Temporomandibular disorder is a disease caused by various factors such as trauma, mental stress, occlusal factors, and parafunc-tional habits. Among them, many scholars have been interested in the relationship between occlusion and temporomandibular disorder for a long time and have conducted numerous studies, but controversy over this relationship continues to this day. Based on previous studies, this review clearly establishes the relationship on occlusion and temporomandibular disorders and presents the direction for follow-up research by summarizing the limitations of current studies.

Temporomandibular disorder is a disease caused by various factors such as trauma, mental stress, occlusal factors, and parafunc-tional habits. Among them, many scholars have been interested in the relationship between occlusion and temporomandibular disorder for a long time and have conducted numerous studies, but controversy over this relationship continues to this day. Based on previous studies, this review clearly establishes the relationship on occlusion and temporomandibular disorders and presents the direction for follow-up research by summarizing the limitations of current studies.

Temporomandibular disorder is a disease caused by various factors such as trauma, mental stress, occlusal factors, and parafunc-tional habits. Among them, many scholars have been interested in the relationship between occlusion and temporomandibular disorder for a long time and have conducted numerous studies, but controversy over this relationship continues to this day. Based on previous studies, this review clearly establishes the relationship on occlusion and temporomandibular disorders and presents the direction for follow-up research by summarizing the limitations of current studies.

Background: Prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution is linked to a higher risk of unfavorable pregnancy outcomes. However, the association between pregnancy complications and exposure to indoor air pollution remains unclear. The Air Pollution on Pregnancy Outcomes research is a hospital-based prospective cohort research created to look into the effects of aerodynamically exposed particulate matter (PM) 10 and PM 2.5 on pregnancy outcomes. Methods: This prospective multicenter observational cohort study was conducted from January 2021 to June 2023. A total of 662 women with singleton pregnancies enrolled in this study. An AirguardK ® air sensor was installed inside the homes of the participants to measure the individual PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in the living environment. The time–activity patterns and PM 100 and PM 2.5 , determined as concentrations from the time-weighted average model, were applied to determine the anticipated exposure levels to air pollution of each pregnant woman. The relationship between air pollution exposure and pregnancy outcomes was assessed using logistic and linear regression analyses. Results: Exposure to elevated levels of PM 10 throughout the first, second, and third trimesters as well as throughout pregnancy was strongly correlated with the risk of pregnancy problems according to multiple logistic regression models adjusted for variables. Except for in the third trimester of pregnancy, women exposed to high levels of PM 2.5 had a high risk of pregnancy complications. During the second trimester and entire pregnancy, the risk of preterm birth (PTB) increased by 24% and 27%, respectively, for each 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 10. Exposure to high PM 10 levels during the second trimester increased the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) by 30%. The risk of GDM increased by 15% for each 5 μg/m 3 increase in PM2.5 during the second trimester and overall pregnancy, respectively. Exposure to high PM 10 and PM 2.5 during the first trimester of pregnancy increased the risk of delivering small for gestational age (SGA) infants by 96% and 26%, respectively. Conclusion Exposure to high concentrations of PM 10 and PM 2.5 is strongly correlated with the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Exposure to high levels of PM10 and PM2.5 during the second trimester and entire pregnancy, respectively, significantly increased the risk of PTB and GDM. Exposure to high levels of PM 10 and PM2.5 during the first trimester of pregnancy considerably increased the risk of having SGA infants. Our findings highlight the need to measure individual particulate levels during pregnancy and the importance of managing air quality in residential environment.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between subjective and objective depression rating scale for the elderly with depressive symptoms. Methods: Thirty three outpatients aged more than 55 with depressive symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnare-9 (PHQ-9) and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Similar items from each scale were paired to investigate their correlations. The level of agreement between the PHQ-9 and the MADRS was also assessed for subjects by using discrepancy-score. Results: Correlation between total scores of the PHQ-9 and the MADRS was significant (r=0.85, p<0.001). There were signifi-cant correlations between the paired items except for the item about volition. These results were the same in the group whose total education years are 7 or more. However, in the group whose total education years are 6 or less, there was no significant corre-lation between the paired items about sleep, concentration and volition. Conclusion These results demonstrate that using the PHQ-9 in elderly patients is reliable and education level might be considered when interpreting the scale.

Epidermal cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is a tumor-associated antigen (TAA), which has been considered as a cancer vaccine candidate. The EpCAM protein fused to the fragment crystallizable region of immunoglobulin G (IgG) tagged with KDEL endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retention signal (EpCAM-FcK) has been successfully expressed in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi) and purified from the plant leaf. In this study, we investigated the ability of the plant-derived EpCAM-FcK (EpCAM-FcKP ) to elicit an immune response in vivo. The animal group injected with the EpCAM-FcKP showed a higher differentiated germinal center (GC) B cell population (~9%) compared with the animal group injected with the recombinant rhEpCAM-Fc chimera (EpCAM-FcM ). The animal group injected with EpCAM-FcKP (~42%) had more differentiated T follicular helper cells (Tfh) than the animal group injected with EpCAM-FcM (~7%). This study demonstrated that the plant-derived EpCAM-FcK fusion antigenic protein induced a humoral immune response in mice.

OBJECTIVES: Although previous studies have investigated the correlation between fruit and vegetable consumption and depression, the results remain inconclusive. The present study aimed to investigate the association between weekly fruit and vegetable consumption and depressive symptoms in elderly Koreans. METHODS: A multiple covariate linear regression analysis was performed using the data of 1,226 elderly individuals ≥ 60 years of age who participated in the Korean Elderly Environmental Panel II study from 2012 to 2014. Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Korean version of the Short form Geriatric Depression Scale (SGDS-K). Generalized linear mixed-effects models were constructed to analyze the repeated measurements of 305 people who participated in the survey every year. RESULTS: After adjusting for confounders, SGDS-K scores were negatively associated with the frequency of weekly fruit consumption as follows (β [95% confidence interval; CI]: -0.17 [-0.28 to -0.05], -0.17 [-0.27 to -0.07], -0.42 [-0.54 to 0.29], and -0.33 [-0.44 to -0.21]) for less than 1 time/wk, 1-3 times/wk, 4-6 times/wk, and daily, respectively, compared to no consumption. The SGDS-K scores were also negatively associated with the frequency of vegetable consumption (β [95% CI]: -0.86 [-1.18 to -0.55], -0.18 [-0.35 to -0.01], -0.36 [-0.53 to -0.18], and -0.15 [-0.29 to 0.00]) in the above order, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Fruit consumption was inversely associated with depression levels in a dose-dependent manner. Although there was no dose-response relationship between vegetable consumption and the level of depression, it was negatively associated with SGDS-K scores.