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The simplification of diagnostic criteria is critical to promoting interventions for sarcopenia. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between sarcopenia and bone mass [measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)], as well as to identify new indicators associated with this disease. Basic interviews and measurement of physical function were performed on 474 community-dwelling older adults (aged 77.1 ±â€…7.6 years), including older adult patients with sarcopenia, in Wakasa Town, Fukui Prefecture. The findings led to 363, 71, and 40 participants being classified as 'normal', 'pre-sarcopenia', and 'having sarcopenia', respectively. An Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis showed that age, bone mass phase angle (lower limb), Fat-free Mass Index, and leg muscle score were aggravating factors for sarcopenia in both men and women. A receiver operating characteristic analysis of bone mass and sarcopenia status showed that the area under the curve and cut-off value, as well as its sensitivity and specificity, in men were 0.915 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.853-0.977], 2.2 kg, 81%, and 87%, respectively, and 0.913 (95% CI: 0.858-0.968), 1.6 kg, 91%, and 88%, respectively, in women. This study revealed that the BIA method of measuring bone mass has excellent accuracy in detecting sarcopenia in both males and females.

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The association between social frailty and adverse health outcomes, especially mortality and functional disability, which are essential health outcomes, has not been systematically summarized or meta-analyzed. In this study, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of social frailty on all-cause mortality and functional disability, while addressing the components of social frailty. In this study, social frailty was operationally defined in alignment with the previous literature, as follows: "a state of increased vulnerability to the interactive back-and-forth of the community, including general resources, social resources, social behaviors, and needs." Hazard ratios or odds ratios described in each selected literature were used as the meta-analytic results. Considering the impact of social frailty on all-cause mortality, the hazard ratio was 1.96 (95% CI 1.20-3.19), indicating a significant association between the two but high heterogeneity. The hazard and odds ratios for the impact of social frailty on functional disability were 1.43 (95% CI 1.20-1.69) and 2.06 (95% CI 1.55-2.74), respectively. A significant association was found between social frailty and functional disability; both hazard and odds ratios were found, and low heterogeneity between these articles was observed. These results highlight the importance of assessing social frailty using more standardized methods and examining its effects on various health outcomes.

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The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of simple jaw opening and closing task of chewing movements on the activities of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) from the viewpoint of stress reduction. We measured cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the PFC during a block-tapping task of the jaw in healthy participants. Eleven young healthy individuals with normal dentition (7 males and 4 females, mean age 28.0 ± 3.7 years) volunteered for this study. CBF was measured using a wearable, functional near-infrared spectroscopy device. Measurements were taken using the central incisors and first molars at interocclusal distances of 5 and 10 mm. The participants were asked to bite a hard/soft block. CBF in all conditions showed limited variability or decreasing trend compared to resting state before the task. The main effect was observed for interocclusal distance (p = 0.008), and there were no significant differences for measurement area of the PFC, tooth type, and material type. An interaction was found between tooth type and material type. In conclusion, these results suggest that simple and rhythmical chewing motion has an effect of reducing CBF in the PFC and resting the PFC, which is an especially notable aspect of periodontal sensory information in the molar.

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PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to comprehensively review the literature regarding the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the dental field, focusing on the evaluation criteria and architecture types. STUDY SELECTION: Electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus) were searched. Full-text articles describing the clinical application of AI for the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of lesions and the AI method/architecture were included. RESULTS: The primary search presented 422 studies from 1996 to 2019, and 58 studies were finally selected. Regarding the year of publication, the oldest study, which was reported in 1996, focused on "oral and maxillofacial surgery." Machine-learning architectures were employed in the selected studies, while approximately half of them (29/58) employed neural networks. Regarding the evaluation criteria, eight studies compared the results obtained by AI with the diagnoses formulated by dentists, while several studies compared two or more architectures in terms of performance. The following parameters were employed for evaluating the AI performance: accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, mean absolute error, root mean squared error, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. CONCLUSION: Application of AI in the dental field has progressed; however, the criteria for evaluating the efficacy of AI have not been clarified. It is necessary to obtain better quality data for machine learning to achieve the effective diagnosis of lesions and suitable treatment planning.

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In this study, we evaluated the reliability and reproducibility of widely implemented salivary flow rate and oral dryness tests. In experiment 1, twenty young and healthy Japanese participants volunteered to participate. For each participant, the oral moisture (OM) level, unstimulated whole saliva volume (U-WSV), and stimulated whole saliva volume (S-WSV) were measured at the same time on two separate days. In experiment 2, twenty-seven patients who were over 65 years of age volunteered to participate. The OM level and U-WSV were measured at the same time on two separate days. In Experiment 1, the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) corresponding to the S-WSV, U-WSV, and OM level were 0.23, 0.28, and 0.16, respectively, for the young participants. In Experiment 2, the ICCs corresponding to the U-WSV/spitting and OM level were 0.83 and 0.12, respectively, for the older participants. The results of Bland-Altman analysis confirmed the absence of systematic error, with the exception of the OM level results in Experiment 2, which indicated systematic bias. In conclusion, we believe that there is currently no consistent and reliable screening test for assessing salivary flow rate and oral dryness, although the spitting test was determined to be highly reliable.

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We previously studied the effect of peripheral sensory information from sensory periodontal ligament receptors on prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity. In the dental field, an alternative dental implant without periodontal sensation can be applied for missing teeth. In this study, we examine whether periodontal tactile input could increase cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the PFC against elderly patients with dental implants lacking periodontal tactile (implant group), elderly individuals with natural teeth (elderly group), and young individuals with natural teeth (young group). The experimental task of maintaining occlusal force as closed-loop stimulation was performed. Compared with the young group, the elderly group showed significantly lower CBF. Contrastingly, compared with the young group, the implant group showed significantly lower CBF. There were no significant differences between the elderly and implant groups. Regarding the mean occlusal force value, compared with the young group and the elderly group, the implant group had a numerically, but not significantly, larger occlusal force exceeding the directed range. In conclusion, the periodontal tactile input does not uniquely increase PFC activity. However, increased CBF in the PFC due to the periodontal tactile input in the posterior region requires existing attention behavior function in the PFC.

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The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays an important role in several cognitive functions, such as planning, decision making, and social behavior. We previously reported that periodontal sensory input significantly increases PFC activity during the motor task of maintaining occlusal (biting) force. However, the relationships between periodontal sensation, PFC activity, and the performance of motor tasks have not been evaluated in detail. Therefore, using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, we investigated PFC activity by monitoring changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) to specific areas of the PFC that corresponded to changes in occlusal force generated during four different biting tasks: (1) occlusion with the central incisor with an interocclusal distance of 5 mm (BI-5 mm); or (2) 10 mm (BI-10 mm); (3) occlusion with the first molars with an interocclusal distance of 5 mm (BM-5 mm), or (4) 10 mm (BM-10 mm). Occlusion of molars generated increased PFC regional CBF as the interocclusal distance decreased (BM-10 mm vs BM-5 mm). No significant differences in CBF during occlusion of incisors were found when comparing 5 mm and 10 mm intercostal distances (BI-5 mm vs BI-10 mm). The mean occlusal force generated by BM-5 mm occlusion was significantly lower than that generated by BM-10 mm occlusion. Taken together, our results suggest that the PFC decreases efferent signaling to motor units, to reduce occlusal force generated when periodontal sensation, which is greater when the interocclusal distance is reduced, is primarily responsible for maintaining occlusal force in the absence of sensations from the temporomandibular joint and muscle spindles.

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Objective assessments of oral hygiene are important to prevent oral and systemic diseases. Two objective assessment tests are available to assess oral hygiene; (1) the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) + adenosine monophosphate (AMP) swab test, which incorporates a luciferase assay and (2) a bacteria count using the dielectrophoretic impedance measurement (DEPIM) method. In this study, we compared the two tests using a subjective visual assessment by professional clinicians and investigated the clinical significance of these tests. Twenty-seven young participants (mean age 26.3 ± 3.2 years) and twenty-seven older participants (mean age 75.1 ± 5.9 years) were recruited. Oral bacteria were sampled from three areas, including the tongue dorsum, the buccal mucosa, and the faucal mucosa, and saliva was obtained using a cotton swab. The amount of ATP + AMP and the number of bacteria were measured by each specific apparatus. Additionally, one examiner assessed the overall condition of oral hygiene using the visual analog scale (VAS). In the ATP + AMP swab test, the means were highest in saliva. For the bacteria count, the means were higher in the tongue dorsum and saliva and lower in the faucal and buccal mucosa. The results of the subjective assessment of oral hygiene indicated that the VAS-value was 3.78 ± 0.97 for the young group and 3.35 ± 0.81 for the older group. No significant difference was observed between the two groups. Additionally, no significant relationship between the values of the ATP + AMP swab test and the bacteria count was found for any of the four sample sites. In the older group, the subjective assessment of oral hygiene was significantly correlated with the values of the ATP + AMP swab test (multiple correlation coefficient = 0.723, p = 0.002). In conclusion, the values provided by the ATP + AMP swab test were not always correlated to the bacteria count. The results of this study suggest that the subjective assessment of oral hygiene was more highly correlated with the results of the ATP + AMP swab test, as compared to the bacterial count assay.

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Although most red algae produce agar and carrageenan, Gloiopeltis furcata produces funoran as polysaccharide component. In this study, the complete G. furcata mitochondrial genome was determined. It had a circular mapping molecular with the length of 25,636 bp and contained 49 genes including 24 protein-coding, two rRNA, and 23 tRNA. Phylogenetic analysis showed that G. furcata was separated with the other polysaccharide-producing red algae. This is the first report of complete mitochondrial genome from funoran producing red algae.

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The undershooting artifact occurs using the filtered back projection (FBP) method. This artifact is influenced by a ramp filter. Thereby, the fall of the target accumulation and a deficit arise and it becomes a clinical problem. We developed a new image reconstruction method based on the FBP method to delete the undershooting artifact of FBP. The image quality of the FBP method is equivalent to that obtained by an evaluation using a digital phantom. The two segmentation and ordinary FBP methods were evaluated in terms of hot contrast, cold contrast, coefficient of variation (%CV), and root mean square uncertainty (%RSMU). The two segmentation FBP method showed equivalent values of hot contrast, % CV, and% RSMU compared with those of the ordinary FBP method. With a threshold level value, cold contrast sharply changed. However, when the threshold level of the two segmentation FBP method was set as the proper value, 90% contrast was obtained. It is necessary to set a threshold level as a proper value using the two segmentation FBP methods. I thought that it can delete an artifact in a simple way, without impairing the image quality. However, it is an examination of only a digital phantom this time. Before using it clinically, one has to use and verify a real phantom.

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To assess the usefulness of top-hat transform processing in whole body bone scintigraphy, five radiological technicians interpreted both original and top-hat processed images to determine the improvement of lesion detectability and interpretation time. For the evaluation of detectability, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed. The area under the curve (AUC) calculated from the ROC curve was improved in all observers (from 0.786 to 0.864 in average), although no significant difference was observed. However, the interpretation time was improved significantly (from 24.5 to 16.2 s in average). Top-hat transform processing in whole body bone scintigraphy is thought to be useful for the improvement of lesion detectability and interpretation time.

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We proposed and optimized a simple method of temporal subtraction image between successive bone single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images for supporting interpretation of temporal changes, and we evaluated its clinical utility. This method consisted of image registration, count normalization, and image subtraction. For image registration, we used a BEAT-Tl software. For count normalization, a pixel value of the normal accumulation part in a SPECT image was used as a reference region. We evaluated accuracy of image registration and optimized the normalization procedure. The accuracy of image registration ranged within 1 pixel in all directions (x, y, x-axis, and rotation). As the reference region, the second lumbar vertebra showed the best results in terms of the normalization procedure. Our method simply allowed the production of a temporal subtraction image. Because the software used in this method can be used free, this method would be available in every institution.

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Pro-Hyp-Gly is a characteristic amino acid sequence found in fibrous collagens, and (Pro-Hyp-Gly)(10), which has been widely used as a collagen-model peptide, forms a stable triple-helical structure. Here, we synthesized polypeptides consisting of the Pro-Hyp-Gly sequence by direct poly-condensation of (Pro-Hyp-Gly)(n), where n=1, 5, and 10, using 1-hydroxybenzotriazole and 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl-aminopropyl)-carbodiimide hydrochloride in both phosphate buffer (pH=7.4) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solutions for 48 h at 20 degrees C. The reaction of (Pro-Hyp-Gly)(5) and (Pro-Hyp-Gly)(10) in DMSO successfully gave polypeptides with molecular weights over 10,000, whereas low molecular weight products were obtained by reaction in phosphate buffer (pH=7.4). In contrast, Pro-Hyp-Gly at a concentration of 50 mg/mL in phosphate buffer (pH=7.4) gave polypeptides with molecular weights over 10,000. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of poly(Pro-Hyp-Gly)(10) revealed that the polymerization of (Pro-Hyp-Gly)(10) described in this report had no side reactions. Each polypeptide obtained shows a collagen-like triple-helical structure, and the triple-helical structures of poly(Pro-Hyp-Gly) and poly(Pro-Hyp-Gly)(10) were stable up to T=80 degrees C, which suggests that the high molecular weight promotes stability of the triple-helical structure, in addition to the high Hyp content. Furthermore, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations show that poly(Pro-Hyp-Gly)(10) aggregates to form nanofiber-like structures about 10 nm in width, which suggests that a Pro-Hyp-Gly repeating sequence contains enough information for triple-helix formation, and for subsequent nanofiber-like structure formation.

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