Surgical correction is central to current team-approached cleft treatment. Cleft surgeons are always concerned about the impact of their surgical maneuver on the growth of the maxilla. Hypoplastic maxilla, concaved mi...Surgical correction is central to current team-approached cleft treatment. Cleft surgeons are always concerned about the impact of their surgical maneuver on the growth of the maxilla. Hypoplastic maxilla, concaved mid-face and deformed dental arch have constantly been reported after cleft treatments. It is very hard to completely circumvent these postoperative complications by current surgical protocols. In this paper, we discussed the factors that inhibit the maxillofacial growth on cleft patients. These factors included pre-surgical intervention, the timing of cleft palate and alveolae repair, surgical design and treatment protocol. Also, we made a review about the influence on the maxillary growth in un-operated cleft patients. On the basis of previous researches, we can conclude that most of scholars express identity of views in these aspects： early palatoplasty lead to maxilla growth inhibition in all dimensions; secondary alveolar bone graft had no influence on maxilla sagittal growth; cleft lip repair inhibited maxilla sagittal length in patients with cleft lip and palate; Veau＇s pushback palatoplasty and Langenbeck＇s palatoplasty with relaxing incisions were most detrimental to growth; Furlow palatoplasty showed little detrimental effect on maxilla growth; timing of hard palate closure, instead of the sequence of hard or soft palate repair, determined the postoperative growth. Stilt, scholars hold controversial viewpoints in some issues, for example, un-operated clefts have normal growth potential or not, pre-surgical intervention and pharyngoplasty inhibited maxillofacial growth or not.展开更多
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of vitamin B12 on palatal development by co-administration of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin （TCDD） and dexamethasone （DEX）. We examined the morphologic...The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of vitamin B12 on palatal development by co-administration of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin （TCDD） and dexamethasone （DEX）. We examined the morphological and histological features of the palatal shelf and expression levels of key signaling molecules （trans- forming growth factor-β3 （TGF-β3） and TGF-β3 type I receptor （activin receptor-like kinase 5, ALK5）） during pala- togenesis among a control group （Group A）, TCDD＋DEX exposed group （Group B）, and TCDD＋DEX＋vitamin B12 exposed group （Group C）. While we failed to find that vitamin B12 decreased the incidence of cleft palate induced by TCDD＋DEX treatment, the expression levels of key signaling molecules （TGF-~3 and ALK5） during palatogenesis were significantly modulated. In TCDD＋DEX exposed and TCDD＋DEX＋vitamin B12 exposed groups, palatal shelves could not contact in the midline due to their small sizes. Our results suggest that vitamin B12 may inhibit the expression of some cleft palate inducers such as TGF-β3 and ALK5 in DEX＋TCDD exposed mice, which may be beneficial against palatogenesis to some degree, even though we were unable to observe a protective role of vitamin B12 in morphological and histological alterations of palatal shelves induced by DEX and TCDD.展开更多
Excessive dexamethasone (Dex) administrated into pregnant mice during critical periods of palatal development can produce a high incidence of cleft palate. Its mechanisms remain unknown. Vitamin B12 has been shown to ...Excessive dexamethasone (Dex) administrated into pregnant mice during critical periods of palatal development can produce a high incidence of cleft palate. Its mechanisms remain unknown. Vitamin B12 has been shown to antagonize the tera- togenic effects of Dex, which, however, remains controversial. In this study, we investigated the effects of Dex and vitamin B12 on murine embryonic palatal shelf fusion using organ culture of murine embryonic shelves. The explanted palatal shelves on em- bryonic day 14 (E14) were cultured for 24, 48, 72 or 96 h in different concentrations of Dex and/or vitamin B12. The palatal shelves were examined histologically for the morphological alterations on the medial edge epithelium (MEE) and fusion rates among different groups. It was found that the palatal shelves were not fused at 72 h or less of culture in Dex group, while they were completely fused in the control and vitamin B12-treated groups at 72 and 96 h, respectively. The MEE still existed and proliferated. In Dex+vitamin B12 group the palatal shelves were fused at each time point in a similar rate to controls. These results may suggest that Dex causes teratogenesis of murine embryonic palatal shelves and vitamin B12 prevents the teratogenic effect of Dex on palatogenesis on murine embryos in vitro.展开更多
Low-melting-point alloys have the advantages of good biocompatibility, plasticity, and near-bone mechanical strength, making them suitable as bone defect-filling materials for direct injection into defective bone site...Low-melting-point alloys have the advantages of good biocompatibility, plasticity, and near-bone mechanical strength, making them suitable as bone defect-filling materials for direct injection into defective bone sites. However, using low-melting-point alloys for orthopedic implants poses the challenge of causing thermal damage to the surrounding bone tissue during injection. In this study, a thermosensitive hydrogel is prepared and synergistically injected into the bone defect site with BiInSn. BiInSn solidifies and releases heat during injection, while the thermosensitive hydrogel absorbs heat and transforms into a gel state,encapsulating BiInSn. Therefore, the surrounding bone tissue is effectively protected from thermal damage. When BiInSn and the thermosensitive hydrogel were injected synergistically, in vitro thermal experiments revealed that the maximum temperature of the surrounding bone tissue reached 42℃. This temperature is below the 47℃ threshold, which causes permanent damage to bone tissues. In vivo experiments demonstrated that rats in the BiInSn-thermosensitive hydrogel group exhibited better recovery at the bone defect sites. These results suggest that the synergistic injection of Bi-based alloy and thermosensitive hydrogel is beneficial in reducing thermal damage to bone tissue, guiding bone tissue growth, and effectively facilitating the repair of bone defects.展开更多
Background Various conservative and surgical approaches exist to treat Robin sequence(RS),but their effects on facial profile and mandibular catch-up growth are unclear.A functional treatment concept,used in our centr...Background Various conservative and surgical approaches exist to treat Robin sequence(RS),but their effects on facial profile and mandibular catch-up growth are unclear.A functional treatment concept,used in our centre for 25 years,includes an individualized palatal plate with a velo-pharyngeal extension and intensive feeding training.Methods We performed a prospective study to objectively describe facial profiles in infants with RS treated with the above concept.Infants with isolated RS were admitted to our tertiary perinatal and national referral centre for craniofacial malformations between May 2018 and Nov 2019.Infants with RS received 3D-photographs during clinically indicated visits.Healthy controls were recruited from Dec 2018 to Sep 2019 and received 3D-photographs every 3 months.The digitally measured jaw index(JI),defined as alveolar overjet(O)x maxillary arch(U)/mandibular arch(L),and the soft tissue reference points A’-point,Nasion’,B’-point angle(ANB’),describing the relative position of maxilla to mandible,were evaluated.Linear mixed models were used to examine time trajectories in JI and ANB’.Results A total of 2073D images,obtained in 19 infants with RS and 32 controls,were analysed.JI and ANB’decreased over time in both groups[for JI−0.18(95%CI−0.25 to−0.10);for ANB’:−0.40°per month[(95%CI−0.48 to−0.32)]]but remained lower in controls[for JI−2.5(95%CI−3.2 to−1.8);for ANB’-1.7°(95%CI−2.4 to−1.0)].Also,the ANB’model showed a significant effect of the interaction term diagnosis x age.Conclusions Based on longitudinal 3D images,we describe changes in objective parameters of facial profile in infants with and without RS during the first year of life.Our findings indicate catch-up growth in infants treated for RS.展开更多
AIM:To develop and validate a transient micro-elastography device to measure liver stiffness(LS) in mice.METHODS:A novel transient micro-elastography(TME) device,dedicated to LS measurements in mice with a range of me...AIM:To develop and validate a transient micro-elastography device to measure liver stiffness(LS) in mice.METHODS:A novel transient micro-elastography(TME) device,dedicated to LS measurements in mice with a range of measurement from 1-170 kPa,was developed using an optimized vibration frequency of 300 Hz and a 2 mm piston.The novel probe was validated in a classical fibrosis model(CCl4) and in a transgenic murine model of systemic amyloidosis.RESULTS:TME could be successfully performed in control mice below the xiphoid cartilage,with a mean LS of 4.4 ± 1.3 kPa,a mean success rate of 88%,and an excellent intra-observer agreement(0.98).Treatment with CCl4 over seven weeks drastically increased LS as compared to controls(18.2 ± 3.7 kPa vs 3.6 ± 1.2 kPa).Moreover,fibrosis stage was highly correlated with LS(Spearman coefficient = 0.88,P < 0.01).In the amyloidosis model,much higher LS values were obtained,reaching maximum values of > 150 kPa.LS significantly correlated with the amyloidosis index(0.93,P < 0.0001) and the plasma concentration of mutant hapoA-□(0.62,P < 0.005).CONCLUSION:Here,we have established the first non-invasive approach to measure LS in mice,and have successfully validated it in two murine models of high LS.展开更多
Metastasis remains a major challenge in the successful management of malignant diseases.The liver is a major site of metastatic disease and a leading cause of death from gastrointestinal malignancies such as colon,sto...Metastasis remains a major challenge in the successful management of malignant diseases.The liver is a major site of metastatic disease and a leading cause of death from gastrointestinal malignancies such as colon,stomach,and pancreatic cancers,as well as melanoma,breast cancer,and sarcoma.As an important factor that influences the development of metastatic liver cancer,alternative splicing drives the diversity of RNA transcripts and protein subtypes,which may provide potential to broaden the target space.In particular,the dysfunction of splicing factors and abnormal expression of splicing variants are associated with the occurrence,progression,aggressiveness,and drug resistance of cancers caused by the selective splicing of specific genes.This review is the first to provide a detailed summary of the normal splicing process and alterations that occur during metastatic liver cancer.It will cover the role of alternative splicing in the mechanisms of metastatic liver cancer by examining splicing factor changes,abnormal splicing,and the contribution of hypoxia to these changes during metastasis.展开更多
Normal mammalian secondary palate development undergoes a series of processes,including palatal shelf(PS)growth,elevation,adhesion and fusion,and palatal bone formation.It has been estimated that more than 90%of isola...Normal mammalian secondary palate development undergoes a series of processes,including palatal shelf(PS)growth,elevation,adhesion and fusion,and palatal bone formation.It has been estimated that more than 90%of isolated cleft palate is caused by defects associated with the elevation process.However,because of the rapidly completed elevation process,the entire process of elevation will never be easy to clarify.In this article,we present a novel method for three-dimensional(3D)reconstruction of thick tissue blocks from two-dimensional(2D)histological sections.We established multiplanar sections of the palate and tongue in coronal and sagittal directions,and further performed 3D reconstruction to observe the morphological interaction and connection between the two components prior to and during elevation.The method completes an imaging system for simultaneous morphological analysis of thick tissue samples using both synthetic and real data.The new method will provide a comprehensive picture of reorientation morphology and gene expression pattern during the palatal elevation process.展开更多
Objective:To explore the aesthetic characteristics of the Chinese children lips.Methods: Frontal and profile photographs of 653 healthy children were categorized as the attractive and the unattractive by three laypers...Objective:To explore the aesthetic characteristics of the Chinese children lips.Methods: Frontal and profile photographs of 653 healthy children were categorized as the attractive and the unattractive by three laypersons and objectively measured for comparison.Results: The attractive group tended to be smaller in the upper paramedian red lip height,the lower paramedian red lip height,the midline upper red lip height,the central bow angle,and the lip angle,while greater in the Cupid’s bow width.Conclusions:Thinner lips seemed to be more attractive than full ones among Chinese children.展开更多
Aim:Iliac crest(IC)is the most common source of bone for alveolar cleft repair,as it allows for harvesting a large amount of cancellous bone with a high rate of favorable outcomes.Its drawback is the donor-site morbid...Aim:Iliac crest(IC)is the most common source of bone for alveolar cleft repair,as it allows for harvesting a large amount of cancellous bone with a high rate of favorable outcomes.Its drawback is the donor-site morbidity.We propose a new technique for alveolar cleft grafting using vomerine bone(VB),which,through bone grafting,reconstructs the alveolus with the VB and simultaneously corrects the nasal septum deviation.Method:We performed 18 alveolar reconstructions with VB in patients with a small bony defect and septal deviation,which would benefit from septoplasty.A matched control group with IC bone grafting was selected.Panoramic X-rays were used for vertical assessment of ossification with the Bergland scale and CT scans for the evaluation of the thickness of the grafted area in the VB and IC groups and compared with an independent samples T-test.A paired T-test compared angular measurements of the septal deviation pre-and post-vomerine grafting.Results:All grafts healed uneventfully,with no complications at the donor site and respiratory function was improved.There was no statistically significant difference in ossification height between VB and IC,the alveolar thickness at the occlusal and middle third was higher with IC.Septal deviation was reduced significantly.Conclusion:Alveolar graft from VB seems to be a viable alternative to IC in patients who present with a mild bony alveolar defect in addition to septal deviation,allowing combined procedures while reducing the morbidity of the donor site.展开更多
Social networks have had a substantial impact on the current methods of professional development and practice within the health services industry. They have proven to have a wide range of suitable applications that fa...Social networks have had a substantial impact on the current methods of professional development and practice within the health services industry. They have proven to have a wide range of suitable applications that facilitate communication, training, and medical practice. Currently, there are many web systems that allow people to have a public or semi-public profile, allowing the creation of shared connections with a list of users within the same system, which may vary in nature and terminology depending on the site in which it is used, shaping the concept of the social network. The purpose of this review is to highlight the usefulness of social media networks in academic medicine and its impact on health services.展开更多
Bike sharing systems are booming globally as a green and flexible transportation mode, but the flexibility also brings difficulties in keeping the bike stations balanced with enough bikes and docks. Understanding the ...Bike sharing systems are booming globally as a green and flexible transportation mode, but the flexibility also brings difficulties in keeping the bike stations balanced with enough bikes and docks. Understanding the spatio-temporal bike trip patterns in a bike sharing system, such as the popular trip origins and destinations during rush hours, is important for researchers to design models for bike scheduling and sta- tion management. However, due to privacy and operational concerns, bike trip data are usually not publicly available in many cities. Instead, the station feeds about real-time bike and dock number in stations are usually public, which we refer to as bike sharing system open data. In this paper, we propose an approach to infer the spatio-temporal bike trip patterns from the public station feeds. Since the number of possible trips （i.e., origin-destination station pairs） is much larger than the number of stations, we define the trip infer- ence as an ill-posed inverse problem. To solve this problem, we identify the sparsity and locality properties of bike trip patterns, and propose a sparse and weighted regularization model to impose both properties in the solution. We evaluate our method using real-world data from Washington, D.C. and New York City. Results show that our method can effectively infer the spatio-temporal bike trip patterns and outperform the baselines in both cities.展开更多
A MEMS electrostatic kinetic energy harvester(e-KEH)of about 1 cm2,working at ultralow frequency(1–20 Hz),without any supported additional mass on its mobile electrode,and working even without a vacuum environment is...A MEMS electrostatic kinetic energy harvester(e-KEH)of about 1 cm2,working at ultralow frequency(1–20 Hz),without any supported additional mass on its mobile electrode,and working even without a vacuum environment is reported.The prototype is especially suitable for environments with abundant low frequency motions such as wearable electronics.The proposed e-KEH consists of a capacitor with a finger-teeth interdigited comb structure.This greatly reduces the air damping effect,and thus the capacitance variation remains important regardless of the presence of air.With the new design,the energy transduced per cycle of excitation is no less than 33 times higher than the classic design within 10–40 Hz/2 g_(peak),while is 85 times higher at 15 Hz/2 g_(peak).An enclosed miniature ball combined with non-linear stoppers enables the oscillation of the movable electrode through impact-based frequency up-conversion mechanism,which is also improved by the low air damping.Thanks to this new design,a higher efficiency than the classic gap-closing comb structure is obtained,as a larger range of working frequency(1–180 Hz)in air.A maximum energy conversion of 450 nJ/cycle is obtained with a bias voltage of 45 V and an acceleration of 11 Hz,3 g_(peak).Working with a diode AC-DC rectifier,the proposed KEH is able to support up to 3 RFID communications within 16 s while operated at 11 Hz,3 g_(peak).展开更多
Objective To determine the medicinal potential of various plants and their parts extracted with different solvents. Methods The total phenolic content of acetonitrile/water（60%-40%）（ACN/W） and aqueous（W） extract...Objective To determine the medicinal potential of various plants and their parts extracted with different solvents. Methods The total phenolic content of acetonitrile/water（60%-40%）（ACN/W） and aqueous（W） extract fractions was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography（HPLC）, and terpenic compounds were detected by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry（GC/MS）. Antioxidant activity of the samples was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl（DPPH） assay and β-carotene bleaching method. Cell viability was investigated by thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide [3-（4,5-dimethylthiazol）-2-yl 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide]（MTT） assay. The mechanisms involved in cytotoxic activity were investigated in a murine macrophage cell line（RAW 264.7） and cancer lines. Results Our findings show that 11 plant species exhibited biological activity. In addition, moderate antibacterial activity was reported against one or more of the tested bacterial strains at two concentrations： 300 μg and 3 mg/disc. Furthermore, our data reveal that among all plants investigated, some extract and hydrophobic fractions were potent scavengers of the DPPH radical（6.78 μg/m L 〈 EC50 〈 8.55 μg/mL）. Taken together, our results show that Nerium oleander（NOACN/W） and Pituranthos tortuosus（PTACN/W） were highly cytotoxic against RAW 264.7 cells with IC80 values of 0.36, and 1.55 μg/mL, respectively. In contrast, murine macrophage cell lines had low growth and were significantly sensitive to water extracts of Thymus hirtus sp. algeriensis（THW）, Lavandula multifida（LMW）, and ACN/W extract of Erica multiflora（EMACN/W） at doses 〉 400, 47.20, and 116.74 μg/m L, respectively. The current work demonstrates that RAW 264.7 cell proliferation was inhibited by samples in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion Our findings, validated through free radical scavenging activity, agar diffusion assay, and cytotoxicity of essential oils towards cancer cells, show that ethnomedicinal plants used 展开更多
This article presents several design techniques to fabricate micro-electro-mechanical systems(MEMS)using standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS)processes.They were applied to fabricate high yield CMOS-M...This article presents several design techniques to fabricate micro-electro-mechanical systems(MEMS)using standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS)processes.They were applied to fabricate high yield CMOS-MEMS shielded Lorentz-force magnetometers(LFM).The multilayered metals and oxides of the back-end-of-line(BEOL),normally used for electronic routing,comprise the structural part of the MEMS.The most important fabrication challenges,modeling approaches and design solutions are discussed.Equations that predict the Q factor,sensitivity,Brownian noise and resonant frequency as a function of temperature,gas pressure and design parameters are presented and validated in characterization tests.A number of the fabricated magnetometers were packaged into Quad Flat No-leads(QFN)packages.We show this process can achieve yields above 95%when the proper design techniques are adopted.Despite CMOS not being a process for MEMS manufacturing,estimated performance(sensitivity and noise level)is similar or superior to current commercial magnetometers and others built with MEMS processes.Additionally,typical offsets present in Lorentz-force magnetometers were prevented with a shielding electrode,whose efficiency is quantified.Finally,several reliability test results are presented,which demonstrate the robustness against high temperatures,magnetic fields and acceleration shocks.展开更多
We present the AS-Index, a new index structure for exact string search in disk resident databases. AS-Index relies on a classical inverted file structure, whose main innovation is a probabilistic search based on the p...We present the AS-Index, a new index structure for exact string search in disk resident databases. AS-Index relies on a classical inverted file structure, whose main innovation is a probabilistic search based on the properties of algebraic signatures used for both n-grams hashing and pattern search. Specifically, the properties of our signatures allow to carry out a search by inspecting only two of the posting lists. The algorithm thus enjoys the unique feature of requiring a constant number of disk accesses, independently from both the pattern size and the database size. We conduct extensive experiments on large datasets to evaluate our index behavior. They confirm that it steadily provides a search performance proportional to the two disk accesses necessary to obtain the posting lists. This makes our structure a choice of interest for the class of applications that require very fast lookups in large textual databases. We describe the index structure, our use of algebraic signatures, and the search algorithm. We discuss the operational trade-offs based on the parameters that affect the behavior of our structure, and present the theoretical and experimental performance analysis. We next compare the AS-Index with the state-of-the-art alternatives and show that 1） its construction time matches that of its competitors, due to the similarity of structures, 2） as for search time, it constantly outperforms the standard approach, thanks to the economical access to data complemented by signature calculations, which is at the core of our search method.展开更多
An ADS （automated dispensing system） was implemented in our hospital pharmacy in 2008 to optimize and secure the medication process. The main objective of this study was to compare the projected and the real ROI （r...An ADS （automated dispensing system） was implemented in our hospital pharmacy in 2008 to optimize and secure the medication process. The main objective of this study was to compare the projected and the real ROI （return on investment）, after seven years of use. ROI was calculated annually （from 2008 to 2015）, by deducting the cost of investment （ADS buying and implementation, maintenance, repairs and ADS upgrade） from the cost saving （drugs stock reduction and decrease of pharmacy staff dedicated to global dispensing）. In 2015, total costs saving （＋$1,141,987） were divided between decreasing drug stock value and reduction of pharmacy staff. Total costs of investment （-$978,656） were acquisition, maintenance, repairs and an unplanned upgrade costs. Finally, the real ROI was ＋$163,331 after seven years of use. In 2008, projected ROI was ＋$410,786. The real payback period has been increased by approximately two years （six years of use, instead of four years as expected）. Despite their cost, ADSs are a worthwhile investment, leading to a ROI within a few years. These economic considerations should be put into perspective with optimization of drugs stock management, greater efficiency of the global dispensing process, securitization of medication process and redeployment of pharmacy staff.展开更多
Sensorial information is very difficult to elicit, to represent and to manage because of its complexity. Fuzzy logic provides an interesting means to deal with such information, since it allows us to represent impreci...Sensorial information is very difficult to elicit, to represent and to manage because of its complexity. Fuzzy logic provides an interesting means to deal with such information, since it allows us to represent imprecise, vague or incomplete descriptions, which are very common in the management of subjective information. Aggregation methods proposed by fuzzy logic are further useful to combine the characteristics of the various components of sensorial information.展开更多
In this article, we describe the recent developments in higher education relative to the digital outcomes. Between these evolutions, we are witnessing new teaching locations or sites called ＂learning labs＂. The aim ...In this article, we describe the recent developments in higher education relative to the digital outcomes. Between these evolutions, we are witnessing new teaching locations or sites called ＂learning labs＂. The aim of this article is to present how the deployment of such a location （sometimes named third places） can offer some new perspectives, modifies the way of teaching and gives some interesting results both from the teachers＇ point of view （in terms of assessment of knowledge and know-how） and for the learners （in terms of motivation, immersion and exchanges）. In a second phase, we will focus on the predominant role that electronics can take in setting up formations, especially around ＂connected objects＂ （i.e. communicating devices connected to networks）. We will illustrate concretely our idea around an experimental training which has obtained the national label GEN （＂Grande Ecole du Numkrique＂）.展开更多
文摘Surgical correction is central to current team-approached cleft treatment. Cleft surgeons are always concerned about the impact of their surgical maneuver on the growth of the maxilla. Hypoplastic maxilla, concaved mid-face and deformed dental arch have constantly been reported after cleft treatments. It is very hard to completely circumvent these postoperative complications by current surgical protocols. In this paper, we discussed the factors that inhibit the maxillofacial growth on cleft patients. These factors included pre-surgical intervention, the timing of cleft palate and alveolae repair, surgical design and treatment protocol. Also, we made a review about the influence on the maxillary growth in un-operated cleft patients. On the basis of previous researches, we can conclude that most of scholars express identity of views in these aspects： early palatoplasty lead to maxilla growth inhibition in all dimensions; secondary alveolar bone graft had no influence on maxilla sagittal growth; cleft lip repair inhibited maxilla sagittal length in patients with cleft lip and palate; Veau＇s pushback palatoplasty and Langenbeck＇s palatoplasty with relaxing incisions were most detrimental to growth; Furlow palatoplasty showed little detrimental effect on maxilla growth; timing of hard palate closure, instead of the sequence of hard or soft palate repair, determined the postoperative growth. Stilt, scholars hold controversial viewpoints in some issues, for example, un-operated clefts have normal growth potential or not, pre-surgical intervention and pharyngoplasty inhibited maxillofacial growth or not.
基金Project supported by thc National Natural Science Foundation of China （Nos. 81000425 and 30530730） and the Sichuan Key Tech- nology R＆D Program （No. 2010SZ0098）, China
文摘The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of vitamin B12 on palatal development by co-administration of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin （TCDD） and dexamethasone （DEX）. We examined the morphological and histological features of the palatal shelf and expression levels of key signaling molecules （trans- forming growth factor-β3 （TGF-β3） and TGF-β3 type I receptor （activin receptor-like kinase 5, ALK5）） during pala- togenesis among a control group （Group A）, TCDD＋DEX exposed group （Group B）, and TCDD＋DEX＋vitamin B12 exposed group （Group C）. While we failed to find that vitamin B12 decreased the incidence of cleft palate induced by TCDD＋DEX treatment, the expression levels of key signaling molecules （TGF-~3 and ALK5） during palatogenesis were significantly modulated. In TCDD＋DEX exposed and TCDD＋DEX＋vitamin B12 exposed groups, palatal shelves could not contact in the midline due to their small sizes. Our results suggest that vitamin B12 may inhibit the expression of some cleft palate inducers such as TGF-β3 and ALK5 in DEX＋TCDD exposed mice, which may be beneficial against palatogenesis to some degree, even though we were unable to observe a protective role of vitamin B12 in morphological and histological alterations of palatal shelves induced by DEX and TCDD.
基金Project (No. 30530730) supported by the National Natural ScienceFoundation of China
文摘Excessive dexamethasone (Dex) administrated into pregnant mice during critical periods of palatal development can produce a high incidence of cleft palate. Its mechanisms remain unknown. Vitamin B12 has been shown to antagonize the tera- togenic effects of Dex, which, however, remains controversial. In this study, we investigated the effects of Dex and vitamin B12 on murine embryonic palatal shelf fusion using organ culture of murine embryonic shelves. The explanted palatal shelves on em- bryonic day 14 (E14) were cultured for 24, 48, 72 or 96 h in different concentrations of Dex and/or vitamin B12. The palatal shelves were examined histologically for the morphological alterations on the medial edge epithelium (MEE) and fusion rates among different groups. It was found that the palatal shelves were not fused at 72 h or less of culture in Dex group, while they were completely fused in the control and vitamin B12-treated groups at 72 and 96 h, respectively. The MEE still existed and proliferated. In Dex+vitamin B12 group the palatal shelves were fused at each time point in a similar rate to controls. These results may suggest that Dex causes teratogenesis of murine embryonic palatal shelves and vitamin B12 prevents the teratogenic effect of Dex on palatogenesis on murine embryos in vitro.
基金supported by the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (Grant No. 2021-I2 M-1–052)the Key Laboratory of Congenital Craniofacial Malformation of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (Grant No. 2018PT31051)+2 种基金the Fund of CAMS Plastic Surgery Hospital (Grant Nos. YS202036, YS202003)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31801046)the Foundation of Director of Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences。
文摘Low-melting-point alloys have the advantages of good biocompatibility, plasticity, and near-bone mechanical strength, making them suitable as bone defect-filling materials for direct injection into defective bone sites. However, using low-melting-point alloys for orthopedic implants poses the challenge of causing thermal damage to the surrounding bone tissue during injection. In this study, a thermosensitive hydrogel is prepared and synergistically injected into the bone defect site with BiInSn. BiInSn solidifies and releases heat during injection, while the thermosensitive hydrogel absorbs heat and transforms into a gel state,encapsulating BiInSn. Therefore, the surrounding bone tissue is effectively protected from thermal damage. When BiInSn and the thermosensitive hydrogel were injected synergistically, in vitro thermal experiments revealed that the maximum temperature of the surrounding bone tissue reached 42℃. This temperature is below the 47℃ threshold, which causes permanent damage to bone tissues. In vivo experiments demonstrated that rats in the BiInSn-thermosensitive hydrogel group exhibited better recovery at the bone defect sites. These results suggest that the synergistic injection of Bi-based alloy and thermosensitive hydrogel is beneficial in reducing thermal damage to bone tissue, guiding bone tissue growth, and effectively facilitating the repair of bone defects.
基金supported by a scholarship from the Tuebingen Program for the Advancement of Women in Science(TuFF).
文摘Background Various conservative and surgical approaches exist to treat Robin sequence(RS),but their effects on facial profile and mandibular catch-up growth are unclear.A functional treatment concept,used in our centre for 25 years,includes an individualized palatal plate with a velo-pharyngeal extension and intensive feeding training.Methods We performed a prospective study to objectively describe facial profiles in infants with RS treated with the above concept.Infants with isolated RS were admitted to our tertiary perinatal and national referral centre for craniofacial malformations between May 2018 and Nov 2019.Infants with RS received 3D-photographs during clinically indicated visits.Healthy controls were recruited from Dec 2018 to Sep 2019 and received 3D-photographs every 3 months.The digitally measured jaw index(JI),defined as alveolar overjet(O)x maxillary arch(U)/mandibular arch(L),and the soft tissue reference points A’-point,Nasion’,B’-point angle(ANB’),describing the relative position of maxilla to mandible,were evaluated.Linear mixed models were used to examine time trajectories in JI and ANB’.Results A total of 2073D images,obtained in 19 infants with RS and 32 controls,were analysed.JI and ANB’decreased over time in both groups[for JI−0.18(95%CI−0.25 to−0.10);for ANB’:−0.40°per month[(95%CI−0.48 to−0.32)]]but remained lower in controls[for JI−2.5(95%CI−3.2 to−1.8);for ANB’-1.7°(95%CI−2.4 to−1.0)].Also,the ANB’model showed a significant effect of the interaction term diagnosis x age.Conclusions Based on longitudinal 3D images,we describe changes in objective parameters of facial profile in infants with and without RS during the first year of life.Our findings indicate catch-up growth in infants treated for RS.
文摘AIM:To develop and validate a transient micro-elastography device to measure liver stiffness(LS) in mice.METHODS:A novel transient micro-elastography(TME) device,dedicated to LS measurements in mice with a range of measurement from 1-170 kPa,was developed using an optimized vibration frequency of 300 Hz and a 2 mm piston.The novel probe was validated in a classical fibrosis model(CCl4) and in a transgenic murine model of systemic amyloidosis.RESULTS:TME could be successfully performed in control mice below the xiphoid cartilage,with a mean LS of 4.4 ± 1.3 kPa,a mean success rate of 88%,and an excellent intra-observer agreement(0.98).Treatment with CCl4 over seven weeks drastically increased LS as compared to controls(18.2 ± 3.7 kPa vs 3.6 ± 1.2 kPa).Moreover,fibrosis stage was highly correlated with LS(Spearman coefficient = 0.88,P < 0.01).In the amyloidosis model,much higher LS values were obtained,reaching maximum values of > 150 kPa.LS significantly correlated with the amyloidosis index(0.93,P < 0.0001) and the plasma concentration of mutant hapoA-□(0.62,P < 0.005).CONCLUSION:Here,we have established the first non-invasive approach to measure LS in mice,and have successfully validated it in two murine models of high LS.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.82002068,No.82272281the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province,No.2021A1515010949.
文摘Metastasis remains a major challenge in the successful management of malignant diseases.The liver is a major site of metastatic disease and a leading cause of death from gastrointestinal malignancies such as colon,stomach,and pancreatic cancers,as well as melanoma,breast cancer,and sarcoma.As an important factor that influences the development of metastatic liver cancer,alternative splicing drives the diversity of RNA transcripts and protein subtypes,which may provide potential to broaden the target space.In particular,the dysfunction of splicing factors and abnormal expression of splicing variants are associated with the occurrence,progression,aggressiveness,and drug resistance of cancers caused by the selective splicing of specific genes.This review is the first to provide a detailed summary of the normal splicing process and alterations that occur during metastatic liver cancer.It will cover the role of alternative splicing in the mechanisms of metastatic liver cancer by examining splicing factor changes,abnormal splicing,and the contribution of hypoxia to these changes during metastasis.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(81400494)the Key Program of Science&Technology Department of Sichuan Province,China(2019ZDYF1658,and 2019ZDYF1430).
文摘Normal mammalian secondary palate development undergoes a series of processes,including palatal shelf(PS)growth,elevation,adhesion and fusion,and palatal bone formation.It has been estimated that more than 90%of isolated cleft palate is caused by defects associated with the elevation process.However,because of the rapidly completed elevation process,the entire process of elevation will never be easy to clarify.In this article,we present a novel method for three-dimensional(3D)reconstruction of thick tissue blocks from two-dimensional(2D)histological sections.We established multiplanar sections of the palate and tongue in coronal and sagittal directions,and further performed 3D reconstruction to observe the morphological interaction and connection between the two components prior to and during elevation.The method completes an imaging system for simultaneous morphological analysis of thick tissue samples using both synthetic and real data.The new method will provide a comprehensive picture of reorientation morphology and gene expression pattern during the palatal elevation process.
文摘Objective:To explore the aesthetic characteristics of the Chinese children lips.Methods: Frontal and profile photographs of 653 healthy children were categorized as the attractive and the unattractive by three laypersons and objectively measured for comparison.Results: The attractive group tended to be smaller in the upper paramedian red lip height,the lower paramedian red lip height,the midline upper red lip height,the central bow angle,and the lip angle,while greater in the Cupid’s bow width.Conclusions:Thinner lips seemed to be more attractive than full ones among Chinese children.
文摘Aim:Iliac crest(IC)is the most common source of bone for alveolar cleft repair,as it allows for harvesting a large amount of cancellous bone with a high rate of favorable outcomes.Its drawback is the donor-site morbidity.We propose a new technique for alveolar cleft grafting using vomerine bone(VB),which,through bone grafting,reconstructs the alveolus with the VB and simultaneously corrects the nasal septum deviation.Method:We performed 18 alveolar reconstructions with VB in patients with a small bony defect and septal deviation,which would benefit from septoplasty.A matched control group with IC bone grafting was selected.Panoramic X-rays were used for vertical assessment of ossification with the Bergland scale and CT scans for the evaluation of the thickness of the grafted area in the VB and IC groups and compared with an independent samples T-test.A paired T-test compared angular measurements of the septal deviation pre-and post-vomerine grafting.Results:All grafts healed uneventfully,with no complications at the donor site and respiratory function was improved.There was no statistically significant difference in ossification height between VB and IC,the alveolar thickness at the occlusal and middle third was higher with IC.Septal deviation was reduced significantly.Conclusion:Alveolar graft from VB seems to be a viable alternative to IC in patients who present with a mild bony alveolar defect in addition to septal deviation,allowing combined procedures while reducing the morbidity of the donor site.
文摘Social networks have had a substantial impact on the current methods of professional development and practice within the health services industry. They have proven to have a wide range of suitable applications that facilitate communication, training, and medical practice. Currently, there are many web systems that allow people to have a public or semi-public profile, allowing the creation of shared connections with a list of users within the same system, which may vary in nature and terminology depending on the site in which it is used, shaping the concept of the social network. The purpose of this review is to highlight the usefulness of social media networks in academic medicine and its impact on health services.
文摘Bike sharing systems are booming globally as a green and flexible transportation mode, but the flexibility also brings difficulties in keeping the bike stations balanced with enough bikes and docks. Understanding the spatio-temporal bike trip patterns in a bike sharing system, such as the popular trip origins and destinations during rush hours, is important for researchers to design models for bike scheduling and sta- tion management. However, due to privacy and operational concerns, bike trip data are usually not publicly available in many cities. Instead, the station feeds about real-time bike and dock number in stations are usually public, which we refer to as bike sharing system open data. In this paper, we propose an approach to infer the spatio-temporal bike trip patterns from the public station feeds. Since the number of possible trips （i.e., origin-destination station pairs） is much larger than the number of stations, we define the trip infer- ence as an ill-posed inverse problem. To solve this problem, we identify the sparsity and locality properties of bike trip patterns, and propose a sparse and weighted regularization model to impose both properties in the solution. We evaluate our method using real-world data from Washington, D.C. and New York City. Results show that our method can effectively infer the spatio-temporal bike trip patterns and outperform the baselines in both cities.
文摘A MEMS electrostatic kinetic energy harvester(e-KEH)of about 1 cm2,working at ultralow frequency(1–20 Hz),without any supported additional mass on its mobile electrode,and working even without a vacuum environment is reported.The prototype is especially suitable for environments with abundant low frequency motions such as wearable electronics.The proposed e-KEH consists of a capacitor with a finger-teeth interdigited comb structure.This greatly reduces the air damping effect,and thus the capacitance variation remains important regardless of the presence of air.With the new design,the energy transduced per cycle of excitation is no less than 33 times higher than the classic design within 10–40 Hz/2 g_(peak),while is 85 times higher at 15 Hz/2 g_(peak).An enclosed miniature ball combined with non-linear stoppers enables the oscillation of the movable electrode through impact-based frequency up-conversion mechanism,which is also improved by the low air damping.Thanks to this new design,a higher efficiency than the classic gap-closing comb structure is obtained,as a larger range of working frequency(1–180 Hz)in air.A maximum energy conversion of 450 nJ/cycle is obtained with a bias voltage of 45 V and an acceleration of 11 Hz,3 g_(peak).Working with a diode AC-DC rectifier,the proposed KEH is able to support up to 3 RFID communications within 16 s while operated at 11 Hz,3 g_(peak).
文摘Objective To determine the medicinal potential of various plants and their parts extracted with different solvents. Methods The total phenolic content of acetonitrile/water（60%-40%）（ACN/W） and aqueous（W） extract fractions was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography（HPLC）, and terpenic compounds were detected by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry（GC/MS）. Antioxidant activity of the samples was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl（DPPH） assay and β-carotene bleaching method. Cell viability was investigated by thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide [3-（4,5-dimethylthiazol）-2-yl 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide]（MTT） assay. The mechanisms involved in cytotoxic activity were investigated in a murine macrophage cell line（RAW 264.7） and cancer lines. Results Our findings show that 11 plant species exhibited biological activity. In addition, moderate antibacterial activity was reported against one or more of the tested bacterial strains at two concentrations： 300 μg and 3 mg/disc. Furthermore, our data reveal that among all plants investigated, some extract and hydrophobic fractions were potent scavengers of the DPPH radical（6.78 μg/m L 〈 EC50 〈 8.55 μg/mL）. Taken together, our results show that Nerium oleander（NOACN/W） and Pituranthos tortuosus（PTACN/W） were highly cytotoxic against RAW 264.7 cells with IC80 values of 0.36, and 1.55 μg/mL, respectively. In contrast, murine macrophage cell lines had low growth and were significantly sensitive to water extracts of Thymus hirtus sp. algeriensis（THW）, Lavandula multifida（LMW）, and ACN/W extract of Erica multiflora（EMACN/W） at doses 〉 400, 47.20, and 116.74 μg/m L, respectively. The current work demonstrates that RAW 264.7 cell proliferation was inhibited by samples in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion Our findings, validated through free radical scavenging activity, agar diffusion assay, and cytotoxicity of essential oils towards cancer cells, show that ethnomedicinal plants used
基金supported by Baolab Microsystems and by the Spanish Ministry of Science,Innovation and Universities,the State Research Agency(AEI),and the European Social Fund(ESF)under project RTI2018-099766-B-I00.
文摘This article presents several design techniques to fabricate micro-electro-mechanical systems(MEMS)using standard complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS)processes.They were applied to fabricate high yield CMOS-MEMS shielded Lorentz-force magnetometers(LFM).The multilayered metals and oxides of the back-end-of-line(BEOL),normally used for electronic routing,comprise the structural part of the MEMS.The most important fabrication challenges,modeling approaches and design solutions are discussed.Equations that predict the Q factor,sensitivity,Brownian noise and resonant frequency as a function of temperature,gas pressure and design parameters are presented and validated in characterization tests.A number of the fabricated magnetometers were packaged into Quad Flat No-leads(QFN)packages.We show this process can achieve yields above 95%when the proper design techniques are adopted.Despite CMOS not being a process for MEMS manufacturing,estimated performance(sensitivity and noise level)is similar or superior to current commercial magnetometers and others built with MEMS processes.Additionally,typical offsets present in Lorentz-force magnetometers were prevented with a shielding electrode,whose efficiency is quantified.Finally,several reliability test results are presented,which demonstrate the robustness against high temperatures,magnetic fields and acceleration shocks.
文摘We present the AS-Index, a new index structure for exact string search in disk resident databases. AS-Index relies on a classical inverted file structure, whose main innovation is a probabilistic search based on the properties of algebraic signatures used for both n-grams hashing and pattern search. Specifically, the properties of our signatures allow to carry out a search by inspecting only two of the posting lists. The algorithm thus enjoys the unique feature of requiring a constant number of disk accesses, independently from both the pattern size and the database size. We conduct extensive experiments on large datasets to evaluate our index behavior. They confirm that it steadily provides a search performance proportional to the two disk accesses necessary to obtain the posting lists. This makes our structure a choice of interest for the class of applications that require very fast lookups in large textual databases. We describe the index structure, our use of algebraic signatures, and the search algorithm. We discuss the operational trade-offs based on the parameters that affect the behavior of our structure, and present the theoretical and experimental performance analysis. We next compare the AS-Index with the state-of-the-art alternatives and show that 1） its construction time matches that of its competitors, due to the similarity of structures, 2） as for search time, it constantly outperforms the standard approach, thanks to the economical access to data complemented by signature calculations, which is at the core of our search method.
文摘An ADS （automated dispensing system） was implemented in our hospital pharmacy in 2008 to optimize and secure the medication process. The main objective of this study was to compare the projected and the real ROI （return on investment）, after seven years of use. ROI was calculated annually （from 2008 to 2015）, by deducting the cost of investment （ADS buying and implementation, maintenance, repairs and ADS upgrade） from the cost saving （drugs stock reduction and decrease of pharmacy staff dedicated to global dispensing）. In 2015, total costs saving （＋$1,141,987） were divided between decreasing drug stock value and reduction of pharmacy staff. Total costs of investment （-$978,656） were acquisition, maintenance, repairs and an unplanned upgrade costs. Finally, the real ROI was ＋$163,331 after seven years of use. In 2008, projected ROI was ＋$410,786. The real payback period has been increased by approximately two years （six years of use, instead of four years as expected）. Despite their cost, ADSs are a worthwhile investment, leading to a ROI within a few years. These economic considerations should be put into perspective with optimization of drugs stock management, greater efficiency of the global dispensing process, securitization of medication process and redeployment of pharmacy staff.
文摘Sensorial information is very difficult to elicit, to represent and to manage because of its complexity. Fuzzy logic provides an interesting means to deal with such information, since it allows us to represent imprecise, vague or incomplete descriptions, which are very common in the management of subjective information. Aggregation methods proposed by fuzzy logic are further useful to combine the characteristics of the various components of sensorial information.
文摘In this article, we describe the recent developments in higher education relative to the digital outcomes. Between these evolutions, we are witnessing new teaching locations or sites called ＂learning labs＂. The aim of this article is to present how the deployment of such a location （sometimes named third places） can offer some new perspectives, modifies the way of teaching and gives some interesting results both from the teachers＇ point of view （in terms of assessment of knowledge and know-how） and for the learners （in terms of motivation, immersion and exchanges）. In a second phase, we will focus on the predominant role that electronics can take in setting up formations, especially around ＂connected objects＂ （i.e. communicating devices connected to networks）. We will illustrate concretely our idea around an experimental training which has obtained the national label GEN （＂Grande Ecole du Numkrique＂）.
