Deep learning for osteoarthritis classification in temporomandibular joint.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop a diagnostic support tool using pretrained models for classifying panoramic images of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) into normal and osteoarthritis (OA) cases. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 858 panoramic images of the TMJ (395 normal and 463 TMJ-OA) were obtained from 518 individuals from January 2015 to December 2018. The data were randomly divided into training, validation, and testing sets (6:2:2). We used pretrained Resnet152 and EfficientNet-B7 as transfer learning models. The accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, area under the curve, and gradient-weighted class activation mapping (grad-CAM) of both trained models were evaluated. The performances of the trained models were compared to that of dentists (both TMD specialists and general dentists). RESULTS: The classification accuracies of ResNet-152 and EfficientNet-B7 were 0.87 and 0.88, respectively. The trained models exhibited the highest accuracy in OA classification. In the grad-CAM analysis, the trained models focused on specific areas in osteoarthritis images where erosion or osteophyte were observed. CONCLUSIONS: The artificial intelligence model improved the diagnostic power of TMJ-OA when trained with two-dimensional panoramic condyle images and can be effectively applied by dentists as a screening diagnostic tool for TMJ-OA.

Impaction of multiple dilacerated primary incisors: a case report.

Dental complications such as defective alveolar bone development, delayed eruption, and tooth impaction are related to neonatal oral intubation. This case report presents an example of potential complications that occur in children who have undergone oral intubation as neonates. A 20-month-old girl visited our pediatric clinic. We observed delayed, non-erupted teeth #51, #71, and #81 and determined a history of intubation during the neonatal period as a related factor. After 22 months of observation, tooth #71 erupted spontaneously. After 40 months of monitoring, teeth #51 and #81 were extracted surgically, and normal permanent teeth erupted six months later. This study is helpful for pediatric anesthesiologists, pediatricians, and dentists who diagnose and treat eruption disorders of the primary dentition.

Clinical diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular disorders in children and adolescents: a case series.

The early diagnosis of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) in children and adolescents is important because they can affect oral and maxillofacial growth and development. This case series introduces patients with various clinical features of TMDs and demonstrates how symptoms were reduced through appropriate interventions in collaboration with oral medicine specialists and pediatric dentists. TMDs symptoms in children are often mild and difficult to express accurately; therefore, diagnosis through clinical evaluation is important. Pediatric dentists should be aware of TMDs in children and adolescents, and should diagnose, treat, and refer to specialists in a timely manner.

Secondhand smoke exposure, diabetes, and high BMI are risk factors for uterine cervical cancer: a cross-sectional study from the Korea national health and nutrition examination survey (2010-2018).

BACKGROUND: Human papilloma virus infection and tobacco smoking are the major risk factors for cervical cancer. There are limited studies searching other risk factors for cervical cancer and the results are not consistent. This study investigated the relations between cervical cancer and possible risk factors, including secondhand cigarette smoke exposure, diabetes, body mass index (BMI), and work schedule. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 29,557 women completed a cervical cancer questionnaire and were selected using 2010-2018 data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Details in secondhand smoke exposure, diabetes, BMI, and work schedule were assessed with participants' health interviews and health-related surveys. RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-two women (0.89%) in the sample were diagnosed with cervical cancer. Domestic secondhand smoke exposure, diabetes, and high BMI significantly increased cervical cancer risk. Respective odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were: 1.547 (1.042-2.297), 2.156 (1.535-3.027), and 1.036 (1.006-1.067). Weekly work hours, and work schedule were not significantly related to cervical cancer incidence. CONCLUSION: Among Korean women, passive exposure to cigarette smoke at home, diabetes, and high BMI increase risk for cervical cancer.

Dental Management of Congenital Granular Cell Lesion and Neonatal Teeth: A Case Report.

Congenital granular cell lesion (CGCL) is a rare benign oral cavity tumor in infants. Neonatal teeth are also rare dental anomalies that appear during the first month of life. This report describes a case of eruption of neonatal teeth after surgical excision of CGCL. Surprisingly, residual neonatal teeth erupted after extraction of the neonatal teeth. If neonatal teeth are mobile, they should be carefully extracted with curettage of the underlying tissues of the dental papilla; failure to curette the socket might result in eruption of odontogenic remnants. If neonatal teeth were exfoliated, parents should be informed of the need for regular checkups with a dentist due to possibility of development of residual neonatal teeth.

Multiple Idiopathic Internal Root Resorption in an Adolescent: A Case R Multiple Idiopathic Internal Root Resorption in an Adolescent: A Case Report.

Internal root resorption (IRR) refers to a slow or rapid progressive resorption process that occurs in the pulp cavity of the tooth or the dentin of the root. IRR occurs as result of odontoclast action; in many cases, the pulp tissue exhibits chronic inflammation, and odontoblasts and predentin do not appear on the dentin wall near the pulp. Exact predisposing factors have not been clearly elucidated; therefore, it is difficult to identify reliable data on the prevalence of IRR because of its scarce occurrence and pathology. Reports have indicated that IRR is more common in the primary than in the permanent teeth. This case report discusses a 17-year-old girl with multiple idiopathic internal root resorptions of anterior permanent teeth in a short period of a time and its management.

Introduction of Reversible Urethane Bonds Based on Vanillyl Alcohol for Efficient Self-Healing of Polyurethane Elastomers.

Urethane groups formed by reacting phenolic hydroxyl groups with isocyanates are known to be reversible at high temperatures. To investigate the intrinsic self-healing of polyurethane via a reversible urethane group, we synthesized vanillyl alcohol (VA)-based polyurethanes. The phenolic hydroxyl group of vanillyl alcohol allows the introduction of a reversible urethane group into the polyurethane backbone. Particularly, we investigated the effects of varying the concentration of reversible urethane groups on the self-healing of the polyurethane, and we proposed a method that improved the mobility of the molecules contributing to the self-healing process. The concentration of reversible urethane groups in the polyurethanes was controlled by varying the vanillyl alcohol content. Increasing the concentration of the reversible urethane group worsened the self-healing property by increasing hydrogen bonding and microphase separation, which consequently decreased the molecular mobility. On the other hand, after formulating a modified chain extender (m-CE), hydrogen bonding and microphase separation decreased, and the mobility (and hence the self-healing efficiency) of the molecules improved. In VA40-10 (40% VA; 10% m-CE) heated to 140 °C, the self-healing efficiency reached 96.5% after 30 min, a 139% improvement over the control polyurethane elastomer (PU). We conclude that the self-healing and mechanical properties of polyurethanes might be tailored for applications by adjusting the vanillyl alcohol content and modifying the chain extender.

Preparation and Characterization of Isosorbide-Based Self-Healable Polyurethane Elastomers with Thermally Reversible Bonds.

Polyurethane (PU) is a versatile polymer used in a wide range of applications. Recently, imparting PU with self-healing properties has attracted much interest to improve the product durability. The self-healing mechanism conceivably occurs through the existence of dynamic reversible bonds over a specific temperature range. The present study investigates the self-healing properties of 1,4:3,6-dianhydrohexitol-based PUs prepared from a prepolymer of poly(tetra-methylene ether glycol) and 4,4'-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) with different chain extenders (isosorbide or isomannide). PU with the conventional chain extender 1,4-butanediol was prepared for comparison. The urethane bonds in 1,4:3,6-dianhydrohexitol-based PUs were thermally reversible (as confirmed by the generation of isocyanate peaks observed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) at mildly elevated temperatures and the PUs showed good mechanical properties. Especially the isosorbide-based polyurethane showed potential self-healing ability under mild heat treatment, as observed in reprocessing tests. It is inferred that isosorbide, bio-based bicyclic diol, can be employed as an efficient chain extender of polyurethane prepolymers to improve self-healing properties of polyurethane elastomers via reversible features of the urethane bonds.

Design of Azomethine Diols for Efficient Self-Healing of Strong Polyurethane Elastomers.

Azomethine diols (AMDs) were synthesized by condensation between a terephthalic aldehyde, polyether diamine, and ethanol amine. The synthesized AMDs were employed to introduce azomethine groups into the backbones of polyurethane elastomers (PUEs). Different AMDs were designed to control the concentration and distribution of azomethine groups in PUEs. In this study, we explored the intrinsic self-healing of AMD-based PUEs by azomethine metathesis. Particularly, the effects of the concentration and distribution of the azomethine groups on the AMD-based PUEs were considered. Consequently, as the azomethine group concentration increased and the distribution became denser, the self-healing properties improved. With AMD3-40, the self-healing efficiency reached 86% at 130 °C after 30 min. This represents a 150% improvement over the control PUE. Additionally, as the AMD content increased, the mechanical properties improved. With AMD3-40, the tensile strength reached 50 MPa. Therefore, we concluded that the self-healing and mechanical properties of PUEs can potentially be tailored for applications by adjusting the concentration and design of AMD structure for PUEs.

Decompression for Unerupted Primary Mandibular Second Molars Associated with Physical Barriers: Case Reports.

Primary impaction of primary teeth might be due to genetic predisposition or physical disturbance including odontoma, supernumerary tooth, and crowded tooth. Among them, calcific deposit or odontoma is commonly associated with primary dentition. Early diagnosis and treatment is the key to prevent complications. However, results of treatment may vary depending on the condition of unerupted tooth. Here we report two clinical cases of unerupted primary mandibular second molars with physical barriers such as compound odontoma and calcific deposit focusing on diagnostic means and the importance of early treatment of these lesions.

The antibacterial activity of chlorhexidine digluconate against Streptococcus mutans biofilms follows sigmoidal patterns.

The aim of this study was to determine the pattern of the antibacterial activity of chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX) against mature Streptococcus mutans biofilms. Streptococcus mutans biofilms were formed on saliva-coated hydroxyapatite discs and then treated with 0-20% CHX, once, three times, or five times (1 min per treatment) during the period of mature biofilm formation (beyond 46 h). After the treatments, the colony-forming unit (CFU) counts of the treated biofilms were determined. The pH values of the spent culture medium were also determined to investigate the change in pH resulting from the antibacterial activity of CHX. The relationships between the concentration of CHX and the CFU counts and the concentration of CHX and culture medium pH, relative to the number of treatments performed, were evaluated using a sigmoidal curve-fitting procedure. The changes in CFU counts and culture medium pH followed sigmoidal curves and were dependent on the concentration of CHX (R2 = 0.99). The sigmoidal curves were left-shifted with increasing number of treatments. Furthermore, the culture-medium pH of the treated biofilms increased as their CFU counts decreased. The lowest CHX concentration to increase culture-medium pH above the critical pH also decreased as the number of treatments increased. These results may provide fundamental information for selecting the appropriate CHX concentrations to treat S. mutans biofilms.

Recovery of Acid Production in Streptococcus mutans Biofilms after Short-Term Fluoride Treatment.

Fluoride is commonly used as an ingredient of topical oral hygiene measures. Despite the anti-acidogenic activities of fluoride against cariogenic biofilms, the recovery of the biofilms from fluoride damage is unclear. Herein, we investigated the recovery of acid production in Streptococcus mutans biofilms after short-term or during periodic 1-min fluoride treatments. For this study, 46-hour-old S. mutans biofilms were treated with fluoride (0-2,000 ppm F-) for 1-8 min and then incubated in saliva for 0-100 min. The 74-hour-old biofilms were also periodically treated with the fluoride concentration during biofilm formation (1 min/treatment). Changes in acidogenicity and viability were determined via pH drop and colony-forming unit assays, respectively. In this study, acid production after a 1-min fluoride treatment was recovered as saliva incubation time increased, which followed a linear pattern of concentration dependence (R = 0.99, R2 = 0.98). The recovery pattern was in a biphasic pattern, with an initial rapid rate followed by a second slow recovery. Furthermore, recovery from fluoride damage was retarded in a concentration-dependent manner as treatment time increased. In periodic 1-min fluoride treatments, acid production in the biofilms was not diminished during the non-fluoride treatment period; however, it was reduced in a concentration-dependent manner during the fluoride treatment period. The viability of the biofilm cells did not change, even at high fluoride concentrations. Collectively, our results suggest that brief fluoride treatment does not sustain anti-acidogenic activity against S. mutans in biofilms since the damage is recoverable with time.

Does diabetes mellitus have an impact on the prognosis for patients with cervical cancer?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of comorbid diabetes mellitus (DM) on prognoses among patients with cervical cancer. METHODS: We analyzed cervical cancer outcomes in patients who treated in two hospitals retrospectively. Patients were divided into those with DM and those without. Clinicopathologic parameters, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were evaluated. RESULTS: Of the 494 patients, 50 had DM. These were more likely to be older than those in the non-DM group and their body mass index (BMI) was higher. They showed higher levels of tumor markers and had more combined diseases. They were less likely to have had surgical treatment. Among these patients, 12 (24%) experienced a recurrence (hazard ratio, HR, 1.484; 95% confidence interval, CI, 0.746-2.951). Differences in DFS did not show statistical significance. In the OS analysis, 11 (22%) in the DM group and 62 (14%) in the non-DM group died (HR, 1.239; 95% CI, 0.606-2.533). No statistically significant differences were also observed for cancer-specific death (HR, 1.246; 95% CI, 0.567-2.737). Those with DM and an adenocarcinoma tended to have an increased risk of dying compared with the non-DM patients with an adenocarcinoma (HR, 3.673; 95% CI, 0.990-13.625), but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.0518). CONCLUSION: Diabetes mellitus did not have an impact on the prognosis for patients with cervical cancers. In those with an adenocarcinoma, patients with diabetes tended to have an increased risk of dying compared with the non-DM group, but this difference was not statistically significant.

Diagnosing oral and maxillofacial diseases using deep learning.

The classification and localization of odontogenic lesions from panoramic radiographs is a challenging task due to the positional biases and class imbalances of the lesions. To address these challenges, a novel neural network, DOLNet, is proposed that uses mutually influencing hierarchical attention across different image scales to jointly learn the global representation of the entire jaw and the local discrepancy between normal tissue and lesions. The proposed approach uses local attention to learn representations within a patch. From the patch-level representations, we generate inter-patch, i.e., global, attention maps to represent the positional prior of lesions in the whole image. Global attention enables the reciprocal calibration of path-level representations by considering non-local information from other patches, thereby improving the generation of whole-image-level representation. To address class imbalances, we propose an effective data augmentation technique that involves merging lesion crops with normal images, thereby synthesizing new abnormal cases for effective model training. Our approach outperforms recent studies, enhancing the classification performance by up to 42.4% and 44.2% in recall and F1 scores, respectively, and ensuring robust lesion localization with respect to lesion size variations and positional biases. Our approach further outperforms human expert clinicians in classification by 10.7 % and 10.8 % in recall and F1 score, respectively.

Is neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical surgery more effective than radiation therapy for stage IIB cervical cancer?

OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of the study was to compare the survival rate of patients who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy with that of patients who had received radiation therapy for stage IIB cervical cancer. The secondary objective was to analyze the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on pathological prognostic factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who had received therapy for stage IIB cervical cancer. Based on the primary therapy, 192 patients were divided into 2 groups; patients in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group (n =103) underwent a type III radical hysterectomy after completion of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Patients in the other group (n = 89) were treated with radiation alone or a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. RESULTS: After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the level of squamous cell carcinoma antigen, tumor size, lymph node involvement, and parametrium involvement were significantly decreased. However, 90.3% of the patients who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy needed to have adjuvant therapy after radical surgery because of poor pathological prognostic factors. The rate of disease-free survival did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. However, the overall survival rate was significantly lower in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group for patients who were 60 years or older (P = 0.03). The rates of disease-free survival and overall survival for patients who had a good (complete or partial) response to the neoadjuvant chemotherapy were not significantly higher than the rates for patients in the radiation therapy group. CONCLUSIONS: Although neoadjuvant chemotherapy improved pathological prognostic factors in patients with stage IIB cervical cancer, it was not sufficiently effective to decrease adjuvant therapy. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy also did not improve the rate of patient survival compared to the rate of patient survival in the radiation therapy group.

Prediction Model for Future Success of Early Orthopedic Treatment of Class III Malocclusion.

This study aimed to identify predictors for successful post-treatment outcomes in early orthopedic class III malocclusion treatment with a facemask and hyrax expander appliance. The study was performed on lateral cephalograms from 37 patients at the start of treatment (T0), post-treatment (T1), and a minimum of three years after treatment (T2). The patients were grouped as stable or unstable according to the existence of a 2-mm overjet at T2. For statistical analysis, independent t-tests were used to compare the baseline characteristics and measurements of the two groups, considering a significance level of < 0.05. Thirty variables of pretreatment cephalograms were considered during logistic regression analysis to identify predictors. A discriminant equation was established using a stepwise method. The success rate and area under the curve were calculated, with AB to the mandibular plane, ANB, ODI, APDI, and A-B plane angles as predictors. The A-B plane angle was the most significantly different between the stable and unstable groups. In terms of the A-B plane angle, the success rate of early class III treatment with a facemask and hyrax expander appliance was 70.3%, and the area under the curve indicated a fair grade.

HOXA­AS3 induces tumor progression through the epithelial­mesenchymal transition pathway in epithelial ovarian cancer.

HOXA cluster antisense RNA 3 (HOXA­AS3) is considered to be involved in several malignancies, however, its biological function in the progression of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) remains unclear. The present study compared the expression of HOXA­AS3 in ovarian cancer and normal ovarian tissues and analyzed the association between the expression of HOXA­AS3 and the survival outcomes of patients with ovarian cancer. RNA interference was used to suppress HOXA­AS3 expression in ovarian cancer cell lines in order to demonstrate the function of HOXA­AS3 in ovarian cancer progression. The associations between HOXA­AS3 and epithelial­mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers were explored to verify the mechanism of action of HOXA­AS3 in ovarian cancer. The results of the present study revealed that ovarian cancer tissues exhibited higher HOXA­AS3 expression than normal ovarian tissues. Clinical data indicated that HOXA­AS3 was a significant predictor of progression­free survival and overall survival. Patients with high HOXA­AS3 expression had a poorer prognosis than patients with low HOXA­AS3 expression. In vitro experiments using HOXA­AS3­knockdown ovarian cancer cell lines demonstrated that HOXA­AS3 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation and migration. HOXA­AS3 was a potent inducer and modulator of the expression of EMT pathway­related markers and interacted with both the mRNA and protein forms of HOXA3. Collectively, the findings of the present study demonstrated that HOXA­AS3 expression is associated with ovarian cancer progression and thus, may be employed as a prognostic marker and therapeutic target in EOC.

Long Non-coding RNA LOC285194 Promotes Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Progression via the Apoptosis Signaling Pathway.

BACKGROUND/AIM: To explore the molecular mechanism and clinical significance of a newly identified lncRNA LOC285194 in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: LOC285194 transcript levels were analyzed in EOC cells compared to normal cells. Small interfering RNAs were used to suppress LOC285194 expression. Levels of apoptosis-related proteins were determined by western blot. LOC285194 expression in ovarian cancer and non-tumor tissues were compared with clinicopathologic and survival data. RESULTS: Knockdown of LOC285194 decreased cell migration and proliferation, enhanced reactive oxygen species production and resulted in increased levels of proteins of the extrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway. LOC285194 expression level was higher in ovarian cancer tissues compared to control. Overall survival was significantly shorter in patients with high LOC285194 expression. Lymph node metastasis and high LOC285194 expression were significant prognostic factors of mortality (HR=4.614 and 5.880; p=0.026 and p=0.002, respectively). CONCLUSION: LOC285194 can promote the progression of EOC via an anti-apoptotic mechanism. It may serve as a novel biomarker for predicting prognosis of EOC.

Effectiveness of Human-Artificial Intelligence Collaboration in Cephalometric Landmark Detection.

Detection of cephalometric landmarks has contributed to the analysis of malocclusion during orthodontic diagnosis. Many recent studies involving deep learning have focused on head-to-head comparisons of accuracy in landmark identification between artificial intelligence (AI) and humans. However, a human-AI collaboration for the identification of cephalometric landmarks has not been evaluated. We selected 1193 cephalograms and used them to train the deep anatomical context feature learning (DACFL) model. The number of target landmarks was 41. To evaluate the effect of human-AI collaboration on landmark detection, 10 images were extracted randomly from 100 test images. The experiment included 20 dental students as beginners in landmark localization. The outcomes were determined by measuring the mean radial error (MRE), successful detection rate (SDR), and successful classification rate (SCR). On the dataset, the DACFL model exhibited an average MRE of 1.87 ± 2.04 mm and an average SDR of 73.17% within a 2 mm threshold. Compared with the beginner group, beginner-AI collaboration improved the SDR by 5.33% within a 2 mm threshold and also improved the SCR by 8.38%. Thus, the beginner-AI collaboration was effective in the detection of cephalometric landmarks. Further studies should be performed to demonstrate the benefits of an orthodontist-AI collaboration.

Prognostic Significance of Clinical Factors Including BRCA Mutation in Epithelial Ovarian, Peritoneal, Fallopian Tube Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: We analyzed the survival outcomes of patients with epithelial ovarian, peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer with BRCA1/2 mutations and the clinical factors associated with the prognosis of these cancers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We included patients who had been diagnosed with and treated for epithelial ovarian, peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer and had undergone germline BRCA testing in six hospitals between January 2012 and December 2019. RESULTS: Of the 378 identified patients, 76 (20.1%) carried a BRCA1/2 mutation. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) did not differ between patients with and without BRCA1/2 mutation. Multivariate analysis for 18 months after the primary treatment showed higher PFS in the BRCA1/2 mutation group (p=0.024). Subgroup analysis in patients with high-grade serous carcinoma showed that BRCA1/2 mutation was an independent favorable prognostic factor for PFS (p=0.035). Subgroup analysis of patients with stage III or IV disease demonstrated an independent gain in PFS in patients with BRCA1/2 mutation (p=0.015). Neoadjuvant chemotherapy as a primary treatment was related to poor PFS (p<0.001) and reduced OS (p=0.005). CONCLUSION: Having a germline BRCA1/2 mutation improved short-term PFS in patients with epithelial ovarian, peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer. Elevated initial CA125 level and primary neoadjuvant chemotherapy were related to poor prognosis.