Anteroposterior lip positions of the most-favored Japanese facial profiles.

INTRODUCTION: Soft tissue analysis is a basic tool in planning orthodontic treatment. However, the components of a well-balanced Japanese facial profile have not yet been established. The purpose of this study was to assess the most-favored or most well-balanced profile from a series of facial silhouettes with varying anteroposterior lip positions by a group of Japanese orthodontists and a group of young adult Japanese dental students. METHODS: Average female and male profiles were constructed from the profiles of 30 Japanese men and women with normal occlusions. The lips in each average profile were protruded or retruded in 1-mm increments, and the 13 images were arranged with the average profile in the center. Forty two orthodontists and 42 dental students were asked to select the 3 most-favored, well-balanced profiles for each sex and rank them in order of preference. RESULTS: Both the orthodontists and the students preferred a profile with slightly retruded lips. The dental students favored a more retruded lip position for women. The least-favored profile was the most protrusive. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that Japanese orthodontists and young adults prefer a retruded profile, even though Japanese profiles have historically been characterized by more convex facial features.     

Exposure of humans to a volatile organic mixture. I. Behavioral assessment.

Exposure to a low-level mixture of volatile organic compounds, typical of those found in new buildings, has been reported to impair neurobehavioral function in persons who have experienced sick building syndrome (SBS). Sixty-six healthy young males who had no history of chemical sensitivity were exposed for 2.75 h to a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds at 0 and 25 mg/m3. Even though subjects reported more fatigue and more mental confusion following exposure to volatile organic compounds than to clean air, performance on 13 neurobehavioral tests was not affected. Practice or learning effects were observed if administration of many behavioral tests were repeated. Further studies are needed to clarify the relationship of exposure to volatile organic chemicals, neurobehavioral performance, and subject characteristics, e.g., age, gender, and chemical sensitivity.     

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: Medical or surgical treatment? Report of an interactive workshop

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is the most common disease of the upper gastrointestinal tract. With the introduction of proton pump inhibitors medical treatment of GERD has been significantly improved. However, the development of laparoscopic antireflux surgery resulted in an increasing interest of surgeons in this disease. An interactive meeting was organized in order to develop an agreement between gastoenterologists and surgeons regarding therapeutic decisions and this is the main topic of this paper.     

Beta-defensin genomic copy number is not a modifier locus for cystic fibrosis

Human beta-defensin 2 (DEFB4, also known as DEFB2 or hBD-2) is a salt-sensitive antimicrobial protein that is expressed in lung epithelia. Previous work has shown that it is encoded in a cluster of beta-defensin genes at 8p23.1, which varies in copy number between 2 and 12 in different individuals. We determined the copy number of this locus in 355 patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), and tested for correlation between beta-defensin cluster genomic copy number and lung disease associated with CF. No significant association was found.     

Missense FGFR3 mutations create cysteine residues in thanatophoric dwarfism type I (TD1)

Thanatophoric dwarfism (TD) is a sporadic lethal skeletal dysplasia with micromelic shortening of the limbs, macrocephaly, platyspondyly and reduced thoracic cavity. In the most common subtype (TD1), femurs are curved, while in TD2, straight femurs are associated with cloverleaf skull. Mutations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene were identified in both subtypes. While TD2 was accounted for by a single recurrent mutation in the tyrosine kinase 2 domain, TD1 resulted from either stop codon mutations or missense mutations in the extracellular domain of the gene. Here, we report the identification of FGFR3 mutations in 25/26 TD cases. Two novel missense mutations (Y373C and G370C) were detected in 8/26 and 1/26 TD1 cases respectively. Both mutations created cysteine residues in the juxta extramembrane domain of the receptor. Sixteen cases carried the previously reported R248C (9/26 cases), S249C (2/26 cases) or stop codon FGFR3 mutations (5/26 cases). Our results suggest that TD1 is a genetically homogeneous condition and give additional support to the view that newly created cysteine residues in the extracellular domain of the protein play a key role in the severity of the disease.      

Morphological analysis of degeneration and regeneration of syncytiotrophoblast in first trimester placental villi during organ culture

We have recently shown using dansyl-L-lysine exclusion studies that the release of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) in conjunction with L- lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) from first trimester villi during organ culture is symptomatic of syncytiotrophoblast degeneration. The purpose of this study was to examine chorionic villi at the ultrastructural level in order to determine events occurring during organ culture. The tissue was sampled after 0, 24, 48 and 120 h in culture and processed for electron microscopy. In addition to confirming the previously recorded syncytial degeneration, the electron micrographs showed clearly the generation of a new syncytiotrophoblast layer. The new layer, derived from differentiating cytotrophoblast cells, was largely formed by 48 h and was maintained for at least 120 h in culture. This study demonstrates a model which provides an opportunity to study the differentiation of cytotrophoblast cells whilst they retain their anatomical relationships within the villous structure.