New Method of Avoiding Underestimation of Caries Incidence and Its Association with Possible Risk Factors in Japanese University Students: A Prospective Cohort Study

The objective of this three-year prospective cohort study was to investigate the association between a new definition of an increase in dental caries and risk factors in Japanese young adults. Data of Okayama University students who volunteered to undergo oral examinations and answer questionnaires in 2015 and 2018 were analyzed. The status of filled teeth and the status of occlusal/proximal surfaces of filled or decayed teeth were recorded. An increase in dental caries was defined as a change in the status of filled teeth and/or an increase in dental caries of occlusal and proximal surfaces. A total of 393 participants (18.2 +/- 0.8 years) were analyzed. First and second molars showed a high prevalence of dental caries. Of the participants, 144 (36.6%) showed an increase in dental caries. In all the participants and in the females, the decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) score and history of orthodontic treatment at baseline were significantly associated with an increase in dental caries (p = 2) at baseline were significantly associated with an increase in dental caries (p = 0.04). The DMFT score and history of orthodontic treatment at baseline can be risk factors for an increase in dental caries using the new definition in young adults

Comprehensive Analysis of Risk Factors for Periodontitis Focusing on the Saliva Microbiome and Polymorphism

Few studies have exhaustively assessed relationships among polymorphisms, the microbiome, and periodontitis. The objective of the present study was to assess associations simultaneously among polymorphisms, the microbiome, and periodontitis. We used propensity score matching with a 1:1 ratio to select subjects, and then 22 individuals (mean age +/- standard deviation, 60.7 +/- 9.9 years) were analyzed. After saliva collection, V3-4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced to investigate microbiome composition, alpha diversity (Shannon index, Simpson index, Chao1, and abundance-based coverage estimator) and beta diversity using principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) based on weighted and unweighted UniFrac distances. A total of 51 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to periodontitis were identified. The frequencies of SNPs were collected from Genome-Wide Association Study data. The PCoA of unweighted UniFrac distance showed a significant difference between periodontitis and control groups (p 0.05). Two families (Lactobacillaceae and Desulfobulbaceae) and one species (Porphyromonas gingivalis) were observed only in the periodontitis group. No SNPs showed significant expression. These results suggest that periodontitis was related to the presence of P. gingivalis and the families Lactobacillaceae and Desulfobulbaceae but not SNPs

Characterization of Novel 4-n-Butylphenol- Degrading Pseudomonas Veronii Strains Isolated from Rhizosphere of Giant Duckweed, Spirodela polyrrhiza

『大阪大学大学院工学研究科環境・エネルギー工学専攻生物圏環境工学領域 研究活動報告』, (2009.4.1～2010.3.31), pp.32-41, 大阪大学大学院工学研究科環境・エネルギー工学専攻環境資源・材料学講座生物圏環境工学領域, 2010.5 に掲

Enhancing PET Images by Means of Bates\u27 Blind Deconvolution

　Positron emission tomography (PET) is an innovative inspection method for early detection and treatment of cancer etc. The practical use of PET is rapidly advanced in recent years. However, the resolution of the PET images is yet to be improved for both purposes. There are two elements in improving the resolution of the PET images. One is the gammaray detection-system, and the other is the image processing system. The purpose of this work is to examine whether or not the improvement of the resolution of the PET images can be achieved by image-restoration technique. For this purpose, we explore Bates’ blind deconvolution that is regarded as an extended method of the one-dimensional signal conditioning with zero-values of signals. We developed some new technical tools for that study and show how they are useful. We present a PET image that we successfully enhanced by means of Bates’ blind deconvolution

Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Activity as a Marker of Quality in Cryopreserved Cord Blood

We investigated the effects of cryopreservation on CD34+ cells and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) -positive cells (ALDH (+) cells) in the umbilical cord blood (UCB) of unrelated donors. Ten units of UCB were collected at the Kanagawa Cord Blood Bank from September 2009 to November 2010. These UCB units were frozen for 2 weeks or 1 year, and then assayed for quality by flow cytometry analysis and colony-forming assay. We found that both ALDH (+) cells and the numbers of total colony-forming units and colony-forming units of granulocyte/macrophage from the isolated CD34+ cells were significantly decreased after all cryopreservation. The numbers of ALDH (+) /CD34+ cells, ALDH (+) /CD34+CD38- cells, and total colony-forming units from the cryopreserved UCB units continued to decrease over time with cryopreservation. In contrast, levels of traditional primitive surface markers were not significantly decreased in CD34+ cells and CD34+CD38- cells after cryopreservation, although this result depended on the duration of cryopreservation. These findings suggested that ALDH (+) cells could be a new marker for assessing cryopreserved UCB quality prior to hematopoietic cell transplantation

Trends in Self-Rated Oral Health and Its Associations with Oral Health Status and Oral Health Behaviors in Japanese University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study from 2011 to 2019

Self-rated oral health (SROH) is a valid, comprehensive indicator of oral health status. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to analyze how oral health behaviors and clinical oral status were associated with SROH and how they had changed over the course of nine years in Japanese university students. Data were obtained from 17,996 students who underwent oral examinations and completed self-questionnaires from 2011 to 2019. Oral status was assessed using the decayed and filled teeth scores, bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth, the Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S), oral health behaviors, and related factors. SROH improved from 2011 to 2019. The logistic regression model showed that university students who were female and had a high daily frequency of tooth brushing, no BOP, no decayed teeth, no filled teeth, and a low OHI-S score and were significantly more likely to report very good, good, or fair SROH. An interaction effect was observed between survey year and regular dental check-ups (year x regular dental check-ups). The improvement trend in SROH might be associated with changes in oral health behaviors and oral health status

Features of the oral microbiome in Japanese elderly people with 20 or more teeth and a non-severe periodontal condition during periodontal maintenance treatment: A cross-sectional study

Introduction The aim of the present study was to characterize the profile and diversity of the oral microbiome of a periodontally non-severe group with >= 20 teeth in comparison with a severe periodontitis group of elderly Japanese people. Methods A total of 50 patients who had >= 20 teeth and aged >= 60 years were recruited, and 34 participants (13 non-severe participants) were analyzed. After oral rinse (saliva after rinsing) sample collection, the V3-V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced to investigate microbiome composition, alpha diversity (Shannon index, Simpson index, richness, and evenness), and beta diversity using principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) based on weighted and unweighted UniFrac distances. A linear discriminant analysis effect size was calculated to identify bacterial species in the periodontally non-severe group. Results The periodontally non-severe group showed lower alpha diversity than that of the severe periodontitis group (p Conclusion The oral microbiome in elderly Japanese people with >= 20 teeth and a non-severe periodontal condition was characterized by low alpha diversity and the presence of four bacterial species

Relationship of Salivary Microbiome with the Worsening of the Periodontal Health Status in Young Adults: A 3-Year Cohort Study

The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to investigate the influence of the salivary microbiome on the worsening of the periodontal health status among Japanese young adults. We assessed the data of systemically healthy and non-smoking young (18-22 years) university students (n = 457) from Okayama University at baseline (2013) and follow-up (2016). The worsening group was defined based on an increase in the percentage of bleeding on probing (%BOP) or an increase in probing pocket depth (PPD) from = 4 mm. Unstimulated saliva samples were randomly collected from 69 students for microbiome analysis at follow-up. The salivary microbiome was assessed through 16S rRNA metagenomic sequencing. The type of community in the salivary microbiome clustered by statistical analysis and diversity was not significantly associated with the worsening of the periodontal health status in cases of increasing %BOP and PPD (p > 0.05). The prevalence of some species was significantly higher in the worsening group than in the non-worsening group (p < 0.05) in both cases. The worsening of the periodontal health status was associated with some species, but not the type of community and diversity in the salivary microbiome among Japanese young adults