Topical Probiotics Reduce Atopic Dermatitis Severity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trials.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic skin disease that commonly appears during childhood but can present at any age. There are interventions that are effective in treating AD in children, but it has been difficult to find effective treatments for adults. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to determine the efficacy of topical probiotic treatment for AD in adult populations.

Electronic periodontal tool integration to enrich clinical diagnosis.

Purpose/objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an Electronic-Periodontal-Diagnosis-Tool (EPDT) to facilitate the formulation of a correct periodontal diagnosis and analyze students' perceptions of the use of the EPDT.

Methods: Fifty Year-3 students who recently started their clinical training, were randomly assigned to two groups. Two clinical scenarios involving challenging periodontal diagnoses, each one with unique components, variables, and categories were distributed with specific instructions.

A literature review of local and systemic considerations for endodontic treatments in older adults.

Objectives: The aim of this literature review was to summarise the clinical important findings on the endodontic treatment outcome in older patients (≥60 years old) with pulpal/periapical disease considering local and systemic factors from a body of knowledge that is heterogeneous in methods or disciplines.

Background: Due to the increasing number of older patients in the endodontic practice, and the current trend for tooth preservation, the need for clinicians to have a better understanding of age-related implications that may influence the required endodontic treatment in older adults to retain their natural dentition is indispensable.

Methods: PubMed/Medline and Embase was searched by a medical librarian using specific terms based on inclusion/exclusion criteria.

Quantitative Gradient Echo MRI Identifies Dark Matter as a New Imaging Biomarker of Neurodegeneration that Precedes Tisssue Atrophy in Early Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Currently, brain tissue atrophy serves as an in vivo MRI biomarker of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, postmortem histopathological studies show that neuronal loss in AD exceeds volumetric loss of tissue and that loss of memory in AD begins when neurons and synapses are lost. Therefore, in vivo detection of neuronal loss prior to detectable atrophy in MRI is essential for early AD diagnosis.

Pain Relief with Combination Acetaminophen/Codeine or Ibuprofen following Third-Molar Extraction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled studies that, following third-molar extraction, utilized either a combination of acetaminophen (600 mg) with codeine (60 mg) or ibuprofen (400 mg) for pain management.

Design: We searched PubMed, and the trial registry ClinicalTrials.gov databases with the keywords "molar or molars," "tooth or teeth," "extraction," and "pain.

Nicotine-related misperceptions among faculty and students at a Midwestern dental school.

Purpose/objectives: To determine the perceptions about the ill-effects of nicotine in students and faculty at a Midwestern dental school. This information will help inform the school and improve teaching on this subject during a time when electronic nicotine delivery systems are increasingly popular.

Methods: An online survey of dental students and faculty of a Midwestern dental school was deployed in November, 2020 to determine their level of misperception about the ill effects of nicotine.

Deteriorated regional calf microcirculation measured by contrast-free MRI in patients with diabetes mellitus and relation with physical activity.

Objective: To evaluate regional calf muscle microcirculation in people with diabetes mellitus (DM) with and without foot ulcers, compared to healthy control people without DM, using contrast-free magnetic resonance imaging methods.

Methods: Three groups of subjects were recruited: non-DM controls, DM, and DM with foot ulcers (DM + ulcer), all with ankle brachial index (ABI) > 0.9.

The periodontal senior case clinical challenge: Students' opinions of a formative virtual assessment during the COVID-19 emergency.

Introduction: Due to COVID-19, innovative, virtual educational methods are being developed to provide students with learning experiences comparable to established clinical practices. Our objective was to produce the Periodontal Senior Case Clinical Challenge (PSCCC) that would provide fourth-year students an alternative for senior case presentations and would be a formative assessment for which student opinions would be provided and analysed. The PSCCC would utilise an online, case-based, written, clinical assessment and follow-up, structured discussion to challenge students to demonstrate ability to apply didactic periodontal knowledge to patient-based experiences.

Quantitative Variable Assessment of Patellar Instability: An MRI-Based Study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reproducibility of three quantitative MRI parameters associated with patellar instability and to determine whether they measure anatomic predisposition to patellar instability individually or in combination with the other parameters. In this retrospective study, 100 patients diagnosed with a patellar dislocation injury and 100 age- and sex-matched control patients were examined using MRI. The distance between the tibial tubercle and posterior cruciate ligament (TT-PCL), distance between the tibial tubercle and trochlear groove (TT-TG), and TG depth (trochlear dysplasia) were measured independently by three fellowship-trained musculoskeletal radiologists.

Limited Evidence Suggests That Vitamin D May Help Prevent and Treat Periodontal Disease in Adults.

Article Title And Bibliographic Information: Serum vitamin D levels and chronic periodontitis in adult, Caucasian population-a systematic review. Peric M, Cavallier E, Toma S, Lasserre JF. J Periodontal Res 2018; 53:645-56.

Comparative Evaluation of SmartMouth Clinical DDS Advanced Oral Rinse and Chlorhexidine Mouthrinse.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of SmartMouth Clinical DDS compared with 0.12% chlorhexidine and placebo mouthrinses.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-six subjects with gingivitis or chronic periodontitis were enrolled in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical study.

Intravenous contrast-free standardized exercise perfusion imaging in diabetic feet with ulcers.

Background: Impaired foot perfusion is a primary contributor to foot ulcer formation. There is no existing device nor method that can be used to measure local foot perfusion during standardized foot muscle exercise in an MRI environment.

Purpose: To develop a new MRI-compatible foot dynamometer and MRI methods to characterize local perfusion in diabetic feet with ulcers.

Enhancing contrast to noise ratio of hippocampi affected with mesial temporal sclerosis: A case-control study in children undergoing epilepsy surgeries.

Objective: Detection of mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS) in children with epilepsy is important. We assessed whether an image-processing algorithm (Correlative Image Enhancement, CIE) could facilitate recognition of hippocampal signal abnormality in the presence of MTS by increasing contrast to noise ratio between affected hippocampus and normal gray matter.

Patients And Methods: Baseline coronal FLAIR images from brain MRIs of 27 children with epilepsy who underwent hippocampal resection were processed using CIE.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Calf Muscles in Subjects With and Without Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been used to characterize calf skeletal muscle architecture.

Purpose: To assess the diffusional properties of the calf muscles of subjects with and without diabetes, at rest and during isometric plantarflexion exercise.

Study Type: Prospective.

Using Correlative Properties of Neighboring Pixels to Enhance Contrast-to-Noise Ratio of Abnormal Hippocampus in Patients With Intractable Epilepsy and Mesial Temporal Sclerosis.

Rationale And Objectives: To test whether an image-processing algorithm can aid in visualization of mesial temporal sclerosis on magnetic resonance imaging by selectively increasing contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) between abnormal hippocampus and normal brain.

Materials And Methods: In this Institutional Review Board-approved and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant study, baseline coronal fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images of 18 adults (10 females, eight males; mean age 41.2 years) with proven mesial temporal sclerosis were processed using a custom algorithm to produce corresponding enhanced images.

Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: Computed Tomography Enhancement, But Not Histological Grade, Correlates With Tumor Aggression.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to assess computed tomography enhancement of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), determine correlation with histological vascularity and fibrosis, and identify a biomarker for tumor aggression.

Methods: The arterial and venous enhancement of NET was calculated on computed tomography for 56 patients. Tumor size and vascularity/fibrosis were assessed.

Screening for Diabetes in a Dental School Clinic to Assess Interprofessional Communication Between Physicians and Dental Students.

If a dental student diagnoses a patient in a dental school clinic as being at high risk of prediabetes or diabetes, the patient should be referred to his or her physician for further diagnostic evaluation, and the physician should send back the evaluation results so that the dental team can optimize treatment and health care choices if the diagnosis is confirmed. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate physicians' responses to written and oral requests for information regarding follow-up diabetes testing. A secondary aim was to evaluate patients' compliance with recommendations to seek medical care after being determined to be at high risk of prediabetes or diabetes in the dental clinic.

A Candidate Imaging Marker for Early Detection of Charcot Neuroarthropathy.

Inflammation-mediated foot osteopenia may play a pivotal role in the etiogenesis, pathogenesis, and therapeutic outcomes in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM), peripheral neuropathy (PN), and Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN). Our objective was to establish a volumetric quantitative computed tomography-derived foot bone measurement as a candidate prognostic imaging marker to identify individuals with DMPN who were at risk of developing CN. We studied 3 groups: 16 young controls (27 ± 5 years), 20 with DMPN (57 ± 11 years), and 20 with DMPN and CN (55 ± 9 years).

Magnetic resonance imaging of first trimester pregnancy: expected intrauterine contents in relation to gestational age.

Purpose: To determine if and when fetal structures are identifiable during first trimester pregnancy on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in women with acute abdominopelvic pain.

Methods: Sixty-four first trimester MRI examinations performed for evaluation of abdominopelvic pain were reviewed retrospectively. T2-weighted images were assessed independently by three radiologists for the presence of gestational sac, yolk sac, fetal pole, and limb buds.

A Critical Evaluation of the Down Syndrome Diagnosis for LB1, Type Specimen of Homo floresiensis.

The Liang Bua hominins from Flores, Indonesia, have been the subject of intense scrutiny and debate since their initial description and classification in 2004. These remains have been assigned to a new species, Homo floresiensis, with the partial skeleton LB1 as the type specimen. The Liang Bua hominins are notable for their short stature, small endocranial volume, and many features that appear phylogenetically primitive relative to modern humans, despite their late Pleistocene age.

Oximetric angiosome imaging in diabetic feet.

Purpose: To develop a noncontrast oximetric angiosome imaging approach to assess skeletal muscle oxygenation in diabetic feet.

Materials And Methods: In four healthy and five subjects with diabetes, the feasibility of foot oximetry was examined using a 3T clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The subjects' feet were scanned at rest and during a toe-flexion isometric exercise.

ALARA: Impact of Practice Quality Improvement Initiative on Dose Reduction in Pediatric Voiding Cystourethrogram.

Objective: This practice quality improvement study of pediatric voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) investigated the adequacy of substituting last-image capture for digital-spot images and dose reduction when this substitution was implemented and determined correlations between dose-area products (DAPs), patient ages, and fluoroscopy times.

Materials And Methods: The study consisted of three phases: phase 1 documented baseline data and evaluated diagnostic accuracy between last-image capture and digital-spot images. Phase 2 documented the change in dose after substituting last-image capture for digital-spot images.