Vitiligo surgery: A journey from tissues via cells to the stems!

Depigmented patches in vitiligo, a common dermatosis, cause a great psychological distress to the patients. Hence, apart from halting the disease process, the strategies to impart normal skin colour to these white patches carry an important role in the management of vitiligo. Surgical procedures are often required for stable vitiligo lesions not responding to medical therapies. It involves “shuffling” of melanocytes from the pigmented skin to the depigmented areas. During the last fifty years, the vitiligo surgery has evolved from tissue transplantation via cellular transplantation to reach a stage where the use of stem cells or immunomodulatory cells is contemplating. We would like to depict this wonderful journey of vitiligo surgery through this viewpoint.     

Improving the Catalytic CO2 Reduction on Cs2AgBiBr6 by Halide Defect Engineering: A DFT Study

Pb-free double halide perovskites have drawn immense attention in the potential photocatalytic application, due to the regulatable bandgap energy and nontoxicity. Herein, we first present a study for CO₂ conversion on Pb-free halide perovskite Cs₂AgBiBr₆ under state-of-the-art first-principles calculation with dispersion correction. Compared with the previous CsPbBr₃, the cell parameter of Cs₂AgBiBr₆ underwent only a small decrease of 3.69%. By investigating the adsorption of CO, CO₂, NO, NO₂, and catalytic reduction of CO₂, we found Cs₂AgBiBr₆ exhibits modest adsorption ability and unsatisfied potential determining step energy of 2.68 eV in catalysis. We adopted defect engineering (Cl doping, I doping and Br-vacancy) to regulate the adsorption and CO₂ reduction behavior. It is found that CO₂ molecule can be chemically and preferably adsorbed on Br-vacancy doped Cs₂AgBiBr₆ with a negative adsorption energy of −1.16 eV. Studying the CO₂ reduction paths on pure and defect modified Cs₂AgBiBr₆, Br-vacancy is proved to play a critical role in decreasing the potential determining step energy to 1.25 eV. Finally, we probe into the electronic properties and demonstrate Br-vacancy will not obviously promote the process of catalysis deactivation, as there is no formation of deep-level electronic states acting as carrier recombination center. Our findings reveal the process of gas adsorption and CO₂ reduction on novel Pb-free Cs₂AgBiBr₆, and propose a potential strategy to improve the efficiency of catalytic CO₂ conversion towards practical implementation.     

Three-dimensional soft tissue prediction in orthognathic surgery: a clinical comparison of Dolphin,ProPlan CMF,and probabilistic finite element modelling

Three-dimensional surgical planning is used widely in orthognathic surgery. Although numerous computer programs exist, the accuracy of soft tissue prediction remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to compare the prediction accuracy of Dolphin, ProPlan CMF, and a probabilistic finite element method (PFEM). Seven patients (mean age 18 years; five female) who had undergone Le Fort I osteotomy with preoperative and 1-year postoperative cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) were included. The three programs were used for soft tissue prediction using planned and postoperative maxillary position, and these were compared to postoperative CBCT. Accurate predictions were obtained with each program, indicated by root mean square distances: RMS_Dolphin = 1.8 ± 0.8 mm, RMS_ProPlan = 1.2 ± 0.4 mm, and RMS_PFEM = 1.3 ± 0.4 mm. Dolphin utilizes a landmark-based algorithm allowing for patient-specific bone-to-soft tissue ratios, which works well for cephalometric radiographs but has limited three-dimensional accuracy, whilst ProPlan and PFEM provide better three-dimensional predictions with continuous displacements. Patient or population-specific material properties can be defined in PFEM, while no soft tissue parameters are adjustable in ProPlan. Important clinical considerations are the topological differences between predictions due to the three algorithms, the non-negligible influence of the mismatch between planned and postoperative maxillary position, and the learning curve associated with sophisticated programs like PFEM.     

围产期PFOS暴露对幼鼠海马BDNF/TrkB/CREB信号通路影响

目的 探讨观察母孕鼠围产期全氟辛烷磺酸盐(perfluorooctane sulphonate,PFOS)暴露对幼鼠海马组织BDNF/TrkB/CREB信号通路关键基因表达的影响。 方法 20只昆明种雌性小鼠随机分为对照组和低、中、高剂量组,从孕鼠怀孕第2 d开始(gestation day2, GD2)到幼鼠出生后21 d(postnatal day21,PND21)分别给予低、中、高剂量组孕鼠PFOS剂量为 0.1、1.0、5.0 mg/(kg·bw)灌胃染毒,对照组给予等体积的0.05% Tween-20水溶液。灌胃量为0.1 ml/10 (g·bw)。PND 21 d处死幼鼠,收集脑组织,分离海马及皮层。HE染色观察脑组织常规病理改变,实时荧光定量PCR(Quantitative Real-time PCR,QPCR)检测海马组织中BDNF、TrkB、CREB、Syn1及Syp的mRNA表达水平。 结果 与对照组相比较,低、中、高三个剂量组对幼鼠的死亡率和体质量的影响差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。但是在高剂量组幼鼠海马组织出现空泡,海马BDNF、TrkB、CREB mRNA水平显著降低,分别由对照组的(0.98±0.11)、(1.03±0.09)、(1.08±0.12)下降到(0.22±0.21)、(0.71±0.14)、(0.37±0.26),并在中、高剂量组引起了幼鼠突触相关蛋白Syn1和Spy的mRNA水平显著降低,分别由对照组的(1.10±0.09)、(0.97±0.08)下降到中剂量的(0.41±0.23)、(0.71±0.17)和高剂量的(0.39±0.19)、(0.63±0.19),差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。 结论 PFOS损伤海马BDNF/TrkB/CREB信号通路可能是PFOS神经发育毒性之一。     

Agminated fibroblastic connective tissue nevus in a 1‐year‐old boy

Fibroblastic connective tissue nevus (FCTN) is a benign cutaneous mesenchymal lesion characterized by proliferation of CD34‐positive fibroblastic/myofibroblastic spindle‐shaped cells. We report a case of agminated FCTN on the right lower abdomen of a 1‐year‐old boy.     

Follow-up on: optimizing lesion detection in small bowel capsule endoscopy and beyond: from present problems to future solutions

Introduction: This review presents noteworthy advances in clinical and experimental Capsule Endoscopy (CE), focusing on the progress that has been reported over the last 5 years since our previous review on the subject.

Areas covered: This study presents the commercially available CE platforms, as well as the advances made in optimizing the diagnostic capabilities of CE. The latter includes recent concept and prototype capsule endoscopes, medical approaches to improve diagnostic yield, and progress in software for enhancing visualization, abnormality detection, and lesion localization.

Expert commentary: Currently, moving through the second decade of CE evolution, there are still several open issues and remarkable challenges to overcome.