Chewing movements in near ideal occlusion with and without TM symptoms

Orthodontic models hand-articulated into maximum intercuspation of 720 untreated subjects were evaluated by 17 criteria for grading an ideal anatomic occlusion including good dental interdigitation and alignments. Of the 720 subjects screened, the best 17 subjects were divided into three groups that contained 11 near ideal occlusions scored with 92-98%, three lower evaluated occlusions scored with 86-88% and three near ideal occlusions with TM signs or symptoms scored with 90-94%. Border and chewing movements were recorded using incisor tracking instrument (Visitrainer, model 3). Border movements in asymptomatic subjects demonstrated a well-defined intercuspal position, smooth and equal lateral excursions, and straight opening/closing movements. However, one subject with pain of right joint recorded an inconsistent intercuspal position, restricted excursions and a deviated path corresponding to a reciprocal click in opening/closing movements. Chewing movements in asymptomatic subjects with near ideal occlusion demonstrated either no or a lower rate of opening gliding tooth contact along the lateral border movement on non-working side, and a higher rate of closing gliding tooth contact along border movement on the working side. Chewing movements in symptomatic subjects with near ideal occlusion showed opening and closing without gliding along the lateral excursions, and closing point was inconsistent with maximum intercuspal position in the pain subject. In examining these near ideal occlusion subjects, the different characteristic chewing and border movements were defined for subjects with and without TM symptoms, respectively. Asymptomatic subjects with near ideal occlusion and lower evaluated occlusion showed almost the same chewing function. The goal of orthodontic treatment might be anatomic ideal occlusion with good chewing and border movements indicated in this study.     

Water Distribution Management in Small West African Canal Systems

The performance and progressive development of irrigation distribution and rotation methods were studied in two government-sponsored systems of Niger, West Africa. Systemwide water distribution was monitored intensively throughout several growing seasons and farmer surveys were conducted at both sites. Characteristics of farmer-managed rotation among tertiary canals and among parcels were examined in relation to farmer response to physical and organizational system constraints. A method for indexing the orderliness of irrigation rotation was developed. Where water deliveries were limited, organizational efforts on behalf of the farmers resulted in functional, orderly rotation and distribution among parcels. Farmers exhibit less incentive to organize efficient and orderly rotation among parcels where access to water is less limited. Several organizational and design factors influence the degree to which farmers are both willing and able to organize functional water distribution among themselves. Also, farmers may circumvent design intentions or management strategies imposed on them by irrigation authorities in order to establish their own more effective water management methods, which tend to better accommodate local labor and production constraints. Technical and organizational considerations related to water distribution and management derived from the study results may serve to facilitate the design and operation of small-holder systems in the Sahel.     

巴布亚新几内亚矿业发展势头强劲

自2010年11月底在莫尔兹比港(Port Moresby)举行矿业—国家建设研讨会以来,巴布亚新几内亚矿业展现了良好的动力与契机。在会上,矿业部部长Hon.Byron Chan介绍了巴布亚新几内亚目前的勘探和采矿许可证的情况:按照现在由矿物资源局(MRA)制作的地理资料,巴布亚新几内亚有超过80%的陆地已经被赋予勘探和采矿的许可。本文重点介绍了近年来各个公司在巴的勘探收获、项目进展以及海洋资源开发现状及潜力等。     

Palatal thickening and facial form in Paranthropus: examination of alternative developmental models

Paranthropus is distinctive among hominoids in its possession of a greatly thickened hard palate. Although traditionally considered a structural adaptation to counter high-magnitude masticatory stress, alternative developmental models are equally viable. Three models of palatal thickening were evaluated in this study. A mechanical model interprets palatal thickening as a compensatory response to increased instability of the midpalatal suture effected by an anterior placement of the masseteric muscle mass. This model predicts that palatal thickness is correlated with the length of the palate posterior to the masseteric tubercle. Two non-mechanical models consider the thickness of the hard palate to be structurally related to and therefore correlated with either 1) the degree to which the premaxilla overlaps the hard palate in the subnasal region or 2) the height of the posterior facial skeleton. The correlation of craniofacial variables was assessed intraspecifically in ontogenetic series of great ape and human crania. Tests of correlation were performed for each comparison using both residuals calculated from reduced major axis regression of the variable of interest against a measure of cranial size and shape ratios. A significant correlation of palatal thickness with posterior facial height in Pan suggests that the unusually thick hard palate of Paranthropus is directly related to the increased posterior facial height characteristic of this taxon. Further evaluation suggests that extreme palatal thickening in these specimens occurred by virtue of their possession of a nasal septum morphology in which the vomer extends onto the superior and nasal surface of the premaxilla. Such a morphology would have constrained the palatal nasal lamina to maintain the approximate level of the premaxillary nasal lamina throughout the growth process thereby promoting palatal thickening.     

Experimental malignant catarrhal fever (African form) in white-tailed deer

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were experimentally infected with the African form of malignant catarrhal fever (AMCF) virus by inoculation of whole blood from experimentally infected cattle, from whole blood obtained from a greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) and from virus isolated in cell culture. The incubation period from AMCF in experimentally infected deer ranged from 13 to 18 days. Clinical disease was characterized by lacrimation, an elevated body temperature, conjunctivitis and swelling of the external lymph nodes. Histologic lesions were primarily characterized by widespread vasculitis and lymphadenopathy. The organs most severely affected were liver, lymphoid tissue, brain and lungs. Successful recovery and identification of AMCF virus was accomplished from one experimentally infected deer.     

Evidence from facial morphology for similarity of Asian and African representatives of Homo erectus

It has been argued that Homo erectus is a species confined to Asia. Specialized characters displayed by the Indonesian and Chinese skulls are said to be absent in material from eastern Africa, and individuals from Koobi Fora and Nariokotome are now referred by some workers to H. ergaster. This second species is held to be the ancestor from which later human populations are derived. The claim for two taxa is evaluated here with special reference to the facial skeleton. Asian fossils examined include Sangiran 4 and Sangiran 17, several of the Ngandong crania, Gongwangling, and of course the material from Zhoukoudian described by Weidenreich ([1943] Palaeontol. Sin. [New Ser. D] 10:1-484). African specimens compared are KNM-ER 3733 and KNM-ER 3883 from Koobi Fora and KNM-WT 15000 from Nariokotome. Hominid 9 from Olduvai is useful only insofar as the brows and interorbital pillar are preserved. Neither detailed anatomical comparisons nor measurements bring to light any consistent patterns in facial morphology which set the African hominids apart from Asian H. erectus. Faces of the African individuals do tend to be high and less broad across the orbits. Both of the Koobi Fora crania but not KNM-WT 15000 have nasal bones that are narrow superiorly, while the piriform aperture is relatively wide. In many other characters, including contour of the supraorbital torus, glabellar prominence, nasal bridge dimensions, internasal keeling, anatomy of the nasal sill and floor, development of the canine jugum, orientation of the zygomaticoalveolar pillar, rounding of the anterolateral surface of the cheek, formation of a malar tubercle, and palatal rugosity, there is variation among individuals from localities within the major geographic provinces. Here it is not possible to identify features that are unique to either the Asian or African assemblages. Additional traits such as a forward sloping "crista nasalis," presence of a "sulcus maxillaris," a high (and massive) cheek coupled with some flexion of the malar pillar, and a posterior position for the incisive canal are present in all groups. These characters seem to be plesiomorphic, in comparison to the derived states evolved in later humans. Much or all of the variation in facial form can be attributed to sex dimorphism and/or local differentiation of populations within the Asian and African geographic regions. Metric differences among the fossils are comparable to those documented in a subset of recent H. sapiens, and there is no evidence that the Pleistocene specimens show greater dispersion than expected within a single species. This finding is generally in keeping with observations made on other parts of the cranium, lower jaw, and teeth. All of the hominids can be placed in H. erectus. Although its phylogenetic origins remain obscure, this lineage must be rooted in Africa. The species flourished for a long time. At several sites in China, H. erectus is known from deposits of the later Middle Pleistocene, while at Ngandong in Indonesia, archaic people may have survived even into the Late Pleistocene (Swisher et al. [1996] Science 274:1870-1874). The Ngandong fossils may record the last appearance of the lineage.     

Mode of production and population patterns: policy implications for West African development

Recent developments in population theory have made possible a re-examination of demographic evidence from West Africa which suggests that population growth and migration are primarily responses to changes in the nature of the production system. Precolonial, colonial, and independence period data provide a series of correlations consistent with the approach and suggest a possible new synthesis of the West African data. The poorest countries of West Africa are those bordering on the Sahara Desert, known as the "Sahel" region. In response to the drought and famine in that region from 1968-1974, numerous proposals have been made for increased attention to reducing population growth. The analysis presented in this paper leads to the conclusion that population policies other than those attempting to lower the birth rate are called for. These would include relocation of populations previously displaced by colonial labor migrations and the re-integration of herding and farming production systems, both of which policies should be considered as population policies. Data are presented from specific projects underway in Senegal, Mauritania, and Mali, to illustrate the argument.     

The Cultural Grounding of Personal Relationship: Enemyship in North American and West African Worlds.

Three studies investigated the implicit constructions of reality associated with cultural differences in enemyship (personal relationship of hatred, malice, and sabotage). Results of interview (Study 1; N = 98) and questionnaire (Study 2; N = 166) research indicated that enemyship was more prominent among Ghanaian participants than among U.S. participants. Additional evidence located a potential source of these differences in different constructions of relationship. Responses linked the prominence of enemyship to constructions of relationship as inherent, enduring connection (interdependent models). Responses linked the sense of freedom from enemyship to constructions of relationship as the discretionary product of atomistic selves (independent models). An experiment among Ghanaian participants (Study 3; N = 48) provided evidence that increasing experience of inherent connection can be sufficient to increase accessibility of enemyship. Results help to illuminate the cultural grounding of personal relationship and other phenomena that are typically invisible in mainstream theory and research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The link between form and meaning in British Sign Language: Effects of iconicity for phonological decisions.

Signed languages exploit the visual/gestural modality to create iconic expression across a wide range of basic conceptual structures in which the phonetic resources of the language are built up into an analogue of a mental image (Taub, 2001). Previously, we demonstrated a processing advantage when iconic properties of signs were made salient in a corresponding picture during a picture and sign matching task (Thompson, Vinson, & Vigliocco, 2009). The current study investigates the extent of iconicity effects with a phonological decision task (does the sign involve straight or curved fingers?) in which the meaning of the sign is irrelevant. The results show that iconicity is a significant predictor of response latencies and accuracy, with more iconic signs leading to slower responses and more errors. We conclude that meaning is activated automatically for highly iconic properties of a sign, and this leads to interference in making form-based decisions. Thus, the current study extends previous work by demonstrating that iconicity effects permeate the entire language system, arising automatically even when access to meaning is not needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individualistic and collectivistic worldviews: Implications for understanding perceptions of racial discrimination in African Americans and British Caribbean Americans.

Cultural worldviews and perceived racial discrimination were examined among Americans (n = 106) and British Caribbean Americans (n = 95), both of African descent, who were recruited through university student organizations, community organizations, and snowball sampling. Consistent with public perceptions of differences in the experience of race among these 2 groups, multiple regression analyses revealed African Americans were more likely than British Caribbean Americans to perceive racial discrimination in the United States. In addition, a cultural worldview focus on individuality and equality (i.e., horizontal individualism) moderated the relationship between ethnic group and perceived racial discrimination. British Caribbean Americans who endorsed greater agreement with horizontal individualism were less likely to perceive racial discrimination. The same worldview was unrelated to African Americans' perceptions of racial discrimination. The results are discussed with respect to within-group heterogeneity among persons of African descent. Implications for counseling persons of African descent and future research directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fractures of the facial skeleton in Tabuk North West Armed Forces Hospital: a five year review

A five-year review of nine hundred and eighty maxillofacial injuries seen and treated at the Armed Forces Hospital, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia is presented. The dominant age group range was 21-30 years. There were almost twice as many maxillary fractures as mandibular fractures. The most common aetiology was road traffic accidents (RTA), followed by sport traumas. Facial lacerations and contusions followed by neurologic and orthopaedic injuries were the most common concomitant injuries.