A Novel Technique for Reduction and Fixation of Severe Extracapsular Condylar Fracture.

Introducing a novel surgical technique that uses 2 screws and 3 titanium plates to reduce and fix an extracapsular condylar fracture. This technique has been used on 18 sides of extracapsular condylar fracture over the last 3 years in the Department of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Science of Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital without severe complications in clinical practice. Applying this technique, the dislocated condylar segment can be reduced accurately and fixed efficiently.

Two-dimensional nanovermiculite and polycaprolactone electrospun fibers composite scaffolds promoting diabetic wound healing.

BACKGROUND: Promoting diabetic wound healing is still a challenge, and angiogenesis is believed to be essential for diabetic wound healing. Vermiculite is a natural clay material that is very easy to obtain and exhibits excellent properties of releasing bioactive ions, buffering pH, adsorption, and heat insulation. However, there are still many unsolved difficulties in obtaining two-dimensional vermiculite and using it in the biomedical field in a suitable form. RESULTS: In this study, we present a versatile organic-inorganic composite scaffold, which was constructed by embedding two-dimensional vermiculite nanosheets in polycaprolactone electrospun fibers, for enhancing angiogenesis through activation of the HIF-1α signaling pathway and promoting diabetic wound healing both in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: Together, the rational-designed polycaprolactone electrospun fibers-based composite scaffolds integrated with two-dimensional vermiculite nanosheets could significantly improve neo-vascularization, re-epithelialization, and collagen formation in the diabetic wound bed, thus promoting diabetic wound healing. This study provides a new strategy for constructing bioactive materials for highly efficient diabetic wound healing.

The many postures of noncanonical Wnt signaling in development and diseases.

Wnt signaling regulates many aspects of vertebrate development. Its dysregulation causes developmental defects and diseases including cancer. The signaling can be categorized in two pathways: canonical and noncanonical. Canonical pathway plays a key role in regulating proliferation and differentiation of cells whilst noncanonical Wnt signaling mainly controls cellular polarity and motility. During development, noncanonical Wnt signaling is required for tissue formation. Recent studies have shown that noncanonical Wnt signaling is involved in adult tissue development and cancer progression. In this review, we try to describe and discuss the mechanisms behind the biological effects of noncanonical Wnt signaling, diseases caused by its dysregulation, and implications in adult tissue development biology.

Development course and an application strategy for induced pluripotent stem cells in regenerative medicine.

In 2006, Takahashi and Yamanaka first established induced pluripotent stem cells (iPScs). Since then, numerous improvements have been made in the fields of stem cell research, drug research, modelling of diseases, and the treatment of degenerative diseases. Recently, there has been increasing research involving small molecules for evaluating the efficiency of iPSc generation and reducing the risks of heredity as well as oncogenous problems. However, the molecular mechanisms of iPScs remain to be further explored, to meet the demands of practical applications. With a better understanding of degenerative diseases, more complex treatment strategies for novel regenerative medicine are anticipated, and iPSc technology offers an available pathway. This review focuses on the development and application of iPScs.

Pharmacokinetics and applications of magnetic nanoparticles.

Nanomaterials possess enormous potential for biomedical applications, while some of the most promising nanomaterials currently under investigation demonstrate prolonged tissue retention and contain heavy metals. This article investigates the pharmacokinetics of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to help identify promising candidates with optimal pharmacokinetics and clearance from the body for biomedical use and synthesize nanomaterials ideal for biomedical use. The term 'magnetic nanoparticles' (MNPs) refers to nanoparticles with ferromagnetism. Such nanoparticles have special characteristics, and many in the field of biological field have undertaken research involving, e.g., immobilized enzymes and proteins, biological cells, macromolecular separation, drug carriers, and targeted, immune, biological sensors.

A preliminary study on the key factors contributing to the attractive lips of Chinese children.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the aesthetic characteristics of the Chinese children lips. METHODS: Frontal and profile photographs of 653 healthy children were categorized as the attractive and the unattractive by three laypersons and objectively measured for comparison. RESULTS: The attractive group tended to be smaller in the upper paramedian red lip height, the lower paramedian red lip height, the midline upper red lip height, the central bow angle, and the lip angle, while greater in the Cupid's bow width. CONCLUSIONS: Thinner lips seemed to be more attractive than full ones among Chinese children.

Toxicity of biodegradable nanoscale preparations.

Nowadays, biodegradable nanoscale preparations such as liposomes, micelles, nanoparticles (NPs), and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) have attracted increasing attention from major researchers. Meanwhile the biosafety of the nanomaterials brings more and more attention. Toxicity of the biodegradable nanoscale preparations varies depending on their particle size, shape, surface structure, etc. This article aims to review the toxicity of the above-mentioned nanoscale preparations and the relative methodology. It may be significant for successful use of more nanoscale preparations in clinical practice.