Department News

Biomedical Sciences

Presentations: Several presentations were made at the Experimental Biology 2005 Meeting on April 2-6 in San Diego. Participants included Elisabeth Guinet and Drs. Larry Bellinger, Guoqiang Guan, Robert Hinton, Phillip Kramer, Mahyer Nouri-Shirazi, Lynne Opperman, Kathy Svoboda and Robert Spears.

In addition, Dr. Yiyu Fang was an invited speaker. His topic was "Nicotine Inhibits Myofibroblast Differentiation and Down-regulates TGFb1 Induced p38 MAPK Activity in Human Gingival Fibroblasts."

Opperman chaired a symposium titled "Comparative Animal Models for Studying Bone Morphogenesis and Growth." Svoboda and Fang (shadow organizer) organized and chaired a symposium titled "Cell Matrix Interaction in Wound Healing: The Role of Myofibroblasts."

Other presentations included:

• Bellinger LL, King CM, Hutchins B, Spears RD, Kerins CA, Kramer PR. Meal duration is a marker of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain in female rats.
• Guan G, Kramer SF, Bellinger LL, Kramer PR. Estrogen regulates inflammation related to temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders through modulation of CD16+ monocytes.
• Kramer PR, Hoot V, Kramer SF. 17-b-estradiol modulates CD16 expression in monocytes through estrogen receptor action.
• Nouri-Shirazi M, Guinet E, Sekandari P. The dynamics of Th1/Th2 priming in smokers may depend on the nature of DCs and their response to tissue-type factors.
• Opperman L. Erk1/2 signaling is required for Smad2 and Tgf-ß2 induced Erk1/2 expression in cranial bones but not in cranial sutures.

Publications: Bellinger LL, Wellman PJ, Cepeda-Benito A. The effects of intermittent nicotine administration on meal patterns in female rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior 80:437-444, 2005.

Yu J, Wang L, Walzem RL, Miller EG, Pike LM, Patil B. Antioxidant activity of citrus limonoids, flavonoids, and coumarins. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 53: 2009-2014, 2005. 

Ham KA, Witherspoon DE, Gutmann JL, Ravindranath S, Gait TC, Opperman LA. Evaluation of BMP-2 expression and histological characteristics during apexification with calcium hydroxide and mineral trioxide aggregate. Journal of Endodontics 31:275-279, 2005.

Dental Hygiene

Publication: King TB, Muzzin KB. A national survey of dental hygienists' infection control attitudes and practices. Journal of Dental Hygiene 79(2):8, 2005.

Public Health Sciences

Presentations: Dr. Lavern Holyfield and Linda White made presentations at the Spit Tobacco Prevention Network's Tobacco Cessation Conference on April 8 in Amarillo, Texas. More than 50 participants attended the conference including dental hygienists, dentists and nurses.

Holyfield's topics included: "Pharmacotherapy"; "Overview of C.A.S.T. – Kid's Program"; and "Tobacco Use: United States, Texas and What's New?" White presented "Motivational Interviewing."
 

A Component of The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center

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