Determining Whether an Individual is 18 Years or Older Based on the Third Molar Root Pulp Visibility in East China.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the age-related changes of the mandibular third molar root pulp visibility in individuals in East China, and to explore the feasibility of applying this method to determine whether an individual is 18 years or older. METHODS: A total of 1 280 oral panoramic images were collected from the 15-30 years old East China population, and the mandibular third molar root pulp visibility in all oral panoramic images was evaluated using OLZE 0-3 four-stage method, and the age distribution of the samples at each stage was analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Stages 0, 1, 2 and 3 first appeared in 16.88, 19.18, 21.91 and 25.44 years for males and in 17.47, 20.91, 22.01 and 26.01 years for females. In all samples, individuals at stages 1 to 3 were over 18 years old. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to determine whether an individual in East China is 18 years or older based on the mandibular third molar root pulp visibility on oral panoramic images.

Routing to mid-infrared microcomb via near-infrared direct pump.

Mid-infrared (MIR) microcomb provides a new way into the "molecular fingerprint" region. However, it remains rather a challenge to realize the broadband mode-locked soliton microcomb, which is often limited by the performance of available MIR pump sources and coupling devices. Here, we propose an effective approach towards broadband MIR soliton microcombs generation via a direct pump in the near-infrared (NIR) region, through full utilization of the second- and third-order nonlinearities in a thin-film lithium niobate microresonator. The optical parametric oscillation process contributes to conversion from the pump at 1550 nm to the signal around 3100 nm, and the four-wave mixing effect promotes spectrum expansion and mode-locking process. While the second-harmonic and sum-frequency generation effects facilitate simultaneous emission of the NIR comb teeth. Both the continuous wave and pulse pump sources with relatively low power can support a MIR soliton with a bandwidth over 600 nm and a concomitant NIR microcomb with a bandwidth of 100 nm. This work can provide a promising solution for broadband MIR microcombs by breaking through the limitation of available MIR pump sources, and can deepen the understanding of the physical mechanism of the quadratic soliton assisted by the Kerr effect.

Rehabilitation of long-term mandibular defects by whole-process digital fibula flap combining with implants: A case report.

Currently, the gold standard and workhorse in mandibular reconstruction is the free vascularized fibula flap. Particularly for patients who have had mandibulectomy for a long time, it is still difficult to precisely reconstruct the mandibular contour and successfully restore the patient's chewing function and esthetics. For the restoration and rehabilitation of long-term mandibular abnormalities, three-dimensional (3D) virtual surgical planning (VSP) and 3D-printed surgical guides are essential. Digital design and manufacturing were used to improve the accuracy of prostheses and facilitate occlusal reconstruction. Therefore, equipped with the methods of 3D VSP, 3D-printed surgical guides, free vascularized fibular flap, and immediate dental implants, this clinical report provides a feasible solution for mandibular reconstruction.

Early Formation Pathways of Surfactant Micelle Directed Ultrasmall Silica Ring and Cage Structures.

By combining a surfactant, an organic pore expander, a silane, and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), we have observed the formation of a previously unknown set of ultrasmall silica structures in aqueous solutions. At appropriate concentrations of reagents, ∼2 nm primary silica clusters arrange around surfactant micelles to form ultrasmall silica rings, which can further evolve into cage-like structures. With increasing concentration, these rings line up into segmented worm-like one-dimensional (1D) structures, an effect that can be dramatically enhanced by PEG addition. PEG adsorbed 1D striped cylinders further arrange into higher order assemblies in the form of two-dimensional (2D) sheets or three-dimensional (3D) helical structures. Results provide insights into synergies between deformable noncovalent organic molecule assemblies and covalent inorganic network formation as well as early transformation pathways from spherical soft materials into 1D, 2D, and 3D silica solution structures, hallmarks of mesoporous silica materials formation. The ultrasmall silica ring and cage structures may prove useful in nanomedicine and other nanotechnology based applications.

Enzymatically Crosslinked Emulsion Gels Using Star-Polymer Stabilizers.

A novel type of emulsion gel based on star-polymer-stabilized emulsions is highlighted, which contains discrete hydrophobic oil and hydrophilic aqueous solution domains. Well-defined phenol-functionalized core-crosslinked star polymers are synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)-mediated dispersion polymerization and are used as stabilizers for oil-in-water emulsions. Horseradish-peroxidase-catalyzed polymerization of the phenol moieties in the presence of H2 O2 enables rapid formation of crosslinked emulsion gels under mild conditions. The crosslinked emulsion gels exhibit enhanced mechanical strength, as well as widely tunable composition.

Templateless synthesis of polyacrylamide-based Nanogels via RAFT dispersion polymerization.

This paper reports on the synthesis of well-defined polyacrylamide-based nanogels via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) dispersion polymerization, highlighting a templateless route for the efficient synthesis of nanogels based on water-soluble polymers. RAFT dispersion polymerization of acrylamide in co-nonsolvents of water-tert-butanol mixtures by chain extension from poly(dimethylacrylamide) shows well-controlled polymerization process, uniform nanogel size, and excellent colloidal stability. The versatility of this approach is further demonstrated by introducing a hydrophobic co-monomer (butyl acrylate) without disturbing the dispersion polymerization process.

Improvement implant osseointegration through nonthermal Ar/O2 plasma.

This study investigated the effects of nonthermal Ar/O2 plasma on the osseointegration of titanium implants. Through 8 weeks' in vivo evaluation of implants inserted into femoral bones of male Sprague-Dawley rats, the new bone mineralization apposition rate (MAR) is increased by 1.87 and 2.14 times for implants of smooth machined (SM) and sand-blasted and acid-etched (SLA) after plasma treatment. The bone volume fraction (bone volume/total volume, BV/TV) and bone-implant contact (BIC) ratios are improved by 1.31, 1.26 times and 1.35, 1.15 times after 90 s plasma treatment. The improved hydrophilicity rather than implant surface morphology is believed to play a critical role for the osseointegration improvement.

Distribution and risk assessment of microplastics in Liujiaxia Reservoir on the upper Yellow River.

Microplastics (MPSs) distribution in global freshwater systems is extensively reported, but the distribution of MPSs in reservoirs of the Yellow River has rarely been studied. To fill in this gap, we systematically investigated the distribution of MPSs in surface water and bank sediments gleaned from Liujiaxia Reservoir of the upper Yellow River for the first time and conducted an ecological risk assessment in succession in this work. The results showed that the main polymer types of MPSs in the surface water and bank sediments of Liujiaxia Reservoir were polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), and polypropylene (PP), and the abundance of MPSs in the reservoir surface water and bank sediments ranged from 4.48 to 12.09 item/L and 447.27 to 1543.80 item/kg (dry weight), respectively. Further physical morphology analysis of MPSs in the samples revealed that MPSs in the surface water and bank sediments of Liujiaxia Reservoir were predominantly fibrous with small particle sizes (<1 mm), and there was abundant color, mainly exhibiting transparent, black, and blue. The results of the MPS pollution load index (PLI>1) and the hazard ranking of MPSs (HZone = 10.20 for surface water and HZone = 14.06 for bank sediments) yielded a hazard class II for MPS pollution in Liujiaxia Reservoir, the combined pollution risk index (PRIZone = 17.05 for surface water and PRIZone = 31.25 for bank sediments) stated clearly the potential ecological risk in the Liujiaxia Reservoir. Briefly, this study supplemented and enriched the data on the distribution of MPSs in the reservoirs of the Yellow River basin, and provide a benchmark for future pollution control and management in the reservoir area.

Ultrasmall sub-10 nm near-infrared fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles.

Ultrasmall sub-10 nm nanoprobes and carriers are of significant interest due to their favorable biodistribution characteristics in in vivo experiments. Here we describe the one-pot synthesis of PEGylated mesoporous silica nanoparticles with a single pore, tunable sizes around 9 nm and narrow size distributions that can be labeled with near-infrared dye Cy5.5. Particles are characterized by a combination of transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, optical spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and nitrogen sorption/desorption measurements. The possibility to distinguish an "inside" and "outside" may render these particles an interesting subject for further studies in sensing, drug delivery, and theranostics applications.

Screening and functional prediction of differentially expressed genes in walnut endocarp during hardening period based on deep neural network under agricultural internet of things.

The deep neural network is used to establish a neural network model to solve the problems of low accuracy and poor accuracy of traditional algorithms in screening differentially expressed genes and function prediction during the walnut endocarp hardening stage. The paper walnut is used as the research object to analyze the biological information of paper walnut. The changes of lignin deposition during endocarp hardening from 50 days to 90 days are observed by microscope. Then, the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Long and Short-term Memory (LSTM) network model are adopted to construct an expression gene screening and function prediction model. Then, the transcriptome and proteome sequencing and biological information of walnut endocarp samples at 50, 57, 78, and 90 days after flowering are analyzed and taken as the training data set of the CNN + LSTM model. The experimental results demonstrate that the endocarp of paper walnut began to harden at 57 days, and the endocarp tissue on the hardened inner side also began to stain. This indicates that the endocarp hardened laterally from outside to inside. The screening and prediction results show that the CNN + LSTM model's highest accuracy can reach 0.9264. The Accuracy, Precision, Recall, and F1-score of the CNN + LSTM model are better than the traditional machine learning algorithm. Moreover, the Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) area enclosed by the CNN + LSTM model and coordinate axis is the largest, and the Area Under Curve (AUC) value is 0.9796. The comparison of ROC and AUC proves that the CNN + LSTM model is better than the traditional algorithm for screening differentially expressed genes and function prediction in the walnut endocarp hardening stage. Using deep learning to predict expressed genes' function accurately can reduce the breeding cost and significantly improve the yield and quality of crops. This research provides scientific guidance for the scientific breeding of paper walnut.

Handmade tri-leaflet ePTFE conduits versus homografts for right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the performance of handmade tri-leaflet expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) conduits in the absence of a suitable homograft. METHODS: Patients who underwent right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction with tri-leaflet ePTFE conduits or homografts between December 2016 and August 2020 were included. The primary endpoint was the incidence of moderate or severe conduit stenosis (≥ 36 mmHg) and/or moderate or severe insufficiency. The secondary endpoint was the incidence of severe conduit stenosis (≥ 64 mmHg) and/or severe insufficiency. RESULTS: There were 102 patients in the ePTFE group and 52 patients in the homograft group. The median age was younger [34.5 (interquartile range: 20.8-62.8) vs. 60.0 (interquartile range: 39.3-81.0) months, P = 0.001] and the median weight was lower [13.5 (10.0-19.0) vs. 17.8 (13.6-25.8) kg, P = 0.003] in the ePTFE group. The conduit size was smaller (17.9 ± 2.2 vs. 20.5 ± 3.0 mm, P < 0.001) and the conduit Z score was lower (1.48 ± 1.04 vs. 1.83 ± 1.05, P = 0.048) in the ePTFE group. There was no significant difference in the primary endpoints (log rank, P = 0.33) and secondary endpoints (log rank, P = 0.35). Multivariate analysis identified lower weight at surgery [P = 0.01; hazard ratio: 0.75; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.59-0.94] and homograft conduit use (P = 0.04; hazard ratio: 8.43; 95% CI 1.14-62.29) to be risk factors for moderate or severe conduit insufficiency. No risk factors were found for moderate or severe conduit stenosis or conduit dysfunction on multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Handmade tri-leaflet ePTFE conduits showed acceptable early and midterm outcomes in the absence of a suitable homograft, but a longer follow-up is needed.

Heparinized polyvinyl alcohol to specifically adsorb low-density lipoprotein from plasma.

INTRODUCTION: A medical adsorbent for blood purification was developed to specifically adsorb low-density lipoprotein (LDL) from hypercholesterolemia patient's plasma by covalently immobilizing heparin onto the surface of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with the couplant toluence-2,4-diisocyanate (TDI). METHODS: We used IR to demonstrate the success of covalently immobilizing heparin onto the surface, and investigated its adsorption of LDL, and primarily evaluated its hemo-compatibility using tests for platelet adhesion, the degree of platelet activation and a hemolysis test. RESULTS: (1) Heparin was successfully covalently immobilized onto the surface, the maximum amount of heparin immobilized on the surface of 1g PVA-1799 granules was about 5 µg; (2) one optimal condition for adsorption of LDL from hyperlipidemia plasma was a pH within the range of 7.2∼9.5, accordingly the adsorptive ratio (adsorbent/g: plasma/L=1:2) for LDL was about 70%; (3) it exhibited good hemo-compatibility. CONCLUSION: The adsorbent results in satisfactory adsorption of LDL with good hemo-compatibility; it could potentially be used as a blood purification material, and immobilization of heparin onto medical materials may be a way to develop an LDL-specific adsorbent for blood purification.

Effects of different sulfonation times and post-treatment methods on the characterization and cytocompatibility of sulfonated PEEK.

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) has been becoming a popular implant material in orthopaedic applications. The lack of bioactivity affects PEEK's long-term lifetime, and appropriate surface modification is an effective way to enhance its bioactivity. Sulfonation of PEEK can endow PEEK with a 3 D porous network surface and improve its bioactivity. This study is aimed at exploring an optimal sulfonation time and a post-treatment method of PEEK sulfonation. PEEK was immersed into concentrated sulfuric acid for different sulfonation times and experienced different post-treatment methods to turn into sulfonated PEEK (SPEEK). The immersion times were 0.5 min (SPEEK0.5), 1 min (SPEEK1), 3 min (SPEEK3), 5 min (SPEEK5) and 7 min (SPEEK7), and the post-treatment methods were acetone rinsing (SPEEK-T1), hydrothermal treatment (SPEEK-T2) and NaOH immersion (SPEEK-T3). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, hydrophilic property, ion release and cell viability evaluations were performed to optimize the sulfonation time, and the SEM, EDS, ion release and cell viability were analysed to optimize the post-treatment method. The results showed a porous network structure was formed on all samples of SPEEK, and the porous structure became more obvious and the S concentration increased with increasing sulfonation time. However, too long of an immersion time (SPEEK7) tended to damage the superficial porous structure and left a higher content of sulfuric acid, which could inhibit the growth of MC3T3E1 cells on its surface. In addition, the surface morphology, residual sulfuric acid and cytocompatibility of SPEEK-T1, SPEEK-T2 and SPEEK-T3 were not distinctly different. In conclusion, a 5-min sulfonation time was considered to be the optimal selection, and acetone rinsing, hydrothermal treatment and NaOH immersion showed the same effect in removing the residual sulfuric acid. The understanding of optimal sulfonation time and post-treatment method can provide a theoretical basis in preparing SPEEK for orthopaedic applications.

[Overdenture restoration after mandibular fibular graft combined with dental implant surgery: a case report].

This paper reports a case of a 28-year-old male patient with mandibular fibular graft. The patient underwent dental implant surgery. The left portion of the patient's mandible was resected because of ameloblastoma and restored by vascularized fibular grafting. Four implants were implanted in the fibular graft area after 2 years, and the area was restored with a pure titanium casting rod, Locator abutment, and overdenture. This case provides a feasible solution for the restoration of a fibular graft with a dental implant. The characteristics of the restoration method are described. We hope to improve the quality of life of patients with fibular grafts.

Identification of a microglial activation-dependent antidepressant effect of amphotericin B liposome.

Chronic stress-induced decline in microglia in the hippocampus is a newly hypothesized mechanism of depression, and reversal of this decline by microglial activators has been shown to suppress depression-like behaviors in mice. This suggests that activation of immune cells in the hippocampus may be a potential strategy for depression therapy. Since amphotericin B, an anti-fungal medication, is known to activate macrophages and microglia, we investigated whether conventional amphotericin B or its liposomal form displays antidepressant activity. Our results showed that both amphotericin B and its liposomal form at various doses induced obvious depression-like behaviors in naïve mice, likely owing to increased serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-1ß levels. However, under stressed conditions, amphotericin B liposome, but not amphotericin B itself, reversed chronic unpredictable stress (CUS)-induced increase in immobility time in the tail suspension test and forced swim test as well as CUS-induced decrease in sucrose intake in the sucrose preference test and the time spent in the center region of the open field test in a dose-dependent manner. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that amphotericin B liposome reversed the CUS-induced decline in dentate gyrus (DG) microglia, and inhibition or ablation of microglia in the hippocampus by minocycline (40 mg/kg) or PLX3397 pre-treatment (290 mg/kg) abrogated the antidepressant effect of the amphotericin B liposome in CUS-treated mice. These results not only identify a novel pharmacological effect of amphotericin B liposome, but further support the notion that microglial activation in the hippocampus is a potential strategy for depression therapy.

Characteristics of PLGA-gelatin complex as potential artificial nerve scaffold.

The segmentation lesion of peripheral nerve will seriously impair the motion and sensation of the patients, and the satisfactory recovery of segmented peripheral nerve by autograft or allograft is still a great challenge posing to the neurosurgery. Apart from autograft for nerve repair, different allograft has been studying. In this study, a scaffold fabricated with polylactic acid-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) copolymer and gelatin was evaluated to be a potential artificial nerve scaffold in vitro. The effect of different mass ratio between PLGA and gelatin upon the characteristics of PLGA-gelatin scaffolds such as microstructure, mechanical property, degradation behavior in PBS, cell adhesion property were investigated. The results showed the homogeneity and mechanical property of the scaffolds became poor with the increase of gelatin, and the rate of max water-uptake and the mass loss of scaffolds increases with the increase of gelatin, and the cells could adhere to the scaffolds. Those indicated the scaffolds fabricated by the PLGA-gelatin complex had excellent biocompatibility, suitable mechanical property and sustained-release characteristics, which would meet the requirements for artificial nerve scaffold.

Synergistic effects of polymer adsorbents on the performance of bilirubin hemoperfusion.

Neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (jaundice) is a common disease with high incidence. Currently, the clinical inefficiency of adult bilirubin hemoperfusion medical adsorbent is a major technical barrier for the application of hemoperfusion treatment to rescue the severe neonatal jaundice. Based on the well-known principle of synergistic effects, a series of customized bilirubin polymeric compounds, comprised of one or more of the following components (glycidyl methacrylate, sodium acrylate, methacrylic acid isooctyl, hexamethylene diamine, albumin), were designed and fabricated based on molecular design. Their adsorption performances upon bilirubin were investigated and compared under the same conditions, and the compound with the highest adsorption performance was then subject to preliliminary safety assessments and compared with a commercial one (BS330). The results showed that positive synergistic effects appeared on the adsorption performance to adsorb bilirubin based on this study, and the one comprised of glycidyl methacrylate+sodium acrylate+methacrylic acid isoocty+hexamethylene diamine+albumin possesses the highest adsorption performance as well as outome clinical acceptable medical safety assessments, and its adsorption efficiency was up to 46% while the commerical one's was about 26% under the same conditions. This study sheds a new light on how to design and develop hemoperfusion bilirubin adsorbents with good overall clinical performance, as well as providing a novel idea and experimental referrences for future related topics.

Ultrasmall nanoparticles induce ferroptosis in nutrient-deprived cancer cells and suppress tumour growth.

The design of cancer-targeting particles with precisely tuned physicochemical properties may enhance the delivery of therapeutics and access to pharmacological targets. However, a molecular-level understanding of the interactions driving the fate of nanomedicine in biological systems remains elusive. Here, we show that ultrasmall (<10 nm in diameter) poly(ethylene glycol)-coated silica nanoparticles, functionalized with melanoma-targeting peptides, can induce a form of programmed cell death known as ferroptosis in starved cancer cells and cancer-bearing mice. Tumour xenografts in mice intravenously injected with nanoparticles using a high-dose multiple injection scheme exhibit reduced growth or regression, in a manner that is reversed by the pharmacological inhibitor of ferroptosis, liproxstatin-1. These data demonstrate that ferroptosis can be targeted by ultrasmall silica nanoparticles and may have therapeutic potential.

Brain-targeted delivery of trans-activating transcriptor-conjugated magnetic PLGA/lipid nanoparticles.

Magnetic poly (D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)/lipid nanoparticles (MPLs) were fabricated from PLGA, L-α-phosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE), 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-amino (polyethylene glycol) (DSPE-PEG-NH2), and magnetic nanoparticles (NPs), and then conjugated to trans-activating transcriptor (TAT) peptide. The TAT-MPLs were designed to target the brain by magnetic guidance and TAT conjugation. The drugs hesperidin (HES), naringin (NAR), and glutathione (GSH) were encapsulated in MPLs with drug loading capacity (>10%) and drug encapsulation efficiency (>90%). The therapeutic efficacy of the drug-loaded TAT-MPLs in bEnd.3 cells was compared with that of drug-loaded MPLs. The cells accumulated higher levels of TAT-MPLs than MPLs. In addition, the accumulation of QD-loaded fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled TAT-MPLs in bEnd.3 cells was dose and time dependent. Our results show that TAT-conjugated MPLs may function as an effective drug delivery system that crosses the blood brain barrier to the brain.

Preparation of heparin-immobilized PVA and its adsorption for low-density lipoprotein from hyperlipemia plasma.

In this study, heparin was covalently coupled by glutaraldehyde to Poly(vinyl alcohol) [PVA] in solid-liquid two-phase reaction system by two-step synthesis method to prepare a LDL-selective adsorbent. The parameters (the material ratio, reaction time and dosage of catalyzer) were investigated to evaluate their effect upon the immobilized amount of heparin onto the surface of PVA, IR was used to verify the covalent immobilization result and the heparin-modified PVA was also undergone the evaluation of its adsorption capability for low-density lipoprotein from hyperlipemia plasma, and its hemocompatibility was preliminarily evaluated by platelet adhesion test. Results showed: (1) under optimized reaction conditions the highest immobilization amount of heparin onto PVA surface within the experiments of this study has been obtained; (2) the optimized reaction conditions were: (i) at the refluxing temperature 78 degrees C; (ii) the material ratio of "PVA(g): 50% glutaraldehyde (ml)" was about "1:3"; (iii) the reaction time was about 5 h; and (iv) the amount of catalyzer (concentrated HCL) was about 1% of the 50% glutaraldehyde; (3) within the experiments of this study the highest immobilization amount would be up to 25 microg heparin on the surface of per g PVA granules; (4) the heparin-modified PVA granules showed significant adsorption for LDL under faintly alkaline environment (pH=7.2-9.5) ; (5) The result of platelet adhesion test showed no platelet adhered to its surface. Therefore, immobilization of heparin onto the surface of a support is one approach to prepare a kind of LDL adsorbent for blood purification.