Search

Abstract Background Vital pulp therapy (VPT) is recommended as an alternative treatment to root canal therapy (RCT) for management of teeth with carious pulp exposure. This randomized clinical trial aimed to compare the outcomes and postoperative pain, and to evaluate the time and cost after full pulpotomy (FP) and RCT in mature molar teeth with irreversible pulpitis (IP). Methods A total of 160 mature molar teeth with IP were randomly divided into two treatment groups. The FP group (test group) was treated with FP using iRoot BP Plus by an endodontist, the RCT group (control group) was treated with RCT using iRoot SP as sealer by the same endodontist. Pain was recorded preoperatively and daily until day 7 postoperatively. The treatment time and cost were recorded. Clinical and radiographic assessments were collected, and pulp sensibility tests were done by electric pulp test (EPT) at 3-, 6-, 12- month postoperatively. Data were analyzed through chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher exact and independent t test. Results FP and RCT had comparable success rates (Clinical, 97.3% vs. 98.6%; radiographic, 93.3% vs. 94.6%) (P > 0.05). Pain levels decreased over time from day 1 to day 7 postoperative in both groups, and the FP group had larger reductions in pain intensity than RCT at day 1 (P

Transcutaneous implants that penetrate through skin or mucosa are susceptible to bacteria invasion and lack proper soft tissue sealing. Traditional antibacterial strategies primarily focus on bacterial eradication, but excessive exposure to bactericidal agents can induce noticeable tissue damage. Herein, a rechargeable model (HPI-Ti) was constructed using perylene polyimide, an aqueous battery material, achieving temporal-sequence regulation of bacterial killing and soft tissue sealing. Charge storage within HPI-Ti is achieved after galvanostatic charge, and chemical discharge is initiated when immersed in physiological environments. During the early discharge stage, post-charging HPI-Ti demonstrates an antibacterial rate of 99.96 ± 0.01 % for 24 h, preventing biofilm formation. Contact-dependent violent electron transfer between bacteria and the material causes bacteria death. In the later discharge stage, the attenuated discharging status creates a gentler electron-transfer micro-environment for fibroblast proliferation. After discharge, the antibacterial activity can be reinstated by recharge against potential reinfection. The antibacterial efficacy and soft tissue compatibility were verified in vivo. These results demonstrate the potential of the charge-transfer-based model in reconciling antibacterial efficacy with tissue compatibility.

ObjectiveTo measure the palatal soft tissue thickness and cortical bone density to determine safe regions for the placement of orthodontic mini-implants and to examine the influence of sex and age on soft tissue thickness and cortical bone density.Materials and methodsCone-beam computed tomography images of 42 patients (22 males and 20 females), including 21 adults and 21 adolescents, were examined in this study. The palatal soft tissue thickness and cortical bone density were measured at the coronal planes between the premolars (P4–5), between the second premolars and first molars (P5–6), and between the first molars and second molars (P6–7).ResultsThe thickness of the soft tissue revealed similar coronal planes, but the bone density varied. The mean thickness was 3.8 mm at 0°–60° and 1.5 mm at 60°–90°. P4–5 had the highest bone density (>600 HU), decreasing toward P6–7 (

ABSTRACT: Objective: The aim of this research was to identify the low oxidative stress–related genes expression (L-OS) subtype in patients with periodontitis. Methods: Microarray data (MA) were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The different oxidative stress (OS) subtypes of periodontitis were identified by K-means clustering analysis and gene set variation analysis (GSVA). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (|Log fold change (FC)| >1, q < 0.05) amongst the OS subtypes and healthy controls (HCs) were identified by Limma R package. The genomic feature of L-OS subtype and corresponding medicines were evaluated and visualised with Drug-Gene Interaction Database and cytoscape-v3.7.2 software (Pearson correlation coefficient > 0.4). Finally, the LASSO-Logistic regression model was adopted to evaluate and predict patients’ OS phenotype in routine clinical practice. Results: The 241 periodontitis samples and 69 HCs were included. Thirty-three DEGs between the L-OS and high oxidative stress–related genes expression (H-OS) subtypes and 96 DEGs, including 8 transcription factors, between L-OS subtype and HCs were identified, respectively. Then, the network of TFs-Genes-Drugs was constructed to determine genomic feature of L-OS subtype. Finally, a 4-gene signature formula and the cutoff value were identified by ML with LASSO model to predict patients’ classification. Conclusions: For the first time, we identified L-OS subtype of periodontitis and evaluated its genomic feature with MA.

While soil nitrogen (N) losses under drip irrigation water and fertilizer management have become a key issue in global environmental N pollution, no current systematic review of this issue exists in the literature. Drawn from the Web of Science Core Collection database, 290 related articles were identified as research subjects (1991–2022). To reveal the basic characteristics, research power, hotspots and future perspectives of this research field, an in-depth bibliometrics analysis and graphical knowledge display were undertaken by using CiteSpace software. By analyzing the evolution process of keywords, greenhouse gases, water use efficiency and crop yield have been research hotspots of this field in recent years. Irrigation systems, soil moisture, fertigation and N losses have always been the core research topics. The focus on N losses pathways has gradually shifted from nitrate (NO3-) leaching alone to comprehensive consideration of multiple losses pathways including NO3- leaching, and emissions of N2O, NH3 and NO. The corresponding water and fertilizer management strategies have gradually shifted from concentrating on water and fertilizer application amounts to diversified management methods involving combinations of amounts, methods and types. Moreover, the development and widespread application of new water and fertilizer management technologies and exogenous additives have further enriched the research direction of soil N losses under drip irrigation water and fertilizer management. Future research still needs to explore how to balance high crop yields and minimize environmental impacts, which will provide effective strategies for controlling agricultural non-point source pollution and mitigating global warming.

Developing bacterial biofilm on the dental unit waterlines increases the risk of cross-infection among oral patients. Although chemical disinfectants can achieve disinfection effects in a short period of time, corrosion damage of dental unit waterlines and water contamination can also occur after continuous use of it. Herein, this study explored a one-step deposition method to prepare a durable and renewable antibacterial N-halamine polymeric coating on polyurethane waterlines. The method utilized polyelectrolyte complexes formed with polyethylenimine (PEI) and phytic acid (PA), followed by chlorination to activate the antibacterial properties. The N-halamine polymeric coating reduces the polyurethane waterline’s water contact angle, thus reducing biofouling deposits and the obstruction of the active halide site on the waterlines, thereby facilitating the maintenance of the cleanliness of the coating. In addition, benefiting both from the active chlorine release and the high density of positive charges on the coating, the polyurethane waterline antimicrobial activity is significantly enhanced. Besides, the N-halamine polymeric coating is biocompatible. This study showed that long-lasting and renewable antimicrobial requirements can be achieved by simple surface modification of N-halamine polymer coatings, which provides a practicable strategy for the production of long-term and reproducible antibacterial dental unit waterlines to reduce the incidence of hospital infection in oral department.

Background: To investigate the correlation between inflammasomes and coronary artery calcification (CAC), and develop and validating a nomogram for predicting the risk of CAC in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: A total of 626 patients with CAD at the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into the calcification group and the non-calcification group based on the assessment of coronary calcification. We constructed a training set and a validation set through random assignment. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression and multivariate analysis were performed to identify independent risk factors of CAC in patients with CAD. Based on these independent predictors, we developed a web-based dynamic nomogram prediction model. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC-ROC), calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate this nomogram. Results: Age, smoking, diabetes mellitus (DM), hyperlipidemia, the serum level of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor protein 1 (NLRP1), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and triglycerides (TG) were identified as independent risk factors of CAC. The AUC-ROC of the nomogram is 0.881 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.850–0.912) in the training set and 0.825 (95% CI: 0.760–0.876) in the validation set, implying high discriminative ability. Satisfactory performance of this model was confirmed using calibration curves and DCA. Conclusions: The serum NLRP1 level is an independent predictor of CAC. We established a web-based dynamic nomogram, providing a more accurate estimation and comprehensive perspective for predicting the risk of CAC in patients with CAD.