Retrospective study on 696 cases of traumatic dental injuries of primary dentition in Xi'an, China.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to explore the epidemiological characteristics and treatment of traumatic dental injuries of primary dentition (TDI-p) in Xi'an, China. MATERIALS: Data of children with TDI-p admitted between January 2018 and December 2019 at the Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Xi'an Jiaotong University Stomatology Hospital were retrospectively analysed. The epidemiological distribution characteristics and related treatment information of TDI-p were described. CONCLUSION: Compared with permanent dentition, TDI-p has its particularities, such as type of trauma, treatment procedure, and behavioural management. More attention should be paid to TDI-p by both dentists and guardians.

Direct observation of muonium reacting with uncapped gold nanoparticles in porous silica and nature of the final state.

We report the reaction of muonium (Mu = [µ+e-]), a light isotopic analog of hydrogen, with uncapped gold nanoparticles embedded in mesoporous silica. Using the radio-frequency muon spin rotation (RF-µSR) technique, we directly observe and characterize the resulting final state on the nanoparticle surface, showing conclusively its diamagnetic nature. The magnetic environment experienced by the reacted muons is only weakly perturbed compared to that of muons in a silica reference, consistent with the surface of the gold nanoparticles being metallic and non-magnetic. We demonstrate the potential of RF-µSR for the investigation of the surface properties of nanoparticles and show the feasibility of Knight shift measurements of muons on metal surfaces.

The Unhealthy Lifestyle Factors Associated with an Increased Risk of Poor Nutrition among the Elderly Population in China.

OBJECTIVES: The associations between nutritional status and lifestyle factors have not been well established. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of poor nutrition and to examine the relationships between nutritional status and unhealthy lifestyle and other related factors among the elderly. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Liaobu Town, Dongguan city, China. A total of 708 community-dwelling older adults aged ≥60 years were recruited by stratified random sampling. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, health and lifestyle factors, and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) scores were collected using structured questionnaires via face-to-face interviews. A multivariate logistic regression model was constructed to identify the risk factors of poor nutrition. RESULTS: The prevalence of malnutrition among the elderly adults in this study was 1.3%, and 24.4% were at risk of malnutrition (RM). Poor nutrition was significantly associated with female gender, older age, lower education, a high number of self-reported chronic diseases, and hospitalization in the last year. Unhealthy lifestyle factors associated with poor nutrition included current smoking status, higher alcohol consumption, lack of physical activity, longer duration of sitting, negative attitude towards life, and a poor family relationship. CONCLUSIONS: While the prevalence of malnutrition was low, RM was high in the elderly population in China. The determinants of malnutrition were explored and the relationships between nutritional status and unhealthy lifestyle factors were examined. The results of this study provide information for future longitudinal studies with multi-factorial interventional design in order to determine the effects of the causal relationships.

Communication: Chemisorption of muonium on gold nanoparticles: A sensitive new probe of surface magnetism and reactivity.

Chemisorption of muonium onto the surface of gold nanoparticles has been observed. Muonium (µ+e-), a light hydrogen-like atom, reacts chemically with uncapped 7 nm gold nanoparticles embedded in mesoporous silica (SBA-15) with a strong temperature-dependent rate. The addition rate is fast enough to allow coherent spin transfer into a diamagnetic muon state on the nanoparticle surface. The muon is well established as a sensitive probe of static or slowly fluctuating magnetic fields in bulk matter. These results represent the first muon spin rotation signal on a nanoparticle surface or any metallic surface. Only weak magnetic effects are seen on the surface of these Au nanoparticles consistent with Pauli paramagnetism.

TRAF1 is a key mediator for hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 1 (TRAF1), an adapter in signal transduction, is involved in immunity and in apoptotic processes in various cell types. However, little is known about its function and the molecular mechanism of its activation during liver injury. This study tested the hypothesis that TRAF1 is a mediator of cell injury after hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury (I/R). In a mouse hepatic I/R injury model, we found that TRAF1 expression was highly induced. TRAF1 deficiency was liver protective, whereas sustained TRAF1 overexpression aggravated liver injury in response to hepatic I/R injury. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that a deficiency of TRAF1 in cultured hepatocytes led to the inhibition of NF-κB-mediated inflammatory responses, suppression of the ASK/JNK pro-death pathway and promotion of cellular regeneration capacity. In contrast, the converse occurred in hepatocyte-specific TRAF1 transgenic mice. TRAF1 activated the ASK1/JNK pathway and promoted hepatic injury. Our study demonstrates that TRAF1 is a crucial early mediator of hepatic I/R injury and suggests that TRAF1 may be a potential gene therapy target for the treatment of liver injury.

Screening of feature genes of the renal cell carcinoma with DNA microarray.

AIM: To investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) by using the microarray expression profiles of normal kidney and RCC tissue for early diagnosis and treatment of RCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The gene expression profile of GES781 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus database, including including nine tissue samples of RCC tissues removed from nine patients and eight adjacent normal renal tissue samples. We identified the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by Multtest package in R software. The screened DEGs were further analyzed by bioinformatics methods. Firstly, the comparison of the DEGs expression degree was performed by cluster analysis. Secondly, DAVID was used to perform functional analysis of up- and down- regulated genes and the protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were constructed by prePPI. Finally, the pathways of genes in PPI networks were discovered by WebGestalt. RESULTS: Compared with the control, we screened 648 down-regulated and 681 up-regulated DEGs. And the down- and up-regulated DEGs with maximum expression degree were UMOD (uromodulin) and FABP7 (fatty acid binding protein 7), respectively. There was significant difference in the gene expression between the normal kidney and RCC tissue. The up-regulated DEGs in RCC tissue were significantly related to the immune responses and the down-regulated DEGs were significantly related to the oxidation reduction. The most significant pathway in the PPI network of UMOD was cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction. CONCLUSIONS: The screened DEGs have the potential to become candidate target molecules to monitor, diagnose and treat the RCC, and might be beneficial for the early diagnosis and medication control of RCC.

Conditions for electron capture by an ultraintense stationary laser beam

We present in this paper a quantitative study of an effect, in which a low-energy free electron is captured and violently accelerated to GeV final kinetic energy by a stationary extra-high-intensity laser beam (Q0 identical witheE/m(e)omegac greater, similar100). The conditions under which this phenomenon can occur, such as the momentum range, incident angle of the incoming electron, the waist width of the laser beam, etc., have been investigated in detail.