Differences in four reported symptoms related to temporomandibular disorders in a cohort of 50-year-old subjects followed up after 10 years.

Objective: To assess possible changes in the prevalence of four temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms reported by subjects at age 50 and again 10 years later.

Material And Methods: Identical questionnaires were sent out in 1992 and in 2002 to all subjects born in 1942 and living in two Swedish counties. Of those who answered the four questions on TMD symptoms in 1992, 74% responded in 2002 (n=4639).

CTmod-a toolkit for Monte Carlo simulation of projections including scatter in computed tomography.

The CTmod toolkit is a set of C++ class libraries based on the CERN's application development framework ROOT. It uses the Monte Carlo method to simulate energy imparted to a CT-scanner detector array. Photons with a given angle-energy distribution are emitted from the X-ray tube approximated by a point source, transported through a phantom, and their contribution to the energy imparted per unit surface area of each detector element is scored.

Attitudes toward dental appearance in 50- and 60-Year-old subjects living in Sweden.

Background: Attitudes toward the importance of general appearance have varied much, not only over time but also among groups of individuals of different age and other characteristics. Whether the situation is similar regarding dental appearance does not seem to have been studied.

Purpose: The aim was to study the differences in attitudes toward dental appearance between two large samples of 50- and 60-year-old subjects.

Implants and/or teeth: consensus statements and recommendations.

In August 23-25, 2007, the Scandinavian Society for Prosthetic Dentistry in collaboration with the Danish Society of Oral Implantology arranged a consensus conference on the topic 'Implants and/or teeth'. It was preceded by a workshop in which eight focused questions were raised and answered in eight review articles using a systematic approach. Twenty-eight academicians and clinicians discussed the eight review papers with the purpose to reach consensus on questions relevant for the topic.

Evaluation of reconstruction techniques for lung single photon emission tomography: a Monte Carlo study.

Background: In studies of the distribution of lung function, the image quality of lung single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is important and one factor influencing it is the reconstruction algorithm.

Aim: To systematically evaluate ordered subsets expectation maximization (OSEM) and compare it with filtered back-projection (FBP) for lung SPECT with Tc.

Methods: The evaluation of the number of iterations used in OSEM was based on the image quality parameter contrast.

A study of lymph node ratio as a prognostic marker in colon cancer.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate and describe the lymph node ratio (LNR) as a prognostic parameter for patients with colon cancer. As lymphatic involvement is the key, focus was set at stage III disease. Interest was directed at the possibility of identifying high-risk groups and the clinical implementation and consequence.

A 10-year longitudinal study of self-assessed chewing ability and dental status in 50-year-old subjects.

Chewing ability and dental status were assessed in 2 Swedish counties via questionnaires sent in 1992 and 2002 to all subjects born in 1942. Those who answered both questionnaires-at ages 50 and 60-were included in the study (n = 5,008). The proportion of those who reported chewing ability as very good decreased from 75% to 66% during the 10-year follow-up.

Colorectal carcinomas with microsatellite instability display increased thymidylate synthase gene expression levels.

Background: This study investigated whether patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) who have tumors with high microsatellite instability (MSI; MSI-H) had an altered expression of the folate and methyl-group metabolism. The gene expression levels of thymidylate synthase (TS), reduced folate carrier (RFC-1), folylpolyglutamate synthase (FPGS), and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) in mucosa and tumor were compared with patients with MSS. Furthermore, the influence of TS polymorphisms on TS gene expression levels and MSI-H was studied.

Very old people's use of the pedestrian environment: functional limitations, frequency of activity and environmental demands.

Due to decreased functional capacity as well as high environmental demands there is a risk of diminishing activity outside home in very old age (age 80+). In order to explore differences according to functional limitations (FL) among very old people with respect to frequency of activity, perceived health, overall perception of neighbourhood environment, and perceived problems in the pedestrian environment, data derived from a postal questionnaire survey to very old people living in an urban area in Sweden were used. This explorative study is based on the sub-sample of people aged 80+ who reported outdoor activities ( = 97).

Number of teeth--a predictor of mortality in the elderly? A population study in three Nordic localities.

Objective: Although associations between number of teeth and mortality have been found in some studies, the results have not been conclusive. The aim of this study was to determine whether dental status at age 75 is an independent predictor of survival in three Nordic populations.

Material And Methods: The baseline study was conducted as part of a comparative Nordic investigation of systematic samples of 75-year-old men and women born in the period 1914-16 (n=1004) and living independently in three Nordic localities: Glostrup in Denmark, Jyväskylä in Finland, and Göteborg in Sweden.

The natural history of gross motor development in children with cerebral palsy aged 1 to 15 years.

The aim of this study was to explore motor development in children with cerebral palsy (CP) using developmental curves for CP, subtypes, and the five severity levels of the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). The Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) and the GMFCS were applied to 317 children (145 females, 172 males) with CP, aged between 1 and 15 years. The CP type distribution was spastic diplegia in 157 (49%), spastic hemiplegia in 101 (33%), spastic tetraplegia in 11 (3%), dyskinesia in 38 (12%), and ataxia in 10 (3%).

Nanodosimetric measurements and calculations in a neutron therapy beam.

A comparison of calculated and measured values of the dose mean lineal energy (y(D)) for the former neutron therapy beam at Louvain-la-Neuve is reported. The measurements were made with wall-less tissue-equivalent proportional counters using the variance-covariance method and simulating spheres with diameters between 10 nm and 15 microm. The calculated y(D)-values were obtained from simulated energy distributions of neutrons and charged particles inside an A-150 phantom and from published y(D)-values for mono-energetic ions.

Relationship between symptoms of temporomandibular disorders and dental status, general health and psychosomatic factors in two cohorts of 70-year-old subjects.

Objective: To study the prevalence of symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in two cohorts of 70-year-old subjects examined 8 years apart and analyse the relationship between such symptoms and dental status, general health and various background factors.

Materials And Methods: Two cohorts of 70-year-old subjects, born in 1922 (n = 422) and 1930 (n = 491) respectively, were examined with an interval of 8 years. A TMD symptom index (0-5) was established on answers to five questions related to TMD symptoms.

Nanodosimetry in a clinical neutron therapy beam using the variance-covariance method and Monte Carlo simulations.

Nanodosimetric single-event distributions or their mean values may contribute to a better understanding of how radiation induced biological damages are produced. They may also provide means for radiation quality characterization in therapy beams. Experimental nanodosimetry is however technically challenging and Monte Carlo simulations are valuable as a complementary tool for such investigations.

Evaluation of reconstruction techniques in regional cerebral blood flow SPECT using trade-off plots: a Monte Carlo study.

Background And Aim: The image quality of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) depends on the reconstruction algorithm used. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate parameters in ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) and to compare systematically with filtered back-projection (FBP) for reconstruction of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) SPECT, incorporating attenuation and scatter correction.

Methods: The evaluation was based on the trade-off between contrast recovery and statistical noise using different sizes of subsets, number of iterations and filter parameters.

Dental state, prosthodontic treatment and chewing ability - a study of five cohorts of 70-year-old subjects.

The aim was to study the relationship between dental state, prosthetic rehabilitation and chewing ability in 70-year-old subjects examined between 1971 and 2001. Five birth cohorts born in 1901/1902 (I), 1906/1907 (II), 1911/1912(III), 1922 (V), and 1930 (VI) were examined at 70 years of age. The number of participants in the odontological cohorts varied between 386 and 583.

Distribution of BDE-99 and effects on metamorphosis of BDE-99 and -47 after oral exposure in Xenopus tropicalis.

The high concentrations of polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) in the environment have raised the need for generating more information about the impact of these substances on animals. To study the distribution of (14)C-labelled 2,2',4,4',5-pentabromodiphenyl ether ((14)C-BDE-99) in Xenopus tropicalis (West African clawed frog) (14)C-BDE-99 was administered by dietary exposure to tadpoles at stage 54 or to juvenile frogs at stage 66. Whole-body autoradiography and liquid scintillation counting were used to examine the distribution of the substance at different survival times.

What are the prevalence and incidence of tooth loss in the adult and elderly population in Europe?

Objective: The purpose of this review was to study the prevalence and incidence of edentulism and tooth loss in European countries.

Material And Method: A literature search was performed by means of Medline/PubMed using various combinations of keywords concerning prevalence and incidence of tooth loss and edentulism, complemented by a hand search. Inclusion criteria were cross-sectional and longitudinal clinical and questionnaire studies of representative or random samples of >/=100 subjects at the initial examination.

Large genotypic variation but small variation in N2 fixation among rhizobia nodulating red clover in soils of northern Scandinavia.

Aims: To analyse the symbiotic variations within indigenous populations of rhizobia nodulating red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) in soils of northern Norway and Sweden at different times of the growing season.

Methods And Results: A total of 431 nodule isolates sampled under field conditions in summer and autumn, were characterized genetically by targeting both chromosomal and symbiotic genes.

Very old people's experience of occupational performance outside the home: possibilities and limitations.

To support occupations outside the home for older people with functional limitations it is important to understand how the person, environment, and occupations influence performance. Therefore the purpose of this study was to describe how very old people experience occupational performance outside the home. Twenty-one single-living, very old persons, above 80 years, were strategically selected and interviewed.

Kostmann syndrome or infantile genetic agranulocytosis, part two: Understanding the underlying genetic defects in severe congenital neutropenia.

Unlabelled: Congenital neutropenia in man was first reported 50 years ago by the Swedish paediatrician Rolf Kostmann. He coined the term 'infantile genetic agranulocytosis' for this condition, which is now known as Kostmann syndrome. Recent studies have revealed mutations in ELA-2, encoding the neutrophil granule protease, neutrophil elastase, in autosomal dominant neutropenia, and mutations in HAX-1, encoding an anti-apoptotic protein, in autosomal recessive neutropenia.

Low plasma levels of the protein pro-LL-37 as an early indication of severe disease in patients with chronic neutropenia.

Chronic neutropenia comprises several different diseases that vary in degree of severity and management. We analysed the levels of the neutrophil-derived protein pro-LL-37 in plasma of patients with chronic neutropenia to assess whether it could be used to differentiate different categories of chronic neutropenia. All patients with severe congenital neutropenia were pro-LL-37 deficient.