Van Nuys system. Sections were immunostained for p53 and MT (E9) using established techniques, and the extent and intensity of staining were assessed semi-quantitively. The results confirmed that there was generally more MT and p53 positivity in poorly differentiated (grade 3) DCIS with extensive necrosis and that MT expression was greater in grade 2 lesions than p53 expression. However, overall there was no statistically significant correlation between p53 and MT staining. The results indicate that MT and p53 overexpression may arise from independent mechanisms in early breast neoplasia. Received: 3 July 1996 / Accepted: 5 November 1996     

Rh血型不合新生儿溶血病检测方法及应用

产前检测Ｒｈ，Ｄ因子及抗人球蛋白（ｃｏｏｍｂｓ）试验是必要的。测定Ｒｈ，Ｄ因子及抗Ｄ滴度使用木瓜酶方法。通过对１１２６１例孕妇常规检查Ｒｈ，Ｄ因子，发现Ｄ阴性７４例。Ｒｈ，Ｄ阴性妇女占６．５‰。２２例Ｒｈ，Ｄ阴性的孕妇所分娩的新生儿均为Ｒｈ，Ｄ阳性。其中２例孕妇血清抗Ｄ滴度为１∶３２，病情严重，宫内输血无效，胎死宫内。初产妇１３例，占５９％。活产２０例，存活率９０％。Ｒｈ因子及抗人球蛋白试验方法简便、易行，一般医院均可进行。对有流产史、输血史的孕妇检查Ｒｈ因子是十分必要的。在有条件的医院，对Ｒｈ，Ｄ阴性的产妇分娩Ｒｈ，Ｄ阳性的新生儿之后，产妇应预防性注射抗Ｄ免疫球蛋白     

Transarterial embolization of vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation after unsuccessful stereotactic radiosurgery

The authors present three cases of vein of Galen aneurysmal malformations (VGAMs) diagnosed in infancy and submitted by the referring teams for stereotactic radiosurgery as the initial therapy (therapeutic doses ranging between 20–25 Gy and 40–50 Gy to the peak dose). After the conventional follow-up of 18–24 months, no change could be detected in the angioarchitecture of the lesions. All three cases were then referred for endovascular treatment and underwent embolization by the transarterial route using liquid adhesives (N-butyl cyanoacrylate). This resulted in complete anatomical exclusion of the lesion. Regardless of the theoretical efficiency of radiosurgery in the management of brain arteriovenous malformations, the present authors believe that transarterial embolization remains the treatment of choice in VGAMs. It offers a high rate of morphological cure and the best chances for normal neurocognitive development. The time required by radiosurgery to achieve a significant result is too long for developing and maturing brain and may not prevent the negative effects of the lesion, mainly in regard to hemo- and hydrodynamic disorders (atrophy, subcortical calcifications, etc.) created by the VGAM, thus leading to irreversible mental retardation.     

Plasminogen activator is involved in the hCG-induced neutrophil extravasation and vasopermeability increase in the rat testis

The role of proteolytic enzymes in the hCG-induced increase in testicular vasopermeability and neutrophil extravasation was studied using protease inhibitors. An intra-testicular injection of hCG together with incubation medium conditioned by polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs) caused a significant increase in vasopermeability and a coincident extravasation of PMN's from the postcapillary venules in the rat testis. When p-aminobenzamidine, a serine protease inhibitor which inhibits urokinase-type plasminogen activator, was administered together with hCG in the incubation medium, both the permeability increase and PMN extravasation were prevented. Aprotinin, another serine protease inhibitor, and Eglin C, a specific neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G inhibitor were, however, without effect. None of these inhibitors caused any non-specific vascular effects in the testis at the concentrations used. These results support the concept that the hCG-induced increase in vasopermeability in the rat testis is related to extravasation of PMNs and suggest that urokinase-type plasminogen activator is involved in migration of these cells through the postcapillary venular walls.     

The short-term stability of student ratings of instruction in medical school

The purpose of this study was to assess the degree of consistency in student ratings of teacher effectiveness during the first year of medical school. Student ratings of teaching effectiveness represent a commonly used source of information that enters into the academic decision-making process. In medical school, student evaluations often represent a major source of information that is used in promotion and tenure decisions. It is essential that the precision of such ratings be ascertained so that decision-makers will know how much confidence to place in this source of information on teaching effectiveness. In this study, each member of a first-year medical school class was randomly assigned a two-digit identification number at the beginning of the spring semester, 1986. As the semester progressed students were asked to evaluate each full-time teacher in three major courses. Multiple instructors were utilized in each course (n = 10). Each teacher was evaluated immediately after lectures during the first (T1) and second (T2) halves of the course. Students evaluated the teacher a third time (T3) as part of the end-of-semester overall course evaluation. The teachers were evaluated on a short eight-item Likert-type scale that identified several key indicators of effective teaching. Students attached their anonymous identification numbers to individual ratings so that their responses could be matched in the analysis. The results indicate that medical students are only moderately consistent in the extent to which they evaluate teachers. This inconsistency varied by course and by instructors within courses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)