[Development of Nasal Continuum Minimally Invasive Surgical Robot System].

In order to improve the operation difficulties in the narrow space of the nasal maxillary sinus, the nasal continuum minimally invasive surgical robot system is designed. The ball-and-socket joints and NiTiNol tubes are used as the main body of the continuum structure to improve the degree of freedom. The hardware systems and software systems are designed. The security control policies are planned. Finally, the robot confirmed prototype experiments are conducted and the feasibility of continuum robot confirmed through master-slave control experiment and animal experiment.

PBAT/gelatin hybrid nanofibers based on post-double network bond processing as a promising vascular substitute.

The development of injured vascular tissue substitutes with proangiogenic, anti-thrombus, and anti-hyperplasia activity still remains a major challenge in vascular tissue engineering. In this study, we have prepared a series of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate)/gelatin hybrid nanofibers (P/G) through random electrospinning and post-double network bond crosslinking for process optimization according to physiochemical and mechanical properties as well as promoting enhanced vascular cell viability in vitro. The gelatin matrix was shown to be successfully contained in the bicomponent hybrid P/G nanofibers, and the formed P/G nanofibers exhibited a uniform and smooth morphology. Importantly, the bicomponent hybrid nanofibers showed a potentially reliable ability to promote the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). In addition, all the results demonstrated the significantly stable microstructure, appropriate surface wettability, matched mechanical properties, and excellent blood compatibility, cellular compatibility, and histocompatibility of hybrid nanofibers containing 15 wt% gelation (P/G-15) compared to PG-0, P/G-5, and PG-25 groups, indicating their potential for vascular injury healing.

Prevalence of and related risk factors in oral mucosa diseases among residents in the Baoshan District of Shanghai, China.

BACKGROUND: Oral mucosal diseases (OMDs) encompass a variety of different types of diseases. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence and related risk factors of OMDs among residents in the Baoshan District of Shanghai, China, and provide a scientific basis for prevention and control strategies. METHODS: A sample of 653 residents aged 17 to 92 years from the Baoshan community was investigated in 2014. Each resident was surveyed by questionnaire to evaluate their oral mucosa and oral mucosa examinations were conducted. We followed up with 607 residents in 2018. All data were statistically analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 software package (Chicago, IL, USA) at the general population, gender and age levels. A X2 test was used to compare rates of risk factors and logistic regression analysis was used to detect the correlation between disease and risk factors. RESULTS: The prevalence rate of OMDs was found to be 9.19%-9.56% (2014-2018). The most common OMDs were atrophic glossitis (1.84%), recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU, 1.68%), burning mouth syndrome (BMS, 1.38%), oral lichen planus (OLP, 1.23%) and traumatic ulcers (1.23%). The prevalence of RAU and BMS in different age groups was significantly different. Tobacco and alcohol use and psychological factors in the OMDs group were higher than the no-OMDs group. Systemic diseases including diabetes mellitus (DM) was significantly relevant to OLP. CONCLUSION: Age, tobacco and alcohol use, and psychological factor correlated strongly with the occurrence and development of OMDs, and they should be the focus of primary prevention. General epidemiological studies suggested that OLP was closely related to DM.

Microbial community structure and distribution in the air of a powdered infant formula factory based on cultivation and high-throughput sequence methods.

The air in a powdered infant formula (PIF) factory is a potential transfer medium for microorganisms. In this study, air samples from 6 main processing areas, almost covering the whole PIF processing line and 1 outdoor location, were collected from a PIF manufacturing plant during the winter and summer periods. A cultivation-based and an Illumina (San Diego, CA) high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing method was used to investigate the community structures and distributions of bacteria in the air. High microbial diversity (25 genera, 56 species), with a dominant community including Staphylococcus, Bacillus, Acinetobacter, and Kocuria, was found by the cultivation-based method. Moreover, 104 genera were obtained from all samples by high-throughput sequencing methods. Lactococcus (32.3%), Bacillus (29.6%), and Staphylococcus (14.0%) were the preponderant genera. The indices from high-throughput sequencing results indicated that the bacterial community of the air samples was highly diverse. Significant differences in the diversity and distribution at 6 sampling locations were revealed using the 2 methods. In particular, the packaging process contained the highest proportion (39.4%) of isolated strains. The highest diversity in bacterial community structure was found in the outdoor location. More bacterial isolates and higher community diversity were observed in the summer samples compared with the winter samples. In addition, some pathogens, such as Acinetobacter baumannii, Bacillus cereus, and Staphylococcus cohnii, were mainly found in the large bag filling process, can filling, and packaging process areas. The present study provides greater insight into the microbial community and identifies potential sources of air contamination in PIF production environments and can serve as a guide to reduce the risk of microbial contamination in the production of PIF.

Genotyping and Source Tracking of Cronobacter sakazakii and C. malonaticus Isolates from Powdered Infant Formula and an Infant Formula Production Factory in China.

Cronobacter spp. (formerly defined as Enterobacter sakazakii) are opportunistic bacterial pathogens of both infants and adults. In this study, we analyzed 70 Cronobacter isolates from powdered infant formula (PIF) and an infant formula production facility in China to determine possible contamination routes. The strains were profiled by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), PCR-based O-antigen serotyping, and ompA and rpoB sequence analyses. The isolates were primarily Cronobacter sakazakii (66/70) or Cronobacter malonaticus (4/70). The strains were divided into 38 pulsotypes (PTs) using PFGE and 19 sequence types (STs) by MLST. In contrast, rpoB and ompA sequence analyses divided the strains into 10 overlapping clusters each. PCR serotyping of the 66 C. sakazakii and 4 C. malonaticus strains resulted in the identification of four C. sakazakii serotypes (O1, O2, O4, and O7) and a single C. malonaticus serotype, O2. The dominant C. sakazakii sequence types from PIF and an infant formula production factory in China were C. sakazakii clonal complex 4 (CC4) (n = 19), ST1 (n = 14), and ST64 (n = 11). C. sakazakii CC4 is a clonal lineage strongly associated with neonatal meningitis. In the process of manufacturing PIF, the spray-drying, fluidized-bed-drying, and packing areas were the main areas with Cronobacter contamination. C. sakazakii strains with the same pulsotypes (PT3 and PT2) and sequence types (ST1 and ST64) were isolated both from processing equipment and from the PIF finished product.