The Influence of Incompetent Lip Seal on the Growth and Development of Craniofacial Complex

Abnormal orofacial functions in the period of growth and development can cause morphological anomalies of the craniofacial complex. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between open mouth posture and morphology of craniofacial complex. The shape, size and relationships of skeletal parts of craniofacial complex were determined by analysis of lateral cephalograms in the sample of 84 children – 45 girls and 39 boys (aged 8.96_0.66 years). The sample was divided into two groups – lip competence and lip incompetence group. Differences in cephalometric value between observed groups were found. The values of inclination of lower central incisors (angle ILi/NB), interbasal angle (NL/NSL), angle between occlusal and mandibular plane and anterior lower facial height were significantly higher in the group with open mouth posture. It can be concluded that lip incompetence plays an important role in growth and development of craniofacial complex

Risk of Pneumonia Recurrence in Patients Previously Hospitalized for Pneumonia – A Retrospective Study (1998–2000)

Although elderly hospitalized patients, irrespective of the cause of hospitalization, are known to be at a high risk of subsequent development of pneumonia, some studies suggest the risk to be even higher in those hospitalized for pneumonia than in those hospitalized for other diseases. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the association of hospitalization for pneumonia and some other diseases with subsequent pneumonia morbidity and mortality. The risk of recurrent pneumonia in patients hospitalized for pneumonia was investigated. Rehospitalization of pneumonia patients previously hospitalized for the same disease was followed-up and compared with rehospitalization of patients hospitalized for other diseases during the same study period. The study included patients aged over18, initially hospitalized in 1998 for pneumonia (J12–J18), or for some particular gastrointestinal (K20–K31) and urogenital diseases (N10–N12, N30–N39). All rehospitalizations for pneumonia in nine Zagreb hospitals were followed-up during a 3-year study period (1998–2000). Out of 975 patients followed-up for rehospitalization, 227 (23.3%) had initially been hospitalized for pneumonia, and 748 (76.7%) for other diagnoses. During the 3-year period, 30 patients were rehospitalized for pneumonia, out of which number 22 had initially been hospitalized for pneumonia, yielding a statistically significant difference between the two study groups (x2=34.780, p<0.001). The mortality directly caused by pneumonia was also significantly higher in the group of patients with the initial diagnosis of pneumonia than in the group of patients with other diagnoses (x2=15.82, p<0.001)

Olanzapine decreased osteocyte maturation and Wnt/β-catenin signaling during loading of the alveolar bone in rats

Several studies indicate the influence of olanzapine on bone metabolism; however, the results are contradictory. We evaluated the effects of olanzapine on the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, physiological alveolar bone turnover, and alveolar bone modeling due to an applied orthodontic force. Adult male rats (n=48) were treated with either olanzapine or a vehicle for 21 days; then 8 rats from each group were sacrificed and the rest were divided into 4 groups: control, appliance-only, olanzapine-only, and olanzapine-appliance. The rats in the appliance groups were mounted with a superelastic closed coil spring that maintained constant orthodontic force between molars and incisors. We studied the effects of olanzapine on physiological alveolar bone turnover on day 21 of the experiment, and on alveolar bone modeling due to orthodontic force on day 56. We determined tooth movement, alveolar bone volume, activity of bone-specific cells, serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, and gene expression levels of Wnt/β-catenin signaling target genes. During forced bone modeling, olanzapine increased osteoblast volume (P<0.0001) and ALP activity (P=0.0011) and decreased osteoclast volume (P<0.0001) and gene expression of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling target genes Fosl1, Axin2, and Dkk1(P=0.001, P=0.0076, and P=0.036, respectively), and the osteocyte markers Sost and Dmp1 (P=0.0432 and P=0.0021, respectively). Similar results were obtained during physiological alveolar bone turnover on day 21, when olanzapine downregulated the gene expression of osteocyte markers and Wnt/β-catenin signaling target genes. We concluded that olanzapine attenuated osteocyte maturation during forced bone modeling and physiological alveolar bone turnover, potentially through downregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

Hypoplastic arteries of the cerebral arterial ring in the blind spot of computed tomography angiography

Background: Some variations of the cerebral arterial circle (CAC) are associated with an increased risk for the development of various pathological conditions. This paper aimed to determine the prevalence of hypoplastic arteries of CAC and to emphasize the limited possibility of their visualization by computed tomography angiography (CTA). Materials and methods: The research was performed on 400 adult cadavers by macro- and microdissection of the cerebral arteries. Each case was photographed and the diameter of the arteries was measured digitally, by analyzing photographs of the bases of the brain in the ImageJ program. Results: The largest prevalence of artery diameter &lt;1mm (&lt;0.6mm) in CAC had the posterior communicating artery (PCoA). PCoA on the left side was hypoplastic in 44.9% (11.4%) of cases, while the same artery on the right side was hypoplastic in 44.3% (6.6%) of cases. The posterior cerebral artery was hypoplastic on the left side in 3% (0.6%) and on the right side in 4.2% (0.6%) of cases. The anterior cerebral artery had a hypoplastic caliber only on the right side in 2.4% (0.6%) of the cases, while the internal carotid arteries did not have a diameter &lt;1mm in any case. The anterior communicating artery showed the greatest variability in morphology. Studies on CTA describe the occurrence of aplasia in a statistically significantly higher percentage, and the occurrence of hypoplastic arteries in a statistically significantly lower percentage compared to studies on cadavers. Conclusions: Due to significant differences between cadaveric and radiological studies, it is necessary to analyze their results regarding arterial hypoplasia and aplasia separately. A diameter of less than 1 mm has been suggested as a criterion for arterial hypoplasia

Training Health Professionals to Support Patients with Appearance-Affecting Conditions

Multidisciplinary health professionals (HPs) are involved in supporting patients who have conditions that affect their appearance. With appearance-associated distress common in this group, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and enhanced communication skills both show effectiveness in helping patients adjust to their conditions. Multidisciplinary HPs are perfectly placed to provide low-level psychological support as paraprofessionals. We present the real-world evaluation of a training programme, ACT Now, which was delivered via the train-the-trainer model to 149 multidisciplinary HPs in six European countries. Trainees completed a 16-item knowledge, attitude and practice survey covering psychoeducation on appearance concerns, ACT applied to the patient group and communication skills, at pre-training, post-training and at 3-or-6-month follow-up. Findings show that trainees’ confidence consistently improved in understanding specific facets of appearance concerns and ACT processes, with largely positive changes in other facets, skewed towards delivery nations in which psychologists delivered the training. Patient communication skills generally improved, though again these were more pronounced in psychologist-led countries. However, an absence of significant improvements in ACT comprehension suggests a challenge in transmitting the ACT model to HPs. Providing more initial training to non-psychologist trainers and embedding post-training skills practice for trainees may help reinforce the ACT component of the training

IMPROVEMENT OF THE SAFETY OF VULNERABLE ROAD USERS IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF PTUJ

Pešci in kolesarji spadajo med najbolj ranljive udeležence v cestnem prometu, zato je ravno njim potrebno nameniti več pozornosti pri vključevanju v promet. Kolo postaja zaradi ekonomskega in okoljevarstvenega vidika vedno bolj priljubljeno prevozno sredstvo v večjih mestih. Hiter tempo življenja, stresne situacije in slabi vremenski pogoji nas privedejo do nezbranosti med udeležbo v prometu, kar lahko vodi do usodnih posledic. Diplomsko delo govori o varnosti pešcev in kolesarjev v Sloveniji oz. na Ptuju, za kar je bila med leti 2009 in 2014 opravljena podrobna analiza. Opravili smo ogled črnih odsekov ter na osnovi tega predlagali nekaj izboljšav za povečanje varnosti pešcev in kolesarjev. Glede na opravljeno analizo je jasno razvidno, da povzročitelji nesreč niso vedno vozniki motornih vozil. Vedno več je pešcev in kolesarjev, ki povzročijo nesrečo. Ob tem pa se postavlja vprašanje, kako dobro je poznavanje cestno-prometnih predpisov in o primernosti obnašanja najranljivejših udeležencev v prometu.Pedestrians and cyclists are amongst the most vulnerable road users. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to their integration in traffic. Bicycle has become more popular in bigger cities due to economic and environmental aspects. The tempo of modern life, stressful situations and bad weather conditions can lead to not being collected during driving. The latter can lead to fatal consequences. The main focus of this thesis is the safety of pedestrians and cyclists in Slovenia and in particular the Ptujs area. To get more information on this issue a detailed survey was carried out between 2009 and 2014. An inspection of black spots was done as well. Based on the findings of the inspection several improvements for enhancement of the safety of pedestrians and cyclists were suggested. The analysis showed that in some cases the one responsible for car accident were pedestrians or cyclists and not drivers of motor vehicles, which happens to be the most common opinion. More and more pedestrians and cyclist are responsible for causing accidents. This sets the question of how well they know road traffic rules and of their behaviour as road users

Marital status and survival in cancer patients: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract Background In recent years, authors have repeatedly reported on the significance of social support in cancer survival. Although overall the studies appear to be convincing, little is known about which types of social support promote better survival rates, and which subgroups of cancer patients are more susceptible to the benefits of it. The aim of this study was to identify, organize, and examine studies reporting on the significance of social support in cancer survival. Methods The PubMed, CINAHL and EBSCO databases were searched using the keywords social support/marital status, cancer, and survival/mortality. Where possible we used a meta‐analytical approach, specifically a random effect model, in order to combine the results of the hazard ratios in studies from which this information could be obtained. When interpreting clinical relevance, we used the number needed to treat (NNT). Results Better survival was observed in married patients when compared to unmarried (single, never‐married, divorced/separated, and widowed) in overall and cancer‐specific survival. Gender group differences showed that the association was statistically significant only in cancer‐specific survival when comparing divorced/separated male and female cancer patients (p < 0.001), thus confirming results from the previous meta‐analysis. Conclusions Being unmarried is associated with significantly worse overall and cancer‐specific survival. The most vulnerable group found in our study were divorced/separated men. The results of this review can motivate physicians, oncologists, and other healthcare professionals to be aware of the importance of patients' social support, especially in the identified sub‐group

Maxillary arch dimensions, occlusion assessment and space conditions in patients with cleft palate in the period of deciduous dentition

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the maxillary arch dimensions, dentoalveolar relationships and spacing conditions in patients with cleft palate in comparison with the control group. Methods: The subjects consisted of 31 children with cleft palate only (CP) aged 5.5 ± 0.51 (20 with a cleft of hard and soft palate (SHPC group) and 11 with a cleft of soft palate only (SPC group)). In the control group 30 subjects had a normal occlusion at age 5. Maxillary arch dimensions, dentoalveolar relationship according to the Huddard Bodenham index (HBI) and space conditions were compared with the control group. Results: In all variables of maxillary arch dimensions except for total arch height the control group exhibited greater values. Most of the significant differences were on account of differences between the control and the SHPC group, with only three comparisons yielding significant results when comparing the two groups of children with clefts (SHPC vs SPC, IV-IV central: p$_{Dunnett}$ $_{T3}$= 0.0002, 95%CI$_{Difference}$=-9.9-(-3.18)V-V distopalatal cusps: p$_{Dunnett}$ $_{T3}$= 0.0002, 95%CI$_{Difference}$=-9.97-(-3.17)Total arch length: p$_{Dunnett}$ $_{T3}$= 0.0014, 95%CI$_{Difference}$=1.74−7.85). The three groups differed significantly in anterior HBI only (H$_{Kruskal-Wallis}$=15.56, p = 0.0067). The spacing conditions in both jaws were also shown to be significantly dependent on the group of subjects studied (Upper jaw: x$^2$$_{omnibus}$= 16.79, p = 0.0018lower jaw: x$^2$$_{omnibus}$= 13.75, p = 0.0102). Conclusions: The growth of the upper dental arch at the age of five is impeded in participants with CP in comparison to a control group. It is important to assess the effect of cleft subtypes on growth and development to get a better understanding