Molecular Biomarkers in Peri-Implant Health and Disease: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study

Background: The aim of this feasibility study was to investigate the concentration level of CCL-20/MIP-3α, BAFF/BLyS, IL-23, RANKL, and Osteoprotegerin in the Peri-Implant Crevicular Fluid (PICF), from patients diagnosed with peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis, and to compare them with PICF from patients with healthy implants. Methods: Participants with at least one dental implant with healthy peri-implant tissues, peri-implant mucositis, or peri-implantitis were included. PICF was collected using paper strips from healthy and diseased peri-implant sites (n = 19). Biomarker levels were analyzed using a custom Multiplex ELISA Assay Kit. Results: In comparison to peri-implant health, the peri-implant mucositis group showed an increased concentration of CCL-20 MIP-3α, BAFF/BLyS, IL-23, RANKL, and Osteoprotegerin. The peri-implantitis group had the lowest median concentration of Osteoprotegerin (1963 ng/mL); this group had a similar concentration of RANKL (640.84 ng/mL) when compared to the peri-implant health group. BAFF/BLyS (17.06 ng/mL) showed the highest concentration in the peri-implantitis group. Conclusions: This feasibility study suggests that IL-23 and RANKL may help to elucidate the pathogenesis during the conversion from peri-implant health to peri-implantitis. Further research is required in BAFF/BLyS for the early diagnosis of peri-implantitis.     

Social role and patterns of symptomatic behaviors.

In an attempt to develop a more conceptually oriented system of psychiatric classification, the statistical relationships occurring among various symptomatic reactions were studied in 604 patients. The deviant reactions were organized into symptom clusters, and a test of their stability was made in another group of Ss. The 3 symptom clusters which emerged were "avoidance of others… self-indulgence and turning against others… [and] self-deprivation and turning against the self." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Knockdown of the Halloween Genes spook,shadow and shade Influences Oocyte Development,Egg Shape,Oviposition and Hatching in the Desert Locust

Ecdysteroids are widely investigated for their role during the molting cascade in insects; however, they are also involved in the development of the female reproductive system. Ecdysteroids are synthesized from cholesterol, which is further converted via a series of enzymatic steps into the main molting hormone, 20-hydoxyecdysone. Most of these biosynthetic conversion steps involve the activity of cytochrome P450 (CYP) hydroxylases, which are encoded by the Halloween genes. Three of these genes, spook (spo), phantom (phm) and shade (shd), were previously characterized in the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria. Based on recent sequencing data, we have now identified the sequences of disembodied (dib) and shadow (sad), for which we also analyzed spatiotemporal expression profiles using qRT-PCR. Furthermore, we investigated the possible role(s) of five different Halloween genes in the oogenesis process by means of RNA interference mediated knockdown experiments. Our results showed that depleting the expression of SchgrSpo, SchgrSad and SchgrShd had a significant impact on oocyte development, oviposition and hatching of the eggs. Moreover, the shape of the growing oocytes, as well as the deposited eggs, was very drastically altered by the experimental treatments. Consequently, it can be proposed that these three enzymes play an important role in oogenesis.     

Advanced compensation technologies for large‐sized UHD OLED TVs

In this paper, we present novel organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) display panel compensation technologies for large‐sized ultra‐high‐definition OLED TVs considering variations of threshold voltage, mobility, channel size, OLED efficiency, and OLED uniformity. Using these technologies, we have successfully launched 55‐, 65‐ and 77‐in. ultra‐high‐definition OLED TVs.     

Design of dual‐band microstrip patch antenna with right‐angle triangular aperture slot for energy transfer application

This work focusing on the dual‐band antenna design with rectifying circuit for energy transfer system technology for enhancement gain performance. The air gap technique is applied on this microstrip antenna design work to enhance the antenna gain. The work begins with designing and analyzing the antenna via the CST Microwave Studio software. After validation on acceptable performance in simulation side is obtained, the return loss, S₁₁ of the antenna is measured using vector network analyzer equipment. The rectifier circuit is used to convert the captured signal to DC voltage. This projected dual‐band antenna has successfully accomplished the target on return loss of ?44.707 dB and ?32.163 dB at dual resonant frequencies for 1.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz, respectively. This proposed antenna design benefits in low cost fabrication and has achieved high gain of 6.31 dBi and 7.82 dBi for dual‐band functioning frequencies.     

COVID-19 hospitalization rates rise exponentially with age,inversely proportional to thymic T-cell production

Here, we report that COVID-19 hospitalization rates follow an exponential relationship with age, doubling for every 16 years of age or equivalently increasing by 4.5% per year of life (R² = 0.98). This mirrors the well-studied exponential decline of both thymus volume and T-cell production, which halve every 16 years. COVID-19 can therefore be added to the list of other diseases with this property, including those caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MERS-CoV, West Nile virus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and certain cancers, such as chronic myeloid leukaemia and brain cancers. In addition, the incidence of severe disease and mortality due to COVID-19 are both higher in men, consistent with the degree to which thymic involution (and the decrease in T-cell production with age) is more severe in men compared to women. Since these properties are shared with some non-contagious diseases, we hypothesized that the age dependence does not come from social-mixing patterns, i.e. that the probability of hospitalization given infection rises exponentially, doubling every 16 years. A Bayesian analysis of daily hospitalizations, incorporating contact matrices, found that this relationship holds for every age group except for the under 20s. While older adults have fewer contacts than young adults, our analysis suggests that there is an approximate cancellation between the effects of fewer contacts for the elderly and higher infectiousness due to a higher probability of developing severe disease. Our model fitting suggests under 20s have 49–75% additional immune protection beyond that predicted by strong thymus function alone, consistent with increased juvenile cross-immunity from other viruses. We found no evidence for differences between age groups in susceptibility to infection or infectiousness to others (given disease state), i.e. the only important factor in the age dependence of hospitalization rates is the probability of hospitalization given infection. These findings suggest the existence of a T-cell exhaustion threshold, proportional to thymic output and that clonal expansion of peripheral T-cells does not affect disease risk. The strikingly simple inverse relationship between risk and thymic T-cell output adds to the evidence that thymic involution is an important factor in the decline of the immune system with age and may also be an important clue in understanding disease progression, not just for COVID-19 but other diseases as well.     

Reusable and durable electrostatic air filter based on hybrid metallized microfibers decorated with metal-organic-framework nanocrystals

As global air pollution becomes increasingly severe,various types of fibrous filters have been devel-oped to improve air filter performance.However,fibrous filters have limitations such as high packing density that generally causes high-pressure drop and ultimately deterioration in the filtration effi-ciency.High-pressure particulate matter precipitators are limited in terms of scope for commercialization because they require high voltage supplies and ozone generators.In this study,we develop fibrous fil-ters with enhanced durability and improved performance using metallized microfibers decorated with metal-organic-framework(MOF)nanocrystals.Not only does the efficiency of the developed filters remain at or above 97％for 0.50-1.5 μm PMs but the durability also significantly increases.In addi-tion,using the water purification ability of the MOF,we explore the dye degradation effect of the hybrid microfibers by immersing them into Rhodamine B aqueous solution.In such an experiment the Rho-damine B aqueous solution is completely purified by the presence of the hybrid microfibers under the UV irradiation.     

用心看未来——专访蔡司光学中国区董事长、总裁彭伟

蔡司光学"相信坚持的力量——蔡司光学新品发布会"结束后,本刊记者就成长乐加强版的上市、蔡司光学在中国市场的整体表现以及发展计划等话题对蔡司光学中国区董事长、总裁彭伟,蔡司光学中国研发中心负责人欧阳鎏博士进行了专访. 在采访中,彭伟表示,2021年是蔡司成立的175周年,蔡司"精准、创新、社会责任感"的品牌基因一直传承至...     

Structural,optical and electrical properties of silicon nanocrystals embedded in SixC1−x/SiC multilayer systems for photovoltaic applications

In this work we present a structural, optical and electrical characterization of Si_xC_1?x/SiC multilayer systems with different silicon content. After the deposition process, an annealing treatment was carried out in order to induce the silicon nanocrystals formation. By means of energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) we observed the structural morphology of the multilayers and the presence of crystallized silicon nanoprecipitates for samples annealed up to 1100 °C. We discuss the suitability of optical techniques such as Raman scattering and reflectance and transmittance (R&T) for the evaluation of the crystalline fraction of our samples at different silicon excess ranges. In addition, the combination of R&T measurements with simulation has proved to be a useful instrument to confirm the structural properties observed by EFTEM. Finally, we explore the origin of the extremely high current density revealed by electrical measurements, probably due to the presence of an undesired defective SiC_yO_z ternary compound layer, already supported by the structural and optical results. Nevertheless, the variation of the electrical measurements with the silicon amount indicates a small but significant contribution from the multilayers.