A qualitative study of preoperative anxiety in orthognathic patients: The patient perspective.

Introduction: Increased preoperative anxiety may have an adverse impact on the patient experience. This qualitative study therefore aimed to explore those factors affecting anxiety in the approach to orthognathic surgery.

Methods: A total of 28 orthognathic patients who had completed their presurgical orthodontic treatment and were within 8 weeks before their surgery underwent one-to-one in-depth interviews.

A summary of the main themes and findings presented at the ASM Intermountain Branch meeting (2024).

The annual meeting for the Intermountain Branch was held in April 2024 on the campus of Brigham Young University. There were 127 branch members from Utah, Idaho, and Nevada who attended the meeting and were composed of undergraduate students, graduate or medical students, and faculty. This report highlights the diversity of, and the emerging trends in, the research conducted by American Society for Microbiology members in the Intermountain Branch.

A Cross-Sectional Study of Factors Influencing Pre-Operative Anxiety in Orthognathic Patients.

Orthognathic treatment is an important treatment modality to manage severe dentofacial discrepancies. Patients awaiting orthognathic surgery often experience increased anxiety, which may adversely affect post-operative recovery and treatment satisfaction. This study investigated the effects of a number of factors on pre-operative anxiety in orthognathic patients.

Odontogenic keratocyst: An incidental finding during an orthodontic examination.

For all orthodontic patients, a detailed clinical examination is essential to obtain the correct diagnosis before the formulation of an orthodontic treatment plan. Additional information may be required from radiographs in order to supplement this clinical examination. While orthodontists principally prescribe dental panoramic tomographs for orthodontic patients to confirm the presence, position and morphology of unerupted teeth, the absence or presence of disease within the supporting structures may be overlooked.

Inhibition of HGF/MET signaling decreases overall tumor burden and blocks malignant conversion in Tpl2-related skin cancer.

Tumor progression locus 2 (Tpl2) is a member of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K) family of serine/threonine kinases. Deletion of the Tpl2 gene is associated with a significantly higher number of papillomas and cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (cSCCs). Overexpression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor MET is abundant in cSCC and can lead to increased proliferation, migration, invasion or resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Orthodontic cost awareness amongst orthodontic trainees in a university teaching hospital.

Introduction: After successful completion of orthodontic membership examinations, post-graduate specialty trainees are deemed proficient to work independently in primary care, where some understanding of the costs of providing treatment may be required. Financial management forms part of Module 33 of the Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) curriculum for orthodontic training.

Objectives: Establish knowledge levels of the cost of orthodontic items by King's College Hospital (KCH) Orthodontic trainees.

Endothelial cell tube formation assay for the in vitro study of angiogenesis.

Angiogenesis is a vital process for normal tissue development and wound healing, but is also associated with a variety of pathological conditions. Using this protocol, angiogenesis may be measured in vitro in a fast, quantifiable manner. Primary or immortalized endothelial cells are mixed with conditioned media and plated on basement membrane matrix.

Characterization and psychophysical studies of an air-jet lump display.

Development of tactile displays to enhance palpation of lumps during robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery is challenging due to size and weight constraints, motivating a pneumatic actuation strategy. This work describes the quantitative and psychophysical assessment of an air-jet tactile display that creates a lump percept by directing pressurized air through an aperture onto the finger. The air pressure and aperture size are meant to control the hardness and size, respectively, of the perceived lump.

Neural coding of passive lump detection in compliant artificial tissue.

Here, we investigate the neural mechanisms of detecting lumps embedded in artificial compliant tissues. We performed a combined psychophysical study of humans performing a passive lump detection task with a neurophysiological study in nonhuman primates (Macaca mulatta) where we recorded the responses of peripheral mechanoreceptive afferents to lumps embedded at various depths in intermediates (rubbers) of varying compliance. The psychophysical results reveal that human lump detection is greatly degraded by both lump depth and decreased compliance of the intermediate.

Tpl2 knockout keratinocytes have increased biomarkers for invasion and metastasis.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the USA, with an estimated two million cases diagnosed annually. Tumor progression locus 2 (Tpl2), also known as MAP3K8, is a serine/threonine protein kinase in the mitogen-activated protein kinase signal transduction cascade. Tpl2 was identified by our laboratory as having a tumor suppressor function in skin carcinogenesis, with the absence of this gene contributing to heightened inflammation and increased skin carcinogenesis.

Characterization of an air jet haptic lump display.

During manual palpation, clinicians rely on distributed tactile information to identify and localize hard lumps embedded in soft tissue. The development of tactile feedback systems to enhance palpation using robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) systems is challenging due to size and weight constraints, motivating a pneumatic actuation strategy. Recently, an air jet approach has been proposed for generating a lump percept.

Assessment of the anterior maxilla in orthodontic patients using upper anterior occlusal radiographs and dental panoramic tomography: a comparison.

Objective: The aim of this study was to establish if dental panoramic tomographic (DPT) radiographs provide a reliable means of assessing the anterior maxilla in new orthodontic patients.

Study Design: Two hundred fifty pairs of upper anterior occlusal (UAO) and DPT radiographs were randomly selected from the records of new orthodontic patients. Ten observers each rated 50 pairs of radiographs for specific risk factors as well as for a measure of adequacy.

Vocal identity and species recognition in male Australian sea lions, Neophoca cinerea.

The acoustic channel is important for communication in otariids (fur seals and sea lions). Discrimination between species, sex or individuals is essential in communication; therefore insight into the role of vocalisations in recognition is vital to understanding otariid social interactions. We measured vocalisations and their use in discriminating sex and species in male Australian sea lions (Neophoca cinerea).

A charge-balanced pulse generator for nerve stimulation applications.

Nerve stimulation typically employs charge-balanced current injection with a delay between the cathodal and anodal phases. Typically these waveforms are produced using a microprocessor. However, once appropriate stimulus parameters are chosen, they tend to remain fixed within an application, making computational power unnecessary.

Reproducibility of soft tissue landmarks on three-dimensional facial scans.

This study evaluated the reproducibility of 24 soft tissue landmarks on six three-dimensional (3D) facial scans. The scans were taken on a DSP400 facial scanner and were viewed using a customized software program. Intraoperator data were obtained by one researcher placing the 24 landmarks on all six scans a total of 30 times.

Studies on passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in the rat with disodium cromoglycate. II. A comparison of the rat anti-dnp 7S 2 and rat reagin induced cutaneous reactions.

A study of the passive cutaneous anaphylactic reaction induced by anti-DNP 7Sγ antibodies was undertaken in rats to compare this anaphylactic reaction with that induced by rat reagin. This study revealed that disodium cromoglycate was capable of inhibiting the 7Sγ induced PCA reaction immediately following antigen challenge but not the slow developing late reaction. Using various doses of disodium cromoglycate on a series of rat reagin PCA reactions and on a series of early 7Sγ induced PCA reactions, similarities in dose dependence were demonstrated suggesting that certain pathways might be common to both reactions.

Mode of action of disodium cromoglycate, studies on immediate type hypersensitivity reactions using 'double sensitization' with two antigenically distinct rat reagins.

The mode of action of disodium cromoglycate has been investigated to determine at what stage in immediate type hypersensitivity reactions the compound is effective. studies using rat subcutaneous connective tissue sensitized with rat reagin revealed that the compound inhibited the allergic release of histamine if present during antigen challenge. The presence of the compound during sensitization had no effect on antigen-induced release of histamine provided the compound was removed prior to antigen challenge.

Studies on passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in the rat with disodium cromoglycate. I. Cutaneous reactions induced by an anti-DNP 7S-gamma-2 antibody.

The 4-hour passive cutaneous anaphylaxis reaction (PCA) in rats induced by rat anti-DNP 7Sγ antibody has been investigated and compared with the rat reagin induced PCA reaction. Time course studies revealed that the PCA reaction was made up of at least two parts, an early immediate reaction which involved mast cell degranulation, was inhibited by disodium cromoglycate and by cyproheptadine and a late reaction unaffected by disodium cromoglycate, by cyproheptadine and by an anti-SRS-A agent, diethyl-carbamazine. The early part of the 7Sγ reaction was found to be comparable to the rat reagin PCA reaction whereas the later part of the 7Sγ reaction does not appear to involve similar pathways or mediators.