The Effects of Functional Appliances on Female Patients with Skeletal Class II Malocclusion 6 Months after Menarche.

AIM: To investigate the skeletal, dental, and soft tissue changes in girls with class II division 1 malocclusion after growth spurt peak under the effect of activator appliance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this clinical trial study, 15 female patients, with skeletal class II and mandibular growth deficiency and at least 5 mm overjet, were randomly selected 6 months after their menarche. The mean of their ages at the beginning was 12.33 ± 0.81 years, and in the end it was 13.73 ± 0.79 years; the mean duration of treatment was 12.2 ± 3.18 months. Lateral, cephalometric radiographs were taken from all the patients before and after the treatment. Data were analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 20 using paired t-test. RESULTS: On an average, the ANB angle, the angle of the upper incisors with the S-N, facial convexity, and overjet decreased by 2.6° ± 0.9, 5.4° ± 0.8, 3.8° ± 3.4, and 5.6 ± 1.8 mm respectively. The SNB angle, the angle of the lower incisors with the N-B, the labiomental angle, the total length of the mandible, the lower anterior facial height, the lower lip distance, the first molar of the mandible, and the soft tissue pogonion to the vertical line from the S point increased by 2.8° ± 1.8, 3.4° ± 3, 14.7 ± 15, 3.7 ± 2.6, 2.1 ± 1.6, 6.3 ± 2.5, 4.4 ± 2.4, and 6 ± 3.3 mm respectively. All these figures were statistically significant (p = 0.000). CONCLUSION: The functional appliance improved the dental-skeletal relations and the soft tissue profile of patients after the growth spurt peak of puberty in a group of Iranian girls, whereas dental changes were more than skeletal ones. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Functional appliances can be used for correction of skeletal class II malocclusion 6 months after menarche in girls.

Alteration of cell cytoskeleton and functions of cell recovery of normal human osteoblast cells caused by factors associated with real space flight

Experiments involving short-term space flight have shown an adverse effect on the physiology, morphology and functions of cells investigated. The causes for this effect on cells are: microgravity, temperature fluctuations, mechanical stress, hypergravity, nutrient restriction and others. However, the extent to which these adverse effects can be repaired by short-term space flown cells when recultured in conditions of normal gravity remains unclear. Therefore this study aimed to investigate the effect of short-term spaceflight on cytoskeleton distribution and recovery of cell functions of normal human osteoblast cells. The ultrastructure was evaluated using ESEM. Fluorescent staining was done using Hoechst, Mito Tracker CMXRos and Tubulin Tracker Green for cytoskeleton. Gene expression of cell functions was quantified using qPCR. As a result, recovered cells did not show any apoptotic markers when compared with control. Tubulin volume density (p<0.001) was decreased significantly when compared to control, while mitochondria volume density was insignificantly elevated. Gene expression for IL-6 (p<0.05) and sVCAM-1 (p<0.001) was significantly decreased while alkaline phosphatase (p<0.001), osteocalcin and sICAM (p<0.05) were significantly increased in the recovered cells compared to the control ones. The changes in gene and protein expression of collagen 1A, osteonectin, osteoprotegerin and beta-actin, caused by short-term spaceflight, were statistically not significant. These data indicate that short term space flight causes morphological changes in osteoblast cells which are consistent with hypertrophy, reduced cell differentiation and increased release of monocyte attracting proteins. The long-term effect of these changes on bone density and remodeling requires more detailed studies.

Can UK healthcare workers remotely support medical education in the developing world?: Focus group evaluation.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the feasibility of providing regular, live, text-based teaching to medical students and junior doctors in Somaliland using a dedicated case-based medical education website (www.MedicineAfrica.com). DESIGN: Review of MedicineAfrica database for details of teaching sessions held in Somaliland from December 2008-October 2010 and evaluation of user experiences through focus groups. SETTING: King's College Hospital, London, UK and Ahmoud University, Borama, Somaliland. PARTICIPANTS: Final year medical students, newly graduated interns and second year interns at Ahmoud University, Borama, Somaliland. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Qualitative and quantitative user rating of online case-based tutorials in the context of pre-existing educational opportunities available to them. RESULTS: Regular online teaching sessions are received enthusiastically by students and junior doctors and are reported to improve their clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: Despite technological limitations in Somaliland, a live text-based teaching service can be delivered effectively and streamlined with local curricula. This represents an alternative to traditional static teaching methodologies currently used in international medical education.

Hypercalcemia and huge splenomegaly presenting in an elderly patient with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Hypercalcemia is the major electrolyte abnormality in patients with malignant tumors. It can be due to localized osteolytic hypercalcemia or elaboration of humoral substances such as parathyroid hormone-related protein from tumoral cells. In hematological malignancies, a third mechanism of uncontrolled synthesis and secretion of 1-25(OH)2D3 from tumoral cells or neighboring macrophages may contribute to the problem. However, hypercalcemia is quite unusual in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. CASE PRESENTATION: An 85-year-old Caucasian woman presented with low grade fever, anorexia, abdominal discomfort and fullness in her left abdomen for the last six months. She was mildly anemic and complained of fatigability. She had huge splenomegaly and was hypercalcemic. After correction of her hypercalcemia, she had a splenectomy. Microscopic evaluation revealed a malignant lymphoma. Her immunohistochemistry was positive for leukocyte common antigen, CD20 and parathyroid hormone-related peptide. CONCLUSION: Immunopositivity for parathyroid hormone-related peptide clearly demonstrates that hypersecretion of a parathyroid hormone-like substance from the tumor had led to hypercalcemia in this case. High serum calcium is seen in only seven to eight percent of patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, apparently due to different mechanisms. Evaluation of serum parathyroid hormone-related protein and 1-25(OH)2D3 can be helpful in diagnosis and management. It should be noted that presentation with hypercalcemia has a serious impact on prognosis and survival.

Analysis of adherence to national nosocomial pneumonia treatment guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines for the management of adults with hospital-acquired (HAP), ventilator-associated (VAP), and healthcare-associated (HCAP) pneumonia were recently updated. These evidence-based guidelines emphasize early, appropriate antimicrobials, as well as, de-escalation of initial therapy based upon microbiologic cultures and clinical response of the patient, and to shorten duration of therapy to a minimum effective period. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate adherence to the nosocomial pneumonia guidelines before and after a multifaceted educational intervention in conjunction with the implementation of an adult pneumonia order set. METHODS: A three phase, retrospective, observational analysis was performed among patients with nosocomial pneumonia in a tertiary care facility. The phases consisted of an analysis of medical charts to identify empiric antimicrobial therapy for patients with nosocomial pneumonia; education of physicians on the guidelines; and repeat review of medical charts of patients with nosocomial pneumonia to observe for guideline adherence. An adult pneumonia order set was introduced to the medical staff prior to the initiation of the observational analysis and provided a modality for prescribers to be most compliant with the current recommendations for treating pneumonia. Order set utilization was tracked throughout the observational analysis to determine if various educational interventions increased compliance. RESULTS: Thirty-three patients were evaluated pre-education: 5 transferred, 16 discharged, and 12 died. Thirty-one patients were evaluated post-education: 6 transferred, 21 discharged, and 4 died. The combined sixty-seven patients received two hundred forty-eight orders for forty-four unique antimicrobial agents from five different services. Appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing, designated by adherence to the clinical practice guidelines, did not improve following an educational intervention. However, the adult pneumonia order set was utilized in forty-eight percent of the post-education group while only being implemented in nine percent of the pre-education group. The prescribing of single or additional antimicrobials, while utilizing the adult pneumonia order set, commonly resulted in overall noncompliance with the consensus guidelines. CONCLUSION: This analysis showed that educational efforts alone were not effective in improving the appropriateness of prescribing empiric antimicrobial therapy in accordance with the guidelines. Prescribing compliance with pre-printed orders, in addition to periodic interactive educational interventions, should be addressed when introducing and maintaining adherence to new clinical practice guidelines.

Traumatic and non-traumatic coma in children in the referral hospital, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia

We determined the incidence, etiology and outcome of paediatric coma patients in King Fahad Hospital, which is the only referral centre for Al-Hasa region, Saudi Arabia. From April 1999 to March 2002, 91 children with coma [age range 28 days to 12 years] were admitted. The Glasgow Coma Scale for children was used for assessment. Neurological outcomes were categorized as intact, impairment or death. Incidence of coma was 4.77 per 100 000 population per year. Trauma [head trauma or polytrauma] was the commonest cause of coma [52.8%], followed by infection [25.3%]. Mortality was 47.2% [35.4% among traumatic cases and 60.5% among non-traumatic cases]. There was impaired outcome in 19.8% of patients [22.9% with traumatic coma and 16.3% with non-traumatic coma]

Antitumour-promoting and cytotoxic constituents of etlingera elatior.

Phytochemical studies on rhizome of Etlingera elatior have resulted in the isolation of 1,7-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2,4,6-heptatrienone (1), demethoxycurcumin (2), 1,7-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,4,6-heptatrien-3-one (3), 16-hydroxylabda-8(17),11,13-trien-16,15-olide (4), stigmast-4-en-3-one (5), stigmast-4-ene-3,6-dione (6), stigmast-4-en-6b-ol-3-one (7), 5α,8α-epidioxyergosta-6,22-dien-3ß-ol (8). 1 and 4 were new compounds. Compounds 5 and 7 displayed high antitumour-promoting activity. Ethyl acetate extract showed a very significant cytotoxic activity against CEM-SS and MCF-7 cell lines (4 µg/ml and 6.25 µg/ml respectively). The antitumour-promoting activity was determined by EBV-EA assay and cytotoxic activity was determined by MTT assay.

DNA damage evaluation of hydroxyapatite on fibroblast cell L929 using the single cell gel electrophoresis assay

Hydroxyapatite is the main component of the bone which is a potential biomaterial substance that can be applied in orthopaedics. In this study, the biocompatibility of this biomaterial was assessed using an in vitro technique. The cytotoxicity and genotoxicity effect of HA2 and HA3 against L929 fibroblast cell was evaluated using the MTT Assay and Alkaline Comet Assay respectively. Both HA2 and HA3 compound showed low cytotoxicity effect as determined using MTT Assay. Cells viability following 72 hours incubation at maximum concentration of both HA2 and HA3 (200 mg/ml) were 75.3 +/- 8.8% and 86.7 +/- 13.1% respectively. However, the cytotoxicity effect of ZnSO4.7H2O as a positive control showed an IC50 values of 46 mg/ml (160 microM). On the other hand, both HA2 and HA3 compound showed a slight genotoxicity effect as determined using the Alkaline Comet Assay following incubation at the concentration 200 mg/ml for 72 hours. This assay has been widely used in genetic toxicology to detect DNA strand breaks and alkali-labile site. The percentage of the cells with DNA damage for both substance was 27.7 +/- 1.3% and 15.6 +/- 1.0% for HA2 and HA3 respectively. Incubation of the cells for 24 hours with 38 microg/ml (IC25) of positive control showed an increase in percentage of cells with DNA damage (67.5 +/- 0.7%). In conclusion, our study indicated that both hydroxyapatite compounds showed a good biocompatibility in fibroblast cells.

Cell death induced by hydroxyapatite on L929 fibroblast cells

Biomaterials intended for end-use application as bone-graft substitutes have to undergo safety evaluation. In this study, we investigated the in vitro cytotoxic effects especially to determine the mode of death of two hydroxyapatite compounds (HA2, HA3) which were synthesized locally. The methods used for cytotoxicity was the standard MTT assay whereas AO/PI staining was performed to determine the mode of cell death in HA treated L929 fibroblasts. Our results demonstrated that both HA2 and HA3 were not significantly cytotoxic as more than 75% cells after 72 hours treatment were viable. Furthermore, we found that the major mode of cell death in HA treated cells was apoptosis. In conclusion, our results demonstrated that these hydroxyapatite compounds are not cytotoxic where the mode of death was primarily via apoptosis.

Anthraquinones from hedyotis herbacea

A new anthraquinone, 2-hydroxymethyl-10-hydroxy-1,4-anthraquinone (1), was isolated from Hedyotis herbacea along with three other known derivatives: 1,4-dihydroxy-2-hydroxymethylanthraquinone (2); 2, 3-dimethoxy-9-hydroxy-1,4-anthraquinone; and 1,4-dihydroxy-2, 3-dimethoxyanthraquinone. The structure of 1 was determined based on analysis of its spectroscopic data.