Synthesis of novel magnetic pitch-based hypercrosslinked polymers as adsorbents for effective recovery of Ag+ with high selectivity.

Silver is an important precious metal with superior ductility, electrical and thermal conductivity, photosensitivity, and antibacterial properties. However, without proper recycling and treatment, silver emissions may pose a threat to the human health and subsistence environment due to their toxicity. Therefore, it is environmentally and economically important to recover Ag from waste electronic equipment and anode slime. Herein, carboxyl functionalized modified magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@3-phenylglutaricacid nanoparticles) were designed and prepared to obtain the low-cost magnetic pitch-based HCP adsorbents (MPHCP and P-MPHCP). The novelty of present work is that superior adsorption capacity and magnetic responsiveness of adsorbent can be obtained by a simple one-step Friedel-Crafts reaction with very low-cost raw material. The maximum Ag+ adsorption capacity of MPHCP and P-MPHCP were 321 and 353 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption was completed within a short duration of 15 min for MPHCP and P-MPHCP at an initial Ag+ concentration of 100 mg/L. Moreover, the most selective is P-MPHCP wherein Ag+ is α = 61 times more selective than Pb2+ at a concentration of 100 mg/L.The adsorption capacity of MPHCP and P-MPHCP towards Ag+ still maintains above 89% after ten cycles of adsorption-desorption. This study not only provides new guidance for the development of porous polymeric adsorbents but also provides technical feasibility for the field of recovery and reutilization of precious metals, which has a very extensive practical application prospect.

ADAPT: Analysis of Microbiome Differential Abundance by Pooling Tobit Models.

Microbiome differential abundance analysis remains a challenging problem despite multiple methods proposed in the literature. The excessive zeros and compositionality of metagenomics data are two main challenges for differential abundance analysis. We propose a novel method called "analysis of differential abundance by pooling Tobit models" (ADAPT) to overcome these two challenges. ADAPT uniquely treats zero counts as left-censored observations to facilitate computation and enhance interpretation. ADAPT also encompasses a theoretically justified way of selecting non-differentially abundant microbiome taxa as a reference for hypothesis testing. We generate synthetic data using independent simulation frameworks to show that ADAPT has more consistent false discovery rate control and higher statistical power than competitors. We use ADAPT to analyze 16S rRNA sequencing of saliva samples and shotgun metagenomics sequencing of plaque samples collected from infants in the COHRA2 study. The results provide novel insights into the association between the oral microbiome and early childhood dental caries.

Array-wide uniform PEDOT:PSS electroplating from potentiostatic deposition.

Electroplating of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is important in many neuroelectronic applications but is challenging to achieve uniformity on large-scale microelectrode arrays (MEA) using conventional galvanostatic methods. In this study, we address this challenge through a potentiostatic method and demonstrate highly uniform electroplating of PEDOT:PSS on MEA with more than one hundred electrodes, all at cellular sizes. The validation of this approach involves comparisons with galvanostatic deposition methods, showcasing unparalleled deposition yield and uniformity. Systematic electrochemical characterizations reveal similarities in structure and stability from potentiostatic deposited coatings. The advances developed here establish the potentiostatic method and detailed process to achieve a uniform coating of PEDOT:PSS on large-scale MEA, with broad utility in neuroelectronics.

Correlation between oral cavity volume and upper airway changes in skeletal Class III patients undergoing bimaxillary orthognathic surgery: a pilot cone-beam computed tomography study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate changes of the upper airway and oral cavity volumes in patients with skeletal Class III malocclusion undergoing bimaxillary orthognathic surgery, and to analyze the correlation between postoperative upper airway decrease and the amount of jaw movement and oral cavity volume reduction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty patients (16 males and 14 females) undergoing bimaxillary surgery were included. Three-dimensional reconstruction of the upper airway and oral cavity were performed using preoperative (T0) and postoperative (T1) (6 months) cone-beam computed tomography scans. RESULTS: The volume, sagittal area and minimum cross-sectional area of the upper airway were diminished (P < .001). The decrease in volume and minimum cross-sectional area in the oropharyngeal region of the upper airway were weakly correlated with B-point posterior movement (P < .05). Total oral cavity volume was decreased, with maxillary oral volume increasing and mandibular oral volume decreasing (P < .001). Upper airway decrease was highly correlated with total oral volume reduction and mandibular oral volume reduction, with the most significant correlation being with total oral volume reduction (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Class III bimaxillary surgery reduced the volume, sagittal area, and minimum cross-sectional area of the upper airway as well as oral cavity volume. Upper airway changes were weakly correlated with anterior-posterior mandibular movement but significantly correlated with oral cavity volume changes. Thus, oral cavity volume reduction is a crucial factor of upper airway decrease in patients with skeletal Class III malocclusion undergoing bimaxillary orthognathic surgery.

Multifunctional Nanomesh Enables Cellular-Resolution, Elastic Neuroelectronics.

Silicone-based devices have the potential to achieve an ideal interface with nervous tissue but suffer from scalability, primarily due to the mechanical mismatch between established electronic materials and soft elastomer substrates. This study presents a novel approach using conventional electrode materials through multifunctional nanomesh to achieve reliable elastic microelectrodes directly on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) silicone with an unprecedented cellular resolution. This engineered nanomesh features an in-plane nanoscale mesh pattern, physically embodied by a stack of three thin-film materials by design, namely Parylene-C for mechanical buffering, gold (Au) for electrical conduction, and Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) for improved electrochemical interfacing. Nanomesh elastic neuroelectronics are validated using single-unit recording from the small and curvilinear epidural surface of mouse dorsal root ganglia (DRG) with device self-conformed and superior recording quality compared to plastic control devices requiring manual pressing is demonstrated. Electrode scaling studies from in vivo epidural recording further revealed the need for cellular resolution for high-fidelity recording of single-unit activities and compound action potentials. In addition to creating a minimally invasive device to effectively interface with DRG sensory afferents at a single-cell resolution, this study establishes nanomeshing as a practical pathway to leverage traditional electrode materials for a new class of elastic neuroelectronics.

Automatic segmentation of mandibular canal using transformer based neural networks.

Accurate 3D localization of the mandibular canal is crucial for the success of digitally-assisted dental surgeries. Damage to the mandibular canal may result in severe consequences for the patient, including acute pain, numbness, or even facial paralysis. As such, the development of a fast, stable, and highly precise method for mandibular canal segmentation is paramount for enhancing the success rate of dental surgical procedures. Nonetheless, the task of mandibular canal segmentation is fraught with challenges, including a severe imbalance between positive and negative samples and indistinct boundaries, which often compromise the completeness of existing segmentation methods. To surmount these challenges, we propose an innovative, fully automated segmentation approach for the mandibular canal. Our methodology employs a Transformer architecture in conjunction with cl-Dice loss to ensure that the model concentrates on the connectivity of the mandibular canal. Additionally, we introduce a pixel-level feature fusion technique to bolster the model's sensitivity to fine-grained details of the canal structure. To tackle the issue of sample imbalance and vague boundaries, we implement a strategy founded on mandibular foramen localization to isolate the maximally connected domain of the mandibular canal. Furthermore, a contrast enhancement technique is employed for pre-processing the raw data. We also adopt a Deep Label Fusion strategy for pre-training on synthetic datasets, which substantially elevates the model's performance. Empirical evaluations on a publicly accessible mandibular canal dataset reveal superior performance metrics: a Dice score of 0.844, click score of 0.961, IoU of 0.731, and HD95 of 2.947 mm. These results not only validate the efficacy of our approach but also establish its state-of-the-art performance on the public mandibular canal dataset.

Advancements in oral and maxillofacial surgery medical images segmentation techniques: An overview.

OBJECTIVES: This article reviews recent advances in computer-aided segmentation methods for oral and maxillofacial surgery and describes the advantages and limitations of these methods. The objective is to provide an invaluable resource for precise therapy and surgical planning in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Study selection, data and sources: This review includes full-text articles and conference proceedings reporting the application of segmentation methods in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery. The research focuses on three aspects: tooth detection segmentation, mandibular canal segmentation and alveolar bone segmentation. The most commonly used imaging technique is CBCT, followed by conventional CT and Orthopantomography. A systematic electronic database search was performed up to July 2023 (Medline via PubMed, IEEE Xplore, ArXiv, Google Scholar were searched). RESULTS: These segmentation methods can be mainly divided into two categories: traditional image processing and machine learning (including deep learning). Performance testing on a dataset of images labeled by medical professionals shows that it performs similarly to dentists' annotations, confirming its effectiveness. However, no studies have evaluated its practical application value. CONCLUSION: Segmentation methods (particularly deep learning methods) have demonstrated unprecedented performance, while inherent challenges remain, including the scarcity and inconsistency of datasets, visible artifacts in images, unbalanced data distribution, and the "black box" nature. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Accurate image segmentation is critical for precise treatment and surgical planning in oral and maxillofacial surgery. This review aims to facilitate more accurate and effective surgical treatment planning among dental researchers.

Transdermal Delivery of Photosensitizer-Catalase Conjugate by Fluorinated Polyethylenimine for Enhanced Topical Photodynamic Therapy of Bacterial Infections.

Pathogenic bacteria induce subcutaneous infections pose serious threats to global public health. Recently, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been proposed as a non-invasive approach for anti-microbial treatment without the risk to induce drug resistance. However, due to the hypoxic environment of most anaerobiont-infected sites, the therapeutic efficacy of oxygen consuming PDT has been limited. Herein, a transdermal delivery system is reported to allow effective delivery of photosensitizers into infected skin for PDT treatment of skin infections by bacteria. Considering the overproduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) in the abscess area, catalase (CAT), an enzyme that triggers H2 O2 decomposition to generate O2 , is conjugated with chlorine e6 (Ce6) to form a photosensitizer conjugate (Ce6-CAT) as an enhanced PDT agent against Staphylococcus Aureus. After screening a series of fluorinated low molecular weight polyethylenimine (F-PEI) with different fluorination degrees, the optimized F-PEI formulation is identified with the best transdermal delivery ability system. Upon mixing, the formed Ce6-CAT@F-PEI nanocomplex shows effective transdermal penetration after being applied to the skin surface. With light exposure of the infected skin, highly effective in vivo anti-bacterial PDT therapeutic effect with Ce6-CAT@F-PEI is observed. This work proposes a transdermal PDT therapeutic nanomedicine particularly promising for the anti-bacterial treatment of skin infections.

Salivary microbiome changes distinguish response to chemoradiotherapy in patients with oral cancer.

BACKGROUND: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is associated with oral microbial dysbiosis. In this unique study, we compared pre- to post-treatment salivary microbiome in patients with SCC by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and examined how microbiome changes correlated with the expression of an anti-microbial protein. RESULTS: Treatment of SCC was associated with a reduction in overall bacterial richness and diversity. There were significant changes in the microbial community structure, including a decrease in the abundance of Porphyromonaceae and Prevotellaceae and an increase in Lactobacillaceae. There were also significant changes in the microbial community structure before and after treatment with chemoradiotherapy, but not with surgery alone. In patients treated with chemoradiotherapy alone, several bacterial populations were differentially abundant between responders and non-responders before and after therapy. Microbiome changes were associated with a change in the expression of DMBT1, an anti-microbial protein in human saliva. Additionally, we found that salivary DMBT1, which increases after treatment, could serve as a post-treatment salivary biomarker that links to microbial changes. Specifically, post-treatment increases in human salivary DMBT1 correlated with increased abundance of Gemella spp., Pasteurellaceae spp., Lactobacillus spp., and Oribacterium spp. This is the first longitudinal study to investigate treatment-associated changes (chemoradiotherapy and surgery) in the oral microbiome in patients with SCC along with changes in expression of an anti-microbial protein in saliva. CONCLUSIONS: The composition of the oral microbiota may predict treatment responses; salivary DMBT1 may have a role in modulating the oral microbiome in patients with SCC. After completion of treatment, 6 months after diagnosis, patients had a less diverse and less rich oral microbiome. Leptotrichia was a highly prevalent bacteria genus associated with disease. Expression of DMBT1 was higher after treatment and associated with microbiome changes, the most prominent genus being Gemella Video Abstract.

Microplastics in personal care products: Exploring public intention of usage by extending the theory of planned behaviour.

Microplastics, artificial plastic particles with a particle size of <5 mm, have attracted considerable attention due to their potential negative impacts on the social economy, ecological environment, and human health. An important direct source of microplastics (i.e., microbeads in cosmetics) is scrub particles from personal care products, such as cosmetics and toothpaste. Therefore, it is necessary to understand consumers' perceptions and behaviours regarding these products, which can help reduce the emission of microplastics at the source. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively analyse the impact factors and interaction mechanisms of the public behavioural intention of reducing the use of personal care and cosmetic products containing microplastics through the expanded theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model. We conducted random face-to-face interviews with 496 respondents in Shanghai, China. The results show that (1) attitude has the most powerful positive influence on behavioural intention, followed by perceived behavioural control and environmental concern, whereas there is no significant direct influence of subjective norms, environmental education, and behavioural experience; (2) subjective norms have an indirect influence on behavioural intention through attitude and perceived behavioural control; and (3) environmental education and behavioural experience both have an indirect impact on behavioural intention through attitude. Practical and effective policy implications are proposed for the government to reduce microplastic pollution based on the results of this article.

Preparing Sr-containing nano-structures on micro-structured titanium alloy surface fabricated by additively manufacturing to enhance the anti-inflammation and osteogenesis.

The development of additive manufacturing technology has made it possible to customize joint implants. However, the fibrous tissue caused by long-term chronic inflammation delays bone regeneration. Moreover, the discovery of micro/nano-structure on the natural bone makes the study of implant surface morphology meaningful. In this study, a Sr-containing nano-structure on micro-structured titanium alloy surface was fabricated to enhanced the anti-inflammatory and osteogenic properties of implants. Ti6Al4V (TC4) alloys with micro-structured surface prepared by additive manufacturing were used as the material base model. Subsequently, spherical SrTiO3 particles were fabricated on the TC4 surfaces by hydrothermal treatment. The anti-inflammatory and osteogenic performance of smooth surface, micro-structured surface, Sr-containing nano-structured surface and Sr-containing micro/nano-structured surface were investigated. In vitro results exhibited that the macrophages cultured on micro/nano-structured surface were polarized to anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype and enhanced the expression of osteogenic growth factors. The Sr-containing micro/nano-structured surface effectively upgraded the proliferation and differentiation of SaOS-2 cells compared with other surfaces. Sr2+ and micro/nano-structure effectively enhanced the anti-inflammatory and osteogenic properties of titanium alloys. This finding suggested that the micro/nano-structured surface doped with bioactive elements is expected to broaden the horizons of biomedical materials. DATA AVAILABILITY: The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings cannot be shared at this time as the data also forms part of an ongoing study.

Nanoscale Mechanical Properties of Core-Shell-like Poly-NIPAm Microgel Particles: Effect of Temperature and Cross-Linking Density.

Poly-NIPAm microgel particles with two different cross-linking densities were prepared with the classical batch polymerization process. These particles were adsorbed onto modified silica surfaces, and their nanomechanical properties were measured by means of atomic force microscopy. It was found that these particles have a hard core-soft shell structure both below and above the volume transition temperature. The core-shell-like structure appears due to a higher reaction rate of the cross-linker compared to that of the monomer, leading to depletion of cross-linker in the shell region. The microgel beads with lower average cross-linking density were found to be less stiff below the volume transition temperature than the microgel with higher cross-linking density. Increasing the temperature further to just above the volume transition temperature led to lower stiffness of the more highly cross-linked microgel compared to its less cross-linked counterpart. This effect is explained with the more gradual deswelling with temperature for the more cross-linked microgel particles. This phenomenon was confirmed by dynamic light scattering measurements in the bulk phase, which showed that the larger cross-linking density microgel showed a more gradual collapse in aqueous solution as the temperature was increased.

Illite/smectite clay regulating laccase encoded genes to boost lignin decomposition and humus formation in composting habitats revealed by metagenomics analysis.

The aim of this study was to use metagenomics to investigate how Illite/smectite clay (I/S) affected Auxiliary Activities (AA1, AA2, AA3) thereby enhancing lignin decomposition and humification. Metagenomics analysis illustrated that the abundances of AA1, AA2, AA3 in test group (TG) with 10% I/S were 28.98%, 15.18%, 14.36% higher than that in reference group (RG), respectively. Meanwhile, I/S greatly boosted the efficiency of lignin degradation (17.96%) and humus formation (7.16%) compared with RG (13.10%, 3.49%). Furthermore, Actinobacteria was the microorganism with the greatest contribution in RG and TG to secreting AA1 (41.12%, 57.37%), AA2 (62.42%, 65.28%), AA3 (47.04%, 55.47%). Redundancy analysis (RDA) demonstrated that I/S could make the laccase encoding gene-AA1 contribute more to HS formation relative to AA2 and AA3. In conclusion, applying I/S in cattle manure composting effectively improved the abundance, bioavailability of lignin degradation functional gene enzymes and the composting efficiency.

Impacts of red mud on lignin depolymerization and humic substance formation mediated by laccase-producing bacterial community during composting.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of red mud on lignin degradation, humic substance formation and laccase-producing bacterial community in composting to better improve composting performances. The results indicated that the organic matter contents of final compost products in the treatment group with red mud (T) decreased by 25.74%, which was more than the control group without red mud (CK) (12.09%). The final lignin degradation ratio and humic substance concentration of the T were 18.67% and 22.80% higher than that of the CK, respectively. The final C/N values of compost in the CK and T were 11.32 and 10.66, respectively, which were both less than 15, suggesting that compost reached maturity. Redundancy analysis showed that temperature was the main factors driving the variation of laccase-producing bacterial community. Pearson analysis suggested that Pseudomonas, Phenylobacterium, and Caulobacter were the most significantly correlated with lignin degradation and humification in the T.

Efficient decomposition of lignocellulose and improved composting performances driven by thermally activated persulfate based on metagenomics analysis.

In this study, fresh dairy manure and bagasse pith were used as raw materials to study the effect of potassium persulfate in the aerobic composting process. The influence of sulfate radical anion (SO4-·) generated by thermally activated persulfate on physicochemical parameters, lignocellulose degradation, humic substance (HS) formation, microbial community succession, and carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) composition were assessed during composting. Experimental results showed that the degradation rates of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin in the treatment group with potassium persulfate (PS) (61.47%, 74.63%, 73.1%) were higher than that in blank control group (CK) (59.98%, 71.47%, 70.89%), respectively. Additionally, persulfate additive promoted dynamic variation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and accelerated the formation of HS. Furthermore, metagenomics analysis revealed that persulfate changed the structure of the microbial community, and the relative abundances of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria increased by 17.64% and 34.09% in PS, whereas 12.09% and 29.96% in CK. Glycoside hydrolases (GHs) and auxiliary activities (AAs) families were crucial to degrade lignocellulose, and their abundances were more in PS. Redundancy analysis (RDA) manifested that Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria were closely associated with lignocellulosic degradation. In brief, persulfate could accelerate the degradation of organic components, promote the formation of HS, optimize the structure of microbial community, and improve the compost quality.

Effect of Er:YAG laser combined with ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid on three-walled periodontal intrabony defects adjacent to implant sites.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical effect of Er:YAG laser combined with ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) on three-walled periodontal intrabony defects adjacent to implant sites. METHODS: A total of 30 patients with three-walled periodontal intrabony defects adjacent to implant sites were treated with the combination therapy. Patients with three-walled intrabony defects were divided into two groups according to the depth of the intrabony pocket between the implant and natural teeth. Evaluation of wound healing was performed 10 days after the operation, and bone augmentation was evaluated 6 months after the operation. RESULTS: Primary healing in group 1 was 92.31%, primary healing in group 2 was 82.35%. No significant difference was observed between the two groups (P>0.05). Bone augmentation in group 1 and group 2 were (2.85±1.81), (4.92±2.22) mm. There was significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). New bone growth occurred more slowly in group 1 (0.70 mm±0.32 mm) than in group 2 (1.25 mm±0.47 mm) (P>0.05). Probe depths (PD), clinical attachment levels (CAL), and sulcus bleeding indices (SBI) showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). The one-year survival rate of natural tooth in group 1 and group 2 were 100%, 94.2%, and the one-year survival rate of implants in both groups was 100%. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of bone augmentation with combination therapy was more ideal in group 2 than in group 1. Implant placement with combination therapy may be a viable technique to reconstruct three-walled intrabony defects due to the space maintenance provided by implants and bone grafts and the good root surface biocompatibility provided by the Er:YAG laser and EDTA.

Molecular mechanisms underlying lignocellulose degradation and antibiotic resistance genes removal revealed via metagenomics analysis during different agricultural wastes composting.

In this study, the differences on the physico-chemical parameters, lignocellulose degradation, dynamic succession of microbial community, gene expression of carbohydrate-active enzymes and antibiotics resistance genes were compared during composting systems of bagasse pith/pig manure (BP) and manioc waste/pig manure (MW). The results revealed that biodegradation rates of organic matter, cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin (29.14%, 17.53%,45.36% and 36.48%) in BP were higher than those (15.59%, 16.74%, 41.23% and 29.77%) in MW. In addition, the relative abundance of Bacillus, Luteimonas, Clostridium, Pseudomonas, Streptomyces and expression of genes encoding carbohydrate- active enzymes in BP were higher than those in MW based on metagenomics sequencing. During composting, antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes were substantially reduced, but the removal efficiency was divergent in the both samples. Taken together, metagenomics analysis was a potential method for evaluating lignocellulose's biodegradation process and determining the elimination of antibiotic and antibiotic resistance genes from different composting sources of biomass.

Polymer dots grafted TiO2 nanohybrids as high performance visible light photocatalysts.

As a new member of carbon dots (CDs), Polymer dots (PDs) prepared by hydrothermal treatment of polymers, usually consist of the carbon core and the connected partially degraded polymer chains. This type of CDs might possess aqueous solubility, non-toxicity, excellent stability against photo-bleaching and high visible light activity. In this research, PDs were prepared by a moderate hydrothermal treatment of polyvinyl alcohol, and PDs grafted TiO2 (PDs-TiO2) nanohybrids with TiOC bonds were prepared by a facile in-situ hydrothermal treatment of PDs and Ti (SO4)2. Under visible light irradiation, the PDs-TiO2 demonstrate excellent photocatalytic activity for methyl orange degradation, and the photocatalytic rate constant of PDs-TiO2 is 3.6 and 9.5 times higher than that of pure TiO2 and commercial P25, respectively. In addition, the PDs-TiO2 exhibit good recycle stability under UV-Vis light irradiation. The interfacial TiOC bonds and the π-conjugated structures in PDs-TiO2 can act as the pathways to quickly transfer the excited electrons between PDs and TiO2, therefore contribute to the excellent photocatalytic activity.

A comparison of micro-CT and histomorphometry for evaluation of osseointegration of PEO-coated titanium implants in a rat model.

The aim of the present study was to determine the correlation between bone volume density (BV/TV) around a titanium implant determined by micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and bone area density (BA/TA) measurements obtained using histomorphometry. An intramedullary rat femur implant model was evaluated to compare raw titanium implants with plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO)-coated titanium implants. Titanium and PEO-treated titanium pins were inserted into rat femurs under general anesthesia. The animals were sacrificed and femurs harvested at 0, 2, 4 and 6 weeks, and subsequently, histomorphometry and micro-CT were performed. BV/TV and BA/TA values were strongly and positively correlated at all time points and locations (with all correlation coefficients being >0.8 and with P < 0.001). BV/TV and BA/TA were significantly higher proximal to the growth plate than distal to the growth plate, with estimated differences of 14.10% (P < 0.001) and 11.95% (P < 0.001), respectively. BV/TV and BA/TA were significantly higher on the PEO-coated surface than on the raw titanium surface, with estimated differences of 3.20% (P = 0.044) and 4.10% (P = 0.018), respectively. Therefore, quantitative micro-CT analysis of BV/TV is correlated with BA/TA determined by histomorphometry when artifacts around titanium implants are minimized by a region of interest modification.

[Application of carbon fiber dressing on burn wounds].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of carbon fiber dressing on burn wounds. METHODS: Two hundreds and seventy seven burn patients were randomly divided into treatment group (group T) and control group (group C). The burn wounds were covered with carbon fiber dressing in T group, and with povidone iodine gauze in C group, respectively. The absorption capability of the dressing, inflammatory reaction and bacteria quantitation of wound tissues and wound healing time were observed, and biopsy of wounds were performed. RESULTS: The absorption capability of the dressing was higher, the wound inflammatory reaction was milder, and bacteria quantitation of wound tissues was lower in the group T than that in group C. The wound healing time in the group T was shorter than that in group C. CONCLUSIONS: Carbon fiber dressing is a new model dressing, it can absorb wound exudation, lessen inflammatory reaction and improve wound healing.