Combination of IL-33 with PD-1 blockade augment mILC2s-mediated anti-tumor immunity.

BACKGROUND: Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) represent one of the main tissue-specific innate lymphoid cell populations, which are key drivers of cytokine secretion in their occupational niche. However, the precise involvement of ILC2s in cancer immunity and their potential impact on immunotherapeutic approaches remain poorly understood. METHODS: The proportion of ILC2s originating from various tissue sources were quantified through flow cytometry, along with the determination of CD4+ T cell and CD8+ T cell percentages. Flow cytometry was also employed to assess IFN-γ production and programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) expression in T cells. Immunohistochemistry was utilized to detect IL-33 expression in tumor tissues, while immunofluorescence was employed to confirm the infiltration of ILC2s in both murine and human tumor tissues. RESULTS: In this study, we provide evidence that intra-tumoral ILC2s in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) exist in a quiescent state. However, the activation of intra-tumoral ILC2s is induced by IL-33 specifically in a natural ILC2s (nILC2, ST2+KLRG1-) phenotype. Considering the pivotal role of PD-1 in cancer immunotherapy and its immunoregulatory functions, we investigated the synergistic effects of IL-33 and anti-PD-1 and found that their combination enhances anti-tumor immunity and improves the efficacy of immunotherapy. Moreover, this combination leads to the upregulation of activated mature ILC2s (mILC2, ST2+KLRG1+) phenotype, thereby highlighting the activated ILC2s as a novel enhancer of the immunoregulatory properties of anti-PD-1. CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these findings underscore the significance of ILC2s and their contribution to the anti-tumor response in the context of cancer immunotherapy. Consequently, the simultaneous targeting of ILC2s and T cells represents a potentially promising and widely applicable strategy for immunotherapeutic interventions.

Lens-free auto-focusing imaging algorithm for the ultra-broadband light source.

Auto-focusing is an essential task for lens-free holographic microscopy, which has developed many methods for high precision or fast refocusing. In this work, we derive the relationship among intensity derivation, the derivative of spectral distribution, as well as the distribution of the object, and propose a new auto-focusing criterion, the Robert critical function with axial difference (RCAD), to enhance the accuracy of distance estimation for lens-free imaging with the ultra-broadband light source. This method consists of three steps: image acquisition and preprocessing, axial-difference calculation, and distance estimation with sharpness analysis. The simulations and experiments demonstrate that the accuracy of this metric on auto-focusing with the ultra-broadband spectrum can effectively assist in determining the off-focus distance. The experiments are conducted in an ultra-broad-spectrum on-chip system, where the samples including the resolution target and the cross-section of the Tilia stem are employed to maximize the applicability of this method. We believe that the RCAD criterion is expected to be a useful auxiliary tool for lens-free on-chip microscopes with ultra-broadband spectrum illumination.

Macrocycle-Based Hierarchically Porous Hydrogen-Bonded Organic Frameworks.

Hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (HOFs) are porous crystalline materials. The pores in HOFs are usually non-covalent extrinsic pores constructed through the formation of the framework. Supramolecular macrocycles with intrinsic pores in their structures are good candidates for constructing HOFs with intrinsic pores from the macrocycles themselves, thus leading to hierarchically porous structures. Combining the macrocycle and HOFs will endow these hierarchically porous materials with enhanced properties and special functionalities. This review summarizes recent advances in macrocycle-based HOFs, including the macrocycles used for constructing HOFs, the hierarchically porous structures of the HOFs, and the applications induced by the hierarchically HOFs porous structures. This review provides insights for future research on macrocycle-based hierarchically porous HOFs and the appropriate applications of the unique structures.

Poly(lactic acid) based Pearl Layer Moistureproof Membrane for Flexible Laminated Packaging.

The development of bio-based polymer materials, such as polylactic acid (PLA) -based polymers, is an effective strategy to reduce dependence on petrochemical-based polymers. However, the preparation of bio-based polymers with high barrier properties is a major challenge. To overcome this challenge, a nacreous layer structure with a ' brick and mud ' pattern is mimicked to improve the overall performance of the material. In this paper, Poly (L -lactic acid) (PLLA) and Polypropylene Glycol (PPG) was combined to prepare bio-based polyurethane (PU-PLLA), which is used as the slurry structure of nacreous layer. The bio-based biomimetic composite membrane (PU-PLLA/BN) is then obtained by adding boron nitride (BN, brick structure of pearl layer) to it. The water vapor permeability test results show that the permeability of PU-PLLA material can be reduced by more than 50% by 5 wt.% BN, which is because the addition of BN can increase the length and tortuosity of the gas molecular diffusion path in the composite. Therefore, this pearl-inspired PU-PLLA/BN film has excellent moisture resistance, which opens up a broad road for the practical application of PLLA in flexible laminated packaging.

Tannic Acid Crosslinked Self-Healing and Reprocessable Silicone Elastomers with Improved Antibacterial and Flame Retardant Properties.

Silicone elastomers are widely used in aviation, electronics, automotive, and medical device fields, and their overuse inevitably causes recycled problems. In addition, the elastomers are subject to attack by bacteria and fire during use in some application scenarios, which is a safety hazard. Therefore, there is a great need to prepare silicone elastomers with improved antibacterial, flame retardant, self-healing, and recyclable functions. A new strategy is proposed to prepare silicone elastomers with bio-based tannic acid as cross-linkers to solve this problem by using polydimethylsiloxane as a soft chain segment and 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid as an intermediate chain extender. Based on the phenol carbamate bonding and hydrogen bonding interactions, the elastomer has efficient self-healing ability and can achieve dynamic dissociation at 120 °C for complete recovery. In addition, due to the unique spatial structure and polyphenolic hydroxyl groups of tannic acid, the mechanical properties of the elastomer are greatly improved with an antimicrobial efficiency of over 90% and a final oxygen index of 25.5%. The multifunctional silicone elastomer has great potential applications in recyclable refractory materials and antimicrobial materials.

Evaluation of custom posts and cores fabricated by two digital technologies in core and post space dimensions.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the adaptability between posts and post spaces and the rationality of cores fabricated by two digital custom post-and-core processes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Titanium post-and-cores were fabricated by digital scanning impression technology or digital scanning wax-pattern technology on tooth defect molds of incisors, premolars, and molars, with traditional lost-wax casts of these teeth as the controls. Micro-CT and a laboratory scanner were used to determine intervals between post wall and root canal wall of the root apex, middle, and cervix of each sample in cross-, sagittal, and coronal sections; intervals between the end of post and tooth; diameters of cervical, middle, and incisal part at cross-, sagittal, and coronal sections of each sample, as well as shoulder widths. RESULTS: The three fabrication processes showed significant differences in intervals between post-and-core prostheses and root canal walls, diameters of all parts of cores, and shoulder widths. Scanning impressions showed significant advantages in the main part of post-and-cores in incisors and premolars, while the scanning wax-pattern process showed obvious inferiorities in premolars and molars. As to core spatial size, values of measured sites in the scanning impression process were closer to the standard than those of the traditional process, while differences between the measured value of the scanning wax-pattern process were much more obvious than in the traditional process. CONCLUSIONS: The use of digital custom post-and-core scanning impressions improved the rationality and precision of post-and-core dimensions compared with two other processes.

Precise Epitope Organization with Self-adjuvant Framework Nucleic Acid for Efficient COVID-19 Peptide Vaccine Construction.

Peptide vaccines have advantages in easy fabrication and high safety, but their effectiveness is hampered by the poor immunogenicity of the epitopes themselves. Herein, we constructed a series of framework nucleic acids (FNAs) with regulated rigidity and size to precisely organize epitopes in order to reveal the influence of epitope spacing and carrier rigidity on the efficiency of peptide vaccines. We found that assembling epitopes on rigid tetrahedral FNAs (tFNAs) with the appropriate size could efficiently enhance their immunogenicity. Further, by integrating epitopes from SARS-CoV-2 on preferred tFNAs, we constructed a COVID-19 peptide vaccine which could induce high titers of IgG against the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and increase the ratio of memory B and T cells in mice. Considering the good biocompatibility of tFNAs, our research provides a new idea for developing efficient peptide vaccines against viruses and possibly other diseases.

Single-shot lensfree on-chip quantitative phase microscopy with partially coherent LED illumination.

We propose a single-shot lens-free phase retrieval (SSLFPR) method in a lens-free on-chip microscopy (LFOCM) system based on a partially coherent light emitting diode (LED) illumination. The finite bandwidth (∼23.95 nm) of LED illumination is divided into a series of quasi-monochromatic components according to the LED spectrum measured by a spectrometer. When the "virtual wavelength scanning" phase retrieval method is combined with the dynamic phase support constraint, the resolution loss caused by the spatiotemporal partial coherence of the light source can be effectively compensated. At the same time, the nonlinearity characteristics of the support constraint help to further improve the imaging resolution, accelerate the convergence of the iteration process, and greatly eliminate the artifacts. Based on the proposed SSLFPR method, we demonstrate that the phase information of samples (including phase resolution target and polystyrene microspheres) illuminated by a LED can be accurately retrieved based on one single diffraction pattern. The SSLFPR method has a half-width resolution of 977 nm across a large field-of-view (FOV) of 19.53 mm2, which is 1.41 × the resolution of the conventional approach. We also imaged living Henrietta Lacks (HeLa) cells cultured in vitro, further demonstrating the real-time single-shot quantitative phase imaging (QPI) capability of SSLFPR for dynamic samples. Given its simple hardware, high throughput, and single-frame high-resolution QPI capability, SSLFPR is expected to be adopted in a wide range of biological and medical applications.

First report of Dickeya dadantii causing bacterial soft rot of Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum in Taiwan.

Philodendrons are important foliage ornamentals planted worldwide (Chen et al. 2010). In November 2021, soft rot symptoms were observed on Philodendron selloum (now known as Thaumatophyllum bipinnatifidum; Sakuragui et al. 2018) grown in a nursery in Taichung, Taiwan. On symptomatic plants, the petioles were macerated; leaf lesions were also found on some plants (Figure S1). About 60% of the plants on site were symptomatic; these plants tended to cluster together. Four plants were sampled. Infected tissues were soaked and cut into pieces in 10 mM MgCl2 (using scalpels); undiluted samples were streak-plated onto nutrient agar (NA) and grown for 24 h at 28°C. Translucent, creamy-white colonies were isolated from all of the tissues examined, and 4 isolates, PHIL1 to PHIL4, were obtained (each from a different plant). All isolates exhibited typical phenotypes of bacteria belonging to Dickeya; they could cause maceration symptoms on potato slices, ferment glucose and produce phosphatase (Schaad et al. 2001); they could also produce indigoidine on NGM medium (NA added with glycerol and MnCl2; Lee and Yu. 2006). Polymerase chain reactions using Dickeya-specific primers 5A and 5B (Chao et al. 2006) amplified the expected amplicon in all 4 isolates. The 16S rDNA of PHIL1 to PHIL4 were amplified using primer pair 27f/1492r (Lane 1991) and the amplicons were sequenced; all 4 isolates shared the same 1,395-bp sequence (accession nos. ON203122, ON479664-ON479666). Among the strains belonging to known species (in GenBank), PHIL1 to PHIL4 shared the highest sequence identity (99.93%) with D. dadantii 3937; they also shared 98.78% sequence identity with D. dadantii CFBP 1269T. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) targeting fragments of PHIL1 to PHIL4's dnaA (720 bp), dnaJ (672 bp), dnaX (450 bp), gyrB (822 bp), and recN (762 bp) genes (Marrero et al. 2013) were conducted. The five-gene concatenated sequences (3,426 bp) of the 4 isolates (accession nos. ON227444-ON227448, ON494509-ON494523) were identical. A maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis including these sequences and those of type strains of other known Dickeya species revealed that PHIL1 to PHIL4 clustered with strains belonging to D. dadantii (Figure S2). Koch's postulates were fulfilled with an inoculation test conducted on T. bipinnatifidum (17 cm in aboveground height; 7-months-old). Stab inoculation using sterile toothpicks was conducted on petioles. Three plants were tested for each isolate and 2 petioles were inoculated for each plant; all 4 isolates were included in the assay. The pathogen loads inoculated were quantified by the spread plate method and were 3.22 - 4.81 x 107 colony forming units. Three plants were stabbed with bacteria-free toothpicks, serving as controls. All plants were bagged post inoculation and kept in a growth chamber (28°C; 14 h light). After 72 h, all of the inoculated petioles exhibited symptoms resembling those observed in the nursery. Bacteria were re-isolated from the symptomatic tissues (one isolate from each treatment), and all of their five-gene concatenated sequences were the same as those of PHIL1 to PHIL4. This is the first formal report of the occurrence of D. dadantii infecting T. bipinnatifidum in Taiwan. Studies have shown that D. dadantii could affect other Araceae plants in Taiwan (Lee and Chen 2021). Since different Araceae ornamentals are often planted together in gardens and nurseries, growers should be aware of potential transmission of D. dadantii among them.

Prognosis of Surgical Treatment After Ipsilateral Breast Tumor Recurrence.

BACKGROUND: Ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) was determined to be a powerful independent risk factor of distant disease and increased mortality. Although mastectomy is the standard salvage treatment for IBTR after breast conserving treatment, there is evidence that repeat breast conserving surgery (rBCS) might be a feasible alternative treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data of patients who were diagnosed with IBTR between 1998 and 2013 were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. Breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis, and propensity score matching analysis was applied to compensate for the differences in some baseline characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 475 patients (22.9%) who underwent rBCS and 1600 (77.1%) who underwent mastectomy after IBTR were included in the study. During a median follow-up of 130 mo, no significant differences were observed in BCSS and OS between the rBCS and mastectomy groups of patients before and after propensity score matching. Multivariate analysis revealed that race, the American Joint Committee on Cancer stage of the recurrent tumor, and reirradiation were independent prognostic factors for both BCSS and OS. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study indicate that rBCS can be a feasible alternative treatment option for patients with IBTR. Nevertheless, further studies should be conducted to identify the prognosis of patients after rBCS as well as the best candidates for a second breast conserving surgery.

Efficacy and Safety of Percutaneous Argon-Helium Cryoablation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Abutting the Diaphragm.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of percutaneous argon-helium cryoablation (CA) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) abutting the diaphragm (<5 mm). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 61 consecutive patients (50 men, 11 women; mean age, 56.3 ± 12.1 years old; range, 32-83 years) with 74 HCC tumors (mean size, 3.3 ± 1.7 cm; range, 0.8-7 cm) who were treated with percutaneous argon-helium CA were enrolled in this retrospective study. Adverse events were evaluated according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 5.0. Local tumor progression (LTP) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. The risk factors associated with OS and LTP were evaluated using univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: No periprocedural (30-day) deaths occurred. A total of 29 intrathoracic adverse events occurred in 24 of the 61 patients. Major adverse events were reported in 5 patients (pleural effusion requiring catheter drainage in 4 patients and pneumothorax requiring catheter placement in 1 patient). Median follow-up was 18.7 months (range, 2.3-60.0 months). Median time to LTP after CA was 20.9 months (interquartile range [IQR], 14.1-30.6 months). Median times of OS after CA and diagnosis were 27.3 months (IQR, 15.1-45.1 months) and 40.9 months (interquartile range, 24.8-68.6 months), respectively. Independent prognostic factors for OS included tumor location (left lobe vs right lobe; hazard ratio [HR], 2.031; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.062-3.885; P = .032) and number of intrahepatic tumors (solitary vs multifocal; HR, 2.684; 95% CI, 1.322-5.447; P = .006). Independent prognostic factors for LTP included age (HR, 0.931; 95% CI, 0.900-0.963; P  < .001), guidance modality (ultrasound vs computed tomography and US; HR, 6.156 95% CI, 1.862-20.348; P  =   .003) and origin of liver disease. CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous argon-helium CA is safe for the treatment of HCC abutting the diaphragm, with acceptable LTP and OS.

Retrospective analysis of CT-guided percutaneous cryoablation for treatment of painful osteolytic bone metastasis.

This study aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of CT-guided percutaneous cryoablation for treatment of painful osteolytic bone metastases. A total of 26 patients (36 bone metastases) treated with CT-guided percutaneous cryoablation between May 2012 and June 2016 were enrolled in this retrospective study. All procedures were performed under local anesthesia. A visual analog scale (VAS) was used to evaluate pain before the procedure and at 1 day, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after the procedure. Complications during and after the procedure were recorded and graded by the Clavien-Dindo classification. The mean VAS pain score was 7.1 ± 1.1 (range, 4-10) before cryoablation. It was significantly lower at all timepoints after treatment: 2.1 ± 1.7 (P < 0.0001) at 1 day after treatment, 1.3 ± 1.8 (P < 0.0001) at 1 month, 1.6 ± 1.7 (P < 0.0001) at 3 months, and 1.8 ± 1.3 (P < 0.0001) at 6 months. The response rates were 91.7%, 94.4%, 91.7%, and 94.4%, respectively, at 1 day, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after cryoablation; the complete response rates were 22.2%, 41.7%, 36.1%, and 22.2%, respectively. Adverse events (skin frostbite, nerve injury, pathologic fracture) occurred in 3 patients. CT-guided percutaneous cryoablation under local anesthesia appears to be a safe and effective treatment for painful osteolytic bone metastases. Prospective clinical trials on large samples needed to confirm this conclusion.

High-precision rotation angle measurement method based on a lensless digital holographic microscope.

To accurately measure ultrasmall rotation angles, a robust and effective method based on lensless digital holographic microscopy is proposed in this paper. The method combines holographic microscopy, solid geometry, and 3D measurement, including holographic measurement and angle measurement processes. We can calculate the 3D shape by the angular spectrum algorithm and the least-squares phase-unwrapping algorithm in the holographic process. According to the relationship between the surface shape and rotation angles, the real-time rotation angles can be calculated. To validate the feasibility and practicability of the proposed approach, numerical noise simulations and experiments were performed. The measurement precision of rotation angle can reach 0.5″ in the range of 1000″ in this paper's experiments. The holographic method has high measurement precision and good stability. In addition, the compact small volume has great potential in small-angle sensor applications.

Coherent noise reduction of phase images in digital holographic microscopy based on the adaptive anisotropic diffusion.

The suppression of coherent noise can produce higher-quality reconstructed images in digital holographic microscopy. A robust and effective phase coherent noise denoising algorithm is proposed in this paper that combines the anisotropic diffusion equation and the phase quality map. In order to accurately identify the noise and signal pixels, we introduce the phase quality map and edge detection to quantify the quality of the pixel information. In addition, a synthetic diffusion function is established to control the speed of the anisotropic diffusion process based on the quality coefficient. Several experiments have been carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm for coherent noise reduction. The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can reduce coherent noise and preserve edge details well.

WITHDRAWN: JIP3 deficiency protects mice from high fat diet-induced liver injury.

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Itaconic Acid Based Surfactants: I. Synthesis and Characterization of Sodium n-Octyl Sulfoitaconate Diester Anionic Surfactant.

A novel itaconate-based surfactant, namely sodium n-octyl sulfoitaconate diester (SOSID), has been synthesized from itaconic acid (IA) and n-octanol by sulfonation and esterification reaction processes. The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, molar ratios of n-octanol to IA and the catalyst dosage on the esterification were investigated. The chemical structure of the surfactants SOSID was characterized by means of LC-MS and confirmed by FT-IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The surface tension γ and the critical micelle concentration (CMC) were determined as 25.02 mN/m and 4.0 × 10-4 mol/L by using surface tensiometer at 20 °C. Further investigations showed that SOSID possess excellent wetting, emulsifying and lime soap dispersing properties.

2,3-Oxidosqualene cyclase protects liver cells from the injury of intermittent hypoxia by regulating lipid metabolism.

PURPOSE: 2,3-Oxidosqualene cyclase (OSC), an important enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis, catalyzes the highly selective cyclization of 2,3-monoepoxysqualene to lanosterol. Intermittent hypoxia (IH) is a hallmark feature in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) which is increasingly recognized as an independent risk factor for liver injury. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of IH on OSC expression and evaluate the role of OSC in the IH-induced apoptosis in hepatic cell line human liver cell (HL-02). METHODS: HL-02 cells were exposed to normoxia or IH. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay was used to value cell proliferation, and flow cytometry was used to determine cell apoptosis. The expression of OSC messenger RNA (mRNA) was evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR, and the expression of OSC protein was determined by Western blot. To further investigate the function of OSC in IH-induced apoptosis, oxidosqualene cyclase-enhanced green fluorescence protein (OSC-EGFP) plasmid was constructed to over-express OSC protein. Triglyceride content in HL-02 cells was analyzed by oil red staining or Triglyceride Quantification Kit. RESULTS: We found that IH inhibited HL-02 cell proliferation and accelerated cell apoptosis. IH decreased OSC expression, and over-expression of OSC could protect HL-02 cells against the IH-induced hepatic cell injury. Moreover, over-expression of OSC could attenuate IH-induced cellular triglyceride accumulation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that OSC are involved in IH-induced hepatic cell injury. These results may contribute to the further understanding of the mechanism underlying the liver injury in OSA patients.

Effect of HbA1C detection on the diagnostic screening for glucose metabolic disorders in polycystic ovary syndrome.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the effect of hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) detection on the diagnostic screening for glucose metabolic disorders in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 161 patients with PCOS (mean age = 23.68 +/- 4.23 years) were subjected to an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to evaluate the fasting plasma glucose (FPG), and HbA1C was used to probe the sensitivity and specificity of abnormal glucose tolerance. RESULTS: Based on the traditional standards of blood sugar, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 5.6%, and the pre-diabetes prevalence was 7.5%. Based on the HbA1C standards, 4.3% of patients were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and 10.6% of the diabetic patients can be considered as high-risk populations. Based on the combined standards of OGTT and HbA1C, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 6.2%, and the pre-diabetes prevalence was 12.4%. OGTT is considered the gold standard for identifying abnormal glucose tolerance, and HbA1C detection is considered to be stronger than FPG. The areas under the ROC curves of HbA1C and FPG were 0.968 and 0.672, respectively (p < 0.01). The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends the cut-off value of HbA1c > or = 5.7% and FPG > or = 5.6 mmol/l for identifying abnormal glucose tolerance. The sensitivity and specificity were 76.7% and 89.5% for HBA1C, as well as 40.5% and 94.3% for FPG, respectively. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 7.3 and 0.26 for HbA1C, as well as 7.1 and 0.63 for FPG, respectively. CONCLUSION: HbA1C detection can be used as a method for diagnosis and screening.

'Gold' lost in restoration: Evaluation of core morphology of custom metal posts and cores, and analysis of precious metal debris.

1 Objectives: To investigate the deviations between the morphological dimensions of finished cores and desired dimensions made by three available fabricating techniques. To assess the precious metal loss in custom precious metal post and core restorative treatment in the dental clinic. 2 Methods: Titanium posts and cores were fabricated using three different techniques: digital scanning impression technology, digital scanning wax-pattern technology, and the traditional lost-wax casting method. Geomagic Studio was used to fit the scanned model data to the digital design data of the expected preparation and to analyze the 3D deviations between the two. Precious metal debris from the precious metal post and core was collected, processed, weighed and analyzed for precious metal elements by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy layered images. 3 Results: In all 48 pairs of models, there were positive and negative deviations, with the largest mean positive deviation of (0.752 ± 0.037 mm) for models made by the semi-digital scanning wax-pattern technique. A total of 7001.3 mg of metals was recovered from the waste streams collected, which contained precious metals-mainly gold, silver, and platinum. 4 Conclusions: There were discrepancies between the custom core and the expected preparation regardless of the fabrication process used. The digital scanning impression technology showed better dimensional rationality of crown cores. Custom precious metal posts and cores can have an average precious metal loss of 129.7 mg per case in the dental clinic.

Effects of 10-MDP calcium salt on osteoblasts and fibroblasts.

OBJECTIVE: 10-methacryloyloxidecyl dihydrogen phosphate monomer (10-MDP) is commonly used as a bonding monomer in universal adhesives. Adhesives that contain this monomer can directly contact the surrounding periodontium due to the chemical binding of 10-MDP with hydroxyapatite in hard tissue to form calcium salts. However, the effect of these calcium salts on the periodontium in the case of subgingival fillings remains poorly understood. The objective of this study was to investigate effects of 10-MDP calcium salts on osteoblasts and fibroblasts in the periodontal tissues. METHODS: This study investigated the effects of different concentrations of 10-MDP calcium salts on the migration, proliferation, and differentiation of osteoblasts (MC3T3-E1) and fibroblasts (L929); additionally, the effect on apoptosis and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) expression in these cells was evaluated. Cell proliferation assay, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity assay, Western blotting, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were performed to determine the effects. RESULTS: The 10-MDP calcium salts (within a concentration of 0.5 mg/mL) showed no cytotoxicity and did not seem to influence the apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane potential, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in the cells. However, they had an inhibitory effect on the secretion of MMP2 and MMP9 in the osteoblasts and fibroblasts. The ALP activity assay and Alizarin Red staining did not reveal any significant effects of the 10-MDP calcium salts on osteoblast differentiation. SIGNIFICANCE: These results suggest that applying 10-MDP-containing adhesives to subgingival fillings may be safe and beneficial for the periodontal tissues.