Postoperative tomographic assessment of veneer bone grafting with implant placement in the maxillary anterior region.

Various ridge augmentation and sinus lift procedures were performed in severely resorbed alveolar crests of a maxilla to provide some volume for implant treatment. It was reported that the outcome of maxillary sinus lift procedures was evaluated with conventional tomography or computerized tomography, and that grafted bone around implants markedly progressed in resorption, particularly at the implant apex. However, veneer bone grafting with implant placement has not been evaluated after treatment with imaging techniques. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess veneer bone grafting after maxillary anterior implant treatment. Seven patients with a mean age of 24 years, with implants placed in the maxillary anterior region with or without autogenous veneer bone grafting were postoperatively examined using conventional tomography. On tomograms, the ratio of bone-to-implant contact and the area of bone were measured in labial bones with bone grafts, and they were compared with the values without bone grafts. In cases with bone grafting, the average ratio of bone-to-implant contact was 63.6%, whereas 81.8% was formed in cases without bone grafting. The average area of bone was 12.9 mm and 23.4 mm in patients with and without bone grafting, respectively. No significant difference was found between the implants with and without bone grafts. Resorbed labial bone was observed in the maxillary anterior region with and without veneer bone grafting

Preliminary Study on the Diagnostic Performance of a Deep Learning System for Submandibular Gland Inflammation Using Ultrasonography Images

This study was performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of deep learning systems using ultrasonography (USG) images of the submandibular glands (SMGs) in three different conditions: obstructive sialoadenitis, Sjögren’s syndrome (SjS), and normal glands. Fifty USG images with a confirmed diagnosis of obstructive sialoadenitis, 50 USG images with a confirmed diagnosis of SjS, and 50 USG images with no SMG abnormalities were included in the study. The training group comprised 40 obstructive sialoadenitis images, 40 SjS images, and 40 control images, and the test group comprised 10 obstructive sialoadenitis images, 10 SjS images, and 10 control images for deep learning analysis. The performance of the deep learning system was calculated and compared between two experienced radiologists. The sensitivity of the deep learning system in the obstructive sialoadenitis group, SjS group, and control group was 55.0%, 83.0%, and 73.0%, respectively, and the total accuracy was 70.3%. The sensitivity of the two radiologists was 64.0%, 72.0%, and 86.0%, respectively, and the total accuracy was 74.0%. This study revealed that the deep learning system was more sensitive than experienced radiologists in diagnosing SjS in USG images of two case groups and a group of healthy subjects in inflammation of SMGs

Modular Redox Switching of Dinuclear Organometallic Molecular Junctions

Molecular switch is one of the essential functional units of molecular electronics. Here, we report development of new molecular switches based on the electron-rich diruthenium complexes with the (2,5-di-R-substituted 1,4-diethynylbenzene)diyl linkers. The dinuclear molecular switches, {µ-p-C≡C-(2,5-R2-C6H2)-C≡C}{Ru(dppe)2(C≡C-C6H4-p-SMe)}2 1R (R= OMe, H, CF3), with various substituents (R) on the bridging phenylene rings showed two successive reversible 1e-oxidation waves, indicating stability of 1e-oxidized mixed-valence species. The solid-state structure of [1H]+ showed the charge-localized Robin-Day class II nature, while that of [1OMe]+ revealed the fully charge-delocalized class III nature. These characters were also evident from the spectroscopic data in solutions. Single-molecule conductance measurements by the scanning tunneling microscope break junction method revealed a significant dependence of the conductance on R, i.e. 1OMe turned out to be >100-times more conductive than 1H and 1CF3, whereas the substituent effect of the monocationic complexes was within a fold-change of 2. As a result, the ON/OFF ratios (the ratios of the conductance of the cationic species [1R]+ to that of the neutral species 1R) were critically dependent on R (as large as 191 when R = CF3) and even reversed (0.4 when R = OMe). Furthermore, the neutral and monocationic complexes 1H and [1H]+ fabricated into the nanogap devices showed in situ ON/OFF switching behavior. The present study demonstrates not only the rare examples of the mixed-valence complexes which were subjected to the break junction measurements but also the first examples of molecular switch, the ON/OFF ratio of which was controlled by tuning the organic linker parts