lly, the results show that CO2 is an indispensable component of the attractive blend.BACKGROUND In the last three decades there is a growing recognition in the dental profession that dental education must go beyond teaching the technicalities of dentistry and include professionalism and communication skills that the future dentist may need. Such skills are best taught in a student-centered way. Literature suggests that student-centered elements are difficult to introduce in traditional, teacher-centered curricula. This is especially true in post-communist countries where higher education was under strict state control for decades. The aim of the piece of research presented here was to investigate how difficult it is to introduce a student-centered career skills course in a traditionally teacher-centered dental curriculum. METHODS Considering the needs of our final-year dental students and Super’s model of career development, we created an undergraduate curricular career skills course running for two semesters in two languages (Hungarian and English). The primary aim of the course is to help srked even in a traditionally teacher-centered educational environment, where university students are rarely encouraged to be active participants in courses. KI696 By sharing our experience, we would like to encourage our fellow dental educators working in similar environments to devise and offer such courses.BACKGROUND The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between the acquisition of laparoscopic suturing skills and other operative laparoscopic skills and to provide evidence to determine ideal time and duration to introduce laparoscopic suturing training. METHODS The first part of the study explored the relationship between the acquisition of laparoscopic suturing skills and proficiency of other operative laparoscopic skills. The second part of the study consisted of an opinion survey from senior and junior trainees on aspects of training in laparoscopic suturing. RESULTS One hundred twenty-eight surgical trainees participated in this study. The total scores of task performance of 57 senior surgical trainees in laparoscopic suturing skills consisting of needle manipulation and intracoporeal knot tying were improved significantly after the training course (46.9 ± 5.3 vs 29.5 ± 9.4, P  less then  .001), the improvement rate was 59%. No statistically significant correlations were observed between intracorporeal laparoscopic suturing skills and proficiency in the basic laparoscopic manipulative skills assessed before (r = 0.193; P = 0.149) and after (r = 0.024; P = 0.857) the training course. 91% of senior trainees and 94% junior trainees expressed that intracorporeal suturing should be introduced at an early stage of the training curriculum. CONCLUSIONS There was no statistically significant correlation between the performance on basic operative laparoscopic skills (non-suturing skills) and laparoscopic suturing skills observed in this study. The acquisition of basic laparoscopic skills is not a prerequisite for training in intracorporeal suturing and it may be beneficial for the surgical trainees to learn this skill early in the surgical training curriculum. Surgical trainees want to learn and practice laparoscopic suturing earlier than later in their training.Bone diseases such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and bone tumor present a severe public health problem. Osteogenic differentiation is a complex process associated with the differentiation of different cells, which could regulate transcription factors, cytokines, many signaling pathways, noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs), and epigenetic modulation. DNA methylation is a kind of stable epigenetic alterations in CpG islands without DNA sequence changes and is involved in cancer and other diseases, including bone development and homeostasis. ncRNAs can perform their crucial biological functions at the RNA level, and many findings have demonstrated essential functions of ncRNAs in osteogenic differentiation. In this review, we highlight current researches in DNA methylation of two relevant ncRNAs, including microRNAs and long noncoding RNAs, in the initiation and progression of osteogenesis and bone diseases.INTRODUCTION The pathophysiology of systemic sclerosis (SSc) is closely linked to overactive TGFβ signaling. TGFβ is produced and circulates in latent form, making its activation crucial for signaling. This activation can be mediated via integrins. We investigated the balance between active and latent TGFβ in serum of SSc patients and investigated if this correlates with integrin expression on monocytes. METHODS A TGFβ/SMAD3- or BMP/SMAD1/5-luciferase reporter construct was expressed in primary human skin fibroblasts. Both acidified and non-acidified sera of ten SSc patients and ten healthy controls were tested on these cells to determine total and active TGFβ and BMP levels respectively. A pan-specific TGFβ1/2/3 neutralizing antibody was used to confirm TGFβ signaling. Monocytes of 20 SSc patients were isolated using CD14+ positive selection, and integrin gene expression was measured using qPCR. Integrin expression was modulated using rhTGFβ1 or a small molecule inhibitor of TGFBR1 SB-505124. RESULTS SSc serFβ activity is. This coincides with a reduced expression of TGFβ-activating integrins in monocytes of SSc patients. Because TGFβ regulates expression of these integrins in monocytes, a negative feedback mechanism possibly underlies these observations.BACKGROUND It is unclear whether or not the breakpoint (BP), at which the proportion of each of fat mass (FM) and fat-free soft tissue mass (FFSTM) to body mass (BM) alter, exists in male athletes. We examined the hypothesis that in male athletes, the regional FM and FFSTM-BM relationships have a BP, but the body mass at BP (BMBP) differs among the arms, trunk, and legs. METHODS By using a dual X-ray absorptiometry, whole-body and regional FMs and FFSTMs in the arms, trunk, and legs were estimated in 198 male athletes (20.8 ± 2.1 years; 1.73 ± 0.07 m; 72.7 ± 14.8 kg). To detect the BP in the relationship between each of FM and FFSTM and BM, a piecewise linear regression analysis was used. If a BP was detected in the corresponding relationship, the significant difference between the regression slopes above and below the BP was examined. RESULTS The regression analysis indicated that the BMBP existed in the FM- and FFSTM-BM relationships regardless of region and whole body. For the whole body, BMBP was 81.8 kg for FM and 82.