There are few review articles in the area of human research that focus on the interactions between occlusion and brain function. This systematic review discusses the effect of occlusion on the health of the entire body with a focus on brain function. Available relevant articles in English from 1999 to 2011 were assessed in an online database and as hard copies in libraries. The selected 19 articles were classified into the following five categories: chewing and tongue movements, clenching and grinding, occlusal splints and occlusal interference, prosthetic rehabilitation, and pain and stimulation. The relationships between the brain activity observed in the motor and sensory cortices and movements of the oral and maxillofacial area, such as those produced by gum chewing, tapping and clenching, were investigated. It was found that the sensorimotor cortex was also affected by the placement of the occlusal interference devices, splints and implant prostheses. Brain activity may change depending on the strength of the movements in the oral and maxillofacial area. Therefore, mastication and other movements stimulate the activity in the cerebral cortex and may be helpful in preventing degradation of a brain function. However, these findings must be verified by evidence gathered from more subjects.

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This study was performed to evaluate the independent influence of paternal age affecting embryo development and pregnancy using testicular sperm extraction (TESE)-intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in obstructive azoospermia (OA) and nonobstructive azoospermia (NOA). Paternal patients were divided into the following groups: ≤30 years, 31-35 years, 36-40 years, 41-45 years and ≥46 years. There were no differences in the rates of fertilisation or embryo quality according to paternal and maternal age. However, clinical pregnancy and implantation rates were significantly lower between those ≥46 years of paternal age compared with other age groups. Fertilisation rate was higher in the OA than the NOA, while embryo quality, pregnancy and delivery results were similar. Clinical pregnancy and implantation rates were significantly lower for patients ≥46 years of paternal age compared with younger age groups. In conclusion, fertilisation using TESE in azoospermia was not affected by the independent influence of paternal age; however, as maternal age increased concomitantly with paternal age, rates of pregnancy and delivery differed between those with paternal age <41 years and ≥46 years. Therefore, paternal age ≥46 years old should be considered when applying TESE-ICSI in cases of azoospermia, and patients should be advised of the associated low pregnancy rates.

A highly sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) system which consumed low sample and reagent volumes in the microlitre range was developed for direct determination and mapping of ultra-trace metal contaminants on solid surfaces, such as silicon wafers or flat display panels. The analytical result of the system was confirmed with ICP-MS. The system was composed of a scanner, sensor and a wafer moving stage. The scanner, with a scanning tip made of 0.03'' i.d. PTFE tubing, was used to collect metal impurities on the wafer surface with 5 μL of scanning solution. A coaxial sensing head of about 13 mm o.d. and 110 mm height was designed both to inject a luminescent reagent of luminol-H(2)O(2) mixture and to collect the luminescence light resulting from the reaction with metal ions of Co(2+), Fe(2+), Cu(2+), and Ni(2+). Due to the almost zero background, an extremely low limit of detection of 20.8 pg/mL for Co(2+) in 1% hydrofluoric acid (HF) was obtained from the calibration curve. In order to map the spatial distribution of the impurities, 11 cross sections of a Co-contaminated wafer were selected and scanned individually with a diluted HF solution. A contaminant level of 1.45-7.11 × 10(11) atoms cm(-2) was obtained for each section with an average of 4.21 × 10(11) atoms cm(-2), which was similar to the analytical result of 5.48 × 10(11) atoms cm(-2) obtained from vapor phase deposition-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (VPD-ICP-MS). Although this CL system does not have selectivity for each specific metal ion, its high sensitivity facilitates the monitoring and mapping of metal impurities of Co, Fe, Cu, etc. on the wafer directly and it can be used as an on-line inspection sensor for the first time in the semiconductor industry.