A retrospective study of trauma-associated oral and maxillofacial lesions in a population from southern Taiwan

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this retrospective analysis was to determine the age, gender, frequency and distribution of trauma-associated hard tissue and soft tissue lesions of the oral and maxillofacial region in a population from southern Taiwan. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Approximately 10% of the 27,995 biopsy records of patients with history of trauma resulting in lesions who were treated at our institution between 1991 and 2006 were examined for this study. RESULTS: In the included records, there were 2,762 soft tissue and 26 hard tissue lesions. Mucocele was the most frequent trauma-associated soft tissue lesion (955 cases). The youngest patients were those who presented with mucocele (mean age = 27.3 years), while the oldest patients were those with peripheral giant cell granuloma (58 years). The lower lip was the most frequent site of occurrence of mucocele (676, 64.5%) and was also the predominant site of occurrence of all soft tissue lesions (815, 29.5%), followed by the buccal mucosa (654, 23.4%) and the tongue (392, 14.2%). Trauma-associated hard tissue lesions included only osteoradionecrosis (24 cases) and traumatic bone cysts (2 cases). CONCLUSION: As little data of this nature have been reported from populations of Asian developing countries, the findings of this retrospective analysis is valuable for epidemiological documentation of type of traumatic oral lesions as well as for informing the professionals and the layman about the importance of this category of oral lesions

A moving least square immersed boundary method for SPH with thin-walled structures

This paper presents a novel method for smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) with thin-walled structures. Inspired by the direct forcing immersed boundary method, this method employs a moving least square method to guarantee the smoothness of velocity near the structure surface. It simplifies thin-walled structure simulations by eliminating the need for multiple layers of boundary particles, and improves computational accuracy and stability in three-dimensional scenarios. Supportive three-dimensional numerical results are provided, including the impulsively started plate and the flow past a cylinder. Results of the impulsively started test demonstrate that the proposed method obtains smooth velocity and pressure in the, as well as a good match to the references results of the vortex wake development. In addition, results of the flow past cylinder test show that the proposed method avoids mutual interference on both side of the boundary, remains stable for three-dimensional simulations while accurately calculating the forces acting on structure.Comment: 15 pages,11 figure

The efficacy and safety of cuttlebone for lowering serum phosphate in patients with end-stage renal disease: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: The efficacy of cuttlebone for treating hyperphosphatemia in patients with end-stage renal disease and its safety remained unclear.Methods: Randomized controlled trials comparing the efficacy of cuttlebone with conventional interventions were retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Airiti Library, and other major Chinese databases until 1 February 2023. The primary outcome was circulating phosphate concentration, while secondary outcomes included circulating calcium and intact parathyroid hormone levels, calcium–phosphorus product, and treatment-related side-effects.Results: Analysis of nine studies published between 2000 and 2019 including 726 participants showed a lower circulating phosphate concentration in the cuttlebone group than in controls [mean difference (MD) = −0.23, 95% CI: −0.39 to −0.06, p = 0.006, I2 = 94%, 726 patients] and a dose-dependent effect of cuttlebone against hyperphosphatemia. Therapeutic benefits were noted after both short-term (1–2 months) and long-term (3–6 months) treatments. Besides, patients receiving hemodialysis showed a better response to cuttlebone than those receiving peritoneal dialysis. There was no difference in circulating calcium level (mean difference = 0.03, 95% CI: −0.01 to 0.07, p = 0.17, I2 = 34%, 654 patients), while patients receiving cuttlebone showed lower circulating iPTH level and calcium-phosphorus product (MD = −43.63, 95% CI: −74.1 to −13.16, p = 0.005, I2 = 76%, 654 patients), (MD = −0.38, 95% CI: −0.38 to −0.01, p = 0.04, I2 = 83%, 520 patients). No difference in the risks of constipation, gastrointestinal discomfort, and elevated blood calcium was noted between the two groups.Conclusion: Compared with conventional phosphate-binding agents, cuttlebone more efficiently suppressed hyperphosphatemia with a dose-dependent effect. The limited number of included studies warrants further clinical investigations to verify our findings.Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42023396300

Electronic Structure, Surface Doping, and Optical Response in Epitaxial WSe2 Thin Films

High quality WSe2 films have been grown on bilayer graphene (BLG) with layer-by-layer control of thickness using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The combination of angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES), scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS), and optical absorption measurements reveal the atomic and electronic structures evolution and optical response of WSe2/BLG. We observe that a bilayer of WSe2 is a direct bandgap semiconductor, when integrated in a BLG-based heterostructure, thus shifting the direct-indirect band gap crossover to trilayer WSe2. In the monolayer limit, WSe2 shows a spin-splitting of 475 meV in the valence band at the K point, the largest value observed among all the MX2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se) materials. The exciton binding energy of monolayer-WSe2/BLG is found to be 0.21 eV, a value that is orders of magnitude larger than that of conventional 3D semiconductors, yet small as compared to other 2D transition metal dichalcogennides (TMDCs) semiconductors. Finally, our finding regarding the overall modification of the electronic structure by an alkali metal surface electron doping opens a route to further control the electronic properties of TMDCs

Ambipolar Field Effect in Topological Insulator Nanoplates of (BixSb1-x)2Te3

Topological insulators represent a new state of quantum matter attractive to both fundamental physics and technological applications such as spintronics and quantum information processing. In a topological insulator, the bulk energy gap is traversed by spin-momentum locked surface states forming an odd number of surface bands that possesses unique electronic properties. However, transport measurements have often been dominated by residual bulk carriers from crystal defects or environmental doping which mask the topological surface contribution. Here we demonstrate (BixSb1-x)2Te3 as a tunable topological insulator system to manipulate bulk conductivity by varying the Bi/Sb composition ratio. (BixSb1-x)2Te3 ternary compounds are confirmed as topological insulators for the entire composition range by angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements and ab initio calculations. Additionally, we observe a clear ambipolar gating effect similar to that observed in graphene using nanoplates of (BixSb1-x)2Te3 in field-effect-transistor (FET) devices. The manipulation of carrier type and concentration in topological insulator nanostructures demonstrated in this study paves the way for implementation of topological insulators in nanoelectronics and spintronics.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Improving Detection Accuracy of Lung Cancer Serum Proteomic Profiling via Two-Stage Training Process

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Surface-Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) is a frequently used technique for cancer biomarker research. The specificity of biomarkers detected by SELDI can be influenced by concomitant inflammation. This study aimed to increase detection accuracy using a two-stage analysis process.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Sera from 118 lung cancer patients, 72 healthy individuals, and 31 patients with inflammatory disease were randomly divided into training and testing groups by 3:2 ratio. In the training group, the traditional method of using SELDI profile analysis to directly distinguish lung cancer patients from sera was used. The two-stage analysis of distinguishing the healthy people and non-healthy patients (1^st-stage) and then differentiating cancer patients from inflammatory disease patients (2^nd-stage) to minimize the influence of inflammation was validated in the test group.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the test group, the one-stage method had 87.2% sensitivity, 37.5% specificity, and 64.4% accuracy. The two-stage method had lower sensitivity (> 70.1%) but statistically higher specificity (80%) and accuracy (74.7%). The predominantly expressed protein peak at 11480 Da was the primary splitter regardless of one- or two-stage analysis. This peak was suspected to be SAA (Serum Amyloid A) due to the similar m/z countered around this area. This hypothesis was further tested using an SAA ELISA assay.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Inflammatory disease can severely interfere with the detection accuracy of SELDI profiles for lung cancer. Using a two-stage training process will improve the specificity and accuracy of detecting lung cancer.</p