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Objectives :  The aims of this study were to analyze the prevalence of sella turcica bridging and to measure the size of the sella turcica on profile cephalograms in a homogenous group of surgically repaired unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) patients. Setting :  Tertiary care center. Design :  Retrospective cross-sectional study. Patients :  Preorthodontic lateral cephalometric radiographs of 64 UCLP individuals between the ages of 16 and 29 years along with an equal number of age- and sex-matched skeletal Class I controls. Main Outcome Measures :  The extent of calcification of the interclinoid ligament was quantified (completely calcified, partially calcified, no calcification) and mean values compared. Length, depth, and diameter of the sella turcica were also measured. The results were statistically analyzed using paired t test and Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Results :  Complete sella bridging of both type A (4.6%) and type B (21.7%) was significantly higher in UCLP patients. This has not been reported previously. Partial sella bridging was also higher in cleft patients as evaluated by two methods (42.18%, 39.06%). This study demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in all dimensions of sella turcica in UCLP patients. Conclusions :  The UCLP patients apparently had higher predilection for sella turcica bridging. The dimensions of sella turcica were also seen to be significantly smaller than the control group. Defective proliferation and deviated pathways of neural crest cell migration as well as premature rupture of contact between neuroepithelium and oral ectoderm as postulated causes are discussed.

Background and Objective: Upgrades to electronic health record (EHR) systems scheduled to be introduced in the USA in 2014 will advance document interoperability between care providers. Specifically, the second stage of the federal incentive program for EHR adoption, known as Meaningful Use, requires use of the Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (C-CDA) for document exchange. In an effort to examine and improve C-CDA based exchange, the SMART (Substitutable Medical Applications and Reusable Technology) C-CDA Collaborative brought together a group of certified EHR and other health information technology vendors., Materials and Methods: We examined the machine-readable content of collected samples for semantic correctness and consistency. This included parsing with the open-source BlueButton.js tool, testing with a validator used in EHR certification, scoring with an automated open-source tool, and manual inspection. We also conducted group and individual review sessions with participating vendors to understand their interpretation of C-CDA specifications and requirements., Results: We contacted 107 health information technology organizations and collected 91 C-CDA sample documents from 21 distinct technologies. Manual and automated document inspection led to 615 observations of errors and data expression variation across represented technologies. Based upon our analysis and vendor discussions, we identified 11 specific areas that represent relevant barriers to the interoperability of C-CDA documents., Conclusions: We identified errors and permissible heterogeneity in C-CDA documents that will limit semantic interoperability. Our findings also point to several practical opportunities to improve C-CDA document quality and exchange in the coming years., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different methods of ligation in tie configurations on friction in dry and wet conditions., Methods: Four methods of ligations were used: regular round tie, figure eight, twist, and diagonal. Materials used were Alastik (3M Unitek), Power O module (ORMCO), O-ring ligatures (JES), stainless steel ligatures (TP Orthodontics), 0.019 × 0.025-inch straight-length stainless steel archwires and stainless steel MBT 0.022-inch slot brackets (3M Unitek)., Results: Figure eight ligation had the highest friction, followed by round, twist, and diagonal ligation, in the descending order. Comparisons were statistically significant with a 100-g load. Dry group samples had higher friction than the wet group. These comparisons were statistically significant with a 50-g load., Conclusions: The study concluded that figure eight ligation had the highest friction, and diagonal ligation produced the least friction. Among the dry and wet groups, lubrication showed significant reduction in friction.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the force levels of aesthetic Ni-Ti wires to regular Ni-Ti wires of the same dimension and evaluate their mechanical properties. Aesthetic and regular maxillary superelastic Ni-Ti wires (0.016 × 0.022) from four different manufacturers (G&H Wire Company, TP Orthodontics, GAC International, and Ortho Organizers) were selected and grouped I-IV. The loading and unloading values were compared using a three-point bending test. The unloading end values were also recorded to evaluate the recovery of archwires after each deflection. The unloading values were recorded at 0.5, 1.5, and 2.5 mm after loading deflections of 1, 2, and 3 mm, respectively. Cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy was used to assess the coating thickness of aesthetic wires. The results, statistically analysed, showed a significant decrease in force values for the aesthetic wires in groups I, III, and IV (P < 0.001) as compared to regular Ni-Ti wires of the same dimension from the same manufacturer. There was no significant difference in force values for group II wires. A statistically significant decrease in force values of epoxy-coated wires was observed in groups I, III, and IV only. This is of obvious clinical significance during wire selection. The group II coated wires, however, exhibited forces comparable to their regular Ni-ti wires with a difference that was statistically insignificant. The end values of aesthetic wires showed almost complete recovery for groups I, II, and III after 2 and 3 mm deflections.

Ginsenosides and withanolides are the secondary metabolites from Panax ginseng and Withania somnifera, respectively. These compounds have similar biological properties. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) analysis was utilized to reveal the protein profile in the roots of both plants, with the aim of clarifying similarly- and differentially-expressed proteins. Total proteins of Korea ginseng (P. ginseng) and Indian ginseng (W. somnifera) roots were separated by 2-DE using a pH 4-7 immobilized pH gradient strip in the first dimension and 12% sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the second dimension. The protein spots were visualized by silver staining. Twenty-one P. ginseng proteins and 35 W. somnifera proteins were chosen for identification by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry; of these, functions were ascribed to 14 and 22 of the P. ginseng and W. somnifera proteins, respectively. Functions mainly included general cell metabolism, defense and secondary metabolism. ATPase and alcohol dehydrogenase proteins were expressed in both plants. The results of this study, to our knowledge, are the first to provide a reference 2-DE map for the W. somnifera root proteome, and will aid in the understanding of the expression and functions of proteins in the roots of Korean ginseng and Indian ginseng.

Aim: The relationship of anterior cranial base to midface dimensions in skeletal Class III malocclusions is said to be unclear. The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate and correlate various cephalometric parameters depicting anterior cranial base and cranial base flexure to maxillary dimensions in skeletal Class III malocclusions., Methods: Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 60 skeletal Class III subjects aged 16 to 29 years comprising 30 cases with maxillary retrusion (group A) and 30 cases with normal maxillae (group B) were analyzed for 14 variables, along with 60 skeletal Class I controls (group C) matched for both age and sex., Results: The Bonferroni multiple comparison and ANOVA tests revealed a statistically significant decrease of maxillary (Co-A, Ptm-A, ANS-PNS) and anterior cranial base (S-N, S-Ca) linear dimensions (P < .001) as well as a decrease in N-S-Co (P < .001) and N-S-Ar (P < .05) in group A subjects. Comparison of ratios of the skeletal dimensions to each of the maxillary dimensions showed statistically significant increased values for group A (P < .001). The Pearson correlation coefficient showed a positive correlation between each cranial base parameter and the maxillary parameters (P < .001)., Conclusion: The anterior cranial base dimensions were found to be decreased in only skeletal Class III cases with maxillary deficiencies. Significant decrease of angle N-S-Co may prove diagnostically reliable in maxillary retrusion. Significant positive correlations were found to exist between each cranial base parameter and the maxillary parameters. The strongest correlation was observed between S-N and Co-A, and the weakest with respect to S-Ca and ANS-PNS.

Aim: To evaluate the shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets bonded to porcelain surfaces using a recently introduced adhesive containing 10-methacryloyloxydecyle dihydrogen phosphate (10-MDP) (Panavia F2) and comparing it with two other bonding systems, Transbond XT and Fuji Ortho LC., Methods: Three groups, each consisting of 20 porcelain premolars, were bonded with metal orthodontic brackets (0.022 MBT) using 10-MDP (group I), Transbond XT (group II), and Fuji Ortho LC (group III). All ceramic surfaces were etched with 9.6% hydrofluoric acid followed by application of a silane coupling agent prior to bonding. All specimens were stored in artificial saliva at 37°C for 24 hours and thermocycled between 5°C and 55°C for 500 cycles before debonding with an Instron universal testing machine. The shear bond strength, adhesive remnant index, and sites of bond failure were recorded. Differences between the groups were statistically analyzed using ANOVA, Tukey HSD, and Pearson chi-square tests., Results: Group I (12.52 ± 3.64 MPa) had the highest shear bond strength as compared with group II (9.45 ± 4.58 MPa) and group III (9.53 ± 2.55 MPa) (P < .05). The ARI scores of all the three groups showed no significant differences among the groups. However, porcelain damage was visible in some samples in all groups., Conclusion: Group I samples bonded with 10-MDP exhibited the highest mean shear bond strength, but the risk of porcelain damage necessitates caution.