OBJECTIVES Data concerning embouchure problems in professional brass players are scarce. Embouchure problems can potentially lead to focal dystonia. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of distinct embouchure problems in professional brass players. Furthermore, the frequency of "cramping", a distinct symptom of embouchure dystonia, was evaluated in the context of established e...

In the normal course of events, children manifest linguistic competence equivalent to that of adults in just a few years. Children can produce and understand novel sentences, they can judge that certain strings of words are true or false, and so on. Yet experience appears to dramatically underdetermine the competence children so rapidly achieve, even given optimistic assumptions about children’...

Much has been written about fume fever (brass caster's ague, zinc chills, zinc shakes), and lead poisoning in brass foundries has been dealt with recently by Stalker (1947) and Hamlin and Weber (1947), but the references to pulmonary fibrosis amongst non-ferrous foundry workers are few. Stalker wrote that " the incidence of advanced silicosis has been generally low among [brass] foundrymen ". M...

Protrusions on the surfaces of electrodes used in high voltage spark gaps lead to local field enhancements, which lower the self-breakdown voltage of the spark gap. Stainless steel, brass, and copper-tungsten electrodes have been tested in a 5-30 kV, 4-25 kA, .1.6 Caul/shot, unipolar, pulsed spark gap with N2 gas or air. The heights and bases of variously shaped protrusions on the surfaces of t...

This study was designed to explore a new method for the assessment of dental crowding from study models, which would be both valid and reproducible. This was then tested against two previously reported strategies. A single examiner compared the following methods: visual examination, brass wire/callipers, and a reflex microscope with its customized computer program. Sixty study models (30 maxill...

BACKGROUND Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) is a disorder in which air leaks out through the nose, reducing performance quality and capacity in wind and brass players. There have been limited studies on the prevalence of this potentially career-threatening disorder. AIMS To identify the prevalence of VPI in a sample of conservatorium level woodwind and brass student instrumentalists in Aust...

The University of Manitoba faculty of dentistry began efforts over a decade ago to integrate the most up-to-date dental education technologies into its preclinical laboratory environment. The faculty now houses 2 modern preclinical laboratories and a dental simulation laboratory that all use high-tech equipment to promote learning. The mix of technologies and equipment found within these labora...