Modular revision strategy with bispherical augments in severe acetabular deficiency reconstruction.

PURPOSE: Reconstruction of severe acetabular deficiency is extremely challenging in total hip arthroplasty (THA) revisions. Novel bispherical augments were designed to fill acetabular bone loss and facilitate restoration of hip center of rotation (HCOR). Current study aims to compare the outcomes of bispherical augments and tantalum augments. METHODS: Between July 2017 and December 2018, bispherical augments (BA group) were implanted in 25 patients (25 hips) and 22 patients (22 hips) underwent porous tantalum augments (TA group) reconstruction in revision THA. Clinical and radiographic results were evaluated for 25 hips in BA group and 20 hips in TA group at the final follow-up. The mean duration of follow-up was 2.9 years (range, 2.2 ~ 3.7) in BA group and 2.9 years (range, 2.3 ~ 3.8) in TA group. RESULTS: Harris hip scores, HCOR, and leg length discrepancy (LLD) correction did not differ between the treatment groups. The bispherical augments were located more closer to the medial-superior part (zone II) of acetabular shell while the majority of tantalum augments were located at the lateral-superior part (zone I) (P = 0.010). More screws were used in the BA group for augment fixation (mean 2.1 vs. 1.3) (P = 0.000). There was no evidence of loosening or migration in all hips. Only one dislocation occurred in BA group and treated with closed reduction, no recurrence of instability up to the final follow-up. CONCLUSION: The clinical and radiological outcomes of bispherical augments were comparable with tantalum augments; this technique was a reliable alternative method in severe acetabular deficiency reconstruction.

Cloning, Secretory Expression and Characterization of a Unique pH-Stable and Cold-Adapted Alginate Lyase.

Cold-adapted alginate lyases have unique advantages for alginate oligosaccharide (AOS) preparation and brown seaweed processing. Robust and cold-adapted alginate lyases are urgently needed for industrial applications. In this study, a cold-adapted alginate lyase-producing strain Vibrio sp. W2 was screened. Then, the gene ALYW201 was cloned from Vibrio sp. W2 and expressed in a food-grade host, Yarrowia lipolytica. The secreted Alyw201 showed the activity of 64.2 U/mL, with a molecular weight of approximate 38.0 kDa, and a specific activity of 876.4 U/mg. Alyw201 performed the highest activity at 30 °C, and more than 80% activity at 25-40 °C. Furthermore, more than 70% of the activity was obtained in a broad pH range of 5.0-10.0. Alyw201 was also NaCl-independent and salt-tolerant. The degraded product was that of the oligosaccharides of DP (Degree of polymerization) 2-6. Due to its robustness and its unique pH-stable property, Alyw201 can be an efficient tool for industrial production.

Quietness Circ 0000962 promoted nerve cell inflammation through PIK3CA/Akt/NF-κB signaling by miR-302b-3p in spinal cord injury.

BACKGROUND: In this study, we analyzed whether the neuroprotection of Circ 0000962 promoted neural inflammation in spinal cord injury (SCI) and its possible mechanism. METHODS: Inflammation factors (TNF-α, IL-1ß, IL-6 and IL-18) were measured using ELIS kit, and NF-κB, PI3K and phosphorylation-(p)-Akt protein expression were analyzed by Western blot analysis. RESULTS: Circ 0000962 expression was decreased in SCI model rat and vitro model. Over-expression of Circ 0000962 decreased inflammation in vitro model of SCI via activation of PI3K/Akt and suppression of NF-κB by down-regulation of miR-302b-3p. Down-regulation of Circ 0000962 promotion inflammation, suppressed NF-κB protein expression, and induced PI3K and p-Akt protein expression in vitro model of SCI by up-regulation of miR-302b-3p. MiR-302b-3p reduced the effect of Circ 0000962 on inflammation in vitro model. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that Circ 0000962 promoted nerve cell inflammation through Akt/ NF-κB signaling by PI3K in SCI.

Molecularly imprinted polymer based sensor directly responsive to attomole bovine serum albumin.

Through years of extensive research and development, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are still inferior to their biological rivals such as antibodies, enzymes etc. In this study we report a protein-imprinted cryogel, showing antibody-like affinity and selectivity against the protein template (bovine serum albumin, BSA). The MIP was synthesized from the co-polymerization of acrylamide, N,N-methylenebisacrylamide, acrylic acid and diallylamine. Due to the participation of the ionizable monomers (acrylic acid and diallylamine), imprinted cavities with inner surface-clung charged groups were created to recognize BSA. Therefore each cavity appears like a molecular capacitor charged by carboxyl and amino groups. As the cavities are all of a molecule-size volume, a membrane made of the MIP contains a huge array of the molecular capacitors. This will produce a synergistic effect and greatly amplify the impedance signal deviations when template sorption/desorption takes place on the sensor. When the MIP was used as an artificial antibody to make an electrochemical sensor, high sensitivity and selectivity were achieved at the same time. Results indicate that BSA could be determined in a linear range of 1.5 × 10-16-10-12 mol-L-1. Meanwhile a low limit of detection was achieved at 7.2 × 10-18 mol L-1. Conclusively protein-imprinted amphoteric polyacrylamide cryogels are materials of a great potential to sense and determine charged objects like molecules, cells, microorganisms or other particles.

High and efficient isomaltulose production using an engineered Yarrowia lipolytica strain.

Isomaltulose is an ideal functional sweetener and has been approved as a safe sucrose substitute. It is produced mainly through sucrose isomerization catalyzed by sucrose isomerase. Here, to produce food-grade isomaltulose and improve its yield, the sucrose isomerase gene from Pantoea dispersa UQ68J was overexpressed in the non-pathogenic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. When the engineered strain, S47, was fermented on 600 g/L sucrose in a 10-L bioreactor, a maximum isomaltulose concentration of 572.1 g/L was achieved. Sucrose isomerase activity was 7.43 U/mL, and yield reached 0.96 g/g. Moreover, monosaccharide byproducts were simultaneously transformed into intracellular lipids, thus reducing the production of undesirable compounds and resulting in high isomaltulose purity (97.8%) in the final broth. In summary, the bioprocess employed in this study provides an efficient alternative strategy for isomaltulose production.

Synthesis of Molecularly Imprinted Cryogels to Deplete Abundant Proteins from Bovine Serum.

Molecularly imprinted polyacrylamide cryogels were synthesized with pending templates (bovine serums of different concentrations). As the serum concentrations increased in the monomer solutions, the resulting cryogels could adsorb and deplete more proteins from serum samples. Due to the addition of vinyltriethoxysilane (VTEOS) in the prepolymerizing solutions, the polymers came as organic⁻inorganic hybrid materials. It endued the silica-modified amphoteric polyacrylamide cryogels with improved mechanical strengths. Scanning electron micrography (SEM), Infrared (IR) spectrometry, thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were carried out to characterize these macroporous polymers. Amphoteric cryogels proved to be favorable materials recognizing and binding proteins. When used as liquid chromatography stationary phases, they were capable of simultaneously adsorbing various serum proteins. Electrophoresis showed that abundant proteins were gradually depleted by the cryogels prepared from increased ratios of bovine serums in the monomer solutions. As abundant proteins are always imprinted first, this sample per se imprinting method provides an effective and convenient way to deplete abundant proteins from complex samples such as serums, meanwhile concentrating and collecting scarce species therein.

Ice Squeezing Induced Multicolor Fluorescence Emissions from Polyacrylamide Cryogels.

Being short of conventional chromophores, polyacrylamide is generally not regarded as a fluorescent material. Exactly the polymerization of dilute solutions of acrylamide and N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide led to thick liquids at 60 °C, showing no fluorescence. Things changed when the phase transition of water was involved. The squeezing effect of ice crystals not only created polymeric solids (cryogels) at - 20 °C, but also endowed them unexpected fluorescence emissions. The macroporous cryogels are mainly blue fluorescent polymers. However yellow and red fluorescence were also achieved by changing the ingredient ratios. A series of instrumental detections revealed that the multicolor fluorescence were based on exquisite amido stacking induced from ice squeezing. If people make good use of the squeezing effect of the heaven-sent molecule to manipulate the interactions of monomer functionalities, cryogenic polymerization can be a promising method to produce diverse polymeric materials.

[Accumulation of Mercury in Soil-maize System of Non-ferrous Metals Smelting Area and Its Related Risk Assessment].

Soil heavy metal pollution, especially the mercury pollution, has been widespread concern in non-ferrous metallurgical area. This study focused on the content, distribution and pollution status of Hg in maize soil of Huludao city. Meanwhile, Hg contents in the various organs of maize were analyzed. Hg concentration in soil ranged from 0.25 to 3.49 mg x kg(-1) with the average content of 1.78 mg x kg(-1), which was 48 times as high as the background value of Liaoning soil. Around 2-3m range of zinc plant, the pattern of spatial distribution showed that the content of Hg was gradually increased with the increase of the distance to Huludao zinc plant. The result of geoaccumulation index reflected that Hg pollution is up to moderate pollution level on the whole. 54. 6% of the total sample were belonged to the serious pollution level. The potential ecological risk index of Hakanson was applied to assess the ecological risk of Hg. The target hazard quotient method (THQ) was used to assess the health risk for human, the results revealed that there was no significant health risk by consumption corn. Mercury is very difficult to transport in soil-maize system, and there is no obvious health risks to adults. But the risk coefficient of children, which is up to 0.056. is much higher than adults.

Use of anthropometric data from the medial tibial and femoral condyles to design unicondylar knee prostheses in the Chinese population.

Anthropometric data on medial tibial condyles and medial femoral condyles of 172 normal knees (94 male knees, 78 female knees) were obtained using three-dimensional computer tomographic measurements. In the medial tibial condyle, we measured the anteroposterior (AP) and widest dimension (WD), and compared the measurements with the similar dimensions of five tibial unicondylar knee prostheses conventionally used in China. In the femur, we used best-fit two-circular arcs to measure the morphology of the sagittal plane of the medial femoral condyle. We found that three of the prostheses showed WD overhang for all ranges of the AP dimension, while two of them showed WD underhang. We also found a progressive decrease in the condylar aspect ratio (WD/AP%) in parallel with an increase in the AP dimension in the medial tibial condyle. However, none of the conventional tibial prosthesis showed a similar change. Furthermore, males had larger values in aspect ratio than females with the same values for AP dimension. There were definite correlations between the radius of the curvature for the posterior part (R1) and distal part (R2) in the sagittal plane of medial femoral condyle. Both of these values were smaller than in the Caucasian population. Both radiuses of curvature for the posterior and distal components showed definite correlations with the AP dimension. The results of this study may provide guidelines for designing unicondylar knee prostheses suitable for the Chinese population.

Three dimensional morphometry of the knee to design the total knee arthroplasty for Chinese population.

Anthropometric data on the proximal tibia and distal femur of 172 normal knees (94 male knees, 78 female knees) were obtained using three dimensional computer tomographic measurements. We measured the tibial mediolateral (tML) and tibial anteroposterior (tAP) dimension in resected proximal tibia surface, femoral mediolateral (fML) and femoral anteroposterior (fAP) dimension in resected distal femur surface. The measurements were compared with the similar dimensions of five total knee prostheses conventionally used in China. We found that in the smaller sized prostheses the tibial mediolateral dimension was undersized, while in the larger size prostheses the tibial mediolateral dimension was overhang. For all sizes of prostheses the femoral mediolateral dimension was overhang. We found a progressively decreased in the aspect ratio (ML/AP %) with an increasing anteroposterior dimension both in the tibia and femur, as compared to the constant aspect ratio shown by the conventional total prostheses. Male had larger values in mediolateral dimension and aspect ratio than female under a given anteroposterior dimension both in the tibia and femur. There were strong correlations between measurements of the tibia and femur. The results of this study may provide guidelines for designing suitable total knee prosthesis for the Chinese population, especially for design of gender-specific prostheses.