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The article presents information on a study which investigated the effect on the accuracy of stone dies obtained by reheating impressions of selected elastomeric impression materials of different thickness. A brief overview is given on the process of reheating addition-reaction silicone impressions. It describes the characteristics of dental stone dies. It illustrates the measurements of the discrepancies between stone dies and steel dies. It also explains the improved accuracy of stone models cast after reheating the addition-reaction silicone impressions.

Mergers that affiliate a hospital with a Catholic owner, network, or system reduce the set of possible reproductive medical procedures since Catholic hospitals have strict prohibitions on contraception. Using changes in ownership of hospitals, we find that Catholic hospitals reduce the per bed rates of tubal ligations by 31%, whereas there is no significant change in related permitted procedures such as Caesarian sections. However, across a variety of measures, we find minimal overall welfare reductions. Still, fewer tubal ligations increase the risk of unintended pregnancies across the United States, imposing a potentially substantial cost for less reliable contraception on women and their partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight-five patients with a total of 103 resin-bonded bridges placed by practitioners at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry between 1982 and 1989 were recalled for a clinical evaluation of their restorations. Tissue condition, patient satisfaction, bridge failures by location and by sex of patient, and average length of service for both successful and failed bridges were recorded. After an average service of 3.25 years, 12.6% of the fixed partial dentures had debonded. Debondings occurred most frequently in the mandibular arch. Failures occurred more frequently in men than in women, and prostheses with more than two retainers had twice the probability for problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The retentive strength of three zinc oxide-eugenol cements and three noneugenol-containing zinc oxide cements and the effect of the addition of petrolatum on retention were tested. The addition of petrolatum was found to affect retention of the cements significantly. Retention strengths varied from 1.6 kg to 40.0 kg. Of the Class 1, Type 2, systems tested, noneugenol cements had higher retentive values than did the eugenol-containing cements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines a survey of pedodontic patients to determine the prevalence of bottled water usage as a primary source of drinking water. It is stated that bottled water can contain maximum 4.0 ppm fluoride and a child's dental health depends on his usage of the bottled water and excess of which can result in fluorosis. The study also examines the fluorid contents of the bottled drinking water products used by pediatric patients. It was observed that only 11% of the patients in a private pediatric dentistry practice utilized alternative sources of driking water. Moreover, the level of fluoride content in bottled water varied from 0.04 to 1.40 ppm, which indicates that the dentists must be self-aware of the fluoride content of various bottled water products.

Plasma membrane clathrin-coated vesicles form after the directed assembly of clathrin and the adaptor complex, AP2, from the cytosol onto the membrane. In addition to these structural components, several other proteins have been implicated in clathrin-coated vesicle formation. These include the large molecular weight GTPase, dynamin, and several Src homology 3 (SH3) domain-containing proteins which bind to dynamin via interactions with its COOH-terminal proline/arginine-rich domain (PRD). To understand the mechanism of coated vesicle formation, it is essential to determine the hierarchy by which individual components are targeted to and act in coated pit assembly, invagination, and scission. To address the role of dynamin and its binding partners in the early stages of endocytosis, we have used well-established in vitro assays for the late stages of coated pit invagination and coated vesicle scission. Dynamin has previously been shown to have a role in scission of coated vesicles. We show that dynamin is also required for the late stages of invagination of clathrincoated pits. Furthermore, dynamin must bind and hydrolyze GTP for its role in sequestering ligand into deeply invaginated coated pits. We also demonstrate that the SH3 domain of endophilin, which binds both synaptojanin and dynamin, inhibits both late stages of invagination and also scission in vitro. This inhibition results from a reduction in phosphoinositide 4,5-bisphosphate levels which causes dissociation of AP2, clathrin, and dynamin from the plasma membrane. The dramatic effects of the SH3 domain of endophilin led us to propose a model for the temporal order of addition of endophilin and its binding partner synaptojanin in the coated vesicle cycle. Key words: dynamin * amphiphysin * endophilin * synaptojanin * coated pits

This research exploits the introduction of shale gas wells in Pennsylvania in response to growing controversy around the drilling method of hydraulic fracturing. Using detailed location data on maternal addresses and GIS coordinates of gas wells, this study examines singleton births to mothers residing close to a shale gas well from 2003 to 2010 in Pennsylvania. The introduction of drilling increased low birth weight and decreased term birth weight on average among mothers living within 2.5 km of a well compared to mothers living within 2.5 km of a permitted well. Adverse effects were also detected using measures such as small for gestational age and APGAR scores, while no effects on gestation periods were found. In the intensive margin, an additional well is associated with a 7 percent increase in low birth weight, a 5 g reduction in term birth weight and a 3 percent increase in premature birth. These results are robust to other measures of infant health, many changes in specification and falsification tests. These findings suggest that shale gas development poses significant risks to human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]