Suppression of Bone Necrosis around Tooth Extraction Socket in a MRONJ-like Mouse Model by E-rhBMP-2 Containing Artificial Bone Graft Administration

Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) is related to impaired bone healing conditions in the maxillomandibular bone region as a complication of bisphosphonate intake. Although there are several hypotheses for the onset of MRONJ symptoms, one of the possible causes is the inhibition of bone turnover and blood supply leading to bone necrosis. The optimal treatment strategy for MRONJ has not been established either. BMP-2, a member of the TGF-β superfamily, is well known for regulating bone remodeling and homeostasis prenatally and postnatally. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate whether cyclophosphamide/zoledronate (CY/ZA) induces necrosis of the bone surrounding the tooth extraction socket, and to examine the therapeutic potential of BMP-2 in combination with the hard osteoinductive biomaterial, β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), in the prevention and treatment of alveolar bone loss around the tooth extraction socket in MRONJ-like mice models. First, CY/ZA was intraperitoneally administered for three weeks, and alveolar bone necrosis was evaluated before and after tooth extraction. Next, the effect of BMP-2/β-TCP was investigated in both MRONJ-like prevention and treatment models. In the prevention model, CY/ZA was continuously administered for four weeks after BMP-2/β-TCP transplantation. In the treatment model, CY/ZA administration was suspended after transplantation of BMP-2/β-TCP. The results showed that CY/ZA induced a significant decrease in the number of empty lacunae, a sign of bone necrosis, in the alveolar bone around the tooth extraction socket after tooth extraction. Histological analysis showed a significant decrease in the necrotic alveolar bone around tooth extraction sockets in the BMP-2/β-TCP transplantation group compared to the non-transplanted control group in both MRONJ-like prevention and treatment models. However, bone mineral density, determined by micro-CT analysis, was significantly higher in the BMP-2/β-TCP transplanted group than in the control group in the prevention model only. These results clarified that alveolar bone necrosis around tooth extraction sockets can be induced after surgical intervention under CY/ZA administration. In addition, transplantation of BMP-2/β-TCP reduced the necrotic alveolar bone around the tooth extraction socket. Therefore, a combination of BMP-2/β-TCP could be an alternative approach for both prevention and treatment of MRONJ-like symptoms.     

新型角分辨XPS电子能谱仪

本文介绍了新型角分辨XPS电子能谱的构造、特点,及其应用。     

Biochemical characterisation of a glycogen branching enzyme from Streptococcus mutans: Enzymatic modification of starch

A gene encoding a putative glycogen branching enzyme (SmGBE) in Streptococcus mutans was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. The biochemical properties of the purified enzyme were examined relative to its branching specificity for amylose and starch. The activity of the approximately 75 kDa enzyme was optimal at pH 5.0, and stable up to 40 °C. The enzyme predominantly transferred short maltooligosyl chains with a degree of polymerization (dp) of 6 and 7 throughout the branching process for amylose. When incubated with rice starch, the enzyme modified its optimal branch chain-length from dp 12 to 6 with large reductions in the longer chains, and simultaneously increased its branching points. The results indicate that SmGBE can make a modified starch with much shorter branches and a more branched structure than to native starch. In addition, starch retrogradation due to low temperature storage was significantly retarded along with the enzyme reaction.     

Static and dynamic analysis of functionally graded fluid-infiltrated porous skew and elliptical nanoplates using an isogeometric approach

The analysis of static bending and free and forced vibration responses of functionally graded fluid-infiltrated porous (FGFP) skew and elliptical nanoplates placed on Pasternak’s two-parameter elastic foundation is performed for the first time using isogeometric analysis (IGA) based on the non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBSs) basis function. Three types of porosity distributions affect the mechanical characteristics of materials: symmetric distribution, upper asymmetric distribution, and lower asymmetric distribution. The stress–strain relationship for Biot porous materials was determined using the elastic theory. The general equations of motion of the nanoplates were established using the four-unknown shear deformation plate theory in conjunction with the nonlocal elastic theory and Hamilton’s principle. A computer program that uses IGA to determine the static bending and free and forced vibration of a nanoplate was developed on MATLAB software platform. The accuracy of the computational program was validated via numerical comparison with confidence assertions. This set of programs presents the influence of the following parameters on the static bending and free and forced vibrations of nanoplates: porosity distribution law, porosity coefficient and geometrical parameters, elastic foundation, deviation angle, nonlocal coefficient, different boundary conditions, and Skempton coefficients. The numerical findings demonstrated the uniqueness of the FGFP plate’s behavior when the porosities are saturated with liquid compared with the case without liquid. The findings of this study have significant implications for engineers involved in the design and fabrication of the aforementioned type of structures. Furthermore, this can form the basis for future research on the mechanical responses of the structures.     

The APOA5-rs662799 Polymorphism Is a Determinant of Dyslipidemia in Vietnamese Primary School Children

Apolipoprotein A-V encoded by apolipoprotein 5 (APOA5) gene plays an important role in lipid metabolism, especially in the regulation of plasma triglycerol levels. The study aimed to evaluate the association of the APOA5-rs662799 polymorphism with dyslipidemia in Vietnamese children and the potential modification of obesity-related traits (body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio) on this association. A case–control study was conducted with a total of 154 dyslipidemia cases and 389 controls at the age of 6 to 10 recruited at 31 primary schools in Hanoi city of Vietnam. Genotype for APOA5-rs662799 polymorphism was determined by the restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The association of APOA5-rs662799 polymorphism with dyslipidemia adjusting for age, sex, residence, and obesity-related traits was analyzed by binary logistic regression analysis. The results showed that in comparison with T/T and T/C carriers, the C/C carriers had a higher concentration of serum TAG in cases (p =0.049). Carriers of the C allele (C/C + T/C) had higher risk for developing dyslipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia than subjects with T/T genotype (odds ratio, OR = 1.7, p =0.0062 and OR = 1.6, p = 0.026, respectively). The association remained significant after adjusting for age, gender, residence, and obesity status (OR = 1.75, p = 0.006 and OR = 1.53, p = 0.049, respectively) or other obesity-related traits. The study suggested that the APOA5-rs662799 polymorphism may be a determinant of dyslipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia in Vietnamese children, independent of obesity-related traits.     

Interval functional observers for time-delay systems with additive disturbances

This article considers the design of interval functional observers to estimate a linear function of the state vector of time-delay systems subject to both input and output additive disturbances. Two novel functional observers are proposed and designed such that they bound the set of all admissible values of a linear function of the state vector at each instant of time. By contrast to interval observers currently available in the literature, both observers proposed in this article utilize multiple delayed output measurement and have a more general structure. This trade-off feature overcomes some drawbacks in previous work and enables interval functional observers to be designed for a wider class of time-delay systems. Conditions for the existence of interval functional observers are derived and an effective design algorithm for computing unknown observer matrices is provided. Two illustrative examples are given to show the advantages and effectiveness of our design method.     

Study of the hydrophobic cavity of beta-cryptogein through laser-polarized xenon NMR spectroscopy

The interaction of xenon with beta-cryptogein, a basic 10 kDa protein belonging to the elicitin family, has been studied by using dissolved thermal and laser-polarized gas in liquid-state NMR. 13C and 1H chemical-shift-mapping experiments were unfruitful, the proton lines only experienced a slight narrowing but no significant frequency variation when the xenon concentration was increased. Nevertheless magnetization transfer from hyperpolarized xenon to protons of the protein demonstrates an undoubted interaction and enables localization of the noble-gas-binding site. Due to the proton-proton cross-relaxation efficiency, however, this experiment is subjected to important spin-diffusion. An automatic procedure that takes spin-diffusion into account when assigning the protons that interact with xenon is then used. The binding site, as defined by 30 Xe--H interactions, is situated in the inner core of the protein. The protons that interact with xenon border the channel by which sterols are known to enter into the cavity. These results support the idea that xenon is a good probe for hydrophobic protein regions.     

A novel enzymatic biodegradable route for PLA/EVA blends under agricultural soil of Vietnam

Poly lactic acid (PLA) has attracted a lot of attention in recent years because of its good properties such as high transparency, high tensile strength and excellent biodegradability. However, high modulus and low strain are its shortage, making it unfeasible to be applied as packaging materials. To overcome this limitation, in this study, PLA is mixed with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA). The morphological, thermal and mechanical properties of the enzymatically degraded PLA/EVA blends were fully investigated under agricultural soil of Red River Delta, Vietnam. It was demonstrated that some new strains were responsible for the biodegradation of PLA/EVA. To best of our knowledge, these strains were not reported in the literature up to now.     

Transparent nanocomposites of high refractive index based on epoxy resin and TiO2 nanoparticle

A stepwise sol-gel method for the synthesis of stable colloidal TiO2 using hydrolysis and condensation reactions of titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTP) was investigated. The surface modification was carried out using 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS). The particle size range of the modified TiO2 observed by TEM was 3-8 nm. The nanocomposites based on an epoxy resin and the modified TiO2 showed strong UV absorption, but maintained high transmittance within the visible region. TEM images of the nanocomposites confirmed the homogenous and fine dispersion of the TiO2 nanoparticles in the epoxy resin. The refractive index of the nanocomposites increased linearly with increasing TiO2 content. With 60% TiO2 by weight, the transmittance and refractive index of the nanocomposite were 98.4% and 1.657, respectively.