Dental practices continue to enlarge: even in the state of Illinois

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of propofol on pulmonary short circuit or shunt (Qs/Qt). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Nine patients undergoing scheduled thoracic surgery with single lung ventilation were studied. All patients were anesthesized with 2 mg/kg propofol followed by a continuous infusion of 4-6 mg/kg/h; fentanyl 0.3 mg followed by bolus as needed; and relaxed with atracurium 0.5 mg/kg followed by bolus of 0.1-0.2 mg/kg as needed. The ratio Qs/Qt was calculated with an FiO2 of 1 and patients in lateral decubitus. RESULTS: During double-lung ventilation Qs/Qt was 17.4 +/- 5.4% and PO2 was 430 +/- 16 mmHg, while shunt increased to 27.8 +/- 8.4% and PO2 decreased to 258 +/- 127 mmHg during single-lung ventilation. Change was significant in both cases. CONCLUSIONS: Continuous infusion of propofol produces a significant increase of Qs/Qt and a significant decrease of PaO2 during single-lung ventilation for thoracic surgery.     

CT and MR in infants with pericerebral collections and macrocephaly: benign enlargement of the subarachnoid spaces versus subdural collections

PURPOSE: To compare CT and MR in the differentiation of benign enlargement of the subarachnoid spaces and subdural collections in infants with macrocephaly. METHODS: MR was performed in 19 infants with macrocephaly, showing bifrontal enlargement of the subarachnoid spaces on CT. RESULTS: In 11 patients, a single fluid layer could be distinguished on MR of the pericerebral collections, suggesting benign enlargement of the subarachnoid spaces. In eight patients, two separate layers were clearly differentiated, an outer layer that was hyperintense on all sequences and an inner layer with the same intensity as the cerebrospinal fluid. This indicated the presence of subdural collections. These collections were mainly frontal in six and extended over the entire hemisphere in two patients. On CT, these separate lesions were seen only in three patients and missed in three others. In two final patients, CT findings were equivocal with evidence of membrane formation within the hypodense collections. In seven patients with a subdural collection, subdural-external drainage was performed. In three patients, the collection was hemorrhagic. The protein content of the fluid showed a mean of 1381.7 +/- 785.6 mg/dL. The MR and surgical findings of a subdural collection correlated with the absence of a family history of macrocrania, an age under 5 months, and acute clinical signs of vomiting, somnolence, and hypotonia. CONCLUSION: MR appears essential in the differential diagnosis between benign enlargement of the subarachnoid spaces and subdural collections in infants.     

Tobacco-related instruction in undergraduate nursing education in Illinois

Tobacco use is responsible for more deaths in the United States than any other factor. Nurses are in a unique position to convey life-saving messages to clients regarding tobacco use. To gauge the type and extent of tobacco-related background knowledge acquired by nurses in the course of their education, the Nurses' Committee of the Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society (ACS) surveyed 70 nursing programs in the state of Illinois. The number of lecture hours spent on tobacco-related issues was greater in LPN programs than in either associate or baccalaureate degree programs, and instruction was scattered throughout the curriculum of each program. Most schools reported heavy reliance on adult medical-surgical textbooks to convey tobacco-related content. The most recent editions of the textbooks used by the schools were reviewed, and they also were found to adopt a scattered approach, with a disappointing lack of depth regarding the hazards of tobacco. It is recommended a single course be identified as responsible for relaying tobacco-related content and information supplied by general medical-surgical textbooks be supplemented by materials drawn from other sources.     

Dental dysplasia in rats and mice

Malformations of the maxillary incisors, diagnosed as dental dysplasia, were observed as a spontaneous background lesion in 3% (females) to 9% (males) of CD-1 mice and 14.5% (females) to 10.5% (males) of CD (Sprague-Dawley) rats in a chronic inhalation study. Lesions were reported grossly as overgrown, maloccluded, or malformed incisors. Microscopic findings included tooth pulp and periodontal abscesses, fractured and necrotic teeth, periodontal cysts, malformations of the incisor roots, and expansile masses, including odontomas, of the incisor roots. Development of lesions followed a pattern of tooth pulp necrosis and/or traumatic disruption of the epithelial root sheath at the base of the tooth. Feeding a powdered ration, which reduced the normal wearing of the incisors, and repeated clipping of overgrown incisors were believed to contribute to the incidence of disease.     

Dental care in autism

The syndrome of autism is not characterized by typical orofacial features. Regarding caries experience, no differences with the normal population are found. The dental health situation on the other hand, depends upon the care devoted to oral hygiene and when necessary, upon the auxiliary help of parents and educators. As far as dental care is concerned, the autistic patient is inherently unresponsive to demonstrations, resists eye-to-eye contact and will frequently resist any effort to establish personal contacts with the dental personnel. Patient management will therefore be qualitatively different from person to person and shall be based on a unique management of the behavioral characteristics. Where the classical 'tell, show, do"-method fails, the 'tell, show, FEEL, do"-method will lead to a successful approach.     

Dental education--issues and trends

This article is a survey of the current status and likely future changes in dental education in the context of changing demographics, economics, and higher education. Topics covered include changes in faculty, students, curriculum, research, and dental practice.     

Preferences for ancient and modern art museums: Visitor experiences and personality characteristics.

This research has two main purposes. The first is to replicate and possibly to extend the results obtained in a previous study, where the authors found that visitors to the ancient art museum conducted their visit with the primary aim of acquiring understanding and knowledge, while modern art museum visitors conducted their visit with an approach that was primarily emotional and pleasure-seeking. The second purpose relates to studies showing that people who prefer abstract art present higher levels on personality traits like “Openness to Experience” and “Sensation Seeking,” compared to people who prefer realistic art. This study investigates these two personality traits for people who favor visiting museums of ancient rather than modern art. Results confirmed previous findings that emotional aspects related to the visit were relevant for modern art museum visitors, while a more cognitive approach based on learning characterized ancient art museum visitors. Concerning personality traits, no difference was found between the two museum groups on the “Openness to Experience” dimension; differences were found on the “Sensation Seeking” trait; modern art museum visitors attained higher scores as compared to ancient art museum visitors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neutral genetic markers and conservation genetics: simulated germplasm collections

This study examines the use of neutral genetic markers to guide sampling from a large germplasm collection with the objective of establishing from it a smaller, but genetically representative sample. We simulated evolutionary change and germplasm sampling in a subdivided population of a diploid hermaphrodite annual plant to create an initially large collection. Several strategies of sampling from this collection were then compared. Our results show that a strategy based on information obtained from marker genes led to retention of the maximum number of neutral and nonneutral alleles in the smaller sample. This occurred when demes were composed of self-fertilizing individuals or when no migration occurred among demes, but not when demes of an outcrossing population were connected by high levels of migration.