Closure of anterior open bites with mandibular surgery: advantages and disadvantages of this approach

Introduction

While closure of an anterior open bite with a mandibular procedure may predispose a surgical case to instability, there are instances where this type of treatment planning is indicated.

Methods and materials

In this paper, the authors review the advantages and disadvantages of this approach and present three cases with varying degrees of success. Additionally, treatment strategies are presented for managing large advancements of the maxilla and mandible.

Results and summary

Counterclockwise rotation of the mandible is a valuable tool that can be used in the treatment of patients with dentofacial deformities.     

Reclaiming freshwater sustainability in the Cadillac Desert

Increasing human appropriation of freshwater resources presents a tangible limit to the sustainability of cities, agriculture, and ecosystems in the western United States. Marc Reisner tackles this theme in his 1986 classic Cadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water. Reisner's analysis paints a portrait of region-wide hydrologic dysfunction in the western United States, suggesting that the storage capacity of reservoirs will be impaired by sediment infilling, croplands will be rendered infertile by salt, and water scarcity will pit growing desert cities against agribusiness in the face of dwindling water resources. Here we evaluate these claims using the best available data and scientific tools. Our analysis provides strong scientific support for many of Reisner's claims, except the notion that reservoir storage is imminently threatened by sediment. More broadly, we estimate that the equivalent of nearly 76% of streamflow in the Cadillac Desert region is currently appropriated by humans, and this figure could rise to nearly 86% under a doubling of the region's population. Thus, Reisner's incisive journalism led him to the same conclusions as those rendered by copious data, modern scientific tools, and the application of a more genuine scientific method. We close with a prospectus for reclaiming freshwater sustainability in the Cadillac Desert, including a suite of recommendations for reducing region-wide human appropriation of streamflow to a target level of 60%.     

Toxicity of Stormwater Runoff After Dormant Spray Application of Diazinon and Esfenvalerate (Asana®) in a French Prune Orchard,Glenn County,California, USA

Organophosphate pesticides (OPs), in particular diazinon and chlorpyrifos, have frequently been detected in toxic concentrations in waterways draining agricultural and urban areas in California’s Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds (US Geological Survey 1997, Werner et al. 2000). Toxicity has in part been linked to stormwater runoff of OP pesticides applied during the dormant season on stonefruit and almond orchards (Foe and Sheipline 1993; Kuivila and Foe 1995). State Water Quality Plans have now been implemented by regulatory agencies to prevent movement of OPs into surface water, and growers have reduced the application of OPs. Simultaneously, the use of so-called reduced-risk alternatives, such as pyrethroid insecticides and Bacillus thuringiensis bloom sprays, has increased dramatically (Epstein et al. 2000).

Best management practices (BMPs) are aimed at reducing off-site movement of pesticides into surface waters. Pyrethroid pesticides, among them the widely used esfenvalerate (Asana®) are considerably more hydrophobic (solubility in water: 0.4 μg/L) than the relatively soluble OP pesticide diazinon (solubility in water: 40,000 μg/L; Extoxnet 2001). Although runoff of pyrethroids is believed to be minimal thus reducing pesticide impact on surface waters, esfenvalerate has been shown to be toxic to fish at extremely low concentrations (≤ 1 ug/L; Haya 1989; Clark et al. 1989; Lozano et al. 1992), and potentially poses a significantly higher risk to these organisms than OP pesticides. In addition, its potential to bioaccumulate and bioconcentrate is high (Smith and Stratton 1986). A second recommended method for reducing toxic runoff from orchards is the use of different orchard floor cover crops. Cover crops are believed to enhance water infiltration (Hargrove 1991).

This study was performed to measure the effectiveness of these two BMPs in reducing the toxicity of Stormwater runoff. Experiments were carried out in a French prune orchard at the Talbot-Vereschagin Ranch, Glenn County, California.

     

Sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley, California

The sustainability of irrigated agriculture in many arid and semiarid areas of the world is at risk because of a combination of several interrelated factors, including lack of fresh water, lack of drainage, the presence of high water tables, and salinization of soil and groundwater resources. Nowhere in the United States are these issues more apparent than in the San Joaquin Valley of California. A solid understanding of salinization processes at regional spatial and decadal time scales is required to evaluate the sustainability of irrigated agriculture. A hydro-salinity model was developed to integrate subsurface hydrology with reactive salt transport for a 1,400-km(2) study area in the San Joaquin Valley. The model was used to reconstruct historical changes in salt storage by irrigated agriculture over the past 60 years. We show that patterns in soil and groundwater salinity were caused by spatial variations in soil hydrology, the change from local groundwater to snowmelt water as the main irrigation water supply, and by occasional droughts. Gypsum dissolution was a critical component of the regional salt balance. Although results show that the total salt input and output were about equal for the past 20 years, the model also predicts salinization of the deeper aquifers, thereby questioning the sustainability of irrigated agriculture.     

Secondary reconstruction of panfacial fractures

Introduction

Although the primary management of patients with panfacial fractures has been well discussed in the medical and dental literature, secondary management of those patients who were not treated or were incompletely treated has not been as well addressed.

Purpose

The purposes of this paper are to review the basic concepts of panfacial fractures and to address the secondary reconstruction of patients whose primary management was less than ideal.

Discussion

In this paper, we present three cases of secondary reconstruction of the maxillofacial skeleton following complicated panfacial fractures. We also discuss the challenges that exist in treatment planning and executing treatment in these complex cases.     

Toxicity of storm-water runoff after dormant spray application in a french prune orchard, Glenn County, California, USA: temporal patterns and the effect of ground covers

Organophosphorous (OP) insecticides, especially diazinon, have been detected routinely in surface waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds, coincident with rainfall events following their application to dormant orchards during the winter months. Preventive best management practices (BMP) aim at reducing off-site movement of pesticides into surface waters. Two proposed BMPs are: The use of more hydrophobic pyrethroid insecticides believed to adsorb strongly to organic matter and soil and the use of various types of ground cover vegetation to increase the soil's capacity for water infiltration. To measure the effectiveness of these BMPs, storm water runoff was collected in a California prune orchard (Glenn County, CA, USA) during several rainstorms in the winter of 2001, after the organophosphate diazinon and the pyrethroid esfenvalerate were applied to different orchard sections. We tested and compared acute toxicity of orchard runoff from diazinon- and esfenvalerate-sprayed sections to two species of fish (Pimephales promelas, Onchorhynchus mykiss) and three aquatic invertebrates (Ceriodaphnia dubia, Simocephalus vetelus, Chironomus riparius), and determined the mitigating effect of three ground cover crops on toxicity and insecticide loading in diazinon-sprayed orchard rows. Runoff from the esfenvalerate-sprayed orchard section was less toxic to waterflea than runoff from the diazinon-sprayed section. However, runoff from the orchard section sprayed with esfenvalerate was highly toxic to fish larvae. Samples collected from both sections one month later were not toxic to fish, but remained highly toxic to invertebrates. The ground cover crops reduced total pesticide loading in runoff by approximately 50%. No differences were found between the types of vegetation used as ground covers.