The Persistence of Medievalism: Narrative Adventures in Contemporary Culture

Goodmann reviews The Persistence of Medievalism: Narrative Adventures in Contemporary Culture, by Angela Jane Weisl

Introduction

What reason or justification is there for thinking that there really is an external (physical) world? What reason or justification is there for thinking that there is not, instead, an immaterial demon who deceptively makes it appear to us as if there were real physical objects? What reason is there for thinking that we are not always dreaming, that we ever perceive or remember things correctly, that the humanoid bodies there appear to be around us are the bodies of conscious beings, or that any sort of God at all exists? Questions like these have been raised by philosophers of all kinds over the centuries

X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets: Enamel abnormalities and oral clinical findings.

X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is a genetic disorder related to alterations in bones and teeth formation, due to low levels of phosphate in blood. Oral findings in XLH have been enamel and dentine abnormalities, high pulp horns, large pulp chambers, and some cases of periapical abscesses related to teeth without caries or traumatic injuries. The aim of our study was to assess the presence of enamel alterations, such as microclefts and/or structure defects in patients with XLH and give guidelines of prevention of XLH dental complications. History taking, oral clinical and radiological examination in 10 young patients affected by XLH (average age of 9) and in 6 patients without XLH (average age of 8). Impressions were performed on the vestibular surfaces of teeth in order to obtain replicas. The replicas were analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and compared to replicas of control group. The images of replicas of XLH patients showed deep microclefts and irregular enamel surface structure compared to replicas of control group. The replica of a patient with spontaneous periapical abscesses showed numerous enamel crater-shaped depressions and deep microcleavages penetrating into the enamel thickness. In absence of caries or fractures, the abscesses pathogenesis may be related to microcleavages of the enamel and dentin, which allow bacterial invasion of the pulp. There could be a relationship between XLH disease and enamel abnormalities