Cochlear Aqueduct Post-Natal Growth: A Computed Tomography Study.

The cochlear aqueduct (CA) is a bony canal located at the base of the scala tympani of the cochlea. It connects the inner ear perilymph fluid to the cerebrospinal fluid of the posterior cerebral fossa. Its function is not well understood, as it seems to be patent in only a fraction of adult patients.

Knowledge of and Attitude Toward Preventive Care Among Iraqi Dentists and Senior Dental Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objectives: Acquiring knowledge and maintaining a positive mindset are essential for dental care providers to offer optimal dental services. Dental professionals are expected to follow preventive dentistry principles to ensure the best oral health maintenance for their patients, as prevention is a key component of public health initiatives. This study aims to assess the knowledge and attitudes toward preventive dental care among Iraqi dentists and senior dental students.

Importance of preventive dentistry in the elderly: A personal approach.

Background: Oral diseases and their impact on health and quality of life have now evolved into a polarized epidemiological state in which their incidence is especially affecting the most vulnerable in the population: the elderly, especially those with low incomes economical. On the other hand, the noticeable increase observed in the proportion of older adults in developing countries such as Iraq during the last decades. Such a high proportion of older adults is causing an increase in their stomatological care needs that necessitate dentists to know precisely both the etiological factors, such as the pathogenesis and factors that determine the specificity of oral disorders at this stage of life.

Emergency department presentations of alcohol and other substance misuse: first cross-sectional national study in Qatar.

Objectives: This study attempts the first in a series of investigations into the misuse of alcohol and substances in Qatar. This study explores the emergency presentations of alcohol and substance abuse to all the state funded emergency departments (EDs) in the country which serve around 90% of the population over a 22-month period. Due to legal penalties for alcohol and substance use, and lack of subsidised community-based facilities, ED presentations are a good starting point to explore this burden.

Three genetically distinct ferlaviruses have varying effects on infected corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus).

Ferlaviruses are important pathogens in snakes and other reptiles. They cause respiratory and neurological disease in infected animals and can cause severe disease outbreaks. Isolates from this genus can be divided into four genogroups-A, B, and C, as well as a more distantly related sister group, "tortoise".

Detection of antibodies against paramyxoviruses in tortoises.

Sera from a total of 202 tortoises from six countries and nine species were tested for antibodies against four different reptilian paramyxoviruses (ferlaviruses, ferlaVs) by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. The viruses used were a tortoise PMV (tPMV) and three squamatid PMV isolates, each belonging to a different subgroup of ferlaV within the genus Ferlavirus. HI tests revealed that antibodies against ferlaVs occurred regularly in the tested samples (5.

A novel type of paramyxovirus found in Hungary in a masked water snake (Homalopsis buccata) with pneumonia supports the suggested new taxonomy within the Ferlavirus genus.

During the course of a longitudinal survey on the occurrence of viruses in Hungarian exotic reptile collections a dead masked water snake (Homalopsis buccata) was submitted for virologic examination in September 2009. Based on history, gross pathological and histopathological findings paramyxovirus infection was suspected and later confirmed by RT-PCR and sequencing of the RNA dependent RNA polymerase (L), the hemaggluitinin-neuraminidase (HN) and the unknown (U) genes. Sequence analyses revealed that the detected virus, HoBuc-HUN09, belongs to the recently described "group C" within the genus Ferlavirus.

Role of water fleas (Daphnia magna) in the accumulation of avian influenza viruses from the surrounding water.

Objective: To determine the role of water fleas in accumulating avian influenza viruses (AIV) from the surrounding water and to estimate their role as a vector of AIV.

Methods: Water fleas were exposed to H4N6 and H5N1 AIV-contaminated water in a closed system. The potential of water fleas to take up and retain the viruses was estimated by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRRT-PCR) and titration on cell culture.

A unique novel reptilian paramyxovirus, four atadenovirus types and a reovirus identified in a concurrent infection of a corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) collection in Germany.

In 2009, 26 clinical samples (organs and oral/cloacal swabs) from a total of 24 corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) from a single owner were sent to our laboratory to be tested for the presence of viruses. Paramyxoviruses (PMV), adenoviruses (AdV) and reoviruses were detected by RT-PCR, PCR and virus isolation methods. Three snakes were infected with all three viruses at the same time, while two other snakes had a double infection (PMV and reo, AdV and reo) and nine other snakes had a single infection with any of the three viruses.

Use of filter carrier technique to measure the persistence of avian influenza viruses in wet environmental conditions.

A germ carrier technique was adapted for the determination of the persistence of influenza viruses in moist environments. The technique was employed with 3 low pathogenic avian influenza viruses (H4N6, H5N1, and H6N8), one human influenza virus (H1N1), and two model viruses (NDV and ECBO) in lake water at five different temperatures (30, 20, 10, 0, and -10°C). Viral quantitation was carried out at regular intervals on cell culture for a maximum duration of 16 weeks.