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Journal of Pharmacy & Bioallied Sciences Apr 2024Bioactivity refers to the ability of a material to interact with living organisms or biological systems in a way that elicits a specific response. In the context of...
BACKGROUND
Bioactivity refers to the ability of a material to interact with living organisms or biological systems in a way that elicits a specific response. In the context of materials science and medicine, bioactivity is particularly important because it can determine the suitability of material for various applications.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate and compare different commercially available calcium silicate-based materials regarding: 1. Morphological and elemental analysis at the dentin/material interface. 2. Calcium and silicon release and uptake by adjacent root canal dentine by evaluating the calcium and silicon incorporation depth in adjacent root canal dentin.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study examined four calcium silicate-based cements: Biodentine, MTA Angelus, BioAggregate, and MTA Plus. One hundred extracted human teeth with intact apices and no cavities were selected. Root sections measuring 3 mm in length were created at the mid-root level using low-speed diamond discs. Bioactivity was evaluated at 1, 7, 30, and 90 days, respectively.
RESULTS
The principal composition of the interfacial dentine layer and incorporation of calcium and silicon into dentine was measured at 1, 7, 30, and 90 days. Statistical analysis was performed by multiple comparisons using Tukey HSD.
CONCLUSION
All the materials have shown bioactivity, i.e. release of calcium, silicon, and their uptake in the adjacent dentin in the presence of phosphate-buffered saline.
PubMed: 38882788
DOI: 10.4103/jpbs.jpbs_959_23 -
Heliyon Jun 2024Drought stress has a significant impact on the quality and quantity of lake water. Understanding this impact is crucial for preventing water security risks and pollution...
Drought stress has a significant impact on the quality and quantity of lake water. Understanding this impact is crucial for preventing water security risks and pollution recovery. However, there is a lack of systemic understanding of how drought affects water quality and quantity, and how they change in multiple dimensions. This manuscript established a synthesized methodology with the principles to judge the applicability and three steps of application to detect the change in water quality and water level under severe drought in Xingyun Lake, China. Results show that (1) The water level and water quality of Xingyun Lake have a synchronous and evident response to drought during 2009-2014. The rainfall during 2008-2015 declined by 22.9 % to normal, and the inundated area and lake water depth in 2012 decreased by 10.50 % from 2002 to 1.38 m to the average depth, respectively. The pollution index climbed above 1.21 after 2008, fluctuating around 1.42. (2) Under drought, the water quality indicators significantly changed in the terms of the overall feature, trend, eigenvalue, and morphological characteristics. The water quality indicators of Set are significantly different from set and not in the groups of set. The morphological characteristics of water quality indicators in set differs significantly from that in set shown by the minimum, maximum, median, quartiles, and extreme values. (3) Although NH-N showed no significant change, the water quality deteriorated in the physical, chemical, and biological aspects. The TP, I, and BOD changed more evidently than DO and NH-N. (4) Water quality grade and indicator concentration deteriorated significantly and sharply under severe drought and are threatened deeply by TP and TN. The synthesized methodology is scientifically constructed and canbe employed in the characteristics cognition of water quality and water level to severe drought in and out of this research. And the intervention time and various regulating measures for pollution degradation and water quality recovery canbe constructed based on the multi-dimensional analysis of water quality change under drought evolution.
PubMed: 38882358
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32213 -
Heliyon Jun 2024Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) composites were prepared in filament form compatible with the material extrusion (MEX) 3D printing method, using biochar as a...
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) composites were prepared in filament form compatible with the material extrusion (MEX) 3D printing method, using biochar as a filler at various loadings of up to 10.0 wt %. Samples were fabricated to experimentally investigate their mechanical performance. The ABS/biochar composites were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, Raman spectroscopy, and rheological tests. The electrical properties of the composites were investigated using broadband dielectric spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy was utilized to analyze the morphological features of the fabricated specimens by examining their side and fracture surfaces. The results indicate that the composite with 4.0 wt % biochar content compared to pure ABS showed the highest mechanical response between the prepared composites (24.9 % and 21 % higher than the pure ABS tensile and flexural strength respectively). The composites retained their insulating behavior. These findings contribute to expanding the utilization of the material extrusion (MEX) 3D printing method while also unlocking prospects for potential applications in microelectronics, apart from mechanical reinforcement.
PubMed: 38882316
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32094 -
ACS Omega Jun 2024Unlike the most used, this study explores the effects of direct and indirect sonication methods on the dispersion and gas sensing performance of MoS nanoflakes. The...
Unlike the most used, this study explores the effects of direct and indirect sonication methods on the dispersion and gas sensing performance of MoS nanoflakes. The obtained dispersions are characterized using various techniques, such as field emission scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and Raman and X-ray diffraction, to evaluate their morphological and structural properties. Gas sensing measurements are conducted using exfoliated MoS on interdigitated electrode structures, and the response to multiple gases is recorded. The sensitivity and selectivity of the sensors are analyzed and compared between the direct and indirect sonication methods. The results demonstrate that both direct and indirect methods lead to the formation of well-dispersed MoS multilayer nanosheets, whereas the indirect approach exhibits a uniform and bigger flake size. Gas sensing experiments reveal that the MoS nanoflakes prepared via indirect sonication have enhanced sensitivity by 17 and 46% toward NO and NH gases, respectively, compared to the ones achieved by the direct sonication method. Both methods demonstrated its selectivity for NO and NH and the preferential temperature to detect NO and NH gas are 50 and 100 °C, respectively. This research contributes to the development of eco-friendly MoS-based gas sensors by providing insights into the influence of direct (probe) and indirect (bath) sonication methods on dispersion quality and gas sensing performance. The findings highlight the potential of indirect sonication as a reliable technique for fabricating high-performance MoS gas sensors, opening venues for the design and optimization of eco-friendly sensing platforms for environmental monitoring and industrial applications.
PubMed: 38882072
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.4c03166 -
Frontiers in Immunology 2024The germinal center response or reaction (GCR) is a hallmark event of adaptive humoral immunity. Unfolding in the B cell follicles of the secondary lymphoid organs, a GC...
The germinal center response or reaction (GCR) is a hallmark event of adaptive humoral immunity. Unfolding in the B cell follicles of the secondary lymphoid organs, a GC culminates in the production of high-affinity antibody-secreting plasma cells along with memory B cells. By interacting with follicular dendritic cells (FDC) and T follicular helper (Tfh) cells, GC B cells exhibit complex spatiotemporal dynamics. Driving the B cell dynamics are the intracellular signal transduction and gene regulatory network that responds to cell surface signaling molecules, cytokines, and chemokines. As our knowledge of the GC continues to expand in depth and in scope, mathematical modeling has become an important tool to help disentangle the intricacy of the GCR and inform novel mechanistic and clinical insights. While the GC has been modeled at different granularities, a multiscale spatial simulation framework - integrating molecular, cellular, and tissue-level responses - is still rare. Here, we report our recent progress toward this end with a hybrid stochastic GC framework developed on the Cellular Potts Model-based CompuCell3D platform. Tellurium is used to simulate the B cell intracellular molecular network comprising NF-κB, FOXO1, MYC, AP4, CXCR4, and BLIMP1 that responds to B cell receptor (BCR) and CD40-mediated signaling. The molecular outputs of the network drive the spatiotemporal behaviors of B cells, including cyclic migration between the dark zone (DZ) and light zone (LZ) via chemotaxis; clonal proliferative bursts, somatic hypermutation, and DNA damage-induced apoptosis in the DZ; and positive selection, apoptosis via a death timer, and emergence of plasma cells in the LZ. Our simulations are able to recapitulate key molecular, cellular, and morphological GC events, including B cell population growth, affinity maturation, and clonal dominance. This novel modeling framework provides an open-source, customizable, and multiscale virtual GC simulation platform that enables qualitative and quantitative investigations of a range of mechanistic and applied research questions on the adaptive humoral immune response in the future.
Topics: Germinal Center; Humans; B-Lymphocytes; Signal Transduction; Animals; Models, Immunological; Immunity, Humoral; Computer Simulation
PubMed: 38881901
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1377303 -
Ophthalmology Science 2024Putative microglia were recently detected using adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy in healthy eyes. Here we evaluate the use of nonconfocal adaptive optics scanning light...
PURPOSE
Putative microglia were recently detected using adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy in healthy eyes. Here we evaluate the use of nonconfocal adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) for quantifying the morphology and motility of presumed microglia and other immune cells in eyes with retinal inflammation from uveitis and healthy eyes.
DESIGN
Observational exploratory study.
PARTICIPANTS
Twelve participants were imaged, including 8 healthy participants and 4 posterior uveitis patients recruited from the clinic of 1 of the authors (M.H.E.).
METHODS
The Pittsburgh AOSLO imaging system was used with a custom-designed 7-fiber optical fiber bundle for simultaneous confocal and nonconfocal multioffset detection. The inner retina was imaged at several locations at multiple timepoints in healthy participants and uveitis patients to generate time-lapse images.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Microglia and macrophages were manually segmented from nonconfocal AOSLO images, and their morphological characteristics quantified (including soma size, diameter, and circularity). Cell soma motion was quantified across time for periods of up to 30 minutes and their speeds were calculated by measuring their displacement over time.
RESULTS
A spectrum of cell morphologies was detected in healthy eyes from circular amoeboid cells to elongated cells with visible processes, resembling activated and ramified microglia, respectively. Average soma diameter was 16.1 ± 0.9 μm. Cell movement was slow in healthy eyes (0.02 μm/sec on average), but macrophage-like cells moved rapidly in some uveitis patients (up to 3 μm/sec). In an eye with infectious uveitis, many macrophage-like cells were detected; during treatment their quantity and motility decreased as vision improved.
CONCLUSIONS
In vivo adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy offers promise as a potentially powerful tool for detecting and monitoring inflammation and response to treatment at a cellular level in the living eye.
FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES
Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.
PubMed: 38881602
DOI: 10.1016/j.xops.2024.100475 -
Cell Death Discovery Jun 2024As the mean age of first-time mothers increases in the industrialized world, inquiries into causes of human reproductive senescence have followed. Rates of ovulatory...
As the mean age of first-time mothers increases in the industrialized world, inquiries into causes of human reproductive senescence have followed. Rates of ovulatory dysfunction and oocyte aneuploidy parallel chronological age, but poor reproductive outcomes in women older than 35 years are also attributed to endometrial senescence. The current studies, using primary human endometrial stromal cell (ESC) cultures as an in vitro model for endometrial aging, characterize the proinflammatory cytokine, IL-1β-mediated and passage number-dependent effects on ESC phenotype. ESC senescence was accelerated by incubation with IL-1β, which was monitored by RNA sequencing, ELISA, immunocytochemistry and Western blotting. Senescence associated secreted phenotype (SASP) proteins, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, MMP3, CCL2, CCL5, and other senescence-associated biomarkers of DNA damage (p16, p21, HMGB1, phospho-γ-histone 2 A.X) were noted to increase directly in response to 0.1 nM IL-1β stimulation. Production of the corresponding SASP proteins increased further following extended cell passage. Using enzyme inhibitors and siRNA interference, these effects of IL-1β were found to be mediated via the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway. Hormone-induced ESC decidualization, classical morphological and biochemical endocrine responses to estradiol, progesterone and cAMP stimulation (prolactin, IGFBP-1, IL-11 and VEGF), were attenuated pari passu with prolonged ESC passaging. The kinetics of differentiation responses varied in a biomarker-specific manner, with IGFBP-1 and VEGF secretion showing the largest and smallest reductions, with respect to cell passage number. ESC hormone responsiveness was most robust when limited to the first six cell passages. Hence, investigation of ESC cultures as a decidualization model should respect this limitation of cell aging. The results support the hypotheses that "inflammaging" contributes to endometrial senescence, disruption of decidualization and impairment of fecundity. IL-1β and the JNK signaling pathway are pathogenetic targets amenable to pharmacological correction or mitigation with the potential to reduce endometrial stromal senescence and enhance uterine receptivity.
PubMed: 38879630
DOI: 10.1038/s41420-024-02048-6 -
Nature Communications Jun 2024Intron retention (IR) is the most common alternative splicing event in Arabidopsis. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated the major role of IR in gene...
Intron retention (IR) is the most common alternative splicing event in Arabidopsis. An increasing number of studies have demonstrated the major role of IR in gene expression regulation. The impacts of IR on plant growth and development and response to environments remain underexplored. Here, we found that IR functions directly in gene expression regulation on a genome-wide scale through the detainment of intron-retained transcripts (IRTs) in the nucleus. Nuclear-retained IRTs can be kept away from translation through this mechanism. COP1-dependent light modulation of the IRTs of light signaling genes, such as PIF4, RVE1, and ABA3, contribute to seedling morphological development in response to changing light conditions. Furthermore, light-induced IR changes are under the control of the spliceosome, and in part through COP1-dependent ubiquitination and degradation of DCS1, a plant-specific spliceosomal component. Our data suggest that light regulates the activity of the spliceosome and the consequent IRT nucleus detainment to modulate photomorphogenesis through COP1.
Topics: Arabidopsis Proteins; Arabidopsis; Introns; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Spliceosomes; Light; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; Cell Nucleus; Seedlings; Alternative Splicing; Ubiquitination
PubMed: 38879536
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49571-9 -
Journal of Advanced Research Jun 2024Metabolic inflammation (metaflammation) in obesity is primarily initiated by proinflammatory macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue. SelenoM contributes to the...
INTRODUCTION
Metabolic inflammation (metaflammation) in obesity is primarily initiated by proinflammatory macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue. SelenoM contributes to the modulation of antioxidative stress and inflammation in multiple pathological processes; however, its roles in metaflammation and the proinflammatory macrophage (M1)-like state in adipose tissue have not been determined.
OBJECTIVES
We hypothesize that SelenoM could effectively regulate metaflammation via the Hippo-YAP/TAZ-ROS signaling axis in obesity derived from a high-fat diet.
METHODS
Morphological changes in adipose tissue were examined by hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining and fluorescence microscopy. The glucose tolerance test (GTT) and insulin tolerance test (ITT) were used to evaluate the impact of SelenoM deficiency on blood glucose levels. RNA-Seq analysis, LC-MS analysis, Mass spectrometry analysis and western blotting were performed to detect the levels of genes and proteins related to glycolipid metabolism in adipose tissue.
RESULTS
Herein, we evaluated the inflammatory features and metabolic microenvironment of mice with SelenoM-deficient adipose tissues by multi-omics analyses. The deletion of SelenoM resulted in glycolipid metabolic disturbances and insulin resistance, thereby accelerating weight gain, adiposity, and hyperglycemia. Mice lacking SelenoM in white adipocytes developed severe adipocyte hypertrophy via impaired lipolysis. SelenoM deficiency aggravated the generation of ROS by reducing equivalents (NADPH and glutathione) in adipocytes, thereby promoting inflammatory cytokine production and the M1-proinflammatory reaction, which was related to a change in nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) levels in macrophages. Mechanistically, SelenoM deficiency promoted metaflammation via Hippo-YAP/TAZ-ROS-mediated transcriptional regulation by targeting large tumor suppressor 2 (LATS2). Moreover, supplementation with N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) to reduce excessive oxidative stress partially rescued adipocyte inflammatory responses and macrophage M1 activation.
CONCLUSION
Our data indicate that SelenoM ameliorates metaflammation mainly via the Hippo-YAP/TAZ-ROS signaling axis in obesity. The identification of SelenoM as a key regulator of metaflammation presents opportunities for the development of novel therapeutic interventions targeting adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity.
PubMed: 38879122
DOI: 10.1016/j.jare.2024.06.005 -
Cancer Letters Jun 2024Platelets are small circulating anucleated cells mainly involved in thrombosis and hemostasis processes. Moreover, platelets play an active role in tumorigenesis and... (Review)
Review
Platelets are small circulating anucleated cells mainly involved in thrombosis and hemostasis processes. Moreover, platelets play an active role in tumorigenesis and cancer progression, stimulating angiogenesis and vascular remodelling, and protecting circulating cancer cells from shear forces and immune surveillance. Several reports indicate that platelet number in the blood circulation of cancer patients is associated with prognosis and response to treatment. However, the mechanisms of platelets "education" by cancer cells and the crosstalk between platelets and tumor are still unclear, and the role of "tumor educated platelets" (TEPs) is achieving growing interest in cancer research. TEPs are a biological source of cancer-derived biomarkers, especially RNAs that are protected by platelets membrane from circulating RNases, and could serve as a non-invasive tool for tumor detection, molecular profiling and evolution during therapy in clinical practice. Moreover, short platelet lifespan offers the possibility to get a snapshot assessment of cancer molecular profile, providing a real-time tool. We review and discuss the potential and the clinical utility, in terms of cancer diagnosis and monitoring, of platelet count together with other morphological parameters and of the more recent and innovative TEP profiling.
PubMed: 38876385
DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2024.217044