Image fusion-based low-dose CBCT enhancement method for visualizing miniscrew insertion in the infrazygomatic crest.

Digital dental technology covers oral cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) image processing and low-dose CBCT dental applications. A low-dose CBCT image enhancement method based on image fusion is proposed to address the need for subzygomatic small screw insertion. Specifically, firstly, a sharpening correction module is proposed, where the CBCT image is sharpened to compensate for the loss of details in the underexposed/over-exposed region. Secondly, a visibility restoration module based on type II fuzzy sets is designed, and a contrast enhancement module using curve transformation is designed. In addition to this, we propose a perceptual fusion module that fuses visibility and contrast of oral CBCT images. As a result, the problems of overexposure/underexposure, low visibility, and low contrast that occur in oral CBCT images can be effectively addressed with consistent interpretability. The proposed algorithm was analyzed in comparison experiments with a variety of algorithms, as well as ablation experiments. After analysis, compared with advanced enhancement algorithms, this algorithm achieved excellent results in low-dose CBCT enhancement and effective observation of subzygomatic small screw implantation. Compared with the best performing method, the evaluation metric is 0.07-2 higher on both datasets. The project can be found at: https://github.com/sunpeipei2024/low-dose-CBCT .

Efficient treatment of colon cancer with codelivery of TRAIL and imatinib by liposomes.

To solve the problem of resistance of tumor cells to TRAIL and the inevitable side effects of imatinib during treatment, we successfully prepared a kind of multifunctional liposome that encapsulated imatinib in its internal water phase and inserted TRAIL on its membrane in this study, which named ITLPs. The liposomes appeared uniform spherical and the particle size was approximately 150 nm. ITLPs showed high accumulation in TRAIL-resistance cells and HT-29 tumor-bearing mice model. In vitro cytotoxicity assay results showed that the killing activity of HT-29 cells treated with ITLPs increased by 50% and confirmed that this killing activity was mediated by the apoptosis pathway. Through mechanism studies, it was found that ITLPs arrested up to 32.3% of cells in phase M to exert anti-tumor effects. In vivo anti-tumor study showed that ITLPs achieved 61.8% tumor suppression and little toxicity in the HT-29 tumor-bearing mice model. Overall results demonstrated that codelivery of imatinib and TRAIL via liposomes may be a prospective method in the treatment of the TRAIL-resistance tumor.

The effect of enhanced structure in the posterior segment of clear aligners during anterior retraction: a three-dimensional finite element and experimental model analysis.

BACKGROUND: Mesial tipping of posterior teeth occurs frequently during space closure with clear aligners (CAs). In this study, we proposed a new modification of CA by localized thickening of the aligner to form the enhanced structure and investigate its biomechanical effect during anterior retraction. METHODS: Two methods were employed in this study. First, a finite element (FE) model was constructed, which included alveolar bone, the first premolars extracted maxillary dentition, periodontal ligaments (PDL), attachments and aligners. The second method involved an experimental model-a measuring device using multi-axis transducers and vacuum thermoforming aligners. Two groups were formed: (1) The control group used common CAs and (2) the enhanced structure group used partially thickened CAs. RESULTS: FE model revealed that the enhanced structure improved the biomechanics during anterior retraction. Specifically, the second premolar, which had a smaller PDL area, experienced a smaller protraction force and moment, making it less likely to tip mesially. In the same vein, the molars could resist movement due to their larger PDL area even though they were applied larger forces. The resultant force of the posterior tooth was closer to the center of resistance, reducing the tipping moment. The canine was applied a larger retraction force and moment, resulting in sufficient retraction of anterior teeth. The experimental model demonstrated a similar trend in force variation as the FE model. CONCLUSIONS: Enhanced structure allowed force distribution more in accordance with optimal principles of biomechanics during the extraction space closure while permitting less mesial tipping and anchorage loss of posterior teeth and better retraction of anterior teeth. Thus, enhanced structure alleviated the roller coaster effect associated with extraction cases and offered a new possibility for anchorage reinforcement in clear aligner therapy.

Metagenomic Analysis of Intratumoral Microbiome Linking to Response to Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy in Rectal Cancer.

PURPOSE: To assess taxonomic and functional characteristics of tumor-bearing microbiota and its association with response to neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (nCRT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We performed metagenomic sequencing of biopsy tumoral tissues from 73 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer before nCRT. Patients were classified into poor responders (PR) and good responders (GR) according to response to nCRT. Subsequent investigation of network alteration, key community, microbial biomarkers, and function related to nCRT responses were carried out. RESULTS: The network-driven analysis systematically revealed 2 co-occurring bacteria modules that exhibited opposite relationship with rectal cancer radiosensitivity. In the 2 modules, prominent alteration of global graph properties and community structure was observed between networks of PR and GR group. By quantifying changes in between-group association patterns and abundances, a total of 115 discriminative biomarker species linked to nCRT response were found, and 35 microbial variables were selected to establish the optimal randomForest classifier for nCRT response prediction. It yielded an area under the curve value of 85.5% (95% CI, 73.3%-97.8%) in the training cohort and 88.4% (95% CI, 77.5%-99.4%) in the validation cohort. In a comprehensive consideration, 5 key bacteria showed high relevance with inducing resistance to nCRT, including Streptococcus equinus, Schaalia odontolytica, Clostridium hylemonae, Blautia producta, and Pseudomonas azotoformans. One key hub including several butyrate-formation bacteria involving with driving network alteration from GR to PR indicate that microbiota-derived butyrate may also be involved in reducing the antitumor effects of nCRT, especially Coprococcus. The functional analysis of metagenome linked the nitrate and sulfate-sulfur assimilation, histidine catabolic process, and resistance to cephamycin to the reduced therapeutic response. It also linked to leucine degradation, isoleucine biosynthesis, taurine, and hypotaurine metabolism to the improved response to nCRT. CONCLUSIONS: Our data offer novel potential microbial factors and shared metagenome function linked to resistance to nCRT.

Oxidized chondroitin sulfate eye drops ameliorate the prognosis of fungal keratitis with anti-inflammatory and antifungal effects.

Fungal keratitis (FK) is a refractory ophthalmic disease that can result in vision impairment and even blindness due to the severe fungal invasiveness and excessive inflammatory response. Therefore, antifungal treatment combined with local immunosuppressive therapy is regarded as the most effective strategy to improve the clinical outcome of FK. Oxidized polysaccharides with aldehyde groups possess obvious inhibitory activity towards microorganisms. Herein, we use chondroitin sulfate (CS), a recognized anti-inflammatory biopolysaccharide, to prepare oxidized chondroitin sulfate (OCS) via sodium periodate (NaIO4) oxidation for the treatment of FK. The chemical structure of OCS was characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, and XPS, revealing that the O-dihydroxy in the D-glucuronic acid unit of CS was selectively broken by NaIO4, forming active aldehyde groups. The introduction of aldehydes not only retains the anti-inflammatory activity but also confers OCS with antifungal property. In vitro antifungal experiments showed that OCS inhibits the growth, represses the biofilm formation and alters the membrane integrity of A. fumigatus. The toxicity of OCS was evaluated by cytotoxicity tests (CCK-8) and the Draize eye test in vitro and in vivo. qRT-PCR confirmed that OCS had similar anti-inflammatory activity as CS. In mice with A. fumigatus keratitis, OCS versus CS or PBS showed an excellent therapeutic effect, characterized by a lower corneal inflammation score, less fungal load, reduced neutrophil recruitment, and the downregulated expression of pro-inflammatory factors. Our findings demonstrate that OCS improves the prognosis of A. fumigatus keratitis in mice by inhibiting the growth of fungi, reducing the recruitment of neutrophils and inhibiting the inflammatory response. It provides innovative ideas for the development and application of OCS in medicine and biomaterials fields.

Exosomes derived from magnesium ion-stimulated macrophages inhibit angiogenesis.

Angiogenesis, an essential prerequisite to osteogenesis in bone repair and regeneration, can be mediated by immunoregulation of macrophages. Magnesium and its alloys are promising biodegradable bone implant materials and can affect immunoregulation of macrophages by the degradation products (magnesium ions). Nevertheless, the mechanism of macrophage-derived exosomes stimulated by Mg ions in immunoregulation is still not well understood. Herein, 10-50 mM magnesium ions are shown to inhibit the macrophage viability and proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, but a high concentration results in macrophage apoptosis. The exosomes secreted by macrophages from magnesium ion stimulation inhibit angiogenesis of endothelial cells, as manifested by the suppressed cell viability, proliferation, migration, and tube formation, which arise at least partially from exosome-mediated downregulation of endothelial nitric oxide and the vascular endothelial growth factor. The findings reported in this paper suggest that the bio-functionality of biodegradable magnesium alloys must be considered from the perspective of immunoregulation of macrophage-derived exosomes. Our results also suggest potential cancer therapy by inhibiting tumor-associated angiogenesis.

Concurrent elimination and stepwise recovery of Pb(II) and bisphenol A from water using ß-cyclodextrin modified magnetic cellulose: adsorption performance and mechanism investigation.

Coexistence of heavy metals and endocrine disrupting compounds in polluted water with competitive adsorption behavior necessitates design of tailored adsorbents. In this work, ß-cyclodextrin modified magnetic rice husk-derived cellulose (ß-CD@MRHC) which can provide independent functional sites for effectively binding the above two types of contaminants was synthesized and used for Pb(II) and BPA elimination in both unit and multivariate systems. Characterizations results confirmed successful ß-CD grafting and Fe3O4 loading, and the ß-CD@MRHC had excellent magnetic property for its effectively recovery from water, which was not affected by the adsorption of pollutants. The ß-CD@MRHC possessed superior adsorption performance with maximal Pb(II)/BPA uptake of 266.2 or 412.8 mg/g, severally, and the adsorption equilibrium was fleetly reached in 30 and 7.5 min. Moreover, the ß-CD@MRHC could accomplish synergetic Pb(II) and BPA elimination through averting their competitive behaviors owing to diverse capture mechanisms for Pb(II) (ion exchange, complexation and electrostatic attraction) and BPA (hydrogen bonding and host-guest inclusion). Furthermore, after three cycles of step-wise desorption, the binding of Pb(II) as well as BPA byß-CD@MRHC dropped slightly in dualistic condition. In summary, ß-CD@MRHC was a promising tailored adsorbent to practical application for simultaneously removing heavy metals and organic matters from wastewater with high-performance magnetic recovery.

Anxiety and depression mediate the relationship between digestive tract conditions and oral health-related quality of life in orthodontic patients.

Background: Anxiety and depression are common psychological problems in orthodontic patients whose diet habits and oral health status change frequently during treatment. However, relationships between anxiety and depression, digestive tract condition, and impaired oral health-related quality of life remain unknown. Materials and methods: In this study, clinical assessments, including anxiety, depression, digestive tract condition, and oral health-related quality of life, were collected from 769 outpatients in the orthodontic department using three self-reported questionnaires. Correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationships among different clinical assessments. A chained mediation analysis model was further conducted to explore the direct and indirect effects of these various clinical factors. Results: Changes in digestive tract conditions were positively correlated with the psychological status and oral health-related quality of life. Anxiety and depression partially mediated the relationship between them, and the indirect effect was 0.68 (30%), of which the mediation effect of anxiety accounted for 56%. Conclusion: Anxiety and depression mediate the relationship between gastrointestinal conditions and oral health. In particular, anxiety seems to play a significant mediating role. Our findings indicate that psychological status must be paid more attention to in future clinical practices and supervision for digestive tract symptoms of orthodontic patients.

Antibody dependent enhancement infection of enterovirus 71 in vitro and in vivo.

BACKGROUND: Human enterovirus 71 (EV71) has emerged as a significant cause of acute encephalitis and deaths in young children. The clinical manifestations caused by EV71 varied from mild hand, foot and mouth disease to severe neurological complications and deaths, but its pathogenesis remains elusive. Antibody dependent enhancement (ADE) infection has been reported in various viruses and has been shown to contribute to disease severity. RESULTS: In this study, the presence of sub-neutralizing antibody was demonstrated to enhance EV71 infection in THP-1 cells and increase the mortality of EV71 infection in a suckling mouse model. Further, a secondary infection model was established to characterize the correlation between ADE and disease severity, and primary asymptomatic EV71 infection was shown to increase the mortality of the secondary EV71 infection in suckling mice. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these in vitro and in vivo experiments strongly supported the hypothesis of ADE infection of EV71. The present findings indicate ADE might contribute to the pathogenesis of severe EV71 infection, and raise practical issues of vaccine development and antibody-based therapy.

Specific oral and maxillofacial identifiers in panoramic radiographs used for human identification.

Radiographically assisted dental identification is an important means for individual identification. Specific identifiers help to quickly filter some of the possible corresponding AM and PM images at the beginning. The study seeks specific oral and maxillofacial identifiers in panoramic radiographs. A total of 920 panoramic radiographs from 460 live patients were used. The most recent radiograph served as the surrogate post-mortem (PM) record of an unidentified person, and the earliest radiograph served as the ante-mortem (AM) record of the same person. We evaluated the following four groups of identifiers of the images: (1) dental morphology, tooth number, and position; (2) dental treatment and pathology; (3) morphological identifiers of the jaw; and (4) pathological identifiers of the jaw. The ratio of each identifier being identified simultaneously in the AM and PM databases was determined. Specific identifiers were defined as those that appeared at low frequency (ratio: 0%-0.250%). A total of 18 specific oral and maxillofacial identifiers were determined. The specific identifiers were a retained deciduous tooth (0.011%), S-shaped deflection of a tooth root (0.012%), distal deflection of tooth root (0.017%), inverted impaction (0.018%), malposition (0.038%), supernumerary teeth (0.061%), mesial deflection of tooth root (0.092%), microdontia (0.136%), buccal/lingual impaction (0.188%), cementoma (0.002%), hypercementosis (0.002%), continuous crown (0.004%), pulp calcification (0.023%), attrition (0.030%), residual root (0.106%), root resorption (0.137%), implant (0.156%), and osteomyelitis (0.002%). Identifiers of the teeth and jaw can be used for human identification, and dental identifiers are more specific than identifiers of jaw.

Injectable PLGA-Coated Ropivacaine Produces A Long-Lasting Analgesic Effect on Incisional Pain and Neuropathic Pain.

The management of persistent postsurgical pain and neuropathic pain remains a challenge in the clinic. Local anesthetics have been widely used as simple and effective treatment for these 2 disorders, but the duration of their analgesic effect is short. We here reported a new poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA)-coated ropivacaine that was continuously released in vitro for at least 6 days. Perisciatic nerve injection of the PLGA-coated ropivacaine attenuated paw incision-induced mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia during the incisional pain period, and spared nerve injury-induced mechanical and cold allodynia for at least 7 days postinjection. This effect was dose-dependent. Perisciatic nerve injection of the PLGA-coated ropivacaine did not produce detectable inflammation, tissue irritation, or damage in the sciatic nerve and surrounding muscles at the injected site, dorsal root ganglion, spinal cord, or brain cortex, although the scores for grasping reflex were mildly and transiently reduced in the higher dosage-treated groups. PERSPECTIVE: Given that PLGA is an FDA-approved medical material, and that ropivacaine is used currently in clinical practice, the injectable PLGA-coated ropivacaine represents a new and highly promising avenue in the management of postsurgical pain and neuropathic pain.

Fabrication of a Polylactide-Glycolide/Poly-ε-Caprolactone/Dextran/Plastrum Testudinis Extract Composite Anti-Inflammation Nanofiber Membrane via Electrospinning for Annulus Fibrosus Regeneration.

Tissue engineering is a promising approach for the treatment of chronic lower back pain (LBP) caused by intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) resulting from degeneration and inflammation of annulus fibrosus (AF) tissue. However, scaffold with an anti-inflammatory effect on AF cells has not been reported. In this study, we fabricated a polylactide-glycolide (PLGA)/poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL)Zdextran (DEX) composite membrane loaded with plastrum testudinis extract (PTE), a Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal extract, via electrospinning. The membranes were characterized by mechanical measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Using an in vitro inflammation model induced by interleukin (IL)-1ß, the cytocompatibility and anti-inflammatory effects of the composites were investigated by CCK-8 assay and flow cytometry. Potential regulatory mechanisms were examined by RT-qPCR and Western blotting. The results showed that the P10P8D2 (PLGA 10 g, PCL 8 g, DEX 2 g) composite nanofiber membrane exhibited the most uniform diameter distribution, best mechanical properties, a moderate degradation rate, and the best cytocompatibility characteristics. The optimal concentration of PTE was 120 µg/mL. Importantly, P10P8D2 combined with PTE exhibited anti-inflammatory and cell proliferation promotion effects. Moreover, the NF-κBB/NLRP3/IL-ß signaling pathway was inactivated. Our findings suggested that the nanofiber membrane composed of P10P8D2 and PTE has anti-inflammatory and pro-proliferation effects on AF cells. It may provide an effective strategy for AF tissue regeneration.

Producing infectious enterovirus type 71 in a rapid strategy.

BACKGROUND: Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is an etiologic agent of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), and recent HFMD epidemics worldwide have been associated with a severe form of brainstem encephalitis associated with pulmonary edema and high case-fatality rates. EV71 contains a positive-sense single-stranded genome RNA of approximately 7400 bp in length which encodes a polyprotein with a single open reading frame (ORF), which is flanked by untranslated regions at both the 5' and 3' ends. RESULTS: A long distance RT-PCR assay was developed to amplify the full length genome cDNA of EV71 by using specific primes carrying a SP6 promoter. Then the in vitro synthesized RNA transcripts from the RT-PCR amplicons were then transfected into RD cells to produce the rescued virus. The rescued virus was further characterized by RT-PCR and indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) assay in comparison with the wild type virus. The rescued viruses were infectious on RD cells and neurovirulent when intracerebrally injected into suckling mice. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, we established a rapid method to produce the infectious full length cDNA of EV71 directly from RNA preparations and specific mutations can be easily engineered into the rescued enterovirus genome by this method.

Multi-component adsorption of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Ni(II) onto microwave-functionalized cellulose: Kinetics, isotherms, thermodynamics, mechanisms and application for electroplating wastewater purification.

Herein, microwave-functionalized cellulose derived from rice husk was cost-effectively prepared and employed for Pb(II), Cd(II) and Ni(II) elimination in mono- and multi-component systems. Benefiting from microwave irradiation, the functionalized process was achieved in 6.5 min and the resultant RHMW-X possessed remarkably high adsorption capacities of 295.20 mg/g for Pb(II), 151.51 mg/g for Cd(II) and 72.80 mg/g for Ni(II) within the equilibrium time of 30 min. Noticeably, the metal ions adsorption rate and capacity in binary and ternary systems were lower than that of unary systems. The coexistence of Cd(II) and Ni(II) significantly slowed down the Pb(II) adsorption in binary and ternary systems, while Pb(II) exhibited the most obvious influence on the metal ions uptake in the multi-component systems. FT-IR and XPS results revealed that both ion exchange and chelation were functioned in the metal ions uptake, while physical interaction was also involved in the adsorption process. Moreover, the RHMW-X possessed favorable recyclability with slight adsorption efficiency decline during five cycles in different systems. Particularly, the RHMW-X could effectively purify actual industrial wastewater containing Pb(II), Cd(II) and Ni(II) for meeting regulatory requirements. This work facilitates the omnidirectional improvement of adsorbents for the de-pollution of practical heavy metals wastewater.

Oriented immobilization of anti-CD34 antibody on titanium surface for self-endothelialization induction.

Inducing spontaneous endothelialization of synthetic cardiovascular implant in vivo is thought to be a promising approach to solve the surface-induced thrombosis and restenosis problem. In the present study, anti-CD34 antibody, a kind of special marker of EPC, was oriented immobilized on titanium surface by means of a layer-by-layer self-assembly coating technique. The multilayer coating was prepared by first depositing one layer of avidin on the NaOH-treated titanium substrate, then depositing a layer of biotinylated protein A binding to the avidin, and finally anti-CD34 antibody was oriented immobilized by protein A binding to the Fc fragment (COOH-terminal of a antibody molecule, which has no antigen binding sites) of the anti-CD34 antibody with its antigen binding fragment (Fab) away from the titanium surface. The coated titanium was exposed to EPC derived from mouse bone marrow in vitro, and implanted into dog femoral arteries. The results suggested that the anti-CD34 antibody immobilized surfaces could increase EPC attachment and capture, and induce rapid complete endothelialization of the lumenal surface of the implant in vivo. It suggests that the approach described here may be used for fabrication of titanium-based vascular implant surfaces for inducing endothelialization in vivo.

Giant cell granuloma of the temporal bone: a case report with immunohistochemical, enzyme histochemical, and in vitro studies.

A case of giant cell granuloma (GCG) that occurred in the right temporal bone is reported. The lesion showed histologic features identical to GCG. The multinuclear giant cells (MGCs) in the lesion showed strong reactivity with CD68, but patchy staining for myeloid/histiocyte antigen, alpha-1-antitrypsin, alpha-1-antichymotrypsine, and lysozyme. Activity of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase was also consistently detected in the MGCs. Some of the mononuclear cells of the lesion exhibited similar immunocytochemical and histochemical reactivity as the MGCs. Ki-67 staining, however, was only detected in the mononuclear cells. The MGCs isolated from the lesion presented characteristic morphology of osteoclasts and possessed the ability to excavate bone in vitro. Thus, the MGCs in GCG appeared to express both macrophage- and osteoclast-associated phenotypes. The mononuclear cells were the major proliferative elements in the lesion and a subpopulation of these cells may represent precursors of the MGCs.