Music before Dental Surgery Suppresses Sympathetic Activity Derived from Preoperative Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

The aim of this study was to estimate the relieving effect of music intervention on preoperative anxiety by using heart rate variability (HRV) analysis. In this randomized controlled trial, 86 adult patients were scheduled to undergo impacted tooth extraction under intravenous sedation and local anesthesia and were classified as either fearful or nonfearful based on a questionnaire. Thereafter, the patients were subdivided into 2 groups: those who listened to music from the time that they arrived at the outpatient clinic until immediately before entering the operating room and those who did not listen to music. The effect of music intervention was evaluated by assessing 1) the low-frequency/high-frequency ratio of HRV, in which positive changes indicate increased sympathetic nervous activity, and 2) the coefficient of component variance for high frequency, in which positive changes indicate increased parasympathetic nervous activity, assessed by means of HRV analysis. Subjective preoperative anxiety was evaluated on a visual analog scale. For fearful patients, the mean magnitude of low-frequency/high frequency changes from baseline among those who listened to music was significantly lower as compared with those who did not listen to music (in the private room: -1.45 ± 1.88 vs. 1.05 ± 1.88, P = 0.0096, 95% confidence interval of effect size = -4.52 to -0.48, Cohen's d = -0.75; in the operating waiting room: -2.18 ± 2.39 vs. -0.10 ± 3.37, P = 0.011, 95% confidence interval of effect size = -3.94 to -0.22, Cohen's d = -0.71, respectively). Visual analog scale scores were also significantly different. Coefficient of component variance for high frequency and heart rate did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. From the perspective of autonomic nervous activity, music intervention is useful for relieving anxiety in patients with dental fear before they enter a dental outpatient operating room. Music intervention may relieve anxiety by reducing sympathetic nervous activity, while parasympathetic nervous activity is not involved (UMIN000016882). Knowledge Transfer Statement: The results of this study revealed that music intervention is useful for clinicians when planning preoperative anxiety management of patients with dental fear who undergo impacted tooth extraction under intravenous sedation and local anesthesia. As a bridging intervention, music intervention enables stress management to continue uninterrupted from the patient's arrival at the dental outpatient clinic to intravenous sedation until completion of the dental surgery. With consideration of cost-effectiveness, absence of adverse physical effects, immediate effect, safety in terms of not using drugs, and lack of concerns about recovery, this information could lead to more appropriate decisions regarding anxiety management in dentistry.

Development of temporomandibular disorder symptoms: a 3-year cohort study of university students.

The aims of this study were to examine the incidence of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) over a 3-year period and to evaluate the risk of self-reported TMDs among university students in Japan. The study population comprised 2374 university students examined at the start of their undergraduate course and 492 students re-examined after 3 years using questionnaires on symptoms of TMD and experiences of jaw injury, stress, orthodontic treatment and parafunctional habits. Cumulative incidence (%) and relative risks were calculated overall. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to determine the degree of risks of these variables for symptoms of TMDs using logistic regression. Results of logistic regression analysis showed that male subjects with experience of jaw injury had a 3·54 (CI=1·45-8·68, P<0·01)-fold higher risk of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain than that for those who did not. Female subjects who reported experiencing stress and bruxism had 10·56 (CI=1·28-87·54, P<0·05)- and 5·00 (CI=1·21-20·71, P<0·05)-fold higher risks of TMJ sound, respectively, than the risk for female subjects who had not experienced stress or bruxism. The results indicated that experiences of jaw injury, stress and bruxism were significantly associated with increased risks of development of TMJ disorders in a 3-year cohort.

Association between experience of stressful life events and muscle-related temporomandibular disorders in patients seeking free treatment in a dental hospital.

OBJECTIVES: Psychological factors are known to play an important role in the etiology and maintenance of temporomandibular disorders. Since there have been very few studies on this issue in Asian countries, the study was aimed to investigate the relationship between various stressful life events and temporomandibular disorders in patients seeking free treatment in a Dental Hospital, Bangladesh. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five hundred and twenty Bangladeshi adults (370 males and 150 females; mean age, 30.9 +/- 8.2 years) participated in this study. The subjects were given a questionnaire to evaluate their stress status in the last 12 months. The Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (RDC/TMD) was used as TMD diagnostic system by three standardized examiners. Two hundred and thirty-six patients were RDC/TMD-defined TMD-positive and were subsequently classified into 7 groups: group I, myofacial pain only; group II, disk displacement only; group III, joint pain only; group IV, myofacial pain and disc displacement; group V, myofacial pain and joint pain; group VI, disc displacement and joint pain; and group VII, myofacial pain, disk displacement and joint pain. Two hundred and eighty-four subjects were RDC/TMD-defined TMD-negative subjects (controls). Adjusted odds ratios were calculated by multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis revealed that patients diagnosed with myofacial pain (group I) and a combination of myofacial and joint pain (group V) had significantly higher levels of financial and job stress than did the controls. Self-health-related stress and stress related to a spouse or deaths of a relative were also identified as predisposing factors for myofacial pain (group I). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that myofacial pain is more common in individuals with various types of psychological stress. When treating patients with facial pain, dentists should consider the possible presence of psychological factors.

The nucleotide sequence and genome organization of Japanese iris necrotic ring virus, a new species in the genus Carmovirus.

The genome of Japanese iris necrotic ring virus (JINRV) consists of a positive-sense ssRNA of 4014 nucleotides with six major open reading frames (ORFs). A 5'-non-coding region of 31 nucleotides precedes the first initiation codon. Like Carnation mottle virus (CarMV), the 5'-proximal three ORFs encode a 26 kDa protein (p26) and two readthrough proteins, i.e. an 85 kDa putative RNA replicase (p85) and a 99 kDa protein (p99). The central ORF encodes a small 8 kDa protein (p8). The 3'-proximal ORF encodes a 38 kDa capsid protein (p38). Another ORF encoding a 12 kDa protein (p12) overlaps the p99 ORF.JINRV RNA treated with bacterial alkaline phosphatase and tobacco acid pyrophosphatase could not be ligated to an oligoribonucleotide using T4 RNA ligase, indicating that the 5' end of the viral RNA is uncapped. The 3' end is not polyadenylated. Comparison of the genomic organization and the predicted amino acid sequences with those of other viruses confirmed that JINRV should be classified as a member of the genus Carmovirus, family Tombusviridae.

'Candidatus phytoplasma japonicum', a new phytoplasma taxon associated with Japanese Hydrangea phyllody.

A phytoplasma was discovered in diseased specimens of field-grown hortensia (Hydrangea spp.) exhibiting typical phyllody symptoms. PCR amplification of DNA using phytoplasma specific primers detected phytoplasma DNA in all of the diseased plants examined. No phytoplasma DNA was found in healthy hortensia seedlings. RFLP patterns of amplified 16S rDNA differed from the patterns previously described for other phytoplasmas including six isolates of foreign hortensia phytoplasmas. Based on the RFLP, the Japanese Hydrangea phyllody (JHP) phytoplasma was classified as a representative of a new subgroup in the phytoplasma 16S rRNA group I (aster yellows, onion yellows, all of the previously reported hortensia phytoplasmas, and related phytoplasmas). A phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences from this and other group I phytoplasmas identified the JHP phytoplasma as a member of a distinct sub-group (sub-group Id) in the phytoplasma clade of the class Mollicutes. The phylogenetic tree constructed from 16S rRNA gene sequences was consistent with the hypothesis that the JHP phytoplasma and its closest known relatives, the Australian grapevine yellows (AUSGY), Phormium yellow leaf (PYL), Stolbur of Capsicum annuum (STOL) and Vergilbungskrankheit of grapevine (VK) share a common ancestor. The unique properties of the DNA from the JHP phytoplasma clearly establish that it represents a new taxon, 'Candidatus Phytoplasma japonicum'.

Characteristics of a high-concentration-ammonium sulfate-requiring ammonia-oxidizing bacterium isolated from deodorization plants of chicken farms.

A high-concentration-ammonium sulfate-requiring, ammonia-oxidizing bacterium, strain K1, was newly isolated from packed tower biological deodorization plants of chicken farms. The cells of strain K1 are rods (0.1-1.0 x 1.0-2.0 microm), gram negative, obligately aerobic, and nonmotile. Colonies (1-2 mm in diameter) on a plate culture are reddish, circular, and smooth. Intracytoplasmic membranes characteristic of nitrifying bacteria are present. The G+C content of the total DNA is 48.5 mol%. The similarity of 16S rRNA (%) to N. europaea ATCC 25978T (type strain) is 93.77%. This bacterium has a higher optimal growth temperature (35 degrees C) than is usually the case and tolerance up to 40 degrees C. The optimum concentration of ammonium sulfate in the medium is 303 mM, which should make it applicable for use in deodorization plants for enhancing the efficiency of deodorization. Phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) and triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) were found to possess high specific activities (5700 and 4 x 10(5) U/mg, respectively) compared to the activities of these enzymes in strain ATCC 25978T (300 and 14 U/mg).

Salivary histatin as an inhibitor of a protease produced by the oral bacterium Bacteroides gingivalis.

We examined the effect of histatin 5 from human parotid saliva on various proteases. Histatin 5 strongly inhibited a trypsin-like protease produced by Bacteroides gingivalis with an IC50 value of 55 nM. Clostripain was also inhibited (IC50 = 800 nM). Activities of other proteases were not affected significantly. Because B. gingivalis is a suspected periodontal pathogen and its proteolytic enzymes have been considered to be associated with periodontal tissue destruction, it is suggested that salivary histatins play a role as a preventive against periodontal disease.

[A clinical study of the radiosensitization of aclarubicin].

Sixty six patients with an advanced or a relapsed cancer have been treated with a combination of radiation and aclarubicin (ACR). The average irradiation dose was 45 +/- 15 Gy, and the combined total dose of ACR ranged from 130 to 260 mg, depending upon the following differing schedules: 10 mg x 3 or 5/w, 20 mg x 2 or 3/w and 20 mg x 2/d x 2/w. The tumor response attained was 70%, including 30% who achieved a complete response. A high response rate also was observed in rather radioresistant cancerous tumor, such as those of the lung, stomach and esophagus. The adverse effects, such as anorexia, nausea, and so on, were found increase with an increase in the dose of ACR. It thus was concluded that for clinical usefulness, 10 mg of ACR should administered every other day in combination with a definite program of radiotherapy.