Enhanced subliminal emotional responses to dynamic facial expressions

Emotional processing without conscious awareness plays an important role in human social interaction. Several behavioral studies reported that subliminal presentation of photographs of emotional facial expressions induces unconscious emotional processing. However, it was difficult to elicit strong and robust effects using this method. We hypothesized that dynamic presentations of facial expressions would enhance subliminal emotional effects and tested this hypothesis with two experiments. Fearful or happy facial expressions were presented dynamically or statically in either the left or the right visual field for 20 (Experiment 1) and 30 (Experiment 2) ms. Nonsense target ideographs were then presented, and participants reported their preference for them. The results consistently showed that dynamic presentations of emotional facial expressions induced more evident emotional biases toward subsequent targets than did static ones. These results indicate that dynamic presentations of emotional facial expressions induce more evident unconscious emotional processing

Two-stage Method for the Extraction of a Horizontally Impacted Lower Third Molar

AbstractA modification of the surgical technique for extracting impacted lower third molars is required to decrease the rate of complications including inferior alveolar nerve injury. In this study, a new two-stage extraction method for the horizontally impacted lower third molar was developed. During the first stage, only the crown was removed after separating the impacted tooth at the neck. Thereafter, the root(s) was pulled toward the anterior direction with an elastic band at 130–150 g over a 7-day period. Next, the root(s) was extracted. This method was firstly attempted for 20 horizontally impacted lower third molars, the roots of which had been close to the mandibular canal in panoramic radiographs and were pulled for 20.8 ± 11.5 (n = 20) days. The roots in 17 of 20 cases (85%) were loosened from the sockets and extracted easily without any complications. These outcomes suggest that this two-stage method is useful for the extraction of a horizontally impacted lower third molar in order to decrease the rate of inferior alveolar nerve injury

Primary meningioma of the mandible

SummaryWe reported a case of primary extracranial meningioma in the mandible of a 10 year-old-boy with basal cell nevus syndrome. The tumor had a well-delineated large round shaped radiolucency including an impacted canine in the mandible. Microscopic examination revealed a fibrous tumor composed of uniform spindle-shaped cells and fine collagen bundles. The spindle-shaped cells were arranged in whorls and interconnecting fascicles, and some nuclear pseudoinclusion and psammoma bodies were detected. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were stained for epithelial membrane antigen, vimentin and desmoplakin, but not for S-100 protein. No recurrence of the tumor was detected for 4 years

Widespread and lateralized social brain activity for processing dynamic facial expressions

Dynamic facial expressions of emotions constitute natural and powerful means of social communication in daily life. A number of previous neuroimaging studies have explored the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of dynamic facial expressions, and indicated the activation of certain social brain regions (e.g., the amygdala) during such tasks. However, the activated brain regions were inconsistent across studies, and their laterality was rarely evaluated. To investigate these issues, we measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging in a relatively large sample (n = 51) during the observation of dynamic facial expressions of anger and happiness and their corresponding dynamic mosaic images. The observation of dynamic facial expressions, compared with dynamic mosaics, elicited stronger activity in the bilateral posterior cortices, including the inferior occipital gyri, fusiform gyri, and superior temporal sulci. The dynamic facial expressions also activated bilateral limbic regions, including the amygdalae and ventromedial prefrontal cortices, more strongly versus mosaics. In the same manner, activation was found in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and left cerebellum. Laterality analyses comparing original and flipped images revealed right hemispheric dominance in the superior temporal sulcus and IFG and left hemispheric dominance in the cerebellum. These results indicated that the neural mechanisms underlying processing of dynamic facial expressions include widespread social brain regions associated with perceptual, emotional, and motor functions, and include a clearly lateralized (right cortical and left cerebellar) network like that involved in language processing

Inter-brain synchronization in the client-therapist relationship during sandplay therapy: an exploratory study

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Interleukin-4 downregulates the cyclic tensile stress-induced matrix metalloproteinases-13 and cathepsin b expression by rat normal chondrocytes

Mechanical stress plays a key role in the pathogenesis of cartilage destruction seen in osteoarthritis (OA). We investigated the effect of cyclic tensile stress (CTS) on the anabolic and catabolic gene expression of rat cultured normal chondrocytes using the Flexercell strain unit. The effects of interleukin (IL)-4, a chondroprotective cytokine, on the changes in gene expression induced by CTS were also investigated. CTS (7% elongation at 0.5 Hz) for 24 h did not affect the expression of aggrecan and type II collagen, whereas CTS significantly upregulated matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13 and cathepsin B mRNA expression by chondrocytes. IL-1beta expression was also signifi cantly upregulated by CTS up to 12 h. The upregulation of MMP-13 was observed at 3 h, which was earlier than that of IL-1beta. Furthermore, pre-treatment with IL-4 (10 ng/ml) suppressed both MMP-13 and cathepsin B induction by mechanical stress, as well as CTS-induced IL-1beta expression. Our results suggest that IL-4 might have a therapeutic value in the treatment of OA by downregulation of mechanical stress-induced MMP-13 and cathepsin B expression by chondrocytes.</p

Inter-Brain Synchronization During Sandplay Therapy: Individual Analyses

Interactions between the client (Cl) and therapist (Th) evolve therapeutic relationships in psychotherapy. An interpersonal link or therapeutic space is implicitly developed, wherein certain important elements are expressed and shared. However, neural basis of psychotherapy, especially of non-verbal modalities, have scarcely been explored. Therefore, we examined the neural backgrounds of such therapeutic alliances during sandplay, a powerful art/play therapy technique. Real-time and simultaneous measurement of hemodynamics was conducted in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of Cl-Th pairs participating in sandplay and subsequent interview sessions through multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy. As sandplay is highly individualized, and no two sessions and products (sandtrays) are the same, we expected variation in interactive patterns in the Cl–Th pairs. Nevertheless, we observed a statistically significant correlation between the spatio-temporal patterns in signals produced by the homologous regions of the brains. During the sandplay condition, significant correlations were obtained in the lateral PFC and frontopolar (FP) regions in the real Cl-Th pairs. Furthermore, a significant correlation was observed in the FP region for the interview condition. The correlations found in our study were explained as a “remote” synchronization (i.e., unconnected peripheral oscillators synchronizing through a hub maintaining free desynchronized dynamics) between two subjects in a pair, possibly representing the neural foundation of empathy, which arises commonly in sandplay therapy (ST)

Effectiveness of an erbium-doped:yttrium, aluminum and garnet laser for treatment of peri-implant disease : clinical, microbiological, and biochemical marker analyses

The effectiveness of an erbium-doped: yttrium, aluminum and garnet (Er: YAG) laser (EYL) for the treatment of peri-implant disease (PID) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to compare non-surgical EYL therapy for PID with locally delivered minocycline hydrochloride (MC) ointment therapy by evaluating clinical, microbiological, and biochemical markers. Thirty-seven patients with PID were randomly assigned to either the EYL group (n = 18) or the MC group (n = 19). The clinical, microbiological, and biochemical markers at baseline and at 1 and 3 months after treatment were compared between the two groups. Subgingival plaque and peri-implant crevicular fluid (PICF) were collected from the diseased pockets. In the EYL group, probing pocket depth (PPD) was significantly decreased after treatment when compared with baseline. On the other hand, in the MC group, there was no significant decrease in PPD after treatment. Specific bacteria associated with PID were not determined. The counts of both Gram-positive and -negative species did not significantly decrease in the EYL group at 3 months after treatment. In the MC group, the counts of almost all bacterial species were significantly decreased after treatment. Biochemical marker analysis of PICF revealed significantly lower levels of metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 in the EYL group, as compared with the MC group at 3 months after treatment (p= 0.009). Non-surgical therapy with an EYL for PID was clinically effective, with decreased MMP-9 levels in PICF, which may lead to reduced peri-implant tissue destruction

Suprapatellar cyst: diagnostic and therapeutic possibillities

Suprapatelarna burza nalazi se između tetive m. kvadricepsa i distalnoga dijela natkoljenične kosti, a razvija se prije rođenja kao zasebni sinovijalni prostor proksimalno od zgloba koljena. Unatoč tome što anatomija dobro opisuje i definira supratatelarnu burzu i njezinu komunikaciju sa zglobnom šupljinom koljena, činjenica je da se u praksi ta zglobna šupljina i sinovijalna burza ipak smatraju jednim sinovijalnim prostorom, a granica između njih najčešće je više ili manje izražen sinovijalni nabor poznat kao suprapatelarna sinovijalna plika. Do petoga mjeseca fetalnog života između šupljine koljenskoga zgloba i suprapatelarne burze postoji poprečni suprapatelarni septum koji kasnije perforira i involuira, tako da se uspostavlja normalna komunikacija između šupljine burze i koljena. Jedan manji dio embrionalnog septuma kasnije može zaostati kao više ili manje izražena suprapatelarna plika. U slučaju kada suprapatelarna plika ima mali otvor s ventilnim mehanizmom ili u slučaju kompletnoga septuma, burza postaje odvojeni prostor, te potencijalno mjesto za razvoj cistične formacije, odnosno suprapatelarne ciste. U stručnoj literaturi za ovu rijetku patologiju spominju se i sinonomi kao što su suprapatelarna sinovijalna cista, suprapatelarni burzitis ili antefemoralna cista. U dijagnostici, pojedini autori koristili su ultrazvuk, artrografiju, scintigrafiju i kompjuteriziranu tomografiju. Međutim, magnetska rezonancija je u literaturi prepoznata kao “zlatni standard“ u dijagnostici cista oko koljena, upravo radi mogućnosti prikaza cistične prirode lezije, njezinoga odnosa prema drugim anatomskim strukturama, te radi utvrđivanja ostale patologije koljena. U pogledu liječenja, većina cisti oko koljena u djece nestaje spontano, te bi one općenito trebale biti liječene konzervativnim tretmanom koji obuhvaća aspiraciju i aplikaciju kortikosteroida. Operacijsko liječenje rezervirano je za velike suprapatelarne ciste koje ne reagiraju na konzervativno liječenje, odnosno one s nespecifičnim sinovitisom ili hemoragijom unutar ciste, s boli i ograničenim opsegom pokreta ili s udruženom intraartikularnom patologijom. Iako se po dostupnoj literaturi suprapatelarna cista kao iznimno rijetka patologija koljena može liječiti i otvorenom ekstirpacijom, možemo istaknuti da se može učinkovito i sigurno liječiti i artroskopskom dekompresijom uz ranu fizikalnu terapiju, bez recidiva i uz brzi funkcionalni oporavak pacijenta.The suprapatellar bursa is located between the quadriceps tendon and femur, and it develops before birth as a separate synovial compartment proximal to the knee joint. Even though the anatomy describes and defines the suprapatellar bursa and its communication with the knee joint cavity very well, the fact is that in practice joint cavity and suprapatellar bursa are still considered as one synovial area, and the border between them is a more or less expressed synovial fold also known as the suprapatellar plica. By the fifth month of fetal life, there is a suprapatellar septum between the knee joint cavity and suprapatellar bursa which later perforates and involutes in a way that a normal communication between the cavity of bursa and knee is established. A small portion of the embryonic septum can later lag as more or less expressed suprapatellar plica. In the case when the suprapatellar plica has a small communication with the valve mechanism or in the case of complete septum, the bursa becomes a separate compartment and potential place for suprapatellar cyst development. In literature, thereare synonyms for this kind of pathology such as suprapatellar synovial cyst, suprapatellar bursitis or antefemoral cyst. In diagnosis, some authors have used ultrasound, arthrography, scintigraphy and computed tomography. However, in literature, the MRI is recognized as the “gold standard” in diagnosis of knee cysts because of its ability to show the cystic nature of the lesion, its relationship with other anatomic structures, as well as to establish whether other knee pathologies are present. Considering treatment possibilities, the majority of cysts around the knee in children resolve spontaneously and should be treated conservatively covering aspiration and the application of corticosteroids. Surgical treatment is reserved for large cysts with unspecific synovitis, or with hemorrhage inside the cyst, with pain and limited range of motion, or with associated intra-articular pathology. Although, according to the available literature, the suprapatellar cyst as a very rare knee pathology is treated by an open excision. In conclusion, we can point out that it can also be effectively and safely treated by arthroscopic decompression without recurrence and followed by a fast and functional recovery of the patient