Risk factors for noncarious cervical lesions: A case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: Noncarious cervical lesions (NCCLs) are multifactorial and can be caused by the anatomical structure of the teeth, erosion, abrasion and abnormal occlusion. The aim of this case-control study was to explore the risk factors for NCCLs. METHODS: Cone-beam computed tomography was used to determine whether a wedge-shaped defect existed at the cementoenamel junction. We compared 63 participants with NCCLs with 63 controls without NCCLs, matched for sex, age (±1 year) and toothbrushing-related factors (e.g., type of bristle and brushing patterns, frequency and strength). All participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about self-administered daily diet habits and health condition. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the risk factors for NCCLs. RESULTS: Significant variables in the univariate analysis (i.e., p < .2) included frequency of carbonated beverage consumption, sella-nasion-point B angle (SNB) and Frankfort-mandibular plane angle (FMA). Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that the consumption frequency of carbonated beverages (odds ratio [OR] = 3.147; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.039-9.532), FMA (OR = 1.100; 95% CI, 1.004-1.204) and SNB (OR = 0.896; 95% CI, 0.813-0.988) was independent influencing factors. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value of regression Model 1 (established with the frequency of carbonated beverage consumption, FMA, SNB and sleep bruxism) was 0.700 (95% CI, 0.607-0.792; p < .001), and that of regression Model 2 (established using the frequency of carbonated beverage consumption, FMA and SNB) was 0.704 (95% CI, 0.612-0.796; p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The consumption frequency of carbonated beverages and FMA was risk factors for NCCLs; the higher the frequency of carbonated beverage consumption and FMA, the higher was the probability of NCCLs. SNB was a protective factor for NCCL occurrence; the larger the SNB, the lower was the probability of NCCL occurrence. These findings have further clarified the aetiology of NCCLs and provided clinicians with valuable insights into strategies for preventing the loss of dental tissue.

Is Curcumin the Answer to Future Chemotherapy Cocktail?

The rise in cancer cases in recent years is an alarming situation worldwide. Despite the tremendous research and invention of new cancer therapies, the clinical outcomes are not always reassuring. Cancer cells could develop several evasive mechanisms for their survivability and render therapeutic failure. The continuous use of conventional cancer therapies leads to chemoresistance, and a higher dose of treatment results in even greater toxicities among cancer patients. Therefore, the search for an alternative treatment modality is crucial to break this viscous cycle. This paper explores the suitability of curcumin combination treatment with other cancer therapies to curb cancer growth. We provide a critical insight to the mechanisms of action of curcumin, its role in combination therapy in various cancers, along with the molecular targets involved. Curcumin combination treatments were found to enhance anticancer effects, mediated by the multitargeting of several signalling pathways by curcumin and the co-administered cancer therapies. The preclinical and clinical evidence in curcumin combination therapy is critically analysed, and the future research direction of curcumin combination therapy is discussed.

A Bayesian Filtering Approach to Multimode Separation and Retrieval of Ultrasonic Guided Waves.

In this article, a Bayesian filtering approach to adaptively extracting the crossed time-frequency (TF) ridges of ultrasonic guided waves (GWs) and retrieving their overlapped modes is proposed. Based on the generalized non-parametric GW signal model, the phase evolution of each overlapped mode can be described by the state transition equation developed by a polynomial prediction model (PPM). When an analyzed GW in the frequency domain is viewed as the measurement equation of the states, a state space model in the frequency domain for describing the GW and its modes is established. As a result, a Bayesian filtering approach can be used to extract the crossed TF ridges and separate the overlapped modes in an analyzed GW when the mode number in the signal is known as a priori. When such a priori is unavailable, an adaptive detection method of the mode number in a GW is acquired by a non-parametric iterative adaptive estimation scheme. In this way, the proposed method can be applied to cases where an analyzed GW with unknown modes can also be extracted and separated accurately. Simulation results show that the proposed method can correctly extract the crossed TF ridges and separate the overlapped modes when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is higher than -5 dB. In the steel plate experiment, the correlation coefficients of S0 , A0 , and A1 modes between the original and retrieved signals are 0.900, 0.772, and 0.915, respectively, which are over the reported results in the literature.

Microbiome of Deep Dentinal Caries from Reversible Pulpitis to Irreversible Pulpitis.

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the identity of the microbiome of deep dentinal caries and its correlation with the inflammation status of caries-induced pulpitis. METHODS: Seventy-five cases were diagnosed based on the American Association of Endodontics's diagnostic criteria and divided into 4 groups: normal pulp with deep caries (NP; n = 13), reversible pulpitis with only cold-evoked pain (CRP; n = 17), reversible pulpitis with both cold/heat-evoked pain (CHRP; n = 24), and symptomatic irreversible pulpitis (SIP; n = 21). Samples were sequenced by 16S rDNA. Alpha and beta diversity were determined. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis was used to detect intergroup differences, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to assess the role of the caries microbiome in caries-induced pulpitis. RESULTS: The 16S rDNA sequencing yielded 9100 operational taxonomic units. Lactobacillus had the highest relative abundance at the genus level among the 4 groups. There were significant differences in the distribution of the microbiome among the groups. In an alpha diversity analysis, species richness differed between the CRP group and the other groups. In a beta diversity analysis, the distribution of microorganisms in the SIP group was significantly different from those in the other 3 groups. LEfSe analysis indicated substantial differences in the microbiome among the groups, and the areas under the ROC curves (AUC) were all high (AUC: 0.734-0.952). CONCLUSIONS: Characterization of the caries microbiome has the potential to become an auxiliary method for the diagnosis of pulpitis. This finding may prompt new research on diagnostic strategies for caries-induced pulpitis.