Eggshell membrane as a regenerative material in alveolar bone grafting in combination with advanced platelet rich fibrin.

Abstract: The eggshell and the eggshell membrane (ESM) are significant by-products of the poultry industry and are being utilized for various valuable purposes in health care, like soft tissue healing and pain alleviation. The aim and objective of our study are to assess the effect of the eggshell membrane on alveolar bone regeneration after tooth extraction. A total of 40 extraction sockets (bilateral) among 20 patients were assessed clinically for healing, and radiographic parameters of bone density and socket volume were assessed on CBCT at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Advanced platelet-rich fibrin was created from 5 ml of autologous blood from the patient and centrifuged for 15 minutes at 1500 RPM/168 RCF. The commercially available powdered form of egg shell membrane was used in the study. Based on the randomized allotment (coin-flip), A-PRF alone or A-PRF mixed with eggshell membrane was placed inside the extraction socket and was stabilized using 3-0 silk sutures. It was ob-served that wound healing was uneventful in all 20 patients. No evidence of dry sockets or allergic reactions was noted in any patient. Statistical analysis was done using the un-paired t-test and Mann-Whitney U test with SPSS version 20.0. P<0.05 was considered significant. On comparison of the mean bone density at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months, the socket density in the eggshell with the PRF group was higher compared to the control group. To conclude, eggshell membrane has good regenerative properties and excellent osteogenic capacity; therefore, it could be a useful graft due to its low cost, abundant availability, and simple application.

Diagnostic performance of 3.0 Tesla diffusion tensor imaging in the assessment of brain stem glioma grading.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the role of 3 Tesla Dif-fusion tensor imaging (DTI) in the assessment of brainstem glioma (BSG) grading. Materials and methods: The study comprised 22 patients, including pathology-proven 6 brainstem low-grade gliomas (BS-LGG) and 16 brainstem high-grade gliomas (BS-HGG). Characteristics including age, gender, fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD) of the tumor, peritumoral region, and the ratio of tumor FA to parenchymal FA, as well as tumor MD to parenchymal MD (rFA and rMD), were compared using Mann-Whitney U test, Shapiro-Wilk test, and Chi-square test. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used in the study to determine cut-off values and diagnostic values for grading brainstem gliomas (BSG) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Results: Our study revealed no significant difference in age and gender between the BS-LGG and BS-HGG groups (p>0.05). Fractional anisotropy (FA) indices on DTI MRI were found to be highly valuable in grading BSG, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.958 - 0.979 when using cut-off values of tFA, pFA, rtFA, and rpFA at 0.318, 0.378, 0.424, and 0.517, respectively. Particularly, rtFA demonstrated the hi-ghest diagnostic value with a sensitivity (Se) of 100%, specificity (Sp) of 93.8%, and AUC of 0.079. Conversely, the indices of tumor mean diffusivity (tMD), peritumoral edema region mean diffusivity (pMD), rtMD, and rpMD showed no diagnostic value in grading BSG. Conclusion: The fractional anisotropy (FA) value on DTI between the tumor region and normal brain parenchyma holds significant value in diagnosing brainstem gliomas (BSG) grading, thereby playing a crucial role in treatment planning and predicting outcomes for patients with brainstem gliomas.

Comparative Evaluation of the Remineralizing Potential of Flaxseed Paste, Chicken Eggshell Paste, and Fluoride Toothpaste on the Enamel of Primary Teeth Using Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis: An In-Vitro Study.

INTRODUCTION: Dental caries in primary teeth remains a critical public health challenge globally. Although fluoride toothpaste is the standard care for remineralization, its efficacy is limited by the requirement for bioavailable calcium and phosphate ions and its diminished performance on irregular dental surfaces. This study evaluates natural alternatives for dental care, focusing on their mineralizing potential compared to fluoride. AIM: This study aims to assess and compare the efficacy of remineralization by flaxseed paste and chicken eggshell paste to that of standard fluoride toothpaste on artificially demineralized primary teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We utilized an in vitro model, creating standardized white spot lesions on extracted primary teeth to simulate early carious lesions. The teeth were treated with preparations of flaxseed paste, chicken eggshell paste, and fluoride toothpaste. Remineralization was quantitatively analyzed using scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray analysis (SEM-EDX) conducted with a high-resolution scanning electron microscope (HRSEM) from Thermoscientific Apreo S at Sir C V Raman Research Park, SRM Institute of Science & Technology, Kattankulathur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. RESULTS: Quantitative analysis revealed that both flaxseed and chicken eggshell pastes not only met but, in some cases, exceeded the remineralization performance of fluoride toothpaste. Significant differences were observed in the deposition of calcium and phosphate ions on the lesion surfaces. CONCLUSION: The study conducted at the Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry at SRM Dental College, Kattankulathur, confirms the potential of flaxseed and chicken eggshell pastes as viable, cost-effective, and accessible alternatives to fluoride toothpaste for the remineralization of enamel in primary teeth. These findings support the inclusion of these natural agents in oral hygiene regimens and underscore the importance of further research into holistic approaches for the prevention and treatment of dental caries in children.

Comparative Evaluation of Bioavailability, Efficacy and Safety of MICROCORE NESC® with Calcium Carbonate and Calcium Citrate Malate in Osteopenic and Osteoporotic Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease characterized by loss of bone mass, reduced bone strength and increased bone fragility predisposing to fractures. This study was planned to evaluate the efficacy, safety and relative bioavailability of Microcore NESC® (Natural Egg Shell Calcium) in osteopenia and osteoporotic patients. Methods: This was a randomized, open label, parallel group interventional clinical trial which included 60 study participants with osteopenia and osteoporosis who were randomized into three groups (20 each). Group 1-Microcore NESC®, Group 2-Shelcal and Group 3-CCM with 12 weeks treatment period. The participants were evaluated for relative oral bioavailability, bone mineral density (BMD), serum osteocalcin, change in VAS pain scale and quality of life-Questionnaires. Results: There was significant improvement in the BMD T scores-post-treatment with MICROCORE NESC® and Shelcal. Higher percentage of improvement in calcium absorption as depicted by an increase in serum calcium levels (10.23%) in the MICROCORE NESC®-treated group when compared to Shelcal (7.7%) and CCM (7.2%). The relative bioavailability of MICROCORE NESC® with respect to Shelcal was 93%. Discussion: MICROCORE NESC®, has shown a better oral relative bio availability of calcium (93%), better improvement of BMD T score compared to Shelcal and CCM. The general health status has improved to very good/excellent in 83% of patients in MICROCORE NESC®-treated group. Thus, MICROCORE NESC® can be considered a better and safe calcium supplement, as there are very few side effects observed without any clinically significant abnormalities in lab parameters.

Multilevel sensor for monitoring external and internal environment of eggs.

Although it is well known that incubation environment has a great influence on embryogenesis and post-hatching performance of birds, not much is known about how external thermal, sound and light stimuli are isolated by eggshells and perceived by embryos. In this context, this study aimed to develop, calibrate and evaluate a multilevel sensor for integrated monitoring of the external (incubator) and internal environment of eggs. The variables of interest for the external environment were air temperature and relative humidity. For the internal environment, shell temperature, internal temperature, luminosity and sound pressure level were considered. The sensor was developed with an ATmega328 microcontroller, in open-source prototyping, using electronic components which are compatible with the egg's physical structure. Calibrations were carried out in a controlled environment, comparing the multilevel sensor with commercial equipment, obtaining coefficients of determination of R 2 > 0.90 for all variables studied. The multilevel sensor was also validated, simulating a commercial incubation situation and comparing eggs with 2 shell colors (white and brown) and internal volume (intact and empty). Validation results showed that white-shelled eggs insulate less external light (P < 0.001) and full eggs presented higher internal temperatures, greater light and lower sound pressure levels compared to empty eggs (P < 0.001). The multilevel sensor developed here is an innovative proposal for monitoring, simultaneously and in real time, different variables of interest in the commercial incubation environment.

Estimating yolk weight of duck eggs using VIS-NIR Spectroscopy and RGB images and whole egg weights.

Duck eggs are widely-consumed food and cooking ingredient. The heavier yolk weight (YW) corresponds to a larger size and greater value. However, there is no nondestructive method available to estimate the weight of the yolk. Accurate weight prediction of duck egg yolks must combine both phenotypic and internal information. In this research, we used Visible-Near Infrared (VIS-NIR) spectroscopy to obtain internal information of duck eggs, and a high-definition camera to capture their phenotypic features. YW was predicted by combining the reduced spectral and RGB image information with the whole egg weight. We also investigated the impact of color and thickness of the duck egg on spectral transmittance (ST), as these factors can influence the extent of ST. The results showed that the spectral curves of duck eggs produced 2 peaks and 1 valley, which may be caused by the dual-frequency absorption of the C-H group and O-H group, and can be used to symbolize the internal information of duck eggs. The ST was somewhat affected by the color and thickness of the duck eggshell. Before modelling, Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to significantly reduce the dimensionality of the RGB image with spectral data. A partial least squares regression (PLSR) model was utilized to fit all the features. The test set yielded a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.82 and a Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) of 1.05 g. After removing the eggshell's color and thickness features, the model showed an R2 of 0.79 and an RMSE of 1.11 g. This study demonstrated that the yolk weight of duck eggs can be estimated using VIS-NIR spectroscopy, RGB images and whole egg weight. Furthermore, the effects of shell color and thickness can be neglected.

Preparation and extraction of chorion proteins from Salmo salar embryos at the pigmented eye stage for electrophoresis with SDS-polyacrylamide gel.

The chorion fulfills important functions in fish embryos, including protecting the embryo during development. The characterization of the protein profile of this envelope could be used as a bioindicator in the evaluation of the quality of embryonic development. The object of this work was to validate a standardized protocol for protein extraction from chorion of Salmo salar embryos at 280 accumulated thermal units (ATU) by comparing and combining existing methods. The protocol consists of consecutive washing of the chorion samples followed by protein extraction with the solution that was named SDS solution (Tris-HCl 100 mM (pH 8), Urea 8 M, 1% SDS, ß-mercaptoethanol 300 mM and EGTA 10 Mm, and 1% protease inhibitor cocktail) and mechanical methods. Protein extraction is enhanced by a working temperature of 75 °C and use of a disperser. The protein concentration was quantified by Bradford Assay. After extraction, the samples were diluted (dilution factor 10) before reading against the calibration curve. After gel electrophoresis with a load of 3 µg of protein, staining showed more than 4 bands, with molecular weights between 25 kDa and 180 kDa.•The protein profile of fish chorion was between 25 kDa and 180 kDa.•Solution containing 1% SDS allows a higher extraction of proteins from the chorion of Atlantic salmon embryos with 280 ATU.•Chorion protein identification is a valuable tool in determining gamete and embryo quality in fish.

Synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of fluoride removal capacity of calcium-impregnated Euphorbia neriifolia carbon (Ca-Enc).

Fluoride ions must be removed from drinking water in order to prevent fluorosis. Many conventional techniques have been examined for the defluoridation of water all over the world. As far as fluoride ions are concerned, adsorption is the most promising method for the removal of them from aqueous environments. In the present study, we aim to find out how well Euphorbia neriifolia plants can remove fluoride from water using activated and carbonized adsorbents. The Euphorbia neriifolia plant stem was pulverized, dried, and activated using calcium ions extracted from used eggshells collected nearby. The synthesized adsorbent material before and after adsorption of fluoride ions was systematically characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM with EDAX, TGA, and zero-point charge. The defluoridation capacity of the as-prepared adsorbent material was investigated using batch adsorption studies. Various influencing factors such as contact time, solution pH, initial fluoride concentration, mass of the adsorbent, temperature, and co-existing ions were systematically investigated towards the removal of fluoride ion on prepared adsorbent material. This study was conducted to identify the optimal conditions of prepared adsorbent for the maximum removal of fluoride ions from aqueous solution. A groundwater sample with fluoride content of more than 1.5 ppm was taken and studied in this present work. A basic quality indicator of the synthesized material was examined, and its ability to remove fluoride was determined. The findings provide insight into the selective elimination of fluoride ions from aqueous environment.

Enabling High-Performance Pressure and Proximity Dual-Mode Sensing with EGaIn/Ag/ZnO Egg-Shell Ternary Composite Particles.

Eutectic gallium-indium alloy (EGaIn) is a biocompatible liquid metal, promising for wearable electronics. Through functionalization and formation of composites, EGaIn-based materials have shown potential in multifunctional sensing devices. Here, egg-shell EGaIn/Ag/ZnO ternary composite particles were prepared through an ultrasound-assisted displacement reaction combined with room-temperature hydrolysis. The composite was further constructed as a wearable sensor capable of both pressure and proximity detection. For pressure sensing, due to the decrease in the Young's modulus of the egg-shell structure and the presence of the electrical double layers between Ag and ZnO, which enriched surface charges, the sensor showed excellent sensitivity at low pressures (2.17 KPa-1, <0.4 KPa) and thus the ability to sense body movements. For proximity sensing, the composite sensor was able to detect approaching objects that were up to 20 cm away. By combining and fitting the sensing curves for both the touchless and touching modes, the extracted parameters were used to create fingerprints for different objects, demonstrating the great potential of our sensor in the differentiation and identification of unknown objects for future robotics and artificial intelligence.

Effects of age and eggshell thickness on the hatching results of stored broiler breeder eggs.

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of breeder age and eggshell thickness on the hatching results of broiler breeders. A total of 3000 eggs were collected from three flocks at different ages, viz., 27 (young), 48 (middle-aged) and 65 (old) weeks. Eggs were individually weighed and eggshell thicknesses were determined using an ultrasound gauge. The eggs of each age group were classified as thin-, medium- or thick-shelled and stored for 7 days at 18°C and 60% relative humidity prior to incubation. Total egg weight loss during storage and incubation was higher in middle-aged (48 weeks old) flock eggs (11.46%) than in young (10.14%) and old (10.37%) flock eggs. Hatchability was significantly lower in the eggs of the old flock than of the other flocks. The highest hatchability (70.6%) was observed in the young flock. Eggs with thick shells better tolerated the detrimental effects of storage and more eggs remained fertile than amongst the medium- and thin-shelled eggs. The overall hatchability of the old flock was 38.0%, whilst hatchability of set eggs in the thick-shelled group of old flock eggs was 58.3%.

Evaluation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells with eggshell membrane for full-thickness wound healing in a rabbit model.

Biomaterials capable of managing wounds should have essential features like providing a natural microenvironment for wound healing and as support material for stimulating tissue growth. Eggshell membrane (ESM) is a highly produced global waste due to increased egg consumption. The unique and fascinating properties of ESM allow their potential application in tissue regeneration. The wound healing capacity of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs), ESM, and their combination in rabbits with full-thickness skin defect (2 × 2 cm2) was evaluated. Twenty-five clinically healthy New Zealand White rabbits were divided into five groups of five animals each, with group A receiving no treatment (control group), group B receiving only fibrin glue (FG), group C receiving FG and ESM as a dressing, group D receiving FG and BM-MSCs, and group E receiving a combination of FG, ESM, and BM-MSCs. Wound healing was assessed using clinical, macroscopical, photographic, histological, histochemical, hematological, and biochemical analysis. Macroscopic examination of wounds revealed that healing was exceptional in group E, followed by groups D and C, compared to the control group. Histopathological findings revealed improved quality and a faster rate of healing in group E compared to groups A and B. In addition, healing in group B treated with topical FG alone was nearly identical to that in control group A. However, groups C and D showed improved and faster recovery than control groups A and B. The macroscopic, photographic, histological, and histochemical evaluations revealed that the combined use of BM-MSCs, ESM, and FG had superior and faster healing than the other groups.

Processing and characterization of egg shell derived nano-hydroxyapatite synthetic bone for Orthopaedic and Arthroscopy implants and substitutes in dentistry.

The present work is focused on the nano-Hydroxyapatite (nHAp) synthesis with two different Indian breed Aseel and Kadaknath eggshells. The alloplast implants were developed through the foam replica method with polyurethane 45-PPI as a porous template. The synthesized nHAp was characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The FE-SEM images of the nHAp showed the one dimensional clustered nanoparticles and the X-ray diffraction spectrum confirms that the major phase was hydroxyapatite with a small trace of ß-tricalcium phosphate. The maximum compression strength of the sample was 5.49 ± 0.12 MPa which is in the range of the compression strength of human trabecular bone. The thermal and degradability studies results confirmed that these are highly stable and provides necessary a resorption needed for new bone tissue formation. Besides, the antimicrobial activity against tested human microbiome are satisfactory and the cell viability towards MG 63 human osteoblast-like cells provides a potential pathway for developing the nHAp implants for bone tissue engineering.

Characterization of eggshell as a bio-regeneration material.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify and summarize the characteristic features of eggshell for regeneration purpose in oral surgery procedures. Methods: A review of literature was undertaken based on the PubMed database. A search to reveal the current state of knowledge and the current uses of the eggshell as a biomaterial was performed. The characteristics of the materials, the specific use, the procedure and the outcome were extracted from the articles. Results: The materials have been found to be used in humans, animals, and in vitro studies. There is a wide use regarding oral surgery especially in experimental models. There have also been attempts to enhance certain properties and improve the capabilities of eggshell as a biomaterial. There is yet a commercial product to be developed and approved for human use. Conclusions: Eggshell can be an important biowaste which can be of use in guided bone regeneration procedures, but it has not yet entered the commercial phase and approval through official regulation channels.

Blood lead concentration in an urban parrot: Nestling Kaka (Nestor meridionalis) demonstrate evidence of exposure to lead via eggs and parental feeding.

Lead is a persistent, highly toxic heavy metal known to affect physiological function and survival in birds. Nestlings are particularly at risk as exposure during critical stages of development can result in life-long deficits. Urban environments are increasingly associated with high levels of contamination and lead exposure at the urban-wildlife interface can have significant population health effects on wildlife. Wellington has an established population of Kaka (Nestor meridionalis) and provides the ideal opportunity to study the risks of lead exposure in an urban context. We sampled 139 nestlings over two breeding seasons (2015/16 and 2016/17) and examined concentrations of lead in blood samples. Nestlings were subjected to a clinical and neurological examination. Lead concentrations of egg shells were measured to evaluate maternal transfer of lead to nestlings. Overall, 36.7 % of nestlings showed evidence of lead exposure based on blood lead concentrations, ranging from <3.3µg/dL to 42.9µg/dL, with no detectable clinical signs of toxicity. The pattern of exposure in the majority of nestlings is indicative of exposure from hatch via eggshells and also direct parental feeding of lead following hatch. Lead concentrations in this cohort of Kaka have the potential to contribute to morbidity and mortality in this species. The lack of measurable neurological or physiological deficits associated with lead exposure is suggestive of an innate tolerance to these concentrations of lead in this population. However, the well-described subclinical and persistent effects of lead suggests a need for continued monitoring of this toxicant and its effects on Kaka behaviour and neurodevelopment.

TiO2 nanoparticles derived from egg shell waste: Eco synthesis, characterization, biological and photocatalytic applications.

Biosynthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles has attracted much attention in recent years owing to the increasing impact for improving hygienic substances, cost effective approaches, environment friendly solvents and reusable resources. The present study has shown the eco synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles using the aqueous extract of egg shell waste. UV, XRD, FT-IR, and FE-SEM with EDX methods were implied for TiO2 nanoparticles. The agar well approach was used to investigate the antimicrobial properties of biosynthesized nanoparticles against pathogenic organisms. The cytotoxicity analysis was investigated by MTT assay method and photocatalytic activity was studied using methylene blue, methyl orange and Congo red dye. X-ray diffraction studies showed that the presence of tetragonal structure. The crystallite size of synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles is 27.3 nm. FE-SEM analysis indicates that the average grain size of the prepared sample was found to be in the range of 30-40 nm. Eco synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles displayed amazing antimicrobial efficacies against human pathogenic organisms and obtained excellent cytotoxicity investigation was performed against Osteosarcoma cell lines (MG-63). Further it was also found that the expression of impressive catalytic efficiency, 91.1 percent decreased in 60 min for methylene blue. From the results, we found that eco synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles has promising utility in multidisciplinary like antimicrobial, anticancer and photocatalytic applications.

Eggshell membrane modulates gut microbiota to prevent murine pre-cachexia through suppression of T helper cell differentiation.

BACKGROUND: Cachexia is a life-threatening condition observed in several pathologies, such as cancer or chronic diseases. Interleukin 10 (Il10) gene transfer is known to improve cachexia by downregulating Il6. Here, we used an IL10-knockout mouse model to simulate cachexia and investigate the effects of eggshell membrane (ESM), a resistant protein, on general pre-cachexia symptoms, which is particularly important for the development of cachexia therapeutics. METHODS: Five-week-old male C57BL6/J mice were fed an AIN-93G powdered diet (WT), and 5-week-old male B6.129P2-Il10 < tm1Cgn>/J (IL10-/- ) mice were fed either the AIN-93G diet (KO) or an 8% ESM-containing diet (KOE) for 28 weeks. The tissue weight and levels of anaemia-, blood glucose-, lipid metabolism-, and muscular and colonic inflammation-related biochemical markers were measured. Transcriptomic analysis on liver and colon mucus and proteomic analysis on skeletal muscle were performed. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis was used to identify molecular pathways and networks. Caecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were identified using HPLC, and caecal bacteria DNA were subjected to metagenomic analysis. Flow cytometry analysis was performed to measure the CD4+ IL17+ T cells in mesenteric lymph nodes. RESULTS: The body weight, weight of gastrocnemius muscle and fat tissues, colon weight/length ratio, plasma HDL and NEFA, muscular PECAM-1 levels (P < 0.01), plasma glucose and colonic mucosal myeloperoxidase activity (P < 0.05) and T helper (Th) 17 cell abundance (P = 0.071) were improved in KOE mice over KO mice. Proteomic analysis indicated the protective role of ESM in muscle weakness and maintenance of muscle formation (>1.5-fold). Transcriptomic analysis revealed that ESM supplementation suppressed the LPS/IL1-mediated inhibition of RXR function pathway in the liver and downregulated the colonic mucosal expression of chemokines and Th cell differentiation-related markers (P < 0.01) by suppressing the upstream BATF pathway. Analysis of the intestinal microenvironment revealed that ESM supplementation ameliorated the microbial alpha diversity and the abundance of microbiota associated with the degree of inflammation (P < 0.05) and increased the level of total organic acids, particularly of SCFAs such as butyrate (2.3-fold), which could inhibit Th1 and Th17 production. CONCLUSIONS: ESM supplementation ameliorated the chief symptoms of cachexia, including anorexia, lean fat tissue mass, skeletal muscle wasting and reduced physical function. ESM also improved colon and skeletal muscle inflammation, lipid metabolism and microbial dysbiosis. These results along with the suppressed differentiation of Th cells could be associated with the beneficial intestinal microenvironment and, subsequently, attenuation of pre-cachexia. Our findings provide insights into the potential of ESM in complementary interventions for pre-cachexia prevention.

Egg Shell Membrane as an Alternative Vascular Patch for Arterial Angioplasty.

Introduction: The egg shell membrane (ESM) is always considered as waste, but recent studies have shown that it has the potential to yield rapid re-endothelialization in vitro. We hypothesized that ESM and heparin-conjugated ESM (HESM) can be used as arterial patch in a rat aortic angioplasty model. Method: Sprague-Dawley rat (200 g) abdominal aortic patch angioplasty model was used. Decellularized rat thoracic aorta (TA) patch was used as the control; ESM patch was made of raw chicken egg; heparin-coated ESM (HESM) patch was made by using dopamine; anticoagulation properties were verified using platelet adhesion tests; the TA, ESM, and HESM patches were implanted to the rat aorta and harvested at day 14; and the samples were examined by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. Result: The ESM patch showed a similar healing process to the TA patch; the cells could migrate and infiltrate into both patches; there was a neointima with von Willebrand factor-positive endothelial cells; the endothelial cells acquired arterial identity with Ephrin-B2- and dll-4-positive cells; there were proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive cells, and PCNA and alpha smooth muscle actin dual-positive cells in the neointima in both groups. Heparin was conjugated to the patch successfully and showed a strong anticoagulation property in vitro. HESM could decrease mural thrombus formation after rat aortic patch angioplasty. Conclusion: The ESM is a natural scaffold that can be used as a vascular patch; it showed a similar healing process to decellularized TA patch; HESM showed anticoagulation property both in vitro and in vivo; and the ESM may be a promising vascular graft in the clinic.

'Egg-cased heart': a multimodality imaging approach to chronic constrictive pericarditis with egg-shell calcification: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Constrictive pericarditis (CP), also known as Pick's disease, is a sequela of chronic inflammation of the pericardium. Pericardial calcification is a common occurrence in CP; however, extensive egg-shell like calcification is rare. Our case, highlights, how a multi-modality imaging in a middle aged female helped to diagnose chronic constrictive pericarditis (CCP) with egg-shell like calcification encasing the heart. CASE SUMMARY: Middle aged female with features of right heart failure, was diagnosed as CP based on two-dimensional echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. Computed tomography (CT) scan chest showed extensive egg-shell like calcification encasing the heart, suggestive of calcific CP. Subsequently, she underwent pericardiectomy, through median sternotomy approach and is currently on follow-up with asymptomatic cardiac status. DISCUSSION: Extensive pericardial calcification encasing the heart like an egg-shell is rare in CCP. Likelihood of incomplete pericardial resection is high in calcific CP and hence a median sternotomy is preferred over anterolateral thoracotomy. A preoperative non-contrast CT scan defines the thickness, anatomic extent the calcification and its adherence to myocardium and surrounding structures. A reconstructed volume-rendered image delineates the extent of calcification precisely, thus determining the optimum surgical approach. A multi-modality imaging in CP, especially in calcific CP, is thus of paramount importance.

Microwave assisted biodiesel production from chicken feather meal oil using Bio-Nano Calcium oxide derived from chicken egg shell.

Environmental concerns have initiated the search for greener measures to mitigate pollution issues. Bio Nano CaO was synthesized by reducing CaO extracted from chicken egg shell using tea decoction. The synthesized material was characterized by physico-chemical techniques such as XRD, TGA, BET surface area analyser, TGA and SEM techniques. XRD studied confirmed the crystalline nature of material. The prepared material was found to be stable till 450 οC from TGA study. The SEM pictures displayed uniform and discrete particles which portrays the high probable sites that maximises the catalytic activity. The optimization of microwave assisted Biodiesel synthesis from chicken feather oil through Transesterification process using the bio-synthesized catalytic material was the main aim of the study. A 500 W microwave irradiation of Chicken feather meal oil using 8:1 Methanol:Oil input, 1% Bio Nano CaO concentration, 5 min of reaction time resulted in 95% conversion of chicken feather meal oil into chicken feather meal methyl esters. The Biodiesel was showed low viscosity (4.15 mm2/s), high heating value (50 MJ/kg), high flash point (153οC), reasonable pour point (12 οC) and good cetane number (50 min). The future works will be concentrated on the engine studies related to Torque, fuel consumption, emission data by using the synthesized Biodiesel.

Immobilization of Urease onto Modified Egg Shell Membrane through Cross Linking

Background: Immobilization is an approach in industry to improve stability and reusability of urease. The efficiency of this technique depends on the type of membrane and the method of stabilization. Methods: The PEI-modified egg shell membrane was used to immobilize urease by absorption and glutaraldehyde cross-linking methods. The membranes were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and AFM, and Nessler method was applied to measure the kinetic of the immobilized enzymes. Finally, the storage stability (6 °C for 21 days) and reusability (until enzyme activity reached to zero) of the immobilized enzymes were investigated. Results: Based on FTIR, three new peaks were observed in both the absorption- (at 1389.7, 1230.8, and 1074.2 cm-1) and the cross-linking (at 1615-1690, 1392.7, 1450 cm-1) immobilized enzymes. The surface roughness of the native membrane was altered after PEI treatment and enzyme immobilization. The optimal pH of cross-linking immobilized enzymes was shifted to a more neutral pH, while it was alkaline in adsorption-immobilized and free enzymes. The reaction time decreased in all immobilized enzymes (100 min for free enzyme vs. 60 and 30 min after immobilizing by adsorption and cross-linking methods, respectively). The optimal temperature for all enzymes was 70 °C and they had a higher Km and a lower Vmax than free enzyme. The stability and reusability of urease were improved by both methods. Conclusion: Our findings propose these approaches as promising ways to enhance the urease efficiency for its applications in industries and medicines.