Surface Microhardness Of Microhybrid And Nanocomposite After Storage In Mouth Washes.

BACKGROUND: Dental composites are aesthetic direct restorative material. However, the effect of mouthwashes on the durability of the material is controversial. This study evaluated and compared the influence of mouthwash composition on the surface hardness of nanofilled (Z350XT) and microhybrid (P60) resin composites. METHODS: Comparative in-vitro study was conducted over 6 months at Multan Medical & Dental College. Sixty-four disc-shape specimens of each {nanofilled (Z350XT) and microhybrid (P60)} resin composite were prepared and stored in distilled water at 37°C for 24 hours. The baseline microhardness reading (To) was recorded by Vickers micro-hardness tester. Samples were then randomly divided into four groups (n=16) and stored in Listerine Cool Mint, Colgate Plax, Clinica and distilled water (control). The hardness test was repeated after 12 hours and 24 hours of storage. RESULTS: Nanocomposite (Z350XT) had statistically (p<0.01) higher surface hardness. A significant reduction (p≤0.05) in microhardness was observed after immersion of samples in mouthwashes. The reduction in surface hardness was dependent on the immersion time and composition of mouthwashes. Listerine Cool Mint (alcohol-based mouthwash) had greatest degradation effect. CONCLUSIONS: Mouth rinses negatively impacted the surface microhardness of the tested resin-based materials. Alcohol-based mouthwashes had greater potential for reducing microhardness. Microhybrid composite appears to be a more suitable material for restoring teeth in patients accustomed to using regular mouthwashes.

Identification of novel prolyl oligopeptidase inhibitors from resin of Boswella papyrifera (Del.) Hochst. and their mechanism: Virtual and biochemical studies.

Prolyl endopeptidase or prolyl oligopeptidase (PEP or POP) is highly expressed in brain, and associated with autism spectrum disorders, dementia, aging and various psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia, mania, and neurodegeneration. To design highly potent and novel POP inhibitors, structure-based virtual screening was carried out using pharmacophore modeling and molecular docking studies. The docking based active compounds [incensole (1), incensole acetate (2), incensone (3), incensfuran (4), and epi-incensole acetate (5)] were selected and their dynamic behavior was studied through molecular dynamic simulation. Later, the top-ranked [predicted active, (1-5)] and lower-ranked [predicted in-active, (6-10)] compounds were tested by in-vitro assay. The in-vitro results showed that all top-ranked compounds (1-5) found significantly active against POP enzyme with IC50 values in range of 3.1 ± 0.45 to 24.4 ± 1.16 µM, while lower-ranked (6-10) were inactive, indicated accuracy of docking results. Kinetics studies on all active compounds 1-5 were carried out to investigate their mode of inhibition and dissociation constants Ki. All compounds showed competitive behaviors with Ki values in the range of 0.92-8.12 µM. The study resulted in the identification of five (1-5) diterpene based molecules from natural sources that significantly inhibit the activity of POP by competitive mode of inhibition.

Comparison of stent retriever thrombectomy using 3-dimensional patient-specific models of intracranial circulation with actual middle cerebral artery occlusion thrombectomy cases.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Stent retriever (SR) thrombectomy is commonly used for the treatment of emergent large vessel occlusion (ELVO) in acute ischemic stroke. Clot imaging parameters such as clot length, diameter, distance to the internal carotid artery terminus, and vessel angle where the SR is deployed may predict the likelihood of achieving first pass effect (FPE). Most of the proposed factors that seem to affect recanalization success have been studied individually, and conflicting data derived from clinical versus in vitro studies using 3-dimensional printed models of intracranial circulation currently exist. METHODS: Using patient-specific 3-dimensional phantoms of the cervical and intracranial circulation, we simulated middle cerebral arteries (MCA) M1 and M2 occlusions treated with SR thrombectomy using Solitaire (Medtronic) or Trevo (Styker). Our primary outcome was FPE, defined as Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score of 2c-3 achieved after a single thrombectomy attempt. We also performed retrospective analysis of same clot imaging characteristics of consecutive cases of MCA occlusion and its association with FPE matching the 3-dimensional in vitro experiments. Analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 25 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Chi-square tests and bivariate logistic regressions were the main statistical tests used in analysis. A p-value of less than .05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. Ninety-five confidence intervals (95% CI) were generated. RESULTS: We compared 41 thrombectomy experiments performed using patient-specific 3-dimensional in vitro models with a retrospective cohort of 41 patients treated with SR thrombectomy. We found that in the in vitro cohort, higher MCA angulation was associated with a lower likelihood of FPE (odds ratio [OR] = 0.967, 95% CI = 0.944-0.991, p = .008). Meanwhile in the in vivo cohort, higher MCA angulation was associated with a higher likelihood of FPE (OR = 1.039, 95% CI = 1.003-1.077, p = .033). Neither clot length nor location of clot (M1 vs. M2) was associated with a difference in FPE rates in either cohort. DISCUSSION: Comparison of SR thrombectomy performed during actual MCA occlusion cases versus patient-specific 3-dimensional replicas revealed MCA angulation as an independent predictor of procedure success or failure. However, the opposite direction of effect was observed between the two studied environments, indicating potential limitations of studying SR thrombectomy using 3-dimensional models of LVO.

Alzheimer's disease risk gene BIN1 induces Tau-dependent network hyperexcitability.

Genome-wide association studies identified the BIN1 locus as a leading modulator of genetic risk in Alzheimer's disease (AD). One limitation in understanding BIN1's contribution to AD is its unknown function in the brain. AD-associated BIN1 variants are generally noncoding and likely change expression. Here, we determined the effects of increasing expression of the major neuronal isoform of human BIN1 in cultured rat hippocampal neurons. Higher BIN1 induced network hyperexcitability on multielectrode arrays, increased frequency of synaptic transmission, and elevated calcium transients, indicating that increasing BIN1 drives greater neuronal activity. In exploring the mechanism of these effects on neuronal physiology, we found that BIN1 interacted with L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (LVGCCs) and that BIN1-LVGCC interactions were modulated by Tau in rat hippocampal neurons and mouse brain. Finally, Tau reduction prevented BIN1-induced network hyperexcitability. These data shed light on BIN1's neuronal function and suggest that it may contribute to Tau-dependent hyperexcitability in AD.

A study of the interaction between H. pylori mice passage strains and gastric epithelial cells.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections are very serious health problem that are further worsened by increasing/developing resistance to the current antibiotics. Therefore, new therapeutic agents are needed for H. pylori eradication. Use of a CD46 derived peptide (P3) as bactericidal agent against H. pylori has shown high activity rate in vivo and this study examines the changes in H. pylori features in response to effect of P3 treatment.AGS cells were infected with H. pylori wild type strain 67:21 and its mice passage strains (P3 treated and untreated strains) and further examined using immunoblotting assay, FACS and Urease activity analysis. Comparatively we found increased level of Urease alpha subunit A (UreA) and alkyl hydroperoxide reductase C (AhpC) proteins for P3 treated strain of H. pylori than its wild type or untreated strain after infection of AGS cells. Conclusion These results suggest that there might be a high rate of adherence to host cells for the P3 treated passage strain than untreated or wild type strain. Our findings also indicate that either adhesins are being changed or H. pylori interaction to the host cells is affected after P3 treatment.

Resource recovery of food waste through continuous thermophilic in-vessel composting.

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Gulf region, a very small amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) is treated for compost production. The produced compost through traditional methods of compost piles and trenches does not coincide with the international standards of compost quality. Therefore, in this study, a continuous thermophilic composting (CTC) method is introduced as a novel and efficient technique for treating food waste into a quality compost in a short period of time. The quality of the compost was examined by degradation rates of organic matter (OM), changes in total carbon (TC), ash contents, pH, dynamics in ammonium nitrogen (NH4-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3-N), and nitrification index (NI). The results showed that thermophilic treatment at 60 °C increased the pH of the substrate and promoted degradation and mineralization process. After 30 days of composting, the degree of OM degradation was increased by 43.26 and 19.66%, NH4-N by 65.22 and 25.23%, and NO3-N by 44.76 and 40.05% as compared to runs treated at 25 and 40 °C, respectively. The stability of the compost was attained after 30 to 45 days with quality better than the compost that was stabilized after 60 days of the experiment under mesophilic treatment (25 °C). The final compost also showed stability at room temperature, confirming the rapid degradation and maturation of food waste after thermophilic treatment. Moreover, the quality of produced compost is in line with the compost quality standard of United States (US), California, Germany, and Austria. Hence, CTC can be implemented as a novel method for rapid decomposition of food waste into a stable organic fertilizer in the given hot climatic conditions of KSA and other Gulf countries with a total net saving of around US $70.72 million per year.

Conformational stability, r(0) structural parameters, vibrational assignments and ab initio calculations of ethyldichlorophosphine.

Variable temperature (-60 to -100 °C) studies of ethyldichlorophosphine, CH3CH2PCl2, of the infrared spectra (4000-400 cm(-1)) dissolved in liquid xenon have been carried out. From these data, the two conformers have been identified and the enthalpy difference has been determined between the more stable trans conformer and the less stable gauche form to be 88±9 cm(-1) (1.04±0.11 kJ/mol). The percentage of abundance of the gauche conformer is estimated to be 57% at ambient temperature. The conformational stabilities have been predicted from ab initio calculations by utilizing many different basis sets up to aug-cc-pVTZ for both MP2(full) and density functional theory calculations by the B3LYP method. Vibrational assignments have been provided for both conformers which have been predicted by MP2(full)/6-31G(d) ab initio calculations to predict harmonic force fields, wavenumbers of the fundamentals, infrared intensities, Raman activities and depolarization ratios for both conformers. Estimated r0 structural parameters have been obtained from adjusted MP2(full)/6-311+G(d,p) calculations. The results are discussed and compared to the corresponding properties of some related molecules.