Search

Introduction The South Pacific Medical Team (SPMT) has supported oral health care for Tongan juveniles since 1998. This voluntary activity, named the MaliMali ('smile' in Tongan) Programme, is evaluated in detail in this paper. Methods This evaluation was guided by the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. The objectives were to explore: (i) whether the programme was accessible to Tongan schoolchildren (Reach); (ii) the impact of the programme on decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) scores and toothbrushing habits (Effectiveness); (iii) factors that affected the adoption of the programme (Adoption); (iv) whether implementation was consistent with the programme model (Implementation); and (v) the long-term sustainability of the programme (Maintenance). Results The MaliMali Programme has grown into an international project, has spread countrywide as a uniform health promotion and is reaching children in need. Following implementation of this programme, the oral health of Tongan juveniles has improved, with a decrease in the mean DMFT index and an increase in toothbrushing. To provide training that will allow Tongans to assume responsibility for the MaliMali Programme in the future, dental health education literature was prepared and workshops on oral hygiene and the MaliMali Programme were held frequently. At present, the programme is predominantly managed by Tongan staff, rather than by Japanese staff. Conclusions This evaluation found the MaliMali Programme to be feasible and acceptable to children and schools in the Kingdom of Tonga. The programme promotes oral health and provides accessible and improved oral health care in the school setting, consistent with the oral health-promoting school framework.

SUMMARY: An inhibitory effect of Kunitz and Bowman-Birk soybean trypsin inhibitors (K- and BB-SBTI) was investigated on tryptic and chymotryptic proteinases of a brood of tiger puffer Takifugu rubripes and yellowtail Seriola quinqueradiata. These assist to comprehend the differences in dietary soybean meal (SBM) utility by fish species and to develop low cost SBM diets with low contents of fish meal. The K-SBTI strongly inhibited tryptic proteinase and weakly inhibited chymotryptic proteinase from the hepatopancreas and intestine including pyloric ceca of the fishes. The BB-SBTI strongly inhibited both proteinases of the fishes. The K-SBTI inhibition for tryptic protease and the BB-SBTI inhibition for tryptic and chymotryptic proteases were relatively constant in tiger puffer with growth of 12–199 g bodyweight. In yellowtail with growth of 7–672 g bodyweight, the K-SBTI inhibition for tryptic protease and the BB-SBTI inhibition for chymotryptic protease were also relatively constant. The BB-SBTI inhibition for yellowtail tryptic protease typically fell in the stage from 7 g to 57 g bodyweight, and then decreased slightly or was maintained constantly. These results indicate that there are different inhibitory modes of K- and BB-SBTI and there is inter- and intraspecific diversity of tryptic protease conformation between the two species.

Since 1998, the authors have been working to improve the oral health of children at kindergartens and primary schools in the Kingdom of Tonga (Tonga). Our primary activity has been a school-based fluoride mouth-rinsing (FMR) program. FMR is performed using 7-10 mL of a 0.2% NaF solution for 1 min once per week at each school. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of school-based FMR on dental caries incidence among Tongan schoolchildren. A total of 109 children aged 10 years were evaluated at six primary schools on Tongatapu Island. The FMR group comprised 46 children who had participated in the school-based FMR program for at least 5 years 6 months; the control group comprised 63 children who had participated in the school-based FMR program for 1 year or less. During standardized dental examinations, decayed, missing, and filled teeth were counted by a single dentist at each school. The school-based FMR program effectively decreased the number of dental caries. A school-based FMR program may thus be very beneficial in preventing caries among children in Tonga.

For heat exchangers with a small-pitch tube bundle, it is important to evaluate the vibration of the tube due to strong turbulence of fairly high-speed cross-flow. In this study, statistical quantities of fluid force were obtained experimentally to numerically evaluate the turbulent-flow-induced vibration. A tube bundle of 0.0254-meter-diameter and 0.032-meter-pitch tubes was installed in an experimental test section. Specifically, local fluid force acting on a tube was measured using 0.013-meter-wide force sensors installed along the axial direction of the measured tube, and the correlation length was deduced from the fluid forces of the two adjacent sensors. Vibration levels evaluated analytically using the fluid force correlation were compared with the levels obtained from several experiments. The analytical results agreed well with the experimental vibration levels.

The objective of this study was to determine whether intermediate filament expression, including desmin and vimentin, in cultured smooth muscle cells (SMCs) is related to cyto-differentiation or proliferation. Using antibodies to desmin and vimentin, we studied by immunoperoxidase technique the distribution of these proteins in subcultured SMCs derived from porcine aorta and coronary artery. In addition, the proliferative potentiality of the cells was estimated by the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA. The frequency of desmin-positive cells in coronary arterial SMCs of 3 and 6 population doubling levels was significantly higher as compared to findings with the aortic SMCs and depended on the plating time. No difference was evident at the 12 population doubling level. In contrast, vimentin was present in the majority of both aortic and coronary arterial SMCs. With regard to the localization of vimentin, two cell types were observed, one had reaction products to vimentin in both perinuclear and cell-peripheral areas (type-I cell), the other only in the cell-peripheral region (type-II cell). The relative proportion of the type-I and -II cells varied with the period of culture. Most of the SMCs showed the type-I cell on the first day and the number of type-II cells was increased on the sixth day. Quiescent SMCs in serum-free media had the same percentage of desmin-positive cells and frequency distribution of type-I and -II cells as did the proliferating SMCs incubated in media containing 5% serum. These results suggest that intermediate filament expression, including desmin and vimentin in cultured SMCs, is related to cell origin and/or plating time, but not to the proliferating activity, per se.

In an attempt to better define the relationship between collagen matrices and vascular smooth muscle cells in vitro, proliferation of smooth muscle cells was observed in the early stages of culture. Cells spread on collagen gels had a longer doubling time and less incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA on the first day of culture than did cells grown on a plastic substrate. Cells on collagen gels were more elongated than were those on the plastic substrate and showed a "hills and valleys" arrangement from the first day in culture on the collagen type III gel. All cells were identified as smooth muscle having definite microfilaments, dense bodies, and pinocytotic vesicles. They had a distinct actin filament running from end to end when labeled with nitrobenzoxadiazole-phallacidin. Cells on the collagen gels had a larger number of actin filaments traveling parallel to the direction of the major axis of their cytoplasm than did those on the glass substrate. Therefore, cultured smooth muscle cells in the more physiological environment for cells in vitro, i.e., on collagen gels, show a suppression of cellular proliferation and an enhancement of differentiation in the early stages of culture. The effects of collagens on the differentiation of cells vary with the collagen phenotype.

Such effects were studied in male albino mice maintained under isolation circumstances for 7 weeks in order to induce aggressiveness. L-DOPA (25 mg/kg) was given concomitantly with DDC (75 mg/kg) or reserpine (0.1 mg/kg), or each was administered signly and intraperitoneally to subjects twice weekly. Two peaks on the aggressive degree were observed at the 3rd-4th and 6th weeks, respectively. At the first peak, mice treated with L-DOPA and/or reserpine demonstrated aggressive behavior to a higher degree than control mice but at the second peak, to a lower degree. Mice treated with L-DOPA and DDC showed the highest degree at the second peak. Tyramine uptake in the brain measured at the 6th week was enhanced in mice treated with combinations of L-DOPA with reserpine or DDC. Noradrenaline content in the brain was lowered in mice treated with L-DOPA and/or reserpine, in comparison with each control value; It is thus concluded that catecholamine-related drugs influence the degree of enhancement of aggressiveness in modes which vary depending on the form of action of each drug.