Modified 30-second Sit to Stand test predicts falls in a cohort of institutionalized older veterans.

Physical function performance tests, including sit to stand tests and Timed Up and Go, assess the functional capacity of older adults. Their ability to predict falls warrants further investigation. The objective was to determine if a modified 30-second Sit to Stand test that allowed upper extremity use and Timed Up and Go test predicted falls in institutionalized Veterans.

Exposure to TiO2 nanoparticles increases Staphylococcus aureus infection of HeLa cells.

Background: Titanium dioxide (TiO2) is one of the most common nanoparticles found in industry ranging from food additives to energy generation. Approximately four million tons of TiO2 particles are produced worldwide each year with approximately 3000 tons being produced in nanoparticulate form, hence exposure to these particles is almost certain.

Results: Even though TiO2 is also used as an anti-bacterial agent in combination with UV, we have found that, in the absence of UV, exposure of HeLa cells to TiO2 nanoparticles significantly increased their risk of bacterial invasion.

Genetic Variants in Cyclooxygenase-2 Contribute to Post-treatment Pain among Endodontic Patients.

Introduction: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have a well-established analgesic efficacy for inflammatory pain. These drugs exert their effect by inhibiting the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX) and are commonly used for the management of pain after endodontic treatment. There are 2 distinct isoforms of COX: COX-1, which is constitutively expressed, and COX-2, which is primarily induced by inflammation.

Direction of influence between posttraumatic and depressive symptoms during prolonged exposure therapy among children and adolescents.

Objective: Our objective in the present study was to examine the temporal sequencing of posttraumatic and depressive symptoms during prolonged exposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among children and adolescents.

Method: Participants were 73 children and adolescents (56.2% female) between the ages of 8 and 18.

Oral cancer knowledge, attitudes and practices: a survey of dentists and primary care physicians in Massachusetts.

Background: The authors conducted a study to assess dentists' and primary care physicians' oral cancer knowledge, attitudes and practices in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Methods: The authors mailed a 38-item, pretested questionnaire to a stratified sample of dentists and primary care physicians in Massachusetts. The sample population included all general medicine, internal medicine and family practice physicians listed with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine and all Massachusetts Dental Society members.

The importance of auricular prostheses for speech recognition.

Objectives: To examine the effects of an auricular prosthesis on sound levels at the entrance of the ear canal by measuring the auricular prosthesis transfer function (APTF) and to determine the effect of the prosthesis on speech recognition in noisy hearing conditions.

Methods: Eight prostheses were used to measure the APTF. A microphone at the entrance of the ear canal measured sound pressure levels with the prosthesis present or absent while the head was rotated 360 degrees at 30 degrees increments.

Lung cancer after head and neck cancer: role of chest radiography.

Objective: To examine whether screening chest radiographs lead to significantly longer life span in patients found to have pulmonary lesions than in those in whom lung cancer was detected after symptoms developed.

Study Design: A retrospective study.

Material And Methods: Charts of 1,086 patients with squamous cell cancer of the head and neck treated for cure from January 1, 1974, to December 31, 1998, were analyzed.

Spontaneous subcutaneous temporal emphysema.

The presence of air in the temporal regions is an uncommon presentation of spontaneous pneumomediastinum. As terminal alveoli rupture, air dissects along bronchovascular shafts. Usually, air travels either in a superior or inferior direction.

Virtual temporal bone: creation and application of a new computer-based teaching tool.

The human temporal bone is a 3-dimensionally complex anatomic region with many unique qualities that make anatomic teaching and learning difficult. Current teaching tools have proved only partially adequate for the needs of the aspiring otologic surgeon in learning this anatomy. We used a variety of computerized image processing and reconstruction techniques to reconstruct an anatomically accurate 3-dimensional computer model of the human temporal bone from serial histologic sections.

Indications for the surgical repair of unilateral aural atresia in children.

Objective: This study aimed to clarify the indications for elective surgical repair of unilateral aural atresia in children and to review the rates of successful repair in the literature.

Data Sources: A search of the published English language literature, 1966-1997, was conducted using the key words aural atresia.

Study Selection: Articles were selected on the basis of their inclusion of the authors' indications for surgical repair of aural atresia or the inclusion of surgical series that showed outcomes.

CK beta-11/macrophage inflammatory protein-3 beta/EBI1-ligand chemokine is an efficacious chemoattractant for T and B cells.

We examined the functional properties of CK beta-11/MIP-3 beta/ELC, a recently reported CC chemokine that specifically binds to a chemokine receptor, EBI1/BLR2/CCR7. CK beta-11/MIP-3 beta/ELC is distantly related to other CC and CXC chemokines in primary amino acid sequence structure. Recombinant human CK beta-11/MIP-3 beta/ELC expressed from a mammalian cell system showed potent chemotactic activity for T cells and B cells but not for granulocytes and monocytes.

The virtual temporal bone.

The human temporal bone is a 3-dimensionally complex portion of the skull that contains delicate and vital anatomic structures imbedded within dense bone. Current teaching tools have proven to be only marginally adequate for the needs of the aspiring otologic surgeon in learning this anatomy. A variety of image processing and reconstruction techniques were used to reconstruct an anatomically accurate 3-dimensional model of the human temporal bone from serial histologic sections.

Synthesis of stromal glycosaminoglycans in response to injury.

Our goal is to examine the synthesis and deposition of corneal glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in response to a wound created by the insertion of porous discs into stromal interlamellar pockets. The disc and the surrounding stromal tissue were assayed and compared to contralateral control stroma and to sham operated corneas at 14, 42, and 84 days. The tissue and/or discs were removed and labeled with 35S-sulfate for 18 h; GAGs were extracted with 4 M guanidine-HCl.

Tracheal reconstruction using an epithelial equivalent.

The application of a rapidly vascularized epithelial equivalent that inhibits wound contraction would have great potential in the prevention and repair of tracheal stenosis. An animal model was developed to simulate the effects of circumferential tracheal injury and an autologous epithelial equivalent was created from a fibroblast-collagen matrix and subsequently implanted in the traumatized site in an attempt to prevent stenosis. Postinjury physiologic and histologic evaluation revealed near-normal mucosal flow analysis in the treated sites and an area of less than 20% stenosis versus 95+% in controls.

Meningeal carcinomatosis producing bilateral sudden hearing loss: a case report.

Meningeal carcinomatosis is characterized by diffuse infiltration of the leptomeninges by metastatic cancer in patients usually with a previous history of malignancy. Primary tumors are usually adenocarcinomas of the breast or lung, or malignant melanoma. Meningeal carcinomatosis can present with headache and/or a variety of cranial neuropathies.

Indications for and techniques of tracheotomy.

Although the operation has been practiced for centuries, the modern technique of tracheotomy was introduced and popularized in the beginning of the 20th century. The initial indication for tracheotomy was limited to impending airway obstruction resulting from trauma, but current indications are broader. Tracheotomy is one of four methods available to intubate the trachea and is associated with physiologic changes that are dependent on the duration of tracheotomy.

The submandibular triangle in squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx and hypopharynx.

A 15-year retrospective analysis was carried out at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, reviewing the tumor staging and pathology data of 239 patients treated for carcinoma of the larynx and hypopharynx requiring laryngectomy alone, laryngectomy with neck dissection, or laryngopharyngectomy and neck dissection. Surgery was the primary treatment modality in 205 of the 239 cases, with the remaining 34 having surgery to treat radiation therapy failure. Primary tumors were located within the supraglottic region, the glottic region and, less commonly, the pyriform sinus.

Further studies on the effects of magnetic resonance imaging fields on middle ear implants.

We investigated the effects of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fields on 21 stapedectomy prostheses and other middle ear implants and two different receiver-stimulator modules from 22-channel cochlear implants. None of the middle ear implants was displaced by the magnetic field, except for one platinum-stainless steel stapedectomy piston. Magnetism was not induced in any of the middle ear implants subjected to prolonged exposure in the MRI scanner.