Normative and self-perceived orthodontic treatment need of a Peruvian university population

BACKGROUND: Previous studies on orthodontic treatment need in young adults have shown that up to 50% had malocclusions that needed orthodontic treatment. The aims of this study were to assess the normative and self-perceived need for orthodontic treatment using the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and to determine if the treatment need levels were influenced by sex, age and socio-economic status (SES) in a sample of Peruvian young adults. METHODS: 281 first-year students (157 male and 124 female students) with a mean age of 18.1 +/- 1.6 years were randomly selected and evaluated through the Dental Health Component (DHC) and Aesthetic Component (AC) of the IOTN. Structured interview and clinical examination were used to assess the students. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were used for data analysis with statistical significance set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: An intra-examiner reliability of 0.89 was obtained (weighted Kappa). The percentage of students according to SES was 51.2%, 40.6% and 8.2% corresponding to low, medium and high SES respectively. The percentage of students with DHC grades 4–5 was 29.9% whereas the percentage of students with AC grades 8–10 was 1.8%. There were no significant differences in the distribution of normative and self-perceived orthodontic treatment need based on sex, age and SES comparisons. CONCLUSION: Normative orthodontic treatment need was not matched by a similar level of self-perceived treatment need in these young adults. Sex, age and SES were non-significant factors associated with levels of treatment need

Photoperiod Regulates Lean Mass Accretion, but Not Adiposity, in Growing F344 Rats Fed a High Fat Diet

yesIn this study the effects of photoperiod and diet, and their interaction, were examined for their effects on growth and body composition in juvenile F344 rats over a 4-week period. On long (16L:8D), relative to short (8L:16D), photoperiod food intake and growth rate were increased, but percentage adiposity remained constant (ca 3-4%). On a high fat diet (HFD), containing 22.8% fat (45% energy as fat), food intake was reduced, but energy intake increased on both photoperiods. This led to a small increase in adiposity (up to 10%) without overt change in body weight. These changes were also reflected in plasma leptin and lipid levels. Importantly while both lean and adipose tissue were strongly regulated by photoperiod on a chow diet, this regulation was lost for adipose, but not lean tissue, on HFD. This implies that a primary effect of photoperiod is the regulation of growth and lean mass accretion. Consistent with this both hypothalamic GHRH gene expression and serum IGF-1 levels were photoperiod dependent. As for other animals and humans, there was evidence of central hyposomatotropism in response to obesity, as GHRH gene expression was suppressed by the HFD. Gene expression of hypothalamic AgRP and CRH, but not NPY nor POMC, accorded with the energy balance status on long and short photoperiod. However, there was a general dissociation between plasma leptin levels and expression of these hypothalamic energy balance genes. Similarly there was no interaction between the HFD and photoperiod at the level of the genes involved in thyroid hormone metabolism (Dio2, Dio3, TSHβ or NMU), which are important mediators of the photoperiodic response. These data suggest that photoperiod and HFD influence body weight and body composition through independent mechanisms but in each case the role of the hypothalamic energy balance genes is not predictable based on their known function.Scottish Government (Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/), AWR LR LMT PJM and the BBSRC, (http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/home/home.aspx, grant BB/K001043/1), AWR GH PJ

Prevalence, intensity and extent of Oral Impacts on Daily Performances associated with self-perceived malocclusion in 11-12-year-old children

BACKGROUND: To determine the prevalence, intensity and extent of the Oral Impacts on Daily Performances associated with self-perceived malocclusion among Peruvian schoolchildren. METHODS: Eight hundred and five children aged 11 to 12 years attending 4 of 7 randomly selected schools linked to a Health Centre in Lima, Peru, participated in the study. The Spanish (Peru)Child-OIDP was used to assess the prevalence, intensity and extent of oral impacts on 8 daily performances (eating, speaking, teeth cleaning, sleeping, smiling, studying, emotion and social contact). Self-perceived malocclusion included complaints about position of teeth, spacing of teeth and deformity of mouth or face. The prevalence of oral impacts was compared by covariables using the Chi-square test, whereas the intensity and extent of oral impacts were compared by covariables through the Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: Only 15.5% of children reported impacts associated with self-perceived malocclusion during the last 3 months. Of them, 18.4% reported impacts of severe or very severe intensity and 76.0% reported impacts on only one daily performance. Psychosocial activities such as smiling, emotion and social contact were the most frequently and severely impacted everyday activities. CONCLUSION: Impacts of self-perceived malocclusion primarily affected psychological and social everyday activities. These findings provide further evidence to support the importance of psychological and social components of oral health on children's lives

Traffic-Related Air Pollution and DNA Damage: A Longitudinal Study in Taiwanese Traffic Conductors

BACKGROUND: There is accumulating epidemiologic evidence that exposure to traffic-related air pollutants, including particulate matter (PM) and polyaromatic hydro carbons (PAHs), plays a role in etiology and prognosis of a large scale of illnesses, although the role of specific causal agents and underlying mechanisms for different health outcomes remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: Our general objective was to assess the relations between personal exposure to traffic exhausts, in particular ambient PM(2.5) and PAHs, and the occurrence of DNA strand breaks by applying personal monitoring of PM and biomarkers of exposure (urinary 1-hydroxypyrene-glucuronide, 1-OHPG) and effect (urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, 8-OHdG and DNA strand breaks). METHODS: We recruited 91 traffic conductors and 53 indoor office workers between May 2009 and June 2011 in Taipei City, Taiwan. We used PM(2.5) personal samplers to collect breathing-zone particulate PAHs samples. Spot urine and blood samples after work shift of 2 consecutive days were analyzed for 1-OHPG, 8-OHdG and DNA strand breaks, respectively. Statistical methods included linear regression and mixed models. RESULTS: Urinary 8-OHdG levels and the occurrence of DNA strand breaks in traffic conductors significantly exceeded those in indoor office workers in mixed models. Particulate PAHs levels showed a positive association with urinary 1-OHPG in the regression model (β = 0.056, p = 0.01). Urinary 1-OHPG levels were significantly associated with urinary 8-OHdG levels in the mixed model (β = 0.101, p = 0.023). Our results provide evidence that exposure to fine particulates causes DNA damage. Further, particulate PAHs could be biologically active constituents of PM(2.5) with reference to the induction of oxidative DNA damages

How valid are current diagnostic criteria for dental erosion?

In principle, there is agreement about the clinical diagnostic criteria for dental erosion, basically defined as cupping and grooving of the occlusal/incisal surfaces, shallow defects on smooth surfaces located coronal from the enamel–cementum junction with an intact cervical enamel rim and restorations rising above the adjacent tooth surface. This lesion characteristic was established from clinical experience and from observations in a small group of subjects with known exposure to acids rather than from systematic research. Their prevalence is higher in risk groups for dental erosion compared to subjects not particularly exposed to acids, but analytical epidemiological studies on random or cluster samples often fail to find a relation between occurrence or severity of lesions and any aetiological factor. Besides other aspects, this finding might be due to lack of validity with respect to diagnostic criteria. In particular, cupping and grooving might be an effect of abrasion as well as of erosion and their value for the specific diagnosis of erosion must be doubted. Knowledge about the validity of current diagnostic criteria of different forms of tooth wear is incomplete, therefore further research is needed

Cross-Cultural Validation of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM) in the Asian Setting: Hong Kong and the Philippines

Students’ achievement goals in school have received increasing research attention because they have been shown to be important in predicting important outcomes. As such, there has been a growing interest in measuring and comparing them across different cultural groups. However, these comparisons cannot be made until validity evidence has been attained to support the use of an instrument in the new cultural setting. In this study, we investigated the cross-cultural applicability of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM, McInerney et al. American Educational Research Journal 34:207-236, 1997) in the Hong Kong Chinese and Philippine contexts using both within-network and between-network approaches to construct validation. The ISM measures four types of achievement goals: mastery, performance, social, and extrinsic goals. 1,406 high school students from Hong Kong (n = 697) and the Philippines (n = 709) participated. Results of the within-network test showed that the ISM had good internal consistency reliability and the confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the hypothesized four-factor model. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses supported invariance of factor loadings across the two samples. The between-network test also indicated that these achievement goals correlated systematically with different aspects of students’ self-concepts. These findings support the applicability of the ISM among Hong Kong Chinese and Filipino students

Cross-sectional analysis of association between socioeconomic status and utilization of primary total hip joint replacements 2006-7 : Australian orthopaedic association national joint replacement registry

Background The utilization of total hip replacement (THR) surgery is rapidly increasing, however few data examine whether these procedures are associated with socioeconomic status (SES) within Australia. This study examined primary THR across SES for both genders for the Barwon Statistical Division (BSD) of Victoria, Australia.Methods Using the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry data for 2006&ndash;7, primary THR with a diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA) among residents of the BSD was ascertained. The Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage was used to measure SES; determined by matching residential addresses with Australian Bureau of Statistics census data. The data were categorised into quintiles; quintile 1 indicating the most disadvantaged. Age- and sex-specific rates of primary THR per 1,000 person years were reported for 10-year age bands using the total population at risk.Results Females accounted for 46.9% of the 642 primary THR performed during 2006&ndash;7. THR utilization per 1,000 person years was 1.9 for males and 1.5 for females. The highest utilization of primary THR was observed in those aged 70&ndash;79&thinsp;years (males 6.1, and females 5.4 per 1,000 person years). Overall, the U-shaped pattern of THR across SES gave the appearance of bimodality for both males and females, whereby rates were greater for both the most disadvantaged and least disadvantaged groups.Conclusions Further work on a larger scale is required to determine whether relationships between SES and THR utilization for the diagnosis of OA is attributable to lifestyle factors related to SES, or alternatively reflects geographic and health system biases. Identifying contributing factors associated with SES may enhance resource planning and enable more effective and focussed preventive strategies for hip OA. <br /

Streptozotocin, Type I Diabetes Severity and Bone

As many as 50% of adults with type I (T1) diabetes exhibit bone loss and are at increased risk for fractures. Therapeutic development to prevent bone loss and/or restore lost bone in T1 diabetic patients requires knowledge of the molecular mechanisms accounting for the bone pathology. Because cell culture models alone cannot fully address the systemic/metabolic complexity of T1 diabetes, animal models are critical. A variety of models exist including spontaneous and pharmacologically induced T1 diabetic rodents. In this paper, we discuss the streptozotocin (STZ)-induced T1 diabetic mouse model and examine dose-dependent effects on disease severity and bone. Five daily injections of either 40 or 60 mg/kg STZ induce bone pathologies similar to spontaneously diabetic mouse and rat models and to human T1 diabetic bone pathology. Specifically, bone volume, mineral apposition rate, and osteocalcin serum and tibia messenger RNA levels are decreased. In contrast, bone marrow adiposity and aP2 expression are increased with either dose. However, high-dose STZ caused a more rapid elevation of blood glucose levels and a greater magnitude of change in body mass, fat pad mass, and bone gene expression (osteocalcin, aP2). An increase in cathepsin K and in the ratio of RANKL/OPG was noted in high-dose STZ mice, suggesting the possibility that severe diabetes could increase osteoclast activity, something not seen with lower doses. This may contribute to some of the disparity between existing studies regarding the role of osteoclasts in diabetic bone pathology. Examination of kidney and liver toxicity indicate that the high STZ dose causes some liver inflammation. In summary, the multiple low-dose STZ mouse model exhibits a similar bone phenotype to spontaneous models, has low toxicity, and serves as a useful tool for examining mechanisms of T1 diabetic bone loss

Matricellular Proteins Produced by Melanocytes and Melanomas: In Search for Functions

Matricellular proteins are modulators of cell-matrix interactions and cellular functions. The group includes thrombospondin, osteopontin, osteonectin/SPARC, tenascin, disintegrins, galectins and CCN proteins. The production of matricellular proteins such as osteopontin, SPARC or tenascin is highly upregulated in melanoma and other tumors but little is known about their functions in tumor growth, survival, and metastasis. The distribution pattern of CCN3 differs from most other matricellular proteins, such that it is produced abundantly by normal melanocytes, but is not significantly expressed in melanoma cells. CCN3 is known to inhibit melanocyte proliferation and stimulate adhesion to collagen type IV, the main component of the basement membrane. CCN3 has a unique role in securing adhesion of melanocytes to the basement membrane distinct from other melanoma-produced matricellular proteins which act as de-adhesive molecules and antagonists of focal adhesion. Qualitative and quantitative changes in matricellular protein expression contribute to melanoma progression similar to the E-cadherin to N-cadherin class switch, allowing melanoma cells to escape from keratinocyte control