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Abstract Objective The aim of the present clinical pilot study was to examine the influence of a combination of micronutrients on individuals with high stress experience. Methods 40 healthy students (28 female, 12 male) with a mean age of 27.1 ± 3.0 years, experiencing high examination stress, were chosen. After approval of the ethics commission, one group of students (n = 19) took a combination of micronutrients (Orthomol vital m/f) for three months, whereas other students (n = 21) served as control group. All participants underwent at the beginning and at the end of the trial a dental examination, a determination of 10 periodontal pathogens, a salivary and a blood analysis. In addition, the participants filled in a questionnaire on nutrition, quality of life and degree of stress experienced during their final examinations. Results The evaluation of the results, obtained at the end of the trial period, showed that for all students a slight worsening of oral hygiene and an increased consumption of unhealthy food could be observed. The intake of the micronutrients led to a slight improvement of the degree of gingival inflammation in comparison to the control group. The blood analysis showed an increase in vitamin (vitamin C, vitamin E) and zinc concentrations, and a lower increase in CRP. In the male subjects, a decrease in the serum concentrations of triglycerides (p = 0.073) and LDL (p = 0.048) was observed. Conclusions This pilot study shows that micronutrients, taken during periods of high stress experience, had a beneficial effect on inflammatory processes and helped reduce the level of some of the plasma lipids in males, and thus can be recommended for supplementing the diet. However, additional studies with a higher number of subjects, also suffering from periodontal disease, are necessary to show the effect of a micronutrient supplementation more clearly.

Objective: To evaluate the perception of esthetic orthodontic appliances by means of eye-tracking measurements and survey investigation., Materials and Methods: En face and close-up images with different orthodontic appliances (aligner appliance [a], aligner appliance and attachments [b], lingual appliance [c], ceramic brackets [d], no appliance [e; control]) were shown to 140 participants. Eye movement and gaze direction was recorded by eye-tracking system. For different anatomical areas and areas of the appliances, time to first fixation and total fixation time were recorded. The questions included in a visual analog scale regarding individual sentiency were answered by the participants., Results: For all groups, the anatomical landmarks were inspected in the following order: (1) eyes, (2) mouth, (3) nose, (4) hair, and (5) ears. Only in group d, first fixation was on the mouth region (1.10 ± 1.05 seconds). All appliances except the lingual appliance (1.87 ± 1.31 seconds) resulted in a longer fixation on the mouth area (a, 2.97 ± 1.32 seconds; b, 3.35 ± 1.38 seconds; d, 3.29 ± 1.36 seconds). For close-up pictures, the fastest (0.58 seconds) and longest (3.14 seconds) fixation was found for group d, followed by group b (1.02 seconds/2.3 seconds), group a (2.57 seconds/0.83 seconds), and group c (3.28 seconds/0.05 seconds). Visual analog scale scoring of questions on visibility were consistent with eye-tracking measurements. With increasing visibility, the feeling of esthetic impairment was considered higher., Conclusions: Lingual orthodontic appliances do not change how the face is perceived. Other esthetic orthodontic appliances may change the pattern of facial inspection and are different in subjective perception.

The indazole, benzisothiazole, and benzisothiazole 1,1-dioxide analogues of [[7-chloro-3-(2-fluorophenyl)-1,2-benzisoxazol-6-yl]oxy]acetic acid were synthesized and tested for diuretic activity in saline-loaded mice. Each analogue was found to be less active than the parent benzisoxazole: the diuretic activity followed the order O greater than S greater than N = SO2 in regard to the heteroatom in the 1-position of the ring.