Climate temperature and seasonal influences on the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders in South Korea.

This study aimed to explore seasonal variations in temporomandibular disorder (TMD) prevalence in South Korea, utilizing nationwide population-based big data. Data corresponding to the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases code of K07.6, which identifies TMD, were extracted from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service online platform for the period from 2010 to 2022. Additionally, we integrated these data with climate temperature records from the Korean Meteorological Administration. We subsequently conducted a statistical analysis of TMD patient data on a monthly and seasonal basis over the past 13 years to assess prevalence. Over the past 13 years, the number of TMD patients in Korea has steadily increased. The prevalence of TMD rose from 0.48% (224,708 out of a total population of 50,515,666) in 2010 to 0.94% (482,241 out of a total population of 51,439,038) in 2022, marking a 1.96-fold increase. Among children under 10 years of age, no significant differences were observed in TMD prevalence between boys and girls. However, a distinct female predominance emerged after the age of 10, with an average female-to-male ratio of 1.51:1. The peak prevalence of TMD occurred in individuals in their 20 s, followed by adolescents in their late 10 s. The majority of TMD patients were concentrated in Seoul and Gyeonggi province, with metropolitan areas accounting for 50% of the total patient count. Seasonally, TMD patient numbers showed no significant increase in winter compared with spring or summer. The temperature difference, defined as the absolute difference between the highest and lowest temperatures for each month, showed a positive correlation with TMD patient counts. A greater temperature difference was associated with higher patient counts. The strongest correlation between temperature differences and TMD patient numbers was observed in winter (r = 0.480, p < 0.01), followed by summer (r = 0.443, p < 0.01), and spring (r = 0.366, p < 0.05). Temperature differences demonstrated a significantly stronger correlation with the increase in the number of TMD patients than absolute climate temperatures. This aspect should be a key consideration when examining seasonal trends in TMD prevalence in South Korea.

Comparison of polysomnographic and cephalometric parameters based on positional and rapid eye movement sleep dependency in obstructive sleep apnea.

The aim of this study is to investigate the differences in polysomnographic and cephalometric features according to positional and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep dependencies in obstructive sleep apnea patients. Standard polysomnography and cephalometric analyses were performed on 133 OSA patients. The subjects were categorized into positional and non-positional, and REM-related and not-REM-related OSA groups according to positional and REM sleep dependency on severity of sleep apnea. Polysomnographic and cephalometric parameters were compared between groups. Positional and REM-related OSA patients showed significantly lower non-supine apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), non-REM (NREM) AHI and overall AHI and higher NREM oxygen saturation (SpO2) and mean SpO2 compared to non-positional and not-REM-related OSA patients, respectively. Cephalometric features between positional and non-positional OSA patients did not show any significant differences. However, REM-related OSA patients showed significantly larger inferior oral airway space and shorter perpendicular distance between mandibular plane and anterior hyoid bone and the distance between uvula and posterior nasal spine, and narrower maximum width of soft palate than not-REM-related OSA patients. Positional and REM-related OSA patients have lower severity of sleep apnea, suggesting the possibility of lower collapsibility of the upper airway. REM sleep dependency was associated with anatomical factors, while positional dependency did not show such a tendency.

Truncated Milk Fat Globule-EGF-like Factor 8 Ameliorates Liver Fibrosis via Inhibition of Integrin-TGFß Receptor Interaction.

Milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 (MFG-E8) protein is known as an immunomodulator in various diseases, and we previously demonstrated the anti-fibrotic role of MFG-E8 in liver disease. Here, we present a truncated form of MFG-E8 that provides an advanced therapeutic benefit in treating liver fibrosis. The enhanced therapeutic potential of the modified MFG-E8 was demonstrated in various liver fibrosis animal models, and the efficacy was further confirmed in human hepatic stellate cells and a liver spheroid model. In the subsequent analysis, we found that the modified MFG-E8 more efficiently suppressed transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß) signaling than the original form of MFG-E8, and it deactivated the proliferation of hepatic stellate cells in the liver disease environment through interfering with the interactions between integrins (αvß3 & αvß5) and TGF-ßRI. Furthermore, the protein preferentially delivered in the liver after administration, and the safety profiles of the protein were demonstrated in male and female rat models. Therefore, in conclusion, this modified MFG-E8 provides a promising new therapeutic strategy for treating fibrotic diseases.

Unsupervised inference of implicit biomedical events using context triggers.

BACKGROUND: Event extraction from the biomedical literature is one of the most actively researched areas in biomedical text mining and natural language processing. However, most approaches have focused on events within single sentence boundaries, and have thus paid much less attention to events spanning multiple sentences. The Bacteria-Biotope event (BB-event) subtask presented in BioNLP Shared Task 2016 is one such example; a significant amount of relations between bacteria and biotope span more than one sentence, but existing systems have treated them as false negatives because labeled data is not sufficiently large enough to model a complex reasoning process using supervised learning frameworks. RESULTS: We present an unsupervised method for inferring cross-sentence events by propagating intra-sentence information to adjacent sentences using context trigger expressions that strongly signal the implicit presence of entities of interest. Such expressions can be collected from a large amount of unlabeled plain text based on simple syntactic constraints, helping to overcome the limitation of relying only on a small number of training examples available. The experimental results demonstrate that our unsupervised system extracts cross-sentence events quite well and outperforms all the state-of-the-art supervised systems when combined with existing methods for intra-sentence event extraction. Moreover, our system is also found effective at detecting long-distance intra-sentence events, compared favorably with existing high-dimensional models such as deep neural networks, without any supervised learning techniques. CONCLUSIONS: Our linguistically motivated inference model is shown to be effective at detecting implicit events that have not been covered by previous work, without relying on training data or curated knowledge bases. Moreover, it also helps to boost the performance of existing systems by allowing them to detect additional cross-sentence events. We believe that the proposed model offers an effective way to infer implicit information beyond sentence boundaries, especially when human-annotated data is not sufficient enough to train a robust supervised system.

Challenges in the clinical implementation of a biopsychosocial model for assessment and management of orofacial pain.

Distress, suffering and care-seeking behaviour are characteristics of pain-related disease and illness. Pain that transitions from an acute to a chronic phase carries with it the potential of further effects: these include a worsening of the disease or illness; high-impact chronic pain; and substantial personal, societal and economic burden. The biopsychosocial model directly addresses these multiple processes, yet clinical frameworks supporting this model are not universally implemented. This paper explores barriers to clinical implementation of a full biopsychosocial framework for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and other oro-facial pain (OFP) conditions. In June 2016, INfORM invited OFP researchers to a workshop designed to optimise the DC/TMD Axis-II. Workshop groups identified five sources of implementation barriers: (1) cultures and societies, (2) levels-of-care settings, (3) health services, (4) cross-cultural validity of self-report instruments and (5) provider and patient health literacy. Three core problems emerged: (A) mental health aspects are seldom fully considered, thus impairing the recognition of illness, (B) training in use of validated multi-axial assessment protocols is under-rated and insufficiently used, and (C) clinical assessment often fails to recognise that sensory and emotional dimensions are fundamental aspects of pain. To improve patient care, these barriers and problems require action. Most importantly, TMD/OFP educators and researchers need to coordinate globally and (i) be educated in the biopsychosocial model, (ii) implement evidence-based biopsychosocial guidelines for assessment and management of OFP conditions at their institutions, (iii) incorporate this model in undergraduate and postgraduate dental curricula and (iv) be responsive to stakeholders, including regulatory authorities and practitioners.

Surgical treatment modality for facial esthetics in an obstructive sleep apnea patient with protrusive upper lip and acute nasolabial angle.

For patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), maxillomandibular advancement (MMA) offers a good treatment option by physically expanding the skeletal framework. However, facial esthetics can be aggravated by MMA in patients with OSAS who have a normally positioned maxilla, a protrusive upper lip, and an acute nasolabial angle. Therefore, surgical treatment planning should be customized according to diverse skeletodental and soft-tissue patterns to produce a favorable change in facial esthetics and sleep function in patients with OSAS. In this case report, good treatment results were achieved in a young female patient with OSAS and skeletal Class II, a normally positioned maxilla, a protrusive upper lip, and acute nasolabial angle by impaction of the maxilla, autorotation/advancement of the mandible, and advancement of the chin. A customized flowchart for surgical treatment planning in OSAS that considers facial esthetics was suggested.

A longitudinal study on the osteoarthritic change of the temporomandibular joint based on 1-year follow-up computed tomography.

This study aims to report the results of a 1-year computed tomographic (CT) follow up of 54 temporomandibular joints (TMJs) affected by osteoarthritis (OA) and to provide longitudinal information on changes in OA and its relationship with clinical signs and symptoms. TMJ OA was diagnosed by history, clinical and CT examinations. The second CT examination was done after about 1 year of conservative treatment. Joints were divided into three groups labeled as no change, improved CT, and worsened CT groups depending on the longitudinal bony change of OA observed in the CT. The sex distribution, mean age, joint noise, subjective pain, joint tenderness, masticatory muscle tenderness, and improvement of subjective symptoms were not different between the groups at the first and second examination, while maximum (p < 0.01) and painless mouth opening range (p < 0.001) at the first examination were both smaller in the worsened CT group. Although the clinical signs and symptoms of OA were improved in 40 joints, 74.1%, at 7.2 ± 4.6 months, the amount if improvement did not differ between the groups. The extent of the destructive change of the condyle was highest in the improved CT group at the first (p < 0.001) and in the worsened CT group at the second examination (p < 0.001). These results imply that the prognosis of OA changes may be independent of the clinical signs and symptoms. More specific longitudinal information as regards OA changes of the TMJ based on a larger sample and a longer follow-up period would be likely to provide a better understanding of TMJ OA.

Operon required for fruiting body development in Myxococcus xanthus.

We have used mutational analysis to identify four genes, MXAN3553, MXAN3554, MXAN3555, and MXAN3556, constituting an operon that is essential for normal fruiting body development in Myxococcus xanthus. Deletion of MXAN3553, which encoded a hypothetical protein, resulted in delayed fruiting body development. MXAN3554 was predicted to encode a metallopeptidase, and its deletion caused fruiting body formation to fail. Inactivation of MXAN3555, which encoded a putative NtrC-type response regulator, resulted in delayed aggregation and a severe reduction in sporulation. Fruiting bodies also failed to develop with the deletion of MXAN3556, another gene encoding a hypothetical protein.

A new organoleptic testing method for evaluating halitosis.

BACKGROUND: Halitosis is a common condition in the adult population. The organoleptic method has been used widely in the clinical field for the diagnosis of halitosis because of its simplicity; however, this method has limitations as a result of its lack of objectivity and reproducibility. We developed a new method of organoleptic testing using a gastight syringe to overcome these limitations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of this new method by analyzing the correlations between the organoleptic score measured by it and data from the portable sulfide monitor and gas chromatography in the same subjects. METHODS: Fifty-two subjects (20 males and 32 females; mean age, 35.6 +/- 12.8) who visited the Halitosis Clinic at Seoul National University Dental Hospital, were recruited. We recorded the organoleptic score and measured the concentration of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) using a portable sulfide monitor and gas chromatography. The organoleptic test was performed in a standardized way using a gastight syringe and a paper cup connected to a plastic straw. RESULTS: The organoleptic score by the new method showed a significant positive correlation with the total VSC concentrations that were measured by gas chromatography (r = 0.790; P <0.01) and with the portable sulfide monitor (r = 0.822; P <0.01). There were significant positive correlations between the organoleptic score obtained by the new method and the concentration of H(2)S (r = 0.776; P <0.01), CH(3)SH (r = 0.715; P <0.01), and (CH(3))(2)S (r = 0.674; P <0.01) measured by gas chromatography. CONCLUSION: The new organoleptic test is a valuable tool for measuring halitosis in the clinical field.

Isolation of Sorangium cellulosum carrying epothilone gene clusters.

Epothilone and its analogs are a potent new class of anticancer compounds produced by myxobacteria. Thus, in an effort to identify new myxobacterial strains producing epothilone and its analogs, cellulose-degrading myxobacteria were isolated from Korean soils, and 13 strains carrying epothilone biosynthetic gene homologs were screened using a polymerase chain reaction. A migration assay revealed that Sorangium cellulosum KYC3013, 3016, 3017, and 3018 all produced microtubule-stabilizing compounds, and an LCMS/ MS analysis showed that S. cellulosum KYC3013 synthesized epothilone A.

Age estimation of Korean adults by occlusal tooth wear.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the validity of the modified Kim's scoring system as a practical method of recording occlusal tooth wear and estimating age. For this purpose, 1092 pairs of maxillary and mandibular full-arch casts were randomly selected, scored, and analyzed. The results showed that the modified Kim's scoring system had excellent reliability, and that occlusal tooth wear had a positive correlation with age. Tooth wear scores of all teeth except the two lower central incisors were higher in males than in females. Calculating tables for age estimation were designed by multiple linear regression analysis. Estimated ages were within +/-5 years of actual ages in 63.5% of male subjects, and 64.0% of female subjects. The accuracy of age estimation was increased when the subjects were divided into two age groups and data were re-analyzed. Collectively, it was shown that the modified Kim's scoring system is a reliable and accurate method for age estimation, and that the data from these 1092 individuals can be used as a standard for age estimation of Korean adults.

Volatile sulfur compounds produced by Helicobacter pylori.

GOALS: To assess the volatile sulfur compounds produced by three strains of Helicobacter pylori in broth cultures mixed with sulfur-containing amino acids. BACKGROUND: Halitosis has been reported in H. pylori-positive patients, and volatile sulfur compounds such as hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan are known to be responsible for inducing oral malodor. Whether H. pylori produces these volatile sulfur compounds has yet to be established. STUDY: Three strains of H. pylori (ATCC 43504, SS 1, DSM 4867) were cultured with 5 mM cysteine and methionine. After 72 hours of incubation, the headspace air was aspirated and injected directly into a gas chromatograph. The concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan were analyzed and compared between experimental and control cultures RESULTS: In broth containing 5 mM cysteine, hydrogen sulfide was increased by ATCC 43504 (P < 0.01) and SS 1 (P < 0.05), while methyl mercaptan was elevated only by SS 1 (P < 0.05). In broth containing 5 mM methionine, methyl mercaptan increases were significant for SS 1 (P < 0.05) and DSM 4867 (P < 0.05). In broth containing 5 mM cysteine and 5 mM methionine, the concentration of hydrogen sulfide was higher than in controls for all three strains (P < 0.01); that of methyl mercaptan was higher only for SS 1 (P < 0.01). Cysteine addition to cultures containing methionine increased hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan for ATCC 43504 (P < 0.05) and SS 1 (P < 0.05). Conversely, addition of methionine to cultures containing cysteine increased methyl mercaptan only for DSM 4867 (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The production of volatile sulfur compounds by H. pylori is not only very complicated but also strain-specific. Nevertheless, H. pylori was shown to produce hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan, which suggests that this microorganism can contribute to the development of halitosis.

Influences of animal mucins on lysozyme activity in solution and on hydroxyapatite surfaces.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of animal mucins on lysozyme activity in solution and on the surface of hydroxyapatite (HA) beads. The effects of animal mucins on lysozyme activity in solution were examined by incubating porcine gastric mucin (PGM) or bovine submaxillary mucin (BSM) with hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) or salivary samples. HA-immobilised animal mucins or lysozyme were used to determine the influence of animal mucins on lysozyme activity on HA surfaces. Lysozyme activity was determined by turbidity measurement of a Micrococcus lysodeikticus substrate suspension. Protein concentration was determined by ninhydrin assay. PGM inhibited the activity of HEWL and salivary lysozyme in solution. The amount of inhibition was dependent on mucin concentration, incubation time and temperature, and the structural integrity of the mucin. The inhibition of salivary lysozyme activity by PGM was greater in submandibular/sublingual saliva than in parotid saliva. The inhibition of lysozyme activity by PGM was markedly dependent on pH. However, BSM did not inhibit the in-solution lysozyme activities of HEWL and clarified saliva. Both PGM and BSM bound to HA surfaces, and HA-adsorbed animal mucins increased the subsequent adsorption of lysozyme. When HA beads were exposed to a mixture of HEWL and PGM or BSM, lysozyme activity on the HA surfaces was significantly increased. The results suggest that animal mucins affect lysozyme activity, and the effects are different on HA surfaces compared with in solution. Further research is needed to determine the effect of animal mucins on lysozyme activity in vivo.

The relationship between phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) and 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) taster status and taste thresholds for sucrose and quinine.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of taster status with taste detection and recognition thresholds for sucrose and quinine. DESIGN: Sixty-nine subjects (35 men and 34 women; mean age, 23.9+/-1.2 years) were included. Stimulus fluids were prepared, one each for phenylthiocarbamide (PTC), 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP), sucrose and quinine HCl. In each series, successive solutions, which comprised a total of 15 grades, differed by 0.25log units of the molar concentration. Two concentrations of NaCl (0.32 and 1.0 M) were prepared. The subjects were classified as nontasters and tasters using their PTC and PROP perceptions. Tasters were classified as medium-tasters and supertasters by the ratio of perceived bitterness of above-threshold PROP relative to the perceived saltiness of NaCl (PROP ratio). Taste detection and recognition thresholds for sucrose and quinine were determined by standard two-alternative forced choice trials. A Student's t-test, a Pearson's correlation analysis and linear contrasts in a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used. RESULTS: The percentages of nontaster, medium-taster and supertaster were 13, 70 and 17%, respectively. There were no significant gender differences in the taste detection and recognition thresholds for sucrose and quinine. The threshold for PTC and PROP showed significant correlations with taste threshold for quinine. Linear contrast in one-way ANOVA showed that the greater the value of PROP ratio, the more sensitive to sweet and bitter tastes (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The PTC and PROP taster status is closely related with taste detection and recognition thresholds for sucrose and quinine.

Use of hand-held laser scanning in the assessment of craniometry.

The intra- and inter-examiner reliability was evaluated for hand-held 3D laser scanning technology when it was combined with localization of landmarks for craniometry. The data from the laser surface scanning were compared with those of conventional direct measuring. Using thirty unidentified skulls requested for individual identification, measurements were taken of the line distances from lambda to 26 landmarks, and also for seven breadth parameters. For the laser surface scanning, two examiners performed replicate measurements with an interval of 1 week. In the conventional direct measuring, the first examiner took replicate measurements with a 1-week interval. To assess intra- and inter-examiner reliabilities, the intraclass correlation coefficient was used. Analysis of variance with repeated measures for each parameter was performed to compare the conventional method with the 3D scanning method. Both the 3D scanning and conventional methods showed excellent intra-examiner reliabilities, and the 3D laser scanning method also showed excellent inter-examiner reliability. A statistical difference between the two examiners was found only in nasal breadth in the 3D laser scanning method. There was no significant difference between the two measuring methods, though the 3D laser scanning method tended to give a slightly lower reading. Collectively, the 3D laser scanning method with point localization is a useful method with excellent reliability, and it can replace the conventional direct measuring method in craniometry.

The relationship between PTC taster status and taste thresholds in young adults.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare taste detection and recognition thresholds of young males and females, and young phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) "tasters" and "nontasters" for stimuli representing sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami classes of taste sensations. STUDY DESIGN: Thirty-eight men and 37 women (mean [SD] age = 24.5 [2.5] years) were classified as PTC tasters and nontasters according to their PTC recognition thresholds. Detection and recognition thresholds for the non-PTC stimuli were determined using a 2-alternative, forced choice procedure. RESULTS: The detection thresholds for quinine-HCl and sucrose and the recognition threshold for quinine-HCl were significantly higher in the PTC nontasters than in the tasters. The PTC threshold showed significant correlations with detection or recognition thresholds for sucrose, sodium chloride, quinine-HCl, and monosodium glutamate. The sucrose recognition threshold was lower in women than in men. CONCLUSION: In this study, gender and PTC taster status were found to be associated with thresholds for sucrose and quinine-HCl.