Mouth cancer (143-145 ICD-9) is a major health problem in many parts of the world. While its incidence is relatively low in most western countries there are some important exceptions to this trend: on the Indian subcontinent and in other parts of Asia it remains one of the most common forms of cancer. This review article summarises the global incidence of mouth cancer using cancer maps. Data have been compiled from the latest edition of Cancer Incidence in Five Continents and recent studies from various locations around the world. Significant geographic variation is noted in the incidence of mouth cancer, with high rates reported for the Indian subcontinent and parts of Asia (male incidence rates in excess of 10 per 100 000 per annum). It is also noted that as with other forms of oral cancer, the majority of population-based data for mouth cancer comes from the Western world with a paucity of reliable data from the so-called developing countries. Mouth cancer remains a serious health problem in many parts of the world with many regions reporting increasing incidence rates particularly in males. Ongoing research into the aetiologic risk factors associated with this disease must remain a very high priority if the causes of mouth cancer are to be established and disease control protocols introduced widely. Oral Diseases (2000) 6, 65-74

Lip cancer (140 ICD‐9) is a form of oral cancer that has a distinctive global epidemiology. This review summarises global incidence rates for male and female lip cancer with the aid of cancer atlases. High male lip cancer rates are reported for regions of North America (12.7 per 100 000 per annum), Europe (12.0 per 100 000 per annum) and Oceania (13.5 per 100 000 per annum), while it is virtually unknown in parts of Asia. Factors commonly cited as important in the aetiology of lip cancer include solar radiation, tobacco smoking and viruses. An attempt is made to summarise the evidence for factors that may be important in lip carcinogenesis. While incidence rates are generally stable or falling among males worldwide, they are rising in many female populations. The aetiology of the disease is far from established and much information regarding its pathogenesis is based on anecdotal rather than case‐controlled epidemiological evidence. The epidemiology of lip cancer supports the proposal that the lip should be considered as a distinct cancer site, rather than being included with other forms of intraoral cancer.

The tongue (141 ICD-9) is the most common intraoral site for cancer in most countries, however its global epidemiology shows significant geographic variation. This review paper summarises the global incidence of cancer of the tongue using cancer maps and references to recent studies from various locations. Tongue cancer remains a serious health problem in many countries including India (male incidence rates up to 6.5 per 100 000 per annum) and parts of Europe (male incidence rates in France up to 8.0 per 100 000 per annum). It is noted that as with other forms of oral cancer the majority of populationbased data for tongue cancer comes from the Western world with a paucity of reliable data from the so-called developing countries. The tongue remains the most common intraoral site for oral cancer worldwide and in a number of countries it is a serious public health problem with significant morbidity and mortality. While the incidence of tongue cancer appears to be stable or falling in some regions of the world, in other areas it is rising, particularly among younger people. Oral Diseases (2000) 6, 75-84

No abstract

In 2002/2003 a number of patients presented to the South Australian Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit with unusual non‐healing extraction wounds of the jaws. All were middle‐aged to elderly, medically compromised and on bisphosphonates for bone pathology. Review of the literature showed similar cases being reported in the North American oral and maxillofacial surgery literature. This paper reviews the role of bisphosphonates in the management of bone disease. There were 2.3 million prescriptions for bisphosphonates in Australia in 2003. This group of drugs is very useful in controlling bone pain and preventing pathologic fractures. However, in a small number of patients on bisphosphonates, intractable, painful, non‐healing exposed bone occurs following dental extractions or denture irritation. Affected patients are usually, but not always, over 55 years, medically compromised and on the potent nitrogen containing bisphosphonates, pamidronate (Aredia/Pamisol), alendronate (Fosamax) and zolendronate (Zometa) for non‐osteoporotic bone disease. Currently, there is no simple, effective treatment and the painful exposed bone may persist for years. The main complications are marked weight loss from difficulty in eating and severe jaw and neck infections. Possible preventive and therapeutic strategies are presented although at this time there is no evidence of their effectiveness. Dentists must ask about bisphosphonate usage for bone disease when recording medical histories and take appropriate actions to avoid the development of this debilitating condition in their patients.

A new phosphorescence imaging method (Rumsey et al. Science Wash. DC 241: 1649-1651, 1988) has been used to continuously monitor the PO2 in the blood of the cerebral cortex of newborn pigs. A window was prepared in the skull and the brain superfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid. The phosphorescent probe for PO2, Pd-meso-tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphine, was injected directly into the systemic blood. The phosphorescence of the probe was imaged, and the lifetimes were measured using flash illumination and a gated video camera. The PO2 in the blood of the veins and capillary beds of the cortex was calculated from the lifetimes. Systemic blood pressure was continuously monitored while the systemic arterial PCO2, PO2, and blood pH were measured periodically. The PO2 in the blood was quantitated for 60- to 200 microns2 regions within the image (from a total field of approximately 3 mm diam). The PO2 in the microvasculature was not uniform across the viewing field but increased or decreased in each region independently of the other regions. Thus at any point in time the PO2 in a region could be substantially above or below the average value. During hyperventilation, which lowered arterial PCO2 and increased pH of the blood, the average PO2 decreased in proportion to the decrease in arterial PCO2. For example, hyperventilation, which decreased arterial PCO2 from its normal value of 40 Torr to 10 Torr, caused a rapid (within 5 min) decrease in PO2 in the blood of capillaries and veins to approximately one-third of normal.

Phosphorescence quenching techniques measure microvascular PO2 without direct surgical manipulation of the tissue. At a given arterial PO2, microvascular PO2 reflects the local O2 uptake-to-O2 delivery ratio, i.e., VO2/QO2. We evaluated the potential of phosphorescence quenching to determine microvascular PO2 in the rat costal diaphragm (PdiaO2). PdiaO2 and arterial blood gases were monitored across transient changes of inspired O2 among 21, 10, and 100% and also during hypotensive states evoked by progressive phlebotomy. After a transit delay, PdiaO2 responded rapidly to alterations of inspired and thus arterial PO2, with half times of the response averaging 5-7 s for switches to a lower inspired O2 (i.e., from 21 to 10%, from 100 to 21%, and from 100 to 10%) and also from 10 to 21%. By comparison, half times of the 10 to 100% and 21 to 100% switches were longer [11 s (P = 0.085) and 21 s (P < 0.05), respectively]. Below a mean arterial blood pressure (BP) of 120-130 mmHg, PdiaO2 decreased as a linear function of BP, with these variables being significantly correlated in each instance (n = 5, r = 0.851-0.937, P < 0.01 for all animals). From these results, it appears feasible to measure PdiaO2 in the spontaneously breathing rat in vivo under steady-state and transient conditions. Also, during progressive hypotension, the fall in PdiaO2 is significantly related to falling BP, likely as a consequence of an increased metabolic demand (increased ventilation and diaphragm VO2) concomitant with decreased blood flow. We conclude that phosphorescence quenching techniques offer a powerful tool for assessing diaphragm physiology and pathophysiology.

MscL is a bacterial mechanosensitive channel that protects cells from lysis upon acute decrease in external osmotic environment. It is one of the best characterized mechanosensors known, thus serving as a paradigm of how such molecules sense and respond to stimuli. In addition, the fact that it can be genetically modified, expressed, isolated, and manipulated has led to its proposed use as a triggered nanovalve for various functions including sensors within microelectronic array chips, as well as vesicular-based targeted drug release. X-ray crystallography reveals a homo-pentameric complex with each subunit containing two transmembrane α-helices (TM1 and TM2) and a single carboxyl terminal α-helix arranging within the complex to form a five-fold cytoplasmic bundle (CB), whose function and stability remain unclear. In this study, we show three routes that throttle the open channel conductance. When the linker between the TM2 and CB domain is shortened by deletions or constrained by either cross linking or heavy metal coordination, the conductance of the channel is reduced; in later two cases, even reversibly. While having implications for the stability of the CB, these data also provide routes for engineering MscL sensors that are more versatile for potential nanotech devices.