Lip Augmentation.

A heightened cultural emphasis on youth and beauty has resulted in an increase in cosmetic surgery in the Western world. Lip augmentation is one of the most popular cosmetic procedures done because full lips are considered youthful and voluptuous. With reliable and improved techniques, it is possible to change the appearance of the lips utilizing injectable materials and surgical techniques. This article focuses on popular materials and techniques utilized to augment the size and volume of the lips-the most common are dermal fillers. Lip augmentation requires a thorough understanding of anatomy and managing patient expectations, available materials, and techniques.

Necrotizing fasciitis of the scalp stemming from odontogenic infection.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a severe, rapidly progressive infectious process characterized by rapid spread and extensive tissue destruction. This condition stems from a variety of sources, may affect any area of the body, and requires rapid diagnosis and aggressive intervention. We present a rare case of odontogenic infection progressing to acute cervicofacial necrotizing fasciitis of the scalp and neck.

Optical sensing by transforming chromophoric silver clusters in DNA nanoreactors.

Bifunctional DNA oligonucleotides serve as templates for chromophoric silver clusters and as recognition sites for target DNA strands, and communication between these two components is the basis of an oligonucleotide sensor. Few-atom silver clusters exhibit distinct electronic spectra spanning the visible and near-infrared region, and they are selectively synthesized by varying the base sequence of the DNA template. In these studies, a 16-base cluster template is adjoined with a 12-base sequence complementary to the target analyte, and hybridization induces structural changes in the composite sensor that direct the conversion between two spectrally and stoichiometrically distinct clusters. Without its complement, the sensor strand selectively harbors ~7 Ag atoms that absorb at 400 nm and fold the DNA host. Upon association of the target with its recognition site, the sensor strand opens to expose the cluster template that has the binding site for ~11 Ag atoms, and absorption at 720 nm with relatively strong emission develops in lieu of the violet absorption. Variations in the length and composition of the recognition site and the cluster template indicate that these types of dual-component sensors provide a general platform for near-infrared-based detection of oligonucleotides in challenging biological environments.