Clinical and histologic evaluation of an active "implant periapical lesion": a case report

A new entity called "implant periapical lesion" has recently been described. This lesion could be the result of, for example, bone overheating, implant overloading, presence of a preexisting infection or residual root fragments and foreign bodies in the bone, contamination of the implant, or implant placement in an infected maxillary sinus. This case report describes a titanium implant that was placed in the maxillary premolar region. A fenestration involving the middle portion of the implant was present. After 7 months, the apical portion of the implant showed radiolucency. This lesion rapidly increased in size and a vestibular fistula appeared. A systemic course of antibiotics was not successful, and the implant was then removed. The histologic examination showed the presence of necrotic bone inside the antirotational hole of the implant. The etiology of the implant failure in this instance could possibly be related to bone overheating associated with an excessive tightening of the implant and compression of the bone chips inside the apical hole, producing subsequent necrosis.     

Transactional scheduling for read-dominated workloads

The transactional approach to contention management guarantees atomicity by aborting transactions that may violate consistency. A major challenge in this approach is to schedule transactions in a manner that reduces the total time to perform all transactions (the makespan), since transactions are often aborted and restarted. The performance of a transactional scheduler can be evaluated by the ratio between its makespan and the makespan of an optimal, clairvoyant scheduler that knows the list of resource accesses that will be performed by each transaction, as well as its release time and duration.     

Role of miRNA-19a in Cancer Diagnosis and Poor Prognosis

Cancer is a multifactorial disease that affects millions of people every year and is one of the most common causes of death in the world. The high mortality rate is very often linked to late diagnosis; in fact, nowadays there are a lack of efficient and specific markers for the early diagnosis and prognosis of cancer. In recent years, the discovery of new diagnostic markers, including microRNAs (miRNAs), has been an important turning point for cancer research. miRNAs are small, endogenous, non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression. Compelling evidence has showed that many miRNAs are aberrantly expressed in human carcinomas and can act with either tumor-promoting or tumor-suppressing functions. miR-19a is one of the most investigated miRNAs, whose dysregulated expression is involved in different types of tumors and has been potentially associated with the prognosis of cancer patients. The aim of this review is to investigate the role of miR-19a in cancer, highlighting its involvement in cell proliferation, cell growth, cell death, tissue invasion and migration, as well as in angiogenesis. On these bases, miR-19a could prove to be truly useful as a potential diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic marker.     

Potential Anti-Metastatic Role of the Novel miR-CT3 in Tumor Angiogenesis and Osteosarcoma Invasion

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone tumor mainly occurring in young adults and derived from primitive bone-forming mesenchyme. OS develops in an intricate tumor microenvironment (TME) where cellular function regulated by microRNAs (miRNAs) may affect communication between OS cells and the surrounding TME. Therefore, miRNAs are considered potential therapeutic targets in cancer and one of the goals of research is to accurately define a specific signature of a miRNAs, which could reflect the phenotype of a particular tumor, such as OS. Through NGS approach, we previously found a specific molecular profile of miRNAs in OS and discovered 8 novel miRNAs. Among these, we deepen our knowledge on the fifth candidate renamed now miR-CT3. MiR-CT3 expression was low in OS cells when compared with human primary osteoblasts and healthy bone. Through TargetScan, VEGF-A was predicted as a potential biological target of miR-CT3 and luciferase assay confirmed it. We showed that enforced expression of miR-CT3 in two OS cell lines, SAOS-2 and MG-63, reduced expression of VEGF-A mRNA and protein, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. Enforced expression of miR-CT3 also reduced OS cell migration and invasion as confirmed by soft agar colony formation assay. Interestingly, we found that miR-CT3 behaves inducing the activation of p38 MAP kinase pathway and modulating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) proteins, in particular reducing Vimentin expression. Overall, our study highlights the novel role of miR-CT3 in regulating tumor angiogenesis and progression in OS cells, linking also to the modulation of EMT proteins.     

Quinagolide Treatment Reduces Invasive and Angiogenic Properties of Endometrial Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

Endometrial mesenchymal stromal cells (E-MSCs) extensively contribute to the establishment and progression of endometrial ectopic lesions through formation of the stromal vascular tissue, and support to its growth and vascularization. As E-MSCs lack oestrogen receptors, endometriosis eradication cannot be achieved by hormone-based pharmacological approaches. Quinagolide is a non-ergot-derived dopamine receptor 2 agonist reported to display therapeutic effects in in vivo models of endometriosis. In the present study, we isolated E-MSCs from eutopic endometrial tissue and from ovarian and peritoneal endometriotic lesions, and we tested the effect of quinagolide on their proliferation and matrix invasion ability. Moreover, the effect of quinagolide on E-MSC endothelial differentiation was assessed in an endothelial co-culture model of angiogenesis. E-MSC lines expressed dopamine receptor 2, with higher expression in ectopic than eutopic ones. Quinagolide inhibited the invasive properties of E-MSCs, but not their proliferation, and limited their endothelial differentiation. The abrogation of the observed effects by spiperone, a dopamine receptor antagonist, confirmed specific dopamine receptor activation. At variance, no involvement of VEGFR2 inhibition was observed. Moreover, dopamine receptor 2 activation led to downregulation of AKT and its phosphorylation. Of interest, several effects were more prominent on ectopic E-MSCs with respect to eutopic lines. Together with the reported effects on endometrial and endothelial cells, the observed inhibition of E-MSCs may increase the rationale for quinagolide in endometriosis treatment.     

Design,Synthesis, Biological Activity,and Structural Analysis of Lactam‐Constrained PTPRJ Agonist Peptides

PTPRJ is a receptor‐like protein tyrosine phosphatase mainly known for its antiproliferative and tumor‐suppressive functions. PTPRJ dephosphorylates several growth factors and their receptors, negatively regulating cell proliferation and migration. We recently identified a disulfide‐bridged nonapeptide, named PTPRJ‐19 (H‐[Cys‐His‐His‐Asn‐Leu‐Thr‐His‐Ala‐Cys]‐OH), which activates PTPRJ, thereby causing cell growth inhibition and apoptosis of both cancer and endothelial cells. With the aim of replacing the disulfide bridge by a chemically more stable moiety, we have synthesized and tested a series of lactam analogues of PTPRJ‐19 . This replacement led to analogues with higher activity and greater stability than the parent peptide.     

Light emitting devices based on Si nanoclusters： the integration with a photonic-crystal and electroluminescence properties

We present the properties and potentialities of light emitting devices based on amorphous Si nanoclusters. Amorphousnanostructures may constitute an interesting alternative to Si nanocrystals for the monolithic integration of optical andelectrical functions in Si technology. In fact, they exhibit an intense room temperature electroluminescence (EL). The ELproperties of these devices have been studied as a function of current and of temperature. Moreover, to improve theextraction efficiency of the light, we have integrated the emitting system with a 2D photonic crystal structure opportunelyfabricated by using conventional optical lithography to reduce the total internal reflection of the emitted light. The extractionefficiency in such devices increases by a factor of 4 at a resonance wavelength.     

Comparative studies of various antiemetic regimens

Since 1981, when high-dose intravenous metoclopramide was demonstrated to be efficacious, slow but constant improvement in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced emesis has been achieved. Today, a combination of a serotonin receptor 3 (5-HT3) antagonist plus dexamethasone can be considered the most efficacious treatment for the prevention of emesis induced by cisplatin and by moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. Which 5-HT3receptor antagonist should be used? Preclinical differences among 5-HT3receptor antagonists have been reported with regard to selectivity of receptor binding, potency, dose response, and duration of action. Twelve comparative studies among 5-HT3receptor antagonists have been carried out. Unfortunately, all these trials have some important shortcomings (patient population not large enough to show small but clinically important differences; not blinded studies; no association with steroids to maximize treatment efficacy) and, therefore, no definitive conclusions can be drawn. Very recently three large, well-conducted double-blind comparative studies have been published. All three showed that 5-HT3receptor antagonists have almost identical antiemetic efficacy and tolerability. Therefore, the choice among the 5-HT3receptor antagonists should be based only on the acquisition cost of the prescribed dose in each country for each compound.     

Effect of chain extender on the morphology,thermal, viscoelastic,and dielectric behavior of soybean polyurethane

The objective of this work was to determine the influence of different chain extenders (CEs) on the morphology, thermal, viscoelastic, and dielectric properties of soybean polyurethane (PU). The PU with ethane-1.2-diol showed a more organized structure, which was attributed to the smaller amount of methylene groups ( CH₂ ) and the shorter distance between the hydrogen bonds. While, PUs with dipropylene glycol, the free volume increased due to the less effective interactions formed between the hard and soft domains. The α, β, and γ transitions dipolar by conductive process, are probably associated with (a) local motions of the main chain, (b) the smaller groups rotation motions in the fatty acid chains in the soft phase, and (c) the  CH₂ group rotation motion in the amorphous region. The phase-separated morphology is most evident at high temperatures due to the Maxwell–Wagner–Sillars interfacial polarization process.