Cervical vertebrae anomalies in subjects with Class II malocclusion assessed by lateral cephalogram and cone beam computed tomography

A high prevalence of cervical vertebrae anomalies (CVA) has been recently associated with various malocclusions. Our aim was to study the prevalence of CVA on lateral cephalograms in Class II subjects and to compare the findings with those obtained from cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Standardized cephalograms of 238 Class II patients were analysed for CVA. Cephalogram and CBCT were available for an additional 21 subjects. Cephalometric values were correlated with vertebrae morphology; logistic regressions and intraobserver agreement were evaluated. Inspection of lateral cephalograms could exclude CVA in 90.3 per cent of the subjects, while 9.7 per cent showed potential fusions. No correlations were found between the cephalometric values and potential vertebrae anomalies. In the 21 patients with a CBCT and a lateral cephalogram, the visual assessment of the cephalogram yielded a potential fusion in nine cases. None could be confirmed by CBCT. A low number of potentially fused cervical vertebrae could be detected on lateral cephalograms. The possible fusions did not correlate to any cephalometric values nor could they be confirmed by CBCT, the gold standard for assessing CVA. Visual examination of a cephalogram may result in a false-positive finding and does not allow reliable diagnosis of CVA

The distribution of cervical vertebrae anomalies among dental malocclusions

WOS: 000370381800005PubMed: 26692691Aims: The aims of our study were to investigate the distribution of cervical vertebrae anomalies (CVAs) among dental Angle Class I, II, and III malocclusions in Turkish population and whether a correlation between CVA and dental malocclusion. Materials and Methods: The study was performed on lateral cephalometric radiographs which were taken at the Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Kirikkale University. The final sample of 318 orthodontic patients was included in the study. Dental malocclusions were performed according to Angle classification. CVAs were categorized: (1) fusion and (2) posterior arch deficiency (PAD). The Chi-square test was used to the analysis of the potential differences among dental malocclusions. Results: The final sample of 318 patients was examined. CVA was observed in 42 individuals (of 26 [8.17%] had fusion and 16 [5.03%] had PAD), with a frequency of 13.2%. Of the 26 fusion defect, 8 (30.7%) had Angle Class I, 8 (30.7%) had Angle Class II, and 10 (38.4%) had Angle Class III malocclusion. Of the 16 PAD, 8 (50%) had Angle Class I, 8 (50%) had Angle Class II but no patients with Angle Class III malocclusion was observed. The distribution of dental malocclusions regarding CVA was not statistically significant (P = 0.076). Of these 42 individuals with CVA, 52.3% (15 fusions and 7 PAD) were females and 47.7% (11 fusions and 9 PAD) were males. Conclusion: In our study, the prevalence of fusion and PAD were found 8.1% and 5.0% in Turkish population, respectively. Besides, no statistically significant correlation between CVA and Angle Class I, II, and III malocclusions were found. Our findings support the studies showing no gender dimorphism

The populism of the Alternative for Germany (AfD): an extended Essex School perspective

Abstract This paper seeks to draw on the tools of Ernesto Laclau’s theory of discourse, hegemony and populism as well as recent Essex School work on populism to examine the discourse of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and, in the process, come closer to a more systematic understanding of nature and limits of right-wing populism as well as the interplay and distinction between populist and non-populist discursive logics more generally. The paper situates itself in the context of existing Essex School work that has distinguished populism from institutionalism—and, more recently, from nationalism —in terms of either the length of the equivalential chain or the centrality of “the people” as nodal point in addition to the degree of antagonistic division between “people” and “power.” Building on this latter strand in the recent work of Yannis Stavrakakis and others, this paper proposes a formal distinction between populism and reductionism as internal to Laclau’s theory of populism. Reductionism, it is argued, tends to reduce “the people” onto a differential particularity that sets a priori limits on the equivalential chain as opposed to constructing it as a tendentially empty signifier attached to an open-ended chain—producing a tendential closure of the equivalential chain and thus undercutting the primacy of the logic of equivalence that is fundamental to Laclau’s understanding of populism and subsequent Essex School applications of it. It is argued that predominantly ethno-, cultural- or nativist-reductionist discourses may nonetheless deploy a populist logic of partial openings in the equivalential chain, especially through the selective equivalential incorporation of sexual or ethno-linguistic minorities against a common (often “Islamic”) constitutive outside. This is demonstrated empirically in a discourse analysis of the AfD and its development from a “competition populism” into an ethno-culturally reductionist conception of “the people” coexisting with partial openings in relation to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and Russian-Germans in the Berlin context in particular

Die AfD nach der rechtspopulistischen Wende : Wählerunterstützung am Beispiel Baden-Württembergs

Anhand einer repräsentativen Bevölkerungsumfrage aus Baden-Württemberg werden Hintergründe und Motive der Unterstützung der AfD im Vorfeld der Bundestagswahl 2017 untersucht. Die Studie testet eine Reihe von Hypothesen, die sowohl strukturelle als auch einstellungsbezogene Faktoren berücksichtigen. Fehlende Parteibindungen machen Wähler für die AfD verfügbar, für Personen mit rechter ideologischer Identifikation ist sie besonders attraktiv. Der bei weitem stärkste Prädiktor ist jedoch eine negative Beurteilung der Leistungen der Exekutiven auf Bundes- und Landesebene. Weniger bedeutsam sind Wahrnehmungen mangelnder Eliten-Responsivität. Es gibt überdies Anzeichen, dass die AfD auch von Personen gewählt wird, welche die Demokratie nicht bedingungslos unterstützen. Erkennbar wird zudem eine ausgeprägte Resonanz zwischen nativistischen, insbesondere ethnozentrischen Einstellungen und der entsprechenden Rhetorik der Partei. Prozesspräferenzen, welche die liberalen Komponenten der Demokratie gering schätzen, hängen ebenfalls mit der Neigung zur AfD zusammen. Die in der öffentlichen Diskussion oft formulierte sozioökonomische Prekaritäts-These sowie eng gefasste Vorwürfe unzureichender Eliten-Responsivität greifen hingegen zu kurz