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Despite recent interest in microbial communities of fermented foods, there has been little inquiry into the bacterial community dynamics of sauerkraut, one of the world’s oldest and most prevalent fermented foods. In this study, we utilize 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to profile the microbial community of naturally fermented sauerkraut throughout the fermentation process while also analyzing the bacterial communities of the starting ingredients and the production environment. Our results indicate that the sauerkraut microbiome is rapidly established after fermentation begins and that the community is stable through fermentation and packaging for commercial sale. Our high-throughput analysis is in agreement with previous studies that utilized traditional microbiological assessments but expands the identified taxonomy. Additionally, we find that the microbial communities of the starting ingredients and the production facility environment exhibit low relative abundance of the lactic acid bacteria that dominate fermented sauerkraut.

This paper is concerned with the H control problem of a coupled transport-diffusion system with Neumann boundary condition, related to parallel-flow heat exchange process. It is shown that, by using the previous approach for a single diffusion system, the H control problem can be solved by constructing a residual mode filter (RMF)-based controller which is of finite-dimension. A numerical simulation result is given to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method.

Functional monomers chemically interact with hydroxyapatite that remains within submicron hybrid layers produced by mild self-etch adhesives. The functional monomer 10-MDP interacts most intensively with hydroxyapatite, and its calcium salt appeared most hydrolytically stable, as compared with 4-MET and phenyl-P. We investigated the hypothesis that additional chemical interaction of self-etch adhesives improves bond stability. The micro-tensile bond strength (μTBS) of the 10-MDP-based adhesive did not decrease significantly after 100,000 cycles, but did after 50,000 and 30,000 cycles, respectively, for the 4-MET-based and the phenyl-P-based adhesives. Likewise, the interfacial ultrastructure was unchanged after 100,000 thermocycles for the 10-MDP-based adhesive, while that of both the 4-MET- and phenyl-P-based adhesives contained voids and less-defined collagen. The findings of this study support the concept that long-term durability of adhesive-dentin bonds depends on the chemical bonding potential of the functional monomer.

The effects of iron deficiency on the prognosis of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss are unclear. This study aimed to investigate the association between serum iron levels and idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss prognosis and its usefulness as an independent prognostic marker for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. The audiological and haematological data, including hearing recovery and serum iron levels, of 103 patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss evaluated between 2015 and 2018 were retrospectively analysed. The overall complete recovery rate was 16.5 per cent. Initial higher hearing threshold was associated with poor idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss prognosis. Serum iron levels were significantly higher in the complete recovery group than in the non-complete recovery group (p < 0.05). The possibility of complete recovery from idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss was significantly lower with lower serum iron levels, suggesting that the serum iron level might be a novel prognostic marker for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss.

The longevity of resin restorations is currently an area of great interest in adhesive dentistry. However, no work has been conducted to investigate the durability of resin-dentin bond structures using human substrate in vivo. The purpose of this study was to investigate the degradation of the resin-dentin bond structures aged in an oral environment for 1, 2, or 3 years. Cavities were prepared in primary molars, and an adhesive resin system (Scotchbond Multi-Purpose) was applied to the cavity. After I to 3 years, following the eruption of the succedaneous permanent teeth, the resin-restored teeth were extracted. Immediately after extraction, those teeth were sectioned perpendicular to the adhesive interface and trimmed to produce an hourglass-shaped specimen. Then, a micro-tensile test was performed at a crosshead speed of 1.0 mm/min. The mean bond strengths were statistically compared with one-way ANOVA and Fisher's PLSD test (p < 0.05). Further, all fractured surfaces were observed by SEM, and the area fraction of failure mode was calculated by means of a digital analyzer on SEM photomicrographs. There were significant differences in tensile-bond strength among all 3 groups (p < 0.05), with mean values ranging from 28.3 ± 11.3 MPa (control), to 15.2 ± 4.4 MPa (1 to 2 years), to 9.1 ± 5.1 MPa (2 to 3 years). Moreover, under fractographic analysis, the proportion of demineralized dentin at the fractured surface in specimens aged in an oral environment was greater than that in control specimens. Furthermore, degradation of resin composite and the depletion of collagen fibrils was observed among the specimens aged in an oral environment. Analysis of the results of this study indicated that the degradation of resin-dentin bond structures occurs after aging in the oral cavity.

Background:Based on the idea that therapeutic approach for oral dryness in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) should be driven by salivary glandular function, rather than the patient’s subjective feelings, the EULAR recommendations for the management of Sjögren’s syndrome with topical and systemic therapies recommend that salivary glandular function be evaluated by measuring whole salivary flows before starting therapeutic interventions and that different therapeutic approaches be provided depending on the measured salivary flow rates. Although the recommendations do not indicate a preferred therapeutic approach for SS patients with unstimulated whole salivary flows (UWSF) ≥0.1 mL/min, in clinical practice, SS patients with preserved salivary flow rates often complain of oral dryness.Objectives:To evaluate the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in SS patients with UWSF ≥0.1 ml/min.Methods:Forty-five SS patients (35 with primary SS; 43 women and 2 men; mean age, 62.4 years; mean disease duration, 6.6 years) and 23 non-SS individuals (control; 18 women and 5 men; mean age, 56.1 years) participated in this study. All SS patients met the 1999 revised Japanese Ministry of Health criteria for diagnosis of SS. Individuals with factors that can affect saliva secretion, intraoral lesion formation, or OHRQoL were excluded. The UWSF of SS patients were measured by the spitting method (mL/15 min). OHRQoL was quantitatively assessed using the Japanese version of the short-form Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14; maximum possible score, 56 points), a self-administered questionnaire, at an average of 7.2 months after the UWSF measurement in SS patients and as needed in non-SS individuals. Since the assessment of dryness symptoms by ESSPRI includes more than just oral dryness, it was not used for the OHRQoL assessment in this study.Results:In SS patients, the mean UWSF was 1.1 mL/15 min; 34 (75.6%) had a UWSF <0.1 mL/min, and 11 (24.4%) had ≥0.1 mL/min. Their mean OHIP-14 score was 15.9. There was no significant difference in the percentage of patients who perceived oral dryness between the UWSF <0.1 ml/min and ≥0.1 ml/min groups (97.1% vs 81.8%, p=0.143). The OHIP-14 score also did not differ significantly between the two groups (16.6 vs 13.6, p=0.227). The OHIP-14 score of even the UWSF ≥0.1 mL/min group was significantly higher than that of the non-SS group (13.6 vs. 7.1, p=0.029). Among the OHIP-14 questions, the UWSF ≥0.1 mL/min group scored significantly higher than the non-SS group for “self-conscious,” “diet unsatisfactory,” “difficult to relax,” and “felt life less satisfying.” In addition, the UWSF ≥0.1 mL/min group tended to score higher for “trouble pronouncing words,” “uncomfortable to eat foods,” “been embarrassed,” “irritable with other people,” and “unable to function.”Conclusion:This study revealed that SS patients – even with UWSF ≥0.1 mL/min – had lower OHRQoL. Because of the wide normal range of salivary flow rates and high interindividual variability, it is considered difficult to determine whether an individual’s salivary flow rate is abnormal. Signs of oral dryness are said to appear when the salivary flow rate decreases by 40–50%. Therefore, it is more important whether there is a change in salivary flow rate over time than whether an individual has a high or low salivary flow rate. Even if the salivary flow rate is preserved in a single measurement, the possibility of having oral dryness due to a decrease in the salivary flow rate from the normal value for that patient should be considered.REFERENCES:[1] Ramos-Casals M, et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2020;79:3-18.Acknowledgements:NIL.Disclosure of Interests:Naoto Azuma: None declared, Maki Iwatani: None declared, Yuichi Yokoyama: None declared, Naoaki Hashimoto: None declared, Masao Tamura: None declared, Teppei Hashimoto: None declared, Mai Morimoto: None declared, Aki Nishioka: None declared, Masayasu Kitano: None declared, Shinichiro Tsunoda: None declared, Hajime Sano: None declared, Kiyoshi Matsui KM has received scholarship grant from Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation.