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This study explores the impact of social inequality through a study of health and diet involving the analysis of skeletal remains and grave furnishings from the Roman period cemetery of Baldock, UK. Analysis revealed correlations between the presence of different types of grave furnishing with aspects of childhood health, and consistent differences in diet between individuals with different quantities and types of furnishings. These findings suggest that inequality may have had a considerable impact upon both health and diet at Baldock. The further observation of patterns in diet by sex and in grave furnishings by sex and age-at-death suggests that these factors may have played an important role in determining access to resources within the community at Baldock.

A female patient is described with clinical symptoms of both microphthalmia with linear skin defects (MLS or MIDAS) and dental enamel defects, having an appearance compatible with X‐linked amelogenesis imperfecta (XAI). Genomic DNA was purified from the patient's blood and semiquantitative multiplex PCR revealed a deletion encompassing the amelogenin gene (AMELX). Because MLS is also localized to Xp22, genomic DNA was subjected to array comparative genomic hybridization, and a large heterozygous deletion was identified. Histopathology of one primary and one permanent molar tooth showed abnormalities in the dental enamel layer, and a third tooth had unusually high microhardness measurements, possibly due to its ultrastructural anomalies as seen by scanning electron microscopy. This is the first report of a patient with both of these rare conditions, and the first description of the phenotype resulting from a deletion encompassing the entire AMELXgene. More than 50 additional genes were monosomic in this patient. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

This randomized controlled trial compared the effects of outreach placement with traditional, exclusively dental school‐based clinical experience on students’ confidence in providing treatment for patients presenting with common dental problems. Senior dental students (n=49) were allocated at random to existing dental school‐based clinics or placement in primary care clinics to work supervised by local dentists. At baseline, students self‐rated their global confidence on a five‐point scale. These measures were repeated at follow‐up, augmented by a transition judgment and a then‐test of confidence (asking students to look back and re‐rate their pre‐placement confidence). Groups were comparable at baseline. Follow‐up scores for global confidence were similar between groups. The outreach group scored higher in the transition judgment (mean 3.7, SD 0.9) than the control group (mean 3.1, SD 1.1, P=0.05). In the then‐test, on reflection, the outreach group considered their baseline ratings of confidence were overoptimistic (mean then‐test scores 3.2, SD 0.9 and baseline 3.7, SD 0.5) while the control group thought theirs were accurate (mean then‐test scores 3.8, SD 0.7 and baseline 3.6, SD 0.8, P=0.01). The findings suggest dental outreach training in primary care settings is more effective than dental school training alone in improving students’ confidence in tackling clinical situations. The measurement of change in confidence is complicated by shifts in students’ internal scales arising from insights gained on outreach.

We describe the molecular analysis of three families with hypodontia involving primarily molar teeth and report two novel mutational mechanisms. Linkage analysis of two large families revealed that the hypodontia was linked to the PAX9 locus. These two families revealed missense mutations consisting of a glutamic acid substitution for lysine and a proline substitution for leucine within the paired domain of PAX9. A pair of identical twins affected with hypodontia in a third family demonstrated a 288-bp insertion within exon 2 that resulted in a putative frameshift mutation and a premature stop codon. The insertion was associated with the loss of 7-bp from exon 2. A block of 256-bp of sequence within the insertion was completely identical to downstream sequence from the second intron of the PAX9 gene. These studies extend the spectrum of mutations in PAX9 associated with hypodontia to include heretofore undescribed categories, including missense mutations. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A new species of desmid is described from acid, peat-lined pools in Sutherland, Scotland. Closterium arcus is a small, slender desmid of somewhat angular appearance with the central third of the cell cylindrical and straight, or slightly concave.

Australian marine shells, 1. Prosobranch gastropods, part 1 and part 2. By Barry Wilson, with drawings by Carina Wilson and photography by Patrick Baker. Odyssey Publishing, Perth, 1994; 408 p., 44 pls, and 370 p., 53 pls Price: A$220 for both volumes, or A$115 each; distributed by University of Western Australia Press, Tuart House, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.Flora of New Zealand, Freshwater Algae, Chlorophyta, Desmids Volume III. By H. Croasdale, E. A. Flint, and M. M. Racine, 1994. Manaaki Whenua Press. ISBN 0-477-001642-1 Price: NZ$60.00. Available from Manaaki Whenua Press, Landcare Research, P. O. Box 40, Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand.Meiobenthology: the microscopic fauna in aquatic sediments, by Olav Giere, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1993. 102 figs. 20 tabs., 328 p. ISBN 3-540-56696-1 (hardcover); DM 128.00.

A naturally occurring population of the planktonic desmid Staurastrum longiradiatum has been shown to develop phased cell division in an eutrophic reservoir near Madrid (Spain) during early stratification. Cell divisions, as shown by cytokinesis, were mostly observed between 15.00 and 19.00 hrs. Division growth rates were fairly constant throughout the study whilst population growth rates partly depended upon advection processes.

In laboratory cultures of bottom-living algae it was observed that unattached diatoms were eaten by ciliates and an attempt was therefore made to determine the rate at which these protozoa feed on algae. Cultures of certain ciliates were prepared and fed on unialgal cultures of diatoms of known concentration, with the following results: — p]1).Chilodon-individuals feeding on Navicula dicephala can eat 30 diatoms per 24 hours. (Expt. 1).2).Oxytricha-individuals feeding on Navicula dicephala can eat 47 diatoms per 24 hour (Expt. 3).3).Oxytricha-individuals feeding on Nitzschia palea can eat 90 diatoms per 24 hours (Expt. 4).

1.The paper presents the results of an investigation of the attached algal flora, as estimated by the growths on slides, of the slow sand filter-beds of the Whittle Dene Waterworks, Northumberland.2.The flora consists largely of filamentous and attached diatoms and Chaetophoraceae and shows marked seasonal differences in composition and abundance. Then community is compared with that of rivers.3.The factors influencing seasonal differences, colonisation, and succession are examined.4.Differences in the attached flora of beds which have been in operation for different lengths of time are considered in relation to the aquatic fauna.

1.The paper presents the results of an investigation of the attached algal flora, as estimated by the growths on slides, of the slow sand filter-beds of the Whittle Dene Waterworks, Northumberland.2.The flora consists largely of filamentous and attached diatoms and Chaetophoraceae and shows marked seasonal differences in composition and abundance. Then community is compared with that of rivers.3.The factors influencing seasonal differences, colonisation, and succession are examined.4.Differences in the attached flora of beds which have been in operation for different lengths of time are considered in relation to the aquatic fauna.

1.During 1947–'48 a study was made of the unattached bottom-living algal flora of the slow sand filter beds of the Newcastle and Gateshead Water Waterworks at Whittle Dene, Northumberland, England.2.Marked differences in the composition of the flora were apparent in beds which had been in operation for different periods of time, many species disappearing from the older beds.3.Consideration of the factors, which might have been involved, suggests that the differences were largely due to the feeding activities of the aquatic fauna. This was confirmed by examination of the gut-contents of insect-larvae taken from the beds, which showed that those algae which were disappearing had been eaten.4.These observations are considered in relation to those of other workers on the establishment of algae in freshwaters and on algal periodicity.