Cigarette smoking was found to be an independent risk factor for periodontal disease and tooth loss. Alcohol consumption was a limited risk factor for tooth loss in the younger age group, but was unrelated to periodontal disease. To prevent periodontal disease and tooth loss, health practitioners need to encourage people to stop smoking or not to start.

No abstract

In patients with idiopathic ERM, the degree of metamorphopsia is associated with INL thickness, and IS/OS status influences visual acuity.

Inner nuclear layer thickness was found to be a good indicator of metamorphopsia both before and after surgery and a predictor of postoperative metamorphopsia in patients with epiretinal membrane.

Vitrectomy significantly improved VR-QOL in various vitreoretinal disorders. The largest improvement in VR-QOL was observed in ERM and smallest improvement in DME. The visual function parameters associated with VR-QOL are different depending on vitreoretinal disorders.

No abstract

The VR QOL is significantly impaired in patients after surgery for RD. The disturbance in VR QOL was significantly associated with deterioration of postoperative contrast sensitivity.

Water-soluble polydepsipeptides with functionalized side-chain groups, i. e., alternating copolymers, consisting of glycolic acid (Glc) and L-lysine (L-LYS), L-aspartic acid (LAsp) or L-glutamic acid (L-Gh) residues as a-hydroxy acid and a-amino acid residues, respectively, were synthesized, and their biodegradation behavior was investigated. Three kinds of polydepsipeptides, poly(G1c-alt-Lys), poly(G1c-alt-Asp) and poly(Glc-altGlu), were synthesized by means of ring-opening polymerization of the corresponding cyclodepsipeptides and subsequent deprotection of benzyl and benzyloxycarbonyl groups. In order to estimate the main-chain cleavage behavior of polydepsipeptides with functionalized side-chain groups, the hydrolysis behavior of the obtained water-soluble polydepsipeptides was first investigated in phosphate buffer solution with or without an enzyme in vitro.