Bending Fracture of Different Zirconia-Based Bioceramics for Dental Applications: A Comparative Study

The fabrication of fixed dental prostheses using aesthetic materials has become routine in today’s dentistry. In the present study, three-unit full zirconia fixed prosthetic restorations obtained by computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology were tested by bending trials. The prostheses were intended to replace the first mandibular left molar and were manufactured from four different types of zirconia bioceramics (KatanaTM Zirconia HTML and KatanaTM Zirconia STML/Kuraray Noritake Dental Inc.; NOVAZir^® Fusion float^® ml/NOVADENT/Dentaltechnik; and 3D PRO Zirconia/Bloomden Bioceramics). In total, sixteen samples were manufactured—four samples per zirconia material. Additionally, the morphology, grain size area distribution, and elemental composition were analyzed in parallelepiped samples made from the selected types of zirconia in three different areas, noted as the upper, middle, and lower areas. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis highlighted that the grain size area varies with respect to the researched area and the type of material. Defects such as microcracks and pores were also noted to a smaller extent. In terms of grain size area, it was observed that most of the particles in all samples were under 0.5 μm², while the chemical composition of the investigated materials did not vary significantly. The results obtained after performing the bending tests showed that a zirconia material with fewer structural defects and an increased percentage of grain size area under 0.5 µm², ranging from ~44% in the upper area to ~74% in the lower area, exhibited enhanced mechanical behavior. Overall, the resulting values of all investigated parameters confirm that the tested materials are suitable for clinical use.     

Nutritional Risk Assessment Scores Effectively Predict Mortality in Critically Ill Patients with Severe COVID-19

Background: Malnutrition predicts a worse outcome for critically ill patients. However, quick, easy-to-use nutritional risk assessment tools have not been adequately validated. Aims and Methods: The study aimed to evaluate the role of four biological nutritional risk assessment instruments (the Prognostic Nutritional Index—PNI, the Controlling Nutritional Status Score—CONUT, the Nutrition Risk in Critically Ill—NUTRIC, and the modified NUTRIC—mNUTRIC), along with CT-derived fat tissue and muscle mass measurements in predicting in-hospital mortality in a consecutive series of 90 patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit for COVID-19-associated ARDS. Results: In-hospital mortality was 46.7% (n = 42/90). Non-survivors had a significantly higher nutritional risk, as expressed by all four scores. All scores were independent predictors of mortality on the multivariate regression models. PNI had the best discriminative capabilities for mortality, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.77 for a cut-off value of 28.05. All scores had an AUC above 0.72. The volume of fat tissue and muscle mass were not associated with increased mortality risk. Conclusions: PNI, CONUT, NUTRIC, and mNUTRIC are valuable nutritional risk assessment tools that can accurately predict mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19-associated ARDS.     

Composite Materials Based on Gelatin and Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for MRI Accuracy

The majority of recent studies have focused on obtaining MRI materials for internal use. However, this study focuses on a straightforward method for preparing gelatin-based materials with iron oxide nanoparticles (G–Fe₂O₃ and G–Fe₃O₄) for external use. The newly obtained materials must be precisely tuned to match the requirements and usage situation because they will be in close touch with human/animal skin. The biocompatible structures formed by gelatin, tannic acid, and iron oxide nanoparticles were investigated by using FTIR spectroscopy, SEM-EDAX analysis, and contact angle methods. The physico-chemical properties were obtained by using mechanical investigations, dynamic vapor sorption analysis, and bulk magnetic determination. The size and shape of iron oxide nanoparticles dictates the magnetic behavior of the gelatin-based samples. The magnetization curves revealed a typical S-shaped superparamagnetic behavior which is evidence of improved MRI image accuracy. In addition, the MTT assay was used to demonstrate the non-toxicity of the samples, and the antibacterial test confirmed satisfactory findings for all G-based materials.     

Intravenous 5-fluoro-2′-deoxycytidine administered with tetrahydrouridine increases the proportion of p16-expressing circulating tumor cells in patients with advanced solid tumors

Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology - Following promising responses to the DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) inhibitor 5-fluoro-2′-deoxycytidine (FdCyd) combined with tetrahydrouridine (THU) in...     

Extraction of insoluble fibrous collagen for characterization and crosslinking with phenolic compounds from pomegranate byproducts for leather tanning applications

An environmental approach for leather manufacturing is primordial to provide a global strategy towards more sustainable biomaterials and greener tanning processing methods. The ability of collagen as a principal component of skin to combine natural phenolic compounds, especially vegetable tannins, has been proven to be eco-friendly and manageable, while making good improvement to leather properties in the tanning process. In this study, we have used pomegranate phenolic compounds and insoluble collagen as a model system to examine the effects of tanning steps on the conformation of collagen. In detail, efficient modified extraction of pure insoluble collagen (IC) was presented. The IC was successfully identified using XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDS and TGA-DSC to verify the triple helix structure, morphology and thermal properties. As a result, the as-extracted collagen exhibits a high purity, preserving the triple helix collagen structure. Besides, the IC was modified using extracted pomegranate phenolic compounds, resulting in Crosslinked Insoluble Collagen (CIC). Characterization techniques were also performed to confirm the crosslinking process. Indeed, by comparing the FTIR vibrational spectra of IC and CIC, slight shifts of amide groups were observed, indicating the presence of inter and intramolecular interaction between IC functional groups and pomegranate phenolic compounds. Moreover, the morphology of CIC was changed. XRD analysis confirms collagen conformational integrity. Finally, thermal properties were improved. The temperature at 50% weight loss (T°₅₀) increases from 344.54 °C to 375.53 °C. CIC multifunctionality allowed utilizing pomegranate phenolic compound extracts as a tanning agent in leather processing.

Green strategy for collagen and polyphenolic compound extraction. Fruitful combination of collagen-polyphenols via crosslinking with high compatibility.     

Family history influences age of onset in bipolar I disorder in females but not in males.

Age of onset (AO) has been proposed as a promising criterion by which to select homogeneous subgroups for the genetic analysis of bipolar disorder. This is the first study to investigate the effect of the interaction between gender and family history (FH)-type on AO in bipolar disorder. In accordance with the literature, no difference in AO was observed between females and males in our sample of 264 Romanian bipolar I probands. Cox regression, however, showed a strong influence of FH-type on AO (P = 0.006). This was due to a significant variation in AO according to the type of FH in females (P = 0.002) but not in males (P = 0.64). Female bipolar disorder patients with a negative FH (FH(-)) had a later AO than females with either a FH of bipolar and/or schizoaffective disorder (P = 0.001) or a FH of recurrent unipolar major depression only (P = 0.04). Females with FH(-) had a later AO than males with FH(-) (P = 0.03). No sex difference was observed for AO in the group with a FH of recurrent unipolar depression. In the group with a FH of bipolar and/or schizoaffective disorder, females had an earlier AO than males (P = 0.01). A trend for support was observed in an independent sample of 217 German bipolar I patients for an influence of FH-type on AO in females (P = 0.09) but not in males (P = 0.15). Female bipolar disorder patients with FH(-) had a later AO than females with either a FH of bipolar and/or schizoaffective disorder (P = 0.04) or a FH of recurrent unipolar major depression only (P = 0.05). Females with FH(-) had a later AO than males with FH(-) (P = 0.05). Other comparisons were statistically not significant, which may be due to limited sample size. Our findings emphasize that the interaction between gender and FH-type is a source of heterogeneity for AO in bipolar disorder.     

Oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy and colo-rectal cancer patient’s quality of life: Practical lessons from a prospective cross-sectional,real-world study

BACKGROUNDColon cancer is one the most common forms of cancer in both sexes. Due to important progress in the field of early detection and effective treatment, colon and rectal cancer survivors currently account for 10% of cancer survivors worldwide. However, the effects of anti-cancer treatments, especially oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy, on the quality of life (QoL) have been less evaluated. Although the incidence of severe chemotherapy-induced neuropathy (CIPN) in clinical studies is below 20%, data from real-world studies is scarce, and CIPN is probably under-reported due to patient selection and the patients’ fear that reporting side-effects might lead to treatment cessation.AIMTo determine the impact of CIPN on QoL in colorectal cancer patients with a recent history of oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy.METHODSWe performed a prospective cross-sectional study in two major Romanian oncology tertiary hospitals—the Regional Institute of Oncology Iași (Iasi, Romania) and the Fundeni Clinical Oncology Institute (Bucharest, Romania). All consecutive patients with colon or rectal cancer, undergoing Oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy that consented to enroll in the study, were assessed by means of two questionnaires—the EORTC QQ-CR29 (quality of life in colon and rectal cancer patients) and the QLQ-CIPN20 (assessment of neuropathy). Several demographical, social, clinical and treatment data were also collected. Statistical analysis was performed by means of SPSS v20. The student t test was used to assess the relationship between the QLQ-CIPN20 and QLQ-CR29 results. Kaplan Meyer-curves were used to report 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) in patients that discontinued chemotherapy vs those that completed the recommended course.RESULTSOf the 267 patients that fulfilled the inclusion criteria in the pre-specified time frame, 101 (37.8%) agreed to participate in the clinical study. At the time of the enrolment in the study, over 50% of the patients had recently interrupted their oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy, most often due to neuropathy. Almost 85% of the responders reported having tingling or numbness in their fingers or hands, symptoms that were associated with pain in over 20% of the cases. When comparing the scores in the two questionnaires, a statistically significant relationship (P < 0.001) was found between the presence of neuropathic symptoms and a decreased quality of life. This correlation was consistent when the patients were stratified by sex, disease stage, comorbidities and the presence of stoma or treatment type, suggesting that neuropathy in itself may be a reason for a decreased quality of life. At the 3 year final assessment, median recurrence-free survival in stage III patients was 26.88 mo. When stratified by completion of chemotherapy, median recurrence free-survival of stage III patients that completed chemotherapy was 28.27 mo vs 24.33 mo in patients that discontinued chemotherapy due to toxicity, a difference that did not reach statistical significance.CONCLUSIONCIPN significantly impacts QoL in colorectal cancer patients. CIPN is also the most frequent reason for treatment discontinuation. Physicians should actively assess for CIPN in order to prevent chronic neuropathy.     

Surgical treatment in severe acute pancreatitis. Last 15 years of experience in Emergency County Hospital of Baia Mare

The aim of this study is to investigate the particular course of the patients operated for severe acute pancreatitis in a period of 15 years in surgical department of Emergency County Hospital of Baia Mare. Medical records of 202 patients admitted and operated for severe acute pancreatitis, were studied. Follow-up parameters were: age, gender, etiology, moment of operation, the type of operations and postoperative evolution of this patients. In the group of deceased patients alcoholic etiology of pancreatitis was prevailing. Almost a half of patients were operated in the first day of admission. A high number of patients were operated for diagnosis of acute abdomen with intention of exploratory laparotomy. In the last years, besides the usual closed drainage, open drainage and planning drainage were performed. Postoperative mortality is still high. The diagnose of severe acute pancreatitis is difficult in emergency. Global mortality in pancreatitis remains high, especially in the period of enzymatic shock, and is correlated with masculine gender, alcoholic etiology and somewhat with precocity of operation.     

Magnetic and Magnetostrictive Properties of Ni50Mn20Ga27Cu3 Rapidly Quenched Ribbons

The influence of the rapid solidification technique and heat treatment on the martensitic transformation, magnetic properties, thermo- and magnetic induced strain and electrical resistivity is investigated for the Cu doped NiMnGa Heusler-based ferromagnetic shape memory ribbons. The martensitic transformation temperatures are unexpectedly low (below 90 K—which can be attributed to the disordered texture as well as to the uncertainty in the elements substituted by the Cu), preceded by a premartensitic transformation (starting at around 190 K). A thermal treatment slightly increases the transformation as well as the Curie temperatures. Additionally, the thermal treatment promotes a higher magnetization value of the austenite phase and a lower one in the martensite. The shift of the martensitic transformation temperatures induced by the applied magnetic field, quantified from thermo-magnetic and thermo-magnetic induced strain measurements, is measured to have a positive value of about 1 K/T, and is then used to calculate the transformation entropy of the ribbons. The magnetostriction measurements suggest a rotational mechanism in low fields for the thermal treated samples and a saturation tendency at higher magnetic fields, except for the temperatures close to the phase transition temperatures (saturation is not reached at 5 T), where a linear volume magnetostriction cannot be ruled out. Resistivity and magnetoresistance properties have also been measured for all the samples.