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PURPOSE: The present study evaluated the effect of smoking on achieving initial osseointegration when surface-modified dental implants were used. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During an 18-month period in a private practice setting 1,183 implants were placed in 461 patients. The group of smokers consisted of patients who smoked a half pack or more of cigarettes per day. RESULTS: The overall success rate for smokers and non-smokers in achieving osseointegration was 98.1%. Ninety-seven percent of the implants placed in smokers osseointegrated successfully, and 98.4% of implants placed in non-smokers osseointegrated successfully (P < .05). DISCUSSION: The surface of an implant may be a critical determinant for achieving osseointegration in patients who smoke. CONCLUSION: It appears from this short-term retrospective study that smoking does not play a significant role in achieving the osseointegration of surface-modified dental implants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Aristotle’s writings regarding the biology of embryology, especially in the Generation of Animals, he contends that the mother’s menstrual fluids provide the material for the generation of the offspring, and the father’s form determines its formation as a member of that species (e.g. human). The katamenia (menstrual fluids) of the mother are said to be potentially all the body parts of the offspring, though actually none of them. So, the fluids are potentially the offspring. But are they a first potentiality or second potentiality (first actuality) of a human, in the terminology of De Anima II? In this paper I will argue that katamenia are a first potentiality of a human. My first argument is that katamenia do not have the potential for human activities such as thinking, but rather the potential of becoming something having the potential for those activities. I answer the objection that katamenia are not even a first potentiality, by appealing to an important text contending that for any x whose source of becoming is external, x is potentially y if nothing in x with respect to matter needs to be changed in order for an external principle to make x into y. Keywords: Aristotle, katamenia, potentiality, actuality, Generation of Animals.

In group-living animals, allogrooming is a common, heterogeneously distributed affiliative behaviour. Among non-human primates, Barrett et al. (1999) predicted ways in which Biological Markets principles interact with competitive regimes to influence grooming reciprocity and interchange. Most tests of these predictions, done at a group level, have produced inconsistent results. Here we take a novel approach by testing these predictions across individuals within a group. This is based on the premise that in groups facing moderate-to-high within-group-competition, individuals vary in their abilities to access resources based on their competitive abilities, causing them to pursue different grooming exchange strategies. We examine evidence for grooming reciprocity and interchange for tolerance at drinking sources among adult females within a group of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago. We test the above premise by assessing hierarchical steepness, and the relationship between individuals' David's scores (DS) and access to drinking sources. Finally, we examine the relationship of DS with grooming reciprocity and interchange to see whether they are consistent with the operation of market forces among individuals. Social network comparisons revealed that giving grooming was strongly predicted by both receiving drinking tolerance (interchange) and receiving grooming (reciprocity), despite strong associations with proximity and maternal kinship. The group showed a moderately steep hierarchy, and negative correlations between individuals' David's scores and difficulties in accessing drinking stations. Finally, we found partial support for a market-based explanation. Individuals with relatively low David's scores were more likely to interchange grooming with drinking tolerance. However, grooming reciprocity wasn't greater among individuals with higher David's scores. Our findings suggest that multiple explanatory frameworks -- reciprocity, market-based interchange, and/or proximity-mediated interchange/social bond investment -- may all shape rhesus grooming exchange patterns. Future directions include examining evidence for additional forms of grooming interchange, and the influence of between-group-competition and stress-indicators on grooming reciprocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]