Continuous production machine for separating and shaping Taiping Houkui tea.

In response to the challenges of low automation and a lack of a continuous processing system for Taiping Houkui tea, this study proposed a design scheme for a continuous processing line and built a continuous processing prototype for testing by combining the production requirements of Taiping Houkui tea, the characteristics of withered leaves, and the existing relevant production equipment. First, the physical properties of Taiping Houkui tea were determined. A simulation was performed using the Hertz-Mindlin model, and the motion states of the tea leaves were obtained under different conditions to define the parameter design range of the experimental platform and verify its structural rationality. Then, the response surface methodology was used to optimize the working parameter ranges and obtain the best working parameters for the feeding and kneading mechanisms. Finally, a continuous production prototype was constructed for further production verification. The experimental results show that the success rate of continuous production on this platform was 70.68%, with an average output of approximately 0.4 kg/h for Taiping Houkui dry tea on a single slide track, and the produced tea was similar to manually made tea. This demonstrates that the continuous production technique has high feasibility and provides a reference for continuous production of Taiping Houkui tea.

Biomimetic Inorganic Nanoparticle-Loaded Silk Fibroin-Based Coating with Enhanced Antibacterial and Osteogenic Abilities.

Poor osseointegration and infection are the main reasons leading to the failure of hard tissue implants; especially, in recent years, the failure rate has been increasing every year owing to the continuously increasing conditions such as injury, trauma, diseases, or infections. Therefore, the development of a biomimetic surface coating of bone tissues with antibacterial function is an effective means to improve bone healing and inhibit bacterial infection. Mimicking the natural bone, in this study, we have designed a silk fibroin (collagen-like structure)-based coating inlaid with nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) for promoting antibacterial ability and osteogenesis, especially focusing on the bone mimetic structure for enhancing bone health. Observing the morphology and size of the composite nanoparticles by transmission electron microscope (TEM), nHA provided nucleation sites for the formation of AgNPs, forming an nHA/AgNP complex with a size of about 100-200 nm. Characterization of the nHA/Ag-loaded silk fibroin biomimetic coating showed an increased surface roughness with good density and compact performances. The silk fibroin-based coating loaded with uniformly distributed AgNPs and nHA could effectively inhibit the adhesion of Staphylococcus aureus on the surface and, at the same time, quickly kill planktonic bacteria, indicating their good antibacterial ability. In vitro cell experiments revealed that the biomimetic silk fibroin-based coating was beneficial to the adhesion, spreading, and proliferation of osteoblasts (MC3T3-E1). In addition, by characterizing LDH and ROS, it was found that the nHA/Ag complex could significantly reduce the cytotoxicity of AgNPs, and the osteoblasts on the coating surface maintained the structure intact.

ERß compensates for the absence of ERα function to promote osteoblast viability by inhibition of SOST signaling.

Estrogen receptors α and ß (ERα and ERß) serve key functions in bone development and maintenance, and in the metabolism of bone mineral. ERß and ERα form heterodimers, and ERß negatively regulates the transactivation of ERα. ERß also inhibits recruitment of ERα to the estrogen-responsive promoters. However, the relationship of ERα and ERß in the regulation of osteoblast viability and differentiation remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate whether ERß plays a role in balancing ERα activity in osteoblast cells. Downregulation of ERα by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) was found to significantly increase cell cycle arrest at G1 phase (P<0.01). In addition, this effect was found to be significantly enhanced by downregulation of ERß (P<0.05). Inversely, ERα-knocked down osteoblasts were treated with ERß agonist 2,3-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)-propionitrile (DPN) to activate ERß. It was found that activation of ERß significantly rescued the arrest of cell cycle induced by the downregulation of ERα (P<0.05). Furthermore, downregulation of ERα was found to significantly inhibit cell viability (P<0.01), and knockdown of ERß was found to have a significant synergic effect with ERα downregulation on the inhibition of cell viability (P<0.01). Treatment with ERß agonist DPN significantly rescued the effects of downregulation of ERα on cell viability (P<0.01). It was also demonstrated that the synergic effects of ERα and ERß deletion was via upregulation of SOST gene expression, and the subsequent inhibition of OPG and Runx2 gene expression. Thus, ERß may serve a function in balancing osteoblast viability and differentiation induced by ERα.

[Preliminary Study on Comfortableness of Motorized Wheelchair Cushion].

This paper aims to explore the thermal feelings of different cover materials effect on wheelchair cushion comfortableness,and to build a mathematical model for motorized wheelchair cushion comfortableness.By measuring temperature and humidity between the contact face of motorized wheelchair cushion and human body as well as the setting posture adjustment time while cushion cover materials are nylon cloth,leather,fishnets cloth.At the same time,each volunteer took a questionnaire about the comfort of different cushion cover materials.Results showed that fishnets cloth was most comfortable,leather was worst,while nylon cloth was in between the two.The experimental objective data were consistent with the subjective data.We built a back propagation(BP)neural network mathematical model for motorized wheelchair cushion comfortableness.This study will provide objective reference to motorized wheelchair for the designers and users.

Preparation and application of collagen scaffold-encapsulated silver nanoparticles and bone morphogenetic protein 2 for enhancing the repair of infected bone.

The healing of contaminated/infected bone defects is a significant clinical challenge. Here, a novel collagen scaffold composite encapsulating silver nanoparticles (AgNP) and bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) was prepared to enhance the healing of infected bone defects. Collagen scaffolds conjugated with AgNP possessed strong antibacterial properties that were dependent on the release rate of Ag(+). After introducing BMP-2, the BMP-2/AgNP/collagen scaffold composites did not adversely affect the adherence or proliferation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs). Differentiation of BMSCs toward osteoblasts was induced by the upregulation of RUNX2, osteopontin and osteonectin expression. BMP-2/AgNP/collagen scaffold composites, therefore, possess the antibacterial activity of AgNP and the osteoinductivity of BMP-2, making these composites an ideal pharmaceutical for the regeneration of bone in infected wounds.

Cementless bilateral synchronous total hip arthroplasty in ankylosing spondylitis with hip ankylosis.

PURPOSE: This study was a retrospective analysis of early and mid-term clinical effects and perioperative management of cementless bilateral synchronous total hip arthroplasty (THA) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) with bilateral hip ankylosis. METHODS: Fifteen AS patients (30 hips) with bilateral hip ankylosis were managed with cementless bilateral synchronous THA. Surgical outcome was evaluated using the visual analogue scale (VAS), the range of motion and the Harris score. RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 29.3 months. At the last follow-up visit, the VAS score decreased from 7.53 ± 0.99 before the operation to 2.40 ± 0.91. The Harris score increased from 24.8 ± 7.42 before the operation to 83.8 ± 4.61. The total range of motion increased from 78.73 ± 14.53 before the operation to 209.73 ± 16.19 after the operation. After the operation, there was one case of early hip dislocation, one case of femoral nerve stretch injury and one case of superficial incision infection. There were no cases of deep venous thrombosis. X-ray examinations did not show prosthetic loosening or displacement. CONCLUSION: AS patients with bilateral hip ankylosis can be treated with cementless bilateral synchronous THA, which could greatly improve hip joint function without significant complications. The clinical effects proved to be satisfactory.