On the (s,r)(s,r)-contractive multi-valued operator and affirmative answer to an open question

The current research is devoted to find an affirmative answer to an open question related to $(s,r)-$contractive operators which have been introduced by Ovidiu Popescu

Use of Leukocyte-and Platelet-Rich Fibrin for Bone Regeneration: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Leukocyte- and platelet- rich fibrin (L-PRF) is a fibrin matrix in which the platelet cytokines, growth factors and cells are trapped and this material has been recruited in reconstruction of various defects. The aim of this study was to systematically review of the published data on the effectiveness of using L-PRF on regeneration of bone defects in oral and maxillofacial surgeries. Materials and Methods: Medline and Cochrane Central databases were searched for related articles up to and including August 2015. Being English, having ≥ four weeks follow-up, and clinical, radiographic, histological and histomorphometric assessments were the inclusion criteria. Results: Twenty-four animal studies and 45 human trials were included that reported the rate of new bone formation (NBF). Also, 38 human reports with low levels of evidence to list evaluating various applications of L-PRF in oral and maxillofacial reconstructions were assessed. Using L-PRF either solely or mixed in human trials was evaluated and divided into six groups of sinus floor augmentation and guided bone regeneration (GBR) technique, socket preservation, periodontal intra-bony defects (PID)  regeneration, peri-apical and endo-periodontal defects treatment, peri-implant bone regeneration and treatment of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ). Moreover, other uses of L-PRF with bone regeneration purposes in oral and maxillofacial surgeries were discussed. Conclusion: As a consequence, although L-PRF either solely or mixed showed challengeable outcomes in animal studies, it was shown to be effective used to accelerate and enhance new bone formation in human studies. However, future clinical trials in some treatment areas are needed with larger sample sizes and long follow-ups to arrive at an evidence-based conclusion.

Development of PLGA-coated β-TCP scaffolds containing VEGF for bone tissue engineering

Bone tissue engineering is sought to apply strategies for bone defects healing without limitations and short-comings of using either bone autografts or allografts and xenografts. The aim of this study was to fabricate a thin layer poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) coated beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffold with sustained release of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). PLGA coating increased compressive strength of the β-TCP scaffolds significantly. For in vitro evaluations, canine mesenchymal stem cells (cMSCs) and canine endothelial progenitor cells (cEPCs) were isolated and characterized. Cell proliferation and attachment were demonstrated and the rate of cells proliferation on the VEGF released scaffold was significantly more than compared to the scaffolds with no VEGF loading. A significant increase in expression of COL1 and RUNX2 was indicated in the scaffolds loaded with VEGF and MSCs compared to the other groups. Consequently, PLGA coated β-TCP scaffold with sustained and localized release of VEGF showed favourable results for bone regeneration in vitro, and this scaffold has the potential to use as a drug delivery device in the future

An affirmative answer to quasi-contraction's open problem under some local constraints in JS-metric spaces

In this work, we first present JS-Pompeiu-Hausdorff metric in JS metric spaces and then introduce well-behaved quasi-contraction in order to find an affirmative answer to quasi-contractions’ open problem under some local constraints in JS-metric spaces. In the literature, this problem solved when the constant modules α ∈ [0,1/2] and when α ∈ (1/2,1], finding conditions by which the set of all fixed points be non-empty, has remained open yet. Moreover, we support our result by a notable example. Finally, by taking into account the approximate strict fixed point property we present some worthwhile open problems in these spaces

A Proposal to the Study of Contractions in Quasi-Metric Spaces

We investigate the existence and uniqueness of a fixed point of an operator via simultaneous functions in the setting of complete quasi-metric spaces. Our results generalize and improve several recent results in literature

Application of a risk-management framework for integration of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in clinical trials

Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are a potential predictive biomarker for immunotherapy response in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). To incorporate sTILs into clinical trials and diagnostics, reliable assessment is essential. In this review, we propose a new concept, namely the implementation of a risk-management framework that enables the use of sTILs as a stratification factor in clinical trials. We present the design of a biomarker risk-mitigation workflow that can be applied to any biomarker incorporation in clinical trials. We demonstrate the implementation of this concept using sTILs as an integral biomarker in a single-center phase II immunotherapy trial for metastatic TNBC (TONIC trial, NCT02499367), using this workflow to mitigate risks of suboptimal inclusion of sTILs in this specific trial. In this review, we demonstrate that a web-based scoring platform can mitigate potential risk factors when including sTILs in clinical trials, and we argue that this framework can be applied for any future biomarker-driven clinical trial setting