[Feasibility of the 'Uitblinkers' intervention to improve toothbrushing among children: a pilot study]. / Toepasbaarheid van de 'Uitblinkers-interventie' om tandenpoetsen bij kinderen te verbeteren: een pilotonderzoek.

In 2017, the 'Uitblinkers' intervention was developed to improve toothbrushing behaviour among young children. This interview method focuses on identifying parents' barriers to brushing their children's teeth, and promoting parenting strategies to tackle the identified barriers. Twenty-one trained dental therapists from twelve dental practices applied the 'Uitblinkers' intervention among parents of three-year-old children. Nine months after the training, focus group- and telephone interviews were conducted to evaluate the feasibility and appreciation of the intervention in dental practice. Findings of this study show that the 'Uitblinkers' intervention offers a feasible approach to improve children's toothbrushing behaviour. Dental therapists were generally positive about the interview method, the supporting materials and the reactions of parents. Some (logistic) barriers to adoption were identified which, if resolved, would improve the implementation of the intervention in dental practice.

Mitral annular calcifications and aortic plaques as predictors of increased cardiovascular mortality.

OBJECTIVES: Mitral annular calcifications (MAC) and aortic plaques are predictive for higher incidence of recurrent embolic events, the presence and severity of coronary artery disease and total cardiac deaths. However, no data exist comparing the impact of combined presence of both aortic plaques and MAC on embolic events, deaths associated with cerebral embolism or cardiac deaths during the follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In 100 consecutive patients with aortic plaques detected by transesophageal echocardiography (mean age 69.8 + 8.9 years, range 39-93 years, 49 males, 51 females) and in 49 age- and sex-matched control subjects (mean age 69.4 + 7.8 years, range 46-89 years, 27 males, 22 females) without aortic plaques (control group), the incidence of embolic events, deaths associated with embolic events and total cardiac deaths were evaluated during a mean follow-up of 32 +/- 9.7 months. The effect of the presence or absence of MAC on these parameters was also evaluated. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, patients with aortic plaques had a higher frequency of hypertension (p < 0.001), hypercholesterolemia (p < 0.01), smoking history (p < 0.01), MAC (p < 0.00001) and the presence of atherosclerotic changes in the carotid arteries (p < 0.05). During the follow-up, patients with aortic plaques had a higher incidence of stroke or transient ischemic attack (p < 0.0001), deaths associated with stroke (p < 0.005) and total cardiac deaths (p < 0.05) compared with the control group. Patients with both aortic plaques and presence of MAC had during the follow-up a significantly higher incidence of deaths associated with stroke (p < 0.0001, 16.0 times higher) and total cardiac deaths (p < 0.005, 4.7 times higher) compared with those without MAC and the presence of aortic plaques. Multivariant regression analysis showed MAC (p < 0.01) and hypercholesterolemia (p < 0.05) were the only independent predictors of stroke. MAC (p < 0.05) and age (p < 0.000001) were the only independent predictors of total cardiac death and stroke. Independent predictors of both aortic plaques and MAC were coronary artery disease (p < 0.00001), stroke (p < 0.005), hypertension (p < 0.001), female gender (p < 0.01) and hypercholesterolemia (p < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of both aortic plaque and mitral annular calcification are highly predictive not only for strokes, but also for deaths associated with cerebral embolism and total cardiac deaths and are probably strong markers for higher severity of coronary artery disease. They are more predictive if both are present simultaneously compared to the presence of either MAC or aortic plaque alone.

Effects of two types of activity on the performance of second-, third-, and fourth-grade students on a test of concentration.

The appropriateness of recess in the elementary program continues to be questioned although generally it is believed to be useful by elementary principals despite a dearth of supportive data. This study was a developmental study of the effects of physical activity on concentration. Comparison of passive and directed physical education activities on the concentration of second-, third-, and fourth-grade children was made. The Woodcock-Johnson Test of Concentration showed better performance by the fourth grades and within Grade 4 in favor of the physical activity group. A structured physical activity or a classroom activity immediately prior to a concentration task was not detrimental to children in Grades 2 and 3. Fourth-grade children performed significantly better on a test of concentration after engaging in a physical activity.

Selective and reversible blockage of a fatty acid odour response in the olfactory bulb of the frog (Rana temporaria).

The lectin concanavalin A (ConA) when applied to the olfactory mucosa (OM) of frog and rat, is reported to partially inhibit electro-olfactogram (EOG) responses to fatty acid odours. Control odours like isoamyl acetate were not affected. We have now studied in the frog whether this treatment affects the corresponding olfactory bulb (OB) response. The OB surface was impregnated with a voltage-sensitive dye (RH 414). Spatial and temporal patterns of odour response were measured by changes in dye fluorescence that occur when OB neurons fire. The apparatus, consisted of an epi-fluorescent microscope coupled to a 64 x 64 pixel CCD photodetection camera. This allowed imaging over an 0.9 mm2 area of the OB glomerular layer to high resolution. When the frog OM was bathed with 5 mg ml(-1) ConA in Ringer's solution, the n-butyric acid odour response in the OB largely disappeared while the isoamyl acetate response did not change. When this experiment was repeated in the presence of 20 mM methyl alpha-D mannopyranoside (a ConA inhibitor), ConA failed to inhibit the n-butyric acid response. Moreover the ConA effect was partially reversible. A Ringer's wash of the OM after ConA treatment, partially restored the OB response to n-butyric acid. Thus the olfactory bulb results seem compatible with the EOG results and reinforce the notion that ConA selectively prevents n-butyric acid sensitive olfactory receptor neurons from firing. Chemical modification of the OM and their effect on OB response patterns may provide a useful approach to investigate olfactory quality coding.

Minimax optimization-based inverse treatment planning for interstitial thermal therapy.

The following work represents the development and evaluation of a minimax optimization-based inverse treatment planning approach for interstitial thermal therapy of cancer and benign disease. The goal is to determine a priori optimal applicator placements and power level settings to maintain the minimum tumour temperature, Tmin, and maximum normal tissue temperature, Tmax within a prescribed therapeutic temperature range. The temperature distribution is approximated by a finite element method (FEM) solution of a bioheat transfer equation on a nonuniform finite element mesh. Lower and upper therapeutic temperature thresholds are specified in the tumour and surrounding normal tissues. A constrained minimax optimization problem is formulated to determine optimal applicator positions and power level settings that minimize the maximum (rather than average) temperature errors in the target tumour region and surrounding normal tissues. The optimization problem is formulated for two general classes of interstitial heating applicators, those with and without a surface cooling mechanism. The viability and sensitivity of this approach is investigated in the two-dimensional setting for various tumour shapes and blood perfusion levels using surface-cooled and direct-coupled interstitial ultrasound applicator power deposition models. These preliminary results indicate the utility of this approach for meeting a prescribed Tmin/Tmax-based clinical objective criterion, and its potential for generating optimal treatment plans that can withstand variations or uncertainty in blood perfusion levels.

Selective and reversible reduction of odor sensitivity in the rat by concanavalin A.

Rats were trained using an olfactometer to detect low concentrations of ethyl acetate (EA) or dimethyl disulphide vapor (DMDS). Concanavalin A (ConA) applied to the olfactory mucosa had no effect on ability of rats to detect low concentrations of EA but produced a marked deficit in detection in DMDS. DMDS detection performance returned to control levels 3 days after the ConA treatment. These results provide the first behavioral evidence for odor-specific inhibition by chemical modification of the olfactory epithelium and support the notion that ConA selectively inactivates one or more types (subclasses) of olfactory receptor proteins.

Asexual sporulation in coprinus cinereus: structure and development of oidiophores and oidia in an amut bmut homokaryon

Polak, E., Hermann, R., Kues, U., and Aebi, M. 1997. Asexual sporulation in Coprinus cinereus: Structure and development of oidiophores and oidia in an Amut Bmut homokaryon. 22, 112-126. Coprinus cinereus strain AmutBmut is a homokaryon with mutations in both mating type loci. It produces asexual spores (oidia) in sticky liquid droplets on specialized aerial structures (oidiophores). These oidiophores have uninucleate cells and are organized as those of the monokaryon 5026 from which the strain derived. However, unlike in the monokaryon, oidiophores in strain AmutBmut are induced by light. Young oidiophores are easily detected upon light induction and the process of oidiophore development is readily followed in this strain. Fully grown oidiophores consecutively give rise to short branches (oidial hyphae) that break up into two or occasionally three uninucleate oidia (arthroconidia) until up to 200 oidia are collected at the tip of the oidiophore. Mature spores are enclosed by a mucilage and a double-layered primary cell wall with hair-like structures except for the sides of former cell attachments. In a summary of our microscopic observations on developing oidiophores and nuclear stainings we present a model showing the successive steps of oidiophore and spore development.

[DNA analysis in the determination of a predisposition for hypertension]. / Vyuzitie analýzy DNA pri urcení predispozície pre hypertenziu.

Angiotensinogen gene belongs to the genes designated as hypertension candidate genes. These genes might participate in development of hypertension. The aim of this work was to establish frequency of the mutant allele M235T on angiotensinogen gene in Slovak population and compare this frequency with that obtained from the group of hypertensive patients. We tested DNA from 120 healthy individuals and 20 hypertensive patients. By polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction analysis we determined frequency of mutant allele M235T in healthy population as well as in the group of hypertensive patients. We have found that frequency of the mutant allele in Slovak population was 0.33, while among hypertensive patients 0.45. Percentage of heterozygosity for M235T allele was 44.5%. Frequency of this mutant allele was significantly higher among women compared to men (0.38 vs. 0.27). Increased frequency of M235T allele among hypertensive patients compared to healthy population confirm that M235T mutation is bound to increased blood pressure. This quick and noninvasive method should help in the future to determine the possible risk of hypertension development. (Tab. 1, Fig. 2, Ref. 9.)

Concanavalin A reveals olfactory receptors which discriminate between alkane odorants on the basis of size.

For certain odorants, the amplitude of the rat electro-olfactogram is reduced if the olfactory epithelium is treated with the lectin concanavalin A. When normal and cycloalkanes of one to ten carbon atoms are used as odorants at equimolar concentration, the maximum reduction in amplitude is found to correlate with the size of the stimulus molecule. This observation is consistent with the notion that concanavalin A disables an olfactory receptor molecule which normally responds to the alkyl moiety of odorants in a particular size range. That moiety may thus represent a 'primary' quality-determining component in odour discrimination.

Sensory evidence for olfactory receptors with opposite chiral selectivity.

Human odor responses to alpha-ionone enantiomers were measured by psycho-physical methods. Surprisingly, subjects' relative sensitivities for these enantiomers were found to diverge widely, some subjects being much more sensitive to (+) than to (-) and vice versa. In 63 subjects the (+)/(-) threshold concentration ratio varied over 4 orders of magnitude. Nine subjects with extreme (+)/(-) ratios were further tested several times over a 7-month period and retained stable ratios. These same nine subjects, when tested for threshold sensitivity to carvone enantiomers, showed (+)/(-) ratios that varied only in a narrow range and did not correlate with their ionone ratios. It is suggested that odor discrimination of alpha-ionone enantiomers involves at least two receptor types of opposite chiral selectivity and that their distribution varies independently in the human population.

Altered pulsatile pattern of luteinizing hormone in men with idiopathic normogonadotropic oligospermia.

Gonadotropin serum levels and pulsatile secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) are regulated by sexual steroids and perhaps inhibin, but the relative rates of LH and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) secretion are modulated by the frequency of GnRH pulses. This study evaluated LH pulsatility in patients with idiopathic normogonadotropic oligospermia (INO) and normal men before and after clomiphene citrate (CC) administration. INO patients evidenced a lower mean LH levels (P less than 0.001), a higher mean pulse frequency (P less than 0.05) and similar pulse amplitude than normal men. CC induced in normal men a higher LH and testosterone (T) increments and increased pulse amplitude only in normal men. Estradiol (E2) showed no difference in either group. Patients with INO might evidence a hypothalamic disorder that may alter pulsatile GnRH secretion. A different response to CC in patients with INO seems to lend support to a primary hypothalamic lesion. A probable gonadotropin imbalance might alter intratesticular concentrations of T and E2 and be the cause of spermatogenic failure.

Intraoral periosteal nodular fasciitis.

Intraoral periosteal nodular fasciitis is an extremely rare tumor with only 2 cases having been previously recorded in the literature. We report here the 3rd case and review the characteristic features, the differential diagnosis and the treatment of intraoral periosteal nodular fasciitis.

The effect of concanavalin A on the rat electro-olfactogram. Differential inhibition of odorant response.

When the rat olfactory mucosa is treated with concanavalin A, it subsequently shows diminished sensitivity towards 60% of the 112 odorants tested (as judged by the amplitude of the electro-olfactogram response). Odorants containing four to six carbon atoms tend to show the largest (absolute) diminutions, suggesting a receptor for this kind of odorant, although the structural specificity is weak. The receptor seems to be of particular importance in the detection of thiols, carboxylic acids and hydrocarbons of the above size, since these compounds loose the highest proportion of their original signal. The concanavalin A appears to be binding to the glycan of one or more cell-surface proteins. The binding may be at, or close to, at least one odorant receptor.

The effect of concanavalin A on the rat electro-olfactogram at various odorant concentrations.

We have studied the effect of concanavalin A (Con A) on the rat electro-olfactogram response to several odorants. Each odorant was applied over a range of concentrations. For hydrophobic odorants whose response was affected by Con A, the diminution in response was maximal at odorant concentrations of about 1 microM in the olfactory mucus. The (odour) concentration-dependence of the change is compatible with the idea that Con A inactivates one or more types of olfactory receptor that normally bind odorants with dissociation constants of the order of 100 nM. With hydrophilic odorants we had to apply concentrations very much higher than this to elicit any response from the system. At these high concentrations we could observe Con A-induced diminutions in response.

Odor similarity between stress-inducing odorants in wistar rats.

Odor similarity to the odor of 4-mercapto-4-methyl-2-pentanone (I) was measured on eight rats by generalization of a conditioned avoidance response tocis- andtrans-8-mercapto-p-menthan-3-one (II and III), 3-mercapto-3-methyl-2-pentanone (V), andt-amyl mercaptan (VI). Previously, these odorants had been found to induce stress in rats in an open-field situation. In the present experiment, rats generalized the avoidance response learned with I, for V, VI, and to a lesser extenttrans-isomer III, implying odor similarities;cis isomer II was discriminated. Odor similarity between mercapto ketone I and mercaptan VI is surprising since VI lacks the keto group.

Structure-activity relationship of stress-inducing odorants in the rat.

The stress for 12 sulfur-containing synthetized volatiles was evaluated in male Wistar rats and compared to that for fox-dropping extract concentrate. Stress behavior was analyzed by quantifying various stress responses in a standard open field and measuring the increase in plasma corticosterone concentration. Nine compounds induced stress-a dihydrothiazole, two cyclic polysulfides, five mercaptoketones, and a mercaptan. For the mercaptoketones, the following structure-activity relationships were observed. Size can vary considerably; the mercapto group can be either alpha or beta and either secondary or tertiary. The keto group is not essential, since a structurally related mercaptan remains active. The mercapto group is essential for activity in mercaptoketones, since conversion to a methyl sulfide resulted in a neutral response. This type of odorant could function as an allomone and may have potential in rat control as an area repellent.

Chemical-modification studies on rat olfactory mucosa using a thiol-specific reagent and enzymatic iodination.

1. A rat olfactory preparation, suitable for biochemical studies in vitro on olfactory mechanisms, is described. 2. The effects of the impermeant chemical modification reagents mersalyl (a thiol reagent) and enzymatic iodination, on the amplitude of the electroolfactogram (EOG) responses elicited from rat olfactory mucosa by pulses of odorant vapours was studied using 12 odorants differing widely in odour quality and molecular structure: amyl acetate, carvone, decanal, butylamine, cineole, citronellol, cresol, diacetyl, dimethylethyl-pyrazine, naphthalene, octanethiol and valeric acid. 3. Both reagents irreversibly reduced the EOG amplitude to all odorants to an extent dependent on the reagent concentration. Two subpopulations of animal preparations could be distinguished on the basis of the extent to which they survived the iodination whereas mersalyl appeared to sample a single population of preparations. 4. Small but statistically significant differences were observed between the responses of each odorant with each reagent but no simple correlation between either the molecular structure or odour quality of the odorants and the reagent effect is apparent for the case of mersalyl. With iodination the responses from the three flexible-aliphatic-chain odorants were reduced to a greater extent than the other odorants, all of which had a dissimilar molecular structure. 5. The ability of three odorants, amyl acetate, carvone and decanal, to protect the receptors for the odorants against chemical modification was investigated. The protecting odorants were applied directly to the mucosa as a dilute solution in Ringer's medium. No specific odorant protection effects were observed. 6. The results are discussed in relation to a model of the olfactory mechanism involving relatively non-specific receptor proteins. Each receptor type is envisaged as interacting weakly with a number of odorants and each odorant interacts with a number of receptors.