Age estimation in northern Chinese children by measurement of open apices in tooth roots.

The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of Cameriere's methods on dental age estimation in the northern Chinese population. A sample of orthopantomographs of 785 healthy children (397 girls and 388 boys) aged between 5 and 15 years was collected. The seven left permanent mandibular teeth were evaluated with Cameriere's method. The sample was split into a training set to develop a Chinese-specific prediction formula and a test set to validate this novel developed formula. Following the training dataset study, the variables gender (g), x 3 (canine teeth), x 4 (first premolar), x 7 (second molar), N 0, and the first-order interaction between s and N 0 contributed significantly to the fit, yielding the following linear regression formula: Age = 10.202 + 0.826 g - 4.068x 3 - 1.536x 4 - 1.959x 7 + 0.536 N 0 - 0.219 s [Symbol: see text] N 0, where g is a variable, 1 for boys and 0 for girls. The equation explained 91.2 % (R (2) = 0.912) of the total deviance. By analyzing the test dataset, the accuracy of the European formula and Chinese formula was determined by the difference between the estimated dental age (DA) and chronological age (CA). The European formula verified on the collected Chinese children underestimated chronological age with a mean difference of around -0.23 year, while the Chinese formula underestimated the chronological age with a mean difference of -0.04 year. Significant differences in mean differences in years (DA - CA) and absolute difference (AD) between the Chinese-specific prediction formula and Cameriere's European formula were observed. In conclusion, a Chinese-specific prediction formula based on a large Chinese reference sample could ameliorate the age prediction accuracy in the age group of children.

[Informed consent right of the appraised individuals in forensic clinical examination].

Informed consent right is not just for basic ethical consideration, but is important for protecting patient's right by law, which is expressed through informed consent contract. The appraised individuals of forensic clinical examination have the similar legal status as the patients in medical system. However, the law does not require informed consent right for the appraised individuals. I recommend giving certain informed consent right to the appraised individuals in the forensic clinical examination. Under the contracted relationship with the institution, the appraised individuals could participate in the examination process, know the necessary information, and make a selected consent on the examination results, which can assure the justice and fairness of judicial examination procedure.

Anion and Solvent Derived Morphology Controlling and Properties of ß-FeOOH and α-Fe2O3.

In this paper, α-Fe2O3 with different morphologies were controllable synthesized via a two-step route using NO3- as a guiding agent. Environmentally friendly hydrothermal reaction was used to synthesize ß-FeOOH with different morphologies. The concentration of sodium nitrate was adjusted to control the shapes and sizes of ß-FeOOH. α-Fe2O3 is obtained via further calcination. By changing the concentration of sodium nitrate, the morphology could be tuned from nanoflowers which were composed by nanorods to single nanorod. The change of morphology is ascribed to the selective adsorption of NO3- which lead to ß-FeOOH to grow along the 〈001〉 direction. At the same time, an aqueous iron chloride was used as the precursor and the effect of ethanol as solvent on the morphology of α-Fe2O3 was investigated. Due to the selective adsorption of ethanol to the iron oxide crystal face, the morphology of α-Fe2O3 changes from the original sphere to the hexagonal nanosheet. Meanwhile, the electrochemical properties of iron oxide with different morphologies and the adsorption properties of Congo red were explored.

The Role of HINT1 in Methamphetamine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference.

Drug addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder in humans; yet, the underlying mechanism remained unclear. Recent studies suggested that the histidine triad nucleotide binding protein 1 (HINT1) may play significant roles in diverse neuropsychiatric diseases including drug addiction. In our present study, we used different batches of mice to establish the different stages of methamphetamine (METH)-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) to explore the dynamic changes throughout the process of addiction in different brain regions, including prefrontal cortex (PFC), nucleus accumbens (NAc), corpus striatum (CPu), and hippocampus (Hip). We found that in NAc of the METH group mice, the HINT1 expression level initially increased after acquisition phases, and then dropped to the normal level after extinction phase, and again increased after reinstatement phase. However, there was no statistical difference in the HINT1 expression level in other three encephalic regions (PFC, CPu, and Hip). Therefore, the HINT1 protein, particularly in the NAc, plays a vital role in the METH-induced CPP. However, the precise mechanisms will require further investigation.

The dopamine D3 receptor regulates the effects of methamphetamine on LPS-induced cytokine production in murine mast cells.

Previous studies have demonstrated that methamphetamine (METH) alter inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine production in the periphery. However, the effect of METH on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced immune responses and its underlying mechanism of action remains unclear. The dopamine D3 receptor (D3R) plays an important role in METH addiction, indicating that the D3R may regulate METH-mediated immune responses. In this study, we examined the effect of METH on mast cell released cytokines in the lungs and thymi of mice stimulated by LPS, and on LPS-induced murine bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs). Moreover, we used D3R-deficient mice to investigate the effect of this receptor on LPS-stimulated mast cell released cytokine production after METH treatment in the lungs and thymi. The effects of a D3R agonist and antagonist on LPS-induced cytokine production after METH treatment in murine BMMCs were also evaluated. METH suppressed LPS-induced cytokine production in the lungs and thymi of wild-type (WT) mice and BMMCs. However, METH did not alter LPS-induced cytokine production in the lungs and thymi of D3R-deficient mice. When BMMCs were treated with the D3R receptor antagonist, NGB2904 hydrochloride (NGB-2904), METH did not alter LPS-induced cytokine production. However, treatment with the D3R agonist, 7-hydroxy-(di-n-propylamino) tetralin (7-OH-DPAT), significantly enhanced the effects of METH on LPS-induced cytokine production. Our results suggest that METH regulates mast cell released cytokines production in an LPS-induced mouse model via the D3R.