Protein kinase R regulates pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression by modulating the cell cycle via GADD45A.

Protein kinase R (PKR) functions both as a promoter and inhibitor in various cancers; however, its role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains unclear. We investigated the role of PKR in PDAC. PKR expression in PDAC cell lines was assessed using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and western blotting.

Pancreatic congestion is associated with exocrine pancreatic function in liver cirrhosis.

Aim: Portal hypertension resulting from liver cirrhosis (LC) can lead to pancreatic congestion and impaired insulin secretion. Therefore, this prospective study aimed to assess the association between pancreatic congestion and exocrine pancreatic function in patients with LC.

Methods: In our clinical study, pancreatic congestion and exocrine pancreatic function were evaluated using shear wave dispersion (SWD) and fecal elastase-1 (FE-1).

Effects of toothbrush abrasion on color, gloss, and surface roughness, and thermal cycling on bond strength of CAD-CAM composite resin block with light-cured resin coating restoration materials.

This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of light-cured resin coating restoration materials (RCs) on anterior composite resin blocks by quantifying the color, gloss, and surface roughness before and after toothbrush abrasion test and to evaluate the shear bond strength before and after thermal cycling test. Four types of RCs were used in the experiments. The application of RCs to composite resin blocks resulted in color changes and a decrease in gloss after the toothbrush abrasion test; however, both were within clinically acceptable limits.

A multicenter prospective observational study for health assessment questionnaires EQ-5D-5L and G8 in unresectable advanced pancreatic cancer treated with first-line gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel therapy.

Background: In chemotherapy for unresectable advanced pancreatic cancer (UPC), the clinical utility of pre-treatment health assessment questionnaires, EuroQoL 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) and G8, is unknown. This study aimed to fill this gap.

Methods: This multicenter, prospective, observational study investigated the association of EQ-5D-5L and G8 with the clinical outcomes of first-line gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel (GnP) for UPC.

Pancreatic Pseudocyst after Fully Covered Self-expandable Metallic Stent Placement.

A 70-year-old woman presented with stage III pancreatic head cancer. After endoscopic sphincterotomy, a fully covered self-expandable metallic stent (FCSEMS) was placed in the common bile duct to manage jaundice. The patient developed a fever and abdominal pain 40 days after stent placement, with a suspected diagnosis of infected pancreatic pseudocyst.

Constructing the brief diagnostic criteria for temporomandibular disorders (bDC/TMD) for field testing.

Background: Despite advances in temporomandibular disorders' (TMDs) diagnosis, the diagnostic process continues to be problematic in non-specialist settings.

Objective: To complete a Delphi process to shorten the Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (DC/TMD) to a brief DC/TMD (bDC/TMD) for expedient clinical diagnosis and initial management.

Methods: An international Delphi panel was created with 23 clinicians representing major specialities, general dentistry and related fields.

Orofacial pain for clinicians: A review of constant and attack-like facial pain syndromes.

Background: Primary headache syndromes such as migraine are among the most common neurological syndromes. Chronic facial pain syndromes of non-odontogenic cause are less well known to neurologists despite being highly disabling. Given the pain localization, these patients often consult dentists first who may conduct unnecessary dental interventions even if a dental cause is not identified.

Assessment of awake bruxism-Combinational analysis of ecological momentary assessment and electromyography.

Purpose: No consensus exists regarding the examination methods and assessment criteria for awake bruxism (AB). In this study, masticatory muscle activity measured using electromyography (EMG) was recorded simultaneously with the ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of bruxism events. Data were collected to identify distinctive EMG parameters in AB.

Patients with Chronic Liver Disease under Surveillance for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Have a Favorable Long-Term Outcome for Pancreatic Cancer Due to Early Diagnosis and High Resection Rate.

Patients with viral hepatitis-related chronic liver disease (CLD) under surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are often diagnosed with pancreatic cancer (PC) at an early stage. However, the long-term outcomes of these patients are unclear. We aimed to clarify the long-term outcomes of patients with PC with viral hepatitis-related CLD using a chart review.

Masticatory performance in oral function assessment: Alternative methods.

Background: Masticatory function declines with age or disease, implicating a poor chewing efficiency and an often-unconscious change for a less healthy, yet easy to chew diet. Timely screening of masticatory function may foster an early-onset diagnosis and potential treatment. The aim of this study was to compare alternative diagnostic tools for masticatory function to a Jelly-scan test.

Fit and retention of complete denture bases: Part I - Conventional versus CAD-CAM methods: A clinical controlled crossover study.

Statement Of Problem: Clinical evidence is sparse on whether dentures fabricated by computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) methods afford superior fit and retention when compared with those fabricated conventionally.

Purpose: The purpose of this clinical controlled crossover study was to evaluate the peak retention force and fit of CAD-CAM manufactured (3D printed and milled) maxillary complete denture bases and conventional heat-polymerized bases (control).

Material And Methods: Twenty participants with edentulous maxillary arches were recruited.

Fit and retention of complete denture bases: Part II - conventional impressions versus digital scans: A clinical controlled crossover study.

Statement Of Problem: Although the intraoral scanning of edentulous ridges is feasible, clinical evidence that the resulting denture retention is equivalent to that achieved with conventional impressions is lacking.

Purpose: The purpose of this clinical study was to determine the retention of complete denture bases fabricated from digital intraoral scans versus conventional impressions by using border molding and posterior palatal seal compression.

Material And Methods: Twenty volunteers with an edentulous maxilla were recruited.

Association Between Anxiety and Descending Pain Modulation of Thermal Stimuli in Patients with Burning Mouth Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Aims: To investigate the predictive power of depression and anxiety for conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and to examine the relationships of CPM at 40°C and CPM at 47°C with age, disease-related pain, pain duration, and psychosocial factors in burning mouth syndrome (BMS).

Methods: A total of 22 patients with BMS and 22 healthy female controls participated in this study. Temporal summation was used as the test stimulus for CPM, and subsequent exposure either to a nonpainful (40°C) or a painful (47°C) Peltier thermode was used as the conditioning stimulus.

Potential differences in somatosensory function during premenopause and early and late postmenopause in patients with burning mouth syndrome: An observational case-control study.

Background/purpose: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic condition presenting as intraoral burning or dysesthesia, with a high preponderance in menopausal women. This study aimed to examine the association between somatosensory dysfunction and BMS in premenopausal, early postmenopausal, and late postmenopausal patients, using a standardized Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) protocol, and to determine the predictive value of thermal or mechanical perception by QST for detecting BMS.

Materials And Methods: An observational case-control study was performed with 36 female participants with BMS (12 premenopausal, 10 early postmenopausal, and 14 late postmenopausal) and 42 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers (21 premenopausal, 10 early postmenopausal, and 11 late postmenopausal).

Oral function and nutritional status in non-acute hospitalised elders.

Introduction: Malnutrition and risk of malnutrition continues to be a common finding in elders, yet its association with oral function in hospitalised patients remains unclear.

Material And Methods: Patients aged 70 years or over who had been hospitalised for non-acute rehabilitation were recruited. Nutritional risk was screened using the Mini-Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF) and Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS) scores.

Apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD regulates the growth of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase recruitment domain (ASC) is a key adaptor protein of inflammasomes and a proapoptotic molecule; however, its roles in signal transduction in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells remain unknown. Here, we clarified the role and mechanisms of action of ASC in PDAC using clinical evidence and in vitro data. ASC expression in PDAC tissues was analyzed using public tumor datasets and immunohistochemistry results of patients who underwent surgery, and PDAC prognosis was investigated using the Kaplan-Meier Plotter.

Simple prognostic markers for optimal treatment of patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.

Most patients with pancreatic cancer are ineligible for curative resection at diagnosis, resulting in poor prognosis. This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic factors in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.We retrospectively collected clinical data from 196 patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer who received palliative chemotherapy (N = 153) or palliative care alone (N = 43) from January 2011 to December 2013.

Unilateral Trigeminal Sensory Neuropathy with Sjögren's Syndrome with Liver and Renal Impairment.

Liver and renal involvement is a rare event in Sjögren's syndrome. Sjögren's syndrome is characterized by the progressive immune-mediated destruction of epithelial tissues of the salivary and lacrimal glands. Sensory ganglionitis, accompanied by T-cell invasion, occurs in patients with Sjögren's syndrome, resulting in sensory neuropathy of the face or limbs.

Validation of a novel diagnostic tool for decreased tongue pressure.

Introduction: Reduced tongue pressure may render eating and swallowing difficult. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the tongue training device can also be used as a diagnostic device and whether its sensitivity and specificity are equal to the numerical tongue pressure measuring device.

Material And Methods: The target group is patients aged 70 years and over who are hospitalised for rehabilitation.

Orofacial Neuropathic Pain-Basic Research and Their Clinical Relevancies.

Trigeminal nerve injury is known to cause severe persistent pain in the orofacial region. This pain is difficult to diagnose and treat. Recently, many animal studies have reported that rewiring of the peripheral and central nervous systems, non-neuronal cell activation, and up- and down-regulation of various molecules in non-neuronal cells are involved in the development of this pain following trigeminal nerve injury.

Pancreas stiffness in liver cirrhosis is an indicator of insulin secretion caused by portal hypertension and pancreatic congestion.

Aim: Portal hypertension induces pancreatic congestion and impaired insulin secretion in patients with liver cirrhosis (LC). However, its mechanism is unclear, with no established noninvasive imaging method for the evaluation of its pathogeneses. The present study focused on pancreas stiffness, as assessed by shear wave elastography (SWE), and examined its association with portal hypertension and insulin secretion.

Microglia-Astrocyte Communication via C1q Contributes to Orofacial Neuropathic Pain Associated with Infraorbital Nerve Injury.

Trigeminal nerve injury causes a distinct time window of glial activation in the trigeminal spinal subnucleus caudalis (Vc), which are involved in the initiation and maintenance phases of orofacial neuropathic pain. Microglia-derived factors enable the activation of astrocytes. The complement component C1q, which promotes the activation of astrocytes, is known to be synthesized in microglia.