The synergistic effects of quercetin-containing 3D-printed mesoporous calcium silicate/calcium sulfate/poly-ε-caprolactone scaffolds for the promotion of osteogenesis in mesenchymal stem cells.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Several growth factors were proven to be effective in the treatment of bone defects and fractures and thus have great potential for bone regeneration applications. However, it needs low-temperature storage and transportation. This study aimed to investigate the herbal extract quercetin, a candidate for natural flavonoid compounds that have been reported to be involved in regulating inflammation and improving immunity and health. METHODS: In this study, we prepared quercetin (Q)/mesoporous calcium silicate calcium sulfate (MSCS)/polycaprolactone (PCL) composite scaffolds using the 3D printing technique, where we immersed it in simulated body fluid (SBF) solution and soaked it for up to 60 days. The characteristics of quercetin scaffold were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), immunofluorescence, and Alizarin Red S staining. RESULTS: We found precipitation of apatite on the surface of the scaffold. The in vitro results for cell proliferation, cytotoxicity, and immunofluorescence staining revealed that Wharton's jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJMSCs) with a 2% quercetin (Q2) scaffold were significantly higher in number than with 1% quercetin (Q1) and MSCS scaffolds. The phalloidin staining of cell skeletons on the surface of Q2 revealed powerful cell-to-cell adhesion and high expression of green fluorescence. The Q2 scaffold also had the highest calcium deposit levels based on Alizarin Red S staining in all scaffolds. This indicated that quercetin was able to induce cell growth and mitosis, echoing the previous preliminary results. CONCLUSION: Our initial results indicate that this natural herbal extract can be a good bone-based gene substitution for bone regeneration.

Surgical outcome of upper extremity fractures in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease (PD) have an increased risk for fractures. Currently, many studies have reported inferior outcomes in PD patients after orthopedic procedures. However, there are very few studies assessing the outcome of upper extremity fractures (UEF) in PD patients. In this study, we reviewed 40 patients with PD that received surgical intervention for an UEF. We retrospectively reviewed patients with PD that received surgical fixation for an UEF at a tertiary trauma center. The primary objective was to determine the treatment failure rate after surgical fixation. The secondary outcomes include mode of failure, time to treatment failure, length of hospital stay, readmission rate, reoperation rate, and postoperative complications. A total of 40 patients with PD (42 fractures) underwent surgery. The most common fracture type was radius fracture (n = 19), followed by humerus fracture (n = 15), metacarpal/phalangeal fracture (n = 5), clavicle fracture (n = 2) and olecranon fracture (n = 1). The overall treatment failure rate was 40.5% (n = 17). The time to treatment failure was 1.24 ± 3.1 months and length of hospital stay was 6 ± 3.9 days, the readmission rate within 30 days was 14% (n = 6), and reoperation rate was 14% (n = 6). The complication rate was 16.6% (n = 7) and patients with humeral fractures appeared to have the longest hospital stays (6.6 days) and increased complication rates (13%, n = 2). Patients with PD have high treatment failure rates despite surgical fixation of an UEF. These patients often have a frail status with multiple comorbidities which may complicate their postoperative course.Level of evidence level 4 case series.

The outcome for surgical fixation of distal radial fractures in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease: a cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurologic disorder causing postural instability and unsteady gait. These patients are at increased risk for fractures and have inferior outcomes after treatment. Several studies have evaluated the incidence and outcome of PD patients after hip fractures. However, there are limited studies assessing the outcome of upper extremity fractures in these patients. In this study, we evaluated the outcome of PD patients that received surgical intervention for distal radial fractures (DRF). We hypothesize that these patients have an inferior outcome after surgery in comparison with non-PD patients. METHODS: Between May 2005 and May 2017, we retrospectively reviewed all of the patients with DRF and subsequently underwent open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) at a level 1 trauma center. All of the surgeries were performed by fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeons. The inclusion criteria include patients with a definitive diagnosis of PD, non-pathological DRF, and a minimum follow-up of 1 year or up until the time of treatment failure was noted. Each PD patient was matched for age and gender to 3 non-PD patients. The primary objective was to determine the failure rate after surgical fixation for DRF. The secondary outcomes include time to treatment failure, reoperation rate, readmission rate, length of hospital stay, and postoperative complications. RESULTS: A total of 88 patients were included in this study (23 PD, 65 non-PD patients). All underwent ORIF and received standard postoperative follow-ups. The overall treatment failure rate in PD was 39.1% vs. 4.6% in the non-PD group (p < 0.05). The time to treatment failure were 9.11 ± 3.86 weeks and 14.67 ± 5.8 weeks for PD and non-PD, respectively (p < 0.05). PD patients had a significantly higher rate of failure when k-wires and ESF were used (p < 0.05%), while loss of reduction was the most common mode of failure in PD (44.4%). The length of hospital stay for PD was 5.3 ± 4.69 days compared with 3.78 ± 0.96 days for non-PD (p = 0.01). There were 3 PD patients readmitted within 30 days after surgery, and 1 patient had pneumonia after the surgery. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that patients with PD have a high treatment failure rate despite surgical intervention for DRF. PD patients had a longer hospital stay and had a shorter time to treatment failure. In treating PD patients complicated with DRF, the surgeon must take into consideration the complex disease course of PD and the associated comorbidities such as osteoporosis, frail status, and frequent falls. Rehabilitation and disposition plans should be discussed in advance and longer hospital stays should be expected. Level of evidenceLevel IV, retrospective cohort study.

Control of Silver Diffusion in Low-Temperature Co-Fired Diopside Glass-Ceramic Microwave Dielectrics.

Electrode material for low-temperature co-fired diopside glass-ceramic used for microwave dielectrics was investigated in the present work. Diffusion of silver from the electrode to diopside glass-ceramics degrades the performance of the microwave dielectrics. Two approaches were adopted to resolve the problem of silver diffusion. Firstly, silicon-oxide (SiO2) powder was employed and secondly crystalline phases were chosen to modify the sintering behavior and inhibit silver ions diffusion. Nanoscale amorphous SiO2 powder turns to the quartz phase uniformly in dielectric material during the sintering process, and prevents the silver from diffusion. The chosen crystalline phase mixing into the glass-ceramics enhances crystallinity of the material and inhibits silver diffusion as well. The result provides a method to decrease the diffusivity of silver ions by adding the appropriate amount of SiO2 and appropriate crystalline ceramics in diopside glass-ceramic dielectric materials. Finally, we used IEEE 802.11a 5.8 GHz as target specification to manufacture LTCC antenna and the results show that a good broadband antenna was made using CaMgSi2O6 with 4 wt % silicon oxide.

Plasma-on-chip device for stable irradiation of cells cultured in media with a low-temperature atmospheric pressure plasma.

We have developed a micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) device which enables plasma treatment for cells cultured in media. The device, referred to as the plasma-on-chip, comprises microwells and microplasma sources fabricated together in a single chip. The microwells have through-holes between the microwells and microplasma sources. Each microplasma source is located on the backside of each microwells. The reactive components generated by the microplasma sources pass through the through-holes and reach cells cultured in the microwells. In this study, a plasma-on-chip device was modified for a stable plasma treatment. The use of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) technique allowed a stable plasma treatment up to 3 min. The plasma-on-chip with the original electrode configuration typically had the maximum stable operation time of around 1 min. Spectral analysis of the plasma identified reactive species such as O and OH radicals that can affect the activity of cells. Plasma treatment was successfully performed on yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and green algae (Chlorella) cells. While no apparent change was observed with yeast, the treatment degraded the activity of the Chlorella cells and decreased their fluorescence. The device has the potential to help understand interactions between plasma and cells.