Targeted Delivery of Anesthetic Agents to Bone Tissues using Conductive Microneedles Enhanced Iontophoresis for Painless Dental Anesthesia

Pain management during dental procedures is a cornerstone for successful daily practice. In current practice, the traditional needle and syringe injection is used to administer local anesthesia. However, the appearance of long needles and the pain associated with it often leads to dental anxiety deterring timely interventions. Microneedles (MNs) have emerged as a minimally invasive alternative to hypodermic needles and shown to be effective in transdermal drug delivery applications. In this article, the potential use of MNs for local anesthesia delivery in dentistry is explored. The development of a novel conductive MN array that can be used in combination with iontophoresis technique to achieve drug penetration through the oral mucosa and the underlying bone tissue is presented. The conductive MN array plays a dual-role, creating micro-conduits and lowering the resistance of the oral mucosa. The reduced tissue resistance further enhances the application of a low-voltage current that is able to direct and accelerate the drug molecules to target the sensory nerves supplying teeth. The successful delivery of lidocaine using this new strategy in a clinically relevant rabbit incisor model is shown to be as effective as the current gold standard.     

Evaluation of physicochemical properties and microbial counts of raw and cooked low-fat patties added with eggplant powder prepared with different drying methods

Effects of different drying methods and different addition levels of eggplant (EP) on product quality of low-fat patties (LFPs) were investigated during storage. EP was dried in an oven dryer at 60 °C or a freeze dryer at −50 °C. LFPs were prepared by replacing with 1.5% soy protein isolate (SPI). Six treatments were used in this study: (1) control (CTL), without addition of EP; (2) reference (REF), 0.1% ascorbic acid; (3) O1, 0.25% oven-dried (OD) EP; (4) O2, 0.5% ODEP; (5) F1, 0.25% freeze-dried (FD) EP; and (6) F2, 0.5% FDEP. Redness (a*) and lightness (L*) values in LFPs added with EP were lower than those of others (p < 0.05) and decreased with increasing storage time. Yellowness (b*) values of cooked patties were increased during storage time (p < 0.05), with control having the highest value. The addition of EP or ascorbic acid into LFPs lowered microbial counts than control (p < 0.05). Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) was increased during storage, with REF having the lowest value, and patties added with EP had lower TBARS values than control during storage. Volatile basic nitrogen (VBN, mg%) contents of all patties also increased during storage time with O2 and F2 having lower values than control. Therefore, EP might have potential as a natural antioxidant in meat products during storage.     

Using a hybrid two‐stage DEA model to analyze the profitability and marketability of medical manufacturing firms

The purpose of this study is to develop a modification of the model developed by Chen and Zhu in 2004. Calculating stage and overall efficiencies precisely and consistently has become a major challenge of the two‐stage DEA model. However, most other models do not calculate the optimality of intermediates. Although the model developed by Chen and Zhu measures the optimality of intermediates, the calculated efficiency scores still have some shortfalls. The modified model, named the hybrid two‐stage DEA model, fills the gap between calculating the optimality of intermediates and the consistency of overall efficiency scores. In addition to obtaining an accurate measurement for the optimality of intermediates, the model confines efficiency scores to a range from zero to one (a ratio efficiency score). In an empirical evaluation, we use data from 64 medical manufacturing firms to test the performance of the hybrid model and offer recommendations for the industry.     

Evaluation of red bean protein [Vigna angularis] isolate on rheological properties of pork myofibrillar protein gels induced by microbial transglutaminase

The effects of 1% red bean protein isolate (RBPI) on the gel properties of myofibrillar protein (MP) in various levels of microbial transglutaminase (MTG: 0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, & 1%) were evaluated. The cooking yield (CY) of the MP gels decreased with increasing MTG level, while the addition of RBPI improved the CY of the MP gels. Gel strength (GS) was also improved when RBPI was incorporated into the MP gels containing higher than 0.5% of MTG. The addition of MTG and RBPI was slightly changed the endothermic peak temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the three‐dimensional structure of MP with RBPI alone or in combined with MTG was compacted as compared to the control. Based on the results, RBPI could be functioned as a substrate for MTG (0.5–1.0%) and a water binder of meat protein gel mediated by MTG.     

Development and application of a real-time water environment cyberinfrastructure for kayaker safety in the Apostle Islands,Lake Superior

Assessing all pertinent environmental variables to categorize a skill level to safely navigate the water environment can be difficult for inexperienced kayakers, especially at a remote site where internet access is limited. A real-time kayaker safety assessment of water environmental conditions at the Mainland Sea Caves of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Lake Superior is achieved. We present a new cyberinfrastructure that provides kayakers with real-time data access and a Safety Index (SI) with consideration of multiple environmental factors to characterize the degree of navigational difficulty for classifying kayaker skill levels. Specifically, radar reflectivity is added to improve forecasts of dangerous conditions caused by convective storms using state-of-the-art weather and wave modeling. Spectral characteristics of surface waves are employed to correlate the occurrences of extreme and freak waves. In addition, unexpectedly dangerous conditions like coastal upwelling and freak wave occurrence due to changing wind directions are considered. A contingency plan is implemented to handle the issue of possibly missing required environmental data. Display of the SI and visualization of other real-time environmental data are communicated by a power-efficient kiosk. Web analytics demonstrates a public interest in real-time water conditions and the need for the on-site kiosk to provide the latest information before kayakers enter the water. The new real-time water environment cyberinfrastructure for kayaker safety in the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior has been successfully operated since 2014.     

A coupled and interactive influence of operational parameters for optimizing power output of cleaner energy production systems under uncertain conditions

The mechanisms in proton‐exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) cannot be explicitly represented by a mathematical function because the PEMFC system is multi‐dimensional and complex and represents uncertainty in operation variables, which cannot be modeled by experiments or by trial‐and‐error approach. Therefore, this work proposes to study the coupled and interactive influence of stack current (SC), stack temperature (ST), oxygen excess ratio (OER), hydrogen excess ratio (HER), and inlet air humidity (IAH) for optimizing the power output of PEMFC. The data obtained from the experiments have been inserted into architecture of automated neural‐network search, which automates the selection of error function, activation function, uncertainties in inputs and number of hidden neurons in formulation of a robust and accurate model for power density as a function of five operational variables. Among the operational variables, the correlation coefficient between the SC and the output power is the highest, followed by OER, and the ST. However, for HER and IAH, the power output follows negative nonlinear relation. The optimization converged at 130^th iteration results in maximum power output of 3410 W for an optimum value of SC (51A), ST (59°C), OER (3:2), HER (1:10), and IAH (0.8).     

Defect Engineering in Ambipolar Layered Materials for Mode-Regulable Nociceptor

Defect engineering represents a significant approach for atomically thick 2D semiconductor material development to explore the unique material properties and functions. Doping-induced conversion of conductive polarity is particularly beneficial for optimizing the integration of layered electronics. Here, controllable doping behavior in palladium diselenide (PdSe₂) transistor is demonstrated by manipulating its adatom-vacancy groups. The underlying mechanisms, which originate from reversible adsorption/desorption of oxygen clusters near selenide vacancy defects, are investigated systematically via their dynamic charge transfer characteristics and scanning tunneling microscope analysis. The modulated doping effect allows the PdSe₂ transistor to emulate the essential characteristics of photo nociceptor on a device level, including firing signal threshold and sensitization. Interestingly, electrostatic gating, acting as a neuromodulator, can regulate the adaptive modes in nociceptor to improve its adaptability and perceptibility to handle different danger levels. An integrated artificial nociceptor array is also designed to execute unique image processing functions, which suggests a new perspective for extension of the promise of defect engineered 2D electronics in simplified sensory systems toward use in advanced humanoid robots and artificial visual sensors.     

Maximizing the Retention of Ganoderic Acids and Water-Soluble Polysaccharides Content of Ganoderma lucidum Using Two-Stage Dehydration Method

Ganoderic acids and water-soluble polysaccharides are the main bioactive ingredients of Ganoderma lucidum and are heat sensitive. Hence, it is crucial to apply a suitable drying method for the drying of G. lucidum to minimize the loss of these bioactive ingredients. In this study, a two-stage drying method was applied to enhance the drying kinetics, as well as the retention of both ganoderic acids and water-soluble polysaccharides in dried G. lucidum fruiting bodies and slices compared to other single-stage-dried products. The results showed that two-stage drying enhanced the overall drying rate, which consequently shortened the total drying time up to 61 and 330% for fruiting bodies and slices, respectively, compared to single-stage drying methods. Furthermore, two-stage drying of Ganoderma fruiting bodies, which involves 18-h vacuum drying followed by 5-h heat pump drying, maximized the retention of ganoderic acids and water-soluble polysaccharides, with the retention of 97.90% of water-soluble polysaccharides and 4.2% more ganoderic acids than freeze-dried products. On the other hand, drying of Ganoderma slices within the shortest total drying time, which is 10-min heat pump drying followed by 50-min oven drying, also retained most of the ganoderic acids and water-soluble polysaccharides in the dried products; that is, about 80% of water-soluble polysaccharides and 11% more ganoderic acids than freeze-dried slices.     

Physical study of room‐temperature‐cured epoxy/thermally reduced graphene oxides with various contents of oxygen‐containing groups

In this study, the effects of different oxygen‐containing group contents in thermally reduced graphene oxides (TRGs) for enhancing the physical properties of epoxy nancomposites was examined. The epoxy/TRG nanocomposites (ETNs) were prepared by a room temperature curing method in the presence of TRGs containing different oxygen‐containing groups and were then characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. TRG contents with higher oxygen‐containing group contents (ca 33%) were found to show better dispersion capability in the epoxy matrix than TRGs with lower oxygen‐containing group contents (ca 11%) based on morphological observations by transmission electron microscopy. The better dispersion capability of TRGs with higher oxygen‐containing group contents in ETN membranes was found to lead to significantly enhanced mechanical strength, thermal stability and thermal conductivity based on measurements of dynamic mechanical analysis, tensile tests, thermogravimetric analysis and by the transient plane source technique. © 2014 The Authors. Polymer International published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry