Videolaryngoscope-assisted coblation of epiglottic cysts.

PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate the safety and effectiveness of videolaryngoscope-assisted coblation of epiglottic cysts (VACECs) under general anesthesia. METHODS: Twenty-eight consecutive patients with epiglottic cysts (ECs), underwent VACECs in this prospective clinical series from January 2015 to March 2019. The pre-operative electronic flexible laryngoscopic or 70° rigid laryngeal endoscopic examination was carried out to assess the location and size of ECs. There was a periodical follow-up survey for all patients. RESULTS: A total 28 of patients were enrolled, including 12 men and 16 women, with an average age of 55 (range 24-78). The patient's medical history ranged from half a month to 2 years. The size of the cyst arranged from 0.8 to 1.5 cm. All patients were cured without pharyngeal or systemic complications. No tooth loss occurred in five patients (17.9%) with loose anterior teeth. Specimen pathology confirmed the diagnosis in all patients. No recurrence was found after more than half a year's follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: VACECs brings together the advantages of videolaryngoscope and coblation. It is a simple, safe and feasible procedure for patients with ECs and is worthy of clinical application.

Vision Measurement of Gear Pitting Under Different Scenes by Deep Mask R-CNN.

To accurately and quantitatively detect the gear pitting of different levels on the actual site, this paper studies a new vision measurement approach based on a tunable vision detection platform and the mask region-based convolutional neural network (Mask R-CNN). The shooting angle can be properly set according to the specification of the target gear. With the obtained sample set of 1500 gear pitting images, an optimized deep Mask R-CNN was designed for the quantitative measurement of gear pitting. The effective tooth surface and pitting was firstly and simultaneously recognized, then they were segmented to calculate the pitting area ratio. Considering three situations of multi-level pitting, multi-illumination, and multi-angle, several indexes were used to evaluate detection and segmentation results of deep Mask R-CNN. Experimental results show that the proposed method has higher measurement accuracy than the traditional method based on image processing, thus it has significant practical potential.

Self-assembled switching gels with multiresponsivity and chirality.

A multiresponsive hydrogel material consisting of a commercial cationic surfactant and an azobenzene derivative functionalized with four carboxylic acid groups was constructed. The achiral azobenzene molecule as a gelator produces chirality at the supramolecular level in the presence of H(+). The acid-induced gelation and morphology change of supramolecular gels were investigated in detail by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), rheological measurements, circular dichroism (CD), and (1)H NMR spectra. Based on the results, a mechanism of the intermolecular H-bond-directed gelation and supramolecular chirality was proposed. Other than the pH sensitivity, the microstructure and the chirality of the hydrogel demonstrate reversible switching behavior in response to photoirradiation, on account of the photoisomerization of the azobenzene derivative. Accordingly, a chiroptical switch comprising four different states in response to pH and light stimuli is strategically constructed. Not only does the present system provide a good opportunity for investigating the gelation-induced supramolecular chirality by symmetry breaking totally based on achiral molecules, but it also proposes a new strategy to build multiresponsive supramolecular switches as particularly attractive for the future development of functional materials.

Environmentally safe treatment of black liquor with Comamonas sp. B-9 under high-alkaline conditions.

The strain Comamonas sp. B-9 was isolated from steeping fluid of erosive bamboo slips derived from Kingdom Wu during the Three-Kingdoms Dynasty of ancient China (A.D. 220-280). It could be used to treat black liquor (BL) with high-alkaline pH and with an initial chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 18,000-25,000 mg L(-1) , without the addition of other carbon and nitrogen sources. The results revealed that Comamonas sp. B-9 was capable of reducing the COD, color, and lignin content of BL by up to 56.8, 35.3, and 43.5%, respectively. High levels of laccase, manganese peroxidase, cellulase, and xylanase enzymatic activities were also observed, and these enzymes could play an important role in the biotreatment of BL. Further, GC-MS analysis showed that most of the compounds detected in BL after biotreatment with Comamonas sp. B-9 were diminished, while 4-methyl benzaldehyde, 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid ethyl ester, and 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxy benzaldehyde were produced as metabolites. The presented results indicate that Comamonas sp. B-9 has potential application for the treatment of wastewaters from pulp and paper processing with high COD load under high-alkaline conditions.

Application of poly(L-lactic acid)-based films for equilibrium modified atmosphere packaging of "Kyoho" grapes and its favorable protection for anthocyanins.

Grapes were packaged by different Poly (L-lactic acid)-based packaging films (PLTL-PLEL) and stored at 5 °C for 35 days to investigate the effects of equilibrium modified atmosphere packaging on the quality of "Kyoho" grapes during storage. Changes in physiochemical quality, antioxidant content and senescence of grapes were studied. Furthermore, UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS was used to observe and identify key factors influencing the variation of grape anthocyanins under different atmosphere conditions. Alterations in gas components and enzyme activities significantly impacted anthocyanin levels, highlighting oxygen concentration as the primary influence on total anthocyanin levels. The PLTL-PLEL50 packaging resulted in an approximate 5.7% lower weight loss and increased soluble solids by approximately 14.4%, vitamin C, total phenols and flavonoids reaching 60.2 mg/100 g, 8.4 mg/100 g and 7.2 mg/100 g, respectively. This packaging also preserved higher anthocyanin levels, with malvidin-3-glucoside and peonidin-3-glucoside at 0.55 µg/mL and 1.62 µg/mL, respectively, on the 35th day of storage.

High performance poly(L-lactic acid)-based film by one-step synthesis of poly (L-lactic acid-co-butylene itaconate-co-glycolic acid) for efficient preservation of yogurt storage.

Biodegradable poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) has seldom used for dairy packaging due to medium permeability and brittleness. Novel PLLA copolymers, poly (L-lactic acid-co-butylene itaconate-co-glycolic acid) (PLBIGA), were developed by integrating glycolic acid (GA) and poly(butylene itaconate) (PBI) into PLLA's structure using low molecular weight PLLA as a key initiator. Then, packaging materials with better barrier and mechanical properties were obtained by blended PLBIGA with PLLA. Both PLLA/PLBIGA films and polyethylene nylon composite film (PE/NY) were used for stirred yogurt packaging and storage at 4 °C for 25 days. Results revealed that yogurt packed by PLLA/PLBIGA films maintained stabler water-holding capacity, color, and viscosity over the storage period. Moreover, the integrity of the gel structure and the total viable count of lactic acid bacteria in yogurt packaged in PLLA/40-PLBIGA8 were also found to be superior to those in PE/NY packages, highlighting its eco-friendly advantages in dairy packaging.

Anisotropic composite aerogel with thermal insulation and flame retardancy from cellulose nanofibers, calcium alginate and boric acid.

With the increasing severity of energy shortages and environmental pollution, there is an urgent need for advanced thermal insulation materials with excellent comprehensive performance, including low thermal conductivity, high flame resistance, and strong compressive strength. Herein, an anisotropic composite aerogel based on cellulose nanofibers (CNF), calcium alginate (CA), and boric acid (BA) is fabricated using a directional freeze-drying strategy. The CA and BA, as double cross-linking agents, associated with oriented porous structure provide the resultant aerogel with good mechanical strength. Additionally, self-flame retardant CA and BA act as synergistic flame retardants that endow the aerogel with excellent flame retardance properties such as a limiting oxygen index value of 44.2 %, UL-94 V-0 rating, and low heat release. Furthermore, this composite aerogel exhibits outstanding thermal insulation performance with a low thermal conductivity of approximately 30 mW m-1 K-1. Therefore, the composite aerogel is expected to have a wide potential application in areas such as construction, automotive industry, batteries, petrochemical pipelines, and high-temperature reaction devices.

Structure design and mechanical performance analysis of three kinds of bioresorbable poly-lactic acid (PLA) stents.

Vascular stent implantation has become an important choice for the treatment of severe cardiovascular and cerebrovascular blockage. Rational design is vital to ensure the mechanical properties of the vascular stents, which are important both to the implantation and service as for clinical treatment of coronary heart disease. Therefore we proposed a wholly new non-uniform honeycomb stent E and compared with an inverted honeycomb-like shaped stent F and a honeycomb-like shaped stent G. To evaluate their properties, a finite element method (FEM) was used to simulate the implantation process (crimp, crimp recoil, expand, and expand recoil) of these three different kinds of stents. Results showed that the stent E exhibits better mechanical behaviour than the other two stents F and G as far as radial strength and axial shortening performances and that the distribution of equivalent stress among the stent E is more uniform than that among the other two stents F and G. After that, a three-point bending method was used to study the bending flexibility of these three vascular stents. Stent E shows high bending stiffness compared with stents F and G due to the existence of additional support bridges in its structure. This study can be helpful to the rational design of optimizable PLA stents for its practical clinical performance and therefore possibly improve the prognosis of patients.

Fabrication and design of poly(l-lactic acid) membrane for passive MAP packaging of Brassica chinensis L.

PLDx L copolymers were synthesized from physically stable rigid poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) and a few different molecular weights of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to increase the O2 and CO2 permeabilities of PLLA films and make them acceptable for packaging highly respirable products. The effect of PDMS on the morphology, mechanical properties, and gas permeability of PLDx L was investigated. Copolymers showed approximately 10 times the fracture strain and 1.7 times the CO2 and O2 permeabilities of neat PLLA. Additionally, PLDx L maintained an increased CO2 /O2 perm-selectivity consistent between 5 and 40°C. Passive modified atmosphere packaging of Brassica chinensis L was developed to assess the membrane's impact on headspace gas inside the package. The results showed that poly(amide)/poly(ethylene) packaging with 48 cm2 PLD1.8 L membrane as a breathing window can provide 50 g B. chinensis L. with a healthy atmosphere of 3%-8% O2 and 5%-8% CO2 between 6 and 22 days. Vegetables packaged in PLD1.8 L had the lower respiration rate, lower nitrite contents, and less proliferation of microorganisms. Moreover, a suitable atmosphere kept vegetables with higher ascorbic acid and a good appearance after more than 2 weeks of storage at 5°C. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The permeability of the PLLA-based membrane can be adjusted for the breathable window membrane of sealed fresh products. In the future, several types of film could be developed to match the respiratory and metabolic characteristics of different kinds of products. Such PLLA-based specialized membranes can refine the fresh-keeping function and be more attractive to the customer.

Effects of low-level laser on the expression of interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor­α, osteoprotegerin, and receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand in human periodontal ligament cells.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to determine the effects of low-level laser (LLL) on the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, osteoprotegerin (OPG), and receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) in human periodontal ligament cells (HPDLCs) stimulated by high glucose; and identify the molecular mechanism of LLL therapy in the regulation of periodontal inflammation and bone remodeling during orthodontic treatment in diabetic patients. METHODS: HPDLCs were cultured in vitro to simulate orthodontic after loading and irradiated with LLL therapy. The cultured cells were randomly divided into four groups: low glucose Dulbecco's modification of Eagle's medium (DMEM)+stress stimulation (group A), high glucose DMEM+stress stimulation (group B), hypoglycemic DMEM+LLL therapy+stress stimulation (group C), and hyperglycemic DMEM+LLL therapy+stress stimulation (group D). Groups C and D were further divided into C1 and D1 (energy density: 3.75 J/cm2) and C2 and D2 (energy density: 5.625 J/cm2). Cells in groups A, B, C, and D were irradiated by LLL before irradiation. At 0, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h, the supernatants of the cell cultures were extracted at regular intervals, and the protein expression levels of IL-6, TNF-α, OPG, and RANKL were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: 1) The levels of IL-6 and TNF-α secreted by HPDLCs increased gradually with time under static pressure stimulation. After 12 h, the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α secreted by HPDLCs in group A were significantly higher than those in groups B, C1, and C2 (P<0.05), which in group B were significantly higher than those in groups D1, and D2 (P<0.01). 2) The OPG protein concentration showed an upward trend before 24 h and a downward trend thereafter. The RANKL protein concentration increased, whereas the OPG/RANKL ratio decreased with time. Significant differen-ces in OPG, RANKL, and OPG/RANKL ratio were found among group A and groups B, C1, C2 as well as group B and groups D1, D2 (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: 1) In the high glucose+stress stimulation environment, the concentrations of IL-6 and TNF-α secreted by HPDLCs increased with time, the expression of OPG decreased, the expression of RANKL increased, and the ratio of OPG/RANKL decreased. As such, high glucose environment can promote bone resorption. After LLL therapy, the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α decreased, indicating that LLL therapy could antagonize the increase in the levels of inflammatory factors induced by high glucose environment and upregulate the expression of OPG in human HPDLCs, downregulation of RANKL expression in HPDLCs resulted in the upregulation of the ratio of OPG/RANKL and reversed the imbalance of bone metabolism induced by high glucose levels. 2) The decrease in inflammatory factors and the regulation of bone metabolism in HPDLCs were enhanced with increasing laser energy density within 3.75-5.625 J/cm2. Hence, the ability of LLL therapy to modulate bone remodeling increases with increasing dose.

Evaluation of the Salmonella CANARY® Zephyr Assay for the Detection of Salmonella enterica on Environmental Surfaces: AOAC Performance Tested MethodSM 042201.

BACKGROUND: The Salmonella CANARY® Zephyr assay is designed to provide rapid and reliable detection of Salmonella enterica from various types of environmental surfaces, including stainless steel, silicone rubber, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and glazed ceramic. The assay is using cell- and immuno-based CANARY technology and tested on Smiths Detection's Zephyr platform. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this validation study was to evaluate the Salmonella CANARY Zephyr assay for its inclusivity/exclusivity, matrix study for 4 claimed environmental surfaces, consistency/stability, and robustness. METHODS: The Salmonella CANARY Zephyr assay was compared to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM) Chapter 5 "Salmonella" using an unpaired study design for environmental surfaces including stainless steel, silicone rubber, HDPE, and glazed ceramic (1" × 1" test area). RESULTS: For the inclusivity and exclusivity evaluation, the Salmonella CANARY Zephyr assay correctly identified 101 out of 102 target organism isolates (with one strain of S. enterica subsp. indica not detected) and excluded all 33 non-target strains that were analyzed. For the matrix study, the Salmonella CANARY Zephyr assay demonstrated no statistically significant differences between presumptive and confirmed results or between candidate and reference method results. Probability of detection analysis of the Salmonella CANARY Zephyr method on robustness and product consistency/stability (lot-to-lot) study demonstrated no statistically significant differences. CONCLUSION: The Salmonella CANARY Zephyr assay is an effective method for the detection of Salmonella enterica from various environmental surfaces including stainless steel, silicone rubber, HDPE, and glazed ceramic. HIGHLIGHT: The Salmonella CANARY Zephyr assay allows for rapid and sensitive detection of Salmonella enterica on environmental surfaces. It only takes less than 5 min to prepare the sample and 1 min for instrument running/reading.

Nonsurgical treatment of a hyperdivergent skeletal Class III patient with mini-screw-assisted mandibular dentition distalization and flattening of the occlusal plane.

Treatment of hyperdivergent skeletal Class III malocclusion is challenging for orthodontists, and orthognathic-orthodontic treatment is usually required. This report presents the successful nonsurgical treatment of a 20-year-old man who had a skeletal Class III malocclusion with anterior open bite, anterior and posterior crossbite, hyperdivergent growth pattern, steep occlusal plane, early loss of three first molars, and an uncommon convex profile with a retruded chin. An orthodontic camouflage treatment plan was chosen based on the etiology and the patient's complaints. Tooth #37 was extracted. Miniscrews were used for uprighting and intruding of the lower molars, distalization of the lower dentition, and flattening of the occlusal plane. After 34 months of active treatment, Class I relationships, proper anterior overjet and overbite, flat occlusal plane, and an esthetic facial profile were achieved. The results demonstrated that the biomechanics involved in the nonsurgical treatment assisted with miniscrews to distalize the mandibular dentition and flatten the occlusal plane while keeping the mandibular plane stable was effective for treating this hyperdivergent skeletal Class III patient with a convex profile and anterior open bite.

MPZ gene variant site in Chinese patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

BACKGROUND: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a hereditary monogenic peripheral nerve disease. Variants in the gene encoding myelin protein zero (MPZ) lead to CMT, and different variants have different clinical phenotypes. A variant site, namely, c.389A > G (p.Lys130Arg), in the MPZ gene has been found in Chinese people. The pathogenicity of this variant has been clarified through pedigrees, and peripheral blood-related functional studies have been conducted. METHOD: Whole-exome sequencing and Sanger sequencing were used to detect the c.389A > G (p.Lys130Arg) variant in the MPZ gene in family members of the proband. Physical examination was performed in the case group to assess the clinical characteristics of MPZ site variants. The expression of MPZ and phosphorylated MPZ in the blood of 12 cases and 12 randomly selected controls was compared by RT-qPCR, Western blotting, and ELISA. RESULTS: The proband and 12 of her family members presented the AG genotype with different clinical manifestations. The expression of MPZ mRNA in the case group was increased compared with that in the control group, and the levels of MPZ and phosphorylated MPZ in peripheral blood were higher than those in normal controls. CONCLUSION: The heterozygous genotype of the c.389A > G (p.Lys130Arg) variant in the MPZ gene mediated the increase in MPZ and phosphorylated MPZ levels in peripheral blood and was found to be involved with CMT.

Incontinentia pigmenti with intracranial arachnoid cyst: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Incontinentia pigmenti (IP) is a rare X-linked dominant genetic disorder that can be fatal in male infants. It is a disease that affects many systems of the human body. In addition to characteristic skin changes, patients may also have pathological features of the eyes, teeth, and central nervous system. Therefore, the lesions in these systems may be the first symptoms for which patients seek treatment. To date, no cases of IP complicated by intracranial arachnoid cyst (IAC) have been reported. This paper aims to report a case of IP with IAC in order to share the diagnosis and treatment experience of this rare case with other clinicians. CASE SUMMARY: An 11-year-old female patient suffered intermittent limb convulsions for five months and was sent to hospital. In the initial stage, the patient was considered to have primary epilepsy. Further investigation of the patient's medical history, physical examination and imaging examination led to the diagnosis of IP combined with intracranial space-occupying lesions, and secondary epilepsy. The patient was treated with craniotomy, and postoperative pathology revealed an IAC. The patient recovered well after craniotomy and had no obvious surgery-related complications. During the follow-up period, the patient did not have recurrent epilepsy symptoms. CONCLUSION: IP is a multi-system disease that presents with typical skin lesions at birth, but the long-term prognosis of this disease depends on the involvement of systems other than the skin, especially nervous system and ocular lesions.

Delivery of LINC00589 via mesoporous silica nanoparticles inhibits peritoneal metastasis in gastric cancer.

Peritoneal metastasis is one of the common forms of metastasis in gastric cancer (GC). In this study, we identified the expression pattern of LINC00589 in GC patients and investigate the biological function in GC cells. RNA-pulldown assay was performed to explore the underlying molecular mechanism. Further, we utilize polyethyleneimine-modified mesoporous silica nanoparticles (PMSNs) as the nanocarriers for delivery of LINC00589 encoding plasmid and tested its therapeutic potential for GC with peritoneal dissemination. We revealed that LINC00589 was downregulated in GC tissues and suppressed the metastatic ability of GC cells. Mechanistically, LINC00589 exerted tumor suppressive function by promoting hnRNPA1 protein ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation, thus blocking alternative splicing of PKM to PKM2. Furthermore, LINC00589 delivered by PMSNs could suppress the peritoneal metastasis of GC in vivo and in vitro. This work may provide a new treatment option in GC peritoneal metastasis.

Endoscopic endonasal open reduction for fractures of the frontal process of the maxilla.

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of endoscopic endonasal open reduction of fractures of the frontal process of the maxilla (FFPM). METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of patients who underwent endoscopic endonasal open reduction of FFPM from December 2013 to October 2018. The preoperative assessment included nasal endoscopy, computed tomography imaging, and three-dimensional craniofacial reconstruction. The clinical results were evaluated with a visual analog scale at 2 days and 1 year postoperatively. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients (25 male, 7 female) with an average age of 39 years were included in the study. All patients successfully underwent a surgical operation via the endoscopic endonasal approach with a nasal mucosal incision, and the nasal deformities were corrected. At the 1-year follow-up, six (18.8%) and 26 (81.2%) patients were somewhat satisfied and very satisfied with the aesthetic result, respectively, and five (15.6%) and 27 (84.4%) were somewhat satisfied and very satisfied with the functional result, respectively. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic endonasal open reduction can be considered a reliable method for anatomical reduction of FFPM. This technology provides a viable choice for the treatment of FFPM.

A review of microplastics in the aquatic environmental: distribution, transport, ecotoxicology, and toxicological mechanisms.

The interactions between microplastics (MPs) and aquatic organisms are becoming increasingly frequent due to the extensive distribution of MPs in aquatic environments. MPs from the aquatic environment tend to accumulate and move through living organisms. Therefore, MPs can affect human health though the food chain and human consumption. In this brief review, the environmental distribution, sources, and transport of MPs are reviewed, and the potential consequences of the presence of MPs in the aquatic environment to human food are discussed. This review also summarized the toxicity effects and toxicity mechanisms of MPs based on various environmentally relevant test species and discussed the combined toxicity effects of MPs and various pollutants in aquatic ecosystems. The knowledge of the adverse effects on combined toxicity and the mechanism of MPs toxicity are very limited. Thus, a systematic assessment of the aquatic environmental risk in various species from MPs is challenging. In the end, we identify the knowledge gaps that need to be filled and provide suggestions for future research.

A Transparent, Wearable Fluorescent Mouthguard for High-Sensitive Visualization and Accurate Localization of Hidden Dental Lesion Sites.

Accurate detection and early diagnosis of oral diseases such as dental caries and periodontitis, can be potentially achieved by detecting the secretion of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in oral cavities. Current diagnostic approaches for VSCs can detect the existence and concentrations, yet are not capable of locating the dental lesion sites. Herein, the development of a unique approach for accurately locating dental lesion sites using a fluorescent mouthguard consisting of the zinc oxide-poly(dimethylsiloxane) (ZnO-PDMS) nanocomposite to detect the local release of VSCs is reported. The ZnO-PDMS mouthguard displays a highly sensitive and selective response to VSCs, and exhibits high fluorescent stability, good biocompatibility, and low biological toxicity in normal physiological environments. Then, the wearable ZnO-PDMS mouthguard is demonstrated to be able to identify the precise locations of lesion sites in human subjects. Combined with image analysis, the mouthguards successfully uncover the precise locations of dental caries, allowing convenient screening of hidden dental lesion sites that are oftentimes omitted by dentists. Due to low cost, long-term stability, and good patient compliance, the proposed wearable mouthguard is suitable for large-scale production and enables widely applicable, preliminary yet accurate screening of dental lesions prior to dental clinics and routine physical examinations.

Controlled release of recombinant human cementum protein 1 from electrospun multiphasic scaffold for cementum regeneration.

Periodontitis is a major cause for tooth loss, which affects about 15% of the adult population. Cementum regeneration has been the crux of constructing the periodontal complex. Cementum protein 1 (CEMP1) is a cementum-specific protein that can induce cementogenic differentiation. In this study, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-stabilized amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) nanoparticles were prepared by wet-chemical method and then loaded with recombinant human CEMP1 (rhCEMP1) for controlled release. An electrospun multiphasic scaffold constituted of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), type I collagen (COL), and rhCEMP1/ACP was fabricated. The effects of rhCEMP1/ACP/PCL/COL scaffold on the attachment proliferation, osteogenic, and cementogenic differentiations of human periodontal ligament cells, (PDLCs) were systematically investigated. A critical size defect rat model was introduced to evaluate the effect of tissue regeneration of the scaffolds in vivo. The results showed that PEG-stabilized ACP nanoparticles formed a core-shell structure with sustained release of rhCEMP1 for up to 4 weeks. rhCEMP1/ACP/PCL/COL scaffold could suppress PDLCs proliferation behavior and upregulate the expression of cementoblastic markers including CEMP1 and cementum attachment protein while downregulating osteoblastic markers including osteocalcin and osteopontin when it was cocultured with PDLCs in vitro for 7 days. Histology analysis of cementum after being implanted with the scaffold in rats for 8 weeks showed that there was cementum-like tissue formation but little bone formation. These results indicated the potential of using electrospun multiphasic scaffolds for controlled release of rhCEMP1 for promoting cementum regeneration in reconstruction of the periodontal complex.

Liquid-liquid-solid microextraction based on membrane-protected molecularly imprinted polymer fiber for trace analysis of triazines in complex aqueous samples.

A novel liquid-liquid-solid microextraction (LLSME) technique based on porous membrane-protected molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)-coated silica fiber has been developed. In this technique, a MIP-coated silica fiber was protected with a length of porous polypropylene hollow fiber membrane which was filled with water-immiscible organic phase. Subsequently the whole device was immersed into aqueous sample for extraction. The LLSME technique was a three-phase microextraction approach. The target analytes were firstly extracted from the aqueous sample through a few microliters of organic phase residing in the pores and lumen of the membrane, and were then finally extracted onto the MIP fiber. A terbutylazine MIP-coated silica fiber was adopted as an example to demonstrate the feasibility of the novel LLSME method. The extraction parameters such as the organic solvent, extraction and desorption time were investigated. Comparison of the LLSME technique was made with molecularly imprinted polymer based solid-phase microextraction (MIP-SPME) and hollow fiber membrane-based liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME), respectively. The LLSME, integrating the advantages of high selectivity of MIP-SPME and enrichment and sample cleanup capability of the HF-LPME into a single device, is a promising sample preparation method for complex samples. Moreover, the new technique overcomes the problem of disturbance from water when the MIP-SPME fiber was exposed directly to aqueous samples. Applications to analysis of triazine herbicides in sludge water, watermelon, milk and urine samples were evaluated to access the real sample application of the LLSME method by coupling with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Low limits of detection (0.006-0.02 microg L(-1)), satisfactory recoveries and good repeatability for real sample (RSD 1.2-9.6%, n = 5) were obtained. The method was demonstrated to be a fast, selective and sensitive pretreatment method for trace analysis of triazines in complex aqueous samples.