It often happens that a removable partial denture needs to be repaired due to tissue changes in the remaining alveolar ridge, fracture of the denture, or fracture of the abutment tooth. There are several advantages to retrofitting a customized surveyed crown under the existing RPD. Retrofitting a crown to the RPD decreases the economic burden to the patient and avoids the need for several appointments to fabricate a new RPD. It is difficult for artificial teeth used to repair dentures due to fractured natural teeth to have a shape similar to that of natural teeth, and to repair aesthetic artificial teeth, it is necessary to manufacture customized artificial teeth similar to the shape of each patient’s teeth. Recently, CAD/CAM technology has been used to fabricate customized prosthetics on existing RPD to achieve high retention and fitness accuracy, and by manufacturing customized artificial teeth, more aesthetic and harmonious artificial tooth repair is possible. This is a case in which a denture was repaired using a digital method to fabricate a customized prosthesis on an existing partial denture and customized artificial teeth that mirrored the adjacent dentition, saving time and cost, simplifying the process, and achieving aesthetically and functionally satisfactory results.

It often happens that a removable partial denture needs to be repaired due to tissue changes in the remaining alveolar ridge, fracture of the denture, or fracture of the abutment tooth. There are several advantages to retrofitting a customized surveyed crown under the existing RPD. Retrofitting a crown to the RPD decreases the economic burden to the patient and avoids the need for several appointments to fabricate a new RPD. It is difficult for artificial teeth used to repair dentures due to fractured natural teeth to have a shape similar to that of natural teeth, and to repair aesthetic artificial teeth, it is necessary to manufacture customized artificial teeth similar to the shape of each patient’s teeth. Recently, CAD/CAM technology has been used to fabricate customized prosthetics on existing RPD to achieve high retention and fitness accuracy, and by manufacturing customized artificial teeth, more aesthetic and harmonious artificial tooth repair is possible. This is a case in which a denture was repaired using a digital method to fabricate a customized prosthesis on an existing partial denture and customized artificial teeth that mirrored the adjacent dentition, saving time and cost, simplifying the process, and achieving aesthetically and functionally satisfactory results.

It often happens that a removable partial denture needs to be repaired due to tissue changes in the remaining alveolar ridge, fracture of the denture, or fracture of the abutment tooth. There are several advantages to retrofitting a customized surveyed crown under the existing RPD. Retrofitting a crown to the RPD decreases the economic burden to the patient and avoids the need for several appointments to fabricate a new RPD. It is difficult for artificial teeth used to repair dentures due to fractured natural teeth to have a shape similar to that of natural teeth, and to repair aesthetic artificial teeth, it is necessary to manufacture customized artificial teeth similar to the shape of each patient’s teeth. Recently, CAD/CAM technology has been used to fabricate customized prosthetics on existing RPD to achieve high retention and fitness accuracy, and by manufacturing customized artificial teeth, more aesthetic and harmonious artificial tooth repair is possible. This is a case in which a denture was repaired using a digital method to fabricate a customized prosthesis on an existing partial denture and customized artificial teeth that mirrored the adjacent dentition, saving time and cost, simplifying the process, and achieving aesthetically and functionally satisfactory results.

The worldwide incidence of precocious puberty, which is associated with negative health outcomes, is increasing. Several studies have suggested that environmental factors contribute to the development of precocious puberty alongside genetic factors. Some epidemiological studies have provided limited evidence suggesting an association between exposure to air pollution and changes in pubertal development. This systematic review aimed to summarize existing evidence on the association between air pollution exposure and precocious puberty. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we searched two databases (PubMed and Web of Science) until August 2023. The included studies assessed the association between air pollutant exposure and the risk of precocious puberty, early menarche, or pubertal development. Two authors independently performed study selection and data extraction. A meta-analysis and analysis of the risk of bias were infeasible due to the limited number of studies and the heterogeneity among them. The literature search resulted in 184 studies, from which we included six studies with sample sizes ranging from 437 to 4,074 participants. The studies reported heterogeneous outcomes. Four studies found that increased exposure to air pollution was related to earlier pubertal onset. One study was inconclusive, and another suggested that air pollutant exposure may delay the onset of thelarche. Most studies suggest that exposure to air pollutants accelerates pubertal development; however, the results from the available studies are inconsistent. More extensive and well-designed longitudinal studies are required for a comprehensive understanding of the association between air pollution and precocious puberty.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic neuropathic pain disorder. Pain catastrophizing, characterized by magnification, rumination, and helplessness, increases perceived pain intensity and mental distress in CRPS patients. As functional connectivity patterns in CRPS remain largely unknown, we aimed to investigate functional connectivity alterations in CRPS patients and their association with pain catastrophizing using a whole-brain analysis approach. Twenty-one patients with CRPS and 49 healthy controls were included in the study for clinical assessment and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. Between-group differences in whole-brain functional connectivity were examined through a Network-based Statistics analysis. Associations between altered functional connectivity and the extent of pain catastrophizing were also assessed in CRPS patients. Relative to healthy controls, CRPS patients showed higher levels of functional connectivity in the bilateral somatosensory subnetworks (components 1~2), but lower functional connectivity within the prefronto-posterior cingulate (component 3), prefrontal (component 4), prefronto-parietal (component 5), and thalamo-anterior cingulate (component 6) subnetworks (p<0.05, family-wise error corrected). Higher levels of functional connectivity in components 1~2 (β=0.45, p=0.04) and lower levels of functional connectivity in components 3~6 (β=-0.49, p=0.047) were significantly correlated with higher levels of pain catastrophizing in CRPS patients. Higher functional connectivity in the somatosensory subnetworks implicating exaggerated pain perception and lower functional connectivity in the prefronto-parieto-cingulo-thalamic subnetworks indicating impaired cognitive-affective pain processing may underlie pain catastrophizing in CRPS.

Objectives: This study investigated the effect of cognitive impairment on the association between social network properties and mortality among older Korean adults. Methods: This study used data from the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. It obtained 814 older adults’ complete network maps across an entire village in 2011-2012. Participants’ deaths until December 31, 2020 were confirmed by cause-of-death statistics. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the risks of poor social network properties (low degree centrality, perceived loneliness, social non-participation, group-level segregation, and lack of support) on mortality according to cognitive impairment. Results: In total, 675 participants (5510.4 person-years) were analyzed, excluding those with missing data and those whose deaths could not be verified. Along with cognitive impairment, all social network properties except loneliness were independently associated with mortality. When stratified by cognitive function, some variables indicating poor social relations had higher risks among older adults with cognitive impairment, with adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) of 2.12 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34 to 3.35) for social nonparticipation, 1.58 (95% CI, 0.94 to 2.65) for group-level segregation, and 3.44 (95% CI, 1.55 to 7.60) for lack of support. On the contrary, these effects were not observed among those with normal cognition, with adjusted HRs of 0.73 (95% CI, 0.31 to 1.71), 0.96 (95% CI, 0.42 to 2.21), and 0.95 (95% CI, 0.23 to 3.96), respectively. Conclusions The effect of social network properties was more critical among the elderly with cognitive impairment. Older adults with poor cognitive function are particularly encouraged to participate in social activities to reduce the risk of mortality.

Recently, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) environment have changed the clinician treatment method in the fabrication of prosthesis. The diagnostic wax-up by using digital technology simplifies the laboratory process and provides clinical efficiency and convenience. In this case, Digital diagnostic wax-up was superimposed on extra-oral photo to consider the patient’s facial appearance and utilized to produce the final prosthesis. It can be more efficient and esthetic than a diagnostic wax-up that was made only on a model. The digital diagnostic wax-up that superimposed on extra-oral photo not only visualizes the predicted outcome of prosthodontic treatment but also improves satisfaction and facilitates the communication between patient and dentist. We report aesthetically and functionally satisfactory results that obtained after restoration.

Long-term use of inappropriate prosthesis often results in habitual closure or irregular mandibular movements. In that case, guide to the stable centric position is difficult. Therefore, by using a treatment denture, the muscles and TMJ should be stabilized and the jaw relation should be acquired with the treatment position. Compared to the conventional method, digital technology in fabrica-tion complete denture has the advantage of reproducing a stable tooth arrangement in cases of difficult tooth alignment, minimiz-ing laboratory errors and reducing denture fabrication time. Therefore, in this case, the final denture was fabricated by digitally re-producing the stable treatment position, vertical dimension, and lip support with a treatment denture, and satisfactory results wereobtained.

Monoclonal antibodies are pure antibodies that react to a specific epitope. Plasmapheresis is a treatment that separates and eliminates disease-causing substances before replacing the blood with plasma. Plasmapheresis has insufficient evidence for treating new-onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE). Sequential plasmaphereses gradually improved a female cryptogenic NORSE patient who did not benefit from monoclonal antibody treatment.

Background: Gene therapy shows the ability to restore neuronal dysfunction via therapeutic gene expression. The efficiency of gene expression and delivery to hypoxic injury sites is important for successful gene therapy. Therefore, we established a gene/stem cell therapy system using neuron-specific enolase promoter and induced neural stem cells in combination with valproic acid to increase therapeutic gene expression in hypoxic spinal cord injury. Methods: To examine the effect of combined method on enhancing gene expression, we compared neuronal cell-inducible luciferase levels under normoxia or hypoxia conditions in induced neural stem cells with valproic acid. Therapeutic gene, vascular endothelial growth factor, expression with combined method was investigated in hypoxic spinal cord injury model. We verified gene expression levels and the effect of different methods of valproic acid administration in vivo. Results: The results showed that neuron-specific enolase promoter enhanced gene expression levels in induced neural stem cells compared to Simian Virus 40 promoter under hypoxic conditions. Valproic acid treatment showed higher gene expression of neuron-specific enolase promoter than without treatment. In addition, gene expression levels and cell viability were different depending on the various concentration of valproic acid. The gene expression levels were increased significantly when valproic acid was directly injected with induced neural stem cells in vivo. Conclusion In this study, we demonstrated that the combination of neuron-specific enolase promoter and valproic acid induced gene overexpression in induced neural stem cells under hypoxic conditions and also in spinal cord injury depending on valproic acid administration in vivo. Combination of valproic acid and neuron-specific enolase promoter in induced neural stem cells could be an effective gene therapy system for hypoxic spinal cord injury.