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Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether gender, age, and initial tooth hue impacted the effect of laser tooth whitening. Materials and Methods: Ninety-one subjects were enrolled in a laser tooth whitening study at Kaohsiung Medical University. Sensitivity was evaluated by asking the patients about any tooth sensitivity they experienced after the whitening procedures were performed. The LaserSmile tooth whitener, containing 35% hydrogen peroxide, was applied to the tooth surfaces of both arches from the central incisor to the second premolar, and the LaserSmile Twilite diode laser was applied to the same maxillary and mandibular teeth. After removal of the whitening gel, shade matching was immediately performed with the ShadeEye NCC Dental Chroma Meter. Patients were classified into the following groups: tetracycline stain, gender, age, and initial tooth hue. Only 5 of the 91 individuals had tetracycline staining. Results: The initial tooth shade and the amount of shade change showed no significant differences between female and male patients, but a significant difference was found between hue and age group. Conclusions: Teeth with hue A showed greater shade improvement than teeth with hue C and hue D. Whitening response was better in younger individuals, and gender was not a factor that affected the whitening response. Sensitivity is common during the whitening procedure but can be tolerated by the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The X-linked tumor suppressor gene LDOC1 is reported to be involved in oral cancer. The detection of biomarkers in salivary RNA is a non-invasive strategy for diagnosing many diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of salivary LDOC1 as a biomarker of oral cancer. Methods. We determined the expression levels of LDOC1 in the saliva of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) subjects, and investigated its correlation with various clinico- pathological characteristics. The expression levels of salivary LDOC1 were detected in 53 OSCC subjects and 43 healthy controls using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis. We used Fisher's exact test to analyze the correlations between expression levels and clinicopathological characteristics. Results. Salivary LDOC1 was significantly upregulated in females with OSCC (p = 0.0072), and significantly downregulated in males with OSCC (p = 0.0206). Eighty-nine percent of male OSCC subjects who smoked expressed low levels of LDOC1. OSCC cell lines derived from male OSCC subjects expressed low levels of LDOC1. Conclusions. A high level of salivary LDOC1 expression is a biomarker of OSCC in females. A high percentage of male OSCC subjects who smoke express low levels of salivary LDOC1. A low level of salivary LDOC1 expression is a biomarker of OSCC in males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the proportion of 3 Neil's classifications of lateral throat forms and the difference in the length of the lateral throat form between the dentures and the patient's actual anatomy. The classification of lateral throat form was determined by the patient's functional movements, and an implant depth gauge was used to measure the length of the lateral throat form in the patient's mouth and compare it to that of the dentures. One hundred mandibular edentulous patients were measured. The proportion of Neil's Class I lateral throat form was 70%, the proportion of Class II was 25%, and the proportion of Class III was 5%. The mean difference between the actual lateral throat forms and the dentures was 6.7 ± 2.9 mm at the anterior point of measurement (from the anterior part of the retromolar pad to the mouth floor) and 10.0 ± 3.7 mm at the posterior point (from the middle of the retromolar pad to the mouth floor). The difference in length between the ridge height of the mouth and the denture was statistically significant (P < .001). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to assess whether a periodontal probe measurement could be used to obtain a predictable reproduction of the buccal shelf areas in mandibular dentures. One hundred patients were measured for the anterior, middle, and posterior width of the buccal shelf with a periodontal probe. This measurement was then compared with that of the corresponding portion of the existing denture. At each portion, there were statistically significant differences in the width of the buccal shelf and that of the corresponding portion of the existing denture from dental clinics of general dentists. The periodontal probe could be used to measure the width of the buccal shelf to obtain a predictable reproduction of the buccal shelf areas in mandibular dentures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Research on aging has increasingly recognized sleep as a key determinant of physical and psychological wellbeing. The existing literature, however, considers sleep solely at the individual-level. This study constructed dyadic sleep measures and demonstrated their capacity to predict individual-level sleep and psychological distress. Methods: This study analyzed 2 waves (2009 and 2013) of older couples' same-day time diary data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics' Supplement on Disability and Use of Time. Dyadic sleep measures included: (a) bedtime differences, (b) wake-up time differences, (c) a categorical indicator of couple's sleeping routines, and (d) a categorical indicator of couple's waking routines. Results: The measures indicated substantial discordance in the sleep habits of older couples. Results from multilevel regressions showed that waking patterns predicted individual-level sleep durations. Dyadic sleep measures, particularly sleeping patterns, independently predicted the respondents' psychological distress; controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, marital quality, and individual-level sleep measures. Patterns were more pronounced in the weekend measures. Discussion: Sleep is a dyadic interpersonal process. This study demonstrated that dyadic sleep is a key aspect for older adults' sleep that cannot be reduced to individual-level sleep. Future studies and surveys should incorporate instruments to measure sleep at the couple-level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypoxia signaling is an ancient pathway by which animals can respond to low oxygen. Malfunction of this pathway disturbs hypoxic acclimation and can result in various diseases, including cancers. The role of hypoxia signaling in early embryogenesis remains unclear. Here, we show that in the blastula of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, hypoxia-inducible factor α (HIFα), the downstream transcription factor of the hypoxia pathway, is localized and transcriptionally active on the future dorsal side. This asymmetric distribution is attributable to its oxygen-sensing ability. Manipulations of the HIFα level entrained the dorsoventral axis, as the side with the higher level of HIFα tends to develop into the dorsal side. Gene expression analyses revealed that HIFα restricts the expression of nodal to the ventral side and activates several genes encoding transcription factors on the dorsal side. We also observed that intrinsic hypoxic signals in the early embryos formed a gradient, which was disrupted under hypoxic conditions. Our results reveal an unprecedented role of the hypoxia pathway in animal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Cohort studies have found that short and long sleep are both associated with worse outcomes, compared with intermediate sleep times. While demonstrated biological mechanisms could explain health effects for short sleep, long-sleep risk is puzzling. Most studies reporting the U shape use a single question about sleep duration, a measurement method that does not correlate highly with objectively measured sleep. We hypothesised that the U shape, especially the poor outcomes for long sleepers, may be an artefact of how sleep is measured. Methods We examined the cross-sectional prevalence of fair/poor health by sleep hour categories (≤6, ≤7, ≤8, ≤9, >9 h) in a national US sample of adults aged 62-90 that included several types of sleep measures (n=727). Survey measures were: a single question; usual bedtimes and waking times; and a 3-day sleep log. Actigraphy measures were the sleep interval and tota sleep time. Fair/poor health was regressed on sleep hour categories adjusted for demographics, with tests for both linear trend and U shape. Results Adjusted OR of fair/poor health across sleep hour categories from the single question were 4.6, 2.2, referent (8 h), 1.8 and 6.9. There was high prevalence of fair/poor health for ≤6 h for all sleep measures, but the long-sleep effect was absent for sleep logs and actigraphy measures. Conclusions Associations between long sleep and poor health may be specific to studies measuring sleep with survey questions. As cohorts with actigraphy mature, our understanding of how sleep affects health may change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BubR1 is a critical component of spindle assembly checkpoint, ensuring proper chromatin segregation during mitosis. Recent studies showed that BubR1 was overexpressed in many cancer cells, including oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC). However, the effect of BubR1 on metastasis of OSCC remains unclear. This study aimed to unravel the role of BubR1 in the progression of OSCC and confirm the expression of BubR1 in a panel of malignant OSCC cell lines with different invasive abilities. The results of quantitative real-time PCR showed that the mRNA level of BubR1 was markedly increased in four OSCC cell lines, Ca9-22, HSC3, SCC9 and Cal-27 cells, compared to two normal cells, normal human oral keratinocytes (HOK) and human gingival fibroblasts (HGF). Moreover, the expression of BubR1 in these four OSCC cell lines was positively correlated with their motility. Immunofluorescence revealed that BubR1 was mostly localized in the cytosol of human gingival carcinoma Ca9-22 cells. BubR1 knockdown significantly decreased cellular invasion but slightly affect cellular proliferation on both Ca9-22 and Cal-27 cells. Consistently, the activities of metastasis-associated metalloproteinases MMP-2 and MMP-9 were attenuated in BubR1 knockdown Ca9-22 cells, suggesting the role of BubR1 in promotion of OSCC migration. Our present study defines an alternative pathway in promoting metastasis of OSCC cells, and the expression of BubR1 could be a prognostic index in OSCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The relationship of sleep to health has been an active area of research in recent years, and the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) expanded sleep data collection in Wave 2 with enhanced core questions and a novel sleep module that included an objective measure of sleep duration and quality. Method. A randomly selected one-third of Wave 2 participants and their spouses or coresident partners were invited to participate in the sleep module. Objective sleep data were collected using wrist actigraphy, an accelerometer that records an integrated measure of motion over short epochs (15 s each). This information is stored and subsequently analyzed to determine sleep and wake periods by epoch. Individuals were instructed to wear the actiwatches for 72hr. Several sleep parameters were derived from the accelerometer. Individuals concurrently kept a sleep diary. Results. Sleep actigraphy data were successfully collected from 780 individuals. Many of the survey-based and the actigraph-estimated sleep parameters varied by age and gender. However, age and gender patterns often differed for sleep characteristics that were both asked and measured, such as sleep duration. Discussion. The survey and actigraphy data provide different information about sleep characteristics. The opportunity to examine actigraph-estimated sleep characteristics in a nationally representative sample of older adults allows novel analyses of the associations of sleep parameters with social and health data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The relationship of sleep to health has been an active area of research in recent years, and the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) expanded sleep data collection in Wave 2 with enhanced core questions and a novel sleep module that included an objective measure of sleep duration and quality. Method. A randomly selected one-third of Wave 2 participants and their spouses or coresident partners were invited to participate in the sleep module. Objective sleep data were collected using wrist actigraphy, an accelerometer that records an integrated measure of motion over short epochs (15 s each). This information is stored and subsequently analyzed to determine sleep and wake periods by epoch. Individuals were instructed to wear the actiwatches for 72hr. Several sleep parameters were derived from the accelerometer. Individuals concurrently kept a sleep diary. Results. Sleep actigraphy data were successfully collected from 780 individuals. Many of the survey-based and the actigraph-estimated sleep parameters varied by age and gender. However, age and gender patterns often differed for sleep characteristics that were both asked and measured, such as sleep duration. Discussion. The survey and actigraphy data provide different information about sleep characteristics. The opportunity to examine actigraph-estimated sleep characteristics in a nationally representative sample of older adults allows novel analyses of the associations of sleep parameters with social and health data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim was to develop and validate the Taiwanese short-form of the Oral Health Impact Profile- an instrument used to assess oral health-related quality of life. Methods: A seven-item short form was developed using the best subset controlled regression procedure. Two samples, one from the general elderly population (n=1,402) and the other from among patients with prostheses (n=116) were used to investigate validity and internal consistency. Responsiveness was assessed in 91 of the patients treated with prostheses. Results: Associations between (OHIP-7T) scores and self-reports of oral health status and disorders in the general elderly population and among prosthetic patients were interpreted as support for validity. The instrument's internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.79-0.83) and responsiveness (effect size: 1.51) were sufficient. Conclusions: This study developed and validated the sufficient discriminatory ability and responsiveness of the short-form OHIP-7T, and it may now be used in national surveys in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palliative resection for noncurable gastric cancer remains controversial, especially in the elderly. This retrospective study was designed to elucidate the clinicopathological factors and operative outcome in patients undergoing palliative gastric resection. From January 1988 to December 2008, 365 patients received palliative gastrectomy while 151 underwent exploratory laparotomy or gastrojejunostomy for noncurative gastric cancer at the Department of Surgery, Taipei Veterans General Hospital. Among the 365 patients, 182 patients (Group A) were aged 70 or less and 183 patients (Group B) were older than 70 years of age. Clinicopathological characteristics and surgical morbidity and mortality were analyzed. The overall survival of patients who underwent resection was 10.2 months and that of patients without resection 4.48 months ( p < 0.001). Compared to Group B, Group A patients were predominantly female ( p < 0.001), had more advanced Borrmann-type tumors ( p = 0.004), more diffuse type of Lauren classification ( p < 0.001), and poorer cell differentiation ( p < 0.001). The median overall survival was 10.5 months in Group A and 9.7 months in Group B ( p = 0.854). The surgical morbidity was significant higher if the patients had comorbidity ( p = 0.028). Both surgical morbidity (13.8% vs. 26.8%, p = 0.028) and mortality (0.5% vs. 6.0%, p < 0.0001) were significantly higher in Group B. Gastric cancer is less aggressive in the elderly. Palliative gastrectomy can be performed in both younger and older patients, but younger patients tolerate surgery better. More attention should be paid to the perioperative care of the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which investigated the role of mechanical stretching in inducing osteoprotegerin in differentiating C2C12 precursor cells. Mechanical stretching resulted to an increase in osteoprotegerin expression in C2C12 cells. Results of the study suggested that mechanical stretching could play a critical role in bone remodeling through the upregulation of osteoprotegerin.

Background: Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) is a type D retrovirus capable of transforming target cells in vitro and in vivo. The Envelope (Env) gene from JSRV and from related retroviruses can induce oncogenic transformation, although the detailed mechanism is yet to be clearly understood. Host cell factors are envisaged to play a critical determining role in the regulation of Env-mediated cell transformation. Results: JSRV Env-mediated transformation of a lung adenocarcinoma cell line induced rapid proliferation, anchorage-independent growth and tumor formation, but completely abrogated the migration ability. An analysis of the signaling scenario in the transformed cells suggested the involvement of the ERK pathway regulated by Sprouty2 in cell migration, and the PI3K-Akt and STAT3 pathways in proliferation and anchorage-independence. On the other hand, in a normal lung epithelial cell line, Env-mediated transformation only decreased the migration potential while the other functions remained unaltered. We observed that Env induced the expression of a tumor suppressor, Sprouty2, suggesting a correlation between Env-effect and Sprouty2 expression. Overexpression of Sprouty2 per se not only decreased the migratory potential and tumor formation potential of the target cells but also made them resistant to subsequent Env-mediated transformation. On the other hand, over expression of the functional mutants of Sprouty2 had no inhibitory effect, confirming the role of Sprouty2 as a tumor suppressor. Conclusions: Our studies demonstrate that Env and Sprouty2 have a functional relationship, probably through shared signaling network. Sprouty2 functions as a tumor suppressor regulating oncogenic transformation of cells, and it therefore has the potential to be exploited as a therapeutic anti-cancer agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Prognostic factors of lymph node-negative gastric adenocarcinoma after curative resection have been discussed. Recurrent pattern of advanced lymph node-negative gastric cancer after curative resection has rarely been described. Methods: Recurrent sites and correlated clinicopathological factors of 372 patients with lymph node-negative advanced gastric adenocarcinoma that underwent R0 resection from 1988 to 2005 were analyzed. Results: Recurrence was noted in 51 (13.7%) patients. Recurrent rates according to site of recurrence were 26 peritoneal seeding (51.0%), 26 locoregional (51.0%), 17 hematogenous (33.3%), and 4 lymph node metastasis (7.8%). Clinicopathological factors to predict peritoneal seeding were serosal exposure, lymphovascular invasion, Lauren's diffuse type differentiation and scirrhous stromal reaction. Serosal exposure, tumor size, microscopic infiltrating growth type predicts locoregional recurrence. Tumor had only lymphovascular invasion predict hematogenous spreading. Conclusion: Node-negative advanced gastric cancer has more peritoneal seeding and locoregional recurrence. Aggressive cell behavior predicted the route of tumor cell spreading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Presence or absence of nodal metastasis influences outcome of gastric cancer patients. This study gives insight into survival predictors and clinicopathological features of node-negative gastric adenocarcinoma. Methods: Between 1988 and 1999, 689 gastric cancer patients without other cancer or gastrectomy for benign disease who underwent curative resection were enrolled in this study. Clinicopathological data in patients with node metastasis were compared with those without. Results: The survival rate at 5 and 10 years for node-negative cases was 91.7% and 89.7%, respectively. On univariate analysis, node-negative patients were characterized by frequent location in the lower two-thirds of the stomach (84.9%), tumor size less than 4 cm (63.5%), grossly superficial type (71.6%), more medullary stromal reaction (50.5%) and intestinal type (67.7%), tumor invasion confined to serosa (78.4%), less poorly differentiated cell type (43.2%), and less lymphovascular invasion (33.4%). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that lymphovascular invasion (relative risk: 5.036) and depth of cancer invasion (relative risk: 4.404) were independent poor prognostic factors. However, lymphovascular invasion and serosal invasion were also correlated ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: Patients with node-negative gastric adenocarcinoma had less disease progression and a favorable survival. Lymphovascular invasion and depth of cancer invasion were two independent but correlated survival predictors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A single institutional surgical trial for gastric cancer had demonstrated increased morbidity but not mortality. This report analyzes risk factors affecting morbidity. Methods: Risk factors for morbidity in 221 patients treated with curative intent were evaluated in a prospective randomized trial comparing D1 and D3 surgery for curable gastric cancer. Results: The surgeon's experience after 25 nodal dissections had no influence on surgical or overall complications, nor did the patients' co-morbidity (e.g., respiratory system disease, cardiac disease, diabetes mellitus). Distal pancreatectomy negatively affected surgical morbidity [relative risk (RR) 6.21, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.869–20.626] and overall morbidity (RR 5.50, 95% CI 1.671–18.082). All of the patients with a distal pancreatectomy underwent concomitant splenectomy. Multivariate analysis found splenectomy and nodal dissection to be the only two independent risk factors adversely affecting operative morbidity. The RR of splenectomy for surgical complications was 4.19 (95% CI 1.327–13.208), and for overall complications it was 3.88 (95% CI 1.259–11.973). The RR of nodal dissection for surgical complications was 2.51 (95% CI 1.336–4.730), and for overall complications it was 1.93 (95% CI 1.149–3.255). Conclusions: Splenectomy (with or without pancreatectomy) and nodal dissection are risk factors for operative morbidity but not mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between chewing ability and diet among elderly edentulous patients whose dentures were funded by the Department of Health in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. A cluster sample of 103 elderly edentulous subjects 65 years and older (68 men, 35 women) was gathered randomly and assessed through use of a questionnaire. The responses to queries regarding demographics, health, and chewing capabilities were correlated with dietary guidelines for the five basic food groups. Chi-square test analysis revealed that subjects with chewing difficulty consumed fewer vegetables. Only 17% of the total subject pool consumed the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vegetables. Approximately 58% of subjects reported dissatisfaction with their dentures and 51% reported discomfort on chewing. Approximately 4% of the subjects met the RDA standards for all five food groups and 4% did not meet the RDA standards for any of the five food groups. Patient satisfaction with the comfort of their denture during mastication significantly impacted the diet of these elderly edentulous patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]