Oral health status and oral habits of children and adolescents with hemophilia: a report from the children's hemophilia comprehensive care center of China.

In recent years, the diagnosis and treatment of hemophilic children in China has significantly improved. However, oral health conditions, which affect quality of life, haven't received attention in this population. To explore the oral health status and oral hygiene of children and adolescents with hemophilia in the Children's Hemophilia Comprehensive Care Center of China. Dental and oral hygiene examinations were performed in children and adolescents with hemophilia who visited Beijing Children's Hospital. DMFT/dmft (decayed, missing, filled teeth in permanent and primary teeth) was assessed according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S) was used to evaluate the oral hygiene condition of the subjects. Questionnaires were completed by their parents. SPSS 21.0 was used for statistical analysis. A total of 114 children and adolescents were enrolled. The caries prevalence was 57.4%, 72.2% and 41.2% in primary, mixed and permanent dentitions respectively. The filling rates were 14.4%, 13.9%, and 11.4%, respectively, and the OHI-S scores of the three dentition groups were 1.49 ± 0.46, 1.57 ± 0.43, and 1.76 ± 0.46, respectively. A total of 103 valid questionnaires were collected. Sixty-nine children (67%) didn't brushed their teeth 2 times a day. Nearly half of the parents knew little about fluoride toothpaste. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that brushing teeth with the help of parents had a significant positive impact on OHI-S.  Conclusion: Dental health was unsatisfactory among hemophilic children and adolescents. The caries filling rates were low. Patients and their parents did not give much attention to oral health. What is Known: • Caries and gingivitis are the two main oral diseases that affect children with hemophilia. • However, the oral health conditions of children and adolescents with hemophilia have not received much attention in China. What is New: • This is the first study concentrating on the dental health of children with hemophilia in China. • Dental health was unsatisfactory among children and adolescents with hemophilia in China.

Targeted tumor MRI with gadobutrol-loaded anti-HER2 immunoliposomes.

Background Immunoliposomes have been used to deliver MR contrast agents to cancer tissue by targeting tumor associated antigens, thus enabling the visualization of biological processes at the cellular level. Purpose To develop and evaluate the feasibility of specific HER2 targeted liposomal MR contrast agent. Material and Methods Gd-loaded anti-HER2 immunolipomes (Gd-ILs) and non-targeted PEGylated liposomes (Gd-NTLs) were prepared and characterized. Tumor bearing animals were randomized into three groups: Gd- ILs, Gd- NTLs and gadobutrol. Animals were imaged prior and 5, 15, 60, 120 and 180 min after i.v. injection of different contrast agents. The signal intensity enhancement percentage, signal- to- noise ratio and contrast- to -noise ratio was used to qualify tumor enhancement of different groups. After imaging, tumors were excised for histological examination. Results In vivo dynamic MR images, the specific targeted contrast agent bound to tumor tissue and result in a gradual and persisting enhancement for at least 3 hours in mice bearing tumor xenografts, reaching a maximum of 87.7% enhancement after 120 min post-injection. Gd-ILs demonstrated superior tumor enhancement over control non target contrast agent and gadobutrol in HER2 overexpressing tumors at 60, 120 and 180 min post- injection. The SNR and CNR of Gd-ILs in the tumors were significantly greater than that of Gd-NTLs at 60, 120, 180 min post- injection. Conclusion The results indicate the feasibility of Gd-ILs providing prolonged circulation, specific tumor enhancement and cancer cell recognition as targeted contrast agent.

Enhanced humification via lignocellulosic pretreatment in remediation of agricultural solid waste.

Stover and manure are the main solid waste in agricultural industry. The generation of stover and manure could lead to serious environmental pollution if not handled properly. Composting is the potential greener solution to remediate and reduce agricultural solid waste, through which stover and manure could be remediated and converted into organic fertilizer, but the long composting period and low efficiency of humic substance production are the key constraints in such remediation approach. In this study, we explore the effect of lignocellulose selective removal on composting by performing chemical pretreatment on agricultural waste followed by utilization of biochar to assist in the remediation by co-composting treatment and reveal the impacts of different lignocellulose component on organic fertilizer production. Aiming to discover the key factors that influence humification during composting process and improve the composting quality as well as comprehensive utilization of agricultural solid waste. The results demonstrated that the removal of selective lignin or hemicellulose led to the shift of abundances lignocellulose-degrading bacteria, which in turn accelerated the degradation of lignocellulose by almost 51.2%. The process also facilitated the remediation of organic waste via humification and increased the humic acid level and HA/FA ratio in just 22 days. The richness of media relies on their lignocellulose content, which is negatively correlated with total nitrogen content, humic acid (HA) content, germination index (GI), and pH, but positively correlated with fulvic acid (FA) and total organic carbon (TOC). The work provides a potential cost effective and efficient framework for agricultural solid waste remediation and reduction.

InGaZnO semiconductor thin film fabricated using pulsed laser deposition.

The InGaZnO thin films are fabricated on the quartz glass using pulsed laser deposition (PLD), where the target is prepared by mixing the Ga(2)O(3), In(2)O(3), and ZnO powders at a mol ratio of 1:1:8 before the solid-state reactions in a tube furnace at the atmospheric pressure. The product thin films were characterized comprehensively by X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, Hall-effect investigation, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Thus, we demonstrate semiconductor thin-film materials with high smoothness, high transmittance in visible region, and excellent electrical properties.

ESTIMATING RADIATION DOSE TO MAJOR ORGANS IN DENTAL X-RAY EXAMINATIONS: A PHANTOM STUDY.

The radiation doses absorbed by major organs of males and females were studied from three types of dental X-ray devices. The absorbed doses from cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), panoramic and intraoral X-ray machines were in the range of 0.23-1314.85 µGy, and were observed to be high in organs and tissues located in or adjacent to the irradiated area, there were discrepancies in organ doses between male and female. Thyroid, salivary gland, eye lens and brain were the organs that received higher absorbed doses. The organ absorbed doses were considerably lower than the diagnostic reference level for dental radiography in China. The calculated effective radiation doses for males and females were 56.63, 8.15, 2.56 µSv and 55.18, 8.99, 2.39 µSv, respectively, when using CBCT, the panoramic X-ray machine and intraoral X-ray machine. The effective radiation dose caused by CBCT was much higher than those of panoramic and intraoral X-ray machines.

[Residue Characteristics of Perfluorinated Compounds in the Atmosphere of Shenzhen].

In order to explore the residual characteristics of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in the atmosphere of Shenzhen, passive air samplers consisting of polyurethane foam (PUF) disks impregnated with XAD-4 power were deployed at 12 sites in Shenzhen from November 2014 to February 2015. Seven volatile and fifteen ionic PFCs were analyzed. The results indicated that ΣPFCs concentration ranged from 23.7 pg x m(-3) to 157 pg x m(-3) (mean: 79.0 pg x m(-3)), dominated by volatile PFCs, with 8:2 FTOITI, 6:2 FTOH, PFPeA, PFOA being the dominant compounds. The spatial distribution of volatile and ionic PFCs concentrations was the same, displaying the characteristic of "the northwest being higher than the southeast ". Furthermore, the concentrations of 6:2 FTOHs, 8:2 FTOHs, PFPeA, PFHxA and PFOA had positive correlations with PM2.5 and PM10 (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) and were more positively correlated with the levels of PM10 than those of PM2.5.

G5-PEG PAMAM dendrimer incorporating nanostructured lipid carriers enhance oral bioavailability and plasma lipid-lowering effect of probucol.

This work aimed to improve the oral bioavailability and plasma lipid-lowering effect of probucol (PB) by constructing a combined drug delivery system (CDDS) composed of nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) and PEGylated poly(amidoamine) dendrimer (PEG-PAMAM). PEG-PAMAM with dendrimer generations of 5 (G5-PEG) or 7 (G7-PEG) were incorporated in PB-NLCs to form PB-CDDSs, PB-NLCs/G5-PEG and PB-NLCs/G7-PEG. The resultant two kinds of PB-CDDSs were characterized by particle size, zeta potential, drug encapsulation efficacy, PB release rates, and physical stability. Formulation effects of NLC and CDDS on the cellular uptake of hydrophobic drug were explored in Caco-2 cells by fluorescent Cy5 dye as a hydrophobic drug model. Furthermore, in vivo pharmacokinetics of the PB-CDDS composed of G5-PEG and PB-NLCs were investigated in a low density lipoprotein receptor knockout (LDLr-/-) mouse model, including plateau plasma PB concentrations after oral administration of multiple doses, and bioavailability after oral administration of a single dose of different PB formulations. In addition, lipid-lowering effect of PB-NLCs/G5-PEG was studied. The results indicate that both G5-PEG and G7-PEG significantly improved aqueous solubility of PB. The two PB-CDDSs exhibited similar particle size (around 150nm) as PB-NLCs, but slower PB burst release rate, higher total PB release amount, and better particle morphology and storage stability than PB-NLCs. In comparison with traditional NLC, CDDS dramatically enhanced cellular uptake of Cy5 into Caco-2 cells. In vivo results demonstrate that PB-NLCs/G5-PEG had the highest plateau plasma PB concentration and oral bioavailability, and the greatest cholesterol-lowering effect in comparison with PB suspensions and PB-NLCs. Therefore, G5-PEG incorporating NLC can be exploited as a promising drug delivery system to improve oral bioavailability and lipid-lowering effect of PB.