Comparative in vitro study on a ultra-high roughness and dense titanium coating

A new implant surface has been developed with the purpose of avoiding as much stress shielding as possible, and thus prolong the prosthesis lifespan. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro effect of this new ultra-high roughness and dense Titanium (Ti) surface (PG60, Ra = 74 microm) in comparison with medium (TI01, Ra = 18 microm) and high (TI60, Ra = 40 microm) roughness and open porous coatings; all the coatings were obtained by vacuum plasma spraying. MG63 osteoblast-like cells were seeded on the tested materials and polystyrene, as control, for 3 and 7 days. Cells proliferated on the material surfaces similarly to the control. Alkaline phosphatase activity had lower values for TI60 than TI01 (p < 0.0005) and PG60 (p < 0.005). Osteocalcin levels measured on TI60 were significantly (p < 0.0005) lower in comparison with TI01 and PG60 at 7 days. Procollagen-I synthesis reduced with increasing roughness and the lowest data was found for PG60. While at 3 days Transforming Growth Factor beta1 levels augmented with increasing roughness, at 7 days TI60, the high roughness surface, was significantly lower than PG60 (p < 0.005) and TI01 (p < 0.001). All tested materials showed significantly higher Interleukin-6 levels than those of polystyrene at both experimental times. Nitric Oxide activity on TI01 was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than on TI60 and polystyrene. In conclusion, the new ultra-high roughness and dense coating PG60 provided a good biological response, even though, at least in vitro, it behaved similarly to the coatings already used in orthopaedics.     

Comparative Disease Assessment: a multi-causal approach for estimating the burden of mortality

Journal of Public Health - The Comparative Risk Assessment (CRA) framework comprehensively evaluates the impact of exposure to risk factors on health populations using the counterfactual causal...     

Alterations in Breast Cancer Biomarkers Following Neoadjuvant Therapy

Annals of Surgical Oncology - Biomarker changes in patients with residual disease (RD) after neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAT) have unclear consequences. This study examined the prevalence of...     

Comparison of multiple oncotype DX® from the same patient

For women with breast cancer in whom multiple Oncotype DX^® Recurrence Scores (RS) are obtained, RS concordance utilizing current NCCN recommendations has not been evaluated. Patients with two or more RS were identified. RS were stratified by NCCN guidelines and compared for concordance. Twenty-four patients were evaluated. RS concordance varied by tumor type: 100% in the same tumor, 91.7% in multiple ipsilateral tumors, 71.4% in contralateral tumors, and 66.7% in in-breast recurrent tumors. RS concordance for multiple assays in the same patient is not high enough to omit Oncotype DX^® testing for each tumor.     

Mental health services and the city: a neighbourhood-level epidemiological study

Journal of Public Health - Neighbourhood composition is considered a social determinant of mental health that can be addressed by policymakers to improve outcomes. Deprived neighbourhoods typically...     

Dolichol-bound oligosaccharides and the transfer of distal monosaccharides in the synthesis of glycoproteins by normal and tumor mammary epithelial cells

Summary The main dolichol diphosphate-bound oligosaccharides present in primary cultures of both normal and tumor mouse mammary epithelial cells had the same size, yielded the same pattern after acetolysis and paper chromatography, had the same number of mannose residues susceptible to-mannosidase degradation, and were composed of the same monosaccharide residues. This is the first demonstration that normal and tumor mammary cells have dolichol diphosphate-bound oligosaccharides with very similar, if not identical, structures. These compounds are intermediates in the synthesis of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides. On the other hand, normal and tumor cells showed differences in the specific activities of the enzymes involved in the transfer of the distal monosaccharides from the sugar nucleotides to glycoproteins. Sialyl- and fucosyl-transferases were elevated and galactosyl- and N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases were diminished in mammary tumor cells. The intact tumor cells showed an increased fucosylation of glycoproteins of the asparagine-linkage type. Address for reprints: Roberto L. Ceriani, M.D., Ph.D., Bruce Lyon Memorial Research Laboratory, Children's Hospital Medical Center, 51st and Grove Streets, Oakland, CA 94609, USA.     

Intraplatelet cyclic guanosine-3',5'-monophosphate levels during pregnancy and preeclampsia.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the intraplatelet cyclic guanosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP) levels during normal pregnancy and preeclampsia. STUDY DESIGN: Pregnant women (n = 15), women with preeclampsia (n = 15), and nonpregnant, normotensive women (n = 15) were included. Intraplatelet cyclic guanosine-3',5'-monophosphate levels were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Intraplatelet cGMP levels were significantly different among all groups (p < 0.02). The values were higher in normal pregnant women (mean 19.8 SD 2.6 fmol/10(5) platelets) in comparison to nonpregnant women (mean 7.6 SD 0.3 fmol/10(5)platelets; p = 0.001) and women with preeclampsia (mean 11.3 SD 1.8 fmol/10(5) platelets; p = 0.05). Plasma nitric oxide levels did not reveal differences between all groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study in a high-risk Andean population demonstrated that intraplatelet cyclic guanosine-3',5'-monophosphate levels are decreased during preeclampsia compared to normal pregnancy, suggesting a lack in action of nitric oxide.