Characteristics of novel Ti-40Nb-xCu alloy and surface treatment with superior antibacterial property and biocompatibility using micro-arc oxidation for dental implants.

Peri-implantitis and insufficient osseointegration are the principal challenges faced by dental implants at present. In order to fabricate dual-function dental implant materials possessing both antibacterial and osteogenic capabilities, this study incorporates the antimicrobial element Cu into the Ti40Nb alloy, developing a novel Ti40Nb-xCu alloy with antibacterial properties. Among them, Ti40Nb3Cu has the best overall performance. Compared to Ti40Nb, the tensile strength increased by 27.97%, reaching 613 MPa. Although the elongation rate has decreased from 23% to 13.5%, the antibacterial rates against S. aureus and P. gingivalis both exceed 85%. Furthermore, the surface of Ti40Nb-xCu alloy was then treated with micro-arc oxidation to enhance its bioactivity, thereby accelerating osseointegration. The results indicated that the MAO treatment retains the antibacterial properties of the Ti40Nb3Cu alloy while significantly promoting bone formation through its introduced porous coating, thus heralding it as a propitious candidate material for dental implant applications.

YouTube as a source of information on preventing the use of valproic acid in women during pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: YouTube™ ( http://www.youtube.com ), as a very popular video site worldwide, is increasingly being used as a platform to disseminate health information. The purposes of this review were to assess the overall usefulness of the information on the prevention of valproic acid use in women during pregnancy on YouTube™ for patients. METHODS: The YouTube™ website was systematically using 8 keywords. One hundred and fifty four videos meet the selection criteria. The researcher evaluated the video duration, days since upload, views and the likes. These videos are categorized as Education, News & Politics and People & Blogs. We designed a usefulness scoring scheme to assess videos quality and classified them as "slightly useful", "useful" and "very useful". The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine whether differences existed between total usefulness scores and categories and Pearson chi-square test for categorical variables. RESULTS: The majority of videos were educational (62.8%). The "People & Blogs" and "News & Politics" videos scored significantly higher, but had no significant difference in days since upload, views, views/day or likes. More than half of the videos (91/154) were categorized as "useful". The mean posted days (p = 0.045) was significantly different in the useful group compared with the slightly useful group. There were no correlation between usefulness and the number of days since upload, duration, views, views/day, or likes. CONCLUSION: YouTube™ is a promising source of information regarding the use of valproic acid during pregnancy. "News & Politics" videos are the most usefulness. Considering the presence of more slightly useful information, publishers need to improve more comprehensive video content that includes replacement medications, diagnoses and treatments. In the healthcare information space, consumers need to be directed to reliable video.

Novel covalent organic frameworks based electrospun composite nanofiber membranes as pipette-tip strong anion exchange sorbent for determination of inorganic arsenic in rice.

Novel covalent organic frameworks (COFs) based PAN@TpBD(NH2)2 electrospun composite nanofiber membranes (ECNMs) were fabricated as strong anion exchange sorbent by implementing electrospinning technology. The finished sorbent was characterized, and key parameters of pipette-tip solid phase extraction (PTSPE) procedures were investigated. Inorganic arsenic (iAs) was successfully separated from rice under the optimal precondition conditions, and quantified by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS). This PTSPE-HG-AFS methodology achieved 0.015 µg L-1 detection limit, 4.67 % relative standard deviation, and 86.48～99.11 % recoveries. In this work, preparation and characterization of this novel COFs-based anion exchange sorbent, PAN@TpBD(NH2)2 ECNMs, is described and its suitability for PTSPE applications is demonstrated.

Evaluation of antibacterial property and biocompatibility of Cu doped TiO2 coated implant prepared by micro-arc oxidation.

In order to enhance osteogenic differentiation and antibacterial property of dental implants, volcano-shaped microporous TiO2 coatings doped with Cu were fabricated via micro-arc oxidation (MAO) on Ti. Cu-doped coating with different mass ratios of Cu were obtained by changing the concentration of copper acetate in the electrolyte. The structure of Cu-TiO2 coatings were systematically investigated. Element Copper was uniformly distributed throughout the coating. Compared with TiO2 coating, the Cu-doped can further improved proliferation of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), facilitated osteogenic differentiation. The bacteriostasis experiments demonstrated that Cu-doped TiO2 coating possess excellent antibacterial property against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis).

Antifungal Activity and Action Mechanism of Ginger Oleoresin Against Pestalotiopsis microspora Isolated From Chinese Olive Fruits.

Pestalotiopsis microspora (P. microspora) is one of dominant pathogenic fungi causing rotten disease in harvested Chinese olive (Canarium album Lour.) fruits. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the antifungal activities of ginger oleoresin (GO) against P. microspora and to illuminate the underlying action mechanisms. The in vitro assays indicate that GO exhibited strong antifungal activity against mycelial growth of P. microspore, and with 50%-inhibition concentration (EC 50) and 90%-inhibition concentration (EC 90) at 2.04 µL GO and 8.87 µL GO per mL propylene glycol, respectively, while the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal fungicidal concentration were at 10 µL GO and 30 µL GO per mL propylene glycol, respectively. Spore germination of P. microspora was inhibited by GO in a dose-dependent manner, and with 100% inhibition rate at the concentration of 8 µL GO per mL propylene glycol. Compared to the control, the cellular membrane permeability of P. microspora increased due to severe leakage of intercellular electrolytes, soluble proteins, and total sugars with the treatments (EC 50, EC 90) by GO during incubation. In addition, analysis of fatty acid contents and compositions in cellular membrane by GC-MS indicated that GO could significantly promote the degradation or peroxidation of unsaturated fatty acids in P. microspore, resulting in the enhancement of membrane fluidity. Moreover, observations of microstructure further showed the damage to plasma membrane and morphology of P. microspora caused by GO, which resulted in distortion, sunken and shriveled spores and mycelia of the pathogen. Furthermore, in vivo assay confirmed that over 3 MIC GO treatments remarkably suppressed disease development in P. microspore inoculated-Chinese olive fruit. These results demonstrate that owing to its strong antifungal activity, GO can be used as a promising antifungal agent to inhibit the growth of pathogenic fungi in Chinese olives.